MMJ Business Daily

Passing the Sniff Test: Odor-Minimizing Technology Proliferating in Cannabis Industry as Complaints Rise

By Marijuana Business Daily staff

High Valley Farms has tried several methods to quell the odors coming from its cultivation facility that sits 20 miles north of Aspen, Colorado, amid frequent complaints from neighbors.

But doing so effectively proved difficult, time-consuming and costly.

So far this year, it’s employed a mist-vapor system and a dry-vapor system, both of which emit their own odors that some local residents find offensive, founder and chief executive Jordan Lewis told county commissioners at a recent meeting. It also installed a hydroxyl system it hopes will eliminate odors before they get beyond the boundaries of

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Passing the Sniff Test: Odor-Minimizing Technology Proliferating in Cannabis Industry as Complaints Rise is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Major California Rec Legalization Initiative Filed

We’re still a long way from the 2016 general election, but one of the more prominent groups hoping to legalize recreational cannabis in California next year has put a key piece of its plan in motion.

The Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, which is headed by Oaksterdam University’s Dale Sky Jones, filed its initiative language with the state attorney general’s office, according to the San Francisco Weekly. You can read the full initiative here.

The group is campaigning as Reform California, or simply Reform CA.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the measure’s

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Major California Rec Legalization Initiative Filed is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

CannLabs Upheaval Results in Murray’s Departure

Genifer Murray, a longtime staple of Colorado’s marijuana industry, was recently forced out of her position as CEO and director of CannLabs, a company she founded in 2010.

According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, there was an acrimonious split between Murray and the board of directors.

CannLabs, a publicly traded company, said in the filings that Murray was terminated Sept. 4 for cause, including advancing her own personal interests over the interests of the company, disclosing confidential information to third parties, failing to follow directions of the board, and making defamatory statements about current and

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CannLabs Upheaval Results in Murray’s Departure is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Doctors’ Group Calls for MJ Reform

Cannabis advocates have a new and perhaps unlikely ally: the American Academy of Family Physicians.

The group last week passed two new resolutions into its platform, with one calling for the decriminalization of recreational cannabis and the other calling on the federal government to re-categorize marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II.

The organization, which boasts over 120,000 physicians as members, reasoned that the cost of prohibition is simply too high, both socially and in taxpayer money. The decriminalization resolution (which originally called for full legalization but was amended prior to a member vote) cited studies and statistics regarding arrests

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Doctors’ Group Calls for MJ Reform is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Chart of the Week: Cannabis-Touching Firms Finally in Vogue With Investors

By Becky Olson

For years, most investors interested in the cannabis space avoided companies that actually touch the plant in favor of “safer” ancillary businesses that provide products and services to the industry or consumers.

That’s starting to change rapidly.

A look at a broad sample of single investment deals in the cannabis industry since the beginning of 2015 reveals that dispensaries, retail stores, cultivation sites, infused products companies and testing labs are starting to land some sizable amounts of capital.

A licensed cultivation company in Canada, for instance, landed $121,000, while Minnesota’s two licensed dispensary and cultivation operators

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Chart of the Week: Cannabis-Touching Firms Finally in Vogue With Investors is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Harborside Announces New Oregon Dispensary

Harborside Health Center is continuing to expand its empire.

Now with three locations in California, a dispensary license in Illinois and more plans in the works, Harborside announced this week that it has formally opened a new location in Portland, Oregon.

“We’re your new neighbor!” the chain announced on its website, directing the comment to Portland residents.

The dispensary opened on Oct. 1, which also happened to be the first day adult-use cannabis sales also started in Oregon. The location is in the north-central part of town, not far from Portland International Airport.

The new dispensary was

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Harborside Announces New Oregon Dispensary is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Illinois Grower Spending $1M on Marketing Campaign

One of the few licensed medical cannabis growers in Illinois is testing a statewide ban on advertising by throwing $1 million into a marketing campaign designed to bolster participation in the upcoming market.

Cresco Labs, which has licenses to operate three different MMJ cultivation centers, is planning to use billboards, print ads, radio commercials and social media in an all-out blitz to the public, according to the Chicago Tribune. The ads include Cresco’s logo and an addendum that more information can be found at the company’s website.

That’s despite a state law that reads, “Cultivation centers may not advertise

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Illinois Grower Spending $1M on Marketing Campaign is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

7 Denver Cannabis Shops Busted for Selling to Minors

Denver Police announced this week that seven cannabis stores in the city were cited for selling to minors as part of a wide-ranging sting operation, giving the city’s recreational marijuana industry a black eye.

As a result of the sting – which involved 30 shops – the overall compliance rate for the state’s marijuana industry fell to 91% vs. 100% previously, according to a local TV report. That’s about the same compliance rate as liquor stores.

A previous sting in 2014 found no violations, according to the report.

Seven employees were ticketed at the shops and charged with a class

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7 Denver Cannabis Shops Busted for Selling to Minors is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Week in Review: Showtime for Rec in Oregon, Milestone in Maryland & Patient Spike in Nevada

By John Schroyer

Recreational marijuana sales begin in Oregon, Maryland starts taking applications for medical cannabis business licenses, and Nevada sees a major uptick in patient numbers.

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

And Then There Were Three

Oregon has officially joined Colorado and Washington State in the club of markets with legal adult-use cannabis sales.

Many dispensaries opened at 12:01 a.m. Thursday to lines of customers waiting to purchase recreational marijuana. Others stuck to their normal schedules and didn’t open until mid-morning but were still greeted by a rush

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Week in Review: Showtime for Rec in Oregon, Milestone in Maryland & Patient Spike in Nevada is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

New Wrinkle With California MMJ Regs

A serious wrinkle has emerged with statewide medical cannabis regulations recently passed by the California Legislature: they could conceivably force every dispensary in Los Angeles to close.

That’s because the new rules require both a city and a state permit for dispensaries to keep operating, and Los Angeles doesn’t offer any permits currently. Rather, the city only provides “limited immunity” from prosecution and leaves marijuana businesses still in a kind of legal limbo.

Fortunately, a fix is supposedly on the way, according to L.A. Weekly.

A spokeswoman for the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance told the

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New Wrinkle With California MMJ Regs is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs