Marijuana industry sparks new tech startups

Forbes – The emerging cannabis industry has not only created thousands of new jobs, it has also given birth to a new technology niche. Existing software companies are adapting and news ones are being born to address the specific needs of this new sector. Government agencies and business owners find that they are at ground zero for the creation of these new products.

The low hanging fruit was the copy cat web design for internet cannabis sites based on already popular traditional internet sites. Leafly is called the “Yelp” of pot because of its product reviews and Weedmaps is the “Groupon” of cannabis with its daily deals. Weedhire is the equivalent of Monster.com for its marijuana jobs. However, it isn’t just marijuana businesses, government agencies have also been challenged with meeting the specific requirements of complicated cannabis legislation. Since each state is unique in its regulations, there isn’t a one size fits all software program on the market. Plus, the most unique challenge that faced many software designers was the seed to sale tracking that several states require.

Franwell didn’t start out as a marijuana software company. It had 20 years of fresh fruit and berry tracking experience. Another customer told them that Colorado was taking bids on supply chain tracking for marijuana and they won the bid. Cathy Jolley said one of the biggest challenges is the continuous change in regulations. She said the state made 14 software changes in the first six months. As they look to working with more states, adjusting the software to each state’s particular regulations becomes a challenge. “It would be great to have standardized tracking,” she said. Franwell has reached out to more states including Illinois and New York. The bonus for Franwell is that Oracle and Microsoft have not decided to jump in as of yet.

MJ Freeway was created out of necessity. Co-founder Jessica Billingsley said she had invested in the first licensed business in Colorado and was tasked with choosing the software. That’s when she and co-founder Amy Poinsett decided they needed to create a platform that tracked every gram of marijuana and every dollar. They both came from the computer space. Now they have 1,000 licenses in 19 states. MJ Freeway is one of the few businesses that has translated its product to Spanish and is looking at foreign markets. It was one of only a handful of American companies at the World Cannabis Conference in Spain. Business is so good that MJ Freeway has doubled is revenue every year since inception.

NIC targets the government as its client in the cannabis space. It specializes in helping the government agencies tasked with creating a marijuana department. It’s one thing for lawmakers to decide that applicants for licenses and dispensaries need to follow certain procedures and pay specific fees, but its another thing to create that process online. “The policies being set up by the state, we’re putting them into play,” said Robert Knapp COO of NIC. Paul VandenBussche, NIC General Manager in Maine said, “ We moved from paper driven because there were too many issues , such as whether the paper was valid or real. We strengthened it by making it fraud proof.” NIC is currently providing services for Hawaii and Maine. the marijuana program in Hawaii began in the Department of Public Safety, but in January it moved to the Department of Health where NIC implemented a new system that doctors and patients have found to be simpler and faster.

Product testing is another cannabis hot button issue. In the early months of retail marijuana in Colorado, customers became confused as to how much THC was in the product they bought. The problem was very pronounced in the edible market, but dispensaries increasingly realized they had to deliver as much information about their product as they could. Sage Analytics was founded when they saw that growers, labs and producers were forced to ship their product off to third party labs losing time and money. Necessity is the mother of invention, so they built a small desk top measuring device to deliver instant and accurate THC, CBD and CBN measurements.

On the financial side, Amercanex is creating a cannabis commodity exchange with the plan for a futures market. Not unlike the other commodities exchange, this platform will allow cannabis farmers to lock in prices for their crops and for buyers to secure their inventory. Steve Janjic, CEO of Amercanex said his company is looking ahead to when the Federal government declassifies marijuana, which would allow him to sell derivative financial instruments. He anticipates option and futures. “You have to give them the ability to manage infrastructure,” said Janjic. “We allow growers in Denver to sell all over the state.” The company is currently in Colorado, but they expect to be in California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada. They’ve even been approached by other producers of wine, hops and bio-fuel to join. Take that Chicago Board of Trade. Janjic said, “We want to be first to market and we want the bigger players to partner with us. Run it like a true exchange.”

March Madness for Marijuana!

March Madness is playing out in stadiums across the country this week and as everyone in an office bracket watches the games with great hope for some luck and a nice bounce another March Madness is playing out in legislatures now  in session for the political March Madness of the consideration of marijuana legalization. Will we see a law passed by the time the Final Four is played in Indianapolis on April 6 at Lukas Oil Stadium? Knowing how slow politicians move probably not, but the debates might just be as interesting and compelling as some of the best games of March Madness

The legislative season is in full swing at statehouses around the country, and pot is hot. And we’re not even talking about medical marijuana or decriminalization bills, we’re talking about outright legalization bills.

Early this month, the General Social Survey, the “gold standard” of public opinion polls, reported that for the first time, a majority nationwide favor legalization. Other recent opinion polls, including Gallup and Pew, have reported similar results. And all have reported rather dramatic increases in support in recent years, with the trend still continuing upward.

While Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and DC have already legalized weed via the initiative process, it’s taking a few years for state legislatures to notice. There was a similar political dynamic with medical marijuana. Californians voted to legalize medical in 1996, but it took four years for Hawaii to become the first state to do so legislatively.

It’s now nearly three years since Coloradans and Washingtonians voted to legalize marijuana. Isn’t it time for some state legislature somewhere to get around to legalizing it? Well, maybe. But getting controversial, paradigm-shifting policy changes through such bodies is notoriously difficult and time-consuming. And while polls are reporting majorities for legalization, those are slim majorities. That means there are still a whole lot of people in this country who don’t want to see pot legalized.

Still, legalization appears to be the wave of the future. Legalization bills have been or will be filed in at least 15 states this year (see below). Here are five states that are most likely to be the first out of the box when it comes to legalizing pot at the statehouse.

1. Maine. Rep. Diane Russell (D-Portland) has previously sponsored legalization bills and is doing the same this year. While her bill has yet to be assigned to a committee and one chamber of the legislature is dominated by Republicans, the threat of legalization via voter initiative next year if legislators don’t act this year could be enough to concentrate their minds.

2. Massachusetts. Earlier this month, Rep. David Rogers (D-Belmont), Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville), and 13 bipartisan cosponsors introduced House Bill 1561, which would legalize marijuana for adults and establish a system of taxed and regulated marijuana commerce. As in Maine, legislators have the threat of a voter initiative next year if they fail to act.

3. Rhode Island.Also earlier this month, Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Joshua Miller (D-Cranston) and House Finance Committee member Scott A. Slater (D-Providence) introduced legislation to make marijuana legal for adults 21 and older and to establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol. The bills are House Bill 5777 and Senate Bill 510. The state has been tagged as one of the more likely ones to legalize it through the legislature.

4. Connecticut. Rep. Edwin Vargas’ HB 6473 and Rep. Juan Candelaria’s HB 6703 would each replace Connecticut’s prohibition of marijuana with sensible regulations for adults’ use, and both are currently before the Joint Judiciary Committee.

5. Vermont. Connecticut. has filed Senate Bill 95, which would legalize the possession of up to an ounce by adults, establish a regulatory system for marijuana commerce, and impose a $40 an ounce excise tax on marijuana sold in the state. Whether the bill will go anywhere remains to be seen; key legislative leaders said they did not plan to hold hearings on it this year, but if the issue starts moving in neighboring states, that could change.

These five states all have some things in common: They have all decriminalized small-time pot possession, they have all enacted medical marijuana laws, and they are all in New England, one of the most liberal regions of the country.

A Special Case

And then there’s Nevada. Just last week, it became the first state to have a legalization initiative approved for the November 2016 ballot. This was not a case of the legislature acting, but of the legislature failing to act. Nevada legalization advocates have already gone through all the steps to get an initiative on the ballot—drafting the measure, getting its language approved, gathering the required number of signatures—and the legislature had until last week to avoid taking the issue to the voters by simply approving it itself. It chose not to do that, and now, Nevadans are set to vote on legalization next year.

Serious marijuana legalization initiative efforts are also likely next year or campaigns are already underway in Arizona, California, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio, as well as Maine and Massachusetts (if the legislatures don’t act first).

More States With Legalization Bills

Although the New England states look to have the best shot at being first to legalize via the legislature, they have no monopoly on interest in the topic. Marijuana legalization bills have also been filed this year in Arizona HB 2007, the District of Columbia (to tax and regulate), Georgia (SB 198), Hawaii (SB 383), Illinois (possession and cultivation, SB 753), Maryland (SB 531), Missouri (would allow a legalization initiative, HJR 15, New Mexico (would approve a constitutional amendment, SJR 2; a straight legalization bill, HB 160, was already defeated), Pennsylvania (SB 528), Tennessee (possession and casual exchange, HB 0873), and Texas (HB 2165).

It’s going to happen somewhere, maybe this year. The most promising prospects are in New England, but who knows? Will a pot law be signed in Austin before one is signed in Boston?

Michigan Rep. Jeff Erwin (D) “The Best Way to Control Youth Access to Pot is to Legalize It”

Michigan Rep. Jeff Erwin (D) says he plans to introduce a bill that would make Michigan the fifth state to legalize recreational marijuana.

CBSDetroit – Democrat state Rep. Jeff Erwin told WWJ/CBS Detroit that he plans to introduce legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana in Michigan. The bill could go before lawmakers as soon as the end of this month.

Erwin said lives are “turned upside-down” when people are busted in possession of small amounts of pot and have to pay lawyer fees that can amount to thousands of dollars.

“That’s a tremendous blow to an individual, to a family and to businesses,” he said. “We need to stop this.”

He also thinks that legalizing recreational weed could mean an extra $50 to $100 million for Michigan’s economy.

Recreational marijuana is legal in four states and the District of Columbia. Voters in Colorado and Washington approved recreational marijuana in 2012, and those laws are already effective. Voters in Alaska and Oregon approved possession of marijuana, and the District of Columbia is moving ahead with the implementation of a voter approved initiative.

Opponents argue the legalization wave makes pot too accessible to kids, but Michigan’s Erwin said his bill will have regulatory controls that will make it easier for authorities to control access than it currently is.

“If we want to actually keep drugs away from kids – we have to legalize it, and we have to regulate it,” Erwin said. “That’s the only way we are going to be successful – putting our heads in the sand hasn’t worked for decades and it’s not going to work tomorrow.”

Meet The 8 Hottest Publicly Traded Marijuana Companies

By Carol Tice @forbes

With marijuana now legal in four states and Washington, D.C. and decriminalized, conditionally legal, or medically prescribed in 23 more, cannabis startups are gaining traction — and the growth potential is huge, if other states legalize. In 2014 pot stocks are up 147%, handily beating the S&P’s more modest gains, according to consulting and financial services firm Viridian Capital & Research.

Which companies are doing well? Viridian has created a cannabis industry report that tracks the progress of publicly traded companies in the emerging sector. For now, they’re all trading over-the-counter, but watch for that to change.

It’s a Wild West atmosphere in the sector, given that the product is still, ahem, mostly illegal. A few pot companies were forced to cease trading in recent months, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) continues to actively discourage investors from putting money into cannabis stocks. Some pot startups lack professional management, a board of directors, or proper financial controls, Viridian notes — so due diligence is important.

Despite all the reasons to avoid pot stocks, some cannabis companies are impressing investors. Viridian categorizes publicly traded the companies into ten business types. Three are off to a slow start this year — cannabis-related real estate, security services, and software — while the rest have seen at least one company’s stock double in value or more.

The hottest area right now is, unsurprisingly, consulting (up 665% sectorwide through the third quarter of 2014). No doubt plenty of businesses want advice on how to get into this line of work. In second place is cannabis-related biotechnology (up 339%).

It’s no surprise that several of the hot stocks out of the gate aren’t startups, but established businesses switching their focus into cannabis. Investors do love a track record…..more @Forbes

St. Patrick’s Day in D.C. Green beer or green bud?

By Aaron C. Davis Washington Post

First a disclaimer: There is no marijuana in the beer. That’s what I was told. Cannabis and hops are just a lot alike. It only smells like pot beer. And it might, well, kind of taste like it, too.

But if that’s what you like — a dank, resinous pint — or if you’re willing to at least try it, this could be your kind of St. Patrick’s Day in D.C.

The District’s DC Brau will tap a few green-decorated kegs of its new seasonal india pale ale dubbed “Smells Like Freedom” on Tuesday night, for what is bound to be a first in the District’s protracted fight for full voting rights.

DC Brau co-founder Brandon Skall, seated, with brewer Christopher Graham on March 14 during a tour of DC Brau Brewing Co. and a sneak peek of its new protest beer “Smells Like Freedom.” (Aaron C. Davis/The Washington Post)

The aromatic brew is the latest in a series of imaginative protests since House Republicans attempted to block a voter-approved ballot measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use in the nation’s capital.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) pressed forward with implementing the ballot measure last month over threats of jail time by congressional Republicans. Possession, sharing and home cultivation of marijuana is now legal in the District. But Congress has blocked legal sales or purchases of pot.

The conflict has spurred sit-ins, marches, and as late as Tuesday, a band of pro-marijuana advocates dressed up in colonial garb who barged into the Capitol Hill office of House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), a leading opponent of legalization in D.C. The protestors offered a glass peace pipe of sorts. Chaffetz’s staffers declined.

Brewing a marijuana protest beer, however, was far less spontaneous. It’s been fermenting, in fact, since last fall, said Brandon Skall, chief executive and co-founder of DC Brau Brewing Co.

DC Brau and Longmont, Colo.-based Oskar Blues Brewing, both of which bottle their beers in cans, had for more than a year been looking for a reason to team up on a brewing project.

In e-mails last fall, Skall said he laid out the case for doing a beer together around D.C.’s legalization effort and the rarely-noticed plight of the 650,000 D.C. residents who have no voting rights in Congress.

Oskar executives were sold, and brewers there took to their lab, Skall said. They found three experimental hops that, when combined, produced a distinctly marijuana-like aroma. read more…@Washington Post

Connecticut Supreme Court rules 7-0 marijuana convictions can be erased

By Dave Collins, Associated Press
People arrested in Connecticut for possessing small amounts of marijuana have the right to get their convictions erased because the state decriminalized misdemeanor possession of cannabis in 2011, the state Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

The 7-0 ruling came in the case of former Manchester and Bolton resident Nicholas Menditto. A state prosecutor and Menditto’s lawyer said the decision affects thousands of people who have misdemeanor marijuana convictions in Connecticut.

“It’s a topic multiple states will have to be facing,” said Aaron Romano, Menditto’s attorney. “Because marijuana is being decriminalized across the United States, this issue needs to be addressed.”

Colorado, Washington state, Washington, D.C., and Alaska have legalized the recreational use of pot. Oregon’s law legalizing it takes effect in July. Connecticut and 22 other states allow marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Last year, Colorado’s second-highest court ruled that some people convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana can ask for those convictions to be thrown out under the state law that legalized recreational marijuana. Officials in the other states are grappling with the issue. read more

US grown marijuana in high demand in Mexico City

By PETER ORSI, Associated Press

MEXICO CITY – Once upon a time, Mexican marijuana was the gold standard for U.S. pot smokers. But in the new world of legal markets and gourmet weed, aficionados here are looking to the United States and Europe for the good stuff.

Instead of Acapulco Gold, Mexican smokers want strains like Liberty Haze and Moby Dick – either importing high-potency boutique pot from the United States, or growing it here in secret gardens that use techniques perfected abroad.

It’s a small but growing market in a country where marijuana is largely illegal, unlike the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington that have legalized recreational use, and others where medicinal pot is available.

A text message will bring a Mexico City dealer to the customer’s doorstep with a menu of high-end buds for sale at the swipe of a credit card through a smartphone reader. Hydroponic shops have sprung up that supply equipment to those who want to cultivate potent strains in sophisticated home-grown operations. Some even are setting up pot cooperatives to share costs like high electrical bills and swap what they grow with each other.

“I know people who are architects, executives, lawyers … who went to the United States or Europe,” said Antoine Robbe, the 35-year-old, French-born proprietor of Hydrocultivos, one of the shops. They say, “‘Man, why don’t we have this in my country?'”

So far, reports of U.S.-grown marijuana making its way south have been only anecdotal but enough to raise concern, according to Alejandro Mohar, a Mexican physician and member of the U.N. International Narcotics Control Board.

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official told NPR in December that Mexican cartel operatives were smuggling in high-end U.S. marijuana to sell to wealthy customers, though there’s no sign so far of a massive southward trade. The DEA declined to comment further in response to a request from the AP.

In Mexico City, several people said they have seen freezer-size bags of marijuana here labeled as being for medicinal use in Los Angeles.

Mexico allows people to carry up to 5 grams of pot for personal use but bans sale and growing. Historically, there has been little social tolerance for pot use, with “marijuanos” stigmatized as slackers or supporters of the deadly drug trade.

Mexico growers say their home-cultivation phenomenon is removed from the grisly narco-wars that have wracked the country. In fact, growing and swapping among themselves, they contend, allows them to avoid supporting the cartels.

“I’m not a narco, dude. I just like to smoke,” said Daniel, a goateed 32-year-old living in the bohemian Roma neighborhood. He spoke on condition that his last name not be used because, he said, his home-grow operation is “super-illegal” despite being for personal use only.

Mexican law provides for prison sentences of up to 25 years for people convicted of producing, trafficking or selling drugs.

Home growers say they are forming cooperatives to share the costs of the indoor-gardening gear and high electric bills and swap harvests with each other, many building their club model with skills first imported by foreigners.

Last year, Homero Fernandez, a 29-year-old event promoter, teamed up with about a dozen people to form a pot club, each paying about $200 to buy a hydroponic grow kit now tended to by one of the members.

Today the club has about 50 to 60 plants that produce enough sativa buds to satisfy the members, some of them heavy smokers, who are able to purchase an ounce of high-end pot for between $95 and $130, less than half of what they’d pay a dealer.

The end result is pot with around 15 to 20 percent THC, the high-generating component of marijuana, compared to 3 to 8 percent in the Mexican “brick weed” more commonly sold here and north of the border. Some people are also producing concentrates with 60 to 99.6 percent THC, the strongest of which are too powerful to be smoked in a pipe or joint.

“It comes out much cheaper than paying for even regular pot … and the quality is much higher,” said Fernandez, who wore his Ray-Ban shades indoors and sported a white T-shirt emblazoned with the letters “THC.” ”What gets produced is exclusively for us. Nothing more, and it doesn’t get sold outside” the club.

The market for gourmet weed is still minuscule next to the multibillion-dollar marijuana export trade dominated by the cartels. According to DEA statistics, seizures along the border last year accounted for more than 2.2 million pounds of pot.

The hydroponic shops don’t sell seeds or pot and thus stay on the right side of the law. Like others, Daniel ordered seeds online from a company in Spain, opting for a U.K-originated strain known as Exodus Cheese. The precious cargo arrived by mail nine days later in envelopes resembling teabags inside a tiny, discreetly labeled tin.

Just as seeds increasingly are crossing borders, Fernandez said, wider acceptance abroad is reshaping attitudes in Mexico.

“The United States, with this boom of regularization and this boom of legal marijuana, all that arrives here and has an impact on cannabis culture.”

Recreational Marijuana Legal In D.C. – Cannabis is now the fastest-growing industry in the U.S

via Huffpo

After months of debate, threats and uncertainty, recreational marijuana became legal in Washington, D.C., Thursday — at least according to the city government.

Adults 21 and over may now legally use marijuana, possess up to two ounces and grow up to six marijuana plants in their homes for personal use. Marijuana sales remain illegal, but the District Council is considering a bill that would regulate and tax marijuana sales, similar to laws in Colorado and Washington state. Because of the city’s unique oversight by Congress, it’s unclear if any measure legalizing marijuana sales and regulation could go into effect before 2016.

The legalization of marijuana on the federal government’s home turf adds to a shift in U.S. marijuana policy that began when Colorado and Washington state allowed recreational marijuana two years ago. Alaska’s new recreational marijuana law also took effect this week. Oregon’s legalization takes effect later this year.

“This is a significant milestone in the movement for racial justice, civil liberties, and drug policy reform,” said Dr. Malik Burnett, D.C. policy manager at the Drug Policy Alliance. “The racially-biased enforcement of marijuana laws in the nation’s capital is officially a relic of history.”

D.C. continues to prohibit public use of marijuana and possession on federal land, which includes roughly 20 percent of the District. As a result, advocates urge eager marijuana consumers to use caution when trying out the new law. The Washington Post has a a helpful map of federal land in the District.

The District legalized medical marijuana in 2010, and its first medical marijuana dispensary opened in 2013. In 2014, the D.C. Council decriminalized the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

But the road to legalization has been fraught, with the city facing challenges over whether it has the authority to enact a law in the first place. D.C.’s city government is mostly autonomous, but the Constitution gives Congress final say over city laws.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) aimed to blocking D.C. legalization by tucking a measure forbidding the city from using funds to “enact” marijuana laws into a federal spending bill passed by Congress in December. D.C. lawmakers and congressional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said they believed legalization was enacted by voters when they approved it in November, so Harris’ measure was meaningless.

The debate continued hours before the law would go into effect, with House Republicans warning D.C. officials not to move forward. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) went so far as to threaten District lawmakers with jail if legalization took effect.

Ultimately, the required 30-day period for congressional review of the District’s law expired at the stroke of midnight Thursday, and legalization automatically went into effect.

Congress may still take action to eliminate the new marijuana law and has several options to do so, ranging from passing a bill that effectively cancels the law, to filing a lawsuit. It appears unlikely that there is enough congressional support for either. Harris has maintained that his provision already blocks legalization.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law and states that have proceeded with legalization have been able to do so because of Department of Justice guidance that urges federal prosecutors to refrain from targeting state-legal marijuana operations.

Despite the conflicted federal stance, legal marijuana is the fastest-growing industry in the U.S., according to a recent report from industry analyst ArcView Group. At least 10 more states are considering legalizing marijuana by 2016. By 2020, there could be as many as 18 states where recreational marijuana is legal.

U.S. Surgeon General warms to medical marijuana

In an interview, the country’s top doctor said preliminary research shows “marijuana can be helpful.”

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy expressed optimism about the medical benefits of marijuana use in a Wednesday television interview.

Speaking on CBS This Morning, Murthy said there is some promising research about medical uses of the drug, which is legal in some states but still banned on the federal level. “We have some preliminary data showing that for certain medical conditions and symptoms, that marijuana can be helpful,” Murthy told CBS. “I think that we have to use that data to drive policymaking.”

Murthy added that more research is needed “to see what the science tells us about the efficacy of marijuana,” but he said more data should be on the way thanks to the growing list of states passing laws to legalize medical marijuana.

The Surgeon General’s statements follow what seems to be growing acceptance in the federal government of medical marijuana. In December, Congress passed a spending measure that included a provision to effectively end the federal ban on medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

At the moment, 23 states allow the use of medical marijuana, despite the fact that federal laws still classify marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug — the most dangerous level, which also includes heroin and ecstasy. Four states have passed laws legalizing recreational pot along with Washington, D.C.

At a Senate confirmation hearing last year, some politicians asked Murthy to clarify his stance on marijuana legalization. The physician said at the time that, much like other drugs, he would not recommend that anyone use marijuana. “I don’t think it’s a good habit to use marijuana,” he said.

Still, there is some precedent of U.S. Surgeon Generals showing open minds when it comes to medical marijuana’s potential benefits. Regina Benjamin, who served in the post from 2009 to 2013, acknowledged that the drug could have medicinal uses. But she felt more research was necessary. Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who occupied the job in the early 1990’s, said in 2010 that she supported legalization and added that marijuana is not addictive.

read more Fortune