MMJ Business Daily

A Marijuana First: Oakland Dispensary Shares To Be Publicly Traded

By Omar Sacirbey

Following a brutal 2015 for marijuana stocks, the cannabis investment sector has something to smile about to start the new year. The stock markets will soon welcome the first U.S. dispensary to the ranks of the publicly traded: Black Oak Gallery, better known as Blüm Oakland.

A Marijuana First: Oakland Dispensary Shares To Be Publicly Traded is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Seattle Opens More Real Estate to Marijuana Shops

The Seattle City Council on Monday approved new zoning regulations that would loosen zoning requirements on marijuana stores and expand the locations where they can operate, the Seattle Times reported.
The council voted to reduce buffers to 500 feet be…

Fed Bank Exec Joins Privateer

Privateer Holdings has tapped a top official from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to become its director of Treasury compliance, the firm announced Tuesday.

Dante Tosetti will be mandated, among other things, with helping Privateer maintain compliance with financial laws, but his role at a major marijuana firm could also help the cannabis industry make its case for banking access.

“My goal is to change the misconception that servicing the cannabis industry is a compliance burden for banks,” Tosetti told the Wall Street Journal.

According to a recent Marijuana Business Daily survey,

Fed Bank Exec Joins Privateer is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Maryland Marijuana Business Applications Reflect National Trends

By Omar Sacirbey

To get an idea of the trends playing out in the medical marijuana industry these days, look to Maryland.

The application process for MMJ business licenses in the state is a microcosm of the larger industry, reflecting its vast potential, the changing dynamics of the business community and the eagerness of entrepreneurs to get involved.

Maryland is poised to become one of the largest medical cannabis markets east of Colorado. And it shows: The state recently received 1,046 applications for permits, including 811 for dispensaries – an unexpected avalanche that forced officials to delay the licensing process.

A

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Maryland Marijuana Business Applications Reflect National Trends is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Massachusetts Senators Visit CO to Learn About Rec

A group of eight Massachusetts lawmakers are visiting Colorado this week to learn about the recreational marijuana industry in case voters in their state approve a legalization ballot measure this November.

But they’re not there necessarily because they like the idea of legalization.

Rather, lawmakers said they want to learn from Colorado’s experience, saying they will be ready to draft their own laws to change aspects of the legalization measure they don’t like, the Boston Globe reported.

The lawmakers will meet with Andrew Freedman, Colorado’s first director of marijuana coordination; Larry Wolk, the executive director and chief medical officer of the Colorado

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Massachusetts Senators Visit CO to Learn About Rec is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Washington State Rec Store Sues Over Proposed Ban

Bans and buffer zones requiring marijuana businesses to be a certain distance from schools, parks and other entities make being a marijuana business complicated. Now, the owners of a proposed recreational marijuana store in Pierce County in Washington …

Mobile Network CEO Aims at Hawaii MMJ License

The head of a leading Hawaiian cell phone company will reportedly apply for one of the state’s medical marijuana licenses, adding a local heavy hitter to what is expected to be an extremely crowded field of competitors.

President and CEO of Honolulu-based Mobi PCS Bill Jarvis is involved with a group known as Pono Wellness, according to KITV News. The application process and opening cultivation sites and dispensaries will require $5 million, Pono’s project manager Greg Marinelli told KITV.

Jarvis, who claims Mobi has the nation’s biggest network footprint because of its partnerships, said that running

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Mobile Network CEO Aims at Hawaii MMJ License is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart of the Week: Cannabis Stocks End 2015 With Bumps, Bruises

By Becky Olson

Last year was a tumultuous one for cannabis stocks, further deterring institutional investors from getting involved in a notoriously high-risk sector.

A sampling of 12 stocks analyzed by Marijuana Business Daily started the year off strong, collectively rising about 27% during the first few weeks of 2015. But the tide quickly turned, and the stocks ended the year down an astounding 65% from where they started.

In fact, every one of the stocks examined fell significantly last year.

The decreases ranged from 38% for AmeriCann – a cultivation technology and real estate company – to nearly 100% for lab testing company Pazoo,

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Chart of the Week: Cannabis Stocks End 2015 With Bumps, Bruises is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Top Georgia Politician Backs Broader MMJ Law

Could Georgia become the first state in the South to establish a broad medical marijuana program?

It’s now at least within the realm of possibility.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston told reporters this week that he supports a medical marijuana bill prefiled by a trio of Republican lawmakers, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The legislation would essentially replace the state’s extremely limited CBD program with a broader medical cannabis system allowing the cultivation and sale of marijuana-derived medicine.

The Georgia legislature starts a new session Monday.

Ralston’s endorsement comes at a good time, as a study commission

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Top Georgia Politician Backs Broader MMJ Law is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New York MMJ Off to Sluggish Start

New York marijuana business leaders expected a slow start to the state’s medical marijuana program, which officially launched yesterday. But not this slow.

Only a handful of patients visited dispensaries on opening day – an unprecedentedly low number for a program launch.

What’s the problem? New York has thus far registered only 51 patients, state health department officials told reporters. There are also fewer than 150 physicians registered to prescribe medical marijuana, and the health department has not made the list of certified physicians public yet.

Last summer, New York awarded five companies licenses that allow them to operate

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New York MMJ Off to Sluggish Start is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs