Oct 6, 2015 | Marijuana Legalization, MMJ News
Robert Hunt brings is an attorney, entrepreneur, activist and cultivation expert. He has been involved in multiple aspects of Cannabis for over 20 years and as a result has the ability to help new MMJ businesses succeed. Mr. Hunt started the Coalition for Responsible Patient Care in Massachusetts, a trade group for Medical Marijuana Industry. He also works with a small private equity firm that makes investments in the marijuana space – the firm doesn’t invest in growing or the direct sales of cannabis per se but other aspects of the industry. Here is a summary of his talk at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo in Los Angeles:
This is a great time to be in the marijuana industry. We currently have four states allowing recreational use of marijuana, Oregon started sales Oct 1st, all NE states now have MMJ laws, Hawaii is now accepting applications for dispensaries, and CA is on track for recreational use of marijuana being legalized in 2016.
At the current time there are very few investment professional involved in the marijuana industry. There is a lot of grey area with the laws in many states and more issues arise when MMJ crosses state lines. People need to read and fully understand the regulations in their state before investing. Many states still reject profiting from medical marijuana. In other states an investment can be made in a round about way. Take MA as an example: A for profit business can license intellectual property (IP) to non-profit medical marijuana facility. This allows the auxiliary business to reap profits while not directly selling cannabis. The laws in many states are not cut and dry. Something that is working today may soon be outlawed so stay informed and be ready for change.
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Sep 29, 2015 | California Marijuana Laws, Marijuana Legalization, Proposed MMJ Law Changes
Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act is A Combination of Three New Laws
When Gov. Jerry Brown signs three new bills to regulate California’s maverick medical marijuana industry, several things are going to change forever. Old enemies in law enforcement and the MMJ industry will have to learn to collaborate. Medical marijuana dispensers will find themselves more in the open. The state has multiple registrations looming, and more transaprity will be required.
Teaming with a Consultant No Longer a Luxury
The legislation contained in the three new bills is complex and we will be keeping you in the loop as the system beds down. As California’s MMJ industry evolves into a mainline business there will be hurdles we previously avoided. On the positive side, there is now a real possibility of finally making a lot of money from medical marijuana – we will be moving away from the not-for-profit model that is currently required. The rules of engagement are just going to become more formal.
California MMJ Law Eliminates Collectives and Cooperatives
Californians active in the industry – or wanting to enter will have to apply for a state license as commercial grower, distributor or seller. If operating in a “wet” jurisdiction they will also need a license from their city / county. As California Norml’s Nate Bradley recently told his members “it’s better than having your doors kicked in.” The best gatekeeper is knowledge, the foreknowledge we provide.
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Aug 30, 2015 | Marijuana Legalization, MMJ News
Revenue from legalized marijuana in Colorado for the first half of 2015 is almost twice the same period from a year ago. This is great news for the state and may be good news for taxpayers as well. According to Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), any revenue that is collected beyond projections results in prorated refunds.
Though marijuana continues to be classified as a controlled substance for federal purposes, four states, including Colorado, have legalized recreational use with firm rules around its distribution and use. The businesses involved in the marijuana industry are also highly taxed for the privilege of entering this lucrative new market, and filing a federal income tax return is basically confessing to breaking federal law.
Despite these complications, many people have rushed to enter the industry. Colorado has the tax revenue’s to prove it, with $44 million pouring into the coffers in the first 5 months of 2015. The people paying all those taxes may have reason to be happy as well. With TABOR in place, refunds begin if marijuana tax revenues exceed $58 million for the year.
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Aug 12, 2015 | Marijuana Legalization, Proposed MMJ Law Changes
YES, Recreational usage of marijuana became legal in CA with the passing of Proposition 64 (AUMA) on Nov 8th, 2016 (by a majority vote of 56%). The law took effective immediately and allows individuals to possess and grow (a limited amount of marijuana). Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996.
Adult Use of Marijuana Act
Controls, regulates, and taxes responsible adult use of marijuana, while protecting children, safeguarding local control, protecting public health and public safety, and defending our environment and water.
Prop 64 allows adults age 21+ to possess, transport, purchase, recreationally consume and share up to one ounce of marijuana and eight grams of marijuana concentrates.
– You can legally grow up to six plants at home
– Smoking marijuana in public is still illegal.
– Driving while under the influence of marijuana is still illegal.
Imposes a 15% excise tax on all marijuana sales.
– The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) expects annual revenue to eventually reach over $1 billion.
– Projected to save the state and local governments $100 million annually due to reduced legal and incarceration costs.
Directs tax revenues to the newly established California Marijuana Tax Fund.
– 60% of the fund will be used towards youth substance abuse prevention, treatment, and education.
– 20% goes to helping state and local law enforcement.
– 20% will be used for environmental purposes, restoration, cleanup, and enforcement efforts.
– Additionally, a portion of revenue will be allocated for medical marijuana research and to studying implementation outcomes.
– Creates a community reinvestment fund that will allocate tens of millions of dollars annually towards economic development and job placement for neighborhoods most in need.
– A portion of revenue will also be used for medical marijuana research and for studying implementation outcomes.
Greatly reduces – and in many cases, eliminates – criminal penalties for marijuana offenses.
– Alleviates the currently overburdened criminal justice system.
– Allows those with prior marijuana convictions to petition the courts to revisit cases that the new law legalizes.
Imposes the strictest regulations governing labeling, packaging and testing of marijuana products in the nation. These are designed to protect children from accessing marijuana, and to convey warnings to help adults consume safely.
-The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) will serve as the lead regulatory agency.
-The Department of Public Health (DPH) will oversee testing and manufacturing.
-The Department of Food & Agriculture (DFA) will oversee cultivation.
Favors small scale producers and keeps large corporations from gaining a monopoly.
– Prop 64 allows marijuana to be sold by state-licensed businesses, and it gives the state until Jan. 1st, 2018, to begin issuing licenses for retailers.
– Delays issuance of large cultivation licenses for the first five years that AUMA is in effect allowing smaller growers to establish themselves in the market.
– Restricts large producers from vertically integrating with each other.
Legalizes industrial hemp production.
– Will add millions of dollars to the California economy and create new jobs.
– Hemp products have an astonishing number of useful applications as well as a net environmental benefit.
Allows local communities to still impose power.
– Towns can ban commercial growing and retail sales but not possession or consumption.
Thanks to Sean Parker, George Soros, Gavin Newsom and hundreds of other volunteers/supporters who put effort into passing this bill.
Aug 12, 2015 | Marijuana Legalization
Aug 12, 2015 | Marijuana Legalization
In the last ten years we have seen the Federal Government’s view on medical marijuana evolve.
In 2000 President George W. Bush campaigned that he would let states make decisions about medical marijuana, saying “I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose.” The number of dispensaries increased throughout his term in office. However during this period the DEA continued to raid dispensaries often without the assistance from local law enforcement. This was not the ideal situation for medical marijuana providers – Federal minimum sentencing was still in full effect and a guilty conviction in Federal court would mean a stiff prison sentence.
Obama Administration – Change? Think again. (March 2009)
In March of 2009, after President Obama took office, federal Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the current administration was taking a new approach to federal drug laws and would end the frequent raids on distributors of medical marijuana that were commonplace during the Bush administration. Specifically, “Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people, organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that’s inconsistent with federal and state law.” Everyone in the medical marijuana industry felt this was a giant win. Finally, providers and patients could breathe easy, for a little while, at least.
Prop 19 (November 2010)
On Nov 2nd 2010 Californians voted on the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder threatened to “vigorously enforce” federal marijuana laws even if California voters approved the ballot measure. In a letter to former Drug Enforcement Administration officials, Holder stated that Bottom of Form“the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19.” And if passed, he said, it “would provide a significant impediment to … efforts by law enforcement to target drug traffickers who frequently distribute marijuana alongside cocaine and other controlled substances.”
Unfortunately, Proposition 19 lost 46.2% to 53.8%, but that showed that a substantial number of Californians want change and feel that there are many positives that would come from legalization. Our fingers are crossed that a modified proposition for legalization will pass in the near future.
Federal Prosecutors Attack Property Owners (October 2011)
In early October, 2011, the federal government did an about-face. At a news conference in Sacramento, Andre Birotte Jr., the Los Angeles-based U.S. attorney for the Central District, stated that (his) Southern California region is home to the highest concentration of dispensaries in the nation. “We have yet to find a single instance in which a marijuana store was able to prove that it was a not-for-profit organization,” he said.
“That is not what the California voters intended or authorized, and it is illegal under federal law,” he said. “It does not allow this brick-and-mortar, Costco-Walmart-type model that we see across California.”
California’s four federal prosecutors also sent a number of letters to the property owners of these dispensaries, giving them two weeks to shut down. This same tactic was used by the Bush administration to successfully close a number of dispensaries in 2007. The feds can legally seize these properties through civil forfeiture if push comes to shove. According to the letters signed by U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy in San Diego, “Real and personal property involved in such operations are subject to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States … regardless of the purported purpose of the dispensary.” Luckily, most of the recently sent letters were nothing more than empty threats.
Federal Government Closes Down Dispensaries and Threatens To Seize Property (April 2012)
In April 2012, the DEA raided and shut down Oaksterdam University, the main medical cannabis industry trade school that was founded by Richard Lee in Oakland, California. A number of dispensaries and grow facilities were also raided in Southern California around that time. In early May of 2012, federal agents raided two dispensaries in Santa Barbara and issued cease and desist letters to the ten remaining dispensaries in town. These dispensaries were given two weeks to shut down or face criminal prosecution and the loss of property. The federal government stopped making threats and is attacking the marijuana industry at a previously unseen level.
According to Americans for Safe Access, since the Obama administration has been in office, they have unleashed an interagency cannabis crackdown that goes beyond anything seen under the Bush administration, with more than 100 raids, primarily on California pot dispensaries, many of them operating in full compliance with state laws. Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in medical marijuana states, resulting in at least close to a hundred federal indictments.
Voter Approved initiatives in Colorado and Washington to Legalize marijuana (November 2012)
Colorado passed Proposition 64 and Washington passed Initiative 502 making it legal for anyone over the age of 21 to possess marijuana and for businesses to sell it. This took some pressure off the California medical marijuana as the Feds had a bigger problem to deal with. The federal government was adamantly opposed to these initiatives and stated they would continue to enforce Federal marijuana laws. This feds were put in a difficult position and something had to give.
In August of 2013 the Justice Department issued a statement saying it won’t challenge state laws that legalize marijuana and will focus federal enforcement on serious trafficking cases and keeping the drug away from children. The US Attorney General notified the governors of Colorado and Washington and said they will not seek to pre-empt those states’ laws allowing recreational marijuana use.
Federal prosecutors were directed to refocus on eight enforcement priorities, including preventing marijuana distribution to minors, preventing drugged driving, stopping drug trafficking by gangs and cartels and forbidding the cultivation of marijuana on public lands.
For entities operating in the marijuana business, the government expects “robust controls and procedures that are effective in practice (not just on paper). The size and profitability of these businesses will still be a factor prosecutors can consider, but there also must be additional illegal activities for prosecutors to take action.
Current Situation
With the recent legalizations in Colorado, Washington and now Oregon we are entering unchartered territory for marijuana industry and it is a great time to be a part of it. The federal government appears to be backing off a bit. In a January 2014 article in the New Yorker magazine President Obama stated that he didn’t “think (marijuana) was more dangerous than alcohol.” A few days later the deputy director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli, reluctantly agreed.
So it looks like the pendulum might be swinging back in our favor and medical marijuana (and marijuana in general) is gaining more mainstream acceptance. However you still need to stay vigilant as the Feds have said one thing and done another too many times in the past. There are still many years and milestones ahead for a national legalization. Keep in mind local police departments have their own agendas and can create just as many problems for you. Stay apprehensive, don’t take anything for granted and keep yourself out of trouble.
(December 2014)bipartisan Rohrabacher-Farr amendment which prevents the federal government from using funds to arrest and prosecute medical marijuana patients or distributors who are in compliance with their state’s laws. Some argue that this bill wasn’t written very clearly and leave some loop holes for the DEA to exploit. This was suppose to be a message from the House to back off legitimate medical marijuana providers.
