MMJ Business Daily

San Francisco to create licensing unit for recreational cannabis, MMJ

San Francisco is expected to create a city marijuana office to serve as a central contact point for the municipality’s recreational and medical marijuana programs, state regulators and the public.

If approved Tuesday by the city’s Board of Supervisors, the Office of Cannabis’ duties will include developing and managing the licensing of all marijuana-related businesses in San Francisco, handling customer complaints and providing policy analysis, TV station KCBS reported.

In addition to overseeing the adult-use market that California’s slated to launch in 2018, the Office of Cannabis will absorb the medical marijuana duties

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San Francisco to create licensing unit for recreational cannabis, MMJ is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A Canadian growth strategy: Q&A with Canopy CEO Bruce Linton

By Omar Sacirbey

Canada’s biggest medical marijuana producer, Canopy Growth in Smith Falls, Ontario, serves more than one third of the nation’s MMJ patients and generated 203 million Canadian dollars ($160 million) in revenue last year.

But the company also lost CA$16.7 million.

How? An aggressive expansion plan.

A Canadian growth strategy: Q&A with Canopy CEO Bruce Linton is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska moves closer to onsite recreational marijuana use

Alaska is making strides toward becoming the first state in the nation to allow customers to consume marijuana in recreational shops.

The state’s Marijuana Control Board voted 3-2 Friday to begin drafting rules for onsite consumption, Alaska Dispatch News reported.

The regulations would range from where and how much marijuana can be consumed on premises to restrictions on ventilation.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed rules, which would make Alaska a pioneer in onsite consumption. Both the state of Maine and the city

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Alaska moves closer to onsite recreational marijuana use is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Massachusetts lawmakers strike recreational cannabis deal

Massachusetts lawmakers finalized changes to the state’s recreational marijuana law on Monday, essentially splitting the difference on their conflicting proposals on tax rates and whether voters or politicians can OK cannabis businesses.

Highlights of the deal were released by a six-member conference committee that spent several weeks trying to resolve differences between the House and Senate.

House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement that would allow retail MJ sales to be taxed at a maximum 20% rate.

The compromise language bridges the gap between a House proposal to raise the total tax on marijuana to a mandatory

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Massachusetts lawmakers strike recreational cannabis deal is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Nevada recreational marijuana market harming MMJ businesses

Nevada’s fledgling recreational marijuana market has led to significant cannabis price hikes that may be hurting the state’s medical MJ industry.

Medical marijuana prices “have almost doubled” in parts of Nevada, raising concerns that unaffordable medical cannabis may force patients to the illicit market, according to Las Vegas TV station KTNV.

Emily Wilson, an MMJ patient, told KTNV she knows patients who have stopped going to dispensaries and are turning to the black market because of higher medical cannabis prices.

Lissa LaWatsch, the general manager of Las Vegas’ ReLeaf Dispensary, acknowledged to the TV station her business

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Nevada recreational marijuana market harming MMJ businesses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Marijuana Business Daily expands into Canada

Marijuana Business Daily has expanded into Canada by hiring a full-time reporter to write in-depth stories and analysis about the country’s fast-growing cannabis industry.

Matt Lamers, who has worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers and magazines in several countries, will focus on writing for Canadian marijuana business executives, investors and entrepreneurs looking to get involved in the industry.

He is based in the Toronto area.

The move marks Marijuana Business Daily’s first move expansion outside the United States.

While the publication’s U.S.-based reporters have covered Canadian cannabis business developments in the past, the focus largely has been on how

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Marijuana Business Daily expands into Canada is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: Wholesale marijuana prices surge in Nevada in response to new recreational program

By Eli McVey

Wholesale marijuana prices in Nevada increased sharply around the July 1 rollout of the state’s new recreational program, a week in which businesses faced stronger-than-anticipated demand and supply shortages caused by hiccups in the distribution process.

According to figures provided by Cannabis Benchmarks – a Connecticut-based provider of wholesale marijuana pricing data – the four-week trailing average price per pound of wholesale cannabis increased for the first time in months, suggesting that Nevada marijuana businesses significantly underestimated the demand for recreational cannabis in the state.

As the name implies, the four-week trailing average incorporates four

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Chart: Wholesale marijuana prices surge in Nevada in response to new recreational program is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Uruguay to begin recreational cannabis sales July 19

Legal sales of adult-use marijuana in Uruguay will begin next week at a limited number of pharmacies, and more than 5,000 people have registered as customers.

Recreational marijuana will be available starting July 19 in 5-gram amounts at 16 pharmacies nationwide, the South American country’s Cannabis Regulation and Control Institute said in a statement.

The cannabis packaging comes with a security stamp that guarantees authenticity as well as warnings about the possible effects of consumption.

Lawmakers approved a bill in December 2013 making Uruguay the first country to have a legal marijuana market covering the

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Uruguay to begin recreational cannabis sales July 19 is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

PNC shutters marijuana group’s Ohio bank account

PNC has closed the bank account of another cannabis advocacy group, again underscoring that even non-plant-touching marijuana organizations can be shut out by financial institutions.

One of the nation’s largest financial services companies, Pittsburgh-based PNC recently shut down the account of the Ohio chapter of the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws (NORML), the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

According to the newspaper, NORML next approached five banks before locating a Wells Fargo branch willing to serve the group.

In June, PNC closed the accounts of the Marijuana Policy Project after an account audit showed that MPP

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PNC shutters marijuana group’s Ohio bank account is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Nevada rec supply issues, New Hampshire adds conditions & Maryland MMJ commission shake-up

By Omar Sacirbey and John Schroyer

Nevada works to avert a rec marijuana supply shortage, New Hampshire adds chronic pain and PTSD to its medical cannabis qualifying conditions, and Maryland reorganizes its MMJ commission.

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

Supply crisis averted in Nevada

When Nevada launched its recreational marijuana industry July 1, a major problem immediately cropped up: Demand was so immense retailers quickly began running low on inventory.

The issue was so prominent it led to a flurry of activity this week, including:

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Week in Review: Nevada rec supply issues, New Hampshire adds conditions & Maryland MMJ commission shake-up is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs