MMJ Business Daily

Canada’s producers stockpiling cannabis ahead of legalization

One year ahead of adult-use marijuana legalization, Canada’s licensed producers continue to bolster their inventories of cannabis, according to fresh data from Health Canada.

Despite the stockpiling, LPs still have a long way to go to meet anticipated recreational and medical demand. Adult-use legalization is scheduled to take effect in July.

Canada’s licensed cultivators had 25,077 kilograms (55,285 pounds) of dried marijuana in their vaults at the end of June, more than double what they had a year earlier.

LPs also are storing more cannabis oil than ever, with 6,713 kilograms in their vaults at

…

Canada’s producers stockpiling cannabis ahead of legalization is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado marijuana banker has plans for a national network

By Omar Sacirbey

This time next year, the difficulties that legal marijuana companies have faced finding banks and credit unions that will do business with them could be ancient history.

That’s the goal of a veteran banker who foresees making such services available to legal marijuana businesses in roughly 20 states by the end of 2018.

Sundie Seefried, the CEO of Partner Colorado Credit Union, is banking on the success she’s already had in the Centennial State.

She’s the architect of Partner Colorado’s Safe Harbor Private Banking program, a comprehensive compliance system for banks and credit unions interested in working with

…

Colorado marijuana banker has plans for a national network is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Adult marijuana use increasing in US, two studies show

Some fundamentally good news for the American cannabis industry: Adult marijuana use is steadily increasing.

That’s according to findings from two different studies – the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and a report from the Public Health Institute.

The National Survey found that, in 2016:

• Nearly 21% of U.S. residents between the ages of 18 and 25 used cannabis at least monthly.
• Among adults 26-34, monthly consumers made up almost 15% of the general public.

Those numbers are the highest rates of marijuana use since 1985, The Washington Post reported.

…

Adult marijuana use increasing in US, two studies show is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Tuatara invests $3.3 million in Colorado cannabis extracts firm

Tuatara Capital, a New York-based canna-centric investment private equity fund, has invested $3.3 million in marijuana extracts company Green Dot Labs.

Boulder, Colorado-based Green Dot Labs initially had sought raise $2.6 million in its Series A round, but Tuatara supplied all of the funding – and then some – a spokeswoman for the extracts company told Marijuana Business Daily.

According to a news release, Green Dot Labs is developing its own methods for indoor cultivation and extraction as well as products for Colorado’s growing edibles and concentrates market.

Tuatara also will provide a strategic

…

Tuatara invests $3.3 million in Colorado cannabis extracts firm is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Green Organic Dutchman secures CA$20 million for expansion

Less than two weeks after securing a 5 million Canadian dollar ($4 million) line of credit, Green Organic Dutchman Holdings raised another CA$20 million through a private placement of its securities.

The Canadian marijuana producer plans to use the money to build its planned cultivation facilities in Ontario and Quebec to meet demand for medical and recreational cannabis.

PI Financial Corp. will lead a private placement offering involving 4.2 million Green Organic Dutchman “units” at a price of CA$1.65 per unit, generating CA$7 million. Each unit equals a share of the company’s common stock and a purchase warrant for another

…

Green Organic Dutchman secures CA$20 million for expansion is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Last day for businesses to submit comments to FDA on CBD

Producers and retailers of CBD products have just a few hours left if they want to try to discourage international health regulators from classifying the substance as a psychotropic drug.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last month it wants comments about CBD before making a recommendation about the substance to the World Health Organization. The deadline for comments is midnight Wednesday ET.

The WHO – a United Nations health agency – is considering whether CBD should come under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

The convention doesn’t currently include CBD. But a decision to add it would trigger

…

Last day for businesses to submit comments to FDA on CBD is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Recreational marijuana business options plentiful in Maine draft bill

A recreational marijuana draft bill crafted by Maine lawmakers would permit the state’s eight licensed medical marijuana dispensaries to apply for a license to sell adult-use cannabis, but they couldn’t sell medical and recreational products at the same counter.

Rather, Maine would require retailers that sell both medical and adult-use cannabis to have separate entrances for medical patients and recreational consumers, as is done in Colorado, the Portland Press Herald reported.

According to the newspaper, business-friendly highlights of the 70-page draft bill include:

• MMJ dispensaries could convert from nonprofits to for-profit entities.
• Internet cannabis sales

…

Recreational marijuana business options plentiful in Maine draft bill is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ottawa signals hands-off stance on provincial rec cannabis plans

Canada’s federal government has indicated it won’t interfere in how provinces decide to regulate distribution, taxation and retail when adult-use marijuana is slated to become legal next summer – regardless of how the provincial programs are implemented.

“Each province has the flexibility to design it the way they think most appropriate. Ontario has laid out their proposal. That’s within their jurisdiction to do,” Canada’s public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, told reporters, according to The Canadian Press.

Last week, Ontario became the first province in Canada to announce a framework to govern recreational marijuana, but it has

…

Ottawa signals hands-off stance on provincial rec cannabis plans is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Hawaii bans cash in medical marijuana dispensary sales

Hawaii said it will be the first state to require marijuana sales to be handled without cash, saying it wants to avoid robberies and other crimes involving dispensaries.

Medical marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii won’t be allowed to accept cash beginning Oct. 1 and will require people to use a debit payment app instead. The app is already an option for marijuana transactions in six states, including California and Colorado.

Many marijuana businesses use cash because banks fear cannabis money could expose them to legal trouble from the U.S. government.

The debit app called CanPay uses a Colorado-based credit union, Safe Harbor Private Banking, to facilitate

…

Hawaii bans cash in medical marijuana dispensary sales is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canopy signs cannabis seed deal with Spanish pharma company

Canopy Growth will supply medical marijuana seeds to the Spanish pharmaceutical company Alcaliber, becoming the latest licensed Canadian producer to expand its footprint in Europe.

Alcaliber will use the seeds to grow and export medical cannabis from its facilities in Spain. The seeds will be provided through a supply deal involving Smiths Falls, Ontario-based Canopy and its German subsidiary, Spektrum Cannabis, according to a news release.

Spektrum Cannabis distributes MMJ products to nearly 500 pharmacies across Germany.

LPs have been exporting medical cannabis from Canada as part of a major overseas expansion. And Canopy’s latest deal

…

Canopy signs cannabis seed deal with Spanish pharma company is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs