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Before we get into the effects of adderall and weed combined, we should first get acquainted with the colorful history of Adderall.

Unlike cannabis and hemp which have been around for a long time and played a pretty important role in human history, the story of amphetamines is relatively brief and packed with controversy.

History of amphetamines

It all started with Lazar Edeleanu, a Romanian chemist who first synthesized amphetamine in 1887.

No apparent uses were found, and the scientific world soon deemed this substance pharmaceutically worthless. Several decades later it was re-discovered (and patented) by an American chemist named Gordon Alles.

Alles was trying to create an alternative to ephedrine, which was a really successful decongestant/bronchodilator drug at the time, used primarily for asthma, common colds and allergies.

In 1929, Alles tried his new amphetamine compound for the first time. During this era it wasn’t unusual for researchers to experiment on themselves, and he reported a climb in blood pressure, slight heart palpitations (irregular heartbeats) and a general sense of well-being.

He felt increasingly talkative and clever after the dose, and later that night had trouble falling asleep. These effects would later characterize an entire group of drugs, which he named amphetamines.

Even though amphetamine completely failed to match the medicinal effectiveness of ephedrine, Alles was certain that he was onto something, and soon partnered with a pharmaceutical firm called Smith, Kline and French (SKF), who fiercely marketed his euphoric stimulant.

In the years to come, several amphetamine-based formulations were hailed as wonder-drugs, and were used for conditions such as chronic pain, obesity, narcolepsy, low blood pressure and libido-related issues.

Amphetamines were also utilized by college students looking to increase their productivity, long-haul truckers trying to meet their deadlines, and even apathetic housewives wanting to escape their mundane reality.

Amphetamine and war

American, German and Japanese forces heavily relied on amphetamine-based drugs in the Second World War.

The American troops were using Benzedrine (amphetamine). Twenty years later, during the Vietnam conflict, they consumed Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine), which is approximately twice as potent as Benzedrine. A 1971 report of the House Select Committee showed that their forces consumed 225 million tablets of mostly Dexedrine over the course of three years (1966-1969). 

When the Nazis invaded France, Belgium and the Netherlands, they brought with them 35 million Pervitin pills, which were made with methamphetamine, a more severe chemical relative to amphetamine, popularized in the hit show Breaking Bad.

The Japanese troops used Philopon (also methamphetamine), with particularly high doses being given to kamikaze pilots to boost their suicidal dedication.

Amphetamine and art

These compounds were also accepted by counterculture movements across America, starting with the 1950’s Beatniks, and later on the Hippies, who first coined the street name for amphetamine which stuck to this day, “speed”.

Amphetamine is mentioned in many popular songs, such as The Rolling Stones’ “Can’t you hear me knocking”, or Lou Reed’s “How do you think it feels”, etc. It was also the drug of choice of Andy Warhol and his contemporaries during the Factory years, and is considered a key factor in his severely deteriorated health, leading to his death after a routine gallbladder surgery.

In 1971, under the Controlled Substances Act, amphetamine was declared a Schedule II controlled substance, having a high potential for abuse and addiction, but with accepted medical benefits.

Adderall today

In the last two decades or so, amphetamines have resurfaced in medicine, and are mostly prescribed for ADD (attention-deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome). Many of these amphetamine users with prescriptions are children, some of them as young as three years old.

In 2013, 4,800,000 people were prescribed Adderall in the US, and over 760,000 were children under the age of 12.

Between 2014-2016, 10.6% of American kids ages 5 to 17 had an ADHD diagnosis.

Other conditions that qualify a patient for an Adderall prescription are narcolepsy, and several off-label uses (not approved by the FDA for that condition, but can be prescribed by the doctor), which include depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder.

What happens if you mix weed and Adderall?

The primary reason why people choose to recreationally consume these substances together is because cannabis allows a smoother “comedown”, once the effects of Adderall have already subdued.

This is best accomplished using sedative Indica strains, because energizing Sativa strains result in relatively similar effects to Adderall, at least energy-wise.

On the other hand, people who take Adderall for actual medicinal reasons often consume cannabis in order to battle the side effects associated with this drug, which include the loss of appetite, nausea, sleep-related issues, stomach aches and anxiety.

If a user decides to consume both these substances simultaneously, the combined effects greatly vary from person to person.

Adderall and cannabis frequently cause an intense sensation of euphoria, and also cause our blood pressure and heart rate to rise. Mixing these substances isn’t recommended for anyone who suffers from a heart condition.

Just like with large quantities of THC, the combination of weed and Adderall can also trigger anxiousness and paranoia.

Some users have also experienced shortness of breath and issues with breathing, and we’ll additionally discuss this particular side effect in the continuation of the article.

What are the effects of mixing Adderall and weed?

The answer to this question depends on 3 factors:

• How much Adderall you’ve taken
• What type of weed you are consuming
• When each substance was consumed

The effects of Adderall correspond with the ingested quantity. If keeping in line with therapeutic doses (that were prescribed by your physician), the effects of this drug should be perceptually very subtle.

Medicinal users of Adderall mostly use this medication because of their lack of focus, and consume cannabis after the effects of Adderall have worn off, in order to battle the side effects (such as insomnia, nausea, appetite issues, stomach pains and anxiety).

The type of cannabis consumed also plays a vital role in a person’s experiences with these substances combined.

If a person uses a sedative Indica strain, this type of cannabis will most likely diminish the energizing and focusing effects of Adderall.

If he or she consumes a stimulating Sativa strain, this type of weed will add to the energizing impact of Adderall.

All in all, if you’re using this drug for ADHD, avoid consuming these substances combined, because the psychoactivity of THC will probably make you lose focus.

The third and final factor is time.

Many recreational users of Adderall (or amphetamine/speed, however you want to call it) get a kick out of consuming these substances at the same time, because it combines the stimulating effects of Adderall, and the relaxing qualities of cannabis.

This is the worst possible way of using them, as it frequently results in those negative side effects we already mentioned: anxiety and paranoia, a rise in blood pressure and heart rate, and sometimes even serious troubles with breathing and shortness of breath.

How do weed and Adderall impact brain chemistry?

Adderall impacts our chemistry in several different ways:

• It increases dopamine production in the central nervous system, which is a very important neurotransmitter in charge of reward-driven behavior. 

The current scientific consensus tells us that people who suffer from ADHD have a dysfunctional dopamine release, which causes them to constantly seek out new stimulation, making it difficult to focus on anything for extended periods of time.

Adderall increases the amount of available dopamine, allowing the person to be less distracted and fixated on the task at hand.

• It increases norepinephrine (a type of adrenaline) levels, and it activates our sympathetic nervous system causing a flight-or-fight response that forces the blood to move from our limbs and digestive system and pour into the vital organs, increasing alertness.
• It also increases serotonin production, but not in a significant amount like dopamine and norepinephrine. Serotonin has a very complex set of functions, modulating the mood, cognition, memory, learning etc.

On the other hand, the chemical impact of cannabis is also quite complex:

The chemical compounds unique to weed (cannabinoids) affect our endocannabinoid system, which is a vast network of cells within our body that have specialized cellular receptors.

Once affected by cannabinoids, these cells change the way they behave. Scientists figured out that the endocannabinoid system serves as a “balancing” system, performing subtle cellular changes.

So far the scientists have discovered two receptor types within the endocannabinoid system. The ones that affect our perception are CB1 receptors, located primarily in our brain.

Once “cannabinoid-contaminated” blood reaches specific regions of the brain, cannabinoids attach to the CB1 receptors, causing a wide range of chemical changes.

The psychoactivity associated with weed is mostly caused by THC, and one of the most important factors of being high is that our brain has shorter periods of rest in between thoughts.

You’re probably experienced the sensation where it seems that you can’t stop your thoughts, because they keep on evolving and going in new directions.

This happens because THC shortens the “break-time” of neurons, causing them to fire more rapidly.

This effect of cannabis has been closely associated with creativity, as it essentially changes the way our mind functions, which often leads to novel ideas and concepts.

Cannabinoids also influence the levels of dopamine and serotonin in our brain, making cannabis intoxication a generally pleasurable experience.

However, THC interferes with the conversion of short-term memories into long-term ones, which is why it’s often very difficult to remember that magnificent idea from the night before (tip: write it down!).

Why does it feel like I can’t breathe when I take Adderall and smoke weed?

This is a relatively frequent side effect of using Adderall and cannabis at the same time. Since there are no scientific studies that observed and analyzed these substances combined, it’s very difficult to determine how detrimental this effect really is.

What we do know is why this happens.

As previously mentioned, amphetamine increases dopamine and norepinephrine levels, and this activates our sympathetic nervous system, which dilates the vascular system and pumps the blood out of the periphery and into our vital organs, including the heart.

This increases overall alertness and focus, but also makes the heart beat faster (and sometimes even causes irregular heartbeats, called heart palpitations).

The increase in heart-rate and blood pressure is what makes it more difficult to breathe.

What’s interesting is that high levels of THC also increase the heart-rate and blood pressure, especially in the first couple of minutes after consumption.

When Adderall and high-THC cannabis are combined, this can definitely make breathing very difficult.

This is more than enough to freak anybody out, and can especially be frightening if you’re prone to anxiety.

In a nutshell, if this keeps on happening to you, it’s best to just stop using them together.

What do you call it when you take Adderall and smoke weed?

Using weed and Adderall at the same time is colloquially known as “Madderall”, a slang term that combines the words marijuana and Adderall.

The word marijauna is actually a Mexican slang term for cannabis, which was popularized by certain American papers during the 1930’s. The action had an end goal to alienate the cannabis plant from the American public, who were using liquid cannabis extracts for medicinal reasons, and weren’t familiar with smoking cannabis. Soon after the plant was made illegal.

If you’d like to know more on how cannabis was illegalized, check out this article.

Conclusion

Many individual cases prove that cannabis use after Adderall consumption can alleviate the negative side effects of this drug. However, we’ve pointed out situations when it would be wise to abstain from mixing Adderall and weed.

It’s important to know that Adderall is not a naive substance. Using it pretty much guarantees chemical dependency, even with therapeutic doses, and full-blown addiction is a very real danger for recreational users who consume this drug in larger quantities.

While it definitely offers great results for ADHD sufferers, consuming amphetamines from an early age doesn’t seem healthy or safe, especially when we consider the extremely shady past of these substances.

We should also have in mind that Adderall is a patented trademarked product, which means that only one pharmaceutical corporation has the right to manufacture and sell it.

Assessing the risks and benefits of Adderall requires a lot of knowledge on this substance. In the case of ADHD-diagnosed children, it’s very important to evaluate if consuming hazardous amphetamine-based medications is really worth the academic success.

A government appointed taskforce in the Australian state of Victoria will delve into the opportunities for industrial hemp in the state.

The Industrial Hemp Taskforce will seek to understand where the industry has potential, and if regulations need to be tweaked to support growth (and no doubt there will be a resounding “yes” to the latter).

As in other Australian states, a special licence is required in Victoria for cultivation and processing of the crop – and it can only be used for non-therapeutic purposes. While high-cannabidiol, low THC cannabis (less than 0.35 per cent of tetrahydrocannabinol in the leaves and flowering heads in Victoria) is technically hemp, once it is used for medicines it becomes medical cannabis in Australia, and subject to different and very strict regulations.

Still, there’s plenty of scope for non-medicinal hemp – for example, food, cosmetics, bioplastics, fibre and fuel. The Victorian sector currently focuses mainly on seed production for food uses.

The Victorian taskforce will also look across its borders to see what’s happening with hemp in other Australian jurisdictions – and how it’s being regulated.

“Industrial hemp is an emerging industry, and we’re excited to work out the best way to harness that potential and turn it into economic benefit for Victoria – particularly regional Victoria,” said Member for Mildura Ali Cupper, who is part of the taskforce.

Ms. Cupper is particularly excited about the possibilities for her area, stating climates like Mildura are perfect for hemp to grow.

The other members of the taskforce are Victoria’s Minister for Agriculture and Regional Development Jaclyn Symes, and Fiona Patten M.P, Member for Northern Metropolitan Region.

“Can’t wait to work with @FionaPattenMLC and @AliCupper to explore the potential of this wonder fibre and grow jobs – especially in regional Victoria,” tweeted Minister Symes.

The Victorian Government says input and feedback from the industry and public is welcomed – further information can be found here.

It’s not clear how many hemp cultivation licences have been issued in the state to date. The last recipients we noted were Murray River Organics (ASX:MRG) and Althea Group Holdings Limited (ASX:AGH), which were granted hemp cultivation licences in July.

Following a C$250 million boost, Canadian firm Sundial Growers has splashed out one of the U.K’s largest horticultural operations to supply the booming European CBD market.

The Alberta-based company, which listed on the NASDAQ exchange earlier this month, says the purchase of the Bridge Farm Group is a key strategic move in its bid to become a ‘world-leading, global cannabis player’. In a press release Sundial says the acquisition of Bridge Farm Group will allow it to produce and sell high-quality CBD products globally.

High Quality, Sustainable CBD

Headquartered in Spalding, Lincolnshire, Bridge Farm is one of the UK’s leading producers of plants, flowers and herbs, and recently secured permission to double its growing facilities to 3.5 million sq ft. 

The business employs over 500 employees across its five locations in the county supplying many of the U.K.’s leading supermarket chains. Sundial plans to convert some of the facilities to hemp cultivation for the production of CBD, subject to regulatory approval from the U.K. Home Office.

Bridge Farm chief executive David Ball said the British consumer is increasingly aware of CBD and needs to have ‘confidence in the products they buy’. He said that its philosophy is to grow ‘high quality plants in a sustainable way, and we will now be able to bring that expertise to CBD health products’.

Sundial Establishes European Presence

Sundial Growers was established in 2014 as a licensed cannabis producer and manufacturer of high-quality CBD products and currently operates from two sites in Alberta with plans to build a third facility in British Columbia. 

The acquisition establishes its presence in Europe and represents ‘an important milestone in our international expansion’, said Torsten Kuenzlen, its Chief Executive Officer. He added: “This is a significant acquisition for Sundial, taking us one step closer to our goal of being one of the leading cannabis companies in the world.”

In early July, Sundial announced it had secured a private investment of C$92.6 million and loans totaling almost C$160m. In its first set of results since its launch on the NASDAQ it reported second-quarter net losses of C$12.4 million, on net revenue of C$19.3 million.

It has not responded to claims on the MarketWatch website that it has accepted the return of half a ton of cannabis from fellow Canadian Licensed Producer Zenabis Global.

There's absolutely, positively no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to investing. Period. Anything you invest in comes with some level of risk. And investing in marijuana stocks comes with a lot of risk.

The closest thing to a sure thing with investing in pot stocks is a far cry from a sure thing. Having said that, there is an anomaly that I think investors can exploit to improve their chances of success with investing in the cannabis industry. It's simple. It's data-driven. And it makes a lot of sense.

What is this closest thing to a sure thing related to investing in pot stocks? I can sum it up in two words: Buy American.

Two compelling charts

Do I really think that buying the stocks of companies primarily focusing on the U.S. cannabis market gives investors an advantage? Yep. There are two charts that make a compelling case for the idea. The first chart underscores a big gap in the valuations of Canadian versus U.S. pot stocks.

DATA SOURCE: BLOOMBERG. CHART BY AUTHOR.

We can't use earnings-based valuation metrics for the simple reason that many cannabis stocks aren't generating positive earnings yet. But we can use another commonly used metric, the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio. The above chart clearly shows that Canadian pot stocks are valued much more highly than U.S. pot stocks are.

The average P/S ratio for Canadian cannabis stocks is nearly three times that of U.S. cannabis stocks. You can assign a lot of the blame for this big discrepancy to Cronos Group, The Green Organic Dutchman, and Emerald Health Therapeutics. These three Canadian stocks have much higher P/S ratios than their peers do.

Using a median P/S ratio instead of the average P/S ratio gives us a better perspective. But even watering down the effect of outliers with this approach, U.S. pot stocks are much cheaper than their Canadian counterparts with a 27% lower median P/S.

There's also another compelling reason why U.S. cannabis stocks present a significant advantage to investors: the market opportunity. The following chart highlights just how much bigger the U.S. market opportunity is than in Canada or the rest of the world.

DATA SOURCE: ARCVIEW MARKET RESEARCH AND BDS ANALYTICS. CHART BY AUTHOR.

Most of the largest Canadian cannabis stocks can't compete in the U.S. cannabis market as long as marijuana isn't legal at the federal level. This means that U.S. cannabis companies have a much larger addressable market than most Canadian companies do. 

Put aside for a moment that we're talking about cannabis stocks. If you knew that one type of technology stock had a much more attractive valuation and a much larger potential market than another type of technology stock, which would you be more likely to buy? 

The fly in the ointment

U.S. cannabis companies operate in states that have legalized either medical or recreational cannabis. But doing so doesn't change the fact that many of these companies are still violating federal marijuana laws. The ones that don't violate federal laws skirt the issue because they don't directly engage in the production or sale of cannabis. Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE:IIPR), for example, is a cannabis-focused real estate investment trust (REIT)that leases properties to U.S. cannabis operators but doesn't run these properties itself.

This legal issue is the primary reason why U.S. pot stocks are so much cheaper than their Canadian counterparts. The issue causes several challenges for many U.S. cannabis companies. It limits their ability to access capital. It prevents them from listing their stocks on major U.S. stock exchanges. And it makes the companies susceptible to the risk that the U.S. federal government could crack down on their operations.

These challenges aren't as daunting as you might think, though. Quite a few of the pot stocks that focus primarily on the U.S. market have listed their shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), which doesn't have restrictions on its members participating in the U.S. cannabis market. This approach, combined with listing on over-the-counter exchanges in the U.S., has allowed companies to raise the cash needed to fund operations and expansion.

Also, the risk of a federal crackdown appears to be pretty low at this point. Despite some worries early on in the Trump administration while Jeff Sessions was the U.S. attorney general, there haven't been any real measures taken by the federal government to interfere with businesses operating in states that have legalized cannabis. 

Two key assumptions

I really do think that the arguments for investing in U.S.-focused cannabis stocks are good ones. However, you should know that there are two key assumptions at the core of this approach:

1. The U.S. cannabis industry will grow at least in the ballpark of what many project that it will.
2. U.S. federal laws will be revised at some point in the not-too-distant future in a way that at minimum recognizes the rights of individual states to enforce their own laws related to cannabis.

My view is that the first assumption doesn't require too much of a leap of faith. We can look at the sales trajectory of states such as Colorado that have had established cannabis markets for several years to get a reasonable sense of how other state cannabis markets might grow in the future.

The second assumption is more iffy, though. Support for cannabis legalization at the federal level among the American public is higher than ever. The real question is exactly how intense that support is. I'm not so sure that most Americans will make voting decisions based largely on candidates' positions on cannabis legalization.

Also, because of the way the U.S. political system works, the leader of the Senate or the House of Representatives can effectively veto any bill he or she wants to by refusing to bring it to a vote. For example, the opposition of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cannabis legalization makes the odds of anything happening much lower than you might think after looking at public opinion poll results. 

But will federal marijuana laws eventually change? I think so. In my view, it's a matter of when rather than if. 

A sure thing

If my two assumptions are correct, investing in U.S. pot stocks should pay off in a big way over the long run. My recommendation for anyone opting to take this approach is to buy multiple stocks of well-run companies that are either already profitable or have a clear pathway to profitability.

Including stocks of companies focused on the hemp market is also a good idea since hemp is already federally legal in the U.S. Keep in mind, though, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn't finalized regulations for hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products. Those regulations, when released, could change the prospects for some hemp CBD companies.

I've already mentioned one stock that I think would be a great core component of a U.S. pot stock strategy -- Innovative Industrial Properties. Not only is IIP profitable and growing, but it pays a solid dividend as well. I also like the prospects for Cresco Labs (OTC:CRLBF), a multistate cannabis operator that should close on its acquisition of California's leading cannabis distributor, Origin House, later this year.

My favorite U.S. hemp play is Charlotte's Web Holdings (OTC:CWBHF). It's another company that is consistently profitable and is growing fast. I also think new CEO Deanie Elsner's expertise in the consumer packaged goods industry will be a big plus to this CBD pioneer.

As I stated at the outset, though, buying U.S. pot stocks -- even a mix of winners like IIP, Cresco, Charlotte's Web, and others -- isn't a sure thing even though I do think it improves your chances of success over the long run. But there is one thing I'm completely sure about: If you don't invest in the cannabis industry, you won't profit from the boom in the cannabis industry. 

The hemp fields sprouting in a part of Canada best known for its giant oil patch show how climate change is disrupting the construction industry.

Six years after setting up shop in the shadow of Calgary’s tar sands, Mac Radford, 64, says he can’t satisfy all the orders from builders for Earth-friendly materials that help them limit their carbon footprints. His company, JustBioFiber Structural Solutions, is on the vanguard of businesses using hemp -- the boring cousin of marijuana devoid of psychoactive content -- to mitigate the greenhouse gases behind global warming.

Around the world, builders are putting modern twists into ancient construction methods that employ the hearty hemp weed. Roman engineers used the plant’s sinewy fibers in the mortar they mixed to hold up bridges. More recently, former White House adviser Steve Bannon weighed in on using so-called hempcrete to build walls. Early results indicate it’s possible to tap demand for cleaner alternatives to cement.

“We have way more demand than we can supply,” said Radford from his plant in Airdrie, which is undergoing expansion and soon expects to churn out enough Lego-like hemp bricks each year to build 2,000 homes.

Greener alternatives to cement add to the pressure on companies including LafargeHolcim Ltd. and Votorantim Cimentos SA as the global economy pivots toward dramatically lower emissions.

Cement makers are responsible for about seven per cent of global carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere every year, with copious volumes entering via limestone kilns needed to produce the material. Manufacturers say they’ve struggled to find markets for greener alternatives, giving easy entree to entrepreneurs like Radford who cater to customers concerned about their impact on the Earth.

“They love it once they understand it,” said Radford of the builders who’ve adopted the modular, inter-locking bricks he invented for their projects. “Our old practices we have to change.”

While architects and developers have traditionally concentrated on the energy used by their buildings once they’re are standing, it’s actually the materials required in their construction that represent the brunt of a structure’s lifetime carbon footprint. Replacing high-carbon-intensity materials like cement with greener alternatives like hemp can dramatically reduce or even offset greenhouse gas pollution.

Hemp fields absorb carbon when they’re growing. After harvest, the crop continues to absorb greenhouse gases as it’s mixed with lime or clay. Hempcrete structures also have better ventilation, fire resistance and temperature regulation, according to their proponents.

Numbers across the industry vary depending on the process, but JustBioFiber says that its hemp captures 130 kilograms (287 pounds) of carbon dioxide for each cubic meter it builds. Those structures made with their bricks will sequester more greenhouse gases than they emit in production. By contrast each ton of cement produced emits half a ton of carbon dioxide, according to the European Cement Association.

First developed in France more than 30 years ago, hempcrete was initially used for renovating old houses since it mixed well with stone and lime. That has progressed to new build homes, offices and municipal buildings some as tall as seven floors, according to Quentin Pichon, founder of CAN-Ingenieurs Architectes who specialize in hempcrete buildings.

Hemp growth in France has grown by fifth in the last decade as a result of an increase in its construction use but also because seeds from the plant that can be used to make cannabidol, he said. Hemp sales in Canada could hit US$1 billion within five years from US$140 million last year, according to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

That ability to quickly ramp-up local cultivation virtually anywhere in the world is one of hemp’s appeals, according to Alex Sparrow, the managing director of U.K. Hempcrete.

“Demand is rising steadily but we need to accelerate this as currently the U.K. construction industry accounts for approximately seven per cent of GDP and 50 per cent of total U.K. carbon emissions,” Sparrow said.

One of the principle challenges his U.K. company faces are legal hurdles imposed on hemp cultivation -- British farmers can only grow hemp building materials but can’t profit from the oil extracted from seeds.

Back near Calgary, the black denim-clad Radford is already turning a profit from his hemp venture and is preparing to invest another C$37 million ($28 million) to expand production to 3.5 million bricks a year. He credits his children with convincing him to go green after four decades in commercial development.

“They think that finally it’s not about money, it’s about doing good for the planet,” he said.

In June 2019, the Federal Council has submitted a proposal suggesting that medicinal cannabis in Switzerland should be made legal.

Over recent years, Switzerland has “been relatively progressive on cannabis, including the legalisation of cannabis with no more than 1% THC.” For example, this level of legal THC percentage, although it has to be less than 1%, this is still considerably in more than other countries – medicinal cannabis in Switzerland differs as in most other European countries legal THC limit is 0.2%.

However, despite this, it has been argued that “the Swiss medical program has been restrictive, forcing patients to get special authorisation from the Federal Office of Public Health. Even with that approval, patients could only get cannabis tinctures and oil, not flower, from a very limited number of dispensaries. Currently, only about 3,000 authorisations have been granted”.

The Federal Council – facilitating access to medical cannabis

On the 26th June 2019, the Federal Council released a statement stating that they had put in a draft amendment to facilitate access to medical cannabis treatment. The Federal Council refers to the collective head of state of Switzerland.

The amendment proposes that medical cannabis should be made fully legal, “allowing patients to directly get approval from their doctor. The proposal would ‘lift the ban on the circulation of medical cannabis in the law on narcotics,’ making the ‘cultivation, processing and trade of medical cannabis’ possible within the framework of the control system provided by Swissmedic, the country’s drug regulatory agency.” The proposal also suggested that the government should “allow prescriptions for cannabis to treat people suffering from cancer or other serious conditions”.

If approved, the proposal would “replace the current system, in which those seeking medical cannabis must apply for an exception from the Federal Health Office to get what is otherwise an illegal drug. Marijuana is sometimes used to help cancer patients manage chronic pain, to help boost their appetites, and to reduce spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis.”

In accordance with this, Switzerland’s drug regulatory agency, Swissmedic, noted that the “growing and processing medical cannabis, as well as its sale, would then be possible under a system regulated.”

The current exemption permit

In Switzerland, since 2011, it has been “possible to prescribe medicinal cannabis, but there are high barriers to overcome. Patients have to apply for an exemption permit from the Federal Ministry of Health (BAG).

“In many cases the treatment is delayed, which is why the Federal Council wants to lift the ban on selling medicinal cannabis. In addition, the BAG wants to check whether, in future, the official health insurance funds might reimburse the costs of the treatment.”

However, it should be mentioned that the government has noted that the proposed changes do face challenges; “The biggest obstacle to automatic reimbursement is that the scientific evidence of efficacy is not yet sufficient, and the conclusions of existing studies are sometimes contradictory. […] The Federal Health Office will launch an evaluation project to help answer questions about whether the drug is an effective remedy and, if so, for what conditions.”

The only Swiss pharmacy that stocks medical cannabis

Currently, there is only one pharmacy in Switzerland which stocks medical cannabis which is in the small town ‘Langnau.’ According to the BBC: “Each patient prescribed it by a doctor must also get a special permit from the Swiss Federal Health Office, and pharmacist Daniela Eigenmann must have a permit for each prescription. Daniela points out that cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. “In 2,700 BC, a Chinese emperor used it against malaria, and rheumatism,” she says.

‘”I think it should be available. It’s not a miracle cure, it won’t help everyone, but patients should have the opportunity to have it.” Cannabis to smoke is not prescribed in Switzerland, though some German doctors, unable to access the oils and tinctures, prescribe cannabis flowers which can be smoked.

“Most of Daniela’s patients take the cannabis oil or tincture for chronic pain. Some are para- or tetraplegic and suffer agonising spasms or have multiple sclerosis, others, like Bernadette Niklaus, have suffered a lifetime of pain [from sclerosis]. After spending years on various strong painkillers, Bernadette’s doctor suggested she try a cannabis tincture.

“Bernadette takes five drops of the medicine, three times a day. She needs two small bottles a month and has had to argue for support from her health insurance company: each bottle costs around $500 (~€437), and some companies refuse to cover the cost. She fears that if the law is not both relaxed and clarified, she and patients like her could lose access to medicinal cannabis and might even be forced to get it illegally.”

Furthermore, “Although health insurance does not assist in the purchase of these products, patients have access to CBD, which can treat many debilitating conditions. They have also approved the prescription of Sativex and dronabinol, two cannabis-based medications.”

References

1. https://www.theextract.co.uk/switzerland-close-to-legalising-medicinal-cannabis/
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarabrittanysomerset/2018/08/26/the-top-three-most-overlooked-marijuana-markets/#4e2e2b5d55c2
3. https://www.admin.ch/gov/fr/accueil/documentation/communiques.msg-id-75582.html
4. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-cannabis/switzerland-aims-to-legalise-medical-marijuana-idUSKCN1TR13N
5. https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/switzerland-good-news-for-cannabis-consumers/
6. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45363471
7. https://www.marijuanadoctors.com/international-patients/switzerland-qualifications/

Cannatrek Ltd recently revealed it had received planning permission from the Greater Shepparton City Council to build a $160 million medicinal cannabis production facility.

Cannatrek is part of the CANNATREK Group, which is deploying an end-to-end industry blueprint, to provide a streamlined progression into the cannabis agri-tech industry, which reduces growth risk, maximises market share and targets high value-added wellness & medicinal cannabis products.

The facility, just outside of Shepparton, Victoria will be one of the world’s largest medicinal cannabis facilities and Cannatrek is already making its mark globally, having partnered with Canada's TSE listed $334.6 million capped Canntrust:

While its primary function will be to provide medical cannabis to the broader community, it will also help to further boost Shepparton’s economy.

Greater Shepparton sits at the heart of the ‘food bowl of Australia’ and is responsible for producing high quality fruit, vegetables and agricultural goods. Essentially, it has the ideal climate and environment for food production, which should translate to non-food crops.

The region’s agricultural strength is a key reason for Cannatrek’s presence there. It is water abundant, enjoys long hours of sunlight and has a population with significant skills in agri-technology:

“We believe that the region will become a major centre for the production of medicinal cannabis. We are delighted that the local council is so enthusiastic about our project,” said Tommy Huppert, CEO of Cannatrek.

“We will be a major employer and there will be significant and positive knock-on effects in the region. We are now preparing the development to build a scalable project and we have received planning permission for the entire project.”

Construction of the facility and the facility itself is expected to create more than 400 jobs a year for the Greater Shepparton area and beyond.

The facility will be built on 178 acres of land purchased by Cannatrek and will include a 160,000m2 growing area under a giant high-technology glasshouse. When operating at full production, Canntrek aims to produce 160 tonnes of medicinal cannabis per year.

“Getting local planning approval has been a huge step for us; with the development assistance that we are getting from the Victorian Government, we are confident that we can be a major low-cost producer of medicinal cannabis for Australian patients, as well as for world markets,” Huppert said.

“Our aim is to cultivate, process and manufacture affordable medicinal cannabis as a clean, green, therapeutic product of choice for hundreds of thousands of patients in Australia and overseas.”

Looking after people’s health

Cannatrek estimates that 300,000 to 500,000 Australians buy cannabis on the black market each year in order to self-medicate. There are several reasons for this, not least that medical cannabis trials are ongoing and important cannabis is expensive and therefore out of reach for some who need it.

Australia is moving forward. It is a slow process, but progress is being made.

As of July 2019, authorities in Australia have granted approximately 11,500 approvals, under the Special Access Scheme, for the legal use of medicinal cannabis, with almost 10,500 of those authorisations being approved in the last 12 months alone. The billion-dollar Australian medicinal cannabis industry is forecasting significant growth to an estimated 20,000+ approvals by the end of 2019.

Cannatrek holds eight licences to commercialise a seed-to-patient business in Australia. It has completed commissioning of its Queensland site, near Brisbane, for full R&D and commercial production to begin shortly, making it a first mover, at scale, in the Australian industry.

It has also moved to define itself as a healthcare specialist, having launched Cannahealth, a free medicinal cannabis advisory service founded to deal with the large volume of enquiries from medical professionals and the general public, regarding medicinal cannabis in Australia.

It is no secret that patient access to information is scarce and average doctor education is still evolving, with some doctors still sceptical.

Cannahealth’s intention is to empower patients with current and peer-reviewed information to share with their physician and help navigate the challenging Special Access Scheme administered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Cannahealth also provides patients with a free “find a doctor” service by which patients can find a medicinal cannabis specialist in their area to provide them informed medical advice and treatment options. The company can assist patients by connecting them with Telehealth clinics that can provide them with medical advice and services ensuring that medicinal cannabis can be accessed by patients across 87% of continental Australia.

Cannahealth will also provide doctors with information about the legislative framework surrounding medicinal cannabis in Australia as well as facilitating RACPG certified courses to increase the knowledge base of physicians to increase the level of care their patients receive.

As the industry grows, Cannahealth expects to take a leading position in market education. In the meantime, via Cannatek, it will look to expand its footprint as a high-valued medical cannabis exporter.

Cannabis cafes in the Netherlands are to be supplied legally with drugs from regulated producers as part of a trial aimed at tackling the black market.

Under Dutch law, cannabis can be sold over the counter in licensed coffee shops, but it is currently illegal to produce and supply the drug.

The country's loose policy on cannabis has seen criminal enterprises flourish.

From 2021, cafes in 10 cities will get a legal supply of "quality" cannabis as part of a four-year experiment.

Cultivating cannabis is a contentious issue in the Netherlands, a country famous for its liberal drug laws.

owner of the Toermalijn coffee shop in Tilburg said quality control "would be great"

Cafe owners who provide over-the-counter cannabis have long relied on the illegal market for their supply, and industry insiders have accused the government of facilitating a nonsensical backdoor culture.

It is an issue that has often led to large-scale police operations in the country.

How will the experiment work?

The "weed trials" are aimed at providing a controlled and legalised supply of cannabis, making the industry more transparent and testing whether that will free up police officers to focus on other crimes.

The cities chosen, and still to be approved, are: Arnhem, Almere, Breda, Groningen, Heerlen, Hellevoetsluis, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Tilburg and Zaanstad.

As part of the experiment, cannabis will be cultivated by nationally approved growers. The coffee shops in these towns will be obliged to participate: in other words they will no longer be allowed to procure their produce from growers operating under the legal radar.

Cities in which the drug's cultivation will remain unregulated will be monitored and the results will then be compared.

Why did the biggest cities not sign up?

The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam will not take part, primarily over the demand that all coffee shops in the test locations must immediately abandon their illegal suppliers.

Amsterdam has almost 170 cannabis cafes and Mayor Femke Halsema warned last year it would be dangerous if all those buyers abandoned their suppliers simultaneously.

For Derrick Bergman, chairman of the VOC group that promotes cannabis, the trial comes "way too little, way too late".

of the cannabis consumed at Dutch coffee shops is currently imported

"[Cannabis] coffee shops have been around since 1976, the government should have acted before to stop the problems we see today - the criminality, lack of quality control," he told the BBC.

"The four coalition parties are at odds, Christian parties want a total ban, liberals want total legalisation. In the long run it will hopefully lead to a more sensible, pragmatic approach across the country."

What are the rules on cannabis?

• Cannabis has had a "decriminalised" status in the Netherlands since the 1970s
• Small amounts of up to five grams can be bought and sold for recreational use
• This tolerant approach to soft drugs is widely considered an effective means of controlling the market - and limiting criminality
• It also means that the Dutch treasury coffers receive a chunk of cannabis cafes' profits
• The thriving recreational industry alone is expected to be worth €1bn by 2028.

What are risks of legalising supply?

Allowing selected growers to cultivate their own plants for the commercial market has ignited fears that the Netherlands is heading towards "narco state" status - a country dependent on the trade in illegal drugs.

The conservative Telegraaf newspaper has counted 50 drug-related murders in the Netherlands since 2012, nothing close to Mexico or Colombia.

Much of the cannabis grown illegally in the Netherlands is exported. It is unclear whether the chance to do legitimate business with Dutch cannabis cafes will be enough of a draw for those farmers to abandon or divert their lucrative covert operations.

A visit by police and scientists to Canada last year concluded that crime did not immediately fall after legalisation, although the findings were contested.

What's the view from the coffee shop?

Willem, who runs the Toermalijn coffee shop in the southern Dutch city of Tilburg, said the implementation of quantity and quality control "would be great for us".

"But if the government make us pay more, then our customers will be charged more, and then they'll just go to the black market," he said.

"Keeping the market price is critical to the success of this experiment."

tomers smoke at the Toermalijn coffee shop in the Dutch city of Tilburg

Asked how black-market dealers would react, he expected some would be "mad or disappointed".

"They'll see we're forced into it. Maybe it will just encourage them to get licences. But it depends how able the growers are to meet our demand."

However, he pointed out the experiment failed to provide any solution for hashish, a form of the drug made from cannabis resin.

"What we sell always comes from abroad. So where are we meant to get our hash if we can't get it from Morocco, Afghanistan or Lebanon?

"We don't have the ability to produce the same quality. It's like asking people to switch from wine to whisky. Most of our customers prefer foreign hash and weed from Thailand and Jamaica. It's hard to find Dutch alternatives, especially in such a short time."