Policy – Page 71 – International Cannabis Business Conference

German Insurers Begin To Take New Tact On Medical Cannabis

Written by Marguerite Arnold on September 5, 2022. Posted in Business, Policy.

AOK has begun a new program with German Society for Pain Medicine to decrease approval complexity, while Barmer has just issued a new digital section on its website on the medical efficacy of cannabis. Has the tide turned on insurer resistance to medical underwriting of cannabis claims?

There is clearly something afoot with German health insurers when it comes to medical cannabis this fall. Perhaps it is the change in political winds on a national level with pending draft legislation on recreational use – which will ensure that cannabis is a part of the wellness if not healthcare discussion permanently. Perhaps it is that patients have refused to stop suing their health insurers – or that doctors have not stopped prescribing.

Whatever the driver, there have been two interesting developments on the cannabis front in the past week from two of the largest statutory health insurers in Deutschland.

AOK Enters a Pilot Program to Make Approvals Easier

In a major development for German patients – initially at least in the first trial area – AOK has agreed to cooperate with the German Society for Pain Medicine. The group is comprised of doctors who are pain specialists. Last week, the group announced in an online press conference that they are calling for the approvals process for medical cannabis to be simplified. To that end, they have entered into a contract with AOK in Rheinland/Hamburg to roll out a new kind of approvals process where doctors, not the insurer or regional approver, will have the deciding voice in whether a patient can obtain medical cannabis.

This is a huge development – and will be closely watched across the rest of the country.

Barmer Issues a New Cannabis Specialty Web Presence

One of the other top three health insurers to approve cannabis claims (by number), Barmer, has also stepped into the discussion with an interesting new series of educational web pages about cannabis. It appears that it is an effort to educate patients about how to obtain the drug – and goes to great lengths to describe cannabis as a medicine of last resort. Interestingly, they also quote data gathered by the Association of Cannabis Supplying Pharmacies (or VCA) to demonstrate what kinds of patients (and conditions) cannabis was being successfully prescribed for.

The pages also specifically try to discourage patients from obtaining their cannabis from the black market and discusses the issue of cannabis withdrawal, while admitting it is less serious than other drugs.

It appears to be communication from the health insurer in response to a growing interest from their members about the drug. There is nothing on the information provided that Barmer is going to do anything differently in terms of approving claims faster – or in a different way.

The Insurance Question

Holland’s insurers stopped covering medical cannabis claims the same month that the German government agreed to proceed on such a program in 2017.

It is unlikely that such a development will occur in Germany. That said, how the legalization of recreational use cannabis will impact such coverage, but it is unlikely that insurers will be able to step out from this responsibility. There is too much evidence in Germany of medical efficacy – even if the drug remains, sadly, a drug of last resort for most and further, unbelievably difficult to access via legal, medical channels.

Malta Has Not Issued Any Licenses To Cannabis Associations And Clubs

Written by Marguerite Arnold on September 5, 2022. Posted in Business, Policy.

Eight months after the new rules on cannabis use came into effect, the government has failed to issue a single license allowing such establishments to begin operating

Despite leading the way on cannabis legalization in Europe, the Maltese government has yet to issue a single license allowing non-profit cannabis associations and clubs to operate. The government has also failed to issue any regulations or guidelines for the operation of the same.

The government entity responsible for the same, the Authority on the Responsible Use of Cannabis (ARUC), has said that the process of issuing such licenses was “delicate” and “could not be done overnight.”

Where Is the Timeline?

According to Authority chairperson Mariella Dimech, a baseline study on the general population has been conducted. This study will serve as a foundation for the ARUC to create operating guidelines and regulations for such establishments.

That said, there are a few rules which are now in force that will undoubtedly shape the conversation.

Currently adults are allowed to carry up to 7g of cannabis when they venture outside of their houses – although they may not smoke in public. Residents of the island are also able to cultivate up to four plants.

Beyond this, the government has already established that such associations will be limited to 500 members each, must be located at least 250 meters away from schools or youth centres, and cannot advertise their services – including having signs that include either the word “cannabis” or pictures of the plant itself.

What Does This Mean for Other EU countries on the Cusp?

Nobody ever said that legalization was easy. On a federal level, it is even more challenging. See Canada, for starters. Yet in Europe, this conversation is even more complicated by the necessity of remaining in compliance with both regional and international laws. This is one of the reasons that Malta, along with Luxembourg and Germany, have begun multilateral discussions on how to legalize the recreational industry.

That said, it is clear that of the three, Malta has paved the way – even ahead of Luxembourg which promised a recreational market by 2023 (five years ago).

For this reason, it is unlikely that the creation of an entire non-profit industry will happen at a fast pace. It is also very likely that Malta is in discussion with the other two countries in the coalition on how to proceed domestically, particularly as what happens here may well be used as a blueprint for reform in at least these other two countries.

New Academic Study Links Cannabis Legalization To Decreasing Pharma Profits

Written by Marguerite Arnold on September 5, 2022. Posted in Business, Policy.

The study, published in a non-profit, peer reviewed journal, is the strongest evidence yet that the legalization of cannabis directly (and negatively) impacts both the name brand and generics pharma industry

A new study published by PLOS ONE, an American non-profit, peer reviewed journal, and conducted by researchers at California Polytechnic State University and the University of New Mexico, has found that the pharmaceutical industry in the United States has consistently lost money after US states legalize cannabis. In fact, the average market loss (in each US state) was estimated to be $10 billion.

The study based its findings on a review of prescription drug sales and stock prices of 556 pharma companies between 1996 to 2019 and market trends that emerged after the legalization of either or medical and recreational cannabis.

This is the first time a study has been able to encapsulate such findings formally, although there has been a lot of anecdotal data released to support this claim.

The study also notes that the longer-term impact is actually more significant for generic drug makers than branded pharmaceuticals.

Pharma vs Weed?

Pharmaceutical companies, particularly in the United States, have devoted huge amounts of money and other resources to slow down the legalization of cannabis – including by dispatching lobbyists to state capitals as well as Washington DC.

In Europe, the discussion has always been different. As a result, there has yet to be a formal study on the decline of “pharmaceutical” profits thanks to cannabis legalization – in large part because the industry is already more regulated if not “pharma-esque” here. In Germany, for example, the government as well as other agencies, including associations representing both pharmacies and the insurance industry, has far more involvement and control over the same. Plus of course, so far at least, the industry here has been shaped by pharmaceutical standards.

That said, these findings are also likely to impact the discussion on the ground in Europe about the role of generic cannabis (flower or extract) as a way for governments and government-backed insurers to save money. As a result, this reality is also likely to speed up the acceptance of if not interest in the medical cannabis sector by established mainstream pharmaceutical firms.

That movement has already started in Europe – in large part because of the focus on integrating cannabis into the formal pharmaceutical and medical vertical. Spanish Alcaliber, the world’s largest manufacturer of opioid drugs as of 2014 began moving into the cannabis space around the time that Germany mandated the coverage of medical cannabis by health insurers. Beyond that, Dr. Reddy’s, an Indian company known for its lower cost generic drug focus, bought a German distributor at the beginning of this year.

Regardless, it is clear that medical cannabis is starting to come into its own – and further challenge mainstream medicines for a large variety of conditions.

Panama’s President Approves Executive Decree Regulating Domestic Cannabis Industry

Written by Marguerite Arnold on September 5, 2022. Posted in Business, Policy.

Laurentino Cortizo approved Law 242 at an executive level to move the now legalized industry forward from legislative bill to on the ground reality

Last Wednesday, President Laurentino Cortizo signed an executive decree to allow the now legalized Panamanian cannabis industry to actually move forward into implementation. He previously approved the new law legalizing medical use after it passed in the legislature last October.

The executive decree creates a regulatory framework for the domestic industry. This will allow both for the development of regulated cultivation, extraction, and manufacture of both the plant and drugs derived from it. The Ministry of Security is now tasked with overseeing operations and compliance. Consumption by patients will be tracked via a patient registration system.

“The goal of all this is that Panama has the best business model for the medical cannabis industry. Our intention is to promote in the medium and long term the establishment of local and foreign companies that will be able to supply the domestic market using raw materials produced in Panama,” said Mr. Cortizo.

Panama Leads the Region on Cannabis Reform

Cannabis was outlawed in the country in 1923 – seven years after the Panama Canal was completed. Panama became infamous, however, for the shipment of cocaine to the United States during last half of the 20th century.

Despite its tortured Drug War history, the country has moved forward with cannabis reform as a leader in Central America, becoming the first country to pass medical cannabis legislation last year (followed by Costa Rica).

This is interesting for several reasons, including the fact that Panama has long been known as a major exporter of agricultural products to North America. 28% of the total exports of the country end up in the United States.

It also opens up very interesting discussions about global cannabis shipping. The country is the site of the most important continental passageway (the Panama Canal), which saves ships from having to circumnavigate the tip of Latin America. If medical cannabis is now legal in Panama, this means that there should be no problem with shipping cannabis through the Canal. This in turn could be a boon for particularly Canadian markets – although it is a discussion which has yet to percolate in the US because of a lack of federal reform.

It is also very likely that Panamanian medically certified biomass (at minimum) will end up in European markets.

That said, it is clearly one more step towards the normalization and complete commodification of the plant as well as cannabis-based medications.

Medical Cannabis Patients Deserve To Cultivate Their Own Medicine

Written by Johnny Green on September 3, 2022. Posted in Policy.

Having safe access to effective medications is something that should be a fundamental right. Unfortunately, as many medical cannabis patients around the world will attest, obtaining safe access to medical cannabis is not always easy. Even when cannabis is legal it can be expensive for many patients, which is why legal home cultivation is so vital. Sadly, many patients are denied the right to home cultivation, including in Israel where the nation’s top court recently rejected a case that sought to establish the right for patients to cultivate cannabis.

Prior to a change in 2016 patients in Israel were allowed to cultivate cannabis in their homes for medical use, which was noted by those seeking to legalize home cultivation in their filing. The petition to Israel’s top court involved eight medical cannabis patients who stated in their petition, among other things, that home cultivation should be legalized to help mitigate the costs of medical cannabis products which the patients claimed were too high. Unfortunately, Israel’s top court was not swayed.

Legal Reasoning

Another argument made by the petitioners was that they sought to “receive organic cannabis without pesticides and which does not undergo irradiation,” and that being able to cultivate cannabis at home would achieve that objective. Unfortunately, the judges that decided to reject the case pointed out various reasons for doing so, including the lack of timeliness of the petition. The judges pointed out that the decision to remove ‘cultivation, production’ from Israel’s medical cannabis law as it pertains to patients happened in 2016.

The judges argued that the petitioners ‘failed to exhaust procedures as required’ and also included a dose of reefer madness fearmongering by stating in their opinion that home cultivation generates ‘overuse, a high potential for theft and leakage, and there is no real medical advantage in self-cultivation of cannabis.’

“The feelings of the petitioners and their plight can be understood,” the judges wrote in the ruling (translated from Hebrew to English), “however, the petition must be rejected outright. This is, first and foremost, since the petitioners seek to obtain a government decision that was made about 6 years ago, so their petition was submitted with considerable delay. The petitioners, too now, they have not exhausted procedures against the relevant party and their early requests (to the Ministry of Health) did not contain the multitude of claims in the petition.”

The Fight For Safe Access Continues

Despite the opinions of Israel’s top court, the need for home cultivation in Israel will continue. It doesn’t matter how long ago Israel changed its policies regarding home cultivation. The fact of the matter is that not all patients can afford to only acquire their cannabis from regulated outlets. For many patients, it’s far more cost effective to cultivate their own cannabis, and in some cases, being prohibited from cultivating cannabis at home basically means that some patients will have to go without medicine entirely since they can’t afford it.

As the petitioners in this latest case in Israel highlighted, it is a huge benefit to some patients to be able to completely control what cannabis genetics they cultivate and what they use to feed their cannabis plants. The cannabis plant is dynamic, and human biology is complex, so there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ cannabis product. What works for one patient may not work for the next patient, and public policy needs to account for that via legalized home cultivation.

The judges’ assertion that ‘there is no real medical advantage in self-cultivation’ is completely ridiculous and flies in the face of logic and compassion. Every patient deserves to cultivate their own medicine, and that is true in Israel as well as everywhere else on the planet.

63% Of Colombians Support A Sales Tax On Cannabis Products According To Survey

Written by Frank Schuler on September 3, 2022. Posted in Business, Policy.

Colombia has served as ground zero for the war on drugs in many ways for many years, largely due to the nation’s cocaine industry. It is obviously no secret that Colombia has served as the world’s top source for cocaine for decades, with the United States being a particularly popular market for the illegal substance.

The war on drugs in Colombia has made things harder for the nation’s emerging legal cannabis industry for various reasons, not the least of which is the stigma that comes with trying to legalize a historically banned substance in a nation like Colombia, even though cannabis is not cocaine.

A big part of boosting Colombia’s emerging cannabis industry involves changing the hearts and minds of citizens in the South American country, and according to the results of a recent poll, efforts appear to be gaining traction on that front. As highlighted in a recent article from Portafolio, the survey, which was conducted by Jaime Arteaga y Asociados, found the following:

91% of survey participants that have used cannabis-based products would recommend it to other people
37% of survey participants have frequented a store where medical and/or cosmetic cannabis products are sold
63% of Colombians believe that ‘sales taxes on cannabis products would improve social investment’

The survey results provided a lot of insight into not only the level of support for Colombia’s emerging cannabis industry, but also insight into consumer trends. For instance, the survey found that nearly half of the survey participants (46%) that reported consuming cannabis reported using it in topical form.

Due to its favorable climate, Colombia is uniquely positioned to cultivate an enormous amount of raw cannabis at a price that is literally impossible to replicate in most other parts of the world.

The nation would be wise to expand its emerging cannabis industry and take its rightful place as a legal global cannabis leader, which according to the recent survey results, appears to be a very popular issue that most Colombians seem to support.

olympic-swimming-pool-olympics-swim-min olympic-swimming-pool-olympics-swim-min

Olympic Gold Medalist Joseph Schooling Has Nothing To Apologize For

Written by Johnny Green on September 3, 2022. Posted in Entertainment, Policy.

No adult should ever have to apologize for the act of simply consuming cannabis. Unfortunately, it is something that elite athletes have to do all of the time, and in a very public way. The latest example of that can be found in the saga involving Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling, who was recently ‘caught’ admitting to cannabis use that allegedly occurred months prior outside of his home country. As a result, Schooling is facing competition-based penalties in addition to enormous, and completely unwarranted, public shaming.

The elite swimmer, who is 27 years old, did not even test positive for cannabis use. Rather, it was reported that he simply admitted to consuming cannabis as part of an investigation by authorities in Singapore, with a fellow national swimmer also reportedly being a target of the investigation. Professional athletes around the world are consistently subjected to cannabis stigma, including the opponent that Schooling defeated on his way to becoming a national hero in Singapore.

Passing The Stigma Torch

Swimmer Joseph Schooling became an international sensation in 2016 when he defeated arguably the most famous swimmer of all time, the United States’ Michael Phelps, in the 100-meter butterfly. After winning the gold medal in 2016, Schooling was hailed by virtually everyone in Singapore as a national hero, and rightfully so. After all, Schooling wasn’t just the first swimmer from Singapore to become an Olympic champion – he was the country’s first Olympic champion ever for any category. It’s a distinction that he holds to this day.

Yet, despite all of the sacrifice and hard work and glory, Schooling is being torn to shreds by people inside and outside of Singapore due to the revelation that he consumed cannabis in May 2022 while traveling. As if somehow he should only be measured by admitting to consuming a plant that is 114 times safer than alcohol. For cannabis consuming sports fans in the United States such as myself, the public shaming that Schooling is going through is all too familiar.

Michael Phelps, who Schooling famously defeated in 2016, was also subjected to a horrific level of stigma when a picture surfaced of him hitting a bong in 2009. Much like Schooling, Phelps was endlessly ridiculed and presumably forced to issue a public apology for ‘letting everyone down’ at the time. This, despite Phelps winning 23 gold medals in the name of the very country that largely turned on him for being labeled in the mainstream media as a ‘pothead.’

No Apologies Needed

Make no mistake about it – when professional athletes are forced to issue public apologies after a cannabis-consumption ‘offense’ occurs, it is 100% public relations in nature and it only serves to further the objectives of cannabis prohibitionists in society. Schooling’s cannabis use in May of 2022, assuming it actually occurred, obviously did not harm anyone. Had authorities in Singapore not forced a confession out of him, no one would have even known or cared about it.

However, they did find out about it, and in a country where people can still receive the death penalty for cannabis only offenses, Schooling went from national hero to ‘a national disgrace’ and that is pathetic to say the least. It’s obvious that the government is using Schooling to push its reefer madness agenda, which is presumably why there was a public apology in the first place, and there was also likely a concerted effort to drum up media coverage of the public apology. If that is all true, and authorities in Singapore are willing to do it to someone of Schooling’s fame and status, clearly it’s something that can happen to anyone in Singapore, and that’s a scary thought.

Whether Schooling’s confession was forced or not is ultimately moot because as far as I am concerned there was nothing for him to apologize for in the first place. People consume cannabis all over the world every single day, and that has been the case for thousands of years. Cannabis use on its own is not wrong. Cannabis prohibition is wrong, and that is true when it comes to sports just as much as it is true when it comes to the rest of society.

gold-coast-city-queensland-australia-min gold-coast-city-queensland-australia-min

Queensland’s Cannabis Driving Laws Are Inhumane

Written by Johnny Green on September 3, 2022. Posted in Policy.

It is no secret that people that consume cannabis are often subjected to an enormous amount of stigma, including and especially from a public policy standpoint. After all, a vast majority of public policies directed towards cannabis consumers initially arose out of anti-cannabis fearmongering. Cannabis consumers, even patients, are often labeled as ‘dangers to themselves and others’ and a prime example of that is on display in Queensland where any amount of THC in a person’s system is a punishable offense, even if the person is a registered medical cannabis patient.

To be clear, I am not advocating for anyone to be driving on a public roadway while under the influence of cannabis or anything else for that matter. No one should ever operate a motor vehicle while impaired from any substance at all, including cannabis. Every responsible cannabis consumer on the planet feels the same way. With that being said, just because someone has THC in their system does not automatically mean that they are impaired at the time of the detection of THC. Detecting actual cannabis impairment is far more complicated than that.

Public Policy Built On Junk Science

Queensland is an Australian state located in the continent’s northeast region. It’s the third most-populated state in Australia, and currently has the highest population growth rate. Queensland is also home to a growing population of registered medical cannabis patients. According to Queensland law, “A patient living in Queensland must access medicinal cannabis through a doctor who is authorised under the Special Access or Authorised Prescriber Scheme administered by the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).”

Unfortunately, any person that consumes any amount of cannabis, even when consumption is in line with TGA guidelines, essentially gives up their right to drive in Queensland due to how their current law is written and how long cannabis stays in a person’s system. Whereas many substances only stay in a person’s system for hours or days, THC can stay in a person’s system for much longer. In fact, one study found that THC could be detected in a person’s system for as long as 100 days after the person quit consuming cannabis.

Obviously, if a person consumed cannabis over three months ago they are not going to still be impaired today. Furthermore, it’s quite possible that they were not even impaired when they last consumed cannabis. Cannabis impairment depends on a number of factors including potency, tolerance level, form of consumption, and the amount of consumption. Someone that has consumed cannabis for a long time will build up a considerable amount of THC in their system while simultaneously having a tolerance that is so great that true impairment rarely occurs. That creates a situation in which the cannabis consumers that are least impaired are the ones most likely to have THC in their systems for longer durations of time, and public policy needs to account for that scientific fact.

Increase in ‘Drug-Driving’ Offenses

While more people are consuming medical cannabis in Queensland, completely legal consumption I will add, more people are also being charged with driving under the influence for cannabis in Queensland. Given the readily available science that clearly demonstrates how fast ‘active THC’ is metabolized by the human body (1-4 hours) and how long ‘metabolized THC’ can stay in the human body (up to 100 days), there’s almost always a viable defense for a cannabis DUI charge. However, that defense can only be successfully deployed after the person is subjected to inhumane treatment, including but not limited to: arrest, incarceration, fines, lost wages, lost employment, and public shaming.

Fortunately, lawmakers in Queensland are reviewing the state’s cannabis impairment laws and hopefully they will arrive at the logical conclusion that a zero tolerance policy towards metabolized THC is inhumane and ineffective. The only purpose it serves is to subject cannabis users to selective enforcement and the criminal justice system, and no suffering patient should ever have to endure such things. Again, I am not advocating for medical cannabis patients to be able to operate a motor vehicle on a public roadway while under the influence of cannabis, however, that needs to be balanced with implementing public policy that is based on science and not reefer madness fear mongering.

germany flag germany flag germany flag germany flag

Debate About Cannabis Legalization Is Still Raging In Germany Despite Government Fast-Tracking Reform

Written by Marguerite Arnold on August 29, 2022. Posted in Policy.

Bayern’s Health Minister has appealed to the German Chancellor to stop cannabis legalization because it was “irresponsible” after Olaf Scholz declares that there is no point in delaying cannabis reform

Last Friday, Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek, a member of the CSU, called on the federal German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz (of the SPD) to stop plans to legalize cannabis. In a speech made in Munich, Holetschek based his arguments on a speech that the Chancellor had recently made in Magdeburg that the government will continue to press forward on legalization plans despite some evidence that per Scholz that “people suffer psychological damage” and “ruin their lives” by using cannabis. “If the Chancellor knows the major health risks of cannabis, he should now make use of his authority to issue directives and put the legalization project on hold,” Holetschek said.

The attack appears to be, beyond a direct attack on cannabis legalization specifically, a political attempt to build on citizen protests against Scholz that occurred in Magdeburg last week. These are being prompted by fears over inflation and rising energy prices, beyond generalized criticism of the leadership of the Traffic Light Coalition itself.

Regardless, Holetschek is also the most senior politician, so far, to criticize the idea of cannabis legalization.

What does this mean for German reform?

An Easy Political Target by Conservatives

There is much talk of a conservative backlash in Germany this fall as energy inflation begins to bite. That said, it is uncertain how successful this will be, particularly as the current government has been signalling all summer that it will continue to roll out a package of incentives and other help to minimize the economic pain felt by Germans. The widely praised (and used) $9 a month train tickets are just one of these initiatives. So is a $300 grant to taxpayers from German utilities to offset higher energy prices (which has already been distributed).

The fact that cannabis legalization has been apparently added to issues to criticize the current government over, by a centre-right politician who seems to be trying to score points against the ruling parties more generally, is, as a result, far from a surprise.

The attack also appears to indicate that those against cannabis reform have little evidence or political capital to expend to support the same.

That said, there is increased rumbling if not doubt among some on the ground here that the Traffic Light Coalition will achieve their goal of passing legalization legislation in the next 12 months. Reasons usually now focus on how the German government will be able to fit legalization into international treaties which specifically ban cannabis less than domestic opposition – starting with the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics.

For that very reason, full cannabis legalization is likely to become even more of an imperative as the tripartite government coalition now consisting of authorities from Germany, Luxembourg and Malta strives to create a value that Germans can understand.

Just like help in alleviating the high cost of fuel, cannabis reform represents a tangible metric of accomplishment.

As a result, the fact that a conservative German regional political figure, in what is considered Germany’s most staid state, is trying to call the ruling government “irresponsible” (for any reason) is unlikely to gather much steam federally.

That said, it does appear that other state health departments across Germany are also in the middle of a cannabis education campaign. For example, the Frankfurt Drugs Department will be holding an online forums in early September to educate the public about the efficacy of medical cannabis in treating psychological disorders as well as discuss burning issues like the assumption of costs by insurers for cannabis treatment beyond allowing people to discuss recreational reform.

What such backlash might be a signal of, however, rather tragically, is that state officials in states like Bayern may throw a wrench in local attempts to establish dispensaries once federal reform comes, creating a patchwork of reform that varies from state to state.