2023: Medical Cannabis' Year? Also, Prices Drop In This State; 10-Minute Pardons

Recreational Cannabis Prices Drop In Massachusetts

Prices have been steadily decreasing for more than a year, reported Boston.com.

According to the Cannabis Control Commission, in October the price per gram dropped to $7.76, an all-time low.

Prices remained above $14 per gram until June 2021 when prices started to decrease. Meanwhile, recreational cannabis sales in November brought in $112.2 million, the lowest amount since February 2022, with the exception of July, with $132.4 million earned.

The trend has some concerned about the ramifications for cultivators, small businesses and the employees that "make it all run," the report continued.

“There’s an extreme oversupply of flowers, edibles, concentrates, vapes, basically any cannabis product,” said Joseph Lekach, CEO of cannabis company Apothca.

“The last 12 months have been fairly drastic. I’d say on the wholesale market, prices might be down approximately 50% in one year, which is, for folks that are only on the cultivation side of the business, especially difficult,” said Brandon Pollock, CEO of Theory Wellness. 

Medical Cannabis: Is 2023 The Year Kansas Lawmakers Introduce A Bill

Sen. Rob Olson, chair of the state's 2022 Special Committee on Medical Marijuana, plans to introduce a medical marijuana bill at the beginning of the January legislative session, according to NPR.

“I think what I’m going to do is — and any member is more than welcome — is to take this information and create the bill,” Olson said. “And I’m going to work on a bill with a couple of members and then if anybody wants to sign on in the Senate, they’ll be more than able to sign onto that bill, and introduce it at the beginning of the session.”

D.C Council Expands Medical Cannabis Access

The District of Columbia’s city council has recently approved legislation to significantly expand medical cannabis operations in Washington, DC, reported NORML.

The Medical Cannabis Amendment Act, led by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, will:

• Increase the number of licensed dispensaries that can operate in the District;
• Enact tax relief for operators;
• Codify into law the ability for individuals to “self-certify” that they have a need for medical marijuana;
• Create new cannabis business categories, such as on-site tasting/consumption lounges;
• Make changes to social equity language, mainly through changes to laws surrounding I-71 operators;
• Require a courier license to be held by those delivering medical marijuana products to patients on the behalf of a medical cannabis dispensary.

A 10-Minute Pardon?

According to U.S. Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer, the Justice Department will soon give people the opportunity to apply for certificates of Presidential Marijuana Pardons.

The process should take 10 minutes to complete, Oyer says, adding that immigrants with citizenship status issues can still apply through the traditional, individualized clemency process.

The plan is to work with the Department of Justice’s IT department to launch a web-based submission platform so that individuals can submit online, Oyer told Marijuana Moment.

“That will also put the information into a format that makes it easier for us to quickly review and process these applications for certificates," she said.

The application will require basic information about the date and court of conviction, as well as "an attestation" that the information provided is truthful.

"And that’s pretty much it,” Oyer said.

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash.