MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press
Chai Beckett, assistant manager at Buzz Box in Portland, Ore., considered a career in American Sign Language (ASL) before landing in the emerging cannabis industry. She had studied ASL in college, taking her coursework as far as she could, but then she found herself at a crossroads: What should she do professionally, after school?
Cannabis won out, but she soon discovered that it wasn’t an either-or proposition.
Last fall, Katalina B., founder of the advocacy group Human Informed Culture, reached out to Beckett to gauge her interest in a new set of ASL classes directed specifically at budtenders. Beckett jumped at the opportunity. It followed a sequence of events that had kept ASL at the very center of her life for years.
“It just seemed like a really cool language to me,” she says, describing her ASL path. “I started getting really into the music scene, interpreting songs. And then it was like, ‘Why don't we have ASL taught at our school? We just have Spanish and French and German. We don't have ASL, but why not?’” From high school, where she petitioned administrators to add ASL as a course offering, through college, Beckett’s interest in the language bloomed. Then came the cannabis industry.
The monthly ASL-for-cannabis classes are taught by Matt Maxey, founder of Deafinitely Dope. Prior to developing his three-tiered series of ASL classes for the cannabis space, Maxey brought his sign language skills to the music world. He’s worked with Waka Flocka Flame, Chance the Rapper and others to bring music to the hard of hearing.
Maxey describes himself as “hard of hearing—severely profoundly hard of hearing.” He wears two hearing aids.
PALMDESERT, Calif., March 1, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Cannabis 21+, a premier family, women, veteran andprivately owned licensed cannabis dispensary operator in California, hasexpanded again, opening its largest store yet in Palm Desert. This is the firstof seven Riverside County locations set to open in the next 18 months.
"Weknow how to run high-volume stores, as our San Diego SDRC-branded locationsserve almost 1,500 customers per day, but we've never had the square footageand service options that this new location offers,” said CEO Sean St. Peter,co-founder of Cannabis 21+. “Coachella Valley residents and tourists will bedelighted by the variety and value we are bringing to the community, including sixlarge kiosks that our supply partners will staff to highlight the benefits oftheir product lines."
ManagerNick Smith added "Cannabis dispensaries should provide all the value ofstorefront retail-like, face-to-face assistance, product education and instantaccess to products. We strive to make shopping for cannabis fun, fast andbudget-friendly, without any of the hassles or worries some associate withcannabis. Our stores are bright, open and have plenty of parking, gettingpeople aged 21 and above back to their daily lives with a smile on their face whetherthey are brand new to cannabis or long-time consumers."
Thislatest edition of what is expected to be 20 locations by the end of 2023 tookover two years to get permitted by Riverside County officials and remodeledwhat was originally constructed as a boutique grocery store. Cannabis 21+ PalmDesert has 15 stations where visitors are offered one-on-one privateconsultation covering the 1,500-plus products it will carry.
Cannabis21+ prides itself on being a "deal store," which only carries itemsit can offer at the lowest price for one unit, and the value gets greater whencustomers tap into their daily deals and bundled offers which its well-trainedbudtenders go over in a fun and fast fashion.
"Wehelped create the reputation for many of California's biggest brands and stillsupport them, but we also like give innovative new companies an opportunity tosucceed, which our customers love," St. Peter said.
LAS VEGAS, March 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Gb Sciences, Inc., a plant-inspired, biopharmaceutical research and development company, has been issued a new patent today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a cannabinoid-containing mixture designed to treat cardiac hypertrophy, often present in advanced heart disease. Gb Sciences' newly issued patent also covers the use of these receptor-targeted formulations for the treatment of TRPV1-receptor-associated hearing loss and urinary cystitis.
Despite multiple categories of prescription heart medications on the market, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States for people of most racial and ethnic groups. Alternative therapeutic approaches are still needed, especially for the treatment of advanced heart disease. The market for prescription heart disease medications is predicted to rise to $64 billion dollars in the US by 2026, with future market growth fueled by innovative new therapeutic approaches.
"At Gb Sciences, our novel approach to drug discovery combines artificial intelligence and the power of plants to find new treatments based on traditional medicine from around the world," said Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, President, Chief Science Officer, and Director of Gb Sciences. "Our latest patent-protected formulations will potentially help those who are afflicted with advanced heart disease, and they may be useful for the prevention of TRPV1-associated hearing loss and urinary cystitis because of their activity at that important receptor."
Gb Sciences is committed to developing cannabis- and plant-inspired therapies for the prescription drug market that treat advanced heart disease. Gb Sciences' patent covers methods of treatment using optimized mixtures of cannabis-derived compounds as the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient ("API"), regardless of whether the individual compounds are derived from the cannabis plant, another plant, synthetically produced, or derived from a combination of sources. Gb Sciences' formulations will be produced using synthetically manufactured molecules that are exact copies of the plant-based ingredients that inspired these formulations, but without the need to grow plants to obtain these ingredients.
MARCH 1, 2022 – LAS VEGAS – Cannabis Conference (produced by Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower media brands) announces today that it will continue a joint partnership with Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) to help minority cannabis entrepreneurs access networking and education opportunities to grow and support their business. The 2nd annual Cannabis Conference Diversity Scholarship Program will provide selected MCBA members with 20 complimentary All-Access Passes to Cannabis Conference 2022.
In addition to the Diversity Scholarship Program, Cannabis Conference is offering a 20% registration discount to all MCBA members.
The Diversity Scholarship Program is part of Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower media brands’ ‘Game Changer’ Partnership with MCBA. In addition to the scholarship, the media brands will provide nearly $100,000 in annual print and digital MCBA-related promotions to support this pioneering organization dedicated to serving the specific needs of minority cannabis entrepreneurs and their communities.
“It’s important to facilitate advancement opportunities for minorities, who have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs,” Cannabis Conference Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski said. “MCBA does essential work to promote equality and diversity in the cannabis industry by working toward fair policies and regulations and creating educational and networking opportunities. We’re proud to be assisting in that effort for a second year at Cannabis Conference and within our media brands.”
“The Diversity Scholarship Program allows us to further empower minority operators and connect them to caliber networking and educational events that are often inaccessible. We are once again excited to partner with the Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, and Hemp Grower brands in providing this invaluable resource to minority cannabis businesses and furthering our mission to see an equitable cannabis industry that we can all be proud of,” MCBA Executive Director Amber Littlejohn said.
Diversity Scholarship Program applications are now open. (Passes will be allocated at the discretion of MCBA.) Click here to apply.
In an effort to support Tennessee’s cannabis and hemp industries, the Tennessee Growers Coalition is hosting an all-day advocacy event for its members from 12-1 p.m. March 1 at the Tennessee State Capitol.
“Hemp Day on the Hill” will include legislative speakers and updates and allow members to connect and engage with representatives to discuss the “importance of continuing to create an economically viable, accessible, and safe hemp industry,” according to a press release.
The event will also consist of several meetings to address top legislative priorities including: House Bill 1690, a measure that would tax and regulate cannabis, including delta-8 THC, and Senate Bill 2598, cross-filed with House Bill 1969, which would decriminalize cannabis use under specific circumstances, as well as create a “regulatory framework for the cultivation, transport, researching, processing, and distribution of marijuana,” the bill text states.
As 54.2% of South Dakota voters are still waiting on their 2020 ballots to sway public cannabis policy, state lawmakers have indicated adult-use legalization isn’t high on their priority list.
South Dakota House State Affairs Committee members voted 8-3 on Feb. 28 to delay consideration of Senate Bill 3 to March 29—one day after the state Legislature’s 2022 session ends—essentially killing the adult-use legalization effort for all intended purposes.
The legislation, which passed the Senate via an 18-17 vote last week, aims to legalize up to 1 ounce of cannabis for those 21 and older.
RELATED: South Dakota Senate Clears Adult-Use Bill by Slimmest Margin
Although the bill is unlikely to progress in the House this year, advocacy group South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws (SDBML) released a statement on social media that said there’s still a chance.
“S.B. 3 was just defeated in the SD House State Affairs Committee in an 8-3 vote that demonstrates the political establishment’s disdain for the will of the people,” SDBML officials said in the statement. “But this fight is not over. A group of 24 state representatives can still force a bill to the floor of the House (this is called a "smokeout"). We will keep working to pass legalization until the very end of the session.”
PRESS RELEASE - Greenhouse and indoor dehumidifier developer, DryGair, has appointed Elad Spiegel as the new head of U.S. and Canada operations and sales.
Elad Spiegel is an experienced agronomist who specialized in the design and management of commercial cannabis and hemp cultivation.
Prior to joining DryGair, he acted as director of cultivation and breeding at several companies in North America and Israel. His experience includes designing cannabis production systems and drying rooms, as well as providing leadership in operation management and product development in leading companies.
Spiegel will be attending Indoor Ag-Con 2022 in Las Vegas and representing DryGair on the HVAC panel which will take place on March 1.
Virginians hoping to buy adult-use cannabis from licensed retailers by this September will likely have to wait longer.
Legislation to expedite sales for the state’s forthcoming adult-use program passed the Democratic-controlled Senate earlier this month, but the bill was rejected by Republican-controlled House subcommittee members Feb. 28.
Senate Bill 313 would have allowed certain medical cannabis operators in the state to sell cannabis to the broader adult-use market starting Sept. 15, 2022, but it died along party lines Monday in the lower chamber, the Virginia Mercury reported.
“I think this is a bigger issue than we can correct in two weeks’ time,” said Del. Jay Leftwich, R-Chesapeake, referencing the Virginia General Assembly’s March 12 adjournment date for its 2022 legislative session.
The previous General Assembly legalized adult-use cannabis in March 2021, before an amended compromise bill was ultimately signed by former Gov. Ralph Northam in April.
As a result, adults 21 and older have been allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis and grow up to four plants per household since July 2021. But the full roll-out of an adult-use program was put on the backburner, subject to reenactment from the 2022 General Assembly.
West Virginia has joined the list of states moving to regulate or ban delta-8 THC.
Sen. Jack Woodrum (R) introduced Senate Bill 666 Feb. 17, which would add the active chemicals in Kratom and delta-8 THC to the Schedule I Controlled Substances list.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Kratom is an herbal extract—typically sold online—that comes from a topical tree (Mitragyna speciosa) grown in Southeast Asia. The leaves of the tree contain “compounds that can have psychotropic (mind-altering) effects,” NIDA reported.
Since the measure was introduced, it has received many public comments from individuals in favor and against the measure. Most commonly, some say they’ve used either substance for medicinal benefits, while others argue that there is not enough scientific research to back those arguments.
Metrc could stand to gain $12 million in the first year as Oklahoma’s sole seed-to-sale tracking contractor for medical cannabis now that an injunction has been lifted.
The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) and Metrc, co-defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed last year, received an agreed order Feb. 25 that allows Metrc to move forward with providing the tracking system for the state’s program, according to OMMA.
The resolution comes after Viridian Legal Services, which represented more than 10,000 of Oklahoma’s licensed cannabis businesses, obtained a restraining order last April. At the time, Viridian attorney Ronald Durbin told NBC-affiliate KFOR that contracting Metrc would create a tracking system monopoly.
“[The licensees are] being required by the OMMA to follow the terms of a contract they had nothing to do with, which we believe is a violation of Oklahoma law,” Durbin said in April.
Now that the temporary restraining order has been lifted through the agreed order, all medical cannabis licensees have until May 26 (90 days) to become compliant.
The agreed order comes as a resolution between the plaintiffs and co-defendants, OMMA officials announced in a release.
After earlier proposals to block the sale of hemp-derived THC products stalled, Washington lawmakers are now considering a new bill that would prohibit these products from being sold both outside and within the state’s legal cannabis industry.
Sens. Karen Keiser and Mark Schoesler introduced Senate Bill 5983 Feb. 25 to ban hemp-derived THC, which has become popular in several states following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the production and sale of industrial hemp.
S.B. 5983 takes aim at hemp-derived THC products, such as gummies and vape oil, that are currently being sold at gas stations, according to an AP News report.
“These are being sold right now, without any regulation, without any oversight,” Keiser told the news outlet. “It’s a public health danger and a threat, and it needs to be removed.”
An alternative bill to ban all synthetic cannabinoids outside of Washington’s regulated cannabis market was also introduced last week in the House, AP News reported. That legislation would create a scientific panel to recommend ways for others to legally produce and sell synthetic cannabinoids in the future, according to the news outlet.
NEWTOWN, PA, Feb. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- PRESS RELEASE -- Forian Inc., a provider of technology, predictive analytics and data science driven software solutions for the healthcare and cannabis industries, announced that the State of Florida Department of Health Negotiators have unanimously voted to choose BioTrack as the track and trace system for the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use. This vote was affirmed by the Department of Health’s Notice of Intent to Award, which can be found here.
Florida plans to use the BioTrack inventory tracking system to monitor the movement of cannabis products in the state’s medical-use cannabis market, while providing a real-time inventory of cannabis products available in Florida and preventing the unlawful diversion of products.
BioTrack’s software will track cannabis in Florida from when it is first planted as a seed to the point-of-sale to the patient – without additional costs to Florida businesses. All licensed medical marijuana cannabis establishments are required by Florida law to participate in the tracking system and log the movement of cannabis as it is grown, manufactured into other products, packaged, tested, and sold to qualifying patients. BioTrack’s state-of-the-art traceability system will also help recall cannabis plants and products deemed as unsafe or adulterated, and prevent adulterated and regulated materials from reaching the black market.
“We are very excited to welcome Florida to the growing number of states that have chosen BioTrack’s technology for their cannabis-related initiatives. We look forward to our partnership with the state to provide real-time visibility and transparency on market activities,” said Moe Afaneh, VP of BioTrack.
BioTrack’s point-of-sale software is used by customers in 38 states and 10 countries, while 10 state governments in addition to Florida, currently use BioTrack products.
LAS VEGAS – Feb. 25, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – The Source+, an award-winning cannabis company with four dispensaries in the Las Vegas Valley and Reno, will partner with Immunize Nevada, Nevada’s only statewide nonprofit dedicated to immunization education, to host a “Joints for Jabs” event in Las Vegas. The public vaccination pop-up site will take place at the dispensary’s flagship store located at 2550 S. Rainbow Blvd. from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26.
At the “Joints for Jabs” vaccination event, healthcare workers will be on-site to administer doses of the Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, as well as booster shots. Participants 21+ and those 18+ with a medical cannabis card will receive a voucher to redeem a pre-roll for a penny at The Source+.
RELATED: Wana Brands and The Green Solution Host Pop-Up Vaccination Clinics in Colorado
“The 'Joints for Jabs' events are a small but critical component in encouraging our communities to get vaccinated and boosted,” said Brandon Wiegand, president of the Nevada Cannabis Dispensary Association and chief commercial officer of The Source+. “Dispensaries in Nevada receive thousands of visitors and offer a great opportunity to bring vaccinations directly to our customers.”
Nevada recently lifted its mask mandate, although health officials continue to emphasize that COVID-19 is still highly contagious, and information from the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory stated that the variant accounts for 100% of the recent cases across the state.
Wanda James opened the first Black-owned dispensary in Denver — the Apothecary of Colorado — alongside her husband, Scott Durrah, in 2009. The next year in 2010, the pair opened Simply Pure dispensary in Denver.
In the decade-plus since then, James says not nearly enough has been done to support the cannabis industry in her state or on a federal level. James, CEO of Simply Pure, says a bevy of issues still plague the industry, including banking and financing, ensuring social equity, and even the rudimentary step of federal legalization.
"I don't know why this is still a battle," James tells Cannabis Business Times. "I'm thoroughly confused, and I'm going to call it cowardice of our entire Congress—both Democrats and Republicans. The fact that we have not stood up and just said, ‘Legalize for God's sakes and get it done.’ … It's really only the politicians that seem to have issues with cannabis."
© Simply Pure
Zach Mentz: What does social equity in the cannabis industry mean to you?
Wanda James: I think we forget why social equity matters in the first place and why we're doing this. Right now, unfortunately, regulators and big business in cannabis see social equity as being able to get them more market share. That's not what social equity was supposed to be. Social equity was supposed to be able to ensure that the people who have been most harmed by the drug war actually have an opportunity to be a part of this industry. And I gotta tell you right now, I am most pissed off at legislators. The fact that we refuse to legalize [on a federal level] is beyond me and thoroughly befuddling.
We legalized cannabis in two states [10] years ago—Colorado and Washington. Colorado is now doing on average about $2 billion worth of sales a year. [Ten] years later, we now have legislators twisting themselves into ridiculous places to be able to carve out things like banking. Why the hell are we talking about banking [10] years later? We are an industry that has passed cotton, rice, and peanuts in this country as far as agricultural product is concerned, and yet we don't have something as simple as banking.
It is obscene to me that legislators will not legalize. And the reason for this is because the federal government is making more money than anybody off of 280E taxes in this country. And it's obscene—obscene—that we are being levied a tax penalty that was made for drug dealers like Pablo Escobar. We are registered with the secretary of state. We have legitimate business operations now in 18 states on the recreational level, 38 states on the medicinal level—much more than three-fourths of this country now has somehow or another legalized cannabis, and federally we can't get this done.
If we want to actually see Black and brown businesses or entrepreneurs have a place in this industry, then we need to legalize. Allow the SBA [Small Business Administration] to have training opportunities and to put loans in place so that we could actually go to a bank and start our businesses. On top of that, we can then start to look at ensuring that businesses have people of color operating from the top down. Because right now, as long as this remains federally illegal, we can't make any of that happen. We can't provide loans. We can't provide carveouts. We can't insist that businesses have Black and brown people on their board of directors, in their c-suites, and in their management teams. Right. We can't do any of that.
One of the more than two dozen alleged violators whom the New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) sent cease-and-desist letters to earlier this month is carrying on with business as usual.
Empire Cannabis Club, on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, was one of the establishments OCM regulators warned Feb. 8 that “gifting,” where customers purchase non-cannabis items or services such as a club membership and then are provided cannabis as part of that sale, is illegal under current state law.
RELATED: New York Cannabis Regulators Send Cease and Desist Letters to Unlicensed Businesses
In the letter, OCM officials claimed to have the law on their side under the state’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), signed by former Gov. Ander Cuomo in March 2021.
But Empire Cannabis Club owner Lenore Elfand doesn’t see it that way, CBS News reported.
“What they are actually doing is making the medical market the recreational market before people like us even get a chance to get into it,” she said. Elfand also told the news station that not only is Empire Cannabis Club going to remain open, but the business plans to expand to a third location in New York City.
Associate Editor Tony Lange began reporting on a West Virginia bill that had picked up an affirmative vote in the House this week, a bill that would cap testing labs in the state at two. This proposal comes after several years of discussions that insisted in no uncertain terms that there would be no cap on test lab licenses.
As evidenced by the support for House Bill 4627, that tune is changing.
There are already two testing labs licensed to operate in the state’s medical cannabis market, which is itself only a few months into actual operation.
So, the bill raises a question: How many testing labs are too many?
Check out Lange’s story, which frames this central question that crops up in most nascent cannabis markets in the U.S.
We’ve rounded up some of the key cannabis headlines from the week right here.
An association comprising some of Michigan’s largest cannabis companies is taking aim at the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) months after a 64,000-pound recall that was worth nearly $230 million.
The Michigan Cannabis Manufacturing Association (MCMA) is calling for greater cannabis safety enforcement mechanisms following reports that MRA agents said they had been instructed to ignore illicit cannabis discovered at licensed facilities, MLive.com reported.
The agent testimonies are tied to complaints by Viridis Laboratories, the state’s largest cannabis testing lab, which accused MRA of playing politics in a November 2021 lawsuit that stems from the recall, which involved products that Viridis tested.
“In a letter to state lawmakers, the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association today (Feb. 23) called for greater cannabis safety enforcement following media reports of Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency agents testifying under oath they had been instructed by the agency to leave behind untested, illicit cannabis discovered at MRA-licensed facilities,” MCMA said in statement provided to MLive.com.
The MRA agents claimed they lack the authority to take immediate action when they encounter what they suspect to be illegal cannabis during on-site inspections, the news outlet reported. Only law enforcement officials can seize the products, and their response times vary, according to MRA enforcement supervisor Brian Hanna.
“The MRA agent depositions also highlight the urgent need to pass the bipartisan Michigan Cannabis Safety Act that helps ensure all cannabis in Michigan is tested, tracked, labeled, licensed and taxed,” the MCMA statement read.
West Virginia state lawmakers are moving toward a two-laboratory monopoly for testing products in the state’s medical cannabis program. But one testing executive indicated that just one lab may be sufficient.
Delegates voted 67-33 Feb. 24 to approve House Bill 4627, which would amend an article of the state’s Medical Cannabis Act to provide that “no more than two laboratories in this state may be certified pursuant to this section.”
Sponsored by Del. Brandon Steele, of Raleigh, the legislation now heads to the Senate.
The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act was signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice in April 2017, but the program rollout hasn’t been breaking any records. The state’s Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) didn’t announce medical cannabis dispensary permits until January 2021. Patient registration opened the following month.
In March 2021, the state’s Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC) announced it awarded its first medical cannabis laboratory testing permit to Analabs Inc., of Crab Orchard, located in the southern part of the state.
But Analabs didn’t start receiving samples from the nascent industry until October 2021, the company’s vice president, Kelli Harrison, told Cannabis Business Times.
In a year already brimming with industry headlines, perhaps the most anticipated storyline comes to us from New York state, where the development of a new adult-use cannabis market awaits.
“It’s undeniable how strong of a market New York will be for cannabis,” says Anthony Coniglio, chief information officer of cannabis real estate investment trust NewLake Capital Partners. “People do expect that this will be a very, very large state in the cannabis ecosystem as the industry converts illegal sales into legal sales.”
The population density alone is an ace card in New York’s portfolio, but so too is its geographic placement in the country and its cultural cache.
Perhaps the most notable asset on the table is New York City itself, home to more than 8 million people (with perhaps more than double that number commuting in for work) and a sprawling metropolitan area to boot. There is the temptation, naturally, to seek out real estate and eventual business operations within the city, but opportunities reveal themselves all over the state.
“Some of the best dispensaries that we see are located in secondary or tertiary markets,” Coniglio says. “People rush into the highly dense population centers often to find that, yes, they're highly dense, but you have a fair amount of, say, commuter traffic. So, I would focus on population density but also the dynamics of the population.”
As of February, about a third of all New York municipalities had opted out of the impending adult-use market. Most of those municipalities are the smaller towns and villages that dot the upstate landscape. But Coniglio is quick to assert: Don’t write off those towns and villages.
Nebraska is the only state in the country with a unicameral Legislature—one chamber—but that hasn’t made cannabis reform any swifter.
One of just 13 states remaining without a medical cannabis program, Nebraska’s legislative effort to advance a medical cannabis bill met widespread criticism from those who testified during a congressional hearing Feb. 23.
Legislative Bill 1275 intends to adopt a cannabis program that would limit qualifying patients’ access to the medicine to oil or pill form. The legislation clarifies it would not allow for edible cannabis products except for a pill.
The bill’s text lists four qualifying conditions: Stage IV cancer; uncontrolled seizures; severe or persistent muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy; and a terminal illness with a probable life expectancy of less than one year.
For reference, a medical cannabis bill recently approved by the South Carolina Senate includes 13 qualifying conditions. The bill’s sponsor dubbed the legislation as the most conservative in the nation.
Nebraska legislators must’ve got wind.
