Dispensary

New York state’s medical marijuana program could become slightly more accessible with the introduction of the first approved flower product. Currently, regulations prohibit patients from purchasing smokable flower. But the new product could be moving things a step closer in that direction.

Rolling Out Curaleaf Ground Flower Pods

Starting today, medical marijuana patients in New York can purchase flower for the first time ever. Sort of.

The state has approved cannabis company Curaleaf to market and sell its Ground Flower Pods.

The pods come pre-filled with a specifically dosed amount of ground cannabis flowers. From there, the pods can be used in medical vaporizers, which heat the ground flower to temperatures just below combustion but hot enough to vaporize the bud. To medicate, patients simply inhale the vapor.

As per a press release circulated today, Curaleaf’s Ground Flower Pods contain 350 milligrams of cannabinoids. More specifically, the pods come in a 20:1 ratio of THC to CBD. And the company is selling pods in both indica and sativa strains.

For now, Curaleaf has been approved to sell the pods in its dispensary located in Nassau County, Long Island. Moving forward over the next few weeks, the pods are scheduled to roll out across Curaleaf’s four other New York state dispensaries.

In addition to the new flower pods, Curaleaf also said it is selling its own tabletop vaporizer. The device works perfectly with pods.

And the company also has a delivery service for patients. Delivery is free with any purchase. But Curaleaf only runs deliveries Thursday through Saturday. Only patients registered in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, and New York Counties qualify for delivery.

Complying With State Laws

Importantly, the new flower pods walk something of a legal tightrope, given the difficulty of selling flower in New York state.

Under the state’s current medical marijuana regulations, patients can purchase, possess, and consume only the following products:

• capsules, tablets, or lozenges
• pre-measured oils for vaporizing
• topicals
• transdermal patches
• certain types of measured ground plant preparations

Notably, these regulations prohibit any form of smokable marijuana as well as edibles. In practice, this rule essentially makes it impossible for dispensaries to sell actual bud to patients.

But Curaleaf’s pods manage to find some middle ground. That’s because they aren’t selling straight up nugs. They’re selling pre-ground flower in a specifically dosed pod.

Further, the pods can’t actually be smoked. Instead, they are designed to go inside a vaporizer, so that patients can medicate while still complying with the state’s rules against smoking.

Many in the state are optimistic about patients being able to purchase flower—even if it is still limited to pre-ground, pre-measured pods.

“As a practitioner in the Long Island area, I strive to help patients attain the most effective medicine to treat their conditions,” medical marijuana doctor Grace Forde said in the press release.

“It’s extremely beneficial to patients to offer more options beyond cannabis oil. In addition to being more affordable and all-natural, vaporizing cured ground flower cannabis produces effects faster than oral solutions and is therefore better suited for treating certain medical conditions.”

The post New York Medical Marijuana Patients Can Finally Buy Flower Products appeared first on Green Rush Daily.

Law enforcement agencies in Colorado have been cracking down on illegal cannabis activities in the state. Over the course of the summer, authorities in a handful of Colorado counties ended up arresting several individuals and seizing loads of illegal cannabis plants. All told, well over $5 million worth of illicit market cannabis was seized and destroyed.

Authorities Discover Illegal Marijuana Grow Sites

According to a news release from law enforcement in Colorado and as reported by The Denver Post, the crackdown started in at the very beginning of the summer.

Specifically, on May 26, a rancher called the Otero Sheriff’s Office to report that somebody had shot a gun at his 13-year-old son. The rancher’s son was reportedly rounding up the man’s cattle. At the time, the cows were grazing on county land being leased by the rancher.

It turns out, the shooting happened near a suspected illegal marijuana grow operation. And when authorities went to investigate the shooting, they eventually found the site.

By the time the shooting investigation ended, deputies in Otero County found two grow houses. Additionally, they made a number of arrests. Specifically, they busted four men.

Currently, the men are being held in jail. And each has a $50,000 bail. According to local reports, the men are being investigated for drug cultivation and distribution charges.

Scaling Up a Full-Blown Crackdown

From there, law enforcement dramatically ramped up their focus on illegal marijuana grow sites. So much so, in fact, that the dragnet eventually included agents from at least five separate counties.

All told, these investigations led to some massive busts. As summarized by The Denver Post, here’s what authorities cracked down on this summer:

• Agents busted 40 illegal marijuana grow sites.
• Law enforcement agents seized and destroyed almost 6,000 individual cannabis plants.
• All told, the plants that were seized and destroyed amounted to $5.8 million.
• Cops and sheriff’s department agents also seized six guns.
• And finally, law enforcement agents made five arrests. This includes the four who were linked to the original shooting incident, and one other person caught up in the busts later on. The man busted in this fifth arrest is being investigated for drug cultivation charges. He was released after paying $45,000 bond.

In addition to the thousands of cannabis plants destroyed by law enforcement, there were between 5,000 and 15,000 more plants that were seized but not destroyed.

That’s because these plants were reportedly sprayed with a potentially toxic pesticide. As a result, authorities will not destroy these plants until they have been fully inspected by environmental experts.

Illegal Markets Exist—Even in the Age of Legalization

As evidenced by these busts, the illegal cannabis market continues to thrive, even as more and more places legalize marijuana. And Colorado isn’t the only weed-legal state that has seen crackdowns on illegal activities.

In fact, a recent report found that California’s illicit cannabis market is three times larger than the regulated industry. All told, the report said that California has nearly 3,000 unlicensed dispensaries, compared to roughly 900 fully licensed, legal, and regulated ones.

Similarly, a different investigation found that California is being flooded with counterfeit cannabis vapes. This discovery adds to concerns over the recent spate of deaths linked to vaping.

The post Over $5 Million in Cannabis From Illegal Colorado Grows Destroyed appeared first on Green Rush Daily.

Like elsewhere around the country, the state of California has been hit hard by the ongoing crisis of vape-linked illnesses and deaths. But even though state health authorities say many of the cases of sudden lung sickness involved patients vaping cannabis, Governor Gavin Newsom is zeroing in on nicotine. And not just nicotine products like e-cigarettes, but the amount of nicotine inside them.

Newsom’s two-page executive order almost exclusively concerns itself with the nicotine content of electronic cigarettes, proposing new taxes and new regulations based on how much nicotine an e-cig contains. But so far, investigations into the causes of the mysterious vape-related illnesses haven’t pointed to nicotine. Instead, they’ve pointed to the additives used to manufacture vape liquids, such as vitamin E acetate.

California Gov. Newsom’s Order Isn’t Banning Vapes

If California Gov. Gavin Newsom had his way, he’d outright ban vapes across California, like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo did with his recent emergency executive action banning flavored e-cigarettes. But to do that in California, Newsom would need the support of lawmakers, a fact that seemed to take the governor by surprise. “It appears the governor alone is not afforded the right, legally, to ban those products outright,” Newsom said.

Instead, Newsom did what he has the power to do: issue an order directing state agencies and resources to combat the vape crisis. And in California, that crisis is getting worse. Since August, hospitals and doctors offices have documented the emergence of an unknown clinical syndrome linked to recent vaping. The syndrome involves acute respiratory failure, and it has struck everyone from the young to the old and the ill to the healthy.

By mid-September, 63 cases of the vape-linked syndrome had been reported. But officials think the actual number could be much higher. 28 of those cases involved patients who needed intensive care units. 19 others required mechanical breathing machines. 1 patient, an older man with chronic health issues, died after consuming a cannabis vape product.

Newsom’s executive order lists these grim statistics, and it acknowledges their link to illegally-obtained and produced cannabis products. But Gov. Newsom doesn’t have the power to change cannabis regulations, which already include testing and labeling requirements for vapes and other concentrates products. E-cigs and other non-cannabis vape products, on the other hand, have no manufacturing standards at all.

California To Launch Vape Awareness Campaign Modeled on Anti-Tobacco Ads

In California, there are at least licensed retailers selling (for the most part) tested and regulated products with clear labelling. But nothing like that exists for e-cigs. Gov. Newsom’s executive order aims to change that. It orders the California Department of Public Health to create warning signs for retailers selling vape products about the health risks of vaping. It also directs the health department to recommend new standards for nicotine content and uniform packaging. Public health officials have until October 14 to submit those recommendations.

Newsome is also tapping the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to revise taxes to include nicotine content in the calculation of the existing tax on e-cigarettes. CDTFA is also ordered to develop recommendations to remove illegal or counterfeit vaping products from stores and to increase its enforcement of tax evasion. The agency has until October 29 to report back.

Newsom’s executive order also directs multiple state agencies toward combatting youth vaping, from cracking down on retailers who sell to underage customers to investing in public awareness campaigns. The Public Health Department will set aside at least $20 million for cannabis and tobacco vaping awareness programs. The campaign will utilize digital and social media messaging targeting youth, young adults and parents.

The post California Executive Order Cracks Down on Counterfeit E-Cigs and Pot appeared first on Green Rush Daily.

By John Schroyer, Marijuana Business Daily

DENVER — Now that Nevada has approved an early start to recreational cannabis sales, existing medical marijuana companies in the state are readying for a burst of new business that could equate to tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue this year.

With Las Vegas alone drawing 40 million-plus visitors in 2016, the overall recreational cannabis industry is set to take another big step forward.

The early rollout will make Nevada the fifth state with an operational recreational market and the first to launch since last November’s election, when voters in four states approved adult-use programs. Nevada will also be the first new recreational state to go live under the Trump administration.

“It’s great news for everybody,” said Ben Sillitoe, the CEO and co-founder of Oasis Cannabis, a medical marijuana dispensary in Las Vegas.

Nevada’s recreational marijuana industry got the thumbs-up for an “early start” program Monday, when state tax authorities approved temporary regulations that allow licensed medical marijuana companies to begin adult-use sales July 1.

The recreational program isn’t expected to fully launch until 2018 because the tax commission has until January to finalize rules for the industry.

According to Marijuana Business Daily estimates, Nevada’s recreational market could generate $75 million or more in sales this year and $450 million-$550 million annually down the road. Tourist spending is expected to account for a heavy portion of sales.

The early recreational marijuana program will run from July 1 until January 2018 and will be open to roughly 190 medical marijuana dispensaries, growers and processors.

Sillitoe said the industry, state officials and other stakeholders “all worked together to make this happen quickly, and I think Nevada is a good example of how good regulation works to advance the industry.”

However, there are plenty of caveats. The biggest: At the outset, only existing medical marijuana businesses will be allowed to obtain recreational sales licenses; other interested companies must wait until January to jump in.

How It Will Work

Any licensed medical marijuana business that’s operational and “in good standing” with the state will be eligible to tap the recreational market this year.

Interested businesses must submit an application for a temporary recreational license to the Department of Taxation by May 31. Application extensions may be possible under the regulations, so some businesses might be allowed to file as late as June 7.

Businesses must submit a nonrefundable $5,000 application fee along with license fees that will vary by license type. Growers will pay the most for a temporary license — $30,000. Retailers will pay $20,000, testing labs and distributors $15,000 apiece and product manufacturers $10,000.

Those license fees will be applied to whatever permanent fees the commission establishes for the full recreation program. That means Nevada companies that want to participate in early recreational sales won’t be charged twice for the same permit.

In addition, the early recreational licenses:

• Will be valid through March 2018.
• Won’t carry any restrictions on selling edibles, concentrates or topicals to recreational customers. (That originally was the situation in Oregon, the only other state that has had an “early start” to recreational sales).
• Won’t require retailers to establish separate physical spaces for recreational customers and medical marijuana patients. That means dispensaries won’t incur costs associated with revamping storefronts or adding new locations for recreational sales.

However, businesses must also get written support from their local governments to be granted temporary recreational licenses.

That could complicate things for licensed medical marijuana businesses in towns or counties that have installed moratoriums on recreational cannabis companies. For instance, Las Vegas suburb Henderson enacted a six-month moratorium on recreational sales in February, meaning the city’s 15 licensed medical marijuana companies could be prohibited from early recreational sales until that moratorium expires — likely sometime in August.

“If anyone gets denied, that’ll likely be the reason,” said David Goldwater, a managing partner of Inyo Fine Cannabis, another Vegas dispensary.

Although there’s also a provision in the tax commission’s regulations that would require any marijuana companies to designate their inventory proportionately as either “medical” or “retail” – which would force businesses to estimate how much they will sell of each to properly stock – it looks like companies won’t have to make that choice.

Under the commission’s regulations, that provision will be nullified if the legislature changes state law to apply the same tax rate to both medical and recreational.

Such a measure is in the works and apparently has broad support at the state capitol. Two separate measures, Assembly Bill 463 and Senate Bill 487, would accomplish tax parity, and one is almost certain to pass before the legislature adjourns June 6, said Rianna Durrett, executive director of the Nevada Dispensary Association.

If the measure fails, however, businesses must submit their inventory designations to the tax department by June 16.

Issues Remain

Once early recreational licenses are handed out, there will be questions surrounding a new distributor license, which didn’t exist under the state’s medical marijuana law. It was added by the recreational legalization measure voters approved last year.

The tax commission’s regulations appear to allow existing medical marijuana businesses to obtain distributor licenses so they’ll be able to ship cannabis to and from retail operations without the need for a third party.

“The general sense” in Nevada is that current medical marijuana businesses will try to land distribution licenses to save on overhead, said marijuana attorney Neal Gidvani.

There’s also a question of preparing for what could be a mad rush of customers come July.

Both Sillitoe and Goldwater said their priorities are to increase staff and inventory so they’re not overwhelmed by demand.

“We’re preparing for a large increase” in business, Sillitoe said. “We’re hiring people to beef up our staff, we’re acquiring additional inventory, and we’re getting ready for the unknown at this point.”

Goldwater said Inyo isn’t worried about whether it will get a temporary recreational license – he believes most of Nevada’s licensed medical marijuana companies will be able to obtain one.

Rather, he said, the bigger concern is keeping customers happy and ensuring there’s enough supply.

“There’s such a glut of inventory right now that I think we can work through a lot of that. But we’re going to work through that excess capacity really quickly,” Goldwater said. “It might be a problem, but given the capacity that’s out there, I think it’s a short-term problem.”

Information from: Marijuana Business Daily