Business
Marijuana Manufacturing Trivia
The legalization and regulation of marijuana use paved the way for the weed manufacturing industry to become one of the fastest-growing businesses in the last few years.
Scruffy hippies getting high in a disorganized underground economy — this was how the weed manufacturing industry was painted in the (not too distant) past. But today, the new marijuana manufacturing business is growing, and it’s nothing like you’ve ever imagined. So, want to stump your friends who consume, here is a little marijuana manufacturing trivia!
What Is Weed Manufacturing?
Weed manufacturing refers to the process of yielding, reproducing, deriving or preparing, manufactured weed products. This process of weed manufacturing can be done either indirectly or directly, using extraction techniques, chemical synthesis, or a combination of both. The industry continues to grow rapidly as more consumers are beginning to understand the benefits of taking weed products in health and fitness, medicine, and even beauty.
Subsequently, as the demand for various marijuana products increases, more investors are showing interest in starting a cannabis-related business. The entire weed industry is flourishing, and as this sector continues to develop at a fast pace, there is lots of money to be made. If you’re thinking of going into a large-scale operation, there are many marijuana processing equipment available that can help you kick-start your business.
But be prepared. Starting a weed business is not easy, as there are laws and regulations that you have to consider first depending on the state or country you’ll be operating from. So, you might want to plan this carefully. It’s also best to consult with lawyers and check with regulating bodies first to make sure your business will be compliant with the laws in place.
For recreational use, marijuana is currently legal in 15 states. But for medical use, it’s legal in 35 states, and these numbers are expected to grow in the coming years. Traditionally, hash, flower, and handmade edibles were the only cannabis goods available to consumers in the underground market. In today’s legal market, weed products are available in more forms like oils, concentrates, cannabis-infused drinks and foods, and products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) like dry powder inhalers, and transdermal patches. It’s no wonder why there’s a sudden increase in the number of weed manufacturing companies regardless of strict state regulations.
But aside from the facts cited above, there are more interesting things about the weed manufacturing industry:
Its Sales Growth Is Rapidly Increasing
Since the changes in government laws, with more states legalizing its use, the market for legal marijuana was projected to skyrocket. And true enough, according to Forbes, legal marijuana sales in the U.S. alone went up by 46% in 2020. This increase led to an all-time high of USD$17.5 billion, which means Americans are consuming more weed than ever.
Furthermore, several new cannabis firms are pursuing research and development, testing, and production. In Canada, many regions are anticipating the privatization of cannabis retail outlets. Many provinces that formerly picked a single supplier are now asking numerous vendors to submit their bids to meet the increase in demand.
In a recent market analysis report, the value of the worldwide legal marijuana market was appraised at USD$ 9.1 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to have a 26.7% increase in compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2021 to 2028. It can be said that the growing demand for legal marijuana is driven by the increasing number of states and countries legalizing the use of cannabis.
It Produces Innovative Products Too
With its legalization, marijuana users are eating their cannabis more than ever, rather than smoking it. Between January and August 2018, the market share of edibles in Oregon and Colorado increased to 24%, with sales for other edible products growing even faster. Cannabis-infused chocolates, for example, grew by 135% in Colorado during the same period.
Aside from edibles, many other variations of cannabis products—such as topical oils applied to the skin and sublingual dosages that dissolve beneath the tongue—have gained traction since legalization, but they don’t account for the majority of sales in the market. Low-dose products for medical patients or smokers who prefer a softer high have also grown in popularity, with sales in Colorado increasing by 83% in 2017.
It Makes CBD More Accessible
Cannabidiol, or CBD for short, is a type of cannabinoid responsible for the majority of cannabis’ medicinal benefits. CBD may be separated and purified from THC, marijuana’s major psychoactive component, to create oils and tinctures for patients who want to benefit from the drug’s anti-inflammatory and relaxant effects without getting ‘the high.’ In areas where CBD is legal, these medicines are readily accessible and utilized as home treatments for anxiety, nausea, chronic pain, epilepsy, and even acne.
It Creates Employment Opportunities
The cannabis business is expanding so quickly that the number of employment opportunities in this industry has tripled since 2016. According to Marijuana Business Daily, the weed industry employs between 125,000 and 160,000 full-time workers. By 2022, it is anticipated to add another 340,000 full-time employments, representing an annual growth rate of 21%.
Weed manufacturers were able to hire a large number of people now that the demand for marijuana has increased tremendously. In 2020, cannabis firms have employed more than 200,000 full-time workers in various areas of the medicinal and recreational cannabis industries, including budtenders, machine operators, legal clerks, and more.
It Generates Tax Revenue
Marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington have been higher than in recent years, resulting in increased tax revenues. Colorado earned more than $302 million in medicinal and recreational marijuana taxes and fees in 2019 as a result of more than $1.7 billion in sales. According to a research by Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics, sales in the United States reached $12.2 billion in 2019 and are expected to rise to $31.1 billion by 2024.
Backed up by local evidence, a recent analysis from Colorado State University Pueblo’s Institute of Cannabis Research found that a contribution of more than $80.8 million in the local economy can be attributed to the legal cannabis sector because of tax revenues. Furthermore, according to a study by New Frontier Data, an accredited cannabis analytics firm, state-legalized marijuana may produce an additional $105.6 billion in federal tax revenue by 2025.
Key Takeaway
The legalization and regulation of marijuana use paved the way for the weed manufacturing industry to become one of the fastest-growing businesses in the last few years. And as more countries begin to accept its true benefits beyond recreational use, the industry will only continue to grow and expand to reach more consumers with countless innovations.
Source: https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/marijuana-manufacturing-trivia/
Business
New Mexico cannabis operator fined, loses license for alleged BioTrack fraud
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Business
Marijuana companies suing US attorney general in federal prohibition challenge
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Business
Alabama to make another attempt Dec. 1 to award medical cannabis licenses
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
-
Business1 year ago
Pot Odor Does Not Justify Probable Cause for Vehicle Searches, Minnesota Court Affirms
-
Business1 year ago
New Mexico cannabis operator fined, loses license for alleged BioTrack fraud
-
Business1 year ago
Alabama to make another attempt Dec. 1 to award medical cannabis licenses
-
Business1 year ago
Washington State Pays Out $9.4 Million in Refunds Relating to Drug Convictions
-
Business1 year ago
Marijuana companies suing US attorney general in federal prohibition challenge
-
Business1 year ago
Legal Marijuana Handed A Nothing Burger From NY State
-
Business1 year ago
Can Cannabis Help Seasonal Depression
-
Blogs1 year ago
Cannabis Art Is Flourishing On Etsy