MMJ Business Daily

Week in Review: White House threat, CA growers at risk & unique cannabis investment fund

By John Schroyer

The Trump administration hints at possible enforcement on recreational cannabis businesses, thousands of Northern California cultivation jobs are in jeopardy, and a new marijuana investment fund is in the works.

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

White House signals potential crackdown

The cannabis industry erupted when the White House press secretary on Thursday intimated the recreational market could be in for a serious fight.

During a news conference, Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters, “I do believe you’ll see greater enforcement” of

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Week in Review: White House threat, CA growers at risk & unique cannabis investment fund is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Jersey medical marijuana program doubles patient count

New Jersey’s medical marijuana program saw its patient count nearly double last year, breaking the 10,000 mark for the first time, according to an annual report released by the New Jersey Department of Health.

The jump in patients should be welcome news for New Jersey’s five operating medical marijuana dispensaries, which will likely see an increase in demand. Last year, the dispensaries sold a total of 2,694 pounds of cannabis.

New Jersey’s program registered 5,060 new medical marijuana patients in 2016, although 303 of them died and 22 aren’t active, meaning the state added 4,735 new active patients

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New Jersey medical marijuana program doubles patient count is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

White House press secretary’s full comments on cannabis

Asked twice by reporters on Thursday about the Trump administration’s approach to the legal marijuana industry, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had the following response.

When initially asked about the disconnect between federal law and state medical marijuana laws, Spicer replied:

“There’s two distinct issues here: medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. I think, medical marijuana, I’ve said before, that the president understands the pain and suffering that many people go through who are facing, especially terminal diseases, and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana, can bring to them. And that’s one that Congress,

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White House press secretary’s full comments on cannabis is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Breaking: White House press secretary predicts ‘greater enforcement’ on recreational marijuana

By John Schroyer

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday said there will likely be increased federal enforcement on recreational marijuana businesses.

“I do believe you will see greater enforcement of it,” Spicer said in response to a question about whether the Department of Justice will enforce federal marijuana laws.

It was the Trump administration’s first public comment on the nation’s marijuana industry, and it comes as a growing number of states have legalized both recreational and medical cannabis.

Spicer sought to differentiate between the two types of cannabis, indicating the administration will take a more hands-off

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Breaking: White House press secretary predicts ‘greater enforcement’ on recreational marijuana is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

First license issued to grow, research MMJ in Australia

Cann Group has received the first federal government license to grow medical cannabis in Australia and has submitted an application for a cultivation permit.

The new license permits the privately held company to legally grow medical marijuana and conduct research on how to use cannabis for medicinal purposes, according to Business Insider Australia.

“The license allows us to apply for a permit to progress our research and development programs, which are particularly focused on the breeding, cultivation, extraction and characterization of cannabinoids,” Cann Group chairman Allan McCallum told Business Insider.

Cann Group also has filed paperwork with

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First license issued to grow, research MMJ in Australia is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska MJ entrepreneurs find way to ship product – commercial flights

By John Schroyer

The legal marijuana industry in the United States has been built by pioneers willing to risk the wrath of authorities.

That tradition is continuing in Alaska, where a retail shop owner has pushed the legal envelope by flying across her immense state with carry-ons full of marijuana inventory for her store.

And she’s done so with the explicit blessing of state officials, ranging from Alaska’s Marijuana Control Office to airport police, many of whom are eager to establish a functional system under which cannabis businesspeople will be able to transport inventory.

The ramifications of

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Alaska MJ entrepreneurs find way to ship product – commercial flights is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Investment company planning exchange-traded cannabis fund

ETF Managers Group, a New Jersey-based investment company, plans to launch an exchange-traded fund that would track publicly traded cannabis companies.

The ETF Managers Group is proposing the Emerging AgroSphere ETF, which could be a first for the cannabis industry, Reuters reported.

An exchange-traded fund owns and tracks certain assets and, unlike a mutual fund, can be traded like a regular stock.

The Emerging AgroSphere ETF would own stocks in cannabis-related companies that make prescription drugs using marijuana extracts as well as those selling hemp derivatives and other related stocks. The company noted it would buy globally but, for now,

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Investment company planning exchange-traded cannabis fund is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Application window opens for PA’s medical cannabis market

Cannabis entrepreneurs looking to do business in Pennsylvania’s impending medical marijuana industry have one month to submit applications for licenses.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it will start accepting applications for grower/processor and dispensary licenses from Feb. 20 until March 20.

The non-refundable fee for growing and processing applications is $10,000; the dispensary application fee, also non-refundable, is $5,000.

Per the MMJ law the state enacted in April 2016, regulators can award up to 25 grower/processor licenses and up to 50 dispensary licenses, although each dispensary licensee is permitted three locations.

Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana

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Application window opens for PA’s medical cannabis market is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Poll: Support building for legalized marijuana in Texas

Support for legalizing marijuana is on the rise in Texas, a new poll shows.

More than 80% of Texans support legal cannabis of any kind, and 53% of those favor recreational use, according to a University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll released Tuesday. Those numbers increased from 76% and 42%, respectively, since a 2015 poll.

In the latest poll:

• 32% of Texans would allow possession of small amounts.
• 30% would permit medical marijuana use.
• 21% would be OK with possession of any amount.
• 17% would not allow possession of any kind.

Backing for a medical

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Poll: Support building for legalized marijuana in Texas is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Market: Once Maryland fixes problems, ample MMJ opportunities await

By Bart Schaneman

Maryland’s medical marijuana program rollout has been rife with stumbles, delaying what could become one of the largest markets on the East Coast.
Still, industry officials and regulators are working to get the state’s MMJ program o…