A Massachusetts judge ruled Tuesday that the state’s ban on the sale of vaping products can’t be enforced on registered medical cannabis patients. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Douglas Wilkins said marijuana card holders seeking to purchase cannabis vape products should be exempt from the state’s four-month ban. Massachusetts’ governor issued the emergency ban in September in response to lung illnesses attributed to the use of e-cigarette products.

– Associated Press

For more of Marijuana Business Daily’s ongoing coverage of the vaping crisis, click here.

New York-based marijuana company Columbia Care announced Tuesday it will pay $140 million in stock and a note for Denver-based The Green Solution, a vertically integrated multistate cannabis operator. At the same time, Columbia reported third-quarter revenues of $22.1 million, a 123% year-over-year increase.

A chart displaying quarterly earnings for major cannabis companies is available here.

 

Ontario, Canada-based cannabis extraction company MediPharm Labs applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq amid a heightened period of volatility for marijuana stocks in North America. If approved, MediPharm would join a growing list of Canadian cannabis companies turning to top U.S. stock exchanges.

A chart displaying the earnings for major cannabis companies is available here.

Spurred by a $120 million initial public offering, new marijuana investment company Merida Merger Corp. began trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq as MCMJU. Merida Merger, a “blank check” investment company linked to New York-based Merida Capital Partners, also is expected to begin trading Friday on Canada’s NEO exchange under MMK.U.

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts convened a grand jury to investigate the contracts between cannabis companies and at least six municipalities, according to The Boston Globe. The investigation was spurred in part by a Fall River case alleging the city’s mayor asked for money in exchange for city marijuana license approvals.

An alliance of major legal marijuana businesses in California urged the state to adopt tougher safety rules for ingredients and devices used in vaping and to get tougher with illegal shops, amid an outbreak of a mysterious illness apparently linked to vaping. The recommendations from the industry group – Legal Cannabis for Consumer Safety – come as health officials continue to investigate a wide range of products and chemicals that could be causing the illness that have sickened over 1,600 people nationwide.

– Associated Press

For more of Marijuana Business Daily’s ongoing coverage of the vaping crisis, click here.

A total of 723 banks and credit unions actively served the marijuana industry in the U.S. government’s fiscal fourth quarter, a 48.7% jump from the same period in 2018. However, fourth-quarter numbers, which ended Sept. 30, were flat from the third quarter, as lenders took a wait-and-see attitude in the wake of the U.S. House passing the SAFE Banking Act, increasing interest among banks and optimism that the Senate could pass a measure before year-end. More details about the most recent federal marijuana banking report are available here.

– Jeff Smith

Finding a doctor or other medical provider willing to sign a letter of recommendation to use medical marijuana is difficult for MMJ patients in Utah, even though the state Legislature passed a law in December 2018 allowing residents to use MMJ before patient cards are issued. The earliest patient cards are expected to be issued is March.

– Associated Press