Author: Omar Sacirbey

[ad_1] Vangst, a major cannabis industry staffing platform, acquired CannabizTemp in what is believed to be the first such move in the marijuana human resources sector. CannabizTemp is the temporary staffing division of CannabizTeam, an executive search firm headquartered in San Diego. A price tag for the acquisition was not disclosed, but the deal was “50% cash and 50% stock,” according to a Friday news release. “CannabizTemp was hands down our largest competitor,” Karson Humiston, Vangst’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. The acquisition likely will strengthen Vangst’s temporary staffing division, known as Vangst Gigs. Since launching in 2018,…

[ad_1] (This story is part of the cover package in the March-April issue of MJBizMagazine.) The future of federal regulation for hemp-derived cannabinoids is hard to predict – but industry stakeholders might find a crystal ball in the form of Texas. So far, Texas regulators have taken a hands-off approach that has allowed the state’s hemp-derived cannabinoid sector to thrive. “That hands-off approach has really allowed the market to figure out what (consumers) want and producers and manufacturers to figure out how to best get those products to them,” said Colt Power, CEO of Power Biopharms, a low-THC hemp cultivation business in Euless,…

[ad_1] Wyoming is the latest state to ban the sale of hemp-derived THC products. Gov. Mark Gordon recently signed into law Senate File 32, which mandates that “no person or licensee shall … add alter, insert or otherwise include any synthetic substance into hemp or hemp products produced, processed or sold in accordance with this chapter.” The new law also calls for state officials to conduct inspections of stores that sell hemp products and to use chemical analyses to test such goods to ensure they are legal. The ban goes into effect July 1. Violators will be subject to a…

[ad_1] Arizona operators such as gas stations and smoke shops that are selling delta-8 and other hemp-derived THC products without marijuana business licenses are breaking the law, the state’s attorney general says. In a 14-page legal opinion released Monday, Attorney General Kris Mayes also said that even though licensed marijuana retailers technically are allowed to sell hemp-derived THC products, she doesn’t endorse such sales because of health and safety concerns. “This Opinion concludes that delta-8 and other hemp-synthesized intoxicants cannot legally be sold by entities that are not licensed cannabis sellers … Intoxicating cannabis products are Schedule I controlled substances…

[ad_1] Cannabis retailers in Minnesota selling product before the state officially launches legal adult-use marijuana sales risk getting a $1 million fine and jeopardizing their chances of getting MJ business licenses when they become available later. That was the warning from Minnesota’s Office Cannabis Management (OCM) on Tuesday, when the agency announced that it will crack down on retailers who sell marijuana before state law allows, according to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. “Products for sale without a (lab-testing certificate) will constitute an illegal sale,” Charlene Briner, the OCM’s interim director, wrote in a March 7 memo. Minnesota’s recreational cannabis…

[ad_1] Troy Datcher, board chair of Gold Flora Corp. and a prominent Black leader in the marijuana industry, died Feb. 26 after a brief hospitalization. He was 55. Originally from Alabama, Datcher leaves behind a wife and daughter. Datcher was the “first Black CEO of a major publicly traded cannabis company,” California-based Gold Flora said Friday in a news release announcing his death. He entered the cannabis industry in late 2021 as CEO of The Parent Co. (TPCO), which was created in 2020 through a special-purpose acquisition company and welcomed Shawn “Jay Z” Carter as chief visionary officer. Before TPCO,…

[ad_1] Nathaniel Pollock (Courtesy photo)The $143 million question on every marijuana executive’s mind these days – especially after Thursday’s news that Trulieve Cannabis received $113 million in tax refunds – is: Should my MJ company consider filing a tax refund claim? The best answer is: Some should. Why only some? What would make one cannabis business’ argument that Section 280E of the IRS code doesn’t apply a potential winner while another cannabis business’ argument is a likely loser? The most important distinction is medical versus adult-use marijuana. Here’s why: In December 2014, Congress enacted a law that bars the Department…

[ad_1] Ohio regulators have reduced the fee to obtain medical marijuana patient cards or caregiver cards to 1 cent, a move that could increase business for MMJ dispensaries in the state. The new fee kicks in March 4, Cincinnati TV station WCPO reported. The 1 cent fee applies to both new card applicants and renewals, according to the TV station. The Ohio Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) also has submitted a proposal to eliminate the MMJ patient and caregiver card fees altogether. The proposal went to Ohio’s Common Sense Initiative, a state program that reviews and changes rules that affect…

[ad_1] A Canadian-Jamaican company comprised of former veterans of Steep Hill Labs and Canopy Growth Corp. has shipped what it claims is the first Drug Enforcement Administration-sanctioned export of cannabis products from Jamaica to the United States. The Toronto-based Pure Jamaican brand and its cultivation and manufacturing arm in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Seven-10 Pharmaceuticals, exported eight different tincture products and three different distillate products with varying ratios of THC and CBD, Scott Cathcart, CEO of both Pure Jamaican and Seven-10 Pharmaceuticals, told MJBizDaily in a phone interview. The company shipped only a small amount of the products for DEA-approved research.…

[ad_1] The New York village of Massena alleges in a lawsuit that two marijuana stores affiliated with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe are unlicensed by the state and violating local codes and zoning laws. Massena filed suits against Famous A’s and THC Remedies, which village officials allege are operating without licenses from New York’s Office of Cannabis Management, according to Watertown TV station WWNY. The lawsuits, filed in state Supreme Court in Canton, also allege that: Neither business approached the local planning board to operate in the village, so both businesses are in violation of local law. Both stores violated…

[ad_1] Maryland’s opening application round for adult-use social equity marijuana business licenses got off to a belated but booming start with 1,708 applicants seeking 179 available permits. Of the 1,708 verified applicants, 1,474 met the Maryland Cannabis Administration’s eligibility requirements to advance to the next stage, The Washington Post reported. Rejected applicants were notified Friday and can request an agency review to better understand why applications were rejected or to “object to” the evaluations. Those reviews are scheduled for Feb. 15-29, and any rejected applicants can amend and resubmit their applications in the second round of licensing without charge, according…

[ad_1] (This story is part of the cover package in the January-February issue of MJBizMagazine.) When Alex Bitz joined Colorado-based Native Roots in 2015, employees at the vertically integrated company were using Google and Excel spreadsheets to input data about things such as when clones were planted and harvested, when plants were moved to a curing room and, finally, when finished products were transferred to retail outlets and sold. Then, staff would duplicate those exact entries in Native Roots’ Metrc seed-to-sale software system. “That tells you that, the way we were operating, we couldn’t just use Metrc to complete the whole process,” said…