Banking the Cannabis Industry: Takeaways from the California Cannabis Banking Working Group

August 18, 2017
Fiona Ma
Banking, Finance & Real Estate, Compliance and Regulations
2 Comments

The countdown to launch the largest new market for recreational sales in the cannabis industry is almost here and the state of California still doesn’t have an answer to the million dollar question – “How do we bank the cannabis…

California cannabis group of stakeholders working on banking solutions

With the passage of California Proposition 64, the California Marijuana Legalization Initiative, in November, 2016, came a plethora of questions surrounding the regulatory processes that must be established before the sale of adult-use cannabis begins on January 1, 2018. The…

An-Chi Tsou: Bringing a Scientific Approach to Regulating Medicinal Cannabis

June 8, 2016
Fiona Ma
California, Industry People, On the Move
1 Comment

I often write about the big picture questions we’re working through as we finally establish a working regulatory system for medicinal cannabis in California. There are a ton of issues to work through: transportation, banking, consumer protections, track and trace…

California’s Humboldt County Blazes a Trail on Track and Trace

May 4, 2016
Fiona Ma
California, Compliance and Regulations, Policy & Legal
0 Comments

This time last year, while I was still learning the ropes as a member of the Board of Equalization, my colleague George Runner and I went to Humboldt County. I wanted to learn about cannabis, and there isn't a better…

Tracking & Tracing Cannabis: Clearing the Haze on How Much is Grown & Sold in California

March 2, 2016
Fiona Ma
California, Policy & Legal, Retail, Science and Technology
1 Comment

My latest Cannabis Stakeholders Discussion Series was focused on Track & Trace Models for Cannabis. This was our best-attended event yet, with a capacity crowd in the auditorium, jammed conference call lines and a full overflow room as well. The…

San Francisco’s Task Force is Up and Running

San Francisco was the first city in the nation to pass the San Francisco Medicinal Cannabis Act effective on December 30, 2005 to relieve the pain and suffering for our then- large AIDS community. It has taken over 20 years…

New Cannabis Laws Will Help to Protect California Wildlife

By Fiona Ma The New Year brought sweeping new regulations, and with them, stability and clarity to the California Cannabis Industry, as the sweeping reform and regulatory laws passed last year took effect. Ending nearly two decades of a Wild…

Transporting Cannabis: A Road Map that Starts with Public Safety

December 7, 2015
Fiona Ma
California
0 Comments

By Fiona Ma When we think about cannabis, we think of the dispensaries where it is sold, or the fields where it is grown. But more attention should be paid to the often overlooked middle step — transporting cannabis to…

Banking the Cannabis Industry: Takeaways from the California Cannabis Banking Working Group

California cannabis group of stakeholders working on banking solutions

An-Chi Tsou: Bringing a Scientific Approach to Regulating Medicinal Cannabis

California’s Humboldt County Blazes a Trail on Track and Trace

Tracking & Tracing Cannabis: Clearing the Haze on How Much is Grown & Sold in California

San Francisco’s Task Force is Up and Running

New Cannabis Laws Will Help to Protect California Wildlife

Transporting Cannabis: A Road Map that Starts with Public Safety

History Can Offer a Sobering Reality for Full Legalization in California

California Clears the Haze Around Cannabis

Colorado’s Cannabis Industry Growing Pains Provide Lessons Learned for California

Upcoming Events

CANNEXPO

ICBC Berlin 2025

MJ Unpacked Atlantic City 2025

Cannabis Drinks Expo 2025 Growing the Category