MMJ Business Daily

BioTrackTHC Gets Top Score in Puerto Rico

BioTrackTHC said Wednesday that it earned the highest score in a heated competition in Puerto Rico among cannabis tech companies trying to land the U.S. territory’s seed-to-sale medical marijuana tracking contract.

No other details were revealed in the company’s press release, and a contract has yet to be signed. But the Metro Puerto Rico newspaper reported that BioTrackTHC has won the contract.

The Florida-based firm will be paid $20,000 in advance, plus $16,000 a year and $250 for every hour of service, the paper reported. Work on the system could begin as early as September.

Puerto Rico is

…

BioTrackTHC Gets Top Score in Puerto Rico is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Record Raise: Tuatara Lands $93M for Investments in Marijuana Businesses

By Omar Sacirbey

A New York-based private equity firm has raised $93 million to pump into cannabis companies, giving it the largest pool of capital ever gathered for marijuana-related investments.

Tuatara Capital, founded in 2014, announced today that it has closed out its two funds and will use the capital to make equity investments in high-growth cannabis companies in the research & testing, cultivation, processing, consumer and retail sub-sectors.

Tuatara said its original fund target was $80 million, meaning the firm surpassed its goal by about 16%.

The amount is significantly larger than the $75 million raised by

…

Record Raise: Tuatara Lands $93M for Investments in Marijuana Businesses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canadian Expert: Allow Small-Scale Businesses Into Rec Industry

The Canadian medical cannabis industry, while legal at the federal level, is essentially dominated by a handful of nationally-sanctioned large companies. As the Canadian government prepares legislation to legalize adult use-cannabis next year, a drug expert has proclaimed it should allow a variety of independent, small-scale growers and dispensaries that are currently illegal to participate in the emerging recreational market.

If the Canadian Parliament takes the advice of Prof. Neil Boyd, a lecturer at Simon Fraser University and a co-author of a report that the nation’s Drug Policy Coalition is handing over to a Canadian task

…

Canadian Expert: Allow Small-Scale Businesses Into Rec Industry is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canadian Cannabis Company’s Move to Large Stock Exchange Could Create Positive Ripple Effect

By Omar Sacirbey

Canada-based Canopy Growth recently made history when it began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, becoming the first marijuana cultivator to list on a major North American exchange.

The move could spur more Canadian – and possibly even U.S. – medical cannabis companies to list on the exchange, one of the world’s largest.

Moreover, Canada’s federally licensed MMJ cultivators may be positioned to list in the United States, given their legal backing by the Canadian government. U.S. cultivators, by contrast, aren’t expected to list on a big exchange here such as the Nasdaq until the federal government

…

Canadian Cannabis Company’s Move to Large Stock Exchange Could Create Positive Ripple Effect is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Report: Medical Cannabis Being Used As Currency in Oregon

Some Oregonians are using medical marijuana as currency to buy and sell items on sites like Craigslist.com, opening the door to barter transactions.

The development is adding a new wrinkle to the state’s cannabis market, with some growers reportedly using their crop in trades.

Justin Gottlieb, an activist with the High Desert Cannabis Community, told the Bend Bulletin that dispensaries tend to rely on a few cultivators for their product, while smaller growers and those without dispensary connections are often left with excess cannabis.

Barter is just another way to unload that excess product.

“(N)o one wants to see their

…

Report: Medical Cannabis Being Used As Currency in Oregon is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Missouri MMJ Campaign Sues State for Ballot Spot

A campaign attempting to legalize medical cannabis in Missouri announced that it is suing the state for disqualifying thousands of signatures the group submitted to get its proposal on the November ballot.

Although the secretary of state had until today to rule on whether or not the initiative would make the ballot, the MMJ campaign preempted it with a legal challenge on Monday, according to the Associated Press.

New Approach Missouri, which is behind the campaign, is hoping to force officials to include invalidated signatures from one of the state’s six congressional districts, a strategic move that it said in

…

Missouri MMJ Campaign Sues State for Ballot Spot is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Maryland MMJ Program Proceeds After Initial OK for Growers, Processors

By Omar Sacirbey

Maryland’s long-delayed medical marijuana program is finally getting off the ground now that regulators have given preliminary approval to 15 growers and 15 processors.

The development sets a clear path for the emergence of the state’s MMJ industry, which is expected to become one of the largest on the East Coast.

But concerns over the application scoring process are already emerging, which could lead to lawsuits and potentially bog down the program.

The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission moved the program forward last week by announcing it has selected preliminary winners of cultivation and processing licenses. Officials plan

…

Maryland MMJ Program Proceeds After Initial OK for Growers, Processors is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New York Medical Marijuana Companies in the Red

New York’s medical cannabis companies are struggling to turn a profit, according to a new report from the Albany Times Union.

That’s not a total surprise, given how slow the market has been to pick up in the state. In early January, less than 100 patients had registered for the medical cannabis program, and some dispensaries didn’t serve a single patient on their first day.

Three months later, just a thousand patients had been served, and only about half of those that had signed up by that point.

And now, eight months in, three

…

New York Medical Marijuana Companies in the Red is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New York Medical Marijuana Companies in the Red

New York’s medical cannabis companies are struggling to turn a profit, according to a new report from the Albany Times Union.

That’s not a total surprise, given how slow the market has been to pick up in the state. In early January, less than 100 patients had registered for the medical cannabis program, and some dispensaries didn’t serve a single patient on their first day.

Three months later, just a thousand patients had been served, and only about half of those that had signed up by that point.

And now, eight months in, three

…

New York Medical Marijuana Companies in the Red is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ohio Towns Move to Block Medical Cannabis Businesses

Several Ohio municipalities are moving to block marijuana businesses from opening within their borders just weeks ahead of the launch of the state’s medical marijuana program.

A few cities have put six-month moratoriums on marijuana dispensaries, growers and processors, while several others have similar legislation in the works, according to Cleveland.com.

Ohio’s medical marijuana law goes into effect Sept 8, and business licenses won’t likely be announced for at least six months. So the six-month moratoriums may not matter, the paper reported.

The towns that have passed six-month moratoriums on licensed marijuana businesses include: Lakewood, Beavercreek, Troy and Piqua.

…

Ohio Towns Move to Block Medical Cannabis Businesses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs