Cheddar's weekly series "CannaBiz" focuses on the business of marijuana, and market opportunity in this space. Cheddar Anchor's Brad Smith and Baker Machado dive into the latest trends in this space.
This week Vermont became the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana. It's also the first state to enact this through legislation. Marijuana Policy Project's Director of Communication Morgan Fox explains the state of regulation, and how his organization is pushing for greater legalization.
"If you look at polling in every state, and nationally there is majority support for making marijuana legal," said Fox. In October 2017, a Gallup poll found 64 percent of Americans support making marijuana legal.
Several marijuana companies are kicking off 2018 strong in the public market. Green Market Report's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Debra Borchardt explains the companies she see's capitalizing on the growing cannabis market.
Toronto-based Med Releaf is up nearly 20 percent in 2018. Borchardt says this company stands apart by being one of the lowest cost cannabis producers. "This is where we are seeing the real race in the marijuana community," says Borchardt.
Two other companies on Borchardt's watch list are Kush Bottles, and Aurora Cannabis.
Burger King is closing two dozens locations in the Detroit area and laying off 424 employees as it plans to permanently cease operations in Michigan. The Texas-based burger chain blamed "unforeseen business circumstances." The closures started on March 17 and are expected to be finished by April 15.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is slated to lead off opening statements expected for Tuesday in his state's lawsuit against Juul Labs – marking the first time any of the thousands of cases against the e-cigarette maker over its alleged marketing to young people is going to play out in a courtroom.
Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain implant venture, is reaching out to major U.S. neurosurgery centers to potentially begin testing its devices on humans, according to a Reuters report.
Lyft co-founders Logan Green and John Zimmer are relinquishing their leadership roles to make way for a former Amazon executive as the ride-hailing service struggles to recover from the pandemic while long-time rival Uber has been regaining its momentum.
