If any state is up for a challenge it is Massachusetts. A few weeks ago we shared a post regarding the Mass Senators first time experieincing a dispensary. Now, The Taunton Daily Gazette discusses some of the obvious concerns for marijuana legalization and seed to sale tracking.

“The Senate committee plans to release a report in February on its recommendations for the regulation of the pot industry should a ballot question pass in 2016. If approved it would make Massachusetts the sixth state to legalize marijuana, allowing those 21 and over to use the drug, and establish a tax on cannabis goods.

Citing THC-infused jelly beans, Lewis said lawmakers and regulators could have a role to play in limiting the scope of legalized marijuana products and by imposing packaging and labeling requirements to alert consumers about the potency of products.

Other policy questions revolve around licensing, marketing, advertising, law enforcement, employment, banking services, growing and agriculture. “There’s such a wide range of other factors that come into play,” Lewis said, noting that state and local governments need to ramp up regulatory systems since marijuana is not legal under federal law and federal agencies do not play oversight roles.

Colorado officials, for instance, have become involved in regulating pesticides, he said, because humid marijuana growing conditions in warehouses have drawn pests like aphids and black mold. Pesticide use has forced regulators to take on testing roles to ensure that products treated with pesticides are safe for human consumption.

Lawmakers and law enforcement officials may also have to confront ways to minimize public safety and public health impacts associated with legalized marijuana, he said.”You’re never going to stamp out any of the concerns on accidental ingestion or people not using the product in a responsible way,” he said.”

Read the full story from the Source: Senator: Legal marijuana would create many challenges in Massachusetts – News – The Taunton Daily Gazette, Taunton, MA – Taunton, MA

Some medical pot shops in the city are still allowed to operate due to exceptions in Proposition D, but finance officials said they are unequipped to determine whether a medical marijuana dispensary is in compliance and must leave the potentially complex legal question to be sorted out by city attorneys.

City leaders said collecting taxes while also banning medical marijuana businesses sends a mixed message, prompting them to simply cut off the issuance of any new tax registrations.

[Councilman Joe Buscaino] said by halting the issuance of new tax certificates to dispensaries, the city will be “inhibiting fraudulent activity” and curbing what appears to be an increase in dispensaries despite the enactment of Proposition D. Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said a “mix” of illegal and legal pot shops has “hijacked storefronts” in his district for medical marijuana sales.

The city collected $4.4 million from 447 dispensaries toward the end of last year, even though only an estimated 100 or so dispensaries were thought to be in compliance with Proposition D.

The city collected $5 million in 2014 from 519 tax registration certificate holders that identify themselves as marijuana businesses.

The ordinance adopted today was based on the idea that any newly registered medical marijuana business could not possibly qualify for the exception in Proposition D, which gives immunity to businesses that can show they registered by a certain date and comply with several other requirements.

The ordinance also makes it a misdemeanor for a business operators to lie on an affidavit attesting that the dispensary complies with Proposition D. The ordinance makes filling out the affidavits a part of the process of registration renewal, which is done through the annual payment of taxes.

Read the full story from the Source: LA addressing medical marijuana mixed message on tax collection

“Under the state’s medical marijuana law, patients with one of about 40 specified medical conditions may get a doctor’s recommendation to buy marijuana from state-approved dispensaries. Approved conditions include cancer, AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis and complex regional pain syndrome.

In September, the Illinois Department of Public Health rejected without explanation 11 new medical conditions recommended by the advisory board, which is made up of doctors, nurses, patients and advocates.The following month, the advisory board made a new recommendation to approve eight conditions: autism, chronic pain due to trauma, chronic pain syndrome, chronic post-operative pain, irritable bowel syndrome, intractable pain, osteoarthritis and post-traumatic stress disorder.At the time he made his initial rejection, Rauner argued that it was premature to expand the program before patients had started getting the drug. Since then, state officials said, the program has rolled out smoothly. Since the program started selling marijuana in November, wholesale sales have surpassed $1.5 million, generating more than $100,000 in taxes.

Many patients have reported benefiting from the drug, while there have been no major reported diversions or thefts, said Kim Morreale, spokeswoman for the Medical Cannabis Alliance of Illinois, which represents growers and sellers.”The program is working well from a regulatory and public safety standpoint,” she said. “Clearly, we need more patients.”Due to various delays, the four-year pilot program was almost half over by the time the product became available to the public in November, and is due to expire in 2018, when lawmakers have said they will consider whether to continue it.”

Source: Medical marijuana advocates ask Gov. Rauner to expand the program – Chicago Tribune

On Friday, the state approved three more medical marijuana dispensary facilities, which are in addition to the six current ones in Hartford, Bristol, South Windsor, Bethel, Uncasville and Branford. The new ones are expected to be open for business by early summer.

The new dispensaries are:

• Arrow Alternative Care #2, Inc., which is located at 255 West River St. in Milford
• Caring Nature, LLC, which is located at 237 East Aurora St. in Waterbury
• Southern CT Wellness & Healing, LLC, which is located at 318 New Haven Ave. in Milford

The owner of the Arrow Alternative Care facility also owns the dispensary in Hartford.

There were 19 applicants, of which the three were picked.

According to the update from the Department of Consumer Protection, which regulates the sale of medical marijuana in the state, there are currently 8,228 patients registered for medical marijuana in Connecticut.

Source: 3 additional medical marijuana dispensaries approved in Connecticut | FOX 61

The availability of medical marijuana in New Hampshire is a big step closer to reality after the state gave approval to the first of three locations to cultivate the drug.

The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Friday that it has started mailing out identification cards to 176 Granite Staters who qualified to purchase medical marijuana. The drug first has to be grown and cultivated, and Rochester is one of three locations where that will happen.

Products cultivated at the facility will then be driven to the company’s dispensary in Plymouth, which is scheduled to be open by April.

Many neighbors of the cultivation facility on Spaulding Avenue said they’re in favor of the operation.

“I have a son-in-law that has ALS, and he does have a medical marijuana card through Maine, and it helps him immensely,” Rochester resident Maritza Rivera said. “It doesn’t worry me one bit, where they’re right down the street.”

Officials have described the process of bringing the facility into the city as smooth.

Source: Medical marijuana closer to reality in NH with cultivation permit approval | Health – WMUR Home

The Oregon Department of Agriculture on Friday temporarily removed a popular pesticide from its list of chemicals cannabis growers may use on their crop.

The state on Friday issued a bulletin “out of an abundance of caution” alerting cannabis growers to a potential labeling problem with a popular mite spray and advising them not to use the product and retailers not to sell it “until further notice.”

A man identifying himself as an owner of the Illinois-based company that makes the product said it contains ivermectin, a chemical similar to abamectin. Ivermectin is not listed on the product label as required.

Source: Oregon flags potential problem with popular pesticide used on marijuana | OregonLive.com

Adilas420 Consultants can assist with the application writing process. With years of expierience managing marijuana businesses in highly regulated states, an experienced consultant can offer an applicant great insight. Contact Us for help – Good luck to all the applicants!

The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) Medical Marijuana Dispensary License application is now available online at mmjdisp.ehawaii.gov.

The medical marijuana dispensary law, Chapter 329D, HRS, allows DOH to award a total of eight licenses initially: three licenses for the City and County of Honolulu, two dispensary licenses each for the County of Hawaii and the County of Maui, and one dispensary license for the County of Kauai. Each dispensary licensee will be allowed to operate up to two production centers and two retail-dispensing locations.

DOH expects to select and announce licensees by April 15, 2016. A dispensary licensed pursuant to Chapter 329D, HRS, may begin dispensing medical marijuana not sooner than July 15, 2016, with the approval of the Department.

Source: Hawaii Medical Marijuana Dispensary License Application Now Available Online | Business Wire

One of my favorite parts of working in a dispensary was offering tours to law enforcement and public officials. Regardless of if it was the local fire fighters inspecting smoke detectors or senators from out of state considering legalization, people are always amazed and in my experience, always impressed.

Patients who visit a dispensary for a first time may be more excited with high hopes of this product curing their ailments, but public tours allow state representatives to visualize a country in which marijuana prohibition has ended. It is fun to watch their reaction when they don’t find lazy staff doing dabs and jamming out to Bob Marley (ok, maybe they are listening to Bob), but instead they are working hard to present a clean and professional atmosphere, tracking regulated inventory and managing large amounts of cash.  Surely they understand there is no greater challenge for a business owner than a start up company in a start up industry.

One publication described the Massachusetts senators as “clueless” for asking what to do with the marijuana, but that just seems obvious. Of course they don’t know about the product, that is why they set off on the fact finding adventure to Colorado.

While statistics show that nearly half of American’s have tried marijuana in their life time, very few understand the scientifically supported medical effects. You should see the response when you tell a Senator about how the essence of skunk, berries and grape found in a marijuana strain, called Purple Urkle, can relieve insomnia. Even better is explaining how a strain called Girl Scout Cookies can be high in THCv, which means it will actually suppress your appetite. Suddenly, they are intrigued, how could you not be?

State senators toured a retail dispensary to prepare themselves for the barrage of complex issues that they’ll face if Massachusetts voters greenlight a legalization question on the November ballot.

You can read about the Massachusetts Senators visit to Colorado here: Source: Do I roll it? Senators learn about marijuana – The Boston Globe

AZCentral provides an update on Arizona’s campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

A marijuana legalization campaign is nearing its goal of gathering 150,000 valid signatures to get on the November ballot. The  initiative would ask Arizona voters to legalize marijuana for recreational use and establish a network of licensed cannabis shops where sales of the drug would be taxed.

Source: Marijuana legalization campaign nearing signature goal, supporters say

The first publicly traded marijuana dispensary stock is TerraTech as it acquires Blum Oakland, a California dispensary.

Investors can now buy shares in the first publicly traded marijuana dispensary that handles the product from cultivation to storefront. TerraTech, an agriculture company with a focus on cannabis has acquired Black Oak Gallery, known as Blüm Oakland, a retail medical cannabis dispensary located in Oakland California.

“Today, we can proudly claim the title of the only US-based, publicly-traded company that touches every aspect of the cannabis lifecycle—from cultivation, to extraction, to branding, and now, with the acquisition of Blüm, to retail sale,” said Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech.  “In addition to enhancing our cash-flow, this merger positions us to capitalize on the new regulatory landscape in California, which will change significantly with the implementation of the Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act in 2016.”

Source: Investors Can Now Buy Shares Of A Marijuana Dispensary – Forbes