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Czech government moves to granting medical marijuana production licences to multiple growers
Currently there are only 90 pharmacies in the country are authorised to buy and resell to patients Czech-grown cannabis, from the lone authorized distributor, Alliance Healthcare
Radio Prague International (Czech Republic)
Thursday, May 28, 2020
The Czech government has approved a draft amendment to the Act on Addictive Substances that will allow issuing licences to both grow and export medical marijuana. The bill would also newly allow more than a single central producer, with the State Institute for Drug Control granting licences to smaller ones. People suffering from a range of diseases have long called for making medical marijuana, which has been technically legal in the Czech Republic for many years now, easier to obtain and less expensive. This January, public health insurance was extended to cover medical marijuana, under certain conditions. (See also: Seznam: Medical cannabis prescriptions on the rise) -
National leader Todd Muller signals cannabis legislation will have his support if New Zealand votes 'yes'
The referendum on the prospective law will be "non-binding"
Stuff (New Zealand)
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
National leader Todd Muller says his party will likely support the legalisation of cannabis if New Zealand votes "yes" in the upcoming referendum. National has previously declined to commit to enacting the result of the non-binding cannabis referendum, which will be voted on in September as part of the 2020 election. But Muller signalled a softer stance, after ousting Simon Bridges from the leadership, indicating he would legalise cannabis "if the people have spoken" in support. The bill being proposed by the Labour-led Government would allow cannabis to be consumed, sold, and purchased for recreational use, by people 20 years or older. Personal possession of 14 grams of cannabis, the sale of cannabis edibles, and growing up to four cannabis plants per household would be allowed. -
Cannabis crop could contribute $490m a year to government coffers
Legalisation of cannabis will be put to the vote in a non-binding referendum in September
RNZ (New Zealand)
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
The Government's coffers could be winners if cannabis is legalised. Work by the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) shows a legal cannabis industry could raise about $490 million a year in tax, including GST. Legalisation of the drug will be put to the vote in a non-binding referendum in September. A tax on a legal cannabis industry has been calculated at 25 per cent. NZIER principal economist Peter Wilson said the projected tax-take on cannabis was only an estimate. There was not a lot of information in New Zealand about cannabis use. If regulatory costs and taxes were too high an illegal market would likely re-emerge and gain market share. -
Big source of illicit cannabis, Albania mulls legalising medical use
For almost three decades one of the biggest sources of illicit cannabis in Europe, Albania is now considering legalising the drug for medical use. But experts warn it will not be simple
Balkan Insight (Serbia)
Monday, May 25, 2020 -
Lavish parties, greedy pols and panic rooms: How the ‘Apple of Pot’ collapsed
MedMen was the country’s hottest pot startup—until it flamed out. Its fall has exposed the gap between “green rush” hype and the realities of a troubled industry
Politico (US)
Sunday, May 24, 2020
MedMen looked to become the Apple of pot, the first mainstream, nationwide consumer brand for the product that drove so many Americans to ingest and invest. Marijuana liberalization was sweeping the country. A nascent industry was taking shape. No company was better poised to reap the rewards than MedMen was. Then, it all began to unravel. The company got hit with a class-action lawsuit from employees alleging labor law violations. Miffed investors sued the founders, accusing them of self-dealing and other underhanded tactics. A former chief financial officer filed a blockbuster complaint in a Los Angeles court accusing the founders of a slew of misdeeds, from manipulating MedMen’s stock price, to bank fraud, to seeking private intelligence groups to get dirt on their enemies ... -
As cannabis market softens, some investors pulling back
Companies overpaid for assets in the run-up to raising capital, and now those Canadian companies are recalibrating
The Gleaner (Jamaica)
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Aurora, a Canadian listed cannabis company, has sold its Jamaica asset for less than its CDN$4.5 million valuation in order to get cash. “The company also accepted an offer to sell its Jamaica property for gross proceeds of CDN$3.4 million,” said Aurora in a market filing. The property in Jamaica was idle but would have formed the base for its local operations. Across the local sector, sales between licensed dealers in Jamaica – for instance, farmers selling to herb houses – have been falling. The CLA has issued some 60 licences since October 2017 and 15 export authorisations to seven licensees since November 2018. All licensees that have applied to export cannabis have been granted export authorisations. -
PPE and contactless delivery
Drug dealers reveal how they are adapting to coronavirus
The Conversation (UK)
Thursday, May 21, 2020
While the COVID-19 lockdown might have brought most parts of the economy to a halt, it seems to have had little affect on drug dealers. They have even found opportunity in the situation. They wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid infection, finding a neat way to cover their faces to avoid police surveillance in the process. The COVID-19 pandemic has not diminished the supply of and demand for illicit drugs in the UK – particularly cannabis and cocaine. And while it might be difficult to see the attraction of using stimulants and party drugs like MDMA and cocaine in the confines of your own home during lockdown, users seem to be taking full advantage of the extra time on their hands. -
What lockdown? World’s cocaine traffickers sniff at movement restrictions
In destination markets in Europe and the United States, authorities are still seizing large hauls with remarkable frequency
Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
The world’s cocaine industry — which produces close to 2,000 metric tons a year and makes tens of billions of dollars — has adapted better than many other legitimate businesses. The industry has benefited from huge stores of drugs warehoused before the pandemic and its wide variety of smuggling methods. Street prices around Europe have risen by up to 30 percent, but it is not clear how much of this is due to distribution problems, and how much to drug gangs taking advantage of homebound customers. What is clear is that cocaine continues to flow from South America to Europe and North America. Closed trafficking routes have been replaced with new ones, and street deals have been substituted with door-to-door deliveries. -
Psychedelic drugs could help treat the mental health epidemic we'll face after coronavirus
One ecstasy trial reached a milestone when it was approved to treat people with post-traumatic stress disorder in America
The Independent (UK)
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Most of us have fixed views about drugs like ecstasy or LSD. The majority of us think they are dangerous and should remain illegal. Fear of these drugs is understandable. Their effects are unpredictable and, beyond adjusting the dose, we have limited control over their effects. That’s very different to the ever-popular alcohol and cannabis which are far more predictable in the way they make us feel, behave or think. Trials using psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD or 3,4-methylene dioxymethamphetamine (known to most of us as ecstasy) are well underway and showing promising results. One such trial reached a milestone when it was approved to treat people with post-traumatic stress disorder in America. -
EU court advises against hemp-derived oil imports ban
The opinion represents a symbolic victory for the CBD industry, whose European market is expected to grow 400% by 2023
Euractiv (EU)
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Prohibiting imports of cannabidiol oil (CBD) from other member states is contrary to EU law since there is no scientific evidence that hemp-based products have psychotropic effects, according to a non-binding opinion from the advocate general of the EU’s top court. On 14 May, an adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a legal opinion that the import of CBD cannot be banned under the bloc’s free movement of goods. CBD is a lighter chemical compound extracted from hemp plants but containing less than 0.2% of the active substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The legal case concerns the marketing in France of Kanavape, an e-cigarette using CBD oil imported from the Czech Republic, where organic hemp plants were processed.
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