Researchers Create Atomic-Level Image of Cannabinoid Receptor

10/24/2016

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An international group of researchers in China have created an atomic-level image of cannabinoid receptor CB1, which could lead to a deeper understanding of how the cannabinoid system works in the human body, according to an Asian Scientist report. The image “revealed an expansive and complicated binding pocket network consisting of multiple sub-pockets and channels to various regions of the receptor.”

The researchers found that the receptor is bound with AM6538, a stabilizing molecule with a long half-life that blocks the receptor’s action — potentially making it useful for the treatment of addiction disorders as next generation pharmaceuticals could be developed that target the CB1 receptor. CB1 antagonists have also been explored as potential therapies for obesity-related metabolic disorders, liver fibrosis, nicotine addiction and some mental illnesses, the study, published in Cell, said.

“To date, there remains considerable controversy with regards to CB1 ligands and their diverse medical applications,” the authors wrote. “This is likely due in part to the wide availability and illicit nature of the most famous CB1 pharmaceutical, marijuana.”

Additionally, the researchers said the image could help subsequent research as to why so-called synthetic cannabis, such as Spice and K-2, can have “toxic…serious side effects” while natural THC has “a high safety margin.”

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San Francisco viewed on a cloudy, grey day.

Cannabis Delivery Company Eaze Raises $13M in Financing

10/24/2016

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Eaze has completed $13 million in Series B financing, raising its total to $25 million, the company announced in a press release. Eaze provides “on-demand” medical cannabis delivery in nearly 100 California cities and its EazeMD platform helps connect patients with board-certified doctors. Additionally, the company offers a Brand Insights Program, which allows product manufacturers to track industry trends based on data from Eaze customer interactions.   

Keith McCarty, Eaze CEO, said the funding puts the San Francisco-based company in a position “to accelerate as the market hits an inflection point.”

“This is a critical time for the marijuana industry. Adult use is on the precipice of becoming legal in California, the largest marijuana market in the United States,” he said in the release. “Eaze is setting a new standard for accessibility, safety, and professionalism, which makes it best positioned to educate and service the future market.”

Davis Chao, a partner at venture capitalist firm DCM Ventures — who has participated in two rounds of Eaze funding and provided seed funding — said that McCarty’s “tech background and commitment to professionalism and compliance” made investing with the firm a “no brainer,” noting that the group will continue investing in the company “as it continues to exceed” expectations.

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Dispensary SEO Best Practices

Why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Matters to Dispensaries

10/23/2016

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Search Engine Optimization, when implemented correctly, can increase the online visibility of your business in organic search results. Depending on where you are located, you may be competing with numerous other companies for search traffic related to your business. For example, the phrase “Portland Dispensaries” is searched for over 10,000 times monthly in Google, and if your dispensary was at the top of the list you would be capturing a lot of attention (and attracting new customers). A lot of people still talk about “SEO” like it is some kind of secret formula to produce infinite cash from thin air. Sadly, good SEO takes a lot of effort and resources to achieve, but while the old days of link-stuffing trickery and instant results are gone, using a variety of methods, both technical and creative, it is still very possible to benefit from SEO as a practice.

What is SEO?

Google ranks websites based on how useful Google thinks they are for its visitors. In order to understand what your website is about, Google sends a robot to read over its content and analyze the results. Over time, these robots have gotten smarter and better at sorting content that will be well-received by the people who are searching, which is good for Google because they continue to be the leading search engine worldwide. While many patients have go-to platforms like Leafly or Weedmaps where they do their searching, Google is still an important consideration for any retail business trying to attract foot traffic. Today, Google even shows dispensaries on their maps with aggregated reviews & contact information.

Google dispensaries search results
Search results for the phrase “Dispensaries Los Angeles”

As Google has updated their algorithms to serve users in the most effective way possible, SEO techniques and best practices have changed a lot over the years. Many common SEO techniques of the past are now considered “black hat” because they attempt to manipulate the search engine, as opposed to providing the best experience for the user. As a general rule of thumb, your SEO efforts should go completely unnoticed by the average person.

If you produce good content and implement a good plan for getting it in front of an audience, Google will take notice and reward you. If you use manipulative techniques like keyword stuffing, irrelevant or duplicate content, paid links, or invisible text, you could even be penalized by Google or removed from their search results altogether.

SEO for Local Businesses: Good Practices to Follow

  • Publish in-depth, relevant, long-form content to your site on a consistent basis.
  • Write relevant page titles and meta descriptions for each page on your site.
  • Attract positive local press that includes links to your website. Good PR = Good SEO.
  • Make sure that your site loads quickly and you are not using any overly large files. Images should be less than 250kb wherever possible.
  • Use clean, proper code formatting.
  • Make sure all of your images have “Alt” descriptions and all relevant links have “Title” tags.
  • Use social media regularly and link to your social accounts from your site.
  • Join relevant business directories and associations that include links to your site.
  • Publish an occasional press release when you have a company announcement to make.
  • Verify your business in Google Places.
  • Keep updated profiles on industry-specific outlets like Leafly and Weedmaps.
  • Install Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to track your performance over time.

Keep in mind, SEO happens over time, so it has to be an ongoing effort, especially if you are based in a competitive area. Keeping on top of your website, social media efforts, and getting local media coverage are all crucial for long-term success.

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YouTube screenshot of the rosin technique being demonstrated.

Rosin Making Matures in the Year Following the ‘Hair Straightener Video’

10/21/2016

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It’s been more than a year since Phil “SoilGrown” Salazar posted a video to Instagram showing the world how to use a hair straightener to extract cannabis oils. That video has been cited as the flashpoint for the rise of solventless concentrates produced using pressure and heat — Salazar, in the interviews conducted for this piece, was credited as the godfather of rosin (but did not return several interview requests).

Salazar didn’t discover solventless extracts, however. Bubble hash, dry sift and kief had already been popular with the cannabis community, but concentrates — wax, shatter, crumble — required processing. The most common methods require butane, alcohol or carbon dioxide but Salazar’s discovery simplified a process — and that simplicity launched a whole new sector in the cannabis industry. The heat and pressure process, though, does allow for another oil extraction step from those other solventless types.

Vincent D’Accolti, the co-founder of Rosin Tech Products, points to Salazar’s video as an influence for moving into the rosin press market — mentioning that as a New Yorker the best way to break into the cannabis industry is to start a company in an ancillary sector. New York’s medical marijuana program does not allow for concentrate products and just five states are licensed to grow, manufacture and sell the drug.

“A hair straightening iron wasn’t the best product for making rosin,” D’Accolti said in an interview with Ganjapreneur. “So we started developing presses that were dedicated to rosin production.”

Using a press is a relatively safer extraction method than using chemicals — a safety concern that is becoming so prevalent that Arizona’s ballot initiative includes language banning “chemical extraction with a flammable solvent,” and making it a class 6 felony. But the cleanliness of the final product — which also tends to keep terpene profiles intact — is what really sets the method apart, D’Accolti suggests.

“At the end of the day, if you know you are starting with some safe flower, in 30 seconds you can have clean and potent medicine,” he said.

In order to get the most out of your flower (or kief, or bubble hash) you need a combination of the least amount of time with the lowest temperature, D’Accolti explained. But it’s tricky — the lower the time and temperature, the lower the yield; it’s also strain-dependent and will “need some dialing in.” D’Accolti recommends the average Rosin Tech Products user, who he says are more individuals than large-scale manufacturers, set their press at about 220 degrees for 30 seconds. Those settings, depending on what you are pressing, should give you decent yields of about 10 percent to 30 percent of the weight for flower; 40 percent to 90 percent for bubble hash; and 30 percent to 60 percent for dry sift or kief. “It’s comparable to other methods, it might be a little more labor-intensive but you’re getting a cleaner product.”

“The rosin process preserves more terpenes than any other method of extraction because it’s the least harsh way of extracting oils,” he said.

And that’s not just the pitch of the guy selling the product.

In an interview with Ganjapreneur, Claire Ohman, laboratory director for Terra Health Care Laboratories, indicated that she has tested rosin samples that contain traces of foreign substances, such as wax or plant materials, and that, from the viewpoint of a scientist, “there is no evidence” that inhaling residual amounts of butane or other kinds of residual solvents are inherently dangerous, noting a “lack of research.”

However, she agreed that rosin is “cleaner in terms of not containing solvents or butane” and does indeed maintain the terpene profile of whatever was pressed.   

“Normally when you use another type of extraction method you lose the terpenes in the de-gassing step,” Ohman said. “So it does maintain the terpene profile, which is really attractive to a lot of people.”

D’Accolti said his business is driven by those connoisseurs who want the absolute best products available and patients who want to be sure their medicine is clean and safe rather than large-scale manufacturers who “have to catch up with [the market],” observing that many companies already have a lot invested in closed-loop systems and CO2 machines. “The individual is driving the demand for rosin,” he said.

Ohman noted that people who take the position “the less adulterants you have in your life, the better” would be best served by products derived from CO2 extraction or via pressing; and in legal states, consumers demand clean products, with most states requiring products be tested to ensure they are meeting certain parts-per-million standards.

According to Cody Little, a patient in California and member of the Point Loma Patient Consumer Co-Op, solventless concentrate makers are still honing in the art of extraction because the method only gained popularity in the last year, but that a number of health conscious people have already embraced rosin and other solventless extracts, such as bubble hash, kief and dry sift.

“There is a lot of really interesting advancements in the non-solvent field,” Little said. “There’s some people really grabbing it by the horns and doing some amazing things with it.”

In his experience as a consumer, Little estimates that the current market is dominated by solvent extracts — “85 percent to 15 percent maybe 20 percent” — and that the introduction of solventless concentrates is not going to spell the end for their solvent-made counterparts. Solvent extracting is “a lot more efficient and scalable,” and now, products made with solvents are just as safe to consume as solventless. State-required testing helped weed out a lot of the bad actors, he said.

“Back in the day there was a lot more concentrate that was made that was not up to safe health standards,” Little said. “People were making this butane hash that had residual chemicals in it at extremely unhealthy levels so there was a huge negative stigma that got associated with it.”

In Oregon, concentrate and edible sales represented one quarter of total recreational cannabis sales in June, the first month they were offered, with concentrate sales reaching 17 percent. Both D’Accolti and Little agreed that the market share for concentrates — solvent and solventless — is only going to increase as more states allow for cannabis use, providing more opportunities for manufacturers and consumers alike.

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Florida NORML Files Emergency Injunction After MMJ Question Omitted from Some Ballots

10/21/2016

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NORML of Florida is suing Broward County Supervisor of Elections Dr. Brenda Snipes after it was revealed that mail-in ballots had been sent to voters omitting the medical marijuana amendment ballot question, the chapter announced in a Facebook post.

The lawsuit is asking a judge to require new ballots, along with an information sheet explaining why they are being provided, be printed and distributed. The group is also seeking an explanation as to how Amendment 2 was excluded from the ballots and court costs.

The suit is filed on behalf of Florida NORML and its Chair Karen Goldstein by NORML’s National Vice-Chair Norm Kent, a Fort Lauderdale resident and attorney, and his law partner Russell Cormican.

The initiative needs a supermajority, 60 percent, to become law – which a similar amendment failed to reach in 2014 by just 2 percent – and the suit says that “every voter and vote, therefore, is critical” to reaching that threshold. The plaintiffs claim that the “egregious error” is “grossly inexcusable” and should not be permitted to stand.  

“The Respondent’s failure to include Amendment 2 on certain vote-by-mail ballot carries with it imminent danger that a significant portion of the voting public in [the county] will be deprived of the opportunity to fully participate in the [general election] and violates the constitutional rights of all [Broward County] citizens,” the suit says.

Florida is one of four states voting on a medical cannabis measure in the general election. The Amendment, which has overwhelming support in polls, would greatly expand medical cannabis access in the state.

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The Cannabis Alliance’s Upcoming Legislative Agenda

10/21/2016

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The 2017 Washington State legislative session is right around the corner. The 2016 session wrought very little successful cannabis legislation, so advocacy groups are getting ready for what they hope will be a productive session in 2017.

One of those groups is The Cannabis Alliance, a member-based organization whose mission is to advance a sustainable, vital and ethical cannabis industry in Washington State. Their 2017 legislative agenda, compiled from their members, seeks to move the state a little closer to that goal.

“We tried to make sure we listened to our members, and our 2017 legislative focus covered a cross section of the cannabis community. These aren’t all of our concerns, things like inconsistent Liquor Control Board enforcement and the lack of uniformity around testing, are also concerns, but these are items that we think need addressing in the legislature this year,” said Danielle Rosellison, president of The Cannabis Alliance.

Here is a quick run-down of where the Alliance will be focusing its efforts this year in Olympia:

Treat cannabis as an agricultural commodity

By recognizing cannabis for what it is, an agricultural commodity, thus deserving a commodity commission, Washington will take a big step toward normalizing cannabis. The Alliance believes this normalization may help alleviate some of the zoning problems cannabis has in Washington. It will also open up traditional farming resources, promote research, foster fair trade practices and increase environmental sustainability in the cannabis industry.

Cannabis consumption clubs

These businesses, when well-regulated, have great potential for tapping into the cannabis tourist market, which will bring in more tax revenue to the state. The Cannabis Alliance believes this upgrade to the state’s cannabis regulations could possibly open the door to minority owners who at the moment are not well represented in the cannabis industry as a whole, as cited in a recent Crosscut article. Another benefit of Consumption clubs is they will provide medical cannabis patients who may have housing restrictions on consuming cannabis a place to medicate.

Lower taxes on medical cannabis patients

Under the state’s new controversial MMJ restrictions, medical cannabis patients are paying a 37% excise tax for their medicine — the highest of any legalized state. The Alliance believes this is far too high and sees the high taxes as a humanitarian issue. They believe lowering the excise tax would benefit the many suffering medical cannabis patients in Washington.

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Skylights in the Home Office building in London.

UK Home Office Denies Scottish National Party’s Request to Regulate Medical Cannabis

10/21/2016

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Following a vote by the Scottish National Party supporting the decriminalization of medical cannabis and calling on the UK government to allow the Scottish government to regulate the drug, the Home Office said it has no plans to neither devolve drug laws nor transfer regulation oversight, the Scotsman reports.  

A spokesman for the SNP said that the motion could not be simply overlooked because, according to David Liddel, chief executive of the Scottish Drugs Forum, cannabis legalization and decriminalization “are now part of the mainstream debate.”

“It is important to note that while the drug laws are a reserved to Westminster, the Crown and Police Scotland have significant powers in terms of enforcing laws particularly around possession of drugs,” he said in the report. “As ever there is a need for an informed open debate on drug laws and the wider issues of problem drug use and its causes, consequences and how Scotland responds to these challenges.”

According to a spokeswoman for the Home Office, the decision is due to a need for medical trials of cannabis.

“There is a clear regime in place, administered by the Medicines and Healthcare Products regulatory agency to enable medicines, including those containing controlled drugs, to be developed,” she said.

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Prescription pharmaceuticals and $20 bills, USD.

FDA Documents Show Why the Agency Won’t Budge on MMJ

10/21/2016

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According to documents obtained by Vice through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Food and Drug Administration refuses to consider cannabis a medicine because studies have shown it is addictive to monkeys, people prefer to smoke it, it’s “widely available from illicit sources,” and it’s popular.

Additionally, the FDA listed nine common effects of marijuana, including “illusions, delusions, and hallucinations,” “increased merriment and appetite,” “disorganized thinking,” “heightened imagination,” with high-dosed users experiencing “agitation, paranoia, confusion, drowsiness, and panic attacks” as reasons to maintain the status-quo.

However, they also concluded that cannabis is not a gateway drug, doesn’t cause cancer; found no “causative link between marijuana use and the development of psychosis,” does not affect memory long-term, and is no more addictive than tobacco.

The documents show that the FDA still considers cannabis on par with harder narcotics — cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines — and that cannabis users prefer the “intense psychoactive drug effect achieved rapidly by smoking” which they says “explains why abusers often prefer to administer certain drugs by inhalation…rather than orally.”

Nevertheless, cannabis is Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act, while cocaine and the opiate-derived OxyContin and fentanyl, are Schedule II.

In a section of the documents regarding “history and current pattern of abuse” the FDA points to a 2012 study that found more than 7.6 million Americans use cannabis on a “daily or almost daily” basis while another 111.2 million used cannabis at least once.

Despite the Schedule I status of cannabis – due to marijuana’s classification as having “no medicinal value,” Michael Felberbaun, an FDA spokesman, said that the agency has “an interest in developing therapies from marijuana.”  

“We continue to encourage work to assess whether there are appropriate and effective therapeutic uses of marijuana and its components and believe the drug-approval process using scientifically valid and well-controlled clinical trials is the most appropriate way for this to occur,” Felberbaum said in the report.

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Front steps of the Maryland capitol building in Annapolis.

Maryland’s Medical Cannabis Licensing War Wages On

10/21/2016

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Maryland Del. Cheryl D. Glenn said the state’s Medical Cannabis Commission has “no oversight” and “no diversity” claiming that the commission was “never set up to do what they are charged to do now,” during a panel discussion sponsored by the Greater Baltimore Committee.

However, Michael Bronfein, chief executive of Curio Wellness — one of the 15 companies approved for preliminary cannabis licenses by the commission — said the 2014 law is one of the best in the country and the market should decide how many companies need to be licensed to meet the needs of patients in the state.

“We have a process and we ought to let it play out for a year or two,” Bronfein said in the Baltimore Sun report. “We don’t know that we need 15. Ten may be enough.”

The process used by the commission chose 15 companies ranked by Townson University for the licenses using a double-blind method. Yet, it has been wrought with delays and scandal for months. The Legislative Black Caucus, which Glenn chairs, first voiced their concerns over the lack of minority-approved businesses in August, announcing plans to introduce legislation to address the issue the following month.  Later in September, two companies initially ranked in the top 15 by Towson who were denied licenses after commissioners reshuffled the order due to “geographic diversity” requirements in the law, sued the MCC. And this month, it was reported that one of the companies who replaced the now-plaintiffs has family ties to Annapolis lobbyist Gerard Evans; later that month, the only commissioner who disapproved of the reordering of applicants was not reappointed to her post.

All the while, patients are getting no closer to having access to medicine.

Sen. Jamie Raskin, who sponsored the law, said he didn’t understand how the commission determined it was ok to reshuffle the list for geographic diversity, but not consider the racial diversity — which he said was written in the same sentence.

“It would not make sense to overthrow racial diversity for geographic diversity,” he said.

And there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. While the commission did meet with the Black Caucus early this month, no changes have come from that meeting; lawsuits are still pending and the nascent industry just cannot move forward.

“We need to revisit what we did in the legislation,” Glenn said. “We are not going to do this in such a jacked-up way.”

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Flowering cannabis plant in an indoor grow operation.

Steep Hill Report Finds 84% of Cannabis Tainted with Pesticides

10/20/2016

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According to a report from Steep Hill Labs, about 84 percent of medical cannabis samples tested by the lab over a 30-day period tested positive for pesticide residues, the company said in a press release. Of “paramount concern” is the presence of Myclobutinal, which was found in excess of 65 percent in all samples.

Myclobutinal is listed as a “general use pesticide” and is typically sprayed on grapes, strawberries and almonds, however when the chemical is heated it converts into Hydrogen Cyanide — a Schedule 3 substance under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

During the 30-day period ending on Oct. 10, Steep Hill tested and reported pesticides in over 84 percent of cannabis, which would have failed under Oregon’s pesticide regulations.

Jmichaele Keller, president and CEO of Steep Hill, said that most cannabis consumers are not given correct data and that the cannabis they are consuming might not be safe.

“…smoking a joint of pesticide-contaminated cannabis could potentially expose the body to lethal chemicals,” he said in the release. “As a community, we need to address this issue immediately and not wait until 2018.”

Don Land, chief scientific consultant for Steep Hill, said knowing this problem before California voters go to the polls next month is important because the industry has proven to be “responsive and responsible.”

“When we introduced our accurate residual solvent test for concentrates in 2013, almost everybody had contamination in their products, at first. Now, just a couple of years later, almost nobody fails,” he said. “Our solutions helped the industry become responsible.”

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Fourth MMJ Company Added to Australian Stock Exchange

10/20/2016

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Creso Pharma, a developer of medicinal cannabis therapies, is the latest cannabis company to list on Australia’s ASX, according to an SBS report. The company joins MMJ Phytotech, Medlab Clinical, and MGC Pharmaceuticals as cannabis companies listed on the exchange.

Boaz Wachtel, Creso co-founder and chairman, said that while the medical marijuana industry is “booming” there remains a “notable unmet need” for pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and hemp-based nutraceutical products.

The company develops cannabis-based therapies for both humans and animals. Dr. Miri Halperin Wernli, Creso chief executive, said pets suffering from behavioral disorders, pain, inflammation and seizures could likely benefit from cannabis therapies.

“Just as medical cannabis can be used to treat a range of ailments in humans, a growing body of empirical evidence from animal studies as well as extensive in vitro research actually indicates that various animals could also benefit from therapies derived from the cannabis and hemp plants,” she said in the report.

Following the listing, company shares gained 4 cents to 24 cents.

A former wine investment company, TW Holdings Limited, is also planning on hosting a backdoor listing of AusCann. The move will allow AusCann to be listed on the exchange without becoming a public company or engaging in an initial public offering.     

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The front steps of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, New York.

Cannabis Real Estate Investor Trust Files for NYSE Listing

10/20/2016

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Innovative Industrial Properties Inc., a cannabis-related Real Estate Investor Trust, has filed to be a public company, seeking to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a Forbes report. If approved, the company would be the first cannabis-related business to be listed on the NYSE.

The company plans to sell 8.75 million shares at $20 each under the symbol IIPR — in total, there are 10 million shares, giving the company a $200 million valuation.

Additionally, the trust is currently working on a deal with PharmaCann which would see the company buy Pharmacann’s 127,000 square foot building in New York, and then lease it back to them for $30 million. That deal is expected to close in a couple of months. According to Jeremy Unrah, PharmaCann general counsel, the deal is one way for the company to raise money due to the financing challenged in the cannabis industry.

“You don’t get construction loans like normal companies,” he said in the report. “We had millions tied up in this facility, so it made sense.”

Innovative Industrial Properties plans on focusing its assets to legalized states, including Illinois, California, Maryland, Arizona, Washington, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and New York.

Historically, the NYSE has declined to allow the listing cannabis-centric companies. In May, Nasdaq denied the application of the social network MassRoots.

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Will the Real Weeder App Please Stand Up?

10/20/2016

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takemetoyourweeder

PHOENIX, AZ — MTV, along with Executive Producer Snoop Dogg, released the first episode of Mary + Jane, a marijuana-themed comedy show on Monday, September 5 at 10pm. The two women in the show start a cannabis delivery service in Los Angeles, California, and on the show they use an app called WeederLA. However, an application similar to the app used on the show already exists in the cannabis industry, and the name of the app is Weeder.

The show introduces two young millennial entrepreneurs that decide to start a cannabis delivery service in Los Angeles. The main characters — Paige, played by Jessica Rothe, and Jordan, played by Scout Durwood — turn to social media marketing and a new mobile technology to promote their efforts. The application used in the show, which helps clients find and review local cannabis businesses, is aptly called “WeederLA.” The women also get rated as one of the top 15 businesses in L.A. under the Weeder15, a category found in the WeederLA App.

The actual Weeder App, found in the Google Play store, focuses on exclusive discounts, local deals and event information where users can find products and services in the legal cannabis industry. The mobile app and live website were recently unveiled to the cannabis industry and has been met with rave reviews. Being a cross between Groupon and Yelp, the easy-to-use app allows you to view deals, discounts, and current information about live events and local medical marijuana providers right from your smart device. The application allows you to choose discounts from specific categories based off of geo-targeted locations near you. These discounts and deals are searchable on the website as well the mobile app.

While the application in the show is not exactly like the real Weeder app, they do bear striking similarities.

“Our entire goal and reason for making the application was for it to be successful in helping people find the cannabis services, products and discounts they need. We believed that the cannabis industry is thriving more than ever, and the show having a similar app simply proves we are on the right track,’” said Steve Lippert, Weeder’s CEO.

The pop culture reference, as well as a rapidly growing cannabis industry, shows that the Weeder team wisely predicted the economic boom of recreational and medical cannabis. The application is available in the Android Store — and the app’s IOS application is built and submitted, simply waiting for the approval from Apple — and is ready to help customers find discounts and deals for all of their Cannabis needs.

Contact information:

Steve Lippert, CEO
Weeder LLC
1 East Washington Street Suite 500
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Steve@weederapp.com

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The flag of Israel.

Israeli MMJ Firm Completes Cannabinoid-Enriched Tablet for Non-Smoking Patients

10/20/2016

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Israel-based OWC Pharmaceutical has announced the completion of a cannabinoid-enriched sublingual tablet for patients who are not able to, or do not wish to, smoke cannabis as a medicine delivery method, the company announced in a press release. They are currently seeking approval for the tablet by the Israeli Ministry of Health’s Medicinal Cannabis Unit.

Dr. Yehuda Baruch, OWC’s director of research and regulatory affairs, said that while serving as head of the Health Ministry’s Medical Cannabis Program he observed that “about 15 percent of eligible patients do not use medical cannabis because they cannot, or do not want to smoke it.”

Baruch served as the head of the program from 2003 through 2013, treating more than 15,000 patients with cannabis.

“What’s more, smoking is not particularly effective for some conditions. We developed the tablet to facilitate the bioavailability and administration of our cannabis formulations to patients,” he said in the release. “Consistent and accurate dosing is critical to the successful treatment of any condition, and our tablet is able to deliver that.”

Ziv Turner, OWC CEO, indicated that the company has already entered into talks with the Ministry of Health and indicated that several U.S. firms are interested in bringing the product to the states “as regulations allow.”

“We expect that there is a substantial number of eligible patients who are uncomfortable smoking cannabis for medical purposes in the United States as well as other regions, leaving a large segment of the patient population without real access to treatment,” he said. “We believe our tablet is a preferable administrative method for those, and many other patients, and will make a real difference in the way cannabis is administered.”

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Building bathed in sunlight in downtown Portland, OR.

Recreational Cannabis Sales in Oregon Top $160M

10/19/2016

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Recreational cannabis sales in Oregon hit $160.8 million through the first nine months of the year, resulting in $40.2 million in sales tax payments, according to a Register-Guard report. Sales of recreational cannabis sold at medical marijuana dispensaries are taxed 25 percent, but sales by retailers licensed this month by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission are taxed 17 percent.

As of Monday, just three dispensaries have been approved as recreational retailers — two in Eugene and one in Cottage Grove. Medical dispensaries must get licensed by the Control Commission by the end of the year to continue operating as recreational retailers. Dispensaries can opt out and continue operating as medical-only suppliers.  

The Department of Revenue indicated they are still waiting on some dispensaries to file their quarterly returns, which will provide details about which recreational cannabis products sold the most.   

Officials are expecting to license 350 recreational retailers by 2017, with a total of 550 expected by 2019, according to a report from the Revenue Department. According to the Marijuana Business Daily Factbook, recreational sales in the state were projected to be between $180 million and $220 million for the entire year.

In Oregon, 40 percent of tax revenues are earmarked for the Common School Fund; 25 percent for mental health and substance abuse services; 15 percent for the state police, and 20 percent for local law enforcement for cities and counties.

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Survey: Cannabis Policy has Significant Influence on Voter Opinions in Upcoming Election

10/19/2016

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According to Cannalytics’ 2016 Voter Report, cannabis policy has a “significant impact and influence” on voter opinions in the upcoming election and that 95 percent of the near 6,000 respondents would rather use legal medical marijuana over prescription drugs, regardless of whether they have used cannabis before.

The report found that 46 percent identified as independent voters, compared to 54 percent who identified as Republican or Democrat. Regardless of political party, a strong majority supported national decriminalization — 96 percent of Republicans agreed, while 89 percent “strongly” agreed; Democrats agreed 96.5 percent with 93.8 percent strongly agreeing; 96.8 percent of independents agreed, with 95 percent agreeing strongly.

Sixty-five percent of respondents said they had consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the last 30 days, and of those who do drink 53 percent said they would drink less if cannabis was legal.

Younger groups were most likely to use cannabis daily, and the majority said they would move because of local cannabis laws. The majority of younger voters were the biggest proponents of using tax revenues from cannabis sales to fund education.

The poll found that men and women consumed cannabis at similar rates, with the majority from both genders admitting to consuming cannabis daily over the previous 30 days.

“Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America (behind alcohol and tobacco), but lately marijuana has been getting a lot more political attention, consequently making it appear that the community is growing at a rapid pace,” the authors wrote.

A majority of respondents, 75 percent, said that they would be more motivated to vote in the election if there was marijuana legislation on the ballot, suggesting that voter turnout could be higher in the nine states voting on cannabis policy during next month’s general election.

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Viewing Anchorage, Alaska from across the water.

Elementary School Administrators Apologize After Urging Parents to Oppose Anchorage Dispensary  

10/19/2016

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Officials at an Anchorage, Alaska elementary school apologized after sending a ‘partisan’ automated phone message to parents urging them to voice opposition to recreational cannabis dispensaries at a city Assembly meeting, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.

The message, sent by Campbell Elementary School administrators, alleges that the Assembly “quietly passed” approval for a dispensary two weeks prior “without public input or outcry,” and that the Assembly would decide on another shop at the meeting.

“It hits too close to home, it hits too close to our school,” the female voice says. “Please, we are asking for as many families as possible to make an appearance at [the meeting] tonight to show who this will be having an impact on — our children.”

Heidi Embly, spokesperson for the Anchorage School District, said the calls were sent at the behest of Principal Michelle Johansen, who is taking responsibility for the content of the message. She declined to provide the identity of the staff member reading the message, which was sent to 464 phone numbers.

“This was not something that should have happened or will happen again in the future,” Embley said in the report. “It should have been a strictly informational message to notify parents of something that may have been of interest to them.”

The system is usually reserved for informational and emergency phone calls or texts.

In a subsequent message, Johansen apologized for the tone of the original call.

“Unfortunately, words were used which implies partisanship,” she said. “This is not the intent or policy of the district or our school.”

Embly said that principals at all of the district’s schools were reminded of “appropriate communication as district employees, particularly regarding political activity” and that the school supervisor is investigating the incident.        

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A collection of clones on display in a California cannabis dispensary.

New Jersey Lawmakers Witness Colorado’s ‘Sophisticated’ Cannabis Industry

10/19/2016

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A group of New Jersey lawmakers toured several Denver cannabis companies over three days to see what legalization looks like for themselves, according to a report from Philly.com.

Assemblyman Jim Kennedy said the operation had an unexpected “level of sophistication.”

“There’s been a lot of talk about legalization in New Jersey and I want to be informed on the successes and pitfalls of it,” Assemblywoman Maria Rodriguez said in the report. “I’m not necessarily against it but I’m here to learn more and be better informed.”

The group of four Democrats and two Republicans visited Medicine Man Technologies’ grow center during their tour, prompting “wow”s from members of the contingent as they saw a full-scale cannabis operation for the first time.

Republican State Sen. Kip Bateman compared the set up at the dispensaries to that of “jewelry stores where everything is kept behind glass cases.”

“As long as the right restrictions are in place it could work in New Jersey,” he said.

Last month, Republican Assemblyman Michael Carrol introduced legislation to regulate cannabis like tobacco — he was not present during the tour, however. State Sen. Nick Scutari was present, and has previously introduced legalization legislation which never garnered enough support to make it to the floor for a vote. He indicated he was planning on reintroducing the measure soon.

Even if lawmakers pass any of the bills, it is likely they would be vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie, who is an outspoken critic of legal marijuana.

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View of the entrance to the New West Summit 2.0, held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco.

New West Summit Brings Industry Minds Together

10/18/2016

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New West Summit was truly a meeting of the minds. Last weekend’s San Francisco trade show, in its second year, covered the latest intersections of technology, investment, and media in the cannabis space, with huge implications for the entire industry.

“At New West Summit 2.0 we saw both attendance and exhibitor numbers double,” said executive director Jim McAlpine. “I’ve already asked Sir Richard Branson to return in person next year, and I’m also shooting for Elon Musk as our keynote for New West Summit 3.0. The professionalism, strong branding and innovative technology unveiled at the event are a sure sign this industry is moving rapidly in the right direction.”

As a budding cannabis industry entrepreneur, I jumped at the chance to be a fly on the wall at this summit. From material covered in panel discussions, to the big-name companies in attendance, think of New West Summit as a harbinger of the cannabis industry trends that will rule in 2017.

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Tradiv, one of Colorado’s largest and most successful tech-focused cannabis companies, had representatives discussing the company’s software offerings.

Sustainability

Those who claim that the cannabis industry wastes energy and resources can officially take a seat. The majority of cultivators are constantly researching and implementing sustainable new methods for growing with less water and less energy. Fleurish Farms, experimental cannabis growers and extractors out of Sonoma County, arrived ready to show off their DSS Sungrown lighting technology, creating a fully customizable indoor environment for cannabis plants using Solatube skylights.

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Cannabis experts, business owners, and industry advocates were featured on various speaking panels throughout the two-day conference.

Market Data

A central theme of the weekend’s discussions was data, and how to analyze it. Regulated markets have enabled companies to collect data points on virtually every interaction and transaction that happens in the cannabis industry, from effectiveness of media and advertising campaigns, to  types of products purchased to budtender productivity per hour. Title conference sponsor, New Frontier Data, has been collecting this data and now wants to partner with companies and investors to help optimize business models, sales, efficiency, and even advertising ROI. Other market data firms in attendance included Headset and BDS Analytics. 

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A mid-day press conference was held on Friday in support of California’s Prop. 64, which aims to legalize recreational cannabis.

Vaporizer Tech

Until now, the cannabis vaporizer market has been cornered by a few staple devices, like the chamber vape, and 510-battery setups for use with disposable cartridges. A few proprietary disposable vapes have also been developed based on technology used for nicotine fluids. All that will change over the next year as cannabis-specific vape tech develops for the first time. Key players in the space that were in attendance and launching vape products at New West included hmbldt, PAX, and Firefly.

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Smaller conference rooms were filled to the brim with entrepreneurs, investors, and cannabis enthusiasts who were all eager to learn from the panels’ many experts.

Digital Media

While several solid print publications are still out there covering cannabis, it’s abundantly clear that the future of cannabis “edutainment” lives online. Today’s digital sources appeared as full-blown television channels and social media properties, as well as blog publications. Civilized.Life, a newcomer catering to professional cannabis consumers aged over 30, was one of the event’s most present sponsors. Other big media players exhibiting at the New West Summit 2.0 included Dope Magazine, PROHBTD, Snoop Dogg’s venture MERRY JANE, and startup press company Direct Cannabis Network.

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New West Summit 2.0 was held at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, California.

A Bright Future

A press conference was called during the event, with Jane West, Steve DeAngelo, Kristen Nevedal, and several other cannabis activists encouraging all Californians to vote for Proposition 64 and to legalize cannabis for adults in the state. While not everyone was excited to vote for the measure in its current form, most agreed that the civil rights issues took precedent, and more protections for small businesses and craft cultivators would have to come after it had passed.

With numerous other states voting on ballot initiatives this election cycle, the cannabis movement could finally be at a tipping point. From the professionalism of the vendors and attendees, to the focus on technology and forward-thinking business, New West Summit was a clear example of where the cannabis industry is headed. 

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Balancing the company's finances.

Manufacturers of Cannabis Edibles Seeing Minimal Profit Margins

10/18/2016

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While edibles comprise nearly 50 percent of cannabis sales in Washington and Colorado — 42 percent and 57 percent respectively, according to BDS analytics — significant profit margins are so far unrealized, according to a Bakery and Snacks review of a discussion by canna-business professionals at the International Baking Industry Exposition.

The session, “The Future of Wholesale Baking with Marijuana,” presented by two Colorado-based wholesale bakers from Sweet Grass Kitchen and Love’s Oven, gave attendees at the IBIE an inside look at the growing sector.

Eric Knight, COO of Sweet Grass Kitchen, explained that a “significant chunk” of their product costs are packaging and labeling — which have constantly changed. Another chunk is spent on product testing, which runs roughly $16,000 per month.

“The regulations also affect our equipment, material handling, process control and inventory management,” Knight said in the report. “The reason why we do these things is to achieve pharmaceutical level portion control and repeatability.”

Jesse Burns, the company’s director of marketing, pointed out that the new stamping requirements in Colorado forced the company to spend “a lot of capital” on new machines in order to meet the requirements of the new law. He indicated that Sweet Grass Kitchen opted for a class-4 laser to engrave their products, while Love’s Oven uses edible ink.

The stamp is designed to help prevent accidental ingestion of marijuana products.

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‘No on 4’ Campaign Releases TV Spot in Massachusetts

10/18/2016

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The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts has released its first ‘No on 4’ TV spot depicting a mother and daughter driving through a town with several dispensaries, culminating with the duo arriving at a toy store and showing the small child staring at edibles through a dispensary window — the very dispensary a young man walks out of. The young man stops in his tracks and locks eyes with the woman, saying “Mom?” as the narrator urges the viewer to vote ‘no.’

Comments on the YouTube video have been disabled.

The ad, produced by Republican consulting firm Jamestown Associates, takes on an almost dystopian tone — “Question 4 would allow thousands of pot shops and marijuana operators throughout Massachusetts — in neighborhoods like yours,” the narrator says.

The spot uses two key arguments. The first — that drugged driving and fatal car accidents are up — has been thoroughly debunked. According to a report from the Drug Policy Alliance, based on figures from Colorado and Washington, there have been “no obvious increases in traffic fatalities” after legalization and arrests for DWI are down. While it is true that more drivers involved in fatal crashes have tested positive for THC in Washington, either alone or in combination with other drugs or alcohol, there is no evidence that cannabis was a contributing factor in those incidents — and the number of so-called drugged drivers isn’t up significantly, from 44 in 2010 to 72 in 2014.

The ad’s second claim, that there are more dispensaries than Starbucks and McDonald’s combined in Colorado, is actually true. However, the language in Question 4 caps the number of dispensaries in the state to 75 the first year, and with Massachusetts much smaller than the states where cannabis is legal it is highly unlikely that dispensaries would overtake the coffee and burger chains.

“This ad has about as much connection to reality as a Donald Trump campaign speech, which should come as no surprise since it’s funded by a Trump endorser and made by a Trump ad firm,” Jim Borghesani, a spokesman for YES on 4 said in the Boston Globe report.

The initiative is likely to pass, according to our poll aggregates, where 48 percent indicate support with 43 percent opposed.

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North American Cannabis Holdings Reports 23% FY2016 Growth

10/18/2016

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North American Cannabis Holdings Inc. reported 23 percent annual growth during fiscal year 2016, reporting $515,475 in sales and eliminating over $2 million in debt — more than 45 percent, the company announced in a press release.

The company operates a variety of enterprises including hemp farming in Vermont and growing medical cannabis in Maine, to extraction and edibles. The company also acts as a pilot program incubator and reports that two projects have successfully “graduated” from the program.

One of the ventures, AmmeriCanna Café, a cannabis-themed restaurant chain, graduated as an in-house project and “accounts for the current reported revenue,” the release says. North American Cannabis acquired the company, which includes a full all-day menu, fitness center and smoothie product, in June, 2015. The company plans on franchising the “hybrid” fast food and casual dining café.

The other graduate, an extraction operation, is being commercialized as a spinoff. The project uses a proprietary extraction process for use in infused food and edibles. The operation is housed in the independent company Puration, Inc. According to Puration’s revenue plan, the company estimates three collaboration agreements worth $1 million each will “be finalized promptly.”

North American Cannabis is planning a dividend issuance of Puration common stock for shareholders on Oct. 21.

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Green tractor doing field work in California.

United Farm Workers Union Endorses Prop 64

10/18/2016

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The United Farm Workers union has officially endorsed California’s Proposition 64, according to a press release from the Yes on 64 campaign. The union is the country’s largest farm workers union, operating in 10 states.

The ballot initiative is a consensus measure by the union “based on recognized best practices and recommendations from hundreds of engaged citizens and organizations.” UFW President Arturo S. Rodriguez said the measure provides justice and job training to “communities of color that have been cynically targeted by the failed war on marijuana.”

“It also extends strong worker and safety protections for those who toil in the fields of this industry and work in every part of the supply chain,” he said in the release. “UFW is pleased to endorse it.”

Prop 64 has also won support from the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, California Academy of Preventative Medicine, California Medical Association and the California Nurses Association.

However, some growers have voiced concern over the question, saying that it will cause onerous oversight and welcomes big businesses which could eliminate independent and small farms. A poll of California Growers Association members found that the majority — 38 percent — were still undecided on which way they would vote, with 31 percent both for and against the initiative.

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Scottish National Party Delegates Pushing for New MMJ Regulations

10/17/2016

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The Scottish National Party is backing the decriminalization of cannabis for medicinal use, calling on the UK government to allow the Scottish government to regulate the drug, the Independent reports.

The vote by the delegates does not mean that the Scottish government will adopt the policy, but it is an indication of strong support for future measures.

Laura Brennan-Whitefield, who has suffered from multiple sclerosis for nine years, met with the delegates and urged them to show “compassion and common sense” on medical marijuana policies.

“I’m not advocating the smoking of cannabis, what I’m advocating is a progressive and reasonable, compassionate society where you can access pain relief,” she said in the report. “It has become very clear to me over these last nine years that many people living with MS have been using cannabis to help with the symptoms of that condition. In fact, it’s one of the worst kept secrets at the hospital.”

Crispin Blunt, a Conservative Member of Parliament for the Reigate constituency in Surrey, said he has been asked to stop asking questions about drug policy while in office, saying that he has been told it was “impolitic” to raise those issues.

In the UK, cannabis is classified as a Class B drug, and people convicted for possession can face up to five years in prison; however, the maximum penalties are rarely enforced, according to the report.

Just last week, the UK government’s Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency admitted that CBD has medicinal value and will allow CBD-only products to be sold by licensed retailers.     

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