Our round up of the recent headlines of interest from the Irish and European cannabis markets.
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“However, this is achievable particularly for countries outside the European Union, but the biggest obstacle for countries in the EU is the Schengen Agreement.”
Legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis is subject to restrictions at an international and European level. However, the restrictions at an international level do not come with the same potential repercussions as those at the European level leading to some non-European countries essentially ignoring these obligations when fully legalising cannabis.
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“There were few surprises in the German cabinet approval of the previously drafted cannabis law, only ambiguousness. The main points were clear: cannabis decriminalization with a 25-grams-per-person limit, legalizing growing up to three self-cultivated plants and establishing mom-and-pop cultivation clubs with a 500-member maximum.”
Short of what was promised when the German coalition government initially announced its cannabis legalisation plans, for consumers, these scaled back plans are still quite attractive. For businesses, who planned on participating in a fully legalised and regulated market, their plans will have to pivot to survive in this scaled back market.
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While this headline might make for sobering reading, it’s true of businesses in most sectors, particularly in emerging industries. Given the rush by start-up businesses to participate in emerging cannabis markets globally, purges like this are inevitable.
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Difficult market conditions are not isolated to businesses operating in the German cannabis space. In the US, in states where recreational cannabis has been fully legalised, businesses still face notable challenges. It seems inevitable that market conditions are going to get worse before those with a proven track record of success emerge.
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“Moore will now have access to a mobile phone on which he can contact his partner and two teenage children, and the freedom to move around the grounds as he wishes, providing he attends registration three times a day. He has a job working in the prison’s greenhouse and it’s hoped he may be able to visit them at home for a weekend later this year.”
A positive update in the case of Patrick Moore, who was sentenced to five years in prison for the cultivation and supply of cannabis to help patients in need. While far from certain, the recent shift in public attitude towards drug policy reform and access to medical cannabis make Mr. Moore’s chances of a successful appeal or pardon as hopeful as ever.
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“The in-principle licence approves the proposed operational setup. The operating permit will be issued when the associations complete their setup and the authority confirms that it is compliant,”
Some more progress in Malta’s emerging recreational cannabis market. From its outset, Malta’s approach was always planned to be similar to what is now unfolding under Germany’s scaled back plans. For Maltese cannabis consumers, the future looks promising as this roll out continues to progress.
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The negligent, or potentially intentional, mislabelling of cannabis products has been an ongoing issue for some time. The problem is not isolated to CBD products. THC contents are also often inflated in test results carried out by providers who are more concerned with providing favourable, over accurate, results. Not only do CBD products often contain less CBD than claimed, potentially more damaging is CBD products that claim to contain no THC, when in fact they do.
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Hemp is often associated with its potential as a versatile crop with great environmental potential. The variety of products that can be produced from hemp mean that there are many ways to generate income from a hemp crop. The addition of biochar, while not economically viable on its own, provides a further revenue stream for hemp farmers to squeeze from their hemp crop in an environmentally beneficial manner.
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Studies and reports such as these should be taken with a pinch of salt, however it’s positive to see a notable number of doctors surveyed willing to consider treating patients with cannabis. One of the hurdles for the growth of medical cannabis across parts of Europe, including the UK and Ireland, is a lack of access to doctors willing to prescribe it.
Further to the signs of increased awareness on behalf of doctors, it’s positive to see that cannabis is being seen as a potential replacement for opioids. Particularly given the devastating effect that they can have as highlighted in the US in recent years.
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A disturbing example of the real-life fallout from the marketing of cannabis edibles as children’s sweets. Without knowing the full details of the case, this sounds like a situation that could arise in most households with children and where similar cannabis edibles are stored.
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©2023 by The Cannabis Review
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