RESEARCH BOOM
Cannabis research is ‘catching fire’ as more areas legalize
Opportunities to study cannabis are finally opening up, as an increasing number of jurisdictions legalize or deckriminalize cannabis, per Nature.
Some of the areas of study include:
- Biochemistry and synthetic cannabinoids
- Therapeutic potential of medical cannabis
- Public health impacts and informing policy
“We’re seeing a boom of interest in the field,” said Chad Johnson, co-director of the two-year master’s programme in medical cannabis science and therapeutics at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in Rockville. “It’s catching fire.”
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BUD ON THE BALLOT
Arkansas cannabis activists file lawsuit in effort to get legalization on the ballot
Cannabis activists in Arkansas have filed a Supreme Court lawsuit with the hopes of getting legalization on the ballot in November, per Marijuana Moment.
Responsible Growth Arkansas was deemed to have collected the requisite number of signatures to put the issue to voters. But last week, the Board of Election Commissioners stated that the ballot title and popular name were confusing to voters, and they wouldn’t understand what issues they were voting on, such as limiting THC potency.
The lawsuit accuses the board of “thwarting of the will of the people” and ““choosing instead to apply an overly stringent approach that denied the wishes of hundreds of thousands of Arkansans to have the opportunity to vote on the Amendment.”
CANNABIS DESERTS
Canadian ‘cannabis deserts’ fuel illicit market, according to experts
Close to 100 municipalities across Canada continue to deny licensed cannabis stores to open, according to the Globe and Mail.
Other municipalities, however, are “teeming” with stores—Toronto, for example, has approximately 450 licensed stores open across the city. Next door in Mississauga, a municipality with a population of about 729,000, there are no stores.
But that doesn’t mean people in those so-called “cannabis deserts” aren’t buying cannabis products. “People are still consuming cannabis,” said Omar Khan, a senior vice-president at cannabis retailer High Tide Inc. “If they don’t have access to legal and regulated products, they will have access to unregulated illegal products.”
LEGISLATIVE REVIEW
Switzerland streamlines medical cannabis, plans to export flower
Swiss regulators are streamlining access to medical cannabis as part of a larger narcotics legislative review, per BusinessCann.
While the country was one of Europe’s first to regulate medical cannabis, patient numbers have decreased in recent years due to high costs and an onerous licence application process.
The new legislation also will allow both import and export of medical cannabis for commercial use for the first time. “Switzerland has always been an export nation. We have a lot of high-profile cultivations in the country that were built during the CBD boom with the focus on being ready for what is to come,” said Luc Richner, CEO of Cannavigia. “Once all those facilities are fully licensed for medical, as of the new laws, there will be very high-quality flower coming out of Switzerland ready to hit the global market.”
