Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
In a move that could have major implications for the medical marijuana industry, a Seminole-owned company is taking the first step toward setting up marijuana-growing operations on Native American land.
A company owned in part by former Seminole Chairman James Billie will announce today that it is forming a partnership with a major marijuana investment and advisory firm out of Nevada.
The purpose: Bringing marijuana cultivation and production to Indian land.
"This business could be way bigger than bingo," Billie said.
Billie's MCW and the Nevada-based Electrum Partners will cast a wide net at first, hoping to advise tribes on implementing medical marijuana regulations in states where such regulations are already in place.
The new partnership aims to open licensed medical marijuana facilities in states where it's already legal, to compete alongside the legal entities.
But the Indian marijuana industry would have a huge tax advantage.
"A Native American-owned business not only avoids the federal income tax, but the Internal Revenue Code ... also imposes an additional burden on medical marijuana businesses," said Leslie Bocskor, founder of Electrum Partners. "They now have effective tax rates that can approach 60 percent or more based on the application of the tax code. The Native Americans not having that as a burden gives them a tremendous competitive advantage."
Both Billie and Bocskor said they would take a wait-and-see approach to Florida, for now. Once regulations are in place in the state, if they can prove they have a successful model in other states, they could bring more competition to the seven licensed growers in Florida, assuming a Florida tribe wants to partner.
Billie said they're looking to start in California.
Regulations are not yet in place in Florida. The Florida Legislature failed to pass a bill implementing Florida's medical marijuana constitutional amendment in the legislative session that ended May 8. The Legislature could address the issue in a three-day special session set to take place Wednesday to Friday. Otherwise, the state Department of Health will determine the rules by July 3.
Billie said he hopes to work with his own Seminole Tribe after rules are in place. His partner at Electrum was even more optimistic.
"Whether it's the Seminoles or others, we see this as the first step toward eventually having a regulatory framework that allows cultivation, extraction, manufacturing and distillation on Native American land," said Bocskor.
Electrum Partners advises wealthy investors and entrepreneurs on how to break into the marijuana industry. It has also advised Nevada and Pennsylvania on establishing marijuana regulations and is advising Costa Rica on establishing a legal framework for medical marijuana.
Nor is this Bocskor's first foray into Floridian medical marijuana – he helped raises thousands of dollars toward the ballot initiative that eventually led to a constitutional amendment to legalize it being placed on the ballot in 2016.
This is the first partnership Electrum has made with an Indian-owned company to bring marijuana cultivation to Indian land.
"We've seen other people not do it the right way. You take the right steps, you involve all the stakeholders," Bocskor said. "We've been speaking with [MCW] for almost two years now. We've seen them develop their model along side of us and through us at times. That gave us a high degree of comfort."
Previous attempts to bring marijuana to reservations have proven controversial. An attempt to open a resort with recreational marijuana on Sioux land in South Dakota has resulted in drug charges for non-native consultants in the case.
"You have to go to the place where the climate is already right. You don't want to start any controversy," Billie said. "You want to go to the place where it's already ready to go."
Billie said that back when he was chairman of the tribe, until 2016, he had talked with other tribal leaders about the possibility of getting into the business.
"We juggled around whether this is worth getting into, whether it's worth the headache," he said. "The biggest problem we always ran into is we don't have the right expertise. So, [Electrum] has the right connections, the right funding, the right development. We thought we could maybe hurry up and organize it so we have these experts on hand – make sure the Indians hurry up and get into it ahead of the game."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Seminole-owned business strikes deal with marijuana-industry firm - Sun Sentinel
Author: Dan Sweeney
Contact: Contact Us - Sun Sentinel
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Broward & Palm Beach News, Sports - Sun Sentinel
A company owned in part by former Seminole Chairman James Billie will announce today that it is forming a partnership with a major marijuana investment and advisory firm out of Nevada.
The purpose: Bringing marijuana cultivation and production to Indian land.
"This business could be way bigger than bingo," Billie said.
Billie's MCW and the Nevada-based Electrum Partners will cast a wide net at first, hoping to advise tribes on implementing medical marijuana regulations in states where such regulations are already in place.
The new partnership aims to open licensed medical marijuana facilities in states where it's already legal, to compete alongside the legal entities.
But the Indian marijuana industry would have a huge tax advantage.
"A Native American-owned business not only avoids the federal income tax, but the Internal Revenue Code ... also imposes an additional burden on medical marijuana businesses," said Leslie Bocskor, founder of Electrum Partners. "They now have effective tax rates that can approach 60 percent or more based on the application of the tax code. The Native Americans not having that as a burden gives them a tremendous competitive advantage."
Both Billie and Bocskor said they would take a wait-and-see approach to Florida, for now. Once regulations are in place in the state, if they can prove they have a successful model in other states, they could bring more competition to the seven licensed growers in Florida, assuming a Florida tribe wants to partner.
Billie said they're looking to start in California.
Regulations are not yet in place in Florida. The Florida Legislature failed to pass a bill implementing Florida's medical marijuana constitutional amendment in the legislative session that ended May 8. The Legislature could address the issue in a three-day special session set to take place Wednesday to Friday. Otherwise, the state Department of Health will determine the rules by July 3.
Billie said he hopes to work with his own Seminole Tribe after rules are in place. His partner at Electrum was even more optimistic.
"Whether it's the Seminoles or others, we see this as the first step toward eventually having a regulatory framework that allows cultivation, extraction, manufacturing and distillation on Native American land," said Bocskor.
Electrum Partners advises wealthy investors and entrepreneurs on how to break into the marijuana industry. It has also advised Nevada and Pennsylvania on establishing marijuana regulations and is advising Costa Rica on establishing a legal framework for medical marijuana.
Nor is this Bocskor's first foray into Floridian medical marijuana – he helped raises thousands of dollars toward the ballot initiative that eventually led to a constitutional amendment to legalize it being placed on the ballot in 2016.
This is the first partnership Electrum has made with an Indian-owned company to bring marijuana cultivation to Indian land.
"We've seen other people not do it the right way. You take the right steps, you involve all the stakeholders," Bocskor said. "We've been speaking with [MCW] for almost two years now. We've seen them develop their model along side of us and through us at times. That gave us a high degree of comfort."
Previous attempts to bring marijuana to reservations have proven controversial. An attempt to open a resort with recreational marijuana on Sioux land in South Dakota has resulted in drug charges for non-native consultants in the case.
"You have to go to the place where the climate is already right. You don't want to start any controversy," Billie said. "You want to go to the place where it's already ready to go."
Billie said that back when he was chairman of the tribe, until 2016, he had talked with other tribal leaders about the possibility of getting into the business.
"We juggled around whether this is worth getting into, whether it's worth the headache," he said. "The biggest problem we always ran into is we don't have the right expertise. So, [Electrum] has the right connections, the right funding, the right development. We thought we could maybe hurry up and organize it so we have these experts on hand – make sure the Indians hurry up and get into it ahead of the game."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Seminole-owned business strikes deal with marijuana-industry firm - Sun Sentinel
Author: Dan Sweeney
Contact: Contact Us - Sun Sentinel
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Website: Broward & Palm Beach News, Sports - Sun Sentinel
