North Americans (defined as persons in the U.S. and Canada) spent $53.3 billion on marijuana in 2016….

There’s a clear upward trend in legal pot sales, but there are no long-term guarantees that the black market will cede a majority of its market share to legal businesses, or that the federal government will make investing in the space profitable over the long run.

Source: $46 Billion: Marijuana’s Most Promising and Perilous Number | Business Markets and Stocks News | host.madison.com

Learn more about regulating cannabis seed to sale!

In preparation for Ohio’s new medical marijuana program, the state is looking to buy a system to track the marijuana from seeds and harvest to testing labs and dispensaries.

Source: Ohio soliciting bids for ‘seed to sale’ marijuana tracking | NBC4i.com

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has issued an 80-page report intended to help marijuana businesses identify health and safety hazards that could exist in their workplaces and “provide a starting point for the assessment and evaluation of occupational health hazards.”

Read more from the Source: Colorado issues safety guidelines for marijuana businesses – Marijuana Business Daily

Image Source: Key findings from the Eaze report on marijuana consumer trends – Business Insider

“Do you even vape, bro?” The answer is increasingly, “Yes.” according to report on marijuana consumer trends

Checkout this great read, from Business Insider, regarding purchasing trends in California as of 2016. Eaze, dubbed the “Uber for pot,” released a new report that culls data from 250,000 California cannabis consumers.

The Legislature’s Committee on Marijuana Legalization Implementation begins the long process of crafting a structure for the marketplace.

Source: Maine lawmakers review marijuana policies adopted by other states – The Portland Press Herald

The Ohio Department of Administrative Services on Feb. 3 started advertising for bids for a system that can track medical marijuana plants from seeds to cultivation to harvest as well as track the cannabis through the testing labs, processors and dispensaries.

 Ohio DAS will accept bids until 1 p.m. March 10 and expects to award a contract or contracts in the spring.

Source: Ohio working on marijuana ‘seed to sale’ tracking

Image Source: Oregon rolls out marijuana delivery industry FOX25

Lets not pretend marijuana delivery is about stoners being lazy. The modern American consumer demands door to door delivery and instant service with as little effort as possible. This is evident with the booming services of Uber, Ubereats, Doordash, Amazon Prime and the likes.

Marijuana delivery has been successful and embraced by the illicit dealers and customers for decades. Some state lawmakers have made cannabis delivery services illegal most likely with the intention to avoid coming up against federal enforcement priorities outlined in the Cole Memo by preventing cannabis deliveries that may be diverted out of state. However, some states have allow and regulated cannabis deliveries.

Delivery services, for a cannabis business, if done right, can cut overhead costs and create great consumer loyalty. Delivery, if done wrong, creates safety risks, can be inefficient and costly.

Lets take a quick look at the states that allow for delivery:

Delivery

Alaska:  When the Alaska recreational market is up and running, you should expect to see delivery services right away as it is allowed under the new laws. According to Ballot Measure 2, Alaska is calling for businesses for “delivering, distributing, or selling marijuana or marijuana products to consumers.”

Alaska previously banned MMJ deliveries outright, but the state has taken a different approach with recreational cannabis.  Alaska may have legalized deliveries because it has so many “outposts” where there may be no local source of supply.

Arizona: Arizona allows for medical marijuana patient deliveries so long as licensed facilities follow Arizona Rules for transporting marijuana.

California:  California has not directly addressed the delivery of MMJ at the state level. Instead, counties and cities decide whether to allow delivery, resulting in a patchwork of local regulations around the state.

Illinois: Illinois allows delivery by a patient’s primary caregiver, but otherwise prohibits cannabis deliveries.

Nevada: Nevada permits the delivery of cannabis from a retail Medical Marijuana Establishment to “[a] person who holds a valid registry identification card or his or her designated primary caregiver.” The delivery process is heavily regulated to ensure that product is not diverted while in transport.

Oregon: Oregon once banned it, but new rules allow for delivery of recreational marijuana in Oregon. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has granted permits to dispensaries across the state, KGW-TV reports.  The the delivery system, which includes stipulations such as that the marijuana must be transported in a locked box and secured to the delivery vehicle. 

No Delivery

Colorado: Colorado prohibits delivery of recreational cannabis, but MMJ deliveries are allowed so long as they are not done for profit. Only a patient’s primary caregiver can make a delivery.

Washington: Cannabis deliveries are illegal in Washington, and this holds true for both medical and recreational marijuana. The State Senate recently passed Senate Bill 5052, which overhauls the State’s current medical marijuana laws (which laws formerly allowed for delivery). Despite massive changes in state law, the delivery of all cannabis is now illegal.

For more insight as to rules, profitability or making Delivery Plans for your cannabis business, contact us! or checkout rules on regulating cannabis deliveries in your state. 

Picture Source: Florida officials, voters clash over medical marijuana rules

Three months after Florida voters approved new medical marijuana legislation rule makers and Florida citizens are add odds on how detailed rules should be written. This means rule making for Florida seed to sale is underway.

Amendment 2 was voted on and passed by over 71 percent in November and enacted on January 3. State officials must adopt detailed rules for seed to sale requirements by July 3 and implement them by September 2017.

State officials may have been surprised when over 1300 Florida residents showed up to participate in what would normally be a low key hearing for the press.

According to The Associate Press and news out of Florida, “Patients, doctors, caregivers and activists all had a unified message which is rare,” said Ben Pollara, who is the campaign manager for United for Care.

Marijuana advocates are asking Florida officials to remove requirements that a patient must be under a prescribing physician’s care for at least 90 days.

Patients have long awaited safe access to medical marijuana, a long and delayed registration process seems unfair and unnecessary for a long over do and quickly growing industry.

Check out our live and searchable data for regulating Florida, seed to sale.

Source WSVN.com: Florida officials, voters clash over medical marijuana rules

According to wcvb.com and ABC news network,

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is leading an effort to make sure vendors working with legal marijuana businesses don’t have their banking services taken away.After voters in Warren’s home state, [Massachusetts], approved a November ballot question to legalize the recreational use of pot, she joined nine other senators in sending a letter to a key federal regulator, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, calling on it to issue additional guidance to help banks provide services to marijuana shop vendors. The Massachusetts Senator seeks to pull marijuana businesses out of banking limbo.

Warren, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said there are benefits to letting marijuana-based businesses move away from a cash-only model.

“You make sure that people are really paying their taxes. You know that the money is not being diverted to some kind of criminal enterprise,” Warren said recently. “And it’s just a plain old safety issue. You don’t want people walking in with guns and masks and saying, ‘Give me all your cash.'”

A spokesman for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said the agency is reviewing the letter.

There has been some movement to accommodate the banking needs of marijuana businesses.

Read the full story from the Source: Sen. Elizabeth Warren seeks to pull marijuana businesses out of banking limbo

The constitutional amendment, which was approved by 71 percent of Florida voters, allows higher-strength marijuana to be used for a wider list of medical ailments.

NEXT STEPS

Five more legislative committee weeks are scheduled before the start of the Florida Legislature on March 7. The Florida Senate’s Health Policy committee held a workshop in early December to hear concerns from all parties. The House’s Health Policy committee has not met yet.

The amendment allows the Department of Health and Legislature to come up with the regulatory framework.

Those who opposed the amendment are urging lawmakers to uphold the tenants of the amendment, especially when it comes to putting laws in place to ban pot candy.

Whatever path the Legislature and Department of Health decide to go down, only one thing is certain – the clock is ticking to get it done.

Source: Florida Prepares As Medical Marijuana Amendment Goes Into Effect Tuesday | NBC 6 South Florida