MMJ Business Daily

Los Angeles County officials weigh mass medical marijuana raids

Some 70 medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles County could be shut down this week if local officials decide to target them for raids.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is considering a proposal to crack down on the dispensaries – which currently are illegal under local laws – as California gears up to implement statewide regulations and oversight on the MMJ and recreational cannabis industries.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been banned in unincorporated areas of the county since 2011, according to L.A. Weekly, but local officials have not aggressively targeted them previously.

During Wednesday’s meeting,

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Los Angeles County officials weigh mass medical marijuana raids is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Rhode Island yanks MMJ grow application after owners arrested

Two medical marijuana growers in Rhode Island awaiting final approval of their MMJ cultivation business license were arrested for possession and intent to distribute cannabis.

As a result, Rhode Island regulators have revoked their preliminary cultivation approval and application.

The State Department of Business Regulation in January gave initial approval to Warwick growers Stefanie Fischer and Thomas Moulton of Coastal Aeroponics to cultivate medical cannabis, the Providence Journal reported. Their full license was pending a final inspection.

Fischer and Moulton hoped to benefit from a new class of cultivation licenses created last year by state regulators who feared a medical

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Rhode Island yanks MMJ grow application after owners arrested is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Germany to begin cultivating medical marijuana in 2019

Medical marijuana cultivation is expected to commence in Germany in 2019 now that the country has finalized an MMJ program and is seeking private companies to oversee growing operations.

The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices in Germany is establishing an agency to sift through private business bids to grow MMJ for patients, the Associated Press reported.

Until the German MMJ system is operational, the nation’s industry will rely on imported cannabis from the Netherlands and Canada. Only pharmacies will be allowed to sell medical marijuana, and patients must obtain a prescription.

The country currently has about

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Germany to begin cultivating medical marijuana in 2019 is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: Patient numbers, medical marijuana sales spike in New Jersey

By Eli McVey

New Jersey’s medical marijuana industry posted a banner year in 2016, with patient counts ballooning 76% and sales volume doubling thanks to a series of small changes to the state’s MMJ program and the opening of two new dispensaries.

This is welcome news for a program that has struggled to enroll patients amid high MMJ prices, weak doctor participation and limited access to treatment centers. 

Over the course of 2016, New Jersey added roughly 4,600 patients to the MMJ program, ending the year at nearly 11,000. Sales of MMJ jumped by an even greater

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Chart: Patient numbers, medical marijuana sales spike in New Jersey is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: Patient numbers, medical marijuana sales spike in New Jersey

By Eli McVey

New Jersey’s medical marijuana industry posted a banner year in 2016, with patient counts ballooning 76% and sales volume doubling thanks to a series of small changes to the state’s MMJ program and the opening of two new dispensaries.

This is welcome news for a program that has struggled to enroll patients amid high MMJ prices, weak doctor participation and limited access to treatment centers. 

Over the course of 2016, New Jersey added roughly 4,600 patients to the MMJ program, ending the year at nearly 11,000. Sales of MMJ jumped by an even greater

…

Chart: Patient numbers, medical marijuana sales spike in New Jersey is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Global standards group launches cannabis committee

ASTM International, a 119-year-old organization that develops voluntary standards for a long list of items ranging from children’s toys to aircraft, plans to add cannabis to that list.

For the most part, the cannabis industry has lacked developed product standards. That could now change, another sign that cannabis is becoming more of a mainstream product.

According to the Denver Post, ASTM International launched a committee earlier this week to discuss and develop standards for personnel training, cultivation and security in the cannabis industry.

If the organization’s board of directors approves the move, the committee could release standards for the marijuana

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Global standards group launches cannabis committee is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

OR lawmakers aim to pre-empt any marijuana crackdown by feds

Oregon state legislators are trying to head the federal government off at the pass.

To keep the federal government from potentially seizing cannabis consumers’ personal data, a bipartisan committee of Oregon lawmakers proposed legislation that would require marijuana businesses to destroy customer information within 48 hours after receiving it.

The measure will receive its first hearing Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. The full legislature must approve the bill before it can be signed into law by Oregon’s Democratic governor.

The Oregon lawmakers are trying to be proactive after recent anti-recreational marijuana comments by U.S. Attorney General

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OR lawmakers aim to pre-empt any marijuana crackdown by feds is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Israeli medical cannabis company launches NM production

An international cannabis business partnership is coming to fruition between an Israeli medical marijuana firm and a New Mexico-based American MMJ company.

The result is the opening of a product manufacturing facility in a suburb north of Albuquerque, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel-based Panaxia Pharmaceutical Industries announced last May that it was teaming up with Ultra Health, a licensed MMJ business in New Mexico. The companies revealed this week in a joint statement that the new facility, in Bernalillo, New Mexico, has begun production, according to the Post.

The plant will focus on 18 smokeless MMJ products that

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Israeli medical cannabis company launches NM production is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Canada’s tainted MMJ, tribal grow operation & DOJ policies

By Omar Sacirbey, Bart Schaneman and John Schroyer

Canadian cultivators are unable to find the source of pesticide-contaminated medical marijuana, a giant MJ greenhouse is planned for tribal land, and Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department will enact “reasonable policies” on cannabis.

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

Contaminated MMJ repercussions

Will the brouhaha surrounding pesticide-contaminated medical marijuana in Canada produce fallout for the nation’s federally licensed MMJ cultivators?

The Canadian media have speculated MMJ patient confidence in the country’s 38 legal producers will decline because of the situation, which unfolded

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Week in Review: Canada’s tainted MMJ, tribal grow operation & DOJ policies is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Senators push AG Sessions to back off on marijuana

Two U.S. senators from states with legal adult-use marijuana led a letter-writing effort asking U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to back off from any Department of Justice crackdown targeting recreational cannabis.

According to Politico, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) co-signed a letter on Thursday to Sessions stating, “We respectfully request that you uphold DOJ’s existing policy regarding states that have implemented strong and effective regulations for recreational use.”

 The Obama administration allowed states to implement their own marijuana laws. Recent comments from Sessions and White Press Secretary Sean Spicer have led industry watchers

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Senators push AG Sessions to back off on marijuana is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs