New papers from data firms Headset and BDSA found a slowing of growth and even falling sales in some segments of the industry. 

• In a study of California, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Washington, Headset sees a “general slowdown across most markets.”

• “Investigating potential reasons for the declines did not provide a single “smoking gun” reason,” Headset says…”[One] possible explanation for the slowdown in sales in the US is the reopening of the economy, which has led to less leisure time for many people. This appears to be supported by store traffic being down more than the other metrics. There is evidence of this outside of the cannabis industry.”

• The slowdown may also owe to “unusually robust sales” earlier this year, fueled by stimulus payments.

• Headset found the slowdown reversed itself in July.

• BDSA breaks it down for eight key states.

Get granular with BDSA and Headset.

Related: Sales rose in many states during Covid, a study found.
Marijuana Moment

In 2013, the U.S. Justice Department document known as the Cole Memo essentially OK’d the state legal cannabis industry on the condition that it adhered to eight guidelines. One of those guidelines is “Preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states.”

The industry has generally interpreted this to mean that the federal government would not tolerate interstate cannabis commerce in any form. Now, more than three years after then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R) rescinded the Cole Memo, the industry and the states regulating it, still adhere to the rule.

However, a provocative new paper by Vanderbilt University law professor Robert Mikos argues “There is little (if any) evidence that the federal government objects to interstate commerce in cannabis or that it could do much to punish states that allowed interstate sales even if it did object.” 

• Though it has not been challenged in court, Mikos argues that the ban on interstate commerce that “states now impose” likely violate the Constitution’s Dormant Commerce Clause which “establishes a strong default rule against state protectionism.”
• In short, he’s suggesting that the current state market patchwork, where there is no legal interstate commerce, is more a way for states to protect their own homegrown jobs and industries, than something the feds demand.

If and when legal interstate commerce emerges, whether before or after federal legalization, it will have seismic consequences for the industry: 

• According to Mikos, “a new breed of large, national cannabis firms concentrated in a handful of cannabis-friendly states is likely to dominate the cannabis market. This development could dampen the incentive for new states to legalize cannabis and further diminish minority participation in the cannabis industry. To address these concerns, congressional legislation may be necessary.”

Read the whole paper.

Noted potter, comedian and “all day every day” smoker Seth Rogen says it’s time to take legalization seriously:
Forbes

• “It really bothers me that people downplay its importance and downplay how meaningful it is to some people’s lives,” says Rogen. “There’s always been lies that have been told to control weed, it’ll make you go crazy, it’ll make you lazy, it’ll do this and do that. Right now, I think the biggest lie is that it’s just not important and there are more important things to be talking about.”
• “Over the last couple years, I’ve spent as much time working on this company as I have on my films,” says Rogen. “It’s a direct reflection of mine and my partner’s creative sensibilities, and it’s come from a lifetime of putting thought into weed and, and loving weed. It’s as exciting as anything I’ve ever worked on.”
• He’s not thrilled about being aligned with billionaire Charles Koch on legalization.

Read Will Yakowicz’s excellent profile.