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New Mexico’s MMJ Program Marred by Application Processing Delays

7/26/2016

Medical cannabis patients and providers in New Mexico are frustrated by the delay of medical card processing in the state, with wait times as long as 60 days, according to a KRQE report.

“This is frustrating cause we try to provide… quality service and a lot of the time the patients don’t understand that it’s not our facility that does the processing of the cards,” Patrick Gifford, of Zia Health and Wellness, said in the report.

Gifford added that the dispensary gets at least 20 to 30 calls per day by patients hoping for answers. The dispensary can only give them the number to the Department of Health, who tell them they have to keep waiting.

Health Department officials say they are working on adding more staff members to help with the backlog of applications and are recommending that people submit their applications 60 days before their current cannabis card expires in order to avoid enrollment gaps. The Department is also encouraging people to double check their applications to make sure there are no reasons to delay processing.

Within the last year, the Health Department has received 10,000 applications for the program. They say incomplete applications also cause delays for the processing of all other applications they receive. They have not given a firm time table for when the problem would be under control.

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Italian Parliament Debates Legalizing Recreational Cannabis

7/26/2016

Italian lawmakers held initial debates yesterday on whether to legalize cannabis for recreational use, according to a report from Reuters. The plan is backed by legislators who say a formal market would strip mafia groups of some income, but conservative groups and the Roman Catholic Church stand opposed.

Under the measure, citizens would be allowed to possess 5 grams on their person and up to 15 grams at home. Individuals would be allowed to grow up to five cannabis plants, and up to 50 if part of a social group of growers. The state would license dispensaries to sell marijuana and its derivatives.

Private sales and smoking in any public space would remain outlawed.

“Legalize cannabis to take profits from the mafia, free police to do other work, control substances that are in circulation, fight consumption among adolescents, move money from traffickers’ accounts into the state’s coffers,” Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Della Vedova wrote in a Facebook post.

In June 2014, Pope Francis said “No to every type of drug use” during a drug control conference in Rome.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party and the 5-Star Movement both support the bill, but opponents lodged more than 1,300 amendments before it arrived for a discussion in the lower house of Parliament.

According to the bill text, the value of the illegal cannabis industry in Italy is estimated between $7.91 billion and $32.98 billion.

Lawmakers will re-open the debate in September.

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

Tweed Strikes Deal to Export Medical Cannabis to Germany

7/26/2016

Canada’s largest medical cannabis producer, Tweed, can begin exporting its product to Germany, after receiving approval from both countries, the company announced yesterday.

“Introducing Tweed product to German medical cannabis patients is an exciting and groundbreaking event,” Bruce Linton, chairman and CEO of Tweed parent company Canopy Growth said in a press release. “Patients will soon have a new choice in variety for their medical cannabis, and we are honored to be involved in the changing landscape for German access and choice.”

Germans can buy medical cannabis in pharmacies for a variety of conditions, but the country has yet to establish adequate domestic production.

Working with MedCann GmbH Pharma and Nutraceuticals (“MedCann”), Tweed will introduce two strains in Germany, with plans to export more varieties as soon as possible. The deal is the first known incidence of a licensed Canadian producer exporting dried cannabis to a major G7 country.

Canopy recently announced agreements to bring its products to markets in Brazil and Australia. With the agreement with Germany, the company now offers products on four continents.

“As the German population now knows, the regulatory aspects and laws concerning medical cannabis have evolved to address the growing needs of medical cannabis patients in Germany,” Dr. Pierre Debs, co-founder of MedCann said in the release. “Now, in the summer of 2016, through the concerted efforts of MedCann and Tweed, patients across Germany can be assured of a new supply and variety of the highest quality medical cannabis.”

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Massachusetts Forcing Dispensaries to ‘Pay-to-Play’

7/26/2016

Medical cannabis dispensaries in Massachusetts are being subjected to a ‘pay-to-play’ scheme by cities and towns in order to get letters necessary to win state licenses, according to a Boston Globe review of compacts between the companies and the municipalities.

Good Chemistry of Massachusetts promised to pay the city of Worcester $450,000 over three years, and $200,000 a year after that along with $10,000 annually to charities, in order to procure the blessing from city officials. The company also has to pay property taxes and agreed never to seek a reduction or elimination of taxes due to its not-for-profit status.

A negotiation in Springfield shows that the city would get 7 percent of a prospective dispensary’s revenue, along with another $50,000 per year donation to the police department.

In Salem, Alternative Therapies Group paid $82,856 to the town after opening their dispensary, the state’s first, a year ago. That deal requires them to pay 1.25 percent of their annual sales for the first two years and 2 percent after that.

These types of arrangements are not typical in other states with cannabis infrastructure, and advocates say the system will increase the cost of doing business in the state while siphoning money from shops that could be used to offset costs for needy patients.

Local leaders say the arrangements are necessary because municipalities will need the funds to deal with unforeseen problems with the industry, such as increased traffic and police services.

Dominick Pangallo, chief of Staff for Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, said the city has experienced neither a crime nor traffic increase since the dispensary opened.

Edward M. Augustus Jr., Worcester’s city manager, said the city will use the funds from Good Chemistry for a struggling after-school and summer youth program, not for police and traffic services.

“The market will dictate at what point it is not financially viable for them to sign host agreements that are above a certain number,” Augustus said in the report. “It’s up to the companies to say that’s not sustainable.”

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Weed-N-Greet Coming to Los Angeles on August 7

7/25/2016

by Featured Announcement

Cannabis and the music industry have enjoyed a long lasting friendship. Now, these two forces of nature come together for an epic engagement on August 7 at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The event will feature a night of B2B networking for cannabis entrepreneurs, investors, and music professionals, and is hosted as a collaborative effort between 420faithful, Dufflebag Records and Misty Mountain Tickets.

According to organizer Doug Zweber, the event offers a traditional B2B networking experience in a more relaxed, pool party setting. “We’re looking to shake up the business to business networking model for the cannabis and music industries,” Zweber said. “There’s always been an unofficial relationship between the two [industries], but we plan to take it to the next level and make each event more of an entertainment experience rather than a day of listening to stuffy industry speakers.”

The event will feature performances by Pete Rock, Talib Kweli, and Poncho Warwick. Additionally, local recording artists and media will join the performers in greeting cannabis industry leaders and their guests throughout the day of entertainment and networking opportunities. Food and drinks will be available poolside, and sponsors will be handing out samples and promotional materials in their Weed-N-Greet Suites poolside!

General admission tickets cost $30.

Cannabis business owners looking to make the ultimate public relations statement can host 20 of their closest customers and business prospects by reserving one of several “Weed-N-Greet Suites,” available at www.mistymountaintickets.com/weedngreet. For more information about the suites, or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, contact Doug Zweber at 770-318-8957 — or send inquiries to sales@420faithful.com.

Event organizers are expanding operations in California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado to bring the B2B Weed-N-Greet experience to the cannabis industry around the country.

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Florida Dispensary Makes State’s First Medical Cannabis Delivery

7/25/2016

Florida’s Trulieve delivered its first medical cannabis package to a patient in Pasco County, CEO Kim Rivers announced last Saturday, three days before their brick-and-mortar shop is slated to open in Tallahassee.

“Honoring our commitment to a statewide delivery service, we are pleased and proud to announce that the very first patient in the state has received low-THC medical cannabis,” Rivers said in the WFLA 8 report.

The patient suffers from Dystonia, a condition that causes seizures and chronic muscle spasms, according to a press release.

Trulieve is the first company to receive an Authorization to Process and an Authorization to Dispense from the Health Department. The company is authorized to deliver its medical cannabis anywhere in the state to people approved for the program.

“I have said this before but we really want to thank the Department of Health for their supreme public service during this process,” Rivers said in the release. “The staff and leadership have been consummate professionals throughout this process and have been accessible and knowledgeable all along the way.”

Surterra Therapeutics, also approved by the Health Department to operate dispensaries, anticipates their sites in Tampa and Tallahassee will be open for business by the end of the summer.

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Washington Patients Experiencing ‘Rough’ Start as Medical Merges With Recreational

7/25/2016

Medical cannabis in Washington is having a “rough transition” with the recreational industry, the Bellingham Herald reports, as patients remain skeptical of being entered into the state database and do not want to pay the 37 percent excise tax included on recreational cannabis sales.

It is also difficult for operators to get their medical cannabis approved due to the state’s testing requirements for the drug. Furthermore, there are no labs currently approved by the Department of Health to fully satisfy the testing requirements of medical cannabis products.

Dispensaries who failed to get licensed by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board to sell cannabis were closed down on July 1 — the day that Washington’s medical and recreational systems were combined as per SB 5052 or the Cannabis Patient Protection Act, which lawmakers approved in 2015. Many of those dispensaries had been operating under the largely unregulated, old medical cannabis system.

Retailers now seeking state endorsements to dispense medical cannabis must have employees who have completed state-mandated medical marijuana consultant training, which allows them to create medical cards, help patients select medicine and enter patient information into state databases. Patients must have certain qualifying conditions such as cancer or Crohn’s disease.

As of July 15, 341 dispensaries in the state were approved to sell medicinal cannabis but just 69 of them had an approved medical consultant on staff.

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L.A. County Likely Abandoning Cannabis Tax to Fund Homeless Services

7/25/2016

Los Angeles County’s “marijuana tax” to fund programs aimed at providing homeless services is likely going to be scrapped by the Board of Supervisors over fears that voters would not pass the measure in November, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who authored the proposal, introduced a measure last Friday to pull the measure from the ballot due to “a good deal of ambivalence” surrounding the plan. She suggested that substance abuse treatment providers were not enthusiastic about legalizing cannabis, which might make it difficult to garner the two-thirds majority support needed to pass a ballot initiative.

The board approved the tax in a 3-2 vote earlier this month, which would have added a 10 percent tax to cannabis sales, raising an estimated $130 million a year for homeless housing and health services. Now it appears that no county tax measure to fund homeless programs will be put to voters.

Ariel Clarke, chair of the Los Angeles Cannabis Task Force, said any talk about potential cannabis taxes on revenues are “premature” because of the split in county and state law — not to mention the legalization legislation has not yet been voted on or passed.

“…Today, cannabis businesses are banned in L.A. County and illegal in the City of L.A.,” Clarke said in a statement. “We need fair local licensing laws that align with state law. Until then, proposals like these are wishful thinking.”

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Illinois Gov. to Collaborate Police Opinions Before Approving Decriminalization

7/25/2016

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) is still reviewing a bill to decriminalize possession of up to 10 grams or less of marijuana, but has promised he will sign the measure after working with State Police on how to handle its implementation, the Associated Press reports.

The bill was sent to Rauner on June 16 and he has 60 days from that date to sign it into law. About 100 Illinois municipalities, including Chicago, already allow police to issue tickets instead of making arrests at their discretion. The pending legislation also would require citation records for possession to be cleared every six months unless local governments decide otherwise.

Greg Sullivan, executive director of the Illinois Sheriff’s Association, said he has reservations about the proposal due to its failure to differentiate between adults and minors who are caught possessing cannabis, and the law doesn’t bring proper attention to use by minors.

“As long as someone can afford the fines, guess what, I may never know it as a parent. I’ve got a problem with that,” he said in the report.

Under the original bill passed by lawmakers, possession of up to 15 grams would be subject to a non-criminal citation with fines between $55 and $155. Lawmakers also recommended that marijuana DUI standards in the state should be 15 nanograms. That version of the bill was vetoed by Rauner, who wanted the weight threshold and DUI standard lowered, in addition to higher fines.

The version awaiting the governor’s signature includes those changes; the DUI standard is 5 nanograms and possession fines are between $100 and $200. Once the bill becomes law, Illinois will be the 17th state to decriminalize marijuana possession.

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Poll: More Republicans Supporting Legalization, Barely

7/24/2016

According to a recent YouGov poll, Republicans narrowly support marijuana legalization 45 to 42 percent, up from 36 percent in Dec. 2015.

Democrats supported legalization 63 to 25 percent, with Independents endorsing cannabis legalization 55 to 33 percent. In sum, the July 17-18 poll found 55 percent of respondents supported legalization, compared to 33 percent opposed.

The attitudes of Republicans did not change much regarding their views on cannabis as a gateway drug, with 43 percent indicating as much. That figure was 44 percent in the December poll. However, the majority of GOP party members polled – 55 percent – believe that enforcing marijuana laws cost more than they are worth, up 1 percent from December.

The poll results come as Republican legislative leaders in Texas are considering decriminalization measures and have added medical cannabis improvements to their party platform.

Despite the positive steps in Texas, however, Republican delegates voted not to endorse medical cannabis as part of their platform during discussions at their convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Voters in Arkansas, a historically blue state with a Republican governor, will vote on legalizing cannabis for medicinal use this November. Efforts in Mississippi to legalize cannabis for recreational use, and in Oklahoma allowing for medical cannabis, both failed to gain enough support to qualify for the upcoming ballot.

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Eugene Monroe, First Active NFL Player to Advocate MMJ, Retires

7/23/2016

Eugene Monroe, the first active NFL player to publically support medical marijuana use for professional football players, has retired from the league after 7 seasons, according to a report from the New York Times.

The offensive tackle was cut by the Baltimore Ravens in June. At that time he said he was not sure if his stance on medical cannabis had led to his release, but that the team “distanced themselves” from him and “made it clear” they did not support his advocacy.

Monroe indicated that he had been contacted by other teams but turned down their offers. He said his retirement is due to fear that his injuries would become debilitating if he kept playing, citing injuries to his knees and one of his shoulders which required surgery.

“They have accumulated to the point that I deal with enormous pain on a daily basis,” he said in the report. “Just getting out of bed, especially during the season, can be difficult.”

Now retired, Monroe will likely continue his advocacy for medical cannabis and hopes more current players will begin publically supporting its use.

“I’ve had conversations with my teammates and have been in conversations with players, and at the very least, they believe more research is needed to find a better option,” he said.

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How Cannabis Companies Can Recover From Bad PR

7/22/2016

by TG Branfalt Jr.

Every industry will eventually have a crisis. The unknowns are what that crisis might be and how operators will handle it.

The legal cannabis industry is almost certain to expand. Six state initiatives, both recreational and medical, have already qualified to appear on their respective state ballots in November. Another measure in Arizona has garnered enough signatures, but is currently being challenged over the initiative’s “regulate like alcohol” language.

So far this year, cannabis products in Colorado and Washington — both recreational use states — have been recalled over pesticide concerns. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Colorado last May seeking damages from two cannabis companies by the family of Kristine Kirk, who was shot and killed by her husband, Richard Kirk, in April 2014. That suit claims the companies failed to issue appropriate warnings about the potency and possible side-effects of marijuana-infused candy purchased by Mr. Kirk the night of the murder.

As the industry grows and cannabis policies become more normalized, many cannabusiness owners will likely face intense public scrutiny and a potential myriad of lawsuits and recalls — setbacks that could cost them not only money but also their reputation in the nascent market. Even the most pragmatic, business savvy owners can fall prey to a crisis that could result in a public relations disaster.

The Higher Ground Agency is a Marina Del Rey, California-based PR firm specializing in the marijuana industry. California is one of the states that will vote on recreational legalization this November.

Julie Fornaro, Higher Ground Agency’s crisis communications expert, explains that “consumer attitudes toward the legal sale of cannabis-related products are still in the process of shifting,” in part because the industry “surrounds the commercialization of products that have been traditionally illegal.”

“Some crises, when not handled well, have the power to shut down the business completely,” Fornaro said in an email with Ganjapreneur.

Public relations firms are often hired for company promotions, but their services can also help mitigate disastrous circumstances. Typically mid-to-large sized businesses will hire firms on retainer, and smaller companies with tighter budgets could consider hiring a firm, or a freelance consultant, on a per-project basis. Either way, a team with crisis communications experts can help owners avoid common mistakes following a calamity. The response to crises can differ — the filing or outcome of a legal case is not likely to have the same impact as an incident involving injury or death. Business owners’ ultimate goal is to reduce the negative impact on their companies.

According to Fornaro, some common PR mistakes made post-crisis include making comments and releasing statements that haven’t been approved by both legal counsel and a public relations specialist. These statements can sometimes be construed as an assumption of guilt and can be used against a defending party in court. The cost of post-crisis recovery, if managed incorrectly, could be more expensive for the company than engaging public relations counsel.

“The ability to recover is more contingent upon the severity of the crisis and, perhaps more importantly, how the company handles the crisis once it occurs,” said Fornaro. “Additionally, if a company has built a good reputation through PR before a crisis hits, that will also positively influence the amount of time it takes to get over the crisis.”

Due to the nature of the cannabis industry, the public perception of a start-up is imperative to its early success. Even in legal states some municipalities and counties have prohibited dispensaries from operating due to the values and opinions of the region – sometimes businesses have to change opinions before they make their first sale.

In 2009, Ean Seeb and Kayvan Shalatbari, co-founders of Denver Relief launched their Green Team organization, which performs community outreach in Colorado and Massachusetts. According to Betty Aldworth, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, ten cannabis dispensaries donated “at least $10,000 or $20,000” to charity in 2012. However, due to marijuana’s Schedule I federal status, some charities still refuse donations from the cannabis industry because they are breaking federal law.

In addition to community outreach, Fornaro suggests new business consider promoting the therapy benefits of cannabis and the tax revenue benefits to localities in order to better assimilate into their community and, perhaps, maintain their reputation and win public support when crisis strikes.

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Introducing GreenForce: A New Staffing and Business Solutions Resource for Cannabis

7/22/2016

Portland, Ore. (July 20, 2016) — This weekend, on Sunday, July 24, GreenForce will be premiering their unique suite of staffing, administration, and professional business services to the cannabis industry at the Oregon Cannabis Association’s Summer Fair. GreenForce will be launching alongside the state’s best craft growers, processors, edible makers and retailers; introducing the company as the go-to partner for professional, reliable temporary and permanent staffing solutions and collaborative business-support services for licensed medical and recreational cultivators. GreenForce is officially engaging partner cultivators in the state of Oregon who want to focus on the quality of their products and not the burden of staffing and administration. GreenForce is also actively recruiting new individuals seeking to learn an in-demand craft, while making connections and a gateway into a new and dynamic industry.

“We see a need for a personable, professional, trustworthy and collaborative partnerships to help with the daily staffing and admin needs of the burgeoning legal cannabis industry,” says Founding Partner, Ryan Rosenfeld. Ryan is a longtime Portland resident, business professional, and cannabis entrepreneur. “We are a group of local business leaders who have come together to bring our professional experience in cannabis, but also in beverage, healthcare, staffing, and the financial services to this industry. We have the right network to offer and we are insiders in this industry who are invested in helping cultivators succeed.”

GreenForce is looking to be more than a staffing agency for the industry’s trimming needs. The team is out in the market working to build an unrivaled network of dependable and trustworthy professionals who can support the cannabis industry throughout the cultivation lifecycle and beyond. GreenForce has thought through the list of cultivator needs to save money and time and make their businesses more productive and profitable. They are in the process of developing a proprietary training program for trimmers and other cultivation support that prepares highly effective and efficient teams who are discreet, verified, sanitary and fully permitted. Ryan and his team are promising to be an indispensable and reliable resource for the cannabis industry in Oregon as it grows and flourishes.

About GreenForce:

GreenForce is a unique team of solution-orientated individuals looking for opportunities to improve labor management and professional services throughout the cannabis industry. Our founders are experienced business leaders, skilled growers, makers, HR, sales and financial professionals who understand the needs of a grow operation and have the network and know-how to make it operate seamlessly day in and day out. GreenForce aims to be the go-to partner for professional, reliable temporary and permanent staffing solutions and collaborative business support service by quality, licensed cannabis cultivators and related industry participants throughout the state of Oregon.

For more information about GreenForce and their services visit http://www.greenforcestaffing.com or contact us at info@greenforcestaffing.com.

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Understanding Internal Revenue Code Section 280E, Part 3

7/22/2016

This is Part 3 of our three-part series covering the Internal Revenue Code Section 280E. If you haven’t already, you may want to read parts one and two before moving forward.

Previously, we learned that Section 280E was originally designed to prevent illegal drug traffickers from claiming business deductions. However, with the state-legal cannabis businesses now operating in many states across the U.S., Section 280E is creating a lot of problems for the industry.

Here, we discuss 280E’s wide-reaching impact on state economies.

Section 280E is Reducing Tax Revenues

State-legal cannabis businesses want to pay federal and state taxes. However, the high tax rates (up to 70% of the business’s income, in some cases) has made some businesses ignore 280E on their tax filings or avoid paying taxes altogether. Many cannabis industry businesses want reform before they pay taxes. While they wait for these changes, Section 280E is effectively reducing the tax revenues for both states and the federal government.

In addition, the risk of being targeted by the IRS has led some state-legal cannabis businesses to hoard cash rather than reinvesting it in their communities and their businesses. The risks that Section 280E has created for legal businesses means that these businesses will continue to be less profitable, making their long-term survival unlikely.

How Can This Problem Be Resolved?

The National Cannabis Industry Association has suggested that the best fix for the problem would be to remove marijuana from the list of substances included in the Controlled Substances Act. Most members of the industry agree, though progress on that front has been bleak.

In addition, The Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2015 — companion Senate and House legislation introduced in the 114th Congress by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) — is a proposal that would exempt state-legal cannabis businesses from Section 280E as long as the business remains in compliance with state law.

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Illinois Judge Orders Officials to Reconsider Migraines as MMJ Qualifying Condition

7/22/2016

An Illinois judge has ruled that officials must reconsider adding migraines to the list of qualifying conditions for a patient to be enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Cook County Circuit Court Associate Judge Rita Novak ordered Department of Public Health Director Nirav Shah to reconsider evidence offered to the state’s Medical Cannabis Advisory Board before they voted to approve cannabis as a migraine treatment. The ruling overturns Shah’s denial to add migraines to the list of eligible conditions even after the Cannabis Board’s approval.

The ruling is a response to a suit by an unnamed man who has been self-medicating with cannabis to treat his chronic migraines, from which he has suffered since adolescence. The man tried several common migraine treatments but, according to his attorney Robert Bauerschmidt, cannabis has proven to be an effective therapy.

“He’s been through everything,” Bauerschmidt said in the report. “Marijuana doesn’t cure it, but he finds the pain less severe and believes the headaches are less frequent when he’s using it.”

Another Illinois-based attorney, Mike Goldberg, has other pending lawsuits against the state that aim to add six other conditions to the eligible list. The ruling by Novak could be a “potential game-changer for the industry,” Goldberg said.

While the ruling does not mean the state must add migraines to the list, it does mean that officials must reconsider their denial.

According to surveys by the American Headache Society, about 16 percent of Americans suffer from migraine headaches.

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MMJ Legislation Introduced in Ireland

7/22/2016

Medical cannabis legislation has been introduced in Ireland’s lower house of Parliament, the Irish Times reports. The legislation would create a cannabis regulatory authority which would develop the program and approve conditions.

Although the measure does not outline which conditions would be eligible for medical cannabis therapy, supporters of the legislation pointed to conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Dravet syndrome as justification for their support of the bill.

“I know…that many MS sufferers already obtain cannabis oil to give them relief but mainly the use of cannabis alleviates the nausea, muscle spasms and pain that go with multiple sclerosis,” People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith said in the report.

The Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill also has provisions for labelling, testing, and advertising, including plans to “promote awareness and an understanding more broadly of cannabis and its effects.”

Only people with prescriptions could possess drug and there would be strict restrictions on selling it.

“We are trying to facilitate the use of cannabis and cannabis-related products for medicinal purposes but these would be ones that have already been experimented on and would clearly have to be prescribed by a medical practitioner or consultant,” Smith said.

There is currently no timeline for debate on the bill.

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Florida’s First Dispensary to Open Next Week

7/21/2016

Florida’s first medical cannabis dispensary is set to open Tuesday, July 26 — two years after it was approved by state lawmakers — according to a Miami Herald report.

Trulieve was given the green light by the Florida Department of Health to open up their Tallahassee location and begin delivering cannabis throughout the state.

“We know that patients have been waiting for a long time,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers said in the report. “We thought that it was critical to open as soon as possible to get patients the medications they have been waiting for.”

Surterra Therapeutics, who will operate locations in Tampa and Tallahassee once approved, harvested its first plants last week and anticipates their sites will be open later this summer.

Florida’s strict medical cannabis law allows dispensaries to sell oils taken orally, injected or by methods other than smoking. Patients must be approved by a doctor who has completed a medical marijuana course, and can place orders with any of the approved dispensaries. While other companies wait for Health Department approval, patients can place orders with Trulieve’s Tallahassee location for delivery. According to Rivers, delivery will take less than a week.

Terminally ill patients, within a year from death, can access full-strength medical cannabis under a measure passed by legislators last spring. A constitutional amendment legalizing the drug for medical purposes, which would expand the eligible condition list, will be put to voters in November.

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Study: States with MMJ Programs See Reduction in Employee Absences

7/21/2016

Businesses in states with medical marijuana programs reported an 8 to 15 percent reduction in illness-related employee absences compared to states without such programs, according to a study published in the July edition of the journal Health Economics.

Employee absences in states with “lax” medical cannabis laws decreased by 16 percent and the effect is stronger for full-time workers and middle-aged males, who are more likely to be registered in medical programs. The figure is just 3 percent in states with strict programs.

According to a 2005 report from the Workforce Institute, about one in 10 workers is not at work when scheduled, costing employers, conservatively, $3,600 per hourly employee per year, and $2,650 per salaried employee per year.

The study suggests that medical marijuana infrastructure would increase employee productivity, due to increased employee presence on the job, which decreases costs for employers.

“Although there is not a direct identification of those who use marijuana for medical purposes in the data, overall sickness absence is reduced for those in age and gender groups most likely to be cardholders,” Darrin Ullman, the study’s author, concluded.

Presently, 23 states and Washington, D.C. have medical cannabis programs. For the study, Ullman considered Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington as those with lax programs.

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Hawaii Dispensaries Stalled Over Permits, Lab Testing

7/21/2016

None of Hawaii’s eight dispensaries were approved to open on July, 15, which was supposed to be the first day they were permitted under the law, the Associated Press reports.

The hold-up is due to the state being unable to certify a lab to test the dispensaries’ products and the Department of Health has yet to receive any applications from laboratories interested in testing the goods.

“On the dispensary front, they’re all doing their best to open their doors with as diverse a product line to serve all of the many needs of the patients and all the qualifying conditions that are out there,” Chris Garth, executive director of the Hawaii Dispensary Alliance said in the report. “Until those products can be tested in a clinical capacity, no dispensary will be able to open their doors, no matter how perfect their product is.”

Honolulu-based Spectra Analytical Lab has started the application process, but according to Lead Chemist Michael Covington, their lab must be certified to meet international standards which he said is a “big deal.”

The certified lab would test for traces of heavy metals, fungus, and potency.

Dean Okimoto, chief agronomist for Pono Life Sciences, said the company is still awaiting Health Department permit approval for potential grow and dispensary sites.

“I’m glad we’re going slowly and cautiously because we want to be doing this the right way, and making sure that the people of Hawaii are protected in all of this,” Okimoto said.

There is an estimated 13,000 Hawaiian patients approved for the program who are forced into the informal market or to grow their own medicine. Dispensary owners are hopeful their sites will be open for business by the end of the year.

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Uruguay Holds Fifth Cannabis Cup

7/21/2016

Uruguay hosted its fifth Cannabis Cup last weekend, with cultivator Guillermo Amandola winning best outdoor self-grown, and Eduardo Bandrea placing first in the self-grown indoor competition, the Associated Press reports.

Winners were chosen by a panel of regional experts and were selected based on aroma, flavor, strength and effects.

The event was held in the country’s capital, Montevideo, at a private building. During the event, vendors sold food and paraphernalia, and live, music was played. Alcohol was banned but all competitors were given samples of competing strains.

The country legalized marijuana cultivation and sale in 2013; the first legal crops were harvested by International Cannabis Corp and SIMbiosys last month. However some pharmacists, who were tabbed by the government to sell the drug, are opting out of the program. Just 50 of the 1,200 pharmacies in the country have registered with the government to sell the drug.

While the competition is not the first since legalization, it is the first Cannabis Cup to be held in Uruguay since regulators started rolling out the program this year.

In the U.S., two Cannabis Cups are scheduled for the summer — the So-Cal: Concentrates Cup in Venice Beach this weekend, and another cup is scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Clio, Michigan.

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Arizona Legalization Initiative Faces New Challenge

7/21/2016

Arizona’s legalization initiative is being challenged over whether or not the wording of the measure is legally flawed, which would disqualify it from appearing on the November ballot, the Arizona Daily Star reports.

Brett Johnson, an attorney representing the challengers, contends that voters who signed petitions were misled by advocates who claimed the plan would regulate marijuana like alcohol. He points out two provisions proving the cannabis market would not be regulated in the same way as the alcohol industry; one pertaining to employers firing people suspected of being under the influence of marijuana; and another giving current medical dispensaries about 100 of the 150 available licenses.

Attorney Kory Langhofer, who represents the campaign, said that there are more similarities than differences between the market outlined in the initiative and alcohol.

“It’s legal with licenses and taxes and restrictions on where and when you can sell it, how you use it,” he said in the report.

Langhofer says Johnson’s claim that voters are being defrauded is false because the initiative backers were not trying to trick them. His opponents’ assertion that the licensing structure was not like the alcohol industry is “immaterial,” he said.

The matter will be heard by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Jo Lynn Gentry on Aug. 12. No matter what is decided in that hearing it is almost certain the losing party will seek a review by the Arizona Supreme Court.

End

Kirsten Nelson: Reaching Your Cannabis Customer

7/21/2016

by Shango Los

Kirsten Nelson is co-founder of cannabis branding agency Blunt Branding, a Pacific Northwest marketing firm dedicated to the cannabis industry. Kirsten recently joined our podcast host Shango Los for a conversation about the unique situation that cannabis producers and retailers face now that the market has been normalized and regulated. Many entrepreneurs still believe the notion that cannabis just “sells itself,” but as the competition gets tougher, more and more companies are realizing that a strategic approach to messaging is necessary.

In this interview, Kirsten talks about ways that retailers can change course to accommodate an expanding customer base, why cannabis companies should consider how they appeal to all of the Myers-Briggs personality types, and some unique strategies to engage customers that are currently underutilized in the cannabis market.

Listen to the podcast below, or scroll down for the full transcript!

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Read the transcript:

Shango Los: Hi there, and welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host, Shango Los. The Ganjapreneur.com podcast gives us an opportunity to speak directly to entrepreneurs, cannabis growers, product developers and cannabis medicine researchers all focused on making the most of cannabis normalization. As your host, I do my best to bring you original cannabis industry ideas that will ignite your own entrepreneurial spark and give you actional information to improve your business strategy and improve your health and the health of cannabis patients everywhere.

Today, my guest is Kirsten Nelson. Kirsten Nelson is co-founder of Blunt Branding, a strategic marketing firm that focuses on revenue generation. Through Kirsten’s unique psychological approach and educational background, she focuses on the business infrastructure necessary for explosive growth. In addition to ghostwriting a Wall Street Journal best-selling book, she has proven successful by increasing her client’s revenue consistently by triple digits.

We asked Kirsten to be on this show after getting really strong feedback about the Blunt Branding commercial we ran two weeks ago. Instead of me trying to explain what psychological marketing was to everyone who asked, we decided to just invite her on this show to offer us all some free consulting. I want to be clear that our podcasts guest spots are not paid for and we invited Kirsten because her approach to marketing is so unique and people were asking about it. With that, welcome to the show, Kirsten.

Kirsten Nelson: Thanks Shango, I am excited to be here.

Shango Los: Yeah, glad you could be here. When cannabis had just started to normalize enough that folks were actually bothering to make company names and start designing packaging, there is was lot of trademark infringement and poor production quality and brands that were barely thought out. As we transitioned into seeing more capital infused into the scene and an increase of marketing professionals making the switch from other industries, what are some of the milestones that you see that the industry hitting that it is maturing at a branding level?

Kirsten Nelson: Well, this is one of the exciting things about the cannabis industry. There are a lot of exciting things but, like you described, the initial barely thought out brands, I always kind of called that the throwing the wet spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks. It is hasty, it is rushed, but now we are getting to the point where we are seeing development and people paying more attention and getting a little more strategic in developing their presence.

In my perspective, the trademark infringements that we are seeing that are getting called onto the carpet between Snoop Dogg and the Canadian Hockey League, this is a sign of progress. People are being taken more seriously, the industry is being taken more seriously in general. We have got big corporate player stepping out, which is really exciting. We have had Microsoft, Apple and a number of other Fortune 500 and 100 companies really starting to be a participant in normalization by adopting their company policies and even stepping into the marketplace.

Shango Los: That makes a lot of sense too because, up until now, the heavies were just kind of ignoring us and most of the industry was appreciating that because there wasn’t as much competition, but there is a certain amount of respect in the fact that the heavies are starting to come and get involved. Even though most of us just wish that we can keep the money to ourselves, it does speak to the maturity of the industry that big players are moving in and even bothering to try and defend their trademarks.

Kirsten Nelson: Exactly and, really, that is another big call to action to all of the business owners in the cannabis industry because the bigger players are stepping onto the field. It is time to get your game together. The poorly executed brands, they do show us something that is very interesting and it really is counter to what most people believe and the misconception in that is that cannabis sells itself and we are going to see that misconception challenged in a lot of different ways as these other big companies are coming in and there is the increasing threat of corporatisation in cannabis. The truth is, that the real battle is not selling cannabis to your customers, it is convincing your customers why they should buy their cannabis from you.

Shango Los: That makes a lot of sense. Even if they are not a cannabis specific retailer, that goes the same for grinders and rolling papers and everything. There is so many, the market is becoming so full with companies that all want to take advantage of the green rush that now it is not, “Do you want weed?” because the answer is always yes, it is, “Do you want our cannabis, do you want our grinder, do you want our professional services?”

Kirsten Nelson: Exactly, the market is quickly flooding. Pretty soon your customers will be able to get whatever they want around every corner. The sustainable business models, these are going to be the ones that give the higher order value, they get their repeat customers, they have more word of mouth because they are taking the time to be intentional about how they show up in the marketplace and how well they stand out in their customer’s minds and lives.

Shango Los: We are talking about a perfect world where cannabis business owners would be excited and they would be active in their branding so they can show differentiation between themselves and their competitors. When I participated in the .com boom, there was not very much resistance to brand strategies. The entrepreneurs understood it and, while they may not have always agreed with the marketing teams, they were glad to have the marketers around. That said, that is not really the case as often in cannabis.

Not only do we see trimmed budgets and companies that can’t even afford a marketing team, but also straight disdain for marketers, especially the people who come from the Prohibition era. They are used to not needing that kind of a thing. Some folks are just against marketers philosophically, right? What has been your experience? Are you seeing an increase in the acceptance of marketing professionals in cannabis, or is it still really cool and very few companies are getting professionals?

Kirsten Nelson: We are still at the early stages of the game where there is high demand for skilled marketing assistants. What we are seeing is the more aggressive and savvy business owners who recognize this need, who are watching the trends, who are seeing all of the other big players encroaching on the space, that these people are willing to make that investment and carving out their niche in the market and really driving their stake into the ground because it is going to get a lot more competitive. It is, the dynamics of the industry, the marketplace, it’s going to shift and if you are not on top if it, you are not going to stand out and you are going to get flushed away.

Shango Los: Right on. Let’s get to our first area of places that the business owners can be on top of it because we invited you here to … We can talk theory and that is fun, but the goal was to really provide people with some things that they can do that are concrete, that can help them increase their bottom line. What is the number one opportunity that you see right now that cannabis companies are missing that could help them increase their revenue?

Kirsten Nelson: Well, in cannabis, in selling cannabis specifically, one of the things that is hugely lacking in all of the dispensaries that I have been to, is increasing the average customer order value.

Shango Los: Okay, so that is a really wonky answer, will you break that out and kind of explain it?

Kirsten Nelson: Yeah, absolutely. Selling cannabis is more than about transaction. In any kind of selling, it is more than just transaction in making the sale. It is about creating an experience, it is about building relationships, it is about building trust. The way that you increase average order value with your customers is by intentionally crafting that experience and you do that by figuring out what your customers need and what they are going to use it for and how does this cannabis fit into their life.

If you consider selling car. If you are a car salesman, not the sleazy kind, but the car salesman who actually wants to give your customers the car and connect them with what best fits in their world, the vehicle that will take them where they need to go in their life, if you will. You have to know what your customer are going to use it for. If you just sold everybody who came in a Maserati, what is the family with eight kids going to do? They need a club wagon, not a Maserati.

Or a minivan if they have just three kids. What are they going to use it for? Is it going to be a work truck, is this a commuter vehicle? Are they buying it because they want to be more environmentally conscious so they would be a better fit for a Prius? That kind of analogy translates into understanding your customers because everybody has a little bit different need in coming into a dispensary. Contrary to popular corporate beliefs, we don’t just all want THC and get as high as possible. It leaves out all of the medicinal benefits.

If someone is coming in because they have anxiety, well if they have anxiety, you better not give them a Sativa because that is going to, most likely, make things worse and give them a negative experience. Especially where there are so many people who haven’t smoked since high school, or maybe haven’t even smoked at all because things are becoming legalized, they are open and interested into experimenting and seeing how cannabis can help them in their lives.

If you are not aware of those different needs, you are doing a disservice to your customers and also to the normalization of cannabis because normalization really comes into play at a grassroots level and educating the customers, educating the populace, giving them a positive experience of what cannabis is and dispelling a lot of the myths that we had in the war on drugs and DARE. Figuring out how cannabis fits into your customers’ lives, you can sell them the right “car” based on their need.

Shango Los: I get that, and that sounds like a good customer service sales cycle, but how does that actually impact the average customer order? This all comes back to increasing the bottom line and you talked to that a lot. Let’s assume that the budtender or a website, if you are selling grinders, let’s say that you are doing that, how does that directly translate to increasing the size of the order?

Kirsten Nelson: Well, if you consider … Well, let’s just take the newbies. Somebody who is new to weed, maybe you smoked once or twice in high school, if at all, but right now you are looking to get back in. You don’t know anything about it and likely the stuff that you smoked in high school was skunk weed that somebody sold you in between breaks at school, it was not high quality stuff, there was not the variety that there is now. For someone who comes into a dispensary, and you see everything that’s on the shelves and on the walls, it is overwhelming.

You don’t know where to start so you need to rely on the budtender to help you experience it. Something like creating a newbie kit. If they are new moms who are trying it out and they are afraid of getting too high, you would sell them some lemonade or something with black pepper that is going to help smooth out their experience in case they get too high. Like Dr. Ethan Russo, he always recommends the pesto noodles with black pepper.

Shango Los: I have seen that slide too!

Kirsten Nelson: Yeah, that could be a really fun thing of, “Hey, you know what? Go get a couple of your girlfriends, here is your newbie kit. You guys can go ahead and get high and if you get too high, you know what? Or if you have the munchies, you can have this delicious pesto noodles with black pepper and make it an experience.” That is how cannabis will be instilled and normalized into people’s individual lives. Like coffee breaks, that used to not be a thing, but because marketing and advertising and coffee companies showed people how this fits into their lives, it is has become an integral part of everyday experience in so many people’s lives.

Shango Los: You know, I am sitting here kind of imagining this, what this store would look like, and I haven’t seen this anywhere yet. Let’s say that we used your example because we all know that if you get too high, giving yourself some fresh lemonade, something with black pepper, even just smelling the black pepper will help even out your high. Whenever beverages are sold at cannabis stores, it is always infused with more THC, right?

Kirsten Nelson: Yeah.

Shango Los: If you get … If there are … If there is anything to eat there, it too is infused with THC so your suggestion is that after they have used your product, they are probably going to want to imbibe either for pleasure or because they got too high. Go ahead and have the non-THC items in the store as well so that starts to make the store purchase more of a lifestyle visit than just scoring some cannabis.

Kirsten Nelson: Absolutely, and that really is what good marketing is about, is addressing the lifestyle needs and creating that relationship with your customers based on their lifestyle and inserting yourself in to their world and becoming a partner who is thoughtful, who is considerate, who is helpful and makes life better. That is the definition of a good business owner.

Shango Los: Right on, thanks, Kirsten. We are going to take a short break and be right back. You are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

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Welcome back, you are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, I am your host, Shango Los, and our guest this week is Kirsten Nelson, co-founder of Blunt Branding. Kirsten, the main reason we invited you to be on this show on this week is because of the popularity of your Myers-Briggs personality type approach to copywriting. I have heard you talk about that at cannabis events and have talked to you about it on the side and then when I repeat it to people, everybody is like, “Whoa, that is such a different approach to copywriting.”

Most copywriters, they write for people like themselves and that is a really small part of the overall buying public. For this whole second part of the show, what I would appreciate that you do is kind of give us an overview of your approach and then we will transition into how people can actually do this at home. Let’s start at the top, break down for people who don’t even know what Myers-Briggs is, why don’t you break down what that is and how it can impact good copywriting?

Kirsten Nelson: Sure. Myers-Briggs is a personality and personal tendency decision making model or tool. And it is just a tool. Some people extrapolate a lot of things from this and other personality typing tools that takes it out context and makes it kind of irrelevant. Basically, our approach is to use Myers-Briggs as a model to, one, help you identify your own blind spots. Two, it also helps you understand your own communication and decision-making styles and then, three, you are able to better understand their customers and communicate to them based on their values and decision making styles.

It really is just a tool to step outside of your own box and look at the world through other people’s eyes and kind of understand the buckets that they live in so that you can come to them and speak to them in their language. One of the analogies that I like to use to explain what it is it’s like if I were speaking Mandarin and I come up to you, Shango, and you were speaking Swahili and I am trying to sell you something that I have. You are not going to understand what I am saying and it does not matter if I speak louder, it doesn’t matter if I use more exclamation points, it doesn’t matter what font I use. If I am not speaking your language, we are not going to go anywhere and nothing is going to happen and you are going to miss out on a lot of communication because of those differences.

While buying language isn’t necessarily as different as Mandarin and Swahili, there are a lot of differences in how someone makes their buying decisions based on whether it is an emotional decision, if they go by gut feeling, or if they research every single thing that they can find, the articles, the consumer reports, before they make that buying decision. When you approach things in that manner, you are able to capture the, more than likely, 70%.

Most people just speak to their own personality preferences and buying styles. When you do that, you are eliminating a massive portion of the market. This helps to open that up for you and for your business and helps you to better reach your consumers and customers where they are at. We did publish an article … You guys published an article on Ganjapreneur.com where we go into a little bit more detail about the buying styles.

Shango Los: One of the things that that just debunked for me is that a lot of people think of psychological marketing as being manipulative. What you are describing is not a technique for being manipulative to get people to buy something they don’t want, you are talking about caring enough to be aware of different communication styles so that you can make your pitch to your customer in a way that they listen.

Kirsten Nelson: Absolutely. You don’t want to sell a Maserati to a family on a limited income who has 12 kids. It is not going to be …

Shango Los: Oh God.

Kirsten Nelson: … able to fit.

Shango Los: Twelve kids, God help them.

Kirsten Nelson: They need enough help, they don’t need a Maserati.

Shango Los: Yeah. Let’s say that I am a cannabis business owner and either I have got a cannabis retail shop and people always expect to go to my website first to see if it is the kind of place they want to go, or even if it is an unlicensed business and I am selling grinders and rolling papers online. One way or another, I am going to be sitting at my desk on some boring Tuesday afternoon and I have got to write copy for my website, but I am probably not really familiar with Myers-Briggs, and maybe I read through a Wikipedia page, right? If I am just a normal person without and educational background, how can what you’re talking about help me? How can I use this, myself as a normal person?

Kirsten Nelson: Well, if you are able to just segment it into two different types of buyers, the logical buyer and an emotional buyer and speak to the needs that they would be interested in, if you could step into their shoes, if you will. What does a logical buyer going to want? What kinds of details about your product do you have that you can share with them to answer any questions that they may have? Share your track record, why are you the best at what you do and why should they be with you instead of someone else? Offer the information that is going to prove that you have the best product at the best value. Those are types of traits that will appeal to the logical buyer.

For an emotional buyer, they are going to want the emotional connection, they want the story, they want to see the human side of your business. What are your values. Like on your website, your about pages, your mission statement, where can they connect with you? Are you on social media, what kind of interaction do you have with your customers on social media? They are going to want to know your story, how did you get into cannabis? How did you start your business? Those types of details are very relevant to the emotional buyer and they are a part of their decision making process. This really is about connecting to your customers in a way to create an intimate envrionment and build that relationship, even if you never even speak to one another, it can just be solely an online experience and yet they feel like they know you.

Shango Los: I get it, so it is like a continuum of how much you want to get into this. If you just want to dabble in trying to write your copy this way, you can write stuff for people who buy logically and people who buy with emotion and you can talk about those and you will capture a huge market share of Myers-Briggs personality types. If you are a nerd and you really want to drill down and you have got a couple free hours, you can actually go and tease out eight of the sixteen Myers-Briggs personality categories and make the personas, like you were talking about in the first segment, and write to those. It’s really based on the time that the business owner has, how into this they want to get.

Kirsten Nelson: Absolutely. What we do at Blunt Branding is we get very, very detailed and in-depth in, not only planning out the business structure, but how that relates to the customers and crafting scenario work around the whole customer experience from start to finish and then back around again. Just to anticipate those different needs that we tend to overlook because we become our own experts and then we develop all of these blind spots because we forget that the rest of the world doesn’t know all of the things that we know so we make a lot of assumptions and we leave our customers behind, which is a real tragedy.

Shango Los: Right on. I am going to ask you to tease out another personality type that somebody who is doing this, basically, can write for. We have got the logical person, we are telling them all the fine details and the size of items and the costs and the weights and the THC percentages and what it is made out of and all of these data points, and then the more emotional buyer, we are telling them a story so they kind of fall in love with our company and they feel cared for and they know that they are going to get good customer service.

What is another one? I kept on thinking about the people who are into sports teams. I don’t know if they are their own Myers-Briggs personality type, but I know that there are so many cannabis companies that, for example, football season, they are putting out pre-rolls that have got the emblems, or at least the colors of their local football teams. That has got to be a personality type.

Kirsten Nelson: Yeah, that type of connection, when you are selling to that, you are selling to something that people have an emotional connection with. People get all sorts of crazy about their sports teams. You are stepping into their lives, you are recognizing in their worlds that they have this connection and you are giving them something that is fun to share with other people who share that value of the interest in sports. It is like “O-M-G! You have the green and blue Seattle Seahawks papers!” What a novelty that is to share with your friends and to bring that kind of level of connection.

Shango Los: Right on, so I guess that just falls into that emotional category. Can you give me an example, that you haven’t already, of a different kind of a type that someone could write for?

Kirsten Nelson: Absolutely, another one of the primary ways that the Myers-Briggs separates out buying personalities and preferences is by introvert vs extrovert. Most marketing caters to extroverts and it tends to be the loud, it tends to be the face to face conversation, a lot of direct interaction and when you do this in your business, you are catering to 50% of the population. That sounds pretty great.

However, on the flip side, you are missing 50% of your introverted customers and here is the really interesting thing about catering to extroverts vs the introverts. Introverts tend to be a lot less needy. They want to do a lot of the work themselves. For you as a business owner, instead of catering to extroverts who regularly need the one on one human contact, they want time with their budtender, they want to shoot the breeze, they want to talk about all of these other things and have that face time.

If you are able to, on your website, in your lobby, in your different literature and pamphlets and brochures and strain identification cards, give non-interactive things like that, your introverted customers will educate themselves, figure out what they want, spend less time at your counters, taking up less of your budtender’s time because you were thoughtful enough to present them the information that they needed to answer their question to help them make their buying decisions.

Shango Los: It is kind of like you are going to have a budtender and you are going to have then trained for the extroverts, because that is how they want their data, but you are also going to have your shop, whether online or in person, sprinkled with self-education devices and stuff that the introverts can read, so that they can absorb the data at their own rate and then just go up to the budtender and buy their purchases.

Kirsten Nelson: Absolutely. Mary’s Medicinal does a really fantastic job of this. They have a really great educational pamphlet brochure that goes through all of the ins and outs of cannabis and what to look for and what kind of experience it gives you. That is hugely valuable for the introverted buyer who is sitting in the lobby feeling kind of like they are in a can of sardines and they just want to get their stuff and get out, but they are nervous because they don’t know what to get.

They don’t know what to ask for and it puts a lot of pressure on them and it doesn’t have to be that way. You can help them feel confident and secure and you bet they are going to come back to you if they are able to buy on their terms without as much pressure to act in a way that isn’t their preference as an extrovert.

Shango Los: That makes a lot of sense, thinking about Mary’s Medicinals. That is a good example because you are right. They appeal to the logical buyer by providing studies for support, and providing lots of detailed information about what goes into their products, but they are also appealing to the emotional buyer because they have got a really great story and they really cater to patients and then you are also hitting the extrovert because they have got cutting edge products that do cool things and deliver THC and CBD in good ways. For the introvert, they have got all of this education online and at their point of sale in retail stores so introverts can pick up that flyer and just read it and then just go buy it. That is a good point.

Kirsten Nelson: Exactly, yes.

Shango Los: Right on. Oh, looking at the time, it is time for another break. We will be right back, you are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

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Welcome back, you are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, I am your host, Shango Los. Our guest for this week is Kirsten Nelson, co-founder of Blunt Branding. During the earlier parts of the show, we were talking about the different ways to sculpt your message so that your customers can hear what you are saying, really talking to them, thinking about their perspective so that you can explain to them how the different objects, or the cannabis that you sell fits into their life so that they buy more and increase their final purchase from you. It is really important how you get them the message as well. And, Kirsten, I know you are a big proponent of mobile marketing. Why don’t you break down for us a little bit why you think that mobile marketing is important and, maybe, give us a couple best practices.

Kirsten Nelson: Sure, absolutely. One of the biggest things is if you are not mobile friendly, you are losing customers and you are losing revenue. Period, that is just it. Your website has to be mobile friendly. It is so critical that you do have a presence on social media. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, those different social media channels are really important and then Google+, as much of a dinosaur and as unsuccessful and a pain in the rear it has always kind of been, it is really important to have, at least, a page set up with your business hours, your website, all of the basic details for your company on Google+ because it improves your search engine results.

There are other areas, like different apps that are out there, have a presence and establish your business and all of the business details on Leafly, WeedMaps, Yelp is also another really important one because it puts you in front of your customers when they are looking for whatever it is you are selling. Again, you can spend so much time and money and resources on different social media strategies. It is important to have a strategy but, at minimum if you are just getting started, make sure that you have your location, a map to your store or your shop, make sure you have our phone number, the hours. If you are a dispensary, have a menu. If you are a different kind of retailer, have a list of the different products that you offer so people can kind of explore before they come in and also make sure you have your website listed on there.

Shango Los: Right, that makes a lot of sense. You know a lot of people have been getting their Facebook pages shut down if they sell cannabis, so that is probably a danger as well.

Kirsten Nelson: It is and that is one of the most important things in any kind of business, but more importantly in cannabis. You need to make sure that you have a highly agile strategy in your social media and plan on when your page will shut down, not if, but when. Eventually it is going to happen one way or another. There are a few things that you can do. You can have a backup page. If you have Facebook, have a backup one set up and ready to go.

Have all of your about information, your contact information, a few post scheduled. Have it ready to go in case you do get shut down. The second thing that you want to make sure that you do is be ready to contact the admin on whatever social media platform and contest that your page has been shut down. Contact them, let them know. Time is of the essence in that, it really is important that you have that contact information and plan that into how you are interacting online and in social media.

Have a diverse number of accounts so don’t just depend on Facebook, don’t just depend on Instagram. Find a couple that are there so that your fans can continually interact with you if one gets shut down. Another thing is email lists and that’s another thing that’s kind of been overlooked, so newsletters, gather emails in a different way so that you can contact them and you have more control over it than you would on social media.

Shango Los: Yeah, the redundancy part that you mentioned makes a lot of sense because if your Facebook page gets shut down, your fans are going to turn to your Instagram or your Twitter or your Leafly to find out what happened and on those other pages, you can give the address of your backup Facebook page and then, boom, you are back off and getting back in contact with your customers. It’s really too bad that Facebook is deleted pages, that we even have to have that expectation that you are going to get shut down, just in case it does.

Kirsten Nelson: Yeah, exactly. It is what it is and it something that we get to deal with. Instead of get angry about it, just be proactive and plan for it.

Shango Los: Other than simply expecting our customers to go to websites and social media to find out what is going on with us, I know that you are a big fan of increasing overall revenue by doing mobile text messaging promotions to a customer base. Can you just give us two ideas for what these promotions could look like and why you are a big advocate for them?

Kirsten Nelson: Sure. I am a huge advocate for it because it is a huge untapped market. It is strange how ignored this is, I think business owners get a little overwhelmed and intimidated by it, but it really is incredible. Americans, they generally check their phones 46 times a day. That is a lot! More than 90% of text messages, they are read within 3 minutes. Crazy. Crazy amount of access, you are getting into someone’s pocket, in their phone, in their purse, you are right there.

A couple of ideas for promotions. One of the things you can do to increase sales, which is something that everybody is always interested in is bringing people in on a day of the week where, perhaps, you have less traffic or fewer sales. Create some kind of special or promotion around that day of the week. Send them a text, the ones that are on your list, and you are going to see a boost in your sales.

Second really big one to use SMS or text marketing, is to build those relationships. One really fun thing to do in whatever business you have is to create some kind of insiders list and let them know when you have new products coming in, new strains if you are a dispensary. Let them be the first to know and it really helps them to feel like you have got their back and you are looking out for them and they can always count on you to give them the newest, latest, greatest.

Shango Los: Right on, I can totally see how being on a special mobile-only text messaging list that lets you know first when you got something new in the shop that could really emphasize your relationship with them because, suddenly, you are giving them secret information that all of your other customers aren’t getting.

Kirsten Nelson: Yep, it is pretty powerful.

Shango Los: Right on. Kirsten, that is all the time we have for today, thanks so much for being on the show.

Kirsten Nelson: My pleasure, thank you.

Shango Los: Kirsten Nelson is co-founder of Blunt Branding. You can find out more at bluntbranding.com. You can also read her recent article on the Ganjapreneur.com website by following the link provide on this episode’s podcast page. You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur podcast in the podcast section at ganjapreneur.com and in the Apple iTunes store.

On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you will find the latest cannabis news, product reviews and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcriptions of this podcast. You can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. For info on me and where I will be speaking, go to shangolos.com.

Do you have a company that wants to reach our national audience of cannabis enthusiasts? Email grow@ganjapreneur.com to find out how.

Today’s show was produced by Michael Rowe. I am your host, Shango Los.

End

Initiative to Restore Montana Medical Cannabis Qualifies for Ballot

7/20/2016

The Montana Medical Marijuana Act (I-182) has qualified for the November ballot, the Secretary of State’s office confirmed this week. The initiative seeks to undo restrictions passed by the legislature and turn Montana’s medical cannabis program once more into a thriving, compassionate industry.

Though Montana voters originally legalized medical cannabis in 2004, state lawmakers decided to override the sentiments of voters in 2011 with the passage of Senate Bill 423 — a highly criticized attempt by the legislature to rein in Montana’s medical marijuana program, and which now threatens to leave more than 12,000 patients without legal access to the medicine they need.

Upheld earlier this year by the Montana Supreme Court, SB 423 takes effect starting August 31.

I-182, an initiative propelled by activist group Montana Citizens for I-182, seeks to undo the damages inflicted by SB 423. According to the campaign, “I-182 addresses concerns over the previous law and provides accountability to all Montanans, including patients, doctors and the general public.”

The new law would:

Require providers to obtain licenses and undergo annual inspections.
Remove restrictions from SB 423 that limit providers to serving only three patients.
Allow for certified lab tests to confirm consumer safety, consistency, and dosage information.
Make chronic pain and traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) qualifying medical cannabis conditions.
Establish licensing fees that would pay for the program.

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Study: The Average Joint Weighs Less Than You Might Think

7/20/2016

According to new research from the University of Pennsylvania, the typical joint contains an average of .32 grams of marijuana, less than the .5 gram baseline used by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy. The study is published in the August issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

“It turns out to be a critical number in estimating how much marijuana is being consumed [nationwide], how much drug-trafficking organizations are putting on the market and how much states might expect in revenue post-legalization,” study co-author Greg Ridgeway, associate professor of criminology and statistics at Penn, said in a statement.

Ridgeway, along with Beau Kilmer of the RAND Corporation, used information from more than 10,600 cannabis transactions over 11 years from more than 40 communities. Through the Justice Department’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, researchers interviewed arrestees about drug abuse and market transactions, including whether joints or loose marijuana was purchased and how much was paid.

According to Ridgeway, some of the interviewees told researchers about purchases in grams or ounces, and others about purchases in joints — the interviewee disclosed how much they paid regardless of the form of cannabis purchased.

“If I paid $5 for a joint and you paid $5 for 0.5 grams, that gives me some information,” he said in the statement. “If they’re the same price, they must be roughly the same weight.”

Using a drug-pricing model “that’s been in use for about 30 years,” which factors in additional data – such as drug markets, inflation, where the sale occurred, and possible bulk discounts – the team was able to “untangle weight and price to estimate an average joint weight.”

“That all boils down to about 0.3 grams, which is much less than previously thought,” Ridgeway concluded.

End

Section 280E is Reducing Tax Revenues

How Can This Problem Be Resolved?

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