Marijuana Business Magazine May-June 2020

IndustryDevelopments | International & State Massachusetts A handful of adult-use marijuana businesses sued Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, seeking a reversal of his executive order requiring recreational cannabis stores to close during the COVID-19 crisis. The governor ordered that adult-use marijuana stores must remain closed until May 4 because they are “nonessential businesses,” a decision the plaintiffs say is unconstitutional. According to the lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, the order forced 43 licensed adult-use retailers to close as well as “many more” cultivation and manufacturing facilities. Together, those cannabis businesses employ about 8,000 workers and generate $13 million in weekly gross sales, according to the suit. Michigan Although Gov. GretchenWhitmer’s stay-at-home order doesn’t mention marijuana or cannabis directly, the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs stipulated in a news release that all licensed medical and recreational marijuana businesses can remain operational. Retailers, however, are limited to “curbside service or delivery,”meaning storefronts will not be open to the public. In other news, data from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs shows that fromDec. 1, 2019, through Feb. 29, 2020, the state’s 59 recreational retailers sold $31.6 million in adult-use marijuana. The market eventually could reach $1.5 billion in sales annually, according to Marijuana Business Daily .