Cannabis Entrepreneurs Meet in Portsmouth

The Cannabis Career Institute is holding a business seminar in Portsmouth on June 7 for would-be marijuana industry entrepreneurs who will be immersed in the ever-changing policy landscape.

Robert Calkin, president of the Cannabis Career Institute, said the training classes are tailored to the respective states.

"it seems like every state is in some form of development," Calkin says in an interview with Patch. "The idea is just to immerse them in the many possibilities."

Cannabis Career Institute cultivates experts in each state, and not just health advocates. Calkin says they always have an attorney on hand for the seminars, and generally an accountant, too.

The training at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth – for which, bookings are closed at this point – comes amid a changing regulatory environment in New Hampshire after the state legalized cannabis for qualified medicinal purposes. State lawmakers this past session also debated legalizing marijuana, but that legislation, like efforts to decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot, went nowhere in 2014.

These debates are sure to continue because the financial stakes are high for cash-strapped states. Colorado, which has legalized recreational marijuana, raked in $2 million in revenue in January alone, as Forbes reported in its story, "It's No Toke: Colorado Pulls in Millions in Marijuana Tax Revenues." 

In 2013, New Hampshire became the 19th state to legalize medical marijuana, or, as the law calls it, cannabis for therapeutic purposes. A year later, and the state continues to work on the regulatory structure to make the law work.

The law allows patients with qualifying conditions to register with the state and possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana at a time. The state Department of Health and Human Services will also register four "alternative treatment centers" to grow and sell marijuana to patients.

A Q&A on the law from the Marijuana Policy Project – New Hampshire, follows:  

When will HB 573 take effect? The department’s rulemaking process began when Gov. Hassan signed the bill, but there will be no legal protection for patients until the department begins issuing ID cards, which could take up to a year. The department is required to issue regulations for the processing of ATC applications by January 2015. An oversight committee will be formed this summer to monitor the development of the program.

How will patients qualify for legal protections? To qualify, once ID cards become available, a patient must obtain a written certification from a physician or an advanced practice registered nurse and send it in to the health department. The provider must be primarily responsible for treating the patient’s qualifying condition. The department will then issue identification cards to patients, which will expire after a year unless the provider has specified an earlier expiration date.

How much medical marijuana will patients be allowed to possess? Patients will be allowed to possess up to two ounces at a time. They may obtain up to two ounces every 10 days from their designated ATC.