Category: Opinion

To those who are still scratching their heads about Donald Trump winning the presidency, fake news and dozens upon dozens of scandals, I simply say this: Thank god for The New York Times and the rest of the real journalists that still report on real stories. As I started writing…

We live in an era where racial and religious tensions seem to be at their highest point in decades. This socio-political landscape makes broad-stroke stereotyping and misinformation campaigns especially effective and dangerous. However, to me, the marijuana movement has been one of the few subjects in recent years that has…

Dogma is defined as “strongly expressing beliefs as if they were facts.” In my mind, the election of Donald Trump was largely driven by segments of the population who have a dogmatic belief that Republicans are better for the American economy. Economic facts clearly demonstrate that reality is much different…

Publishing Marijuana Venture and SunGrower & Greenhouse has been a ton of work and a lot of fun. For three years, our small crew of less than 10 has toiled away to create two fast-growing magazines that are enjoyed throughout the professional cannabis industry. From the onset, we decided to…

Black Tie Couriers of Seattle was one of the first businesses in Washington to receive a transport license and began legally moving marijuana around the state in early January, allowing producers and processors to focus on their business instead of shipping their product to store shelves. Based on the distribution…

How often do you hear about government underestimating something like taxes or the amount of money required to complete a project? If you answered “never,” you probably think like most people. As crazy as it sounds, when it comes to the tax revenue generated by legal marijuana in Washington State,…

As Marijuana Venture’s long-term readers already know, this magazine has blazed a trail when it comes to disseminating valuable business information for the cannabis industry. At times, it’s caused some irate responses from people who disagree with my point of view. However, to me that’s a sign that we’re saying…

  After several years of legal marijuana cultivation and sales, there are still many unknowns and questions. Here are several subjects that regularly come up in the discussions at the Marijuana Venture offices.   What really causes mold and mildew on marijuana? The conventional thinking is that mold and mildew…

Several years ago, right after Washington and Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana, I had a meeting with some of the attorneys at the Garvey Shubert Law Firm (GSB Law) in Seattle. We were discussing the best ways to structure marijuana businesses and how to protect owners from possible problems…

Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the District of Columbia. In 1973, Congress began delegating municipal powers to elected officials, including a mayor and city council (Home Rule). However, as Washington, D.C.’s legislature, Congress retained the right to overturn, modify, repeal and impose local rules at will. In 1998,…