Could this key change save the cannabis industry? | GreenState | GreenState
Greenstate
Open Search
Open Additional Navigation
Site Navigation
News
Explained
Lifestyle
Perspective
Health
Reviews
Food+Drink
Travel
Directory
Additional Navigation
NewsOpen submenu
Labor
Law
Money
Cannabis State by StateOpen submenu
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Illinois
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
New Mexico
New York
Oklahoma
Food+DrinkOpen submenu
Recipes
HealthOpen submenu
Sex
Beauty
Indications
Arts
Perspective
ReviewsOpen submenu
Products
Hardware
Dispensaries
TravelOpen submenu
Destinations
Itineraries
Equity
Podcast
Psychedelics
Curated
Sponsored
Glossary
Terms of Use
Privacy Notice
Your Privacy Choices
Close Navigation
Close
Search the site
Type keyword(s) to search
cannabis industry
Could this key change save the cannabis industry?
February 1, 2024
Cara Wietstock
Share
There are many interwoven issues that make up the problems in the cannabis space–from oversupply to environmental factors. As someone who has covered weed for almost a decade, I sometimes wonder how many of them can be solved by opening the borders.
RELATED: Does THCA get you high? The answer depends
Interstate commerce would mean California-grown Sour Diesel could finally legally make it to New York. More generally, states could export flower grown in desirable landscapes to other states with legalized marijuana. Idaho harvests one-third of all potatoes, and 60 percent of U.S. citrus comes from California. Cannabis could be the same–and California farmers are ready.
Many cannabis businesses would benefit from the ability to work across state lines, and the impact might ripple beyond just the industry.
Kim Stuck of Allay Consulting shared her views in a statement sent to GreenState.
“Interstate commerce would benefit so many businesses, as it would grow their potential clientele through expanding their market,” she said.
The basics of interstate cannabis commerce
Obviously, if states shipped cannabis products into other state markets, brand footprints and product consistency might grow. Farmers growing in saturated markets like California would also benefit. Meanwhile, Connecticut cannabis dispensaries are in a drought. Sending extra weed where it’s needed might solve lots of problems—and not just financial ones.
Growing cannabis outdoors can be the most sustainable option. Currently, cannabis cultivators are legally required to grow within state lines, even if the climate isn’t copacetic–leading operations indoors. Outdoor biodynamic cultivation in the appropriate climate uses fewer resources than indoor cultivation. Consider the energy output of lights and HVAC alone. Additionally, places like California have a terroir built to cultivate premium buds.
“While we celebrate the diversity within the cannabis industry, it’s essential to acknowledge the unique qualities that set these regions apart as unparalleled sources of top-tier cannabis,” Joyce Cenali of Sonoma Hills Farm told GreenState.
Another long-time Emerald Triangle farmer, John Casali of Huckleberry Hill Farms, pointed out that Northern California legacy cultivators hold proprietary genetics that could become nationwide commodities with the opening of state borders.
“Small farmers have come to understand that their real value lies in the rare legacy genetics. It has also come to our attention that the stories that helped create this multi-billion dollar industry have great value,” Casali said to GreenState. “Interstate commerce would only help educate the consumer and expose them to more of the Emerald Triangle magic that has forever found its way across state lines, whether legally or not.”
RELATED: The real story on cannabis-induced psychosis
Benefits on the table– what would it actually take to make interstate cannabis a reality?
What it would take to get interstate cannabis
Rescheduling alone wouldn’t make it alright to ship into new state markets, but it may help cannabis brands get one step closer. States have started taking interstate commerce into their own hands with bills, setting themselves up for cannabis exports and imports in advance of eventual rescheduling.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a May 2023 interstate commerce bill into law that opened doors for the state. Just South in Oregon, Governor Kate Brown signed a bill in June 2023 that would allow the export of cannabis to other state programs with a shift in federal law.
California Gov. Newsom did the same, but with a clause that requires imports to meet or exceed all packaging regulations and safety requirements. This brings into question the regulation of products and compliance in general.
“With compliance, things are a bit more tricky,” regulatory expert Stuck shared. “It’s unlikely for regulators to allow interstate commerce for everyone, as they need to worry about illicit market participation.”
While the world waits for federally-mandated rescheduling, Republican Congressman Dave Joyce is hoping to jump ahead with STATES 2.0 Act in early December. Section three of the bill outlines interstate commerce from tracking systems to transit vehicle protections from local police, and it deschedules the plant rather than move it to schedule three. However, the bill is early in process.
In the event of DEA rescheduling, regulation would defer to the FDA. For those that get the FDA stamp, compliance becomes managed by the Fed, with products held to the same standards. Though, come rescheduling, many are hoping cannabis doesn’t go into the realm of pharmaceuticals. Though STATES 2.0 lays out a framework, it is yet to be determined how cannabis tracking would be managed in the event of rescheduling.
“To limit illegal activity, regulators would need to implement a travel licensing system that tracks cannabis products and confirms that they are a part of a licensed program rather than some unregulated facility,” Stuck explained.
A system would confirm that only licensed products make it into new state markets. It might also track the flow of weed, meaning saturated markets would only export rather than be inundated with even more products. There is much to consider, but the most prominent factor is that the moving product across state lines would be a major coup for struggling legacy operators in California and dispensaries like those in Connecticut dealing with shortages.
Interstate commerce is a growing buzzword amid rescheduling as well as supply and demand hiccups. The process would require even more bud bureaucracy, but with a look at how it might benefit industry operators, consumers, and the planet–it may be worth it.
Share
Cara Wietstock Cara Wietstock is senior content producer of GreenState.com and has been working in the cannabis space since 2011. She has covered the cannabis business beat for Ganjapreneur and The Spokesman Review. You can find her living in Bellingham, Washington with her husband, son, and a small zoo of pets.
Trending
Neurodivergent cannabis studies are on the rise with these exciting results
Cara Wietstock
Is weed already legal nationwide? An expert weighs in
Rachelle Gordon
10 best stoner-approved cannabis stash boxes
Cara Wietstock
Could cannabis prevent COVID? Survey says…
Rachelle Gordon
Where does your state rank on cannabis freedom?
Cara Wietstock
Related Articles
Previous
Next
green rush podcast
The Green Rush Podcast: Jess Tyler of MJBiz and MJBizCon
cooking
Budding gourmet: tips for cooking while baked
concentrates
Concentration: the evolution of cannabis extraction
hemp
Is weed already legal nationwide? An expert weighs in
budding botanist
The Budding Botanist: can you grow cannabis with any light?
astrology
Strains of the Zodiac: picking pot according to sun signs
health
Can you donate plasma if you smoke weed?
cannabis stocks
Cannabis investors’ excitement is reignited: what you need to know
Trending
Neurodivergent cannabis studies are on the rise with these exciting results
Cara Wietstock
Is weed already legal nationwide? An expert weighs in
Anthony Coniglio
10 best stoner-approved cannabis stash boxes
Cara Wietstock
Could cannabis prevent COVID? Survey says…
Anthony Coniglio
Where does your state rank on cannabis freedom?
Cara Wietstock
Greenstate
About GreenState
Advertise With Us
Terms of Use
Privacy Notice
CA Notice at Collection
Your CA Privacy Rights (Shine the Light)
DAA Industry Opt Out
Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads)
Sign up for the Field Guide
Submit
Follow Us
© 2024 Hearst Communications, Inc.
Import status: Running file import (still 0 documents to extract and analyze and 4 documents to OCR)
Because of yet running and open tasks like text extraction and analysis maybe not all results were found yet, since at the moment of this search 0 file(s) could be only searched, overviewed and filtered by their file names only, not yet by their content and/or content based facets/filters!
You can prioritize the import(s) of (a) not yet processed file(s) by click on "Prioritize import" in the list view.
2024-02-03T02:25:23Z
interstate-cannabis-commerce
Tags
Phone numbers
- 1000000000
- 2024020108
- 12024020108
- 20240201
Phone numbers
- 1000000000
- 2024-02-01
- 2024-02-01 08
- 1 2024020108
- 2024020108
Money
- 7 s
- 61 10
- 2.0 s
- 01
- 08 1
- 2024020108 1
- 16
- 2024020108 10
- 1 1
- 1 290168
- 2024 Ca
- 1000000000
- 024 s
- 06 a
- dollar 11
- 1 s
- 0 1
- 2011 1
- Ğ1 01
- 10 be
- a0
- 1 10
- 1 2024020108
- s 1
- 1 Jamaican dollar
- 2024 1
- 2011
- 161
- 00 10
- 01 1
- 11
- 1000000000 dollar
- 2901
- Guyanese dollar 1
- 1 2024
- s 10
- 202402010
- Ca 1000000000
- 1024 dollar
- 6 1
- 108
- s 06
- a 1
- 12024020108
- 17
- 1024
- dollar 1
- S7
- 2901 1
- 1 S
- s3
- 24 s
- 2.0 A
- 1 08
- 7A
- June 2023
- 2023 S
- 1 1024
- S 2.0
- s1
- 10
- A 1
- 10 0
- 00000000 dollar
- 0 Ca
- 00 1
- 20240201
Currency
- Salvadoran real
- Indian 10-rupee note
- Unidad Previsional
- Japanese yen
- Syrian pound
- United States dollar
- Singapore dollar
- Brazilian real
- Surinamese dollar
- Belize dollar
- পেরুভিয়ান নুৱেভ সল
- as
- one pound coin
- Jamaican dollar
- Australian ten pound note
- Liberian dollar
- New Zealand dollar
- Argentine peso
- Brazilian real
- Guyanese dollar
- Can
- Fijian dollar
- Ğ1
- Ripple
- Namibian dollar
- Australian dollar
- Bahamian dollar
- Tongan paʻanga
- Swiss franc
- Albanian lek
- peso centroamericano
- Spanish real
- peso argentino
- Kyrgyzstani som
- Hong Kong dollar
- Eastern Caribbean dollar
- Barbadian dollar
- Australian pound
- Belgian franc
- Namecoin
- Trinidad and Tobago dollar
- Canadian dollar
- Portuguese real
https://schema.org/version/latest/schemaorg-current-http.rdf (Exact match|List)
- Schedule
- logo
- brand
- producer
- sponsor
- Brand
- question
- industry
- width
- license
- closes
- Thing
- recipe
- supply
- produces
- requirements
- Demand
- step
- Article
- reviews
- option
- value
- itinerary
- about
- owns
- opens
- Answer
- target
- study
- benefits
- Place
- review
- participant
- result
- Vehicle
- box
- event
- Statement
- Collection
- tracks
- steps
- video
- collection
- device
- Table
- track
- knows
- Genetic
- line
- keywords
- PET
- dependencies
- Energy
- Time
- Event
- image
- Guide
- events
- Question
- Recipe
- State
- follows
- Apartment
- Review
- Product
- Zoo
- program
https://schema.org/version/latest/schemaorg-current-http.rdf (Exact match|List)
- Table
- review
- width
- reviews
- collection
- Place
- itinerary
- result
- Article
- image
- option
- follows
- Apartment
- keywords
- sponsor
- video
- box
- participant
- device
- Schedule
- knows
- Zoo
- brand
- requirements
- Question
- event
- about
- Brand
- step
- owns
- Vehicle
- steps
- Review
- dependencies
- logo
- Recipe
- Guide
- Product
- Answer
- Event
- question
- target
- Demand
- value
- Statement
- produces
- line
- Energy
- study
- supply
- producer
- recipe
- track
- tracks
- industry
- closes
- PET
- opens
- license
- Genetic
- benefits
- Time
- Collection
- events
- Thing
- State
- program
etl_filter_blacklist_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_filter_blacklist_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_text_tika_server_ocr_enabled_b:
1
1
etl_count_images_yet_no_ocr_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_ocr_descew_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_pdf_ocr_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_text_tika_server_time_millis_i:
18
18
etl_enhance_extract_text_tika_server_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_detect_language_tika_server_time_millis_i:
4
4
etl_enhance_detect_language_tika_server_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_contenttype_group_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_contenttype_group_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_pst_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_pst_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_csv_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_csv_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_path_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_path_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_zip_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_zip_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_warc_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_warc_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_hashtags_time_millis_i:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_hashtags_b:
1
1
etl_clean_title_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_clean_title_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_annotations_time_millis_i:
3
3
etl_enhance_annotations_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_multilingual_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_multilingual_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_rdf_time_millis_i:
0
0
etl_enhance_rdf_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_regex_time_millis_i:
2
2
etl_enhance_regex_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_email_time_millis_i:
2
2
etl_enhance_extract_email_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_phone_time_millis_i:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_phone_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_entity_linking_time_millis_i:
71
71
etl_enhance_entity_linking_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_law_time_millis_i:
3
3
etl_enhance_extract_law_b:
1
1
etl_enhance_extract_money_time_millis_i:
91
91
etl_enhance_extract_money_b:
1
1
etl_time_millis_i:
347
347
X-TIKA_Parsed-By-Full-Set:
- org.apache.tika.parser.CompositeParser
- org.apache.tika.parser.DefaultParser
- org.apache.tika.parser.html.HtmlParser
X-TIKA_content_handler:
ToTextContentHandler
ToTextContentHandler
X-TIKA_Parsed-By:
- org.apache.tika.parser.CompositeParser
- org.apache.tika.parser.DefaultParser
- org.apache.tika.parser.html.HtmlParser
X-TIKA_parse_time_millis:
12
12
X-TIKA_embedded_depth:
0
0