This week, Virginia and Missouri launched medical cannabis sales as the states’ first dispensaries opened their doors to patients. Elsewhere, in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans surfaced to include adult-use cannabis legalization in the state’s 2021-2022 budget, as well as to issue new CBD rules.

Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.

Federal: Several organizations have filed amicus briefs in support of Dr. Sue Sisley, who is petitioning the Ninth Circuit to rule that the DEA’s five-part test to assess if a drug has medical use and can be rescheduled is arbitrary and capricious. The briefs urge the court to grant Sisley’s Petition for Review, which would allow researchers to study the effects of cannabis as a treatment for PTSD. Read moreTexas: According to an economic analysis released this week by Vicente Sederberg LLP, Texas could collect more than half a billion dollars per year in new tax revenue and create upwards of 40,000 new jobs if it legalizes and regulates cannabis for adult use. The state could also save millions of taxpayer dollars per year in criminal justice costs, according to the report. Read moreVirginia: Dharma Pharmaceuticals’ first day of sales marked the opening of Virginia’s medical cannabis market on Oct. 17. “It was overwhelming,” Dharma Pharmaceuticals COO Jack Page told Cannabis Dispensary this week. “And, honestly, it was just truly emotional. We’ve been working seven days a week for two and a half years to get this thing up and running, and to finally actually see patients and see our hard work and money that we invested was pretty amazing.” Read moreMassachusetts: A bipartisan group of Massachusetts lawmakers have voiced opposition to the Cannabis Control Commission’s (CCC) cannabis delivery regulations, drafting a letter to regulators indicating that they believe the proposed wholesale delivery license type “was not contemplated, nor supported, by the enabling legislation.” The draft regulations, which were established last month, proposed the creation of two types of delivery licenses—a limited delivery license, which would allow a licensee to charge a fee to deliver from licensed cannabis dispensaries, and the wholesale delivery license, which would allow a licensee to buy cannabis wholesale from licensed cultivators and manufacturers, store it in a warehouse and sell it to consumers. Read moreThe CCC then approved policy changes to its proposed adult-use cannabis delivery regulations this week, following a public comment period that closed Oct. 15. The rules now establish Marijuana Courier and Marijuana Delivery Operator license types, and regulators put in place operations restrictions, modified caps on ownership and control, and limits to financial relationships with third-party technology platform providers in order to prevent entities from dominating this emerging delivery market segment. Read moreCalifornia: Two cannabis trade organizations, Southern California Coalition and the California Cannabis Couriers Association, as well as Zachary Pitts, CEO of delivery service Ganja Goddess, filed a lawsuit this week against Los Angeles over the city’s delivery licenses. The complaint says restrictions on the licenses have barred the plaintiffs from participating in the market until 2025, and the plaintiffs are asking a judge to overturn rules approved earlier this year that gave only social equity applicants initial access to the delivery licenses. Read moreNew York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo is renewing his push for cannabis legalization in 2021, and also plans to issue new CBD rules in the state. The news was revealed during a recent interview between Axel Bernabe, one of Cuomo’s top advisers on cannabis, and David Culver, an executive with Canopy Growth. Read moreMissouri: Medical cannabis sales have launched in Missouri, as the state’s two operational cannabis retailers, N’Bliss and Fresh Green, opened their doors to patients this week. N’Bliss, a subsidiary of Nirvana Investments, opened its first two stores in Manchester and Ellisville on Oct. 17, while Fresh Green opened for business in Lee’s Summit on Oct. 19. Read moreShortly after the market opened, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services conducted an investigation of a complaint that medical cannabis sold in the state contained mold growth. Retesting of the product confirmed that the batch falls within acceptable limits for relevant tests, including microbial screening, and presents no health or safety concerns. Read morePennsylvania: The Pennsylvania House approved an amendment to the state’s DUI law Oct. 21 that would decriminalize trace amounts of medical cannabis in a driver’s system. The state’s current DUI laws criminalize driving while THC is in a driver’s system, even if it has been weeks since ingestion, and even if a driver is a registered medical cannabis patient. Read more

Portland, OR -- PRESS RELEASE -- At its regular monthly meeting on Oct. 15, 2020, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) moved forward with plans to streamline the agency’s recreational marijuana licensing process and adjust compliance and enforcement activity through a Verification of Compliance (VOC) program. The Commission also approved five marijuana violation stipulated settlement agreements.

OLCC has been challenged to timely issue marijuana licenses since April 2016, due to the continued interest in the recreational market. Personnel and technology support have not kept pace with license applications that quickly shot past the initial projection of 800 licenses and now number more than 2,300.

As the industry has matured, the agency’s ability to regulate it has evolved and the OLCC has modified its licensing process several times in an attempt to streamline. This latest licensing process adjustment attempts to make it easier for applicants to begin operating before the final approval of changes in ownership and financial interest changes in a licensed business.

Likening the existing license process to a freeway that squeezes from 10 lanes down to two, the chair of the Commission cautioned that efficiencies made through continuous adjustments to the licensing process would not be enough to address the long term licensing challenge.

“We’re not kidding ourselves, if we don’t get the manpower, the back end is going to be two lanes regardless of the ten lanes up front,” said Paul Rosenbaum, OLCC chair. “If we don’t get the budget, we’re not going to solve this issue.”

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) recently conducted an investigation of a complaint that medical cannabis sold in the state contained mold growth, and has concluded that the product batch is safe for consumption, according to a KY3 report.

Retesting of the product confirmed that the batch falls within acceptable limits for relevant tests, including microbial screening, and presents no health or safety concerns, the news outlet reported.

On Oct. 20, the DHSS notified more than 200 patients who had purchased the product in question that a complaint was being investigated.

“We encourage all patients to alert us to any concerns they have about any product they purchase,” Lyndall Fraker, director of the DHSS Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation, said in a public statement. “If there are concerns, we would advise that they do not consume any of the product until the situation can be properly investigated.”

Missouri’s medical cannabis market launched Oct. 17, when the state’s first dispensary, N’Bliss, opened its doors to patients.

At $102 million, Intrinsic Capital Partners has closed a growth equity fund for investment in cannabis- and hemp-focused life science and technology businesses.

With an overall aim “to build and scale industry-leading companies that address unmet needs across the supply chain,” according to a press release, Intrinsic hopes to do just that here. A team of operating advisors will work to build and scale Intrinsic’s portfolio companies, which so far include ACT Laboratories, Treez, Hound Labs and Elemental Brands. The Pennsylvania-based firm has committed $65 million to these four companies and anticipates directing dollars from the fund to two or three more businesses.

Intrinsic lists four members of its advisory group in the release, all of whom have ties to Johnson & Johnson included in their credentials (as does Cornelius Merlini, one of Intrinsic’s three co-founders and partners). One advisor, Minnie Baylor-Henry, was formerly director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC), the precursor to the federal agency’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP).

Merlini, who before co-founding Intrinsic most recently worked at Endo Pharmaceuticals’ Healthtronics Lab Solutions division, said in the release, “[W]e built a top team of advisors who have scaled valuable businesses and are able to provide our portfolio companies with strategic advice, mentoring, operational support and regulatory know-how.”

Acknowledging that much of the capital invested in the cannabis space has gone to state-legal cultivators, dispensaries and adult-use brands, Intrinsic’s team is focused on investment in ancillary businesses that support the cannabis and hemp markets.

“This is a unique and opportune time for a fund with dry powder to invest in market segments where traditional capital providers and strategic corporations have largely stayed on the sideline, creating price dislocation, attractive private market valuations and ample exit strategies,” said founder and partner Gerald Stahlecker, former president of FS Investment Corporation and executive vice president of FS Investments.

The Pennsylvania House approved an amendment to the state’s DUI law Oct. 21 that would decriminalize trace amounts of medical cannabis in a driver’s system, according to a Pittsburgh City Paper report.

The state’s current DUI laws criminalize driving while THC is in a driver’s system, even if it has been weeks since ingestion, and even if a driver is a registered medical cannabis patient, the news outlet reported.

The legislation passed the House in a 109-93 vote, and would decriminalize trace amounts of cannabis in a driver’s system if the driver is a legal medical cannabis user, according to the Pittsburgh City Paper.

The bill also clarifies that an individual may not drive under the influence of a controlled substance with the exception of “marijuana used lawfully in accordance with the act of April 17, 2016, known as the Medical Marijuana Act,” the news outlet reported.

The legislation now heads to the Senate for consideration.

When Andreas Neumann joined Jushi Holdings as chief creative director in early 2020, he brought with him a professional background steeped in experiential brand development. He was new to the cannabis industry, but the cannabis industry itself is new to the vast commercial landscape in the U.S. When he arrived, the industry was moving headlong into a conversation about the importance of brand-building for the long haul.

 

“My vision of the future of branding and communication is really that the experience equals the brand,” Neumann said in recent interview with Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary.

He had been working with Queens of the Stone Age on a possible cannabis brand—something to draw on the band’s long-tenured role as stewards of stoner rock—when he linked up with Jushi. The multi-state operator was planning to overhaul its digital experience, and Neumann’s perspective arrived just in time.

In April, shortly after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and the series of stay-at-home orders in the U.S., Jushi’s retail brand, BEYOND/HELLO relaunched its website to better accommodate the customer experience and the rise of online shopping. Nuemann said he wanted to blend the digital and physical, using data to understand what Jushi’s customers wanted—and where and when and why they wanted it.

What did he and his team learn right away? “Everybody wants to go to the menu,” he said, so Jushi foregrounded the menu on its relaunch. “And, ideally, they’re already making a decision about what they want to get in the store and where they’re going to get it.” Digital and physical.

Jushi is on the ground in four states, with eight retail storefronts in Pennsylvania, two in Illinois, one in California and one coming soon in Virginia.  

Oct. 17 marked the first day of medical cannabis sales in Missouri, and the state’s two operational cannabis retailers, N’Bliss and Fresh Green, have had quite the journey to serving patients in the nascent market.

N’Bliss, a subsidiary of Nirvana Investments, opened its first two stores in Manchester and Ellisville on Oct. 17, while Fresh Green opened for business in Lee’s Summit on Oct. 19.

“It was exciting—the energy is real,” N’Bliss Managing Partner and CEO Bradford Goette tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary of opening weekend.

Goette says the dispensary could have opened earlier, but the N’Bliss team took their time to ensure a great experience for its first customers.

“Your first sale and transaction should be memorable, but it should be right,” he says. “You should be doing this for the patient, and we want that to go smooth. We know with all the software systems, moving parts [and] compliance, there’s a lot of room for error. We wanted to test things and make sure things were working prior to opening.”

 

Ganja Goddess CEO Zachary Pitts joined the Southern California Coalition and the California Cannabis Couriers Association in filing a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles over its latest cannabis delivery licensing plan. As the head of a delivery service that spans the state, Pitts has been working closely with officials in LA to get the city’s delivery licensing program up and running.   

In July, however, the city altered its plan and focused its program on social equity applicants—barring non-social equity applicants from the LA delivery license until 2025.

It’s the latest in a number of twists and turns in Los Angeles, each one seemingly reversing course on a plan to include as many prospective businesses as possible in this booming marketplace. 

We spoke with Pitts to learn more about the lawsuit and about the larger picture of cannabis delivery this year.

Eric Sandy: Why was it important for you to be attached to this lawsuit?

Zachary Pitts: We had the trade organizations, and I'm part of both of them actually. We felt like i[the lawsuit] needed a face of someone who was working with city, who was in the original system, who would be applying for the license and had material losses because of the city going back and changing the law after years and years of delays. There were particular circumstances that we felt like I represented very well. And there are plenty of delivery services in a similar situation as me, but we felt it needed someone who had invested in leases and employment and in setting up a license in the city of LA.

One Plant Florida, a subsidiary of Bluma Wellness, is hosting a beach cleanup at Jensen Beach Park Oct. 25 to give back to the local community and help a cause that is important to Bluma Wellness CEO Brady Cobb.

“I went to high school at Martin County High School,” Cobb told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “I grew up surfing Jensen Beach and Stuart and Stuart Rock. That’s such a coastal community with the beach and the river and the water. … Getting the community together and having our team members show up in the Jensen Beach area to help clean up that beach was something we thought would be a great event and a great way to give back to the community.”

Cobb expects 50 to 60 people at the event, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“For us, it’s about becoming a part of people’s daily lives and becoming a part of the community that we’re in,” Cobb said. “As a surfer myself, I’m still in the water as much as I can, and I’ve spent a lot of time in the water in Martin County. … Most of our team are Florida born and bred. I’m Florida born and bred, and we take what we do in Florida pretty seriously.”

RELATED: Meeting the Cannabis Demand in Florida: Q&A with Brady Cobb of One Plant

On Thursday, Oct. 22, at 9:30 a.m. E.T., members of the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss Question 1, the ballot initiative to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state.

Industry members can register to testify here or submit written testimony to OLSAideSJU@njleg.org.

New Jerseyans will vote on Question 1 on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, and many of them have voted already.

“However, even if passed, the responsibility still falls upon lawmakers to craft and implement adult-use legislation,” according to a statement from the National Organization for the Reform Marijuana of Laws (NORML). Cannabis industry members can share their thoughts about what effective adult-use legislation would look like.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is renewing his push for cannabis legalization in 2021, and also plans to issue new CBD rules in the state, according to a NYup.com report.

WORCESTER—PRESS RELEASE—Following a public comment period that closed Oct. 15, the Cannabis Control Commission on Oct. 20 approved additional policy changes to its draft regulations that establish two Marijuana Establishment types authorized to provide limited delivery services to adult-use cannabis consumers in the Commonwealth. A final vote on all modifications to Massachusetts’ adult and medical use of marijuana regulations will occur at a subsequent public meeting slated for Oct. 29.

Thomas Hobbes famously stated that life can be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Hobbes could have well been predicting the state of the 21st century cannabis industry, with all its brutishness and nastiness. But we hope this article puts us in solidarity with you and other cannabis business owners, mitigating the solitude, and we hope our advice results in your experience in cannabis being neither poor nor short.

RELATED: 6 Cannabis Business Lessons We Learned Too Late

1. BUDGET FOR THE UNKNOWN

Do not forget to budget for the “Oops, we forgot about...” In our prior article we emphasized understanding the revenue and expense cycles of the particular verticals you operate within (grow, processing, retail, etc.) and to pull them together into a pro forma. Almost every significant expense line will have unanticipated situations come up.

Let’s say you are designing an indoor grow and you are ready to install all your lighting and air management equipment. Your electrician says you need to upgrade the electrical capacity to handle all the equipment you identified. This could easily be a $50,000 additional expense.

Or, as another common example, labor expenses are often underestimated and can drain your cashflow before you start monetizing your crop. If, for example, you are delayed in planting your crop or processing by only a few months, your payroll budget still needs to cover the people you already hired. When doing your pro forma, and before you give any rosy scenarios to investors, it is best to add an additional six months of payroll expense as a “contingent payroll cost” (aka cover your assets (CYA)).

TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2020 /CNW/ - PRESS RELEASE - Namaste Technologies Inc., a platform for cannabis products, accessories and education, has announced the expansion of its Cannabis 2.0 product offering with the launch of a new butane hash oil (BHO) live resin product line to be sold under the Phyto Extractions brand. In addition, Namaste also announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary, CannMart Inc., has entered into an exclusive agreement with Stigma Grow, a licensed producer and processor, to distribute shatter, crumble and live resins through CannMart's B2B channel of provincial body supply agreements and its B2C online medical channel.

"Our ongoing mission is to align with cannabis growers, distributors and retailers to ensure the highest-quality cannabis concentrates are available wherever savvy consumers are looking for something exceptional," said Travis McIntyre, CEO of Stigma Grow. "This agreement with CannMart is in perfect alignment with our promise to Canadians and builds on the success and momentum that we have already seen in the provinces where our products are currently sold. We're excited to bring our unique live resin, full-spectrum BHO products to as many stores across Canada as possible."

"With our new Phyto branded BHO live resin and Stigma Grow's shatter, crumble and live resins, we are leading the marketplace with high-quality Cannabis 2.0 products," said Meni Morim, CEO of Namaste Technologies. "Stigma Grow's shatter, crumble and live resins are known for their quality and are an excellent addition to CannMart's line of cannabis products and accessories. Phyto is a leading legacy brand in Canada and their hydrocarbon extracts are a hit with cannabis enthusiasts. Stigma and Phyto products will be available across Canada online at CannMart.com medically, and through our business-to-business distribution channels throughout our provincial customers starting in BC and Saskatchewan. We believe there is pent up demand for these high-quality, higher-margin products and we will look to leverage the past success of the Phyto brand to continue to grow our sales."

In December 2019, Namaste's subsidiary CannMart Labs Inc. entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Phyto Extractions to use Phyto trademarks on certain cannabis products such as cannabis vaporizing pen cartridges and batteries, cannabis capsules, and cannabis tincture bottles and jars. Phyto is a well-known and award-winning legacy brand which has strong brand recognition with cannabis aficionados seeking high-quality cannabis products. Phyto vaporizing pen cartridges have experienced significant growth since their introduction in 2019 and are now one of CannMart's best sellers on its medical platform.

Stigma Grow, a subsidiary of CanadaBis Capital Inc., holds cultivation and processing licenses from Health Canada and uses leading-edge BHO cannabis extraction techniques, product development and R&D to produce consistent high-quality shatter, crumble and full-spectrum live resins capable of offering the purity, potency and precision that cannabis customers demand. Stigma Grow uses a state-of-the-art butane hydrocarbon extraction system at their Red Deer, AB facility to process some of the only full-spectrum concentrate products available on the legal market today.

NEW YORK, Oct. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Acreage Holdings, Inc. has announced that both its new Class D “floating” shares (OTCQX: ACRDF) and Class E “fixed” shares (OTCQX: ACRHF) will commence trading on the OTCQX Best Market operated by OTC Markets Group on Oct. 7, 2020.

The OTCQX is the highest market tier of OTC Markets Group. The OTCQX market is reserved for established U.S. and global companies that meet high financial standards, provide timely news and disclosure to investors, and have a professional third-party sponsor introduction.

Acreage was sponsored for its OTCQX trading by Dorsey & Whitney LLP, a qualified third-party firm responsible for providing guidance on OTCQX requirements and recommending membership.

October 15, 2020, Frederick, MD – PRESS RELEASE – A2LA has announced the accreditation of ECC Test Lab to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for cannabis testing. East Coast Cannalytics (dba ECC Test Lab), based in Blacksburg, Va., is the first cannabis testing laboratory accredited to the standard in the state by A2LA. 

“ECC is thrilled to be ISO/IEC 17025 accredited! In the cannabis industry ISO/IEC 17025 is a beacon for labs that have rigorously validated methods and hold the highest standards for quality,” said Becky Hobden, CEO at ECC Test Lab. “As a leading cannabis lab in the southeast, we are honored to work with A2LA and demonstrate that we meet the quality standards set forth in ISO/IEC 17025. Thank you!”

“We congratulate East Coast Cannalytics on being the first laboratory to be accredited for cannabis testing in the state of Virginia,” said Anna Williams, Accreditation Supervisor at A2LA.  “A2LA is excited to have assisted ECC Test Lab in achieving this milestone. We are glad to see the continued growth of our cannabis program in another state, which further promotes the value that accreditation adds in ensuring quality in this emerging industry. We look forward to our continued relationship with ECC Test Lab in serving their accreditation needs.”

Achieving ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation by A2LA is the pinnacle in third-party laboratory accreditation, as it confirms that laboratories have management, quality and technical systems in place to ensure accurate and reliable analyses, as well as proper administrative processes to ensure that all aspects related to the sample, the analysis and the reporting are standardized, measured and monitored.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PRESS RELEASE -- With unemployment amassing in the wake of a global pandemic, Caliva, a consumer brand in cannabis, has announced details of its career training and mentorship program aimed at supporting more diverse and fair hiring practices within the industry. To alleviate immediate concerns exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19 in California, this initiative first prioritizes assisting the inmates recently released early from the California state prison system, many of whom now find themselves displaced, without a home or source of income in the midst of an economic crisis. Long-term, Caliva will open program eligibility to all individuals struggling to find income or shelter within the L.A. and Bay Area communities, where poverty and homelessness are on the rise.

Building upon their commitment to social justice, Caliva has collaborated with Chrysalis and Success Centers, two nonprofit organizations dedicated to creating pathways to self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income individuals. Together, each entity plays a role in guiding eligible candidates through every step of the reentry process, ultimately working to hire some individuals as Caliva employees. In the very initial stages of the partnership, Caliva has already successfully hired multiple individuals for open job positions within the company and is excited to expand the program to a larger number of candidates.

RELATED: Success Centers Helps Fill Dispensary Jobs in the Bay Area with a Focus on Social Equity

"Since its inception, Caliva has been a company focused on increasing the economic participation of citizens returning from incarceration through advocacy, job training, and overall employee and workforce development," said Caliva CEO Dennis O'Malley. "When we heard the news that California state prison systems would be releasing hundreds of thousands of people to slow the spread of COVID-19, we knew we had to take action to help make a difference in our community. We're fortunate enough to be in a position where we were able to hire some candidates already and have been extremely impressed by the talent thus far. As we continue to expand our business throughout California, we will definitely be looking to fill newly created jobs with individuals who have been recommended by Chrysalis and Success Centers."

While the goal of this initiative is to help improve the lives of all individuals looking to reenter the workforce, it is necessary to recognize that the War on Drugs has disproportionately affected BIPOC communities. As a leader in the cannabis industry, this is a prevalent issue that Caliva feels at its core. Caliva has always made a significant effort to support expungement and criminal justice reform through several different avenues, each of which drives change in a distinct and purposeful way. To learn more about Caliva's social impact, please visit Caliva.com/Social-Impact.

Two cannabis trade organizations, Southern California Coalition and the California Cannabis Couriers Association, filed a lawsuit Oct. 19 against Los Angeles over the city’s delivery licenses, according to an AP News report.

The suit, which was filed alongside Zachary Pitts, CEO of delivery service Ganja Goddess, says restrictions on the licenses have barred the plaintiffs from participating in the market until 2025, the news outlet reported. The plaintiffs are asking a judge to overturn rules approved earlier this year that gave only social equity applicants initial access to the delivery licenses.

While the lawsuit does not seek to limit social equity applicants’ access to the licenses, it is asking the court to allow other standalone delivery business to apply, according to AP News.

The lawsuit claims that the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation was initially required to issue 20 licenses to non-social equity applicants under a delivery pilot program, but that the agency never accepted applications for those licenses, the news outlet reported.

Instead, new regulations were adopted, and only social equity applicants could apply for new retail and delivery licenses until 2025, according to AP News.

A bipartisan group of Massachusetts lawmakers has voiced opposition to the Cannabis Control Commission’s (CCC) cannabis delivery regulations, according to a MassLive.com report.

The draft regulations, which were established last month, would create two types of delivery licenses—a “limited delivery license,” which would allow a licensee to charge a fee to deliver from licensed cannabis dispensaries, and a “wholesale delivery license,” which would allow a licensee to buy cannabis wholesale from licensed cultivators and manufacturers, store it in a warehouse and sell it to consumers.

Nineteen state lawmakers drafted a letter to the CCC last week, indicating that they “believe that the wholesale delivery license was not contemplated, nor supported, by the enabling legislation,” MassLive.com reported.

The lawmakers asked the CCC to reconsider its final vote on the proposed delivery regulations, which is expected to take place Oct. 20, according to the news outlet.