NEW JERSEY
Title: New marijuana legalization bill would allow for ‘extremely low’ number of licenses, experts say
Author: NJ Biz.com
Date: 26 January 2018
Extract:
A marijuana legalization bill expected to be introduced in the state Legislature on Feb. 1 will only allow for a limited number of licenses to be issued by the state, according to those with knowledge of the legislation.
The bill, which was discussed Thursday night by a panel of cannabis experts at the New Jersey Cannabis Symposium at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, would allow for 80 retail and 15 cultivation licenses; that number would expand to 25 cultivation licenses after the first year of the bill’s implementation.
According to panel members who have seen an early draft of the bill, it would simplify the five separate types of licenses for cannabis businesses present in current bills (cultivation, processing, transportation, retail and wholesale) to three licenses: cultivation, processing and retail.
“While I think that number [of licenses] is extremely too low, the way I see it is a way to start the conversation,” said Brian Staffa, founder and chief operator of BSC Group, a company that provides scaled management services for cultivation, processing and retail cannabis facilities.
Staffa said the draft was “dated months ago,” and would see all of New Jersey’s retail licenses distributed among the 40 legislative districts, two dispensaries per district. But this number would likely not sustain the level of demand in a state with 9 million residents. By comparison, Denver has 800 dispensaries in a city with just under 700,000 residents.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania State Attorney General Defends Patients’ Rights to Medical Cannabis
TENNESSEE
Title: Should Tennessee legalize oil-based marijuana for medical care?
Author: Johnson City Press
Date: 29 January 2018
URL: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Editorial/2018/01/29/Should-Tennessee-legalize
Extract: State Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, and state Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, have filed the Medical Cannabis Only Act of 2018, which would legalize oil-based medical marijuana products for Tennesseans who suffer from certain health conditions.