MMJ Business Daily

Arkansas lawmaker behind anti-MMJ smoking bill took tobacco cash

The Arkansas state senator behind a bill that would would bar patients from smoking medical marijuana under the state’s new MMJ law has accepted campaign money from tobacco companies.

State Sen. Jason Rapert cited health factors as the reason behind his anti-smoking legislation targeting medical cannabis.

“Universally, in the public health community, people will tell you that you should not smoke,” Rapert, a Republican, told the Associated Press in explaining why he introduced the anti-smoking measure.

According to VoteSmart.org, Rapert accepted campaign contributions of $4,750 from “tobacco companies and tobacco product sales,” including a $1,750 contribution from

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Arkansas lawmaker behind anti-MMJ smoking bill took tobacco cash is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canadian grower switches CEOs after tainted MMJ recall

A major Canadian medical marijuana cultivation company changed CEOs, two days after announcing it could not find the source of the pesticide contamination that forced it to recall tainted cannabis and revamp its operating procedures.

It’s the second case of CEO turnover at a Canadian MMJ grower linked to contaminated medical cannabis.

Organigram, a federally licensed grower based in Moncton, New Brunswick, announced this week that Denis Arsenault would be replaced as CEO by former Tilray chief Greg Engel, the Globe and Mail reported.

Engel will take the reins March 13. Arsenault will become executive chairman of

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Canadian grower switches CEOs after tainted MMJ recall is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado AG invites Sessions to check out rec MJ industry

Colorado’s top law enforcement official extended an invitation to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take a tour of the state’s recreational marijuana industry.

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman made the invitation Wednesday morning during a meeting with top Justice Department staff, the Denver Post reported.

She told them “it was important to come to the states that have legalized marijuana – particularly Colorado since we have the longest history – and to see what we have done,” according to the Post. “They indicated an interest in doing that.”

The invitation comes on the heels of a suggestion

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Colorado AG invites Sessions to check out rec MJ industry is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Market: Louisiana’s MMJ program offers limited opportunities but gains momentum

By Bart Schaneman

Although it has one of the oldest medical marijuana laws on the books in the United States, Louisiana took steps just last year to lay the groundwork for a regulated MMJ program and a viable cannabis industry.

New Market: Louisiana’s MMJ program offers limited opportunities but gains momentum is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

High Times Cannabis Cup can go ahead as planned

The High Times Cannabis Cup near Las Vegas is still on for this weekend, despite an earlier letter from Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden to the Moapa Paiute Tribe warning the event would violate federal law.

The tribe is scheduled to host the large marijuana consumer-oriented event – which also attracts a large number of cannabis businesses trying to get in front of that crowd – Saturday and Sunday on Native American lands north of Las Vegas.

In a press release, High Times said Wednesday it had been told the event can go ahead as planned, “but vendors, guests,

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High Times Cannabis Cup can go ahead as planned is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Arkansas to permit medical cannabis deliveries

The Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Board gave approval for state-licensed dispensaries to deliver medical marijuana to patients and caregivers once the state’s MMJ program has launched.

The delivery regulations approved this week include a few restrictions, according to Little Rock television station KATV:

• Orders must be delivered the same day they are made.
• Deliveries may be made only between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• The deliveries must be signed for by the MMJ patient who placed the order.
• A patient’s medical marijuana card will be checked for authenticity.

The rule also stipulates that deliveries can be made

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Arkansas to permit medical cannabis deliveries is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MMJ grower plans $160M greenhouse on tribal lands

A proposal to build a $160 million greenhouse on tribal land in New Mexico would create the largest grow operation in the United States.

The Associated Press reported that Delaware-based Bright Green Group of Companies is joining with Acoma Pueblo to build a state-of-the-art cultivation and research facility on a patch of tribal land in western New Mexico.

The project is slated to include a research facility for medicinal plants. The entire project would span some 6 million square feet, with space for 40 million medicinal plants – not all of it MMJ, according to the AP.

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MMJ grower plans $160M greenhouse on tribal lands is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Crafting an industry: Q&A with California cannabis czar Lori Ajax

By John Schroyer

Lori Ajax has what may be one of the most influential governmental positions in the legal marijuana industry – chief of California’s Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation.

As such, Ajax is positioned to help craft regulations for what will be the nation’s largest medical and recreational cannabis markets when they’re up and running under a regulated system.

The agency she heads will be renamed the Bureau of Marijuana Control, pursuant to a provision in Proposition 64, the ballot initiative California voters approved in November that legalized adult-use cannabis. But that, along with many other regulatory and industry

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Crafting an industry: Q&A with California cannabis czar Lori Ajax is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canada MMJ grower can’t trace pesticide source, offers refund

Organigram, a federally licensed medical marijuana cultivator in Canada that recalled contaminated product last year, said it conducted an “extensive investigation” but was unable to find the source for the tainted cannabis.

The company also said it had reversed an earlier decision and now will refund money to patients who bought the contaminated cannabis.

The total cost of the refund will be about 2.3 million Canadian dollars ($1.7 million), Organigram estimated, and will essentially equal the company’s sales for its most recent quarter, the Globe and Mail reported.

Organigram announced its voluntary recall in December because the

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Canada MMJ grower can’t trace pesticide source, offers refund is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Nevada U.S. attorney threatens to shut down cannabis event

One of the largest marijuana consumer events – the High Times Cannabis Cup – is in peril.

Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden sent a letter on Feb. 16 to the Moapa Paiute Tribe warning that the event would be in violation of federal law. The tribe is scheduled to host the cup Saturday and Sunday on Native American lands north of Las Vegas.

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, Bogden warned the tribe it had incorrectly interpreted Justice Department memoranda that would permit them to hold the event.

“Nothing in (DOJ memoranda) alters the authority or the jurisdiction of the

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Nevada U.S. attorney threatens to shut down cannabis event is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs