Moves are afoot to open one of three approved medical marijuana dispensaries in West Memphis as plans have been submitted for a Body and Mind dispensary on OK Street.
Body and Mind is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company investing in cannabis cultivation with a production facility in Nevada. Its products include dried flower, edibles, topicals, extracts, and vape pen cartridges. Body and Mind strains have won the Las Vegas Hempfest Cup 2016, High Times Top Ten, and the NorCal Secret Cup.
The company will team up with Arkansas’ Comprehensive Care Group to open the West Memphis dispensary. The project will get underway with $1.2 million in start-up costs, according to a news release issued by Body and Mind.
Plans for the new dispensary in West Memphis must first be approved by city leaders there.
‘Dat CBD Life
The legal cannabis industry in America, while lucrative, is still so young that its growing pains are numerous.
For example, many banks won’t do business with cannabis retailers because cannabis is still illegal on the federal level. This means many cannabis retailers run as cash-only operations, leading to higher risks of robbery.
Marketing cannabidiol (CBD) products can also be tricky. Thanks to those federal laws and a myriad of different state laws, getting messages to consumers online comes with high hurdles.
For example, CBD ads are often banned from social media. Google doesn’t even allow marketing firms to use its Keyword Planner to search for potential terms to target. Cannabis also makes the list of prohibited content on Google AdWords. Thanks to all of this, CBD companies can’t use pay-per-click ads for advertising.
An Arkansas company is side-stepping some of this by influencing social-media influencers. Little Rock-based Tree of Life Seeds launched its “CBDisLife” campaign last week.
“What we’re doing is reaching out to social media gurus with large audiences who use CBD oil,” said Jason Martin, Tree of Life CEO. “They share how the products have benefited them, which clears up common misconceptions about CBD products and educates the general public.”
The company said once other people catch onto the “CBDisLife influencer movement” they can join and share their stories, no matter their audience size.
Cannabis Cafe
On Monday, a Los Angeles Times story gave the ins and outs of The Lowell Cafe. The first-of-its-kind cannabis cafe in West Hollywood will allow diners to smoke cannabis inside and outside the restaurant, thanks to a new license issued by the city.
Says the Times: “When you arrive, you will be seated at a table and greeted by a flower host (also known as a ‘budtender’) who will serve as your cannabis guide. He or she will drill you on your past cannabis experiences (whether you’re Snoop Dogg-level or haven’t smoked since high school or at all) and help personalize your cannabis order. You also will have a server from whom you can order food and non-alcoholic beverages.”