March 3, 2025  l  Sign Me Up

Stay up to date on next year's MJBizCon — December 2-5, 2025 in Las Vegas!

F E A T U R E D  S T O R Y

From client to co-founder, Storz & Bickel exec seeks to drum up cannabis business

Photo by jdwfoto/stock.adobe.com

Jürgen Bickel is not only the founder and managing director of Storz & Bickel, he's also a longtime client of the company's iconic cannabis smoking device.

The medically certified product manufacturer, based in Tuttlingen, Germany, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Volcano vaporizer, which has sold hundreds of thousands of units worldwide since its early days on the market when Bickel first tried it as a consumer.

"It's really for people who are frequently using cannabis," he told MJBizDaily during a recent interview and product demo at The Woods in West Hollywood, California.

The Woods, owned by actor Woody Harrelson and comedian Bill Maher, is the latest cannabis consumption venue to partner with Storz & Bickel as the company expands its presence in the United States and other countries.

Bickel's stop in Los Angeles was sandwiched between a trip to New Orleans, where the company showcased the Volcano at a Super Bowl weekend party, and the San Francisco Bay Area, where he met with other marijuana businesses and executives.

Bickel spoke with MJBizDaily about the evolution and success of Storz & Bickel, its rigorous testing protocols, the growth of Germany's medical cannabis market and potential policy ramifications under the country's newly elected conservative party. Read story >

More Headlines

• MSO Curaleaf's hemp-derived THC seltzers to hit Total Wine shelves. Read story >
• Virginia governor expected to veto recreational marijuana sales legislation. Read story >
• Massachusetts cannabis retailer owes more than $420,000 in state taxes. Read story >

Sponsored

Weekly roundup of MJBizDaily's most-viewed stories

R E T A I L

New Jersey adult-use market heating up with new entrants

Photo by miami2you/stock.adobe.com

New Jersey's adult-use cannabis market has experienced surging growth since it launched in April 2022.

Recreational cannabis sales in New Jersey totaled $789.8 million in 2024, and the number of retailers has proliferated, giving the multistate operators who were first in the market some serious competition.

With the influx of new operators, primarily small independent retailers, multistate operators are facing the challenge of maintaining market share as the market diversifies and pricing pressures mount.

"From an MSO perspective, first-mover advantage was powerful, but we're very excited about the new entrants," said Richard Proud, CEO of New York-based iAnthus Capital Holdings.

"It forces everyone to compete on product quality." Read story >

P O L I C Y

Trump research cuts threaten cannabis studies

Photo by Soru Epotok/stock.adobe.com

The Trump administration's plan to cut federal research funding threatens 565 ongoing experiments involving cannabis, according to an MJBizDaily review and interviews with scientists and academics.

An accompanying freeze of new National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants is also stymieing future research at a key moment - and raising questions about the fate of marijuana rescheduling as well as suggesting profound consequences for the regulated MJ industry.

The NIH announced Feb. 7 that it would drastically reduce to no more than 15% the amount of "indirect costs" - money used to cover administrative and facility-related bills - financed by federal research grants.

Universities immediately sued to block the NIH cuts, which are now on indefinite hiatus pending resolution of those legal challenges.

That forces researchers to continue to work despite the real possibility that a halt could happen at almost any time. Read story >

F I N A N C E

Jushi benefiting from little-used IRS tax-credit program

Photo by jdwfoto/stock.adobe.com

The IRS owes Jushi Holdings about $6 million in Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims, but the marijuana multistate operator didn't want to wait for it.

Instead, Jushi sold its ERC claims to a third party for about $5.1 million in cash.

The ERC is a refundable tax credit for eligible businesses and tax-exempt organizations whose employees were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's a program that few cannabis businesses have taken advantage of.

"If a business is eligible, it can be a particularly lucrative tax credit," Glen Frost, managing partner of Annapolis, Maryland-based Frost Law, told MJBizDaily.

"It's a big opportunity, and a lot of cannabis businesses have missed out on this credit." Read story >

R E T A I L

MMJ registries show steep decline after adult-use launches

Photo by grinny/stock.adobe.com

The expansion of adult-use marijuana sales to 21 states has ushered in a new era of commercialism in the U.S. cannabis industry.

For some retailers, that means a concentration of certain well-performing products.

For some medical marijuana patients, that means less access to full-spectrum cannabis stock-keeping units.

Inventory rightsizing is a key element for retail success, particularly given the dramatic shifts in customer and product demand after a market's conversion to recreational sales.

According to Marijuana Policy Project data, the total number of medical marijuana patients on average decreases by roughly a third after a market launches recreational sales, a shift that might impact business strategy, product availability, marketing and customer relationships. Read story >

Sponsored

R E S O U R C E S

• Get the MJBizCon Buzz – Subscribe
  
• Make informed decisions with MJBiz Factbook – Get data
• MJBiz Free Cannabis 101 Course – Sign up and start learning
• MJBizDaily Reports and Buyers Guides – Download
• MJBiz Media Kit – Advertise with us
• Exhibit or Sponsor at MJBizCon – Inquire how

MJBizDaily is the leading resource for the cannabis industry, cited by The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Harvard Business Review. MJBiz also produces the No. 1 cannabis business conference, MJBizCon.

Share MJBizDaily

Forward this email to friends and colleagues to keep them on the up and up with the latest cannabis business news and insights from MJBiz.

MJBizCon 2025

Dec. 2-5, 2025  l  Las Vegas  |  Learn More