Lp,s are doomed!
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Tilray having to sell under cost will maintain Simon,s $alary a little longer…lol
GERMANY BOWS TO E.U. PRESSURE
Avatar photoCALEB MCMILLAN·APRIL 13, 2023
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Germany has bowed to European Union (E.U.) pressure to scale back their cannabis legalization plans. Their revised legalization plan came after a meeting with the E.U.’s executive commission.
Germany’s agriculture minister is still adamant that the country is “pushing” for legalization. However, Germany’s health minister has said that the government would only legalize if it got the green light from the E.U.
That said, the minister told the media that “consumption will become legal this year.”
GERMANY BOWS TO E.U. PRESSURE
Germany Bows to E.U. Pressure
So what does Germany bowing to E.U. pressure look like? A 2004 decision forces E.U. member states to ensure cannabis sales are “punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties.”
The E.U. allows member states to detail their own regulation of the law. As well, there is wiggle room for personal consumption.
Because of this, Germany won’t see large-scale cannabis producers like in Canada or the legal American states. The initial plan was to legalize like American states, where the government more-or-less takes a hands-off approach and collects tax revenue.
Instead, the German response to E.U. pressure is to allow nonprofit cannabis social clubs. German adults can also cultivate cannabis at home (limited to three plants).
The German government will cap cannabis social clubs at 500 members. Germans also can only be members of one club at a time. The clubs can distribute up to seven seeds per person or five cuttings per month.
You must be over 18 to purchase up to 30 grams a month. Over 21, the limit is 50 grams per month or 25 grams per day. German legalization won’t include on-site consumption at these cannabis social clubs.
THE SECOND PHASE OF GERMAN CANNABIS LEGALIZATION
The Second Phase of German Cannabis Legalization
Germany bowing to E.U. pressure means they have to take legalization slow. The first phase includes cannabis social clubs, which attempt to displace illicit markets.
The second phase, limited to a five-year pilot programme, will see retail shops in selected cities. This approach is similar to Swiss legalization.
The second phase, if successful, will be broadened to include all of Germany. So far, details on the second phase are hazy. A start date or the selected cities have yet to be specified.
The pilot programme aims to ease E.U. pressure on German cannabis legalization. By testing commercial supply chains, so goes the argument, German officials can examine the effects of legal cannabis on public health and young people.
Despite Germany bowing to E.U. pressure and the second phase not yet receiving E.U. approval, German officials remain adamant that German legalization will be a “model for Europe.”
SUPERIOR MODEL TO CANADA?
Germany Bows to E.U. Pressure
Canada is the only G7 country to have legalized recreational cannabis at the federal level. While the Trudeau government designed the scheme to promote “public health” and protect young people, it was, in fact, a top-down corporate takeover.
Canada, in that sense, has the worst of both worlds. A corporate commercial cannabis market under the guise of “public health and safety.” Where the only way to succeed is by having deep pockets and selling equity.
Simultaneously, authorities target the bottom-up cannabis social clubs that predate legalization. Social clubs that consist of members who voted for the government that promised to legalize them.
The Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, for example, is nearly 30 years old and has over 8,600 members. They are a perfect example of a successful social cannabis club. They should be legal, but instead, the B.C. government is doing everything possible to shut them down.
And they are far from the only ones.
With Canadian legalization, there is no room for nonprofits and the little guy. In Canada, cannabis legalization is a corporate playground.
GERMANY BOWS TO E.U. PRESSURE
Germany Bows to E.U. Pressure
While Germany bowing to E.U. pressure on cannabis legalization is a slap in the face to national sovereignty, it at least produced a plan that focuses on cannabis social clubs instead of rewarding contracts to large cannabis producers.
If cannabis legalization is about public health and safety, then German’s social cannabis clubs are the model for Europe (and the world) to follow.
But cannabis legalization isn’t about making public health busybodies feel better. It is about your right to bodily autonomy. And in that sense, the German plan suffers. THC limits and other prohibition-style regulations do not respect your rights.
Many expected Germany to bow to E.U. pressure. But the momentum for legal cannabis is ultimately likely to change international and European laws regarding the nontoxic herb.
150 billion by 2025!
This is the fantasy some large cannabis companies were selling investors in 2017-2020, and the Ontario Securities Commission sat on its hands and did/said nothing. Investors lost their savings and workers their jobs.
Refer madness prevails in Quebec.
250$ find for growing 4 plants.
Knowing Quebecers… they will overgrow the gov.
As if it will make a difference
Quebec growers don’t need your permission… lol
The Supreme Court of Canada will be delivering judgment on the appeal dealing with home cultivation rights in Quebec at 9:45 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 14, 2023.
Where is the beef ???
Selling below cost is a doomed plan!
Organigram CEO warns of unsustainably cheap cannabis, reports CA$7.5M quarterly loss
Bonno
April 12, 2023
The CEO of Canadian producer Organigram Holdings is warning about heavily discounted marijuana in the nation’s recreational market, saying that ultra-low prices are “not sustainable and (hurt) the cannabis industry.”
The company’s chief executive, Beena Goldenberg, said on a Wednesday quarterly earnings call that, although “many producers have discussed not wanting to participate in a race to the bottom, we are seeing the opposite in the market.”
Goldenberg said large, 28-gram cannabis flower packages retailing for less than 100 Canadian dollars (roughly $75) have “increased by almost 300% over the past six months.”
“Large-format pricing in some markets has reached the point that, considering the cost of production and the excise tax burden, the products are being sold at a loss.”
Goldenberg added that Organigram’s “low-cost structure allows us to compete at these reduced prices” but said the Toronto-based company has “not matched the aggressiveness of our competitors and have seen some market share erosion in our large-format flower.”
Later in the call, Goldenberg said Organigram would continue competing in the large-format flower segment, “but we just won’t compete at the very low prices, it’s just not sustainable.”
The cannabis executive’s comments came as Organigram reported a net loss of CA$7.5 million for the quarter ended Feb. 28, as net revenue grew 24% from the same quarter last year to CA$39.5 million.
The company’s net loss increased 85% compared to the second quarter of 2022, with Organigram attributing that increased net loss to “to the change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities.”
In its previous quarter, Organigram reported a net profit of CA$5.3 million.
Goldenberg said the second quarter is typically Organigram’s lowest for sales due to seasonality, with sales peaking during the summertime fourth quarter.
Organigram’s chief financial officer, Derrick West, said on the call that Organigram may expects “to generate positive free cash flow by the end of calendar (year) 2023.”
Organigram claimed the No. 3 spot among licensed Canadian cannabis producers, with leading positions in pre-ground flower and hashish and a third-place spot in gummies.
CEO Goldenberg said Organigram is “underdeveloped” in the vape segment compared to its competitors.
However, she expressed optimism that Organigram’s recent CA$4 million investment in vape hardware company Greentank – which comes with an exclusivity period for Organigram to use the Toronto-headquartered businesses’ upcoming technology in Canada – will help differentiate her company’s vape products in the future.
Goldenberg said the pending vape hardware “doesn’t have the partially cooked oil that saturates the old ceramic coils, that causes the clogging and leaks and the unpleasant flavor.”
Meanwhile, Organigram is fighting back against a regulatory decision that puts another product segment at risk.
Health Canada recently asked Organigram to stop selling its Edison Jolts cannabis lozenges, which contain 100 milligrams of THC per package, over concerns that the products are misclassified as cannabis extracts rather than edibles.
Goldenberg said Organigram can keep selling the products through May 31 and “(remains) of the view that the patent-pending Jolts are properly classified as cannabis extracts and compliant with cannabis regulations.”
She said Organigram has “filed an application with the Federal Court of Canada seeking judicial review of Health Canada’s determination.”
“As court proceedings can take some time, we intend to file a motion for a stay, seeking to set aside the decision in the interim.”
Tilray-Aphria combined for almost 20% of ????’s adult-use sales in late 2020. That's down to approx. 9% now.
Hexo had 17% of the ???? market in early 2021. That is now approx. 4.5%.
It makes sense that these two business would merge, in a dystopian sort of way.
Pubco cannabis is a dying beast
6 years ago these companies collectively owned the market, & each promised to win
Now amalgamated, they only own a slice of the entire market, which their production capacity greatly exceeds - so COGS increases
These are simply the death throws
When will you demand performance based compensation for cannabis executives?
Klein is living large while suckers wait…
Tilray's Q3 earnings report.
The company lost $1.1 BILLION in a single quarter as of Feb. 28, and $1.3 billion for its fiscal year so far.
That's BILLION. With a B. Lost.
Wow. Um.
HO NO!!
Crappy may have to cut Klein’s bonuses.
Home / Cultivation
Germany might pivot to ‘cannabis legalization light’ amid EU pushback
Bonno
Berlin
April 5, 2023
The German government might be having second thoughts about its plans to pursue full-fledged adult-use cannabis legalization in Europe’s largest economy.
According to German news reports, federal officials are considering a “cannabis legalization light” model amid concerns that nationwide legalization could violate European law.
As a result, Germany might roll out a trial model like those adopted by other jurisdictions such as the Swiss city of Zurich, under which recreational cannabis sales would be confined to certain parts of the country for three to five years.
The Düsseldorf-based newspaper Handelsblatt reported that European Union legal hurdles, including resistance from neighboring France, are prompting German officials to rethink their plans.
Handelsblatt and other German news outlets reported the latest events, citing unidentified government sources in lieu of an official announcement.
However, the genesis of the latest development could actually be the center-left Social Democratic Party, a key member of the current coalition government that includes the Free Democratic and Green parties.
Last week, the Social Democratic Party issued a lengthy statement on cannabis reform and signaled that officials are prepared to scale back their ambitions.
The statement acknowledged that comprehensive legalization in Germany “is obviously not feasible in the short term” because of European legalities.
‘Practical’ moves to legalization
The party also said it supports Health Minister Karl Lauterbach’s “practical” steps toward legalization, even if they fall short of comprehensive legalization.
“From our point of view, these can be model projects (also known as “trial” programs), decriminalization and self-cultivation,” according to the SPD document.
The party put forward ideas, such as:
Allowing home cultivation for a limited number of plants.
Limiting personal possession.
Investing profits, if any are allowed to be made, in addiction and prevention initiatives.
The statement acknowledged that limits on THC are understandable but noted that such caps could end up undermining the regulated market by driving consumers to illicit sellers.
In addition, the party said a central component of its revised plan is allowing so-called cannabis social clubs rather than traditional retail stores.
Such “cooperatively organized associations” would give people without their own cultivation opportunity access to legal cannabis, the document notes.
Not surprised
Cannabis industry executives said they’re not surprised by the latest news, which has been the subject of speculation for months.
“We have been expecting this result – a ‘model’ project – for several months and are therefore not surprised,” Constantin von der Groeben, managing director of Berlin-headquartered cannabis company Demecan, told Bonno today.
“Anything else would have been too difficult to align with EU regulation.”
Still, von der Groeben suggested that even a scaled-back initiative would be a major step.
A limited trial program “could be implemented more quickly,” he wrote.
“It might not even have to pass the Bundesrat (the second chamber in parliament). Legalization as early as January 2024, instead of the previously planned Q3 2024, would thus be possible.”
Early in the process
Germany has yet to produce a draft law, so experts say it’s too early to come to conclusions.
In October 2022, the German government published a blueprint for its plan to legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis.
The proposed blueprint suggested:
Keeping cultivation within Germany.
Selling cannabis in approved stores and, possibly, pharmacies.
Allowing the home cultivation of up to three plants.
That blueprint was sent to the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, for approval to ensure compatibility with European Union and global drug laws.
That process is ongoing.
Germany’s changing plans have already caused one large Canadian cannabis producer to scale back its revenue forecast.
Tilray Brands has abandoned its pledge to achieve annual revenue of $4 billion (5.3 billion Canadian dollars) by the end of 2024.
Tilray acknowledged that federal legalization in the United States and Germany has not played out as the company had expected.
Same song and dance.
Bonno
Highlands district
April 4, 2023
Lesotho has been praised for the rapid expansion of their domestic cannabis industry, now valued at more than $ 92 million.
But Lesotho locals, who have grown cannabis informally for centuries say government’s rosy-images cut them out of the picture.
“Licensing is pegged at $27,000. The fees are so unthinkable that we can only watch Westerners and their chosen local elites enter the medical cannabis farming sector,” says Harold Sekopane, an unlicensed Lesotho cannabis grower in the water-rich Lesotho Highlands district.
Lesotho’s dark black soils, its very high elevation as a country and its lavish freshwater reserves makes it the ideal choice for a cannabis farmer looking for geographic conditions that makes farming easier.
However, Samuel Molemo, a tribal chief in the Highlands district, tells Cannabis Culture that: “There’s a lot of untruths in foreign corporations who promise rural villagers shares in their companies for permission to grow cannabis in their districts only to hand the shares to politically connected city-based elites, usually senior government officials.” The Guardian too has reported on a phenomenon where it is alleged that multinationals from Canada, South Africa or the EU have cornered the cannabis scene in Lesotho and crowded out locals who, on paper, were supposed to benefit from cannabis liberalization in Lesotho.
“Sometimes ill-informed Lesotho rural villagers take money to allow foreign cannabis growers to plant on their land only to realize they have signed massively unfair deals when cultivation and exports boom off their lands,” says Sello Mkalane, a Lesotho agriculture extension officer.
There is an ongoing high-profile dispute in Lesotho involving Akanda Corp, a Nasdaq-listed medical cannabis entity, over allegations to do with land grab claims and shortchanging locals in cannabis equity ownership.
“Despite our lands being the theatre of cannabis cultivation, we are so poor that the best we can do is to pitch at the premises of big cannabis cultivators every morning hoping to grab a farm job that pays $200/month,” Zama Mawisa, a Lesotho small-time grower who gave up and has since been looking for a cannabis-leaf grader job because his own attempt to cultivate the crop has gone nowhere.
Cannabis Culture has previously reported that Lesotho’s domestic cannabis scene is Africa’s most thrilling.
It has not only grabbed the mantle of launching Africa’s first cannabis contract- farming model but it has attracted serious players from afar as Canada.
However, as Bonno revealed under the so-called boom has seen a significant number of the harvest of unlicensed farmers being smuggled across the border to South Africa.
Lesotho police say for Lesotho’s unlicensed cannabis growers, smuggling is more lucrative than joining the formal system because a kilogram of cannabis in Lesotho sells for $7 a gram with 25% going to tax.
Over the border in South Africa, when smuggled, it fetches $13 with zero tax paid.
“These are the consequences of prioritizing foreign cannabis corporation and not properly empowering domestic Black cannabis growers in Lesotho with quicker licensing, bank loans, harvest storage, farming subsidies and export value chain training, Nadine Bwalya, a security consultant for the Indoor Cannabis Farmers Alliance of Johannesburg in next-door South Africa where most of Lesotho’s smuggled cannabis lands.
“For those marginalized from the corporate cannabis scene, smuggling is the fallback option.”
Lesotho government says it is on a learning curve and working hard to make sure its fledgling cannabis industry doesn’t become the ‘resource curse.’ The ‘resource curse’ is an acronym for African countries that discover lucrative natural resources only for deadly conflict to develop over scramble for controlling those resources.
“From 2023 – we hope to unveil new model whereby foreign corporate cannabis grower will only start operations here in Lesotho if they share 2% of their local equity to trusts managed by rural dwellers. The proposal will be tabled to parliament soon. It’s not enough to simply say, we’ll employ locals in 80% of cannabis grading or plants-watering jobs,” says Fani Majolo, a state official responsible for investors’ regulatory compliance in Lesotho’s finance ministry.
‘We are saying: bring your cannabis investment money to Lesotho – but it’s not enough to
simply pay minimum corporate tax and do nothing more.” Harold Sekopane, says he feels the
government cannabis investors’ equity reforms are high-sounding but empty. “We have heard it
before.”
“What you will see is that the equity donated by foreign cannabis companies will go to children of state officials. To be honest – the government of Lesotho would slash extortionist cannabis license fees tomorrow if their promises are based on goodwill.”
Please make crappy growth great again…
Pretty please?
Guess where Lps going?
Did you say down?
SPEAK UP BOY!
Canadian cannabis prices (March 2023 vs March 2022)
Pre-rolls (-23%)
Vapes (-17%)
Edibles (-12%)
Flower (-11%)
Oils (-11%)
Beverages (+2.8%)
Concentrates (roughly flat)
cc @FinanceCanada
Source: Alliance Global/Hifyre
You only like losing ??
You have been crushing it for 5 years.
Let’s look at the facts…
LPs have lost the election.
And then what?
selling weed under production cost is bad for business
Home / Cultivation
Germany imports record amount of marijuana, but growth slows
Matt Lamers
April 3, 2023
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Germany cannabis imports
(This story is part of an occasional series on the international medical cannabis industry. The previous installment, on Denmark, is available here.)
Germany imported a record amount of marijuana for medical and scientific use in 2022, according to fresh data from the country’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM).
While the top-line number suggests the import business is booming, a deeper look shows that 2022 posted the slowest annual growth since the BfArM started reporting cannabis import data in 2018.
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Moreover, a good chunk of those imports appears to have never reached patients because of poor quality.
In 2022, nearly 25,000 kilograms (27.6 tons) of cannabis were imported into Germany for medical or scientific purposes, an increase of 19% over the 20,769 kilograms imported in 2021.
In 2021, Germany’s imports rose 77% over one year.
The growth rates for 2020 and 2019 were 46% and 80%, respectively.
Industry sources say the data doesn’t paint a full picture of the cannabis industry in Europe’s largest economy. They point to:
Data on government reimbursements for medical cannabis products, which have not been rising at the same pace as imports.
An unknown amount of those imports that likely were reexported to other European markets.
The amount of cannabis shipped to pharmacies appears to be well below the amount imported into Germany.
“This data does not in any way reflect or mirror sales to patients in Germany,” Deepak Anand, head of international consulting at Denver-based Gateway Proven Strategies, told MJBizDaily.
“All it does is point to the fact that the import of cannabis into Germany for medical and scientific purposes is increasing.”
Anand points out that reimbursements of medical cannabis in Germany have been relatively flat since 2020, according to data from the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds.
(Reimbursement data does not account for people who paid for legal medical cannabis out of their own pockets.)
“For companies interested in targeting the German market, patient and physician education is paramount,” Anand said.
“It is also interesting to point out that product innovation – apart from the focus on high-THC flower – will prove vital.”
As an example, Anand said cannabis extracts were the fastest-growing category in the German market, accounting for about 26% of market share in October 2022, up from 21% the previous year, based on market data provided by pharmaceutical data provider Insight Health.
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Growth trend
Constantin von der Groeben, managing director of Berlin-headquartered cannabis company Demecan, said the import data isn’t surprising because it reflects a probable upward growth trend of the overall German medical cannabis market.
However, he told MJBizDaily via email that, as of September 2022, only 8.4 tons of medical cannabis had been delivered to German pharmacies, a far cry from the 19 tons of cannabis imported during the same time period the previous year.
The government disclosed the 8.4 tons figure in response to a question asked by a member of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.
“To me, it shows that a lot of cannabis that is imported cannot be sold, probably because it is poor quality,” von der Groeben wrote via email.
He said the disparity shows that Germany ought to rely more on domestically produced cannabis.
“It is such a waste to import excess quantities of cannabis, which cannot be sold, rather than relying on quality-controlled cannabis made in Germany,” he added.
Demecan is one of a handful of companies allowed to grow commercial medical cannabis in the country.
According to von der Groeben, some companies focus only on getting their cannabis into Germany and lack an understanding of the country’s domestic market.
Germany currently has a cap on domestic commercial cannabis production, meaning most medical cannabis needs to be imported.
More in this series
Denmark medical cannabis sales mostly on the rise, but pilot program sputters
“One should only import what can be sold,” he wrote, adding that it’s just a matter of time before the government lifts the cultivation limit.
“The moment the restriction on cannabis cultivated in Germany is lifted – i.e., Demecan would be allowed to cultivate more than just 990 kilograms per year – demand for imports will be reduced,” von der Groeben noted via email.
Import market challenges
However, the executive foresees potential challenges to forecasting beyond one year.
For instance, potential recreational marijuana legalization in Germany could lead to patients migrating to the adult-use market, as happened in Canada after that country legalized marijuana in 2018, as well as in U.S. states that approved adult use.
“For now, the (Federal Joint Committee, or Gemeinsame Bundesausschuss) G-BA decided to (keep) the regulation like it is, but we see a strong desire from the regulator to move away from flower toward finished pharmaceuticals,” he said.
Such a trend would be consistent with neighboring Denmark, where pharmaceutical medical cannabis accounts for a much bigger overall share of the market than unapproved medical cannabis products such as dried flower.
Consumer price could also affect the economics of the import market.
“Continuous price decreases, price pressure from health insurances and patients might lead to a strong shift in geographies, from (where) it is (economical) to import cannabis due to cost base,” Hänsel said.
Matt
Home / Cultivation
Opinion: How craft cannabis producers can survive economic headwinds
Bonno
March 30, 2023
The cannabis industry is in distress.
Marijuana companies across North America are laying off employees, retailers are closing their doors and cultivation facilities are turning off the grow lights.
Cannabis producers can take steps to adopt a craft-at-scale model built to handle the downturn.
Improve efficiency and quality
The decrease in cannabis wholesale prices can be mitigated by limiting operational expenses.
Automation is one way to reduce labor costs.
As general labor is reduced through efficiency, highly skilled labor – such as the growers who best understand how to craft superb cannabis – can be added and reductions in overhead maintained.
If automation allows you to operate without four full-time employees earning $50,000 each for a savings of $200,000 per year, then adding one highly skilled full-time employee at $100,000 augments the craft skill set while still reducing operating expenses.
A robotic device that handles basic tasks such as filling pots or transplanting plants is a relatively simple improvement.
At a recent horticulture conference in Amsterdam, robots were on display that picked up clones from a conveyor belt and placed them in rockwool trays.
The same idea could be implemented in cannabis grows.
Ergonomics also come into play.
For cultivation sites with vertical racking, do employees have an integrated walkway for upper-level access, or do they have to use less-efficient tools including ladders or scaffolding?
Regular energy audits – particularly on-site analysis – can ensure that grow spaces are operating as efficiently as possible and provide insight into ways that energy use might be improved.
Upgrading from HID to LED lighting technology and leveraging the associated utility rebates is another option for reducing energy costs.
Invest in improvements
Grow solutions that precisely control and correct the many variables of cultivation represent another worthwhile investment.
Systems that improve airflow and water drainage, for example, reduce microclimates and micro-barriers that inhibit yields.
They also decrease the chance of mold or pests affecting the plants.
Efficiency improvements can be made by budgeting ahead for facility upgrades.
Take time to work out the kinks in a new facility or analyze older facilities for areas of potential improvement.
Many cannabis entrepreneurs want their companies to be the biggest, but the focus should really be on becoming the most efficient.
Companies that held off on efficiency improvements when times were good might find themselves unable to remain profitable when wholesale prices drop.
It is critical to invest in efficiency improvements while the money is there, when the prices are high or when prices are starting to drop.
Grows that could have upgraded their technology when prices hovered around $3,000 per pound lack the capital to invest once flower hits $400 per pound.
One option for businesses facing this type of challenge is to look to lenders for equipment financing.
Other options include streamlining vendors for better terms, purchasing by the truckload and not the pallet and dialing in costs for everyday items such as gloves, gowns and booties, which can be purchased in bulk at a savings.
Mom-and-pop marijuana companies without the ability to purchase at scale should consider cooperative purchasing or buying consumables as part of a group.
Craft cannabis growers can make the necessary changes to improve efficiency and thrive amid industry downturn and the rise of multistate operators.
Is Weed Legal in Thailand?
Bonno
Chiang Mai
28-03-2023
You may have heard rumors of weed being legalized in Thailand but you haven’t even heard the half of it.
We traveled to Thailand and we could not believe the changes we saw. Medical marijuana dispensaries had sprouted up EVERYWHERE.
Local drug laws are famously very strict and penalties even worse. We’d heard stories of Western travelers being caught with even small amounts and facing sentences up to and including the death penalty.
The official sentence for possessing category V drugs is up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 – 1,000,000 Baht for production
But now it seems everyone is either smoking or selling weed.
So what happened? And is it actually legal?
The Facts
In 2018, Thailand became the first Asian nation to legalize medical cannabis
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has insisted that the aim of decriminalization is to promote medical use of marijuana and create economic opportunities for local people. Foreigners who want to visit Thailand just to get high should think again, he has said.
The 10 things tourists need to know are as follows:
Carrying seeds or parts of cannabis plants from and to Thailand for personal purposes is not permitted.
Cannabis cultivation is legal but registering on the Food and Drug Administration’s Plook Ganja application or through a government website is required.
Using cannabis flower buds for research, export and sale and processing them for commercial purposes requires an official permit.
Individuals under 20 years old, pregnant women and breastfeeding women are not eligible to use cannabis except under the supervision of health professionals.
Possession of extracts containing more than 0.2% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and synthetic THC requires permission
Dishes containing cannabis are available in authorized restaurants.
Approved cannabis health products are accessible through specific channels.
Smoking cannabis in public spaces, including schools and shopping malls, is illegal.
Avoid driving after consuming food or health products containing cannabis.
Those who have serious undesirable health outcomes from consuming cannabis should promptly see doctors for treatment.
After reading the article linked above – it seems there is still a grey area as to whether it is legal however we have been travelling in Thailand now for 10 weeks since it has been ‘legalized’ back in June. Dispensaries are common in Bangkok and many other popular tourist areas.
There are now more than 4000 dispensaries in Thailand.
We would say there are probably even more than this and you could add an extra few thousand on top of this. In hostels you can check in, book tours and now buy weed from reception counters.
And in Pai (a hippy mountain town) you can buy some street food and a gram at the same time, from the same stall. We have even heard in Koh Chang a deal for 2 beers and 1 joint for 100 Baht (around $2.50) that can be enjoyed on the beach.
We have even seen hostels that are marketed as dispensaries.
This seems to be attracting many backpackers that have always stereo typically been interested in this particular habit. Backpackers which have always been viewed as choosing a more alternative and hippie lifestyle seemed to have embraced this ‘legalization’ with open hairy arms.
One of the biggest dispensaries is Plantopia located on Bangkok’s legendary Khao San Road. Plantopia’s signage stakes their claim as the biggest dispensary in the world. Inside it houses five different vendors selling hundreds of different strains. There is also a chill out lounge patrolled by red-eyed security personnel.
A big part of the attraction here is the price.
A gram of ‘Thai stick’ sells for as little as $0.10 Mid grades go up to between $1. per gram and top-shelf, depending on where you buy, could set you back around $1.40 at the absolute most.
So, in our experience . Yes – Thailand is pretty open to cannabis.
Still, we suggest you research the laws for yourself and practice good etiquette before you light up.
Home / Canada
Cannabis retailer Fire & Flower ends year with CA$89 million loss
Bonno
March 28, 2023
Toronto-based cannabis retailer Fire & Flower ended its 2022 fiscal year with a loss of 89.5 million Canadian dollars ($66 million), according to financial and operational results released Tuesday.
The company revised its fiscal year end to Dec. 31, so the 2022 fiscal year included only 48 weeks.
Total revenue declined to CA$156 million in the shortened fiscal year. Last year, Fire & Flower’s revenue was CA$175.5 million.
Fire & Flower’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) was a loss of CA$15 million, compared with a gain of CA$5.1 million in the previous fiscal year.
Adjusted EBITDA also strips out things such as finance income, gains and losses related to derivative liability revaluations as well as debt extinguishments.
The company launched its so-called Get-to-Green initiative earlier in 2022, with goals of:
Increasing sales and gross profit.
Reducing selling, general and administrative expenses.
Generating positive adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.
To that end, the company said it expects to generate annualized selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) and lease savings of approximately CA$6 million this year by cutting overhead and administrative costs, among other things.
“2022 was a turnaround year for Fire & Flower, represented by three consecutive quarters of same store sales and gross margin growth,” CEO Stéphane Trudel said in a statement.
“We look to 2023 as a transformative year where we anticipate achieving positive Adjusted EBITDA during the first half of the fiscal year through a disciplined approach to our core retail business, driving top line revenue, gross profit dollars and reducing our overhead expenses.”
The CEO said Fire & Flower is actively pursuing opportunities for acquisitions “that are fully accretive to our business with the long-term goal of achieving 10% market share.”
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By segment, Fire & Flower revenue for the 48-week fiscal year was:
CA$9.6 million in digital sales.
CA$115.8 million in retail sales.
CA$30.7 million from wholesale operations.
Fire & Flower had 92 stores in operation at the end of Dec. 31, a decrease from 102 stores at the end of the previous year.
Home / Retail
Major Canadian pharmacy Shoppers Drug Mart exits medical cannabis
Bonno
29-03-2023
Major Canadian pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart is offloading its 4-year-old medical cannabis distribution business to another company, marking its exit from the marijuana industry.
Shoppers, a division of Canada’s biggest grocer Loblaw Cos., said Tuesday it was “transitioning” its Medical Cannabis by Shoppers business to biopharmaceutical operator Avicanna.
Financial terms of that deal were not disclosed.
Shoppers launched the MMJ distribution business in January 2019.
“As we move away from medical cannabis distribution, we remain firm in our belief that this medication should be dispensed in pharmacies like all others and will continue our advocacy to that end,” Shoppers President Jeff Leger said in a news release.
The release did not explicitly state why Shoppers decided to pull the plug on its medical cannabis operations.
Bonno asked Loblaw to comment on the reasons behind the move.
“Medical cannabis is the only medication that is not dispensed in pharmacy,” Loblaw’s public relations team wrote in response.
“As a pharmacy retail chain, we remain committed to supporting our patients and focusing on our core business, where we can make the biggest impact.”
Although Shoppers boasts nearly 1,350 locations across Canada, it was never allowed to dispense medical marijuana from those brick-and-mortar stores.
Canada’s federally regulated medical cannabis program revolves around mail-order sales to registered patients, with Shoppers offering an online platform to its MMJ clients to facilitate that process.
Shoppers did not cultivate cannabis, instead signing supply deals with growers.
Parent company Loblaw did not specify the value of Shoppers’ medical marijuana business in recent financial filings.
Shoppers’ exit from the cannabis sector came as no surprise to Mitchell Osak, president of Toronto-based Quanta Consulting, who consults for the cannabis industry.
Osak believes Shoppers’ medical cannabis business was “floundering,” considering the overall decline of Canada’s regulated MMJ market in terms of both revenue and patients.
“When (Shoppers) got into the medical cannabis industry in 2019, I believe there was a hope that they would be able to influence the government, or the government would change the regulations, which would allow medical cannabis to be prescribed in their pharmacies, by pharmacists,” he told MJBizDaily.
“That never happened.”
Osak added that Shoppers’ move out of cannabis “is a blow to the credibility of the industry,” noting that the company was involved in medical cannabis research.
“They were important players in medical cannabis, and their exit obviously doesn’t help the entire industry.”
Medical cannabis spending in Canada has declined as the legal adult-use market has grown.
Health Canada reported 247,548 medical cannabis registrations as of March 2022, down from a peak of 377,024 in September 2020. (Patients can be registered with more than one MMJ provider.)
Meanwhile, some licensed producers have refocused on medical cannabis as a higher-margin category than adult-use marijuana, looking in particular to patients whose MMJ spending is covered by employee health benefits plans.
Loblaw isn’t the only North American company to turn away from cannabis this year, illustrating the challenges of operating in the sector.
Technology company Forian recently left the cannabis space, selling off its BioTrack seed-to-sale tracking software.
Another tech company, Akerna, also sold its cannabis software assets earlier this year.
Licenced Producers sell under cost to have cash…
HEALTH CANADA WANTS FEEDBACK ON CANNABIS ACT AMENDMENTS
Bonno
MARCH 28, 2023
Health Canada wants feedback on possible Cannabis Act amendments. This proposal is separate from the federal government’s legislative review of the Cannabis Act.
The Cannabis Act, of course, legalizes and regulates cannabis in Canada.
Health Canada put out a notice of intent for consultation. The purpose is to “inform Canadians and interested parties that Health Canada is seeking feedback on potential amendments to the Cannabis Regulations (CR) for regulatory burden reduction while still addressing public health and public safety risks.”
What a rollercoaster of emotions. Hearing Health Canada talks about “regulatory burden reduction” but then followed by the obligatory “public health” and “public safety risks.”
One struggles to find any “public safety risks” that exist for cannabis but not for alcohol. Ergo, the cannabis regime in Canada should be as open and accessible as alcohol, at the very least.
And since booze is regulated provincially, there’s a number one issue for Cannabis Act amendments. I’m sure industry stakeholders are already providing feedback regarding excise taxes.
Health Canada wants feedback on some Cannabis Act amendments? Well, let’s give it to them.
HEALTH CANADA WANTS FEEDBACK ON CANNABIS ACT AMENDMENTS
What is Health Canada looking to amend in the Cannabis Act? According to their proposal,
(1) streamline and clarify existing requirements; (2) eliminate inefficiencies in the regulations, such as duplications between requirements; and (3) reduce administrative and regulatory burdens where possible, while continuing to meet the public health and public safety objectives in the Act.
They then break these regulatory amendments into five areas:
Licensing;
Personnel and physical security measures;
Production requirements for cannabis products;
Packaging and labelling requirements for cannabis products; and
Record keeping and reporting for cannabis licence holders.
Because this is an internal amendment and not a legislative review, the focus and scope of Health Canada must continue to meet the “public health and public safety objectives” of the Act.
So this is less about undoing the damage of Canada’s cannabis regulations and more about incorporating new data into their “public health” models.
As the notice of intent says,
[T]he legal cannabis industry has matured, the marketplace has evolved, and there is increased knowledge and data on public health and public safety risks associated with certain activities. Based on the implementation experience gained since the coming into force of the Act, and in keeping with the original policy principles, Health Canada recognizes there may be regulatory measures that could be made more efficient and streamlined without compromising the public health and public safety objectives in the Act.
DOES HEALTH CANADA REALLY WANT MY OPINION?
Although Health Canada says “all input is welcome,” they’re mainly interested in feedback on regulatory measures that are “duplicative, redundant, or particularly onerous, and where there are opportunities to promote efficiencies.”
Of course, it’s worth mentioning that duplicative, redundant inefficiencies are hallmarks of government bureaucracy. In the private sector, prices are the signals entrepreneurs use to allocate efficiency.
Without prices, without the ability to withdraw payment, without a competitive agency to take away jobs, resources, and customers – Health Canada, like all government bureaus, has redundancy built into them.
As Ludwig von Mises said, “Bureaucratic management is management of affairs which cannot be checked by economic calculation.”
Appraising effort in terms of money may seem “barbaric” or “reactionary” to those who’d instead read Karl Marx than Thomas Sowell. But for the rest of us living in reality, resources are scarce and require allocation.
Do we allocate according to the spontaneous order of the market, where one can grow rich by providing goods and services people want? Where the mass of consumers are ultimately in charge?
Or do we allocate resources according to the dictates of a bureaucracy, where the buck stops at the prime minister’s office? (At least officially).
HEALTH CANADA ON CANNABIS AMENDMENTS: LICENSING
Health Canada Cannabis Amendments
Health Canada asks, “Are there any activities with cannabis that are not currently authorized under existing licences that could be authorized?” Going on to ask whether changes would lead to greater efficiencies.
They ask what measures they could take to increase flexibility for licensed producers and reduce the burden on the Quality Assurance Person.
And they ask if there are any activities that organizations can do without a license or permit—of course, keeping in mind the “public health” spirit of the Act.
But how does one define public health? According to the Cannabis Act, it includes: protecting young people by restricting their access to cannabis and from “inducements” to use cannabis. Public health also means reducing illicit cannabis production and providing a quality-controlled supply of cannabis.
In that sense, Health Canada would be wise to streamline and reduce the regulatory burden on the cannabis industry by getting out of the business altogether.
Licensing and quality assurance are services better provided by people whose reputation is on the line. If a private assurance company licenses and approves mouldy weed, how long will it stay in business?
Meanwhile, if Health Canada messes up, they get more funding. Any problem with government bureaucracy always comes back to a “not enough funding” argument despite all the evidence to the contrary.
HEALTH CANADA ON CANNABIS AMENDMENTS: SECURITY
Health Canada Cannabis Amendments
Like the above example, Health Canada’s cannabis amendments are issues that, in the private sector, would have long ago been dealt with.
Imagine if every industry in the country was like this. No wonder the Soviet Union ceased to exist. No wonder China opened their markets to the West.
Bureaucratic management is inefficient at its core. No amount of reform or amendments will change that.
So Health Canada asks: “Are there personnel security requirements that could be changed without increasing the risk of diversion or inversion of cannabis? What specific requirements, and for what classes and subclasses of licences? Why or why not?”
Asking us, the industry stakeholders, a question resembling a college exam.
What are the security requirements for a brewery? I worked at one once. It doubled as a restaurant. Take a wrong turn to the bathroom, and you end up in the brewhouse with a giant fermentation tank staring you down.
How does that square with mitigating “public safety risks.”
Of course, Health Canada (and many other bureaus) will apply the student-teacher relationship to real life. I’m sure many of them have never held a real job. They went from school right into working for the government.
So they see nothing wrong or insulting about how they’re going about this potential Cannabis Act amendment process.
It’s business as usual for people who’ve never worked in the private sector.
HEALTH CANADA ON CANNABIS AMENDMENTS: PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Health Canada Cannabis Amendments
THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Hans Pennink
Health Canada’s potential cannabis amendments ask whether they could borrow from food, vaping or cosmetic regulations and apply them to cannabis.
“Why or why not?”
Of course, the big question is about THC limits.
Should the limits on the maximum quantity of delta-9-THC that can be contained in a cannabis product (by container and ingestible unit) apply to the sum total of all intoxicating cannabinoids found in the product? Why or why not? How could such a requirement be established in an efficient manner that is simple to comply with?
This question has assumptions built into it. Health Canada is looking for something other than reasonable answers. So allow me to answer a question with a question.
How do limits on THC protect the youth and eliminate the illicit market? Youth can’t buy legal weed, so what’s the purpose of capping legal weed? Underage consumers will go to the black market, which is robust because of the THC limits in the legal industry.
What are the “intoxicating cannabinoids” in cannabis products? True, THC can make you feel impaired or “intoxicated,” but it is not a toxin like alcohol. Labelling cannabinoids as toxic is scientifically inaccurate.
THC limits don’t increase “public health” or mitigate “public risks.” Health Canada’s inability to comprehend unintended consequences further validates Mises’ theory.
“If one rejects laissez faire on account of man’s fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action.”
HEALTH CANADA ON CANNABIS AMENDMENTS: PACKAGING AND LABELLING
Again, this is an internal amendment process. Not the legislative review. So even if everyone at Health Canada wanted to scrap the plain-packaging requirements, they must wait for their superiors (the politicians) to give the thumbs up.
So, Health Canada asks: “Are there labelling requirements that could be changed without public health or public safety impacts? What required information should remain, and what information could be removed? Why or why not?”
HEALTH CANADA ON CANNABIS AMENDMENTS: RECORD KEEPING
Commercial cannabis in Canada is like trying to run a nuclear power plant. Reporting and record keeping are onerous and cumbersome. Health Canada hears you, though. They want to know the following:
“Are there record-keeping or reporting requirements for micro-class licence holders that could be reduced without affecting public health and public safety? If so, which requirements and why?”
HEALTH CANADA: DO YOUR JOB
Health Canada Cannabis Amendments
Health Canada’s consultation on possible cannabis amendments is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s nice to be included in the process. Asking stakeholders for input is better than assuming their concerns and then amending the Act for worse.
But if Health Canada is this inept, why do we have them at all? As mentioned above, private-sector quality, assurance, and security are already a reality. The idea is to expand these fields across the board.
Instead, Health Canada wants us to do their job for them. They’re asking us to write the amendments. Their job will be to go through our submissions and copy and paste the good while ignoring the bad.
“Good” is anything that promotes the “public health” narrative and protects the financial interests of the big guys. The bad is anything that disregards “public health” for the propaganda term it is and supports more market-orientated solutions.
Or, as Health Canada puts it, they will perform a “cost-benefit analysis of the regulatory proposal.”
But there is no “cost-benefit analysis” when there is no cost. Health Canada’s bureaucrats cannot calculate efficiencies like entrepreneurs in the market.
The sooner Canadians realize this, the sooner we can get a healthcare system (and cannabis regulations) that actually serve the people.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The consultation period is open until May 24, 2023. Health Canada requests you submit your input by email to cannabis.consultation@canada.ca with the following title in the subject line: “Notice of Intent — Consultation on Potential Amendments to the Cannabis Regulations”.
Canada adult-use marijuana sales down 7.1% monthly to CA$395.5M in January
Bonno
March 24, 2023
Monthly retail sales of legal adult-use marijuana in Canada declined by 7.1% from December 2022 to January 2023, to 395.5 million Canadian dollars ($287 million).
Canadian cannabis sales grew 14.1% on an annual basis from January 2022, according to retail sales data released Friday by Statistics Canada.
Month-over-month recreational cannabis sales declined in every province except Saskatchewan, where sales grew 12.6% over December’s total to CA$19.1 million.
Sales in Ontario – Canada’s most valuable market – declined by 9.5% from December to CA$155 million.
In the remaining provinces, monthly marijuana sales and month-over-month changes were as follows:
Alberta: CA$69.5 million (-5.8%)
British Columbia: CA$60.6 million (-3.9%)
Quebec: CA$49.5 million (-9.3%)
Manitoba: CA$16.8 million (-8%)
Nova Scotia: CA$9 million (-9.2%)
New Brunswick: CA$6.5 million (-14.8%)
Newfoundland: CA$6 million (-6.1%)
Prince Edward Island: CA$1.7 million (-11.6%)
Sales in Yukon territory declined 12.7% to CA$843,000.
Statistics Canada did not report cannabis sales for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
The sales total for December was unrevised at CA$425.9 million, a monthly record.
Canadians spent CA$4.5 billion on legal recreational cannabis in 2022, according to Statistics Canada data.
Legacy is killing it but…
Who supplying Europe?
That is right…
Legacy has traction!
Why not purchase Canadian stock market bunk weed?
Legacy can provide AAAA for cheap.
Des Français reçoivent des kilos de cannabis du Canada
Bono
24-03-2023
Montreal
Des colis surpris provenant du Canada et contenant des quantités importantes de cannabis ont été envoyés aléatoirement à des Français sans histoires au début du mois de mars.
Deux habitants de la région de Toulouse en France ont récemment eu la surprise de recevoir un colis d’un expéditeur inconnu au Canada.
Si l’un a sitôt refusé le colis, l’autre a eu la grande surprise d’y découvrir plusieurs kilogrammes de cannabis, selon ce qu’a rapporté le média français «Actu.fr».
Au total, les deux colis contenaient respectivement 6,5 kg et 4,5 kg, pour un total de 11 kg. Leur valeur marchande, dans la rue, a été évaluée à 100 000 euros - soit près de 150 000 dollars CAD - au minimum.
Si le produit est légal au Canada, dans un cadre strict et dans des quantités limitées, il n’en est pas de même en France, où le cannabis est considéré comme un stupéfiant.
Selon le média français, il pourrait s’agir d’une stratégie pour tester les douaniers, et voir combien de colis peuvent se rendre à bon port.
D’ailleurs, entre 2020 et 2022, trois colis destinés à un même homme de 35 ans dans le sud-ouest de la France auraient été interceptés par les douaniers.
Ces derniers provenaient des États-Unis et contenaient 5 kg d’herbe de cannabis.
Meet the people in Chiang Mai riding high and building businesses on the legalization of cannabis.
Bonno
Chiang Mai
Mar 22, 2023
Thailand decriminalized the use of marijuana in June.
Recreational dispensaries launched across the country as chefs infused the plant in food.
Insider spoke to three people on the forefront of marijuana tourism in northern Thailand.
In June, Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to decriminalize the use of marijuana. It comes after decades of being classified as a Category 5 drug.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana, has had a long history in Thailand.
Traditionally, the plant was used by locals in their food and medicine.
But in 1935, using marijuana — whether as a drug or otherwise — was criminalized.
And until last year, anyone using or possessing marijuana could face five years in prison, and a fine of up to 100,000 Thai baht, or $2,900.
In the late 2010s, the Thai government appeared to soften their stance towards marijuana.
It was approved for medicinal use in 2019. Just two years later, those with a license could use and grow the plant.
The marijuana industry in Thailand is a fast growing market and a cash crop that's expected to be worth $661 million by 2024, per a report by market research firm Prohibition Partners.
In June, to rile up interest in marijuana, the Thai government gave away a million cannabis plants to locals.
Businesses, too, began riding on this newfound opportunity — and that included the famed five-star luxury hotel chain Anantara in Chiang Mai, which then built a clientele with the country's first-ever marijuana-infused spa packages.
And these were just a few of the ways Thailand began building a tourism landscape around marijuana. Chiang Mai, the largest city in the north, is one of the places where these changes are most visible.
Just a few weeks after its legalization, Insider traveled to the city and spoke to three owners of dispensaries and restaurants to see what it's like to be on the forefront of marijuana tourism in Thailand.
Shawn Healy and Amanda Gedney are Americans who run Green Dog, a marijuana dispensary, in Chiang Mai.
Healy and Gedney first moved to Thailand in 2016. Before traveling to Thailand, the couple were university students and had part-time jobs.
Healy worked at an animal hospital, while Gedney had a job in the fashion industry.
A New York native, Gedney said she started taking cannabidiol, or CBD, to help with her stomach pains.
"I used to take a lot of medications in the US. But since coming to Thailand, I haven't taken any medication," Gedney said, adding that she became a firm believer in the health benefits of CBD.
Healy, who's from Malboro, New Jersey, used marijuana when he lived in the US, but never sold it or worked in a dispensary.
In 2021, Healy, 29, and Gedney, 28, launched Green Dog with several Thai partners. The dispensary, which is located in an art space in Chiang Mai, is housed in a bright green hut.
The shop sells weed, bongs, and, at one point in time, food made with hemp leaves.
When Insider visited Green Dog in July, several foreigners, mostly from countries where marijuana is criminalized, spent time curiously taking photos and perusing the paraphernalia on display. A few regulars, mostly expats, also dropped by to order their weekly dose of weed.
Healy and Gedney source most of the shop's marijuana from local farms.
Green Dog was one of the first shops in Chiang Mai to introduce a menu with marijuana, which, at the time, was still loosely regulated in Thailand.
Today, restaurants need to be licensed to serve marijuana infused into food.
Some of the notable dishes the shop once sold include fried marijuana leaves, gelato with cannabis seeds, and rice bowls with fan leaves.
"A few things have changed and we are no longer allowed to sell prepared food and cannabis in the same building,"
But the shop still sells marijuana-infused beverages, which continue to remain popular among the shop's customers.
Dried hemp leaf tea, which is tea infused with dried leaves from the male cannabis plant, is the shop's best seller as it helps soothe their customers, Gedney said.
"We want people to be able to spend the whole day not worrying, and to just relax," she added.
Home / Cultivation
Curaleaf closing cannabis grow facility in New Jersey, laying off workers
Bonno
March 23, 2023
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Don’t believe the hype.
Massachusetts-based multistate operator Curaleaf Holdings is shuttering its cannabis cultivation facility in Bellmawr, New Jersey, and could lay off up to 40 workers.
All of Curaleaf’s marijuana cultivation operations will be consolidated at the company’s Winslow facility, according to a statement supplied to NJ.com.
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“Curaleaf is phasing out cultivation at our Bellmawr, New Jersey location to meet current business needs, and will utilize that location for other operations at this time,” the statement noted.
“This allows us to consolidate our production of key platforms with our Winslow facility and will streamline processes to increase output.
“Winslow has the capacity to support New Jersey’s overall market demand.”
The marijuana industry has been streamlining operations and laying off hundreds of workers in the past year in response to challenging capital markets, compressed wholesale prices and slowing sales growth in a over- saturated markets.
Curaleaf cut 220 employees in Massachusetts in November and 50 in California after shuttering its Sacramento cultivation facility in August.
The company did not confirm how many jobs would be affected by the Bellmawr facility closure.
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According to NJ.com, workers at the Bellmawr facility were trying to unionize with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360.
The union filed a complaint alleging Curaleaf management had interfered with the effort three weeks ago.
A Curaleaf spokesperson said the closure wasn’t related to the union drive.
New Jersey regulators recently lifted a cap on cultivation licenses in the state, but aspiring growers are facing headwinds such as the high cost of real estate and capital.
Switzerland nears launch of recreational cannabis trial.
Bonno
Zurich
22-03-2023
Switzerland’s government is one step closer to its yearslong effort to launch a trial program involving the sale and consumption of recreational cannabis.
Called “Züri Can – Cannabis with Responsibility,” the study will involve only Zurich and is intended to provide a scientific basis for the development of the country’s cannabis policies.
UN Warns Adult-Use Cannabis in US States Violates International Treaty
The United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board’s annual report states that the failure of the US federal government to take action against states that have legalized adult-use cannabis is a violation of international drug treaties.
Bonno
20-03-2023
Berlin
The United Nations agency tasked with monitoring drug enforcement said in a recent report that non-medical (adult-use) cannabis legalization in some US states is a violation of international drug treaties established more than 60 years ago. In its 2022 annual report, the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) wrote that America’s federal government isn’t complying with the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs by passively allowing states to legalize adult-use marijuana within their borders.
The INCB has regularly criticized countries that have allowed territories within their borders to legalize cannabis because of the obligations of member states under the 1961 Single Convention.
But in its 2022 annual report released earlier this month, the independent and quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations’ international drug control conventions appeared to take aim at cannabis policy reforms at the state level in the US.
“In States with a federal structure, a special issue may arise with respect to whether the Federal Government may be held accountable if a federated entity implements legalization, which violates the conventions, while the Federal Government does not have the power to compel the federated entity to fulfill the treaty obligations,” the INCB wrote.
The INCB added that member states are required under the 1961 treaty to “give effect to and carry out the provisions of this Convention within their own territories,” even in nations with a federal system of government such as the United States. The convention states that “unless a different intention appears from the treaty or is otherwise established, a treaty is binding upon each party in respect of its entire territory.”
“The internal distribution of powers between the different levels of a State cannot be invoked as a justification for the failure to perform a treaty,” the INCB maintains.
INCB Offers Reasons to Maintain Prohibition
The agency offered several reasons for continuing the prohibition of cannabis under the 1961 convention, including the treaty’s view that cannabis is a highly addictive drug that is subject to abuse. The report also notes that legalizing the use of adult-use cannabis lessens the perception of risk and leads to higher rates of consumption.
“The most concerning effect of cannabis legalization is the likelihood of increased use, particularly among young people, according to estimated data,” the UN wrote in a statement about the INCB report. “In the United States, it has been shown that adolescents and young adults consume significantly more cannabis in federal states where cannabis has been legalized compared to other states where recreational use remains illegal. There is also evidence that general availability of legalized cannabis products lowers the perception of risk and of the negative consequences involved in using them.”
The report adds that policy reforms have failed to meet the objectives of states that have legalized adult-use cannabis, including the desire to reduce criminal activity and protect public safety. The agency noted the persistence of illicit markets in jurisdictions that have legalized adult-use cannabis, including Canada, Uruguay and parts of the US.
“Evidence suggests that cannabis legalization has not been successful in dissuading young people from using cannabis, and illicit markets persist,” said INCB president Jagjit Pavadia.
Jason Adelstone, an associate attorney at the cannabis law firm Vicente LLP, wrote in an article about the INCB report that the evidence cited by the agency doesn’t support its conclusions on the success of cannabis legalization, including data that show a significant reduction in the illicit market in jurisdictions that have ended the prohibition of adult-use marijuana. He also notes that the report is calling on member nations with jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis to prioritize INCB policy over their own laws.
“Basically, INCB is saying that no matter what the federal government’s constitutional limitations are, signatories with strong federalist systems, such as the US, must violate their constitution in favor of drug treaty requirements to ensure local jurisdiction comply with the drug treaties,” Adelstone wrote in an email to Bonno.
Adelstone says the agency’s narrow interpretation of the 1961 convention requires member states that don’t have the authority to force their territories to comply with the requirements of the treaty to nonetheless take such action.
“This position is unworkable, incompatible with law and practicality and dangerous,” Adelstone continued. “If a signatory’s constitution prohibits the federal government from enforcing requirements on local jurisdictions, or its citizens, then the federal government will not, and should not, enforce such requirements. Pushing any other narrative is dangerous, risking the stability of constitutional governments.”
Despite the International Narcotics Control Board’s continued criticism of member states that have allowed adult-use cannabis legalization measures to take effect, the agency hasn’t assessed any penalties against nations that have allowed policies contrary to the 1961 convention.
CANNABIS
The growing Chinese investment in illegal American weed
Multiple states in the West are seeing an increase in Chinese workers and funding at unlicensed cultivation operations.
A cannabis plant that is close to harvest grows.
Chinese investors, owners and workers have emerged in recent years as a new source of funding and labor for illegal marijuana production. | Steve Helber/AP Photo
Bonno
Beijing
03/21/2023
A few days before Christmas, a joint law enforcement task force found nearly 9,000 pounds of cannabis worth almost $15 million during a raid in a suburban neighborhood in Antioch, Calif.
The California Department of Cannabis Control believes that the four houses searched in the bedroom community 45 minutes outside San Francisco were linked to China.
Mexican cartels have a long history of importing, growing and redistributing illicit cannabis in the United States. But Chinese investors, owners and workers have emerged in recent years as a new source of funding and labor for illegal marijuana production.
What is known — from interviews with state law enforcement officials, experts on the international drug trade, economists and lawmakers — is that the number of farms funded by sources traceable back to Chinese investors or owners has skyrocketed. Chinese owners and workers have become a larger presence at illegal grows in Oklahoma, California and Oregon, they say.
In Oklahoma, close to 3,000 of the state’s nearly 7,000 licensed marijuana farms have been flagged for suspicious activity by law enforcement over the last year. Those operations are now being investigated for obtaining their licenses fraudulently and/or for selling into the illicit market, according to Mark Woodward, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics.
Journalists gather near an electric fence looking into the P4 Lab in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The agency believes that 2,000 of those farms have a Chinese connection — supplying workers, funding or both. Of the more than 800 farms the OBN has shut down in the last two years for operating illegally, Woodward said roughly 75 percent are linked to China.
“I would comfortably say over 600 of those we’ve linked to Chinese investors and Chinese organized crime; some sort of a nexus to back to China,” he said.
Law enforcement in southern Oregon in 2021 reported as many as 20 different nationalities linked to illegal grows. But the increasing amount of Chinese funding — and what lawmakers and some experts say is the potential influence of the Chinese Communist Party — has caught the attention of legislators and law enforcement alike.
“We’ve seen in recent weeks that the CCP’s malign influence knows no bounds and, unfortunately, the cannabis industry is not immune to these tactics,” Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and former prosecutor said in a statement to POLITICO, referencing a Chinese surveillance balloon spotted in early February over Montana.
“Do we want to cultivate an environment in which [marijuana growing] happens with safeguards and oversight or continue to turn a blind eye and allow illicit operations like these to flourish?” he added.
Much is still unknown about Chinese-funded cannabis cultivation — including whether the money is coming from groups with connections to the Communist Party, and how much of the cannabis produced through Chinese-funded grows stays within the U.S. or leaves the country. It’s also not clear how deeply involved Chinese organized crime syndicates are in American cannabis cultivation.
The Chinese government has a complicated relationship with organized crime, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors.
Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s strict stance on drugs, the triads — which run global crime networks distributing chemicals needed to manufacture methamphetamine and fentanyl, among other potentially dangerous substances — often curry favor with the CCP by functioning as extralegal enforcers for the government, Felbab-Brown said. The CCP in turn often allows them to continue their operations, though it does not control them.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., told POLITICO that the Chinese government “takes a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude to drugs,” and “has been rigorously combating drug production, trafficking and other kinds of drug crimes.” The Chinese government asks its citizens to “refrain from engaging in any illegal or criminal activities while they are abroad” Liu added.
Felbab-Brown cautioned that there is a lot that experts still do not know about Chinese triad involvement in cannabis production.
“There is a wide range of actors in China who are involved in drug trafficking,” she said, explaining that the same could be true for drug operations in the U.S., encompassing massive organized crime operations and mom and pop enterprises alike. “It’s really important to be very careful about what actually lies behind [these grows],” she added.
trump-wrestling-61756.jpg
What’s clear about illicit cannabis production in the U.S. is that it’s booming.
Roughly 75 percent of the $100 billion cannabis market in the U.S. remains illegal, and roughly two thirds of that illicit weed is grown domestically, according to data from Whitney Economics, which analyzes the cannabis industry.
The U.S. Border Patrol has seen a sharp decline in the amount of marijuana crossing the nation’s borders: The agency seized 582,000 pounds of marijuana in 2020, but just 155,000 pounds in 2022.
Some Chinese workers find work at illegal grows in Oklahoma, California and elsewhere through Mandarin-language ads.
A 2022 NBC investigation spoke to laborers from China working at unlicensed cannabis grows in California who found their jobs through Mandarin-language websites in New York. A 2020 Searchlight New Mexico investigation found Chinese workers traveling to illegal grows in New Mexico from Los Angeles after seeing Mandarin-language ads run on WeChat, a social media app. Woodward said that similar ads have also been used to attract workers to Oklahoma.
In California, the Department of Cannabis Control says Chinese triads have been nominally involved in illegal cannabis production for decades, but that there’s been a recent increase in the number of actors and money that may have originated in China. The DCC also said that some — but not all — of the Chinese-funded grows they’ve encountered are operated by Chinese triads.
“This notion that you now have Chinese actual funding for illicit cannabis, it’s definitely new, and it cuts directly across the interests of Mexican drug trafficking groups,” said Felbab-Brown. “It’s interesting to see whether it continues growing, [and] how that’s going to affect relations between the Mexicans and the Chinese [criminal groups].”
Congress wants to put more scrutiny on Chinese ownership of farms, something that multiple senators of both parties suggested could help thwart the illicit cannabis problem.
At the beginning of February, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced the PASS Act, a bill that would limit the ability of investors or owners from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to acquire American agricultural land and agribusinesses. The bill has a total of nine cosponsors, of which Tester is the lone Democrat. The Chinese embassy in Washington told POLITICO they do not support the legislation and oppose any “abuse of state power to obstruct normal economic and trade relations with China.”
Tester said that his legislation would address many of the issues with Chinese investment in illicit cannabis farming, but also added that the method of sorting between Chinese investment and investment from Chinese Americans was something that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States — part of the Treasury Department — would need to determine.
“Look, it’s not going to be easy to enforce,” he said in an interview. “But it can be enforced.”
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) walks to a vote.
Sen. Jon Tester said that his legislation would address many of the issues with Chinese investment in illicit cannabis farming. | Francis Chung/POLITICO
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and is a cosponsor of the PASS Act, suggested requiring Chinese investors or owners interested in purchasing agricultural land or other agribusiness property to prove they are not linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
“It’s probably harder to prove that they’re not connected than to prove that they are, because of Chinese law itself,” Cramer said. The North Dakota senator says that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States already has the authority to hold a shipping container that comes to the U.S. from certain parts of China under the presumption that it may be associated with Uyghur forced labor. Similar determinations could be made by the agency in the case of agribusiness.
Cramer is not the only Republican senator drawing a connection between all Chinese business and the CCP.
“You don’t have Chinese business activity without the Chinese Communist Party either knowing about it, being involved in it, or looking the other way and ignoring it,” Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma also said.
Felbab-Brown says there no solutions right now to this problem because there are too many question marks lingering over Chinese funding and workers in the illicit cannabis industry. Answering questions about exactly what groups are funding illicit cannabis grows and where the cannabis is going is the key next step to knowing what the growing presence of Chinese investment in illicit cannabis cultivation means and how best to deal with it.
The function of illegal cannabis grows may pose a challenge for the PASS Act approach, since many are not on agricultural land. Sometimes, like in Antioch, they are in suburban homes or other buildings not intended for agribusiness. They are often also purchased or rented by a third party, keeping the true funding source far from the lease.
In Oklahoma, Woodward said many of the cultivation licenses deemed fraudulent by the OBN were fronted by locals posing as the primary license holder.
“These organizations — I can’t overstate how much effort they take to layer or protect their identity,” said Bill Jones, DCC’s chief of law enforcement, explaining that they do so through LCCs and straw ownership. “You don’t have heads of the Chinese or Mexican cartels buying these properties.”
Legal cannabis is doomed.
Legacy wins the cake.
Get that powder ready…
Canada is the first large country to legalize cannabis, but the global economic opportunity is slipping through their fingers.
Trudeau blew it big time by putting Chief of Police Bill Blair in charge.
Denmark is seizing the opportunity without even legalizing recreational cannabis, and with a medical market that's 10 times smaller than Canada's. #cdnpoli
Good luck with that
CannabisHealth
Top conditions that can be treated with medical cannabis in Thailand
Dr. Bonno
20-03-2023
Chiang Mai
With the recent legalisation of cannabis in Thailand, more and more people are becoming aware of the medical benefits of cannabis.
Medical marijuana, or medical cannabis, derived from the Cannabis sativa plant, has been found to provide relief from symptoms associated with a variety of medical conditions.
The plant contains several active compounds, including THC and CBD, both of which have been extensively studied for their potential health benefits.
Let’s explore some of the medical conditions that medical cannabis can effectively treat.
1. Cancer-Related symptoms
Cancer treatment can cause a range of symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite.
Medical cannabis can help alleviate these symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life.
Research has demonstrated that CBD, a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis, can reduce nausea and vomiting.
However, it is important to note that you should never use cannabis as a substitute for proven cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
Delaying conventional treatment in favour of using cannabis could have serious consequences and potentially worsen the patient’s condition.
2. Chronic Pain
According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, chronic pain affects more than 100 million Americans.
Luckily, medical cannabis can help alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain.
Studies have shown that THC can reduce pain and inflammation. THC is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis.
3. Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety and depression are prevalent mental health conditions that can take a toll on one’s quality of life.
Medical cannabis can help alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and depression by boosting serotonin levels in the brain.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, appetite, and sleep.
4. Multiple Sclerosis
Researchers have found that medical cannabis holds promise as a treatment option for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS).
This is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the nervous system. A 2017 survey found that up to 66% of them may be using medical marijuana, and many have reported reducing their use of traditional MS medications as a result.
Moreover, studies have shown that cannabis has a substantial ability to reduce MS-related muscle spasms, which can significantly improve the quality of life for those with this condition.
5. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Medical marijuana has shown promise in helping to relieve some of the symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), though it hasn’t been proven to be a cure.
People with IBS often experience cramps, bloating, and other forms of discomfort.
Medical marijuana may help to reduce the pain and pressure that these symptoms cause.
Additionally, medical marijuana may also be helpful for those with depression and anxiety, which are often co-occurring conditions with IBS.
While further research is necessary, medical marijuana may offer a potential alternative for those with IBS who haven’t found relief with traditional treatments.
Medical cannabis has numerous medical benefits and is an effective alternative to traditional medicine.
If you’re considering using medical cannabis, make sure to consult with a licensed healthcare provider.
With Thailand legalising cannabis for medical use, the country is taking a progressive step towards modern healthcare.
Did you know that cannabis also has some potential benefits for fitness? Yep.
Check out our article on the surprising benefits of cannabis for athletes in Thailand.
Home / Canada
Cannabis producer Hexo trims loss, but sales plummet
Bonno
March 17, 2023
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Cannabis producer Hexo reported a lower loss for the quarter ended Jan. 31, 2023, but the Gatineau, Quebec-based company’s sales took a nosedive, according to its quarterly report.
Hexo on Thursday reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of negative 2.4 million Canadian dollars ($1.6 million) for its second quarter, an improvement over adjusted EBITDA of negative CA$5.6 million in the second quarter in the previous year.
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Net revenue for the three-month period was CA$24.2 million, 55% lower than the same period one year earlier.
Sales fell across the board.
Gross revenue from:
Recreational cannabis was CA$33 million in the quarter, down 40% compared to one year ago.
Medical cannabis declined 35% year-over-year to CA$634,000 in the quarter.
Wholesale dropped 50% year-over-year to CA$1.8 million.
International sales fell 103%. International sales were CA$8.2 million in the same quarter in 2022, but the company shows a revenue deficit in the quarter this year worth CA$265,000.
On a conference call with analysts, CEO Charlie Bowman discussed the “price war” in Canada’s cannabis industry.
“I don’t think anyone was surprised with the price war and the magnitude that went on in the last five months,” he said.
“I think the damage that could occur to the industry is significant, because no one wins in a price war.”
Hexo en péril
Une « guerre de prix » du cannabis pourrait nuire à l’industrie, met en garde Hexo
Bonno
17-03-2023
Selon le grand patron d’Hexo, les problèmes de prix de l’industrie ont été aggravés par le marché illicite, qui a connu une croissance « fantastique » cette année, défiant les producteurs de cannabis autorisés.
Le grand patron d’Hexo affirme qu’une « guerre des prix » a pris forme ces cinq derniers mois, ce qui pourrait causer des dommages « importants » à l’industrie canadienne du cannabis.
TARA DESCHAMPS
LA PRESSE CANADIENNE
« Personne ne gagne dans une guerre des prix », a déploré vendredi Charlie Bowman aux analystes, lors d’une conférence téléphonique.
« Beaucoup de détaillants indépendants, particulièrement petits, saignent simplement à cause de la pléthore de détaillants qui sont actuellement sur le marché et se font concurrence. »
Statistique Canada a indiqué qu’un gramme de cannabis légal coûtait en moyenne 10,29 $ en 2019, l’année suivant la légalisation du cannabis récréatif au Canada (les prix les plus récents n’étaient pas disponibles). À cette époque, un gramme de cannabis acheté sur le marché illicite coûtait 5,96 $.
Les prix de la marijuana légale ont chuté de façon spectaculaire ces dernières années, la Société ontarienne du cannabis faisant la publicité de plusieurs marques qui se vendaient entre 3,50 $ et 4,50 $ le gramme ces derniers mois.
Les commentaires de M. Bowman interviennent alors que les producteurs de cannabis autorisés, qui ne sont pour la pas rentables, blâment les vendeurs illicites, ainsi que les taxes d’accise et la législation pour leurs difficultés.
Plusieurs d’entre eux ont mis à pied des centaines d’employés, fermé des installations, décidé de rationaliser leur gamme de produits et lancé des initiatives de restructuration destinées à réduire les coûts.
Ces compressions ont exercé une certaine pression sur les gouvernements fédéral et provinciaux pour qu’ils agissent.
Le gouvernement fédéral a lancé en septembre dernier un examen statutaire de la Loi sur le cannabis, qui fixe les limites d’achat et de possession à 30 grammes de cannabis séché ou l’équivalent, limite l’accès des jeunes à la marijuana et établit des exigences de sécurité pour la culture, la vente et le transport de la substance.
Le groupe chargé de l’examen a déclaré que son travail pourrait entraîner des changements économiques pour l’industrie.
Le distributeur provincial de cannabis de l’Ontario s’implique également pour aider à la rentabilité. La Société ontarienne du cannabis a annoncé son intention de réduire ses marges, plus tard cette année, ce qui pourrait aider les producteurs autorisés à ravir des parts au marché illicite.
M. Bowman espère que cette décision aidera les producteurs autorisés à « s’emparer d’une part du marché illicite, car (il) a connu une croissance fantastique l’année dernière et, par conséquent, il a fait des avancées dans tout le pays ».
Selon les calculs de la Société ontarienne du cannabis, le marché illicite représentait 43 % du marché du cannabis en Ontario en mars dernier, contre 75 % en juin 2020.
Cependant, la lutte d’Hexo contre le marché illicite est aggravée par d’autres problèmes.
Amélioration des résultats
Avant que M. Bowman ne prenne la barre au printemps dernier, la société de cannabis établie à Gatineau, au Québec, avait constamment accumulé des millions de pertes chaque trimestre, mis en péril sa cotation au NASDAQ et vu passer plusieurs chefs de la direction.
Un examen de l’entreprise effectué par PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP en 2021 a montré qu’Hexo « (n’avait) pas maintenu, à tous égards importants, un contrôle interne efficace sur ses divulgations financières » et que plusieurs facteurs « (soulevaient) un doute substantiel sur sa capacité à poursuivre son exploitation ».
La société derrière des marques telles que 48North, Redecan et Original Stash a fait état jeudi soir d’une perte nette de 11,1 millions pour son deuxième trimestre, contre une perte de 690,3 millions pour la même période un an plus tôt.
Ses revenus ont atteint 24,2 millions, en baisse de 54 % par rapport à l’année précédente, ce qu’elle a attribué à la baisse de sa part de marché et de ses performances en Ontario, en Alberta et au Québec.
M. Bowman s’est dit fier de la « stratégie dynamique de réduction des coûts » qu’il a utilisée pour s’attaquer au « bilan hérité » qu’il a repris.
Au cours de plus récent trimestre, Hexo a enregistré un bénéfice net avant impôt positif pour la première fois de son histoire.
« Cette transition n’a été ni simple ni facile, mais je ne peux remercier davantage mes coéquipiers pour leurs engagements et leurs efforts pour faire d’Hexo un succès », a affirmé M. Bowman.