Week of November 26 - December 2, 2022

Do you love data and staying up to date with the latest cannabis-related headlines? Are you searching for industry news to inform your institution’s approach to cannabis risk and compliance? 

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Hashing Out the Truth

CRB Monitor’s database growth by the numbers.

Tier 1 Marijuana-Related Business Counts

Weekly Summary (November 26 - December 2, 2022): 63,853 1A MRBs + 3,581 1B MRBs = 67,434 total

1A MRBs

Tier 1A Defined: Businesses in this tier literally touch the cannabis plant at some point along the supply chain from "seed-to-sale" and are generally licensed by a government agency or regulator. Effectively all of their actual or expected revenue is derived from the cultivation, production, testing or sale of cannabis.

1B MRBs 

Tier 1B Defined: CRB Monitor tiers businesses that have a financial or controlling interest in a Tier 1A CRB as "Tier 1B." CRB Monitor generally considers 1B businesses as seemingly unrelated businesses highlighted as red flags by FinCEN in its marijuana banking guidance and are similar in nature to individual beneficial owners. 

Marijuana Business Licenses

Note: Inactive licenses, unlicensed, and unknown licenses have been excluded.

A Note on Drop in License Count: Last week there was a dip in the license counts for "Active" and "Pre-License" (Uniform License Status updated to "Inactive")

• Active – Updated ~ 40 licenses as "Inactive" ("Not Available") (Ohio & Oklahoma)
• Pre-License – Updated ~ 40 licenses as "Inactive" ("Failed Applicants") (Massachusetts, Maine & New Mexico)
• Approved/Pending – Added ~ 30 new licenses (Ohio, Washington & New Mexico) 
  

(The Reported License Statuses "Failed Applicant" and "Not Available" map to the Uniform License Status "Inactive", which decreased the net License count by more than the number of new Licenses during the week.)

Beneficial Owners Count

Beneficial Owners Defined: For beneficial owners, each economic owner or controlling person is classified into one or more categories based on their relationship to the linked CRB including: (1) Owner/Investor, (2) Board Member, (3) Corporate Officer, (4) Executive, (5) Non-commercial Registered Agent or (6) Senior Manager.

News of Note

A selection of relevant cannabis-related news.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• The Pun Group LLP and Fritzsche Associates, Inc. Set to Finalize Merger in Early 2023
• Integrated Cannabis Solutions Executes Acquisition Agreements to acquire 2 Operating Entities in the Cannabis space

Negative News

• Michigan marijuana lab stands by its THC potency results, methodology
• Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission Revokes Cultivation License
• FDA Targets 5 CBD Cos. Hawking Food And Beverages - Law360

Legalization & Regulation

• Recreational marijuana initiative in Florida nears 50,000 signatures
• Ohio might expand medical marijuana access as adult-use allies target 2023
• Maine Regulators to Cease Enforcement of Residency Requirements for Cannabis Dispensaries, Caregivers
• 2022 Cannabis Legislation: Where It’s Been and Where It’s Going
• Kind Idaho Begins Collecting Signatures for Medical Cannabis Ballot Initiative

International

• Cantourage, Cannabis House and Together Pharma partner to increase availability of medical cannabis in Poland
• Irish Parliament Considers Legislation to Legalize Cannabis for Personal Use

Licensing Related

• CCB Announces List of Cannabis Consumption Lounge Prospective License Holders
• Rhode Island Becomes 16th State to Launch Adult-Use Cannabis Sales

Other

• Total US cannabis supply to top 48.8 million pounds in 2022, report says
• Newfoundland ends cannabis vape ban but keeps flavor restriction
• Marijuana tech firm Dutchie appoints new CEO as founders step down
• Marijuana software firm Springbig laying off nearly 25% of workforce
• Gov. Pritzker Appoints Erin A. Johnson to Serve as Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer
• Remedy Maryland New Cannabis Superstore Opens
• Haven to Open New Dispensary in Porterville, California
• Nevada State Board of Pharmacy Appeals Court Ruling to Remove Cannabis from State’s List of Schedule I Substances
• Minnesota Adds 2 Qualifying Conditions for Medical Cannabis
• Oklahoma regulators solicit input on cannabis business license moratorium