This past year was a whirlwind for the cannabis industry, from the introduction of countless cannabis-related bills in Congress to the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The 2018 Farm Bill federally legalized industrial hemp and signaled the beginning of explosive growth in the hemp-derived CBD market, which Brightfield Group estimates will reach $22 billion by 2022. At the state level, Arkansas quietly worked to roll out a medical marijuana program, while other states, like Missouri, passed ballot initiatives to legalize medical cannabis within their borders.
As we look ahead to what is sure to be a busy 2019, we rounded up Cannabis Business Times’ top 10 most-read articles of 2018.
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10. Medical Marijuana in Missouri: A Tale of Three Ballot Initiatives
Missouri voters had three options to legalize medical marijuana during November’s midterm election: two constitutional amendments and one statutory amendment. While all three measures would achieve the same overall goal of legalizing medical cannabis, each outlined varying taxes and ways to regulate the program. Read more
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9. Hemp-Derived CBD Will Outpace All Other Cannabis Markets, Projected to Hit $22 Billion by 2022
According to a report released by the Brightfield Group (https://www.brightfieldgroup.com/), the hemp-derived CBD market is expected to hit $591 million in 2018, and it may grow 40 times this size—to $22 billion by 2022—now that the 2018 Farm Bill has passed with a provision that legalized industrial hemp. The rapid growth will be supported by an anticipated explosion in distribution channels for these products in the next few years; chain retailers are expected to enter the market as soon as 2019. Read more
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8. Here’s the 2017-2018 Federal Legislation That Could Affect Your Cannabis Business
Nearly 50 cannabis-related bills were introduced in Congress during the 2017-2018 session. Cannabis Business Times compiled a list of those bills, which, if passed, would reform federal policies on controlled substances, hemp cultivation, banking access and states’ rights in the burgeoning cannabis industry. Read more
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7. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Resigns
After November’s midterm election, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions submitted a letter of resignation at the request of President Trump. Sessions' time at the helm of the U.S. Department of Justice was marked most visibly to the cannabis industry by his repeal of the Cole Memo, which had previously guided states' marijuana regulations. Sessions’ chief of staff, Matthew G. Whitaker, became acting attorney general, and in early December, Trump announced his intention to nominate former Attorney General William Barr for the position. Read more
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6. Cannabis Cultivation: Slash Your Water Use by 50 Percent or More
As profit margins shrink and regulators zero-in on water waste and use, interest in water reclamation—the process of capturing and recycling wastewater for other uses—is growing. In our July 2018 issue, Cannabis Business Times spoke with four cannabis operations practicing or planning water reclamation for insights on their processes and lessons learned. Read more
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5. Arkansas Prepares to Score Dispensary Applications in Next Phase of Medical Marijuana Rollout
Although legal troubles threatened to halt cannabis business licensing and the launch of Arkansas’ medical marijuana program earlier this year, industry advocates reported a relatively smooth and timely rollout in the Natural State in August, as a third-party, Boston-based consulting firm prepared to score dispensary applications. Medical cannabis will likely be available to patients in spring of 2019. Read more
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4. The $25 Pound
In Cannabis Business Times’ July 2018 cover story, we spoke with Dan and Glen James of Bosmere Farms, who shared how some serious bootstrapping has allowed them to drastically cut production costs and compete in Oregon’s saturated market. The key, according to the James family, is cutting costs (including their costs of living) to the bare minimum and focusing their production on the extract market—exclusively. Read more
Photo courtesy of Viola Extracts
3. Police Raid Michigan Cultivation Facility; Business Owners, Investors React
Al Harrington, former NBA star and current investor in Viola Extracts, said his company was operating by the books when police seized its assets in May. On July 31, Judge Kenneth King dismissed the criminal charges against six Viola Extracts employees arrested during the police raid on the Detroit cannabis cultivation business. Read more
Photo courtesy of Acreage Holdings; John Boehner headshot © Terra Eclipse | Wikimedia
2. Introducing Acreage Holdings, the Quietly Growing Cannabis Corporation Joining Forces with John Boehner
Acreage Holdings grabbed the cannabis industry’s attention when it announced on April 11 that former House Speaker (and longtime marijuana prohibitionist) John Boehner and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld were joining its board of advisors. But even before Acreage Holdings burst onto national headlines, the company had been quietly investing in 11 different state-legal cannabis markets. Read more
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1. Your Guide to Ethanol Extraction
In Part III of a special extraction series, Cannabis Business Times’ columnist Mark June-Wells delved into ethanol’s properties, the different types of extraction strategies, safety considerations for ethanol systems and laboratory infrastructure considerations. Read more
