Marijuana Business Magazine April 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2020 32 Illinois State cannabis retailers in border towns are seeing strong sales to customers from neighboring states but are spending time and money training their employees to warn people that it is unlawful to transport marijuana across state lines. Out-of-state customers who are 21 years old and have a valid driver’s license can purchase cannabis in Illinois. In other news, the price of wholesale flower in Illinois has jumped $200-$500 per pound since a year ago, before the Jan. 1 launch of recreational marijuana sales. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds believes the state’s proposed limit on how much medical marijuana a dispensary can sell an individual is adequate. The Medical Cannabidiol Board recommended earlier this month that the state remove a 3% cap on the amount of THC in MMJ products and replace it with a sales cap of 4.5 grams per person over a 90-day period. That decision came in response to a request from MedPharm Iowa, the state’s first medical marijuana manufacturer, to increase the sales limit to 17 grams over 90 days. Committees in both the Iowa House and Senate approved proposals to remove the current 3% cap on THC, but Reynolds said she is “comfortable with where the board ended up.” Kentucky The state House of Representatives voted to legalize medical marijuana sales in Kentucky. The vote represents the first time a medical marijuana bill has passed either legislative chamber in the state. The bill, which passed 65-30, now moves to the state Senate, which might consider making changes to the language. Under the House bill, medical marijuana could be recommended by doctors to treat conditions including chronic pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, nausea and vomiting. Maine As the state prepares for recreational marijuana sales to begin in a few months,  regulators have issued 31 conditional adult-use cannabis licenses—16 of them to retailers. In addition to the stores, the Office of Marijuana Policy said it is mailing the licenses to: • Ten marijuana cultivation facilities. • Four manufacturing facilities. • A nursery. The agency’s director, Erik Gunderson, said mailing the conditional licenses “moves us another step closer” to honoring a pledge to launch adult-use sales in the state. The agency expects to issue active licenses as early as April, and officials indicated sales would begin in June. IndustryDevelopments | International & State