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The Connecticut Capitol Building in Hartford, Connecticut.

Connecticut Lawmakers Debate Legalizing Recreational Cannabis During Committee Meeting

3/08/2017

Connecticut legislators debated legalizing cannabis for adult use in front of the General Assembly’s public health committee yesterday but found only disagreement, the Connecticut Post reports. As usual, opponents stuck to the usual prohibitionist talking points and pointed to recent comments from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Attorney General Jeff Sessions as justification to keep the status quo.

During her testimony, Republican state Rep. Melissa Ziobron, a sponsor of a recreational use measure, argued that “legal marijuana is safer than alcohol and tobacco.”

“Marijuana has never caused a fatal overdose in the 7,000 years of reported human use,” she said in the report.

Ziobron noted that the potential tax revenues – estimated between $30 million and $100 million annually – would help bridge the state’s budget gap and could boost tourism interest in the state.

“It’s not just about the revenue,” she said. “In Denver tourism is at all-time high, no pun intended. They found marijuana laws increased the decision to go on vacation in Colorado by more than 50 percent.”

She added that by not legalizing cannabis as Massachusetts and Maine roll out their voter-approved legal regimes Connecticut would lose tourism dollars.

“What’s going to happen when they start driving through Connecticut to Massachusetts and Rhode Island to enjoy something other states have legalized?” she asked.

The bills in the state legislature would regulate and tax legal cannabis sales while requiring product testing.

End

Spark the Conversation: Dale Sky Jones, The Oaksterdam Story

3/07/2017

by Bianca Green

Dale Sky Jones is the executive chancellor of Oaksterdam University, an internationally recognized cannabis education institution based out of Oakland, California.

In this podcast episode, Dale is interviewed by renowned cannabis advocate Bianca Green for the first episode of her Spark the Conversation podcast, produced in partnership with Ganjapreneur. This interview was recorded last fall during the Spark the Conversation bus tour across California, during which Bianca and her team bused around the state talking to cannabis advocates and experts in preparation for the November elections. This means that the conversation took place before California, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts voted to legalize adult-use cannabis — and before Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.

The following interview contains some truly amazing stories from Dale. Tune in below to hear about how Dale quit her corporate career to dedicate her life to cannabis education and activism; her experience being targeted in a 2007 federal raid on Oaksterdam University; the moment she realized that motherhood, specifically the ingrained instinct to shelter and protect her children, goes hand-in-hand with advocating for safer and smarter cannabis policies; and much, much more.

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Read the transcript:

Bianca Green: Welcome to the Spark The Conversation podcast in partnership with Ganjapreneur.com. I’m your host, Bianca Green. I’m super stoked today to be talking to a drug war veteran and dear friend, Dale Sky Jones. She is the chancellor of Oaksterdam University, a mother, a wife, and an overall badass. She inspired me many, many years ago in a lot of advocacy realms and she’s been fighting the good fight for a long, long time.

She has seen Oaksterdam get raided. She has seen people have their children taken away for being cannabis patients, and today I’m really excited to sit down with her so she can share a bit of her journey and talk about where we’re at today. Dale was very instrumental in making sure that California legalization was a priority. She put together the reform California Coalition last year and then that morphed into some amendments that went into 64.

Now cannabis is legal. I did get a chance to sit down with her before legalization and I think by the time this podcast comes out, she’ll be out of the closet that she had found out she was pregnant the same day of recording the podcast, so I’m super super stoked to sit down with her. I admire her so much, and she drops knowledge every time she speaks, so I’m looking forward to this today.

Hi, we’re at Oaksterdam University with Dale Sky Jones today. Thank you so much for being here with me. You and I have been friends for quite some time, drug policy comrades to a degree. Coming to Oaksterdam over the years to visit you, why don’t you tell me and our listeners what it is exactly that Oaksterdam University’s mission is and what you guys do here.

Dale Sky Jones: Sure. Well, I’m just thrilled to have you Bianca, so thank you for bringing Spark The Conversation and just lots of fun. Oaksterdam University, I think a lot of folks think that they know what we are, but having not been through the doors, it’s hard for them to contemplate. Some people just picture it’s some dark smokey room where we’re doing joint rolling classes in the back.

The reality is, we were founded back in 2007 with a mission to provide quality training for the cannabis industry. This was back before it was an industry. In fact, we got a lot of guff’s that we even called it an industry. It was still very much a movement, but we believed that the only way to be taken seriously, the only way to actually become regulated was to start treating ourselves as an industry and self-regulating in the process. That started with education.

Over time, it began really focused just trying to learn how to grow their own medicine, how to be a qualified patient, and their rights and responsibilities under the law. Our founder first started teaching classes, honestly just to get people to show up to the City Council meetings. He thought, “Well, what do people want from me? They want to learn how to grow? What do I want from them? I want them to show up.”

He put out this idea of education almost as a quid pro quo, “I’ll teach you to grow and then I need you to help me go move this policy because it’s going to take a lot of hands to lift, so we’ll give you the horticulture class, but first, first you have to take the prerequisites which are politics, history and legal.”

What that did was convert otherwise law-abiding citizens who just wanted to become a student into freedom-fighters because once you know, you can’t unlearn what you just found out, so that was the trick was, “Get in here and let us tell you the truth and then by the way, we’ll teach you how to grow and once you know the truth, you can’t help but join the fight.”

The students that first came to us were just trying to be patients and then they wanted to get a job, so we started adding classes and it went beyond just the, “Here’s how to be a patient. Here’s how to cultivate for yourself.” We started adding cooking with cannabis and extraction classes, and then an advocacy and an economics class, and then a budtending class, which we quickly renamed “Patient consultant” because I swore I wouldn’t call it “Budtender” until we legalized, so hurry up so I can change the name of my class.

Then it slowly went from people trying to find a job to people wanting to start a company. We got this influx of entrepreneurs and folks that were looking to invest and understand. Then the federal raid happened, the smack down happened, and it went back to bam, people just learning how to be qualified patients and grow in the closet because everyone was scared back out of what had been going on here in California.

Over the last couple of years since Colorado, Washington have passed, since California has finally enacted the MCRSA and other states including Guam, go Guam, nobody ever mentions Guam, not much love for Guam, that it’s progressed to the point where now we’re training regulators, we’re training legislative analysts, we’re training bureaucrats on how to regulate the cannabis industry. I dare say that that’s what I’ve almost had the most fun with lately.

It’s very heartening to see bureaucrats, people that were very fearful. Now that it’s their job to do so, they are embracing it wholly. These folks are trying to do a good job. They’re trying to do it the right way the first time, and that is inspiring for me when I see our government officials really trying to get it right for Californians.

Bianca Green: That’s amazing because it was so opposite when you first started freedom-fighting for the plant. Tell me about some of the roadblocks that you hit when you first came out as an advocate and educator in the cannabis space.

Dale Sky Jones: Well, there’s a couple times that I can think of that were really informative for me. The first was, I got a call from a patient, and this was back when I was still working with doctors down in Orange County. This is how I got started in the cannabis industry was managing doctors who worked for LA General and they saw a lot of patients come through but they weren’t allowed to talk about cannabis with them. This group of doctors formed a side clinic where each of them would work one day a week at this clinic doing medical cannabis recommendations.

Bianca Green: What year was this?

Dale Sky Jones: This was back in 2007 in Orange County.

Bianca Green: Wow.

Dale Sky Jones: Yeah. Can we say right-wing conservative?

Bianca Green: Where they’re still not very friendly.

Dale Sky Jones: No.

Bianca Green: They wouldn’t, Irvine wouldn’t even, didn’t accept our bus tour.

Dale Sky Jones: Irvine is exactly where my office was.

Bianca Green: Yeah. Yeah. It’s still-

Dale Sky Jones: I’m very familiar with the conservative Orange County, but what was remarkable is there were task forces, these roaming task forces over Tri-County areas that were just looking for doctors to try to put them out of business. They were trying to get doctors to either do questionable recommendations or get paperwork that they could somehow turn in total setup.

I got a phone call from a patient who had actually gone through the process, and while he was in the office, he says, “Congratulations Dale.” It’s like, “For what?” He’s like, “You run the best office that we have in Southern California. You’re the only office that wouldn’t let them in.” I was like, “I’m sorry. What are you talking about?”

He’s like, “Well, my brother is on this task force and they’ve been trying to get an appointment with you for the last three months, and the only way they could get in was to send me because I’m a real patient, and you almost didn’t give me a recommendation, so clearly you guys are doing it right, you’re doing it well.”

In fact, one of the doctors that worked for me no more than you’ve said yes because you wanted people to try other stuff. Whether or not you agree with that, this was how we had to operate in conservative Orange County California. Just realizing that we had been under the microscope like that and I remembered some unusual calls of people trying to get an appointment but they couldn’t really tell me what was wrong with them, so I just simply don’t set appointments for people that didn’t seem to have their act together.

It turns out it was because they were used to just winging it and getting what they wanted, so just realizing that I came that close and the actions that we did protected five doctors from potentially being in trouble for something that was truly helping people, that was my first taste that even though you think what you’re doing is right, even though you’re doing it entirely by the letter and the spirit of the law, there is still people looking for you to take you down and make an example of you.

They will use any thread, any thread they can, they will yank on and unravel you and that’s why you’ve got to keep it tight. That’s part of what we teach at Oaksterdam is how to set yourself up for success, how to prepare for the worst and then we’re going to show you how to wing it because everyone is still very much winging it these days. You just have to find your parameters.

The next time that I truly personally had, it’s the only time I’ve ever been attacked in my mind for being an advocate or an activist on any level. I kept waiting to be attacked, I kept expecting to be attacked and I was very fearful the first few years. I didn’t know how to talk about it. I didn’t know how to introduce the concept of what I did for a living. I would just say, “Oh, I work in medicine. I work with patients,” but I wouldn’t find ways to explain what I did or why I did it because I was always afraid that somebody was going to attack me.

Again, remember, this was 2007, 2008. I just quit a corporate job where I was fully vested to go do what? Move to California to do what? They thought I was crazy. I couldn’t explain that to people, so I lied to everyone about what I was going and doing because it felt right to be doing it but I hadn’t quite figured out how to explain it. I just didn’t talk about it.

I said, “I work in medicine,” and if they asked me anything else, I’d start talking about billing and people would just shut down, turn off, and tune out, so it was a really easy way to never talk about it because people don’t actually care.

Bianca Green: Well, once you start telling the truth, people disconnect. They like to be entertained a little bit more than they want the facts.

Dale Sky Jones: Right. If I had just said, “Cannabis,” they would’ve been entirely entertained but I was not looking to be their entertainment for the day. I hadn’t figured out how to defend myself yet, but here’s what’s so remarkable, Bianca, I never had to. This is the part that I want to get across to your listeners is all of that fear was internal. It was my own head attacking myself with all of the same stigmas.

I didn’t need anybody else to do it. I was doing it to myself to the point that I wouldn’t even tell my grandma what I was doing and then all of a sudden, she died. I didn’t even get the chance to explain to her that I might be trying to save the world over here because I couldn’t figure out how to explain to her what I was doing. It was years later that I finally got to the point of being out and being unafraid and being vocal.

I showed up to a press conference, a press conference mind you, this was not a cannabis event. This was not a smoke out. This was a … the most dangerous thing in the room were the cameras. It was a peer press conference in a hotel in San Francisco. It involved the former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox. There were a couple other people on the stage. I think Dale Gieringer was there as well as herbicide Steve DeAngelo who, when he saw me arrive, asked me if I would participate in the press conference.

I had arrived with my two-year old and I wasn’t planning on participating. He was maybe two and a half at the time. He sat in the audience with Nate Bradley of the CCIA, actually grabbed him, and he just walked around the room while the press conference was going on. He didn’t actually say anything because the kid didn’t talk until he was three and a half, so not a peep even came out of him, but he was present. He was there.

At a certain point in the middle of the press conference, he came right up, crawled into my lap and sat there while Vicente Fox was talking. I suddenly had a two-year old in my lap so I went ahead and addressed that this was also about the children. The people on the stage agreed with me that this was, “This is why I’m doing it is for the children. It’s to keep children with their families.”

After the fact, a reporter from San Francisco, instead of writing about Vicente Fox, instead of writing about his message or the message, the importance of Mexican and American relations, instead she chose to attack me for having a child involved in a marijuana event, and called it “Smoke gets in your smoke,” and said, “You know, I can’t even hear anything that they said over a two-year old being present in the room,” that “There shouldn’t have been a child in that room, certainly not during a conversation about drugs.”

I’ve got to be honest with you Bianca, I was pregnant with my second child at that point, had never experienced such vitreal from another woman. She accused me of treating my child as thought it was a bracelet, something that you accessorize, that I brought my kid with me as an accessory because apparently she’s never had to raise a child largely by herself because I wasn’t getting a paycheck. We had just been raided very recently.

When we were raided, we lost everything including a paycheck and health insurance for the very kid we were talking about there, and my husband was working six days a week to try to support the family, so I couldn’t afford childcare. It wasn’t an option for me at that time because I didn’t have anything extra and she’s attacking me for being a mother with her child present. That was probably … It knocked me to my knees.

Bianca Green: I can imagine.

Dale Sky Jones: I didn’t come back out for probably nine months after that. I was still pregnant and I felt like I was a bad person for being pregnant and talking about this at the same time. I’ve come to realize that it’s going to take women like me to do that anyway, to make it okay for everybody else.

Bianca Green: You’ve been such an amazing advocate and such an amazing face and voice for this industry and more importantly the movement before it became one. You should be very proud of everything that you’ve done. People forget often that it’s a war and there are casualties of war. I’ve fought the front lines in DC with patients who’ve died fighting for the freedom of the plant. I think you, as a female, and a lot of the females that have been coming forward throughout the years, based on people like yourself and myself coming out of the closet has really opened the compassionate side of this movement, so Mazel Tov to you for bringing your child to that event because to identify a family as not a unit because you believe in something is completely inappropriate.

Now we’re looking at it as plant-based medicine. We’re changing the narrative about it and that’s not easy. It’s not easy for conservatives to accept that. It’s not easy for people who have been hit with propaganda all of these years to understand that, and you’ve done it so gracefully. You really have. There’s a lot of really great drug war veterans but you are one of them that’s definitely led California into the place that it’s been and Oaksterdam University is famous around the globe.

One of our social media people that’s on this tour today was talking about how in high school they all wanted to go to Oaksterdam University instead of another university because they wanted to come and get cannabis education. That, in and of itself, is a huge … She’s from Virginia. That’s a huge thing. You’re making a global impact and that, I know it sucks. These people can be mean, but good at you, good on you, however that expression goes. If you really, you set the tone for other women to come out who wanted to seek alternatives and fight for people who need it the most.

Dale Sky Jones: That’s the truth I think that what made it all okay was the women that came to me after the fact. I didn’t realize that I was becoming a spokeswoman for motherhood at the same time I was being a spokeswoman for cannabis policy reform. That was, I think, the shocker to me when I realized that it was not only hand-in-hand but that my power as an advocate came because I was a mother. Not only you can’t remove them from one another, but you shouldn’t.

I’ve also realized on another level, I’m introducing a concept that I never believed in myself as a young entrepreneur, as a young person. I’m 41 now, and I went straight into corporate at 18, actually 15, but I didn’t get the titles until 18. You start to realize that there are no babies in corporate, there’s no crying in corporate, there’s no crying in baseball. There’s a few things that you are and aren’t allowed to do, but you’re certainly not allowed to be a mom out loud when you’re in any of these scenarios.

I realized that the young women and young men that I hire today that watch me, I didn’t have a choice at the time. I was working from home like I was supposed to when my first child was born. I took a leave of absence for maternity and then I just came back to work one day a week and did everything from home or phone. When the raid happened, I had to be present. I had to show up which meant I had to strap the baby on and go to work because I didn’t have anywhere or anyone to leave him with.

We didn’t have family, so it was just me, my husband and my baby. Now I look back and realize that all of these young people that have worked for me since 2012, since the raid at the very least, since that happened-

Bianca Green: The Oaksterdam raid.

Dale Sky Jones: Right. We’ve been here since 2007. Right, the raid it was right down the street, the big … It was actually six locations were raided simultaneously. At that point of the raid, when you do what you have to do because there’s no options, I just introduced to a whole other group of people that the new concept of working mom is that you can actually bring your kid to work with you. I have a baby run in my office, and when people come for meetings with me, there’s often a nanny and a kid present. People get accustomed to that. The first time it’s a little bit weird, but I’ve actually found it gives better meetings. It brings out the best in people to have kids around.

Bianca Green: Well, we had that time where we interviewed Gavin Newsom. I interviewed Gavin Newsom and you were there with Jackson, right?

Dale Sky Jones: I think it was Jesse actually.

Bianca Green: Jesse?

Dale Sky Jones: Jesse was strapped on.

Bianca Green: Jesse was your youngest, strapped on. He was only like two months, if, and you were standing behind the camera manning it.

Dale Sky Jones: I know, and I’m trying to keep the baby from cooing into the microphone while we were interviewing Gavin Newsom.

Bianca Green: Yeah, because that’s how advocacy goes.

Dale Sky Jones: Bootstrap.

Bianca Green: It’s very bootstrap. Now we’re getting a lot more attention on it because it’s popular, but that was only two years ago.

Dale Sky Jones: It’s kind of hard to believe.

Bianca Green: It’s really hard to believe how far it’s come. I really like having the elevated conversation about the entrepreneurialism and I appreciate it but I think it’s important for people to understand where we came from, the challenges we still face and where we’re headed. Speak to that a little bit. Do you have any advice for inspiring entrepreneurs?

Dale Sky Jones: Well, I know here at Oaksterdam, what we always try to talk to people about, and it’s after four days of intensive training, so we’ve filled your five pound brain with ten pounds of information, just stuffing it in the ear at that point by the end, but there’s a couple of things that I really try to impart to the students because folks come to us for so many different reasons. Sometimes it’s very personal, they’re trying to help someone very close to them or themselves in some cases.

In others, it’s very entrepreneurial. They’re trying to figure out either, whatever industry they used to be a part of has collapsed or they’ve realized that the best way to get ahead in their current industry is to figure out how to also cater to the cannabis industry as an ancillary option. We train gladiators here at Oaksterdam, and when I say “gladiator” this is a trained fighter. Our gladiators are often first through the wall.

They sometimes get the most bloody. They sometimes make the most money, but in that process of training them how to fight, I ask them to do two things: say, “Please, please, as you move forward, you need to show up and that means show up to vote and once you show up to vote, you get called for jury duty and you need to show up to that, too.”

Bianca Green: Civic duties.

Dale Sky Jones: That’s actually, that is the big one. Then when you get jury duty, you sit and you pray to get that marijuana case.

Bianca Green: That must be really hard because a lot of advocates and a lot of people who I know that are getting into this industry are revolutionists to some degree and they are against the system to … I don’t know.

Dale Sky Jones: Well, some are and I dare say that some of the inspiration of the industry were the very instigators that you speak of, but a lot of the folks that are coming in now think of themselves as otherwise law-abiding citizens. They’re just practicing a little political discord by tip toeing into the cannabis industry. They don’t even realize how illegal it really is.

Unless you are part of the national discussion, unless you are part of moving the national issue forward, and when I say “national” I mean act of congress to legalize cannabis because right now, we are looking at a policy decision and a change in the face of the White House, a change in the face of some of these elected positions, a change in the Attorney General can entirely change the face of everything that we are looking at right now, entirely.

God forbid it’s President Trump with an AG Christie in there. Although I think Christie’s probably ruined it for himself by now, but at the end of the day, if you are not part of the federal discussion and there’s only two groups really genuinely working on the national conversation and that’s Americans For Safe Access For Patients and the National Cannabis Industry Association For Business, and if you’re not part of one of those two groups and tithing to at least one or both of those two groups, if you’re not part of that solution, you are part of the problem and you’re barely above the ostrich awaiting the fate of the dinosaur. The second thing that I ask people to do other than show up, which is really most of it-

Bianca Green: Because that’s the biggest thing, showing up.

Dale Sky Jones: Well, showing up, oh my God, and it’s the hardest part.

Bianca Green: Power numbers, it’s an important thing.

Dale Sky Jones: Very … It sounds simple but it’s not. That’s why I remind people, “Show up.” It’s just it’s important to do that, but the other is continue to advocate. In advocating, that means both advocating up and down. The way I explain it to them is you have to continue to advocate up to your elected officials, to the thought leaders, that we have responsibilities.

Don’t say the word “recreational” because that makes it sound fun for kids. We don’t want this to sound fun for kids, and we don’t want other parents thinking about their kids recreating when they’re walking into the voting booth either because that is not helping our cause, so let’s stop calling it recreational. Just things along those lines of being a thought leader-

Bianca Green: Responsible.

Dale Sky Jones: -and being responsible and advocating up for these things to the powers that be, so to speak, but what I leave every class with is this concept that you have to keep looking back and you have to make sure that you always advocate down as you rise yourself up in your company, in your business, and everything else, that you must advocate for the very people that got us here, that we got here on the backs of patients, and no matter what you do whether you’re the guy that gets bloody or you’re the guy that makes money, if you’re the guy that makes the most money, you had better find ways to give back whether that’s compassion programs for people that can’t afford it, or if your local boys and girls club, you have to find a way to make sure that you are leaving your community better than you found it.

Then I get a “Whoop” and cheer out of the audience and everyone says, “We’re with ya,” and out the door they go. You know what I found Bianca is every room I’ve walked into in the last few years, a third of the room is Oaksterdam alumni.

Bianca Green: That’s amazing.

Dale Sky Jones: It’s our alumni who are going out and changing the world. That’s who’s changing the laws in New York and Florida and Uruguay. This is our alumni that are coming in and learning how it’s done and they are going out and they are making it happen.

Bianca Green: Well, it’s a very impactful brand. You’re a very impactful advocate and the movement, and the newfound industry really appreciates all the hard work you’ve put into it. Tell me about some of the social responsibility you have at Oaksterdam. What is it in your own business model and then how do you encourage your students? You just sort of tapped on it, but let’s talk about it a little bit more, the social responsibility that you advocate for your students to go out and bring to the table.

Dale Sky Jones: Well, in addition to what I just mentioned and just truly encouraging people to think about how they can give back and do more, and a lot of people will. You just have to ask them. Also remembering to ask the people that you’re working with, “Hi, we’re new. We have a memo of understanding. We’re going to go do business together. I’m going to ask you what is your philosophy on this,” and trust me I do, and I find out and that’s how I decide whether or not I work with you.

Bianca Green: Yeah, me too.

Dale Sky Jones: If this is not your philosophy, you are not somebody I’m ever going to work with and you’re going to find that there’s a lot of other rather successful brands out there that will not work with you unless you have a strategy for that. The other thing that we do is try to impress upon our students that this revolution that we’re in right now, this social revolution, is the most important civil rights revolution of our time, and it’s the next iteration of what happened in the 50s.

This could be the end of the new Jim Crow. If we do this properly, we can finally disassemble the school to prison pipeline that’s currently in our country that is happening on the back of the drug war, but the reality is, if we’re not careful, we’re just simply going to usher in the next Jim Crow. That’s going to happen through our regulatory regimes.

If you look to what Florida recently did, last year they put out for five, an RFP for five businesses to apply to be cultivators. You had to have thirty years continuous in cultivation in the nursery industry in order to even apply. How many black people do you know owned a nursery thirty years ago in Florida?

Bianca Green: None.

Dale Sky Jones: How many women?

Bianca Green: None.

Dale Sky Jones: How many veterans?

Bianca Green: None.

Dale Sky Jones: So therein lies the problem. In Florida, fortunately, the Black Farmer’s Association, pardon me, sued and actually got, based on the fact that there were none, two extra permits issued, one for themselves. When you even look to Maryland, how many … I don’t think that there was a single solitary person of color, no one ethnic earned any of the permits. How is it that we’re now writing these new laws to still make impossible … These were the same people that are going to jail while there are people making money and now we have to make sure that we’re writing laws that don’t keep them out because they’ve been in jail.

These are experts, people. These are not the people we should be kicking out of the industry, but also, back to something that I said early on about small business and needing to protect small business, and I don’t mean small business like fifty and under employees. I mean micro businesses because this is where women, people of color, and veterans thrive is in small business.

Bianca Green: Absolutely.

Dale Sky Jones: Small business was 86% of our American economy last year. There’s no reason it should be any different in the cannabis industry.

Bianca Green: Well Dale, thank you so much for being with us today. It’s an honor. You and I have seen each other through a lot through this whole process. November 8th is right around the corner. It’s bitter sweet in a lot of ways, but I definitely feel like the advocacy that you and your organization that you put together, CCPR, really had insurmountable … I can’t even talk.

Dale Sky Jones: It’s true.

Bianca Green: Participation in that, and really did a lot to advocate for things in that initiative, so congratulations to you on all of the efforts that you’ve put forth and keeping Oaksterdam alive even after a raid. It’s pretty amazing. It’s pretty amazing. Can you tell me where people can find you?

Dale Sky Jones: Well, you can find me at Oaksterdam.com. We’re also at ReformCA.com, but I think Oaksterdam.com is probably the best place to go, O-A-K-S-T-E-R-D-A-M.

Bianca Green: Your semesters, how does that work if people want to get involved?

Dale Sky Jones: You can come take classes one of two ways. We do have a very comprehensive program in the semester form. There’s two different courses: the classic course which covers a little bit of everything and then we developed a specific horticulture course that really does a deep dive on both indoor and outdoor. If you’re unable to come for fourteen full weeks, we also have the express program, if you will.

You can come and take a seminar in four days and so you get most of the materials that you would in a semester condensed into four days. The only difference is with horticulture, if you want outdoor, you do have to come to the semester. We just focus on indoor in the seminar. We also have a seminar coming up here Las Vegas November 11th and then we’re taking a bite of the Big Apple at the beginning of December as well.

Bianca Green: Oh, that’s wonderful. Expanding.

Dale Sky Jones: Yes, so you don’t have to come to us. We come to you. We’ll be online next year so you can just come to Oaksterdam in your underwear. No, you can’t actually come through my doors in your underwear. You can sit on your couch online.

Bianca Green: That’s wonderful. Well, thank you so much. We want to keep in touch with you, and keep track of your progress with Oaksterdam and keep us informed on where you guys are at.

Dale Sky Jones: Absolutely, and make sure you get out and vote. Nothing is inevitable. Thank you.

Bianca Green: We know that. We talked about that a lot. Nothing is inevitable. It is-

Dale Sky Jones: I’ve worked way too damn hard for inevitable.

Bianca Green: Yeah. Yeah, we’re not leaving it up to people who aren’t being active, right?

Dale Sky Jones: Show up.

Bianca Green: Show up.

Dale Sky Jones: Show up.

Bianca Green: That’s how it works.

Dale Sky Jones: Thank you Bianca.

Bianca Green: Thank you Dale.

Spark The Conversation is really excited to do this partnership with Ganjapreneur.com creating these podcasts. It’s a resource for cannabis professionals, advocates, patients, business owners, anyone really who’s in favor of responsible growth, so visit Ganjapreneur.com for daily cannabis news, career openings, company profiles and of course more episodes of this podcast. We’re thankful to them and the partnership that we have with them. We appreciate the fact that they spark the conversation and help ganjapreneurs grow.

End

A line of cloned cannabis plants inside of a licensed Washington grow facility.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Recommends Recreational Cannabis Legalization

3/07/2017

by TG Branfalt

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is urging state lawmakers to legalize cannabis for adult use to “help address [the state’s] revenue and spending issue.” In a press release, DePasquale outlined the economic windfall the legal cannabis has provided Washington, Colorado, and Oregon – noting that decriminalization measures in Philadelphia have saved the city more than $4.1 million.

“The regulation and taxation of the marijuana train has rumbled out of the station, and it is time to add a stop in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he said in the release. “I make this recommendation because it is a more sane policy to deal with a critical issue facing the state. Other states are already taking advantage of the opportunity for massive job creation and savings from reduced arrests and criminal prosecutions. In addition, it would generate hundreds of millions of dollars each year that could help tackle Pennsylvania’s budget problems.”

There is a legalization bill filed for consideration this session in the state’s General Assembly which would regulate cannabis “in a manner similar to alcohol.” The proposal, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Daylin Leach, does not specify what the tax rate on the industry would be if approved. That bill was sent to the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Jan. 26 but has not yet been weighed in on by the committee.

“The revenue that could be generated would help address Pennsylvania’s revenue and spending issue. But there is more to this than simply tax dollars and jobs,” DePasquale said. “There is also social impact, specifically related to arrests, and the personal, emotional, and financial devastation that may result from such arrests.”

End

The Arkansas state flag (x2) and the U.S. flag flying in front of the Arkansas Capitol Building.

Arkansas Senate Fails to Pass Limits to MMJ Amendment

3/07/2017

by TG Branfalt

Separate proposals banning smoking and edibles under Arkansas’ voter-approved medical cannabis constitutional amendment have been rejected in the state Senate, but both could resurface later this week, NPR-affiliate KUAR reports. The smoking ban failed 10-15 with nine members abstaining, while the edible ban was deferred.

During Monday’s debate, Republican senators faced opposition from their own party, as Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, an opponent of the ballot initiative, said it was the responsibility of lawmakers to listen to the voters who passed Issue 6 53-47 last November. He added that if lawmakers pass a smoking ban “people will rise up and they will pass recreational marijuana.”

“Whether we like it or not the people have voted this in and they want us to comply. They only thing they gave us authority to do in the constitutional amendment was to implement their wishes,” he said in the report. “I would argue this is in direct violation of the vast majority of people that voted for that. I think it’s time to respect the will of the people even if it doesn’t comport with our desires or our feelings.”

His colleague, Sen. Jason Rapert, referenced opposition from the American Lung Association, saying that “the same toxins and carcinogens that are released from the combustion of materials…are also present in marijuana smoke.”

“You mark my word. People will be hurt, they will be injured, and some will die as a result of this loose amendment,” he claimed.

Legislators needed a two-thirds vote in the 35 member Senate to amend the constitutional amendment.

End

The dome of the Maryland Capitol Building in Annapolis, Maryland.

Cannabis Legalization and Taxation Bills Introduced in Md.

3/07/2017

by TG Branfalt

Two bills have been introduced by Democratic Sen. Richard Madaleno Jr. in Maryland that would separately decriminalize cannabis possession and legalize adult use in the state, while setting up a taxed and regulated regime, according to a report from the Washington Times. Advocates say that proposing two bills instead of one would allow different committees to dive deeper into the technicalities of a recreational market.

“This way brings the bills before more legislators and gets them comfortable with both bills,” Kaitlyn Boecker, of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in the report.

One proposal, SB.927 which would legalize possession and set up the base of the program allowing adults 21-and-older to purchase cannabis from registered dispensaries, while SB.928, which relies on the passage of SB.927, would set up the tax structure, providing for excise taxes of $30 per ounce for cultivators and a 9 percent sales tax at the point-of-sale.

Madaleno suggests that the program would cost about $2 million to implement but could garner nearly $50 million in revenues, which would be used for schools, substance abuse treatment programs, workforce development, and impaired driving programs after the program’s costs are covered. The decriminalization proposal includes language that would allow cannabis clubs to operate in the state.

Both proposals have been moved to the Judicial Proceedings Committee, which is expected to hear the decriminalization bill on Mar. 2. The tax bill was also sent to the Budget and Taxation Committee, who are scheduled to hear the measure on Mar. 8.

End

Bill Passed in Colo. Aligning Medical and Recreational Cannabis Rules

3/07/2017

by TG Branfalt

Colorado legislation that would extend some of the rules for the state’s retail operators passed the Senate unanimously yesterday after passing the House 63-1 on Feb. 2, according to a report by the Denver Channel. The bill now awaits the signature of Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.

The measure would create a new license for medical cannabis business owners who receive profits from the medical program but are not owners of the property. The proposal would also allow medical licensees to move their operations anywhere in the state as long as they are approved in those jurisdictions. Under current law, operators can only move within a city or county. The move, if approved by the governor, would put the medical rules in line with those for the recreational sector.

Additionally, the measure would allow medical cannabis licensees to “remediate” products that test positive for microbials, rather than destroy them. According to a January 2016 report from Steep Hill Labs, while remediation is possible there is an industry-wide lack of remediation strategies. This, too, puts the medical sector rules in line with those for the recreational sector.

The fourth change would allow licensed infused-product manufacturers to buy and sell medical cannabis to and from each other.

Due to the overwhelming passage of the measure in both houses, the governor is expected to sign the bill.

End

Fresh pints of beer in a bar or tavern setting.

Survey Suggests Legal Cannabis Industry Could Take 7.1% of Beer Industry Revenues

3/06/2017

by TG Branfalt

According to research by Cannabiz Consumer Group, the legal cannabis industry will “canna-balize” 7.1 percent of revenues from the existing retail beer industry, and the industry would be poised to lose more than $2 billion in retail sales if cannabis were legalized nationally.

According to their CannaUse study of more than 40,000 participants, 27 percent of beer consumers indicated that they have either already substituted cannabis for beer or would substitute their retail beer purchases with cannabis if the latter were legal.

Rich Maturo, Cannabiz Consumer Group COO, said that “those at risk of losing sales to legalized cannabis can undertake a variety of actions to offset their losses,” adding that cannabis consumers use the products to “satisfy various social, medical, and experimental needs.”

“By understanding these needs, those at risk of losing sales to cannabis can try to offset some of the losses by understanding and speaking to a consumer’s needs,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there is no doubt that leakage will occur. Those companies that are gathering insights on cannabis and have the foresight to see it as presenting an opportunity in addition to a risk will fare much better than those who strictly take a defensive position.”

The group estimates that a legal cannabis market would settle at levels comparable to the beer and wine industries, projecting that a fully legal cannabis industry would create a $50 billion industry.

End

The capitol building of Oregon in downtown Salem, Oregon.

Ore. Lawmakers Considering Bill Requiring Cannabis Industry to Destroy Customer Information

3/06/2017

by TG Branfalt

Due to concerns over federal crackdown on the legal cannabis industry, lawmakers in Oregon have proposed legislation that would require cannabis businesses to destroy customer information gathered for marketing purposes within 48 hours, according to an Associated Press report. Retaining private information, such as names, addresses and birthdates, for promotional use is illegal under Colorado’s and Alaska’s adult-use laws. It’s not illegal, although frowned upon, in Washington.

State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors, said the measure would help protect the state’s citizens from possible federal prosecution.

“I could see where the federal government would come in and try to gather this information from businesses that have stockpiled it and retained it in their records,” he said in the report.

Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli, another bill sponsor, said he was concerned about the privacy of federal employees or firearm owners if the federal government were to obtain the customer information.

“When you go to purchase a firearm, you have to fill out a background check, and there’s a specific question about marijuana use on that form,” he said. “I would hate to think that some misguided effort at the federal level to coordinate the client lists that could be confiscated in absence of this (proposal) with the firearms purchase lists.”

The measure is set for its first hearing tomorrow. It would need to be passed by the full legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown before it is effective.

End

The flag of Israel flies under a sunny, blue sky.

Israel Decriminalizes Cannabis Use

3/06/2017

by TG Branfalt

Israel’s cabinet has approved the decriminalization of cannabis and an inter-ministerial team will next propose amendments and regulations required to carry out the new policy, according to Haaretz. Under the plan, first-time offenders caught using cannabis in public will be fined $271, which will be doubled on the second offense. A third offense will lead to probation, but the record would be quickly expunged; criminal charges would be pressed on the fourth offense.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that the reforms “will emphasize public information and treatment instead of criminal enforcement,” noting that Israel’s cannabis policies were reviewed due to worldwide legalization trends. The money from the fines will be used for anti-drug treatment and education. Minors caught using cannabis would only be arrested if they refused to enter a drug treatment program, Erdan said in the report.

“This is an important step, but not the end of the road. It sends a message that a million of Israelis who consume marijuana aren’t criminals,” MK Tamar Zandberg, chairwoman of the Knesset Special Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse said. “We will carry on following the details in the committee and ensure that the change is implemented.”

A special committee on the measure is expected to convene today.

End

Missouri Lawmakers Debate Comprehensive MMJ Program at Committee Meeting

3/06/2017

by TG Branfalt

Lawmakers in Missouri debated a medical cannabis bill last week which would establish a program allowing patients with painful, incurable medical conditions to use cannabis to treat pain, according to a Missourinet report. Currently, the state only allows for the medical use of CBD.

Republican state Rep. Jim Neely, the bill’s sponsor and a physician, testified – along with healthcare professionals and patients – to cannabis’ relative safety.

“I have probably over 20,000 hours working in the emergency room,” he said during his remarks to the House Health and Mental Policy Committee. “I have never had a marijuana overdose.”

His comments were buoyed by Dr. Adrianne Poe, a neuroscientist at Washington University’s medical school pain center, who pointed to a January report by the National Academy of Sciences which found cannabis to be a safe and effective pain management tool after researching more than 10,000 human patient studies.

“The very first thing that physicians need to do is find an alternative therapy to opioids as treatment for chronic pain,” she testified, outlining Center for Disease Control guidelines on pain management. “The national academies has given us an answer on that, and the answer is cannabis.”

Opponents of the measure argued that legalizing medical cannabis would put the state at odds with federal law, and Jason Grellner, head of the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association, raised concerns about the lack of dose standardization related to medical cannabis products.

“There really is no assurance in any state that has medical marijuana, that if I go back on another day or in another medical marijuana shop, that I am getting the same drug,” he said.

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said the legalizing medical cannabis would cause an “intractable dilemma” for law enforcement officers in the state because “decriminalizing marijuana would have no impact on the fact that it would remain a federal crime.”

The Legislative Research Committee estimates that the program would cost about $1 million to establish and that in the following years it would bring in a similar amount annually in tax revenues.

A similar bill was introduced in the Senate by Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf, but it hasn’t seen any action in nearly two months.

End

Colorado Cannabis Wedding Expo Showcases Everything Needed for a Marijuana Wedding

3/05/2017

by Chloe Sommers

The second annual Colorado Cannabis Wedding Expo brings the most creative and classy 420-friendly wedding businesses together to fill a growing niche of brides and grooms who love to consume. The annual expo happened in Denver, Colorado on Feb. 19 but is coming to Portland, Oregon on March 24 and San Francisco on April 30.

For the bride, there’s hemp and organic cotton dresses with gorgeous leaf-embellished accessories from High Vibe Bride.

The ganja-loving groom can also show his love for the plant with a custom cannabis boutonniere by Bud and Blossoms.

It’s legal to consume in recreational states like Colorado, as weddings are private events. But be sure to consult with professionals for complete compliance.

Experts from the expo say inviting Mary Jane is as simple as the bride or groom visiting a dispensary to purchase an ounce to ‘gift’ to the party. But how much is too much?

Top Shelf Budtending provides expert budtenders to weddings and events to safely dispense and supervise consumers at the party. They say to plan for about an ounce of cannabis per 60-70 consumers – and that’s if they are heavy users.

Other unique elements for the perfect weed wedding include premium cannabis packages from the Denver dispensary, Groundswell, which are specifically created with weddings in mind.

“We offer packages for wedding parties, gift bags, and event catering that are ideal for everything from bridal suites, to bachelor parties, and we make sure everything is weighed to ensure everyone is in compliance with state law,” says the spokesperson for Groundswell.

Mary Jane Gift Boxes celebrate the lifestyle – without any actual THC. Their satin-lined gift boxes feature items with the likeness of cannabis leaves and nugs but leave out the real thing – so it’s legal to ship across the U.S.

Another gift that’s both unique and discreet comes from My Bud Vase. You may have seen one of these flower vase bongs on Miley Cyrus’s Instagram. These special vases can adorn bridal suites, as well as actual centerpieces.

Home to the Colorado wedding expo, The Falls Event Center overlooks the Rockies and is a 420-friendly venue for all types of private events. Aspen Canyon Ranch, also in Colorado, is another great alternative, as the vacation destination boasts hundreds of cannabis friendly acres, with outdoor activities and nearby springs for some extra relaxation.

Got the munchies? The expo features cannabis chefs, Cougars Cookin in Stilettos, who are happy to infuse their dishes for the private event. Experienced caterers, they recommend featuring an infused salad dressing, or their infamous infused chocolate fountain for guests to enjoy.

For some highly-enjoyable, out-of-the-box things to do, My 420 Tours has you covered. As a trusted Colorado cannabis tourism company, they offer bridal events, rehearsal dinners with cannabis pairings, and a night on the town in one of their luxury consumption buses – just to name a few ideas.

Still not sure where to start? Irie Weddings and events have planning services to get you started on your cannabis-friendly matrimony.

End

AG Sessions Told GOP Senators No Big Cannabis Policy Shift Coming

3/03/2017

by TG Branfalt

According to a report from Politico, Attorney General Jeff Sessions privately told some Republican senators – before his confirmation – that he won’t interfere with states allowing legal cannabis use. The report comes eight days after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he expected “greater enforcement” of federal cannabis laws, and just days after Sessions confirmed that the Cole memo was under review, and remarked that he is “dubious about marijuana” at the National Association of Attorneys General Winter Meeting.

Colorado Sen. Corey Gardner said that since Sessions’ confirmation the administration has indicated no big policy changes concerning cannabis laws.

“Nothing at this point has changed,” he said in the report.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a favorite of states’ rights-loving libertarians, said that Sessions told him “he would have some respect for states’ right on these things.”

“And so I’ll be very unhappy if the federal government decides to go into Colorado and Washington and all of these places,” Paul said. “And that’s not … [what] my interpretation of my conversation with him was. That this wasn’t his intention.”

Yesterday a bipartisan group of senators from states with either legal adult or medical use sent a letter to the Attorney General requesting that he “uphold the [Department of Justice’s] existing policy regarding states that have implemented strong and effective regulations for recreational marijuana use and ask that the Cole Memorandum remain in place.”

“It is essential that states that have implemented any type of practical, effective marijuana policy receive immediate assurance from the DOJ that it will respect the ability of states to enforce thoughtful, sensible drug policies in ways that do not threaten the public’s health and safety,” the letter states. “This ensures that state infrastructure, including tax revenue, small businesses, and jobs, can be protected; DOJ resources can be used most effectively; and most importantly, that marijuana can be properly regulated to improve public health and safety.”

According to the report, a DOJ spokesperson said that “the department’s current policy is reflected in the 2013 Cole Memo.”

End

Social-Use Bill Passes Colorado Senate Committee

3/03/2017

by TG Branfalt

Colorado is one step closer to legalizing private social-use cannabis clubs as SB17-184 passed the Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee 5-2 on Wednesday. The measure would allow on-site cannabis consumption at private clubs in permitting municipalities but does not allow them to serve food or alcohol.

According to an Associated Press report, the proposal would allow some businesses, such as art galleries, coffee shops, yoga studios or other public spaces, to apply for on-site consumption; however cannabis products would not be able to be sold at the locations.

The measure dictates that all club members and employees are 21 or older, and that club owners are two-year residents of the state. It prohibits “open and public” cannabis use.

“We’re legal and we need a place for people to go,” Ashley Weber of Colorado NORML said in the Associated Press report. “We need social clubs.”

The measure will next be sent to the Republican-led Senate for a vote; however last fall Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper indicated opposition to Denver’s plan to allow cannabis clubs – which was approved by voters in November – and has said that a statewide law could invite federal intervention in the state.

Officials in Denver have already held several meetings to devise the rules under which the voter-approved initiative will operate in the city.

End

Review: AirVape XS Portable Vaporizer

3/03/2017

by Shango Los

While I will still accept a joint at a party or something, I moved over to using vaporizers about three years ago. The high was a little different than burning the flower and in the end I decided I preferred it. More importantly, though, I could taste my flower so much more. It is hard to express to you how significantly different cannabis with a solid terpene profile tastes when vaped instead of burned. I have brought my vape with me to visit growers and they are astonished by the clarity of taste and say they feel like they are tasting their own weed for the first time. Moving to a vape allowed me to really experience the terpene profile of the flower and toking has become a much more enjoyable experience since getting one.

So it is with that bias towards a good vaporizer that I happily received the Airvape XS. The ultra-designed packaging looks like something you’d buy from Apple. When I first took it out of the box, the vape was very satisfying to hold. You know how sometimes something looks like it should be quality-made but then you pick it up and it feels flimsy? This is not that. As soon as I picked it up, I felt like I had an elegant race car in my hand. A well-made machine. A medical device.

I have been using a Pax 2 for the last year and have loved it. That said, as soon as the AirVape was in my hand, I realized that I probably had a new favorite vaporizer. I tossed some Sour Cheese strain in the grinder, opened the top of the vape and tapped it in. I like how the flower is inserted in the top of the device instead of the bottom so it travels a shorter path to my mouth. There is less pathway to clean and a whole lot less constriction of air flow than most other vapes out there. With the cannabis at the top, I can get a hit that feels more substantial even though I am just inhaling vapor and not full-bodied smoke. I also like that the mouthpiece is large enough that I am unlikely to set it down somewhere and lose it while packing the vape.

It is also pretty cool when the device starts up. There is a small LED screen on the front that looks snazzy and impresses everyone I show it to. I really like the digital control for the temperature being right there on the front and not somewhere that I have to dig for it, especially since I use this vape for flower, hash and concentrates. Three clicks of the button and it fires up to the temperature I specify. One of the things I was surprised that I loved about this vape was that it gives a quick little vibration when it gets to the right temperature. That way, if I am chatting and get distracted while it is heating up, it lets me know I am ready. That is really helpful too when toking while sitting at the computer. I can look away to whatever I am working on and the vape will give me a sign when I can hit.

For flower, I found that 350 degrees F was just about the right place to get a full spectrum vape hit without causing the flower to get toasty too fast. For hash and concentrates, be sure to crank it up all the way to 410 degrees F. I found that I needed to wait for the vape to get up to 410 degrees F and then wait another 15 seconds or so for the concentrate to get bubbly to get a really good hit from a concentrate. Vaped concentrates are a milder experience than dabbing but you still get the power of the dab in your hit. Also, the taste is great, as would be expected with a low-temp dab.

When enjoying kief, bubble hash, shatter or some other extracted oil, you’ll want to drop in the concentrates cup. It is a novel way to give the AirVape XS an ability to use concentrates instead of only flower. It’s true that if you are a dabber that this won’t replace your rig, but if you are leaving the house and going to a show or hiking or something where you are on the move and may be toking with friends, this will do you just fine.

As far as accessories, I also like the XS Shell that protects your vape and adds some disguise to it. The unit doesn’t scratch easily and I usually want to show it off, but I also carry it in a backpack or briefcase and everything gets banged around in my bag. It would be a real disappointment to walk all day with my stainless steel grinder rubbing against the metal vape. Better to have it in some protection.

Vape technology just keeps getting better and better and it is nice to see a vape with some original usability enhancements that the others don’t have.

You can find out more at https://www.airvapeusa.com/

End

TheraCann MMJ Cultivation Site in Kingsley, MI Gains Traction

3/03/2017

by TG Branfalt

TheraCann International Corporation is proposing a $20 million, 100,000-square-foot medical cannabis facility in Kingsley, Michigan that would cater to 20 licensed cultivators, create an estimated 100 new jobs, and double the downtown district’s taxable value, according to a Traverse Ticker report. The company also proposed a 20,000-square-foot processing plant adjacent to the site.

A previous proposal called for dispensaries at the site; however that plan was scrapped after it was opposed by members of the Kingsley Downtown Development Authority. Marc McKellar, a DDA board member, said the company’s decision to drop the dispensaries convinced him to support the project, which he says has a projected taxable value of $9.5 million. Kingsley area schools could see nearly $200,000 annually in funding derived from the facility. The DDA district has a current total taxable value of $6.2 million.

“The threshold for most community support dies at the dispensary center…and that is not part of this proposal,” McKellar said in the report. “It’s a production-only facility. My house will be the closest residential property to this project, so I was a little concerned this would be literally in my backyard. But when I put on my hat as a DDA board member and began researching the law and looking at the economics of the project….my personal position has changed from opposition to cautiously optimistic.”

TheraCann CEO Chris Bolton indicated that facility construction would be “locally sourced,” and the site would create security and administrative jobs in addition to the cultivation opportunities.

Michigan officials are expected to begin issuing licenses under their reformed medical cannabis law in December.

End

The cola of a commercial cannabis plant in Washington state.

Construction Begins on Mayflower Medicinals Mass. Cultivation and Processing Facility

3/03/2017

by TG Branfalt

Construction has commenced on a $6 million, 36,000-square-foot Mayflower Medicinals facility in Holliston, Massachusetts capable of producing 8,700 pounds of cannabis annually. The facility, which could earn more than $35 million per year, is a partnership between Mayflower and iAnthus Capital Holdings.

According to a press release, the space is located within an existing warehouse building and interior demolition and installation of cultivation and processing equipment has been completed. The company expects the first harvest in the third quarter of this year.

“We are excited to have broken ground on our cultivation facility and look forward to the start-up of cultivation in the second quarter of 2017 and the subsequent opening of our first two dispensaries, including one in Boston, the largest city in the state,” John Henderson, CEO of Mayflower, said in a statement.

Randy Maslow, iAnthus President, indicated that the investment firm expects to inject another $7.5 million to build out the facility and its three anticipated dispensaries in the state. He suggested that Mayflower has a “first mover advantage” as the company holds one of three Boston dispensary licenses and is one of just nine registered dispensaries approved by the Commonwealth.

“Our investment in support of Mayflower’s mission and operations positions iAnthus to realize significant cash flows once the cultivation facility and dispensaries are fully built out and Mayflower commences sales,” he said in a statement.

From Dec. 2015 to Dec. 2016 the number of registered patients in Massachusetts jumped from 22,000 to 40,000, and it is one of just two states on the East Coast to legalize adult-use cannabis.

End

Ganjapreneur Launches Domain Market Featuring MJ.com, Strains.com, and Other High-Value Domains

3/03/2017

by Ganjapreneur

Ganjapreneur.com is excited to announce the launch of our new domain name market, featuring some of the highest-value and most desirable domains available on the web related to cannabis. This market is intended as a business development resource for venture capital firms, startups, advertising agencies, and anyone who is starting a company in the legal cannabis industry who plans on using the internet as a central component of their marketing strategy. Our market empowers entrepreneurs in the branding phase of their company to browse and purchase available domain names that would make excellent brands for new businesses or products.

Our decision to launch this market was based in part on the success of our own usage of domain branding with the launch of Ganjapreneur.com and the execution of our own marketing strategy. Ganjapreneur’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Rosener, is also the CEO of Media Options, widely regarded as the leading international brokerage firm specializing in premium domain name acquisitions and sales. Concurrent with the new market’s launch, Rosener released the following statement:

Ganjapreneur started out as a pet project to bring together all the business and regulatory cannabis news in one place, in an objective way, for the industry. Really it was a solution to my own problem: I just wanted one place to go every day to find out what was going on. However, as Ganjapreneur grew and industry support for our project quickly became apparent, we have grown into a more multi-dimensional business with other business services and products. While objective cannabis journalism is still at the core of Ganjapreneur, and always will be, I identified a void in the industry for online business services and digital marketing intelligence. Having been involved and very successful myself in online marketing, and especially domain names, for the last 15 years, I saw an opportunity to bring my experience and expertise to other budding entrepreneurs in the industry, through Ganjapreneur.

One of those opportunities is to emphasize and educate entrepreneurs and investors about the power and importance of owning the best possible domain name for your business. In today’s World, consumer decisions are made online, even if their purchase is made in-store. Word of mouth marketing, brand recall & especially display advertising are all exponentially more effective when done in conjunction with a short, memorable and meaningful .com domain name. That concept rings even more true for the cannabis industry because mainstream advertising channels are not available to us. There is no advertising in Google or Facebook. No newspaper ads. No television ads. So magazine ads, billboards, podcasts, web banners & content marketing…these are the channels that canna-businesses are left with. This is where a catchy, resonating, easy to spell, meaningful domain name really shines!

If you read an ad in a magazine about a new product that you think would be great to sell in your dispensary, unless you are sitting at a computer when you see the ad, they had better have a great domain name, which is easy to remember, if you are going to find that product online a few hours later when you get to a computer. What was that product called again? Or, lets say you are a licensed cannabis processor desperately looking for ways to increase your yields, you are driving in your car listening to the Ganjapreneur podcast, and you hear someone talk about a new extraction technology; if that company tells you to visit them for more information at Extract.com, you better believe you will remember where to find them when you get home or to your office later! But what if their domain was SuperCriticalCO2ExtractionTechnology.com? Would you remember that when you get home? Was it technology or technologies?

All other things being equal, owning the best possible version of your brand’s or company’s domain name will have an incalculable return on investment for your company for eternity. And the value of the asset, the domain name, only goes up as the industry grows and the internet continues to become more dominant as the primary channel to reach consumers and businesses alike. When you buy traffic from an ad network, that is a sunk cost and the money is gone. There is no residual return. Whatever sales were made and revenue generated from that campaign is a one-shot deal. However, buying a top tier domain name is an investment in an asset that will continue to pay dividends for the life of your company (not to mention the nice depreciation expense you can take on the domain, just like a piece of equipment that is critical to your business) and using that domain name in your other advertising and marketing will exponentially increase the success and ROI of those campaigns with higher click through rates, higher retention rates, greater consumer trust and ultimately higher conversion rates. There have been many studies done by Microsoft & Google on the impacts of using a highly memorable domain that resonates with consumers. Needless to say, there is a reason that Facebook spent $8.5 Million to buy FB.com (hint: because 70% of internet traffic is mobile and there is no faster way to get a consumer on your website than a 2 letter .com).

Andrew Rosener has a long history in domain name investing and has aided in the acquisition of domain names for multiple Fortune 500 companies. He has also acquired numerous high-level cannabis-related domain names himself and has personally invested in several operational cannabis industry businesses. Our Chief Operating Officer, Noel Abbott, who built the Ganjapreneur website and oversees our operations, is also a domain name investor as well as a web marketing strategist. Abbott attributes much of the success of Ganjapreneur to his partnership with Rosener to utilize the domain: “Originally, I was working on a simple blog with my brother, called ‘The Ganjapreneur,'” Abbott said. “As soon as we partnered with Andrew and moved the site over to Ganjapreneur.com, the difference was striking. People were taking my calls and forwarding me to their managers all of a sudden. It was obvious the domain name played a huge factor in our ability to connect with other companies working in the cannabis industry.”

On a daily basis, Ganjapreneur provides news and business insights related to the cannabis industry. Our content reaches a professional audience of over 1 million people each month, and recent polling has indicated that 70% of our loyal subscriber base is made up of people who own operational cannabis businesses or people who are in the planning phase of a new cannabis business. As the leading online cannabis industry news resource, we feel that Ganjapreneur is exceptionally well positioned to provide this branding tool for venture capitalists and startups enabling them to launch their companies and products on premium cannabis domain names. Our domain market currently includes powerful branding opportunities such as MJ.com, SourDiesel.com, Strains.com, and many others. To browse all of our available domain names, click here. Be sure to check back regularly as we are constantly adding new names!

We also accept domain names from third party domain investors who are willing to sell their domains to interested buyers. Click here to learn about getting your domain listed in our market, but please note that we only accept domains that reflect well on the cannabis industry and that will bring value to a new startup or product launch. We can say with absolute confidence that if you own a good domain name that could become a great brand for a cannabis business, Ganjapreneur.com is the best possible place to market that domain name for sale to the cannabis industry. The people who make up our audience are the entrepreneurs, service providers, manufacturers, investors & dreamers that make up this great industry. We can’t promise that your domain will sell, but we can certainly promise that the most qualified buyers in the world for your cannabis domain name will at least know that it is for sale! For questions related to domain name acquisitions or listing multiple domains in our market, please reach out to us at domains@ganjapreneur.com.

Our market launch is sponsored by Name.com, a cannabis-friendly registrar and a global leader in domain name registrations. If you are in the planning phase of your business, visit Name.com today to reserve the ideal domain for your start-up!

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eBottles.com Announces Award of US Design Patent D781151

3/02/2017

by Press Release

eBottles.com, a leading online supplier of glass and plastic containers, announced today that it has been granted design patent D781151 by the US Patent and Trademark Office for their line of cosmetic thick wall glass jars with symmetric child resistant closures.

In remarks during a recent announcement to employees and other stakeholders, Robert Lerman, President of eBottles.com, declared that the company had been issued the design patent for their unique design which pairs child resistant closures with cosmetic thick wall glass jars.

The combination of the special neck finish tooled glass jars and smooth top child resistant closures yields a new cosmetic glass package capable of meeting the rigorous standards of the Poison Prevention Package Act with Re-securing Effectiveness per Code of Federal Regulations Title 16, Part 1700. The jar was created with the particular needs of the cannabis industry in mind.

Mr. Lerman declared that he was very proud of the team that had produced an aesthetically pleasing design for marketers who are required to package their products in child-resistant packages. “We all share a great sense of gratification from this design patent award. Many hours of hard work and dedication went into this design which is unique in our industry and which will set the standard for combining attractive packaging with effective child-resistant design.”

The new glass jars available in 5 ml and 9 ml sizes have been on the market since October 2015. The company has also recently introduced a new 15 ml 53mm size.

Responding to the needs of the cannabis industry’s expanding focus on concentrate products, the eBottles team created its new line of cosmetic thick wall jars with the particular needs of concentrate products in mind. Mr. Lerman stated: “Cannabis industry leaders told us that they were dissatisfied with the current choices for concentrate packages.” Customers were concerned about the clear styrene jewel cases being used believing that the dabbing process included a risk of scraping plastic into the product. The expensive silicone choice was also problematic as the silicone was seen as absorbing terpenes. Further, neither of these packages were child-resistant, requiring the addition of secondary child-resistant packaging, adding labor and cost.

The eBottles solution was to create economical glass jars which could satisfy the industry demands of product safety, ease of use, cosmetic appearance and most importantly a package that would maintain child resistance throughout its useful life. The insides of the jars are rounded allowing heated concentrates to pool in the middle of the jar, providing the consumer the ability to gain easy access to all of the valuable contents.

The 5 ml 28mm jar has been well received by marketers of distillates, isolates, and saps. The 5 ml jar package includes child-resistant closures lined with a foil and Mylar laminate construction designed specifically for high terpene content products. The 9 ml 38mm jar is a hit with marketers of solid THC-based concentrates such as shatter and wax. The new 15 ml 53mm jar expands the company’s offering to include a size capable of holding multiple grams of concentrates.

Brett Mouser, CEO of Mahatma Concentrates a leading manufacturer of concentrate products stated, “These new glass jars provide the quality image that mirrors the Mahatma brand. We could not be more happy with our switch from plastic to glass containers and the customer response has been overwhelmingly positive. In particular, customers love the ability to see the product through the base of the jar and we love the fact that customers can see the purity and quality of our product prior to purchase.”

eBottles.com offers high-end products from US, Asian, and European manufacturers. With multiple distribution centers in the US, eBottles ships most orders within 24 hours. eBottles’ headquarters is based in Jupiter, Florida. Distribution centers are located in Bethel, CT; Denver, CO; and Los Angeles, CA.

For more information, please contact the Customer Relations Department at eBottles.com 561-203-2779

You can visit their website at http://www.ebottles420.com.

End

Indoor cannabis plants grown commercially under a Washington I-502 cultivation license.

Distressed Asset Deals: What Happens When a Cannabis Start-Up Fails

3/02/2017

by TG Branfalt

It’s simple economics – supply and demand; as the wholesale price of cannabis falls some operators will be edged out of the space. Some will become so-called distressed assets with only three choices: declare bankruptcy (which is tricky), cut their losses, or sell.

In Colorado, wholesale cannabis prices are down 25 percent from 2016, and 73 percent from 2015, which has led to an increase in these types of assets – struggling businesses on the verge of collapse or already non-operational. However, it’s near impossible to tell how many of these assets exist due to the private nature of the industry.

Distressed asset deals create opportunities

Jason Thomas, CEO of Denver-based Avalon Realty Advisors, said he has handled more than 20 distressed asset real estate deals, and about 15 distressed asset business and license transactions in Colorado since January 2014; ranging from $180,000 short lease deals, to $2 million property sales, to $3 million business sales. Thomas explained that his firm has seen a “marginal” albeit “identifiable” increase in these assets in Colorado over the “last couple of months” from both new and long-standing operators. “Primarily the reason for these distressed sales is typically they run out of cash, or run out of patience, or both.”

“A lot of people tend to underestimate the time and cost involved for ramp up time or opening a new facility or acquiring an existing business,” he said in a phone interview with Ganjapreneur. “It’s unlike most any other industry because you’re creating a manufacture and distribution industry. People don’t understand that until they delve in.”

The distressed asset deals are “complicated,” Thomas said, for a variety of reasons; among them, the federal illegality of cannabis and the lack of defined sales prices – “but deals get done.” He called the deals “the toughest” he has ever worked on, explaining that they can take up to a year to close from the day the contract is signed. Most often, Thomas said, new market entrants have trouble qualifying for licensing or meeting the capital requirements under Colorado’s law.

Thomas said these assets, which he sees more in Denver than anywhere else, provide opportunities for both existing and new business owners, although they are not easy to find. Often, these deals require “a lot of confidentiality” and most are not publicly listed; employers don’t want their employees to know, they don’t want their competition to know. Thomas sends his listings to about 1,000 potential buyers two or three times per week.

Trimmed cannabis nugs on curing racks in a Washington grow facility. *Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco*

Proper preparations are needed

Chris Ganan, chief strategy officer for MedMen and general partner of their Opportunity Fund, argues that distressed assets aren’t for everyone. MedMen operates in California, Nevada, New York and Canada, and Ganan estimates that the firm had completed roughly $75 million worth of transactions dealing “in some way, shape, or form” with distressed assets in the last 18 months – including the acquisition of New York licensed operator Bloomfield Industries in January.

“The only folks that I think distressed assets are suited for are groups that have three legs to the stool, so to speak: one is a key understanding of the regulatory environment today, and more importantly how that’s going to realistically evolve in the future; two you need institutional operational expertise – you need the ability to go execute cultivation, production, and retail to run those businesses…three, you need the capital,” Ganan said in an interview. “You need the institutional background and expertise in understanding the nuances of corporate structure real estate finance, private equity, and restructuring to go in and effectively transact on one of these deals.”

What’s interesting, Ganan noted, is that while the cannabis space is “an emerging, high-growth industry,” it’s very operationally intensive and tied to varying state-by-state regulations. What makes Colorado unique, Ganan contends, is the sheer number of licenses available – 2,500 for four or five million people – which limits “supply constraints from a licensing perspective” and has an impact on margin compression thus creating a highly competitive market.

“On the one hand you have a huge adjustable market that is rapidly expanding – hockey stick growth – but…it all comes back to the regulatory environment; how it affects these businesses and also the fact that marijuana as an industry is a very operationally intensive asset class,” he said. “Because of those areas, despite the fact you have such a large market that is evolving quickly, you are starting to see these distressed asset opportunities start to pop up to those that are poised to execute from a capital and operational perspective.”

As California migrates to a regulated, adult-use market, Ganan anticipates that there will be an increase in distressed assets because new capital will “flood” the market as it evolves.

“The dichotomy that exists in the marijuana space is that it’s a large market opportunity from a financial perspective, and you’re going to see a bunch of new capital in the space, but it’s an asset class that takes a high operating skillset to actually execute on and there is a lack of institutional operators in the industry right now,” he explained. “So you’re going to see the new capital that’s flooding in that has to go through a learning curve from an operational perspective – some will figure it out, those that don’t will get gobbled up…and those will be the distressed asset opportunities for those that [have the three legs of the stool].”

An indoor commercial grow op under the glow of purple LED grow lights. *Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco*

No federal bankruptcy relief

Although Thomas and Ganan disagree on who should get into distressed operations, both concluded that due to owners being unable to file bankruptcy in federal courts, selling the asset is probably the best course of action.

Mette H. Kurth, a partner at California law firm Fox Rothschild and member of their bankruptcy and finance group, explained that while cannabis businesses cannot get relief at the federal level, there are avenues for struggling companies at the state level.

“So what the companies are doing if they need some kind of insolvency relief, they can turn to a state court receivership,” she said in a phone interview. “They have a receiver appointed over the business, not a bankruptcy trustee. That’s the distinction.”

Kurth described these receiverships as “a lender’s tool,” utilized when the creditor is seizing on assets in order to bring down the debt on the loan, or “when there is a complete management breakdown.” However, she indicated that “most receivers aren’t comfortable” getting involved in cannabis cases.

“There are a number of state court receiverships going on [in California] but I wouldn’t say it’s a large number relative to the industry because the industry is, by and large, in a growth phase,” she said. “The stories I hear have more to do with companies with a complete management breakdown…you sometimes have relatively unsophisticated, unorganized people running those businesses and they run into problems…and they end up in bankruptcy for that reason.”

She described the distressed asset cases that land on her desk as “unique,” but could understand why operators would seek to sell their failing assets before considering receiverships or shuttering the business entirely.

“It’s a growth industry and there is a lot of appetite from people interested in investing,” she said.

End

A dispensary worker at the National Holistic Center in Washington D.C. shows off a handful of nugs.

Health Experts in England Suggest Regulating Cannabis Potency

3/02/2017

by TG Branfalt

British health experts are urging policymakers to regulate the potency of cannabis due to concerns that high-potency products increase the risk of psychosis, according to a report from Reuters. The cohort is concerned that as legalization proliferates there are not yet enough studies on the possible risks associated with high-test products.

“Worldwide there is a trend towards liberalization and increasing consumption,” Robin Murray, a professor at King College’s London’s the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, said in the report. “More people are going to be smoking cannabis, whether we like it or not, so we want to explore whether there are safer varieties.”

Murray co-authored “Can Cannabis be Safer?” with Amir Englund, a cannabis scientist at the Institute, which appeared in the Lancet Psychiatry journal.

“It is vital, especially now that cannabis is becoming increasingly liberalized, that we explore alternative and innovative ways by which we can reduce and mitigate cannabis related harms,” Englund said, suggesting that it might be wise to increase CBD levels, which some studies show can offset possible detrimental effects of THC, such as memory loss or paranoia, without compromising some of the compound’s more pleasurable effects such as relaxation.

In the U.S. cannabis products can contain as much as 75 percent THC; and some officials in Uruguay and the Netherlands – which have either legal or extremely lax cannabis laws – have suggested capping THC content there to 15 percent.

End

State-of-the-Art Greenhouse Facility Wraps Up Construction in British Columbia

3/02/2017

by TG Branfalt

Tantalus Labs, dubbed the “Tesla of cannabis,” has completed construction on its state-of-the-art greenhouse facility in British Columbia and could begin selling its products in Canada as early as 2018, Business Insider reports. The company earned the nickname due to its sustainable cultivation technologies.

The facility, which took over two years to complete, relies on sunlight instead of electric lighting, incorporating other green technologies, such as a rain capture system used to irrigate the crops.

Dan Sutton, founder and managing director of Tantalus Labs, said that while cannabis grows well outdoors the industry was driven into indoor facilities so growers could hide their farms.

“It’s a lot easier to hide plants in basements and in bunkers than to cultivate it in the light, because it is federally illegal,” he said in the report.

The company worked with designers, scientists, and engineers to create and build the facility, looking to the agriculture industry for best practices.

“We take those core concepts and we iterate on them so we can provide consistency, not only in product output, but in [meeting] a pharmacological standard,” Sutton said. “Nature has done an excellent job of cultivating plants for the last billions of years. The closest we get to a natural strategy, the more effective we are.”

End

Medical Cannabis Home Growing Legalized in Zambia

3/02/2017

by TG Branfalt

Zambia Home Affairs Minister Steven Kampyongo has signed a ministerial statement legalizing personal cannabis cultivation for medicinal use, according to a Lusaka Times report. The rules require patients to obtain a license from Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya before commencing any home grows.

Kampyongo indicated that the licenses would be subject to certain conditions and possible fees; however patients could be permitted to sell or distribute cannabis to others registered in the program if permitted by the Health Minister. Any individual caught growing cannabis without permission from the minister would still be subject to prosecution, even if they can make the claim they are growing it for medical purposes.

Under Zambian’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Home Affairs Minister may regulate illegal drugs via ministerial statement, which can be used to bypass Parliament, according to the report.

Dr. Aaron Mukakati, president of the Zambia Medical Association, had previously announced his support for legalizing medical cannabis.

“Medicinal marijuana works,” he said in a Feb. 10 interview with All Africa. “[I] am not an economist so I can’t speak intelligently on the economic benefits. The risks can be managed, legalize medicinal marijuana.”

End

The capitol building of Wisconsin located in Madison, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Bill to Allow CBD for ‘Any’ Medical Condition Heads to Assembly

3/02/2017

by TG Branfalt

Wisconsin is on the verge of expanding the state’s medical cannabis regime; however the proposal still does not allow products with any THC.

According to a report from the Journal Sentinel, Senate Bill 10 is set to be taken up by the Assembly on Tuesday after passing the Senate 31-1 last month. A companion bill was already passed unanimously by the Assembly Committee on Children and Families. The bill is sponsored by 35 of the state’s 99 representatives.

The measure would allow patients with any medical condition to use CBD therapies so long as they have been certified by a doctor. Patients would need to be recertified annually. Under current law, only patients suffering from seizure disorders are allowed to possess CBD products. Advocates have called Lydia’s Law, approved in 2014, too restrictive, making it difficult for families and physicians to access the program.

Similar legislation passed the Assembly two years ago but was blocked in the Senate by three Republican members.

Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Republican and one of the bill’s lead sponsors, indicated that the bill is not legalization of medical cannabis. The former police officer believes that enacting a more comprehensive medical cannabis program would lead to recreational use.

“It’ll be a while before we get to anything like medical marijuana,” he said in the report.

The measure doesn’t include provisions to cultivate or manufacture cannabis for medical products in the state, and patients will still need to make their purchases online.

End

Cannabis prohibition has disrupted countless communities and split up hundreds of thousands of American families.

Sessions Continues Prohibitionist Rhetoric at Attorneys General Conference

3/01/2017

by TG Branfalt

During his remarks at the National Association of Attorneys General Winter Meeting, Attorney General Jeff Sessions kept up his calls to reign in the legal cannabis industry, saying he is “dubious about marijuana.”

“States can pass whatever laws they choose but I’m not sure we’re going to be a better, healthier nation if we have marijuana being sold in every corner grocery store,” he said. “I just don’t think that’s going to be good for us.”

Sessions also criticized a Washington Post column published Tuesday by Sam Kamin, a University of Denver marijuana law and policy professor, who argues that the national opioid crisis is “a reason to expand access to marijuana rather than to contract it.”

“Give me a break,” Sessions said. “This is the kind of argument that has been made out there that’s almost a desperate attempt to defend the harmlessness of marijuana or even its benefits. I doubt that’s true – maybe science will prove I’m wrong… My best view is we don’t need to be legalizing marijuana.”

Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, shot back at the both Sessions and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who, last week, said he expected “greater enforcement” of federal laws. Earlier this week, Sessions said that “violence around marijuana” warranted a federal crackdown.

“It’s clear that Mr. Spicer has not engaged in the research or talked to the industry or people directly involved with direct experience,” Blumenauer said in an NBC26 report. “This is not something that people have to speculate, there is actual evidence. In Oregon and Colorado, there hasn’t been any violent upheaval and public support continues to grow.”

He added that there is “no evidence” that prohibition has prevented people from consuming cannabis. Blumenauer also suggested that the administration has too much on their plate to worry about the legal cannabis industry.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on here: repeal of Obamacare, the budget dance, what’s happening with immigration, there are issues of greater urgency and intensity for the administration and most Americans,” Blumenauer explained. “But we aren’t going to allow this to get lost in the shuffle. That’s why we have the Cannabis Caucus, that’s why we are developing legislation, that’s why we are working with the industry.”

End

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Distressed asset deals create opportunities

Proper preparations are needed

No federal bankruptcy relief

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