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Nevada Governor Forms Task Force After Report Of Failed Foreign Corruption Effort

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Politics.

A report came out this week involving a failed attempt by a group with Ukranian ties that were reportedly trying to obtain a Nevada cannabis business license via corrupt means. 

The report has resulted in Nevada’s Governor forming a task force to investigate any possible corruption in the state’s emerging legal cannabis industry.

A federal court indictment was filed on Friday in New York which charged four men with illegally funneling foreign money to political campaigns in the United States.

The indictment detailed how the men missed a September 2018 adult-use cannabis license application deadline and then reportedly organized an effort to try to convince Nevada’s Governor to change industry rules.

Contributions of $10,000 to the failed campaigns of Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt and Republican attorney general candidate Wesley Duncan were determined to be part of the indictment once the indictment was crossreferenced with Nevada state political contribution records.

In addition to Laxalt and Duncan, the indictment also detailed troubling allegations involving one of the biggest cannabis opponents to ever serve in Congress, former Texas Republican Representative Pete Sessions. Pete Sessions was defeated in the 2018 election.

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak issued the following press release on Friday after the indictment was filed:

Today, the Governor released the following statement regarding ongoing issues surrounding the legalized marijuana market as well as his immediate response in the form of a multi-state agency special task force:

The Governor is outraged by yesterday’s news that a foreign national attempted to influence Nevada’s elections through a million-dollar laundering scheme in order to gain a marijuana license and enter our legalized market.

Yesterday’s indictments and their connections to Nevada, in combination with ongoing issues in Nevada’s legalized marijuana industry – such as illegal sales to minors, serious allegations of manipulated lab results, and a licensing process mired in litigation – have led the Governor to expedite regulatory and enforcement measures. Many of these enhanced measures were originally intended to be implemented at the start of the Governor’s Cannabis Compliance Board, but in the interest of time and the public health and safety of Nevadans, the Governor has formed a multi-state agency special task force to root out potential corruption or criminal influences in Nevada’s marijuana marketplace, effective immediately. Any marijuana entity – licensed or unlicensed – that violates the law will see swift and severe criminal and regulatory action.

The Governor is disappointed in the lack of oversight and the inaction from the state over many years that led us to this critical juncture – including the apparent absence of a single criminal referral by the Marijuana Enforcement Division since the inception of licensed marijuana sales, medical or recreational, in Nevada. Governor Sisolak’s administration is taking immediate action in order to protect the health and safety of Nevadans, the jobs created by the industry, and the long-term sustainability of education funding generated from the legalized marketplace.

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Is A Regulated Adult-Use Cannabis Industry Coming To Mexico Soon?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Politics.

Last year Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that the country’s cannabis prohibition policy is unconstitutional. Mexico became, in a way, the third country to legalize cannabis, albeit via a court decision. Uruguay and Canada legalized cannabis for adult-use via the political process.

Mexico’s Supreme Court directed lawmakers to craft and approve cannabis legalization by the end of October 2019. We are, of course, in the middle of October 2019. It appears that lawmakers feel confident that they will meet the deadline, which was first reported by Marijuana Moment. Per the report:

The Senate leader of Mexico’s ruling party said that the lawmakers will vote on a bill to legalize marijuana for adult use by the end of the month.

There are numerous pieces of legalization legislation already on the table, but Sen. Ricardo Monreal of the MORENA party said his chamber is nearly done crafting a new reform bill that will be the product of weeks of public forums and open-session debates. Members of the other half of Mexico’s legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, will be invited to weigh in on the bill.

“We’re thinking that we’ll bring the law out, approve it, at the end of October,” Monreal said. “That’s the schedule we have.”

A number of pieces of legislation have been introduced and/or floated by various politicians in Mexico. However, from afar it appears that Senator Monreal’s bill has the greatest chance of actually becoming law.

As the push for legalization legislation moves along in Mexico, many entrepreneurs are wondering what it means in regards to the chances of a legal adult-use cannabis industry in Mexico becoming a reality. The ruling by Mexico’s Supreme Court did not call for a regulated cannabis industry.

Rather, it determined that personal possession, use, and cultivation of cannabis should be legal and the Court tasked lawmakers with making it officially happen. Mexico has been operating in a gray area while lawmakers work to pass the required legislation.

In the immediate future, assuming lawmakers get the job done, Mexico’s adult-use cannabis policy will be more like that of Washington D.C. and Vermont compared to Canada and states in the U.S. that have legal adult-use industries. Consumers will be able to gift cannabis, however, that’s the extent to which cannabis can legally change hands between consumers for adult-use purposes.

That will obviously limit the business opportunities for entrepreneurs that are looking to start-up in Mexico. Legislation creating a regulated adult-use industry will hopefully follow shortly after lawmakers in Mexico meet the Supreme Court’s mandate. Ultimately, only time will tell if that actually occurs, but luckily momentum for such a move appears to be building.

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What’s Up With Local, Eurocentric Cannabis Production?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

While the big Canadians are taking their beatings there is a new hum of something green and growing afoot in Europe. Namely, with all the buzz in the air about cannabiz business by the Canadians, the Americans, and just about everyone else, European farmers are not waiting things out.

The cannabis industry rules are starting to change and fairly drastically. Those on the ground in opening markets such as Malta, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and Greece are doing the math. Traditional agricultural crops or medical cannabis, especially in an oil-based or distillate form. You don’t have to be Einstein to “do the math” and see the potential of cultivating cannabis.

Corporations saw the potential long ago, however, private farmers are eyeing the lucrative cannabis cultivation sector too. Those in the 10-30 million euro range are amply equipped to go to the bank for a loan at a standard European bank, to convert greenhouses already purposed to meet European food production guidelines.

That means that the party, as they say, is in fact just getting started. Calling all European family offices. 

A Turn In a Very Green Tide

For those who have not been watching, the world is changing fairly rapidly. Beyond the clean-up, let alone admission of the Great Garbage Patch, there are icebergs melting rapidly. All of those zombie apocalypse Netflix zingers have an awfully realistic view of what appears to be becoming reality rapidly.

You don’t have to be a 16-year-old girl to understand that the world is literally, melting.

This means a couple of things. For the cannabis industry, it means that local production of local medication is a political must that is showing up in a lot of international, if not transatlantic, discussions right now.

To people that honed their teeth on local, state, and even federal politics, the international perspective is equally bizarre. On the ground? It means that the local business communities left out of the conversation so far (from Germany and Spain to countries far from there) are finding a green vest cannabis voice that will not be stopped.

For all its hiccups and bumps, in other words, local European production is now in the room. And it isn’t goin’ back.

Be sure to attend the global 2020 International Cannabis Business Conferences in Barcelona, Berlin, Bern, San Francisco, and Vancouver, B.C.!

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German Cannabis Pharmacy Association Debuts At Dusseldorf’s ExpoPharm 2019

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

International Cannabis Business Conference veterans are showing up at all sorts of interesting conferences and expos these days auf Deutschland. Most notably last week Tobias Loder of Luxe 99 Apotheke joined Markus Fischer (also a pharmacist and the titular head of the new German Cannabis Pharmacy Association VCA) plus a host of familiar faces at a first of its kind expo.

Expopharm is not new of course. It is one of the largest pharmacy conferences in Europe, if not the largest. However, this year in Dusseldorf cannabis was featured for the first time as medicine.

The big firms showed up (of course), but what was notable, beyond the VCA, were the indie specialist distributors out in force.

Cannabis as medicine is now accepted in Germany, regardless of the fights that still remain on the ground. On the ground, those who are dealing with “last mile” issues that include everything from finding a doctor and a suitable pharmacist to approvals are in the room.

Beyond activists and patients in other words, the business community is coming together to face its own cannabis future.

Big Changes and Challenges Are Underway For German Pharmacists 

German pharmacists are caught in a dilemma that nobody else is at present when it comes to the cannabis question. There are no chains larger than three (and in some cases four) brick and mortar outlets. Online sales are verboten.

Patients must interact with pharmacists to obtain their medications. Most patients must also obtain preauthorization from their health insurers to be able to afford their meds. On top of this, there is a new defacto fee structure in place – namely health insurers are forcing pharmacists to lower their mark-up costs. That pressure used to come 100% from distributors.

That is now changing, and so are other rules and norms.

As Peter Homberg of Denton’s law firm explained in Berlin last week at his firm’s medical cannabis conference, patients can now obtain a full three-month prescription for 100 grams of flower from their doctors. That means that pharmacies will be handling higher bulks, larger orders, and greater logistical challenges on getting the product on a regular basis.

Also, against all of this, the market is now opening for new products to enter the country.

What Makes This Cool

Producers who want to enter the German market with properly certified product are beginning to find that the market is opening up in an interesting way. Personal relationships and guaranteed delivery, as well as pricing,  are the name of the game.

German pharmacists themselves are in the middle of a changing regulatory landscape that will continue to prove interesting for years to come.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars now for the fourth International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin April 1-3, 2020!

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Polish Cannabis Market Appears On Track Before National Election

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

Despite rumours, strangely timed documents, and temporary difficulties reported by canna hopefuls on the ground in Poland, things appear to be shaking out in an interesting if not positive direction right as the country heads into a national election.

Product registrations for medical products appear to be back on track, albeit with lingering issues around Novel Food registrations.

Nevertheless, while perhaps lagging other countries in the EU on the topic of cannabis reform, Poland appears to be (at least) entering the cannabusiness “green” room – certainly when it comes to imports of medical (including THC) cannabis and domestically produced CBD products.

That being said, in a nod to evolving political discussions in Europe (from Austria and Germany to Italy and Sweden), Novel Food is going to be in the room here from the beginning of the conversation. That, including issues of cost and license fees, is far from popular. 

Cannabiz Sovereign Economic Development Rights?

Much like in Spain and Germany (although perhaps from the more conservative perspective) Polish producers are eager to participate in a market where all things being equal, farmers can grow a crop which brings in, even in raw form, a bit more “green” than say, tomatoes.

However, cultivation is not the only discussion in the room, especially in “emerging markets” like in Eastern Europe. Many people are beginning to question the conventional wisdom about only entering the first rung of the production cycle (i.e. farming the plant) without also seeking the investment and gaining the backing of the government to complete a full cannabis production industry in Poland. Local medicine for local folks. 

In general, certainly in European countries like Poland, it will be far cheaper to produce product domestically than import it across a border, no matter where it is coming from. When national health insurances are on the line to pay, these questions are going to be even more important.

Look for serious discussion about the Polish bid coming soon.

Organizing For An Authentic, Eurocentric Industry Voice

There are several organizations now advocating for change on a fairly significant basis now both in individual countries and at the EU level. These include of course the lobbyists in the employ of individual companies, but it also now includes advocates, patients, and those in the business community who want a regularized, normalized, legal market that speaks for all players, not just the biggest companies.

During an upcoming business conference in Poland leaders from across the industry, and from an international base, will also be conferring on how to launch an industry-focused, patient inclusive non-profit industry association serving the industry across Europe.

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The German Cannabis Market Continues To Open For Imports

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Berlin, Business.

The shifting laws of national sovereignties along with new global treaties and a rather old global one are allowing new winds of cannatrade to enter Germany.

It’s not just Portugal, in other words, that is now on the map to import cannabis into Germany. Spain, Denmark, Malta, Greece, Australia, and South Africa are all birthing producers who are clearly putting Germany in the middle of their bullseye, if not European plans.

What does this mean in general for the average producer?

You have to have your paperwork in order, be prepared to prove cert, and plan, as of now, to spend your conference days at the next International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin networking your tail off!

Who To Look For?

When planning your Berlin trip to the International Cannabis Business Conference, here are a few things to put on your packing list of to do’s.

Top of the list? A distributor with the right papers on the ground. There are currently 19 of them – with more coming into the market. Their good relationships with pharmacies are essential. And there are thousands of them. All of them are small businesses – owning no more than three or four brick and mortar outlets. All of them are looking for reliable, clean, tested, and certified products.

If that is you, with a plan for insuring a steady supply, you will be popular in every room you show up in.

You Do Not Need The Big Guys…But It Can Sometimes Help

The biggest names in the industry are now in the German market – with one of them already set up to cultivate certified product and two hot on their heels. On top of that larger firms have already established distribution relationships in the German market that allow them to say that they have market penetration in the bag.

However, that is not the whole story – as the indies are finding out. The right relationships with the right strategic partners make all the difference. The market needs certified product – and if that is you – your future is looking very bright in Germany (and beyond) that right now.

The doors may not be fully open, but they are opening more and more with every passing month. For the right entrepreneurial canna firms, there are lucrative opportunities to be had.

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Sign Up To Receive The International Cannabis Chronicle Newsletter

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Cultural, Medical, OMBC, Politics, Science, Social.

These are truly exciting times for all things cannabis. Cannabis policy reform is sweeping the globe, the cannabis industry is growing at an epic rate, and major cannabis culture news is occurring at an increasing pace.

It can be very difficult to stay up-to-date on everything that is happening in the cannabis world with so much going on at all hours of the day. Cannabis has gone mainstream, and the rise in the level of acceptance of cannabis in society has been paralleled by an increase of news coverage that touches on topics and situations that are not necessarily that important in the grand scheme of things.

For many cannabis consumers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers it can be exhausting to try to sort out the less important stories from the truly important ones due to so much cannabis media white noise. However, at the same time, it is vital for people in the cannabis community at all levels to stay on top of things. It’s a very frustrating catch-22.

To help address the problem the International Cannabis Business Conference launched a new e-mail newsletter, the International Cannabis Chronicle, which covers the most important cannabis news and developments from around the globe.

International Cannabis Chronicle is delivered straight to subscribers’ e-mail inboxes once a week. It’s an extremely convenient way to stay up to-to-date on the most important cannabis information.

If staying up to speed on the biggest cannabis stories is important to you, make sure to sign up to receive the International Cannabis Chronicle newsletter today. You will be glad that you did!

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Poll Finds That Support For Legalization In California Has Increased Since 2016

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Politics.

When it comes to cannabis in the United States, California is a pioneer. California was the first state to legalize cannabis for medical use (1996), and while it wasn’t the first to legalize cannabis for adult use, it is still the largest legal cannabis market in the country.

California voters overwhelmingly approved a cannabis legalization initiative in 2016. Nearly 3 years later, support has increased. That’s per poll results from a recent poll conducted by UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies on behalf of the Los Angeles Times. Below are a couple of excerpts from the poll’s results:

According to the poll, 68% of Californians say legalization has been a good thing for the state, an increase in support since 2016, when 57% of voters approved Proposition 64, which legalized growing, selling and possessing cannabis for recreational use…

..the poll found that 63% of California voters favored their cities giving permits to cannabis stores, with support in all areas of the state, including 69% in Los Angeles County. The lowest support for pot shops was in the Inland Empire, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties, at 54%.

The implementation of a regulated adult-use cannabis industry in California has been tough. That should not come as a shock to anyone considering how large California’s population is, and how long the state had a medical cannabis industry that operated within a patchwork of often-conflicting public policies and regulations.

Local cannabis industry bans have not helped matters at all. Local communities should be embracing the cannabis industry, not continuing to prohibit it. Prohibition never works, including at a local level. Consumers should be able to make legal purchases at regulated cannabis stores, otherwise, they often turn to an unregulated market which is undesirable for a number of reasons.

Cannabis dispensaries have been associated with lower crime rates and increased property values, and that benefits all community members, not just cannabis consumers and cannabis entrepreneurs. Why prohibit them?

California’s cannabis industry is far from having reached its full potential, however, it’s encouraging to see that support for legalization has increased since legalization was passed in 2016. Cannabis opponents claimed that California voters would regret supporting legalization. That is clearly not the case.

Hopefully local lawmakers in areas that have cannabis industry bans listen to their voters and finally allow the industry to operate in their jurisdictions, and in the process, create local jobs, boost local economies, generate local government revenue, and provide other benefits.

We will be discussing local California cannabis laws and regulations at our upcoming International Cannabis Business Conference in San Francisco on February 6-7, 2020. Come join the conversation!

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Cannabis Industry Adds $8.26B To Canada’s GDP According To Statistics Canada

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Canada was the second country to legalize cannabis for adult use and the first to implement a regulated, open-to-all, adult-use cannabis industry. Uruguay was the first to legalize cannabis for adult use, however, Uruguay’s industry is very limited.

The rollout of a regulated adult-use cannabis industry in Canada has experienced its ups and downs, which is expected considering that Canada was the first to ever tackle such a monumental undertaking. Some opponents have claimed that Canada’s public policy change was not worth it, however, the math does not back that up.

Statistics Canada put out new information this week about the cannabis industry’s economic impact, and the numbers are huge. Per BNN Bloomberg:

Canada’s cannabis sector contributed $8.26 billion to the country’s gross domestic product as of July, a steady increase from the $7.02 billion last October when recreational cannabis was legalized, according to new data published by Statistics Canada on Tuesday. The StatsCan figures also show Canada’s legal cannabis industry has grown by a whopping 185 per cent in the first 10 months since recreational marijuana was legalized. The black market’s cannabis output has fallen by 21 per cent in that same time, according to StatsCan estimates.

A lot of discussions about measuring Canada’s cannabis industry success focus on total sales figures, the amount of cannabis cultivated, and other direct measurements. Those types of measurements are worth noting, however, they don’t capture the full picture of the cannabis industry’s economic impact on the country.

Because the cannabis industry contributes billions of dollars to Canada’s overall GDP, it’s an industry that benefits all members of Canada in one way or another whether they consume cannabis or not. Canada’s adult-use cannabis industry is still very young, so the numbers put out by Statistics Canada this week should increase well into the future.

Canada has a very rich history when it comes to cannabis, which is one of the many reasons why we choose to host an annual event in Vancouver, British Columbia. The cannabis industry rules and regulations in Canada are obviously not perfect, however, they are better than full prohibition as the available math demonstrates.