Cannabis Supply Chains Coming Out of the Shadows Erica E. Phillips 2 hrs ago
© Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
COACHELLA, Calif.—Low-slung industrial developments are rising along Avenue 48 here, a dusty stretch at the edge of relentless desert 140 miles from the Pacific Coast that’s becoming a hub for cannabis producers.
Around the state, a nascent network of specialized distribution companies is springing up to connect these centers of licensed marijuana growers and processors to hundreds of retail outlets, providing something entirely new in the marijuana industry: A legitimate supply chain.
The widening state-by-state legalization of recreational marijuana across the U.S. is bringing growers, distributors and sellers of the drug out of the shadows to stitch together businesses under a unified supply chain as the industry scales up.
California’s market is by far the largest in the U.S. in both geography and in the number of users, experts say, even though recreational pot use became legal only this year. Lawmakers designed a regime in which state-licensed distributors, the middle link in the supply chain, take possession of the goods before selling them to retailers. That’s injected new capital into the business, from finance to cultivation and transportation, that operators say will help it to grow faster.
California distributors say that by developing reliable logistics to support this state’s cannabis market they’re creating a model that could work for distribution in other regions. If pot is legalized at the federal level, mass distribution could then be in position to overtake the illicit trade.
“There’s been this huge focus on a number of things other than, once it’s grown and or manufactured, how do you get it from point A to point B?” said Sturges Karban, chief executive of MJIC Inc., a state-licensed distributor that provides logistics services to cannabis producers and retailers. “It’s almost like this forgotten aspect of the industry.”
MJIC, which has distribution hubs in Coachella, Oakland and Long Beach, is one of several companies developing logistics networks for the market.
Interest in cannabis as an ingredient in food and drinks is on an upswing: Beer brewing giant Constellation Brands Inc. took a $4 billion stake this month in Canadian marijuana grower Canopy Growth Corp., which makes cannabis-infused drinks and other products. Recreational use in Canada will be legal in mid-October, and edible and drinkable cannabis products are expected to be legalized nationwide there by 2019.
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Poster Comment:
When I lived in Chicago in late 70s this girl who lived across the street and was in High School came to my front door with her girlfriend. She told me some guy tried to pick her up when she was walking home alone.
I said, "Let's go. We'll look for this guy." We piled into my Blazer and took off toward the High School. We spot this guy a few blocks from the school. I make a U-turn and get behind him. He pulls over on 4-lane and waits for traffic to come. He pulls out in front of them. I had to wait for a few cars to go by, but I caught him at the gas station next to Post Office about 4 blocks away.
The girls got his tag number. I told them, "Write it down right now and give it to Rick, the school cop."
They find out he lives right across the street from the High School. So they put a good looking blond lady cop out front.
He comes popping out the door and sees her. He walks up to her and says, "Hey, baby. Let's go upstairs and we can smoke a joint." She gives the signal and they bust him. They go upstairs and find weed.
He is sitting in the shitter and I find out about it. So I tell the guys in the neighborhood, "Get some ball bats and let's go." We head over to the school and I point out the car. I go around the block. They jump out and take the windows out of the car all the way around. Then they run and jump back in.
I see this guy again maybe a month or two later doing the same thing, hitting on chicks walking down the street alone. He pulls up on street corner to get out of his car. I have this chick in the truck with me and I tell her, "Get down."
I pull up alongside him when he gets out and holler, "Hey! I see you're still up to your old tricks." And I was out of there.
People like that do not change. And if he has been in prison, they get rid of molesters in there pretty quick. ROTFLMAO!