CALIFORNIA ERYKAH BADU LAUNCHES NEW CANNABIS LINE WITH COOKIES IN CALI

State Cannabis Sales Decline For The First Time

According to data recently released by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Cannabis sales across California declined last year for the first time since adult-use sales began in 2018. The data indicates that legal sales figures dropped from $5.77 billion in 2021 to $5.3 billion in 2022 – a decrease of 8.2%.

Cannabis producers say the primary drivers of the decline are excessive taxes, too few retail outlets, and overproduction leading to a steep drop in wholesale Cannabis prices; according to New Leaf Data Services, the per-pound cost of Cannabis has plummeted nearly 50% since the birth of the legal recreational market five years ago. This situation has led to an uptick in illicit out-of-state sales and forced some producers to slash production, pause their operations, or leave the state (including high-profile brands such as Garcia Hand Picked).

Nevertheless, despite this decrease, California remains the largest Cannabis market in the U.S. by far – comprising around 20% of legal Cannabis sales nationwide.

California Exploring Legal Cannabis Exports

Grammy award-winning soul singer Erykah Badu celebrated International Women’s Day last month at the Cookies store in Maywood, Calif., launching her new premium Cannabis brand geared towards women’s health called “That Badu.”

Badu and her partner in the project, Cookies founder and fellow musical artist Berner, hosted a public meet-and-greet to debut the first drop in their California-based line: eighthounce pouches and joints rolled in rose-scented rolling papers. Both releases showcase the brand’s first cultivar – also named That Badu – a cross between Lemoncello and Jet Fuel Gelato that Badu claims smells like “candied citrus and champagne,” tastes like “melon and lemon drops” and offers a “gentle and euphoric high” that women will love.

The indigo and white packaging is designed to resemble Chinese Qinghua ceramics, for which Badu has an affinity for. This motif also carries over into her new vase-shaped bong called the “Woman Vessel,” which will be available (along with her previously released Apple Trees smoking accessory line) on her website.

The second phase of the brand’s rollout – expected to include topicals, edibles, apparel and even a non-psychoactive mushroom tea – is set to drop on Mother’s Day next month.

It seems that California’s Department of Cannabis Control is looking into the possibility of shipping Cannabis to other legalized states.

On January 27th, the Department’s General Counsel Matthew Lee sent an eight-page letter to Senior Assistant Attorney General Mollie Lee requesting guidance as to whether Cannabis transactions between licensed entities in California and licensees in other states with legalized Cannabis use would incur any “significant legal risk” under the Controlled Substances Act – indicating that government officials are exploring the option of possibly opening up the state’s Cannabis industry to interstate commerce.

Under California’s recently passed Senate Bill 1326, the governor is authorized under state law to “enter into an agreement with another state or states authorizing medicinal or adult-use com