WeedLife News Network

What comes to mind when you think of plant nutrition and fertilizers? For most people, the first thoughts are something along the lines of “NPK,” “CalMag,” or “micronutrients” — but these elements collectively make up less than 10% of the composition of most plants. Whether they know it or not, all cannabis growers strive to sink as much carbon into their plants as possible.

Carbon plays a key role in determining yield and quality, but it has been largely overlooked in conventional and mainstream agricultural fertility programs.

The CBD Cannabis Industry Leaders

Until the enactment of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, industrial hemp was a significant agricultural crop in the United States. Clothing and flags were made from it, it was a nutrient-dense source of grain, and Henry Ford built a car out of hemp that was fueled by it.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now maintains a lengthy and growing list of hand sanitizer brands that consumers should avoid, having confirmed they contain as much as 81% methanol and other impurities including potentially deadly 1-propanol. "While hand sanitizers and associated claims are regulated by the FDA, the agency now has a waiver program due to the unprecedented time of COVID-19 which doesn't require manufacturers to substantiate label claims. This was in an effort to allow hand sanitizers to get on shelves quickly, under the assumption manufacturers would continue good manufacturing practices," explains Mike Sandoval, President of Santé Laboratories, a bio-hemp pharmaceutical contract research organization (CRO).

While indications of the rapid growth in both medical and recreational cannabis markets continue to expand to all parts of the country, one of the most eye-catching places to watch is Michigan.

Voters there approved a measure in 2018 to make recreational marijuana legal in the state. Ten years earlier, voters approved legalizing medical marijuana. Michigan stands out as one of the leaders in the cannabis industry in the Midwest.

The USDA signed off on an extension of Maine’s fledgling hemp program beyond late October, but state agriculture specialists are at a loss as to how the sector can move forward.

Hemp producers across Maine must adhere to new federal guidelines, which state horticulturalist Gary Fish stresses are written differently from current state rules. Fish said that could be problematic for those who harvest after Oct. 31, the original sunset date for the industry.

Under one new federal rule, a hemp strain’s THC level could determine whether it remains legal.

Fish said everyone in the business will be in for quite a learning experience.

Will These States Legalize Cannabis in 2020?

The image has become familiar: presented by floor-to-ceiling shiny windows and a smiling, iPad-holding greeter, dispensaries in California look far more like an Apple Store than the smelly back alleys and strip mall parking lots where we used to buy our weed.

No longer the “devils lettuce,” cannabis is now a feature of “wellness,” and “plant medicine.” If Don Draper were real and working today, he’d certainly be pushing pot.

Despite the fact that we’re living in the heyday of digital media, paper consumption is actually on the upswing — in the last 20 years alone, it’s risen 126 percent. About 208 million tons of paper are used worldwide each year and many of these paper products are used once and then thrown away. In the United States, for example, around 1 billion trees worth of paper is thrown out every year.

Southern Oregon wildfires this week have plowed through small towns, leveled hundreds of homes and businesses and now threatens part of the state’s prized – and lucrative – outdoor cannabis crop.

Statewide, an estimated 20 percent of state-licensed marijuana businesses – roughly 408 – face some level of evacuation, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission said Wednesday. That includes stores, marijuana processors and producers.

Of those, the agency said 73 marijuana producers, most of them outdoor farms, have been ordered to evacuate.

A new U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) interim rule about CBD and hemp manufacturing has sown distress and confusion in the federally legal industry.

Operators say the rule makes it effectively impossible to produce CBD products legally. On his blog, North Carolina cannabis lawyer Rod Kight wrote that the new rule “threatens to destroy” the industry.

Both business and culture surrounding legal cannabis have certainly seen a lot of attention over the last few years.

With cannabis rapidly becoming legalized in more U.S. states, we are seeing that culture reach a much broader audience.

But, is that culture representative of Black and racially diverse industry professionals?

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? 

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.

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.

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

South Phoenix medical marijuana dispensary The Mint has opened a drive-thru window as a safety protocol because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This is the second dispensary drive-thru to open in the state.

The Mint operates the largest medical marijuana dispensary in Arizona and the third-largest in the nation.

“The CDC is encouraging people to use drive-thru services whenever possible, so this new offering could not come at a better time,” said Eivan Shahara, Co-Founder and CEO of The Mint Dispensary. “As an essential service in Arizona, adding a drive-thru option allows us to better serve patients as we continue to keep safety top-of-mind for everyone.”

New Zealand’s first ever ‘Hemp Ideation Challenge’ will kick off on September 5, an event designed to help drive the country’s hemp industry forward.

The initiative, which runs to the 18th of September, will use a “challenge-driven innovation process” to accelerate development of new hemp products, discover new uses for the plant and identify innovative ways to produce, process and manufacture it.