Tag Archives: canadian

February 26, 2019

British Cannabis Firms Facilitate First Bulk Shipment of Cannabis Into UK

By Marguerite Arnold

Move over Canopy Growth! Along with Aurora, Tilray, Wayland, Namaste and everyone else trying to break into the British cannabis market with authority. Ahead of all of them, a group of innovative start-ups just imported the first legal bulk medical shipment of cannabis into the country via a new entity designed to facilitate market access for such imports called Astral Health.

Jolly good show, as those on the ground due to benefit are no doubt thinking right now even if larger competitors are left in the proverbial cannadust for at least a few months.

That said, this is a larger gulf than it might otherwise be. Let’s not forget, Brexit, or etc. is due next month as Parliament disintegrates and Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Brussels for another fruitless round of “negotiations” that everyone except the occupants of Number 10 (Downing Street, the residence and office of the British government) seem to understand have gone nowhere for two years. What that does to firms entering the market, including in the cannabis space has yet to be understood.

On the Dutch side, the export was handled by the Office of Medical Cannabis. On the British side, the medicine will be sent to directly to pharmacies.

The cannabis will go to patients who have multiple sclerosis and chronic pain.

About The Companies Involved

Astral Health is a holding company and subsidiary of European Cannabis Holdings (ECH), which also worked alongside specialist pharmaceutical importer IPS Specials and another new start-up Grow Biotech, to bring the cannabis into the country legally.

Of all of them, ECH is perhaps the best known. It is a growingly influential investment company and one of the first (and few) “local” dedicated medical cannabis funds exclusively focused on the European space. ECH shares an office with Prohibition Partners, a cannabis consultancy and the organizer of Cannabis Europa, which just held a sell-out, standing room only conference in Paris. Both groups were also founded by Rob Reid, a Director of SOL Global, a Canadian listed cannabis company which has also made strategic investments of late – notably Greenlight Cannabis in Dublin, with a reach to 1,000 pharmacies across the UK and Ireland.

Most of the companies involved on the ground on this one, in other words, are start-ups. No matter the predominance of the larger Canadian companies in the news, the European cannabis space is starting not only to flourish, but do so in a way that is local, entrepreneurial, and in this case, ahead of the much larger, deeper-pocketed companies.

Niche Providers For Tense Times

In case anyone has forgotten, the deadline for Brexit is now in everyone’s immediate gunsights if not, before March, marked on the kitchen calendar. Even if it looks now like there might be a delay until 2021 or even another “people’s vote.”

Regardless of the outcome, the interim is going to be sticky going for some time.

And of course, imported cannabis, even from Holland, and even if fitting into “regular” unique medical ex-im categories, absolutely also faces this enormity of uncertainty as well. No matter how well the new trade pact with the United States (cunningly crafted to include pharmaceuticals) goes if and when Euro trade (including pharma and cannabis) falls off the cliff. There are also indications that the “emergency Brexit” medical stockpiles and emergency import routes now underway could conveniently aid the cannabis industry from the Euro side, as drugs and other essential medical supplies will be sourced from Belgium and sent into the UK through alternate routes to avoid Brexit delays and backlogs.

Just remember as the mess continues to devolve, no matter what happens, current British PM May is in a remarkably good position to benefit. Her husband, Philip May has been highlighted before for his financial involvement in both tech and cannabis pharmaceutical firms (see both Amazon and GW Pharmaceuticals which obtained the first medical cannabis import rights into the US for its CBD-based Epidiolex last year).

That is also why niche provision is such an interesting space in general in Europe, if not even more specifically the UK at present. No matter how unfair it also is to those who do not have the money to pay for their medication out of pocket (which is also in the cards as the NHS dithers if not disintegrates a little bit more). And in Europe that discussion is very pricey. Cannabis, without either public or private health insurance coverage to offset the cost, is unbelievably expensive. In the realm, right now, of as much as $3,000 a month at point of retail (pharmacies.) Those lucky enough to obtain pre-claim coverage however, pay as little as $12 for their monthly supplies.

In the UK right now, patients can obtain medical cannabis with a Schedule II prescription. However, just as in other legalizing countries in Europe, beyond price and approval issues, doctors have been reluctant to prescribe at all, and insurance approvals are complicated. Even before Brexit, supplies were scarce.

What happens come the end of March if the proverbial sheisehits the fan? That is a very good question. It is very likely that a patchwork of care networks will develop, driven by imports and the companies, if not families and patients behind them.

Regardless of what occurs in the daily particulars of politics, in other words, supply chain issues, particularly at the last mile, promise to be problems for some time to come. Even if all the hullaballoo over Brexit disappears in a wand waive of some Parliamentary fairy who magically appears in the nick of time and sprinkles dust over every MP making everyone come to their senses before Cliff Date arrives.

The Brexit Referendum
Image: Mick Baker, Flickr

Even in Germany, the struggle between patients and pharmacies in terms of supply, and further, supply matching prescription, are far from over two years into “legalization by insurance approval.”

It is very likely, in other words, that the specialized care required for timely import of cannabis in the UK in particular – no matter where it is sourced after Brexit – will require the unique kinds of knowledge that only British- or EU-based, highly focused start-ups can bring, at least in the immediate interim. For this reason, look for a lot of innovative “service focused” start-ups to come out of the next phase of both European and post Brexit cannabis industry developments.

And, as a result, more than a few surprise market entrant hybrids increasingly founded and sourced with both European and UK partners.

Disclaimer: ECH is a sponsor of MedPayRx’s go to market pilot program.

February 20, 2019

Italian Canapar Moves On European Hemp Extraction

By Marguerite Arnold

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Canapar SL, an Italian organic hemp producer has just announced it is breaking ground on what it is being billed as “Europe’s largest hemp processing facility.”

Located on Sicily, Canapar is already established as a manufacturer and processor of CBD oil and concentrates. On its roadmap already is to become a leader in the CBD-infused cosmetics, skincare and beauty industry with the additional benefit of bearing the “Made in Italy” imprimatur. In addition to the upscale export market of course, Italy is Europe’s fourth largest consumer of such products.

Canopy Rivers now owns 49% of the company.

Why Is This Significant?

There has been much noise made about the CBD market in Europe, which even surprised experts by the end of year when it reached a magical 1-billion-euro sales cap.

However, things are not all smooth sailing on this front, no matter how much the market exploded. With the success of CBD, in Switzerland, Spain and beyond, regulators in Europe began looking at how the entire enchilada was regulated.

CBD isolates are falling into a very strange gray territory at the present across the continent. Why? As a plant extract, extracted CBD from cannabis absolutely falls into territory ruled “novel food” in the EU. In effect, what this means is that anything with CBD distillates that do not come from hemp, now requires an expensive licensing process to prove they are not harmful. In places like the UK, Spain and Austria, this became so contentious that police raided Spanish stores over health food products. The UK is now requiring tighter licensing and labelling for these products. Last December, the Austrians banned the entire industry. Take that, Switzerland!

CBD distillate made from hemp, however, seems, for now, to have survived this battle, which is why the strategic investment of Canopy last December was also so intriguingly timed. Why? It appears to be the loophole in the EU in which CBD producers will have to hang their hats until the broader CBD question is answered satisfactorily at both the UN and EU level.

Producing hemp distillate on the Italian island of Sicily also represents an interesting step for the entire cannabis industry as it develops in the country. There have been many efforts to legalize cannabis because this will then end the direct involvement of the Mafia. Perhaps the multi million investment from Canopy will be enough foreign capital to start to do the trick if not turn the tide.

But Won’t CBD Just Be “Rescheduled” By the UN?

There are many reasons why this is a strategic move for Canopy (if not producers moving in similar waters). Yes, CBD is likely to be descheduled by the UN at some point in the near future, but this still will not solve the larger question of “novel food” issues until the EU formally issues regulations on the same. Until then, EU will be a state by state hop for CBD, much as the United States has been so far. And will be, until that debate is settled across the EU at least, sourced from hemp.

With Italian food products export just behind things like cosmetics, Canapar is clearly moving into strategic and potentially highly lucrative territory.

February 7, 2019

WHO Makes Noise About Cannabis “Rescheduling”

By Marguerite Arnold

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At this point in the end of prohibition, not even the United Nations (UN) or the World Health Organization (WHO) are immune to the great green wave sweeping the planet. Yet, lest anyone get too optimistic about developments at the nose bleed level of international drug reform, the newest round of headlines regarding “WHO cannabis reform” is hardly cause for celebration.

The Story At The International Level So Far

In documents obtained by Cannabis Industry Journal last fall, it appeared that cannabis reform of the serious kind had caught the eye of senior leaders at the WHO. Further, it also appeared that some kind of decisive action or declaration would be forthcoming by the end of the year.

Yet as reported at the end of January, such decisions appear to be headed for a tortoise speed approvals track. Yes, it appears that CBD will probably be descheduled, and from both the hemp and cannabis perspective. That should be good news to many who are caught in a raft of international standards that are confusing and all over the place on a country-by-country level. However, this will not be much of a boon to the industry in Europe, in particular, where the discussion is less over CBD but the source of it, and how distillates are used. From this perspective, the draft WHO documents will make no difference, except perhaps to speed the acceptance of CBD, and create clearer regulations around it.

On the THC front, the WHO appears to do nothing more than move cannabis squarely into international Schedule I territory. More interesting of course, is the intent of international regulators to keep cannabis very much in uncertain status while moving “pharmacized” versions of the same into Schedule III designation.

What Does The Opinion of The WHO Really Mean?

What this means is also still unclear except that those who want to sell to regulated medical and nonmedical markets have to get their products (whatever those are) registered as medicine or a legitimate consumer product in every jurisdiction and eventually at a regional level (see Europe). That is clearly underway right now by both the big Canadian and emerging Israeli entities in the market as well as savvy European players in both verticals. That said, it is also a game that is about to create a very interesting market for those who are able to produce cheap, but high-grade oils in particular.

What Does This Mean For The Future Of Flower?

On the medical front, Germany became the third country in the world to consider reimbursing flower via national healthcare. Of the three who have tried it to date so far (and it is unclear what Poland will do at this point longer term), Israel is inching away and Holland nixed the entire cannabis covered by insurance conversation at the same time Germany took it on. Where that plays out across Europe will be interesting, especially as the cost of production and end retail cost continues to drop. And doctor education includes information about “whole plant” vs. pre-prescribed “dosing” where the patient has no control. The reality in the room in Europe right now is that this drug is being used to treat people with drug resistant conditions. Dosing dramas in other words, will be in the room here for some time to come as they have in no other jurisdiction.

Beyond dosing and control issues that have as much to do with doctors as overall reform, flower is still controversial for other reasons. One, it is currently still being imported into Europe from highly remote and expensive import destinations. That will probably change this year because of both the cultivation bid and Israel’s aggressive move into the middle of the fray as well as widely expected ex-im changes that will allow imports from countries throughout Europe. However, in the meantime, this is one of the reasons that flower is so unpopular right now at the policy and insurance level. The other is that pharmacists in Germany are allowed to treat the flower as a drug that must be processed. In this case, that means that they are adding a significant surcharge, per gram, to flower because they grind it before they give it to patients.

How long this loophole will exist is unclear. However, what is also very clear is that oils in particular, will play a larger and larger role in most medical markets. Read, in other words, “pharmaceutical products.”

For this reason, the WHO recommendations, for one, are actually responding to unfolding realities on the ground, not leading or setting them.

Setting A Longer-Term Date For Widespread Recreational Reform

This conservative stance from the WHO also means, however, that in the longer run, individual country “recreational reform” particularly in places like Europe, will be on a slower than so far expected track. There are no countries in the EU who are willing to step too far ahead of the UN in general. That includes Luxembourg, which so far has made the boldest predictions about its intentions on the recreational front of any EU member. However, what this also may signal is that the UN will follow the lead set by Luxembourg. Even so, this legitimately puts a marker in the ground that at least Europe’s recreational picture is at least five years off.

In the meantime, the WHO recommendations begin to set international precedent and potentially the beginnings of guidelines around a global trade that has already challenged the UN to change its own regulations. In turn, expect these regulations to guide and help set national policy outside a few outliers (see Canada, Uruguay and potentially New Zealand) globally.

Bottom line, in other words? The latest news from the UN is not “bad” but clearly seems to say that cannabis reform is a battle that is still years in the making. That said, from the glass is half full perspective, it appears, finally, there might be the beginning of a light at the end of the international tunnel of prohibition.

February 6, 2019

Canadian Companies Continue European Cannabis Moves

By Marguerite Arnold

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There is a lot of European news afoot from the big public Canadian companies between all the headlines about Israel. Namely, established cannabis companies in the market already continue to shore up their presence across multiple member EU states.

What is at stake? Establishing some kind of European foothold in an environment where licensing and production costs will not bust the bank- and what will be the first government-set, pre-negotiated bulk price for medical cannabis flower. For all the high-flying news of even hundred million-dollar (or euro) investments, right now the biggest hunt is on for ways to trigger sales figures that continue to grow steadily in the customer column.

There is also a dawning realization that prices are going to start stabilizing if not falling after the German government finalizes its selection of bid winners.

As a result of all of this, to compete against each other and streamline distribution and supply chain costs, the larger Canadian companies in the market are clearly angling to set up efficient distribution networks- even if that means buying pieces of them one country and property at a time.

How well that will work in the longer run remains to be seen- but it is a play that is starting to show up in other European developments (from the Israeli side). That said, the latest news of the big guys in the field make sense within this context, if none other.

Canopy Growth Announces UK and Polish Moves

Spectrum Cannabis, the European-based medical brand of Canopy Growth chalked two more achievements off its Euro “to do list” in January. At the beginning of the month, Spectrum announced it was preparing to enter the UK market via the creation of a joint venture with Beckley Canopy Foundation, Spectrum Biomedical.

In Poland, the company also announced the successful shipment of its high-THC whole flower “Red No.2.” The Polish government began allowing sales late last year.

Neither development however should be a surprise to those watching the strategy of either Canopy or for that matter several other public Canadian cannabis companies. Aurora, for example, announced its first successful shipment into the country on the same day that the Polish government changed the law. On the British side, the combined forces of changing the regulatory scheduling of cannabis and allowing the drug to be dispensed by prescription have certainly changed the game on some levels. Brexit is about to play havoc with most imported products, and cannabis is no exception to this.

In this sense, the challenges facing both British and Polish patients right now are also fairly analogous. Importing is the only way to get the drug to patients, and the cost of import is also prohibitively high for most. Then of course, there is actual approval beyond that, which is also a problem everywhere cannabis has become legal.

While both developments of course, are good news for the company, this does not mean that the initial going will be easy or smooth for any company, including one as skilled at strategic market entry in core countries across the continent for the last several years as Spectrum has reliably proven to be.

Green Organic Dutchman Gets Cultivation License In Denmark

TGOD has now gone where other Canadian Euro cannabis players have gone before– namely it has joined the national trial program and several other Canadian cannabis companies before it (see Spectrum Cannabis for one) in Denmark.

Why are so many public cannabis companies attracted to the tiny country? The first is that the country, like Switzerland, in fact, is not as bound by EU rules as say, Germany and France. It can “experiment” in ways that are notably different from its neighbors.

As a result of this and a change in the law that began a multiyear trial to experiment with regulation and medical efficacy, cultivation licenses are also easier to obtain than in other places. There are also other plusses to establishing a presence in the country if not the continent including a strong social care system, and a research environment that promises to produce great results on the medical efficacy discussion continent wide.

February 5, 2019

Beleave Achieves ISO 9001 Certification

By Aaron G. Biros

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According to a press release, Beleave Inc. announced recently that their subsidiary, Beleave Kannabis Corporation, received the ISO 9001:2015 certification. The facility that received the certification, based in Hamilton, Ontario, was certified “for the research, development, and production of cannabis products for medicinal and recreational purposes,” reads the press release.

Beleave is a vertically-integrated cannabis business headquartered in Oakville, Ontario that cultivates cannabis as well as producing oils and extracts. The company operates in both medical and recreational sectors of the market. They have been working on developing cannabis food and beverage products, such as infused powders and sugars, expecting that the recreational cannabis market in Canada will soon open its doors to infused products in 2019.

ISO 9001:2015 is an international standard that stipulates requirements for a quality management system (QMS), showing that a facility can provide products that meet customer and regulatory requirements. ISO 9001:2015 is the most up-to-date version for the standard, which can help show a company’s commitment to quality, efficiency and consistency. The 2015 version uses criteria with an emphasis on risk-based thinking to aid in the application of the process approach, improved applicability for services and increased leadership requirements.

“We continue to develop international partnerships and plan to enter global markets”The company’s facility was certified by Bureau Veritas Certification Holding SAS in late January of 2019. According to Roger Ferreira, chief science officer at Beleave, the process of certification was no easy undertaking. “After many months of hard work and preparation, we are extremely proud to be one of the few licensed producers of cannabis to have received ISO 9001:2015 accreditation,” says Ferreira. “This certification reflects Beleave’s ongoing commitment to quality across key elements of our business, which includes research, innovation, and production of cannabis products.”

Going beyond Canada, Ferreira says they are building the foundation of a company preparing to expand internationally. “Further, this internationally recognized certification for our quality management system positions us well as we continue to develop international partnerships and plan to enter global markets,” says Ferreira. Through their ownership in Procannmed S.A.S., they are licensed to cultivate and produce medical cannabis products out of Colombia, with the goal to export products to the Latin American market. They have also partnered with Canymed GmbH, based in Germany, to further explore opportunities in the European medical cannabis market.

January 30, 2019

Here Comes The Start-Up Nation Of Cannabis: Israel

By Marguerite Arnold

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For those who have been watching (if not in the thick of) the drama over Israeli medical cannabis export rights, this latest development was not only inevitable but overdue. Israel’s parliament unanimously approved the legislation on Christmas Day (along with Thailand). Less than a month later, the cabinet concurred.

That means that export rights are now actionable law.

Beyond this final passage into reality, export rights have been at the forefront of a global drama on cannabis- most recently in this part of the world, as a specific chip in political dealmaking between U.S. President and Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu since the former entered office. This go around at least.

The political bargaining that even allowed Israel’s medical program to flourish and get funding from its earliest days (including of the U.S. federal government kind) of course, is nothing new.

Pioneers Of The Cannabis Industry

Hard as it is to believe, most of what is widely known and easily digitally shared (including on social media) about cannabis (as a plant, let alone distinctions between cannabinoids) is information created during this last four to eight-year period (certainly since 2010). This has been driven by reform, and a birth of wider education about medical and recreational cannabis plus the cannabis industry and broader lifestyle press. And most of what is credible out there, no matter who claims credit today, has an Israeli origin, and of the medical kind.

Add this history of scientific research and insight to the philosophy of a nation driven by entrepreneurial zest, and say no more.

Now that Israel can begin to export its cannabis, the interesting thing to see is whether cannatech will in the end, be more valuable than individual strains themselves. The pick axe in this particular “green gold rush?”

For now, of course, all bets are off, even on the cultivation front. Because, no matter what else it is, it is well timed, globally, to give even the Israeli medical production market a big green shot in the arm.

Germany and Europe Beckons

The change in the law in Israel also comes as those who made first qualifying round in the German cultivation bid are getting prequalification letters, although this time, no firms, anywhere, have issued press releases about their finalist round status.

And here is the other issue to consider: While the bid itself does not have anything to do with import capability, new Israeli game in town is, in itself, a big game changer for anyone whose hat was thrown into the coalitions who applied for the pending cultivation license. Why? Until they deliver their first crops grown auf Deutschland, firms have to deliver from somewhere. And this being Germany, the import destination has to be from a place where the plant is federally legal. Israel becomes another option in a market so far dominated by Dutch and Canadian firms.

cannabis close up — The Tikun Olam strain Avidekel being grown in Israel.

Can you smell new bid lawsuits also, if this scenario has not already been addressed by BfArM? The history of cannabinoids in Germany in general (historically as well as recently) is fraught already. This pending challenge, should it come, will be laden with symbology modern Germany will do everything to avoid provoking.

Beyond the soap opera that the bid has turned into in Germany (the ultimate test case for cultivation and insurance-backed medical and industry acceptance across the rest of the EU essentially), there are of course, other markets beckoning. This includes all of Eastern Europe and much of the EU. This includes France and the UK immediately.

In other words, no matter what the longer-term impacts will be, this well timed, politically astute Israeli decision is coming at the beginning of what is going to be, as everyone is clearly seeing at the end of January, a momentous and earth-shaking year not only for Europe, but globally.

And that is big business for a little country with an eye on the export game.

January 22, 2019

Cannabis Reform Comes To Africa

By Marguerite Arnold

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For those familiar with the tragic history of apartheid in South Africa up until the end of the 1980’s, Lesotho is a country long associated with terrible political and economic repression. Also known as the “Kingdom in the Sky” because of its stunning geography, the tiny, landlocked country is literally inside and completely surrounded by South Africa. During the apartheid regime, Lesotho was a place where “vice industries” like prostitution and gambling were allowed to flourish by a much more conservative surrounding political regime. Much like Indian reservations in the U.S., in fact.

Even today, diamonds and water are the country’s top exports although tourism, including skiing, is still a major underpinning of the country’s domestic economy.

Moving forward into the 21st century and much like American Indians, the mountainous, impoverished country is looking at the cannabis trade to create a national income of global worth. In 2017, the country became the first on the African continent to actually legalize cultivation for medical purposes, as well as export. Illicit cultivation, mostly bound for the black market, however, has boomed since the end of the apartheid regime.

The country’s high altitude and fertile soils untainted with pesticides, makes Lesotho an ideal place to grow even outdoor crops. And as a result, the country has also begun to attract foreign capital interested in the production and export of finished products rather than the raw plant material. Several big Canadian producers, in fact, have already established commercial operations.

2018 Was The “Year For Cannabis” In South Africa

As a result of Lesotho’s lead, neighboring countries are now also following suit on the legalization front. Zimbabwe, just to the north of South Africa, has also legalized cultivation for medical purposes although local farmers have been slow to seize the opportunity. Malawi is also moving towards some kind of cannabis reform along with Nigeria, Ghana and Swaziland. And of course, to the north, Morocco, already established globally for illicit cannabis and hashish production (much of it making its way into Europe as it has for literally hundreds of years at this point) is also teetering on some kind of reform.

In South Africa itself, the economic powerhouse of the continent, the personal cultivation and smoking of cannabis (for both medicinal and recreational reasons) was enshrined as a constitutional right as of September 2018. That said, commercial production and sales for recreational use remains illegal. As in other places, the licensing process in South Africa has held up the medicinal and recreational market already on the table if not in the room. And most locals cannot afford the licensing fees.

That said, there is already a commercial cannabis beer brewing company called Durban Poison which rushed into the space as soon as the constitutional question changed in South Africa. The country is the biggest beer market in Africa. And there are competitors already lining up for similar opportunities of both the medical and recreational kind.

Including South Africa, according to estimates, there are already 10,000 tons of product produced (mostly illicitly) across the continent. Much as in other places, this “green gold” has financed many of the regional wars of the last sixty years. For this reason, apart from the economic benefits that legalization brings, it may well be that the first big continental competition on the cannabis front that enters first world markets, will be African rather than Latin American (or even Chinese).

Legalization and regulation will help stamp out the illicit financing of guerrilla wars and devastation, bringing more political and economic stability. It may also provide one of the best regional economic incentives to stop rare wildlife poaching.

Medical and Recreational Opportunities Loom Large- But So Do Liabilities

But for all the potential of the future, now comes the hard part (as in other regions of the world where reform has come). Stamping out the black market and establishing licencing and other regulations (of all kinds, starting with GMP). Plus of course, because this is Africa, attracting capital at reasonable rates, and establishing legitimate distribution domestically, plus trade routes for global export. Including of course, both to Europe and Australia.

Medical research in Africa is also likely to be an interesting question especially given the impact of cannabis on infection. Africa is home to some of the more dire contagious natural diseases known to man. This plant, in other words, produced locally, might also be applied locally to help manage everything from Malaria to Ebola. If not become a staple in the medical kits distributed by foreign aid organizations. That of course, will take reform at the UN level. But even this conversation, at this point, is now moving.

That said, as 2019 gets underway, there is not a single continent of the world, much less a region, where cannabis reform has not touched.

January 8, 2019

Canopy Growth Announces UK Expansion

By Marguerite Arnold

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On December 28, 2018, Canopy made the unsurprising announcement that it would begin exporting medical cannabis to the UK. The move comes shortly after the formation of Beckley Canopy, the research effort founded in partnership with the Beckley Foundation and Amanda Fielding, the woman who has continued to pioneer the field of cannabinoid research, and the announcement that Canopy will jumpstart medical trials here.

The two events are also connected, as the company will most likely start its export direct to the trials now planned and in general for research purposes as well as pharmacies, based on doctor’s orders.

Impact On The UK Market

Canopy of course, is now in a race with several other Canadian firms to establish market presence both on the trial and patient front. Tilray, Namaste and Wayland Group have all lined up to enter the market, if not having secured first patient orders. That said, entry will be slow for all, namely because of import regulations that may well still go off the cliff because of Brexit.

Intriguingly, however, the Canadians are not the only ones now in the ring. And the “Irish Question” is becoming even more of a potential source of cannabis. That became obvious in the aftermath of an announcement for additional funding and a 25% equity stake in Dublin-based Greenlight Medicines by SOL Global, a Canadian-listed company. Greenlight has already established an extensive network of not only researchers but has a reach at this point to over 1,000 pharmacies across the UK and Ireland.

Bottom line? Look for discussions on access to be fundamentally caught up in the impending, larger political discussions that are still deadlocked, with no certainty in site.And while so far at least, Scotland has remained quiet on the discussion, along with Wales and Cornwall, these are also places domestically in the UK where there could be new cultivation operations coming shortly.

Why? Wales is the “duchy” of none other than the Prince of Wales, Charles, the man who will be the next king of England. For most of his life, he has been pilloried for his ideas about alternative healthcare and organic farming. However, he also owns vast lands in Wales that support him, supported by rents, that are likely, in the near future, to switch to cannabis farming. Whatever reluctance he might have had to take the plunge, this is likely to change course with the next generation when he becomes king. Oversight of the management of all of this bounty will switch to his son, William. And this is a no-brainer, beyond of course, the fact that his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Sussex (Meghan Markle) already has a cannabis brand named after her.

Apart from this political and Royal twist, look for cannabis farming to occur in places like Cornwall, which has temperate weather brought by the Gulf Stream, a tourist economy and a desperate need, like many parts of the UK, for urban renewal. A high tech, high worth agricultural injection, in other words, is just what these parts of the country need.

Scotland, still, is an unanswered question mark, but it is unlikely that much growing will occur in the northern climes. That said, with cannabis production (of all sorts) beginning to wake up, there is no reason that the processing question will escape this part of the British Isles.That also means that calls for domestic cannabis to be grown in the UK itself could become much louder.

What Impact Will Brexit Really Have On Cannabis?

There is no way to really understand this question until the dust settles with negotiations that now have the potential to disrupt all trade between the UK and the rest of the world, including the Republic of Ireland. Ports and transportation through them are facing major disruption. Preparations for an off the cliff exit far beyond cannabis, have also been repeatedly criticized as being far too little, too late.

Bottom line? Look for discussions on access to be fundamentally caught up in the impending, larger political discussions that are still deadlocked, with no certainty in site.

That also means that calls for domestic cannabis to be grown in the UK itself could become much louder. Along with an impetus for greater reform.

Regardless, this drug, so often just below the surface of international affairs for so long, is clearly going to be in the room in larger political discussions now unfolding in the UK.

Impact On National Healthcare

British people, since the end of WWII, have had access to free healthcare thanks to the NHS. That said, after a decade of austerity, the system is now facing crisis unseen since the war. There are 100,000 doctor vacancies at the so-called “Trusts” across the UK which manage regional healthcare. Waiting times even for lifesaving operations are at an all-time high. And approvals for drugs, especially like cannabis, which fall into the territory of “special approval” across Europe are also caught in the mix.

As in other countries, in other words, while the news of exports beginning to enter the market is good for patients and the industry beyond that, it is just a start to a longer battle that is still playing out across Europe.

That said, there is another issue in the room that is also absolutely on the table and will be part of the medical cannabis conversation going forward. Digital healthcare–and of all kinds–is being touted as the solution to doctor and service shortages. Look for innovative cannatech solutions in particular that target this market in particular, in the near future.

In the meantime, the green trickle has begun. That said, given all that is at stake and on the table, there are many questions in the room about when the flood will actually take off.

January 8, 2019

Israel and Thailand Approve Cannabis Exports

By Marguerite Arnold

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On Christmas Day, not only did Israel, global leader in medical cannabis in particular, finally decide to legalize medical exports, but in a surprise move, so did Thailand.

Both developments are likely to have huge implications on the entire global cannabis discussion, albeit in slightly different ways.The impact will be interesting to watch.

Israel’s Export Decision

The issue of exports from the original home of the medical cannabinoid revolution has been a perennial sticky wicket for the last several years. As the Israeli medical market liberalized at home and certainly in the last five years, the government steadfastly refused to export the drug. Further, the country’s president Benjamin Netanyahu also cut a political deal with Donald Trump to move the Israeli capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem that delayed this discussion over the last 18 months. With a global market now exploding that Israel to date has been excluded from and Netanyahu’s political capital tarnished with corruption, things are about to change.

The impact will be interesting to watch. Especially with the network of Israeli production farms also sprinkling around particularly Eastern Europe and Greece.

Thai Surprise

Thailand’s parliament voted to legalize the use of medical cannabis, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to do so.

Here is also what is intriguing: The country is, like Israel, looking at creating a domestic boon with a tightly controlled domestic economy booster. Not to mention clearing the jails, which are filled to bursting with people on even low level drug offenses.

And just like Israel, Thailand is also, already, talking protectionist measures to shield domestic producers from being bought out by foreign interests, certainly of the corporate kind.

The Combination Package

In the short term this means, at least on the export front, that there will be more competitors to the Canadian giants now entering the room. And between Israel and Thailand alone, this also means that new strains on the medical side, will begin to enter global medical markets.

For all the future promise of tweaked product, cheap cannabis flower and oil flooding markets globally by importers and distributors realizing that the game is far from over, is going to be the first real challenge the Canadian cannabis companies have yet faced.

In the wake of the news that Epidiolex is not as effective longer term as hoped (which is a common phenomenon in the pharmaceutical industry known as a “drug holiday” where users initially improve and then develop tolerance to the drug), this is also an intriguing new development. This means that new strains are entering the global market at an unprecedented pace, literally competing with pharmaceutical products at a time when reform continues apace.

At a time when cannabis investments (particularly in the US), quadrupled in 2018, this also means that western dollars, if not companies, will begin to find other markets and market outlets.

And that is a Christmas present in 2018 that will reverberate long into the future.

January 2, 2019

This Bud’s For You: Tilray Enters The Drinkable Cannabis Market

By Marguerite Arnold

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The race is on for drinkable cannabinoids. In mid-December, Tilray announced a $100 million joint venture with Anheuser Busch to research and develop infused non-alcoholic drinks for the Canadian market.

This is the second big beer company to partner with a cannabis industry leader (see Canopy Growth’s partnership with Constellation Brands), who has just invested another $4 billion in the company.

Molson Coors also announced a deal with Hexo in August. On the non-alcoholic side of the ledger, Coca-Cola and Aurora have also had talks, reportedly eyeing the cannabis market.

Short term in other words, a lot of drinkable cannabis is coming to a market near you.

Why Is Drinkable Cannabis So Intriguing?

Cannabinoids themselves, are not water soluble. However, when cannabinoids are subjected to a process called nano emulsion, (emulsified oil, water and molecules), they can be not only added to drinks but potentially represent one of the most cutting edge forms of drug, vitamin, mineral and overall nutrition delivery. Nanoemulsions are approximately the size of viruses, proteins and antibodies with a transparent or semi-translucent appearance. They also tend to increase bioavailability of substances.

In other words, while the focus on the market as it is developing in Canada is “recreational” and “beverage” use, in fact, this technology can be applied to food. It will also be used, obviously on the medical side of the equation too.

Nanotechnology overall is actually a manufacturing technology that works with atoms to change the structure of matter. When it comes to edibles of all kinds (food, drinks and medications) nutrients are absorbed more uniformly and pass through to membranes directly into human cells.

The impact of that technology, mixed with a revolutionary drug, is no longer theoretical.One of the best known uses of nanotechnology in the world is also one of the most common condiments. Mayonnaise for example, is an emulsion of tiny particles where oil and water are mixed together without separating. That said, these days researchers are developing techniques that allow these tiny droplets to be precisely tailored to give them specific tastes and textures.

The technology, in other words, that the cannabis and major drinks manufacturers are now developing, will allow cannabinoids to be used in food, drinks and medications in ways that go far beyond pills and oils.

This is not your grandparent’s beverage, food, drug or alcohol market in other words. This represents another way for the cannabis industry to lead the way on a range of products far from “canna-beer.” Or even THC-infused social lubricants.

The impact of that technology, mixed with a revolutionary drug, is no longer theoretical.

The Cellular Revolution of Cannabinoids Is Now Here

If allowed to efficiently access cells via nanotechnology, no matter how it is consumed, the idea of a cannabis infused food or drink might well become enough not only to “keep the doctor away” but in general revolutionize concepts of nutrition, not to mention medication.

That said, there are still many questions in general that remain about the safety of this kind of technology within the human body. Nanoceuticals can help bypass typical protective barriers of the body and deliver bio-chemicals that the body would not normally encounter. There has not been a lot of study (yet) on their biodegradability or metabolism of nanotechnologies. Namely the human body may not be able to expel them. They are currently unregulated and can be introduced to the market with little or no evidence of safety or efficacy although this is also on the way. There are concerns that this delivery method could literally disrupt DNA.

Cannabinoids themselves appear to be a systemic biological regulator. But the active ingredients used to emulsify the plant may or may not be.

In an industry in other words, which has systematically been ahead of regulatory approval, starting with legalization itself, the future looks not only highly intriguing, but full of major debates about with what and how human beings are nourished, and treated medically.

As usual, in other words, the cannabis industry, is pioneering a truly brave new world.