CCMA Greenbrief November 27: Rural CA Struggles with Pot Grows as Legalization Looms… CA Cannabis Industry to Generate Billions of Dollars, Banking Is a Concern… ND Startup Is Striving to Be the Amazon of the Cannabis Industry…

 


Political greenBrief
Monday, November 27, 2017
“There are people in real pain. There are people who are literally dying and the best thing we can do is give them some relief on the way out, people will suffer, they will cry about the pain they have because they cannot get cannabis.”
Jacob Hopkins, Co-Owner Of Sweet Amber Co., A Cannabis Product Manufacturing Business
 
“I hope that we get to that point where this is an industry that will create more jobs, higher tech-related jobs in Stockton.”
Stockton City Councilwoman Christina Fugazi On Cannabis Testing And Manufacturing Businesses
California’s Marijuana Industry May Be In Deep Trouble, Depending On Your Perspective (CA – Cannabis Industry)
The Motley Fool (November 25, 2017) From growers to investors, the marijuana industry has most everyone seeing green. According to cannabis research firm ArcView, legal weed sales are expected to grow in North America by 26% a year through 2021, yielding a nearly $22 billion market. Of course, that could be touching the tip of the iceberg considering expansion opportunities in the U.S. and throughout the rest of the world.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/25/californias-marijuana-industry-may-be-in-deep-trou.aspx
California Weed Entrepreneurs Will Make $5.2B In 2018 With Almost No Banks To Put It In (CA – Cannabis Money)
Forbes (November 26, 2017) California cannabis entrepreneurs will earn $5.2B in revenue in 2018 as recreational use becomes legal there. The state of California will collect about one billion dollars in accompanying marijuana taxes. These numbers, estimated by Matt Karnes, industry analyst and managing partner of New York’s GreenWave Advisors, point to the giant need for banking and financial services in the nascent legal cannabis industry.  These services however are generally not available says Karnes, and are federally illegal. Some glimmers of change though, are on the horizon.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/julieweed/2017/11/26/california-weed-entrepreneurs-will-make-5-2b-in-2018-with-almost-no-banks-to-put-it-in/#26c6f864e52b
How Om Edibles Won California’s First Production Permit (CA – Cannabis Edibles)
Cannabis Now (November 26, 2017) As the clock counts down to Jan. 1, 2018, California cannabis companies are crossing their fingers for quick regulatory fixes at the local level that align with the set of temporary regulations the state released last week. When it comes to setting up the local framework for recreational cannabis, Berkeley, California has been ahead of most other California cities, and issued what’s believed to be the first production permit in the state to one of its most storied producers, Om Edibles.
https://cannabisnow.com/om-edibles-won-californias-first-production-permit/
Pot Edibles Must Undergo Big Changes Under New California Regulations (CA – Cannabis Edibles)
ABC 10 News (November 24, 2017) Newly released data from the California Healthy Kids Survey shows drug use among teens continues to go down. That includes marijuana, by one percent. Jim Crittenden, program specialist at the San Diego County Office of Education, says he hopes the trend won’t be reversed after Jan. 1 when recreational marijuana is legal for users 21 and over.
http://www.10news.com/news/pot-edibles-must-undergo-big-changes-under-new-california-regulations
This California Hotel Is Launching A Weed Dispensary On Site (CA – Cannabis Dispensary)
Lonely Planet (November 24, 2017) A California hotel has announced plans to open a weed dispensary on site, allowing guests and locals to stop in for some artisanal edibles. The Standard Hollywood will open its own dispensary in early 2018, following last year’s state-wide vote to legalize recreational marijuana. The project will be the flagship shop of Lord Jones, an LA-based cannabis company that produces edible and topical weed-based products.
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2017/11/25/california-hotel-weed-dispensary/
Rush Of Pot Grows Splits Rural California Before Legal Sales (CA – Cannabis Growers)
ABC News (November 24, 2017) The four young men had just started their marijuana harvest in rural Northern California when a dozen sheriff’s deputies swooped in with guns drawn, arrested them and spent the day chopping down 150 bushy plants with machetes. Authorities this year have cut down close to 30,000 plants grown without permits in a county that is reconsidering its embrace of marijuana cultivation ahead of statewide legalization.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/rural-california-grapples-green-rush-pot-growers-51356741
Marijuana To Be Discussed At Dec. 4 City Council Meeting (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Tehachapi News (November 24, 2017) The Tehachapi City Council will discuss the prohibition of all commercial marijuana activity within the city at its Dec. 4 meeting. The council will also discuss whether to allow mobile deliveries in the city limits. The issue was not addressed at the Nov. 20 council meeting, as originally scheduled.
http://www.tehachapinews.com/news/marijuana-to-be-discussed-at-dec-city-council-meeting/article_98f14764-d173-11e7-8ed7-7fe7bce59b07.html
Marijuana Referendum In The Works In Chico (CA – Cannabis Referendum)
Chico ER (November 24, 2017) Chicoans have organized a referendum effort to repeal a city marijuana ordinance that bans commercial activity and outdoor growing. Petitioners have to gather 5,001 signatures — 10 percent of the voting population’s support — by Dec. 6 for the referendum to qualify. If the referendum is valid, the City Council would have to decide whether to rescind the ordinance or put it to a vote in either a special election or the November 2018 municipal election.
http://www.chicoer.com/article/NA/20171124/NEWS/171129860
Cannabis Science Inc Turning The MJ Ship Around (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Finance Registrar (November 25, 2017) Cannabis Science Inc has continued to execute something of a turnaround in recent weeks. There’s still plenty of work to be done, but we do see numerous positive signs here. The company’s latest press release is a great example. Our biggest complaint with this stock has been a seeming lack of understanding of what “business” is all about.
http://financeregistrar.com/cannabis-science-inc-otcmktscbis-turning-mj-ship-around/
SJ Preparing For Legal Cannabis (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Recordnet (November 25, 2017) The sale of cannabis for adult recreational use soon will be legal in California, and cities around San Joaquin County have responded accordingly in the waning months of 2017. From Lodi to Tracy to Escalon, cities and the county itself are preparing for imminent legal recreational cannabis commerce by ensuring that their current local ordinances extend indefinitely. In so doing, local governments will maintain control over their commercial cannabis destinies and supersede state law, which kicks in Jan. 1. It can get very confusing, though.
http://www.recordnet.com/news/20171125/sj-preparing-for-legal-cannabis
Pot-Crop Rush Roils California County (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Arkansas Online (November 25, 2017) The four young men had just started their marijuana harvest in rural Northern California when a dozen sheriff’s deputies swooped in with guns drawn, arrested them and spent the day chopping down 150 bushy plants with machetes. “I could do this every day if I had the personnel,” Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio said during the operation near the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Copperopolis, about two hours east of San Francisco.
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/nov/25/pot-crop-rush-roils-california-county-2/
Ukiah Mulls Keeping Pot Grows Indoors, Reducing Number Of Plants (CA – Cannabis Cultivation)
Ukiah Daily Journal (November 25, 2017) The Ukiah City Council is moving forward with changes to Ukiah’s rules for marijuana growing that do not ease the restrictions on outdoor growing, and reduce the numbers of plants residents are allowed to grow.
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20171125/ukiah-mulls-keeping-pot-grows-indoors-reducing-number-of-plants
Petition Drive Seeks Public Vote On Shasta County’s Commercial Marijuana Ban (CA – Commercial Cannabis)
Record Searchlight (November 25, 2017) Let the voters decide. That’s what Patrick Gorman of Palo Cedro says about the Shasta County Board of Supervisors’ prohibition of commercial cannabis sales when recreational pot becomes legal throughout California on Jan. 1 and also of the county’s previously existing ban on medicinal marijuana businesses. The board’s prohibition of commercial cannabis activity covers the unincorporated areas of Shasta County, not including the cities of Redding, Shasta Lake and Anderson.
http://www.redding.com/story/news/2017/11/25/petition-drive-seeks-public-vote-shasta-countys-commercial-marijuana-ban/890720001/
Veterans Are Key As Surge Of States OK Medical Pot For PTSD (USA – Medical Cannabis)
SCPR (November 26, 2017) It was a telling setting for a decision on whether post-traumatic stress disorder patients could use medical marijuana. Against the backdrop of the nation’s largest Veterans Day parade, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this month he’d sign legislation making New York the latest in a fast-rising tide of states to OK therapeutic pot as a PTSD treatment, though it’s illegal under federal law and doesn’t boast extensive, conclusive medical research.
https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/11/26/78145/veterans-are-key-as-surge-of-states-ok-medical-pot/
The Federal Government Just Broke Its Medical-Marijuana Promise (DC – Medical Cannabis)
The Motley Fool (November 26, 2017) Few if any industries are growing at a quicker and more consistent pace in the U.S. than marijuana. A report released earlier this year by Marijuana Business Daily entitled “Marijuana Business Factbook 2017” found that the U.S. legal-weed market is expected to grow by 45% in 2018, and an aggregate of 300% between 2016 and 2021. If these projections are accurate, we could be talking about a $17 billion market by 2021. With growth like this, it’s no wonder why marijuana stocks have gone through the roof in recent years.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/11/26/the-federal-government-just-broke-its-medical-mari.aspx
12-Year-Old Girl Sues Jeff Sessions To Legalize Medical Marijuana Nationwide (DC – Medical Cannabis)
Care 2 (November 25, 2017) Alexis Bortell was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was a young child in Texas. Her prescribed medicine wasn’t stopping the seizures she was experiencing every few days, so her doctors recommended invasive brain surgery. But there was an alternative, a pediatrician told her parents: medical marijuana.
http://www.care2.com/causes/12-year-old-girl-sues-jeff-sessions-to-legalize-medical-marijuana-nationwide.html
Company Hopes To Be ‘Amazon Of Cannabis’ In Such Places As ND (ND – Cannabis Indusrty)
The Bemidji Pioneer (November 24, 2017) As medical marijuana legalization slowly moves forward in North Dakota, some national companies are already taking a look at working with dispensaries. One such outfit hopes to be the “Amazon of Cannabis,” said owner and founder Socrates Rosenfeld, an Army veteran who flew and commanded a team of Apache helicopters in the Iraq War.
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/4363424-company-hopes-be-amazon-cannabis-such-places-nd