MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press
PETALUMA, Calif.--PRESS RELEASE--Hydrofarm Holdings Group Inc., an independent wholesaler and manufacturer of hydroponics equipment and commercial horticultural products, today announced an exclusive distribution partnership with Rare Dankness Nutrients, a provider of high quality growing nutrients for commercial applications.
Rare Dankness has developed an innovative formulation of crop nutrition that delivers simplified dry nutrients and amplified terpene profiles. The Rare Dankness product line offers cost-effective and versatile formulas designed to work with all hydroponic growing systems, injectors and fertigation systems. Rare Dankness provides growers with clean crop nutrition products that are pH balanced, addressing major issues currently faced by growers, including bio film, filter clogs, nutrient fallout and high costs associated with premixed bottled nutrients.
“Rare Dankness offers growers of all sizes access to innovative nutrition products that will improve crop health, yields and economics for our customers,” said Bill Toler, CEO of Hydrofarm. “We are pleased to expand our product offering through this exclusive partnership and look forward to growing our businesses together.”
Scott Reach, founder of Rare Dankness Nutrients added, “Hydrofarm is the leader in the hydroponics industry with an extensive network of retail partners and customers. This exclusive partnership will allow us to bring Rare Dankness products to growers nationwide to help them maximize the potential of their grow operations.”
For additional information about Rare Dankness, please visit: www.raredanknessnutrients.com
]]>Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has expressed his support for legalizing adult-use cannabis to help the state’s $3.2 billion deficit, according to a CBS Pittsburgh report.
“If only there was a widely-consumed unregulated cash crop, wholly confined to the black market, that could generate billions of dollars + 1000’s of jobs + help PA farmers,” Fetterman said on Twitter last week.
He anticipates that the tax revenue from adult-use sales could generate nearly a half a billion dollars annually, CBS Pittsburgh reported.
“There’s already a thriving marijuana market in PA,” Fetterman told the news outlet. “Why not make it legal, why not make it safe and why not make it taxable to help PA get back on its feet?”
Gov. Tom Wolf announced his support for legalization last fall, and although lawmakers have since put forth legalization proposals, legislative leadership remains reluctant to advance any of the bills.
OREGON: The next OLCC Marijuana Advisory Committee Meeting will take place Thursday, July 9, 2020 Agenda Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we are holding our meetings virtually. An audio recording of the meeting will be posted on our website. You can listen live using your phone: 1 (872) 240-3311 Access Code: 786-241-877
Southern University is one of two medical cannabis license-holders in Louisiana. As part of the state’s legislation, the school must partner with a private business to grow and distribute products. The school’s expertise is meant as a research-grounded backbone for the business enterprise.
Pennyslvania-based Ilera Holistic Healthcare contracted with Southern University in late 2018 to begin cultivating cannabis and developing products for Louisiana patients. (The school had previously contracted with Advanced Biomedics, which didn’t get far with its cannabis cultivation plans.)
Now, Ilera is bringing its products to market. According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, Ilera is making its tinctures and topicals available to Louisiana’s nine licensed dispensaries (“pharmacies” in the state’s terminology). As the state law is written, flower is not permitted.
“The more products which come on board, the cheaper the cost becomes and the easier access for patients,” H&W Dispensary owner Henry Ruston told the newspaper. “One of the biggest challenges we had was changing the stigma of marijuana. We had a lot of patients in pain and they were thinking of marijuana as smoking up and stuff, but this is something you just put under your tongue.”The other player in the state’s medical cannabis market is Louisiana State University, which first worked with GB Sciences out of Nevada to cultivate its plants. In late 2019, GB Sciences sold its Louisiana subsidiary to Wellcana Group.
While the state’s medical cannabis law was approved by legislators in 2016, the path to a competitive marketplace has been slow. Along the way, companies have come and gone, while patients have railed against regulators and businesses for delaying access to medicine. Even now, with Ilera formally entering the retail end of the supply chain, prices remain high across the state.
Beginning next month, however, physicians in Louisiana will be allowed to recommend medical cannabis for any condition that is “debilitating to an individual patient and is qualified” to be treated. The thinking is that this will open the marketplace to more patients and galvanize the supply-and-demand curves.
A federal court case involving plaintiffs Solace Enterprises LLLP, Aether Gardens and Telloni Holdings Limited and defendants Trinidad Consulting and Cannadips has been stayed following mediation on June 18, according to federal court records. The parties are working together on a settlement.
The plaintiffs alleged the defendants owed them $1.2 million in loans, according to the original complaint, while the defense claims Trinidad and Cannadips expected royalties.
Solace Enterprises LLLP does business as Aether Gardens and in some court documents is referred to as Solace Holdings LLLP. The company holds two active production licenses and two active cultivation licenses in North Las Vegas, Nev., to service the adult-use and medical cannabis markets, according to Nevada’s Cannabis Compliance Board. A Solace Enterprises LLLP hemp processing license has expired, according to Cannabiz Media.
Founded in 2018, Aether Gardens aims to become “the leader in brand development, white label manufacturing & research providing both medical & recreational cannabis consumers with the best experiences,” according to its website, where the company describes plans to develop a 90,000-square-foot “state-of-the-art manufacturing facility” for cultivation, extraction and production.
Cannadips possesses an active “Manufacturer Annual Infusions” license in Arcata, Calif., according to Cannabiz Media. Two Cannadips “Manufacturer Temporary Infusions” have expired, along with all other licenses of the same type in the state, according to the site. A Trinidad Consulting LLC “Manufacturer Temporary Infusions” license in Humboldt County has also expired, per the website.
Established in 2016, Cannadips manufactures a cannabidiol (CBD) dip product and is “shifting the paradigm of tobacco by providing a great-tasting, nicotine-free alternative tobacco product,” according to its website. The product is formulated with “American hemp” and “rooted in Humboldt.”
Former Steep Hill Labs CEO and Chairman Jmichaele Keller is suing the company and its investors to block the sale of certain assets to competitor EVIO, Inc., alleging that the transaction would “dismantle Steep Hill and strip shareholders of value,” according to a press release issued by PryorCashman LLP, a Los Angeles-based law firm representing Keller.
The deal “includes a series of internal transactions that would dilute existing shareholders from 100% of Steep Hill’s equity down to just 4%,” Keller’s attorney, PryorCashman’s Thomas Vidal, said in a public statement.
Keller initially filed the suit earlier this year in San Francisco Superior court, accusing Steep Hill and various stakeholders—including Merida Capital Partners, Mitch Bryan Baruchowitz, Jeffrey Monat, Gotham Green, Richard Jacinto II, Stephen Joseph Finfer, Randy Slifka, Jane Wright-Mitchell and Dr. Andrew Rosenstein—of abuse of fiduciary duty, abuse of control, corporate waste, fraud and concealment, misrepresentation of stock ownership and proxy voting, and more.
Keller alleges that Steep Hill’s board and management “ran the company into the ground” and “squandered between $75 million and $200 million of shareholder value” after ousting him from the company in August 2018, according to PryorCashman’s announcement.
Keller’s complaint and the subsequent PryorCashman press release made public the previously confidential details of the transaction between Steep Hill and EVIO, according to a press release issued by Steep Hill this week.
California-based Success Centers launched roughly 40 years ago to assist youth released from detention centers with life skills and employment. Now, the organization has expanded to the cannabis industry, where it helps connect employers with qualified job seekers in the Bay Area with a focus on social equity.
Success Centers assists job seekers in multiple industries, from construction to the arts, and hosts Employer Spotlight hiring events to connect employers with job seekers. To serve the cannabis industry specifically, Equity for Industry Program Manager Angela White has created the Budding Industry Job Shop, where several employers give presentations about their companies and what a day in the job looks like.
“We’ll have the job description pulled up, and what’s different is we’ll have questions from the audience of job seekers,” White says. “We want to have a good retention rate. We don’t only want people hired at these companies, but we want them to feel comfortable and safe and … to be a good fit there.”
Following the events, employers interview potential candidates, and Success Centers is an active participant in the process, ensuring job seekers have all the necessary resources.
Under San Francisco’s Equity Program, cannabis dispensaries must staff 35% of their operations with social equity applicants, and Success Centers works specifically with these companies to connect them with verified candidates.
CLEVELAND, Ohio, July 7, 2020 -PRESS RELEASE- Cannasure Insurance Services, a cannabis and hemp industry insurance company, announced Tuesday it has hired Jim McErlean as director of business development.
McErlean has more than 20 years of sales, product and distribution management experience in the property and casualty insurance industry.
"We are extremely pleased to welcome Jim to the Cannasure team," said CEO Patrick McManamon. "He is a highly talented and well-respected business executive, and his knowledge, focus and business discipline will be instrumental in our product and service expansion initiatives for the rapidly growing cannabis and hemp sectors. Jim's depth of distribution and channel management, along with his experience in strategic product development and implementation, will be essential as we continue to build out our proprietary programs for these dynamic industries."
Prior to joining Cannasure, McErlean served as Western U.S. business development manager at NSM Insurance Group. His career experience includes retail brokering and specialty product and program development in the craft brewing, construction, and habilitation sectors. He also served on the board of the National Association of Home Builders.
"What excites me most is how bold and forward-thinking this company is," McErlean said. "Cannasure took the initiative to commit exclusively to the cannabis and hemp industry very early on. It blazed the path that has led to the development of meaningful coverage and services designed to protect the businesses in this every-changing marketplace. I look forward to helping Cannasure advance its expansion efforts, geographic and otherwise, and build upon its reputation as the most sought-after cannabis and hemp MGA in the space.”
]]>The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) has announced that it will begin enforcing more stringent laboratory testing rules in the state’s medical cannabis market, according to a local KOCO report.
The OMMA indicated in April that it would require medical cannabis products sold by a processor or grower to be tested by a state-licensed laboratory, but the deadline was extended to July to ensure there are enough licensed labs to meet the demand, the news outlet reported.
“All medical marijuana products had required testing for a very long time now, but the requirement that it goes to a lab that’s licensed by OMMA is a new enforcement,” OMMA Deputy Director Kelly Williams told KOCO.
There are now 21 licensed labs in the state, according to the news outlet, and dispensaries must retain test results on their inventory for a minimum of two years.
(June 11, 2020) - PRESS RELEASE - Portland’s Office of Community & Civic Life (Civic Life) has named Dasheeda Dawson as its new Cannabis Program Supervisor. Dawson has over a decade of business development, strategic management and brand marketing experience. More recently, she has worked as an industry educator, senior executive leader and strategy expert for multiple cannabis businesses, municipalities and media outlets across the country.
In 2016, Portland voters passed a 3% tax on recreational cannabis. Since then, over $6M has gone toward street infrastructure improvements; DUII training; drug rehabilitation; small business support, economic opportunity, and technical assistance for business owners from communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition; record-clearing; and other efforts.
Civic Life is charged with administering the city’s Social Equity Grants, to deliver on the promise made to Portlanders in Measure 26-180 to provide “support for neighborhood small businesses, especially women-owned and minority-owned businesses, including but not limited to business incubator programs, management training, and job training opportunities; and providing economic opportunity and education to communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition.”
“The war on drugs, predominantly waged against Black and Brown men, has long been a tool of racial oppression,” Dawson said in her welcome statement to agency partners. “Marijuana possession and sale, whether perceived or real, has provided an excuse for over-policing, state violence, and law enforcement interactions that far too often end in death for people of color. In fact, cannabis prohibition has led to Black Americans being almost four times as likely to be arrested for possession relative to our white counterparts and remains one of the top reasons for deadly police interactions in our communities. Understanding the role marijuana prohibition has played in my own life has fueled my global cannabis strategy, education and advocacy work for the past four years. I look forward to actively collaborating with all partners and stakeholders to continue building and elevating both the cannabis community and the City of Portland.”
Under her leadership, Dawson affirms that the Cannabis Program will work to uphold the core tenets adopted by the Cannabis Policy Oversight Team (CPOT) and included in its 2019 Annual Cannabis Policy Report:
The war on drugs has caused disproportionate harm to Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. Cannabis should be used as a tool to direct capital resources into these same communities for the purpose of restitution and restoration.The Bureau is committed to adopting policies, regulations and programs that support equitable access to the cannabis industry, so that communities and individuals that have experienced the greatest harm from prohibition can share in the industry’s wealth.The City’s processes around cannabis regulation and policy development will be informed, acknowledging the long history of trauma and race-based inequities, particularly the multi-generational impact of cannabis criminalization.Impacted communities and stakeholders will play a key role in solution-finding, policy and program development, and decision-making.Strategic recommendations and execution will require City investments of time and resources.Virginia Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy has announced plans to legalize cannabis in a special session of the legislature, if the legislation wins approval from the Speaker of the House, according to a WTOP report.
A cannabis decriminalization law took effect in Virginia on July 1, and Carroll Foy told the news outlet, “If we can decriminalize, we can legalize.”
The Democrat, who represents areas of Prince William and Stafford Counties, has indicated that racial disparities in the enforcement of cannabis possession laws are also a driving force behind her legalization push, WTOP reported.
The legislation would legalize the possession of less than a half ounce of cannabis, according to the news outlet, and if the bill isn’t taken up in the special session, Carroll Foy plans to introduce it in Virginia’s 2021 legislative session.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has determined that a doctor’s credentials were stolen and used to fraudulently certify patients for medical cannabis, according to a KMAland.com report.
The DHSS launched an investigation last month after roughly 600 patients submitted physician certification forms with unauthorized signatures.
The credentials of a doctor who is registered with the state to certify patients for medical cannabis were being used without that doctor’s knowledge to certify the affected patients, primarily through telemedicine visits, KMAland.com reported.
A department spokesperson told the news outlet that an involved party informed the state of the fraudulent certifications, and the DHSS has worked to find additional patients who might be affected.
The state is notifying all affected patients and issuing a deadline for them to submit a valid medical cannabis certification, KMAland.com reported. If they are unable to submit a valid certification by the deadline, they will lose their medical cannabis cards.
Austin Chief of Police Brian Manley issued a memo July 2 indicating that the police department will no longer prosecute misdemeanor cannabis possession offenses unless there is an immediate safety threat or it is part of a separate felony-level investigation, as reported by KVUE.com.
“At some point the state of Texas needs to step up and do their part and legalize it so it can be properly taxed and regulated,” Greg Casar, an Austin councilmember, told the news outlet. “But for now, not having the police wasting their time on these personal marijuana cases … is the right policy and we’ve been fighting to achieve this for many years.”
Manley indicated in his memo that enforcing misdemeanor cannabis offenses has never been a priority for the department, and in January, Austin City Council passed a resolution barring city funds and personnel from being used to test cannabis to determine whether it meets the legal definition of hemp under state law, except in felony-level investigations, KVUE.com reported.
EDMONTON, Alberta, July 6, 2020 /CNW/ -PRESS RELEASE- Aurora Cannabis Inc., a major Canadian cannabis company, today announced that Miguel Martin, president of Aurora USA and head of Reliva LLC, has been appointed chief commercial officer of Aurora. Martin will replace Darren Karasiuk, who held the position at Aurora since February 2019.
"This appointment allows us to take full advantage of Miguel's depth of international CPG experience to drive Aurora's revenues and brand strength in our global core markets," said Michael Singer, executive chairman and interim CEO of Aurora. "Miguel has a proven track record of running profitable global sales and marketing teams in complex, highly regulated industries that are adjacent to cannabis. His new role at Aurora is indicative of our commitment to combining sales and marketing excellence with driving profitability in our core businesses."
Reliva, where Martin serves as president and CEO, is an American producer of hemp-derived CBD. In May 2020 Reliva, based in Massachusetts, was purchased by Aurora Cannabis in what Aurora called its strategic expansion into the U.S.
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The glacial pace at which the federal government has implemented cannabis policy–particularly in light of the rapid evolution of cannabis laws at the state level–is at the same time predictable and frustrating to those seeking a measure of certainty. And it begs the question: Will Congress act soon to bring a measure of common sense to this country’s cannabis policy? What about the states?
Mark Twain wrote that “[p]rophesy is a good line of business, but it is full of risks.” With those risks in mind–and a plate of crow in the warming drawer–I offer the following three predictions about cannabis policy, and its implications, for the remainder of 2020.
Prediction No. 1: None of the current “big fix” proposals will pass Congress before the election.
Congress is unlikely to pass major cannabis legislation before the presidential election. At least three such bills are currently pending in Congress: (1) the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act; (2) the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act; and the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act.
This week, Canopy Growth and Acreage Holdings announced amended terms for their merger deal, which has fallen in value from $3.4 billion to roughly $843 million. Elsewhere, in California, regulators extended cannabis license fee deferrals to businesses with licenses expiring in July and August to provide assistance to those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Federal: Canopy Growth and Acreage Holdings have amended the terms of their merger deal, which, when originally announced in April 2019, was worth $3.4 billion. Under the new arrangement, Canopy will provide an up-front payment of $37.5 million to Acreage, and the total value of the deal has fallen to roughly $843 million. Read moreCalifornia: The three state cannabis licensing authorities announced this week that businesses with state commercial cannabis licenses expiring between July 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2020 may request 60-day deferrals of their license fee payments. The license fee deferrals are intended to provide immediate financial assistance to state cannabis licensees impacted by COVID-19. Read moreThe Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved new rules for cannabis licensing under the city’s social equity program July 1 amid backlash surrounding the rollout of the program. The program aims to ensure that those disproportionately impacted by prohibition benefit from legalization, and has largely targeted applicants who have cannabis-related convictions or have resided in areas with disproportionate arrests for cannabis crimes, but it has been criticized for not adequately representing Black entrepreneurs. Read moreWest Virginia: The Office of Medical Cannabis will reopen the application process for medical testing labs with plans to accept applications indefinitely and issue an unlimited number of licenses. The application process originally spanned two months and closed on Feb. 18, but only one lab applied for a license during that period. Read moreColorado: Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation June 29 that allows him to pardon past cannabis-related convictions that involve the possession of two ounces or less of cannabis. The new law takes effect Sept. 14, 90 days after the final adjournment of the legislature. Read moreIowa: Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation this week that changes the THC cap in the state’s medical cannabis program. The new law, which cleared the House in March and the Senate earlier this month, replaces the current 3% THC limit for medical cannabis products with a limit of 4.5 grams of THC in a 90-day period. Read moreIllinois: In the latest in a series of cannabis licensing delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois has delayed issuing craft grow, infuser and transporter licenses. The Department of Agriculture planned to issue 40 craft grow licenses, 40 infuser licenses and an undetermined number of transporter licenses July 1, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker instead issued an executive order to delay the permits, without specifying when they would be issued. Read moreArkansas: After some debate, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission voted this week to expand the number of licensed cultivators and dispensaries in the state. Regulators released two remaining cultivation licenses, expanding the number of cultivators in the state from six to eight, and also approved the release of four additional dispensary licenses. Read moreTennessee: Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk announced July 1 that, effective immediately, his office will no longer prosecute minor cannabis possession offenses that involve less than half an ounce of cannabis. “Marijuana charges do little to promote public health, and even less to promote public safety,” Funk’s office told the Tennessean, adding that low-level cannabis charges disproportionately impact minorities. Read moreArizona: Smart and Safe Arizona submitted roughly 420,000 signatures July 1 to place its adult-use cannabis legalization measure on the state’s 2020 ballot. If approved by voters this fall, the statutory measure would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, as well as grow up to six plants at home for personal use. Read moreThe Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved new rules for cannabis licensing under the city’s social equity program July 1 amid backlash surrounding the rollout of the program, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The program aims to ensure that those disproportionately impacted by prohibition benefit from legalization, and has largely targeted applicants who have cannabis-related convictions or have resided in areas with disproportionate arrests for cannabis crimes, the news outlet reported, but it has been criticized for not adequately representing Black entrepreneurs.
While Los Angeles previously designated the areas most disproportionately impacted by cannabis-related arrests by zip codes, the city is now narrowing the eligible areas to police reporting districts, the Los Angeles Times reported, in an effort to better target affected areas.
The city is also changing the licensing process for the next round of cannabis dispensaries, according to the news outlet.
For its last licensing round, the Department of Cannabis Regulation planned to issue 100 cannabis retail licenses to social equity applicants in a first-come, first serve process that was marred by controversy after some stakeholders alleged that some applicants gained early access to the online application system while others were locked out due to slow internet speeds.
More than a year after Nevada’s 2019 legislative session ended, several new state laws took effect July 1, including one that creates a new cannabis regulatory board to oversee the industry, according to The Nevada Independent.
A.B. 533 transfers the responsibilities of cannabis regulation from the Department of Taxation to a new, five-member Cannabis Compliance Board, which is modeled off the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the news outlet reported.
The board will be charged with the law enforcement, regulation and compliance duties associated with the cannabis industry, and is expected to approve rules later this month to outline how it will regulate cannabis differently than the Department of Taxation, according to The Nevada Independent, including increasing penalties for certain violations and streamlining the license renewal process.
Smart and Safe Arizona submitted roughly 420,000 signatures July 1 to place its adult-use cannabis legalization measure on the state’s 2020 ballot, according to the Daily Independent.
The group needed 237,645 valid signatures to get the issue before voters this fall, the news outlet reported.
If approved, the statutory measure would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, as well as grow up to six plants at home for personal use.
Voters shot down a similar adult-use legalization initiative by roughly 4 percentage points in 2016, the Daily Independent reported, and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce has expressed opposition to this year’s measure.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (July 1, 2020) -PRESS RELEASE- Kaycha Labs, a national cannabis and hemp testing technology company, is excited to announce that both their Davie and Gainesville, Flordia labs have been awarded the Florida Department of Health’s Certified Marijuana Testing Laboratory (CTML) status.
This is the first time the Florida Department of Health has awarded CMTL certifications and by doing so, it now means that state-mandated testing requirements will go into effect. These requirements specify that all retail products containing marijuana can be randomly sampled and tested.
“It’s a testament to our team that has worked so hard to get to where we are,” John Schwartz, chief operating officer of Kaycha Labs, said. “We are excited to receive this distinction in our home state. Our investment in people and technology has and will continue to serve the people of Florida.”
Both the Davie and Gainesville labs are ISO 17025 accredited and perform marijuana and hemp product testing for clients to help ensure that Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers remain compliant with all state and federal regulations. Kaycha Labs provides fast and accurate full panel testing for potency, homogeneity, heavy metals, microbial contamination, mycotoxins, residual solvents, terpenes, pesticides, and more.
Kaycha has the ability to implement over 500 procedures and methods to test cannabis and hemp products. These procedures and methods comply with standards set by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), International Standards Organization (ISO), United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Services, and Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC).
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