Times have changed. As the cannabis industry continues to grow, so does the need for cannabis related legal services, only now the focus is on keeping businesses compliant, not keeping them out of jail. The legal cannabis landscape is ever-shifting, which may leave cannabusiness owners holding the bag, so to speak.
Sudden changes in compliance and regulation can be overlooked or misinterpreted if reading legal jargon isn’t your thing. This is where the need for legal consultation in the cannabis industry arises. You can guarantee that the current compliance landscape is wrought with pitfalls.
You can also guarantee that if you are engaged in a business that deals with a federally illegal substance, you are going to need a lawyer who understands how to navigate through the complexities of the system. This has created an overwhelming demand for qualified legal professionals who not only understand the cannabis industry, but are on top of the ever-shifting stream of regulation.
Vicente Sederberg, The Marijuana Law Firm
One Denver based marijuana law firm specializing in cannabis services has already doubled in size and is looking to expand into California’s newly legalized market. Vicente Sederberg LLC, dubbed The Marijuana Law-Firm by Rolling Stone, has expanded into the former offices of the Marijuana Enforcement Division on Sherman Street.
The cannabis law firm’s expansion, however, won’t stop there. Sederberg is opening a satellite office in Los Angeles. California’s medical marijuana market rakes in more money than Colorado’s entire medical and recreational sales combined. With California recreational cannabis now legal, firms like Sederberg’s may find greater demand for their services outside of Colorado.
According to Brian Vicente of Vicente Sederberg, there are only around 40-50 attorneys in the US who specialize in cannabis with a few hundred that mix cannabis with more mainstream companies. “For years this was viewed as a real taboo area for lawyers to go into. But in the last year or so, the public has realized that marijuana reform is going to spread and spread, and as a result, attorneys are taking a closer look at this, “ Vicente stated to Marijuana Business Magazine. “There’s just going to be more work for attorneys in this space over time. I think we’ll see higher-caliber lawyers getting into this.”
The future needs of cannabis legal services
Cannabis businesses don’t only need lawyers to help them jump through regulatory hoops. As innovation continues, there is a distinct need for lawyers to assist with trademarking, patents and intellectual property. Now that companies have begun to patent cannabis plants and formulas to make them, there will be a virtually unlimited demand for lawyers on both sides of that fight. Another area that will show a spike in demand is that of mergers. As the industry grows, corporate buyouts and mergers will become common place as the industry consolidates. This opens up an entirely new field in the world of cannabis business law.
Josh Haupt’s story is one of humor, hard work and humility. When he was 22, he had an epileptic seizure and his six medically licensed marijuana plants were confiscated by the police. The following Monday morning, he received a dreaded phone call from the DA. She left a voicemail saying he should pick up his plants so they don’t die. When he went to the station, he watched as a trail of cops helped him carry his cannabis plants to his truck. Today, Josh is growing 6,000 plants. He authored the book Three A Light, started Success Nutrients. Josh has been a grower for over 15 years and has become one of the most well-known cannabis cultivators around because of his unique growing methods and his massive yields.
This podcast is brought to you by Cutting Edge Solutions. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing John, the founder of Cutting Edge Solutions for over 25 years. He’s an expert horticulturalist and a great guy all around. I truly stand behind his products as a grower and as a wholesaler and retailer. As a grower, you know when a nutrient line has been developed from extensive research at real farms throughout Northern California.
This podcast is also brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.
This podcast is also brought to you byGrowers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.
Show Notes
Josh describes why he is first and foremost a family man and where he came from (02:00)
Of his six entrepreneurial endeavors, one of Josh’s services is consulting big investors on where to put their money to make the biggest return (02:50)
Josh describes the process for authoring the book, “Three a Light,” which tells growers how to achieve three pounds per light (03:00)
Chip asks Josh about his commercial grow experience, where he came from, how he got into it (04:07)
Josh discusses his two grow facilities in Denver and Aurora that cumulatively produce 1100 pounds of cannabis per month (04:50)
Josh describes his successful plan for wholesale commercial growing and how he started to grow “shit tons of weed.” (07:30)
Josh tells you why he thinks the world needs more weed (08:02)
Why Josh always focuses on quality and wants to be the “grey goose” of weed (08:52)
What Josh and Chip mean by the “white collar” or “pink shirt people” (10:00)
Chip identifies the biggest problem with the private cannabis industry in the past (11:12)
Why the consistency of canopy size in Josh’s grow is the deal breaker (12:52)
What Chip thinks are the top most frequent mistakes people make in their grow rooms (14:13)
How Josh yield 100 grams of boutique cannabis per square foot in his grow (15:23)
Josh challenges listeners to the “Burkle” strain challenge (16:48)
The method for figuring out how to know what strains will grow best using Josh’s method (17:19)
Why weed isn’t all about the THC level according to Chip & Josh (20:00)
Why Josh thinks reinvesting cannabis tax revenue into the community is so crucial (22:04)
Chip tells you what his favorite strain of all time is and why (23:39)
Josh tells you about why and how he started Success Nutrients and why his formula guarantees quality and quantity (24:27)
The origins of the Chem Dawg strain (30:00)
For the first time publicly, Josh announces the development of his new growing app that will change the lives of home growers forever (32:43)
Josh reveals his growing efficiencies, tips, tactics and methodologies that he has brought to the industry (36:37)
Josh discusses the “circle of life” growing tactic and invites you to take a tour of his facility where he’ll walk you through every single cycle of their growth (41:32)
Chip & Josh dissect the “linguistic culture” that has emerged within the cannabis industry (45:39)
Josh reveals the top three problems he encountered when building his company over the past 18 months (48:16)
The bottom line about what makes this all worthwhile for Josh is not actually the bottom line at all (52:36)
The best weed story of all time – Josh tells you how he watched police officers carefully return his plants to him after nearly being arrested (53:35
For Adrian Zelski, cannabis is a spiritual guide. It has helped him overcome alcoholism, excel as the front man of a successful band and land a successful career in the emerging hemp industry. Adrian is probably most commonly known for being the front man for the Athens, Georgia based band, Dubconscious. But, in addition to being a talented musician and cannabis connoisseur, Adrian is the Director of Operations for the brand new International Hemp Exchange aka iHEMPx. iHEMPx is based in Boulder, Colorado and is kind of a big deal for many reasons. It’s one of the first online portals that connects buyers and sellers of all things hemp. Think Etsy or Ebay, but with hemp. IHEMPx has both a retail and wholesale component and is growing quickly in popularity and with the media. But many people don’t fully understand the difference between hemp and cannabis that gets you high. Find out if the hemp industry is as lucrative as you think it is and what the future of hemp has in store on this episode of The Real Dirt with Chip Baker.
This podcast is brought to you by Cutting Edge Solutions. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing John, the founder of Cutting Edge Solutions for over 25 years. He’s an expert horticulturalist and a great guy all around. I truly stand behind his products as a grower and as a wholesaler and retailer. As a grower, you know when a nutrient line has been developed from extensive research at real farms throughout Northern California.
This podcast is also brought to you by Cultivate Colorado. Cultivate is one of the largest indoor horticultural suppliers in Colorado with two stores in the Denver Metro Area and free delivery from the Front Range to Pueblo. They are the place that commercial and personal growers go to for a wide variety of high quality soil, lights, hydroponics and expertise. They have everything you need to grow your dreams and cultivate your legend.
This podcast is also brought to you byGrowers. Growers is a Colorado owned and operated soil and nutrient company, established in 2015. After 15+ years of experience as growers, they know how to make a consistent and effective line of soils and nutrients in an environmentally conscious way.
Show Notes
Adrian describes what the International Hemp Exchange is (02:00)
Adrian & Chip discuss the difference between marijuana & hemp. (02:50)
How the War on Drugs changed how industrial hemp was perceived by the public (04:36)
The complexities and multiple uses of hemp (05:32)
The federal regulations on hemp CBD & THC (06:17)
The benefits of full spectrum cannabinoid use (08:43)
How international hemp exchange works (10:00)
The difference between distillate & isolate CBD (11:41)
Colorado’s place in producing CBD (14:10)
The differences between industrial hemp & CBD hemp (14:56)
Piloting the growth of industrial hemp seeds in the US (16:18)
Different techniques for industrial hemp & CBD hemp growing (16:48)
On the importance of documenting hemp growing techniques, consumption, uses, etc. (19:23)
How The Emperor Wears No Clothes changed Chip Baker’s life (20:15)
What kind of money can be made from hemp – the hemp marketplace isn’t stable yet (22:33)
What Adrian does at IHempX (24:00)
Why Adrian thinks growing tons of flower is the golden ticket (25:20)
Chip & Adrian’s opinion about the recent DEA initiative about making CBD a Schedule 1 drug (27:11)
Why “Hemp is beyond reproach” is one of Adrian’s favorite things to say (29:31)
How Adrian’s events give a platform to music & cannabis companies (31:18)
Why Adrian thinks The Cannabist saved The Denver Post (33:01)
420 events in Denver for 2017 – what’s 420 On the Block? An expo meets a concert, meets a party, meets a cannabus scene. (34:02)
If you’re getting into hemp, you’ve got to attend the NoCo Hemp Expo – biggest hemp expo in the country on March 31st & April 1st (38:30)
TerpX is an award-winning cannabis brand specializing in high quality extraction. TerpX’s products include butane hash oil concentrates, distilled hash oil, pre-filled disposable vaporizer pens, and vaporizer pen cartridges. TerpX currently produces concentrates for over 100 medical/recreational dispensaries in Colorado, and more than a dozen medical dispensaries in Nevada. TerpX’s concentrates are consistently recognized throughout the industry as the most flavorful and effective concentrates on the market:
1st Place Concentrate, 2013 High Times Amsterdam Cup
1st Place Concentrate, 2014 High Times Los Angeles Cup
1st Place Concentrate, 2013 Grassroots 710 Cup
2nd Place Concentrate, 2014 High Times Los Angeles Cup
2nd Place Concentrate, 2013 High Times Denver Cup
3rd Place Concentrate, 2013 High Times San Francisco Cup
On this episode of The Real Dirt, Chip Rolls one up with Jordan Psigoda of TerpX Brand Concentrates. TerpX is an award-winning cannabis brand specializing in high quality extractions. TerpX currently produces concentrates for over 100 medical/recreational dispensaries in Colorado, and more than a dozen medical dispensaries in Nevada. Smoke one up with Chip and Jordan as they discuss the ins and outs of the concentrate industry, what is happening now and what is to come.
Christian Sederberg, Esq., is a partner and founding member of Vicente Sederberg LLC. After graduating from the University of Colorado School of Law, Christian focused his practice on representing businesses with a primary focus on real estate, private equity, commercial, and corporate transactions. Since the inception of Colorado’s state regulated medical marijuana program, Christian and the firm have provided a wide range of real estate, transactional and regulatory assistance to the marijuana community. Christian was also an integral part of Colorado’s Amendment 64 campaign, acting as core volunteer for the campaign, representing the campaign on Governor Hickenlooper’s Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force, and leading the campaign’s legislative implementation team in the Colorado legislature by coordinating the implementation of the Colorado legislative and regulatory structure related to adult-use marijuana. Christian sat on the executive committee of the Committee for Responsible Regulation, which coordinated the campaign to establish statewide excise and sales taxes on the sale of adult-use marijuana in Colorado.
On this episode of The Real Dirt, Chip sits down with Christian Sederberg, partner and founding member of Vicente Sederberg LLC, named “The Country’s First powerhouse Marijuana Law Firm” by Rolling Stone. Christian and the firm have provided a wide range of real estate, transactional and regulatory assistance to the marijuana community. Christian was also an integral part of Colorado’s Amendment 64 campaign, acting as core volunteer for the campaign, representing the campaign on Governor Hickenlooper’s Amendment 64 Implementation Task Force. He also led the campaign’s legislative implementation team in the Colorado legislature by coordinating the implementation of the Colorado legislative and regulatory structure related to adult-use marijuana. Roll one up with the pros and listen in as Chip and Christian discuss the path to legal cannabis in the state of Colorado.
Matt is the founder of Bickel Consulting and oversees cultivation facilities in Alaska, Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, New York, Maryland, and Colorado. He was the Chief Operating Officer and Master Cultivator at Maggie’s Farm in Colorado Springs with responsibility for 8,000 plants (outdoor grow on 10 acres) and 40 employees, cultivating organically from seed. He has worked with industry-leading companies like Silverpeak Apothecary in Aspen, Natural Remedies in Denver, Green Stop in Fort Morgan, Top Hat Cannabis in Juneau, Etain in New York, and others. Matt has deep expertise in cultivating indoors, outdoors, and in greenhouses, and he has experience as a project manager in all phases of construction, equipment purchasing, permits, licensing, and operations. Matt graduated from Baylor University with a degree in education.
On this episode of The Real Dirt, Chip sits down with Matt Bickel, an industry trail blazer with a hefty list of experience in the world of cannabis. Matt is a master cultivator, professional cultivation consultant, compliance officer at Vicente Sederberg, LLC, to name a few. Roll one up and listen in as Matt and Chip discuss the days before legalization, and the path to our current market in Colorado and beyond.
