Federal cannabis prohibition is a buzzkill on many levels, but for cannabusinesses in legal states, it’s an especially frustrating hurdle to expansion. When a brand outgrows its home turf, it can’t just start shipping packages of product to the next state over. 

Despite the difficulty, a number of companies have managed to cross state lines. Colorado’s Dixie Elixirs has products in Washington, California, and Oregon. They recently launched in Nevada, and Chief Marketing Officer Joe Hodas says the brand is close to inking a deal in Arizona. 

As legal cannabis business grows larger, states are realizing standards need to be set.

In the latest step toward standardizing cannabis cultivation, the Washington State Department of Agriculture released formal recommendations called the “Worker Protection Standards (WPS): Requirements for Marijuana Growers.”

Standards in the regular world of agriculture are created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). However, USDA inspection or certification of cannabis is prohibited because USDA employees must abide by federal laws. Over half of U.S. states have legalized medicinal or recreational marijuana use, but since the USDA cannot get involved, there are no set standards for cannabis cultivation.

Puerto Rico is about to welcome medical marijuana to the island.  The action, by executive order, could have potential economic benefits for the debt-ridden country. But it’s also recalling memories  of colonial exploitation.

Drug policy activist Rafael Torruella, who is based in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, worries the budding industry will mirror other industries on the island, where foreign investors reap most of the economic reward.

At this point, no medical marijuana is being grown on the island and no dispensaries have been authorized.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico –  Puerto Rico's governor has called for the legalization of marijuana during his last public address as leader of the U.S. territory.

Alejandro Garcia Padilla said Monday that taking such action would lower crime and target hypocrisy. He said legislators should at a minimum approve a bill filed in 2013 that would decriminalize marijuana. Puerto Rico's Health Department recently adopted a regulation allowing the cultivation, manufacturing and distribution of medical marijuana.

Traditionally, people who use marijuana have had no idea where their buds come from. You visited your guy, or maybe he came to you, and you took whatever he had. And despite the increasing professionalization of some black-market delivery services, it’s still hard to know how the plants were grown or what pesticides were used.

But as legalization spreads through more and more states, it’s obviously changing the game. Out in the open, businesses and consumers are getting savvier and more demanding. Cannabis companies are investing in branding, and more customers are willing to pay top dollar for artisanal bud with specific characteristics of taste, potency or sustainability.

Marijuana enthusiasts around the world are celebrating 4/20,  a code-term that refers to cannabis consumption, and one’s ‘membership’ in the cannabis sub-culture.  4:20 is actually the time of day a group called the “Waldos” would meet outside of a California school in 1971, to go in search of a cannabis field they learned about. The Waldo’s never found the field.   An article in theHigh Times magazine, however, and a lit

In my last column I wrote about dispensary operations. More specifically, I discussed structural organization, suggesting some departments to create in order to manage your retail store.

At Pure Green (my dispensary), we approach structural organization by emphasizing two themes — professionalism and accountability.

Professionalism can be hard to define, but the focus here is on treating your business like any other business.

Accountability means making certain that you define who is ultimately responsible for each department. Know where the buck stops so that when issues arise (and they will), you know who is in charge of correcting them.

Federal Court decision expected at noon ET/9 a.m. PT in constitutional challenge to Conservative law

A Federal Court judge is expected to release a decision today on whether medical marijuana patients have the right to grow their own cannabis.

The constitutional challenge was launched by four British Columbia residents who argued that legislation introduced by the previous Conservative government violated their charter rights.

​The Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations were introduced in 2013 and required patients to buy cannabis from licensed producers instead of growing their own.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is pushing for the legalization of cannabis and other personal drugs.

However, he said regulations must be put in place by governments to curtail abuse.

“And therefore, the fourth and final step is to recognize that drugs must be regulated precisely because they are risky. It is time to acknowledge that drugs are infinitely more dangerous if they are left solely in the hands of criminals who have no concerns about health and safety.