Shinnecock Nation Approves Plan to Cultivate and Dispense Cannabis in New York

2/09/2016

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On Saturday, the Shinnecock Indian Nation’s general council voted 71% to 29% on a measure to grow and process medical marijuana in New York State. The tribe plans to build a cultivation facility and dispensary on reservation land, pending approval from the state.

The tribe’s interest began in 2014, when a federal memorandum called the Cole Memorandum was released, detailing how tribes could establish medical marijuana programs in states where it had been legalized.

Tribal Trustee Chairman Brian Polite said that a cannabis regulatory division will oversee the project. The tribe has also chartered a company to construct the multi-million-dollar cultivation and dispensary facilities, funded by what Polite calls a “private investor.”

New York’s medical marijuana law has attracted intense criticism from medical marijuana advocates, as it only allows five registered organizations to manufacture and distribute cannabis, and only twenty dispensaries to operate across the state. Pending state approval, though, the rule doesn’t apply to the Shinnecocks, who are their own sovereign nation.

The project is expected to create 80-100 jobs and a generous amount of revenue for the tribe, which tribal officials plan to use for substance abuse prevention programs.

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Oregon Task Force Calls for a State-Funded Cannabis Research Institute

2/08/2016

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A task force of Oregon state officials, scientists, and leading physicians has called for Oregon to fund the creation of a cannabis research institute, The Oregonian‘s Noelle Crombie reports.

The recommendation was presented in a report published on Monday, which calls for the creation of the Oregon Institute for Cannabis Research and also the clarifying of expectations held for licensed medical professionals in Oregon.

“This institute will position Oregon as a leader in cannabis research and serve as an international hub for what will soon be a rapidly accelerating scientific field,” the report reads. “No other single initiative could do as much to strengthen the Oregon cannabis industry and to support the needs of Oregon medical marijuana patients.”

The task force’s proposal includes putting aside a small portion of retail cannabis taxes to help support the otherwise privately-funded research institute. This is the first case in which a proposed cannabis research operation would be granted an ongoing stream of funds from the state, allowing the project some much-needed longevity.

In general, cannabis research in the U.S. is made difficult by heavy federal restrictions on Schedule 1 substances. The need for an increased understanding of cannabis and its various psychoactive and medicinal effects, however, has become increasingly more apparent.

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Rhode Island Lawmakers to Review Legalization Bill

2/08/2016

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This week, the Rhode Island legislature will, for the second year in a row, review a bill to legalize marijuana in the state, and regulate and tax it like alcohol.

Last year’s proposed legislation, a combination of Senate Bill 510 and House Bill 5777 known as the Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act, garnered wide support among voters in the state and was expected to pass in the legislature. But last June, lawmakers called a recess and tabled the bill before it could be voted on.

This year, Democrats Rep. Scott Slater (D-Providence) and Sen. Joshua Miller (D-Cranston) will once again introduce the bill, which would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana flower and a single plant. The bill would also establish a system for licensing retail stores, cultivation operations, testing labs, and set health and safety standards, along with labeling requirements.

But the stakes are higher this year, as Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo recently unveiled a marijuana tax proposal specifically targeting the 10,000 medical marijuana patients in the state — including a sky-high tax rate of $150-$350 per marijuana plant. The plan ignores the far greater revenue potential of recreational users, who theoretically number over 100,000, should cannabis prohibition end.

SB 510/HB 5777 would tax recreational users, likely generating far more tax revenue than the proposed $8.4 million the Governor could squeeze out of medical patients.

The bill has widespread support in the state from public health officials, doctors, and law enforcement. A poll conducted last year showed more than 57% of Rhode Island voters support legalization, while only 35% oppose.

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Detroit Dispensary Application Process Starts March 1

2/08/2016

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Come March, Detroit dispensaries will have a 30 day window during which they can apply for a medical cannabis license to legally remain in operation, as per a controversial set of ordinances passed by the city council last year.

The application process begins at 9 a.m. on March 1, and applications will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Melvin Butch Hollowel of the Detroit Corporation Counsel said there are 211 unlicensed dispensaries currently operating in Detroit. “We wanted to make it clear in writing. Put all of the centers on notice,” he said, so information about the upcoming changes has been sent to all of Detroit’s dispensaries.

The new ordinance places 1,000-foot buffer zones between dispensaries — the same buffer will also apply to dispensary locations near city parks, schools and churches. Successful applicants will already have a site, security plan and background checks in place. Medical cannabis licenses in Detroit will need to be renewed on an annual basis.

Applications that are denied can be resubmitted with an appeal.

Companies that are caught violating medical cannabis licensing laws may face fines of up to $500 and/or 90 days in jail.

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What Are Cannabis Topicals?

2/05/2016

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Lotion, shampoo, face and body wash, sunscreen, lip balm, pain and antibacterial ointment, acne cream, and massage oil. These are the most commonly used transdermal topical applications — and all have at some point in time been infused with cannabis to create the increasingly popular trend that is cannabis topical products.

A cannabis topical is any treatment rub or oil derived from cannabis or hemp that is applied directly to the surface of the body. In order to understand why cannabis is so critical for general health maintenance, and why topicals are often ideal for relieving certain symptoms, one must first become familiar with the endocannabinoid system.

Topicals & The Endocannabinoid System

Endocannabinoids are simply cannabinoids that our bodies naturally produce. It has been discovered that endocannabinoids help stabilize any off-balanced functions that may disrupt health. The endocannabinoid system is located throughout the body and is composed collectively of endogenous cannabinoids, cannabinoid receptors, biosynthetic pathways and metabolizing enzymes. Endocannabinoids bind to the receptors, fitting like a key in a lock activating messages of repair to be sent via chemical pathways, depending on what each specific cell needs in that moment.

No matter the need, the goal of the endocannabinoids remains the same: Homeostasis. And the phytocannabinoids found in cannabis plants, such as CBD and THC, mimic endocannabinoids, much like duplicate keys would fit into the same lock. In other words, cannabis provides an external source of nutrients that our bodies already produce.

What Do Cannabis Topicals Do?

The difference between accessing these cannabinoids through topicals and attaining them via ingestion or inhalation is that topicals do not allow cannabinoids to access the brain, therefore do not trigger psychotropic effects. By dissolving cannabis into fat-soluble substances (such as coconut oil or shea butter), the cannabinoids become ready to enter cell membranes. Cannabinoid receptors are located in nerve and mast cells within the skin, allowing the relief to be direct and immediate.

Cannabis topicals come in many different consistencies including lotions, balms, oils, salves, sprays, cleansers, alcohol solutions and ointments. THC and CBD patches have also been invented that are applied directly to the skin.

cannabis topicals

Due to the stability of cannabinoids, cannabis topicals have been shown to treat a variety of symptoms including pain relief, muscle soreness, tension, inflammation, itching, headaches, MRSA, burns, bug bites, hemorrhoids, sore throat, cramping, dry skin, allergic skin reactions, post-herpes neuralgia. Topicals may also aid in the regeneration of cells, thereby encouraging wounds to heal more quickly.

By adding specific ingredients that work synergistically with cannabinoids, such as different terpenes, different essential oils, and hemp seed oil, specific relief can be targeted even more effectively. Using hemp seed oil without any additional cannabinoids can still be considered “cannabis topical,” and is very commonly used. Despite the inability to ignite the Endocannabinoid system directly, hemp seed oil is nutrient-dense and contains all of the essential amino acids in a desirable ratio for the body to use, making it very beneficial in maintaining all aspects of health.

Because cannabis topical applications cannot alter the state of mind, it is considered the safest form of cannabinoid access. With no possible overdose, there is no restriction on who can benefit from using these topicals. Incorporating these vital nutrients into our everyday lives is essential for the continuous renewal of our health. Next time you need relief, give cannabis topicals a try.

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Marley Natural Cannabis Products Now Available in California

2/05/2016

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The Marley Natural cannabis brand — first announced in 2014 as part of an arrangement between reggae legend Bob Marley’s family and the marijuana moguls behind Privateer Holdings — is finally hitting dispensary and retail store shelves across the U.S.

Marley Natural is offering four different strains of cannabis flower and oils: Marley Green, Red, Gold and Black. Reportedly, each strain was strategically developed to produce certain thematically-appropriate sensations when smoked. The products are available today in certain California dispensaries, but are expected to soon be available in other, normalized states as logistics for the world’s first international cannabis brand are hammered out.

“We’re not only natural in how we source our products and how they’re made; it’s important for us to demonstrate to people that the herb can be a natural part of life, which was the way Bob viewed it,” said Marley Natural spokesperson Zack Hutson. “So that’s what we’re hoping to do really with this brand — help people understand the herb the way Bob did.”

The Marley Natural product lines also include a series of body care products, as well as pipes crafted from “sustainably grown American Black Walnut wood pieces.”

Some individuals, however, do not see the Marley Natural brand as something that Bob Marley would have actually supported.

“Given Marley’s anti-capitalist, anti-establishment identity, the idea of having a company [logo] that evokes the name of centuries-old pirates, and a very negative tradition of imperialist assault… sends a lot of the wrong messages,” said Mike Alleyne, a professor in music recording in Texas and expert on reggae music and culture. “I’m not sure if anyone involved in the whole process is thinking about it, but it’s not a good conceptual foundation for this enterprise.”

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Federal Legislation Would Protect Cannabis Advertisements in the Mail

2/05/2016

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Federal lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate have proposed legislation to overturn a ban that prevents advertisements for legal cannabis from appearing in newspapers, Tom Angell writes for Marijuana.com.

It was late last year when Oregon USPS officials first issued the warning that it remains illegal to “place an ad in any publication with the purpose of seeking or offering illegally to receive, buy, or distribute a Schedule I controlled substance.” USPS followed that development with a new national policy requiring post office employees to accept and deliver ads for legal cannabis if the customer insists — but suggests they afterwards report the incident to law enforcement.

The proposed legislation, the Marijuana Advertising In Legal States (MAILS) Act, would add a sentence to the Controlled Substances Act detailing that the law “does not apply to an advertisement to the extent that the advertisement relates to an activity, involving marihuana, that is in compliance with the law of the State in which that activity takes place.”

The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and was co-sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Patty Murray (D-WA). The House bill was proposed by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), whose co-sponsors are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR).

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California Passes Bill to Fix Medical Cannabis Legislative Error

2/04/2016

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California Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill that fixes an error in previous legislation that caused local governments in the state to move to ban medical marijuana production.

The emergency bill, AB21, was introduced by Assemblyman Jim Wood of Healdsburg, The Associated Press reports.

The legislation cuts a paragraph from the medical cannabis regulation passed by the state legislature in September. The removed paragraph would have given complete authority to license cannabis producers to the state in jurisdictions that did not explicitly endorse or ban marijuana cultivation by March 1.

This part of the bill moved many jurisdictions over the past several months to hurriedly ban cannabis cultivation in order to preserve their regulatory authority. The March 1 deadline was added to the final bill by mistake, said Assemblyman Wood, a Democrat. Now that the deadline has been eliminated, local officials have much more time to decide their jurisdictions’ position on cannabis cultivation: the state won’t start licensing growers until 2018, according to Wood.

“Now that we have given local officials the time to take a thoughtful approach to regulating medical marijuana, I hope they will maximize that time by engaging with the public and having thorough discussions,” said Wood.

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New York Medical Cannabis Access Issues Remain, Lawmaker Steps Up

2/04/2016

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The number of doctors registered for New York’s medical marijuana program has more than doubled in the first month since the program’s launch. As of Feb. 2 there are 334 physicians registered with the program, up from the 150 initially registered when the program launched on Jan. 7, according to the Health Department. The program now has 551 registered patients, up from 71 a month ago.

While the number of registered physicians and patients is promising, State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D) – who sponsored the original Compassionate Care Act – has introduced a bill aimed at increasing the number of registered organizations in the state in an effort to provide access to the drug in regions that, currently, do not have a nearby dispensary.

The bill (A.9151) would allow another five registered organizations to manufacture and dispense cannabis in the state, doubling the number of registered providers and addressing a major access barrier to patients in the state.

“The Department of Health has authorized only five registered organizations, with four dispensaries each, to provide medical marijuana,” the bill justification states.  “As a result, 20 medical marijuana dispensaries are available to serve the needs of 19,750,000 New Yorkers. Those 20 dispensaries are located in only 13 counties, meaning that 49 counties – with a cumulative population of over 7.5 million people – have none.”

According to the bill, on average there is one dispensary for every 210,000 people in the 22 other states with medical marijuana programs.

“By any standard, New York’s medical marijuana delivery system is woefully inadequate and far out of step with practices across the nation,” the bill says.

In an email Gottfried said new and previous applicants would be able to apply under his proposal. Whether or not previous applicants would have to pay the $10,000 application fee would be at the behest of New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker.

Gottfried also indicated plans on introducing legislation increasing the number of eligible conditions under the law. Those conditions – Alzheimer’s Disease, traumatic brain injury, dystonia, muscular dystrophy, wasting syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus – were removed in negotiations with Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), he said.

“The [Health] Commissioner has discretion to expand the eligible conditions list. Unfortunately, he has chosen not to,” Gottfried said. “There are many more patients whose lives could be made better by use of medical marijuana if their conditions were covered.”

Julie Netherland, the Drug Policy Alliance’s director of the Office of Academic Engagement, says Gottfried’s bill “is a step in the right direction, but still insufficient,” adding that states with lesser populations than New York often have more than 40 dispensaries.

“We have significant concerns with the program. Aside from too few dispensaries, we are concerned with the cost of medicine and whether it will be affordable for low income patients. We are also concerned that only a few hundred doctors have enrolled and that state has refused to make a list of participating doctors public,” Netherland said in an email. “We also remain concerned that so many patients are left out of the program, which only covers ten medical conditions, and that the both the strains and kinds of medicine are severally restricted. All of these problems add up to a program that seriously impedes patient access.  

The Health Department has floated the idea of allowing dispensaries to have a delivery service but there are no plans to implement such a program at this time, a member of the Health Department’s communications staff said in an email.

The bill has been sent to the Health Committee, where it must be approved before it can be sent to the Assembly floor for a vote. If it passes the Assembly it would move to the Senate and, if passed, it would need Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D) signature. The legislation would take effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

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Mary’s Medicinals Latest Victim of Cannabis Facebook Page Shutdowns

2/04/2016

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Mary’s Medicinals — an all-natural producer of medical cannabis products based out of Colorado — is the latest victim in a string of medical marijuana businesses whose pages have been shut down by Facebook. But only some pages have been targeted for what Facebook claims are violations of their Community Standards.

Before the shutdown, the Mary’s Medicinals page had built a large, supportive community of medical cannabis patients, many of whom were parents of children who experience seizures and people with terminal diagnoses.

“We were building our community really quickly and able to get a great reach,” said Graham Sorkin, Director of Business Development at Mary’s Medicinals. “We had thousands of followers.”

This week, Mary’s Medicinals was inexplicably charged with violating Facebook’s guidelines, and Sorkin was told the page would be taken down. 

According to the company’s new Facebook page, nearly 20,000 followers were lost.

“I got the notification just as I was getting on a plane to head to the X-Games,” Sorkin said. “We had one opportunity to appeal the decision by removing everything marijuana related. So we stripped everything out — years of posts — and appealed.

“But the page was deleted anyway and all of our followers were gone.”

The timing couldn’t have been worse. “Promoting our cause [at the X-Games] and getting people to our Facebook page was a great way to promote our business,” Sorkin said. “At an event where social media really matters, it was a real kick in the butt.”

But Mary’s Medicinals is one in a sea of marijuana-related pages on Facebook that have been recently shut down. A handful of medical cannabis dispensaries in New Jersey and other states were also singled out for deletion this week.

Sorkin proposed it may have something to do with the highly competitive nature of the booming cannabis industry. “There are thousands of other product manufacturers not being shut down. It just takes one competitor to report your page.”

With medical marijuana legal in 23 states, and recreational in 4 states, Sorkin thinks Facebook is missing out on huge revenue potential by alienating legal medical marijuana businesses like Mary’s. And he feels betrayed by Facebook after so many years investing in the platform and building their community base.

“[Facebook] took our money to advertise,” Sorkin said. “They did enter into a business agreement with us.” He looks at it as a missed opportunity on Facebook’s part.

“I would have loved to have a relationship with them.”

Sorkin also shared with Ganjapreneur his letter appealing Facebook to reverse their decision.

To Whomever Arbitrarily Decides What is Ethical On Facebook,

I recently had the displeasure of having your team delete a community that I spent thousands of hours over the course of two years building. When you accepted our money and entered a business relationship allowing us to advertise, you encouraged us to invest time and energy into our page, which we did. When you stopped our ads but allowed us to continue to operate our page, I assumed we’d at least be able to continue our organic efforts to share information with our very engaged community (which you did allow for a period of time).

It is unfortunate that you choose to align with decades of racist, regressive policies and ban (with HIGHLY selectively enforcement) any information about ‘marijuana.’ However, I urge you to reconsider what is harmful to the community.

Our page (targeted specifically at adults in states where voters have chosen to legalize cannabis) offered information on safe, legal medical cannabis options. We shared resources for people that otherwise would be risking their freedom by turning to the black market. We helped connect parents with organizations and therapies that stopped their children’s seizures for the first time in their painful lives. We shared petitions begging for Veterans to be granted access to one of the only medicines that is helping prevent 22+ Veteran suicides a day. We fostered a community that offered hope to patients facing terminal diagnoses.

You arbitrarily shut that all down. Is the world now a better place?

Since you seem to have had your heads buried in the sand these last few years, I wanted to make sure you were aware that cannabis is now a fully legal multi-billion dollar industry predicted to grow as quickly as the smartphone market. Cannabis in some form is now legal in more than half of the United States. Your own platform currently hosts thousands of pages for cannabis dispensaries, services, manufacturers and many illegal black market dealers.

For a company attempting to stay relevant with an aging user base, you’re pretty out of touch with your own community. Were you aware that 58% of American adults support federally legalizing cannabis? Here are a few facts to consider:

  • The marijuana industry could be bigger than the NFL by 2020 (Washington Post)
  • U.S. market for legal cannabis grew 74% in 2014 to $2.7b, up from $1.5b in 2013 (Arcview Group)
  • Revenues could reach $35b by 2020 if federally legalized. (Greenwave Advisors)

If you would like to explore how you could start to correct some of these ridiculous grievances against our community, I’d be happy to engage with your team (once our page is restored, of course.) Otherwise, we’ll take our fans and advertising budgets elsewhere.

Graham Sorkin

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California’s Largest Medical Association Endorses Recreational Cannabis Initiative

2/03/2016

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The California Medical Association (CMA), the largest body representing the state’s practicing physicians, released a statement Monday in support of a 2016 ballot measure that would legalize marijuana for recreational use.

In addition to the CMA, the initiative is being backed by a cohort of entrepreneurs, cannabis activists, environmental groups and state politicians led by tech investor Sean Parker.

In a statement, CMA President Steven Larsen said:

“The California Medical Association believes the Adult Use of Marijuana Act is a comprehensive and thoughtfully constructed measure that will allow state officials to better protect public health by clarifying the role of physicians, controlling and regulating marijuana use by responsible adults and keeping it out of the hands of children.”

Spokeswoman Molly Weedn noted that the CMA is specifically interested in the initiative’s provision that would expand research on cannabis’s medical properties.

“We feel that this initiative specifically is in line with the concerns we had for better monitoring and research of cannabis,” she said.

The ballot measure would authorize adults 21 and older to purchase up to an ounce of cannabis at one time and to grow up to six plants. Non-medical sales would be subject to an excise tax of 15 percent.

The state has estimated that the move could bring in as much as $1 billion in new tax revenues.

The measure’s supporters need to gather some 366,000 signatures by July 5th in order for the initiative to make it to November’s ballot.

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Denver Releases Recalled Cannabis Products Amid Lab Test Confusion

2/03/2016

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Denver has decided to release 28,000 formerly-recalled cannabis-infused products back onto the market, The Cannabist reports.

The products had been recalled after they tested positive for pesticides that have been banned for use on cannabis.

In November, Gov. John Hickenlooper issued an executive order that cannabis products that tested positive for such pesticides be destroyed, as they posed a “risk to public health.” Despite this, city officials say they released low-level batches of the recalled products after Denver’s city attorney informed them that “the XO [executive order] doesn’t tell us, the city, anything,” according to Dan Rowland on behalf of Denver’s Office of Marijuana Policy.

“What the governor’s XO does is give advice and guidance to state agencies, which is great,” said Rowland. “It’s certainly guidance and advice that we can use. Obviously we looked at it, and it’s good to see that information out there.”

The city has chosen to release cannabis-infused edibles made by EdiPure and Gaia’ Garden. The amount of pesticides in the products are within the limit legally allowed on food. 

According to Rowland, the city’s Department of Environmental Health is confident that the products are safe for consumption.

The city has come under attack for its pesticide verification methods. Indeed, Denver’s sole lab-testing partner, Gobi Analytical, is not certified by Colorado to test for pesticides.

Ron Kammerzell, deputy senior director for enforcement at Colorado’s Department of Revenue, noted that Denver’s testing procedures were not standardized.

“Some local jurisdictions are using laboratories that have not received certification for pesticide testing. I can’t really speak to how they’re using those test results.”

Kammerzell told the state House Finance Committee that the state would begin verifying the integrity of various labs’ results.

“We’re now instituting blind tests across the laboratories to make sure we’re getting consistent results. We haven’t been doing that before. And so I’d say, as we roll out this proficiency program, that’s going to ensure a much higher level of confidence of the testing laboratories provide.”

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Washington D.C. City Council Reconsiders Ban on Cannabis Clubs

2/03/2016

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The Washington D.C. City Council has put a bill on hold that would have banned the creation of private cannabis clubs where cannabis could be consumed publicly.

Marijuana advocates have been pressuring the city to provide a legal space for cannabis users to consume publicly, and it appears that the council is listening. On Tuesday, it created a task force charged with evaluating whether and how to provide for the creation of cannabis clubs.

Kaitlyn Boecker, policy analyst for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), stated:

“Democracy and common sense prevailed in the District today. Today’s withdrawal of the permanent ban shows that elected officials have finally begun to heed their constituents’ wishes, but the fight for the creation of regulated places where adults can legally consume marijuana is far from over.”

The amendment that created the task force was introduced by councilmember Vincent Orange, a Democrat. The amendment mandates the creation of a seven-member panel that must issue a report within 120 days regarding:

  • Which city agencies should be involved in regulating clubs;
  • How much cannabis should be allowed at each club;
  • What security measures need to be taken;
  • The number and location of venues;
  • Whether clubs can legally have cannabis-consumption events.

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Mike West: Understanding Hemp-Derived CBD

2/02/2016

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Mike West is an advocate, researcher, and entrepreneur in the world of cannabis and hemp. Currently he serves as the director of manufacturing at Cresco, a cannabis production and processing company in Illinois that holds three of the states 21 cannabis licenses. Mike recently joined our host Shango Los for a discussion about hemp-derived CBD, which has appeared on the market in many forms and has been promoted by legitimate cannabis production companies as well as spammy, affiliate-driven marketing firms. In particular, hemp-derived CBD has been promoted as a means for delivering some of the benefits of medical cannabis to patients in states and regions where the plant is illegal. In this interview, Mike talks about the science, policy, and business of hemp-derived CBD, and shares his experience on a variety of other subjects as well.

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

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Listen to the podcast

Read the transcript

Shango Los: Hi there. Welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m 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 actual information to improve your business strategy, and improve your health and the health of cannabis patients everywhere.

Today my guest is Mike West. Mike West is a researcher and entrepreneur in both cannabis and industrial hemp. Since 2006 he has performed legislative advocacy, business development and cannabis research in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and other states. Mike studied molecular biochemistry, earning further certificates in renewable energy and sustainable building, and received a degree in international and environment law at CU-Boulder. In 2009 he began business consulting while still a student, and then partnered with the Milavitz Law Firm in Boulder, Colorado, to advise cannabis business startups. Since 2010 he has successfully designed and implemented and managed commercial cannabis dispensary operations for investor groups, and has helped open some ten medical marijuana retail centers, over forty medical cooperative cannabis farms, and three infused process manufacturers.

Since moving to Washington State in 2011, he has continued to advise widely in medical cannabis and has recently completed advising on the manufacturing expansion of General Biodiesel, a waste oil to biodiesel processing company in Seattle. Since March he has been advisor to Senator Positive Nelson of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Michael has recently moved from Washington to Illinois where he is currently serving as the director of manufacturing at Cresco, a cannabis production and processing company that holds three of the state’s twenty-one cannabis licenses. Welcome Mike West.

Mike West: Hi Shango. How’s your day going?

Shango Los: Everything is great. I’m really glad you could be on the show. Everyone is talking about hemp-derived CBD right now. We’ve seen it sold through legitimate players like Mary’s Nutritionals, and we’ve seen it also sold on Amazon.com, which was surprising, but we’ve also seen it pushed via email spam. What exactly is CBD derived from hemp?

Mike West: When you look at the essential oil components that are in hemp and cannabis, there’s a couple different primary classes. There’s the terpenoids, which are identified as essentially the smells and the flavors associated with the cannabis strains. Those terpenoids are found in a bunch of different flower species. Cannabis is unique in the fact that the cannabis species has phytocannabinoids. Phytocannabinoids are a class of terpenoids which act as neuroregulators within the body’s neurological system.

Most notably of the phytocannabinoids is THC. That’s the phytocannabinoid responsible for the psychedelic high associated with cannabis, but, since THC was discovered in the late ’70s by Raphael Mechoulam, there’s been a lot of research into the other phytocannabinoids identified in cannabis and industrial hemp. More recently over the past five years, they’ve actually identified a phytocannabinoid by the name of cannabidiol, CBD for short, which they’ve identified to play a important neuroregulatory role in the CB2 receptors, which are the neuroregulatory receptors that work in the peripheral nervous system. Whereas THC has a psychoactive role in the brain, CBD actually plays a role of regulating neural firing in the neurons in your peripheral nervous system like your stomach, in your arms, legs, and in your muscles.

Shango Los: Up until now we’ve talked on this show a lot about CBD being derived from whole plant cannabis, but today we’re talking about it coming from industrial hemp. What are the differences between CBD that’s coming from whole-plant cannabis and the kind of stuff that you’re talking about getting from industrial hemp?

Mike West: Obviously there’s been multiple decades of research done for the extraction of essential oils and phytocannabinoids out of cannabis. Cannabis is a widely biodiverse species, but when the International Singles Treaty was written, they actually created a classification that separated industrial hemp from cannabis. They separated the industrial hemp from what we now know as marijuana or medical marijuana or cannabis, by creating a distinction of the amount of psychoactivity found within the plants. On a international treaty level, that’s about one percent. A lot of the US states have passed laws saying that if it’s below point three percent THC, it would be considered industrial hemp. That’s caused a lot of people to start selecting for phenotypes that are non-psychoactive and more recently start selecting for phenotypes that are non-psychoactive and lack the THC, but also contain other potentially medicinal phytocannabinoids like CBD.

Shango Los: When CBD is being taken from industrial hemp, are we still getting a whole-plant medicine, like we think of the entourage effect when we’re talking about medical marijuana?

Mike West: There is some entourage that is associated. That’s actually one of the things that I’m sure we’ll talk later about, but one of the great things that’s lacking in the CBD hemp market. When we look at medical marijuana, a lot of patients want to see how much THC is in the medical marijuana, but they also want to know what are the terpenes, what are the flavors, because each of those ancillary essential oils plays a very beneficial role, what we call the entourage or ensemble effect, in actually either increasing or decreasing the neural firing. Whereas the phytocannabinoids actually play a role doing neural regulation of neurons, the terpenoids and other essential oils actually play a role in either slowing down or speeding up or actually triggering neural pathways.

When we look at CBD isolation, it’s looking at isolating the individual compound of CBD. Now when many companies started taking industrial hemp and processing it, they would take the agricultural byproducts of industrial hemp that was being grown for fiber. They’d take the byproducts, extract the essential oils out of them, but only primarily look at isolating the CBD. More recently there’s been numerous companies that have started looking at, okay, let’s extract all of the essential oils, make sure that it’s below the legal limit of THC but try and contain all of the terpenoids, essential oils, etc., so that we can create that full-plant profile which is going to have a lot of synergistic effects.

Shango Los: That’s really interesting. That’s the first time I’ve heard of that. Usually when I’m hearing about CBD derived from hemp, the CBD has been isolated, and that’s the only thing that is coming out. All the terpenes and any other loose cannabinoids are being left behind. People have been usually comparing it with Marinol where they pulled out THC only, and didn’t use any of the other cannabinoids or terpenes, and had terrible experience with the pharmaceutical Marinol. But what I think I’m hearing you say is that, yeah, in the past they’ve only taken out CBD by itself, but they’re realizing that the terpenes are part of the overall medicine and starting to take those out as well, which sounds like a win to me. How do the terpenes that are found in industrial hemp compare to the terpenes that are found in what we think of as medical marijuana?

Mike West: When you look at it going through and creating medical cannabis drugs whether they be isolated from industrial hemp or cannabis, we have to be able to create, as a industry, multiple different classifications on the nutraceuticals or pharmaceuticals that we create. The international regulation put in place in order to call something a pharmaceutical drug is much more stringent than drugs that are either considered homeopathic medicines or nutraceuticals. So with the case of Marinol … GW Pharma actually has recently released a drug called Epidiolex. Epidiolex is a isolated CBD-only in a milligram-dosed form. A lot of doctors that we talk to, especially traditional doctors that work in the pharmaceutical industry, they have a lot of concerns about the variation in the amounts of compounds in the medical cannabis products, so a lot of traditional doctors are going to prefer the milligram-dose amounts of CBD.

More recently we’ve started looking at, okay, there’s more to cannabis than just the THC. Let’s start incorporating some of these terpenoids. So, too, we’re actually looking at within the medical hemp varieties, is there more to the medical hemp varieties than just this CBD? And there is. If you take a high CBD plant that has some lemonine in it versus a high CBD plant that has myrcene in it, the essential oils that are going to come out are going to be still high CBD with low THC, but it’s going to have different terpenoids which contribute to the different flavors as well as different neurological effects from those terpenoids. When we actually start classifying pharmaceuticals, it’s going to have to be … every constitute component is going to have to be milligram dosed, but nutraceuticals are just going to be ratioed and homeopathic drugs are just going to be isolates.

Shango Los: What I’m hearing is that the advanced folks who have been working with CBD from hemp, they’re actually realizing that, okay, if we are going to hybridize this plant for CBD, we might as well get some of the terpenes in there as well, because we all know that medical marijuana … the terpenes in that, the citrine, the linalool, the myrcene, the lemonine, all this stuff has a positive effect on the body as well. As they are advancing in deriving CBD from hemp, they’re all like, “Hey, let’s go ahead and get more of the spectrum of healthy cannabinoids, just exclude the THC because in a lot of these states it’s the THC aspect which is prohibited. Am I following you right?

Mike West: Absolutely. What we see in the political-scape … Obviously I have a little bit of family history where some of my family members had epilepsy. In many fairly conservative political jurisdictions, a lot of politicians are very adverse to providing medical cannabis drugs to adolescence minors when the drugs have psychoactivity. So what we’re seeing is a lot of the states in the southeastern portions of the United States are passing CBD laws which allow for the cultivation of medical marijuana but that that medical marijuana has to be a low THC, high CBD variety. That would classify it as a medical hemp variety.

One of the groups that we’re consulting in the Southeast is doing an application where they’re going to be cultivating several acres of CBD hemp, but obviously they want to cultivate more than just one phenotype of, say, Charlotte’s Web. So being able to go in there and say, “Okay, here is a bunch of different phenotypes. Some of them are higher in lemonine, so those are going to be CBD strains that are better for the morning. Whereas this one has high linalool or myrcene so even though it doesn’t have any THC, it’s still going to have some sedative effects from those ancillary entourage terpenoids.

Shango Los: Well, at that point the million dollar question actually, then, becomes we understand that THC is not allowed in many of these jurisdictions, how effective is CBD, and let’s talk less about … Well, let’s talk a little bit about isolated CBD, but it sounds like the market is developing medical hemp. So let’s talk about CBD plus terpenes. How effective is medical hemp-derived CBD when compared to a whole-plant extract of medical marijuana?

Mike West: We’ve done extractions of both medical marijuana and industrial hemp, medical hemp which is high CBD hemp, a lot of it goes down to how it’s processed and what it’s processed into. If you take a really potent THC medical strain and process it unprofessionally, you’re going to end up with really dark goop that’s not really medicinal products. The same is true with medical hemp. If you take a lot of the agricultural byproducts and extract them, then you’re not going to get as high a quality product as the products that are going to be derived from medical hemp varieties that are bred and developed and cultivated for the specific use of extraction of the phytocannabinoids of CBD and terpenoids.

That’s gets into how can we … as farmers we want to be able to maximize the value of our crops, so a lot of the farmers who started by doing … ‘let’s just cultivate industrial hemp,’ and so in the international-scape, a lot of countries like China, Romania, Lithuania, France and Spain cultivated the low THC strains of industrial hemp. The International Singles Treaty required that they breed out all the THC from them, so they had to select for different phytocannabinoids. One of the ones that was selected for was CBD. So they started selecting for getting rid of the THC, bringing the CBD, but those hemp varieties still had terpenoids in them.

When the industry developed where they actually started saying, “Hey, these CBD plants might actually have more value than the fiber we’re harvesting off the hemp plants, then we started seeing the industry develop into what we call a dual crop or a tri crop, where people would actually cultivate the industrial hemp, harvest the flowers for the seeds and the flowers, and then extract the what we call the shaft, which is the brackets around the seeds, extract the CBD out of the byproduct flower, used the seeds and then use the stems. They actually started developing farming methodologies where they would not only isolate the CBD from the flowers but also be able to use the stems and in some cases the seeds as well.

Shango Los: What we’ve got here in the end product is an isolated CBD in conjunction with selected for terpenes but no THC. Let’s talk about how this affects the patient. I would think that folks with seizure, folks with epilepsy, folk whose malady is based on a misfiring of receptors, they may well get some benefit from this type of a product, but it’s going to be a little bit more distant for folks who need the THC, like Parkinson’s and cancer and things like that. So this is a medical hemp-derived CBD, but it’s not really a solution for everybody. Am I following you?

Mike West: Absolutely, absolutely. Because when you look at the way that everybody’s neurobiochemistry is made up, everybody has a slightly different neurobiochemistry. We’ve even see a lot of cases where … CBD was originally thought of as the wonder drug for epilepsy. What we’ve actually identified is that CBD works phenomenally in about twenty or thirty percent of epilepsy cases. That’s a small percentage of epilepsy. We’re seeing a larger percentage of success in this combination of CBD and THC drugs, because what we’ve found is that CBD helps reduce the occurrence of the epileptic episodes, but the THC actually helps to stop the onset or decrease the onset of the epilepsy.

In other cases where you have muscle inflammation and other muscle soreness, a lot of times that comes from hyperactivity in the neurons, so being able to have the CBD play a neuroregulatory role, down regulating the phytocannabinoids receptors actually can allow for … not so much the reduction in pain but the decrease in the potentiation of the pain. That’s been backed by several different international research studies. Obviously we would love to be able to do the research into creating nutraceuticals and potentially pharmaceutical drugs out of CBD hemp, but unfortunately the US federal government classifies hemp and CBD under the Analog Dug Act as a Schedule I substance just like THC is. The way that we’ve gotten around that is obviously by working with states, with jurisdictions, with government officials to draft laws that allow for us to be able to do this heavily regulated research in a corporate setting, in states that passed the regulation that followed the federal guidelines what we call the eight principles of the Cole and Ogden Memorandums.

Shango Los: It sounds like we’ve got a three-step process. First of all, we know that at the federal level it’s Schedule I, and so technically none of this stuff that we’re doing is legal at the federal level. Then the second step is that some states are allowing CBD-only legislation to pass which then allows these medical versions of hemp to be process into a CBD plus terpenes that gives some relief to patients. Then finally in states that are more far along towards normalization and they can use a full medical marijuana plant, we’re getting full on entourage effects that’s giving folks all of the possible relief that can come from the plant. Well, this is making a lot of sense. Mike, we need to take a short break and be right back. You are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

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Entrepreneurs across the country are establishing businesses in response to cannabis normalization. Once a state becomes legal for cannabis, they all go through similar growing pains. New business owners must develop a business plan, a brand, learn growing and processing techniques, and develop products from those new skills and get them to market. Most challenging, they must learn how to work creatively within the narrow bands of legality set by their state regulators. Each step in this process is filled with hidden delays that burn resources. The most common challenging belief I have seen from my own clients and other players in Washington, Colorado and Oregon is that they think they can do it all themselves, or worse that they have to do all by themselves. This is simply untrue and in most cases will cost you a great deal of time, money and frustration.

We have reached the point now that they are exceptionally good cannabis consultants who have learned from their mistakes, risen to the top of their own markets, and now offer this advice to new cannabis entrepreneurs in states that are just moving into production now. One of these is Green Lion. Green Lion was an early player in the Washington medical market. They grew up during times of confusing, gray market regulations, balancing between honoring the Cole 2 memo in state’s cannabis laws while continually striving to push the market forward with groundbreaking growing, processing and products.

Green Lion was in the first round of licenses awarded by Washington State, and they began the difficult challenge of running tandem medical and state licensed recreational operations while being a shining example of creating revenue and staying within the fine details of state law. Their extraction lab uses a variety of methods and has a reputation for producing exceptional oils and an employee-training program taught by folks who are now industry leaders.

Green Lion can help you attain your own cannabis sales goals. Their multifaceted team has the expertise you need, whether i be growing, extraction, product development, branding, or support working through your state’s licensing process.

Green Lion is also now acquiring established medical and recreational marijuana product lines to bring into the Green Lion family. If you have an established product and want to participate in the licensed cannabis market, Green Lion could be the place for you. They will fold your manufacturing team into their production and get your proven products into the hands of cannabis enthusiasts everywhere.

Finally, do you enjoy fine cannabis oil? Green Lion presently provides recreational and medical products made with their premium oils throughout Washington State. Ask for Green Lion Dab Oil, CO2 oil and kief-infused pre-rolls, vape cartridges, and full plant extract topicals at your favorite retail location.

Get your pen ready because here comes the contact information. If you want to achieve a positive cash flow in a shorter time, reach out to Green Lion. If you have a marijuana business that needs to find a licensed home to manufacturer, reach out to Green Lion. Drop a line to contact@greenlionindustries.com and let them know how you want to work together. Tell them Ganjapreneur sent you, too. That email address is contact@greenlionindustries.com. Now back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

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Welcome back. You are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m your host, Shango Los. Our guest this week is Mike West, director of biotechnology at Green Lion Farms. Mike, before the break we had a very detailed discussion about the different kinds of hemp-derived CBD and both its advantages and shortcomings. Well, a lot of the folks who listen to this podcast are not necessarily going to be patients themselves. They are entrepreneurs who are interested in bringing this relief to the patients. Let’s talk a little bit about producing the medical hemp itself. Our country has got lots of different growing areas. Are there particular parts of the country that are going to end up being more effectively growing medical hemp than others?

Mike West: Absolutely. Obviously cannabis and hemp are a weed. It’s been cultivated on, from what I can tell, all seven continents, Antarctica only by humans, but we have found feral hemp that was planted in the ’30s is still to this day being eradicated by the DEA. So there’s hemp cultivars growing wild across the US. The big push is going to be we’re going to see a lot of the conservative states down in the Southeast are going to pass hemp legislation before medical regulation, whereas some of the West Coast states are going to pass medical regulation and potentially recreational regulation before the industrial hemp regulation. What were going to end up seeing is that the market’s eventually going to develop where we have different bioregions that are producing different types of cultivars.

A great example is going to be Canada has developed a lot of early finishing seed cultivars, whereas countries like Spain and France have primarily developed fiber cultivars. It’s a combination of where the industry was invested to as well as transportation and commercial aspects. It’s a lot cheaper to transport rope from hemp fields in Spain to the ports in Spain or France than it would be for Canadian hemp farmers to export their fiber potentially across the world. A lot of times we’ll end up start creating biodiverse geo-locations where one cultivar is going to be developed in one bioregion, other cultivars are developed in other regions.

One of my best suggestion for farmers that are looking at cultivating industrial hemp is when you look at cultivating medical cannabis, you’re looking for high value, highly rich soil, something that grows in a riparian zone along river bottoms, etc. Industrial hemp grows phenomenally along river bottoms, but when we look at cultivation of industrial hemp, we generally look for bioregions that are similar to where we see flax and wheat being cultivated. It’s a slightly drier climate that has less regular annual rainfall and that allows for us to cultivate different hemp cultivars and potentially cultivate fiber as well as the CBD and the seeds.

Shango Los: I would think that all these different cultivars not only … they might be longer or shorter flowering, but they’ll also end up in a final product that’s got a different mix of terpenes profiles. Medical hemp derived in different parts of the country with longer or shorter summers and different nutrition in the ground would probably derive entirely different types of medicine.

Mike West: Absolutely. What we’re actually seeing is it’s a combination environmental factors, so the amount of nutrients that are in the soil are going to change the amount of phytocannabinoids and terpenes produced. The amount of sunlight, we’re seeing further south you’re going to have bluer spectrums, whereas further north you’re going to have redder spectrums. Then the combination of being able to breed in different traits from medical cannabis and medical hemp varieties allows for us to be able to start selecting for a very rich and very biodiverse medical hemp cultivars. Now, a lot of our breeding has to do … okay, we have to go through hundreds of seeds in order to isolate those really unique phenotypes that has that perfect ratios, but that’s a lot of the research that we do within the state’s registered laws.

As the industry gets developed and what we’ve actually seen develop in Canada is a pedigreed seed system, whereas farmers who are in Canada can actually locate pedigreed-tested seed cultivars and those pedigreed-tested seed cultivars have been cultivated for, I believe, six generations, isolated, back-crossed and stabilized so that when farmers in Canada purchase those pedigreed seeds they know that those seeds are going to be tested, not test high. There’s a couple cases where some of the farmers that are getting started in Colorado and other states planted seed varieties that in their country of origin, place of origin, they tested below the international and national drug treaties of three percent. But by moving them from one bioregion to another bioregion and cultivating them in different environments, we’ve seen slight variations in the THC concentrations, which could potentially be very, very costly for the hemp farmers.

Shango Los: Wow. That’s actually really interesting. You take the same seed, and you’re growing it somewhere different, and you’re getting these different effects. It’s like when we are having winter wherever we are and then we go to Hawaii, suddenly we feel like we’re thriving more, too.

Mike West: Absolutely, absolutely. We see that with many different cultivars. The apples that are grown in Washington State are going to look different than the apples grown in California. In many cases we’ll be able to develop different cultivars that bio-locate and evolve as we select for them as we hybridize them to be able to create unique cultivars that are locally adapted to the different bioregions.

Shango Los: Let’s talk acreage for a moment. When talking medical marijuana versus medical hemp, medical marijuana has got a far greater density of all of the healing attributes that we want as part of the entourage effect. It’s got more THC, more CBD, more terpenes, and so you can grow this indoors under lights in a warehouse and if you plan your business right, you can make some good revenue. But hemp, because the density is so much less, except for a little bit of R&D, if even that, that’s not a product that’s probably going to be grown in a warehouse. So we’re talking about fields and fields of this so that it can be processed en mass to get the constituents we want. How many acres are we talking about … here in these early days, do you think is a minimum number of acres to make it worth the while as far as profit and creating revenue out of this goes?

Mike West: What I like to tell the farmers is that every acre of hemp that you plant, you could potentially make two to three times as much as if you were to plant wheat. Looking at it from a commercial standpoint, if we’re going to spend the millions of dollars in order to build a hemp processing plant, we want to be able to run that hemp processing plant at least three hundred days a year, preferably three hundred fifty days a year, twenty-four/seven. When you start looking at that, especially on the fiber side, that requires not only hectacres but thousands of hectacres. Some of the medical groups that we’re working with in Florida are looking at doing up to twenty-five acres of medical hemp, but that’s for a limited use in the medical program. Other groups, notably one in Colorado, are rapidly trying to scale up in the hundreds of hectacres. We’ve even heard of groups in Oregon or abroad that are looking at doing the thousands of hectacres.

The idea goes that is as we get these identified cultivars, we can actually scale up the acreage, and using that scaled up acreage, cultivating a select number of cultivars, we never want to just grow a mono-culture, we want to grow three to five to maybe ten different cultivars of industrial hemp, and using those industrial hemp cultivars, we can actually start selecting for different traits in them. What we’re going to see is that the medical hemp is going to very much be able to fuel the growth in the industrial hemp sector. When you look at the derivatives that the … essential oils that can be extracted out of medical hemp, it’s far and away greater value than, say, just cultivating wheat. In order to use more than just the extracted oils, we need many thousands of acres to be able to justify the millions of dollars of investment required to build out these large-scale industrial hemp processing plants like we’re seeing in Europe and in Asia.

Shango Los: The idea of hectacres of medical hemp probably has our medical marijuana growers all giving up red flags. We might as well talk about the obvious question, a lot people are concerned that having industrial medical hemp growing in the same areas as medical marijuana is going to cause a cross-pollination and ruin both crops. I’ve heard everything from the crops need to be at least three miles apart to being ten miles apart and even more. What does the science say behind this if we set all the fear mongering aside?

Mike West: The science has been studied a lot both in Canada as well as in Spain. There’s a great example where in Spain they actually give a pollen report for the amount of pollen that’s being blown from Morocco into Spain. Now that oftentimes scares farmers because they think there’s hundreds of miles between these two countries, and it’s being able to cross-pollinate. What we’re actually seeing is that UV radiation from the sun … As the pollen gets released by the male plants, the sun is constantly producing UV radiation and that UV irradiation can actually sterilize the hemp pollen.

Several countries have actually started developing regulation in order to be able to create the pedigreed seeds that I had mentioned earlier. Canada actually created a law that said that if you’re going to be a pedigreed seed breeder, your farm has to be located a minimum of three miles away from other farms. That three miles was what the Canadian government settled on. It’s far enough away to be able to minimize the risk of ninety-five or ninety-eight percent of the chance of cross-pollination. When they started actually studying it, and there’s a couple studies out of Europe, they actually were able to find that the UV irradiation of hemp can happen as short of a distance as a thousand feet.

Generally speaking I would suggest putting somewhere between a half a mile and a mile buffer between any sort of hemp/cannabis farm. Realistically when we talk to groups that are looking at cultivating industrial hemp versus looking at cultivating medical marijuana, the areas that we cultivate medical marijuana are going to be higher value agricultural areas than the areas that we want to cultivate industrial hemp. We want to cultivate industrial hemp in areas that are dry land deserts, oftentimes places that are not used for agricultural production of vegetables. Whereas medical marijuana, we want as rich of a soil as possible so that we can grow as rich of a terpene content as possible.

Shango Los: Well, that’s convenient. The fact that the growing spaces that we want for each of the two products are different. I guess the moral of this story is to set up your sprawling acreage away from the other crop. Small places like where I live on Vashon Island where people want to grow both medical marijuana and industrial hemp outdoors on our small fourteen by six mile island, this is probably not going to be the place for it. We, as a community, are going to have to figure out which one we want.

Mike, before we wrap up here, let’s talk a little bit about these hemp fields being used for medical CBD derived from hemp. Eventually the federal government will reschedule or unschedule completely cannabis, and it will be able to be grown from medical marijuana and provided to patients. Leaving these hectacres of medical hemp needing a different product to be pulled out of them. Why don’t we finish with you talking a little bit about these hemp fields, the great things that they’ll be able to do after this bridge time that they’re helping to produce CBD for prohibition locations?

Mike West: Absolutely. I actually have an interesting perspectives on it because I believe that there will be low THC cultivars of industrial hemp cultivated for quite a long time even after prohibition. When you look at the near-beers, not a whole lot of people drink O’Doul’s, but there is a market segment for people that want to drink beer that’s low alcohol content. Working in the recreational markets that we are, we’re seeing a lot of people that traditionally were against smoking of marijuana, but now that it’s recreational, anybody twenty-one and over can purchase it, we’re getting a lot of requests at the recreational stores that are traditional Baby Boomers that never wanted to get psychoactively high but have learned quite about CBDs, so they want to see if they could potentially use CBD as a health supplement, so using it as a potential cosmetic, using it as a body rub, a massage oil, as not so much a nutraceutical or a pharmaceutical but as a supplement to everybody’s healthy well-being.

We all know that hemp is high in omega-3s. It actually has the most bio-rich array of different amino acids. It’s a phenomenal health food. What were going to see is that a lot of people are going to start wanting to cultivate hemp and cannabis as a health food. We’re going to see people that are going to try and create health products not only nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals but over the counter drugs that are available at gas stations. Now, if you’re going to be consuming something that’s going to cause psychoactivity, it has to be well regulated. We have to make sure that it doesn’t fall into the hands of minors, but we already do that fairly well with tobacco and alcohol. Hemp-derived CBD that could be put into a muscle rub or a massage oil that’s not going to cause psychoactivity contains a lot less risk in regards to psychoactivity. That’s going to have a much broader, much faster growth on a national level.

We’ve already talked to a couple different gas station chains that, as soon as the federal law changes, they would love to be able to have the industrial hemp, medical hemp in their gas stations, because we don’t want truckers taking pain pills when they can just take a muscle rub. We don’t want truckers taking potential psychoactive and potentially deadly pharmaceutical drugs while they’re driving down the road when they can consume something that’s not going overdose, not going to cause psychoactivity, etc.

What we’re going see is that a lot of the industry is going to develop into a broad portfolio of different products, just like we see with the alcohol industry. We have wines, we have Champagnes, we have liquors, which are concentrated forms, and we have different beers. The vast majority of people aren’t going to go for the super high potency stuff. They’re going to go for your middle of the road, either vape pens or topicals or edibles or smokes that have some psychoactive or no psychoactivity but have a great flavor and some potential medical benefit. We can’t make medical claims, but we always want to develop products that are not only healthy but good for you.

Shango Los: That’s really insightful Mike. That’s all the time we’ve got for today. I really appreciate you being on this show. We’ve heard so many places, real just topical, cursory handling of this, but it was really nice to be able to go in depth with you like this. Thanks for visiting the show, Mike.

Mike West: Absolutely, Shango. Have a wonderful Fall Harvest yourself.

Shango Los: Mike West is director of manufacturing at Cresco. You can email Mike at mikew@crescolabs.com, C-R-E-S-C-O-L-A-B-S dot com. You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur podcast in the podcast section of Ganjapreneur.com. You can also find us on the Cannabis Radio Network website 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. To get your cannabis news and podcast on the go, you can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. We’re also thrilled to announce that you can now find this show on the iHeartRadio Network app bringing Ganjapreneur to sixty million mobile devices. I’m your host Shango Los.

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Illinois Health Officials Again Refuse Medical Cannabis Expansions

2/02/2016

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Despite weeks of entreaties from medical cannabis patient advocates and business owners alike, the Illinois state government has asserted that it will not expand the list of conditions that qualify patients for access to medical cannabis.

The decision was made by Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration, and was announced by Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The announcement comes in spite of claims by business owners that the state’s medical program would likely fail without more qualified patients. Ganjapreneur reported on the issue earlier this year:

“Regulators in Illinois have reported $1.7 million in medical cannabis sales as of November, 2015, and there are an estimated 4,500 patients currently registered with the program. As things stand, however, the program is performing significantly worse than experts had originally predicted. Dispensary owners say they need to serve between 20,000 and 30,000 patients within the next few months in order to stabilize.”

Melaney Arnold, a Health Department spokesperson, argued that the medical program was not yet mature enough to be expanded, reports The Chicago Tribune.

“As patients have just started purchasing medical cannabis, the State has not had the opportunity to evaluate the benefits and costs of the pilot program or determine areas for improvement or even whether to extend the program beyond its pilot period,” she said in an email. “At this time, it is premature to expand the pilot program before there is the ability to evaluate it under the current statutory requirements.”

The decision not to expand the list of qualifying conditions flies in the face of the state’s Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, which recommended that eight conditions be added to the list, including autism, irritable bowel syndrome, post traumatic stress disorder, and osteoarthritis.

Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, who chairs the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, said she was “reeling” from the administration’s decision.

“I’m deeply disappointed. But I’m not surprised. The governor’s office hasn’t shown much support for this pilot program, and it shows in this blanket rejection again.”

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Mexico Approves Another Medical Cannabis Import Permit

2/02/2016

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The Mexican government has announced that it will allow the parents of two girls suffering from an unspecified illness to import a medical cannabis oil derivative for use in treating the ailments.

The country’s Federal Health Commission released a statement Monday stating that it had approved the parents’ request to import hemp oil into Mexico.

In November 2015, the Mexican Supreme Court issued a decision stating that individuals should be allowed to grow and possess cannabis for personal use. The ruling did not change any laws, but did create a legal basis for future ones.

In December, the government granted permits to the four individuals who had won the Supreme Court case to grow cannabis for personal consumption. A judge also ordered last year that the government grant an import permit to the parents of a girl who suffers from an intractable form of epilepsy.

Although marijuana remains illegal in the country, the latest permits indicate that the government is likely to issue further permits before being ordered by courts to do so. The health commission said it is seeking to “accelerate patients’ access to alternative treatments.”

The government also kicked off a formal debate on cannabis last month.

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Vermont Senate Committee Approves Bill to Legalize Recreational Cannabis

2/02/2016

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The Judiciary Committee of the Vermont Senate voted 4-1 in favor of a bill last Friday that would allow the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis, bringing Vermont one step closer to becoming the first state to legalize marijuana via the legislature.

The bill now moves to the full Senate and, if passed, will continue onto the House and eventually to Gov. Peter Shumlin — who has said that he supports the measure and hopes that Vermont will approve legalization through the legislative process, rather than wait for a voter referendum.

The bill in its current form would allow Vermonters to purchase cannabis from licensed dispensaries, but does not legalize homegrown cannabis.

“To proponents, it doesn’t go far enough, but there are provisions in the bill that will keep the conversation moving forward to discuss their concerns,” said Republican Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning, vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “To opponents, the bill goes too far, but if you read the language of this 50-plus page bill you will see that virtually all concerns have been taken into account in a way that enables us to get hold of larger concerns.”

Gov. Shumlin said in a press release on Friday:

“This debate is about whether we can take a smarter approach towards marijuana, which is already widely available and used by tens of thousands of Vermonters. Promoting prevention, keeping marijuana out of the hands of kids, getting rid of illegal drug dealers, and doing a better job responding to impaired drivers already on our roads, I believe this legislation is a huge improvement on the failed war on drugs. I look forward to working with the Legislature as they continue to debate this issue.”

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Gold coins in stacks next to a line graph.

Chase Bank Shuts Down Company’s Account for Talking About Cannabis

2/01/2016

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Cannabis and banking have been at odds since legalization first touched down in Colorado and Washington — but now, a Chase Paymentech business account has been shut down because the company, a media organization, likes to talk about cannabis.

Cannabis media group Green Flower Media announced over the weekend that Chase pulled their account after after only four days of activity, and it was subject matter relating to cannabis that prompted the move.

According to Green Flower Media’s CEO and founder Max Simon, the company had been operating in full compliance with Chase’s rules and was upfront about the company’s subject matter during the application process. It took only four days of activity for the banking giant to change its mind.

“We had to go through four different managers and account executives to discover that they shut down our account because: ‘Your subject matter is cannabis and we don’t support that here at Chase,'” Simon wrote in an email. “As a media company that disseminates educational information, this feels very much like a First Amendment violation. We were 100% approved and compliant, and now they have decided to cancel our account just because they don’t ‘support’ the content of our media.”

“Our content is about using cannabis to save lives,” Simon continued. “Our speakers demonstrate how cannabis kills cancer, treats sick kids, and can be used to manage life-threatening illnesses such as epilepsy and PTSD. For Chase to spontaneously decide that they do not support our content is not only hurtful to our business, but it is also damaging… public health.”

Thankfully, Green Flower Media suffered minimal setbacks from the incident, and expects their banking services to be restored by Tuesday through a different banking institution.

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New Medical Vaping Lounge Purports to be Canada’s Largest

2/01/2016

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A business claiming to be Canada’s largest vaping lounge quietly opened in Windsor last week.

Higher Limits, co-owned by Jon Liedtke, Alex Newman, and a third owner who requested to remain anonymous, is a place where medical cannabis patients can convene and vape.

The lounge is located in a 6,000 square foot building that was formerly the Venue Music Hall. The owners are marketing it as Windsor’s first lounge and the largest of its kind in the country.

Liedtke says that since opening last week, Higher Limits has average more than 100 visitors a day. “It was just about finding the right time and place,” he said in an interview with the The National Post.

No cannabis is dispensed or exchanged in any way at the lounge. There’s also no drugs or alcohol of any kind other than cannabis, and you need to be of at least 18 years of age to enter the lounge. They do sell cannabis paraphernalia and literature.

Liedtke says that Higher Limits is about more than just providing a place for patients to vape. It’s also about creating a safe space for users.

“We have medical users who are being discriminated against, who have stigmas lingering over them,” he said. “It’s not necessary. Quite frankly, it’s inappropriate in the year 2016 … It’s easy to joke about cannabis. But would you joke about someone who needs to use insulin?”

Legally, the lounge exists in a bit of a gray area. Although the assumption is that only medical users can use the facilities, Higher Limits isn’t allowed to ask for proof of a medical cannabis license.

“We’re in as much compliance as we can be,” Liedtke said.

“We tell people: it’s use-at-your-own-risk. Consuming cannabis in here is no different than consuming it on the street, in a park, or in your own home. If the police want to come in, the doors are open. We’re in no position to stop them.”

Police spokesman Const. Andrew Drouillard said that the force “[respects] the rights of individuals who are legally permitted to consume marijuana for medical purposes. At this point, we’re handling [Higher Limits] on a complaint basis.”

“If we receive information or complaints from the community, they will be investigated accordingly. If charges are warranted, they will be laid.”

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Major Marijuana Advocacy Groups in Washington Reorganize into ‘The Cannabis Alliance’

2/01/2016

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In response to the cannabis industry’s growing need for more efficient advocacy, four major marijuana trade organizations and advocacy groups from around Washington state have reorganized under a new nonprofit trade organization: The Cannabis Alliance.

The following four Washington-based groups have agreed to fully merge for the betterment of the industry: the Coalition for Cannabis Standards & Ethics (CCSE), the Washington Marijuana Association (WMA), the Northwest Producers and Processors Association (NWPPR), and the Committee for Adult Use and Ethics of Marijuana (CAUSE-M).’ A fifth organization, the Washington Federation of Marijuana Businesses (WAFMB), has been in talks about folding into the alliance, as well.

“We were not being as efficient as we felt we could be,” said Lara Kaminsky, who currently serves as Interim Executive Director for The Cannabis Alliance.

“As four nonprofits, we [were] all vying after the same membership base,” said Jedidiah Haney, The Cannabis Alliance’s Interim Board Secretary. “In a few years, we would basically go from hand in hand to shoulder to shoulder, and it would be a competition,” he said. “We think that having an organization such as The Cannabis Alliance — which keeps bringing cohesive, synergistic members into the fold and [is] a greater and better, more vital organization for the membership as a whole — is the right way to go.”

The Cannabis Alliance has been in the works since September, 2014. Though it was unclear early on how the new organization would unfold, it became inevitably apparent that Washington’s cannabis industry would be better served by a more conglomerated advocacy effort.

“We are looking at the industry as a whole and saying, ‘how can we help bolster the industry through education and influencing public policy, to help the industry become sustainable?'” Kaminsky told Ganjapreneur. “Relationship building, information gathering, education, good policy decisions — these are the things that we work on daily.”

Ultimately, The Cannabis Alliance strives to ensure a sustainable, vital and ethical cannabis industry in Washington state. However, its model could very well serve for cannabis nonprofits and trade organizations around the U.S. who, as cannabis normalization becomes a more mainstream reality, may soon find themselves struggling with similar situations.

Eventually, Kaminsky said, “We can say ‘these are the systems that we set up, these are the things that we have in place,’ so that when you’re at that point we can just hand it over to you, and you can take it and modify it to your situation.”

The current Board for The Cannabis Alliance is made up of interim volunteers who are “trying to help form the basis for this organization,” she said. The interim leadership will serve “until we get our legs under us and get the organization going down the right path.” General elections are being planned for all leadership positions within The Cannabis Alliance in the coming year.

“We really want to make this a democratic process,” Kaminsky said.

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Washington State’s Puyallup Tribe to Open Cannabis Testing Lab

1/29/2016

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The Puyallup Tribe has finished developing a compact with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and the Liquor and Cannabis Board to open a marijuana testing lab in Tacoma’s Trans-Pacific Trade Center, the same building as the tribe’s new cancer center.

The Puyallup Tribe is one of three Washington tribes taking advantage of a U.S. Department of Justice policy calling on the tribes to submit their marijuana policy plans. Other tribes have elected to open retail stores.

Other tribes, and a number of local universities, have already expressed interest in submitting samples to the new lab. Tribal spokesman John Weymer said the tribe is offering safety, potency, and microbe content tests for holders of state marijuana licenses, but told The News Tribune that the focus will be medicinal cannabis.

“Our tribe feels that the medical aspect of cannabis is very important and as we grow we want to incorporate that into our health system,” Weymer said. Medical marijuana “is where we want to excel,” he said.

The lab will abide by state rules — labs must be properly certified, and must hand over testing results to the state tracking system.

Weyman says the new facility is “Phase 1” of the tribe’s ongoing cannabis development plans.

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Oregon Medical Cannabis Advocates Take Issue With Proposed Regulations

1/29/2016

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Medical marijuana growers and advocates in Oregon are arguing that the state’s proposed regulations, set to go into effect on March 1st, will impose undue burdens on the industry and ultimately will negatively impact patients.

The Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) rules passed as part of a cannabis industry regulation bill last year. Oregon’s medical marijuana industry has been operating without significant oversight for some ten years.

The new rules require 24/7 security and strict reporting to the OHA regarding the number of plants and the final location of harvests. The OHA will also be allowed to inspect any grow operation that has more than 12 plants or is selling to processors or dispensaries.

Some in the medical cannabis community argue that the OHA hasn’t given growers sufficient notice of the pending regulations, and have requested that the March 1st implementation date be pushed back.

Cedar Grey, a grower with the southern-Oregon-based Oregon Sungrown Growers Guild, said that “most growers and patients have no idea about this yet. And it completely changes the program.”

And Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) criticized the OHA on Thursday in an interview with the Oregonian, saying it has “run amok.”

“The proposed rules are a direct assault on the [medical cannabis] program and the small family farm,” he said.

Prozanski said that legislators will likely seek to address perceived problems with the regulations starting next week.

Andre Ourso, who manages the OHA’s medical marijuana division, defended the regulations: “We are a public health agency. We are concerned with Oregonians’ overall health and safety. That is the angle that we are coming from.”

The Oregonian has listed some of the new regulations on its website.

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Poll: 61 Percent of New Mexico Residents Support Recreational Cannabis Legalization

1/29/2016

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A poll released Thursday indicates that three out of five residents of New Mexico support legalizing, regulating and taxing recreational marijuana in the state.

The survey, conducted by the Albuquerque-based firm Research & Polling Inc., shows that 61 percent of New Mexico residents back legalizing cannabis possession and use for adults 21 and older. Just 28 percent of residents oppose legalization.

Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc., said the poll was quite blunt.

“We just said straight up, ‘Do you support or oppose a bill that would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana sales for adult use in New Mexico?’”

The survey, conducted by telephone between January 8th and 13th, reached 406 New Mexico residents, and has a margin of error of 5 percentage points. It was paid for by both private and nonprofit groups, including the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance.

“Even in eastern New Mexico, which we consider typically our most conservative region, 58 percent supported this,” said Sanderoff.

Rep. Bill McCamley (D-Mesilla Park), said it’s not likely that Republican lawmakers would bring his legalization bill up for a vote on the floor during this 30-day session.

Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino ( D-Albuquerque) said he will work to pass a constitutional amendment that would block Republican Governor Susana Martinez from vetoing any eventual legalization bill that passes.

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Federal Lawmakers Calling for VA to Remove Ban Blocking Medical Cannabis Treatment for Veterans

1/28/2016

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A bipartisan group of 21 federal lawmakers have banded together to pressure the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to allow U.S. veterans the option of pursuing medical cannabis treatment.

The politicians sent a letter to VA Secretary Robert McDonald only days before the VA’s current policy regarding medical cannabis expires at the end of January. Currently, VA doctors are banned from recommending or even discussing the plant’s potential therapeutic benefits.

“According to the current directive, VA providers are prohibited from completing forms seeking recommendations or opinions regarding a veteran’s participation in a state-sanctioned marijuana program. This policy disincentivizes doctors and patients from being honest with each other,” the lawmakers argued.

“We should be doing everything we can to make life easier for our veterans,” said Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat. “Prohibiting VA doctors from talking to their patients about medical marijuana just doesn’t make sense.”

The following lawmakers signed the letter, as listed by Americans for Safe Access:

Senators Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY), Steve Daines (R-MT), Corey Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)

Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Joe Heck (R-NV), Dina Titus (D-NV), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Justin Amash (R-MI), Mark Pocan (D-WI)

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