MMJ Business Daily

Arkansas high court nixes one of two medical marijuana initiatives

Arkansas’ Supreme Court disqualified one of two medical cannabis legalization ballot initiatives, leaving a lone measure for voters to decide on and perhaps improving its chances of success.

The high court ruled 5-2 on Thursday that roughly 12,000 signatures submitted by Arkansans for Compassionate Care were invalid, meaning its measure, designated as Issue 7, doesn’t have enough signatures and won’t appear on the ballot next month, the Associated Press reported.

The ruling was made after almost 142,000 people had participated in early voting, which began Monday for Arkansas’ general election, according to the AP.

A competing measure, Issue

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Arkansas high court nixes one of two medical marijuana initiatives is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Big changes coming for DC’s medical cannabis businesses

By John Schroyer

The medical cannabis industry in Washington DC is in for an interesting ride over the next few months, with regulatory changes on tap that could provide major expansion opportunities for businesses.

But exactly how the upcoming regulations may affect the DC industry is up in the air, depending on a number of factors.

To begin with, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a directive in late September that the amount of MMJ patients can purchase in a 30-day period be doubled, to 4 ounces. It’s unclear when or if that directive will go into effect; but if it does, dispensary

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Big changes coming for DC’s medical cannabis businesses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Florida NORML sues, saying MMJ legalization left off some ballots

The Florida chapter of NORML said it is suing a county elections commissioner after Amendment 2, a state ballot initiative to broaden Florida’s medical marijuana program, was found to be missing from some ballots.

The scope of the problem is unknown, but the suspect ballots were distributed in Broward County – one of Florida’s largest counties – the Sun Sentinel reported.

NORML wants a judge to order the county to stop distributing any additional ballots until the problem is resolved. The group also wants an “emergency plan” implemented to issue new ballots to replace those without Amendment

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Florida NORML sues, saying MMJ legalization left off some ballots is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Licensing fees for CBD oil dispensaries could soar in Texas

Licensing fees would surge – to $1.3 million from $6,000 – for Texas CBD oil dispensaries under a proposal being considered by the state’s Department of Public Safety, sparking industry concerns that such a move would deliver a crippling blow to businesses.

Regulators also have proposed other changes that would drive up the industry’s costs and perhaps limit the number of CBD oil dispensaries that can operate in the state, according to Crain’s San Antonio.

The state had announced earlier it would issue licenses in June 2017 for $6,000 for businesses to grow, process and dispense non-psychoactive cannabis. Use would be limited

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Licensing fees for CBD oil dispensaries could soar in Texas is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Report: Colorado MJ sales expected to slow after torrid growth

Colorado’s legal marijuana sales are skyrocketing but growth is expected to come back to earth in the next five years, reflecting falling prices and a shrinking black market, a new report predicts.

Legal marijuana sales surged 42.2% between 2014 and 2015, fueled by the transition away from a black market, demand from in-state residents and growth in Colorado’s population, according to the Marijuana Policy Group, a Denver economic and policy consulting firm.

According to the report, supplanting the black market accounted for 36.2 percentage points of the overall growth in sales.

But once that well dries

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Report: Colorado MJ sales expected to slow after torrid growth is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

British Sugar to grow cannabis for GW Pharma

GW Pharmaceuticals, the British developer of a CBD-based anti-seizure medicine that could be on American shelves in 2018, has contracted Britain’s leading sugar supplier to grow its medical cannabis.

British Sugar, the top beet sugar supplier in the UK, will grow the cannabis in an 18-hectare greenhouse in eastern England, where the company now grows tomatoes, according to The Telegraph.

It’s an important advance for the cannabis industry to have yet another major mainstream company enter the sector.

British Sugar plans to plant the first seedlings in January and to have the first harvest in April. After

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British Sugar to grow cannabis for GW Pharma is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Medical cannabis industry in Washington State on life support

By John Schroyer

Washington State’s marijuana industry appears to be evolving into a singular cannabis market, with almost no distinction between medical and recreational.

That’s the apparent outcome so far from the state’s move to merge its previously unregulated MMJ market with the heavily regulated adult-use businesses that materialized after voters approved rec in 2012.

The overarching result, say many on the ground in Washington State, is that most businesses and consumers are moving toward an industry that caters mostly to those who purchase cannabis, regardless of whether it’s used for medical purposes or simply for fun.

“That’s kind

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Medical cannabis industry in Washington State on life support is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Pennsylvania publishes ‘temporary’ rules for MMJ dispensaries

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Tuesday published a tentative 25-page version of regulations for medical cannabis dispensaries and promised more temporary rules for growers and processors will be published online by Oct. 29.

The draft dispensary rules comes about two months after the state published a set of proposals for industry regulations in August, just a few months after the state’s governor signed a law legalizing MMJ.

Some of the highlights from the dispensary rules, which the agency emphasized have not yet been finalized:

• A medical practitioner or pharmacist needs to be

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Pennsylvania publishes ‘temporary’ rules for MMJ dispensaries is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska’s first cannabis testing lab opens

Recreational shops and commercial and private growers in Alaska now have a testing lab to analyze their cannabis, clearing a major obstacle for recreational sales to proceed.

CannTest, based in Anchorage, got the regulatory green light on Friday and opened for business on Monday, according to the Peninsula Clarion.

With testing underway, Alaska’s recreational market is ready to kick off. The testing process was one of the final hurdles to clear for sales to begin. Now growers can start supplying retailers.

CannTest will test for purity and potency. Alaskan regulators require marijuana to be tested at a state-licensed laboratory for

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Alaska’s first cannabis testing lab opens is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Delaware awards third and final MMJ business license

Delaware health department officials have awarded the state’s third and final medical marijuana business license to the First State Compassion Center.

First State, which opened Delaware’s first dispensary in Wilmington in June 2015, now has control of two of the state’s three MMJ businesses.

The state’s other dispensary, Columbia Care, was awarded Delaware’s second license on Sept. 23.

Joe Handlon, an attorney with Delaware’s justice department, said First State’s Sussex County location could be open as soon as January because it can obtain product from its Wilmington cultivation site, according to the Cape Gazette.

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Delaware awards third and final MMJ business license is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs