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Cannabis Poll: Vast Majority of Voters Want Feds to Leave Legit Medical Marijuana Businesses Alone

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Medical Marijuana Business Daily, 5/16/12

The MMJ movement is getting some support from an influential corner: Average, everyday Americans.

A survey released this week of 1,000 likely voters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research found that 74% of respondents think the government should respect state laws on medical marijuana. Just 15% feel that the Obama administration should “use federal resources to arrest and prosecute individuals who are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.” The remaining 11% said they’re not sure what the government should do on the matter.

The results are consistent “with the clear and growing body of evidence that documents substantial voter support for the legalization of medical marijuana,” Larry Harris, a principal with Mason-Dixon, said in a release.

These types of polls should be taken with a grain of salt. There’s a new survey nearly every week that shows support for or against various medical marijuana issues, and sometimes they all blur together.

But this one is particularly significant for one reason: It shows that the general public disagrees with the course Obama is taking with MMJ. It should come as no surprise that the federal crackdown on the industry is highly unpopular with marijuana professionals. Now, there’s evidence that it’s unpopular with voters as well, and that could sway Obama’s actions in an election year.

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What Is President Obama’s Problem With Medical Marijuana?

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Time.com, 5/3/12

For a brief moment in 2009, medical marijuana advocates exhaled. A new President had taken office promising to call off the federal prosecutors in states that had legalized weed for the sick. “What I’m not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue,” Barack Obama had said during his presidential campaign. In his first year in office, the Justice Department told prosecutors not to focus on “individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.” Medical marijuana patients and the growing industry that supported them thought they were in the clear. Continue reading →

Medical-marijuana dispensaries run into trouble at the bank

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Seattle Times, 4/29/12

Conscious Care Cooperative has a solid footing in a growing industry, with three storefronts in Seattle and a loyal customer base. But for much of the last two years, the nonprofit medical-marijuana provider has lacked one business basic: steady access to a bank.

The cooperative has bounced among five financial institutions, and four others rejected the cooperative outright, said CCC’s president, Nate Chrysler. In one case, a bank closed the account without notice.

“They froze our funds, and we didn’t know it until the checks started bouncing,” Chrysler said.

The medical-marijuana industry in Washington, after two years of wild growth, is struggling to move out of the gray market and into business legitimacy. Already on shaky legal footing because of conflict between state and federal law, dispensaries are now bogged down by troubles with banking and federal taxes.

In some cases, dispensaries — unable to find a willing bank — are operating solely with cash. That complicates everything from payroll to tax preparation while heightening the risk of robbery.

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Colorado Medical Marijuana Industry, Cannabis Leaders Draw Attention to MMJ During Obama Visit

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Medical Marijuana Business Daily, 4/24/12

Cannabis advocates and leaders from Colorado medical marijuana organizations gathered this afternoon to send a clear message to President Obama: Leave the state’s MMJ industry alone.

During a press conference held at a dispensary in Boulder, speakers praised Colorado’s heavily regulated medical cannabis program. They also urged the federal government to shift its attention from cracking down on state-sanctioned marijuana businesses to creating jobs, fighting crime and other issues that concern residents.

Aaron Smith, the executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in a press release before the event that recent actions taken by U.S. Attorney John Walsh  to force the closure of some Colorado dispensaries has a tangible economic impact.

“For every medical marijuana center closed by the order of U.S. Attorney Walsh, jobs are lost, contractors lose vital business, and license fees can no longer be collected,” said Smith, who spoke at the press conference. “The U.S. Attorney tells us he is planning to target nearly 200 legitimate Colorado businesses, which could cost the state over 1,000 jobs as Colorado is struggling to recover from a deep recession and get its economy back on track. We are asking President Obama to do for employees of medical marijuana businesses what he does for employees of every other business: protect their jobs.”

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Going National: Dixie Elixirs Brand Expanding to Other States Via Deal With Medical Marijuana Inc.

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Medical Marijuana Business Daily, 4/17/12

In a watershed development for the industry, Colorado-based Dixie Elixirs & Edibles has inked a deal to bring its popular brand of marijuana-infused sodas, goodies, capsules and oils to other states with MMJ laws, becoming one of the first businesses directly involved with medical cannabis to expand nationwide.

The company has partnered up with Medical Marijuana Inc. -  a publicly traded firm that invests in and acquires cannabis and hemp businesses – to form a new entity called Red Dice Holdings to market and license Dixie’s products.

This is significant news for the medical marijuana industry, as it could help set up a framework for other companies that are looking to expand into new states and those hoping to create a national brand.

“While this is certainly an exciting development for us … it also gives great hope to all those medical marijuana entrepreneurs out there who want to grow, as it shows there are companies out there like Medical Marijuana Inc. that will make investments in the industry,” Tripp Keber, the president and chief executive officer of Dixie Elixirs and Red Dice Holdings, told MMJ Business Daily.

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