At this writing, thirty states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of marijuana, be it recreational, medical or both, with Colorado having been in the latter category for more than four years. Nonetheless, Facebook and Instagram continue to make it difficult for cannabis businesses to advertise and promote themselves on the platforms. The scenario causes frustration within the industry even as it forces marketers to come up with clever ways to get around restrictions.
The cannabis industry has no shortage of entrepreneurs fighting to gain a toehold in the field, but one of the industry’s most well-known names got there almost by accident. Ricardo Baca had been covering music for the Denver Post for over a decade when Colorado legalized the plant recreationally, and he was a bit befuddled when his bosses asked him to lead what would become the Cannabist , the first cannabis vertical for a major daily newspaper.
Cannabis businesses took over the Colorado Convention Center this week as the National Cannabis Industry Association held its Seed to Sale Show on February 7 and 8. Made up of nearly 1,600 members, the NCIA is one of the largest industry groups in legal cannabis and has been holding annual events in Denver to showcase industry trends and technology for over five years.
If ogres existed, I don’t think they’d be very pleased with their current reputation. Shrek has turned the ogre, once a fierce and disgusting terror of folklore, into a sweet, funny hero known more for a talking donkey than an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Luckily, cannabis breeders have provided the green monster a second chance at a killer reputation with Ogre, a skunky hybrid that can lean either way, depending on the grower.
When describing the smell of marijuana, people usually use one word: skunky. But instead of using one word, a research team recently put 48 odor descriptors before participants in a study examining the unique aromatic traits of individual weed strains.
Cannabis advocates and lawmakers have high hopes for a bill requiring for the first time that Arizona medical marijuana be tested for contaminants.
But the bill’s creator said on Tuesday he’s worried the hard work he and others have put into it will “unravel.” Phoenix New Times has the story.
Lagunitas Brewing Company is one of the five largest craft-beer companies in the country, and founder and CEO Tony Magee says a lot of that has to do with culture. A big part of the Lagunitas culture is the drug test. “We have a drug-testing policy: You have to test pot,” he told a laughing crowd at the National Cannabis Industry Association’s Seed to Sale Show on Wednesday, February 7. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to try it again.”
Banking and general financial services have been a great white whale for the cannabis industry, as financial institutions continue to be wary of the plant’s illegal status with the feds. But a recent settlement between a Colorado credit union and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City may help reel in a solution.
When over sixty people attended a presentation on weed and pain management at Louisville’s Balfour Senior Living late last month, most of them were joking about coming for the free samples as they settled into their seats. The audience, mostly made up of seniors who live at facility or people with elderly relatives looking for information, asked a number of questions covering the basics of using cannabis to treat medical issues, including how to get started.
Denver’s status as the country’s legal cannabis capital is in jeopardy now that California has started recreational sales, but one study shows that the Mile High City wouldn’t just take a step back if the rest of the world followed suit — it would become irrelevant. There are some questions about how the study’s figures apply to Denver, though.