MMJ Business Daily

South Africa may legalize medical cannabis production

The legal medical marijuana trade is poised to spread to its fifth world region: Africa.

The South African Medical Control Council plans to soon publish “proposed guidelines on cannabis production for medicinal use,” according to Independent Online.

Parliament member Narend Singh told an IOL property, The Mercury, he received a letter from the Medical Control Council’s working group on cannabis about its intent to publish.

Currently, South Africa allows ill patients to use cannabis without fear of legal reprisals, but they can do so only with government supervision, according to IOL.

But the new proposed regulations – which

…

South Africa may legalize medical cannabis production is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Two MA lawmakers to rewrite rec marijuana law

A pair of Massachusetts lawmakers have been appointed to apparently rewrite the recreational marijuana legalization law approved by voters last November.

The Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act is an initiated state statute, instead of an amendment to the state constitution, which means state legislators still have the legal ability to make changes to the law, despite what was approved by voters.

According to TV station WWLP, pro-cannabis state Sen. Patricia Jehlen and state Rep. Mark Cusack, both Democrats, have been appointed to rewrite the act because “state lawmakers want to make significant changes … before retail

…

Two MA lawmakers to rewrite rec marijuana law is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Wall Street takes notice of marijuana: Q&A with cannabis analyst Vivien Azer

By Omar Sacirbey

Vivien Azer, apparently the first cannabis analyst at a mainstream investment bank, is bullish on the marijuana industry.

And her confidence in the market is a significant reflection of how Wall Street views cannabis. Azer is an analyst at Cowen & Co., a New York investment bank founded in 1918.

Her belief in the marijuana industry was reinforced last month when 150-plus investors – including representatives from such prestigious financial institutions as Blackstone Group, Fidelity Investments and Janus Capital Group – attended Cowen’s “Cannabis Colloquium.”

Up to now, big institutional investors have been wary of cannabis given that

…

Wall Street takes notice of marijuana: Q&A with cannabis analyst Vivien Azer is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Zoning law in CA county puts 3,000 growers at risk

A new law in California’s Sonoma County that bans commercial cultivation in large areas outside of city limits has created an uncertain future for some 3,000 cannabis growers in that northern California region.

County officials approved the prohibition in December. It took effect Jan. 19, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. The law was implemented in response to complaints against 15-20 commercial cultivation operations in single-family homes.

The zoning law restricts cultivation to Sonoma County’s agricultural, industrial and resource zones, which leaves out the more than 31,000 land parcels in the county’s rural residential zones, the Press

…

Zoning law in CA county puts 3,000 growers at risk is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Zoning law in CA county puts 3,000 growers at risk

A new law in California’s Sonoma County that bans commercial cultivation in large areas outside of city limits has created an uncertain future for some 3,000 cannabis growers in that northern California region.

County officials approved the prohibition in December. It took effect Jan. 19, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. The law was implemented in response to complaints against 15-20 commercial cultivation operations in single-family homes.

The zoning law restricts cultivation to Sonoma County’s agricultural, industrial and resource zones, which leaves out the more than 31,000 land parcels in the county’s rural residential zones, the Press

…

Zoning law in CA county puts 3,000 growers at risk is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Rural Colorado town to get state’s first marijuana drive-thru

The tiny western Colorado town of Parachute is getting what is believed to be the state’s first marijuana retailer with a drive-thru window, a move that could attract on-the-go cannabis customers who don’t want to get out of their car.

Tumbleweed Express, as the planned drive-thru will be known, received a business license last year but didn’t open. The Parachute Board of Trustees approved Tumbleweed’s annual license renewal Thursday, the Glenwood Springs Post Independent reported.

The drive-thru is expected to open for business in March in a former car wash across the street from Tumbleweed’s main location, the newspaper reported.

…

Rural Colorado town to get state’s first marijuana drive-thru is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

San Francisco mulls creation of ‘Department of Cannabis’

San Francisco would have a “Department of Cannabis” if a member of the city’s Board of Supervisors has his way.

Supervisor Jeff Sheehy – concerned about the “onslaught” when recreational marijuana becomes legal in California on Jan. 1 –  sees the need for a department whose only duty is to oversee the city’s cannabis market, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. He has requested that the city attorney’s office prepare legislation to submit to the Board of Supervisors.

The proposed agency would regulate recreational marijuana sales, distribution and growing, though Sheehy believes cultivation will “be too expensive” to

…

San Francisco mulls creation of ‘Department of Cannabis’ is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: Recreational marijuana markets in Washington, Colorado still soaring

By Eli McVey

Sales of recreational marijuana in the nation’s two largest and oldest adult-use markets – Colorado and Washington state – eclipsed $1.5 billion in 2016, rising a combined 66% from the previous year.

The figures highlight the massive growth potential for the rec side of the cannabis industry, which is still in its infancy. But they may mask the growing difficulties of turning a profit as the competition increases by the day.

In Washington, adult-use sales for 2016 nearly doubled from a year earlier, increasing 95% to $696 million.

While much of that growth was organic, the

…

Chart: Recreational marijuana markets in Washington, Colorado still soaring is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canadian judge: Cities can forbid illegal dispensaries

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge issued a blow to Canada’s most notable owner of illegal medical cannabis dispensaries, ruling that municipalities have the right to ban MMJ businesses.

Don Briere, who owns a chain of medical cannabis stores in the western Canadian province, filed a lawsuit alleging Abbotsford city officials violated Canada’s constitution by denying him a dispensary license.

Briere’s lawyer argued that local authorities don’t have authority to deny licenses to businesses because cannabis laws are decided by the federal government, The Globe and Mail reported.

But judge Miriam Gropper ruled that federal government

…

Canadian judge: Cities can forbid illegal dispensaries is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Rumblings in CA legislature over marijuana licensing delay

Many industry observers have doubted the capability of the California state government to meet the January deadline for having a cannabis business licensing system up and running, and now a state senator has broached the topic as well.

Sen. Holly Mitchell, a Los Angeles Democrat, suggested the state delay licensing specifically for recreational marijuana businesses in order to first resolve the issue of how registered companies will be able to pay their taxes and fees without any guarantee of banking services.

“Does the legislature have the authority to delay implementation of either the tax collection or the Jan.

…

Rumblings in CA legislature over marijuana licensing delay is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs