March 7th, 2022

As a cannabis business in a brand-loyal industry, the top reason to consider building your brand is to maximize return on a good idea. Why? Because cannabis is big business. And its growth shows no signs of slowing, which means your brand is up against heavy competition. So how do you stand out and drive business? Join our panel of experts to answer this question and learn about how to ensure compliance, navigating the FDA/FTC, cross channel communication & strategy, and the benefits of a protected IP portfolio. 

If you are a member the event is with our compliments. If you are not a member now is the time to join www.joinclab.com/membership. If you would like to attend via ZOOM or watch the recording it is $20 - RSVP today!

Welcoming the canna buyers, sellers and entrepreneurs to South Florida is par for the course. This year we have noticed the number of amazing canna events coming our way is greater than ever. We love it. It is our pleasure to welcome the Alt Pro Expo (www.altproexpo.com) to Ft Lauderdale. No better way to do that than with an Industry Social for the buyers, sponsors and speakers. Bring your badge and the event is with our compliments. This gathering is to celebrate the Alt Pro Expo, our members, sponsors but if you are interested to find out more about this organization, the amazing people and companies, then by all means buy a ticket and take the ride.

The event is free for members or you can purchase a one-time ticket for $40. If you become a member at the event, we will apply it to your membership. And don't forget - get 50% off the AltPro Expo with code CLAB - register here!

NCAA Eases Rules, Testing for Cannabis Use Among College Athletes

The NCAA said last week that it is relaxing its policy for cannabis testing among collegiate athletes in the United States, while also recommending that it ease penalties for a positive test.  The decision came after a meeting on February 22 and 23 of the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, (CSMAS) which raised the amount of THC required to constitute a positive test from 35 to 150 nanograms per milliliter.

The NCAA said that the new THC threshold for its student athletes was established by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the global agency that oversees drug testing in athletics.  “Reconsidering the NCAA approach to cannabis testing and management is consistent with feedback from membership on how to better support and educate student-athletes in a society with rapidly evolving public health and cultural views regarding cannabis use,” Dr. Brian Hainline, the NCAA’s chief medical officer, said in a press release on Friday. Read more.

Businesses, Groups, Unions and Tribes Spend Millions Lobbying Congress on Marijuana Issues

As the U.S. cannabis industry keeps growing, marijuana businesses, trade associations and political nonprofits are spending more and more money lobbying Congress on MJ reform and legalization. At the same time, more mainstream companies and various groups are keeping tabs on cannabis activity on Capitol Hill. Amazon and Anheuser-Busch, labor unions such as the Teamsters as well as Native American tribes are among the dozens paying lobbyists tens of thousands of dollars to weigh in on – or simply monitor – marijuana reform proposals in Congress as part of their overall lobbying efforts.

According to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit research group that tracks political spending, at least $4.3 million was spent in 2021 by 22 clients who employed 100-plus professional lobbyists to focus primarily on marijuana reform, up from $3.7 million in 2020. The latest OpenSecrets tally represents a huge jump from a decade earlier. In 2011, the first year for which OpenSecrets has lobbying records for “marijuana,” $35,000 was spent on three lobbyists to focus on MJ issues. Read more.

GOP Congresswoman Says Her Marijuana Legalization Bill Will Get a Hearing in Democratic-Controlled Congress

As advocates push for congressional action on Democratic-led marijuana legalization bills in the House and Senate, a Republican congresswoman who’s championing an alternative reform measure says she has received assurances that there will be a hearing on her proposal even as a minority member of the chamber. And she also said that recently internal polling she’s done for her reelection campaign shows voters in her district are on her side when it comes to cannabis even as her primary election challenger and her own state party attack her reform efforts.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) spoke about the path forward for her States Reform Act (SRA) during an interview published on Thursday with the Psychoactive podcast hosted by longtime legalization advocate and Drug Policy Alliance founder Ethan Nadelmann. There was earlier reporting about Mace receiving assurances that Democratic leaders would hold a hearing on her bill. But when asked whether that was contingent on a “yes” vote for a separate legalization bill—House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler’s (D-NY) Marijuana Opportunity, Expungement and Reinvestment (MORE) Act—the congresswoman said there was “no quid pro quo.” Read more.

Biden Admin to Applicants: Maybe Don't Invest in Weed Companies

Smoking weed may no longer be the only potential impediment to getting a job with security clearance in the Biden administration. Investing in cannabis companies could now trip up applicants, too. The Biden administration has expanded its employee conduct guidelines to potentially deny security clearance to individuals who have invested in companies that are involved in the marijuana business, according to an internal executive branch presentation shared with POLITICO.

“Eligibility may be negatively impacted if an individual knowingly and directly invests in stocks or business ventures that specifically pertain to marijuana growers and retailers,” according to the document. “Decisions to willfully invest in such activity could reflect questionable judgment and an unwillingness to comply with laws, rules, and regulations.” Read more.

 

Elevate Your Grind is Back!

With the vision of building an education company that would change the world’s perception of cannabis, Max Simon co-founded Green Flower in 2014. Green Flower has since become the industry leader in cannabis education, producing thousands of hours of premium content; bolstering a network of over 700 top cannabis experts; and building the largest library of cannabis education content in the world. Today, Max leads an incredible 30 person team united around the mission of becoming the global leaders in cannabis education. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

The 6th Annual Cannabis Law, Accounting and Business (CLAB) Conference & Expo will be focused on the critical issues and challenges impacting the entire industry. More than just your typical conference, this will be an immersive educational experience with all the best that Miami has to offer. We invite you to join us if you are interested in what the industry has to offer, you are seasoned industry veteran or just looking to grow.

This year’s theme is United WeGrow and will embody exactly why gender and race issues will shape how we advance. It is time for all of us to get back out, learn, connect and grow. This June, at Mana Wynwood, in Miami, we will have more educators, thought leaders, exhibitors and attendees than ever before. We have a created a hybrid B2Band B2C environment so whether you are a CEO, start up, ancillary business professional, legacy market, canna curious there will be something worthwhile. Before the day even starts and after it ends we will have a number of extracurricular activities as well including health and wellness that have you covered mind and body. To register and learn more go to www.clabconference.com.

Conference Speaker Spotlights

Laith Dahiyat has more than twenty years of enterprise software and e-commerce experience with a focus on product management and global software development. He joined Weedmaps in early 2021 as the General Manager of WM Business, the company’s B2B platform that powers the cannabis industry by providing connected software solutions to help cannabis businesses run compliantly. Prior to joining Weedmaps, Laith was the Chief Strategy Officer at Chargify, and General Manager at Keen.io.

Vijay is an accomplished cannabis law attorney who leverages an insider's understanding of the business to serve the commercial and regulatory needs of clients in the medical and adult-use marijuana industries. His in-house experience means that in addition to possessing detailed knowledge of state and federal laws and regulations that govern the legal cannabis, health care and CBD sectors, he understands their practical implications for operations.

 
Florida Awards Medical Cannabis Track-and-Trace Contract to BioTrack

The Florida health department chose BioTrack as the software provider for the state’s medical cannabis track-and-trace system. According to a news release, the agency’s negotiators voted “unanimously” to award the contract to Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based BioTrack, which will not only monitor the movement of marijuana inventory throughout the state but also assist in product recalls. 

BioTrack’s point-of-sale software is used by cannabis companies in 38 states and also works with 10 other state governments, according to the release. The medical marijuana program in Connecticut signed on with BioTrack last November. The company, formerly known as BioTrackTHC, is a subsidiary of Forian, based in Newtown, Pennsylvania. It’s unclear how much the Florida contract is worth to BioTrack, if there were any other bidders or when the system will be up and running. Read more.

Behind the Numbers: What USDA's 1st Hemp Survey Shows About the Industry

Hemp farmers are overwhelmingly white and male but skew younger and more diverse than producers of other crops. And CBD is far from dead, despite a price crash and widespread predictions that hemp’s fiber and grain products would soon overshadow hemp flower products. Those are just a couple of insights from a first-of-its-kind survey on the young hemp industry released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

Researchers received responses from 20,501 people who grew hemp in 2021, a figure the USDA cautions likely does not provide the full picture of legal hemp producers. Still, the survey provides the deepest and most reliable pricing and production data yet for an industry that hadn’t been tracked officially in decades. Read more.

Three in Four New Hampshire Residents Support Legalizing Marijuana, With Bipartisan Majorities Backing State-Run Model

Nearly three in four New Hampshire voters support legalizing marijuana, according to a new poll. And bipartisan majorities also say they’re in favor of conducting cannabis sales through a state-run model as would be the case under a bill that recently passed the House of Representatives.

The Granite State Poll, published by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on Friday, found that 74 percent of residents in the state feel that prohibition should end. In a separate question, sixty-eight percent said they support a bill that passed the House this month to have the state Liquor Commission exclusively conduct sales—a proposal that has raised some concerns among advocates and stakeholders. Seventy-nine percent of Democrats, 68 percent of independents and 56 percent of Republicans said they back the unique reform approach. Read more.

Article on Bill Clinton's CBD Comments Deleted (Then Reposted) Following Alleged Pressure From Former President's Team

Former President Bill Clinton has apparently been hearing a lot about the therapeutic potential of CBD products for pain management lately, and, according to a now-deleted media report, said at a recent conference appearance that broad interest in the topic should spur regulators to develop standards for the cannabinoid. An article covering Clinton’s on-stage conversation with CNN medical expert Sanjay Gupta at the Impact Forum in Orlando appeared in Cannabis & Tech Today last week, quoting the former president as saying there is some evidence that cannabidiol can help “combat pain.”

But the story was taken down at the writer’s request after the outlet allegedly faced pressure from Clinton’s public relations team. “It was all quoted accurately and live—it was pressure from the Clinton camp PR team that the comments were supposed to be closed to the press—so we respected the writers request,” a Cannabis & Tech Today editor wrote to Marijuana Moment in a Twitter direct message. Read more.

 
Jobs to Watch Courtesy of FlowerHire
Product Development Specialist – CA
Retail Store Manager – MI
Cultivation Director – MA
Manager of Financial Planning – FL
Cultivation Manager – CA
CFO – Remote
Events Coming to South Florida

The largest alternative products event is coming to Fort Lauderdale! Use code CLAB for 50% off your registration - find tickets here.

  • 300+ vendors, 500+ of the industry's best brands! View Exhibitor List
  • Learn from 50+ expert speakers about all aspects of Delta8, CBD/Hemp, and other alternative products! View Speakers
  • Want to exhibit? Inquire here

The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is taking over Miami, FL April 20-21st to bring you the premier gathering for cannabis investors and entrepreneurs alike. This is THE place to meet & share ideas with cannabis industry professionals & market leaders! To purchase tickets head over to www.bzcannabis.com.

 
Meet The Companies Helping Us All Grow!
 
Thank you to our annual sponsors!
Interested in becoming a Cannabis LAB member? Visit joinclab.com to learn how to get access to: 
  • Free admission to all CLAB Chapter Meetings
  • Access to Cannabis Industry Jobs
  • Private networking with industry experts, insiders, and influencers
  • Additional member-only educational programs and events