Marijuana Business Daily

California marijuana enforcement ramps up search warrants, seizures

Published

11 months ago

July 6, 2023

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A California enforcement effort initiated nearly 100 search warrants in the second quarter of 2023, leading to the seizure of more than $100 million of unlicensed marijuana products and plants, according to the latest state data.

Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce, which was created last year to coordinate efforts between state, local and federal agencies, more than doubled the amount of illegal cannabis seized in the recently ended quarter compared to the first three months of the year.

Enforcement efforts included:

Serving 92 search warrants, a 338% jump. The seizure of more than $109 million in illegal marijuana, a 104% increase from the first quarter. The eradication of 120,970 plants, up 130%.

“Our enforcement efforts are becoming increasingly diversified along the illegal cannabis supply chain as we served warrants on several unlicensed dispensaries in this quarter in addition to unlicensed cultivation operations,” Bill Jones, chief

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AI is making cannabis cultivation smarter

Published

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

Published

3 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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