WeedLife News Network

With cannabis prohibition on the decline and medical marijuana now legal in 33 states, it’s a great time for innovators to create new and exciting technology to improve how people cultivate and consume cannabis. 

However, it hasn’t always been this way. 

For many decades THC was the most popular and well-known cannabinoid.

That has changed in recent years to some extent.

THC is still very popular, however, other cannabinoids have seen their popularity increase recently, with CBD seeing the most dramatic increase in popularity and awareness.

Google search trends show that CBD is queried more often than THC, and that has been the case for a few years now.

Interest in CBD is clearly on the rise, but what about actual use? 

New research out this month suggests that medical cannabis is extremely prevalent among patients looking to treat symptoms for a serious tissue disorder.

The study, which will be published in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, found that more than one-third of patients diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) have used marijuana to manage symptoms.

NORML, which reported on the study last week, said that the researchers found that 37 percent “reported having used cannabis therapeutically,” with cannabis use particularly prevalent “among patients who reported experiencing either moderate or severe pain.”

“Of all of the traditional and complementary therapies used by respondents, ‘marijuana was self-rated as most effective,’” NORML noted in its write-up.

What is EDS?

The National Institute of Health defines Ehlers-Danlos syndrome as “a group of disorders that affect connective tissues supporting the skin, bones, blood vessels, and many other organs and tissues,” the outlook for which can “range from mildly loose joints to life-threatening complications.” The hallmark symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome are extremely flexible joints and elastic-like skin that is susceptible to bruising.

It can reduce anxiety, promote healing, and relax the body and mind. Here are some other ways athletes use cannabis to enhance performance.

Anna Symonds, Education and Partnership Manager for East Fork Cultivars, has been a  rugby player for 18 years and attributes a lot of her longevity as a professional athlete to cannabis. 

While she experimented with cannabis as a teenager, she discontinued this practice when she got more serious about sports. After she smoked with some teammates after a game, she experienced immediate healing and muscle relaxation. “I started to have this mental shift of seeing cannabis as medicine.” About five years ago after she got a back injury, cannabis proved to be the only thing that would provide her with pain relief and muscle relaxation, while increasing her functionality without the side effects from other medications.

Some time ago, Symonds observed how she would play better if she smoked the night before. “In addition, it  helped with the anxiety that comes before a competition, as well as relaxing the mind and body.” Also, the munchies enabled her to take in enough good calories so she could power up for the next day.

By microdosing before practice with a 1:1 full spectrum chocolate edible containing 1 mg THC, Symonds found the sweet spot where her pain would reduce and her mind would get into flow state where she was fully present and performing fully optimally. 

Cannabis is safer than alcohol.

How much so?

According to at least one peer reviewed study the cannabis plant is 114 times safer than alcohol.

In fact, the cannabis plant is safer than many substances that are common around households across the globe.

With that being said, that is not the same as saying that cannabis does not have any side effects.

Illinois has been making major headlines in the cannabis sector, as some groups cry out that the plans for granting new business licenses are not inclusive enough of minorities, and that the lottery system for choosing new businesses license holders is unfair. 

The Malta Medicines Authority is steering standards of good practice into day-to-day excellence, regulating medicinal cannabis through an approach that upholds scientific quality, innovative research and stakeholder engagement.

As a regulatory body, the Malta Medicines Authority (MMA) provides an infrastructure that supports research and development as well as the accessibility of quality medicinal cannabis. Through guidance, technical reviews and scientific evaluations, the MMA enables controlled sourcing of cannabis-based products for the Maltese market and oversees prospective operations of local manufacturing facilities, alongside educational endeavours tailored to the evolving needs of stakeholders.

What are the main developments in Malta relevant to cannabis for medicinal and research purposes?

Medicinal cannabis gained momentum in Malta particularly over the past three years, recognising the opportunity to get policy decisions right and implement practical regulation. The 2018 amendments to the Drug Dependence (Treatment not Imprisonment) Act (Chapter 537 of the Laws of Malta) enable licensed medical practitioners to prescribe not only cannabis-based products which hold a Marketing Authorisation, but also other products which are manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).

The first product was made accessible to patients in Malta by May 2018, following a notification of approval issued by the Superintendence of Public Health on the recommendation of the Medicines Authority. All individual packs of the four products approved to date are serialised with tamper-evident labels upon sourcing to Malta, for traceability purposes. The product portfolios are followed up and any adverse reaction reports managed through a set procedure.

The enactment of Chapter 578 of the Laws of Malta and its subsidiary legislation, also in 2018, portended the legal provisions relevant to the production of cannabis for medicinal and research purposes. The Advanced Scientific Initiatives Directorate within the MMA developed a regulatory framework, including guidance documents which provide an overview of specific procedures such as cannabis cultivation, production, analytical considerations, licensing, security and reporting measures, enabling the implementation of a transparent system throughout all processes, including due diligence and certifications relevant to manufacturing, as well as monitoring and control.

The most lenient states permit consumers to purchase almost every CBD type irrespective of its source or intended use.

As of 2018, all 50 states have officially legalized the use of hemp-based CBD products. In the United States, governing officials initially classified CBD, hemp, and marijuana as harmful substances. However, recent medical insight encouraged federal authorities to legalize industrial hemp and CBD on a national level.

For routine CBD consumers, legalization may be good news. Though CBD-based products are manufactured and distributed throughout the United States, you’ll need to remember that each state has set its own rules regarding CBD use.

If your state allows its citizens to use CBD products, it doesn’t mean that a neighboring state has implemented the same rules and regulations. Put simply, federal laws are mostly for legislation purposes and will only override the provisions of state law in rare circumstances. With this in mind, pay close attention to any exceptions to the nationwide legalization.

Before answering the question of which states allow CBD and pinpointing what CBD products you can use, you should gain an understanding of how CBD’s source and intended use impact legislation. Studying the relationship will make it a lot easier for you to differentiate between CBD’s legal and illegal use.

The West Coast wildfires may finally be slackening a bit thanks to kinder winds, merciful rain, and the heroic efforts of firefighters from Canada to Mexico, but the fight is far from over for cannabis growers whose crops went up in smoke and cannabis companies who will be struggling to stay afloat due to the diminished supply. The one-two punch of Covid-19 and the historic fires that ravaged (and in some cases are still ravaging) huge swaths of the western states may prove to be more than some businesses can withstand despite some industry leaders stepping up to lend a hand.

Nature’s Medicines, which has two medical marijuana dispensaries in the Valley, has announced that they’ve launched a medical marijuana delivery service in the Phoenix metro area.

“Our medical marijuana patients will now be able to order their favorite cannabis products at our low dispensary prices without the markup charged by other delivery services and get them delivered right to their front door,” said CEO Jigar Patel.

European Industrial Hemp Association Managing Director Lorenza Romanese tells MCN about Novel Foods legislation and industrial hemp in the EU.

The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), founded in 2005, is the only pan-European membership body serving the industrial hemp sector, boasting members from 25 EU Member States and 12 third countries.

A cadre of lawyers, accountants, insurers and real estate agents expect big returns from the start of adult-use marijuana sales in Maine on Oct. 9 as companies seek professional help to navigate the complicated new market.

While they had previously shied away from touting their “green business” clientele in Maine, those professionals now are openly advertising specialties in the highly regulated recreational marijuana business as it comes with increasing oversight at the state and federal levels.

MCN speaks with Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration about medical cannabis regulation and access.

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which operates under the aegis of the Department of Health, is responsible for regulating therapeutic goods – including pharmaceutical and complementary medicines, medical devices, tests, and vaccines – across Australia. It oversees the classification and manufacture of medicines and medicinal products; as well as conducting risk and safety assessments, standards enforcement, and post-market monitoring.

As the regulatory body in charge of determining the validity of applications to prescribe medical cannabis, the TGA has approved requests for cannabis prescriptions to treat conditions and symptoms including:

It should be noted, however, that applying to prescribe cannabis for one of the above conditions does not guarantee approval from the TGA.

MCN speaks with a spokesperson from the TGA about Australian cannabis regulation and access, the evolution of Australian cannabis policy, and the importance of continued education within the sector.

What is the current medical and legal status of cannabis in Australia?

Australia is a signatory to the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended, which requires all signatories to implement controls on the cultivation of the cannabis plant. Commentary to the Single Convention provides an overview of the standard regime to which signatories have committed:

There's no question that this is going to be a big decade for the technology sector. We're liable to see a demand explosion for cloud computing, cybersecurity, and Internet of Things devices. But don't sleep on the marijuana industry.

Although Wall Street estimates vary wildly, as we'd expect from an industry with no modern-day precedent, global sales could hit anywhere from $50 billion to $200 billion a year by 2030. For some context here, worldwide legal weed sales didn't even hit $11 billion in 2018.

But every fast-growing industry encounters growing pains. In Canada, regulatory issues have constrained supply. Meanwhile, in the U.S., high tax rates on legal weed have made it difficult for licensed producers to compete with the black market.

In 2020, state courts still seem to be a good bet for cannabis businesses in cannabis-legal states. But federal courts are sliding backward.

A few weeks back, the Cannabis Law Institute invited me to discuss contract drafting for cannabis deals. A focal point for the panel was whether courts are willing to enforce cannabis contracts. The last time I had really looked at that issue was early 2019, when I wrote: Cannabis Dispute? Courts are Open. As the title indicates, my research (and our law firm’s experience) showed that both state and federal courts were generally open to resolving cannabis contract disputes at the time. And I assumed the trend had held. Unfortunately, it has not!

In the 2019 piece, I summarized:

[Contract enforceability] was always the biggest consideration in choosing a forum for cannabis disputes. A few months ago, we ran a survey of federal courts and cannabis litigation, observing that none of the districts at issue were invalidating state-sanctioned businesses’ cannabis contracts on the dreaded “illegal purpose” basis. This trend is holding strong in recent federal court disputes on issues from RICO to patent infringement, despite the prohibited status of “marijuana” under federal law. As to state courts, the decisions declining to hear cannabis beefs are pretty far in the rearview. (Ironically, it has been safer overall to enforce cannabis contracts in federal courts that state courts to date.) When drafting agreements for cannabis clients, we still advise as to the diminishing possibility of non-enforcement, but most cannabis companies seem comfortable choosing court over arbitration if other goals are satisfied.

In 2020, state courts still seem to be a good bet for cannabis businesses in cannabis-legal states. Although I have not run a formal survey, I also have not come across local courts tossing disputes solely because the contract related to cannabis activities (and our cannabis business litigators have worked on many of these cases). But federal courts are sliding backward. A trio of cases in Washington, Oregon and Nevada show why.

As federal marijuana legalization in the United States remains off the table, a non-profit coalition of reform advocates and businesses in the pot industry is pursuing a plan to legalize interstate cannabis commerce next year. 

As reported by Marijuana Moment this week, the Alliance for Sensible Markets has released a plan under which the group will urge governors across the country to enter interstate compacts in order to facilitate the movement of cannabis between states where pot has been legalized.

An interstate compact represents an agreement allowed under the U.S. Constitution between two or more states, which depending on the subject matter needs congressional approval. 

Throughout all the major cannabis news that has been making headlines in Europe, the U.S., and across the globe over the past ten or so years, France has been almost nowhere in the mix.

A parliamentary committee wants to change that as soon as possible and the members are urging the government to initiate a medical cannabis experiment and figure out the best way to address medical cannabis concerns. 

An Urgent Call To Action

The committee made this demand in a document, asking for a budget that would support some kind of experiment surrounding medical cannabis and its potential for legalization. 

“It’s very important that funding for the medical cannabis experiment is now integrated into this process,” said  Benjamin-Alexandre Jeanroy, CEO of Augur Associates in Paris, back in 2019 regarding the importance of moving forward and making something happen. While France has technically approved such an experiment a year ago through legal channels, there needs to be actual implementation to get something off the ground and into the trial stage so that progress can be monitored.  

Robin Reda of the French National Assembly and president of the committee claims that she believes France “has fallen alarmingly behind its European neighbors” in terms of cannabis reform overall. “The bulk of the technical work was done before the health crisis,” Reda added, explaining that she doesn’t believe this delay is due to COVID alone, as there has been plenty of time. She instead blames “bureaucratic blockage” and wonders why the government is not moving forward. 

Could marijuana legalization be on its way to South Dakota? As if 2020 couldn’t get any stranger, a new poll suggests that voters in the Mount Rushmore State could be ready to take the leap.

The survey, conducted by South Dakota-based marketing firm Lawrence and Schiller and conservative pollster Public Opinion Strategies on behalf of a group opposed to legalization, found that about 60 percent of voters intend to vote for Constitutional Amendment A, a proposal to allow adults aged 21 and over to use marijuana. 

There is, however, a significant caveat to the data. Constitutional Amendment A is not the only pot-related proposal on South Dakota’s ballot this November. There is also Initiated Measure 26, which would make medical cannabis legal in the state.

The poll was organized by the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Industry on behalf of the group “No Way On A.”

“Going back to the numbers, we know that a significant portion of that majority for (legalized recreational marijuana use) thinks it’s related to medical,” Chamber President David Owen told the Argus Leader newspaper. 

Hill Dickinson Senior Associate Rohit Fogla explores the UK’s regulatory landscape concerning cannabis finance.

As policy on cannabis in the UK and Europe continues to evolve, Rohit Fogla, Senior Associate at Hill Dickinson LLP, outlines the current regulatory regime for medical cannabis, capital raising and investment options for enterprises and investors operating in this sector.

Medical cannabis in the UK

In November 2018, the UK government changed the law to make it possible for ‘cannabis-based products for medicinal use in humans’ (CBPMs) to be ordered and prescribed by specialist practitioners without a controlled drugs licence. At the time, it was thought this might be the gateway to further liberalisation of the restrictions on cannabis in the UK, which would foster the development of a UK medical cannabis industry.

However, due to restrictions put in place around the reforms that were introduced, only a very small number of patients with a limited range of conditions have been able to access treatment within the NHS, meaning that medical cannabis remains inaccessible for many of the patients in need.

One of the main barriers to access has been doctors’ inability or unwillingness to prescribe medicinal cannabis. This is partly due to the lack of education around cannabis available to doctors, but also due to the responsibility placed on doctors who elect to pursue this form of treatment. This has meant that those people that cannot access medical cannabis on the NHS or privately, which some estimates suggest run to the millions, are forced to purchase cannabis on the black market.

It will be quite some time before we understand the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But history tells us one important thing: during times of crisis, how an industry is regulated often affects its ability to adapt and survive or even gain advantage.

Take payments and banking. While most brick-and-mortar retailers have been instituting contactless transactions to meet changing customer expectations and prevent the spread of the virus, cannabis dispensaries in the U.S. are still largely operating with cash only. They cannot accept major credit cards because marijuana is illegal under federal law. And now they’re facing a nationwide coin shortage.

With the coronavirus crippling economic activity in the U.S., the circulation of coins has dropped off significantly. Hardest hit has been restaurants, laundromats, convenience stores, arcades, and supermarket chains—businesses that rely on the flow of paper currency and need to make change. Yet unlike dispensaries, these businesses can more easily accept alternative forms of payments. 

“We still can’t operate like other businesses, unfortunately,” says Jerry Millen, owner of the Greenhouse of Walled Lake, a fully licensed medical and recreational cannabis dispensary in Michigan.

“First we ran out of pennies,” Millen says of the coin shortage. “We didn’t want to gouge the patient or the customer, so we rounded [transactions] down, which didn’t cost us a whole lot. But then we started running out of quarters, and suddenly we started to feel an impact.”