Former Marijuana Business Partners Settle Feud, End Lawsuits

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Chris Buck/Mother Jones
Derek Peterson and Dhar Mann were business partners, then enemies, and now a truce has been struck

​Multiple lawsuits between estranged medical marijuana business partners, Dhar Mann and Derek Peterson, have reportedly ended as the two entrepreneurs broke out the peace pipe and agreed on an undisclosed settlement this week.

Mann founded weGrow, the nation’s first medical marijuana superstore and partnered up with Peterson shortly after starting the company in 2010. Within a year, the partnership ended on a bitter note and a variety of increasingly hostile claims and counterclaims were filed by both parties against each other.
After nearly a year of unpleasantness, both Mann and Peterson have come to an agreement to settle all claims and put aside their differences.
“Medical cannabis is under fire around the country, and it’s more important than ever to have a consolidated front,” Mann said. “There are bigger issues facing medical cannabis that personal and business differences should not exacerbate.”

“We’re putting differences aside and encouraging others to do so in the best interest of the industry and cannabis patients,” Mann said.

Eric Wolfe (c) 2010
Dhar Mann shows off his conical haircut

​Mann said that he made settling the dispute a priority as medical cannabis faces increasing pressure from federal enforcement. Since the split between Mann and Anderson, weGrow has opened two additional store locations in Sacramento and Phoenix.
A third store was set to open on March 2 in Washington, D.C., but that opening has been pushed back to the end of March (date to be determined), and a fourth store is set to open in San Jose on April 20.
“Partnerships are never easy,” Peterson said. “A lot of untrue statements were made fueled by emotion. We both realize that we can be far more successful and make a more positive impact on the medical marijuana industry as allies.”
Peterson didn’t name any specific statements, either by himself or by Mann, that were “untrue” and/or “fueled by emotion.”
Toke of the Town was unable to confirm whether it was Dhar Mann’s irritating conical haircut (see photo) which caused the original rift. (Just kidding.)
Now CEO of GrowOp Technology, a hydroponic manufacturing and distribution company, Peterson has plans to take GrowOp Technology public later this year.
The terms of the agreement between Mann and Peterson are confidential.
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