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If you’re looking to grow your knowledge about hemp, take a look at some of these facts and spread them far and wide

1. Hemp cultivation dates back more than 10,000 years

Many civilizations throughout time have grown hemp and utilized the plant for a number of items from food to fiber. The ancient use of hemp has been traced to many countries including China, Egypt, Russia, Greece and Italy.

2. It used to be illegal to not grow hemp

There was once a time in American history when farmers could actually be fined or jailed for not growing hemp. Because it was such a valuable crop in Virginia, the Assembly of Jamestown Colony passed legislation in 1619 making it mandatory for every farmer to grow Indian hempseed.

3. Hemp was hailed as a billion dollar crop before the government banned it

In an article written in 1938, “Popular Mechanics” declared hemp a new cash crop. It was touted as the standard fiber of the world that was easy to grow and poised to replace imported materials and manufactured products.

4. Hemp can restore unhealthy soil

Thanks to its botanical properties, hemp can actually leave soil better off than when it started by rejuvenating the dirt with nutrients and nitrogen. This helps clean up toxins, heavy metals and other pollutants from the ground through a process called phytoremediation.

Anti-cannabis campaigners say the minimum age of 20 to use and purchase weed wouldn't stop young people from feeling the harm of legalisation.

Marijuana can halt motivation for young people, leading to them dropping out of school and stunting their development, and it can cause mental health issues like psychosis.

But those issues are already happening in New Zealand, and international examples show Canada's youth usage rates dropped after legalisation.

Diana Ranger has seen the worst of cannabis use in young people.

Her nephew was forced to take the drug by a gang when he was 10, and she said he suffered from psychosis as a result.

Time is running out to make cannabis legalization a reality in Mexico.

Two years ago, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the ban on adult-use, recreational cannabis was unconstitutional. Mexican lawmakers were given a one-year deadline, until October 2019, to amend the country’s regulations.

They not only missed that deadline, they then missed the rescheduled deadline of April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, with a Dec. 15 deadline looming, lawmakers have just 61 days to pass a cannabis bill and there are still more questions than answers about what Mexico’s approach to legalization will look like.

In August, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador assured that legalization was in the works, stating that “there is going to be legal reform” when lawmakers reconvened in the fall.

Some know it as cannabis, while others know it as marijuana or weed, especially because it has been trendy in pop-culture music and because it has been immortalized in western films.

Whatever you call it, cannabis is the world’s most popular drug and is the highest value therapeutic crop known at the moment, despite being illegal in many parts of the world.

It wasn’t until Monday, October 12, that a cabinet meeting approved guidelines that allow the growing of cannabis in Rwanda, which drew mixed opinions from people.

Cannabis is a multi-billion dollar industry and it’s believed to be the world’s most valuable cash crop from the absolute value perspective.

One study, which analysed data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation as well as UN World Drug reports, estimated cannabis to be valued at $47.7 million per square kilometer.

Colorado’s Governor and Commissioner of Agriculture have again weighed in on the USDA’s Interim Final Rule related to establishing the nation’s Domestic Hemp Production Program.

The Interim Final Rule has been a controversial document. There was an initial sixty day public comment period between October 31, 2019 and December 30, 2019 and a subsequent extension period between December 31, 2019 and January 29, 2020. Then another extension for public comment kicked off in September. That closed last week, on October 8.

Colorado lodged a submission in the initial comment period and have added another during the most recent extension. Among what it wants to see:

Added to the above are another 7 specific comments. The full submission can be viewed here

“Colorado’s comments also underscore the concern that USDA’s Interim Final Rule may create an uneven impact on small, beginning and socially disadvantaged hemp growers and producers,” states a release published by Gov. Jared Polis’s office.

Whether you’re starting a new business or building out an existing venture, communication is everything, former NBA superstar Isiah Thomas explained.

After a successful career in basketball, both as a player and a coach, NBA legend Isiah Thomas became a serial investor and entrepreneur.

Among his notable ventures was the acquisition of sparkling wine brand Cheurlin Champagne, and his recent appointment as CEO of cannabis company One World Pharma Inc., a Colombia-based producer of cannabis and hemp ingredients.

During a recent conversation focused on cannabis, hemp and One World Pharma, Thomas explained how his coaching experience and leadership experiences transferred over to business.

All About Teamwork

Thomas, who won the 1989 and 1990 NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons, has garnered worldwide recognition for his string of successful business ventures. He also transferred the skills he learned and nurtured on the court to his various roles as a business executive.

In spite of ever-growing support for marijuana use in the United States, a recently-released FBI report revealed there were more people arrested for cannabis last year than for all violent crimes together. 

According to data from the Uniform Crime Report, a total of 545,602 people were arrested in the U.S. for marijuana-related offenses in 2019. However, the same report showed 495,871 people were arrested for violent crimes last year throughout the country. 

What’s even more interesting is the fact that 92% of the people arrested for cannabis, or 500,395, were apprehended for the mere possession of marijuana – which has been decriminalized in 28 U.S. states to date.  Eleven states have fully legalized marijuana, while a number of others allow cannabis for medical use.

The majority of the drug arrests were made in the Northeastern U.S., while in the Western U.S., where cannabis is largely legal, marijuana arrests were much less frequent. 

“Police across America make a marijuana-related arrest every 58 seconds. At a time when the overwhelming majority of Americans want cannabis to be legal and regulated, it is an outrage that many police departments across the country continue to waste tax dollars and limited law enforcement resources on arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens for simple marijuana possession,” Executive Director for cannabis advocacy group NORML Eric Altieri said following the release of the FBI data.  

The US Hemp Roundtable, the hemp industry’s leading national advocacy organization, is profoundly disappointed that the California Senate leadership refused to allow a vote on AB 2028 (Aguiar-Curry, Wicks and Wilk), which would have legalized the use of hemp CBD in all products, to advance before the end of the 2019-20 legislative session.

As a result, California will not benefit from tens of millions of new tax dollars or thousands of new jobs that AB 2028 would have delivered. California continues to lag behind 21 other states, including Florida, Texas, Virginia and Ohio, that have already enacted hemp CBD laws and are drawing business away from California.

AB 2028 represented the product of intense negotiations between the Roundtable, its allies in the California hemp farming and business industries, and Governor Gavin Newsom, an effort that legislative leaders had urged proponents to undertake. The measure received broad bipartisan support as evidenced by its passage in an earlier bill with unanimous votes by the Assembly, as well as the Senate Health and Business and Professions Committees.

“We have been told by staff to Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins that there simply was not enough time to consider the amendments to the bill in the waning days of session,” said Jonathan Miller, the Roundtable’s general counsel. “Assuming that is the case, we are optimistic that a reintroduction of AB 2028 at the earliest possible date, with any necessary technical fixes, will ultimately be supported by both houses of the Legislature and signed by Governor Newsom.”

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the California economy is profoundly distressed. Tax revenues have been hard hit, jobs have disappeared and the ability of the state to rebuild itself in a timely fashion is uncertain. The hemp industry, especially its hemp CBD market, represents a major source of new state and local revenues that can be realized quickly.

National market analyses (Brightfield Group and Fortune Business Insights, among others) project that the hemp CBD food and beverage industry alone will generate more than $2 billion annually by 2023. If enacted, AB 2028 would have pegged California’s share of that market at approximately $300 million in the first full year of operation.

Mexico is one of the most exciting emerging cannabis markets in the world and we believe that the market is nearing an inflection point. Recently, we came across studies that highlighted the potential of the Mexican cannabis market and this is an opportunity that we are excited about over the long-term.w

In 2017, after a separate Supreme Court mandate, then-President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a decree legalizing cannabis for medical use. The government has stalled in implementing necessary regulations, and the drug remains out of reach for many patients. Almost two years ago, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that a cannabis ban as unconstitutional and we are favorable on how the topic has been gaining support.

The support that is being shown for the cannabis industry comes ahead of a key date for Mexico’s cannabis market. Under orders from the Supreme Court, Mexican lawmakers have until December 15th to pass cannabis legislation.

Although we are surprised with the amount of time it has taken to advance the Mexican cannabis market, the development is a great example of how much the world has changed over the last few decades. Previously, Mexico had restrictive drug laws that was fueled by deadly cartels wars and we are favorable on the way the industry is trending.

Currently, there is an intense debate on what legalization should look like and whom it should benefit. One side of the group believes that domestic cultivators that are currently cultivating cannabis should be protected from competition from large international cannabis companies. Recently, a bill was introduced that would allow private companies to sell cannabis to the public. Senate leader Ricardo Monreal expects the legislation to pass in the Senate within two weeks and then go to the lower house of Congress.

Voters in New Zealand will vote on Saturday on a nationwide referendum that would legalize the use and possession of cannabis by those 20 years of age and older. If passed, the vote would make New Zealand only the third country worldwide to legalize cannabis at the national level, joining Uruguay and Canada.

The referendum, known as the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, would require the New Zealand Parliament to establish rules and regulations for the commercial production and sale of cannabis and cannabis-infused products. The measure would also permit adults at least 20 years old to purchase up to 14 grams of herbal cannabis per day. Home cultivation of up to four cannabis plants per household would also be allowed under the ballot measure. Under current New Zealand law, the use of marijuana by adults is a crime punishable by up to three months in jail.

Last week, a group of New Zealand’s leading public health professionals expressed their support for the legalization referendum in an editorial published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.  Professor Michael Baker of the University of Otago, one of the health experts who helped guide New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, said that the country is a world leader in using “innovative and evidence-informed approaches” to addressing complicated public health issues.

“It’s time to take the same fresh approach to cannabis law and put public health first,” Baker said.

“Our prohibition model for cannabis is outdated and doesn’t work,” Baker added. “Supporting law reform is about reframing cannabis use as a health issue which opens up new, more effective ways of minimizing harms caused by this drug.”

Legalizing marijuana could help Pennsylvania weather the economic turbulence brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

That was the argument put forth on Tuesday by the state’s governor, Tom Wolf, who continued to urge Keystone State lawmakers to take up the issue.

“This year, I again went to the General Assembly and asked them to make legalizing adult-use cannabis a priority for the fall as we work to find ways to overcome the economic hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, there has been no movement to advance legislation,” Wolf said during a morning visit to Monroe County, Pennsylvania, as quoted by local television station WGAL.

According to the station, Wolf likened the legalization of recreational pot to the “economic growth that the historic farm bill of 2018 did for hemp farming after decades of prohibition.”

That farm bill prompted many states to establish their own rules for hemp cultivation, with local farmers eager to capitalize on the CBD boom in recent years.

Last week, the cannabis sector rallied after Kamala Harris’ debate with Vice President Mike Pence. We believe the reason for the move higher is related to Harris stating that cannabis would be decriminalized under a Joe Biden administration.

In late 2019, Pew Research Center conducted a survey that found that two-thirds of Americans believe that cannabis should be legal. The survey also found that there has been a significant decline in the number of adults who believe that cannabis should be illegal. According to the survey, the percentage of adults who oppose the legalization of cannabis has fallen from 52% in 2010 to 32%.

Numbers do not lie, and the American people want cannabis to be legalized. The COVID pandemic put considerable pressure on the global economy and the US economy was not immune to this. States desperately need money and are looking for additional revenue streams in a post-pandemic world.

As it relates to economies (state and federal) finding new revenue streams, the legalization of sports betting was the first domino to fall. The change in regulation has been a catalyst for the US economy (and stock market) and several sports betting companies have recently gone public and are valued at more than $50 billion in aggregate (Draft Kings and Penn National Gaming).

We believe that the legalization of cannabis would prove to be an even larger taxable revenue stream than sports betting. States need more revenue and we expect cannabis to draw new voters to the polls and play an important role in the outcome of the November election.

Often triggered by stress, new studies are showing that psoriasis can be better managed by diet, oral health, and even CBD.

The National Psoriasis Foundation states that upwards of 8 million people have the auto-immune skin disorder. Often accompanied by arthritis, psoriasis not only causes scaling of the skin, but complications to fingernails as well. 

Affecting everyone from children to adults, psoriasis can lead to anxiety and depression, as individuals with the skin disorder are often afraid of being ridiculed. Usually treated with Humira and Enbrel, psoriasis comes with a shocking price tag and complications that are often difficult to ignore. 

A 2014 study published in the journal Drugs in Context found that Humira had a price tag upwards of $39,000, while Enbrel’s annual cost was around $46,000. Stelara, the most expensive drug, was found to cost over $53,000. As TNF blockers, while medications like Humira help against psoriasis, they can lower the body’s ability to fight infections and cause serious side effects. 

Even more interesting, a September 2019 study in London found that, “A number of medications commonly prescribed by rheumatologists may interact with cannabidiol oil” (CBD oil). The most affected medicines appear to be corticosteroids (including hydrocortisone and prednisolone) since CBD, “is a potent inhibitor of CYP3A.” Put plainly, CBD may block the effects of the other medicine. 

With just 21 days till voters in New Jersey get to decide on whether to legalize recreational marijuana in their state, a majority of them appear to be in favor of the measure, according to a new poll. 

Released last week by Fairleigh Dickinson University, the poll was conducted from September 30 through October 5 and included 582 randomly selected likely voters in the Garden State. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed said that they support legalization, while only 29% said they will vote against the measure.

Among Democrats, 71% of those contacted said they will vote yes on November 3. On the other hand, the percentage of Republicans that would support legalization was reported at 52%. 

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has made cannabis legalization a policy priority of his, but previous attempts to legalize cannabis via the state legislature have proven unsuccessful. Voters will instead decide on the matter on Election Day, when the country either re-elects President Donald Trump or chooses his opponent Joe Biden to lead the U.S for the next four years. 

Recently, Murphy released a pro-legalization video, in which the governor urged New Jersey voters to end prohibition, underscoring that it costs taxpayers $150 million every year. 

New Jersey looks set to be the next state to legalize marijuana. It's on the ballot come Election Day on November 3, the polls are looking good, and while it's not the only state with marijuana legalization on the ballot, the others—Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota—are all out West, and the Garden State should beat them by a few hours.

The New Jersey legalization initiative, Public Question 1, would amend the state constitution to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and its cultivation, processing, and retail sale by a person who is at least 21 years old. It also designates the existing Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), which currently handles medical marijuana, to regulate all legal marijuana commerce. Retail marijuana sales would be subject to the state sales tax of 6.625 percent, but any other state sales taxes would be prohibited. The initiative authorizes the legislature to let local governments add a 2 percent local sales tax.

It also leaves it up to the legislature and the CRC to address unresolved issues. Those include whether and how home cultivation would be allowed, how much weed people could possess, and detailed retail regulations.

If the measure passes, New Jersey will not only be the first to legalize marijuana this Election Day, it will also be the first mid-Atlantic state to do so, and the first to legalize it via a legislatively initiated voter referendum. Of the 11 states (and the District of Columbia) that have so far legalized marijuana, nine did it through citizen-based ballot initiatives, while in the other two, Illinois and Vermont, legislatures passed legalization bills.

Vermont has become the latest U.S. state to legalize cannabis sales after Governor Phil Scott allowed a new marijuana commercialization bill to take effect without his signature. 

In the run-up to his announcement, there was speculation the Vermont governor could even veto the bill, which passed the state legislature last month. Governor Scott was reluctant to sign the legislation over several concerns regarding driving under the influence of cannabis and vaping products, and what he feels as a lack of social equity provisions in the new bill.

With this move, Vermont became the 11th state to tax and regulate marijuana sales and the second to approve it via state legislature. 

“There is still more work to be done to ensure the health and safety of our kids and the safety of our roadways, we should heed the public health and safety lessons of tobacco and alcohol. Further, I believe we are at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history which requires us to address systemic racism in our governmental institutions. We must take additional steps to ensure equity is a foundational principle in a new market,” the governor wrote to lawmakers.

He added that the concerns of communities disproportionately targeted by the so-called War on Drugs were not adequately addressed in the legislation.

Issuing of the first commercial licence for growing industrial hemp in Australia’s Northern Territory was announced on Friday – and it’s been a long time coming.

The successful licensee is Michael Jakobi:

“I applied for a commercial hemp licence because I wanted an alternative to growing hay and because I thought it would be a good rotational fit with some of my crops,” said Mr. Jakobi. “The fact that hemp is multi-use is very appealing, I am also interested in the possible soil conditioning benefits planting hemp may have for my future crops.”

The Northern Territory Government seems pretty pumped about the prospects for local production of hemp.

“To grow our economy, we need to diversify our economy – and expanding into the exciting sector of industrial hemp does just that,” said Minister for Agribusiness and Aquaculture Nicole Manison. “Starting an industrial hemp industry here in the Territory brings with it new jobs and new manufacturing and exporting opportunities – the potential is very exciting.”

As it stands right now there are only two countries on earth that have passed an adult-use cannabis legalization measure.

The first to ever do it was Uruguay in 2013.

Uruguay’s legalization model is somewhat limited in that only residents can legally purchase adult-use cannabis.

Canada became the first G-7 nation to legalize cannabis for adult-use when it passed a nationwide legalization measure in 2018. 

The legalization model in Canada is such that any legally aged adult from anywhere on the planet can come to Canada and make a legal adult-use cannabis purchase.