In the 55 years since he first isolated D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (better known today as THC) with colleagues Dr. Yehiel Gaoni and Dr. Haviv Edery at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam has been the absolute leader in the science of cannabis. He basically started that science from scratch with 5 kilos of Lebanese hash the police donated to his research after Mechoulam’s boss put in the request.

Even all these years later, when Mechoulam talks pot, the cannabis world stops with its ears wide open. This latest announcement from the legendary scientist was no different.

On Sept. 23 at the CannMed conference in Pasadena, California, Mechoulam was the main event. In his keynote, he went into deep detail on the science and chemistry of his latest work. That work was described by Health Europa as building a new family of synthetic, stable cannabinoid acids molecules. Mechoulam reported that the new cannabinoids have also shown a higher potency than their all-natural peers. With that extra kick, the new cannabinoids showed a lot of promise for increased therapeutic effects.

Some of the research Mechoulam discussed included a new cannabidolic acid called HU-580. Mechoulam believes the new compound could be more effective than CBD at treating conditions like depression.

“There are many things that are still not known in the field of cannabis. The plant produces a group of compounds called cannabinoid acids. The acids were not investigated until recently, not very thoroughly at least, because they are not stable; they break down,” Mechoulam said, according to Health Europa.

He went on to speak on the demands of the pharmaceutical space directing his work in recent years. So much of his career for the last century was about discovery, now it’s moving into a phase where he is attempting to maximize the benefits of those discoveries.

“Collaboration is absolutely a necessity. Cannabis and cannabinoids are not a tiny project — one compound for one disease — however, I show that it is really a very, very wide field of research,” Mechoulam said. “We need good new drugs in a large number of fields, and this is an open field for new drugs, new preparations. I believe there will be a lot of work in this field over the next decade or so, or maybe two decades.”

One of the companies in the U.S. working on synthetic cannabinoids is Demetrix, where the phrase “synthetic cannabinoid” is kind of a trigger word in their office, due to the fact that media reports have routinely mislabeled street drugs like Spice and K2 as “synthetic cannabis” or “synthetic marijuana.” Demetrix is licensed by the DEA to do research with pure cannabinoid compounds. The ultimate goal for them, company reps say, is to get to a scalable cannabinoid production method that will allow researchers not to rely on the inferior cannabis coming out of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s farm at the University of Mississippi. Then, they’d obviously be well-positioned for wider applications for cannabinoids in the medical and cosmetic space in the future.  

“The way we look at it from an economics perspective, should we work on the cheaper stuff or the more expensive hard-to-have stuff? The answer is you start with the harder-to-access stuff,” Demetrix’s CEO Jeff Ubersax told Cannabis Now. “I’d say of the hundred-plus cannabinoids, there is probably only 10 right now we could get in bulk. There are lots of those other ones we really can’t get to, that’s where we start.”  

Like Mechoulam, Demetrix is synthesizing new cannabinoids, but they’re keeping their cards a bit closer to their chest than the pioneering scientist. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that the wider cannabis industry will have to reckon with the methods being developed by Mechoulam, Demetrix and a handful of other companies working on synthetic cannabinoids.

Mexico’s government shouldn’t only regulate pot, it should be the main bulk buyer and seller of the drug, lower house majority leader Mario Delgado proposed in a new bill.

A public company named Cannsalud would be authorized exclusively to acquire cannabis from growers with permits and then sell the drug to franchises authorized to sell small amounts to the public, according to the bill.

“This way the cannabis market wouldn’t be left to the autonomous regulation by individuals, but would involve the state as a permanent supervisor and controller of activity involving this substance within a legal framework that would guarantee benefits for all,” the bill states.

Delgado’s ruling Morena party holds majorities in both house of congress, and his intention to push for state involvement in the marijuana trade is in line with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s pledge to increase government presence in the private sector. Lopez Obrador has said regulation of some drugs like marijuana is possible under his administration, but it’s unclear if he’d support a government company running the trade.

Individuals would be able to grow as many as six plants for personal use without permits, but Cannsalud would be the exclusive seller of marijuana to the pharmaceutical industry, according to the bill.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has said Mexico should promote other story lines beyond television shows that portray it as overrun by narcos.

For the last few weeks, young and very sick people have been turning up at hospitals all over the country with troubling lung symptoms.

We recently reported that some state health officials have proposed that solvent known as Vitamin E acetate could be the cause of all this. Others have suggested certain brands and different ingredient combinations that could be responsible for the epidemic, but the CDC has yet to narrow it down to a specific product or additive for us.

As of October 1, 2019, there are 805 cases of acute onset vaping-related lung injury throughout 46 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The death toll is up to 16 now – two in California, Kansas, and Oregon, and one in each of the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Nebraska, and the most recent, New Jersey and Virginia.

To learn more about this developing story, and to understand why all CBD suppliers should be worried, subscribe to the CBD Business Weekly Newsletter.

“I am deeply saddened to announce the first death of a Virginia resident related to this outbreak,” Virginia’s state health commissioner, Dr. M. Norman Oliver, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Seeking answers, NBC News commissioned a study in which they recruited one of the most prominent cannabis testing labs in the nation, CannaSafe, to check 18 samples obtained from both legal dispensaries and black market dealers.

According to CannaSafe’s report, the three samples that came from legal dispensaries in California came up clean – no pesticides or fungicides, heavy metals, or residual solvents like Vitamin E acetate. Out of the remaining 15 samples, 13 contained vitamin E and 10 tested positive for something even scarier – hydrogen cyanide. Technically, they contained a fungicide called myclobutanil, but this can convert to hydrogen cyanide when burned or vaporized.

“You certainly don’t want to be smoking [inhaling] cyanide,” said Antonio Frazier, the vice president of operations at CannaSafe. “I don’t think anyone would buy a cart that was labeled hydrogen cyanide on it. It’s very disturbing and can cause a very toxic effect on the lungs.”

The first-ever cannabis cafe in the U.S. has officially opened in Los Angeles. The Lowell Cafe declared an end to "prohibition" as it opened the doors of the West Hollywood weed haven to the public Tuesday.

"For over a century we've been forced to hide cannabis consumption out of public view, but that time is now over," the Lowell Cafe website reads. "We're proud to announce Lowell Cafe — America's first cannabis cafe serving farm fresh food, coffee, juice, and cannabis daily."

Lowell Cafe is a hybrid weed lounge and restaurant where you can order up some pot along with your meal. The cafe boasts a "Dab Bar" for the more experienced cannabis consumer as well as a "Flower House" with hosts who can help customers, including novices, choose their perfect "flower."

"So like with a wine sommelier coming to present wine or talk about pairings, that's ultimately what we want to do," general manager Lily Estanislao told CBS Los Angeles.

"A couple of questions we ask at first is: what's your tolerance level, and are you with someone safe or do you have a method to get home after," Erika Soto, a flower host, explained.

The cafe says it aims to be a welcoming place for "cannabis connoisseurs" as well as "those who are just canna-curious."

"I think it's part of getting rid of that stigma, that negative stigma, on marijuana as a whole," Petra McElvenny, a customer who checked it out at a preview event Monday night, told CBS L.A. reporter Jeff Nguyen.

Andrea Drummer, billed as one of the top cannabis chefs in Los Angeles, created "a unique menu of healthy, flavorful, non-infused dishes" that are designed to heighten cannabis experience, the website says. However, due to current laws, Lowell Cafe will not be offering foods infused with any cannabis. The website says there will be limited, pre-packaged "edibles" available for purchase.

There are some rules: No one under the age of 21 is allowed inside, even if they have a medical marijuana card, and the cafe encourages patrons to act as if they are going to a normal bar. That means no driving home under the influence.

Marijuana was decriminalized in California in 2016. The passage of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act allowed anyone 21 years of age or older to legally grow, possess, and use cannabis for non-medicinal purposes, with certain restrictions.

In 2018, it became legal to sell and distribute cannabis through a regulated business in the state. In 2019, new regulations for cannabis businesses were passed, with strong restrictions on selling and advertising to anyone under 21.

There are currently more than 10,000 licensed cannabis operators in California, making it the largest cannabis market in the country, according to the state's cannabis portal.

Recreational use of marijuana has been legalized in nearly a dozen states, and 65% of Americans now think it should be legal — a record high in CBS News polling.

Most view marijuana as less harmful than alcohol and believe it is less dangerous than other drugs. Many opponents of legalization, however, think it leads to a rise in crime and favor the federal government taking action to stop the sale of pot in states that allow it.