NATIONAL NEWS

he Cannabis lobby is seeking aid for small businesses in the next coronavirus pandemic relief package, reports The Hill.

Marijuana businesses have already gotten some help at the state level. Twenty states, D.C. and Puerto Rico are allowing medical Cannabis dispensaries to stay open during the pandemic. Eight states allow both medical and recreational facilities to operate.

Cannabis industry groups are now pushing for more states to allow legal marijuana outlets to remain open and are seeking funds in state aid packages.

But the push for federal help, while the federal government still classifies marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, hasn’t yet made any headway. The $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by Congress in March prohibits Cannabis businesses from receiving any small business loans.

That’s unfair, according to Cannabis groups - and they are pushing to change that in the next aid package. T

Sales data from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission show Oregonians in March bought $84.5 million worth of Cannabis products - the most in a single month since the state legalized marijuana back in 2015, reports Willamette Week. The previous record, set in July 2019, was just under $80 million for the month. March’s sales are a 37 percent increase over the same period last year. Sales per retailer averaged $135,000 - a 30 percent jump. Flower accounted for more than half of total sales, while concentrates and extracts made up the second-highest market share. OREGON POT SALES WERE HIGHEST EVER IN MARCH

economy

edical Cannabis organizations in Pennsylvania, designated ‘essential’ and ‘life-sustaining businesses’ by the state during the coronavirus pandemic, say a bottleneck has prevented them from hiring hundreds of employees, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Unemployment has hit more than one in six Pennsylvanians since the shutdowns began.

But legal Cannabis businesses say they are struggling to fill jobs left open by quarantined workers who either may have the coronavirus, or need to care for an ailing loved one.

Hiring is frozen because prospective employees can’t get the required FBI criminal background checks and drug tests. Many of the offices that processed fingerprints are closed due to being deemed ‘non-essential.’ M HUNDREDS OF PENNSYLVANIA JOBS GOING UNFILLED UNEMPLOYMENT HAS HIT MORE THAN ONE IN SIX PENNSYLVANIANS SINCE THE SHUTDOWNS BEGAN.

east coast

MARYLAND WOMAN ALLEGEDLY CAUGHT TRANSPORTING 100 POUNDS OF WEED

Maryland woman allegedly caught with 100 pounds of marijuana prompted authorities to remind the public that they continue to investigate crimes and make arrests during the coronavirus pandemic, reports the Philly Voice.

Upper Merion Police and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau investigated.

According to Montgomery County D.A. Kevin Steele, Kayla Messinese of Edgewater had tried to use the COVID-19 outbreak as an “opportunity to transport a large amount of marijuana.”

Detectives followed Messinese to a parking garage where she met with two people to allegedly complete the transaction and they arrested her, authorities said. Investigators said they found three duffel bags in her car, each filled with vacuum-sealed bags of Cannabis. Cops claimed the 100 pounds of weed had a street value of $200,0000. A

health Washington, D.C. now allows Cannabis dispensaries to provide delivery service and curbside pickups to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports Marijuana Business Daily. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a democrat, has signed an emergency rule allowing dispensaries to deliver and provide curbside pickups until August 12. Medical Cannabis businesses in D.C. were already considered ‘essential,’ so they were allowed to stay open during the crisis. D.C. ALLOWS MMJ DELIVERIES AND CURBSIDE PICKUPS

legalization

irginia will be “a more fair, just and more equal place” now that simple marijuana possession has been decriminalized, according to state attorney general Mark Herring.

“Decriminalization is an incredibly important first step, and one that many thought we may never see in Virginia, but we cannot stop until we have legal and regulated adult use,” Herring said.

Gov. Ralph Northam signed the decriminalization legislation into law in April. The new law does away with criminal charges for simple possession and creates a $25 civil penalty. It also creates a workgroup to study legalization, which will eventually release a report on its findings. V VIRGINIA DECRIMINALIZES CANNABIS “DECRIMINALIZATION IS AN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FIRST STEP, AND ONE THAT MANY THOUGHT WE MAY NEVER SEE IN VIRGINIA...”

5

million dollars was spent by the Cannabis industry lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill in 2019 for access to banking, a rise of $2 million since 2018.

10 US Senators are requesting that Cannabis businesses be eligible for assistance in the next coronavirus aid package, efforts backed by nearly three dozen US

House Representatives.

17 billion dollars is the projected amount of retail Cannabis sales in the U.S. in 2020, according to

BDS Analytics.

30 percent more Cannabis was sold in

March 2020 than in March 2019, according to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

63 million dollars is the amount spent by Arkansas medical Cannabis patients since the first dispensary opened in May 2019.

10,000 pounds of medical marijuana have now been sold in a new threshold for the still burgeoning Arkansas medicinal Cannabis industry, at a cost of more than $63 million, across 21 operational dispensaries.