MMJ Business Daily

Fourth Corner Makes Case for MJ Banking, Awaits Ruling

If R. Brooke Jackson was a congressman, he would rule in favor of banks that want to open accounts for marijuana businesses.

But at a hearing on Monday, Jackson told lawyers for the Fourth Corner Credit Union that he is a U.S. district court judge who must uphold existing federal laws that make it illegal for banks to serve cannabis-related clients.

Judge Jackson’s comments don’t bode well for the Colorado credit union, which filed a lawsuit in October asking the court to issue an injunction forcing the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City to let it open a master account so

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Fourth Corner Makes Case for MJ Banking, Awaits Ruling is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

California’s New Medical Marijuana Rules: Q&A With Assemblyman Rob Bonta

By John Schroyer

California Assemblyman Rob Bonta played a pivotal role in pushing through regulations on the state’s medical marijuana industry, which will greatly transform the nation’s largest MMJ market.

Bonta was a primary sponsor of Assembly Bill 266, one of three measures known collectively as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA).

He also took part in a panel at the 2015 Marijuana Business Conference and Expo in Las Vegas last month to discuss some of the ins and outs of the new regulations, which are far from finalized. (The three bills set the

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California’s New Medical Marijuana Rules: Q&A With Assemblyman Rob Bonta is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Florida Poll Finds Strong Support for Broader MMJ Law

Good news in Florida: A new – albeit unscientific – poll indicates that locals are largely in favor of expanding the state’s extremely limited CBD law into a broader medical cannabis program.

The poll, conducted by the Orlando Business Journal, asked respondents if they would support or reject an amendment that broadens the current program, which only allows low-THC, high-CBD medicine.

Of the 473 responses, 91.5% said “I will vote for broadening medical marijuana use,” while 8.5% said, “I will vote against broadening medical marijuana use.”

Under Florida’s current law, only people with severe epilepsy or advanced cancer are allowed

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Florida Poll Finds Strong Support for Broader MMJ Law is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Monopoly Suit Against CA Dispensaries Thrown Out

A U.S. federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit claiming that Berkeley, California, and three local dispensaries colluded to corner the city’s medical marijuana market.

Plaintiff Christopher Smith sued the Berkeley City Council, the city’s Medical Cannabis Commission, and the dispensaries Berkeley Patients Group, Berkeley Patients Care Collective and Cannabis Buyers Club of Berkeley, claiming that they violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Practices Act (RICO).

In a September 2015 complaint, Smith charged that the city mandated a cap of three dispensaries, allowed those businesses to operate as for-profits entities, and in effect cleared the way for them to monopolize the local

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Monopoly Suit Against CA Dispensaries Thrown Out is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Medicine Man Technologies Nears Stock Listing

Medicine Man Technologies, a Colorado-based cannabis consulting firm tied to the family behind two high-profile marijuana stores, received clearance from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on Tuesday to become a publicly traded company.

Its shares will trade on the over-the-counter markets, possibly as soon as mid-January, according to company founder and chief operating officer Brett Roper.

Medicine Man Technologies is majority owned by the founders of Medicine Man, a prominent cannabis shop with locations in Denver and Aurora.

The consulting firm must now receive approval from the Depository Trust Corporation to trade electronically.

The company’s ticker symbol for now is MDCL.

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Medicine Man Technologies Nears Stock Listing is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Cannabis Magazine to be Sold at Airports

A consumer-focused cannabis magazine announced that it will be available in airports across North America starting this week, moving marijuana further into the mainstream and giving businesses a way to reach more patients and MJ users.

Under a deal with Hudson News, the bi-monthly magazine Cannabis Now will be sold at newsstands at 50 airports in the U.S. and Canada.

The magazine said it marks the first time a marijuana publication will be distributed nationally via airports in North America.

“What we’re seeing is a paradigm shift,” Eugenio Garcia, the magazine’s publisher, said in a press release. “It is

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Cannabis Magazine to be Sold at Airports is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MMJ Miracle Still Possible in Pennsylvania This Year, But Odds Slim

By John Schroyer

One of the biggest disappointments for the marijuana industry this year has been the complete dearth of new states legalizing medical or recreational marijuana.

After a proposal to approve cannabis sales imploded in Ohio during the November elections, entrepreneurs put all their hopes on Pennsylvania.

Lawmakers there have been weighing proposals to legalize MMJ, but they have been unable to push anything through to this point.

Many advocates had pegged Pennsylvania as one of the most likely to legalize medical cannabis in 2015, but the chances that will happen shrivel each day the legislature fails

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MMJ Miracle Still Possible in Pennsylvania This Year, But Odds Slim is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Federal Health Agency Makes MJ Scheduling Recommendation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has apparently weighed in on where marijuana should appear on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of controlled substances – a major issue for the cannabis industry.

But it’s not yet clear exactly what stance the agency took.

The move comes in response to two petitions filed with the federal government, according to a Sept. 30 letter from the Department of Justice to U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, one of the cannabis industry’s few allies in Congress.

The letter, however, didn’t specify what that recommendation was.

Observers such as the

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Federal Health Agency Makes MJ Scheduling Recommendation is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Indoor Grows Could Prove Costly for Hawaii MMJ Businesses

Medical marijuana dispensary investors and owners in Hawaii could be required to spend millions of dollars on construction and utilities because the state’s interim business rules require that cannabis cultivation be indoors, The Garden Island News reported.

Having to grow indoors may force dispensary owners to recoup the additional costs with a product price increase, said Jud McRoberts, a dispensary project leader on the island of Kauai.

To qualify as an indoor grow site, a building must have concrete floors, steel walls, secured entry points, and its interior cannot be visible from the outside, according to Hawaii’s health department.

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Indoor Grows Could Prove Costly for Hawaii MMJ Businesses is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Delaware’s Medical Marijuana Industry Gearing Up for Expansion

By Omar Sacirbey

Big changes are on tap for Delaware’s tiny medical marijuana industry.

State officials recently decided to award two additional medical marijuana dispensary licenses, acknowledging that the market is robust enough to support more than the one storefront currently operating. 

The decision to issue more licenses – which emerged about six months after the state’s first dispensary opened – surprised some observers who thought Delaware would be slow to expand the program.

Adding more dispensaries will certainly help buoy the market and potentially convince more patients to get involved, which will translate into a boost in

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Delaware’s Medical Marijuana Industry Gearing Up for Expansion is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs