On November 7, the day after Democrats seized control of the House with what would become a 40-seat swing, President Trump fired his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. That day, at his home in California, Smoke Wallin’s phone blew up with congratulatory calls from friends and associates celebrating the political demise of the nation’s top law […]
Colorado
Meet America’s first pot governor, Colorado’s Jared Polis
The governor-elect takes office at a significant moment in Colorado for the cannabis industry. Jared Polis takes office Tuesday as Colorado’s new chief executive — and America’s first pot governor. The Democrat’s long-standing support for legal marijuana, his embrace of the industry as a core part of his campaign agenda and his unique strategy to […]
The 2018 Farm Bill – What it Means for Hemp Farmers’ Tax Bill
CPA Covers The Income Tax Implications for Hemp Farms after the new 2018 Farm Bill The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) has officially been signed into law. One of the major components of this legislation of industrial hemp. This blog post will mainly focus on what the tax implications of this legalization and […]
Fresh Competition Brewing in Cannabis Beverages
Cannabis beverages have been on the receiving end of a fair bit of press during the past year. In August, beverage conglomerate Constellation Brands dropped $4 billion for 38 percent of Canopy Growth, a big Canadian cannabis cultivator. Even Coca-Cola is reportedly getting in on the ganja gulping game, although for now they are considering […]
Munchies of Choice Vary Between States’ Edibles Consumers
We smoke, vape and slather our weed. We affix patches infused with THC to our arms. And more and more of us, too, eat our reefer. So far during 2018, edibles sales in major states garnered 15 percent of market share among all cannabis sales, behind flower and concentrates according to cannabis research firm BDS […]
Cannabis Consumers and Strains: Fealty and Fickle
Cannabis enthusiasts are loyal consumers of strains, finding favorites and sticking by their sides for years. Right? Sometimes. But they are fickle, too. While it is true that some consumers rarely vary from a few strains, often for wellness issues (White Widow manages my anxiety, or Harlequin helps me sleep), other consumers experiment wildly with […]
Infused Pre-Rolls Fizzle in CA, Light-Up in CO, OR
Back in the Wild West days, before California enacted adult-use sales as well as a much more comprehensive regulatory structure, it was the land of the infused pre-rolled joint. For all of 2017, for example, pre-rolls — joints that in addition to flower contain concentrates like hash and caviar, among others — harnessed 28 percent […]
Balms, Lubes, Patches: The State(s) of Topicals
As the cannabis market matures across the second decade of the 21st century, some aspects of the industry, such as flower’s lead (albeit steadily diminishing) in market share, are likely to hold steady. But the cannabis market is ever-evolving. By July of 2021, market snapshots will reveal different consumer trends in pot-friendly states. For example, […]
Med and Rec in Colorado and Oregon Go Own Ways
Before pot shoppers in Colorado and Oregon open their wallets for a gram of Green Crack or a vape pen, they first must decide which kind of store to visit: medical or adult-use. Both dispensaries will carry roughly the same mix of flower, concentrates, edibles, topicals and other products. But sales at the two kinds […]
Candy Sweetens Cannabis Edibles Market
Candy rules the edibles market, and it always has. But within the candy category, which includes gummies, mints, hard candy, caramels and more, trends diverge between states according to data from cannabis market research firm BDS Analytics. But one candy, gummies, dominates in Colorado, Oregon and California. In Colorado, gummies grab 77 percent of the […]
Cannabis Beverages Modest Market, But Thirst Growing
The cannabis beverage market is not large, compared to categories like flower and concentrates — less than one percent of all cannabis sales in Colorado, Oregon and California were spent on beverages during April of this year, for example. But interest in beverages, despite the category’s modest size, makes sense for a variety of reasons, […]
What’s Cheap? Depends Upon Where the Sales Takes Place
How much is that bag of Kosher Kush-infused gummies in the window? Among other things, it depends upon the state from which the tropical-fruit gummies are purchased. Colorado? Ouch. The average gummy product — most of which are packages containing 100 mg of THC divided between 10 individual gummies (unless the product is for microdosing, […]
Distillate Rises From Depths to Beat Oil In Vapes
When vapes hit the market, the style of vape cartridge filled with cannabis oil dominated sales. While the vape marketplace included products like distillate and Live Resin cartridges, the straightforward oil was No. 1. Just two years ago, during the first quarter of 2016, oil cartridges captured 84 percent of the entire Colorado vape market […]
Colorado’s first-in-the-nation marijuana “tasting rooms” bill heads to Hickenlooper’s desk
Concept would allow adults to vape, consume edibles at current recreational marijuana retailers Licensed marijuana “tasting rooms” could be operating in Colorado by this time next year if Gov. John Hickenlooper signs a first-of-its-kind bill that state lawmakers sent to his desk Thursday. The bill allows adults at current recreational marijuana retailers to consume small […]
How High Are Recreational Marijuana Taxes in Your State?
As public opinion increasingly favors the legalization of recreational marijuana, a growing number of states must determine how to tax legal sales of cannabis. To date, nine states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, but only eight of these jurisdictions have legal markets. […]
Legal Marijuana States Seek Meeting With Jeff Sessions
California, Oregon and other marijuana-friendly states are seeking a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in hopes of resolving the conflict between federal and state laws that has left the nation’s cannabis industry in legal limbo. Marijuana is illegal at the federal level, even as 29 states have legalized pot in some form. State […]
Blue Moon Brewer Is Launching Cannabis Infused Drinks
DENVER — The inventor of Blue Moon beer is launching three marijuana-infused drinks that promise intoxication without the alcoholic headache. The drinks, served chilled and initially only available in Colorado this fall, will contain no alcohol but will instead be infused with special marijuana formulas designed to mimic the effects of booze. Its developers say the […]
Truffle Hunting in Colorado and Oregon
Opportunities sprout like weeds across the cannabis edibles landscape. But dead-ends, while not as prolific, also lurk in corners of the edibles world. And what stands as a tantalizing route towards success in one state sometimes appears forbidding in others. Consider tinctures. The form of cannabis that normally comes in a dropper bottle did OK […]
