Colorado Recreational Sales Top $50 Million

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Colorado’s monthly recreational marijuana sales broke the $50 million mark for the first time in June.

Data from the Colorado Department of Revenue shows that June sales also represent the state’s greatest month-to-month sales increase, bolstering previous claims that winter and summer, the state’s high seasons for tourism, would correspond with spikes in cannabis sales.

Colorado state Sen. Pat Steadman (D-Denver) noted that, with the June data, the state with the country’s first recreational marijuana market has 18 months of data to analyze.

“I think we’re going to start seeing some more predictability,” he said. “The market is becoming more and more stable. There are still new entrants to the market, new licenses being issued and people going out of business too. But from this point forward, we’ll have data that shows us clearer trends around sales volumes and tax data, and that’s important.”

Source:

http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/08/13/colorado-marijuana-taxes-recreational-sales-june-2015-50-million/39384/

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David Rheins

David Rheins: Cooperation Among Cannabis Businesses

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Marijuana Business AssociationFor decades, cannabis prohibition has resulted in secrecy and isolation among growers. When cannabis is illegal, the option of coming out in the open as a cannabis entrepreneur and working with others is not a viable choice. However, as states have passed measures for medical, and more recently, recreational cannabis markets, the industry has been forced to adapt to operating out in the open, which has presented opportunities for those who choose to work together.

David Rheins is the founder of the Marijuana Business Association, a national association of cannabis businesses which provides business intelligence, networking, and commercial opportunities to members. Today, David and show host Shango Los discuss the ways that prohibition-era growers and new entrants to the cannabis space can work together, how competition comes into play when cannabis businesses work side-by-side, the differences in how the industry has been accepted by different regions, and how many cannabis growers have decided to take their knowledge and skills to states that are about to legalize.

Listen to the podcast below, or read the full transcript!

Subscribe to the Ganjapreneur podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Google Play.


Listen to the Podcast


Read the Transcript

Shango: Hi there and welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host Shango Los. The Ganjapreneur.com podcast gives us an opportunity to speak directly to entrepreneurs, cannabis growers, product developers, and cannabis medicine researchers, all focused on making the most of cannabis normalization. As your host I do my best to bring you original cannabis industry ideas that will ignite your own entrepreneurial spark, and give you actionable information to improve your business strategy, and improve your health, and the health of cannabis patients everywhere.

Today my guest is David Rheins. David Rheins is founder of the Marijuana Business Association. A national association which provides business intelligence, professional networking, and commercial opportunity for participants in the legal cannabis industry. David also publishes the popular MJ Headline News on Facebook, MJNewsNetwork.com on the web, and Marijuana Channel 1 on YouTube. David has been a Senior Executive at Rolling Stone, SPIN, iVillage, Corbis, Time Warner, and American Online. Welcome David.

David: Welcome Shango, thank you for having me.

Shango: Glad you could make it. You know, cannabis producers have historically worked alone in the dark, and you’re taking on the idea of bringing them together into an association. What advantages can coming together in a business association offer for these folks?

David: As our old friend Hillary Clinton said, “It does take a village.” In any new industry the industry has needs to address, in terms of common standards, and viability, technology, but certainly within legal cannabis where we have a very neigh sense compliant level. The notion that any one sole provider could do it alone is pretty daunting.

The reality is that you need to be part of an industry association, so that you can one, get the business information and intelligence you need to make those decisions. Two, to build the community to get to know who the players are within your local space, and because this has been subterranean, even though you may be in close proximity, you might not know some valuable associates in your own home town. Three, you’re always looking for opportunity, which is every changing in dynamic.

Shango: Are you finding that the people who are drawn to being involved in association are more, I don’t know, I guess I’ll say new school, recreational producers, where they have come from another industry that is more familiar with doing associations. Versus, prohibition era or heritage growers who are more practiced at being in the dark, and working alone to do things. Do you find that it’s more one than the other?

David: Interesting question. The reality is that I believe many of those cottage industry, or heritage growers, had straight jobs as well, and so they were familiar with being part of a union, or participating in the Boy Scouts, or in the Farmer’s Cooperative. Indeed, many medical patients and providers have organized along collective lines, so the notion of a collective or social approach to building the industry, or business needs, is nothing new for those of us in the culture.

Certainly those folks who were in more established industries have the privilege every major American, indeed every major industry, has not only one, but multiple industry associations to address those various concerns. Some are focused on lobbying, some are focused on technology, some are focused on cultural or business issues, some are local or regional. I believe the notion of collective intelligence and associative value is something that’s pretty inherent in all of us.

Shango: I think that’s a really interesting point that you make that even though these people may self-identify as a prohibition era, or heritage grower, or whatever, artisan grower, that most of these folks had day jobs.

David: That’s correct.

Shango: Most of the folks were not full time growers, and so they both identify as the grower, but also have the work experience of somebody who’s going to work. That’s an interesting point. Let’s talk a little bit about competition, because a lot of growers compete on lots of different levels for the highest THC, to get the particular clone cut first, Cannabis Cups for sure. How does that play out at the association level when where you’re bringing these people together for a common goal, but they are natural competitors?

David: Great question. I like to call the term co-opetition. Again, I think it’s something that’s not unique to cannibis, it’s pretty common in any emerging marketplace, Indeed as a marketing discipline we’re always taught that first you have to sell the industry, and then your place within the industry. For participants in the legal cannabis industry, whether that’s medical, or commercial, or soon industrial hemp, all of them are facing not only legal challenges.

As I suggested earlier one cannot as an individual impact the legislative or law making practice, but if we organize along interest groups, if we develop cooperative organizations, if we stand together and represent the economic might of an emerging industry. Then politicians and policy makers, and business leaders, and the world world pays attention to us. I think both from the legal standpoint, but then again in terms of competition, we’re in such a young industry. That if you’re a grower, or a processor, or a dispenser, or a retailer, or even a service provider, what you’re vending the products and services that today you vend, are not going to be the same products services that you vend tomorrow.

Technology’s changing, consumer demand is manifesting, many new brands and products are coming on the marketplace. It’s less about building market share, or your own piece of the pie, and more about the fight to, what I call the normalization of the industry. Being accepted on Main Street, so that we can get bank accounts, that we can get real estate, so that we can get the kinds of financial and logistical support for our businesses. That’s a social hurdle, as much as it is a legal or technological, and social hurdles must be addressed collectively.  

Shango: It sounds like the first step is just surviving, and you’re right. Before people are necessarily, you even going to have the energy to compete with each other. Like oh my gosh, can we work together to just be allowed to use the banks?

David: That’s right. The art of that is how do we address the regulators, how can we get, here in Washington, the Liquor Control Board, and Liquor Cannabis Board now. Or how can we get the Department of Financial Institutions, or how do get the Washington Bankers’ Association to sit down with us to talk about what best policies, how to interpret the COLE Memo, how to interpret Federal Guidelines, or FinCEN restraints. To operationalize those so that it makes sense in Vancouver, in Bellingham, in Portland, in Denver, each marketplace has it’s own sensibilities, it’s own players. Only collectively, only together can we get those folks to sit down, and work through that last mile of legislation, of regulation, of operational detail.

Shango: I can imagine that some of the growers who have been working in the shadows to protect themselves during prohibition days, yeah some of them might not be used to sharing and cooperating as much. The more I heard you explain your answer I realized that there’s probably a lot of them that are just thrilled to have anybody else to play with in the same sandbox, and they’re actually really excited about associating with others, and coming together.

David: It’s so true. The way that we work at the Marijuana Business Association, my trade association, is that we structure involvement based upon your level of expertise, and where you are in that food chain. If you’re a new business, you come in as a business member. You’re there to learn, you’re there to network, you’re there to participate in the building process. If you’re a corporate, or a national sponsor, you’re a thought leader, so those folks are not marketing their products and services, as much as they are defining best practices and establishing protocols for a scalable, sustainable, viable industry.

One of the exciting things about legal cannabis is that because this was a voter initiative driven revolution, there are no existing policies in place. We get the chance to build the industry intentionally. We get to say hey let’s pay our men and women fair equal wage. Let’s have proper benefits and worker rights. Hey, let’s address things like economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, energy consumption, and being good citizens, so that together we proactively create an industry that will be more readily accepted as prohibition is unraveled, and the industry goes coast-to-coast.

Shango: Those are some very clear advantages for us to be able to kind of reinvent the wheel and start from scratch. We’re going to take a short break here and be right back. You’re listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

 

Welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host, Shango Los, and this week we are speaking with David Rheins of the Marijuana Business Association. David, before the break we were talking about the advantages and challenges of bringing together our cannabis community to work together. One of the things that you’re doing that not a lot of folks are doing is working at the national level.

We’ve got regional organizations that are focused more on local needs, but you’re really, you’re doing a lot of time on an airplane going to these different parts of the country, pulling people together, sharing our shared memory, so that everybody can get on the same page. What cultural differences have you seen when comparing these different regions, say between Washington and Colorado and Florida?

David: Thank you, there are quite a few differences. The exciting part about legalization and the way that’s unraveled, is that it is a local phenomenon. You’re talking about state geographies, even within those states, even within Washington state, the difference between western Washington, Seattle, Metro, Downtown, Indoor Grows, Cosmopolitan, and Progressive. With eastern Washington, Spokane, American grade city, Outdoor Grows, Conservative values right on the border of Idaho is distinct.

Now when you start overlaying things like Colorado versus Washington versus Oregon versus New York or Florida, cultural sensibilities are extreme. I believe on the west coast the general, and these are obviously oversimplifications, but the general culture is much more progressive and permissive. The marijuana industry, obviously medical marijuana started in California in ’96. Washington followed with its legislation in ’98. You have several decades of experience, a culturization, here on the west coast. That makes it less of a social hurdle to overcome.

Indeed, I think pot smoking in general is more permissive in Seattle than it is in Denver, for example.

In Denver, the culture of the cannabis community, against are oversimplifications, but is less activist, less cultural, and more investor, and entrepreneurially driven.

Shango: That’s interesting, so what you’re…if we gave it down to brass tacks, what you’re describing is in Seattle if you’re outside at an event, or a club, or anything, people feel pretty free to go outside and go ahead and smoke a joint on the street. Knowing that they’re probably not going to get in trouble, even though it’s actually against the law. Are you saying that folks inside the club, or whatever event, would be less likely to come out on the street in Colorado?

David: Absolutely. In fact, as an example of that, here in Seattle we did have one over exuberant cop who early on issued a number of citations for public consumption of marijuana, even though it’s only a misdemeanor infraction. He wrote on those tickets the name of the City Attorney, Pete Holmes. It made the newspapers, because Pete Holmes and the police department suspended the cop temporarily and overturned those. Indicating to everyone that public consumption of marijuana, or marijuana use was the lowest priority on the force.

In Colorado, conversely since legalization, they have written tens of thousands of infractions at significant fines. They are actively looking for people who are smoking pot on the street, tourists who buy, and targeting them for ticketing. That’s culturally not nearly, and you certainly do not have their City Attorney is not the first one at line at the Seattle, or at his pot store buying weed, as Pete Holmes did at Cannabis City. Culturally night and day.

Shango: Let’s compare a different dynamic. Instead of comparing Washington and Colorado, let’s compare a legalized state to a not-legalized state. Those of us who have had the opportunity to do medical marijuana for more than a decade, and recreational for a year or more, the amount of intellectual property know-how, and cultural comfort with normalization is astounding in legalized states compared to states where it’s not legal yet. As far as like skills sets where folks knowing how to do extraction, folks knowing how to discuss CBD, things like that. What are you seeing between the states that are fully legalized versus the states that you go to where they’re just trying to get their legislation passed?

David: That right, one could argue that nowhere are we fully legalized. The reality is that we are still battling vestiges of prohibition on the state level, and full enforcement of prohibition on the federal level, even in Washington, even in Colorado. Certainly, so there is no real normalization. I believe that the biggest victim of prohibition from a business point of view is the lack of information is the constraint on intellectual property. We are just at the beginning of sharing information about things as simple as the usages of hemp.

Hemp, obviously, the country was founded on hemp, we have many, many, many more years growing hemp in this country than we do not growing hemp. Yet, because the last 50 years we’ve not been able to grow it, there is no institutional knowledge in terms of, or no innovation in terms of how do you grow hemp, the cultivation and the science of it. Much of what we know anecdotally or what we may have discovered in the medical marijuana circles is now just being validated through traditional science. In fact, that’s one of the last crutches of the prohibitionist, is that more science and research is needed.

I believe that the level of information is scant everywhere, even in places like the west coast where it has been more than a decade of folks commercially cultivating and growing the plant. Only now with the first crack of legalization can we really drill down, and the innovation that we’re seeing in things like solvent lifts. Extracts, or growing technologies, or energy efficiencies, are just now coming out in a major way, as money and legitimacy have allowed traditional business people and scientists to now get involved.

Shango: Are you seeing when you go to these states that are still working to get their legalization legislation passed, starting from other states where it’s already bill starting this. For example, I have some friends here who when our 5052 passed, which folded in medical into our recreational system, they just pulled up stakes and they moved to Michigan. They said, “You know what? Michigan’s going to be coming online soon, and the intellectual property in my head is worth so much more in Michigan than it is in Washington now.” They’re moving, so are you seeing folks doing that?

David: I’ve seen that all over. Hot spots are places where like Illinois, where it was $100,000 for your application, or New York where it was $250,000, or Nevada where it was very expensive as well. Where big money interests have purchased, or acquired the licensing, but there is no expertise. On east coast, the early New Jersey dispensaries had trouble with their crops, because they did not have the level of grow expertise that we enjoy here on the west coast. Indeed, you’re seeing your experience, your intellectual property, particularly on these first couple of years as those industries are coming online, are very, very desirable.

You don’t have to move. You referenced Washington and the migration of medical into recreational, or commercial as I like to call it, many of those medical participants are not necessarily getting a license, but just going to work with companies who will service those markets. Their experience, and their know-how is extremely valuable.

Shango: Thanks David. We’re going to take another short break and be right back. You are listening the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

 

Shango: Welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host Shango Los. This week we are speaking with David Rheins of the Marijuana Business Association. David, a lot of the folks in the different states that have found themselves legalized are starting to move towards unionization. The cannabis workers are coming together to be able to negotiate with their employers as a group. Some folks are really in favor of that, and some folks just don’t want anybody negotiating for them at all. As somebody whose running a national association of cannabis businesses, I bet you you’re seeing a lot of this first hand. What are you seeing in the different states, and how are the businesses responding to it?

David: Businesses in the marijuana industry, in the cannabis industry are a pretty broad lot. It’s hard to characterize one prototypical grower, or processor, or dispenser, or retailer. The reality is that we are a diverse group, and just as there are folks who are pro-union, and folks who are “pro-business” in tradition industry, you’re seeing that same spectrum and diversity within cannabis. I believe most of what you’re seeing as we characterize the Green Rush, are entrepreneurial types, and so I think the natural predilection and experience is to do everything yourself. They’re being schooled as their businesses grow, as the marketplace get significant in methodologies, and tactics, and techniques for managing that organizational growth.

As you add people, as you add organization, as you add systems, the management of that becomes quite challenging. How to manage the HR function, and whether or not workers of weed should ignite or unite, is certainly a controversial one. You’ve got advocates and folks who think that’s not such a good idea.

Shango: That’s a good point about all the growing pains that our scene is going to go through as it coalesces into one thing. One of the things that I noticed a lot is you’ve got folks that consider themselves medical. People who are growing and producing products specifically for patients. Then what many call the recreational market, but you said before the break and I really liked that, you called it commercial which takes out some of the stigma of just recreational, so we’ll call it the commercial market.

Sometimes these two groups, the medical and the commercial, they don’t play together all that well. What have you seen across the country as far as the integration of the ideals and quality products of medical as it bonds itself with this new and unproven commercial market?

David: It’s a great question, it’s really at the crux of the challenge culturally within the cannabis community. Up to this point we’ve been talking about the acclimation, or the integration of cannabis community normalizing into our mainstream society. Really within the cannabis community you have some distinct segments. The medical advocate consumer, or grower, or patient, has very distinct reasons and passions for being in the industry. Most of them are very personal, they start with their personal medical condition, or someone they love, and therefore, get into in a real emotional way.

Many of the so-called commercial entrants have more economic opportunities in mind, and a cultural sympathy, if you will. What we’re finding is that initially there’s a lot of skepticism, those folks in medical, particularly because of the lack of information. Mainstream media’s doing a poor job of covering what’s going on. Mainstream business media even worse. There’s a lot of misinformation and misinformation breeds mistrust. Many of the patients or medical providers feel like the greed heads have come in and taken over the industry, that for years for they’ve fought for no money or at great personal risk, and now are being pushed aside and not being appreciated.

Many have been taught that what you find in the recreational retail stores is a sub-quality, higher priced, lesser quality product that doesn’t meet the needs of patients. There are some real concerns, and then there are misnomers. What we’re seeing actually as Colorado is now a year and half, and as Washington is just passed it’s one year anniversary of being operating retail outlets, is that there is a rationalization of pricing, so the cost is coming down. The wholesale costs are coming in line. The products are starting to evolve, so that even through the commercial or recreational stores you’re able to get CBD product, you’re able to get now topicals and other products that can be used in a medical way.

Here in Washington, and in Colorado, and in Oregon, they’re moving towards the notion of greater education, so that there will be channel over-the-counter, if you will. I believe that medical marijuana will be integrated into the medical system that we have here, our healthcare system in the states, and that means there will a change in product. It will have to go through the FDA. There will be testing, and there will be larger players involved, which means that that culture of the collective, the dispensary, as being the center place of medical marijuana will go away.

Shango: Let’s hope that the evolution of the medical in the commercial market happens swiftly to everyone’s benefit, both patients and commercial folks alike.

David: I think it is happening much more rapidly than we’ve thought. Two years ago when we first started the MJBA meet ops, as we were going around and meeting with all the folks who were entering the industry, and those who had been in the industry for some time. There was a great deal of skepticism that we would we would even be able to get the first stores open. That we would ever be able to get government to allow us to grow thousands of tons of cannabis, to package and sell that cannabis widely.

Now, a year later you’ve seen hundreds of millions of dollars of sales. You’ve seen a hundred million plus dollars in new tax revenues coming in, and it’s only accelerating. What you’re seeing is an industry that’s being formed pretty rapidly, and medical marijuana and the public attitudes around medical efficacy have never been stronger. Something like 80 or 90% of the public supports it. You’ve seen things around. PS, post traumatic stress disorder, being recognized that cannabis is efficacious. Things like epilepsy, where you’ve got the Sanjay Guptas and the mainstream media, the Epilepsy Foundation advocating for legal cannabis.

You’ve got mainstream politicians appearing at marijuana conventions who are advocating for medical marijuana. Medical marijuana has passed the sniff test in terms of the public recognizing that cannabis is a powerful plant that can be used for many, many things, which is the first thread in the unraveling, and the rescheduling of cannabis.

Shango: David, thank you for sharing your experience with us. From the frontlines I appreciate having you on the show.

David: Thank you Shango. I really appreciated it, and if anyone has any information, or they’d like more, please check us out at JDA.net, or MJHeadlineNews.com.

Shango: David Rheins is founder of the Marijuana Business Association. You can find the Ganjapreneur.com podcast on the Cannabis Radio website. You can subscribe to the podcast in the Apple/iTunes store, you can listen and read interview transcripts on our home website at Ganjapreneur.com. Thanks as always to Brasco for producing the show. I am your host Shango Los.

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Nevada Market for MMJ Permits Poised for Massive Expansion

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A secondary market for medical marijuana licenses is budding in Nevada.

Since the state’s governor signed a law in June allowing the transfer of such permits, companies and entrepreneurs throughout the state have been seeking to buy them up. The state has yet to put the final touches on the laws regulating the market, and the law allowing such transfers won’t take effect until October.

According to Scott Boyes, the chief executive officer of Canadian Bioceutical Corp., there are “a fair number” of companies that have already put up licenses for sale. Boyes says he is seeking to buy or partner with four or five such firms.

With the potential for recreational marijuana to be legalized in Nevada in the next few years, and the state’s generally beneficent regard for the industry, the secondary market for licenses could be extremely lucrative. One cultivation license was reportedly for sale at $4 million, and Boyes says he spoke with a company that was selling its dispensary license for $10 million.

Whether cultivation or dispensary licenses are more valuable is up for debate. If recreational marijuana is legalized, cultivation licenses will certainly go up in value. Of course, a firm that holds all three permits–cultivation, dispensary, and processing–is in the best position to make a quick sale right now.

Source:

http://www.mjbizdaily.com/lucrative-secondary-market-mmj-business-licenses-developing-nevada/

Photo Credit: Prayitno

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CEO of New York Medical Marijuana Company Confident the Program Will Succeed

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When the details of New York’s medical marijuana program were announced by the state Health Department they were met with hesitation. Dispensary locations, the scope of the program and the delivery methods were among the chief concerns as the rules were made public.

“The distribution of dispensaries around the state remains a major concern. Given the current proposed sites, there are huge areas of the state where patients will have to travel enormous distances to get medicine,” Julie Netherland, deputy state director at the Drug Policy Alliance, said when the state announced the five chosen medical marijuana producers in New York. “This is especially problematic given that many medical marijuana patients are sick and disabled and low income.”

Bloomfield Industries Inc., Columbia Care NY LLC, Empire State Health Solutions, Etain LLC and PharmaCann LLC were the five companies selected by the state to dispense the drug in New York. Those five companies are tasked with supplying the drug to patients across 62 counties and New York City’s five boroughs. However, according to information by the Health Department, the access provided by those companies will cover just 13 counties and two boroughs.

Dr. Kyle Kingsley, CEO of Empire State Health Solutions and its parent company Vireo Health, is optimistic that as the program matures more dispensary sites will be added. Kingsley was one of the architects of Minnesota’s medical marijuana program, which he says is “almost identical” to New York’s. Neither program allows the plant matter to be smoked and covers fewer medical conditions than many other laws.

Empire State Health Solutions will be manufacturing in Fulton County and dispensing in Queens and Broome, Albany and Westchester counties. Kingsley said that his organization chose Fulton County as their manufacturing site because “they embraced” Empire and worked closely with them to ensure a smooth roll out of the project. Fulton is a rural county about 60 miles northwest of Albany.

The dispensary sites were chosen by Empire in an effort to “maximize patient access,” Kingsley said.

Empire’s close working relationship with Fulton County officials and their experience in Minnesota in has Kingsley and his team confident that their sites will be patient-ready by the January, 1 target date.

“Barring grow failure, natural disaster or some other catastrophic failure…we will be ready by the first,” Kingsley said.

He is also confident that the Health Department will not shut down the program – a power vested to them in the law. Instead, Kingsley called these nascent stages “the first step in a very well-regulated medical cannabis program.”

“There will be no reason for the Department of Health to shut down this program,” Kingsley said. “If anything they are going to do the opposite and do everything they can to make this an effective and meaningful program for patients in New York.”

So far the results of Minnesota’s program have been mixed. On July, 31 the state Health Department’s Office of Medical Cannabis reported there were just 250 patients enrolled in the program with 334 doctors to serve them.

Kingsley suggests that other states with nascent medical cannabis programs, such as Louisiana and Nebraska, will look to the New York and Minnesota programs as “true medical models.”

“We see this as sort of a turning point for the cannabis industry,” he said. “New York has sort of turned the page on the industry of the past. Cannabis enthusiasts are going to have a tough time moving ahead in the industry getting licenses. It’s kind of moved to physicians, scientists and business people that are coming into the fold for real medical-model cannabis.”

Photo Credit: hjjanisch

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Rural Oregon Counties Wrestle With Marijuana Restrictions

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Rural counties in Oregon are taking advantage of a state law that allows them to limit or ban the production or sale of marijuana there.

Under House Bill 3400, Oregon counties that voted against Measure 91 (Oregon’s recreational bill) with a majority of at least 55% have the option of banning medical marijuana dispensaries, commercial grow ops and any future recreational stores.

According to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and the Oregon League of Cities, 11 cities and four counties have moved to implement limits and bans on the industry. 16 so-called “Hell no” localities currently qualify for the opportunity to opt-out of the industry, and are not required to refer such measures to voters.

Rob Bovett, legal counsel for the Association of Oregon Counties, helped craft HB 3400. He says that “counties can pick and choose what works for them… you could see some of the more agricultural areas in the state be OK with (marijuana) production, but not retail.”

“The reason for the law is to allow officials to see what fits with their communities,” he stated.

Others see the law as far more nefarious. In Grants Pass, a town of 35,000 with a longstanding medical marijuana production industry, the city council approved a measure last month requiring cannabis to be grown indoors.

The ordinance immediately drew the ire of cultivators and advocates accustomed to an outdoor grow industry. Pete Gendron, of the Oregon Sungrown Growers Guild, expects a lawsuit to be brought. “Until we win one of these cases in court… I believe [officials] will continue to attempt to ban cultivation in order to stem the supply of legal cannabis.”

Portland attorney Amy Margolis says that some of the state’s bans are understandable. “These counties have tons of outdoor out-of-control grows right now. Southern Oregon is crazy right now… people are complaining. They’re complaining they don’t know their neighbors anymore, they’re complaining about waste water, they’re complaining about people defacing mountains. Some of that is BS, and some of it is not.”

Margolis said that she thinks these rural counties will eventually realize that the industry, when properly regulated, is a net positive, and will come around after seeing the benefits brought to cities like Portland and Eugene.

“This industry’s going to thrive, and that’s because there are a lot of good, smart people working in it,” she said.

Sources:

http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/marijuana/3352768-151/rural-counties-wrestle-with-pot-rules

http://mjbizdaily.com/restrictions-recreational-marijuana-businesses-users-rising-parts-oregon/

Photo Credit: eric.surfdude

 

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ResponsibleOhio Says Legalization Proposal Headed to Ballot

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Backers of a push to legalize recreational and medical marijuana in Ohio say they’ve tallied up the required number of signatures to put their proposal on the November ballot.

The group backing the proposal, ResponsibleOhio, says it has collected more than the 29,509 signatures it needed to guarantee a vote in the upcoming election.

Its proposal is a constitutional amendment that would legalize recreational and medical marijuana sales to adults 21 years and older.

The amendment is likely to see some push back from groups that object to the designation of 10 marijuana grow sites in the proposal, which they say would spawn a monopolistic business environment that unfairly favors investors in the 10 grow sites.

Ohio lawmakers are already considering an amendment that would bar such monopolistic language from into the state’s constitution.

Ian James, executive director at ResponsibleOhio, says the campaign is prepared to defeat any opposition.

Source:

http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/responsibleohio-legal-pot-vote-is-headed-to-ballot

Photo Credit: Cannabis Pictures

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George Zimmer to Keynote at Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo in Los Angeles

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The Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo in Los Angeles (CWCBExpo in LA) is pleased to announce that the iconic founder of Men’s Wearhouse and zTailors, George Zimmer, will be its headline Keynote Speaker. Taking place September 16-18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, CWCBExpo is the premier trade show and conference for the legalized and medical marijuana industries.

As a renowned business leader, and one of the early pioneers of Conscious Capitalism’s stakeholder model, Mr. Zimmer started what would become the largest men’s tailored clothing company in America. In his role as Founder, Chairman, CEO & TV spokesperson, he guided Men’s Wearhouse with a workingman’s ethos that valued his employees and his customers equally with his shareholders, creating an enjoyable service-oriented experience.

“I value all stakeholders, not just the shareholders,” says George Zimmer.

Mr. Zimmer is once again revolutionizing the apparel industry with his new venture that was recently announced, zTailors.  Coined the “Uber of Tailoring” this new concept delivers the time-honored craft of tailoring directly to the consumer for a remarkable, and highly personalized customer experience.

“We are beyond excited to have George be our headline keynote speaker.   Who better than George to share his progressive thinking and vision on what it takes to blaze your way to the top of an industry,” said Christine Ianuzzi, Show Director, CWCBExpo and Managing Partner of Leading Edge Expositions.     

“His unique insight will help everyone attending navigate this emerging market and help move the business forward into the mainstream.”

Mr. Zimmer is also a noted philanthropist and scholar graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Economics.

He was the recipient of the Kupfer Award given by Mays Business School. He is a supporter of the research on the therapeutic use of MDMA. He also was a strong advocate of Proposition 19 in California.

“George’s progressive thinking and proven business leadership embodies what the CWCBExpo events are all about–helping those in the cannabis business succeed,” said Dan Humiston, President of International Cannabis Association (ICA) and sponsors of CWCBExpo in LA.   

Mr. Zimmer’s keynote will be part of a comprehensive conference program with the best minds in the medical, legal, financial and product development fields.   The educational program will provide unmatched insight on what is needed to succeed in this rapidly changing and growing industry including in-depth workshops on September 16th that cover:  

  • Cannabis Careers and Job Fair
  • How to Open a Cannabis Business: A Certification Workshop
  • Marijuana Investor Summit

Conference sessions on September 17th -18th, will focus on tracks that will provide the full spectrum of business success including sessions for entrepreneurs, growing and sustaining a cannabis business, insight into what’s ahead and what’s next for the industry, and direct access to thought leaders and innovators.

CWCBExpo in LA will also feature an exhibit floor (September 17th -18th) with suppliers in the industry showcasing cutting-edge products and services to marijuana producers, entrepreneurs looking to enter the market, medical professionals and dispensary owners, investors, and providers of professional services.

Discounted conference rates for advance registration, and more information for the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo in Los Angeles can be found at http://www.cwcbexpo.com/los-angeles-show/registration.asp.    For more information on sponsoring or exhibiting contact Christine Ianuzzi, Show Director at cianuzzi@leexpos.com or call 201-881-1602.


About Cannabis World Congress & Business Expositions (CWCBExpo)

The Cannabis World Congress & Business Expositions (CWCBExpo) are produced by Leading Edge Expositions in partnership with the International Cannabis Association (ICA).   The events are the leading professional forums for dispensary owners, growers, suppliers, investors, medical professionals, government regulators, legal counsel, and entrepreneurs looking to achieve business success and identify new areas of growth in this dynamic industry.  In 2015, CWCBExpo took place June 17th -19th , at the Javits Convention Center in New York, and the CWCBExpo Fall will be held September 16th -18th , at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA.  For more information on ICA visit www.internationalcannabisassociation.com.   To learn more about the CWCBExpos go to www.cwcbexpo.com.

Editor’s Note:  Qualified members of the media are invited to register as press for the CWCBExpo LA.  To request a press badge go to:

http://www.cwcbexpo.com/los-angeles-show/press-registration-form.asp

End


David Muret

David Murét: Getting a Job in the Cannabis Industry

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viridianlogoWant a job in cannabis?  David Murét of Viridian Staffing joins show host Shango Los to discuss where the jobs are in this exploding market and how you can get one. Viridian Staffing is a recruiting agency in Washington that connects employers with job-seekers in the legal cannabis industry. Companies in Washington have hired Viridian to find and place candidates in job roles ranging from entry-level to executive, in every sector and niche of the marijuana market.

In this show, David and Shango discuss what types of jobs these companies are hiring for, how cannabis jobs compare to jobs in more established industries, how cannabis growers in prohibition states can apply to job openings in legal states, and what steps an average person can take to find employment with a cannabis company.

Listen to the podcast below, or scroll down to read the transcript!

Subscribe to the Ganjapreneur podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Google Play.


Listen on the the podcast


Read the Transcript

Shango Los: Hi there and welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host, Shango Los. The Ganjapreneur.com podcast gives us an opportunity to speak directly to entrepreneurs, cannabis growers, product developers and cannabis medicine researchers, all focused on making the most of cannabis normalization. As your host, I do my best to bring you original cannabis industry ideas, that will ignite your own entrepreneurial spark and give you actionable information to improve your business strategy, and improve your health and the health of cannabis patients everywhere.

Today my guest is David Muret. David Muret is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Viridian Staffing, a staffing agency specializing in cannabis employment, with a background in public policy, information technology, finance and business development. David works with cannabis companies to identify and hire exceptional human talent. Welcome David.

David Murét: Hey Shango.

Shango Los: So glad you could join us today. This is a really hot topic because as normalization is sweeping across the United States, folks want to get involved. They’re moving from prohibition era interest in cannabis and getting straight legal employment. There’s so many high hopes. Are the jobs really starting to appear yet? How fast is the cannabis jobs’ market growing?

David Murét: Well, I’ve recently heard one person say, “Being in this industry, is a lot like trying to drink out of a fire horse.” It’s coming a lot faster than a lot of us ever expected but to answer your question, yes. We’re seeing the employment numbers rise quite rapidly especially given how many states are in play at this point. In some ways, I would say that some aspects of the employment opportunities in the industry have been overstated. Overall, the trend is certainly in the right direction and ultimately, when you incorporate all aspects of the cannabis industry including industrial harm that don’t use the medicinal side. It will be well within the billions as an industry.

Shango Los: Jeez, what kind of jobs are you finding people are hiring for? From what I’ve seen, a lot of the new recreational companies the upper executives are usually filled out by the entrepreneurs themselves and then they tend to be hiring growers from either heritage growers or medicinal growers and bringing them in the recreational. Trimmers and stuff like that. I haven’t seen a lot of executives get hired yet but I’m sure you have. What’s the array of jobs that you’re seeing people hiring for? What are they coming to you for?

David Murét: It is definitely across the board. We do see people come in to ask for trimmers, for packagers, for a lot of the stuff that you would expect that is direct cannabis related. However, there is actually been a fair amount of people looking for business partners and seed level executives. We’ve done several placements in terms of like CFOs, chief operating officers and like you suggested, a lot of the middle management say your proverbial master grower, someone who can manage people, retail locations. I think one of the things that gets lost in the coverage of the cannabis industry and people’s understanding of the cannabis industry, is that these are businesses and they’re complex businesses. There is a fair number of ancillary companies that serve the industry as well, many of which are our clients.

People will be very often surprised to find out that their skill sets are relevant to the cannabis industry, even if they have no hands on experience, with the cannabis industry prior to legalization. These companies need the same type of support as any other company does be it sales, marketing, social media, almost anyone can find a home in this industry if they’re willing to put in the time and the effort.

Shango Los: Are you finding that because these jobs are so wanted by so many that they’re being paid a little lower than they would in other industries?

David Murét: That is actually an excellent point and I’m glad you raised it. Yes, that is one of the aspects of the industry that frankly, I believe has been overblown. Yes, there is a lot of money being made by these companies. What people are not understanding quite yet is that it is very much a startup industry. It is a very highly taxed industry. Just because you’re seeing millions of profits or not profit but revenue being reported, profits are not very high. In fact, many companies even the more successful ones a lot of them are just getting by. Very few I would say, are doing really well at this point. Although, they’re poised to in the future especially as laws in taxation gets reformed in a way that helps the industry succeed.

In terms of wages, yes. Many of the people that we have placed at best can expect to make what they’re making in their traditional industry. Many of them, and having an opportunity to get their foot in the door on the ground floor of this industry, are often expected to take a temporary step down, in terms of what they’re accustomed to making or the benefits for the long term upside potential, which we do believe is there. Yeah, a lot of people, we’ve had people come to us that are interested in placements. When we review the actual particulars of the position, even if it’s a C level executive position like a CFO or a chief operating officer, we’ve had a fair number of people bolt at what a lot of these companies are willing to pay.

Shango Los: Right on. Well, a lot of the folks who are interested in working in cannabis, they’re coming over from working in cannabis during the prohibition era and this brings up a lot of questions when people are doing their first cannabis resume. Usually they’re used to not talking about their work in cannabis. It was illegal for so long and then now suddenly, they’re supposed to crow about it and really flaunt all the experience that they have. A lot of people are real hesitant to do that. What advice can you offer to folks who are creating a cannabis resume and how to blend that cannabis experience with the information that they would normally put on a resume, so that when it all comes together it looks good to the kind of folks that hire you to find people for them?

David Murét: That too is an excellent question and a testament to your understanding of where the industry is at. This was one of the biggest questions we have received early on and often to this day, so much so that my business partner actually created a blog entry on our website speaking to this exact issue. To just encapsulate what she had said, generally speaking, no matter what industry you’re looking at, it’s intelligent to have resumes that are targeted to each industry. Many of us especially this day and age, we have multiple jobs in multiple industries and depending on how we’re trying to position ourselves for the next thing, it’s smart to target that experience to what you’re looking for.

When it comes to the cannabis industry, it’s no different. We definitely advocate that people create a cannabis industry specific resume. If somebody is trying to work on the cultivation or retail side of it, absolutely you want to highlight any experience you have in the cannabis industry, even if it was prior to legalization. Many times we see people who had experience in medical marijuana, which even to this day has like a quasi illegal status. We do encourage the inclusion of that information. Another aspect of this overall question is, what state are you coming from? What state are you in? We’ve had applicants who have been doing cannabis for sometime in states where it is still very much illegal. One of the things we’ve had to deal with is that they’re understandably nervous about transmitting documents over the Internet that detail what they’ve been up to, often including photographs and stuff of that nature.

Obviously and unfortunately this day and age, you really can’t have certainty that anything you transmit over the Internet is going to be private or not going to be reviewed by a somebody at the federal level. The best we’ve been able to do with that concern is have that information sent through very high encryption to protect those people. The last thing we would want to see is somebody get in trouble for what we consider frankly to be legitimate civil disobedience in states where it is not yet recognized.

Shango Los: Right on. Right on. Well, thanks David. We need to take a short break. We will be right back. You’re listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host, Shango Los.

Shango Los: Welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, I’m your host Shango Los. With us this week is David Muret from Viridian Staffing, an employment agency specializing in cannabis employment. David, before the break, we were talking about how the cannabis industry is booming and so many people are both looking for work and other folks are getting work. That’s great. We also talked a little bit about how people should feel confident in putting their cannabis industry experience on their resume because that’s what folks are looking for. Well, they’re so many people who are looking for work in cannabis and we talked before the break about how people should expect to make a little bit less than they normally would because it’s a startup mentality. What have you see as far as working conditions go? In the prohibition era, there were a lot of poor working conditions. Lack of ergonomic spaces to work, people working in secret, what are you seeing now? Are these companies providing pleasant work environments generally speaking?

David Murét: That’s also a great question. This is one of the main reasons we got involved in this industry in the first place, is we knew if cannabis as an industry was going to succeed and get out of that prior status that it has had for so long, that companies would have to start taking things like labor law and working conditions seriously. I’m please to say we’ve seen a lot of progress on that front. Most of the newly legal companies we’ve seen have had working conditions that are comparable to other industries. We haven’t heard too much in terms of poor working conditions. You do hear the occasional complaints of sexual harassment or some of the other aspects of the pre-legal cannabis industry that are taking a while to change culturally.

Overall, the trend has been in the right direction and to the extent, the companies are still trying to understand the new paradigm and how to operate above board and legally and with respect to basic labor law and their state agencies. We’ve been able to help bring those employers up to speed.

Shango Los: I would imagine that some of what you do for these folks is actually doing a little bit of hands on HR too because I’ve toured a lot of companies at this point and I have yet to meet a dedicated HR person because these are startups and they’ve got limited payroll. A lot of the nice soft skills that you get with an HR person just aren’t there. A lot of these entrepreneurs are kind of brusque. I would imagine that they lean on you sometimes for figuring out some of these problems for them. Would I be right in that?

David Murét: Yes, absolutely, that’s one of the main things we provide. We’re always happy to answer questions over the phone or simple answers to simple questions. If we need to go into additional depth on a given topic, we’re happy to do so. We do provide human resources consulting both directly and through strategic partners in different markets. People with experience that we trust to shepherd companies through that period that you describe, before they have the resources to dedicate to full internal human resources departments. Many benefit from having an outside contractor who they can lean on when necessary.

Shango Los: One of the ways traditionally that workers’ rights have been protected in the US has been through unionizing. There are already folks unionizing in different states to protect themselves and to do group bargaining and to make sure that their work environment is safe and things like that. What are your thoughts about that? On one hand, organizing so that you can get better benefits and things like that is good and on the other hand, people who are coming from the prohibition era growing times, they don’t really want anybody bargaining for them at all. They’re very kind of independent folks. What are you seeing happening as far as unionizing goes?

David Murét: Well, yes, you’re absolutely right. You are seeing the effort to unionize many sectors of the industry. The unions in many ways being treated as strategic partners to a lot of the reform organizations that are trying to make sure that legalization takes holds in different markets. Obviously, they have a lot of political power and in different states, in different instances, they have been good strategic partners to the industry. As far as people embracing the unionization of the industry, I do know for a fact that several companies, particularly in Washington have actually embraced the union by their own choosing, without it having to have come from the workers themselves. As a company, we don’t take a position on it one way or the other. We do believe that the best thing a company could do is to pay livable wages, have good relationships with their people, create a working environment that people enjoy being in and basically create a good employer brand so that their company will attract and retain the best talent possible.

Unfortunately, again, because there are so many that are coming out of the old paradigm and not all of them have been good players historically, what’s nice is that is that the unions can put pressure on the companies that are lagging behind these standards to come into compliance with labor law working standards, avoiding things like sexual harassment. In that sense, we definitely see their participation has a positive. What I would say to and what I do say to cannabis employers that express trepidation at the idea of the unionization of the industry is that if they are a good player, they really don’t have much to fear from union participation. If anything, what the union does is make sure that companies that are trying to cut corners and maybe save money by giving short trips to their workers in terms of pay or overtime or working conditions or what not. That would actually put a good player at a strategic disadvantage. For the good player, the participation of the unions can actually be a benefit.

Shango Los: Right on. Well, David, we’re going to take another break. You’re listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. We will be right back.

Shango Los: Welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, I’m your host Shango Los. With us today is David Muret, founder and CEO of Viridian Staffing, a cannabis employment agency. David, before the break we were talking about all the folks who are wanting to get into these jobs. We were leaning into how they can go about doing this. There’s lots of ways to get into these jobs. Sometimes you just have to know somebody and your friend starts a business and so he hires you. That’s kind of easy. There’s companies like yours that are placing folks. Folks will send you their resume and have a conversation with you. Then you go out and try to help them find a job. There’s the folks that do the arduous way which often wins, where they just target their favorite cannabis companies and reach out to them. What you are seeing is working for folks? What avenues are having the most success and for people who earnestly want to do their best, what do you recommend that they try to do to get one of these very valued cannabis positions?

David Murét: Well, first let me express the limitations of what we do and give a slight correction to the description of Viridian as an employment agency. In some ways it is, yes, we do place people in the cannabis industry. We would be more accurately described as a recruiting agency for the cannabis industry.

Shango Los: I see.

David Murét: Which means that we help companies fill key positions. An employment agency typically will help job seekers find work. It’s just a matter of who you’re working for. In our case, we work on behalf of the employer. As a result as I said, we do place many people in all sectors and in all levels.

Shango Los: From the dot com era, that sounds more like what we used to think of as head hunters or executive search people.

David Murét: Exactly and that’s largely what we do.

Shango Los: I see.

David Murét: It’s mostly middle to the top of the food chain. Historically, we’re seeing more other low level positions or the entry level positions if you will, come in on board as well. Particularly, as we provide more temporary staffing services as well. Most of it has been middle management to executive head hunting direct placement. With that said, one of the headaches we have is we have met so many wonderful and deserving people in the industry or wanting to get into the industry or to advance themselves in the industry and the only opportunities we have are the ones that our clients give us. There’s always more talent than there are positions.

Shango Los: What’s the best thing that they can do to get one of these jobs? What strategy? Let’s boil it down. Let’s say that you had a friend and they said, “David, I really want to get into this thing.” You’re talking with them over dinner or something, and you’re going to distill it down to exactly what they should do. What would you tell them?

David Murét: Right. Well, first and foremost, yes. Absolutely, do apply with us. If we do find a match for you, we will be happy to set up an interview and ideally put you in front of an employer. Coming through an agency that cuts through a lot of resumes and simplifies the process for an employer, coming with that recommendation means a whole lot to employers. I would say, anyone who is very serious about getting into the industry and I say this to everyone, do not depend entirely on us or anyone. Get out there and network, network, network. What I mean by networking is join organizations both business organizations and activist organizations that are pushing the envelope on cannabis. I would particularly recommend those that are run by and for in the interest of their members, because there are a fair number of organizations if you will or companies that have sprung up, to basically capitalize on the hopes of job seekers like many of the people listening to this podcast, that aren’t necessarily the best avenues to meet people who can put them in a position.

Shango Los: Okay, we’ve got number one, network. Get out there and connect with folks. Number two, do your resume and have both your cannabis information and your regular information. Third, reach out a recruitment company like yours, so that you also have professionals working for you?

David Murét: Exactly, I would basically take every opportunity available to you. I would say one bit of caution or caveat to that suggestion. This is again true in any industry. You do not want to appear desperate or to contradict yourself. People often are refining and improving their resume. You might be doing some temporary work that indirectly in the industry that you want to include. If you’re going to post your resume up on different sites, make sure you remember where you did so. Think strategically about where you put it up because if you get too many resumes with your name floating around and especially if those resumes differ from one another, that can be a red flag to employers and agencies.

Be selective in how you put yourself out there and make sure to keep your resumes and profiles up to date, so you appear consistent and you don’t appear to be desperate.

Shango Los: Right on. That’s really good advice. It’s probably good idea to remember where you put it so that you can remember to take them down once you have a job.

David Murét: Exactly. Some people, well a lot of people will find work in the industry, some people won’t and they may not want their name or contact information directly associated with this industry, sad to say. It’s probably going to take a generation even from now, before it doesn’t become a liability for working in other industries. Which brings me to another thought which is, a lot of people do assume aliases in the industry for that reason. If you do so, do be upfront about that with employers. If you’re using an alias, it’s just so another employer in the future in another industry that may not have as much understanding or respect for our industry, doesn’t penalize you for your participation or interest in this one.

Shango Los: Right on. Well, thanks for chatting with us David. I’ve enjoyed it and hopefully, you have helped some folks get the dream job they’ve been looking for. Thanks David.

David Murét: Thank you Shango.

Shango Los: David Muret is founder and CEO of Viridian Staffing. You can find the Ganjapreneur.com podcast right here on the Cannabis Radio Network website. You can subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes store or you can listen and read the interview transcripts on our home website at Ganjapreneur.com. Thanks a bunch to Brasco for producing our show. I’m your host Shango Los.

End


State Legislatures Demand Congress Overhaul Federal Drug Laws

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The National Conference of State Legislatures, a nonpartisan organization that represents state legislatures across the country, demanded that Congress revise federal law and cede hemp and marijuana regulation powers to states.

The Conference, which met in Seattle this week, approved the following policy statement Thursday:

“[T]he National Conference of State Legislatures believes that federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act, should be amended to explicitly allow states to set their own marijuana and hemp policies without federal interference and urges the administration not to undermine state marijuana and hemp policies.”

The statement also acknowledges that “members have differing views on how to treat marijuana and hemp in their states and believes that states and localities should be able to set whatever marijuana and hemp policies work best to improve the public safety, health, and economic development of their communities.”

State Rep. Renny Cushing (D-N.H.), who sponsored the measure, said that  “voters have stimulated conversation among state legislators and state legislators in response are calling on the federal government not to be an impediment.”

“[The resolution] means the states are no longer going to be willing participants in the war on drugs,” he said.

Source:

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/08/06/state-legislatures-call-for-overhaul-of-federal-drug-laws

Photo Credit: Texas State Library and Archives Commission

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Massachusetts Groups File Petitions For Legalization Ballot Measures

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Two marijuana advocacy groups in Massachusetts filed petitions Wednesday that would put recreational marijuana legalization measures on the 2016 ballot.

The two groups’ proposals represent starkly different views on how marijuana legalization should be implemented. The proposal by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Massachusetts (CRMLA) would create a “Cannabis Control Commission” that would institute regulations and taxes. The other group, Bay State Repeal, submitted a proposal that focuses on individual liberties and would not significantly regulate or tax marijuana production and sale.

CRMLA is funded by the Marijuana Policy Project, which helped pass Colorado’s legalization program. CRMLA’s proposal would institute a 3.75% excise tax on top of the state’s 6.25% sales tax, and would permit cities and towns to impose an additional 2% local tax. Adults would be allowed to grow up to six plants for personal use, and medical marijuana dispensaries would have a head start on becoming recreational operations.

The Bay State Repeal group is purportedly run only by local activists. Its measure would not levy taxes beyond the state sales tax, and would not limit the number of plants individuals could have.

Steve Epstein, a lawyer and spokesman for Bay State Repeal, argued that CRMLA’s proposed taxation scheme, which could add up to a 12% sales tax on marijuana, would bolster the black market.

The ballot proposals will be reviewed by Attorney General Maura Healey. If approved, the groups can then begin collecting signatures from registered voters.

Source:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/08/04/two-groups-push-marijuana-legalization-measures/p0R7ubyFtegg2HiLMI9PXL/story.html

Photo Credit: Jim Bowen

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Early Bottom-Tier GOP Presidential Debate Ignores Cannabis Issue Entirely

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The debate between the bottom-tier GOP candidates who didn’t poll high enough to make FOX News’ Prime Time Trump Spectacular may not have been the biggest ratings draw tonight, but it did provide for some interesting debate and soundbites. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, promised to re-invade Iraq if elected.

Read More

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Michigan Groups Collect Signatures For Recreational Marijuana Ballot Measure

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Marijuana advocacy groups throughout Michigan are collecting signatures to let the MI Legalize campaign put a marijuana legalization measure on the November 2016 ballot.

MI Legalize and the Michigan Cannabis Coalition need to collect 252,523 signatures from registered Michigan voters by the end of 2015 in order to get the proposal on next year’s ballot.

The proposal aims to legalize marijuana for adults 21 years and older with a 10% excise tax that would raise money for education, transportation and local governments.

Jamie Goswick, the director of a group in Ottawa County, said her group has collected a couple hundred signatures so far at events Ottawa County Fair and the Coast Guard Festival.

“I just started petitioning last week and I’m happy with the reaction we have been getting, for the most part,” said Goswick. “It’s not only our job to collect signatures, but help educate those that don’t know much about marijuana. The thing I’m enjoying most about petitioning is people asking questions and I get to have a conversation with them and educate them.”

MI Legalize, which is funded by the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Initiative Committee, is not publishing the number of signatures it has collected to date.

Source:

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20150730/NEWS/150739909

Photo Credit: CedarBendDrive

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Memo Shows Justice Dept. Intentionally Misled Congress On MMJ Amendment

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An internal U.S. Justice Department memo reveals that department officials intentionally misled members of Congress about the legal ramifications of a medical marijuana amendment that was being debated in the House of Representatives, reports Tom Angell of the Marijuana Majority.

The amendment, which limits the use of federal funds to interfere with state’s medical marijuana programs, passed in May 2014 in spite of objections on the part of the Obama administration.

Shortly before the measure was voted on, Justice Department members distributed “informal talking points” that warned that the amendment “in effect, limit or possibly eliminate the Department’s ability to enforce federal law in recreational marijuana cases as well,” according to the memo.

Despite the department’s claims that the amendment would hinder its ability to enforce federal law in recreational marijuana cases, the memo, dated February 27, 2015, also outlines the department’s legal argument that it could, regardless of the amendment, continue to prosecute people for participating in state medical marijuana programs.

The memo claims that the amendment is limited to preventing the Justice Department from prosecuting states or state officials for implementing medical marijuana laws. The DEA and federal attorneys are still legally able to prosecute people who grow medical marijuana or operate dispensaries, but not state officials who license these growers and dispensaries.

Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) argued that the Justice Department is intentionally twisting Congress’s words: “This memo uses a lot of legal jargon to twist the issue but Congress was clear: Stop prosecuting medical marijuana patients and their providers. There was no confusion in Congress when we passed the amendment last year.”

Last week, Farr and fellow amendment sponsor Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) requested an internal investigation of the Justice Department with regards to continued federal interference in state medical marijuana programs.

Source:

http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2015/08/exclusive-justice-department-admits-misleading-congress-on-marijuana-vote/

Photo Credit: Phil Roeder

 

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Aeroponics and Cannabis Cultivation with ‘Tower Garden’

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Aeroponics is an established method of cannabis cultivation: traditionally, it a system whereby plants are suspended in a fixed, horizontal tube. The roots hang down where they are repeatedly sprayed with nutrient rich water. Aeroponic growing typically requires gravel or grow rocks, multiple sprayers, hoses and a host of other gardening equipment. These systems often take up a lot of space, and can be hard to maintain.

However, there is a new method for aeroponic cannabis cultivation available: Tower Garden. Tower Garden is a subsidiary of Juice Plus. This vertical aeroponic garden is expanding cannabis cultivation opportunities one garden at a time. Tower Garden is well known in the world of vegetable gardening as a way to simplify gardening, while at the same time reduce the cost of growing at home. The patented growing system recycles 100% of its water and nutrients, and uses 90% less water and space as traditional soil gardening. It can be used both indoors and outdoors.

Erika Ashbaug, a Tower Garden franchise owner in Seattle says, “I first had the idea to sell Tower Gardens when I saw how much they help people grow vegetables. I thought, ‘why couldn’t we do the same thing with cannabis?’”

“The great thing about the Tower Garden is how easy it is to use,” she explains. “Especially for people with disabilities, or mobility challenges, this could be a new way for medical marijuana patients to get their medicine.”

After planting seeds or seedlings, the user simply fills the reservoir with water and nutrients. Then, a pump on a timer pushes the water to the top of the tower, where a single sprayer releases the water into the tower. Gravity does the rest of the work, with the nutrient-rich water dripping down over the roots. Gardeners simply refill the reservoir and add more nutrients when the water is low.

Erika points out some other advantages to using the Tower Garden: larger and healthier plants, lower expenditures on water, nutrients and other growing supplies, a greater yield in smaller growing spaces and, due to rapid growth, more growing cycles in a year.

In a recent study at the University of Mississippi, the Tower Garden growing system was used to compare aeroponic gardening to conventional gardening. Tower Garden yielded 30% more veggies. The study also points out that using aeroponic gardening helps growers produce consistent chemical profiles in their plants, which is a very important factor when growing cannabis to treat specific medical conditions.

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Federal Reserve Bank Denies Marijuana Credit Union Application

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A Denver-based credit union hoping to become the first to serve the Colorado cannabis industry was denied an application for a ‘master account’ by the Federal Reserve Bank. Without such an account, the credit union cannot do business.

Approval of the Fourth Corner Credit Union’s application would have allowed Colorado’s marijuana industry to stop relying on cash transactions. Banks have refused to allow marijuana businesses to open accounts because the industry remains illegal at the federal level.

Critics have alleged that cash transactions make the industry vulnerable to fraud and other malpractices.

The Federal Reserve’s Kansas City branch had been reviewing the credit union’s application since November, and finally denied it earlier this month. Mark Mason, an attorney representing the credit union, stated that Fourth Corner has filed a lawsuit in response:

“The Fourth Corner Credit Union (TFCCU) sued the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and the National Credit Union Administration in federal court in Denver to get a fair and impartial hearing on its request for a master account… TFCCU looks forward to having this matter ruled upon by a federal judge.”

Source:

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28564680/blossoming-denver-based-marijuana-credit-union-denied-by

Photo Credit: ctj71081

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Medical Marijuana Coming Soon to Israeli Pharmacies

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Medical marijuana will soon be available in Israeli pharmacies for patients with a doctor’s prescription, according to an Israeli Health Ministry spokesperson.

In accordance with the plan to provide medical marijuana, the government also intends to train and license physicians to prescribe cannabis treatments. The Health Ministry stated that marijuana will be “prescribed and monitored by the same standards as other medications.”

Israel legalized the limited production and sale of marijuana for medical purposes in 2011. Its decision to broaden the scope of its medical marijuana program represents a step forward in the recognition internationally of marijuana’s potential to help people suffering from a variety of ailments.

Source:

http://norml.org/news/2015/07/30/israel-pharmacies-to-provide-medical-cannabis

Photo Credit: Zachi Evenor

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Seattle Hempfest to Seek Attendee Donations

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I saw the following message come across one of my hero’s Facebook pages (Vivian McPeak) so I’m passing this along. I have never been to Seattle Hempfest before, but I know it’s the largest marijuana event in America, and I only want to see it grow, not take a step backwards: Investors coming down off…

Read More

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Marijuana Marketing: Branding Buds with Buddha

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It may be no coincidence that the rise of the compassionate healthcare movement roughly corresponds to a rise in the popularity of Buddhism in this country. After all, Buddhism is a practice of compassion, and the vast majority of its practitioners are naturally going to be in support of anything that is healing and compassionate for truly sick patients.

While the cannabis community has embraced and incorporated Buddhism, at least in terms of branding, many Buddhists admit to an ambivalent relationship with marijuana. You’re not likely to catch the whiff of pot at a monastery or find people vaping before a Zen meditation. They just don’t go hand in hand. One Buddhist writer in an article for Lion’s Roar felt so stigmatized and ashamed for using cannabis that he/she resorted to an anonymous byline in an article about quitting pot.

The fifth Buddhist precept takes a clear stand on avoiding intoxicants, but just what constitutes an intoxicant can be contested.

In a LinkedIn debate about cannabis and Buddha branding Dr. Emily Earlenbaugh, co-founder and patient consultant at Mindful Cannabis Consulting says, “Cannabis is not an intoxicant, although it can be mind-altering. And it wasn’t considered an intoxicant at the time of the Buddha, so it’s hard to lump it into that category.  It has really only been conceived of as an intoxicant since the passage of anti-marijuana laws, which were created for political, rather than scientific reasons. In fact it has many documented healing properties.”

Within the Buddhist community anger, delusion or attachment may be considered no less destructive intoxicants than drugs or alcohol.

Most Buddhists don’t make judgments about recreational marijuana use, but they probably wouldn’t encourage it either. Unless sick, pot is usually seen as an obstacle to a clear mind, one of the objectives of meditation for those who practice it.

This brings up some interesting questions of ethics when using Buddha to brand bud.

Earlenbaugh says, “If you were using cannabis, instead of meditation, or in order to achieve a meditative state, that would be ill-advised on the Buddhist path. If you are using it as a medical intervention for some condition, that seems perfectly in keeping with compassionate treatment of your body.”

Some cannabis enthusiasts defend the blending of recreational bud and Buddha by citing legends about Shiva and other Vedic Hindu traditions as support. But while Buddhism may have evolved from Hinduism, there are distinct differences between the two.

Whether or not to use cannabis as a meditation tool is a personal choice. Many feel it has enhanced their practice and entire religious communities have sprung up around its use. Marijuana and meditation have a complex relationship with strong opinions both for and against its benefits.

But out of respect for an ancient religion that generally doesn’t embrace getting high, perhaps a little thought might be put into how one incorporates Buddhist terminology into branding pot products. A consulting business with the objective of helping patients make informed and mindful decisions about their healthcare gives one message. Buddha Bud probably gives another.

Photo Credit: neonow

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Chloe Villano: Founding Colorado’s Clover Leaf University

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In our latest interview, Ganjapreneur heard from Chloe Villano, a serial entrepreneur from Colorado and founder of the nation’s first state-licensed cannabis university, Clover Leaf University. Chloe’s cannabis business expertise goes well beyond that, however: she’s also a widely-recognized and acclaimed marijuana business consultant with Clover Leaf Consulting and the founder of the Cannabis Business Awards. Through her consulting, Chloe has been working around the nation to establish leading compliance measures that have been recognized throughout the U.S.

“I believe it’s not just the education itself but how you teach it that is important.”

In this interview, Chloe discusses the tragic circumstances that opened her eyes to the world of medical cannabis, the implications of legalization efforts around the country, and describes many of the classes and services offered through her unique Clover Leaf brand.

Read the full interview below:


Ganjapreneur: Hi Chloe, thanks for being with us today! So, what initially brought you to the cannabis industry?

Chloe Villano: I was living and working on the east coast when I received a call from my mother that my little brother, one of the people I loved the most in this entire world was dying of cancer. I moved back to my home state of Colorado and a friend of mine who was an ER Doctor, told me to give him cannabis. I said, “He’s only 15?” He said, “Chloe, trust me and give it to him.” This is when I began to look at the plant differently. I learned so much about the cannabis plant and how effective it could be in treating cancer. My brother unfortunately lost his fight, and I was set on finding the cure. The oldest of six children, I didn’t want to leave my mother alone so I moved back to Colorado. While I was back in Colorado, I started working with an amazing business attorney as his right hand paralegal. We started receiving a tidal wave of business during the medical marijuana boom in 2009. I was knee deep in the first legislation working with the Department of Revenue and various other agencies. We became so inundated with clients that he could no longer handle the insane volume, as the law office was also a huge title firm and he didn’t want to jeopardize his business. There were so many people in need of education and assistance, literally hundreds. Every government agency, attorneys, and soon to be business owners wanted to speak to me. Growers were coming from all over the nation to meet me to see if I could help them start a legitimate business. It was then, on the anniversary of my late brother’s birth June 28, 2010, that I started my consulting firm, Clover Leaf, LLC.

What events led to the founding of Clover Leaf University?

I founded Clover Leaf University in 2012 after holding educational classes since 2009. I had so many clients that I was navigating through this complex and highly regulated system and there were so many legalities as we transitioned. I was putting my clients in groups and holding classes to assist with paperwork, procedures, and much more. The demand was so high, and there was a lack of education, training, and information. The classes became so popular I decided to write the first real industry business compliance and training system and received full approval from the Department of Higher Education’s private occupational school board.

Give us a taste of the classes the University offers. Which courses have proven to be most popular with legalization spreading as quickly as it is?

We offer 25 Stand Alone Course Certifications and 5 Full Program Certifications including responsible vendor training, and continued legal education credits for legal professionals. We will have online classes fully launched by the end of 2015 and have applied for multiple levels of academic accreditation. The best selling classes are Compliance Regulation, Cultivation, Budtending, and Dispensary Management. We will be launching over 30 new classes soon that are detailed product development classes for growing, extraction, E-pens etc.

Has there been very much interest expressed abroad in the University’s current classes?

We are working on an international platform that is next level. I believe it’s not just the education itself but how you teach it that is important.

How has the rapid spread of legalization influenced your plan for the future?

It’s given me little time off and now I am working on a national level through State by State Educational Platforms. My consulting firm Clover Leaf Consulting (cannabisbusinessinfo.com) is setting up businesses all over the united states and we are writing educational programs for various regulatory agencies.

Could you briefly elaborate on the work your consulting firm does?

My consulting firm holds educational events, symposiums, and conferences for business owners, business professionals, and legislators.

What is your proudest moment as part of this industry?

That moment for me was the day we legalized marijuana in Colorado with the passing of Amendment 64 in November of 2012.

What has been Clover Leaf University’s biggest obstacle so far?

Switching from medicinal to social use cannabis has been a challenge for Colorado as we implement training for both medical, recreational, and dual licensed facilities. I think the Colorado legislature has done a remarkable job making the transition as smooth as possible for these businesses. A lot more work remains to be done and it’s critical that we keep the medical marijuana market intact.

What is one piece of advice you would offer to aspiring ganjapreneurs hoping to make it in the cannabis industry?

Know what you’re in for and really think about it. It is not for everyone and is extremely different than you might imagine. Mass scale regulated cultivation facilities are much different than a small grow in a closet. A regulated dispensary takes a lot of paperwork and attention to detail. Not knowing the rules can and will hurt you. If your getting into the business you need to be properly funded, ready to work hard, and may face adversity from your competition. Stay strong and believe in yourself. No one remembers anyone who gave up. Be prepared! That is something many of us did not have the time for! Don’t operate out of fear and contribute to creating a healthy industry. Greed will ruin it. There is a lot of talent, products, investments, and much more being brought to the table at this point. Make sure you keep a pure heart as there is a spiritual aspect to cannabis. Many who disrespect this component are not successful in the business. It is something that is almost hard to explain but very real.


Thanks so much for taking time to do this interview with us, Chloe, and for sharing your insights about the growth of the cannabis industry! Best of luck in all your current and future endeavors.

For more information, visit the websites of Clover Leaf University and Clover Leaf Consulting.

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New York Announces Winners of State’s Five MMJ Business Licenses

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The New York State Health Department announced Friday that it has awarded five licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana in the state.

The five organizations that received licenses plan to open four dispensaries each across the state, and are required by law to be up and running in the next six months.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo authorized the production and sale of medical marijuana in New York when he signed the Compassionate Care Act in July 2014. The Health Department’s decision to license these five organizations was based on what it stated was a “rigorous and comprehensive” review of the 43 applicants.

The licensed companies are Etain, Bloomfield Industries, PharmaCannis, and Columbia Care. Marijuana sales will be taxed at 7 percent.

The Chief Executive of Columbia Care, Nicholas Vita, said the company plans to invest “double-digit millions” in grow-ops and dispensaries. The company has already obtained approval to open a dispensary on East 14th Street in Manhattan. Spokesman Peter Kerr said the dispensary would be “pleasant, supportive and airy,” but clarified that “everything is a medical operation.”

Some have criticized the state’s licensing process as too restrictive and the overall plan too small. Julie Netherland, a deputy state director at the Drug Policy Alliance, noted that “there are huge areas of the state where patients will have to travel enormous distances to get medicine.”

State Senator Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), though, signaled that the program has room to grow: “To those who did not make the cut, stick around. New York is a very big state.”

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/01/nyregion/new-york-state-awards-5-medical-marijuana-licenses.html

Photo Credit: Jeff Turner

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Susie Gress

Susie Gress: Growing Green with Vashon Velvet

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Vashon VelvetWashington State’s legal cannabis market just celebrated its first anniversary. While there has been much debate about the merits and faults of I-502 (the initiative which created the state’s legal market),  it is undeniable that the industry has gained momentum and many recreational growers are making a name for themselves in the market.

This week, Ganjapreneur heads out to Vashon Island to meet with Vashon Velvet founder Susie Gress who runs a licensed recreational cannabis grow operation that is woman-owned and operated and uses environmentally friendly growing techniques to produce exceptional flower.

Listen to the podcast below!

Subscribe to the Ganjapreneur podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Google Play.


Listen to the Podcast


Read Transcript

Shango Los: Hi there and welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m your host, Shango Los. The Ganjapreneur.com podcast gives us an opportunity to speak directly to entrepreneurs, cannabis growers, product developers, and cannabis medicine researchers, all focused on making the most of cannabis normalization. As your host I do my best to bring you original cannabis industry ideas that will ignite your own entrepreneurial spark and give you actionable information to improve your business strategy and improve your own health and the health of cannabis patients everywhere.

Today my guest is Susie Gress. Susie Gress is founder and ownership partner in Vashon Velvet, a recreational I 502 licensed cannabis grower and processor on Vashon Island in Washington state. Susie is a serial entrepreneur, having launched a recycling collection business, as well as a marina for floating homes. She presently manages all operations at Vashon Velvet, and drives the development of exceptional cannabis products for the recreational market. Vashon Velvet is leading the way in incorporating green technology to lessen their ecological footprint and we’ll talk about that today. Welcome, Susie.

Susie Gress: Hi Shango, thanks for the sweet words.

Shango Los: So glad you could join us. To start out, knowing that our listeners are curious what your operation consists of, will you start us out by telling us a little bit about your number of plants, the kinds of lights you use, and your growing medium so people can get a picture of the Vashon Velvet operation?

Susie Gress: Sure, Shango. We’re tier one, which means we’re about 1,000 square feet of canopy. We are all hydro, which we find is not only the easiest way to grow but uses a lot less water than you would think. We use LED lights and our growing medium is grow rock, Growstones I think, it’s made out of recycled glass which is melted, air is pumped into it, and it ends up with a lava rock consistency. We recycle that. Every time we have a harvest we dump them into a barrel full of hydrogen peroxide, let them sit overnight and use them again.

Shango Los: That’s pretty great that you’re incorporating so much green technology. Was that an ideal of the company to begin with? Or do you do that more because you’re on an island you need to conserve resources so much more?

Susie Gress: It was of course both. Not just that it’s also economically more advantageous for us to grow the way we are. But we did have a dedication to growing environmentally when we started. Especially the LED lights which use, I would say, less than half of the energy that the traditional HID lights use.

Shango Los: There’s a lot of trash that’s talked around LED and you’ve got to be one of the first major grows to be incorporating LEDs. What’s your experience with them then? How do you find that they compare to high pressure sodium?

Susie Gress: We’ve been delighted. One of the things that we find with the LEDs, we did do a comparison grow before we chose LEDs just in the garage with HID, LID, and the same plants. The stem length, the internodal spacing in between leaf clusters on a plant, is much shorter using LEDs. We actually use HIDs, two of them, for our mothers because it’s hard to clone plants grown with LED, they have such short internodal length that you can’t get the root space for them.

Shango Los: I had not even considered that but you’re right. Sometimes I guess you do want it to stretch out a little bit so you can get your snip in there.

Susie Gress: Yeah, absolutely.

Shango Los: I’ve seen some photographs of your grow and those hot pink LED lights, it looks like a disco in there. In that same article I saw some ridiculous photographs of the tips of the colas, they looked like they were somewhere between all white and transparent tricomb. I think you called them hash tips. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because this is brand new having not grown with LED lights myself.

Susie Gress: Sure, Shango. It was brand new to us too. Everything’s been new to us. One of the advantages we had is not knowing a whole lot which way they wanted to grow and they had a particular kind of growing method in mind. But so far as the hash tips go, when we first saw them it was about three weeks before harvest. I would say every tenth plant had about a two inch cola at the top that was pure white, just the top two inches, no chlorophyll whatsoever. We were really worried, we thought maybe it was something we were doing wrong. We googled white tips on plants and of course there were a lot of opinions. Some people said, “You burnt your plants, you ruined them, you are too close to the light.” Other people said, “That’s pure hash oil, it’s fantastic, you’re doing the best plant ever made.”

We weren’t sure what was going on so we called Illumitex, who make our lights, they sent a plant physiologist out to do some investigation. What he came up with was that he told us, “If a plant is having stress it will start to show from the bottom up because the plant tries to preserve the growing tip. If the tip is good and the bottom of the plant is good, then that white tip isn’t a problem.” Pretty much what he said, he compared it to a fat person that once you’ve got enough energy there’s no place else to store it, it’s just stored as fat. The testing of those showed that they had about the same THC as the green part of the plant but more total cannabinoids.

Shango Los: As far as taking those unusual looking colas to market, I would think that a lot of people who had not come across this, they may question it. Do you just put those colas in with the rest of the produce? Or what do you do with those?

Susie Gress: We only sell to three stores right now because they take everything we can possibly produce. We spend a lot of time with the bud tenders, talking to them about what we’re doing and our strains, so they know a lot about our plants and they’re able to pass that on to the customers. They explain to them what’s going on with the white tips. We have customers that will wait in line until there are more hash tips that come out. That’s all they want is a plant with a hash tip in it. Sometimes we put a little star in the ones with the hash tips just so the bud tenders will know, but they’re definitely in demand.

Shango Los: Wow, that actually sounds really exciting to not only … The idea that you’re educating the bud tenders is a really great idea because people do that with other products to make sure the salespeople there at retail know what they’re doing. But traditionally there hasn’t been a lot of connection between the grower and the person who is finally reaching the consumer. I can imagine that that would create a more voracious clientele going after your flowers.

Susie Gress: Those are the people that are the interface between the customer and the product. If they don’t know what your product’s about you’re not going to have much going out the door.

Shango Los: Let’s talk about some of your strains, Susie. A lot of folks who have moved into 502, their idea was we’re going to grow as many different strains as possible because we don’t know what’s going to be cool. They didn’t want to commit to anything. But I know from you that you have chosen what looks like about a half dozen strains and you’ve committed to those after, I’m assuming, trying them out. Tell me a little bit about that. How did you go about choosing your strains? From a business point of view, what was the strategy behind that?

Susie Gress: As you remember when 502 first came out, nobody knew what was going to happen. We didn’t know who our customer base was going to be, we didn’t know who was going to buy what strain. But my guess was that the younger people who do a lot of smoking already had a supplier, either they grew their own or somebody they knew did, and that they wouldn’t be willing to pay the extra price at retail. People in my generation, I’m 63, a lot of them haven’t smoked since, say, college or high school, quit when the kids came, and wanted to start again. The universal response for them was I don’t want something so strong it rips your head off, puts you to sleep, I want something giggly. That’s what we looked for is giggly strains.

Shango Los: That’s great. Did you experiment with a lot of strains before you went and committed to these six? Do you have quite a bit of variety in those six so you’ve got a little bit of something for everybody?

Susie Gress: As you know, in 502, after you get your license you have 15 days to bring in any strain you want, clones, seeds, plants. But after that 15 days is over you can only get plant material from other licensed growers. The strategy for everybody is bring as much in as you can, as many different seeds, as many different plants. At one time I think we had 35 different mothers growing. But it wasn’t long before we realized that’s an expensive way to go. You have to have packaging for each one of those, you have to train the bud tenders in each one of those. After I would say the first big harvest we realized that Laughing Buddha, Liberty Haze, and Acapulco Gold all were from Barney’s Farm in Amsterdam and people loved them. Can’t sell it, we can’t grow enough for the demand, especially Laughing Buddha.

Shango Los: Right on. Thanks, Susie. We’re going to take a short break and be right back. You’re listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

Welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, I am your host Shango Los. With us this week is Susie Gress, the owner and operator of Vashon Velvet, a cannabis grower in Washington state. Susie, before the break, we were talking about the strains that Vashon Velvet has committed to to bring to market. A lot of times bringing the cannabis to market is made more difficult because of the regulatory structure of the state. Washington does not have a really great reputation on that so far. What is your experience then? Did you find the bureaucracy to be really foreboding and challenging? What was your experience?

Susie Gress: I think looking back the hard part was there were so many unknowns. Because it was all new to everybody, no one had done it before. There were a lot of rumors about what the county was requiring, what the liquor control board was requiring. Things seemed to change frequently. Once we finally got to the point of having our license done though, learning to actually use Biotrack, which the state requires us, and to follow the rules, I compare it to breaking a horse to a saddle. At first it’s very irritating to have to weigh all your waste and destroy a little plant in front of a camera, quarantine it for 72 hours, but after a while it becomes routine, it’s a habit, you know what to do.

For me the hard part has been more the other government agencies than the liquor control board. Right now we’re dealing with the Puget Sound Clean Air Coalition is giving us a lot of grief.

Shango Los: Can you share on what particular topic? You’re not really much of a polluter it would seem.

Susie Gress: We’re producing oxygen, yeah. Too much I guess. The problem is they don’t have any standards they want us to follow, they just think if you are producing marijuana it’s going to smell and they don’t want it to smell. They want us to put in anti-smell equipment that we don’t need because we’re not really producing any exhausting smells.

I’ll share a story with you. One of the other producers is in eastern Washington, they want her to put in a $5,000 carbon filter. They told her that she has a lot of pine terpenes. She said, “Give me a standard. How much pine terpene can I put out before I’m exceeding the limit?” They said, “We can’t tell because you’re surrounded by a pine forest and we can’t tell the difference between your terpenes and the pine forest. You’re not allowed to put them out.” That’s what we’re up against.

Shango Los: Yeah, that sounds really frustrating. I can imagine that there’s all sorts of different flavors of that because we all joke about reinventing the wheel but you are on the cutting edge of cannabis normalization. You’re probably the first person to touch a lot of these agencies and they’re freaked out because they don’t want to do it wrong. Most bureaucracies look to what has been done beforehand and, of course, this hasn’t been done beforehand. You’re probably doing a lot of educating of folks.

Susie Gress: Lucky me.

Shango Los: One of the things that everybody loves about Vashon Velvet, and why you get a lot of attention, is your awesome packaging and brand integration. For lots of producers the brand and their logos and sometimes even the name is really an afterthought. But seeing your products in the market, they’re beautiful, they’re colorful, and many of them are under glass. Can you tell us a little bit about how you came to the brand and the logo and your approach?

Susie Gress: Like so many things it started around the kitchen table with a bottle of wine. We knew we wanted a deer, my daughter and I both have deer as a spirit animal and, as you know, the deer are all over Vashon Island and all over our farm. We wanted a vintage feel. Again, as I said before, I think … I thought at the time that our customer base would be comprised of a lot of older people and we found that to be true. I wanted to bring back the nostalgia of my days of smoking pot in high school. We bought a lid, which was an old Prince Albert tobacco can lid, that was the standard for purchasing marijuana back in the day. We have a can that is modeled after a Prince Albert can. We were very lucky that my sister, who is a partner in the company, is one of the best commercial artists in Seattle. We came up with the idea and she executes.

Shango Los: You mentioned now your daughter and now your sister, this is sounding like a women-owned and operated company. Would you say that’s true?

Susie Gress: You better believe it. We also had a friend of mine from high school, who’s a CPA, decided she wanted in and she gave us a lot of guidance financially. We had a fantastic team. My daughter just graduated from college with a business degree and Chinese, but she’s stepped up and become a fabulous salesperson. Between the four of us, and then we brought in Patrick, one guy, he’s our token male. We’re a good team.

Shango Los: That sounds great. One of the things that people really like about your packaging, there’s lots of reasons, but it’s because you pack it in nitrogen. That’s new for a lot of folks. Can you explain why you pack in nitrogen?

Susie Gress: I have a chemistry background and at one time when I was in college I did a side job for Nalley Foods, where they were testing if it would preserve their chip dip better if they had a flush of nitrogen over the product, underneath the plastic seal on it. It did. The scientific testing that we did showed that it prevented it from oxidizing. We decided to steal that notion and it does seem to fill up the package nicely and keeps the bud fresh.

Shango Los: I’m assuming that’s mostly ounces. I know that you roll prerolls there too and you put them out in these gorgeous packages. Are you able to pack in nitrogen prerolls or is this mostly loose flower you’re talking about?

Susie Gress: No, it … We aren’t able to use the nitrogen for the prerolls, there isn’t enough room in there. I suppose we could try it but they seem to go pretty quick anyway, they’re not around very long.

Shango Los: You must have … Since you do so many prerolls, that seems to be thing that I see in most people’s hands is not your flower ounces but … Actually that’s probably because they’re in tall glass tubes. But people are carrying around your prerolls. You must have a lot of hands on deck to get those all filled out and into the market.

Susie Gress: I have to say they’re a pain. We take turns with who gets the short straw and who gets to make joints this week. But they are very popular so we crank them out. We do sell one gram, two gram, and three-and-a-half gram bags too, of flower. They’re, I would say, just as popular. Most of our orders run about 100 bags of each of our strains and 100 joint packages.

Shango Los: I got a two-part question on that. The first part is what drew you to have the tin? Second, it seems like everything that you deliver to the stores gets sold anyway. What caused you to want to do something above and beyond?

Susie Gress: The marketing strategy for that was whether you buy one gram, two grams, or three-and-a-half grams, they all come in similar Mylar pouches. Why would you buy a three-and-a-half gram when you can buy three of the one grams, which increases our packaging cost? We give a tin to anyone who buys the three-and-a-half gram pouch. We would sell it in the tin but people like to be able to see it first. We just send a package of tins to the bud tenders and when somebody buys a three-and-a-half gram package of bud, they get a tin. It has increased the sales of the higher gram packages.

Shango Los: It’s funny how a business strategy that works better on your side ends up being something special and that’s the magic of marketing, right?

Susie Gress: Absolutely. Make them want it.

Shango Los: Right on. Excellent, excellent. Thanks, Susie. We’re going to take a short break and be right back.

Welcome back to the ganjapreneur.com podcast, I am your host Shango Los. This week we’re talking with Susie Gress, founder of Vashon Velvet on Vashon Island in Washington state. Susie, before the break we were talking about your cannabis growing operation there on Vashon Island. I read in the papers that Vashon has been growing cannabis for generations but you’re still one of the first established legal growers on the island. Being a rural community that’s probably given you a lot of physical privacy, but what has been your reception from your neighbors and the rest of the folks that live on your island?

Susie Gress: Shango, if you Google Earth our location, you’ll see a dozen or so hoop houses within a mile. Looks suspiciously like people that are growing marijuana themselves. A lot of our neighbors are pretty familiar with marijuana. Some of them that are not marijuana growers, just families, have been extremely welcoming and very friendly. There have been a couple neighbors who weren’t so friendly. One of them was polite but wasn’t interested in talking to us. We tried to be open and forthcoming, inviting people over to see what we were doing, but she wasn’t having it. The other neighbor’s just been downright rude and antagonistic, but that’s the way it goes.

So far as the rest of the community goes, you’ve started VIMEA, Vashon Island Marijuana Entrepreneurs Association, and got it into the Chamber of Commerce, which I think is fantastic. That’s done a lot for normalizing marijuana growing as a business on the island.

Shango Los: I was thinking to myself the way good neighbors normally introduce themselves is by baking cookies and cupcakes and taking it over. But considering it’s cannabis that might seem a little bit suspicious, right?

Susie Gress: We did make the cookies and we were very careful to tell them that they were cannabis free.

Shango Los: That’s funny, that’s funny. With all of the success and being right at the beginning of normalization, I’m sure that you’re probably just excited and relieved to finally be set up and be taking product to market. As we talked on the earlier segment, you’re doing some exciting things like packaging your ounces in glass and creating these commemorative tins. What other things are you looking at that you’re excited about bringing into the market as you diversify now that you’re over the first hump of just getting your doors open?

Susie Gress: Part of 5052, which says that July of 2016, the medical dispensaries will have to either apply to be under the 502 system or close down, they directed the liquor control board to analyze whether or not we need to have more medical marijuana being grown to fill the lack when the medical places close. So far as I’m concerned all marijuana is medical but when they say medical they mean high CBD strains. We would love to be able to expand into high … We do grow some CBD strains now but we would love to be able to expand that. It’s frustrating sometimes to have a demand for your product but we’re limited in our canopy by being tier one. Like I said, we’re making all we can make.

The other thing that we’re doing to possibly expand, one of the growers on the island doesn’t have a processor license, which means she’s not allowed to sell to a retailer, she has to sell to someone who is a processor, which we are. We’re looking at a way to bring her product to market in a way that is transparent so that we let our customers know we didn’t grow it but it is a Vashon strain without a whole new labeling and packaging structure.

Shango Los: In the prior segment, you were explaining how when you first got into business you’re given this 15-day window to get your genetics. Where the state turns their back and you can bring plants in from anywhere and that’s your starting crop. Now if you’re going to be diversifying in the CBD, that sounds like that could be tricky, right? How will you go about getting CBD strains, additional ones, than the few that you’re experimenting now? How would you go about that?

Susie Gress: We had some CBD strains that we had seeds of before the 15-day window closed. We’re using those seeds right now. One of them is called Blue Dynamite that we didn’t even remember it was a CBD strain. We cracked the seed and sprouted it, it was not a very pretty bud, it didn’t look like a big producer, it took forever. We thought heck with that stuff, we’re probably never going to grow it again. But when it was tested it came out at 13% CBD, I think 5% THC, perfect combination. We’re growing that as fast as we can. We had another, a harlequin clone, that was supposedly a harlequin clone. Turned out it had 24% THC and no CBD.

Shango Los: Jeez.

Susie Gress: We renamed that. It grows like a dream. It’s now we call it King Louis.

Shango Los: I’m glad that you got some CBD, but let’s say for a second that you did want to pick up a new CBD strain on the market. How would you go about doing that? Just so people can understand the constraints you’re under.

Susie Gress: There are two ways. If there is a current license holder who has the strain that you want, we’re allowed to buy from them. Then if no one has it, someone who is in their 15-day window can bring it in and then you can buy it from them. There is a good network of growers who talk to each other. I’ve got my 15-day window if anybody has anything they need. That’s very legitimate to be able to do that.

Shango Los: Yeah, I can see that would be a great way to create a sense of community with other 502 folks that are coming in.

Susie Gress: They’re such a nice group. It’s amazing how many of them are women. There doesn’t seem to be any sense of competition, it’s more hey let’s … We’re all in this together. Everybody shares information, they share methods. It’s been very heartening.

Shango Los: It’s time for us to wrap up, Susie. Thanks so much for chatting with us.

Susie Gress: Thank you for having me, Shango.

Shango Los: Susie Gress is founder of Vashon Velvet on Vashon Island. You can find the Ganjapreneur.com podcast right here on the cannabis radio network website. You can also subscribe to the podcast in the Apple iTunes store or you can listen and read interview transcriptions on our home website at Ganjapreneur.com. Thanks so much to Brasco for producing our show. I am your host Shango Los.

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Medical Marijuana is Here to Stay: Five Reasons Why

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Medical marijuana is old news in most of the United States. As we look forward at the continuing progress of marijuana-related legislation in our country, the discussion is largely about legalizing the plant for recreational use, rather than for medical use. But despite the majority of Americans’ comfort with and recognition of the medical benefits of marijuana use, normalizing medical marijuana is still a hot topic among federal lawmakers.

Despite being legal for medical use in all but ten states, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I controlled dangerous substance by the federal government, which has slowed and even halted relevant research. But this is rapidly changing. We are currently looking at the end of medical marijuana prohibition in the United States – and here’s why.

It’s Impossible to Ignore the Success Stories

As more and more stories about patients, such as Genny Barbour of New Jersey, successfully treating their symptoms with medical cannabis products are published, it is becoming increasingly difficult for lawmakers to continue to support bans on the development of cannabis-based drugs and treatment programs.

The Rohrbacher-Farr Medical Cannabis Amendment

This amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Activities (CJS) bill essentially made it illegal for the United States Department of Justice to allocate funds to the prosecution of legal medical marijuana users and providers.

The Public Health Services Required Review for Marijuana-Related Projects is Gone

This summer, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) officially abolished its mandatory review of all marijuana-related research projects. Previously, this review period was a significant obstacle for all researchers who wanted to develop projects to study cannabis and its possible uses. Without this review in place, research can now happen faster.

Federal Medical Agencies Recognize Medical Marijuana’s Benefits

Today, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) all agree that marijuana use can have benefits for patients suffering from cancer and other diseases. This is a dramatic shift from just a few short years ago, when all of the federal agencies toed the line that cannabis does not have any valid medical uses.

The CARERS Act is Poised to Change How We Govern Medical Marijuana Use

All of this information leads to what will be the greatest act of medical marijuana reform of the decade: the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act (CARERS). This bill, sponsored by Senators Cory Booker, Rand Paul, and Kirsten Gillibrand as well as Representatives Steve Cohen and Don Young in the House of Representatives, includes the following proposals:

– Removing marijuana from the list of Schedule I substances.
– Allowing doctors working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical cannabis to patients in states that allow it.
– Giving companies working in the medical marijuana field access to secure banking.
– Allowing state-level medical marijuana programs to continue to operate without fear of federal intervention.

These proposed law changes, among the others included in the CARERS Act, will cement medical marijuana as a legally-recognized medical treatment option for thousands of patients and doctors across the United States.

Photo Credit: MarihuanayMedicina

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Oregon Governor Signs Bill Allowing Early Recreational Sales by MMJ Dispensaries

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Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill on Tuesday that will allow medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational marijuana in a limited capacity beginning in October.

The bill, SB 460, will allow adults over the age of 21 to buy up to a quarter-ounce per day, as well as marijuana seeds and up to four immature cannabis plants.

The bill’s supporters have argued that Oregon should get a jump on legal recreational marijuana sales so as to divert sales traffic from the black market. Medical marijuana dispensary owners also stated that they were anxious to get into the recreational market because of oversaturation in the medical market.

Dispensaries will not be taxed under the program until January 4th, at which point they will be taxed at a rate of 25%. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), which plans to license recreational pot shops, expects such retailers to begin opening in the second half of 2016. Many medical dispensaries are expected to seek OLCC licenses, which will allow them to sell up to an ounce at a time and a wider variety of products to customers.

The bill specifies that local governments will be allowed to enact legislation prohibiting the limited sale of recreational marijuana by dispensaries.

Sources:

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2015/07/early_marijuana_sales_bill_for.html

http://www.theweedblog.com/its-official-oregon-recreational-marijuana-sales-will-begin-october-1st/

Photo Credit: Mark

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Pot-O-Coffee Heats up the Cannabis Market by Introducing Marijuana-Infused Single-Serve Coffee, Tea and Cocoa

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Today, Equvest LLC, a California-based beverage company, announces the launch of Pot-O-Coffee, a product line of cannabis-infused beverages consisting of single-serve coffee, tea and cocoa, for multiple state distribution. Designed for new and experienced cannabis users, the Pot-O-Coffee product line consists of two variants for cannabis infusion; one infused with cannabis plant-extracted tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) oil, while the other is infused with non-psychotropic cannabidiol (CBD) derived from agricultural based Hemp Oil.

In an effort to create the first national medical and recreational consumer-friendly cannabis and CBD-infused coffee, tea and cocoa brand, Pot-O-Coffee has established consistency standards in its dose rate offerings: 10mg, 50mg, and 100mg per-cup servings of THC-infused beverages, and 10mg per CBD-infused product.

While the THC-based product will only be available in states where medical or recreational cannabis laws have been established, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers hemp-based CBD a “food-based” product and will be available nationwide. Many CBD users claim to receive medical relief without experiencing the “high” effect that is typically associated with cannabis use.

Pot-O-Coffee will be produced and distributed in each state through carefully vetted state compliant licensed partners. Partners who sign a branded-production licensing agreement can effectively be operational within 30 days. Through a turnkey production process and utilizing state-of-art production facilities and a patent pending clinical formulation, Pot-O-Coffee- licensed operators are able to produce and distribute consistent, quality controlled beverages. Each Pot-O-Coffee single-serve product is individually wrapped and packaged to ensure safety as well as quality and freshness.

“We believe that one of the main challenges facing the cannabis industry is a lack of consistency. If patients and consumers don’t trust the brands they are purchasing, it will have a direct impact on the establishments dispensing or selling cannabis and CBD products,” says Cass Riese, Vice President of Marketing at Equvest. “Our Pot-O-Coffee partners seek to establish consistency. From packaging and product quality to taste and effect, the consumer must know what they are purchasing and be happy final branded product.”

About Equvest, LLC.:
Equvest, LLC, an innovative Alternative Medicine company, through its operating subsidiary Pot-O- Coffee, licenses intellectual properties for the production of THC and CBD infused products targeting the expanding medical and recreational retail markets. As part of a comprehensive strategy to stimulate a rapid expansion into the growing market place for medical and recreationally legal cannabis, Pot-O- Coffee is also piloting several cannabis based medicinal and consumer products through it’s licensing network with service offerings such as their branded line of THC products, Pot-O-Tea and Pot-O-Coco as well as and their CBD line of Pot-O-Coffee and Pot-O-Tea. The company has tentative license agreements for production in California, Colorado, Nevada, and Washington and planning to add 5 more in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2015. Pot O Coffee also expects to add additional products to its line by the beginning of Q4 2015. For more information please visit: http://www.potocoffee.coffee.

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