View from under the canopy of a licensed indoor cannabis grow operation.

South Korea Lawmaker Pushing for MMJ Reforms

2/05/2018

by

A South Korean lawmaker is urging his colleagues to legalize cannabis for medical use, saying that the nation’s drug laws are having adverse effects and leading to arrests of people buying hemp oil, according to Korea Biomedical Review.

“The law strictly forbids the sale and purchase of cannabis, which led to a recent case of a mother being arrested and sentenced in court for buying cannabis oil from abroad to treat her son with brain cancer.” – Rep. Shin Chang-hyun in the Review report

Under the proposal, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety would need to approve the medical conditions for access to the program. Under current laws, cocaine, morphine, and opium are allowed to be used in some medical cases; however, cannabis remains banned.

Cannabis is the second most smuggled illicit drug in South Korea – behind methamphetamines – according to Korea Customs Service data, comprising 13.6 kilograms of the roughly 70 kilograms of illegal drugs discovered by customs officials last year, the report says.

The KCS claims that California legalization could lead to more cannabis being sent to South Korea because the state has the U.S.’s largest Korean community.

The reforms face long odds, however, as the nation has a reputation as a “drug-free” country and has a particularly hardline stance against cannabis.

End

Ean Seeb: Balancing Business and Philanthropy in the Cannabis Space

2/02/2018

by

Ean Seeb is co-founder and partner at Denver Relief Consulting and has been navigating Colorado’s medical and adult-use cannabis industries since the beginning.

In this episode of the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, our host TG Branfalt sits down with Ean for a chat about Colorado’s early days, his two-time role as chairman for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), how he has balanced smart business practices with an instinct for philanthropy, and some of the other cannabis-themed projects that he has recently gotten involved in — including the recent buyout of High Times and his strategic involvement in cannabis brands throughout several different states.

Listen to the interview below, or keep scrolling down to read through a full transcript of this Ganjapreneur.com podcast episode!

Listen to the podcast:

Read the transcript:

TG Branfalt: Hey there. I’m your host, TG Branfalt and you are 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 Ean Seeb. He is the co-founder and partner of Denver Relief Consulting and he’s got, you’ve sort of got your fingers all over this industry, man. Before we get into that, tell me about yourself. How is it that you got started in this space?

Ean Seeb: Well first of all, thank you very much for having me on your show. I’m excited to spend a few minutes with you today, Tim.

TG Branfalt: I’m delighted to have you, really.

Ean Seeb: Oh, thank you. I feel the same way. How did I get started? The short story is I was helping, I learned of a doctor who was writing patient recommendations to people who had legitimate reasons to have medical marijuana in Colorado so long as they had medical records. I got my medical cannabis license in early 2008. Late 2007, early 2008. As a result of that, I recognized that people didn’t know how to go about doing that. I started from there, and it took off.

TG Branfalt: I had read a bit that you were in real estate before starting businesses in the cannabis space. What’s interesting to me is you’re probably the fifth or sixth person that’s appeared on this show that actually has that background. Can you tell me how those two industries sort of work together and why there is a lot of people who were in real estate that end up migrating to the cannabis space?

Ean Seeb: Sure. Certainly from my own experience, I had several different jobs. Out of college I was doing some IT stuff, but I really came to the understanding that I work best for myself and that having a boss was not the way that I wanted to live the rest of my life, so that’s why I chose to get into real estate. I was involved in the foreclosure market. At the time Colorado was leading the nation in 2006, ’07, ’08 in foreclosures. We were a little bit ahead of the curve. As that started to peter out, is when I got my medical cannabis license.

As far as the crossover, I think that as I was just suggesting, so many people like to work for themselves. Real estate affords people the opportunity to do that and real estate, as with any other industry, is cyclical so when you’re in kind of the low end of it where there’s not as much on the market and not as much opportunity, I think it’s natural that people who have an entrepreneurial spirit are going to start looking around for other things.

Although I was still doing okay in real estate, the reason why I actually left real estate is because cannabis starting take up so much of my time because it was getting so successful that I didn’t have the opportunity to do both, but I really feel that the entrepreneurial crossover allows for people to naturally move from real estate into cannabis.

TG Branfalt: Describe now your experience in the early stages of Colorado’s market and eventual migration to adult use.

Ean Seeb: Sure. In the early stages it was crazy, TG. We started off as a delivery service, so the way that we started was we put in $4,000. I threw in $2,000, Kayvan threw in $2,000, and our other business partner threw in $2,000 worth of cannabis at the time when it was $4,000 a pound. We bought some car magnets from Vistaprint and bought some business cards and put a tiny ad in Westword, the Village Voice Media on the back page, the outside cover, that said, “Denver Relief…We Deliver.” We started this delivery service.

In the early days, it really was kind of the wild west. We followed all laws that were on the books, which was that we were only selling to patients and we only sold what we were allowed to sell. We only carried what we were legitimately authorized to carry through Amendment 20 of the Colorado Constitution, which is the original amendment to our Constitution that allowed for medical marijuana.

There weren’t a lot of rules. We had a couple negative things happen in the beginning, or some challenges. My original business partner, who we got rid of early on, didn’t follow our business protocol and he got carjacked making a delivery the first time to a stranger. Everything ended up okay. They ended up with some cannabis and some money. The car was found, nobody got hurt. Nobody that we were aware of.

Then we had a run-in with the Denver Vice squad and their Drug Task Force network, and that was because we were making a delivery and it was in a Burger King and Starbucks parking lot because the first time we’re meeting somebody we like to do it in a public space for obvious safety reasons, and there was a security guard, it happens to be near the University of Colorado downtown, and there was a security guard guarding the lot to make sure students didn’t park in the lot and go to class, and he saw this interaction going and he actually called the police. I showed up, the police showed up, and in the end they asked us if we wanted to press charges against the guy who called the cops because he pulled my delivery driver out of his car without being authorized to do so. In fact, we weren’t violating or breaking any laws. Yeah, it was pretty crazy. It was pretty crazy.

We’ve had some crazy stories. I did get followed by a crime syndicate early on. It was, we believe, a mob syndicate here in Denver. It had to do with us stealing their phone number very early on. Our phone number of our dispensary, before we sold it, was 303-420-MEDS and when we got the phone number originally the phone company called us back and said, “We messed up. You can’t have that number,” and that it belonged to somebody else. It’s another long story, but we ported it over to a cell phone and then we got followed and we had a conversation with some people and luckily I’m still here today to tell the tale.

TG Branfalt: You described sort of this early-going wild west. When the market moved over to adult use, what’d you do then?

Ean Seeb: We waited. Well first there was the whole regulations of medical use. This was prior to medical regulations being enacted that actually allowed for the sale and distribution through dispensaries. We had to set up the regulatory regime for that first in Colorado, and that took a few years to get going and then we had the election in 2012 and it authorized adult use cannabis to be sold beginning January 1, 2014.

What did we do? We waited. We were not the first to do it this time. We took a little bit more of a wait and see approach, rather than being the first ones to open. There was a lot of uncertainty as to whether the feds would come in immediately and shut people down, whether or not they would be a target, whether or not it would be good for medical cannabis dispensaries. Certainly I was in favor of it. Many people in the industry were actually opposed to it because they thought that it was going to welcome the federal government coming in and shutting our medical regime down.

TG Branfalt: You’ve been involved since the early days. The rules keep changing. The rules continue to change. There’s some new laws taking effect within Colorado that were signed by the governor. Can you tell me about these rules and what’s your reaction to them and the industry reaction?

Ean Seeb: Well there’s rule-making that’s going on right now. There’s work groups meeting. I think there’s five different work groups that are meeting and there’s several different changes that are being proposed, but with every step of the way, there’s going to be some pushback from the industry that sees in general that some of the regulations are very expensive and onerous. In some capacity, the industry wants to see the rules change in a positive way and that there’s perhaps less regulation for things that we realize that there has been overregulation on.

The governor’s always signing different, not always, but has been a pretty good supporter over the past couple years, but it seems like they’ve had to make lots of changes and perhaps what you may be referring to is that the governor had to call a special session of our State Legislature back into session because there was a small drafting error and the error actually prohibited the state from being able to move tax money over to schools and rec centers and youth prevention programs and it was done in error, so the governors called everybody back in to fix that. I’m sure that we’ll see some other things that are slipped in as well.

TG Branfalt: You also for a time served as the chair of the National Cannabis Industry Association. What’s the importance of these organizations, especially in Colorado, which has a far more mature market than most other states right now?

Ean Seeb: Yeah. National Cannabis Industry Association, for your listeners who don’t know, it’s the largest trade association in the country for cannabis operators. In fact, it’s the only national trade association that was created specifically for operators and we work on Capitol Hill. There’s over 1400 members and we lobby the legislative branch to try and change the laws so that we can be treated like any other business.

The industry is of tantamount importance. We’ve been told by legislators time and time again that they have supported what it is that we’re doing and cosponsored and gotten behind bills as a result of their constituents coming in and talking to them about cannabis and the fact that it’s not as dangerous as people thought, that youth use is not going up and in many cases going down, and their state seat to regulate it, it’s probably better for the legislators in those states that they back their people and the will of the voters. In most cases that’s how medical cannabis exists in 30+ states. There’s a few where it’s passed through the Legislature, but by and large it’s always been a vote of the people.

TG Branfalt: I want to talk to you a bit more about the Denver Relief Consulting and the charity work that you’ve done throughout your time in this industry, but before we get into that, we got to take a short break. This is Ganjapreneur.com Podcast. I’m TG Branfalt.

If you are looking for a job in the rapidly growing and highly competitive cannabis industry, Ganjapreneur.com is the place to look. Visit the Ganjapreneur job board today to browse current openings with cannabis companies throughout the United States, from entry level bud-tender positions to executive level career opportunities. You can also create a profile and upload your resume to be discovered by cannabis recruiters. Visit our job board at Jobs.Ganjapreneur.com to create your profile today.

If you are a business owner, you can post your job openings for as little as $25 on our job board to reach the largest and most engaged audience of cannabis professionals on the web. Companies who are listed in the Ganjapreneur business directory are eligible for free job listings. If you are already signed up, contact us today via the website or send us an email at grow@ganjapreneur.com to activate your unique coupon.

TG Branfalt: Hey, welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast. I’m your host, TG Branfalt, here with Ean Seeb, co-founder and partner of Denver Relief Consulting. The NCIA, the National Cannabis Industry Association, I just want to take a quick step back. What are some of the things that you guys have lobbied for or against or are lobbying for or against now?

Ean Seeb: Sure. It’s a great question. Quite simply, we want to be treated like any other business. There’s a lot of challenges with working with a product that is scheduled and is federally illegal. As a result, we don’t have access to traditional banking services, especially merchant services and lines of credit. It’s virtually unheard of in the industry.

We have very difficult time paying our taxes in that we’re penalized with a punitive tax called 280-E that was created in 1982 as a result of a cocaine trafficker who was deducting all his business expenses. We’re not allowed to make regular business deductions, so banking and taxes are the two main things that NCIA has been fighting and will continue to fight for until we’re treated like any other business in America.

TG Branfalt: It’s totally nonsensical that you guys are operating with a state legal industry, and you’re subjected to this federal penalty that was for drug dealers. Just a totally bizarre, I mean, there’s no other industry that has those sorts of handcuffs at all.

Ean Seeb: No. There is no other industry that has those sorts of handcuffs. You’re absolutely right. It’s crippling to some businesses. We can’t deduct our labor. We can’t deduct our marketing expenses. The only thing that we’re able to deduct is the cost of goods to produce the cannabis that we sell. That’s it.

TG Branfalt: I’ve spoken to many people from Denver and from Oregon and that whole thing and people think well, they’re in the cannabis industry, they’re just rolling in money. The reality that I’ve been told is that the taxes and the fact that you can’t use these deductions takes away from your bottom line and actually … People think oh you know, they’re just rolling in money, but it’s sort of counterintuitive when you think of all the other, the 280-E and the fact that you can’t deduct these things.

Ean Seeb: Yeah, it’s pretty punitive and it makes it very hard to conduct business. It is a misconception that people involved in cannabis are just rolling in money when in fact most of it’s going to the feds.

TG Branfalt: I want to switch gears a bit. I want to talk to you about your charity work. A lot of this you’ve done with the Denver Relief Consulting. You fought for civil rights issues as a cannabis industry operator. Can you tell me a little bit about how you’ve done that, before I talk to you about Ekar Farm?

Ean Seeb: Yeah. We’ve always felt that being involved in our community was an important thing. That’s not something that came about as a result of being in the cannabis industry. Just the way I was brought up, I was brought up to try and make the world a better place and I think both Kayvan and Nick, the three of us come from very different backgrounds, but all three of us want to see the world in a better condition than when we got here.

We started incorporating charitable work into what we do in early 2010 shortly after we opened the retail store, and it’s continued and we now actually have an organization that as of a couple weeks ago is now a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4) that is focused on doing community service-based activities with and for the cannabis industry.

TG Branfalt: Preparing for this interview I spent a lot of time reading up about the Ekar Farm Project and it made me really excited because it’s a really beautiful sort of pursuit. Could you tell our listeners more about that project and what you do there?

Ean Seeb: Yeah. Ekar Farm is a community farm here in Denver, Colorado. The land has been gifted to the farm by the Denver Academy of Torah, actually, which is a religious school here in Denver. It’s a couple acre farm that cultivates fruits and vegetables, and then they do a number of things with them.

One, they donate it to a couple food pantries. The Jewish Family Service food pantry, the Weinberg food pantry, which is available to all. They work with Denver Urban Gardens. They work with a restaurant called SAME Café. SAME Café is a café on Colfax, one of our main streets here in Denver, and SAME stands for So All May Eat, and it’s a restaurant where you pay what you can afford to pay to eat there.

Our Green Team has been going there for, we’re working on the farm for, this is our seventh season in a row working on the farm. We do everything from helping them weed the garden to planting seeds early on to harvesting fruits and vegetables later on in the year. It’s a very small organization. They have only really two full-time staff members and are largely dependent upon volunteers to help them get through. The majority of their volunteers, while very helpful, are school-aged children and so having 40, 50, 60 able-bodied adults come out once a month for a weekend night and work a couple hours in the garden is the same thing as them working two, three and sometimes even getting a month’s worth of work done in an evening, given the small staff that they have on hand.

It’s been a pet project of ours for the past several years. It’s also been a point of charitable contributions for us. We now have the ability to pick and choose some of our clients and in some of the days where people were boasting of their wealth, we dared them to put their money where their mouth is and were able to secure some large contributions for Ekar Farm as a result of some of our clients who went on to win licenses, recognizing the same values that we do, that community service is important.

TG Branfalt: Was the farm sort of something that you saw as kind of a perfect fit considering you’re in an industry that grows things?

Ean Seeb: Yeah, it really did. It was a natural fit when we first started working with them. We’re cultivating cannabis, they’re cultivating fruits and vegetables. There’s a lot that goes into, a lot of it is very similar, albeit they’re outside in an open space and we’re in secured buildings, but certainly growing plants and vegetables, there’s a lot that we have in common.

It allowed us also to help, we help them construct some hoop houses and we’ve been able to, in small scale, been able to get used equipment and supplies over to them as well.

TG Branfalt: That’s really, really incredible man. I just want to commend you on the project, because I think farming’s really essential for any community, really, and so the fact that this farm provides for the SAME Café and for food banks, I really applaud and commend your work on this.

Ean Seeb: Well thank you. I applaud and commend them for doing it for so many years and I applaud and commend our volunteers. It was just my idea to work with them, but it’s not my man hours that go into it. It’s the industry and it’s the volunteers and it’s the people that believe in what we’re doing that allow organizations like the Green Team to thrive.

TG Branfalt: I got to talk to you about another couple projects that you’re working on or have worked on. Before we do that, we got to take our last break. This is the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast. I’m TG Branfalt.

At Ganjapreneur, we have heard from dozens of cannabis business owners who have encountered the issue of canna-bias, 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, welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast. I’m your host, TG Branfalt, here with Ean Seeb, co-founder and partner of Denver Relief Consulting. You are one of the investors behind the recent High Times buy. I’ve been reading High Times probably since I was old enough to read and buy it. 13 years old, I was probably reading my first High Times Magazine. It’s not even an exaggeration. How does it feel to be part owner of one of the most noticeable counterculture publications in history, man?

Ean Seeb: It’s kind of crazy. I’m in the same boat as you, man. I started reading High Times or saw it for the first time when I was in high school. I think one of my friend’s parents had one that we saw and it was back when everything was very, very much underground. It was the brand, right? It was the only cannabis brand that really existed back when I was growing up. Yeah, it’s kind of crazy to be part of the ownership team there. It’s been a fun experience so far. The people that I’ve gotten to work with over there, Adam Levin, Matt Stang, Kevin Giles, Danny Danko, they’re fascinating people and I consider myself fortunate to be a part of that project.

TG Branfalt: How did you end up getting involved in that purchase? How’d you find out about it? How’d that go down?

Ean Seeb: I found out about it through Arcview. Arcview is, to my knowledge, the largest investor forum that is out there for people who are looking to get involved in cannabis or looking to present an idea and High Times was going to be doing a pitch for the Arcview investor members and for whatever reason they ended up not doing it and I reached out to the gentleman who was putting it on, and that was Adam, and I didn’t realize it at the time but come to find out Adam and I had actually met several years prior, this is pretty funny, in a hotel room that Sheldon Adelson gave me to throw a party in Vegas.

TG Branfalt: That’s bizarre.

Ean Seeb: Yeah. It was pretty crazy. Yeah. Adam and I met in one of Sheldon Adelson’s personal hotel rooms. Sheldon Adelson being the notorious anti-cannabis casino magnate, and the rest is history. Now we’re in business together.

TG Branfalt: Hold on. What’s the story with Sheldon Adelson?

Ean Seeb: I was there, I happened to be in Vegas. I do a lot of work in the Jewish community here in Denver. One of my friends who also spends his time equally between Denver and LA does a lot of work with the Republican party and he was there in Vegas doing something with Young Jewish Republicans. I was in Vegas doing something with young Jews who support charity and philanthropic work, and the two of us came together and we threw a party and with his connections, he was able to get Mr. Adelson to donate one of his own personal rooms to host the party for us.

TG Branfalt: You have some strange bedfellows, my man.

Ean Seeb: It was crazy. This was even before the last election. This was when he was working to push Obama out of office and was unsuccessful in doing so. This was many years ago. I take that back. It was in early 2012, so yeah, I guess it was before the election. Before the 2012 presidential election.

TG Branfalt: What’s next for you, man? You have all these projects going on, the philanthropy work, the Denver Relief Consulting. What’s next for you?

Ean Seeb: What’s next for me is that we sold Denver Relief last year and we’ve been working with a lot of our ancillary and non-ancillary partners around the country. We have a dispensary in Las Vegas called Silver Sage Wellness. We are partners in Cresco Labs, which is in almost every dispensary in Illinois. We’re also going to be opening in Puerto Rico. My heart goes out to everybody in Puerto Rico, by the way, with everything going on there.

We are one of four companies that won both cultivation and dispensary licenses in Pennsylvania, so we’ll be opening three dispensaries under the Cresco Yeltrah brand out in Pennsylvania. We have a whole host of ancillary companies that we work with. You mentioned High Times. Also have Vapor Slide, which is the first dual-use vaporizer that you can hit dry or invert and put into a bong. Work with Manna Molecular Science, which is doing some disruptive and groundbreaking technology things as it relates to transdermal technology and using 3D printing technology.

Continue to work with Dymapak, which is formerly Stick Sac. We’ve been working with them for years. They were the very first company to have a child-resistant package for the cannabis industry. Still on the board of Mass Roots, and I’m doing a lot of work with a new organization called the National, it’s fairly new, it’s a couple years old, called the National Association of Cannabis Businesses, which is, unlike NCIA, which works at the legislative branch, this organization is a self-regulatory agency that’s working at the executive branch, so working with the former Chief of Staff of the DEA, the former head of Homeland Security, one of Vice President Biden’s former senior advisors, and working with this organization to help create some national standards and bring some self-regulation to the industry. Definitely staying busy, Tim.

TG Branfalt: Yeah, I guess so. When do you sleep?

Ean Seeb: When my wife lets me.

TG Branfalt: Finally man, you obviously know a little bit of everything and a little bit more of everything else. What’s your advice …

Ean Seeb: And a whole lot of nothing. I feel like I don’t know very much when it comes to the cannabis industry, believe it or not.

TG Branfalt: What’s your advice for entrepreneurs working in this space, my man?

Ean Seeb: I have several pieces of advice. Get involved. Make sure that you’re active in your community and you have a good reason for getting involved. Listen. There’s a whole lot of knowledgeable people out there. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the true business people from the people that are looking to just pass the buck, but by and large I’ve learned a whole lot from listening to other people. Three, be involved in the community in a grand scale. It’s very rare in one’s lifetime that you have the opportunity to create a new industry, and all eyes are on us. Being attentive to the communities that are allowing you to be in this business and helping them improve and get over their challenges is a huge opportunity for any entrepreneur who’s looking to get into this industry.

TG Branfalt: Well Ean, I really want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be on the show. Thanks to Ezra Soiferman for getting us together. He’s a great guy. Shout out to you, Ez.

Ean Seeb: Yes, thanks Ezra. Over at Tweed, up north.

TG Branfalt: Yeah, yeah. I’m hoping that he travels through Burlington again here shortly. Again man, thanks for taking the time. I think that I might have to reach out to and have you on the show again because there’s just not enough time in 35 minutes to discuss everything that you do and really sort of pick your brain. You might be hearing from me in the near future.

Ean Seeb: I would be happy to. You have a great show, great podcast. You’ve had many wonderful guests, people that I look up to on your show and I’d be happy to chat with you any time, Tim.

TG Branfalt: I appreciate it, man. Definitely keep us in the loop on everything that you’ve got going on.

Ean Seeb: Thank you so much for your time today. Thanks for having me.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast in the podcast section of Ganjapreneur.com and at the Apple iTunes store. At the Ganjapreneur.com website, you will 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. I’ve been your host, TG Branfalt.

End

Premier Cannabis Convention CannaCon Visits Seattle, Detroit and Boston

2/02/2018

by

If you own a cannabis company, you know that finding good business partners, vendors and allies is an essential part of your role. And building your business in a new industry like cannabis doesn’t always make that easy. In every locale, cannabis business owners prioritize attending meet-ups, cannabis business trade groups and other local industry events to meet with like-minded professionals to share experience, inside information, opportunities and even emotional support.

Conventions seem to evolve as states move towards legalization. During a state’s early days, “conventions” are often a warehouse gathering of those brave enough to grow and share medical cannabis in public before the laws that protect them even exist. These gatherings have a wide array of products being sold, are very unregulated and could potentially run afoul of the law. As a state’s legislature catches up with the will of the people and pass medical marijuana laws, these gatherings garner more legal protections, but are still dependent on the whim of local law enforcement. Once a state has created safeguards for businesses and new investment begins to appear, that is when true B2B events start to appear. These conventions are much less about producers meeting customers (B2C) and are much more about producers, extractor technology providers, package designers and printers, horticulture suppliers and other business services coming together to build a cogent local industry (B2B).

CannaCon is a premier cannabis business and networking event and is coming to Seattle, Boston and Detroit in the first half of 2018 and the halls will be filled with every kind of ally cannabis business owners might need. Technology, horticulture, packaging, marketing, legal, accounting, human resources and media — everything needed for a cannabis business will be there.

CannaCon’s Nick Smart shared that it is not uncommon for some vendors to do a million dollars in business over the course of the event.

The “educational pathway seminars” held during the event feature nationally recognized speakers and the opportunity to have serious conversations with cannabis business peers and investors. Seminar speakers for the upcoming Seattle event on February 15th, 16, and 17th include former Ganjapreneur podcast guests and contributors Tad Hussey, Colin Bell, Ben Cassiday, Jeremy Moberg, Neil Juneja, and Cat Jeter. Washington Governor Jay Inslee will provide the keynote address on the 15th. The keynote on February 16th is the former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox.

You can view the full list of speakers here: https://cannacon.org/seminars-seattle/

The producer’s of Amazon Prime’s “The Marijuana Show,” aka the Shark Tank for the cannabis industry, will be there for a special panel breaking down how to develop and deliver your pitch to investors. Attendees could possibly be chosen to star in Season 4 of The Marijuana Show or have their product sold on their new shopping show.

If you are still looking for your place in the cannabis industry, there will be a career fair too with staffers present to review your resume and offer guidance. More information here: https://cannacon.org/seattle-cannacon-career-fair/

Vendor booths are already sold out for Seattle but booths are now on sale for Detroit in June and Boston in July. Attendee tickets are still available for all three events.

Visit www.CannaCon.org for tickets, booth reservations and more information.

 

 

End

Report: Utah Lawmakers Considering Adopting MMJ Bill with Language Tying Rollout to Fed Policy

2/02/2018

by

According to a Utah Policy report, state lawmakers may attempt to stymie activists’ efforts to legalize cannabis for medical use by adopting the same language in the ballot proposal as a bill but including language that would prevent the measure from taking effect until the federal government reclassifies cannabis as a Schedule IV drug.

The move would prevent the proposed ballot initiative from moving forward because its language would already be codified as state law. Although the ballot proposal includes language to override existing state law, the report says that legislative lawyers have concluded that adding the Schedule IV language would not present a “conflict” with the ballot language, therefore not allowing the initiative to supersede the state statute.

In the report, House Speaker Greg Hughes said he was unaware of such a plan but that “it makes sense” to tie the law to the federal reclassification of cannabis.

D.J. Schanz, director of Utah Patients Coalition, compared the rumored legislative plan to a 2014 ballot initiative called “Count My Vote,” which would have replaced the state’s caucus selection process for candidates for public office with a mandatory primary election. That language was partially adopted by the legislature and a compromise that favored established lawmakers was signed into law by Gov. Gary Herbert.

“We are moving forward with our efforts to give patients access to the medicine they need and that the public wants. These efforts by unscrupulous politicians and bureaucrats to undermine the political process and the public will, will, fortunately, be viewed as parlor tricks from a desperate legislative body to put their thumbprint on an issue and patients that they’ve ignored and kicked down the road. This isn’t ‘Count My Vote’ in 2014, and we aren’t playing chicken. This will be on the ballot in November of 2018 for the people of Utah to decide on, regardless of the shenanigans being toyed with.” – Schanz, in a statement to Utah Policy

Three polls have found more than 70 percent of Utah voters support medical cannabis reforms. The coalition needs 11,143 signatures of registered voters by Apr. 15 in order to get the measure to voters.

End

Texas Dispensary Delivers State’s First MMJ Product to 6-year-old Patient

2/02/2018

by

Texas dispensary Knox Medical has delivered the state’s first medical cannabis products to a six-year-old suffering from intractable epilepsy, the Texas Tribune reports. The delivery comes more than two years after Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation creating the limited program.

“For Texans suffering from intractable epilepsy, the wait for medical cannabis is finally over. This is a historic day for Texas and we will work tirelessly to uphold the trust and responsibility the state has placed in Knox Medical.” – José Hidalgo, founder and CEO of Knox Medical, to the Tribune

The program only provides access for individuals suffering from intractable epilepsy and only provides for low-THC CBD oil.

Just three dispensaries are authorized to cultivate and distribute medical cannabis in the nation’s second-largest state. To qualify for the program, patients – who must be permanent Texas residents – must have tried two Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to no avail and get approval from two physicians registered with the state. Fewer than 20 doctors are signed up with the state’s Compassionate Use program. According to the report, about 160,000 Texans – less than 1 percent of the state’s population – are diagnosed with intractable epilepsy.

A second dispensary will reportedly begin selling products on Feb. 8.

End

Maine Governor Puts New MMJ Rules on Hold Until May, At Least

2/02/2018

by

Maine Gov. Paul LePage has agreed to delay the implementation of new medical cannabis rules that were set to take effect Feb.1, which included allowing unannounced caregiver inspections by the Department Health and Human Services, the Portland Press Herald reports. The new regime is on hold until at least May so the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee can have time to adopt a new plan.

“While I believe strongly that the medical marijuana program needs improved and increased regulation, waiting until May to ensure we do not create unnecessary confusion and complication is a reasonable approach,” LePage, in a letter to Rep. Deborah Sanderson, via the Press Herald.

Sanderson, who had made the request to delay the new rules, told the Press Herald that it was not an attempt “to avoid more regulation” but an attempt to do so “in a thorough, thoughtful way.”

Sanderson and LePage agree that parts of the medical cannabis program, including regulatory control, oversight, compliance, licensing, packaging, labeling, and testing, can be consolidated with the state’s voter-approved recreational cannabis program. In his letter, LePage said that having two programs overseen by different agencies “will undermine” both programs.

Last month, the state’s Marijuana Legalization Implementation Committee voted 5-1 to delay social cannabis use allowances until 2023. A Legislative vote on the proposal could come this month.

End

Photo of Staten Island in New York, captured from the Staten Island Ferry.

iAnthus Finalizes Deal for New York MMJ Company

2/02/2018

by

iAnthus Capital Holdings has completed its $18 million acquisition of New York medical cannabis company Citiva Medical, LLC. Citiva is one of just 10 medical cannabis licensees in the Empire State.

The $18 million deal was satisfied mostly through iAnthus shares – $14.4 million – and $3.6 million in cash. iAnthus is traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange. Citiva’s license includes a cultivation and processing facility and four dispensary locations which will be located in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Dutchess, and Chemung counties. Once open, which is expected in the fourth quarter of this year, the Staten Island dispensary will be the only one to serve the island’s 500,000 residents.

“We expect that experience to translate well into developing an effective medical cannabis business throughout the state. With the closing of the New York transaction, iAnthus now has operations in six states, and is currently the only publicly traded company which holds a New York Registered Organization.” – Hadley Ford, CEO of iAnthus, in a press release

The deal, first announced in August, comes less than a month after iAnthus announced it had agreed to acquire Florida medical cannabis licensee GrowHealthy in a $48 million deal. In addition to New York and Florida, iAnthus own and operates medical cannabis licensees in Vermont, Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Mexico.

End

Nighttime view of the San Francisco sprawl with a full moon above it.

San Francisco to Expunge Some Cannabis Convictions

2/01/2018

by

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón will retroactively apply criminal justice reforms in the state’s cannabis legalization law to misdemeanor and felony convictions dating back to 1975.

Who’s Affected? Individuals with prior cannabis convictions that would not be crimes under the new law. The District Attorney’s Office plans to review, recall, and resentence up to 4,940 felony cannabis convictions and dismiss and seal 3,038 misdemeanors.

Although the law allows individuals with convictions to petition to have the charges reduced or dismissed, Gascón’s plan will require no action by the individual. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, just 4,885 Californians have petitioned the courts to have their cannabis convictions expunged since the initiative’s passage.

“While drug policy on the federal level is going backwards, San Francisco is once again taking the lead to undo the damage that this country’s disastrous, failed drug war has had on our nation and on communities of color in particular. Long ago we lost our ability to distinguish the dangerous from the nuisance, and it has broken our pocket books, the fabric of our communities, and we are no safer for it. While this relief is already available pursuant to Proposition 64 for anyone with a conviction, it requires that they know it is available and to retain an attorney to file the expungement paperwork. A criminal conviction can be a barrier to employment, housing and other benefits, so instead of waiting for the community to take action, we’re taking action for the community.” — Gascón, in a press release.

According to the office, there were an estimated 2,756,778 cannabis arrests in California between 1915 and 2016.

End

Indiana House Approves Industrial Hemp Bill

2/01/2018

by

The Indiana House has unanimously approved a measure that would allow the state’s farmers to grow industrial hemp, the Indy Star reports. Additionally, the measure would exclude products derived from the crops containing 0.3 percent or less THC from the state’s controlled substance definition, allowing the products to be sold commercially.

In November, state Attorney General Cutis Hill said that CBD products were unlawful in the state, and a day later Gov. Eric Holcomb gave retailers 60 days to remove CBD products “containing any level of THC” from their shelves.

According to the bill’s fiscal statement, the measure would require interested farmers to undergo a background check at their expense and would repeal the state’s Cannabidiol Registry. An Industrial Hemp Commodities Review Board would also be convened.

According to the bill text HB.1137:

“Amends the definition of “industrial hemp” by: (1) specifying that plant resins are included in the definition; (2) removing a reference to the percent on a dry weight basis determined by the federal Controlled Substances Act; and (3) removing the exclusion of industrial hemp commodities or products. Specifies that the agricultural pilot program administered by the state seed commissioner is for research and scientific study in conjunction with a state educational institution.”

The measure next moves to the Senate where it currently carries three sponsors.

“Everything I’ve seen says industrial hemp is probably a harmless crop. I have no problem with that, I’m just not sure the federal government issue isn’t still holding us back.” – Senate leader David Long, to the Star

If approved, licenses would be issued beginning on June 30, 2019.

End

A blue-tinted photograph of a police car with its lights activated.

Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Pushes for Roadside Saliva Tests

2/01/2018

by

Vermont Commissioner of Public Safety Tom Anderson has told members of the House Transportation Committee that their highest priority this session should be passing legislation to allow law enforcement to use saliva drug tests if a driver is “reasonably suspected” of being impaired, according to a VT Digger report. The Vermont American Civil Liberties Union told the committee that if such legislation was enacted, the organization would sue.

Anderson’s push for the controversial drug test comes five months before the state’s cannabis legalization law takes effect.

“We’re on the cusp of (marijuana) legalization, for all of Vermonters’ sake we should be doing all we can to prevent people from driving impaired.” – Anderson, to the House Transportation Committee, via VT Digger

The saliva tests would not be used to establish a “per se” limit for THC intoxication, rather it would be used to determine whether the driver tests positive for drugs, Anderson said, adding that he wasn’t sure whether the saliva samples could even be used as evidence in court, saying that it would “take a year or two before ultimately it’s decided in court that it’s admissible or not admissible.”

Chloé White, policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, called the test “much more invasive of privacy and bodily integrity than a breathing test” because DNA is also removed in the tests, despite the bill forbidding it.

“As many policymakers, scientific and civil liberties advocates already said repeatedly in the past, there are multiple fundamental problems with roadside saliva testing. Some studies have shown that THC can remain in a subject’s saliva up to eight days after their last exposure to cannabis.” – White to the committee, via VT Digger

According to the report, a similar measure passed the House two years ago but was rejected by the Senate.

End

Willie’s Reserve Raises Capital for Product Line Expansion

2/01/2018

by

GCH Inc., the cannabis company founded by Willie Nelson, has raised $12 million to fund its state-by-state expansion, with plans to launch its Willie’s Reserve line in California by spring. The fundraising is part of a Series B capital raise which the company expects to reach $40 million by the round’s close. The round has been funded, in part, by Tuatara Capital and Hypur Ventures.

The fundraising comes as the company rolls out a sun-grown cannabis line and expands its Annie’s Edibles product line into Colorado.

“We’re on the right side of history. People have spoken with their votes and their dollars. Now that we’ve proven regulating and taxing is good for individuals and business and states, it’s pretty clear that pot is good for America. I’m glad a lot of these guys can come out of the shadows, back in to the sunlight. Cannabis is also creating some good opportunities for American farmers.” – Willie Nelson, in a press release

The Annie’s Edibles line includes Maui Espresso Bean, Roasted Cacao Nibs, Dark Chocolate, and Chocolate Almond, along with a hard candy line, which includes seven flavors.

Currently the Willie’s Reserve line, which was launched in 2016, is available in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada.

End

Kansas Attorney General: CBD Illegal in the State

1/31/2018

by

In a Jan. 24 opinion, the Kansas Attorney General’s office said it is unlawful to sell CBD products in the state due to cannabis’ status as a Schedule I drug under both the federal and state Controlled Substances Acts.

“Our review of literature on the subject leads us to conclude that cannabidiol is derived from the parts of the cannabis plant that are not excluded from the definition of marijuana, or is derived from resin found on any part of the plant, and therefore fits squarely within the general definition of marijuana.” – Jan. 24 Kansas Attorney General opinion

The authors, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Deputy Attorney General Athena Andaya, explain that while there are parts of the cannabis plant that are excluded from the definition of marijuana – namely stalks, oil or cake derived from the seeds, and serialized seeds from plants defined as industrial hemp – “resin, extracted from any part of the plant, is specifically included in the general definition of marijuana.”

The authors note that while the Kansas Legislature did reschedule CBD from a Schedule I to a Schedule IV last year, the change requires that, in order to be sold, CBD products must be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration – which, to this point, has not occurred.

The Hemp Industries Association has filed a lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration over the classification of CBD by the agency, which is headed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals next month.

End

Canadian Cannabis-Centric Entrepreneur Collective Acquires Uruguay Hemp Producer

1/31/2018

by

In their first foray into Latin America, British Columbia, Canada-based Cannabis Wheaton Income Corp. is set to acquire Uruguayan hemp producer Inverell S.A. in a deal worth $15 million. Inverell is licensed in Uruguay to cultivate and harvest a proprietary hemp strain containing 0.5 percent THC and 8 percent CBD.

Inverell also owns a genetic bank with three additional hemp strains with differing levels of THC and CBD. It currently operates 16 hectares (about 1.72 million square feet) and has another 574 hectares available for cultivation.

“This transaction helps us secure a significant amount of CBD-rich hemp production that can be exported to other federally legal jurisdictions for further processing into nutritional and pharmaceutical products. We expect to see a significant increase in global CBD demand over the course of the coming years and believe that low-cost jurisdictions with favorable climates for outdoor cultivation will be key sources of CBD supply. As we continue to execute our international strategy, we are thrilled to have identified Inverell as our first international production operation.” – Hugo Alves, Wheaton president, in a press release

Upon closing of the deal, Wheaton will pay $2 million in cash, $3,562,500 in Wheaton common shares, and $9,437,500 upon successful registration of Inverell’s genetics and successful exportation of CBD products.

Inverell founder, Dr. Raúl Urbina, will remain as CEO and head the Innovation Department.

End

Montana Health Department Lowers MMJ Provider Fees, Sets New Testing Rules

1/31/2018

by

Montana’s Department of Health and Human Services has made several changes to the state’s medical cannabis program, including lowering the fees for providers, implementing labeling requirements, and bolstering product testing rules, MTN News reports. The new testing rules will now require mandatory product testing instead of randomized testing protocols.

Provider license costs for those with 11 to 49 patients were reduced to $2,500; costs for providers with fewer than 11 patients will pay $1,000; and providers with more than 49 patients will pay $5,000. November’s draft rules from the department outlined a fee scheme that would have required providers with more than 10 patients pay $5,000, while those with fewer than 10 pay $1,000.

The rule changes also allow minors to participate in the medical cannabis program; however, their parent or guardian must make purchases by proxy.

Elizabeth Pincolini, owner of Alternative Wellness Montana, offers a mixed reaction to the changes, contending that random testing “is a much better way to catch pesticides” and mandatory testing is “expensive.”

“I think overall, the rules are doable for most. I expect some changes and tweaks to the rules as the program rolls out and we find things that need adjustment, but I think that is fairly typical for any new program.” Pincolini, to MTN News

The changes to the program are part of a 2016 voter-approved medical cannabis initiative, which was necessary after lawmakers had all but shut down the state’s program.

End

Aerial view of the airport in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.

Canadian Territory of Nunavut Releases Cannabis Policy Draft Rules

1/31/2018

by

The Government of Canadian territory Nunavut has released their draft rules for cannabis regulation, setting the legal purchase and possession age at 19 and keeping the possession limit at 30 grams – in line with federal proposals. The rules also provide landlords the ability to ban smoking or growing cannabis on their properties but suggest that localities not pass “dry” ordinances.

“Currently, the GN is proposing to not prohibit cannabis entirely in communities. That is, under this proposal there would be no ‘dry’ communities. This approach flows from the idea that prohibition does not work, is difficult to enforce, encourages and supports an illegal market, and may actually be worse for Nunavummiut.” – Government of Nunavut in the draft rules

The regulations propose not opening any physical retail shops in 2018, which would be government-run, but would allow sales to commence online or by phone once the federal government rolls out the program.

Due to the cold clime, the government does not anticipate that there would be any large-scale production in the territory, and since the “lack of road and rail connections among communities and to the rest of Canada is unique” the government is considering allowing citizens to import products from licensed producers which would increase access to “a wider range of cannabis products than the [Nunavut Liquor Commission] is likely to offer on its own.”

According to a December survey by the government, 75 percent of Nunavut residents support cannabis legalization.

End

Jesse Peters: Responsible Cannabis Business Practices

1/30/2018

by

Jesse Peters is the owner and CEO of Eco Firma Farms and is a founding member of the Oregon Cannabis Association.

In this Ganjapreneur.com podcast episode, Jesse joins our host TG Branfalt to talk about Eco Firma’s longterm goal of becoming 100% carbon neutral, some green energy solutions that other cannabis companies can consider to follow in their footsteps, how the cannabis industry needs to take responsibility in lobbying for better regulations and working more closely with regulators and lawmakers, and more!

You can listen to the interview via the media player below, or scroll further down to read through a complete transcript of the episode.

Listen to the podcast:

Read the transcript:

TG Branfalt: Hey, there, I’m your host, TG Branfalt, and you’re 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 delighted. I’m joined by Jesse Peters, he’s the CEO of Eco Firma Farms, and he’s a founding member of the Oregon Cannabis Association. How are you doing this afternoon, Jesse?

Jesse Peters: Good, good, how are you doing, Tim?

TG Branfalt: I’m all right, man, as I said, I’m thrilled to have you on the show, we’ve got a lot to talk about, but first, I want to talk about you. You have an interesting background, you are a 22-year Marine Corps vet, 10 years as a professional firefighter. How did you end up from those two sectors into the cannabis space?

Jesse Peters: Honestly, I didn’t really come from those two sectors in the cannabis space. I’ve always been on the cannabis space, and went into those two sectors in life. To an extent, I was born into this industry. My mom took the misdemeanor, and my dad took the felony for the five pounds that were under my crib when they brought me home from the hospital. That’s where our established in 1974 comes from. It was just always a piece of my life. I’ve always been a part of cannabis in a real small way, and then, as I got older, I just lived in both worlds.

I went to school, I went to college, I joined the Marine Corps, I got a job as a firefighter, and I also was in the cannabis space doing cannabis things that most cannabis people have done for a very long time. Years ago we started figuring out that it was going to be legal in our lifetime, and we needed to make a decision on which route we wanted to take with it, and taking the route of developing a company, and trying to participate heavily in the end of prohibition, and still be a successful business was the route we chose.

TG Branfalt: How long ago was it that you started Eco Firma?

Jesse Peters: Eco Firma was registered as a company in, I want to say 2013. We started Eco Firma as brand back in about 2011, 2010 actually, up in Seattle, when it just … It was one of those things where you start going into dispensaries, and you realize that it’s still really raw, it’s just random people coming through the door with Ziploc bags, or sandwich bags, or garbage bags full of cannabis. To me, the only to stand out there was to start to represent something.

We decided, you know, we’re going to create a business name, and we’re going to actually start giving test results, and doing terpene profiles as soon as they came online and we were allowed to do with no requirements. We wanted to be presentable and just have that leg up on the competition that I was facing in the dispensaries. As we did that and started getting really specific with strains and really specific with branding and trying to offer more to drive traffic to your dispensary made things appropriate for us to start to function like a business, and to be able to earn that business of that dispensary. If you’re going to turn it into a business, then you’ve got to turn it into a business, so what’s what we did.

TG Branfalt: One of the principles of your farm is this idea of total carbon neutrality. Can you just describe to the listeners what that is first, and why you decided to bring your farm in this direction, and why it was important to you?

Jesse Peters: Yes. Total carbon neutrality is the ability to say that we put absolutely no extra carbon into the atmosphere. Any CO2 emission, the power that we use creates CO2, recycling, garbage, we want to create zero CO2. We want to leave the planet better than we found it. We want to leave our property better than we found it. We want to be neutral balance with how the planet should function. It started with we looked into green energy and actually have the ability to take on 100 percent wind power, which totally blanked our power for carbon neutral. We took the first 90 percent out right then, the ability to go carbon neutral. We were, as far as I can tell, the first company in Oregon to actually get an award from Portland General Electric as a cannabis company for our efforts. We get fact sheets every year that show the equivalency of how many cars we’ve taken off the road and how many trees that we’ve planted.

Once we hit that, it’s when it occurred to me, you know, I want to be 100 percent clean, so what else can we do? How do we get better? How do we tidy up that last 10 percent? That last 10 percent is a big hurdle. There’s a lot of pieces to go down that rabbit hole with. If we produce any garbage, where does that garbage go? There’s a truck that shows up here that picks that garbage up that burns fuel, so how do we get rid of all our garbage? How do we do only recycling? How do we get rid of if we use an electric forklift instead of a gas forklift that’s charging off of our carbon neutral power? I think you can rapidly see how fast that last 10 percent is a big endeavor, and so we’re trying to bite it off in appropriate stages and chunks, but being able to get rid of our power was a big deal. The next step is that we’re actually going to put a solar array up and start trying to feed back.

TG Branfalt: In addition to those couple of ways that you mentioned, what are some, I guess, more simpler ways that operators in this space can work to reduce their own carbon footprints?

Jesse Peters: You know, I would say, for one, look into green energy. That is, by far, the biggest. A lot of states have an option for you on your power bill that you can just call the phone number and ask, “Hey, I really want to look into green energy options.” That’s a big step. It doesn’t cost that much more capital to be able to do it. Every company in every state is a little different, and some have the option and some don’t. Fortunately, here in Oregon we have a great option. If you don’t have that option, then you’ve got to start looking towards all the little things. Start small. Set up a really good recycling program, maybe some incentives for your employees. Make it really easy to recycling, separating the glass, putting out containers, all the small pieces. Look into don’t use bottled water. Make sure that if you do have people that bring in bottled water, that you have a recycling receptacle there for the bottles. Buy your staff water and put it in the facility. Buy them containers that they can carry their water in. Look around your office at the things that you’re throwing away that you waste and see what could be replaced. You can start that small and then just build on it.

TG Branfalt: That’s really great to hear that from somebody who has a big operation and is so active in eliminating the carbon footprint. I know that as California comes online, there’s a lot of sort of chatter about the water use and the energy use in a state that’s already sort of strained in that regard.

I want to talk to you a bit about the Oregon Cannabis Association and your role with that. When did you realize that the time was right for a dedicated industry association, and how difficult was it for you to get, now you have more than 100 businesses on board?

Jesse Peters: Really, the credit for that realization goes to Amy Margolis. Amy Margolis was an attorney in the space early on. I think we’re approaching … She’s been in this space for a very long time. For the Cannabis Association, early on three or four years ago, it occurred to Amy that we needed an association, that there were a lot of us out there that were still in that world of being very reclusive. It’s the world we came from. Being that she knew all of us and many of us used her as our legal advice, she brought up to a group of about eight of us that we should all come together as the Cannabis Association. She actually had reached out to Matt and Meagan Wallstater, who own a dispensary called Pure Green here in Oregon. Matt and Meagan, it was also a dispensary that we marketed to, and so they approached me and said, “Hey, we’re putting together this group.”

At the time, we didn’t really know what it was. It was just let’s put eight of us in a room, and nine of us, and 12 of us, and let’s talk. I’m not going to lie to you, there’s a lot of ego that comes out in those first talks, a lot of posturing that was really interesting. There was some really entertaining conversations that went down, and then everybody really fast got comfortable with each other and you can start to see a divide. There’s staunch competitors that view everyone as their competition, and then there’s those of us that are in cooperat-ition. We’re stronger, as a whole, especially as such a young industry that does not have those heavy corporate influences quite yet. If we band together, we might be able to sustain and create rules and create and industry where we do have staunch pesticide regulation and staunch mitigation for things like water usage and things like power usage. We can set up an industry that doesn’t look as much like our food industry.

As we kind of went down that path, we looked towards legislation and how do we lobby for free market space so that small businesses can attempt to thrive? How do we try to make sure the medical program doesn’t die? You start realizing that as the association grows and more and more members join, that you have to start separating things out. You form a board and you bring on a separate wing that is just the political action committee. Slowly, but surely it has been morphing and growing into, at least here in Oregon, a movement that I hope to see progress throughout the country.

TG Branfalt: When you mentioned the lobby, you mentioned the Oregon Cannabis PAC, the political action committee. When did you decide the time was right for that project?

Jesse Peters: Once again, definitely not me deciding. This was a … That room, that group of eight, that turned to 12, that turned to 50 and Amy Margolis and all of the members within it, all of us discussing the fact that we should go to DC and lobby for things like the big ticket items, like banking reform and tax reform. There’s a lot of pieces to bite off here. There’s a lot of prohibition. There are people still going to prison for long periods of time. How do we … In a state where we can dedicate some of our resources, financially, into a lobbying effort to help states that still need to get past that, how do we participate? How do we use those resources in a way that benefits the industry as a whole throughout the country? That’s really where it was born from, and we’ve just kind of been going from there, winging it, for lack of a better term.

TG Branfalt: Are you guys seeing donations from companies outside of the cannabis industry, with regard to the PAC, yet?

Jesse Peters: Not quite. We’re getting just a little bit here and there. We’re starting to see ancillary companies come in and we’re just starting to reach out to those ancillary companies, because, to be honest, it takes a lot of revenue being generated in a legal market before you start to see companies that supply CO2 or make the equipment that goes into extraction equipment that sees a large enough market share that they are willing to put some capital into it to help support that revenue stream for their company. It needs to obviously hit a specific number for their ROI to be justified. Once again, in a legal state, as you see these things come online and that revenue stream becomes appropriate, you kind of need a group to hit them up, otherwise they’ll skate along and us, as cannabis companies, will continue to fund our own events to try to get our names out there until we can get to a point where it is not financially responsible as company for me to advertise to a bunch of other companies in my same space that already know who I am.

Why don’t we reach out to companies that make nutrients or companies that make lights, Gavita, Advanced Nutrients, Biobizz, start reaching out to them that are still in the space, but in a larger capacity, and then slowly but surely, we reach beyond that into companies that provide signage and banners, or companies that do printing, or companies that provide CO2 or gasses to the industry. I think that, from there, you can start to span wider and wider to try to bring that capital in to support our cause.

TG Branfalt: What’s your relationship like with the lawmakers in your state specifically?

Jesse Peters: It’s been good. The hardest part, I would say, for the lawmakers, and for us, is that they have a very fractionated voice coming at them from many different associations, many different organizations, many of their constituents that all have their own pieces that they want. Of course, outside of that, you’ve got some very self-motivated interest groups that can put capital into this space and lobby for their own specific purpose. If you’re a legislator, it gets murky. If you’re a rulemaker, it gets murky because who has got a hidden agenda? What agenda do I want to follow? What benefits my constituents the best?

For us, fortunately, here in Oregon, we’ve got lawmakers that are, for the most part, really supportive of this industry, but they’re also very new to it. I would say to California and other states as they come online, you’re going to see a lot of rules that don’t make sense. My advice is definitely don’t attack your legislator. You want to work with them, because they want to work with you. It’s just a really difficult job. But when the rules first come online, comprehend that they’re going to be the hardest, most likely, that they’ll ever be, because they’ve got to cast a wide net and then, slowly but surely, a good organization, with a good mission statement, can slowly start to narrow that reach and make legislation and help work with legislators to make rules that are beneficial to companies and allow for a thriving market.

TG Branfalt: I want to talk to you a bit more about your lobby efforts in DC, but before we do that, we’ve got to take a break. This is the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m TG Branfalt.

If you are looking for a job in the rapidly growing and highly competitive cannabis industry, Ganjapreneur.com is the place to look. Visit the Ganjapreneur job board today to browse current openings with cannabis companies throughout the United States, from empty level budtender positions to executive level career opportunities. You can also create a profile and upload your resume to be discovered by cannabis recruiters. Visit our job board at jobs.ganjapreneur.com to create your profile today.

If you are a business owner, you can post your job openings for as little as $25 on our job board to reach the largest and most engaged audience of cannabis professionals on the web. Companies who are listed in the Ganjapreneur business directory are eligible for free job listings. If you’re already signed up, contact us today via the website or send us an email at grow@ganjapreneur.com to activate your unique coupon.

TG Branfalt: Hey, welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m your host, TG Branfalt, here with Jesse Peters, CEO of Eco Firma Farms. In June, members of the OCA went to lobby in DC and came away with four takeaways: the Trump administration has bigger fish to fry, GOP freshmen realize that the War on Drugs is lost, the industry needed more representation from both lawmakers and from operators, and Congress is not “just blowing smoke” when it comes to diversion of product and recognizing the benefits of a taxed and regulated industry. That’s a lot of stuff that you guys sort of came back with in your sort of report. What’s your game plan for addressing some of these issues? Are operators in your state actively prepping for any sort of federal crackdown?

Jesse Peters: To answer the last part, prepping for a federal crackdown, to be honest, until it’s federally descheduled, you should always be prepping for a crackdown. You never really know, but I think those of us that have been in this space a long time comprehend that it’s the risk of doing business, and there’s a benefit to it as well. That risk keeps a lot of the big corporations out and gives us the opportunity to get a head start, to set up and thrive. If you’re risk adverse, this isn’t the space for you. That being said, to be prepared for a crackdown is nothing more than to say, “I comprehend that someone might kick my door in tomorrow.” Other than that, on the larger scale, it’s like shooting a BB gun at a freight train. At this stage, and especially with California coming online, it’s not at the forefront of our concern.

When it comes to kind of the large agenda facing at least the OCA at this stage in the game, looking towards Capitol Hill, there’s good and bad with it. This new administration is definitely not our friend. Jeff Sessions has been extremely vocal about his intent over the years. We could go really far down the rabbit hole politically with this if we wanted to, but on the optimistic side, there is a grumbling here that requires action from our representatives in the Senate and in the House. It was really nice, for the eight years of Obama, to pretty much feel like we’re status quo and we don’t have to really worry, but on the same hand, we were at the bottom of their agenda list. Now that we have an administration that has come out to basically actively pursue negative regulation in our realm, it is forcing a lot of our Congressional leaders to stand up and start actually making laws to prevent that.

In the boomerang effect with this administration, there’s potential for us to still get a little benefit there. It’s definitely not a reason to stop fighting. It’s by far not a reason to stick your head in the sand. Now is the time that, in a country where more Americans approve of cannabis than apple pie, we’ve got the numbers behind us. We just need to get that voice directed towards our leadership, because the midterms are coming and there are a lot of people that are spooked for their jobs, so they’re listening. It’s on us to take advantage of that.

TG Branfalt: So let me ask you this. What is stopping the … What is the driving force behind the prohibitionists in your sort of experience as somebody who has went to DC, who has lobbied, who has these military ties? What is the issue here? What is your sense about what is stopping them from just allowing it to become legal in their state, or pressing for federal deschedulization or reschedulization. I’m a deschedule guy. What is your sense about all this?

Jesse Peters: Yeah, I’m a deschedule guy as well, by far. You know, honestly, I think, for me, it’s the squeaky wheel gets the grease. When we go all the way down to things at the county level, when we go to a county meeting to actively pursue things like processing or extraction on EFU land, when you show up, you’ve got two or three or five people from the cannabis industry that are trying to speak in an educated manner about how the revenue and the tax model and the regulation can benefit the society, and then you’ve got 50 anti-cannabis people who tend to be in more of a retired age of life and have the time to come down to this and print banners and print signs and be very loud and lobby very heavily against any cannabis descheduling or against beneficial regulation.

If you’re sitting there as a councilman or as a Congressman, and you’ve had 300 phone calls against and three phone calls for, it seems to you as though this is not as popular an issue as you think. Well, the reason you only get three phone calls for is because most of us are working to build a business and don’t have the time to attack this from every angle. I think it’s a perception issue, honestly. It’s a perception at the legislative level where you have a louder voice from a smaller group, and that changes your perception of what is really going on in the country.

TG Branfalt: You mentioned a louder voice from a smaller group. I want to talk to you quickly about some of these veterans access issues. You’re a veteran yourself. The VFW has come out and they have supported medical cannabis access for veterans. There’s not a legal state that a veteran can walk into their VA, even if it’s legal in their state, and say, “Hey, we need to explore medical cannabis for my chronic pain, my PTSD or what have you.” Can you tell me a bit more about, from a veteran’s point of view, how important this issue is or is going to become as the market matures and as we get more research?

Jesse Peters: Yeah, I think it is a tough nut to crack, and it’s also, to me, one of the most ridiculous arguments out there. You’ve got groups like Grow for Vets and Weed for Warriors that are really working extremely hard on these issues. The fact that you can go out and be shot at for your country, that you can come home a different human being, and yet you’re not responsible enough to consume cannabis, yet you can become addicted to a host of medications that are freely given out is ridiculous. It’s a conversation that shouldn’t even be a question. It’s a no vote out of a Congressman or a Representative that should be staunchly … It should be … How do I say that? It should be looked at very seriously, because it’s not an issue that should be swept under the rug or pushed off to the side.

That being said, medical research is … No matter what we do, obviously as this industry grows, medical research is going to grow with it. In what direction … Is Pfizer looking for their next big moneymaker? Do you want to go down the rabbit hole of conspiracy and addiction and how do we manipulate that, as a drug company, for profit? I think everybody has a statement they can make there. I think it’s the base issue. I think it’s really easy to cloud, and I think it’s the base issue. There are veterans that need access, or prefer access to cannabis, rather than access to narcotics or anti-depressants. There is absolutely no reason why that should be denied whatsoever. End of story. Everything else is just noise.

TG Branfalt: You’re very passionate when you speak about that, and I really appreciate your candor in addressing that issue. I want to talk to you a bit more about Oregon and some new rules that took effect there, but before we do that, we’ve got to take a break. This is the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m TG Branfalt.

At Ganjapreneur, we have heard from dozens of cannabis business owners who have encountered the issue of canna-bias, 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: Welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m your host TG Branfalt here with Jesse Peters, CEO of Eco Firma Farms and one of the founding members of the Oregon Cannabis Association. In Oregon, you guys face rule changes all of the time. How does your company deal with this evolving regulatory structure?

Jesse Peters: Yeah, I would advise anyone who is coming in to a recreational market or even coming into a medical market, you need to get very seriously involved with the legislature and the rulemaking authority. Start making friends, start being well known, because you’re going to see a system get set up and they’re going to create rules for the entire year leading up to it, like California has been doing, and then it’s going to come online and all of those complaints from the city, from the municipal, from the county, from the state, from the testing labs, all those lobby groups, all those special interest groups, they’re all going to jump in and they’re going to want to change rules.

To be honest with you, sometimes those rules wind up going backwards. We’ve dealt with it here where we’ve had testing regulation come in and go in a direction that made testing so difficult that it coffin-nailed our industry for about four months. Then you see the legislature realize that and the rulemaking authority realize that and then they come back and change them again. The hard part about that is those rule changes, for small businesses, mean you have to throw away $25,000 worth of packaging because you had it made for one set of rules and now it’s made for another set of rules. You have to change your strategy for your lean flow at your facility. You need to add $50,000 worth of security system. It’s an ongoing methodology to refine rules. As I said, it’s the worst it is when it comes online and it’s only going to get better, but that graph is not linear. That graph goes up and down. As that regulation gets easier, there are peaks and valleys there that make things better or worse as you go. If you are not there advocating appropriately, with support, your life is going to be very difficult.

TG Branfalt: Are things stabilizing as far as regulations go?

Jesse Peters: They are, actually. You know, we’ve kind of reached a point right now where we’ve hit regulation that everyone can live with for now. It’s almost like a regulatory exhaustion where you get to a certain point where everyone, from the legislature to the governing bodies to the companies, say, “Okay, give me five minutes to just operate as we are and let’s reevaluate and let’s attack some of these small issues first and just let’s make this a little easier.” The constant ebb and flow on a large scale is exhausting, and so we have hit a set of regulation that we can, for the most part, live with for just a minute before we come back at it and try to make it better again. Some of the hardest parts are states that have medical and recreational programs, because the medical programs take a real heavy beating.

For some of those issues, it’s understandable for the state. They have a new administration. They need to meet Cole Memorandum regulation. They need to be able to show to the Attorney General that they are putting forth rules to help the diversion of cannabis out of state so that they can keep their rec program moving and keep the industry moving. Conversely, you need to work in a system that still benefits patients and doesn’t block them out from the medication that they have lived on for so long and the producers that are good players acting within that regulation appropriately to take care of those patients. It’s a very … They’re very muddy waters and it is a very slippery slope, and dealing with this administration within that is extremely difficult.

Like I said, trying to think of all these issues in the big picture for the greater good of the industry, medical and rec, is going to suit you best with a really well formulated plan of how to address these issues. Don’t leave it in the hands of your legislators to figure it out, because they’re not from this space, they don’t know. They need your help, but they need it in a very articulate, well thought out manner that addresses those issues, and we’re the ones that know that, so help them.

TG Branfalt: I want to move on a bit. I watched your Toke Talk in April. During that, you sort of pleaded with your audience to get off of social media if you’re in the cannabis space. Personally, I’m a reporter in this space. My Facebook is private and guarded, I don’t have Twitter, I don’t have Instagram, and people shout at me about my brand, or whatever. Is this what you’re advocating, for people to just get off of these social media platforms, or are you more saying hire someone to manage your social media so you can focus on your business?

Jesse Peters: A little bit of both. Yes, as a business, do not … Social media is your friend. Definitely if you can afford it, and even for your own mental health, hire someone to handle your social media and engage with it appropriately, but it’s kind of that adage, if you do an article, don’t go read the comments. You’ve got to stay away from it. It’s hard when you’re a small, struggling business to then jump onto Facebook and Instagram and you see all the other companies that are doing their marketing on social media. It makes you feel very small. It makes you feel like you’re not making it. I’m not making it. I’m not there. I’m not progressing. It can get really consuming. There’s proven fact for serotonin and social media and instant gratification and dopamine and you then add in your business structure, your personal business structure, and you’re watching these other companies that are touting to be what they want to be, that they’re living their company on social media the way a lot of people live their life on social media. It’s exhausting. Eyes on your own paper. Social media is great for advertising and you need to use it appropriately, but do not let it consume you and depress you as you move forward and work to build a business, because it will do exactly that.

TG Branfalt: So in your state, do you guys have a lot of advertising options? I know in lots of medical states there’s no advertising, such as New York. I know for a lot of people that’s all they have, really, is social media, internet ad buys. Do you guys have a lot of these sort of more traditional options in Oregon?

Jesse Peters: We do. We’re allowed print ads. We’re allowed billboards.

TG Branfalt: Do you find these effective, the traditional ways?

Jesse Peters: To an extent, yes. The ROI is a little difficult to track right now in some aspects, so some of it is just more brand recognition and your marketing strategy for how well you want that brand recognition, but it’s twofold. You need the brand recognition for the B-to-B, but you need the brand recognition for the B-to-C so the C goes into the dispensaries and asks specifically for your product. In a market that is as young as the market we’re in, that is a really difficult thing to track. You know, the most success in small market marketing, like the cannabis industry, especially if you’re a smaller company, is that guerrilla marketing, that person-to-person, on the ground, sticker placement on the drive-through at Taco Bell, the giving away of stickers in the right scenarios. There’s a million guerrilla marketing tactics you can use that are extremely inexpensive that can help get your name out there. At the end of the day, the reality of it is it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of creative time and a lot of work and you’ve just got to put your head down and get to it if you want your name out there and that’s all there is to it.

TG Branfalt: I love the idea of guerrilla marketing. I saw a lot of that, actually, in Michigan where they had a gray market and very limited, in terms of … The businesses, the dispensaries weren’t even licensed, but when I went to Cannabis Cup, they were just handing out stickers left and right and then a couple of days later, I see those same stickers all over Detroit. It wasn’t for dispensaries, it was for brands to your point. What is next for Eco Firma? You guys are … You’ve been doing this since 1976. What’s next for you guys?

Jesse Peters: Yeah. Making sure that everything is just clear out there, ’74 is the year I was born, so it just kind of goes more around the anecdotal story. We’ve been doing this for a very long time, but not since I was a baby. I don’t want to mislead anybody.

What’s next for us? You know, just like everybody else in this space, expansion. We want to go down that whole large scale vertical integration track. We want to coordinate and bring together the companies that are the best of the best. We want to potentially consolidate with those that make really good partners here and in other states that maybe need a little help, and maybe they’re the right player. There’s an unknown quantity — a large unknown quantity of businesses out there that I think probably are really good operators, but no one has heard of and may not, if they don’t get the right boost. We’re going to look down the track at those opportunities to build as a brand, to build as a company. We’re bicoastal now. We’re here. We’re in Maine. We want to span out to California. We want to span out to Nevada and Arizona. We have a lot of opportunities on our very short horizon that we’re looking at.

We, like everyone else, we want to make a real big dent. We want to be really well known on a national level. I think it’s an appropriate goal and we want to do it right. We want to be clean. We want to be good partners. We want to be good neighbors. We want to be good humans. I had a good friend from TJ Gardens say to me one day, on a plane, “I don’t want $100 million. I want to make 100 millionaires.” I like that theory. I want to do that.

TG Branfalt: So what’s your advice for entrepreneurs, people who might not be in this space yet, or just people who are looking to make their own dent?

Jesse Peters: Run. This is a great space to be in. It is an extremely difficult space to be in. Do not come into this lighthearted. Do not come into this halfway. Do not come into this thinking that you’re going to jump up out of nowhere and take four plants in your basement or a couple of lights and just go find someone to hand you a million dollars. This is a really, really tough space, and if you’re going to come into it, you need to come into it full bore, guns blazing and ready to work long days, long hours, very little vacation. It’s hard work, but it’s gratifying work, because as you expand, you get to bring people into your fold and employ people and partner with people that their goals, their life, their career hinges on your company’s success. It’s really gratifying to be able build a really big, well functioning team and work within that space. If you are risk adverse, lighthearted or not ready to work that hard, this might not be the space for you. If you are and you are just starting out, or you’ve been doing this a while, but you’re ready to come at it, don’t hold back. You need to come at this full force. That would definitely be my advice.

TG Branfalt: That’s really, really great advice. I hear that echoed a lot where a lot of people enter this space thinking they’re going to be a millionaire in six months and that’s just not the case. You’ve echoed what I’ve been hearing, as a guy who has never grown a plant in his life, from other guests and other interviews I’ve done. Where can people find out more about you and more about your company?

Jesse Peters: You can find us, obviously, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Eco Firma Farms. You can find us on our website at EcoFirmaFarms.com. You obviously can find information on the Oregon Cannabis Association at ORCannabisAssociation.org. We’re also members of the Craft Cannabis Alliance. You can reach us through any of those avenues. You can email us at info@EcoFirmaFarms.com. And you can listen to our podcast and search us on the Googler.

TG Branfalt: Well, Jesse, I really appreciate you taking the time out. I know you’re a super, super busy guy, and this has really been a fun conversation. You have a lot of experience that I haven’t had on this show before, so I really appreciate you taking the time.

Jesse Peters: I greatly appreciate you giving me the time. I really respect what you guys do out there. I appreciate it, Tim.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com podcast in the podcast section of Ganjapreneur.com and in the Apple iTunes Store. On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you will 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. I’ve been your host, TG Branfalt.

End

Florida Lawsuits Against MMJ Home Grow & Smoking Bans Move Forward

1/30/2018

by

The lawsuit against Florida’s medical cannabis smoking ban will move forward after a judge declined the state’s request to dismiss the case, according to a report from WTSP. The suit was filed by attorney John Morgan – who authored the voter-approved medical cannabis expansion law and was its primary financial backer – on behalf of several eligible patients.

The decision, rendered by the Second Circuit Court on Jan. 24, comes one day after the Thirteenth Circuit declined to dismiss a case contending that the state’s medical cannabis home grow ban is unconstitutional. That case, filed by strip club entrepreneur and registered patient Count Joe Redner, will go to trial.

In their bi-weekly update, officials say that those suits, along with at least two others, have “significant impact on the [Department of Health’s] ability to implement certain requirements” of the reformed medical cannabis program.

Tom Quigley, a representative of the Florida Cannabis Coalition said that the lawsuits have not only stalled the rollout of the revised medical cannabis regime but, if the smoking ban is upheld, it could impact efforts to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state.

“It would cause people to have to advocate and file additional lawsuits, which is really not needed because the amendment to the constitution has given these rights. This is a joke to the rest of the country that cannabis cannot be smoked… the process is slowed down and the patients are suffering right now.” – Quigley, to WTSP

According to Jan. 26 data from the state Department of Health, there are 71,720 registered patients throughout Florida; however, there are just 27 approved retail dispensaries and 13 approved medical cannabis treatment centers.

End

The Virginia State Capitol Building.

Virginia Lawmakers Kill Cannabis Decrim Bills; Advance Expungement Proposal

1/30/2018

by

The Virginia Legislature has killed two bills aiming to decriminalize cannabis possession in the state but a measure allowing first-time offenders to expunge their records passed the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Last week, House Republicans on the Courts Committee voted down a measure by Del. Steve Heretick that would have decriminalized possession of a half-ounce, while, on Monday, a similar measure proposed by Sen. Adam Ebbin was defeated by the Senate Courts committee across party lines 9-6.

However, the Senate Courts Committee unanimously passed Sen. Thomas Norment Jr.’s expungement proposal, which would also remove the 30 days in jail allowed under current law for first-time cannabis offenders. The $500 fine would remain. The measure calls for a $300 expungement fee, which would be directed to the state’s Heroin and Prescription Opioid Epidemic Fund. That measure was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the Virginia ACLU, supported Ebbin’s bill; however, opposes Normant’s, calling it “the illusion of progress,” adding that many people would not have the money to pay the expungement fee and the state would likely incur additional costs, having to set up new systems for the expungement program that don’t already exist.

While the decriminalization measures were supported by Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, they were opposed by the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys.

End

An indoor, commercial-grade cannabis grow based in Washington state.

Arizona Bill Would Require MMJ Testing, Reduce Patient Card Fees

1/30/2018

by

A measure introduced in Arizona’s Senate would require medical cannabis testing for mold and agricultural chemicals and reduce the annual fees paid by cardholders from $150 to $50, and just $25 for a renewal. The measure, introduced by Republican Sen. Sonny Borrelli, would use $2 million from the state’s medical cannabis fund to test the products.

The legislation has received bi-partisan support, counting 78 of the state’s 90-member Legislature as co-sponsors, including leaders from both the House and Senate. The measure would require the Department of Agriculture to do the testing.

In a statement to ABC15, the Arizona Dispensary Association applauded the move.

“SB 1420 may mark the beginning of a seismic shift for medical cannabis in the state. The sponsor is a senior Republican, a committee chairman, and a conservative. The fact that he is leading the way on these improvements to the program is a terrific starting point and a remarkable example of what can be accomplished when the state’s leadership and the cannabis industry are working together.” – Joe DeMenna, ADA spokesman

According to the report, the legislation, eventually, could lead to potency testing by appropriating funds from the medical cannabis fund, which currently has about $35 million available.

The measure would need to be approved by three-fourths of the Legislature because it amends a voter-approved law. It is on the legislative calendar for Jan. 31.

End

Macro photograph of a fan of hundred dollar bills.

Canopy Launches Venture Fund Targeting Growth Stage Ancillary Cannabis Companies

1/30/2018

by

Boulder Colorado-based venture capital firm Canopy is launching a $50 million fund targeting growth stage ancillary cannabis companies raising bridge, series A round, and follow-on funding. The fund, Canopy Ventures I, will complement the firm’s existing accelerator and seed stage funds.

“We’re providing smart money to great companies with a proven model. One area where Canopy provides a distinct advantage is our ability to not only contribute money, but to also provide strategic insights, valuable introductions and hands-on support for the long term.” – Micah Tapman, managing director of Canopy, in a press release

Jamul Jadamba, managing director of Propagule, LLC, and one of the initial investors in Canopy Ventures I, said the company “invested in the fund because it has the right strategy and the Canopy team has the expertise, experience and access to execute it.”

“On the macro level, we recognize the historic opportunity presented by the legal cannabis industry. We believe that legalization in North America and across the globe is a secular trend that makes moral sense and has become irreversible.” – Jadamba, in a statement

Canopy has secured initial financial commitments for the new fund, preparing on making the first investments from the fund in the late first quarter, and plan to raise the rest from accredited individual investments and family offices.

End

Activist Dennis Peron, Who Sparked California’s Medical Cannabis Movement, Dies at 72

1/29/2018

by

Medical cannabis activist Dennis Peron, who is often credited as the “father of medical marijuana,” passed away on January 27 in a San Francisco hospital, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A long-time cigarette smoker, he was suffering from late-stage lung cancer.

Mr. Peron was best known as a cannabis and gay rights activist. Originally from New York, Peron was drafted in 1966 into the Air Force and served in Vietnam — he came to San Francisco after the war.

Peron was among the earliest voices to argue in favor of medical cannabis after noticing first-hand the plant’s effectiveness in treating AIDs symptoms — his then-partner, Jonathan West, was claimed by the AIDs epidemic in 1990. In 1991, Peron spearheaded medical cannabis reforms in San Francisco, then took the movement statewide in 1996, making California the first to allow the medical use of cannabis. He was also founder of the country’s first medical cannabis dispensary, the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club.

“The city and the country has lost a cannabis leader who lived life on the edge,” Terrance Alan, a member of the San Francisco Cannabis Commission, told the Chronicle. “He lived his whole life on the edge, and that’s what allowed us to lead in cannabis. Not many people would have had the courage at the time that he took up the mantle.”

Prior to his death, Peron had been living in the countryside with husband John Entwistle, growing and giving away medical cannabis.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Mr. Peron was 71 when he passed away — he was 72.

 

End

Interior chambers of the New York State Capitol Building.

New York Lawmakers Introduce MMJ for Opioid-Use Disorder Bills

1/29/2018

by

Legislation to add opioid-use disorder to New York’s medical cannabis qualifying condition list was approved 21-1 by the Assembly Health Committee last week, moving next to the chamber floor for a vote. A same-as bill in the Senate was sent to its Health Committee on Jan. 25.

In the House, the measure is sponsored by Democrat Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell and carries 10 co-sponsors. In the Senate, the legislation is sponsored by Democrat Sen. Diane Savino, a longtime champion of medical cannabis reforms in the state.

“If we can find a way to help people have productive lives after they’ve been exposed to the horror of addiction, why would we stand in the way?” – Sen. Savino to the New York Daily News

Senate Health Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon, a Republican, told the Daily News that he would consider supporting the legislation but needs more information about how cannabis would be used as an exit drug for individuals addicted to opioids, but the details could be “something that [the legislature] develop” as the bill moves forward.

In New York, non-smokable medical cannabis products are available for patients suffering from cancer, HIV and AIDS, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy, and Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and Lou Gehrig’s diseases.

End

The Oregon state flag.

Oregon Cannabis Regulators Up Penalties for Sales to Minors

1/29/2018

by

A temporary change in Oregon’s penalties for selling cannabis products to minors took effect last week, providing higher fines and cannabis worker permit suspensions for employees who knowingly sell cannabis to individuals under 21-years-old. The new rules up the fine from 1,650 to $4,950 and the permit revocation from 10 days to 30.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission will review compliance activity for six months and determine whether to make the rule permanent.

“There’s no margin for error on making sure that marijuana doesn’t get in the hands of minors – period. The integrity of Oregon’s regulated system depends on industry compliance across the board.” – Paul Rosenbaum, OLCC commission chair, in a press release

The changes also increase the penalties for multiple violations; providing a 30-day retail license suspension for two violations in two years, and a complete license revocation for three violations in that span. Under the previous regime, two violations in two years would have led to a 10-day license suspension, three would have led to a 30-day suspension, while a fourth would have revoked the license entirely.

In a Jan. 14 op-ed in the Oregonian, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Billy J. Williams said that the state’s recreational cannabis program has a “massive overproduction problem,” pointing to the more than 2,600 pounds of cannabis seized by postal agents in the state and more than $1.2 million in cash tied to illicit sales.

End

Aurora Sky Facility Receives Health Canada MMJ Cultivation License

1/29/2018

by

Aurora Cannabis Inc. has received a cultivation license from Health Canada for its under-construction, 800,000-square-foot facility at the Edmonton International Airport, dubbed Aurora Sky. The facility will be able to produce more than 100,000 kilograms (220,462 pounds) of cannabis annually.

“The licensing of Aurora Sky is a game changing milestone for the cannabis industry and an exciting inflection point in Aurora’s corporate development. This is our second new facility to receive a cultivation license in three months – a true testament to Aurora’s industry-leading ability to execute. The additional cultivation capacity will allow us to further expand our domestic and international market share very quickly, and is expected to significantly accelerate revenue growth this year.” – Terry Booth, Aurora CEO, in a press release

The company intends to transfer genetics from its Cremona, Alberta facility – Aurora Mountain – and begin its first growing cycle at Aurora Sky within the next week. The first harvest is slated for the second calendar quarter of this year.

This is the latest big win for the producer as Canada moves forward with broad legalization plans. Last week, Aurora came to ‘friendly’ terms with CanniMed in an $852 million deal that, if approved, will create the most valuable cannabis company in the world. CanniMed was the target of a hostile bid by Aurora before coming to terms with the company. Earlier this month its European arm, Pedanios GmbH, won a contract with the Italian government to provide medical cannabis to the federal government-run program.

End