One of my favorite parts of working in a dispensary was offering tours to law enforcement and public officials. Regardless of if it was the local fire fighters inspecting smoke detectors or senators from out of state considering legalization, people are always amazed and in my experience, always impressed.

Patients who visit a dispensary for a first time may be more excited with high hopes of this product curing their ailments, but public tours allow state representatives to visualize a country in which marijuana prohibition has ended. It is fun to watch their reaction when they don’t find lazy staff doing dabs and jamming out to Bob Marley (ok, maybe they are listening to Bob), but instead they are working hard to present a clean and professional atmosphere, tracking regulated inventory and managing large amounts of cash.  Surely they understand there is no greater challenge for a business owner than a start up company in a start up industry.

One publication described the Massachusetts senators as “clueless” for asking what to do with the marijuana, but that just seems obvious. Of course they don’t know about the product, that is why they set off on the fact finding adventure to Colorado.

While statistics show that nearly half of American’s have tried marijuana in their life time, very few understand the scientifically supported medical effects. You should see the response when you tell a Senator about how the essence of skunk, berries and grape found in a marijuana strain, called Purple Urkle, can relieve insomnia. Even better is explaining how a strain called Girl Scout Cookies can be high in THCv, which means it will actually suppress your appetite. Suddenly, they are intrigued, how could you not be?

State senators toured a retail dispensary to prepare themselves for the barrage of complex issues that they’ll face if Massachusetts voters greenlight a legalization question on the November ballot.

You can read about the Massachusetts Senators visit to Colorado here: Source: Do I roll it? Senators learn about marijuana – The Boston Globe

AZCentral provides an update on Arizona’s campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

A marijuana legalization campaign is nearing its goal of gathering 150,000 valid signatures to get on the November ballot. The  initiative would ask Arizona voters to legalize marijuana for recreational use and establish a network of licensed cannabis shops where sales of the drug would be taxed.

Source: Marijuana legalization campaign nearing signature goal, supporters say

The first publicly traded marijuana dispensary stock is TerraTech as it acquires Blum Oakland, a California dispensary.

Investors can now buy shares in the first publicly traded marijuana dispensary that handles the product from cultivation to storefront. TerraTech, an agriculture company with a focus on cannabis has acquired Black Oak Gallery, known as Blüm Oakland, a retail medical cannabis dispensary located in Oakland California.

“Today, we can proudly claim the title of the only US-based, publicly-traded company that touches every aspect of the cannabis lifecycle—from cultivation, to extraction, to branding, and now, with the acquisition of Blüm, to retail sale,” said Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech.  “In addition to enhancing our cash-flow, this merger positions us to capitalize on the new regulatory landscape in California, which will change significantly with the implementation of the Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act in 2016.”

Source: Investors Can Now Buy Shares Of A Marijuana Dispensary – Forbes

Most entrepreneurs who enter the marijuana business are well aware of the fact that it is still considered an illegal activity by the federal government, regardless of state laws. What they may not be aware of is how this will affect their relationship with the Internal Revenue Service, and most importantly, the filing of their annual federal tax returns.

In 1982, Congress enacted Internal Revenue Code Section 280E. This law states that anyone in the business of “trafficking” controlled substances, as defined by the Controlled Substances Act, is not allowed to deduct any ordinary business expenses on their tax returns. So items like rent, wages, utilities, and more are not allowed to be deducted against your gross income if you fall under this law. Unfortunately, the IRS has made it clear that, as far as they’re concerned, state-legal marijuana businesses ARE subject to Section 280E.

One important 280E loophole to mention is the fact that it does NOT apply to Cost of Goods Sold. This has been upheld by the tax courts, and so that means the IRS cannot disallow the cost of producing, obtaining, and storing inventories. Naturally, tax preparation strategies have been focusing on this area as well. This fact also means that growers will not get hit as hard as retailers when it comes to 280E, since the majority of a grower’s expenses can be attributed to their Cost of Goods Sold.

If you are considering entering the marijuana business, or already in it, then it is imperative that you work with your tax preparer to devise a strategy for handling Section 280E and have a plan in place, before the IRS comes knocking at your door.

Read the full article from the Source: Marijuana Taxes: IRC Section 280E Basics | Section 280E News. You can get accounting, tax and consulting regarding Marijuana Tax from Scott Levy with Levy & Levy CPA in Arizona. 

Adilas is a CPA’s dream come true!

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin wants to make his state the first to legalize marijuana through the legislature instead of a ballot initiative.

In his State of the State address on Thursday, the Democratic governor said that he wanted to “get marijuana legalization done right” by legislating a step-by-step process of legalization rather than taking the less-controlled route of a public referendum. “To do it right, we must do it deliberately, cautiously, step by step, and not all in one leap as we legislate the lessons learned from the states that went before us,” he said.

Vermont has already legalized medical marijuana, but Shumlin says he wants to bring the marijuana black market that serves over 80,000 Vermonters under state regulation, too. By legalizing and regulating the sale of marijuana, Shumlin said the state would be better equipped to protect minors from the drug. In order to sign a legalization bill, the governor said he wanted proposed laws to funnel revenue from marijuana taxes toward addiction prevention programs. He added he wants to keep edibles illegal and improve the ability of state law enforcement to catch drivers who are under the influence of marijuana.

Source: Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin Wants to Legalize Marijuana – Fortune

The team at weekdone came up with this great list of traits the strongest teams and businesses maintain. Managing the people and the process can be difficult in any organization. Refer to this list regularly to help you stay focused on your businesses growth. Below are 9 unique traits of high performing teams as we know them.

Checkout the summary below or visit the original source for the full article and infograph.

1. Talent Magnet

To spot a strong team you simply have to look for the team everybody wants to be on. For example, Google recruits on the basis of having passion, intelligence and a “learning animal mindset”. The insight here is to look for potential stars who are looking for challenges and a place where they can demonstrate their skills.

2. Healthy Heated Debates

The difference between HPT and LPT is that a heated debate doesn’t cause HPTs to fragment. Instead of becoming more isolated during tough times, these teams actually gain strength and develop cohesion. According to Gallup, HPTs contributed more equally to team’s discussions, rather than letting 1 or 2 people dominate the group. As a team leader you should make sure that everybody talks in equal measure and keep their contributions short. Team members should face one another keeping conversations and gestures energetic.

3. Diversity

Diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth. Most engaged teams welcome diversity of age, gender, and race, while disengaged teams may do the opposite. Apple has made diversity a priority by hiring 65% more women, 50% more Black and 66% more Hispanic employees. In the process of putting together your team make sure you have people with different backgrounds, gender and strengths.

4. Mind Reading

Researchers from M.I.T. found that HPT members scored higher on a test called Reading the Mind in the Eyes. It measures how well people read complex emotional states from images of faces with only the eyes visible. It is also known that people with high emotional IQ work well with others and are effective in leading change. For instance, Google relies more on recruits with emotional intelligence rather than the grades they received in school. Therefore, find a suitable test or interview format to find people with higher emotional IQ.

5. More Women

In this case it is not “diversity” that matters for a team’s intelligence, but simply having more women. Teams with more women outperformed teams with more men. Coming back to the previous point, it’s partly explained by the fact that women, on average, are better at “mindreading” than men. In order to have a HPT, recruit more women on your team or company who also have other “high-performing” qualities.

6. Laser-like Focus on Goals

HPTs are able to keep the larger goal in view. They are consistently able to put what’s best for the organization ahead of their own egos. In addition, they seek out evidence and try to remain as objective as possible. Once a decision is made, these teams are remarkably quick to rally around it. As a team leader, you should establish an overall goal and make it visible for the whole team and set key metrics to measure them. The most popular method for that is Objectives and Key Results, which is used by the likes of LinkedIn, Google and Intel.

7. Doing Your Best Every Day

Deloitte used the Gallup 1.4 million employee study to see what are the similarities between high and low performing teams. Most powerful commonality between HPTs is the belief that they are doing their best every day. In order to capitalize on that knowledge, team leaders should help team members to define their strengths and give tasks accordingly. For instance, Deloitte set out a clear goal: “We want to spend more time helping people use their strengths”.

8. Work-life balance

Most successful teams have members who are equally engaged to their personal lives as they are to their work. Mervyn Davies, former chairman of Standard Chartered’s, said that he took as much pride in the amount of time he spent with his family as he did in his bank’s extraordinary performance. Therefore, you should look for people who are equally committed to work and their free time.

9. Group Engagement Outside Formal Meetings

According to M.I.T. Human Dynamics Laboratory, the best predictors of productivity are team’s energy and engagement outside formal meetings. These two factors explained ⅓ of the variations in dollar productivity among groups. The laboratory used a call center for their study and asked the manager to make the employees have a coffee break at the same time. That little tweak increased the overall efficiency by 8% and 20% in worst-performing teams. As a team leader, make sure you create communication opportunities for your team outside the formal environment.

Source: 9 Unique Traits of High Performing Teams | Next Chapter Solution

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexico government on Friday issues the first permits allowing the cultivation and possession of marijuana for personal use.

The federal medical protection agency said the permits apply only to the four plaintiffs who won a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court last month. The court said growing and consuming marijuana is covered under the right of “free development of personality.”

The permits issued Friday won’t allow smoking marijuana in the presence of children or anyone who hasn’t given consent. The permits also don’t allow the sale or distribution of the drug.

The court’s ruling didn’t mean a general legalization for Mexico. But if the court ruled the same way on five similar petitions, it would then establish the precedent to change the law and allow general recreational use.

The government medical protection agency, known as COFEPRIS, said it has received 155 applications to get such permits. But other applicants would have to go through the appeals process, something supporters say would probably take at least a year.

President Enrique Pena Nieto has repeatedly said he opposes legalization of marijuana as do a majority of Mexicans surveyed in recent polls.

Source: Mexico issues first permits for marijuana under court ruling – Yahoo News

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The highly controversial drug, which has harnessed the spotlight in the United States and forced presidential candidates to step out of their comfort zones during national debates, is making headlines north of the border in Canada, where lawmakers are pushing ever closer to legalizing the drug for recreational purposes.

Canada moves toward legalization 
As it stands now, marijuana is legal across Canada for medicinal or industrial purposes as long as you have a government-issued license. Recreational marijuana is also acceptable in some cities, but the laws governing recreational marijuana aren’t universal across the vast expanse of Canada.

Understandably, it won’t be a free-for-all; there will still be restrictions on access to recreational marijuana. However, Canada appears poised to become the first G7 nation (a group of seven leading global countries) to legalize marijuana in the somewhat near future.

The expected legalization in Canada is also made possible by the fact that medical marijuana has been legal in the country (at least for certain ailments) since 2001. Because Canada has had the groundwork laid out regarding growing, processing, and selling the drug for medicinal purposes for quite some time, the assumption is that the transition to nationwide legalization for recreational purposes should be smooth and straightforward.

Despite Canada’s willingness to push forward with its legalization efforts, it may uncover potential legalization potholes that are similar to what its neighbors to the south have experienced.

For example, Canada may discover that it’s really difficult regulating edible marijuana. Not only can it be tough policing the quality and consistency of the product being produced, but it’s a lot tougher to regulate a product that looks like an after-dinner treat and not like a green-leafed plant. Ensuring edibles are properly labeled and that they don’t fall into the hands of minors could be challenging. This is something that Colorado and Washington are both working to perfect at the moment.

Consistent regulation and seed-to-sale tracking is a huge challenge for the marijuana business anywhere. With Industry leaders supporting and encouraging compliance within reasonable guidelines will enable safe access to marijuana and growth of the marijuana industry in Canada and the US.

Read the full article from the Source: As Canada Moves to Legalize Marijuana, U.S. Hope for Legalization Remains a Pipedream — The Motley Fool

Or checkout what is happening with Marijuana legalization in Mexico here.

Business is booming for medical cannabis companies in Arizona.

Aside from a 33% surge in patient numbers during the first 10 months of the year, dispensaries are on pace to sell more than 586,000 ounces of marijuana in 2015 – an increase of over 80% from 2014, according to data from the state.

The increase in popularity and sales of edibles in particular is also simply attributable to more and higher quality connections between vendors and dispensaries, according to Peggy Noonan with Cornucopia Health and Wellness. However, there have been some inconsistencies in how quantities of raw cannabis processed for concentrates and infused products in general translate into the final milligrams of THC reported on product labels and how that all gets reported in the state’s point-of-sale system.

See the chart and read the full article from the Source: Chart of the Week: Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Industry Gaining Steam – Marijuana Business Daily

Adilas seed to sale software has easy integration to share inventory live on the web, allowing customers to reserve or place orders, see past orders, and process payments. Today, we will share with you the 5 Keys To The Success Of Your Online Store.

Marijuana dispensaries are quickly learning patients or customers and sales staff prefer online ordering and delivery models. While some states or local governments have restrictions on delivery, placing orders ahead of time allows for reduced wait times for customers. It also allows Bud Tenders to be more accurate with their sales. (Think of the wait time at a pharmacy!)

Adilas makes e-commerce easy, allowing for seed to online sale tracking. Checkout digital shyfts advice for preparing for online stores:

Internet retail sales in the US will grow 10% a year through 2015 as shoppers spend more time online.

By 2018, US online market sales will reach an estimated $492bn. This currently stands at $304bn. 72% are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media. E-commerce will represent 10% of all sales by 2017. You want to be a part of this growing retail market!

Have you decided to create an online store? E-commerce is growing so it is a great idea, but before starting, note these five keys to success:

Source: 5 Keys To The Success Of Your Online Store – Digital Shyft

Contact Adilas420 to discuss your e-commerce needs!