AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Drug driving tests are called into question [Daily Mail]
Drug driving tests have been called into question after a driver taking a placebo tested positive to cannabis. University of Sydney researchers found roadside mobile saliva tests for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were inaccurate more than 20 per cent of the time. In some instances, participants who were high on the drug tested negative while others who hadn’t smoked in extended periods recorded false positives.
Will Australia fear to tread where NZ steps with cannabis legalisation? [Stockhead]
The New Zealand government has drawn the outline of the kind of recreational marijuana use it wants to see, including an age limit of 20 and regulation on how potent legal cannabis products will be allowed to be. In Australia, constitutionally, adult use or recreational cannabis is a state — not a federal — prerogative, so it could be a state that moves first on this issue.
Cannabis Doctors Australia launch crowdfunding campaign with big ambitions [Business News Australia]
The business is raising funds to initially expand its clinics around Australia, but its ambitions are broader than just that. The group also hopes to not only be the first wholesaler and chain of medicinal clinics in Australia, but also one of the first Australian-based manufacturers of medicinal cannabis. The group’s crowdfunding campaign is now live on equity crowdfunding platform PledgeMe.
Tasmanian company granted licence to grow medicinal cannabis for export [ABC]
With export contacts in Europe and plans to expand to Asia, Tasmanian Botanics has been given permission to grow medicinal cannabis for export. The company has spent more than a year getting the state and federal approvals needed to set up the business that is in a secret location in Tasmania.
IDT Receives Cannabis Manufacture Licence [Cannabis Intel]
IDT is a Melbourne based established pharma manufacturing company that develops and produces high potency and high containment pharmaceutical products for local and international clients.
Medicinal cannabis users focus of new NZ research [Scoop]
An independent study of medicinal cannabis users in New Zealand will begin next month. The study comes ahead of the government’s plans to introduce a new licenced medicinal cannabis scheme to broaden access to cannabis products for a wider range of patients – not only the terminally ill – by the end of this year.
MardiGrass Hemposium 2019 Talks now Available on YouTube [Hemp Embassy]
NORTH AMERICA
Smaller California marijuana farmers form co-ops to save on costs, compete with large growers [Marijuana Business Daily]
As corporate cultivation operations in California continue to expand, small cannabis growers in the Golden State are banding together to develop cooperatives in an attempt to gain a competitive edge against their large-scale rivals.
New Hampshire Lawmakers Advance Home Cultivation Legislation [Weed News]
Members of the House and Senate have approved versions of House Bill 364, which allows qualified patients the option to grow marijuana at home.
Canadian government offers millions to help B.C. police spot drugged driving [The Growth Op]
Bill Blair, the minister responsible for organized crime reduction and border security, announced on Tuesday the spending of $10.1 million over five years to increase the number of officers trained in field sobriety testing and as drug recognition experts. The money will also help police forces buy approved roadside devices to develop standardized data collection and help the province get a clearer picture of the extent of drug-impaired driving, Blair said.
New Washington Law Will Erase Old Cannabis Convictions [Leafly]
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill Monday aimed at erasing old misdemeanor marijuana convictions, seven years after voters in the state approved an initiative that legalized the drug. Under the new law, judges are required to grant requests to vacate misdemeanor marijuana possession charges that occurred before the drug was legalized, provided the defendant was 21 at the time.
The Surprising Way Trump’s US-China Trade Dispute Hurts Marijuana Users [The Fresh Toast]
According to a report from Barron’s, America’s showdown with China is actually hurting the cannabis trade by affecting those companies who don’t touch marijuana, in twist of events. High tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have seriously cut into businesses like KushCo Holdings, which provides chemicals, vaporizer hardware, and packaging to marijuana producers. Although the company is experiencing increases in sales numbers—39% increase sequentially in the quarter ending in February—their gross margin figures have torpedoed thanks to tariffs.
Dana Larsen on fighting for Vancouver’s Dispensaries [CLN]
CLN caught up with prominent cannabis activist Dana Larsen for an update on Vancouver’s unlicensed dispensaries and their ongoing fight to stay open. Dana also told us why he thinks the City of Vancouver should rewrite it’s restrictive cannabis bylaws, why the dispensary exclusion zone in the Downtown Eastside is misguided and wrong, the ongoing battle of Vancouver’s unlicensed dispensaries to stay open
BUSINESS & POLICY
World’s Largest Outdoor Cannabis Farm Given The Go-Ahead [CBD Testers]
Canadian firm, 48North Cannabis Corp, is to begin planting the world’s largest outdoor cannabis growing facility. The company says the 100-acre facility near Hamilton in Ontario will produce over 40,000 kilograms of organic outdoor cannabis this year. This September, the first crop will be harvested at what is what is expected to be the lowest-cost per gram in Canada.
Californian Senate votes to allow banks, credit unions to accept marijuana retailer deposits [Marijuana Business Daily]
The California Senate voted almost unanimously to pass a bill that would allow banks and credit unions to accept cash deposits from cannabis retailers.
All 50 State Banking Associations Urge Congress To Pass Marijuana Financial Services Bill [Marijuana Moment]
“Leaving the cannabis industry unbanked presents serious public safety, revenue administration, and legal compliance concerns and must be remedied immediately.”
Weed’s Waste Problem: The Perils of Plastic May Haunt the Cannabis Industry [Merry Jane]
The cannabis industry has a major plastic problem. Take, for instance, a standard disposable vaporizer pen. Beyond the materials of the pen itself, California state law requires that the product arrive to the dispensary in child-proof packaging. At that point, it is then purchased, where it is placed into another child-proof bag. That’s a whole lot of plastic for 200 puffs. According to the firm BDS Analytics, sales in California for disposable vape pens nearly doubled from $3.4 million to $6.42 million between January and March of 2018.
High finance: Mr Nice ‘cannabis lifestyle’ shop opens in London [The Guardian]
Store named after celebrity dealer Howard Marks sells legal products such as CBD oil.
Grandmother Arrested for Hemp CBD Will Sue Disney World [Cannabis Now]
A legal battle with Disney is brewing for a woman arrested last month with hemp-derived CBD oil at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
Cannabis firm buys British beauty brand This Works [The Guardian]
The world’s largest cannabis company has bought British beauty brand This Works for £43m in a deal that will see it launch a range of products infused with the cannabis ingredient CBD to help users sleep and improve their skin.
Part 3, Legalization Gave Police Time to Fight Real Crime [Leafly]
A key promise of legalization is that it will free up police resources to fight real crime. That appears to have happened in the first two legalization states, Washington and Colorado.
2020 Presidential Candidate Files Three Veteran-Focused Medical Marijuana Bills [Medical Marijuana Inc]
Democratic candidate for president Rep. Seth Moulton introduced a package of bills to further medical marijuana education and access for veterans.
HEALTH & SCIENCE
NFL to Research Cannabis for Pain Management [Ganjapreneur]
The National Football League and league player’s union are creating a Joint Pain Management Committee that will include cannabis and cannabinoids as part of its research into pain management and alternative therapies.
No smoking required [The Growth Op]
A growing list of different dosing products could change the way some medical and recreational users consume their cannabis.
Top 5 Resources You Didn’t Know Hemp Could Be Used For [CBD Testers]
- Hemp Can Make Military Supplies
- Hemp Can Make Money
- Hemp Can Fly
- Hemp Can Drive
- Hemp Can Build Houses
Scientists racing to create lab-grown synthetic cannabinoids, but cannabis plant not obsolete just yet [The Growth Op]
A slew of large licensed producers have already started investing in synthetic and biosynthetic cannabinoid companies.
How Cannabis Helps ‘Spoonies’ Soothe the Symptoms of Chronic Illness [Leafly]
Cannabis is a very common medical aid and ally to spoonies, offering soothing powers to all kinds of symptoms through the power of the body-wide endocannabinoid system. We’ll touch on five conditions that can turn someone into a spoonie, as well as how cannabis is said to help treat symptoms: Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Crohn’s Disease and Colitis, Endometriosis.
Researchers divided on future of cannabis as a whole plant or isolated medicine [Daily Hive]
As legalization advances and stigma recedes, medical science is looking to understand the medical potential of cannabis. There is however some debate as the best method to develop these treatments. Should cannabis remain as a whole plant, extracted oil, or the individual compounds isolated and produced as prescription drugs?
Cannabis-derived compound CBD could be used to treat HEROIN addiction [Daily Mail]
Cannabis-based medicine could be used to help heroin addicts quit, according to research. A study has found CBD – a chemical called cannabidiol which is found in cannabis but doesn’t make people high – can reduce drug cravings. Scientists have found giving it to recovering heroin addicts can cut their cravings by up to 300 per cent and make them less anxious or stressed.
CULTURE & SOCIETY
Mickey Hart Announces New Cannabis Brand, Mind Your Head [Relix]
Mickey Hart has announced a new cannabis brand, Mind Your Head, which launches today, May 21, with the Magic Minis 1/3-gram joints, which come in collectable tins featuring artwork from Hart himself. The Magic Minis are filled with flower from the legendary cannabis strain Chemdog, named after the man who first discovered the strain outside a Grateful Dead concert at Indiana’s Deer Creek in 1991 and later helped it go on to spawn famous strains like Sour Diesel and OG Kush.
Superweed: The quest to create the ultimate premium strain [The Growth Op]
Like the quest for the next blockbuster wine, skilled growers who can select seeds, clone them and finish the product — hand-trimming the cannabis to ensure buds are gently secured — are in high demand.
Is Marijuana the New Martini? [Ozy]
Thanks to legalization and a distaste for hangovers, more Americans are choosing cannabis over alcohol and pain pills.
EVENTS
Medican Workshop, 22-23 June 2019, Nimbin NSW [Hemp Embassy]
Details to be announced.
FUNDRAISERS/CAMPAIGNS/PETITIONS/SURVEYS
Gateway to Good Health [Weed Billboards]
The war on drugs and in particular cannabis is well past its use by date in Australia and in an effort to keep the issue on the agenda we have started a weed billboards campaign. Excited that our first billboard is up just north of Grafton in NSW.
It costs $5K for a year, and we’d like to grow weed billboards all around the country. We’d love your help to spread the weed, so there is a gofundme site where you can donate.
Please send in billboard suggestions! We’d like this campaign to support messages from various cannabis and drug law reform groups around Australia, so it would be great to pool resources to create more and more new billboards. We are open to all creative ideas, and any size donations.
We just want an end to being criminals for using one of nature’s absolute gifts.
E-Petition: Legalise cannabis for recreational use [Parliament of Victoria]
Petition: For a Referendum on Recreational Cannabis Use during 2019 NSW Election [Liberal Democrats]
Support Tony Bower’s Legal Fees [gofundme]
Just Reform It! Let’s Get Real about Drugs [The Greens]
Survey: What’s the link between cannabis use and psychotic experiences? [The University of Queensland]
EDUCATION
MardiGrass Hemposium 2019 Talks now Available on YouTube [Hemp Embassy]
‘Sex, Drugs and the Electoral Roll’: MP’s Memoir Goes On Sale [Reason]
Medicinal Cannabis & Hemp Tasmania & “the leaf” Newsletter [Facebook]
Nimbin Medican Workshops on YouTube [Hemp Embassy]
DRUG WAR OVER! [Radio Documentary]
View five new EGA video presentations on ethnobotanical plants and psychedelics [Entheogenesis Australis]
To mark the anniversary of our special gathering and end the year on a high note, we’ve released five new videos of talks from the Psychedelic Symposium that are now available to watch online and can also be found below in this email.