MMJ Business Daily

What the cannabis industry can learn from the natural products business: Q&A with Loren Israelsen

By Bart Schaneman

Loren Israelsen feels the cannabis industry’s pain.

For more than three decades, he’s been dealing with regulatory and commercial issues in the global dietary supplement industry, including labeling and being viewed as a fringe business. Israelsen is the president of the United Natural Products Alliance.

The Salt Lake City-based trade association represents more than 100 natural products, dietary supplements and related companies. He’s watched firsthand the issues that arise when an industry goes from the margins to the mainstream.

Israelsen – who will keynote the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo in

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What the cannabis industry can learn from the natural products business: Q&A with Loren Israelsen is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Oregon marijuana company fined $5,300 over butane explosion

Oregon regulators fined Higher Level Concentrates $5,300 for workplace safety violations following a butane-extraction explosion last year that landed one man in a Portland burn ward.

The Oregonian reported that Oregon OSHA fined the extraction company, which is based in in Astoria, for failure to:

• Ventilate the building
• Have an adequate electrical system
• Obtain city permits

The accident occurred last October, when, according to a lawsuit, William “Chris” West was handling butane canisters and allowed butane gas to fill a room while another man, Jason Oei, was dabbing cannabis oil. According

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Oregon marijuana company fined $5,300 over butane explosion is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Montana close to enacting medical cannabis rules

A bill that would create a seed-to-sale tracking system, licenses, fees and regulations for Montana’s medical marijuana industry is one vote away from moving to the governor.

The Montana House gave preliminary approval to a bill to regulate the medical marijuana industry after voters last November approved lifting restrictions that severely restricted sales of MMJ by dispensaries. The Senate already approved SB 333, which now must pass a final House vote before it goes to the governor.

A key change in the bill by a conference committee will have a direct business impact. Instead of paying a

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Montana close to enacting medical cannabis rules is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Lawmakers approve later hours for Denver marijuana shops

Marijuana retail stores in Denver will be able to stay open an additional three hours, until 10 p.m., starting May 1.

Extending the closing time from 7 p.m. may prove profitable for Denver’s marijuana businesses. Shop owners in Colorado’s largest city have complained they are at a competitive disadvantage because retailers in other parts of the state – including municipalities adjacent to Denver – are permitted by state law to stay open until midnight.

The Denver City County voted 11-2 Monday to approve the later store hours, Denverite reported.

The council bandied about

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Lawmakers approve later hours for Denver marijuana shops is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Marijuana Business Daily President George Jage departs company

George Jage, the president and publisher of Marijuana Business Daily since 2014, has parted ways with the company for undisclosed reasons.

The position will not be filled, but the company plans to make key strategic hires in other areas, said Cassandra Farrington, Marijuana Business Daily’s co-founder and CEO. 

Farrington declined to discuss specifics of Jage’s departure.

During his tenure at Marijuana Business Daily, Jage helped the company grow its events and news businesses significantly.

“George joined the team prior to the third annual Marijuana Business Conference & Expo, when the industry-leading trade show had seen great success and was set to grow into a much larger

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Marijuana Business Daily President George Jage departs company is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ohio issues applications for medical cannabis growers

Prospective medical marijuana growers can start applying for a license in Ohio now that the state has begun issuing applications for one of 24 available MMJ cultivation permits.

The Ohio Department of Commerce plans to issue up to 12 licenses for large grows totaling as much as 25,000 square feet of growing space and another dozen for small grows ranging up to 3,000 square feet.

Applicants will be required to meet capital requirements and secure local zoning approval for the proposed cultivation site, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

Applicants who meet the first round of qualifications will be evaluated based

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Ohio issues applications for medical cannabis growers is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Recreational cannabis states prepping for possible federal crackdown

By John Schroyer

California, Colorado and Oregon have begun taking steps to protect recreational marijuana businesses and consumers against a possible federal crackdown under the new Trump administration.

Oregon this month approved legislation to shield the identities of marijuana consumers from federal agents.

Colorado lawmakers are voting on legislation to permit recreational marijuana businesses to reclassify their inventory as medical cannabis – in the event the feds target adult-use businesses.

And California lawmakers are weighing legislation to bar local police from working with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents who go after legal MJ businesses.

Since

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Recreational cannabis states prepping for possible federal crackdown is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Oregon signals more inspections of marijuana cultivation sites

An adviser to Oregon’s Gov. Kate Brown said state inspections of cannabis cultivation sites will become more frequent now that additional facilities have been licensed.

Speaking with local officials in southwestern Oregon, Jeff Rhoades didn’t offer any details about how inspections would be increased, the Grants Pass Daily Courier reported.

According to the newspaper, only 13 cultivation sites were inspected last year in Josephine County – where Grants Pass is the county seat – out of some 2,900 cultivation facilities.

The Josephine County community and economic development director told the Daily Courier her department has a

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Oregon signals more inspections of marijuana cultivation sites is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Second New York medical cannabis firm launches home delivery

Vireo Health, one of the five licensed medical marijuana companies in New York, rolled out home delivery for its patients late last week, reportedly the second in the state to do so.

Vireo, which first obtained permission from the state in January to deliver medical cannabis instead of requiring patients to pick up purchases at storefront dispensaries, has launched its service by offering deliveries in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, as well as in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, the New York Business Journal reported.

Deliveries will

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Second New York medical cannabis firm launches home delivery is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska orders Anchorage marijuana club to shut down

Marijuana businesses in Anchorage, Alaska, have for years now been pushing the envelope of what’s acceptable by state regulators, and recently they got another answer on one thing that’s not: cannabis social clubs.

The only club in Anchorage, Pot Luck Events, which has been operational since 2015, was ordered to close by the Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office (AMCO), which said the business was illegal and was risking the wrath of the U.S. Department of Justice, TV station KTUU reported.

The club was in violation of five state codes, AMCO wrote in a letter to Pot

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Alaska orders Anchorage marijuana club to shut down is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs