News
Read up on the latest news and recent information regarding cannabinoid-based medicine.
Rhode Island Legalizes Adult Use Cannabis
Update: Governor McKee has signed the Rhode Island Cannabis Act into law, making it the 19th state to legalize adult use cannabis. In Rhode Island this week, lawmakers voted to approve a bill that would legalize and regulate adult use cannabis. The state’s legislature...
Cannabis M&A: Take Care of the Due Diligence Essentials
As the regulated cannabis industry matures, M&A activity is expected to continue accelerating. Whether they are existing licensed businesses looking for acquisition opportunities or new investor groups seeking to enter or expand their positions in the industry,...
New York Adds More Conditional Cultivation Licenses
Regulators in New York are continuing their push forward in launching the adult use cannabis market. They have approved 58 conditional licenses for hemp growers to begin cultivating cannabis for the adult use market. In just the past few months, the state has already...
Boston Beer Company Launches Cannabis Beverage Line
The Boston Beer Company, Inc., known for brands like Sam Adams, Truly, Twisted Tea and Dogfish Head, has announced their entry into the cannabis market. According to the press release, the craft beer company is launching TeaPot, a new brand of cannabis infused-iced...
FDA Issues Warning Over Copycat Cannabis Consumables
Last week, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) published a consumer warning regarding food products containing THC and the risk of children accidentally eating them. Between January of last year through April 24, 2022, the FDA says they have received more...
AOAC Launches Cannabis Proficiency Testing Program
In a press release published this week, AOAC International announced it has partnered with Signature Science, LLC as the test material provider for the new AOAC Cannabis/Hemp Proficiency Testing program. What makes this proficiency testing (PT) program so unique is...
Aurora Launches New Product Line in UK
Aurora Cannabis announced today that they will be launching a new product line for patients in the United Kingdom. The Berlin-based company says they are debuting new cannabis extracts for the United Kingdom that meet EU GMP standards and are developed using, “a new...
Cannabis Banking: The Ins, the Outs & the Unknowns
As the legal cannabis market expands, banks and nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs) across the United States continue to explore how to safely provide banking and other financial services to cannabis-related businesses (CRBs) and other CRB ecosystem players. At the...
FDA Issues First Warning Letters for Delta-8 THC
In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warning letters today to companies selling products containing delta-8 THC. In total, the FDA sent out five warning letters to companies for violating the Federal Food, Drug, and...
Quality in the Retail Ecosystem: A Q&A with LucidaClub Founder Jack Roosevelt
The cannabis retail market is very unique. What began as compassion clubs and wellness centers in the early days of legal cannabis, eventually morphed into dispensaries, quickly becoming the retail model that regulators around the country adopted and businesses...
Perfecting Your Packaging for Cannabis Beverages
Some consumers participating in the legal cannabis market want to avoid inhalable products. They are concerned about the effects of the smoke or they want their usage to be discreet — without the pungent aroma emanating from burning cannabis flower. For those...
2022 Cannabis Extraction Virtual Conference
2022 Cannabis Extraction Virtual Conference Sponsored by Hardy Diagnostics View On-Demand Now Click here to see all available CIJ events and webinars Agenda The Future of Cannabis Concentrates: in Hydrocarbon Extraction & Manufacturing Michelle Sprawls, Director...
The Rise of a New Market… And a New Consumer
The adult beverage industry, like any other category of consumer branded products, is driven by trends. If you’re old enough to remember Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers, you probably also remember Zima and Smirnoff Ice, and more recently “healthy” options like...
New Jersey Launches Adult Use Sales
On Thursday, April 21, a handful of dispensaries in New Jersey begin selling cannabis to adults over the age of 21. The state has so far issued licenses for adult use sales to seven alternative treatment centers (ATCs), otherwise known as medical cannabis businesses...
State of the US Cannabis Payment Processing Market: An Interview with Executives at KindTap and Aeropay
Federal regulations have made compliant credit processing in the cannabis industry difficult to achieve. As a result, most cannabis retailers operate a cash-only model, limiting their ability to upsell customers and placing a burden on customers who might rather use...
FDA Warning Letters: Stop Claiming CBD Prevents COVID
Once again, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a number of warning letters to companies selling hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products. This time around, the FDA sent these warning letters to companies that had statements on their website claiming...
How to Navigate Section 280E: Lessons Businesses Can Learn from Recent Court Outcomes
The cannabis business landscape is complex and is under constant review and control. Further, rules and regulations from both federal and state governments can pose additional challenges and barriers to business owners. For those unfamiliar, there is a section of...
The Need for More Stringent Testing in Cannabis
As the demand for legal cannabis continues to rise and more states come online, it is imperative to enact more rigorous and comprehensive testing solutions to protect the health of consumers. People use cannabis products for wellness and to find relief; they should...
Sports Sponsorships in Cannabis: The Long Legal Road Ahead
If legal cannabis isn’t already a key facet of American culture, it is well on its way. The multibillion-dollar industry is already ubiquitous in politics, and consumers are increasingly seeing various types of marketing from cannabis brands, from billboards to...
Beyond Compliance: Understanding and Combating Contamination
As an emerging field in cannabis, contaminant testing remains a gray area for many businesses. The vast differences in state-by-state regulations, along with the frequent changes of previously established rules make testing a difficult, time-consuming process. But at...