WeedLife News Network

France and the EU have been fighting it out in court over import laws concerning a CBD case. If the EU wins it means a forced legalization of CBD across the entire EU… But if France wins, could it be the beginning of the end for CBD?

Before looking into EU CBD laws, we need to shift our attention to the World Health Organization. One of the big cases in the world of legal cannabis has to do with an upcoming vote about cannabis scheduling based on recommendations put out by the WHO (World Health Organization). There are several recommendations that cover a variety of topics on the subject, a few of the main ones being: taking cannabis out of schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (substituting it instead with simply THC), and removing THC altogether from the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

It also recommends looking at individual cannabinoids, like CBD, separately from the rest of the plant, and not scheduling non-psychoactive cannabinoids the same as those that are psychoactive. Along with this it recommends allowing cannabis extracts with up to .2% THC to not be scheduled by either convention. This last one opens the door for easier trade between countries since it would set a legal international benchmark.

The recommendations were supposed to be voted on already, but due to different issues the vote has been put off a couple times, with a current date in December. During this time, member countries are implored to better understand the recommendations and all their implications before the vote.

Now, if the vote goes sideways in December, and the recommendations are rejected, then the old rules regarding cannabis apply. Cannabis is illegal, a schedule I drug according to the Single Convention, and CBD and all other cannabinoids are scheduled the same.

This would erase a lot of the progress that’s been made in the gray area of the last few years, and essentially illegalize CBD. If that happens, what’s going on between France and the EU won’t matter at all. But if those recommendations go through…well there might be some very interesting CBD case laws coming out of the EU thanks to France and its super stringent policies about cannabis.’

A cannabis-based medicine has been approved for use on the NHS in Scotland for the first time, giving hope in the treatment of rare types of childhood epilepsy.

Cannabidiol (Epidyolex) has been accepted for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a condition which can cause frequent debilitating seizures, by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

It has also been allowed to treat Dravet syndrome, another rare type of epilepsy, which again is characterised by severe seizures of various types.

Patients can have learning disabilities, sleep problems and usually required 24-hour care and are fully dependent through their lives.

However, Cannabidiol in combination with clobazam can reduce the frequency and severity of seizures for some patients, enabling them to have a better quality of life.

As Maine inches closer to finally fulfilling the voters’ desire to bring legalized recreational marijuana to the state, Tuesday represents a significant milestone.

That is when Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy intends to begin issuing the first active licenses to recreational cannabis businesses.

The office said last month that active licensure is “the culmination of a three-step application process which also includes conditional licensure and local authorization, respectively.” 

Recreational Marijuana’s Journey In Maine

It is perhaps the last major milestone before October 9, when retail sales of recreational marijuana will be permitted—the climax in a nearly four-year long journey to ending prohibition in Maine that has been beset by repeated delays.

The most recent interruption to the rollout of the new law came earlier this year, which the Office of Marijuana Policy said “had been indefinitely postponed in April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Just as some wine aficionados seek wine based on terroir, some cannabis consumers like to explore the subtleties of individual strains. Which type of cannabis works best in this situation?

When recreational cannabis consumers examine the array of flower available at their local dispensary, they’ll notice that cannabis buds may have the same strain name and potency but they look and smell differently. So how do they know which ones to purchase? 

CDFA’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division is managing the campaign, which profiles the wide range of licensed California cannabis farmers, from legacy outdoor farms in rural Humboldt to high-tech, vertically-integrated operations in urban locations.

“This is California Cannabis” will feature comprehensive outreach and education efforts, including community events and workshops to highlight the technical assistance and support that is available year-round to licensed growers and new applicants seeking commercial cannabis cultivation licensure. “We’re proud of California’s vibrant cannabis cultivator community,” said Richard Parrott, director of CDFA’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division. “California is known for growing the best cannabis in the world and our licensed cultivators are leading the way with innovative practices and environmental sustainability.”

California cultivators who are interested in seeking a license can begin the application process online at calcannabis.cdfa.ca.gov or by contacting a licensing specialist by calling toll-free 1-833-CALGROW (1-833-225-4769) or sending an email to calcannabis@cdfa.ca.gov.

CDFA provides year-round support and technical assistance, including updated services for commercial cultivators during the pandemic. For more information about the campaign, please visit growwithCA.com to view the videos, farmer profiles, and other outreach materials.

Pakistan has unveiled plans to allow the industrial production of hemp, spurring hopes farmers and businesses in the conservative Islamic country will be able to tap into the lucrative global cannabis market.

The move comes as Prime Minister Imran Khan's government struggles to boost the country's foreign exchange coffers that have been drained by a struggling economy, fiscal deficits and inflation. 

"This hemp market could provide Pakistan with some $1 billion in the next three years and we are in a process of making a full-fledged plan for this purpose," science and technology minister Fawad Chaudhry told reporters Wednesday.

Hemp is a type of cannabis plant containing cannabidiol (CBD) which advocates say has numerous medicinal and relaxing properties.

It does not contain significant quantities of high-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The word on the street is that cannabidiol (CBD) is the most medicinal part of the cannabis plant. The non-intoxicating compound of marijuana has gained rock star status ever since Dr. Sanjay Gupta showed the world in his documentary Weed 2 that it has the power to control seizures in epilepsy patients.

Fast forward a few years and now the substance has become so much a part of popular culture that it is even being counterfeited by hacks trying to strike it rich on the heels of Uncle Sam’s regulatory incompetence.

But is CBD really the most effective medicine in terms of cannabis sativa? In other words, could the U.S. government save the nation from strife and suffering by simply legalizing this part of the plant?

The answer is a resounding no.

Some of the research conducted over the past several decades shows the only way to maximize the therapeutic aspects of cannabis medicine is to use the entire plant. After all, it would be naïve to think a single component of the plant, especially considering it has hundreds of various cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, would be the only part contributing to the health of civil society.

The lottery for licenses to run cannabis dispensaries in Illinois is set to happen in the next few weeks.

Gov. JB Pritzker vows there will be social equity as far as who gets those licenses. But several minority leaders call that an empty promise, and say Black and Brown Chicagoans are being ignored.

“It makes no sense that again, in 2020, Governor Pritzker, you have a Black lieutenant governor, you have a Black mayor of Chicago, you have a Black drug czar overseeing the marijuana industry here in Illinois, but you don’t have any Black-owned marijuana dispensaries?” said community activist Tio Hardiman.

Regardless of the economic and health crises this year, the marijuana industry continues to be one of the quickest growing industries in United States.

Only a couple months remain until voters in numerous states will see medical and recreational cannabis legalization measures on their ballots. South Dakota will actually have a medical and a recreational legalization measure on its ballot.

Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota have ballot initiatives that could legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older. Mississippi, Nebraska, and South Dakota have ballot initiatives that could establish medical marijuana programs.

These 6 states will be voting on cannabis legalization in November 2020:

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, tabled in parliament on 1 September, provides clarity around the growing and private use of cannabis in South Africa.

While the bill can be seen as the first step in a revised, progressive approach to cannabis in the country, the proposed legislation also throws up a number of red flags, says law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.

“The focus remains on restricting access to, and the use of, cannabis against the threat of rather severe legal consequences in the form of fines and jail time,” it said.

“What those in the industry were hoping for was a collaborative effort between the various departments such as Health, Agriculture, Finance, and the like.”

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said that the drafters of the bill have seemingly adopted a ‘narrow and traditionalist perspective’, which as currently constructed, does not give an inch more than was mandated by the Constitutional Court.

Canada updated its quarterly sales numbers for the nationwide cannabis industry on Sep. 4. During the second quarter, which lasted from April to June, household spending on unlicensed cannabis totaled 785 million Canadian dollars and was down 4.7% from the previous quarter. This number has declined in every period since the recreational market opened in Canada on October 17, 2018. In the legal market, CA$648 million was spent on recreational pot and CA$155 million was spent on medicinal marijuana, combining for a total of CA$803 million.

Researchers at Kansas State University have recently earned a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study hemp in cattle feed.

The $200,000 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture will help the researchers determine the concentrations of cannabinoids in livestock after exposure to industrial hemp.

While hemp is federally legal, it needs approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM) as well as the Association of American Feed Control.

"Although hemp can be legally cultivated under license in Kansas, feeding hemp products to livestock remains prohibited because the potential for cannabinoid drug residues to accumulate in meat and milk has not been studied," said Hans Coetzee, professor and head of the anatomy and physiology department in the university's College of Veterinary Medicine, in a news release.

The research team at Kansas State University is comprised of pharmacologists, toxicologists, analytical chemists and horticulture experts. The hemp used in the studies was grown at K-State's John C. Pair Horticultural Center near Wichita.

A growing number of Australians support the legalization of cannabis, while almost three in five back the idea of pill testing, according to a new national survey.

The 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey also shows Australians are drinking and smoking less, but some illicit drug use is on the rise.

Importantly, this national snapshot, released on Thursday, shows the Australian community is becoming more open to less punitive measures around drug use.

Changes to drug use

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey is conducted every three years. The 2019 results showed an increase in illicit drug use from 2016.

This includes the proportion of Australians who used cannabis (up from 10.4% to 11.6%), cocaine (2.5% to 4.2%), ecstasy (2.2% to 3.0%) and ketamine (0.4% to 0.9%).

The last few years have been a roller coaster ride in terms of cannabis regulation, and there hasn’t been a whole lot of consistency. Now, with the scheduled vote on WHO drug scheduling coming up, the fate of CBD hangs in the balance.

So, who exactly is this WHO which makes designations as to which drugs are narcotics and which are not? The World Health Organization is an agency belonging to the United Nations and is responsible for public health globally.

One of the first things to understand about the global scheduling of drugs is that a lot of current legislation is set according to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, a treaty signed by 186 governments as of 2018. It prohibits the production and supply of narcotics, including – because of how its scheduled – cannabis

It should be noted that the Single Convention does not act alone, and member countries are also required to have their own drug policies, so long as they are in line with the Single Convention. As part of this, the World Health Organization, through the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, is an office that can add, transfer, or remove drugs from within a specific scheduling class, of which there are four. Scheduling goes as follows:

In the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, a separate set of scheduling guidelines for different substances was made.

In the last few years, as different countries have changed their laws, the question of this scheduling has come into play.

There’s only one reason anyone would really care how long pot remains in the body (unless they’re a researcher or they’re writing an article like this one).

People wonder how long marijuana stays in their system because they’re concerned about having to take a drug test. And as you undoubtedly know, employers can use several different types of tests.

That’s why the question should really be phrased differently: how long can pot be detected in the blood, in the urine, in the saliva, and in hair?

The answer still isn’t easy, because there are so many variables to consider. How much has someone smoked or consumed, and how strong was the weed? How often do they smoke, and how much do they weigh?

And are you really concerned about how long cannabis stays in the body – or about the length of time that signs of cannabis can be detected?

New Laws Mean That The Florida Cannabis Industry Could See Some Large Shifts

Cannabis containing THC may not yet be legal in Hong Kong, or in most of Asia, but there is already a CBD cafe up and running in the Sheung Wan district. Currently in the soft-opening phase, the cafe will be fully open next month with a complete menu of CBD offerings.

Chic and stylish, Found, the region’s first CBD cafe, sells a full range of CBD-based cannabis products, including vials of CBD oil for personal use, powders to be added to foods such as oil and butters, and other products, including products for pets who need pain relief. They even sell CBD-infused beer and coffee for those who want to stay awhile in the cafe. 

The staff are said to be caring and compassionate, happy to help everyone from the seasoned CBD user looking for a specific product to tourists and folks who have no idea what CBD is or what it can be used for. 

“Most people are seeking help with sleep; we also have parents with children with epilepsy or cerebral palsy here who are using our products,” says Fiachra Mullen, co-owner of Altum International, the cannabinoids supplier in the Asia Pacific area that owns and operates Found.

Wellness Trends

Like many parts of the world, CBD has become trendy in Hong Kong with groups who practice yoga, mindfulness, and other self-care. Mullen also feels that CBD has become helpful for dealing with all the issues that come along with 2020.