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Author: Marguerite Arnold

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Albert Tió Is Going To Prison For Cannabis Reform

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

The Gen X father of three hopes that presenting himself for arrest, with a pending 15,000 Spanish signatures already for his release and a pending case at the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, will finally ignite the cannabis movement to push for full and final reform.

For any who think that the cannabis industry has moved beyond the terrible days of the drug war, think again. While in the United States the President-elect and his Vice President, a former prosecutor, are promising to at least implement federal decriminalization, the fight over such basic issues is far from over in other places either.

Indeed, the reason that long-time activist and organizer of the Spanish club scene, Albert Tió is presenting himself to authorities this week is to light a torch to paper which has been simmering in Europe for most of the decade – certainly since cannabis reform came to not only North America, but this region too. 

Indeed, the Spanish club industry, and its organization, has been one of the largest forces pushing further legalization here since 2014 – and outside of Germany, one of the most influential – far beyond Barcelona. Indeed, the recent move on the Spanish territory of the Canary Islands to normalize medical use would not have been conceivable just five years ago.

However for such activities, Tió is now facing a five year jail sentence which he will presumably begin serving over the holiday season.

He is not expected to serve long. Indeed along with 15,000 signatories petitioning the Ministry of Justice for his pardon and an appeal at the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, his has become the next face of canna heroism not only in Spain but across the continent.

Indeed, Tió will arrive at jail surrounded by supporters to bid him adieu. 

Cannabis martyrs are not hard to find. That is why the Spanish government, will, presumably, begin to face a tide of reform that is not receding anywhere as it creates another one.

Indeed, in Mexico, the Supreme Court had to rule twice to force legislators to consider implementing regulations for the domestic market. But rule they did.

Cannabis reform is going “Spanish” – even as it assumes the language and now mantle of activism of the global movement of green change that will not be quenched, anywhere on the planet.

You go girl!

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

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Cannabis Reform Moves On Internationally On Multiple Hemispheres

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

No matter how strange this period of time is and what it will be remembered for, cannabis reform can not be held back because of a global pandemic. Indeed, during a month of new lockdowns, several countries continued on a path to legalization that cannot be held back.

Israel Commits To Recreational Reform In 9 Months

By far the biggest news is that Israel, home of the original cannabis reform, has announced that it will proceed with a recreational market in about 9 months. Users will have to be at least 21 and will not be able to consume the drug in public. 

One of the biggest problems facing Israeli patients, a problem which has continued even after pharmacy chain distribution, is that patients are still having a hard time accessing their medication. Beyond this reason?  Decrim alone  (as the incoming Biden Administration has committed to) is not enough to address the many issues of the continuing black market.

This is also an interesting timetable for sure – coming on the heels of several national elections where cannabis was one of the hottest political topics – and roughly scheduled for when Luxembourg will begin its own recreational cannabis experiment. 

That this announcement also comes about a month before the WHO is expected to meet to decide the scheduling of cannabis and its extracts is also an interesting statement – globally.

Fall 2021, as a result, is likely to be a big season for recreational reform.

Argentina Moves Forward On Medical Reform, Cultivation, Subsidized Access

South America has also made strides on the reform front. Argentina has also just announced that three years after beginning the first tentative steps into research, patients will be able to cultivate their own cannabis. As of November 12, existing patients who are registered with the government may cultivate their own cannabis. 

Even more intriguing, Argentinian health insurers are now mandated to cover the cost of the drug when it is prescribed by a doctor.

The new regulations are specifically designed to increase access for patients who are still struggling – just about everywhere – to afford the cost of their drug. And further, to make sure that every Argentinian patient has access to the whole plant itself – not just extracts.

Bottom line? 2021 is sure to be an interesting year.

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

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Mexico’s Legislature Set To Advance Adult Use

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The country’s lawmakers have a deadline to meet, set by the Supreme Court

Mexican lawmakers are set to vote this week on cannabis legalization mandated by the Supreme Court to happen before December 15. Indeed Mexico is the only country, so far, to have had to go to the Supreme Court twice, not just once (as for example happened in Canada). First to move the issue of medical reform forward, and then on the recreational side. It is also the only country so far where the issue of recreational cannabis reform is mandated by a country’s top judicial legal body.

The legislation is intended to regulate the recreational and hemp market. The medical vertical is beyond the scope of focus. Mexico actually approved medical cannabis in 2017 – but the law has never been properly implemented.

What Next?

The legislation will make provisions for the establishment of a cannabis agency. It is also expected to create a licensing infrastructure for a nascent industry. Foreign ownership of licenses would also be limited.

This in turn creates the fascinating political reality of the United States being bordered on both sides, with federally legal recreational cannabis markets.

The implications of the same at a time when federal reform has all but been put on a backburner in the U.S.- no matter whether the House of Representatives votes for reform or not before the end of this legislative session – are significant for the American discussion. Namely, why, in a country ravaged by a pandemic, and where a third of the population live in a recreational reformed state, has final and full reform stalled?

That said, given the forward motion on reform, just about everywhere, the idea of the U.S. continuing to foment the Drug War south of the border is as outdated as the idea of resisting the green wave, no matter how slowly it is moving.

Latin America Is Moving Beyond The Drug War

With the U.S. at least side-lined in this discussion, cannabis reform in Latin America and the Caribbean is finally unshackled from the threat of U.S. military intervention or financial sanctions (see banking). Reform is clearly moving forward in the region (see Argentina of late).

The next question, however, rather glaringly on the table, is where will most cannabis in the future be sourced from? Imports to the U.S. from Latin America are indeed not all that far away and that path is opening already between Latin America and Europe.

For the most up to date information on the rapidly changing global cannabis industry, be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe

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Why The U.S. Still Pushes The Global Cannabis Reform Discussion Forward

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

If there is one thing most Americans can celebrate together across party lines about the turbulent events of last week, it is that cannabis reform moved forward, and significantly in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Four more states moved into the recreational camp, with a total of five in sum passing cannabis reform over all. Several of those markets, notably, New Jersey and North Dakota, are designed to fast-forward recreational market implementation.

Indeed, this was good news in a more global climate where recreational reform has very much been put on (tempered) time release by just about everyone else also concurrently considering the question.

It also speaks volumes to the obvious and glaring reality that reformers still have to face: Namely, that in the highest ranks of the governing world – from the U.S. to Germany and New Zealand beyond that – the idea of recreational reform is on a delayed if far from back burner.

That said, it is also clear that the idea of medical reform is on the front of several national policy agendas, one way or the other. Namely, from North Dakota to New Zealand, the average voter believes that cannabis has impactful even if not yet (shamefully) scientifically proven efficacy. Even if they are not ready for recreational reform.

For this reason, it is also unlikely that the WHO will delay (again) another vote on reclassification – although where exactly this will end up at this point is anyone’s guess. Most people believe that cannabinoid-based drugs (at minimum) will end up with Schedule II global designation (rather than say a more reasonable Schedule III). Certainly those with THC in them. Even if, in a last-minute nod to the holdouts, the raw plant ends up stuck in Schedule I, of any international treaty.

A Call For Federal Reform?

It is absolutely clear that one of the many negotiations that the new Biden-Harris team will engage in is the issue of federal reform. At this point, everyone who has been around the American discussion for decades knows that this, like many of the past Democratic Party platform positions on the same, was established in the name of “moderation for the election.” Even though, at this point, it is not likely to hold for long, even if it fits the character of those just elected.

Joe Biden has a rather unfortunate history with drug reform issues, at least legislatively, although the official platform is now set to change the basic bar on decriminalization. Kamala Harris as a prosecutor and politician in a state that has been medical friendly most of her career is also not exactly the best recreational advocate. Thus the so-far “moderate” position of the incoming
administration that nobody believes will last for long.

With four years of tempestuous negotiations already on the docket, no matter who wins the American Senate in the January runoffs in Georgia, it is also just as clear that national reform will absolutely be on the agenda at least by the midterms (in 2022) if not the next general election in four years.

This in turn, will continue to drive the conversation elsewhere, starting with Europe.

It is also clear that the rest of the world is avidly watching not Canada, but in fact the U.S. And that at least for now, in turn, federal decision-makers in the U.S. are waiting for the signoff of the WHO – an organization America will now be re-joining – before going any further. Even then, it is likely that, much like alcohol, marijuana reform will be a state-based rather than a federal decision for (at least) the first half of the new Administration’s term.

Be sure to stay abreast of developments. The International Cannabis Business Conference intends to return to Europe in 2021.

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What A Biden Win Will Mean For US-European Cannabis

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The impact of the new Biden presidency will be felt in U.S. exports to Europe.

There is one thing to absolutely rejoice across the industry about the new Biden win. Given the European Parliament’s recent vote to raise the amount of THC in hemp that is sold here (as raw flower) from 2-3%, the signs are good that American biomass (at least) will find a ready home in Europe.

What this development means, beyond the potential for European harmonization on at least hemp, is that the European market is opening itself up to (at least) biomass of the American kind.

Beyond this, the US-EU MRA which went into effect in July last year means that American firms who meet the strictures of EU-GMP will also be able to import across a continent that is looking for sources of high-grade product as the entire conversation now trickles through the political process.

However, the reality is that the normalization of the entire conversation in the U.S. including decriminalization (at minimum for now), and the equalization of the topic in Europe will absolutely lead to greater opportunities for the American industry, finally, to expand to Europe in a much more concentrated way.

The biggest issue, as still continues to haunt the Canadians, is meeting those European certs. And that, beyond EU-GMP on the cultivation side, and Novel Food if not EU-BIO on the hemp one, also applies to labeling.

The Hurdles Are Still High

One of the biggest hurdles facing American exporters, as those who have begun to brave these new waters know, is making sure that certs match up all the way down the chain. This starts with American farmers familiarizing themselves on how to grow crops that are acceptable in the European market place, and further, how to find exporters who have the ability to translate both state and federal law to customs officials.

That in and of itself is still a shark-strewn body of water, but it is also one in which those who meet standard quality tests will win. This is a conversation that absolutely comes down to science. The calibrating tests now available and indeed required, do not lie.

For the latest trends in a still-developing market, be sure to stay tuned to the International Cannabis Business Conference blog as well as attend the conferences when they return to Europe in 2021!

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Italian Health Ministry Reverses Course On CBD “Narcotic”

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

If you are confused about the state of regulation in the EU, don’t feel bad. Everyone is as the rules and regulations do a few 360’s in public in Italy over the course of mere days

As frustrating as the drama is in the EU over the classification of cannabinoids, notably CBD, as a “narcotic,” the soap opera unfolding in Italy in the last few days is almost a welcome bit of humour. Call it the Spaghetti Western of cannabis reform, with a focus on the spaghetti side.

A Brief Timeline of the Canna-Flavoured Dolce Vita Afoot

For those who are confused, here is the brief timeline of events. The humour is clearly seen by reviewing it backwards.

On October 30 last week, the Ministry of Health officially declared that CBD is not a narcotic. 

A mere two days before, the same agency suspended the decree in force previously, with the stated intent of studying whether higher concentrations of CBD impact its supposed “narcotic” effect. Given what went down two days later, it seems the Italians can be efficient at some “studies” when they want to be.

And a mere five days before that, the Ministry of Health had outlawed CBD for the commercial market, singing a song out of the European Commission’s hymn book. But also effectively killing the very same “Cannabis Lite” industry that has continued to flourish in hard Pandemic hit Italy. 

Oops. Funny about that.

The Pharmaceutical Conversation Is Confusing A lot Of The Debate

Here is the first thing to understand. Beyond any muddles about scientific evidence proving efficacy, established pharmaceutical company lobbyists have done their jobs well. Namely confuse the situation, and for their benefit.

Here is one of the biggest culprits.

GW Pharmaceuticals, based in the UK, has sold the story to European regulators that one of its drugs, Epidiolex, is a “narcotic.” Naturally, calling a CBD extract mixed with berry flavoured syrup as such, justified the high price tag along with the exclusion of similar, perhaps more effective tinctures from reaching British patients (see Billy Caldwell). Not to mention a whole bunch of European ones.

Theresa May’s husband would not be so interested in holding the majority of shares of any company that failed to meet earnings expectations after all.

However, the well-placed political shareholders of GW Pharma are not the only reason this conversation has continued to stay so stupid for so long. Many regulators really do not understand the differences between cannabinoids. Much less have apparently ever been exposed to a patient who consumes THC on a regular basis and does not live life on a couch. And by this point, that fault lies in the stars of the cannabis industry itself.

At least in Italy, the Health Ministry did not put off the CBD discussion, much like what happened also last week just across the border in Germany. Not to mention Emmanuel Macron’s continued politically expedient contortions in France. 

That all of this confusion occurred almost simultaneously to what was happening as France accedes to medical utility and German Bundestag failed to move forward on a recreational cannabis reform bill while bemoaning how outdated Prohibition has become, demonstrates clearly how much the entire debate is in flux across the continent. And further, on the totality of the plant itself – not just the parsing of cannabinoids. 

It also clearly signals that the entire conversation is also ramping up a notch across Europe. No matter the short term mixed signaling going on even within the same federal agencies of countries, let alone at the Parliamentary level and certainly across borders.

Big things are happening in Europe on the cannabis front. Be sure to book your tickets to the next International Cannabis Business Conference, landing in Europe again, post-Covid, in 2021.

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Open Call For French Medical Cannabis Suppliers

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

The French government is officially looking for suppliers for its medical cannabis trial. Applications are due by November 24. Applicants may also submit questions until November 18.

What The French Are Looking For

The government is looking for GMP certified providers who can provide up to 3,000 French patients with different qualities of both raw and extracted products for free during the duration of the trial.

This includes not only the provision of the medicine itself but all costs related to import and distribution. It also includes, for floß cannabis, the requirement that the supplier provides a vaping device (per patient).

How Does This Differ From The German Bid?

The French appear to be looking for a larger cannabis producer who can bear the cost of not only medicine provision and distribution, but also of import (required) and additional equipment (vapes).

There are few companies that are in a position to meet this challenge – not only from a quality perspective, but also from a cost perspective. Even the biggest companies right now are suffering from cash flow issues.

And even though the German bid required that cannabis companies spend a great deal of money to apply for a bid that was delayed twice by legal challenges, they could at least create revenue for themselves by selling the drug in the country in the meantime.

France is indeed challenging the industry to step up – and like the German government before it only looking for “established” companies.

The question is, outside a big French pharma right now, who is willing to step into this role?

How Does This Differ From Other Countries Steps Into Legalization?

The French foray into medical acceptance actually appears to be unique. No other country has launched a national trial like this to begin its foray into normalization.

It is also clear that the French are determined to push the onus back onto the industry itself to help prove its efficacy – and further do so in a way that may help build “infrastructure” in the form of creating a distribution network with an established French company – but no more.

This is not a bienvenue, but rather a révolution à contrecœur (reluctant change of heart).

The Upside

Clearly, the focus from the beginning in France is a GMP only market where the government is not on the hook for paying for the cost of the trial – and further that any cannabis company outside the country willing to engage in the same must have either a standing or in process partnership negotiated with a French pharmaceutical company capable of fulfilling the technical requirements of narcotic distribution within France.

For the latest on the changing market picture in Europe, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to the continent next year.

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Billy Caldwell Receives First NHS-Funded Cannabis, Opens Door For Other British Patients

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

The long two-year battle is over for Billy Caldwell, one of the UK’s most famous cannabis patients. The National Health Service (NHS) has agreed to provide him with government-funded cannabis for the rest of his life.

Now 15, Caldwell became an international media sensation after his mother, also an advocate and participant in the industry, went public with the fact that the supplies she was trying to bring into the country to treat her sick son were confiscated by the government at Heathrow airport.

Even more intriguingly? The prescription that Caldwell uses is not produced in the UK but rather produced in Canada, imported internationally, and paid for by the NHS. That said it is not clear that this exact model will be duplicated by the Belfast Trust, who is responsible for implementing the care plan, for other patients. Or any other NHS trust for that matter.

What Is Likely To Happen Next?

That this is a precedent-setting case is obvious – but what is the precedent likely to be?

As a subtext to all of this is that the NHS has finally admitted that the products that are produced domestically by GW Pharmaceuticals are not going to cut it for a lot of British patients.

The question on the table now, however, is where should the bulk of this “other” cannabis come from?

Buy British?

The logical caveat of course is that if locally produced cannabis oil meets muster on the regulatory side, is this, finally, the birth of the home-grown British industry? The Caldwell precedent, combined with a widely predicted ruling from the Food Safety Authority (FSA) that errs on the side of sanity from a novel food perspective, is actually really good news. And logically, the answer to that question is from a cost perspective, the answer, surely, must be yes.

While the raw products may not hail from the British Isles for a demand that is likely to be enormous on both the medical and consumer side, there are in fact companies on the horizon, established in the U.K. who are absolutely in a position to step up.

The local production of cannabis and its extracts into both food and medicine is a hot topic, particularly in Europe and even more particularly post Covid.

With such developments, it is not inconceivable that cannabis is well on its way post Brexit, to becoming as British as well, tea.

For the latest developments on the European cannabis market as well as the UK, be sure to stay tuned to our post-Covid conference schedule!

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German Patients Continue To Have To Sue Insurers/Claim Approvers

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

Without a doubt, Germany is the largest medical cannabis market in Europe (so far). There have been approximately 100,000 applications so far to the public health insurers. And there are, depending on whose estimate you are using, about 60,000 “legitimate” patients. But again, nobody is sure.

Here is what it is much easier to understand. Patients are still going through huge amounts of paperwork, stress and multiple rejections to obtain government/public health insurer-reimbursed cannabis. So much so that they are still suing (and winning). And further – many of the cases now expected to come to fruition were in fact launched almost immediately after Germany changed the law.

Two and a half years into the “German cannabis experiment” and some of these cases are now seeing their day in court if not the appeals process – which are (no surprise) coming down on the side of the patients who are bringing them.

The latest case to make the news is a Gen X woman, born in 1974. She is both on reduced earning capacity and was prescribed not even bud cannabis but dronabinol by her physician two years ago. Coverage of the same, however, has been repeatedly denied by her insurer in no small part by the botched oversight and review of the regional approver (known as the Medizinische Dienst der Krankenversicherung or MDK). All public health insurers send cannabis prescriptions to the MDK, which is why this case is also so impactful.

Initially, when the patient took the MDK to court, she lost, with a judgement against her this March.

Regardless, on appeal to the Social Court, the plaintiff was found to be within her rights to claim coverage for the drug. Further, the court found that the MDK had grossly misrepresented the plight of the patient and had written four “expert” opinions on the case without accurately describing not only the case, but also ignoring the patient’s and doctor’s rights to prescribe such a drug by focusing on perceived “negative health effects” such as an impact on appetite to dissuade coverage.

In an even more intriguing piece of fallout, the court ruled that the woman’s insurer must not only pay for the cost of the drug for a year but further, must continue to do so if she can prove a positive impact – even before the overall case has finally been decided. Not to do so would violate her basic rights (of being German).

It Still Sounds Like All Greek (if Not German) 

Here is the underlying importance of the case and why this is also likely to further force not only health insurers but all regional MDKs to get a bit more hip on medical cannabis.

  1. The first is that a woman who is severely disabled – enough for it to impact her income – has a health condition that clearly fits her eligibility for medical cannabis currently.
  2. The second is that her insurer turned her down because of (repeated) badly written coverage reports from the regional approver.
  3. The third is that the court has decided that this decision is actually in the hands of the doctor (first) not the MDK – and since the original prescriber had justifiably prescribed the drug, it was not the right of the MDK to try to sidestep the professional opinion of the primary doctor. Nor within the purview of the insurer to rely on the MDK rather than the doctor to try to deny coverage.
  4. The precedent set here is also important – namely that the insurer must pay for the drug for a year to determine if it will make a difference – and further on an interim basis while the entire discussion of medical cannabis is being examined by authorities (more generally).

Overall Longer-Term Impact – Good News For Patients

The decision is basically an escalation to the Landessozialgericht (regional social court) from the first interaction with a local one (which has now been overruled) – and further before a final regional ruling has been made. It is significant because this should (as the judges no doubt intended) stop local MDK’s from slowing down the approval of cannabis-related drugs specifically – if all other factors justify the prescription.

Logically, this should also now break a bit of a dam free in prescribing and obtaining approvals for cannabis under German healthcare. Starting with the fact that the regional approvers may not slow down the process of mandating covered payment for a drug originally prescribed (rightly) by the patient’s doctor and further for a rare condition for which no other drug could treat.

For the best update on all industry developments, be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2020