Category: Marijuana News

A proposed adult-use cannabis dispensary in Bloomfield, where Fine Fettle is already building a 45,600-square-foot production and cultivation facility, was rejected by the Planning and Zoning Commission during a recent meeting,

On Thursday, commissioners unanimously denied a motion to approve the dispensary at 12 Seneca Road, the location of a former beauty parlor. The property is sandwiched between Seneca Road and railroad tracks, near the intersection with Route 178.

The proposed dispensary would have been operated by Mark Christie, a Bloomfield native and founder of FRC Holdings, who holds a social equity license. He had an agreement to operate the dispensary with Killingworth-based Oxford Group LLC, which would acquire the property from the current owner, MCLAD LLC. 

Oxford Group applied for a special permit on behalf of FRC.

Commissioners said they thought the dispensary would be more appropriate for the outskirts of town, saying they envisioned a different type of development in the town center.

Commissioners were particularly concerned about the proximity of a preschool daycare at the Bloomfield Congregational Church.

James Winokur, a consultant for the development team, said the location was the prime reason they wanted to develop the dispensary. He dismissed concerns about kids buying cannabis products,

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Automating pre-roll production in your business is necessary for you to compete on a large scale. The current industry default is to turn to stuffed pre-roll cone machines, but as you’ve likely experienced firsthand, a stuffed pre-roll cone burns unevenly and runs like crazy, leading to a not-so-great customer experience.

On the other hand, a rolled pre-roll burns better, hits harder, costs less to produce, and can now be automated thanks to the RollPros Blackbird automated pre-roll machine. Check out our breakdown of the reasons below.

1) Rolled Pre-Rolls Are More Potent

Businesses that use automated stuffed cone machines short their customers on valuable cannabinoids. Those machines require heavily ground and dried flower. (We’re talking moisture content as low as 6-8%.) Over-drying flower can degrade cannabinoid content, and over-grinding it can knock off what few trichomes remain.

After the flower is dried and ground, pre-roll stuffing machines use either a tamping or vibrating system to pack the cone. Both of these actions also destroy and knock off valuable trichomes. Essentially, to create machine-stuffed cones, you have to sacrifice the very thing your consumers are paying for—potency.

Now, enter RollPros BlackBird. This machine rolls pre-rolls just like you would by hand

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California officials said that a recent auction aimed at recouping more than $14.4 million in unpaid cannabis industry taxes earned just over $2,000, the North Bay Business Journal reports.

The auction was held February 16 in the California Highway Patrol’s parking lot in Los Angeles and officials reported having earned a scant $2,075 by the time the auction wrapped.

The auctioned-off items were seized during law enforcement raids on ten “non-compliant” cannabis companies in southern California. Officials did not name the ten companies from which the products were seized but they noted that only one of the companies had been actually licensed to retail cannabis products.

The auction covered a variety of items including glass bongs, office supplies, and furniture from multiple cannabis retailers including vending machines and a snowcone maker. 

It was the first time the state resorted to selling bongs and other personal possessions seized from a tax-delinquent cannabis company but officials had previously auctioned off some commercial property recovered from similar seizures. Funds from the auction will be applied to the companies’ considerable tax debts, the report said.

Licensed cannabis operators in California have a difficult time finding success in the industry between high fees, steep taxes,

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Canadian government officials are increasing the regulatory fees paid by licensed cannabis operators to match Canada’s 4.4% inflation rate from April 2022 to April 2023.

The fee increases will take effect starting April 1, 2024; the money collected is supposed to be used to regulate the country’s federally legal cannabis market.

The Canada Gazette, which is published by the federal government, said the fees are to be adjusted each year on April 1 to reflect changes in the “April All-items Consumer Price Index for Canada … for the previous fiscal year and rounded to the next highest dollar.”

As a result, these are the new regulatory fees for Canada’s cannabis industry:

The micro-cultivation license application screening was increased from $1,886 to $1,969. The standard cultivation license application screening was increased from $3,767 to $3,933. The cannabis nursery license application screening was increased from $1,886 to $1,969. The micro-processing license application screening increased from $1,886 to $1,969. The standard processing license application screening was increased from $3,767 to $3,933. The medical sales license application screening was increased from $3,767 to $3,933.

In addition to the application screening fees, Canadian cannabis operators are expected to pay an annual regulatory fee,

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Register Here

Reminder! We are all set for our latest cannabis business webinar, tomorrow, February 28th, focused on “Cannabis Loans and Investments”.

In 2024, a constellation of factors makes things very interesting for both cannabis industry investors and businesses:

More states are open for business and investment than ever before In the macroeconomic environment, interest rates are high (especially compared to a few years back), but rates are projected to come down again Many cannabis businesses are struggling, but marijuana may move to Schedule III at some point this year, increasing margins

Whether you’re an investor eyeing favorable debt or equity terms, or a cannabis entrepreneur seeking to secure finance, this webinar has you covered. Equip yourself with financial insights that can help you stride confidently in this ever-evolving industry.

Topics of focus:

The intricacies of the cannabis financial landscape Risk management Navigating lending complexities Capitalizing on investment opportunities Potential impacts of the proposed re-scheduling of marijuana

We’ll also tackle some of the pressing issues such as regulatory challenges and how to navigate the cannabis industry with secure financial strategies.

Don’t miss out: this is your step towards becoming a well-informed player in the world of

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Sohan Bashar, joined by his wife and daughter, cuts the ribbon with staff and OCM rep Damian Fagon and Cannabis NYC founder Dasheeda Dawson (right)

Photo by Athena Dawson

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Jamaica’s second recreational cannabis dispensary opened on Friday, Feb. 23, with the owner and his family holding a grand opening celebration.

Silk Road NYC, located at 166-30 Jamaica Ave.,  is the second licensed cannabis shop to open in downtown Jamaica, with the other being Good Grades that opened last year. Silk Road is owned and operated by Sohan Bashar, who grew up in Jamaica Queens and made history as the first Bangladeshi owner of a NYC certified dispensary.

Bashar has a longstanding relationship with cannabis and was busted on felony charges for selling pot prior to its legalization in 2021. “I’ve been in this community serving this community with clean cannabis before all of the New York roll out. I was one of the ones that would source these products myself,” he said. 

Bashar was able to open the dispensary after applying for a CAURD license,

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The Jersey City Cannabis Control Board (CCB) granted final approval for the Golden Door Dispensary to open, as well as initial approval for cultivator Glue Lagoon Farms, with two other dispensaries given the initial okay and one carried at last night’s meeting.

By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View

The public hearing was also technically a reorganization meeting, though Brittani Bunney will remain chair for a third term and Jose Cantarero will be vice chair for a second term.

Golden Door Dispensary LLC, at 638 Newark Ave., was reviewed first for final approval. According to his LinkedIn profile, owner Brett D’Alessandro lives in Verona and he is among several cannabis companies doing business in New Jersey that won a state grant.

Additionally, Golden Door Dispensary secured a conversion to the annual license needed to open from the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) last August and received their initial CCB approval in October 2022.

“Welcome back. It has been a long, strange trip. Have you been able to successfully convert?” CCB attorney Ron Mondello said, which D’Alessandro said they had and secured permits from the city.

The board didn’t need to hear much more than that, unanimously approving the application 4-0,

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