One week from today, Business of Cannabis will be presenting our second annual Medical Cannabis Week. The week will feature 6 events, spread out over 5 days in 2 cities and attract well over 1,000 people in person and many, many more via live stream.
We founded Medical Cannabis Week in 2018 as a way to connect patients, practitioners and industry in dialogue about the future of medical cannabis. This year’s program will focus on key components of the medical cannabis space; innovation and technology, the international realities of patient advocacy, research and development and the connections to academia as well as the emerging applications in sport.
Most Medical Cannabis Week events are already at capacity, but we have held a small number of tickets until the end of this week for you, our readers. Please use promotion code BofCFriend when click through to RSVP. All of the event details and the full program can be found here.
Read on
O’Cannabiz Industry Awards
The O’Cannabiz Industry Awards took place last week – followed by the O’Cannabiz Conference + Expo. Business of Cannabis took home some hardware as the Best Media Source. Thank you for reading, following, retweeting and liking what we do here on Business of Cannabis. Stay tuned, much more to come.
Before the Awards took place, Business of Cannabis was on the red carpet. You can watch all the coverage here.
And with a cannabis conference, comes some cannabis industry-only humour.
Retail + Products
Hamilton, Ontario-based Hello Cannabis opened their doors last week – expanding (ever so slowly) the offerings for retail shops in Ontario.
Those creating the next (or first) wave of cannabis beverages in Canada formed an advocacy group which was announced last week. The Cannabis Beverage Producers Alliance will look to create labeling, packaging and production rules on par with alcohol. Business of Cannabis live streamed the announcement.
Medical Cannabis
Shoppers Drug Mart continued their expansion into online medical cannabis – opening up their Alberta portal last week.
And sppeaking of Shoppers Drug Mart, Ontario pharmacists will soon be required to take a course on medical cannabis – as they are the ones answering lots of questions at the counter.
(Coincidentally) On the eve of Medical Cannabis Week, the Arthritis Society has teamed up with Canopy for an education initiative. Of note, the Chief Scientific Officer at the Arthritis Society will be a panelist at the Medical Cannabis Week Canadian Club of Toronto event on May 9th. Learn more.
Public Safety
New statistics came out last week about impaired driving since legalization. It turns out the sky is not falling. Police have not seen a spike in cannabis-impaired driving.
From the US
Organigram announced that they will be bringing their talents to NASDAQ.
Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is making hemp production a core part of his reelection bid in Kentucky. This won’t make him a better person, but for the purposes of hemp, he’s a good champion.
In a not unrelated note, BNN Bloomberg takes a look at the possibility of more firms following Canopy’s lead with their Acreage Holding’s deal with regards to the US.
A US-based cannabis CEO was gifted a ticket to a Liberal fundraiser for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau… sparking a mini-controversy when the money for the ticket had to be refunded because US citizens cannot contribute to Canadian politicians.
Have a good week everybody.
