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Industry insiders, state officials in recreational cannabis markets vow to stay the course

Prominent figures from the nine recreational marijuana markets in the United States reacted defiantly to the announcement that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is throwing out Obama-era protections for the legalized cannabis industry.

From Alaska to Maine, industry insiders in states with legal adult-use programs and politicians from both sides of the aisle spoke out against the action.

But most seemed relatively calm as they prepared to sort out what the demise of the Cole Memo might mean for the industry.

In fact, the majority opinion seemed to be that the marijuana industry should conduct “business as usual.”

Here’s a look at the U.S. recreational markets:

Alaska

Alaska’s recreational marijuana business owners shouldn’t get too skittish about the news, insiders said.

Legal cannabis continues to grow in popularity, and the state has come to rely on the tax dollars the program generates, said Cary Carrigan, executive director of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association.

According to a statement from the industry, “This is a clear slap in the face to the American voters and residents of Alaska, who overwhelmingly and resoundingly have supported this industry at the ballot box.”

Carrigan pointed out that U.S. Rep. Don Young – a Republican who’s a member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus – and Alaska legislators traditionally have been supportive.

Jana Weltzen, a cannabis attorney in Anchorage, also isn’t worried. She believes federal prosecutors in Alaska have bigger fish to fry.

“Alaska has some of the highest crime statistics in the nation,” she said, “so I’m guessing their focus is going to be on criminal activity that isn’t marijuana.”

She also noted that Gov. Bill Walker has been an ally to adult-use cannabis.

Walker, an independent, was one of four governors who sent a letter to Sessions last year asking the Department of Justice to maintain the Obama administration’s hands-off enforcement approach to states that have legalized cannabis.

“We feel comfortable with our Gov. Walker,” she said.

California

Up and down the Golden State, public officials and cannabis industry leaders said the marijuana sector will continue uninterrupted.

And companies say they’ll keep operating as normal and regulators don’t intend on changing course.

Lori Ajax, the chief of the California Bureau of Cannabis Control, said in a statement that she “fully expects” the DOJ and Trump administration to “respect the rights of states” when it comes to voter-supported legalization regimes.

But even if they don’t, there’s no indication the loss of the Cole Memo will affect any California policies.

“We’ll continue to move forward with the state’s regulatory processes covering both medicinal and adult-use cannabis, consistent with the will of California’s voters, while defending our state’s laws to the fullest extent,” Ajax said in the statement.

Other California officials offered similar stances.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called the move “an ideological temper tantrum by Jeff Sessions,” and Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson said it was an example of “Washington running amok.”

“California will stand together to pursue all legal, legislative and political options to protect its reforms and its rights as a state,” Newsom said in a statement.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he intends to “vigorously enforce our state’s laws and protect our state’s interests.”

“In California, we decided it was best to regulate, not criminalize, cannabis,” Becerra continued in his statement. “After all, this is 2018, not the 20th century.”

Wesson, meanwhile, issued one of the more strongly worded responses by a California public official:

“We will not be bullied by an out-of-town and out-of-touch politician,” he said. “The voters of California and Los Angeles have spoken, and we will continue doing our job of reasonably regulating the cannabis industry.”

Colorado

Government leaders in Colorado – which has the longest-running recreational marijuana program – came out against Sessions’ actions in force.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who joined Alaska’s Gov. Walker in writing a letter last year objecting to Sessions’ position on cannabis, released a statement that said, in part, “today’s decision does not alter the strength of our resolve … nor does it change my constitutional responsibilities.”

Republican Sen. Cory Gardner said he’s prepared “to take all steps necessary,” including holding up the confirmation of Justice Department nominees, “until the attorney general lives up to the commitment he made to me prior to his confirmation.”

Brian Vicente, a cannabis attorney in Denver, said he thinks it’s unlikely there will be a dramatic enforcement ramp-up stemming from Sessions’ announcement and is heartened by the bipartisan backlash against Sessions’ actions.

“But it’s certainly possible that U.S. attorneys around the country, perhaps in certain areas that do have marijuana laws, may choose to make this more of a priority,” he added.

He offered the following advice for business owners:

“This is the time to double down on compliance. Make sure you’re following all state and local laws. Get your taxes up to date. Continue to be good neighbors. If all those activities are followed, I’m not too concerned about Colorado’s business owners.”

Colorado’s U.S. attorney, Bob Troyer, issued a statement saying, in part, that his office already has been following the principles Sessions issued – a sign that he won’t make any major changes in enforcement policies.

“We will, consistent with the Attorney General’s latest guidance, continue to take this approach in all of our work with our law enforcement partners throughout Colorado,” Troyer said.

Maine

Even though Mainers voted to approve recreational marijuana in 2016, Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, has steadfastly stood in the way of creating a working program, and Sessions’ announcement likely will only solidify his opposition.

“It’s going to hamper the rollout of the market,” said David Boyer, the Maine political director for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Boyer hopes Maine’s federal prosecutor follows the will of the voters and doesn’t crack down on the adult-use market.

But there’s still work to be done to implement Maine’s adult-use program.

A legislative hearing is scheduled for Friday to propose a bill with a new regulatory framework. The measure was approved by lawmakers then vetoed by LePage in 2017.

In nixing the bill, LePage cited concerns over the federal illegality of cannabis. A subsequent effort to override the veto failed.

In order to implement the rec program – provided that LePage vetoes another bill – Boyer said it will require changing the minds of Republican lawmakers to get the necessary two-thirds vote to override the governor.

“But (LePage) is still in charge of these government agencies,” Boyer said. “He now has a little more cover to say that he’s not going to implement it even though the legislature passed it.”

Massachusetts

After Sessions’ announcement, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said the state plans to push forward with implementation of adult-use cannabis sales.

The Republican also called Sessions’ move “the wrong decision.”

Massachusetts voters approved recreational marijuana in 2016, and progress is being made toward a July 1 launch of sales. In December, the state’s Cannabis Control Commission approved a set of draft regulations.

The commission said in a statement that “nothing has changed” because of Sessions’ announcement.

“We will continue to move forward with our process to establish and implement sensible regulations for this emerging industry in Massachusetts.”

Kris Krane, managing partner of Boston-based 4Front Ventures, said Massachusetts cannabis businesses are in a different position than those in states that have already begun recreational sales because the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment remains intact.

“The justice department and these U.S. attorneys are still, regardless of the Cole Memo, prohibited from cracking down on state-legal medical marijuana businesses,” Krane said.

“In Massachusetts, at least right now, everybody that’s licensed and operational is licensed under the medical program.”

The July deadline to begin adult-use sales gives the state’s industry about half a year to assess what this really means, he added.

“The fact that Massachusetts has taken so long to implement their adult-use program may be somewhat beneficial,” Krane said. “It gives businesses time to assess what the new reality actually is.”

Nevada

Nevada’s recreational market hasn’t even hit full stride and it’s already outpacing expectations.

With each month setting records in sales – more than $38 million in October alone – lawmakers don’t seem too eager to slow the program.

Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada’s First Congressional District said in a statement Thursday that Sessions’ actions were a “direct attack on the state of Nevada, sovereign tribal governments and the rights of people in states, tribes and territories all across the United States.”

She went on to say rescinding the Cole Memo “undermines Nevada’s $622 million industry, threatens nearly $1 billion in new investments and jeopardizes thousands of new jobs and more than $60 million in tax revenue for the state.”

According to The Associated Press, Nevada Sen. Richard “Tick” Segerblom, a Democrat, said a federal crackdown could kill an industry on which the state now depends.

Republican U.S. Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said Justice Department officials should meet with Gov. Brian Sandoval and state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, also Republicans, about how the policy change might affect Nevada, according to the AP.

Oregon

David Kopilak, a shareholder in Portland’s Emerge Law Group, said it’s tough to predict how Oregon’s U.S. attorney, Billy Williams, will respond to Sessions’ policy change.

Kopilak noted, however that Williams has “adhered” to the Cole Memo and has yet to go after a state-compliant marijuana business.

But Williams did aggressively pursue federal charges for marijuana possession against 19-year-old Native American Devontre Thomas, who faced a year in prison over 1 gram of marijuana.

When news of the prosecution went public, Williams faced a fierce backlash from Oregon voters and politicians and eventually dropped the charges against the teen.

Meanwhile, Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, issued this statement:

“Reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions will roll back federal marijuana policy are deeply concerning and disruptive to our state’s economy.

“Over 19,000 jobs have been created by the market Oregon worked carefully to build in good faith and in accordance with the Cole Memorandum.

“The federal government must keep its promise to states that relied on its guidance.”

Kopilak also predicted that marijuana businesses already in operation would continue to stay open, but that people looking to break into the industry may now wait to see what happens.

“For those already in the business, it’s business as usual,” he said. “For those thinking about getting in but who aren’t in yet, it may have a chilling effect.”

Washington state

Much like Colorado, Washington’s program has been around too long to go anywhere now, according to industry watchers.

The state’s governor and attorney general as well as Seattle’s mayor all spoke out against Sessions’ actions.

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee called the revocation of the Cole Memo “the wrong direction for our state.”

“In Washington state we have put in place a system in place that adheres to what we pledged to the people of Washington and the federal government,” he wrote in a statement.

“It’s well regulated, keeps criminal elements out, keeps pot out of the hands of kids and tracks it all carefully enough to clamp down on cross-border leakage.

“We are going to keep doing that and overseeing the well-regulated market that Washington voters approved.”

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson added:

“I am disappointed … that AG Sessions plans to abandon the current federal policy on marijuana — a policy that respects states’ rights and focuses federal enforcement on key, shared areas of concern.”

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a former U.S. Attorney for Western Washington, said:

“Reversing course now is a misguided legal overreach and an attack on Seattle, the state of Washington and a majority of states where the voters have made their voices heard loud and clear.”

According to U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes, who represents Western Washington, (Sessions) “reiterated his confidence in the basic principles that guide the discretion of all U.S. Attorneys around the country, and directed that those principles shepherd enforcement of federal law regarding marijuana.”

It’s still too early to tell what this all mean for cannabis business owners in Washington state, said one marijuana lawyer.

“But marijuana businesses need to know that this is a huge shift in federal marijuana enforcement policy,” said Daniel Shortt, a Seattle-based cannabis attorney.

Washington DC

The District of Columbia is a unique marijuana market.

While adults are allowed to grow and possess cannabis for personal use, sales and purchases are not permitted under the district’s current law.

That means there are no recreational businesses for federal officials to go after.

The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie Liu, could not be reached for comment, and there don’t appear to be any statements or cases involving marijuana that might reveal how she will approach Session’s announcement.

Bart Schaneman can be reached at [email protected]

Reporters Omar Sacirbey and John Schroyer contributed to this report.

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Marijuana farms are burning in California wildfires -CNN Money

http://pmd.cdn.turner.com/money/big/news/2017/10/10/caption/northern-california-wildfires-orig.cnnmoney_1666564_1024x576.mp4

by Aaron Smith @AaronSmithCNN

Deadly wildfires in Northern California are burning up marijuana farms in the so-called Emerald Triangle. Blazes have destroyed a number of farms in Mendocino County right before legal recreational sales begin in California. Cannabis business owners who lose their crops have little reprieve. "Nobody right now has insurance," said Nikki Lastreto, secretary of the Mendocino Cannabis Industry Association. "They might have insurance on their house, but not on their crop." Cannabis cultivators cannot insure their businesses because federal law prohibits marijuana, which means that financial institutions can't go near it. Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech, which grows and sells marijuana in California, estimates that farmers typically invest upward of $5 million in their facilities and as much as $3 million on growing the crop itself. "If their facilities burn down, a lot of these people won't be able to get any economic relief for them from an insurance claim," Peterson said. "There's no mechanism for recovery to repay them for their loss. It's a tremendous risk for these people." Josh Drayton, spokesman for the California Cannabis Industry Association, said it's too early to tell just how many of the state's estimated 10,000 to 15,000 marijuana farms have burned down. He expects "the devastation is going to be larger than anybody would hope it to be." Lastreto, co-founder of the cultivator Swami Select, said she knows several people who lost their farms already. Those who haven't lost everything are harvesting early so the crops don't get burned down or tainted from smoke. "A lot of plants have been lost in the fire, especially in Sonoma County," she said. "In southern Mendocino County, there are farms burning right now." Related: Retail marijuana is spreading to California, Massachusetts and Maine The 22 wildfires currently raging through California have killed 23 people, with hundreds missing, and burned 170,000 acres along with thousands of homes and businesses. The seasonal wildfires have gotten worse in California in recent years, and this isn't the first time pot farms have gone up in smoke. "It's very typical that in fires in Northern California that there could be marijuana farms burned up," said Stan Florea, fire information officer for the U.S. Forest Service, which has 1,500 firefighters deployed to California. Though he noted that any pot farms located on federal land are illegal. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in eight counties, including the wine producing counties of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino. That overlaps with some of the cannabis producing Emerald Triangle, which includes Mendocino but also Trinity and Humboldt counties, which are largely spared from the fires. But the wildfires are unlikely to have a significant impact on the state's overall supply when retail opens up, said Peterson, because there are so many other farms scattered around the state. Related: Smokejumpers parachute into forest fires for $15 an hour Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996, and recreational marijuana was approved by referendum in 2016. The retail market for recreational marijuana opens on January 2018, and state officials are still working on how it will be regulated and taxed. Sales totaled $2.8 billion last year, based on medical marijuana alone, according to New Frontier Data. Recreational sales could boost revenue beyond $6.5 billion by 2020. "Here comes this fire at the worst possible time for them," said Peterson "I have a lot of friends who are really troubled right now."

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Record Bitcoin Gains Indicate High Times Ahead for Cannabis Cryptocurrency -Markets Insider

PR Newswire Aug. 15, 2017, 08:30 AM NEW YORK, August 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Within America's explosive legal cannabis market-projected to potentially reach a staggering $50 billion valuation by 2026[1]-legal uncertainties and blockades continue to pose challenges. One of these challenges is a lack of banking options for marijuana merchants, who are largely forced to conduct cash transactions, as cannabis businesses currently do not have the backing of the FDIC and, consequently, do not have access to traditional banking options. Necessity is the mother of invention, and enterprising companies are endeavoring to skirt federal restrictions and provide cannabis companies with innovative financial transaction options to meet their growing needs. One company racing to fill this cannabis payment options void is standout player SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) (SING Profile), which is currently on the fast-track to debuting a payment processing solution utilizing cryptocurrency. This pioneering solution has been developed in collaboration with First Bitcoin Capital Corp. (OTC: BITCF). The validity and promising potential of bitcoin as a solution for marijuana vendors is apparent in view of the staggering success of bitcoin, evidenced in recent gains and in the activities of companies like Bitcoin Services, Inc. (OTC: BTSC), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK).

As of August 14, bitcoin continued its hike to reach a record high of $4,302.36 per coin. Overall, bitcoin has gained about 80 percent since July and, since the start of 2017, has gained a whopping 257 percent[2]. Such activity clearly shows a promising future for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like it.

SinglePoint (OTC: SING) is right at the cutting edge of employing cryptocurrency as a solution for businesses within the cannabis market. The company plans to launch a beta version of its bitcoin solution at the Las Vegas Marijuana Business MJBIZCON event, which takes place November 14-17.

SinglePoint's new bitcoin exchange (http://nnw.fm/Ln5ot) is targeted at providing cannabis businesses with a user-friendly means of accepting debit and credit card payments and will give marijuana consumers the same convenience, allowing them to make purchases with their cards just as they would purchase any item at any other kind of store. SinglePoint has begun developing an in-house solution that would enable marijuana users to obtain bitcoin at any point of sale and to make instant purchases powered by bitcoin when all they have is a debit or credit card. When launched, this solution will be applicable to other markets, as well, and could be deployed by any type of business wishing to offer a bitcoin transaction option-not cannabis companies only.

SinglePoint's bitcoin application will be KYC-AML compliant. Customers will be able to sign up for an account online prior to visiting a merchant, or they can do it in seconds right at the point of sale. Similar solutions have been deployed internationally, but SinglePoint is in an early-mover position to bring such technology to the United States. Though still a few months from its beta launch for the solution, SinglePoint is already amassing potential customers through its website.

SinglePoint recently purchased $Weed from First Bitcoin Capital (OTC: BITCF) and will incorporate this cannabis-specific cryptocurrency into its bitcoin solution, so cannabis dispensaries and consumers can accept/use either bitcoin, $Weed coin or both (http://nnw.fm/M9vYG). The recent initial coin offering (ICO) launch for the $Weed cryptocurrency resulted in an impressive yet illiquid market cap of almost $60 million.

SinglePoint and First Bitcoin Capital plan take a consumer-first approach and heavily invest in getting customers to sign up for cryptocurrency wallets in advance. The benefits of this approach include ensuring customers can make their in-store purchase as quickly as possible, and it will also enable merchants to build in loyalty programs, special offers and more as well as to gain insights regarding which products are being purchased, how many are being sold, etc.

As shown in the broad potential of SinglePoint's cryptocurrency solution, bitcoin has widespread application that includes but also goes far beyond the cannabis market. For more on SinglePoint's operations, visit the company's IR Kit here: http://www.networknewswire.info/sing/ir/

Other companies, like Bitcoin Services Inc. (OTC: BTSC), are also working to offer cryptocurrency transaction options to consumers. In the first quarter of 2017, Bitcoin Services began mining its Dash cryptocurrency, and the company has also recently created a new subsidiary, Crypto Capital Corp., which is developing a new crypto currency wallet that will allow users to store multiple digital currencies all in one wallet. Bitcoin Services Inc. is an Internet-based company focused on bitcoin mining and blockchain software development.

Demand for bitcoin continues to increase with its price, and big-name retailers are shifting gears to accommodate this demand. Consumers throughout the world can now make purchases through electronic commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) using bitcoin. While Amazon does not currently accept bitcoin directly, Purse.io connects bitcoin shoppers with Amazon gift card holders via an app. The bitcoin shopper selects a desired product on Amazon and creates a wish list for the item on Purse.io. The holder of an unwanted (and not redeemable for cash) Amazon gift card then purchases the bitcoin shopper's desired item with the gift card, and the item is shipped to the bitcoin consumer. In exchange, the gift card holder receives a bitcoin payment for the gift card. This Purse.io feature has provided billions of shoppers with the option of making Amazon purchases on their iOS and Android devices using bitcoin. It also lets consumers who don't have bank accounts or credit cards use Amazon's e-commerce platform, and the service further enables merchants to register their Purse accounts and sell directly on Amazon's e-commerce platform.

Another major e-commerce player, Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK), does accept bitcoin directly and stood out as the first major retailer to do so, commencing acceptance of the cryptocurrency in January 2014. Overstock.com partnered with bitcoin platform Coinbase to accept the digital currency. Later in 2014, the company also created subsidiary Medici Ventures to focus on the development and advancement of blockchain technology.

It seems clear that cryptocurrencies-with bitcoin shining as the most valuable among them-are here to stay and likely represent what the future of financial transactions will look like. As a prime solution for unbankable cannabis businesses and beyond, bitcoin seems to have a very bright future, indeed.

NNW Editorial Sources:

[1] Bloomberg.com: http://nnw.fm/JSGp1

[2] Business Insider: http://nnw.fm/3cbMT

For more information on SinglePoint please visit: Singlepoint (SING) or http://www.SinglePoint.com

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California cannabis agency to host licensing workshops - MjBizDaily California

Oct 4, 2017

MjBizDaily.com

BCC

California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control will hold three public workshops to educate hopeful marijuana business licensees on how to obtain state permits.

The first is Oct 12th in Los Angeles

http://cannabis.ca.gov/2017/10/05/bureau-of-cannabis-control-to-hold-public-licensing-workshop-in-los-angeles/

The state’s departments of Public Health, Food and Agriculture, and Tax and Fee Administration also will have representatives at the workshops.

The seminars are scheduled for Oct. 12 in Los Angeles, Oct. 13 in Riverside and Oct. 17 in Sacramento, though the bureau hasn’t released exact sites for each workshop. Each seminar will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The bureau said in a news release that anyone seeking updates can subscribe to its newsletter.

We got you a link to their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BCCinfo.dca/community/?ref=page_internal

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San Diego finalizes marijuana grow and manufacturing rules -MjBizDaily

Oct 5 2017

Mjbizdaily.com

San Diego Weed

San Diego has decided to allow indoor cultivation and manufacturing, making the city among the first in California to establish regulations for the entire marijuana supply chain.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, new rules passed by the City Council include two key changes:

Marijuana production businesses must have “odor-absorbing ventilation and exhaust systems.” Testing labs are now permitted in the city.

Council members approved the supply chain with the belief it “will eliminate the need to truck marijuana in from elsewhere and prevent a local ‘black market’ of unregulated cultivators and manufacturers that would emerge if the city outlawed those activities,” the newspaper reported.

San Diego’s mayor could veto the legislation, but there appear to be enough votes – the measure passed 6-3 – to override any such attempt, the Union-Tribune reported.

The creation of the supply chain comes on the heels of the Council passing rules earlier this year allowing medical marijuana dispensaries that have operated legally since 2014 to expand into recreational cannabis sales in January 2018, when California’s adult-use program goes online.

City regulators have approved 17 retailers, and 11 are open, according to the newspaper.

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A recent study shows that 39 percent of participants who use cannabis on a daily basis complained of clinically significant insomnia. Tuesday 09/19/2017 by Tyler Koslow Mary Jane

Published on September 19, 2017 Mary Jane

Tyler Koslow

Many marijuana users believe that toking up before bedtime will help them reach cloud nine in no time. Although research on the matter is somewhat inconsistent, past studies show that pot use improves the ability to fall and stay asleep, and for some, even increased slow wave sleep. But new research suggests that chronic cannabis use could have a negative impact on sleep quality over time.

Researchers from the University of Michigan wanted to study the difference of sleep quality between daily cannabis users, occasional users, and those who don’t smoke at all. To do so, they surveyed and observed 98 young and healthy male volunteers. The participants answered questions, kept sleep diaries, and also wore accelerometers for one week.

The results showed that frequency of use had a major impact on the effects of sleep. Of those that use cannabis on a daily basis, 39 percent complained of clinically significant insomnia, while only 10 percent of occasional pot users reported the same issue. Notably, there were also no differences in sleep complaints between non-users and occasional users.

But the research also showed that cannabis’ impact on sleep patterns extends far beyond frequency of use. For instance, when there was a presence of anxiety and depression in the subject, the difference suddenly vanished, suggesting that cannabis use may help people with certain mental disorders to sleep.

Other studies also support the conclusion that there are a lot of variables at play when it comes to the impact that cannabis has on sleep quality. Another group is currently observing certain cannabis types and concentrations to find which strains might relieve insomnia. Additional research hints that medical cannabis users with insomnia tend to use higher concentrations of CBD.

While research on this topic is increasing, federal illegality continues to hinder the ability to properly study marijuana’s impact on sleep. However, this recent study ultimately suggests that the effects vary depending on multiple factors, including the individual, frequency of use, cannabis type and concentration, and mode of ingestion.

So next time you get ready to spark up before hitting the sack, keep in mind that the amount and type of cannabis you use, as well as your own mental state, will likely impact your overall quality of sleep.

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New Brunswick Announces $90 Million Cannabis Buy- Leafly

Sept 19th 2017

(DenisTangneyJr/iStock)

By- DAVE SCHMADER

Leafly

Among the many questions facing Canadian provinces as the country speeds toward its July 1 cannabis-legalization deadline: Where will all this freshly legal recreational cannabis come from?

Late last week, New Brunswick stepped up with an answer, announcing multimillion-dollar deals with a pair of federally licensed medical marijuana producers. New Brunswick’s Organigram Holdings will supply the province with five million grams of cannabis a year, and Ontario’s Canopy Growth Corp. will provide an additional four million grams per year. Together, the two producers will sell New Brunswick over $90 million worth of cannabis annually. “As part of their supply agreements with New Brunswick, Canopy and Organigram said they will help fund public education or social programs,” reports the Financial Post. (The Post also notes that shares of both Canopy and Organigram rose on the day of the deal’s announcement, “closing up by 2.09 per cent and 16.74 per cent, respectively.”)

Speaking to CBC News, Canopy Growth president Mark Zekulin expressed excitement about “one of the biggest drug deals in Canadian history,” while Organigram CEO Greg Engel noted the deal will require his company to double its number of employees over the next six to eight months.

Along with its humongous cannabis buy, New Brunswick also announced the creation of a new Crown corporation that will oversee—but not conduct—cannabis sales. “[T]he creation of this new provincial Crown corporation provides the flexibility and lays the groundwork for the eventual retail model once final decisions around that have been made,” Provincial Finance Minister Cathy Rogers said in a press release.

This “Crown corporation” model has already drawn criticism, with Tory MLA Ross Wetmore telling the CBC that such a model requires the government to assume the costs of distribution and all liability for sales. “We don’t know how the sales are going to go, it’s going to be legal all across the country,” he said. “People aren’t going to flock to New Brunswick.” Meanwhile, the New Brunswick Medical Society praised the arrangement as the best approach for regulating recreational cannabis sales. “We reiterate our recommendation that, unlike NB Liquor, the corporation managing the sale of cannabis should not be profit-driven or subject to a profit target established by the provincial government,” said Dr. Dharm Singh, president-elect of the society, in a statement to the CBC.

Stay tuned for specifics on how and where New Brunswick’s $90 million worth of cannabis will be sold (and for how much).

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California Officially Calls On Feds To Reclassify Marijuana

Sept 18 2017

Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

By- Tom Angell

Last November, California voters approved a ballot measure to legalize marijuana. Now, the state's lawmakers are formally calling on the federal government to reclassify cannabis.

"The Legislature urges the Congress of the United States to pass a law to reschedule marijuana or cannabis and its derivatives from a Schedule I drug to an alternative schedule, therefore allowing the legal research and development of marijuana or cannabis for medical use," reads a joint resolution approved by the California Assembly on Thursday with a vote of 60 to 10.

The Controlled Substance Act's Schedule I -- the most restrictive category -- is supposed to be reserved for drugs with no medical value and a high potential for abuse. Researchers have long complained that marijuana's classification there creates additional hurdles that don't exist for studies on other substances.

Heroin and LSD are also in Schedule I alongside cannabis, yet cocaine and methamphetamine are classified in the less restrictive Schedule II category.

The California resolution, which previously passed the state Senate by a margin of 34 to two, also calls for changing federal law to allow for "the legal commerce of marijuana or cannabis so that businesses dealing with marijuana or cannabis can use traditional banks or financial institutions for their banking needs, which would result in providing a legal vehicle for those businesses to pay their taxes."

Because of ongoing federal prohibition, many banks are reluctant to provide financial services to marijuana businesses. That means most operate on a cash-only basis, which makes them targets for robberies and presents difficulties in the collection of tax revenue on their sales.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee expressed concern that marijuana's current Schedule I status impedes research, and directed federal agencies to issue a report on the topic.

Under California law, joint resolutions don't require gubernatorial action. The text of the cannabis measure will now be transmitted to President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. It will also be sent to California's two U.S. senators and the state's 53-member U.S. House delegation.

In 1996, California became the first state to allow medical cannabis.

Tom Angell edits cannabis news portal Marijuana Moment and founded the nonprofit Marijuana Majority. Follow Tom on Twitter and subscribe to his newsletter.

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Oregon Investors Pump $80 Million into Cannabis startups

Investors have pumped tens of millions of dollars into the Oregon cannabis industry, according to a state senator who sits on the Oregon Marijuana Regulation Committee. He estimated that investments total between $60 million and $80 million.

And that’s only in the last six months, Sen. Floyd Propanski told Northwest Public Radio.

“The numbers we just received by phone says in the last six months there’s $60 million to $80 million dollars have gone into start-ups,” Propanski said.

The senator didn’t elaborate, or discuss where most of that investment cash has gone, but at least one recipient has been the research-focused Phylos Bioscience.

And while many investors are focused on ancillary businesses that don’t touch cannabis – mainly because it’s considered less of a risk, since ancillary companies are safe from prosecution by the federal government – others are throwing millions behind growers and retailers as the industry continues to flourish.

When Oregon voters approved medical marijuana almost two decades ago, supporters assumed there’d be more research into it’s health benefits.

But, it’s mainly into growing more marijuana cheaper- not finding the next FDA approved marijuana drug.

Let me take you on a short flight-of-fancy. Imagine, you’re starting your own pot farm. First you get land and water rights. And then, you’ve got to find the right strain of cannabis.

“Well so there’s a lot of legend and laws. So in general it’s like, my friend Billy gave me this. And he told me that he got it from this guy. And ….. this is the original thing. This is the lost cut of Panama Red from so and so in 1978,” Mowgli Holmes, chief scientific officer at Phylos Bioscienc, said.

Phylos Bioscience, an Oregon start-up that for $300, will outline the genetic profile of any cannabis plant you bring them.

Data scientist, Alisha Holloway, pulls-up a company website showing how closely plants are linked to other varieties.

“I’m showing you the Phylos Galaxy where every colored dot on this 3D representation is a sample that we received,” she said. “Those clumps that are really close to each other are clones groups.”

This kind of research is great for growers, it helps a farmer ensure she’s not going to get sued for infringing on someone else’s intellectual property.

Holmes says medical consumers for example, can’t be assured the strain they buy one week will be the same next week.

“People have to experiment until they find something that works for their back pain or their fibromyalgia,” Holmes said.

Phylos is only one of dozens of Oregon start-ups doing research on marijuana. Senator Floyd Propanski sits on Oregon’s Marijuana Regulation Committee, which tracks how much money is being spent on cannabis.

“The numbers we just received by phone says in the last six months there’s $60m to $80 million dollars have gone into start-ups,” Senator Prozanski said.

There are businesses trying to perfect the process of extracting cannabis oil, for example. Businesses developing a dermal patch , so people can absorb marijuana through their skin. This January, a group of entrepreneurs launched the ‘Oregon Hub,’ a farm and research center in Clackamas, aimed at perfecting growing techniques, like reducing water and energy use.

Seth Crawford and his brother run ‘Oregon CBD’ in the Willamette Valley. They’re working with industrial hemp, which is federally legal — as long as it contains less than 0-point-3 percent of the active cannabis ingredient, THC.

“We are federally legal. We have a bank account. We operate just like any other business,” he said.

They’re aim is to invigorate America’s old industrial hemp market by breeding plants to grow in a variety of climates.

“You know you’re looking at humidity, mold and mildew resistance, a number of different types of potential pathogens that emerge in specific micro-climates that we try to adapt our plants for,” Crawford said.

So there is plenty of marijuana research going on in Oregon. But says state epidemiologist, Dr. Katrina Hedberg, it’s start-up research , not the kind of peer-reviewed, double-blind research that’s going to lead to FDA approved medications.

“Doing that kind of study is very difficult when it comes to a natural herb product,” Hedberg said.

Most FDA-level marijuana science is being conducted overseas. A British company recently developed a cannabis extract called Sativex. It’s been approved for to help with neuropathic pain in 28 countries - but not the US.

The FDA has also approved another drug called Marinol to treat nausea in cancer patients. It’s made out of synthetic THC, the compound in marijuana that gets you high.

But marijuana contains a hundred compounds or more, and experts says it’s the interaction between those compounds that give the plant its medical properties. The FDA’s drug approval process doesn’t deal with so many compounds at one time. So perhaps the future of Oregon’s medical marijuana market will be in the form of supplements and ‘whole plant’ edibles, rather than new FDA approved medications.

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Colorado marijuana banker has plans for a national network

By Omar Sacirbey

A Colorado-based credit union believes it may have the solution to marijuana businesses’ banking issues, one that it hopes will be available in six states by the end of this year and about 20 by the end of 2018.

Sundie Seefried – the CEO of Partner Colorado Credit Union and architect of the institution’s Safe Harbor Private Banking program, which handles about $80 million per month in marijuana business deposits in the state – is betting that success and a new potentially pioneering deal in Hawaii will prove it’s possible to safely bank cannabis businesses.

But marijuana business professionals have seen banking promises come and go, so skepticism is already building.

Business plan

That’s not a deterrent for Seefried, who’s carrying out an aggressive expansion strategy centered on an embryonic independent business entity she created, Safe Harbor Services (SHS).

SHS doesn’t officially launch until November, but banks and credit unions in six states already have signed up for the program.

Financial institutions in Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania are beta testing the company’s proprietary cannabis banking compliance software. The testing is expected to be completed by Dec. 1, and the institutions hope to implement the technology soon after.

“We (Safe Harbor Private Banking) have pretty much licensed our rights to everything we have learned to this new company,” said Seefried, who declined to identify the financial institutions working with SHS.

If all goes well, growers, retailers and other marijuana-related businesses will have at least one banking institution in those states where they can open accounts.

The smallest of the institutions on board is a credit union that manages about $100 million in mainstream accounts in one state, according to Matt Cochran, whom Seefried hired earlier this year to serve as CEO of Safe Harbor Services.

The largest is a bank that manages more than $4 billion in assets, Cochran said, and the rest manage between $500 million and $2 billion in assets.

In addition to the banks and credit unions participating in beta testing, institutions in five other states – including California and Nevada – have contracted with Safe Harbor Services.

Those unidentified institutions are on deck for a second round of testing in the first quarter of 2018 and, if all goes well, could be online soon after the trials are done.

Safe Harbor Services’ goal is to conduct beta testing and then license banks or credit unions in at least three to five new states per quarter for the rest of 2018. If successful, SHS would have about 20 marijuana-friendly financial institutions online by the end of next year.

“We’ll focus on getting one up and running in each state and giving them exclusive rights in that state,” Seefried said.

Full disclosure

Marijuana business owners must carry their share of the load, Cochran said.

They must provide Safe Harbor Services’ partner banks with reams of information before they are accepted, Cochran said, noting there are some 30 forms with 500-600 questions.

Businesses also must provide documentation that includes financial records, proof of license, insurance and leases.

Why now?

She said the timing was right to launch such an expansion because of the framework Partner Colorado’s Safe Harbor Private Banking program has established since its 2014 inception.

Simply put, the institution knows what works and what doesn’t.

To have tried developing cannabis industry software before accumulating that experience and know-how would have been risky, Seefried said.

“Customizing software is very expensive,” she added. “Now that we’ve been in it for three years, the (Partner Colorado) board and I felt it was a good time to try and optimize our position and start (Safe Harbor Services).”

Next, Seefried hired Cochran, an accountant who has worked at firms like Mayer Hoffman and McCann and also served as a consultant specializing in company launches and turnarounds.

Once Cochran was on board, his Safe Harbor Services team worked with software company Integrated Compliance Solutions to essentially automate the compliance processes for financial institutions interested in banking the cannabis industry.

SHS’ compliance program goes beyond licensing software to partner financial institutions, Cochran said.

There’s also the task of educating and training banking personnel in the Cole Memo and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) cannabis guidelines as well as the compliance questions that banks must be able to answer from state and federal banking regulators.

Cash-free banking

While SHS has been preparing for its rollout, Safe Harbor Private Banking has continued to grow.

This week, Seefried’s original entity announced a pioneering agreement with Hawaii regulators to provide banking services to the state’s eight medical marijuana dispensaries – without the use of cash.

The partnership evolved because Hawaii regulators were looking to prevent crimes many dispensaries face as cash businesses at a time when other financial institutions refused to service the state’s MMJ industry.

Through an arrangement between Safe Harbor Private Banking and Colorado-based CanPay, Hawaii’s MMJ patients will be able to pay for their cannabis using a cellphone app.

Developed by CanPay CEO Dustin Eide, the app uses a standard bank-to-bank transfer service.

Customers link their checking accounts to their CanPay account, and when they make purchases at participating marijuana businesses, the money transfers from their accounts to the merchants’.

To facilitate its vision, CanPay built a network of financial institutions whose programs are compliant with the Cole Memo and FinCEN guidelines, Eide said.

“That’s the most critical part of what we do,” Eide said, who launched CanPay last November and quickly contacted Partner Colorado.

CanPay is working with 14 institutions in eight states, Eide said, and has lined up merchants in Colorado, Hawaii, California, Florida, Maine, Oregon and Washington state.

Opposing viewpoints

Though the Safe Harbor-CanPay collaboration in Hawaii may be innovative, industry analysts have reservations.

Avis Bulbulyan of Los Angeles-based Siva Consulting believes the model may be limited in scope.

“That concept would be a lot harder to apply in California where there are a lot more people and many of them won’t want to use this (CanPay) system,” he said.

Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, called it “a dangerous situation.

“No one state should be dependent on one (banking) service provider.”

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The Situation With Marijuana in San Diego: the Definitive FAQ

Monday, the city of San Diego is set to debate the last remaining question before the City Council about marijuana: Where should businesses that manufacture, cultivate, distribute and test it be allowed? Or should they be allowed at all? Many people have no idea what’s going on or the profound changes in law, culture and economics that are about to hit San Diego.

Delivery services are also hoping the City Council revisits permits for those businesses. Right now, hundreds may have to shut down.

But many people have no idea what’s going on or the profound changes in law, culture and economics that are about to hit San Diego.

So let’s start with the basics.

Is marijuana legal? Yes. Well, no.

But yes.

Mostly.

Right now, under state law, it is legal for an adult to possess one ounce of cannabis and grow six plants of their own.

The federal government, however, still considers it an illegal narcotic. The feds have so far declined to crack down on states that legalized marijuana. A federal law currently prevents the government from spending money to enforce marijuana prohibition in states that have legalized it.

But let’s be real. If President Donald Trump, or more likely Attorney General Jeff Sessions – not a fan of marijuana – wanted to crack down on it, they could. The most likely scenario, in my opinion, would have a local U.S. attorney go rogue and start his or her own crackdown. If that were to happen, I can’t see Trump or Sessions holding them back.

The federal prohibition on cannabis still makes things awkward even without a crackdown. Attorneys helping marijuana businesses are not supposed to help people do illegal things. These businesses don’t have access to banking, so cash management and storage is a major problem.

But the state is going forward with legalization, as are many others. Every day that goes by makes it harder and harder to imagine a clawback of the new legitimate market.

Where can you buy marijuana in San Diego? It may be legal to have marijuana and grow it, but it’s still not legal to purchase it. You still need a doctor’s recommendation to go to a dispensary or have it delivered.

Those recommendations are notoriously easy to get but it’s still a step you have to take.

Does the city still have to decide where people will be able to purchase marijuana? No. The city passed rules on where it would give medical marijuana dispensaries permits. Seventeen groups have gotten those permits. Not all of them have opened shops – some are still under construction.

Those places will likely be the ones that apply for state authorization to sell recreational marijuana products when that becomes available next year.

The city is done talking about where storefronts can be.

So what’s happening now? Marijuana doesn’t just appear in stores. And it’s not just the marijuana bud or flower anymore. Now there are many varieties of edibles, tinctures, capsules, oils and even teas and products that don’t make you euphoric but do serve some medical purposes.

So somewhere people will cultivate the crop, manufacture it into products, distribute it and test it. Testing it is a big part of the state’s new law to make sure people can trust labeling and dosage recommendations.

The question, then, before the City Council is: Where should that supply chain be located? Should we allow people to cultivate it within city limits? Should we make them ship it in?

That’s what the City Council is debating. And unlike other difficult decisions, it can’t punt.

The moratorium on permitting these businesses will run out in December. If the City Council doesn’t make a decision, then it will be made for them. Those businesses will only have to conform to state law and existing zoning restrictions.

What’s more, Cynara Velazquez, who represents some of these businesses, said 18 manufacturing and nine cultivation facilities already started operating before the moratorium. They got business tax certificates from the city.

They’ll want to know if they can keep operating.

What’s the debate? Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman made an impassioned plea the last time this came up before the Council to ban these businesses altogether. The City Council listened to her but asked staff to develop regulations for them to consider anyway.

City staff recommended two options. One option would only allow testing facilities. This appears to be the new Zimmerman Option.

The other option staff offered the Council would OK all the supply-side activities, with two facilities in each City Council district allowed to seek conditional use permits or 18 total. It is a long, involved process to get one of those permits.

If the Council accepted that option, it would mean those businesses would have to be in industrial zones, 1,000 feet from parks, churches, schools, day cares and libraries.

It would also, crucially, mean those facilities could not be right next to marijuana dispensaries. In other words, you could not have a distribution facility right next to a store.

Advocates are worried in particular about the limit of two supply chain businesses per City Council district. The problem is that some City Council districts don’t have any space that meets the requirements. Other Council districts could house many more than two.

Advocates hope the City Council will go with a maximum limit for the whole city.

The second issue is the distance those facilities would have to be from things like schools and day cares. Should it be 600 feet or 1,000 feet? And should those business not be allowed to be next to each other?

That matters, because landlords aren’t often sure what to do. If one allows these types of businesses, it’s significant if it can’t have more than one in a building.

Phil Rath, who represents most of the licensed dispensaries, said they are most worried about the supply chain being safe and reliable.

“It’s expensive, risky and dangerous to move large amounts of this product long distances, and that’s a big part of or shops’ motivations for seeing this implemented appropriately by the City Council,” Rath said.

Chris Siegel already operates a manufacturing facility in Otay Mesa called Diamond Terp. He produces tinctures, mouth drops, topicals for skin, capsules and many other products. He’s been going since April 2016, before the moratorium.

He said if the city adopts the recommendations that allows businesses like his, as written in the staff report, his place will conform. But he’s worried about limits.

The demand will be here for marijuana. If we don’t produce it here, it will be brought in.

“If there are not enough facilities to cultivate it and produce supply, that will spur the black market to fill the need and all the risks that come with the black market,” Siegel said.

What will the City Council decide? It seems unlikely the Council will ban the supply chain businesses completely.

“Prohibiting a complete supply chain would be a missed opportunity to collect much-needed revenue for the general fund and could result in an unregulated black market, which threatens public safety and consumer health,” Councilwoman Barbara Bry said in a written statement.

The city does have financial considerations. Last year, voters approved a tax on marijuana of 5 percent. And it will go up to 8 percent in 2019. The tax is on gross receipts of marijuana businesses, including the supply chain businesses, not just the storefronts.

City staff basically said they have no idea how much money that could bring in. If 18 supply chain businesses and 17 storefronts are allowed, and they each had an average $5 million in total revenue (which seems pretty modest), that would be $8.75 million a year to the city.

That’s not life-changing for the city, but it could be orders of magnitude higher. And that’s just the special marijuana tax. It doesn’t include the fees and sales taxes that already exist.

What about delivery services? Right now, hundreds of delivery services are operating in San Diego.

But city law says only licensed dispensaries can legally offer deliveries.

Since there are only 17 permitted dispensaries, they’re they only ones the city says can deliver.

And right now only eight of them are offering delivery services.

They will have to scale up quickly, or the black market could continue servicing that demand. Delivery advocates are pleading with the city to consider offering more permits for delivery, but it’s not on the docket right now.

The city appears to be intent on cracking down on delivery services not attached to licensed operations.

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Marijuana company buys California town envisioning cannabis Epcot Center

An Arizona-based ancillary marijuana company said Thursday it’s taken the arguably historic step of purchasing an entire town with the aim of transforming it into a cannabis tourism mecca.

American Green, based in Phoenix, paid $5 million for the 80-acre town of Nipton near the California-Nevada border.

Nipton is about a one-hour drive from the Las Vegas Strip and four hours from Los Angeles.

American Green – which trades as ERBB on the over-the-counter markets – was “involved in” a marijuana vending machine venture, a company spokesman said, and also leases space in Phoenix to a medical marijuana grow. But so far it doesn’t touch the plant itself.

That may change with the Nipton deal.

American Green plans to invest roughly $2 million into infrastructure to make Nipton appealing to tourists and other marijuana-related companies that may want to operate in the hamlet.

The transaction also included another 40 acres that will be built out for employee housing.

“We want to revitalize the region, not the town,” said Stephen Shearin, consultant to American Green and general manager of the Nipton project, “and we want to do it in a way that other towns can say, ‘Look at that, they have this regulatory system that allows them to embrace cannabis while not offending people who may not be of that mindset.'”

The deal formally closed this week, over a year and a half after Nipton originally was put up for sale.

Epcot Center is model

During an interview with Marijuana Business Daily, Shearin repeatedly likened the planned Nipton transformation to Disney’s Epcot Center and said the project is conceptualized as a place where people from around the globe can come together to learn.

American Green’s business model for the town is wide-ranging, Shearin said. It includes cultivation and sales – pending local and state licensing – as well as leasing space to other companies, such as edibles makers, which could then ship marijuana products to Los Angeles or elsewhere in California to be sold.

Asked what kind of revenue stream American Green envisions, Shearin said, “The answer is literally all of the above.

“In one form or another, either we license out a space and take nothing but a licensing fee, or we’re co-operators, and not only do we get a licensing fee but also profit because we supply the root product.”

According to Shearin, “the first three points of interest on the action item list” to remake Nipton are:

Bolstering an existing solar farm. Building out natural mineral water baths – potentially including one or more pools with CBD-infused water. Ensuring the town is “ready to receive visitors” at its hotel, RV park and campground. All that work could be done by mid-October, he said, with Nipton possibly able to accommodate up to a thousand visitors in that time frame.

But getting the paperwork in order for full-scale marijuana cultivation and sales may stretch into 2018, Shearin said, since American Green must obtain the proper authorization from both the state and county authorities in order to grow and sell cannabis.

“If we have to wait until January and prepare for that and get that in place, and then build out the infrastructure to support it, we can still have a cannabis-friendly destination,” Shearin said.

‘Master-planned community’

Also near the top of American Green’s priority list for the town is the bottling of CBD-infused water, which the company hopes to distribute across California, according to a news release.

The firm is in negotiations with edibles and extraction companies to open up shop in Nipton and offer products for purchase by tourists – and for shipping to distribution points around the state.

American Green also hopes to open cannabis-themed bed and breakfasts, host culinary events, start artists-in-residence programs and more.

“It’s a master-planned community,” Shearin said. “It’s designed to be very specific in terms of being legal, being a town and running it correctly. It’s designed to be open-ended in terms of what it can evolve into by partnering with the right company.”

American Green is looking beyond this project, said Shearin, who noted the company evaluated towns in nine different states before deciding to make Nipton its first Epcot of cannabis.

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Massachusetts allots $2M to recreational cannabis commission

Massachusetts will funnel $2 million into a state marijuana commission tasked with implementing the state’s recreational cannabis law.

The funding is part of a compromise budget lawmakers passed last week.

The budget compromise could lead to the resumption of negotiations between a House-Senate committee on regulations tied to the adult-use marijuana law approved by Massachusetts voters last year. The House Speaker temporarily suspended those talks last week, saying he wanted lawmakers to focus on budget talks.

Some observers said the money budgeted for the marijuana commission isn’t nearly enough.

“The $2 million marijuana … falls far short of the funding necessary to build an effective regulatory structure in the time set by the legislature and the governor,” said Jim Borghesani, a legalization advocate in Massachusetts.

The state’s adult-use industry tentatively is set to launch in the second half of 2018.

The cost of licensing and tracking software – which must be in place before applications can be processed – is estimated at $5.5 million alone, Borghesani added.

Lawmakers have struggled to reach an agreement to finalize the state’s legalization program, causing them to miss their self-imposed June 30 deadline.

There’s no timetable for the resumption of negotiations on the marijuana compromise.

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Recreational pot sales start in July 1 2017

Las Vegas dispensaries prepare for July 1 recreational marijuana sales launch

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Reef Dispensaries, which is located on Western Avenue just west of Las Vegas Strip, is celebrating with fireworks and more with an event late Friday night into Saturday morning.

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Nevada law limits pot sales to 1 ounce, but 'dispensary hopping' possible

LAS VEGAS (KSNV NEWS3LV) —

On July 1, recreational marijuana will be sold legally in Nevada to adults 21 and older. While there are limits on purchasing, there could be some loopholes that allow customers to easily violate the possession law. Existing medical dispensaries track each patient who walks through the establishment and how much marijuana they purchase.

On July 1, the dispensaries will no longer use that tracking system, for medical patients nor recreational buyers. At Las Vegas Releaf, Damien White is stocking up on supplies and identifying which items can be sold. While each dispensary must enforce the purchasing limit, there’s not much stopping a customer from hopping from one dispensary to another to buy more pot--or even getting back in line at the same shop for a second purchase. “They can come back later that day and purchase even more but they’re still subject to the legal possession limit of one ounce,” said White, adding: “That’s something we still need to evaluate. With recreational happening a couple days away, the regulations are coming out each day, so we’re still going to be evaluating how to properly handle that.” RELATED Nevada is gearing up for the so-called green rush on July 1 with a strong message from Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office. “The most important thing for the governor is he wants a tightly regulated industry,” said Mike Willden, who is the governor’s chief of staff. For edibles like pot-infused chocolate and cookies, recreational customers will have stricter restrictions than medical patients.

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Cannabis grow-equipment company completes $1M-plus raise

Another Denver-based company connected to the marijuana trade revealed this week it has completed a $1.65 million round of fundraising.

GrowGeneration Corp., an ancillary business that specializes in gardening supplies for commercial and home grows, told the Denver Business Journal it secured the funds in equity financing from Merida Capital Partners, “a cannabis infrastructure fund.”

GrowGeneration is the second Denver-based firm this week to announce a capital raise of over $1 million. Baker, a cannabis software business, raised $1.6 million with assistance from California-based Poseidon Asset Management. That brings Baker’s capital raise total to $3.5 million.

GrowGeneration, a public company that trades on over-the-counter markets under the symbol GRWG, said it plans to use the funding to “continue fueling its expansion plans” along the West Coast, especially California, the Journal reported.

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Wine Growers and Weed Growers Go Head-to-Head In Lawsuit

A lawsuit between wine growers and weed growers has come head to head in Yamhill County, Oregon. Neighboring vineyard families, Harihara and Parvathy Mahesh and the Momtazi Family LLC, are suing their neighbor, Richard Wagner on the grounds that his weed farm is damaging their grapes.

Wagner’s parents, Steven and Mary, who own the land, gave it to their son with the intention of producing and processing weed. Wagner is legally allowed to grow on his farm land. However, he is waiting on a permit to join an expanding list of weed growers making hash oil and rosin. The Wagners bought the property last December. Whereas, his neighbors, the Momtazis, have grown grapes for 18 years on their land spreading 580 acres. All parties appeared in court in April with lawyers ready to fight the long battle ahead.

Tension over the smell of marijuana came to a clash when the Momtazi Vineyard lost an important grape-buying customer because of the neighboring marijuana operation. The customer canceled its order because “the foul-smelling particles will migrate by air” and ruin the Mahesh and Momtazi grapes.

The claim itself is unprecedented, as is the entire lawsuit. This means both sides will likely hire scientists and industry experts to support their cases. There have been few cases in the past involving the smell of marijuana. However, none, if any, have claimed and proven damage to neighboring crops. A jury of peers will determine if marijuana smell can, in fact, permeate vineyards grapes through diffusion and osmosis.

What are diffusion and osmosis? In layman’s terms: Diffusion is the process of gas molecules spreading out (like smelling vanilla in the air after opening a bottle). Osmosis is a kind of diffusion. However, it is when a substance diffuses across a membrane, absorbing its molecules.

We’ll leave it up to the scientists to convince the jury of the process. That being said, the Momtazi claim seems rather far-fetched. At the same time, their long-standing business and land are experiencing a new problem in the face of marijuana legalization. So where does the law draw the line?

In the first round of trials, the plaintiffs appeared in court to seek a temporary restraining order. This document would stop Wagner’s marijuana processing until the lawsuit is concluded. The Momtazi and Mahesh side brought to court Instagram posts by Wagner. In the photos, Wagner boasts the stench of his “fat dabs.”

He writes, “a most enjoyable odor of sour skunky grapefruit” and “the terpenes are stinky like this bug–rotten fruit, gas, and notes of tobacco.” Yum.

Wagner’s lawyer pointed out that the posts simply show Wagner enjoying marijuana, which is legal in Oregon. This does not prove the smell has, or is capable of, infecting the vineyard grapes. Round one went to Wagner and his “fat dabs.” The trial is expected to last into the next year as the neighbors resolve their conflict.

-Chala Giron

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