MMJ Business Daily

Top four U.S. banks have had cannabis accounts, study shows

Whether they know it or not, America’s four largest banks have held accounts for marijuana businesses, in contrast to public pronouncements that they steer clear of the cannabis industry.

An analysis by RB Monitor, a Chicago-based firm that pinpoints the risks financial institutions might face working with the cannabis industry, found that 29 of 84 applicants for marijuana business licenses in Massachusetts had an account with one of the nation’s big four banks: Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan or Wells Fargo.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, so many banks have shied away from holding accounts for

…

Top four U.S. banks have had cannabis accounts, study shows is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

CT doctors want expansion of medical cannabis conditions

A panel of physicians in Connecticut are urging the state to add four more conditions to the list of ailments that will qualify patients to receive medical cannabis.

If the State Board of Physicians’ recommendations are accepted by the Department of Consumer Protection, and after that a committee of state lawmakers, then shingles, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy and fibromyalgia will be added to the MMJ qualifying condition list, the Hartford Courant reported.

However, the panel declined to endorse the addition of eczema, osteoarthritis and emphysema to the MMJ list.

Connecticut’s condition list already contains 22 ailments, and there

…

CT doctors want expansion of medical cannabis conditions is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Sessions’ sleight of hand, scofflaws in CA & risky business in NY

By John Schroyer, Bart Schaneman and Omar Sacirbey

Attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions plays his cannabis-enforcement views close to the vest, dispensaries sidestep California’s adult-use law, and an L.A. marijuana company attempts a risky rescue in New York.

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

Sessions hints at future enforcement

The likely next attorney general of the United States hinted at what may be to come for cannabis businesses during his first day of confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee, and that has Steph Sherer quite worried.

As

…

Week in Review: Sessions’ sleight of hand, scofflaws in CA & risky business in NY is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

High Times leaving longtime NYC base for Los Angeles

High Times magazine announced plans to leave New York City – where it has been headquartered for 43 years – for Los Angeles by the end of April.

The reason for the move?

“The center of the cannabis universe has moved to California,” said Matt Stang, High Times’ chief revenue officer, according to Crain’s New York Business.

High Times employs about 30 people at its Manhattan office, but it’s unclear how many of them will move to Los Angeles, where the magazine also plans to hire local staff.

The magazine has been buoyed by the legalization media blitz

…

High Times leaving longtime NYC base for Los Angeles is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MMJ company CannaKorp raises $5.7 million in 2016

CannaKorp, a Massachusetts company that’s been dubbed the “Keurig for marijuana,” said it raised $4.1 million in its latest round of fundraising to help manufacture and distribute its pod-based medical cannabis vaporizing system.

For all of 2016, the company raised $5.7 million. The total includes an initial $1.6 million seed funding earlier that year, CannaKorp said in a news release.

The company’s CannaCloud vaporizer is designed to allow medical cannabis patients to consume MMJ using a single-use, dose-controlled cup, or pod.

CannaKorp said the funding will be used to manufacture its technology, cultivate partnerships with growers and dispensaries,

…

MMJ company CannaKorp raises $5.7 million in 2016 is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Vireo gets nod to operate NY’s first medical cannabis delivery service

Regulators have given Vireo Health of New York the go-ahead to deliver medical marijuana to its patients, making it the first cannabis business in the state to get such approval.

Verio’s delivery service comes in response to a new state regulation intended to boost New York’s struggling MMJ program by making the medicine more accessible to patients.

The company said in a press release it would be able to start deliveries within 90 days, though delivery pricing and other details will be announced later.

Vireo, one of five companies licensed to grow, produce and distribute medical

…

Vireo gets nod to operate NY’s first medical cannabis delivery service is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MassRoots receives $2M in proceeds from warrant exercise

MassRoots, the popular social network for cannabis enthusiasts, said it has received more than $2 million in cash from the exercise of warrants so far in 2017, providing additional financial stability to the once-wobbly Denver company.

“This capital infusion will help us continue building momentum with the success we are having within the rapidly emerging legal cannabis industry,” MassRoots CEO Isaac Dietrich said in a news release. “We can now better focus our attention toward increasing revenue, expanding our market presence and enhancing overall shareholder value.”

The company rode something of a financial roller coaster last year.

In September,

…

MassRoots receives $2M in proceeds from warrant exercise is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Market: California awaits regulations before unleashing huge industry

By Bart Schaneman

California’s recreational marijuana market has the potential to dwarf all others as long as workable statewide regulations are ironed out, municipalities allow adult use and legal businesses can supplant the state’s thriving black market.

New Market: California awaits regulations before unleashing huge industry is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Maine lawmakers agree on moratorium for rec MJ program

Maine legislators agreed Wednesday on legislation to postpone implementation of the state’s new law legalizing adult-use marijuana until Feb. 1, 2018.

The legalization law was scheduled to take effect on Oct. 30, 2017.

The bill to postpone parts of the Marijuana Legalization Act, negotiated by Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon and Republican Senate President Mike Thibodeau, will be sent to lawmakers as an emergency measure, according to the Bangor Daily News.

As an emergency measure, the act can go into effect immediately if at least two-thirds of the membership in both the House and Senate vote in favor

…

Maine lawmakers agree on moratorium for rec MJ program is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Arkansas to award 32 medical marijuana dispensary licenses

The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission will issue 32 licenses for medical cannabis dispensaries once the application process begins.

The commission on Tuesday also set dispensary license application fees at $7,500, Little Rock television station KATV reported. Applicants who are unsuccessful will have half of their fee refunded to them.

Hoping to achieve geographic diversity and to ensure dispensaries won’t be too far from patients, commissioners ruled that each of the state’s four congressional districts would get eight dispensaries, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

The commission initially considered a maximum of 28 licenses, according to KATV, but apparently hoped

…

Arkansas to award 32 medical marijuana dispensary licenses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs