MMJ Business Daily

Insights on Maryland’s Medical Marijuana Program: Q&A With Outgoing MMJ Chief Hannah Byron

By Omar Sacirbey

Hannah Byron – who took the reins of Maryland’s medical marijuana program a year ago and officially steps down this week – shares her views on the state’s MMJ program, what makes for a winning application and the climate for cannabis businesses.

Insights on Maryland’s Medical Marijuana Program: Q&A With Outgoing MMJ Chief Hannah Byron is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Report: Over 160 Proposed Local CA Bans on Marijuana Growing

Heading into the last month that local California governments have to take regulatory action on marijuana before a new state law kicks in, more than 160 jurisdictions have either approved or introduced bans on cannabis growing, according to the Associated Press.

The “banapalooza,” as the California chapter of NORML has termed it, has stemmed from a relatively short deadline that local governments were given by the state when the legislature approved a new set of medical cannabis oversight laws last September.

Those laws, collectively known as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA), allowed municipalities

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Report: Over 160 Proposed Local CA Bans on Marijuana Growing is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Cannabis Incubator to Open in Tacoma

A developer and his partners plan to turn part of a recently-acquired former food-processing plant in Tacoma into an incubator for cannabis companies.
George Heidgerken and his partners in an LLC known as That Other Stuff recently bought the former Nal…

Colorado Man Sues Town, Alleges It Created MMJ Monopoly

A Colorado man is asking the state’s attorney general to investigate officials in the town of Palisade, who he accuses in a lawsuit of creating an illegal monopoly by limiting the number of medical marijuana businesses to one.

If the lawsuit succeeds, it could become harder for Colorado municipalities to limit the number of dispensaries they allow. But an official with the Colorado Municipal League told the Grand Junction Sentinel that Colorado law allows municipalities to prohibit or limit marijuana and dispensaries.

Kevin King of Grand Junction filed the lawsuit this month in Mesa County District

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Colorado Man Sues Town, Alleges It Created MMJ Monopoly is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart of the Week: Top Regulatory Compliance Issues for Colorado Cannabis Companies

By Becky Olson

With cannabis poised to take its place as one of the most heavily regulated industries in the world, compliance is and will increasingly be the name of the game for marijuana companies.

So how are cannabis businesses faring in this area?

In Colorado – home to the nation’s largest recreational industry and second-biggest medical cannabis market – the most common regulatory compliance infractions are related to physical inspections and security of business premises, according to exclusive data provided to Marijuana Business Daily from Adherence Compliance.

Twenty-six percent of all infractions are tied to physical inspections, with the top issue being

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Chart of the Week: Top Regulatory Compliance Issues for Colorado Cannabis Companies is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MMJ Lobbyist Organizing Opposition to MA Rec Campaign

A new threat to legalizing recreational cannabis in Massachusetts has emerged, and from a curious source: the medical marijuana establishment itself.

Daniel Delaney, a registered lobbyist for the dispensary company Patriot Care and for at least one other that is attempting to get a MMJ license, recently formed a campaign committee called Safe Cannabis Massachusetts for the express purpose of defeating the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CRMLA), according to Boston.com.

It’s a rather obvious split from the standard view of most MMJ businesses, who typically support legalizing rec and often take advantage of the extra business

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MMJ Lobbyist Organizing Opposition to MA Rec Campaign is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

DC Dispensaries Get Sales Boost in Advance of Blizzard

As medical cannabis patients on the East Coast brace for a gigantic blizzard that is expected to shut down many cities over the weekend – including Washington DC – many decided to stock up for what could be a long indoor weekend.

“Thursday was our biggest day – sales and number of patients – ever,” Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn wrote in an email from his DC dispensary, Takoma Wellness Center. “People are concerned they may be shut in for days without their meds.”

Kahn, who said he typically sees between 75 and 100 patients in a day, got 135 on Thursday and

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DC Dispensaries Get Sales Boost in Advance of Blizzard is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Sleepless in Seattle, MMJ Expansion in Connecticut & Big Concerns in Illinois

By John Schroyer

Seattle warns that some medical cannabis businesses won’t be able to get licenses, Connecticut prepares to boost its dispensary permits by 50%, and Illinois MMJ companies sound the alarm over the state’s small market.

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

Too Few For Too Many

Reality is beginning to set in for many medical cannabis business owners in Washington State, and particularly in Seattle.

There was a flurry of activity this week after the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) sent a letter to 47 dispensary owners

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Week in Review: Sleepless in Seattle, MMJ Expansion in Connecticut & Big Concerns in Illinois is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MPP Launching Ohio MMJ Campaign for 2016

With the exit of ResponsibleOhio from the cannabis political scene in the Buckeye State, there was only one other group left that had announced its intention of attempting to legalize cannabis this year. But now there’s a second: the heavyweight Marijuana Policy Project.

But unlike Ohioans to End Prohibition, which wants to attempt to legalize both medical and recreational this year with a single ballot measure (as ResponsibleOhio tried and failed to do last year), MPP is shooting to only legalize medical at the 2016 ballot box, according to Cleveland.com.

A ballot

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MPP Launching Ohio MMJ Campaign for 2016 is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Ex-NBA Star Opening Oregon Cannabis Grow

Former Portland Trail Blazers great Cliff Robinson is just the latest celebrity to dip his toes into the marijuana industry, and he’s doing so with more than a little theatricality.

Robinson, who used to be known in his playing days as “Uncle Cliffy,” is starting a cannabis grow operation in Portland called “Uncle Spliffy.”

According to the Portland Business Journal, Robinson and a team of investors are hoping to have product ready for sale by the end of the year. But it was ESPN and other outlets that broke the news of Robinson’s tongue-in-cheek

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Ex-NBA Star Opening Oregon Cannabis Grow is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs