When it comes to cannabis cultivation, all growers seem to believe they invented how to do it.

And for a long time, those hard-earned secrets were kept close to the vest.

Now, with legalization, expert cultivators working in the legal market are becoming increasingly more likely to share their know-how.

With that sharing of knowledge, they’ve also come to realize that growers have been holding on to superstitions and myths.

“There are countless ‘legacy’ practices used in the cannabis industry with absolutely no scientific justification,” said Travis Higginbotham, vice president of production for Harborside Farms, based in Salinas, California.

Soon, businesses will be able to grow and sell recreational marijuana in Connecticut, but how do we make sure none of it ends up on the black market?

Other states use technology to track marijuana.

Track-and-trace technology doesn’t just help ensure marijuana stays in the regulated market, it also protects consumers, it’s easier to recall products that go bad, and it’s all because companies can track even ounce from seed to sale.

"I want to make sure that we are doing the most efficient, thoughtful process with every gram," Megan Sanders, CEO of Canna Provisions, tells us.

Megan is able to monitor every ounce of marijuana through her Canna Provisions, whether it’s seedlings, in an incubator, or the final products customers buy.

Imagine it’s 2025…

Cannabis is the nation’s cash crop, and your friend is telling you about a new “super strain” at the local dispensary.

But he didn’t tell you that it was produced using CRISPR gene editing.

CRISPR technology can edit a plant’s genetic code by removing or replacing a specific genetic sequence.

Gene editing will improve the efficiency of growing operations and unlock higher profit margins for cannabis companies.

Walking into a grocery store, do you question whether or not the meat at the deli is safe to eat or if the frozen meals were prepared in a clean environment? Chances are, you've probably never thought twice about it. But when stepping into a medical or recreational cannabis dispensary, you may be less confident about the safety of the products on the shelves.

Herein lies the difference between an established, well-regulated industry (food) and a brand new emerging industry with no federal regulation or guidance (cannabis).

Most consumers assume that products sold on grocery store shelves are safe. For good reason—the current regulations enforced by the FDA or the USDA on the food industry ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of the products you purchase.

As the cannabis industry inches towards federal legalization, it would be wise for product manufacturers to implement the same rules followed by the food, dietary supplement, and drug industries. Here's what they are.  

GMP and cGMP

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) outline the conditions and practices the industry should follow for processing safe products under sanitary conditions, including personnel, plant and grounds, sanitary operations, sanitary facilities and controls, equipment and utensils, processes, and controls, warehousing, and distribution, and defect action levels considerations. 

Delta-8 THC is a popular cannabis product which offers slightly different benefits from its half brother delta-9. Though delta-8 is a product of delta-9 in nature, it’s also quite possible to source delta-8 THC from CBD. Read on to find out how its done.

Let’s be honest, you’re probably not going to set up a science experiment to make delta-8 THC at home from CBD. And that’s okay. Unless you’ve got a chemistry degree, or some incredible natural know-how, it’s just not a beginner’s activity. On the bright side, you don’t need to! Plenty of delta-8 products abound, as well as even newer offerings like THCV, delta-10, and THC-O-Acetate. We’ve got a bunch of great delta-8 THC deals, and way, way more. So take a look at our constantly expanding catalogue, and buy your finished product without worrying about a chemistry set.

First off, what is delta-8 THC?

Delta-8 THC is growing in popularity, but what it is, isn’t always understood. Delta-8 is an isomer of delta-9, meaning it shares the exact same chemical formula of: C₂₁H₃₀O₂, but with a different configuration of atoms. Delta-8 and delta-9 (and all other delta-THCs) are stereoisomers of each other, meaning they differ on nothing more than the placement of a double bond. For delta-9, the standard THC associated with marijuana, it’s on the 9th carbon atom in a chain, for delta-8, its on the 8th.

Delta-8 is a naturally occurring cannabinoid, which is produced in nature through the oxidation of delta-9 THC. When delta-9 comes into contact with oxygen, it loses electrons, thus creating delta-8, a more stable compound with a longer shelf life, since further oxidation is not an issue. Delta-8 only transforms from delta-9 at extremely low rates, meaning what occurs naturally is not in a high enough volume for any kind of product. In order for enough for actual use, it requires synthetization by humans, which we’ll get to soon.

The two isomers, delta-8 and delta-9, share many of the same medicinal characteristics, but differ in a few important ways, which can greatly affect both user experience, and user preference. Delta-9, for starters, is known to cause anxiety in many users. Delta-8 does not, meaning it’s a better treatment for anxiety, as well as not as likely an agent to produce it, in those not attempting to treat it. Delta-9 is also known for an intense high, cloudy head, and couch locking – when a person is so stoned they literally feel like they can’t move off the couch.

The question of how a cannabinoid is “made” does not come up very often. That’s because it’s usually pretty simple, they are “made” by the cannabis plant. However, there are a few compounds that are byproducts of phytocannabinoids and some other type of chemical catalyst… meaning they aren’t 100% naturally derived. THC-O Acetate falls under this category. So what is the actual THC-O potency and how exactly is this new and exciting cannabinoid created?

The psychedelic THC-O Acetate sure sounds interesting, and goes to show just how many different products can be made from cannabis. Compounds like that one, THCV, Delta-8 THC and Delta 10 are the newer face of the cannabis industry. We support the expansion of cannabis use, and have some really great deals for delta-8 THC and many other compounds. Take a look at our selection, and join the cutting edge of marijuana use.

What is THC-O?

In short, THC-O is an analog of THC, meaning is has a similar chemical structure but, as is the case in chemistry, minor differences often lead to substantial changes. THC-O is short for THC-O-Acetate, or THC Acetate/ATHC. Most of the time you’ll see it written and referred to as THC-O. It’s important not to confuse ATHC with THCA, the parent molecule of THC which found in raw plants that have not yet been decarboxylated.

In tetrahyrdocannabinolic acid (THCA) the A stands for acid, NOT acetate like with ATHC. THCA can be converted to THC-O, but THCA is a natural phytocannabinoid and THC-O is not. THC-O is a synthetic cannabinoid that can only be produced in a laboratory setting, preferably by an experienced chemist. With the rise of DIY technologies, it can be tempting to try and make THC-O yourself, but the process can be difficult and quite dangerous, so it’s best left to the professionals.  

Because it is an artificially produced cannabinoid, what you see is what you get – meaning all you get is THC-O and none of the beneficial terpenes and flavonoids that are found in natural oils. This is an obvious issue for whole-plant advocates and proponents of the entourage effects, but when it comes to pharmaceutical formulations, isolated cannabinoids are always preferred.

The purity of these compounds means that 1 milligram of isolate equals measures out to exactly 1 milligram of cannabinoid, whereas 1 milligram of full-spectrum plant extract might have 0.5 milligrams of THC, 0.3 milligrams of CBD, and 0.2 combination of other terpenes and compounds. This makes isolate very easy to use for specific dosing and product production.

Australia’s Victorian government says Agriculture Victoria Research scientists have developed the world’s most complete medicinal cannabis genomic reference.

The organisation has been licensed by the Australian Government to undertake medicinal cannabis research. Agriculture Victoria scientists turned their expertise in genomic DNA testing to develop new tools enabling the extraction of genetic information from various medical cannabis strains from around the world, which has been entered into a database.

The tools, able to sequence the equivalent of 20,000 cannabis genomes per week, flag attributes such as growth rate, bud size, cannabinoid profile and disease resistance. This helps scientists zero in on strains that would likely be most effective in treating various conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cancer.  Furthermore, the systems developed allow for compliance and regulatory related testing to be performed quickly and cost-effectively.

In 2016, Victoria became the first Australian state to legalise the use of medicinal cannabis and its first government grown crop was also harvested that year. However, as in much of Australia, Victoria’s program is fairly limited compared to many jurisdictions outside our shores.

“Victoria’s cultivation trial has not only made medicinal cannabis available to patients but has also provided our world-leading scientists with important genetic information to design more effective products,” said Victoria’s Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas. “Research into medicinal cannabis is a great example of how Victoria’s science and health sectors are working hand-in-hand for the benefit of our community, particularly those people who are suffering from chronic health conditions.”

Delta-8 THC, a trendy new cannabinoid being touted as "marijuana lite," has managed to squeeze through a legal loophole and onto the shelves of CBD shops, head shops and convenience stores across the country. "Many people are interested in Delta-8 THC because it sounds like it has a lot of health benefits, it's stronger than CBD, it's relatively cheap, you don't have to go to a dispensary to get it and it does give you a little bit of a high — though it's weaker and usually shorter-acting than a marijuana," explains Michele Ross, PhD, a neuroscientist who studies the medical uses of cannabis and other plants, and the author of CBD Oil for Health. "But as a scientist and an educator, I really urge people to do the research before they try it," she says.

The problem is, because this product is so new, there is little research on its effects so far, and few regulations to guide or protect consumers. Here's what you need to know so far before you chew, drink or inhale it:

What exactly is Delta-8 THC?

Delta-8 THC is basically the result of a clever chemist taking a substance found in hemp — which is legal under the 2018 Farm Bill and does not produce a high — and finding a way to tweak the chemical bonds to create a closer cousin of marijuana while staying within the bounds of what the bill considers legal.

Confused? Yeah, it's confusing. Here's a little primer on plant biology that may clear it up: Hemp and marijuana are closely related plants in the cannabis family. They each contain more than 100 cannabinoids, chemicals that have various effects on the brain and body. The two most well-known cannabinoids are Delta-9 THC, which has a psychoactive effect, making you feel high (it's what makes weed weed), and CBD, which does not make you high but is often used to relieve anxiety and pain. Under legal guidelines, cannabis plants that have more than 0.3% concentration of THC are known as marijuana; plants with less than that are known as hemp.

Now, Delta-8 THC is a minor cannabinoid that is very similar chemically to both CBD and Delta-9 THC, but only occurs naturally in teeny, tiny amounts in the hemp plant, so the real growth is done in a lab. “Products that are made with Delta-8 THC have to be chemically manufactured,” explains Ross. “They take the hemp that has CBD in it and they put a chemical like acetic acid — or something much stronger and possibly even toxic — on it to turn the CBD into Delta-8 THC.” In this process, some Delta-9 THC is also created, she says, so the manufacturer then has to chemically strip out the Delta-9, which is illegal to sell at concentrations above that magical mark of 0.3%. (In a small study by the United States Cannabis Council (USCC), 15 out of 16 Delta-8 THC samples purchased across the country contained Delta-9 THC at much higher concentrations, but that's another issue.)

Currently, patients who are admitted to the ER with cannabis intoxication have no other option but wait in the hospital until they become sober — taking up valuable resources and delaying other patients.

As of July 2021, 18 states have legalized recreational marijuana while another 18 have legalized cannabis solely for medical purposes. Meanwhile, Florida, Connecticut and Hawaii all have introduced legislation supporting legalization.As cannabis becomes decriminalized across the country, one of the unintended consequences is an increase in use and, inevitably, an increase in cannabis intoxication.

Cannabis-associated emergency department visits have gone up by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% since the first states legalized the substance in 2012. Estimates suggest that more than 1.7 million emergency room visits in 2018 were associated with THC. Trends of adults and children accidentally consuming high concentrations of THC and synthetic THC are likely to persist.

Public discourse around the symptoms of cannabis intoxication tend to be minimized, especially in comparison to other narcotics where overdoses frequently result in death. Nevertheless, cannabis intoxication can be incredibly distressing. Symptoms include extreme anxiety, panic attacks, psychotic reactions, uncontrollable shaking or even seizures. Synthetic cannabis symptoms are more severe.

According to emergency room physicians, patients can’t wait for an antidote and neither can doctors, but unfortunately, the market has lacked an efficient solution for cannabis intoxication.

A study from the University of California Berkeley Cannabis Research Center has determined that licensed cannabis cultivation operations use less water than previously thought. Researchers from the center began studying water use by cannabis growers in 2017, following the legalization of recreational marijuana in California the previous year.

Data for the study was collected from water use reports from growers licensed to cultivate cannabis and from anonymous farmer surveys. The research determined that cannabis farmers are irrigating their crops with water from several sources including streams, wells, captured rainwater, springs, and municipal water systems. Researchers found that most regulated cannabis operations use water from groundwater wells.

“There is growing concern over the impacts of cannabis farms on the environment and water resources in particular, yet data on cultivation practices and water use patterns have been limited,” the authors of the study wrote, and added,  “The current study uses data reported by enrollees in California’s North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Cannabis Program to model how variation in cultivation practices and the use of stored water affect the timing and amount of water extracted from the environment.”

Van Butsic and Ted Grantham, co-directors of the Cannabis Research Center and adjunct fellows at the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, told local media that the study “hasn’t found cannabis to be particularly thirsty relative to other crops.”

“Legal, outdoor production uses about the same amount of water as a crop like tomatoes,” Bustic said.

Delta-8 THC, a naturally occurring cannabinoid found in the hemp plant, is both the hottest new product in the cannabis space and the industry’s latest bogeyman.

Every day, there’s a new article expressing alarm about Delta-8’s legality, accusing those who produce and sell it of risking consumer safety. More than 15 states have actually banned Delta-8 outright—but what's most shocking about these bans is that they are supported by so many hemp and cannabis business leaders.

I am a 13-year veteran of the hemp and cannabis space, and I also manufacture Delta-8 products. I can assure you that I and many other ethical operators care deeply about consumer safety, and want these products to be studied, tested, and regulated. So I’m asking my industry colleagues to stop fueling the Delta-8 panic. I believe Delta-8 serves a genuine need, and the demand for it has been a much-needed boost to the struggling hemp industry.

Banning Delta-8 won’t protect public safety. Our industry should know better than any other that prohibition never works. It creates illegal markets, strengthens unethical operators, and endangers consumers. We can do better.

Delta-8 has people up in arms

Delta-8’s controversy stems from its strong similarity to its federally illegal cousin, Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as Delta 9-THC or just THC. Though THC’s psychoactive properties often steal focus from its many important medical applications, it’s best-known as the compound in cannabis that gets consumers high. While Delta 8 occurs naturally in hemp and cannabis, it can be sourced far more easily from hemp CBD isolate. Delta-8-THC’s molecular structure differs just slightly from Delta-9-THC—but it is a crucial difference, both legally and in terms of its effects on consumers. 

Once you start to get involved with marijuana, you start to learn that there’s much more to the plant than smoking it and getting high. Experienced users know what they like and know how to get different results with the plant, depending on different factors like chosen strain, terpenes and knowing what works with their bodies.

All the colors of the rainbow (almost)

While marijuana is primarily green, there are many different shades ranging from lime colored buds to bright purple ones. Where do these come from and why is there so much variability? Plants have thousands of compounds that affect their shape and color. Temperature, time of harvest and other factors are big influences on the plant’s color.

Most plants are green due to chlorophyll, the main compound responsible for absorbing sunlight and completing the photosynthesis process. The cannabis plant falls under this spectrum. Strains that have dark shades, such as purple, red, blues and pinks are generally high in anthocyanins, a compound that appears once the plant matures. These types of plants are more likely to have stronger smells and are also very eye catching, which is why they’re so popular, particularly the purple ones.

Colors like orange and yellow are produced by carotenoids, which are present in vegetables like squash, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. These chemicals tend to appear in plants that grew in alkaline soils.

Do different colors have different effects?

While the colors in marijuana make for more attractive plants on a visual level, perhaps influencing the way in which they smell or feel, the drug’s effects aren’t generally altered.

The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency is recalling marijuana edibles processed by a facility in Bay City over unapproved testing and sampling methods.

The facility is located at 3843 Euclid LLC (License Nos. (PR-000098 and AU-P-000106).

According to the bulletin from MRA, the marijuana-infused/edible marijuana product (Covert Cups) were distributed to marijuana sales locations throughout Michigan, including in Adrian, Ypsilanti, River Rouge, Walled Lake, Lansing, Hamtramck, Wayne and more.

The MRA reports that it was discovered in April that part of the entire batch was not sampled for safety compliance.

Edible flavors involved in the recall include S’mores Cups, Peanut Butter Cups, Banana Cream and Strawberry & Cream.

At Green Market Report, we like to focus on finances and analytics in the cannabis industry. In this article, however, we’re going to shift our focus a little bit – to fake vape cartridges.

Fake vape cartridges are a serious problem. They’re often made to mimic well-known brands, and they can reduce consumer confidence in the industry. Worse still – they can make you very sick, or even kill you if you don’t know how to spot them.

Unfortunately, the packaging for these vape cartridges can be incredibly professional. In this article, we’ll give you some tips on how you can spot the fakes.

But first, a piece of advice:

Only buy from legal vendors and trusted brands

The easiest way to avoid fake vape cartridges is to only purchase from trusted sources. You can get lab test results from legal vendors, as cannabis producers have to provide them. In those test results, you can see exactly how much THC – and other chemicals – are present in the cartridge you’re purchasing.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is finally ready to end the University of Mississippi’s monopoly on growing marijuana for medical research. This monopoly has been in place for more than 50 years.

A university study once found the Ole Miss weed had a genetic profile closer to hemp than to what you’d find at your local dispensary. The Scottsdale Research Institute sued the DEA to allow other places to grow weed for research. The lawsuit accused the Ole Miss weed of being moldy, containing sticks, and not getting properly tested before being sent to researchers.

That’s all about to come to an end. The DEA is set to issue new licenses once the agency completes the review process of current applicants. While there’s no timetable, the DEA under President Joe Biden’s administration has moved quickly on the process after years of delay during President Donald Trump’s time in office.

DEA will oversee the process

In an ironic twist, the DEA, which has played a central role in the federal government’s War on Drugs for decades, will work with new producers on the “production, storage, packaging, and distribution” of marijuana, according to information from the DEA.

The DEA will move from an enforcer of drug laws to overseeing a marijuana supply chain that involves purchasing research marijuana from growers and shipping it to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (and others). The DEA plans to allow some growers to ship small amounts directly to research labs.

One of the most significant dangers to our wildlife, environment, and global climate is something nearly every person on Earth uses every single day: plastic (single-use plastic in particular).

It is devastating oceans and waterways, covering land and beaches, and filling landfills at a staggering rate.

This is not a problem we will be able to outrun.

Thankfully, there are cannabis companies across the globe dedicated to developing hemp-based solutions to our plastic problem.

Scientists are using hemp to create biodegradable plastics, called bioplastics, that are harmless to the environment and degrade in just a fraction of the time of standard single-use plastic.

The decision comes as tech giants continue to handle cannabis apps and accounts in often unclear ways.

As first reported by TechCrunch and WeedWeek, the ongoing conundrum between cannabis and tech took its latest turn last month, when Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) updated its policies to allow pot-centric apps onto its store.

Under its new policy, Apple created leeway that allows “licensed and otherwise legal cannabis dispensaries” from working with Apple. Companies must also be geofenced to qualify for store listing.

Photo by Joanna Malinowska via freestocks.org

The decision was not a cannabis-specific one made by Apple. Instead, the move came as part of the company’s attempt to curtail fraudulent apps that scam consumers across the marketplace.

Industrial hemp could be a valuable tool for UK farming, helping to transition to more sustainable practices and provide a new cash crop, according to a farmer group.

To investigate hemp’s potential further, five farmers are collaborating with researchers at Cranfield University and the British Hemp Alliance as part of an Innovative Farmers programme by the Soil Association.

They plan to run on-farm field trials to gather science-based data about the plant’s environmental benefits.

Long stigmatised for being part of the Cannabis family (hemp varieties are low THC Cannabis Stiva L, and not used in narcotics), hemp does not require agro-chemicals.

And there is growing international evidence that it can boost biodiversity, control pests, improve soils, and sequester carbon, say researchers.

According to Cambridge University researcher Darshil Shah, hemp can be twice as effective as trees at sequestering atmospheric carbon. Here’s how.

Hemp Blockchain, Inc, a Utah-based agricultural tech company, has come up with a novel solution to measure and record information on carbon emissions and atmospheric carbon sequestration for hemp farms: blockchain.

The product, part of what the company is calling a “Carbon Protocol Initiative” may set a new standard for establishing the net carbon footprint of hemp companies, one of the company’s goals.

Photo by Remedy Pics via Unsplash

The solution will take data from critical points throughout the cultivation process, registering both CO2 sequestration and emissions into a blockchain record.