MMJ Business Daily

Support your claims about MMJ products: Q&A with cannabis attorney Emily Leongini

By Bart Schaneman

If you’re going to claim your medical marijuana product can treat a condition or disease, you’d better have the data to back it up.

So says Emily Leongini of the Arent Fox law firm, where she works in the Food and Drug Administration practice with a focus on highly regulated products like cannabis.

Support your claims about MMJ products: Q&A with cannabis attorney Emily Leongini is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

West Virginia begins early stages of launching MMJ program

West Virginia officials say they’re in the “preliminary stage” of developing a plan to implement the state’s new medical marijuana law, including rules that will govern new business owners.

The regulations “will begin with requirements for growers/processors so that those entities can come online and begin to produce products,” a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Resources told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. She said department regulators will then spell out requirements for dispensaries and physicians, followed by those for registering caregivers and patients.

Gov. Jim Justice signed the MMJ measure into law on April 19. It

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West Virginia begins early stages of launching MMJ program is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

South Carolina legalizes hemp cultivation and sales

South Carolina became the latest state to legalize industrial hemp cultivation and sales after the governor signed legislation establishing a pilot program.

The bill, signed into law last week, creates a program that will award 20 licenses permitting growers to grow, harvest and sell hemp, The State reported. Each grower may cultivate hemp on up to 20 acres of land, according to the newspaper. The South Carolina Department of Agriculture will manage the program.

Thirty-one states, including South Carolina, allow hemp cultivation or pilot programs under provisions detailed in the South Carolina legalizes hemp cultivation and sales is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado edibles firm partners with Florida MMJ company on sales

Colorado edibles company Wana Brands is partnering with a Florida medical cannabis business to sell each other’s products in a move that permits both firms to expand their geographic footprint.

Boulder-based Wana Brands said it has signed a reciprocal licensing deal with Alternative Medical Enterprises, or AltMed, based in Sarasota, Florida, the Denver Post reported. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Under the agreement, AltMed will manufacture and sell Wana Brands’ products in Arizona, and Wana will produce and distribute AltMed’s products in Colorado.

The Post noted the deal is part of a growing trend known as

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Colorado edibles firm partners with Florida MMJ company on sales is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: Startup costs for wholesale marijuana cultivators

By Eli McVey

Typical startup costs for wholesale cannabis cultivation businesses launched in the last three years amount to $42 per square foot, according to a Marijuana Business Daily survey of executives in the industry.

But actual startup costs can vary widely based on the market each wholesaler serves and – to an even greater extent – the cultivation method used to grow marijuana.

Cultivators with indoor grow operations reported significantly higher startup costs per square foot relative to that of greenhouse, outdoor and combination cultivation types – a reflection of the large upfront expenditures

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Chart: Startup costs for wholesale marijuana cultivators is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Mexico medical marijuana tracking system shows discrepancies

Reports from New Mexico’s seed-to-sale tracking system show that five of the state’s medical cannabis businesses actually sold roughly 200,000 grams of MMJ more than they grew January through March.

A review of quarterly MMJ reporting documents by the New Mexico Political Report found the biggest discrepancy with Giving Tree Organics, which sold nearly 28 pounds, or about 13,000 grams, more than they produced.

Another MMJ business, The Harvest Foundation, grew about 64,000 grams January to March but sold about 70,000 grams, a difference of about 10 pounds.

How the discrepancies came to be and who’s

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New Mexico medical marijuana tracking system shows discrepancies is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Michigan rec cannabis campaign gets OK to collect signatures

A campaign to put a recreational marijuana legalization initiative before voters in Michigan got the green light from state election officials to start collecting signatures.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced that the state boa…

FBI: Michigan man wanted to bribe officials for marijuana dispensary

The FBI says a Michigan restaurant owner was willing to pay bribes to suburban Detroit officials to try to get them to allow him to open a medical marijuana dispensary.
The disclosure was made in a document filed this week in federal court. The governm…

Week in Review: Washington organic marijuana, PA liquor stores & Minnesota red ink

By Bart Schaneman, Omar Sacirbey and John Schroyer

Washington state signs off on an organic marijuana certification program, Philadelphia’s mayor says state-run liquor stores should handle recreational sales, and Minnesota’s two medical cannabis businesses bleed red ink.

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

Organic cannabis

With Washington state becoming what is believed to be the first state in the nation to offer an organic certification for cannabis, marijuana joins many other agricultural products with the same designation.

The certification could help marijuana business owners in a few

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Week in Review: Washington organic marijuana, PA liquor stores & Minnesota red ink is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Medical cannabis dispensary workers in Canada join union

Medical marijuana dispensary workers in Canada have joined a union in what some are calling a first for the country, borrowing a page from organized labor in the United States.

According to the Canadian Press, workers at Canna Clinic, in Toronto’s east end, have joined Unifor, the country’s major private-sector union. Canna Clinic has four more locations in Toronto plus clinics in Vancouver.

The Canadian Press reported that some 40 workers, including production, packaging and retail staff, are now unionized.

The next step is for the union to negotiate a contract with Canna Clinic,

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Medical cannabis dispensary workers in Canada join union is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs