MMJ Business Daily

Maryland probes possible ethics violations in MMJ licensing process

Maryland regulators are investigating potential conflicts of interest that occurred during the state’s application process for medical marijuana cultivation, extraction and dispensary licenses, The Washington Post reported.

In fact, some independent reviewers hired to examine medical cannabis applications had ties to businesses bidding for MMJ licenses, The Washington Post reported.

It’s the latest setback for a medical cannabis program that has been slowed by lawsuits alleging cultivation application reviewers didn’t follow selection rules as well as criticism that regulators failed to include a sufficient number of minority owned businesses.

Now, the

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Maryland probes possible ethics violations in MMJ licensing process is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Virginia colleges researching uses for industrial hemp

Three universities in Virginia are conducting research on industrial hemp after the state legalized cultivation of the crop for research purposes.

Virginia Tech, James Madison University and Virginia State University are researching different uses for the crop, which is the same species of cannabis plant as marijuana but doesn’t possess the psychoactive properties, the Roanoke Times reported.

The General Assembly passed a law legalizing hemp cultivation for research reasons in 2015, and the governor signed it into law in 2016.

Tech is growing 18 different varieties of hemp and has plans to research hemp-enforced concrete and using

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Virginia colleges researching uses for industrial hemp is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: Recreational marijuana stores are clustered in low-income areas of Denver, Seattle

By Eli McVey

In Denver and Seattle – two of the largest recreational marijuana markets in the nation – retail cannabis stores are concentrated in low-income neighborhoods throughout each city.

A Marijuana Business Daily analysis of adult-use store locations and median household income by zip code found that 40% of rec shops in Seattle and nearly 45% of rec stores in Denver are located in parts of each city where average earnings fall in the bottom 25^th percentile.

In other words, low-income neighborhoods are home to a disproportionately large number of retail marijuana stores in those two cities.

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Chart: Recreational marijuana stores are clustered in low-income areas of Denver, Seattle is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Manitoba reaches out to cannabis industry to help shape regulations

Manitoba’s government is reaching out to potential cannabis producers and retailers as it considers how marijuana would be produced, distributed and sold in the province when it’s legalized in Canada next summer.

The move comes less than a week after Premier Brian Pallister’s partially successful drive to convince fellow provincial and territorial leaders to support a delayed launch of Canada’s rec program.

The premiers instead said they will request an extension by November if the federal government doesn’t address outstanding issues.

Manitoba’s expression of interest (EOI) seeks input on topics such as economic benefits of cannabis, proposed costs

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Manitoba reaches out to cannabis industry to help shape regulations is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MA governor signs recreational marijuana program into law

Massachusetts Gov. Charles Baker on Friday signed into law a recreational marijuana bill that will allow the state to launch an adult-use program approved by voters, and an hour later, the first members of the Cannabis Advisory Board were appointed.

The state legislature passed a bill last week that modifies the voter-backed law passed in November.

Baker opposed legalization but has vowed to carry out the will of the voters to legalize adult-use marijuana. Massachusetts is targeting a July 2018 launch date for the program.

After the governor signed the bill, state Treasurer Deb Goldberg announced

MA governor signs recreational marijuana program into law is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Study: Recreational cannabis sales would be boon for Colorado city

If Colorado Springs – the second-largest city in Colorado – were to allow recreational marijuana sales, its share of the state’s cannabis market would double to 14%, according to a new economic impact report by a University of Denver professor.

The study also found that allowing rec sales could create 1,320-1,762 jobs for the city as well as $25.4 million in revenue from taxes and business fees.

The study’s analysis – written by Jack Strauss, the Miller Chair of Applied Economics at the university’s Daniels College of Business – assumes that all medical cannabis companies in Colorado Springs would transition to

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Study: Recreational cannabis sales would be boon for Colorado city is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Jamaica receives slew of medical marijuana business applications

Jamaica has received 236 business license applications since opening the permit process last year.

Of the 236 applications, two licenses have been granted but not issued because the winners have yet to pay their fees, according to Hyacinth Lightbourne, chair of Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA).

Another 44 applications have gotten conditional approval, according to the government-run Jamaica Information Service.

Application numbers have grown steadily. Jamaican regulators received 89 applications through late October and about 160 through February.

Lightbourne told an MMJ conference in Kingston that Jamaica’s licensing process takes about six

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Jamaica receives slew of medical marijuana business applications is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Lawsuit to legalize cannabis, judge sidesteps Nevada dispute & High Times + Nasdaq

By John Schroyer, Bart Schaneman and Omar Sacirbey

A lawsuit against the U.S. government could lead to national legalization of cannabis, a judge refuses to intervene in Nevada’s recreational marijuana conflict, and High Times magazine hopes to be publicly traded.

Here’s a closer look at some notable developments in the marijuana industry over the past week.

Not so fast

A lawsuit filed this week in New York against the U.S. government and two top federal law enforcement officials could culminate with marijuana being legalized nationwide.

But even if the suit is successful – and it’s not at all

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Week in Review: Lawsuit to legalize cannabis, judge sidesteps Nevada dispute & High Times + Nasdaq is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ohio to start accepting schools’ medical MJ testing applications

Colleges and universities in Ohio can soon apply for medical marijuana testing licenses, but private companies must wait another year to apply.

That situation could prove problematic for the state’s MMJ program.

It’s still an open question whether Ohio colleges or universities will even apply for the licenses.

Even though state law is structured to give the institutions first crack at the licenses for the first year of the program, the schools could potentially jeopardize their federal funding because marijuana remains illegal in the United States.

The Ohio Department of Commerce will accept schools’ applications

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Ohio to start accepting schools’ medical MJ testing applications is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Australian medical cannabis firm expands to Canada with acquisition

An Australian medical marijuana company is acquiring Nova Scotia-based Mernova Medicinal for 10.1 million Canadian dollars ($8.1 million) in the latest example of foreign interest in Canada’s booming MMJ market and next summer’s anticipated recreational cannabis rollout.

After the cash-and-equity deal is completed, Creso Pharma will be the only Australian-based cannabis firm with direct exposure to the world’s largest legal MMJ market.

Mernova, a privately held Canadian company, has applied for an MMJ cultivation license that it expects to receive “in the coming months,” according to a Creso Pharma news release. Once it has the license, Mernova

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Australian medical cannabis firm expands to Canada with acquisition is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs