WeedLife News Network

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.

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.

 Before you roll your next joint, listen up. An analysis conducted on rolling papers showed that there was at least one heavy metal in 90% of the papers that were tested. And according to data, 8% of them contained at least one heavy metal in concentration levels above the allowable state limits for cannabis products.

Researchers from one of California’s leading cannabis labs, SC Labs, analyzed samples of 70 rolling papers — 25 pre-rolled cones, 20 wraps and three cellulose based papers, all purchased from Amazon and different smoke shops located throughout Santa Cruz.

“It is not surprising to find a prevalence of heavy metals detected in the rolling paper products and should not be considered alarming on its own,” researchers noted. “There is a wide range of concentrations of metals contamination in these products from a relatively low level to grossly contaminated.”

While it may be surprising to learn that there’s metals in your rolling papers, it makes sense. Paper is made out of plants, which naturally absorb contaminants from the soil that they were planted in. Although rolling paper manufacturers have to adhere to some regulations, including listing their ingredients, these are generally less monitored than other products within the tobacco and cannabis industry.

There will always be some level of harm associated with smoking any kind of paper, which makes switching to other cannabis consuming methods a valid option. If you enjoy your joints, you can still try to keep yourself as healthy as possible by sticking to popular and certified rolling paper brands, such as RAW.  

Harvest is the most exciting and also the most stressful time of the entire outdoor grow cycle. Six or more months of hard work and a whole year’s income ride on this small window of time, and it can make or break your operation. Here are some of the most important things to do before harvest to ensure success and avoid common mistakes.

1. Make sure your drying space is ready.

Clean and sanitize your drying area. Post-harvest contamination is a huge issue in regulated markets, so you want to have a good, clean start. Pull out your fans and dehumidifiers, clean them and test them to make sure they work. Acquire more if you do not have enough. Make sure you have a lot of ventilation and airflow to prevent post-harvest fungal issues. Buy a humidity monitor for your drying area and try to keep it as close to 50% relative humidity (RH)  as possible. Especially after the first day.

2. Decide how you are going to harvest, dry and separate buds from plants, and calculate how much space you will need to do this.

Not having enough drying space is one of the most common mistakes new farmers make. This choice can also affect drying time and ultimately the quality of finished flower. Options include:

Post-harvest contamination is a huge issue in regulated markets, so you want to have a good, clean start. Puffin Farm's drying area is cleaned and sanitized before harvest begins. Photo by David Goodman. 

3. Scout plants for botrytis and fungal issues frequently.

As harvest approaches, depending on your location, the weather may be getting cooler and wetter. Any infected buds need to be removed daily, or the fungus can spread rapidly. After harvest, continue to check drying material, as mold can take hold in the drying area and destroy your harvest.

It wasn’t that long ago that there was a spike in health issues reported in multiple countries, with the culprit causing the issues reportedly being cannabis vape pen cartridges.

Cannabis vape pen cartridges grew in popularity at an exponential rate in recent years, and for good reason.

Much of the increased popularity is due to vape pen cartridges being convenient, discreet, and for many consumers and patients they are effective at providing the desired effect.

Another major factor contributing to the exponential growth in popularity is the increased availability of vape pen cartridges in legal markets. 

Unfortunately, that increased availability in legal markets has been paralleled by an increase in the availability of unregulated cartridges in illegal jurisdictions.

If there’s one thing that the U.S. seems to enjoy, it’s health fads.

There has been no shortage of health-conscious trends that have made their way into the public eye only to become yesterday’s news in a matter of months.

Keto dieting, kale integration, juice cleansing, gluten avoidance, and even colonic hydrotherapy are just a few examples of health fads that seemed like they were going to change the world, only to quickly become a relic of their time.

This has led to CBD being considered a wonder drug by some and snake oil by others.

There’s no doubt that CBD is very much “in” right now.

The numbers back this up, looking at Statista’s list of CBD sales over the years: $108.1 million in 2014, $262.2 million in 2016, $512.7 million in 2018, and a projected $1.812 billion in 2022.

2020 will always be remembered as the year of coronavirus. In the retail marketplace, people were driven away from physical retail stores and became increasingly reliant on remote shopping. Also, many nervous consumers dealing with pandemic-induced stress and sleeping disorders have been embracing the relatively new marketplace of cannabidiol (CBD) products. 

Unfortunately, this dynamic has created a perfect storm for fraud, as scam artists hide behind the anonymity of the internet and prey on unsuspecting consumers with subpar, fake and/or counterfeit CBD goods. 

With snowballing fraud now jeopardizing the growth of the industry, it has become absolutely critical for manufacturers and distributors of CBD products to quickly stem the tide of abuse and guard against any further erosion of the relationship between consumer expectations and the CBD industry. Luckily, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and many online retail outlets now have tools available to help protect CBD brands and their customers from online scams. 

In an effort to slow the spread of fraud and counterfeits on its platform, Amazon has enacted a brand registry system that provides trademark owners with enhanced tools to more accurately present their brands to consumers, find and remove counterfeit products and other violations, and work directly with the Amazon enforcement team to proactively prevent violations and build brand presence.

These tools are invaluable in building marketplace momentum and protecting consumer interactions with your brand; however, a company must have an active federal trademark registration in order to participate. Amazon will not accept any other method of validating brand ownership for purposes of the registry, so trademark registration is now even more important than in the past.

Anyone that has cultivated cannabis will tell you that it is one of the most rewarding activities they have ever done.

Whether it’s for personal use or for commercial purposes, cultivating cannabis can be a very fun endeavor.

The cannabis plant is one of the most visually beautiful plants on earth.

However, it is also one of the stinkiest plants on Earth.

Smells that emanate from the cannabis plant are causing an issue in legal markets around the globe. 

The American workforce failed drug tests at the highest rate in nearly two decades last year, according to new data released this week.

That finding comes via Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest providers of drug tests, which said that 2019 was a 16 year high in workforce drug positivity. “Positivity rates in the combined U.S. workforce increased in urine drug tests, climbing to the highest level since 2003 (4.5%) and more than 28% percent higher than the thirty-year low of 3.5 percent recorded between 2010 and 2012,” Quest said in a press release on Tuesday. 

Notably, Quest said that last year saw “dramatic increases in positivity for cocaine and methamphetamine as well as marijuana.” Cannabis laws, of course, have changed considerably over the last decade on the local level, with a number of states and cities moving toward decriminalization or outright legalization. Medical marijuana, meanwhile, is legal in more than 30 states.

But pot remains banned on the federal level, and some employers continue to test for it. Barry Sample, PhD, senior director of science and technology, for Quest Diagnostics, said that marijuana “continues to be an enduring presence in the U.S. workforce.” 

“Changing attitudes toward its use could pose heightened risks especially in safety-sensitive positions and those states exploring legalization,” Sample said.

New analysis from Global Market Insights, Inc., shows the US cannabis testing market will be worth $1.2bn by 2026.

The Global Market Insights report shows that growing demand for medical cannabis for the treatment of various ailments has led to the growth of the US cannabis testing market. This rise in demand has further resulted in the implementation of strict government policies for the testing of cannabis to be used in medical cannabis products, thereby propelling the industry outlook.

An increasing number of applications for medical cannabis in the medical cannabis industry to treat ailments such as chronic pain and epilepsy will likely bring forth a stimulating period of growth for the medical cannabis testing market during the projected timespan.

Furthermore, various research institutes are actively focusing on exploring novel applications of cannabis. To that end, increasing investment in R&D activities is likely to further grow the cannabis testing market over the forthcoming years.

The increasing discovery of the medicinal benefits offered by cannabis have driven the demand for legalisation, and several states across the US have subsequently legalised the usage of the product for treating specific medical conditions. The legalisation is further anticipated to increase the need for laboratories to test safety and potency, thereby driving industry growth.

Late last week, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released their Interim Final Ruling on hemp extract that, if passed in October, will have devastating consequences for the CBD industry.

In typical government fashion, the DEA misinterpreted what was stated in the Farm Bill and ran with it, creating a new roadblock for the cannabis industry that makes no sense whatsoever. In short, the DEA ruling prohibits any hemp extract that reach 0.3% or more tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at any point during the manufacturing process, by categorizing these products as Schedule 1 Narcotics. Did all hemp extract just become illegal?

At first glance, the law makes sense based on the 0.3% cutoff that, arbitrary as it may be, has been around for quite some time. However, this law doesn’t apply to just finished products. If we have a CBD oil for example, that has no THC in the final product and was extracted from legally compliant industrial hemp, it could still be illegal if at some point during the manufacturing process, the THC (temporarily) exceeded 0.3 percent.

Now it makes even less sense, doesn’t it? Well, it doesn’t get much better.

WIPHE and Temporarily Elevated Levels of THC

When creating CBD products, even isolate, they go through a stage referred to as Work-in-Progress Hemp Extract (WIPHE), during which the concentrations of THC temporarily exceed 0.3 percent. Products in the WIPHE stage are only partially processed, and not intended for sale or consumption. Fluctuating levels of cannabinoids is just a normal part of the process and is impossible to avoid. Even during at the most basic levels of production, there will always be a point where the product has more than 0.3% THC.

It is these WIPHE products that are now banned. So, in the process of creating legal products from a legal plant, they briefly enter a stage where they are considered a Schedule 1 controlled substances, and thus are overall illegal. It was always the elephant in the room, but it’s honestly illogical to think that any of that matters, the focus should obviously be on the finished product that ends up in the consumer’s hands.

Dry hemp vs wet hemp

There is quite a bit of confusion whether this applies to products in the WIPHE stage or only completely finished, consumer products. According to the National Hemp Association, “this IFR only refers to consumer products to ensure that they are D9 compliant. It does not address mid-process crude or distillate which often exceeds legal THC levels. So moving/selling those materials across state lines remains ambiguous and problematic. However, while this IFR does not alleviate that concerns it also does not make it worse.”

A field testing kit that will enable law enforcement officers to quickly and cheaply determine if cannabis or a cannabis product is hemp or marijuana is ready for prime time.

To this point it has been impossible for law enforcement officers in the USA to distinguish between hemp and marijuana without sending samples to a laboratory for testing. Hemp and marijuana are basically the same plant – it’s the THC level that distinguishes between the two. At a federal level in the USA, hemp is legal while marijuana isn’t and while field testing can determine if a cannabis sample has THC, hemp is permitted to have very low levels.

Hemp Synergistics LLC, through a partnership with forensic scientists at Purdue University Northwest, says a THC Rapid Field Test Kit it has developed provides law enforcement an easy-to-use tool to distinguish hemp from marijuana in less than five minutes. Each test costs USD $14; far cheaper than laboratory testing that costs thousands and similar in pricing to non-discriminatory field test kits used regularly by law enforcement. What isn’t mentioned is the cost of the testing unit.

Aside from the expense of laboratory testing, crops and products suspected of being marijuana are seized; depriving owners of legal hemp and associated products of their use or sale. There have been a number of high-profile cases where large quantities of cannabis have been seized and then subsequently proven to be hemp. By the time that happens, the material may have degraded and unable to be sold for its original purpose.

“The goal was to develop a test that was easily deployed in the field and was reliable and scientifically defensible – as opposed to sending a sample back to a lab with expensive high-powered instrumentation,” said Ron Fazio, COO at Hemp Synergistics.

While the cannabis-infused beverage category is expanding rapidly, product awareness and brand awareness lag behind, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. cannabis consumers fielded July 2nd through July 16th, 2020 by consumer insights firm SoapBoxSample. Results revealed that the top reason cited for not having tried cannabis beverage products is that 45% of consumers simply did not know they existed. Meanwhile, those who have tried it are likely to try it again. The most popular types of beverages consumers have tried and say they will have again are juice or fruit punch (68%), hot chocolate (61%) and non-alcoholic wine (60%). Certain categories of cannabis-infused beverages have even become a part of some consumers’ weekly routines including coffee (42%), tea (42%) and juice or fruit punch (41%).

“This study illustrates the enormous potential of the cannabis beverage market,” said Jacqueline Rosales, COO of SoapBoxSample. “Cannabis consumers are eager to try new products and they are expecting brands to bring products to market that speak to their specific tastes and preferences. By connecting with their target audience, brands can make strategic decisions supported by market insights.”

Beer without cannabis is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the United States. However, that popularity doesn’t seem to translate to the cannabis category. SoapBoxSample asked consumers who hadn’t tried a cannabis beverage about their interest level in 13 different types of beverages. The only beverage that ranked lower than beer were aperitifs. Only 33% expressed an interest in trying cannabis-infused non-alcoholic beer. By comparison, 79% said they would like to try a cannabis lemonade or limeade. Other popular choices for would-be consumers include iced and herbal teas (79%), juice/fruit punch (77%), and soda/sparkling seltzer (72%).

Cannabis beer brands may be hoping to win over consumers once they sample the product. However, consumers who have tried cannabis beer have less interest in trying it again, compared to other beverage categories. While 39% of those who have tried cannabis beer said they would drink it again, 68% of those who have had cannabis juice or fruit punch said they would drink it again and 61% of those who tried cannabis hot chocolate would have it again. Adoption rates of cannabis sparkling water (59%), infused coffee/cold brew (58%) and infused iced or herbal tea (56%) were also relatively high, while cannabis beer (39%) and aperitifs (28%) ranked lowest.

The emerging popularity of cannabis beverages is reflected in the data. Among those who have tried cannabis beverages, 29% tried it for the first time in the last month. To understand rapidly evolving consumer preferences, SoapBoxSample looked at consumer interest in beverage types and awareness of cannabis beverage brands. Overall, brand awareness is low. Around 60% of consumers said they were unfamiliar with all 23 of the brands tested in this study, indicating there is room for cannabis brands to earn market share by increasing brand awareness.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) approved the use of BotaniGard Maxx (pyrethrin + a fungicide, Beauveria bassiana) to control insect pests in hemp. Pyrethrins are broad-spectrum insecticides that are toxic to honey bees and other pollinators. Best Management Practices (BMPs) should be followed to reduce the risk of bee exposure to BotaniGard Maxx when producing hemp.

While most cultivated hemp are non-pollen producing female plants, seed feminization is never 100% true and males (picture at right) will be present in the field. Males shed a lot of pollen, making them attractive to native bees and honeybees.

How to Protect Bees when using BotaniGard Maxx in Hemp:

Removing male plants can help reduce the chance of attracting bees into hemp where pyrehtoirds are being used.

Finally, the feds are looking more seriously into product safety and quality for cannabis and CBD products, but it’s not the FTC taking the reins.

Over the years, we’ve pointed out when federal agencies opt to ignore the federal illegality of cannabis. It happens more often than you might think depending on the topic (see, for example, the NLRB). One agency, however, that has surprisingly never lifted a finger against state-legal cannabis – though it is taking a closer look at CBD – is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

It is bad public policy when no federal watchdog is looking out for cannabis consumers (many millions of people) or scrutinizing the quality of cannabis products overall, and/or going after bad actors to deter bad behavior. To date, it’s truly been “buyer beware” outside of states putting together their own protocols on things like recalls, packaging and labeling safety standards, quality assurance reviews, and testing. None of this is approved or sanctioned by the feds, like it oftentimes is for other industries. As such, the states are literally making up cannabis consumer safety as they go along; and products liability suits (and at least one wrongful death suit) have manifested over the years. See here for our various posts on these topics.

Cannabis testing, itself, has also been problematic in a variety of states where no gold standard exists for testing. It’s entirely up to state agencies regarding what, exactly, should be tested and in what amounts, in order to be considered a “passing” product. For example, if you remember, vitamin E acetate was one of the presumable culprits when consumers were experiencing significant health issues from ingesting illegal market cannabis oils through vapes.

At the same time, California’s cannabis regulators didn’t mandate testing for additives/thickeners (like vitamin E acetate) for products manufactured and sold by state-licensed businesses. In addition, there have always been issues with certain standards of lab integrity/general competence: one lab will issue a passing result for a batch of cannabis while a second lab issues a failing result — both using the same testing methods under state laws and regulations.

One of the biggest threats facing CBD companies? Survival. CBD is already projected to hit over $16 billion in sales by 2024, so it's not surprising that there are over 3,000 brands in the market, hoping to ride the wave of success and reap the rewards.  

But there is a big problem. While there is a high level of consumer interest, the market has reached a saturation point. And yet, CBD remains a nascent category, and the continuum of consumer knowledge is breathtakingly wide. Yes, there are many consumers who are self-educated and knowledgeable, but the opportunity for brands to scale is to connect the dots for new consumers and bring them along.

The pace that the industry has scaled has provided oceans of data on millions of potential consumers. Thanks to Big Data, AI, and predictive analytics, we can finally start to make sense of it all, gathering insights that allow us to eliminate guesswork and target the right audiences. 

Clutter and confusion

Consumer interest in CBD has grown over 100 percent year-over-year for the last few years, and while the pandemic has slowed industry growth, CBD is here to stay. Search volumes at the beginning of the pandemic for “best CBD for anxiety” showed an increase of 250 percent according to Google Trends. 

However, all of this interest also creates confusion for consumers. Many brands market based on the potency of CBD or the process of extraction, neither of which most of the general public understands. Too many CBD websites market with images of sunny landscapes and green fields, all of which feel undifferentiated. Some bad actors go as far as to make false claims of health benefits, or they market products that may not even contain quality CBD. For a CBD-curious consumer, it can be a daunting task to cut through it all.

Vapor pens accounted for most of the sales of Cannabis 2.0 products in Canada, as demonstrated by new data collected by data analytics company Headset. 

Dubbed Cannabis 2.0, the second wave of legalization in Canada saw vapes, edibles and beverages become legal exactly one year after the country allowed recreational marijuana sales. 

Since then, products under the Cannabis 2.0 category started slowly hitting the shelves of Canadian markets, however, the coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted the entire cannabis industry. 

As the rollout of Cannabis 2.0 is still in its early stages, companies are still trying to figure out which products will attract the most consumers. 

According to the data from Headset’s report, vape pens were by far the most popular product in the three Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario, which Headset included in its analysis on Cannabis 2.0. 

An Oregon hemp processor claims a Washington farm violated a contract by failing to deliver hemp of sufficient potency and quality to fully repay a loan.

New Earth Biosciences, a processor in Salem, Ore., has filed a lawsuit seeking repayment of about $800,000 advanced to Terra Ridge Farms of Othello, Wash., for seeds, growing supplies and drying services.

Under a contract between the companies, 90% of the hemp supplied by Terra Ridge Farms to New Earth Biosciences was to contain at least 10% cannabidiol, or CBD, the complaint said.

The CBD compound is extracted for use in a variety of products, as it’s believed to have anti-inflammatory and other healthful qualities.

However, the farm’s first load of hemp delivered to the processor last autumn only contained about 7% CBD while having been “excessively dried” and “chopped too finely” to fit the specifications of extraction equipment, the complaint said.

Hemp has thousands of uses including paper, textiles, building materials, food, cosmetics and more. One application that might not immediately come to mind is hemp’s usefulness in the manufacture of musical instruments.

Entrepreneur Morris Beegle may be better known as the producer of the world’s largest hemp-centric conference and trade show, NoCo Hemp Expo, held each year in Denver, but with his new company, Silver Mountain Hemp Guitars, he’s combining two passions. In addition to leading the NoCo show and a number of other hemp-related activities over the past several years, Morris spent 25 years as a producer and promoter in the music business. Now, with the launch of Silver Mountain hand crafted, hemp composite electric guitars and ukuleles made in classic styles for working musicians, he has come full circle.

Hemp has thousands of uses including paper, textiles, building materials, food, cosmetics, animal feed and more. But one application that might not immediately come to mind is the use of hemp in making musical instruments. Beegle is among a group of early innovators seeking to change that with the launch of Silver Mountain’s website, his flagship hemp guitars made in classic styles inspired from the ‘50s and ‘60s, high performance, hemp-derived speaker cabinets and cones, and related productThe use of hemp composite materials helps reduce deforestation and the use of endangered woods often used in making musical instruments, Beegle says, and hand crafted under a luthier’s care, his eco-friendly guitars and ukuleles sound great, too. Silver Mountain guitars were recently featured in Merry Jane, Pot Network and most recently on the Devil Doc Talk Podcast featuring Joey “Doc Talk” Martinez.

In addition to hemp guitars, ukuleles and speaker cabinets, Silver Mountain offers guitar straps, guitar picks, volume knobs and other accessories, all using hemp as a main ingredient in the manufacturing process. The company’s flagship guitars are hand made using hemp bast fiber composite body shells molded around hemp board cores. Custom hand-made speaker cabinets are forged with hemp pressed particle board and paired with a choice of Tone Tubby HempCone or Eminence Cannabis Rex speakers, Beegle says.

For travelers, BugOut Guitars, based in Randolph, VT, combines hemp and plant-based resins to create a unique and “supremely rugged” travel-size guitar. “One thing that’s unique about the hemp guitars compared to wood guitars (and) compared to a carbon fiber guitar is it’s sort of a happy medium between the two in the sense that my guitars have fibers and cells in common with wood, but also the durability of a carbon fiber,” Burstein told Lancaster Farming. In addition to durability, using hemp also can reduce the number of trees being used to make guitars. Burstein explained that there’s a shortage of the wood traditionally used to make guitars. As such, “there is a movement within the guitar community to use alternative forms of building instruments. This one’s mine,” he said.

The Polish hemp variety Białobrzeskie has the greatest economic potential among 11 hemp cultivars recently studied by a research team at the University of Kentucky (UK) in the USA. Białobrzeskie had the highest grain yield, and estimated potential returns from the sale of seed and biofuel material of $1,564 (€1,328) per hectare ($632/€536 per acre), the research found.

The study evaluated six fiber-only hemp varieties and five varieties that produce both fiber and significant grain, comparing their economic potential as commodity crops. Researchers also looked at how the hemp biofuel raw material from the plants performed under laboratory pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis designed to enhance biofuel yields.

Legacy cultivar

The first Polish variety of fibrous monoecious hemp, Białobrzeskie was originally developed in the 1960s for textile production by Poland’s Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants (IWNiRZ). But the variety also provides a high grain yield. In addition, in more recent years, flowers from Białobrzeskie have been used to produce CBD. Importantly, the strain is stable at less than 0.2% THC.

“We’ve known for a long time that Białobrzeskie is highly suited for dual cropping,” said Witold Czeszak, who heads IWNiRZ’s Technology Transfer Department, and is co-founder and manager of the Polish Hemp Program at the Poznan, Poland-based Institute. “This research is more confirmation of the economic superiority of this well-proven cultivar.”

NWG 331 from New West Genetics, Colorado USA, had the second highest estimated return of $1,482 (€1,259) per hectare, and gave the highest biomass yield and second highest grain yield of all cultivars in the trials.