Toke of the Town

Author Ray Stern

Wife, kids, pets, mountain climbing -- the usual.

The CBD Oil Boom: Making Money on Medical Marijuana for the Masses

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By on CBD

Ray Stern | Toke of the Town

Chris Martin is a medical-marijuana pioneer. He’s also a biker, ex-con, and father of five — a nice guy with a rough side, lots of tattoos, and a head full of business ideas. He got out of prison in February after serving a two-year sentence on a weapons violation related to a 2012 raid on his first medical-marijuana company, Zonka.

His Zonka chocolate bars and other edibles became popular for a while not long after Arizona voters passed the 2010 medical-marijuana law. But this was before state-authorized dispensaries; Martin sold the infused candy to unauthorized compassion clubs. Police raided the clubs and Martin’s home, finding guns (he says they belonged to his older sons) that he shouldn’t have had in the house because of a past felony conviction.

Now Martin, his family, and friends are back in the medical-marijuana business. And this time, they may have struck gold — or, rather, struck oil. CBD oil. Read Phoenix New Times in-depth article on the new oil boom.

Here We Go Again: Medical-Cannabis Extracts at Arizona Dispensaries Deemed Illegal

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By on News

A Navajo County judge’s recent ruling about medical-marijuana extracts could lead to popular dispensary products like vape cartridges and edibles being taken off the shelves…

The problem is that the law, which was approved narrowly by voters in 2010, includes a definition for marijuana and “any mixture or preparation thereof.” Yet Arizona’s criminal code on pot, written prior to 1960, defines both marijuana and a strange substance called “cannabis,” which comes from marijuana resin but apparently isn’t marijuana. It’s officially a “narcotic” under this old law, carrying a stiffer felony designation and penalties.

See the story in the Phoenix New Times.

 

Target Pulls the Hemp Oil Product That DEA Opposes From Online Store

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By on CBD

Target’s online store stopped selling hemp oil containing cannabidiol, a cannabis extract, on Thursday in the wake of concerns by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency about the products.

CW Hemp, makers of Charlotte’s Web high-cannabidiol (CBD), low-THC extract oil, announced Thursday morning that its products could be purchased through the retail giant’s website. The Phoenix New Times has the story.

Tax on Arizona Medical Marijuana Firms Could Mean Millions for Maricopa County Schools; Here’s How

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By on Legislation
Dustin Moore and RObZ/Flickr (photoillustration)Dustin Moore and RObZ/Flickr (photoillustration)

Medical-marijuana businesses in Maricopa County haven’t been paying as much in property tax as they could.

County Assessor Paul Petersen wants to change that.

Over the next few years, his plan to start enforcing business personal property tax on dispensaries and cultivation facilities is expected to yield millions of dollars in new revenue for county schools and community colleges. The Phoenix New Times has the story…

Big Green: Marijuana Merger of Harvest, Cultivation Company May Bear Fruit for Patients

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By on Cannabusiness

Next year’s Harvest promises to be quite a bounty.

Harvest of Arizona, the Tempe-based medical-marijuana dispensary company with retail shops in Tempe and Scottsdale, announced a merger Tuesday that would make it one of the largest players in the growing industry.

In theory, the deal could benefit to the state’s 115,000 registered patients by lowering prices.

Harvest has merged with Arizona cultivator Modern Flower, currently the state’s “leading wholesale supplier,” the company said in a news release, adding that the company will soon become “the largest medical marijuana operator in Arizona.” Phoenix New Times has the story…

Safer Arizona’s ‘Band of Stoners’ Splits Pro-Pot Proponents With 2018 Legalization Effort

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By on Uncategorized

Pro-marijuana activist David Wisniewski pointed out repeatedly last year that Prop 205, the adult-use marijuana initiative, did not have the full support of the cannabis-consuming community.

Now he’s running a new legalization campaign that has the same problem.

The Safer Arizona 2018 recreational-marijuana initiative campaign has been getting positive press lately, including an article in Saturday’s Arizona Republic that claimed “Recreational Marijuana May be Headed Back to the Ballot.”

The reality, though, is that key legalization proponents believe Safer Arizona isn’t likely to collect enough signatures to make the ballot — and they have little or no intention of helping to make it happen. The Phoenix New Times has the story…

Funeral Business was ‘Slow,’ Driver of Pot-Filled Hearse Told Agents in Arizona

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By on Smuggler's Blues

The driver of a hearse filled with 68 pounds of marijuana told federal agents on Saturday that he had taken up smuggling because his Tucson funeral-services business “had been slow.”

Christian Lee Zuniga, 28, a U.S. citizen from Nogales, Arizona, was arrested after agents became suspicious of him and his hearse and found the pot, court records show.

This is actually the second headline-making smuggling failure for Zuniga.

The Phoenix New Times has the full details.

For-Profit Canadian Firm Acquires ‘Highly Profitable’ Arizona Medical Marijuana Businesses

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By on Cannabusiness
GoToVan via Flickr31

Canadian weed?

It’s supposed to be pretty good.

But Arizona medical marijuana?

Super profitable.

Ask the people from a Toronto firm who recently announced the “acquisition” — with caveats and disclaimers — of two Mesa dispensaries.

The $27 million deal also includes one of the state’s biggest cannabis-extracts brands and an option to control a cultivation and wholesale business in Nevada, where voters legalized recreational marijuana in November.

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