WOMEN IN CANNABIS
Good piece from Civilized. We always thought that the constant “look how great we are for the little women” approach of the sector just tried to mask the standard sexism currently prevalent in American society and especially in business.
Personally our first target would be the slew of “cannabis” print magazines who publish advertising images that wouldn’t be out of place in a 1972 edition of Playboy.
Title: Pioneering women in cannabis industry losing ground, author says
Author: The Cannabist
Date: 24 November 2017
Extract: But a troubling new trend is on the rise; one that appears to show how the cannabis industry’s most pioneering women are being pushed aside as the market matures.
It’s a distressing pattern that Ashley Picillo first noticed when she set out to write her book, “Breaking The Grass Ceiling.”
FINANCE
Title: California Weed Entrepreneurs Will Make $5.2B In 2018 With Almost No Banks To Put It In
Author: Forbes
Date: 26 November 2017
URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/julieweed/2017/11/26/california-weed-entrepreneurs-will-make-5-2b-in-2018-with-almost-no-banks-to-put-it-in/#6a54fd194e52
Extract: California cannabis entrepreneurs will earn $5.2B in revenue in 2018 as recreational use becomes legal there. The state of California will collect about one billion dollars in accompanying marijuana taxes. These numbers, estimated by Matt Karnes, industry analyst and managing partner of New York’s GreenWave Advisors, point to the giant need for banking and financial services in the nascent legal cannabis industry. These services however are generally not available says Karnes, and are federally illegal. Some glimmers of change though, are on the horizon.
Banking is severely limited for cannabis industry businesses. As a “schedule one” substance, cannabis is categorized to be as harmful as heroin and banks risk losing their federal charter if they work with cannabis companies. Financial institutions need to go on record with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) when they establish a relationship with a known Marijuana Related Business, and Karnes estimates that just 5% of all banks have done that. He believes that fewer than 1% of all banks in the United States are currently working with cannabis related companies.
BLOCKCHAIN
Title: How Blockchain Technology Can Revolutionize the Cannabis Industry
Author: Civilized
Date: 25 November 2017
Extract: The astronomical growth of the cannabis industry has allowed people to further understand the nature of this industry, allowing them to explore different avenues of this specified market. Blockchain technology is currently dominating the market due to its profound applications. For instance, Paragon, a startup based on blockchain technology, strongly believes that this industry can overcome all of the short-comings by focusing on the mechanics of the industry. This is exactly how blockchain has regulated its market as they focused on the inner workings of the industry and used this information to create a comprehensive system. Paragon claims that by using blockchain the cannabis industry can enjoy total market dominance and it will also help take the whole industry to a different level.
ALASKA
Title: There’s something fishy with Alaska’s marijuana potency testing results
Author: The Cannabist
Date: 24 November 2017
URL: http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/11/24/alaska-marijuana-testing/93126/
Extract: ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A committee will look at issues regarding the testing of cannabis products amid inconsistency in potency results from different labs, Alaska’s top marijuana regulator said.
Erika McConnell, director of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, told Anchorage television station KTVA she didn’t know how long that process would take.
McConnell, at a recent Marijuana Control Board meeting, recommended a review of testing regulations, citing, among other reasons, evidence of “significant deviation” in potency-testing results of the same product by different labs.
