NEWS: How WeedMaps Makes More Than $400,000 a Month

For most of the U.S., marijuana is an illicit pleasure. But in some states--California, Colorado, and Washington, to name a few--it's a legal vice, provided you have a medical marijuana card. The marijuana network can be daunting for the uninitiated, with offerings like Blue Dream, Strawberry Cough, and Green Crack on dispensary menus. How are patients supposed to navigate?

That's where WeedMaps.com comes in.

In just two years, the WeedMaps website (tagline: Find Your Bud) has grown to more than $400,000 each month in revenue and 25,000 visitors each day. The site is the brainchild of Justin Hartfield, an entrepreneur who was involved in a few failed startups before hitting the jackpot with WeedMaps. "It started in August 2008," he says. "I was a medical marijuana patient trying to find the best dispensaries close to me"--and he couldn't find resources on dispensaries in his area when he looked online.

Like many a successful entrepreneur, Hartfield realized there was a gap in the market. Dispensaries didn't know what customers wanted or how much to charge, and customers didn't know what was available and how much they should be paying. And so was born Weedmaps.com--a Yelp-style site, with reviews and listings for dispensaries in states where medical marijuana is legal (though a clear majority of the listings are in California).

At first, Hartfield offered dispensaries the opportunity to display listings for free. "We wanted to give dispensaries business before we asked for money," he says. "We had a tiny audience at first. One day we had 12 people, the next day we had 24. By the end of 2008, we had 1,500 people a day."

In January 2010, WeedMaps started charging for listings. Rates start at $295 per month, and climb to more than $1,000, depending on how extensive the listing is--the more you pay, the more you can list about your dispensary. It's not a cheap service, but it's well worth it for dispensaries. Hartfield says that at least 85% of all dispensaries are on WeedMaps, and for good reason; the site signs up 300 new users and receives 250 dispensary reviews each day.

A quick search for my nearest dispensary--Medithrive--yields a dizzying amount of information about the dispensary's offerings (Not So Virgin Olive Oil, anyone?) and prices. WeedMaps users have provided 121 reviews of the store, and dozens of pictures show off Medithrive's wares. With so much information available, it's not a stretch to understand why medical marijuana patients would visit WeedMaps before every trip to the dispensary.

It's also not a stretch to think that WeedMaps is going to have some competition. "A few sites have popped up recently exactly replicating our business model," admits Hartfield. "But there's no doubt we're the largest, we're the oldest." Indeed, the fast followers--Weedtracker.com, Dispensaryguide.com--currently pale by comparison.

Nevertheless, potential competition is one of the reasons WeedMaps isn't stopping at listings and reviews. The site recently added a strain exchange (a stock market for marijuana strains). Hartfield says that a second version of the exchange will feature a predictive modeling engine that can tell you whether to "buy now or hold off until the future."

In the meantime, WeedMaps must deal with the same problem that any Yelp-like service has to face: moderating comments to weed out bogus reviews (positive reviews of your own dispensary, negative reviews of your competitors), and accusations of favoritism towards dispensaries that pay more for their listings. But the site is adamant: "Reviews of WeedMaps sponsors and non-sponsors are treated identically and any complaints are handled by the moderation staff...Owners shouldn't sing the praises of their own businesses or bash their competitors and users shouldn't comment on their current or former employers. If the author’s authenticity is in question due to limited activity and/or inconsistent activity, the moderation staff can un-publish." Weedmaps currently has 12 employees, and is hiring more.

Hartfield is even branching out into online dating. A companion site, WeedList (think Craigslist for potheads), contains a section for users to "find 420 love." A sample ad: "Would like to get together with a female bud connossieur, and get to know each other from a different perspective with 420, never realized how many females are closet smokers."

WeedMaps itself might be bought soon enough--the site is currently in talks to be acquired by a publicly-traded company, according to Hartfield--a L'Oreal subsidiary called LC Luxuries Ltd, which currently sells beauty products. Whether the parent company would balk at the sale is an open question. On the other hand, with a growth rate of approximately 20% each month, it may seem more surprising that WeedMaps hasn't already been snapped up.

Source: Fast Company

NEWS: O.C. pot expo to include smoking area

ANAHEIM – While Anaheim continues to ban all medical-marijuana dispensaries within its borders and fight for that prohibition in court, the city-owned Convention Center will host a huge marijuana expo that will allow card-carrying medical-marijuana patients to smoke pot on site.

The Kush Expo is set to run Friday through Sunday in the convention hall and is billed by its organizer, Monster Events International, as the "biggest medical-marijuana expo to hit Orange County."

The expo, open to people 18 and older, is expected to include dozens of booths featuring representatives from dispensaries and collectives, growing equipment, seed companies, hemp clothing and pot-related art. Live concerts featuring reggae and tribute acts to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd also are planned.

But what most sets this expo apart, organizers said, is a "designated (marijuana) smoking area" outside the back of the convention hall. That fact is being touted in advertising and on the event website, kushexpo.com.

No pot will be sold on site, but legitimate medical patients who have their own marijuana will be allowed to smoke it in that area, said Rick Walker, a Laguna Niguel entrepreneur who is helping organize the expo.

Patients also may try out pipes, bongs or other marijuana paraphernalia for sale at the expo while inside the designated zone, he said.

"We went back and forth with (convention officials) and attorneys, but we argued that the people who need medical marijuana need it every few hours and they may not be able to attend otherwise," Walker said. "So we're thrilled they gave us a designated space."

Walker said the area will be secured and only patients with official cards will be allowed inside the smoking zone. He added he is unconcerned about patients being searched or harassed by law-enforcement since "what they are doing is perfectly legal according to the state," he said.
City officials are aware or the designated smoking area, which by code must be at least 25 feet from any door to the hall, said city spokeswoman Ruth Ruiz.

"There will be no smoking of any kind inside the venue, but they (legitimate patients with cards) will have the right to smoke outside as anybody with a cigarette typically would," Ruiz said. "Police will staff the event as they would any convention, but no additional staffing is expected."

Possession of marijuana is prohibited under federal law, but state law allows for use by qualified medical patients.

Anaheim bans all medical-marijuana dispensaries – the city's law is being challenged in court by patients who say it is unfair.

Legal experts had been looking to the case to provide a clear precedent for other cities, but an appeals court judge in August sent the case back to trial court instead.

Weeks after that decision, the Anaheim Convention Center hosted the Know Your Rights Expo, an event sponsored by the group NORML, which is fighting to legalize recreational pot use.
Last week, California voters rejected Prop. 19, which would have legalized and taxed the sale of marijuana for recreational use statewide.

Walker said he expects a larger crowd this weekend because of that decision. His company is making plans for up to 25,000 people to attend over the three-day Kush Expo ("Kush" is a term that has become known as slang for high-grade marijuana.)

"People are really hyped up about the issue," Walker said. "And we're putting on a classy, informative event that we think will really appeal to Orange County."

Tickets for the show are $15 per day or $35 for a three-day pass.

Source: O.C. Register

NEWS: The hazy road to Long Beach's medical marijuana regulations

It took months of meetings for the Long Beach City Council to craft a law regulating medical marijuana collectives. Once the law was approved, collectives worked for months to meet the requirements, then participated in a controversial lottery process.

Collectives still must go through city inspections and take other steps before receiving permits to operate, but even that is in question now. Today, three council members are seeking to alter the ordinance to further restrict where collectives may operate.

The council meets at 6tonight - an hour later than usual - in City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

Aug. 4, 2009 - Concerned about the number of collectives in Long Beach, the council votes to have a committee consider how to regulate the operations.

Nov. 10, 2009 - In a meeting attended by a crowd of medical marijuana advocates, the council approves creating a medical marijuana law but takes out some of the more restrictive measures. At Councilman Gary DeLong's suggestion, the council votes not to prohibit collectives near libraries and parks, as City Attorney Bob Shannon proposed. The council leaves in some requirements, such as prohibiting collectives in residential areas, near schools and within 1,000 feet of each other.

Jan. 21 - Draft ordinance goes to the council. Council deadlocks over where to allow marijuana cultivation.

Feb. 4 - Police recommend requiring marijuana to be grown within city limits but the council decided not to restrict medical marijuana cultivation within city limits.

Feb. 9 - A final vote on the law is postponed by Mayor Bob Foster and City Attorney Bob Shannon because of concerns about the crime ramifications of importing marijuana from outside of the city.

Feb. 16 - Council again delays a final vote, after representatives from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department tell the council that Long Beach's law should require marijuana to be grown within the city limits.

March 9 - Council votes 5-4 to require that medical marijuana be grown within the city limits.

Aug. 27 - Collective members protest in front of City Hall after their applications were rejected.

Sept. 21 - City holds lottery to eliminate collectives that are too close together; 32 out of 43 total collectives move forward in the permit process. Marijuana advocates ridicule the lottery after the city's lottery machine fails and winners' numbers must be drawn from a trash bin.

Today - Citing constituent concerns, DeLong and council members Gerrie Schipske and Patrick O'Donnell seek to add new restrictions, including creating collective-free zones around parks, libraries and child-care centers; limiting marijuana cultivation to industrial areas; and restricting the number of collectives.

Videos clips of speakers from previous council meetings

Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram

EVENT: Free-Legal Cannabis Classes in San Diego

Time: Friday, November 12 · 10:00am - 9:00pm

Location: World Beat Cultural Center 2100 Park Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101

Topics of the agenda will cover criminal law, business law as well as many other local and state matters.

This event will be hosted by the California Cannabis Coalition

NEWS: Convictions upheld for medical marijuana-growing couple

A federal appeals court upheld the drug convictions and five-year prison sentences Monday of two Northern California medical marijuana activists who grew pot for themselves and their fellow patients.

Attorney Dale Schafer began growing marijuana for his wife, physician Marion "Mollie" Fry, on their property in the town of Cool (El Dorado County) in 1998. She had secured a doctor's recommendation for the drug to ease the effects of chemotherapy following breast cancer surgery.

Schafer later started using medical marijuana for back pains and other ailments. The couple began distributing the drug to other patients in 1999 and contacted sheriff's deputies, who let them continue under California's medical marijuana law.

In September 2001, however, federal agents and local officers raided their California Medical Research Center and their home with a warrant under the U.S. drug law that bans using, growing or selling marijuana.

Schafer and Fry were indicted in 2005 and convicted in 2007 of conspiring to grow at least 100 plants.

U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell of Sacramento called it a "sad day" when he sentenced them to the mandatory five-year terms in March 2008. He allowed them to remain free on bail during their appeal.

Schafer said the couple ran a humanitarian enterprise that served more than 10,000 patients from 1999 to 2005. But prosecutors said the couple collected between $750,000 and $1 million in fees for marijuana recommendations during the two years and two months covered by the charges.

In their appeal, defense lawyers challenged Damrell's refusal to let the couple present evidence that two sheriff's officers had entrapped them. They said the officers had told Schafer and Fry that their operations were legal while allegedly working undercover for the federal government.

But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the clinic had told patients in writing that marijuana remained illegal under federal law. That showed that Schafer and Fry "were not misled into believing that their conduct was permissible," Judge Richard Tallman said in the 3-0 ruling.

Schafer, 56, and Fry, 54, said they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Schafer said the couple probably wouldn't have been raided or prosecuted under the Obama administration's year-old policy of not interfering with medical marijuana operations that comply with state law.

They said they had turned down a pretrial offer from prosecutors that would have sent Schafer to prison for two years and allowed Fry to avoid imprisonment while permanently surrendering her medical license.

"I was driven by the calling that I felt, to help the dying and the sick and the disabled," Fry said.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner issued a statement deriding California's "so-called 'medical' marijuana law." He said the ruling reaffirmed that the federal drug law is "separate and distinct from the state law."

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

NEWS: City Council Seeks Tax for Medical Marijuana

Voting 9-3, the council directed its attorneys to draft a ballot measure

The Los Angeles City Council called Friday for a ballot measure to tax medical marijuana, though its attorneys and other advisers seemed wary of the idea.

Voting 9-3, the council directed its attorneys to draft the ballot measure. They would have to take another vote before Nov. 17 to put the measure on the March 8 ballot.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn sought to establish a tax of $50 per $1,000 of "cash and in-kind contributions, reimbursements, and reasonable compensation provided by members of medical marijuana collectives."

"I think we've seen as of yesterday (Election Day) that voters up and down the state of California -- whether or not they believe in the use of marijuana -- believe that their cities should be able to receive revenue in the form of taxation of these clinics," she said. "They were overwhelmingly approved wherever they were on the ballot (Tuesday)."

Hahn estimated the proposed tax would add $3 million to $5 million a year to the city's coffers.
Several of the council's advisers, however, questioned whether the city had legal standing to impose such a tax.

Senior Assistant City Attorney Pete Echeverria testified that "it's (the City Attorney's Office's) position that the city should not allow and tax marijuana sales, which would basically amount to a sanctioning of illegal activity."

Larry Manocchio, the city's principal tax compliance officer, said medical marijuana collectives are classified as nonprofit organizations and cannot be taxed.

Hahn disputed the notion that the city would be taxing profits from the sale of medical marijuana.

Several other cities tax medical marijuana, Hahn said. In San Jose and La Puente, the tax is $100; Oakland and Richmond, $50, Sacramento, $40; and Berkeley, $25.

Source: NBC Los Angeles

NEWS: S.D. marijuana magazine still growing

On the day after California voters rejected the legalization of marijuana, the editor and co-founder of NUG magazine was too busy working to grieve. News on the marijuana front was bad, but business for “San Diego’s original cannabis publication” was booming.

“I’m collecting money and selling ads,” Dion Markgraaff said on Wednesday. “The beat goes on.”

Serving San Diego’s cannabis community since July of 2009, the Santee-based NUG (which stands for nuggets of pot and nuggets of information) is the rare expansion story in the ever-shrinking print-media universe. It is also the ad-filled and shadow-plagued reflection of the conflicted portrait that is San Diego’s pot profile.

In San Diego, NUG and other purveyors of the cannabis-friendly lifestyle face a splintered civic personality that can’t decide if it wants to join them for a Creamsicle Spiked Shake (recipe in the August 2010 issue) or send them and their hydroponics off to greener pastures in other parts of the state.

“It’s a mesh of personalities here,” said the 41-year-old Markgraaff, who grew up in Oceanside and attended Vista High School and San Diego State University. “We have our lovable qualities, but we’ve got a hard edge. We’re like a mutt that has all these different traits.”

Long before San Diego voted to legalize marijuana for medical use in the state 14 years ago, we were open to the idea of different strokes for different folks. The utopian-minded Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society settled in Point Loma in late 1896, the pioneering Golden Door Spa began welcoming sun-worshippers and fitness nuts in 1958, and the UFO-watching members of the Unarius Academy of Science have been doing their cosmic thing in El Cajon since 1954.

“The notion of alternative therapies, alternative approaches to health, that is deep in our history,” said UCSD sociologist Mary Walshok. “Chinese herbal medicine, massage, acupuncture and meditation, all of that has a long history in San Diego.”

Then again, we are also a community with deep military roots and a long history of conservative voting patterns. So while we were progressive enough to become the largest city in the country to adopt medical-marijuana guidelines in 2003, we were not quite comfy enough to support the legalization of small amounts of recreational marijuana earlier this week.

At NUG, the natural-remedy-embracing, alternative-lifestyle-appreciating side of San Diego is alive and well and loving its organic marijuana, edible marijuana and water pipes. All of this interest from medical-marijuana patients and — let’s not kid ourselves — enterprising recreational smokers has turned NUG into a totally ad-supported success story.

In less than two years, it has grown from a 48-page bimonthly distributed in clinics and dispensaries to a 98-page monthly magazine that is also available for free at local 7-Eleven stores.

“What this says about San Diego is there is a huge cannabis community here and there is a huge market that is unaddressed by society,” Markgraaff said during a break from sales calls, which he makes wearing shorts, flip-flops and a NUG T-shirt. “Our biggest problem is we don’t print enough copies.”

Actually, their problems are bigger than that. Because the other side of San Diego’s public consciousness — the side with the serious border-related drug worries and the staunchly anti-marijuana District Attorney’s office — is also living large at NUG.

It was there in the first issue, which was dedicated to longtime local medical-marijuana activist Steven McWilliams, who committed suicide in 2005. It is there in the ads the magazine lost when the Kush Lounge dispensary was raided last July. And it is there in the masthead, where many of the staffers don’t use their real names. That includes publisher and medical-marijuana patient Ben G. Rowen, a native San Diegan who became an activist after his home was raided by federal authorities two years ago.

Then again, that masthead is also on the latest issue of NUG, in all its fat, healthy glory. With his San Diego cannabis magazine growing, editor Markgraaff is letting his hopes grow, too.

“Did you see the exit numbers for Prop. 19?,” Markgraaff said via e-mail yesterday. “San Diego voted Yes at 47 percent, which was as big as L.A., the state average, and most of Northern California. I think that shows the cannabis community and NUG magazine are doing a good job in helping people evolve here in San Diego.”

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

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NEWS: 15 arrested at suspected cannabis processing house

Lake County officials on Wednesday arrested 15 people suspected of being involved in a large-scale marijuana operation in the Buckingham subdivision.

Law officials were checking on the Kelseyville-area home to see whether marijuana being grown by the residents was in compliance with medical marijuana laws when they found large amounts of pot being packaged, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

A search warrant ultimately turned up 408 pounds of processed marijuana and 820 pounds of unprocessed marijuana plants, tents, other camping equipment and a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun that had been reported stolen from San Diego, said Lake County Sheriff’s Capt. James Bauman. Thirty unharvested plants were growing in the yard.

The Eastlake Drive homeowner, Benjamin Bizon, 60, had two medical marijuana cards but could not account for the excessive amount of processed marijuana on the premises, Bauman said.

There is reason to believe the residence was used to package and process marijuana primarily from other gardens, he said.

Bizon was booked on suspicion of felony cultivation and possession of marijuana for sales. The other 14 men, who ranged in age from 18 to 57, were arrested on suspicion of cultivating marijuana, commission of a felony while armed and receiving stolen property.

Nine of them also had immigration holds placed on them, Bauman said.

Source: PressDemocrat.com