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Top Seven Benefits Of Virtual Cannabis Events

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Participating in a cannabis event is one of the best things that someone can do to get educated and network with other like-minded people in the cannabis industry. Whether you are a seasoned cannabis industry veteran, someone trying to find out more information regarding the cannabis space, or somewhere in between, you will greatly benefit from participating in a cannabis event.

In-person events might be on hold right now, but entrepreneurs, business professionals, and cannabis enthusiasts of all backgrounds can still attend virtual cannabis events, including and especially the upcoming International Cannabis Business Conference Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium on June 9th. Virtual cannabis events provide a lot of unique benefits to attendees. Below are the top seven benefits of attending a virtual cannabis event (in no particular order).

1. Save Time and Money on Travel Costs

Traveling can be fun, however, it can also be expensive and time-consuming. Virtual cannabis events do not require any traveling except traveling from your couch to your computer. If you have a laptop or tablet, you don’t even have to leave the couch!

2. The Comfort of Your Own Home

As the saying goes – there’s no place like home. When you attend a virtual cannabis event, you can be surrounded by all of the comforts of home, while learning from people and experts from all over the world.

3. Eat What You Want

Quality cannabis events typically provide amazing food, however, that’s not always the case. Even with events that do provide fantastic food for attendees, the food may not be enticing to a particular attendee for one reason or another. When you attend a virtual cannabis event, you can provide whatever catering options that your heart (or stomach) desires.

4. Lower Carbon Footprint

In addition to a reduction in carbon footprint due to eliminating the need to travel, virtual cannabis events also have a lower carbon footprint compared to in-person events because event materials do not need to be printed, such as banners and handouts. Everything is digital, which is great news for the environment.

5. View at Your Own Pace

With virtual cannabis events, you can view the event at your own pace. You can use the restroom at your leisure, grab a snack when you want to, and/or whatever else you want to do since you are viewing it from your own home. Attendees have much more control over the flow when it comes to virtual cannabis events.

6. No Need for Business Cards

One burdensome task of attending an in-person event is getting business cards printed and remembering to keep them handy while walking around and networking. With virtual cannabis events, no business cards are needed. Providing a contact is as easy as sending an e-mail, text message, or some other form of electronic communication while the attendee is already on their laptop or tablet.

7. Savings Are Passed Along to Attendees, Sponsors, and Exhibitors

Virtual cannabis events do not cost as much to produce as in-person events, and those savings can be passed along to attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors so that they can get more bang for their buck!

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Zimbabwe Flips Cannabis Policy To Create Total Privatization Of The Market

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

As South African lawmakers miss a deadline to change the law, finally enshrining cultivation, possession and consumption as a constitutional right (set by the Constitutional Court in 2018), neighbouring Zimbabwe has moved forward on a new course of its own.

Namely, full privatization of the industry.

In an abrupt turn of events, the country’s Health Ministry has just announced that all local and foreign investors who enter into the production of cannabis (known locally as mbanje), will be allowed to own 100% of their farms and the necessary licenses.

The logic? Competitiveness.

The Zimbabwean government-approved medical cannabis production in 2018. By last year, 37 entities had expressed interest in owning a license. However at least some firms had subsequently entered into a private-public partnership with the government. Those agreements are now  being voided, giving the original investors full control and ownership of any projects.

Initial licenses will be good for five years before requiring a renewal.

This is, of course, a vast improvement. Formerly production and possession of the plant were illegal and could be sentenced for up to 12 years in jail.

It also seems like Zimbabwe is now actively trying to compete with the developing market just south of its border in South Africa if not Lesotho.

Where And Why Is African Cannabis Relevant?

So far, the continent’s legal market has been as problem strewn as just about anywhere else. Delays and amendments if not “exceptions” have been the hallmark of development in Africa, even if they are slightly different in form than anywhere else.

However, there are clearly developing pockets of cannabis activity, with an eye to three markets: domestic consumption, and export somewhere else – either within the continent, or, beyond. At least one German distributor has successfully completed an import from South Africa and there are likely to be more. Israel recently imported from Uganda.

However, the Africa trade itself is not insubstantial and on both the medical and recreational front.

This continental market, in other words, is starting to get going, and in some interesting ways, no matter how laggard the imposition of the final regulations are. That is true just about everywhere.

For an in-depth summer update on the state of the cannabis industry globally, be sure to catch the International Cannabis Business Conference’s first-ever global convention on June 9.

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Cannabis: The Ultimate “Cure?”

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

The COVID-19 Pandemic will absolutely divide our sense of history into “before” and “after.”

2020 was the year the global economy shut down for months as scientists and governments raced to find first “stop gap” measures to limit the spread, and then of course, began to focus on finding “the cure.”

As the world begins to unclench from the months-long lockdown, however, it is also clear that cannabis is front and centre in several discussions, right as the global discussion about how to treat the plant finally brings all such issues firmly into the global limelight.

Economic Stimulation From Ending Prohibition

There are many who are now calling for an end to global prohibition of cannabis and arguing that this is just the ticket for economies reeling from COVID related economic hits. The logic is that the industry creates jobs, if the drug is a safe medicine, it can also be used recreationally with little harm, and the industry is already considered “essential.” Not to mention a jobs and revenue creator.

There are a few places in the world (see Greece and the British Isles) where cannabis is beginning to be taken seriously as an economic development tool. This is likely to increase in the months to come as whole countries and regions try to chart a new economic pathway forward. But will this be enough to create federal recreational reform in places like say, the U.S. or the European Union? 

One thing is for sure. It won’t hurt.

Cannabis As COVID “Cure?”

There are several intriguing studies that seem to indicate that cannabis can frustrate the spread of the virus by causing cell immunity and or at least resistance to infection. It also may be useful in helping people tolerate any “cure” on the horizon (much like it helps AIDs patients).

As research progresses, expect to see converts jumping on the bandwagon, just from the medical side. 

In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) is widely expected to reschedule cannabis globally as at least a “Schedule II” in the fourth quarter of the year, effectively ending criminal prosecution in many jurisdictions for mere possession, especially for medical use. That said, few believe that this change in status is safely in the bag (the decision has already been delayed twice), much less that this alone will end the debate about recreational reform.

Regardless, there are many signs afoot that not only is “medical” use about to hit mainstream stride, but the next conversation, ending prohibition for rec users, is finally, almost around the corner.

Be sure to check out the International Cannabis Business Conferences’s first global digital conference on June 9 for an update on the cannabis industry just about everywhere it currently exists!

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Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium Early Bird Ticket Pricing Expires Wednesday

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Join us for our streamlined and power-packed International Cannabis Business Conference Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium on June 9th. Stay connected with the top cannabis industry leaders from around the globe and keep up to date with the current state of the cannabis industry during these unique and changing times.

In addition to renowned international travel expert Rick Steves, the International Cannabis Business Conference Virtual Cannabis Symposium will feature leading cannabis advocates, industry experts, and celebrities, including:

Actor and musician Tommy Chong
National Cannabis Industry Association co-founder and Executive Director Aaron Smith
4-time NBA Champion John Salley
Peter Homberg, partner at leading international law firm Dentons
Comedian Doug Benson
Nic Easley, CEO of 3C Consulting and CEO & Managing Director of Multiverse Capital
Hip hop legend DJ Muggs
Lorenza Romanese, Managing Director at the European Industrial Hemp Association
Legendary cannabis activist and entrepreneur Debby Goldsberry
John W. Conroy QC of Conroy & Company
Leading cannabis industry investment expert Alan Brochstein
Graham Dallas, Head of Business Development for TMX Group
Simón Pablo Espinosa, CEO of En Volá

Check out the video below for a glimpse of what to expect at the virtual symposium. You can purchase your early bird tickets at this link here, but you better hurry before prices go up!:

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Cannabis Legalization Is On The Czech Republic Chamber Of Deputies’ Agenda

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Momentum for cannabis legalization is building all over the globe right now. A great example of that is in the Czech Republic where cannabis legalization is on the Republic Chamber of Deputies’ agenda. Below is a press release about it from our friends at Legalizace:

The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic has supported and will debate a bill put forward by Pirate Party Deputy, Tomáš Vymazal, regarding regulation measures for the cultivation and possession of cannabis for personal use.

In the arena of cannabis legalization, we reached a historical turning point when 141 Deputies out of the 194 present voted to merge a first reading debate on two narcotic substance policy bills. The first bill, set forth by the government, addresses the export of medical cannabis, while the second bill, proposed by the Pirate Party, modifies the possession and self-cultivation of cannabis for personal use. Both proposals are to be debated as part of the ongoing 49th session during the first week of June.

The Pirate Party amendment, which was first introduced in the lower house in November 2018, remained listed under document no. 331 in the register of the Chamber of Deputies and largely ignored until this May, when the initiative of Deputies Tomáš Vymazal (Pirate Party) and Patrik Nacher (ANO) helped secure the discussion of the bill in the first reading. The Legalizace.cz association, which has contributed to the creation of the amendment bill allowing adults to cultivate, process, and possess small amounts of cannabis for personal use without facing criminal sanctions, welcomes and supports the interest of the Chamber of Deputies in this area.

A long-term goal of Legalizace.cz is advocating for legal self-cultivation of cannabis for personal use, and the association is using all available means in an effort to end the absurd war against cannabis and its users. “The prohibition of cannabis constitutes a significant violation of basic human rights and is not achieving its declared goals. The repressive policies comprise a burden to the state budget, they waste the time of prosecutors in criminal proceedings, and make it unbelievably complicated for ill people to access a medicinal herb,” says Robert Veverka, the chair of the Legalizace.cz association, listing arguments in favor of the regulation of cannabis. “The real danger concerning cannabis is its illegality, which leads to the prosecution and penalization of people whose possession or cultivation of cannabis has harmed no one nor caused any damage,” Veverka adds. 

The coming days thus offer a unique opportunity to make progress in the legislative regulation of cannabis in support of adults who have the right to grow any plant in their own garden for personal use. Legalizace.cz is urges those who care about the fate of cannabis to reach out to their parliamentary representatives and ask them to support the amendment bill on narcotic substances during the upcoming first reading.

For more information:

www.legalizace.cz/en

www.regulacekonopi.cz – website with the proposed bill (in Czech)

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The Five Best Online And Virtual Cannabis Industry Events

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

By Alex Rogers, CEO and Executive Producer

The history of the cannabis movement is a history of innovative people constantly facing hurdles, and consistently overcoming those hurdles. That is true of cannabis reform efforts, that is true of cannabis industry pursuits, and that is especially true when it comes to cannabis events.

Cannabis events have become extremely popular in recent years. They take on all types of forms and come in different sizes and areas of focus. Historically, most cannabis events and conferences have involved in-person attendance. Unfortunately, that changed due to the ongoing pandemic, with in-person events being canceled or rescheduled all over the globe.

I started the longest-running cannabis B2B event in California back in 2014, and have since launched cannabis B2B conferences in 5 different countries on two different continents. My team and I have always been very proud to organize the conferences, which focused on cannabis policy, industry education, networking opportunities, and our notoriously fun after-parties featuring world-class entertainers.

When the pandemic hit and we had to reschedule our conferences, I wasn’t sure what to do in the meantime. Obviously, the demand for cannabis educational opportunities wasn’t going away given the fact that the cannabis reform movement is stronger than ever and the industry is extremely popular among entrepreneurs and investors. We decided to meet that demand in the form of our first-ever Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium.

Virtual events may never take the place of in-person events, however, we are extremely excited to bring our blend of policy, advocacy, industry, and entertainment to attendees in virtual form. Our symposium is taking place on June 9th, and it will feature celebrities like Rick Steves, Tommy Chong, John Salley, and DJ Muggs in addition to policy and legal experts from around the world.

Many virtual cannabis events are popping up right now, however, not all of them are created equal. A lot of the events appear to have been put together in haste, and don’t seem to be offering much value to attendees. Below are virtual cannabis events that we have identified that we think are going to be fantastic and that potential attendees should check out, in addition to our Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium.

International Cannabis Business Conference Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium

Attendees of the first-ever International Cannabis Business Conference Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium will be able to tap into our enhanced virtual networking app and connect with virtual exhibitors and directly connect with the International Cannabis Business Conference network. We are able to offer tickets to the virtual conference for a very affordable price and attendees can check it out from the comfort of their own homes.

Additionally, the presenters participating in the symposium will also be remoting into the event, which will make for a really unique experience for everyone. People have seen our presenters on TV and/or on stage, however, it’s likely that most people haven’t gained a glimpse into how those people live when they are at their homes. Early bird pricing expires on June 3rd, so get your tickets now at a reduced rate!

Food Labs / Cannabis Labs Conference

The Food Labs / Cannabis Labs Conference is one complimentary conference serving the food and cannabis laboratory markets with two separate tracks and overarching plenary presentations, taking place June 2-5. The Food Labs Conference will address regulatory, compliance and risk management issues that companies face in the area of testing and food laboratory management. The Cannabis Labs Conference With a particular focus on science, technology, regulatory compliance and quality management, the event enables attendees to engage in conversations that are critical for advancing careers and organizations alike.

“We made the tough decision to pivot this program to a virtual event months ago once the COVID-19 crisis emerged. Now, we’re offering attendees free access to the virtual program” said Aaron G. Biros, Editor/Publisher of the event’s organizer, Cannabis Industry Journal. “There are a lot of similarities in the food testing and cannabis testing markets. By bringing the Cannabis Labs and Food Labs Conferences together in one space, we are providing attendees with information on regulatory compliance, best practices and technology to both industries, all from the comfort of their home or office.”

Prohibition Partners LIVE

Prohibition Partners LIVE will provide one single digital platform that will host five separate conferences with over 4,000 delegates attending to experience thought-leading content, high-quality networking, engaging experiences, and entertainment, all without the risk of travel.

It will take place on 22-23 June, featuring live-streamed keynotes and panel talks from over 150 CEOs, policymakers, and cultural leaders across five virtual stages.

“The demand for cannabis is skyrocketing under lockdown as regulators deem it an essential good while consumers and patients stockpile supplies in response to isolation measures. Unprecedented legal cannabis sales internationally are demonstrating that global regulatory changes are inevitable in a post COVID-19 economy and despite a pending recession, cannabis will remain one of the few true growth industries. As a result, we’re delighted to take our five industry-leading conferences online at Prohibition Partners LIVE, helping to connect the ever-widening global audience of operators, entrepreneurs and new entrants to the cannabis industry to share learnings, fuel ideas and collectively shape the future of cannabis.” said Stephen Murphy, Group Managing Director of Prohibition Partners.

NCIA Cannabis Caucus (Cyber) Series

NCIA’s Cannabis Caucus Series is an exclusive opportunity for NCIA members and their guests to connect with each other, learn about regional issues from influential guest speakers and get the latest news about NCIA’s federal policy work. Cannabis Caucus events ensure that NCIA’s growing members stay connected, get informed and take action to protect our industry and your business. The events will take place from June 16-23, with each event focusing on a particular geographical region of the United States.

“As we navigate the new realities of this pandemic including the temporary hold on all in-person events across the world, we must find new ways to keep with our members and keep them connected to each other. NCIA’s Cannabis Caucus Cyber events are going to be an exclusive opportunity for our members to stay informed and engaged with our advocacy work and to receive the latest updates from their local region while enjoying a unique networking experience — just as our in-person caucus events have successfully done in previous years. I hope to see all of our members in ‘cyberspace’ this June!” says NCIA Co-founder and CEO Aaron Smith.

Emerge Virtual Cannabis Conference & Expo

The Emerge Virtual Cannabis Conference & Expo will feature the first-ever cannabis industry virtual job fair, the largest-ever investor pitch contest, and six concurrently-running subject tracks with over 40 speaker sessions. Co-produced by Cannabis & Tech Today and cannabis industry connector, Andre Bourque, the event is a collaboration with a premier alliance of organizations, publishers, and event producers.  

“Using our best-in-class 3D platform, we will deliver greater and more data-measurable sponsor and exhibitor ROI than traditional in-person events, as well as deliver high value and participation opportunities to attendees,” said Charles Warner, CEO of Cannabis & Tech Today. “This will be the largest virtual cannabis conference the industry has ever seen.”

Emerge is set to take place on July 22nd and 23rd, 2020. Subscribe for event updates here: bit.ly/EmergeUpdates

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Veterans Affairs Canada Spent More On Medical Cannabis Than Any Other Medication In 2019

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Many military veterans all around the world suffer from one or more health conditions, often related to their years serving their countries. Canada is no exception.

The range of conditions is wide, with military veterans in Canada suffering from all types of ailments including chronic pain, poor mental health, and various diseases. Some military veterans retired from service perfectly healthy, but age-related ailments began as the veterans became older.

Military veterans in Canada have been prescribed all types of medicines, with some being safer than others.

One medicine that has proven to be safe and effective is cannabis, and fortunately for the health of Canadian military veterans, Veterans Affairs in Canada spent an enormous amount of money in 2019 making sure that veterans had enough cannabis.

In fact, more was spent on medical cannabis than any other medication. Per Salt Wire:

The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $77,794,212.57 last year on marijuana.

That is more than the department spent ($66.2 million) on the 12,000 other drugs approved to be prescribed for veterans.

It’s inspiring to see Canada’s government stepping up in this way. It would be fantastic to see every other government take such a compassionate approach, including and especially the United States government, which continues to block even basic attempts to improve safe access to cannabis for military veterans.

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The Legal Cannabis Coalition “Organizes” Holland’s Canna Expertise

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Politics.

Just when you thought that Europe was about to just lie down and give in to Brussels (on anything, but including all things cannabis), here comes the rear guard.

Organizing on both a regional and even country basis is hot stuff these days. Starting in, you guessed it, Holland.

The Legal Cannabis Coalition (or LCC) is a newish organization that is also pretty straightforward in its organizing mission. A dozen Dutch horticultural companies who have participated in a joint study to optimize greenhouse cultivation of medicinal cannabis, organized by the Wageningen University and Research (WURR) over the past several years, has (unsurprisingly) decided to formalize its association, with the goal of helping the industry grow.

The Netherlands is known for its agricultural product (Tulips anyone, beyond cannabis?). Much of that product, no matter what it is, is also grown in greenhouses. As a result, Dutch horticulture is not dominated by a few big firms, but many hundreds of much smaller businesses, who specialize in one or two products.

Members of the LCC have been active in setting up licensed cannabis producers in North America (see Canada in particular) but also other places around the world.
The LCC’s aim is to become a one-stop-shop destination for a wide variety of industry challenges. This ranges from setting up compliant greenhouses to increasing plant productivity.

The Dutch Do It Better?

There are few who can really compete with the Dutch right now, certainly in terms of longevity in providing medical cannabis product to countries globally. Bedrocan, a staple of the medical industry in several countries (including of course Germany) is a powerhouse in its own right.

But beyond this of course, the Dutch have pioneered a legal cannabis industry, even if it is still grey market-ish, that is widely admired and still not fully implemented anywhere else in the world. Namely, in the still nebulous areas if not red-light districts of an industry, the Dutch model of “coffee shops” and sources of horticulture to supply the same, has been not only a model and beacon of “canna freedom” for the past generation but also a model still widely not even on the regulatory cards anywhere.

For the latest updates on what is going down and who is doing what in Europe, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conferences’s online Virtual Global Cannabis Symposium on June 9.

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The European Court Of Justice Throws Down On Hemp

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

Apart from the Herculean task of normalization of cannabis generally, the battle for regulatory definitions over hemp has definitely taken some strange twists and turns of late. May the Hemp Be With You. Certainly within the EU.

After regulators in Brussels last year declared the hemp plant (leaves and flowers) to actually be “novel,” (which the British Food Safety standards, sadly seem to indicate they will follow), a bevy of lawsuits began appearing in all the strangest places. The proverbial “Little Gaulish Village” was determined to fight.

This May, it appears that one legal skirmish may have actually (excuse the pun) born fruit. If not challenged the (Brussels) “Evil Empire.”

The Legal Skinny

Here is the overview. A company named Kanavape, whose CBD was extracted from hemp in the Czech Republic (in accordance with both Czech and EU law), exported their products to France in 2014. They were prosecuted in a country where the only thing that is legit is the plant’s fiber and seeds (products made from the entire plant or flower are outlawed and have been even before regulators in Brussels changed the catalogue for Novel Food, apparently to reflect the French interpretation of the same as of 2019).

However, like the plucky Gaulish village of the resistance (Asterix anyone?), these Czech cannapreneurs have appealed all the way through the French court of Appeals in Aix-en-Provence, to the European Union’s Court of Justice. The principle at stake? Whether France’s restriction on hemp products violated the free movement of goods principle – a critical part of the EU covenant itself.

Ding, Ding, Knockout For CBD?

According to the Court of Justice’s advocate general’s decision last week, hemp-derived CBD (even from the flowers and leaves of the plant) is not a narcotic. Ergo, it is protected by the EU’s free movement principle. Per the Advocate General Evgeni Tanchev, the French CBD ban is not appropriate or proportionate for the purpose of protecting public health.

While Tanchev’s opinion, like in fact, all of the dictates on Novel Food of late from Brussels, are not “legally binding,” this case may in fact, finally normalize if not overturn the increasingly tortured legal logic on the same emanating from Brussels. Namely that hemp, a plant used in Europe for thousands of years, is somehow “novel.” At least when its flowers and leaves are used in anything edible. Seeds apparently are still excluded?

Stay tuned. This case may in fact have a huge and positive effect on the overall hemp industry, as well as rolling back some very strange decisions of late at nosebleed, regional levels and finally reinvigorate a hemp industry that is, along with being a rather vital potion, ready to bust out all over.

For an update on the moving target that is the EU’s hemp industry, be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference Virtual Cannabis Symposium that is taking place on June 9, 2020