WeedLife News Network

Kota Shimomura, owner of CBD Coffee in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward, has noticed a peculiar thing about his clientele. “When talking to customers, they do things like cry,” he says.

The 35-year-old Shimomura stands outside his newly opened, white-walled storefront, eyeing a group of patrons taking curious sips of coffees and smoothies infused with droplets of the cure-all taking Tokyo, and the global lifestyle market, by storm: CBD.

Also known as cannabidiol, CBD is a nonpsychoactive ingredient found in cannabis, specifically hemp. It can be consumed in topical and edible forms, and its proponents claim it can alleviate ailments ranging from acne to inflammation to PTSD. But Shimomura says it’s more than just product intrigue that has drawn in droves of customers: It’s his shop’s consultations, which allow Tokyoites to release their stress.

“There’s really a need for (a place like this),” he says, noting the rise in telework has left many feeling isolated. “People don’t have others around them they can talk to, and in Japan there are lots of one-room apartments. I truly understand the need people who don’t have (support) have for this kind of store, where they can do things like relax and detox.”

Health benefits

Relax and detox, as it turns out, are hallmark buzzwords for the increasingly trendy CBD. In recent years, as the global conversation around cannabis has shifted and many countries have moved toward legalization, the extract has popped up in everyday products such as moisturizers, bath salts and beer.

Thanksgiving went virtual, Halloween is shaping up to be a hands-off experience and Christmas get-togethers might be a no-go. But that doesn’t mean gift-giving this festive season needs to suffer, particularly if one’s choice is the green stuff.

Despite COVID-19’s continuing clampdown, plenty of people are high on possibly making cannabis and pot-related products their gift for family and friends alike this coming holiday season.

So suggests the recent Maru/Blue online survey of 1,507 randomly selected Canadian adults, 453 of whom had used weed within the past five years. Commissioned by FIGR Brands Inc., the national poll results have been weighted by education, age, gender and region to match the population, as per Census data.

Indeed, just shy of a third of respondents (32 per cent) report that they would consider the gift of weed this holiday season, notes poll results provided to The GrowthOp. Friends are the most likely recipients of gifted weed, at 80 per cent, then siblings at 51 per cent and spouses and partners at 41 per cent.

In all, 27 per cent of respondents who are considering giving cannabis as a gift say that parents are potential recipients. / Getty Images

The Victorian Government says the future of an industrial hemp industry in the state is looking bright after a taskforce report was tabled on Wednesday.

While Victoria is striving to be a leader in medicinal cannabis in Australia, when it comes to hemp it’s quite the laggard – but perhaps that will change soon.

Approximately 200 hectares of hemp was planted in the state in the 2019-20 growing season.170 hectares were cultivated in 2018-19 and 600 hectares in 2017-18. The drops compared to 2017-18 has been primarily attributed to low water availability; but red tape wouldn’t be helping any.

When discussing sustainable cannabis, talk typically leans toward water conservation or energy efficiency. But, there are several overlooked areas of cannabis cultivation that are desperately in need of a sustainability overhaul.

Consider, for example, how much biomass is required to make cannabinoid isolates. Or, have you ever wondered how many outdoor plants are discarded every day due to mold, heat stroke, or wind damage?

Selective breeding could hold the key to addressing some of these issues and developing more resilient, vigorous varieties.

Big data. Machine learning. Artificial intelligence. All commercial cannabis cultivators should be paying attention to these concepts, as the application of data analytics is beginning to gain a foothold in the cannabis industry.

As the industry matures, operators are raising the bar for optimizing efficiency, increasing consistency and, most importantly, profitability. Data is the vehicle for accomplishing these goals.

Methods of Collecting Data

It all begins with data collection. Before turning on the switch for a flood of data, it’s important to understand what data points need to be tracked and why. Actionable data is the key here.

Progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared her feelings on a bipartisan path towards the legalization of marijuana in the United States at a recent virtual town hall alongside Representative Earl Blumenauer. 

According to Representative Ocasio-Cortez, popularly abbreviated as AOC, the gap between Republicans and Democrats on the issue of cannabis has been decreasing recently in Congress, as well as on a few other matters, namely civil rights and civil liberties policies. 

“We’ve been able to propose solutions on a wide spectrum towards decriminalization, towards legalization, and that is increasingly becoming a position that more Republicans are amenable to,” AOC said. 

To support her claims, Ocasio-Cortez pointed to a recent amendment of hers that sought to divert millions in funding from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) towards treatment programs for people suffering from opioid addiction. The congresswoman said she was “surprised” to discover “widespread” support from the GOP for her proposal.   

“That’s defund before defund became a widespread demand that we heard this year, and Republicans supported it and it passed. So there are some areas where you can find common ground,” the representative explained. 

I grew up on the East Coast and my earliest weed dealers used to offer only two choices: Take it or leave it.

I always chose “take it.”

Nowadays I live in California and the modern marijuana retail experience offers so many strains, concentrates, edibles, topicals and delivery devices that it requires a concerted effort (and consistent product sampling) to keep it all straight — never mind stoned. So I included a special section on pot shopping in my book, “How To Smoke Pot (Properly):  A Highbrow Guide to Getting High.”

Whether you’re buying recreational weed in Colorado, medical marijuana in Michigan, or ordering off a coffee-shop menu in Amsterdam, the retail cannabis experience remains both delightful and disorienting to the unaccustomed. So here’s a few tips for keeping your wits about you when faced with all those wonderful choices.

Make a Budget for Getting Bud

Unless you grow your own, or have some lovely hookup, cannabis is most definitely a luxury item. And while it’s certainly OK to splurge on the herb from time to time, that’s a decision best made in advance, not once you’re faced with a menu of enticing strains, concentrates, and edibles. So decide how much you can afford to spend and how long it’s got to last in advance, and you’ll have a lot of fun weighing your options when the time comes, without stressing out about next month’s rent.

For Melisa Nelson-Baldwin, data is key. And what this trained crop research scientist sees is hemp is a great crop for Kansas farmers.

So much so that Nelson-Baldwin and her partners, husband Aaron Baldwin and brother-in-law Richard Baldwin, are ready to build a hemp fiber manufacturing plant in Great Bend – the first one in Kansas.

“We want to be up and running by the end of the year,” Nelson-Baldwin said.

The Baldwins grow both industrial cannabidiol oil and fiber hemp at their farm, South Bend Industrial Hemp, in Barton and Stafford counties. Aaron and Richard Baldwin are fourth-generation farmers in Great Bend, while Nelson-Baldwin grew up on a farm in Holton. The three work with both forms of industrial hemp on 55 acres of their traditional grain farm.

Oct. 17 marked the first day of medical cannabis sales in Missouri, and the state’s two operational cannabis retailers, N’Bliss and Fresh Green, have had quite the journey to serving patients in the nascent market.

N’Bliss, a subsidiary of Nirvana Investments, opened its first two stores in Manchester and Ellisville on Oct. 17, while Fresh Green opened for business in Lee’s Summit on Oct. 19.

“It was exciting—the energy is real,” N’Bliss Managing Partner and CEO Bradford Goette tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary of opening weekend.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would be hosting a public event this November, discussing the differences of sex and gender in the effects of CBD and other cannabinoids. 

The FDA’s Office of Women’s Health made the announcement, since many conditions to which CBD is marketed, such as chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances, are more prevalent in women. 

Last week, the FDA published a notice in the Federal Register, stating the “purpose of the public meeting is to discuss potential sex (biological) and gender (psychosocial) differences in use and responses to cannabidiol (CBD) and other cannabinoids. Researchers, educators, clinicians, and patients may benefit from attending this multidisciplinary scientific conference on CBD and other cannabinoids.” 

The notice also mentions discussing the use of CBD and other cannabinoids during pregnancy, citing it as an important public health concern.

Government agency perspectives on CBD research and evaluation will also be highlighted during the event.

While ruby red South Dakota may not be a swing state in the presidential election -- it may be at the forefront of the green revolution as one of five states where recreational and medical marijuana legalization are up for a vote this election year.

And it is the only state where both forms of legalization will be on the ballot.

Matthew Schweich, the deputy director of the nonprofit group the Marijuana Policy Project, which has been running campaigns across the country to legalize, told ABC News this is the first time in U.S. history that a state has had two ballot measures to ask voters for approval for recreational and medical marijuana during an election year.

While there is some opposition from Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and South Dakota business owners over the recreational ballot, Schweich noted that more than 50,000 residents signed on to that initiative and more than 30,000 signatures for the medical provision.

An international study exploring possible genetic influences on cannabis use disorder (CUD) has identified an association between the disorder and a region of DNA near the FOXP2 gene, previously linked to risk-taking behaviour.

Headed by Washington University School of Medicine, researchers analyzed DNA and other data from almost 21,000 people diagnosed with CUD and 360,000 who did not have that diagnosis, notes a press release on findings.

The team identified two regions in human DNA, the FOXP2 gene being one of them, that appear to contribute to the risk of becoming dependent on cannabis. Previously linked to CUD and nicotine addiction, the scientists also implicated the CHRNA2 gene.

“When we think about why some people who use cannabis develop problems with it, about 50 per cent of that risk is due to genetics,” Arpana Agrawal, Ph.D., a senior investigator and professor of psychiatry, says in the statement.

“While the variants that we found are not currently useful in letting someone know about their personal risk, the genetic pathways might lead to better treatments for cannabis addiction in the future,” Agrawal points out.

Compliance is a beast with many tentacles — it’s way more than just inventory tracking.

For cannabis cultivators, it can be easy to get tangled and tripped up in the bureaucracy. 

And things can quickly go sideways if a business isn’t responsive and professional when a regulatory agency flags an issue.

Officials in charge will likely wonder what other problems are brewing and take a closer look. 

It’s all too easy for minor infractions to become major (and expensive) headaches that pull you away from what you need to be doing to keep your business on an upward trajectory.   

Germany has the largest legal medicinal cannabis flower market in the EU, and it’s about to expand out even further. With imports coming from Canada and even Uruguay, the German cannabis flower market is, indeed, ready to fully explode.​

Germany has been growing its medical cannabis market in the last few years. According to worldstopexports for 2019, Germany imported $240 million worth of cannabis oil – or 7.8% of all cannabis imports for the year, making it the second largest importer behind the US. In that same time period, it also exported $230 million worth of cannabis oil – or 8% of the market for the year.

Now, the emphasis is more on cannabis flowers, and Germany sure isn’t slowing down. In July, Germany released data on medical cannabis imports for Q1 and Q2 of 2020. Q1 showed an increase of 16%, while Q2 showed an increase of 32%. It should be remembered that Q2 of 2020 was when the coronavirus was at its worst, and lockdown measures were strictest.

Prior to this year, Germany imported approximately 3.1 tons of cannabis flower in 2018, and 6.7 tons in 2019. During this time, Germany requested additional imported cannabis from the Netherlands to help with supply shortages it was experiencing. The increase this year in imports is related to the rise in new patients in Germany, as well as the addition of new cannabis exporting countries. Approximately 60,000 Germans are registered to use medical cannabis as of June 2019. That number has likely risen substantially since that time.

A little about Germany and cannabis

Possession of cannabis is still illegal in Germany, despite the growth of its medicinal market.  German law does allow for residents to have a ‘small amount’ of cannabis, but this amount is not consistent and can vary between 6-15 grams depending on location. Sale and supply crimes are predicably illegal, with prison sentences of five years or below for more standard cases, or up to 15 for more severe cases. Personal growing of cannabis is also illegal.

Oct. 17 marked the first day of medical cannabis sales in Missouri, and the state’s two operational cannabis retailers, N’Bliss and Fresh Green, have had quite the journey to serving patients in the nascent market.

N’Bliss, a subsidiary of Nirvana Investments, opened its first two stores in Manchester and Ellisville on Oct. 17, while Fresh Green opened for business in Lee’s Summit on Oct. 19.

“It was exciting—the energy is real,” N’Bliss Managing Partner and CEO Bradford Goette tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary of opening weekend.

Goette says the dispensary could have opened earlier, but the N’Bliss team took their time to ensure a great experience for its first customers.

“Your first sale and transaction should be memorable, but it should be right,” he says. “You should be doing this for the patient, and we want that to go smooth. We know with all the software systems, moving parts [and] compliance, there’s a lot of room for error. We wanted to test things and make sure things were working prior to opening.”

Preparing edibles can be easy if you have the right ingredients. Here’s what you can use if you don’t feel like baking.

Baking and preparing edibles is a fun activity if you have the right disposition and tools, even if it takes longer than other methods of consuming cannabis. The baking process is one that’s normally ruled by lots of trial and error; adding weed into the mix only makes things more complicated. Still, you shouldn’t be intimidated at the thought of preparing your own edibles, especially now that there’s more time and willingness to bake and get creative.

Baking usually requires people to prepare their own cannabutter, a process that’s time consuming and that’s only a first step in the whole baking process. If you want to make some edibles but don’t feel like spending a lot of time on them, here are some things you can try:

THC infused honey sticks

Photo by Arwin Neil Baichoo via Unsplash

THC infused honey sticks are incredibly convenient. They can be drizzled on top of cookies, cakes, tea or coffee, transforming anything you have into a sweet treat that can get you high. There are also CBD infused honey sticks, which can be used to create edibles with no psychoactive effects.

An economic impact study on the legalization of recreational cannabis in Guam — obtained by the Guam Visitors Bureau and adopted by the Cannabis Control Board — says the industry could generate more than $100 million in economic activity and hundreds of jobs.

Guam residents could spend about $10 million on cannabis during the industry's first year, and tourists could spend more than $1 million, the study states.

The cannabis board transmitted the study to the Legislature on Oct. 19. The economic impact study is required under the April 2019 law that legalized recreational marijuana on island.

The cannabis board also is working on a separate required report on how the cannabis industry will impact government operations, including staffing and resources at the agencies that are involved in regulating it.

Adults currently can possess recreational cannabis and grow and consume it at home, but selling it or trading it for anything of value is illegal until the rules and regulations are adopted and the government-regulated industry starts.

A new study reveals that almost half of those who currently use cannabis in North America are over 40, a surprising number given the narrative that most cannabis users are in younger demographics. This insight came alongside many other interesting data points about the industry. 

This information comes from Akerna, a group in the industry that works with software, compliance technology, seed-to-sale research planning, and enterprise software for the cannabis companies across North America. It dug into North American cannabis consumer habits to reveal deep insights about the industry and how it operates, in order to shed light on what businesses can expect in the coming months. 

“Akerna is an enterprise software company focused on compliantly serving the cannabis, hemp, and CBD industry,” their biography states. “First launched in 2010, Akerna has tracked more than $20 billion in cannabis sales to date and is the first cannabis software company listed on Nasdaq. The company’s cornerstone technology, MJ Platform, the world’s leading infrastructure as a service platform powers retailers, manufacturers, brands, distributors, and cultivators.”

According to the breakdown from the Akerna study, which looked at type of cannabis consumption method, as well as age and gender of cannabis users, flower is the most popular way to consume cannabis in the U.S., with edibles the least popular besides the “other category. Results also showed that more men than women consume cannabis, as men logged in at 62.5 percent and women claimed 37.5 percent. 

Self-Reported Use

In addition to looking at the numbers for sales and the type of cannabis consumed, the study also examined the numbers for reported use. In most cases, the numbers mirrored each other, showing people reported accurately about what they consume. “Some of this confirms what we already know, that flower is the most popular consumption method,” says James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect, Akerna. “However, we also found some surprising data points. For example, medical consumers on average spend more and purchase more items than their adult use counterparts.”

Wednesday afternoon, the Pennsylvania state House passed a bill amending the state’s existing DUI law to decriminalize driving while traces of marijuana are still in the system of legal medical-marijuana users.

In Pennsylvania, the current laws and provisions related to driving while under the influence of alcohol or substances, aka DUI, criminalize driving while tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a component of marijuana, is still in a driver’s system, even if it has been weeks after ingestion. This currently also applies to those with medical-marijuana cards.

“I think you can ask any veteran or anybody that’s using medical cannabis that if they took a prescription on Monday, [by] Wednesday they’re not high and if they got pulled over, they darn sure shouldn’t be charged for being intoxicated or under the influence of medical marijuana and the last time they took it was Monday,” said state Rep. Ed Gainey (D-East Liberty) on the state House floor on Oct. 21.

The act amended this provision on grounds to decriminalize residual traces of THC left in the system of legal marijuana users. The amendment was introduced by state Rep. Mike Carroll (D-Luzerne). It passed 109-93 with unanimous support from Democrats, and 16 Republicans crossing the aisle, including local state Rep. Mike Puskaric (R-Elizabeth)

Moreover, the amended bill states that an individual may not drive under a controlled substance with the exception of “marijuana used lawfully in accordance with the act of April 17, 2016, known as the Medical Marijuana Act.”