[author: Susan Ryan]

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Let’s start with a look at the new marijuana market in Illinois.  First day sales topped $3 million and 77,000 transactions at more than 40 dispensaries.  All those new customers have led to shortages; clearly, pegging supply to demand is a complicated business.

Moving on to South Dakota, where no type of cannabis is legal.  Will that change in 2020?  The Secretary of State recently validated a ballot initiative that would both legalize recreational marijuana and require the legislature to pass laws governing hemp.  This initiative joins another ballot measure that would legalize medical marijuana.

In other South Dakota news, the Department of Agriculture approved the Flandreau Santee Sioux’s plan to grown industrial hemp on tribal lands.  Regular readers will doubtless recall that South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem, is no fan of hemp.

In Virginia, Governor Northam released a criminal justice reform agenda that includes decriminalizing marijuana.  New prosecutors in two Northern Virginia counties indicated that they will no longer pursue possession charges for small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

Meanwhile, in New York, Governor Cuomo has promised to legalize recreational marijuana in 2020.  He also proposed creating a state-run cannabis research center – the SUNY Global Cannabis Center.

So which states are most likely to legalize marijuana in 2020?  Cannabis Business Times has an article that names 11 possibilities.

As for hemp, 2019 was a big year.  Hemp Industry Daily has a rundown of the top 10 stories.

Finally, the Ohio State Medical Board received a petition asking for an addition to the qualifying conditions for medical marijuana.  The condition?  Being a Cleveland Browns or Cincinnati Bengals fan.  Hard to argue there’s not a lot of pain involved in rooting for either of those franchises.

See you next week!