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DCS systems are the fastest and most efficient way to launch or expand your operation. We provide a Plug & Grow solution that streamlines the start-up process and begins generating revenue in as little time as possible.
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Namaste Technologies began as an international cannabis eCommerce company operating 32 sites in 20 countries and offering the largest range of brand name vaporizers and smoking hardware products on the market.
In 2017, Namaste Technologies welcomed CannMart Inc. into our portfolio. CannMart operates as a subsidiary that allows us to engage in distribution of medical cannabis through our Toronto location. This strategic acquisition leveraged our strengths in eCommerce and logistics to place us squarely in a position of leadership in the retail distribution of medical cannabis in Canada.
2018 will focus on establishing Namaste MD, our secure telemedicine portal designed to connect doctors with medical marijuana patients. After an application and video consultation, Canadian patients can receive their medical marijuana recommendation via email. They can also receive their prescription (fulfilled via CannMart) from the convenience of their homes – utilizing same-day and 2-day delivery options.
Leveraging our 50,000+ dataset of Canadian consumers, we will strive to secure space as Canada’s one-stop-shop for medical cannabis. The MVP is web based and our custom apps are scheduled for release into the app store 12/17/2017.
Further 2018 Objectives
Expansion of Namaste’s product offerings, with the ability to sell both vaporizers and consumables from one location.
Namaste launching a Canadian warehouse in the CannMart facility in order to process both vaporizer and medical cannabis shipments, medical cannabis packaging, filling for pod-based vaporizers, and distribution for other brands of medical cannabis products.
HOW WE DO IT
We are a collective of like-minded, dedicated professionals who fuse passion, professionalism, and data-driven insights to create a global venture unlike any other – and we’re just getting started.
February 2018
Namaste announces $35M ‘bought-deal’ financing for an issue price 728% higher than just 4 months prior.
January 2018
Namaste signs agreement with The Supreme Cannabis Company to make 1,000 kilograms of ultra-premium, medical cannabis available to CannMart customers.
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Joshua Jordan/File
By Alex Jimenez, Anna Tseselsky and Grace Vogel
Last Updated March 2, 2018
California’s new law legalizing cannabis has changed the game in terms of recreational drug use. People 21 and older can now buy cannabis at local dispensaries all around California where laws permit it.
While there are few public areas in which it is legal to light up, it’s now just as easy to take a few grams of it home and smoke it as it is to buy wine to drink at dinner.
Though under federal law, cannabis is still listed as a Schedule I (illegal) drug, enforcement is carried out at the discretion of the attorney general. Under President Obama, the attorney general was told not to enforce the federal law against cannabis, instead leaving it to the discretion of the states.
In contrast, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded the Obama-era decision to leave cannabis legality to the discretion of the states, leaving open the possibility that the federal government will start taking some course of action against those in possession of cannabis.
The new law and Sessions’ decision have begun forming another chapter for cannabis, which has had a turbulent history in the United States.
Though times may be changing, the mystery and allure of the multifaceted plant remains intact — perpetuated by an unfortunate lack of research and public awareness concerning the nature of cannabis.
The limited amount of research on cannabis is not for lack of trying. The combination of the classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug and the fact that there is only a single federally approved dispensary — which provides strains weaker than what is typically available on the street or legally elsewhere — make pursuing research in cannabis very difficult.
In an effort to unveil some of the science behind the substance, the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley hosted a month long series of lectures on the “Science of Cannabis.” Lecturers were drawn from a broad swath of the cannabis industry, from company executives to cognitive scientists.
The Daily Californian attended three (out of five) lectures, which thread a narrative that follows cannabis from its cultivation in the fields through its genetic testing and characterization and into the bodies (and brains) of its users.
When many think of marijuana cultivation, they imagine potted plants growing indoors under strung-up UV lamps. But what many users don’t know is that this image — a result of the plant’s prohibition forcing illegal growers to stay off the grid — has left behind some myths surrounding how high-quality marijuana is grown.
Amanda Reiman, vice president of community relations for Flow Kana and secretary of the International Cannabis Farmers Association — gave a talk that tackled some of the myths surrounding cultivation.
Myth 1: Sun-grown cannabis employs the clear-cutting of fields and the use of rat poisons as pesticides.
These environmentally damaging practices are specific to illicit cannabis farming. Prior to the legalization of cannabis, farmers would leave behind trash as they ran from state officials, but farming no longer needs to be hidden and can take place on boutique polyculture farms.
Myth 2: Quality cannabis is cannabis that is grown indoors.
Reiman contends that cannabis cultivated outdoors is not only of higher quality but is by far the best practice for the environment.
“There was a study done in 2011 by Dr. Eva Mills,” Reiman explained in her talk, “that said the U.S. cannabis production and distribution had energy costs of $5 billion, creating 17 million tons per year of greenhouse gas emissions, which is equal to the emissions of 3 million average-sized cars.”
Not only is growing outdoors more environmentally friendly, it might lead to better therapeutic benefits as well.
“The development of cannabinoids and terpenoids is going to bring you the best medicine, and that development happens best under full-spectrum sun,” Reiman said. “I’m not saying that indoor is going to be a non-medicine or not provide people with relief, but I think when we’re trying to look at a full expression, you really want a full spectrum of light hitting that plant.”
Myth 3: If cannabis is grown outside, people will feel intimidated consuming it.
The notion of “reefer madness” is deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric of the United States and contributes to the fear of cannabis being grown outdoors as well. Whether cannabis is grown indoors or outdoors will not influence those who do not want to consume it.
Reiman and other advocates for cannabis reform are focusing on the creation of policy that encourages farmers to cultivate sun-grown cannabis and dispelling the myths of cannabis cultivation.
“At the end of the day,” Reiman said, “when you get in your Tesla and drive to your solar-powered home, why would you be smoking cannabis grown indoors?”
After cannabis has been grown and is packaged to be sold to recreational and medicinal users alike, one question remains: Which strain should a customer buy?
Just about anyone who has had some sort of dealings with cannabis will tell you that there are three categories used to separate the various strains: indica, sativa and hybrid. These categories have existed for decades now and are still used by official cannabis growers to label their products.
Broadly, the historical system defines indica as strains of cannabis that have short, broad leaves and produce a sedating, relaxing effect, whereas sativa strains have long, narrow leaves and produce a stimulating, exciting effect. Hybrid strains are typically marketed as either a 50/50 mix, indica-dominant or sativa-dominant.
The problem is, that’s all bogus.
Mowgli Holmes — co-founder and CEO of Phylos Bioscience — argues against relying on these definitions. His Feb. 8 lecture on the genetics of cannabis breeds at the UC Botanical Garden touched upon the difficulties that arise when trying to analyze the genealogy of cannabis.
“Plant breeding is evolution on turbo” — Mowgli Holmes
“There’s a problem in the cannabis world where no one has any idea what they’re smoking,” said Holmes during his lecture. “All the names are wrong, there’s no parliaments — it’s just very confusing.”
The reason for this confusion arises from the way cannabis has been grown over the last several decades.
Cannabis agricultural practices stand out compared to more traditional commercial products such as corn. Typical priorities for more mainstream crops include yield, harvest optimization, chemical traits and pest resistance. Cannabis growers, on the other hand, have two things in mind: diversity and THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) levels.
“Plant breeding is evolution on turbo,” said Holmes, “but it’s also sort of like arranged marriages. People see things they like, put them together and see what they get.”
Since the 1960s, cannabis growers have been mixing different bud strains for reasons ranging from increasing THC levels to producing a specific, desired effect such as heightened creativity or a remedy for restlessness. This has resulted in what Holmes called “the poly-hybrid soup.”
“That’s just this big mess of genes, and that’s not how usually plant evolution happens in the wild or when humans are messing with it,” Holmes said. “It’s pretty unusual that all these varieties would be gathered from everywhere and then all mixed together.”
When dealing with plant genealogy, a linear family tree is typically the final result. This hasn’t been the case with cannabis. But there’s no need to imagine the nonlinear genealogy of cannabis — Phylos has created an interactive galaxy tool that depicts the unconventional evolution of cannabis using samples collected from almost every country in the world.
In reference to the incredible diversity of weed strains, Holmes asserted that these variations do not indicate different species.
“People argue about this a lot, but it is all just one species,” he said. “There’s just lots of different varieties.”
All of this breeding, however, has diminished any once-existing methods of differentiating between, say, indica and sativa just by looking at a cannabis plant. Virtually all cannabis produced by growers today is a result of hybridization.
But bud is still sold under the labels of indica, sativa and hybrid. The reason? It sells.
It’s the same reason that cannabis strains tend to have outlandish names like “Skunk,” “Blue Dream” or even “Cat Piss.” Such names say little about the strain’s actual effects and are, above all, a marketing strategy.
There is a way, however, to tell whether a strain will produce the “indica” or “sativa” effect. It has to do with the terpenes found in cannabis — the most common of which are myrcene and limonene. According to Holmes, strains high in myrcene will be sedating. Conversely, strains high in limonene will be stimulating.
The only way to assess what particular terpenes are contained within any given strain is to test it in a lab. Companies such as Phylos Bioscience and Steep Hill Labs — headquartered right here in Berkeley — are private laboratories that offer their services to cannabis growers so they can have their strains tested and reliably inform their customers about what exactly they are consuming.
Holmes made sure to point out that while these are the two “major” terpenes, there are others that play a role in what the effect on any given individual will be. Myrcene and limonene are a starting point, but there is still uncertainty and a reluctance to rely completely on the analysis of a strain’s chemical makeup.
In a comment about the work that Phylos has been doing by mapping out the genetics of cannabis, Holmes noted that there is still a substantial amount of research left to be done.
“It’s not telling the evolutionary story that we want,” he said, “but … what it is doing is helping to make it clear for the industry today what people are smoking.”
Stepping out of genetics, the chemical interactions that cannabis produces in the brain are becoming increasingly critical to understand in the light of its widespread legalization and usage.
As UC Berkeley professor David Presti — a neurobiologist, psychologist, and cognitive scientist who teaches the popular course “Drugs and the Brain” — explains, “(Cannabis) is a really complex chemical factory.” Its primary psychoactive ingredient, Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (more commonly known as THC) is one of at least 113 cannabinoids identified in cannabis.
Cannabinoids are unique molecules only found in cannabis that give the plant its unique psychoactive and medicinal properties. Apart from THC, the other most abundant cannabinoid is Cannabidiol (CBD). Studies have attributed cannabidiol to the plants’ analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, aphrodisiac, antibacterial, antifungal and bronchial dilator properties.
Additionally, studies have recently identified that cannabis, like many other plants, contains terpenes and terpenoids. These are isoprene molecules (five-carbon chains) that are also responsible for the plants’ medicinal functions as well as its aromatic properties.
Presti cited the discovery of terpenes as one of the hottest topics in cannabis research and said science has a long way to go before it can catch up to what herbalists have long known and appreciated about their presence in cannabis.
Because cannabis has such complex chemical structures, the chemical interactions in the brain and nervous system that occur when you’re blazing it are, not surprisingly, just as complicated.
Cannabinoid receptors are the only receptors that bond to the molecules found in cannabis, and they appear to be more abundant than any other neurotransmitter in the brain.
THC is a molecule that sticks to these receptors. When you take in THC by smoking, it mimics an endocannabinoid our body naturally produces, anandamide, which is nicknamed “the bliss molecule.”
THC interferes with the natural refractory period that occurs after a neuron has just fired — instead of becoming unresponsive, neurons fire continuously, and cell activity becomes magnified. The result is an amplification of both internal and external mental phenomena.
In short, the sounds and sights around you and your internal thoughts and emotions all become intensified.
But what does the data say about the most commonly cited “side effects” of cannabis use — impaired memory, judgment and cognitive function, decreased motivation, and the infamous charge of “brain damage?”
According to Presti, the science hasn’t exactly been conclusive.
A paper published in 2016 by the National Institute on Drug Use, “Effects of Cannabis Use on Human Behavior, Including Cognition, Motivation, and Psychosis” found that there is acute memory and learning impairment associated with cannabis use; however, it was unable to according to Presti “unambiguously establish whether cannabis is a cause, consequence, or correlative” in regards to motivation and educational underachievement.
When you take in THC by smoking, it mimics an endocannabinoid our body naturally produces, anandamide, which is nicknamed “the bliss molecule.”
Additionally, there is a consistent association between adolescent cannabis use and the development of psychosis, but there is controversy over whether this risk can be directly attributed to cannabis use or if genetic predisposition plays a role as well.
There is one thing that Presti is sure of, however: The claim of brain damage is nothing more than hot air (like the kind coming out of your bong). There have been no brain imaging studies with documented results of neurological damage.
Presti doesn’t recommend getting stoned before taking a test because of the impact on memory, but you can, as far as science currently suggests, blaze without fear of killing brain cells.
Like many of the symptoms mentioned, however, the effects — particularly the long-term effects — cannabis has on the brain have been severely under-researched.
The legalization of cannabis in California affects more than just small-scale farming communities. In attendance of the UC Botanical Garden lectures were individual cannabis users, Central Valley almond farmers and health advocates for communities in the inner city of San Francisco. Students, recreational users and industry members alike were interested in what the lecturers had to say.
Daisy Ozim — founder of Resilient Wellness in San Francisco, which works to bring health equity to marginalized communities and end the cycle of intergenerational trauma — was in attendance.
“I’m interested in the psychological and healing effects that cannabis can have,” said Ozim after the lecture. “The legislation of cannabis can be very beneficial to the community that I work with and I was interested in seeing the new availability and quality of it.”
According to a 2011 UC San Francisco study, cannabis is effective in supplementing opiate painkillers — which often fail to completely rid patients of their pain — but does not carry the same addiction and health risks.
“I’m interested in the psychological and healing effects that cannabis can have …” — Daisy Ozim
But even studies like this have failed to reach any substantial conclusions because they are small-scale and circumstantial. Questions remain unanswered, especially when it comes to potential long-term effects of the drug.
As it stands now, there is no consensus regarding whether or not long-term cannabis usage can impede neurological development — and until a wide array of scientists have easier access to realistic strains of the drug, little progress can be made.
Because reliable medical literature concerning cannabis is scarce, many doctors hesitate to turn to it as a legitimate form of therapy, especially in its traditional cigarette form.
Yet certain aspects of cannabis make it an attractive medical therapy. For instance, overdose is virtually impossible — according to a 1988 DEA ruling, a cannabis user would have to smoke somewhere between 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC contained within a standard joint before the dose can be deemed lethal.
The addictive properties of cannabis, meanwhile, are highly contested. In his presentation, David Presti emphasized that “cannabis is a pharmacon” — meaning that while it may be a medicine, it is also a poison. While discussing the addictive liabilities that come with cannabis use, Presti acknowledged that he has “seen many students over the years crash and burn from extensive use of cannabis.”
The history of cannabis as a substance associated with the taboo nature of 1960s hippie culture and hip-hop have placed it on science’s backburner for a long time. Proposition 64 has only just gone into effect, and scientists and users alike now wait for more data to emerge.
Cannabis is already extremely accessible in the United States, particularly in California. The logical next step is to research, in depth, the “blunts of Skunk” that won over voters enough for them to legalize it.
Societal attitudes towards cannabis are changing along with the legislation in place. It’s not unreasonable to remain hopeful that further research will become easier to conduct with the loosening of the currently strict regulations, thereby making this enigmatic substance easier to understand.
Now that cannabis is becoming a commonplace consumer item, it’s high time we try to understand what we’ve gotten ourselves into.
Launched in 2007, Steep Hill is a cannabis testing and analytics company, aiming to ensure it complies with public safety standards.
Its software and scientific instrumentation system QuantaCann tests strains and provides results in minutes - on THC and cannabidiol potency levels, moisture content and other data.
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Debra Borchardt December 29, 2017
MassRoots, Inc. (MSRT) has formed MassRoots Blockchain Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MassRoots, Inc. dedicated to developing blockchain-based solutions for the cannabis industry.
“We believe blockchain has the potential to enable the cannabis industry to operate more efficiently and with a greater degree of accountability and transparency,” stated MassRoots Chief Executive Officer Isaac Dietrich. “MassRoots looks forward to being a pioneer in exploring blockchain-based solutions for the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry.”
It’s a big move from Dietrich, who just recently regained control of the company he founded following a messy boardroom coup. Dietrich has been on a mission to keep MassRoots alive amid a failed acquisition of CannaRegs that triggered his ouster. He was able to gain shareholder support to get his old job back as CEO and may even resurrect the CannaRegs deal. Part of his strategy to save the company was to pivot from the original goal of becoming a social media giant like Facebook (FB) to becoming a software, tech brand for the cannabis industry.
“The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value,” according to Dan and Alex Tapscott in the Blockchain Revolution (2016). MassRoots stated in its press release that the most well-known application of blockchain technology has been cryptocurrencies, which have grown to a market valued at more than $600 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
MassRoots has made cryptocurrency transactions over the past year and has turned a profit on the investment. Entering the blockchain space is another way for the company to shift more towards becoming a cannabis software brand.
Plans For Blockchain In The Cannabis Industry
The company believes that blockchain will be useful in improving seed-to-sale traceability and will explore that with its new point-of-sale system called MassRoots Retail. This system was formerly known as Odava, a company acquired from the CEO Scott Kveton who orchestrated the boardroom coup.
MassRoots will also look into using blockchain to improve supply chain contracts. The idea is that with these smart contracts, dispensaries would be able to automatically order more product when the inventory is low for that product.
It could also eliminate third parties in various transactions and create a peer-to-peer system. MassRoots also believes that blockchain has the potential to streamline social network data while eliminating the security risk. The company said in its statement, “This would enable advertisers to better target consumers, reduce the risk of security breaches, and enable the development of solutions that better serve the MassRoots community.”
MassRoots Blockchain is also “exploring how distributed-ledger technology can be applied to proxy voting and giving MassRoots’ shareholders a greater degree of transparency and communication.” Clearly, Dietrich is inspired as a result of his experience in rallying shareholders to his side in his CEO battle.
More information is available at www.MassRootsBlockchain.com.
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By Green Bits
December 27, 2017
The new regulations are painstaking. In a system called track and trace, the state of California aims to account for the whereabouts of the produce of every single cannabis plant — from the seed being planted all the way to a small amount of dried weed in a hash brownie — in real time.
“These burdens are higher than I’ve ever seen in any industry,” says Ben Curren, chief executive of Green Bits, a software system that aims to streamline compliance for cannabis businesses. “Most small businesses have trouble doing payroll and taxes,” he says. “You now have to run like [US chain] Target or something, where you know where every single thing in your store is every single moment of the time.”
System Features
Stay compliant — automatically
FULL STATE INTEGRATION
Maintain 100% accuracy with state reporting systems with our fully integrated and automated sync
Transaction Limits
Prevent any sale from exceeding state regulations with our auto-applying transaction limits
Customer Verification
Capture important customer information at check-in and enforce validation upon check-out
AND MUCH MORE
Compliant receipts and labels, state reports, and regular inventory audits, to name a few
Grow your business
LOYALTY PROGRAM
Drive repeat customers with our highly customizable loyalty program
ONLINE MENUS
Never manually update your online menu with our Leafly, Weedmaps, and many other menu integrations.
AUTOMATED DISCOUNTS
Customize and auto-apply discount plans for happy hours, product specials, and more
Delight your customers
CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT
Efficiently manage customers and reduce potential for errors with check-in and queuing
REGISTER
Reduce transaction time and interruptions with our simple, fast, and reliable register
WEIGH STATION
Create a personalized experience with an integrated scale or dedicated weigh station
EMERGENCY MODE
Keep lines moving, even when your internet is down
Streamline store operations
ANYWHERE ACCESS
Manage your business from any phone, tablet, or computer
ACTIONABLE REPORTING
View sales reports, tax reports, and more to help make informed business decisions
SIMPLE RETURNS
Easily create returns for your vendors
EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT
Support for shift and drawer management, along with budtender performance reports
INVENTORY AUDITS
Run hassle-free audits of your inventory
Peace of mind with a platform that just works
UP TIME, ALL THE TIME
Rest easy with 99.9% uptime and the most reliable retail management software on the market
MINIMAL TRAINING NECESSARY
Budtenders and other employees can ring sales with minimal-to-no-training
SUPPORT WHEN YOU NEED IT
Quickly solve any issue with the most responsive and knowledge support team in the industry.
Green Bits is point-of-sale software for cannabis vendors with over 3,000 customers, the first starting in July 2014.
It launched after the end of prohibition in Colorado and Washington in 2012 was replaced with tracking regulations that still put a high burden on marijuana producers, processors and retailers.
Green Bits aims to help companies meet these regulations via an integrated iPad-based register and web-based inventory solution.
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November 2, 2017 12:08 AM
In fourth grade, the girls in my class all marched down to the guidance department for The Talk. You know the one: where an elder stateswoman spells out the near future when it comes to puberty and periods, with the hope of giving courage and dispelling misconceptions. (Mine was that menstruation lasted hours, not days. What?) As we strode back to homeroom, someone broke into song, taking liberties with a Queen power anthem. “We are the tampons, my friends,” crooned the ragtag chorus parading down the hall.
I wasn’t alone when it came to misconceptions about the body; for generations, women were taught to gloss over subtle signals or grit and bear the uncomfortable. Hormone swings became fodder for casual barbed jokes, and the pain pill Midol was promoted as the only fix for monthly miseries. “We’ve been misinformed about how our bodies work,” says Alisa Vitti, a functional nutrition coach who founded New York’s FLO Living Center before adapting the clinic into a virtual platform with an interactive, informative cycle-tracking app. “Before, it was like, period pain is just part of the deal. That’s actually medically inaccurate. Your body is not designed to produce cramps,” she stresses.
For some, that alone might offer some kind of relief—this is not normal—but lately a handful of women-led companies are going a step further, exploring unconventional means of managing the aches and aggravations that often come with menstruation. Here are three different approaches, including a cramp-centric kit for inside-and-out relief, a comprehensive suite of targeted supplements, and a cannabis-infused body-care line to take the edge off.
Cramp Care by Lola
When Lola sent out its first blue-and-white boxes in the summer of 2015—delivering organic cotton tampons with the ease of Fresh Direct—co-founders Jordana Kier and Alex Friedman announced their mission to reframe the period conversation. The products (which came to include pads and liners) communicated understated simplicity in typeface and web design; the manufacturing process modeled transparency in an industry where potential irritants go unlabeled. Today, with the launch of Cramp Care, the company takes aim at another common “pain point”—as Kier puts it business-speak, no pun intended—when it comes to menstruation: the fact that old-school methods of relief, like popping a pill or resting with a heating pad, only take effect after discomfort sets in. Instead, Lola’s new daily supplement intends to offer proactive support. The tailored blend—vitamins A, C, D, B6, and B12, along with folic acid, niacin, thiamine, and riboflavin—is designed to help foster the regeneration of red blood cells and ease symptoms of PMS, such as bloating and fatigue, by filling key nutrient gaps. If the capsules work to mitigate complications from the inside out, the companion essential oil blend offers a top-down approach. Intended to be rolled directly onto achy areas, the formula combines 17 essential oils, including geranium and chamomile, which are thought to stimulate circulation, and capsaicin (the active compound in the chili pepper) for an analgesic effect. Meanwhile, notes of ylang-ylang and lavender do their best to stoke a mental lift.
Balance by FLO Living
Over a 15-year career counseling women on their cycles and hormones, Vitti has homed in on nutrition as a means to course-correct one’s own health trajectory. “Anything and everything that is going wrong with your period has a particular cause [linked to] a deficiency in your micronutrient profile,” she explains. “You can eat your way out of that, and you can supplement your way out of that.” And you can do both, with the app’s nutritional guidelines in tandem with a new, five-part supplement kit that offers a broad sweep of her designated essentials. Harmonize supplies vitamins K1, K2, and omega-3s because a shortage of those three can lead to cramping, per Vitti; added vitamin D3 also plays a role in the “hormonal communication between the glands and the endocrine system.” There’s a B complex called Energize that encourages mood stabilization and even-keeled energy reserves. Replenish delivers a 150-milligram hit of magnesium, which promotes healthy cortisol regulation and sound sleep. Gutsy harnesses the power of probiotics, while Detox packs in antioxidants (vitamins C and E, turmeric, green tea extract, and others) with an eye to a strong liver. A word to the pill-averse: This comprehensive regimen is not a one-capsule wonder. But for women navigating hormone issues—or using a method of synthetic birth control, which can strip essential nutrients and disrupt the microbiome, she notes—it might make all the difference.
Whoopi & Maya
The buzz around medical marijuana is inescapable even in states where it’s not yet legal, partly because of its myriad applications. Case in point: the range of body care targeted to menstrual relief, cofounded by Whoopi Goldberg and cannabis entrepreneur Maya Elisabeth. Launched last year in California, Whoopi & Maya is set to bring its four-product lineup to Colorado dispensaries beginning November 15, with plans for further expansion on the horizon. The hero of the range is the Rub, a multipurpose balm infused with both cannabis extract and CBD isolate as well as “a selection of analgesic, antispasmodic healing herbs,” per the website, all of which is designed to ease cramps and other inflammatory conditions and joint aches. The lavender-scented Soak is a riff on the classic Epsom salt bath, this time pairing the usual muscle-soothing magnesium with THC, CBD, and skin-nourishing seed oils. There’s an herbal tincture called Relax, which delivers THC and herbs like motherwort, red raspberry leaf, and elderberry by the dropperful (to be dosed alone or stirred into a beverage); it’s thought to help build up a natural resistance to pain. And for sweeter relief, there are two takes on edibles: raw cacao with a solid 10 milligrams of THC, and a CBD variation that’s light on the THC psychoactive effect. Has self-care ever felt so good?
While not strictly a 'tech' startup, actress Whoopi Goldberg and friend Maya Elizabeth have co-founded a new medicinal marijuana startup last year.
Since 2008 Elizabeth has run a medical marijuana company called Om Edibles, and together Goldberg and Elizabeth are launching products to help relieve menstrual pain. All products are infused with cannabis and come in a variety of forms, from edibles, liquids, bath soaks and rubs.
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Published by NCV Newswire
From the world’s largest strain database to the latest lifestyle trends, Leafly.ca is the go-to cannabis education resource for half a million Canadians
TORONTO, Oct. 13, 2017 /CNW/ – In anticipation of the Canadian government’s historic step to legalize cannabis for responsible adult consumption, Leafly, the world’s largest online cannabis information and lifestyle resource, is growing its presence in the Canadian market with new Canadian-focused content, events and educational partnerships. With more than half a million Canadian visitors, along with 2.3 million dedicated page views, per month, the Leafly.ca and Fr.Leafly.ca community is the largest of its kind in Canada.
With the end of federal prohibition drawing nearer, Leafly is committed to making all the information Canadians need to know available in an engaging and accessible way,” said . Our team of experts is here to help Canada make history with unique and exciting resources to guide consumers through the new legal landscape.
Leafly is the go-to resource for cannabis information worldwide, with over 13 million visitors and 60 million page views monthly across its website and mobile applications. Leafly includes user-generated dispensary reviews, a comprehensive strain database, wellness resources, and a full lifestyle, politics, business, industry, and science news section, Leafly News. In Canada, Leafly has a presence in both official languages with Fr.Leafly.ca, the world’s largest cannabis strain database in French.
“Search interest for cannabis in Canada is trending up for all topics, and that trend will continue post-legalization,” added Leafly Principal Research Scientist Nick Jikomes, PhD. “Our research shows Canadians are most interested in the details of the upcoming legislation, as well as introductory topics such as the effects of different types of cannabis and how to prepare cannabis-infused foods. These are the questions our team is here to answer, from the nitty-gritty aspects of the regulations to introductory tips and how-to-guides.”
Leafly is also introducing Leafly Kiosks, interactive information stations available at select locations throughout Canada. Over 200 Leafly Kiosks will be available in Canada by the end of 2018.
Leafly’s Canadian headquarters is based in downtown Toronto. To help spread the word about legal cannabis throughout Canada, Leafly has engaged a team of five expert lifestyle ambassadors. All ambassadors are available for interviews to share their stories with media across North America. They include:
“I visit Leafly to learn more about everything from the effects of certain strains to the latest cannabis-infused beauty products,” said Leafly Ambassador Michelle Bilodeau. “As Canadians embrace cannabis culture, it’s my hope they use Leafly to discover the latest trends and engage with real-time news and lifestyle stories to help integrate cannabis into their lifestyle.”
The Leafly app is available for download for Android & iOS systems so users can:
About Leafly
As the world’s largest cannabis information resource, Leafly’s mission is to help patients and consumers make informed choices about cannabis and to empower cannabis businesses to attract and retain loyal customers through advertising and technology services. Learn more at www.leafly.com or download the five-star rated Leafly mobile app through Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Visit Leafly.com, Leafly Canada at Leafly.ca, Leafly Germany at Leafly.de, and Leafly in Spanish at Leafly.es.
Leafly is the world’s largest cannabis information resource. We make the process of finding the right strains and products for you fast, simple, and comfortable. Whether you’re new to cannabis, a medical marijuana patient, or a seasoned consumer, Leafly is the perfect destination for you!
Not sure how to get started with Leafly? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Whether you’re looking for cannabis flower, topicals, edibles, or concentrates, use Leafly’s Explore tool to search thousands of strains and filter them by effects, flavors, medical uses, and more. Remember, Leafly’s strain and product data is crowdsourced and does not constitute professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor before using cannabis for medical purposes. See Leafly’s Terms of Use.
Check out ratings and reviews of strains, products, and dispensary/storefront locations to make sure you make the best, most informed selection for your unique needs.
Use the Leafly Finder to search for dispensaries, delivery services, co-ops, access points, and storefronts near you. Sort by product availability, affordability, veterans discount, ADA accessibility, and more.
Skim Leafly’s News & Culture section for the latest cannabis news, lists, recipes and more. Or browse our Knowledge Center for cannabis basics and educational resources.
Write your strain and product reviews in your Leafly journal and add your ratings and recommendations to our knowledge base to help other Leafly visitors make informed decisions.
Join the Leafly community of passionate cannabis consumers and patients and take part in a new, sophisticated dialog about smart cannabis choices. Leafly helps you Just Say Know!
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Cannabis Technology Pioneer Eaze raises additional capital to support rapid growth
Sheena Shiravi
September 14, 2017
Eaze, the leading cannabis technology company, announced today an additional $27 million in Series B financing, led by Bailey Capital with participation from DCM Ventures, Kaya Ventures and FJ Labs. The latest round brings Eaze’s total funding to $52 million. Eaze will use the financing for continued expansion throughout California and other states, to provide safe, convenient and professional access to legal marijuana. James Bailey has also joined the board of directors bringing relevant industry experience as an investor in PAX Labs and High Times.
“An increasing number of Americans recognize that when used responsibly, marijuana can dramatically enhance their lives. Through our commitment to education, Eaze is playing a crucial role in the normalization of something that can unequivocally make life better,” said Jim Patterson, CEO of Eaze. “With the legalization of adult use marijuana on the horizon, we look forward to using our data, technology and platform to continue to serve our mission of providing safe, secure access to marijuana products at the lowest prices with the utmost convenience.”
This announcement of additional capital comes at a time when Eaze has experienced rapid growth, seeing a 300% year-over-year increase in gross sales through its platform and now facilitating over 120,000 deliveries per month. Launched in 2014, Eaze connects customers through its mobile app or website to delivery drivers from local, legal and compliant dispensaries in most major California cities. For patients in need of a medical marijuana recommendation, EazeMD connects California residents with independent, board-certified doctors to receive an evaluation on demand.
“Eaze has transformed the way people legally access marijuana. Their focus on the customer experience through wide selection, competitive pricing, and fast delivery meets the demand of today’s consumer,” said James Bailey, Managing Partner of Bailey Capital. “As a tech company, Eaze is taking a stand in an industry negatively affected by the century long war on drugs and takes a proactive mission to make cannabis an industry of equality and opportunity. Eaze is poised to create more jobs and tax revenue than any other company in the industry.”
“Eaze is one of the strongest investment opportunities in the rapidly growing cannabis industry,” said David Chao, General Partner of DCM Ventures. “I’m proud to have been investing in Eaze since the seed round and am excited to help Eaze take the next step in expanding the business to new markets.”
The cannabis industry has seen incredible growth in the last year, with medical marijuana now legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia. The industry has seen over $6 billion in revenue and over 100,000 jobs created, resulting in $1 billion in taxes. In California, with Proposition 64 and the promise of an adult use market, the excitement and growth potential is even higher. Eaze is leveraging the momentum to continue to help educate regulators and offer customers both choice and convenience.
About Eaze
Eaze, the leading cannabis technology company, is on a mission to help people enjoy the moment through convenient access to high quality marijuana products. Founded in 2014, the company’s technology enables superior customer choice and convenience by connecting product brands, dispensaries and doctors to customers on demand. With over 300,000 users in California, Eaze has unprecedented access to big data regarding cannabis market trends and consumer preferences which it shares with industry and media partners through its Eaze Insights Program. Learn more at www.eaze.com.
About Bailey Capital
Bailey Capital was founded in 2015 to back exceptional and brave teams pioneering frontier industries. Since our founding we have taken a long-term approach to investing in technology, media and entertainment and brands and have made investments across the cannabis value chain.
Eaze
Eaze calls itself ‘Uber for pot’. It uses much the same concept: customers place orders from dispensaries through the app, the dispensary delivers the goods and the customer pays the driver in cash.
Eaze gets a cut of each sale but does not actually sell cannabis itself. It delivers marijuana across 100 cities in California at the moment but plans to expand into other states.
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By Jim Campbell January 10, 2017
This is a more technical blog post than usual, but the subject of what keeps Flowhub running in the face of infrastructure and security challenges is inherently technical. Buckle up and come along for the ride.
Much of modern software is delivered using a model known as SaaS, “Software as a Service”, where users no longer install software on their local computers, but have it delivered via the web, or a web-enabled app. Think Gmail. There are many advantages to this model: the user doesn’t have to install anything, software can easily be updated with new features with no effort by the user, the software can be used from a variety of locations and devices, and so on. For this reason, Flowhub, like many other vendors in the cannabis industry, uses SaaS to distribute its POS and Grow solutions.
But these advantages also come with challenges. The user is now susceptible to problems with the vendor infrastructure. If the SaaS product fails, it can be catastrophic, affecting all users and shutting down businesses.
The challenges for application uptime can come from a number of sources. These include:
To address these challenges, Flowhub uses a set of best practices to protect its users from failure. Flowhub’s applications are built using a modern partitioned Service Oriented Architecture, running on third party enterprise-class cloud infrastructure. This allows us to leverage high grades of security and reliability implemented by our Cloud vendors without having to invest in dedicated Flowhub teams.
To help our customers understand how Flowhub protects their business operations, below are some of the best practices we use:
Database robustness
Data is the lifeblood of our clients. From sales records to customer and loyalty profiles, Flowhub takes the responsibility for protecting client data incredibly seriously. We use a cloud-based enterprise-class database hosting service, running on top of the Amazon Cloud. This server provides two hot redundant servers running next to the active server, and takes backup snapshots every 6 hours to store offline.
Application Reliability
Flowhub is based on an application development framework that supports high reliability instances running on Amazon Web Services servers. Software is deployed into “containers” and the framework automatically recovers if a container or server fails by recreating the container, and restarting the operations seamlessly.
Infrastructure Partitioning
Even with the above techniques, failure is always a possibility. Flowhub uses a partitioned infrastructure, where groups of customers are hosted on different clusters of Amazon servers (we call them “pods”). If there is an application failure, the “blast radius” is constrained to only the small number of customers on that pod. This also supports scaling the system by providing dedicated server performance for each client.
Reversible Application Deployment
Flowhub uses modern practices of constantly delivering new features. We release software every 2 weeks. But what if something goes wrong on the deployment, or a major bug is inadvertently released? We have a pattern of always testing and qualifying a rollback with each release, so that if there is a problem with the new release, we can rollback to the previous version in a manner of minutes.
Backup Network Connectivity
A key part of the Flowhub POS solution is the iPhone mobile component (the “Nug”). Our iPhone app creates a best-in-class customer checkin and management experience, allowing the ID vetting interaction at the customer’s arrival to be transformed from hassle to benefit. It also allows effortless inventory auditing in the back office. Just as importantly, if a customer decides not to provide their own backup internet link, it can provide backup internet connectivity. If the dispensary WiFi fails, the POS stations simply switch to the hotspot provided by the Nug and continue operation uninterrupted.
Security
In the modern world, a software vendor needs to assume they are under attack all the time. Flowhub uses a number of techniques to ensure only the correct people can access the system. These include encryption on all traffic from app to app server to database, and encryption of all data in the actual database files. Amazon Cloud network protection is used for Virtual Private Clusters and IP whitelists. All the computers used at Flowhub are passworded with encrypted disks. User passwords use one-way encryption. All passwords for key infrastructure are stored in a third party encrypted vault and regularly rotated.
Flowhub takes reliability and security with the utmost seriousness, and aggressively uses modern best practices for databases, applications and security to keep our customers’ businesses running.
Easy to use, intuitive
We know retraining your staff can be a nightmare. That’s why we built our POS focused and extremely easy to use. Learn our system in a matter of minutes and get back to doing what you do best.
Live Data Stream
Like a push notification on your smartphone, our POS updates your browser instantly when data is changed. Always see live inventory and never oversell product or go into the negative again.
Unmatched Customer Service
We value customer service just as much as our incredible products. We also take feature suggestions very seriously. With input from our wonderful clientele, we’re able to constantly improve our solutions and progress the cannabis industry forward.
We help cannabis dispensaries in Colorado, Oregon, Alaska, California, Michigan, Maryland, and Nevada stay compliant with state regulatory agencies and send reports automatically to the them via the metrc™ API. Flowhub is proud to be one of the original metrc™ approved vendors with years of compliance experience.
Let’s be blunt
The current software for managing your cannabis operations just doesn’t cut it. It’s frustrating to deal with and takes up way too much of your time. Coming from within the industry, we saw grow managers and cannabis dispensary business owners struggling with their technology and we knew there was a better way.
Pain-free compliance
Compliance shouldn’t be a nightmare. You shouldn’t have to lay awake at night wondering how you’re going to have enough documentation for the auditors. We make compliance a breeze by automating communication with state regulators and have forensic information available at your fingertips.
Fast, modern, reliable technology
We love leveraging modern and proven technologies to solve problems throughout the cannabis supply chain. Instead of trying to retrofit a piece of software for another industry, use something custom built and tailored for your workflows.
Unmatched customer service
We value customer service just as much as our incredible products. We also take feature suggestions very seriously. With input from our wonderful clientele, we’re able to constantly improve our solutions and progress the cannabis industry forward.
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