MMJ Business Daily

Record Crowd, Sea Change in California Create Buzz at Marijuana Business Conference

By John Schroyer and Omar Sacirbey

The Marijuana Business Conference and Expo kicked off Wednesday in Las Vegas with record-breaking attendance of more than 5,000 cannabis professionals from all 50 states and 23 countries.

The expo, which runs through Friday, also features more than 230 exhibitor booths from companies representing every facet of the industry.

On Thursday morning, the conference’s keynote address will be delivered by former presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

The conference began Wednesday with a separately ticketed crash course for industry acolytes and a special panel discussion focused on the landmark California medical cannabis regulations

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Record Crowd, Sea Change in California Create Buzz at Marijuana Business Conference is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Combo MMJ Dispensary, Gas Station Opens in Colorado

The marijuana retail chain Native Roots has opened the first of two shops in Colorado Springs selling both gasoline and medical cannabis.

The Gas and Grass MMJ dispensary on the east side of town is also a fully functioning gas station, where registered patients and those who don’t touch cannabis can both fill up their tanks.

Although Colorado prohibits marijuana shops from selling non-cannabis-related items (such as gas), Native Roots found a workaround for that by setting up two different entrances for the dispensary and the gas station, according to a Colorado Springs TV station. But both are

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Combo MMJ Dispensary, Gas Station Opens in Colorado is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Denver Looks to Limit MJ Industry

Denver, the de facto capital of the marijuana sector, may further forestall licensing for new entrants looking to get into the recreational cannabis industry.

In 2013, the Denver City Council approved a two-year moratorium preventing new players from entering the adult-use marijuana industry, in essence only allowing previously licensed medical cannabis businesses to obtain permits for retail stores, grows and infused products companies serving rec customers.

The moratorium is up for renewal before it expires Jan. 1.

That has city officials wondering if the Denver marijuana market already has enough business players. More than one proposal has already been

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Denver Looks to Limit MJ Industry is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Guest Column: Preparing for Battle With the Federal Reserve Over Cannabis Banking

By Mark Goldfogel

On Dec. 28, 2015, the Fourth Corner Credit Union will finally have its day in court.

Fourth Corner was founded last year to provide banking services to supporters of the hemp and cannabis industries. It received a charter from the state of Colorado on Nov. 19, 2014.

In July of 2015, the Federal Reserve denied the credit union access to the nation’s electronic banking system. As a result, the credit union filed suit in federal court for equal access to the payments system.

As a defense to the lawsuit, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

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Guest Column: Preparing for Battle With the Federal Reserve Over Cannabis Banking is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Firm Launches $25M Cannabis Fund

Canna Group, which provides consulting services to the marijuana industry, has launched a $25 million private equity fund that will invest in ancillary businesses that aren’t subject to state regulations.

The fund, called Sugar Leaf, will focus on businesses that specialize in financing, payments and banking, grow systems, agriculture and operations, software, digital and internet, chemistry, science and genetics and business services, according to a press release.

Sugar Leaf will have offices in California and in Chicago.

Canna Group itself also announced that it has closed a round of equity financing. The firm did not disclose the amount of

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Firm Launches $25M Cannabis Fund is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Snoop Launches New Marijuana Product Line

Rapper Snoop Dogg has brought his love of marijuana directly into the industry with a new cannabis product line that includes eight marijuana flower strains, concentrates and edibles.

The line, called Leafs by Snoop, was revealed at a private party Monday night in Denver.

The products will be available for purchase only in Colorado and are on sale starting today. LivWell, a chain of rec shops in Colorado, will initially have exclusive rights to sell Snoop’s line of products for 30 days. After that, the products will be available to other shops to buy wholesale, according to the

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Snoop Launches New Marijuana Product Line is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

LeafLine Labs Raises Another $2.5M

One of Minnesota’s two medical cannabis producers has raised another $2.5 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The raise, by LeafLine Labs, comes on top of $12.4 million the company landed late last year. To date, LeafLine has raised $14.9 million – just $176,000 short of its goal.

The recent round of funding signals that investors are still interested in Minnesota’s medical marijuana market, despite the slow start to the state’s industry due in large part to a low patient count. The number of investors in the company now stands at

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LeafLine Labs Raises Another $2.5M is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Potential for Large Patient Pool, Hefty Profits Offsets Onerous Fees in Maryland

By Omar Sacribey

Some of the highest fees in the medical marijuana industry did little to deter scores of entrepreneurs from applying for business licenses in Maryland, suggesting that the state could become one of the most lucrative MMJ markets in the country.

Maryland’s Medical Cannabis Commission received roughly 350 applications by the Nov. 6 submission deadline for licenses to cultivate, process or dispense medical marijuana. The state will release the official full tally later this week.

“We knew Maryland would be one of the most competitive application processes, and that’s proven to be true,” said Kris Krane, president

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Potential for Large Patient Pool, Hefty Profits Offsets Onerous Fees in Maryland is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canadian Patient Files Complaint After Dispensary Shuttered

A medical marijuana patient in Saskatoon, Canada, has filed a complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission after police raided and closed an unlicensed Saskatoon medical marijuana dispensary on Oct. 29.

Anderson said the Saskatchewan Compassion Club was the only place he felt safe purchasing marijuana to treat his chronic knee pain, and that he was afraid he would lose his own growing license if he bought medical marijuana from a licensed producer, according to the Toronto Star.

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code protects people from discrimination based on disability or medical condition. Anderson asserted that the closure

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Canadian Patient Files Complaint After Dispensary Shuttered is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Tribe Suspending Marijuana Resort Plans, Destroying Crop

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

A South Dakota Native American tribe that had announced ambitious plans to open a recreational marijuana resort at its reservation in the eastern part of the state on New Year’s Eve has now backtracked, saying it is “temporarily suspending” the project.

The Flandrea Santee Sioux Tribe is seeking legal clarification from the federal government to ensure that it’s on solid legal footing, according to the Associated Press. In the process of doing so, that includes destroying its entire marijuana crop that has been grown so far,

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Tribe Suspending Marijuana Resort Plans, Destroying Crop is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs