MMJ Business Daily

Testing Issues Still Causing Concern in Massachusetts, But Changes Potentially on Tap

By Omar Sacirbey

Massachusetts health officials are refuting the perception that stringent marijuana testing standards are contributing to the excruciatingly slow rollout of the state’s MMJ program and preventing dispensaries from launching.

Just three dispensaries have opened their doors to patients since Massachusetts legalized medical cannabis in 2012, and each needed a waiver from the state because MMJ labs are unable to meet all the testing requirements.

Another 12 dispensaries received provisional licenses – most of them early last year – but have not yet opened. The state says these dispensaries are still working through the process of setting up their

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Testing Issues Still Causing Concern in Massachusetts, But Changes Potentially on Tap is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Maine Marijuana Legalization Groups Unite Behind One Measure

Chances for the legalization of recreational marijuana in Maine improved Monday after advocates rallied around a single measure aiming for the 2016 ballot.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced in a press release that it has abandoned its legalization bid and will instead back an initiative spearheaded by Legalize Maine.

Legalize Maine has reportedly collected about 40,000 of 61,000 signatures necessary to place the measure on a statewide ballot. The deadline to submit signatures is Feb. 1.

The competing campaign had gathered around 40,000 signatures as well but eventually determined it was better to support Legalize Maine’s measure

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Maine Marijuana Legalization Groups Unite Behind One Measure is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Another Edibles Company Moving Into New States

It’s happening again.

Medically Correct, the Colorado-based manufacturer of the popular edibles brand Incredibles, has found partners in other states to set up kitchens and bring its products to new markets. Incredibles will soon be available in California, Arizona and Nevada, said founder Bob Eschino.

“We’ve been working on it for it seems like years,” Eschino said. “This has always been our plan.”

Medically Correct is the latest edibles producer to announce interstate expansion, with at least half a dozen others making similar moves into new markets, indicating the enormous growth potential of the edibles sector.

Medically Correct is

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Another Edibles Company Moving Into New States is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MMJ Efforts Advance in Australia, New Zealand Could Be Next

Marijuana entrepreneurs interested in tapping the newly announced Australian market may want to start their reconnaissance in the state of New South Wales – and keep New Zealand on their radars as well.

The New South Wales government has been ahead of Australia’s legalization curve, establishing the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research and Innovation at the University of Sydney in June and committing $15.24 million to clinical trials. Australian banker Barry Lambert also donated $24.45 million to the university for cannabis research.

Federal and state officials announced Friday that New South Wales’ Department of Primary Industries and the new

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MMJ Efforts Advance in Australia, New Zealand Could Be Next is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Marijuana Business Activity Ramping Up in Maryland

Interest in Maryland’s medical cannabis industry is rising quickly, with companies that plan to vie for licenses spending money and time on developing an infrastructure.

The state’s application period for cultivation, dispensary and processing licenses is open until Nov. 6.

At least 60 businesses are expected to apply for the state’s 15 cultivation permits, the Washington Post reported.

Peak Harvest Health has raised $12 million for its planned operation and is already retrofitting a 152,000 warehouse for a cultivation site.

Green Leaf Medical has leased a 42,000 square foot warehouse after raising $1 million. Other companies, including New York-based Citiva

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Marijuana Business Activity Ramping Up in Maryland is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart of the Week: The Business Impact of Colorado’s Recreational Marijuana Tax Holiday

By Becky Olson

There’s a saying that the only things you can count on in life are death and taxes.

But for recreational marijuana business owners in Colorado, the second part of that statement wasn’t true for a single day last month when the state waived its taxes on adult-use sales and wholesale cannabis transactions.

Chart of the Week: The Business Impact of Colorado’s Recreational Marijuana Tax Holiday is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado City’s Marijuana Ad Laws Under Scrutiny

A pair of Colorado marijuana stores, The Farm and Terrapin Care Station, are accused of violating the city’s ban on cannabis advertising because of booths they displayed at an event last month.

The stores in Boulder, Colorado, didn’t distribute marijuana at the festival, which was held for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

But the names of the businesses did appear on the booths.

According to the Denver Post, some city council members said they never intended the ban on advertising to apply to something like a booth at a festival, and they want the city to treat

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Colorado City’s Marijuana Ad Laws Under Scrutiny is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Federal Reserve Says it Won’t Allow Cannabis Banking

The U.S. Federal Reserve said in a court filing this week that it will not accept money made from the sale of cannabis because the plant is still considered an illegal drug under federal law.

The filing also asks a judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the agency brought on by a startup credit union hoping to serve marijuana businesses.

The move is another blow to Colorado’s efforts to create a bank for its burgeoning marijuana sector and other attempts elsewhere to provide financial services to the industry.

The filing is the latest salvo in a battle between the

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Federal Reserve Says it Won’t Allow Cannabis Banking is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MMJ Sales to Start in Illinois ‘Very Shortly’

Medical cannabis sales should begin within a few weeks in the Chicago metro area, bringing yet another state into the MMJ fold.

Sales are expected to start “very shortly,” Joseph Wright, the director of the Illinois Medical Cannabis Program, told the Daily Herald.

The first dispensary in Illinois formally opened downstate earlier this month, in the small town of Marion, but is only offering ancillary services at this time because it doesn’t have any medical cannabis to sell yet.

To date, the state has given final approval to only four dispensaries to begin selling MMJ once they receive

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MMJ Sales to Start in Illinois ‘Very Shortly’ is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Oregon Adopts Regulations for Rec Industry

Oregon entrepreneurs now have a roadmap for pursuing business opportunities in the state’s recreational cannabis industry.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), which has been working on recreational regulations for nearly a year, formally adopted 78 pages of temporary rules governing the licensing and operations of cannabis businesses.

The rules cover everything from seed-to-sale tracking requirements and production limits for growers to edibles packaging and regulations on cannabis delivery.

A final version of the rules likely won’t be ready until June because the legislature still has some tweaking to do, said Rob Patridge, chair of the OLCC.

One area primed

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Oregon Adopts Regulations for Rec Industry is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs