Acute Pain: What Is It, and How Can CBD Oil Help?

What Is Acute Pain? 

Acute pain is sharp, sudden, and usually fleeting. Whereas chronic pain can last for months and often lacks an apparent cause, the opposite is true for acute pain, which tends to occur as the direct result of an underlying issue. Once that issue has been identified and treated, the pain typically disappears just as suddenly as it began. 

What Are Examples of Acute Pain?

There are a number of illnesses and accidents that can result in acute pain. A few of the most common include:

•         Cuts and bruises

•         Burns

•         Tooth pain or excision

•         Broken or sprained bones

•         Injury

•         Surgery

Since these issues are often visible to the naked eye, most patients find it easy to determine what causes acute pain. This enables patients to access fast, effective treatments even from the comfort of their own homes. 

How Can CBD Oil Help? 

Using CBD for inflammation may be an effective method to relieve acute pain, as inflammation often causes or accompanies that pain. Additionally, CBD oil helps your body’s pain receptors operate properly. The role of the endocannabinoid system is to identify and respond to perceived bodily dysfunction, illness, or injury. CBD interacts with the system’s receptors by aiding in the release of chemicals that reduce inflammation and pain. 

Studies suggest that CBD oil is a viable option for the at-home treatment of acute pain. Used in conjunction with medical advice and treatments, CBD oil continues to pave the road toward better researched and thus more effective natural remedies.

The post Acute Pain: What Is It, and How Can CBD Oil Help? appeared first on Smart CBD Hub.

from Smart CBD Hub https://smartcbdhub.com/acute-pain-what-is-it-and-how-can-cbd-oil-help/
via IFTTT

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/674915264935165952

Activity in European Markets Point to a Green 2022 for Cannabis

By Oliver Bennett, Special Contributor to New Frontier Data

With such a tailwind in the European cannabis sector, it is no wonder that investors are sizing up the continent. After a winter of optimism, fuelled by Germany’s plan to legalize adult-use cannabis, and Malta becoming the first European nation to legalize the plant, the prognosis for 2022 is strong and investor interest is high.

As New Frontier Data’s recent Cultivating Capital report details, the potential of investment in Europe in 2022 along with capital activity spread out from the established North American markets finds a “growing list of countries… [with] mid- and long-term growth opportunities for companies establishing themselves in legal regulated markets.”

The analysis notes that capital has begun to flow into the cannabis space at unprecedented levels – indeed, the first half of 2021 saw an unprecedented $7.9 billion in new cannabis capital into the industry, including all segments and its supply chain, from production facilities to intellectual property.

New Frontier Data reports how M&A activity has inexorably spread from North America to Europe – most notably Germany – and notes that the large Canadian companies which secured licences and sought partnerships in Europe “now stand to benefit greatly from legalization and the new access to large existing consumer bases in those markets.” The early adopters will likely have the richest pickings with largely affluent and health-conscious European consumers, and stand at the forefront, initiating 6x more transactions outside North America than their U.S. counterparts, driven in part by the push factor of the saturated domestic market.

From Cultivating Capital: “The large and well-capitalized companies (specifically Canadian LPs) that sowed early seeds in Germany and other progressive countries by securing licenses and signing local partnership agreements now stand to benefit greatly from legalization and the new access to large existing consumer bases in those markets.” Indeed, they could anticipate “strong medium-term returns due to the high spending nature of European consumers relative to consumers in the legal markets of Latin America or Africa.”

For example, Canadian cannabis giant Tilray, aware of a disappointing and oversupplied cannabis market in its home country, is one such company to seize the day in Europe as legislation on the continent inexorably changes. In the last quarter of 2021, Tilray grew international sales after merging with Aphria, and has now forged ahead with a new name, Tilray Brands. It has been suggested that Tilray expects to see $1 billion in revenue from Europe, with Germany at the forefront.

As Tilray’s CFO Carl Merton has said, the company has been laying the groundwork to leverage changing laws in Europe. With growing space in Portugal and Germany – Tilray remains the only company supplying Germany medical system with domestically grown cannabis – its size alone makes it one of the best-placed companies to gain market share.

There are, of course, others. Curaleaf Holdings has announced that it has set up a new division to target the European cannabis market. The high-rolling founder and chair of Curaleaf, Boris Jordan, has long been interested in the European cannabis space, and now sits on the board of the German cannabis company Bloomwell Group, which in October secured $10M investment – the largest public seed funding received in the European cannabis market. The lead investor was U.S. capital provider Measure 8 Venture Partners, specialists in cannabis industry investments.

Curaleaf’s subsidiary EMMAC Life Sciences Group has now been renamed to operate as Curaleaf International and explore those European opportunities. In a shareholders’ statement, its CEO Antonio Costanzo, said that the company is expecting to see Europe follow a similar trajectory to the cannabis industry’s growth in the U.S. and Canada: “The landscape in Europe is changing and we can see similar clear patterns to the progress in North America for adult-use cannabis.”

The company has expressed plans to have a different complexion from the U.S., weighted more towards the medical rather than recreational markets – along with the wellness market, which lies between the two.

As Bloomwell’s CEO Niklas Kouparanis has shared, “Our portfolio companies will radically focus on a consumer-centric approach along the entire value chain of medical cannabis, with the exception of cultivation. The era of natural-based medicine begins now and Bloomwell is taking the lead.” Within the past year Bloomwell has grown to 160 employees.

Thus, the likelihood is that European investment activity will first be concentrated toward medical cannabis, without taking its eye off the ball per the recreational segment. The Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Casa Verde, famously run by rapper Snoop Dogg, has invested $3.5m in Berlin-based cannabis firm Sanity Group – which is itself said to have raised  $76.5 million, the highest level of funding attained by any European cannabis start-up – and it is the company’s first investment in Germany.

Finn Hänsel, founder and MD of Sanity Group, said the commitment shows “evidence of growing momentum in the European market as more countries move to initiate pilot projects to legalize and improve access to medical cannabis programs.” 

While much of Europe’s medical cannabis production will be produced offshore, Lisbon-based medical cannabis company AceCann has announced a $15M round of seed financing led by Casa Verde alongside Portuguese venture capital firm, Lince Capital, to develop an integrated medical-cannabis production plant. As work began in September, AceCann CEO Pedro Gomes said that the company aimed “to create the gold standard in medical cannabis… with IP ownership at every step in the value chain.” The company anticipates legalisation sweeping across Europe.

But following the green rushes in both the U.S. and Canada, should investors be cautious that Europe will become overheated? Possibly, says Richard Tonthat of Greencare Capital, who has urged caution when investing in European cannabis and CBD, saying “… you should never take things at face value. Stress-testing assumptions also needs to be done…. Revenue growth and cash generation are important. That’s something which the industry is lacking.”

As Ken Shea, Bloomberg LP’s lead cannabis analyst, shared in Cultivating Capital, he harbours a similar sense that a feeding frenzy may ensue: “It’s all about top-line growth at this point,” he explained. “Everybody is scrambling for market share.” Pending a shakeout, investors would be advised not to expect huge gains in the short term.

Neither should all speculative eggs be placed in Germany’s basket. As New Frontier Data has detailed, several other European countries are viable spaces for investment, including Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K.

Indeed, perhaps the most optimistic aspect of Europe’s cannabis space is its capacity to encompass a wider ecosystem. As Greencare Capital notes, there are 12 countries with established medical cannabis legislation, with 16 more engaged in earlier stages of adoption in Europe – leaving 15 countries on the continent where the drug is strictly illegal in any form.

Thus, well beyond the plans of Germany and Malta, Europe offers plenty of other dominos to topple.

The post Activity in European Markets Point to a Green 2022 for Cannabis appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/activity-in-european-markets-point-to-a-green-2022-for-cannabis/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/674543107296165888

Can CBD Help Treat Epilepsy?

What Causes Epilepsy?

In many cases, what causes seizures remains unclear, and many people develop epilepsy for no clear reason. However, there are factors that may predispose individuals to epilepsy, including the following:

•         Genetic and familial factors may play a role in causing epilepsy

•         Infections — including meningitis, HIV, and others — can cause epilepsy

•         Prenatal injuries may play a causal role

•         Head trauma can lead to the development of seizures

•         Brain conditions — including strokes, vascular conditions, or dementia — can be a significant cause of epilepsy

How Is Epilepsy Treated?

Treatment of epilepsy first begins with a diagnosis, resulting from a neurological exam, as well as potential blood tests or brain tests (including an EEG, MRI, or other tests). Effective testing can help pinpoint the source of seizures.

Many medications can be quite effective in treating epilepsy. Because there are many types of anti-seizure medications, and dosage can vary widely, it may take time to determine the ideal level of medication for a given individual.

Other techniques are also used to treat epilepsy, including deep brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, and the employment of a ketogenic diet. In some cases, brain surgery can be a useful treatment for seizures.

Can CBD Help Treat Epilepsy?

There is some evidence that the use of CBD coupled with anti-epileptic medications can be helpful in treating epilepsy. There is also some evidence that CBD can reduce seizure frequency in individuals with epilepsy. However, there may be concerns about interactions between CBD and particular anti-epileptic medications, as well as concerns about a link between THC and seizures. 

Ultimately, more research is needed to better understand the role CBD can play in treating seizure disorder. CBD should not be employed as a treatment for seizure disorder unless done so in consultation with a medical professional.

The post Can CBD Help Treat Epilepsy? appeared first on Smart CBD Hub.

from Smart CBD Hub https://smartcbdhub.com/can-cbd-help-treat-epilepsy/
via IFTTT

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/674386733180272640

Cannabis vs. COVID Study Illustrates U.S. Need for Key Research

By J.J. McCoy, Senior Managing Editor, New Frontier Data

As culture wars are raging in the United States about COVID-19, masks, vaccinations, etc., the politicization of science and substances like cannabis becomes sensational, making it more difficult to separate fact from fiction.

This month alone, there have been widespread news reports that erroneously interpreted findings published January 10 by Oregon State University researchers in the Journal of Natural Products.

With headlines like “Cannabis Compounds Stopped COVID Virus from Infecting Human Cells in Lab Study”, and “Compounds in Cannabis Show Promise as a Treatment for Coronavirus Infections”, the prospects of cannabis offering protection from COVID-19 quickly went viral, aided by abbreviated, Twitter-shortened headlines that largely missed vital nuances of the science.

Mainstream coverage of the findings provoked overreach about the findings, and some consumers flocked to cannabis dispensaries and CBD outlets to buy products in hopes of defending people from COVID-19 infection. While experts urged caution about the findings, the public’s enthusiastic if ill-informed responses prompted jokes from late-night hosts like ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, who quipped that “all this time we’ve been listening to the CDC, we should’ve been eating CBD.”

Important details commonly missed included the fact that Oregon State University’s in vitro study has not been subjected to human trials, and is not slated to be, since medical cannabis research remains federally limited. Other key takeaways ignored were that cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) appear in very small quantities in retail cannabis, and are converted to other compounds after decarboxylation and/or smoking. Ergo, smoking would not provide an efficient means for gaining any benefits.

The takeaway? The research does not, in any practical sense, mean that cannabis provides any preventative benefit against COVID-19 in the forms in which it is most commonly consumed.

That noted, the Oregon State study essentially confirms previous evidence that CBDA has medicinal properties. As Inesa Ponomariovaite, CEO of Nesas Hemp, told High Times, “the big takeaway from this study however, is that the compounds that help prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells are [CBGA or CBDA, but] not the generic CBD compounds that are found in so many hemp products today,” she said.

As Dr. Reggie Gaudino, VP Research & Development for Front Range Biosciences (and New Frontier Data’s Chief Science Adviser), reminded, previous research had suggested some potential for CBD to block the coronavirus, but much more study is needed.

“It still has to be investigated like a medication,” he said, “because it will have cross-interactions that potentially cause contraindications: Low doses don’t seem to do much, [while] high doses seem to slow down some drugs’ conversion. That could be a problem. Bottom line: If we want it to be considered a medicine it should be treated like one, and the proper studies done.”

As noted by Amanda Reiman, New Frontier Data’s VP of Public Policy Research, the fallout from the study and responses also illustrates how far the legal cannabis industry has to go in catching up after lost opportunities during U.S. prohibition of the plant. New Frontier Data addressed part of the issue in its report, Up in Smoke: Analysis of the Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act, noting examples of how the U.S. federal government has served as an impediment to research, and citing the industry’s needs for fair and equitable oversight.

“Research has been stifled for decades because the government’s refusal to take cannabis seriously as a medicine,” Reiman said. “If we had started research on cannabis in the 1930s, think how far we would be with developing cannabinoid-based medications. With so much focus given to intoxication from THC and the psychotropic properties in cannabis, we keep missing the benefits from other cannabinoids. The inability through federal prohibition to do research on cannabis has stifled potentially groundbreaking discoveries, like the study’s hypothesized application against COVID-19. What else could we have used cannabis for? Will findings like these finally impact the government’s willingness to look at cannabis realistically?”

Last June, the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments in a May 2020 lawsuit filed by a group of scientists and veterans in an effort claiming that the federal classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional based on the plant’s possible medical uses.

The move disappointed advocates who had hoped that a positive decision would compel the DEA to reschedule the plant. Now the likelier eventuality is that the U.S. Congress will either reschedule or deschedule marijuana.

Adding to the impediments for advancing cutting-edge science is that researchers have been limited to using cannabis products supplied to the National Institute on Drug Abuse by the University of Mississippi, which researchers have long described as substandard, bearing little resemblance to cannabis currently available in legal markets.

Any company seeking to study and test cannabis products for human use is first required to gain FDA approval, after permission from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Last year, the DEA finally eased some longtime restrictions when it awarded two private firms with contracts to produce cannabis for federally funded research, a development which National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow reportedly welcomed as “valuable” for U.S. researchers to access in better understanding the risks and benefits of cannabis and products consumed across the country.

As Ripple cofounder and CEO Justin Singer shared in a recent essay, “marijuana’s Schedule-I status doesn’t make it impossible to conduct human trials — just ridiculously difficult and expensive… The FDA should be pushing for more research to keep consumers safe, and instead companies such as mine have to do it on their own at great expense even though there are plenty of university scientists who would gladly put grant funding to work on the project. The federal government hasn’t gotten out of the way; it’s just become a more dissembling roadblock.”

Other countries have been more active and progressive. Israeli organic chemist Raphael Mechoulam, a professor of medicinal chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is credited for publishing more than 450 research articles. The “father of cannabis research” is best known for his work studying delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the active psychotropic component in cannabis. A specific study conducted by Mechoulam, a founding member of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines, focused on pain and the use of cannabis.

Working with medical cannabis does not require any abandonment of objectivity or skepticism, and mounting evidence being collected worldwide is increasingly affirming the plant’s broad therapeutic potential.

Advocates and scientists argue that for too long, marijuana was preordained by the U.S. government as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” despite mounting contrary evidence from research being done globally, and from the feedback collected from the millions of patients participating in U.S. state medical cannabis programs.

Absent research to guide the U.S. industry’s regulation, the market for cannabinoid infused products has proliferated — especially since hemp became federally legal — thereby opening a patchwork of markets nationwide for CBD and other non-THC cannabinoids.

Interested shoppers today can find CBD-infused oils, drinks, vitamins, mints, cheeseburgers, shampoos — even clothing – though discerning which products are best suited for each consumers’ intended application is often a challenge due the lack of research and regulatory control. A notable 2017 report in the medical journal JAMA shared the findings of researchers who  analyzed 84 CBD products from 31 companies, finding that 69% were mislabeled if not altogether fraudulent, as some products had too much CBD, some too much THC, and some had no CBD at all.

Ultimately, the U.S. government’s lack of recognition of cannabis as a medicine has had deleterious, decades-long impacts on research and discovery. However, with signs that the U.S. may be on the cusp of foundational policy reform, cannabis may soon be officially returned the American pharmacopeia.

As Gaudino summarized, “80-plus years of prohibition has hampered cannabis from being placed back into the medical arsenal where it originally came from — Pliny the Elder spoke about boiled roots of cannabis in 79 A.D. — and the more work we do, the more we find that there may in fact be ‘a cannabis variety for that’.”

The post Cannabis vs. COVID Study Illustrates U.S. Need for Key Research appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/cannabis-vs-covid-study-illustrates-u-s-need-for-key-research/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/674331699993346048

Canada’s Lessons for North America’s Hemp Grain Market

By Eric Singular, Director, Hemp Business Journal

When considering the growth and maturation of the U.S. hemp grain market, it would be foolhardy to ignore lessons learned from Canada over the past 20 years. For the better part of two decades since legalizing industrial hemp production in 1998, America’s neighbor to the north has commanded the global market for hemp foods.

When the U.S. legalized hemp in 2018, early movers were overwhelmingly focused on the business of hemp extraction. The promise of CBD has been the driving force behind the cultivation, processing, and marketing of hemp-based products in the U.S., with the lion’s share of U.S. acreage committed to cannabinoid production.

Yet for many growers and industry operators, the promise proved short-lived when oversupply sent CBD biomass prices crashing in 2019. Prices have yet to recover, and the growth of the retail CBD market has underperformed estimates, in part due to a lack of a regulatory framework promulgated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In Q3-2021, Charlotte’s Web reported revenues of $23 million, down year-over-year from Q3-2020’s revenue of $25 million. In addition, CV Sciences reported $5.1 million in sales for Q3-2021, down 8% from $5.6 million in Q3-2020.

Four years since the U.S. legalization of industrial hemp, interest is turning toward hemp fiber and grain, while sorely needed infrastructure is finally finding its footing. Canada has seen its fair share of ups and downs in the industrial hemp market over the last 20 years (particularly for grain), and U.S. operators would be wise to heed those lessons.

In its 22-year existence, the Canadian hemp industry has largely ignored hemp-derived cannabinoids. Rather, Canadian operators like Manitoba Harvest (which was founded the same year that hemp was legalized) have cultivated a robust supply chain from seed to shelf for food products made from hemp grain. For years, Manitoba Harvest has been at the forefront of the global hemp grain market, with New Frontier Data estimating that the company commanded 58% of retail sales for hemp food products in 2020.

Fluctuations in Canada’s annual hemp acreage are broadly shaped by Manitoba Harvest’s retail sales to keep production balanced with consumer demand. In 2019, Manitoba Harvest was acquired by Tilray for $317 million; at the time, their products were available in approximately 13,000 U.S. stores and 3,600 Canadian outlets.

New Frontier Data spoke with Manitoba Harvest’s Pedigree Seed Production Manager/Agronomist, Darrell McElroy, and its Director of Farm Operations, Clarence Shwaluk, to discuss both the history of Canada’s hemp grain market and the forces shaping the upcoming 2022 production season.

Both are veterans of the Canadian hemp industry. While their optimism has at times wavered since the legal market opened, they maintain optimism for exponential growth in the hemp grain market during the years and decades to come.

Balancing supply and demand

Among the tried-and-true givens in agriculture is that farmers are always chasing demand. One year, a shortage or undersupply of a certain crop will fetch a premium, while the next year will see prices for the same crop fall sharply as opportunistic farmers hope belatedly to jump on the bandwagon, if instead just overproduce, causing an oversupply.

McElroy and Shwaluk recount three specific gluts in Canadian hemp production that crashed the market and caused growers to sell grain for bird seed, at substantial losses.

The first was in 2000, after two explosive years of market growth. In the fall of 1999, the Drug Enforcement Administration directed the U.S. Customs Service to stop the importation of hemp seed products to the U.S. The first seizure was a 53,000-pound load of sterilized seed (from Kenex, Ltd., Canada’s largest producer of hemp food) intended for sale as birdseed. The second glut came after overproduction in 2006, as growers sold their stockpiles to the European birdseed market at a huge loss, e.g., about $0.20 per pound compared to the typically expected $0.50-$0.60 rate which conventional hemp grain historically fetched.

Most recent was the glut which followed South Korea’s purchasing close to 40% of Canada’s export crop in 2016. Fueled by that enthusiasm, Canadian growers in 2017 produced the most hemp acreage since its legalization, with growers in the Province of Manitoba planting 24,227 acres (up more than double from 12,044 the prior year), Canadian exports to South Korea subsequently fell 27%, as China undercut and displaced the Canadian supply with a lower price which crushed the market, taking the North American market years to exhaust the oversupply.

From 2018-2020, that oversupply kept prices low (going for an average of $0.50-$0.55/pound for conventional hemp grain), though the tide has at last seemingly turned, with prices for hemp grain on the rise. According to the province’s agency of Agriculture and Resource Development, the contracted price of conventional hemp grain in 2020 ranged from $0.75-$0.84 per pound. Generally, organic grain fetches a 30-40% premium above the conventional commodity.

Market growth has plateaued

Early on in Canada’s hemp industry, some believed that it would become a standard farm crop, alongside canola. While there have been periods reaching a consecutive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 25%-30% (most recently during 2014-2016), McElroy and Shwaluk note that the market has largely plateaued in the past five years. In 2021, Canadian farmers planted 22.5 million acres of canola, compared to approximately 60,000 acres of industrial hemp. They say that consumer education is still vital for increasing demand for hemp-based food products, but are quick to call out the challenge of food inflation. According to the latest Consumer Price Index data, food prices rose 6.1% between November 2020 and November 2021, greatly affecting choices for consumers at the grocery store. McElroy and Shwaluk conclude that typical purchasers of Manitoba Harvest’s hemp hearts may be prioritizing staple food products like milk during the inflationary period.

High agricultural commodity prices

In the winter of 2020, canola was fetching about $12 per bushel. By November 2021, prices reached nearly $20 per bushel. In addition, farm inputs like fertilizer have seen tremendous price spikes throughout recent months. A report from Texas A&M’s University Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) estimates nitrogen prices at nearly 81% higher for corn farmers in 2022, averaging $52.07 more per acre in nitrogen costs while coming  on top of a 200% year-over-year spike in fertilizer costs. Consequently, corn farmers will need to collect $0.32 more per bushel in order to offset the higher nitrogen price.

The market demand for organic crops

McElroy and Shwaluk report that retail market demand is shifting heavily to organic hemp foods products. Manitoba Harvest offers both conventional ($0.63/oz.) and organic ($0.83/oz.) hemp hearts. With demand favoring the organic, McElroy and Shwaluk expect 70% of their 2022 contracted acreage with growers to be dedicated for organic production.

In 2021, Manitoba Harvest contracted organic hemp grain production at $1.55/pound, a premium up from $1.00-$1.25 in years past. McElroy and Shwaluk share another challenge in securing 2022 organic acreage: Some Canadian organic farmers are transitioning back to conventional production because of rising agricultural commodity prices, since conventional crops now fetch the premiums once reserved for organic crops.

According to McElroy and Shwaluk, Manitoba Harvest annually contracts an average of 35,000-40,000 acres. While Manitoba Harvest has contracted production with growers in the northern U.S. since hemp was legalized in 2018, greater demand to secure organic acreage may see more American farmers able to integrate with the Canadian hemp grain supply chain.

Processing capacity

An estimated 20 million-25 million tons of Canadian grain were processed in 2021, according to McElroy and Shwaluk. They believe that the capacity of the Canadian hemp grain industry could accommodate closer to 30 million-40 million tons yearly. Meanwhile, they posit that rising interest in Canadian hemp fiber production could require an additional 35,000-40,000 acres, nearly doubling the country’s total hemp acreage.

The question is how to grow the market to at least meet the country’s existing processing capacity. McElroy and Shwaluk can’t overemphasize the importance of consumer education. For them, the battle for shifting the public perception of hemp from drug to food is one that’s been ongoing for twenty years. They admit that when hemp gets clumped in with marijuana, whether in regulatory matters or marketing campaigns, it is unavoidably problematic.

“Maybe we should stop calling hemp a superfood,” they joke. Instead, we should start thinking about how hemp grain byproducts as ingredients that can be used to boost the nutritional value for a vast array of food products (without necessarily marketing the product as “hemp-based”). That is how North American hemp production could reach the milestone of a million acres, catapulting hemp from a cottage industry toward achieving status of a staple agricultural commodity. Otherwise, as noted by McElroy and Shwaluk, the market for hemp food products on grocery shelves has largely plateaued.

Manitoba Harvest is hard-at-work getting hemp grain into the hands of big food manufacturers as a plant-based protein and nutrition-packed ingredient. That seems the way toward the most fruitful next decade for the North American hemp grain market.

The post Canada’s Lessons for North America’s Hemp Grain Market appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/canadas-lessons-for-north-americas-hemp-grain-market/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673957994663444480

CBD and IBD: A Natural Solution for Colon Inflammation

What Causes Colon Inflammation?

Unfortunately, the root cause of colon inflammation is still unclear. It was assumed that external factors like stress and diet were to blame, but it’s now more widely accepted that these factors merely exacerbate symptoms, but are not the actual cause. Things like ethnicity and family history can play a part in one’s likelihood of developing IBD. Some even suggest that regular use of over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like naproxen or ibuprofen may be to blame. Whatever the root cause of these diseases may be, it’s important to know how to ease one’s symptoms.

Can CBD Help?

Studies are finding that there may be some merit to using CBD for colon health. CBD eases inflammation by way of the body’s endocannabinoid system and the CB2 reactors that govern the body’s inflammation. Since inflammation is responsible for much of the pain associated with IBD, reducing it can help alleviate the symptoms. 

Why CBD Over Other Options?

There are pharmaceutical drugs that can help with IBD symptoms, but they do come with a host of worrisome side effects. Aminosalicylates can cause fever, diarrhea and cramping. Corticosteroids can have psychological side effects and can cause high blood pressure, fluid retention and painful swelling. Immunomodulators can cause neuropathy or even serious blood clots. Luckily, CBD has shown to be an effective treatment with no side effects in doses up to 500mg.

When looking to ease the symptoms of colon inflammation, CBD is a great alternative. Living with inflammation can be difficult, so it’s important to find ways to make it easier and increase one’s quality of life.

The post CBD and IBD: A Natural Solution for Colon Inflammation appeared first on Smart CBD Hub.

from Smart CBD Hub https://smartcbdhub.com/cbd-and-ibd-a-natural-solution-for-colon-inflammation/
via IFTTT

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673948885222326272

California Tax Rates Impede Legal Operators

By John Kagia, Chief Knowledge Officer, New Frontier Data

From September 2019 to August 2021, California raised $2.3 billion in tax revenue from $9.1 billion in sales. Since Q3-2020, however, tax revenues plateaued to average $321 million over four quarters, suggesting that the rate of ingress by consumers to the legal market has begun to slow.

Despite earning significantly more revenues than other legal markets due to the state’s large population, California continues to underperform relative to other states for revenue per capita. Several factors are contributing to the slowing of California’s legal market:

• With the highest cannabis retail taxes in the country, California’s price-sensitive consumers have little incentive to transition to the legal market, especially for flower (which remains widely available at dramatically lower prices, but with quality rivaling the legal market’s offerings);
• The state’s very well-established illicit market is capitalizing on the tax-driven pricing differential; with limited enforcement resources, the increasingly savvy illicit operators have been able to disincentivize consumers from legal purchases; and
• County and municipal ordinances which prevent legal cannabis businesses from operating in large swaths of the state have meant that consumers in many counties must travel long distances to make legal purchases. For those who had well-established sources in the illicit market, participating in the legal market is not worth the effort.

The widespread availability of high-quality flower has pushed demand in California to value-added products, which are more difficult to effectively produce at scale in the illicit market. Among established adult-use markets, flower (excluding pre-rolls) in California accounts for a smaller share of total sales (36%) than in other markets — including Nevada (49%), Michigan (48%), Massachusetts (45%), and Colorado (41%).

With the state poised to further raise cannabis taxes in 2022, legal market consumers are bracing themselves for further pain at the cash register. The dynamic is described in more detail in New Frontier Data’s latest report, 22 for 2022: Cannabis Industry Assertions & Predictions: “As of January 1, 2022, California’s cannabis tax rates have increased again. The cultivation tax — initially $9.25 per dry ounce of flower, then raised to $9.65 in 2020 — now stands at $10.08 per dry ounce. Since it is applied at the beginning of the production chain (where it can already represent roughly 25% of the wholesale cost of flower), the cultivation tax is compounded at every step of production, each of which has an additional tax.”

In a speech last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed commitment to resolving the state’s cannabis taxation issues, but it remains to be seen by which forms those interventions will take. Regardless, the longer that the state continues to delay in addressing its cannabis taxes (which are the highest in the U.S.), operators will continue to underperform, the illicit market will become more difficult to dislodge, and the Golden State will continue to earn far lower revenues than it could through a more effectively modulated tax policy.

The post California Tax Rates Impede Legal Operators appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/california-tax-rates-impede-legal-operators/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673788106035560448

Can CBD Help in Treating Osteoporosis?

What Are the Symptoms and Causes of Osteoporosis?

Symptoms of osteoporosis tend to reveal themselves in latter stages of bone loss. They may include:

•         Shortening of the body, and poor posture

•         Back pain due to injured vertebra

•         A bone breaking due to a relatively minor trauma — particularly the hip, spine, or wrist

What causes osteoporosis varies widely from person to person, and there may be many factors. Some of them include the following:

•         A variety of factors put any individual at higher risk for developing osteoporosis, including being female, having a familial history of osteoporosis, being white or Asian, being of older age, or having a small body frame

•         Hormonal imbalances, including lowered testosterone or estrogen levels, or overactive thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands

•         Low calcium in the diet

•         Being underweight

•         Long-term use of steroids — as well as other medications, including antiseizure medications, heparin, lithium, and many others

•         A long-term sedentary lifestyle

In many cases, managing these factors and preventing osteoporosis before it begins may be the most effective defense against the condition.

Is CBD Effective in Treating Osteoporosis?

Research, particularly in mice, has shown that CBD for osteoporosis may in fact be an effective treatment. Research suggests this is due to the way the skeletal cannabinoid system helps to regulate bone health — in particular, through the CB1 and CB2 receptors in bone tissues. All told, this suggests that CBD for weak bones may indeed be therapeutic.

There is also abundant evidence of the pain management effects of cannabinoids, suggesting a potential therapeutic possibility for CBD in treating pain caused by osteoporosis.

However, good nutrition — especially including calcium and vitamin D — as well as regular exercise over the course of life are generally considered primary ways to prevent osteoporosis. Individuals suffering from osteoporosis are advised to consult with a medical professional before incorporating CBD into any treatment regimen.

The post Can CBD Help in Treating Osteoporosis? appeared first on Smart CBD Hub.

from Smart CBD Hub https://smartcbdhub.com/can-cbd-help-in-treating-osteoporosis/
via IFTTT

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673752572419522560

Can CBD Be Used as a Weight Loss Strategy?

Research on CBD and Weight

Frontiers in Neuroscience published a study on CBD and appetite, showing that rats injected with CBD ate and weighed less at the end of the study. Additional rat studies from  Psychopharmacology supported these results.

In addition, research on CBD and obesity has shown positive results. For example, a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that those who ingested cannabis several times per week had a 14-17% obesity rate, while a 22-25% rate was found in individuals who had not ingested marijuana in the previous 12 months. Unfortunately, other research found that this substance may actually cause weight gain.  

The body has both white and brown fat cells. Brown fat cells, which generate heat to burn calories, are healthy, while too many white fat cells, which store energy, cause disease. One study published in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry tested CBD and brown fat cells, finding that this cannabinoid actually helps white cells turn brown.

The endocannabinoid system regulates most physiological systems in the body, which can significantly affect weight, pain, mental health and substance abuse tendency. Research on the endocannabinoid system and CBD oil have shown positive results.

CBD has many potential health benefits, but its effect on weight loss is unclear. Despite the research on contributors to weight gain and loss, appetite control, metabolism and other weight-related functions, additional research is necessary to directly link CBD to weight loss.

The post Can CBD Be Used as a Weight Loss Strategy? appeared first on Smart CBD Hub.

from Smart CBD Hub https://smartcbdhub.com/can-cbd-be-used-as-a-weight-loss-strategy/
via IFTTT

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673292048985636865

Markets Great and Small Leading Europe’s Continental Shift Toward Legal Cannabis

By Oliver Bennett, Special Contributor to New Frontier Data

As with New Year’s resolutions and health-club memberships, optimistic impulses in January are typically best tempered by some healthy circumspection. That may be especially useful for the legal cannabis industry, which for all its recent and impressively strong momentum toward reforms and legalization has also provided cautionary examples from Canada to California as those North American markets continue to take form.

Still, it would seem quibbling not to feel optimism about ongoing developments in Europe’s cannabis space. From the European Union’s most populous member, Germany, to its smallest, Malta, there has been a continental shift toward reforms and legalization.

As New Frontier Data reported eight months ago, Malta is serving as the harbinger for reforms; last month it officially adopted its first tentative steps for cultivation and consumption — allowing adults to grow up to four plants at home, and carry up to seven grams at any time — while still prohibiting its use in public or in the presence of children.

With an estimated population tipping past 500,000, the Mediterranean archipelago is best known for its tourist-tempting landscapes. Some 2,400 kilometers to the north, meanwhile, Germany and its approximate population of 83.8 million features nearly 190x more residents and the continent’s largest economy.

Germany’s recent and largely unanticipated momentum to adopt a legal market was spurred by its new coalition government’s taking actions to both promote the country’s cannabis market to new levels if also stirring serious concerns among its neighbors and other European countries.

Following intense and largely secretive negotiations throughout last fall, the federal proposal means to establish a regulated market for adult sales and consumption of recreational cannabis while promoting broader reform policies — e.g., quality controls, regulated and taxed dispensaries, and youth-protection laws.

As New Frontier Data recently reported in Cultivating Capital: Cannabis Finance & Investment, “Germany leads the continent with the largest medical cannabis program in Europe, and — as the EU’s largest economy — the country’s recently announced passage of adult-use cannabis legalization will have significant cascading implications for European drug policy.”

Now the country is expected to lead the European Union – and the wider continent of Europe – into greater liberalization and acceptance for cannabis, with adult-use sales expected to lead other European countries towards consider transitioning from medical-use programs to full adult-use markets.

Because of its federal structure, Germany’s reforms are likely to be enacted state-by-state, with its more progressive cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, and Cologne being among the earliest adopters. As for regulatory protocols, all that the new coalition government has so far pledged is to allow for controlled adult-use sales in licensed shops. It is assumed that ordinary pharmacies are likely to provide retail and dispensing spaces, with licensing deals thrashed out as the situation develops. It also suggests that ready exporting countries will jostle for position in the German market, which domestically has been estimated through decriminalisation to enjoy a net benefit to the state of €4.7 billion per annum, comprising €2.8 billion in taxes and €1.36 billion in savings. Thus, the world’s fourth-largest economy would establish itself as the single-largest country to legalize cannabis.

While the timetable for Germany’s legislations remains to be determined, the staged approach is already nudging attitudes in other nations to liberalize their drug laws. London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has announced plans for a cannabis decriminalisation pilot in three of London’s 32 boroughs, though conservative resistance from national leaders makes the likelihood for swift and progressive action seem unlikely in any near term.

Others seem more game for changes: Luxembourg shares a border with Germany, and since 2018 has made noises about legalizing cannabis. Switzerland, too, has been planning to roll out recreational trial programs this year, starting with Swiss cities being allowed to set up cannabis markets – Zurich is expected to be first – featuring organic and locally sourced cannabis. Others worth closely watching include Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, and the Czech Republic.

Still, the sudden sense of inevitability about cannabis seems contradicted by the EU’s legislative authority and tendencies for often  fragmented attitudes among its 27 member states. Europe’s remaining 17 non-EU member nations are also divided on the matter.

So long as European cannabis laws remain a “crazy quilt of contradictions” with a persistent social  stigma on cannabis abiding, legalization is a highly partisan issue, very often driven by NGOs and grass roots campaigning.

Ultimately, economic arguments may prevail in the post-pandemic period over any lingering qualms to champion investment in the industry. In an unrelated boon to the industry, Pfizer – now a household name across Europe due to its COVID-19 vaccine – is preparing to enter the medical cannabis industry partnering with biotech company Arena Pharmaceuticals in relation to a promising cannabinoid-based bowel disease treatment. Danish company DanCann Pharma has said that Germany can “play a crucial role in starting a domino-effect for the rest of Europe”, and Curaleaf has lauded the German government’s adult-use plans with one report suggesting that the U.S. company could have a “first-mover advantage”.

With such a slate and range of activity, 2022 is fast looking to prove itself a watershed year in the European cannabis industry, even if all those health-club memberships still seem dicey.

The post Markets Great and Small Leading Europe’s Continental Shift Toward Legal Cannabis appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/markets-great-and-small-leading-europes-continental-shift-toward-legal-cannabis/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673286042881867776

El cannabis en Latam: Perspectivas para 2022

Por Esteban Rossi I., Ph.D., Analista, New Frontier Data

Por regla general, las predicciones sobre la industria del cannabis oscilan entre la creencia arraigada en el crecimiento continuo del mercado y el escepticismo ante los avances normativos. A pesar de sus limitaciones, el valor de las predicciones radica en el esfuerzo que dedicamos a hacerlas. Al anticipar el futuro, los analistas deben examinar sus supuestos y elegir el camino más probable. A continuación, New Frontier Data destaca algunos avances y retos previstos para el 2022. Nuestro resumen se basa en observaciones de líderes del sector y de datos empíricos reunidos en nuestra plataforma de inteligencia de mercados EQUIO.

La señal en medio del ruido

En 2022, New Frontier Data seguirá monitoreando los avances de la industria y documentando la evolución de los mercados maduros y emergentes. Sin embargo, en numerosas jurisdicciones los mercados legales todavía no existen formalmente, o dependen de regulaciones futuras. Podría decirse que la sobrecarga de información de la era digital hace que tanto las perspectivas bien informadas como las falsas reciban la misma atención en los medios de comunicación, especialmente en sectores nuevos como el del cannabis. Para los inversores que buscan oportunidades recomendamos centrarse en lo fundamental: encontrar buenos productos desarrollados para un mercado específico debe ser la principal preocupación. Lo ideal es que las empresas de interés estén basadas en jurisdicciones en las que se pueda hacer un seguimiento de las ventas y estudiar a los consumidores. Afortunadamente, cada vez más jurisdicciones pueden proporcionar datos adecuados para evaluar adecuadamente las oportunidades de inversión.

El año pasado, México proporcionó quizás el ejemplo más claro del ruido saturando la atención del público. Fiel a su historia reciente, el Senado mexicano volvió a posponer la discusión del proyecto de ley de uso para adultos hasta el final del periodo legislativo. A última hora, el senador Ricardo Monreal anunció que era necesario reprogramar. Fuentes no identificadas sugieren que los legisladores no se sentían cómodos con el texto, y que el gobierno estadounidense no está preparado para un mercado de cannabis legal al sur de su frontera. Por lo tanto, los legisladores mexicanos parecen no reconocer la oportunidad que ofrece la creación de un mercado regulado de uso para adulto. Los expertos de la industria tienen la esperanza de que el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador cambie de parecer y sepa aprovechar las ventajas estratégicas del país al mismo tiempo que aprovecha el gran mercado local.

Macrotendencias 

En 2022, seguiremos observando avances en línea con las tendencias globales bien conocidas: avances legislativos, gran apoyo público a la regulación y mercados de consumo en crecimiento.  Entre las nuevas jurisdicciones que vale la pena seguir de cerca se encuentran los mercados latinoamericanos de Panamá (Ley 242) y Argentina, y los avances europeos en Alemania, Malta, Luxemburgo y Suiza. Los reguladores de Panamá deben publicar pronto las directrices de su programa de uso médico, mientras que los consumidores y pacientes de Argentina esperan la consolidación del régimen de cultivo doméstico, el avance del programa de investigación para el uso médico y la aprobación de un proyecto de ley sobre el cáñamo.

En Europa, mientras un puñado de países pequeños tomaba medidas para regular el uso personal, un gobierno de coalición recién formado en Alemania agito la especulación en los medios de comunicación. Asimismo, en los próximos meses debemos conocer avances de los ensayos piloto para uso adulto en Suiza. En el mejor de los casos, uno de estos países pequeños conseguirá establecer un mercado de uso para adultos que impulse la industria. O como mínimo, los esfuerzos políticos que están surgiendo deberían ilustrar el camino para cambios regulatorios graduales y acordes con las particularidades de cada jurisdicción.

Paralelamente a estos hitos legislativos, los mercados de consumo seguirán expandiéndose. Es de esperar que los minoristas de ambos lados del Atlántico, junto con los operadores tradicionales curtidos en los mercados grises, cosechen los beneficios de estas macrotendencias. Debido a que las regulaciones excesivamente restrictivas en América Latina limitan el acceso a los productos de cannabis, los consumidores recurren al mercado gris para comprar tinturas, comestibles y flor de THC. En consecuencia, los proveedores locales crecieron subrepticiamente junto con el mercado legal. Independientemente de los retos que suponen para los reguladores en lugares como Canadá y Colombia, la realidad de Internet y el comercio electrónico hacen que sea efectivamente imposible prohibir los productos con alto contenido de THC.

Agencia y fricción 

Los recientes logros de la industria del cannabis se derivan de décadas de esfuerzos por parte de usuarios, que condujeron a sentencias judiciales y eventualmente a unas nuevas leyes. No obstante, el sector debe aceptar las fricciones que conllevan los cambios. En Ecuador, por ejemplo, el gobierno sigue criminalizando la posesión, lo que hace que los consumidores se enfrenten a delitos menores, a la vez que se pone a prueba el sistema legal. Por consiguiente, las asociaciones y los usuarios deben trabajar pacientemente para conseguir adeptos en el gobierno y aseguren la suficiente voluntad política. Es importante que las autoridades entiendan que regular el cultivo doméstico y eliminar los delitos menores cuesta muy poco y supone un ahorro sustancial para los presupuestos estatales. Es difícil de creer que países como Ecuador o Chile todavía no cuenten con un marco normativo que regule el cultivo doméstico y proteja a los usuarios.

En España, la industria tampoco pasa por un buen momento. El año pasado, los productores de cannabis se encontraron en desacuerdo con el gobierno. A pesar de tener una cultura amigable con el cannabis y décadas de experiencia en el cultivo, el Ministerio del Interior equiparo el cannabis con crimen organizado y lanzó un grupo de trabajo contra él. Aunque las leyes son fundamentales y algunos cultivadores Españoles claramente traspasaron los límites legales, las medidas draconianas tienen un historial problemático, y es evidente que existen enfoques alternativos. Teniendo en cuenta que la industria española del cannabis genera casi 6.000 millones de dólares ($USD) al año, parece que el mejor camino es que los representantes de la industria colaboren con el gobierno y paguen impuestos. De lo contrario, una cantidad considerable de conocimientos y riqueza se perderá innecesariamente, y volverá a manos de los malos actores.

La resistencia burocrática también se ha observado en otros lugares. En Colombia, los reguladores aún no han publicado la reglamentación para la exportación de flor, aunque el Decreto 811 que lo ordena se firmó en julio de 2020. Al parecer una compañía cercana al gobierno sigue intercediendo de forma privada para retrasar la exportación de flor y así minimizar la competencia. Mientras tanto, en Estados Unidos, las perspectivas para reducir la carga fiscal de las empresas de cannabis se estancaron en el Congreso. Los pacientes chilenos, por su parte, continúan luchando para asegurar el acceso a formulaciones genéricas, aunque parece que la nueva administración del presidente electo Gabriel Boric apoyará la reforma de la ley de drogas. Por último, en México, las organizaciones de la sociedad civil hicieron un seguimiento de los cambios propuestos en el proyecto de ley de uso para adultos, y desempeñaron un papel vital informando al público.

La visión, las agallas y la persistencia de las asociaciones cannábicas continúa inspirando movimientos de cambio y avances regulatorios en numerosos países. Si bien a corto plazo parece que las soluciones puntuales y graduales son las más populares políticamente, se espera que el interés público y el compromiso de la ciudadanía impulse la evolución del mercado mundial en 2022. El futuro de la industria del cannabis está en manos de los ciudadanos.

The post El cannabis en Latam: Perspectivas para 2022 appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/el-cannabis-en-latam-perspectivas-para-2022/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673244548571496448

Cannabis in Latam: Perspectives for 2022

By Esteban Rossi I., Ph.D., Analyst, New Frontier Data

As a rule, forecasts for the cannabis industry oscillate between deep-seated beliefs in continuous market growth versus skepticism towards regulatory progress. Despite their limitations, the value of predictions lies mostly in the effort we put it to making them. By anticipating the future, analysts must examine their assumptions and choose the likeliest path ahead. Here, New Frontier Data’s analysis highlights some advances and challenges expected for 2022, drawing from observations from industry leaders and empirical data from our proprietary Equio cannabis business intelligence platform.

The Signal and the Noise

In 2022, New Frontier Data will continue to monitor market activity and document the evolution of both mature and emerging markets. Still, most of the world’s future legal markets do not yet formally exist, or remain inchoate pending forthcoming regulations. Arguably, the information overload of the digital era means that both sound and unsound perspectives get equal traction on the media, particularly for new sectors like cannabis. For investors mining for promising opportunities, New Frontier Data recommends focusing on fundamentals: finding good products primed for a specific market should be the main concern. Ideally, target companies should be located in jurisdictions where sales can be tracked, and consumers studied. Fortunately, the global market is expanding to the point that increasing numbers of jurisdictions can provide sufficient data to adequately assess investment opportunities.

Last year, Mexico provided perhaps the most obvious example of noise trumping signal. True to its recent history, Mexico’s Senate again postponed discussing its adult-use bill until the end of the legislative period. At the last hour, Senator Ricardo Monreal announced that they needed to reschedule. Unnamed sources suggested that the legislators did not feel comfortable with the text, and that the U.S. government is unprepared for a fully legal cannabis market south of its border. Thus, Mexican legislators seemed blinkered to the opportunity for its regulated adult-use market to lead policy among the global markets. Industry experts are hopeful that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will acknowledge Mexico’s opportunities to seize industrial advantages while leveraging a large consumer market.

Macro Trends

In 2022, we will continue to observe progress in line with well-known global trends, namely: legislative advances, continued public support for cannabis reform and growing consumer markets.  New jurisdictions worth watching closely include Latam markets in Panama (Ley 242)  and Argentina, and European developments in Germany, Malta, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Regulators in Panama must soon publish guidelines for its medical-use program, while consumers and stakeholders in Argentina look forward to the consolidation of the home cultivation regime, the research framework for medical use and the approval of a hemp bill.

In Europe, as a handful of small countries took steps to regulate personal use, a newly formed coalition government in Germany roiled market speculation. Also, we should see advances from Swiss pilot trials in the next few months. In the best-case scenario, one of the jurisdictions will succeed in establishing an adult-use market to urge policy reforms and industry forward; at the least, the sprouting policy efforts should shape the continent’s paths of least resistance toward incremental reforms.

In parallel to those legislative milestones, consumer markets will continue to expand. Retailers on both sides of the Atlantic, along with incumbent players seasoned in grey markets, will expectedly reap the benefits of these trends. While overly restrictive regulations in Latin America limited access to cannabis products, consumers turned to the grey market to purchase tinctures, edibles, and flower. Consequently, local purveyors surreptitiously flourished in tandem with the legal market. Whatever challenges they present for regulators in places like Canada and Colombia, the realities of the internet and online retail render it effectively impossible to prohibit high-THC products.

Agency and Friction

Recent accomplishments in the cannabis industry stem from decades of efforts by users which led to court rulings and new legislation. Nevertheless, the industry needs to accept and endure the friction which comes with change. In Ecuador, for example, the government continues to criminalize possession, thereby causing consumers to face petty criminal charges while straining the legal system. Cannabis advocates would benefit from marshaling some demonstrated political will: Regulating home cultivation while eliminating petty offenses costs relatively little to implement while leading to substantial savings for bureaucracies and state budgets.

Last year, the Spanish cannabis industry found itself at odds with its government. Despite having a generally cannabis-friendly culture and decades of cultivation experience, the ministry of interior framed cannabis in terms of organized crime, and launched a task force against it. While laws are required and some cannabis growers crossed beyond legal boundaries, draconian measures have a problematic history, and alternative approaches demonstrably exist. Given that the Spanish cannabis industry is estimated at nearly $6 billion USD, it would seem wise for industry representatives to collaborate with the government and pay reasonable taxes. Otherwise, a considerable amount of knowledge and wealth will be needlessly missed, and returned to the realm of bad actors.

Bureaucratic resistance has also been observed in other places. In Colombia, regulators still have failed to establish guidelines for flower exports, though Decree 811 to mandate such was signed in July 2020. In the U.S., prospects to expand access to financial services and ease the tax burden of cannabis business stalled in Congress. In Chile, patients continued to struggle in securing access to generic formulations, though it appears that the new administration of president-elect Gabriel Boric will support cannabis reform. Lastly, in Mexico, civil society organizations monitored proposed changes to the adult-use bill, and played a vital role informing the public.

The vision, grit, and persistence of cannabis associations continue to help inspire like-minded reform movements in other countries. While during the near-term patchwork solutions seem likeliest to drive further reforms and the global market’s evolution during 2022, public acceptance and the embrace of innovative efforts should keep paving a progressive path forward.

The post Cannabis in Latam: Perspectives for 2022 appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/cannabis-in-latam-perspectives-for-2022/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673244547302785024

Legal Cannabis Strongly Positioned for Another Milestone Year in 2022

By John Kagia, Chief Knowledge Officer, New Frontier Data

The cannabis industry enters the new year facing a complex set of global dynamics to set foundations for another milestone year in the emerging global cannabis economy.

In New Frontier Data’s upcoming report, 22 for 2022: Cannabis Industry Assertions & Predictions, we explore 22 key issues shaping the market in the year ahead, offer predictions on how they will play out, and analyze what impacts they are likely to have on the market.

In the U.S. — which is projected to account for 86% of global legal cannabis sales in 2022 — we analyze the respective impacts that launching three major East Coast adult-use markets (i.e., New York, New Jersey, and Virginia) will have across the legal cannabis landscape and on the national conversation in America.

Those three states should generate nearly $11 billion in sales by 2025, accounting for nearly one-quarter of all legal U.S. sales. New York and Virginia will be especially influential, with New York City (as a cultural mecca and the nation’s most-visited tourist destination) playing an unprecedented role in exposing American and international travelers to legally regulated cannabis. Likewise, with the U.S. Capitol sitting adjacent to Virginia (and its congressional lawmakers and staff living within an immediate commute), regulated adult-use cannabis in the Old Dominion will provide new access and acceptance of legal cannabis businesses, making real and tangible an industry which for many had previously remained an oft-misunderstood abstraction.

The potential influence of legal cannabis on congressional lawmakers is particularly noteworthy given the lack of progress toward federal reforms in 2021. Deep partisan divisions within Congress regarding how the federal government should regulate cannabis were compounded by an increasingly acrimonious political climate despite generally broadening agreement that the status quo is untenable.

The Democrats’ Cannabis Administration & Opportunity Act and the Republicans’ States Reform Act shared some core principals including descheduling cannabis (versus legalizing it), granting states with autonomy for regulating their respective markets (or keeping cannabis illegal), creating a federal excise tax, investing in research about related health effects of cannabis, and expunging nonviolent cannabis offender records. However, with significant differences remaining toward fundamental issues including excise tax rates, oversight agencies, which cannabis offenders should be eligible for release and records expungement, and how large a federal role will play in stimulating the new industry though grants and development programs, the prospects for the parties’ reaching consensus before the November midterm elections appear dim.

Meanwhile, such slow movement toward a coherent national policy will continue to constrict entry of major non-cannabis companies to the industry, though New Frontier Data expects 2022 to see one or two major CPG companies join the growing ranks of alcohol, tobacco, and pharma companies making substantive investments into the space, especially Canada’s fully regulated market.

Last year saw a dramatic rebound for the industry’s capital raises, after the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptions drove a steep decline in capital inflows in 2020. With continued strong growth expected going into 2022, the industry is poised for record capital inflows. Nevertheless, New Frontier Data is closely monitoring the broader economic climate, tracking economic headwinds which have gathered strength over the last few months. While cannabis consumer demand has largely proven to be recession-proof in retaining stability (and in some cases, increasing demand) during economic contractions, an economic downturn would constrict the capital markets, slowing investment into each business expansion, M&A, and innovation.

A slowdown in investment activity would be especially challenging for high-growth, capital-intensive businesses which may be generating revenue but still require significant capital infusions to fund their operations and growth.

The end of 2021 saw dramatic developments in Europe, as Luxembourg, Germany, and Malta, respectively, announced intentions to legalize adult-use cannabis. While the final forms of each market remain to be seen, the global impact of Germany’s announcement, in particular, will reverberate well into the new year. As Europe’s largest and most influential economy, Germany’s legal market increase pressure on other major European powers to liberalize their cannabis policies. Furthermore, the German announcement is already attracting interest from many American companies which previously ignored the European market as they raced to build scale in large, existing domestic markets.

With Germany now in play, New Frontier Data expects several U.S. companies to announce partnerships, investments, and M&A with European players to establish footholds across the country’s estimated $14.5 billion cannabis market opportunity.

Other themes explored in 22 for 2022: Cannabis Industry Assertions & Predictions the impact of increased wholesale taxes in California’s market growth, the evolution of the consumer product landscape and its influence on consumer preferences and behavior, challenges in regulating issues (e.g., product testing and impaired driving), the impact of the FDA’s delay in releasing regulations governing CBD on the U.S. hemp market (including on the acreage under cultivation expected for 2022), and outlooks for delta-8 THC and other minor cannabinoids amid tightening state regulations. New Frontier Data is also monitoring the expansion of legalization into more conservative U.S. states where, despite strong public support, conservative lawmakers are working to stop or slow the establishment of the industry.

With another year of explosive growth forecast for legal state markets, green shoots among emerging adult-use markets in Europe (and medical markets worldwide), and the increasing global normalization and acceptance of cannabis, look to have the market well positioned for another year of record growth, even absent U.S. federal reforms. Still, the broader, pandemic-disrupted economic climate could prove to remain the wild card which slows the industry’s expansion by constricting investments for building capacity, expanding markets, and fueling innovation for the industry’s near-term growth.

The post Legal Cannabis Strongly Positioned for Another Milestone Year in 2022 appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/strongly-positioned-for-growth%e2%80%af2022-poised-for-more-milestones-in-legal-cannabis%e2%80%af/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/673048272430104577

How Long Does It Take CBD To Affect Dogs

Determining the Right Dosage

Perhaps the main factor in how quickly CBD begins to work in your furry friend is the dosage. The right dosage, however, depends on the size of the dog, as well as several other factors:

•                 Metabolism 

•                 Severity of ailment 

•                 Way of administering 

The last factor is especially important, as various methods of CBD administration can have different effects. A 2018 study found that dogs with epilepsy who took CBD orally, as opposed to via cream or a gel capsule, were more likely to benefit from the naturally occurring chemical compound.

Calculating the Timeline

Now, when it comes to how long it should take for your dog to feel relief from CBD, it takes about 30 minutes and lasts for 4 – 6 hours before the effects dissipate. If you find it takes longer than 30 minutes to kick in, this can be an indication you need to increase the dosage. You can also repeat the dose if your pet needs additional relief after the efficacy of the first begins to fade.

Learn More

Before starting any CBD treatment for your dog, you should seek consultation from a veterinarian. They are best equipped to diagnose any underlying conditions and determine the best course of action when it comes to treatment. If they recommend CBD oil, they also may have a preferred or trusted brand that can help cut down on the need for additional research.

The post How Long Does It Take CBD To Affect Dogs appeared first on Smart CBD Hub.

from Smart CBD Hub https://smartcbdhub.com/how-long-does-it-take-cbd-to-affect-dogs/
via IFTTT

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/672850362556989441

Hemp Industry Stakeholders Back Carbon Credit Research as Prices for CO2e Skyrocket

By Eric Singular, Director, Hemp Business Journal

In 2021, the value of carbon reached new heights as more businesses targeted net-zero emissions, and governments aimed to achieve the goals set out in the Paris Climate Accord. As a result, activity soared in the compliance and voluntary carbon credit trading markets, setting price records.  According to the Ecosystem Marketplace, there was a nearly 60% increase in the voluntary carbon trading markets from January to August of 2021. At the start of November, the value of carbon futures in California rose 90% over the previous five months. That same month, leaders from around the globe met at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to set rules for an agreed-upon international framework on carbon markets. The consensus was the importance of carbon credit quality, but ultimately this represented a step forward in unlocking trillions of dollars for protecting forests, building renewable energy infrastructure, and financing other projects to combat climate change.

It’s likely we’ll see more businesses and governments make ESG value-driven decisions in 2022, especially with the increasingly immediate effects of climate change being felt, such as the intensifying drought and wildfires impacting the Western U.S.  Industrial hemp will play a significant role as a crop capable of generating carbon credits for farmers by sequestering carbon dioxide in soil and in sustainable materials made from hemp hurd.

In the past several years, several companies have launched services that track, generate, and sell agricultural carbon credits. This service starts on the farm with growers who adopt regenerative agricultural practices, like planting cover crops and reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers, to maximize the amount of carbon sequester (or captured) in their soil. Carbon credits can be generated when farmers document sustainability practices that are included in several protocols, including the Conservation Cropping (Zero Tillage) and Nitrogen Oxide Emission Reduction Protocol (NERP) Protocols.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. agriculture was responsible for emitting 629 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2019, approximately 10% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Utilizing U.S. cropland as a carbon sink presents a huge opportunity as a 2004 study entitled “Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change” estimated that global cropland has the potential to sequester as much as 570 million metric tons of carbon per year.

The biggest hurdle standing between earning carbon credits from growing hemp is data. There are strict requirements that must be met to quantify and qualify the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered from one acre of hemp in order to generate credits that can be traded on voluntary exchanges. The most-cited study about carbon sequestration in soil by growing industrial hemp was authored and submitted to the Australian government by GoodEarth Resources PTY, Ltd. (i.e., GoodEarth Resources), before the latter disbanded in 2014. The study claims that one acre of industrial hemp absorbs nearly 40,000 pounds of CO2 through its growing cycle. While a few land-grant universities and private companies have taken steps to measure and monitor the carbon-sequestering ability of hemp, the approval process and carbon registries managed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Climate Action Reserve, are data intensive and require time to accrue replicable, year-over-year results.

U.S. hemp growers got a step closer in December of 2021 when Heartland Industries announced that their soil innovation program, ‘Hemp4Soil’, was selected as the recipient of a $360,000 grant over 3 years from the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This includes the collection of datasets that according to Heartland, “will set the framework for trading in agriculture carbon credits.” The grant will allow Heartland to partner with farming communities in more than 10 states to advance research on regenerative agriculture techniques that bolster soil health, as well as quantify and qualify the carbon sequestration of industrial hemp production.

The rising interest in carbon credits has in part been spurred by skyrocketing price per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) on the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS). This was the world’s first emissions trading scheme created to help the EU meet the goal of cutting net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. Unlike voluntary carbon trading markets, the ETS represents a compliance market that is used by companies and governments that by law must account for their GHG emissions. The ETS requires manufacturers, energy companies, and airlines to pay for each metric ton of carbon dioxide they emit. Since 2016, the price per metric ton of CO2e on the ETS has increased an average of 65.6 percent year-over-year. In April of 2021, the World Bank pegged the price per metric ton of CO2e on the ETS at $49.78. By December, Reuters reported the price could soar past $100 a metric ton by the end of the year after soaring 50% since the start of November.

Indigo Agriculture was an early mover in the North American carbon market gold rush. In 2019, Indigo announced a project to pay farmers for carbon credits that result from implementing climate-friendly practices and capturing carbon dioxide in farm soil. A carbon credit represents a one metric ton reduction in carbon dioxide or the equivalent amount of different greenhouse gases. In turn, Indigo sells those credits on a voluntary exchange to companies seeking to offset their carbon footprint. Major purchasers of carbon credits have been ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft, as well as energy companies and airlines.

While there’s a myriad of projects and avenues for carbon capture being explored and implemented, McKinsey & Company predicts that nature-based solutions could account for 65-85 percent of the total supply of carbon credits by 2030. This raises the stakes for expeditiously advancing the necessary research and data collection to get farmers paid for growing hemp. In the wake of increasing climate change-related disasters, the rise of ESG, and the creation of a carbon marketplace, the subsidy-like impact of carbon credits for industrial hemp could exponentially grow the crop’s acreage and greatly accelerate its widespread adoption as a plant-based protein ingredient and a renewable material capable of minimizing our environmentally exhaustive dependence on wood and petroleum.

New Frontier Data will be documenting efforts in sustainability and carbon credit-related progress and services available to the hemp industry in 2022 and beyond. These will be integral sectors analyzed in New Frontier Data’s upcoming Hemp Reports for this year.

The post Hemp Industry Stakeholders Back Carbon Credit Research as Prices for CO2e Skyrocket appeared first on New Frontier Data.

from New Frontier Data https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/hemp-industry-stakeholders-back-carbon-credit-research-as-prices-for-co2e-skyrocket/

source https://ozlemhermsen.tumblr.com/post/672689639208927232