WeedLife News Network

Ohio medical marijuana regulators want to double the number of dispensary licenses in the state to satisfy patient demand, which has been much higher than anticipated since the program became operational.

Currently, there are 58 dispensaries throughout Ohio.

Ohio Board of Pharmacy staff are working on adding 73 new dispensary licenses, said Justin Sheridan, the board’s director of medical marijuana operations, at a Thursday cannabis discussion at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.

That could bring the total number of dispensaries in Ohio to 131 or 132 – depending on the outcome of a court case that could create a 59th dispensary from the first round of dispensary licenses.

Bio-Tech Medical Software, Inc. subsidiary of Forian Inc. (NASDAQ: FORA), successfully completed the launch of its New Mexico state traceability system for adult-use cannabis sales. This latest state partnership demonstrates the continued expansion of Forian’s BioTrack state traceability system.

BioTrack has been the traceability system for New Mexico medical cannabis sales since 2015, and in 2021 expanded to also be the state’s partner for adult use compliance monitoring. The successful seamless transition of the traceability system from medical to dual-use enabled businesses to begin commercializing adult-use cannabis sales at 12:00 a.m. on April 1 with no disruption to retailers or consumers.

BioTrack’s software will track both medicinal and adult-use cannabis in New Mexico from when it is first planted as a seed to the point-of-sale to the consumer. BioTrack’s traceability system helps to ensure there is no product diversion and in the case of a recall, simplifies and streamlines those events.

"BioTrack's software worked seamlessly for New Mexico, helping the state to see a record-setting $5.2 million in combined cannabis sales during the state's first weekend of adult-use sales," stated Kristen Thomson, director of the New Mexico Cannabis Control Division.

"We look forward to continuing to work with BioTrack to ensure that all consumers and patients have access to the products they need--and to ensure that the Cannabis Control Division can track product for quality assurance and consumer safety.”

The House passed the MORE Act -- but marijuana is still far from legal.

What happened

Less than a week after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to legalize marijuana -- for only the second time ever in history -- enthusiasm for marijuana stocks is disappearing like smoke with both the door and windows open.

Since the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act was passed, shares of Sundial Growers ( SNDL -7.58% ), Aurora Cannabis ( ACB -6.37% ), and Canopy Growth ( CGC -6.41% ) have all headed in just one direction -- down. Today marks the third straight day of selling. Here's how things stand as of 12:50 p.m. ET:

Global legal cannabis sales in 2020 were up by 45% on 2019, with several leading companies reporting triple-digit revenue growth.

The Covid years have been very good for the cannabis industry. According to cannabis market research firm BDSA, global legal cannabis sales in 2020 were 45% higher than in 2019, with several leading cannabis companies reporting triple-digit growth in revenues in 2020 over the previous year. These included Trulieve Cannabis, Curaleaf, Verano, Cresco Labs, Green Thumb Industries and TerrAscend.

Moreover, the healthy prospects of the global cannabis market were reflected in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity of last year. Two deals pertaining to the cannabis industry—Jazz Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of GW Pharmaceutical, and Trulieve Cannabis’ acquisition of Harvest Health & Recreation—had multi-billion-dollar valuations.

Two themes have driven the growth of the cannabis market during the pandemic. The first is the growing desire among consumers for products that enhanced their health and wellness. The second is the continued legalisation of medical and non-medical cannabis, especially in the US.

Three cultivation experts fill us in on what they are excited about as we enter the outdoor planting season.

Running for president, Joe Biden promised he’d decriminalize marijuana and pardon federal offenders. So why is Daniel Muessig about to go to prison for five years?

In the fall of 2020, Daniel Muessig was urging everyone he knew to get out and vote. He lived in the swingiest of swing states and, while he’d supported Bernie in the primaries, he was now convinced of the importance of carrying Pennsylvania for Joe Biden.

Millions of people who share Daniel’s politics had come to the same conclusion. The difference is that Daniel was facing a federal prison sentence—and he had every reason to believe that a Biden presidency would save him.

As federal drug charges go, the one he was facing was nothing. Daniel wasn’t accused of doing anything violent, and, other than one minor brush with the system when he was a juvenile, it was the first time he’d even been arrested.

To be clear, by his own cheerful admission, he’s sold a lot of weed over the years. He was what a kingpin looked like in Squirrel Hill—a pleasant and prosperous Jewish neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh. But he didn’t mess with hard drugs or associate with people who did. And he constantly urged the people who worked for him not to carry weapons.

He knew all about the added legal risks doing any of that would bring. Before he switched careers and became the leader of what would later be called the “Orange Box Gang,” he was a practicing lawyer.

Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation (TXOG) announced that 14-year-old patient James Challenger has gone two years without experiencing a seizure. He has also stopped taking all oral seizure pills as of March 2022—a reduction of more than 20 pills a day to none after introducing medical cannabis into his treatment plan. As one of TXOG’s original medical cannabis patients, James’ milestone represents the proven efficacy of medical cannabis in managing epilepsy as well as symptoms of autism. (Benzinga)

“Medical cannabis is the only remedy that has worked wonders for James, and our family is grateful for this encouraging treatment option that allowed him to avoid surgery and harsh seizure medications,” stated Mikelle and Mike Challenger, James’ parents. “Since James started his TXOG prescription, we’ve seen an incredible improvement in his daily life, and we’re thrilled to celebrate his two-year anniversary without a seizure last month. We strongly believe medical cannabis is a healthy option that should be available to all Texans who want to gain control over their debilitating conditions and symptoms.”

The Challenger family advocates for increasing access to medical cannabis in Texas and supports expanding the state’s Compassionate Use Program (CUP) to enable more people to benefit from the medicine. By removing CUP’s restriction on qualifying conditions—and eliminating the THC cap—the family hopes physicians will have greater authority to decide what is best for their patients. The Challengers know that an expanded program would mean more Texans could experience the improvements that James has seen.

TXOG’s gummies, tincture and lozenge products are available for statewide delivery at their dispensary in Austin, Texas, and through the company’s pick-up locations in Addison, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock, North Austin, San Antonio and Wichita Falls.

Once you’re in the door, there’s plenty of advice floating around about style, project management, budget and all the rest—but how do you actually get the job in the first place? We’re asking designers to peel back the curtain and walk us through how they landed a project, step by step. Here, Patrick Boothe, an architect and director of the commercial studio at Caleb Johnson Studio in Portland, Maine, discusses his work as the project manager on SeaWeed Co., a surprisingly beautiful marijuana dispensary in South Portland. Though citizens voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2016, the bill wasn’t signed into law until 2018 and sales didn’t begin until fall 2020—yet Boothe’s client wanted to press on with construction as soon as legislation was in motion. The result is a chic, airy space using local lumber and wood tones that complement the company’s purple mermaid logo. A total departure from the grungier head shops of yesteryear, it represents a possible glimpse at the industry’s future.

What is your firm’s typical project?

The firm has a strong background in high-end residential construction and design and a blossoming commercial sector as well—[we’re] trying to maintain the same reputation with our commercial work as we have for our residential structures. I am the director of the commercial studio, spearheading all of our commercial design efforts.

What is the backstory of this project? How did it come to you?

I think it was 2017 when they approached us, maybe 2016. We’re known for using materials that are appropriate for Maine in new and distinctive ways. Our buildings, they’re not straight-up traditional, but they also aren’t so modern that they become unapproachable. [SeaWeed’s] product is all about being manufactured in Maine, from honest, good materials, and so they saw that in our work. They had a great site surrounded by wooded areas and wetlands, and we [often] have a connection with nature, bringing the outdoors into our projects. They wanted to do that with their commercial work as well.

Can you talk a bit about the demands of a dispensary space? What areas or basics does it need?

It’s just like any retail environment where you have a lot of area to display your goods, in a space that is well lit [and] comfortable. That was the first thing we focused on: a nice experience for the customer. They started with this loose mentality of an Apple Store type where everything is clean, the product is very well understood and there’s always someone there to greet you when you walk in and guide you through the product. We had a very clean[ly] designed retail space, and maybe three-quarters is the retail area. Then the last quarter is support space—the back room, some storage, locked spaces, break rooms, mechanical rooms.

SeaWeed has very distinct branding. How much of that was in place, and how much of the aesthetics or colors came from your team?

They had a branding consultant on board when they started working with us. They developed some logos and iconography for product displays, and we worked with them hand in hand so the architecture didn’t compete but supported that. They have a nice purple color with their branding, and we have this wood stain on the outside of the building—it’s all-natural cedar, but the stain we used is a purplish-gray tone, so it pairs really nicely. There’s illuminated signage outside, and at night it looks really sharp with the gray stain against that logo.

The Lod-based company Panaxia reported increased revenues from the Israeli market for its sales of medical cannabis in 2021.

The Israeli cannabis company Panaxia released its earnings for 2021 Tuesday. 

Panaxia, which is based in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod, said its net Israeli revenues increased 38% to $83.6 million, according to a press release. 

Panaxia also began exporting medical cannabis oils abroad in late 2020. Export revenues for 2020 and 2021 were $5.6 million, per the release. 

Panaxia’s stock increased by 0.45% today to 67.10 Israeli shekels ($20.94). 

The number of medicinal cannabis companies with licences in the Island has more than doubled, although the Economic Development Minister has played down any expectations that the fledgling industry could be the ‘saviour of Jersey’s economy’.

Senator Lyndon Farnham admitted that his department remained unsure what the industry could generate for the Island’s economy but said it would provide a ‘useful source of income’.

Government officials confirmed yesterday that the number of licences had risen from two to five, during an Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel hearing.

Daniel Houseago, group director for the economy and partnerships, in the Growth, Housing and Environment Department, said a Portuguese company ‘have ambitions for a 25-year business plan’ and wanted to make ‘long-term investment in the Island’.

The bill would have allowed for self-certification for adults 21+ to use medical cannabis and established a tax holiday for medical cannabis products during April.

District of Columbia Council Chairman, Phil Mendelson, introduced a new emergency bill to reform the medical marijuana market in the nation's capital where cannabis is fully legal but sales are banned, by a congressional spending bill rider that’s been annually renewed, prohibiting the use of local taxes to implement a system of recreational cannabis commerce. (Benzinga)

“The important part of the legislation is that it’s making it easier for the legal medical marijuana businesses, which we are licensing, to be able to maintain their customer base,” Mendelson said on Monday.

“The legal shops have seen a substantial erosion of their business to the legal market and I want to be clear, this is not a gray market, it’s an illegal market.”

The bill would have allowed for self-certification for adults 21+ to use medical cannabis and established a tax holiday for medical cannabis products during April.

An advancement in the field of marijuana extracts involving the carbonation of the resin containing attributes new to the field of Cannabis extraction.  This technique combines the carbonating effect of CO2, used as a cosolvent, in conjunction with a typical hydrocarbon butane extraction.  This type of extraction, developed by Extractioneering, is called a "Cosolvent" extract.  A vial of carbonated HTFSE created with the Cosolvent Cannabis extraction method that utilizes both CO2 and Butane as extraction solvents. Carbonation of the Cannabis extract makes for a more intense flavor and effect over traditional BHO and Live Rosin types.  In addition, the carbonation preserves the product and allows it the opportunity to 'vintage' similar to wine, improving with age.

Using Carbonation to buffer the resin during solvent extraction preserves it from degradation and makes it as bioavailable as if it were vaporized off the cured flower itself.  Basic extracts such as concentrates and distillates cannot be carbonated to the same degree as complex cured resins.

Allowing Cannabis cultivators at the peak of their craft to create incredible strains featuring rich cured resins be able to protect, preserve, and vintage their resins through the process of carbonation will allow their cultivation legacy live on long after their flowered cannabis has expired. 

Helping the cultivator create revenue from all components of their harvest regiment is an absolute priority for a healthy and successful cannabis business.  A Cosolvent extraction can make an effective and complex extract out of as little as 1lb of cannabis material.  A true small batch technique that is paired well with the small, medium, or large cannabis cultivator.

"In the natural sciences, we utilize buffers when extracting substances (organelles, proteins, nucleic acids) for research analysis.  These buffers create conditions that foster the collection and protection of desired biomolecules leaving them in their native chemical configurations.  In essence this is what we achieve with Cosolvent extractions using Cannabis oleoresin," states Daniel Maida Hayden Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Physiology. 

Op-ed: Paul Lewin explores how Delta-8 THC, a cannabinoid that is currently legal across the U.S., is impacting the legal market and the push for federal cannabis reform

Delta-8 THC is a cannabinoid considered similar to delta-9 THC — the compound typically referred to as THC — as both produce psychoactive effects, but in actuality, delta-8 is only about half as potent as delta-9 THC.

For many, delta-8 THC is considered a means to access some of the therapeutic potential of cannabis without the psychoactive effects.

The House of Representatives approved the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, H.R. 3617 on Friday, sending it to Senate. The MORE Act removes cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act, allowing states to legalize cannabis, its production and sale, free from federal interference. (Benzinga)

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), viewed as one of the leaders among GOP representatives in favor of removing cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances, voted against it. Why? 

“The MORE Act forces a system on South Carolinians and other states they do not want. By comparison, my bill, the States Reform Act, removes the federal government from the equation and allows states to decide for themselves,” Mace explained as reported by The State. 

According to Mace, the House passage of the MORE act may be a good start for creating a bipartisan consensus around legislation that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, reported Marijuana Business Daily.

THC stored in fat cells gradually diffuse into the bloods. Regardless, the rate of diffusion increases under circumstances that promote fat utilization, such as exercising and fasting.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) accumulates in fat tissue and can stay there for months. Although this can serve as a barrier to those who face frequent testing, athletes may take delight in the results of exuding THC from the fat in their bodies.

Traces of water-soluble substances such as alcohol vanish from the body in a matter of hours. But in the case of fat-soluble THC substances, they tend to hang around a lot longer and sometimes out-stay their welcome. Though high levels of THC in fat cells cause a slight issue for most people, it could, in theory, add to the probability of recording a positive test for cannabis consumption.

Duration Of THC In The System  

The ability to preserve fat has a crucial evolutionary purpose. In the past, our ability to retain extra energy in the form of fat meant that there was an internal supply of fuel to rely on when the long winter arrived. For most, a long winter never arrives. Thus, the piling up of fat tissues functions as a storage bank for THC. By depending on carbohydrates as the primary fuel source, many people never truly burn fat and, as a result, require a significant amount of time to get rid of all traces of THC.

It cannot be said for sure the exact time it will take for THC to leave the body. It is dependent on a wide variety of determinants, the most important of which is the strength of the cannabis taken and the rate at which it was taken. Anyone who consumes 90% THC shatter daily is likely to accumulate far more than someone who smokes regular flowers almost every day, for example.

Also, the metabolism of the individual should be taken into account. Diet, weight, body fat percentages, and activity levels all affect the metabolism of THC. People who are muscular and lean and use up higher amounts of fat are more likely to eliminate THC faster. In contrast, people with higher body fat levels and lower activity levels need extra time.

The cannabis business is booming in New Mexico, also known as the Land of Enchantment, with adult-use sales reaching $3,092,712 in the first weekend.

Three days and millions of dollars later, the New Mexico adult-use cannabis industry is off to a roaring start.

Local television station KOAT reports that, as of noon on Sunday, recreational pot sales in the state had eclipsed $3 million.

The station, citing state officials, said that 49,552 transactions for recreational cannabis transactions had been recorded at that time, which totaled $3,092,712.

Sales officially kicked off after midnight on Friday, when hundreds of eager customers lined up outside the dispensaries in anticipation of the historic opening.

With lower prices, CBD can become a true alternative to Big Pharma, and cannabis can become a plant for the people.

The last two years haven’t been great for the CBD industry. The pandemic cratered in-store sales of CBD. Meanwhile, by choosing not to regulate CBD, the FDA left it in a legal gray area, limiting where it can be sold.

If you need evidence of the industry’s decline, just look at Charlotte’s Web, the largest CBD company. In mid-2019, the company’s stock price was flying high at nearly $22. Since then, it’s fallen to just over $1 — a 95% decline.

I believe there’s a way out of this mess, but most companies aren’t prepared, or willing, to see it. Let’s revisit the history of the industry to see why.

Dan Ahrens specializes in portfolio management of highly regulated areas including cannabis and other vice-related investments. He is portfolio manager of the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS), the largest publicly traded cannabis fund. Dan is also the author of Investing in Cannabis: The Next Great Investment Opportunity.

Russ Prince: What is the opportunity for investors in the cannabis industry and how does AdvisorShares play a role in this opportunity?
Dan Ahrens: I see cannabis offering a growth opportunity similar to that of the alcohol industry post-prohibition. However, today, the world moves much faster and advancements in technology and science are uncovering new opportunities for uses of the cannabis plant. 

Cannabinoid receptors help the brain’s dopamine system establish key connections after birth, a new mouse study suggests.

Doctors warn that marijuana use during pregnancy may have harmful effects on the development of a fetus, in part because the cannabinoid receptors activated by the drug are known be critical for enabling a developing brain to wire up properly. Now, scientists at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research have learned that cannabinoid receptors’ critical role in brain development does not end at birth.

In today's online issue of eNeuro, scientists led by McGovern investigator Ann Graybiel report that mice need the cannabinoid receptor CB1R to establish connections within the brain’s dopamine system that take shape soon after birth. The finding raises concern that marijuana use by nursing moms, who pass the CB1R-activating compound THC to their infants when they breastfeed, might interfere with brain development by disrupting cannabinoid signaling.

“This is a real change to one of the truly important systems in the brain — a major controller of our dopamine,” says Graybiel, who is an Institute Professor and a faculty member in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Dopamine exerts a powerful influence over our motivations and behavior, and changes to the dopamine system contribute to disorders from Parkinson’s disease to addiction. Thus, the researchers say, it is vital to understand whether postnatal drug exposure might put developing dopamine circuits at risk.

Cannabinoid receptors in the brain are important mediators of mood, memory, and pain. Graybiel’s lab became interested in CB1R due to their dysregulation in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, both of which impair the brain’s ability to control movement and other functions. While investigating the receptor’s distribution in the brain, they discovered that in the adult mice, CB1R is abundant within small compartments within the striatum called striosomes. The receptor was particularly concentrated within the neurons that connect striosomes to a dopamine-rich area of the brain called the substantia nigra, via structures that Graybiel’s team has dubbed striosome-dendron bouquets.

Striosome-dendron bouquets are easy to overlook within the densely connected network of the brain. But when the cells that make up the bouquets are labeled with a fluorescent protein, the bouquets become visible — and their appearance is striking, says Jill Crittenden, a research scientist in Graybiel’s lab.

Nevada’s alcohol tax collections dropped during the pandemic, though tax officials attributed that more to a lack of wholesale purchases from casinos or bars than from any surge in teetotalers. 

Even with the COVID pandemic waning, state tax officials told legislators this month that Nevadans have made what appear to be some permanent shifts in how they buy legal marijuana through pick-up and delivery modes. Understanding changes in consumer behavior is key for legislators and tax officials, who use the information to make tax revenue projections while crafting state budgets.