US House leader ‘hopeful’ cannabis legalization coming

The chair of a key U.S. House panel that is poised to approve a sweeping marijuana legalization measure Wednesday said he is “hopeful” that the full House will pass the bill in this congressional session, which ends Jan. 3, 2021. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler indicated at a news conference that it is unlikely the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act would go to the House floor before year-end because “we’re rather busy” and more bipartisan support is needed. The bill would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and earmark tax revenues to help small companies and the economically disadvantaged secure cannabis business licenses.

– Jeff Smith

Regulators in Nevada suspended the license of a marijuana testing lab after investigators discovered what they described as “inaccurate and misleading” potency in cannabis products. In the first license suspension of a marijuana testing facility in Nevada, Sparks-based Certified Ag Lab was ensnared in the state’s investigation of cannabis laboratories, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a Florida-based multistate operator, posted record revenue of $70.7 million in its third quarter ended Sept. 30, a 150% increase over revenue of $28.3 million during the same period in 2018. Net income rose from $17.5 million in the third quarter of 2018 to $60.3 million in the same period in 2019. The company, a dominant player in Florida’s medical marijuana industry, has benefited from the surge of business since smokable flower was allowed in the state in March.
A chart displaying the quarterly earnings for major cannabis companies is available here.

Washington state regulators banned the sale and distribution of any products containing vitamin E acetate, an additive in some cannabis vaping products identified as a likely culprit in the vaping health crisis. The ban by the Washington State Board of Health goes into effect Wednesday. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board along with the health department recently asked cannabis companies to voluntarily stop making products containing vitamin E acetate. The ban on production and distribution will now be mandatory.

For more of Marijuana Business Daily’s ongoing coverage of the vaping crisis, click here.

– Bart Schaneman

California’s struggling marijuana market likely will need at least a couple of years to overcome hurdles such as a still-vibrant black market, industry layoffs and the fallout from the national vaping crisis, some of the state’s top cannabis regulators said at an industry conference.

– Associated Press