Daily archive

Cannabis industry news

A growing archive of sourced cannabis industry coverage across regulation, medical markets, licensing, imports, retail, and public-company developments.

Showing 1-15 of 18

GLOBALMay 15, 2026

Australia’s Medicinal-Cannabis Sales Have Posted Their First Sharp Reversal

A new analysis of Australian Health Department data says medicinal-cannabis units sold fell 28.5 percent in the second half of 2025, suggesting tougher scrutiny of prescribing, supply and advertising is already cutting into one of the world’s fastest-growing medical markets.

Australia’s medicinal-cannabis market has printed its first clear reverse. Penington Institute said in an April 2026 analysis that units sold fell to 2.65 million in the second half of 2025, down from 3.70 million in the first half. That is a 28.5 percent decline in six months.

Ireland Opens Medical Cannabis Review After Approving Just 74 Patients

Ireland has started a formal review of medical cannabis access just as new parliamentary reporting shows the state programme has approved only 74 patients, underscoring how little legal demand the current system is capturing.

Ireland has moved from talking about medical cannabis reform to formally reviewing it. On 1 April, the Department of Health announced the appointment of a chair to lead a review of access to cannabis for medical use. That procedural step matters because it turns a long-running...

Oklahoma’s Store Math Is Finally Improving as the License Freeze Nears Its End

New Oklahoma data show the average dispensary is now splitting a larger share of a still-shrinking medical cannabis market, just months before the state’s license moratorium is due to expire.

Oklahoma’s retail cannabis market is still smaller than it was a year ago. But the average dispensary is finally carrying more volume.

Virginia Budget Puts a Real Price on Launching Cannabis Retail

Virginia has written more than $40 million in market-launch spending into its budget, giving cannabis businesses and local officials the first hard sign that retail sales are being prepared even though the underlying bill is still unresolved.

Virginia has stopped talking about a retail cannabis market in the abstract and started pricing it. Budget language tied to the retail-market push provides $18,223,509 for fiscal year 2027 and $22,221,363 for fiscal year 2028 for the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, the...

New York Ends Manual Cannabis Retail Reporting and Forces Live Metrc Tracking

New York retailers can no longer report cannabis inventory and sales by hand, and the shift to Metrc-based transaction reporting raises the compliance bar across a market that has already grown past 600 licensed dispensaries.

New York has stopped allowing cannabis retailers to file inventory and sales reports manually. The state Office of Cannabis Management said the manual system ended on May 5, 2026, and that all inventory and sales transactions must now be accurately recorded and transmitted to...

GLOBALMay 9, 2026

Brazil’s Medicinal-Cannabis Rulebook Now Has an 86-Day Countdown

Brazil’s health regulator has fixed August 3 as the start date for its first federal medicinal-cannabis production rules, giving companies, patient associations and import-based suppliers less than three months to prepare for inspections, tracking and security controls.

Brazil’s first federal framework for medicinal-cannabis production is no longer a policy headline. It is an implementation deadline.

Spain’s Medical Cannabis Supply Chain Comes Into View as 12 Cultivation Permits Link to the New Patient Market

Spain’s updated cannabis cultivation register shows which operators are positioned to supply the country’s new medical system, while also making clear that a large share of licensed activity is still limited to research.

AEMPS’s May 7 register turns Spain’s cannabis framework into a 12-permit medical supply map

Minnesota Picked 150 Adult-Use Retail Winners. Only 9 Licenses Are Issued.

Minnesota has filled all 150 slots in its capped adult-use retailer lottery, but the latest state data shows only nine retailer licenses issued, leaving the real store rollout stuck in post-lottery approvals and local sign-off.

Minnesota has already chosen the 150 applicants that will fill its capped adult-use cannabis retailer class. But the latest state data shows that selection and launch are still far apart.

Michigan’s Q2 marijuana tax benchmark lowers the flower base for integrated operators

Michigan’s second-quarter state price for marijuana flower fell to $629.39 a pound, reducing the value some related and self-supplying cannabis businesses must use to calculate the new wholesale tax through June 30.

Michigan’s Q2 flower benchmark drops to $629.39 a pound, and the tax clock is already running

New Jersey’s 0.4 mg THC line turns intoxicating hemp into a licensed-channel fight

New Jersey now treats products with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC as cannabis or marijuana, pushing much of the intoxicating hemp trade into licensed cannabis stores and giving hemp beverages only a temporary route through liquor wholesalers and retailers until November 13, 2026.

New Jersey has moved intoxicating hemp out of the loose edge of general retail and into the state’s licensed cannabis system. As of April 13, 2026, any product with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC is treated as cannabis or marijuana under state law, according to state...

GLOBALMay 4, 2026

New Zealand Cuts Medicinal-Cannabis Export Licence Times to 6.4 Working Days

New Zealand’s medicinal-cannabis exporters are getting shipment approvals faster, giving a sector that depends on overseas sales a measurable gain in reliability and cash flow.

New Zealand’s medicinal-cannabis export bottleneck has moved from complaint to measurement. The government said on April 14 that medicinal-cannabis export licences issued by Medsafe since January 1, 2026 have taken an average of 6.4 working days to process. That is down from...

Basel’s cannabis pilot now has a usable market signal: lower-risk formats took 18% share without lifting purchases

New data from Basel-Stadt’s Weed Care trial shows that cannabis oil, vapes and spray quickly reached about 18% of monthly purchase volume while per-person purchasing stayed stable, giving Europe one of its clearest early readings on how a tightly regulated adult-use market may actually behave.

Basel’s Weed Care trial has moved from theory to a measurable product shift Basel-Stadt’s Weed Care cannabis pilot is now producing the kind of evidence that policymakers and businesses have been waiting for. In the city’s latest three-year update, newly introduced non-smoked...

Maine Quantifies Its Medical Cannabis Testing Gap as a New Patient Advisory Sharpens the Risk

A state audit found 42% of sampled medical cannabis would have failed Maine’s adult-use contamination rules, and a fresh patient advisory shows the exposure is current for patients, caregivers, and lawmakers.

Maine regulators have now attached a number to a dispute that had circulated for years in testimony, complaints, and trade arguments. In a state report based on audit testing of 120 medical cannabis samples, 50 samples, or 42%, contained at least one contaminant at a level that...

Texas medical-cannabis expansion now has named operators, not just a promise

Texas has identified all 12 new conditional licensees for its low-THC medical-cannabis program, turning a legislative expansion into a defined competitive field that could grow from 3 active operators to 15.

Texas has now identified all 12 companies chosen for the expansion of its low-THC medical-cannabis program. With the Department of Public Safety completing the second and final selection round on April 1, the state has moved from a small, tightly limited system with three active...

Massachusetts Raises the Cannabis Store Cap to 6 and Opens a New Consolidation Window

Massachusetts has enacted a cannabis law that lets operators own up to six retail stores instead of three, with most non-social-equity businesses held to five during the first year after regulators reopen applications.

Massachusetts has changed one of the most important limits in its adult-use cannabis market. Under the new law signed by Governor Maura Healey on April 19, no licensee may be granted more than six marijuana retailer licenses in the state. The old limit was three.