The 2016 NORML Aspen Legal Seminar

I just returned a few days ago from a lovely long weekend in beautiful Aspen, CO, a charming old silver-mining town in the Rocky Mountains with breath-taking views, that serves as a popular playground for skiers in the winter and biking and hiking enthusiasts in the other seasons. And it is the location of an annual NORML legal seminar held each year in early June.

The Seminar Itself

First, for those attorneys who attend this event, it is a truly unique opportunity to hear from some of the most brilliant and creative criminal defense and marijuana business attorneys in the country.

Greenhouses are becoming the most popular way to cultivate cannabis. They harness the power of the sun, provide a warm climate, and protect gardens from harsh environmental conditions. Past the basics, a greenhouse allows for year-round cultivation, climate control, and controlled exposure to sunlight. What’s more, they’re cheaper than growing indoors and produce a more consistent product than outdoors.

How Does a Greenhouse Work?

Colorado leads the nation in the prevalence of monthly marijuana use by adults 18 and older, according to data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). When it comes to annual adult marijuana use, marijuana is the most popular in our nation’s capital, Washington D.C.

For the past fifteen years or so, pro-marijuana students attending the University of Missouri-Columbia have printed t-shirts and banners emblazoned with versions of this design, featuring a stylized "tiger claw" made of pot leaves and Mizzou's official "MU" logo. 

Medical marijuana generated more than $4.2 billion in revenue in the U.S. in 2015, according to ArcView Market Research. And they forecast it will surpass $22 billion by 2020, as regulations continue to loosen and patient access increases.

Some have messy buns and sleeve tattoos. Some have salon cuts and $2,000 suits.

Some are joining blue-collar unions, getting health benefits as they grow and sell a plant they’ve long loved. Some say they never touch it, but they’re standing guard outside shops and fiercely lobbying legislators in Sacramento to ensure that others can.

Businesses gear up for the Texas marijuana ‘green rush’ which is slated to boom in 2017.

About 60 miles north of Dallas, amid green fields in the sleepy town of Gunter — population 1,486 — Texas Cannabis CEO Patrick Moran has optioned to buy a former cotton gin, where he plans to grow the Cannabis sativa plant, known more commonly as marijuana.

The businessman and attorney is positioning himself at the forefront of what he estimates will be a $900 million a year industry in Texas — the recently legalized market for treating intractable epilepsy with a strain of marijuana that eases seizures without getting patients high.

Raising crops outdoors, in natural soil with sunlight is still the best way to go when growing plants. Ask any farmer and they’ll likely agree. Growing cannabis is no different. But it doesn’t always work that way, as climate conditions and other factors tend to force growers indoors. As cannabis and other plant technology continues to advance, the difference in the product grown outdoors compared to indoors continues to decrease.

As you might already know, the thriving cannabis industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and growing quickly. One sector of the cannabis industry that has seen impressive growth has been that of grow lights. Both the technology of grow lights and the bottom lines of grow light manufacturers has seen a significant boom within recent years.

Bane or boon? Now that medical marijuana grow facilities are a reality in the Verde Valley, what economic impact will it have on our communities?

A quick background

Cannabis (marijuana) remains listed as a Schedule I substance under the Federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Schedule I identifies the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as having "a high potential for abuse" as well as "no established medical use."

As the second year of medical cannabis in Minnesota begins on July 1, patients for the first time will be able to get certified to be treated with the drug for intractable pain.

A month later, certified patients will be able to start receiving medical marijuana from one of the state's two approved companies: LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions.

Interest already is being expressed.

"I've seen half a dozen patients in my practice already who have come to me wanting to know about the intractable pain," said Dr. Dave Thorson, who is part of a large family medical practice in the Twin Cities and is president of the Minnesota Medical Association.