Press Appearances
November 14, 2023
“While the pace of store openings has been slow, it is important to note that over the past three to four months, the pace at which these social equity stores in Illinois have opened has increased considerably,” said Hirsh Jain, Ananda Strategy’s founder."
November 14, 2023
"Renowned cannabis commentator Hirsh Jain talks cannabis policy on latest podcast. Because he has such a diverse background, this episode hits on nearly every big story happening in cannabis at the state level right now: from the state of California’s precarious recreational market, to what smaller states like New Mexico, Missouri and others can teach more established markets and others poised to make the recreational leap (like Ohio just voted to do)."
November 8, 2023
"Hirsh Jain, Ananda Strategy, called it a healthy win and believes a timely implementation of the initiative with minor tweaks to some of the law's provisions (allocation of cannabis tax revenue, product potency limits, expungement procedures, eligibility criteria, home grow limits) by the GOP legislature could allow adult-use sales to start in September 2024."
October 31, 2023
"One recent analysis by Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant at Ananda Strategy, found that more than 40% of the state’s legal pot shops are concentrated in just seven cities: Long Beach, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Ana and Palm Springs. Jain told Green Market Report that retailers are facing a “bloodbath” in these cities because of fierce competition, with retailers going out of business."
October 25, 2023
"Throughout the course of 2023, roughly 40 retailers have closed down, estimated Los Angeles consultant Hirsh Jain, with even more “just barely hanging on.” He cited a handful of prominent operations that closed their doors."
October 24, 2023
"“Michigan is generating total monthly sales of around $277 million. That’s a 3 billion dollar run rate and makes it the second biggest market in the country, right behind California. California is a 5 billion market but would be at 12 to 15 billion if two-thirds of the market wasn’t in illicit sales”, said Hirsh Jain, Founder of Ananda Strategy."
October 16, 2023
"Hirsh Jain, founder of Ananda Strategy, a consultancy that represents many of California’s cannabis retailers and advises operators across the supply chain, said that regardless of the League of California Cities’ interpretation of this clause, the fact is that cities are relying on an organization that has a been “hostile toward cannabis” for legal advice."
October 10, 2023
"“It is important to note that progress on cannabis reform has always been incremental, owing to the deep stigma against the cannabis plant that has long been embedded in the American consciousness. The progress made on cannabis reform over the past several decades suggests that incremental progress is the most realistic and effective way to eradicate this stigma”, said Hirsh Jain, Founder of Ananda Strategy."
October 10, 2023
"That means many shops deal primarily in cash, which can attract criminal activity, said United Cannabis Chamber of Commerce Vice President Hirsh Jain. Thieves often pocket the money and turn stolen product over on the black market and at illicit shops."
October 8, 2023
​​"Hirsh Jain, founder of Ananda Strategy, a consultancy that represents many of California’s cannabis retailers and advises operators across the supply chain, said that the 2021 veto blindsided the cannabis industry at a time when Newsom was campaigning for re-election."
September 29, 2023
"“The fact that the California state Legislature was unwilling to make even this modest change, even after the state’s cannabis industry lost 30% of its workforce and is at risk of further regression, reveals a callous indifference Sacramento has to the fate of the state’s legal cannabis industry,” Hirsh Jain, founder of L.A.-based Ananda Strategy, told MJBizDaily."
September 18, 2023
"“Ventura does kind of epitomize a lot of what’s happened in California, which is that a city passes an ordinance and then it takes several years for stores to open,” says Hirsh Jain, founder of Ananda Strategy, a consultancy that represents many of California’s cannabis retailers and advises business operators across the supply chain."
September 1, 2023
"The modest rebound in the most recent quarter ending June 30, 2023, in part reflects recent stabilization in cannabis prices in California following a steady two-year decline, said Hirsh Jain, founder of Ananda Strategy, a consultancy that represents many of California’s cannabis retailers and advises operators across the supply chain."
August 22, 2023
"At least 14 cities and counties in the state – including key consumer markets such as Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as less-populated, production-focused areas like Calaveras and Humboldt counties – have reduced or eliminated local sales, business or cultivation taxes over the past year, according to research compiled by Hirsh Jain of Ananda Strategy, a Los Angeles-based consultancy."
July 17, 2023
"At least 50 California cities moved to allow marijuana retail shops since 2020, according to a tally by Hirsh Jain at Ananda Strategy, but the vast majority haven’t yet opened for business because of local and state red tape. Jain calculated that in just 15 specific localities – including Fresno, Costa Mesa, and Santa Barbara County – there should be 129 legal dispensaries operating by now, but only 18 have opened for business."
June 13, 2023
"Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant at Ananda Strategy and the Vice Chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said multiple factors are causing the falling tax revenue but ultimately blamed California’s uneven rollout of legal cannabis. More than 60% of counties and cities have banned legal pot stores, slowing the legal industry’s ability to grow while also allowing illegal stores to flourish."
April 30, 2023
""That increased footprint makes it the largest cultivator of cannabis in California," according to Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant at Ananda Strategy and the Vice Chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. Jain said the company’s plan to expand by another million square feet this year will make it one of the largest marijuana cultivators in the world."
April 23, 2023
"“The Peninsula should, by itself, be a half-billion dollar cannabis industry, (not including San Jose),” says cannabis advocate Hirsh Jain, who serves on the board of California’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and founded the cannabis consultancy Ananda Strategy."
March 1, 2023
"“Seeing cannabis sales level out in California was expected, but not so soon, Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant and the vice chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce,
told Axios.”"
February 23, 2023
"“Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant at Ananda Strategy and the Vice Chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said in an email to SFGATE that the drop in sales is “a warning signal” that “the state’s legal market is on the brink of collapse.”"
February 23, 2023
"“Hirsh Jain, a cannabis consultant at Ananda Strategy and the vice chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said in an email to SFGATE that the drop in sales is “a warning signal” that “the state’s legal market is on the brink of collapse.”"
February 21, 2023
"“According to Hirsh Jain, founder of Los Angeles-based Ananda Strategy, it’s because the “dual licensing” system in California – which requires businesses to obtain both city or county permission as well as a state license before they can launch operations – is “fundamentally broken.” “The licensing system that California has adopted makes it nearly impossible for stores to open. Stores are more likely to go bankrupt (say, 2-3 years into the process of trying to open) than they are to actually get open,” Jain wrote in a memo to Green Market Report.”"
February 7, 2023
"“One key sticking point: California would need to find another state willing to take its marijuana," said Hirsh Jain, a California-based cannabis consultant. “I know that there’s a lot of excitement,” he added. “But if you really think through the mechanics here, it’s unlikely anything will happen this year. “California needs a dance partner.””
January 30, 2023
“California consultant Hirsh Jain called the regulatory changes to delivery the most consequential policy development of the year. “Delivery operators will be able to offer much more robust access to legal cannabis in California’s sprawling cannabis deserts,” said Jain, the principal of Los Angeles-based Ananda Strategy. “They will also be able to carry a larger and more diverse selection of products, which better meet consumer needs, increasing demand within the legal market.”
October 10, 2022
"“It’s a historic moment,” said California’s Cannabis Chamber of Commerce Chair Hirsh Jain in an interview with KQED, where he discussed the implications that Biden’s federal cannabis pardon would have on California. “It’s the president using his bully pulpit … using the moral authority of the presidency to signal a new direction in the war on drugs.”"
October 6, 2022
""California law already provides for the automatic review and expungement of many marijuana convictions. But Biden’s order provides political cover for Gov. Gavin Newsom to go even further," said Hirsh Jain, a cannabis industry consultant and board member for California NORML, which works to reform California cannabis laws. “California has the green light at the state level to issue more pardons,” Jain said.”"
September 22, 2022
"“Five years after the launch of legal pot, some two-thirds of California cities prohibit brick-and-mortar retail cannabis stores," according to Hirsh Jain, founder of the Ananda Strategy, a firm that advises the cannabis retail industry. “Among Orange County’s 34 cities, for example, Stanton, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa are the only ones that have approved retail stores.”"
September 20, 2022
“Jain said while about 75% of cities voted for Proposition 64, indicating large support for legal cannabis sales across the state, only about one in three California cities allows the sale of legal cannabis within their borders. The measure also enshrined local control into law, keeping power over controlling retail sales largely in the hands of individual cities.”
July 6, 2022
“Hirsh Jain, Vice Chair of the California Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, noted on June 29 a large increase in dispensary license approvals last month by the state’s Department of Cannabis Control. The agency has approved 90 new licenses across the state just in June. That works out to 8 percent of all state licenses approved in just 30 days.”
June 27, 2022
“In the latest language, the trailer bill would eliminate the state marijuana cultivation tax and would maintain the current 15% excise tax for three years, according to an analysis of the measure by Hirsh Jain, a principal at Ananda Strategy in Los Angeles.”
June 21, 2022
"Hirsh Jain, founder of the cannabis consulting firm Ananda Strategy, has tracked about two dozen cities over the past year — from Red Bluff to Sausalito to Santee — where citizen initiative drives are qualifying for the ballot or pressuring local officials to develop their own ordinances to regulate and tax cannabis sales. “The ballot initiative is a way to get the elected officials to stare reality in the face that their citizens want this,” Jain said, pointing to a fall 2019 poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies that found public support for legal cannabis had only increased since Prop. 64. “Nearly two-thirds of respondents favored allowing commercial dispensaries in their communities.”"
May 11, 2022
"“Amidst the recent advances, the state’s retail footprint still has a long way to go,” according to Hirsh Jain, who serves on the board of Los Angeles NORML and the Los Angeles Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. California needs a minimum of] 4,000 dispensaries to serve the legal market,” Jain said. “Despite recent positive trends, CA’s retail infrastructure will remain lacking for years, creating challenges for operators across the supply chain. Many won’t be able to survive in this harsh operating environment.”"
April 2022
"“Local control is the primary factor that is crippling California’s market,” says Hirsh Jain, founder of the marijuana consulting firm Ananda Strategy and chair of the Los Angeles Marijuana Chamber of Commerce. “Local control is often framed as a democratic virtue. In practice, local control is being used to thwart the will of the voters.”"
March 24, 2022
“Supporters of the bill, including Hirsh Jain of the cannabis consultancy Ananda Strategy, are calling it a “major milestone in the maturation of the California cannabis industry.” Jain, who is also the vice chair of the California Chamber of Commerce and sits on the board of directors for the Los Angeles chapter of NORML, a pro-cannabis advocacy organization, said SB1186 “has the potential to significantly expand retail cannabis access in California” by creating markets where they previously didn’t exist.”
January 6, 2022
“This disconnect between city councils’ plans and lethargic government operations is hampering what should be a flourishing industry, said Hirsh Jain, founder of cannabis consulting firm Ananda Strategy. “We will look back and see cities that passed ordinances because of Covid, but whose stores didn’t open for three years,” he said, pointing to the belief that pandemic-related budget deficits pushed cities to accept cannabis. “That’s how poorly California’s bureaucracy operates.”
November 23, 2021
“According to Hirsh Jain, of Ananda Strategy, out of 482 cities in California, just 174 allow any kind of licensed cannabis business within their jurisdiction. Only 115 of them have licensed retail stores within city limits.”
October 23, 2021
"“Local control has, let’s just be honest, crippled the California market and prevented it from reaching its potential,” said Hirsh Jain, founder of cannabis consulting firm Ananda Strategy."
October 6, 2021
"“The real takeaway from the burner distribution licenses is that the state’s regulatory framework makes it nearly impossible for legal operators to be profitable. And until that framework changes, illegal activity will continue to exist,” said Hirsh Jain, founder of Los Angeles-based consultancy Ananda Strategy."
August 2, 2021
"“Scores of cities and counties are preparing to issue marijuana business permits or are writing ordinances in order to award licenses,” according to Los Angeles-based consultant Hirsh Jain, the founder of Ananda Strategy. By Jain’s count, 18 cities across California already have begun handing out retail permits since the November election, in which more than 30 local jurisdictions approved pro-marijuana business ballot measures."
November 19, 2020
"“These fines are too high,” Jain said. “The punitive policies of the War on Drugs destroyed millions of families over several decades. We should not be engaging in a War on Drugs 2.0. There are more effective ways of encouraging people to purchase cannabis legally than criminalizing minor possession.”"
November 18, 2020
"“In the Nov. 3 election, voters in 19 cities authorized retail cannabis sales or established a retail tax frameworks to allow their city councils to pass a cannabis ordinance, according to Hirsh Jain.”"
November 6, 2020
"Hirsh Jain said he stands by a prediction he made in August that together the measures could result in 100-150 new retail licenses as well as permits for cultivation, manufacturing and other plant-touching business types … Jain noted there are only about 700 storefront retailers across California, adding, “These cities themselves will account for an additional 20% of the total” number of shops.”"
November 5, 2020
"“Some of the best opportunities will be in retail,” Hirsh Jain noted that only about one-fifth of California’s cities have authorized retail marijuana shops but more are taking action as evidenced by Tuesday’s election. “California has roughly 700 marijuana retailers, but it should have 4,000 or 5,000,” he said. “The process to open a store in the state currently can take a few years,” but Jain said he expects that time frame to decrease to 12-18 months."
November 4, 2020
"“Caliva, a California cannabis shop and delivery service, saw online transactions increase by 7% and the units-per-purchase increase by 10% both the day before and the day of the election,” said Hirsh Jain. “Revenue was 14% higher than it was for a typical Tuesday.”"
August 27, 2020
"“Despite Santa Clara’s banning of commercial marijuana, state regulations are likely to become more relaxed, bolstering revenue. Concerns about an increase in illicit marijuana sales are unfounded,” Hirsh Jain said, adding that customers do not mind paying a bit extra to ensure a product is legal and safe. “The citizens have clearly supported this,” Jain said. “It is a great avenue of tax revenue … cities that do not want to allow it are basically playing a game of whack-a-mole. The best way to alleviate an illicit market is to legalize it.”"
August 7, 2020
"Jain estimates those measures could result in as many as 150 new business permits being made available to the industry. “You could credibly say 100 or 150 licenses will result … within months of these passing,” Jain said, noting the election could have a “staggering impact” on the legal industry, including roughly 50 retail permits that could be awarded."
April 8, 2020
"“On top of that, industry activists have persuaded two state lawmakers and five San Jose City Council members to write to the Santa Clara County health department urging a reversal of the delivery-only policy for recreational marijuana retailers,” according to Hirsh Jain."
April 6, 2020
"Hirsh Jain called the lack of clarity “unfortunate”, adding that it, “puts both dispensaries and those that rely on them for their medicine in a difficult position.” The county’s order states that only “medical cannabis” can be purchased in-store, but does not define what a “medical cannabis” purchase is."
April 3, 2020
"Hirsh Jain said in a statement that the county’s order, “states that only ‘medical cannabis’ can be purchased at dispensaries, it does not define what a ‘medical cannabis’ purchase is … Ultimately, there is no way for a dispensary to know whether an individual is a ‘medical customer’ other than by asking them whether the purpose of their purchase is ‘medical’ in nature."