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5 Reasons Why Medical Cannabis’ Popularity Is Surging

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Medical cannabis is not a new thing. As far back as 2,700 B.C. cannabis is documented as being used for medical purposes. It wasn’t until early in the 20th century that the medical benefits of cannabis were questioned, and even then, those ‘questions’ were motivated by political views and ambitions rather than by science.

In 1996 voters in California became the first in the nation to re-legalize medical cannabis, followed by many other states and countries. Between the mid-90s and 2012, the number of medical cannabis patients in legal states increased exponentially. That trend started to change in states that legalized cannabis for adult use post-2012.

Due to various factors, not the least of which is the ongoing pandemic, states are likely to see a resurgence of people signing up to become licensed medical cannabis patients and/or caregivers. Below are five reasons why patients would benefit from becoming a registered patient.

1. Easier Than Ever To See A Doctor

Thanks to technology, and current rules governing many state medical cannabis programs, patients can participate in a telemed exam from the comfort of their own homes. Instead of having to travel to a physical office to see a doctor that specializes in medical cannabis, now patients can see a doctor virtually. All it takes is a sufficient internet connection and common computer hardware.

2. Save Money Via Lower Dispensary Prices

A major benefit for people becoming a registered medical cannabis patient is to save money. In some states, cannabis products that are purchased by medical cannabis patients are exempt from the state’s cannabis tax. In addition to tax-related savings, most reputable cannabis dispensaries in adult-use states offer lower prices to patients. For patients that make purchases often, the savings can add up quickly.

3. Increased Cultivation Limits

In some states, becoming a patient allows people to cultivate more legal plants. For example, in Oregon, any residence with an adult living there can cultivate up to 4 mature cannabis plants for adult-use purposes. A registered medical cannabis patient can also cultivate an additional 6 mature plants, for a total of 10 plants. With the ongoing pandemic limiting many people’s ability to travel frequently, the additional harvest allows people to produce more cannabis at home and lowers the need to travel to a dispensary.

4. Increased Possession Limits

Even if someone doesn’t want to cultivate their own cannabis, they can still benefit from being a registered medical cannabis patient from an increased limit standpoint via increased possession limits in some states. Just as people need to stock up on various other essential items these days, so too do they need to be able to possess more cannabis. Using Oregon as an example, medical cannabis patients can possess up to 24 ounces, in addition to adult-use possession limits.

5. Increased Product Potency Limits

Some adult-use states have different potency limits for medical cannabis edible products. Using Oregon as an example again, for some people, the current adult-use THC milligram limit in Oregon for cannabis edibles is sufficient. However, for many people suffering from one or more debilitating health conditions, the current 50 mg per edible limit is not enough. The THC content limit for medical cannabis products is twice as much compared to adult-use products, which helps patients save money, in addition to providing a stronger dosage that many patients need to treat their condition(s).

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Is There A Medical Cannabis Price War Brewing In Germany?

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

Germany is undisputedly the market leader in Europe when it comes to sales and overall numbers of cannabis consumers. However, prices have remained high here for a number of reasons. That is now coming to an end.

Pharmacies Have Been Forced To Lower Their Markups
Until the beginning of March 2020, German pharmacies were allowed to mark-up cannabis from distributors by 100%. This has now been renegotiated between the German Pharmacy Association and the German Association of Public Health Insurers. Until now, pharmacies have been unconcerned with price. Now, with markups lower, they will have to change their procedures.

More Competition Among Distributors
There are currently 50 distributors who are authorized to distribute medical cannabis in Germany. That is up from 17 last year. At the same time, the amount of cannabis entering the country has remained relatively stable over the last year. In addition to flower, there is now another competitor for the dronabinol (synthetic) market. Price competition between distributors is about to heat up. They have sold floss product to pharmacies for upwards of $10 a gram for about the last year. Before that, prices were even higher. 

Price Wars Between Producers
Producers have sold into the German market at prices that have steadily dropped. Until the beginning of 2019, there were reports of Canadian LPs selling floss at CA $13 dollars a gram. As of now, with price impacts felt just about everywhere in the chain, the standard price per gram is still about 5 euro a gram. Expect that too, to drop as German domestic production comes online (set by the government at 3.20 euros a gram). On the dronabinol side of the market, this too is expected to drop with a new competitor now aiming for the German market, to compete with Canopy Cannabis, who bought the domestic German producer at about the time that the German cultivation bid was decided in the first half of 2019.

Direct Impact On Patients
While the “average” German patient who obtains cannabis by prescription and has been approved by their public health insurer, the vast majority of cannabis patients are still stuck in a very difficult place. Obtaining pre-approval for coverage is a long and drawn-out process. With that approval, publically insured patients pay only $12 for their prescriptions. Without it, they are forced to pay more than $20 per gram. Private patients, who may represent as much as a quarter of the market (but nobody is sure) also have to pay out of pocket. And nobody is quite sure how many cannabis patients there actually are.

Domestic Production Is Coming
The biggest existential threat to all importers right now is German domestic cultivation. That is expected to become available starting at the end of 2020. 

Bottom line? There are big shakeups coming, and in every direction.

For an up-to-date analysis of the German market, be sure to book your tickets for the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Berlin.

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UK Regulators Publish Emergency Medical Cannabis Rules

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Regulators in the United Kingdom recently published emergency rules allowing patients to access cannabis-based medicines from pharmacies without a prescription during the coronavirus pandemic.

As with just about everything right now, the pandemic is having a negative impact on the UK’s medical cannabis program. The UK’s program is very limited, however, UK regulators still felt that medical cannabis was essential enough to issue the emergency rules to help some, but not all, suffering patients. Per BBC:

On Wednesday, the government published emergency legislation which, if activated, would allow patients to continue accessing controlled drugs for the duration of the pandemic, from local pharmacies, without a prescription.

A Home Office official said the measures would “relieve pressure on our healthcare system and encourage people to stay at home”.

Unfortunately, the rules will only help a limited number of patients if they are enacted. As a pharmacist pointed out in the previously cited BBC article, the rules only apply to patients receiving ‘ongoing’ treatment, which will result in many suffering patients being excluded from benefitting from the new public policy.

The move by UK regulators is a small one, but it will hopefully help some amount of suffering patients. The UK is home to one of the most limited medical cannabis programs in developed countries, and hopefully that changes sooner rather than later because all suffering patients deserve safe access to proven medications such as medical cannabis.

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First Cannabis-Based Medicinal Product Gets Approval In Brazil

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Cannabis reform is spreading across South America. Uruguay was the first country on the entire planet to legalize cannabis for adult use, and a number of other countries have launched legal medical cannabis industries.

One country that has been somewhat slow to embrace legal cannabis is South America’s most populated country Brazil. Brazil’s medical cannabis program is largely just starting out, with the country having only recently approved its first cannabis-based medical product. Per Rio Times:

The National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) approved on Wednesday, April 22nd, the registration of the first marijuana-based product in the country.

It is a phytopharmaceutical product that contains cannabidiol and a concentration of less than 0.2 percent THC, the substance with psychotropic effects.

The product may be sold in pharmacies, provided there is a medical prescription. ANVISA states that the drug will be used in cases where there is no therapeutic alternative, but failed to specify which diseases would be benefited.

Late last year ANVISA approved rules for Brazil’s emerging medical cannabis industry, and at the same time, it decided to prohibit domestic medical cannabis production within Brazil which is really unfortunate.

Much like other countries around the world with very strict medical cannabis industry rules, Brazil’s medical cannabis program will be very limited in size until things open up.

Brazil is home to an ideal climate for cultivating the cannabis plant, and if/when Brazil decides to allow domestic cultivation and expand the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis, Brazil’s medical cannabis industry will increase in size exponentially.

Unfortunately for now, business opportunities will be limited in Brazil, as will be the potential for the country’s medical cannabis program to help a significant number of suffering patients.

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Ireland Minister For Health To Assist Medical Cannabis Patients

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Ireland’s health minister recently announced that the government will help patients access medical cannabis and arranged for an emergency shipment of medical cannabis products from Holland to help address patient access issues. Below is a press release from Ireland’s government with more information:

Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has announced an initiative for patients who avail of a Ministerial licence for medicinal cannabis products to have the products delivered.

Speaking today, Minister Harris said:

“I am aware that the limited number of patients who avail of a Ministerial licence for medicinal cannabis products issued under section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts have been encountering difficulties with access owing to travel restrictions and people’s need to self-isolate.

“I am very glad we have been able to make arrangements to have an emergency supply of their products collected for them in Holland, where the products are supplied, and to have the products delivered to the patients in Ireland. Patients and their clinicians are now being contacted by the department in order that these arrangements may be put in place.”

Ireland’s medical cannabis program is still very limited compared to other parts of the world, however, the move by Ireland’s government is encouraging. Hopefully the import from Holland will not be the last if the pandemic lingers onward and shortages continue, and hopefully as many patients are helped as possible by the imports.

Medical cannabis is essential for the patients that need it, and there are many suffering patients across Ireland that will not have safe, legal access to cannabis despite the imported medical cannabis products from Holland. Activists in Ireland must keep fighting until the day comes when every patient in Ireland gets the safe access to medical cannabis that they need and deserve.

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Medical Cannabis Imports Double In Germany In The Last Year

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Germany is home to the largest economy in Europe and a population that is more than twice the size of the population of California. With that in mind, it is not a coincidence that Germany’s medical cannabis market is one of the largest on earth.

Ever since Germany’s medical cannabis program opened up to the masses in recent years, cannabis entrepreneurs and investors have tried to crack into the German medical cannabis market in a meaningful way, and in the process, reap the financial rewards.

Domestically cultivated cannabis is still evolving in Germany, with the market still being supplied by medical cannabis imports from other countries. According to recent statistics released by Germany’s government, the import market grew significantly in the last year in Germany. Per Born2Invest:

The German government provided figures on the increasing demand for medical cannabis products. In 2019, 6.5 tons of cannabis flowers were imported into Germany to meet the needs of patients who treat their diseases with medical cannabis. That amount is double compared to the previous year. Significant increases have also been recorded for Sativex, Dronabinol and other cannabis products used for therapy.

Almost the entire demand for cannabis is covered by imports since cultivation is strictly regulated in Germany. According to Kirsten Kappert-Gonther, drug policy spokesperson of the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, the hard cap on the cultivation of cannabis in Germany was a mistake.

It will be very interesting to see if the import figures level off with domestic cultivation ramping up in Germany, or if it will continue to increase in size. Germany’s medical cannabis industry is still young by many standards, and it’s likely a safe bet that many patients will choose whichever option is the most affordable.

In theory,  domestically cultivated cannabis has an edge from a pricing standpoint. Local cannabis is fresher and doesn’t require the shipping costs and other financial burdens that come with sending medical cannabis across international borders (and in some cases, oceans).

However, domestic cannabis isn’t an automatic winner from a profit potential standpoint. Cannabis may be able to be cultivated abroad for cheaper. Perhaps so much cheaper that the combined wholesale price and cost to export the wholesale medical cannabis is less than cultivating cannabis in Germany. After all, there’s a reason why a lot of agricultural products come from South America. Why would cannabis be different from fruits and vegetables in that regard?

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First Patients In Colombia Receive Domestically Cultivated Medical Cannabis

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

The South American nation of Colombia has cultivated cannabis for many, many years. A lot of that cannabis was exported illegally to international markets. While that is presumably still the case to some extent, the cannabis scene is evolving rapidly in Colombia.

A legal cannabis industry is emerging in Colombia, with legal cannabis exports ramping up. However, exports are not the only thing that is ramping up in Colombia. The country’s domestic medical cannabis program is ramping up as well, and a significant milestone was recently passed. Per Dinero:

In full emergency for the coronavirus and during the first day of isolation ordered by the District and some departments of the country, 7 patients received in Bogotá the first doses of medicinal cannabis cultivated and processed in Colombia.

It is a milestone for the local legal cannabis industry and a critical step for this industry eager for real and practical results.

The firm that developed this masterful formulation (medication and with personalized doses and components) is Khiron Life Sciences, which obtained the certificate of good manufacturing practice from Invima.

Cannabis grows very well in Colombia. Unlike other countries, where a significant amount of labor and resources are needed to cultivate quality cannabis, the cannabis plant thrives naturally in Colombia’s environment.

Labor is cheap in Colombia, which combined with how well the cannabis plant grows in the South American nation, producers in Colombia will be able to sell cannabis for cheaper compared to producers in other countries.

Colombia will no doubt take its rightful place as a global cannabis producer and will supply cannabis to legal markets around the world, just as it has for unregulated markets for so many years. But it’s very encouraging to see that suffering patients within Colombia’s borders will receive safe access to medicine too.

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The Impact Of Cannabis On Retroviruses

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

As the world now hunkers down inside, and “social-distancing” has become part of a global vocabulary, the race is now on for both a vaccine and a “cure.”

There are, however, in the cannabis community, many who are now asking legitimate questions – such as will cannabis be part of the answer?

Those who lived through the worst years of the AIDS epidemic in particular, who are doing the loudest asking. Like AIDS, the virus – COVID-19 (or Corona) is a retrovirus. That means that while not exactly alike, there are similarities.

And while cannabis was never seen as a “cure” for AIDS within the responsible medical cannabis community, everyone who has been a caretaker or even a patient knows that Delta9 THC consumption has helped them cope with the side effects of antiviral treatment. If not help slow the progression of HIV (by lowering viral loads). And certainly, lessen the stress of having a chronic condition.

No Comprehensive Studies So Far

It speaks volumes about the stigma of cannabis that is still in the room that so far no country has called for any kind of testing about how cannabinoids (not just CBD) might help boost immune systems against this disease – particularly for the most vulnerable. Indeed, in early March, the UN moved its decision about the reclassification of cannabis back 9 months.

The implications of this are indeed interesting. Starting with the fact that cannabis potentially should be considered legally not “just” as a narcotic but, more accurately certainly for long term patients, as an anti-viral aid. That said, older people cannot just begin consuming Delta9 THC. 

Does CBD Have The Same Effect?

No. 

A “Natural Immunity”?

One of the reasons that a pandemic is so terrifying (see the Global Influenza Epidemic at the end of WWI) is that this is a virus that humans have no natural immunity to and there is no existing medicine to treat the same.

However, there are ways to boost your immune system naturally. A healthy diet, low consumption of alcohol if not abstinence, sleep and exercise, are the best ways to stay healthy. 

How cannabis might fit into that picture is another story. 

In the meantime, it is imperative that cannabis patients protect themselves with more diligence than usual. 

It is also important that the legitimate cannabis industry steps up to the plate.

It is imperative that governments hear from the industry at this juncture.

Trials, including to see how cannabis might help longer-term on preventing future pandemics, are absolutely required.

We are all responsible.

The International Cannabis Business Conference will return to Europe this summer.

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The Legend Of Brownie Mary – And Implications For The Corona Pandemic

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Medical.

Mary Jane Rathbun was a legendary cannabis activist. As a hospital volunteer in San Francisco during the height of the AIDS epidemic, she became known for baking and distributing cannabis brownies to AIDS patients at San Francisco General Hospital. Along with Denis Peron, Rathbun also helped pass San Francisco Proposition P in 1991 and California Proposition 215 in 1996. She was also instrumental in setting up the San Francisco Buyers Club – the first medical cannabis dispensary in the United States.

She was arrested three different times during this process, helping to bring interest and attention to the issue of both AIDS and cannabis legalization. Globally.

Although Rathbun is no longer here (she died in 1999), her legacy lives on.

As of last week, 21 years after her death, cannabis dispensaries across the United States, in states like Illinois, California and New York have deemed cannabis dispensaries as essential as pharmacies and thus allowed to stay open.

On The Front Lines Of Pandemics

Bravery is still required of those in the cannabis industry. Starting with figuring out how to serve patients in the best way. Especially in an environment where changing laws and times still do not really protect either cannabis patients or the industry.

The first is clearly to observe rules of operating in the pandemic applicable to all businesses. The second is to think of ways to help your clients. Home delivery is of course just one option. But so is finding ways, after the immediacy of the pandemic is over, to push forward greater cannabis reform and to support medical trials about the efficacy of cannabis as a viral and neural protectant. For the protection of both the industry and patients.

Cannabis as a drug (both as narcotic and antiviral) is in the room right now as much as governments want to pretend that it isn’t.

From AIDS to Corona – What Has Changed?

There has been a change in the way cannabis is viewed, but there is still a long way to go. And sadly, cannabis is still considered, at least officially, as a drug that is on the side-lines. 

As the world recovers and gets back on its feet if not properly back to business, the industry itself as well as advocates and patients need to make sure that cannabis is elevated to its proper place legally as well as in medicine cabinets – not to mention global laws about the classification and use of this drug.

Sick people are not criminals – nor is the cannabis industry illegitimate – at any place and in any country, that legitimately tries to help them.

The International Cannabis Business Conference will resume its conference schedule this summer.