MMJ Business Daily

San Diego MMJ dispensaries could sell rec cannabis under proposal

Following last month’s passage of Proposition 64, San Diego has proposed allowing the city’s 15 medical marijuana dispensaries to sell recreational cannabis once it becomes legal in California in January 2018.

The city is the only one in San Diego County that has signaled it intends to permit adult-use sales, the San Diego Union Tribune reported.

San Diego officials issued their proposal last week. It came about after dispensary owners urged the city to allow them the first crack at recreational licenses. The city’s planning commission is set to discuss the proposal Thursday.

Currently, eight of the 15 dispensaries

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San Diego MMJ dispensaries could sell rec cannabis under proposal is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The changing California landscape: Q&A with Korova founder Joe Gerlach

By John Schroyer

Oakland-based Korova is one of the most well-known edibles brands in California, and its product lines appear in roughly 700 dispensaries statewide.

Founded in 2011, the company has enjoyed solid growth the past five years, and owner Joe Gerlach has upgraded to a new manufacturing facility to meet demand.

Marijuana Business Daily caught up with Gerlach last month to get his take on how the California cannabis industry may evolve over the coming years under the state’s new MMJ regulations and emerging recreational market.

He predicted the black market will come under pressure. And he suggested the

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The changing California landscape: Q&A with Korova founder Joe Gerlach is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Head of Oregon’s embattled testing program to retire

The head of the Oregon Environment Laboratory Accreditation Program, which is in charge of accrediting testing labs including those used for marijuana, will retire early next year because of job-related health reasons.

Administrator Gary Ward said his health had deteriorated because of stress stemming from an overwhelming number of lab accreditation requests that overtaxed an agency that is in understaffed by its own leadership and the Oregon Health Authority, the Statesman Journal reported.

The lack of accredited labs in Oregon has been blamed for a dramatic slowdown in the flow of product to dispensaries, forcing many

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Head of Oregon’s embattled testing program to retire is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

L.A. dispensary group abandons ballot measure, supports city’s

A group of Los Angeles medical cannabis dispensaries has formally disavowed a ballot initiative it had gotten qualified for the March 7 municipal election in order to support a parallel ballot measure put forward by the City Council.

Both initiatives would establish a regulatory framework for the marijuana industry in Los Angeles, but for the sake of working hand-in-hand with public officials, the UCBA Trade Association has announced it would campaign in favor of the council’s measure.

“Because our initiative qualified, that put a little bit of pressure on the city to make sure they got their

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L.A. dispensary group abandons ballot measure, supports city’s is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Congressmen partner to create Cannabis Caucus

U.S. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, and Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, are reaching across the political aisle to form a caucus to help pass federal cannabis reform laws.

Rohrabacher, a staunch marijuana industry ally and optimist when it comes to the incoming Trump administration, told DecodeDC the idea was to focus on the states’ rights argument in favor of cannabis legalization.

“There needs to be more strategy between us, those of us who are engaged in this. More of a long-term strategy,” Rohrabacher told DecodeDC, referring to the new Cannabis Caucus.

Blumenauer also has a history

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Congressmen partner to create Cannabis Caucus is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Key federal marijuana protection extended through April

It looks as though the medical cannabis industry is safe. For now.

Over the weekend, the U.S. Senate approved a stopgap federal spending measure to fund the government through April 28, Reuters reported. Included in the bill – a continuing resolution that essentially reapproves last year’s federal spending bill – is an important piece of legislation for those in the marijuana business.

The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from spending any money to interfere with state medical marijuana programs, was among the provisions renewed until April 28. That renewal means pro-cannabis forces have a

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Key federal marijuana protection extended through April is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska’s top cannabis regulator is resigning

Alaska’s top cannabis official, Cynthia Franklin, is stepping down from her post to take another job in the state government.

Franklin said Jan. 6 will be her last day as director of Alaska’s Alcohol & Marijuana Control office (AMCO), according to Alaska Public Media.

In 2014, she was appointed head of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board, which morphed into the AMCO after Alaskans passed a recreational cannabis referendum on Nov. 4 of that year.

Franklin, who has been an attorney since 1989, will next serve as assistant attorney general for the Consumer Protection Unit with Alaska’s Department of Law.

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Alaska’s top cannabis regulator is resigning is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Massachusetts rec law poised to take effect Dec. 15, as planned

Massachusetts’ new recreational marijuana law appears poised to take effect as scheduled Thursday, overcoming initial questions over whether the official tally of the Nov. 8 vote wouldn’t be completed in time.

A spokesman for Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said his office is expected Wednesday to provide the official tally for the legalization vote to the Governor’s Council, the Associated Press reported. Assuming the council certifies the count, the new law would take effect the next day, Dec. 15, as planned.

Galvin had earlier said his office might not finish the official tabulation in time

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Massachusetts rec law poised to take effect Dec. 15, as planned is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: 30% of cannabis businesses ‘very concerned’ about Trump presidency

By Eli McVey

Over half of executives in the cannabis industry are worried about their business prospects under a Trump administration, with 30% saying they are “very concerned,” according to a poll by Marijuana Business Daily.

The survey results underscore the general sense of uneasiness in the wake of the presidential election felt by many of those who run companies in an industry that is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government.

Still, a fair share of executives – roughly a third of those who responded to the survey – are somewhat or very optimistic, believing the climate could get

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Chart: 30% of cannabis businesses ‘very concerned’ about Trump presidency is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Maryland unveils 102 dispensary license winners

The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission announced the names of 102 applicants that have been awarded licenses to operate a dispensary in the state’s new MMJ market, which is expected to become one of the largest on the East Coast.

The companies  were selected from 811 applications. They still must pass background checks before receiving the final go-ahead.

The commission, which has been dogged by complaints and lawsuits over its licensing program, said it employed a Nobel Prize-winning algorithm to help filter out the candidates.

In August, regulators announced the 15 growers and processors approved for licenses.

In the latest round, established

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Maryland unveils 102 dispensary license winners is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs