Author: Hazel Norman

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Britain’s Cannabis Industry Still Hindered By Limited Policies

Written by Hazel Norman on February 12, 2024. Posted in Business, Policy.

Medical cannabis became legal in Britain in November 2018 after the nation’s Home Secretary had rescheduled cannabis-derived medicinal products months prior. At the time, Britain’s medical cannabis law was one of the most restrictive on the planet, and it remains so to this day.

Only doctors on the GMC specialist register can prescribe medical cannabis products in Britain, and only two types of prescriptions are legal. The legal medical products are not like raw flower, edibles, or concentrated forms of cannabis like what is found in North America.

Rather, the medical cannabis products in Britain are cannabis-derived medications called Sativex and Epidyolex. Sativex is licensed in Britain to treat spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis.

Epidyolex is licensed in Britain for use in the treatment of seizures in children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, and tuberous sclerosis complex. Both medications are also widely available in many other nations.

Medical cannabis via legal means remains an undesirable, if not impossible, option for many suffering patients in Britain, which is reflected in the size of Britain’s medical cannabis program. Per The Guardian:

As of today, over 60 countries have legalised some form of medicinal cannabis: since November 2018 that’s also been the case in Britain. Some 30,000 of us have already been prescribed cannabis for conditions ranging from arthritis to epilepsy, anxiety to multiple sclerosis.

By comparison, Germany has roughly a quarter million medical cannabis patients. While Germany’s overall population is greater than Britain’s, the difference is nowhere near enough to offset the disparity in legal patient numbers. Canada has a considerably smaller overall population than Britain, and yet it has roughly 200,000 legal medical cannabis patients.

Britain’s medical cannabis program will always be limited and never reach its full potential if the current laws and regulations remain the same. Britain’s suffering patients, all of them, deserve to have the option of pursuing safe access to proven medications.

Sativex and Epidyolex may be fine for some patients, however, their applications are very narrowly tailored, and there are suffering patients who would experience no meaningful benefits from taking them.

Additionally, even patients who currently take Sativex or Epidyolex would likely save a considerable amount of money and still receive the benefits of medical cannabis by consuming other forms of cannabis products via a variety of delivery methods.

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European Union Approves Medical Cannabis Signature Drive

Written by Hazel Norman on February 12, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Medical cannabis reform is spreading across the European continent, which is great. However, the rate at which it is spreading is not fast enough to help all of the suffering patients who need the wellness benefits that medical cannabis can provide.

Unfortunately, medical cannabis was hindered for several decades due to prohibition policies throughout Europe. It is only in recent years that medical cannabis has been embraced, and even then, it’s not in every nation and is moving at a pace that does not do justice to the potential that medical cannabis possesses.

Access to medical cannabis and cannabis-based research is desperately needed throughout Europe, and that premise is at the heart of a new signature drive that was recently approved to proceed by the European Union. Per excerpts from original reporting by Marijuana Moment:

European Union (EU) officials have cleared activists to launch a signature drive for a multi-national initiative that would foster access to medical marijuana and promote research into the therapeutic potential of cannabis.

The activists behind the measure laid out three objectives they want the commission to pursue, but the body said it could only register two of them.

One approved objective asks the commission to “foster access to medical cannabis and allow the transportation of cannabis and its derivatives prescribed for therapeutic purposes to ensure the full enjoyment of the right to health.” The other requests that EU allocate “the necessary resources for researching cannabis for its therapeutic purposes.”

Activists had also pushed for the creation of a “trans-European citizens’ assembly on cannabis policies, including sanctions and the consistency of Member States’ policies,” however, the European Union indicated that it would not register that particular objective.

Advocates leading the effort will now have six months to start a petitioning drive, after which they will have one year to collect one million valid signatures. The valid signatures must come from at least seven European Union member states in order to mandate consideration.

The European Citizens’ Initiative was first introduced with the Lisbon Treaty as an agenda-setting tool in the hands of citizens. It was officially launched in April 2012 according to the European Union’s listing of the measure.

Is Medical Cannabis Reform On Spain’s Horizon?

Written by Hazel Norman on February 7, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Last month officials in Spain announced that they would be resuming discussions to pass a domestic medical cannabis regulatory measure. Currently, most of Spain’s domestic industry is completely unregulated, and legal medical cannabis is limited to exports.

According to a recent analysis, 84% of Spaniards support regulating medical cannabis per CIS data. A majority of lawmakers in Spain’s Parliament also reportedly support medical cannabis reform.

Unfortunately, historically there has existed a significant disconnect between cannabis opponents in Spain’s Parliament and the reality of what is truly going on in Spain’s communities. Spain’s cannabis consumption rate is greater than nearly every other nation on Earth, and hundreds of private cannabis clubs populate various parts of the country, yet meaningful reform and regulations have remained elusive.

The absence of a regulated domestic medical cannabis program has done nothing to deter people from consuming cannabis. Rather, it forces suffering patients to source their medicine from unregulated sources, which is far from an optimal situation. New reports surfaced this week that medical cannabis reform may be occurring in ‘the coming months.’ Per Business of Cannabis:

Spain’s newly appointed health minister has said that the country’s long-awaited medical cannabis law will be ready ‘in the coming months,’ as she makes good on her promise to kickstart progress.

Mónica García Gómez used her first appearance in Congress to reaffirm her commitment to establishing a medical cannabis framework in the country, more than a year after it was initially scheduled to be rolled out, laying out plans to ‘recover’ the conclusions that have already been approved by the lower house.

It remains unclear exactly when medical cannabis legislation will receive a vote in Spain’s Parliament, and for that matter, whether such a vote would prove to be favorable. However, momentum for such a measure does appear to be gaining steam in Spain, and it’s largely a matter of advocates in Spain’s Parliament overcoming the constant hurdles that are set up by opponents.

Lawmakers at the local and national levels need to work together in Spain to regulate medical cannabis products and commerce, rather than continue to stick their heads in the ground and let organized crime fill the void at the expense of public health outcomes.

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Why Is Cannabis Reform So Hard To Achieve In Ireland?

Written by Hazel Norman on February 7, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Back in December 2022, Ireland’s Oireachtas Justice Committee issued a report in which it recommended that Ireland consider legalizing cannabis for adult use to help combat the unregulated market.

As we have learned via Germany’s legalization effort, members of the European Union are not permitted to legalize nationwide adult-use cannabis sales, however, member nations can reform laws in such a way that the main goal of reform is to reduce the consumption of cannabis sourced from the unregulated market.

Reforms involving permitting adults to cultivate, possess, and consume cannabis are within the parameters of continental agreements, as are noncommercial cannabis clubs and regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot programs.

Unfortunately, a recent scheduled vote for an adult-use legalization measure was delayed for at least nine months in Ireland, as originally reported by Marijuana Moment:

The Irish government is proposing to delay a vote on advancing a bill to legalize marijuana possession by nine months, asserting that the issue requires consideration by a special committee.

Ryan McHale Crainn, executive committee member of the Irish drug policy reform organization Crainn, told Marijuana Moment that the “delay tactic from the Irish Government on cannabis decriminalisation is disappointing given the clear calls from the Citizens’ Assembly and overwhelming public support for the measure.”

Cannabis reform is gaining momentum in many European nations, largely led by Germany. Germany recently announced that its governing coalition has reached a final agreement, with the first components of the nation’s legalization model set to start on April 1st.

Once Germany legalizes, the Czech Republic is set to follow, and it’s virtually guaranteed that other nations will follow suit. The premise behind German legalization is the same as the premise that the previous Oireachtas Justice Committee report recommended – to end cannabis prohibition for personal use and allow nonprofit sources to operate to help eliminate the use of unregulated cannabis products.

Unfortunately, that may not happen for some time in Ireland due to the ongoing delay tactics being incorporated by cannabis opponents.

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Recreational Cannabis Ban Expected Next Week In Thailand

Written by Hazel Norman on February 7, 2024. Posted in Policy.

A lot can change in two years in the world of cannabis policy, and a great, and unfortunate, example of that can be found in Thailand. Less than two years ago, in June 2022, Thailand modernized its cannabis policies to permit adult-use cannabis cultivation and possession in instances involving cannabis varieties that are low in THC.

At the time, the measure was hailed as an amazing achievement for the global cannabis reform movement, with cannabis being removed from Thailand’s list of banned substances. The monumental policy shift served as a particularly big deal in the region where Thailand is located, with many countries in the area still having some of the harshest cannabis penalties on earth.

Thailand’s new approach involved permitting every household in the entire country to sign up to legally cultivate low-THC cannabis plants. There were no plant limits for the government’s cultivation program when it launched, and Thailand’s government even gave away over 1 million cannabis seeds directly to households that signed up.

A broad spectrum of government agencies in Thailand agreed leading up to the implementation to do their part to push Thailand’s emerging cannabis industry forward. Thailand also released thousands of people serving time for cannabis offenses. That all changed in August 2023 when a new prime minister was elected, with the new incumbent vocally opposing cannabis reform.

It is being reported that as early as next week a new cannabis measure will be introduced, with the goal of the measure being to make it clear that recreational cannabis use is strictly prohibited in Thailand. Per The Straits Times:

On Feb 6, Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said the new Bill, which bans the recreational use of cannabis, will be proposed at the Cabinet meeting next week.

“The new Bill will be amended from the existing one to only allow the use of cannabis for health and medicinal purposes,” he told reporters. “The use for fun is considered wrong.”

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who took office in August 2023, has frequently voiced his opposition to the recreational use of the drug and said it should be allowed only for medicinal use.

It is no secret that cannabis has proliferated in Thailand, however, that was by design. The previous government in Thailand did everything imaginable to make cannabis production a priority, and to make cannabis widely available.

Yet, just because cannabis is more widespread in Thailand does not automatically mean that there are significant issues resulting from it. What is currently legal in Thailand, and soon to be prohibited, is cannabis which has a very low THC content.

Compared to the cannabis in other countries, such as Canada, the cannabis in Thailand is fairly benign. Unfortunately, lawmakers and regulators do not see it that way, and it is presumed at this point that Thailand is about to go backward on its cannabis policies.

Denmark Has Not Identified Any Major Safety Issues With Prescribed Cannabis

Written by Hazel Norman on January 29, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Denmark has conducted a medical cannabis pilot program since 2018 in which select doctors are permitted to prescribe medical cannabis products to suffering patients diagnosed with certain medical conditions.

It is not the same as medical programs in other countries that have adopted nationwide programs, such as what is found in Germany. What is found in Denmark is much more limited. However, it does provide safe access to medical cannabis for the program’s participants.

Switzerland is an example of a country that has taken a similar approach but for adult-use cannabis commerce. Germany’s proposed legalization model that Bundestag members are considering also includes regional adult-use cannabis pilot programs.

The goal of cannabis pilot programs is to gather research and data at a local level to help national lawmakers and regulators be better suited when crafting laws and rules at a larger level. Denmark recently published recent findings from its medical cannabis pilot program. Per Cannabis Health News:

Despite an increase in the number of prescriptions for cannabis products in 2021 and 2022, annual reports of adverse reactions decreased by half. The Danish Medicines Agency confirms that these reports did not reveal any safety concerns and that no batch-related side effects were identified during the period.

Denmark’s medical cannabis pilot program is expected to last until 2025. What happens at the end of the pilot program is up in the air right now, however, it would be logical that Denmark’s lawmakers would be able to implement a robust, nationwide medical cannabis program, relying on the pilot program’s research and data for guidance.

Medical cannabis legalization was once considered to be a ‘brand new’ area of public policy, however, with so many nations already having medical cannabis programs successfully in operation, Denmark passing such reform would not be considered to be as big of a leap as it would have been years ago.

South Korea Is Moving To Ban Cannabis References In Products And Brands

Written by Hazel Norman on January 29, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Legal cannabis products are more widely available now in many markets around the world than at any other time since the dawn of global cannabis prohibition. To be fair, not as many markets feature legal products that are high in THC content. However, consumers and patients have a lot more options now than in past decades.

Uruguay and Canada remain the only two countries where sales of high-THC products are permitted nationwide. Uruguay continues to limit legal product sales to residents of the South American nation, while Canada permits legal sales to anyone of legal age regardless of residency status.

Malta and Luxembourg are in separate categories, with Malta only permitting personal cannabis cultivation and noncommercial clubs from which to source legal cannabis, and Luxembourg’s legalization model only permits limited home cultivation.

Products containing little to no amounts of THC, yet containing other cannabinoids, can be found on every continent now. Sometimes those products are regulated, but a vast majority of the time the products are poorly regulated or not regulated at all.

CBD products are particularly popular among patients and consumers, even though they are often shrouded in mystery as far as where the ingredients were sourced from, who the company is that sells them, and several other consumer concerns. It has created a lot of confusion in many markets.

Some countries are working to provide more consistency by drafting sensible policies and regulations. Other countries are taking more extreme measures, with South Korea’s government being a prime example. South Korea is moving to ban all cannabis references in food products and other brands. Per The Korea Times:

Starting July, references to narcotics in food products and brand names will be prohibited so as to discourage people from making light of drugs and drug use.

Business owners who fail to comply may face the suspension of their business, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

The region in which South Korea is located is known for having some of the harshest cannabis policies on earth, with multiple nations in the region still issuing the death penalty for certain cannabis offenses.

Cannabis prohibition is a failed public policy that shows no evidence of working, and it is unfortunate that South Korea is choosing to go in the wrong direction with this latest cannabis policy move.

Czech Republic Doctors Prescribed 210 Kilograms Of Medical Cannabis In 2023

Written by Hazel Norman on January 22, 2024. Posted in Policy.

Medical doctors in the Czech Republic prescribed roughly 210 kilograms of medical cannabis products last year according to new data from the nation’s State Agency for Medicinal Cannabis. That is reportedly 43 times more medical cannabis compared to what was prescribed just five years ago.

Currently, six companies hold medical cannabis production licenses in the Czech Republic where medical cannabis prescriptions are covered by public health insurance. Germany is the only other European nation where public health insurance covers medical cannabis prescriptions.

Medical cannabis was first legalized in the Czech Republic in 2013, with the first patients receiving safe access to medical cannabis in 2014. The Czech Republic’s State Agency for Medicinal Cannabis has medical cannabis sales data publicly available going back to 2015.

Advocates in the Czech Republic are also pushing for adult-use legalization, in line with Germany’s legalization effort. Per BRNO Daily:

According to a study prepared by the Pirate Party, the state could raise between CZK 650 million and CZK 1.8 billion annually by legalising marijuana and taxing it. The Pirates also see savings in the prison and judicial systems if cannabis is legalised.

Other European countries, including Germany, are preparing similar legalisation plans.

An estimated 125,000 people use marijuana illegally in the Czech Republic.

In April 2023, when Germany’s adult-use legalization measure was formally introduced by German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, lawmakers in the Czech Republic made it clear that they would be pursuing legalization too.

Per Expats CZ, an online poll they conducted at the time regarding adult-use cannabis reform in the Czech Republic found that 92% of survey respondents answered ‘yes’ to the question, “Do you agree with the government’s plans to regulate the recreational cannabis market?”

Thailand Expected To Go Backwards On Cannabis Policy

Written by Hazel Norman on January 22, 2024. Posted in Policy.

In June 2022, Thailand reformed its cannabis policies to permit adult-use cannabis cultivation and possession in instances involving cannabis varieties low in THC. At the time it was hailed as an amazing achievement for the global cannabis reform movement, and it served as a particularly big deal in the region where Thailand is located.

It really seemed that Thailand’s government was fully invested in pursuing cannabis reform and making cannabis a national product. Every household in the entire country could sign up initially to legally cultivate low-THC cannabis plants. It was the first time in the history of the world that such a public policy was implemented at a national level.

At the time Thailand’s Public Health Minister indicated that there would be no plant limit for the government’s cultivation program. Thailand’s government also gave away over 1 million cannabis seeds directly to households that signed up. Additionally, the government gave out low-interest loans to help aspiring cultivators get their operations started.

Thailand’s government also launched an app to help streamline the process of people signing up their households to cultivate cannabis. An FAQ public service announcement effort was launched to help people understand the law and cultivation program back then.

A broad spectrum of government agencies in Thailand previously agreed to do their part to push Thailand’s emerging cannabis industry forward. Thailand also released thousands of people serving time for cannabis offenses.

By every measure, Thailand was trying to become an international cannabis powerhouse back in 2022. However, that was then, and big changes appear to be on the way, with Thailand expected to regress on its national approach to cannabis policy. Per Bangkok Post:

Smoking cannabis is likely to require a permit from a doctor, according to Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew, who says his new cannabis bill differs from a failed predecessor as it will be very clear on how to use the plant for medical treatment.

Dr Cholnan insisted that the bill preserves a key point that cannabis is to be used for medical treatment only, and any use for recreational purposes will not be allowed.

It’s unfortunate that Thailand’s government is pursuing this new approach to cannabis. Cannabis use is widespread in Thailand, particularly after such a big push by the government itself in 2022. It’s going to be impossible to eliminate recreational use in Thailand, just as it is in every other nation, and Thailand would be wise to improve on its current model rather than scrap it.