In an economy that struggles to keep its head above water, a medical marijuana company – and all the economic impact it brings – has been forced to move its operation out of Oakland County, Michigan.
Big Daddy’s Management Group has closed its headquarters in Oak Park, MI, taking a dozen employees and several businesses with them.
The move is due to the hostile stance taken toward medical marijuana by the county, which led to raids in Commerce Township, MI just this week. Authorities seized cannabis plants and growing equipment. Combine this with recent actions by the courts in the state and you have a recipe for business exodus – something Michigan can ill afford. Read more »
A survey generated by a medical marijuana advocacy group says the banning of medical marijuana centers would harm Fort Collins's economy.
The survey, scheduled for release in late September and paid for by the Fort Collins Medical Cannabis Association, was conducted by Fort Collins-based Jami Duty Consulting. It found that "all the signs that help point to a healthy growing economy will be damaged by the closure of these dispensaries."
Fort Collins city council has placed a question about banning centers on the Nov. 1 ballot.
The intent of the survey was to "set a benchmark for cannabis businesses in Fort Collins," Terri Gomez, FCMCA representative, told the Business Report Daily. "We're pleased with the results showing that it is a vibrant spot in our economy. It demonstrates the financial commitment each of the business owners have made to our community." Read more »
In Oregon, big city Portland has cafes where medical marijuana users smoke pot while singing karaoke.
But it is in the small rural communities of southwestern Oregon where medical marijuana has really taken root.
The Associated Press analyzed the locations of people registered to grow medical marijuana as patients, caregivers or designated growers based on their ZIP codes and found that Williams in Josephine County has the heaviest concentration. More than 400 of the town's 2000 residents, approximately 20 percent residents, are authorized by the state to grow up to six plants each.
That creates stark contrasts in a bucolic burg where children still ring the bell to start the school day and pancake breakfasts draw a crowd at the local community center.
On November 2, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, a ballot measure that would legalize marijuana use and cultivation for adults and allow pot to be regulated and taxed. But even before votes are cast, cannabis capitalism is in full swing, as budding entrepreneurs launch businesses on the back of California's "other" Green Revolution.
One such company is weGrow, an Oakland-based garden supply outlet that's nothing less than a superstore of cannabis cultivation. The 15,000-square-foot retail warehouse that some have dubbed "Home De-Pot" sells everything that the aspiring pot grower needs to grow his own medical marijuana (and if Prop 19 passes, up to 25 square feet of marijuana for recreational use). The store specializes in hydroponics, the growing method long favored by discerning cannabis cultivators that raises plants in a water and nutrient solution, without soil. So far, business is blooming; weGrow is on track to gross more than $1 million in its first year of operation. Read more »
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to support Proposition 19, despite some members' hesitation over the measure to legalize marijuana.
Although 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace had originally recommended the board take a “no position,” 4th District Supervisor Bonnie Neely said she supported Proposition 19 and she thinks the board should as well because of marijuana's ties to Humboldt's economy and public safety.
Neely said while it's true that Proposition 19 does not have all its regulations ironed out, not many propositions do. She said it would be an opportunity for officials to bring people from various groups together to figure out regulation.
”This is our economic future to some extent and we shouldn't ignore that,” Neely said. “We should embrace it and regulate it at the local level.”
Lovelace had said even after his extensive research, he could not come up with a suggested position because of the county's history with the marijuana industry. Read more »
Marijuana brings an estimated $14 billion a year to California. That number is enough to inspire awe, drool even, when thinking of the slice that could be devoured by the state's hungry coffers. Add to that number the money saved on enforcing prohibition. In this context, Prop 19, California's initiative to tax and regulate marijuana for recreational use, sounds like a no-brainer. However, if it passes, the RAND Drug Policy Research Center projects an 80% price drop. In that case, projected tax revenues will be pipe dreams, and only those who produce mass quantities will be able to stay in business. Most of the cannabis small business owners I talked to at the recent Hemp Con in San Jose are just that, small business owners of the sort who are supposed to be rebuilding our economy. Read more »
Colorado and Michigan are starting to see the business benefits of recently legalized medical marijuana, and the results show that pot is potent — not only as a gateway to understanding Grateful Dead lyrics, but also as an economic stimulus.
The Detroit Free Press reports that less than two years after the state legalized the drug, over 8,000 commercial pot-growers have sprung up. Although they sell the drug for over $350 an ounce, pot dealers say strict regulation keeps them from raking money in by the bundle.
Growers, also called caregivers, say that at best, they can make $40,000 a year. And that’s after spending $1,000 or more on equipment and other supplies, and putting in countless hours every day tending to plants. Read more »
With much of the state engaged in discussion over legalization, the local medical marijuana community is taking steps to develop Southern Humboldt into what they hope will be a center for sustainable outdoor medical marijuana grows.
Medical marijuana advocates met Saturday night in Garberville to discuss creating health and safety regulations and to encourage education for sustainable growing. The panel discussion ranged from marijuana growing education at 707 Cannabis College, a newly formed institution in Garberville, to a proposed dispensary for the Southern Humboldt Community Hospital, to creating new policy around medical marijuana.
Syreeta Lux of the newly formed Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel --an organization created after a forum in March about what the marijuana industry will do if pot is legalized -- said local growers have to collaborate to keep up with the rest of the industry. Read more »
Colorado students now have a new choice when searching for accredited vocational schools: Greenway University, an educational facility designed to educate students on the growing and selling of marijuana. According to their website, Greenway University is "dedicated to being an industry leader and an institution of excellence for academics in the field of medicinal marijuana/cannabis."
The Colorado Department of Higher (no pun intended) Education approved the school's curriculum and will regulate the instructors and standards of the school just as it does with other vocational schools.
While Greenway does have schools in California and New Jersey, Colorado is the first (and only, so far) state to license and regulate the school, which offers courses such as "How to open a MMJ dispensary and delivery service" and "Successful Cultivation/Grow operations" along with the more traditional "Business Fundamentals 101." Read more »
Mary Lou Dickerson had seen enough. After wrenching cuts to Washington's state drug and alcohol treatment programs, Dickerson, a Democratic representative, introduced a bill this year to sell marijuana in state liquor stores — and tax it.
Dickerson is an unlikely crusader for marijuana legalization. A 63-year-old grandmother who doesn't use it, she says money was the only reason for proposing her controversial bill. "According to the state's own estimates, it would bring in an additional $300 million per biennium," she says. "I dedicated (in the bill) a great deal of the proceeds from the tax on marijuana to treatment."
The proposal died in committee, but Dickerson, who chairs the House Human Services Committee, expects to reintroduce it. Other advocates in almost two dozen states have been making similar efforts to loosen marijuana laws.
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