Harvard Professor, Psychiatrist and Author Lester Grinspoon Dies at Age 92

Grinspoon was committed to advancing cannabis policy throughout his life.

June 26, 2020

Lester Grinspoon, M.D., a Harvard professor, psychiatrist and author, passed away June 25 at the age of 92.

Grinspoon was committed to advancing cannabis policy throughout his life. He wrote 12 books over the course of his career, including Marijuana Reconsidered, an influential work that argued for the end of cannabis prohibition.

A leader of the cannabis legalization movement, Grinspoon was also dedicated to advancing NORML, serving on the on the organization’s Board of Directors and Advisory Board for many years.

Read more about Grinspoon’s life and legacy on NORML’s website.

GIE Media’s Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower Magazines Earn National, Regional Awards from American Society of Business Publication Editors

The 2020 Azbee Awards of Excellence honored the publications’ editorial and design staff.

June 26, 2020

CBT Staff

News State by State: Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio (June 23, 2020) – GIE Media’s Cannabis Group received six national Azbee Awards of Excellence from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) during the 2020 award period, including national gold awards for Cannabis Business Times (CBT) and Hemp Grower (HG).

ASBPE honored HG Art Director Andrea Vagas with a national gold award in New Publication Design for HG’s launch issue (November-December 2019). Bold headlines, white space, and charts and graphs accent the issue’s timely coverage of topics such as regulations in Canada and challenges that farmers and researchers have encountered with hemp seeds and clones.

CBT’s print editorial team also received a national gold award in the Company Profile category, for “Diversify and Differentiate,” the October 2019 cover story on Oregon-based East Fork Cultivars. In the piece, Senior Editor Brian MacIver tells the story of how Nathan and Aaron Howard’s search for relief for their older brother Wesley’s neurofibromatosis led to the development of a multi-acre operation specializing in “elusive” type 2 and type 3 cultivars.

“We are honored to receive these awards from ASBPE, which recognizes publications that achieve the high standards the organization sets for U.S. business publications,” said Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski, who co-founded CBT in 2014. “Our team is extremely talented and dedicated to producing valuable editorial and design content that best serves our readers in these nascent and truly complex industries.”

On the design side for CBT, Graphic Designer Katelyn Boyden was awarded two national silver awards, one for overall Magazine/Newspaper Design, and the other for Feature Article Design, for the January 2019 cover story on Aurora Cannabis.

In addition, CBT’s editorial team received a national silver award in the category Online Single Topic Coverage by a Team, for their coverage of vaping-related lung illnesses.

And CBT’s full-time print editorial staff, along with contributing writer Paul Barbagallo, were awarded the national bronze award in the Company Profile category for the Barbagallo-penned “Dan’s Gambit,” the July 2019 cover story on Dan Sutton and his company Tantalus Labs.

The Cannabis Group also received several awards in the Heartland Region of ASBPE for all three of its titles: CBT, HG and Cannabis Dispensary (CD).

“These are all wonderful accomplishments and a testament to our team’s talent, hard work and teamwork,” Group Publisher Jim Gilbride said. “We prioritize the highest editorial standards, market leadership and making a positive difference in the industries we serve, and the recognition from ASBPE is another indication that we are achieving our goals.”

For more information on the Azbees, visit http://www.asbpe.org/azbee-awards/

About Cannabis Business Times

CBT was founded in July 2014 (by owner/Publisher Tim Hermes and Editor Noelle Skodzinski) and launched Sept. 1, 2014, as a digital media brand—with a website (CannabisBusinessTimes.com) updated daily and a weekly e-mail newsletter. It was purchased by GIE Media in April 2015. The brand now consists of a monthly print magazine, digital edition of the monthly magazine, an app (available in the GooglePlay and iTunes stores), the Cannabis Conference (co-produced with CD and HG), a series of virtual events, a three-times-weekly enewsletter and the website, CannabisBusinessTimes.com. Subscriptions to the print magazine are free to qualified subscribers. You can sign up to subscribe to the print magazine here or the free three-times-weekly e-newsletter here.

About Cannabis Dispensary

CD was launched in November 2017 by GIE Media Inc. as a sister publication to Cannabis Business Times. The brand now consists of a website CannabisDispensaryMag.com, updated daily, a three-times-weekly enewsletter, the Cannabis Conference and a series of virtual events. You can sign up to subscribe to the free e-newsletter here.

About Hemp Grower

GIE Media Inc. launched HG with its daily-updated website (HempGrower.com) and weekly e-mail newsletter in August 2019 as a sister publication to Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. HG's print magazine was launched in November 2019. The brand now consists of the bimonthly print magazine, digital edition of the monthly magazine, an app (available in the GooglePlay and iTunes stores), the Cannabis Conference, a three-times-weekly enewsletter and the website, HempGrower.com. Subscriptions to the print magazine are free to qualified subscribers. You can sign up to subscribe to the print magazine here or the free e-newsletter here.

Follow the Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower teams on social media at:

Twitter: @CBTmag, @cdispensarymag, @Hemp_Grower, @NoelleSki, @cassieneiden, @ericsandy

Facebook: Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, Hemp Grower

Instagram: @cannabisbusinesstimes, @cannabisdispensarymag, @hemp_grower

LinkedIn: Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, Hemp Grower

About GIE Media Inc.

Established in 1980, GIE Media Inc. has grown from one publication into a leading marketing and communications business-to-business media company serving 17 industries. The company goal of Group Interest Enterprises is to publish the highest-quality business magazines, websites, e-newsletters, conferences, reference books and other forms of business media in growth industries, with a quality standard based upon editorial value and market leadership.

GIE Media Inc. is headquartered in Valley View, Ohio, and is privately owned by its founder Richard Foster. The company employs nearly 100 editors, publishers, sales representatives, marketers and other professionals.

lovelyday12 | Adobe Stock

How Cannabis Businesses Can Secure Financing and Find Relief from COVID-19’s Economic Fallout

From accessing federal and state relief programs to negotiating commercial contracts, Shraybman Law’s Jessica Shraybman shares how she is counseling her clients to help keep their operations afloat.

June 26, 2020

Melissa Schiller

Business and finance Interviews & Opinion

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout has had a far-reaching impact, particularly for cannabis businesses that are largely unable to access federal relief programs due to the continued federal prohibition of cannabis.

Jessica Shraybman, founder and managing partner of Florida-based Shraybman Law, initially advised her clients that federal aid would be difficult if not impossible to come by due cannabis’s Schedule I status, but to her surprise, she has since heard of several companies that have been able to qualify for relief.

For example, she says some companies have focused their applications on the hemp side of their business, which has allowed them to qualify for the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.

State-Level Relief

While federal relief programs may be off-limits to most cannabis businesses, some states are offering aid for which industry participants can apply.

For example, in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a 90-day sales tax extension into law that gives small business owners until late July to file and pay their first quarter sales taxes, and small businesses may keep up to $50,000 of these sales tax payments for a year, effectively using the cash as a no-interest bridge loan. California regulators also announced in May that cannabis businesses with licenses expiring in May and June may request a 60-day deferral of their licensing fee payments.

Florida has granted many of the same extensions, Shraybman says, including extensions on annual reports and other required maintenance documents.

Shraybman also has helped her clients receive extensions on filing deadlines from the IRS and the trademark office, where some hemp and CBD companies have active trademark filings in process.

“It varies from department and agency and state to state, and even obtaining information can be a bit delayed, but we have certainly been recommending to all our clients [that] if there is a hold up or they anticipate any kind of hold up on their end to request extensions,” she says. “In most instances, we’ve been getting them. … It may not necessarily be a resolution to whatever issues they might be facing, but it at least gets them a little bit more time to put together their strategy [and] to talk to their advisers and legal counsel in order to identify … business plans [that need] some restructuring.”

Private Equity Financing

In the wake of the economic downturn, many investors are focused on sustaining existing investments, Shraybman says, rather than making capital injections on new projects.

That’s not to say that securing new private equity financing is impossible; two of Shraybman’s clients, for example, have been able to obtain private bridge financing to help them through this period, but they are well-connected companies that had established relationships with investors prior to the pandemic.

“Right now, I think people are focused more on sustaining the investments that they have already made, which is the case for my clients that were able to obtain some bridge financing from their existing investors,” she says.

Those that have existing relationships with investors should keep their stakeholders informed and up to date on current business developments.

“Communication has really been the name of the game recently,” Shraybman says. “[Be] candid and transparent with challenges that companies are facing and where they are pivoting or how they are re-focusing their efforts.”

Negotiating Commercial Contracts

Contract issues have been prevalent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shraybman says, and the law firm has been addressing many lease-agreement disputes since the crisis began.

“Leases, particularly industrial commercial leases, tend to be very favorable to the landlord with minimal protections for tenants,” she says. “This has been coming up on an almost daily basis for us these days.”

Many of Shraybman’s clients have inquired about Force Majeure (a contract clause that removes liability for natural and unavoidable catastrophes that prevent signatories from fulfilling obligations) and whether it allows tenants to defer rent payments or obtain relief from their obligation to pay rent.

“Unfortunately, sophisticated landlords or landlords that are working with attorneys on commercial leases are very smart,” she says. “Most of the provisions that I see for Force Majeure basically say that it may alleviate all obligations of the parties, except tenants’ obligation to pay rent. So, it’s the one thing that always gets caught in these provisions.”

Shraybman has been assisting landlords and tenants in negotiations to help ease tenants’ financial burdens during these uncertain times, and in some instances, landlords have been willing to defer rent—or at least a portion of the rent payment—for a few months.

Many landlords, however, have their own obligations to mortgages and cannot cover rent payments on their own.

“They’re in a position where they have to pay the mortgage,” Shraybman says. “It’s been a difficult conversation to have, particularly with small companies, but that is the situation.”

These situations, although unfortunate, can be a learning opportunity, she adds. “When you are planning to enter into a relationship, whether it’s a lease agreement, partnership or an investment, have advisers behind you who have the experience and understand the intricacies and the nuances of these relationships to review your contracts and help you negotiate those contracts to better anticipate these things in advance.”

The same goes for distribution chain agreements, she says. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in limited supplies or shipments that are held up altogether, and Shraybman has been advising her clients to take a conscious and collaborative approach when structuring and maintaining relationships along the supply chain.

“People are compromising on all sides of these relationships and on both sides of deals,” she says. “Things have maybe slowed down a little bit here and there, but people are thankfully mostly being collaborative and working with one another to just make the best of the situation. Of course, that’s not to say that certain conversations haven’t gone awry because they have and we’ve had to settle some disputes, but thankfully, most of them are being worked out amicably.”

Weathering the Storm

Overall, Shraybman says lean business practices, robust leadership and ingenuity are the things keeping her clients afloat while allowing them to keep their teams employed.

“I’ve just been really impressed with the creativity and the ingenuity that so many of our clients have shown in restructuring their compensation models to make sure that as much of the team as possible can stay employed and people are still able to pay their bills and survive,” she says.

Leadership should be transparent and candid with their teams when difficult decisions must be made, she adds, and companies should seek help when needed from their boards of directors and legal counsel.

“I think that it’s really the most valuable thing that leaders can be doing right now, just communicating and being available and accessible and keeping people informed."

Cannabis Business Times 2020 State of the Cannabis Cultivation Industry Report

Indoors, Greenhouses or Outdoors: Where Are Cannabis Cultivators Growing?

Five years of data from Cannabis Business Times' exclusive research report reveals shifts in the type of facilities cannabis growers are using to cultivate their crops and a trend toward expansion and larger plant canopies.

June 26, 2020

Michelle Simakis

News

When Cannabis Business Times published its first “State of the Cannabis Cultivation Industry Report” in 2016, a vast majority of participants reported that they cultivated cannabis in warehouses/ indoors (80%.) The fifth annual study, made possible each year with the support of Nexus Greenhouse Systems, revealed more diversity in the types of facilities cannabis growers are using. Since 2016, the percentage of participants growing in warehouses/indoors has declined by 20%, with 60% reporting they grow indoors, as the chart above indicates.

However, participants are increasingly growing in a variety of facilities, but there are more participants who only grow cannabis in warehouses/indoors than any other sole option, with 42% growing exclusively indoors, a trend that has remained steady for five years. The number of participants who report they only grow in greenhouses has also increased, edging up from 4% in 2016 to 12% in this year’s study. The number of cultivators with growing sties in greenhouses and outdoors has also increased by 13 percentage points (3% in 2016 compared to 16% in 2020.)

Although most participants operate single cannabis growing operations (59%), examining five years of data reveals trends toward larger facilities and more grow sites. In 2016, 66% grew in a single facility/location. Between 2016 and 2020, the number of participants indicating they grow in two or more facilities/grow sites increased from 32% to 41%. The number of cultivators growing in five or more sites jumped by 5 percentage points compared with the first year of the study, moving from 6% to 11%. In addition, the number of cultivators who have 80,000 square feet or more of production space has increased by 12 percentage points comparing the 2016 to 2020 studies, and now nearly a fifth of study participants (19%) indicate they grow in facilities that size or larger.

Read more insights from CBT’s 2020 “State of the Cannabis Cultivation Industry Report” by following the links below:

Report Cover Page

Letter: Five Years Inside the State of the Industry

Introduction: Tracking Data Reveals Industry Shifts, Sustained Growth

2020 Cannabis Research: Revenue and Profits Plateaued, But Solid

2020 Cannabis Research: Industry Optimism, Expansion Continues

2020 Cannabis Research: Challenges Are One Constant in a Dynamic Industry

ABOUT THE RESEARCH: The data in this report was collected by independent research firm Readex Research via an online survey, which was sent to all emailable, active, qualified subscribers to Cannabis Business Times magazine and/or e-newsletter located in the U.S. or Canada, from April 15 to April 29, 2020. The survey was closed for tabulation with 298 responses. To best represent the audience of interest, the base for the results in this report, unless otherwise noted, are the 202 respondents who indicated they currently own or work for an organization that grows cannabis. Another 53 respondents indicated they do not currently own or work for an operation that grows cannabis, but plan to in the next 18 months. The margin of error for percentages based on the 202 respondents who currently own or work for an operation that grows cannabis is approximately +/- 6.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Oklahoma Expands Recall of Medical Marijuana Products

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority added more batches of Moon Mix cannabis vape cartridges to its recall order.

June 25, 2020

Posted by Owen MacMillan

State by State: Oklahoma Legislation and regulation

Oklahoma, June 25,2020 -PRESS RELEASE- The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) is expanding the recall that was first initiated on May 15, 2020 of Batch 158 to include batches 154 and 19-0001.

The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) is requesting an immediate recall of certain products processed by Moon Mix, LLC, a medical marijuana processor in the Oklahoma County area. The products being recalled are vape cartridges and possibly other products processed by Moon Mix that show Batch Numbers 154 and 19-0001 on the labeling.

Medical marijuana products from Batches 154 and 19-0001 have failed required testing and may not be safe for consumers. OMMA is requesting that Moon Mix, LLC and any dispensaries in receipt of the affected products initiate an immediate recall of these products. Dispensaries should notify patients or caregivers who purchased these medical marijuana products. Patients or caregivers who have affected medical marijuana products in their possession should contact the dispensary they purchased the products from for information on its recall procedures.

State-Level Relief

Private Equity Financing

Negotiating Commercial Contracts

Weathering the Storm

Legislative Map