WeedLife News Network

By Oregon Small Business Association

Florida state officials issued a consumer alert warning about hemp grown in Oregon containing rocks, sticks, and other foreign material accompanied by fraudulent certificates of analyses.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates and inspects the cultivation and sale of hemp, issued the warning in July, saying it had received several complaints about the hemp grown in Oregon, one of the nation’s largest hemp producers.

Florida officials are working with federal and Oregon agriculture officials to remedy the problem.

Nevada’s marijuana industry is looking to get greener.

From plastic packaging to the electricity needed to grow the plants, the cannabis industry has areas to address to lighten its environmental footprint.

The head of the Nevada Dispensary Association told State of Nevada that stakeholders are working on more environmentally friendly practices and also drafting regulations that promote sustainability

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A local cafe and shop is jumping into a growing trend by incorporating hemp and CBD into its dishes.

“You can really make pretty much anything and you can infuse the CBD or the hemp hearts,” said Head Chef and Kitchen Manager of Seed & Bean Market, Tika Saunders.

Saunders explained that one obstacle while working with hemp and CBD is making sure the temperatures of each dish remain within a certain range.

“You don’t want to go above…well between 320 and 356. I for one, I prefer to go low and slow,” Saunders said.

If you overheat your food, she said there’s a chance some of the chemicals from the hemp or CBD could be released.

Markland Allison, a Rastafarian resident of Mitchell’s Hill in Rock River, Clarendon, has strong views regarding the opening up of the ganja industry in Jamaica.

Jamaicans are encouraged to take advantage of the wealth that can be earned by entering the estimated US$42 billion industry – however, for Allison, it is just a pipe dream for the ordinary folks and Rastafarians.

Asking for a fair chance for Rastafarians across the country, he said his observation is that “classism in Jamaica is worse than racism in America”.

“The black man in America is being pressured in a certain way … we have certain class privilege in Jamaica just like how we have white privilege in Jamaica,” Allison noted, as he stated that people of a certain class are treated a particular way in Jamaica.

Allison, who shared with The Gleaner that he made the deliberate decision to remain in his community in order to create a positive impact amid the brain drain, said he has little hopes of getting a foothold in the ganja industry.

We all scream for cannabis ice cream?

In the latest twist on the sweet treat, Boston-based ice cream brand Emack & Bolio’s partnered with cannabis operator MariMed to create cannabis-infused ice cream. And yes, it will give you the munchies.

The duo will “create a line-up of cannabis-infused vegan and dairy ice cream in outrageous flavors.” The ice cream will contain the same whole-plant cannabinoid and terpene formulations found in MariMed’s products like K Fusion and Betty’s Eddies.

“This partnership is gonna ROCK,” said Bob Rook, CEO and creator of Emack & Bolio’s in a press release. “The combination of our unique flavors with MariMed’s cannabis expertise is a natural.”

The products are expected to debut in Massachusetts this year followed by more launches in other legal cannabis markets.

Last year progressive voters were told that, despite the clear evidence that Joe Biden was a left-of-Reagan centrist, modern political pressures from the Democratic party would push the candidate to the left once he was in office, finally aligning him with populist principles. That prediction has proven faulty—even by the most forgiving of standards. And one of the progressive stances most neglected by the Biden administration is that cannabis laws should be reformed.

It challenges the conventional wisdom that the federal ban on marijuana gives legalization states free rein to discriminate against outsiders in their local cannabis markets.

A Vanderbilt legal paper published in the Boston University Law Review called “Interstate Commerce in Cannabis” shows that shipping cannabis to other states may already be legal and more plot twists lie ahead for the cannabis industry.

What should someone know before starting a cannabis business? 

To help aspiring entrepreneurs plan their own cannabis business, we asked business leaders and fellow cannabis business founders this question for their best advice. From finding the right insurance to researching your competition, there are several tips that may help you successfully form your hemp-based company. 

Thanks to the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD containing less than 0.3% of THC (the psychoactive component of marijuana) is everywhere. And hemp seed oil in products has been around for decades. But aren’t CBD oil and hemp seed oil the same thing? Not quite.

While both are derived from the cannabis sativa plant and both are legal at the federal level, they are more like cousins than identical twins. Unfortunately, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably or in misleading ways in advertising. Often, both are misnomered as “hemp oil,” which neither truly is. Let’s clear things up.

Hemp Seed Oil

Hemp seed oil is derived from the seeds themselves and does have some potential health benefits, including an ideal ratio of rich fatty acids. These omegas may help with cardiovascular health by reducing the speed of plaque buildup in the arteries along with lowering blood pressure. Hemp seed oil is also frequently promoted as a beauty ingredient, benefitting skin, hair and nails. Hemp has long been grown for its fiber and industrial uses.

CBD Oil

CBD oil utilizes the stalks, leaves and flowers of the plant and is usually cultivated for its high concentration of CBD (cannabidiol), one of the compounds found in the cannabis sativa plant. Unlike hemp seed oil, CBD directly affects the endocannabinoid system (ECS), a recently discovered system in the body that helps regulate many other systems.

CBD oil, along with other compounds from the plant, is promoted as having the potential to help manage anxiety and depression, reduce stress, promote alertness and focus, improve sleep quality, boost mood, relieve pain, reduce inflammation and reduce the occurrence of epileptic events.

We believe Kathy Hochul may view cannabis as a popular initial (or near term) issue to champion at the start of her term thus gaining an initial win under her belt.

By Viridian Capital Advisors

As people begin to filter back into the office after a year-and-a-half in Zoom exile, the growing ranks of recreational cannabis users might want to take a peek at their employee handbook before lighting up.

Marijuana, which went from a controlled substance to a booming industry in Illinois during the pandemic, may still get you fired.

Potentially outdated cannabis employment policies could turn a socially acceptable weekend pot party into grounds for dismissal. With cannabis detectable by some tests for up to 30 days, even a dalliance can have career consequences.

But with an ongoing labor shortage and a sea change in sentiment for marijuana use, the onus may be on employers to get with the times.

In 2020, Canada became the largest exporter of dried cannabis flower in the world. Today, Canada is looking over its shoulder at a formidable competitor in Colombia, which recently instigated some legislative changes that position the country to become the global cannabis leader. Colombia was already recognized for its robust infrastructure, distribution and exports of certain cannabis products such as medicinal oils and extracts, but the country had a gaping hole in exports by keeping dried cannabis flower strictly verboten.

’m sitting in my kitchen, about to try my first sip of a milk that is vegan, sequesters carbon and increases biodiversity. Dairy milk has a high carbon footprint. Soy is linked to deforestation, almond to high water use. But how does the new kid on the scene – hemp seed milk – measure up for taste?

An Innovative Farmers project coordinated by the Soil Association is investigating how industrial hemp production could aid the transition to a low-carbon economy. In collaboration with scientists at Cranfield University and the British Hemp Alliance, research will quantify the environmental benefits of growing hemp. In farm trials that launched last month, five farmers are helping to investigate this plant’s ability to sequester or store carbon, improve soil health and increase biodiversity.

“Hemp could be a very valuable tool, but the UK is currently behind the curve internationally and there’s a distinct lack of data,” says Nathaniel Loxley, the Innovative Farmers project coordinator and co-founder of the British Hemp Alliance.

In theory, hemp has many potential benefits as a crop from an environmental perspective. It does not need pesticide chemicals or much water input, and hemp roots grow up to 3 metres deep, so they could help improve soil structure and nutrient levels, potentially leading to greater yields in follow-on crops.

“From a nutritional perspective, hemp seed milk ticks all the boxes. It’s low in saturated fats, there’s no sugar or cholesterol, it’s high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and provides a really strong source of omega 3,” says Ben Cooper, Good Hemp’s brand manager. Cooper explains that whole hempseed hearts are processed “with some wizardry” to produce a cream, rather than an oil like other plant-based dairy products, to make this milk.

Cincinnati officials voted two years ago to expunge minor marijuana offenses, but so far, no cases seem to have been sealed due to the ordinance.

Hemp, Inc. (OTC PINK: HEMP), an established leader in the industrial hemp market, is pleased to see top-level athletes embracing CBD as part of their training programs.

Effective Jan. 1, 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) removed CBD from its list of prohibited substances. The change allowed athletes to incorporate CBD into their training regimes for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Competitors in the delayed 2020 Summer Games, including softball outfielder Hayley McCleney and hurdler Devon Allen, are among those who utilized CBD products in the runup to the Olympic competition.

The Summer Olympics were in Tokyo, Japan, through Aug. 8, 2021. However, Japan’s strict anti-cannabis laws don’t permit athletes to take hemp products across international borders.

“It’s quite frustrating that I can’t use them to compete on the world’s biggest stage,” Rapinoe said.

“My name is Jared Polis and hemp – it’s everything.”

This was the message Colorado’s governor used to sign off on an order declaring June 6–13 Hemp Week in the Centennial State, and he is staking his legacy on the often-maligned plant that had been illegal to grow in the U.S. for nearly 50 years.

This is no surprise from Polis. In 2013, when he was serving in Congress, the Boulder native helped a lobbyist fly an American flag made from hemp grown in Colorado – which was illegal to grow in the U.S. at the time – over the U.S. Capitol on the Fourth of July. To kick off newly declared Hemp Week, Polis put an exclamation mark on his sustained efforts to champion cannabis and raised hemp-made American and Colorado flags over the state Capitol.

Replacing your alcohol addiction with a weed addiction is not the way to wean yourself off of alcohol. Here are some potentially helpful insights as to why.

The other day I stumbled on a post on Reddit written by a former booze hound who switched to cannabis to quit drinking.

The post went like this:

I quit drinking about 16 months ago, but I immediately started smoking more pot. Then I started vaping the high-concentrate waxes and shatter, and drinking tonics that are 100mg THC per bottle. I was putting massive amounts of THC in me. So, obviously, I was sober from booze, but not addiction-free because I was doing THC. If you do this- watch out- I quit the THC a few months ago and had major depression for a couple weeks afterwards. People say there is no withdraw from pot- they are trying to sell pot to you, or they just don’t know. There is withdraw, and it is NO fun. I’m sure the severity varies from person to person. So if you do pot, I’d recommend small doses! I have since quit.. once a month maybe I’ll smoke some flower. (Pot is legal in my state) – Reddit

While it’s good that the Redditor in question managed to wean off high doses of weed, and essentially break the cycle of addiction, it’s important to note that while weed can help you quit alcohol, it can also fill the space that the addiction to alcohol created.

We continue to see several conflations and misconceptions voiced in the discussion about microbial safety standards for cannabis products. The foundation for these misconceptions is the idea that cannabis testing regulations should mimic the food industry. We reject this idea because cannabis flower has two major departures from food: it contains high concentrations of antibiotics and it is dried and inhaled.

Cannabis Flower Contains High Concentrations of Antibiotics

As much as 20% of cannabis flower weight/volume is made up of cannabinoids, which are potent antibiotics. We have not seen any food on the market that is 20% (weight/volume) antibiotic.

Furthermore, each cannabis cultivar has a unique combination of cannabinoids and each cannabinoid has its own antimicrobial spectrum. For example. THC has different antibiotic properties than CBD and CBG. So one can assume that each unique flower chemotype creates a unique matrix that will affect the resulting colony counts. An effect not dissimilar to the one we observed when comparing different culture media.

Failure to purify these antibiotics from solution during homogenization will result in chemotype to chemotype variation and require each chemotype to be validated for microbial counts. This is daunting and no one in the cannabis industry is doing this despite it being well known that if the matrix changes you must revalidate. This lack of purification seen in plating methods is a weakness not seen in molecular methods that purify the sample before enumerating DNA molecules.

Additionally, because the cannabis flower’s natural antibiotics are packaged into trichomes, it is only when samples are aggressively homogenized that they are allowed to alter the microbiome on the flower. This effect is not seen by cannabis consumers who simply vaporize a non-homogenized flower sample, which means the test is not representative of what consumers experience.