Cannabis News

For having just expanded his dispensary business to sell cannabis product for adult use in December 2020, Casey Kornoelje brings a lot of plant-touching experience to the industry. He’s wielding that knowledge as he and his team work to vertically integrate Pharmhouse Wellness, the first adult-use dispensary in Grand Rapids, Mich., that is owned by a resident of the city.

Kornoelje opened Pharmhouse Wellness as a medical provisioning center in March 2020. But prior to that, he had spent 10 years running a 30-acre cut flower farm north of Grand Rapids, where he also grew cannabis in pole barns.

“In 2008, the state of Michigan rolled out the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program,” Kornoelje told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “I immediately enrolled as a caregiver and patient, so I was a patient myself, plus a caregiver of five. That allowed me to grow 72 plants total—72 all in—and I rocked that out from 2008 to this day.” (While the state has ended caregiver sourcing to dispensaries, Kornoelje notes that he is still legally growing for himself.)

Going further back in time, Kornoelje was charged with felony cannabis manufacturing in 2001 and a misdemeanor cannabis possession in 2004.

“As soon as I could discover how to grow the shit, I started growing it,” Kornoelje reflects. “I just wasn’t quite as good at concealing it as I was at growing it. That led to a big disruption in my life. The felony charge has always been on my record and stuck with me. It’s stifled many different opportunities for me throughout the years, both career-, professional-wise and trying to go into the military services.”

But things came around, as Kornoelje moved to the “cottage industry” of caregiver cultivation, then medical dispensing. His prior convictions, caregiver experience and residency in Grand Rapids scored Pharmhouse Wellness points through the state and city’s social equity programs and allowed him to receive zoning priority and fee reductions for its adult-use operations.

“We’re going to reinvest that money back into the local neighborhood,” Kornoelje said. “That could include projects like home ownership training, expungement clinics, business and home façade block grants, public safety and transit enhancements in front of the dispensary. Those are all just things that are on the peripheral, but that’s definitely not the end of it. [Those are] just some things that are hot on our agenda.”

Photo courtesy of Pharmhouse Wellness

COVID-Era Consumption

Pharmhouse Wellness opened as a medical-only dispensary in March 2020—in a standalone 750-square-foot structure that was originally constructed in 1890 as a home, later zoned for light industrial, and which architects and engineers helped Kornoelje facelift.

Within several days, Michigan government officials recognized the COVID-19 threat and prioritized social distancing over confined in-store customer experiences. Pharmhouse Wellness has only offered curbside and delivery for nearly the past 10 months.

A lack of historical data on Michigan cannabis sales made COVID’s impact difficult to examine, Kornoelje said, adding, “My take of it is that people are home more. … You can’t go into the mall as much, you can’t go to the movie theaters, to the gyms. People are home more, and I do believe that that has driven some increased consumption on cannabis.

“But we have noticed a definite slowdown in the fall, as the federal stimulus that was passed back in the summertime—the effects of that eventually ran out. So, we have seen demand be stable, but stable to declining in the fall time.”

Photo courtesy of Pharmhouse Wellness

Setting Sights on Vertical Integration

Pharmhouse Wellness is in the process of expanding, both through increasing its customer base and vertically integrating.

In 2020, Grand Rapids began accepting and approving medical storefronts to expand into adult use. “The city, after [expressing] concern seeing very little local participation in the marijuana market, rolled out their social equity program in summer 2020 to increase participation by local and disproportionately affected individuals,” Kornoelje said.

Recreational sales began in Grand Rapids in October. Pharmhouse held a celebration for its first adult-use sales on Dec. 19, where it hosted a coffee truck, “did swag bag giveaways” and offered specials, Kornoelje said. In addition, Redemption Cannabis owner and former cannabis prisoner Ryan Basore and Grand Rapids city commissioners attended.

The company received a processor license and a Class 3 cultivation license (for 2,000 plants or fewer) in the summer and fall of 2020. It will cultivate and process cannabis in a 4,000-square-foot warehouse on a property located two parcels east of the dispensary. “We are trying to figure out how best to make all those licenses mesh in the relatively confined space,” Kornoelje said. “But the goal is to get the grow going first, and then once we have marijuana to process, then we’ll roll out the processor license last.”

At Pharmhouse, 23 employees are responsible for getting a variety of products into customers’ hands, from flower to concentrates to edibles, topicals and vape cartridges.

Mentioning his caregiver background and experience growing cannabis, Kornoelje said, “We love flower. We try to pride ourselves on having high-quality flower in the store. And knowing that people love flower, too, we’ve tried to link up with the best possible cultivators and people that we align ourselves with—not only from a quality standpoint but from a business-philosophy standpoint and a corporate culture standpoint.”

As it plans to reinvest into the local community, Pharmhouse has engaged in other philanthropic efforts. In October 2020, the dispensary donated a portion of proceeds from Fresh Coast Extracts product to Migrant Legal Aid. And in December 2020, Pharmhouse donated proceeds from Fresh Coast to the West Michigan Cannabis Guild.

Regarding demand for the team’s beloved flower, Kornoelje said, “People seem to want the highest-testing stuff, man, unfortunately, and that seems to be the recurring theme. Unfortunately, the terpenes and the flavonoids seem to fall to the back seat with most of our consumers. I would say some are heady enough to understand that THC is not the whole picture.” Some customer favorites include classics such as Wedding Cake, GMO, GG, Super Lemon Haze and various kush varieties.

In speaking with CBT and CD, Kornoelje offered one dose of civic pride and one of thankfulness to those with whom he’s worked. “Like they say, ‘it takes a village,’ and it truly does,” he said. “There was a huge team of people, from [Pharmhouse’s communications contact] to my planner, who helped me with working on the land-use process, to the architect and the engineers—all the people that I had to work with to make the applications a reality—and then of course the city of Grand Rapids—the city commissioners, the planning commissioners, the mayor—all of them have been super supportive of what is the only locally owned cannabis shop in town.”

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRESS RELEASE — Acreage Holdings, Inc. has announced that Katie Bayne has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors.

Bayne brings more than 30 years of consumer marketing and operations experience to her new position on the Board of Directors, including over two decades at The Coca-Cola Company, where she served as President of North America Brands and Chief Marketing Officer for North America. The founder and president of strategic consulting and advisory firm Bayne Advisors, Bayne also serves as a Senior Advisor at Guggenheim Securities, and sits on the Board of Directors of Jessica Alba’s purpose-driven lifestyle brand, The Honest Company. She brings over a decade of public Board experience in varied industries, including retail.

“Achieving long-term success will require Acreage to continue building and nurturing a house of brands that has mass appeal,” said Acreage CEO Peter Caldini. “Katie’s exceptional background includes her stewardship of iconic U.S. brands and I look forward to the valuable insights she will provide to help take Acreage to the next level on our journey to achieving a true leadership position in this emerging market.”

“Katie is an outstanding addition to Acreage’s Board of Directors,” said Kevin Murphy, Acreage’s chairman and founder. “On the heels of announcing our new CEO, Acreage’s future growth will be driven by senior leaders with extensive experience in operations, brand-building, and a proven ability to drive sustainable, long-term growth.”

“I have watched the upward trajectory of the U.S. cannabis industry with great interest the past few years,” said Bayne. “I have come to understand the undeniable health and wellness benefits of the plant. As more states legalize cannabis and the addressable market continues to grow exponentially, I am excited for the opportunity to help shape Acreage’s strategy and direction at this crucial juncture.”

Bayne earned her MBA and undergraduate degrees at Duke University, where she continues to serve as a member of the Board of Visitors for the Fuqua Business School. She also serves on the Executive Board at the Cox School of Business at SMU. She is the sixth member of the Acreage Board of Directors, and will be a member of the Audit Committee.

For having just expanded his dispensary business to sell cannabis product for adult use in December 2020, Casey Kornoelje brings a lot of plant-touching experience to the industry. He’s wielding that knowledge as he and his team work to vertically integrate Pharmhouse Wellness, the first adult-use dispensary in Grand Rapids, Mich., that is owned by a resident of the city.

Kornoelje opened Pharmhouse Wellness as a medical provisioning center in March 2020. But prior to that, he had spent 10 years running a 30-acre cut flower farm north of Grand Rapids, where he also grew cannabis in pole barns.

“In 2008, the state of Michigan rolled out the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program,” Kornoelje told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “I immediately enrolled as a caregiver and patient, so I was a patient myself, plus a caregiver of five. That allowed me to grow 72 plants total—72 all in—and I rocked that out from 2008 to this day.” (While the state has ended caregiver sourcing to dispensaries, Kornoelje notes that he is still legally growing for himself.)

Going further back in time, Kornoelje was charged with felony cannabis manufacturing in 2001 and a misdemeanor cannabis possession in 2004.

“As soon as I could discover how to grow the shit, I started growing it,” Kornoelje reflects. “I just wasn’t quite as good at concealing it as I was at growing it. That led to a big disruption in my life. The felony charge has always been on my record and stuck with me. It’s stifled many different opportunities for me throughout the years, both career-, professional-wise and trying to go into the military services.”

But things came around, as Kornoelje moved to the “cottage industry” of caregiver cultivation, then medical dispensing. His prior convictions, caregiver experience and residency in Grand Rapids scored Pharmhouse Wellness points through the state and city’s social equity programs and allowed him to receive zoning priority and fee reductions for its adult-use operations.

“We’re going to reinvest that money back into the local neighborhood,” Kornoelje said. “That could include projects like home ownership training, expungement clinics, business and home façade block grants, public safety and transit enhancements in front of the dispensary. Those are all just things that are on the peripheral, but that’s definitely not the end of it. [Those are] just some things that are hot on our agenda.”

Photo courtesy of Pharmhouse Wellness

COVID-Era Consumption

Pharmhouse Wellness opened as a medical-only dispensary in March 2020—in a standalone 750-square-foot structure that was originally constructed in 1890 as a home, later zoned for light industrial, and which architects and engineers helped Kornoelje facelift.

Within several days, Michigan government officials recognized the COVID-19 threat and prioritized social distancing over confined in-store customer experiences. Pharmhouse Wellness has only offered curbside and delivery for nearly the past 10 months.

A lack of historical data on Michigan cannabis sales made COVID’s impact difficult to examine, Kornoelje said, adding, “My take of it is that people are home more. … You can’t go into the mall as much, you can’t go to the movie theaters, to the gyms. People are home more, and I do believe that that has driven some increased consumption on cannabis.

“But we have noticed a definite slowdown in the fall, as the federal stimulus that was passed back in the summertime—the effects of that eventually ran out. So, we have seen demand be stable, but stable to declining in the fall time.”

Photo courtesy of Pharmhouse Wellness

Setting Sights on Vertical Integration

Pharmhouse Wellness is in the process of expanding, both through increasing its customer base and vertically integrating.

In 2020, Grand Rapids began accepting and approving medical storefronts to expand into adult use. “The city, after [expressing] concern seeing very little local participation in the marijuana market, rolled out their social equity program in summer 2020 to increase participation by local and disproportionately affected individuals,” Kornoelje said.

Recreational sales began in Grand Rapids in October. Pharmhouse held a celebration for its first adult-use sales on Dec. 19, where it hosted a coffee truck, “did swag bag giveaways” and offered specials, Kornoelje said. In addition, Redemption Cannabis owner and former cannabis prisoner Ryan Basore and Grand Rapids city commissioners attended.

The company received a processor license and a Class 3 cultivation license (for 2,000 plants or fewer) in the summer and fall of 2020. It will cultivate and process cannabis in a 4,000-square-foot warehouse on a property located two parcels east of the dispensary. “We are trying to figure out how best to make all those licenses mesh in the relatively confined space,” Kornoelje said. “But the goal is to get the grow going first, and then once we have marijuana to process, then we’ll roll out the processor license last.”

At Pharmhouse, 23 employees are responsible for getting a variety of products into customers’ hands, from flower to concentrates to edibles, topicals and vape cartridges.

Mentioning his caregiver background and experience growing cannabis, Kornoelje said, “We love flower. We try to pride ourselves on having high-quality flower in the store. And knowing that people love flower, too, we’ve tried to link up with the best possible cultivators and people that we align ourselves with—not only from a quality standpoint but from a business-philosophy standpoint and a corporate culture standpoint.”

As it plans to reinvest into the local community, Pharmhouse has engaged in other philanthropic efforts. In October 2020, the dispensary donated a portion of proceeds from Fresh Coast Extracts product to Migrant Legal Aid. And in December 2020, Pharmhouse donated proceeds from Fresh Coast to the West Michigan Cannabis Guild.

Regarding demand for the team’s beloved flower, Kornoelje said, “People seem to want the highest-testing stuff, man, unfortunately, and that seems to be the recurring theme. Unfortunately, the terpenes and the flavonoids seem to fall to the back seat with most of our consumers. I would say some are heady enough to understand that THC is not the whole picture.” Some customer favorites include classics such as Wedding Cake, GMO, GG, Super Lemon Haze and various kush varieties.

In speaking with CBT and CD, Kornoelje offered one dose of civic pride and one of thankfulness to those with whom he’s worked. “Like they say, ‘it takes a village,’ and it truly does,” he said. “There was a huge team of people, from [Pharmhouse’s communications contact] to my planner, who helped me with working on the land-use process, to the architect and the engineers—all the people that I had to work with to make the applications a reality—and then of course the city of Grand Rapids—the city commissioners, the planning commissioners, the mayor—all of them have been super supportive of what is the only locally owned cannabis shop in town.”

After Democrats secured the majority in the U.S. Senate following the Jan. 5 Georgia Senate runoff election, many in the cannabis industry are undoubtedly wondering how the shift in power might affect federal reform efforts.

“The Senate flipping from red to blue is a huge green light for cannabis policy,” Melissa Kuipers Blake, an attorney with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “[Incoming Majority] Leader [Chuck] Schumer has long been an advocate of cannabis reform, particularly the MORE Act, and we expect him to act on comprehensive cannabis reform in the coming year.”

RELATED: How U.S. House, Senate Results Could Influence Cannabis Legislation

According to Kris Krane, founder and president of 4Front Ventures, the parent company of Mission Dispensaries, the Democrats taking control of the Senate “changes things completely.”

“It’s an entirely different calculus now in terms of what we can get accomplished at the federal level than it was just a few days ago, when it looked like we’d be looking at the prospects of the Biden administration and a Republican Senate,” Krane tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary.

RELATED: What Would a Joe Biden Presidency Mean for the Cannabis Industry?

With a Republican-controlled Senate, Krane says passing the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act appeared somewhat likely, and while the legislation’s efforts to increase the industry’s access to banking would be a welcome change, significant, long-lasting changes in federal law seemed out of reach.

Now, with Democrats at the helm of a unified government in Washington, Krane says the industry has a chance at real federal reform, possibly for the first time ever.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated that he wants to make cannabis legalization a priority, Krane says, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been historically receptive to reform efforts.

The House passed the SAFE Banking Act as a standalone bill in 2019 (and again as part of a COVID-19 relief bill in May), and also approved the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE Act) last month to federally deschedule cannabis.

“I think we now have a possibility for major federal reform, including descheduling and legalization, that we’ve frankly never seen before,” Krane says.

These descheduling and legalization efforts are likely to include social equity and social justice provisions, Kuipers Blake adds.

“It’s important to remember the social equity component of cannabis reform, which the Democrats have made a priority, and we don’t expect that to change,” she says. “So, there’s also an opportunity for cannabis reform to be coupled with criminal justice reform.”

However, according to Krane, it remains to be seen what legislation like the MORE Act and SAFE Banking Act will ultimately look like in the new Congress.

“I think the MORE Act is going to be the basis for whatever type of comprehensive reform the Democrats want to push,” he says. “That said, I don’t know … if the bill that does end up getting pushed and getting passed will be the MORE Act as it’s currently written.”

Lawmakers may spend more time fine-tuning the details of the legislation now that it has a chance of being considered in the Senate, Krane says.

“The details are really important if it can actually pass versus if it can’t, if it’s a symbolic piece of legislation,” he says. “My guess is that the MORE Act serves as the foundation for a broader descheduling bill. What that ultimately looks like, I don’t think we know yet, but I don’t think it’ll be exactly the MORE Act.”

Krane predicts that the SAFE Banking Act will make it through Congress as standalone legislation much quicker than a descheduling bill like the MORE Act will, as lawmakers may see banking reform as low-hanging fruit that Republicans can throw support behind.

“That’s where the debate’s really going to fall, is how far do they go first?” Krane says, adding that an exact timeline for federal cannabis reform remains unclear as Congress continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and other high-priority issues. However, he says lawmakers will likely get some sort of major reform legislation through Congress within the next two years, before the midterm elections in 2022, which could shift the power in one or more houses of Congress back to the Republicans.

In the meantime, Krane advises cannabis businesses to start preparing for the possibility of banking reform and even changes to 280E, which could come before any major descheduling or legalization efforts make it through Congress.

Businesses should also consider donating to the advocacy groups that are working to push these reforms through Congress, Krane says.

“I think we have an obligation to step up and support the groups that can represent us and get this done because this is it—we’ve got two years to get it done,” he says. “If we don’t get it done in these two years, who knows when we’re going to have another window to potentially see these types of reforms. This has to be an all-in effort on the part of the industry and the movement, and the industry needs to step up and support the organizations that are working on this stuff in D.C. Again, if it doesn’t happen now—this is our window, and it may never happen again.”

After Democrats secured the majority in the U.S. Senate following the Jan. 5 Georgia Senate runoff election, many in the cannabis industry are undoubtedly wondering how the shift in power might affect federal reform efforts.

“The Senate flipping from red to blue is a huge green light for cannabis policy,” Melissa Kuipers Blake, an attorney with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “[Incoming Majority] Leader [Chuck] Schumer has long been an advocate of cannabis reform, particularly the MORE Act, and we expect him to act on comprehensive cannabis reform in the coming year.”

RELATED: How U.S. House, Senate Results Could Influence Cannabis Legislation

According to Kris Krane, founder and president of 4Front Ventures, the parent company of Mission Dispensaries, the Democrats taking control of the Senate “changes things completely.”

“It’s an entirely different calculus now in terms of what we can get accomplished at the federal level than it was just a few days ago, when it looked like we’d be looking at the prospects of the Biden administration and a Republican Senate,” Krane tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary.

RELATED: What Would a Joe Biden Presidency Mean for the Cannabis Industry?

With a Republican-controlled Senate, Krane says passing the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act appeared somewhat likely, and while the legislation’s efforts to increase the industry’s access to banking would be a welcome change, significant, long-lasting changes in federal law seemed out of reach.

Now, with Democrats at the helm of a unified government in Washington, Krane says the industry has a chance at real federal reform, possibly for the first time ever.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated that he wants to make cannabis legalization a priority, Krane says, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been historically receptive to reform efforts.

The House passed the SAFE Banking Act as a standalone bill in 2019 (and again as part of a COVID-19 relief bill in May), and also approved the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE Act) last month to federally deschedule cannabis.

“I think we now have a possibility for major federal reform, including descheduling and legalization, that we’ve frankly never seen before,” Krane says.

These descheduling and legalization efforts are likely to include social equity and social justice provisions, Kuipers Blake adds.

“It’s important to remember the social equity component of cannabis reform, which the Democrats have made a priority, and we don’t expect that to change,” she says. “So, there’s also an opportunity for cannabis reform to be coupled with criminal justice reform.”

However, according to Krane, it remains to be seen what legislation like the MORE Act and SAFE Banking Act will ultimately look like in the new Congress.

“I think the MORE Act is going to be the basis for whatever type of comprehensive reform the Democrats want to push,” he says. “That said, I don’t know … if the bill that does end up getting pushed and getting passed will be the MORE Act as it’s currently written.”

Lawmakers may spend more time fine-tuning the details of the legislation now that it has a chance of being considered in the Senate, Krane says.

“The details are really important if it can actually pass versus if it can’t, if it’s a symbolic piece of legislation,” he says. “My guess is that the MORE Act serves as the foundation for a broader descheduling bill. What that ultimately looks like, I don’t think we know yet, but I don’t think it’ll be exactly the MORE Act.”

Krane predicts that the SAFE Banking Act will make it through Congress as standalone legislation much quicker than a descheduling bill like the MORE Act will, as lawmakers may see banking reform as low-hanging fruit that Republicans can throw support behind.

“That’s where the debate’s really going to fall, is how far do they go first?” Krane says, adding that an exact timeline for federal cannabis reform remains unclear as Congress continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic and other high-priority issues. However, he says lawmakers will likely get some sort of major reform legislation through Congress within the next two years, before the midterm elections in 2022, which could shift the power in one or more houses of Congress back to the Republicans.

In the meantime, Krane advises cannabis businesses to start preparing for the possibility of banking reform and even changes to 280E, which could come before any major descheduling or legalization efforts make it through Congress.

Businesses should also consider donating to the advocacy groups that are working to push these reforms through Congress, Krane says.

“I think we have an obligation to step up and support the groups that can represent us and get this done because this is it—we’ve got two years to get it done,” he says. “If we don’t get it done in these two years, who knows when we’re going to have another window to potentially see these types of reforms. This has to be an all-in effort on the part of the industry and the movement, and the industry needs to step up and support the organizations that are working on this stuff in D.C. Again, if it doesn’t happen now—this is our window, and it may never happen again.”

The state of Michigan has passed a law allowing veterinarians to consult with pet owners on using marijuana or hemp—including cannabidiol (CBD)—products for their animals.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed H.B. 5085 into law in late December 2020.

According to a legislative analysis of the new law, veterinarians were previously unable to consult with pet owners on the use of marijuana or hemp. This law would open up their freedom to either recommend or advise against giving animals cannabis in various forms.

“The current restriction on veterinarians’ ability to discuss the benefits, as well as the risks, of treatments for pets derived from marijuana or industrial hemp results in incomplete and inadequate pet health care,” the legislative analysis says. “Allowing veterinarians to become a trusted source of information, in a marketplace with many competing and confusing claims, would ultimately benefit both pets’ health and their owners’ peace of mind.”

Michigan’s law currently bans selling CBD animal and pet feed products, including pet treats. However, residents in the state can add CBD products, like oils, to their pet’s food, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The agency notes that “safe levels for animal consumption have not been established.”

A report released in February 2020 by Nielsen, a global data analytics company, and Headset, a data and analytics service provider for the legal cannabis industry, showed projected growth in the pet CBD market. The report found that hemp-based CBD pet products will represent 3-5% of all hemp CBD sales in the U.S. by 2025. Other findings from that report include:

• 74% of CBD consumers have pets.
• Pet products have accounted for nearly $10 million in sales at regulated adult-use cannabis retailers in California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington combined (Q1 2018 through Q3 2019).
• The average price per pound for CBD dog treats is twice that of the average dog treat.
• About one in four pet owners uses hemp-CBD either for themselves, their pet(s), or for both.

 

PRESS RELEASE–St. Louis, Mo. (Jan. 7, 2020)–Cannabis Safety & Quality (CSQ) has awarded the first CSQ Certifications to Curaleaf, a leading U.S. provider of consumer products in cannabis, and Florida-based retailer, One Plant. The CSQ Certification Program and applicable standards aim to serve as protection for these brands by minimizing the risk and ensuring regulatory requirements are met from seed-to-sale. The standards were built in 2020 to meet ISO requirements and Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) requirements.

“We are thrilled to have Curaleaf and One Plant as the first of many industry-leading brands putting compliance and quality first with CSQ’s stamp of approval,” said Tyler Williams, founder and chief technical officer of CSQ. “Obtaining third-party certifications like ours helps lay the groundwork for a more self-regulated industry that continuously produces safe and reliable products for patients and consumers.”

CSQ’s licensed third-party auditors, technical directors, and consultants have been training since the beginning of December 2020 to make these pilot audit certifications possible. Both companies were reviewed under the “Manufacturing and Infusion of Cannabis into Food & Beverage Products” standard, which applies to the addition of cannabis flower or cannabis derivatives into shelf-stable food and beverage products. This standard is one of four total standards within CSQ that are breaking new ground as part of the world’s first cannabis certification program meeting the GFSI requirements, set to be benchmarked in 2022. Additional standards include:

●       Growing and Cultivation of Cannabis Plants

●       Manufacturing and Extraction of Cannabis

●       Manufacturing of Cannabis Dietary Supplements

​Based in Florida, One Plant specializes in responsibly farmed cannabis. One Plant currently operates a state-of-the-art Nexus greenhouse, a full lab, and seven retail locations with five new locations coming soon. One Plant also operates a robust, ecommerce driven, next-day Statewide delivery model. Cultivators and manufacturers like One Plant that get certified are less likely to have a recall, endure a regulatory warning, or a voluntary withdrawal.

Curaleaf is a vertically integrated, high-growth cannabis operator known for quality, expertise, and reliability. Curaleaf and its brands, including Curaleaf and Select, provide industry-leading service, product selection, and accessibility across the medical and adult-use markets. Curaleaf currently operates in 23 states with 95 dispensaries, 22 cultivation sites, and over 30 processing sites.

A benefit for leading retailers like Curaleaf would also include peace of mind when working with suppliers who receive third-party audits. Eventually, dispensaries will have the capability to hand-pick new suppliers using CSQ’s searchable database to determine whether or not the supplier is compliant.