Here’s what I’m reading:

• Michigan recorded nearly $1B in 2020 cannabis sales.
  New Cannabis Ventures
• MSO Cresco Labs said it would acquire Bluma Wellness in an all-stock deal worth $213M. It’s a big move into Florida for Illinois-based Cresco.
• Canadian giant Canopy Growth is confident it will enter the U.S. market this year.
  BNN Bloomberg 
• MED is now legal in Mexico.
  Reuters
• After leaving Harborside, Steve DeAngelo talked to MJBiz about his future plans. He called the recent tough story in Politico about his non-profit Last Prisoner Project “a hit piece.”
• Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, perhaps the last megadonor to oppose U.S. cannabis legalization, died at 87.
  Chris Roberts — Forbes
• Neuroscientist and Columbia University professor Carl L. Hart has a new book called Drug Use for Grown-Ups:Chasing liberty in the land of fear. In it he argues responsible drug use can be positive and writes “I am now entering my fifth year as a regular heroin user.”
  New York Times 
• Westword (Denver) flashed its 10 favorite pot photos of 2020.

Beer giant Molson Coors is launching a line of CBD-infused beverages in Colorado, making it the highest-profile company I’m aware of to enter the U.S. CBD market. This week’s announcement came days after Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate in the Georgia runoff elections, creating a business climate observers widely believe will be friendlier to cannabis.
WeedWeek

• The brand, Verywell, is launching under Truss CBD USA, a joint venture between Molson Coors and Canadian cannabis company Hexo. The sparkling beverage contains 20 mg of CBD, zero calories and will be available in three flavors.
• Rick Batenburg III, Chief Investment Officer of Colorado-based venture capital firm Cliintel Capital, sees the Verywell launch as primarily a “stepping stone” for Molson Coors to enter the U.S. THC market.

Here’s why.

In other CBD news: 

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released an article on its plans for CBD research. The hemp world wasn’t pleased.
  WeedWeek
• The USDA released its long awaited final rule for hemp.
  Marijuana Moment
• Canna Law Blog says the future for smokable CBD “is not great.”

Everything’s big in Texas, except the cannabis market. 

While industry operators salivate at the prospect of finding a foothold in the country’s second most populous state, there are many reasons why the Lone Star state could be a tough business climate for years to come. 
WeedWeek

At present, Texas probably has the country’s most restrictive MED program.

Read all about it.

Related: Virginia released plans to legalize REC. It would be the first state in the former confederacy to do so.
Times-Dispatch

Quick Hit

1. The National Cannabis Industry Association condemned “Some GOP lawmakers’ attempts to undermine American democracy.“

Big stories this week:

• With Democrats in control of the Senate, bullish MSOs are rushing to raise cash.
  Bloomberg
• Oregon’s legal market has 86% of market share, compared to only 41% in California, according to New Frontier Data.
  Portland Business Journal
• Legendary investor Bill Miller told Business Insider about his favorite pot stock. (Paywall)
• London’s first cannabis IPO could arrive soon.
  Financial Times
• Edibles outperformed industry growth in 2020.
  MJBiz
• There’s pushback in South Dakota and Montana against the REC initiatives their voters passed in November.
  KEVN, Marijuana Moment
• Cannabis use drops in January, maybe because of new year’s resolutions.
  Eureka Alert
• Rapper Berner’s Cookies brand release a product combining “medicinal but not psychedelic” mushrooms with terpenes and cannabinoids CBD, CBG and CBN.
  Forbes
• The tony magazine Wallpaper highlights some its favorite uses of design by cannabis brands.

Mechanical engineer Darwin Millard, sometimes known as the “Spock of Cannabis,” works with clients to improve their extraction and manufacturing methods. He also chairs the National Cannabis Industry Association’s manufacturing committee.

We had really interesting conversation about why cannabis needs to adopt uniform technical standards in areas like testing and product remediation.
WeedWeek

Even within the industry, few people think about these arcane issues, but they matter in a big way.

• For example, everyone involved in the U.S. hemp industry depends on producing a crop that contains less than 0.3% THC. But there’s no internationally recognized testing method to determine if hemp is “hot.” So, whether a farmer has to throw out her crop or not can depend on which test she uses.

Believe it or not, standards or the lack thereof, go a long way to determine everything from the industry’s environmental impact to how diverse it is. They may affect your business too.

Read the whole interview.

After New Jersey voted to legalize REC on election day, Gov. Phil Murphy refused to sign a REC bill on grounds that it didn’t include fines for underage users. Several observers suggested to me that it’s a bizarre rationale.

REC in New Jersey is widely expected to set off a “domino effect” across the northeast, but it could easily be a year or more before the state’s first legal sale. I spoke to two attorneys — Vicente Sederberg‘s Jennifer Cabrera and Hoban‘s Steve Schain — about what to watch for in the Garden State and across the Hudson River in New York.

Here’s a status update for legalization in two big states likely to set the tone in the northeast.
WeedWeek

• Politico explains why New Jersey’s REC bill collapsed.
• Meanwhile, REC license applications are now available in Arizona.

Plus: PR star Rosie Mattio says the east coast could determine the future of cannabis branding.
Rolling Stone

Quick Hit

1. This week several companies and industries said they would withhold campaign contributions from members of Congress who objected to certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. I reached out to the National Cannabis Industry Association to see if they’ve established a policy or recommendations for the industry. No word yet, but I’ll keep you posted.
   Bloomberg

Here’s what I’m reading:

• The pandemic has been mostly good for the cannabiz.
  East Bay Express
• California’s budget summary laid out plans for how the state will streamline industry regulation.
  Eureka Times-Standard
• Greenhouse Grower says the industry needs to get greener.
• Some companies say cannabiz workers should be prioritized for Covid vaccines.
  Marijuana Moment
• Oregon Public Radio looked at industry consolidation.
• MSO Columbia Care bought a second San Diego dispensary for $15M.
• California wildfires may not have been as damaging for growers as anticipated.
  MJBiz
• Jay-Z made an appearance in a video Subversive Capital put together for investors.
• Psychedelics company Novamind raised C$10M to build out a network of ketamine clinics. (paywall)
  Business Insider

The Democrats’ victories in the two Georgia run-off elections were quickly overshadowed by a Trumpist mob storming the U.S. Capitol. However, the Democrats will now control both houses of Congress, fulfilling the cannabis world’s top priority for the 2020 election cycle. Now the question is what kinds of reform legislation can be achieved.

• Charlie Bachtell, CEO of MSO Cresco Labs, called the result a “big win” for cannabis. But it’s not clear whether the result will be full legalization or more modest reforms such as banking access, the end of 280E or none of the above. I spoke to Vertical Wellness CEO Smoke Wallin, and Drug Policy Alliance national affairs director Maritza Perez about what happens next.
  WeedWeek
• Among other things, Wallin predicted that no matter what else happens, the current ban on interstate trade will remain in place for much longer than many in the industry hope. He argues the states have too much invested in the infrastructures and rules they’ve built, not to mention the jobs they’ve created. 
• Separately, Michelle Rutter Friberg, a lobbyist with the National Cannabis Industry Association, shared the lay of the land in Congress. Bottom line: Real change is possible but there’s “not a lot of room for error.”  
  WeedWeek
• In his newsletter, Dai Truong discussed the Georgia races’ implications for cannabis investing.
• Cannabis world is lukewarm on President-elect Joe Biden’s selection of Merrick Garland for attorney general. Marijuana Moment explains why.

Quick Hit

1. It’s looking more like 2021 is the year New York legalizes REC.
   New York Times

Kris Krane, president of multi-state operator 4Front, recently made the case to WeedWeek that “a gummy is a gummy is a gummy.” Specifically, he discussed how the company’s strategy is to streamline manufacturing so it can produce and sell quality edibles at lower cost than the best known brands. 

Customers haven’t yet developed deep brand loyalties, he argued, and are more than willing to experiment with lesser known competitors, especially when they cost a few bucks less. The approach has enabled 4Front to produce seven of the top 10 edibles brands in Washington state. 

Kristi Knoblich Palmer, CEO of Kiva Confections, one of California’s leading edibles brands, respectfully disagrees, and thinks consumers see it her way. “I guess it depends on what your goals are,” she said. ”If you’re just looking to play in the gummy space and not hoping to be a major player, you can get away with that strategy.” 

In an interview with WeedWeek, she discussed the most exciting opportunities for novel products. 

Here’s what’s happening in California and around the country:

California plans to streamline cannabis regulations this year.
MJBiz

A win for both Democrats in last night’s Georgia Senate races — which appeared likely at press time — could be a major boost for federal banking reform.
MJBiz

San Diego’s new cannabis bureau aims to foster the industry.
San Diego Union-Tribune

During the pandemic, many consumers switched from booze to grass.
Forbes

Activist group Supernova Women, a group focused on promoting women of color in the industry, is getting involved in Oakland’s first of its kind workforce development program.
Green Market Report

Marijuana Moment ran through the states most likely to legalize in 2021.

Javier Hasse took the measure of flower-based art.
Forbes