MMJ Business Daily

Hillary Clinton Calls for Rescheduling Marijuana

The predictions are coming true: Cannabis is beginning to play a larger role in presidential politics.

Most recently, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton staked out a formal position on federal cannabis reform, telling a campaign rally on Saturday that she wants to move marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 to allow for further research into the medicinal benefits of the plant.

“The problem with medical marijuana is there is a lot of anecdotal evidence about how well it works for certain conditions,” Clinton said, according to CNN. “But we haven’t done any research. Why? Because it is considered…a Schedule I

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Hillary Clinton Calls for Rescheduling Marijuana is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart of the Week: Growth in Medical Cannabis Patient Numbers as Dispensaries Open

By Becky Olson

One of the most pressing challenges cannabis executives face in emerging markets is estimating how many new patients will sign up for a medical marijuana program once the first dispensaries open.

An analysis of trends that played out in three states this year shows that growth rates can be all over the board.

But in each of these markets more patients did indeed join the MMJ program leading up to the launch of dispensaries – and in the months after as well. That’s good news for entrepreneurs in states that are in the process of establishing medical cannabis industries and preparing

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Chart of the Week: Growth in Medical Cannabis Patient Numbers as Dispensaries Open is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Eight IL Dispensaries to Begin Selling MMJ Monday

After a lengthy wait, eight Illinois medical cannabis dispensaries will begin serving customers on Monday morning, effectively launching the state’s MMJ market.

The list includes Harbory, a dispensary in southern Illinois that opened its doors last month but has only to date been offering ancillary services such as counseling and acupuncture. The state announced the openings on Friday.

The full list of dispensaries slated to open Monday includes: The Clinic in Mundelein, Salveo Health & Wellness in Canton, Herbal Remedies in Quincy, EarthMed in Addison, and three PharmaCannis dispensaries in North Aurora, Schaumburg and Ottawa.

The roughly 3,300

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Eight IL Dispensaries to Begin Selling MMJ Monday is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Oregon Power Providers Point Finger at Cannabis Grows

A pair of Oregon power companies say that legal indoor marijuana cultivation businesses are taking Oregon’s electrical grid above capacity and are behind several transformer blowouts over the last year.

Now, utility companies are asking cannabis growers to consult power providers before starting home or commercial growing to make sure electrical systems are working properly.

Since July, indoor grows have been behind seven blown-out transformers belonging to Pacific Power, causing outages and equipment damage, according to the Spokesman-Review.

Portland General Electric blows out about 400 transformers annually, and about 10% of those are from growing operations, the paper reported.

Just

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Oregon Power Providers Point Finger at Cannabis Grows is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

NY Cannabis Real Estate Company Lands $25 Million

Kalyx Development, a Manhattan real estate company that leases properties to indoor cannabis growers and also provides consulting services for property renovations, announced Friday that it has closed a $25 million round of equity funding.
The company…

Privateer CEO: U.S. Marijuana Legalization Coming in 2-3 Years

Brendan Kennedy, the CEO of Seattle-based private equity firm Privateer Holdings, predicted at an Ireland tech summit this week that marijuana will be legalized at the federal level in the U.S. in two or three years.

There is some discrepancy on the timeline, since USA Today quoted Kennedy as estimating that legalization will occur “within the next two years,” while Business Insider reported his prediction at three years.

But according to the reports, Kennedy believes the election of Justin Trudeau as Canada’s new prime minister will have a good bit to do with cannabis reform in general.

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Privateer CEO: U.S. Marijuana Legalization Coming in 2-3 Years is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Florida CBD, Ohio Marijuana Bill & Colorado Edibles Recall

By John Schroyer and Omar Sacirbey

Florida experiences another CBD setback, Ohio’s marijuana measure could result in a stagnant year for legalization, and two more companies issue edibles recalls in Colorado.

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

Figuring Out Florida

Florida missed its October goal of selecting five companies to grow cannabis, process it into CBD-heavy medicines and sell them via dispensaries, creating yet another setback for an oft-delayed program.

Now, some observers say the state might not make a decision until Thanksgiving at the earliest, meaning there’s almost no

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Week in Review: Florida CBD, Ohio Marijuana Bill & Colorado Edibles Recall is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Minnesota Panel Opposes Adding Pain to MMJ List

Minnesota’s two medical cannabis producers received a dose of bad news this week.

A state panel tasked with looking into whether or not intractable pain should be added to the qualifying condition list for MMJ has come out against the idea, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The panel voted 5-3 against the proposal – a reversal of previously expressed support for adding pain to the list.

That’s a blow to LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions, the only two firms licensed to produce MMJ in the state, because both have been suffering setbacks due to the extremely low

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Minnesota Panel Opposes Adding Pain to MMJ List is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado City Giving Hemp Firm $5M in Incentives

The city of Pueblo, Colorado, is giving an upstart company a package of incentives worth $4.89 million to buy equipment and transform a long-shuttered former Boeing plant into a large CBD and hemp processing facility.

The deal marks the first time a city has backed a hemp company to spur economic development, according to a statement from the company, CBD BioSciences.

The firm claims that the 193,000-square-foot facility will be the largest CBD and hemp processing operation of its kind in the U.S.

Pueblo’s half-cent sales tax will partially fund the incentive package.

The deal puts “Pueblo on the map as

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Colorado City Giving Hemp Firm $5M in Incentives is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Wholesale Cannabis Platform Closes $750K Funding Round

A new online cannabis wholesale platform scheduled to launch in the first quarter of next year announced that it has closed a $750,000 round of funding.

LeafLink, which is based in New York, raised the cash via a group of angel investors in the state, according to Techcrunch. The new platform aims to streamline the wholesale transaction process and save money for both growers and sellers.

The company is the third startup founded by Ryan Smith, 24, who started his first two businesses while still an undergrad at Colgate University, according to Crain’s New York Business.

Smith

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Wholesale Cannabis Platform Closes $750K Funding Round is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs