Quarantine caused by the global outbreak of COVID-19 is forcing people across the world to find ways to entertain themselves.

In Michigan, people are lighting up.

According to a Twitter survey conducted by the health blog bodynutrition.org, Michigan residents are smoking marijuana more than any other state during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Analysts used trends software with direct access to geotagged twitter data to arrive at the conclusion.

Cannabis regulators across the country continue to react to the spreading coronavirus pandemic, with Oregon and Pennsylvania relaxing rules while storefront dispensaries were ordered closed in Nevada. The changes come as more states issue stay-at-home orders in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus.

Illinois dispensaries sold nearly $40 million dollars with of cannabis in the first 31 days of recreational cannabis sales, according to new numbers released last week.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced the number on Feb. 3. Officials said the final total of $39,247,840.83 came from the sale of 972,045 cannabis products at licensed retailers across the state.

Cannabis vape sales tumbled 26 per cent in the two months following the health crisis that has killed dozens and sickened thousands, according to new industry research.

Legal sales peaked at a combined US$160 million in August in the states of California, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona, according to a report from BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research.

As reports of vaping illnesses grew and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed the first deaths related to the practice, sales slumped to US$126 million in September and US$119 million in October. This was significant for the legal cannabis market as a whole, where vapes accounted for approximately 25 per cent of total sales in the first three quarters of 2019.

Nevada state officials have closed a marijuana testing laboratory and issued a public health warning about tainted strains of cannabis products sold at retail and medical dispensaries in the Las Vegas area, Mesquite and Carson City.

The state Department of Taxation said in a Friday notice there were no reports of illness, but that high levels of mold, yeast, bacteria and fungus were found in some products tested at the Cannex Nevada lab in Las Vegas.

The department said people with suppressed immune systems were most at-risk of illness.

Nevada’s mining industry generated $7.7 billion dollars in gross sales in fiscal 2018 and paid $125 million in state and local taxes.     

By contrast, the state’s fledgling marijuana industry generated just $529.8 million in revenue but contributed $69.8 million to state and local coffers that same year — the first of legal recreational sales. 

By the next year, fiscal 2019, marijuana taxes amounted to just under $110 million, according to the state, on sales of $639 million. 

Officials in Nevada issued a public warning after they found numerous contaminated marijuana products in stock and already sold through a handful of Las Vegas dispensaries, according to reports from Fox 5 Vegas.

According to Fox 5, “regulators are blaming the Las Vegas lab, CANNEX Nevada LLC, for approving the products. As a result, state regulators shut down the lab until its practices can be reviewed.”

When Nevada first legalized recreational cannabis in 2017, it seemed liked Las Vegas was immediately poised to welcome an influx of weed-loving tourists. A museum opened, a number of cannabis-fueled classes began to crop up, and a series of marijuana-themed tours took root. However, public consumption has hit a legal roadblock, with recent Nevada legislation postponing the licensing of consumption lounges for two whole years.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And of course what we mean is that MJBizCon Las Vegas has arrived once again. Setup is officially underway at the world’s largest cannabis conference.

The conference will take place December 11 to 13 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Approximately 35,000 people from more than 70 countries are expected to attend this year. The show will feature more than 1,300 exhibitors from all different areas of the industry including greenhouse manufacturers, lighting suppliers, financial advisors, cannabis industry lawyers and everything in between. 

Booth are being put together for MJBizCon Las Vegas 

Lab testing is a key factor in most legal cannabis markets. Most immediately, this is what helps ensure that the products consumers purchase are not contaminated with harmful substances such as mold, yeast, pesticides, or other chemicals.

It’s also one of the ways that weed-legal states try to ensure a certain level of uniformity in terms of telling consumers the potency of different products.

Ultimately, lab tests serve a number of functions as more and more governments begin figuring out how to regulate a legal marijuana industry.