In a white, sterilized laboratory on the outskirts of Uruguayan capital Montevideo, biochemist Javier Varela and his team are carefully cultivating plants for a booming multibillion-dollar global market in medical marijuana.

The company Varela works for, Fotmer Life Sciences, has just made the first commercial shipment of medical cannabis from Latin America, 10 kg (22 lb) of dried flowers with high levels of active ingredient THC destined for patients in Australia.

The small but landmark export underscores the country’s push into the burgeoning market for legal cannabis, that has medical uses including helping cancer patients manage chronic pain or treating spasms associated with multiple sclerosis.

“Our goal is to create a billion-dollar industry here in Uruguay in the next five to seven years,” Jordan Lewis, chief executive of Fotmer Life Sciences, told Reuters at the Montevideo lab. The firm soon hopes to announce shipments to the European Union, where Germany is the key market, he added.

Uruguay has been ahead of the curve. It was the first country to legalize the growing, sale and smoking of marijuana in December 2013 in a pioneering social experiment closely watched by other nations debating drug liberalization.

The number of countries legalizing the use of medical cannabis is expected to almost double to around 80 in the future, Lewis said, “creating a potential (global) market of $100 billion in the next ten years.”

In the coming weeks the firm will begin exporting 100 kg each month of dried flowers and cannabis extracts, Lewis said.

The potential is clear. While market forecasts range widely, advisory and investment bank Cowen Inc predicts the U.S. cannabis market alone could be worth $80 billion by 2030.

POT PROFICIENCY

In the company’s facilities, in a science park complex 21 km (13 miles) from Montevideo’s center, Varela’s team of scientists are taking things seriously. To get into the white-walled labs, visitors must wear plastic cloth shoes, a tunic, cap, mask and latex gloves.

Varela says it is vital to control the quality of the environment for the cannabis plants, especially given the high global standards needed for making medicines as well as in the handling of agricultural products.

Each plant has a number and bar code, part of system to track the production process and catch possible genetic issues. There were 350 marijuana plants growing and 27 different genetic varieties when Reuters visited.

The plants once ready are transferred to 18 industrial-size greenhouses in Nueva Helvecia, 120 km away, equipped with drying, curing and packaging machinery.

Varela, a biochemist, got interested in studying the uses of cannabis while doing a doctorate in the Netherlands. When he returned to Uruguay, he joined one of the early projects being done by Uruguayan Fernando Sassón along with American Lewis.

Uruguay’s support for the industry has put it at the forefront of the growing global market, he said.

“As we see legalization happening at a global and regional level, Uruguay is pushing ahead to develop highly-qualified people with the right skills really quickly.” (Reporting by Fabián Werner in Montevideo; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Tom Brown)

In the first few days of the four-month ban on all vaping products in Massachusetts, Laura Lee Medeiros, a medical marijuana patient, began to worry.

The 32-year-old massage therapist has a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from childhood trauma. To temper her unpredictable panic attacks, she relied on a vape pen and cartridges filled with the marijuana derivatives THC and CBD from state dispensaries.

There are other ways to get the desired effect from marijuana, and patients have filled dispensaries across the state in recent days to ask about edible or smokeable forms. But Medeiros has come to depend on her battery-powered pen, and wondered how she would cope without her usual supply of cartridges.

“In the midst of something where I’m on the floor, on the verge of passing out, my pen has been very helpful for me to grab,” she said. She carries her vape pen in her purse in case of an emergency, but has only one cartridge left.

Massachusetts imposed its ban on all vaping products, including both nicotine- and cannabis-based products, in response to mounting concern about the potential serious health risks. Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, said the ban would last at least four months while new legislation and regulation is explored.

More than 800 cases of a vaping-related lung disease and 12 deaths across 10 U.S. states have so far been reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those numbers are expected to climb.

More than three quarters of those with the respiratory illness reported vaping THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. Many of them used small e-cigarette cartridges, or “carts,” bought on the black market, where the risk of adulterated products is high.

Some marijuana users had long eschewed vaping even before the ban, often on the advice of doctors who saw the cocktail of compounds being inhaled into lungs as risky.

“I have advised against the vape carts for my patients for a long time exactly out of suspicion of basically what just happened,” said Dr. Ryan Zaklin, a doctor in Salem, Massachusetts. “Who the hell knows what they’re putting in them?”

Some patients like vaping because it is more discreet than traditional burning of marijuana “flower.” The devices are small, produce a relatively odorless “vapor” and is fast-acting: a handheld device rapidly heats liquid compounds into an aerosol that can be inhaled into the lungs.

Many of those patients are now asking their doctors or dispensaries about edible forms of marijuana, liquid tinctures that can be dropped under the tongue or old-fashioned flower buds and pre-rolled joints for smoking.

For Medeiros, who lives in the small coastal city of Peabody, other methods are a poor substitute. She found that edibles take time to take effect, typically about an hour. Tinctures seemed to her similarly slow-acting. And rolling a joint while her vision is closing in and she is hyperventilating from a panic attack is nearly impossible, she said.

UNEXPECTED BLESSING

Medeiros wishes medical marijuana patients had been given time to stock up on the products they use before the ban went into immediate effect.

Pressed on such concerns, the governor has not been swayed to change his decision over what he said was a public health emergency.

“There are many alternative uses available to people who currently have prescriptions for medical marijuana and they should pursue those,” Baker told reporters last week, according to local media.

But some public health experts have warned the ban may drive more people toward riskier black-market, totally unregulated vape products.

At the New England Treatment Access (NETA) dispensary in Brookline, near Boston, which has become one of the biggest suppliers of medical marijuana since the drug became legalized in the state in 2012, several patients said they view the ban as an unexpected blessing.

Denise Sullivan, 62, uses medical marijuana to treat symptoms of her leukemia. She had vaped for more than a year, but stopped after she heard about the ban. During the period she vaped, she contracted pneumonia five times, she said, and now believes that might have been vape related. 

“I can tell when I vape I am more congested not in my lungs but in my sinuses,” she said. She plans to use edibles, which she said kick in with enough time to treat her pain.

Kate LeDoux, 49, had a similar experience. She is a runner and used medical marijuana to help recovery from recent foot surgery. LeDoux stopped vaping a few weeks ago after seeing the news about the lung disease, turning instead to edibles and smoking.

Almost immediately, her “weird cough” cleared up and her running times improved, she said. “Now I know it was 100 percent the vaping.”

Tennessee legislators can’t get medical marijuana legislation passed to save their lives, but the state’s Bureau of Investigation has announced a new policy that may make it easier on cannabis consumers. The agency will stop testing quantities of marijuana that are under half an ounce.

The shift will supposedly make it prohibitively difficult for prosecutors to build a case against individuals charged with cannabis possession. Without evidence that the substance carried by individuals is cannabis, cops won’t have much to work with.

But as a local news site reports, not everyone is enthused the shift. “This is not necessarily something that should give us any hope,” said Josh Spickler, executive director of justice reform group Just City. “We don’t have decriminalization. It is still a crime, and our police department has been very clear that they pursue arrests for possession of this drug.”

Criminal defense lawyer Brandon Hall says the new 14-gram cutoff may result in more people charged with cannabis offenses opting to go to trial rather than plead guilty.

“It would result in a dismissal because they could not meet their burden of proof to show that the drug, the alleged marijuana, actually contained THC,” Hall said. Currently, the attorney says that not too many possession cases make it to trial, and that the state tries to take care of them before they make it that far.

Despite many pieces of proposed cannabis legislation, Tennessee continues to be a state without legal access to recreational or even medical marijuana. In 2019, for the third consecutive year, a medical cannabis bill went nowhere. Republican state senator and anesthesiologist Steve Dickerson has sponsored the failed plans. He says he will try again next year, when he will hopefully be able to pull together more votes in support of medical cannabis access. Dickerson says the plan is “on the precipice of success,” although it cannot be considered until 2020.

The drag on legalization of even medicinal marijuana runs contrary to the wishes of a lot of state residents. A poll with results published in September found that a full 88 percent of respondents in the Tennessee state capital of Chattanooga were in favor of legalizing medicinal cannabis, and 40 percent thought that recreational marijuana should also be regulated.

Tennessee has also seen a rapid expansion in its hemp industry, with the quantity of licensed farmers expanding by almost 1,500 percent in 2019. Many of those, however, have expressed uncertainty about who will buy their crop when it is ready to be processed. Cooperatives have sprung up to help connect producers with suppliers.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced in September that it had developed a minutes-long lab process that could tell the difference between hemp and marijuana. The technology will reportedly assist the agency in processing its current caseload of 10,000 cannabis-related offenses. But happily, thanks to the bureau’s recent memo, it appears that the technology will not be used anytime soon for individuals carrying around a respectable amount of weed.

Before booking your trip, review the rules governing cannabis in the state where you will be visiting. These laws will clue you in regarding the basics of how much cannabis you can buy.

As more states legalize recreational cannabis, the number of those trying this plant for the first time or resume a habit they gave up after college continues to grow. For those who don’t live in a state where cannabis is legal, traveling to a state with legalized cannabis has become a destination vacation.

Here’s a list of suggestions for first-time cannabis tourists looking to try recreational cannabis.

Do Your Pre-Trip Research

Before booking your trip, review the rules governing cannabis in the state where you will be visiting. These laws will clue you in regarding the basics of how much cannabis you can buy, as well as where you can consume cannabis. Check out Kush Tourism for listings of cannabis tours and cannabis friendly lodgings if you want an in-depth cannabis experience.

Bring Your ID and Cash

Be sure to bring along some form of government issued identification. No one under 21 will be permitted to enter a recreational dispensary. Everyone will be checked at the door regardless of how old they may look. Also, leave the pets at home as only service animals will be allowed to go inside. As this is still a cash only business be sure to bring along enough cash for your purchases. Most dispensaries have an ATM on site but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Give Yourself Time

This isn’t like going into a 7-11. At a quality dispensary, the budtenders give each customer personalized attention, and the lines can get a bit long at times.

Honesty is the Best Policy

There’s no stigma to being a newbie cannabis user or only smoked bad weed during your college haze. Budtenders are used to dealing with first-time cannabis users, and enjoy helping someone have the best experience possible. So let them know you’re new to the current cannabis scene, and ask them for their recommendations for first time users.

Be Mindful of Your Money

It’s incredibly easy to get carried away and walk out with a lot of expensive paraphernalia that you may never use after your trip. A pre-rolled joint is the cheapest option to consume cannabis. For those who don’t like smoking, another inexpensive option is a disposable vape pen that comes fully loaded and ready to use. However, do not skimp out by buying bad weed, as poor quality cannabis will not produce the desired effects you may be seeking.

Follow The Law

Be mindful that cannabis cannot be consumed legally in public, and that hotels, restaurants, and bars do not allow smoking of any kind. Also, Federal law prohibits transporting cannabis across state lines or flying with recreational cannabis. A qualified budtender will not give you recommendations regarding how you can circumvent the laws pertaining to recreational cannabis, so don’t ask. Edibles, vape pens, and topicals are ways one can consume cannabis in a discrete manner that won’t draw attention like smoking.

Start Small

Take a short hit from a vape pen or pre-rolled joint. Then sit back and chill for 15 minutes. Then take another hit if you want a stronger sensation. Repeat this process until you have the effect you’re seeking. If you are taking edibles, start with a small 5mg dose. Wait half an hour, and then take another 5mg if you want a stronger hit.

Set the Mood

Clear the schedule so you don’t have to be somewhere within a limited time frame. You don’t know how your body will respond. Even if you don’t go to sleep, you’re liable to be too mellow and relaxed to get behind the wheel.

Have an Emergency Kit on Hand

Before consuming any cannabis have some water or other non-alcoholic beverages readily available as cannabis often produces dry mouth. Also, have some munchies around as certain strains of cannabis can make one hungry. Include pistachios in your munchie mix, as they can come in handy should one consume too much cannabis.