{"id":2219188,"date":"2024-04-12T08:23:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T12:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marijuanas-licensing-woes-in-other-states-a-warning-for-pennsylvania\/"},"modified":"2024-04-12T08:27:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T12:27:01","slug":"marijuanas-licensing-woes-in-other-states-a-warning-for-pennsylvania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marijuanas-licensing-woes-in-other-states-a-warning-for-pennsylvania\/","title":{"rendered":"Warnings from other states&#8217; licensing issues could impact Pennsylvania&#8217;s marijuana industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmarijuanas-licensing-woes-in-other-states-a-warning-for-pennsylvania%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2219188&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent legislative\u2062 hearing on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-is-for-stoners-commonwealth-becomes-16th-state-to-legalize-marijuana\/\" title=\"Virginia Is For Stoners: Commonwealth Becomes 16th State To Legalize Marijuana\">recreational marijuana<\/a> legalization highlighted the focus on avoiding mistakes made by other states. Despite the intention to prioritize \u2062equity, economic factors pose challenges. Laury Lucien, CEO of a marijuana business in Massachusetts,\u2062 noted that limited funding results in large\u2064 multi-state \u2064operators dominating \u200bequity holders. Licensing \u2062processes in the marijuana industry are complex and time-consuming compared to other sectors.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2014 Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/waffle-arizona-house-speaker-claims-they-cant-enforce-constitution-wont-commit-to-calling-legislative-hearing\/\" title=\"WAFFLE: Arizona House Speaker Claims They Can\u2019t Enforce Constitution, Won\u2019t Commit To Calling Legislative Hearing\">legislative hearing<\/a> on recreational marijuana legalization focused on avoiding the mistakes of other states.<\/p>\n<p>Legislators want to focus on equity, but economic considerations can make it difficult.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDue to lack of funding, many companies who are equity (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-poised-to-allow-unlicensed-carrying-of-handguns\/\" title=\"Texas Poised to Allow Unlicensed Carrying of Handguns\">license holders<\/a>) are controlled by really large, multi-state operators,\u201d said Laury Lucien, CEO of Cami Flower, a marijuana business in Massachusetts. \u201cThe people who are controlling the company don\u2019t look like the equity applicants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Massachusetts has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/one-year-after-george-floyd-americas-biggest-corporations-earmark-37-billion-for-racial-equity\/\" title=\"One Year After George Floyd, America\u2019s Biggest Corporations Earmark  Billion For \u2018Racial Equity\u2019\">social equity program<\/a> in its marijuana sector to help minority or previously convicted drug users get involved in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/10-things-the-u-s-can-start-doing-right-now-to-counter-chinas-dominance\/\" title=\"10 Things The U.S. Can Start Doing Right Now To Counter China\u2019s Dominance\u00a0\">recreational market<\/a>. But having explicit programs doesn\u2019t guarantee success. <\/p>\n<p>The licensure process for marijuana is also trickier than for other industries, even highly regulated ones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe licensing process is onerous,\u201d Lucien said. \u201cI was able to open my brewery in less than a year; it took me 4 years to go through marijuana licensing. That\u2019s really ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey\u2019s program also has an equity component and faces similar buy-out pressures, but its conditional licenses have also helped new entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things New Jersey did that was a great benefit for social equity applicants and applicants in general was they had a conditional license. With that conditional license, you weren\u2019t required to have the real estate or capital up front,\u201d said Tahir Johnson, owner of Simply Pure Trenton. \u201cOnce I got that conditional license, that allowed me to go out and raise capital.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republicans were wary, however, of the social consequences of a legal market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019re gonna create a new industry, definitely it is time for social equity in the industry,\u201d said Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren. \u201cThe consumer side, that\u2019s the side that really concerns me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Tim Twardzik, R-Frackville, noted the concerns he\u2019s heard from a local pediatrician who\u2019s seen marijuana-related health problems in her office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t we have enough trouble in the world that we don\u2019t need to open this up right now?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Testifiers noted more research could help clarify where the problems come from. For market competition, though, preserving small storefronts may not be possible for recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt some point, you\u2019re probably looking at the vertical integration of these businesses. It\u2019s just unavoidable I think,\u201d said Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Pittsburgh, said. \u201cBut there probably are other opportunities for social equity in terms of revenues that are generated and can be directed to affected communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cheryl Lynn Allen, of counsel with the Pennsylvania Family institute and a former Allegheny County lawyer and judge, warned of the consequences of \u201cencouraging an industry which depends upon drug addiction and drug abuse in order to make profits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLaws should uplift and strengthen communities,\u201d Allen said. \u201cThat is not going to happen through promoting marijuana to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She argued many people in her courtroom were dysfunctional due to drug use and addiction.<\/p>\n<p>Frankel, though, argued legislators needed to adjust to what\u2019s around them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact of the matter is that we have a vibrant illicit market, we have states that surround us that have legalized \u2026 it\u2019s a reality,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it\u2019s here, we need to make it as safe as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent legislative hearing discussed avoiding past mistakes in recreational marijuana legalization. Pennsylvania legislators prioritize equity but face challenges due to financial constraints. Laury Lucien, CEO, noted that limited funding results in large multi-state operators controlling many equity license holders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2219189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP19149783677036.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2219188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP19149783677036.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2219188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2219189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2219188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2219188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2219188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}