Josh Haupt: Three a Light, a Luxury Cannabis Cultivation Guide

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Josh Haupt is the owner of three Colorado-based cannabis companies: Success Nutrients, Superfarm, and Tree House. Recently, Josh joined us for an interview about his recent release of Three a Light (as in three pounds per light), a luxury cannabis growing guide based on his experience. In this interview, Josh tells our host TG Branfalt about his earliest medical cannabis experiences — including the story of the first plant that Josh ever grew — as well as what readers of the book can expect from their purchase. The two discuss the reasons why Josh authored Three a Light, what the writing process was like, and what were the driving factors behind the book’s emphasis on luxurious photography and elegance.

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TG Branfalt: Hey there, I’m TG Branfalt, and you’re listening the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. The Ganjapreneur.com podcast give us an opportunity to speak directly with entrepreneurs and experts who are working on the front lines of the industry to normalize cannabis through responsible business, education, and activism. As your host, I will try to do my best to bring you actionable information to help you plan, grow, and manage your cannabis business. Today, I’m joined by Josh Haupt, the Three a Light author, owner of Success Nutrients, Superfarm, and Tree House out in Colorado. How are you doing this morning, Josh?

Josh Haupt: Doing wonderful. Beautiful day here. And yourself? You guys are up in New York, right? Is that right, are you in Detroit?

TG Branfalt: No, I’m actually … I was in Albany about six months ago. I’m in Detroit, Michigan. We’ve had back-to-back 50 degree days. So I’m excited to finally see some sunshine.

Josh Haupt: Yeah, count it.

TG Branfalt: Let’s start with talking about your background. I know that there’s a specific reason that you gravitated toward cannabis. How about you start with that story and how that lead to your place in the industry.

Josh Haupt: Yeah. I guess if we start from square one, it would be my epilepsy. I was diagnosed with epilepsy at about 13, 14 years of age. I had a good amount of seizures. They got me started on quite a heavy amount of antibiotics that carried a whole slew of side-effects. After a few years of taking these antibiotics, I realized that it wasn’t the best long-term solution, if you will. So I started working around with some medical cannabis and that was drastic for me as far as my improvement with seizures and I was able to wean myself off of all the medication that they had me on. It was a much better option for my health. Started growing my own cannabis by like 15, 16 years old, and kinda had a small part of the garden. I was always tasked with taking care of the garden as a kid. So I had a small part of the garden that I kinda had my own little hidden plant in. By the time it got big enough, my dad found it. He said, “Well we can’t kill it now, buddy.” And so it went.

I’ve definitely fallen in love with cannabis from a bunch of different perspectives. One of the things that we try to do with the book, was just make it more politically acceptable to the U.S. I feel as though the last two to four and six years have been drastic as far as the masses of people understanding that there are some serious medical benefits of cannabis. Whether you’ve got Crohn’s really bad, or you have epilepsy, or you got PTSD, or whatever it may be, cannabis can definitely help you with these things … I don’t want to say much more than Western medicine can, but I know that it’s very very comparable, if not superior to Western medicine. That’s what really got me into cannabis, just trying to change the stigma around it. I would suggest that it’s probably the backbone behind all the businesses I’m a part of.

TG Branfalt: When your father found the cannabis plant, did you talk to him about how you were using it medically? What was that conversation like with your parents?

Josh Haupt: My parents were young when they had us, so I kinda had younger parents than a lot of my friends. My dad at the time … They had known that we were kind of smoking a little bit here, a little bit there, and they always encouraged a balance. They never really told us we couldn’t do it. They just said, “Hey buddy, make sure if you’re gonna do it, do it on the weekends and be safe about it. If you need to smoke at the house, that’s obviously fine.” We found some seeds in the bags that we were smoking, that old-school shwag, if you will. So I threw it in the garden.

So it wasn’t the hardest talk. My parents, they definitely understood that at the time, it was probably more recreational than medical anyways. I just didn’t really understand a lot of the benefits. But I would suggest that that talk was pretty easy with my dad. He’s a real great guy, and at the time, like I said, it wasn’t the biggest curve-ball for them, to know that we were smoking cannabis. ‘Cause they kinda already had a good idea. They had encouraged us, “Hey guys, if you’re gonna do it, make sure you bring it home and do it in a safe environment. Rather you do it and be safe than possibly make some bad decisions, or be out driving, or whatever it is you’re doing when you’re in high school.”

TG Branfalt: How did you figure out that this was a treatment for you?

Josh Haupt: Well it had come up when Colorado passed it for medical purposes. I had a buddy at school say, “Hey, you know cannabis actually really helps you with your epilepsy.” I said, “No way!” and then kind of dove into it from there. Cannabis helps epilepsy incredibly, however, the real property that comes from it that’s very beneficial is gonna be your CBDs. Your CBDs are just gonna help tremendously. I kinda gave up Western medicine altogether, and all my medication about six or seven years ago now. I’ve been doing amazing; it’s been great. I just take some CBD drops in the morning, I’ll have the occasional joint … It used to be throughout my day, but now my day’s so busy that I kinda have to wait ’til the end of my day, and I’ll just have a joint. That kinda just helps with lowering the stress, keeping the stress away. Stress plays into seizures incredibly, so cannabis is huge for that. The CBDs help your brain … All a seizure is, is a misfire of neurons, electrons, so the CBDs really help to balance those neurons and electrons. It’s most importantly, slow down the misfires.

TG Branfalt: The trial-and-error that patients have to go through in order to find out what works for them, too, is something that I really hope researchers and people making regulations in legal states … I really hope that they recognize that having a comprehensive medical program sort of eliminates this, having to … Again, this trial-and-error system.

You mention in your book, and I do want to talk about this … First thing, when we spoke briefly on Friday and I mentioned I had an industry guy here to my house and I told him I had the book. He was really excited to see it. We were talking up until that point, I hand him the book, he didn’t say a word for 45 minutes. It’s really elegant. It’s definitely your coffee table book, it’s something that, your friends come over and they pick up, and they’re like, “Wow!” That’s what the reaction of this individual was. He was very impressed by the color, by the ease of which the information is presented, the photography which, as a guy who loves that sort of thing, it’s really really top-notch.

Josh Haupt: Thank you. Thank you so much.

TG Branfalt: It feels like your holding a luxury item.

Josh Haupt: That’s the goal.

TG Branfalt: So that was something that you thought about when you decided to embark on this project. Can you tell us about the design process and the writing process for this book?

Josh Haupt: Yeah. The goal behind the book was simple. We didn’t have the ability … When I was, kinda rewind and say eight years, ten years ago, I was helping a lot of my friends up in the mountains, set up two lights here, four lights there. I’d give them a little pamphlet that just followed our regimen, say, “Hey. Feed ’em these nutrients, do these Schwazzes on ’em, and defoliate here.” Then I’ll show up and kind of help them along the way. So it was our little guide and when I’d set up my 15th friend, I was like, “Gosh, dang, man. I should just write a book on this.” Because there’s not a guide out there that exists, that says, “This is how you grow cannabis from A to Z.” You know, very thorough.

So we did exactly that. It took me about two and a half years to write the book. I thought it would be about six months to write it, but it’s just a lot of photos that you have to take, and then you have to retake, and retake, and retake. We knew one thing that’s for sure, that we were gonna charge a lot for this book, because it was gonna be something that the industry hadn’t seen yet, and most importantly, it was gonna be something that could really allow somebody to be very, very successful with if they chose to do it right. So, with the industry average being a pound a light, and all of a sudden you’re getting three. I mean, shoot. Even at the price point of 500 dollars, you have a book that pays for itself with one yield and one harvest and one light, let alone multiple lights and multiple harvests. So that was what we needed. We needed to make the book feel like it was 500 dollars.

So that’s where the whole … We tried to give it a Louis Vuitton approach to it, and say, “Hey, this is very elegant. This has a really strong feel to it.” And then on top of that, it has almost like a Apple user guide. Friendly steps, very, very user-friendly if you will as far as the integration of what we’re trying to teach the people. So we wanted to use a lot of pictures. Pictures are worth a thousand words, they say, so that’s why we wanted to scale up more on the photos and less on the actual content.

A lot of the books that are available right now for people to read about cannabis are gonna be very, very botanist-oriented. What I mean by that is a lot of times, people have a hard time reading them. We knew that the end user for our book was gonna be a guy or a person that wanted to teach themselves how to grow cannabis. And most importantly, do it on like a Saturday, or a day that they have off. And they’re also probably gonna want to smoke a joint before they dive into the book. If you wanted to smoke a joint and dive into another book, it would be very, very literature-based, it would be very hard to follow. But if you want to smoke a joint and then hop into this book, it’s gonna be easy. “Step, step, step, step, step. Here you go, and then you’re done.”

So that was the goal. We wanted to make it incredibly user-friendly but also make it feel like it was 500 bucks. That way, what you got the book, you weren’t like, “Oh my goodness. I just got this little paperback novel, and I just dropped a mint on it.” We really wanted to make sure it had this elegant approach, and kind of a stigma that like you said, that coffee table book, people are like, “Wow, this is sweet! I want to flip through it. What’s going on here?”

TG Branfalt: Yeah, and it is … As a guy who’s grown vegetables outdoors, I’ve never grown cannabis, I’m flipping through the book and I feel like if I were using this as a guide, at least the first couple of attempts, I would be able to do this.

Josh Haupt: Absolutely you would. We’ve had a ton of first-time, never grown before, using our book, and have actually hit three pounds a light. Which is unheard of if you take a first time grower and you said, over three pounds a light is … It’s been great. But that’s the goal though. The goal is, and we actually gave the book to a lot of people, family members, family friends, just saying, “Hey, will you flip through this and tell me if you’re confident to give it a shot?” ‘Cause they’re the perfect case, someone who … Even one of my aunts said the same thing, “Gosh, I feel like I could grow it now!” I said, “Cool! That’s the goal.” We want to make you feel like, “Hey, I’m confident enough to get started in this direction. I’ve always been a little overwhelmed before. But now, this really breaks it down in a manor of step by step by step. We can get this done.”

TG Branfalt: It also provides an outline of the tools that you need. Because, for somebody like me, that’s like, “Oh, I’m gonna grow some cannabis. I’m gonna start it in a plastic bag, I’m gonna throw it in some soil. And I’m just gonna, you know … ” The same way that you might start a garden plant or something. So to have that as a guide, and you don’t endorse any products, which is also a really incredible thing to see. It’s like, “Hey, we’re giving you the information, but we’re not saying, ‘Go buy such-and-such.'” You know?

Josh Haupt: Absolutely, yep. Yep.

TG Branfalt: I want to talk to you a bit more about the Schwazze technique. But before we do that, we gotta take a short break. This is the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, I’m TG Branfalt.


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TG Branfalt: Hey there, welcome back. This is TG Branfalt, you are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m joined by Josh Haupt, the Three a Light author, owner of Success Nutrients, Superfarm, and Tree House. Before the break, we’re talking about the Three a Light book, and you said several times that it yields three pounds per light. Why don’t you tell us how, you not only have gotten these results, but how’d you figure out the Schwazze technique that you mentioned?

Josh Haupt: The Schwazze technique is very unique and disruptive and different. You can put a lot of adjectives on it. It’s stuff that, when we first did it, other people were like, “Are you kidding me? Did you do that on purpose?” We’re like, “Absolutely.” I can’t take credit for figuring this one out. This was something that my mentor taught me a little over a decade ago. The “why” behind it was to … We’re not growing fan leaves we’re growing flowers. We need to focus the plant’s energy on the ability to just produce flowers. In addition, we need to create optimum light penetration. When you don’t have all these leafs on there, the light can literally make it all the way to the bottom of the plant. That was the goal, those are the two “why”s behind it: optimum light penetration and refocusing the plant’s energy.

The tricky part was introducing the right feed line to it. That’s where our nutrients come into play. ‘Cause you’re removing … People call those fan leaves “sugar factories” because they’re packed full of so many micronutrients that then feed the flower. So if you remove those “sugar factories” without replacing those sugars that they would be getting from the leaves, in the feed line, you really kind of shoot yourself in the foot. Our Schwazzing technique is very much a tight rope. If you’re gonna do it, make sure you follow all the steps. Don’t just follow one of the steps. So yeah, that’s the Schwazze technique, I would say. It’s very, very unique and different. Like I said, if you’re watching any of our YouTube videos, you can kind of see it happen real fast in front of your eyes. Most importantly, you can see them grow back so quickly with the proper feed regimen that we offer as well in the book. So it’s real obvious how to feed your plants.

TG Branfalt: That’s something else that I noticed. When I got your book, and then I started doing research on you and the whole premise, I noticed the YouTube videos. I also noticed that you guys have a customer service line.

Josh Haupt: Absolutely, yeah.

TG Branfalt: What’s the most common question that comes through that line and what are some of the mistakes that people make while trying to adapt to your methods for the first time?

Josh Haupt: Some of the most common questions we get are, “Hey, what kind of genetics and strains do you need to go hit these yields?” We let them know, you can pretty much hit it with all yields. It’s like a one-size-fits-most hat. Like a snap-back hat, it’s gonna fit 90 percent of the people that try it on, but there’s gonna be 10 percent of the people that don’t like it. We kind of treat our methods with strains, where you only hit three a light with 90 percent of your strains, and you’re gonna have those 10 percent that might be a little bit tricky to achieve those results with. But we definitely stand behind it, and I think that one of the trickiest parts is when I get someone who buys my book that’s like a genius grower.

As you know, in any industry, you can’t teach a genius anything. The growing industry’s no different. I have people that buy my book that they’re already a genius, and you know they’re just trying to prove me wrong. They’ll buy the book and they’ll only use the Schwazze chapter. They won’t follow anything else. They’ll buy a 215 page book and they’ll only use 8 pages of it. All they want is the Schwazze. Then they call me and they’re upset because the Schwazze hurt their plants, and it hurt their yields, and it didn’t help, and they need their money back for their book. It’s a very short list of people that have done this. We’ve had over a thousand books sold with only … I can count on two hands how many books have been returned. There’s not very many at all. We have a lot of happy people with it.

But that’s probably the trickiest part where people mess up. They try to just adapt their methods and morph them with my methods. If you keep us very involved with our customer service, ’cause we have a team of master growers that are here to help, than you’ll probably do all right. But if you’re just trying to wing it on your own and adapt just one section of the book and say “screw it” to the other sections, you’re really gonna shoot yourself in the foot with the ability to hit the high yields. I’d say that’s probably gonna be the most common thing, if I had to put my finger on it.

TG Branfalt: In the book you refer to a “green wave” which is the energy efficiency. As more states permit cultivation, I think that we’ll see more regulations to curb energy use. California‘s Prop 64 has water considerations. They just passed, in Lansing, Michigan, they just passed basically a registration program if you’re growing cannabis and you use over a certain kilowatts per hour. What steps do you think that indoor growers can take to limit their energy consumption, and is your method effective to that end?

Josh Haupt: Absolutely it is. I think that it really comes down to efficiency in any industry. In the beginning of most industries you have super high margins, greater prices. But then as an industry becomes more, I don’t want to say flooded, but as more people are attracted to that industry, your margins fall and your competition rises. So those are the things that we pride ourselves on at Three a Light, is the ability to be extremely efficient with the lights that you do use and the facility that you do have. You want to make sure you’re pumping the most out of it.

For example, there was an article written about a 350 thousand square foot grow-op in Canada. This grow in Canada produces about a thousand pounds per month. I’m like, “Okay, cool, that’s impressive.” But we have 35 thousand square feet of canopy space in Colorado, and our grows produce a thousand pounds per month. So efficiency is very key with our facility. You need to make sure that you have soldier plants, that way whenever you pull up one plant, you’re pulling, times that by 88 or how many plants you have in the room, and that should be your harvest. Efficiency is very, very key.

We’re actually trying to lead that green wave as well. We’re working through some energy tracking things at my facility, Superfarm, where we can track the exact amount of energy, basically all of our utilities, our electric, our water usage and everything, to the exact kilowatt or the exact gallon so we know to the T exactly what we’re using. Once you can address what it is that you’re using, it makes it a lot easier to make tweaks and changes in tracking these things to make sure that we’re as efficient as possible. ‘Cause it comes into the price per pound. If you’re spending a bunch on your electricity and a bunch on your utilities, you’re not very effective with your … Your price per pound needs to be as low as possible. Those are the things that we try to stay on top of at our facility.

TG Branfalt: With all these considerations in mind, why didn’t you just keep this whole technique to yourself?

Josh Haupt: That’s a great question. That’s probably one of the most common questions I get, because people are like, “Josh, why would you give away all this intellectual property? This is really unique, how you do it.”

My biggest thing is, I think that there’s so many wheels, I’m sorry spokes, on a cannabis wheel, if you will, when it comes to the entire industry, that there’s plenty out there for everybody to do well for themselves and get a pretty good piece of the pie. To me, the most important thing was, this needs to be more politically correct. This needs to be more politically acceptable. We need to have some kind of tome or token to help further the industry’s acceptance by the world, for the matter.

So that’s why we dropped the book. We wanted to have a book that said, “Hey, this a very professional book. It’s expensive, so you’re gonna pay for it. You need to respect it, and you need to understand that this industry has taken off and it’s going to new heights.” And I think that the book was a good representation of that. The book is a good … Just so we’re clear, you can see that this industry isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it’s only advancing. Kinda back to my original answer there, we felt that it was a great tool to move the industry forward … Just shine a better light on it.

TG Branfalt: You mentioned being politically correct and acceptance, and that sort of thing. What sense do you have as a producer, as a grower, and within the people in your industry, what is your guys’ kind of feelings with the new administration, Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump, that mess?

Josh Haupt: I think, everybody’s got mixed feelings about it, and everybody’s kind of on the fence. Just being like, “Oh my goodness, hope we don’t turn our world upside-down.” I don’t think that’s gonna be the case at all. I think Donald Trump’s a Golden Rule kind of guy. What I mean by that, is the guy with the gold makes the rules. I think that’s Donald Trump.

Donald is very much about getting the country out of debt. That’s a big goal of his. It’s one of those things where he needs every little bit of tax revenue he can get. This is such a cash cow, marijuana, cannabis. It’s one less black market drug as well. It’s one less thing in the black market if you can legitimize this. We have the ability to start exporting to other nations. I really hope that he doesn’t slow … I don’t see him slowing this down and I don’t see him really doing anything other than allowing the states to progress at their own pace, because we’re paying so much in taxes. An incredible amount of our overhead goes to taxes. It’s just how it goes; you gotta pay to play.

TG Branfalt: I just read a story this morning, a township in Colorado, Parachute, had banned dispensaries, and then they lifted the ban in 2015, and now 30 percent of their sales tax revenue is derived from the cannabis industry there.

Josh Haupt: Oh, absolutely. It trumps everything. I don’t know anybody else that’s paying just under a half-million a month in taxes, but that’s what we’re paying for my grows. Each month. These guys are getting way more money from me than I can even get from my grows. Uncle Sam takes more of the rake than anybody else does. I feel like the people that don’t want it are kinda being foolish and stuck in their old ways, and it’s time for them to get with the times. I don’t want to say grow up, but just get with the times, man. We’re not in the Weeds propaganda days of, “Weed is the devil!” It’s not that bad. It’s a plant, guys. Come on.

TG Branfalt: Denver, Colorado is still standing. It’s not in flames, right?

Josh Haupt: Correct. It is very much still standing and very affluent. If anything, we have enough money in the state of Colorado to rebuild every bridge that they want to do, or change every highway, hire all these people, give them overtime, you name it. The state is not hurting for cash. That’s for sure.

TG Branfalt: I want to talk to you a bit more about Colorado‘s industry. But before we do, we gotta take one more short break. I’m TG Branfalt, this is Ganjapreneur.com podcast.


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TG Branfalt: Hey there, welcome back. This is TG Branfalt, the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m with Josh Haupt, Three a Light author, owner of Success Nutrients, Superfarm, and Tree House. Before the break, we were talking a bit about policy. How has Colorado‘s industry changed as the market there has matured? What impacts have you noticed from the decline in the wholesale flower prices?

Josh Haupt: That’s definitely hit very close to home with myself, considering I produce about a thousand pounds a month. We took a ride on the chain big time with the wholesale flower prices going through the floor. I think that’s just what you can expect in any industry. You have supply and demand. At the beginning, you’re gonna have shortages of supply, and demand’s gonna stay very high. With that, you can have high prices. But then eventually, the supply is gonna catch up with the demand. People are gonna build enough facilities over the time, and that’s kind of what happened here. In a lot of ways we have a very stable industry now. I would say that the price per pound for wholesale has definitely stabilized. It’s not a very high number, however it’s also a very stable number.

I anticipate this happening in other states. I look forward to the time when it tips federal. When it tips federal, which means I can ship inter-state or whatever that is, that’s when the supply is gonna offset the demand incredibly, of course. We’re not gonna have enough products. That will be fun; I look forward to that, ’cause we’re definitely producing quite a bit right now, and it would be nice to get that price per pound up to a higher note. But it’s affected the industry quite a lot. We’ve had more distressed assets, and by distressed assets I mean failing businesses as far as from grows to dispensaries this last summer in Colorado than ever before. Those are the things that are going on now; it’s really showing the people that are growing efficiently are going to be staying in business, and the people that are not doing it right are gonna have a hard time staying in business, what it comes down to. It’s really separated the market, is what I would suggest it’s done over time. It’s very much separated, and a lot of people, they either sink or swim in a lot of ways.

TG Branfalt: Are you guys kind of hopeful that maybe the demand will rise a little bit because of the potential of the cannabis clubs?

Josh Haupt: I think the demand’s definitely gonna rise, absolutely. I think cannabis clubs are key, and think that keeping them in the right areas of town, and make sure they’re not around kids, I think is gonna be massive. And I think that the demand’s gonna stay very constant. I think that you have so many dispensaries in the state of Colorado, and you have so many grows, and I think that we’re just at a pretty good stable standing-point right now, if you will.

TG Branfalt: What about the decision to not allow cannabis and alcohol to be sold at the same place? Do you think that that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or are you sort of indifferent?

Josh Haupt: I think it’s a temporary thing. I think that right now, with it still being a Schedule 1, and with there being so many uncertain things around cannabis, they just really want to keep them in their own pools. But I do think there’ll be a day when you to the bar, and the bartender is gonna ask you how you want to feel. And then, depending on your answer, “Oh, I’m really sad.” Well, “Hey, don’t let me give you a shot of Jack Daniels. Fire up this sativa right here, and it’s gonna remind you, don’t stress too much. Here you go.” Or, hey, you know … The bartender’s gonna ask you how you want to feel is what I think is gonna happen in the future rather than what you want to drink.

So I think that right now, it’s a good fit, with them being in different pools. But I think that over time, there’s too many similarities between the two industries to really keep them apart. You got brands coming in, you got … You have pretty much cannabis following suit to alcohol. It’s pretty much … They’re not too far from each other, that’s for sure.

TG Branfalt: What advice would you have for entrepreneurs who are looking to enter the cannabis space?

Josh Haupt: Advice for entrepreneurs who are trying to the cannabis space, make sure you get somebody on your team that is highly educated and knows what they’re doing, and has done this before. If it’s your first rodeo, like anything else, it’s a very expensive learning curve. You don’t want to get stuck with all those super expensive fees. When it comes to cannabis, you can be spending so much money. I would suggest that you get a tour guide, get someone on your team, whether you want to run a dispensary, whether you want to have a big mixed facility, infused products facility, or whether you want to have a big grow. Just make sure you have someone on your team that can really watch your step, is what I would highly recommend.

I’ve seen people get into it by themselves and not want to pay a consultant some nominal fee, and then next thing you know, they’re a completely failing business because they didn’t want the help of someone who’s already done this before, because of some little fee. I think people need to understand that, A, it’s gonna cost more, ’cause now the barrier of entry, every day that goes by, gets higher and higher. A lot people in the industry want to put a lot of money into it. That’s what I tell them. Just make sure you get a tour guide.

TG Branfalt: Finally, could you tell us where they can find your book?

Josh Haupt: Yeah. The book’s available at Threealight.com, so it’s all one word. And if you are in other states and you want to get your hands on it, please reach out to us, utilize our customer service team, is what I would highly recommend. We had people that, at my facilities on any given day we’re mixing about five thousand gallons of water. Use whatever you can run into, at your home grow, there’s a small chance you probably would’ve run into it. We’re happy to help you build a solution. And just utilize all the things that come with the book. It might be 500 dollars, but you also get a free starter kit of nutrients, that’s another 320 bucks, that’s free. Not to mention all your customer support is all included in your book purchase as well. Utilize the team.

TG Branfalt: Awesome, man. Awesome. I really want to thank you for being on the show. Like I said, for me, someone who’s ever grown a cannabis plant, I can’t wait until I can utilize the information in this book. And congratulations on creating just an elaborate, really beautiful product for the industry. It’s a really neat thing to hold and flip through; it’s totally cool.

Josh Haupt: Thank you so much, I really appreciate that. That carries a lot of weight, coming from yourself, thank you.

TG Branfalt: Thanks, man. And again, I appreciate you coming onto the show.

Josh Haupt: Absolutely, it was my pleasure. My pleasure.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com podcast in the podcast section on Ganjapreneur.com and the Apple iTunes store. On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you will find the latest cannabis news and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcripts of this podcast. You can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. This episode was engineered by Jeremy Sebastiano; I’ve been your host, TG Branfalt.

End


A sunrise view of San Francisco.

San Francisco, Calif. Considers Creating Cannabis Department for Adult-Use Rollout

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San Francisco, California is considering legislation to create a Cannabis Department to help the city handle the implementation of the adult-use cannabis regime, the San Francisco Examiner reports. The proposal, introduced by Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, would create the department, and Mayor Ed Lee would appoint the director and all seven members of the Cannabis Commission. The appointees would need to be approved by the Board of Supervisors; rejection would require a two-thirds vote.

City officials believe the department is necessary in order to handle the expected influx of cannabis industry operator applications. The commission would be tasked with approving or denying commercial permits and enforcing the codes and guidelines once they are developed.

Supervisor Hillary Ronen said that while she supports the creation of the department, she would prefer that the appointments are split between the governor and the board – which would require a voter-approved referendum.

Sheehy’s legislative aide Bill Barnes indicated that the plan uses money derived from industry fees to operate rather than using monies from the general fund. The commission would not be responsible for the medical cannabis industry, which would still be subject to Public Health Department and Planning Commission oversight.

The creation of the department was recommended by the State Cannabis Legalization Task Force.

 

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A wide fan leaf from a mature hemp plant.

New York State College’s Hemp Society Industrial Hemp Proposal Waitlisted

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A proposal to grow hemp by the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Hemp Society has been waitlisted by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets because other institutions applied for licenses before the group had an opportunity, according to the Daily Orange, Syracuse University’s student newspaper. Under the state’s 2014 Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program, the state awards just 10 licenses for industrial hemp cultivation.

The proposal would see SUNY-ESF obtain the license to grow hemp on campus and the program would ultimately conduct the research; members of the Hemp Society would participate in the project. Ed Shao, treasurer of the Hemp Society, said he is hopeful that the college will receive a license by fall of 2018.

Currently, SUNY Morrisville is the only college in the state to hold a hemp cultivation license. Their seeds are provided by JD Farms – an Eaton farm that also holds a hemp license.

Jennifer Gilbert Jenkins, a SUNY Morrisville School of Agriculture, Sustainability, Business and Entrepreneurship assistant professor, said that she has experienced her own hurdles while researching the plant due to stigmas and misunderstandings surrounding hemp.

“I walk into situations thinking I’m going to be discussing the research we are doing but I spend most of my time clarifying that, no, industrial hemp is not marijuana,” Jenkins said in the report. “It’s a stigma we must really work to break.”

The Hemp Society attempted to organize a group at Syracuse University, but the SU Student Association rejected their application to become a registered student organization.

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Two cannabis colas about to be harvested inside a Washington cultivation site.

New Hampshire Lawmakers Consider Adding Connective Tissue Disorder to MMJ List

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New Hampshire advocates are lobbying state lawmakers to pass a bill adding Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a painful connective tissue disorder, to the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis access, according to a WMUR report. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affects one in 5,000 people, leaving them in chronic pain and at constant risk of joint dislocation.

Dr. Angela Shepard, who treats chronic conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos, said patients suffering from the condition often have medication sensitivities, noting that awareness of the condition is limited.

“It’s not appropriate always to be relying on opiates,” Shepard said in the report.

State Sen. Dan Feltes, Democrat and sponsor of the bi-partisan legislation, said that patients need access to alternative pain treatment options, such as cannabis, if the state is serious about reducing the number of opioid prescriptions.

“That’s what we’ve recognized here in New Hampshire. We continue to make progress on this,” he said. “It hasn’t gone as fast as some would like, but certainly this condition needs to be put in as a qualifying medical condition in our statute.”

Kim Pang, a Concord resident who suffers from the condition, will testify in front of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee in favor of the bill. She said that she’s “in constant pain all day long.”

“It makes it hard to work. It makes it hard to clean my house, do yard work, pretty much do anything,” Pang said. “Everything physical is a real challenge.”

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The state capitol building of Connecticut.

Bill Imposing 6% MMJ Sales Tax in Conn. Strongly Opposed at Hearing

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Connecticut lawmakers are considering adding a 6 percent sales tax to medical cannabis products, but the plan didn’t gain much traction during a public hearing on Friday, according to a report from CTNewsJunkie. Patients in the state already pay $100 annually to register with the program and an average of $150 for an annual medical appointment for physician certification.

Tom Schulz, president of licensed producer Connecticut Pharmaceutical Solutions, told the committee that if sales taxes are levied it could “push people back to the black market,” adding that the average patient purchases 2.5 ounces per month which runs about $200 to $400.

“We are worried that the surcharge could exacerbate the price differential between the pharmaceutical grade medical marijuana that is available through the program versus what is available on the street,” he said in the report. “This price differential would tend to drive the use of marijuana that is often unsafe or contaminated.”

Margherita Giuliano, executive vice president of the Connecticut Pharmacists Association, offered written testimony to the House Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee explaining that many of the 17,000 enrolled patients are “suffering from severe illnesses” and low-income due to their disabilities.

“This is a measure that would impose additional financial hardship on Connecticut citizens, particularly our patients, who already spend a significant portion of their income on medical care,” she wrote. “Many are disabled, from low-income families, or already seeking end-of-life care. The burden of additional taxation on these individuals is unjust, especially in light of the fact that medical marijuana is not covered by insurance and thus, patients are paying for it out-of-pocket.”

According to the bill text – introduced by Republican Rep. Vincent Candelora – the funds would be used for drug abuse treatment programs.

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The Georgia Capitol Building in Atlanta, Georgia.

Georgia Senate Passes Bill to Expand MMJ Qualifying Conditions

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Georgia’s Senate has passed a bill that would expand the qualifying conditions for medical cannabis use, while keeping the maximum allowable THC percentages in cannabis oil at 5 percent, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Under the measure patients diagnosed with AIDS, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, epidermolysis bullosa – a rare genetic connective tissue defect – peripheral neuropathy, and those in hospice care would be allowed to access the program.

Last month, the Senate passed a bill adding autism to the qualifying condition list, but dropped the permissible THC content to 3 percent. That bill was moved to the House, who will not consider the measure in light of SB.16, which will move next to a House committee that is expected to take up the proposal next week.

Earlier this month, the House passed HB.65 which would further expand the program, although it’s unclear whether the Senate will consider the legislation with the passage of SB.16 – which includes several of same conditions as HB.65. According to the AJC report, SB.16 was passed after a “compromise,” so it’s possible some conditions were left out of the Senate measure, which in return, didn’t drop the allowable THC limits. HB.65 passed the house 156-6.

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New York City skyline from the top of The Rock.

Chronic Pain Patients Can Apply for MMJ in NY Starting Next Week

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Chronic pain patients in New York will be able to seek a physician’s recommendation for medical cannabis beginning Mar. 22 – a move that could add significantly to patient counts and help combat the opioid crisis in the state, according to a Journal News report. The expansion comes more than a year after the program’s launch.

“Improving patient access to medical marijuana continues to be one of our top priorities, as it has been since the launch of the program,” Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in the report. “These key enhancements further that goal.”

The Health Department also announced that physician assistants can now register with the state to recommend medical cannabis so long as their supervising physician is also registered with the program. Both the chronic pain qualifying condition and physician assistant changes were announced by the agency in December.

“As a physician, I applaud efforts to expand the program based on the existing science and improve access for those patients who could benefit from treatment with dependable, real-dose medical cannabis,” Dr. Stephen Dahmer, Chief Medical Officer of Vireo Health, said in a statement.

Under the new rules, chronic pain is defined as “any severe debilitating pain” that has lasted “three months or more beyond onset, or the practitioner reasonably anticipates such pain to last three months or more beyond onset.”

The state is also considering doubling the number of operator licenses available in the state; however current licensed operators are still not profitable due to low patient counts caused by the program’s restrictive nature.

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A large, trimmed cannabis nug lying sideways on a wooden surface.

Ark. Senate Passes Six Bills Related to Voter-Approved MMJ Statute

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The Arkansas Senate has passed six bills relating to medical cannabis, including one that codifies the creation of the Medical Marijuana Commission, and another that allows employers to establish cannabis-free workplace policies, according to NPR-affiliate KUAR. The latter would allow employers to prevent employees with medical cannabis recommendations from showing up to work if they are under the influence of cannabis.

Although the voter-approved Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment bars employers from making employment decisions based on whether an employee holds a medical cannabis card, it does not include language about what employers can do if an employee shows up to work under the influence.

“It’s setting up that process to where, if somebody comes to work and they’re clearly impaired, they do not need to be operating a forklift or heavy equipment, things like that,” state Sen. Missy Irvin, the Republican sponsor of the bill, said in the report.

Another measure passed on Thursday, HB.1369, directs medical cannabis sales tax revenues to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, Department of Health, Medical Marijuana Commission, or any other agency that incurs expenses regulating medical cannabis.

HB.1436 would see operator licenses expire on June 30 of each calendar year – the day prior to the start of the state fiscal year. The change will likely help lawmakers craft the state budget, allowing them to include funds derived from medical cannabis business licensing fees.

HB.1507 would allow the commission and the departments of finance and health to collect fines and fees from licensed operators that violate regulations; and HB.1584 would allow the transfer of a licensed dispensary or cultivator to “a natural person” associated with the facility if the original owner ceases to be in control.

All of the measures have already passed the House; however they were amended in the Senate and must pass the House again before moving to the desk of Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

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A sunny patio at Oxford University in Oxford, England.

Oxford University Launches Cannabinoid Biomedicine Research Program

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Oxford University is teaming with Kingsley Capital Partners on a multi-million dollar medical cannabis research program to develop new therapies for acute and chronic conditions, according to a CNBC report. Kingsley is providing up to $12.36 million for the program through its new biopharmaceutical arm Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies.

University scientists hope to develop new treatments for pain, cancer, and inflammatory diseases by studying the molecular, cellular, and systems mechanisms of cannabinoids.

“Cannabinoid research has started to produce exciting biological discoveries and this research program is a timely opportunity to increase our understanding of the role of cannabinoids in health and disease,” Ahmed Ahmed, professor of gynecological oncology at Oxford University, said in a statement. “This field holds great promise for developing novel therapeutic opportunities for cancer patients.”

Neil Mahapatra, managing partner at Kingsley, said that research into the particular pathways and mechanisms of cannabis that provide relief for chronic pain patients is “limited and long overdue,” adding that any breakthroughs could “help millions of people around the world.”

In January, the United Kingdom’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency reclassified CBD as a medicine; however there is still not access to full plant medical cannabis in the nation.

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The West Virginia State Capitol in on U.S. Route 60 in Charleston, West Virginia..

Adult-Use Measure Introduced in West Va.

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Democratic West Virginia House Delegate Sean Hornbuckle has introduced a bill to legalize cannabis use for adults 21 and older in order to allow “law enforcement to focus on violent and property crimes” and generate revenue “for education and other public purposes.”

According to the bill text, the measure would regulate cannabis “in a manner similar to alcohol,” meaning taxes would be imposed, products would be tested and labeled, and drivers suspected of driving under the influence of cannabis would be charged with DUI. Public-use would not be allowed and subject to a $200 fine. The measure would impose felony penalties for extraction using substances other than water or vegetable glycerin, providing for up to three years in prison and fines up to $5,000.

Adults would be allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of flower in public and 5 grams of “hashish,” and allowed to grow up to three flowering plants and three immature plants out of public view.

Municipalities would be allowed to enact their own industry rules or bans under the law. The legislation does not indicate what the tax structure would be, or whether towns and cities would be able to add their own tax rates.

The measure has been moved to the House Health and Human Resources Committee, and would need to pass through the Judiciary Committee before moving to the floor for a full vote.

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Inside of an indoor cannabis cultivation grow site.

Montana Lawmakers Considering 6% MMJ Sales Tax

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Lawmakers in Montana are considering adding a 6 percent tax on medical cannabis sales which would be diverted to the state’s unrestricted general fund, the Associated Press reports. The proposal, which is being considered by the House Taxation Committee, could raise about $1.1 million annually, and about $100,000 would be used for an armored car and security guard to collect the taxes directly from dispensaries.

The proposal is one of several “revenue enhancers” supported by Gov. Steve Bullock in the Legislature to help bridge gaps in the state budget. Another measure being considered by lawmakers would add a 2 percent tax on cannabis producers.

Democratic state Rep. Tom Jacobson said the tax is needed in order to help the state regulate the industry and ensure product safety.

“The voters put the onus on the state of Montana to ensure the safety and viability of this product,” Jacobson said in the report. “The consumers of this product are relying on us; therefore, comes a cost.”

Kari Boiter, co-founder of the Patient Rights Network, said the sales tax would create financial burdens for patients as many patients have limited incomes. She indicated she spends about $700 a month on her cannabis treatments.

“We’re already dealing with exorbitant medical costs and debt that we’re trying to pay,” she said. “This is just one more thing that adds to the expenses we’re taking on as sick individuals,” she said.

Bullock’s spokesman Ronja Abel called the revenue enhancer proposals “fair and modest,” and deserving of “thoughtful consideration.”

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Under San Diego palm trees on a sunny day.

San Diego Supervisors Ban Cannabis Businesses in Unincorporated Areas

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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has passed a ban on cannabis farms and dispensaries in unincorporated areas, which will force the three dispensaries in the areas to close by 2022 and two more that are still in the permitting process to close in five years if they open at all, the San Diego Tribune reports. The ban, which was not supported by the county’s planning commission, will not impact regulations in incorporated areas.

Planning Commissioner Bryan Woods said the ban will only encourage the illicit market, forcing patients to purchase products that could be harmful, or that the illegal trade would become a public nuisance.

“An unregulated industry without controls, the black market will put product on the market that could be inferior or tainted,” he said in the report.

Lincoln Fish, CEO of Outliers Collective in unincorporated El Cajon, called both the ban and the sunset requirements unfair.

“We played by the rules, exactly the rules that were put forth,” he said. “We did everything we can to play by those rules. And now you’re changing the game on us.”

Supervisor Greg Cox, who voted against the ban, said he expects advocates and cannabis business owners to launch a ballot initiative to overturn the board’s decision. His colleague, Supervisor Dianne Jacob who championed the measure, pointed to problems in Colorado’s legal cannabis industry as justification for the ban.

“We only need to look at Colorado to realize that the legalization of marijuana has been a disaster and has not produced the net revenue,” she said.

Advocates could make their ballot push as early as 2018 when term limits will force out Supervisor Bill Horn – who voted for the measure – and Supervisor Ron Roberts – who voted against it. Jacob will reach her term limit in 2020.

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The Dome of the Rock temple in Jerusalem, Israel.

Israel Grants Preliminary MMJ Cultivation Licenses to 37 Farmers

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Israel’s Health Ministry has issued 37 preliminary permits to farmers to build facilities to cultivate medicinal cannabis, according to a Jerusalem Post report. If the farmers receive the additional permits necessary to begin construction, the number of medical cannabis growers in Israel would rise significantly as there are currently only eight licensed producers growing crops for Israeli patients.

The approvals come after the farmers petitioned a court in January to begin the licensing process after the government passed a resolution in June 2016 to expand the number of approved medical cannabis growers. The farmers had been waiting on government officials to perform site checks necessary for permitting – which didn’t happen and forced the court action.

Hagit Weinstock, the farmers’ attorney, said the approvals will help patients better access medicinal cannabis and support government plans to export medical cannabis products; although she was “troubled” that the matter had to be handled in court.

According to a statement from the ministry’s Medical Cannabis Unit, the delays were caused by a lack of resources for the Israeli Police who are tasked with performing the site checks.

“The approval is not a license to work in the field of cannabis but is a preliminary approval – an approval for the planning and construction of the farm and preparation for quality checks, without authorization for [having possession of] the drug,” the ministry said in the report.

Farmers who are given further approval will need to obtain a special license to handle cannabis through the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.

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Inside of a cannabis cultivation site in Washington state.

AG Jeff Sessions Indicates No Plan to Scrap Cole Memo

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told reporters on Wednesday that he may maintain cannabis industry guidelines set in place by the Obama Administration for the federal tolerance of state-legal cannabis markets, according to a MassRoots.com report by Tom Angell.

Mr. Sessions recently said that he would be reviewing the Cole Memo of 2013, but now it appears he may leave it in place — with a few possible adjustments.

“The Cole Memorandum set up some policies under President Obama’s Department of Justice about how cases should be selected in those states and what would be appropriate for federal prosecution, much of which I think is valid,” Sessions said in a question-and-answer session following a speech in Virginia.

“I may have may have some different ideas myself in addition to [the memo],” he added; however he suggested that the sudden enforcement of federal prohibition across all legalized states would be unfeasible.

“Essentially we’re not able to go into a state and pick up the work that the police and sheriffs have been doing for decades,” he said.

While these words are likely comforting for many cannabis business owners — the Cole Memo is after all just a memo, which the U.S. Attorney General absolutely has the power to scrap — it is clear that Mr. Sessions’ personal stance on cannabis remains toxic.

In today’s speech, given just moments before answering reporters’ questions, he said:

“I realize this may be an unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.”

While Mr. Sessions deserves some credit for at least recognizing the fact that cannabis is less harmful than heroin, one could wonder why he classifies it as only “slightly less awful” when there remain zero recorded deaths attributed to its use. Meanwhile, alcohol — a fully legal substance — claims more American lives than heroin and prescription drug overdoses combined.

The attorney general did address the difference between medical and recreational marijuana, acknowledging, “it’s possible that some dosages can be constructed in a way that might be beneficial” — but he argued that smoking is a poor method of administering “a medicinal amount.”

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Inside of the Florida State Capitol Building.

Cannabis Decriminalization Bills Filed in Fla.

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Bills have been filed in both houses of Florida’s legislature that would decriminalize up to 1 ounce of cannabis and possession of paraphernalia, according to a News 13 report. Individuals convicted of low-level possession would be subject to a $100 fine – or 15 hours of community service if the individual is unable to pay. Individuals under 18 would be subject to 15 hours of community service, a drug awareness education program, or both.

Under current law, low-level cannabis convictions in Florida can result in up to one year in jail or $1,000 in fines. The new proposals (HB.1403, SB.1662) would consider cannabis convictions non-criminal violations, meaning the charges would not be recorded as criminal offenses. The measures also prohibit municipalities from criminalizing such violations and bars denial of financial aid, public housing, or public assistance for those convicted of low-level cannabis possession.

According to the report, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Tampa, and Port Richey are considering their own decriminalization measures; as are Volusia, Osceola, and Flagler counties.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 39,706 people were arrested for low-level cannabis possession last year in the state.

The House version of the legislation is in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, while the Senate Version has been referred to the Criminal Justice, Judiciary, and Rules committees.

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President Barack Obama, the 44th U.S. president.

Federal Cannabis Sentences Declined Sharply Under Obama Administration

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During the last five years of the Obama Administration, sentences for federal cannabis crimes plummeted, according to statistics from the U.S. Sentencing Commission outlined by the Washington Post. In 2011-2012 about 7,000 people received federal sentences for cannabis crimes – by 2016 that number was almost halved, to 3,534. Of those, 3,398 were for trafficking cannabis. The other 122 sentenced were for simple possession; however some of those offenders might have pleaded down from a more serious crime.

The number of convictions drops sharply in 2013, the same year that the Justice Department issued the Cole Memo, and one year after Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize adult cannabis use. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated that the Cole Memo – which directed state attorneys general to allow states to operate their legal cannabis markets without federal interference – is under review. More recently, the Trump Administration forced all of the state attorneys general holdovers from the previous administration to resign.

The report does not include the number of people sentenced for low-level cannabis crimes under state and locals laws – more than 500,000 people in 2015 according to the Post report. Comparatively, in 2015 about 3,500 people were sentenced for federal cannabis crimes.

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The trichome-rich cola inside of a Washington indoor grow site.

Class-Action Lawsuits Filed in Canada Over Tainted Products from Licensed Producers

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A third class-action lawsuit has been filed in Canada over tainted medical cannabis sold by Mettrum Ltd., the Globe and Mail reports. The lawsuits stem from patients consuming products that might have contained banned pesticides which allegedly caused them to fall ill.

The new suit is filed on behalf of a Nova Scotia man who claims he became violently ill after consuming medical cannabis purchased from Mettrum, which is federally licensed to sell cannabis products in Canada. The suit follows two others that name Mettrum and OrganiGram Inc. as defendants, which also claims that plaintiffs became ill after smoking tainted medical cannabis products.

In those cases, which involve military veterans, the claimants allege that they experienced a variety of symptoms, including trouble breathing, painful rashes, abdominal pain, and nausea and vomiting, which forced many to seek emergency medical attention.

Scott Wood, a former military policeman who says he was exposed to the tainted products but has not joined the lawsuits, is leading an independent investigation into the potentially tainted products and has obtained evidence from about 100 people who fell ill after consuming the products.

“These symptoms didn’t come out of nowhere. They have to be caused by something,” he said in the report. “How would Health Canada explain so many people with eating [dysfunctions] all of a sudden, who can’t eat?”

Health Canada determined that recalled products were “not likely to cause any adverse health consequences” but has not commented on the proposed lawsuits.

All three suits are seeking court certification before moving forward.

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MedBox Officers Charged with Fraud by SEC

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Cannabis vending machine company MedBox have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors by creating a shell company to report “bogus” sales, according to the complaint, filed Mar. 11 in the U.S. Central District Court of California.

The SEC alleges that Medbox founder Vincent Mehdizadeh formed a shell company called New-Age Investment Consultant in 2012 and proceeded to transfer 226,000 Medbox shares he controlled to the company, drafting false documents to “paper up the transaction and create the false appearance that New-Age had paid or provided services valued at $522,000 when in truth, New-Age had paid nothing for those shares.”

Mehdizadeh then sold those shares through transactions that led the shares – which were restricted securities not eligible for public sale – to being sold in the public market. Mehdizadeh is accused of selling New-Ages remaining 50,000 Medbox shares for $1.1 million in 2014, which he funneled back through Medbox in exchange for services and equipment that never occurred and he never owned, the complaint alleges.

“Bogus revenues from these transactions, which Medbox falsely described in SEC filings as transactions with a ‘non-affiliated shareholder,’ amounted to nearly 90 [percent] of Medbox’s reported revenue in the first quarter of 2014,” the complaint says.

“As alleged in our complaint, investors were misled into believing that Medbox was a leader in the burgeoning marijuana industry when the company was just round-tripping money from illegal stock sales to boost revenue,” Michele Wein Layne, director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office said in a Fresh Toast report.  

The complaint also includes Yocelin Legaspi, Mehdizadeh’s former fiancé and New-Age CEO, and Bruce Bedrick, former MedBox CEO, who the SEC claims were both complicit in the scheme. Bedrick is accused of profiting from the scheme by selling 710,000 shares of Medbox for $6,483,180.

Subject to court approval, Mehdizadeh has agreed to pay more than $12 million in a settlement with the government and is barred from serving as a director or officer of a public company or participating in penny stock offerings.

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Inside of a licensed cultivation facility in Washington state.

Ethical Imperatives in Cannabis Advertising: How the Right Branding Can Change the World

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People tend to have a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to advertising. They think of Mad Men – a bunch of bourbon-drunk suits staggering around some forty stories in the air, ogling secretaries and trying to put a friendly face on cigarettes or napalm. Normally, concepts like “ethics” and “morality” aren’t the first things that leap to mind.

But as the new cannabis industry grows and its market matures, there is an opportunity – nay, a moral imperative – in how we choose to advertise it. The face we give cannabis products and the industry as a whole has implications that extend far beyond the bottom line.

It actually might change the world.

The benefits of legal green

The Drug Policy Alliance reports that roughly 10,000 “green” jobs have been added to the Colorado workforce since they went legal. Retail clerks, edibles cooks, farmers, trimmers, reviewers, web developers, regulators, consultants, tourism agencies, and a slew of other support services have all sprung up to maintain the new industry. And states with medicinal or recreational legalization are raking in millions in taxes.

What’s more, millions of state and local dollars have been redirected from enforcing pointless marijuana policies to better uses.

According to Seattle Police Spokesman Sergeant Sean Whitcomb, legalization has allowed the SPD to shift a substantial amount of resources toward tackling the heroin epidemic, which is their “number one issue” when it comes to drugs. Low-level pot offenses have dropped by 98% among of-age smokers, and by 63% among all age groups. At the same time, youth usage hasn’t gone up, and neither have traffic fatalities.

“When we’re talking about recreational pot in Washington state, how has it changed our organization? It really hasn’t,” said Sergeant Whitcomb. “I think that’s a testament to the fact that the law has changed. The negative things that some people predicted haven’t come true. Society hasn’t fallen apart.”

Photo Credit: Rory Savatgy

How advertising can affect hearts and minds — and laws

So, where does advertising enter into all of this?

Advertising is the business of influencing perception. It’s about transforming the negativity or indifference that consumers feel toward a particular product into something better, something that makes them excited about it, or at least accepting of it.

If we can do that with cannabis, we can change the world, because awareness and acceptance is followed by legislation. We saw that in the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties, then more recently with the LGBTQ movement for equal rights.

When something becomes normal and everyday – when we realize that it is already a part of our community and that it is something that impacts the people we love – we embrace change. 

The good news is that the people are largely already on our side; the majority of Americans are either pro-legalization or are neutral on the issue. Quality advertising and branding will bring around even more.

To that end, I have three suggestions for cannabis marketers who want to broaden the appeal of their products.

Photo Credit: Jai Williams

1. Think stylish and sophisticated, not stoner

Brand your cannabis products as sophisticated lifestyle additions rather than silly drug accessories.

Think of what craft breweries have accomplished over the past twenty years, for example. They propped up a whole new industry because they didn’t just brand themselves as beer—they portrayed themselves as classy alcoholic beverages with unique identities worthy of collecting. Today microbreweries have distinction on par with wineries.

Part of this involves elevating the language. When people talk about craft beer, they don’t talk about getting wasted. They discuss IBUs and ABVs and bottle-conditioning. Do the same with marijuana. “Pot” becomes “cannabis”. “Buds” are now “flowers”. “Hits” translate into “doses”.

The stoner days of cannabis are quickly moving behind us, and the sooner they’re gone the better.

2. Emphasize the health consideration

These days people are more concerned with their health than ever. Organics foods, fitness and yoga, trading cigarettes for vaping or giving them up altogether – cannabis fits right into this paradigm.

The more we learn about marijuana, the more we realize its manifold health benefits. Work these into your brand and teach consumers that cannabis has a lot more to offer than a mere buzz.

Photo Credit: Jai Williams

3. Tell a story

All advertisers and marketers are familiar with the fact that storytelling is more important than ever when it comes to connecting to the modern consumer. But cannabis is particularly well suited for narrative building.

There’s so much history behind it all. Cultivation techniques and strains passed through the ages. Family farms. Youthful experimentation and transgression. The life lessons it has facilitated. The adventures it has fueled. The music.

We’ve had to force elements like these into campaigns for a million other products, but cannabis lends itself to them naturally. The story of cannabis is long and has implications both social and personal. Leverage it to your advantage.

Part of that story is the approaching nationwide legalization, but it won’t happen without our help. Branding and advertising cannabis in a way that makes it non-threatening, exciting, luxurious, and alluring will change public perception, and with that change so too will the laws evolve.

As we discussed above, the stakes are high. Perhaps never before has advertising had the opportunity to have such a profoundly positive and far-reaching impact on society. Who knows? It might just change the way people think about advertising too.

 

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A line of cloned cannabis plants inside of a licensed Washington grow facility.

Colo. House Passes Bill Limiting Home Grows

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Colorado’s House of Representatives has passed a bill that would impose a 16-plant limit on residential grows – part of the state’s efforts to stem the so-called grey market operating in the state, the Denver Post reports. Another bill, currently introduced in the House, creates the Grey and Black Market Marijuana Enforcement Grant Program, which would use $6 million annually from the state’s cannabis sales tax fund to help local law enforcement crackdown on illegal grows.

The 16-plant limit would apply to both individual medical and recreational growers unless their municipality passes further restrictions. Licensed caregivers would still be allowed to grow more than 16 plants; however they would have to grow additional plants in areas zoned for commercial grows.

Greenwood Village Police Chief John Jackson said that the current limit of up to 99 plants is “a massive loophole” in the state law which “attracts criminal elements.”

“Colorado voters did not envision massive, commercial-grade home-grow operations in residential areas and those who maintain that this is in some way permitted by the State Constitution are flat out wrong,” he said in the report.

The grant bill has not yet been voted on by the House, and the home-grow measure will next move to the Senate. If approved by the legislature, both would need to be signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper who has expressed his support for reigning in the state’s illicit cannabis trade.

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Farmstead at the Lycoming County–Sullivan County line, at the base of the Allegheny Plateau escarpment.

Small Pa. Cities Hopeful MMJ Industry Can Help Economic Woes

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A group of private investors, including Pittsburgh Steelers legend Franco Harris, have applied to operate a medical cannabis cultivation facility in Braddock, Pennsylvania, which Mayor John Fetterman said would allow the community “to take a giant step forward” after the loss of steel jobs in the Mon Valley, local station KDKA reports.

“It would be a real game changer here in town if we were able to secure the facility,” Fetterman said in the report.

Braddock is vying for one of the few cultivation licenses available under the state’s medical cannabis program – which divides the state into six regions. The town is located in the 11-county southwest corner where only two grower/processor and five dispensary permits are available. Last month the McKeesport planning commission supported a plan for a medical cannabis cultivation site – the town is also located in the southwest sector.

And while the medical cannabis facility would not replace the lost steel jobs, it would employ about 50 to 70 people.

“There are two licenses for southwestern Pennsylvania and I think it’s whole appropriate that two communities that need this economic shot in the arm would be the ones that got the licenses,” Fetterman said.

The Braddock Council is expected to endorse the proposal.

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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe speaking at a campaign rally.

Virginia Gov. Expected to Sign Cannabis Reform Bills

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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is expected to sign three cannabis-related bills that would allow pharmacies to produce and sell cannabis extract oils for epilepsy treatments, and eliminate a state statute that automatically suspends the driver’s license of adults convicted of low-level cannabis possession, according to a WTKR report.

Under SB.1027, “pharmaceutical processors” would be able to obtain a permit from the state Board of Pharmacy to produce CBD and THC-A cannabis oils for epilepsy treatment under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. Patients would be able to get certification to possess and use the oils from a physician.

Maggie Ellinger-Locke, legislative council for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the measure is “a far cry from an effective medical marijuana program” but “a step in the right direction.”

“Virginia will only be the second state in the nation that has this type of program, the first being Missouri,” she said in the report.

Under HB.2051 and SB.1091 a judge would be allowed to impose a driver’s license suspension for cannabis convictions, however it would no longer be mandated. Juveniles would still be subject to an automatic six-month suspension.

Ellinger-Locke said the cannabis law reforms move the state more in line with the rest of the nation.

“We are optimistic,” she said. “The polling shows that Virginians desperately want their marijuana policy changed and laws reformed in some capacity, and I think that lawmakers are starting to hear the call in Virginia as well as throughout the U.S.”

Once signed, SB.1027 would take effect immediately, while the conviction reforms would take effect July 1.

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The Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Bill Limiting MMJ Smoking Fails Again in Ark. Senate

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The Arkansas Senate has again rejected a medical cannabis smoking ban after the measure was initially defeated by the body last week, the Times Record reports. The proposal received one additional vote this time around but the end result was the same.

Republican state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson said the voter-approved medical cannabis law includes language that prevents the Legislature from making changes to the measure, indicating that it is the responsibility of the lawmakers to respect the will of the people.

“The point is, they said we couldn’t touch it,” he said in the report.

Democratic state Sen. Linda Chesterfield pointed out that hundreds of thousands of people voted for the medical cannabis amendment and that 35 senators should not “substitute [their] will for theirs.”

Although the bill was defeated last week, the vote was expunged which allowed it to be reintroduced and voted on. Sen. Jason Rapert, the Republican sponsor of the measure, moved to expunge this vote as well, but that was rejected by the Senate. Rapert maintains that smoking should not be an allowed delivery method because children could be exposed to second-hand smoke.

“I’m asking you to protect the state of Arkansas, protect the health of the people of the state and protect our children, for goodness’ sake,” he said.

Rapert has introduced another measure to make changes to the amendment; however the bill is a shell – the information could be added later – and it’s unclear what the proposal would include beyond its purpose “to amend… the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016.”

Legislators need a two-thirds vote to make changes to the voter-approved amendment.

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North Carolina Greenlights Industrial Hemp Program

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Farmers in North Carolina can now apply to grow industrial hemp as part of a pilot program in the state, the Virginian-Pilot reports. The program allows hemp to be cultivated for both research and commerce purposed and officials hope it will help the state’s farms cope with low prices on more conventional crops.

“There has been a tremendous amount of interest in growing hemp,” Sandy Stewart, director of the Research Station for the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Resources, said in the report.

Interested farmers can apply to grow hemp with the state Industrial Hemp Commission. Officials from the Agriculture Department will test the crops to ensure they meet the standards of the federal Farm Bill and growers will have to report the precise locations of the crops using GPS technology. Farmers will report findings to the commission, such as the best soils, how well it sells, the value, and what equipment is required to process crops.

Dave Schmitt, COO of Spring Hope-based Industrial Hemp Manufacturing LLC, said that one potential customer is Volvo Truck North America in Greensboro, who could use hemp for the door panels, head liners, and other auto interior parts. Industrial Hemp Manufacturing used kenaf, a hemp cousin, to produce an absorbent material used during the cleanup of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Don Parks, manager of C.A. Perry & Son, a farm in Weeksville, said that farmers will likely embrace the crop “if it proves [economically] viable.”

“I can’t wait to see somebody try it,” he said.

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