The Ohio initiative that legalized recreational marijuana, approved by voters last year, allows cities to opt out of allowing marijuana sales. So far, dozens have chosen to do so.

According to a new report from Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, 47 cities and townships have chosen to pass temporary or permanent bans on the licensed distribution of marijuana, making it illegal for a marijuana store to open within their boundaries. This represents 2% of the state’s over 2,000 cities, townships, and villages.

Notably, none of the state’s most populated cities have enacted such a policy, with the average population of the cities implementing bans being around 20,000. One factor that may be contributing to fewer Ohio cities imposing bans than other states— in Michigan and New York, for example, over 50% of cities have bans on marijuana stores— is the Host Community Fund established under Issue 2, Ohio’s marijuana legalization initiative.

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In March, legal marijuana sales in Colorado topped $125 million for the first time since September.

According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, there was $126,630,910 worth of marijuana and marijuana products sold through legal means in March. This is a considerable increase over the $114 million sold in February and the $115 million sold in January. However, it’s a noticeable decrease from the $139 million sold in March 2023.

The over $125 million in marijuana sales resulted in $20,879,900 in tax revenue for the state.
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Polling shows that President Biden will receive a considerable favorability jump following marijuana being rescheduled.

According to nationwide polling around 60% of those likely to vote in the upcoming election support marijuana being moved away from its current Schedule I status. The survey found that among those made aware of the potential for marijuana to be rescheduled and of President Biden’s involvement in initiating the review process, his favorability rating increased by 11%.

The poll was conducted by Lake Research Partners, with participants surveyed prior to the DEA’s recent decision to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III, confirmed by the Department of Justice on April 30. Since the poll was conducted before the announcement that the rescheduling process would proceed (rather than just being under review), there’s a chance that President Biden’s 11% increase in favorability could be even higher if marijuana is officially moved to Schedule III before November’s election.
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Workers at a Nabis Warehouse in California have voted overwhelmingly to join Teamsters Local 630. The 84 new Teamsters work as drivers and warehouse associates.

“We are dedicated to ensuring stability in the rapidly growing cannabis industry,” said Lou Villalvazo, Secretary-Treasurer at Local 630 in Los Angeles. “Organizing and empowering workers is the key to fostering their growth into the middle class.  Through solidarity and commitment, we will make these good middle-class jobs!”‘

The workers filed for the election on April 20, the internationally renowned cannabis holiday. They are the third group of cannabis workers to join the Teamsters in three weeks and the third group at the company to join the union.
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A joint committee in the Ohio Legislature has given approval to rules that will allow legal recreational marijuana sales to begin next month, much sooner than initially planned.

The Joint Committee On Agency Rule Review (JCARR) gave final approval today to regulatory changes that allows the Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) to begin issuing dual licenses next month that would allow currently operating medical marijuana dispensaries to also sell to recreational consumers (aka anyone 21 and older).

Under the approved rules, dual license applications must be open and public by June 7.
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April marijuana sales in Connecticut were slightly less than but roughly on part with sales for the previous month.

The $23,962,720 in marijuana and marijuana products sold legally in April falls short of the $24.6 million sold in March, but is more than the $22.6 million sold in April 2023. $15.6 million of the legal marijuana sold in April was purchased for recreational use, with $8.3 million purchased by medical marijuana patients. This is according to data released by the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.

Sales totals include the licensed distribution of marijuana flower and shake, as well as a variety of marijuana products including edibles, tinctures and topicals.
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Over 55,000 marijuana convictions have been automatically sealed (hidden) from people’s criminal history in Minnesota.

“Criminal history records that qualify for automatic expungement under the Adult-Use Cannabis Act [approved by voters in 2023] are no longer visible to the public in the Minnesota Criminal History System (CHS)”, according to a press release from the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Communications. “The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has expunged (also referred to as sealing) 57,780 records in CHS almost three months ahead of schedule.”

The Minnesota Judicial Branch determined that just 213 records should not be expunged.
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