LOS ALAMOS, NM, March 9, 2020 / - PRESS RELEASE - Trait Biosciences Inc., a leading biotechnology research organization providing innovative technology to the hemp and cannabis industry, has announced the promotion of Dr. Rebecca White to the role of Chief Technology Officer. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Trait Biosciences.

White will be responsible for the continued development of Trait Biosciences’ technology roadmap, harnessing her extensive experience in product commercialization strategy and leading a team of world-renowned scientists and technologists.

“By promoting Dr. White to Trait’s Chief Technology Officer, we proudly recognize the scientific acumen and ability to develop technologies and clinical research she demonstrated as Chief Operating Officer,” said Peter McDonough, Trait's chief executive officer. “Dr. White’s unique combination of research expertise and executive leadership capabilities make her supremely qualified to move our groundbreaking water-soluble cannabinoid technology into the market’s most reliable and predictable formulations of CBD- and THC-infused consumer products.”

“I am excited to be involved in developing such a robust suite of technology platforms for the hemp and cannabis industry,” said White. “Trait is positioned for commercial success and I’m thrilled to lead such a remarkable team.”

White is the first Chief Technology Officer for Trait Biosciences. She has more than a decade of experience within bioscience-based industries, successfully pioneering efforts to commercialize algae as an agricultural crop. As a scientist with a strong business and communications background, her experience in both commercialization of novel plant-based products and technology transfer from lab to field make her uniquely suited to lead Trait Biosciences operations teams. White has a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Texas A&M University and received her Honors B.Sc. degree from the University of North Texas.

PRESS RELEASE - The list for pesticides that can be used on cannabis without being a violation of the Pesticide Applicators' Act has been updated. Please note the following products have been added:

Cueva Fungicide Concentrate, SLN CO-200001 (hemp only)

Cueva Fungicide Concentrate is Colorado’s first “Special Local Need” registration for hemp. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Section 24(c) allows states to register additional uses of a federally registered pesticide. These additional uses are for distribution and use within a particular state to meet a "special local need" (SLN).

Applicators using Cueva Fungicide Concentrate under this SLN registration must have both the product label and the SLN label in their possession when applying to hemp. A copy of the SLN label can be obtained from CDA’s website here.

This product cannot be used on marijuana.

To view the updated list, click here for a pdf or click here for an Excel form. For questions regarding this change, contact Laura Quakenbush at (303) 869-9060 or email Laura.Quakenbush@state.co.us.

Three Senate committees have approved a draft bill in Mexico that would create a legal, regulated market for medical, adult-use and industrial cannabis, according to a Mexico News Daily report.

Twenty-six senators voted in favor of the legislation at a joint meeting of the Justice, Health and Legislative Committees, while seven senators voted against it and eight abstained, the news outlet reported.

The bill would make changes to Mexico’s Federal Health Law and federal criminal code to legalize up to 28 grams of cannabis for personal use by adults, and would allow patients to grow up to 20 plants for medical use with permission from the Mexican Cannabis Institute, a new government department that has not yet launched, according to Mexico News Daily.

Under the legislation, cannabis possession would not be a drug trafficking offense until it involves more than 200 grams, the news outlet reported, and, in the first five years of legalization, 40% of the available cannabis production licenses will be awarded to applicants who live in communities impacted by drug trafficking.

The bill will be debated in another meeting of the three Senate committees, Mexico Daily News reported, as well as in a plenary session of the upper house. A vote is expected as soon as next week, according to the news outlet, and then, to become law, the legislation would have to be ratified by the lower house and promulgated by President López Obrador.

Virginia lawmakers have sent a cannabis decriminalization bill to Gov. Ralph Northam, who has vowed to sign the proposal into law this year.

The Senate passed S.B. 2 in a 27-12 vote, while the House voted 57-33 to approve it, according to a local WSET report.

The legislation reduces the penalty for simple cannabis possession of up to one ounce to a $50 fine or five hours of community service, the news outlet reported.

Under current Virginia law, those convicted of cannabis possession could serve a 30-day jail sentence and a fine of up to $500 for a first offense, according to WSET.

The Virginia House and Senate passed similar decriminalization bills last month, but the legislative chambers had to reconcile the minor differences between their proposals before sending legislation to Northam.

The Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) is looking into ways to speed up its licensing process after the third phase of licensing for the city’s Social Equity Program stalled last year when a computer glitch affected the application process, according to a Los Angeles Daily News report.

The Social Equity Program, which aims to give low-income residents and people formerly incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes a chance to operate cannabis dispensaries in the city, is set to resume after an audit of the licensing process is completed, the news outlet reported.

Los Angeles launched its third licensing round for the Social Equity Program last fall to issue 100 additional retail licenses. The city received roughly 800 total applications, but a technical glitch caused some applicants to gain early access to the system, which prompted Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson to call for the suspension of the licensing process.

The DCR announced in November that the agency would pursue a third-party audit of the process, and that it would not issue final cannabis dispensary licenses until the review is completed.

RELATED: Industry Group Speaks Out Against Social Equity Cannabis Licensing Redo in Los Angeles

An amendment that imposes a 10% THC limit on medical cannabis products for patients under the age of 21 has passed the Florida House in a voice vote, according to the Miami Herald.

The THC cap would not apply to those with terminal illnesses, the news outlet reported.

Rep. Ray Rodrigues filed the proposal as an amendment to H.B. 713, a Department of Health legislative package.

Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva announced last month that he would like to pass legislation this year to limit the potency of medical cannabis products in the state, although the Senate has shown little interest in the issue; a proposal was introduced and then withdrawn in that chamber earlier during this year’s session after it failed to garner enough support, the Miami Herald reported.

This is the second year that a THC cap has been discussed in the legislature; the House considered a proposal last year that would have capped the THC level in whole-flower products at 10%, although the Senate ultimately rejected that measure.

Organic cultivation is a hotly contested topic even beyond the cannabis industry. Look no further than the lawsuit brought forth by the Center for Food Safety and farmers from Maine to California, which aims to bar hydroponic cultivators from using the term “organic” on their products.

While the organic label currently only is reserved for hemp farmers (as cannabis with more than 0.3% THC remains on the Schedule I list), the Denver-based Cannabis Certification Council (CCC) is looking to capitalize on the term’s recognition by preparing to launch its own “Organically-Grown” certification.

The “Organically-Grown” standard is an extension of the group’s “What’s In Your Weed?” campaign, which aims to educate consumers on how cannabis is cultivated and how their purchasing decisions impact the environment and their personal safety. Ben Gelt, board chair and co-founder of the CCC, says there is a huge gap in consumer understanding of what it takes to be certified organic.

“One of my favorite little factoids comes from a study done by a woman at Lewis and Clark University in Portland where she went into the retail environment to understand consumer expectations and attitudes. And she found that 55 percent of consumers in Portland, Ore., thought that all marijuana was natural or organic because it's a plant.”

Gelt believes the “Organically-Grown” certification will help cultivators and retailers sell their products at a premium, as opposed to other certifications currently available that might not have the same consumer recognition.

“As far as I can tell, the challenge has been for all of the seals and all of the standards across the board in cannabis is that not one of them, not one has been able to create a market premium,” Gelt tells Cannabis Business Times. “We think that ‘Organically-Grown’ will differ. The biggest differentiation will be that … we'll have a clear market value very quickly because people understand what that term means. We're not going to have to spend a fortune on budtender education or on public education to have people understand it.”

This week, Cresco Labs co-founder Joe Caltabiano announced that he had resigned from his role as the company’s president, effective immediately, in a decision he says he had been considering and discussing with the Cresco team for a few weeks. Elsewhere, in Utah, the state’s first medical cannabis dispensary opened, signaling the official launch of the market.

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

Federal: Cresco Labs co-founder Joe Caltabiano announced March 2 that he had resigned from his role as president effective immediately, a decision that he says he had been considering and discussing with the Cresco team for a few weeks. Caltabiano co-founded the Chicago-based multi-state operator in 2013, and said it is time for him to “step back and look at some opportunities that I’ve always wanted to pursue,” as his skillsets no longer align with Cresco’s future needs. Read moreMinnesota: Regulators have asked lawmakers to establish a state cannabis office to oversee the state’s medical cannabis, hemp and CBD industries, as well as, potentially, an adult-use market. Officials from the state’s Pharmacy Board and departments of Agriculture, Health and Public Safety have asked for a centralized body, called the Office of Cannabis Management, to regulate the industry and prepare the state for the potential legalization of adult-use cannabis in the future. Read moreUtah: Gov. Gary Herbert signed legislation that fine-tunes the state’s medical cannabis law, just days before the state launched its first medical cannabis sales. S.B. 121, sponsored by Sen. Evan Vickers, contains several amendments to the state’s Medical Cannabis Act, which the legislature approved in December 2018 to make changes to Utah’s voter-approved medical cannabis ballot initiative. Read moreUtah’s first medical cannabis dispensary, Dragonfly Wellness, opened in Salt Lake City March 2, as the state launched a slow rollout of its medical cannabis program. The state’s second dispensary is expected to open this month, with seven more opening by June. Read moreNew Jersey: Senate President Stephen Sweeney has appointed social worker Krista Nash as the first official member of the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, a panel charged with regulating the New Jersey’s cannabis industry. The commission still needs four additional members before it can become operational; Gov. Phil Murphy must appoint three members and State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin must appoint one under New Jersey’s expanded medical cannabis law. Read moreMaine: The legislative committee that oversees the Maine’s adult-use cannabis market approved a bill that would allow the Office of Marijuana Policy to create an adult-use cannabis delivery license. Lawmakers banned the sale of adult-use cannabis through vending machines, drive-thrus, online platforms and delivery services during their rewrite of the 2016 voter-approved initiative that legalized adult-use cannabis in the state, but the committee vote could signal a shift on the issue. Read moreTennessee: Lawmakers plan to introduce a new medical cannabis legalization bill, called the Clinical Cannabis Authorization and Research Act. The legislation, which will be introduced through amendments by Sen. Steve Dickerson and Rep. Bryan Terry, would allow cannabis oils, tinctures, lotions and capsules, but not smokable cannabis, vapes or edibles. Read moreMichigan: The Marijuana Regulatory Agency announced a plan to phase out caregiver-sourced cannabis in its medical cannabis dispensaries. Effective immediately, licensed cannabis businesses may no longer purchase cannabis concentrates, cartridges or other infused products from caregivers in the state, although the final day for caregiver-sourced cannabis flower transfers will be Sept. 30. Read moreFlorida: Rep. Ray Rodrigues has filed legislation that would impose a 10% THC cap on medical cannabis products for patients under the age of 21. Rodrigues introduced his bill the day after similar legislation stalled in the Senate, in the form of an amendment to H.B. 713, a Department of Health legislative package. Read moreCanada: Health Canada, the country’s department of health, is starting a committee to research how cannabis and related products can, or should, be used without a prescription or a doctor’s oversight. The committee’s formation is part of an initiative to form cannabis-related regulations that began in Canada in 2018. Read more

Even as access to cannabis rapidly increases across the nation, in perusing local dispensary menus, product packaging and consumer coverage online one might forget that Cannabis sativa L. is more than a sum of two ingredients: THC and CBD. But a study published this week in Molecules, helps to shed a little light on one of the many lesser known cannabinoids contained in cannabis: CBM, or cannabimovone.

Previously discovered in a landrace hemp varietal known as Carmagnola, named after the region in which it was found, little was known about the potential effects of CBM until a team of Italian researchers took up the challenge. 

Looking specifically at whether this non-intoxicating minor cannabinoid could effectively engage at PPARs (peroxisome proliferation-activated receptors) that play a fundamental role in cell generation, energy and metabolic regulation, the team used 3-D computational models and cell culture assessments to determine activation probability at two of the threes types of PPARs: PPARα (alpha) and PPARγ (gamma).

While previous studies have found dual-action potential at both receptor types for other cannabinoids—including THC, CBD and CBG (cannabigerol), as well as their raw, unheated versions—CBM was found to be most potent at PPARγ.

Due to its role in fat storage and metabolism, sugar regulation and insulin sensitivity, this receptor “represents an attractive pharmacological target to address metabolic disorders” like diabetes and dyslipidemia, which can increase risk for clogged arteries, heart attacks, strokes and other circulatory concerns, according to the study.

The authors also pointed out recent research on the role of this receptor in inflammatory and immune responses. Additionally, several studies have stressed the importance of PPARγ activation in its potential to treat neuroinflammatory conditions like Huntington’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease.

Greenhouse Wellness, a dispensary located in Ellicott City, Md., already has a 10- to 18-week delay on vape cartridge shipments due to the coronavirus, says Gina Dubbe, company co-founder and president.

The cannabis industry could face a long-term supply shortage because battery life on many disposable vapes is typically six months, Dubbe says, citing a notable timeline.

“We’re fortunate because we stocked six months of supply, so we’re hoping by that time the factories will be back open again,” she says.

It’s an issue that industries across a wide range of sectors are grappling with. The world’s largest 1,000 companies or their suppliers own about 12,000 manufacturing or distribution facilities in quarantined areas, according to a Harvard Business Review report.

About 90% of the world's e-cigarettes and vaping devices come from China, according to a Feb. 26 news release from online vape retailer ProVape. The retailer warned that if factories in affected regions remain closed, “there could be a significant delay in the shipment of vaping supplies, if not a total outage.”

“In the cannabis industry, the biggest components that make any sale possible—beyond the cannabis itself—are hardware (like vape pens and cartridges) and packaging,” says Simon Dufour, who provides consulting services for the cannabis industry as a CPA for Hall & Company, based in Irvine, Calif.

Canopy Growth has unveiled what it calls a “production optimization plan” for its operations in Canada, which includes the closure of two greenhouse facilities and the elimination of roughly 500 employees.

“Although difficult, [the] decision was made in order to align Canopy Growth’s supply with consumer demand and improve production efficiencies over time,” CEO David Klein told Cannabis Business Times in an emailed statement.

Canopy plans to shutter its greenhouses in Aldergrove and Delta, British Columbia, which make up roughly 3 million square feet of licensed production space, and the company no longer plans to open a third greenhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, according to a March 4 press release.

“Nearly 17 months after the creation of the legal adult-use market, the Canadian recreational market has developed slower than anticipated, creating working capital and profitability challenges across the industry,” Klein said. “Additionally, federal regulations permitting outdoor cultivation were introduced after the company made significant investments in greenhouse production. The company now operates an outdoor production site to allow for more cost-effective cultivation, which will play an increasingly important role in meeting demand on certain products that rely on cannabis extracts. Following a strategic review of production capacity and forecasted demand, the company announced … that these facilities are no longer essential to its cultivation footprint.”

The capital markets have “bombarded” the industry in Canada, said Deepak Anand, director of Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana and vice president of NORML Canada.

It took a while for investors to realize that they should ask the same detailed questions as they do in other industries about what they should do with their money before proceeding with capital raises, said Anand, who is also co-founder and CEO of Materia Ventures and serves on the board of Valens GroWorks. Now they’re closely watching the industry.

The duo both joined TILT in 2019 through acquisitions made by the holding company—Scatterday is the founder of Jupiter Research, a vape technology manufacturer, and Conder is the founder of Blackbird Logistics, a cannabis technology company developing distribution, delivery and customer service software. With their new titles confirmed, Scatterday and Conder hope to make TILT profitable by refocusing on the company’s strengths.

In this Q&A, the executives share the dynamics of co-running a company, what the future holds for its cultivation and retail assets, tips for cultivators and more.

(Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length, style and clarity.)

CBT: How will the executive responsibilities be divvied up between both of you?

Mark Scatterday: We're really not operating a whole lot differently since I nominated Tim as my chief operating officer. I believe that was back in July of 2019. I've been interim CEO since May 10 for TILT Holdings. I was a former founder and CEO of Jupiter Research. We were acquired in January of 2019 then I stepped into the interim CEO role in May of 2019. In July of 2019, Tim stepped into the role as my chief operating officer and Tim and I have been working hand in hand with the refocus of TILT Holdings: cutting costs, driving revenue and just restructuring the company, so to speak. Just really focusing on some foundational and business principles: driving revenues, focusing on bottom line profits, cutting cost and the unnecessary spending and making sure there is proper allocation of capital.

With the board’s confidence I stepped into the role as permanent CEO. Tim and I have demonstrated that we've worked extremely well together, and I wanted him to give Tim a little bit more responsibility on the day to day and authority and therefore he is now president of a TILT Holdings. But as far as how we've been operating, anything different today than we've been operating in the last seven months, not a whole lot of difference.

Tim Conder: One of the best things about our acquisition and now working at TILT from my perspective has been working alongside Mark and his team. The two of us have been in lockstep for the past seven months. This is just a continuation and maybe crystallization of how we've been operating up to this point.

Like Mark said, we’re excited about the work that we've been able to do together and continue and we’re really, really happy that the board has confidence in both of us to continue moving forward. And from my perspective, I’m just excited to continue to learn from Mark and how he's built his business and really leverage those fundamentals throughout TILT.

For Bijan Sakaki, founding partner of Beehives Own, a medical cannabis dispensary licensee in Utah, the state’s nascent market seems like an afterthought to many in the industry, but he’s determined to launch a successful business to help the state’s patients base and combat Utah’s opioid epidemic.

Sakaki has been treating his ulcerative colitis with medical cannabis for the last six years, and once owned a dispensary in California that has since been sold. He and his Beehives Own team first applied for a cultivation license in Utah, and while their application ranked in ninth place, the state ultimately decided to issue eight cultivation licenses instead of the 10 that were permitted under state law.

“It was bittersweet when they said they were going to release eight instead of 10,” Sakaki tells Cannabis Business Times. “After that, we focused on the retail side. We’re fortunate enough to be able to get two of the 14 licenses—one in Salt Lake City, … which is in Salt Lake County, … the main population center of Utah and Salt Lake City. Then our second location is Brigham City, which is in Box Elder County, and that’s probably an hour north of the city.”

The company’s Salt Lake City location will be its flagship store, he adds, and that is where the team is currently focusing most of its time and resources in an effort to open the dispensary in late April or early May.

“Right now, we’re in the middle of the buildout for our Salt Lake location,” Sakaki says. “We’re hoping to be open for 4/20, but it looks like it’ll be the beginning of May. For our Brigham City location, it’s going to be August [or] September.”

The cannabis industry has experienced explosive growth, so much so that it might be assumed that the company valuations, along with their stocks, had nowhere to go but up.

All industries that see a massive expansion over a short period of time have, at some point, to experience a hiccup. Understanding what causes those hiccups will go a long way to helping industry players find their way to controlled growth and a wealth of new opportunities.

Florida Rep. Ray Rodrigues has filed legislation that would impose a 10% THC cap on medical cannabis products for patients under the age of 21, according to a CBS Miami report.

Rodrigues introduced his bill the day after similar legislation stalled in the Senate, the news outlet reported. Rodrigues’ measure is an amendment to H.B. 713, a Department of Health legislative package.

The proposal would limit doses of smokable medical cannabis, as well as edibles, but doctors could order cannabis with a THC level above 10% for patients under 21 if they get permission from the Department of Health, and the cap would not apply to terminally ill patients, CBS Miami reported.

H.B. 713 is expected to be heard on the House floor March 5, according to the news outlet.

This will be the first time the House takes up a THC cap, after House Speaker Jose Oliva announced last month that he would like to pass legislation this year to limit the THC content in medical cannabis products.

Adult-use cannabis sales in Illinois totaled nearly $35 million in February, a decline from January’s sales, which reached almost $40 million.

Statewide sales in February totaled $34,805,072.01, according to a CBS Chicago report.

The state’s dispensaries sold 831,600 items, the news outlet reported.

The sales figures do not include taxes collected, but tax revenue from adult-use sales surpassed $10 million in January.

As the cannabis industry matures and improves, we have its women to thank for numerous contributions—everything from improving processes in getting clones or seed to sale, to consulting startups on how to launch their businesses.

Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, we are reflecting on women’s achievements and contributions in the industry.

At Cannabis Conference 2020, taking place April 21-23 in Las Vegas, these women will speak on subjects as far-ranging as pest and disease challenges in growing hemp, tips for hiring and retaining dispensary staff, and cannabinoid and terpene science—all to help the industry continue to progress.

We'd like to thank them for speaking at Cannabis Conference 2020 and for continuing to make impactful and far-reaching contributions to the market.

 

Dr. Leslie Apgar, Greenhouse Wellness

An illicit-market vape cartridge buy-back program set in motion by Platinum and Miramar, Calif.’s Mankind Dispensary has revealed that the majority of unregulated vapes collected are unfit for consumption.

During the month of September, Mankind’s customers were invited to turn in vape cartridges that had been purchased from sources other than a legal cannabis dispensary in exchange for a Platinum vape cartridge.

“Our partner, Platinum Vape, came to us and said, ‘We want to do something about this vape crisis and we want to learn a little bit more,’” John Butters, VP of Strategy for Mankind, tells Cannabis Business Times. “We had similar goals. We heard about some of the scary things that are out there in some of the illicit-market vapes and some of the problems they were causing, and we wanted to get an idea of how it was affecting our local community. So, we said yes, and we allowed customers to come down with any illicit market vape they had and [they] could trade it in with a small cost for a Platinum vape cart. There has to be a small cost for it to be legal.”

Two dozen cartridges collected during the program were viable for testing and were released to Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs to undergo testing for potency, pesticides, heavy metals and vitamin E acetate. Samples passed or failed these tests based on the California Bureau of Cannabis Control’s testing regulations for the legal cannabis market.

“We saw that 79% of them were deemed as unfit for consumption overall,” Josh Swider, co-founder and CFO of Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs, tells Cannabis Business Times. “About 80% wouldn’t have passed the California compliance regulations.”

Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency announced a plan to phase out caregiver-sourced cannabis in its medical cannabis dispensaries. Effective immediately, licensed cannabis businesses may no longer purchase cannabis concentrates, cartridges or other infused products from caregivers in the state.

Cannabis flower is a different story—for now. The final day for caregiver-sourced cannabis flower transfers will be Sept. 30. Between now and then, the state will impose certain regulatory rules on how to track cannabis flower inventory purchased from caregivers. Along the way, growers and processors will be mandated to decrease the amount of cannabis flower they purchase from those sources.

“The flower is what there was a huge shortage of, and the caregivers kind of filled that gap so to speak,” Jordan Ezell, owner of Interlochen Alternative Health, told Michigan’s 9 & 10 News. 

Read the full advisory bulletin below.

“We have always put patients first when we make decisions regarding medical marijuana,” MRA Executive Director Andrew Brisbo said in a public statement. “This phase out process is an important next step in implementing the will of Michigan voters and making sure that patients continue to have access to their medicine.”

Last spring, the question of supply and demand in the Michigan medical cannabis market spurred a debate over whether to allow longtime “caregivers” to sell products into the newly regulated marketplace. For years, Michigan had something closer to a gray-market cannabis setup, where caregivers would provide home-grown cannabis to registered patients. That changed in 2016, when state lawmakers developed a plan to license and regulated medical cannabis dispensaries. In 2018, voters approved a regulated adult-use market. But caregivers were left out in the cold, and licensed cannabis products were on short supply.

Feb. 25, 2020 – Cleveland, OH – Due to the continued expansion of its Cannabis Group, GIE Media is pleased to announce the addition of two new editors and the promotion of one of the brands’ digital editors to support the rapid growth of Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, Cannabis Conference and Hemp Grower, the Cannabis Group’s newest publication.

Williams

Patrick Williams joined GIE Media’s Cannabis Group earlier this month as senior editor for Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. He joined GIE Media in 2017 and worked as the associate editor and senior editor for sister publications Greenhouse Management and Produce Grower. Previously, Williams was a freelance writer for B2B and consumer media and an editorial intern on GIE Media’s Golf Course Industry magazine. Williams graduated from Kent State University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

Melissa Schiller was promoted from assistant digital editor to senior digital

editor for Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary magazines in January 2020. She joined the Cannabis Group in June 2017, and previously worked as an audience development associate for GIE Media’s Ornamental Group of publications, where she managed the circulation for Cannabis Business Times, Garden Center, Nursery Management and Greenhouse Management magazines. Schiller has also worked as a contributing writer and editorial assistant for a community newspaper and as a freelance writer for Northeast Ohio Media Group and Modern Tire Dealer. Schiller graduated from Hiram College in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing.

Theresa Bennett joined the Cannabis Group as an associate editor for Hemp Grower and Cannabis Business Times magazines in November 2019 after working for GIE Media’s Recycling Group of magazines. Prior to joining GIE Media in 2018, Bennett was the K-12 education reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal. Outside of GIE Media, Bennett is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Modern Farmer, The Devil Strip and newspapers across the country. Bennett graduated from Kent State University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.