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🌿 VP Harris favors federal legalization, Dutchie pushes platform update, and House Democrats eye expedited rescheduling

Welcome to another edition of The Pre Roll, the cannabis newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the industry happenings you need to know. Here’s what we’re rolling up this week: VP Harris favors federal legalization, Dutchie pushes platform update, House Democrats eye expedited rescheduling, and more. Let’s get to it.

Author

Alex Lipnik
October 04, 2024

together with

Happy Friday Pre Rollers! Welcome to another edition of The Pre Roll, the cannabis newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the industry happenings you need to know.

Here’s what we’re rolling up this week:

  • VP Harris favors federal legalization

  • Dutchie pushes platform update

  • House Democrats eye expedited rescheduling

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 ROLL CALL
Policy

Source: Win McNamee / Getty Images

All the Smoke. U.S. Vice President and Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris told NBA veterans Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that she supports cannabis legalization on their “All the Smoke” podcast this week.

“I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed. And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail. I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior.”

Vice President Kamala Harris

Harris' stance on the issue has evolved over the years.

Tech

Dutchie 2.0. Cannabis tech giant Dutchie kicked off the month of October by launching a massive update to its platform. The release focuses on personalization, efficiency, and data-drive decision making across point-of-sale, eCommerce, and loyalty and marketing.

New or improved features include:

  • Personalized customer journeys

  • Custom branded and SEO optimized eCommerce experience

  • Mobile-first reporting engine

  • Integrated pay-by-bank digital payments for online shopping

  • In-store payments via multiple processors

  • Streamlined seed-to-sale operations

  • Robust partner integration options

Policy

Source: Veriheal

Race to reschedule. A pair of House Democrats — U.S. Representatives Jarrold Nadler (D-NY) and Fran Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) — sent a letter calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram to take “swift action” in rescheduling cannabis, and potentially even taking it a step further.

“We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts in initiating this review, conducting a thorough scientific and medical analysis, and engaging in the rulemaking process. We urge you to swiftly complete this process and transfer marijuana to schedule III. We also call on the Department of Justice and HHS to continue to assess whether schedule IV, schedule V, or descheduling may be appropriate.”

After news broke at the end of April that the Biden administration was poised to reschedule cannabis under federal law, the President himself made it official. The news marked the most significant policy shift in the more than half-century since the Controlled Substances Act came into effect.

The proposed rescheduling was effectively delayed in August when a hearing was scheduled for after the upcoming presidential election, but notably before President Biden is set to leave office.

🇺🇸 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

California: Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill to finally allow Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes.

Kentucky: The first license was awarded for the state’s medical cannabis program.

Massachusetts: Regulators are working to propose rules for cannabis cafes and social consumption sites.

Minnesota: A poll shows only 14 percent of Minnesotans have used cannabis recently, despite a majority saying they support recreational legalization at the national level.

Vermont: New retail cannabis applications are no longer being accepted.

🤝 DEALS

Planet 13 eyes expansion with acquisition of Exhale

The vertically-integrated multi-state cannabis company, known for its largest-in-the-world Las Vegas dispensary, entered into an agreement to purchase to buy the store location and accompanying assets of Exhale Brands Nevada.

đź’¨ QUICK HITTERS
📚 WHAT WE’RE READING

  • Cannabis Has Become Upscale Chic. I Miss the Old Red-Eyed Stoners. (New York Times)

  • 5 things to know from this week’s big report on cannabis (NPR)

  • Bay Area dispensary called 'the most important on Earth' faces financial collapse (SFGATE)

  • High Times In Seattle: How Perceptions Toward Marijuana Have Shifted (The Spectator)

  • New cannabis test rules have Connecticut cultivators concerned (CT Insider)

  • A Detroit suburb's cannabis licensing became a 3-week campout (Crain’s Detroit Business)

  • Harris wants to stand out as the pro-cannabis candidate. The industry isn’t convinced yet (CNBC)

🎙️ POTCASTS
📽️ VIDEO OF THE WEEK
🔎 JOB BOARD

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Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

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The Pre Roll Team

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