Oregon’s Anti-Marijuana ‘Education Tour’ in Trouble, Congressman Calls for Official Investigation

9/06/2014

by

As you’ve probably heard, the state of Oregon will be host this November to a vote on the legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana. What you might not know about, however, is the scandal that has developed in recent weeks surrounding a politically-driven “educational tour,” to be hosted by the opposition of Oregon’s legalization initiative, in the weeks prior to the election.

The politically-driven tour, though its organizers claim it would be purely educational in nature, would be paid for in part out of the taxpayers’ pockets, which is a big no-no in our legal system. “Federal taxpayer dollars should not be used to influence an election,” explains Peter Zuckerman, spokesman for Oregon’s marijuana legalization campaign.  “Calling this an educational campaign is ridiculous.”

The tour was set to kick off at the start of October with a summit in Madras and then, over the next week, would visit the following major cities: Bend, Salem, Clackamas, Tigard, Corvallis, Eugene, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Ontario, Lagrande, Hood River, and Astoria. The tour would feature Clatsop County’s District Attorney Josh Marquis, the self-appointed spokesman for Oregon’s legalization-opposition movement, and anti-legalization pundit Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug adviser who actively opposes marijuana’s legalization

Oregon news publication Willamette Week broke the scandal about the “educational tour’s” financing:

The education tour is funded through a federal Drug-Free Communities Support Program grant, administered through the same office for which Sabet worked. It’s not clear yet how much taxpayer money will be spent on the tour. Planners say each county will foot the bill separately. The Jefferson County portion of the tour, for example, will run about $15,000 for a two-day conference, half of which will be dedicated specifically to marijuana.

Following this development, the Oregonian has since reported that  BestCare Treatment Practices, one organization sponsoring the tour, allegedly cancelled the initial Madras summit, admitting that “from an outside perspective… it could look like a conflict.” Marijuana advocates have expressed gratitude over this admission, but are still calling for the entire tour to be cancelled or at least postponed until after the election.

Most recently, however, the scandal sparked Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer to write a letter to Washington D.C., requesting an official investigation into the potential use of public funds for political purposes. Rep. Blumenauer is regularly championed as a proponent for marijuana legalization and other progressive issues in Oregon, and offers a compelling case for investigation.

Sources:

http://www.blumenauer.house.gov/images/pdf/SAMHSA2.pdf

http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22969-just_say_no_redux.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2014/08/sponsors_cancel_drug_summit_in.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Photo Credit: Oregon Department of Transportation

End

Brief: Former CEO of Tweed is Now a Multimillionaire

9/05/2014

by

Chuck Rifici — former CEO of Canada’s Tweed, Inc. — stepped down from his position last week on August 27, though Rifici has stated he will remain on the company’s board and will help find a replacement CEO.

For Rifici, stock investments in the company have paid off handsomely, leaving him with a stockpile of company shares currently worth about 20 million Canadian dollars (18 million USD). He bought many of the shares when they were priced at less than half of what they’re worth today.

Tweed initially opened up for public trading in April, and was the first marijuana cultivation company to do so under Canada’s new federally-regulated MMJ market. Since then several other companies have also entered the public trading scene. Since its initial public offering, Tweed’s worth has fluctuated between $20 and $100 million.

Health Canada reports that the number of Canadian citizens using medicinal marijuana continues to grow, and is expected to grow tenfold over the next decade. By 2024, the market could be worth $1.3 billion, the department says.

Sources:

http://www.timminspress.com/2014/09/04/liberal-cfo-a-pot-multimillionaire

Photo Credit: Mark

End

Brief: The Global Commission on Drug Policy Calls for Change

9/04/2014

by

The Global Commission on Drug Policy is expected to release a progressive report entitled Taking Control: Pathways to Drug Policies that Work on Tuesday, September 9.

The report will be released at a press conference in New York City, where Commissioners speaking include Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, former Colombian President César Gaviria, former Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss, and Richard Branson. Following the conference, the Commissioners will be meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson to discuss the report.

The report demonstrates the Commissioners’ evolved outlook on drug prohibition: that the war on drugs is destructive and a failure, and a new approach is necessary. The Commission is currently the most distinguished group of world leaders ever to call for a new approach to global drug policies.

In 2011, the group released an initial report that advanced the global conversation about drug prohibition, its effects on society, and alternatives to the international crackdown. As a result, the Commission paved the way for world leaders to openly discuss drug policy reform.

Sources:

http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/world-leaders-make-bold-groundbreaking-recommendations-major-reform-global-drug-policy

Photo Credit: sean hobson

End

These Corporate Professionals Ditched Their Careers to Become Ganjapreneurs

9/03/2014

by

The cannabis industry holds lucrative opportunities for business-minded folk who are willing to risk their reputation (and potentially much more, given marijuana’s federal classification as an illegal and dangerous substance) on the expectation that the industry will only continue its upward growth.

Four years ago, Derek Peterson was a vice president at Morgan Stanley, where he managed a $100 million fund. He was fired after business associates took note of his side project, which closely involved the marijuana industry. Today, as CEO of Terra Tech, a company specializing in marijuana grow op supplies, and owner of  The Blüm, a medical marijuana dispensary in Northern California, Peterson can happily say that things have worked out.

“I didn’t always feel great about the products I was putting out into the market, but now I do,” he told Business Insider in a recent interview. “I happen to be selling something that is federally illegal, but oddly enough, I feel way better about what I’m selling than I did before.”

Following his firing, Peterson’s decision to found GrowOp Technology, which later became Terra Tech, was due to the entrepreneurial environment he saw developing in the cannabis industry. He was also inspired by a friend who owned a dispensary that had been earning an annual $18 million, he said. Today, Terra Tech has about 40 employees and has already earned $7 million this year.

However, not all formerly corporate professionals who are now part of the cannabis industry are here because they lost their day jobs. Katherine Smith, who was once the director of social media at Petco, quit her job and joined the industry to help people get better access to marijuana for medicinal purposes. She is now the chief marketing officer at Weedmaps, a popular dispensary-review website.

Smith explains that, despite many friends warning that such a move might permanently sully her resume, she was compelled to follow her heart.

When she was nine, Smith’s mother suffered an injury that left her with chronic back pain. Her mother was prescribed medical marijuana six years ago, and Smith reports that, “It really changed her quality of life. When I really started looking into medicinal marijuana and what it can do for people with epilepsy and other problems, it’s such an amazing opportunity to help push things along.”

“Also, recreationally, I think it’s awesome.”

Al Olson, another professional who quit a respectable post to join the ranks of ganjapreneurs, left his senior editor job with NBC News to become head editor at Marijuana.com. The website is owned by venture capital firm Ghost Group, who also owns Weedmaps. Reportedly, Olson had been following the industry for several years, waiting for such an opportunity to arise.

Olson’s goal is to grow Marijuana.com with in depth content covering the cannabis industry in these unique early years of the recreational market: “It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I’m trying to use the principles we used at NBC News to really bring some rigor and discipline into this journalism that we’re trying to do. I don’t want to take a side. I just want to go with where the story takes me.”

Olson has long been a fan of marijuana, having first gotten into it as a freshman in highschool. He turned away from the smoking habit during his 20s and 30s; later, however, he discovered that eating edibles helped his sleeping patterns. In fact, Ganjapreneur has exclusive video footage of Olson himself making Washington State’s first marijuana edibles purchase at Top Shelf Cannabis in Bellingham last month.

Perhaps the most high-profile ganjapreneur on this list is former Governor of New Mexico and the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson. As governor, Johnson argued heavily for cannabis legalization; as a businessman, Johnson is showing exactly how straight-faced serious those arguments were.

More than just a politician, Johnson was named CEO of Cannabis Sativa, Inc., a Nevada-based MMJ company with plans to begin operating on a national scale someday. He and the company have both publicly announced that Johnson’s salary as CEO will be $1 per year. Of course, he will also be receiving an equity share in the company’s stock for his work. At the time of Johnson’s hiring (mid June), Cannabis Sativa was worth about $2 million at $4 per share; Johnson received just over 500,000 shares to receive a 3.4% ownership in the company. Since then, share prices raised to $8.10 per share by late July — some argue that Johnson’s involvement with the company alone helped raise stock prices.

The former governor got into cannabis as a teenager. “I just found it to be such a better alternative than alcohol,” he explained. In high school, Johnson was a competitive athlete; today, at age 61, he boasts that he’s still quite athletic and continues to use cannabis products (though he prefers not to smoke).

Overall, Johnson’s business plan is generic: “You mix the CBD lozenge with THC and all of a sudden, man, you’ve got direct competition to all of the prescription painkillers,” he explains. His contract with Cannabis Sativa holds him to his post as CEO until May 31, 2015, at which time the company can extend his contract on a yearly basis. This cut off, however, would conveniently be just in time to make preparations for the 2016 presidential election, which begs the question: does Johnson have his eyes on the White House?

He has not confirmed or denied any intentions for future presidential candidacy, but one final statement did reveal exactly in what direction he believes we are headed: “I really firmly believe that in 10 years most of the states will legalize pot.”

Sources:

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-work-in-the-marijuana-industry-2014-8

http://www.marijuana.com/news/2014/08/a-perfect-storm-of-green-for-gary-johnson/

Photo Credit: Philippe Put

End

Six Viral Marketing Strategies that Worked for Dispensaries

9/02/2014

by

Everyone wants to go “viral” in the new media landscape, but it’s the single hardest thing to achieve. A business needs the right set of circumstances, message, and uniqueness that stands out in an often crowded marketplace. How do you get media to pick up a story you’ve created? Here are six examples of strategies that, for better or worse, made headlines:

The Jaw Dropper
In the early days of medical marijuana, very few people knew what “cannabis caviar” was. Buds that were soaked in hash oil, then rolled in kief, were a novelty that fetched a high price due to the various forms of plant used. When The Releaf Center started selling their caviar for $60 a gram, it probably didn’t seem like a huge deal. Most expensive extracts (hash called wax, shatter, or budder) regularly fetch that price. But when the Denver Westword extrapolated the price out to the ounce, suddenly it fetched a $1,400 price tag. The article soon had 300 comments in one of their biggest cannabis stories in the history of their blog. It was one of the easiest viral stories I’ve ever helped work on. Sometimes, you can get everyone’s attention by creating a new category: in this case, super-expensive cannabis.

The Celebrity Strain
Our stars are very human, and as humans they enjoy consuming cannabis. There’s always someone getting busted for a lack of discretion while they toke. Since growers and dispensaries can name a strain whatever they’d like, many have taken advantage with their own custom celeb-named pot. From Charlie Sheen to Obama OG, coming up with a hot name at the right time and getting the word out can score you some great free press. It’s also a great conversation piece for budtenders when talking to patients and only takes a little awareness of who’s in the news.

The First
Also known as the “YouTube comment” strategy, being the first at anything will garner attention. Most blogs and papers are dying to fill content, so give them an excuse to cover your brand new thing. Forming an industry group is an old staple, but even coming up with something like a cannabis farmer’s market will net you press. Being a first mover in the world of weed often secures you a following solely because people lack other alternatives. You also become the go-to source when people need quotes from industry stakeholders on a variety of topics.

The Cringeworthy
When I think about examples of what to avoid doing as a dispensary, I usually show people the trailer for “The Dispensary” which shows, among other things, a budtender receiving presumed sexual favors for marijuana. It’s awful. It’s everything the industry shouldn’t be. And, between the three videos, it has almost 35,000 views. While I wouldn’t advocate going nearly as far as they do, sometimes you can walk the line of good taste to get eyeballs on your company. This is a strategy you should avoid if working in the medical marijuana side of things, but the old adage remains: sex sells.

The Losing Battle
Sometimes, a loss is really a win. When the Colorado dispensary chain The Clinic started a charity raffle of a $4,200 ounce (see The Jaw Dropper), state officials quickly jumped in and declared it illegal. What was the hold-up? All Colorado “lotteries” must be sanctioned. By running with the premise and having a noble cause (see NOT The Cringeworthy), they managed to get the story picked up in a variety of publications. The cost to them? A warning from the state. Similarly, we ran a “March Reefer Madness” sweet 16 bracket at The Releaf Center. A cease and desist letter came a few weeks in, but not before the press picked it up locally. Look for opportunities where the downside is extremely limited versus the exposure you receive.

The Advocate
Supporting a specific patient is one of the best ways to help bring national attention to a problem. The Stanley Brothers are perhaps the best example, with a special strain of high CBD cannabis called “Charlotte’s Web” named for a young girl who fights intractable epilepsy. While some may question their motives, the Stanley’s have created one of the most recognizable strains of marijuana in the U.S. and given hope to a number of parents. Finding someone in your community worth fighting for will always help provide visibility to your business.

Author: Jake Browne

Photo Credit: MarihuanayMedicina

 

End

Brief: International Cannabis Business Conference Coming to Portland, OR

9/01/2014

by

The International Cannabis Business Conference will be held September 13-14 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR.

According to the conference’s official website,

The International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC) delivers learning sessions of educational seminars and provides a platform for networking and discussions on current cannabis industry issues, with expert speakers on topics ranging from dispensary operations to investment opportunities. This is an educational and networking “must do” for anyone interested or involved in the cannabis industry.

Speakers at the conference will include leading expert on marijuana cultivation Ed Rosenthal, Oregon’s own U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer and Senator Floyd Prozanski, and popular blogger and advocate for marijuana law reform Andrew Sullivan.

Additionally, industry experts from Colorado and Washington will be discussing their own professional experiences through the transition from medical to recreational marijuana. Hopeful ganjapreneurs in Oregon can expect to learn how to properly prepare for legalization.

“We’re positioned to be a leader in the industry,” Sen. Prozanski said. “It’s pretty straightforward. The Cascadia region from north California to British Columbia is pretty renowned for the product.”

Event organizer Alex Rogers, CEO of Ashland Alternative Health and Northwest Alternative Health, said in a press release, “Attendees will learn about details and changes in the new Oregon dispensary laws and explore business opportunities in the ancillary fields surrounding the global cannabis industry.”

Oregon will be voting on the issue of recreational marijuana this November. Industry experts remain hopeful that the election will see Oregon become the third state to fully legalize and regulate the drug.

Sources:

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-31720-portland_to_host_international_cannabis_business_conference.html

http://www.internationalcbc.com/

Photo Credit: Oregon Convention Center

End

Santa Fe City Council Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession

8/31/2014

by

The Santa Fe City Council voted five to four in favor of reclassifying the possession of less than one ounce (28 grams) of cannabis as a misdemeanor on Wednesday, making the New Mexico state capital the latest U.S. city to decriminalize marijuana.

The city council originally expected to send the issue to voters  in November after marijuana activists delivered thousands of petition signatures earlier this week and a five-member county commission subsequently approved the ballot measure. Instead, city lawmakers opted to put the issue to a council vote and adjust the law outright. The new regulation will take effect in 30 days.

Under current law, criminal penalties for marijuana possession range from a $50-$100 fine and up to 15 days in jail. Under the decriminalization statute, penalties for marijuana possession will call for a civil citation of a currently undetermined amount.

Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzalez, despite his approval of the law’s adjustment, cast a dissenting vote on Wednesday. “I have been in favor of decriminalization all along,” he said, “I just wanted this to be on the November ballot in order for citizens to make the decision.”

Gonzalez was not alone in his desire to see the issue go to the voters. Emily Kaltenbach, the New Mexico director of drug-law reform group Drug Policy Alliance, worked closely with activists to obtain 11,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Additionally, through internal polling, Kaltenbach had estimated that some 70% of Santa Fe citizens supported decriminalization. And though their hard work was in a sense subverted by the city council’s decisive action, “It still is an historic win for us all,” she said.

Historically, New Mexico was the first state to pass legislation recognizing the medical value of cannabis with the 1978 Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act. It was not until 2007, however, that the state House and Senate passed the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, which gave approved patients the right to begin medicating with marijuana.

Santa Fe now follows in the footsteps of Washington D.C., who decriminalized possession of less than one ounce of cannabis earlier this year, and is expected to vote on the issue of straight-out legalization this November. Also in November, the states of Alaska and Oregon will be voting on legalization, while, in both Florida and Guam, voters will be addressing the creation of their own respective medical marijuana markets.

Colorado and Washington State have been enjoying their own experiments with regulated recreational marijuana this year, which were founded in successful voter initiatives from 2012.

Sources:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/28/us-usa-new-mexico-marijuana-idUSKBN0GS0LS20140828

Photo Credit: Richie Diesterheft

End

Brief: Texas Teen Facing Life in Prison for Pot Brownies Has Charges Reduced

8/30/2014

by

Texas prosecutors have dropped first degree felony drug charges against a Texas teen who was arrested last year for making and selling black market pot brownies. Jacob Lavoro, 19, had been facing a potential life sentence for his brownie production — which in turn sparked controversy around the nation — until prosecutors dropped the first degree charges.

Lavoro now faces second-degree felony drug possession, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment, as well as an additional possession charge carrying a penalty of up to 2 years in state jail. Lavaro’s attorney announced that he and his client’s family are thankful the harshest penalties have been dropped.

Lavaro had been charged with possession of more than a pound and a half of drugs with the intent for distribution — what Texas law had failed to acknowledge, however, was that the weight of the brownies and the weight of the marijuana infused inside the brownies were two entirely different things to be considered.

Lavaro’s unique case sparked the circulation of a petition nationwide, which called for prosecutors to reduce the charges. The petition was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office earlier this month with more than 243,000 signatures.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/27/teen-pot-brownies-prison/14683713/

Photo Credit: Julie, Dave & Family

End

Brief: Kiosk Company Targeting Cannabis Industry Gets $25M Investment

8/28/2014

by

Payteller, a Florida-based company who recently unveiled a line of self-service kiosk machines designed for businesses in the recreational and medical marijuana industries, announced on Wednesday that it has secured a $25 million investment.

The investor company, ISS Management LLC, agreed to an equity investment for large sum — exactly how much equity ISS will receive, however, was not disclosed.

The company’s new line of kiosk machines will provide the following services, all of which are specifically tailored to fit the unique specifications of  the cannabis industry: “customer registration and authentication, cash collection and management, and (integration) with a number of point of sale systems and devices for end-to-end cash management that will meet or exceed all federal and state banking requirements.”

Payteller was founded in 2012 and its kiosks have served several different industries since its inception. CEO Jeff Foster said that Payteller plans on using the $25 million to continue expanding its service. “With the best kiosk in the market and sufficient capital on hand, we are now marshaling our resources to steer Payteller through this next growth phase and satisfy ever-growing market demand,” Foster said.

Sources:

http://mmjbusinessdaily.com/25m-infusion-for-kiosk-company/

Photo Credit: Dank Depot

End

‘Don’t Be a Lab Rat’ Campaign in Colorado Opposed by Boulder Valley School District

8/27/2014

by

The Colorado government’s anti-marijuana ‘Don’t Be a Lab Rat’ campaign has earned its place in recent headlines, having sparked conversation and controversy during its Denver debut earlier this month. The campaign targets 12- to 15-year-olds, hoping to keep them from experimenting with cannabis now that it has been legalized in Colorado for adults aged 21 and older. Representatives from the Boulder Valley School District, however, have announced that schools will not be participating in the campaign, reports The Daily Camera.

Utilizing imagery reminiscent of the not-so-distant days of pot prohibition in Colorado, the campaign erects massive cages throughout city limits that symbolize the dangers of experimenting with drugs — cannabis in particular. The giant rat cages come complete with over-sized water bottles that are attached to the side of the cages.

According to the campaign’s website:

“Schizophrenia. Permanent IQ loss. Stunted brain growth. Still, some people question this research. Claiming the studies need to go deeper. Look further. But who will be their guinea pigs? Who’s going to risk their brains to find out once and for all what marijuana really does?”

Another message delivery method used the campaign uses is the display of posters in conjunction with its cages. One poster reportedly reads, “Volunteers needed. Must have a developing brain. Must smoke weed. Must not be concerned with schizophrenia.”

The ‘Don’t Be a Lab Rat’ campaign is funded by a $2 million grant from the state attorney general’s office, though much of that money can itself be sourced back to legal settlements with various pharmaceutical companies.

Briggs Gamblin, a spokesman for the Boulder Valley School District, has announced that “We had concerns about the use of human-scale rat cages being an effective tool for getting 12- to 15-year-olds to understand the risks involved with their developing brains.”

In fact, superintendent Bruce Messinger emailed his district’s principals before the campaign had even launched in Denver, informing them that the school district’s administration would oppose the ‘Don’t be a Lab Rat’ campaign because the massive cages seemed to be an inappropriate prop considering the campaign’s message. “No BVSD school campus will be made available for the temporary siting of the ‘rat cage’ or distribution of campaign materials,” his email read.

Shawn Coleman, a marijuana industry lobbyist in Boulder, believes the campaign to be both racist and classist:

“The first thing you see is the illusion that cannabis use equals cage. So using marijuana equals jail. Black and brown people, these are the people who are by and large the victims of the war on marijuana. I don’t necessarily fault the governor’s office and their staff for not putting the pieces together. They’re not specialists in social justice or drug policy, but they could have consulted the people who are.”

Meanwhile, Gamblin and Coleman with the BVSD believe that there’s nothing wrong with the campaign’s message itself, but it’s the delivery method that concerns them. Coleman in particular notes that teen marijuana use has in fact been on the decline in Colorado since 2009. “The policy change is actually yielding the results everyone wants,” he argues, “but where is the (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)? Where is Boulder County Health? Where’s Denver Health? They’re talking about these rat cages. And they can’t see how offensive that is.”

Despite the controversies and rejection the campaign has faced, a 12-foot long, 8-foot tall cage was installed in Boulder yesterday at the corner of 13th Street and Arapahoe Avenue, where it will remain until September 15.

Sources:

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_26398145/dont-be-lab-rat-teen-pot-campaign-coming

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_26308424

Photo Credit: Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy Poirrier

End

The Raw Deal on Pot and Taxes

8/26/2014

by

From Washington State to Washington, D.C. much vital debate and legal reform has emerged among cannabis retailers, banking institutions, local lawmakers and the federal government. What were once pleas to decriminalize cannabis use regionally have since become those made by pot retail shop owners throughout the country to insure their place in the company of other sanctioned businesses that deal in regulated product sales.  While medical marijuana has been legal in over 20 U.S. states since the mid-1990s, its recreational use is newly legal in two, opening the doorway for others to follow. As cannabis retail clients multiply seemingly overnight and business grows exponentially, what do pot shop owners owe at tax time and how do they pay?

In Colorado and Washington State, pot shops pay close to 25% of their gross earnings in taxes on a bi-monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Unlike other businesses, however, the United States federal government does not recognize the cannabis trade because marijuana is a Schedule I or illegal substance. Since many banking regulations are instituted nationally by the OCC and FDIC, pot shop owners essentially cannot bank their earnings and have to pay taxes multi-regionally in cash. Of course, this creates the genuine danger of robbery, but it also prevents dispensaries from paying certain local agencies that simply do not accept cash for licensing costs, regulation fees and other taxes. This additionally presents a challenge for marijuana shops and their accounting teams to track transactions and audit their financial statements.

Some pot dispensaries have created a parent company to “front” operations in order to bank, pay taxes and properly abide by regional regulations. However, this creates a major violation of the national law once a bank branch discovers this deceptive – but in many cases, necessary – act. Some smaller banks have openly offered comprehensive business accounts to pot sellers, but if caught, lose their FDIC deposit insurance, not only to cover their pot business account holders – but also for their other account holders. That’s bad business for them.

In Colorado, it gets worse for marijuana dispensaries. There, without a business bank account, pot sellers have to pay an additional 10 percent penalty to cover federal employee withholding taxes that they pay in cash, instead of through a mandatory electronic bank withdrawal. According to the attorney Rachel Gillette, the Internal Revenue Service indicated to one cannabis seller that the alternative is to funnel cash to a third party to make the tax payment in their place, which is tantamount to “money laundering.” The other alternative that the agency proposes is to pay a large quarterly tax sum to the one IRS office in each state that accepts cash. This, in turn, will make the payment late for many pot shops that would routinely pay bi-monthly – like other businesses – which assesses another fine and puts the pot shop’s business license in jeopardy for the “late” payment.

There is hope. Congressman Edwin Perlmutter and United States Senator Michael Bennet have implored the IRS to stop the penalty charge while lawmakers resolve the issues. They are awaiting a formal response.

In Washington State, the Liquor Control Board is also preparing to accept large sums of cash, which may include the use of armored vehicles and high security receiving facilities.

While lawmakers wrestle with this pressing issue within this relatively new business, many cannabis retailers have resolved to create an atmosphere of transparency and adhere to the law – even when it costs them cold hard cash.

Author: Timothy Shaw

Photo Credit: 401kcalculator.org

End

Brief: 174 Applications Submitted for Nevada’s 76 Dispensary Licenses

8/25/2014

by

There were 174 applications submitted on Monday to be one of the Nevada’s 76 authorized medical marijuana dispensaries, according to the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health.

Additionally, 263 individuals applied for other licenses involved in the cannabis industry, including marijuana cultivation facilities, production facilities, and testing labs.

The Division of Public and Behavioral Health has until November 3 to review the applications and settle on recipients for the dispensaries’ provisional licenses. Potential licensees must then be approved by local and county governments before being issued final licenses by the state.

Nevada’s medical marijuana program underwent a major overhaul last year to introduce a system of dispensaries and new regulations. The original bill, passed with a 65% vote in 2000, allowed for personal cultivation of up to 12 plants for patients and their caregivers — under the updated system, however, homegrown plants will no longer be allowed after March 31, 2016 unless a patient lives more than 25 miles from an authorized dispensary.

With 140 of the 174 applicants being based in Clark County, applicants here are taking an extreme gamble: under state law, only 40 dispensaries will be allowed in the region, which includes the Las Vegas area. Meanwhile, 20 dispensaries are allotted for Washoe County, which includes Reno; two are designated for Ormsby County, which includes state capitol Carson City; and one medical marijuana dispensary each is designated for the state’s remaining counties.

State records indicate there are 5,859 patients in the medical marijuana program. Approximately 70% of patients live in Clark County, about 11% are in Washoe County, and the rest are scattered throughout rural Nevada.

Sources:

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2014/36381/174-applicants-vying-for-nevadas-76-medical-marijuana-dispensaries/

Photo Credit: ADTeasdale

End

Industrial Hemp Takes Root in Kentucky and Colorado

8/24/2014

by

Amid the growing popularity of marijuana law reform, it is sometimes easy to forget about the other important cannabis revolution: the revitalization of a forgotten hemp industry.

Recent pioneers of industrial hemp in the U.S. were granted licenses to grow pilot hemp crops in Kentucky, Colorado, and Vermont this year following the passage of the Farm Bill, which loosened federal restrictions on growing the non-psychoactive plant. There are twelve other states who have also loosened restrictions on hemp production, but did not issue licenses for experimental hemp crops this year.

In Kentucky, where American industrial hemp holds its most historical significance, hemp plantings statewide covered 15 acres of farmland this summer. In Colorado, where interest was also running high, there were 56 registrations for commercial hemp production and 76 more for research purposes. In Vermont, there were 12 registrations to grow hemp, — how many farms actually carried out their pilot hemp programs, however, is unknown by officials.

In Kentucky and Colorado, however, industrial hemp is coming along quite nicely.

“It seems to be fairly easy to grow,” said Bruce Pratt, professor of agriculture at Eastern Kentucky University. “The plants got established so quickly that they shaded out the weeds.”

Adam Watson is the Kentucky Agriculture Department’s hemp program director. By his description, the program carries a lot of potential:

“We’ve got an excellent climate for it, excellent soils for it. It’s a good fit for Kentucky producers. The ultimate question is going to come down to economics. Is there a market and can Kentucky capture that?”

Meanwhile, one ganjapreneur in Colorado is looking capitalize on her hemp field before its even finished growing. Veronica Carpio, who owns Colorado Hemp Coffee, has been offering periodic tours this summer of her outdoor and flowering hemp field. Her crop proved its natural resilience to Colorado’s high and dry climate this year, persevering heartily through both summer heat and springtime hail storms.

The biggest difficulties posed to the industrial hemp industry so far have been legal issues: namely, the Drug Enforcement Administration has continued attempting to block the importation of hemp seeds, despite their legality under the new Farm Bill. In one event, the DEA was sued by the Kentucky Agriculture Department, who requested that the federal agency return the state’s impounded hemp seeds in time for the favorable planting season. The seeds were eventually returned, but there remains a distinct dichotomy of ideals between the DEA and industrial hemp.

Commercial hemp is popular for offering eco-friendly alternatives for plastics and papers. Additionally, the revitalization of the hemp industry could help reduce deforestation, offer environmentally-conscious clothing alternatives (cotton is a water-guzzling crop), and stimulate the clean energy market via hemp biodiesel and ethanol fuel.

In 2013, a report by the Congressional Research Service said that hemp imports to the U.S. in 2011 cost $11.5 million — a paltry sum compared to other imported crops. Nonetheless, if the infrastructure for manufacturing and processing the plant is realized sooner rather than later, the U.S. stands to benefit immensely from this forgotten industry’s revival.

Sources:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2014/08/16/homecoming-for-hemp-rebirth-sprouting-in-kentucky-research-plots/

http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/08/22/colorado-hemp-field-spotlights-industry-struggles-aspirations/18407/

Photo Credit: Miikka

End

So You Want To Grow Some Ganja…

8/22/2014

by

The cannabis trade is a budding local industry in the U.S. these days. With recreational shops in Colorado and Washington up and (mostly) running, caregivers across the country are creating THC-, CBD-, and hemp-infused products for local medical markets.

Marijuana is the new hot penny stock trade, and both regions are creating strands like Napa Valley does wine, spurring crafty ganjapreneurs from all over the world to flock to these meccas and attempt to make money off the legal cannabis trade.

Growing marijuana is either an art or a science, depending on your outlook, but the legal business on the other side of the insulation in your grow room walls boils down to a few basics. Here’s what you need to know about the Colorado cannabis game.

1. Strand Quality

Seed pricing ranges vastly from “got lucky in a bud you bought” to $5 upwards of $20-30 for a seed. You can purchase seedlings for another $10-50. Your initial investment in seeds, however is quite low for the return..

The cannabis seed market isn’t federally regulated in the way that, say, the GMO-seed trade is. Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, and Big Business have yet to do much more than keep their ears to the streets of Colorado and Washington. Banks will eventually lend to you, but you can’t file a Federal trademark or patent on an illegal seed yet.

2. Your Product’s Market

The good news is it’s still illegal to transport any forms of marijuana across state borders, in fact you can still be arrested for marijuana possession if you’re not careful. This means local or statewide distribution channels are all you need. This is how ganjapreneurs can compete with Wal-Mart and Amazon’s distribution systems without resorting to Herbalife pyramid schemes.

High-grade, top shelf buds, raw flowers are still the best selling products for both caregivers and dispensaries. For bottom shelf, your best bet, outside of operating on the Western slope, is to extract the THC to produce kief, oil, and/or hash.

These materials are used to fill vape cartridges, which sell upwards of $40 per 150 mg in Glenwoods Springs to even $50 and higher in other touristy areas, such as Aspen or Veil. You can also create edibles or, with proper equipment, shatter, budder, and other forms used for dabs.

3. There’s Oil in Them Hills

Regardless of your cannabis quality, you’ll want to save your trimmings. Every crystal on our plant is a speck of gold you don’t want to waste. On average, every ounce of trimmings creates one gram of oil, which can sell anywhere from $30 to $100 in bulk sales in Denver, Boulder, and other metropolitan areas east of the Rockies, and upwards of $300 per gram when packaged into prefilled cartridges for sale in tourist areas along I-70 to the west.

As a general rule, medical patients receive the best product and prices. Recreational users are charged much larger margins than medicinal users, and out-of-state recreational users pay the most, while also having purchases capped at a quarter ounce (or 250 mg of concentrate).

4. To Extract, or Not to Extract

Raw trimmings sell for the lowest prices (starting at $10/oz) because it can’t be sold to the consumer. The extraction method can be either too time-consuming, costly, or dangerous.

Many homemade and low-end commercial kits use butane to extract the THC. Butane is highly flammable, and explosion or fire can happen quite easily. Because of this, the process has been made illegal.

If you can afford the up-front payment of $100,000-250,000, you can get a CO2 extractor, which is much safer, and operates at a very minimal cost. Analysts across Colorado are reporting a variety of growers willing to operate at a loss in the beginning to purchase these machines, knowing they’re essentially building THC- and CBD-factories.

Regardless of what you do with your product you need to move it. The real ganja game isn’t like what you saw on “Weeds.” You need to start honing your craft and perfecting the tiniest of details. You’re swimming with the sharks now.

Brian Penny is a former Business Analyst at Bank of America turned whistleblower, freelance consultant, and troll. He’s a frequent contributor to The Street, Huffington Post, Cannabis Now, and Fast Company.

Photo Credit: Coleen Whitfield

End

Brief: Legalization in Oregon Offers Only Economic Benefits

8/21/2014

by

The potential legalization and subsequent regulation of recreational marijuana in Oregon is beginning to look like — from a purely economic viewpoint — it would be a “net win” across the board for the state.

“Marijuana is already a serious economic force in Oregon,” says Seth Crawford, Oregon State University’s resident expert on marijuana policies and market structure. “When you consider the proposed excise tax and additional revenue from income taxes, it could become a sizable income stream for the state.” As per Crawford’s estimations, legalization could net Oregon anywhere from $35 million to $105 million in new tax revenue per year; legalization would also save the state money in police and court expenses.

Voters will be deciding in November whether or not Measure 91 — which legalizes for adults aged 21 and older the use of marijuana, the possession of up to eight ounces of dried cannabis, and the personal cultivation of no more than four cannabis plants — will pass. It will fall to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to decide how exactly regulations will be implemented.

Meanwhile, the campaigning efforts behind Measure 91 have approached record amounts, with approximately $2.3 million recently spent on a television advertising campaign — that’s almost the entire budget used passing Amendment 64 in Colorado in 2012. Polls in Oregon continue to suggest majority approval ratings on Measure 91.

Sources:

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2014/aug/osu-sociologist-policy-will-determine-economic-impact-legal-marijuana

http://mmjbusinessdaily.com/ad-campaigns-heating-up-in-key-cannabis-battleground-states-ahead-of-elections/

Photo Credit: Loren Kerns

End

Brief: Bedrocan, Canadian Cannabis-Growing Company, Going Public on Monday

8/21/2014

by

A Canadian cannabis-growing company, Bedrocan Cannabis Corp, is set to go public on Monday, according to two sources close to the business. Bedrocan will serve as Canada’s first alternative to Tweed Marijuana Inc, which began offering its public shares in February this year. Bedrocan will be listing under “BED” on the Toronto Venture Exchange.

According to Chief Executive Marc Wayne, Bedrocan was most recently valued at around $57 million. “We will be ready to start cultivating by the end of the year, and we will have the product ready for sale by early second quarter of next year,” he said on Wednesday.

This development in the Canadian medical marijuana market is evidence of that market’s steady maturation. The Canadian government estimates that Canada’s MMJ market is currently valued at $1.3 billion ($1.19 billion USD), to be realized over the next 10 years. Drawn by the sheer monetary force of the industry, venture capitalists and other investors from both Canada and the United States have been eyeing the industry for months.

Two other licensed producers in Canada — OrganiGram Inc. and Mettrum Inc. — are expected to go public in the coming weeks.

Sources:

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2014/8/20/Marijuana-grower-Bedrocan-set-to-go-public-Monday.aspx

Photo Credit: Dank Depot

End

Colorado’s Cannabis-Infused Edibles Manufacturers Expanding to Satisfy Demand

8/20/2014

by

Since sales began in Colorado on January 1, marijuana-infused edible products have taken the recreational pot market by storm. Currently, the rise in demand has far outpaced most of the projections from the start of this year. In fact, demand has risen so steadily that some edibles manufacturing companies, in their effort to grow with the industry, have been expanding to larger and more sophisticated facilities.

“A lot of people tell me that they’ve smoked weed before, so now they’re looking for something new and different,” said Jamie Perino, co-owner of Euflora, a Denver retail pot shop. Perino’s sales are split about 50/50 between edible and smokable products, and the store puts in new orders for edible products on a near-weekly basis — new shipments of flower and other smokable lines are only necessary every month-and-a-half, Perino told The Denver Post.

Tripp Keber, CEO of Denver’s Dixie Elixirs (Colorado’s largest manufacturer of edible products), estimates that edibles make up about 38% of total sales in Colorado’s dispensaries. Currently providing 450 of Colorado’s 593 medical marijuana dispensaries with cannabis-infused products, Dixie Elixirs is known for a variety of edibles, including cannabis-infused beverages, chocolates, and other treats.

The medibles giant also recently upgraded from a location in Stapleton to a new industrial building in Montbello, which has four times more space than their previous facilities. The company has dedicated about half of their new 47,000-square-foot industrial location to marijuana cultivation. Because bank loans are still largely unavailable to businesses in the cannabis industry, however, the company had to spend $5 million in cash to prepare the new location.

Another edibles production company, Medically Correct, has plans to upgrade from a 1,200-square-foot location to a nearby 8,000-square-foot building. The new space comes with enough space to expand production facilities for the company’s popular line of Incredibles-brand medicated chocolates in addition to, for the first time, sufficient space to actually start growing their own marijuana. Despite the upgrade, however, Medically Correct is still reportedly overwhelmed with the market’s ever-growing demand. As co-owner Bob Eschino explains, “We’re bursting at the seams. Now we think we’ve already outgrown this (new space) before we’ve even started.”  There are other products we want to do but can’t come out with because we can’t even keep up with demand for chocolate.”

In addition to issues with satisfying the ever-increasing demand, edible manufacturers in Colorado must soon adjust their practices to honor the state’s updated industry regulations on edible products, which will take effect at the start of November. As per the new rules, cannabis-infused products can only be sold in individual servings containing no more than 10 milligrams of THC or in larger packages that can be easily broken down into the 10mg serving size. Additionally, single-serving products must be delivered to stores already in child-resistant packaging (currently, that responsibility falls to the retail stores actually selling the products to consumers).

Manufacturers have claimed that these new regulations will slow production rates, causing an even greater imbalance between supply and demand in the cannabis-infused edibles market.

Sources:

http://www.denverpost.com/marijuana/ci_26347021?source=rss

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_20746367/denver-company-wants-take-medical-pot-elixirs-national

Photo Credit: Kathleen Franklin

End

Brief: 66% of Americans Think Private Consumption of Marijuana Should Be Legal

8/19/2014

by

Two thirds of the American adult population (66%) believes that adults should be legally allowed to consume cannabis in the privacy of their own home, according to a recent Huffington Post/YouGov survey.

While a heavy majority of Democrats and Independents declared themselves in support, only 49% of the overall U.S. population supports wide-sweeping legalization — 13%, however, proclaimed themselves uncertain, meaning that there are more citizens in support of legalization than not (38% reported themselves opposed).

Additionally, 55% of those surveyed at least somewhat supported passing laws in their own state that would legalize recreational marijuana use for adults aged 21+, meanwhile taxing marijuana sales and keeping it illegal to transport said marijuana out of state.

This year, we will see voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington D.C. decide on recreational marijuana in their respective states/district. Also, 14 different cities in Michigan will hold their own local votes on the subject this year.

Currently, more than half the states in the U.S. have passed some sort of marijuana law reform (medical, recreational, or otherwise), and the latest voter trends seem to indicate only greener horizons in the near future.

Sources:

https://today.yougov.com/news/2014/07/30/poll-results-marijuana/

http://www.theweedblog.com/america-will-see-17-votes-for-marijuana-legalization-in-2014/

Photo Credit: Will Fisher

End

Is Amazon Eyeing the Cannabis Industry With its New Credit Card Processing System?

8/13/2014

by

Amazon’s recently-announced mobile credit card payments service, Amazon Local Register, is the massive corporation’s latest attempt at raising revenues — and, as a business based in Washington state (therefore sharing an economy directly with one of the country’s only legal cannabis markets), the potential for such a system could prove quite lucrative.

Since legal marijuana sales began this year in Colorado and then Washington, the cannabis industry has repeatedly struggled to find ways to circumvent the cash economy that cannabusinesses have been forced into by federal law. Though the federal government has issued guidelines to banking professionals on how to legally offer their services to these federally illegal businesses, recent reports suggest that only 105 banks and credit unions across the country are actually doing business with marijuana retailers — and, for the most part, such banking relationships are still kept a closely-guarded trade secret. As a result, the cannabis industry’s cash-only economy has largely persisted.

Soon, however, if the recent federal push for an end to the cash-only marijuana economy pans out, ganjapreneurs in Washington might be offered a new option: the credit card processing system that is Amazon Local Register.

Amazon’s new product is clearly designed to compete with Square, the company who pioneered the mobile credit card processing business model. Square’s mobile card-swiping hardware has been widely used for delivery services, farmers’ markets, food trucks, and local cafes across North America in recent years. In fact, if you’ve visited Starbucks recently, chances are you also encountered the unique credit card processing system.

According to their website, Square’s initial business model was based on one simple belief: “that everyone should be able to accept credit cards.” However, this idealism isn’t completely represented in the company’s policies regarding legal marijuana businesses. According to one Square spokesperson, “It’s a violation of our terms of service to accept payments with Square for any illegal goods or activities, whether prohibited by federal or state law.”

Amazon, with all the capital and resources of its fiscal empire, could (in theory) finally make that mission statement apply to the legal cannabis industry, at least in Washington, where Amazon’s headquarters are located.

Amazon Local Register will be offering a lot of additional incentives for businesses to choose their product over Square’s: they will charge only 1.75% of transactions made by businesses who sign up by October, after which the charge will be 2.5% — Square, on the other hand, charges 2.75%. Additionally, Amazon will be offering the necessary card-swiping hardware for essentially no cost: instead, the first $10 in transaction fees will be credited back to Amazon to cover the costs of the mobile card reader.

Whether or not Amazon’s new mobile credit card processing service will actually be made available to cannabusinesses is still unknown, but one thing is certain: if you could get your hands on 2.5% of what’s earned in Washington’s retail marijuana market, you’d be making a lot of money.

Sources:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/13/technology/enterprise/amazon-credit-card-processing/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/banks-are-slowly-welcoming-legal-marijuana-dealers/2014/08/12/01c17960-225b-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2014/01/visa-mastercard-amex-marijuana-colorado.html?page=all

Photo Credit: Philip Taylor

End

Brief: CannaCon Expo Coming to Tacoma This Weekend

8/12/2014

by

CannaCon, the self-proclaimed “world’s largest cannabusiness and lifestyle exposition” is coming to Tacoma, WA this weekend — exact dates are August 14-17.

Despite sharing the weekend with Seattle’s well-known and longstanding Hempfest, CannaCon will be a four-day event featuring one day of about 60 seminars offered by cannabis professionals, followed by three days of something resembling a home and gardening show tailored towards the cannabis industry. There will be more than 500 exhibitors present, including professionals involved in healthcare, law, tourism and more.

“I have done home-and-garden shows around the nation, and after going to Hempfest and the Cannabis Cup, I wasn’t overly impressed. I felt I could do a better job,” said organizer Bob Smart of Edmonds, WA.  He’s encouraged patrons to focus on the exposition side of the event, and not on the overarching theme of cannabis. “There’s no smoking at the event,” he explained. “There will be no marijuana products for sale.”

However, marijuana enthusiasts should expect to find nearly everything else weed-related at CannaCon: pipes, vaporizers, grow lights, trimmers, potting soil, nutrients, closed-loop extraction equipment, electricians, gardening experts — all of the gadgets and tons of professionals will be made available for one long weekend at the Tacoma Dome.

“It seems to me with an emerging industry like we have that it needs to be something different from a bunch of people getting together and smoking. It has to be more professional,” Smart said. Nonetheless, CannaCon will be offering a free shuttle for those patrons who wish to swoop by neighboring Seattle’s Hempfest for some old-fashioned smoke outs throughout the weekend.

Sources:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/03/20/3107657/marijuana-trade-show-headed-for.html

http://www.kplu.org/post/coming-tacoma-dome-cannacon-home-and-garden-show-cannabis

Photo Credit: Eric Kilby

End

Footage of First WA State Recreational Marijuana Edibles & Concentrates Sales Published by Ganjapreneur.com

8/08/2014

by

On August 6th, Top Shelf Cannabis in Bellingham, WA made history as the first retailer in the state’s recreational marijuana market to sell edible and concentrated products to consumers. With several news networks in attendance and a long line of eager customers outside, Top Shelf was set to receive their first delivery of non-flower products at 10:00 pm, and had committed to staying open until midnight (the latest allowable hour to sell cannabis products in Washington’s legal market) to serve those who had come to participate in the historic event.

As 10:00 p.m. came and passed, and the products had still not been delivered, the news media in attendance were forced to pack up and leave in order to meet their broadcast deadline before the first transaction was made. Luckily, representatives from Ganjapreneur, a cannabis industry media start-up, were also there to document the occasion. The delivery finally arrived at about 10:40 p.m., giving the major networks just enough time to film the products being unloaded and sorted before hurrying out the door to meet their deadline. Ganjapreneur’s film crew stayed at Top Shelf the rest of the evening to document the experience, and uploaded the footage to their website and YouTube channel on Thursday.

The edible products that were sold on Wednesday were savory snacks, including infused trail mix and nut clusters made by Green Chief, a processor licensed by Washington State which will also be providing edibles to several other retail stores in the region. There was also a pre-loaded vaporizer system that sold for close to $100 per unit, manufactured by Rif, another state-licensed processor.

Last month, Top Shelf Cannabis also made history as the first retailer to sell cannabis flowers in the legal market on July 8th. Since then, the store has received several shipments of flowers that have quickly sold out. Within the next week, Top Shelf is expecting a shipment of 50 pounds of cannabis flowers that they hope will allow them to operate continuously until the next shipment without limiting the purchases of their customers.

Ganjapreneur is a website dedicated to keeping aspiring “ganjapreneurs” up to date on the latest business news and developments in the recreational cannabis, medical marijuana, and industrial hemp industries. The website publishes original articles as well as curated news from around the web, and also conducts in-depth interviews with established business owners.

End

Exclusive: WA Retailer ‘Top Shelf Cannabis’ Makes History Again with Edibles & Concentrates

8/07/2014

by

While Washington’s recreational retail marijuana market opened for business in July, last night marked the state’s first legal sales of cannabis-infused edibles and concentrates. The edible products were delivered at about 10:30pm to Top Shelf Cannabis, which was also the first retailer to sell cannabis flowers in the state on July 8th. Scroll down for Ganjapreneur’s exclusive video footage!

During the recreational market’s first month, only dried cannabis flowers could be found in retail stores across the state. “The public wants their edibles,” explained John Evich, an investor for Top Shelf Cannabis. “It seems like every third person is hounding us, ‘Where are the edibles?'”

Well, now Top Shelf has three different kinds of edibles to offer customers: a trail mix, a Chex mix, and another nut mixture called carnival nuts (which are, reportedly, peppery nut clusters rolled in honey and sugar). “They’re not as boring as they sound,” he said — and, with anywhere between 15-20 milligrams of THC per serving, we’re inclined to believe him.

The late night delivery was made by Green Chief, an I-502 company who received their license from the Liquor Control Board less than two weeks ago. The company’s director of operations, Stesha Ries, explained that pot shop customers should expect to see a lot more of their edible products on store shelves soon: “We’re going to have a consistent product for our customers,” she said. “We’re going to have a safe product — it’s been tested. And it’s a great product.”

The state’s Liquor Control Board released regulations for edibles manufacturing and sales last month, which placed restrictions on the creation process for cannabis edibles: infused products are not allowed to be considered appealing to children, and products that would require controlled temperatures for safe storage are also not allowed.

The eager customers waiting in line outside Top Shelf Cannabis to take part in the historic moment were not disappointed: although the delivery was later than expected, every customer who showed up was able to make a purchase before midnight, which is the state-mandated closing hour for retailers in the recreational market. Green Chief delivered 500 bags of edibles last night, and Ries said that she’ll be making another delivery to Top Shelf this weekend, after which another edibles delivery will be going to Altitude, the retail store in Prosser, Benton County.

Furthermore, Ganjapreneur’s film crew persevered over other mainstream media outlets last night while waiting for the delivery, which means we’re offering an exclusive look at the state’s first legal sale of marijuana-infused edibles and concentrates! The TV news crews in attendance stuck around just long enough to get a peek at the products being unloaded before they needed to bolt out the door to meet their broadcast deadlines, but we stuck it out to capture the historic moment for future generations.

Top Shelf Cannabis was one of the state’s first I-502 retail stores to open, though its operational business hours have been largely dependent on how quickly the store sells out of product. Evich did disclose, however, that he was expecting the delivery of 50 pounds of pot over the next week and a half, meaning that — a whole month after opening — the store’s shelves may actually remain stocked for typical business hours in the near future. We are planning to conduct an in-depth interview with John in the near future, so stay tuned!

Sources:

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/pot/2014/08/06/first-pot-edibles-vape-pens-available-tonight/

Photo Credit: Noel Abbott, Ganjapreneur.com

End

Brief: Is Rhode Island the New Stoner State?

8/06/2014

by

In a surprising twist, new data from the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health suggests that Rhode Island—not Colorado, Washington, California or any of the other stereotypical “stoner” states out west—has the highest percentage of users per capita.

13%, or one in eight, of Rhode Island citizens aged 12 and older said that they had used marijuana within the past month. Kansas, with 4.06% overall, reported the lowest levels of marijuana users. For the most part, states in the west generally reported more marijuana users, with an average of 9%; while in the South, marijuana use among the population averaged only 5.83%. The national average is only 7%.

Unsurprisingly, it appears that the largest age group of marijuana users (19%) is between 18-25 years old. In contrast, only 5% of Americans 26 and older reported regular marijuana use.

Marijuana is legal for adults aged 21 and older to use in Colorado and Washington, and legalization will be on the November ballot in Alaska and Oregon later this year. Several other states have recently adopted or proposed initiatives legalizing cannabis for medical use, including New York and Minnesota.

Source:

http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2k12State/NSDUHsae2012/Index.aspx

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode-island/2014/08/05/forget-colorado-new-survey-shows-rhode-islanders-use-the-most-marijuana/1ODA0tSy0Y8yVjUDRkqnlM/story.html?s_campaign=8315

Photo Credit: 6SN7 via Flickr

End

Interested Parties in New York MMJ Market Face Significant Barriers to Entry

8/01/2014

by

On July 7 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act into law; making the state the 23rd to allow marijuana for therapeutic use.

Cuomo has called the state’s approach, which bans smoking of the plant, “the smartest” of any state. The legislation allows for the drug to be ingested via edibles and oil vaporization.

The state’s plan leaves many of the details to the commissioner of the Department of Health and the language of the law offers many specifics about how the nascent industry will be run. The industry is expected to be up and running in 18 months.

The state will permit five companies to open four dispensaries each throughout the state with each location required to be backed by a $2 million bond. The measure also imposes a 7 percent excise tax on every sale.

Certainly the bigger industry players – such as Gaia, who testified during a hearing on the proposal – won’t have trouble coming up with the $10 million bond requirements for five location, the lawyers to help guide them through the rules, and the management team to get them started in the state. However, navigating the unchartered waters in New York might be a tough task for companies and individuals who are looking to get into the market.

Jason Pinsky, THCEO of Cannastract and a Brooklyn, New York native likens the medical marijuana industry to the early days of the technology industry – where his entrepreneurial career started. He says the early tech companies were born in garages; with their founders using their own funds to start the companies and that many of the pioneering medical marijuana companies were started in a similar fashion. He explains, though, that the industry has already changed and that increased regulations in states who have recently adopted medical marijuana are making it harder for individuals and startups to enter the market.

“The money required by [New York] is on a different scale than it has been historically,” Pinsky said. “It’s going to be an interesting climate as far as raising capital … It’s going to be a lot harder to demonstrate that you’ve got what it takes to pull $10 million plus in funding together in what will be a $100 million company to start.”

The law itself has a variety of hurdles that potential business owners will have to overcome, according to Pinksy. He says that because the law allows the program to be shut down by either the Department of Health or the superintendent of the State Police, many investors will be wary of investing into New York “cannabusinesses” because if the program is squashed they will not see a return on the investment. Pinky suggests that parties interested in becoming a manufacturer in New York partner with an established company – likely from Colorado – because they have the most experience navigating the business and understand the supply and demand issues that will surely plague the early days of the industry.

“You have to have a lot of things in place,” Pinksy said. “You have to have lab testing agreements in place; you have to have a labor peace agreement in place.”

Potential cannabusiness owners in the state will also have to be prepared to shell out more than just the money related to the production of the plants. If the bill stays an oil and edibles only measure – which is likely – business owners will also have to buy equipment for turning their raw plants into a product legal under the rules.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/07/cuomo-signs-medical-marijuana-bill/12323967/

https://www.governor.ny.gov/press/07072014-comprehensive-medical-marijuana-program

Photo Credit: Eva Abreu

End