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Hot off the press cannabis, marijuana, cbd and hemp news from around the world on the WeedLife Social Network.
The state recorded $365 million in sales in 2019, the first full year, and that number is estimated to grow to $950 million by 2025. So what’s the problem?
Hemp legalization has solidified that products containing cannabidiol (CBD) aren’t going away. Last February, Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), acknowledged that it was “a fool's game” to attempt to pull hemp-derived CBD products off the market.
The first (legal) industrial hemp crop to be planted in the U.S. state of Louisiana in modern times is being severely impacted by a fungal disease.
What was one the USA’s hemp holdout states finally jumped on the nation’s industrial hemp revival bandwagon in June last year when Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed off on legislation recognising the crop as an agricultural commodity and authorising its cultivation, processing, and transportation.
This first successful export of hemp seed from Australia to New Zealand recently occurred under new legislation removing some roadblocks to Australia’s hemp and medicinal cannabis sectors.
There wasn’t any further detail on the nature of the export – for example if it was hulled seed, raw seed for food purposes or seed for planting – or the company involved, but it marked another step forward for the nation’s hemp industry.
While the healthcare sector is fighting to reach the finish line of finding a cure for coronavirus and putting an end to the worldwide misery it causes, cannabis is proving relief to people dealing with this crisis. This has put the cannabis sector in the limelight again -- not only highlighting the medical benefits of marijuana, but also giving an idea about the potential of this sector.
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) researchers are investigating hemp’s potential as a dual-use crop – sheep fodder as well as seed.
The research, led by Dr Beth Penrose, will occur over two years and involve trial sites established at TIA’s Forthside research facility situated on Tasmania’s north-west coast and a commercial property near Cressy, which is around 35 kilometres south-west of Launceston.
Ergonomics and the associated employer requirements to maintain safe workplaces, especially in industries where repetitive motion injuries are common, are at the forefront of modern claim prevention. However, the legal cannabis industry could be especially vulnerable.
As a legalization shift sweeps the nation, responsible cannabis growers in California are uniquely positioned to lead the way, while others either comply or face hefty penalties.
How the Cannabis Industry can Continue to Benefit America
Analysts are projecting that the U.S. cannabis industry could add as much as $130 billion into the economy within the next half-decade. This may seem like a lot, but given where marijuana stocks have already taken the market, it begins to make more sense. A new study showed that cannabis sales alone have shot up to around $50 billion as of last year.
It was already an assumption that Canada was going to have a booming, country-wide cannabis market through their legal industry, but now the numbers prove that that assumption is a reality. Retail sales reached $185.9 million Canadian dollars this past May, according to Statistics Canada.
There will be plenty of footsy going on between the United Soccer League (USL) and CBD hemp brand Synchronicity as part of a new four-year sponsorship deal.
Functional Remedies, makers of the full-spectrum hemp oil brand, can look forward to seeing the products featured on USL stadium signage, social media channels, website and app network, according to Ganjapreneur.
Not everyone can invest directly in marijuana stocks. Last year, for example, according to Military.com, Department of Defense employees were warned that investing in marijuana companies could hurt an employee's security clearance. Other private employers, particularly contractors that interact with the federal government, may have similar policies against such investing by employees.
Cannabis legalization is picking up steam throughout the United States. The industry is already booming, and it’s set to grow over the next decade, prompting investors and entrepreneurs everywhere to jump on the bandwagon to try to cash in.
There will certainly be some impressive entrepreneurial and investment opportunities in the near future, but before you make any big financial decisions (or take any big business risks), there are some things you should know.
Regulations Can Be Messy
The gears of automated delivery management were in motion long before the arrival of Uber and other sharing services. Tech behemoths like Amazon had already shattered the glass ceiling on next-day delivery, but their buffet of consumer products was missing many of the smaller markets.
Both a product of compliance and payment issues, large corporations like Amazon simply didn’t offer the delivery of products like marijuana. Only four years after Proposition 64 in California, the bespoke delivery market for cannabis products remains ripe for disruption, with the lack of a major player leaving a void.
Cannabis sales in Colorado set a new monthly record in May, reaching their highest level since broad legalization in 2014.
Dispensaries sold over $192 million worth of cannabis products that month, according to data from the state Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division compiled by The Denver Post. That figure is up about 29% from April and 32% from May 2019.
Last week, the FDA released a report to Congress on their findings after randomly testing a broad range of CBD brands and products on the market. The findings were shocking: More than half the CBD products tested were inaccurately labeled, in many cases containing significantly more or less CBD than indicated on the packaging. Alarmingly, nearly half of the CBD products tested were found to contain the psychoactive compound found in recreational and medical cannabis—THC.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. is closing some of its European operations as the cannabis producer opts to consolidate its presence in the continent amid soft demand for medical pot, according to an internal memo obtained by BNN Bloomberg.
Aurora told its employees last week that it will shut its offices in Portugal, Spain, and Italy while reducing its European workforces by one-quarter in select countries and its regional office, the memo said. The Edmonton-based company will shift its European headquarters from Germany to its Denmark office while acquiring the remaining 49 per cent of its Danish business that it doesn't already own, the company said.
In less than two years after the country legalized recreational cannabis, Canada has reached an important milestone. According to a report in BNN Bloomberg, the country's dispensary count crossed the 1,000 mark as of July 17, landing at 1,010.
Of all the country's provinces and territories, Alberta in the West has the highest number, at 494. No. 2 is the province where some of the highest-quality Canadian cannabis has traditionally come from, British Columbia (211 dispensaries).
