This next part is going to hurt.
Far more people than ever are consuming cannabis, while the OGs of American canna business are going belly up. The wrongness of this picture could spur a western states weed pact.
Even the casual observer can see that COVID-19’s arrival has exacerbated market-transition problems arising from 2018’s REC legalization. For more than a quarter century, MED flourished, but two years of legalization has Cali’s estimated 68,000 growers dealing with chaos and losses previously unimaginable.
Cannabis Business Times/Washington Post
- “We can’t even get just a typical, normal small business loan,” says advocate and lobbyist Hezekiah Allen. “These types of events [like the current situation] are when those safety nets can be helpful: a low-cost bridge loan, operating capital loans, the SBA is making grants now for goodness sake, but none of that’s available to us.”
- Colorado Rep. Ed Perlmutter says Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has signed on to support his effort to include marijuana businesses in the next federal stimulus package.
- The impending consumer spending crisis is 2020’s fundamental concern. Early unemployment numbers suggests a summer that will test Mary Jane’s reputation for being recession proof.
- Some California companies are struggling with social distancing, as their facilities weren’t constructed for six-foot spacing. Facilities are being retooled and capacity reduced. Some of the workforce reportedly has been unwilling or unable to report to their jobs.
Quick Hits
- This week Florida real estate is trying to make sense of Cannafornia CEO Paul King. The Golden State operator was running all over The Sunshine State calling himself The Cannabis King. In addition to presiding over defunct farms, King adds to his woes a lawsuit accusing him of raiding corporate funds to purchase luxury condos in Miami.
The Real Deal - On Monday, Los Angeles reporter Amanda Chicago Lewis posted a thread on bud smoking and the coronavirus that explored cannabinoids’ anti-carcinogenic effects and linked to a medical peer-reviewed study.
Twitter - Here is the trailer for Dennis: The Man Who Legalized Cannabis, a Pax Labs-produced film about Dennis Peron. As with most 2020 event scheduling, its July screening date at the Roxie Theater is tentative.
Bay Area Reporter
