Happy New Year!
Here are some tidbits of news to start your year on a high point. Check out Dabbin Dad for weekly news recaps and updates.
The 5 Most Surprising Cannabis Stories of 2017
By Dave Schmader, Leafly
Nothing announces the end of a year like a countdown, so allow me to commence my list of the Top Five Most Surprising Cannabis Stories of 2017.
5. The Canadian mandate requiring citizens to store personal-use cannabis under lock and key. (Upside: the creation of thousands of jobs for private-residence lockbox inspectors?)
4. The old-school huffing and puffing of US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who sought to revive a “War on Drugs” approach to cannabis but failed to rally anyone beyond the ghosts in his mind. Read more
Cannabis prices to jump as recreational use becomes legal
By Patrick Evans, Mad River Union
ARCATA – Medical cannabis patients and recreational consumers are in for a shock Jan. 1, 2018. Cannabis prices will jump as California’s cannabis legalization takes effect and the state begins collecting taxes on cannabis retail sales, cultivation and manufacturing.
The average cost of an eighth of an ounce of cannabis flower at Humboldt dispensaries will increase from around $40 after taxes to around $45 per eighth. Dispensary prices could rise even higher as cultivators and distributors increase prices to cover the cost of permits, lab testing and track and trace programs.
Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) was approved by… Read more.
California’s cannabis market is expected to soar to $5.1 billion — and it’s going to be bigger than beer
By Jeremy Berke, Business Insider
Recreational cannabis sales are set to begin in California on January 1 — and the market is expected to haul in billions in revenue next year as dispensaries roll out across the state.
A report from the cannabis industry research firm BDS Analytics estimates sales of cannabis to hit $3.7 billion in 2018 alone, and predict that number will increase to $5.1 billion in 2019 as more dispensaries come online.
For comparison, beer sales in California hit $5 billion in 2017, according to industry research group IBIS World.
California — the world’s sixth largest economy with a population of close to 40 million — will be a huge chunk of the total market for cannabis in North America. Legal marijuana sales are predicted to hit $9.7 billion across the seven states where recreational marijuana is legal, excluding California, and Canada in 2017 alone, according to BDS. That number is expected to hit $24.5 billion in sales by 2021, despite continued federal prohibition. Read more.
2017: A NORML Year in America
By Justin Strekal, NORML
In the wake of landmark cannabis victories in 2016, there was much momentum to build upon when state legislatures opened up at the beginning of 2017. With NORML chapters in nearly all 50 states, activists took the fight to the halls of state capitals and city councils from Florida to Washington State and everywhere in between. In all, lawmakers in 26 states have passed legislation to advance cannabis reform.
Victories include: Nevada expediting the implementation of adult distribution of legal marijuana, becoming the first of the newly legal states to respect the will of their voters and come online in 2017; New Hampshire becoming the 22nd state to decriminalize marijuana, making it so that an individual can be in any state in New England without fear of being arrested for a simple possession charge; West Virginia becoming the 30th state to pass a medical marijuana program, which will soon serve patients suffering from a range of conditions including cancer, HIV/AIDS, and chronic pain; In Ohio, the Athens Cannabis Ordinance (aptly named TACO) passed to completely de-penalize marijuana possession; among many other advancements and legislative tweaks around the country. Read more.