High Green News

Another first for the pot industry: A licensed cannabis restaurant

5 years ago By Anonymous (not verified)

Cannabis edibles are a growing segment of the market and are expected to reach $4.1 billion in 2022, combining Canadian and U.S. sales. In 2017, that figure was just $1 billion among the two countries. The segment is going to be key to the industry's long-term growth.

Restaurants haven't been able to take advantage of that growth since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has still not permitted cannabidiol (CBD) to be infused into food. While the FDA has held hearings on CBD, there's no indication that changes are coming anytime soon.

One restaurant, however, has been able to get around that problem. Lowell Farms opened its doors earlier this month in West Hollywood, Calf., and it's the first restaurant with a lounge licensed for cannabis use. Customers will be able to eat food and consume pot at the same establishment. That doesn't mean the restaurant will be able to make and serve cannabis food. Instead, cannabis edibles will be permitted only if they are "produced by an outside source." 

One of the other restrictions the restaurant will face is not being able to sell alcohol to diners. It's a small price to pay to let them consume cannabis, since pot lounges remain a rarity in the industry. Las Vegas is among the cities looking at permitting such lounges, but that could be years away because there's still a lot of opposition to it. 

Why lounges could be big for the industry

While marijuana has been legalized in many parts of the U.S., that doesn't mean it's possible to consume it at bars or sporting events, unlike alcohol where there are many places that users can drink in a social setting. Allowing that could unlock another avenue of growth for the industry.

Cannabis beverages are on the rise and expected to grow globally at a rate of more than 15% per year from now until 2025, reaching $4.5 billion in market size by then. So there's going to be a growing need for places to enjoy such drinks with friends without always having to do so at home. And that doesn't even factor in the growth of edibles that could be consumed at lounges, such as candy, cookies, and chocolate.

Growth opportunities for investors

Investors looking to tap into some of those opportunities may want to consider investing in Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC). The cannabis producer is going to be a big player in the edibles market in Canada when edibles are launched. And it is among a select few in the industry that have a deal with a beverage company, Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ). The two companies first began working together in 2017 when the beermaker first invested in the company. The two companies would likely see demand for their products soar if they could be consumed in lounges. While the Canadian-based company wouldn't be able to send its products across the border unless they're hemp-based, by the time cannabis lounges are common across the U.S, federal legislation may very well have been passed to legalize marijuana. 

In Canada, there's potential for Canopy Growth to test its products in one lounge that was made legal earlier this year. In many ways, the emerging Canadian cannabis edibles market, which is going to be legalized later this month and where the first products will be available in December , could prove to be a good indicator of how successful some of these concepts will be in the U.S. And for Canopy Growth, it could be an important way to get closer to breakeven.

For now, Canopy Growth can be a good opportunity for investors to take advantage of the new edibles market in Canada. Not only is the company well-positioned for success in the beverages segment, but in a recent interview with BNN Bloomberg, CEO Mark Zekulin said the company was working on more than 50 different products for the edibles market. That could lead to significant growth for Canopy Growth and get investors excited about the stock once again.

Marijuana reform should focus on inequality

5 years ago By Anonymous (not verified)

Especially because Americans of color have borne the brunt of the drug war, they deserve to share in the marijuana boom now taking hold across the country. And if America’s long history with another smokable intoxicant—tobacco—is any guide, government rules will decide who can profit from growing the crop. At the moment, though, those rules favor well-connected corporate growers rather than independent farmers, much less independent farmers of color.

Eleven states and the District of Columbia have fully legalized recreational pot, and 15 states have decriminalized it. The drug can be used medicinally in 33 states. Nearly two-thirds of Americans now believe that marijuana use should be legal, and not all of them use it. For millions, the case for legalization rests on social-justice grounds. Revulsion against an expensive and racist drug war—in which black people have been nearly four times as likely as white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar usage rates—has been a significant force toward reform.

Making up for the brutal inequalities of the drug war should be a major goal of marijuana reformers—but so far, the reality isn’t working out that way.

Each state that reforms its marijuana laws must decide how it will allocate production rights. Right now, states severely restrict the number of licenses awarded to cannabis growers, ensuring corporate domination of the industry. In New York, where medical marijuana is legal, just 10 companies own licenses to cultivate and dispense marijuana. Competition is fierce over the licenses, which can sell for tens of millions of dollars—even before an ounce of marijuana is sold. For this reason, licenses tend to go to well-financed pot conglomerates that own cultivation facilities in multiple states.

That outcome should not come as a surprise. A federally supported program set rules for tobacco growers from the Great Depression until early this century. Its history suggests that production regulations, when done right, can be a powerful tool to spread wealth—but also that, when done wrong, they are a highly efficient way of excluding people from an industry.

Much like today’s marijuana regulators, the tobacco program inaugurated during the New Deal also instituted a licensure system. Not anyone could just move to North Carolina or Kentucky and start selling tobacco. A farmer needed approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That approval came in the form of a tobacco quota—the right to produce a certain amount of tobacco for which a farmer would receive a guaranteed minimum price. The specifics changed over its 70-year history, but the essence of the federal tobacco program was simple: A balance between supply and demand could be achieved with a limited number of farmers producing a limited amount of tobacco.

The architects of this system intended it to protect a privileged group of Americans: white farmers. Concentrated in the South, where Democratic representatives in Congress were crucial to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal coalition, tobacco farmers were of particular concern to policy makers. Quotas were set on a yearly basis based on USDA estimates of domestic and export demand. But they were rooted in historical production patterns, essentially locking in inherited wealth, excluding black sharecroppers and poor white tenants from this program benefit. Quotas were a government-created piece of property—property that licensed owners to engage in a productive activity, selling tobacco, that the government also subsidized. Although quota formulations were rejiggered over the years, the biases present in their formulation continued

But for all its flaws, the tobacco program succeeded at what it was meant to do: endowing a designated class of Americans with a way of life that buoyed entire regional economies. Because of strict production restrictions, tobacco farms were among the smallest for any staple commodity, which forestalled the consolidation of farms and an exodus of residents from rural areas. And there were many tobacco farmers in the middle stratum of the farm income ladder, and relatively few at the top. Small tobacco farms could still provide for a decent standard of living because tobacco was a high-value crop. Growing even a small amount could be lucrative. In 1980, an acre of cigarette tobacco was worth $2,700, as opposed to $150 for corn or $250 for soybeans. “There is absolutely nothing on this Earth that can compete with tobacco money,” a USDA economist told The Washington Post in 1980. Except, he added, “illegal smoking material.”

The program’s significance was cast into relief when Congress finally terminated it in 2004. Quota owners and producers who leased quotas were eligible to receive compensation funded through assessments on the cigarette manufacturers. Using their buyout funds, older quota holders—landlords—and more marginal producers took their money and quit the industry. Those who remained committed to tobacco cultivation took the money to expand their operations and mechanize production. Farms became fewer but bigger, as only the largest operations could survive in a global tobacco market in which the government no longer supported farmers with a price floor. One year after the buyout, there were half as many tobacco farms as there had been the year before; by 2007, growers of flue-cured tobacco—a primary variety of cigarette leaf—increased their acreage by more than 150 percent.

Now that “illegal smoking materials” are legal in many states, the licensure system for marijuana cultivation is poised to replicate some of the oligopolistic features of the tobacco program, while thwarting its genuinely redistributive ones. Instead of charging would-be cannabis growers for the privilege of growing, states should award licenses to a larger number of applicants from communities that have been hit hard by the War on Drugs. Much as small-scale tobacco farms anchored entire communities across the Southeast, cannabis cultivation on a human scale, rather than a corporate one, can build wealth within communities of color where opportunities to amass property have been denied—frequently at the hands of the government.

Indeed, the excesses of the drug war aren’t the only reason to enact more inclusive policies for marijuana farming. U.S. agricultural policy, too, has throughout its history been skewed against African Americans. When black farmers have availed themselves of government programs, they have frequently found discrimination and, ultimately, dispossession.

But those same tools can be put to work in the opposite direction. The tobacco program was devised to address the emergency of the Great Depression, and it did so in a way that sustained the livelihoods and communities of a targeted group of Americans. The effects of the War on Drugs are no less severe for communities of color, and the need for opportunity is no less urgent.

Debunking 6 popular myths about today’s marijuana

5 years ago By Anonymous (not verified)

We now have more information about marijuana than ever, but there are still a bunch of myths that influence the way in which we view the herb.

There are a lot of myths surrounding marijuana, ranging from crazy stuff to others that makes a little bit of sense. This confusion is understandable; it’s only recently that marijuana has earned some legal status across states, and that serious scientific studies are being conducted.

Although much of marijuana’s make up and effect remain mysterious, there’s lots of room to learn more. We scoured the web to find some of the most popular marijuana myths. Here are six of the most common.

Weed isn’t as strong as it used to be

According to Ryan Vandrey, a professor from John Hopkins University, THC in cannabis is way higher than it used to be. Since cannabis is now a business, there are expert botanists that breed plants that contain larger quantities of THC. So maybe people smoked more weed in the 70s, but that doesn’t make today’s marijuana any less potent.

All weed is the same

There are two major types of marijuana, Indica and Sativa, both of which produce different highs. In short, Sativas are psychoactive while Indicas are more relaxing. It’s a little more complicated than that, since most marijuana plants contain a mix of both, but this generally works as a rule of thumb.

Synthetic marijuana is safe

Synthetic marijuana is much stronger than regular marijuana and it can lead to some really awful side effects. Synthetic marijuana has chemicals added in in order to resemble the effect and look of natural marijuana. These chemicals are harmful for your body, with some of the most serious side effects include renal damage, psychosis, cardiovascular harm and changes in the brain.

Synthetic Marijuana Claims Third Victim In Illinois

You can overdose on marijuana

It’s extremely unlikely to die from a marijuana overdose, but if you smoke too much you can have a pretty awful time. These overdoses can last a couple of hours and include symptoms of anxiety, paranoia, dizziness, and loss of coordination.

You can cheat a urine test

While there are tons of products that claim to do this, it’s very, very unlikely and practically impossible to cheat a urine test if there’s marijuana in your system. THC can be detected in urine for up to 10 days after consumption, 30 days if you’re a chronic user. Most products that claim to cheat urine tests simply dilute your urine, which tests can pick up on, flagging your sample as invalid.

Holland has never legalized marijuana

Holland, one of the world’s most popular marijuana scenes, has never actually legalized marijuana. In 1978, the government decided not to enforce bans in coffee shops and locales where people get together and smoke/sell small amounts of marijuana. Still, growing, distributing and importing marijuana within the country remains illegal.

Is European Cannabis Holdings preparing for flotation?

5 years ago By Anonymous (not verified)

One of the leading lights of the European cannabis scene has successfully completed its demerger – as speculation mounts that a stock market flotation is imminent.

London and Dublin-based European Cannabis Holdings (ECH) has split into distinct media and medical cannabis divisions, each with a trio of well-known brands. In a company statement it said ECH Media & Data now consists of Prohibition Partners – authors of industry ‘bible’ the annual European Cannabis Report.

Cannabis Europa, the conference series which started in London and is now expanding across Europe and into North America with events planned for Toronto and New York later this year.

And, thirdly is European Cannabis Week; a business platform, that attracts hundreds of leading industry figures from across the world to London every June. This company will be headquartered in London with the tech and data team in Dublin and a consultancy and regulatory affairs team in Barcelona.

Meanwhile ECH Medical is a new holding company designed to help improve access to medical cannabis for patients across Europe through three distinct entities, say the company.

The Academy of Medical Cannabis is an online learning platform for healthcare professionals, currently with a presence in the U.K, Ireland, France, New Zealand and Brazil. The Medical Cannabis Clinics is an expanding chain of U.K. private clinics, which will also be rolled out across European later this year.

The third elements in ECH Medical is Astral Health which is in the process of securing import license for cannabis products ‘across multiple jurisdictions’, say the company.

ECH Medical features leading lights of the U.K. medical cannabis community including Prof Mike Barnes, as its Chairman, and Patient Advocate Specialist Hannah Deacon, who successfully campaigned to change the U.K.’s medical cannabis law for her young son Alfie Dingley and other children. The two new holding companies will officially launch over the coming weeks – each with an independent board and leaderships.

Group Chairman Jeremy Edelman said: “Our investment and incubation model has proved highly successful. We put this down to a genuine understanding of cannabis and emerging markets, clarity of vision, strong strategic execution and an exceptionally talented team. This industry is now maturing and opening up at pace, so it feels timely to announce a demerger that will ensure independence and integrity across two new propositions.”

Earlier this year there was speculation in the U.K. press that ECH would become one of the first cannabis companies into U.K to float on the London Stock Exchange.

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