MMJ Business Daily

Chart: Oregon’s medical marijuana industry slumping

By Eli McVey

The number of medical marijuana dispensaries and registered patients in Oregon is plunging now that the state’s recreational cannabis industry is fully operational, casting a cloud of uncertainty over the MMJ program’s future.

Over 200 dispensaries in Oregon have either closed or transitioned to the rec market since the start of 2017, when the state officially separated its medical and adult-use programs. That equates to an 84% decline in the number of dispensaries.

Patient counts have been dwindling since early recreational sales began in the fall of 2015, but they haven’t dropped at the same

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Chart: Oregon’s medical marijuana industry slumping is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Trump makes first statement about medical cannabis as president

Donald Trump made his first statement about medical marijuana as president after signing a $1.1 trillion spending bill that includes a provision that provides key protections for legal MMJ businesses.

Trump’s statement, however, failed to shed clear light on where his administration stands on marijuana policy, perhaps indicating that it’s not a top priority for the president.

The president’s assertion was part of the statement Trump issued Friday after signing the catchall omnibus spending package that will keep the federal government funded through September, Business Insider reported.

“Division B, section 537 provides that the

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Trump makes first statement about medical cannabis as president is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Recreational marijuana legalization drive launched in Michigan

Marijuana proponents have launched a 2018 ballot drive to make Michigan the ninth state to legalize the use and sale of recreational cannabis and the first in the Midwest to do so.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted petition language Friday. It plans to soon begin collecting signatures once the Board of State Canvassers approves the petition’s form. The initiative is backed by state marijuana advocates and the Marijuana Policy Project.

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Recreational marijuana legalization drive launched in Michigan is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

California tribe transforms casino into medical cannabis grow site

The Iipay Nation in San Diego County has transformed a failed 35,000-square-foot casino into a high-tech medical marijuana cultivation site and is leasing some of the space to growers who can sell product to legal dispensaries throughout California.

The operation currently consists of two grow rooms with fewer than 1,000 plants. But more than a dozen greenhouses on the tribal property are in various stages of construction, the Los Angeles Times reported. A spokesman said the tribe has no intention of getting into recreational cannabis cultivation.

The 700-member tribe started working on medical cannabis soon after its casino

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California tribe transforms casino into medical cannabis grow site is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Marijuana REIT to invest up to $15M in Maryland cultivation site

Innovative Industrial Properties, a cannabis-focused real estate investment trust (REIT), said it has agreed to purchase a partially developed property in Capitol Heights, Maryland, and plans to invest up to $15 million in a medical cannabis cultivation facility there.

The building on the site, once completed, is expected to total about 72,000 square feet.

Based in San Diego, Innovative Industrial Properties buys medical marijuana-related facilities and leases them out.

According to a press release, the company plans to enter into a long-term lease agreement with Holistic Industries, which intends to use the facility as the only medical cannabis

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Marijuana REIT to invest up to $15M in Maryland cultivation site is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Marijuana REIT to invest up to $15M in Maryland cultivation site

Innovative Industrial Properties, a cannabis-focused real estate investment trust (REIT), said it has agreed to purchase a partially developed property in Capitol Heights, Maryland, and plans to invest up to $15 million in a medical cannabis cultivation facility there.

The building on the site, once completed, is expected to total about 72,000 square feet.

Based in San Diego, Innovative Industrial Properties buys medical marijuana-related facilities and leases them out.

According to a press release, the company plans to enter into a long-term lease agreement with Holistic Industries, which intends to use the facility as the only medical cannabis

…

Marijuana REIT to invest up to $15M in Maryland cultivation site is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: New York medical cannabis lawsuit, Vermont MMJ expansion & Texas’ preliminary CBD licensees

By Omar Sacirbey, Bart Schaneman and John Schroyer

New York medical marijuana dispensaries file suit to prevent new competitors, Vermont lawmakers approve expanding the state’s MMJ program, and Texas awards three preliminary licenses for its CBD program.

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

For patients or ‘protectionism’?

New York’s Medical Cannabis Industry Association filed a lawsuit to prevent the state’s health department from awarding new business licenses to five companies that weren’t successful during the 2015 application process.

The lawsuit’s claim? Doubling the number of suppliers will “launch

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Week in Review: New York medical cannabis lawsuit, Vermont MMJ expansion & Texas’ preliminary CBD licensees is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: New York medical cannabis lawsuit, Vermont MMJ expansion & Texas’ preliminary CBD licensees

By Omar Sacirbey, Bart Schaneman and John Schroyer

New York medical marijuana dispensaries file suit to prevent new competitors, Vermont lawmakers approve expanding the state’s MMJ program, and Texas awards three preliminary licenses for its CBD program.

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

For patients or ‘protectionism’?

New York’s Medical Cannabis Industry Association filed a lawsuit to prevent the state’s health department from awarding new business licenses to five companies that weren’t successful during the 2015 application process.

The lawsuit’s claim? Doubling the number of suppliers will “launch

…

Week in Review: New York medical cannabis lawsuit, Vermont MMJ expansion & Texas’ preliminary CBD licensees is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

BioTrackTHC wins Delaware medical marijuana tech contract

Florida-based BioTrackTHC has won a state contract with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services to implement a seed-to-sale inventory tracking system, as it has already done in several other states.

The contract was executed on Tuesday, according to a news release from BioTrackTHC, and a spokesperson for the Delaware agency said: “We are pleased to have them as a partner.”

The spokesperson said further details on the contract – including how much BioTrackTHC will be paid – were not immediately available. However, state contracts are often worth millions, such as the $10 million contract

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BioTrackTHC wins Delaware medical marijuana tech contract is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ohio cannabis firms can turn to insurer for surety bonds

Entrepreneurs applying for medical marijuana business licenses in Ohio – but worried about having the financial cushion required by state law – can tap a source that’s typically not considered a go-to business resource for MJ firms: an insurance company.

Ohio’s medical cannabis law requires applicants to demonstrate their financial stability by showing escrow account balances of $750,000 for a Category 1 Cultivation license and $75,000 for a Category 2 cultivation license. In lieu of capital, companies also may post a surety bond issued by an authorized insurance company.

At least a couple of

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Ohio cannabis firms can turn to insurer for surety bonds is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs