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Rhode Island marijuana sales top $100M in Year One of recreational retail

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11 months ago

December 22, 2023

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Combined adult-use and medical marijuana sales in Rhode Island totaled $105 million in the year since recreational retail sales launched in December 2022.

The yearlong retail sales total includes $69.8 million in adult-use sales and $35.1 million in medical marijuana transactions, according to data published by the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR).

The adult-use total exceeds the $50 million in sales projected by the 2023 MJBiz Factbook for the first year of recreational retail.

November marijuana sales totaled $9.2 million, including $6.9 million in adult-use sales and $2.3 in MMJ sales.

Combined monthly sales total declined 2.5% from October and peaked at $9.7 million in August.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee praised the “careful execution that defined our entry into this industry” in a statement published by the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission (CCC).

“This success represents growing opportunity for our state’s economy but also for the nearly 70 licensed cultivators, processors, and manufacturers in the State of Rhode Island which we know are integral to our local cannabis supply chain,” McKee added.

The latest monthly sales figures cap off a year of expansion for Rhode Island’s new adult-use industry, which launched Dec. 1, 2022.

However, the state’s early cannabis sales growth might well have been stymied by a shortage of licensed retailers.

Rhode Island lawmakers permitted marijuana advertising this year, although with restrictions.

“The change is expected to help retailers compete effectively in the growing market,” the CCC said.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island’s MMJ registered patient count shrank significantly after the recreational sales launch, following a pattern typical in other states that launch adult-use after medical markets.

Rhode Island had roughly 10,000 registered MMJ patients this past November, compared with 15,000 in December 2022, according to the DBR.

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Cannabis MSO MedMen is exiting Arizona and Nevada

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11 months ago

December 22, 2023

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Marijuana multistate operator MedMen Enterprises is exiting Arizona and Nevada by selling its assets in those states to privately held MSO Mint Cannabis.

The sales are the result of a strategic review by MedMen, according to a news release, and consist of the Los Angeles-based company’s wholly owned operating subsidiary in Arizona and two operational stores in Clark County, Nevada.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Mint Cannabis has operations in its home state of Arizona as well as Michigan and Missouri.

MedMen warned investors in February that the company was running out of cash and later in the month said it was evaluating divesting properties in Arizona, Illinois and Nevada.

In November, MedMen advised that its annual results for the 2023 fiscal year ended July 1 would be late.

“MedMen is pleased with the outcome of our strategic review and has made good progress in our restructuring efforts,” MedMen CEO Ellen Deutsch Harrison said in a statement.

“These transactions will bolster liquidity in the short term, reduce liabilities, and enable the Company to focus on operating efficiencies and executing our long-term asset-light growth strategy in our core markets.”

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New PA law could increase medical marijuana dispensary permits by 20%

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11 months ago

December 22, 2023

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(This story has been updated to clarify the changes in Pennsylvania law.)

Up to 30 new medical marijuana dispensaries could open in Pennsylvania under a bill signed into law by the state’s Democratic governor, a potential expansion of 20%.

Under Senate Bill 773 – which Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law Dec. 14, as promised – as many as 10 independent MMJ growers now qualify to apply for a dispensary license.

Until now, Pennsylvania law capped the number of dispensary license holders at 50.

That arrangement led to a market controlled by out of state big cannabis company that resembled a near monopoly, according to critics.

The new law:

Could mean an expansion of up to 20% in the number of dispensaries allowed in the state if all 10 that receive approvals apply.
Also allows up to four dispensaries previously barred from cultivating cannabis to begin growing operations.

The changes could help expand product offerings available to MMJ patients in the state, some of whom might be lured to nearby Ohio once adult-use sales begin there as anticipated in 2024.

There’s also new language that would require MMJ license holders to report any change in ownership affecting a stake of 20% or more.

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