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As the global cannabis industry continues to expand in ways previously unimaginable, there is a growing demand for transparency throughout the cultivation and distribution processes – complete seed to sale observability. A handful of startups around the world are tapping into this need by offering blockchain-based solutions for cannabis businesses.

For the last few years, blockchain has been touted as a new and innovative technology that could shake up a number of industries such as music and streaming, education, financial institutions and payments, healthcare, cryptocurrency, and cybersecurity. Although blockchain is still on the fringe of becoming the next big thing, it’s comparable to how the internet slowly creeped into our lives and eventually underwent a rapid evolution that reshaped modern society.

The cannabis market seems to be taking root the same way, very slowly at first but now it is a global phenomenon that cannot be stopped, regardless of its legal status. Unlike other industries, however, those working in cannabis face many unique challenges regarding regulatory changes, payment systems, and supply chains. Blockchain has been embraced as an innovative technology that can help revolutionize the way cannabis companies conduct operations and handle business.

Are you a cannabis aficionado who would like to learn more this incredible plant, as well as gain access to exclusive deals on flowers and other products? If so, make sure to subscribe to The CBD Flowers Weekly Newsletter for the best of the best that this industry has to offer, or to the Delta 8 Weekly Newsletter for the the best deals on Delta 8 THC.

Challenges faced by the cannabis industry

Although 36 states already allow the use of medical and/or recreational cannabis, it remains federally illegal, which means industry stakeholders still face some unusual hurdles that people in other fields never even have to consider – supply chain issues, accepting payments, banking and business financing, tax structures, and constant regulatory changes are only a few of the many.

Let’s start with supply chain issues, which are different in the cannabis industry than others because legal cannabis businesses are stuck competing with the still-thriving illegal market. Take California, for instance, the largest cannabis market in the world which still has black/grey sales that often outpace the legal ones. With business owners bogged down by ridiculous regulations and sky-high licensing costs, it’s no surprise that unpermitted dispensaries and illegal grow-ops are still popping up all over the country.

Lumber has been one of the most common building materials in construction for a very long time.

It is not the most popular building material on earth, as that distinction goes to concrete. However, wood is still very popular and has been for centuries.

Houses, wagons, bridges, and a number of other things have been made out of wood in many different countries throughout the world both historically and currently.

Unfortunately, prices for lumber have increased exponentially this year, which may ultimately prove to be a blessing to the global hemp industry.

Exploding Prices for Lumber

Lumber is a commodity that is traded around the world. Virtually every country on earth uses lumber for various purposes.

It’s been somewhat like pulling teeth, but the United States Drug Enforcement Administration has moved closer to allowing more growers to produce marijuana for research purposes.

While hemp was made legal at a Federal level with the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill into law, cannabis not meeting the definition of hemp is still considered marijuana in the USA, and therefore illegal.

This causes all sorts of problems for the industry, including relating to important research that needs to occur.

Currently, all federally-approved studies of medical cannabis must source their product from a single entity, the National Center for the Development of Natural Products at University of Mississippi. It has been the only legal source for more than 40 years. The quality of cannabis from the facility has been called into question in the past.

Cannabis research in the USA has been seriously impeded by the DEA’s stance on the issue. However, it has been taking steps to permit an increase in the number of growers authorised to grow marijuana for research purposes. The process has taken years so far.

Moving to end one university’s decadeslong monopoly on supplying marijuana for U.S. research, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said last Friday it will soon issue licenses to a number of growing facilities. Since 1968, only one operation, the University of Mississippi, has been licensed to supply marijuana to U.S. medical researchers who want to explore its value for treating conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain.

DEA announced on its website that it had sent a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to several manufacturers that had applied for licenses to grow cannabis for research studies. The memos come less 6 months after the agency published a final rule describing how exactly the program would work. And they mark a huge shift after years of delayed license applications. Although consuming marijuana is legal for medical purposes in 36 states and for recreational use in 17 states, consumption remains a criminal offense under federal law.

“We were euphoric. This is a victory for scientific freedom. It’s finally a chance to use real-world cannabis in our own studies and supply genetically diverse cannabis to scientists across the nation,” says Sue Sisley, the president and principal investigator at the Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI), which received one of Friday’s MOAs. In 2019, SRI sued DEA to force it to end years of delay in processing license applications. Two other applicants, the Biopharmaceutical Research Company and Steven Groff, a physician in York, Pennsylvania, also received memos from DEA, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Australian Federal Government’s recently handed down 2021-22 Budget included $1.5 million for a trial exploring personalised medicinal cannabis dosing in cancer patients.

Awarded via the Medical Research Future Fund, Dr Hannah Wardill will lead the CANCAN trial to be carried out at University of Adelaide in South Australia. It will primarily target prevention of common symptoms associated with advanced cancer treatments, which are highly toxic.

“The CANCAN trial will show that targeting gut distress, due to mucosal injury, with medical cannabis will improve patient wellbeing and maintenance of intended dosing,” said Dr. Wardill. “It’s also hoped the personalised CBD and THC preparation will prevent and manage clusters of related side effects of cancer therapy including detrimental effects to sleep, appetite, mood, pain and fatigue.”

Dr. Wardill has been a member of the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer and the Mucositis Research Group since 2013. She has been awarded the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer International Young Investigator Award, and is also an Australian Young Achiever and Qiagen Microbiome Award winner.

“This is another important step in our journey to create high quality, consistent, affordable, person-centred, precision cannabis medicines and comes on the back of other recent significant milestones,” said LeafCann.

US medical cannabis company MedPharm has been awarded a research grant to evaluate cannabinoid product label claims of potency.

The three-year study funded by the state of Colorado will delve into trends in consistency between laboratories, shelf life and label accuracy within product categories.

“The proposed work will allow a direct comparison of product content to product labels, enabling an independent quantification of any systematic biases that may exist across product types or testing facilities,” said MedPharm Director of Chemistry Dr. Tyrell Towle.

As well as help informing regulators on any potential issues and helping to shape policies and procedures for testing and dosing, the results will also be of interest to medical cannabis patients and scientists – they will be made public.

Dr. Towle says there have been no previous studies systematically testing the full range of cannabis products sold in Colorado’s retail market.

With all the talk of the current devastation to the honeybee community, and the possible repercussions to humanity in general, it makes the small, buzzing creatures a rather important feature in our ecosystem. Honey, much like cannabis, provides all kinds of benefits to health and nutrition, and with a growing interest in cannabis honey, the two are coming together to create some of the best products on the market. If you were unaware of how cannabis and honey go together, read on.

The best thing to hit the world of cannabis isn’t shatter, or live resin, or even THC distillate. It’s delta-8 THC. Unlike delta-9 THC, the standard THC of marijuana, delta-8 THC actually produces slightly less psychoactive effect, causes less anxiety and paranoia, and provides a clear-headed, energetic high. It’s all the good stuff about THC, with less of the issues that cause people problems. If you’ve only heard about it, and never tried it, we’ve got great delta-8 THC deals so you can experience it for yourself.

A little bit about bees

The first thing to know about bees, is that they’re not all the same. When whizzing past your face, they may look the same, but a wasp, a yellowjacket, and a honeybee are all very different species of flying bug. We are most interested in honeybees. There are several types of honeybees, with the most common being Apis mellifera. This specific honeybee is also referred to as the European honeybee, or the Western Honeybee.

As social insects, honeybees reside together in hives, and actually have a pretty intricate communication system between them consisting of dancing movements, which can go in depth enough to explain to other bees exact locations of food sources, their size, and even quality. Each honeybee community has a queen bee, worker bees, and drone bees. Worker bees are female bees that never reach sexual maturity, with the queens being females that are bigger in size. Male bees are called drones.

I could go on talking about the particulars of honeybees, but it’s not terribly important. Here are a few things that are. Bees require two kinds of food. The first is honey, which is made from nectar from flowers. The second is pollen, which comes from the anthers of a flower. This nectar and pollen is individual to each species of flower, and each flower within the species. Most bees will only collect one or the other, pollen or nectar. While collecting, nectar gets stored in a stomach specifically for nectar, from which it is transferred to other bees in the hive to use for honey production. This is separate from the bee’s own regular stomach, however, a valve exists between the two so that the bee can use some of the nectar for energy if needed.

Ethanol contains 7 calories per gram. That’s almost two times the calories of carbohydrates and nearly as many of fat. So, if you want to drink beer without the calories, sorry — it’s not going to happen. It can’t.

That may be why, as breweries strive to minimize their beers’ caloric value, cannabis beverages are taking flight. With THC-infused drinks, consumers can attain that buzz they’re after without the caloric baggage. In a sense, they’re required to, since it is illegal to combine alcohol and THC in the same product.

Cannabis-infused drinks have been on the market for several years now, but I didn’t have a taste until last week, when I was delivered a sample pack of a lime-and-basil-flavored bubbly water infused lightly with the compounds of interest from marijuana — namely, and chemically, tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol. These are better known in daily dialogues as THC and CBD.

CBD is the miracle molecule that cures all ills, or nearly so, according to high life advocates, while THC is the compound that messes with people’s heads.

The product I tasted contains both. It is on shelves now and emerged from a collaboration between Sava, a local online cannabis vendor, and Cann, which makes a variety of all-natural, low-dose “social tonics,” as Cann’s website calls them.

From the robots that fail miserably at their jobs to the robots dealing with our literal crap, Mashable’s Crappy Robots dives into the complex world of automation — for better or worse or much, much worse. 

Cannabis farm production is at an all-time high, but it's unlikely that robots will take over the process anytime soon.

The stereotypical weed farm is either a sprawling expanse of crop tended to by free-spirited stoners, or a clandestine basement operation built on information gleaned from online forums. Modern cannabis farm facilities, with their climate-controlled grow rooms and automatic irrigation techniques, are a stark departure from pop culture's preconceived notions of what a weed farm looks like. Though far more clinical than its cliché predecessor, the modern cannabis farm still does the bulk of cultivation by hand. Few, if any, other agricultural spaces use human labor over that of a machine's to the degree that cannabis farms do, but the quality-driven nature of weed requires fine motor skills and age-old intuition that technology hasn't adapted to yet. 

While the agricultural industry has relied on machinery for centuries, automation falls short in the cannabis sphere. The rise in states legalizing marijuana and the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp ushered in a "green rush" of farmers who could grow cannabis, and consumers who could finally buy it. Despite the growing demand, high-quality bud is a fragile crop, and machinery used in conventional agriculture isn't gentle enough to handle it. 

Outdoor farming is limited to areas with consistent sunlight and temperate climates, so most brands farm their weed indoors. Marijuana Business Daily reported that in 2018, more than 80 percent of California's recreational marijuana production capacity was from indoor facilities. But even indoor facilities, unencumbered by outdoor farming's natural limits and boosted by modern technology, require people to do a majority of the work. That isn't because the technology or machinery doesn't exist, but because a trained human being just does the job better than a robot. Agricultural technology may be leaps and bounds ahead of at-home grows 20 years ago, but reaching a Monsanto-level scale of operations is out of the picture for cannabis farms. For now, ensuring high-quality bud still requires significant human involvement. 

Finding funding for medical cannabis research can be challenging in the USA, but a new initiative is thinking outside the box.

University of New Mexico’s recently launched “Rounding Up for Research” project will raise funds for this purpose and for related student scholarships.

UNM is aiming to team up with cannabis dispensaries across the nation under the initiative, which will see participating dispensary customers being able to round up to the nearest dollar on their cannabis purchases and that difference going to the University’s Medical Cannabis Research Fund (MCRF). It appears the initial goal is to raise $250,000.

“Because the U.S. Federal government has overwhelmingly prioritized funding for research designed to measure the harmful effects of using Cannabis, there is a scarcity of information and governmental resources for investigating the plant’s potential medicinal applications,” says the University.

Senior scientist and assistant professor at UNM’s Department of Psychology Jacob Miguel Vigil says there is much to be gained from more research and is enthusiastic about the potential for cannabis in a medicinal context.

Aside from the many negative impacts of illegal grow operations (banned insecticides, illegal diversion of stream water, unchecked chemical runoff), legal operations can also pack a devastating environmental punch.

With both 420 and Earth Day (4/22) being celebrated this week, there’s an opportunity to take a good, hard look at the environmental impacts of the cannabis industry as well as legislative responses to those challenges.

Resource use and extraction, air and water quality, and waste management are just a few of the environmental issues confronting indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cultivation operations. Worth a staggering $61 billion, the cannabis industry is profiting heavily from its current practices, so it stands to reason that legislators are looking to heightened restrictions, green incentives, and higher permitting and licensing fees to offset some of the environmental costs of production and manufacturing.

Photo by Matteo Paganelli via Unsplash

Aside from the many negative impacts of illegal grow operations, including the use of banned insecticides, illegal diversion of stream water, and unchecked chemical runoff, legal operations can still pack a devastating environmental punch. Soil degradation increased load on water and energy infrastructure systems, and carbon and volatile organic compound emissions from terpenes all have scientists, activists, and lawmakers scrambling to make sure the cannabis market’s booming profits don’t come at the expense of planetary health.

Cannabis extraction equipment represents one of the most innovative sectors in the industry, with new products and constantly evolving techniques for processing raw plant material.

Among other areas, marijuana and hemp companies are developing:

1. CO2 joined with hydrocarbons

At Eden Labs, an extraction-equipment manufacturer based in Seattle, founder Fritz Chess is working on a machine that will combine the strengths of two common solvents – CO2 and hydrocarbon – for both marijuana and hemp companies. The machines lessen the danger of the flammable propane by diluting it with CO2. Yet the technology also maintains hydrocarbon’s quicker throughput.

“It’s the best of both worlds,” Chess said.

It’s not quite as fast as using a simple butane or propane mix, but the process still creates an adequate terpene profile. According to Chess, the market demand continues to grow for marijuana-derived terpenes in vape pens. The natural terpenes can be used as a safe alternative to help “cut” the viscous extract rather than using a synthetic cutting agent such as propylene glycol. Chess said more consumers are becoming aware of the importance of terpenes in vape products to create the entourage effect.

Iowa State professor Jacek Koziel's exposure to research on the smell of marijuana happened while assisting a former Ph.D. student with her mapping of the substance's compounds.

Koziel remembers thinking "Oh yea, this is intense," as he saw three large canvas bags of police-confiscated marijuana, donated to their research at the State Forensics Laboratory in Ankeny. The student, Somchai Rice, now an Iowa State researcher, delved into similar projects with heroin and cocaine, creating an extensive library of compounds in the substances.

The paper published in 2015 that came from this project received 20,000 hits, and nearly a decade after that project began, Koziel is back digging into marijuana compounds. 

The recent research project, led by Byers Scientific, singled out what compound causes marijuana's strong, skunky smell, a compound Koziel recognized from his research with Rice. 

"Now with the project with Byers it's like, 'Oh my gosh, we saw this compound. It's right there," Koziel said. "Now, we have a confirmation of exactly what this compound is."

In Florida last year, nearly 15 percent of hemp crops failed due to poor performance. The plants didn't grow properly for reasons most farmers still can't pinpoint because they never tested samples along the way. Yet every wasted acre added up to significant losses in profits and resources. What if hemp growers had a way to prevent such disasters? What if they took the opportunity to test the soil and plants before harvest? 

Hemp processors, brands, and retailers face their own unique challenges and opportunities in bringing products to market. Most companies focus so intently on testing for CBD and THC potency that they forget about the hundreds of therapeutic compounds their products contain. Even worse, some have no idea their products may possess harmful manufacturing byproducts that could make their customers sick.

Suppose hemp growers, producers, and sellers want a consistent premium product but don't have a Certificate of Analysis (COA) to prove it. How can they be sure the results match the expectations? How can they justify a higher market value? More importantly, how can they expect the end-user to trust in the quality of their product? The future of hemp and cannabis relies on the industry's dedication to quality, education, and inspiring consumer trust. Companies can only achieve those milestones by looking beyond minimum compliance standards. They must go beyond potency testing. 

Here are six essential hemp and cannabis tests beyond potency.

Pre-harvest testing

To ensure the hemp is safe and effective for sale, farmers must start testing before the seed hits the ground and throughout the plant's entire lifecycle. If farmers test for contaminants and micronutrients, they can correct errors before wasting time and money on a faulty harvest.

Akerna CEO Jessica Billingsley speaks with MCN about the future of the medical cannabis industry, regarding technology, finance and cannabis policy.

Jessica Billingsley, who will be delivering the keynote address at the ICBC Global Investment Forum on 7 May, is CEO of cannabis technology consolidation firm Akerna. In 2018, she launched the One Woman Challenge, which challenges participants to support and encourage women in business at a time when female representation in the workforce is declining. She speaks with MCN about technology in the cannabis industry and the future of US drugs policy.

What first drew you to cannabis, both on a personal and a political level?

My initial interest in cannabis was fuelled by a matter close to home. One of my family members suffers from a demyelinating illness, similar to MS, and I saw promising scientific studies and medical reports backing cannabis-based medicine as a potential treatment.

I made my first investment in the cannabis industry in 2009; and my interest only grew from there, particularly around the proven health and wellness benefits of the cannabis plant. Although there are so many medicinal benefits, the unfortunate result of the substance being federally illegal for so long is that it became an illicit-market item, leading to issues of counterfeit products and incorrect dosing – most recently exemplified by the 2019 vaping crisis. On top of that, consumers are increasingly conscious of what they put in and on their bodies; and the murky waters of the slowly changing illegal-to-legal market have left many products untraced and consumers wary. This lack of accountability, transparency, and regulation was the driver for why I started MJ Freeway, Akerna’s flagship product, which pioneered seed-to-sale tracking. This software model provides businesses, governments, and consumers with connected data on where and how the cannabis is being grown, cultivated, and brought to the shelf.

Cannabis is the fastest growing industry globally, and coupled with my technology background, the cannabis technology market was one I willing to bet on – and that gamble has proven to be worth it.

British Columbia’s Ministry of Agriculture recently released a fact sheet describing the symptoms and spread of the most common diseases affecting cannabis plants. The list includes Fusarium, Pythium, Powdery Mildew, Botrytis, and Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd). Many of the pathogens cause stunted growth as well as reduced yield and potency. Others, such as pythium can cause plant death.

Needless to say, cultivators should do everything they can to prevent infections and ensure a fruitful harvest. The fact sheet concludes with several recommendations for preventing disease in cannabis plants, including:

Maintain a clean and sanitary environment

All the plant pathogens described in the fact sheet can be spread through contaminated equipment, tools, and potentially staff and visitors. That is why maintaining clean and sanitary growing facilities can minimize the potential spread of pathogens.

Tools, equipment, dehumidifiers, air filters, and growing and trimming rooms, should be regularly cleaned and sanitized. Visitors and staff should also use footbaths before entering the growing area and wear hairnets, beard nets, gloves, and Tyvek coveralls.

While people have likely smoked from a pipe or a bowl that had remnants from a different weed strain, mixing two strains is not something that usually done, at least not as a first choice. Is it possible to produce different highs when mixing two types of weed? Can a person tailor a high by playing scientist? Some people believe that’s the case and some don’t.

Mixing strains together can boost weed’s much discussed entourage effect, that feeling when different elements of cannabis come together and produce a powerful high, much stronger than when consuming a single cannabinoid by itself. The entourage effect is the reason why many people claim that consuming one cannabinoid for relaxing or therapeutic effects is not as effective as consuming the entirety of the plant, terpenes and all.

If truly looking to explore unique effects, mixing two strains together may be able to do that, for better or worse. In any case, mixing two strains isn’t rocket science. While a person can end up with a very strong high or something that sends the user to bed, the feeling will pass.

What should a person do?

Stick to one type of product and use common sense. If smoking flower, choose two preferred strains and pair them in equal parts. Don’t mix a vape with flower, or an edible with flower. Start off slow and reign in that creative monster.

When prepping a bowl, take care with the flower by placing it in glass containers and out of the sun and storing it in a cool, dry place. This will preserve the plant’s terpenes and allow for fuller experience.

Cannabis companies haven't made many deals outside of its own industry, but a couple of the more notable ones have involved tobacco. Altria (NYSE:MO) invested $1.8 billion into Cronos Group (NASDAQ:CRON) back in 2018 to take a 45% stake in its business. And last month, British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) invested roughly $176 million in OrganiGram Holdings (NASDAQ:OGI), which represents a 20% stake in the cannabis company.

Not only is the cannabis industry moving further into the mainstream as more states legalize marijuana, but there's also a growing pressure on the tobacco industry to diversify its offerings. And a new projection could put pressure on tobacco companies to act sooner rather than later.

Could all the smokers disappear?

According to analysts at Jefferies, conventional smokers could be gone from many markets around the world within just two decades. This isn't because smokers won't still demand the products, but instead that countries are trying to move away from smoking and tobacco companies by offering reduced-risk products (RRPs). Analysts point to vaping and oral nicotine as alternatives that smokers may end up turning to. 

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) sells IQOS, an electronic cigarette that heats tobacco rather than burns it. However, it still has a long way to go in proving it can be a meaningful alternative for smokers. One quarter of the $28.7 billion in net sales that Philip Morris generated last year was related to RRPs. And of that total, IQOS accounted for just 7%. Switching to other products likely isn't all about safety, either, as tobacco companies also need to find more avenues to grow. Philip Morris' 2020 revenue was down from 2019's tally of $29.8 billion, and its top line is nearly unchanged from what it was in 2017. British American Tobacco's sales also declined in 2020 and over two years are up just over 5%.

Why cannabis may be the ideal option for tobacco

A big reason why industries are hesitant to get involved with cannabis is that it's risky. Federal prohibition means that products can't be transported into the U.S. from abroad or across state lines, and some businesses aren't willing to risk damaging their wholesome images. That's what Berkshire Hathaway executive Charlie Munger pointed to in a 2019 interview, saying it would be a mistake if soft drink giant Coca-Cola were to ever attempt to mix marijuana with its products.

Researchers believe they may have identified the chemical primarily responsible for complaints regarding the smell of some marijuana and hemp cultivation operations.

We recently mentioned complaints in connection with the smell of hemp farms – some of them anyway – are far from being uncommon. But it turns out what has been described as a “skunky-like” odor may have nothing to do with certain terpenes, the aromatic compounds found in many plants previously thought to be responsible.

A research team consisting of Byers Scientific, Iowa State University and Texas-based odor experts used a triangulation approach of analytical chemistry to potentially identify the primary culprit as being 3-methyl-2-butene-1-thiol (321 MBT). This compound is among seven contained in a skunk’s spray that give the critter its smelly reputation.

321 MBT is also the same chemical causing the skunk-type aroma and odd flavour in “light-struck” beer. This occurs when beer is exposed to strong light, which causes certain compounds in hops to degrade. Light-struck beer is also known as “skunked” beer and is one of the reasons beer is usually stored in brown rather than clear or green bottles, as brown glass transmits less visible light.

There’s a connection between hops and cannabis – they are in the same plant family (Cannabaceae).

Yep, you read that right: you can now get paid to study cannabis! Cannatech healthcare company Veriheal just announced a $20,000 Innovation in Cannabis scholarship for students pursuing cannabis degrees. 

The scholarship first launched in 2020, but last year only gave out $10,000 in scholarship awards. This year, it has been doubled to offer 20 $1,000 scholarships to those who qualify. 

“With this scholarship fund, we’re putting $20,000 directly into the hands of a new generation of innovators who will help shape the future of our industry,” said Veriheal co-founder and co-CEO Joshua Green. “The cannabis category is growing at an extraordinary rate, and there are many complex problems that must be solved across all sectors, from finance and technology to science and education. At Veriheal, we’re fortunate to be in the position to support budding entrepreneurs from all walks of life and bring diverse, fresh perspectives to the cannabis field.”

How To Apply

To qualify for the scholarship, high school seniors and college students must submit a 1,000+-word essay explaining how they plan to improve the cannabis industry. Winners will be chosen based on these essays.