FILE – In this June 28, 2017 photo, Alessandro Cesario, the director of cultivation, works with marijuana plants at the Desert Grown Farms cultivation facility in Las Vegas. Nevada is set to pioneer a law to prevent job-seekers from being immediately rejected for work based on a positive marijuana test. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) Associated Press
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Canopy Growth has promoted David Culver, naming him the company's new VP of government relations. Culver spent 16 years at the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States before joining Canopy Growth.
California cannabis brand Papa & Barkley has appointed Evelyn Wang, previously the CMO at Milani Cosmetics, as its new CEO. Zeeshan Hyder, formerly of MedMen, will become the brand's new CFO.
The Valens Company announced on Monday it would acquire edibles company LYF Food Technologies for C$24.9 million.
France's National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) selected Tilray to supply medical cannabis products for ongoing experiments related to epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and other ailments.
Gage Cannabis, a Michigan cannabis startup backed by Bruce Linton, closed a $50 million Reg A+ offering. The company says it plans to go public in the first quarter of this year.
ATAI Life Sciences announced on Tuesday it would be partnering with Massachusetts General Hospital and its new initiative, the Center for Neuroscience of Psychedelics, to advance the studies of psychedelics for mental health treatments.
Martha Stewart, in a continuation of her partnership with Canopy Growth, launched a line of CBD products geared for pets. It's her latest CBD line, after launching her human-focused CBD line last year.
Policy moves
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said cannabis reform was a top legislative priority in an MSNBC interview with Rachel Maddow. The top-ranking Democrat in the Senate expanded on his cannabis reform plan in a Wednesday evening interview on Instagram with Al Harrington, the CEO of California cannabis company Viola Brands and a former NBA player.
Oregon's drug decriminalization law went into effect on Thursday, effectively decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of any drug statewide.
A new report from the industry publication Hemp Industry Daily found that hemp's impact on the US economy could hit $16 billion by 2025.
New Jersey Gov. Murphy still hasn't signed the bill that would legalize marijuana in the state, though voters overwhelmingly passed the proposal in November. A Republican lawmaker has since introduced a new bill that would legalize growing up to six weed plants at home - a hotly-debated topic between cannabis reform activists and the cannabis industry.
On a panel hosted by cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg, New York Gov. Cuomo's assistant counsel, Axel Bernabe, and appointed cannabis czar, Norman Birenbaum, said a realistic timeline for the beginning of recreational marijuana sales in the state is 12-18 months after a bill is passed.
Science and Research
A new study in the journal Psychological Medicine found that people who use cannabis in their youth have an average IQ decline of 2 points compared to their peers who don't use cannabis.
A review published in the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology found that daily cannabis use among youth is associated with cannabis dependence and poor cognitive function. The authors noted that the regulation of cannabis should seek to minimize adolescent cannabis use.
Cannabis jobs
New York City boutique cannabis law firm Feuerstein Kulick LLP is hiring a mid-level corporate lawyer, with 3-4 years experience, according to a job posting on LinkedIn.
Chart of the week
Revenue from adult-use cannabis programs usually gets an early boost in the first few years of legalization before slowing down as markets mature, according to data from the Pew Charitable Trusts, which tracked revenue in two of the oldest adult-use states in the US. Sales in Washington ballooned 277% between 2015 and 2016; Colorado saw a 53% increase in those same years. Between 2017 and 2018, however, revenue increases were 17% and 18% in Washington and Colorado respectively:
