Tag: Ireland

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Ireland’s Transport Minister: No Cannabis Legalization In 2021

Written by Johnny Green on January 13, 2021. Posted in Politics.

In many ways 2020 was one of the worst years of all time, yet, from a purely cannabis reform and industry standpoint, 2020 was a solid year by many measures.

Last year had one very big disappointment in the form of an unsuccessful vote in New Zealand, where voters shot down a nationwide cannabis legalization measure.

However, putting New Zealand’s vote aside, 2020 was stellar for cannabis efforts in many parts of the world, with the legal cannabis industry putting up record figures.

Several states legalized cannabis for adult use in the United States, and several countries increased momentum for reform at the international level going into 2021.

One country that will not be legalizing cannabis for adult use in 2021 is Ireland according to Green Party leader Eamon Ryan. Per The Irish Sun:

IRELAND is not ready to legalise cannabis next year, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has claimed.

It comes as People Before Profit plan to put forward a motion in the Dail next year to legalise the drug in Ireland.

Earlier this month, PBP TD Gino Kenny said his party will bring forward legislation to try end the prohibition of cannabis in Ireland.

As of right now, only Uruguay and Canada have legalized cannabis for adult use. Italy’s Supreme Court ruled cannabis prohibition to be unconstitutional, but lawmakers in Italy have not passed a legalization measure to fully implement the Court’s decision.

Only time will tell which country on the European continent becomes the first to legalize, however, it will likely not be Ireland if current trends persist.

Ireland Is Delivering Medical Cannabis To Patients Who Cannot Travel To The Netherlands

Written by Johnny Green on July 15, 2020. Posted in Medical.

Every suffering patient deserves safe access to proven medications that help treat their condition(s). Anyone who disagrees lacks compassion. Unfortunately, not every suffering patient has safe access to a popular, effective, and safe medication – the cannabis plant.

A number of countries continue to prohibit cannabis, even for medical purposes. Among the list of countries that do allow medical cannabis, many have programs that are so limited that most suffering patients are left on the outside looking in.

Ireland is home to a limited medical cannabis program, which results in many suffering patients traveling to The Netherlands in order to obtain cannabis. Traveling is much harder right now due to the ongoing pandemic.

Fortunately for the limited number of approved patients in Ireland, their government is helping bridge the gap. Per The Times:

The Department of Health is delivering medicinal cannabis to patients during the pandemic due to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.

There are about 30 patients with a licence from the government which allows them to travel to the Netherlands to collect medicinal cannabis.

For the 30 patients that this program helps, this is a great thing. However, for the remaining countless suffering patients in Ireland, the gesture by the government is obviously meaningless.

The suffering patients of Ireland deserve to have a comprehensive medical cannabis program – one that helps all suffering patients and allows them to cultivate their own cannabis, in addition to other robust safe access options.

Irish-French Alternative Investment Fund Launched In Search Of Long-Term Cannabis Returns

Written by Marguerite Arnold on June 24, 2020. Posted in Business.

Óskare Fund – a joint venture between Irish and French firms (Crossroads Capital Management and Óskare Capital) is an alternative fund now seeking investors and longer-term returns in the industry (no small feat). Neither is its existence. This is the first such fund to be domiciled in Ireland, approved by the Central Bank only last month.

In January, a (separately managed) exchange-traded fund (ETF) was first listed on the Irish exchange.

Private investors in the Óskare Fund must be able to invest at least €100,000 in portfolios based on the development and sale of medical-only cannabinoid-based products. The first round of the fund seeks €30 million in its first tranche, however, managers said that they sought up to €120 million more in successive rounds.

The prospectus describes the fund this way: “A long-term, potentially high-risk investment which is suitable only for sophisticated institutional and high-net-worth investors which are able to bear the risk.” A good start for sure in a niche that is already known for high volatility (see the Canadian public market if not the U.S.)

Investment strategy is to invest primarily in unlisted cannabis-related companies with broad and global exposure to the industry. This includes those firms involved in R&D in the medical space (including the development of pharmaceutical products and extracts) and all things (from production to equipment) on the hemp side of the equation.

The fund will seek stakes and boardroom representation in early-stage start-ups across the medical vertical, but not directly in cultivation. The investments will also be weighted in favour of Europe.

The fund, named after the Mohawk Indian name for cannabis, believes that this region offers the best regulatory environment for innovation, research and development of cannabinoids used for medical purposes.

Why Is This Interesting To Foreign Investors?

One of the more difficult aspects of investing in the European space is language barriers. The second is all the Brexit-related financial and compliance issues that go with the divorce. For that reason, Dublin, where the fund is located, is a hotbed for “alternative” investments if not cannabis (yet). Give it time.

The reason? There are financial incentives on both sides of the Brexit barrier, for one, that those in Ireland are well used to navigating (and far from just the cannabis front specifically). With feet in both the UK and Europe, in other words, this fund, as well as others, if properly managed, stands to play an increasingly important role in a Euro-market hungry for access to equity and a British market that is full of potential but still way behind with money sloshing around looking for “foreign” adventures.

For the latest on European cannabis developments, including financing and investing, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe.

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Ireland Minister For Health To Assist Medical Cannabis Patients

Written by Johnny Green on April 8, 2020. 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.