- Sea Of Green
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- And we're off
And we're off
And we're off
SEA OF GREEN
By Duncan Cameron, SOW Consulting LLCJanuary 6, 2023
Congratulations! You've officially made it through the first work week of the year. Only 51 more to go. I've had the privilege of spending the last two weeks here in South Florida so let's start with some Florida cannabis news.At the end of last year Florida raised the renewal fee for licensed marijuana operators from $60,000 to $1.33mil. Couple that with steep application fees, lobbyists, lawyers and start up costs and you can see that this market is clearly not geared for the small operator. It's hard to see how any social equity applicant will ever hold a license in the Sunshine State. On the flip side contrast that to Oklahoma where you can enter the market for as little as $2500. Of course that comes with its own set of issues but if you are a "free market" person this is as close as it gets. So what does all of this portend for the broader cannabis sector? Unless we see any meaningful movement on the federal level (which doesn't look likely in '23) the big MSO's will have a firewall preventing them from dominating all of the legal States. We will continue to see places where mom & pop shops can still survive and overall that is a good thing for choice, patients and consumers, and the market in general.
On a happy note there is a prediction that capital will free up for ancillary businesses and technologies; safer bets that do not come with the 280E tax burden. Other tidbits - The US Virgin Islands voted to approve recreational marijuana. John Hudak, formerly of the Brookings Institute and all around good guy is the new director of The Maine Office of Cannabis Policy Best of luck John!
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