MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press
TORONTO, Dec. 9, 2020 /CNW/ - PRESS RELEASE - Liberty Health Sciences has announced it has hired Darrin Potter as Vice President of Operations. Potter will report directly to the interim CEO, George Gremse.
In his new role, Potter will be responsible for driving the organization's growth by leveraging Liberty's cultivation, processing, extraction, packaging and distribution operations. He will also manage the expansion of the LHS360 production facility in Gainesville.
Potter has a proven background in the cannabis industry as an award-winning cannabis production executive with over 12 years' experience in the medical and recreational cannabis markets. During his career, Potter has served in an operations consultative capacity, focusing on new methods to improve product quality and yield, as well as having managed a company's full facilities operations.
"Liberty's production decreased this past summer creating some shortages of product in the dispensaries over the past few months," said George Gremse, interim CEO of Liberty Health Sciences. "New genetics and SOPs were introduced, and the results are starting to show. Darrin is a strong, experienced leader. His comprehensive industry background adds a high level of expertise that will serve the company and our patients well. His focus will be on continuing to improve the quality and quantity of Liberty's product offerings. We are confident that Darrin will be an outstanding addition to our team and has what it takes to lead the company to another level of success. We are thrilled to have him on board."
Prior to joining Liberty, Potter served as Vice President of Production at iAnthus Capital Holdings Inc. At iAnthus he worked directly with cultivation department managers across US assets to create and maintain company standards, develop best practice protocols to reduce production costs, and leverage industry relationships for best pricing on cultivation and processing materials. Potter also worked as Chief Horticulture Officer for GrowHealthy Holdings, where he coordinated a design team for its 200,000-square-foot indoor/greenhouse/shade house production facility.
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PRESS RELEASE--WM Holding Company, LLC and Silver Spike Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, have announced a definitive agreement for a business combination that would result in WMH becoming a public company. The combined company will be led by Chris Beals, chief executive officer of WMH, and is expected to remain listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Company Overview
Founded in 2008, WMH operates Weedmaps, an online listings marketplace for cannabis consumers and businesses, and WM Business, an SaaS subscription offering sold to cannabis retailers and brands. The company solely provides software and other technology solutions and is non-plant touching. WMH has grown revenue at a CAGR of 40% over the last five years and is on track to deliver $160 million in revenue and $35 million in EBITDA for 2020.
The cannabis market in the U.S. is expected to double over the next five years as the majority of U.S. adults support having legal access to cannabis. Despite these expectations of growth, cannabis users in the U.S. are still a small sub-segment of the population today, and retail density is still low across the majority of states with regulated legal cannabis markets. The regulations related to these markets are often complex and disparate across states as well as cities and counties within regulated states. Cannabis itself is a highly complex and non-shelf stable consumer product. These dynamics present a challenging and sometimes uncertain environment for consumers seeking legal cannabis products and for businesses selling to cannabis users while operating in a compliant fashion.
WMH addresses these challenges with its Weedmaps marketplace and WM Business SaaS subscription offering. Over the past 12 years, Weedmaps has grown to become the premier destination for cannabis consumers, with over 10 million monthly active users and over 18,000 business listings across every U.S. state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico with a legal cannabis market. Clients of the company maintain listings in nine international countries outside of the U.S. Through the Weedmaps' website and mobile apps, WMH provides consumers with information regarding cannabis retailers and brands, as well as the availability of cannabis products, facilitating product discovery and online order-ahead for pickup or delivery by participating retailers.
The company’s cloud-based WM Business SaaS subscription offering provides cannabis retailers with an end-to-end operating system to access valuable users, grow sales and scale their businesses at a compelling return-on-spend. This “business-in-a-box” functionality ranges from integrations supporting product menus that have online order-ahead, delivery order fulfillment software, data & analytics, a point-of-sale solution and a wholesale marketplace. WMH has been investing in and optimizing its WM Business software solution to also facilitate compliance for businesses amidst the complex, disparate and constantly evolving regulations governing the cannabis industry. Underlying this compliance functionality is a proprietary and sophisticated rules engine that is a core underpinning of the WM Business SaaS platform.
TORONTO, ON (December 8, 2020) – PRESS RELEASE – 6PAK Solutions Inc., the packing arm of ATG Pharma Inc., has announced a three-year strategic alliance with CannaPiece Corp., an Ontario-based processor and manufacturer.
Through the formation of this alliance, CannaPiece Corp will be equipped to increase capacity, expertise and co-packing abilities, allowing the company to manufacture high demand Cannabis 2.0 and 3.0 products on behalf of their contract clients.
“This alliance with CannaPiece is a pivotal moment for 6Pak as we can now have the ability to take on co-packing contracts for our clients under a Health Canada License,” said Chris Shar, co-founder of 6Pak Solutions. “With Cannabis 3.0 on the rise, we want to continue to be a trusted partner to our clients by helping them bring new and innovative products to market faster and more efficiently. Through CannaPiece, we will be able to do so."
Equipment supplied by 6Pak will operate out of CannaPiece’s 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Health Canada licensed facility in Pickering, Ontario. The facility currently offers a variety of services such as large-scale extraction, third-party processing and production of edibles, topicals and concentrates. Alongside filling and packaging equipment, 6Pak will also bring their industry expertise in staffing and continuous enhancement and maintenance.
“Leveraging off ATG’s years of industry experience, 6Pak has had a front-row seat to the market evolution. Their trusted expertise and cutting-edge equipment make them the most suitable partner for CannaPiece as we seek to meet growing volumes and timelines,” said Eric Akbar, vice president of operations for CannaPiece Corp. “The true beneficiaries of this alliance will be consumers as we position ourselves to get new innovative products to market faster, and free up company cash flow for the rapidly expanding market.”
The California Cannabis Advisory Committee recommended regulatory changes Dec. 9 that would help licensed cannabis businesses compete with the illicit market and face new challenges related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Recommended changes were included in the committee’s annual report, and include eliminating a $5,000 limit on the amount of cannabis that can be transported by delivery vans to make it easier for small businesses to sell different products, as well as pave the way for food and beverages to eventually be served in cannabis lounges, the news outlet reported.
Other recommendations include expanding the activities allowed under the state’s microbusiness licenses to include the processing of cannabis products, as well as allowing the licensees to conduct sales at licensed events, according to the Los Angeles Times. The committee also recommended eliminating a rule that testing facilities can only test cannabis products, as well as allowing companies to hold multiple cultivation licenses to share propagation and processing areas.
When California voters approved adult-use cannabis legalization in 2016, state officials predicted that 6,000 licensed retail stores would eventually set up shop, but currently, only 715 dispensaries and 315 delivery services are licensed in the state, according to the Los Angeles Times.
A New Mexico advisory board recommended Dec. 9 that the state health secretary consider allowing licensed medical cannabis cultivators to grow more plants to alleviate concerns about the high cost of medical cannabis and the lack of variety, according to an AP News report.
The board voted on the recommendation in response to a petition seeking to either eliminate the limit or significantly increase the number of plants each cultivator can grow, the news outlet reported.
New Mexico’s medical cannabis industry has long pushed for eliminating the limit, while some participants in the program have expressed concern that the nonprofit model established by the state’s medical cannabis law has turned into a monopoly, according to AP News.
Dr. Dominick Zurlo, director of the state’s medical cannabis program, has said that previous increases in the plant count have not brought prices down, the news outlet reported, and added that the state’s cultivators can request next year to grow an additional 500 plants under state law. Currently, cultivators can grow a maximum of 1,750 plants.
New Mexico’s cultivators reported having just over 30,000 mature plants for the quarter ending Sept. 30, according to AP News, and Zurlo said there is “untapped potential” since growers can have more than 51,000 plants under the current regulations.
Canadian licensed producer Canopy Growth Corp. announced Dec. 9 that it will close additional cultivation sites in Canada, according to a Reuters report.
The company will shutter roughly 17% of its indoor cultivation space and all of its outdoor cultivation sites, the news outlet reported, which will result in layoffs for about 220 employees.
Affected cultivation operations include indoor facilities in Edmonton, Alberta and Bowmanville, Ontario, according to Reuters, as well as outdoor sites in Saskatchewan.
“We are confident that our remaining sites will be able to produce the quantity and quality of cannabis required to meet current and future demand,” Canopy CEO David Klein said in a statement to the news outlet.
The closures are part of a four-pronged approach that Klein and other company executives outlined last month to improve margins and turn a profit by the end of the fiscal year 2022, Reuters reported.
Washington, DC - PRESS RELEASE: Members of the US House of Representatives voted Dec. 9 in favor of HR 3797: The Medical Marijuana Research Act, which facilitates clinical cannabis research by establishing a process so that authorized scientists may access flowers and other products manufactured in accordance with state-approved marijuana programs. It also ends the decades-long monopoly on the cultivation of cannabis for FDA-approved research by requiring federal agencies to license multiple manufacturers in addition to the University of Mississippi. For over five decades, the University has been the only federally licensed source of research-grade marijuana in the United States.
The Act is sponsored by Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer, along with several Republican co-sponsors. House members passed the Act on a voice vote.
“The cannabis laws in this country are broken, especially those that deal with research. It’s illegal everywhere in America to drive under the influence of alcohol, cannabis, or any other substance. But we do not have a good test for impairment because we can’t study it … This is insane and we need to change it,” Congressman Earl Blumenauer said today on the House floor. “At a time when there are four million registered medical cannabis patients, and many more likely self-medicate, when there are 91 percent of Americans supporting medical cannabis, it’s time to change the system. Our bill will do precisely that.”
In April, NORML provided testimony for the Federal Register advocating for many of the changes made in this Act.
NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “These common-sense regulatory changes are necessary and long overdue. The DEA has proven time and time again that it is not an honest broker when it comes to overseeing the cultivation of research-grade cannabis. Despite promising over four years ago to expand the pool of federal licensees permitted to provide cannabis for clinical research, the agency has steadfastly refused to do so—leaving scientists with woefully inadequate supplies of cannabis and cannabis products available for human studies.”
OSOYOOS, British Columbia, Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via CannabisNewsWire -- PRESS RELEASE -- Way2Grow Nurseries, a privately owned biopharma company, has announced that it has received Health Canada’s approval for the standard cultivation, standard processing and sale for medical purposes under the Cannabis Regulations. The licenses are effective as of Nov. 20, 2020.
Licensing
The terms of the licenses include approval of a single-story production facility designed to support micropropagation tissue culture, organic cultivation, processing and medical sales requirements. Phase II plans include the expansion of the research laboratory, expansion of controlled cultivation rooms and the addition of a medical dispensary.
The W2G cultivation relies on a small, closed room approach to grow consistent organic medical cannabis. Each W2G cultivar starts with a consistent phyto-pharmaceutical feedstock growth plan through the use of tissue culture and molecular biology. Each cultivation room then operates specific to the cultivar’s growth plan and cultivar optimal conditions to create consistent medical quality.
Way2Grow has developed a new and strategic organic approach to the cannabis industry by combining its expertise in organic cultivation technology, an experienced genetic advancement team, innovative pharmaceutical research plans and IP development, coupled with the highest level of security and design using the W2G Design Standard. Way2Grow believes this unique combination will lead to the highest quality, safest, organic medical cannabis products and pharmaceuticals.
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- OG DNA Genetics has announced a licensing agreement with Natura Life + Science, a vertically integrated cultivator, producer and manufacturer of high-quality cannabis in Sacramento, Calif.
The agreement will grant Natura license to DNA Genetics, Crockett Family Farms and associated family of brands, as well as access to their proprietary award-winning genetics and standardized operating procedures for their cultivation at the Natura cultivation facility in Sacramento, Calif. Natura’s 290,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility allows for propagation, cultivation, product development, R&D, manufacturing, distribution, delivery and more.
“By partnering with Natura Life + Science, we’re finding the right fit and the right home for our brands in California,” said Rezwan Khan, president of DNA Genetics. “Natura embodies everything we look for when exploring a potential licensing partnership: strong management team, commitment to quality, emphasis on integrity, passion for the cannabis plant, fully vertical top tier facility and scale. They even have a shaman on staff to keep the energy right. Everyone at DNA is really looking forward to working with Natura in bringing it altogether for the people of California.”
Natura currently operates over 265,000 square feet of cannabis facility space and specializes in cultivation, manufacturing and extraction, wholesale packaging and distribution, a delivery-only dispensary, and branding and marketing services.
"At Natura we believe the best cannabis products are created from the best cannabis genetics. Don, Aaron and Crockett are true pioneers within the genetic space and it is our privilege to help them provide unparalleled, finished products to California’s cannabis community," says Sid Gupta, VP of Strategy at Natura. “Especially exciting to us will be our ability to offer state of the art technology for the cultivation of DNA genetics and the breeding of the next hottest flavors.”
Florida Sen. Randolph Bracy announced Dec. 8 that he will introduce a bill during the 2021 legislative session to make it easier for people to clear misdemeanor convictions involving the possession and distribution of less than 20 grams of cannabis, according to an Orlando Sentinel report.
The legislation would not automatically expunge records, the news outlet reported, but it would allow thousands of people to clear their criminal records and waive all court fees to do so.
Bracy said he expects bipartisan support of the bill, according to the Orlando Sentinel, and said that if the legislation passes, he wants to see lawmakers continue to work on broader criminal justice reforms, which could potentially include the expungement of cannabis-related felony convictions.
EUREKA, CA - PRESS RELEASE - Northern California’s cannabis industry will become the focus of a pioneering study examining the economic impact of industry upon the region. The Humboldt Community Business Development Center (HCBDC) has partnered with the California Center for Rural Policy at Humboldt State University and Sonoma State University for a comprehensive look into the impact of cannabis farming, manufacturing, distribution and retail sales on the overall economy of a research area which includes the legendary Emerald Triangle (Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties). The HCBDC will develop the study through a grant from the California Bureau of Cannabis Control.
“It is widely understood that cannabis is a significant economic driver in rural northern California, yet four years into the regulation, legalization and taxation of California’s cannabis industry, we still do not have real, data-driven research and analysis on what is the true economic impact of the cannabis industry,” says Natalynne DeLapp, HCBDC Executive Director. “This grant will provide resources to answer long-standing questions, will help establish a baseline by which to measure the economic health of the cannabis industry, and by which public policies can be evaluated for efficacy for years to come.”
A chief cash crop in the area for decades, there has never been a thorough analysis of the role of cannabis to the local economy of rural Northern California. The study, which also encompasses Del Norte and Sonoma counties, will begin to harvest data in early 2021 on such issues as the impact of cannabis on the private and the public sectors, cannabis prices on the licensed and unlicensed markets, job creation, and taxes and government and administrative costs. Some of the questions this study will seek to address include:
How much cannabis is produced by the North Coast cannabis community?How much is the region contributing to California’s GDP?How long have businesses been in the community and how much do they contribute to state and local taxes?How many people are employed; how much is paid in wages?How much are cannabis businesses paying in licenses, permits and fees?“This proposal helps policymakers, advocates, private business, and local residents understand the economics and business aspects of the cannabis business as a combination of agriculture and manufacturing with supply-chain partners to deliver goods to retail and customers,” says economics professor Robert Eyler, Dean, Sonoma State University’s School of Extended and International Education, who will be leading the study. “This framing gets us away from the conversation of illegality and about how these businesses (similar to the wine or craft brew industries) harvest a crop that becomes a manufactured product.”
"For decades, rural northern California counties have incorporated the cannabis economy as an unplanned economic development strategy. This research will help these jurisdictions formulate long-term strategies to incorporate a significant, previously illegible, sector of their economies into a more sustainable, resilient future for their communities," says Dominic Corva, Co-Director, Humboldt Interdisciplinary Institute for Marijuana Research (HIIMR), Humboldt State University.
George Weiblen, a professor in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota and the science director and curator of plants at the Bell Museum, has been working since 2002 to discover the genetic differences between hemp and marijuana.
He’s recently cracked a major component of the code.
A research team led by the Weiblen Lab has developed a genetic test that can predict whether cannabis will produce mostly cannabidiol (CBD) or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), having broad implications on both cannabis and hemp industries.
The team’s findings were recently published in the American Journal of Botany.
While Weiblen acknowledges that other similar tests have been developed, the University of Minnesota’s research and test delve deeper into the biology and mechanisms behind why the test works. In other words, they’ve discovered on the molecular level why certain cannabis produces more CBD and vice versa for THC.
“We are looking at the genes that are ultimately responsible for the pattern we see,” Weiblen tells Cannabis Business Times and Hemp Grower. “What we’ve done is proven our model across lots of different kinds of cannabis, from industrial hemp to medicinal cannabis to feral ditchweed [wild hemp].”
REDMOND, Ore., Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PRESS RELEASE -- Dakine 420, a seven-year-old nutrient company, is partnering with Rexius to expand capacity for manufacturing and distribution of grow media across the nation.
Founded in 2013, Oregon-based Dakine 420 began with a passionate commitment to advocacy and a vision to bring a new level of nutrient quality and real-time customer support to the cannabis and hemp growing industry. As marijuana legalization has taken hold in state after state, the company has established a solid market presence. Innovative, award-winning branding has made the Dakine 420 "Mad Scientist" theme an industry icon.
Nebraska Sen. Anna Wishart is planning an adult-use cannabis ballot initiative for 2022, according to a KOLN report.
Wishart is working on language to legalize adult-use cannabis that will be added to a medical cannabis legalization initiative that is planned for the state’s 2022 ballot, the news outlet reported.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana filed new petition language with Secretary of State Robert Evnen in September to qualify a medical cannabis legalization initiative for the 2022 ballot, after the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the group’s 2020 initiative could not go before voters in the 2020 election.
Evnen certified the group’s initiative in August after Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana collected the required number of signatures needed to qualify the measure for the 2020 ballot. Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner then challenged the initiative in court, and the Supreme Court sided with Wagner, finding that as written, the measure’s language violated the single subject rule as outlined in the state constitution.
While Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana continues its efforts to get medical cannabis legalization before voters in 2022, Wishart plans to introduce her language in January to legalize adult-use, according to a Dec. 5 Facebook post.
New Jersey lawmakers have reached a deal on legislation to implement an adult-use cannabis program in the state, according to an NJ.com report.
State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) introduced a bill just days after voters approved adult-use legalization on Election Day, but lawmakers have since debated the legislation’s social equity provisions, which have been criticized by social justice advocates.
RELATED: Advocates, Lawmakers Battle for New Jersey Cannabis Equity
The compromise bill, which lawmakers agreed on Dec. 4, allows the state to issue 37 cannabis cultivation licenses during the first two years of adult-use sales, NJ.com reported, but this limit does not apply to microlicenses, which will be issued to businesses with 10 employees or less.
The legislation also directs 70% of cannabis sales tax revenue, as well as all of the revenue raised by a tax on cultivators, to fund programs for legal aid, health care and mentoring in minority communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, according to NJ.com.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the July 2020 issue of Cannabis Business Times as part of the "Ask the Experts" special advertising section.
1. What is the biggest challenge growers face with indoor growing climate control?
Geoff Brown: By its very nature, HVAC design isn’t something that can be figured out on the fly. Long equipment lead times, high-voltage electrical connections that require hiring an engineer, city or state permitting—they’re all factors that need to be accounted for ahead of time. And it’s even more complicated, and critical, when scaling up to facilities 10,000 sq. ft. or more. It can be overwhelming without the right help.
2. How does HVAC planning change as your facility grows?
Aaron Hook: Scaling up is not as simple as adding more of everything. Traditional HVAC is not built for plants; it’s built for people. Minor gaps in performance that could be patched with a Band-Aid in a small space can become catastrophic fail points in a larger one. That’s why investing in purpose-built HVAC—the first time around—needs to be a commercial grower’s top priority. It has proven to pay dividends far down the road. We’re here to help growers find a solution designed to do just that.
Brown: HVAC can’t be an afterthought, but rather a holistic, facility-level conversation. It should be as—maybe even more—important than your lighting decision.
3. What should growers consider before making a buying decision?
Brown: Supplementing a cooling-only HVAC system with standalone dehumidification works well in rooms with less dehumidification demand—veg rooms, for instance—where systems don’t fight each other as much. But these solutions can struggle to keep up in a commercial facility.
Editor’s Note: This article has been adapted from Chapter 10: Mistakes That Can Jeopardize Your Project from Getting Grow Rooms Right, written by Geoff Brown, Quest’s VP of Technical Solutions, and Dan Dettmers, Quest’s Applications Engineer.
Unlike many other subjects in the construction field, information is scarce when it comes to grow room designs and control practices. As a result, there are common mistakes that can be made by almost anyone—mistakes that hold the potential to limit your grow room project’s success. The consequences of these oversights vary, but in all cases, they could possibly damage your long-term viability by reducing your business effectiveness, increasing your operating expenses, reducing your crop output and quality or posing various other problems.
Here, we review some of the most serious errors and how you can avoid them in your cannabis grow room project.
1. Not Understanding and Articulating Your Desires
Many problems that can happen in a project trickle down from the fact that people involved in the project are not entirely clear on what kind of results the grower is seeking.
It’s very important that you nail down early in the project exactly what it is you’re looking for, why you’re looking for that, and communicate it clearly. Grower expectations can vary quite a bit depending on the type of facility and intended final use of the product. What is needed for fine bud may not be the same as what is required for oil extracts. As a result, key design factors such as the type and intensity of lighting and temperatures/humidity levels for each room must be agreed upon by all involved parties. These operating conditions form the basis for all other aspects of the design as well as the capital, operating and maintenance costs of equipment required to maintain desired conditions.
This week, the cannabis industry celebrated two major votes as the U.S. House approved the MORE Act to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, and the UN voted to remove medicinal cannabis from Schedule IV of a 1961 treaty on narcotic drugs.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Federal: The enactment of statewide laws legalizing and regulating the use and sale of marijuana by adults are not independently associated with an uptick in cannabis use by young people, according to data published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. A team of investigators affiliated with Boston College analyzed marijuana use data from a nationally representative sample of more than one million high-school students over an 18-year period. Read moreAphria has closed its acquisition of SweetWater Brewing Company, a U.S.-based independent craft brewer, and now plans to introduce its adult-use cannabis brands, such as Broken Coast, Riff, Soleil and Good Supply, to the U.S. market as cannabis-free beverages through SweetWater products. In addition to establishing its own brands and growing its U.S. presence, Aphria will also introduce SweetWater’s beer and hard seltzer products to Canada. Read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives has passed the MORE Act, H.R. 3884, to remove cannabis from the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. It passed the House 228-164, and will now go to the U.S. Senate, where Congress members expect it will not pass. Read moreNew Jersey: A state appellate court has ruled that the state wrongly rejected applicants when it awarded six additional licenses in 2018, and the Department of Health must now establish a new scoring system. While the decision will not revoke the licenses of the state’s current medical cannabis operators, it could give other applicants a second chance at licensing in the future, as well as create a more transparent licensing process going forward. Read moreNew Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has directed prosecutors to halt possession charges for small amounts of cannabis as the state’s lawmakers work on legislation to implement an adult-use cannabis program. Guidance distributed by Grewal on instructs all municipal, county and state prosecutors to put a hold on cases until at least Jan. 25, 2021, although the directive does not cover driving under the influence or order police to stop arresting people for the possession of small amounts of cannabis. Read moreCalifornia: CanBreed, an Israeli cannabis genetics seed company, announced this week its acquisition of a 3.5-acre hemp farm in San Diego. The company is part of the Smart-Agro R&D Partnership, a publicly traded firm on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Read moreMichigan: Detroit City Council has formally approved a plan to allow adult-use cannabis sales within the city after previously joining the 1,400 or so municipalities that had opted out of an adult-use cannabis market approved by voters in 2018. The new ordinance will give licensing priority to longtime residents who have lived in Detroit for 15, 13 or 10 of the past 30 years, and these residents will have the first crack at half of the 75 retail licenses. Read moreMassachusetts: The Cannabis Control Commission approved delivery regulations this week that create a legal framework for home delivery in the state’s adult-use cannabis market with two new license types that are expected to launch next year. The new rules create “Marijuana Courier” and “Marijuana Delivery Operator” licenses, which will be available only to social equity applicants for the first three years. Read moreVirginia: The Virginia Marijuana Legalization Work Group, which was tasked with studying the impact of adult-use legalization in the state, released its recommendations this week. The roughly 400-page report outlines guidelines for taxation, banking, criminal justice, licensing, regulation and consumer safety, and includes recommendations on five key principles that Gov. Ralph Northam wants to see in a final legalization bill: social, racial and economic equity; public health; protections for youth; upholding the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act; and data collection. Read moreInternational: In a historic vote, the United Nations Commission for Narcotic Drugs (CND) voted narrowly Dec. 2 to remove medicinal cannabis from Schedule IV of a 1961 treaty on narcotic drugs. The CND, a commission based in Vienna with members from 53 different countries, voted on six different cannabis-related recommendations presented by the World Health Organization (WHO), which outlined protocol for internationally regulating the medical use of different parts of the plant, including cannabis as a whole, CBD and THC. Read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives has passed the MORE Act, H.R. 3884, to remove cannabis from the U.S. Controlled Substances Act.
The bill will now go to the U.S. Senate, where Congress members expect it will be voted down.
Cannabis' removal from the U.S.' list of controlled substances, said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) in a Dec. 2 Rules Committee hearing, "means that going forward, individuals could no longer be prosecuted federally for marijuana offenses. This does not mean that marijuana would now be legal in the entire United States—a very important point. It will simply remove the federal government from the business of prosecuting marijuana cases and will leave the question of legality to the individual states."
RELATED: UPDATE: UN Votes to Remove Cannabis From List of Most Dangerous Drugs
In addition to descheduling and decriminalizing cannabis, the MORE Act creates a "Criminal Justice Office," which will, among other things, create a grant program to provide job training and reentry services; and provide legal aid, including for the "expungement of cannabis convictions."
The act places a 5% federal tax on the sale of cannabis products; that tax will then increase by 1% each year and cap at 8%, according to Congress members who spoke during the Dec. 4 full-floor U.S. House debate.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the November 2020 State of the Lighting Market, produced by Cannabis Business Times and made possible with support from Fluence by OSRAM. Read the full report in the November issue of CBT.
As chief scientist for LivWell, Andrew Alfred’s priorities include testing any potential facility update or growing change before implementing it at scale.
For the past seven years, one of the inputs Alfred has researched extensively is lighting. Alfred was interested specifically in light-emitting diode (LED) technology for its energy-saving potential, but before considering a widespread change for the vertically integrated company’s 2-acre canopy in its flagship cultivation facility in Denver, he wanted to be sure plant performance wouldn’t suffer.
“Seven years ago, one of the LEDs that we had in our flower rooms looked like a car engine. It weighed 80 pounds,” Alfred says. “We didn’t know how to use the LED light. We didn’t know that you had to raise the temperatures in your room to account for the loss of radiant heat.”
Another common mistake cultivators made in the early days was simply swapping out one grow light for an LED light without calculating lighting density, which was “a growing pain that the industry had to reconcile.”
However, both LED technology and cultivator knowledge have improved dramatically and quickly, Alfred says, and that includes everything from the lights to the mounting hardware. Working with nearly 20 North American and European LED lighting manufacturers, LivWell has conducted multiple cannabis trials over the years, adjusting environmental conditions to optimize plant performance.
Because of the improvements in yield and energy savings, for the past five years, the company has been incrementally converting its entire Denver facility to LED lighting and has almost completed the transition.
