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Colorado Cannabis Blog

National Cannabis Industry Association’s Women’s CannaBusiness Network to host event

Group will release report detailing economic benefits of industry in Colorado

Employers and employees to speak
The National Cannabis Industry Association, in conjunction with the Women’s CannaBusiness Network — a project it launched earlier this year — will hold a press conference at the National Press Club on Thursday, September 13 at 9:30 a.m. At the event, female business leaders from the medical cannabis industry will call on President Obama to cease enforcement actions against medical cannabis providers while the administration reviews its policies to determine whether they are in the public interest.

Graphic: NCIA

​With growing financial clout and an eye on expanding to more states beyond the 15 that have already legalized medicinal cannabis, leaders of the medical marijuana industry are forming a national trade association.

While there are smaller, local trade groups, organizers said this will be the first business organization working on the national level, reports Dan Frosch at The New York Times.
Organizers of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) said it is the first national trade group representing the interests of the cannabis industry and its consumers. More than 20 professionals from various sectors of the marijuana industry make up the initial board of directors of NCIA, which organizers said was formed with the express purpose of improving business conditions for the industry.
Based in Washington, D.C., the group will focus mainly on lobbying, but will also help medical marijuana businesses navigate the labyrinth of laws that differ depending on state, county, and city.

Graphic: Maine Marijuana Policy Initiative
About 100 of the state’s 500 caregivers have already joined the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine trade group.

​Medical marijuana patients looking for information about the state’s new dispensary law, or checking out options on getting their medicine have a new resource: the Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, a trade association that plans to adopt cultivation standards, keep prices low and advocate for safe access in the Legislature.

None of Maine’s eight licensed dispensaries has opened yet, reports Susan Sharon at The Maine Public Broadcasting Network. But according to the Department of Health and Human Services, about 100 medical marijuana patients have registered with the state and another 100 are in the process.
Hundreds more patients are expected to sign up by year-end, according to Jonathan Leavitt, board chairman of Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine.
“Realistically the number probably is somewhere between 750 to 1,250 qualified patients in this state,” Leavitt said. “And I think those numbers will bear out by the end of the year when people are actually required to register.”
Many patients will soon access their medicinal cannabis at one of the eight new dispensaries allowed after Maine voters expanded the state’s decade-old medical marijuana law. But for those who prefer anonymity, getting marijuana through a licensed caregiver is another option.

Graphic: Medical Marijuana Blog

​The City Council of Portland, Maine has unanimously agreed to include a medical marijuana dispensary in the city’s business zoning ordinance.

Three companies have been selected by the state Department of Health to dispense cannabis  to authorized patients in Maine. The state-licensed dispensaries will be in six locations around the state, including downtown Portland, reports Amanda Hill at WLBZ2.
The state of Maine has agreed to allow Northeast Patients Group to open dispensaries in Portland, Thomaston, Augusta or Waterville, and Hermon.
The group is looking at a number of locations in Portland, now that the zoning ordinance allows it to open a dispensary within the business 2, 3, and 7 zones of the city.
One key location under discussion is the former location of a Key Bank on the corner of Congress and St. John Streets, but one concern is that it’s too tight an area to accommodate a lot of traffic.

Photo: BusinessBroker.net
Maine’s new voter-approved medical marijuana dispensaries are expected to make cannabis more accessible to disabled and ill patients — but making it reasonably priced may be another matter.

​Concerns about affordability are arising as the state’s state-licensed dispensary operators have set their prices high, in what they claim is an effort to prevent resale on the streets.

The newly licensed dispensaries in Maine have revealed they plan to sell their cannabis for $300 to $400 an ounce, comparable to California dispensary prices, reports John Richardson at The Portland Press Herald.