 We are pro cannabis media Hi everyone, welcome to We Talk News. I'm Jimmy Young the founder of pro cannabis news Kurt Dalton is on another assignment tonight So we go to the bullpen and bring in the main man himself rye Russell. Hey rye Hey, thanks so much for having me. I know I'm no Kurt Dalton, but hopefully I can live up to your esteemed audiences Expectations you absolutely will rye and we're going to start this week in your State of Maine. It's just coming off its first week of weed sales in vacation land So what are the big sales results in week one rye? We are off to an incredible start opening day was a huge success here in vacation land with six stores generating almost a hundred thousand dollars in total sales and Over 9,000 in sales tax generated for the state. So we'll wait for the official report for the first closing week It's so amazing, isn't it? You read about Colorado and Illinois setting all these monthly records of millions and millions Massachusetts does at least a million a day now and the state of Maine took them four years to get to that starting line But hey, at least it's going in the right direction now, right? It's about time. We are ready for it and this is just the beginning and I got to ask you how has the media coverage been I checked a story from my old station WG ME TV 13 up there and it seemed a little balanced, although they use that M word an awful lot Well, it is barely balanced up here However, I think that there's still a lot of Ambiguity felt by the players in the market and so I think there's still a lot of uncertainty of what the Regulations are how is enforcement going to be handled? But like all emerging markets We're going to see some early adjustments and a very successful launch Well, our next story is also about another New England state Vermont and they passed legalization Last week and some predictions now are being released about that market But first, let's go to New York with Denver board charts green market report Deb Thanks guys Well, we are just beginning to get into the earnings season markets were closed on Monday So it was a shortened trading wing this week. April reported its first quarter revenue of 69.6 million dollars for fiscal year 2021. This is a 23% increase over the prior quarter and their sixth Consecutive quarter of growth. They did report net losses of five point one million dollars for that quarter Harborside released pre-liminary third quarter 2020 results. The company said they expect revenue to come in at 18.5 million dollars Keep in mind in June their revenue was 15 million dollars. So things are going in the right direction for a harborside You should be aware that their ticker symbol has been changed. It went from HS DEF to HBORF and the Valens company reported third quarter financial results for the period ending in August The company said net revenue was 18.1 million dollars That is a 10% increase from their third quarter in 2019 of 16 and a half million dollars They also had a net loss of three million dollars. And that's it for this week. I'm Deborah Borechart with the Green Market Report for Weed Talk News Since Deborah was reporting on the earnings of many of the biggest cannabis companies the public ones You have to wonder who's going to jump into the Vermont market as it opens up now The Centi Cedarburgs Andrew Livingston put out projections that the market in Vermont could reach 250 million but it might be 2025 or 2026 before that happens, right? Vermont only has a population of six hundred thousand, but they call themselves the Green Mountain State for a reason, right? Absolutely as far as licensing is concerned I see a lot of the same challenges that we've faced in our facing here in Maine that being said Vermont is a Beautiful state known for its tourism with estimates of 13 and a half million or more visitors every year So even with the pandemic people are looking for remote places and often They're looking to reconnect with nature and unplug from the digital world. So some reports I'm reading one report right now Jimmy that says we shouldn't be surprised if Vermont can quickly rise to 800 million maybe even a billion dollar market Wow, that's huge and a state that only has six hundred thousand people in Maine You just told me has 1.5 million now. So what are the projections for the whole market in Maine going to be? Well, I think what we're finding the medical market made a huge leap and Major advancements last year and I think with the addition of the rec market I think it's going to quickly become Maine's top grossing export Wow, that's going to be interesting to watch as most of New England now And how would you like to be in New Hampshire? They're now surrounded by three legal states seems to me That governor might want to get a little revenue going in the right direction But New Hampshire is a strange one of the New England states. No disrespect to some friends up there right The granite state are you afraid that New Hampshire might invade Maine someday or what? No, I don't think so that the granite state is a beautiful place to visit But I like being up here in the great white north. There you go All right There are now four other states in the US who will be voting on legalizing the adult use of cannabis in a few weeks that Arizona New Jersey Montana and South Dakota now on the other side of the world is New Zealand and sure enough, they'll be voting on legalization this weekend and right now It's a dead heat right New Zealand trying to become the 26th country to Decriminalize if not legalize our favorite plan Well pulling is a split 49 to 49 Leaving one maybe two percent undecided up for grabs. This is going to be a nail biter And I'm gonna just ask you've never visited New Zealand. Have you I? Have not not yet On the bucket list as it is mine. All right from the research world This fact really has been known for quite a while and make sure if you go in for surgery and you're going to get general anesthesia Please declare to your anesthesiologist that you enjoy cannabis. Why? Well, you might just wake up in surgery a study at the University of Colorado Hospital among 118 patients who had surgery for a broken leg that group that used cannabis Needed much more anesthesia than those who did not partake. So right. Have you known anybody who has awakened during surgery? Luckily, I personally do not but I saw this article this morning And I'm really glad we're talking about it, Jimmy because this is truly one of those There are those that know and those that do not know types of things and you don't necessarily Want to be one of those that did not know So if you're going to surgery, this is information to please share with your doctors Absolutely 100% and they're not there by the way to arrest you or hassle you or judge you They're really just there to well take care of your body in whatever way it needs to be taken care of So put trust in your medical community now Let's go to the nation's capital Washington DC for the DC cannabis report from Phil Adams from boat probe podcast Phil boat pro podcast here with the weed talk news DC report New Jersey senator and one-time candidate for president Cory Booker raised the issue of racial disparities in marijuana enforcement During his questioning of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday While he didn't ask Barrett any specific questions on cannabis policy Booker did point out the disparity saying quote There's no difference between blacks and whites for using drugs, but blacks are multiple times more likely to be arrested The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on the Barrett nomination on October 22 The Supreme Court this week declined to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of the DEA schedule one classification of cannabis The suit was originally filed back in 2017 by a coalition of medical cannabis patients and activists While fewer than 1% of petitions are granted a hearing by the High Court. The decision is nonetheless seen as a stinging defeat by leg legalization advocates Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon one of several members of Congress who signed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit vowed to continue the fight. However, saying quote, it's more important than ever that we pass the more act. Washington DC Councilman Robert White introduced a bill this week that would expand opportunities for people with felony convictions to participate in the medical marijuana market. In introducing the bill White said quote, there is no reason why those who paid their debt to society should be locked out of this industry any longer. The legislation would end a ban on participation by most so-called returning citizens and create programs to encourage cannabis entrepreneurship among the formerly incarcerated. That's the Weed Talk News DC report for this week. I'm Phil Adams from VotePro Podcast. A new report released by the FBI shows once again how law enforcement officers target persons of color for weed possession. The Uniform Crime Report claims that there were 545,602 people in the U.S. who were arrested on cannabis offenses last year. Now amazingly, that same study reported that the number was more than 495,871 who were arrested for violent crimes. Now what's even more disheartening is that 92% of cannabis arrests were for possession. Right? Black people are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested than white people. Another reason why reform of the federal laws have to happen. I do agree. This is just bonkers. The fact that we're still talking about it. These numbers speak for themselves. It doesn't matter what report you read. We need reform and we need it within this next administration. That's right. And a lot of the new laws that are coming out are expunging records. We know the job that the last prisoner project and Steve DiAngelo have done. They're getting more and more people to get out of jail and get their records expunged. And that I believe is only the next green wave that will happen. But right now let's go north of the border to Canada for Solomon Israel's Canadian Cannabis Report. Solomon? I'm Solomon Israel from Marijuana Business Daily International and this is the Weed Talk News Canadian Cannabis Report. Cannabis producer Afria has a report in growing recreational marijuana revenue for the quarter and in August 31st. The company's gross recreational revenue hit nearly 70 million Canadian dollars for the quarter. But that was offset by a decline in international revenue and net revenue declined on a quarterly basis. Aurora Cannabis has sold off its stake in Australian medical marijuana company CanGrew. The company told Marijuana Business Daily it still sees potential in Australia's medical marijuana market. But for now it's focusing on core markets in Canada, the United States and more mature medical marijuana markets abroad. And the vast majority of leadership positions in Canada's regulated marijuana sector are held by white males. That's the conclusion of a new analysis from the University of Toronto's Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, which included 700 executives and directors of Canadian marijuana firms. All told, 84% of those leaders were white and 86% were men. You can read those stories and more at MJBizDaily.com. I'm Solomon Israel from Marijuana Business Daily. The MJBizDaily Factbook for 2020 is now available and did you know that the median salary in the cannabis industry was $58,511 in 2018 while the median salary for U.S. workers as a whole was $52,000? That's according to Glassdoor Data. Just one of the many facts you'll find in the MJBizDaily Factbook. You can get yours online at MJBizDaily.com. A reminder that the CEO of MJBizDaily, Chris Walsh, will be joining David Rabinowitz and myself on the Friday edition of Cannabis Chat on the Greenrush program on twitch.tv backslash pro cannabis media live at 4 p.m. eastern time. And speaking of upcoming programs, our friends at Greenflower are hosting an online conversation that is hosted by Max Simon, their founder and two people from normal on Thursday, October 22nd at 11 a.m. Pacific and 2 p.m. eastern. Jen Michelle Padini, their development director and Keith Strop, the founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws will join Max. Now you can register on their website, green-flower.com. Max Simon is my guest on In the Weeds this week and we released that show on Mondays on our PCM affiliates and social media outlets. Now one final story to talk about this week and yes, it's back to the great state of Maine for this one. I know Bangor, Maine is a little north of where you are, but there's a police officer on the force in Bangor who has quite a following on Facebook and sure enough, he used that form to enlighten Maine people about the new laws. Do you know about this guy, Lieutenant Tim Cotton? Lieutenant Cotton is quite a local celebrity here. And the Bangor Police Department, believe it or not, they have been producing some of the greatest social media content of any police department in the nation. And it's terribly clever. It's super funny and the public loves it. It's genuine. It's real. And what I found funny about this post was the disclaimers at the bottom of it. They recognize that you can sometimes in today's world get attacked from all angles. So there was a funny disclaimer and we'll have to check it out. But it said that if you don't agree with the views or messages of that post, that it's okay because the writer doesn't want to do this job anyway. So they're hilarious. Yeah, I totally do. And you know, it's very interesting as we sit here and we laugh about this and it got national attention. But it's this kind of a public service of information and exchange of information where he's legitimizing the fact that, hey, it's now legal now. It's okay if you get the munchies. It's okay if you partake. Just don't do it against the law. Like don't smoke it in public and make sure you use it responsibly and don't drive it. And those are the messages that the public needs to hear. We understand that. But a lot of times when these public service announcements that are being produced by, let's say the Massachusetts Cannabis Commission, when they come out, they come out very patronizing and pretending that it's, oh, you know, it's still a dangerous truck. You have to be careful with it and you do. But you don't have to be arrogant about it or patronizing about it. Just accept that it's here and teach people about the substance. Do you agree with that, Ryan? I 100% agree. I don't think anybody in today's world needs a lecture. We're all just trying to exchange information peacefully so we can live our best lives. Oh, I like that. Live your best life. That sounds like the green nurse group. But anyway, that'll do it for this week's We Talk News. I'm Jimmy Young from Pro Cannabis Media. And you are... And I'm here at Russell. And where are you from? And I'm Ryan Russell from We Buds Radio. Thank you so much, Jimmy, for sharing the love. You bet, Ryan. Thank you so much for filling in with Kurt. Remember, it's a whole new world of weed out there. Use it responsibly. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. We Talk Now, We Talk News, and In The Weeds are all available on most major podcast distributors like iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and our friends at clnsmedia.com and our flagship, cannabis.net. 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