Medical marijuana won near-unanimous approval in a committee hearing in the Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly last week, the first of potentially many votes standing in the way of the plan becoming law. It’s a sign the bill could have broad support, according to the News & Observer. While the votes were not officially recorded, it appeared that all but two or three lawmakers voted for the bill.
Credit: Pro Mesa Art Studio
The bill’s sponsor is Sen. Bill Rabon, an influential committee chairman. And one of the votes in favor of it came from Senate Majority Leader Kathy Harrington. She said her husband was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, and she has since come to realize that medical marijuana could help other patients in similar, painful situations.
“If you had asked me six months ago if I would support this bill, I would have said no,” Harrington said. “But life comes at you fast.”
If the bill is passed into law, North Carolina doctors would be able to prescribe marijuana for PTSD, cancer, sickle cell anemia, ALS and several other specific health problems. Lawmakers had initially included glaucoma on the list too, but deleted it during committee.
While the legality of Delta-8 THC products is questionable, retailers say consumer demand is booming.
By Timothy S. Donahue
Delta-8 THC is currently one of the hottest cannabis products on the market. During the Tobacco Plus Expo (TPE) in May, an estimated 75–80 exhibitors out of 350 were offering a Delta-8 product. Many companies were introducing new Delta-8 products at the event; for example, Beard Vape Co., Charlie’s Chalk Dust, JustCBD and TD Distribution Co. all launched their own brands.
Recent estimates predict CBD sales in the U.S. could reach $1.8 billion by 2022. Trevor Yahn-Grode of cannabis industry analytics company New Frontier Data recently told MedPageToday.com that Delta-8 THC had retail sales of at least $10 million in 2020. That number is estimated to double in 2021. Based on the number of Delta-8 vendors at TPE (see “Finally Face to Face,” page 20), sales could triple. It was probably the most heavily hawked cannabis product at the event.
The Beard Vape Co. launched its HRVST Delta-8 brand after numerous distributors started asking about the new cannabinoid hitting the mass market, according to Zachary Kestenbaum, vice president of sales. He said his main objective at TPE was to talk with other distribution companies about where the Delta-8 market is headed. Kestenbaum said consumers like the product because it’s not as overwhelming as the traditional Delta-9 THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana commonly referred to as only THC.
“In the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, people were smoking marijuana with THC levels at 12 [percent] to 15 percent. Now they’re breeding strains that are 24 [percent] to 26 percent THC (Delta-9 THC). It really can give that head anxiety to people,” he said. “That’s why people like Delta-8 THC because you’re getting a little bit of the psychoactive effect but not at that 25 percent level like you get with the Delta-9 THC. People are preferring the Delta-8. They like it better.”
First discovered in 1941, Delta-8 THC is only slightly different from its cousin compound Delta-9 THC. The two chemicals are only one chemical bond apart, according to Josh Church, a scientist and managing director of Roots Holdings. Research has shown that Delta-8 is a powerful anti-seizure drug. “The issue is it just doesn’t naturally occur at significant levels, so it’s really easy to ban,” said Church, adding that Delta-8 also promotes relaxation, clear-headedness and increased positivity.
Research has also shown that Delta-8 significantly helps reduce stress, stimulate an appetite and lessen nausea. Delta-8 is a less “head high” and more of a body high without the nervousness and paranoia often associated with Delta-9 THC. Delta-8 THC, users should be warned, will also turn up on a drug test as “THC,” according to Church.
Looking at legality
While its popularity is spiking across the U.S., Delta-8 is not without controversy. While hemp itself is federally legal (at or less than 0.3 percent THC), each state has different laws and restrictions regarding byproducts derived from hemp, including Delta-8. No products containing Delta-8 have been tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or are FDA-approved.
Twelve states have completely banned Delta-8 sales. Those states include Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, Rhode Island and Utah. New York has a proposed rule to ban Delta-8 products, which is under a comment period until July 19. California, Oregon, Vermont and Washington are in the process of enacting regulations for Delta-8 products. Several other states are also considering bans.
The federal legality of Delta-8 products is disputed. The misinformation and ambiguity surrounding its legality is why some manufacturers in the CBD industry took time to develop and market their own Delta-8 products. Jakob Gutierrez, product specialist for JustCBD, which launched its JustDELTA-8 brand at TPE, said it took the company time to launch its Delta-8 product because it wanted to be sure it was working within the law. JustCBD only sells its products to retail shops and distributors; it does not sell directly to consumers.
“We wanted to make sure we were covering ourselves and making sure we were doing it right, complying with the right laws. Now, we were missing out a little bit because of that, but we’re back on track,” Gutierrez said. “We got on the train, and orders are exponential for the Delta-8. People are coming in, just ordering various product, and walking out. It’s insane how fast this stuff is flying out.”
Ask eight people if Delta-8 is legal federally and you’ll get eight different answers. Some believe that the vagueness of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp and hemp-derived products, means that Delta-8 is currently legal under federal law. “Because Delta-8 is such a new product, many state laws don’t address it at all, which puts it in a gray area of de facto legality,” according to Leafly, a cannabis information source. The reason states have banned Delta-8 products is an uncertainty about what it is and what it does, according to many Delta-8 manufacturers.
On Aug. 21, 2020, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued an Interim Final Ruling (IFR) that stated hemp-derived Delta-8 is federally prohibited and is to be considered the same for enforcement purposes as Delta-9 THC and that “all synthetically derived tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) remain Schedule I controlled substances.” The memo states that these products cannot be shipped to customers from retailers through the U.S. Postal Service or any other shipping method, and it is illegal to use and possess these products in states where cannabis is not legal.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s position on Delta-8 THC is that the Farm Bill mandates only a Delta-9 THC limit and doesn’t regulate Delta-8 at all, so Delta-8 is not part of the agency’s hemp mandate, according to previous statements. Since the amount of Delta-8 THC found naturally in hemp is almost 1,000 times lower than the amount of Delta-9, the agency saw no reason to address it at all, including as part of its “total THC” testing requirement.
A hemp trade association and a hemp company have filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenging the DEA’s IFR. That case is still being reviewed. The D.C. Circuit petition challenges the IFR on the basis that: 1) the DEA did not follow the appropriate notice and comment procedures, 2) the DEA does not have authority under the Farm Bill to issue the IFR, and 3) the DEA’s acting administrator lacks authority to issue the IFR.
Not all states are anti-Delta-8. For example, Florida’s statute states that “any hemp product intended for human or animal ingestion or inhalation which is sold in Florida must comply with all Florida statutes and rules. Any hemp or hemp extract products offered for sale or sold in Florida must comply with all labeling rules and have a certificate of analysis that shows a total THC (THCA x .8777 + THC Delta-9 = total THC) content of 0.3 percent or less.” Florida is the only U.S. state to have enacted legislation to provide a framework for the legal sale of Delta-8.
Florida’s statement on Delta-8 clarifies that Delta-8 does not run afoul of any Florida law and, in fact, certifies that the manufacture and distribution of Delta-8 is allowed in Florida, according to ACS Laboratory, a Tampa, Florida-based CBD testing facility. “Despite Florida’s conservative legislative trends, the state’s public policy toward Delta-8 is progressive and ultimately beneficial,” ACS’ website states. “By establishing a structured and comprehensive regulatory framework for manufacturers and distributors to follow, Florida is enabling a burgeoning industry to continue to grow and evolve while simultaneously ensuring the safety of buyers by mandating certificates of analysis for all [Delta-8] items sold.”
Chemistry lesson
The proposed updates to those New York rules that ban Delta-8 included a provision declaring that all cannabinoid and cannabinol products made through a chemical process called isomerization can no longer be sold in New York. The new rules specified the compounds Delta-8 and Delta-10.
Isomerization is, in its most basic explanation, adding a chemical bond to a molecule, according to Church. “Basically, anything you can make out of the THC molecule is banned because all isomers of said molecule are banned—technically,” explains Church. “If you remember Spice or K2, they were synthetic THC. The issue was the DEA; the FDA would ban the new molecule—say tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) 9753—and then within the next week, they would come up with THC 9756. And it was this cat-and-mouse game where the DEA, the FDA, and the Chinese authorities couldn’t stop them fast enough until they finally just banned all isomers.”
Many industry players say that the federal government will soon legalize marijuana, and the ambiguity around products like Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC will disappear. President Biden has publicly said that he supports the decriminalization of cannabis and removing it from the Schedule I list while Vice President Kamala Harris has gone further, stating that she supports full legalization. But like all the states that have legalized Delta-9 THC and have specifically banned Delta-8, it would not be surprising to see the federal government make some of those same decisions, according to Church.
“Regulation of these cannabinoids … it’s going to take an act of Congress. Then it’s really hard to try and predict what Congress is going to lay forth in the legislation. I mean, look at the nicotine space with synthetic nicotine still not being closed as a loophole around regulation,” explains Church. “Because so many states are banning it right now (Delta-8), I think the federal government will come in with some sort of hefty regulation on all the isomers or conversion molecules.”
Tony Riva, CEO of TD Distribution Co., parent to the Hi Drip e-liquid brand, also launched a Delta-8 brand at TPE. Riva said he didn’t have the concerns many of the other manufacturers had. He says the vapor industry has been dealing with a harsh regulatory environment for nearly a decade. He doesn’t see why the cannabinoid industry is going to be any different, especially as more and more cannabinoids come to market.
“If I lived in fear all the time in this industry, I’d never get anything done. We are just trying to provide a legal product and hope that the government doesn’t tell us that we can’t. It’s a constant battle with their … tyrannical overreach that they’ve thrown down on the vaping industry,” he says, adding that he expects the cannabis industry to be federally regulated in some form within the next few years. “People like Delta-8; people like Delta-10 or CBD. They feel that it helps them. We are just trying to provide high-quality, legal products to our clients. At the end of the day, it’s just going to be another hula hoop to jump through.”
Church says that he recommends any retailer or manufacturer contemplating entering the Delta-8 market to consider having a firm process of chain-of-custody documentation, adding that the cannabinoid industry should look toward the legal marijuana industry as a guideline. Church emphasized that one bad player could destroy the market by doing something wrong and causing the potential for another situation like the e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) issues that occurred because a few bad players used vitamin E acetate in black market THC vape pens without doing any research on the chemical.
“Those dirty conversions are out there; there is a lot of risk to a finished good. The last thing you want to see is a dirty lab pumping out a bunch of garbage. Then it gets distributed nationally, and we have another EVALI situation. This isn’t because of the Delta-8, which is largely safe, but because it’s a bad product. I would strongly encourage anyone looking to move into the Delta-8 or Delta-10 space to meet those high standards that are required for any type of legal consumer product,” says Church. “The reality is, though, that the sky’s the limit on these types of products. I think we’re just now seeing it with Delta-8 and Delta-10 … but it’s going to evolve into a crazy world of these new designer cannabinoids. And regulation is coming along for the ride.”
22nd Century Group has signed a definitive agreement to restructure its strategic investment in Panacea Life Sciences in line with the ongoing development of 22nd Century’s strategic partnership network.
Under terms of the agreement, 22nd Century’s existing $7 million note in Panacea will be exchanged for ownership of Needle Rock Farms, located in a Colorado hemp/cannabis growing location and valued at $2.2 million. The company will also receive a new $4.3 million note and $500,000 in Panacea equity. The new note is backed by a mortgage on the Panacea Life Sciences operations building located in Golden, Colorado, appraised at $10.7 million. Panacea will retain certain farm assets under its own nameplate of PANA Organic Botanicals at Needle Rock.
Also under the agreement, $7 million in Panacea Life Sciences Series B Preferred Stock held by 22nd Century will be converted into 91 million shares of Exactus as part of a business combination transaction via share exchange with Panacea under which Panacea will become publicly traded. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to 22nd Century.
“This exchange is an exciting leap forward for 22nd Century as we advance our upstream value chain strategy to bring highly disruptive hemp and cannabis plant lines to market. It is also highly attractive to 22nd Century on a financial basis, creating immediate value, asset-backed future value and potential future liquidity from an existing investment,” said James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group, in a statement.
“Needle Rock Farms is a world-class farming operation in a prime growing location where we already have plants in the ground toward our goal of revenue recognition from our cannabis franchise in the second half of 2021. We will also retain access to Panacea’s extraction, purification and testing equipment located in Golden, Colorado, for the benefit of our customers.”
“Rapidly growing demand means that mass cultivation is quickly becoming the critical challenge in the cannabis industry. Most existing plant lines do not exhibit the stable genetics, predictable yield or specific composition of cannabinoids required to fully unlock the value of the cannabis industry,” said Mish. “22nd Century can provide the stable, predictable plant solutions required to achieve true commercial scale and do so in as little as two years versus 7 to 10 years through traditional processes.”
The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) announced support for the legal position that Delta-8 THC, along with all other hemp-derived cannabinoids, were federally legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill. The group cites a legal opinion drafted by attorneys Rod Kight and Philip Snow of Kight Law.
Credit: Elsa Olofsson
“It is clear that the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Registry, directed that hemp be regulated as an agricultural product, and defined hemp to include its cannabinoids and all tetrahydrocannabinols from hemp, is the governing law for the hemp industry,” the HIA states in a release. “History has shown that natural cannabinoid consumption does not present public health and safety risks like those from alcohol and tobacco, but researchers have only begun to explore the full range of potential hemp-extracted compounds and their various properties. What is needed is a regulatory framework for their production that prioritizes consumer safety while being grounded in science.”
The HIA states that prohibition is a failed concept. It only exacerbates the threat to consumers created by unregulated markets, and is antithetical to the spirit of free enterprise. The HIA wants state lawmakers to eschew ineffective bans in favor of partnering with the hemp industry to craft hemp policy that safely opens markets, fosters innovation, spurs investment, and creates valuable jobs.
The HIA calls on industry leaders to build consumer confidence and expand the market for hemp cannabinoids by adopting the highest quality and potency testing standards for Delta-8 THC and similar minor cannabinoids, by marketing those products responsibly through use of transparent and detailed labeling, including potency data and warnings against consumption by minors.
“Businesses, farmers, and consumers all deserve regulations that support the exploration of the hemp plant’s full potential. This isn’t just about one minor cannabinoid —the list is over a hundred already and growing,” said Jody McGinness, HIA’s Executive Director “Fortunately, the industry has all the expertise legislators could need, and those manufacturing leaders and scientists are engaged and ready to help create productive policy solutions.”
The HIA’s Cannabinoids Council, a newly-formed member body focused on national priorities distinct to the cannabinoids sector of the hemp industry, has identified safe market expansion as a core focus for its early efforts. The stance on Delta-8 THC and other hemp-derived cannabinoids is in line with the HIA’s history of vigorously defending the legality of all hemp products, and supporting the growth of industries utilizing all parts of the hemp plant, according to the release.
The group, a trade association composed primarily of businesses and farms in the hemp industry, is currently engaged in two lawsuits in response to the DEA’s Interim Final Rule on the 2018 Farm Bill that was issued in August of 2020, creating a threat to extractors and manufacturers of hemp cannabinoids. This is the fourth time the association has gone to court to protect hemp since forming in 1994.
New Zealand’s largest licensed medicinal cannabis company, Helius Therapeutics, has appointed Joanna Perry to its Board of Directors. The appointment comes as the New Zealand-based company prepares to enter both the domestic and international markets. Perry will serve as chairperson on the board’s Audit Finance Committee.
Joanna Perry, Credit: Helius
“Joanna’s significant governance experience, combined with her well-known inquisitive probing, will be a real asset. Her nature to challenge and always seek continuous improvement strongly aligns with Helius’ internal cultural value of staying curious,” says Carmen Doran, CEO of Helius Therapeutics.
Having raised $48m in capital since 2018, Helius has invested significantly in both its facility and talent, according to a press release. Perry’s arrival to the board of Helius is timely, with its state-of-the-art, integrated medicines manufacturing facility in Auckland’s East Tamaki set to begin production.
“Our world-class executive leadership team is complete, and our board is equally excited to bring high quality, highly efficacious medicinal cannabis products to market with an exciting R&D pipeline to follow,” says Doran.
Perry says it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be involved with such an innovative biotechnology company, leading the infancy of New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis sector. “I’m delighted to add my governance and financial experience to the vast pharmaceutical and cannabinoid medicine experience of the Helius team. It’s an incredible journey not only for Helius, but for the country,” says Perry.
A central Georgia vape shop is the latest business to be raided by authorities in relation to the sale of delta-8 THC products . Two store employees were charged as part of the crackdown. The proliferation of delta-8-THC products being sold outside dispensaries has prompted a patchwork of enforcement reactions and crackdowns in states with varied policies on cannabis, from South Carolina to Oregon.
Credit: Fotokitas
The Newnan Times-Herald reports that Coweta County authorities were tipped off that the store called Tobacco & Vapor was illegally selling THC products. An undercover officer bought gummies from the store that failed THC testing. A search warrant was later executed and authorities seized 554 suspected delta-8-THC edibles and 616 suspected delta-8-THC products other than edibles.
Two of the store’s employees were charged with drug crimes including narcotics possession. Delta-8-THC is a molecule that exists rarely in the cannabis plant but can be easily synthesized from cannabinoids extracted from legal hemp, prompting confusion over its legality. Delta-8 is not specifically banned in Georgia. Delta-8 will also provide a positive result in testing as current tests used by law enforcement cannot differentiate between delta-8-THC and delta-9-THC (which is illegal federally and in Georgia).
While hemp itself is federally legal (at or less than 0.3 percent THC), each state has different laws and restrictions regarding byproducts derived from hemp, including Delta-8. No products containing Delta-8 have been tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or are FDA-approved. The 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp and its byproducts, explicitly excluded delta-9-THC, also known as simply THC, the compound that produces the typical marijuana “high.” But because of the bill’s loophole, delta-8 seemingly remains legal.
Twelve states have completely banned delta-8 sales specifically. Those states include Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, Rhode Island and Utah. New York has a proposed rule to ban Delta-8 products, which is under a comment period until July 19. California, Oregon, Vermont and Washington are in the process of enacting regulations for delta-8 products. Several other states are also considering bans. Florida’s language concerning delta-8, however, allows for the legal sale of delta-8 in that state.
In order to prosecute a business or individual for selling or possessing delta-8 products, the government has to prove that you knowingly possessed or distributed a schedule I controlled substance, specifically THC or marijuana. Georgia officials have been cracking down on delta-8 sales over the last year. In May, local law enforcement in the metro-Atlanta area executed search warrants at several stores and a warehouse belonging to a small business owner who operates a chain of vape shops. Police seized several products that allegedly contain delta-8.
New York state has joined a growing number of U.S. states that have expressly prohibited delta-8 THC and other THC isomers derived from hemp. However, lawmakers in the Empire State did make several small concessions to hemp producers, including a modification to limits on smokable hemp and removing a requirement that all cannabinoids over 0.05 percent THC be listed on product labels.
The delta-8 THC ban is part of the state’s revised regulations for hemp products. The new rules state that hemp cannabinoid products may “not contain synthetic cannabinoids, or cannabinoids created through isomerization, including [delta] 8-tetrahydrocannabinol and [delta] 10-tetrahydrocannabinol.”
New York has also placed a ban on hemp prerolls, cigarettes and any “flower product labeled or advertised for the purpose of smoking.” But the state health department says it will allow the sale of hemp flower, so long as the flower is not branded as an item for smoking, according to Hemp Industry Daily.
Hemp vapes are legal for customers over 21 and must carry “a warning stating that smoking or vaporizing is hazardous to your health.”
At least six states have considered or are currently updating their laws to specifically govern delta-8 THC, joining at least 11 that already have laws on the books addressing the minor cannabinoid, which can produce psychoactive effects in some people, although they are considered to be less potent than the delta 9-THC common in marijuana.
The labeling requirement remains in place for CBD and THC amounts in a product, just not for all cannabinoids in a product. The New York updates come six weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law making a first-in-the-nation attempt to regulate hemp operators working with flower and cannabinoid products the same way the state oversees marijuana operators, designating a new category for “cannabinoid hemp” that will be governed by a new Office of Cannabis Management.
New York’s health department told hemp and marijuana operators that it won’t require track-and-trace systems for hemp products, as some marijuana operators have requested. “Unlike medical marijuana and adult–use cannabis markets, cannabinoid hemp products can enter interstate commerce and it would be impractical to impose a state level seed–to–sale requirement on an industry not limited to intrastate,” regulators wrote. The state legalized recreational marijuana earlier this year.
Michelle Bodian, a cannabis attorney with the Vicente Sederberg firm in New York City, said that the state has the “potential to set a model for the rest of the country in regulating consumable hemp products.” But she added that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration needs to implement a single set of health-and-safety regulations. “Until there are national standards from FDA concerning cannabinoid hemp products, it continues to be very difficult and impractical for businesses to comply with these very specific state testing and labeling requirements, let alone all the other unique requirements.”
For the CBD market to thrive, it requires clear regulatory framework, a supportive government and strong consumer demand. All three have aligned in the UK this year. From a regulatory and government perspective, signals from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Home Office are increasingly positive. While rightly making consumer safety the top priority, they seem to be putting consumer choice and the desire to support the development of the UK industry in a firm joint second.
Credit: Elsa Olofsson
According to an article by Tony Reeves in the The Grocer, the final ingredient – consumer demand – is certainly there. As a ‘hero ingredient’, CBD has the potential to enhance multiple categories and formats. In the soft drinks industry, for example, it could in time match the £2bn energy drinks subcategory, representing over 5 percent of the sector’s value. Another growing area is supplements. During Covid, consumers have increased their focus on supplements and health-promoting ingredients, including those providing CBD as a main component.
Still, post-Brexit Britain presents fresh opportunities for creating a vibrant and growing CBD sector. Indeed, the Taskforce on Innovation Growth and Regulatory Reform states its primary objective is to “scope out and propose options for how the UK can take advantage of our newfound regulatory freedoms”, and will report to the prime minister this month.
Against this backdrop, the UK is uniquely placed to become a leading operator within the sector and is already viewed as a key market by manufacturers across Europe and North America. An attractive market has high barriers to entry but low barriers to growth. A sensible regulatory framework, quality standards and an increasingly educated customer base is building the entry barriers. And, for the brands that can comply and deliver, the market holds endless possibilities.
The legal cannabis is expected to increase more than 200 percent by 2025. According to research by Euromonitor International, global market research company, the market will rise from $30 billion in 2020 to over $90 billion in 2025 as consumers increase their usage in diverse parts of their lives, according to Euromonitor International.
Shane MacGuill
In a recent white paper, Breaking Stereotypes: Getting to Know the Cannabis Consumer, Euromonitor explores six adult cannabis consumer archetypes making up the emerging legal cannabis consumer base in 2021. “Cannabis user profiling is also relevant for cannabis-adjacent FMCG industries as more global consumers have access to cannabinoid-infused products,” says Shane MacGuill, senior industry manager for Nicotine and Cannabis at Euromonitor. “Cannabinoid consumers report drinking less alcohol, smoking less and taking fewer consumer health products across markets.”
The report, lists the six archetypes as:
The Seasoned Consumer: Long time regular consumers who use cannabis to enhance their well-being. 24% of these consumers suffer from high or extreme stress while 64% are strongly in favour of recreational legalization.
The Casual Social: Younger, newer consumers leveraging cannabinoid products as part of their wider lifestyles. 75% of them take vitamins or health supplements at least monthly, while 61% are strongly in favor of recreational legalization.
The Dabbler: Occasional cannabis users, familiar and comfortable with the substance but unlikely to see it as a key part of their lifestyle. 68% are in favor of its legalization for medical use while 45% believe legal cannabis should be at least as widely available as tobacco and alcohol.
The Canna-curious: A broad consumer group with an interest in adult-use cannabis consumption if legalized in their countries but with limited knowledge about cannabinoid products. 56% are in favor of legalization for medical use, while only 43% support adult-use liberalization.
The Unsparked: Consumers who are outwardly negative towards cannabis use but express enough uncertainty that many could be persuaded to engage further. 18% of these consumers believe that cannabis is unsafe, while 8% see cannabis as something that enhances a user’s lifestyle (8%).
The Naysayer: Strongly against adult use – only 8% in favor of legalization – they are not an immediate target for producers and brand owners. 51% state that they either have no or low levels of daily stress – the least stressed of all profiles.
Seasoned cannabis consumers are established, long-standing and often traditionalist cannabis users “who will form the backbone of the legal industry” as it evolves, according to MacGuill, who quthored the report, adding that companies need to understand and address the priorities of this group without alienating newer consumers whose product and brand priorities are often divergent
“As legalization expands and the normalization of cannabinoid use continues, organizations need to understand the motivations of the modern cannabis consumer and look beyond typical stereotypes,” MacGuill states. “The legal cannabis industry must mirror the views and values of its consumers, given its history and the nature of its often counter-cultural evolution. Industry players can only achieve this with a nuanced segmentation and holistic understanding of participants in the sector.”
The governor of New Mexico on Monday signed a bill to legalize marijuana in the state, as well as a separate measure to expunge records for people with prior, low-level cannabis convictions.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) gave final approval to the legislation, a key accomplishment for her administration after she listed legalization as a 2021 priority, according to Marijuana Moment. Although lawmakers failed to pass a legalization bill before the regular session’s end last month, the governor convened a special session to ensure they got the job done.
“The legalization of adult-use cannabis paves the way for the creation of a new economic driver in our state with the promise of creating thousands of good paying jobs for years to come,” the governor said in a press release. “We are going to increase consumer safety by creating a bona fide industry. We’re going to start righting past wrongs of this country’s failed war on drugs. And we’re going to break new ground in an industry that may well transform New Mexico’s economic future for the better.”
“As we look to rebound from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic,” she said, “entrepreneurs will benefit from this great opportunity to create lucrative new enterprises, the state and local governments will benefit from the added revenue and, importantly, workers will benefit from the chance to land new types of jobs and build careers.”
Provisions of the legalization bill and expungements legislation were initially included together in the same package that passed the House during the regular session but later stalled on the Senate floor. When the special session started, however, supporters split up the legislation to win favor from Republicans and moderate Democrats who expressed opposition to the scope of the original proposal.
With Lujan Grisham’s action, New Mexico is the third state to formally end cannabis prohibition within the span of days. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a marijuana legalization bill into law late last month, just hours after lawmakers sent it to his desk. In Virginia, lawmakers last week accepted amendments to a legal cannabis bill that were suggested by Gov. Ralph Northam (D), giving final passage to the bill that they had initially approved in February.
