A new year. Unpredictability. Entrepreneurship & Opportunities in Cannabis.
Power and Deal Rooms at CMB Conference & Expo.
Happy New Year!
As we look toward the rest of 2025 and beyond, the industry and our thousands of entrepreneurs continue to be faced with challenges. The difficulties the industry had at the end of 2024 still remain, with 2025 arriving with additional concerns including:
- Uncertainty of the Rescheduling of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III and what appears to be stagnation of any progress, as the anticipated January Rescheduling hearing has been postponed.
- A new congress and government administration whose support for cannabis reform is also uncertain.
- Threats to ballot measures that have been approved at the ballot box for medical and/or retail cannabis legislation– will they be challenged to the point of not being economically feasible, or not being implemented at all?
- Continued tax burdens for legitimate cannabis business owners as collateral damage of the Rescheduling stagnation.
- Debanking issues where business owners are prevented from opening bank accounts and obtaining other financial services from banks in the name of risk management and risk aversion.
Amid the many challenges, the industry has much to be optimistic about, thanks to the business owners who continue to build and expand it with their passion for the plant, their ingenuity, their dedication to developing the plant’s health benefits, and their perseverance. In addition, as the new year unravels, the industry will welcome new entrepreneurs and investors who see the opportunities ahead.
Cannabis Means Business – Now in its 11th Year – Be There
Cannabis Means Business, formerly CWCBExpo – now in its 11th year– is a conference and expo that reflects the rapid growth of cannabis as a legitimate global industry. It is the place to be if you want to expand your business in the cannabis industry.
Cannabis Means BUsiness Conference & Expo
June 4 – 5
Javits Convention Center, NYC
Federal News
Rescheduling Hearings
As we highlighted in our December Newsletter, on December 2, 2024 the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held its first hearing about Rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug – without testimony from selected participants. Full hearings with testimony had been delayed into 2025 with the timeline set by Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney. Hearings with actual witness testimony were set to start January 21, 2025, but have again been postponed.
SAFER Banking Act
Whatever Happened to SAFER Banking Act?
High hopes abounded for well over a year regarding the SAFER Banking Act, which was not brought to a vote despite good prospects that it may have gotten passed. “Debanking” has become an issue in the newly Republican-controlled Senate. Where this all goes will have to be seen.
New York State Cannabis News
New York State Office of Cannabis Management, Cannabis Control Board, Cannabis Advisory Board |
The OCM, the CCB and the CAB held meetings in January with much to celebrate – as NYS retail cannabis sales exceeded $1B and over 295 dispensaries were opened for business. Several items were addressed and discussed at these meetings including:
- Market Update & Data Highlights
- Environment & Sustainability
- Advocacy
- Social Equity and Licensing
- Training Programs for Licensees
- More Adult Licenses Approval
Recent New York Adult-Use Dispensary Openings
Noteworthy is that 298 legal Adult-Use dispensaries are were operational by the end of January. Congratulations to these newly opened dispensaries in NYS. |
Woodstock Oasis
Kaya Bliss Dispensary
The Spot Dispensary
Cannabicity
The Phinest Buds
Phenos*
Canna Planet Kingston
Canna Planet Ellenville |
The Station Beacon
Clouditude Dispensary Website: clouditudedispensary.com
Wild Flower Dispensary
Monticello Cannabis
Vaporize
Buddeez
Caffiend Cannabis
The Flowery Upper West Side |
New Jersey Cannabis News
Certain NJ Employees’ Insurance Now Includes Medical Cannabis |
Some good news for certain municipal NJ employees who will now have insurance coverage for medical cannabis. Learn more from NORML.org who has been front and center on supporting health coverage for medical cannabis patients everywhere.
Cannabis Tax Revenue Helping to Fund Violence Intervention Programs
More good news in NJ as Governor Murphy and Attorney General Matt Platkin credit the NJ cannabis industry, through adult-use tax revenue, for helping to fund violence intervention programs.
New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission Licensing Portal Timetable
The NJCRC set a timeline for applications for cannabis consumption areas. Consumption areas must be attached to a licensed dispensary.
The Consumption Area Endorsements Licensing Portal began accepting applications for consumption area endorsements in January 2nd.
Here is the timeline:
- January 2, 2025: Applications open for Social Equity designated retail businesses (owners with cannabis-related convictions or residents of Economically Disadvantaged Areas)
- April 2, 2025: Applications for all other microbusinesses and Diversely-Owned dispensaries (minority-owned, women-owned, disabled-owned)
- July 2, 2025: Applications open for all other Class 5 retail operators
California Cannabis News
Wildfires Have Impacted Cannabis Business Owners |
Our prayers and thoughts are with all of the victims affected by the CA wildfires. So many businesses have been affected both inside and outside the cannabis sector. The entire supply chain has been impacted to an astronomical degree.
Ohio Cannabis News
Lawmakers Propose to Roll Back Voter-Approved Cannabis Legalization |
In our December newsletter we highlighted that Ohio had surpassed $200MM in adult-use sales in only the four months since it started. In spite of this strong start, Ohio is one of the states with cannabis legalization laws being challenged by its own lawmakers. The laws that are being challenged were approved by voters in 2023 and have started a thriving and sound adult-use cannabis industry.
The state Senate is proposing severe changes that would impose higher taxes on retail cannabis sales, restrict home-grow, limit the statewide retailers, and bar adults from sharing cannabis.
Colorado Cannabis News
Colorado Springs City Council Attempting to Overturn Voter-Approved Adult Use
The Colorado Springs City Council is trying to flatly overturn the 54% voter-approved ballot measure to allow adult-use within the city’s limits. Rejected was a ballot measure that restricted allowing it. Now, council members are trying to overturn it by asserting that voters voted on confusing write-ups of the ballot measures and are second guessing the voter-approved outcome.
Corporate News
Door Dash
Door Dash will begin to deliver to legal-aged customers hemp-derived THC and CBD products for on-demand delivery in select states.
This Month’s Archived Video
Cannabis Retail Marketing in the Digital Era
This month we feature a session from our June 2024 conference that focuses on retail marketing for dispensaries and brands. |
This session explores marketing cannabis brands in the digital era. What are the best methods and platforms to market cannabis brands? What are the demographics that guide how cannabis brand owners create campaigns? What works and what does not work to market your brand front and center? What platforms should you spend your marketing dollars on? Should Artificial Intelligence (AI) be figured into your digital marketing budget? How does influencer marketing figure into your digital budget? Hear from experienced dispensary owners on how to secure shelf space for your product, what is driving the marketing for certain products, how a dispensary makes decisions in what products they sell, and what analytics are used.
Moderator: Michael Zaytsev, Academic Director, LIM College
Speakers: Michael Ballard, Vice President Sales, Leafwire; Solonje Burnett, Weed Auntie, Co-Founder and Chief Culture & Community Officer of Erven; Ed Keating, Co-Founder CannaBiz Media; Jon Lowen, Co-CEO, Surfside Media
This session was recorded at CWCBExpo, Javits Convention Center, NYC, on June 6, 2024.
