Marapharm Ventures Inc. 'Marapharm' Announces Progress in California

KELOWNA, British Columbia, July 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Marapharm Ventures Inc. (OTCQB: MRPHF) (CSE: MDM.CN) (FSE: 2M0) ("Marapharm" or the "Company") (http://www.marapharm.com/) owns, without debt, 1.22 acres in Southern California (announced June 12, 2017) with an approved CUP (conditional use permit) of 29,193 square feet of cultivation and processing of cannabis.

"Marapharm has a second property in California in escrow for $2.5 million, announced May 1, 2017 with a CUP and there's a contingency for the approval of up to 40,000 square feet of interim facilities. Plus we have a delivery service, we are contracting management and we are opening an office in California. There are 40 million people in California, more than in all of Canada, so it's a big market. Accordingly we are very happy that the state is progressive with cannabis rules and regulations."

"Changes in the laws in California are very significant, for the industry and in particular for Marapharm. Non-resident ownership, the flexibility of license types, the ability for vertical integration and an opportunity to get a temporary state license if you are operational in a local jurisdiction before December 31, 2017 are just some positive points of law within the new legislation," Linda Sampson, Marapharm CEO.

A summary of key points for California taken from Marijuana Daily, an online publication:

California took a big step forward in June by passing a law designed to streamline government oversight for the state's medical and recreational marijuana industries.

Because the new measure combines two laws, it's complicated.

So Marijuana Business Daily enlisted cannabis attorney Khurshid Khoja to help break it down (June 27, 2017 edition).

The new law - a 'trailer bill' proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown - bears the cumbersome title of Medical and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, or MAUCRSA for short.

The former MMJ law, passed in 2015, was called the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA); the rec measure, approved in 2016, was dubbed Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), though it was also known as Proposition 64.

Here's how Khoja - Founder of Greenbridge Corporate Counsel and founding board member of the California Cannabis Industry Association - sees the state's current marijuana landscape.

Is this a regulatory improvement from a business perspective? 

Absolutely. Not only does the trailer bill harmonize conflicting aspects of (the MMJ and adult-use laws), it does so in a way I think is a net positive for the industry, for investors and for businesses. One of the main structural changes we see is that (MMJ law) is actually repealed and is being replaced with MAUCRSA, which takes some elements of (the MMJ and adult-use measures) and melds them into this new law.

One of the major features worth noting is there's no more mandated third-party distribution. That was a big bone of contention in the industry in California, that (the MMJ measure) had mandated third-party distribution and (the adult-use law) did not.

And that was by design - when the drafters came to the industry asking for input, that was an element that I and others asked to omit from (the adult-use law) to avoid the forced breakup of existing vertically integrated and self-distributing businesses.

The new law would also broadly permit vertically integrated businesses by deleting (the MMJ law's) restrictions on cross-licensing. There are still some cross-licensing restrictions, but those only apply to the Type 5 unlimited canopy cultivation licenses - and those aren't even available until 2023. So if you're a Type 5, you can't hold a distributor, testing lab or microbusiness license. But you can still hold retail and manufacturing licenses.

For everyone else other than labs, it's very open. They can hold any combination of licenses other than lab licenses. That's a net improvement.

Will there be a residency requirement, or will the California market be open to anyone who wants to jump in? 

(The MMJ law) didn't have one, (the adult-use measure) did have one, and that was going to be effective through 2019. That is gone. So there's no longer any residency requirement to hold a controlling interest in a licensed adult-use entity.

That sounds like a significant development, given the amount of interest in the California market. 

I get significant interest from Israelis, I get the Dutch, I get the Canadians, I get everyone from all over wanting to participate in the California adult-use market. It's definitely not isolated to U.S. business interests in the other cannabis states.

Will companies still have to obtain both a local and state permit - or a local license as a prerequisite to obtaining a state one? 

Under (the MMJ law), a local license was a prerequisite before you could apply and obtain a state license. Under the (adult-use law), that's not the case, but you still must comply with local law.

So if the locals say, "You're out of compliance" or "We don't want you here," that's going to preclude you from getting a license under the (the adult-use measure). But you don't have to show up with a local license in hand in order to be eligible.

Basically, the MAUCRSA adopted the (the adult-use law's) approach, in which the locals still have the ability to pass ordinances on land use and business licensing, and they can force businesses to comply. If any business that holds a state license doesn't comply (with local law), they risk having that license withdrawn.

Also, if you're an existing operator who wants to continue operating past January 1, 2018, while your permanent state license is pending, then it's still necessary to have a local permit, license or authorization that explicitly says you're allowed to operate in that jurisdiction. That local approval will qualify you for a temporary state license to operate in 2018. Without a temporary license, your business cannot operate until you have a permanent state license.

Any downsides, from a business perspective, to the regulatory merger? 

There is still some conflicting language on whether a single license can operate more than one licensed business on a single licensed premise. So if you're a vertically integrated manufacturer, cultivator and retailer, you may still have to get different premises on which to operate each of those businesses - unless you're a microbusiness, in which case you are explicitly permitted to operate all those on one premise.

There's also still a distinction between medical and adult-use licenses. So you can have a retailer that has both adult-use and medical licenses, and it's uncertain whether you can operate both on the same premises.

We're getting different views from industry lobbyists, from the governor's office and also from the regulators themselves on how they interpret the trailer bill's language - although no one seems to disagree the intent is to allow co-location of licensed businesses held by a single licensee. So that will need to be addressed in either follow-on legislation or in agency regulations.

Certainly, it wouldn't be tenable to have a retailer who has both a medical license and an adult-use license having to get two different premises to operate those. It should be one premise, but that's not how the law currently reads.

Other high-level items worth noting: There wasn't any accommodation for delivery-only licenses previously under (the adult-use or MMJ laws), and now there is. You will have to have a licensed premise, but that premise won't have to be open to the public. So you can have a delivery-only retail operation and be licensed for that, which is a big improvement.

Another big improvement is that the trailer bill provides for temporary event licenses. There were questions about all these consumer-focused events that we have in California where there is consumption onsite. Those were in a gray area under both (the MMJ and adult-use laws), and now there's language that explicitly says those types of licenses may be granted for people to sell cannabis for consumption at outdoor events where local laws allow it.

How much of the industry will still be determined at the local level, as opposed to state? Is California going to remain a patchwork of industry rules, from town to town or county to county? 

There is explicit language in the trailer bill that says nothing in the new act can preclude or prevent or otherwise obstruct locals from passing any relevant licensing or land-use ordinances they want. So there's no limit on what locals can do.

The cities and counties are very powerful in state government, so it's not unexpected they would retain broad local control. So quite a bit of deference and, with it, the possibility of variation among local jurisdictions.

But the amount of variance depends on when a county or city comes online. If they've come online since the passage of the (MMJ law), you'll see what they're adopting is a lot closer to that. So, yes, there's going to be a patchwork in the sense there will be different local laws to comply with.

But I think that, by and large, a lot of those are going to conform to the state laws, so there's ultimately not a lot of daylight between the two or among local jurisdictions that license and regulate the cannabis industry.

About Marapharm Ventures Inc. 

http://www.marapharm.com

Marapharm has more than 350,000 square feet of medical marijuana licenses for its land and facilities in WA, CA and NV. In Nevada, the proposed building footprint is 360,000 square feet. The Nevada Department of Agriculture report by Tessa Rognier states that the average size of a cultivation facility in Nevada is 26,000 square feet. About three years ago, Marapharm applied in Canada to Health Canada for a MMPR (production and sales) license and has passed the necessary security clearances. The application is currently in the in-depth screening process. In September 2016, Health Canada contacted Marapharm with a provision to amend its application to allow for the new regulations, ACMPR. Marapharm owns 15 million shares and warrants of Veritas Pharma Inc., a public company.

Additional information on the operations or financial results of Marapharm are included in reports on file with applicable securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the CSE website (http://www.thecse.com), the OTC website (http://www.otcmarkets.com), and the SEDAR website (http://www.sedar.com) under the profile for Marapharm Ventures Inc.

Stock Exchanges:

Marapharm trades in Canada, ticker symbol MDM on the CSE, in the United States, ticker symbol MRPHF on the OTCQB, in Europe, ticker symbol 2M0 on the FSE.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has approved the contents of this news release.

Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQB® has approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the CSE, the FSE nor the OTCQB® accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements: 

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", 'may", "will", "project", "should", 'believe", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumption but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and the forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon.

Contact:

Linda Sampson
CEO
+1-778-583-4476
email info@marapharm.com

SOURCE Marapharm Ventures Inc.