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Author: Johnny Green

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How Popular Will Pick-Your-Own Hemp Fields Be In The Future?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Going to a farm or orchard to pick your own fruits and vegetables has many benefits. The most obvious one is that consumers know where their food comes from. Pick-your-own crops are typically cheaper for consumers compared to stores and farmer’s markets. It’s also a fun activity that consumers enjoy doing.

Just as people can pick their own strawberries or apples, so too can they now pick their own hemp in the state of Maine. Per the Portland Press Herald:

With pruning shears in hand and a laundry hamper on her hip, Khadijah Tribble roamed rows of waist-high cannabis in search of the perfect hemp plant – robust foliage, no bugs, and enough flowers to make CBD lotions and tinctures for the elders in her church community.

The community activist made the six-hour, 300-mile round trip from her home in Salem, Massachusetts,  just to visit Sheepscot General Farm in Whitefield, which on Wednesday opened the first pick-your-own hemp field in Maine. It is believed to be only the second publicly accessible hemp field in the U.S.

The price of CBD products will largely affect the popularity of pick-your-own hemp in the future. Going forward hemp will basically be treated like any other agricultural crop, albeit with crop-specific regulations, so the option for hemp farmers to allow pick-your-own offerings to consumers should be widespread.

Only time will tell if it will be more popular, less popular, or equally popular compared to other pick-your-own crops. In the immediate future demand will likely outpace supply due to the novelty of the concept. As more farms offer pick-your-own hemp across the country it should balance things out.

CBD-products can be expensive. For savvy consumers that know how to make their own balms, tinctures, and other wellness products, it’s far cheaper to pick their own hemp and process the raw hemp into something of their choosing.

If the price of CBD products drops significantly, that could result in fewer people wanting to pick their own hemp due to the convenience of making a reasonable purchase of a finished CBD product from a store. With a record amount of hemp being planted in 2019 in the U.S., prices for hemp-derived products could certainly take a dip in 2020.

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Report: Cannabis Vape Cartridge Sales Are Down In The U.S.

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

In recent weeks a number of stories have come out regarding illnesses attributed to vape pen use. Some cases involved consumers that have reported using cannabis vape pen cartridges and others involved consumers that reported having only used nicotine-based vaping products.

Some of the cases involved THC cartridges and others did not. Some cases involved the dilutant additive vitamin E acetate and others did not. All of the cases are unfortunate. Regardless of what is to blame for each case, the popularity of cannabis vape cartridges has declined according to a report by USA Today:

Amid the health scare, the amount of the legal pot industry’s revenue that comes from vape products has dropped by 15% nationwide, with some states seeing decreases of more than 60%.

“It’s having an impact on how consumers are behaving,” said David Alport, owner of Bridge City Collective in Portland, which in two weeks this month saw a 31% drop in sales of vape cartridges that hold the oil that vaporizes when heated. “People are concerned, and we’re concerned.”

Vape pen cartridges have grown exponentially in popularity in recent years. They are convenient, discrete, and create far less odor compared to smoking cannabis. It will be interesting to see if sales continue to decrease. That will ultimately depend on what additional information comes out about the health cases.

Unregulated cannabis vape pen cartridges should be 100% avoided by consumers. Without testing, there’s no way to know what is contained in the cartridges. As for regulated cannabis vape pen cartridges, if they are purchased from regulated outlets that require testing, products should be safe. However, consumers proceed at their own risk.

Stringent regulations are likely on the way for cannabis vape pen cartridges. In Massachusetts, a 4-month ban was recently announced, which is an unfortunate public policy approach that will likely result in many consumers turning to the unregulated market, which is where the health risk is the greatest.

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Australian Capital Territory Becomes First Jurisdiction To Legalize Adult-Use Cannabis

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Advocates have long stated that if national cannabis reform cannot be achieved in a particular country, to aim for a more localized victory. That’s not to say that efforts to reform national laws should be abandoned, however, racking up victories at the local level helps build momentum for a nationwide victory.

A localized win occurred this week in Australia, where lawmakers in the Australian Capital Territory passed a measure that legalizes cannabis for adult use. Per BBC:

Lawmakers in the territory passed a landmark bill on Wednesday allowing adults to possess up to 50 grams of the drug and to grow four plants at home.

Personal cannabis use remains prohibited elsewhere in Australia, but medicinal use was legalised in 2016.

The territory’s law could be overturned if challenged at a federal level.

The distribution of cannabis still remains illegal in the territory, and adult-use cannabis is still illegal at the national level in Australia. No challenges to the local law have surfaced as of this blog post, however, that could change as time goes along.

Hopefully it doesn’t have to get to that point. As time goes on other jurisdictions will hopefully see that the sky has not fallen over the Australian Capital Territory, and lawmakers in those jurisdictions in Australia will get on the right side of history and pass similar reform measures.

If enough local victories occur and the policy changes are successful, it will increase the chances of a victory at the national level in Australia. Cannabis prohibition is a failed public policy wherever it exists, including in Australia, and thus any efforts to end cannabis prohibition should be embraced by everyone including non-cannabis consumers.

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The U.S. House Passed A Cannabis Banking Bill – What Happens Next?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Politics.

Today was a truly historic day in the United States House of Representatives. The full chamber passed, for the first time ever, a stand-alone cannabis reform bill. The bill is the SAFE Banking Act (H.R. 1595). In its current form the bill would:

  • Prevent federal banking regulators from punishing banks for working with state-legal cannabis and hemp-related businesses
  • Protect ancillary cannabis industry businesses from being charged with certain financial crimes related to cannabis’ Schedule I federal status
  • Require the Financial Institution Examination Council to develop guidance to help educate credit unions and banks on how to work with state-legal cannabis companies
  • Allow traditional lending from financial service providers to small businesses, and require regular reporting on cannabis industry loan practices involving women and people of color

The bill passed with bipartisan support, with the measure passing by a vote of 321-103 and receiving ‘yea’ votes from nearly half of voting Republicans in the chamber. The National Cannabis Industry Association has been working on educating lawmakers about the need for this legislation for a long time and deserves an enormous hat tip for its efforts.

“Having worked alongside Congressional leaders to resolve the cannabis industry’s banking access issues for over six years, it’s incredibly gratifying to see this strong bipartisan showing of support in today’s House vote,” said Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA). “We owe a great debt of gratitude to the bill sponsors, who have been working with us to move this issue forward long before anyone else thought it was worth the effort.”

“Now, it’s time for the Senate to take swift action to approve the SAFE Banking Act so that this commonsense legislation can make its way to the President’s desk,” continued Smith. “This bipartisan legislation is vital to protecting public safety, fostering transparency, and leveling the playing field for small businesses in the growing number of states with successful cannabis programs.”

The historic nature of today’s vote cannot be understated. This is the first time that a full chamber of Congress has passed a bill that contained solely cannabis reform provisions in it, as pointed out by NORML Political Director Justin Strekal.

“For the first time ever, a supermajority of the House voted affirmatively to recognize that the legalization and regulation of marijuana is a superior public policy to prohibition and criminalization,” Strekal stated in a press release.

The logical question is now being asked, ‘what happens next?’ The U.S. Senate already has a cannabis banking bill introduced (S. 1200) in its chamber. The bill was introduced in April by Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) has stated recently that cannabis banking legislation is being seriously considered in his chamber. Will it get a vote?

Larger political forces are at play, and that has resulted in a blockade of sorts for legislation coming from the House to the Senate. The provisions of this particular legislation could actually get fair consideration in the Senate now that the House vote has put the spotlight completely on the Senate chamber.

The bill received bipartisan support in the House, and a significant amount of it. Cannabis banking reform in the Senate also has bipartisan support. This bill would benefit the hemp industry, and that is a policy area that Senator Mitch McConnell supports, which is significant.

Will it all be enough to push the bill over the top? We have no choice but to wait and see. In the meantime, all cannabis industry eyes will be on the Senate. Step up and do your part and urge your Senators to get on board!

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Report: U.S. House To Vote On Cannabis Banking Bill This Week

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

The SAFE Banking Act would reform federal law to allow for better access to the nation’s financial system for cannabis companies.

Many cannabis companies have had their assets frozen and/or accounts closed simply because they were involved in the cannabis industry. Other cannabis companies were unable to open an account in the first place due to the policies of many financial institutions.

Local credit unions have been increasingly filling the void in the United States, however, the situation is still far from optimal. A reported vote in the United States House of Representatives for the SAFE Banking Act could change that. Per NORML:

Majority Leader Hoyer on Friday announced that members of the House are anticipated to hold a floor vote next week on The SAFE Banking Act (HR1595), which explicitly permits banks and other financial institutions to work directly with state-legal marijuana businesses.

“The upcoming banking vote is an important first step by Congress, but in no way should it be the last,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal. “Much more action will still need to be taken by lawmakers, in particular efforts to move forward and pass comprehensive reform legislation like The MORE Act — which is sponsored by the Chair of the House Judiciary — in order to ultimately comport federal law with the new political and cultural realities surrounding marijuana.”

Only time will tell if the vote actually occurs. The bill is co-sponsored by over 1/3rd of the entire chamber, so if the bill actually does get a vote its chances of passing are strong.

It’s unclear what appetite the United States Senate will have for the bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has famously opposed virtually every bill that has come out of the House. Will this bill be different?

The first step to finding out will be if/when the House votes to pass the SAFE Act. All eyes from the cannabis community will be on the House this week to see if the historic vote takes place.

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Ecuador Sets Hemp THC Limit At 1.0%

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Hemp reform is sweeping across the globe. The hemp plant has always been a versatile, useful plant but prohibition policies kept it from being put to widespread use for several decades in many countries all over the world.

In recent years the walls of hemp prohibition have been crumbling across the planet as more and more nations reform their outdated laws to allow for the mass production of industrial and floral hemp.

Floral hemp has been particularly popular with consumers in the last few years, driven by the rise in demand for CBD products. Nations are finally coming to the sensible realization that farmers should be allowed to benefit from cultivating the hemp plant.

Ecuador is one of those countries. The South American nation is working towards implementing a legal hemp industry, and adopted a THC standard this week. Ecuador followed in the footsteps of a handful of other countries by setting a 1% THC limit. Per Hemp Today:

The Ecuadorian government has set the maximum THC level for industrial hemp at a full 1%, following the lead of Uruguay, Switzerland and Australia.

The limit was set in policy changes outlined during a legislative session this week that legalized industrial hemp by removing it from the Ecuadorian criminal code. The 1% THC limit is based on dry weight of hemp green matter. The reformed criminal code states clearly that hemp under that limit is no longer a prohibited crop, and that regulation of THC levels is the responsibility of the National Agrarian Authority.

A 1% THC limit may not sound like much, but it’s a very progressive standard compared to other countries’ standard, including the United States. The United States has a limit of just 0.3%.

Numerous studies have found that CBD is more effective when consumed with THC. If the studies are correct, it’s better for Ecuador’s future CBD industry to have a higher THC limit because presumably, CBD products would be more effective and thus more desirable to consumers and patients.

A higher THC limit is also better for farmers, which have to destroy their harvests if they are tested and found to exceed THC standards. The higher THC limit allows all hemp farmers, both industrial and floral, more flexibility when looking for genetics to cultivate.

The hemp plant should not be limited to only being processed into CBD products, but consumer demand is going to be a deciding factor in what hemp gets turned into.

Supply and demand is going to drive public policy, and if demand for CBD results in improved policies for industrial hemp that is turned into non-CBD products, so be it.

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Will Legal Cannabis Ever Eliminate The Unregulated Market In California?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

California is home to the oldest and most established cannabis community in the United States. It’s also home to the largest population out of any state in the country. So it’s not a coincidence that California is also home to the largest cannabis industry in the nation.

The state of California was the first to legalize medical cannabis in 1996. California was not the first state to legalize cannabis for adult-use, however, when voters passed a legalization initiative in 2016 it was still a very, very big deal.

Since that time California has been implementing a regulated adult-use cannabis industry. It is literally the largest undertaking in the history of cannabis regulation, and may always hold that distinction given the fact that California is the 5th largest economy on the planet and historically home to a robust medical cannabis industry.

An analysis by the United Cannabis Business Association (UCBA), as recently featured in an article by NBC News, concluded the following:

The United Cannabis Business Association, a statewide group of legal marijuana businesses, found that about 2,835 illicit sellers, including storefronts and delivery services, are operating statewide. That’s more than three times as many illegal sellers as legal ones — 873.

When someone takes into account that even more cannabis is being sold by people and entities that don’t advertise, and thus were not included in the UCBA analysis, the unregulated cannabis market in California is even larger than 3 times that of the regulated market.

National cannabis opponents and legalization naysayers in California have pointed to the data as ‘proof’ that cannabis legalization wasn’t worth it in California, and that the state would have been better off sticking with adult-use prohibition.

However, those claims leave out some necessary context. As previously stated, fully implementing a regulated adult-use cannabis industry in California is likely to forever be known as the greatest regulatory undertaking of all time.

Bumps in the road are going to occur and unforeseen circumstances are going to pop up. It’s guaranteed. After all, there’s not exactly a playbook lying around that has all of the answers to every cannabis regulatory-related issue imaginable. Quite a bit of time will have to pass in order to properly assess the success, or lack thereof, of California’s adult-use cannabis industry.

California’s current system is obviously not optimal, but it’s absolutely vital to take into consideration that things are still evolving on an ongoing basis, just as they are in every other state where adult-use cannabis is being sold, including Colorado and Washington.

Those two states were the first to legalize (a full 4 years before California did), and they don’t have nearly the population that California does (roughly 40 million), even when their populations are combined (roughly 13 million). If things are still evolving in Colorado and Washington then it’s logical that the same would be occurring in California.

The fact of the matter is that the unregulated cannabis market will always exist in California, just as it will always exist everywhere else.

Alcohol prohibition ended several decades earlier than cannabis prohibition did in California, and unregulated booze can still be purchased within state borders for consumers that know where to find it. The same is true for unregulated cigarettes and many other consumer goods.

The task before California regulators is to improve California’s cannabis regulatory system going forward, implementing valuable suggestions from the public and the cannabis community along the way in a timely fashion. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s an extremely worthwhile endeavor.

Everyone needs to realize that things will never be ‘perfect,’ if for any reason because there are so many differing opinions as to what ‘perfect’ entails.

The realistic goal is achieving a reasonable balance between regulations and parameters that allow responsible cannabis companies to thrive in an equitable way that also ensures safe products for consumers, knowing that the unregulated market will never 100% disappear.

A vast majority of consumers would prefer to purchase cannabis legally for a number of reasons, however, that requires options being available that are enticing to those consumers. High prices don’t help. Local cannabis bans don’t help. Not having access to places to legally consume cannabis doesn’t help.

Those issues and many more will have to be properly addressed in order for California’s adult-use cannabis industry to reach its full potential, and with it, outpace (but not 100% replace) the unregulated market in a meaningful way.

It will take time, patience, and a heavy dose of involved stakeholders working together to identify and implement viable solutions in order for that to happen.

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Vaping Concerns Highlight Ongoing Need For Cannabis Industry Transparency

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

The last week has been filled with media coverage regarding recent illnesses associated with vaping. As we previously blogged about, in recent weeks hundreds of illnesses and half a dozen deaths have been reported across the country, with e-cigarette device usage being pointed to as the likely cause.

Some of the cases involve consumers that have reported using cannabis vape pen cartridges and some involve consumers that reported having only used nicotine-based vaping products. Certain cases involve the dilutant additive vitamin E acetate and others do not. A lot of unknowns still exist, and regulators are still looking into the matter.

The deaths and illnesses are tragic, and that can’t be emphasized enough. Calls have been growing for many days for lawmakers and regulators to do something. Regardless of if new laws and/or regulations are passed, the cannabis industry needs to step up in this crucial moment.

Members of the legal cannabis space need to be as transparent as possible. It hasn’t been determined yet whether legal cannabis vaping products were to blame for any of the illnesses, and hopefully legal cannabis products truly had nothing to do any of the cases.

Makers of cannabis products need to always use quality inputs, and always make it extremely easy for consumers to know what goes into products. The burden is not solely on the consumer to know if something is harmful or not. The burden is also (and especially) on cannabis product makers.

The tobacco industry has been notorious for selling products that they knew were harmful. We are learning the same right now about the opioid industry. The cannabis industry has to be better and more responsible than those two industries. If not, the industry has clearly failed, regardless of how much money is ultimately made.

We will all have to wait and see what policymakers and regulators do regarding vaping products. But in the meantime, the cannabis industry needs to be proactive and strive to be good stewards of the cannabis plant and movement.

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Are Prices For U.S. CBD Products About To Drop Significantly?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

The popularity of CBD has increased exponentially in the last few years. For many decades consumers focused on THC, however, that has evolved a great deal in the second half of this decade.

CBD has been billed as possessing a number of wellness qualities, with some claims being well-founded and others not. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation out there about CBD. That is what happens when an industry is growing at a rapid pace and people are scrambling to try to build their fortune from riding an industry wave.

As far as CBD has come in recent years, it is still a very young industry and savvy entrepreneurs know that the landscape is going to shift a lot in the coming years. 2019 was a record year for hemp licensing in the United States, as recently reported by Vote Hemp:

“Since the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp cultivation in the U.S. has grown rapidly. The number of acres of hemp licensed across 34 states totaled 511,442 in 2019—more than quadruple the number of acres licensed from the previous year. State licenses to cultivate hemp were issued to 16,877 farmers and researchers, a 476% increase over 2018.”

The acres of hemp that survived are about to be harvested (or already have been) and a significant amount of the hemp is going to end up being sourced to make CBD products. More United States CBD products are about to flood the market than ever before.

It begs the question – what impact, if any, will that have on the prices for CBD products in the United States? In a long-established industry, an influx of supply would lower the price. However, the CBD industry is different because it is so new.

More and more consumers are using CBD products with every passing day. It’s possible that consumer demand in the United States will grow alongside the increase in the number of CBD products in the marketplace and perhaps exceed supply.

It’s also possible that demand could lag compared to how much supply is hitting the market, and market prices could get slashed to calculate for it. Many farmers and entrepreneurs have placed a lot of hopes and resources into this year’s hemp harvest with most eyes on the CBD market. It will be interesting to compare CBD prices from earlier this year to whatever prices are at around the end of the calendar year.

One thing is for sure, the popularity of CBD is going to continue to increase into the foreseeable future, and that’s good news for entrepreneurs that can successfully navigate the shifting landscape.