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Zambia Approves Medical Cannabis Production And Exports

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

The East African nation of Zambia has officially approved legal medical cannabis cultivation and exports. Cannabis reform is sweeping across the African continent as a growing number of countries are reforming their outdated cannabis laws to allow cannabis companies to operate.

It is estimated that Africa’s legal cannabis industry could be worth more than $7.1 billion (USD) annually by 2023 if the continent’s major markets see their laws reformed in a way that allows the emerging cannabis industry to thrive. Zambia’s recent policy change will help boost the chances of that projection becoming a reality.

Zambia’s cannabis industry model will be limited to start, however, as detailed by Zambia Reports:

The Zambian government has finally approved a proposal to legalize the production of Marijuana.

The production of Marijuana in Zambia will, however, be restricted to exports and for medical purposes only.

Companies wishing to trade in Marijuana in Zambia will be charged US$250,000 annual license fees.

The high barrier to entry for people to get in on the action in Zambia is unfortunate, as it will prevent a vast majority of Zambia’s citizens from being able to launch cannabis companies. It is also unfortunate that the industry will be limited to exports and medical purposes only.

With that being said, this is progress, and hopefully this move is treated as a step in the right direction rather than a permanent industry model. Even though the model is limited, it should create much-needed jobs in Zambia and boost local economies.

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Lesotho Wants To Export Cannabis To The Rest Of The World

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Lesotho is one of the poorest countries on the African continent. The country is estimated to be home to roughly 2.2 million people and has a long history with the cannabis plant. Citizens of Lesotho have used cannabis for medical and spiritual purposes for many years.

With the legal cannabis industry spreading all over the globe, entrepreneurs and government officials in Lesotho want to be able to export the cannabis that they grow to legal markets in other countries. Per Time:

The Lesotho government is now trying to spur development of legal plantations supplying the burgeoning global medical cannabis industry to broaden its tax base—currently dominated by exports of diamonds, water and wool—and create jobs. About two-thirds of the country’s 2.2 million people live in rural villages, and many survive off subsistence farming. Cannabis is a critical piece of the government’s agricultural strategy, which it hopes will help fund basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water pipes.

If Lesotho is successful in its push to join the global cannabis industry via legal exports, it is vital that it is the residents of Lesotho that benefit from the policy and industry change, and not just wealthy individuals from other parts of the world.

Many countries in Africa have been exploited over several decades for their natural resources by individuals and entities with deep pockets, Lesotho included, and that cannot be allowed to occur with the cannabis plant.

It is likely that the demand for cannabis legally cultivated in Lesotho will yield lucrative financial results, and the revenue generated from legal exports needs to be used to help one of the poorest countries in Africa.

This is a prime opportunity for Lesotho to improve the conditions for its citizens via job creation, a boost to local economies, and to generate revenue via cannabis sales to consumers around the world. An opportunity like this one may not happen again for many years in Lesotho, if ever, so it’s extremely important that the push for exports is done in a responsible and equitable manner.

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How Compliant Is Your Cannabis?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

The international cannabis scene is many things, but one thing is for sure as the industry heads into 2020 – regulation, inspection, and certification are in the room, and further in a way so far unseen in either Canada or Europe so far.

Why is this trend now clearly on the horizon for the next year, if not a few more beyond that?

Part of it has to do with cannabis as an industry and part of it has to do with much larger currents afoot in the form of global trade treaties. 

Europe Is More Highly Regulated

For those who have never visited the continent, and in particular for Americans, there are more regulations in the room in Europe compared to other parts of the world. These are designed to protect human health, no matter how frustrating the discussion about CBD and Novel Food is these days.

Further, this is not just a discussion about one certification or regulation, but many.

There are several big issues in the room beyond any one certification.

Harmonization Is Afoot Globally

In addition, the global discussion on “harmonization” is well underway. Basically, countries who trade food and medicine with each other want to know that their production, packaging and testing standards are more or less the same. 

This is absolutely true for any medical cannabis crossing the Atlantic or international border.

Bio and Organic Are In The Room

Bio means a great deal to Europeans – even if German farmers right now are peeved at the increasingly levels of regulations against certain kinds of pesticides, and bio is a watchword for the cannabis industry here.

However whose bio matches whose internationally is just as fraught a discussion as the one about GMP, and indeed frequently crosses over.

Cosmetics And Food Are In Some Ways Tougher Than Medical

No matter the difficulties on the GMP front, the recreational and lifestyle discussion remains a lot tougher. For one thing, authorities across Europe are playing semantics with cannabinoids. Namely in the more conservative parts of the continent (see Austria and Germany) authorities have gone so far as to say they do not see any positive effect of any part of the plant, or that cannabidiol, even when applied topically, is a strange new beast in the history of human consumed and applied products.

All of These Issues Will Still Be Here For Recreational Reform

None of these issues will disappear anytime soon. Food and medicine production is getting more regulated beyond cannabis. However, because the cannabis industry is the new kid on the block and because of the growing connection of the plant to health products if not a healthy lifestyle, expect this conversation to continue to shape and impact the industry. Everywhere.

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Ontario To Removing Cap On Cannabis Dispensary Licenses

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Ontario is the largest Canadian province when measured by population size. It would stand to reason that Ontario would also be home to a proportionate share of Canada’s emerging cannabis industry. However, that is not actually the case.

Lawmakers and regulators in Ontario placed a cap on cannabis dispensary licenses, which has proven to be a major limiting factor in the growth of Ontario’s cannabis industry. What Ontario needs is a more open dispensary licensing system that encourages businesses to open, which is fortunately on the way. Per CBC:

Ontario is removing the cap on the number of pot shops in the province and nixing some qualification requirements for would-be retailers in a bid to clamp down on the number of illegal stores, sources tell CBC News.

Attorney General Doug Downey announced details of the changes weeks after the government first signalled its intention to open the cannabis market.

Eventually, Ontario is expected to have as many as 1,000 licensed cannabis dispensaries selling various products to adults and patients. A licensing base as robust as that is likely what it will take for the regulated market to compete with the unregulated cannabis market in Ontario in a meaningful way.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario will begin accepting applications from aspiring dispensary owners starting on January 6, 2020.

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4 Very Important Things To Consider Before Cultivating Hemp

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Cultivating any type of agriculture crop on a large scale takes a significant amount of resources, and cultivating the hemp plant is no exception.

The hemp plant may be easier to cultivate compared to other types of crops, and demand for hemp-derived products has definitely spiked in recent years, however, just because a farmer cultivates hemp does not mean that financial success is guaranteed.

As with virtually any worthwhile endeavor, farmers need to perform their due diligence and consider a number of factors before dedicating acreage, time, and other resources to hemp cultivation.

Below are four very important factors that are often overlooked by farmers who get caught up in all of the excitement surrounding hemp cultivation.

1. A Plan in Place for the Harvest

The hemp plant is a hearty plant that is fairly straight forward to cultivate and is not as prone to issues compared to other agricultural crops.

Germinating seeds is not too difficult of a task, and while planting is labor and time-intensive, theoretically just about everyone can do it successfully.

Successfully cultivating hemp plants from seed to harvest, even on a large scale, is something that most experienced farmers can do if they prepare properly.

2019 was the most popular year for hemp cultivation in the United States in modern times, which is a point that we will explore later in this article.

The excitement around hemp cultivation is understandable, as is the spike in the number of farmers dedicating a large number of acres to hemp.

Many of those farmers realized that they had a harvest problem on their hands too late in the process and suffered as a result.

The hemp plant may be straightforward to cultivate compared to other plants, however, it is often more difficult to harvest properly, especially on a large scale.

Using traditional agriculture harvesting equipment typically results in a significant loss in the quality of the hemp harvested.

Farmers that do not plan for harvest ahead of time are setting themselves up for failure. They need to lock down an experienced harvest team way ahead of time.

2. A Location to Dry the Harvested Plants

A properly cultivated hemp field that yields a massive crop can be a two-edged sword. On one hand, a larger crop is always a welcomed thing. 

On the other hand, those plants need a lot of space to dry.

Unlike corn, which can be stored in various ways post-harvest, the hemp plant needs to undergo a specific drying process in order to maximize its usefulness.

A harvested hemp plant needs to cure in a dry, dark place for a duration of time in order to reach its full potential, and that requires a massive indoor facility when hundreds of acres are involved.

Many farmers made the mistake this last season of focusing all of their time and energy towards cultivating plants just to watch them rot out in the cold because they did not plan for the drying process.

Hemp farmers would be wise to lock down a space to dry all of their harvest before they plant their first hemp seed in the ground. 

Otherwise, they run the risk of never making it to the finish line.

3. Have a Buyer Lined Up

The last hemp season was full of success stories, with many farmers knocking it out of the park and reaping the financial rewards from doing so.

Unfortunately, many more farmers had visions of grandeur in their minds during the planting and cultivation season just to have those visions dashed when they weren’t able to sell their harvests.

Hemp and hemp-derived CBD products may be experiencing an exponential level of growth in demand in recent years, however, that doesn’t mean that harvested hemp will sell itself.

Most hemp harvests are turned into CBD oil and other processed goods. Raw hemp flower is growing in popularity, however, that popularity pales in comparison to demand for CBD oil.

Unless a farmer intends to create their own CBD oil out of their harvest, they will need to link up with a buyer that needs large amounts of raw hemp to make their own products, or a broker that knows buyers.

Buyers need to be identified and an agreement entered in to prior to plants going in the ground if hemp farmers want to help ensure financial success.

4. Market Saturation

It is no secret that people are scrambling to get into the hemp industry right now, largely due to how popular CBD has become in recent years.

According to Vote Hemp, in 2019 over 500,000 acres were licensed to cultivate hemp in the United States. That’s a 476% increase compared to 2018.

The hemp-demand pie may be huge, however, it is split into many slices right now, and more slices are being created with every passing year. Market saturation is a real concern.

If you are considering cultivating hemp, it is vital that you realize that you are not the only one contemplating pursuing that idea.

This is not meant to dissuade farmers from cultivating hemp, but rather encouraging farmers to temper their expectations and take the approach of easing into the shallow end of the pool rather than diving into the deep end.

Be patient, proceed methodically, and build your cultivation operation in a rational way rather than letting hype and emotion get the best of you.

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What Should Cannabis Investors Focus On In European In 2020?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

As the Weihnacht (Christmas) markets enter their second week auf Deutschland and the world prepares to say goodbye to the first decade of serious, if not modern, cannabis reform. Where is the European market heading next year and what should investors be looking for?

Particularly with all the drama going on in Canada, what is cooking where and what is worth evaluating for investment across the EU?

Regulations Are Still A Bear

While it is easy to get bullish on news that Luxembourg is pushing the recreational agenda in the middle of the continent, also remember that this is just a tiny country of about half a million people, which also must conform to the laws of the European Union around it.

Don’t expect anyone to launch a Cannexit – i.e. departure from the Union because of cannabis reform. Indeed, at least one country, notably North Macedonia, is using cannabis as a bid to enter the union, not leave it.

Don’t expect things to get easier on the regulatory front either, starting with the news that the EU is indeed making every country within the union give up certain kinds of pesticides. This is currently causing German farmers in general, far beyond cannabis, to literally protest in the streets of Berlin. The Tractor March notwithstanding, it behooves the cannabis industry to be in front of these regs, not behind them. Starting with the medical market but not limited to the same.

Novel Food is also in the room and will continue to confound the rest of the world outside Europe who do not get a grip on what this means about sourcing, production, and manufacturing far beyond the plant.

There Are Emerging Bright Spots

No matter the doom and gloom coming from the Canadian side of the room there are many bright spots developing across the map. The key here is to understand the regs and the temperature of the market. It is not enough for growers to want to produce cannabis. They have to meet several critical barriers, including obtaining a first license, before they are really worth anything. That said, there are projects underway from Portugal to Greece right now that are starting to fit that bill.

However, no matter how much the cultivators need capital, it is not, as everyone realizes, the raw plant that is where the “money” is. Distribution right now is the key to obtaining a spot on the map, and that means good sourcing and good contacts on the ground in the moving markets.

That still, largely, means Germany, but it is not inclusive of the same. The UK is opening glacially, Poland is coming fast, and do not, of course, forget either about sunny Spain or interestingly neutral and independent Switzerland.

Innovative cannapreneurs in all of these regions are progressing the discussion, if not moving their companies forward, no matter the setbacks, delays, and bickering about rules in the room.

Be sure to book your tickets for the best cannabis industry conference in Europe – the International Cannabis Business Conference held in Barcelona, Berlin, and Bern in 2020!

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Is The Caribbean And Latin America The New Source For “Canadian” Cannabis?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

Another cannabis comer outside the United States but in the American hemisphere has announced a shipment INTO Canada. Global Canna Labs, based in Jamaica, announced a 10kg (about 22 lb) shipment with the blessing of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, and Fisheries last week. The company has a 270,000 square foot facility in Montego Bay.

Does this herald a new legit “Drug Economy” channel that Bob Marley could have only dreamed about? Especially with new regulations in place in Canada that require growers to have completed their grow farms prior to submitting an application, as well as a backlog in licensing, supply, and price, if not the overall seed to sale issues still plaguing the Canadian market?

To a certain extent, yes. The “Drug War” was always ferocious at the U.S. border because the economies of drug cultivation beat just about every crop grown south of the Rio Grande.

These days, swapping cannabis for coffee beans (at a minimum) is clearly on the minds of cultivators all over Latin America. It is cheaper, it is becoming legit, and there is still a huge demand if the right channels are tapped.

And while Canada is the first “target” for their exports, can the U.S. be far behind? It certainly seems to make more sense economically to be able to import within the same hemisphere rather than (as is also going on) across the Atlantic to Europe.

The Next “Trade War?”

While it may still seem laughable to those who realize that cannabis is still a banned and highly stigmatized substance in many countries still, let alone the high seas of international trade, there is a looming trade war shaping up on the cultivation front. Cannabis, for all its quirks and intrigue, is still a plant, and plants can and indeed are being increasingly commoditized in this space. Just like say, bananas. Or coffee. Or oranges.

And while at least in the U.S. this is still a long way off, states cannot even trade with each other yet. Expect this issue to be increasingly in the room.

In Europe, as of 2020, international trade is the only way to obtain cannabis from any country or hemisphere, and Germany, as the largest market, is drawing firms from all over the world, hoping to source its medical market.

The only “trade war” here, in other words, is companies, from all over the world, but also on the same continent, who cannot wait to get in – and start doing business.

Don’t miss the International Cannabis Business Conference in Europe next year in Barcelona, Berlin, and Bern!

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Technology Will Revolutionize Colombia’s Cannabis Industry

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Colombia’s cannabis industry is expanding at a slow but steady pace. Colombia has served as an unregulated source for cannabis for many decades and is in the process of transitioning to a legal cannabis industry.

The South American nation is home to a climate that is ideal for cannabis cultivation. The nation’s ideal climate combined with cheap labor puts Colombia in a prime position to become a major international supplier of cannabis.

Despite Colombia’s natural advantages, its cannabis industry will never reach its full potential without the help of cannabis industry technology. Read about some examples of technologies that can be harnessed by Colombia’s emerging cannabis industry to help boost the nation’s chances of becoming a top cannabis exporter in our recent article on Cannabis & Tech Today.

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NASCAR Continues To Prohibit CBD Company Sponsorships

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is at the heart of one of the fastest-growing industries on earth. CBD is being infused into just about anything and everything that people can think of for better or worse. Regardless of how viable some of the products are, it’s safe to say that CBD, in general, is here to stay.

Hemp-derived CBD and the products that are based on it are legal across the United States thanks to reform provisions that were included in the 2018 Farm Bill which was signed into law. Some rulemaking is still in progress, however, CBD is a legal, mainstream industry regardless.

Unfortunately, stigma is still prevalent in society and the business world when it comes to CBD despite the recently enacted reforms. One example of that is a recent announcement by NASCAR that it will continue to prohibit sponsorships by CBD companies. Per Sports Business Daily:

NASCAR is taking a pass on CBD products.   The sanctioning body has decided against allowing sponsorships to be sold to CBD companies, according to sources, stopping brands in the emerging category from advertising in the sport.

Hemp is considered to be a legal agricultural product now, just like corn, albeit with more stringent regulations. So why is NASCAR treating it like a harmful substance?

Why does NASCAR prohibit sponsorships by CBD companies while at the same time allow sponsorships by beer companies, despite the fact that cannabis has been found to be 114 times safer than alcohol?

NASCAR’s policies are clearly based on outdated political opinions and not on science, compassion, and logic. NASCAR and its competitors are missing out on a significant source of advertising revenue that is increasing exponentially and CBD companies are being discriminated against in a truly hypocritical fashion.

NASCAR needs to get on the right side of history and update its policies as soon as possible.