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‘Cleanup’ Bill Gets NJ Closer to Legalization and Decriminalization of Cannabis, with Some Changes to Consequences for Youth

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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.

 

New Michigan Law Allows Veterinarians to Discuss Marijuana and CBD With Pet Owners

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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.

 

Break Up Vertical Integration | Cannabis Industry Journal

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Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from chapter ten of From Seed to Success: How to Launch a Great Cannabis Cultivation Business in Record Time by Ryan Douglas. Douglas is founder of Ryan Douglas Cultivation, a cannabis cultivation consulting firm. He was Master Grower from 2013-2016 for Tweed, Inc., Canada’s largest licensed producer of medical cannabis and the flagship subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation.

Cultivation businesses should consider specializing in just one stage of the cannabis cultivation process. The industry has focused heavily on vertical integration, and some regulating bodies require licensees to control the entire cannabis value chain from cultivation and processing to retail. This requirement is not always in the best interest of the consumer or the business, and will likely change as the industry evolves. Not only will companies specialize in each step of the value chain, but we’ll see even further segmentation among growers that choose to focus on just one step of the cultivation process. Cannabis businesses that want to position themselves for future success should identify their strengths in the crop production process and consider specializing in just one part.

Ryan Douglas, former Master Grower for Tweed and author of From Seed to Success: How to Launch a Great Cannabis Cultivation Business in Record Time

Elsewhere in commercial horticulture, specialization is the norm. It is unlikely that the begonias you bought at your local garden shop spent their entire life inside that greenhouse. More likely, the plant spent time hopping between specialists in the production chain before landing on the retail shelf. One grower typically handles stock plant production and serves as a rooting station for vegetative cuttings. From there, rooted cuttings are shipped to a grower that cares for the plants during the vegetative stage. Once they’re an appropriate height for flowering, they’re shipped to the last grower to flower out and sell to retailers.

Cannabis businesses should consider imitating this model as a way to ensure competitiveness in the future. In the US, federal law does not yet allow for the interstate transport of plants containing THC, but the process can be segmented within states where vertical integration is not a requirement. As we look ahead to full federal legalization in the US, we should anticipate companies abandoning the vertical integration model in favor of specialization. In countries where cannabis cultivation is federally legal, entrepreneurs should consider specialization from the moment they begin planning their business.

Cultivators that specialize in breeding and genetics could sell seeds, rooted cuttings, and tissue culture services to commercial growers. Royalties could provide a recurring source of income after the initial sale of seeds or young plants. Contracting propagation activities to a specialist can result in consistently clean rooted cuttings that arrive certified disease-free at roughly ¼ the cost of producing them in-house. This not only frees up space at the recipient’s greenhouse and saves them money, but it eliminates the risks inherent in traditional mother plant and cloning processes. If a mother plant becomes infected, all future generations will exhibit that disease, and the time, money, energy, labor, and space required to maintain healthy stock plants is substantial. Growers that focus on large scale cultivation would do well to outsource this critical step.

From Seed to Success: How to Launch a Great Cannabis Cultivation Business in Record Time

Intermediary growers could specialize in growing out seeds and rooted cuttings into mature plants that are ready to flower. These growers would develop this starter material into healthy plants with a strong, vigorous root system. They would also treat the plants with beneficial insects and inoculate the crop with various biological agents to decrease the plant’s susceptibility to pest and disease infestations. Plants would stay with this grower until they are about six to 18 inches in height—the appropriate size to initiate flowering.

The final stage in the process would be the flower grower. Monetarily, this is the most valuable stage in the cultivation process, but it’s also the most expensive. This facility would have the proper lighting, plant support infrastructure, and environmental controls to ensure that critical grow parameters can be tightly maintained throughout the flowering cycle. The grower would be an expert in managing late-stage insect and disease outbreaks, and they would be cautious not to apply anything to the flower that would later show up on a certificate of analysis (COA), rendering the crop unsaleable. This last stage would also handle all harvest and post-harvest activities—since shipping a finished crop to another location is inefficient and could potentially damage the plants.

As the cannabis cultivation industry normalizes, so, too, will the process by which the product is produced. Entrepreneurs keen on carving out a future in the industry should focus on one stage of the cultivation process, and excel at it.

Virginia Lawmaker Reintroduces Bill to Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis

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TORONTO and PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Jan. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRESS RELEASE — North America’s first research and development facility dedicated to advancing cannabis cultivation techniques and systems has been completed by The Flowr Corporation and Hawthorne Canada Limited. Hawthorne is a subsidiary of the Hawthorne Gardening Company division of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Scotts Miracle-Gro is a marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products and indoor growing solutions. Flowr cultivates and sells premium cannabis to medical and adult-use markets in Canada, Europe and Australia.

Located on Flowr’s cultivation campus in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, the R&D Center includes laboratories, indoor grow suites and training areas in a single building. Flowr will test cultivation systems and techniques using Hawthorne’s lighting, fertilization and irrigation systems, growing mediums, and research protocols. In addition, Flowr intends to focus its own research on cannabis genetics and integrated growing systems in line with its goal of delivering premium quality cannabis products through highly efficient cultivation.

“We built Hawthorne to help cultivators of all sizes grow quality plants with high levels of efficiency and consistency. Completing the industry’s only dedicated R&D facility gives us a distinct advantage. We will leverage Flowr’s cultivation expertise and our technical capabilities into real world testing and results that will make a difference to growers,” said Chris Hagedorn, SVP & General Manager of Hawthorne Gardening. “We are proud of this collaboration with Flowr, a leading international cannabis company, with extensive growing experience indoors, in greenhouses and at-scale outdoors. Flowr is also one of a few companies that have had experience growing diverse genetics in different countries. We believe this experience will benefit our companies and the growers we serve.”

“The completion of the R&D Center brings our work with Hawthorne fully to life and will help keep both companies on the leading edge of cannabis cultivation for years to come,” commented Lance Emanuel, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Flowr. “Operationalizing the R&D Center is a major accomplishment for our organization and strengthens our competitive advantage in cultivation. We believe the long-term success of Flowr will be rooted in our ability to maximize the cannabinoid and terpene expression of genetics without sacrificing yield. The work we will do at the R&D Center will help us build upon the success we’ve had producing high quality, premium cannabis like our award-winning, flagship-strain BC Pink Kush beloved by budtenders and consumers throughout Canada. Leveraging our work at the R&D Center will be imperative to our eventual entry into the United States once federally permissible by law.”

The R&D Center is the centerpiece of a strategic R&D partnership formed by Flowr and Hawthorne in March 2018. It brings two of the world’s leading experts together to be at the forefront of cannabis cultivation. The operations will be led by Dr. Deron Caplan, the first person in North America to earn a PhD focused on cannabis cultivation and production. Caplan was awarded his doctorate by the University of Guelph in August 2018 and is Flowr’s Director of Research and Development. The R&D Center will be staffed by Flowr’s scientists, five of whom have PhDs in various plant biology, plant genetics and plant biochemistry disciplines. Hawthorne R&D will lead the research design and methodology.

All requisite licensing from Health Canada has been obtained by Flowr and the expectation is that the R&D Center will be operating at full capacity in Spring 2021. Research has already begun conducting growing trials at scale using Hawthorne products.

Connecticut Governor Says Cannabis Legalization Is a Priority for New Legislative Session

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TORONTO and PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Jan. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRESS RELEASE — North America’s first research and development facility dedicated to advancing cannabis cultivation techniques and systems has been completed by The Flowr Corporation and Hawthorne Canada Limited. Hawthorne is a subsidiary of the Hawthorne Gardening Company division of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Scotts Miracle-Gro is a marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products and indoor growing solutions. Flowr cultivates and sells premium cannabis to medical and adult-use markets in Canada, Europe and Australia.

Located on Flowr’s cultivation campus in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, the R&D Center includes laboratories, indoor grow suites and training areas in a single building. Flowr will test cultivation systems and techniques using Hawthorne’s lighting, fertilization and irrigation systems, growing mediums, and research protocols. In addition, Flowr intends to focus its own research on cannabis genetics and integrated growing systems in line with its goal of delivering premium quality cannabis products through highly efficient cultivation.

“We built Hawthorne to help cultivators of all sizes grow quality plants with high levels of efficiency and consistency. Completing the industry’s only dedicated R&D facility gives us a distinct advantage. We will leverage Flowr’s cultivation expertise and our technical capabilities into real world testing and results that will make a difference to growers,” said Chris Hagedorn, SVP & General Manager of Hawthorne Gardening. “We are proud of this collaboration with Flowr, a leading international cannabis company, with extensive growing experience indoors, in greenhouses and at-scale outdoors. Flowr is also one of a few companies that have had experience growing diverse genetics in different countries. We believe this experience will benefit our companies and the growers we serve.”

“The completion of the R&D Center brings our work with Hawthorne fully to life and will help keep both companies on the leading edge of cannabis cultivation for years to come,” commented Lance Emanuel, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Flowr. “Operationalizing the R&D Center is a major accomplishment for our organization and strengthens our competitive advantage in cultivation. We believe the long-term success of Flowr will be rooted in our ability to maximize the cannabinoid and terpene expression of genetics without sacrificing yield. The work we will do at the R&D Center will help us build upon the success we’ve had producing high quality, premium cannabis like our award-winning, flagship-strain BC Pink Kush beloved by budtenders and consumers throughout Canada. Leveraging our work at the R&D Center will be imperative to our eventual entry into the United States once federally permissible by law.”

The R&D Center is the centerpiece of a strategic R&D partnership formed by Flowr and Hawthorne in March 2018. It brings two of the world’s leading experts together to be at the forefront of cannabis cultivation. The operations will be led by Dr. Deron Caplan, the first person in North America to earn a PhD focused on cannabis cultivation and production. Caplan was awarded his doctorate by the University of Guelph in August 2018 and is Flowr’s Director of Research and Development. The R&D Center will be staffed by Flowr’s scientists, five of whom have PhDs in various plant biology, plant genetics and plant biochemistry disciplines. Hawthorne R&D will lead the research design and methodology.

All requisite licensing from Health Canada has been obtained by Flowr and the expectation is that the R&D Center will be operating at full capacity in Spring 2021. Research has already begun conducting growing trials at scale using Hawthorne products.

WeedMD Consolidates Medical Distribution Activities and Closes Facility to Maximize Production Efficiencies

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TORONTO and PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Jan. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRESS RELEASE — North America’s first research and development facility dedicated to advancing cannabis cultivation techniques and systems has been completed by The Flowr Corporation and Hawthorne Canada Limited. Hawthorne is a subsidiary of the Hawthorne Gardening Company division of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Scotts Miracle-Gro is a marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products and indoor growing solutions. Flowr cultivates and sells premium cannabis to medical and adult-use markets in Canada, Europe and Australia.

Located on Flowr’s cultivation campus in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, the R&D Center includes laboratories, indoor grow suites and training areas in a single building. Flowr will test cultivation systems and techniques using Hawthorne’s lighting, fertilization and irrigation systems, growing mediums, and research protocols. In addition, Flowr intends to focus its own research on cannabis genetics and integrated growing systems in line with its goal of delivering premium quality cannabis products through highly efficient cultivation.

“We built Hawthorne to help cultivators of all sizes grow quality plants with high levels of efficiency and consistency. Completing the industry’s only dedicated R&D facility gives us a distinct advantage. We will leverage Flowr’s cultivation expertise and our technical capabilities into real world testing and results that will make a difference to growers,” said Chris Hagedorn, SVP & General Manager of Hawthorne Gardening. “We are proud of this collaboration with Flowr, a leading international cannabis company, with extensive growing experience indoors, in greenhouses and at-scale outdoors. Flowr is also one of a few companies that have had experience growing diverse genetics in different countries. We believe this experience will benefit our companies and the growers we serve.”

“The completion of the R&D Center brings our work with Hawthorne fully to life and will help keep both companies on the leading edge of cannabis cultivation for years to come,” commented Lance Emanuel, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Flowr. “Operationalizing the R&D Center is a major accomplishment for our organization and strengthens our competitive advantage in cultivation. We believe the long-term success of Flowr will be rooted in our ability to maximize the cannabinoid and terpene expression of genetics without sacrificing yield. The work we will do at the R&D Center will help us build upon the success we’ve had producing high quality, premium cannabis like our award-winning, flagship-strain BC Pink Kush beloved by budtenders and consumers throughout Canada. Leveraging our work at the R&D Center will be imperative to our eventual entry into the United States once federally permissible by law.”

The R&D Center is the centerpiece of a strategic R&D partnership formed by Flowr and Hawthorne in March 2018. It brings two of the world’s leading experts together to be at the forefront of cannabis cultivation. The operations will be led by Dr. Deron Caplan, the first person in North America to earn a PhD focused on cannabis cultivation and production. Caplan was awarded his doctorate by the University of Guelph in August 2018 and is Flowr’s Director of Research and Development. The R&D Center will be staffed by Flowr’s scientists, five of whom have PhDs in various plant biology, plant genetics and plant biochemistry disciplines. Hawthorne R&D will lead the research design and methodology.

All requisite licensing from Health Canada has been obtained by Flowr and the expectation is that the R&D Center will be operating at full capacity in Spring 2021. Research has already begun conducting growing trials at scale using Hawthorne products.

Heat-Not-Burn: A Q&A with Mike Simpson, CEO and Co-Founder of Omura

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Heat-not-burn is a non-combustion technology consisting of a heating source and either an oven that the user packs cannabis into or a stick pre-filled with cannabis. The cannabis is heated to a lower temperature than a combusted joint or bowl to create an aerosol that the user inhales. Heat-not-burn in this way is distinct from traditional vaping where a liquid or oil is heated to become a vapor and inhaled.

Omura is a design company that has developed a platform product for the heat-not-burn market.

We spoke with Mike Simpson, CEO and co-founder of Omura. Mike co-founded Omura in 2018 after an international design career where he spent much of his time in Japan working with consumer products.

Aaron Green: Mike, what trends are you following in the market?

Mike Simpson: I’m always tracking trends in the heat-not-burn space. Because of my background, I know that the tobacco industry inspires a lot of the technology in the cannabis space. If you look at all the vape pens, that technology was initially developed for big tobacco, which then later was adopted by cannabis. I’m always looking to stay educated on what’s happening in the tobacco industry, as I know it’s directly tied to my work in cannabis.

I’m also looking at what’s happening all over the world with legislation. I’ve been studying it for years, but this past year has been phenomenal. Seeing five new states go to some level of legalization, the federal law and new states legalizing cannabis in the 2020 Election. I believe the Biden/Harris victory will have a major impact on the industry, however we still have to see what happens with the Senate. These next couple of years are going to be very interesting to see how things shape out for cannabis.

Aaron: What are you personally interested in learning more about?

Mike Simpson, CEO and co-founder of Omura

Mike: I am interested in learning how the world is going to behave next year with this new life that’s been thrusted upon us. How effective is the new vaccine going to be? How are people going to retrospectively look at this year, and the lifestyle that they used to have before going into COVID? How much of it’s going to become permanent? How much of this Zoom life will we continue to enjoy? In the future, will office spaces become obsolete? How much will we still be using home deliveries? Do we actually want to go to restaurants again? That’s what I’m very interested in learning about is how human behavior and the world will change because of what’s happening right now.

Aaron Green: How did you get started at Omura?

Mike Simpson: Great question. I moved to Japan as a designer working for Lego and set up their design office for Lego toys. After Lego, I started working instead with Nike and Adidas designing performance sneakers and apparel for a couple of years until I found Big Tobacco — which is where my Omura story begins. I rapidly found myself in a position where I was creating new technologies, for the consumption of nicotine and tobacco. While working on an early project, I was asked if I knew any science fiction writers. Thanks to Lego, I just so happened to know Syd Mead, the designer for popular sci-fi films including BladeRunner, Tron and Aliens. So, I called him and we worked on a project which was aimed at setting the future of the smoking industry. Obviously, this was a brilliant project for someone like myself to get involved in. We came up with several scenarios that depicted the future of what tobacco consumption would look like, and each of them essentially included vaporization. This was before the vaporization days which made it kind of a difficult sell. I spent many years working on where we could use existing technologies in order to execute some of these scenarios. Ten years later, I moved to California, and I started studying the cannabis space for Big Tobacco which ultimately led me to Omura.

Aaron: Can you give me a reference point on the date when you were back in California?

Mike: I came here eight years ago, and I was in Japan pretty much 10 years prior to that.

Essentially what I realized when I got to California was that cannabis was perfect for heat-not-burn because of all the cannabinoids and the terpenes. You heat it up, and you get all of the good properties out of it without the need for combustion. There were already hundreds of products in the market, which validated that people love doing it.

However, there was a ritual: you needed to buy the flower, grind it, pack the device, select the temperature and then use the same mouthpiece repeatedly. And it doesn’t stop there. When the session is finished, you dig out the used flower with a metal spatula or brush. After every 10 or 15 times you have to clean it with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any existing residue from those sessions. This is just a big messy job with a massive amount of inconsistency and variability. For me, it was mind blowing that people would even go through this procedure. With Omura, I knew we needed to simplify that process. Our product comes with a pre-filled flower stick with an exact dose, that you place in the device very simply. You then use the stick as the mouthpiece and when you’re finished, throw the flower stick in the trash. It’s compostable and biodegradable. So we eliminated all of those pain points.

Aaron: Great! Where are you guys based out of?

Mike: Venice, California.

Aaron: So, what makes the Omura vaporizer different from other heat-not-burn products? You mentioned you have the disposable cartridge. Is there a design philosophy around it that you can talk more about?

Mike: Omura comes with 12 flower sticks in child-proof packaging. What makes us different is that we have our proprietary flower stick and device that work together. With our heat-not-burn technology, you get all the terpenes, but when you set fire to it, as you would with other products, you mask that with smoke. Our product is different from anything else in the market, because it has simplified the user experience through efficiency, user interaction and also through design as well.

The other founders come from deep design and technology backgrounds, designing technologies for Apple and Philips Electronics, so it was an important focus for us with Omura. Our newest device, the Series X was designed by Michael Young, a world-renowned industrial designer who has built an impressive portfolio of innovative products.

The Omura Series X

With Omura, we’re bringing sophistication of the design world into the cannabis world. It’s not just about simplifying the experience and making a great kind of efficient method of consumption, it’s also about creating something for everyday use that is beautifully designed and easy to use.  

Aaron: The Series X is Omura’s latest device. Can you tell me what changes you’ve implemented to make it better than the first version?

There are a few differences between the Series 1 and Series X: First, the new design fits in the palm of your hands so it’s discreet. It comes with a USB-C charging base that automatically connects with magnets. We’ve also improved the efficiency of the oven. The first device boiled 94% of the cannabinoids, this one now boils 99%. We’ve increased user-efficiency, by removing the button from the Series 1 making it so all you have to do is put the flower stick in and the device starts automatically. Additionally, we wanted to give users an option between a hotter or cooler experience so we added an extra heat curve, as we recognize that some of our CBD users prefer more of a terpene experience.  

Aaron: Can the user modify that with an app?

Mike: It is a very simple switch on the bottom of the device that allows you to toggle between the higher and lower temperature curves

Aaron: Okay, cool. Can we talk about your supply chain a little bit here? Do you manufacture everything in Los Angeles? Or do you have partners? 

Mike: Everything is designed in the US and manufactured in China. Which is fairly common throughout the industry. Shenzhen is well known for making products for the vaping industry. We create empty tubes filled in a batch production process. All the flower is grown here in the US. To clarify, we aren’t a plant-touching company. We don’t have a cannabis license. When it comes to THC, we have partnership deals. We work with select cannabis brands which is how we are able to sell in dispensaries. On the other hand, our CBD model is split. We have two brands of our own. Libertine, which is more of a male-focused Gen Z brand. Then we have Oriel, which is more of a wellness brand, catered to women.

Aaron: So how would an aspiring brand get on your platform?

Mike: Good question. Any brand or company who is interested in partnering with Omura can contact us through our website, www.omura.com, on Instagram @Omura or via email: hello@omura.com. We would then assess them to see if they’re a good fit. Currently we’re looking to span quite a large kind of demographic as far as appeal. So, if these prospective partners are in a territory, whether it be California or another state, have good market share and high-quality flower, then we would be very open to having a conversation.

Aaron: That’s the end of the interview — thanks Mike!

Minnesota Lawmaker to Reintroduce Cannabis Legalization Bill

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A years-long dispute over a cannabis cultivation license is headed to the Illinois Supreme Court as Curative Health Cultivation LLC and Medponics Illinois LLC battle over a license to grow cannabis for the state’s medical and adult-use markets, according to an NBC Chicago report.

Curative, which is based in Aurora, Ill., and owned by multistate cannabis operator Columbia Care, won the cultivation license in 2015, lost it following a dispute in a lower court and ultimately won it back on appeal, NBC Chicago reported.

Medponics wants to establish operations in Zion, Ill., and has been backed by the city in its bid for the license, according to the news outlet.

The license could potentially be worth $100 million, NBC Chicago reported, and the arguments in the case focus on the vetting process used to issue the initial cultivation licenses in 2015.

Medponics has argued that although Curative received the highest score on its application, it should have been disqualified because its operations would be too close to a residential area, according to NBC Chicago.

In lower court, Judge Michael Fusz sided with Medponics in a 2017 lawsuit, ruling that the state did not properly apply state law when awarding the license to Curative, the news outlet reported. However, Fusz also said in his ruling that the license should not necessarily go to Medponics, which received the fifth highest score on its application.

Fusz’s ruling was partially overturned when an appeals court later ruled that the zoning issue was more complicated than the lower court found, and the license was reinstated with Curative, NBC Chicago reported.

The Illinois Supreme Court is now expected to take up the case in early 2021.

New York Governor Again Calls for Cannabis Legalization

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A years-long dispute over a cannabis cultivation license is headed to the Illinois Supreme Court as Curative Health Cultivation LLC and Medponics Illinois LLC battle over a license to grow cannabis for the state’s medical and adult-use markets, according to an NBC Chicago report.

Curative, which is based in Aurora, Ill., and owned by multistate cannabis operator Columbia Care, won the cultivation license in 2015, lost it following a dispute in a lower court and ultimately won it back on appeal, NBC Chicago reported.

Medponics wants to establish operations in Zion, Ill., and has been backed by the city in its bid for the license, according to the news outlet.

The license could potentially be worth $100 million, NBC Chicago reported, and the arguments in the case focus on the vetting process used to issue the initial cultivation licenses in 2015.

Medponics has argued that although Curative received the highest score on its application, it should have been disqualified because its operations would be too close to a residential area, according to NBC Chicago.

In lower court, Judge Michael Fusz sided with Medponics in a 2017 lawsuit, ruling that the state did not properly apply state law when awarding the license to Curative, the news outlet reported. However, Fusz also said in his ruling that the license should not necessarily go to Medponics, which received the fifth highest score on its application.

Fusz’s ruling was partially overturned when an appeals court later ruled that the zoning issue was more complicated than the lower court found, and the license was reinstated with Curative, NBC Chicago reported.

The Illinois Supreme Court is now expected to take up the case in early 2021.

Flowr and Hawthorne Canada Jointly Announce the Completion of Cannabis Research and Development Facility

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TORONTO and PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Jan. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRESS RELEASE — North America’s first research and development facility dedicated to advancing cannabis cultivation techniques and systems has been completed by The Flowr Corporation and Hawthorne Canada Limited. Hawthorne is a subsidiary of the Hawthorne Gardening Company division of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. Scotts Miracle-Gro is a marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products and indoor growing solutions. Flowr cultivates and sells premium cannabis to medical and adult-use markets in Canada, Europe and Australia.

Located on Flowr’s cultivation campus in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, the R&D Center includes laboratories, indoor grow suites and training areas in a single building. Flowr will test cultivation systems and techniques using Hawthorne’s lighting, fertilization and irrigation systems, growing mediums, and research protocols. In addition, Flowr intends to focus its own research on cannabis genetics and integrated growing systems in line with its goal of delivering premium quality cannabis products through highly efficient cultivation.

“We built Hawthorne to help cultivators of all sizes grow quality plants with high levels of efficiency and consistency. Completing the industry’s only dedicated R&D facility gives us a distinct advantage. We will leverage Flowr’s cultivation expertise and our technical capabilities into real world testing and results that will make a difference to growers,” said Chris Hagedorn, SVP & General Manager of Hawthorne Gardening. “We are proud of this collaboration with Flowr, a leading international cannabis company, with extensive growing experience indoors, in greenhouses and at-scale outdoors. Flowr is also one of a few companies that have had experience growing diverse genetics in different countries. We believe this experience will benefit our companies and the growers we serve.”

“The completion of the R&D Center brings our work with Hawthorne fully to life and will help keep both companies on the leading edge of cannabis cultivation for years to come,” commented Lance Emanuel, President and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Flowr. “Operationalizing the R&D Center is a major accomplishment for our organization and strengthens our competitive advantage in cultivation. We believe the long-term success of Flowr will be rooted in our ability to maximize the cannabinoid and terpene expression of genetics without sacrificing yield. The work we will do at the R&D Center will help us build upon the success we’ve had producing high quality, premium cannabis like our award-winning, flagship-strain BC Pink Kush beloved by budtenders and consumers throughout Canada. Leveraging our work at the R&D Center will be imperative to our eventual entry into the United States once federally permissible by law.”

The R&D Center is the centerpiece of a strategic R&D partnership formed by Flowr and Hawthorne in March 2018. It brings two of the world’s leading experts together to be at the forefront of cannabis cultivation. The operations will be led by Dr. Deron Caplan, the first person in North America to earn a PhD focused on cannabis cultivation and production. Caplan was awarded his doctorate by the University of Guelph in August 2018 and is Flowr’s Director of Research and Development. The R&D Center will be staffed by Flowr’s scientists, five of whom have PhDs in various plant biology, plant genetics and plant biochemistry disciplines. Hawthorne R&D will lead the research design and methodology.

All requisite licensing from Health Canada has been obtained by Flowr and the expectation is that the R&D Center will be operating at full capacity in Spring 2021. Research has already begun conducting growing trials at scale using Hawthorne products.