WeedLife News Network

LEBANON TOWNSHIP - The township Planning Board is scheduled on Tuesday to start hearing an application to build a marijuana grow facility on Anthony Road, perhaps the most controversial issue in the northern Hunterdon County municipality in recent years.

The application by The NAR Group, of Warren Township, to open a 20,000-square-foot medical marijuana cultivation facility at 62 Anthony Road, the former site of the Diamond Aerosol manufacturing facility, was originally scheduled to be heard on Aug. 16, but NAR requested a postponement until Aug. 30.

To accommodate the large number of residents interested in attending, the hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the gymnasium of Woodglen Elementary School on Bunnvale Road.

Abaca, a financial platform for cannabis operators, and Pacific Valley Bank are partnering as a means of expanding cannabis banking access within the California market.

This marks the first time since California legalized medical marijuana 26 years ago that legal operators in the industry have access to such a combination.

“Many operators across the state have been let down by unsophisticated, unreliable, and unnecessarily burdensome banking solutions,” Abaca CEO Dan Roda said.

“Now, operators have access to the best of both worlds – the human touch of a California community bank with a deep understanding of the unique needs of the market and the powerful technology of a financial platform that enables operators to seamlessly manage their finances online.”

NEW YORK—The state Office of Cannabis Management is taking applications for people interested in applying for a retail marijuana dispensary license, the board said Thursday at a virtual news conference. 

The launch of the application portal for CAURD, Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary Licenses, the first adult-use retail cannabis dispensaries to open, is part of the state’s effort to give business opportunities to those affected most by the state’s once-strict marijuana laws.

The Hochul administration has begun accepting applications from “justice-involved” individuals for retail cannabis dispensary licenses as officials prepare to provide some of those awarded licenses with “state of the art” storefronts constructed and furnished by the state Dormitory Authority.

In response to questions from CNHI, Chris Alexander, executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management and a Hochul appointee, acknowledged that his agency has no plans to conduct credit checks on so-called social equity applicants seeking to enter what he said is poised to become the world’s biggest marijuana market.

‘THE BEST OPERATORS’

The global cannabis drinks market is set to grow by a value of $8.3 billion in 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.3%, according to Future Market Insights.

DETROIT - Marijuana growers in Michigan are making too much product and it’s outpacing demand.

In just the past year, the price for an ounce of flower went down by 44%.

The Cannabis Regulatory Agency is now seeking input on how to solve the problem.

"The agency has been hearing concerns that the supply of marijuana produced by licensed growers exceeds, or may soon exceed, consumer demand. The concerns include that the wholesale price of flower is lower than the cost of production – or will be when harvests are highest in October," CRA said in a statement

CRA listed three potential forms of action for the public to consider prior to their quarterly meeting, which will be held on Sept. 14 at 9:30 a.m.

“The economic impact is large. It just doesn't seem fair that an entire industry is going to get destroyed as collateral damage for someone else's decisions.”

B.C. cannabis stores have already begun shutting down as their only supply source has been cut off by a 10-day-old B.C. General Employees Union strike at government distribution warehouses.

To take the temperature of stakeholders involved, the office hopes to open up a conversation to better meet industry needs.

The new zoning rules make it easier to gain Pima County approval for new marijuana dispensaries, manufacturing facilities and cultivation businesses.

“It aligns more closely with the city’s (Tucson) codes, as in the dimensions and setbacks,” said Chris Poirier, deputy director of Pima County development services. “Even with the Type III permits, it is still much easier than what had to be done to start one of these businesses.”

The proposal for reducing restrictions for marijuana business permits passed the Pima County Board of Supervisors 3-2 earlier this month. 

There’s a new cannabis flower brand in Massachusetts, and it’s LIT. 

Ayr Wellness, one of the largest publicly traded cannabis companies in the United States, recently announced that it partnered with Lit to bring its line of cannabis genetics to its Massachusetts dispensaries.

Lit is the latest West Coast cannabis flower brand that is trying to make the jump to the East. Short for Lost In Translation, the brand was co-founded by Ray Schiavone, who originally launched it in Nevada with Tahoe Hydroponics Company. 

Even with elaborate and accurate equipment, there are likely to be many legal battles fought over how legitimate the equipment is.

As marijuana becomes legal and regulated in many states, law enforcement is often struggling to keep up with the times. There is definitely a learning curve when something that was illegal suddenly becomes legal, and this is particularly true with marijuana. In fact, determining whether someone is under the influence of cannabis remains a difficult thing to prove in a court of law.

The study, published in the American Journal on Addictions, is among the first to examine nicotine use among patients of a medical marijuana dispensary.

What are the substances, which enhance one's nicotine addiction? In a first, a study published in the American Journal on Addictions, is among the first to examine nicotine use among patients of a medical marijuana dispensary. According to a study, people who use medicinal cannabis are more prone to consumption of nicotine products than the general population. 

Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR) -- often referred to as IIP -- quickly became one of the hottest growth stocks in the cannabis industry.

The real estate investment trust (REIT), buys and leases industrial properties to licensed medical marijuana operators. At its peak in February 2021, it had grown 916% in five years.

But its stellar growth has come to a screeching halt. Concern over the legalization of cannabis, followed by a class action lawsuit, and now a default from its largest tenant have pushed shares down 64% from recent highs.

Investors rightfully are wondering if the stock is going up in flames, or if it's bound to recover. Here's what's going on, and where the stock could be headed in the future.

Lompoc leaders could enact a moratorium on new cannabis businesses in the city amid concerns that a glut in the market is resulting in too much competition.

The request for changes comes from existing cannabis businesses which say there are too many pot shops in a city of just 45,000 people, especially at a time when inflation has dampened demand for cannabis and other non-essential items.

Unlike many other municipalities, Lompoc took a laissez-faire approach to commercial cannabis.

“It would vastly change the current ordinance on the books so we want to be very careful about how we move forward on that,” Lompoc Mayor Jenelle Osborne told KSBY.

The city has issued 46 cannabis licenses with another 16 applications pending.

SANTA CRUZ - SC Labs today announced it has rebranded Agricor, Botanacor, and Can-Lab to become one company under the SC Labs name.

The company now offers seamless testing services for cannabis across California, Michigan, Oregon, and Colorado, as well as hemp testing capabilities nationwide. This represents the first stage of expansion that will deliver significant value to multi-state cannabis operators and large wellness brands in need of streamlined and accurate testing across state lines.

Cannabis is such an effective recovery aid that many professional athletes have secretly used cannabis to help them recover, even when it might have cost them their career.

We all know exercise is good for us. But sometimes we forget recovery is just as important. To get back to the activity you love, you need to recover in an optimal amount of time. The body has natural mechanisms of recovery, but with work, kids and social obligations, sometimes life gets in the way and recovery takes a backseat to training. But if you repeatedly exercise without letting your body recover, you can put yourself in a state of overreaching that can negatively affect your mood and energy levels.

BUCKFIELD - Residents passed the $2.4 million budget and a new marijuana ordinance in Tuesday's Town Meeting referendum vote, but it was not a good day for incumbents.

The town is one of a few municipalities that holds its Town Meeting with a daylong vote by secret ballot instead of a traditional in-person meeting. That method will continue for at least another year as voters passed a question to continue the referendum format by a 127-117 vote, against the recommendation of the Select Board.

IDAHO - A partnership between the University of Idaho and a local company Hempitecture is looking to turn the world a little greener by using hemp as an environmentally friendly building material.

Home insulation made out of hemp is what the University of Idaho's Boise-based Integrated Design Lab is testing right now using a $200,000 state grant to research and compare typical insulation materials to hemp insulation created by Idaho-based company Hempitecture.