Two bills have been introduced by Democratic Sen. Richard Madaleno Jr. in Maryland that would separately decriminalize cannabis possession and legalize adult use in the state, while setting up a taxed and regulated regime, according to a report from the Washington Times. Advocates say that proposing two bills instead of one would allow different committees to dive deeper into the technicalities of a recreational market.
“This way brings the bills before more legislators and gets them comfortable with both bills,” Kaitlyn Boecker, of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in the report.
One proposal, SB.927 which would legalize possession and set up the base of the program allowing adults 21-and-older to purchase cannabis from registered dispensaries, while SB.928, which relies on the passage of SB.927, would set up the tax structure, providing for excise taxes of $30 per ounce for cultivators and a 9 percent sales tax at the point-of-sale.
Madaleno suggests that the program would cost about $2 million to implement but could garner nearly $50 million in revenues, which would be used for schools, substance abuse treatment programs, workforce development, and impaired driving programs after the program’s costs are covered. The decriminalization proposal includes language that would allow cannabis clubs to operate in the state.
Both proposals have been moved to the Judicial Proceedings Committee, which is expected to hear the decriminalization bill on Mar. 2. The tax bill was also sent to the Budget and Taxation Committee, who are scheduled to hear the measure on Mar. 8.
Colorado legislation that would extend some of the rules for the state’s retail operators passed the Senate unanimously yesterday after passing the House 63-1 on Feb. 2, according to a report by the Denver Channel. The bill now awaits the signature of Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The measure would create a new license for medical cannabis business owners who receive profits from the medical program but are not owners of the property. The proposal would also allow medical licensees to move their operations anywhere in the state as long as they are approved in those jurisdictions. Under current law, operators can only move within a city or county. The move, if approved by the governor, would put the medical rules in line with those for the recreational sector.
Additionally, the measure would allow medical cannabis licensees to “remediate” products that test positive for microbials, rather than destroy them. According to a January 2016 report from Steep Hill Labs, while remediation is possible there is an industry-wide lack of remediation strategies. This, too, puts the medical sector rules in line with those for the recreational sector.
The fourth change would allow licensed infused-product manufacturers to buy and sell medical cannabis to and from each other.
Due to the overwhelming passage of the measure in both houses, the governor is expected to sign the bill.
According to research by Cannabiz Consumer Group, the legal cannabis industry will “canna-balize” 7.1 percent of revenues from the existing retail beer industry, and the industry would be poised to lose more than $2 billion in retail sales if cannabis were legalized nationally.
According to their CannaUse study of more than 40,000 participants, 27 percent of beer consumers indicated that they have either already substituted cannabis for beer or would substitute their retail beer purchases with cannabis if the latter were legal.
Rich Maturo, Cannabiz Consumer Group COO, said that “those at risk of losing sales to legalized cannabis can undertake a variety of actions to offset their losses,” adding that cannabis consumers use the products to “satisfy various social, medical, and experimental needs.”
“By understanding these needs, those at risk of losing sales to cannabis can try to offset some of the losses by understanding and speaking to a consumer’s needs,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there is no doubt that leakage will occur. Those companies that are gathering insights on cannabis and have the foresight to see it as presenting an opportunity in addition to a risk will fare much better than those who strictly take a defensive position.”
The group estimates that a legal cannabis market would settle at levels comparable to the beer and wine industries, projecting that a fully legal cannabis industry would create a $50 billion industry.
Due to concerns over federal crackdown on the legal cannabis industry, lawmakers in Oregon have proposed legislation that would require cannabis businesses to destroy customer information gathered for marketing purposes within 48 hours, according to an Associated Pressreport. Retaining private information, such as names, addresses and birthdates, for promotional use is illegal under Colorado’s and Alaska’s adult-use laws. It’s not illegal, although frowned upon, in Washington.
State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, a Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors, said the measure would help protect the state’s citizens from possible federal prosecution.
“I could see where the federal government would come in and try to gather this information from businesses that have stockpiled it and retained it in their records,” he said in the report.
Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli, another bill sponsor, said he was concerned about the privacy of federal employees or firearm owners if the federal government were to obtain the customer information.
“When you go to purchase a firearm, you have to fill out a background check, and there’s a specific question about marijuana use on that form,” he said. “I would hate to think that some misguided effort at the federal level to coordinate the client lists that could be confiscated in absence of this (proposal) with the firearms purchase lists.”
The measure is set for its first hearing tomorrow. It would need to be passed by the full legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown before it is effective.
Israel’s cabinet has approved the decriminalization of cannabis and an inter-ministerial team will next propose amendments and regulations required to carry out the new policy, according to Haaretz. Under the plan, first-time offenders caught using cannabis in public will be fined $271, which will be doubled on the second offense. A third offense will lead to probation, but the record would be quickly expunged; criminal charges would be pressed on the fourth offense.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that the reforms “will emphasize public information and treatment instead of criminal enforcement,” noting that Israel’s cannabis policies were reviewed due to worldwide legalization trends. The money from the fines will be used for anti-drug treatment and education. Minors caught using cannabis would only be arrested if they refused to enter a drug treatment program, Erdan said in the report.
“This is an important step, but not the end of the road. It sends a message that a million of Israelis who consume marijuana aren’t criminals,” MK Tamar Zandberg, chairwoman of the Knesset Special Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse said. “We will carry on following the details in the committee and ensure that the change is implemented.”
A special committee on the measure is expected to convene today.
Lawmakers in Missouri debated a medical cannabis bill last week which would establish a program allowing patients with painful, incurable medical conditions to use cannabis to treat pain, according to a Missourinetreport. Currently, the state only allows for the medical use of CBD.
Republican state Rep. Jim Neely, the bill’s sponsor and a physician, testified – along with healthcare professionals and patients – to cannabis’ relative safety.
“I have probably over 20,000 hours working in the emergency room,” he said during his remarks to the House Health and Mental Policy Committee. “I have never had a marijuana overdose.”
His comments were buoyed by Dr. Adrianne Poe, a neuroscientist at Washington University’s medical school pain center, who pointed to a January report by the National Academy of Sciences which found cannabis to be a safe and effective pain management tool after researching more than 10,000 human patient studies.
“The very first thing that physicians need to do is find an alternative therapy to opioids as treatment for chronic pain,” she testified, outlining Center for Disease Control guidelines on pain management. “The national academies has given us an answer on that, and the answer is cannabis.”
Opponents of the measure argued that legalizing medical cannabis would put the state at odds with federal law, and Jason Grellner, head of the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association, raised concerns about the lack of dose standardization related to medical cannabis products.
“There really is no assurance in any state that has medical marijuana, that if I go back on another day or in another medical marijuana shop, that I am getting the same drug,” he said.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said the legalizing medical cannabis would cause an “intractable dilemma” for law enforcement officers in the state because “decriminalizing marijuana would have no impact on the fact that it would remain a federal crime.”
The Legislative Research Committee estimates that the program would cost about $1 million to establish and that in the following years it would bring in a similar amount annually in tax revenues.
A similar bill was introduced in the Senate by Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf, but it hasn’t seen any action in nearly two months.
The second annual Colorado Cannabis Wedding Expo brings the most creative and classy 420-friendly wedding businesses together to fill a growing niche of brides and grooms who love to consume. The annual expo happened in Denver, Colorado on Feb. 19 but is coming to Portland, Oregon on March 24 and San Francisco on April 30.
For the bride, there’s hemp and organic cotton dresses with gorgeous leaf-embellished accessories from High Vibe Bride.
The ganja-loving groom can also show his love for the plant with a custom cannabis boutonniere by Bud and Blossoms.
It’s legal to consume in recreational states like Colorado, as weddings are private events. But be sure to consult with professionals for complete compliance.
Experts from the expo say inviting Mary Jane is as simple as the bride or groom visiting a dispensary to purchase an ounce to ‘gift’ to the party. But how much is too much?
Top Shelf Budtending provides expert budtenders to weddings and events to safely dispense and supervise consumers at the party. They say to plan for about an ounce of cannabis per 60-70 consumers – and that’s if they are heavy users.
Other unique elements for the perfect weed wedding include premium cannabis packages from the Denver dispensary, Groundswell, which are specifically created with weddings in mind.
“We offer packages for wedding parties, gift bags, and event catering that are ideal for everything from bridal suites, to bachelor parties, and we make sure everything is weighed to ensure everyone is in compliance with state law,” says the spokesperson for Groundswell.
Mary Jane Gift Boxes celebrate the lifestyle – without any actual THC. Their satin-lined gift boxes feature items with the likeness of cannabis leaves and nugs but leave out the real thing – so it’s legal to ship across the U.S.
Another gift that’s both unique and discreet comes from My Bud Vase. You may have seen one of these flower vase bongs on Miley Cyrus’s Instagram. These special vases can adorn bridal suites, as well as actual centerpieces.
Home to the Colorado wedding expo, The Falls Event Center overlooks the Rockies and is a 420-friendly venue for all types of private events. Aspen Canyon Ranch, also in Colorado, is another great alternative, as the vacation destination boasts hundreds of cannabis friendly acres, with outdoor activities and nearby springs for some extra relaxation.
Got the munchies? The expo features cannabis chefs, Cougars Cookin in Stilettos, who are happy to infuse their dishes for the private event. Experienced caterers, they recommend featuring an infused salad dressing, or their infamous infused chocolate fountain for guests to enjoy.
For some highly-enjoyable, out-of-the-box things to do, My 420 Tours has you covered. As a trusted Colorado cannabis tourism company, they offer bridal events, rehearsal dinners with cannabis pairings, and a night on the town in one of their luxury consumption buses – just to name a few ideas.
Still not sure where to start? Irie Weddings and events have planning services to get you started on your cannabis-friendly matrimony.
According to a report from Politico, Attorney General Jeff Sessions privately told some Republican senators – before his confirmation – that he won’t interfere with states allowing legal cannabis use. The report comes eight days after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said he expected “greater enforcement” of federal cannabis laws, and just days after Sessions confirmed that the Cole memo was under review, and remarked that he is “dubious about marijuana” at the National Association of Attorneys General Winter Meeting.
Colorado Sen. Corey Gardner said that since Sessions’ confirmation the administration has indicated no big policy changes concerning cannabis laws.
“Nothing at this point has changed,” he said in the report.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a favorite of states’ rights-loving libertarians, said that Sessions told him “he would have some respect for states’ right on these things.”
“And so I’ll be very unhappy if the federal government decides to go into Colorado and Washington and all of these places,” Paul said. “And that’s not … [what] my interpretation of my conversation with him was. That this wasn’t his intention.”
Yesterday a bipartisan group of senators from states with either legal adult or medical use sent a letter to the Attorney General requesting that he “uphold the [Department of Justice’s] existing policy regarding states that have implemented strong and effective regulations for recreational marijuana use and ask that the Cole Memorandum remain in place.”
“It is essential that states that have implemented any type of practical, effective marijuana policy receive immediate assurance from the DOJ that it will respect the ability of states to enforce thoughtful, sensible drug policies in ways that do not threaten the public’s health and safety,” the letter states. “This ensures that state infrastructure, including tax revenue, small businesses, and jobs, can be protected; DOJ resources can be used most effectively; and most importantly, that marijuana can be properly regulated to improve public health and safety.”
According to the report, a DOJ spokesperson said that “the department’s current policy is reflected in the 2013 Cole Memo.”
Colorado is one step closer to legalizing private social-use cannabis clubs as SB17-184 passed the Senate Business, Labor, & Technology Committee 5-2 on Wednesday. The measure would allow on-site cannabis consumption at private clubs in permitting municipalities but does not allow them to serve food or alcohol.
According to an Associated Pressreport, the proposal would allow some businesses, such as art galleries, coffee shops, yoga studios or other public spaces, to apply for on-site consumption; however cannabis products would not be able to be sold at the locations.
The measure dictates that all club members and employees are 21 or older, and that club owners are two-year residents of the state. It prohibits “open and public” cannabis use.
“We’re legal and we need a place for people to go,” Ashley Weber of Colorado NORML said in the Associated Press report. “We need social clubs.”
The measure will next be sent to the Republican-led Senate for a vote; however last fall Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper indicated opposition to Denver’s plan to allow cannabis clubs – which was approved by voters in November – and has said that a statewide law could invite federal intervention in the state.
Officials in Denver have already held several meetings to devise the rules under which the voter-approved initiative will operate in the city.
While I will still accept a joint at a party or something, I moved over to using vaporizers about three years ago. The high was a little different than burning the flower and in the end I decided I preferred it. More importantly, though, I could taste my flower so much more. It is hard to express to you how significantly different cannabis with a solid terpene profile tastes when vaped instead of burned. I have brought my vape with me to visit growers and they are astonished by the clarity of taste and say they feel like they are tasting their own weed for the first time. Moving to a vape allowed me to really experience the terpene profile of the flower and toking has become a much more enjoyable experience since getting one.
So it is with that bias towards a good vaporizer that I happily received the Airvape XS. The ultra-designed packaging looks like something you’d buy from Apple. When I first took it out of the box, the vape was very satisfying to hold. You know how sometimes something looks like it should be quality-made but then you pick it up and it feels flimsy? This is not that. As soon as I picked it up, I felt like I had an elegant race car in my hand. A well-made machine. A medical device.
I have been using a Pax 2 for the last year and have loved it. That said, as soon as the AirVape was in my hand, I realized that I probably had a new favorite vaporizer. I tossed some Sour Cheese strain in the grinder, opened the top of the vape and tapped it in. I like how the flower is inserted in the top of the device instead of the bottom so it travels a shorter path to my mouth. There is less pathway to clean and a whole lot less constriction of air flow than most other vapes out there. With the cannabis at the top, I can get a hit that feels more substantial even though I am just inhaling vapor and not full-bodied smoke. I also like that the mouthpiece is large enough that I am unlikely to set it down somewhere and lose it while packing the vape.
It is also pretty cool when the device starts up. There is a small LED screen on the front that looks snazzy and impresses everyone I show it to. I really like the digital control for the temperature being right there on the front and not somewhere that I have to dig for it, especially since I use this vape for flower, hash and concentrates. Three clicks of the button and it fires up to the temperature I specify. One of the things I was surprised that I loved about this vape was that it gives a quick little vibration when it gets to the right temperature. That way, if I am chatting and get distracted while it is heating up, it lets me know I am ready. That is really helpful too when toking while sitting at the computer. I can look away to whatever I am working on and the vape will give me a sign when I can hit.
For flower, I found that 350 degrees F was just about the right place to get a full spectrum vape hit without causing the flower to get toasty too fast. For hash and concentrates, be sure to crank it up all the way to 410 degrees F. I found that I needed to wait for the vape to get up to 410 degrees F and then wait another 15 seconds or so for the concentrate to get bubbly to get a really good hit from a concentrate. Vaped concentrates are a milder experience than dabbing but you still get the power of the dab in your hit. Also, the taste is great, as would be expected with a low-temp dab.
When enjoying kief, bubble hash, shatter or some other extracted oil, you’ll want to drop in the concentrates cup. It is a novel way to give the AirVape XS an ability to use concentrates instead of only flower. It’s true that if you are a dabber that this won’t replace your rig, but if you are leaving the house and going to a show or hiking or something where you are on the move and may be toking with friends, this will do you just fine.
As far as accessories, I also like the XS Shell that protects your vape and adds some disguise to it. The unit doesn’t scratch easily and I usually want to show it off, but I also carry it in a backpack or briefcase and everything gets banged around in my bag. It would be a real disappointment to walk all day with my stainless steel grinder rubbing against the metal vape. Better to have it in some protection.
Vape technology just keeps getting better and better and it is nice to see a vape with some original usability enhancements that the others don’t have.
TheraCann International Corporation is proposing a $20 million, 100,000-square-foot medical cannabis facility in Kingsley, Michigan that would cater to 20 licensed cultivators, create an estimated 100 new jobs, and double the downtown district’s taxable value, according to a Traverse Tickerreport. The company also proposed a 20,000-square-foot processing plant adjacent to the site.
A previous proposal called for dispensaries at the site; however that plan was scrapped after it was opposed by members of the Kingsley Downtown Development Authority. Marc McKellar, a DDA board member, said the company’s decision to drop the dispensaries convinced him to support the project, which he says has a projected taxable value of $9.5 million. Kingsley area schools could see nearly $200,000 annually in funding derived from the facility. The DDA district has a current total taxable value of $6.2 million.
“The threshold for most community support dies at the dispensary center…and that is not part of this proposal,” McKellar said in the report. “It’s a production-only facility. My house will be the closest residential property to this project, so I was a little concerned this would be literally in my backyard. But when I put on my hat as a DDA board member and began researching the law and looking at the economics of the project….my personal position has changed from opposition to cautiously optimistic.”
TheraCann CEO Chris Bolton indicated that facility construction would be “locally sourced,” and the site would create security and administrative jobs in addition to the cultivation opportunities.
Michigan officials are expected to begin issuing licenses under their reformed medical cannabis law in December.
Construction has commenced on a $6 million, 36,000-square-foot Mayflower Medicinals facility in Holliston, Massachusetts capable of producing 8,700 pounds of cannabis annually. The facility, which could earn more than $35 million per year, is a partnership between Mayflower and iAnthus Capital Holdings.
According to a press release, the space is located within an existing warehouse building and interior demolition and installation of cultivation and processing equipment has been completed. The company expects the first harvest in the third quarter of this year.
“We are excited to have broken ground on our cultivation facility and look forward to the start-up of cultivation in the second quarter of 2017 and the subsequent opening of our first two dispensaries, including one in Boston, the largest city in the state,” John Henderson, CEO of Mayflower, said in a statement.
Randy Maslow, iAnthus President, indicated that the investment firm expects to inject another $7.5 million to build out the facility and its three anticipated dispensaries in the state. He suggested that Mayflower has a “first mover advantage” as the company holds one of three Boston dispensary licenses and is one of just nine registered dispensaries approved by the Commonwealth.
“Our investment in support of Mayflower’s mission and operations positions iAnthus to realize significant cash flows once the cultivation facility and dispensaries are fully built out and Mayflower commences sales,” he said in a statement.
From Dec. 2015 to Dec. 2016 the number of registered patients in Massachusetts jumped from 22,000 to 40,000, and it is one of just two states on the East Coast to legalize adult-use cannabis.
Ganjapreneur.com is excited to announce the launch of our new domain name market, featuring some of the highest-value and most desirable domains available on the web related to cannabis. This market is intended as a business development resource for venture capital firms, startups, advertising agencies, and anyone who is starting a company in the legal cannabis industry who plans on using the internet as a central component of their marketing strategy. Our market empowers entrepreneurs in the branding phase of their company to browse and purchase available domain names that would make excellent brands for new businesses or products.
Our decision to launch this market was based in part on the success of our own usage of domain branding with the launch of Ganjapreneur.com and the execution of our own marketing strategy. Ganjapreneur’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Rosener, is also the CEO of Media Options, widely regarded as the leading international brokerage firm specializing in premium domain name acquisitions and sales. Concurrent with the new market’s launch, Rosener released the following statement:
Ganjapreneur started out as a pet project to bring together all the business and regulatory cannabis news in one place, in an objective way, for the industry. Really it was a solution to my own problem: I just wanted one place to go every day to find out what was going on. However, as Ganjapreneur grew and industry support for our project quickly became apparent, we have grown into a more multi-dimensional business with other business services and products. While objective cannabis journalism is still at the core of Ganjapreneur, and always will be, I identified a void in the industry for online business services and digital marketing intelligence. Having been involved and very successful myself in online marketing, and especially domain names, for the last 15 years, I saw an opportunity to bring my experience and expertise to other budding entrepreneurs in the industry, through Ganjapreneur.
One of those opportunities is to emphasize and educate entrepreneurs and investors about the power and importance of owning the best possible domain name for your business. In today’s World, consumer decisions are made online, even if their purchase is made in-store. Word of mouth marketing, brand recall & especially display advertising are all exponentially more effective when done in conjunction with a short, memorable and meaningful .com domain name. That concept rings even more true for the cannabis industry because mainstream advertising channels are not available to us. There is no advertising in Google or Facebook. No newspaper ads. No television ads. So magazine ads, billboards, podcasts, web banners & content marketing…these are the channels that canna-businesses are left with. This is where a catchy, resonating, easy to spell, meaningful domain name really shines!
If you read an ad in a magazine about a new product that you think would be great to sell in your dispensary, unless you are sitting at a computer when you see the ad, they had better have a great domain name, which is easy to remember, if you are going to find that product online a few hours later when you get to a computer. What was that product called again? Or, lets say you are a licensed cannabis processor desperately looking for ways to increase your yields, you are driving in your car listening to the Ganjapreneur podcast, and you hear someone talk about a new extraction technology; if that company tells you to visit them for more information at Extract.com, you better believe you will remember where to find them when you get home or to your office later! But what if their domain was SuperCriticalCO2ExtractionTechnology.com? Would you remember that when you get home? Was it technology or technologies?
All other things being equal, owning the best possible version of your brand’s or company’s domain name will have an incalculable return on investment for your company for eternity. And the value of the asset, the domain name, only goes up as the industry grows and the internet continues to become more dominant as the primary channel to reach consumers and businesses alike. When you buy traffic from an ad network, that is a sunk cost and the money is gone. There is no residual return. Whatever sales were made and revenue generated from that campaign is a one-shot deal. However, buying a top tier domain name is an investment in an asset that will continue to pay dividends for the life of your company (not to mention the nice depreciation expense you can take on the domain, just like a piece of equipment that is critical to your business) and using that domain name in your other advertising and marketing will exponentially increase the success and ROI of those campaigns with higher click through rates, higher retention rates, greater consumer trust and ultimately higher conversion rates. There have been many studies done by Microsoft & Google on the impacts of using a highly memorable domain that resonates with consumers. Needless to say, there is a reason that Facebook spent $8.5 Million to buy FB.com (hint: because 70% of internet traffic is mobile and there is no faster way to get a consumer on your website than a 2 letter .com).
Andrew Rosener has a long history in domain name investing and has aided in the acquisition of domain names for multiple Fortune 500 companies. He has also acquired numerous high-level cannabis-related domain names himself and has personally invested in several operational cannabis industry businesses. Our Chief Operating Officer, Noel Abbott, who built the Ganjapreneur website and oversees our operations, is also a domain name investor as well as a web marketing strategist. Abbott attributes much of the success of Ganjapreneur to his partnership with Rosener to utilize the domain: “Originally, I was working on a simple blog with my brother, called ‘The Ganjapreneur,'” Abbott said. “As soon as we partnered with Andrew and moved the site over to Ganjapreneur.com, the difference was striking. People were taking my calls and forwarding me to their managers all of a sudden. It was obvious the domain name played a huge factor in our ability to connect with other companies working in the cannabis industry.”
On a daily basis, Ganjapreneur provides news and business insights related to the cannabis industry. Our content reaches a professional audience of over 1 million people each month, and recent polling has indicated that 70% of our loyal subscriber base is made up of people who own operational cannabis businesses or people who are in the planning phase of a new cannabis business. As the leading online cannabis industry news resource, we feel that Ganjapreneur is exceptionally well positioned to provide this branding tool for venture capitalists and startups enabling them to launch their companies and products on premium cannabis domain names. Our domain market currently includes powerful branding opportunities such as MJ.com, SourDiesel.com, Strains.com, and many others. To browse all of our available domain names, click here. Be sure to check back regularly as we are constantly adding new names!
We also accept domain names from third party domain investors who are willing to sell their domains to interested buyers. Click here to learn about getting your domain listed in our market, but please note that we only accept domains that reflect well on the cannabis industry and that will bring value to a new startup or product launch. We can say with absolute confidence that if you own a good domain name that could become a great brand for a cannabis business, Ganjapreneur.com is the best possible place to market that domain name for sale to the cannabis industry. The people who make up our audience are the entrepreneurs, service providers, manufacturers, investors & dreamers that make up this great industry. We can’t promise that your domain will sell, but we can certainly promise that the most qualified buyers in the world for your cannabis domain name will at least know that it is for sale! For questions related to domain name acquisitions or listing multiple domains in our market, please reach out to us at domains@ganjapreneur.com.
Our market launch is sponsored by Name.com, a cannabis-friendly registrar and a global leader in domain name registrations. If you are in the planning phase of your business, visit Name.com today to reserve the ideal domain for your start-up!
eBottles.com, a leading online supplier of glass and plastic containers, announced today that it has been granted design patent D781151 by the US Patent and Trademark Office for their line of cosmetic thick wall glass jars with symmetric child resistant closures.
In remarks during a recent announcement to employees and other stakeholders, Robert Lerman, President of eBottles.com, declared that the company had been issued the design patent for their unique design which pairs child resistant closures with cosmetic thick wall glass jars.
The combination of the special neck finish tooled glass jars and smooth top child resistant closures yields a new cosmetic glass package capable of meeting the rigorous standards of the Poison Prevention Package Act with Re-securing Effectiveness per Code of Federal Regulations Title 16, Part 1700. The jar was created with the particular needs of the cannabis industry in mind.
Mr. Lerman declared that he was very proud of the team that had produced an aesthetically pleasing design for marketers who are required to package their products in child-resistant packages. “We all share a great sense of gratification from this design patent award. Many hours of hard work and dedication went into this design which is unique in our industry and which will set the standard for combining attractive packaging with effective child-resistant design.”
The new glass jars available in 5 ml and 9 ml sizes have been on the market since October 2015. The company has also recently introduced a new 15 ml 53mm size.
Responding to the needs of the cannabis industry’s expanding focus on concentrate products, the eBottles team created its new line of cosmetic thick wall jars with the particular needs of concentrate products in mind. Mr. Lerman stated: “Cannabis industry leaders told us that they were dissatisfied with the current choices for concentrate packages.” Customers were concerned about the clear styrene jewel cases being used believing that the dabbing process included a risk of scraping plastic into the product. The expensive silicone choice was also problematic as the silicone was seen as absorbing terpenes. Further, neither of these packages were child-resistant, requiring the addition of secondary child-resistant packaging, adding labor and cost.
The eBottles solution was to create economical glass jars which could satisfy the industry demands of product safety, ease of use, cosmetic appearance and most importantly a package that would maintain child resistance throughout its useful life. The insides of the jars are rounded allowing heated concentrates to pool in the middle of the jar, providing the consumer the ability to gain easy access to all of the valuable contents.
The 5 ml 28mm jar has been well received by marketers of distillates, isolates, and saps. The 5 ml jar package includes child-resistant closures lined with a foil and Mylar laminate construction designed specifically for high terpene content products. The 9 ml 38mm jar is a hit with marketers of solid THC-based concentrates such as shatter and wax. The new 15 ml 53mm jar expands the company’s offering to include a size capable of holding multiple grams of concentrates.
Brett Mouser, CEO of Mahatma Concentrates a leading manufacturer of concentrate products stated, “These new glass jars provide the quality image that mirrors the Mahatma brand. We could not be more happy with our switch from plastic to glass containers and the customer response has been overwhelmingly positive. In particular, customers love the ability to see the product through the base of the jar and we love the fact that customers can see the purity and quality of our product prior to purchase.”
eBottles.com offers high-end products from US, Asian, and European manufacturers. With multiple distribution centers in the US, eBottles ships most orders within 24 hours. eBottles’ headquarters is based in Jupiter, Florida. Distribution centers are located in Bethel, CT; Denver, CO; and Los Angeles, CA.
For more information, please contact the Customer Relations Department at eBottles.com 561-203-2779
It’s simple economics – supply and demand; as the wholesale price of cannabis falls some operators will be edged out of the space. Some will become so-called distressed assets with only three choices: declare bankruptcy (which is tricky), cut their losses, or sell.
In Colorado, wholesale cannabis prices are down 25 percent from 2016, and 73 percent from 2015, which has led to an increase in these types of assets – struggling businesses on the verge of collapse or already non-operational. However, it’s near impossible to tell how many of these assets exist due to the private nature of the industry.
Distressed asset deals create opportunities
Jason Thomas, CEO of Denver-based Avalon Realty Advisors, said he has handled more than 20 distressed asset real estate deals, and about 15 distressed asset business and license transactions in Colorado since January 2014; ranging from $180,000 short lease deals, to $2 million property sales, to $3 million business sales. Thomas explained that his firm has seen a “marginal” albeit “identifiable” increase in these assets in Colorado over the “last couple of months” from both new and long-standing operators. “Primarily the reason for these distressed sales is typically they run out of cash, or run out of patience, or both.”
“A lot of people tend to underestimate the time and cost involved for ramp up time or opening a new facility or acquiring an existing business,” he said in a phone interview with Ganjapreneur. “It’s unlike most any other industry because you’re creating a manufacture and distribution industry. People don’t understand that until they delve in.”
The distressed asset deals are “complicated,” Thomas said, for a variety of reasons; among them, the federal illegality of cannabis and the lack of defined sales prices – “but deals get done.” He called the deals “the toughest” he has ever worked on, explaining that they can take up to a year to close from the day the contract is signed. Most often, Thomas said, new market entrants have trouble qualifying for licensing or meeting the capital requirements under Colorado’s law.
Thomas said these assets, which he sees more in Denver than anywhere else, provide opportunities for both existing and new business owners, although they are not easy to find. Often, these deals require “a lot of confidentiality” and most are not publicly listed; employers don’t want their employees to know, they don’t want their competition to know. Thomas sends his listings to about 1,000 potential buyers two or three times per week.
Trimmed cannabis nugs on curing racks in a Washington grow facility. Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
Proper preparations are needed
Chris Ganan, chief strategy officer for MedMen and general partner of their Opportunity Fund, argues that distressed assets aren’t for everyone. MedMen operates in California, Nevada, New York and Canada, and Ganan estimates that the firm had completed roughly $75 million worth of transactions dealing “in some way, shape, or form” with distressed assets in the last 18 months – including the acquisition of New York licensed operator Bloomfield Industries in January.
“The only folks that I think distressed assets are suited for are groups that have three legs to the stool, so to speak: one is a key understanding of the regulatory environment today, and more importantly how that’s going to realistically evolve in the future; two you need institutional operational expertise – you need the ability to go execute cultivation, production, and retail to run those businesses…three, you need the capital,” Ganan said in an interview. “You need the institutional background and expertise in understanding the nuances of corporate structure real estate finance, private equity, and restructuring to go in and effectively transact on one of these deals.”
What’s interesting, Ganan noted, is that while the cannabis space is “an emerging, high-growth industry,” it’s very operationally intensive and tied to varying state-by-state regulations. What makes Colorado unique, Ganan contends, is the sheer number of licenses available – 2,500 for four or five million people – which limits “supply constraints from a licensing perspective” and has an impact on margin compression thus creating a highly competitive market.
“On the one hand you have a huge adjustable market that is rapidly expanding – hockey stick growth – but…it all comes back to the regulatory environment; how it affects these businesses and also the fact that marijuana as an industry is a very operationally intensive asset class,” he said. “Because of those areas, despite the fact you have such a large market that is evolving quickly, you are starting to see these distressed asset opportunities start to pop up to those that are poised to execute from a capital and operational perspective.”
As California migrates to a regulated, adult-use market, Ganan anticipates that there will be an increase in distressed assets because new capital will “flood” the market as it evolves.
“The dichotomy that exists in the marijuana space is that it’s a large market opportunity from a financial perspective, and you’re going to see a bunch of new capital in the space, but it’s an asset class that takes a high operating skillset to actually execute on and there is a lack of institutional operators in the industry right now,” he explained. “So you’re going to see the new capital that’s flooding in that has to go through a learning curve from an operational perspective – some will figure it out, those that don’t will get gobbled up…and those will be the distressed asset opportunities for those that [have the three legs of the stool].”
An indoor commercial grow op under the glow of purple LED grow lights. Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
No federal bankruptcy relief
Although Thomas and Ganan disagree on who should get into distressed operations, both concluded that due to owners being unable to file bankruptcy in federal courts, selling the asset is probably the best course of action.
Mette H. Kurth, a partner at California law firm Fox Rothschild and member of their bankruptcy and finance group, explained that while cannabis businesses cannot get relief at the federal level, there are avenues for struggling companies at the state level.
“So what the companies are doing if they need some kind of insolvency relief, they can turn to a state court receivership,” she said in a phone interview. “They have a receiver appointed over the business, not a bankruptcy trustee. That’s the distinction.”
Kurth described these receiverships as “a lender’s tool,” utilized when the creditor is seizing on assets in order to bring down the debt on the loan, or “when there is a complete management breakdown.” However, she indicated that “most receivers aren’t comfortable” getting involved in cannabis cases.
“There are a number of state court receiverships going on [in California] but I wouldn’t say it’s a large number relative to the industry because the industry is, by and large, in a growth phase,” she said. “The stories I hear have more to do with companies with a complete management breakdown…you sometimes have relatively unsophisticated, unorganized people running those businesses and they run into problems…and they end up in bankruptcy for that reason.”
She described the distressed asset cases that land on her desk as “unique,” but could understand why operators would seek to sell their failing assets before considering receiverships or shuttering the business entirely.
“It’s a growth industry and there is a lot of appetite from people interested in investing,” she said.
British health experts are urging policymakers to regulate the potency of cannabis due to concerns that high-potency products increase the risk of psychosis, according to a report from Reuters. The cohort is concerned that as legalization proliferates there are not yet enough studies on the possible risks associated with high-test products.
“Worldwide there is a trend towards liberalization and increasing consumption,” Robin Murray, a professor at King College’s London’s the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, said in the report. “More people are going to be smoking cannabis, whether we like it or not, so we want to explore whether there are safer varieties.”
Murray co-authored “Can Cannabis be Safer?” with Amir Englund, a cannabis scientist at the Institute, which appeared in the Lancet Psychiatry journal.
“It is vital, especially now that cannabis is becoming increasingly liberalized, that we explore alternative and innovative ways by which we can reduce and mitigate cannabis related harms,” Englund said, suggesting that it might be wise to increase CBD levels, which some studies show can offset possible detrimental effects of THC, such as memory loss or paranoia, without compromising some of the compound’s more pleasurable effects such as relaxation.
In the U.S. cannabis products can contain as much as 75 percent THC; and some officials in Uruguay and the Netherlands – which have either legal or extremely lax cannabis laws – have suggested capping THC content there to 15 percent.
Tantalus Labs, dubbed the “Tesla of cannabis,” has completed construction on its state-of-the-art greenhouse facility in British Columbia and could begin selling its products in Canada as early as 2018, Business Insiderreports. The company earned the nickname due to its sustainable cultivation technologies.
The facility, which took over two years to complete, relies on sunlight instead of electric lighting, incorporating other green technologies, such as a rain capture system used to irrigate the crops.
Dan Sutton, founder and managing director of Tantalus Labs, said that while cannabis grows well outdoors the industry was driven into indoor facilities so growers could hide their farms.
“It’s a lot easier to hide plants in basements and in bunkers than to cultivate it in the light, because it is federally illegal,” he said in the report.
The company worked with designers, scientists, and engineers to create and build the facility, looking to the agriculture industry for best practices.
“We take those core concepts and we iterate on them so we can provide consistency, not only in product output, but in [meeting] a pharmacological standard,” Sutton said. “Nature has done an excellent job of cultivating plants for the last billions of years. The closest we get to a natural strategy, the more effective we are.”
Zambia Home Affairs Minister Steven Kampyongo has signed a ministerial statement legalizing personal cannabis cultivation for medicinal use, according to a Lusaka Timesreport. The rules require patients to obtain a license from Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya before commencing any home grows.
Kampyongo indicated that the licenses would be subject to certain conditions and possible fees; however patients could be permitted to sell or distribute cannabis to others registered in the program if permitted by the Health Minister. Any individual caught growing cannabis without permission from the minister would still be subject to prosecution, even if they can make the claim they are growing it for medical purposes.
Under Zambian’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Home Affairs Minister may regulate illegal drugs via ministerial statement, which can be used to bypass Parliament, according to the report.
Dr. Aaron Mukakati, president of the Zambia Medical Association, had previously announced his support for legalizing medical cannabis.
“Medicinal marijuana works,” he said in a Feb. 10 interview with All Africa. “[I] am not an economist so I can’t speak intelligently on the economic benefits. The risks can be managed, legalize medicinal marijuana.”
Wisconsin is on the verge of expanding the state’s medical cannabis regime; however the proposal still does not allow products with any THC.
According to a report from the Journal Sentinel, Senate Bill 10 is set to be taken up by the Assembly on Tuesday after passing the Senate 31-1 last month. A companion bill was already passed unanimously by the Assembly Committee on Children and Families. The bill is sponsored by 35 of the state’s 99 representatives.
The measure would allow patients with any medical condition to use CBD therapies so long as they have been certified by a doctor. Patients would need to be recertified annually. Under current law, only patients suffering from seizure disorders are allowed to possess CBD products. Advocates have called Lydia’s Law, approved in 2014, too restrictive, making it difficult for families and physicians to access the program.
Similar legislation passed the Assembly two years ago but was blocked in the Senate by three Republican members.
Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Republican and one of the bill’s lead sponsors, indicated that the bill is not legalization of medical cannabis. The former police officer believes that enacting a more comprehensive medical cannabis program would lead to recreational use.
“It’ll be a while before we get to anything like medical marijuana,” he said in the report.
The measure doesn’t include provisions to cultivate or manufacture cannabis for medical products in the state, and patients will still need to make their purchases online.
During his remarks at the National Association of Attorneys General Winter Meeting, Attorney General Jeff Sessions kept up his calls to reign in the legal cannabis industry, saying he is “dubious about marijuana.”
“States can pass whatever laws they choose but I’m not sure we’re going to be a better, healthier nation if we have marijuana being sold in every corner grocery store,” he said. “I just don’t think that’s going to be good for us.”
Sessions also criticized a Washington Postcolumn published Tuesday by Sam Kamin, a University of Denver marijuana law and policy professor, who argues that the national opioid crisis is “a reason to expand access to marijuana rather than to contract it.”
“Give me a break,” Sessions said. “This is the kind of argument that has been made out there that’s almost a desperate attempt to defend the harmlessness of marijuana or even its benefits. I doubt that’s true – maybe science will prove I’m wrong… My best view is we don’t need to be legalizing marijuana.”
Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, shot back at the both Sessions and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who, last week, said he expected “greater enforcement” of federal laws. Earlier this week, Sessions said that “violence around marijuana” warranted a federal crackdown.
“It’s clear that Mr. Spicer has not engaged in the research or talked to the industry or people directly involved with direct experience,” Blumenauer said in an NBC26report. “This is not something that people have to speculate, there is actual evidence. In Oregon and Colorado, there hasn’t been any violent upheaval and public support continues to grow.”
He added that there is “no evidence” that prohibition has prevented people from consuming cannabis. Blumenauer also suggested that the administration has too much on their plate to worry about the legal cannabis industry.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on here: repeal of Obamacare, the budget dance, what’s happening with immigration, there are issues of greater urgency and intensity for the administration and most Americans,” Blumenauer explained. “But we aren’t going to allow this to get lost in the shuffle. That’s why we have the Cannabis Caucus, that’s why we are developing legislation, that’s why we are working with the industry.”
There is a lot of innate risk for entrepreneurs and business owners in the cannabis industry. Not only is it a cash-based industry, but bulk cannabis products make an ideal target for thieves. And while cannabis companies regularly utilize video monitoring technology for their grow site, manufacturing, and/or retail locations, video surveillance of cannabis inventory while it is being transported is often overlooked.
Enter Safety Vision, a company that specializes in mobile video technology and has worked for 25 years to provide quality transport surveillance.
Safety Vision’s refined mobile camera technology satisfies the constant and precise surveillance that has become necessary, whether from security concerns or in pursuing regulatory compliance, to operate safely in the cannabis industry.
“We’ve found that people in the cannabis industry are often using stationary cameras inside of their grow facilities and inside of their dispensary, but nowhere on their delivery vehicles do they have any kind of recording surveillance,” said Jamie Hawkins, Safety Vision’s Marketing Manager. “And that’s what we’ve been providing to all of the industries that we serve, from law enforcement to pupil transportation, mass transportation, trucking, towing — and now, cannabis.”
Safety Vision offers more than just cameras you mount in the company van. Safety Vision’s mobile surveillance comes with software and a host of services for the concerned cannabis courier, including the ability to schedule automatic wireless video downloads and tracking/automatic status reports for both products and vehicles.
Clients are given access to configurable alarms and notifications for specific events, such as unexpected idling, a collision, if/when a specific door on the vehicle is opened, or when a delivery is approaching its final destination. And, if at any point a client has concerns about their inventory’s safety, they have the capacity to live-view their inventory through the cameras using a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Safety Vision’s high definition cameras, which are also fully audio capable, are made available in highly customizable transport surveillance packages, ensuring clients will be confident that their inventory and courier are secure throughout their entire journey.
“It’s completely up to what they want and need for their business,” Hawkins explained. Safety Vision specialists work with their clients to make sure they are fully satisfied with their video surveillance options — which could be a setup with only a single camera on the inventory, or a whole host of cameras watching the doors, front and back windows, and even a body camera on the driver.
“The customer shouldn’t have to adapt to our systems,” Hawkins said. “We listen first to understand their exact needs, and then we recommend solutions that perfectly fit with their expectations.”
Go to SafetyVision.com/cannabis to learn more about how Safety Vision is helping to keep cannabis inventory secure throughout any and all stages of its transportation.
The creators of ‘Star Leaf,’ a sci-fi cannabis horror/comedy film released in 2015, have launched a cannabis brand of the same name on Washington’s I-502 recreational marketplace.
Starting today, March 1, Star Leaf Enterprises, LLC is offering Star Leaf-branded cannabis strains cultivated in partnership with I-502 licensee Phoenix Cannabis Company. The new products include sativa, indica, and hybrid Star Leaf strains and are currently available at the Clear Choice Cannabis location in Lakewood, Washington.
While it’s not uncommon for cannabis strains to be named after or inspired by films (i.e. Pineapple Express, Skywalker, etc.), Star Leaf’s launch is unique because the film and the cannabis products — or at least the idea behind them both — were born about the same time.
“At the end of the day, I just thought they went together,” filmmaker Richard Cranor told Ganjapreneur. “To me, weed is the poster child for a lot of things about our world that are good — and yet, for some reason, it often gets vilified,” Cranor said.
The movie, which was filmed and takes place in Washington, follows the journey of an Afghanistan War veteran who suffers from PTSD as he and others pursue an extraterrestrial cannabis strain somewhere deep in the Olympic National Forest. The movie repeatedly brings up the topic of cannabis as a PTSD treatment and has been hailed for raising awareness for the struggles faced by many U.S. war veterans.
Star Leaf cannabis is in a unique position considering its exposure and recognition among fans of the movie. Considering this, Cranor and his partners have turned away from traditional marketing strategies for their product launch, choosing instead to lead the Star Leaf launch with a series of short webisodes called ‘Star Leaf is Coming,’ which feature characters from the film reacting to the Star Leaf strain’s impending arrival on store shelves.
Italy’s Health Ministry has published its guide to medical cannabis targeted at physicians who can prescribe it and pharmacists who can sell it, according to West, a newspaper in Brussels, Belgium. The guidelines outline administration, warnings, precise dosing, possible drug interactions and side effects.
Under Italy’s program, medical cannabis is approved for patients suffering from severe conditions including chronic pain; spasms associated with pain, such as those suffering from spinal cord lesions or multiple sclerosis; patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and HIV therapies; drug-resistant glaucoma; and Tourette’s syndrome. Additionally, medical cannabis use is permitted in cases that require appetite stimulation, such as cachexia and anorexia. The guidelines allow for medical cannabis use when all other conventional treatments fail.
Nearly two years ago it was reported by the BBC that the Italian army was growing medicinal cannabis in a pharmaceutical plant in Florence hoping to help meet the national demand. Colonel Antonio Medica, who is in charge of the Florence base where the grow is located, said the project could get medical cannabis costs down to 8 euros per gram. According to the guide, the cannabis grown at the base is between 5 and 8 percent THC and 7 to 12 percent CBD.
“My mission is to produce the best-quality cannabis on an industrial scale at a low price,” Medica said in an Independentreport.
Italy legalized medical cannabis in 2013; however, the cost has remained prohibitively high at about 38 euros per gram.
Iowa’s medical cannabis law is set to expire July 1, and lawmakers have already shot down one bill this session that would have enacted a more comprehensive regime in the state; however two more pieces of medical cannabis legislation have been introduced that would prevent the sunset provisions in the current law from taking effect.
The Senate bill, introduced by Republican state Sen. Brad Zaun, would allow for in-state medical cannabis cultivation and production, and add to the list of qualifying conditions in the state. In Iowa, lawmakers have until this Friday to pass any non-funding measures or else they will be moved to the next session. However, Zaun indicated that he has been told by Senate leadership that the proposal would be duplicated as a funding bill, allowing it to be introduced and debated after the deadline, according to a report from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
The other measure, introduced in the House, would extend the current regime and would allow CBD to be reclassified as a medicinal product in the state but only if the federal government were to do so first.
Additionally, a bill that would lessen the penalties for cannabis possession cleared a Senate subcommittee yesterday. The proposal would reduce the penalties for first-time cannabis possession of 5 grams or less from a serious misdemeanor to a simple misdemeanor, reduce the possible jail time from 6 months to 30 days, and lower the associated fines from no more than $1,000 to between $65 and $625. It does not reduce the penalties for subsequent possession charges.
Both House bills would need to be voted on before Friday in order to keep them alive this session.
