Author: Marguerite Arnold

united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom united kingdom

Brexit Interrupts Dutch Supply Of Medical Cannabis To British Patients

Written by Marguerite Arnold on January 13, 2021. Posted in Medical.

The new cross Channel “order” splitting the UK from the continent hits cannabis patients first and hard

As was easy to predict, Brexit interrupted vital supplies of medical cannabis (from Holland’s Bedrocan) from reaching British patients. The news hit families on December 15 – less than two weeks before the implementation of new rules and regs. Indeed, the families involved, well used to the need for a highly visible public campaign, made such a stink that the political repercussions are already forcing the government to look for alternatives.

They are not that hard to find – if you know the industry.

But the question remains, since this was so predictable, why wasn’t this thought about before?

In the short term, at least according to the Independent in the UK who picked up the story after The Guardian broke it, government officials are trying to find solutions and they should not be that hard to find.

Dutch law, however, as some media are reporting, most certainly does not “prohibit” the export of medical cannabis – see Germany right next door. If that were true, indeed most EU GMP compliant German medical cannabis flos could not have been dispensed via pharmacies so far.

The process had previously been certified via “issuing British prescriptions” in Holland and having them filled this way.

All the British government actually has to do, in fact, is follow the lead already set by Germany and indeed by Israel in the past. Buy in bulk, flos if necessary, and extract it in the UK. There are already facilities that are being set up to do the same.

But that kind of thinking, if not process creation is so far sadly absent in just about all things Brexit. Just look at the mess of Channel crossings. Cannabis was always going to be an early victim of the melee.

The question now, among those who work in complex supply chain issues like this all the time – and for many reasons – is how to mend the gap, not only in the short term, but permanently.

Make sure you book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in the summer of 2021!

hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field hemp plant field

Dutch Cannabis Licensing Scheme Hits Local Protests

Written by Marguerite Arnold on January 13, 2021. Posted in Business.

Plans to replace the production of blackberries with coffee-shop bound cannabis hit skids over NIMBYism at proposed grow sites for new Dutch licenses.

If it sounds like a scene straight out of a comedy, not to mention Colorado circa 2015 or so, just at a far lower altitude and probably still far more windmills, it is. The only problem is that it is also a tragedy. About lingering stigma, confusion, and more about the plant, if not its effects.

In these times of Covid, it also shows how this continued confusion has lasting effects – starting with jobs.

As the Dutch government proceeds with a pilot project to create ten licensed growers to supply the country’s coffee shops outside of big cities, it has run into its first major snag.

The residents of Etten-Leur, on the Belgian border, have trigged large local protests over a pending plan to replace blackberry crops with cannabis. There is now a request by the local mayor to the central government opposing the scheme. And the selection of the finalists for the 10 Dutch licenses has not even been decided yet.

The legal status of cannabis has everything to do with this. So far, Holland has not formally changed its national laws to legitimise the recreational cannabis industry. Indeed even this first trial as an attempt to do so has been opposed by its own large cities who maintain local controls on a still-flourishing industry.

The largest problem however now facing this model is larger scale, regulated cultivation. With Dutch residents now protesting the placement of larger corporate grows, the entire project may run into problems before it is ever rolled out.

Where To Grow New Canna Crops?

Holland produces a great deal of the medical cannabis flos that flows across the border to Germany – which has had its own ongoing problems with cannabis cultivation bids. Indeed, the first tender for medical cannabis, launched in the spring of 2017, has faced delay after delay in delivering domestically cultivated crops to German patients.

In Holland, the issue is already contentious – starting with the fact that the government could not even get cities to go along with a so-called “national plan.”

If smaller cities and municipalities also get into the act, the first licensing scheme for Holland, regulated on a federal level, will quickly fail.

For this reason, no matter how bad the news, it is also a step forward on the issue overall – in both Holland and the rest of Europe (see Luxembourg for starters).

Having a cannabis presence is one thing. Having a regulated cannabis industry is another.

And as American, if not Canadian communities learned long ago, the transition is always bumpy. For one reason or another. The good news, no matter the uncomfortable delays so far, is that it is happening at all

Be sure to book your tickets when the International Cannabis Business Conference returns to Europe this summer.

Cannabis And Privacy On Collision Course In The UK?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on December 29, 2020. Posted in Medical.

As Brexit confuses matters, and the NHS considers a patient registry, what is on the agenda for the protection of cannabis patient rights?

The NHS has now announced a new cannabis patient database, even as the island sets sail for a general regulatory free environment in the aftermath of whatever Brexit will be. Beyond tens of miles of lorries on either side of the Channel, however, what does this mean for patient privacy generally in the UK? Will it merely follow the path of North American users, who are also caught up in the conversation about big tech and privacy rights?

Privacy and cannabis use has been a big issue just about everywhere, particularly since 2014 when Canada and the United States both began to move towards recreational reform. So far, at least in North America, the problems remain contentious, widely undressed, and as a result, in limbo, for now.

Europe is another matter. The medical market here has matured along with a renewed interest in both privacy rights and online shopping. In Europe proper, as a result, GDPR, or general data protection legislation is a big deterrent to getting it wrong.

Such trends are also unlikely to go away as Europe in particular, finally begins to challenge American big Tech and as of next year.

Even the newly brexited island off the west coast of the Channel has some kind of GDPR protection also known as the United Kingdom will be affected.

So far, beyond the proposed NHS database, a non-profit research organization is also gathering data under the rubric of ProjectTwenty21, which presumably will also then share such data with the companies that sponsor it.

It might be a “dodge,” but in a country with many issues about reconstituting itself as an independent actor, and further one after Covid, everyone is looking for a new way of doing things.

The question remains, however, whether the new solutions will be any less problematic as the old ones?

Hemp Advertising Does Not Obviate The Issues

As much as the recent European Commission decision on the regulation and advertising of hemp creates many opportunities for both brands and canna media, in particular, many jungles remain. This includes understanding how a recreational cannabis market is different from a medical one. In an environment where most patients are still caught in the black market and are unable to afford any legitimate channel for their drug, this entire debate means nothing.

Who Should Have Access To Cannabis Patient Databases?

The discussion about access to new drug and patient databases has been in the room since the establishment of the pharmaceutical industry in the last century. However, in a world where social media and marketing have redefined whole industries, starting with advertising itself, there are no easy answers. And while the cannabis industry in the UK may feel they have just been given a pass while Europe shoulders on with more challenges to big tech (far from cannabinoids), it will not be that easy, even next year.

Be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2021.

cannabis plant flower cannabis plant flower cannabis plant flower cannabis plant flower cannabis plant flower

Pandemics, Mergers And 2020 – Oh, My, Goodbye!

Written by Marguerite Arnold on December 29, 2020. Posted in Business.

A strange year has wound up with a whimper rather than a bang as two of the largest Canadian public cannabis companies merge in a cashless transaction and one of them adds dronabinol to its product roster.

It is unlikely that the memory of 2020 will recede any time soon. The Pandemic created new opportunities, however, for many in the cannabis industry who could brave the course of events, starting in the United States and Canada. Dispensaries were labeled “essential” and being allowed to stay open (although the cannabis club world was thrown into disarray in places like Spain) meant a vital difference to many in the industry.

Further afield, and at the end of the year, global and regional regulatory mandates also moved the needle forward, even if in some instances incrementally. The UN vote to move cannabis out of Schedule IV is a mere political nod to the obvious without shaking any more boats. The reality is that Schedule I designation means that individual countries and regions beyond that, will now have to shoulder through all the messy details of both legalization and incorporation of the drug into other regulatory buckets and business environments. The EC vote on hemp, namely that CBD is not a narcotic was far more meaningful, along with the ability to now market hemp products openly like any other good. Look for European innovation on that front as a result, and as of early next year. That includes new media, new technology, and of course a new debate about the entire ball of wax as Luxembourg finally begins its recreational market and Holland ushers in a more regulated industry.

That said, it is also unavoidable to note that 2020 was certainly not a good year for big pot, no matter the temporary bounce in stock prices for a few. Delays in the production schedule for new facilities in Germany caused by Covid have clearly had an effect on the remaining two bid winners. Wayland, it should be remembered, was the only bid winner which had actually spent money on production facilities that became operational before the awarding of the bid. They merged with ICC right as the bid was awarded, and the bid production contracts have ended up with Demecan. Last week, it emerged that Aphria was merging with Tilray in a similar fashion. Aurora has also struggled, closing a huge cultivation space in Canada.

The ghosts of the first German tender are still in the room even as the entire continent struggles with how to classify the plant, and now, in the aftermath of Covid, economic redevelopment.

One thing is for sure. Cannabis is going to be on the drawing boards of every country as the world rebuilds from Covid. And if that is not the best, most catchy holiday season’s greetings, it doesn’t sound all that bad at this point. There is a light, indeed at the end of a very long tunnel.

Be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2021!

medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis medical cannabis

Switzerland Clarifies Rules For Dispensing Medical Cannabis

Written by Marguerite Arnold on December 29, 2020. Posted in Medical.

Medical cannabis treatment will no longer require a special permit in Switzerland, although it is unclear whether health insurance will cover it.

Until now, doctors in Switzerland had to obtain a special exemption permit from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) to issue prescriptions for cannabis. Last year about 3,000 permits were issued. Those days have now come to a close. According to the Federal Council, this procedure is no longer appropriate, given the rising numbers of patients. Namely, it makes treatment more difficult and delays its start. As a result, the Grand Chamber of Parliament is proposing lifting the ban on the same in the Narcotics Act.

The new law stipulates that cannabis therapy should be a matter only between doctor and patient. The government will monitor prescriptions, however, and practitioners will have to submit data on the same to the government.

Insurance coverage in Switzerland has still not been decided. So for now, patients must still cover the cost of their medications.

Will Switzerland Go The Way of Holland?

The ability to prescribe cannabis directly is one of the biggest things that began to move the German market forward – but so was the ability to obtain coverage by insurers – at least in theory. There have been multiple issues between legislation and reality, to the point that patients continue to sue for access. Indeed as of October, a new ruling by the Social Benefits court ruled that the regional approvers, called the MDK, cannot interfere in the relationship between doctor and patient when it comes to prescription for the longer term.

However, trial programs, such as the ones that exist in Luxembourg, Germany, and to some extent Denmark, are also in danger of literally being overrun by the recreational discussion now also in the room. It is far easier for patients to obtain their cannabis, barring the cost, if they do not have to interact with the medical system. Indeed, that is the decision Holland made just as Germany was making the move to incorporate coverage under the formal medical infrastructure that includes insurers and regional approvers.

Given the slow trajectory Switzerland has taken so far, despite the popularity of the non-medical “Cannabis Lite” it is not unreasonable to assume that they might too, decide that cannabis is an expensive and unnecessary medicine and leave patients to their own devices.

The jury, if not report, is still out.

Make sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2021

Hemp Leaf Hemp Plant Cannabis Sativa Hemp Leaf Hemp Plant Cannabis Sativa Hemp Leaf Hemp Plant Cannabis Sativa Hemp Leaf Hemp Plant Cannabis Sativa Hemp Leaf Hemp Plant Cannabis Sativa

Does The WHO Vote On Cannabinoids Change Anything?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on December 7, 2020. Posted in Politics.

Despite removing cannabis from Schedule IV of international drug scheduling, the change in policy does very little to move the issue of full reform forward.

Despite a great deal of fanfare in the mainstream press and even the canna specialty trades, the WHO vote on cannabis last week does not mean much. The body voted to only remove cannabinoids from Schedule IV. Schedule IV of the international drug scheduling regime is used to classify drugs with high addictiveness (like Valium or Xanax).

However, from both a clinical and more tangible logistical perspective, the drug remains under Schedule I. This means, no matter that it shows up in other schedules too still, Cannabis Sativa L, the plant, and all its derivatives, are first and foremost still illegal and of no medical efficacy in the eyes of global regulators and controllers (like law enforcement). Further, the distinctions, from a prescribing end, between Schedule II and IV are almost nonexistent.

This decision, in other words, means that all issues related to access if not the industry beyond that (like banking) remain in a grey zone internationally.

It is incremental politics at its worst and on a global level.

But it is not the only semi meaningless gesture of reform these days. The world is full of them of the cannabis kind.

In the United States, a lame-duck session of the House of Representatives may have passed the MORE Act, however, it is unlikely that its companion will get past the Senate, much less become law before the end of this Congressional term.

Bottom line? By the end of 2020, cannabis is no longer considered as dangerous a drug like Valium. But the plant is still an international “outlaw.”

What Next?

Given all the setbacks in almost every region, on the medical front, advocates are again calling for full and final recreational reform – even if that too is not quite baked (see New Zealand). It is very clear, however, that as a result, recreational experiments in countries like Mexico and Luxembourg next year will be avidly watched, followed, and reported on.

The medical discussion is fully underway, but it is still hard in almost every country to gain access via the traditional route – namely covered under health insurance after being prescribed by a doctor. Indeed, many doctors are still reluctant to engage in the cannabis discussion with their patients at all – even after the removal of the drug from Schedule IV.

In Europe there are absolutely bright spots (see the decision last week of the European Commission on hemp), but the march for full and final reform is far from over.

Be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2021.

france flag france flag france flag france flag

Israeli Company Panaxia Pharmaceuticals Signs Deal With France

Written by Marguerite Arnold on December 7, 2020. Posted in Medical.

The Israelis are moving quickly to take advantage of the opening in the French medical cannabis market. Panaxia Pharmaceuticals has just announced a deal with Neuraxpharm, a leading European company specializing in disorders of the central nervous system. Their collaboration is intended to be a first step in establishing a manufacturing entity to commercial production and distribution of Panaxia’s cannabinoid medicinal products in France.

The model adopted for the collaboration is similar to those increasingly seen in Germany where foreign companies are partnering with established medical products providers in Europe to enter the market.

In the case of France, the companies are also clearly angling to be a medical provider for the national French medical trial, set to begin by the first quarter of March 2021. Indeed, as part of the first stages of their collaboration, Panaxia and Neuraxpharm are already planning on responding to the tender issued by the French government and medications agency ANSM, to regulate the country’s domestic cannabis market.

Panaxia is currently the only Israeli company with EU-GMP certification for the production of medical cannabis products.

The French Trial Is Looming – Will The German Mistakes Be Repeated?

While the French government is clearly copying the model of the German tender bid, it appears that some of the same mistakes will not be present here. Starting with not excluding Israeli firms.

However, given the same issues, not to mention tensions about legalization overall, which France now imports from other countries ringing it as well as the global marketplace, will this kind of alliance be the kind that inspires confidence in the market, if not effectively reaches patients beyond a 3,000 person trial now planned for spring?

The French trial, unlike the German one, expects participating companies to participate for free – rather than allowing companies to import products from another country and charging outrageous prices for the same before price controls had been set by the government, but insurance companies are still on the hook for payment.

Given Israel’s increasing global prominence in the medical market, this is a clear rebuke to Germany, where Canadian companies still dominate a market that is expanding and further requiring higher standards than those seen in other countries so far. And where repeated companies, no matter what country they hail from, have run into multiple and serial problems with quality control as well as a fully compliant supply chain.

The International Cannabis Business Conference is returning to Europe in 2021. Stay tuned!

industrial hemp field industrial hemp field industrial hemp field industrial hemp field industrial hemp field industrial hemp field

North Macedonia Is Making Waves On The Edge of Europe Over Recreational Cannabis Reform

Written by Marguerite Arnold on December 7, 2020. Posted in Politics.

The former Yugoslavian country just north of Greece is clearly making a major play for its domestic cannabis industry

North Macedonia is eyeing Amsterdam right now – and in a big way. Namely, using the Dutch city as one of their templates for implementing recreational cannabis reform nationally.

The current legislative proposal, endorsed by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev last week, is designed to give a boost both to the growing certified domestic cannabis market and tourism.

Canna cafes in the Balkans anyone?

The idea is not a slam dunk. Zaev is willing to retreat if the populace is opposed to the idea. But, like Croatia, the country is willing to engage in a public debate and further one which integrates the cannabis industry into the mainstream in ways still unseen widely across Europe.

North Macedonia has a domestic medical market and has since 2016. However, multiple problems have plagued the vertical ever since. As of now, the country cannot export flower (only extract) for the medical market.

Cannabis As Economic Green New Economy Development

Increasingly countries in this part of the world (see Greece) are considering cannabis as the economic development tool they are lacking. The highly specialized pharmaceutical knowledge that has led to market development in many countries at this point, is also now seen as possibly too restrictive for the full-blown industry to develop fully – starting with integrating the drug into health care paradigms that are still, far from commercial if not profit-generating.

In every market, including Israel, the less than accepting attitude of doctors, as well as the lack of coverage from insurers, means that patients are not getting nearly enough access through this channel – also affecting the development of the specific medical industry so far.

The development of a highly encouraged, government-supported recreational industry will do much to solve the problem – even if “all” it does is legalize the ability of patients to obtain product in other ways. Not to mention keeps recreational users out of jail.

As the world begins to face a world where the threat of Covid has receded, but the economic damage caused by the same is ever-present, cannabis as an economic development tool is likely to get more advocates – globally.

North Macedonia’s new direction, indeed, maybe the shape of things to come – and in many markets, including the European Union as a region – which Macedonia is also still angling to join.

The International Cannabis Business Conference returns to Europe in 2021. Stay tuned.

europe europe europe europe europe europe europe europe europe europe europe europe

The Future Of The Hemp Industry In Europe

Written by Marguerite Arnold on December 7, 2020. Posted in Business.

An EU court case over the right of a Czech company to legally produce hemp extracts and sell them, across European borders, in France, has moved the needle on the entire “CBD as narcotic” discussion -and in a big way.

Last week, the European hemp industry got a huge boost at the European Court of Justice. Not only has the Court ruled on a pressing matter at the table across the EU but globally, at the WHO right now (namely that CBD is not a narcotic).

As a consequence, however, the entire European hemp industry seems to have gotten a boost that so far had largely eluded it. Namely its basic legitimacy.

The Overview And Significance Of The Case

The European ruling came on appeal of a French case wherein vape cartridges containing CBD extract that were legally manufactured in the Czech Republic were shipped to France for sale – and as a result, the company was prosecuted and fined.

As a result, the overturning of the French decision in Luxembourg means that:

– Companies who are legally registered to produce hemp and hemp extracts in one European country are immune from prosecution for the same in their country of origin.

– Companies may ship such products, if not the raw ingredients and unpackaged extracts (in bulk) legally, across European borders without fear of prosecution.

-Companies may market and sell such products legally, across Europe, no matter where they or their customers are located. The online hemp extract marketplace finally got the boost it has been waiting for.

A Rush of Investments Into The Hemp Industry?

While the deck has certainly been cleared of the surrounding smoke on a very basic issue (i.e. whether to treat legally produced and certified hemp as a medicine or whether there could be a differentiation between plants possible at the ground, police inspection level), there are still looming barriers across the entire conversation that have NOT been solved.

Namely, whether hemp and its extracts are indeed “novel.”

While this so far has been the established focus of an industry and its lobby that had no firm place to stand, this too, will begin to shift, particularly as hemp is normalized under European farming policy and thus, firmly, in the realm of EU-BIO.

Regardless, all of these waters will be choppy for the next several years – and will continue to be as the Cannabis sativa L plant, and of all THC concentrations as well as other cannabinoids, continues to top the change agents still active and fomenting in Europe.

Be sure to book your tickets for the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2021.