Aurora recreational marijuana sales off to high-tech start at Euflora | Denver Post

Recreational marijuana sales got off to a high-tech start on Monday as patrons lauded the convenience of local access to legal marijuana and the innovations offered at Aurora’s first cannabis shop.

“It’s down the street,” said Lassana Toure, before purchasing a marijuana cigarette dipped in hash oil. “This is just the first of many.”

The doors of Euflora, in the 6000 block of South Gun Club Road, were opened at about 10 a.m. to roughly a dozen waiting reporters and one eager man who wanted to beat the masses. Employees in the shop likened the new shop to an “Apple store,” touting the operation’s use of tablet computers in sales and a bar-code ordering system as industry innovations.

Marijuana industry takes another step into the mainstream by making political donations | Associated Press

The entrepreneurs of the young U.S. marijuana industry are taking another step into the mainstream, becoming political donors who use some of their profits to support cannabis-friendly candidates and ballot questions that could bring legal pot to more states.

The political activity includes swanky fundraisers at Four Seasons hotels and art auctions at law firms. And members of Congress who once politely returned the industry’s contribution checks are now keeping them.

“We’re developing an industry here from the ground up. If we don’t contribute politically and get out there with the candidates, we can’t help shape what happens,” said Patrick McManamon, head of Cleveland-based Cannasure Insurance Services, which offers insurance to marijuana growers and dispensaries.

The Politics of Pot: The Marijuana Industry Is Now a Special Interest Group | VICE News

After decades spent operating in the shadows, the ever-growing legal marijuana industry has begun supporting federal campaigns and lobbying efforts in Washington DC.

For an industry that remains illegal under federal law, taking action at the federal level — in the form of contributions from industry heavyweights, and the formation of the first and only political action committee for the industry — is a critical step in achieving legitimacy. It also signals that elected officials, who in the past were unwilling to accept money from anyone in the weed business, are responding to the interests of voters.

Biggest Political Spending By Marijuana Groups | InTheCapital

Marijuana is making it into the mainstream. Currently 23 states and the District of Columbia have legal medical or recreational marijuana, with Oregon, Alaska, Florida and D.C. all with further marijuana related measures on their ballots this coming November. As a result the marijuana industry has graduated to the next level of activism, by getting involved in giving political donating.

This new boom in political giving is due in part because for the first time the marijuana industry is profitable, with extra money to give to political causes. This is also the first time that many politicians have been willing to accept donations from marijuana advocates, since the issue of drug reform isn’t as politically toxic as it has been in years past.

Colorado marijuana revenues hit a new high | Washington Post

New figures from the Colorado Department of Revenue show that recreational marijuana sales continued to climb in August, the most recent month for which data are available. Recreational sales totaled approximately $34.1 million in August, up from $29.3 million the previous month.

Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia Should Legalize Pot [Editorial] | New York Times

In 2012, Washington State and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana. This November, voters in Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia will decide whether to do the same — effectively disregarding the misguided federal ban on a drug that is far less dangerous than alcohol. Decades of arresting people for buying, selling and using marijuana have hurt more than helped society, and minority communities have been disproportionately affected by the harsh criminal penalties of prohibition.

Since Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia already allow medical marijuana, taking the next step makes good sense. There are some differences in their proposed initiatives, but they are all worthy of passage.

Entrepreneurs eye emerging marijuana markets | USA Today

With medical marijuana legal in 23 states and Washington, D.C., and recreational marijuana legal in Colorado and Washington state, the market for weed is rife with potential, and the people in pinstripes have taken note. As the marijuana companies grow more sophisticated — and profitable — they are attracting the attention of investors and corporations.

Tapping into the green revolution, however, brings unique challenges for entrepreneurs and corporate honchos alike. States may have bucked federal law, which considers marijuana illegal for any purpose, but they have imposed their own complicated, lengthy lists of regulations meant to keep cannabis tightly under control and, in some cases, keep the corporate behemoths out.

Colorado marijuana VIPs raise green stuff for Sen. Mark Udall – Washington Times

Colorado marijuana bigwigs are holding a fundraiser Friday for Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, an indication that the growing industry is moving to exercise its clout in partisan politics.

The host committee for the fundraiser at a private Denver home includes the National Cannabis Industry Association PAC; Rachel Gillette, attorney for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws; and prominent Denver marijuana attorneys Christian Sederberg and Brian Vicente, according to the invitation from Udall for Colorado.

Investors gather in Chicago seeking cannabis businesses | WBEZ Chicago

The country’s largest cannabis investor group held a pitch forum in Chicago.

It looked like a typical business conference in a hotel ballroom, with people in suits shaking hands and exchanging cards. But the biggest difference was that it focuses on a federally illegal substance.

“While we’re slaying stereotypes, I also want to open up and make room for the people who may fit the stereotype. I know some great people that I’ve done business with that have long hair, or hippies or all the other things that we associate with it. Because once again, the hippies keep being right,” said Troy Dayton, CEO of the ArcView Group.

Dayton was addressing a room full of marijuana industry investors. The industry is expected to be valued at $2.6 billion by the end of this year. More than 100 companies applied online to make their business pitch and only a dozen were chosen for ArcView’s forum.

Cannabis Cash Conundrum, Continued | Reason

During a visit to the Dixie Elixirs & Edibles plant in Denver last summer, I saw the machines the company uses to produce cannabis concentrates, the kitchen where it makes marijuana-infused chocolates, and the bottling line for its THC-spiked sodas. Toward the end of the tour, I had a semi-serious question for the company’s CEO, Tripp Keber: “Where do you keep your piles of money?”

Keber laughed but quickly turned serious. “We actually have strong banking relationships,” he said. “We don’t talk about them. Asking someone about their banking is like asking them what they wear to bed at night. It’s an intensely personal question, even within the industry.” You can begin to understand why banking is such a touchy subject for the newly legal cannabusinesses in Colorado and Washington as well as growers and dispensaries in the 21 states that allow medical but not recreational use of marijuana if you consider the federal laws a financial institution violates when it does business with a state-licensed company like Keber’s.

Marijuana edibles-maker Dixie Elixirs prepares to open new HQ | Denver Business Journal

Denver’s biggest marijuana-edibles maker is about to get bigger.

Dixie Elixirs & Edibles, maker of THC-infused pop, candy, mints and more, is finishing work on its new, 30,000-square-foot headquarters at 4990 Oakland St. in Denver, with a grand opening planned Friday.

Previously, the company had used a 10,000-square-foot facility to manufacture its products, but in November began work on its new home in a space that used to be a bakery, transforming it into production, a grow operation, corporate offices and a small event space.

Retail pot sold more than medical pot. But what does it mean? | The Cannabist

For the first time ever, Colorado’s recreational marijuana sales topped the state’s healthy medical cannabis numbers in July.

The numbers, released Tuesday from the state’s Department of Revenue, are big news for the U.S.’s oldest legal marijuana market. But what do they mean?

Are medical pot sales starting to top off? Are these numbers a sign of a thriving in-state recreational marketplace — or are out-of-state visitors drastically impacting these numbers? Is this a sign that Colorado’s groundbreaking regulated marijuana system is working? And how do Colorado-rooted politicians, business owners and activists feel about the crossover milestone?

We asked a few of these Colorado leaders — from marijuana attorney Joshua Kappel to Colorado congressman Jared Polis, businesswomen Amy Dannemiller a.k.a. Jane West to industry representative Taylor West — and here’s what they had to say.

NCIA and Leading Cannabis Businesses Sponsor Colorado Symphony Event at Red Rocks

“Red Rocks on a High Note” supported entirely by marijuana industry businesses

DENVER, CO – The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) is joining other leading marijuana industry businesses to sponsor “Red Rocks on a High Note,” a Colorado Symphony showcase at Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver on Saturday, September 13. The event represents a major contribution to the arts by the legal cannabis industry and sets a precedent for even greater involvement by cannabis businesses in the civic and philanthropic lives of their communities.

“We’re very proud to support the Colorado Symphony and this great event, and we’re equally proud that so many other NCIA member-businesses have offered their support as well,” said NCIA executive director Aaron Smith. “Our organization and our businesses want to be engaged and generous members of our communities, and this is just one example of how we’ve committed to that goal.”

“Red Rocks on a High Note” is presented by NCIA Sustaining Member Bhang Medicinal Chocolate. Headline sponsors are NCIA, Leafly, and Gaia Plant-Based Medicine. Additional sponsors include Terrapin Care Station, Walking Raven Retail Marijuana Center, The Farm, LivWell, Julie’s Baked Goods, Northern Lights Cannabis Company, Vicente Sederberg, LLC, Edible Events Co., and Cannapages. All sponsoring businesses are NCIA members.

The musical program will include pieces by contemporary composers John Williams, John Adams, and Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead, in addition to works by Beethoven, Debussy, Berlioz and Vivaldi.

“This program will take the audience through a true musical adventure, with music that evokes a range of moods, from ecstatic to romantic to reflective,” said Jerome H. Kern, CEO and co-chair of the Colorado Symphony Board of Trustees in a press release announcing the event. “Our goal is to attract people of all backgrounds, to show them that the Colorado Symphony is their orchestra, too.”

Tickets range from $20 to $45 and are available now via www.coloradosymphony.org, by calling 303.623.7876 or 877.292.7979 or in person at the Colorado Symphony Box Office. Please note the consumption of cannabis is illegal at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

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Legal marijuana sellers need access to banking system | The Boston Globe

NEARLY TWO years after Massachusetts voters approved medical marijuana, nine distribution centers are to open next year in places like Brookline, Lowell, Salem, and Quincy. The state licensing process for these dispensaries has been convoluted. And yet that path seems easy to navigate compared with the latest obstacle: the banking system. Because the drug remains illegal under federal law, marijuana-related businesses nationwide have struggled to find banks that will accept their deposits. This is creating a bizarre and dangerous cash management situation for businesses that Massachusetts and other states treat as legal. Federal lawmakers and regulators should acknowledge this and allow marijuana dispensaries to use the banking system safely.

Colorado Not Suffering Buyer’s Remorse Over Legal Marijuana, Poll Finds | Huffington Post

Nine months after Colorado shops opened their doors to sell the first bags of recreational marijuana, a majority of state residents still support legal weed sales.

A new NBC News/Marist Poll shows that 55 percent of adult Colorado residents back the law that legalized the regulated use, possession and sale of cannabis by adults. The poll found that 41 percent oppose the law, including 8 percent who said they are actively trying to overturn the legislation.

The supportive majority combines the 27 percent of adults who actively support the law with the 28 percent who favor the law but do not actively support it. Among registered voters, 52 percent said they favor the law, with 26 percent actively supporting it and 26 percent favoring but not actively supporting it. Forty-five percent of registered voters oppose it, including 9 percent who are actively working to overturn the law.

Legal or not, the pot business is still wacky | Associated Press

Legal or not, the business of selling weed in the U.S. is as wacky as ever.The tangle of rules and regulations that govern whether and how it can be grown, bought and sold create complexity and ambiguity that cause major headaches for marijuana businesses — and enticing opportunities for those who want to exploit it.

“It’s a gray market industry, that’s just how it is,” says Kayvan Khalatbari, who owns a marijuana dispensary and a chain of pizza restaurants in Denver.

The big issue: the nation hasn’t decided whether marijuana is a dangerous illegal drug or not much worse than tobacco or alcohol. According to federal law, it is an illegal narcotic like heroin, with “no currently accepted medical use.” But recent legalization pushes have made it legal — for medical use — in 23 states and Washington D.C. In Colorado and Washington State, it can be bought just for fun.

Entrepreneurs and investors have to navigate laws that are different from state to state and sometimes from county to county. That has given rise to a bumper crop of consultants promising to show the way to success, while shady public companies spin visions of fat profits. Consumers now have an array of new pot-related products to choose from, many of far higher quality than what’s offered on the corner. But they must also discern truth from hope in the many claims about all the supposedly wonderful things pot can do.

Marijuana Legalization Supported By A Growing Majority Of Americans, Survey Shows | Huffington Post

A broad new survey shows that a majority of American adults continue to support marijuana legalization in the United States, and that support appears to be growing.

The survey, released last week from online polling data company CivicScience, asked more than 450,000 U.S. adults over the last two years this question: “Would you support or oppose a law in your state that would legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana like alcohol?”

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they support marijuana legalization — with 39 percent saying they “strongly support” and 19 percent saying they “somewhat support” reformed marijuana laws in their states. Thirty-five percent oppose legalization of marijuana — with 29 percent “strongly” opposing and 6 percent “somewhat” opposing laws that would regulate marijuana like alcohol. Seven percent of respondents had no opinion on the issue.

Berkeley’s Free Weed for the Poor Program Isn’t As Ridiculous As It Sounds | The Wire

Next August, low-income Berkeley, California residents will be able to receive free, high quality medical marijuana from dispensaries to help with the laundry list of ailments for which California allows pot to be prescribed. And while prohibitionists and non-hippies alike have argued it’s a bad idea, it’s actually an expansion of a system already in place to provide medical marijuana for people who can’t afford it.

Colorado’s Pot Brownies Now Come With Instructions | NPR

When Colorado legalized recreational marijuana use earlier this year, it also opened the door for food products infused with the psychoactive ingredient, THC, to anyone over the age of 21. That means bakers and food companies now have to ensure new products aren’t contaminated with foodborne pathogens. And they have to make sure they’re not falling into the hands of children or are too potent to eat.

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“This is the direct result of taking a product that used to exist on the underground market and putting it into a legal, regulated one,” said Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

“Now we have the impetus to do things like trainings to be sure that everything is being handled in a professional manner,” West says. “You don’t have that in an illegal market.”

The Mary Janes of the Marijuana Industry | The Daily Beast

As a self-proclaimed “straight-laced tech geek,” former director of social media at PETCO and Microsoft digital campaigns lead Katherine Smith is not your typical pot proponent. Last week, Smith announced that she will be joining Weedmaps, a tech startup that boasts the world’s most heavily trafficked dispensary locator and digital cannabis resource, as chief marketing officer. As the marijuana industry grows, women are rapidly taking leadership positions in every aspect of the business—from legislative reform and medical testing to technology and retailing. As Nancy Botin of Showtime’s Weeds would say she’s “the suburban baroness of bud.” The legalization of weed is proving to be incredibly lucrative, and public opinion is evolving with the pot trade. According to The New York Times, 54% of Americans support legalization, and 72% believe the government’s efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth. Passionate and tenacious women who have a background in mainstream industries are staking their claim in the multibillion-dollar market opportunity of weed.

Marijuana lobby group push for legalization at first New York meetup | The Guardian

Talk of the cannabis industry still sparks snickers and jokes from onlookers who expect business leaders in Birkenstocks and dreadlocks. But on Thursday afternoon, at the first New York meeting of the National Cannabis Industry Association, a lobbying group that supports the federal legalization of marijuana, it was collared shirts, suits and white tablecloths.

The well-tailored crowd of NCIA members had gathered in Manhattan for a fundraiser, at which they were joined by local politicians who have been pushing for legalization.

ELECTRICITY: Utilities struggle to control appetites in energy-hungry marijuana industry — Friday, August 8, 2014 — www.eenews.net

Kurt Nielsen is on a strange assignment, especially for a public employee. As the manager of the Lighting Design Lab, which is a spinoff of Seattle’s power company, he has been tasked with finding energy-efficient lights for the growing of marijuana.

Most of the country’s legal cannabis farming, in Washington and Colorado, is happening indoors and under scorching-hot lights. Washington state has issued licenses for the cultivation of 1.2 million square feet of cannabis “canopy,” as it’s called, since voters approved its production and sale for recreational purposes two years ago.

But neither state has given much thought to where the energy will come from.Nielsen has been looking for a while now and declared that the efficiency quest is “a wild goose hunt.”

“This has become a major issue with most of the regional utilities, now that we have legalized the recreational use of cannabis in this state. There is a huge new industry that’s popping up, grow operations. They’re getting as much as 200 watts per square foot of lighting power density, which is astronomical,” he said. “How are they going to handle and manage this industry?”

U.S. marijuana industry group launches first food safety course | Reuters

A national marijuana industry group launched the first food safety basics course in Colorado on Wednesday for producers and retailers of pot-infused edibles, and another for so-called budtenders who work in the state’s legal weed stores.

Colorado and Washington this year became the first U.S. states to allow recreational sales of the drug to adults. Voters in Oregon and Alaska will consider similar ballot initiatives in the fall.

One of the biggest challenges for state regulators has been the market for marijuana-laced edibles such as candies, cookies, drinks and chocolates, which could put ill-educated buyers at risk of accidentally ingesting too much.

Last week a Colorado task force unveiled proposed new rules to limit potency levels, and on Wednesday the National Cannabis Industry Association launched its first Food Safety Basics course specifically for marijuana industry professionals.

How Big Pot Is Wooing Women | National Journal

Think of your stereotypical marijuana user—it’s probably a man. What you’ve imagined isn’t wrong. While roughly half of men admit to having tried marijuana, only a third of women say the same. But the disparity highlights a problem for the marijuana industry: They’re leaving half the population’s money on the table.

One way they’re combatting it is by helping more women achieve senior positions within the industry.

The Great Colorado Weed Experiment | New York Times

In January, Colorado defied the federal government and stepped with both feet into the world of legal recreational marijuana, where no state had gone before.

For seven months Coloradans have been lawfully smoking joints and inhaling cannabis vapors, chewing marijuana-laced candies and chocolates, drinking, cooking and lotioning with products infused with cannabis oil. They are growing their own weed, making their own hash oil and stocking up at dispensaries marked with green crosses and words like “health,” “wellness” and “natural remedies.” Tourists are joining in — gawking, sampling and tripping in hotel rooms. Business is growing, taxes are flowing, cannabis entrepreneurs are building, investing and cashing in.

Start-Ups Seize Marijuana Opportunities as Big Companies Hold Back – NYTimes.com

When Garett Fortune’s brother Gregg was found to have cancer in early 2013, it was so advanced that all he could do was to try to live out the remainder of his life in as little pain and discomfort as possible. That meant taking about 30 pills a day, Mr. Fortune said — until his brother tried marijuana.

“I saw him go from 30 pills a day to almost zero,” he said. “It helped his appetite and the nausea. He had a way better quality of life at the end than he would have without the cannabis. It made me a proponent of the industry.”

It also gave Mr. Fortune the idea for a business. With more states legalizing marijuana for medical uses — and, in Colorado and Washington, recreational ones — Mr. Fortune identified one of the industry’s challenges: packaging. The old standby, the resealable plastic bag, was not sufficiently effective, especially for a regulated industry, and Mr. Fortune already owned OdorNo, a company that made odor-proof bags for human and animal waste.

Colorado’s legal pot industry offers lessons for Washington state | MyNorthwest.com

As Washington state’s first legal marijuana outlets get set to open, Colorado is taking stock of its first six months of legal recreational marijuana sales.

Some of the conclusions are based on hard numbers, while others are more anecdotal. Either way, a leading cannabis industry voice says there are plenty of lessons that can be gleaned for our state from Colorado’s experience.

“Overall, it’s been incredibly successful,” says Taylor West, Deputy Director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, a national trade association based in Denver. “We’ve seen benefits such as less crime and increased tax revenues. And more importantly, we haven’t seen any of the massive negative effects predicted by opponents.”

Cannabis: A new job frontier for women? | CBS News

Interesting coincidence. The White House Summit on Working Families last week issued some statistics that underscored continuing challenges of gender inequality in the workplace. At around the same time, at the Cannabis Business Summit in Denver, a group of female business executives pointed to some of the new opportunities available for women entering the burgeoning marijuana industry.

These women, many of whom have been working in the legal side of the cannabis business for years, have been making names for themselves not only as pioneers in a fast-evolving industry, but also as the vanguard for a rising female representation in the cultivation, testing, marketing and sales of marijuana.

“It’s a brand new industry, and I feel like we have a great opportunity to strive and to reach out to women for opportunities they maybe they didn’t think of, because it is marijuana,” said Genifer Murray, CEO of Cannlabs SDSPD, a full-service marijuana testing lab.

Tie-dyed no more: At Colorado summit, marijuana industry is serious business | Washington Times

Those expecting to find hippies in tie-dyed T-shirts at the inaugural National Cannabis Industry Association’s Cannabis Business Summit last week were in for a rude awakening.More than 1,000 attendees wearing button-down collars and ties gathered at the Colorado Convention Center for a two-day confab to discuss regulations, banking, product lines, insurance, energy efficiency, human resources and other issues related to the burgeoning marijuana industry.

CannaBusiness Trade Show a Welcome Sign | 5280

One sure way to identify a maturing business sector is when its members break out the PowerPoint and stage a stodgy, old-school trade show. The industry of legalized marijuana will “arrive” as just such an entity next week when the National Cannabis Industry Association NCIA holds its inaugural Cannabis Business Summit at the Colorado Convention Center and the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown.