A chocolate wrapper is an instrument of seduction. Be it beautiful papers for artisanal chocolates or the familiar graphics of favorite drugstore candy, the package’s job is to tempt and trigger an impulse buy.

But for graphic designer Nathan Sharp, the assignment went beyond picking good paper, ribbons, and fonts. Tasked with designing the packaging for Kiva Confections, a line of cannabis-infused gourmet chocolates, the Texas-bred designer had to find a tasteful solution for displaying product information and medicinal warnings on the front of the candy bar.

Canada’s licensed pot producers are pushing Ottawa to exempt patients from paying any sales tax on their products, which would give medical marijuana the same tax status as prescription drugs.

The Canadian Medical Cannabis Council, a trade group representing three commercial producers, argues the tax change would allow them to compete with illegal dispensaries, which have exploded in number across the country.

Philippe Lucas, executive director of the council, said he met with a policy adviser to Finance Minister Bill Morneau during prebudget consultations last week.

His group represents Tilray, Peace Naturals and Delta 9 Bio-Tech, which are among about two dozen commercial producers licensed to ship medical marijuana to patients through the mail.

Canada’s biggest drugstore chain is exploring the possibility of getting into medical-marijuana sales in a move that would dramatically alter the landscape of the new industry, bringing one of the country’s best-known retailers into the business.

Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. has held multiple meetings and phone conversations with licensed medical-marijuana producers across Canada over the past year about carrying a variety of brands in their drugstores, according to people involved in those conversations.

The chain, which has more than 1,300 locations across Canada, is also said to be in talks with suppliers about a generic line of the drug that would be sold under the drugstore’s own brand, according to people present during the conversations.

As more states legalize marijuana for medical use, the cannabis customer base has reached an older demographic.

Nearly 85% of medical marijuana patients had some form of higher education — nearly 15% held a postgraduate degree — and about 45% of patients were parents, according to a survey of 1,400 patients ages 18 to 80 — one of the largest patient surveys to date — by HelloMD, a digital health care platform that provides doctor consultations via live video chats for cannabis patients. Medical marijuana is legal in 23 states, while cannabis for recreational use is legal in four states and the District of Columbia.

Just two minutes before the Monday grand opening of Logan Square's first medical marijuana dispensary, co-owner Doug Marks steps out of the space's Milwaukee Avenue entrance. The entryway is easy to miss—the word "moca," short for Modern Cannabis, is stamped on the door in bright yellow, pink, and blue, but the words nearly blend in with the mass of posters and graffiti that dominates the adjacent wall. 

A slow trickle of people would follow, but it was hard to tell from the outside: anyone without a medical marijuana card—including the media—were barred from entering the dispensary's main floor.

n Arizona lawmaker's proposal to stop dispensaries from moving out of their state-designated areas highlights the need for updated medical-marijuana program rules.

"We're in limbo — and we've spent a lot money." — Lori Nicks, would-be dispensary operator.

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act that voters approved in 2010 requires the state to adopt rules that govern what was then a fledgling program.

Leafly recently polled existing cannabis businesses in an effort to ferret out what it's like to open shop. We asked about what worked well in the initial stages of the venture, which aspects were a little bumpy, and what was most important to remember. If you’re a budding ganjapreneur hoping to break into the cannabiz, here’s what you need to keep an eye on.

Are you a business owner with some tips or tricks you’d like to pass along? Take our poll and let us know what issues you found most crucial while opening your business.

After selling off unprofitable divisions of the Babcock Lumber Company, the Babcock family began exploring new industries to invest in. Their search ultimately led them to an unexpected destination: the fledgling marijuana industry.

“The 2014 ballot initiative in Florida spurred our interest in medical marijuana,” said James Clifton Whatmore, president of MAB Investments in Sarasota, Fla. “Legal medical marijuana was so hyped up, it was hard to ignore.”

MAB Investments made its first direct investment in a marijuana company just one year ago.
 
“I was drawn to the newness and growth of the cannabis industry,” Whatmore told Private Wealth.

For an entrepreneur aggressively growing a business, much of the time is spent raising equity, taking on debt, creating infrastructure, working with shareholders, and forging new partnerships. There is always the quest to do deals at market. Believe me, I understand that if I were in a business that manufactured electronics, sold cars, or leased construction equipment, there would be a clearly established market norm for just about everything, including cost of capital, terms for partnerships, and expectations from clients would all generally be taken care of by looking at the marketplace.

But for me, there is no norm. Why? Because there is no truly established market for the marijuana industry yet.

Wednesday is an important date in the state’s long process of licensing commercial cannabis in Alaska: The deadline for the state to have a permit application up and running.

“From the stand-point of somebody that wants to go into the industry, February 24th is actually the starting point, it’s not a deadline at all, it’s really just the first date,” said Bruce Schulte, Chair of the state’s Marijuana Control Board.

For anyone expecting to start buying cannabis products in stores, there are still many months to go before the start of legal sales.