Embassy HEADLINES Issue 357
Embassy HEADLINES Issue 357

Embassy HEADLINES Issue 357

AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

Victorian parliament will investigate different approaches to cannabis – video [9 News]

Fiona Patten MP refers cannabis inquiry to a parliamentary committee.

‘Passive smoking’ defence clears woman of drug driving as research casts doubt on roadside testing [ABC]

The accuracy of drug driving tests has been called into question after a landmark court ruling and new research by a leading academic.

Passive Smoking Defence Exposes Flawed Drug Driving Regime [Sydney Criminal Lawyers]

Magistrate David Heilpern has delivered yet another landmark ruling that reveals the shonky logic underlying the drug driving regime in NSW. The Lismore magistrate accepted last month that a woman tested positive to cannabis because of passive smoking.

HEMP’s grassroots campaign hot on heels of Palmer’s $60 million ad barrage [Brisbane Times]

Clive Palmer and his staggering $60 million spend on United Australia Party’s election campaign has only managed to secure 20,000 more Senate votes nationally than a minor party forced to “scratch around” just to field candidates. As of Sunday afternoon the Help End Marijuana Prohibition party had secured 141,500 first preference Senate votes or 1.9 per cent of the national vote, just behind UAP’s 161,000.

Medicinal cannabis scheme in Canberra failing to find enough doctors willing to prescribe drug [ABC]

“They are willing to put you on all sorts of drugs and then they have a thing about cannabis.”

Industrial Hemp Bill Tabled In Australia’s Northern Territory [Hemp Gazette]

Legislation introduced to NT’s parliament last week seeks to make it legal to grow and process industrial hemp in the Northern Territory.

Funding For Industrial Hemp Project In Western Australia [Hemp Gazette]

A hemp initiative was one of ten projects in Western Australia’s Kimberley region named to receive a Regional Economic Development (RED) grant.

High Fibre: High hopes for Australia’s emerging industrial hemp industry [ABC]

A relaxation of hemp cultivation laws has led to a surge in interest for the growing of non-narcotic industrial hemp, with plots being trialled across all parts of the country.

NEXT MEDICAL CANNABIS WEEKEND WORKSHOP IN NIMBIN JUNE 22/23 [Nimbin Hemp Embassy]

This is a weekend about sharing information from healers and users and growers and makers of medical cannabis. Everyone is welcome, entry is by donation and it’s a rare chance to meet and get advice from the cannabis healing community, and in fact discuss all aspects of the plant as hemp seed products will be on display and available along with hemp clothing. But largely it’s a weekend for people interested in cannabis as medicine and a chance to educate yourself.

NORTH AMERICA

Texas Legislature OKs medical cannabis bill [Victoria Advocate]

The Texas House and Senate have passed a medical cannabis bill that would include more medical conditions to qualify for medical cannabis prescriptions.

New York Launches Final Bid for Adult-Use Legalization in 2019 [Leafly]

If this effort fails, legislators probably won’t have another shot at adult-use legalization for at least two years.

Legal Cannabis In Canada: Spotlight On Provincial Regulations [CBD Testers]

Let’s take a quick look at the different cannabis laws for each province in Canada, to ease some of the confusion surround this topic.

Arizona Supreme Court decides cannabis extracts are legal [420 Intel]

The Arizona Supreme Court decided unanimously on Tuesday that cannabis extracts including concentrates, vape cartridges as well as infused beverages and food, are now legal and can be sold in dispensaries.

WORLD

Legalising cannabis in the UK will leave the working classes behind – just as we’ve seen in America [Independent]

State-controlled medical and recreational marijuana is positioned as giving ‘safe’ access to ‘healthy’ products. But history suggests that decriminalisation would be a better and simpler option.

UK House of Commons backs call for easier access to medical cannabis [The Pharmaceutical Journal]

The House of Commons has backed a motion calling on the government to ensure medical cannabis is made available to “appropriate patients”. The motion was put forward by Mike Penning, Conservative Party MP for Hemel Hempstead, on 20 May 2019. He told the House that “only a handful of prescriptions for whole-plant-extract medical cannabis have been issued on the NHS, which has left a significant number of patients, many of whom are children with intractable epilepsy, with no access to medical cannabis and experiencing severe distress”.

Singapore young more liberal on cannabis than other drugs: Poll [The Straits Times]

Young people in Singapore have a more liberal attitude towards cannabis than other drugs, according to a Home Affairs Ministry (MHA) survey. It also shows that a lower proportion, or 80 per cent, of those aged 13 to 30 felt that cannabis is harmful and should remain illegal. This compares with 89 per cent among those who are older.

Weed set to come in drop form ‘by July’ [Bangkok Post]

Thailand’s Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) said yesterday it is ready to deliver medicinal cannabis products in the form of sublingual — or under-the-tongue — drops to hospitals nationwide by the end of July. The GPO, a Thai state enterprise that manufactures pharmaceutical products, has been authorised by the Ministry of Public Health to grow cannabis and conduct research into ways of developing related medicines.

This EU Country Has Become The First To Allow Free Sale Of CBD [Forbes]

Bulgaria has issued its first authorization for a company to sell hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD, products freely, in open markets.

Medical cannabis at your local pharmacy without a license [Israel National News]

Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman decides to remove cannabis from the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance.

South African company approved to export cannabis to Canada [The South African]

The SAHPRA granted three licenses to South African companies to grow medical marijuana for research purposes, as well as local use and export.

Luxembourg Unveils Proposals for Cannabis Legalisation Law [Talking Drugs]

Ministers in Luxembourg have outlined proposals for the country’s upcoming legalisation of “recreational” cannabis.

BUSINESS & POLICY

Cannabis Is Becoming A Huge Job Creator [Forbes]

Even though cannabis use in some form is legal in only two-thirds of the states, our burgeoning industry is among the fastest-growing job markets in America. According to cannabis information hub Leafly’s 2019 Cannabis Jobs Count, cannabis directly employs more than 211,000 full-time workers in the U.S. Add indirect jobs and the total number of full-time workers dependent on the legal cannabis industry hits nearly 300,000. No wonder Leafly calls cannabis “America’s hidden job boom.” The industry added more than 64,000 jobs last year — a 44% increase — and is expected to create another 20,000 jobs this year in California and Florida alone.

Big Alcohol Quaking Over Cannabis Sales [MG Retailer]

The mainstreaming of cannabis is making big alcohol nervous. U.S. alcohol consumption dropped every year for the last three, led by declining beer sales, which have fallen 2.8 percent since 2015. One analyst told Bloomberg beer is “the canary in the coal mine” for the alcohol industry. “You’re seeing an erosion among consumers who now are able to choose between cannabis and beer,” said John Kagia, an analyst at New Frontier Data.

Flying With CBD? TSA Says It’s Cool [Leafly]

Here’s a little bit of relief. Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Transportation Security Administration [TSA] announced that its agents won’t hassle you over a little CBD. As Marijuana Moment first reported, the TSA updated its website’s “What Can I Bring” section on medical marijuana to state:

Cannabis oil restaurant shut down ‘despite police go-ahead’ [The Guardian]

Canna Kitchen owner says police and trading standards told him CBD oil was legal.

Behind the Mile High City’s journey into magical (mushroom) thinking [The Washington Post]

Voters in Denver made history May 7 as the city became the first in the nation to approve an ordinance decriminalizing a psychedelic — psilocybin mushrooms, or “shrooms” — that many thought had disappeared decades ago along with tie-dye and love-ins.

HEALTH & SCIENCE

THC Does Not Increase Risk of Traffic Accidents, New Study Reports [Merry Jane]

In stark contrast to cannabis, the study indicates that alcohol, sedatives, and other recreational drugs greatly increased the likelihood of causing a traffic accident.

Hemp used in housing and health food busts myths about misunderstood plant [ABC]

Since the rise of drug culture decades ago this fast-growing, fibrous plant has been widely vilified, shunned and prohibited, but that is now changing.

Hemp Fiber as Potential Supercapacitor [Hackernoon]

“The energy storage industry is starting to take notice, thanks to new Canadian research that shows supercapacitors with electrodes made from hemp-based carbon nanosheets outperform standard supercapacitors by nearly 200%.”

What ‘Organic’ Means to CBD Producer Endoca [Leafly]

For European hemp grower Endoca, its own standards for “organic” go beyond standard label practices. It’s more of a mission: farming in a way that works to build a sustainable future for the planet from the seed through the end manufacturing and packaging process.

Are CBD Supplements for Dogs Worth Considering? [Reader’s Digest]

A revolution is happening with CDB products being produced from non-mind-altering parts of the Cannabis plant. While Cannabis is being legalised in certain countries for medical purposes for human use, global CBD sales with supplements are being snapped up by eager buyers.

CULTURE & SOCIETY

Is it time to get with it and get rid of the term “black market”? [The Growth Op]

Language fails to acknowledge pioneering work, and could erect barriers to greater inclusiveness moving forward.

The Future of Cannabis Consumption [CLN]

So, what is next for social consumption in the US and around the world? Will there one day be cannabis clubs in every state where consumers can partake with likeminded individuals?

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