MMJ Business Daily

Product Shortage and High Demand in Massachusetts

The four dispensaries open to date in Massachusetts are having a hard time keeping up with demand, especially because they can’t get enough inventory to satisfy all of the registered patients clamoring for cannabis.

According to The Boston Globe, the quartet of dispensaries are all facing various problems that have caused them to fall short when it comes to delivering product. For one, it’s a supply problem. For another, an unexpected attack of mold prior to harvest forced the dispensary to scrap an entire crop.

A temporary restriction on how much dispensaries can sell to customers at a

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Product Shortage and High Demand in Massachusetts is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Going Global: Roundup of International Marijuana Business Opportunities

By John Schroyer

The world has taken enormous strides in relaxing marijuana laws as of late.

Nearly 20 countries have legalized cannabis possession and consumption to some degree (primarily for medical purposes), including Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia, Jamaica, Italy and Uruguay, to name a few.

Others have decriminalized marijuana.

Unfortunately, there aren’t very many legitimate international business opportunities for U.S. cannabis companies at this time.

Most laws create government-run industries, allow medical cannabis for research purposes only or limit cultivation to home growing. Well-regulated commercial systems – for medical or recreational cannabis – are rare.

Uruguay, for instance, made history in late 2013 when it

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Going Global: Roundup of International Marijuana Business Opportunities is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Medical Cannabis Back on Florida Ballot for 2016

John Morgan is a man of his word.

After a narrow defeat in the 2014 election, Morgan, a millionaire Orlando attorney who almost single-handedly bankrolled the Florida MMJ campaign, vowed that the issue would return this year if the legislature didn’t legalize medical cannabis. And on Wednesday, the state Division of Elections announced that Morgan’s group had collected enough signatures to make the ballot again.

United for Care, Morgan’s campaign, turned in over 1 million signatures in support of their initiative, and the state validated 692,981 signatures, just over the 683,149 mark the campaign needed to

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Medical Cannabis Back on Florida Ballot for 2016 is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Minnesota MMJ Company Seeking $31.5M for Expansion

Talk about planning big.

Minnesota-based Vireo Health, the parent company of Minnesota Medical Solutions, announced this week that it’s attempting to raise $31.5 million in equity financing in order to fund expansion into between 17 and 20 new states, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.

The company already has a presence in New York, where it won one of just five MMJ business licenses the state awarded last July. But now, Vireo is targeting Maryland, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida, according to the Journal. All of those except Maryland still prohibit traditional MMJ, and at

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Minnesota MMJ Company Seeking $31.5M for Expansion is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canadian Medical Cannabis Producer Slashes Prices

A subsidiary of Canada’s largest medical marijuana grower announced it is lowering its MMJ prices to $5 per gram, about a third lower than the average price in the country of $7.50 per gram.

Bedrocan Canada, which is owned by Ontario-based Canopy Growth Corporation, announced the price cut as part of a new pricing structure it calls True Compassionate Pricing, and said it would apply to all six of its products. While the move will certainly please Canadian patients, it’s also an attempt to increase market share, according to the Financial Post.

Bedrocan was able to

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Canadian Medical Cannabis Producer Slashes Prices is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska Rec Rules Finalized

Statewide recreational marijuana industry rules have had all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted for the great American frontier in Alaska. They go into effect Feb. 21, and the state must begin accepting license applications on Feb. 24.

A five-member Marijuana Control Board, which has spent months writing the new rules, sent on the final draft to the state Department of Law, which struck out two portions, according to the Alaska Dispatch News. The rest of the 127-page document went on to be signed by the lieutenant governor.

The rules notably allow for on-site consumption at

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Alaska Rec Rules Finalized is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Expand or Die? Changing Edibles Landscape Creates Big Question for Smaller Companies

By John Schroyer

It took some time, but edibles manufacturers have finally figured out ways to expand beyond their home states and begin developing national – even international – brands.

The pace has accelerated in recent months, with numerous established edibles companies entering new markets at home and abroad.

Amid this change, a new question has emerged: Will edibles makers eventually have to go big if they want to survive in the long term?

The fear is that smaller players won’t be able to effectively compete against large, dominant brands that become household names with patients and consumers. That’s certainly the scenario that

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Expand or Die? Changing Edibles Landscape Creates Big Question for Smaller Companies is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Oregon Hemp Farmers Pivot to Medical Use

Hemp farmers in Oregon are getting more interested in the potential medical uses of their crops instead of the traditional industrial ones.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is poised to begin reissuing licenses for hemp growers in the state next month. As potential licensees begin to line up for permits, the discussion over what use that hemp will be put to is at the forefront.

The answer for many is now CBD and medicine instead of products like clothing and textiles, according to the Ashland Daily Tidings.

One big reason is that there’s a “huge difference in profitability” between

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Oregon Hemp Farmers Pivot to Medical Use is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Vermont Legalization Group Unveils TV Ad

A marijuana legalization group in Vermont has unveiled a television ad featuring a white-bearded, bow-tied former state attorney general who laments the pitfalls of prohibition and urges marijuana legalization.

The ad, “Time to End Prohibition (Again),” begins airing Tuesday, and will appear on WCAX, a local channel, as well as affiliates of CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. It was produced by the Marijuana Policy Project on behalf of the Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana.

In the 30-second spot, former Vermont Attorney General Kimberly Cheney, a Republican who served from 1973-75, compares the ban on marijuana

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Vermont Legalization Group Unveils TV Ad is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Israeli Company Debuts Cannabis-Based Flavor Additives

An Israeli company has released a new and innovative product line that may be something of a gamble: a non-psychoactive line of flavor additives derived from marijuana terpenes.

The company, Eybna Technologies, announced the new line in a press release, and claims that its product line is free of all THC and CBD, and therefore can be shipped anywhere in the world. It said it has “growing interest from some of the world’s largest brands” in its products, which would lend a cannabis flavor and scent to any food or beverage.

Eybna also hinted in the release at coming lines

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Israeli Company Debuts Cannabis-Based Flavor Additives is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs