UPI: “A Colorado company has introduced the first-ever marijuana vending machine, which will soon be put to use at a dispensary in Eagle-Vail, Colo. The so-called Zazz machine was produced by Stephen Shearin’s company, American Green, and was delivered to the Herbal Elements dispensary Friday.”
Roll Call: “As states and cities move to liberalize marijuana laws, the administration looks at changes to federal policy and the No. 2 House Democrat reverses course on decriminalization, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. found himself in a charged congressional hearing on Tuesday. Pressed by members from both sides of the aisle to defend Justice Department practices in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, Holder insisted the Obama administration has not ‘retreated.’ Holder also said the DOJ won’t scale back marijuana punishments by rescheduling the drug, as House Democrats have been pushing President Barack Obama to do, saying he was ‘satisfied’ with what the department is doing. ‘The notion that somehow we have retreated from our enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act with regard to marijuana is not accurate,’ Holder told the House Judiciary Committee. He reiterated a DOJ memo laying out eight areas of priority for pot prosecutions, including marketing to minors, driving under the influence and criminal cartels.”
Ultra Health, LLC, sued Healing Healthcare 3, Inc. (Rocky Pahwa’s nonprofit corporation) and Scan4Health, LLC. See Ultra Health, LLC’s Verified Complaint and Application for Restraining Order and Preliminary and Permanent Injunction. The basis of the lawsuit is a Joint Venture Agreement between the parties. At a hearing on March 14, 2014, Judge Herrod asked the parties for evidence as to who has a license to own and operate an Arizona medical marijuana dispensary. The defendants gave the judge the letter dated March 14, 2014, from the Arizona Department of Health Services, which states “AZDHS can confirm that it does not recognize Ultra Health, LLC as a holder of this or any other dispensary registration certificate.”
Ultra Health, LLC, amended its Complaint in the above-referenced lawsuit to add Holistic Patient Wellness Group, LLC, as a defendant. HPWG is a client of my law firm, KEYTLaw, LLC.
Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune: “Duke Rodriguez, principal officer of Ultra Health in North Scottsdale, has hired a Scottsdale attorney to represent his company when it pursues a lawsuit against the town of Florence. Jeffrey S. Kaufman will represent Ultra Health when it begins its legal battle to establish a medical marijuana dispensary in Florence. . . . Rodriguez said the decision comes in the aftermath of the Town Council’s 5-2 vote on March 17, which denied a conditional use permit to his company to dispense medical marijuana . . . . The lawsuit could be filed in Pinal County Superior Court as soon as tomorrow, Rodriguez said. . . .
See also “Florence denies medical marijuana permit, again.” This story states:
Rakesh “Rocky” Pahwa, up for his fourth try for a conditional use permit to open a dispensary in Florence, asked the council to deny it. He explained his nonprofit company, Healing Healthcare, has the dispensary license for the Florence community health analysis area but is not on the application for the town’s permit. Pahwa was in partnership with the medical marijuana company Ultra Health of North Scottsdale, which was the applicant.
Capital Media Services: “Supporters of medical marijuana research have targeted a Republican state senator for recall because she is blocking a measure that could fund it. But the measure could be more public relations than actual political power. Kathy Inman, secretary of the newly organized Arizona Veterans Assistance Committee, said Monday that Kimberly Yee has used her position as chair of the Senate Education Committee to kill a measure that would allow some of funds collected from medical marijuana users and dispensaries to be used for university-based research on the drug.”
Green Valley News & Sun: “Sahuarita’s medical marijuana dispensary is under new management . . . . The name will be changed to UltraHealth Green Valley . . . said Duke Rodriguez . . . . UltraHealth, which specializes in several aspects of the medical marijuana industry, including growing the crop, has begun taking over management and will continue to take over during the next month, Rodriguez said. The three full-time employees will become employees of UltraHealth, which has 25 employees statewide . . . . His organization, which is more active in the Phoenix area, is courting a group of five dispensaries . . . . ‘We have experience at growing and cultivation and a wider access to inventory,” Rodriguez said’.”
Sahuarita’s dispensary is owned by Broken Arrow Herbal Center, Inc.
Query: Where and how does Ultra Health have experience growing and cultivating marijuana? See “AZ Dept. of Health Services Confirms Ultra Health, LLC Lacks a License for a Medical Marijuana Dispensary.”
Washington Times: “Just because marijuana is legal in Colorado doesn’t mean the black market for the drug has disappeared. Rather, the opposite, police officials said. ‘[Legalization] has done nothing more than enhance the opportunity for the black market, said Lt. Mark Comte of the Colorado Springs police vice and narcotics unit, in The Associated Press. ‘If you can get it tax-free on the corner, you’re going to get it on the corner’.”
Washington Times: “Billionaire philanthropist George Soros hopes the U.S. goes to pot, and he is using his money to drive it there. With a cadre of like-minded, wealthy donors, Mr. Soros is dominating the pro-legalization side of the marijuana debate by funding grass-roots initiatives that begin in New York City and end up affecting local politics elsewhere. Through a network of nonprofit groups, Mr. Soros has spent at least $80 million on the legalization effort since 1994
Variety: “At first blush it sounds like something out of a Cheech & Chong movie, but in fact it’s a serious effort. Fusion, the startup cabler run by ABC News and Univision, has named journalist Ryan Nerz as its chief cannabis correspondent.”
CBS Denver: “More people are claiming they are being pulled over out of state to see if they have marijuana simply because they have Colorado license plates. They strongly suspect it’s because Colorado stores now legally sell marijuana to those over the age of 21. The Colorado Drug Investigators Association says there have been a lot of seizures of marijuana from cars leaving Colorado and going out of state. Drivers are complaining they are being stopped for no good reason.”
FINRA is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation of the securities industry. FINRA is not part of the government. It is an independent, not-for-profit organization authorized by Congress to protect America’s investors by making sure the securities industry operates fairly and honestly.
FINRA issued an investor alert warning people about possible marijuana stock scams. Here are some choice quotes from FINRA’s Marijuana Stock Scam alert.
We are reissuing this alert to warn investors not only about the potential for fraud in this arena, but also to reiterate the risks of investing in thinly traded companies about which little is known. Regardless of industry sector, any so-called “hot” stock can burn your portfolio. Rather than getting swept away, take time before you invest to learn more about the company, its products or services and the people running it. . . .
Like many investment scams, pitches to invest in potentially fraudulent marijuana-related companies may arrive in a variety of ways—faxes, email or text message invitations to webinars, infomercials, tweets or blog posts. Regardless of how you first hear about them, the offers almost always contain hallmarks of “pump and dump” ploys. Specifically, fraudsters lure investors with aggressive, optimistic—and potentially false and misleading—statements or information designed to create unwarranted demand for shares of a small, thinly traded company with little or no history of financial success (the pump). Once share prices and volumes reach a peak, the cons behind the scam sell off their shares at a profit, leaving investors with worthless stock (the dump). . . .
To avoid potential marijuana-related stock scams: . . . .
Know where the stock trades. Most unsolicited spam recommendations involve stocks that do not trade on The NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ OMX), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE Euronext) or other registered national securities exchanges. Instead, these stocks may be quoted on an over-the-counter (OTC) quotation platform like the FINRA-operated Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) and the platform operated by OTC Markets Group, Inc. . . .
Be wary of frequent changes to a company’s name or business focus. Name changes and the potential for manipulation often go hand in hand. One low-priced stock now claiming to be in the medical marijuana business has had four name changes in the past 10 years. Another company switched from the coffee business to focus “on the rapidly emerging medical marijuana industries.” . . .
If a Problem Occurs
If you believe you’ve been defrauded or treated unfairly by a securities professional or firm, file a complaint. If you suspect that someone you know has been taken in by a scam, send a tip.
If you own or operate or are involved in management of an Arizona medical marijuana dispensary you need to take extra care to prevent people from hacking into your computer systems, camera systems and dispensary agent records of the Arizona Department of Health Services. Many types of computer hacks are felonies under Arizona criminal law. Today I contacted an Assistant Arizona Attorney General and discussed the following statute:
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 13-2316.A states:
A person who acts without authority or who exceeds authorization of use commits computer tampering by:
1. Accessing, altering, damaging or destroying any computer, computer system or network, or any part of a computer, computer system or network, with the intent to devise or execute any scheme or artifice to defraud or deceive, or to control property or services by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises.
2. Knowingly altering, damaging, deleting or destroying computer programs or data.
3. Knowingly introducing a computer contaminant into any computer, computer system or network.
4. Recklessly disrupting or causing the disruption of computer, computer system or network services or denying or causing the denial of computer or network services to any authorized user of a computer, computer system or network.
5. Recklessly using a computer, computer system or network to engage in a scheme or course of conduct that is directed at another person and that seriously alarms, torments, threatens or terrorizes the person. For the purposes of this paragraph, the conduct must both:
(a) Cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress.
(b) Serve no legitimate purpose.
6. Preventing a computer user from exiting a site, computer system or network-connected location in order to compel the user’s computer to continue communicating with, connecting to or displaying the content of the service, site or system.
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 13-2316.E states:
Computer tampering pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 1 of this section is a class 3 felony. Computer tampering pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 2, 3 or 4 of this section is a class 4 felony, unless the computer, computer system or network tampered with is a critical infrastructure resource, in which case it is a class 2 felony. Computer tampering pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 5 of this section is a class 5 felony.
US News & Word Report: “California resident Valerie Okun is one step closer to reclaiming medical marijuana seized by Arizona police near the Mexican border in 2011. The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review state court rulings that found Okun is entitled to the return of her marijuana, currently held by the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office. . . . The Superior Court in Yuma County and the Arizona Court of Appeals Division One previously sided with Okun.”
Does anybody recognize the man in the picture below? Who is he? When was the picture taken and why? If you know this man send an email to [email protected] and identify the man and anything you know about the picture.
CBS Seattle: “An Idaho state trooper arrested and fully searched a 70-year-old Washington man’s vehicle solely because he had a Colorado license plate – a state where marijuana is legal – a federal ‘license plate profiling’ lawsuit alleges. . . . Roseen’s federal lawsuit seeking punitive damages alleges that Klitch, the second officer Christensen, Payette County Sheriff’s Deputy Webster (first names unlisted), and the Idaho State Police violated his Fourth, Fifth and 14th Amendment Rights and claims the search of his car was unjustified.
The Oregonian: “Brian Stroh is not taking any chances. Aware of the inherent risks associated with his line of work, Stroh pays monthly for armed security guards to assist him in guarded revenue transport and facility supervision. He’s planning to use lockboxes and a variety other methods to store his money, which he will keep away from his home and place of employment. And while he’s taking major precautions, he’s even more worried about the people buying his product. His business: marijuana production and processing, one of Washington’s first to be licensed since the state legalized cannabis for recreational use. His worry: the continued federal prohibition of marijuana, which prevents banks from offering any legal financial services to state-licensed cannabis businesses. With marijuana retailers scheduled to open in June, prospective business owners are worried the state industry could be plagued with violent crime.”
Forbes: ““The Washington legislative proposals will create a licensing scheme that permits large-scale marijuana cultivation and distribution,” Durkan and Ormsby wrote in a letter to Gregoire. “This would authorize conduct contrary to federal law . . . Accordingly, the Department could consider civil and criminal legal remedies regarding those who set up marijuana growing facilities and dispensaries . . . Others who knowingly facilitate the actions of the licensees, including property owners, landlords, and financiers, should also know that their conduct violates federal law. In addition, state employees who conducted activities mandated by the Washington legislative proposals would not be immune from liability under the CSA [Controlled Substances Act].”
Phoenix New Times: “In a ruling with wide impact on the Arizona medical-marijuana program, Zander Welton and his family have won their battle to provide extracts to the boy for his seizures. The East Valley family sued on October 29 in Maricopa County Superior Court, receiving legal help from the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, after threats of possible felony prosecution by County Attorney Bill Montgomery. Judge Katherine Cooper sets Montgomery straight in a ruling filed on Friday, telling him and the state plaintiffs that the Arizona Medical Marijuana Law ‘authorizes qualifying patients to use extracts, including CBD oil, prepared from the marijuana plant‘.”
Read the Judge’s ruling and the plaintiff’s Complaint.
Boston Globe: “two women say they put their life savings into two marijuana dispensaries in Arizona, but ran short of cash when implementation of that state’s medical marijuana law stalled. In a complaint they filed in September with Arizona regulators, they allege that the New York investors they turned to for help took control of the company without their knowledge. ‘I was so mad for so long, when we finally realized we had been totally duped,’ said Linda Shaughnessy, 66. ‘I lost $400,000’. . . . the lawsuit filed by 4Front Advisors LLC . . . says in its Arizona suit that [Nicola] Vita and his partners owe a $50,000 fee and 5 percent of a Prescott, Ariz., dispensary’s gross revenues.”
Marielys Rosado Barreras wrote in Law360: “The use of marijuana (in various quantities and forms) has been legalized (in a variety of ways) in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nonetheless, marijuana is still listed as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substance Act (CSA), and therefore its possession, use and distribution remains a crime under federal law. Further, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government has a right to regulate and criminalize the sale and use of marijuana, even when a state’s laws permit marijuana to be used for medical purposes. For example, in Gonzales v. Raich,
Thus, the court held that even small amounts of home-grown marijuana triggered the CSA because there was a threat of unwanted commodity diversion that could disrupt Congress’ regulatory control over interstate commerce. “
The Sacremento Bee published an article that is a history of recent developments with respect to California’s medical marijuana industry. The article was adapted from Peter Hecht’s book “Weed Land.”
CBS Denver: “If there was any doubt that the ‘green rush’ is on in Colorado, the scene outside a marijuana industry career fair in Denver on Thursday looked like a throwback to the Great Recession. Thousands of people waited for hours with resumes in hand in a line that stretched several blocks. The O.penVAPE Cannabis Job Fair featured 15 different businesses associated with recreational marijuana sales, and it had turn people away by the day’s end.”
Los Angeles Times: “The Obama administration handed backers of medical marijuana a significant victory Friday, opening the way for a University of Arizona researcher to examine whether pot can help veterans cope with post-traumatic stress, a move that could lead to broader studies into potential benefits of the drug.”
Ultra Health, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company, sued Healing Healthcare 3, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation for among other things, breach of a joint venture agreement that involves the marijuana grow facility at 410 S Madison, Tempe, Arizona (the “Premises”). See a copy of Ultra Health, LLC’s, Complaint.
During a hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court on March 14, 2014, Ultra Health, LLC’s attorney claimed that Ultra Health, LLC, has some kind of license related somehow to medical marijuana. The judge asked the parties to submit to him by the end of business that day proof from the Arizona Department of Health Services that the party had a medical marijuana dispensary license.
Healing Healthcare 3, Inc., is a co-tenant on the lease for the Premises with Holistic Patient Wellness Group, LLC. Below is the text of a March 14, 2014, the letter sent by AZDHS to Holistic Patient Wellness Group, LLC, that Healing Healthcare 3, Inc., submitted to the judge on March 14, 2014.
March 14, 2014
Kathy Sanchez, Principal Officer
Holistic
45000 S, Lakeshore Drive, Suite 343
Tempe, Arizona 85285RE: Medical Marijuana Program
Dear Ms. Sanchez:
Pursuant to the request of the dispensary certificate holder to clarify ownership and authority to operate a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation site, the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) confirms that a dispensary registration certificate (DRC) was issued to Holistic Patient Wellness Group, LLC. Further, AZDHS issued an approval to operate to Holistic Patient Wellness Group, LLC to operate a dispensary and cultivation site and AZDHS recognizes them as the current and sole holders of the DRC.
AZDHS can confirm that it does not recognize Ultra Health, LLC as a holder of this or any other dispensary registration certificate.
Sincerely,
Jeff Bloomberg, Manager
Division for Planning and Operations, Administrative Counsel and Rules
I’m sorry, but I can’t help but repeat my favorite part of the above letter:
“AZDHS can confirm that it does not recognize Ultra Health, LLC as a holder of this or any other dispensary registration certificate.”
To learn more about Ultra Health, LLC, enter Ultra Health in the search box at the top right of this page and press your enter key or click on the topic in the right column called “Zoned Properties & Duke Rodriguez.”
For the record, Holistic Patient Wellness Group, LLC, is a client of mine.
Wall St. Journal: “Colorado Governor and now drug kingpin John Hickenlooper is doing booming business in the marijuana trade. This week the Mile High State reported a revenue windfall of $2 million from merely the first month of recreational pot taxes.”
The Kind Collective and the Underground were raided.
KVOA News 4 Tucson: “News 4 Tucson Investigators discovered, there’s another marketplace for medical marijuana – the online marketplace. A simple search on craigslist reveals what we’re talking about. Sellers advertising their goods, including different varieties, or strains of marijuana. And, it’s all just a few clicks away. Will Humble, with the Arizona Department of Health Services tells the news 4 Tucson Investigators, these online sellers aren’t following state law as it was approved by voters. ‘Patients can exchange marijuana with each other, as long they’re a qualified patient with a current card, they’re allowed to exchange marijuana with each other, as long as nothing of value, other the than the marijuana is exchanged,’ Humble says.”
Phoenix New Times: “we wanted to catch you up on a situation we wrote about in November, when another bona fide patient was caught in a DUI stop and found to be in possession of a single piece of infused candy. The patient, whom New Times is not identifying at his request, had purchased the Tootsie Pop-like candy at a local “compassion club” that isn’t approved by the state to sell marijuana. . . . In January, Montgomery’s office dropped the charge unexpectedly, claiming that the evidence had been destroyed.”
A February 24, 2014, report by Citron Research starts with:
“As a service to all retail investors who do not have access to a Bloomberg terminal, Citron publishes the latest stock sales Form 144’s filed by Bruce Bedrick, CEO of Medbox (OTCBB:MDBX), as he sells $4.5 million worth of stock and tries to hide it from investors and the SEC. Here are the documents Form 144 #1 and Form 144 #2. And here are some of the more entertaining things we noticed“
Read the entire report.
Query: If you know of a licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the US that has a fully operational Medbox medical marijuana dispensing system please leave a comment with the name and address of the dispensary.
Query: If Citron Research is making untrue defamatory statements about Medbox, why doesn’t Medbox sue Citron Research?
See “Zoned Properties, Inc. Acquires Real Estate for Key Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensary.”
Nogales International: “A clear-cut field east of Interstate 19 in Amado will be the new site of a medical marijuana greenhouse that operators say will produce 1,700 pounds of organic pot each year. The grow site comes as Arizona’s medical marijuana industry gets off the ground and companies expand their operations. In the case of the Amado grow site, all of the marijuana produced there will be sent to the Nature’s AZ Medicines dispensary in Fountain Hills.