AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Priority Licencing For Some Australian Medical Cannabis Projects [Hemp Gazette]
Australian Minister for Health Greg Hunt announced last week the Federal Government will prioritise medical cannabis projects granted Major Project Status. So, what does this mean? According to Minister Hunt, projects with this status will be given priority for medicinal cannabis licences through the Office of Drug Control (ODC) from the beginning of September. However, they’ll still need to meet all the criteria that other applicants must.
Boosting Australia’s medicinal cannabis industry [Department of Health]
The Australian Government will boost the nation’s medicinal cannabis industry by prioritising projects that have been granted Major Project Status (MPS) and ultimately driving economic growth.
Is This The Year Medical Cannabis Finally Goes Mainstream In Australia? [Pedestrian]
‘Green Light’, to be released October 10, follows two of the country’s most prominent compassionate suppliers of medicinal cannabis, CBD Luke and Nicholas Morley. Their faces are exposed, their fight is put on camera, and many of the people they help speak directly about what using cannabis has done for them. It’s a film that will give the public an incredibly personal look into one of the nation’s biggest, worst-kept secrets – one that is only now becoming a serious mainstream discussion.
Medical cannabis debate: Australians left in pain by expensive and limited access to drug [7 News]
Medicinal cannabis was partially legalised in Australia for a limited number of illnesses in November 2016. But it’s very expensive, and only available to a fraction of the patients who potentially need it.
NORTH AMERICA
Manhattan Judge Seals 300 Cannabis Cases [Ganjapreneur]
The affected class members have convictions for low-level possession with no other misdemeanor or felony convictions anywhere in the state, who have no New York convictions for the last 10 years, and have no other pending charges or undisposed arrests.
Michigan is experiencing a medical marijuana drought [Detroit Metro Times]
Marijuana users have often been plagued by the August drought: those dog days of late summer that fall between harvests in Mexico or somewhere when there was simply no weed available. The droughts have been less regular since the advent of home grows, although the vagaries of the growing cycles can sometimes still throw your timing off. That said, right now Michigan is in the midst of an August drought.
Governor of Illinois Signs Bill to Expand State’s Medical Marijuana Program [High Times]
The bill makes the state’s program permanent and adds new qualifying conditions to the list.
Feds Spent More On Marijuana Prohibition In 2018 Than Fighting Domestic Terrorism [The Fresh Toast]
The DEA spent $18 million last year eradicating illegal marijuana grows, though it allegedly doesn’t know where most of the money went.
Outside Lands becomes first major festival in the US to sell pot on-site [Green Camp]
This weekend festival-goers in Northern California had the opportunity to buy legal weed for the first time ever at a major music event in the United States.
Seattle Hempfest 2019: Leafly’s Guide to the Original Protestival [Leafly]
During the third weekend in August, three connected parks north of Seattle’s waterfront transform into a friendly, fragrant celebration. Hempfest, now in its 28th year, is widely regarded as America’s biggest and longest-running cannabis festival.
Kamala Harris and Jerry Nadler Team on Major Marijuana Legislation [Daily Beast]
The new legislation would go far beyond simply decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level.
Inside the Country’s First-Ever Cannabis Café [Green Entrepreneur]
Bernie Sanders Says He Would Legalize Marijuana by Executive Order [Newsweek]
Legalizing marijuana has long been part of Bernie Sanders’ policy platform: The Democratic presidential candidate has called for an end to the “destructive ‘war on drugs” as part of his racial justice and criminal justice reform policies—along with eliminating private prisons, the death penalty, cash bail and mandatory minimum sentencing.
Vandals, Feuding Towns Can’t Stop This Massachusetts Cannabis Shop [Leafly]
Private Nebraska University Offers Cannabis Certificate Program [Ganjapreneur]
Nebraska’s Doane University is launching an online program to train students for work in the cannabis industry, despite Nebraska’s lack of a legal cannabis industry.
Cobb stops misdemeanor pot arrests citing hemp law [AJC]
Earlier this year, Gov. Brian Kemp legalized hemp farming in Georgia. However, hemp and marijuana are closely related and similar in smell and appearance, making it very difficult if not impossible for law enforcement to differentiate the two, officials say.
WORLD
How the Dutch Spread Cannabis Across the World [Leafly]
As more and more countries embrace cannabis legalization, it’s important not to forget the vital role the Netherlands has played over the last five decades by providing a safe haven both for cannabis plants and for cannabis people.
Aiming To Bring Africa’s Abundant, Untapped Hemp Market To Bear [benzinga]
Appeals to Duterte to reconsider position on legalizing medical marijuana [GMA Network]
Representative Antonio Albano is appealing to President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his position on the legalization of medical marijuana in the Philippines. Albano made the appeal during his meeting with patients, their parents, advocates of medical marijuana on Monday.
Zimbabwe to legalize growing of industrial hemp [Yahoo! News]
Zimbabwe will change its laws to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp for export, cabinet ministers said on Tuesday, adding that the government saw the plant as a future substitute for tobacco, the country’s biggest export earning crop.
Brazilian health regulators mull plan for cannabis cultivation and products [Marijuana Business Daily]
Brazilian health regulators are weighing a landmark plan to permit the domestic cultivation of marijuana and the registration of medical cannabis products.nBut the proposed rules have encountered stiff opposition from a top government minister as well as psychiatrists and a regulatory agency that oversees Brazilian physicians.
Japan’s conservative attitude to cannabis is softening [City AM]
So why is the Japanese government now looking to heed the World Health Organisation’s proposal that cannabis be reclassified to reflect the mounting evidence of its medical benefits? It is not because of any change in Japan’s conservative values – it is instead an economic imperative.
Thailand unveils first batch of medical marijuana for hospital distribution [National Post]
Thailand delivered 4,500 bottles of cannabis oil to treat hospital patients on Wednesday, its first official use of marijuana for medical purposes since a measure legalizing such use took effect this year.
El Salvador Inches Toward Legal Medical Cannabis [Cannabis Wire]
But the conservative politician pushing the measure says that’s as far as it goes.
Together’s Ugandan cannabis farm wins WHO approval [Globes]
The Israeli company, Together Pharma, is in talks with an EU-GMP approved facility in Europe, so that it can sell its produce in Germany and elsewhere.
BUSINESS & POLICY
Is CBD marketing giving people false hope in the quest towards the legalisation of cannabis? [Independent]
The health industry isn’t the only party guilty of giving false hope in relation to medicinal cannabis, the government has also, perhaps unintentionally, pushed similarly idealistic messages about health benefits.
14% of Americans Say They Use CBD Products [Gallup]
One in seven Americans say they personally use cannabidiol- (CBD-) based products, which have proliferated since last year’s passage of a federal law legalizing this hemp form of cannabis. Younger Americans and those in the Western U.S. are most likely to report using these products, which are widely touted for their therapeutic benefits without any psychoactive effects because they contain a low level of THC.
HEALTH & SCIENCE
Cannabis could be the secret to anti-ageing [Business Insider]
Australian medicinal marijuana company Bod Australia has released findings of its research partnership with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), which could see an anti-aging skin cream developed that incorporates cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive chemical compound within cannabis.
Study Finds Cannabis Dispensaries Reduce Opioid Deaths by 21% [Leafly]
The study, carried out by economists at the University of Massachusetts and Colorado State University, found that legalization had “particularly pronounced effects for synthetic opioids” such as fentanyl.
CBD Oil Shelf-Life: How Long Does CBD Oil Last? [CBD Testers]
CBD oil shelf-life and the way you store it also has to do with the carrier liquid used in the oil. Most CBD oil manufacturers use coconut oil, MCT oil, or hemp seed oil to carry the CBD extract and terpenes. If your CBD oil contains coconut or MCT, you’ll want to store it the same way you store olive or canola oil.
Cannabis is a natural antibiotic against resistant bacteria [News Credit]
A new study found that cannabidiol is active against bacteria resistant to other antibiotics. The new research opens the door to possible new therapeutic uses of CBD, a molecule already studied to treat anxiety and inflammation, and used in some forms of epilepsy.
CBD for pain relief: What the science says [c|net]
Should CBD be part of your pain-management arsenal? We dig into the research.
World’s First Plane – Made & Powered By Hemp – Is 10 Times Stronger Than Steel [Captain Planet]
Hempearth, the Canadian cannabis firm, has designed the world’s first plane made and powered by hemp – the non-psychoactive member of the cannabis family 10 times stronger than steel. Interestingly, everything from the seats, the wings, the plane walls and even the pillows are made from hemp. The plane, with a wingspan of 36 feet, can hold one pilot and four passengers. What’s more? It runs on 100% hemp oil!
Study Shows That THC Benefits Are Greater Than CBD’s [CBD Testers]
The study was conducted by Psychology Associate Professor Jacob Miguel Vigil and Economics Assistant Professor Sarah See Stith, both from the University of New Mexico. It was published on Tuesday, February 26, in the Scientific Reports Journal. According to their research, “THC exhibited the strongest correlation with therapeutic relief, compared to the more socially acceptable chemical found in cannabis, CBD (cannabidiol).”
EVENTS
Pills, Powder and Smoke – Book Launch and Panel Discussion [Drug Policy Australia]
FUNDRAISERS/CAMPAIGNS/PETITIONS/SURVEYS
Inquiry into drug driving reform [Enpsychedelia]
The National Drug Driving Working Group clearly states that drug driving laws are specifically a driving offense and not a drug offense. Despite this, people who are not impaired, but may still have trace amounts of one of three prescribed substances in their bodily fluid, are frequently charged with a road offense. There is a significant economic and social burden from these unjustified infringements.
E-Petition: Inquiry into drug driving reform [Parliament of Victoria]
Gateway to Good Health [Weed Billboards]
Celebrating Cannabis [Australian Cannabis Awards]
E-Petition: Legalise cannabis for recreational use [Parliament of Victoria]
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]
EP202 – Roadside Drug Testing Panel at Nimbin Mardi Grass [Enpsychedelia]
‘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.