Embassy HEADLINES Issue 347
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Growing our own: Inside an Australian medical cannabis farm [Triple J Hack]
Olivia Newton-John opens up on health battle [Yahoo!]
Back in September 2018, the star told Sunday Night she had decided to treat this cancer with ‘modern’ medicines and natural remedies, as well as cutting out sugar completely and taking cannabis oil for the pain. Speaking about cannabis oil, Olivia said she’s ‘lucky’ she lives in California, a state where it’s legal to grow. “In California it’s legal to grow a certain amount of plants for your own medicinal purposes. So he [her husband] makes me tinctures,” Olivia said. “My dream is that, in Australia soon, it will be available to all the cancer patients and people going through cancer that causes pain.”
Pot players stake out their weed patch [The Sydney Morning Herald]
[This article outlines the ridiculous obstacles for legal cannabis production in Australia. And it’s only for the millionaires. No models akin to micro-breweries in this game of greed]
NZ company gets licensed for high THC cannabis [Milbank Monitor]
Hikurangi Cannabis was one of the first in the country to get a license for medicinal cannabis cultivation last year. Now, its managing director Manu Caddie said Ministry of Health officials had extended its license to allow for it to import stronger varieties. He said they were the first in the country to get the green light to grow strains with high levels of THC, the main psychoactive compound found in cannabis. He said this was more efficient for producers and allowed plant scientists to diversify genetics.
Western Australian hemp company harvests bumper crop [Sydney Morning Herald]
One of WA’s largest ever industrial hemp crops was harvested this week and the company behind is now eyeing off exports. This week Hemp Processors WA harvested 15 hectares just south of Margaret River to supply the wholesale food market in Perth.
NORTH AMERICA
New Hampshire House Passes Bill to Allow Home-Grown Medical Cannabis [High Times]
Lawmakers in New Hampshire are pushing for more freedom and accessibility when it comes to medical cannabis.
Colorado Pot Industry Could Open Doors to Corporations and Minorities [Westworld]
A bill that would allow publicly traded companies to own Colorado marijuana business licenses and lessen investment restrictions passed its first committee hearing in the state legislature Monday, March 4, while State Representative Leslie Herod is expected to push another bill later this year addressing social equity in the pot industry.
Lawsuit seeks answers for Canadian cannabis workers banned at U.S. border [The Star]
An American law firm is suing U.S. Customs and Border Protection over its refusal to disclose documents detailing its authority for handing out lifetime bans on entry to the U.S. to Canadian cannabis workers.
Taxes on medical marijuana pushing Canadian patients to illegal sources, group says [The Star]
Since Canada legalized cannabis in October, medicinal marijuana users say their costs have jumped noticeably — pushing more of them to find cheaper sources on the black market.
New Jersey governor formally unveils agreement on adult-use cannabis bill [Marijuana Business Daily]
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders formally announced Tuesday they’ve agreed on legislation to legalize recreational marijuana that would call for a $42-per-ounce tax on the product.
New York Governor “Isn’t Sure” if Marijuana Legalization Will Be In This Year’s Budget [High Times]
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave lawmakers 100 days to include adult-use legalization in the state’s budget bill. Now, he doesn’t think they’ll meet the deadline.
Black Lawmakers to Block Legalization Without Social Justice in New York [Ganjapreneur]
Several Black lawmakers in New York say they will not support any legalization bill that does not provide explicit, specific provisions for reinvestment in minority communities.
Health Canada warns cannabis growers about lax online age gates [Vancouver Courier]
Federal regulator says ‘additional steps’ needed to ensure youth cannot access promotional content.
Arkansas OKs second medical cannabis grower as market launch nears [Marijuana Business Daily]
Arkansas regulators approved a second cultivation facility and said they expect to start final inspections of dispensaries by early April as the launch of the state’s medical marijuana program nears.
Ohio Medical Marijuana Patients May Soon Be Able To Buy Edibles [High Times]
Since dispensaries opened in January, Ohio’s medical cannabis patients have only had access to flower. But in the next few weeks, they’ll be able to buy edibles, oils, tinctures and topical creams.
Federal Agencies Weigh In On Legal Status Of Hemp, CBD [Weed News]
Representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) testified last week with regard to federal efforts to regulate domestic hemp production and the sale of certain hemp-derived CBD products.
Proposed cannabis production facility in Okanagan Canada faces virulent local opposition [The Growth Op]
Green Amber held a public meeting in February, where a group of approximately 100 locals made it clear that they strongly opposed the facility.
BUSINESS & POLICY
Cannabis drinks taste a lot like urine, but a Canadian company thinks it’s found a solution [The Growth Op]
While weed’s weird aroma is widely accepted, it now remains to be seen how many will raise a glass to the weird tasting drink.
Report: Facebook Looking To Ease Cannabis Advertising Rules [Benzinga]
Facebook is reportedly looking at changing rules on “regulated goods,” which would give cannabis sellers the ability to advertise their products to social media users. As it stands today, Facebook’s policies do not allow the sale of marijuana but internal documents stated the social media company is looking to consider if it can “loosen this restriction.” The internal document added it’s looking to make changes to its rules that would impact medical marijuana, legal marijuana and brick-and-mortar stores.
Elon Musk’s US security clearance under review after smoking cannabis [The Telegraph]
Mr Musk smoked the drug during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience show in September last year, telling the host that he wasn’t a regular user. It is legal in California, where the show was recorded, but still illegal under federal law, and government employees aren’t allowed to use it. His security clearance is linked to his aerospace company SpaceX, which is launching intelligence satellites for the US government and is planning manned spaceflights for Nasa later this year. Last month SpaceX won a $297m (£226m) contract to launch satellites for the Air Force.
Bipartisan Bill Would License Cannabis Hospitality Establishments [Westworld]
Colorado might have been the first state to legalize recreational cannabis, but since that groundbreaking move in late 2012, it’s been slow to solve one of the biggest challenges involved with recreational cannabis: allowing people to actually consume it outside of their homes.
Alaska Is Officially The First State To License On-Site Marijuana Consumption At Cannabis Stores [Marijuana Moment]
Later this year, Alaska marijuana consumers will be able to buy their cannabis and smoke it, too—all under the same roof.
Nosing out the cannabis competition: U.S. patent sniffs IP rights for terpene-based pesticide [The Growth Op]
Digipath, Inc. reports it has filed a U.S. provisional patent application in a bid to secure “a method of using natural, plant-based, non-toxic compounds instead of chemical pesticides in cannabis and hemp cultivation.”
The Pot Seat: Elixinol’s Paul Benhaim is spending to stay on top [Stockhead]
Elixinol CEO Paul Benhaim has spent over 25 years wandering around Asia, and most recently was in Nepal for, of all things, a hemp summit. Mr Benhaim leads Australia’s most successful pot stock, which does not yet have feelers in Asia but owes its prosperity to another region: the US. Elixinol (ASX:EXL) almost made a full year profit last year (it reports on a calendar year basis) on the back of its revenue-generating US hemp business.
HEALTH & SCIENCE
No Correlation Between THC Levels In Blood And Psychomotor Impairment Per Study [Weed News]
The presence of low levels of THC in blood is poorly correlated with driving performance, according to driving simulator data published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine.
New Study Shows Hair Bleach Degrades Cannabinoids, Can Alter Drug Test Results [Cannabis Now]
Researchers found that bleaching hair with hydrogen peroxide caused “strong chemical degradation on cannabinoids,” particularly THC — and the higher the original cannabinoid concentration, the greater the decrease post-bleach. This means that heavy smokers looking to squeak by without setting off alarm bells could stand to gain the most by going blonde.
Medical Pot: An Elixir for the Elderly? [Health Day]
Folks over 75 who took medical marijuana report less pain, their use of pot-based capsules, tinctures and e-cigarettes allowed a third of these patients to reduce their use of opioid painkillers, researchers found.
Cannabis and HIV: So much more than palliative aid [The Growth Op]
Even though cannabis and cannabinoid-derived pharmaceuticals are frequently used by HIV/AIDS patients, several studies show that something interesting happens when cannabis is consumed.
Legalizing Cannabis Doesn’t Increase Marijuana Use, But Decriminalizing It Does: New Study [Civilized]
One common concern people have about introducing a regulated cannabis market is that allowing legal sales of marijuana will lead to more people using it. But that isn’t actually true, according to new research which found that legalization doesn’t cause a spike in cannabis consumption, but decriminalization does. The removal of penalties for consumption and possession of marijuana appears to have a greater impact on consumption rates than legal availability.
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]
Cannabis as Medicine Survey: 2018 [The University of Sydney]
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]
EVENTS
Medicinal Cannabis Symposium [United in Compassion]
22-24 March 2019, Tweed Heads NSW
Medical Cannabis Educational Seminars [Medical Cannabis Research Australia]
Throughout March Across Australia Details: Tickets available – click here to find out more
Harvest Festival & Cannabis Cup [New Zealand]
20-21 April 2019, Dunedin NZ
27th Nimbin MardiGrass [Hemp Embassy]
3-5 May 2019, Nimbin NSW
Garden States – A forum for cultivating ethnobotanical plants & knowledge [Entheogenesis Australis]
12 May 2019, Melbourne VIC
Hemp, Health & Innovation Expo & Symposium [HHI]
18-19 May 2019, Rosehill Racecourse, Rosehill, Sydney NSW
EDUCATION
‘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]
MardiGrass Hemposium 2018 Talks now Available 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.