Vermont bankers are venturing into the business opportunity presented by new cannabis businesses and a loosening of marijuana laws.

David Silverman, president and CEO of Union Bank, said his bank has chosen to work with a few companies producing or selling industrial hemp or cannabidiol, also known as CBD, a cannabis extract that is used as a remedy for various ailments.

“We have chosen in some cases to bank these folks,” Silverman said Saturday. “We have a very strict due diligence process that we go through to decide whether we want to do that or not. In cases we’ve chosen not to because they couldn’t meet our due diligence criteria.”

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Cannabis NB claims putting illegal marijuana dealers out of business is its primary objective in New Brunswick but it appears to be the only retailer in the region not offering at least one product that can compete with street prices, betting instead on a better shopping experience to win customers over.

"Our goal is to shrink the illegal market," said Cannabis NB President Brian Harriman in a CBC interview last week.

"Our target market is existing users," he said. "We don't have a mandate to grow the category.  What we would like to do is have as many of the existing cannabis users in the province over the age of 19 choose to buy from us."

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Toronto police have shut down five pot shops in a coordinated raid Oct. 19.

Police spokesman Gary Long says the drug squad charged and released eight people under the new provincial cannabis legislation.

It is only legal to buy marijuana in Ontario from the province's online website and police Chief Mark Saunders vowed to shut down illegal dispensaries after marijuana became legal on Wednesday.

Ontario will be issuing licenses to operate dispensaries, but that system won't be in place until April 1, 2019.

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LAFAYETTE, Colo., Oct. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- urban-gro, Inc, a systems integrator and agriculture technology firm serving commercial cultivators around the world, will be presenting its new Soleil Environmental Control systems, powered by TGC, at the 2018 California Cannabis Business Conference in Anaheim on Oct. 22-23. The systems, the Soleil Spark and Soleil Ray, are the newest additions to the company’s Soleil Sense + Control technology line—one of the most advanced cultivation systems available today.

These plug-and-play systems are ideal for California cultivators with facilities up to 10,000 square feet. Offering complete control for grows, the Soleil proprietary control system doesn’t require complicated programming—users simply use the intuitive touchscreen interface to control nutrient and water delivery, capture environmental data, and control facility lighting. The skid-mounted Spark and Ray batch systems fit through a standard 60" doorway for easy setup and can feed up to 4 and 10 nutrient zones, respectively.

Accessible from anywhere, the Soleil Sense + Control systems improve crop quality, consistency and operational efficiencies by using high-density wireless sensor networks to deliver actionable, data-driven microclimate intelligence.

“urban-gro’s Soleil Sense + Control technology systems help cultivators of all sizes maximize crop quality and yield while reducing operational costs. With the expansion of our Soleil line to include the Soleil Spark and Ray, we are able to effectively deliver the same technology used in large-scale cultivations to smaller and mid-size grows around the world,” said Brad Nattrass, CEO and co-founder at urban-gro. “All eyes are on California as an adult-use state and national leader in cultivation. We have a sustained commitment to servicing the cultivation community, providing best-in-market products and services to this thriving marketplace.”

urban-gro experts will be on hand at Booth #211 for a demo of the Soleil Spark system and to answer questions regarding Soleil technology and urban-gro’s systems integration solutions.