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Author: Marguerite Arnold

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Does Germany Actually Know How Much Cannabis It Is Consuming?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

There has been a growing awareness, including among policymakers, that something is not working with the current German cannabis laws and that starts with understanding who is doing what. With a lack of clarity around all private patients, the numbers being reported are those who have made it through the “statutory” health system to approvals. This kind of insurance covers the vast amount of Germans (90%).

However private patients are in another kettle of fish. They may have an easier time finding doctors willing to prescribe, but the prices they face at the pharmacy are eye-watering. This is one of the biggest problems the German government itself now faces. Estimating the amount needed accurately, while trying to get a grip on what is legit and what is not coming in over the border.

With a relaxation of CBD rules now in the offing, this puts another wrinkle into the game. Drug interdiction in such an environment – and determining which is legit and which is not – is becoming even more of a losing game. Does any policeman want to arrest a patient for CBD flower?

Upping Domestic Production

The country is now in the grips of an extended leadership discussion that has been going on for several years. Issues across the map, including cannabis reform, are catching the traditional party unawares. There are many reasons that Germans want to see cannabis cultivation expanded here – including of course capitalizing on a national theme – namely exports. But there are many other compelling reasons slowing the industry down. Acceptance is one thing. Finding a way to bring this unwieldy, strange plant, into regulated rules is another.

That said, with a clarification on at least CBD, there is another subtext in the room. If hemp as a plant is not “novel,” much less cannabinoids extracted from the same, what does this mean about the THC discussion? Especially as medicine and already in the room?

These are all issues now on the table as the country faces the reality that medical cannabis works, and for a range of conditions. But who should get priority? Who should pay for it? And is there actually enough certified product to even go around now?

All of these questions from a policy perspective are in the air right now, as Germany again faces a leadership challenge within the CDU, and political alliances are again shifting. Cannabis and legalization policies are very much in the front and center of German life. And likely to be so for the foreseeable future.

Be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin – now moved to new summer dates for the latest and greatest updates on an industry that is finally starting to come into its own.

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Is CBD Coming Back Into Focus In Germany?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

With the news that the German government has woken up to biology and declared that CBD is not necessarily a novel food (big victory for the European Industrial Hemp Association if not a high five of success), the market is certainly changing.

If 2018 was the year of the CBD cannabuzz and last year the Anti Hempire Strikes Back (all over Europe), this new decision by the German government will finally begin to clarify things.

In reality, this discussion is about two issues – the source of the plant and how cannabinoids are extracted. If the plant genus is from Europe and regulated extraction processes are followed (as in EU Bio), the entire conversation shifts.

However what it also does, as is clearly the case, is beginning to open the decks for investment capital now hungrily looking again at cannabis options (see the big raise this week in the UK). With the British about to go the same route as the Germans, this means, for the first time, there will be a regulated path for CBD products across the continent. Expect other governments to follow suit.

What Does This Mean For The German Hemp Industry?

This is unbelievably good news for a German-based hemp market that has struggled for respect. First, the medical market blew it away with all the attention and the money. Then governments stepped in. With the dust clearing on the ground on the CBD discussion at least when it comes to novel food, the next step will be what regulatory mandate does this industry fall under?

And there the path is very clear. 

As a result, German hemp farmers will finally be allowed to go into more or less unrestricted business, although don’t expect fast steps. With the German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) facing off vs the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) don’t expect overnight change. There are lots of big discussions right now about disagreeing German departments when it comes to cannabis. Welcome to the club.

However, in the shorter term, this is good news overall for the industry. There are many hurdles to overcome yet, but in sum? The clouds appear to be clearing a bit on the cannabis storm auf Deutschland.

Make sure you book your tickets for the now rescheduled summer International Cannabis Business Conference! Hemp and CBD policies, as well as regulatory oversight of the industry, is a big topic this year.

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United Nations Pushes Back Cannabis Discussion Again

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The United Nations, rather unbelievably in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, is again delaying its decision on medical cannabis reclassification. Coronavirus is, like AIDS and SARs, a retrovirus. Indeed many of the early treatments now being considered for those who develop symptoms may come from HIV drugs already tested for use in the SARs epidemic at the beginning of the century.

However antivirals are tough to take on their own, and further, patients have fairly routinely found that non-smoked cannabis, in particular, helps them deal with the not insignificant side effects of these treatments. That is also why, as of the early 1980s, Dronabinol, or synthetic cannabis, was approved for medical use.

The first country to visibly protest the decision to delay the UN reclassification was the U.S. but it is likely that this decision was also not popular in Europe, where the entire medical discussion and scheduling is in the room in a big way right now as countries move to incorporate cannabis as a prescription drug. One of the reasons that law enforcement in the U.S. at least wants a focus on this topic now is that the U.S. is also still in the throes of an opioid epidemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that cannabis be moved to the least restrictive “Schedule I” or least restrictive schedule under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Cannabis is currently classified as a Schedule IV medication.

The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) considered rescheduling cannabis last year in March. This was delayed for a year, but at the beginning of March 2020, the committee again voted to push this to the end of the year.

Is Cannabis Actually A “Narcotic” Drug At All?

One of the larger questions in the room is whether the plant itself can be discussed in terms of a “narcotic” – especially when it is used as an antiviral rather than to help pain patients. This conversation, as a result, is likely also to see the descheduling of low THC plants like hemp. However, beyond this, the outdated science of prohibition is in the room on the viral discussion in a big way.

Of course, healthy people who consume this drug can become “high.” This is the first reason that cannabis was classified as a “narcotic.” However, patients who consume THC long term, particularly for pain caused by spasticity and viral conditions like AIDS, also report that this effect goes away with longer-term use.

All of these issues are now up in the air as the world grapples with the worst public health crisis of a generation. But cannabis, again, is undoubtedly in the room.

Be sure to join the International Cannabis Business Conference in Europe this year, starting with the rescheduled International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin at the end of July for updates on a changing international drug schedule!

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More Canadian LPs Obtain EU GMP Licenses

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

Several more Canadian firms have obtained EU-GMP licenses over the last month, with Aphria obtaining its license at the end of January, about a year later than expected.

Indeed, GMP certification proved to be a major, expensive and time-consuming hurdle for many Canadian firms, and it has taken a great deal longer to obtain the same than most anticipated. Clearly other issues, including the continued delays on the cultivation bid, have added to the discussion.

However, EU GMP is not the only license required to enter the European market as Aurora learned last fall. 

Regardless, what this clearly shows is that Canadian firms are not shying away from the challenge and there will be more floss heading this way soon.

What Is EU GMP?

EU GMP certification is the medical certification required of all medical cannabis entering the market in Germany and across Europe. There is a range of requirements, including labeling that goes along with this.

The certification is not unique to the cannabis industry but rather a pharmaceutical standard that is used globally.

Do Any US Firms Have EU GMP?

GMP certification has not taken root, yet, widely in the United States because of the lack of federal reform and still state-level industry regulations. That said, it is unlikely that this development will skip the United States as the industry finally goes federal, presumably sometime after the next presidential election.

How Do You Start To Get Certified?

The most important step in becoming certified for this kind of market is starting correctly. That means everything from growing organic to construction facilities.

How Do You Justify This Expense To Your Investors?

So far, the idea of raising capital to build facilities to GMP standards has not been a priority in the U.S. However, as the market matures and evolves, this standard will increasingly be in the room. Indeed investors will increasingly ask to see proof or at least plans to get this kind of certification in business plans and prospectuses.

To learn more about certification and other required regulations in the German market, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin this July!

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Is Recreational Cannabis Reform Finally Internationally A La Mode?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

With Mike Bloomberg calling for decrim and record expungement in the United States as he tests the political race, and German politicians moving, inching, deliberating slowly towards acceptance of the new normal, it is clear that 2020 is going to be another showdown year on cannabis.

Yet what exactly does this mean besides political lip flap? Will anywhere (like the United States or Germany) suddenly pop “pro weed” for any purpose? And what does that mean for the industry, if not users and patients, really?

Legalization Is Still A “Long” Game…But…

Nobody really thinks that federal legalization in the United States is going to happen before 2021, no matter who wins the White House. That said, this great big green enchilada is coming to a Congressional hearing on both sides of Capitol Hill as soon as the dust clears on the Presidential election. That said, all those hearings and committee meetings and poison amendments to slow this bad boy down, take time.

In Germany right now, there is also a fascinating drum beat now thrumming. The discussion of where the country goes next is bringing cannabis squarely into the mainstream political debate for the first time ever. Look for parallel developments here from now on. But things are absolutely cooking at a new tempo despite everyone’s attempt to “just stay sensible.” Germans are giddy about the prospects of legalization on all fronts. Starting with not arresting legal patients. However, beyond that, there are marches in the streets here about the need for ways to protect the industry at its retail front (think CBD) as well as every kind of user. Not to mention better ways to make sure that pharmacies are not caught in the middle of still tough access and approvals issues.

It is not unrealistic to believe that within 24 months, there will be a national discussion about legalization as Germany again redresses its political issues overall. And that will have huge implications on the discussion globally.

Business (Starting With Prescriptions) Follows Politics

As much as the industry has been a voice for reform, ultimately the legal business follows political reform, obviously. And that still has a long way to go and in places where the industry still needs advocates. Starting with doctors.

As Germany has proven, legitimization at a federal level does little to move doctors to prescribe a drug of any kind, let alone this one. There are many issues still in play about basic patient access, and not all of those can be solved politically – indeed most of them cannot. 

That said, many of those can use the help of the industry, starting with an increased focus on doctor education, particularly in Europe.

For this reason, any ostensibly “political” marketing campaign attached to the plant or products also should understand that the most important hills are still to be won, and far from the centres of political power. No matter how also obviously full and formal reform should be on the top of everyone’s agenda, even if a step at a time.

For an in-depth look at the efforts on the ground at the last mile of the discussion in Germany and internationally, be sure to attend the panels on regulatory reform and doctor education at the Berlin International Cannabis Business Conference, April 1-3, 2020.

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South Africa’s President Charts New Path For Cannabis In Political Speech

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

Unlike politicians in other places, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa included cannabis in his State of the Nation address. Specifically, Ramaphosa linked cannabis initiatives to stimulating a sluggish economy.

How many in the industry (see the U.S. and Europe right now) to hear their national politicians saying something like this:

“This year we will open up and regulate the commercial use of hemp products, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers; and formulate policy on the use of cannabis products for medicinal purposes, to build this industry in line with global trends. The regulatory steps will soon be announced by the relevant ministers”.

Imagine Donald Trump saying something like this. Or on the European side, people like Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron (the presidents of Germany and France).

Sometimes you have to go to another of the world and dream about what is possible, even if not at home yet. Although in this case, South Africa is only about two years ahead of the same conversations in the “more developed West.”

The Impact Of South Africa

With strong ties both to its African neighbors and trade routes developed to the UK and Europe, South Africa is in a catbird seat to begin to pick up major export with all of the above. Competing on price, of course, with local hopefuls in Southern Europe is one thing. The African trade is another. 

Understanding, however, how to import from such distant places is not without its steep learning curves – if not expensive long-distance flights. Meeting the right people and finding the right partners is the key to building a business no matter where the source and or supply chain is ultimately located.

With a shortage of medical cannabis in the room in Germany and an upping of the rules (certifications for radiation have hit the mainstream so everyone has to be cognizant of that in the medical market), foreign markets like South Africa will also increasingly be on the radar.

Source of Certified Product Counts

Understanding the rules, and knowing how to properly get certified for the European market is one big battle that everyone faces from the foreign side. Communicating market needs and trends is the other issue from the buyer side is another matter.

That is also why face-to-face contact, at one end or the other or both, is a requirement at this stage, and not an option.

For the best cannabis industry networking on the planet, be sure to book your tickets now for the International Cannabis Business Conference 4 – returning to Barcelona, Berlin and Bern as of March 2020! Check our conference schedule. Also, be sure not to miss our panels focusing on export/import.

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UK Food Standards Agency Issues Ultimatum To CBD Industry

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

Brexit or not, it appears that the CBD industry has been one of the earliest to learn that all things regulatory are not in free-fall as the divorce papers are served from the continent. Indeed, the UK Food Standards Agency has laid down the law and set a deadline for CBD purveyors in the British Isles. 

On February 14, the FSA, the regulatory agency for all things foodstuffs, set a compliance deadline for CBD products currently in the market. Namely that they must file Novel Food applications by March 31, 2021. Failure to do so will result in penalties, including the removal of foodstuffs from shelves.

But what does this declaration really mean? And should the cannabis industry lean in?

Is CBD Really A “Novel Food?”

Part of the nefarious regulating on this issue is that CBD as a cannabinoid is certainly not “novel.” When produced from strains of hemp found in Europe, there is nothing new about the source of the plant. And when produced under food safety regulations, including extraction, the other part of the regulation falls away.

However much like in Germany and the rest of Europe, no matter how “original” the Brexited UK wants to be seen, the debate over legalization has stalled on issues and wording that is not only obscure, but also highly misleading.

Cannabis, no matter the amount of THC in the genus in question, is a plant. As such, it is also regulated under various regulatory schemes when bound for human consumption. “CBD” is not a plant, but rather a chemical compound, extracted from the plant via various different means that are also regulated both in the EU and in the UK.

Novel Food, in other words, is a regulatory schemata that is expensive and often unnecessary if other regulatory procedures are followed – ones that look awfully familiar to those with a background not only in pharma, but also now food and cosmetics.

What Is Coming For Europe?

So far, the debate on the continent is much the same – with Novel Food regulatory muster now being required in most cannabis legalizing countries. At the same time, however, many in the cannabis industry are also learning how to live with such regulations if not navigate them into the immediate future.

It is confusing, however, there are those who are absolutely braving the waves, if not beginning to chart successful paths through the industry by learning the ropes.

Be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference’s regulatory panels as well as the keynote speech on April 2 by Peter Homberg, Partner Dentons Law Firm and head of their European Cannabis Practice.

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Bustin’ Out In Düsseldorf? The Greens In State Parliament Propose Rec Trial

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

The Green Party in Düsseldorf, the state parliament for the most populous state of Germany, has advocated a controlled cannabis distribution trial project. The idea would be to reduce both the black market and illegal access by teens.

Cannabis remains, by far, the most widely used “illicit” drug in Germany – a country that has begun, albeit slowly, to recognize the medical efficacy of cannabis. 

About 32% of the population between the ages of 18 to 59 have used cannabis at some point in time. In addition, there are now about 40-50,000 patients, but nobody knows exactly how many – it is easier to count prescriptions in a year and divide by four (cannabis prescriptions are issued every 90 days).

However, the call also comes at a strange and meaningful time in German politics. The Green Party is using cannabis as a way to attract voters to its cause at a time when the electoral map is shifting. Quite often, the choice is between the “far left” – or the “far right.” Die Linke and the Greens, in particular, back cannabis liberalization. The far-right, anti-immigrant, Alternativ für Deutschland or AfD does not.

No matter where this trial goes in other words, it may finally pierce the veil of “no” in Berlin – a political city on the federal level, which has denied such trials to its own citizens for years now.

Why Now?

The tide is moving and shifting and changing of course. There is still a long way to go, but there is home grow in Italy, and rec trials scheduled all over Europe these days. 

It is only natural that the Germans would pay attention. Particularly now, and particularly in this region of the country.

Prohibition Is Getting Old

While Germans can be a conservative lot, there is also a pragmatism which is very much at the heart of all things political too. And right now, there are quite a few things that are starting to feel “stale” if not a need for a good shake up. The CDU, the mainstream, conservative party that held the country together since WWII is feeling many challenges right now, and cannabis legalization is absolutely fodder in the discussion.

Look for more of this kind of pressure as the ground in Europe begins to shift and change with political forces of all kinds at the table. Cannabis, in this environment, is absolutely one of the biggest playing cards if not pink elephants in the room.

For an insider’s look at the shifting landscape of cannabis regulation in Germany and across Europe, be sure to attend Peter Homberg’s headliner at the International Cannabis Business Conference in Berlin!

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Ontario Government Considers Cannabis Cafes: What Is The Impact Globally?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

Toronto has led the discussion on a couple of cannabis topics of late. See financing of public pot companies for starters. But that is not all that is cooking in the woke Canadian kitchen of cannapreneurialism. 

So are, finally, ideas about public consumption, in both licensed establishments like cafes and lounges and public venues like festivals and concerts The news comes, literally, as a breath of fresh or ganja-scented fresh air in a debate that is getting decidedly stuck in a rut just about everywhere.

And if the winds of change can blow from Toronto, globally, like the pace of cannabis exports, so much the better. In Europe, home of the idea to begin with, there is already a receptive hum afoot, and not just in Amsterdam.

Cannabis 2.0 for 2020

Luxumbourg broke the ice with its determined pushing of the pace of a regulated recreational market in Europe, but Italy popped the cherry on home grow last fall, and that too is now in the room. 

No matter the conservative forces holding back full recreational, now, however, it is also clear to everyone in the room that this is an idea whose time is coming. Fast. Even if that takes another 24 months to pop.

Lifestyle firms with venture capital backing are setting up in Berlin, and of course, far beyond, in Bavaria too. In Frankfurt, home to international bankers and the European Central Bank, pot shops selling upscale CBD products are brazenly advertising on the sides of trams.

Europe has the cannabis bug, and things are ramping up.

It is Not Going To Happen Tomorrow, But It Has Been Afoot For Years

The International Cannabis Business Conference has been ahead of the wave in Europe since its inception in 2017 in Berlin. Today, with a network of conferences spread across the continent, from Barcelona to Bern, it is the annual, critical meeting point of those who are making headway in Europe.

The most important thing in 2020 is networking and establishing professional connections and ecosystems. The conversation is alive, and there is no turning back the clock.

But if the Canadian influence that is also part of the mix, and has been for many years, it may be that the winds blowing west from the Canadian Rockies will meet the home-brewing revolution afoot across the EU and create some increasingly intense thunderstorms in the name of full and final legalization, if not public consumption, in a regulated, safe market.

Stay tuned for future weather reports.

To get the inside track on an exploding scene, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference in Barcelona, Berlin and Bern this year.