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Virginia Gov. Appoints Cannabis Regulators

7/21/2021

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has appointed five individuals to the state’s Cannabis Control Authority (CCA), the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. The appointees will work with the CEO of the CCA, who is expected to be chosen by Northam in the coming weeks, to roll out the state’s adult-use cannabis program in 2024. The list of CCA members is comprised of a high-powered cohort of Virginia businesspeople, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and one social equity advocate.

In addition to the CCA, two other groups will assist in developing the state’s fledgling cannabis system. The governor and legislative leaders recently appointed 13 members to the 20-member Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board and other positions on the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Board—a 21 person board tasked with issuing binding guidance on cannabis public health and studying the effect legal cannabis has on public health in Virginia. The state attorney general will also tap a state “cannabis attorney” to guide Virginia through the legal pitfalls of adult-use cannabis, the Times-Dispatch reports.

Citing the disproportionate effect of the war on drugs on communities of color, especially Black Virginians, the legislature took the groundbreaking step to pass adult-use cannabis this year, making it the first state in the South to embrace the reforms. Although retail sales will not commence until 2024, Virginians are allowed to possess up to an ounce of cannabis and grow four plants at home.

However, despite the progress, Virginia Republican Delegate Glenn Davis recently called the social equity provisions of the new law “asinine” and described putting people who had previously broken the law at the front of the line as, “insanity run amok.”

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Study: Legalization Sees Short-Term Decline in Opioid ER Visits

7/20/2021

Researchers at the Pitt Graduate School of Public Health found that in the first half of 2017 California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada all saw a 7.6% decline in opioid-related emergency room visits but that those rates returned to pre-legalization levels after the six months, according to a WESA outline of the study.

However, Coleman Drake, the study’s lead author and assistant professor of health policy and management, said the researchers found no “evidence to support the theory that cannabis functions as a gateway drug.”

“If anything, we find that recreational cannabis legalization decreases opioid-related emergency department visits. … Cannabis is a substitute for pain relief, but it’s not a treatment for opioid use disorder. People might be finding that cannabis does help treat pain for opioid use disorder, but ultimately isn’t treating other symptoms of the condition.”— Drake to WESA

The study focused on California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada because the states had only legalized cannabis for adults in 2016. The study notes that the reduction in opioid-related ER visits was “driven by men and adults aged 25-44.” It also stressed, “while cannabis liberalization may offer some help in curbing the opioid epidemic, it is likely not a panacea.”

Drake noted that there have not yet been enough “high-quality studies” on post-legalization issues, such as opioid use or related ER visits, and Alice Bell of Prevention Point Pittsburgh, a nonprofit specializing in drug user health and harm reduction agreed, noting that it is hard to draw hard conclusions from the study.

“This data hopefully once and for all puts a nail in the coffin that marijuana is a ‘gateway drug,’” Bell said in the report. “It would be useful to do qualitative research and ask people who use drugs what they are actually doing.”

The study, “Recreational cannabis laws and opioid-related emergency department visit rates,” was published July 12 in the Health Economics Letter.

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Competing Campaigns in Missouri Seek to Add Legalization Question to 2022 Ballots

7/20/2021

Competing advocacy groups in Missouri are seeking to put an adult-use question to voters next year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The groups include Fair Access Missouri and Legal Missouri 2022, which was once known as New Approach Missouri—the group behind the successful medical cannabis initiative in 2018.

Fair Access is comprised of cannabis proponents who are disenchanted with the medical cannabis program created by the 2018 initiative. That campaign, a constitutional amendment, required the state to issue at least 338 industry licenses. The licensing process was marred by controversies, which included an investigation into the scoring process over claims that Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s office was able to influence how industry applications were scored and a report that was used to limit the number of licenses awarded.

Eric McSwain, the spokesman for Fair Access and chair of the Missouri Cannabis Industry Association, told the Post-Dispatch that under the current medical cannabis system, prices are too high and that his organization is pushing for an “open market” approach to broad legalization.

“We’re not big fans of the limited license scheme that’s in place. I don’t think it does justice to all those entrepreneurs in Missouri. I don’t think it does justice for all of the individuals who want to be employed in the industry, and I don’t think it’s fair to patients either, who at this point don’t have an adequate supply.”— McSwain to the Post-Dispatch

The groups diverge on several issues, including micro-licenses, social equity provisions, allowing current operators the first shot at new licenses and which state agencies would regulate the new industry.

Fair Access last week filed multiple versions of its ballot question with the secretary of state’s office. Campaigns must gather enough signatures to get the issue on midterm ballots in 2022.

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AphriHelios Global LLC Announces Launch of Inaugural Advisory Board

7/20/2021

Stellar Group of Advisors to Influence AphriHelios’ Strategy

AphriHelios Global LLC, poised to become the leading vertically integrated cannabis company bringing the highest quality Africa and African diaspora cannabis products and brands to the global market, today announced the formation of its inaugural Advisory Board.

AphriHelios CEO, Darin Hickman, stated “We are honored to have such an esteemed group of leaders avail their expertise, sage advice, and networks. Each member brings the intellectual insight we currently need in key strategic areas.”

The new advisors include:

Colin Clarke – Colin has many years of international law, private equity, and corporate finance experience with multinational organizations. He is currently Chairman of the Investment Committee and Executive Director of RH Bophelo Management Company Proprietary Limited. Colin’s educational background includes a (BA) Political Science, MBA (University of Oxford), Juris Doctorate (JD), and Advocate High Court, South Africa.

Dr. Desta Meghoo – As a creative consultant, cannabis activist, writer, author, community leader, and founder of D.Y.M.C. & ASSOC, Dr. Meghoo remains active in the Pan African and Rastafari movement, having managed the careers of icons such as Augustus Pablo, and two of Bob Marley’s I-Threes, Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt. Further, she served as the Managing Director of the Bob Marley Foundation. Dr. Meghoo earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida. She currently serves in Addis Ababa as Liaison to the African Union for the Diaspora African Forum. The Diaspora Africa Forum is the only African Diaspora organization in the world with diplomatic status. Most recently Dr. Meghoo appeared on Alpha Woman podcast to discuss Ethiopian cannabis laws and feminism in Africa.

Groovin Nchabeleng – Award-winning South African advertising and media guru. Groovin is the current Executive Chairman of Blueprint Group advertising agency, which has been in operation for the past 18 years. He is Chairman of Koni Multinational Brands and the Medisone Pharmacy Retail Chain and former CEO of Leo Burnett Group South Africa/MMS Group. He is a member of the Sekhukhuneland Royal Family (Bapedi) and a founding member and director for the United Royal Kingships Holdings, a first-of-its-kind investment entity representing 829 royal leaderships and a constituency of over 20 million people.

Montel Williams – Emmy award-winning media expert, podcast host, best-selling author, decorated U.S. Naval officer, motivational speaker, wellness entrepreneur, and cannabis advocate, Montel currently serves on the board of directors for the Fisher House Foundation and the Anne Romney Center for Neurological Diseases at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Williams holds a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering and a minor in international security affairs from the United States Naval Academy. His podcast Let’s Be Blunt with Montel (which recently hosted AphriHelios CEO, Darin Hickman) features under-represented voices in the cannabis industry.

AphriHelios Global is excited about its new Advisory Board and how it can assist in creating transformative sustainable economic opportunities, in Africa and internationally, while also facilitating conversations about the intersection of African based company’s role in creating high value, low-cost production in the cannabis industry.

The company is also excited about its current capital raise. Consistent with its drive to create transformative economic opportunities, AphriHelios has launched a crowdfunding campaign concurrently with a traditional Regulation D private placement. With a minimum investment of $250, the crowdfunding campaign provides access to individuals who do not usually have access to these kinds of investments. The private placement campaign is focused on accredited individuals and institutions.

To find out more about AphriHelios, its Advisory Board, or its current capital raise, please visit their website at www.aphrihelios.com.

About AphriHelios
AphriHelios Global is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, with active offices in Cape Town, South Africa, and Maseru, Lesotho. The company was awarded its initial license in 2019 from the Kingdom of Lesotho’s Ministry of Health to cultivate, process, package, and export cannabis-related products to global markets from the capital Maseru.

For media inquiries:
Diana-Ashley Krach
krachkreative@gmail.com
‪(443) 619-7984‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

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Raheem Uqdah: The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility In Cannabis

7/20/2021

Despite the rapid and accelerating growth of the cannabis space, the industry comes from an oppressive foundation of drug war-fueled persecution. Many efforts are aimed at addressing this issue including social equity licensing requirements and similarly focused business incubators, but the responsibility also lies with current operators to help remedy the situation.

Even large cannabis companies like Curaleaf cannot ignore these unfortunate circumstances — in this Q&A, we ask Curaleaf’s Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Raheem Uqdah about the social justice responsibilities of current operators, balancing those responsibilities with brand building and outward expansion, the company’s various initiatives for social good, and more!

Scroll down to read the full interview.

Ganjapreneur: What was your background in nonprofit work and policy before starting with Curaleaf? How has this experience served you in your position?

Raheem Uqdah: Prior to joining Curaleaf I spent time with a handful of nonprofits in various roles for a couple of years. During my role with a nonprofit doing communications and community outreach was the first time in my career where I was able to intentionally blend brand building and social good into my work in a way that made sense and was meaningful to our constituents. I was able to take that grounding and have since applied it to how I approach all of our work at Curaleaf.

Curaleaf is currently operating in 23 states. Do each of its social responsibility initiatives extend into every state market?

The long-term intent of our work is to ladder down all our initiatives into each of our states and find local partners to support our work on a regional and state level. Our programs have been built to address what we think are the most important issues facing our industry today. The flexibility of our programs allows us to tailor each one to the specific populations of our communities.

How does Curaleaf balance its mission of social responsibility and its large retail footprint while competing with small businesses?

In each state that we operate, we maintain close relationships with our communities, from hiring locally to supporting community initiatives. Our scale means that we also have the resources necessary to lift up and support small businesses to facilitate a dynamic and diverse cannabis industry. Our 420×25 initiative is a great example of this, and we’ve set a goal to do business with 420 new cannabis brands, ancillary suppliers and advocacy organizations from underrepresented communities in the cannabis ecosystem by 2025.

Many cannabis industry companies are founded by people fueled by passion with a desire to do good in the world. For entrepreneurs and founders, what are the benefits of formalizing that intent with a statement of corporate social responsibility?

We believe in investing over the long term – in people, programs, and places. Each organization in the cannabis industry has a responsibility to leverage its resources and clout to create a better environment for patients, employees and the community. Formalizing that intent with specific objectives helps elevate industry standards and best practices that serve to create a fair, accessible and equitable legal cannabis space for generations to come.

Due to the historical criminalization of cannabis, many of the early activists and nonviolent offenders who were imprisoned for cannabis are still locked up despite its legal status in many states. What responsibility does the modern cannabis business/entrepreneur have in righting this wrong of the judicial system?

The collateral consequences that have ultimately impacted BIPOC communities is massive. There are organizations out there that are working with states on this topic and we support those efforts. Ultimately, we work with state coalitions to pass laws and regulations that support state level expungement of low-level cannabis-related crimes. That said, we’re choosing to most actively use our resources to provide mentoring and technical assistance for aspiring business owners, create pathways to ownership for social equity license holders, and increase economic opportunities for individuals from historically disadvantaged communities.

How have you handled Curaleaf’s social equity fund investments to best serve the future of the industry?

These investments are an attempt to intentionally build pathways to diversify the industry. By creating educational pathways for those who are interested in joining the cannabis industry we are hoping to spark economic opportunity for those from areas disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. We believe that it is only through opportunity, education, and investment that we can see an inclusive cannabis industry flourish beyond the homogenized industry that we have today.

What direct actions have been taken since the founding of the Rooted in Good program?

We launched our DE&I program starting with our DEI taskforce which was made up of 62 cross-functional team members ranging from dispensary associates to vice presidents at Curaleaf. The taskforce ensures we’re reflecting through our actions and decisions that we value diversity and inclusion across intersections between race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability status, veteran status, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Through this taskforce, we have developed our Curaleaf ERGs, which have led internal virtual events celebrating Black History Month and Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Additionally, our Women’s Cannabis Collective ERG and “CuraForce” Workforce Development subcommittee partnered with Dress for Success to present the virtual workshop, Pivoting Your Career Path: It’s About More Than Skills.

Through our social equity work, we’ve launched our 420×25 initiative, and have established partnerships with organizations like Women Grow and Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM) whose efforts support cultivating diversity in the cannabis industry. In July, we launched B Noble in partnership with visual artist, filmmaker and hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy and Bernard Noble, who spent seven years in prison on a 13 year sentence for the equivalent of two joints. This partnership is Curaleaf’s first large-scale brand venture in alignment with our dedicated social equity work and it’s an exciting opportunity to give back to communities impacted by cannabis prohibition, while also calling attention to Bernard’s incredibly harsh sentence.

Additionally, Curaleaf has hired Map-Collective, a female-founded green-tech startup to lead our Carbon Reduction Taskforce, an internal taskforce with a goal to reduce our carbon footprint.

What is the process of forming a new Curaleaf Employee Resource Group (ERG)? Does each ERG have independent leadership to represent their individual focus?

Our ERGs are employee led and are a way for our employees to manage upward and implement grassroots change in our organization. Leaders are often members of multiple ERGs, but each group works to bring the wishes of their membership to life.

What are the goals of the 420×25 initiative and how does this play into the bigger picture of social responsibility?

Curaleaf aims to create a diverse and vibrant cannabis industry. We believe that in order to meet the needs of our patients and customers, we must increase and broaden representation to accurately reflect all backgrounds. As part of our supplier diversity program, Curaleaf aims to do business with 420 new cannabis brands, ancillary suppliers and advocacy organizations from underrepresented communities in the cannabis ecosystem by 2025. Since we announced this commitment in February 2021, we have partnered with 60 of these businesses. One example is Rolling Bouqé, a premier rolling paper brand, whose products are now featured in all Curaleaf Maryland locations. Purient Bedroom, a brand of intimate personal lubricant and massage oil, is another example that joined our Massachusetts ecosystem in early 2020. We aim to achieve our own corporate diversity goals while also enabling the growth of diverse businesses in our communities.

Why did Curaleaf choose to partner with Women Grow for the 420×25 initiative? What kind of value does the partnership bring to the mission?

Our partnership with Women Grow is a key step forward in ensuring that our values are reflected at every level of the organization’s supply chain. From cultivators and manufacturers to ancillary businesses within cannabis, we have set a critical goal of diversifying our supply chain, and we look forward to working with Women Grow to make that goal a reality. Through our partnership, we look forward to connecting with women, BIPOC, Veteran and LGBTQ-owned business owners and building with these cannabis leaders across the 23 active legal states that we operate in.

How important is mentorship when forging a future cannabis industry with true social equity? How does Curaleaf support and initiate true mentorship?

The Executive Roundtable mentoring program at Curaleaf expands the economic opportunities in cannabis by providing entrepreneurs from across the ecosystem, access to the most senior leaders in Curaleaf. Protégés of the mentoring program include entrepreneurs in the CBD space as well as other ancillary business.

Entrepreneurs involved in the program have expressed that these relationships are game-changers for them, the access to networks and knowledge alone is well worth their participation. In addition to direct access to industry leaders, the program includes in-kind benefits from Curaleaf suppliers such as Brightfield Group which will provide technical assistance and access to consumer data at no cost. Some entrepreneurs will have access to scholarship dollars to fill a gap in their knowledge and expertise beyond what their mentors can provide.

The Executive Roundtable takes a 360 approach to mentoring by centering the needs of the individual participants designed to maximize their resources.

What is First Friday and when will this Curaleaf initiative officially launch?

First Friday is an education seminar that Curaleaf will offer for the underrepresented communities on the first Friday of each month. We are inviting BIPOC, women, LGBTQ+ and other communities in to engage and connect. Participants can expect to connect with leading voices in the industry, network for business and employment opportunities, and learn more about today’s cannabis culture. The program officially launched on June 4 with Minorities for Medical Marijuana.

Thank you, Raheem, for answering our questions! Learn more at Curaleaf.com.

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Surgeon General: No ‘Value’ in Locking People Up for Cannabis Use

7/19/2021

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said there are “some benefits” to cannabis from a medical perspective but also “some harms that we have to consider” when lawmakers craft policy.

Further, the surgeon general said he doesn’t think there is “value” to society by incarcerating people for cannabis use.

“I don’t think that serves anybody well. But I do think that in terms of our approach to marijuana, I worry that when we don’t let science guide our process in policy-making—and as surgeon general that’s my role is to work with policy-makers to work with members in the community and the general public to help people understand what science tells us and where you have gaps, to help fill those gaps with research and with honest inquiry.”—Murthy in a “State of the Union” interview, July 18, 2021

The remarks came in response to a question by “State of the Union” host Dana Bash about the recent introduction of federal legislation—the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act—to legalize cannabis.

The bill, backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and fellow Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (OR), and Cory Booker (NJ), would deschedule cannabis, expunge cannabis-related criminal records, allow incarcerated people to petition for resentencing, and establish social equity cannabis grant programs funded by a new federal cannabis tax. The proposal would also allow some states to continue prohibiting cannabis but would not allow those states to criminalize cannabis transport in their borders if it was headed to legal markets.

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Study: Cannabis First Domesticated in East Asia During Neolithic Era as ‘Multipurpose Crop’

7/19/2021

A new study suggests that cannabis was first domesticated in East Asia during the Neolithic Era—from 3900-1700 BC—and was a “multipurpose crop” likely used for both industrial and medical purposes. The researchers indicated that “all current hemp and drug cultivars diverged from an ancestral gene pool currently represented by feral plants and landraces in China.”

“We identified candidate genes associated with traits differentiating hemp and drug cultivars, including branching pattern and cellulose/lignin biosynthesis. We also found evidence for loss of function of genes involved in the synthesis of the two major biochemically competing cannabinoids during selection for increased fiber production or psychoactive properties.” — “Large-scale whole-genome resequencing unravels the domestication history of Cannabis sativa,” July 16, 2021, Science Advances

Luca Fumagalli, an author of the study, said the hypothesis is largely based on observational data of wild examples in the region, noting that the “feral samples” found in East Asia “are not wild types.”

“These are plants that escaped captivity and readapted to the wild environment,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. “By the way, that’s the reason you call it weed, because it grows anywhere.”

The researchers—from six countries—collected 82 samples, either seeds or leaves, from around the world, which included strains that had been selected for fiber production, and others from Europe and North America that were bred to produce high amounts of THC. The plants’ DNA was extracted and sequenced. The researchers also downloaded and reanalyzed sequencing data from 28 other samples.

The result was that the wild varieties analyzed were in fact “historical escapes from domesticated forms,” and that current strains in China—both cultivated and wild—were the closest descendants of the ancestral gene pool. The researchers conclude that “pure wild progenitors of C. sativa have gone extinct.”

A 2019 study by University of Vermont researchers suggests that cannabis evolved 28 million years ago on a Tibetan plateau around Qinghai Lake at about 10,500 feet above sea level. That research notes that many biogeographers believe that cannabis first grew in Central Asia due to its pollen first appearing in India more than 32,000 years ago and in Japan in 10,000 BCE.

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California Cannabis Regulators Consolidated Under Department of Cannabis Control

7/19/2021

Under a bill signed last week by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), the state’s three cannabis regulatory bodies have been consolidated into the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), according to the agency’s first press release.

The new DCC is housed under California’s Department of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing (BCSH). California’s cannabis programs were formerly separated across three different state departments and included the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Cannabis Control, the Department of Food and Agriculture’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division, and the Department of Public Health’s Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch. Operators have long expressed difficulties in having to navigate the requirements of three separate agencies.

The DCC will maintain the state’s current licensing structure but starting in 2026 will no longer renew the provisional licenses under which the majority of the industry has operated since legalization.

“The state’s consolidation effort delivers on the commitment made by the Newsom Administration to listen to and work with California’s legal cannabis industry to streamline participation in the legal market by offering a central point of contact for licensed operators. One of the key missions of our agency is to build strong, equitable, and vibrant communities. This action takes bold steps in that direction.” — BCSH Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramirez

Nicole Elliott, formerly the Governor’s Senior Advisor on Cannabis at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, was appointed to be the first DCC director.

The governor described the new agency as a “significant step forward to fulfill the opportunities of legalization” and called for continuing the state’s “efforts to foster a diverse and inclusive industry.”

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Kentucky Hemp Association Sues State Officials Over Delta-8 Crackdowns

7/19/2021

The Kentucky Hemp Association and other hemp businesses in the state are suing State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles in their roles as state officials to stop crackdowns on hemp businesses selling Delta-8 THC, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

The lawsuit argues the raids are illegal and last week asked a Boone Circuit Court judge to stop police from using a letter from the Agriculture Department as an impetus for the law enforcement actions.

The April 18 letter from Department of Agriculture General Counsel Joe Bilby told hemp license holders that “Delta-8 THC is a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law and Kentucky law” and “distributing products containing this substance is illegal” which could lead to licensees be kicked out of the state’s hemp program and “potential exposure to criminal prosecution.”

“For that reason, you should not manufacture, market, or distribute products containing Delta-8 THC. Failure to heed this guidance could result in the revocation of your hemp license and expose you to the risks of prosecution by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.”—Bilby in a letter to Kentucky hemp licensees via the Herald-Leader

Last month, police raided two hemp retailers in Morehead, five in Casey County, and one each in Hardinsburg and Hardin County, the report says.

Sean Southard, a spokesman for the agriculture department, said that when Kentucky legalized hemp and allowed sales, industry stakeholders “assured everyone that hemp was different from marijuana and that it was not an intoxicating substance.”

“Relying upon those assurances, the Kentucky General Assembly and the United States Congress passed laws legalizing hemp by creating a definition to separate it from psychoactive forms of cannabis that puts users in an altered state,” he said to the Herald-Leader, adding that if lawmakers wanted to legalize Delta-8 “it would be simple enough for them to enact a law saying so.”

“Because they haven’t, we have to follow the law and educate our license holders about what is legal and what isn’t,” he said.

The Kentucky Hemp Association argues the compound is a legal derivative of hemp under state and federal law. A retail store and hemp farm are also named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

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Cannabis Taxes Fund Programs for Previously Incarcerated in Springfield, Illinois

7/16/2021

A Springfield, Illinois community center is using cannabis-derived tax funds for educational and job training programs for 30 formerly incarcerated people, WICS/WRSP reports. The East Springfield Community Center Commission directly received more than $800,000 from the over $1.5 million directed to city non-profits.

CEO Dameon Johnson said he plans to have the program up and running by August.

“We work on essentially reintegrating them into society, helping them to find the resources they need in the community they will be residing in.”—Johnson to WICS/WSRP

The center, funded by adult-use cannabis taxes, will also focus on youth violence prevention, an employment program, and mentoring, Johnson said. He added that he hopes to eventually partner with Lincoln Land Community College to provide more education options.

Through the first quarter of the year, cannabis tax revenues in Illinois surpassed $86 million—beating alcohol tax revenues by about $14 million.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) on Thursday signed a bill to create new cannabis industry licenses for social equity applicants—which have been delayed since last year— which will add another 110 dispensaries throughout the state, according to a press release from state Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford’s office.

To qualify for the new licenses, 51% of the business must be owned by one or more individuals who have resided in an area disproportionally impacted by cannabis law enforcement for five out of the last 10 years, or 51% ownership must be by one or more individuals who have been arrested, convicted, or adjudicated delinquent for cannabis crimes or had a close family member (parent, child, spouse) with a cannabis offense.

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Jones Soda Planning Cannabis-Infused Beverage Line

7/16/2021

Seattle, Washington-based Jones Soda is planning a cannabis-infused sodas and edibles line and seeks to raise $10 million for the venture. The cannabis operations would be separate from its craft beverage business.

Jones President and CEO Mark Murray said infused beverages and edibles “are a perfect fit for the iconic personality of the Jones brand” and the proposed transactions to raise funds for the new business “will lay the groundwork for a strategic transformation of the company to an additional business line” that builds on Jones’ current business model.

Jones said it raised $2 million through an unsecured convertible debenture that was issued to SOL Global Investments Corp. The beverage maker will also receive $8 million through a deal involving Pinestar Gold Inc.

“We are also confident that SOL, along with certain large shareholders of Pinestar will provide Jones with the knowledge, expertise, and resources necessary to help us deliver on our growth plans within the cannabis sector.”—Murray in a press release

According to a Bloomberg report, SOL is led by Andy DeFrancesco who was an early investor in Canadian licensed cannabis producer Aphria Inc.

Former CannaRoyalty CEO and current Cresco Labs Inc. Director Mark Lustig is one of the main shareholders in Pinestar, according to Bloomberg.

According to an MJBizDaily report, sales of cannabis-infused beverages were up 40% in 2020 from the previous year.

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University of Maryland Graduates First Medical Cannabis Master’s Degree Class

7/16/2021

The University of Maryland in May graduated its first class enrolled in its master’s program for medical marijuana studies, NBC Washington reports. The program, the first of its kind in the nation, is focused on patient care rather than cannabis cultivation.

The degree could be useful for healthcare professionals seeking more education in medical cannabis, individuals interested in laboratory science interested in improving medical cannabis, or those interested in public policy.

Leah Sera, the program’s director, said it focuses on the pharmacology and pharmaceutics related to cannabis medicine.

“We also provide education on what we know about the therapeutic benefits of the cannabis plant, and we also introduce students to the many different policies and regulations related to medical cannabis. … We are making the courses accessible to students who may not have taken a chemistry course since high school. But we are also making it interesting to our students who already are chemists or pharmacists.”—Sera to NBC Washington

Medical cannabis is legal in Maryland but efforts to pass adult-use legalization reforms stalled in the legislature this session.

A Goucher College poll in March found a majority of Marylanders support broad cannabis legalization in the state, including 77% of Democrats (with 18% opposed), 60% of independents (34% opposed), and half of Republicans (47% opposed). It represents the highest level of support since the college began asking the question in 2013.

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Study: Cannabis-Friendly States See Faster-Growing Home Values

7/15/2021

From 2017 to 2021, home prices in states with adult-use cannabis laws grew by an average of $17,113 more than in states where cannabis remains prohibited or is only allowed for medical use, according to a Clever Real Estate analysis outlined by National Mortgage News. So far this year, housing values in legal states increased $470 for every $1 million in 2020 cannabis revenues.

House prices in those states also increased $519 for every new dispensary a city adds, the researchers found. Among the five states that have passed cannabis reforms but have not yet allowed sales—Montana, New Mexico, New York, Vermont, and Virginia—the study suggests home values would have been 13.5% higher had if they had allowed recreational sales over the previous four years.

Clever Data Scientist Francesca Ortegren said she expects the trend to continue as more states pass the reforms and begin to allow adult-use sales.

“An interesting phenomenon we might encounter is county or city-level regulations prohibiting sales within legal states. Prohibiting sales of recreational marijuana in a municipality would cause citizens to venture out to purchase marijuana and reduce the amount of cash flow in the ‘dry’ county. Even counties that don’t allow alcohol generate far less tax revenue than their ‘wet’ counterparts.”—Ortegren to National Mortgage News

A study published in March by insurance comparison company the Zebra found that just 46% of Americans would purchase a home within one mile of a cannabis dispensary.

A National Association of Realtors study published last year found 34% of respondents said there had been an increase in demand for warehouses in states with legalized cannabis since 2016.

A 2019 report by RE/MAX found both home prices and home sales in Canada increased post-legalization.

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New Mexico More Than Doubles Plant Counts for Licensed Producers

7/15/2021

The Cannabis Control Division of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department on Monday increased the plant cap on licensed producers from 4,500 plants to 10,000, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. The agency also increased the plant maximum for new cultivators to 8,000 as officials prepare for the rollout of legalized sales in the state.

New producers will also be able to apply for production increases of up to 10,000 plants.

Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the Cannabis Control Division, said the changes came following public feedback which helped the agency see “important ways that the draft rules could be changed in order to better support New Mexico businesses, entrepreneurs, and consumers who are excited to participate in this new industry.”

Regulators also relied on research from the Cannabis Public Policy Consulting group which found the state would need between 2,007 and 3,756 plants per producer during the first year of sales. All cannabis producers in the state will pay a $10-per-plant fee with large producers paying a $2,500 annual operation fee and microbusinesses paying either $500 or $1,000 annually depending on their plant counts.

Duke Rodriguez, president and CEO of New Mexico Top Organics-Ultra Health, the state’s largest medical cannabis company, told the New Mexican that, despite the plant increase, there will “absolutely” be a shortage when sales commence— sometime between January 1 and April 1. He called on regulators to adopt emergency rules “immediately which allows substantial production to have begun at least yesterday or earlier.”

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Study: Living Near Dispensaries Does Not Increase Young Adults’ Interest in Cannabis

7/15/2021

Adults aged 18-23-years-old that reside near cannabis retailers are no more likely to be interested in cannabis or tobacco than those who do not, according to a study by the RAND Corporation and the University of Southern California published this month in the Journal of Cannabis Research. The researchers note that it is a first-of-its-kind study simultaneously examining “the density of both [medical cannabis dispensaries] and [recreational cannabis retailers] around young adults’ homes and associations with future intentions to use cannabis, including the co-use of cannabis with tobacco/nicotine.”

“Living near more outlets of any type was not significantly associated with intentions to use in the full sample, adjusting for individual—and neighborhood—level characteristics. … Our results suggest that young adults who lived in an area with a greater density of any type of outlet were not significantly more likely to report stronger intentions to use cannabis, e-cigarettes, or cannabis mixed with tobacco/nicotine in the future.”—Density of medical and recreational cannabis outlets: racial/ethnic differences in the associations with young adult intentions to use cannabis, e-cigarettes, and cannabis mixed with tobacco/nicotine, July 9, 2021, Journal of Cannabis Research

The researchers note that white young adults were more likely to co-use cannabis and tobacco when living near cannabis outlets of any type and more recreational retailers; higher co-use rates were found—marginally—among Asian young adults living near medical dispensaries; while higher medical dispensary density was significantly associated with lower intentions to use e-cigarettes among Hispanic young adults.

“The results suggest racial/ethnic differences in the impact of living near cannabis outlets on intentions to use,” the researchers concluded. “Prevention efforts targeting young adults who live near more cannabis outlets may be especially beneficial for white and Asian young adults.”

NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said the research “should allay” fears from policymakers that legal cannabis retailers in their jurisdiction will lead to an increased interest in using either cannabis or tobacco.

End

Reginald Stanfield: Roadmap for Launching a Successful Cannabis Cultivation Facility

7/15/2021

To launch a successful cannabis cultivation facility, one requires a significant amount of planning, resources, and initiative. Launching during a worldwide pandemic, however, makes things a lot more difficult — and that was the unfortunate reality for Massachusetts’ JustinCredible Cultivation when they were finally approved to open last year.

Reginald recently joined our podcast host TG Branfalt to discuss his entrepreneurial journey toward the cannabis space, the lessons he learned along the way, and stories from the founding and creation of JustinCredible Cultivation, which is the first minority-owned general business applicant to open a cannabis cultivation facility on the East Coast. This interview also covers securing investments, Reginald’s tips for building a scrappy and effective C-suite team, what he looks for when hiring new employees, and more!

Listen to the podcast:

Ganjapreneur · Reginald Stanfield: Roadmap for Launching a Successful Cannabis Cultivation Facility

Read the transcript:

Commercial: At Ganjapreneur, we have heard from dozens of cannabis business owners who have encountered the issue of cannabias, which is when a mainstream business, whether a landlord, bank, or some other provider of vital business services, refuses to do business with them simply because of their association with cannabis. We have even heard stories of businesses being unable to provide health and life insurance for their employees because the insurance providers were too afraid to work with them.

We believe that this fear is totally unreasonable and that cannabis business owners deserve access to the same services and resources that other businesses are afforded, that they should be able to hire consultation to help them follow the letter of the law in their business endeavors, and that they should be able to provide employee benefits without needing to compromise on the quality of coverage they can offer. This is why we created the ganjapreneur.com business service directory, a resource for cannabis professionals to find and connect with service providers who are cannabis friendly and who are actively seeking cannabis industry clients.

If you are considering hiring a business consultant, lawyer, accountant, web designer, or any other ancillary service for your business, go to ganjapreneur.com/businesses to browse hundreds of agencies, firms, and organizations who support cannabis legalization and who want to help you grow your business. With so many options to choose from in each service category, you will be able to browse company profiles and do research on multiple companies in advance, so you can find the provider who is the best fit for your particular need.

Our business service directory is intended to be a useful and well-maintained resource, which is why we individually vet each listing that is submitted. If you are a business service provider who wants to work with cannabis clients, you may be a good fit for our service directory. Go to ganjapreneur.com/businesses to create your profile and start connecting with cannabis entrepreneurs today.

TG Branfalt: Hey there, I’m your host, TG Branfalt, and thank you for listening to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today I’m joined by Reginald Stanfield. He’s the CEO and head horticulturist of Massachusetts-based JustinCredible Cultivation, the first minority owned general business applicant to open a cultivation facility on the East Coast. How are you doing this afternoon, Reginald?

Reginald Stanfield: I’m doing amazing, man. I’ve been looking forward to this conversation. Happy to be here.

TG Branfalt: Me too, man. I’ve seen a couple of interviews with you. I’ve been watching your Twitter, and I’m real excited to pick your brain and get a little bit about your experience in this space. You have this super unique story, and I want us to talk first about that, your background, how you ended up in the cannabis space. I had read that you had actually slept in your RV at one point. Tell me the whole story, man.

Reginald Stanfield: I’m going to make it as short as possible. 2012, I was working for this great company called Adam and Watson Associates underneath this great boss called Janelle. She taught me a lot of what I do now, where I practice. But being the ambitious person I am, I didn’t like constantly signing their names. I would spend six, seven hours doing something and it’s Janelle or it’s Ivan, and I didn’t like that.

I started bartending. Had a girlfriend and wanted me to do it. Long story short, I did an event for a small company. I hated what they did. I was on a phone call with one of my best friends in life. I’m talking to him, I’m like, “Hey man, dah, dah, dah.” He’s like, “Well, why don’t you do it yourself?” I was like, “Fine. Help me do this.” We came up with the name Masters of Mixology. He came up with the logo and I started doing it myself.

Then I got addicted to the thrill of having the challenge to bring people what they want. That led to me taking what I graduated, which is accounting, finance degree, which I did most business classes, to building company structures. I had people message me, “Hey, I see that you run this business. Can you help me with this? How do you do that?” I was like, “Well, I might as well start a management company.”

Me and him, we started a management company. He’s a creative design. I’m the business structure. Neither one of us are organized at all. We added our she role, our boss lady, Che’toia to come bring some structure to us. At that time, I had a friend of mine who was a… I don’t like to say bully because you can’t really bully me, but he was somebody who we weren’t friends in high school, and then we became like brothers our last year.

He quit his job. He was like, “I’m miserable. I want to just come do what you do. So he joined with me. And then from that point, we launched Modern Monopoly Management, which led to us building businesses all across the United States, from JustinCredible weddings, to JustinCredible installs, to supporting brands like Infusions and HBCU Traveler. We built our own structure. One day we were sitting in Texas, something had went crazy with the Houston market. Hurricane Harvey hit, killed a lot of people, destroyed the industry.

We went to Dallas, Dallas wasn’t the same market. I was sitting there, my partner editing videos for hours and hours on edge and I was like, “Hey, Mass said they’re going to recreational. The regulation seems like we can go there. What’s up?” We shut down three of our businesses and we all moved back home to our parents’ house to save as much money as we could.

We did R and D. We drove to Colorado. We drove to Illinois. We drove to everywhere. We just went. We went to there and every dispensary were like, “Hey, how do you guys buy your weed? How do you do this? What’s the standard you have? Is it cured? How long does it cure for? How long is the drive for it? We got all the information from the bedtenders. We got to see a couple of grows. We got to do all of that. It was cool.

I even got arrested for my first time during that process. I got arrested in Illinois in Effingham. Effingham City, got arrested there for a marijuana possession for the first time. I’ve been doing this forever, just got arrested for it. We did a Google search because everybody’s saying, “How did JustinCredible end up in Cummington.” We did a Google search, boom. That was the only property we could afford and we just decided to go there. So that’s how we started off.

TG Branfalt: Tell me about leaving your job as a financial manager to strike out on your own, not just in the cannabis industry, but broadly. What advice can you offer to people who want to pursue their goals, but have stable jobs that might make them think twice?

Reginald Stanfield: You’ve got to know yourself, man. The same as the things that I go through, everybody go through. I actually brought my dad in to do IT work. I was 21 years old. Was an office. Average age there was 45. So me bringing my dad and him seeing me with this and him making money, he’s like, “You’re crazy.” I had jokes from parents. I had jokes from neighbors, peers, or just a little bit older than me making jokes about not having a job. It was hard. The only advice I could do is just never give up.

I’m not one of those entrepreneurs are going to sit there and it gives you that speech and any… It’s not for everybody. I have the ability to be extremely uncomfortable for very, very long periods of times, and a lot of people don’t have that. So you’re going to miss the family vacations. You’re going to miss the family reunions. I look back now. I’m on this track for eight years. I look back now and I’m not in a lot of photos. You know what I mean?

I’m thinking like, “Oh, I was there.” No, I wasn’t there. I’m reliving your memory. So you have to be able to be uncomfortable, but know yourself. Know what makes you happy. And then, does that type of sacrifice to your personal life, is that for you? Because if it’s not, then you should start your business while you’re working and you can have that duality where…

Your business success can take 20 years to become successful. You know what I mean? As an entrepreneur, if you quit your job, your bill’s going to come due once that saving runs out, and it always runs out two times faster than you expected. So you just have to know yourself, man. You have to know what you’re doing.

TG Branfalt: I think that’s really astute advice. I mean, especially since you’ve done so many different things. It seems like uncomfort makes you comfortable to some degree.

Reginald Stanfield: No, not at all. I make it look real easy, and I’m not… I swear. I promised to myself I would not be the entrepreneur that comes up here and lies to people. No, I’m not. It doesn’t make me comfortable. It’s very uncomfortable. I have people who believe in me, you know what I mean? I have people who quit their stable jobs, who gave us their money and I owe them not to quit. You know what I mean?

My company, we could have been successful all from one business, but I was preaching and we had meetings, and of course, arguments, because we’re all friends. We’re all living together. I’m like, “We have to be perfect. There’s people out there that can get by and make a lot of money doing what we’re doing, but we have to be perfect.” We want to be this top company. That’s why my name, I go by Forbes Next, because I’m going to be the next person number one on Forbes. So it’s a whole mindset.

I told them, standing in Texas, meeting after meeting, “Somebody is going to give us a million dollars to do one business, and we’re going to have one shot.” That’s how I do. I’m definitely not comfortable being uncomfortable. No, I’m not. I don’t want to lie.

TG Branfalt: You were the first minority-owned general business applicant to get a grow license in the state of Massachusetts and on the East Coast. I don’t know your background, I don’t know your history. And so, my first question is were you able to potentially get one of these economic empowerment or social equity grants in Massachusetts? If you were, why did you choose to take that general applicant route?

Reginald Stanfield: They only put out the equity program for like two weeks and then they closed it. I’m not going to come up here and trash talk the regulatory process like everybody does because they’re doing something that they don’t know how to do. You get what I mean? And you can’t just copy and paste Colorado or Illinois because the law and regulations and bylaws of certain places, they have certain nuances that we don’t know about.

I’m not a political major. I don’t know if this thing could be a conflict to this thing. It’s just like growing in my mind. Yeah. You can grow in Fox Farm soil and not have any heavy metal test, but let me grow this one strand and it does. So I don’t want to trash talk the regulatory process, but they opened up the portal for that for like a month maybe. It was open and close.

The go out there and have to find somebody to give away 50% of my business to, it just wasn’t… I couldn’t qualify for Massachusetts social equity or economic empowerment, coming from a different state and everything. I think that’s what’s weird about it. They now do have veterans owned, women owned, and minority owned business enterprise type of push through, but they should have known better. They should have known better.

TG Branfalt: Well, they are regulators. It’s not going to tell whether or not they will ever know better. Why cultivation rather than other retail or other sectors? Cultivation, from my understanding, is really one of the hardest licenses to not just get, but to also maintain. So why did you choose that route?

Reginald Stanfield: Because I’m comfortable being uncomfortable. Now, I’m just messing… I come from farmers, man. My parents made it and they did… They worked so hard all through my childhood to provide us with a stable family, but where we like to call what we call family poor. You know what I mean? We live in a nice neighborhood, but we take care of both sides of our family. You know what I mean?

My parents pay the bills for my grandparents, for people in our family, all the way through. Where we’re from, they’re both from Roxboro, North Carolina, 10 miles away from each other. They grew eight to one household and then like four to one household, making their money by farming. I grew up in the tobacco field. I remember, five years old, in the tobacco field, on the back of the truck, watching people pluck tobacco, giant worm falling on me, freaking out. You know what I mean?

Years later, I’m in the tobacco fields swearing I would never do this again. You know what I mean? I grew up with it. I grew up with the hog pen, running past the hog pen. If you’re hungry, there is no inside. You go grab a peach, or a plum, or you go grab some fruit, go to the strawberry patch, hit the water hose. You know what I mean? That’s how I grew up. I didn’t grow up with technology or in the city. I grew up on a farm, and I can grow.

My mom, in Upper Marlboro, if you would see our backyard, we have 25… We have all this fruit stuff, fruit in everywhere, bell peppers, lemon trees. We have everything in a suburb backyard. So I grew up touching a plant. I love growing. I started growing in my closet, seeing my cousins grow, and their guerilla grows. I’ve been a part of that. It’s easy for me. Growing, even when I’m teaching, you go teaching certain methods and I’m like, “You just have to learn how to touch the plant.” You know what I mean? I have that feel.

So it was natural in my mind to go into the industry. Also, as well, I don’t believe retail is going to be the future. You know what I mean? If anything, Blockbuster told us that once Netflix starts knocking, you should start switching too. You know what I mean? Blockbuster could have switched their methods right when they saw Netflix. They could have done the same thing and could have maybe stayed. But I think retail, with the virus happening, with people… Uber Eats.

I go to Atlanta, I’m spending money off of Uber Eats. I don’t care if it’s $20 more than me taking a 15-minute drive. But there’s no way I’m going outside if I can get somebody to bring me my food. So I believe that’s the method of the market. We’re going to go towards delivery. Also believe in controlling the textile. Cannabis itself is what we’re selling. Even if you’re making into edibles, tinctures, you have to start with me.

I want to be watching Jeff Bezos and how he did his empire. He started controlling things that made for Amazon’s success. It wasn’t just marketing. It wasn’t just, “I have the…” No, I’m going to control distribution. Then I’m going to control the internet, the services. And then I’m going to control all the products. You know what I mean? So for me, once this blows up, I’m trying to control what everybody else is forgetting about.

I think, if you go West Coast, it’s brand, brand, brand, brand, brand, brand, brand. If you go Colorado’s brand, brand, brand, brand, brand. Well, I get it, so many of us right now. But eventually, it’s going to get down to who cares about the plant most, and that’s where I’m putting myself at, to maintain.

TG Branfalt: I really appreciate you sharing. It’s an incredible story, man. I live in a rural location now, but I have access to technology. So to think about tobacco fields in North Carolina, I mean, it just seems like a world away.

Reginald Stanfield: Yeah.

TG Branfalt: You’ve done incredible things with raising money. Your business has raised $1.3 million. Can you tell me what you think stood out to investors, that led to you successfully raising those funds?

Reginald Stanfield: Me? I mean, I keep it 100%. It’s me, but I don’t want that to come off narcissistic or cocky, like me on my team. You get what I mean? I have people behind me who are going to be just as uncomfortable as I am. The fact that I go into these meetings and they’re doing their work, they don’t want to be seen. You know what I mean? My partners aren’t scratching for the limelight. To be honest, I’m an introvert myself. So I’m just the one that stepped forward.

The way we sat down and we think about things, we go over stuff, we’re so positive and we’re so people-first that we can come in and read a room. I’m sitting here listening to investors. I go into the town of Cummington. My first meeting I go there is the general store, Dollar, pitching to come there as well. And they rip into them. They just go, and I’m like, “Yeah, we’re going to scratch that whole 40,000 square foot facility idea. We’re going to have to go small and then expand.”

So we go back and we dig into the numbers and I’m like, “Well, how do we get this here and what do we do? Well, let’s focus on the brand of JustinCredible. We can go as small as possible.” What we did is we shrunk the plan and we made it small. Well, on that news, doing research, a lot of people aren’t investing in cannabis as well. So me walking up to you, you don’t know me, “Give me 10 million.” Come on. That’s different than me saying, “Hey, I need 300,000.” You know what I mean? I can say 300,000 and turn it into four or five million. You know what I mean?

That’s what we did. And then, luckily we caught a bigger investor halfway through and he loved just a pitch. Same as that pitch I gave everybody, sensible. We’re going to start for us where we get into the market and then we’re going to expand fast. He loved it. We just built our relationship from there. That’s where we got the rest of our capital from. We raised half, friends and family, and the other… Well, I’ll say, the other 800,000 came from one source.

TG Branfalt: You talk about members of your executive team, they don’t really want the limelight, that they’re working while you’re doing this, you said. What do you look for in members of that executive team? And what about the day-to-day employees? As the CEO, what qualities are you looking for in these people?

Reginald Stanfield: Yeah. I’m what I like to call a people-over-profit CEO. That’s a cool question. I’ve never been asked that question about, what do I look for, for my C-suite. Loyalty is the most important thing, and it’s what I call maximum effort. If you can’t jump 10 feet, I want to see you squatting as low as possible. You know what I’m saying? Thrusting yourself up high as possible. If you only hit eight, then I can take your eight and make it into somebody else’s barely… I can do 10 by just jumping, because that maximum effort is what it takes.

I tell my team all the time, it’s not really what you do all the hundred times. It’s that one time. All it takes is that one time. If you’re not giving maximum effort, if you’re so used to, “I can jump 10 feet no matter what,” then you’re going to do it and sometimes you’re going to fail. And that one time you fail is the time you jump seven. You get what I mean? That low is too much, because we have to be perfect. We have to be 99.9. So I need you to jump that eight every time. You get what I mean?

If I go and I pitch to you, “Hey, I’ve got somebody that could jump eight every time. No matter what they do, they’re going to jump eight.” If you give everything to me, then I can pitch that. I can sell that to a person, I can’t sell, “He’s a super talented person, but sometimes I don’t know what I get from him.” And that’s what that person who can jump to 10. He can probably jump to 20. But when you slack off and you take for granted your talent, I can’t use that. So I look for that loyalty and that maximum effort, people who are going to come in and believe in me and say, “I want to give your all.”

From employees, and it’s weird, because it’s one of our first times with this grow, over the last couple of weeks, have been dealing with lower level employees because it’s just been us owners. Man, I just want somebody who cares about the plant and they want to build their future. They don’t want somebody to give them a future. It doesn’t have to be, “I’m going to be a millionaire.” No. I want to pay for a nice, comfortable house and I want to grow weed. This is my dream.

If you come to me and just like we have a guy named Dat, who came to me and he’s like, “I really love the plant. I want to learn.” That’s all I need. I still need your maximum effort as an employee, for eight hours. I’m not going to expect you to do ownership, but coming here and showing me that you do care about the plant. If you sweep floors, show me that you’re really great at sweeping floors because when I expand, I have 15 people working here, we’re going from 15 to 120. You get what I mean? So this executive manager spot’s open, so I’m going to see that, you know what I mean? I’m going to take care of you. You take care of me.

TG Branfalt: With these lower-level employees, are you the one who actually conducts the interviews?

Reginald Stanfield: No. Che’toia, she does the interview because I don’t have the patience for that. But I’ll walk in and I have my vibe I do. I throw a couple of questions out there and I just see how they react. I like to use some 40 laws of power and see how they react to this… You’ve got this gorgeous woman, short, because she’s small. Che’toia’s like 4, 3’11. She’s small. We have this small person who’s smiling. Yeah. You’ve got this pretty smile and beautiful eyes looking at you, this soft voice talking to you.

Then here comes 6’4 walking in the door and I’m like, “Hey, yeah. So how do you feel about that? How do you feel about this?” And I’ll walk out. I’ll be in an interview and I’ll just get on the phone and walk out. We’ll have a conversation later. So I hit a little bit, you know what I mean? I don’t believe in interviewing. You know what I mean? Interviewing is interviewing. Everybody puts their best foot forward. No, I like to jab a little bit and do my own thing with that one. I’m not a HR person.

TG Branfalt: You might be the most interesting CEO that I’ve ever interviewed.

Reginald Stanfield: It’s winning. I’m winning on that one.

TG Branfalt: Obviously, the last year, we’ve been in the middle of this pandemic. How’d you manage your cultivation business during the pandemic? What were some of the challenges?

Reginald Stanfield: We were almost one of the businesses that were lost during the pandemic. On the day Massachusetts shut down the cannabis industry was the day we get our license. Like I said, we were sleeping in RVs building the building before we were licensed, doing everything we could do to get this building up and running. Like I said, we didn’t have an unlimited budget. We didn’t get 1.3 million, go. We got 125,000, another 125,000. Here goes 25. Here’s 22. So we got our money in pieces all the way up to the very end.

Even with our big investor, we had to keep going back to them like, “Hey, we need more.” To be honest, Sonny, great dude. He went on and find more investors. I have to frame that correctly. It’s not like we had some money and then we went and got a whopping sum. No. We went and got this group with a great person that’s out of it, who was well-connected who, “Hey, man, 200,000. We need another 150.” So during the pandemic, we got shut down.

This is going to sound so weird. I already feel like I’m eccentric going to this interview, but that was one of the most proudest moments. At the same time, it was bittersweet. It was proud and then it hurt, because we stayed up for four days. I’m not over-exaggerating because I say stories and people will think that I’m over-exaggerating, until they actually come to the building or something happens. But we stayed up for four days.

I don’t mean you work 20 hours to get four hours of sleep. I’m talking about 24 and you’re still going. Go back to the hotel, take a shower. Get you an hour and come back to the site. We had to get to the point where it has to be three people in the car, somebody watching the driver. You get what I mean? Because it had to be two people watching the driver, because that’s how exhausted we were. Running to go to Home Depot to get this paint because we have to paint this or patch this hole, or this door doesn’t have a lock on it. We forgot to replace the lock.

It was a crazy four days, everybody on my team. And then, it got to the point where I saw everybody peak and it was beautiful. It’s like you get that synergy, that ring coming together. And it was like, at this point, nobody can give anymore. I was like, “This is how I know we’re going to be successful,” because everybody gave that last little bit you had, you know what I mean, when you know you can’t go no more, and then you keep going, and then they finally hit that, that’s what I saw.

So it was beautiful. But breaking the news to the team was hard. You know what I mean? It shocked me to my core. We had moved the RVs to get ready for the inspection. We were getting them clean just in case we got shut down, because we didn’t want to leave them full of food and sitting out in the site. Right when I parked the RV, I’m getting ready to go into the hotel to switch out to a nice shirt, to get ready for this inspection, because I don’t know what to think of. It’s like nine o’clock, they’re going to be there at 11:00.

My phone rings with the inspector, his name is saved. I’m like, “All right, he’s calling me, telling me he’s on the way,” because we have a really connected relationship. I’m like, “Hey, Mike,” because he won’t let me call him Mr. McCarthy. I’m like, “Hey, Mike.” He’s like, “Hey, Reginald.” I hear it. I’m like, “Maybe he’s just going to postpone it.” He goes and say, “I hate to tell you, we’re going to have to indefinitely postpone the inspection.”

And then, at that moment, it’s like… I almost threw my phone and I just dropped. He’s like, “I’m sorry. I’ll let you know when I figure some stuff out.” I asked him some questions and we hang up, and then everybody, the people outside are looking at me. I think it’s my cousin, he works for us, he’s looking at me. And then my business partner, Jonathan, and they’re like, “What’s up?” And I’m like, “Man, they just canceled the inspection.”

I said, “I don’t tell nobody. Call them down to the lobby of the hotel.” So then I called everybody into the lobby of hotel. But Justin, being a rock star he is, he’s at the building for the fourth day. He’s the one who stood behind making sure we’re getting our CO that morning. We’re getting the building… We have the building inspector, fire chief, electrical inspector there. The internet went out and you need the internet to do the CCC inspection. So we have the internet dude on the roof. He’s there handling all of this and I’m trying to call him. He’s not picking up.

I wait. I just break it to everybody. And then, you know what I mean, of course, people were moved to tears. And these are people I don’t really see cry that often. I was like, “You all, go ahead chill out here. I’m going to go ahead and go back and get T and tell him what’s up.” So I go back and then he calls me. He’s like, “Yo, we got the CO. The internet’s working and we’re ready for an inspection.” I was like, “All right. Cool. I’m going to talk to you when I get there.” I tell him when I get there, and then he takes it in and doesn’t allow me to see him react to it, because then he has to come next to me and become the leader for the rest of everybody else.

We get back together and I go buy bottles. You know what I mean? We’re going to go buy some bottles. We’re going to get some bottles. They stayed up and enjoyed the bottles. I wasn’t going to. I tried my best to, but I just went to sleep. I kind of passed out. I couldn’t take it. Because I’d taken everybody’s energy. I feel like I absorbed all the sadness and all that for them, and I went to sleep and they stayed up right next to me, partying, had a good drink on.

Then we just went home. Everybody went home and waited. That was crazy. Sorry, I know it took so long, but eventually, we got the call July 11th. July 11th, we went back up. We did the inspection. We passed the inspection. Then we had to do another one for a final. We did on the eighth. They put us up on the agenda. And then I noticed, after my research, nobody has made the agenda that had been declined. So I’m sitting there like, “Oh.” And they’re like, “It’s going to be virtual.”

We’re on the phone, and we’re driving, and we’re all in Massachusetts, like, “Hey.” Then we get the call like, “Boom, you guys are ready to go. You can start growing.” You know what I mean? Then it’s just crazy because then now we’re out of money, so we have to raise more money. We have to learn how to do this with just us because we were going to add some people. But I have terrible asthma. I actually had to be resuscitated in 2018. I was on life support for like five days, yeah, died for like five minutes.

Luckily, my parents got me to the ER in time. I know she didn’t bring this up, but they got me there in time to resuscitate me. I was dead on the pavement. The ER was pulling up, and they got me, brought me back, and I was gone for five minutes. But I have terrible asthma. There was no playing around for me when it came to COVID. So we all went home and we quarantined. I think we all needed it. You know what I mean? I think we all spent the three months literally… We were maybe the only people in America who actually stayed home and didn’t [inaudible 00:30:06]. We were in the house.

So it was a challenge. Even still now, hiring people is a challenge with COVID. You’re in a grow. You’re already hot. You’re already moving around sweaty and now you have a mask on and already you have your PPE. You’re gloved up. I know people say that there’s no oxygen change with masks. But I’m sorry, it’s different. It’s a different thing. It makes you hotter. It makes your breath humid and it’s discomforting. Now having to enforce that where…

All of the owners, we live literally in close proximity. We either stay in the same apartment or we ride together to work. So we don’t have no mask on while it’s just us. But adding more and more people, now everybody has to follow it. So it’s tough, man. People are losing their businesses. And then, at the end of the time, only big businesses get the grace of COVID. They get to learn how to operate with COVID. Small businesses, we have to be perfect. I know that was a lot. I apologize.

TG Branfalt: No, no, no. I mean, it’s very interesting. I mean, you were trying to get a license when they shut it down, and ultimately, they ended up declaring cannabis as an essential business.

Reginald Stanfield: They never did with us. They never did with Massachusetts.

TG Branfalt: Really?

Reginald Stanfield: Yeah. They just ended the shutdown.

TG Branfalt: Oh, got you.

Reginald Stanfield: We never got declared essential, which is bad mistake.

TG Branfalt: One of the other issues with Massachusetts is relatively new. It’s the strict microbe testing policies. Can you tell us more about that and how it’s affecting you as a cultivator?

Reginald Stanfield: I’m trying to understand more of the science, so I’m not sounding ignorant. But from what I got is they’re testing all microbes, not just bad ones like chlorophyl or all the other bad ones, yeast mold, even to that point. They’re not testing things in the way… They have a total bile test, that if you consume it, what happens in your gut? But nobody takes raw flower and eats it. You get what I mean? Yeah, unless you’re trying to get away from the cops, which you’re not worried about anymore.

So it doesn’t make sense to test for certain things if you’re not using it in that fashion. If I can then turn around and make it combustible, you know what I mean, which gets rid of everything that wouldn’t get rid of if it wasn’t combustible, you know what I mean? It just doesn’t make sense. For me, I was one of the trash talkers of the industry, like, “Man, my Massachusets weed is terrible, is this…” I understand it now because you grow in soil, you have plants everywhere, you’re kicking on microbes. You know what I mean?

You land on your plant. You fail a microbe test, you just lost 75%, 80% of the value of your product, just by a microbe. You know what I mean, landing on your plant, and then they breed. So you can’t follow the sprayers often as you want to. You can’t really treat. It’s making us grow super sterile. Where is the study saying it has to be this way? You know what I mean? I listened to one of your podcasts about the guys with the edibles at Colorado, and I totally disagree with everything he’s saying, you get what I mean?

He should be talking about medical. And if he is, then I agree with him. Medicals should be straight. Let it have nutritional values. Let’s test the hell out of it for medical patients. But I can go get a bottle of tequila and I don’t know what’s in it. There’s no nutritional fact. I’ve done the studies. People die a lot, thousands of thousands every single week, in America from drinking. You get what I mean? We’re not even talking about the cancers they’re producing. We’re just talking about strictly drunk drivers.

So why can I destroy my body with liquor? I haven’t even touched on tobacco, but with liquor, if I can’t destroy it with marijuana, when we’ve been smoking untreated weed for hundreds and hundreds of years and ain’t nobody died from it yet. So where’s the evidence that me smoking moldy weed ain’t going to do nothing but make me cough too much and I’m going to hate it? Where is the examples that heavy metals are going to make me sick if it never has done it?
If you are a patient, I think you should go to the medical side. Go get your car. If you have to give up your guns because of that, I’m sorry. You know what I mean? If you don’t care about that, we should have a market that is called recreational, adult use. I’m an adult. Let me choose what I want. You get what I mean? Let it be up to us how we pursue it. You don’t go get a pack of Marlboros like, “I know this tobacco ain’t got no yeast on it.” You know what I mean? I don’t get it.

It logically doesn’t make sense to me. And then all these other recreational people who don’t want to go medical, I guess, they’re trying to win over regulators and new states by champion for testing and champion for this and that. I’m not for it because even THC and terpenes, we don’t even understand it to the point where we know this amount of THC does this for sure, does that for sure. We don’t even know that yet.

What you’re doing is you’re making it so that the bigger guys who can afford to massively produce and they can fail 30% of their flower and not care about it because they can send it up the chain vertically to get turned into edibles and other things. You’re giving it so that little guys like me, we can’t survive because we have to pass testing. 10 pounds for me being failed is $40,000 I lose. That’s huge. You get what I mean? That’s huge when we’re operating, we’re paying for everything ourselves.

I think it needs to be readdressed and we need to get more… We have to make a decision. Is cannabis recreational or we just all medical? You know what I mean? Or we’re all just using it for medical, then get rid of the recreational market and just say, “Everything’s medical and these are the guidelines.” I don’t know the difference between what I have to do and what they have to do. I’ve been told the only difference is my tag is blue when there’s this pink. So I just think it’s crazy, man.

I don’t care about yeast and mold if I’ll have… Sometimes somebody might want to buy some yeast and mold. You know what I mean? They’ve got $50 and I go get some oz. You know what I mean? And they want to buy it. I’m not saying visible, but a high yeast count or a high microbe count. Come on, now. If you started smoking in the early 2000s, you come from some brick, Mexican weed. You all get a little bit too fancy.

TG Branfalt: I miss beasters to this day. I still miss beasters. I mean, to your point, I mean, I’ve been smoking weed since I was 15 years old, but on a basically daily basis. And I’ve smoked moldy weed, like literally saw the mold and said, “Fuck it. What else am I going to do?” And I’m fine, and I was fine then.

Reginald Stanfield: You’re not going to go complain to the weed guy because then you might not get the good deals anymore.

TG Branfalt: It was fine. It was fine. I figured it out. No, and I appreciate your candor, man. I really do. I mean, on this show, I have a habit of complaining about over-regulation. This is something that I never really thought about because I’m not a cultivator, just the onerousness of this. For you, what do you think the most pressing social equity issues are in the Massachusetts industry? And what about the industry as a whole?

Reginald Stanfield: Ooh. Okay. I don’t want to sound like the bad guy. I am not a proponent of social equity. I’m a proponent of economic empire, and it’s because of why? It’s not because I don’t believe that this market was not built on people like me, because it was. Every governor, mayor, who championed for marijuana, cannabis, stood up and said, “We’re going to undo the right that dah, dah, dah, dah. We’re going to make it.” And they lie. They all lie. Because what you’re doing is then you’re turning around, creating something that’s over-regulated for people that are not like us. You get what I mean?

A lot of my people who do grow, who do sell, they are not structured business people. You get what I mean? They don’t know how to fill out an application of security SOPs. And then you turn around and have to have all this stuff done before you get a license. By the time you get to that stage, you already either have to sell all your business away to another person because they know how to do a business and all you know how to do is grow, all you know how to do is make edibles, all you know how to do is sell, and they know how to get a license.

By that time, you done sold your business away, or you don’t even operate it. You operate one portion or you become a figure head. And they tell you who your C-suite is, who all that is. I have my business. All my partners and everybody who is C-suite I’ve known for 10 plus years. I’ve decided to go my way to build people up because, say, one of them want to leave my company today, they can go start four or five businesses and they can give somebody else their viewpoint.

So I don’t agree. There’s a lot of social equity plans that they go and find already successful minority entrepreneurs and then give them the license. That’s not the way you teach. You know what I mean? I don’t agree. I think Jay Z said it, about how teaching somebody, once they’re rich, once that person has already made it rich, to go back and teach is impossible. You know what I mean? The people who are with me, they’ve seen the struggles of their boss from zero to now successful.

So they know everything. Even if they don’t want to redo it, they can go teach it. They can go and say, “Hey, no. You’re going to have to talk to people a certain type of way. This is the war zone working with your friends. Here’s the role. This is what Reggie did. If I’m successful now, I get people to support me who already are business people. Then when I’m successful, all these steps I took, I forget, you know what I mean?

So, in my opinion, if we want to build the social equity and the economic empowerment, we need to find entrepreneurs like me, and shout out to Elev8 Cannabis after all like Seun. We need to find those entrepreneurs and we need to empower those people, the people who will sleep on their couch. I mean, there’s a lot of us out there. There’s Ulysses, and Laurie, Major Bloom. There’s Rebel and Greybeard.

I know a lot of people who are like me, who are cut from the same cloth, that because of them, now five or six of their friends have jobs. They go from making 30,000 to now almost at a hundred thousand because of their expertise. So, no, having this open portal, yes, it does work. But look how long it takes. It’s only in Massachusetts, two maybe social equity applicants open after three years. There’s only two. What sense does that make? But it’s already three general applicants open. You get what I mean? And that’s us with nothing.

Think if you take that social equity and give it to more people like new who can’t qualify. You get what I mean? Let’s make standards. You have to hire so many people. We can do this. I feel like that social equity stuff is too… Why does it matter who lived there? You know what I mean? It doesn’t matter who lived there. Maybe let me start the business and say, “Hey, the employees you hire have to live here.” But I’m going to do that anyway because it doesn’t make smart sense for me to ship 50 people up here and pay for the housing to have them work security guard jobs. You know what I mean?

So, no. Yeah, my C-suite may be from out of state, but the other 116 employees will be Massachusetts residents that get great jobs, you know what I mean? Let’s come with income thresholds. You know what I mean? We can do so many different things, but it just seems like they just followed the medical market and that’s just the way they wanted to go by it. And then, nobody sat down and said, “Hey, how can we actually effect change?”

But there are businesses out there that are big, that are doing that. Shout out to Curaleaf. They’re doing that. I have calls with them and we talk, and they’re like, “How do we do this?” I’m like, “I don’t believe you guys taking your money and giving it to a small business is the way to go. Help me expand.” You know what I mean? Then you get 115 people like me. You know what I mean? Business isn’t charity, number one, and is not for everybody to win no matter what you do, no matter how much help you get.

Business is so hard and so rare that even in a market like what… Even if you want to open up a bakery and you have the money for it, you’re not guaranteed to succeed. You know what I mean? So we should have those people who can fight and get to this process that I’m at. Let’s support those because those are the outliers. You know what I mean? Those are the ones who can find some way to make it. I didn’t throw my hands up and say, “Ah, Maryland won’t let me in.” No. I’m like, “Fuck it. I’ll go to Massachusetts.”

I’ll go live in a mountain in the middle of snow country, around people who don’t know me. I’ll sleep in an RV if I have to. Seun, same thing. He tried to go to Washington. Washington wasn’t working. He went to Oregon and he built for $50,000. He slept at a shop. He built a shop. Those are the people in the stories that are the ones that we need to put, and there’s multiple of us. But a lot of us are not, you know what I mean, not in that state. So I think we have to redo social equity, 100%.

TG Branfalt: Would you support, I guess, maybe smaller versions of licenses, say, a street dealing level license where people can continue to do what they’ve been doing, just no longer fear legal reprisal? Is that something you might support?

Reginald Stanfield: I think we need to blow up every recreational market and get rid of all this license stuff, to be honest with you. I think you operate your business, just like if I want to open up a bartending, I get my business license, you know what I mean? I didn’t have to submit my security plan to the state of Maryland. You know what I mean? I didn’t have to submit my financial plans to the state of Maryland. I didn’t have to get my investors vetted by the state of Maryland. No.

I want to start a bartending service. If I want to teach people, I have to get my curriculum pass, but that’s it. You get what I mean? If you want to grow weed, you should get a business license and then go grow weed. You deal with it. You find a way. But the only thing I can still agree with, let’s get it tested so we know what we’re selling and there’s not liars. But even still then, I mean, that’s going to phase itself out because the consumers are going to say, “Ah, they’re selling junk. We’re not…” You know what I mean?

Same thing with cigarettes or bad tequila. You go on there and if you go and pay $30 for a bottom shelf tequila, I can take bottom shelf tequila, pour it in a glass bottle. And if I keep selling in that way, eventually I’ll go out of business. You get what I mean? That’s okay. I’m fine with that. We are America. We are a free-market country. Why when it comes to cannabis, where does this restricted… This is the first prohibition they have done this, they have ended this way, and I don’t understand it because there’s a lot of hypocrites now.

Everybody’s speaking, “Marijuana isn’t a drug, it’s a flower.” It’s this and that. And then they turn around to other, “We should regulate it.” Come on. You’re contradicting yourself. If it’s not a drug, then why are we treating them like Oxycodone? It shouldn’t be treated that way. It should be treated like a flower. I should be able to grow it if I want to. You get what I mean? If that’s the case, I grow my weed the way I want to, you can’t tell me not to grow it.

I should have to compete with Bob in his basement. You know what I mean? The difference is that Bob in his basement only has enough to sell to his friends. I can grow huge. You know what that does? It keeps me as a business level. Just like when I broke into the bartender industry, I made so many events because all the other bartenders were coming from crappy service companies who went to Fridays and like, “Hey, you want an extra job? We’ve got a temp service. We’ll send you out to this caterer.”

I went and rose the level of bartenders so that every bartender this caterer got was trained to bartend your private event at a house on a table, with limited staff. So they stopped going to the temp services. I didn’t sit in and say, “Regulate bartending. Let’s have a license that pass across the whole United States that everybody…” No, we don’t have to do that. You know what I mean? There, if you want to sell weed, you sell weed. I think it should be open free market.

Of course, it’s terrible for my bottom dollar. But I’m real, you know what I mean? I am a business person, but I’m real. I should have to compete with somebody who can get a tent and grow in their basement. That’s going to make me grow better.

TG Branfalt: This has been fascinating, man. There’s just not a whole lot of cultivators out there who are like, “Yeah, the individual should be able to grow in their basement, even though it might cost me some money.” The fairness mind that I feel like you have, just based on this conversation, people before profits, man, I appreciate the hell out of it.

Reginald Stanfield: Yeah. I mean, I’m a capitalist, I’m an opportunist, but I believe everything that’s for me is already there. It’s already given. I just have to be positive. Like I said, I’ve died before. I’ve seen a lot of money. I’ve been successful. I don’t really care about it. I don’t really care to be greedy. You know what I mean? I want to do everything I want to do to help change the world. You will hear different from people who just want to make this their business, and they’re super ambitious. So they want to be number one.

I do want to be the number one cultivator. I want everybody on the East Coast to know who JustinCredible is. But I’m going to get there because of me. You get what I mean? I don’t want to have to get there because there’s this brand who can outgrow me in a basement. No. If he’s that good, then I need to level up. Trust me, there’s some guys that are growing in their basement, that they grow… Trust me, my guys rarely go to dispensaries. That’s all I have to say.

There’s some fire stuff out there coming from some kid, 23 years old, who got his hands on a thousand-dollar light and growing in some soil that he made and he’s growing some fire. You get what I mean? That’s what makes it different. That’s what makes it better. I think he should be able to come and say, “Hey, buy my weed. I’m setting up a retail shop,” in his store. You get what I mean? And the same as that wave. If I sell food, you know what I mean, I get that it’s a consumable, and that’s where we have the differences. But we have a standard, and that’s all.

If we keep the testing, get rid of the over-excessive, the micro test, I think we should get tested and that test label should go on your product and people should know. Just like, “Hey, if I smoke your weed and I get sick, I bring it back.” I can buy molded bell pepper, and what do you do? Safeway doesn’t get fined or whatever you guys got up there. They don’t get fined. They bring you back your molded product. They take it and they give you more or they give you your money back. Why can’t cannabis be that way?

I can eat salmonella chicken and then the company doesn’t… Perdue doesn’t get shut down. Perdue does a recall. What’s wrong with that? You know what I mean?

That’s what I don’t get.

TG Branfalt: I mean, and that’s how I end up smoking moldy weed because I just cut the mold off the pepper. I’m that guy. Man, I could sit here literally and talk to you for the next like three days, but we can’t do that. No one would listen for that long. But where can people find out more about you, find out more about JustinCredible cultivation?

Reginald Stanfield: Yeah. Our Instagram justincredible_cultivation. Our website is jccultivation.com. My Twitter is forbes_next, and I think we have a JC Cultivation Twitter that I have to get somebody active on there. We’re coming. We will be in stores. I know for sure we’ll be in Curaleaf. We’ll be in Rebel. We’ll be at Elev8 come 420. So we’ll for sure be in stores, so look out for us. Look out for our own. We didn’t get to touch on our strands and none of that stuff.

We have our own strains. We have the Garrett Morgan gas masks. We have the JustinCredible, and the Fruitvale Station. Also, we have Kobe that will be hitting the market too. Look out for the things that we’re doing, and hey, hit me up on the DM. I usually answer every… I don’t think I don’t answer stuff. I have like a OCD of seeing a new message, so I’ll always answer messages. Hit me up on LinkedIn, Reginald Stanfield. I’m there, you know what I’m saying? I’m for the people.

TG Branfalt: Elev8’s one of the dispensaries that I actually do frequent.

Reginald Stanfield: Oh yeah.

TG Branfalt: So I will definitely be on the lookout for your product and for your strains the next time that I make it to Massachusetts. Reginald, dude, this has been really great. I hope to have you on the show again. I hope that you stay in touch with us and with me. Congratulations really on your-

Reginald Stanfield: Thank you, man.

TG Branfalt: … success. I can’t wait to see you Forbes next, right?

Reginald Stanfield: Hey. I appreciate that, man. It was a pleasure. I think this is one of the best podcasts I’ve done so far. I just thank you. Keep doing what you’re doing and keep talking to these people about the real cannabis industry and get it out there.

TG Branfalt: He’s not just the greatest, he’s not just the best. He is CEO of JustinCredible Cultivation, CEO and Head Horticulturist of Massachusetts-based JustinCredible Cultivation. For the wrestling marks, they’ll know “Not just the greatest, not just the best” line. Anyway, the first minority-owned general business applicant to open a grow facility on the East Coast. Thanks again, man. I really can’t wait to see how you grow. No pun intended.

Reginald Stanfield: All right, man. I appreciate you.

TG Branfalt: You could find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast in the podcast section of Ganjapreneur.com on Spotify and in the Apple iTunes store. On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you’ll find the latest cannabis news and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcripts of this podcast. You can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. This episode was engineered by Trim Media House.

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Federal Cannabis Legalization Bill Unveiled by Sen. Schumer

7/14/2021

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) and fellow Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (OR) and Cory Booker (NJ) today unveiled their highly anticipated legalization bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.

The 163-page discussion draft bill — which was posted and described in detail by Marijuana Moment — seeks to deschedule cannabis, expunge cannabis-related criminal records, allow incarcerated people to petition for resentencing, and establish social equity cannabis grant programs funded by a new federal cannabis tax. The bill would allow individual states to maintain cannabis prohibition, although such “dry” cannabis states would not be allowed to criminalize the transport of cannabis across their borders so long as the shipment is moving between two legal markets.

I’m standing today with @RonWyden & @SenBooker to release a discussion draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act

It’s our legislative proposal to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and repair damage done by the War on Drugs—especially in communities of color

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 14, 2021

The following is a brief rundown of the draft bill’s primary contents — note that these provisions are up for discussion and will likely see some changes.

The attorney general would have 60 days to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.
Cannabis would become federally legal for adults aged 21 and older (the bill includes a federal purchasing cap of 10 ounces per visit).
Federal regulatory authority over cannabis would shift from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Alchohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau (TTB).
Federal districts would be tasked with expunging non-violent, cannabis-related arrests and convictions dated within one year. People still serving a sentence for non-violent cannabis crimes would qualify for a resentencing hearing.
The bill proposes three new federal grant programs: one to fund job training and reentry services for underserved communities, another to support small business loans to cannabis companies owned by “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals,” and a third program to assist states in establishing cannabis licensing programs that “minimize barriers” for people adversely impacted by prohibition.
Grants would be funded by a gradual federal cannabis tax rate starting at 10 percent for the first two years, which would be increased in subsequent years to 15, 20, and eventually 25 percent. The bill includes a 50 percent tax reduction for “small cannabis producers with less than $20 million in [annual sales].”
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would be tasked with investigating the effects of marijuana policy, such as looking at current state-legal markets, investigating the demographic data of both people with federal cannabis convictions and current cannabis business owners, and more.
Doctors with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would finally be allowed to make medical cannabis recommendations.

The senators have asked for input on the legislation and will be accepting public comments until September 1. Comments can be submitted by email to Cannabis_Reform@finance.senate.gov.

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Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency to Now Regulate Delta-8

7/14/2021

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Tuesday signed a bill moving the regulation of the hemp-derived cannabinoid Delta-8 THC to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA), Law360 reports. The MRA will begin its oversight of Delta-8 on October 11.

In a statement, Whitmer said the bill packaged updated definitions of other cannabis and hemp-derived products “so that all intoxicating substances will be safety-tested through the MRA’s statewide monitoring system and will be tracked through the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.”

“I am glad to see Michigan continuing to lead on the implementation and regulation of a safe, secure marijuana industry, which has already brought tens of millions of dollars in new tax revenue to the state, as well as thousands of well-paying jobs.”—Whitmer in a statement

The new Michigan law requires cannabis regulators to place limits on the total THC consumable products can contain and creates rules to exclude certain THC-containing products from the definition of THC if they find the compound does not have the potential for abuse.

Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, described the new law as a “sound, common-sense approach” to regulating cannabinoids.

“House Bill 4517 ensures that intoxicating products are not sold at retail stores, under the guise of hemp,” Miller said in a statement. Rather that they are regulated akin to adult-use cannabis, restricted to adults, and monitored for safety and potency. This is a win-win for Michigan farmers and consumers; we hope other states follow Michigan’s lead.”

MRA Executive Director Andrew Brisbo also applauded the law, saying it “proactively” addresses the issue.

Whitmer also signed a bill allowing medical cannabis patients to use telemedicine services.

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Colorado Gov. Sued Over New Medical Cannabis Law

7/14/2021

A medical cannabis patient is suing Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) over the medical cannabis reform package signed by the governor last month, Westword reports. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Alex Buscher on behalf of Benjamin Wann, contends the new law is unconstitutional and forces physicians to prescribe medical cannabis—instead of recommending—which runs afoul of federal rules.

The new rules for patients under 21 require a diagnosis of a “debilitating or disabling medical condition” by two physicians from different medical practices, and in-person follow-up appointments every six months unless the patient is homebound. Patients under 21 are restricted to purchasing 2 grams of cannabis concentrates per day under the new law. Proponents of the legislation argue it is necessary to avoid the diversion of medical cannabis products to youth.

“If doctors decide to stop recommending medical marijuana because they’re scared of losing their [Drug Enforcement Administration] licenses, then that’s the end of the medical program. Amendment 20 is clear: Doctors don’t have to say a patient is going to benefit from marijuana. They just have to certify the conclusion that a patient might benefit from marijuana.”—Buscher via Westword

Buscher also argues that the METRC-operated data-collection system implemented by the new law to ensure patients under 21 aren’t obtaining more than their daily limits violates patient privacy rights and could lead to federal prosecution.

Additionally, the attorney says an amendment in the law wasn’t included in the bill’s final text sent to the governor which violates state law and is, therefore, grounds to “invalidate the entire bill because it didn’t go through the entire procedure.”

“I believe it was an error due to the speed this was pushed through with and the amount of changes going in, but that amendment’s not in there,” Buscher told Westword.

Buscher said he would likely include other state agencies, including the Marijuana Enforcement Division and Department of Public Health and Environment in the coming weeks, along with other plaintiffs.

The governor’s office has not commented on the lawsuit but Buscher said he feels the case is “very solid” because of the provisions of the medical cannabis constitutional amendment; however, he acknowledges “very few cases are ever won challenging unconstitutionality in state and local laws.”

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Sacha Baron Cohen Sues Massachusetts Cannabis Company for Using Borat Character on Billboard

7/14/2021

Sacha Baron Cohen is suing a Massachusetts cannabis dispensary over their use of his character Borat on a billboard without his permission, the Associated Press reports. The billboard advertising Solar Therapeutics features the Borat character with two thumbs up and the words “It’s nice!”—one of the character’s catchphrases.

The complaint was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Boston. It claims that the billboard falsely conveys that Baron Cohen has endorsed the dispensary’s products and is affiliated with the business.

“To the contrary, Mr. Baron Cohen never has used cannabis in his life,” the lawsuit says. “He never would participate in an advertising campaign for cannabis, for any amount of money.”

The actor and comedian is seeking $9 million in damages. The billboard was removed in April, three days after Baron Cohen’s attorneys sent a cease-and-desist letter to the dispensary, the report says.

“Mr. Baron Cohen is highly protective of his image and persona, and those of his characters. Mr. Baron Cohen is very careful with the manner in which he uses his persona and his characters to interact with his fans and the general public.”—The complaint, via NBC News

The complaint says that Baron Cohen does not believe cannabis use is a “healthy choice” and that he has never advertised any product in the U.S. over concerns it would “weaken his credibility as an actor and as a serious social activist,” the Irish Examiner reports, noting that the three-time Oscar nominee had once turned down a $4 million offer to appear in a car commercial.

Solar Therapeutics has not commented on the lawsuit.

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CannaCon: Facilitating Cannabis Industry Connections & Education

7/14/2021

It’s been nearly five years since the first-ever CannaCon landed in Tacoma, Washington. Since then, the business-focused cannabis trade show has brought its unique networking-building experiences to new cannabis markets, big and small, across the United States.

CannaCon was founded by Bob Smart in 2017 because, as a medical grower himself, he found that professional education and networking options for people with serious aspirations in the cannabis industry were severely lacking. His vision was to provide a “one-stop shop” trade show where aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs could come together, learn from and teach one another, and connect with the many ancillary industries that are seeking to serve them. Bob had worked previously in trade shows and used that knowledge to kick off the original CannaCon — and the success of that early show indicated that demand for a B2B cannabis conference was indeed strong and the business model had merit.

Each CannaCon event features educational keynote presentations, panel discussions with a mix of entrepreneurs, industry representatives/lobbyists, and regulators, and a properly packed exhibition floor.

Since launching, CannaCon has hosted medical and adult-use cannabis industry expos in Washington state, California, Alaska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Massachusetts. This year, the team still has two events planned: one for Illinois in August and one for Virginia — one of the latest states to pass adult-use legalization laws — in November. CannaCon also recently announced conferences planned for 2022 in New York, Oklahoma, and Michigan.

Considering the proliferation of its trade shows, one might assume there is some sort of corporate powerhouse driving CannaCon’s success but that is not really the case. In fact, CannaCon is a family-run business with only a handful of full-time employees, according to the company’s marketing director Angela Grelle. That said, things are still run “very much like a business.”

“It helps because since we’re such a small team, if we see something that needs to get done, we just do it,” Grelle said.

That collaborative spirit has led to dozens of successful trade shows over the years, and CannaCon has risen to become an industry standard for other cannabis conferences and expos.

Over the years, Grelle said it has been particularly rewarding to see some now-household industry names getting started with just a tiny tradeshow booth only to grow within a few years into a magnificent trade show presence, buying out huge sections of the exhibition floor to better facilitate those early conversations. She obviously won’t take full credit for their successes but likes to think that the company’s early CannaCon experiences played some role.

She recalled one specifically satisfying story about an Oklahoma processor’s first CannaCon experience — “They did so much business at our first Oklahoma show that they went and bought a new 15,000 square foot extraction facility,” Grelle said. “He emailed us afterward and said it was, ‘one of the best trade shows we have ever done.’”

Perhaps the biggest indicator of CannaCon’s success, however, is that their presence is essentially temporary in any new market they visit. This is because CannaCon is dedicated to facilitating important early conversations between cannabis farms and processors and the ancillary firms who service them — and once those conversations are sparked, the attendees who go out and launch successful cannabis companies won’t necessarily be looking to return to another CannaCon-type event in the future. Consider that while the first-ever CannaCon was hosted in Washington state in 2017 and the cannabis industry is still very much going strong there, event organizers have decided they won’t be returning to the Evergreen State anytime soon because “those relationships are already made,” Grelle said.

While there are new and bigger cannabis markets opening up each year, eventually prohibition will be fully lifted and there won’t be any new markets opening up. At that point, CannaCon is likely to shift its business model to either focus more on larger region-specific shows or to look internationally as other countries open up their cannabis markets — but until then, there are new cannabis marketplaces and businesses popping up around the country, and the show must go on.

CannaCon currently has upcoming events scheduled in Illinois, New York, Virginia, Michigan, and Oklahoma. Visit CannaCon.org to learn more.

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DripDrop Grinder/Yoyo Combo Review

7/13/2021

Cannabis culture is all about respect, personal choices, and freedom. The team behind Drip Drop Solutions embraces this notion with their unique branding and apparel/product design, which emphasizes sustainability and kinship with one’s environment and community.

Drip Drop was founded by three artist friends in Berlin, Germany. Their flagship product is a combination herb grinder/yo-yo that is certain to turn some heads in the right crowd (and, with the appearance of a perfectly innocent toy, can be equally discrete for when you’re in the wrong crowd).

Made from locally sourced recycled plastic and food-grade wood composite, the Drip Drop Yo-Yo Grinder can be unscrewed on each end. One side reveals the grinder part of the product, which is a likely well-familiar mechanism with sharp, interlocking spikes that rip and tear up your herb. The toothy design works very efficiently for grinding up small amounts of cannabis (but probably not more than 2 grams due its size). The yo-yo’s other side can also be twisted open to reveal a sealed container, perfectly convenient for storing your cannabis flower (again, though, not more than a couple of grams). The yo-yo mechanism, which is made with a high-quality ball bearing and a 110cm string, lies between these two halves.

The first thing I noticed about the Drip Drop yoyo/grinder combo was its packaging — the item came in a bright pink-colored, wax paper bag that was dotted with pixel art sunflowers and sported a lone, droopy-eyed cartoon bee. After opening the bag and retrieving the yo-yo, I felt a quick wave of nostalgia as I remembered playing with such toys from time to time throughout grade school: I always struggled to improve but never for long enough to actually feel like a real yo-yoer. This was followed by a different sense of nostalgia as I pulled the yo-yo open to reveal its toothy interior — it was instantly reminiscent of those two-piece grinders you might associate with convenience stores or dispensary store giveaways. You probably know what I mean: they might just be wood or plastic and they might not have all the bells and whistles of a top-tier grinder, but they absolutely get the job done and work great for travel, camping, or any other activity where you might not be bringing your best gear.

The DripDrop grinder/yo-yo simply puts the convenience and efficiency of that cheap grinder model and marries it to everyone’s favorite spool-based toy. It’s a comfortable size and weight in your hand, whether you are using it as a yo-yo or to grind your herb. The creators have also included a small pamphlet detailing several different ways to use and even wear the yo-yo as an accessory — i.e. draped around your neck, slung across the shoulder, or dangling from a belt-loop.

And I can happily say it’s a well-done combo: it’s been fun to pick up the yo-yo again, if only to remind myself how deceptively difficult it is. And now, as an adult, I can just fall back on my cannabis buzz to ease the frustration from common mistakes like getting my string all tangled up. Especially while working at home during long bouts of social distancing, I’ve frequently found myself just pacing around and “throwing,” as (I think) a true yo-yoer would say. Bottom line: if you think this product might be for you, it probably is!

Visit DripDropSolutions.xyz to shop and learn more.

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Travis Scott Launches Cannabis Line

7/13/2021

Hip-hop artist Travis Scott last week launched Cactus Farms in partnership with Connected Cannabis in California and Arizona, according to a Complex report. The line is described by Hype Beast as an “indica-leaning hybrid has a dense, purple bud structure that smokes with the same experience as sipping a fine wine” hand-selected by Scott.

In April, Connected, which describes itself as “the pioneer of ‘designer weed,’” announced a $30 million debt and equity capital raise. The company had previously raised $25 million in a Series A round of funding in July 2019. Connected said following the $30 million capital raise that it had experienced 68% year-over-year growth, a 75% revenue CAGR through 2021, and is currently EBITDA-positive.

Scott previously has had endorsement deals with McDonald’s, Nike, Playstation, Vans, and, most recently Dior, according to Complex. According to NME, the Dior collaboration is the first time a musician has created a collection with the fashion house.

The ASTROWORLD rapper joins rappers Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, B-Real, Ice Cube, Run the Jewels, Method Man, Master P., and Wu-Tang Clan as having a line of cannabis products.

A partnership between Canadian licensed producer Canopy Growth and Drake ended last month after fewer than two years. Financial documents filed by Canopy revealed the company took a $10.3 million loss in the deal and “de-recognized” another $33.7 million in future royalty payments to More Life.

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