MMJ Business Daily

Breaking: ReformCA Likely to Throw in Towel, Won’t Gather Signatures for Legalization Initiative

By John Schroyer

A high-profile marijuana legalization campaign in California spearheaded by Oaksterdam University’s Dale Sky Jones has decided not to gather signatures for its proposal and appears ready to throw in the towel.

If the group does indeed back down, it will help solidify support for a competing measure backed by billionaire Sean Parker.

Jones – who is behind the ReformCA campaign in California – indicated to Marijuana Business Daily on Thursday that her group’s bid for a full legalization ballot measure next year is all but over.

“We’re still hashing out the last few details with respect to

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Breaking: ReformCA Likely to Throw in Towel, Won’t Gather Signatures for Legalization Initiative is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Illinois Dispensaries Rack Up $801K in Sales

Dispensaries in Illinois recorded $801,000 in medical cannabis sales since the program launched in early November, according to the first official figures released by the state.
Illinois now has 16 licensed dispensaries, although only about half are op…

California Cannabis Leaders Increasingly Uniting Behind One Legalization Measure

By John Schroyer

Late last month, it looked as though California might very well have two recreational cannabis legalization measures on the ballot next fall.

But the situation is changing rapidly, and the odds are now much higher that there will be just one initiative – which is seen as key to pushing through legalization.

In the past two weeks, a growing number of advocates, industry leaders and legalization supporters have started to gravitate toward a measure backed by billionaire Sean Parker, while the other major legalization campaign – ReformCA – has lost some key supporters.

Insiders say

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California Cannabis Leaders Increasingly Uniting Behind One Legalization Measure is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Study: Marijuana Motivates Almost Half of Colorado Tourists

It must be the marijuana.

A state tourism survey released Wednesday found that Colorado’s legalized marijuana influenced nearly half of the visitors who decide to come visit the state.

The study, commissioned by the Colorado Tourism Office, found that 42% of potential visitors said marijuana was either “extremely” or “very much”  influential” in their decision to visit the state, while nearly 7% reported it to be “somewhat influential,” the Denver Post reported.

The 33-question survey polled 3,254 potential tourists in September and October who had seen state tourism ads, and were considering summer trips to Colorado. The state

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Study: Marijuana Motivates Almost Half of Colorado Tourists is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Maryland MMJ Industry Fires Up Local Real Estate Market

Marijuana entrepreneurs seeking cultivation licenses in Maryland have given the state’s industrial real estate market a lift over the past year, many having already secured warehouses for grow sites and others flooding agents with calls about spaces, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Of the roughly 1,080 license applications received by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, nearly 150 are for cultivation permits, although some companies submitted more than one. According to the Sun, many companies already rent space or have secured space with options payments or other arrangements.

In the end, however, the state will issue 15 cultivation licenses,

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Maryland MMJ Industry Fires Up Local Real Estate Market is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Last Chance to Take Cannabis Banking Survey

Marijuana Business Daily is conducting a brief online survey of cannabis professionals to get a pulse on the state of banking services for companies in the industry.

The survey, which takes less than two minutes to complete, will help shed light on what portion and what type of cannabis businesses have bank accounts and the biggest challenges companies encounter trying to get one. The data will be used in an upcoming chart on Marijuana Business Daily.

The survey is aimed at executives from companies currently operating in the cannabis space, from dispensaries/recreational shops and cultivation sites to infused products

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Last Chance to Take Cannabis Banking Survey is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Merrill Lynch Report Rosy on Cannabis Companies

Investment titan Merrill Lynch is apparently bullish on marijuana.

The investment management arm of Bank of America produced a 45-page report that explores the marijuana-related investment landscape, according to Philly.com. And it concluded that “medical cannabis has high potential.”

The report provided information about some publicly traded ancillary marijuana companies, but did not discuss investing in any “company that was directly in the business of growing, processing or selling marijuana products for medical or personal use under state laws,” Philly.com said. One area Merrill Lynch is especially excited about is cannabis testing.

The report, which is not available to

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Merrill Lynch Report Rosy on Cannabis Companies is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Cannabis Industry, Advocates Trying to Find Right Balance on Marijuana Legalization

By John Schroyer

Business and advocates both play a key role in furthering marijuana legalization, but finding the ideal balance is proving difficult.

That was particularly evident with Ohio’s ill-fated legalization measure, which seemed to shove aside the wants and needs of traditional advocates and marijuana supporters in favor of big businesses and investors.

The issue resurfaced again last week when a former Marijuana Policy Project official pegged the industry’s growing influence on legalization efforts as a reason for his departure from the influential organization.

In doing so, he highlighted a growing disconnect between businesses that could help fund

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Cannabis Industry, Advocates Trying to Find Right Balance on Marijuana Legalization is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

GW Pharma Ramping Up Production in Expectation of FDA Approval

The British company GW Pharmaceuticals is reportedly increasing its manufacturing capacity for medical marijuana and a specific cannabis-based drug it has developed for epileptics called Epidiolex. That’s in expectation that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will give the company the green light sometime either next year or early 2017 to begin widespread distribution, according to the Telegraph.

Although the company had hoped to obtain FDA approval early next year, it has still increased production 20 times already, and is planning to double production levels next year, the firm’s CEO told the Telegraph. The company plans

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GW Pharma Ramping Up Production in Expectation of FDA Approval is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Early MMJ Sales in NY Could Mean Extra Business for CT Grower

Under an “emergency” bill signed last month by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, qualified medical cannabis patients are supposed to receive expedited access to MMJ. But that hasn’t come to pass, since it’s unclear where legal products would come from. Now, however, there may be an answer: a Connecticut MMJ cultivator.

Curaleaf, a licensed Connecticut MMJ producer, told Crain’s New York Business that it could ship inventory to New York patients “tomorrow” if legal hurdles were worked out.

But therein lies the rub: since cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, Curaleaf wants and needs

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Early MMJ Sales in NY Could Mean Extra Business for CT Grower is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs