Author: Tom Hymes
[ad_1] Arizona-based Story Cannabis was founded in June of 2022 by entrepreneur Jason Vedadi in what could be seen as the third act of his cannabis career, which has included significant stops at Harvest Health and Recreation and Oasis, the latter of which he sold and then reacquired as part of his plans for growth. Story is a private company currently operating cannabis retail stores in three states – Arizona, Maryland, and Ohio – with business agreements in place in New Jersey and plans for further strategic expansion in other markets. As Vedadi explained during a recent conversation with Cannabis…
[ad_1] In response to a ruling in June by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirming a lower court summary judgment denying Maria Elena Reimers the right to become a naturalized citizen, a lawyer for the Washington state dispensary owner says that her client has given the green light to appeal the case to the United States Supreme Court. As we previously reported, Reimers – a 45-year-old mother of two, with permanent resident status in the United States and no criminal record – applied for naturalization in 2017, but in 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration…
[ad_1] Judge Kevin Bryant on Friday granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in Fiore et al v. New York State Cannabis Control Board et al, but he also directed that the injunction not apply to CAURD licensees who had met all requirements for licensing prior to August 7, 2023, “including but not limited to site plan approval from the CCB and, where applicable, from local municipalities.” In a 16-page order issued one week after oral arguments and one week before the next scheduled hearing in the case, Judge Bryant, much as he did during oral arguments, found little…
[ad_1] In a letter addressed to Justice Kevin Bryant and filed with the court yesterday in Fiore et al v. New York State Cannabis Control Board, et. al., lawyers for the Coalition For Access to Regulated and Safe Cannabis, whose lawsuit against the CCB has been consolidated with Fiore, informed Judge Bryant that they continue to take no position on extending the TRO that stopped the CAURD program in its tracks and that “the best solution for all New Yorkers is to honor the MRTA as written and to open the adult use application for all retail dispensaries immediately.” The…
[ad_1] With both sides seeking declaratory judgment in their favor during Friday’s packed hearing in Carmine Fiore et al v. New York State Cannabis Control Board et al, State Supreme Court Judge Kevin R. Bryant instead extended any decision on the case for two weeks, leaving in place the injunction he previously imposed on state cannabis regulators that prevents them from approving additional CAURD licenses or finalizing already approved CAURD licenses. After hearing “passionate” testimony from lawyers representing the litigants and other impacted parties, Judge Bryant all but begged the attorneys and their clients to find common ground and a…
[ad_1] On August 2, a lawsuit by four service impaired veterans was filed in New York Supreme Court in Albany County against the state’s cannabis regulators that has brought the ongoing CAURD program to a screeching halt following an August 7 order issued by Justice Kevin R. Bryant that prohibits the Cannabis Control Board from “awarding or further processing any more CAURD licenses and/or conferring operational approval upon any more provisional or existing CAURD licenses pending further order of this court.” Three days earlier, New York Assistant Attorney General Shannan C Krasnokutski had sent a letter to Justice Bryant arguing…
[ad_1] San Bruno, California-based Dama Financial has provided essential banking services to the cannabis industry since it was founded in 2016. As the industry has developed, however, the company realized that it needed to become more of a full-service financial provider, and to that end it announced in February that it had hired a 30-year veteran of the payments and financial services industry, Patrick O’Boyle, as its new CEO. Since then, as he explained during a recent call with Cannabis Business Executive, O’Boyle has been busy continuing the expansion of Dama’s portfolio of products and services to become the end-to-end…
[ad_1] According to its chairperson, Massachusetts’ cannabis regulatory body is currently in crisis, but for some stakeholders in the state, it’s a long-simmering crisis endemic to a dysfunctional agency unable to deal with serious issues facing the Massachusetts cannabis market. One such example is what is reportedly taking place in Massachusetts with respect to the frequency of lab shopping, an issue certainly not unique to the state. From coast to coast, cannabis lab shopping is a serious problem that only a few states have seriously addressed, but what makes Massachusetts unique is the apparent lack of response by the Cannabis…
[ad_1] It is a secret wrapped in a conundrum folded into a riddle. Has Shawn Collins, the first and only executive director of Massachusetts’s Cannabis Control Commission, in fact resigned? That’s what he ostensibly told Commission chair Shannon O’Brien, who interrupted the regular order of business during Friday’s live online meeting to recount a series of conversations she says she had with Collins starting a few months ago. “At the second May meeting of the Commission,” explained O’Brien, “the executive director said to me, ‘Today, I am going to announce that I am leaving at the end of the year,…
[ad_1] In an attempt to jump start a flagging adult-use cannabis program that was supposed to be a model for the nation, New York last week announced not only the issuance of well over 200 provisional retail licenses, but, in addition to several other regulatory updates, it approved a Cannabis Growers’ Showcase (CGS) program that appears to be the first of its kind in the nation. The basic idea is to invigorate cannabis sales by adding so-called pop-up locations to the 20 adult-use retail locations currently open for business in New York. However, like everything cannabis-related, the devil is in…
[ad_1] The origin story of Hara Supply, Hara Brands, and Hemper is one of good old-fashioned entrepreneurial gumption, courtesy of Bryan Gerber, a business prodigy of sorts who at the ripe age of 31 already has a sticky moniker: The King of Cones. The reference is not to ice cream cones, of course, but to cones used to make cannabis prerolls, of which Gerber, through Hara Supply, produces more than 100 million every month, validating the regal reference. Hemper, a subscription business Gerber founded in 2015, sends members a box every month with 10-12 items valued at $100-150, for $40,…
[ad_1] California-based Fig Farms is a legacy cultivator and breeder that has successfully expanded its genetics and flower throughout the state and into other states. Defined by a fierce and unwavering dedication to genetic and product excellence established and maintained by founders Keith and Chloe Healy, Fig Farms produces flower and edibles for distribution to 300 or so dispensaries throughout California, deploying a two-part market strategy that builds on the company’s well-established and estimable strengths. Beyond the Golden State, its products can be found in about 100 stores in Illinois, and around 25 stores in Arizona, courtesy of partnerships Fig…