The Washington D.C. Council has voted unanimously to strengthen record sealing laws to help citizens in the nation’s capital move past marijuana infractions from their past. The Council is expected to take a second vote on the new system later in October (D.C. law requires the Council to vote twice on a bill), after which the bill will go to Mayor Vincent Gray for his approval.
“For the thousands of D.C. residents who are suffering the life-altering consequences of having a marijuana possession charge on their record, this legislation should help provide relief,” said Dr. Malik Burnett of the Drug Policy Alliance.
The DPA released a statement on the subject earlier this week:
The Record Sealing for Decriminalized and Legalized Offenses Act of 2014 (Council Bill #20-467) would improve the record sealing process for individuals previously arrested, charged, or convicted of an offense that has since been decriminalized or legalized, including records pertaining to marijuana possession. This legislation would speed up government review and decision making on motions to seal criminal records, place important limits on government discretion to deny a record sealing motion, and provide more certainty that a motion to seal certain qualified records will be honored by the government within a certain time frame.
The nation’s capital made waves earlier this year when the city voted to decriminalize cannabis possession, and citizens will be voting this November on Initiative 71, which sets out to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana. Since decriminalization took effect July 17, however, reports show that 77% of all marijuana-related tickets were written in neighborhoods home to primarily people of color. This troubling statistic demonstrates that there is still a gross disparity in marijuana enforcement between races, despite decriminalization, thus emphasizing the need for further political action in this direction.
“Initiative 71 will take D.C. another step toward removing marijuana from the criminal justice system and refocusing police priorities on more serious crime,” said Dr. Burnett. “The District has the opportunity to serve as a model for other jurisdictions looking to reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system.”
Recently we had the pleasure of interviewing David Murét of Viridian, a staffing agency for the cannabis industry based out of Seattle, WA. Viridian was founded in 2013 by David and his business partner Kara Bradford to offer staffing, recruiting, HR consulting, and outsourcing services to companies within the medical and recreational cannabis industries, as well as industrial hemp.
Up until recently, cannabis business practices have been largely secretive and kept private due to legal ambiguity, and employers have often hired from within their own social circles and families. However, with the rapid growth of the industry, many businesses are turning to professional recruiters and staffing agencies like Viridian.
Read the Q&A below!
Ganjapreneur: What does Viridian Staffing do for cannabis industry employers and job-seekers, in a nutshell?
David Murét: Viridian helps connect employers with the talent they need to succeed, and in doing so, also connects individuals with exciting opportunities. We are also a full-service HR consulting practice and are here to provide resources, answer questions and solve problems.
When did Viridian Staffing get started, and what were you doing before you decided to start a company in the cannabis industry?
We founded Viridian back in 2013. Prior to that, our co-founder and head recruiter, Kara, who has an MBA in Human Resources and Organizational Development spent over 14 years as both an agency and in-house recruiter for some of the top companies in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Our head HR Consultant, Carole, has a Masters in Human Resources Management with an emphasis on Organizational Leadership as well as over 20 years of experience assisting start-ups and organizations undergoing explosive growth. My experience, as Chief Operations Officer, consists of a combination of Law, I.T., Finance and business development.
What are some of the obstacles Viridian has faced?
The main obstacles have been:
Being headquartered here in Washington State, just how long it has taken Washingon’s industry to come on line and all the turmoil many of our potential clients have and continue to face as a result of that messy process; the moratoriums, bans and draconian zoning requirements in particular. It has taken a lot more time and resources than any of them anticipated.
This industry has also been relatively slow to warm up to recruiting and human resources. While there are certainly some notable exceptions, those who have been at this for a while, pre-“legalization,” got so used to doing their own hiring and not really concerning themselves with employment best practices that they’re now having a hard time wrapping their minds around the benefits of leveraging the knowledge and skills of external professionals.
What are some of the risks that cannabis industry companies face if they hire based on word-of-mouth as opposed to professional recruiting?
It would really depend what sources this “word-of-mouth” was coming from, but in our experience that’s not how most companies in this industry have been staffing their operations. In most cases they are either hiring people they know, or friends and family of people they know, or trying their luck with the job boards. And while this may work for some positions, problems abound and many of our clients end up coming to us after these methods have failed. In the case of hiring friends and family, many have found that it unnecessarily complicates the employer-employee relationship as friends and family have a tendency to take their positions for granted in ways that other professional employees aren’t as prone to. And in cases where things aren’t working out, it can be especially difficult to let people go. Job boards present a different set of challenges. First, between the chronic underemployment inherent in the post-recession “new normal” and the intense media focus on our industry, most businesses that post positions end up getting inundated with more low-quality applicants than they have the time to sort through, much less vet, reference/background check, etc. And unless they happen to have considerable experience hiring people, they’ll be unlikely to discern the tell-tale signs of a successful candidate verses an undesirable one, or could easily end up running afoul of employment law in the application and interview process, which could come back to bite them if the individual doesn’t work out. Plus all the time they spent finding and vetting that individual would have gone to waste. In our case, we don’t get paid unless our candidates stick.
Have you seen much interest from people living in states where cannabis is still illegal, who are looking to relocate?
Absolutely! While we always prefer to source talent locally, when possible, sometimes the need is so specific that we need to cast a wider net. As a result we have already placed several candidates from out of state.
As an ancillary business who serves both the medical and recreational marijuana industries, which industry would you say is growing faster?
It’s hard to say. Here in WA I think it’s fair to assume that i502 businesses are increasing at a faster rate than MMJs, but we also hear of plenty of would-be i502 operations that are starting up in the MMJ market with the intention of pivoting to their i502 operations, when fully licensed. Beyond Washington State there is obviously greater growth within both MMJ states and all the new states who are in the process of coming on-line.
Have you worked with any businesses who have transitioned from MMJ into recreational retail / production?
Yes. Many of our clients began in the MMJ market, some still are, and a significant percentage are working on their pivot to i502 (“recreational”) as we speak. It is our hope that Washington State will incorporate MMJ into i502, so we’ll have one unified, regulated system that serves both sides of the market, like we see in Colorado.
What do you think the future of legalized cannabis in Washington looks like?
Not sure at this point, but we hope that WA takes some lessons from Colorado and finds a way to incorporate MMJ in such a way that preserves safe access for legit patients who need it, most notably children.
What is your favorite thing about working in the cannabis industry?
We would have to say the people. The industry has been such a magnet for dynamic free-thinking innovators who aren’t nearly as stiff and creatively stifled as you find in so many other, more established industries. We also love working in an industry which, on the whole, places such a high value on triple bottom line business practices, which are both socially responsible and environmentally sustainable, particularly here in the Pacific Northwest.
Least favorite?
The downside to working in a new industry like this is just how busy if not overwhelmed people are, which leads to a lot of hurry up and wait, flakiness, stop and go and last-minute requests. It has certainly been the most challenging business environment we have experienced to date and is certainly not for everyone. Especially anyone who expects it to be easy.
Do you think there is any risk of a crackdown on legalized cannabis from the federal government in the foreseeable future?
I’m going to have to answer this like a typical attorney and say, “It depends.” While we agree with the majority of our colleagues that we are currently at the tipping point of the end of prohibition and that there is little that is likely to put the toothpaste back in the tube; We also have to appreciate just how much of this hinges on having a cooperative administration in the White House. We have yet to learn who the major party candidates are going to be in 2016, but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see the Republican’s nominate a socially conservative candidate who is openly hostile to the legalization movement and could turn every branch of the Federal government against us, including the IRS. And seeing as the President’s current stance towards Washington, Colorado and the various MMJ states is based on little more than a policy of tolerance, there is little to keep a future Executive from interpreting the supremacy clause strictly and claiming that Washington and Colorado’s current experiment is unconstitutional. On the other hand, Wall Street has gotten pretty excited about Cannabis in the last year or so, and seeing as those interests more or less own and control both political parties, it may be less likely they’d allow their minions to kill the goose that’s laying the golden egg.
Cannabis legalization has frequently been referred to as a “gold rush” due to the industry’s rapid growth over the past few years. With such fierce competition, what do you think the biggest factors will be in determining who succeeds?
The experience and dedication of the team. You not only need to understand your niche better than the competition, but you’ve got to have the drive and tenacity to overcome obstacles without becoming discouraged and that only comes from genuinely loving what you do and why you’re doing it. Those who are only entering this market in the hopes of making a quick, easy buck are in for a rude awakening. We’ve seen plenty of these come and go already.
What advice can you offer to aspiring ganjapreneurs?
If you’re thinking of getting into this industry, make sure you’re the kind of person who thrives on change, is comfortable working with a great deal of unknowns and has a passion for what you’re doing. If you’re looking to make a quick buck on a sure thing, this probably isn’t the industry for you.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions and provide such valuable insights about Viridian and the industry as a whole, David!
To learn more about Viridian Staffing, visit their website and follow them on Facebook. Questions? Post them in the comments area below:
You may have seen the headlines last month about an upcoming TV show that plans to feature several ganjapreneurs and their dreams to make it big in the cannabis industry — if you didn’t see the headlines, or don’t remember the premise of the show, think along the lines of “Shark Tank” meets “The Apprentice,” but with weed.
Creators Wendy Robbins and Karen Paull have chosen 22 semi-finalist ganjapreneurs from the more than 200 who auditioned. The semi-finalists have since been assigned a series of challenges that are designed to test the contestants’ business strategies and emotional integrity. Of the 22 semi-finalists, only six individuals will chosen for the final shooting of the show.
“We wanted emotional stuff for the show too. … I made millions of dollars and didn’t have my emotional stuff taken care of, so I lost balance, and giving people challenges that take them to the next level is as valuable as giving them the financial tasks,” Robbins explained. “Many got financial challenges, too — to get customers, testimonials, etc.”
The finalists will participate in a 3-day business-themed “boot camp” this weekend, after which they will pitch their business plans to investors — one winner will be chosen as “the next marijuana millionaire” and will receive financing and mentorship. Business pitches can cover any aspect of the legal cannabis industry.
Season One will feature eight episodes that will be made available in December via the Roku and other popular online streaming sources. Robbins and Paull plan to host a new series in each state that legalizes marijuana.
The start of October marked a drastic change in Colorado’s recreational marijuana market. With the new month, Colorado officials have opened the recreational industry to individuals from all walks of life — previously, to own a business in the retail marijuana industry, such ganjapreneurs needed to already have a state-licensed business such as a medical marijuana dispensary or cultivation site.
The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division issued new retail business licenses to 46 hopeful ganjapreneurs, as well as 37 new permits for cultivation facilities and 13 licenses for marijuana-infused products companies. Local jurisdictions will have to sign off on these new licenses for the individuals behind them to begin their business forays into the legal weed industry.
Another change starting in October is that recreational shops are no longer required to grow at least 70% of the product they sell, making it easier for a start-up to focus purely on the retail side of the marketplace.
Current recreational marijuana businesses include 242 retail pot shops and 316 cannabis production companies.
All things considered, the Colorado recreational cannabis market should expect more competition than ever before. Consumers should expect that the profit margins for the businesses in question will be lowered as the price of retail marijuana begins to drop.
Credit unions in New Mexico have decided to close the bank accounts of many state-licensed medical marijuana producers. The credit unions claim they are unable to comply with the federal guidelines announced in February and are obliged to shut down the bank accounts of many marijuana businesses.
Producers in New Mexico now face the problem of finding new banking partners, or else they will have to return to operating in a cash-only economy.
“It is disappointing to see that the banking industry in New Mexico is failing to protect medical patients and small businesses in light of the assurances the federal administration has provided and a robust and thriving medical marijuana industry in the state,” said the Drug Policy Alliance’s state director, Emily Kaltenbach. “This abrupt move has all of us asking why they are unexpectedly ceasing to do business with the marijuana industry in New Mexico. We would like to know why they are unable to comply with the federal guidelines.”
The guidelines released by the Obama administration in February included the stipulation that banks working with the marijuana industry must keep tabs on the businesses they serve. Banks must also be able to guarantee that said businesses are properly licensed by the state and are not involved in any criminal activity under the state’s reformed marijuana law. Banks would still be held accountable for such violations, were they to occur.
Despite endless accusations that medical marijuana programs are chalk full of fakers just looking for an easy fix, evidence is mounting that MMJ is a legitimate treatment for a wide variety of ailments. In fact, a recent survey found that 92% of California medical marijuana patients reported that marijuana successfully alleviates chronic pain and, among other things, symptoms of arthritis, migraines, and cancer.
“Our study contradicts commonly held beliefs that medical marijuana is being overused by healthy individuals,” the researchers explain.
The results were reported by the California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which surveyed 7,525 California adults.
The survey did find that, though there are similar rates of medical marijuana usage between men and women, younger generations are more likely than older generations to use medical marijuana. Nonetheless, the researchers explained, “Our study’s results lend support to the idea that medical marijuana is used equally by many groups of people and is not exclusively used by any one specific group.”
“The most common reasons for use include medical conditions for which mainstream treatments may not exist, such as for migraines, or may not be effective, including for chronic pain and cancer,” the authors write. The survey also concluded that approximately five percent of California adults have used medical marijuana to treat a “serious medical condition.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked the federal government for special permission to import medical marijuana from other states.
Cuomo originally contacted US Attorney General Eric Holder in early August on this subject, then followed up last week with a second letter directed to Deputy Attorney General James Cole. The governor wants to import limited amounts of certain cannabis strains — such as the CBD-centric Charlotte’s Web — which are specialized for treating children and young adults who suffer from severe cases of epilepsy.
Since New York’s medical marijuana bill was passed in July, at least three such children have died waiting for the program to take effect. Worse yet, the program must face a variety of bureaucratic obstacles before opening, and isn’t expected to launch until, at the earliest, January, 2016.
State health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker wrote a letter of his own to Attorney General Cole. “This is an extremely important issue to us, and it well help many children and young adults,” he wrote. “As a pediatrician myself, I cannot urge you enough to consider this exception to the present law as we all only want the best for these young patients.”
While MMJ advocates are supportive of the governor’s request, many believe that he could have done more to help the seriously ill children. New York citizen Missy Miller is the mother of a child who suffers from regular, severe seizures. In a video describing the situation her family faces, she explained:
“My son Oliver, who has severe seizures from a brain stem injury, cannot wait much longer to get the medicine he needs. We asked Governor Cuomo to try a number of things to create an emergency access program after he removed language from the bill that would do just that. While reaching out to the DOJ is a meaningful first step, there are other additional steps he can and should take to get Oliver and other critically ill children the medicine they need ASAP. He needs to realize that every day that passes we lose more of Oliver to these seizures.”
As Miller described, the MMJ bill’s original wording included a provision to allow for emergency access to medical marijuana; the governor, however, removed this section of the bill before signing, adding in its place the stipulation that only marijuana products made in New York would be legal for patient use, making marijuana products from other states (like the ones he’s now specifically asking for) strictly illegal.
Therefore — in a painfully ironic twist — the state of New York will actually need further legislative action to carry out Cuomo’s plan, if the DOJ decides to allow the governor’s requests.
Meanwhile, Kate Hintz — the parent of another child suffering from a severe seizure disorder — described the governor’s responsibility to his citizens with blunt honesty:
“We are glad to see that the governor has engaged DOJ about the need to establish an interim, emergency access program for those who cannot afford to wait for full implementation to occur. Now, we need the governor to move forward on other avenues that might also help get medicine to those who need it. The governor has a moral obligation to try absolutely everything in his power to prevent New Yorkers from needlessly suffering.”
With so many eyes on the marijuana legalization bills in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington D.C. this voting season, it could be easy to overlook an important political battle that’s gathering steam in California.
California’s Proposition 47, a.k.a. the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, is an initiative that — in order to fight the state’s high incarceration rates — would turn all drug possession felonies and several other low-level, nonviolent crimes into misdemeanors. The bill is sponsored by former San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne and current San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon; the political campaign is being led by Californians for Safe Neighborhoods and Schools.
A poll from the Public Policy Institute of California shows that support for Prop 47 is at 62%, while only 25% of the population is strictly opposed.
About 10,000 people in California are arrested for drug possession felonies each year. A successful Prop 47 would be a monumental step forward for lowering the state’s incarceration rates — inmates already serving time for the crimes in question would be given the right to petition for resentencing in county jails.
If it passes, 65% of savings from Prop 47 would be invested in mental health and drug treatment, 25% would go to school programs for at-risk youth, and the final 10% would go to trauma recovery services for crime victims.
“When three out of four people go back to prison within three years — and it’s been that way for 30 years — it’s obvious that we need a new plan,” said Dionne Wilson of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice. “This measure will save a ton of money that would be wasted on incarcerating nonviolent people for nonviolent crimes, which will then be reinvested into trauma care for victims, mental health services, and drug treatment. I think that’s what a sound public safety strategy looks like.”
Ganjapreneur, a website devoted to cannabis industry business news and culture, has recently announced the first episode of a web video series which will feature marijuana entrepreneurs and investors. The pilot episode is 20 minutes long and features John Evich, the primary investor in Top Shelf Cannabis, a Washington State recreational cannabis retailer which made history as the first store to serve the legal market in July.
In the video, Evich leads a tour of the shop and also discusses how he came to be involved in Top Shelf Cannabis, some of the obstacles that he faced while building the business, and what he believes the future of the recreational cannabis industry looks like in Washington. Ganjapreneur has included footage that they recorded prior to the interview, onsite at Top Shelf Cannabis for the first sales of edible and concentrate products in the recreational market.
Ganjapreneur.com announced their official launch over the summer. The website publishes daily news briefs, editorials, and curated headlines pertaining to the business of cannabis. They recently announced an open source cannabis slang dictionary as well as a marijuana job feed which publishes daily links to other job boards around the web.
The interview with John Evich is the third official interview that Ganjapreneur has published, although it is the first to be published in video format. Matt Brown of My 420 Tours, a Denver-based marijuana tourism company, as well as Zane Witzel from Cannador, a luxury cannabis storage device manufacturer, have also been featured.
US Attorney General Eric Holder, currently the highest-ranking law enforcement official in the country, has announced that he will soon be retiring. This development comes just after Holder was interviewed by Yahoo’s Katie Couric, in which Holder disclosed that he believes the federal rescheduling of marijuana is a valid political issue and should be carefully considered.
As things stand now, cannabis is a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I substances are considered to have a “high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use” — a ruling that flies in the face of the 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana and seek to profit off the responsible regulation of this popular yet “illicit” substance.
Holder said:
“I think it’s certainly a question we need to ask ourselves, whether or not marijuana is as serious of a drug as heroin. Especially given what we’ve seen recently with regard to heroin — the progression of people from using opioids to heroin use, the spread and the destruction that heroin has perpetrated all around our country. And to see by contrast, what the impact of marijuana is. Now it can be destructive if used in certain ways, but the question of whether or not they should be in the same category is something that we need to ask ourselves and use science as the basis for making that determination.”
While this is actually a progressive stance for the top law enforcement official in the nation, Holder’s little allowance fails to acknowledge the overwhelming scientific evidence that marijuana is indeed medically beneficial. Research indicates that cannabis can be used to combat cancer, epilepsy, depression, PTSD, and many other conditions.
Holder also fails to recognize mounting historical evidence that the War on Drugs originated in racist federal policies, and that its perpetuation offers enormous economic benefits to pharmaceutical companies and private prisons.
Meanwhile, legal marijuana markets in those states that have passed legalization legislation are being subjected to extremely high tax rates by the federal government. Dispensary owners around the nation are faced with effective tax rates that can range from 50 to 80%. Rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule III substance would help legitimize the industry, and would bring tax rates more closely in line with similar industries.
Couric asked Holder what he thought about marijuana’s status at the federal level. “I think we’ve taken a look at the experiments that are going on in Colorado and Washington, and we’re going to see what happens there, and that’ll help inform us as to what we want to do on the federal level,” Holder explained. In other words, the jury is still out on federal decriminalization. Holder has previously disclosed, however, that the Obama administration would be willing to work with Congress on the rescheduling of marijuana, if that was something they’d be interested in doing.
Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority, expressed excitement over the Attorney General’s change of heart.
“It’s refreshing to hear these remarks from the attorney general, especially since the science couldn’t be any clearer that marijuana doesn’t meet the criteria for being classified as a Schedule I substance. Numerous studies confirm marijuana’s medical value, and if the administration is serious about taking an objective look at this issue, rescheduling is very achievable by the time this president leaves office. They can do this administratively without any further action from Congress.”
Could Obama reschedule marijuana via executive order? He has stated that such an action would need to come from Congress, but with paralyzing partisan gridlock preventing any kind of meaningful legislation, executive action may be the only available option to fix the nation’s broken drug policies.
In July, when we first contacted John Evich about the possibility of featuring Top Shelf Cannabis as the first installment in our industry pioneers video series, he invited us to come film the first sales of edible products and concentrates in Washington State, which was happening the next day. It wasn’t until a full month later that we got to sit down with him for the interview and shop tour with John, who is the primary investor in the company.
Top Shelf Cannabis also made history as the first retail store to open under I-502, which legalized the production, retail, and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes in the state. They are located in Bellingham, WA, just 50 miles south of Vancouver, BC (Evich estimates that close to 15% of his business is due to tourism, much of which comes from Canada). Over the course of the interview, Evich went into great detail about how he got involved with the business, some of the challenges he faced along the way, and what he predicts for the future of legalized recreational cannabis.
We were honored by the invitation to film the first night of edibles sales, during which we got the exclusive footage of the first sale in the state. We have included a recap of that evening in the full-length video interview and shop tour with John. Watch the full video below!
UPDATE: We also just received word that Top Shelf Cannabis has stocked their first batch of Legal Infused Soda from Mirth Provisions. Look them up via Facebook and their website to learn more!
Another retail marijuana store in Seattle is finally ready to open its doors to the public this Tuesday — over three months following the launch of Washington’s recreational marijuana market.
The store is called “Uncle Ike’s” and will be located at 2310 East Union St.
Store owner Ian Eisenberg confirmed that the store is licensed and expects to open on Tuesday, Septeber 30, though there are “a million things that have to all come together in the meantime.”
The opening of Uncle Ike’s is sure to excite many Seattle cannabis connoisseurs who may have had trouble getting some legal, retail marijuana while supplies lasted.
Seattle’s other retail marijuana store, Cannabis City, has been open since the July 8 grand opening for pot shops in WA. As predicted, Cannabis City and many other retail stores around the state experienced initial product shortages and, as a result, often had to close early or go several days without any product.
Seattle residents of course had the option of visiting recreational pot shops in nearby cities such as Bothell or Tacoma, but now there will be two options to choose from without leaving Seattle city limits.
Maryland is on the path to decriminalize marijuana effective October 1, as per a bill signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley last April. The new law changes the punishment for small amounts of marijuana from potential jail time to a civil fine.
Under Senate Bill 364, the penalty for possession of 10 grams of cannabis or less is, for the first offense, a $100 fine. A second offense will result in a $250 fine. On the third offense, the fine is raised to $500, the violators will have a court appearance, and may be ordered to attend a drug treatment program.
“The system doesn’t really change other than we’re not going to be criminalizing individuals with small amounts of marijuana,” said the bill’s sponsor Sen. Bobby Zirkin. “I think putting some 23,000 people through a criminal justice system is just a colossal waste of resources, which can be better spent on affecting behavior.”
Gov. O’Malley — despite facing pressure from local law enforcement and prosecutors not to sign the bill — explained that he signed because very few people convicted for marijuana actually went to jail, though their arrests and conviction records may still follow and hinder them through life.
In May of this year, Kentucky sued the federal government for confiscating the state’s legally-acquired Italian hemp seeds, sparking a fiasco that enraged hemp supporters nationwide. The seeds were eventually returned and planted as part of a pilot crop for Kentucky’s industrial hemp industry. That pilot crop was harvested earlier this week and has been called a great success.
“There’s a great possibility that [hemp] could become a viable crop in Kentucky,” said David Williams, a University of Kentucky agronomist. Williams is an overseer of operations at the UK hemp research plot. “It’s not the most complicated plant to grow for farmers. I think they would pick up on it immediately with very little guidance.”
Six universities and twelve farmers were involved in Kentucky’s hemp experiment, which took place on about 15 acres of land scattered throughout the state. The UK plot reportedly grew quickly and easily: “The plants … have been allowed to grow on their own, and they’ve done just fine,” Williams said.
The hemp harvested this week was a variety grown for fiber production. The plants will remain in the field for two more weeks, however, as part of the curing process.
Hemp, the non-psychoactive sister plant to cannabis, was once considered a staple crop by Kentucky farmers. During the federal government’s crackdown on marijuana in the 1970s, however, growing hemp was also outlawed and the American hemp industry disappeared. Under the most recent Farm Bill, however, the federal government ruled to allow states that have legalized hemp cultivation to begin experimentation with industrializing the plant once more.
A thief reportedly stole several plants during the night last week. Adam Watson, the state’s hemp program coordinator, explained that the thief likely didn’t understand it was hemp and not marijuana being grown on the eastern Kentucky plot. “You can’t use it to get high,” he said. “So we expect it’s … a case of mistaken identity.”
Kentucky is not alone in its experimentation with industrial hemp. Twelve other states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia — have passed legislation allowing industrial hemp for research and/or commercial purposes. Meanwhile, actual licenses for growing pilot hemp crops were issued to farmers this year in Kentucky, Colorado, and Vermont.
Though this year’s hemp-growing season has concluded, Kentucky farmers are already looking forward to next year’s crop. After attending this year’s harvest, Everett McIntosh, a farmer from Garrard County, explained that he was curious about converting some of his own land into hemp production. “There’s so much work invested in farming that this would seem much more economical, if they can come up with processing locations,” he said. “That’s the only problem right now is to see who’s going to invest in that.”
With Colorado’s recreational marketplace in full swing, we’ve witnessed a surge of ganjapreneurs stepping up their game to get a piece of the marijuana money pie. One innovative business plan has really caught our attention recently: meet the Scarlet Theater, the future safe haven for tourists and local Denver stoners to hang out, get high, and watch sweet movies in a cannabis-friendly environment.
The Scarlet Theater is currently an in-the-works project, but they have big plans. Patrons of the Scarlet Theater will be required to pay membership fees to enter and enjoy the club, but on the inside it sounds like a marijuana-lover’s dream. Featuring a world-class restaurant and a BYOC (bring your own cannabis) club policy, the Scarlet Theater aims to be much more than your average smoke spot.
As proprietor Kelly S. McGonigal describes, there are some key differences that make the Scarlet Theater stand out from other popular social clubs in and around the Denver area:
“Offering more things to do than just smoke and socialize — which are great in and of themselves, but sometimes people want to toke up, and maybe talk with people for a while, but then they want to go off and do their own thing. People who want to do that can go to the movie theater, they can go to the restaurant. And since they’re all operated by us, patrons will know they’ll be in a supportive, understanding environment.”
Check out the Scarlet Theater’s indiegogo campaign for more information or the chance to purchase early-bird memberships.
Ganjapreneur, a website dedicated to cannabis business news and professional content, has announced the addition of a cannabis industry job listings section to its website. The job listings will be generated primarily via third-party platforms where cannabis growers, retailers, and ancillary businesses post their employment openings. Ganjapreneur’s stated goal is to provide one location for aspiring ganjapreneurs to see all of the industry job postings each day.
Ganjapreneur hopes to compile a comprehensive overview of the legal marijuana job market. With positions ranging from Budtender to Delivery Driver, the professional opportunities in the burgeoning cannabis industry are unique and can often by firercely competitive.
By publishing unique, in-depth content, a weekly newsletter, as well as extensive interviews with prominent marijuana professionals, Ganjapreneur’s primary goal is to keep its readers up to date on the latest developments and opportunities related to the cannabis industry. Last week, Ganjapreneur announced the first segment of an interview with Matt Brown, founder of Denver-based marijuana tourism company My 420 Tours. The interview was conducted via audio, and a transcription is available for reading on the Ganjapreneur website.
Ganjapreneur also recently announced the release of an open-source dictionary of marijuana slang terms which is open to public submissions. Cannabis enthusiasts are encouraged to submit their favorite “stoner slang terms” and phrases to be included in the open source dictionary.
A lot of successful entrepreneurs will tell you a major key to their success can be summed up in one word: niche. Yet the idea of specializing, of narrowing down your market to a small segment of customers uniquely interested in what you offer, might seem contradictory to starting a business when you want to reach as many people as possible.
As marijuana moves into the mainstream, new opportunities for specialization are presenting themselves. For instance, I’m writing for the media niche. When I told some friends I was writing an article for Ganjapreneur they were incredulous.
“A year ago you called it ‘indigo’ and thought sativa was an organic sweetener made from plants,” one of them said.
True enough.
But I’ve always supported the legalization of marijuana and the industry is no longer about stoners vs. the rest of the population. It’s about accepting pot as a lifestyle — medication at times — and a valid outlet of recreation for those who choose it. Sometimes an outsider can see things that players too close to the action miss.
If you’re an entrepreneur and the marijuana business is calling your name, it’s also about figuring out where you fit in. The piece “The Marijuana Industry is Creating These Economic Niches” gives a good overview of the various areas a new entrepreneur can explore including stocks, science and medicine, legal cultivation and extraction.
But even within these niche areas, you’ll want to find your USP — your unique selling point. In other words, what is the sweet spot you can offer that will keep your customers loyal for years to come? It’s not your market that will do this. It’s your niche.
Danny Iny at Firepole Marketing says your market is who can buy your product. Your niche is who will buy it. A lot of startups will probably not make it because they don’t understand this critical difference.
Having a niche doesn’t mean you can’t experiment or sell in other areas. It doesn’t mean you can’t change areas of specialization if your chosen idea doesn’t seem to be working out. A niche is a starting place. It’s somewhere to begin building a foundation of loyal followers, because ultimately that’s what is going to make or break your success.
But let’s go back to your USP. Suppose you want to focus on recreational marijuana. Who is your target audience? Baby Boomers or Millennials? If you’re targeting young professionals, this doesn’t mean your 70-year-old grandfather won’t find you using his smart phone, but it does mean you’ll probably be focusing on social media campaigns and skip the Grateful Dead décor. If you’re happier creating in the kitchen than any place in the world, you’d be a good fit for edibles or maybe extractions. These are all niches that fall under the bigger category of “recreation” which falls under the huge umbrella of the marijuana industry.
Top niche markets:
High-end concentrates: potent hash that can be “dabbed” with a high price tag attached
Vegan/organic cannabis: growing marijuana that doesn’t use bug byproducts (like worm castings) or chemicals
Discounted bulk purchases: being able to sell ounces (when applicable) at lower rates
Wide variety of edibles: appealing to non-smokers who prefer to eat their cannabis
Offering spa services: enticing women with a variety of wellness treatments
Specialization doesn’t mean limiting your success. It’s an opportunity to establish yourself as an industry expert, the go-to person, for your special corner of the industry. It’s an opportunity to build a strong foundation for your business to grow.
This week marks the opening of Connecticut’s medical marijuana market, nearly two years following the passage of a medical marijuana initiative that made Connecticut the 17th state to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes.
The first crop of medicine was grown by Theraplant, the state’s first licensed producer, and was shipped to the state’s six licensed dispensaries on Monday. The Healing Corner, a dispensary in Bristol, and Arrow Alternative Care in Hartford were able to open their doors the very same day, securing legal and safe access to medical cannabis for dozens of patients.
Patients who had registered with the state were already granted protection against prosecution for marijuana, but the opening of official dispensaries was a long-anticipated and much-needed development. Now, patients will face less stigma when buying their medicine, and the marijuana they have access to will be more consistent in quality and subject to a swath of testing as per state regulations.
“I don’t have to hide something that helps me,” said Daniel Gaita, a veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result of several overseas tours of military duty. “It will enable me to treat my symptoms without feeling like a criminal.”
As of the market’s opening, medicine is available in 5, 10, 15, and 35 gram doses. There are also pre-rolled joints available, and a unique marijuana concentrate tab that can be smoked or used in certain vaporizers. Eventually, patients will also have access to oils, tinctures, and baked goods. Cannabis-infused beverages and candies, however, are not allowed under state law.
“Smokables are going to be available first, but remember these smokables can also be vaporized,” explained Angelo DeFazio, owner of Arrow Alternative Care. “We believe in vaporization. It’s a better route of administration for the patient. It gets more of a dose to the patient quicker.”
There are currently 2,326 patients registered with the state, but industry members are counting on that number growing significantly — in fact, some experts estimate Connecticut’s potential medical marijuana customer base to be between 35,000 and 70,000, or 1-2% of the state’s 3.5 million residents.
Connecticut patients can qualify for medical marijuana to treat the following conditions: PTSD, glaucoma, cancer, HIV or AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, certain spinal cord injuries, epilepsy, cachexia, wasting syndrome, and Crohn’s disease. Patients can be certified by doctors to receive no more than 70 grams, or 2.5 ounces, per month.
The Washington State Liquor Control Board is warning dozens of individuals currently stalling the completion of their retail marijuana licensing process that their unfinished applications are now in jeopardy. In total, the WSLCB has sent letters to 56 different businesses, giving them 60 days to schedule an interview with a licensing inspector. Failure to comply will mean forfeiting one’s spot in the lottery.
Many of these businesses scored lucky numbers in the lottery for retail licenses earlier this year, but have failed to move forward in the licensing process since then. “A lot of people thought they’d be able to sell their license – they’d win the lottery and they’d sell it to the highest bidder,” said Becky Smith, the WSLCB’s marijuana licensing manager. “People were surprised they couldn’t sell their license until they actually got licensed.”
Though 57 licenses have been issued by the WSLCB (as of the beginning of this month), only 32 recreational marijuana stores have actually opened their doors to the public thus far in Washington. In the city of Seattle, which was originally slated to receive 21 licenses for retail marijuana stores, only one store is currently open for business.
Meanwhile, the WSLCB has been working to issue the licenses necessary to growing the state’s marijuana market, but laziness, disinterest, or simply the inability to proceed financially on the part of some would-be pot shops continues to slow the process. By shutting down the applications that will not be pursued any further, the board will be opening up some highly-coveted slots for applicants who scored lower in the lottery rankings.
In addition to scheduling an interview, the businesses in question must also provide any information necessary for proceeding with criminal and financial background checks. “They need to set up an interview and have a place they’re going to operate,” Smith said. “It’s time to provide us with names — who are their financiers, who are their true parties of interest.”
KING 5 reports:
“Five applicants in Seattle were receiving the board’s letters this week. Seven letters were going out in unincorporated King County, five in Snohomish County, and two each in Spokane, Yakima, Walla Walla and Vancouver. No letters were issued in any of the dozens of cities and counties that have adopted temporary or permanent bans on marijuana businesses.”
Recent reports indicate that $14 million has been earned through retail marijuana sales in Washington since the market opened on July 8th, with $3.5 million in tax revenue going directly to the state.
Alaska news channel KTVA experienced a shocking revelation last night on live television, when reporter Charlo Greene — after detailing a medical marijuana organization called the Alaska Cannabis Club — admitted that she was in fact the owner of said club. Greene quickly cut to the point: like a true activist, she was quitting her job at the station to dedicate all of her energy to seeing Alaska’s legalization initiative pass in the upcoming election.
The exact wording of our hero’s resignation is indeed explicit, so consider yourself warned:
“Now, everything you’ve heard is why I — the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club — will be dedicating all of my energy toward fighting for freedom and fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska. And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice, but — fuck it, I quit.”
Hours after her dramatic display, Greene posted an Indiegogo campaign that provides more information regarding her decision to leave KTVA. The campaign is collecting donations to help the Alaska legalization movement. She writes, “As a member of the media, I’ve seen the dirty campaign tricks and lies that prohibitionists have been using over the past several months to sway Alaskan voters firsthand.”
As of the writing of this article, Greene’s campaign has already raised 60% of its $5,000 goal, and is still set to run for another 16 days.
Matt Brown, the founder of Denver-based marijuana tour company My 420 Tours, wasrecently interviewed by Ganjapreneur about what led to his decision to make a career in the cannabis industry after working for financial titan Bloomberg and starting his own tech company. Brown was interviewed by Mitch Shenassa, author of The Cannabis Aficionado’s Handbook and founder of Incredibowl, and the interview was recorded in audio format. The original interview ran for over 2 hours, and the recently published segment is one of many to be released over the coming weeks.
In this segment, Brown explains his own history and how he came to have the experience necessary to start a medical marijuana consulting business. After working at Bloomberg, he had a job at Accenture, a medical consulting and supply company, where he learned the ins and outs of small, independent pharmacies. “This is actually where a lot of my early dispensary consulting came from,” Brown says. “I reorganized the sales team for independent pharmacy sales. I created a spreadsheet that took industry metrics– So these sales reps, who aren’t particularly business people, will go talk to mom and pop pharmacies, who are also not particularly business people, get a couple really simple metrics, and immediately tell that pharmacy how they compare to their peers, and it was a big way to start selling a lot of the automated systems and ordering through back-end. But I got a really good feel for how these– You know, not Walgreens, but like real, small businesses work.”
Brown also commented on his involvement with medical marijuana in Colorado, his current state of residence, and how it has led to a successful recreational market upon the passage of Amendment 64 in 2012. “They let me grow pot as long as I follow the rules. These are the rules, they’re pretty simple. It’s not really that bad when you think about it. And that everything you get to see in this room, I get to do legally, and I don’t have to worry that I might go to jail, and even more, if you try to steal from me, I can call the cops, and they will arrest you and give me my weed back.”
The interview with Brown is part of a larger series of interviews by Ganjapreneur, whose aim is to feature prominent cannabis industry pioneers and provide insight to aspiring “ganjapreneurs,” or people who hope to make a career in any of the new industries relating to legalized marijuana.
Ganjapreneur also recently launched an open-source dictionary of every slang term related to cannabis and marijuana. They announced earlier this week that the dictionary is open to submissions from the public, and that they intend to grow and expand the database of slang terms over time.
In the middle of the 20th century, the realization that human behavior had an effect on the environment began to sink in. The Environmental Movement began in earnest in the 1960s in response to this oncoming awareness. Since then, many have been sounding the alarm that we can produce food and consumer goods in more sustainable ways. Industry and government have worked together to set standards to stop, or at least slow down, many of the negative effects caused by mass production and mass consumption.
At the same time the government pushed marijuana production, processing and distribution underground. Now that these jobs have surfaced in a legal market, twenty-three states have some form of medical marijuana, and two states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, there are no “green” regulations concerning the marijuana industry; however, there are some leading the way to a sustainable marijuana future.
Clean Green is leading the way by beginning to establish norms in Green marijuana cultivation. Certifying marijuana farms and dispensaries in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, Clean Green is a qualified third party non-conflicted agricultural certification program. They also certify non-marijuana farms. Clean Green provides legal services and consultation to marijuana growers who want to grow green. Chris Van Hook, owner of Clean Green, says, “We don’t tell growers what exactly to do to grow green; we set the standards and let them find what works best for them to grow sustainable.”
“We use USDA organic standards to assess Clean Green applicants. For instance, when we test for pesticides, we don’t test plant matter, we test the soils at a USDA certified lab. This is the same methodology used on any other farm looking for that organic certification,” Van Hook notes.
He also has words of warning for those looking to circumvent the process. “It’s an $11,000 fine for falsely claiming an organic certification, so growers should be careful when claiming they are organic.” Some of the sustainable solutions Clean Green certified labels are using are solar panels, water collection, use of dry fertilizers, re-using soils by composting, organic teas, and adding a biodiversity of plant fauna to attract predatory insects.
Another organization working to limit the impact of illegal grows in Northern California is the Emerald Growers Association (EGA). The EGA recommends a variety of solutions for sustainable growers including Integrated Fertilizer and Irrigation Management (IFIM), irrigation ponds, containment ponds for contaminated runoff, and integrated pest management (IPM).
The association points out these additional features on marijuana farms create jobs. They say, ”By getting involved in the process of regulating the medical cannabis industry in California, the EGA is proactively working to create legal, tax generating jobs in our region and across the state. These jobs can be a vital boost to local economies.”
There are also economic incentives for growers going green. Some dispensaries in California put organically certified marijuana at the front of the line for purchase and pay a bit more per pound. Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, who is Clean Green certified, is one of the largest dispensaries to pay extra for sustainably grown marijuana.
Patrick Smith, owner of Green Bicycle Organics, an organic marijuana farmer and fertilizer manufacture in Northern California, says ”By being organically certified we solve the #1 problem growing legally in California: getting rid of our harvest.” He goes on to say, “When we grow green we get a great clean product. You know, like organic tomatoes, the fruit is just better.”
In Washington State, a marijuana grower has decided to go all green on their outdoor marijuana farm. Tahoma Growers who are located in Goldendale, WA say, “We are growing a marijuana plant that does not negatively affect the environment. We plan on setting the norm for Washington State sustainable, legal marijuana farms.” Working to grow other sustainable crops, these marijuana farmers are using sustainable farming practices such as rainwater collection, aquaponics, organic fertilizers and IPM. They have plans to add solar panels and LED’s in order to increase production in the future.
Willing to experiment with a variety of strains in order to find the plant that best fits the Northwest climate, the Goldendale Green Growers would like to harness the genetic vigor of the right marijuana strains to increase yields in a natural way. However, due to the massive amounts of energy needed to grow large scale indoor marijuana, the biggest boost to Tahoma Growers going green is growing outdoors.
With the help of Clean Green and the EGA, growers, dispensaries and consumers have an opportunity to educate themselves about the benefits to growing a greener marijuana plant. As marijuana cultivation begins to come into the light, growers will have more of an opportunity to grow sustainably. However, the most important factor that will help marijuana become a green product is its legality. By ending the “War on Weed,” local, state and federal governments can make marijuana farming part of a sustainable future.
In the second segment of our interview with Matt Brown of My 420 Tours, he goes into detail about the circumstances that unified the Colorado cannabis industry and propelled the state into the national spotlight when it legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2012.
In this clip, Matt Brown and Ganjapreneur contributor Mitch Shenassa talk about the early stages of a unified industry, working with the Colorado Department of Health, and coordinating with other medical industry businesses and activists for the first time. As a business consultant and friend of many key players in the push that ultimately led to the passage of Amendment 64, Brown relates the story from an insider’s perspective and the interview brings details to light that have never previously been reported in the mainstream media.
Listen to the audio or read the transcript below:
Matt Brown Interview, Part 2:
First time here? Go back to Part 1. Part 3 of the Matt Brown interview is coming soon!
Transcript:
Matt Brown: So it was kind of one off and I was at the July 20th Department of Health, 2009.
Ganjapreneur: I recall that one, that was my first one.
Matt Brown: Yep and then— it was the first one I’d been to, I had been kind of paying attention to it by this point and my plan—because, you know, it had gotten rescheduled like 3 times—it was supposed to be the beginning of the year.
Ganjapreneur: Yeah.
Matt Brown: But I was there, I remember being so overwhelmed.
Ganjapreneur: That was the one where I feel like I had to wait till like 4:30 to get my chance to say anything and by then it was like such a moot point.
Matt Brown: Yeah. I was probably closer to 8. I was like, I think my number was in the low thousands.
Ganjapreneur: Yeah.
Matt Brown: The thousands single digits or something and then passed. Bruce Granger was there, owner of Kind Love [dispensary], he was kicking the tires. That was the first like not-friend, or friend-of-friend I ever said, “Hi, my name is Matt Brown, I’m a cannabis consultant”, and I’ve known him ever since, I mean, Rhett Jordan, I incorporated him—[from] Native Roots Downtown. By the end of that year…
Ganjapreneur: I mean those two are some of the, you know cause this article’s gonna be read by people all over, those are definitely 2 of the biggest in Denver.
Matt Brown: Yeah.
Ganjapreneur: You know of the non-chain ones or the single store ones I would say they are the 2 that come to mind if people are like what are 2 dispensaries that I can go to that are not shit.
Matt Brown: Right! Uh, You know Andrew Boyens um, at uh, the one right above Sonota on Market street. 15th and Market?
Ganjapreneur: I don’t know Denver streets too well.
Matt Brown: Um, Native?
Ganjapreneur: Natural?
Matt Brown: Natty Rems. [Natural Remedies]
Ganjapreneur: Oh yeah Natty Rems is the third on that list.
Matt Brown: Yeah, Natty Rems, that was my first outside incorporation. I went to his house, his dad was in a neck-brace, and like sat down with his parents, we did the board meeting. Because when I figured out what my niche was—after, from July 20th through the end of October, I shut it down to start CMMR. People would come in, they’d pay me for consulting, I would explain the law to them, I would take where Warren [Edson] left off… Warren would scare the crap out of them with the law, and he said what it is and what it isn’t…
Ganjapreneur: Well that’s his job as an attorney.
Matt Brown: Exactly. And then he said you know, there’s nothing preventing a for-profit business the way California did, but he wasn’t business attorney.
Ganjapreneur: Right he was a criminal attorney.
Matt Brown: And there was no checklist you know, a lot of these people wanted the same kind of guidance you could get from somewhere if you wanted to open a Subway franchise or a clothing store, whatever there’s like a checklist.
Ganjapreneur: Right, right right, this is what you need, get this, get this, this is where to order your display cases, this is where to order your jars.
Matt Brown: And here’s what the government expects.
Ganjapreneur: Well yeah.
Matt Brown: How to get your sales tax license, what you have to pay on the state…
Ganjapreneur: Oh for sure—what documents you have to file—go Secretary of State, go IRS.
Matt Brown: Yeah. I figured out classification to get people sales tax IDs, when the city of Denver was still, there was one clerk at the office who was denying and I came up with like an herbal supplement something.
Ganjapreneur: That’s why….
Matt Brown: As far as I know I was the one who read the zoning code and found out about the plant husbandry license. Because I remember going to Warren and asking about it and the definition said, a license to take seedlings or cuttings and start new plants and there were over 100 plant husbandry marijuana licenses issued by Denver before the city council found out that they were issuing them at all.
Ganjapreneur: And then they didn’t revoke them, of course.
Matt Brown: And that was what I’d hoped, was that we had this inertia by the time the government figured out what was going on that, so that led to end of October when Josh [Stanley] and Wanda [James] and a group of people asked me to start this group—to go lobby for us, the legislature was going to start January.
Ganjapreneur: Which group was it?
Matt Brown: Coloradans for Medical Marijuana Regulation, CMMR. And we had 4 lobbyists: 2 democrats, 2 republicans. This was the first time openly, publicly, we all used the term “the marijuana industry..” And that was, I probably viewed myself as probably more like Frank Luntz than anything. That it was to set the language, and then context that we were talking about, then to sort of shape those legislative—it was Me, [Chris] Romer, [Tom] Massey and Matt Cook, in the early days, figuring out where you know, the structure—the stuff—you know, where they got the law. And so that was when I first became known, within the industry—November 2009 I went full-time. And from then through May, that was my full-time job, I got up in the morning and usually there was a call from Michael Roberts at like 6:45 in the morning.
Ganjapreneur: From the—the Westword Reporter??
Matt Brown: Yep. House Bill 1284—that was my baby— my six months.
Ganjapreneur: I remember the first time I met you was when I hit up Ian Silverii at the, who was my friend who worked at the Capital.
Matt Brown: Yep.
Ganjapreneur: And I was like dude there’s all these different fucking splinter groups, everyone needs to come together and at least sit around the same table and people need to figure out who’s playing with who.
Matt Brown: That was the moment when I gained legitimacy in the eyes of—I mean certainly [lobbyist] Fuffy [Mendez].
Ganjapreneur: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly—that was…
Matt Brown: …where Ian worked. And with the legislature. She had arranged a meeting with Romer, this was before Massey came on board with that bill, and Romer was gonna be there, they wanted quote, unquote all the groups in the room.
Ganjapreneur: Right. I feel like that meeting was somehow like this,
Matt Brown : It was a seminal moment.
Ganjapreneur : Yeah, yeah, not a tipping point but a seminal moment indeed, that’s correct.
Matt Brown: It was a seminal moment in that that was when, for me that was the turning point when I started getting the calls from Chris Romer’s personal cellphone and his personal Gmail account, saying Matt I need your help. That was when I became—they knew I was going to play ball, that’s how I would put it more than anything else, that I was the one who would…
Ganjaprenuer: That’s… it was a moment where, in my opinion it’s what made the progress we made so quick possible, it was a pull away from the reactionary all or none approach and you know there’s still people who criticize it and you know, I respect them for their integrity.
Matt Brown: And a lot of my most vocal critics at the time have been able to come around, like Miguel Lopez.
Ganjapreneur: Yeah.
Matt Brown: I was banned from the 420 [rally at the state capitol].
Ganjapreneur: Yeah Miguel Lopez was clearly very vocally opposed.
Matt Brown: And he and I over the last year and a half, since I moved back from Vancouver have been very good friends, well I mean we don’t hang out all the time but like we had a making up moment, we talked directly and with a little bit of time and a little context with how it all came together, both were in agreement. I have often said that from that time the one thing that helped me and my voice, and by extension, the CMMR, the moderate voice of 1284 to exist, to win and I did not realize at the time—it was very personal and painful at the time—was we had the Miguel, Kathleen Chippis, , and the Laura Krihos, and— we had that wing, which in the mind of the legislature became equal and opposite to the cops and the Attorney General and all of that helped.
Ganjapreneur: The complete opposite of the law and order.
Matt Brown: And they both just faded away like a movie moment of just complete irrelevance.
Ganjapreneur: They balanced each other out right?
Matt Brown: And I became that person who was in between the two.
Ganjapreneur: Yeah.
Matt Brown: And they never really— Romer, Massey, whomever—never really stopped and seemed to step back and fully appreciate that I was a half a step inside of so many of those people.
Ganjapreneur: Right.
Matt Brown: Even if there was some horse trading that had to be done and you know… “Vertical integration” was my term—I applied it to what at the time was just called “you got to grow your own”.
Ganjapreneur: And, you know, I gotta say vertical integration, that’s still a hotly contested issue in some parties.
Matt Brown: Absolutely.
Ganjapreneur: And that’s a matter of pure economics. The people who are opposed to it lost a livelihood.
Matt Brown: Yes. And you know what I think what was under-appreciated at the time was the point of view that I lobbied from, which was as a patient first who had a seat helping people figure out, and to define our industry as a Colorado industry, which by definition was a 2.0 California.
Ganjapreneur: Right.
Matt Brown: It was different.
Ganjapreneur: It was not the same for sure, we were not doing the same things again.
Matt Brown: It was a graduation, it was the next step.
Ganjapreneur: Right an evolution perhaps.
Matt Brown: And there was a feeling from the very beginning, yeah, that this was big, that there was weight to what we were doing here.
An Israeli start-up company has developed a new vaporizer that they claim will help grant doctors the confidence to safely prescribe medical marijuana.
The vaporizer, called the Syqe Inhaler, is designed to be the world’s first vaporizing device that will offer a metered dose of cannabis. This means there will be no more ambiguity about the amount of medicine you should take to treat your symptoms. The Syqe Inhaler uses granules of cannabis rather than raw flowers, so the amount of medicine used can be easily measured and professionally standardized. Designers describe their new product as a “pharmaceutical method for cannabis dosing.”
In Israel — which, with more than 20,000 patients registered, has one of the largest medical marijuana programs in the world — vaporizers are already an increasingly popular method of cannabis consumption. Widely considered to be a healthier alternative to smoking, vaporizing marijuana eliminates the harmful toxins that are released by conventional smoking methods.
Early testing of the device has yielded positive results: a study involving eight patients with neuropathic pain found that using the Syqe Inhaler led to a 45% reduction in pain intensity, with such relief averaging 90 minutes per dose.
The Syqe Inhaler is not yet publicly available, but is expected to appear in Israeli hospitals by the end of 2014. The design team hopes to raise $10 to 15 million in order to begin offering the device for home users.
