MMJ Business Daily

Hemp Media Company Sponsors Pro Motorcycle Racer

In the latest sign of the cannabis industry’s mainstream acceptance, professional motorcycle racer Johnny Rock Page has accepted the Hemp American Media Group as a sponsor. The partnership marks the first time a professional racer has ever been sponsored by a marijuana-related business, the group said in a press release.

The sponsorship is for Page’s 2016 MotoAmerica Superbike season, which should earn Hemp America lots of attention. The MotoAmerica season opens April 8 at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas, which can hold up to 120,000 fans. The nine-race season will also be televised on

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Hemp Media Company Sponsors Pro Motorcycle Racer is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Legislative Glitch Delaying License Approvals in Alaska

A legislative obstacle to the approval of marijuana licenses in Alaska has emerged, threatening to delay the start of the state’s recreational cannabis industry.

The issue? Fingerprints.

Applicants for recreational cannabis business licenses in Alaska need to submit fingerprints to the state for a national criminal background check. The state, however, apparently doesn’t have the authority to conduct the background checks, according to the Alaska Dispatch News.

The legislature must write a provision into the law but hasn’t done so yet.

Alaska’s Marijuana Control Board recently informed an applicant for a retail and cultivation license that it can’t proceed with final

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Legislative Glitch Delaying License Approvals in Alaska is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: DEA Decision, Raid Response in MI & Cannabis Club Vote in DC

By John Schroyer and Omar Sacirbey

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it will decide soon whether to reschedule marijuana, Michigan attorneys develop a defense strategy for raided dispensaries, and Washington DC city leaders vote to ban cannabis social clubs.

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

Rescheduling Tease

The DEA raised a lot of hopes on Monday when the agency revealed that it is weighing whether to reclassify marijuana on the list of controlled substances.

But those in the know aren’t holding their breath.

“If history tells us

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Week in Review: DEA Decision, Raid Response in MI & Cannabis Club Vote in DC is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Grassroots AZ Cannabis Supporters Side With Prohibitionists

It’s not news that the cannabis community can often split, sometimes viscerally, over differing visions of legalization. But it can become a problem if it affects plans for legalization. That may be becoming the case in Arizona, where a grassroots group called Arizonans for Mindful Regulation is taking sides with anti-marijuana forces in an attempt to defeat a legalization initiative backed by the Marijuana Policy Project.

According to the Phoenix New Times, the leadership of the grassroots group, aka AFMR, is on the record suggesting that MPP’s initiative is “worse than our current prohibition,” and is urging voters

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Grassroots AZ Cannabis Supporters Side With Prohibitionists is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Hawaii License Applicant Partners With Union

Green Aloha, one of the teams applying for a medical marijuana license on the Hawaiian island on Kauai, has struck a deal with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 480, according to Pacific Business News.
The national UFCWU represents mor…

CA Report: Cannabis Industry Needs ‘Tight’ Regulations

A new 32-page report from the Public Policy Institute of California is urging officials to take a “restrictive” stance when it comes to writing regulations for both the medical and possible recreational marijuana industries in the state.

Though the report is advisory only and carries no formal weight, it will likely appeal to a number of policymakers who agree with an opening salvo in the report’s introduction that reads, “it will be easier to loosen a tight market than to tighten a loose one.” Which means it could be an indicator of the regulatory road California officials decide

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CA Report: Cannabis Industry Needs ‘Tight’ Regulations is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Hope for Cannabis Entrepreneurs, Deep in the Heart of Texas

By John Schroyer

When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a limited CBD bill into law last June, many marijuana professionals downplayed the move.

The measure seemed to be another bit of unworkable political posturing, primarily because it requires doctors to issue a “prescription” rather than provide patients with a simple recommendation to use CBD-heavy medicines.

That distinction is important: Doctors can theoretically lose their licenses for prescribing a Schedule I controlled substance, which is why every state with an active medical cannabis industry opts for recommendations.

But there’s a growing sense of optimism that Texas will indeed be able to launch a CBD

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Hope for Cannabis Entrepreneurs, Deep in the Heart of Texas is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Washington DC Council Bans Marijuana Clubs

The Washington DC City Council has decided to ban cannabis smoking clubs following a narrow 7-6 vote Tuesday, Reuters reported.

City representatives and Mayor Muriel Bowser, who opposes the clubs, have grappled with the issue almost since District of Columbia voters approved recreational marijuana in 2014. The law, which went into effect in 2015, permits home growing and possession of cannabis, but not sales and other commercial activity.

Washington DC councilors came close to banning clubs in February, but instead voted to create a task force to explore whether the city should allow marijuana consumption – but not

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Washington DC Council Bans Marijuana Clubs is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

DEA: Decision on Marijuana Rescheduling Coming Soon

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration will reportedly decide in the coming months whether to reschedule marijuana, an unexpected announcement that indicates the federal government is taking the issue seriously.

While removing marijuana from the list of Schedule 1 substances wouldn’t necessarily make the plant fully legal, it could have major ramifications for those in the industry, especially when it comes to taxes and banking.

The DEA stated its plans to make a decision by mid-year in a letter it sent to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and seven of her colleagues, according to the Huffington Post.

Warren and her compatriots urged

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DEA: Decision on Marijuana Rescheduling Coming Soon is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

CA Marijuana Software Startup Lands $2M Investment

A marijuana software company that aims to streamline business services for medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivators announced on Tuesday that it has completed a $2.1 million capital raise.

California-based Meadow said it will use the money to hire more employees and continue improving its software, which is currently available to MMJ businesses in its home state.

The round of seed funding included investments from Slow Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, SOMA Capital and Poseidon Asset Management, among others.

The company’s software includes point-of-sale and inventory management features, online ordering, delivery tracking and customer messaging. It also helps businesses stay in compliance with

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CA Marijuana Software Startup Lands $2M Investment is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs