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August
19, 2020

5 min read

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

Scientists may now have an answer to one of the most crucial lingering questions about COVID-19: whether people develop long-term immunity.

Early research suggested that coronavirus antibodies — blood proteins that protect the body from subsequent infections — could fade within months. But in their concern about those findings’ implications, many people failed to consider our immune system’s multilayered defense against invading pathogens.

Specifically, they discounted the role of white blood cells, which have impressive powers of recollection that can help your body mount another attack against the coronavirus should it ever return. Memory T cells are an especially key type, since they identify and destroy infected cells and inform B cells about how to craft new virus-targeting antibodies.

A study published Friday in the journal Cell suggests that everyone who gets COVID-19 — even people with mild or asymptomatic cases — develops T cells that can hunt down the coronavirus if they get exposed again later.

“Memory T cells will likely prove critical for long-term immune protection against COVID-19,” the study authors wrote, adding that they “may prevent recurrent episodes of severe COVID-19.”

That’s because memory T cells can stick around for years, while antibody levels drop following an infection.

Even patients without antibodies have virus-specific T cells

A human T lymphocyte (also called a T cell) from the immune system of a healthy donor.

Image credit: NIAID

The authors of the new study examined blood from 206 people in Sweden who had COVID-19 with varying degrees of severity. They found that regardless of whether a person had recovered from a mild or severe case, they still developed a robust T-cell response. Even coronavirus patients who did not test positive for antibodies developed memory T cells, the results showed.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called T-cell studies like this one “good news.”

“There’s a lot of hot stuff going on right now” in T-cell research, Fauci said during a NIAID Facebook Live interview on Thursday, adding, “People who don’t seem to have high titers of antibodies, but who are infected or have been infected, have good T-cell responses.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Other recent research bolsters the new findings.

A study published in July found that in a group of 36 recovered coronavirus patients, all produced memory T cells that recognize and are specifically engineered to fight the new coronavirus. Another recent study published in the journal Nature found that among 18 German coronavirus patients, more than 80% developed virus-specific T cells. 

Even people who’ve never been exposed to the new coronavirus can have protective T cells 

Both of those previous studies yielded a more surprising finding as well: Many people who’ve never gotten COVID-19 seem to have memory T cells that can recognize the new coronavirus.

That was true for more than half of a cohort of 37 people in the July study and at least one-third of a group of 68 patients in the Nature study.

Clinicians take blood samples to look for coronavirus antibodies in a recovered COVID-19 patient. 

Image credit: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

The likeliest explanation for these findings is a phenomenon called cross-reactivity: when T cells developed in response to another virus react to a similar but previously unknown pathogen. In this case, experts think these cross-reactive T cells likely come from previous exposure to other coronaviruses — those that cause common colds.

Indeed, a study published earlier this month supports that hypothesis: Researchers reported that 25 people who’d never had COVID-19 had memory T cells that could recognize both the new coronavirus and the four types of common-cold coronaviruses equally well.

“This could help explain why some people show milder symptoms of disease while others get severely sick,” Alessandro Sette, a coauthor of that study, said in a press release.

“You’re starting with a little bit of an advantage — a head start in the arms race between the virus that wants to reproduce and the immune system wanting to eliminate it,” Sette previously told Business Insider.

We still don’t know precisely how long this long-term immunity lasts

Blood samples in vials are tested for coronavirus antibodies at Keele University in the UK on June 30. 

Image credit: REUTERS/Carl Recine

Though this news about T cells and coronavirus immunity is promising, scientists still don’t know precisely how long people who recover from COVID-19 will be protected from future infection.

The authors of the new study said they detected T cells “months after infection, even in the absence of detectable circulating antibodies.”

Other preliminary research published Saturday suggests that T cells not only last at least three months after coronavirus symptoms start, but in some cases also increase in number during that time.

What’s more, clues gleaned from other coronaviruses, like SARS, suggest T cells’ lifespan could be decades long.

The July study also looked for T cells in blood samples from 23 people who survived SARS. Sure enough, those survivors still had SARS-specific memory T cells 17 years after getting sick. Those same T cells could recognize the new coronavirus, too.

August
17, 2020

9 min read

When Troy Parker got out of prison in 2015, he wasted no time. He headed straight to the library in his hometown — Cincinnati, Ohio — to start the business he’d spent years of his sentence thinking about. “Prior to going to prison, I was, let’s just say, materialistic,” Parker says. “But in prison I saw how many people, especially African Americans, left and came back. They’d tell you they couldn’t get housing or a job, so they went back to crime or started using drugs. But in prison, we were running everything from the kitchen to the boiler — remodeling, painting, asbestos removal. So my idea was to have a company that hires returning citizens. In the lower-income community, there’s people who have mental health issues, or convictions, or who struggle with addiction, but they can still work. I wanted to remove the obstacles that keep those people out of the workforce.”

Since Parker founded Innovative Labor and Cleaning Services, he’s held fast to that mission. “If you don’t have transportation to the job site, we provide it,” Parker says. “If you don’t have boots to start working, we’ll give you the boots and take it out of your first paycheck. Most people who returned from prison or come out of rehab have mental health appointments, substance abuse appointments, PO appointments. So we make the schedule flexible. We’re not really a second chance company. We’re more of a third, fourth, fifth chance company, because many people come here and aren’t willing to change at first. They’ll leave, but four months later they come back and their attitude is a little different.”

By the end of 2019, the company had 120 employees. Parker was still operating on thin margins, bending over backward to make payroll, and turning down jobs due to cashflow issues, but the company made over $2 million last year. Then, in March, the pandemic hit. Right away, Parker applied for the PPP and the EIDL loans offered to small businesses as part of the CARES Act but was told he didn’t qualify for either. The SBA’s PPP rules disqualified anyone convicted of a felony in the last five years, or anyone on parole or probation. At the time, the SBA was automatically rejecting EIDL applications for business owners who had been convicted of any crime in the last ten years, or anyone who had ever been convicted of a felony. Because Parker’s conviction was a felony (fraud), and he had six months left of probation (out of five years), he was ineligible for both.

Related: A Leaked Powerpoint Suggests the SBA Is Denying Disaster Loans to Anyone Arrested In the Last 10 Years

Parker didn’t greet this news with a shrug. He wrote emails, he made calls, he connected with other business owners with criminal records. Through the Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, he was connected to Ohio Senator Rob Portman (R), who heard Parker out, and said he would write a letter on Parker’s behalf to President Trump’s staff and the SBA. Parker also got in touch with Ohio Representative Steve Chabot (R) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D). 

Troy Parker with an employee // Image credit: Troy Parker

Across the country, bipartisan advocacy groups and politicians began voicing opposition to the SBA’s restrictive rules for small business owners with criminal records — pointing to the fact that these business owners had paid their dues. Plus, they were now playing a vital role in fighting recidivism, since many hire other people with criminal records who often struggle to find work.

Senator Portman was particularly keen on advocating for Parker. And incredibly, a week before the June 30 PPP deadline, the SBA agreed to change the rules, making parole and probation no longer a disqualifying factor (unless the parole or probation started in the last year). Even with the rules changed, there were a shocking number of bureaucratic roadblocks and hoops to jump through. But Parker got in his PPP application at the literal final hour, and ended up receiving both the PPP and EIDL loans. With that money, he’s been able to bring back many old and new employees. Plus, he’s been able to start taking jobs they couldn’t before due to cashflow concerns. 

Parker is humble about his contribution to fighting for fair treatment of entrepreneurs with criminal records. But we think his tireless initiative is how change happens, so we included him as one of the 137 inspirational entrepreneurs on our July/August cover, which you can read about in Jason Feifer’s editor’s note. Since the issue came out, we’ve been following up with many of the entrepreneurs we featured. Here, Parker spoke a bit more about how he sees Innovative Labor and Cleaning Services’ role in the fight for equitable treatment of returning citizens, how it took a village to get his PPP funds, and some of the day-today difficulties he’s overcome while running a business during the pandemic.

When you started Innovative Labor and Cleaning Services, what did you see as the company’s mission?

Parker: Our mission has been to assist and help convicted felons and people that society has forgotten. People just like me. People who need patience, understanding and structure in their lives.

When the pandemic hit, what kind of effect did it have on you and your more vulnerable employees?

Like for so many small business owners, the pandemic took its toll financially and mentally. I have a responsibility not only to my business, but also to my team members and the families they help to support. While challenging, COVID-19 also gave us the opportunity to be creative and innovative. We found new ways to generate revenue.

What were some of the ways that you went about supporting your employees?

At Innovative Labor and Cleaning Services we’re a family, and that means: 

1. Listening more than talking.
2. Explaining how to address life’s problems.
3. Helping employees pay for WiFi so their children can learn at home.
4. Providing food cards for employees who don’t have enough food.

We’ve tried to help our employees by making it clear that: 

1. We will go through this together. Stay calm.
2. We will adjust our schedules as needed to keep everyone employed.
3. We are working with our professionals and the African American Chamber of Commerce to make the best decisions possible.
4. Our bank is working with us to make sure things go as smoothly as possible.

What were some of the things you learned throughout that journey of advocacy that surprised, saddened, or gave you hope?

Senator Rob Portman and Congressman Steve Chabot, who are both Republicans, had a thorough knowledge of justice reform and understood the problem of continuing to punish people who have made a mistake in life. We talked, and together we came up with workable solutions and insights. Senator Portman became a true advocate for my business.

In the end, after months of tireless advocacy, you ended up receiving the PPP and the EIDL loans. Do you think that this was because of the work you did in drawing attention to the problem?

I may have brought light to the plight of returning citizens when it comes to PPP loans, but it was the work of many leaders in government and the Cincinnati community, who collaborated and did what was right for individuals and business owners with situations similar to mine. After Senator Portman got the rule changed, the next problem was that the form on the SBA website still had the old rule. So, Nan Cahill and Susan Cox from Senator Portman’s offices had to contact the SBA to get the form with the right changes on the website, and this was happening two days before the deadline. With one day left to go they got the application on the SBA website updated.

Related: The SBA Gives $6.8 Billion in PPP to Business Owners of Color

Then, Nicole Pahard with the Cincinnati SBA office connected me with Jerome Davis in the SBA Columbus office to find a bank that would work with me, because mine had stopped taking applications. I was put in touch with Alene Cunningham with Telhio Credit Union. This is big because I didn’t bank with Telhio. Most banks or credit unions were not helping non-customers. Alena Cunningham located my application and saw it through to completion. Of course, she didn’t have to do that, but I was most grateful for her help. So that’s how I got the PPP loan. It took a lot of people’s help.

Since you received the PPP and EIDL loans, what has running the business been like?

Once we got the loan we got creative by first going into the community and finding individuals who were willing to work. Some people are scared due to the virus, and others are happy collecting unemployment unless they can make more working. But there are many who want to work and have obstacles like transportation or flexible schedules due to children being home. We realized that other companies must be having the same issues getting help.

So, we began marketing to companies in all industries that have a need for laborers. We’re now able to supply large amounts of labor due to having a huge pool of workers. We have 77 employees, up from 52 in June, with a pool of 134 skilled and unskilled teammates available to work. 

Looking to the future, are you optimistic that the SBA and banks will stop restricting access to loans and resources for business owners with criminal records?  

Opening PPP loan access to business owners with criminal records is certainly a step in the right direction. In recent years, we’ve seen the Ban the Box movement and employers having a more informed understanding on why hiring returning citizens makes good economic policy. We’re not where we need to be, but I’m encouraged by efforts being made to help those who have paid their price to society and are now looking to lead successful and fulfilling lives.

Related: 6 Ways You Can Support Black Businesses Long-Term

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January
15, 2020

8 min read

At a September street fair in Jersey City, N.J., Aisha Taylor Issah knew she couldn’t run from her idea anymore. 

About a year before, she’d first had the idea to create a space to help women of color showcase their businesses while also providing them with resources and tools to help them grow. Issah says she avoided the idea for a while — she wasn’t too keen on starting another business, since she’d co-owned a career consulting and recruiting firm for more than 15 years. But it wouldn’t leave her alone. Everywhere Issah went, she says she met more women of color working on great ideas, brands and projects, and many of them shared a similar struggle: They wanted to participate in business events and expos to grow their businesses, but they found them to be cost-prohibitive. 

Image Credit: Courtesy of Sistahs in Business Expo

For Issah, the Jersey City street fair sealed the deal. She saw so many women of color showcasing their businesses and interacting with customers that she felt she couldn’t ignore her idea anymore. Beyond a seasonal street fair, she wanted to launch an expo catering specifically to this demographic that occurred more often and in more locations. After returning home that day in September, Issah began her search for venues, and a month later, she put down a $500 deposit on an event space. She figured that where there’s a will, there’s a way, and she decided to figure out the rest of the costs as she went. Let me really take a stab at this, she remembers thinking, and see what happens. 

Starting with the expo’s first event series in 2018, Sistahs in Business has operated in four cities: Newark, N.J.; Columbia, S.C.; Philadelphia and Atlanta. To keep the weekend programming accessible, costs for one-day tickets range from about $10 to $25. 

Entrepreneur chatted with Issah about her experience as a founder, what it’s like creating programming for a demographic she’s passionate about and the top piece of advice she’d give to soon-to-be entrepreneurs. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

How did you choose which cities to spotlight in hosting the conference? 

We officially launched it in October of 2017 and held our first tour in 2018. So we toured four cities in 2018 and the same in 2019. Choosing the cities was a combination of both research and gut — knowing the market and, although entrepreneurial women of color really are everywhere, knowing where we might find the highest concentration. I also wanted to pick markets where we at least had some type of footing or connection so we wouldn’t be going in completely blind. We started in Newark, New Jersey — I live in the area, so that was a great location. 

How did you take your own experience with similarly sized conferences, expos and trade shows and use that to inform your approach to Sistahs in Business? 

We were intentional about opening a space that was accessible to all business types. Also, through my own experience and conversations with others who had been to events like this, I knew that in many cases, there are a lot of things competing for your attention in different spaces — speakers, workshops, entertainment — and that can take away from your ability to engage with consumers as a vendor. 

At our expos, people can be talking to vendors or engaging with customers and still hear what’s happening onstage. Finally, we knew we wanted the content to be high-quality, so all of our speakers, presenters and panelists are entrepreneurs themselves and can speak to our audience from experience. 

Image Credit: Courtesy of Sistahs in Business Expo

Let’s talk about the training you provide for entrepreneurs. What does it entail, and how long has it been up and running? 

Our university, the teaching arm under our foundation, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit entity. We provide training, resources and other information to business owners in a tangible way. At the expo, you can only glean so much — it’s high-energy, there’s music, there’s shopping. So we really wanted to have dedicated time for women of color business to be able to learn and apply what they’ve learned. So the university was launched as a way to solve that issue. So far we’ve had about four or five offerings, including marketing for vending events, legal tips and strategies for your business and an in-person event in Newark on business opportunities for women in CBD. 

How did you decide on the programming for your audience? 

It’s tricky because we can’t just think of ourselves as women of color businesses. We want to be on the same playing field with everyone else. So that means we need the same resources, the same information: “This is what you need to do to grow and scale your business, period.” But it depends on the topic. And there might be some spaces that are harder for you to get into because you’re a woman of color, so it’s about figuring out how we can make sure that you have everything that you need in place — taxes, accounting, legal structure, trademarking — so that no one can discredit you in saying you didn’t have everything together. We’re already at a disadvantage, so we want everyone to be able to do the best they can from the business side to be sure they’re ready for those opportunities and doors when they do open. 

In terms of representation, it’s important to see someone who looks like you doing what you want to do so that you know it’s possible. And we do that not just in our courses, but also at our expos. The speakers and panelists are people who look like our audience, who have been through similar situations, who have been able to overcome the same hurdles as an entrepreneurial woman of color. It’s really key for people to begin to think bigger and not believe they always have to be a small mom ‘n’ pop shop. They see there are women of color who are millionaires and investors themselves doing really great work. It’s the mindset of: If they can do it, so can I.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Sistahs in Business Expo

Which expo speaker or course instructor stands out most in your mind? 

One of the most touching moments for me was our keynote speaker for Atlanta: Cynthia Bailey from The Real Housewives of Atlanta. In addition to being a supermodel and reality television star, she’s a boss entrepreneur with several brands — the epitome of a successful woman in business. One participant asked how she finds balance between being a model, business owner, mom and, soon, a wife. Her answer was honest and transparent. I remember her saying that there really is no such thing as balance, that a lot of times she felt she maybe hadn’t done her best at that, particularly when it came to motherhood, since she had a young daughter and had to be away a lot for work. But she was working towards a greater goal: to provide a legacy for her daughter. 

What’s the number-one piece of advice you’d give to other people who are trying to launch their own business or event series? 

You really need a strong team. An undertaking like this is huge. It’s a lot of work to enter into just one city, and for multiple cities? I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s a lot. So my team is key to our success. Many times, when people start businesses, they think they can do everything themselves, but I learned very quickly that I could not. The key is surrounding yourself with people who support you, are skilled and can help you bring the vision to life. So that’s my biggest piece of advice: We can’t all be Superwoman or Superman. Yes, your business is your baby and your brainchild, so you try to oversee it and make sure that it succeeds. But you have to be willing to delegate and trust others to help you make it happen. 

November
29, 2019

8 min read

This story originally appeared on Weedmaps

Why do consumers love drinkable cannabis? Let us count the ways. It’s discreet, it requires no special equipment, it tastes good, and it’s a familiar and safe delivery system. 

Weed-infused drinks make up one of the fastest-growing segments of the cannabis market. It’s a sprawling category that includes tinctures to mix with cocktails; non-alcoholic alternatives to wine, beer, or champagne; wellness beverages that can lull you to sleep or take the place of aspirin or ibuprofen after a strenuous game of hoops or tennis; and sparkling sodas that are as appealing to millennials as they are to baby boomers who aren’t comfortable lighting up.

Here are answers to some common questions about cannabis tonics.

RELATED: Hilary McCain Gives A ‘Sweet Reason’ To Try Her CBD-Infused, All-Natural Sparkling Waters

Why Are There So Many Drinkables?

Bottoms up! Straddling the lines among intoxicating drinks, wellness shots, and liquid medicine, drinkable cannabis is taking off. According to BDS Analytics, which tracks cannabis trends, there were 88 beverage brands on the market in mid-2019; that’s 19 more than during the same time period in 2018. In 2018, beverages made up 6 percent of the total edibles market in the United States. That percentage is rising steadily and BDS predicts that by 2022 canna-beverages, including THC and cannabidiol (CBD) products sold in dispensaries and non-THC drinks sold in supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores, and the like could be a $1 billion market.

A lot of familiar names are behind this boom. Mike Tyson has launched Dwiink, a line of CBD-enhanced water and fruit-flavored beverages whose name is a playful wink to his trademark lisp. Big booze distributors are investing heavily in weedy drinks: Heineken-owned Lagunitas offers Hi-Fi Hops, a pair of nonalcoholic, zero-calorie beverages that come in two dosages, 10 milligrams THC, or 5 milligrams each of THC and CBD per bottle. 

Constellation Brands, which owns Corona beer, Robert Mondavi wine, and Svedka vodka, is investing billions in Canopy Growth, a mega Canadian cannabis producer that’s creating nonalcoholic cannabis-infused drinks. Molson Coors is partnering with Canada’s Hydropothecary Corp. on a similar venture.

Meanwhile, the maker of Arizona Iced Tea has signed a licensing agreement with Dixie Brands to manufacture and distribute canna-drinks under the Arizona label.

Other companies are expanding into the drinks space, such as Weller, a manufacturer of functional snacks. The Boulder, Colorado, company in 2019 launched a line of CBD-infused sparkling water flavors it calls W+ and a CBD drink mix.

W+ is a line of fruit-flavored, BD-enriched sparkling water from Colorado-based Weller, a maker of functional snacks.

Image credit: Courtesy of Weller

RELATED: 3 Cheers For The Rising Stars Of Cannabis

Why Did Cannabis Drinks Take So Long To Hit The Market?

Developing a beverage infused with CBD or THC is a lot more complicated than mixing gin with tonic. For one thing, cannabinoids are hydrophobic — meaning they repel water. Drop cannabinoids into water and they’ll float to the surface rather than dispersing evenly.

It’s taken cannabis chemists a lot of hit-or-miss experiments to overcome this hurdle. SōRSE, a Seattle-based beverage-tech company, is one of the innovators in the field, developing a method to convert cannabis oils into a water-soluble emulsion that has no cannabis taste or smell and that disperses uniformly throughout liquid. The technology is proprietary and Michael Flemmens, SōRSE’s vice president of science, will say only that the company uses food-grade components that have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as GRAS, or generally recognized as safe.

The company uses the ingredients to produce THC and CBD-infused products that include Happy Apple, a sparkling, cannabis-infused apple beverage; Utopia, fruit-flavored sparkling water with 10 to 100 milligrams of THC per 12-ounce bottle; and Vertus, an alcohol-free sparkling bubbly that’s meant to be an alternative to sparkling wine or Champagne, and which comes in dosages of 50 or 100 milligrams of THC.

Will Drinkable Weed Trigger Paranoia?

Predictability is one of the advantages well-formulated THC-infused beverages have over edibles, said Niccolo Aieta, Ph.D., founder and Chief Technology Officer for Spherex, a Denver-based company that develops cannabis concentrates and whose products include Phyx, a sparkling water brand with microdoses of THC and CBD.

“Cannabis drinks are fast-acting, taking effect within minutes as opposed to several hours with edibles,” he said. “That allows users to better control their experience and gives them an overall better experience.”  The Phyx website advises users that, on average, they’ll feel the drink’s effects in 10 minutes, with the buzz hanging around for about an hour. 

With 2.5 milligrams of CBD and 2.5 milligrams of THC, “Phyx is the equivalent of a nice glass of white wine,” Aieta said. “It’s a slight elevation of your daily mood, good for unwinding, relaxing and socializing with friends. For people who are canna-curious, it’s a great way to explore and experiment.” 

Flemmens strikes a similar note. “Our biggest seller is Happy Apple with 10 milligrams THC,” he said. “We suggest that inexperienced cannabis users try it on a Saturday night at home, not a Friday night at a party. Drink half the bottle, put it in the fridge and wait half an hour. If you like the experience, you have two choices. You can stay where you are or go for the rest of the bottle.”

The woman-owned and -operated Humboldt Apothecary takes an herbalist’s approach to cannabis by formulating tinctures with medicinal herbs to work in concert with the full-spectrum cannabis. The blends of botanical ingredients with cannabinoids not only aid a more rapid onset, according to the company, but also help to achieve certain effects: a peppermint formula for relief of congestion, passionflower and lavender for sleeping, or gingko and rosemary for a brain boost. Humboldt Apothecary suggests using a couple of drops in a mocktail, much the way you might add bitters to a traditional cocktail. 

As for CBD drinks, Scott Van Rixel, CEO of Bhang, which makes a line that includes Wellness Beet Shots with 25 milligrams of hemp-derived CBD, thinks of these as wellness, not recreational, products.

Humboldt Apothecary makes botanically infused tinctures using full-spectrum cannabis. Its Deep Sleep formula contains passionflower and lavender.

Image credit: Courtesy of Humboldt Apothecary

“They’re making accessible the benefits of a plant that used to be a part of people’s lives on a daily basis,” said Van Rixel, who noted those benefits include relaxation, better sleep, relief from irritability, or inflammation. Van Rixel suggested that consumers might want to think of CBD beverages the way they do energy drinks: Find the dose — a single shot in the morning or several throughout the day — that works best for them.

RELATED: What Millennials Want In Weed

Where Can You Buy These Products?

That’s complicated. Very complicated. Regulations are an ever-changing mess, with state and federal rules sometimes contradicting each other. The FDA published a statement that noted the agency is aware that products on the market are adding CBD to foods or labeling CBD as a dietary supplement. However, the agency advised that, “Under federal law, it is currently illegal to market CBD this way.”

Consumers can start with a product’s website for “where to buy” info. Some drinks are being tested in one or two cannabis-friendly markets, such as Colorado or Washington, or in Canada, where cannabis is legal nationwide.  Dispensaries in states where marijuana is legal also are carrying an ever-expanding selection of beverages with THC and CBD. 

Many CBD drinks can be shipped to all 50 states. Thanks to the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, some states allow beverages with hemp-derived CBD to be sold in groceries. For example,  Queen City Hemp CBD Seltzer, which was launched in 2017 and was the first CBD seltzer in the U.S., is sold at retailers in 26 states, including several conservative states such as Alabama, Texas, and Georgia. However, the sparkling beverage cannot be sold in cannabis-friendly California because of complex state regulations.

Queen City’s founder, Nic Balzer, who’s part of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, echoed the views of others in the canna-beverage biz when he said, “There are a lot of regulatory challenges and we’re hopeful that the FDA will make a ruling soon that will clarify these laws.”

To stay up to date on the latest marijuana-related news make sure to like Weedmaps on Facebook

November
20, 2019

3 min read

This story originally appeared on MJBizDaily

Cannabis industry capital investment in 2019 hit $10.4 billion through Week 40 — a 40 percent increase over 2018 — but the previously hot investment activity has cooled in recent months and is now running at what one analyst called a more “normal” pace of growth.

This comparison of public and private capital investments from 2017 to 2019 — along with other new marijuana industry data and analysis — is available in the November update to the 2019 Marijuana Business Factbook.

While total capital raised is up 460 percent ($8.5 billion) from 2017 to 2019, recent activity has slowed: The total capital raised from 2018 to 2019 increased by only 40 percent ($2.9 billion).

RELATED: Is Cannabis A Better Investment Than Cryptocurrency?

By comparison, capital raises through Week 40 were up 300 percent ($5.6 billion) from 2017 to 2018.

During September 2019, the number of raises was up over the same month in 2018, but the average size and total capital raised were down year-over-year.

The slowed investment comes along with recent layoffs across various sectors of the cannabis industry — including 20-25 percent workforce reductions by the Hexo Corp., Pax Labs and Weedmaps.

But analysts say slowed investment isn’t unexpected after a period of rapid growth.

RELATED: Amateur Investors Are Bullish About Cannabis. That Has The Pros A Little Worried

“Current conditions are closer to normal; the prior year or two of almost unlimited capital to burn without showing profits was abnormal,” said Craig Behnke, equity analyst for MJBizDaily’s Investor Intelligence.

Behnke noted that many cannabis companies, even those that have raised significant amounts of capital, have yet to produce earnings or cash flow.

Rather than raising cause for concern, the slowdown is a natural part of the investment cycle.

“Investors being more judicious and pressing companies to focus on profitability is actually a sign of a healthy, rational capital market,” he said.

And the competition for resources forces companies to run more efficiently, as evidenced by the layoffs.

Another factor playing a role in the investment slowdown is the type of investors entering the space.

As marijuana investment has become more mainstream, traditional investors have increasingly brought their money to the table.

With traditional players come traditional expectations — those that rely on tangible results.

RELATED: Podcast: Cannabis Investing Tips For Non-Millionaires

Here’s what else you need to know about cannabis investment:

• From 2018 to 2019, the number of year-to-date capital raises during the first 40 weeks increased 6 percent, from 459 to 487.
• Through Week 40 in 2019, the average size of a capital raise was $21.3 million, up 31 percent over 2018’s average raise of $16.2 million.
• Cultivation and retail have been the driving sectors behind marijuana capital raises and mergers and acquisitions throughout 2019.

To stay up to date on the latest marijuana-related news make sure to like Marijuana Business Daily on Facebook

November
6, 2019

4 min read

This story originally appeared on MJBizDaily

The vaping health crisis apparently has been good for the marijuana edibles sector, a sign that consumers are funneling more money into infused products instead of vaporizers.

Since the first vape-related death was reported in August, retail sales of edibles have climbed steadily in four states while those of vaping products have declined, though the vaporizer market appears to be stabilizing — and even rising — in all but Washington.

And while edibles manufacturers say they’re not seeing a dramatic impact on sales yet, marijuana retailers are reporting that sales of infused products are up since the beginning of the vaping health scare that has sickened more than 1,600 people and killed about three dozen in 49 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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According to data provided by Seattle-based Headset, the share of cannabis sales captured by edibles has increased steadily through Oct. 6 since the first vaping death was reported Aug. 23:

• Colorado: 15 percent, up from 12.7 percent
• Nevada: 14.9 percent, up from 10.9 percent
• California: 13.6 percent, up from 10.9 percent
• Washington: 10.6 percent, up from 8.9 percent

New Accounts For Edibles Makers

During the week of Oct. 13 alone, Manzanita Naturals landed six new retail accounts, which will bump monthly sales up by about $30,000, said Andrew Amend, CEO of the San Francisco-based maker of all-natural, THC-infused craft sodas.

“People are starting to wake up and ask questions about what’s in their product,” Amend said. “Stores in San Francisco are dumping their vape cartridges and preparing for a ban and talking to me about beverages now.”

Denver-based Binske, which makes both edibles and vape pens, is ramping up production of its edibles products — even though it hasn’t yet noticed an increase in demand.

“Customers are starting to ask more questions and be more concerned about the products,” said Alex Pasternack, Binske’s executive vice president. “But the trickle-down effect hasn’t gotten to the brands yet.”

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Vape Sales Decline

Meanwhile, sales of vape products in the same four markets have shown a marked decline since Aug. 23, though they appear to be back on the rise in California and Nevada.

In Colorado, vape products accounted for 19.4 percent of marijuana sales on Aug. 23 but had dropped to 12.4 percent of sales by the week of Sept. 23. By Oct. 6, vape sales had climbed back to 13.9 percent.

Sales of Coda Signature’s edibles have risen, but it’s difficult to say whether that is tied to the vaping health scare because the company’s sales have increased every month since it launched in 2015.

The company, based in Denver and Trinidad, Colorado, recently launched in California, where 105 dispensaries signed up to sell its products within 45 days of entering the market Sept. 9 — just 18 days after the first vape death was reported. Coda products are available at 630 Colorado retailers.

“In our concentrates, we’re seeing a little flattening,” said Mark Grindeland, co-founder and CEO of Coda Signature, which makes edibles, concentrates used in vape products and topical items. “Fortunately, we’re not just a vape company.”

Grindeland worries that the vape health scare will perpetuate the stigma the cannabis industry is striving to overcome as people further question the safety of marijuana products.

“As we look at vapes, everybody in the industry should be concerned,” Grindeland said.

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Education Is Key

Andy Singh, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based vaporizer company Nuvata, said sales have been stagnant in the roughly 20 stores where the company’s pens are sold.

Still, the company is striving to increase its footprint and anticipates its products being sold by at least 40 retailers by the end of the year.

“We’ve gotten into about 10 stores — maybe more — since the vape crisis started,” Singh said.

“We continue to educate consumers and not allow them to associate the regulated cannabis vape brands with the brands they’re seeing on the news.”

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