MMJ Business Daily

Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Campaign Submits Signatures

A campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Oklahoma submitted tens of thousands of signatures on Thursday to the secretary of state’s office in a bid to get a ballot question before voters this November.

The group, Oklahomans for Health, needed to hand in at least 65,987 valid signatures of registered voters to make the ballot. A campaign spokesman said he’s not certain if organizers gathered enough, but estimated that the group is likely within 5,000 above or below, the Tulsa World reported.

“We are close,” a supporter told the paper. “We are real close.”

The campaign expects to find

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Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Campaign Submits Signatures is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Drive-Thru Cannabis Dispensaries a No Go in New Mexico

The New Mexico Health Department has put the brakes on a proposed drive-thru medical cannabis dispensary aimed at serving people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The idea was proposed by David Romero White, president of Organtica, one of the newer medical marijuana producers in the state. He had planned to open the drive-thru this year at the company’s first dispensary in Albuquerque.

White said a drive-thru would benefit patients with PTSD who can feel uncomfortable in crowded dispensaries, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

At least two other states – Oregon and Michigan – have been known to have

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Drive-Thru Cannabis Dispensaries a No Go in New Mexico is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Missouri AG Sues Four Retailers Over CBD Oil

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has filed suit against a quartet of retailers for selling hemp-derived CBD oil, charging they don’t have licenses.

Koster has been seeking to shut down upwards of 30 unlicensed CBD retailers in the state, according to the Associated Press. All but four shops voluntarily shut down after receiving written warnings in the mail.

Koster filed suit against Above the Cloud LLC, which does business as Vapur West, and Main Street Traders LLC, which does business as Main Smoke & Gift Shop. Both are located in Kansas City. The state also sued River City Nutrition, in

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Missouri AG Sues Four Retailers Over CBD Oil is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Five Takeaways From the DEA’s Marijuana Decision

By John Schroyer

Overjoyed. Infuriated. Apathetic.

That’s the marijuana industry’s response to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s decision to say “no” to cannabis rescheduling and “yes” to medical cannabis research. Here’s a closer look at the business and political implications of this week’s DEA verdict. 

 1. New Industry Niche

“Great news.”

That was at the top of an email from Dr. Sue Sisley, who’s been striving for years to put together a study on the medical efficacy of cannabis for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In April, the DEA approved Sisley’s scientific study involving military veterans and MMJ,

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Week in Review: Five Takeaways From the DEA’s Marijuana Decision is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ohio Supreme Court Delivers Blow to State’s MMJ Lawyers

The Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct has determined that local lawyers who help marijuana entrepreneurs launch their businesses or offer advice would be violating its code of professional conduct.

The non-binding, advisory decision is a blow to prospective cannabis entrepreneurs who want to set up a medical cannabis business in the state – as well as lawyers who want to serve new companies. The board did note, however, that the high court could change the rules of conduct to give lawyers a clear green light.

The board’s seven-page opinion was issued in response to three questions Ohio

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Ohio Supreme Court Delivers Blow to State’s MMJ Lawyers is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

North Dakota to Vote on Legalizing Medical Cannabis

North Dakota could become the cannabis bridge between the Midwest and the western United States if voters there decide to pass a newly certified ballot question this November to legalize medical marijuana.

The North Dakota Compassionate Care Act, which is supported by a committee chaired by Ray Morgan, handed in more than 17,600 signatures a month ago to the secretary of state’s office, which declared on Thursday that it had cleared the hurdle of 13,452 to make the ballot.

If the measure passes, it will be the first in a swath in the middle

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North Dakota to Vote on Legalizing Medical Cannabis is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Only Eight Dispensaries in San Diego So Far

It’s been more than two years since San Diego’s City Council approved restrictive medical cannabis dispensary regulations that were aimed at setting up 36 storefronts in the city.

But roughly 29 months later a mere eight licensed dispensaries are up and running, far short of the number city officials pledged would be operational, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.

Simultaneously, illegal dispensaries have proliferated, the paper reported, with demand for MMJ keeping unlicensed storefronts in business since the small number of legal dispensaries simply can’t satisfy the number of customers in the city.

That situation

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Only Eight Dispensaries in San Diego So Far is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Report: Gov’t Won’t Reschedule Marijuana But Will Open Doors to Cannabis Research

By Marijuana Business Daily staff

The Obama administration is poised to make it easier for scientists to conduct marijuana research but will keep the plant listed as a Schedule 1 drug, the New York Times reported Wednesday evening.

The decision – which could be announced as soon as Thursday – will no doubt be a major disappointment to the marijuana industry, which had hoped for more sweeping changes governing the legal status of cannabis.

It follows months of speculation that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug, a move that would

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Report: Gov’t Won’t Reschedule Marijuana But Will Open Doors to Cannabis Research is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Arizona Rec Initiative Qualifies for Ballot

And then there were seven.

Statewide cannabis legalization questions that have definitely made the November ballot, that is. On Wednesday, the Arizona secretary of state notified the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol that it had formally qualified for a spot on its statewide ballot, the campaign announced in a press release. The issue will be known as Proposition 205.

The campaign, which is supported by the Marijuana Policy Project and by the dispensary community in Arizona, may be in trouble, however.

It hasn’t been polling well over the summer, and a cannabis consumer group that’s dedicated to

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Arizona Rec Initiative Qualifies for Ballot is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Large Bank Working With Company Aiming to Tap Florida MMJ Market

One of the biggest financial institutions in the Tampa Bay area has extended a $100,000 line of credit to a company that hopes to capitalize on Florida’s upcoming medical marijuana industry.

Regions Bank is providing the credit line to Efftec International Inc., a Las Vegas-based firm that owns a majority stake in Future Farms, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported. Future Farms is a retail indoor garden and hydroponics center in Miami.

Future Farms plans on getting into the medical cannabis industry if Florida voters approve MMJ at the ballot box in November.

Efftec also announced in February that

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Large Bank Working With Company Aiming to Tap Florida MMJ Market is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs