MMJ Business Daily

MA Could Expand Medical Cannabis Program, Boost Competition

Massachusetts health regulators proposed changes to the state’s medical marijuana program on Wednesday designed to boost patient numbers and make it easier for patients to compare dispensary prices.

The proposals include allowing nurse practitioners to certify patients for MMJ, a move that could expand the state’s patient pool. Regulators also proposed allowing dispensaries to post their prices online, MassLive.com reported, which would boost competition among dispensaries.

Another proposed regulation would give dispensaries more flexibility to transfer products among one another, while another would require product labels to include warnings related to pregnancy and breastfeeding.

The proposals were made

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MA Could Expand Medical Cannabis Program, Boost Competition is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MMJ Organic Certification Program Proceeding in Maine

Maine could become the first state on the East Coast where medical marijuana is grown to standards like those for certified organic foods.

A new program to create an organic certification system for MMJ in Maine could be rolled out by next summer. If so, the market for certified organic marijuana could be significant if Maine voters approve a ballot measure this fall legalizing recreational MJ. Polls suggest the initiative will pass.

Launched by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the Certified Clean Cannabis program is undergoing a yearlong trial phase in which five MMJ cultivators in the

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MMJ Organic Certification Program Proceeding in Maine is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Michigan Poised to Approve Statewide MMJ Regulatory Scheme

By John Schroyer

Michigan is one of the last “Wild West” medical marijuana markets, but it’s poised to approve a statewide regulatory scheme advocates hope will bring stability to the MMJ industry.

State lawmakers could sign off as soon as this week on legislation to establish a statewide oversight and licensing system for MMJ businesses.

That’s something Michigan has lacked since voters legalized medical cannabis in 2008. Michigan’s freewheeling MMJ industry has been technically illegal since a 2011 ruling from the state Supreme Court. Instead, the MMJ market is composed of a patchwork of regulations that

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Michigan Poised to Approve Statewide MMJ Regulatory Scheme is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Cannabis Infrastructure Firm Raises $4M for Greenhouse Facility

A Denver-based cannabis infrastructure and logistics firm has raised $4 million of a targeted $7 million to build its second greenhouse as well as an extraction facility and warehouse in southern Colorado, in Pueblo County.

GrowCo already operates one greenhouse at its 160-acre site in Pueblo County. Earlier this month it applied for a new round of debt security funding in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to BusinessDen.com. The first greenhouse site also has an extraction facility and warehouse.

CEO Wayne Harding said the company is on track to hit the $7 million target. “We have a

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Cannabis Infrastructure Firm Raises $4M for Greenhouse Facility is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Polls Show Rec MJ Winning in California, Massachusetts

The campaigns to legalize adult-use cannabis in California and Massachusetts are well-positioned to win in November, a trio of polls released this week suggests.

In Massachusetts, a new poll by WBUR/MassINC has found that 50% of voters support the legalization initiative, Question 4, while 45% are opposed and 5% are undecided, MassLive.com reported. It’s the first public poll in months that has found the measure passing; two prior surveys had found Question 4 losing.

In California, a pair of new polls have both found solid voter support, the Denver Post reported. One, by Survey

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New Polls Show Rec MJ Winning in California, Massachusetts is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Big Investment Bank Predicts $50 Billion U.S. Cannabis Industry

A mainstream investment bank predicts in a new report the U.S. cannabis industry may balloon to $50 billion over the next decade, more than eight times its current size and reflecting federal legalization of marijuana and a shrinkage of the black market.

The report from Cowen & Co. is notable for its prediction as well as the fact that it comes from a New York investment bank founded nearly a century ago, in 1918.

The public forecast from a mainstream firm gives the cannabis industry an added boost in legitimacy and credibility. Up to 10 states could be voting on legalizing medical or

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Big Investment Bank Predicts $50 Billion U.S. Cannabis Industry is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Prominent Travel Writer: ‘Get Ready’ for Age of MJ Tourism

One of the most well-known travel writers in the world, Arthur Frommer, predicted recently that cannabis tourism is going to become big business after the November election, when up to five more states could legalize recreational use.

If accurate, marijuana tourism would present additional opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the legalization of marijuana.

“The prospects seem strong that marijuana is now about to be added to beer and wine as a permissible product to order,” Frommer wrote in a column last week, the Denver Post reported. “This seems about to happen. Get ready for the era

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Prominent Travel Writer: ‘Get Ready’ for Age of MJ Tourism is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Growing Without Synthetic Pesticides: Q&A With Fleurish Farms’ Ethan Rubendall

By John Schroyer

Grower Ethan Rubendall is arguably an extremist: He refuses to use chemicals on his cannabis plants, opting instead for all-natural techniques to fight pests.

He argues his approach – including the use of plant-based sprays and aphid-repelling crops like chickpeas – is more effective than the potentially toxic chemicals other MJ growers use.

Rubendall has been growing cannabis professionally for about three years, most of those as the head of plant nutrition at California’s Fleurish Farms. During that time, he’s developed his own approach to pest management, which has blossomed into a hot-button issue among cultivators and

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Growing Without Synthetic Pesticides: Q&A With Fleurish Farms’ Ethan Rubendall is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Pharma Company Fighting AZ Rec Motivated to Protect Market Share

A pharmaceutical company that donated half a million dollars to combatting a ballot measure that would legalize adult-use cannabis in Arizona is concerned about losing business to natural cannabinoids found in marijuana.

Insys Therapeutics, which gave $500,000 to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy on Aug. 31, is developing a synthetic cannabis product called the Dronabinol Oral Solution to help chemotherapy patients fight nausea and vomiting.

In a 2007 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company wrote that marijuana legalization could cut into its profits from Dronabinol, the Intercept reported Monday.

“Legalization of marijuana or non-synthetic

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Pharma Company Fighting AZ Rec Motivated to Protect Market Share is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska Regulators Approve First Retail Rec Marijuana License

Alaska regulators have begun approving the first retail marijuana licenses under the state’s recreational cannabis law.

Frozen Budz, the first establishment, will be located in Fairbanks, the Associated Press reported. Frozen Budz’s co-owner, Destiny Neade, hopes to open her shop by about Oct. 1, assuming she can source enough marijuana from growers.

The Marijuana Control Board began approving cultivation and testing licenses in June, with the aim of getting growers and testing labs up and running before retailers, in the hopes of streamlining the industry’s rollout. Roughly 20 total retail licenses were up for review last

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Alaska Regulators Approve First Retail Rec Marijuana License is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs