News Briefs – July 29, 2019

What Do Companies Think About Off-Duty Cannabis Use?

The tight job market and the rise of legal marijuana use is narrowing the list of qualified, drug-free candidates. In industries like hotel and hospitality, some have stopped testing for marijuana. Nevada recently passed a law banning employers from refusing to hire based on a cannabis test.

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Cannabis Industry Lobbying On Track To Hit Record High

After shelling out $2.7 million to influence lawmakers and regulators in 2018, the industry has disclosed outlays of at least $1.6 million in 2019’s first half, putting it on pace for a new spending record by year’s end. This year’s total at the halfway mark already slightly beats 2017’s overall figure.

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Michigan’s Adult-Use Rules Put Cannabis Pioneers Out in the Cold

Michigan’s first adult-use cannabis stores are expected to open near the end of 2019, but many of the state’s medical marijuana pioneers could find themselves shut out of the new retail industry.
The state has been in a scrambling-for-licenses stage since the passage of a statewide adult-use legalization initiative in Nov. 2018. Early indications are that those licenses are going predominantly to a few of the state’s biggest players—and not to the smaller caregivers who built the medical industry over the past ten years.

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Curaleaf Scrubs CBD Health Claims After FDA Warning

The FDA told the cannabis company elast week that it was “illegally selling” CBD products with “unsubstantiated claims” that the products treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, opioid withdrawal, pain and pet anxiety. Curaleaf said upon receiving the agency’s letter, the company “immediately began an extensive review of its website and social media platforms to remove all statements that FDA identified as non-compliant.” The company said it removed its Curaleaf Hemp blog and third-party links in it, along with pulling statements and social media posts the FDA flagged.

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80% Of Vape Products Could Be Fakes

A recent study by Solo Science, a leading consumer products intelligence company, found that 80% of all packaged cannabis products appearing within the cannabis market, both illicit and legal, are counterfeit. According to the report, the problem is made worse by online retailers that get their materials mostly from China.

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State-led Regulatory System Proposed for US Cannabis Industry

The current issue of the nonprofit American Botanical Council’s (ABC’s) peer-reviewed journal HerbalGram features a proposed state-federal regulatory framework for the US cannabis (Cannabis sativa) industry. The proposal suggests the removal of cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), thus allowing US stakeholders entry into the global market.

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UFC Fighters Team with Aurora Cannabis on CBD Study

Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes will serve as test subjects to find out if the cannabis compound CBD can treat the aches and pains that come hand in hand with their violent sport.

The research is part of a partnership between the professional mixed martial arts league and Canadian company Aurora Cannabis (ACB). Aurora and the UFC plan to conduct clinical trials on the use of cannabidiol, commonly known as CBD, in elite athletes and then employ the results to develop a line of hemp-derived CBD topical treatments targeting elite athletes.

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Recent Articles

I went home and told my girlfriend, who, after Googling the name of the business I bought it from, told me that, yes, it was technically weed. But it was CBD. She started laughing, telling me I had been ripped off.
State-sanctioned medical and recreational cannabis programs benefit the average user in many ways. Still, they remain a double-edged sword for dispensary owners, greenhouse growers, and others who earn their living from the cannabis industry. There are plenty of profits to be had, sure, but how exactly are you expected to secure your cash or process electronic transactions when banks refuse to work with you?
Aubrey Amatelli wants to help dispensaries and cannabis retailers navigate one of the toughest parts of the industry: money. When the company she worked for right out of grad school was acquired by JPMorgan, Aubrey entered the complex world of payments and has stayed there for her entire career.
There’s a paradox to business conferences. The best ones manage to swing from buttoned down to wildly unscripted—sometimes seconds apart. For attendees, it’s the combination of personal connections and professional development that makes regular trips to conferences worthwhile. And in an industry like this one, pulling that off is harder than it looks.
Your shop is not only a smoke shop; It's also a hangout spot and a community hub. It is a place where the regulars know your staff by name, and your staff knows what the regulars need. That's the secret sauce that the big-box chains can't replicate, and it starts with who you put behind the counter. A well-staffed smoke shop is an operational strategy, but it's also a community. In lean economic times, that community is what keeps the lights on. When people feel like your shop is their spot, they don't stop coming in when money's tight. They prioritize it. It all starts with Hiring.
Dr. Macias first fell in love with science while studying at Howard University, where she completed her undergraduate studies and later earned her PhD in cellular and molecular biology. While at Howard, she became especially interested in cancer research due to personal ties. Growing up in a Creole family and predominantly Black community in Louisiana, Dr. Macias watched many women around her battle breast cancer, so at Howard, she decided to focus her research on the BRCA1 gene.
It’s almost amazing that the same institutions that brought us the 2008 financial crisis have a problem with selling glass pipes. Almost. The truth is that an industry's past sins are only held against it when the money isn’t right. Big banks were willing to risk cratering the U.S. housing market because the profits were too good to ignore. But the cannabis industry rolls a different kind of paper, so instead of a slap on the wrist, it gets a surcharge.
Smokeshop and counterculture enthusiasts enjoy discovery as part of the experience. Customers enjoy browsing. When they walk into a shop, they don't simply grab a product and leave. They look for something new. This is the main reason flyers and posters still work. Smokeshops and dispensaries are highly visual environments. You want to see bold artwork, psychedelic graphics, and street-style posters that naturally capture attention.