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Illinois Surpasses $1 Billion Marijuana Sales Mark
Officials in Illinois are reporting that in its first year of operation, the state’s recreational marijuana program has sold over one billion dollars in marijuana products to adults.
That one billion dollar figure does not include data for medical sales from December, according to Marijuana Moment.
The sales figures are resulting in a much-needed windfall for state programs. In October, officials announced that the state had so far collected more than $100 million in revenue from cannabis sales since the market opened.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) also recently announced more than 500,000 expungements and pardons for people with low-level marijuana offenses on their records.
Massachusetts Cities Earn Nearly $15 Million in Marijuana Taxes
MassLive reports that for the fiscal year ending June 2020, Massachusetts cities and towns earned $14.9 million in tax revenue from marijuana sales. That is up from $2.9 million the prior fiscal year
In Massachusetts communities, the tax on recreational marijuana can add up to 20%: a 6.25% sales tax, a 10.75% excise tax and a local option tax for cities and towns of up to 3%. Communities also impose impact fees not only on marijuana retailers but also on growing and processing facilities.
As of the end of October, Massachusetts’ 80 operating marijuana retailers topped $1 billion in total gross sales, according to the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. The milestone was reached two years after the first two pot shops opened in November 2018. They were the first legal recreational marijuana shops on the East Coast.
Missouri Republican Files Marijuana Legalization Measure
Missouri Rep. Shamed Dogan, a Republican, prefiled a measure to amend the state constitution to legalize recreational cannabis, according to St. Louis Public Radio.
Dogan said he is the first in the majority party to file a recreational cannabis bill. While the House has taken up proposals in past sessions, the Senate has been reluctant to do so. Dogan said he is confident his proposal will get the traction it needs to make it to the floors of both chambers for discussion.
“Ten percent of the total arrests in the state of Missouri in 2018 were for marijuana possession,” Dogan said. “Just by tackling that, that’s going to address a lot of those racial disparities.”
What is different about this bill, though, is the lack of state regulation when it comes to who can grow cannabis and sell marijuana. Dogan said that was intentional.
“I don’t think we need a huge bureaucracy to pick winners and losers in terms of who gets licenses,” Dogan said.
The proposal taxes marijuana at 12%, mandates that it be properly tested and labeled, and would not allow adults to use cannabis in public places.
Oklahoma Nail Salon Offers Marijuana Manicures
FOX23 in Tulsa reports that one nail salon in town is allowing its clientele to use medical marijuana during their appointments.
The owner of Hybrid Nail Salon, Elizabeth Brown, says her customers are not just able to access Netflix or the pool table in the main room, but they can also bring in their medical marijuana. Brown said, “They can bring their own vapes, a bong, a hookah, bowls, any edibles…all is welcome here.”
Brown says she opened the business back in May during the pandemic. She says it came with a slow start, but her business has gained attention from across the country—especially on social media. Brown says she now has 100K followers on Tik Tok. She added, “I had a feeling it would spark a lot of interest because marijuana is so big in the world right now.”
Researchers Find Classical Music Is Not Best for Psychedelic Therapy
Marijuana Moment notes that researchers at Johns Hopkins University are the first to ask the question: which kind of music is best for enhancing a psychedelic trip.
The researchers said the study “provides the first contemporary and within-subject experimental manipulation of session set and setting factors in psychedelic research” and is the “first fully randomized test of different musical genres supporting psychedelic therapy.”
Participants each had three therapy sessions, one featuring classical music, another featuring overtone music (such as gongs, singing bowls, or a digeridoo) and a third session for which they could choose between the two genres.
Data showed a slight preference for overtone music, but not enough to be statistically significant, casting doubt on the assumption that western classical music is the best background sound for psychedelic therapy.
