BudDigest

ONEIDA INDIAN NATION HOMELANDS (WSYR-TV) — The first-ever cannabis dispensary in Verona and on the Oneida Indian Nation Homelands, Verona Collective, is set to open on Jan. 3, 2024.

Interested individuals wanting to work at the dispensary can attend career information sessions on Dec. 14 and 16 that will discuss the roles available within Verona Collective’s seed-to-sale cannabis operation.

Cannabis dispensary licensing process resumes in New York State

The new dispensary will be located at 5250 Willow Place in Verona directly across from Turning Stone Resort Casino.

“Verona Collective is a seed-to-sale cannabis business fully operated by the Oneida Indian Nation from the cultivation of plants to processing, packaging and retail sales, all on Nation lands. Earlier this year, construction was completed on the new enterprise’s 50,000-square-foot cultivation facility, and when its first dispensary opens next month, it will offer a full array of products that include cannabis flower, pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates and more from Verona Collective’s brands Trim & Proper, CNY Provisions, Humble & Kind and Fair Shake,” stated the Oneida Indian Nation.

Once Verona Collective opens, in spring 2024, it will launch its second dispensary also located in Verona. At that time,

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TIFTON — Two of Tifton’s local pharmacies are looking into operating low THC dispensaries, but their locations mean they’ll need permission from the city to do so.

City council members discussed requests from South Georgia Drug Company and Allen Pharmacy Group, respectively doing business as Friendly City Pharmacy and Tifton Drug Company, to receive waivers for these establishments in regards to their minimum distance requirements at their Dec. 4 meeting.

Crystal Gaillard, planning and zoning director, explained that both pharmacies were interested in establishing dispensaries for selling low-THC products, such as drops, lozenges, and tinctures, but were located well within the 1,000 feet minimum distance requirement from a school, early care learning facility, or religious institution for such a facility, as mandated by state law.

Friendly City was only around 60 feet from the property boundary of Bible Baptist Church, while Tifton Drug Company was around 115 feet from a ministry center for the First Baptist Church.

The requested waivers would allow the two pharmacies to operate their dispensaries despite their proximity to the churches.

Tifton Drug Company was among the first pharmacies

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Police in San Diego, California recently executed a drug bust targeting unregulated dispensaries and smoke shops that led to the discovery of a large volume of hard drugs and firearms, the Times of San Diego reported. The shops targeted in the raids included Canably, Elevated Smoke Shop, and BestBudz Smoke Shop, which were pinpointed in the course of an investigation that began in October, according to a San Diego police news release. Six suspects are now in custody.

According to police, Canably and Elevated were allegedly operating within 1,000 feet of schools, and the raid on Elevated uncovered a loaded “ghost gun” — meaning a firearm that has no traceable serial number. In addition, the raids found 60,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills, 5,000 ecstasy pills, nearly nine pounds of cocaine, and five pounds of methamphetamine, the report states.

These unregulated dispensaries were also reportedly selling delta-8 and delta-10 THC, synthetically derived “hemp-based” products that have proliferated widely in the U.S. since the 2018 Farm Bill. Purveyors of these products operate under an interpretation of the Farm Bill that claims any hemp-derived product with less than 0.3% THC by weight is federally legal. The DEA disputed this interpretation earlier this year, saying

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With New York State legalizing recreational marijuana usage, consumers have been patiently waiting for dispensaries to open in the state. A new one will be open soon courtesy of the Oneida Indian Nation.

The Oneida Nation announced Wednesday that they will be officially opening their first dispensary on January 3rd, 2024. In addition to the announcement of the dispensary opening, the nation is also offering career opportunities in the industry.

Now Hiring!

Job seekers can get more information at two information sessions being hosted on December 14th and 16th. Oneida Nation officials say,

During these sessions, attendees will learn more about all the roles available within Verona Collective’s seed-to-sale cannabis operation and why establishing a work history with Turning Stone Enterprises is the best way to secure a highly sought-after position with Verona Collective.

Event Details
Location: Turning Stone Resort Casino

Date: Thursday, December 14
Time: 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm

Date: Saturday, December 16
Time: 11:00 am, 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm

The job opportunities that will be available include Cultivation, Processing, Packaging and Retail. Jobs in this industry will be first offered to existing Oneida Nation employees and the best way to get a head start is to join the Oneida Nation team.

Ryan Riggs is the Turning

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The interim director of Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) indicated last week that state regulators anticipate launching the industry in 2025, the Star Tribune reports. However, Charlene Briner said the agency is still seeking a permanent director after its initial director, Erin DuPree, resigned one day after she was appointed due to allegations that her hemp business sold products that exceeded allowable THC levels, owned money to former associates, and had tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens.

Briner indicated that she is going to remain as interim director “at least through mid-February” and that “there’s a lot of work happening behind the scenes” to keep the state on track “for a successful launch in 2025.” Briner’s contract with the state ends February 15, the report says.

Briner added that the state could begin accepting cannabis industry license applications by the fourth quarter of next year but described the overall timeline as “ambitious.”

Briner said that she hopes to make nine key administrative hires in the next few weeks and have them start by the end of the year or early January and that about 24 state employees have been reassigned

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Five years after the United Kingdom’s Home Office legalized medical cannabis products for use on the National Health Service (NHS), the government still hasn’t funded clinical trials that would allow physicians to prescribe cannabis, Sky News reports. Patients with private insurance can access medical cannabis products, but those who rely on NHS cannot.  

Dr. Alan Fayaz, an NHS consultant and a spokesperson for the British Pain Society, told Sky News that the 2018 decision by the Home Office to legalize medical cannabis before clinical trials has created “this bizarre two-tiered system which actually doesn’t advantage the patients on the NHS” and “doesn’t really advantage the patients in the private sector either.” 

“In the aftermath of what happened with opioids the medical community is understandably a little bit skeptical about introducing a new drug without really robust evidence. The opioid epidemic has perhaps done cannabis a bit of a disservice because it’s tainted ground.” — Fayaz to Sky News 

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the NHS Research Ethics Committee have approved a trial by Celadon Pharmaceuticals that uses a metered dose inhaler to dispense THC in low doses. That trial

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A bill introduced last week In Wisconsin aims to decriminalize possession of up to 14 grams of cannabis by adults, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The measure would also reduce the penalties for possession from a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine to fines between $100 and $250.  

Current state law also allows repeat offenders to be charged with a felony and the decriminalization bill would eliminate the consideration of previous possession charges for 28 grams of cannabis or less. 

The proposal has an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Legislature. A similar proposal in 2021 didn’t get a hearing in either chamber. 

Were the measure to get approved by lawmakers, it would likely be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who in his last two budgets included adult-use legalization proposals.  

In September, a bicameral cannabis legalization bill was introduced in the state by Sen. Melissa Agard, the Democrat leader in the chamber, and Rep. Darrin B. Madison. Three of Wisconsin’s four border states – Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan – have legalized cannabis for adult use. A February report from the

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I stumbled upon this recent post by Jason Paltrowitz titled “Lawful but Awful: The Small Cap IPO Cycle.” It contains some interesting findings and I like everything about it for cannabis companies, except the conclusion. The conclusion is that OTCQX and OTCQB markets are a good bet for small companies, because these markets “offer a simplified path with financial, corporate governance, and disclosure requirements tailored to smaller companies.”

Plant-touching U.S. cannabis companies cannot list on the senior U.S. exchanges, meaning the NYSE or Nasdaq. Still, many U.S. cannabis companies that want to raise significant capital choose to “go public.” The well-worn path is either to: 1) list in Canada or overseas, via reverse merger, or 2) head to the abovementioned OTC markets, again via reverse merger, and pursue a Regulation A offering. However, in my experience, the OTCQX and OTCQB are not good places for cannabis companies.

OTC markets are teed up for fraud

Don’t take my word for it: here’s an SEC bulletin updated earlier this year and another in the specific context of cannabis stocks– going back to 2014. Here too is a FINRA warning, a sample DOJ microcap cannabis prosecution, and an FBI case study. As you

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The Hoboken Planning Board approved the amended Story Dispensary proposal that was necessary as part of the terms of their settlement with the condo association that lives in the same building.

By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View

Story Dispensary was sued by 51-53 14th Street Condominium Association, Inc. and they reached a confidential settlement in September. They had previously received approval the the city’s cannabis review board, planning board, and city council.

It was deemed a “Whispering Woods” hearing, which allows cities to settle planning and zoning lawsuits without a full hearing.

“The testimony should be just about the settlement agreement,” Chair Frank Magaletta declared.

“There was litigation which commenced during the planning board process,” Story Dispensary attorney Lauren Tardanico noted, to which Magaletta said terms have been agreed upon.

Tardanico explained the conditions of the settlement. The first concession was the hours of operations were reduced. The second was a limitation on armed security guards and the third was an entrance change.

“We have agreed to change the entrance from 14th Street to Hudson Street,” she noted, further stating they would do so to assuage concerns about long lines.

Magaletta asked if they had notified the Hoboken Police Department.

“We’re

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NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ – Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. (“AWH” or the “Company”) (CSE: AAWH.U) (OTCQX: AAWH), a multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis operator focused on bettering lives through cannabis, announced the opening of an Ascend Dispensary Outlet, located at 6019 Milan Road, Sandusky, Ohio. The dispensary will be Ascend’s third in the state of Ohio and 33rd across its seven-state footprint.1

In 2022, AWH entered into a definitive agreement providing AWH the option to acquire 100% of the equity of Ohio Patient Access LLC (“OPA”).2 In addition to the Sandusky provisional license, OPA owns and will operate two other provisionally licensed dispensaries that are in the process of being built in Cincinnati and Piqua. AWH will benefit from the economics under a support service agreement (“SSA”) with OPA.3

The Sandusky dispensary will be open Monday to Thursday and Saturday from 9 am to 7pm; Friday from 9 am to 8 pm; and Sunday 10 am to 6 pm. The dispensary will offer medical products from seven point-of-sale (POS) terminals, accepting both cash and cashless ATM terminals for debit cards. Via Ascend’s support agreement relationship with OPA, this is Ascend’s first outlet store in the state offering everyday low

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