MMJ Business Daily

Senators ask Treasury to help ease MJ industry’s banking issues

A group of 10 U.S. senators is urging the Treasury Department to take steps to prevent the shutdown of plant-touching and ancillary businesses’ bank accounts.

The senators – seven Democrats, one Republican and two independents – placed special emphasis on ancillary businesses that have lost bank accounts because they worked with marijuana businesses. The senators cited lawyers, chemists and security personnel as examples.

Their appeal comes as many marijuana industry officials fret over whether the incoming Trump administration will crack down on legal MJ businesses.

In a letter to Jamal El-Hindi, acting head of the Treasury Department’s

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Senators ask Treasury to help ease MJ industry’s banking issues is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ohio’s draft medical cannabis rules call for up to 40 dispensaries

Ohio would have up to 40 dispensaries under draft regulations for its medical marijuana industry released Thursday.

The proposed rules, drafted by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, would require prospective dispensary owners to pay a $5,000 application fee as well as an $80,000 license fee every other year, according to The Plain Dealer. Potential owners also would be required to have a minimum of $250,000 in liquid assets.

Under the draft rules, dispensaries would have to employ a pharmacist, nurse, physician or physician’s assistant to train employees, develop educational materials for patients and be on call or on site during facility hours.

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Ohio’s draft medical cannabis rules call for up to 40 dispensaries is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

TN, KY lawmakers introduce medical marijuana bills

Neighboring southern states Tennessee and Kentucky have pending bills for their 2017 legislative sessions that would legalize medical marijuana.

Tennessee’s bill, introduced Wednesday by Rep. Jeremy Faison and Sen. Steve Dickerson, both Republicans, would allow medical cannabis to be recommended to patients with various conditions and would provide for up to 50 grow operations, The Tennessean reported.

Kentucky’s bill, titled the Cannabis Compassion Act, was pre-filed Dec. 6 by Democratic Sen. Perry B. Clark. It would legalize medical marijuana for patients and implement dispensaries, as well as a form of the caregiver model, according to the Tenth Amendment Center.

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TN, KY lawmakers introduce medical marijuana bills is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Market: Montana’s MMJ industry rising from the ashes, awaiting major changes

By Bart Schaneman

The campaign to revive Montana’s medical marijuana industry has succeeded, but state lawmakers still need to write the many rules that will govern a market that must be rebuilt.

Last month, some 58% of Montanans approved a ballot initiative to set up commercial MMJ cultivation operations and dispensaries.

New Market: Montana’s MMJ industry rising from the ashes, awaiting major changes is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

DEA rule change sparks concern on marijuana extracts

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has introduced a new rule on how it tracks marijuana extracts that is causing concern in the marijuana industry. But should it?

The DEA announced in the Federal Register it is creating “a new Administration Controlled Substances Code Number for ‘Marihuana Extract’” so that it can track things like concentrates and oils separately from marijuana flower.

The DEA code for marijuana is 7360, while the new marijuana extract code is 7350.

Some observers believe the rule change could mean increased federal interference in the hemp industry.

But the executive director of the Hemp Industry

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DEA rule change sparks concern on marijuana extracts is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Mexican Senate passes medical cannabis bill

The Mexican Senate overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana bill, but to become law the measure must still win approval from the country’s lower house.

The bill, which was passed 98-7 on Tuesday, would allow the use of products containing THC and would also permit marijuana to be produced for scientific and medical purposes, Reuters reported.

The Senate’s passage of the bill is another step toward cannabis legalization in a country where the government is trying to break up violent drug cartels.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto opposed medical marijuana legalization as recently as last year, but in April

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Mexican Senate passes medical cannabis bill is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Report: City’s slow license process could add to Oregon MJ woes

A new report asserts that regulators in Portland, Oregon, have been slow to approve hundreds of cannabis retail applications for licenses, a situation that could further disrupt the state’s already troubled marijuana industry.

“Based on data from the Office of Neighborhood Involvement on the City of Portland’s website, it appears that only 5.4% of all applications submitted in 2016 have been licensed by the city,” said Beau Whitney, the report’s author and an economist who heads Whitney Economics.

“This is having a profound effect on the Portland cannabis industry.”

Further, the report contends, only 19 of 355 recreational

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Report: City’s slow license process could add to Oregon MJ woes is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MD dispensary license winners move forward amid turmoil

By Omar Sacirbey

Maryland dispensary license winners celebrated briefly after learning about their victories last week, then turned their attention to getting their businesses up and running in what could become one of the most lucrative medical marijuana markets on the East Coast.

For most of the 102 license winners announced Friday, that means fundraising, buying or renovating real estate, establishing relationships with growers, processors and laboratories and hiring staff.

Others, however, also are focused on concerns that the oft-delayed program could be held up some more by other factors, most significantly a pending court case and state lawmakers.

Alternative Medicine

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MD dispensary license winners move forward amid turmoil is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Task force releases report on Canada rec marijuana legalization

Canada should permit adults as young as 18 to buy recreational marijuana through a variety of retail channels, according to a government-commissioned report that contains dozens of recommendation for how the country should proceed with the legalization of adult-use cannabis.

The report, from the country’s Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation, was released to the public Tuesday. It recommends a “diversity of producers,” including smaller operators, and that consumers be allowed to purchase rec marijuana through storefronts and by mail order, Bloomberg reported.

The task force also proposes that provinces and municipalities should determine how retailers can

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Task force releases report on Canada rec marijuana legalization is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado cannabis sales in 2016 already exceed $1 billion

In a significant milestone for the cannabis industry, Colorado’s combined recreational and medical marijuana sales hit $1.1 billion in the first 10 months of 2016.

That total eclipsed Colorado’s combined cannabis sales in 2015, just over $996 million, according to The Cannabist. And it makes Colorado the first state to officially top the $1 billion mark, underscoring the growth in the marijuana industry.

Denver attorney Christian Sederberg predicted that Colorado cannabis sales will reach $1.3 billion by the end of the year.

Marijuana sales have also resulted in growing tax revenue for the state, The Cannabist reported. Excluding accounting

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Colorado cannabis sales in 2016 already exceed $1 billion is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs