MMJ Business Daily

Canadian pharmacy chain applies to dispense medical marijuana

Canada’s largest pharmacy chain, Shoppers Drug Mart, has formally applied to the federal government to be a distributor of medical marijuana.

If Shoppers Drug Mart is allowed to sell medical marijuana by Health Canada, it would mark a major shift in Canada’s medical marijuana market.

Currently, Canadian medical cannabis patients must either grow their own cannabis or order it from one of the 36 licensed cultivation companies in the country, which then mail it to patients.

Though Shoppers Drug Mart has applied to be a licensed producer, it would not grow its own medical marijuana, CBC News

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Canadian pharmacy chain applies to dispense medical marijuana is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Tech investor donates $200K to AZ adult-use legalization effort

Scott Banister, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has been an angel investor in Facebook, PayPal, Zappos, Uber and SpaceX, has donated $200,000 to the recreational marijuana legalization effort in Arizona.
While a student at the University of Illinois,…

DOJ poised to dismiss longstanding MMJ dispensary case

The U.S. Department of Justice is on the verge of dismissing a 3-year-old case against Berkeley Patients Group, according to a press release from the medical marijuana dispensary.

The DOJ initiated forfeiture proceedings against the dispensary in May 2013, a commonly-used tactic at the time against many medical cannabis businesses in California. But after Congress approved an amendment in 2014 that prohibited federal agents from interfering with state-legal marijuana companies – the amendment was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this summer – the DOJ was left with basically no recourse.

That led the

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DOJ poised to dismiss longstanding MMJ dispensary case is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Eaze-y money: MMJ delivery app raises $13 million

Eaze, the company behind a popular app for medical marijuana deliveries, announced Monday that it has raised $13 million in a Series B financing round.

The round was led by Fresh VC, a 2-year-old venture capital firm whose co-founder, Brian Sheng, previously worked for China’s largest venture capital firm, Shenzen Capital Group. Other Series B investors include DCM Ventures, Tusk Ventures, Winklevoss Capital and Rose Capital.

San Francisco–based Eaze has raised more than $25 million in total funding to date, according to a press release.

Founded in 2014, the company is hoping to take advantage of the marijuana industry’s

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Eaze-y money: MMJ delivery app raises $13 million is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Weedmaps sponsors Esports tournament

Weedmaps, the popular dispensary and recreational marijuana store review site, is sponsoring one of the biggest Esports tournaments of the year, Smash Summit 3.

The event – in which competitors will play the Nintendo game Super Smash Bros. Melee – is expected to attract 70,000 viewers, according to gaming website kotaku.com.

The gaming community seems to be a growing target of Weedmaps, which recently hired a director of esports and gaming, Cody Dragon.

It’s the latest example of cannabis’ growing acceptance in mainstream marketing. For example, last year, medical marijuana cultivator Cresco Labs was a

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Weedmaps sponsors Esports tournament is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart: Marijuana legalization campaigns raising more money than opposition

By Eli McVey

With just two weeks to go until Election Day, the marijuana industry has reason to be optimistic that 2016 will truly shape up to be a historic year for cannabis and pave the way for billions of dollars in business opportunities.

Collectively, committees behind marijuana measures on the ballot in nine states have raised $3.25 for every $1 donated to groups trying to sink the initiatives, according to an analysis of contributions to campaigns for and against the proposals.

The data is encouraging for legalization supporters, as the comparatively large amount of money contributed to pro-legalization

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Chart: Marijuana legalization campaigns raising more money than opposition is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Report: Arkansas’ costs to legalize MMJ could outweigh tax revenue

Arkansas state finance officials said in a report released Thursday that legalizing medical marijuana would cost more to administer and enforce than the tax revenue it would generate, which could bolster opposition to two pro-MMJ measures on the ballot.

The Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) contacted tax officials in states that have legalized medical marijuana but not recreational cannabis seeking their 2015 marijuana sales figures, according to the Booneville Democrat.

Six of the 21 states responded, and the DFA compared the sales figures from those states to their respective populations to arrive at the following per capita

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Report: Arkansas’ costs to legalize MMJ could outweigh tax revenue is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week In Review: Detroit crackdown, NYSE listing bid & LSU proposes big bucks on MMJ

By Bart Schaneman, Omar Sacirbey and John Schroyer

Detroit cracks down on dispensaries, a cannabis real estate investment trust eyes a Big Board listing, and Louisiana State University proposes spending millions on medical marijuana cultivation.

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

Fair treatment

The unpredictability of Michigan’s medical marijuana industry continues, even after state lawmakers paved the way for a statewide MMJ regulatory system. Detroit authorities have closed dozens of dispensaries because they didn’t comply with the city’s new zoning ordinance, enacted earlier this year. The city

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Week In Review: Detroit crackdown, NYSE listing bid & LSU proposes big bucks on MMJ is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Prominent CA testing lab: 84% of MJ samples contaminated

The cannabis industry still has a pesticide problem.

Steep Hill, one of the leading names in cannabis testing, said in a press release Wednesday that a whopping 84% of marijuana samples submitted to its Berkeley, California, lab came back positive for pesticide residues. The results were for samples tested during a 30-day period ending Oct. 10.

The residue findings include chemicals such as myclobutanil, a key ingredient in Eagle 20, a pesticide often favored by marijuana growers for its effectiveness against pests such as powdery mildew.

But Eagle 20 and other potentially toxic pesticides have become a hot-button topic in

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Prominent CA testing lab: 84% of MJ samples contaminated is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

California readies landmark water rules for cannabis cultivators

By Bart Schaneman

California is preparing landmark water regulations for the state’s marijuana growers to safeguard the environment and encourage conservation.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is drafting the water-use rules, which are expected to increase growers’ paperwork and costs in areas such as water storage.

Nevertheless, industry officials welcome the move, which is expected to require up to 50,000 growers to get permits to use irrigation water.

The regulations represent one of the first times a state has attempted to oversee water used for legal marijuana cultivation, which is expected to grow in California in

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California readies landmark water rules for cannabis cultivators is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs