Proposed pot dispensary too close to school, board decides. – Orlando Sentinel

A medical-marijuana dispensary needing permission to set up shop on Edgewater Drive will have to appeal or find another location after a zoning board said no, siding with College Park neighbors and Orange County’s school board chair.

The Plants of Ruskin, a Tampa-area firm which owns cannabis company MÜV, sought a variance to bypass state law and an Orange County rule forbidding a medical-marijuana dispensary from operating within 500 feet of a school property.

Sandwiched between entrances to Bishop Moore and Edgewater high schools, the proposed site of 3550 Edgewater Drive, a former Amscot money store, is far enough from both main campuses to satisfy the law. But it is just 338 feet from 901 Maury Road — a school-owned acre used by Edgewater’s agricultural education program.

Zoning officials said 94 property-owners emailed in opposition to the dispensary’s request and two in favor.

School Board Chair Teresa Jacobs opposed the variance on behalf of the district’s governing panel, citing the harmful effects of marijuana on teen-agers and the state of Florida’s dismal regulatory history with opioids and other drugs.

“We take the safety of our students very seriously as I’m sure you do as well,” Jacobs told the zoning board, a

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$1B in Missouri recreational marijuana sales in year 1 – Spectrum News 1

ST. LOUIS— The one-year anniversary of the February 3, 2023 start of legal sales of recreational marijuana came and went without much fanfare in Missouri, but the numbers behind sales have told a loud story.

The state reported $1.04 billion in recreational marijuana sales in 2023, according to figures released late last month by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. January’s figures will be out later this month.

December alone saw the state’s highest-selling month, with $106.5 million in recreational sales.

In the year since sales began, dozens of Missouri municipalities have passed sales tax measures authorized under the 2022 Constitutional amendment that legalized the recreational sale. Communities that passed local 3% sales tax measures in April of last year started collecting it in October, with many using the revenue for general fund purposes, while some dedicated it for law enforcement. A state sales tax of 6% is charged to administer the program at the state level.

St. Louis County projects as much as $3 million in marijuana-related sales tax revenue in 2024, but that hinges on the county’s ability to “stack” 3% on top of what incorporated cities and towns are already collecting.

In the lead up to

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Kern County Authorities Dismantle Illegal Cannabis Dispensaries, Make Multiple Arrests – Crime Voice

Kern County Authorities Dismantle Illegal Cannabis Dispensaries, Make Multiple Arrests         Above: Interior of one of the dispensaries
(All photos courtesy of KCSO)Originally published by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office:

“On January 31, 2024, at approximately 7:00 p.m., the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Kern County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (KC-HIDTA), along with Investigators from the Kern County District Attorney’s Office, executed search warrants on two (2) illegal marijuana dispensaries operating on Taft Highway, Bakersfield. Wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife/Cannabis Enforcement Program (CEP), and officers from the Kern County Probation Department also assisted in the execution of the search warrants and arrests of numerous subjects found to be involved in operating the illegal marijuana dispensaries, possession of controlled substances, illegal firearms and for the sales of marijuana to a minor.

This investigation resulted in the closure of both marijuana dispensaries that were found to be in violation of County and State Health and Safety Codes.  Investigators from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) will be conducting follow up investigations on the below marijuana

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11 Cloud Cannabis Dispensaries Acquired By Stash Ventures – mitechnews.com

MOUNT PLEASANT – Stash Ventures has acquired the dispensaries of Troy-based Cloud Cannabis Co. in what is the first notable acquisition in the sector of 2024. Financial terms of the deal, which closed late last month, were not disclosed.

Stash Ventures takes control of Cloud’s 11 dispensaries in Michigan — Ann Arbor, Detroit, Muskegon, Traverse City, two in Grand Rapids, Utica, Gaylord, New Baltimore, Cedar Springs and Kalamazoo. The dispensaries will continue to operate under the Cloud Cannabis name to preserve Cloud’s “already well-established market position,” Stash Ventures said in a press release.

Stash Ventures already operates three dispensaries in Michigan under the Timber Cannabis Co. name in Mount Pleasant, Owosso and Sturgis.

Strangely enough, the deal does not include Cloud Cannabis marijuana grow and processing operations.

“This transaction with Stash Ventures represents a pivotal strategic decision for our team,” John McLeod, co-founder of Cloud, said in a press release. “We recognized an extraordinary opportunity to orchestrate a mutually beneficial financial and operational outcome for both parties, while enabling us to sharpen our focus on our established wholesale operations. This move is a testament to our commitment to our stakeholders and aligns with our vision for the future.”

The acquisition of Cloud also gives Stash

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Dispensary Recommendations: Cannabis products you’ll fall in love with – Greenway

Each month Patients asks a handful of the best dispensary representatives from around the state to give a recommendation for their favorite, or the most popular, product at their dispensary. Dispensary staff give their recommendations based on personal preference, personal taste, or customer feedback. If you’d like to nominate your favorite budtender or dispensary, drop us a line.

Check out what some of Missouri’s best are loving right now.

Fruitfetti Crispies | Good Taste

Jordan Baumann | Missouri Wild Alchemy 

Are you looking for an enhanced edible experience? Well, toss those gummies, and treat yourself! Good Taste has a line of edible rice crispy treats that come in multiple flavors. One that has my attention is their rosin-infused Fruitfetti Crispies! The flavor is very similar to a Fruity Pebbles rice crispy treat, making it the perfect treat to have by yourself of with friends. Being infused with rosin, you can be assured you’ll get the cleanest high possible, as it is made with a solventless extraction. 

As Donna and Tom would say, “Treat yo self!” and come over to Missouri Wild Alchemy and get your Good Taste Rosin Infused Fruitfetti Crispies to have a very weediful day.

Clementine Flower

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La Plata man accused of fleeing in car stolen from Kirksville dispensary – ktvo.com

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — A northeast Missouri man is accused of stealing a car from a marijuana dispensary in Kirksville and fleeing from two law enforcement agencies before eventually being caught in Moberly.

That series of events started around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Stephen Lene, 22, of La Plata, is now facing charges of stealing a motor vehicle, first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting a lawful stop by fleeing.

According to court documents, Lene was refused service at a dispensary on Baltimore Street.

Police report that security video shows Lene then getting into a car that was running outside the dispensary and driving away.

Two-and-a-half hours later, a police officer spotted the vehicle driving in Kirksville.

Police attempted a traffic stop, but they say Lene fled, driving fast and recklessly, running 11 stop signs.

The pursuit was called off.

A brief time later, the Missouri State Highway Patrol attempted a traffic stop near La Plata. They say Lene fled again.

Late Wednesday night, Moberly police located Lene and the stolen car at a convenience store and arrested him.

Moberly officers said Lene admitted to taking the car, but he claimed he had permission.

Lene is being held in the Randolph County jail on $65,000 bond.

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Arizona Dispensary Grand Opening Celebration on Feb 3rd – AZmarijuana.com

On Saturday, February 3rd, a grand opening celebration will take place for Nirvana Center’s new Apache Junction cannabis dispensary (11343 E Apache Trail).

There will be vendors, raffles, food trucks, music and dozens of big deals for Arizona marijuana consumers to enjoy. And the first 50 customers will receive a gift bag.

Nirvana Center has 8 dispensaries throughout Central and Northern Arizona.

Grand opening deals & freebies. Lic: 0000148ESTMY68096274

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Osseo city officials consider municipal cannabis operation – CBS Minnesota

The future of a cannabis store in the northwest suburbs is being weighed by an Osseo City Council co

The future of a cannabis store in the northwest suburbs is being weighed by an Osseo City Council co 00:33

OSSEO, Minn. — The Osseo City Council is considering whether or not to go ahead with plans for a city-owned cannabis store.

According to city officials, the City Council last year created an ad hoc committee to “explore and consider potential future municipal cannabis sales.” The committee presented its findings and recommendations at a meeting last week. 

One of the biggest questions facing the city is where to house the cannabis store, according to a City Council agenda document. One of the options includes adding space into a new City Hall and Public Safety building, with the dispensary located in the same building as the city’s police department.

The committee says there are pros and cons to this location. On one hand, it’s a safer environment for transactions to take place, but the committee says there may be a “stigma” about purchasing cannabis next to police — even if

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Red Lake’s NativeCare dispensary to operate as a stand-alone business following council vote – INFORUM

RED LAKE, Minn. — Red Lake’s marijuana dispensary, NativeCare, will be operated as a stand-alone business instead of tribal council control following a unanimous vote for the council to step away from day-to-day operations of the business on Tuesday, Jan. 30.

The vote came after an allegation that a large amount of cannabis was removed from the facility without authorization.

According to a news release, an employee at NativeCare’s grow facility alleged that Tribal Secretary Sam Strong had removed a significant amount of trim — the leaf byproduct that is removed from cannabis flowers after harvest — that was stored in garbage bags at the facility.

Tribal council members reviewed a report detailing that the trim was picked by one of NativeCare’s business partners to process the material into other products, such as vape cartridges.

After reviewing this report, the NativeCare employee who made the initial report admitted that he never saw Strong take any cannabis material from the grow facility and that “his earlier report was incorrect,” the release said.

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Inquiries were also made into Strong’s activities within his official capacity as a member of the cannabis board. The Tribal Regulatory Cannabis Board

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Green Therapy Dispensary owner says legal pot ‘blessing to Chaparral’ – El Paso Times

James Perez traded family businesses from West El Paso restaurants to a Chaparral cannabis shop out of necessity, not greed.

With the advent of legal marijuana sales across New Mexico, Perez suggested to his wife, Christina, that they open a dispensary in Chaparral as a way to save patients the time and money it took to commute to dispensaries elsewhere in the state.

“We always had to go to either Las Cruces or Sunland Park to get my medication,” Perez recalled, “and my wife was like, ‘That’s a great idea, opening a dispensary in Chaparral.'”

The Perezes applied for their dispensary license at the end of 2021 and were the first in Chaparral to be approved. They had their eyes set on opening Green Therapy Dispensary in April 2022, when New Mexico’s recreational marijuana laws went into effect but were delayed until September over issues with their building.

“You have to be on point with everything,” James Perez said. “It was just a way to set us back. I guess their purpose was to get us unmotivated, but we didn’t stop.”

Perez had originally planned to help open the shop and then return to his restaurant business, but after three months open, Green Therapy generated

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