Cannabis Reg. Update: Arkansas To Put Marijuana Legalization On Ballot, 16 Businesses In Colorado Get $25k to $50k In Grants To Foster Equity & More

Arkansas Cannabis Activists Collect Double Signatures Required To Place Marijuana Legalization On Ballot 

Marijuana activists in The Land of Opportunity are pushing hard to see adult-use cannabis legal in the state. Responsible Growth Arkansas, an organization fighting to place recreational marijuana on the ballot, recently confirmed having gathered approximately 200,000 signatures, which is double the minimum needed, reported KFSM-TV. 

If recreational cannabis reaches the 2022 ballot and ends up approved, it would make marijuana legal for adults over 21. Furthermore, it would withdraw taxes from the state medical marijuana program and would set up cannabis tax income to fund law enforcement systems and the state court.  

 “Through the first five months of 2022, an average of $741,000 is spent each day across the state’s 38 dispensaries to purchase medical marijuana,” Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (ADFA) told the outlet. 

“Over the last 12 months, we saw $32 million generated from medical marijuana to the state. If recreational were to happen, say those numbers change very dramatically,” Hardin said, pointing out how the legal recreational cannabis industry would boost the economy in the state. 

Steve Lancaster, Wright Lindsey & Jennings, LLP partner representing Responsible Growth Arkansas, commented, “Those monies will go for law enforcement, goes to drug court, and would also go to cancer research.”

 “Come Friday, we’re going to turn in 200,000 signatures of Arkansans,” added Lancaster. 

Massachusetts Sen. Rodrigues On Starting The Process Of Modernizing Cannabis Laws 

Massachusetts lawmakers have started to work on completing a marijuana industry reform bill that aims to modernize regulations that were set up with the adult-use cannabis launch at the end of 2016.

On Thursday, six lawmakers, including state Senator Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport), held a virtual conference tackling important marijuana industry questions. At the start of it, Sen. Rodrigues said that there “doesn’t seem to be many material differences” between the House and Senate measures addressing on-site cannabis consumption cafes, social equity, and host community agreements, reported The Sun.

The House and Senate still have to agree on several issues, including how much money from cannabis revenue should be used to fund diversity and equity initiatives, and details on authority over social equity grants.  

The panel voted to continue discussions in closed-door executive meetings.

 “I look forward to working with you and your team and our team as we hopefully quickly and successfully settle the differences between both of our bills,” Rodrigues told fellow conferees. “It’s the first time we’ve attempted to update and modernize the cannabis laws since they were enacted by the voters in 2016 and modified by us in the Legislature in 2017.”

State Rep. Daniel Donahue (D-Worcester), said “We’re looking to make the first update to legislation from 2017 and trying to make sure we have a fair and equitable cannabis industry that continues to grow and succeed in the commonwealth.”

16 Colorado Businesses Get Cannabis Business Pilot Grants To Foster Equity & Diversity 

Cannabis Business Pilot Grants have been awarded to 16 marijuana businesses in Colorado, via the state’s Cannabis Business Office to encourage social equity and diversity in the space, writes Denver 7.

The grants are being given to social equity cannabis companies who are either requesting or already have a regulated business license from Marijuana Enforcement Division. There are two types of grants – 1) “foundational” with the maximum amount of $25,000 and 2) “growth” capped at $50,000.

The foundational type of grant is aimed at new businesses with a small number of employees and yearly revenue of less than $500,000, while the growth category is created for those companies operating for several years, having six to 15 employees and yearly revenue between $500,000 to $3 million.

This is the first round of these grants.

The sixteen businesses include:

• Apollo Limited
• Canna-Couriers
• Colorado Kush
• Cb1 Logistics
• Delta-9
• Different Strokes 2.0 Puff N Paint Sip Art Studio
• Flora Cannabis
• Go Harvest LLC
• Grn Bus
• IDY Packaging Distributors
• Kaylx Brands
• Meta-Zon CannClub
• Mile High Lounge (Ganja Games)
• Paly
• Pufflow.com
• Tetra Hospitality Group

The listed companies should provide documentation to the city after six months and again after one year to present how they spent the grant money.

University of Louisiana Monroe’s School of Pharmacy Can Now Legally Study Marijuana & Hemp 

The University of Louisiana-Monroe's School of Pharmacy became the third in the state to be given a green light to legally research hemp and cannabis, reported The Quachita Citizen. The other two schools that already have been allowed are the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and the Southern University Agricultural Center.

According to Rep. Michael Echols, this happened thanks to House Bill 697, the measure he sponsored during Louisiana’s recently concluded session.

“Louisiana State University and Southern University have been the only two schools in the state that can do research around hemp and marijuana but not anymore,” Echols said. “We were able to add to some of the bills flowing through the process to give ULM the opportunity to do some of that strategic research.”

Echols highlighted that the University’s opportunity to study hemp and cannabis may open new economic developments.

According to Echols, ULM's ability to research hemp and marijuana could open up new economic development opportunities.

Benzinga photo. Source: Image from Shutterstock