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Author: Marguerite Arnold

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How Long Will The Cannabis Fight Take In France?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The left-wing France Unbowed party is taking the fight to a still resistant government as recent polls show public opinion shifting towards cannabis legalization

Last week, French legislators discussed a bill to legalize cannabis. Put forward by the France Unbowed party or LFI, it is widely seen to be a legislative attempt to put the conversation in the national air rather than pass anything even though there was clear support for reform from five parliamentary groups including even the ruling party (LREM). The government so far has been widely resistant to full cannabis reform, implementing both a much-delayed medical trial only last year as well as finally regulating the CBD business which, as of January 7, will include the sale of flowers. This is a major victory over the government in the first week of the year as the country’s Supreme Court also just overturned the ban on cannabis flowers put forward by the government on December 30 in the plan to regulate the CBD industry.

The last such attempt put forward in 2014 was also rejected by the government. But times they are obviously a’changin’. Beyond the victory on CBD recently, as of June 2021, an Ifop survey showed that 51% of the French public was in favour of at least decriminalization – the highest number since the issue has been tracked (1970).

Things are certainly getting interesting in the French conversation. The question is, with the CBD conversation now formalized in France and a medical trial underway on a national level, how fast can cannabis reform happen on a national level here?

The Need for A Trigger…

It is not just France that is now on the edge of further reform. Germany has yet to even formalize its CBD industry, even though the new coalition here has made cannabis reform an issue for its plank of projects to get accomplished. These two countries, along with Italy, now also poised for a legislative mandate on the topic this year, are far more than say Malta or Spain, are absolutely the bellwether countries for cannabis reform in Europe, simply because they have the most economic clout.

That said, the inevitable is clearly in the air. Full and final cannabis reform is no longer an outlandish but rather a mainstream topic in every European country. 

The question is what will be the exact trigger to force the widespread legalization of the plant. It could be Switzerland’s market, due to kick off this year. It could be that legalizing formal industries in places like Portugal and the seed market in Luxembourg will also pave a path.

But no matter what “it” is, at least talk of full and final reform will be abloom in every European political capital this spring.

Be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe, starting with Barcelona in March!

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France Formalizes Its CBD Rules – But The Fight Is Just Beginning

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

The country issued new guidelines right before the new year – but while it spells good news for manufactured products, cultivators are up in arms.

In a significant move for not only France but a wider European conversation beyond that, the French authorities moved to formalize rules on CBD at a national level at the end of 2021. That they did so at the very end of the year, on December 30, has not quelled the already bubbling controversy.

Here is why. Broadly, the French Ministry of Solidarity and Health issued an order to implement Article R. 5132-86 of the Public Health code which now authorizes the CBD market. There are some winners in this – namely every producer who does not sell flowers directly (which includes herbal teas). The losers? Every cultivator and product producer who sells the leaves directly to the public, even though the regulation also allows the increase of THC in hemp cultivation from .02 to .03% as well.

That is a huge segment of the market – not only from a cultivator but also retail sales perspective. The professional organization of CBD Purveyors, the Union des Professionals du CBD, has stated that flower sales are currently 70% of their market, and of course is leading the charge against the new flower sale ban.

Importance In the Discussion

This is not the first time the strange path to legalization in France has sparked attention. The country has been moving achingly slowly forward to recognize medical use. In the meantime, CBD is being lumped, as it is in places like Germany, in an odd place where the raw flower is frequently also banned, outright. In Deutschland, hemp tea has also been on the front end of legal fights over the last few years that are still unresolved, even in the face of recreational reform simply because cannabis remains in the German Narcotics Act.

That said, the fact that now France (and Switzerland) have clearly amended their Narcotics Acts to allow the sale of both CBD and in Switzerland’s case THC, also spells an end to futile arguments on the German side of the border about how difficult dealing with this issue is. Namely, all that must be done is to do it, and further in a way that now three European countries have now done. See Malta.

It was also France where the Kannavape case (which this is also the direct result of) created a European precedent on the cross-border sale of CBD (and further for smoking).

It is in other words, no matter how strangely piecemeal, France, where the CBD market for Europe may first be nationally defined, despite all the kicking and screaming.

Be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference as it returns to Barcelona, Berlin and Zurich in 2022!

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Spanish Cannabis Reform: A Rumble On The Horizon

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The entire cannabis conversation has moved forward, dramatically, over the last year in Europe. Where does this leave Spain?

As anyone who has watched the American market, in particular, jolt slowly forward over the last seven years is beginning to see, there are similarities to what is going on in Europe now. Nothing is exactly the same of course, and the reform on the table here is sovereign rather than state. Regardless, there are indeed curious parallels afoot.

Even leaving Switzerland out of this (as it is outside of the EU), Germany has now joined the list of nations to put cannabis reform on its legislative “to do” list along with Portugal, Malta crossed the line and even France has now formalized its CBD market. In this context, the issue of Spanish reform looms large. This is even more true as Holland formalizes its cultivation market nationally and Luxembourg begins to dip its tentative heels into the seed market.

Spain, particularly given the fact that its industry is organized roughly in a cross between what Holland is (coffee shops as the focus of the retail trade but a yet formally legal cultivation network) and what Switzerland is rapidly shaping up to be, is now on the hot seat to begin to formalize this entire discussion. This is even more true given what is about to happen right next door in Portugal.

Where Do Things Stand in Spain?

The issue of reform is even more pressing given the kinds of danger those who run the clubs still face. Albert Tió, the man given credit for kicking off the entire club discussion in Spain, is still serving jail time. Yet those in both Barcelona and the Basque region (the area of the country with the second-highest concentration of clubs), have bravely fought on through the Pandemic to establish a formal industry, not to mention the federal and even EU level reform that must precede it.

Cannabis is technically decriminalized in the country. GMP grade cannabis production is also taking place (four licenses to do so have been issued by the national medication agency here). 

However, the grey zones are rapidly becoming less attractive for an industry that has both survived if not thrived in the Pandemic and further, seen significant progress just over national borders within the same region.

Indeed, both Spain and Greece are front and centre for announcements of further reform, and activists if not the flourishing industry are well aware of the same, not to mention what is afoot in Central and South America. That is why for many their new year’s resolution in 2022 is cannabis reform now, en españa.

The International Cannabis Business Conference is returning to Barcelona in March 2022! Book your tickets now!

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British Food Standards Agency To Publish CBD Guidelines

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The regulatory agency is about to release a guide of legal CBD products in the UK market

Sometime in the next few weeks, the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) will publish details about the CBD companies and products allowed to remain on sale in the UK market.

The move comes as 210 applications for CBD products are still in consideration. Late last year, the FSA claimed that the reason this document is almost 9 months late is because of the ‘quality of applications” was lower than expected.

It is now expected that the FSA will potentially issue several documents. One is a public list of validated products, the second is a list of applications for products likely to be approved.

While it is a frustrating process for all involved, it does create, at last, a formal regulatory and approvals infrastructure for CBD products specifically. 

This puts the UK ahead of several other countries at least on a regulatory front. This includes Germany, where CBD is still technically regulated under the German Narcotics Act (although CBD products are on sale in the country). It also includes Italy and France, which just issued national guidelines for the cannabinoid on December 31.

What Next?

The decision by the FSA could be the regulatory peg that the developing industry in-country hangs its hat on. This will, for the first time, allow a conversation to proceed that well may become the first regulatory schemata for the entire British industry. This in turn may help other cannabinoids, like THC, become more accepted.

So far, tragically, on the THC front, the British government has put the brakes on including medical cannabis as a covered prescription under national healthcare. As a result, the only medical cannabis available in the country is imported and further, not accessible to anyone who cannot afford both the medication and the prescription costs.

The Future of The British Cannabis Industry

It is unlikely that moving events on the continent are going to pass the UK by. Germany has just announced its intention to move forward with full boat recreational cannabis. Luxembourg, Malta, and presumably Luxembourg will all move forward in this year. Beyond this, the French have finally begun to accept CBD as a legitimate cannabinoid.

It is unlikely the Brexited British will sit this one out entirely. 

How fast further reform will come, however, is still very much in the air. The silver lining of this cloud, however, is that cannabis reform has moved another step forward in the UK.

Stay abreast of European cannabis industry developments by attending the International Cannabis Business Conference in Barcelona, Berlin, and Zurich this year.

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Switzerland’s Federal Court Decriminalizes Minor Possession Of Cannabis

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The Federal Court of Justice has just ruled in favour of decriminalizing possession of up to 10 grams of cannabis

In a move that is well-timed – namely right before the new Swiss recreational cannabis trial begins, the Swiss Federal Court of Justice has decriminalized minor possession of cannabis. The ruling is in support of a District Court of Zurich decision in 2016 when a student refused to pay the fine for possessing 8 grams.

News moves quickly in the cannabis world these days. In Zurich, the City Council has already taken an official stance on decriminalization based on the court’s ruling.

Why Is This Important?

There are several reasons why this development is important. 

The first is that supposedly, technically, and legally, this puts a damper on fines for minor possession, hopefully for the last time. The police were supposed to stop issuing fines four years ago. Despite this, the Zurich police at least have said they will still “report small quantities” even though individuals can now no longer be fined.

However, beyond this, the implications are major both domestically and right across the border, starting with the idea that a European country (even if not in the EU) will take steps to amend its national Narcotics Act. This in turn will provide a guide for (at least) Germany which will have to do the same thing as soon as it passes some kind of recreational reform. 

Where Switzerland Goes…

While every country will implement cannabis laws in different strategies and time periods, one thing is for sure. Switzerland may be outside of the EU, but its evolving marketplace may well prove to be more of a template for other countries now moving towards cannabis legalization than either Holland (within the EU) or North American examples (the U.S. and Canada). 

This is important for several reasons, starting with the fact that right over the border in Germany, there is already a fierce debate about the form that the German retail cannabis market may take. Switzerland’s approach, namely backing distribution into pharmacies and social clubs, may well in fact be a model that Germany also adopts, at least initially.

Beyond this, however, it is conceivable that at least German legislators may well take another page out of the Swiss legalization book – namely starting a recreational “experiment” rather than full boat market all at once.

No matter what happens in the coming months, however, Switzerland at least, is clearing the books of outdated laws, and becoming a model in this regard for countries in the EU to follow.

Be sure to stay abreast of breaking developments in the European cannabis industry and attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Barcelona, Berlin and Zurich in 2022!

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The World From Here: Cannabis Reform Europe Roundup 2021

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The discussion has moved forward increasingly faster this year, in large part after September because of the new German government’s decision to enact federal recreational reform as of 2022

In every revolution, there is a tipping point in time – and on the topic of recreational cannabis reform and Europe, this is indeed that moment.

Significant reform is now in the offing in several European countries, beyond Switzerland, starting of course, with Germany. The pace-setting country is in this space in part because of its population and rich economy. It is also clear because of recent political developments that include the decision in 2017 to move forward on federal medical reform as well as the newly announced decision by the newly formed Traffic Light Coalition to enact recreational reform as early as next year.

Beyond Germany, of course, there have been, particularly in the last quarter of the year, significant announcements, and progress reports all over Europe. Malta just announced that they are in fact the first mover on a recreational market in the EU, with Luxembourg likely to be a hair’s whisker behind with a market that at least at first, looks remarkably similar.

Portugal is also not out for the count – with a government snap election pushing back the inevitability of reform here as well – now almost certain to be reintroduced next year if only to keep pace with the Germans. Italy is also likely to move forward with at least a reform that allows home grow if not like Luxembourg and Malta, the public sale of seeds.

In the Czech Republic, the increased blending of medical and recreational markets (namely the use of GACP rather than GMP cannabis in the medical market) is also a model that is likely to have some kind of impact on blended markets going forward. See Switzerland as the prime European example of the same, even if not in the EU.

Do not forget that Greece is still also moving forward on the development of its medical market, as is neighbour to the north, North Macedonia.

Spain is also likely to finally move forward on some kind of regulation of its coffee shop trade, particularly as Holland also moves, however slowly and painfully, to a national model of regulatory reform and procedure.

Denmark is also likely to announce the details of its own recreational trial too, especially as the medical market continues to take shape.

In short, 2021 has been much like the U.S. in 2012 where two American states – Colorado and Washington State, voted to create recreational markets. The difference, of course, is that all this reform in Europe is of the federal kind. 

Regional Reform & The Outliers

There are still a few larger fights on the horizon, both on the sovereign and then of course regional level. Outliers even in the medical discussion include not just France but Poland as well as other countries particularly in the eastern part of the region.

On a regional level, expect recreational reform to move far more slowly. There is still wide disagreement on the implementation of this kind of guidance even in the low THC, hemp market. 

Regardless, the cannabis genie is out of the bottle here, as of this year. And no matter when actual sales now begin to happen, it will never be stuffed back.

Be sure to keep abreast of developments in Europe by attending one of the International Cannabis Business Conference events in Europe in 2022!

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Removing Cannabis From The German Narcotics Act – Is It A Pipe Dream?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

Thailand has just done it, why can’t Germany?

With all the celebratory hoopla that came with the news that Germany would, finally, after experimenting with the medical question during the last four years of the Angela Merkel headed, CDU led government, now move with the new Traffic Light Coalition into the future that includes recreational reform, have now come the inevitable questions.

Namely, for all the excitement, those on the regulatory and legal side of the coin have already been raising red flags about how quickly all of this could move – even if the government does enact formal adult-use legislation next summer or fall.

Namely, cannabis is still listed in the German Narcotics Act. And this still trips up even the CBD industry here. See, if nothing else, the embarrassing police raid on a national grocery store in Munich that may (or even may not) have been selling THC-free, CBD cookies and other “cannabis” products (as advertised by the store themselves) just this year.

However, as Thailand has just proved, this legal doom and gloom may be a bit displaced. See what just happened here. Namely, the government just removed cannabis from their national narcotics act completely.

Is This Realistic in Germany?

There will, no doubt, be a great deal of discussion about how to proceed with a recreational market while preserving the status of cannabis (even the flower) as a medical substance. 

Here is the difference between how things are proceeding in Germany vs. Thailand. The first is that in Thailand, the government has allowed a waiver of GMP standards for medical cannabis if it is grown domestically. Local farmers are allowed to deliver plants directly to hospitals.

This seems highly unlikely aus Deutschland, home of the modern pharmaceutical industry (along with the U.S.), birthed in the 1930s. 

However, one should not entirely count this kind of development out. Indeed, just over DACH border, in Switzerland, authorities are (sort of) doing the same thing as the Thai government with the advent of their own recreational trial. Namely, they are also waiving both EU GMP and Novel Food regulation on early-stage, trial products for adult use market products. 

These, however, in turn, will first be distributed via pharmacies, which themselves are under strict national and international regulatory rules, even if Switzerland is outside of the EU.

Beyond this, the Czech Republic also seems to be going a similar route. So, the idea the Thai government is now implementing is not unknown here.

That said, given the amount of money the government itself stands to make from recreational licensing, it is unlikely. And many questions remain about how the Germans will in fact proceed. It is also unlikely that the plant will be removed from the Narcotics Act completely, but rather provisions made for its use in both medical and non-medical situations, the latter of which could easily resemble the alcohol industry. Then again, this being the cannabis industry, it is impossible to predict what the path will actually be, even after the establishment of the market itself at least on the federal regulatory level.

Be sure to book your tickets early to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Berlin in the summer of 2022!

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Fiji Plans To Move Forward On Hemp Reform

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The island nation is going to move forward on basic cannabis reform as early as next year.

The 300 island archipelago nation of Fiji is moving forward on cannabis reform. The nation’s president opened the new legislative year in November with a pledge to move at least the hemp industry forward as a way of diversifying the country’s agricultural sector. This vertical accounts for about 10% of the country’s GDP. 

Current plans include identifying a foreign partner to help move the country successfully along with a first pilot project.

Industrial hemp, at least at the moment, however, is about as far as the conversation will go for now. Authorities are only interested in authorizing the growth of plants with under 1% THC.

Bringing Economic and Political Stability?

The Fiji Islands are located in the South Pacific, to the east of Australia and due north of New Zealand. With a complicated colonial past and a history of coups over the last twenty of its recent thirty-year history, authorities are clearly trying to establish a cash crop that is not too controversial. It is undeniable, however, that changing cannabis policies in both Australia and New Zealand (if not elsewhere) have influenced this new policy direction, although it is interesting that so far at least, hemp reform is as far as the island is interested in proceeding.

Fiji is one of the most developed Pacific Island economies, with a large subsistence sector. Tourism is the other big industry here, with white sand beaches and tropical weather year-round drawing global tourists. And while nobody is talking cannatourism yet, give it time. Thailand is moving rapidly to remove restrictions on its cannabis industry. Other countries in this part of the world, including the Philippines, which delayed cannabis reform indefinitely this year, are moving more slowly and cautiously.

Regardless, progress here does indicate that even in Asia, the subject of cannabis reform is shifting, even if slowly. Tourists come primarily from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, China, and the UK. As the global economy rebounds from Covid, it is unlikely that this vertical will be overlooked, anywhere, as a source of economic development one way or the other.

For more updates on the global cannabis industry, be sure to stay tuned to the International Cannabis Business Conference blog!

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Organizing For National Cannabis Reform: A New Spanish Advocacy Group Gets Going

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The Cannabis Industry Guild (or GIC) has just been formed to create an advocacy group for the nascent industry across the country

In yet more of a sign of how large the ripple effect of the German announcement to move forward on recreational cannabis has been in Europe, a group of Spanish entrepreneurs has just come together to form a new business group. According to Canamo.net, which broke the story, the members of the new Guild are coming together to create a new partnership with the government. Namely, one in which seed sales are legalized and that the grow shop sector be recognized as legitimate and regulated.

The Spanish industry has suffered several setbacks beyond Covid, most of which stem from the intransigence, so far, on a national, federal level, to consider even the widespread medical use of cannabis. Indeed, the regulatory authorities in Spain have only issued four EU GMP cultivation licenses, all of which are focused on export. In the meantime, the Club industry has evolved and taken its knocks. One of the cofounders of the same, Albert Tio, is currently doing jail time for his part in organizing the same after losing his appeal at the European level earlier this year.

Beyond this, of course, the Spanish industry is suffering all the problems still recognizable to the American state industry – namely police intervention and even problems with getting a bank account.

Organizing for National and Regional Cannabis Reform

It is very clear that the Spanish industry is not going to let the other conversations about reform lie unanswered, even if they come from outside the country. The GIC is working closely with the Guild of Grow Shops in Catalonia, a group in operation for over 15 years in the heart of the Spanish industry (in Barcelona). Beyond this, the group has formed an alliance with the European Observatory of Cannabis Consumption and Cultivation to move the conversation forward at a national and EU-wide level.

There are many reasons to believe that this forward motion might in fact this time be successful, and not just because of the new German Coalition government decision on the same. The model proposed by the GIC is very much what has been proposed now for Luxembourg. This is surely also not a coincidence.

Regardless, more reform is clearly on the way in Spain, driven undeniably by the forward motion in countries all around it.

Be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Barcelona in March!