#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – Service Solutions: Coming out of the Dark Ages – The Future of Controlled Environment Agriculture in Sealed Greenhouse Cultivation
NCIA’s #IndustryEssentials webinars are our weekly educational series featuring a variety of programs allowing us to provide you timely, engaging and essential education when & where you need it most.
The Service Solutions series is our sponsored content webinar program which allows business owners the opportunity to learn more about premier products, services and industry solutions directly from our network of established suppliers, providers and thought leaders.
In this edition of our Service Solutions series originally aired on Wednesday, December 16 we were joined by the team at Ceres Greenhouse Solutions for a conversation in which they highlighted some of the important technologies involved in modern greenhouse design, as well as their unique approach to facilitating cultivation to market strategies for those looking to enter this world of cannabis growth.
What is Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)? What is sealed cultivation? What does control actually mean when we talk about growing? This webinar, brought to you by Ceres Greenhouse Solutions, will explore these questions and why they matter for professional cannabis cultivation. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) in cannabis has been heavily focused on indoor environments with artificial lighting. Our focus is on incorporating principles of CEA with the intelligence of nature in order to maximize plant photosynthesis and facility energy efficiency. Using sunlight as the main ingredient, we will discuss how to create an ideal environment for high yielding and high quality production.
Learning Objectives
1. An understanding of what is traditionally meant by “Controlled Environment Agriculture” and how Ceres integrates CEA into our holistic facility design.
2. How to make a business argument for “Controlled Environment Agriculture”; better ensuring cultivation to market, production management, and prediction.
3. An explanation of different types of grows and the advantages and disadvantages of them, including: Indoor Grow, Sun Tubes (Skylights), Traditional Greenhouses, and the SunChamber™.
4. What is meant by the term “controlled”? How does control relate to energy consumption and increasing yields?
5. A holistic understanding of what a plant needs to thrive; from light absorption to photosynthesis.
Panelists:
Josh Holleb
Co-Founder and Co-Owner
Ceres Greenhouse Solutions
ACTION ALERT: Congress to Vote on Historic MORE Act
The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act (H.R. 3884) is expected to come to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in December 2020. NCIA has been building support for this bill in Congress for the last year and now we need your help!
Please call your member of Congress and ask them to vote YES on the MORE Act today!
Look up your congressional representative and contact info by zip code, here.
Reference our congressional scorecard to find out if your representatives are sponsoring NCIA’s priority legislation, including the MORE Act.
Sample script to help guide your call:
Hello! My name is _______________ and I am a constituent of yours in (city, state, zip code). I am calling today to ask that Representative _____________ votes “Yes” on H.R. 3884, the MORE Act, when it comes to the Floor for a vote in December.
This bill would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act at the federal level, leaving marijuana policy up to the individual states. It also creates avenues towards expungement, re-sentencing, and assists those communities that have most been impacted by the failed war on marijuana. Additionally, legal cannabis is a huge economic driver and would help both the federal government and states’ revenue shortfalls during this pandemic.
Thank you for your time today. Again, I hope Representative _____________ will vote “Yes” on H.R. 3884, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act.
*Feel free to tell a personal story if you feel it is relevant or powerful, but remember that staffers are busy so sometimes short and sweet is best!*
Summary of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act of 2019:
The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act (H.R. 3884, S. 2227), commonly known as the MORE Act, was introduced in 2019 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Senator (now Madam Vice President-Elect) Kamala Harris (D-CA).
This bill would:
Decriminalize cannabis federally: The bill removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, leaving cannabis policy up to the states
Allow for expungement of marijuana convictions and arrests, sealing of records, and re-sentencing: Requires federal courts to expunge prior convictions and arrests and seal court records for those not under a current criminal justice sentence and requires courts, on motion, to conduct re-sentencing hearings for those under a criminal justice sentence.
Establish sales tax and “Opportunity Trust Funds”: Authorizes the assessment of a 5% sales tax on marijuana and marijuana products to create an Opportunity Trust Fund, which includes three grant programs:
The Community Reinvestment Grant Program, administered by the Department of Justice, would provide services to the individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, including job training, re-entry services, legal aid, literacy programs, youth recreation, mentoring, and substance use treatment.
The Cannabis Opportunity Grant Program, administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), would provide funds for loans to assist small businesses in the marijuana industry that are owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
The Equitable Licensing Grant Program, also administered by SBA, would provide funds for programs that minimize barriers to marijuana licensing and employment for the individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.
Make available SBA programs and services to cannabis businesses: Specifies that the SBA may not negate eligibility for loans and other services based on a business being cannabis related.
Clarify federal public benefits: Prohibits the denial of any federal public benefit (including housing) based on the use or possession of marijuana, or prior conviction for a marijuana offense.
Protects immigrants: Provides that the use or possession of marijuana, or prior conviction for a marijuana offense, will have no adverse impact under the immigration laws.
Provide for data Collection: Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect data on the demographics of the industry to assess whether people of color and those who are economically disadvantaged are participating in the industry.
Age equity for juveniles: The bill applies equally to juveniles and adults, protecting young people from harmful criminal records.
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – Service Solutions: “A Budding Industry” – How Filtration Solutions Can Help with Cannabis Extraction
NCIA’s #IndustryEssentials webinars are our weekly educational series featuring a variety of programs allowing us to provide you timely, engaging and essential education when & where you need it most.
The Service Solutions series is our sponsored content webinar program which allows business owners the opportunity to learn more about premier products, services and industry solutions directly from our network of established suppliers, providers and thought leaders.
In this edition of our Service Solutions series originally aired on Wednesday, November 18 we were joined by the team at Pall Food & Beverage for an in-depth look at the key market trends defining the cannabis oil market, the assorted challenges in the cannabis oil extraction process and the weaknesses which exist in current commonly used filtration methods. While doing so they outlined how to optimize your extraction process and ensure product quality with clarification and color removal solutions.
With the cannabis oil market projected to quadruple in the U.S. and Canada, cannabis oil, the oil extracted from the cannabis plant, is on a fast track for growth! Today, the biggest challenge for manufacturers is to meet the ever-increasing consumer demand for a high-quality, compound-rich oil with a clear, golden character that is free of chlorophyll. To produce cannabis oil, the compounds must first be extracted from the plant. There are several ways to extract the oil, however, the two most common methods are CO2 extraction and ethanol extraction. Following extraction is the challenging process of filtration to remove the undesirable wax that causes haze and the green color from the chlorophyll in the sativa plant. Current filtration methods pose consequences including product loss, reduced quality and consistency, and are not scalable for increasing product demand.
Speakers Include:
Connor Hutcherson
Field Application Scientist
Pall Corporation
Klaas Hesselnik Partner – Sales and Strategic Development
Helderpad
We highly encourage you to review the resource documents linked below in advance of or following the session to familiarize yourself with the products and services offered by Pall Food & Beverage. You can also find out more online here: https://www.pall.com/en/food-beverage.html
“Pall “SUPRA” Technologies are Key to Filtration for CO2 Extraction Method in Cannabis Oil”:https://bit.ly/3lSUK05
“Pall Creates Effective Two-Step Filtration Method for Clarification and Color Removal for Ethanol Extraction in Cannabis Oil Production”: https://bit.ly/2K76YE3
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – Service Solutions: Which Companies are Leading in the Retail Software Segment
NCIA’s #IndustryEssentials webinars are our weekly educational series featuring a variety of programs allowing us to provide you timely, engaging and essential education when & where you need it most.
The Service Solutions series is our sponsored content webinar program which allows business owners the opportunity to learn more about premier products, services and industry solutions directly from our network of established suppliers, providers and thought leaders.
In this edition of our Service Solutions series originally aired on Wednesday, October 28 we were joined by Cannabiz Media for an in-depth look at the key takeaways from their research reports: “The Cannabis Software Stack” and the “Point of Sale Software in the Cannabis Industry – 2020 Report” just recently published.
This session will analyze the market shares of point of sale (POS) software platforms used by cannabis dispensaries and retailers across the United States and dig into trends discovered since the 2018 report. The speakers will also share what they learned about the CRM vendors in the space.
Learning Objectives:
• Learn who the market share leaders are nationally and in key markets
• Understand changing market trends since the 2018 report
• Hear our quick take on CRM software
Speakers Include:
Ed Keating
Co-Founder and Chief Data Officer
Cannabiz Media
Amanda Guerrero
Director of Sales + Trade Associations
Cannabiz Media
Sponsored By:
CannaBiz Media
Want to know more about Cannabiz Media? Head to https://www.cannabiz.media to learn more!
“Cannacurio cracks open the Cannabiz Media data vault to give you insights on licensing activity from the most comprehensive license data platform.”
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – Fireside Chats with NCIA’s Government Relations Team: Spotlighting State Ballot Initiatives
The Fireside Chat series of NCIA’s #IndustryEssentials webinars are an exclusive opportunity for NCIA members to hear from our government relations team and guests about the latest developments in federal policy.
In this month’s program, Mike & Michelle were joined by panelists to discuss the cannabis ballot initiatives in Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, and New Jersey, the possible outcomes, and how it will affect federal policy priorities.
Will Arizona voters legalize adult-use cannabis after the razor thin loss in 2016? Could South Dakota become the first state to legalize medical and recreational cannabis in the same election? Will conservative Mississippi become a medical cannabis state? We’ll dive into the specifics on each referendum and make sure you have all of the relevant information ahead of Election Day to make sure you’re up to date on the latest efforts and have all of the details for you and your business.
Speakers include:
Michael Correia, NCIA
Michelle Rutter Frieberg, NCIA
Stacy Pearson, Smart and Safe Arizona
Matthew Schweich, Marijuana Policy Project
Jackie Cornell, Chief of Policy and Health Innovations at 1906 New Highs
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Landmark Cannabis Case
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a prominent case, Washington v. Barr, which argued that cannabis prohibition is unconstitutional. This action in effect upholds an earlier district court ruling which said that the plaintiffs – who included a former NFL player, a veteran, pediatric cannabis patients and advocacy organizations – had not exhausted all administrative remedies available to them to change the schedule of cannabis in the Controlled Substances Act.
Last month, the law firm of Wilson Elser filed an amicus brief on behalf of NCIA and Arcview which argued that the court should proceed with the case because the historical behavior of the Drug Enforcement Administration made pursuing the remedies sought in the case through administrative means practically impossible. You can read the full brief here.
“We were disappointed that the Supreme Court declined the opportunity to address this critical issue,” said amicus contributor Michael Cooper with MadisonJay Solutions, who is the co-chair of NCIA’s Policy Council and chair emeritus of its State Regulations Committee. “As the leading non-profit trade association for the cannabis industry, we urged the Supreme Court to protect the countless Americans who rely on state-regulated cannabis programs and the small businesses that support them. We will continue to work on behalf of our members to end prohibition, whether by continuing to support crucial impact litigation such as this or through NCIA’s team of full-time government relations professionals who continue tirelessly to advocate for reform through Congress and the Executive.”
Politicoreports that the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, Michael Hiller, is continuing to explore options for appeal.
Member Blog: The Conservative Argument for Banking and 280E Reform
Why philanthropy can be the most effective weapon in the fight for banking and 280E reform
In a recent announcement by the IRS, they may allow deductions through Section 471, but it is still unclear this impact as of this writing is still unclear, so with that said, I am proposing this argument because of the impact needed TODAY to help in the economic recovery effort, given it is an election year, as well.
Before I begin, please do not construe my argument as a Republican argument for legalization. When I say conservative, I am speaking from a purely fundamental belief and values perspective, not a contemporary political ideology. There is hypocrisy on both sides and I recognize this fact.
Having a nonprofit background, most of my life has been spent hovering on the political lines, mostly policy, not parties. Liberals are traditionally more aligned with causes than conservatives, although conservatives have traditionally been more fiscally supportive of charitable causes. Why are conservatives more fiscally supportive of charitable causes? Conservative values.
The most undervalued weapon in the fight for legalization
In the fight for legalization, there appears to be a definite challenge from conservatives.
I came into this industry four years ago and noticed a disconnect between the arguments from the industry and the conservative response. Although support is growing from conservatives, most of the arguments being discussed for legalization seem to be falling on deaf ears.
Why is that? It is because the current arguments for legalization are being fed to conservatives in a language which they do not understand and are hearing as a direct challenge to their values.
The values and language of the right are fundamentally different from the left in most ways. One value which is, in my opinion, grossly undervalued by the industry is philanthropy.
Timing is everything
The health and economic ramifications of COVID-19 have caused us to look at the government and our nonprofit sector for help. The political discourse of our governments, from local to federal, unfortunately, is not helping to meet the needs of individuals or communities and thus someone has to step up. Something I haven’t heard many conversations about is our community-based nonprofits and how they are working to address the needs around COVID-19 and the economic challenges COVID-19 has manifested. Nonprofits, which are on the front line of meeting communities’ needs, from animals to veterans and every population in between, are fighting a battle from a deficit position.
The COVID-19 pandemic has cut into nonprofits’ resources while increasing demand for their services.
According to the Stanford Social Innovation Review’s “Giving With Impact Podcast,” our community nonprofits, especially 501(c)(3) nonprofits, are being “…asked to do more with less money and reduced staff while taking on an expanding client population, and all of this at the same time that revenues from services have dried up and donations from their traditional fundraising activities have declined. Some have had to lay off staff and cut salaries and others have had to cut programs.” This is according to Amir Pasic, the Eugene R. Tempel Dean at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and a professor of philanthropic studies. He also highlights that although disasters cause a spike in giving, which the pandemic did, in a recession, which seems to be a by-product of the political response to COVID-19, he states, “…we see the opposite effect… It took many years, several years, for individual giving, in particular, to recover. So in recessions giving does go down, simply because the resources that we have available go down, as well.”
Amir also states in the podcast that “…over 60% of nonprofits are anticipating significant decreases in terms of their fundraising ability. And I think many of them will be in crisis further, depending, in part, also, in terms of how federal help continues or does not continue going forward… So there is certainly a sense of crisis and pressure for many nonprofits because their services are increasingly… many of them in the human services, increasingly in need, and yet there is the sense that their sources of revenue are going to be under severe pressure at the same time.”
In the same podcast, Mary Jovanovich, Senior Manager for Relationship Management at Schwab Charitable, states that clients involved with their donor-advised fund are actually giving 50% more at this time. Looking at this in the most simplistic way, those who can give more are giving more, but giving is being done by fewer people and thus still creating a deficit.
Together we CANNA make a difference!
Of course, those companies and people who are doing extremely well are the usual suspects. But what about a flourishing industry? One which is new and growing, and has been growing through a pandemic? An industry that is doing better than most industries and has the reach and means to impact the communities which they serve and beyond? What would be holding them back from coming to the rescue of the communities they serve and ultimately helping the entire nation?
Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but taxes!
If you are a company with an effective tax rate of between 60 and 70%, you might need to hold on to your profit in order to make sure you and your employees survive in case something else is looming on the horizon. Say an election?
Imagine a time when the cannabis community comes together to elevate those nonprofits which are providing the most impact on our economic and social recovery. The world is watching and in awe of the support being provided to tens of thousands of deserving nonprofit 501c3’s and the Senate is watching as thousands of the nonprofits in their states are participating, which is a statement that they are willing to accept support from the cannabis industry. This is the way you sway minds and hearts.
The Conservative Argument for 280E Reform
Conservatives believe in free markets and thus less regulation, in the belief that the growth of companies and the economy will thrive and ultimately self-regulate as much as it can with limited governmental intervention. This needs to be applied to the cannabis industry as well. But not just for the reasons you may think. 280E reform needs to take place NOW so that philanthropy can be elevated and help address COVID-19 and economic recovery challenges.
The effective tax rate is high specifically due to the IRS code 280E, which does not allow cannabis companies to write off typical business expenses, things like marketing, depreciation on equipment, and other expenses including charitable donations to 501c3 nonprofits! Just imagine what could be done if a cannabis company, many of which are already giving without the tax advantage, was given a tax incentive to donate? Everyone understands the taxes imposed by the states and municipalities for the legal purchase drive the cost of cannabis up. So the margins are fairly thin when compared to that of other companies that do not have to abide by 280E. 280E is government regulation. Conservatives tend to be for free markets. If, as we all know, even my fundamentalist Christian friends know, that cannabis will be federally legal eventually, why not take this opportunity to deregulate this industry allowing it to assist in addressing community resource deficits at a time when it is needed most? This argument also addresses the fundamental hierarchy, which conservatives believe should be the path of assistance, self, family, church, community, local government, and finally state government, in that order.
I do not mention the federal government, because another value of conservatism is small government and that the federal government is there to protect the inalienable rights of humans as well as the right to property. Traditional conservatives believe in a helping hand, but only a temporary one as they understand many might not have all the support systems in place mentioned previously.
So the argument for 280E reform, in the context of nonprofits and helping with the health and economic crises stemming for COVID-19, addresses the conservative values of human rights, property rights, individual responsibility, free markets, lower taxes, and deregulation of businesses.
The Conservative Argument for Banking Reform
Now, imagine that 280E was reformed or no longer applicable to LEGAL cannabis companies. There is still a problem. Even if 280E was rescinded for the cannabis industry, banks may still not allow them the same banking services because it would in effect still be federally illegal. If this is the case, even if a company chose to donate to a willing charity, the charity would fall under these very same banking laws and thus might not be able to deposit funds from the cannabis industry into their bank accounts, running a risk that their accounts could still be closed for accepting money from a federally illegal activity. So truly, banking and 280E reform are not just a cannabis industry issue, but a nonprofit sector issue, which needs to be addressed sooner than later!
Now, we all know many charities will still not accept the funds offered from cannabis companies due to many factors, however, many of those most impacted by the pandemic and economic decline, such as those focused on food, housing, homelessness, veterans, mental health, senior citizens, and others, could benefit from receiving funds from cannabis companies as their own resources are diminishing. Therefore, the fight for our nation’s recovery needs to include banking and 280E reform for an industry which can make a difference for many!
Because TOGETHER WE CANNA MAKE A DIFFERENCE (If given the opportunity)!
Founder of Corporate Compassion, LLC and DBA CannaMakeADifference, Kevin J White is a social entrepreneur, nonprofit evangelist, volunteer activist, community engagement advocate, tennis player, golfer, BUCKEYE, and Avid shoe wearer.Kevin began his journey into social entrepreneurship after a 20+ year career in the nonprofit sector. Having started his career as a direct care counselor for at-risk children he advanced through the nonprofit sector, eventually moving to Colorado for a job with a major animal welfare nonprofit, overseeing 4 departments and over 100 staff and volunteers, eventually creating his own nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity. With a strong background in nonprofit management and resource management, he began his cannabis journey through his Colorado-based, 501c3 nonprofit, having to identify the benefits and challenges of accepting support from the cannabis industry. He realized that there were some challenges for both sectors and decided to further his social entrepreneurship by consulting with cannabis companies looking to strengthen and develop their cause-marketing and philanthropic goals. This was the birth of CannaMakeADifference.
CannaMakeADifference is a strategic consulting company created to assist purpose-driven cannabis companies with meeting their cause-marketing and philanthropic goals. He has co-authored two white-papers, one for cannabis companies and one for nonprofits, highlighting the benefits and challenges of working with each other.
Kevin also hosts a podcast called Together We CANNA Make A Difference which highlights philanthropy in the industry and companies making a difference from the cannabis sector. You can download the podcast on most major podcast platforms including Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – Service Solutions: Managing Cannabis Business Operations During a Crisis
NCIA’s #IndustryEssentials webinars are our weekly educational series featuring a variety of programs allowing us to provide you timely, engaging and essential education when & where you need it most. The Service Solutions series is our sponsored content webinar program which allows business owners the opportunity to learn more about premier products, services and industry solutions directly from our network of established suppliers, providers and thought leaders.
In this edition of our Service Solutions series originally aired on Wednesday, September 23 we were joined by NexTec Group and Ogen Cannabis for an in-depth look at the benefits provided by implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution into your cannabis business.
Cannabis cultivators and processors are faced with unique challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Managing risk in an uncertain environment is one of the key values that an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution brings to maintaining business continuity.
Join NexTec as we welcome Darren Brisebois President of Ogen Cannabis to speak about:
• Keeping production on track
• Managing shifts in demand
• Reacting to supply chain challenges
• Proactive risk analysis
• Adapting to staffing challenges
• Changing product mix, packaging and delivery cycles
• Managing cash flow, financials and planning
Speakers include:
Darren Brisebois
President
Ogen Cannabis
Webinar Recording: NCIA Committee Insights – What’s Going On With Social Equity In Illinois?
In case you missed it, watch the recording of this webinar from Wednesday, July 15, 2020.
NCIA’s #IndustryEssentials webinars are our weekly educational series featuring a variety of programs allowing us to provide you timely, engaging and essential education when & where you need it most. The NCIA Committee Insights series showcases content produced in partnership with one of our 15 member-led committees.
? What has taken Illinois so long to announce its first round of Social Equity license winners?
? When Illinois legalized Adult Use on January 1st of this year, it announced itself as a national leader in the fight for Social Equity.
? Is it making the impact it set out to in communities Disproportionately Impacted by the War on Drugs?
Find out directly from stakeholders in Illinois how the program has or hasn’t been working. How will the failings and successes in Illinois thus far impact other Social Equity programs around the nation?
Members of NCIA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and Special Guests from the Chicago Community spoke on the subject, including:
⭐️ Tahir Johnson, Business Development Manager, National Cannabis Industry Association (Moderator)
⭐️ Christine de la Rosa, CEO & National Co-Founder, The People’s Dispensary
⭐️ Mike Lomuto, Co-Founder, Boost
⭐️ Mark Slaugh, Founder, iComply
⭐️ Rev. Anibal Vega, Social Equity Partner, The People Dispensary Chicago
⭐️ Ron Holmes, Co-Founder, Majority-Minority Group
⭐️ Kay Villamin, Co-founder & Creative Marketing Director, Hush Chicago
⭐️ Michael Malcolm, Founder & Cannabis Consultant, WTF Media; Social Equity Applicant – Chicago
Member Blog: Building A Medical Cannabis Dispensary During The COVID-19 Pandemic
In late January 2020, Grow America Builders started construction on a new medical cannabis dispensary in Elizabeth, New Jersey, just across the river from Manhattan. It was scheduled to be a 12-week project. And then COVID-19 happened.
Every construction project has its own challenges and problems, but we never had to complete a project under those conditions.
The coronavirus pandemic hit the area fast and furious. Cases doubled by the day, stay at home mandates were put into effect, and there we were, in the middle of construction of a dispensary with a strict state-imposed deadline.
Most cannabis companies are given a state-imposed deadline to complete their dispensary or risk losing the license. As the chaos surrounding the virus was intensifying, the state of New Jersey was silent on whether or not there would be a time extension. We had no choice but to push ahead.
Hurdles, Speed Bumps, and Roadblocks
The first hurdle we faced was abiding by the new regulations. The two primary directives were that all workers must wear masks, and all entrances had to have a washing station with hot water or hand sanitizer. Every construction contractor has masks, but the second part was more of a challenge. As everyone remembers, hand sanitizer was a rare commodity in those first few weeks of COVID-19. If you had a jug of hand sanitizer you may as well have had a jug of gold bullion. Our project manager used the first of many favors and begged our plumber to come out on a Sunday to plumb a temporary sink so that we’d be operational by Monday morning.
The next problem was getting workers to the job site. Immediately, there was confusion as to who was allowed to work and who wasn’t. Some cities allowed essential work to continue, but others shut everything down except for medical personnel. Our guys were getting pulled over by law enforcement, and told that unless they were working at a hospital they would have to turn back. It was very confusing; even though construction was allowed in Elizabeth, it might not have been allowed in a neighboring town.
We lost subcontractors left and right. We assured our guys that construction was allowed on our project, but they didn’t want to risk getting continually pulled over. And then there were those who understandably didn’t want to endanger their health. The situation forced us to make modifications on the fly. We plowed ahead, finding alternate contractors and paying extra just to get bodies to the job.
It was about a month out from our deadline when we hit the biggest speed bump. One of the more critical elements of the project was a wall of interior glass separating the reception area from the sales counter. We wouldn’t get the occupancy permit without it. As soon as we were ready for the glass wall, we were told that eight members of the installation crew were out with COVID-19. They had been working on another job at which they were exposed to a bricklayer who had the disease. Regardless, the glass wasn’t even ready because the shop had closed down.
In late March, as we were frantically dealing with the glass crisis, we received an email from the city that stated all construction was to immediately cease and the building department was closed indefinitely. Internally, at Grow America Builders, this was henceforth known as “The Email.”
We had no indication that this was coming, despite the fact we had just had an inspection. The inspector probably didn’t know himself. We had about three weeks of construction remaining and roughly three weeks until the deadline. This left us with no room for error. We couldn’t afford a stoppage. We were spinning our wheels; how could we convince the city to let us finish our project when they’d shut down all other construction? It wasn’t long before the state released a list of “essential businesses” that could remain open. We scoured that list until we found what we were looking for: “medicinal cannabis dispensary.”
Were We Essential?
In a recent article on Marketwatch.com, Randal Meyer, executive director of the Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce, recognized this and said, “There is a good reason for cannabis [retailers] to be treated like pharmacies. The basis is medical.” In the same article, it was reported that California Gov. Gavin Newsom decided that dispensaries should be treated something like pharmacies. Every governor in a medically legal state followed suit.
As long-time advocates of cannabis, we were always on the side of “legalize it.” But since working in the cannabis industry, we’ve seen the cancer patients, the veterans suffering with PTSD and the epileptics who literally depend on cannabis on a daily basis. It wasn’t news to us that medicinal cannabis would be deemed essential. It was good to know that this now seemed to be the consensus.
We started making calls to the building department and arguing to anyone who would listen that if a medical cannabis dispensary is considered essential, then the construction of one should be as well. The sooner we could get the dispensary built; the sooner people could have access to their medicine.
Finish Line
About 48 hours later, we received verbal approval to continue working, and about a week after that the building department opened back up with limited hours. At this point we had a good routine established; we kept the electricians away from the plumbers, the plumbers away from the millworkers and the painters only worked nights and weekends. Glass was finally being fabricated and our final inspection was scheduled. We were ready.
On the morning of final inspections, our one item of concern was that the inspector wouldn’t be happy about walking around the glass installers who were still finishing up. The issue became moot because the inspector never showed up. He had fallen ill the night before our final inspection, and since he was apparently the only inspector who could pass us for occupancy, we had to wait until he could return to work.
Nobody knew when that would be. What we did know was that the state inspector was scheduled for the following day. This was new territory; we never had a state inspector come out for their inspection before receiving city inspections. To our relief, the state inspector still did their inspection and the dispensary received state approval prior to receiving occupancy from the city. About 10 days later, the building inspector came out and approved us for occupancy, and days later, the dispensary was open for business.
There were a million little things that we usually take for granted that were made that much more challenging under the shadow of COVID-19. It gives us great pride to know that we built that medical dispensary amidst the pandemic in the hardest-hit part of the country and that patients are finding it easier to gain relief in Elizabeth, NJ.
David Fettner is a managing partner of Grow America Builders, a national design-build construction company focused solely on the cannabis industry. Along with his partner, Mike Kaulentis, Grow America brings over twenty years of versatile construction experience, offering customers an end to end experience from concept through architecture, design and turnkey construction.
Member Blog: How Third-Party Safety And Quality Audits Can Help The Cannabis Industry Self-Regulate And Avoid Mandatory Regulations
The disadvantages of receiving a third-party audit are apparent – it takes a lot of time to build a cannabis safety and quality program that meets audit requirements, and the costs of an audit can be relatively expensive. Additionally, if your company decides to use an external consultant to help develop your cannabis safety and quality program, it can add even more costs to the equation. So why bother getting a third-party audit at all if it is not mandatory? If the ethical response of “it’s the right thing to do” does not resonate, consider these more practical responses.
Legal Protection
Note that the lack of legal requirements for cannabis cultivators and manufacturers does not offer protection from legal action, and defending against litigation can be expensive even if a company prevails.
Brand Protection
If a consumer becomes ill (or worse) from ingesting or inhaling one of your company’s products, the negative public backlash and decline in consumer confidence can damage both your company’s bottom line and the industry as a whole.
Insurance Benefits
Insurance companies evaluate cannabis businesses based on their history and their current safety programs they have in place (e.g. GMPs, Recall Programs, Supplier Approval Programs, etc.). Whether or not a company has programs like these in place can influence the costs of their insurance. Additionally, third-party audits give cannabis businesses a verification record that their safety and quality programs are operating as intended. This verification record could help that company when dealing with insurance claims made from recalls or other adverse events.
Marketing Benefits
Enhance your company’s marketability by becoming certified to a third-party audit standard. For example, the new CSQ Standard lists all their certified locations on their website. This database creates a network of cannabis businesses who all meet industry requirements. Cannabis retailers will be able to search this public database and determine to do business with a cultivator or manufacturer based on their compliance with the CSQ Standards.
Self-Regulation
By proactively self-regulating, the cannabis industry can mitigate the possibility for high-profile recalls or outbreaks that might prompt regulators, such as the FDA, to establish mandatory and imposing regulations for the industry. Mandatory regulations could have a more burdensome effect and even be more costly than self-regulation with third-party audits.
Self-regulation is always preferable to mandatory regulation, and evidence of this is found in the alcohol industry’s self-regulation of marketing and advertising, as well as the video gaming industry’s self-regulation of video game ratings by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). While third-party audits are not mandatory in every region, a voluntary and proactive approach that includes third-party auditing of cannabis cultivators and manufacturers will keep consumers safe and protect your company’s bottom line. All while avoiding adverse incidents that would initiate further scrutiny of the cannabis industry or prompt mandatory regulations.
To ensure that the industry is self-regulating properly, there are five proposed principles for self-regulation through third-party auditing.
A set of transparent and specific standards created by industry stakeholders that includes a public comment period.
External oversight through accreditation bodies, benchmarking organizations, and other external committees to ensure no disproportionate power or voting authority.
A public database in which individuals can search what companies are compliant with the requirements.
Transparent procedures for stakeholders to file complaints and provide feedback on the standards and their enforcement.
Periodic assessments and reviews to determine if the goals of the standards are being met.
In addition to setting sound principles for industry self-regulation, it is also important to highlight things that could potentially go wrong with self-regulation. The following three practices are often associated with the failure of a self-regulating system.
Weak standards that do not apply globally and permit unsafe practices.
The absence of transparency or weak oversight can undermine the objectives of the self-regulating system.
Industry leaders neglect to be part of the movement towards self-regulation.
For this reason, I urge industry leaders to sign a commitment to provide the safest and highest quality products possible and volunteer to be part of the movement of self-regulation of the cannabis industry through independent third-party audits.
Tyler Williams is the founder and Chief Technical Officer of Cannabis Safety & Quality (CSQ). Over the years, Tyler has diligently worked with various industry stakeholders and conducted sample audits on several cannabis cultivators and manufacturers to ensure the CSQ audit requirements meet the needs of this new and booming industry. Tyler currently sits on the Policy Council and the Cannabis Manufacturing Committee for the NCIA.
Before founding CSQ, Tyler was the Vice President of Operations for ASI, one of the leading food safety auditing, training, and consulting companies in the U.S. In this position Tyler was responsible for the certification process of over 3000+ audits annually and managed ASI’s employees and contracted auditors around the world. In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of ASI, Tyler also trained and consulted several different major food and beverage companies around the world to help improve their food safety practices.
In 2019, Tyler started a non-profit organization called Show Me Food Safety. This organization provides resources to small food manufacturers and growers in Missouri to help improve their food safety practices and get on the shelves of local grocery stores.
Reinventing NCIA’s 2020 Events
Based on the ongoing uncertainty around phased openings of specific states and to ensure the most successful – and healthy – event for all exhibitors, sponsors, attendees, speakers, and partners, we have decided to move the remainder of our 2020 events to next year.
NCIA’s Midwest Cannabis Business Conference, originally scheduled for August 26-27, 2020 in Detroit, will now take place August 25-26, 2021. Our 7th Annual Cannabis Business Summit & Expo, which would have been held September 29 – October 1, 2020 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, will now occur August 3-5, 2021 at the same location.
NCIA’s 10th Annual Cannabis Industry Lobby Days, set to take place in Washington, D.C., September 15-17, 2020 will now take place May 25-27, 2021.
While we are disappointed that we will not be hosting in-person events for the rest of the year, our first and foremost priority is the health and safety of our community. We will continue to deliver quality content, online networking, and serve our members to help them be as successful as possible in this ever-changing environment while we press on with our cannabis policy reform efforts in Congress.
This unexpected disruption to our 2020 events program has a serious financial impact on NCIA’s operations. However, as the industry’s leading voice in Washington, D.C. our government relations team continues to work around the clock to advance the industry’s interests. If you support the important work of ending federal marijuana prohibition and opening opportunities for the legal industry, please consider making a donation to NCIA during this difficult time.
In lieu of the in-person events this year, we will hold a virtual event showcasing our class-leading educational programming and continued focus on advocacy and community in serving the industry. This experience is scheduled for October 21-22, 2020. Details will be available soon.
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – NCIA Committee Insights: Best Practices in Advertising Cannabis Businesses
In this edition of our NCIA Committee Insights series originally aired on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 we were joined by members of NCIA’s Marketing and Advertising Committee for a discussion surrounding cannabis business advertising in the age of coronavirus.
The world has changed drastically in the last six weeks. Your brilliant marketing strategy and messaging may sound completely tone-deaf or even offensive now. We’ll take a look at real-world examples of successful “advertising” from a variety of cannabis businesses, share how an iconic brand is changing its name in response to the national conversations surrounding racism and social inequity, discuss why listening may just be more important than selling right now, and why your old metrics may not apply in this new world of communication we live in.
Join us for a solid discussion of best practices in cannabis advertising and branding. We promise it’ll be worth your while.
Panelists:
Laura Wilkinson Sinton
Founder & Owner
AFC Products
Jeanine Moss
Co-Founder
Outfront Solutions
Dave Grigsby
Integrated Marketing Director
Dixie Brands Inc.
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – NCIA Committee Insights: The Endocannabinoid System and Cannabis for Industry Employees
In this edition of our NCIA Committee Insights series originally aired on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 we were joined by members of our Scientific Advisory Committee for an overview of the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) in a manner that is easy for a general audience to understand.
After attending this webinar, you will have a greater understanding of the ECS, how cannabinoids interact with the ECS, and how cannabinoids in various products on the market are metabolized. A better understanding of these topics will equip budtenders and other industry staff with the knowledge to have more productive conversations about cannabis with customers and patients. Panelists also discussed what budtenders should and should not say to customers and patients.
Learning Objectives
To learn about the ECS, it’s components, and how cannabis products interact with it.
To be able to explain why THC effects are delayed in edible products and almost immediate in inhalable products.
To understand what you should and should not say to customers when promoting cannabis products to customers and patients.
Panelists:
Alena Rodriguez
Managing Director
Rm3 Labs
Ann Allworth
Founder & CEO
Cannabis Education Solutions
Tiffany Coleman
Director of Quality
Copperstate Farms Management
Cynthia Shelby-Lane
MD
Shelbylane MD PC
Paul Muchowski
Founder, CEO, CSO
Defined Research
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – Service Solutions: Level-Up Your Cannabis Business
In this edition of our Service Solutions series originally aired on Monday, June 29, 2020 and sponsored by the Cannabis Consortium, we heard from members of the Consortium which is composed of vetted businesses aligned in support of the cannabis industry and its leaders from plant to product.
During this conversation with established supply chain and compliance experts championing business resiliency, you’ll gain insight into:
Why, and how, consortiums and partnerships help with sharing resources;
Real supply chain projections post-COVID-19;
How to verify vendors for your cannabis business;
Case Studies and real-world examples of why vendor verification & quality matters.
#IndustryEssentials Webinar Recording – NCIA Committee Insights: Practical Tips for Cannabis Businesses Impacted by Property Damage and Theft
In this edition of our NCIA Committee Insights series originally aired on Monday, June 15, 2020 we were joined by members of our Risk Management and Insurance Committee as well as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for a discussion on insurance coverage for cannabis retails locations in light of property damage and theft.
As the country continued to grapple with the murder of George Floyd and its aftermath, we saw reports that numerous cannabis dispensaries in California, Illinois, Oregon and elsewhere were the victims of property damage and theft. The owners of these dispensaries, like many of the other business owners around them, asked themselves: Is my insurance going to cover this? The good news is that, for many of them, it is likely that they will have coverage for at least some of the losses that they have suffered. In this webinar, members from both the Risk Management and Insurance Committee as well as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will provide practical tips for cannabis businesses that have been affected recently. Attendees will leave with the knowledge of next steps you should follow immediately that can contribute to what losses are ultimately reimbursed. Panelists:
Jason Horst
Principal
Horst Legal Counsel
Amber Senter
CEO
LL Products Inc
Ramon Garcia
Principal
Sanctuary Farms LLC
Kris Krane
Founder and Managing Partner
4Front Ventures
Summer Jenkins
CLCS, Senior Product Development Manager
Cannasure Insurance Services
Eric Rahn
Managing Partner
S2S Insurance Specialists
Ian Stewart
Attorney
Wilson Elser
Committee Blog: Practical Tips for Cannabis Businesses Impacted by Theft and Property Damage
As the country continues to grapple with the murder of George Floyd and its aftermath, we have seen reports that numerous cannabis dispensaries in California, Illinois, Oregon, and elsewhere have been the victims of theft and property damage. A number of shops have been hit multiple times in successive days, with many reports indicating that businesses are being targeted by organized groups not involved in protests.
The owners of these dispensaries, like many of the other business owners around them, are likely asking themselves: Is my insurance going to cover this? The good news is that, for many of them, it is likely that they will have coverage for at least some of the losses that they have suffered. What losses are ultimately reimbursed can depend on a number of factors, including what an impacted business owner does in the immediate aftermath of an incident. Thus, we provide below an outline of the steps that businesses should follow in the unfortunate event that your shop has been damaged:
File a police report.
Immediately report the loss to the relevant cannabis regulatory authority (check both state and local regulations to ensure full compliance).
Get in contact with your insurance provider and file a claim immediately. Once filed, you will receive a claim number and an assigned claims adjuster who you will work with from the very beginning to the end of the claim.
Ensure your place of business is well protected (even after the loss). Do your very best to continue to protect what you can after a loss.
Document everything. Take photos, save and review your video surveillance. Your insurance company will ask for this when you file a claim
Begin taking inventory of everything that has been damaged, destroyed, and stolen. Your insurance company will need this as well.
Review your insurance policy again and speak with your insurance professional.
Does your insurance policy cover civil unrest, theft, or vandalism coverage? Is it excluded? Is it not listed at all? Many cannabis businesses operate under property insurance policies that will cover losses for property damage and theft that occurs during a public disturbance.
Some insurance policies, however, contain “protective safeguard” endorsements creating certain requirements that the cannabis business owner must follow or a claim can be denied. Many of the requirements include a central burglar alarm, cameras, an approved vault or safe room, and other similar risk mitigation measures. Pay special attention to these protective safeguard requirements, and ensure that all are met. This can be particularly important for businesses that have already been the victims of crime. If the safety systems in question have been damaged or are otherwise inoperable as a result, make sure to put your insurer on notice of this fact and, ideally, get them to approve a temporary accommodation relieving your business of the relevant protective safeguard.
Policies may also be “sublimited” for certain types of property coverage, meaning that limits for particular types of loss are lower than the overall policy limits. Impacted businesses should look for a page entitled “Property Optional Extension Endorsement.” The types of coverage that might be sublimited include:
Employee Dishonesty;
Money and Securities;
Outdoor Property (Fences, Radio/TV Antennas/Satellite Dishes and Signs Outdoor Property (Trees, Shrubs or Plants);
Personal Effects and Property of Others (relevant if a dispensary has not taken title to product): and
Valuable Papers and Records (Other Than Electronic Data).
In addition to taking these actions, dispensary owners in cities where civil unrest is ongoing should give consideration to reducing their store hours or even closing entirely until conditions change in order to keep their staff safe. For those concerned about leaving product in their stores and having it stolen, some states, including California, allow for licensed cannabis dispensaries to remove product from a licensed facility in the face of a public disturbance or emergency. Nonetheless, businesses should always consult their state and local regulations and/or consult with an attorney before removing cannabis products from their facilities in any way that would normally be impermissible under applicable laws.
In sum, while cannabis dispensaries unfortunately appear to be attractive targets for opportunistic criminals, there are a number of steps these businesses can and should take right now to help them begin to pick up the pieces.
Member Blog: Off The Backburner – Compliance During COVID-19
by Mark Slaugh, CEO and Co-Founder of iComply, LLC
Operational cannabis compliance has been a vital but often ignored part of many owners’ guides to success. With the hustle and bustle that is the ever-expanding nature of the cannabis business, most owners and operators want to believe they are compliant 100% of the time.
However, anyone who owns a cannabis business and is honest with themselves knows that to understand the constantly changing regulatory updates is a constant challenge. Often, the needs of the business outweigh the time it takes to assess the best ways to remain compliant. Too often, the distractions of growing the brand, networking, and conferences distract us from what’s happening with staff, procedures, and operations behind the scenes.
This has become alarmingly evident during COVID-19.
The pandemic began affecting how different operators in different States had to adjust various emergency procedures and restrictions on how cannabis could be bought and sold. From there, pandora’s compliance box released a torrent of issues to look at.
In our experience, 95% of the industry has a reactive approach to compliance management and will scramble to take time and pay expensive attorneys fees to dig them out of trouble once they are caught.
And what you resist, persists.
During COVID-19, owners are already making procedural adjustments to remain compliant and are staying at home for a change – which has allowed them and their teams more focus and less distraction by avoiding conferences, travel, and in-person meetings as much as possible.
What they are finding is that the compliance train has been off the tracks for a while.
Naturally, as the industry grows, so does the responsibility of mitigating liability and staying on top of the backburner projects in dealing with compliance. It is not the sexiest or most fun aspect of the industry (if you aren’t compliance nerds like us).
People tend to resist being honest about it, managing it appropriately, or holding others accountable until it’s too late.
COVID has at least provided some breathing room for owners and operators to put on their facemask and dust off their SOPs or untangle the strings around poor inventory management.
Some cannabis companies are asking themselves how they can use the boredom of COVID-19 (to some degree) and the extra time saved from travel, conferences, and meetings to re-examine their operational compliance infrastructure.
We are finding that owners in the cannabis industry are lacking a transparent cannabis compliance plan that can be easily adjusted to stay ahead of regulators, rules, and to mitigate product liability. They lack accurate employee training to specific procedures with accountability and wonder why turnover is so high. They are starting to realize that inventory, books and records, and daily compliance management are creating more risk than is tolerable for a tangible reward.
The word “decimation” comes from the Roman times and was considered a military punishment in which squads of 10 (deci) would draw stones from a bag. One black stone among the white ones meant beating that soldier to death by his fellows. While extreme, the lesson was an important one and is still relevant in the cannabis industry today.
Out of every inspection by the MED, in Colorado, around 10% of licensees were found in violation and administratively punished. Having come from a banking risk management background, it is shocking to see that level of risk be “ok” with most operators.
No other heavily regulated industry tolerates such a high level of risk. Cannabis, in fact, tolerates 10x more risk loss on average than is acceptable in banking (less than 1%).
Some of the biggest backburner projects in compliance coming to the forefront are:
SOPs and Employee Training Manuals
It is crucial to have compliant procedures that are accurate to current operations. One cannot effectively and proactively run a cannabis company without valid and accurate Standard Operating Procedures and related documents. They are essential.
What we find is that most established operators have to dust these SOPs off from whatever shelf they placed them on when they finally come around to looking at them.
Inventory and METRC
Another big problem area is inventory inaccuracies which require regular reconciliation and clean up. As we all know, once the snowball effect of inaccuracy happens, it simply gets more entangled and difficult over time.
During COVID-19, regulators are doing fewer in-person visits and are relying more on their ability to look at seed to sale tracking systems to identify potential non-compliance to conduct their inspections and request specific information from operators.
Books and Records
Most cannabis companies think SOPs, audits, and inventory are compliance management in a nutshell. The detailed accountability over files, logs, and forms often escapes their mind as soon as the file is saved or placed into the file cabinet.
Like dusting off SOPs, opening the file cabinet to ensure the accuracy of these documents can be best done during COVID-19 as well. Insight to this helps improve procedures and ensure accountability of staff members from visitor logs, to pesticide applications, incident reports, and manifests.
Staff Knowledge
For many of our medium to large clients, COVID-19 has affected their staff members. When one person is infected, many others may not want to come to work, and companies are forced to hire in additional labor to meet operational demand. If this hasn’t happened, consider you might want to be prepared for it as it takes away employees for a minimum of 2 to 4 weeks.
COVID-19 is causing a wide gap due to faster training requirements and creating more risk for non-compliance, product liability, and workplace safety without proper education, knowledge and accountability for staff.
Challenges like COVID-19, rule changes, and human nature are greatly mitigated and proactively managed when cannabis companies commit to taking compliance off the backburner and putting it at the forefront. Taking the time now to do so may be better than any other time for experienced operators to better prepare for “normalcy” when it returns.
An ounce of prevention is literally worth pounds of cure. And, during COVID-19, cannabis companies would do well to prevent the “decimation” of their very valuable licenses and operations by taking advantage of the extra time and energy to do the heavy lifting necessary to take compliance off the backburner.
Mark Slaugh, CEO and owner of iComply, works in the specialist sector of compliance for the medical, retail, and hemp industries and has over 12 years’ experience in cannabis industry development, consulting, and operational compliance and over 21 years’ experience in regulations and risk management.
Due to his extensive background and education, Mark knows what it takes to move markets forward at political, policy, and operational levels. He has developed small and large startups, improved existing operations, and has protected some of the top companies in the field.
iComply provides operational compliance services and validation of over 200 cultivation, manufacturing and processing, and dispensing facilities since 2011 and iComply consults for a variety of communities, organizations, and governments. Engaging in legacy projects over the long-term, iComply builds trusted relationships to ensure industry integrity, standards, regulations, and best practices are implemented and adhered to within organizations.
Meet The Team – Michael Correia, NCIA’s Director of Government Relations
The journey continues
It’s hard to believe that it has been seven years since I first started working for NCIA. I remember like it was yesterday when I saw the job advertised and thought, “this has got to be the coolest job in America” (which it is!). Being Director of Government Relations has afforded me the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, meet wonderful and exciting people, build something great, be at the forefront of a national movement, and make a little history at the same time. I wouldn’t change one day.
But, these are uncertain times. This COVID-19 pandemic will touch everybody, sooner or later (including myself), and I can’t help but think about those less fortunate than me. My thoughts go out to everybody during these trying times and know that we will only get through this by helping out each other. Although I usually don’t spend much energy reminiscing about the past, when the future is so exciting and limitless; I find it therapeutic and something to take my mind off the stresses we are all feeling.
A lot has changed since I first began my journey in 2013. We hadn’t even had our first legal sales (that would take place in Colorado in 2014). At the time, NCIA had four staff and about 300 member businesses and although the challenges were great, the uncertain future was exciting. Even though I remember thinking on my first day “okay, you have no staff, no budget, no office; where to begin?”
I always knew where I wanted to go.
My vision had 6 main points:
1. Increase the visibility, and acceptance, of the cannabis issue on Capitol Hill and the general public;
2. Bring professionalism to the cannabis industry;
3. Provide cannabis industry representation in D.C. equal to other industries;
4. Build up a government relations office we can all be proud of;
5. Succeed on the eventual federal legalization of cannabis;
6. Transition NCIA into a traditional trade association, post-legalization.
I knew this would not happen overnight, and I knew I wanted to do it right, no cutting corners, and so I took the long view.
I remember coordinating my first NCIA Lobby Days, where 30 brave souls ventured to D.C, now, well over 200 attend! I remember holding our Lobby Days training session in the back of a bar (nothing like learning how to lobby while drinking beers!), whereas now we use hotel ballrooms, provide breakfast, and have multiple speakers. I remember printing our Lobby Days meeting schedule on an Excel spreadsheet (feels like ages ago!), while now we use an app! I remember my first press conference and being too nervous to think straight.
I remember the Washington Post Style Section story on me, and riding the Metro the next day looking at people reading the paper with me on the cover! I remember CBS news following me around Capitol Hill, and having Gayle King give me a shout out! I remember attending marijuana working group meetings on Capitol Hill, when only a handful were interested in the issue, whereas now over 50 regularly attend.
I remember when Congress voted on the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment (that protected medical marijuana from federal prosecution), which won (a year before most people thought it would). I remember that vote, because it was the same day my daughter was born (running back and forth between Capitol Hill and the hospital!).
I remember hiring Michelle Rutter as my coordinator (who has been by my side for almost six amazing years). I remember moving into our first office (and not having to do business at Starbucks any more!).
I remember attending one of my first Congressional fundraisers and a Senator visibly backing away from me as we shook hands (as if I had the plague!). I remember the creation of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus (we were finally legit!).
And I remember the House passage of the SAFE Banking Act (my proudest moment so far!).
When I was hired, I had envisioned federal legalization taking 8-10 years. I am now in year seven and am still optimistic about my dream being realized in that time. Slow and steady wins the race. Legalization will not happen overnight. It will not happen this week, this month, or even this year. And legalization will not happen because “somebody else” gets involved. It will only happen if YOU get involved. Get educated on the issue. Support advocate organizations pushing for cannabis reform. Make donations to state legalization efforts. Join NCIA and come to our Lobby Days this September!!
Eleven states have legalized adult-use cannabis laws (which grows every election!). The support on Capitol Hill has never been higher. NCIA has almost 20 total staff, about 2,000 member businesses, and a beautiful Capitol Hill townhouse that members of Congress use for events. My phone rings off the hook with politicians wanting our money and endorsements. NCIA has most definitely “arrived.” I couldn’t be happier with the results we have achieved and prouder with what we have built. After seven wonderful years (and two amazing daughters), I am still lobbying for NCIA. The journey continues on…
Here we are in the middle of what feels like the “End-of-the-World-COVID-19-Lockdown” and it has most likely affected every single human being on the planet. None of us are left without worry. On Monday morning, I woke up with a deep sense of dread. I was finding it difficult to get out of bed and face the day… face the week… face this crisis.
Last week, while sheltering in place and working from home, I met with a potential strategic partner – a very professional woman from the East Coast. As our Zoom meeting began, I asked her how she was holding up. She admitted that she wasn’t doing very well, and then literally broke down into tears. I just wanted to reach through my monitor and comfort her. The fear facing our world, our nation, our Industry is palpable. Everyone’s worried about the future. Some are worried about their health, but everyone is worried about the economy and where this crisis will leave us.
So, on that Monday morning when it was time to face the day, I knew I wasn’t alone in this helpless/hopeless feeling. And I knew that the best medicine was to take action. Accordingly, step one was to get up and make my bed.
Seriously.
In his book, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… And Maybe the World, Admiral William H. McRaven writes, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. If by chance, you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that’s made. That you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.”
This logic makes a lot of sense to me. Sometimes the most important thing we can do is to just keep moving forward.
If you’re going through hell, keep going.
– Winston Churchill
The truth of the matter is that the cannabis industry has already gone through many cycles of difficult times. We’re kinda used to it. And while the American people have decided that cannabis is an essential item, the Federal government has not – so we’re shut out of the stimulus package. But, we are a resilient bunch. The cannabis industry is made up of creative, hard-working, nimble and smart individuals. We are probably better equipped to face this crisis than any other sector.
The fact is, in every crisis lies an opportunity. Consumers reacted to CV-19 by stocking up on weed, signaling to analysts that cannabis may very well be recession-proof. Cannabis stocks are going up (for a change), and investors are whispering that they see cannabis as a safe haven for their hard-earned dollars. That’s good… cuz we’re gonna need it.
This crisis has presented an opportunity to look at your business with fresh eyes and make certain that every expenditure and decision has a positive impact on the financial bottom line. It’s a good time to look carefully at potential strategic partners and business opportunities that will make your company stronger.
But equally important, don’t forget to also be kind to yourself through this extraordinary time. If you are not operating at your typical 110%, give yourself a break (albeit a short one).
Now is the time to find that inner strength, that extra gear. It’s time to dig deep and look around you… Opportunity might be staring you right in the face, but you’re not going to see it if you’ve got the covers pulled up over your head.
So right now, I encourage you to take Step One. Get up… and go make your bed!
CEO Kary Radestock
Kary Radestock, CEO, launched Hippo Premium Packaging in March 2016 offering an array of services to the cannabis market, including: Marketing Strategy, Brand Development, Social Media, Public Relations, Graphic and Web Design, and of course, Printing and Packaging. Radestock brings over 20 years of award-winning print and packaging expertise, and leads a team of the nation’s top brand builders, marketers and print production experts. Hippo works with businesses looking for a brand refresh or an entire brand development, and specializes in helping canna-business get their products to market in the most beautiful and affordable way possible. Radestock’s Creative Collective of talent and experts, allows her to offer world-class solutions to support the unique needs of the Cannabis Industry.
Member Blog: ‘New Normal’ Dictates Label And Packaging Printer Review
by Gary Paulin, VP of Sales and Client Services at Lightning Labels
In a world of uncertainty, reliability and timeliness rule
COVID-19 is altering the landscape in ways unimagined a few weeks ago. With new realities, fears and uncertainties running rampant, it’s time for cannabis and CBD manufacturers and purveyors to recheck their label and packaging protocols right along with products. When it comes to printing and fulfillment, it’s wise to stay as “close to home” as possible.
“Close to home” encompasses two major areas in label/packaging custom printing: They are country of origin and centralized process control.
Country of origin is fairly straightforward. If at all possible, it’s a good time to be “made in the USA.” The uncertainties and disruptions in a number of foreign countries, complicated by the pandemic, make custom label printing abroad a dicey proposition at best.
Centralized process control has to do with how printing, fulfillment, and shipping are managed. The more that is done under one roof, the better. While shipping requires using an outside third party in most cases, everything else can be completed in-house.
Brokering printing and/or fulfillment to outside entities can present a version of the same problem that occurs with foreign countries. Anything done out-of-house is more subject than ever to delays and disruption. Even after COVID-19 subsides, this is a lesson to be learned well going forward.
Summed up, develop, manage and reinforce a reliable supply chain where getting high-quality cannabis labels and packaging printing quickly and economically is Job #1.
Cannabis and CBD companies wanting to confirm that they’re getting the best quality, price and turnaround time consistently and reliably can review options below. Everyone deserves a predictable, quality-driven and customer service-obsessed printer all the time. Right now, it’s even more important with the added pressures stemming from COVID-19 and resulting stressors.
Review factors within and beyond a printer’s control.
Make sure that what’s claimed in the way of processes and workflow is actually practiced. To confirm validity, this is a great time to conduct a virtual tour of the facility to see it in full operation. Video call platforms that make this easy and efficient have proliferated. Don’t hesitate to ask your printer for a tour. As an essential business, printers can remain open to handle all needed functions. So, the virtual tour of operations should show some level of normalcy. Account/sales/customer service teams, however, are likely working from home — so ask to have them chime in on a video conference. That way, you can see the plant in action and assess how well the remote employees are performing in their new “offices away from the office.”
Besides confirming claims, doing a virtual tour will provide insights about workforce stability and morale. Optimally, it’s pretty much business as usual. However, if there are signs of low morale or lagging productivity, check it out further.
Also check to see that operations numbers match up to expectations. Are printing and fulfillment stations manned as expected? How is staffing matching current demand, which for some label and packaging printers may actually be surging?
If something seems askew, such as a printer claiming healthy volume when the plant is almost deserted, keep asking questions. These may be early drops of rain on the windshield, portending a coming storm.
Conduct a problem-solving and contingency-planning meeting with your printer.
In addition to assessing what’s going well, address what could go wrong and how the printer will handle it. As COVID-19 impact has shown, there well may be challenges ahead that—under normal circumstances—wouldn’t be considered high priority. Now, on top of potential twists and turns in the regulatory and various jurisdictional environments, there’s the added challenge of a pandemic.
In cannabis and CBD, the focus for the foreseeable future may well be on increasing versus faltering product demand. How a printer can be nimble and scale to coming challenges on all fronts will likely dominate a variety of discussions for awhile.
Other contingencies may involve direct impact of COVID-19 itself. How well can a printer backstop employees who get sick? How will this be done? Will it be primarily substituting present employees, already well familiar with the company and operations, who have capabilities crossing a number of areas? Or, will new people need to be brought in? If so, where will they come from? What other ways can printers maintain productivity amid these challenges?
Look for present performance in readily documentable areas.
Is turnaround consistent with previous orders? How is the quality? What about customer service availability and timeliness? Are you dealing with the same people as before? Are people acting consistently with pre-pandemic expectations? (If not, you may want to give a bit of grace, as everyone is dealing with unusual stresses.) If everything is essentially business as usual, and you’re getting everything you want and are accustomed to, that’s a win. If there are problems, find out why and problem-solve with the printer. Even if it involves a problem beyond direct printer control, such as a shipping snafu, it deserves troubleshooting for workarounds.
Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list — but it will help ensure that product manufacturers and purveyors continue to get the quality, turnaround, and price they deserve. If there’s an issue that may be COVID-19 related, and the label/packaging printer has been a longtime stellar performer, consider figuring out a solution before going elsewhere. If, however, there’s a systemic, attitude or customer-service problem that looks to be long-term, look for another printer that checks the right boxes.
Gary Paulin is VP of Sales and Client Servicesat Lightning Labels, a Denver-based custom label printer that uses state-of-the-art printing technology to provide affordable, full-color custom labelsand custom stickers of all shapes and sizes. Contact: sales@lightninglabels.com; 800.544.6323 or 303.481.2304.
NCIA Committees: Spring 2020 Update On Achievements And Projects
NCIA’s member-driven committees are an opportunity for individuals from NCIA member companies to get directly involved in specific industry issues and sectors. These volunteer-driven efforts engage members’ expertise and passion to drill down in those areas to effect change, provide professional development opportunities, and develop best practices and guidelines that will shape the future of our industry.
We recently checked in with these various committees to learn more about what they’re up to and what projects they’re working on this term. Get updated on their activities below.
Risk Management & Insurance Committee (RMIC)
The RMIC has recently contributed to several NCIA white papers and educational webinars. They are currently working on an insurance manual. The committee has divided into sub-committees responsible for managing white papers, webinars, and the manual.
Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)
SAC’s vision is to disseminate educational materials to NCIA members on scientific topics in the cannabis industry and to advise on other NCIA initiatives, ensuring that any formal recommendations produced are scientifically sound, sustainable, and legitimate. This term, SAC published a blog discussing why everyone should know about the endocannabinoid system.
SAC is working on other pieces addressing topics such as the recent vape illnesses from a physician’s perspective, indica versus sativa designation, how cannabis can help the opioid crisis, common scientific myths confusing the industry, and budtender and consumer education about the endocannabinoid system.
SAC is also developing a webinar that discusses what should be on a label, how to read a label, and how to associate what’s on a label with either statements on efficacy or marketing/branding.
Cannabis Cultivation Committee (CCC)
The committee has recorded two podcast episodes for NCIA’s Cannabis Industry Voice Podcast. The first was a Cultivation Best Practices Roundtable, hosted by Noni Goldman of the CCC. In that episode, Cody Hitchcock of Smokey’s 420 and James Cunningham of Fog City Farms were interviewed to shed light on their different growing styles and techniques, focusing on the ways that they implement sustainability in their operations.
The second soon-to-be-released interview was with High Times’ new CEO Stormy Simon, and was hosted by CCC Chair Mo Phenix and member Noni Goldman. This interview explored Stormy’s history and how she got to where she is today, as well as what High Times is up to, and where Stormy sees the industry going.
More podcasts to come in the next couple of months from the CCC! Keep an eye out for an episode or two on regenerative agriculture.
Packaging & Labeling Committee (PLC)
The PLC sub-committees have each contributed to a blog or presentation up to this date. The Sustainability sub-committee has worked with Kaitlin Urso and team in regards to their White Paper. A panel discussion proposal has been submitted for future NCIA conferences.
NCIA’s Northeast Cannabis Business Conference in Boston (February 2020) Panel Discussion on the Future of Cannabis Packaging went great!
State Regulations Committee (SRC)
NCIA’s State Regulations Committee has continued to produce content to help educate and inform members on the latest developments in the world of state regulation of cannabis. As the industry’s law and regulations change quickly across the country, the SRC members stay ahead of the curve and share their insight in a variety of forms. These projects include panel presentations at NCIA conventions, published blogs, and interactive webinars. In this quarter, they published three blogs, produced one webinar, presented on two panels, and participated in an NCIA summit.
As the committee strives to keep everyone updated on burgeoning legal topics, the SRC committee presented a webinar on Michigan, a newly regulated market. The webinar provided information on this key Midwestern state, “Michigan’s Adult-Use Market – What Comes Next?”
Conferences:
SRC members also traveled from across the country to share their expertise on panel sessions at NCIA’s Northeast Cannabis Business Summit in February 2020 in Boston.
The Social Equity Sub-Committee leaders, Erin Fay, Chris Jackson, and Margeaux Bruner provided helpful insight during their session, “What You Need To Know For Winning Applications and Successful Operations That Promote Diversity and Inclusion.”
Sean Donahoe and Gabriel Cross of the SRC’s Interstate Commerce Sub-Committee presented on the issues surrounding interstate commerce and strategies for preparing for this anticipated change in the cannabis industry.
Also, SRC members participated in the NCIA’s summit about tackling the illicit market.
The State Regulations Committee is excited about its work and continues to stay knowledgeable about the ever-changing legal and regulatory landscape. Their projected work includes a webinar on the Illinois adult-use market and a wide range of written projects. Stay tuned!
Banking & Financial Services Committee (BFSC)
The committee’s vision is to provide the NCIA member base with current and actionable information related to Banking and Financial Services in the State legal cannabis industry.
They have implemented monthly newsletters for the member base and have been extremely active in response to the proposed federal legislation regarding banking and the cannabis industry.
Human Resources Committee (HRC)
The Committee’s vision is to provide best practices in all disciplines of Human Resources to NCIA members. They have worked on a couple of blogs this year around the recent reduction in force trend and will be releasing a few blogs providing some recommendations for how cannabis employers can navigate CV-19 when it comes to their workforces.
The HR Committee is working on a very exciting case study. They are looking forward to releasing the first few modules of it this summer!
Marketing & Advertising Committee (MAC)
The MAC coalesces the talents of 20 of the industry’s top-tier marketing and communications professionals around three focus areas: Education, Advertising Access and 2020 political goals. The committee uses their personal, professional and business skills and networks to help build a responsible, legal cannabis industry. The committee is producing best practices, webinars, workshops and social media campaigns to aggregate and generate support from NCIA members, the public, media, government and business leaders.
The MAC Education Subcommittee has focused its energies on developing a Speakers/Expert Directory with a goal to launch by year-end.
The 2020 Subcommittee has created its first infographic covering Oklahoma’s 2020 ballot initiatives; infographics for additional states with legalization initiatives on the ballot this year will follow soon.
The Advertising Access Subcommittee is adding more states (as they come online) to their overarching list of “Do’s and Don’ts” for compliant cannabis advertising. Those are pending editing and legal review and will be published on the NCIA website soon thereafter.
The committee is also working on upcoming webinars including “Advertising Best Practices.”
Cannabis Manufacturing Committee (CMC)
The Cannabis Manufacturing Committee is focusing on reviewing existing business practices and state regulations of concentrates, topicals, vaporizers, and edibles ensuring the manufacturing sector is helping shape its destiny.
They are also working on their second publication, “Facts About Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) And Their Role In The Cannabis Industry” which will be a resource for essential businesses.
In addition to the work the CMC is carrying out, they are collaborating with other committees to help create an NCIA resource library.
The CMC Testing sub-committee is working on writing blogs about “Positives of Testing” (from the operator’s view), and “Nomenclature: Cannabis Nomenclature Register” for publication.
Retail Committee (RC)
Members of the Retail Committee attended NCIA’s Northeast Cannabis Business Conference in Boston in February 2020 to participate in an educational panel on Retail 101. The committee has an upcoming webinar in April: “Retail: Tips and Best Practices” which will include 4 panelists that are currently license holders or working in licensed dispensaries in 3 different states (CO, CA, WA), and will also address some tips and best practices for the current CV-19 climate.
Facilities Design Committee (FDC)
Committee member David Vaillancourt of The GMP Collective appeared on NCIA’s weekly podcast, NCIA’s Cannabis Industry Voice, in February 2020 to discuss GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices) in an episode titled “Revolutionizing How Cannabis Producers Achieve Success.”
Welcome to NCIA Today – tune in for our latest episode!
Host Bethany Moore, NCIA’s Communications Manager and host of NCIA’s weekly Podcast ‘NCIA’s Cannabis Industry Voice‘ brings you an in-depth look at what is happening across the country in federal cannabis policy reform and with NCIA.
Off the top, Bethany discusses NCIA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including postponing NCIA’s Cannabis Caucus event series originally scheduled throughout the month of March.
We also check in with NCIA’s Director of Media Relations, Morgan Fox, to hear some of the recent highlights in the news surrounding cannabis policy reform.
Bethany gives a summary of the key findings from the Illicit Market Summit held in Boston in late February. We also check in with NCIA’s Executive Director and Co-founder Aaron Smith to hear more about the industry and NCIA’s response to COVID-19.
So why should we know more about our endocannabinoid system?
The short answer is: that we should all be in awe of it! Here’s why; although not widely known, the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is extraordinarily important because it maintains balance for most functionally relevant activities in your body! Why does the general public and our health care providers know little about the ECS? Why is it that when you Google “systems of the body,” the ECS rarely comes up? Why did I, someone who’s been educating adults on functionally relevant activities in the body for 35 years, not know about this system for most of those years?
The ECS is a set of millions, perhaps even trillions of these molecules that are found in cells widely spread everywhere in the body. Though there are many molecules that are considered part of the ECS, currently it is described as having two receptor molecules, CB1 and CB2 (aka CB1R and CB2R); two endocannabinoid molecules, AEA and 2-AG; and, two enzymes, FAAH and MAGL, that break down AEA and 2-AG respectively. There are several other enzymes that make or break down the endocannabinoids, but there is not a clear consensus of which belong to the ECS. The ECS as a whole plays a vital functional role in an extensive variety of cell types, maintaining balance in the body in the face of constant environmental changes, both external and internal.
The majority of ECS components reside in the Central Nervous System (CNS), Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), and the immune system, which is not surprising given the critical roles the ECS plays in these systems. But it is far more widespread than that, a PubMed search found papers discussing ECS components in all types of cells widely distributed all over the body including keratinocytes (skin cells), smooth muscle cells of the uterine wall, chondrocytes (cells that make cartilage), fibroblasts (cells that make ligaments and some other type of connective tissues), hepatocytes (cells of the liver), endothelial cells (line blood vessels), cells of the kidney, epithelial cells of the seminal vesicles (small glands that produce semen), osteoblasts (cells that make bone), osteoclasts (cells that break down bone), skeletal muscle cells, cells of the endocrine glands, cells of the corpus cavernosum (erectile tissue of the penis), and myocardial cells (the muscle cells of the heart). Collectively, the molecules of the ECS regulate or modulate most of the physiological and biochemical processes that occur in our bodies. In spite of this, the ECS is not even mentioned in the latest edition of the number one physiology textbook used in medical schools across our country!
I recently accompanied a good friend to her gastroenterologist appointment because she was having serious digestive issues. I joined her because of my extensive background in cell biology, human health, and the ECS and knowing that many experts suggest the ECS plays an important role in the cause of irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, colitis, and other novel therapeutic targets. The doctor is a professor at a highly respected, well-known medical school in D.C. with several years of practical experience. After he gave his diagnosis, I asked “do you think there could be an endocannabinoid deficiency disorder involved?” He looked confused and quickly changed the subject. When it comes to the ECS, this kind of evasiveness is the status quo in the ‘place’ known as modern medicine.
Sadly, I estimate at least 80-90% of the time, patients hear the same thing from their doctors, whether it is an endocrinologist managing a patient with diabetes, psychiatrists monitoring depression and anxiety, or a pediatrician who manages the care of young children with autism. All of these conditions could qualify you for a medical cannabis card in one state or another, yet medical practitioners in those same states are misinformed, at best, regarding the role of the ECS in human health and wellbeing.
There are millions of people suffering from debilitating diseases that could possibly benefit from the use of cannabis and many of them do not have access to this medicine. These diseases, which constitute 7 of the top 10 causes of death according to a 2016 CDC study, include heart disease (99), cancer (350), chronic respiratory disease (32), stroke (91), Alzheimer’s (63), Diabetes (240), and suicide (24). The number in parentheses represents the number of scholarly papers you’ll find on a PubMed search of the ECS and the name of each of the conditions. Pubmed is a search engine for peer-reviewed scientific articles provided by the National Institutes of Health. This is a collective 899 referenced papers. Many include astounding research that describes what’s happening at the molecular level. With all this recent research, it is becoming obvious that the ECS has an enormous role in human health.
Oftentimes these conditions exist because of problems with the ECS and many believe the phytocannabinoids in cannabis can help. Imagine how different the quality of life for these millions of suffering people would be if cannabis was returned to the revered place it held for the vast majority of medical history. Think of the potential impact of simply asking your health care provider if they’ve heard of the ECS. It may prompt more doctors to do a PubMed search and start reading the more than 5,064 papers that appear! They might have the same reaction that I and many others have had. “How is it possible I did not know about this global system that seems to have some kind of a role in the regulation of just about every kind of relevant physiological process you can think of?” Hopefully having these conversations with our doctors will increase the number of doctors practicing cannabis medicine. According to an online article,the average number of patients for a family practice physician in 2018 was between 1,800-2,000. This one simple question has the potential to change the lives of thousands of people!
Fortunately, there are now 33 states where medical cannabis is legal and 13 additional states where patients can access CBD or low THC cannabis. However, here in the United States, it remains federally illegal, which creates a host of ethical dilemmas that are far too extensive to address in this discussion. Looking at all legal cannabis states, the number of conditions that qualify a person for a medical cannabis card is up to 95 and several states include “any condition the qualifying doctor deems will be improved with the use of cannabis” on their list. How in the world is one plant capable of helping with so many varied conditions and diseases? The answer is, of course, the ECS which performs the incredibly important job of maintaining homeostasis, balance of physiological activities within the body. In other words, it is a state where the body responds to a changing environment by making sure your internal environment remains within specific limits to sustain health. When homeostasis fails, disease results. And so is the case when the ECS fails. In fact, there are numerous conditions where decreases in circulating endocannabinoids have been documented, called Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency Syndrome (CEDS). Experimental evidence suggests this is the case for migraines, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and more.
We are in the infancy of understanding the incalculable intricacy of the entourage effects of more than 400 phytonutrients in cannabis interacting with the multitudinous potential responses from the immeasurable number of components in our ECS! We know that THC and other cannabinoids found in cannabis bind to the CB1 and CB2 receptors on our cells. Although CBD is a cannabinoid too, it does not actually bind to either of these receptors, but rather acts to change the binding activity of other cannabinoids.
Not a single double-blind placebo-controlled study was mentioned in this article, so my words may fall on some deaf ears, though I’m certain there will be more people interested in learning about this amazing avenue to health. Empirical evidence has been used for about 98% of the 5,000 or so years of recorded medicine practice. Interestingly, cannabis has been successfully used as a healing and spiritual agent for the same percentage of time! It seems like a no brainer, especially given the varied side effects and sometimes failure of pharmaceutical medicines used during the remaining 2% of recorded history where medicine has been practiced. In 2017, 70,273 deaths were caused by pharmaceutical medicines. In contrast, cannabis has caused zero deaths in the 5,000 years of recorded medicine!
The bottom line is that the ECS is fundamental to remaining healthy. Each of us has an ECS; made up of receptors, endocannabinoids, and enzymes widespread in all types of cells scattered throughout our bodies. Remember, this system maintains balance in our body, literally keeping an eye on all the important functions that occur. When something goes wrong, ECS components immediately fix it. But, when the ECS is unable to maintain balance, the result is often disease, a vital fact you should keep at the forefront of your mind and share whenever visiting your health care professional!
In her first year of undergrad, Ann developed a great interest in embryology while taking Anatomy & Physiology. After graduating, she enrolled in a Ph.D. program in cell biology and studied mammalian eggs and embryos. For several years after completing the program, she continued this research at Tufts University Health Sciences Center while working as a Gross Anatomy instructor. Next, Ann worked as an assistant professor at Howard University College of Medicine, continued teaching Gross Anatomy and began studying breast and ovarian cancer cells.
After 19 years in medical academia, Ann did a 180 and moved on to the natural product industry, where she learned there were many alternatives to pharmaceuticals to achieving health. And among other topics, taught the immense value phytonutrient rich foods and herbs have to optimal health and well-being for almost 15 years. Upon learning of the existence of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in March 2019 she was shocked she had never heard of it, but she is far from alone. The general public is for the most part clueless about the ECS and the medical establishment, by and large, ignores its existence. So, she decided to create a company, Cannabis Education Solutions, dedicated to illuminating minds to the expansive nature of the ECS and its unparalleled importance to human health.
Video: Episode #2 of NCIA Today – #NECannaBizCon recap, Safe Vaping, Illicit Market Summit, and more!
Tune in to episode #2 of our new monthly video series: NCIA Today!
Off the top, Bethany looks back at #NECannaBizCon in Boston, MA this past month, our first trade show of 2020.
In our policy update, Bethany discusses “The Key to Consumer Safety: Displacing the Illicit Cannabis Market – Recommendations for Safe Vaping,” a recent report produced by our Policy Council and informed by a variety of subject experts, with NCIA Director of Public Policy Andrew Kline.
Oour annual in-person member policy and government relations update event series, the Cannabis Caucuses, are only days away in March. See where your caucus is happening!
We’ll see you next month for NCIA Today!
Member Blog: Common Interior Design Mistakes that Dispensaries Make
As the legalization of cannabis spreads rapidly throughout the United States and across the globe, new medical and adult-use dispensaries are opening just about every day. The progression of architecture and design within dispensaries has expanded just as quickly as the legalization of their products.
The saying, “never judge a book by its cover,” has been ingrained into our brains since our adolescence. The truth is, consumers are first drawn to a product or location simply by the look of it. That is why your space must stand out from your competitors. From choosing the right location to conceptualizing layouts, here are a few major mistakes to avoid when designing a dispensary.
Layout
The foundation of any dispensary design should be rooted in the customer experience. A poor layout can interfere with traffic flow, lead to security issues, and cause longer wait times, which upsets patients. The goal is to create an effective layout that provides efficiency for patients while encouraging them to spend more time in the store, discussing products and treatments.
To achieve this goal, designers must have a deep understanding of how a “typical” customer will move within space and in what order. Mastering that concept allows designers to make the best use of the available space.
Basic Interior Design Features
A dispensary does not have to be a cold, sterile environment; in fact, it shouldn’t be! New patients may already be intimidated; bright and welcoming furnishings and color palettes will contribute significantly to their experience. Additionally, an inviting design will help attract and retain patients.
Interior design can quickly become mismatched and overdone. To avoid your design and layout, looking discombobulated, stick to a style, and keep in mind that less is more. Adhering to an overall aesthetic will ensure your elements flow together and complement one another.
Another major factor contributing to the layout and function of a dispensary is the merchandise display. For starters, all of the displays should be made of the same materials. Whether it be wood or glass, keep it consistent.
Now, think about the customer experience. Products layered in vertical displays tend to make browsing the selection easier than a flat surface.
Finally, make sure you build out the appropriate amount of displays. Too much space and the dispensary will look like it’s lacking while not enough space will leave it looking cluttered.
Furniture Selection
To you, the words cheap and inexpensive may be synonymous, but to an interior designer, something defined as “cheap” implies that it is poorly made and, therefore, of low quality. With that said, avoid purchasing cheap furnishings. Opening a retail cannabis location is a costly feat. So, it’s understandable that you would want to cut costs where you can. Know that cheap furniture and furnishings can tarnish a customer’s experience as well as your dispensary’s reputation. Most importantly, buying cheap seating and tables from budget vendors that are not for commercial use can lead to unexpected claims.
Dispensaries follow the same rules as retail stores
As a store-front business, foot traffic will be consistent. Failing to prepare for the long-term wear and tear of your floors, couches, and tables, etc., can be costly.
Practicality is essential here. Select flooring and surfaces that require minimal maintenance and won’t show visible signs of deterioration. The furniture should be durable enough to last and comfortable enough to function well for all ages and abilities.
Lastly, remember that the design of a retail store does not change from year-to-year, if ever. Create a timeless design.
Location
Location is one of the most important elements that factor into the success of any retail business. Prime locations support long-term success.
Unfortunately, prospective dispensary owners can not pick any old retail space they want. Due to rigid state laws and local regulations, they are limited in terms of available real estate. Familiarizing yourself with an area’s zoning laws is critical for establishing your business in the best possible location.
ATMs
Given the current status of the banking laws within the cannabis industry, the majority of purchases still need to be made with cash. Do not overlook an ATM when conceptualizing the layout! If there is nowhere for a patient to withdraw the cash necessary for a purchase, owners are missing out on sales.
If your budget allows, offer cashless ATM services to enable quick and safe transactions, which not only makes purchasing more convenient for customers but also adds to the security of your dispensary by limiting the accumulation of cash.
Perpetuating Old Stereotypes
The modern-day cannabis consumer represents a cross-section of the diverse population. Creating an environment that plays into the negative stereotypes will turn off a good portion of consumers simply because they will not want to be associated with the old stigmas surrounding marijuana. Paying homage to Jeff Spicoli will not only offend a majority of potential customers, but it will also draw unwanted attention from the surrounding community and law enforcement.
Christina is a certified Interior Designer with 20+ years of experience in the industry. Chris received a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from Philadelphia University and honed her skills as an interior designer with several large architecture firms in Philadelphia. Specifically, while with Ballinger and EwingCole, Chris gained considerable experience in a variety of market sectors including healthcare, research and development, government, education and sports and entertainment, overseeing dozens of multi-million dollar projects. Christina first established herself in the cannabis industry when she was recruited to join a team of experts assembled by Philadelphia-based attorneys and consultants Moriconi Flowers, Ltd. to assist clients in obtaining permits to grow, process, and sell marijuana. Moriconi Flowers intended to coordinate a group of diverse professionals to act as strategic partners to support marijuana permit application projects and identified Christina and Design 710 as ideal to provide building/zoning code analysis, budget and schedule development, and interior design services to their clients. Christina quickly became an integral part of the team.
Design 710’s successes have included designing the project for the winning application and first dispensary to open in Philadelphia, designing the project for a winning grower/processor applicant in the Delaware Valley, and designing the winning project for an additional marijuana dispensary permit holder in the Philadelphia area.
Design 710 was created to help assist both new and experienced businesses to navigate the ever-changing cannabis industry. Christina’s intuition and experience has made her the ideal interior designer for countless projects, including 3 dispensaries she opened with Restore Integrative Wellness Center in the greater Philadelphia area over the last 2 years. Christina’s experience working within the recreational and medical cannabis industry makes her an excellent strategic partner, and her unique vision is complemented by years of experience navigating the ins and outs of opening a dispensary. Having provided design assistance and consultation to projects in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Missouri, Christina has a wealth of experience navigating multiple markets.
What is Happening in D.C.? Come see for yourself!
by Madeline Grant, NCIA Government Relations Manager
There has been a lot of cannabis action in the 116th Congress and that is not an accident — it’s time for cannabis policy reform!
We’ve seen historical hearings, votes, and mark-ups take place with the help of our champions on Capitol Hill. We need to continue to support these efforts and support Members of Congress who fight for cannabis reform. So… how can you help to impact reform in Washington, D.C.?
Mark your calendars for NCIA’s 10th Annual Cannabis Industry Lobby Days on May 19-21! There is no better way to network with other NCIA members, meet with congressional staff and members, attend events, and most importantly tell YOUR stories on Capitol Hill.
What you don’t want to miss out on…
NCIA’s 2nd Annual VIP DAY(taking place during the day of May 19) forNCIA PAC Leadership CircleMembers! To participate you must be a member of the PAC Leadership Circle by contributing to the NCIA-PAC. The NCIA-PAC maintains no overhead costs so that 100% of donations are used to support industry-friendly candidates and build the political influence of our emerging business sector. For more information on joining and participating in this exclusive day please email Vanessa at Vanessa@thecannabisindustry.org.
Below are a few examples of what VIP Day consists of…
-Luncheon with Members of Congress -Meetings with Members of Congress -Meetings with committees of jurisdiction -Networking with NCIA’s politically active members -Capitol Hill briefings with Hill staffers and professionals
Pictured: Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45), NCIA’s Director of Government Relations, Michael Correia, and Maddy Grant, NCIA’s Government Relations Manager. Last year, Rep. Porter attended our VIP Luncheon.
Video: Episode #1 of NCIA Today – Industry Socials, #NECannaBizCon, and Sen. Crapo, and more!
Check out the first episode of NCIA’s new monthly video newsletter, NCIA Today! In this episode, we cover NCIA’s first Industry Socials and Trade Show of the year, Sen. Mike Crapo’s comments on cannabis legalization, and what NCIA’s Allied Associations Program is!
Member Blog: 2020 Foresight – What To Focus On (And What To Ignore) In The Year To Come
by Brian Chaplin, Chief Brand Officer at Medicine Box
Not even a month into the new year, and some of the biggest players in the cannabis industry have already been hit with several crippling blows. While we’re thankfully a long way away from the federal raids of yore, we’re seeing cutbacks, layoffs and corporate “realignments” in California across the board, some of them by the biggest names in the industry. When the big boys like this are struggling, what does that say for the OGs?
First off, speaking as a California cannabis entrepreneur who has survived both the post-64 aftermath, an armed robbery, AND subsequent charges by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department, I can assure all of you that NONE of this can crush you if you are determined enough to survive and make the proper sacrifices at the right time. Not too soon ago, I posted some observations for a more inclusive, impactful and interconnected cannabis industry which went viral on Instagram, and I decided to expand upon them for the benefit of the NCIA’s members. There’s going to be a lot thrown at us this year, and I’ve found that I’ve raised my chances for survival by determining what to focus on and what to ignore.
WHAT MATTERS
Making the Right Alliances: Since our foundation in 2016, Medicine Box has carefully selected the sorts of partners we work with. Not only should they fill in the gaps in our organization, but they also have to understand the plant and the culture that has developed around it. People like the Caladrius Network, which has distributed medical cannabis for free to catastrophically ill children, or House of Harlequin, one of the original CBD breeders, have helped us become better stewards of our consumers. Simply put, alignment is not a trend; vet them wisely and give as much as you get.
Get out of the Cannabis Bubble: The cannabis consumer we’re all looking to reach simply isn’t going to meet us halfway. Some of our partnerships have provided valuable beachheads into the sorts of communities we all need to convert. The feedback we have gotten from the live music webisode series Jam in the Van and the LA-based popup concert promoters Silverlake Sessions has helped us to finesse our marketing and product creation immensely and connect to the audiences we need to reach. And we expect to do more of this in the year to come.
The Brand Is Key: I don’t have to tell you how powerful the Apples and Nikes of the world are. People are profoundly loyal to a brand that is in turn loyal to its foundational values. Our Seven Pillars of Nature, Music, Food, Mindfulness, Community, Collaboration and Recovery are emphasized in everything we do as a team
Education, Education, Education: You simply cannot do enough of this with the products we’re creating. We’re constantly having to fight back certain misconceptions, such as the idea that THC is strictly recreational, that even the industry itself tacity promotes. Even the most devoted consumer has something new to learn about many of the new products and methods of ingestion. You’ve got to keep at it until the numbers show it’s starting to sink in.
WHAT DOESN’T
The Rush to Vertical Integration: Too many people are trying to do it all at once. We’ve managed to avoid crashing early by picking a lane and sticking with it. So ask yourself: are you a medicine maker? A cultivator? A manufacturer that wants to make oil? Most of the big boys I just mentioned are suffering precisely because they tried to do it all too soon. Don’t let this happen to you!
Going Big: One of our strongest partners, Brent Gerson, heads the subscription box/research service The Study. To paraphrase him, one of the most important things he’s found from surveying his customers is that you can’t learn much about the average cannabis consumer from 30,000 feet. Making those consumer connections is crucial, and size often obscures those connections. You become so focused on compliance and data that you forget there’s a human being at the other end of the supply chain. My own social media work has helped start those conversations, and it means a lot for people to know who they’re buying from. You can’t get that from a billboard.
The CPG Mentality: The move to commoditize cannabis has not only hit craft growers and product makers hard; it has also short-changed the consumer. Moreover, it moves away from the core values of the heritage cannabis community here in California, which has sustained it for generations. Especially if you’re making a product that serves a specific wellness purpose, such as our relaxing tincture Equanimity, a commoditization approach is simply not appropriate. The sooner the industry learns that, the better.
This being 2020, we’re looking at an election and possibly a few more states coming online with legalization. While California is unique, it’s still a market everyone wants to crack sooner or later, and it’s made a few mistakes everyone is learning from. While the future is far from certain, I expect to be at this point next year looking back, regardless of the changes I’ve made, being thankful I executed on the priorities I’ve made over time. Will you?
Brian Chaplin started the cannabis/hemp-infused herbal wellness brand Medicine Box in 2016. Beginning his trade as an underground cannabis cultivator in 2009, Brian has released a series of award-winning edibles, snacks and tinctures, including Equanimity, which won second place for Best Tincture at the 2019 Emerald Cup. He lives, works, skis and meditates on the shores of North Lake Tahoe.
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Every construction project has its own challenges and problems, but we never had to complete a project under those conditions.
I remember hiring Michelle Rutter as my coordinator (who has been by my side for almost six amazing years). I remember moving into our first office (and not having to do business at Starbucks any more!). 
Brian Chaplin started the cannabis/hemp-infused herbal wellness brand