Viridian Capital Advisors, a financial and strategic advisory firm dedicated to the legal cannabis marketplace, is pleased to announce that Mr. Brian Tuskan has joined our advisory board.

Licensed medical marijuana producers have been warned to stop using mail delivery ahead of a potential Canada Post strike or lockout in early July.

The postal service says it started telling producers on Friday that, if a strike or lockout goes ahead on July 2, it won't be able to guarantee the delivery of patients' prescriptions.

That warning has producers throwing together contingency plans to make sure the increasing number of medical marijuana patients continue to get their prescriptions on time.

Maui’s newly selected medical marijuana dispensary, the Maui Wellness Group, LLC, received the highest ranking in the state out of the eight Hawaiʻi companies that were selected for dispensary licenses by the state Department of Health.

Maui Wellness Group which is run by Gregory Park, MD and former Maui Land & Pineapple CEO David Cole received a score of 510 points, out of the 520 maximum score.

The other Maui dispensary, Pono Life Sciences Maui, LLC run by William Mitchell and Robert Wong received a score of 471.5 points.

The Maui companies were among eight in the state that were selected for licenses out of the 66 companies that applied.

You'd be hard-pressed to find an industry with faster growth potential than marijuana.

Since it was first approved in California 20 years ago, medical marijuana has become legalized throughout half the country. Most interestingly, the last two states to legalize medical marijuana -- Pennsylvania and Ohio -- have done so entirely through the legislative process (i.e., without bringing the matter to vote by residents of the state). We've also witnessed four states (Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska), as well as Washington, D.C., legalize recreational cannabis.

At least two religious leaders in Maryland are among the applicants for a limited number of medical marijuana licenses that will be issued by the state, the Washington Post reported.

“In the first chapter of the Bible, God creates plants and tells us that they are very good, and they are for our use,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn. “God has created these things for our benefit.”

The frustration of 9:53 p.m. is well known in Ontario. It's the time where glancing at a watch or phone is accompanied by a heartbroken sigh and softly uttered four-letter expletive. Your dinner party is down to its last bottle of wine, some friends just surprised you from out of town, you're just a responsible adult that had to work late. But you certainly aren't allowed to enjoy a glass of wine in any of these circumstances according to Ontario's incredibly outdated alcohol and "social responsibility" laws.

You can already read a news article and order a cab from a bot, so it was only a matter of time until you could place a weed order through one.

Over the past couple of months, Canna Freedom—a dispensary located in Monterey, Calif.,—has been experimenting with a chat bot within Flok, a mobile app that works with 50,000 businesses to power their loyalty programs to improve customer service and understand what types of products customers are interested in.

Marijuana legalization means that bigger corporate interests and institutional capital will enter the industry and start competing with the businesses and entrepreneurs who have been at it for decades.

Hawthorne Gardening Company (HGC), a wholy-owned subsidiary of Scott's Miracle Grow (SMG), has taken a 75% interest in Gavita, an international horticultural lighting provider.

Gavita sought a partner to expand its market leading position and to expand and expedite its research and development plans. They found this partner in the US-based Hawthorne Gardening Company. Hawthorne is an A-brand group, focused on bringing together the best brands in gardening and horticulture, to offer green and sustainable solutions for food production. The current Dutch management will stay in place and holds 25% interest in the new company. 

A month after police raids on storefront medicinal marijuana dispensaries, dozens continue to sell pot across Toronto including some raided outlets that have reopened.

“We understand the illegality of what we’re doing,” says Katey Asaph of Eden Medicinal Society on Queen St. W., which resumed sales to those with proof of an ailment or injury a few days after the May 26 raids that saw staff, including Asaph, hit with Criminal Code drug trafficking charges.

“There will always be a chance (of another raid) going forward, but we continue to remain open to provide a safe and comfortable space so that our clients can rely on us for cannabis access.”