Grow Life 420

With each passing year, cannabis is embraced by more and more Americans. The same is happening in American professional sports. Both the National Hockey League and National Football League recently amended their cannabis policies to say players testing positive for cannabis will not be suspended. Major League Baseball does not test players for cannabis use anymore. Even the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced this month it will no longer penalize fighters for using cannabis.

One league, though, has been uncharacteristically slow to modernize its cannabis policy – the National Basketball Association (NBA). Notably, the league stopped testing players for cannabis last year in the COVID-19-prompted bubble, where qualifying teams completed their seasons at Disney World and continued this policy in the 2021 season. However, league sources indicated the change is intended to reduce the likelihood of players catching COVID-19 and is only temporary. The NBA is now debating making this policy permanent, with advocates optimistic, and there are compelling reasons why it should.

– Read the entire article at Forbes.

Anyone who has visited an area with a booming cannabis industry – whether a medical or adult-use market – is likely familiar with the scene: some storefronts have lines around the block while others are somewhat empty. In states where cannabis licenses are plentiful, the competition can be fierce. So how does a shop differentiate itself in a neighborhood or city and increase its market share?

In my experience working with hundreds of cannabis businesses across the country, I have found that it boils down to five factors:

1. Merchandise: Like any other retailer, cannabis shops first and foremost must know their customers and offer products they want. Different demographics demand different products. What sells in a sleepy suburban community might flop in a downtown city strip. Cannabis businesses need to understand their customers’ preferences and lifestyles. For example, shops should know if their customers prefer cannabis in flower, edible, vape, or concentrate form. They should stock their shelves accordingly and always be testing new products to see how they perform. Frequently, retailers are surprised by what products end up flying off the shelves.

– Read the entire article at Forbes.

In September 2018, a member of my company’s executive team spoke on Capitol Hill about the lack of financial services available to cannabis companies and the challenges of operating in an all cash environment. Just weeks later, we received notice from one of our financial services providers that it was terminating its relationship with Green Bits because of our own service to the legal cannabis industry.

Green Bits is technically what is known as an ancillary cannabis company, meaning nothing we do touches the cannabis plant at all. Instead, we help cannabis retailers and dispensaries manage their businesses and stay compliant with state laws. We are a step removed from any activity that the US government would declare illegal under the Controlled Substances Act. Yet, we are subject to the same heightened scrutiny, and financial services institutions have the same aversion to working with us as they do with companies that actually grow and sell legal cannabis products.

– Read the entire article at Forbes.