Still reeling from a spree of what appeared to be organized burglaries a month ago, cannabis businesses across California are preparing to get robbed again over the July 4 holiday weekend. Over the weekend of May 29 to June 1, thieves burglarized cannabis dispensaries, distribution centers, and cultivation in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, and other cities, relieving legal commercial cannabis operations of cash and product. In several documented instances, break-in crews paid repeated visits to dispensaries, breaking in night after night. In

MARTINEZ, CA — The first fully permitted and licensed retail cannabis dispensary in Central Costa County quietly opened its doors in May in Martinez. After a four-year wait, Velvet Cannabis opened at 4808 Sunrise Drive, near the state Highway 4 interchange with Interstate Highway 680. Velvet Cannabis founders Matt Morea and Farid Harrison — both East Bay natives — sought to bring a refined retail experience to the area. The result, they say, is a sleek and sophisticated interior design, an expertly trained staff

The grass could be greener on the other side of November after Smart & Safe Arizona, a citizens' initiative to legalize cannabis for adult use in Arizona, said it filed 420,000 signatures with the Arizona Secretary of State on Wednesday. The signatures must still be validated by the state. But with significantly more signatures than the 237,645 required to qualify for ballot access, the campaign, which began collecting signatures in September 2019 and has raised $3 million since, is optimistic about the future

Press  |  Global Newswire Cannabis’s Title Brand Will Be Able to Deliver Products in the World’s Premiere Market Los Angeles, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hightimes Holding Corp., owner of High Times®, the most well-known brand in cannabis, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Mountain High Recreation, Inc., a California-based cannabis delivery service. The primarily stock based transaction will bring cannabis distribution infrastructure and personnel to the High Times® brand ahead of the rebranding of the first

The first day of July arrived with public health officials issuing dire predictions about rising rates of COVID-19 infection in the United States. So far, the infection rate in the U.S. has topped 2.6 million, with more than 43,000 cases reported just yesterday. U.S. fatalities number 129,000, accounting for more than a quarter of 512,000 global deaths so far. With the July 4 holiday only days away, media reports said officials in more than a dozen states have rolled back “reopening” procedures, as infection

The Growers Alliance claims “anti-cannabis raids” have been going on almost the entire time since the ordinance was passed in the county. EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — The El Dorado County Growers Alliance is speaking out against the tactics used by the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, alleging “vigilante mentality” and ransacking of private property by deputies targeting legal marijuana grows. In May 2020, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors passed ordinance #5122 allowing for private cultivation of cannabis. The ordinance follows guidance passed by the

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Although demand for cannabis delivery is surging as consumers and dispensary staff try to keep their distance due to COVID-19, the fate of this service for many California residents could be tied to an upcoming legal battle. California voters approved Prop. 64 in November of 2016 and lawmakers approved the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis and Regulation Safety Act (MAUCRSA) in 2017. In many regions across the state, however, local governments have decided against allowing legal recreational cannabis sales. Some local authorities are

Retail sales of medical and recreational cannabis in the United States are on pace to eclipse $15 billion by the end of 2020, an increase of approximately 40% over 2019 sales figures, according to exclusive projections from the 2020 edition of the Marijuana Business Factbook. Total U.S. sales could rise as high as $37 billion by 2023, according to exclusive projections from the latest Factbook, which was released Monday at MJBizConNEXT Direct. The coronavirus pandemic, however, has thrown a huge curveball at projections. To date, spending

Yesterday,(24 June 2020)  Dr. Teresa Frankovich, the Humboldt County Public Health Officer, continued her policy of not releasing information about even patient details that would seem to still leave the patients unidentifiable to the community. She would not confirm that information we received independently was correct. However, we have learned from an anonymous source that the nine additional COVID-19 positive cases which were confirmed yesterday were connected to one Southern Humboldt cannabis farm but those infected did not reside (or

The coronavirus pandemic has caused the cannabis industry to focus on operational efficiency rather than rapid growth, a shift that has resulted in layoffs in California and other locations across the country. But panelists at the MJBizConNEXT Direct conference on Monday also talked about ways operational disruptions can be cushioned by the creative restructuring of staff roles, and being vigilant about all expenses. A silver lining for cannabis companies that have the resources right now: It’s a good time to recruit talent from other industries. Three experts shared those