MMJ Business Daily

The Future of Cannabis Lighting Technology: Q&A With Lighting Guru Neil Yorio

By John Schroyer

Neil Yorio began his professional career working for NASA, researching more efficient ways to grow plants in space.

Now Yorio is digging into more earthbound matters – such as studying how light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can optimize plant yields for cannabis.

After 20 years of research on LEDs, Yorio turned to the private sector. In 2014 he helped found BIOS Lighting, a Florida company that serves agriculture companies. He’s vice president of lighting research. About half of BIOS’ business comes from marijuana companies.

Marijuana Business Daily spoke with Yorio to learn why he sees LEDs as vastly superior

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The Future of Cannabis Lighting Technology: Q&A With Lighting Guru Neil Yorio is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

U.S. Bank Tells Alaska MJ Agency No Credit Card Payments

A major U.S. bank has told Alaska’s Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office it can no longer accept credit card payments for marijuana licenses, a move that will no doubt crimp cannabis entrepreneurs trying to reduce their reliance on cash.

U.S. Bank didn’t go into details about the reasoning behind its decision, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported, noting only that marijuana is illegal in the eyes of the federal government.

“Although legalized in many states, marijuana remains illegal under federal law,” the bank said in a statement, according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce.

“As a federally regulated

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U.S. Bank Tells Alaska MJ Agency No Credit Card Payments is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Dueling Ballot Measures, MT Dispensaries Close, New York Aims for Reform

By John Schroyer

Arkansas makes what could be an offbeat piece of medical marijuana history, Montana’s MMJ industry comes to at least a temporary end, and New York officials look to bolster the state’s medical cannabis industry.

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

Two for the Price of One?

Arkansas will be an interesting state to watch on Election Day.

It’s apparently the first state to have a pair of competing medical marijuana legalization measures on the ballot vying for the same votes. Add to the mix the fact

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Week in Review: Dueling Ballot Measures, MT Dispensaries Close, New York Aims for Reform is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Denver MJ Social Use Initiative Makes Ballot

A campaign to allow businesses such as bars to permit public cannabis use on their property has officially made the November ballot in Colorado’s capital city.

The initiative, dubbed the Neighborhood-Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program, has the support so far of at least 50 businesses in the city, the Denver Post reported.

If approved by voters, it would allow businesses to establish marijuana consumption areas on their premises, as long as the companies meet certain criteria, such as obtaining support from a “neighborhood group.”

Consumption areas could be either indoor or outdoor, and consumers would have to bring

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Denver MJ Social Use Initiative Makes Ballot is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Denver MJ Social Use Initiative Makes Ballot

A campaign to allow businesses such as bars to permit public cannabis use on their property has officially made the November ballot in Colorado’s capital city.

The initiative, dubbed the Neighborhood-Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program, has the support so far of at least 50 businesses in the city, the Denver Post reported.

If approved by voters, it would allow businesses to establish marijuana consumption areas on their premises, as long as the companies meet certain criteria, such as obtaining support from a “neighborhood group.”

Consumption areas could be either indoor or outdoor, and consumers would have to bring

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Denver MJ Social Use Initiative Makes Ballot is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Infused MMJ Products to Go On Sale in New Jersey for First Time

A New Jersey medical marijuana dispensary has for the first time received state permission to produce and sell cannabis products other than raw flower.

Compassionate Sciences Alternative Treatment Center, in Bellmawr, got word from the New Jersey Health Department on Friday that it will be allowed to manufacture and market infused lotion and lozenges. The lotion should be ready within a week, according to Philly.com, and the lozenges in about three weeks.

The dispensary didn’t reveal any details about its new product line, and the news site could not reach company executives for comment.

The news of the

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Infused MMJ Products to Go On Sale in New Jersey for First Time is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Australia to Legalize Medical Marijuana This Fall

Medical marijuana will become legal in Australia come November, but it will be tightly regulated and the federal government must still set up a national oversight system.

While a new market will open, cannabis entrepreneurs shouldn’t expect an MMJ industry to be fully up and running in Australia any time soon. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that it could be “some time” before a fully functioning medical cannabis system is in place and serving patients.

The legalization move came after approval this week from the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The formal decision was published Wednesday.

A local medical cannabis

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Australia to Legalize Medical Marijuana This Fall is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Second Medical Cannabis Measure Makes Arkansas Ballot

Arkansas election officials approved a second ballot initiative for this fall to legalize medical marijuana, a situation that some cannabis advocates predict could sink both measures by splitting the vote.

Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office signed off Wednesday on the latest initiative – which is backed by Arkansans United for Medical Marijuana – saying it had met the threshold of 84,859 valid signatures, the Associated Press reported.

In July, election officials certified the other ballot measure, which is backed by by Arkansans for Compassionate Care.

Marijuana Policy Project Executive Director Rob Kampia has predicted that having two

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Second Medical Cannabis Measure Makes Arkansas Ballot is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The Improving MJ Investment Climate: Q&A With Al Foreman, Tuatara’s Chief Investment Officer

By Omar Sacirbey

Tuatara Capital recently made history when it raised $93 million to wager on marijuana-related businesses, a record sum for a cannabis investment firm.

Tuatara secured the money mainly from deep-pocketed individuals. But a company executive predicts big institutional investors will begin focusing on marijuana businesses in as soon as 12 months.

Al Foreman, Tuatara’s chief investment officer, expects that major investors like banks will start doing their “homework and focus on the industry from an investment standpoint” given the upcoming elections. Marijuana legalization is on the ballot in several states.

For its part, Tuatara – a

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The Improving MJ Investment Climate: Q&A With Al Foreman, Tuatara’s Chief Investment Officer is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Report: Opposition to Rec MJ Campaign in Nevada Mostly Mum

Although recreational marijuana legalization isn’t a foregone conclusion in Nevada, it seems like opponents of adult-use may think it is.

That’s according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which reported that Nevadans “have heard little” from anti-legalization groups.

As of Monday, the paper reported, the three groups registered in opposition to legalization had not purchased any TV ad slots, compared with the campaign behind the rec initiative, which has spent over $900,000 on TV ad space in southern Nevada alone for the month prior to Election Day.

The only real pushback against rec has come from a Reno-based nonprofit,

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Report: Opposition to Rec MJ Campaign in Nevada Mostly Mum is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs