Ben Stevens
Ben is the editor of Business of Cannabis. Since 2021, he has researched, written, and published the vast majority of the outlet’s content, delivering agenda-setting journalism on regulation, business strategy, and policy across Europe.
Ben Stevens · page 5
- Medical Cannabis
UK Medical Cannabis Prescriptions Hit 1.7 Million in 2025 as ACMD Review Approaches
More than a year has passed since the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) was commissioned to conduct a formal review of the UK’s medical cannabis industry.
- M&A Activity
Curaleaf’s Aurora Bid Is a Fight for Europe’s Cannabis Crown
Curaleaf Holdings (CURA) announced this week that it intends to launch an unsolicited take-over bid of its rival Aurora Cannabis (ACB) in what would mark one of the most consequential consolidation moves in industry history.
- Business
Data is Becoming Cannabis’ Most Valuable Crop
For more than a decade now, the world’s largest retail conglomerates have been quietly building their consumer data empires.
- Industry Trends
Global Cannabis Use Up 40% Over Last Decade as Reform Spreads, but Overlap With Illicit Market Growing
Use of cannabis across the globe has grown by 40% over the last decade, with 256m people now reported to have used cannabis over the past year in 2024.
- International Regulation
Isreal Reopens Canadian Cannabis Dumping Case, This Time With a Route Around Its Finance Minister
Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry has already reopened its anti-dumping investigation into Canadian medical cannabis, just a week after a procedural defect forced the same case to close.
- M&A Activity
Argent Biopharma’s CannEpil to Target $3bn Veterinary Pain Market, Weeks After Debt-Relief Deal
Argent Biopharma’s (RGT) flagship CannEpil cannabis drug is set to pivot into the veterinary market, just weeks after it signed away the commercial rights in exchange for debt relief.
- Adult-Use
Thailand Presses Medical-Only Cannabis Bill Toward Cabinet as Enforcement Drive Widens
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health is pressing ahead with a draft Cannabis and Hemp Act that would restrict its liberal cannabis market to purely medical and research use cases.
- Hemp Industry
US Hemp Industry Wins a Stay of Execution as Senate Delays Ban Until December
The US hemp industry has successfully bought itself some additional time to find a permanent solution to the incoming federal ban.
- Interviews
Cannabis Opportunity ‘Greater Today’ Than in 2019, Says the Lender Who Has Committed $550m
Just over a month ago, one of the most interesting and potentially consequential hearings in the history of US cannabis policy began.
- UK & Europe
Spain’s Tobacco Crackdown Could Quietly Wipe Out Its Cannabis Clubs
Last week, Spain’s government approved a draft tobacco law that never once mentions cannabis, yet could dismantle the everyday activity of the country’s thriving cannabis social clubs.
- Patient Access
‘Everything in Our Power’: German Patient Groups Fight to Overturn Cannabis Insurance Cuts
Earlier this month (July 10, 2026), the German government voted through a sweeping set of provisions set to significantly impact medical cannabis patients who have their prescriptions covered by their statutory health insurance.
- Prescribers & Clinics
The Human Side of Hypergrowth: Recruitment, Culture and Maintaining Standards at Releaf
The UK has another new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who has wasted no time in laying out his plans to fundamentally reform the country’s creaking healthcare infrastructure.
