Interview of 8 Jul 09
Interview of 22 May 2009
Medical Marijuana Inc. (MJNA) is truly a forward looking company.
Looking back, it began in 2003 as Berkshire Collection, Inc. (BKCL) of Ontario, Canada. According to a complaint filed 12 Jun 09 by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) against Blackout Media (BKMP) and its principal Sandy Winick of Toronto, Berkshire Collection was one of 59 subsidiaries spun off from Blackout Media Corporation, formerly known as First Canadian American Holding Corporation, (FCDH).
The SEC complaint alleges these 59 subsidiaries had no legitimate business purpose and were just "public company shells", and that Winick profited at least $3.2 million from selling shares in these "shells" from 2004 through 2007.
On 23 May 05 Berkshire Collection changed its jurisdiction to Oregon, at the same time issuing a 1 for 1,000 reverse split.
I have never before in my life seen a 1 for 1,000 reverse split. A reverse split is typically a last ditch effort to prevent a company from being delisted on an exchange. According to MSN Money, "reverse splits are like a message from management that the underlying business trends are so rotten, they won't be enough to get the stock price up to snuff." Small shareholders, those holding less than 1 share after the reverse split, are cashed out. They're lucky if they get a penny on the dollar.
On 31 Jan 2007 Berkshire Collection changed its name to My Newpedia Corp (MYNW). This incarnation lasted until June of 2008 when it issued 211,926,840 shares of common stock, realizing $100,000. Then My Newpedia changed it's name to Club Vivanet, exchanging 12 shares of MYNW for 1 share of CVIV. Then the merged entities, now named Club Vivanet (CVIV), "took back" 210,117,998 shares in a 1 for 20 reverse split and posted a stunning net profit of $26,040 for 2008.
The Statement of Operations found on page 16 of the Annual Report for Club Vivanet for 31 Dec 08 states that it spent $751,359 on sales and marketing in order to post a profit of $26,040 on revenue of $818,992. While this was more than double the net profit of $12,624 for the previous year, it doesn't seem particularly forthcoming to term the growth "meteoric" as Perlowin does repeatedly.
In April of 2009 Club Vivanet (CVIV) became Medical Marijuana Inc. (MJNA):
We thought at first we'd call our corporation Marijuana Inc. But when you say to someone ... you're in the Marijuana Business, you do get that weird, kinda strange look. But when you say 'We're in the Medical Marijuana Business' ...I don't care where I am, everyone's interested. Not only are they interested, sometimes they're passionately interested because they've heard the stories and they think people should have the freedom to choose the medicine that really does help them.
On 25 Mar 09, the day the name change was filed, the stock was worth 4 cents. The name change and 10 for 1 forward split occurred on 28 Apr 09. The day before the split and name change CVIV closed at 22 cents. The day after, MJNA closed at 62 cents. It has trended downward since.
Perlowin explains it like this, pointing out he got out of prison 19 years ago:
I was the largest marijuana smuggler in West Coast history. The media dubbed me the King of Pot. As the newspapers said, I had a fleet of boats larger than most country's navies, and that was probably true. Made $100 million bucks by the time I was thirty. And then I went to jail for nine years and got out and made some huge businesses in the phone card and international telecom business. We've always had meteorically growing businesses after I got out of prison. Well, before I got out of prison too...
Just look at what happened to our stock from day one and you can see we sort of know know what we're doing in this industry.
He explains that he is "monetizing" the public's desire to legalize marijuana and that buying stock in his company is casting a vote for the legalization of marijuana.
When Obama and the attorney general Holder said that they'd no longer interfere with state laws on marijuana issues, all of a sudden dispensaries and collectives and co-ops started popping up like weeds all over California ... and, all of a sudden, legitimate business people started getting involved and wanting to get involved. And then "we" come along...
This is one of those statements were you don't really know where to begin.
What is this "all of a sudden" legitimate business people are getting involved? Is he saying those dispensaries and co-operatives that have been doing it for years and who built the industry he finds so exciting are not "legitimate business people"? What does this say about The Green Cross - in business in San Francisco for five years and featured in June as an example of how medical marijuana had become mainstream? And, by the way, they've all been using plastic cards of all kinds for years: debit, credit, stored value, ID, and so forth. A manager of one dispensary told me 5 years ago, "Bank of America loves us."
Are we also supposed to believe that the "legitimate business people" who have been waiting for Obama to start the green rush before they got involved will not have the wherewithal to set up a business account with, oh, Bank of America or Wells Fargo, but instead will be "cash based"?
While Perlowin wasn't really sure if New Mexico had passed a medical marijuana law or not and was astonished at what he found when he came to California in February and told his doctor he had insomnia so he could get in a dispensary and see what it was like, he assures us he is the one to tell us all how to do it.
I actually believe New Mexico is one of the places - don't quote me on that because my big focus is on marijuana, on California - but I think New Mexico is one of the places where it's legal. You can look at any of the movement websites like NORML or MPP.org - that's a great one, MPP.org - and they really keep you up-to-date on what's going on in each state. So I think it is. And in some places you can have co-ops, like in Colorado and California, and some places you're allowed to grow your own. There's no standardized laws or rules, which for a public company like us makes it really lucrative, or potentially lucrative. Because we can help come in and standardize the industry and help regulate the industry. Again, from the bottom up. Typically a company like this can move much quicker than the government can.
It's all a mish-mash. Every county in California is different from every city. And every state has different rules. And if you standardize it - it will take a few years - but that's one of the things that we're here to do, is to help standardize it. And again, starting with the most lucrative of all, the tax remittance.
And he's going to begin by re-assembling his old organization, from administering taxes paid by the sick and dying for medicine. When asked if he has any plans to own a dispensary:
"If Nevada ever legalizes it - it'll be on the ballot in 2012, November - I would love to have a dispensary inside a casino, growing the marijuana plants..."
Obviously, Medical Marijuana Inc. CEO and King of Pot Bruce Perlowin didn't have "medical marijuana" in mind when he said this. When the host points out this has the appearance of exploitation he replies:
Yeah. So in that case, yeah. In the beginning. no. In the beginning all we want to do is provide all the tools for the dispensaries or the co-ops. In fact, we're going to be doing seminars on how to open up a dispensary and we want management contracts with the dispensaries, not just for the tax card but for inventory control, for grading and standardizing the marijuana for software, for the doctors to use, and evaluating whether sativa or indica should be used for glaucoma vs. cancer vs. MS vs. headaches..."
In the meantime, he hopes to buy "homesteads" of 1 to 5 thousand acres all over the country and grow vegetables or something on them until hemp is legalized, and then convert them to hemp farms. All this from administering taxes paid by the sick and dying for medicine.
It's an intriguing business model. He states they've decided 60% of the profit will go to the company, and 40% to charity.
My job is to empower people, and specifically (because of another model) empower women. 40% of our profits goes to The Global Family and WE (Women Empowerment) because their job is to make sure this wealth goes all over the world to create a thousand millionaire women, who will create a thousand millionaire women each, and then they take over the world in what's known as a global coup, but it's really a coochie coo..
Again, it's difficult to figure out where to begin. Seems a bit sexist (not to mention boorish) to me, but what do I know? Besides there are more pressing issues. For instance, just ten minutes previously he stated 40% of "revenues" would be going to the local community: 10% to schools and or the women's council (because women won't take bribes and kick-backs, but men will); 10% to another local problem like fire or police (speaking of bribes); 10% to another city in America; and 10% to some international problem.
Obviously, how much of what goes where isn't really important. All that's important is that 40% of the stockholders earnings from administering taxes paid on medicine by the sick and dying will go to some charity somewhere. No doubt medical marijuana patients will get a warm glow knowing their disability stipend is going to increase the supply of female millionaires in third world countries.
Among a nebulae of disconnects is that it never occurred to Medical Marijuana Inc. that there are medical marijuana patients that can't afford medicine, that are losing their jobs and their homes, that can't pay lawyers and court costs. And a lot of them are men.
Perlowin says he doesn't smoke marijuana, except rarely.
My prescription's for insomnia. And I don't know if I have insomnia, I'm so excited about what we're doing I can't sleep at night so I jump up and email. I go to sleep. I wake up. I email. And so I'm thinking, 'I really want to go see these dispensaries but you can't get in without a medical condition and I don't want to lie about a medical condition. I won't do that. I'm CEO of a public company, I've got to keep everything really straight. So, I'm thinking, 'wait a minute...' and if I don't have my computer I'm sitting there awake all night, just thinking. So that's clinical insomnia. That's insomnia. So I got my medical marijuana card for being too excited. But I haven't used my marijuana medicine yet because if I do I won't answer my emails all night.
As for the morality of taxing medicine? As for what happens when The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act (HR 2835) is passed? As for the fact that you don't get a "prescription" for medical marijuana, you get a "recommendation"?
HR 2835 will move marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act's Schedule I to Schedule II. Among other things this will mean marijuana will meet the legal definition of medicine and that doctors can prescribe it the same as pharmaceuticals. And this means it will not be taxed in states such as California where the people think there's something sleazy and just plain wrong about taxing medicine.
Well, maybe by then Perlowin will have his upscale pot emporium in some swanky Las Vegas casino.
The tax heard round the world - Examiner.com | 30 Aug 09
Oakland's marijuana legalization initiative is still a Trojan Horse - Examiner.com | 16 Aug 09
Selling out the medical marijuana movement - Examiner.com | 24 Jul 09
Tax Prozac, not medical marijuana - Examiner.com | 20 Jul 09
Medical marijuana and artists grants - Examiner.com | 9 Jul 09
Litigation Release No. 21083 - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission | 12 Jun 09
First Canadian American Holding Corp 8K - Securities and Exchange Commission | 26 Jul 02
MJNA Company Info - pinksheets
eFile Video Tutorial - Board of Equalization, State of California
Why was tax evasion the only thing pinned on Al Capone? - HowStuffWorks
Comments
The writer says a lot, without actually saying anything at all.
As you appear unsure sir, let me explain the benefits of the Medical marijuana Inc card;
Its about streamlining an operation . With the MMJ card a dispensary owner is better positioned to answer the questions of the DEA and/or the IRS, should they come a calling.
By using the MMJ closed loop system a dispensary owner is saying to law enforcement officials "If you want to come check us out anytime, you can plug right into our system and take stock of all our transactions from buying medicine in the back door, to selling it out the front".
Its a statement of intent on which the dispensary owner is saying, "We have nothing to hide".
What, you think the government is going to let everyone have a pot of compost and be allowed to grow weed, without wanting their share of the big green pie?
Perlowin will own a DOZEN upscale casino's with in house pot growing operation before thats allowed to happen.-)
Ian M
Interesting. I always thought tax money went to local and federal governments, not the company's shareholders.
Either I'm mistaken, or this article is a pile of steaming, contrived garbage.
Pretty sure it's the latter.
Ian,
What is it about you people that makes you think you can insult and exploit patients with impunity?
Join us in California by donating or volunteering for the California Cannabis Initiative who is working hard at bringing us the Tax, Regulate, and Control Cannabis Act of 2010 to the ballot box. Lets end this needless war that has drained our local, state and federal treasuries and has destroyed more families and lives than any drug itself could have ever done.
To join or help the fight go to www.californiacannabisinitiative.org
Oscar Chavez
California Cannabis Initiative
San Bernardino County Coordinator
People said Apple were kidding themselves because there were already PCs you could just buy and assemble yourself for much cheaper than their pre-fabricated machine.
Call in VOTE for Medical Cannabis
973-409-3274
Call, listen, and press #
One million votes and demand
letter goes to Obama
Download Florida petition at:
pufmm.org
Support Leap.cc - Police Against Prohibition
A World Health Organization survey of 17 nations just discovered
that Americans and New Zealanders have the planet's highest
rates of marijuana use -- even though they have some of the most
draconian drug laws. Over 40 percent in both countries have tried
marijuana. No other nation was even close.*
Holland, on the other hand, has the world's most liberal drug
policies and their marijuana use is half that of the U.S. and New
Zealand.
How do the Dutch do it? They don't bait young people by
making drugs seem glamorous. As the Netherlands Minister of
Health said, “We have succeeded in making pot boring.”
Why don't we try doing it their way instead of spending $10
billion to arrest over 800,000 people every year for marijuana possession?
I see you deleted my first post. So here is another. You are so wrong when you elude to Medical Marijuana, Inc. collecting taxes. The government is the only tax collector I know of. Bruce Perlowin's system helps dispensaries to comply with the tax LAW. I can agree that medicine should not be taxed, but in this phase of the Medical Marijuana industry, it seems that everyone is looking at it like a bailout solution. A smart business person is one who sees an opportunity to provide a solution to an apparent problem. States are trying to figure out a way to regulate and collect money from this booming industry. If you really knew what was in the works, you would see many companies positioning themselves to do business, once it is legalized. Medical Marijuana provides a payment system, they do not deal with the substance or collect taxes. And as for you digging up the past on the company? It is obvious that MMI is in SEC compliance or they would not be selling stock at the rate they are.
Herbi,
I haven't deleted anything. I have an editor who evidently edits my comments as I have seen comments displayed on my screen that lists all my comments that were not published. In any case, this is the first I've seen any comment by you or about your specific concern.
As for the tax thing, I took it for granted anyone reading the article would understand that a public company does not collect taxes but administers them.
I find it interesting that you take issue with my "poetic license" regarding where the -revenue- of Medical Marijuana Inc. comes from and ignore the fact that Perlowin obviously doesn't know the difference between "revenue" and "profit". I hope to god he didn't really mean 40% of the "revenue" was going to charity. Why would anyone want stock in such a company?
Nor does it concern you that among those charities not one is a Medical Marijuana organization.
Skimming the article, it appears I wrote "from taxes" twice. I think I will change that to "from administering taxes". The concept of an integrated computer management platform is a good one, but I don't think someone who has so little understanding of MEDICAL marijuana and the needs and sensibilities of patients is the one to do it.
I have no doubt private companies, not to mention big players such as Oracle, are working on an integrated computer management platform, if they don't already have one.
Taxing medicine is wrong, and I'm tired of seeing medical patients who need - not want, but need - marijuana being sacrificed and exploited by "recreational" users who, from their actions, regard them only as cash-cows and photo-ops.
I am not investing in the taxation of my medicine, and I don't think anyone that doesn't appreciate and respect that has any business advising anyone about medical marijuana, and certainly not local and state government.
As a patient, I happen to be very concerned about HR 2835 and SB 390. And it appears to me that Medical Marijuana Inc. has a vested interest in those bills not becoming law as that would significantly cut into their revenue from the administration of taxes on medical marijuana, their "flagship" product. It further seems to me that by promising to donate a percentage of the "profits" or "revenues" to the local government that uses their service, they intend to bribe government to not support legislation that would exempt medical marijuana from taxation such as HR 2835 and SB 390, selling patients down the river.
While giving 40% of the profit to everything but medical marijuana organizations and patients.
That's just too rude for words.
Perlowin claims that 13 years ago 10% was medical and 90% was "just pot-heads wanting to get high", and that today 90% is medical and 10% recreational.
After listening to those comments several times it's still not clear to me if he's calling 90% of medical marijuana patients 13 years ago frauds or saying 90% of marijuana users were recreational 13 years ago.
Leaving aside the possible slam on the founders of this movement, that means he believes he will lose 90% of his business if HB 2835, which moves medical marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act Schedule I to Schedule II is passed because then marijuana would fit the legal definition of "medicine", and would be exempt from tax. The same is true for AB 390.
The attitude seems to be "we're going to do this whether you like it or not".
Whatever. I don't pay people to screw me over. It's that simple.
Healthy Herbi is Bruce Perlowin's assistant!
Craig is Bruce Perlowin's brother!
This is a classic Pump and Dump scheme, INVESTORS BEWARE!
Just before Club Vivanet filed its name change with Oregon to Medical Marijuana Inc it was .10 per share which is the same as .01 pre the 10 for 1 forward split that occurred with the symbol change from CVIV to MJNA making the rise to .69 meteoric as Bruce properly claims, even though it has adjusted to 25 (that is 25 times the .01). It seems unfair to blame the "King of Pot" for unrelated, past management's diabolical reverse split of 1000 to 1, years ago. The character of Perlowin is better seen in the 10 for 1 forward split. Legitimizing the medical marijuana industry is good for the cause, and taxing at this time is like a necessary evil. JMHO.
P.S.: I followed your link which purports this company to have been the Berkshire in the SEC link, however The Berkshire Collection at issue was NOT Incorporated in the State of Delaware from my research. Even if the same Berkshire, again, blaming Perlowin for actions of past management from 5 years ago seems overkill on your part.
Craig, I have Bruce Perlowin on the phone now and he says that he agrees with your position more than he disagrees and that you haven't called him even though he has sent you invitation to do so on face book and other communications where he sent you his cell phone #. Why don't you ask him these questions, and Bruce says if he is wrong, he will admit it. He doesn't know where he or the company ever stated that charitable contributions to social organizations would exclude Medical Marijuana institutions. In fact, by buying 42 tickets from NPP fund raising events, Bruce and his group have donated approximately $25,000 to NPP during MJNA's first three months of existence. Ask Sara at NPP if this is true. Rather than complain, why don't you call Bruce and effect policy change? The King of Pot is very open and easy to get alone with based on my personal experience. Wishing you the best. SMG
Why don't you have him put the LA Talk Radio and Air America interviews back up?
Craig, Thank you for responding. I got Bruce back on the phone and he says, "We just moved servers and both interviews will be back up as soon as possible as well as my video at the LA City Counsel meeting. Again, you have my cell # on your face book web site so please call anytime." However, I believe these are in the public domain if you need to access them now. SMG
Craig, Thank you for responding. I got Bruce back on the phone and he says, "We just moved servers and both interviews will be back up as soon as possible as well as my video at the LA City Counsel meeting. Again, you have my cell # on your face book web site so please call anytime." However, I believe these are in the public domain if you need to access them now. SMG
"Craig, Thank you for responding. I got Bruce back on the phone and he says, "We just moved servers and both interviews will be back up as soon as possible as well as my video at the LA City Counsel meeting."
Why, thank you for responding. So Medical Marijuana Inc. owns blip.tv? That is so very interesting. That is who was hosting the videos.
"All that's important is that 40% of the stockholders earnings from administering taxes paid on medicine by the sick and dying will go to some charity somewhere."
Where you at Perlowin??
Quote - I got Bruce back on the phone and he says, "We just moved servers and both interviews will be back up as soon as possible as well as my video at the LA City Counsel meeting. Again, you have my cell # on your face book web site so please call anytime."
Response - It occurs to me that my attempt to be diplomatic in my previous response to this may have obscured my meaning.
Let me put it this way, when you "move servers" you copy your site to the new server, and once everything is working you redirect calls for your domain (i.e. www.medicalmarijuanainc.com) to the new server.
In other words, that explanation does not wash. I actually spent some time trying to think of a way it could be true and not a prevarication, with no luck.
The interviews cited in this article were hosted on blip.tv. The LA City Council meeting video is hosted by YouTube, and I have a screenshot of the YouTube announced "This video has been removed by the user".
Continuation of previous comment:
Further, the fact that everything on www.medicalmarijuanainc.com works except the media hosted on third party sites such as YouTube and blip.tv makes the 'moving server' excuse particularly transparent and disingenuous.
That a person who is selling stock and a business that is all about computer administration and management of MONEY and MARIJUANA would make such a ridiculous statement and display such ignorance of the most basic computer operations I find ... frightening.
'moving server' was not an "excuse" or even a reason given, Bruce only said that after the move it should be back up. Why do you reach a conclusion so hastily? Why would Medical Marijuana Inc have any obligation to have these on their web site, and why should every person in the company be an expert in Internet technology? Did Bruce claim to be an expert and why can't he hire experts instead of being one himself?
I just don't know what to believe.
I was really enthused about buying some marijuana stock in a fresh and seemingly growing market, especially as someone new to trading, but now things are looking a little shady as I learn about this company. Is MJNA depending on this card idea to work out? Is it working out, or seem like it may be actually put into action/use? They make clothes as well? All I am seeing is advertisements and pr events. What are they profiting on? stocks?
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