Marijuana Business Magazine April 2020

April 2020 | mjbizdaily.com 35 New Mexico The state stopped issuing medical cannabis enrollment cards to people who live outside New Mexico but soon will allow nonresident patients enrolled in other state programs to buy MMJ. Beginning July 1, New Mexico dispensaries will be permitted to recognize MMJ enrollment cards from other states that have legalized medical cannabis use. New Mexico’s MMJ program director, Dominick Zurlo, noted that it’s still illegal to transport medical marijuana across state lines and that the goal of recognizing out-of-state cards is to allow patients to access cannabis just like other medications. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would visit several markets that have legalized recreational marijuana in an effort to help develop a plan to get similar legislation passed in his state. “I’m going to visit Massachusetts, Illinois and California or Colorado,” Cuomo said before news of the coronavirus was widespread. Cuomo and his team planned to visit the states to learn what’s worked regarding legalizing recreational marijuana as well as what didn’t go as planned. The governor said in his State of the State address in January that legalizing adult use is one of his budget priorities in 2020. Ohio Multistate marijuana operator Harvest Health & Recreation must pay $500,000 to settle a social equity misrepresentation charge from Ohio regulators before it can open three medical cannabis dispensaries in the state. The penalty, one of the largest ever assessed to a marijuana operation in Ohio, settles the allegation that Arizona-based Harvest misrepresented the minority ownership of a medical cannabis business in the state. Oklahoma In a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Oklahoma, the Bank of Oklahoma accused the Dank of Oklahoma dispensary of using a variation of the institution’s logo that it registered as a trademark in 1975. Dank of Oklahoma’s logo and slogan—a marijuana leaf and the phrase “What’s in your dank account?”—were “clearly intended to evoke the services offered” by the bank, according to the filing. The bank is seeking an injunction preventing Dank of Oklahoma from using the “confusingly similar” name and slogan and asks that the dispensary relinquish similar social media accounts. The suit also seeks punitive damages and profits.