Terra Tech Corp., a vertically integrated cannabis-focused agriculture company, said last Tuesday that it has signed a definitive merger agreement with medical marijuana dispensary Blum Oakland to acquire 100% of the dispensary’s shares. Terra Tech, which is traded over the counter, claims that it is the only U.S.-based publicly traded company that “touches every aspect of the cannabis lifecycle,” from cultivation, to extraction, to branding and, now, retail sales.

Terra Tech CEO Derek Peterson said:

In addition to enhancing our cash-flow, this merger positions us to capitalize on the new regulatory landscape in California, which will change significantly with the implementation of the Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act in 2016.  The new legislation, which more strictly regulates the medical marijuana industry, should both reduce our competition and increase our total addressable market.  In addition, the new legislation allows companies to operate on a for-profit basis.  Also, California’s pursuit to legalize adult use cannabis is gaining significant traction and support by major stakeholders in the state.  This merger with Blum strategically enables us to take advantage of the regulatory changes and to maximize value for Terra Tech stockholders.

The acquisition is expected to close no later than March 31, 2016. Terra Tech said that the purchase price is 1.5 times “forward-looking revenue” for the 12 months following the deal.

Terra Tech stock closed at $0.14 on Friday and the 52-week range is $0.08 to $0.28.

Here are other important news stories for the week.

Last Word: A Telling Survey About Whether Managers Will Hire Cannabis Users
Here’s something that might have gotten lost in the usual end-of-the-year scramble: Employers are a lot tougher on employees in states where marijuana is completely legal.

We know this because the Society of Human Resource Management — the trade group for more than 260,000 HR professionals — surveyed more than 600 HR managers in states where marijuana is legal, and they focused on the drug policies of the organizations they work for.

As Bloomberg News reported, “Unsurprisingly, getting stoned at work is largely frowned upon, SHRM found …. It turns out a large chunk of workplaces also won’t hire employees who smoke on their own time.”

The story goes on to say that, “More than half of the HR managers surveyed said they have policies, or plan to implement them, restricting the employment of marijuana users. About 38 percent said they will flat-out reject users even if they claim medical reasons. Six percent said their policy will exclude only those who partake for fun.”

Read more at Cannabis Business Executive.

Start Studying Pot Sales: Union to LCBO
Give them the green light.

The union that represents LCBO [Liquor Control Board of Ontario] workers wants the retailer to start studying how it could sell marijuana.

Right now, the LCBO says it won’t start researching marijuana sales until the drug is actually legalized.

Despite public musings from several prominent politicians — including Premier Kathleen Wynne — that its stores would be the ideal place to sell weed, the LCBO has no data on whether that would be a good idea.

Read more at the Toronto Sun.

The Real “Gateway Drug” Is 100% Legal
You may have heard that marijuana is a gateway drug. Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie makes this argument seemingly every chance he gets. Anti-drug groups often make similar claims.

The evidence seems convincing enough at first blush: studies show that 99 percent of illicit drug users tried marijuana before they did any other drugs. But on its own, this line of thinking actually is pretty tenuous: we could also safely assume that 99 percent of illicit drug users also tried coffee, or soda, or chocolate milk before moving on to stronger substances.

New research out this month in the Journal of School Health could shed some light on this question. A team of researchers from Texas A&M and the University of Florida examined data from from 2,800 U.S. 12th graders interviewed for the Monitoring the Future study, an annual federal survey of teen drug use. They wanted to establish which substances teens typically used first.

They give away their findings in the title of their paper: “Prioritizing Alcohol Prevention: Establishing Alcohol as the Gateway Drug and Linking Age of First Drink With Illicit Drug Use.” They found that “the vast majority of respondents reported using alcohol prior to either tobacco or marijuana initiation.”

Read more at The Washington Post.

Medical Marijuana Significantly Decreases Migraine Frequency, Study Shows
People who suffer with migraine headaches had a significant drop in their frequency when using medical marijuana, according to a study published in the journal Pharmacotherapy.

Researchers from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus examined 121 patients diagnosed with migraines and treated with medical marijuana between January 2010 and September 2014. They found the frequency of migraines dropped from 10.4 to 4.6 headaches per month, which is both statistically and clinically significant.

Of the 121 people studied, 103 reported a decrease in monthly migraines, 15 reported the same number of migraines, and three people saw an increase in migraines.

“There was a substantial improvement for patients in their ability to function and feel better,” said the study’s senior author Professor Laura Borgelt, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS. “Like any drug, marijuana has potential benefits and potential risks. It’s important for people to be aware that using medical marijuana can also have adverse effects.”

Read more at National Pain Report.

‘The Big Bang Theory’ Boss Chuck Lorre Shopping Pot Shop Comedy Series
The most anticipated comedy spec script this winter has just hit the marketplace — a multi-camera comedy from The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly and Mom co-creator/executive producer Chuck Lorre. And it’s definitely making an impression with its provocative subject matter – weed.

Co-written by Lorre and former Daily Show head writer/executive producerDavid Javerbaum, I’ve learned that the spec, which has been sent out to the broadcast networks and possibly Netflix, is set at a legal marijuana dispensary in Colorado and revolves around an ensemble of potheads. As someone put it, it’s The Big Bang Theory, if the guys were not geniuses but selling weed.

This is the third consecutive time Lorre has come out with projects that don’t quite fit the sitcom mold, dealing with topics like obesity (Mike & Molly) and sobriety (Mom). This marks Lorre’s follow-up to Mom, which also was taken out late in the development season as a pitch.

Read more at Deadline Hollywood.

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