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Omar Sacirbey

Omar has been a professional journalist since 1998, covering everything from international business and Wall Street to politics and religion. His stories have appeared in Newsweek International, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and other major outlets. Omar graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1998, and prior to that he was a Bosnian diplomat. He is based in Boston.

4 things CBD and hemp retailers need to know about the future of shopping

Published September 23, 2021 | By Omar Sacirbey

The future of cannabis retail is technologically exciting—think ubiquitous online ordering and sophisticated consumer analysis—and fraught with potential challenges.

Getting in fighting shape: 16 avenues cannabis executives are taking to manage through an economic downturn

Published July 21, 2020 | By Omar Sacirbey

Recessions are a time for cost control, but they can also herald opportunity — especially if your industry proves as resilient as cannabis appears to be in the current downturn.

Lessons from recessions past: Cannabis executives share strategies for keeping businesses afloat

Published July 20, 2020 | By Omar Sacirbey

When the Great Recession hit in late 2007, the cannabis industry showed little resemblance to what it is today, with only a few businesses operating now that were open then.

Hemp cultivators turn to tissue culture to increase propagation levels, preserve genetics

Published March 19, 2019 | By Omar Sacirbey

Cloning as a way to propagate plant inventory and preserve hemp genetics may be giving way to a new micropropogation method: tissue culture.

L.A. firm aims to boost Colorado hemp farm by 900 acres

Published November 21, 2017

A Los Angeles-based real estate company is seeking to expand an 80-acre hemp research site in Pueblo, Colorado, 12-fold, which would make it one of the largest hemp operations in the state. Agritek Holdings – which has water and mineral rights on the 80-acre site it already owns in Pueblo – has been given first […]

Montel Williams’ suit seeks to protect image vs. CBD scams

Published October 30, 2017

Television talk-show host and medical marijuana activist Montel Williams is suing several Arizona-based companies for wrongly using his name and image in alleged CBD scams. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges that at least three companies were involved in an “elaborate online scheme” that involved misleadingly using […]

Utah moves to approve growing industrial hemp for research

Published July 13, 2017

A Utah agricultural board has given preliminary approval to a change in government rules that would allow farmers in the state to cultivate industrial hemp for research purposes. Under the Utah Department of Food and Agriculture’s proposed rule, farmers would be allowed to grow hemp that contains less than 0.03% THC, according to Salt Lake […]

South Carolina legalizes hemp cultivation and sales

Published May 22, 2017

South Carolina became the latest state to legalize industrial hemp cultivation and sales after the governor signed legislation establishing a pilot program.

The bill, signed into law last week, creates a program that will award 20 licenses permitting growers to grow, harvest and sell hemp, The State reported. Each grower may cultivate hemp on up to 20 acres of land, according to the newspaper. The South Carolina Department of Agriculture will manage the program.

Hemp cultivation in Minnesota sees major growth spurt

Published April 4, 2017

Minnesota’s hemp crop has grown exponentially and the number of farmers cultivating the crop has increased sixfold as the state’s pilot program enters its second year. This year, 42 farmers are growing hemp on roughly 2,100 acres, Minnesota’s Alpha News reported. That’s a huge increase from 2016, when Minnesota’s hemp cultivation program launched with seven farmers […]

Massachusetts cannabis businesses warily await lawmaker tinkering

Published March 8, 2017

By Omar Sacirbey

Cannabis industry advocates in Massachusetts know changes are coming to the law that voters passed last November legalizing recreational marijuana.

But how modest or extreme those changes will be, and whether they’ll constrain the market, is less certain.

Investment company planning exchange-traded cannabis fund

Published February 22, 2017

ETF Managers Group, a New Jersey-based investment company, plans to launch an exchange-traded fund that would track publicly traded cannabis companies.

Thailand approves hemp cultivation

Published December 29, 2016

The cabinet of Thailand’s National Legislative Assembly has approved a proposal to permit hemp cultivation in six provinces in the country’s northern region as part of a project to explore the use of plants for medical purposes. Officials with the Office of the Narcotics Control Board announced Tuesday said the proposal will be implemented in 2017 […]