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.

Millions of Americans now have access to medical marijuana. But millions more do not, and attempts to change that have hit a brick wall in some states. Medical marijuana is inaccessible to 34 percent of the states in the country and remains illegal on a federal level.

This fact is a fly in the face of national sentiment. Based on the most recent nationwide survey by Gallup, 66 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana.

Throughout history, cannabis was regulated by federal law on reservations, so it was generally illegal. But after the 2013 Cole Memo, the topic of cannabis on tribal land and how it ties into the tribe’s government autonomy became increasingly prevalent.

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.

The city with the most dispensaries based on its population figure is Missoula, Montana.

When most Americans pass by a store selling liquor, beer, or wine, they barely think twice about it. That’s because its existence isn’t novel; we all know plenty of folks who drink and buy alcohol. Outside of a few select cities, seeing a marijuana dispensary on a street corner still causes heads to turn.

What are they going to do about the oversupply in Oregon!?

All year, this question has dominated news sources peddling the saga of Oregon’s more than six-year oversupply of cannabis -- when, in fact, the market had an undersupply in some sectors and is certainly gaining in value overall. Anyone looking at day-to-day sales data currently in Oregon knows that it reflects way higher averages than reported even as recently as September in Vice. So, where is the press getting this seemingly false information? By being ignorant of the caveats associated with the industry and relying only on numbers pulled from an OLCC report calculated on flawed methodology. 

Oregon cannabis stores sold $793 million in products to consumers last year, generating more than $110 million in tax revenue for state and county coffers, according to an analysis of Oregon Liquor Control Commission data.

That’s close to $150 million more in sales than 2018. By next year, totals are expected to climb to nearly $1 billion.

“We think sales will continue to grow,” said Beau Whitney, vice president and senior economist for New Frontier Data, a global analytics firm. “Demand is coming from converting consumers from the illicit market and people moving away from the medical market.”

Marijuana sales in Oregon along the Idaho state line are 420% the statewide average, according to a state report.

Idaho residents are purchasing recreational marijuana in Oregon because it is illegal in Idaho, the report released Friday by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis said.

The report also showed stronger marijuana sales for Washington state along its border with Idaho in 2019 than along its borders with Oregon or Canada.

A hemp farm based in the Pacific Northwest is suing numerous processers for failing to show up and process their crop after receiving a hefty down payment.

Jefferson State Farms from Medford, Oregon – owned by Ben and Kathleen Yuma – is suing a group of harvesters who left them hanging after getting paid a six-figure down payment. Palex Enterprises, Hemp Warehouse, Great Horizons, and four individual processors are the listed defendants.

Oregon farm regulators have won approval from a key legislative committee to hire two specialists focused on hemp inspections and enforcement.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has also gotten authorization to fund an assistant water master who’d investigate claims of water law violations by hemp farmers.

Hemp production has exploded in Oregon in recent years, increasing from about 100 acres in 2015 to more than 63,000 acres in 2019.

To keep pace with the industry’s growth, the ODA has assigned employees from other segments of its natural resources program to work on hemp licensing and other hemp issues.