MMJ Business Daily

First Florida CBD Dispensary Ready for Launch

Florida’s first dispensary plans to open Tuesday, roughly two years after the state legalized CBD-based medicine.

The distinction of being the first business in the state to legally sell CBD products goes to Trulieve in North Florida, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Not far behind is Alpha/Surterra, a company with offices in Tampa and Tallahassee that had its first harvest last week. The company plans to start dispensing later this summer, the Times reported.

Besides Truelieve and Surterra, another four nurseries are growing and extracting oil from cannabis, according to Florida’s Department of Health.

Trulieve plans to open additional

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First Florida CBD Dispensary Ready for Launch is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Head of Prominent MJ Industry Group Leaves

Mike Elliott, for years a staple of cannabis business advocacy in Colorado, has left the Marijuana Industry Group (MIG), a state trade organization he helped develop into a true political force.

Elliott, the former executive director of MIG, has not yet commented on why he left the organization, according to the Denver Post.

But MIG confirmed that Elliott is no longer with the advocacy group. It did not explain the circumstances of his departure, saying it does not discuss personnel issues.

Bruce Nassau, the CEO of Tru Cannabis and incoming board chair of MIG, said in a statement to the

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Head of Prominent MJ Industry Group Leaves is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Assessing the Marijuana Investment Climate: Q&A With First Capital Venture’s Erin Turoff

By John Schroyer

Erin Turoff packed her belongings and moved to Denver from New York City earlier this year for one reason: to get into marijuana investing.

The seasoned asset management professional – who previously rubbed elbows with institutional investors and hedge fund managers – is convinced cannabis is the investment world’s next big thing. 

And she’s not going to miss the boat.

After moving to Colorado, Turoff landed a position as the chief operating officer and managing director of First Capital Ventures, a Denver-based investment fund that aims to pump tens of millions into the legal marijuana industry.

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Assessing the Marijuana Investment Climate: Q&A With First Capital Venture’s Erin Turoff is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado Suspends Doctors for MJ Violations

States with medical marijuana programs are increasingly clamping down on doctors accused of writing medical marijuana recommendations for people who don’t need them.

The implications are significant for medical marijuana businesses, since physicians write recommendations for their patients, and such violations could invite greater regulatory scrutiny on the industry.

The latest state to take action is Colorado, where regulators suspended the licenses of four doctors for recommending medical marijuana and “authorizing high plant counts for patients without medical necessity,” according to the Denver Business Journal.

It’s the first time since Colorado passed medical marijuana 16 years ago that state

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Colorado Suspends Doctors for MJ Violations is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Poll Spells Bad News for Rec Legalization in MA

More than half of registered voters in Massachusetts are against a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana for people 21 years of age and older, according to a survey by a conservative political action committee from Florida.

The poll by Gravis Marketing for Jobs First found that 51% of Bay State voters said they intend to vote against recreational marijuana legalization question. Another 41% of voters said they would support it, while 9% were undecided.

Massachusetts once seemed a strong prospect for rec legalization, but this is the second recent poll to show the measure losing, suggesting that

New Poll Spells Bad News for Rec Legalization in MA is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Cannabis Cultivation Leasing Companies Undergoing Growth Spurt

By Omar Sacirbey

Prospective marijuana growers who lack the money to bankroll their own sites increasingly are turning to companies that specialize in leasing land to cannabis cultivators.

That has created a mini boom in the emerging real estate leasing business – and given cultivators a new avenue for launching their business.

Executives with real estate companies that lease to marijuana growers say the market for their services is large and growing, fueled by increased demand for cannabis and the need for land to grow the plant.

Investors, meanwhile, are pouring millions of dollars into these businesses. Looking ahead, the

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Cannabis Cultivation Leasing Companies Undergoing Growth Spurt is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

PA Establishes Physicians Working Group for Medical Cannabis Program

In a move that may encourage Pennsylvania physicians to get certified to recommend medical marijuana, the state’s Department of Health has established a physician working group to help implement its new medical marijuana law.

It’s an important issue because in some states MMJ programs have suffered because of a lack of physicians willing to recommend cannabis.

“Physicians and their medical expertise are crucial to the success of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, and we will continue to engage them throughout the process to ensure their medical expertise is heard on behalf of patients,” the state’s health secretary, Dr. Karen Murphy,

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PA Establishes Physicians Working Group for Medical Cannabis Program is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Insecticide Maker Sued Over Cannabis

A class action lawsuit has been filed in Oregon against the Midwestern manufacturer of an insecticide that was purported to be all-natural – but allegedly wasn’t – and was used on cannabis that was supposedly organic.

Benjamin Efran has filed suit in Multnomah County Court against All In Enterprises over Guardian Mite Spray. It was advertised to contain only “cinnamon oil, lemon grass oil, citric acid, yeast extract, sunflower lecithin, and water,” but was found to also have ivermectin, a chemical pesticide, according to Courthouse News Service.

Ivermectin, which is a type of avermectin, “can irritate the eyes, interfere

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Insecticide Maker Sued Over Cannabis is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Aussie Hemp Food Maker Expecting 400% Growth This Year

Hemp Foods Australia is doing so well the company is projecting 400% growth over the coming 12 months.

CEO Paul Benhaim chalked the firm’s success up to overseas demand for the hemp products’ health benefits, which are particularly big in Japan, he said, according to Australian broadcaster ABC. Benhaim recently met with the First Lady of Japan, Akie Abe, at the first-ever Kyoto Hemp Forum.

To meet demand for the company’s products, the company is upgrading a factory in New South Wales to manufacture hemp-based snack bars, drinks, pastas, fiber supplements, and more, Benhaim said.

Even though it’s still

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Aussie Hemp Food Maker Expecting 400% Growth This Year is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Major Infused Products Co. Bhang Loses Arbitration Battle

A California arbitration panel has awarded an investment firm $1.875 million from a major infused-products and concentrates company, Bhang Chocolate.

The panel said Oakland-based Bhang breached an agreement it had with Mentor Capital in Ramona, California, “by failing to deliver” shares of stock to the investment firm, Mentor Capital said in a news release.

The two companies’ relationship dates to March 2014 when Mentor Capital, which in recent years has focused on the cannabis sector, announced it had acquired 60% of Bhang for $39 million.

But soon afterward Bhang terminated the deal, leveling breach of

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Major Infused Products Co. Bhang Loses Arbitration Battle is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs