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Brittney Griner’s Arrest Highlights Harms Of Russia Cannabis Prohibition

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Unless you have been living under a rock then you likely heard the news that WNBA star Brittney Griner was recently arrested for cannabis possession in Russia. According to ESPN, “Griner is being detained in Russia after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow…”

“We are aware of the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia and are in close contact with her, her legal representation in Russia, her family, her teams, and the WNBA and NBA,” Lindsay Kagawa Colas, Griner’s agent with Wasserman Group, told ESPN via a statement Saturday. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to comment further on the specifics of her case but can confirm that as we work to get her home, her mental and physical health remain our primary concern.”

Some cannabis observers, including some long-time activists, were quick to place blame on Griner for traveling to Russia, allegedly with vape pen cartridges in her luggage. However, the real blame lands squarely on Russia’s inhumane cannabis policies.

Assuming that the allegations are true, Griner was likely traveling with an amount of cannabis vape pens that is legal in a number of states back in the U.S. If the pens contained hemp-derived CBD oil, then what Griner was caught with would have been legal nationwide in the U.S.

Unfortunately, Griner is now facing up to 10 years in prison, and given the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it’s very hard to speculate as to if/when she will be released and allowed to come home. Hopefully her freedom will not be used as a bargaining chip by Russia, although, it’s something that cannot be ruled out.

Many are calling on the Biden administration to do everything that it can to free Griner, and rightfully so. With that being said, Biden has scoffed in the past when asked to do the same for cannabis prisoners in the U.S., so I am personally not holding out a lot of hope for Biden to step up to try to free Griner.

Cannabis prohibition is harmful to people’s lives, including professional athletes. No one should ever be arrested for a plant that has been found to be exponentially safer than alcohol. Russia needs to free Griner immediately, as well as every other cannabis prisoner within its borders. Anything short of that is unacceptable.

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South Africa’s Constitutional Court Tackles Youth Cannabis Possession And Use

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

South Africa is one of at least three countries that had landmark cannabis court rulings issued in recent years that determined national cannabis prohibition to be unconstitutional. Mexico and Italy also had similar court decisions rendered by their top courts around the same time.

For the decision in South Africa specifically, the Court determined that cannabis prohibition as it applied to personal possession and use by adults was unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the Court did not address prohibition policies as they apply to youth.

A lower court previously determined that cannabis prohibition was unconstitutional for youths, and this week South Africa’s top court heard arguments regarding the issue. Per IOL:

Pretoria – The Constitutional Court will hear arguments on Thursday, for the decriminalisation of the possession and use of cannabis by children.

In 2020, the Johannesburg High Court declared provisions of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act unconstitutional in so far as they criminalise the possession and use of cannabis by children.

The Centre for Child Law will today ask the Constitutional Court to confirm the high court order.

There is absolutely no reason for youth to ever be treated as criminals for acts that only involve cannabis. Cannabis prohibition is part of the school-to-prison pipeline that has ruined so many lives across the globe, and it’s a practice that needs to be ended immediately.

This is not to say that children should be allowed to smoke cannabis in the streets of South Africa unimpeded. Youth consumption is an issue that should always be taken seriously. However, public policy needs to be based on science, compassion, and logic.

The best approach for governments when it comes to youth and cannabis involves being honest and informative. Scare tactics do not work, and putting youth into the criminal justice system all but ensures that they will be in the system for years to come, possibly for the rest of the youth’s life. Hopefully South Africa’s top court does the right thing and renders a favorable decision.

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Medical Cannabis Tea Is Now Legal In New Zealand

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Medical, Politics.

New Zealand was very close to becoming the third country to legalize cannabis for adult use back in 2020. Voters in New Zealand narrowly rejected a legalization referendum measure in 2020, with the measure losing by less than 2 percentage points.

The title of ‘third country to legalize’ ultimately went to Malta, which passed a legalization measure late last year. The failed vote in New Zealand was a missed opportunity to be sure, however, cannabis reform is still moving forward in other ways.

Medical cannabis was already legal in New Zealand prior to the failed referendum vote, and recently medical cannabis flower was permitted for limited use. Per excerpts from an article first published by Newshub:

The cannabis buds from Australian pharmaceutical company ANTG have approval from the Ministry of Health to be prescribed to patients with chronic pain, but only in the form of a tea.

“This is a great day for New Zealand, just across the Tasman they’ve had dried flowers available to be prescribed by doctors for at least two to three years – we’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Green Doctors co-founder Mark Hotu says.

While this cannabis flower contains less than one percent THC, others due on the market later in the year will contain much more.

It is always perplexing why lawmakers and regulators around the globe seem to be so scared of cannabis flower. A number of jurisdictions that permit medical cannabis products simultaneously continue to ban sales of dried flower.

The reasoning offered up for such flower bans always seems to hinge on lawmakers and regulators wanting to deter patients from combusting and inhaling cannabis flower.

What that reasoning fails to account for is that some patients benefit more from smoking and/or vaporizing inhaled flower compared to ingesting cannabis via a pill or tincture or other delivery methods. It also doesn’t account for the fact that patients will still seek out unregulated flower if it’s not available legally, and the end result of the ban is simply that patients will be consuming less-safe medicine.

Suffering patients deserve to have unimpeded, safe access to any and all forms of cannabis that help treat their condition. It’s the logical and compassionate approach that every country needs to pursue via every reasonable means necessary, including in New Zealand.

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Sativex Associated With Opioid-Sparing Effects

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Science.

In a perfect world, every suffering patient that could benefit from the cannabis plant would have safe access to it in all of its forms. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world.

In a less-than-perfect world, patients are at the mercy of what medical cannabis products are legally available in their area. Sativex is one option that is available in places that prohibit most, if not all, other forms of medical cannabis products.

A recent study found that Sativex may reduce opioid consumption rates among pain patients. It is worth noting that shaming people that have to use opioids for whatever reason is not OK.

With that being said, cannabis is absolutely safer than opioids so anyone that can transition from opioids to cannabis is a good thing. Below is more information about the recent study via a news release from NORML:

Oslo, Norway: Prescription opioid users who frequently consume the cannabis plant-derived extract medication Sativex (nabiximols) substantially reduce their opioid intake over time, according to data published in the journal Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Technology.

Sativex is an oromucosal cannabis spray containing nearly equal portions of plant-derived THC and CBD. It is available by prescription in numerous countries, but it is not FDA-approved in the United States.

A team of researchers affiliated with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health assessed the relationship between the use of Sativex and opioids over a one-year period in a cohort of patients prescribed both substances.

They reported that those who filled their Sativex prescriptions three times or more during the study period decreased their use of prescription opioids. This decrease “was even more evident among those filling five or more prescriptions.” By contrast, an inverse relationship was identified among those infrequently engaged in the use of Sativex.

Authors concluded: “This is one of a few studies investigating the impact of medicinal cannabis use on individual level opioid use. … Looking at all those filling a prescription for Sativex, opioid use was only marginally lowered in the follow-up period. Some Sativex users, however, filled more prescriptions for Sativex and were able to reduce their opioid use substantially. Further studies are needed to elucidate more details on these patients, so as to know who can benefit from such cannabis-based extracts in reducing their opioid use.”

Numerous studies have previously identified a relationship between patients’ consumption of medical cannabis and a reduction in their use of opioids and other prescription drugs.

Full text of the study, “Possible opioid-saving effect of cannabis-based medicine using individual-based data from the Norwegian Prescription Database,” appears in Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. Additional information is available from NORML’s fact sheet, “Relationship Between Marijuana and Opioids.”

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Israel Plans To Decriminalize CBD Two Years From Now

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is arguably the most popular cannabinoid on the planet right now, at least by some measures. For instance, over the course of the last year searches on Google for ‘CBD’ have far exceeded searches for ‘THC’.

Products infused with CBD can be found almost all over the planet these days it seems like, with CBD being infused into all types of products including edibles, topicals, and even fabrics. Unfortunately, CBD is still illegal in some countries, including in Israel.

Israel’s government recently announced plans to finally decriminalize CBD, however, it’s a policy change that is not going to happen any time soon. Per Haaretz:

The Health Ministry has begun the process of exempting CBD, or cannabidiol, one of the active ingredients in cannabis, from its list of dangerous drugs.

According to the ministry’s plan announced Monday, sales of the chemical substance, which is used in food, medical and cosmetic products, will be permitted in about two years, after authorities complete all the necessary preparations.

Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said decriminalizing CBD was part of a greater push “for the regulation of the cannabis plant,” adding that “it is widely agreed [CBD] should not be classified as a dangerous drug.”

Israel has long served as an international leader when it comes to cannabis research, and it makes no sense why the country would have such a harsh approach to CBD. After all, CBD does not induce euphoria.

In the United States, where medical cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, hemp-derived CBD is legal and sold nationwide. CBD products are sold all over Europe. Even in Thailand, where people used to get the death penalty for cannabis offenses, CBD is legal nationwide.

Putting aside that CBD is still illegal in Israel, which is odd to say the least, why is it going to take two years before CBD is exempted from Israel’s list of dangerous drugs? For a country that is so progressive on cannabis policy in some ways, Israel is clearly on the wrong side of history when it comes to CBD.

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New Report Finds Women Continuing To Gain Market Share Of Cannabis Sales

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

The international cannabis consumer base is evolving with every passing day. As the legal cannabis industry continues to spread across the globe and access to various cannabis products increases, new consumers are coming on board and people that have taken a long break from cannabis are coming back to it.

As demographic shifts occur in the cannabis industry over time it will be important for cannabis companies to take note. A clear demographic shift is occurring in the United States where data company Akerna has determined that women are gaining a larger market share of cannabis sales. While the data involved is from the United States, it still provides insight globally as the U.S. market is maturing in a manner that many other countries will likely also experience. Below is more information about Akerna’s data report via a press release from the company:

DENVER, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading enterprise software company and the developer of the most comprehensive technology infrastructure, ecosystem, and compliance engine powering the global cannabis industry, released a data report on women’s cannabis shopping habits as the demographic group continues to gain market share, up 3.3% since 2019.

When considering the millions of US cannabis consumers, these year over year shifts are quite sizeable and could have a significant impact on future product development:

Year

Market Share – Women

2019

35%

2020

36.6%

2021

38.3%

“Cannabis has plenty of stigmas and stereotypes, but the data doesn’t lie – it has a broad appeal to people of all ages, sexes, and socioeconomic statuses,” said Jessica Billingsley, Akerna Chief Executive Officer. “I expect to see more and more brands targeting their products and marketing towards women in the coming years. Otherwise, they will risk losing participation in this growing market to the competition who does.”

Regarding women’s current product preferences, flower and cartridges are top choices, with concentrates coming in third – a category that recently overtook edibles for the first time, which moved down to the fourth most popular category for women.

Product Category

Sales Percentage – Women

Cannabis Flower

45.2%

Cartridges/Pens

34.4%

Concentrates

9.5%

Infused Edibles

8.8%

Other

2.1%

Data showed direct correlations between age and product sales. The youngest age groups of women are most likely to buy concentrates, with product share gradually declining as age goes up. On the contrary, the more mature groups spend the most significant amounts on infused edibles, a value which decreases gradually with each younger age group.

“Concentrates are perceived as an advanced cannabis consumption method, which could be why they appeal the most to younger populations which have grown up with the legalization of cannabis,” said James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect at Akerna. “On the other hand, edibles provide a discreet form of cannabis consumption with easy dosing, which is likely why they appeal to more mature populations.”

Other values for women cannabis shoppers:

  • Average products per order
    • Medical: 2.98 products
    • Adult-use: 3.12 products
  • Average spent per order
    • Medical: $123.41
    • Adult-use: $76.80
  • Sales by age groups:
    • Under 30 – 27.3%
    • 30-40 – 29.3%
    • 40-50 – 19.2%
    • 50-60 -13.6%
    • Over 60 – 10.6%

About the Akerna Flash Report:

Flash Report looks at buying trends in the cannabis market as captured by Akerna’s flagship solution, MJ Platform. MJ Platform includes MJ Analytics, allowing operators, investors, and regulators to access the industry’s largest and most statistically relevant database to drive data-driven business decisions.

MJ Analytics provides:

  • The most significant statistical relevance across countries
  • Normalized data (not farmed from various disparate POS platforms)
  • Complete cannabis supply chain data
  • Business insights founded in category management methodology

MJ Analytics can eliminate the guesswork and provide answers to questions like:

  • What is the gross margin return on inventory?
  • What SKUs should be carried?
  • How do basket adjacencies influence discounting and retention strategies?
  • What does a medical market look like a year or five years after decriminalizing cannabis?

Click here for more information about MJ Platform and MJ Analytics.

Some instances of the flash report may include business intelligence derived from Akerna’s family of companies, including Ample Organics, Leaf Data Systems, solo sciences, Trellis, Viridian Sciences, and 365 Cannabis. Sales projections are based on market adjustment calculations and aggregate the entire US market.

Akerna has one of the largest seed-to-sale footprints in the cannabis industry, operating in 15 countries and 23 US states, including Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Arizona, California, Utah, Michigan, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Maine, Vermont, New Mexico, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, Maryland, Washington DC, Kansas, Arkansas, New York.

Increases are relative to the prior period. Additional business intelligence data sources may include proprietary tools used by Akerna’s family of companies.

About Akerna:

Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) is an enterprise software company focused on compliantly serving the cannabis, hemp, and CBD industry. First launched in 2010, Akerna was the first cannabis software company listed on Nasdaq. The company’s cornerstone technology, MJ Platform, the world’s leading infrastructure as a service platform, powers retailers, manufacturers, brands, distributors, and cultivators.

For more information, visit https://www.akerna.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements made in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such terms or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the ability of the MJ Platform team to help operators make decisions through analytics and reporting. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside Akerna’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others that may affect actual results or outcomes, include (i) Akerna’s ability to maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees, (ii) changes in applicable laws or regulations, (iii) changes in the market place due to the coronavirus pandemic or other market factors, (iv) and other risks and uncertainties disclosed from time to time in Akerna’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those under “Risk Factors” therein. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All information herein speaks only as of the date hereof, in the case of information about Akerna, or the date of such information, in the case of information from persons other than Akerna. Akerna undertakes no duty to update or revise the information contained herein. Forecasts and estimates regarding Akerna’s industry and end markets are based on sources believed to be reliable; however, there can be no assurance these forecasts and estimates will prove accurate in whole or in part.

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Costa Rican Lawmakers Approve Another Medical Cannabis Bill

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Last year lawmakers in Costa Rica passed a medical cannabis bill and sent it to the Costa Rican President for his signature. Rather than sign the measure into law, Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada sat on the bill for a long time.

For months Quesada aired grievances about the measure, indicating that it wasn’t strict enough. All the while he would sprinkle in statements that he knows people that benefit from medical cannabis and isn’t against medical cannabis in general.

Ultimately, Quesada would go on to veto the medical cannabis measure earlier this year. According to The Tico Times, at the time Quesada wanted parts of the bill modified, specifically the wording around self-consumption and self-cultivation.

Why The Veto?

President Quesada indicated that he felt the previously identified areas undermined “legitimate” objectives of the bill and ‘could pose a public safety risk.’

“I want to say categorically that I support medical cannabis,” Quesada said to The Tico Times after the veto decision was rendered.

“This is to alleviate people with various diseases and I even have close and very dear people who need it. And I also support industrial hemp, because it will help agricultural production and economic revival. Let’s make this very clear: I agree with all these objectives and I want to be able to sign this law,” he said.

The move by Costa Rica’s president was described at the time as being a partial veto, however, the ultimate end result was that nothing got passed and it yielded the same effect as a full veto.

A Revised Measure

It did not take long for lawmakers in Costa Rica to revise the medical cannabis measure in a way that addressed President Quesada’s expressed concerns. Lawmakers passed the revised measure this week and sent it back to Quesada’s desk. Per El Mundo (translated by Google):

This Tuesday the deputies approved project 21,388, Law of cannabis for medicinal and therapeutic use and of hemp for food and industrial use.

The initiative that had the vote in favor of 35 deputies and only 4 against; was presented by Deputy Zoila Volio.

Costa Rica’s President previously indicated that he will sign the new measure, which did not include provisions for home cultivation. Only time will tell if President Quesada will make good on his promise.

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President Of Argentina Predicts Nation’s Cannabis Industry Will Create “10,000 Jobs”

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business, Politics.

Argentina passed a medical cannabis legalization measure back in 2017, however, that legislation proved to be more symbolic than anything, at least in the initial preceding years after passage. That was largely due to former President of Argentina Mauricio Macri who did seemingly everything that he could to hinder the nation’s medical cannabis program from progressing.

The current President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, issued a decree in 2020 that greatly increased safe access in the South American country. The decree legalized home cultivation, and also set the stage for Argentina’s legal cannabis industry to emerge.

The decree allowed pharmacies to sell cannabis-derived oils, topicals, and other products, and it directed insurance systems to cover medical cannabis treatments for patients who obtained a prescription.

President Fernández recently stated that his country’s legal cannabis industry could generate over 10,000 jobs in the coming years, as seen in the tweet below:

Time could prove the President’s prediction to be too conservative. For reference, Canada’s legal cannabis industry is estimated to have created over 150,000 jobs just since 2018. Canada has a population of roughly 38 million people, whereas Argentina has a population of over 45 million people.

Obviously, Canada’s legal cannabis industry is not an apples-to-apples comparison to what Argentina’s industry will become, however, the comparison provides some context for President Fernández’s recent prediction.

Argentina is home to the second-largest economy in South America behind Brazil and has a GDP that ranks 31st globally. Current top exports include soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, and wheat.

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Report: Legal Global Cannabis Sales To Jump 22% In 2022

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

This year is setting up to be a very big one for the emerging international cannabis industry. The legal cannabis industry now operates in virtually every corner of the globe, with more and more countries getting on the right side of history and embracing the cannabis plant and the industry that surrounds it.

A vast majority of what is legally bought and sold across the globe involves medical cannabis products, although adult-use cannabis sales in Canada and Uruguay remain strong. Canada and Uruguay are the only countries that currently have legal adult-use markets. Malta legalized cannabis late last year for adult use, however, sales are still prohibited until licensed non-profit clubs are implemented.

Total legal cannabis sales are expected to increase by roughly 22% according to a new report from cannabis industry data company BDSA. The same report also projected that the global cannabis industry will likely increase to more than $61 billion in legal cannabis sales within five years.

“Though most legal cannabis markets saw sales soften in the second half of 2021, the global cannabis market is expected to see brisk growth in 2022, driven by strong sales in new and emerging markets in the U.S., steady growth in Canada and international markets lead by Mexico and Germany,” said Jessica Lukas, chief commercial officer at BDSA via a company press release.

“Sales of legal cannabis products, including cannabis-derived pharmaceuticals, outside the U.S. and Canada were estimated at $1.4 billion in spending for 2021 and are forecast to grow to $2.2 billion in 2022. International sales are expected to reach $9.5 billion by 2026, a CAGR of approximately 46% from 2021. The bulk of that new spending will be driven by Germany and Mexico, though France and the U.K. will contribute significantly as well.” BSDA’s press release stated regarding international cannabis sales.

Legal cannabis sales in Canada reached an estimated $3.8 billion in 2021 and are projected to climb to $4.7 billion in 2022 and nearly $6.3 billion by 2026, a CAGR of 11% from 2021. Ontario is expected to spearhead this growth, with this province growing over $1.3 billion by 2026. British Columbia will also be a leading contributor, adding $420 million to total sales by 2026.” the press release stated about Canada specifically.