Lead Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer (NY) is preparing for one last half-court heave to get cannabis banking legislation passed during this Congress, before Republicans take over control of the lower House once the new Congress takes office next year.Â
Schumer is pushing to include the SAFE Banking Act, which would free up large banking institutions to provide industry players with much-needed loans and other banking services, into a larger omnibus funding package, Politico reports.Â
He is expected to enlist the help of the other three House and Senate leaders in omnibus meetings on Friday and through the weekend, according to reports.Â
But Schumer will need help from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who blocked the addition of cannabis reform from the National Defense Authorization Act last week, while also saying that he would work to keep “unrelated language” out of the omnibus bill as well, Politico said.Â
States See Falling Pot Prices
Wholesale cannabis prices in California are down by as much as 95% since voters legalized the recreational space in 2016, according to an SFGate feature with interviews with over a dozen farmers.Â
The group said they used to get as much as $2,000 a pound for their crop wholesale in 2016. In 2022, the group says they are “lucky to get” $400.Â
While most industry watchers and economists have predicted that legalization would cause prices to fall naturally, the amount of degradation has hit farmers in the state hard.Â
Northern California’s Emerald Triangle growing region, which includes Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties, is famous for the quality of weed it produces. But the region has been especially hard-hit by falling prices.Â
In Humboldt County, 60% of farms have closed down since the state legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, according to SFGate.Â
But it could be worse, and still may get worse, for wholesale farmers.Â
Back in 2010, the RAND Corporation estimated that legalization in California would cause an 80% drop in wholesale prices, as the crop was grown more efficiently and at a much larger scale.Â
Meanwhile in Michigan, the average retail price of recreational weed was $95.12 an ounce in November, down from 191 per ounce a year ago.Â
Some sellers in the state attribute the decline to an increase in licenses issued by the state.Â
“In January of 2021 we saw about 1,200 licenses and that number has now grown to roughly 1,800 throughout the state. Michigan is a state that allows for free trade,” Logan Stauber, Fire Station Cannabis Co. co-owner, told a local Michigan news station.Â
The lower prices are also resulting in more sales, with Stauber estimating an increase of 38% year over year.Â
New York Makes it Harder for Retailers
New York’s recreational cannabis rollout is going as well as one might expect in a state that is notorious for its red tape.Â
Regulators in the state are adopting “another late-inning policy shift,” according to MJBizDaily, through a new real estate allowance that allows some cannabis license holders to submit their own proposed store locations in prequalified areas.Â
This allows them to not rely on regulators to slot their stores in state-selected properties.Â
The new rule is unfair, according to cannabis attorney David Feder, who called the new rules a “home run” for well-capitalized license holders.Â
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