Australia’s Federal Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, opened (another) medical cannabis facility in Queensland last week.

The THC Global (ASX:THC) project in Southport is the largest bio-pharma manufacturing facility in the Southern Hemisphere according to the company, and has an expected capacity of 12,000 kg of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) extracts per year. Pending securing of required approvals, THC Global expects to further process these extracts into finished medicines including oils and capsules.

In July this year subsidiary THC Pharma Pty Ltd was awarded a Manufacture Licence from the Australian Office of Drug Control in relation to the Southport facility.

Commercial production is expected to commence early next year.

Minister Hunt, who also toured the facility, said its opening demonstrated the Morrison Government’s commitment to not only boosting the local industry, but also helping Australians living with chronic or terminal illnesses. However, some would argue that much more needs to be done in terms of the regulatory red tape Australian patients and doctors face in accessing medicinal cannabis.

Federal Member for Moncrieff Angie Bell also attended the official opening along with Rob Molhoek MP, the Queensland State Member for Southport..

“This facility will build our local industry, meet domestic and international demand, and create economic growth and jobs,” said Ms. Bell.

Aside from producing medicines for the Australian and overseas market, the facility will also play a role in local research.

“We also expect to support clinical trials and study trials in Australia, which are currently almost exclusively serviced by expensive imported products,” said THC Global Chairman Steven Xu.

The company says its low cost production capability will enable cheaper supply to Australian patients than current imported products, increasing patient accessibility.

Also last week, Minister Hunt officially opened a medical cannabis farm on the Sunshine Coast. The Medifarm facility aims to produce 7 tonnes of plant material annually.

Australia’s Morrison Government notes more than 8,500 patients have been authorised to access a medicinal cannabis product nationally, with approximately one-third of these approvals granted for patients in Queensland. The state is home to around 20% of Australia’s population.

Audrey Elizabeth Lorber, an American film student, is currently behind bars in Russia facing marijuana possession charges. Russian authorities allege Lorber illegally brought cannabis into the country after police discovered over 19 grams in her possession at the Pulkovo Airport. Based in New York, Lorber is a registered medical cannabis patient. But Russian courts say Lorber’s New York medical cannabis authorization doesn’t extend to Russia. Russia harshly penalizes drugs, and marijuana possession charges can carry a sentence of up to three years.

U.S. Film Student Pleads Guilty in Russian Court

Audrey Lorber majors in film at Pace University in Manhattan. And her recent social media posts show she’s been traveling across Russia with her mother. Now, however, Lorber is facing drug possession charges in St. Petersburg for carrying her medical cannabis with her into Russia.

On September 2, St. Petersburg courts announced the criminal case against Lorber via Telegram. Translated, the post accuses Lorber of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The post specifies that the charges allege Lorber obtained the cannabis in the United States. A search of her luggage in the Pulkovo airport turned up the 19.05 grams she was carrying.

The court’s announcement also says that Lorber has already pleaded guilty to the drug possession charge. But so far, no date has been set for her trial.

Controversial Marijuana Law Under Fire

Compared to the rest of Europe, Russia has the most people per capital imprisoned for drug crimes. Almost all of them were convicted under Article 228, the same law that Lorber stands accused of breaking. In Russia, this draconian anti-drug law has a nickname, “the people’s article,” because of how many people it has put in jail. In 2018, 100,000 people went to jail for drug crimes covered under Article 228.

Just a couple months ago, Article 228 busted another foreign citizen, American-Israeli Naama Issachar, for allegedly smuggling cannabis into the country. She was carrying just 9 grams of marijuana, and furthermore, denies it was even hers. Issachar has been detained since April, and she still hasn’t stood trial. Initially Russian authorities charged her with simple possession. But they subsequently increased the charge to smuggling, which can carry a sentence of 3 to 10 years in prison.

Article 228 is making life hard for Russian citizens, too. And in June, the arrest of a gay man tricked by cops posing as gay men on Tinder ignited public outrage over the law. These and other high profile arrests for personal amounts of cannabis have put intense public pressure on officials to loosen the law and relax penalties for possession.

Unlike in the United States, however, popular support for decriminalizing or legalizing cannabis isn’t strong. According to Russian state polling agencies, roughly 15 percent of citizens support legalization. But younger Russians, many of whom favor legalization and more lenient penalties, are signaling a shift. “We have the momentum with us,” said fashion-brand founder Yeger Yeremeev, who’s using apparel to launch a conversation about legal weed. “Suddenly everyone is talking about 228.”

Jamaica has something no other country in the world does – a synonymous relation with cannabis that is admired and respected. Thanks to reggae and Rasta over the past 60 years, every non-Jamaican wants to experience smoking Jamaican cannabis. This creates both an enviable aura and an amazing prospect of what is possible for Jamaica’s cannabis brand.

Here are four reasons it’s worth investing in the local industry:

ROI

Jamaica has one of the lowest cannabis production costs in the world thanks to its year-round tropical climate. Many leading cannabis producers rely on indoor grow with help of high-wattage bulbs, which means increased power consumption.

Most local companies, on the other hand, use greenhouse technology or traditional earth farming. With local medical ganja selling for roughly US$10 a gram (the same or more compared to Canada and the USA), investors can potentially reap higher margins with a local company.

Exports coming soon

The world wants Jamaican ganja and passing of the export bill will make that reality. The cannabis import/export bill is in the final stages of completion and may be finalized before year-end. This means potent, sun-grown Jamaican cannabis and cannabis oil, with its unique chemical profile, can be accessed worldwide, creating a global marketplace and the opportunity for increased revenue.

Ganjamaica Brand

With more countries legalizing cannabis and creating industries, only a few will rise to the top as standout brands. Jamaican companies are well-positioned to be among the most sought after because cannabis is in the country’s DNA. This provides marketing leverage and credibility other countries will have to spend decades building. That reputation can be converted to revenue with the right approach.

National Pride

The Government was strategic in writing the laws to protect Jamaican interest in the emerging cannabis industry. By law, all cannabis companies must be substantially (more than 50 per cent) owned by Jamaicans. This is a way for Jamaican investors to truly own their cannabis industry and add to the historic narrative of Ganja in Jamaica.

Both recreational and medical cannabis growers in Illinois will have to meet high standards for their energy and water use.

A state law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June places limits on the amount of water and electricity growers can use, as well as setting requirements for water runoff and wastewater.

“This is a high-resource-use industry, and it doesn’t have to be,” said state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago. “Illinois can show the way to do it in a better way.”

The legislation’s sustainability requirements for growers is among the strictest in the nation, according to Sam Milton, a consultant at Climate Resources Group, which helps businesses, regulators and other organizations pursue climate-friendly business practices.

“It definitely puts Illinois at or near the top in terms of state policies for energy and environmental performance for cultivation facilities,” he said.

Illinois growers must use automatic watering systems and limit how much runoff water they produce, according to the new state law. They also have to collect and filter wastewater so that it could be used to water their plants in the future.

In terms of energy consumption, a grower can use no more than 36 watts per square foot for lighting the plants. That standard is similar to one in Massachusetts, but the Illinois law goes further.

Cultivators also must use high-efficiency lights approved by the DesignLights Consortium, a nonprofit organization that pushes for the use of high-performing commercial lights.

The regulations target indoor production, where the majority of growers in the U.S. say they cultivate, according to a 2018 report from New Frontier Data.

Indoor growing uses a lot of energy. Marijuana businesses represented nearly 4% of Denver’s power use in 2018. The same New Frontier Data report estimates energy use in cannabis legal states would jump 162% by 2022, if growers do not change their practices.

Illinois lawmakers observed how much energy and water the cannabis industry used in other states around the country and saw a chance to become the standard for the country, Cassidy said.

“This bill was an opportunity to set a high bar for how this industry will grow in Illinois,” she said. “We were looking to take the lead here.”

Will the efforts pay off?

Illinois’ efforts on energy efficiency is drawing praise from many environmental groups.

“It is the best in terms of sustainability regulations of any cannabis regulation in the country,” said Jennifer Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council.

The environmental council represents more than 80 environmental groups in Illinois and pushes for stronger environmental laws and policies at the state capitol. Those groups were concerned about the energy consumption from marijuana cultivation and distribution, Walling said.

“We want to be bringing the state towards 100% clean, renewable energy,” she said. “If we’re having a new industry enter into Illinois that creates a lot of pollution or uses a lot of energy, that’s not going to protect Illinoisans.”

Illinois enters the recreational cannabis market years after Colorado, Washington and other early adopter states. Waiting that long let the state take a different approach to regulating its new industry.

“I think they learned from some of the mistakes of Colorado, Washington and Oregon,” Milton said. “A lot of states have ignored the fact that these facilities are very energy intensive.”

Being more energy efficient ultimately saves money, which Milton said will make Illinois growers more competitive as the cannabis market eventually expands nationally.