Marijuana Business Daily

1st Arizona cannabis store owned by Black woman to open 4/20

Published

1 year ago

March 23, 2023

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(This story has been updated to reflect that Thomas was awarded a new license by the state.)

Marijuana entrepreneur Marvina Thomas is the first Black woman to own a legal cannabis store in Arizona.

Thomas, who also owns and operates a legal marijuana outlet in Las Cruces, New Mexico, “entered into an agreement to operate and acquire” the Arizona Wellness Center in Safford, spokesperson Sadie Thompson told MJBizDaily.

That permit was one of six new licenses issued earlier this month, Thompson said.

David Fowler, co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Industry Trade Association of Arizona (MITA-AZ) , confirmed to MJBizDaily that Thomas is the first Black marijuana store owner in the state.

Thomas’ Fourtwenty Collections in Safford is scheduled to open April 20, Thompson said.

“It has always been my dream to become the first black, women owned, Arizona dispensary,” Thomas said in a statement.

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Marijuana Business Daily

AI is making cannabis cultivation smarter

Published

2 days ago

May 16, 2024

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(This story is part of the cover package in the May-June issue of MJBizMagazine.)

Machine learning is becoming increasingly common in indoor cannabis grows, as cultivators use sophisticated sensors and cameras to maintain optimal growing conditions, sound the alarm about threats such as pests or disease and reduce labor costs associated with both menial and high-level cultivation tasks.

“Cannabis has always been the enabler of some of these bleeding-edge technologies,” Nick Genty, CEO of North Carolina-based AgEye Technologies, said in an interview with MJBizMagazine.

“They’ve had the margins, and they’ve had the budgets to support investing in new technology versus some of the vegetable guys who don’t.”

There are two main reasons why cannabis and other indoor agriculture companies are implementing artificial intelligence or machine-learning

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Marijuana Business Daily

Scapegoat or solution? Ouster of top New York marijuana official raises questions

Published

4 days ago

May 14, 2024

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The exit of Chris Alexander, the top state official overseeing New York’s rollout of adult-use marijuana sales, is seen by many as assigning blame for what has been decried as the country’s worst cannabis market launch to date.

More than three years after New York legalized adult use, only 122 stores were open for business statewide, and the market’s $123 million in 2023 sales was only about one-quarter of projections.

But whether Alexander’s departure as executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will mean a turnaround – or whether his replacement, to be assigned by Gov. Kathy Hochul upon completion of Alexander’s term in September, will be any better – is far from clear, industry observers told MJBizDaily on Monday.

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