MMJ Business Daily

AR medical cannabis program to start with five cultivator licenses

Each of Arkansas’s five health regions will receive a marijuana cultivation facility license, the new Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission announced this week.

Setting the cultivation license total at five was the first action taken by the state’s commission tasked with developing the nascent MMJ industry, according to University of Arkansas-Little Rock Public Radio.

The amendment that was passed in November to legalize medical cannabis states that the commission must approve licenses for four to eight cultivation facilities and 20-40 dispensaries.

The total of five cultivation licenses is an initial cap, not a permanent one.

The commissioners

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AR medical cannabis program to start with five cultivator licenses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Connecticut MMJ research bodes well, OH docs hesitant & Maine rec is a go

By Omar Sacirbey and Bart Schaneman

Connecticut research could benefit the entire medical cannabis industry, a survey shows most Ohio physicians won’t write MMJ recommendations, and Maine’s adult-use program is a go after recount is halted.

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

Marijuana beats opiates

Research announcements this week from two respected Connecticut medical institutions provided a fitting year-end reminder that one of the biggest gains cannabis reform has made over the past 12 months is on the medical and scientific fronts.

That’s positive news for the MJ

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Week in Review: Connecticut MMJ research bodes well, OH docs hesitant & Maine rec is a go is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

AZ court backs MMJ dispensaries; prohibitionists to appeal

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled this week that local officials cannot use federal laws prohibiting cannabis to justify their refusal to provide necessary zoning for medical marijuana dispensaries.

In their unanimous decision, the judges said Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery had no legal basis to claim that federal law supersedes the medical marijuana law that Arizona voters passed by referendum in 2010, according to Capitol Media Services.

The judges also rejected Montgomery’s assertion that mandating county officials to issue zoning guidelines for dispensaries is tantamount to aiding and abetting a violation of federal law.

Judge Donn Kessler

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AZ court backs MMJ dispensaries; prohibitionists to appeal is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Michigan’s new medical cannabis laws take effect

New medical marijuana laws went into effect in Michigan this week.

The laws legalize medical cannabis dispensaries, regulate cultivation and processing operations and enhance legal protections to patients who have been recommended to use edibles or oils rather than smokable marijuana.

The laws also include an additional category for cannabis-infused products, as well as an added tax on dispensaries and a state licensing system to cultivate, sell, transport and test cannabis. The laws also institute a seed-to-sale monitoring system.

Michigan’s medical marijuana laws haven’t been updated since voters legalized medical marijuana in 2008.

Also

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Michigan’s new medical cannabis laws take effect is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Which is best for cannabis – a Dutch or North American greenhouse?

By Omar Sacirbey

High energy costs and declining cannabis prices have many cultivators thinking about moving their indoor grows into greenhouses.

But once that decision is made, those cultivators must determine whether to buy a North American-made greenhouse or import one from the Netherlands, which has dominated the industry since the 1800s.

Though many believe greenhouses  can produce a high-quality cannabis crop, cultivators still must weigh abundant questions about which type is best.

Are you driven by design features? Or do you seek better materials? Is it software that makes a difference to you? Or does quality of construction

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Which is best for cannabis – a Dutch or North American greenhouse? is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Pennsylvania announces medical cannabis licensing plan

Pennsylvania will issue applications for medical marijuana cultivation, processing and dispensary licenses on Jan. 17, and applicants will have between Feb. 20 and March 20 to submit their bids, state regulators said at a news conference Wednesday.

Dr. Karen Murphy, the state’s secretary of health, and John Collins, director of Pennsylvania’s Office of Medical Marijuana, also announced that the allotted licenses will be awarded in phases instead of all at once.

Pennsylvania’s temporary program rules call for permits for 25 growers/processors and 50 for dispensaries. Each dispensary permit covers up to three storefronts, which means the state could have

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Pennsylvania announces medical cannabis licensing plan is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Pennsylvania announces medical cannabis licensing plan

Pennsylvania will issue applications for medical marijuana cultivation, processing and dispensary licenses on Jan. 17, and applicants will have between Feb. 20 and March 20 to submit their bids, state regulators said at a news conference Wednesday.

Dr. Karen Murphy, the state’s secretary of health, and John Collins, director of Pennsylvania’s Office of Medical Marijuana, also announced that the allotted licenses will be awarded in phases instead of all at once.

Pennsylvania’s temporary program rules call for permits for 25 growers/processors and 50 for dispensaries. Each dispensary permit covers up to three storefronts, which means the state could have

…

Pennsylvania announces medical cannabis licensing plan is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Oregonians to banks: Cannabis clients are OK

How can banks in Oregon improve their reputation? Serve cannabis clients.

That’s the finding of a survey by Portland-based LT Public Relations and DHM Research that suggests financial institutions could better their public standing by providing financial services to marijuana businesses.

Most banks in Oregon and nationwide reject cannabis clients, arguing that it will hurt their reputation to offer services to businesses that break federal law. Serving marijuana companies also could land banks and other financial institutions in legal hot water with regulators.

But 87% of the 800 Oregonians surveyed said they wouldn’t have a negative view

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Oregonians to banks: Cannabis clients are OK is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Medical cannabis research gets boost in Connecticut

Two medical institutions in Connecticut have received the go-ahead to research the healing properties of cannabis, news that can potentially bolster the MMJ industry’s credibility.

Connecticut Hospice Inc. in Branford, the nation’s first hospice, announced Monday it will research how marijuana can alleviate pain and stimulate appetites in terminally ill patients, according to the Associated Press.

St. Francis Hospital in Hartford said it received state approval the previous Friday to study how cannabis can replace opiates in reducing pain in patients with traumatic injuries like broken bones.

Hospital officials hope to show that a medical cannabis painkiller

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Medical cannabis research gets boost in Connecticut is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Market: Florida’s big MMJ program could be limited by lack of licenses

By Bart Schaneman

Florida’s new medical marijuana market is poised to become one of the largest in the nation, yet a limited number of available MMJ business licenses could hinder the program’s growth.

Seventy-one percent of Florida voters last month approved Amendment 2 to legalize a much broader MMJ program in the nation’s fourth most populous state.

New Market: Florida’s big MMJ program could be limited by lack of licenses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs