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Author: Marguerite Arnold

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Medical Cannabis Production Becomes Legal In France

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

The decree, published in the Official Journal on February 18 will enter into force as of March 1

Quite quietly, France is moving into the medical cannabis discussion. As of March 1, it will be legal to cultivate cannabis for medical purposes. The change in the law was published in the official government register, the Official Journal, several weeks ago and comes into force this week.

France has been slowly dipping its toe into the entire discussion, dragged less by governmental enthusiasm for the sector much less reform, and more by political pressure. In addition to this, the legal discussion in France has been so fraught that case law, namely the Kanavape case, opened up the discussion on an EU level.

That said, there is clearly a long way to go before the industry comes anywhere close to normalizing here. The decree itself, according to French legal experts, is just as flawed as the recent decree to begin sales of cannabis products but banned cannabis flower. Last month, the Conseil d’Etat the country’s highest administrative court, put a temporary stay on the prohibition of hemp flowers.

On top of this, there is no guarantee that the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM, or the French FDA), may not want a competitive market. There is precedent for this in Europe. In Germany, BfArM, the equivalent in ANSM here, put out a competitive bid for the cultivation of medical cannabis in the country, limited to just three companies and excluding German firms. They also created a monopoly on the distribution of these flowers – giving only one German distributor, based in Frankfurt, the right to distribute the same.

There is no reason that the French government will be any more interested in promoting a robust, and competitive industry by opening the doors to wider cultivation.

ANSM has been running a highly limited medical cannabis program for a year that continues until March of next year. External producers are required to provide cannabis flower, products, and associated products, like vapes, for free. According to the agency, it has set up a temporary scientific committee to define the specifications for national medical cannabis medicines. The group consists of 11 members, drawn from ministries including the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment and the Conseil Order of Pharmacists.

France may indeed be moving with the rest of Europe if not the world to finally accept the medical efficacy of the drug. That said, recreational reform is still a long way off here, despite high levels of illicit consumption. The lower house of the French Parliament rejected a bill last month that introduced the idea of a controlled adult-use market.

Be sure to keep up to date with the rolling cannabis reform efforts now afoot across Europe. Book your tickets to the upcoming International Cannabis Business Conference events in Barcelona, Berlin, and Zurich!

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NCAA Raises Cannabis Testing Threshold – What Does This Mean For International Sports?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business, Politics.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association raises its testing thresholds – could this impact European sports organizations as well?

Following the announcement that the National Football Association (NFL) would be funding two medical studies on cannabis to the tune of $1 million earlier in the month, the NCAA has also put forward an announcement about its own change of policy on the cannabis front.

Last Friday, the NCAA raised its testing threshold for cannabis and recommended reduced penalties for student athletes who test positive for cannabis use. This is a significant change for the organisation.

The new guidelines are in line with THC guidelines established by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Further, the NCAA also recommended that its penalty structure is changed. Namely, after a first positive test, an athlete will not lose eligibility if the student’s school provides drug education for the student. This is also the case for the second positive test if the athlete’s school confirms that the student was compliant after the first incident. However, if the athlete was not compliant, they will be withheld from 25% of regular season play. After a third positive test, students will be withheld from 50% of regular season play if they have not been compliant in the school’s anti-drug education program.

Previously, athletes who tested positive for cannabis would be suspended for half a season and remain ineligible until the suspension period was completed and a subsequent negative test.

Where American Sports Go, So Will Global Ones

The move to accept cannabis use by athletes from prominent sports organizations – both professional and amateur, in the United States, is likely to push other global sports organizations to follow suit. This includes the Olympics, international tennis and of course soccer. Last year, Olympic favourite Sha’Carri Richardson was banned from competition after she tested positive for cannabis use.

Right now, cannabis sports meds are in a very early stage just about everywhere else. According to the German Journal of Sports Medicine, “Although the physical effects of cannabis are relatively minor, the increase in heart rate and blood pressure can cause problems. There are known cases in which cannabis has caused or promoted cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks, and probably strokes.”

That said, give it time. The medical cannabis conversation continues to roll on, and where reform goes, sports organizations will follow.

Be sure to book your tickets to this years’ International Cannabis Business Conference events in Barcelona, Berlin, and Zurich.

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Colombian Government Passes CBD Regulation

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business, Politics.

Regulation 227 aims to make the country’s cannabis industry more competitive by allowing the export of dried flower and other CBD based products

Colombia is positioning itself as a comer in the global cannabis market. The latest move, allowing GACP certified CBD producers to export their product globally, is just another sign of the same. It also comes almost 8 months after the government also allowed the export of GMP grade medical cannabis flowers.

This now positions Colombia as a country poised to export other Central and South American countries and north (to Canada). The country is already a player in the European market, shipping cannabis to the UK and multiple countries in the EU, including Germany.

How legitimate is the CBD Market for International Export?

Colombia and other countries in Central and South America may be price competitive when it comes to the EU-GMP conversation, however, the jury is still out when it comes to CBD of the GACP kind.

On one hand, the fact that CBD regulations are on the normalization side (see both France and Germany), imported CBD flowers and extract is still a dodgy proposition. There is currently a de facto ban on the import of CBD in Germany right now because of this. Hemp is also a subsidized crop here, so entering this part of the market remains a ferociously competitive and regulation-strewn proposition.

That said, there is always France. 

However, Colombia is not the only country, in or outside of Europe now gunning for these markets.

The question, as it always is, is one of price.

What the entre of Colombia into the global cannabis really means is that prices, in both GMP quality and that bound for “other” purposes, are headed down.

And that, both for the medical market and the budding recreational one, is actually very good news.

Cannabis As Global Commodity

This is not to say that the entire cannabis commodity supply chain is suddenly de-kinking. Companies have been built in the German market alone by knowing how to arbitrage this most fickle of commodities. Those days are far from over yet.

However, knowing that Colombia is open and ready for business and where to talk to the manufacturers (in Europe) means that suddenly sourcing cheaper, regulated, and registered cannabis is no longer such a pain, much less expensive.

Bottom line? Colombia has made the transition from “illicit drug capital” to “cannabis exporter to the world” in a few fairly easy and smooth jumps. 

Be sure to book your tickets to the upcoming International Cannabis Business Conference events in Barcelona, Berlin and Zurich!

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Italian Supreme Court Nixes Constitutional Mandate On Cannabis

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

In a blow to forward reform in Italy, the Supreme Court blocks request to hold a referendum on the legalization of cannabis cultivation

Cannabis reform may be coming to Europe in ever more advanced ways, but it still does not mean that the forces against it are giving way en masse. Indeed, in every European country so far, reform has been wrought, painfully, and mostly first by legal challenge.

This is now clearly the case in Italy where the country’s top legal authority just nixed the possibility of a voter referendum to legalize the growing of cannabis. The proposal sought to legalize home grow for personal use and reduce sanctions for other “crimes” including decriminalization and eliminating prison time for those selling small amounts of the drug.

The move has prompted a fierce response from pro-legalization advocates who say that this refusal is an attack on constitutional freedom and liberty inherent in a democracy. Hundreds of thousands of Italians signed the proposal. The court claims that the referendum included other narcotics that are considered to be hard drugs that could not be liberalized. 

What Is Likely to Happen Next?

There are two likely outcomes. The first is that a new referendum will be launched that only includes cannabis. This should not be all that hard to do in an environment where it is obvious to Italians that cannabis reform is afoot across Europe (if not globally). 

Then of course there is the other option – a lawsuit on behalf of a patient recently caught growing and selling small amounts. 

In this environment, both could happen. Further, given the fact that European level courts have still not ruled in favour of this kind of reform, it is a potent target.

The Italian Conundrum

The problem right now in Italy is that cannabis reform is in a bit of a grey space. Regulated cannabis firms are allowed to cultivate cannabis, as are individuals. However, when it comes to the transaction of nonregulated cannabis, those who want to see this proceed are likely to find themselves pitted against the “industry.” Not to mention consumers who want to be able to buy and consume safe cannabis.

That said, what the failure of this referendum may also do is galvanize the Italian government to create a fully regulated recreational market. Particularly post Covid, it is a rare government globally which is not looking for tax revenue just about anywhere it can get it.

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

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Key German Hemp Case Moves Forward In Court

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business, Politics.

The right to sell (and market) hemp is moving forward in a significant legal klage that is long overdue

Germany might be the most important (and largest) cannabis market in Europe at the moment, but nothing here has been gained without legal fights. Beyond that, while the medical market is developing here steadily if still too slowly and in fits and starts, the Germans are still behind the most cutting-edge case law on the continent on the hemp front.

Namely, after the Kanavape case in France last year, the right to sell hemp products including hemp tea and even smokable flower has arrived in France, Luxembourg, Austria, and Belgium, but aus Deutschland? Still not so much.

The last court decision on the issue was inconclusive.

Now, that right is being taken to court in Saxony’s highest administrative legal arena.

The case is a biggie – and given movements in Germany on the legislative side – namely the statements of the traffic light coalition to normalize the entire industry – is likely to solve the issue nationally.

Removing Cannabis from The German Narcotics Act

As with just about everything in this industry, this is a critical matter of timing. It is not just hemp that needs to be removed from the Narcotics Act. A compromise on the THC side of the equation is also in the offing with the entire legalization discussion.

While this hemp case is not going to solve that, it is very likely, given both decisions at the EU level and most recently in France, that this legal clash will start to set definitive case law in Germany.

If not, it is also very likely, given the lawyers as the cannabis firms involved, that this challenge will not be defeated.

Change Is Afoot in The Entire German Cannabis Market

Germany is clearly going to see fairly comprehensive cannabis reform this year and on multiple fronts.

What is interesting about this case, however, is not only its timing, but the fact that any decision on hemp legally, will then have to be enshrined in the recreational cannabis law now floating around the Bundestag.

It could not be better timed, and of course, is way overdue.

Be sure to book your tickets to International Cannabis Business Conference events this year in Barcelona, Berlin and Zurich!

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South Africa’s President Promises Forward Cannabis Reform In State Of Union Speech

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

New, pro-business cannabis reform has been prioritized by President as a means of economic development and post-Covid rescue of the economy

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa said in his state of the union speech last week that cannabis reform in the country is now at the top of the economic development agenda. He specifically cited that the industry, which is on track to create over 130,000 new jobs, needs a regulatory structure to flourish, but that it held a bright promise for the country.

Cannabis reform has been on a slow, but steady track towards progress here. In September 2020, a much-criticized bill was introduced in Parliament, but a combination of Covid and other issues with the legislation has slowed its passage down.

No more. Rampaphosa is on a campaign to change all that.

“We want to harness this,” he said. “We are going to fast-track policy and regulations for the use of cannabis for medical use, especially in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.”

Cannabis Reform in Africa

South Africa of course, is jumping on a bandwagon led regionally by Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Morocco. 

The entire industry represents a tantalizingly valuable, renewable commodities market for which the rest of the world is developing a large appetite. The European and Israeli medical markets (for starters) represent a destination for African-grown cannabis that is unlikely to abate, particularly given both the costs and hostility towards full reform that still exists at least within the EU (in official circles at least).

Beyond this, there are clearly other huge possibilities dawning for an intra-Africa industry that are drawing investors globally, but particularly at this point from North America and increasingly, Europe. 

Beyond the medical and consumer’s market for edibles, the industrial hemp vertical is also being examined as a way to do everything from cleaning up pollution left by gold and diamond mining to creating cheap and planet-friendly construction materials.

The Race for Cannabis Reform

Africa, in fact, represents one of the more interesting cannabis frontiers now. American, Canadian, and European investors are flocking to opportunities in the cultivation and extraction space. Israel beat everyone to the punch by importing early. North Macedonia too has been a regular client. Germany began importing from the Dark Continent last year.

The question, however, so far, is where are the Chinese?

One thing, however, is crystal clear. As in the last African “Age of Exploration,” an international group of investors is now looking at opportunities of the cannabis kind all over the continent. And that in turn, is helping to seed an industry that took root long ago. This time, of course, it will be of the legal, certified kind.

Be sure to book your tickets to the upcoming International Cannabis Business Conference events in Barcelona, Berlin, and Zurich as well as the Global Investment Forum in Berlin this summer!

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What Is Up With The Canna Industry’s Mid Winter Blues?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

A range of indicators show that the industry, globally, is hitting a rough patch – but don’t expect this to last.

There are a couple of bellwether developments of late that seem to indicate that the “biz” is hitting a bit of a slump. From the lackluster earnings and stock prices of the largest Canadian LPs to reports that the medical market in Germany has seen static growth – not to mention the latest rounds of buyouts and mergers just about everywhere, the industry is hitting a bit of a global growth time out.

What is going on? In an industry supposedly on a one-way track of exponential growth, such numbers can be a little dispiriting. However, there are several clear reasons for this stagnation, none of which are long-term. Here are a few of the biggies.

  1. Covid may have boosted sales in the US and Canada, but overall, the burden of new regulation and lack of regulation reform combined with the Pandemic is taking its toll everywhere. The overarching issues of profitability in the adult-use market in North America have still not been solved. And in Germany, doctors are still reluctant to prescribe, along with an approval body that, like many government agencies, has slowed to an absolute snail’s pace in approving anything new – from permits to patient coverage. With Covid restrictions on the edge of lifting just about everywhere, expect to see this change, perhaps even as early as this spring.
  2. The German market is far from saturation, but sales strategies have largely focussed on convincing still cannabis shy doctors to prescribe a certain brand of cannabis or cannabis products and hoping to convince patients to ask for the same. So far, this has proved highly expensive and inefficient. The only widely known “brand” doctors seem to fall back to is dronabinol, currently about a third to a quarter of the market. With further reform pending, including of the recreational kind, this will also impact medical sales, just in terms of being allowed to discuss much less market cannabis in general.
  3. Recreational reform is now formally on the docket in Germany, with other EU countries plus Switzerland moving forward to launch markets as early as spring 2022. This is going to have a much-needed buzz and pick-me-up effect on legalization conversations in every EU country, as well as globally.

The industry, in other words, may be in the midst of a midwinter slump, but don’t expect that to last. Inefficiencies in the industry are being kinked out, and reform, in many more places, is increasingly if not here, then just around the corner.

Be sure to book your tickets now for the International Cannabis Business Conference as it returns to Barcelona!

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The French CBD Market

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

Highest French Court Freezes Ban on CBD flowers and leaves. Does this mean an ooh la la moment for the French CBD Biz? If not the European one beyond that?

The French have carved out a unique place in the European cannabis discussion, and further one that may well be emulated elsewhere. What is remarkable about such developments, however, is that while the French have some of the strictest laws in Europe about the plant, it is here that the CBD discussion is being moved forward in codified, legal decisions.

The Kanavape case, in other words, has only been the beginning of a dramatic about turn in French domestic policy about CBD. As a result of the same, the French government released new regulation on December 31, 2021. However, it was met with howls of discontent if not speedy legal action in response by the industry when it emerged that the marketing and sales of flowers and leaves would still be expressly interdit (forbidden). On January 24, the Conseil d’Etat, the highest administrative court in the country), agreed with the industry and froze the proposed ban.

This means that the French finally have a regulated CBD market for both flowers and products. It also, as a result, creates the first time that a European country (beyond Switzerland) has codified its hemp industry so concretely. To put this in the perspective this deserves – Germany, with the continent’s largest medical market, has still not figured out how to formally define CBD outside of the Narcotics Act. 

To the extent that this discussion is likely to get a carveout in the upcoming drug reform conversation now afoot at the federal level politically, it is likely that the Germans will follow the French. To date, the issue of flower and leaf sales has been controversial here as well. The last German legal decision on hemp tea was in fact, indecisive.

The French movement on the same, in other words, is highly likely to influence not only the other largest economy in the region, but every other country as well. It may well also move the formal acceptance and clarification of at least CBD on a European level.

And that is a revolution that is way, way overdue.

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

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Research Is Picking Up For Cannabis And Covid

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Science.

There are several studies and now a UK trial is planned to examine the efficacy of cannabis on Covid. What gives?

Since the beginning of the Covid 19 Pandemic, there have been growing claims, although not backed by research or trials, that cannabinoids can affect Covid. On the face of it, it makes sense, as cannabis has marked anti-inflammatory properties.

However, up until now, such claims have been mired in controversy, simply because there had been no formal research backing it up.

Medical Trials Are Underway

That appears to be now formally changing.

At the beginning of January, Oregon State University released research that revealed that hemp compounds, used via a chemical screening technique invented at the university, show the ability to prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells. The research shows that CBGA and CBDA bind to the SARS CoV-2 spike protein, thereby blocking a critical step in the infection process in humans. This “spike protein” is the same drug target used by the current Covid vaccines.

Beyond this announcement by the OSU College of Pharmacy, which was covered globally, an Australian company, BOD, has just announced a UK trial to use cannabis to treat long COVID symptoms. The company was given leave to test its CBD products by the UK’s Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency. 30 trial participants have already been recruited.

The Big Ifs

There are many in the industry who are looking at the development of such research with extreme skepticism. After all, this is hardly the first time such claims have been made. What appears to be different this time, however, is that there is the beginning of medical data and trial research to back them up.

However, those hoping that perhaps this development might immediately aid full cannabis reform might find themselves sadly disappointed, even in the UK. The best this might do is formalize the medical use of CBD, which has already been accomplished, and the cannabis used in turn would have to be EU GMP certified to qualify as a medical product. It is also unlikely that such pronouncements impacted the recent French decision to allow flower sales along with the rest of its CBD market (that has more to do with EU law).

Regardless, what this has done has again focussed the attention on the importance of (at least) formally and fully decriminalizing the medical use of cannabis. And this in turn will lead to greater reform, even if not in the next 12 months.

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