Texas Cannabis Updates

Update on 10-9-19: The Texas DPS announced: “The Department’s Compassionate Use Program is not accepting applications at this time.” We will monitor the situation.

Attention Illinois Cannabis Community

Applications were released today for Conditional Adult Use Dispensing Organizations.  The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will begin accepting applications on December 10, 2019, and all applications must be submitted by January 2, 2020, at noon. You’ve been planning your cannabis application for months.  Now it’s time to start writing! The application is broken into 10 scored sections for a total …

Cannabis Security Consultant Pawn Jewelry Tony Gallo

History of Hemp

While hemp is a plant in the cannabis family, it is not marijuana. Hemp does not contain the THC, so it has no psychotropic effects. Hemp has been cultivated for thousands of years around the world. Ancient civilizations used hemp to create fibers for cloth, fiber-pulp for paper making and oil for fuel. In addition, they ground it into powder …

How to Start a Hemp Farm in Texas

The biggest news to come out of the Texas House Agriculture and Livestock Committee this year is the passage of “House Bill 1325”. That day a Wednesday, Texas State Senator Charles Perry declared, “Wednesday is not hump day but hemp day.” TEXAS HOUSE BILL 1325 IS A GAME-CHANGER.The bill, now signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, “legalized the cultivation of hemp, …

July 2019 Updates to Cannabis Security Regulations in Massachusetts

The Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) released the draft versions of updated regulations for medical and adult-use cannabis in the great Commonwealth. And assuming no significant changes between the draft and ratification (temporary measures have a habit of becoming permanent), it is worth reviewing the changes made to the regulations. Here we will review the security components including but not limited to 935 …

Cannabis in California – June 2019 Update

The last few years have been quite the ride for cannabis entrepreneurs in California. As the market has evolved, so have the risks for businesses. We appreciate Andrew Mukthar reaching out with this article about their experiences and advice in California. The post discusses newer topics du jour in the cannabis industry, such as inversion (e.g. sales to other states) and requirements …

New Jersey ATC Applications 2019

We have already started working with several clients for the next round of the New Jersey ATC cannabis application which is due August 15th.  In the last ATC round, we were proud to have scored an average of 91% for our clients with a high score of 94%. We are currently helping with the security build-out of an NJ Cultivation and Dispensary …

Cannabis Security Consultant Pawn Jewelry Tony Gallo

Understanding The “Rules” When Designing Your Cannabis Facility

When it comes to designing the security for a cannabis facility it is very important to strictly follow your state and city security rules and regulations in order to ensure you are in full compliance. Finding a security consulting company within the cannabis arena with proven experience like Sapphire Risk Advisory Group, to say the least can be a challenge.  So, when the …

Quality control is focus of proposed marijuana process in company

Clean Technique, Inc. (L-R) Kevin Wong, Robert Parvere, Tym Wowkand Tony Gallo. (Photo by Amy Porter) *This article by Amy Porter originally appeared in The Westfield News on May 22, 2019. Sapphire Risk was fortunate to assist the marijuana processing company with their city council permitting hearing* WESTFIELD, MA – The Planning board convened a public hearing Tuesday for a …

NJ Department of Health

Today the NJ Department of Health is releasing the Rule Adoption notice for N.J.A.C. 8:64 that will appear in the May 20 New Jersey Register.  This rule contains readoptions, amendments and repeals largely in line with what was proposed last summer.  The rule adoption is attached, and please refer to the Register on May 20th for the final version.  The …