Is there room in the marketplace for both the companies that are looking to become the next Wal Mart of Weed and the mom-n-pop shops and micro-producers?
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The cannabis business, in particular, is hard to navigate. Without help from someone who has experience navigating through paperwork, regulations, and laws that are not yet fully formed, a startup may flounder and fail even before it begins. The cannabis industry is already big in Michigan and will continue to get bigger. The promise of a strong cannabis industry is beginning to lure some larger already established companies into the area. It may be hard to compete with these larger, well-funded businesses. Do not let that stand in the way of building your dream of a thriving cannabis business. The Nest is available to help you #hatchaplan.
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The most recent numbers available for Colorado’s tourism industry show that there were 6.5 million cannabis visitors to the state in 2016, and the numbers are expected to increase each year. Michigan’s Pure Michigan campaign is credited with increasing tourism and the campaign has an estimated ROI of $8.33 for every dollar spent. If the cannabis industry can capitalize upon our already stout tourism industry Michigan may become the next marijuana destination hotspot.
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If you are a Michigan resident should you keep your medical marijuana card active or apply for on if you have a condition that is approved for a medical marijuana license? Since the new law was passed, and recreational marijuana is now legal, you may have been wondering which is more beneficial.
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The fact that he was doing something illegal in a place where he could be caught is probably what pissed me off the most. It was not so much that he was doing something illegal that made me mad, but where he was doing it. Does that make me a bad parent or even a bad adult?
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Chances are that you have hit roadblocks. You may have had some short-lived success, but ultimately you have been or will be shut down when it comes to advertising your business using traditional methods of advertising.
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Michigan recently became the 10th state to make it legal for adults to consume marijuana. I think we all know that by now, but consuming marijuana will not become legal in Michigan until The Board of Canvassers has certified the election. This needs to be done by November 26, and the law will not go into effect until 10 days after that happens - so sometime in early December, just in time for the holiday stresses and festivities, we will be able to legally consume marijuana. There are questions and misconceptions out there still surrounding the new law. I can answer a few of them for you.
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What is at stake in this election? Whichever party holds the majority in Congress can set the tone of the laws that are made. If Republicans retain a majority in both the House and Senate more tax cuts for corporations, immigration may be tightened up while deportations increase, health care reform will be stopped, there is potential for being able to appoint another conservative Supreme Court justice, meaning there could be more successful challenges to prior decisions such as Roe V Wade. If Democrats are able to gain the majority in either the House or Senate there will be no border wall, no cuts to welfare and social security, and it would allow for more capabilities for investigating the Trump administration on issues such as Russian collusion.
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As each day passes, legal, recreational marijuana comes closer to the mainstream. Five different polls have recently shown that support for legalization is between 59% and 64%, 97.7 % of the population lives in a state where some form of cannabis is legal, and nine states and DC have approved recreational use of marijuana among adults with more states soon to follow.
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In Michigan in 2016 there were 1762 opioid-related overdose deaths or a rate of 18.5 deaths per 100,000. The year prior there were 96.1 opioid prescriptions written per 100 people, while the national average was 70 per 100 people.
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How big is the business of cannabis real estate? Because of the status of cannabis in the US, we look to Jones Lang LaSalle Canada, a brokerage firm in Canada, for information. They have recently said that the amount of cannabis real estate in Canada by 2020 will be about the size of Amazon’s Seattle headquarters or roughly 8 million sqft. of cannabis canopy. To give a size comparison, that is approximately 139 football fields, or consider that 8,000,000 sq. feet of office space fills almost three Empire State Buildings. If made legal in the United States, I would expect that amount would be greater.
Read MoreRead MoreMichigan is coming up against a September 15 deadline for medical marijuana facilities to be licensed or to shut their doors. If a facility has not been granted a license by this deadline they will be issued a cease and desist letter. If a company does not comply with the notice to shut down it will be noted in their file and will have an adverse effect on their chance to obtain a license in the future.
An important event is coming up that could change the course of the cannabis industry in Michigan.
No, it’s not the election - although that is very important too.
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Read More‘The criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession even in the effort to discourage use. It implies an overwhelming indictment of the behavior which we believe is not appropriate. The actual and potential harm of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step which our society takes only with great reluctance.’ NORML
Read More"The Temporary Operation initiative was not designed to act as a conditional license for businesses that were looking to move into the new, regulated market. It was intended as a short-term solution with the goal of maintaining patient access while we moved applicants through the licensing process - and that objective has been met,"
Read More“The City of Muskegon has seen an immediate impact from opting into the State’s Medical Marijuana Facility Licensing Act (MMFLA), the overlay district, approximately 3 square miles has seen a 320% increase in property value in just two short months. Sparrow Consulting is very proud to announce it’s clients, Inferno Gardens, Agri-Med, Bloom City, and Nirvana Center as four new businesses who have decided to make the City of Muskegon their home!” – Connie Maxim-Sparrow, Principal, Sparrow Consulting, LLC
Whatever stage of business you are in, whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned veteran, it is not too late to determine what you want your business to represent and to steer your brand in that direction.
Read MoreRead More“The State of Michigan must take steps towards decriminalizing marijuana in the coming months, the State must also focus on the objective interpretation of the Bureau’s emergency rules, creating a system of inequality is the last thing that patients, caregivers, and entrepreneurs need, we have enough systems of inequality!” – Connie Maxim-Sparrow, Executive Director, MCCA
Michigan Canna Coalition Association (MCCA) has been closely monitoring the licensing process and has noted that there seems to be a subjective interpretation of the emergency rules, approving some applicants prequalification while denying others. The Association is trying to the right the wrongs of the BMMR Board.
Read MoreRead More“The time for decriminalization has come, and I hope we can move the ball forward on this,” - Senator Chuck Schumer, United States Senate