Lp,s are doomed!
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Less LPs sales in Quebec to be expected...
Why?
Easy...
Grey don,t ask for id.
Do you show id when buying cancer causing alcool?
Get a grip folks...
LOL
QUEBEC WANTS YOUR CANNABIS PAPERS
CALEB MCMILLANJANUARY 10, 2022
BUSINESSCANNABIS LEGALIZATIONCANNABIS NEWSCULTUREEDITORIALFEATUREDHEALTHLATEST LEGALIZATION NEWSLAWMARIJUANA LEGALIZATIONMARIJUANA NEWSPOLITICSPOLITICS10 VIEWS
“Your papers please,” at the Société québécoise du cannabis.
That is, the SQDC. Quebec‘s only cannabis retailer. Owned and operated by the province. Now requiring vaccination passports.
So queue up your QR code.
Why not use this thing everywhere? Swipe, swipe, swipe. Like a digital wallet. An ID, a medical passport, and a debit card. All in one. Maybe even a reputation score. Like China’s social credit system.
To buy cannabis.
That is how Quebec is starting 2022. Along with new restrictions like bringing back the curfew. Because everybody knows covid comes out after dark. And everybody knows you’re only safe to buy cannabis when you…
Show Me Your Papers
No, no, no. Don’t you see? These vax passes are all about public health and safety. Like cannabis legalization. Forget your individual rights. We have to think of the children.
And forget the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 2a guarantees freedom of conscience and religion. Section 6 guarantees freedom of movement within Canada. Section 15 states we have equal protection before the law.
You would think this would be enough to prevent domestic passports from ever being a thing.
But think again.
The Charter is a reactionary document.
Consider the opening paragraphs: The Charter, “guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”
In the English common law tradition, Canadians are born with inalienable rights. Thanks to the Trudeau Family Coup, Canadians are now stripped of these inert rights. The state now bestows and guarantees our rights. The state can limit or strip these rights based on whatever the state considers “reasonable.”
When you give the state extraordinary emergency powers, it will declare any and all situations an emergency.
Hence, vax papers in Quebec to buy your cannabis. This is “following the science,” and criticism is verboten.
What About the Courts?
What about the courts?
Consider, Canada’s medical cannabis regulations. For over a decade patients could grow their own medicine. But Stephen Harper’s elected government attempted to end this liberty.
Patients sued and the government lost. Judge Phelan ruled in favour of the patients based on his understanding of the rule of law.
But this doesn’t always happen. Consider the number of restaurant owners who defied and continue to defy “public health.” In every case, the judge has declared government overreach valid since we are in a pandemic.
Part of the problem is the Charter. While it’s great patients can grow their own medicine, the logic is absurd. People should be able to grow their own cannabis regardless of their health status. If they are on their own private property, it is no business of the state.
Instead, patients have a right to grow their own based on the “reasonable access” clause from a prior ruling. If approved for medical cannabis, the state must provide you with reasonable access. Not letting you grow your own violates this rule.
What is “Reasonable?”
It has very little to do with your liberty as an autonomous individual.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau appointed Supreme Court judges to interpret his Charter like this. In 1986, in R. v. Oakes, the Court established what is now known as the Oakes Test.
The Oakes Test determines what Charter restrictions are “reasonable.”
Common law rights would balk at vaccine passports. The Charter permits it.
Cannabis was illegal under the Charter. And it’s been co-opted by corporate producers and state retailers. Under the Charter.
With the Oakes Test, Canadians’ freedom of speech could be (and has been) curbed in the name of social justice.
Our freedom to travel and leave the country is restricted in the name of COVID-19.
Quebec residents can’t buy cannabis without a third shot and papers to prove it.
All are permitted under the Charter.
What exactly is the Charter?
Go read the historic debates and discussions around Canadian Confederation. They talked about political minorities. How would they be protected from the tyranny of the majority?
The Charter flips this question on its head.
Judges and politicians now talk about “collective rights” as if large groups needed protection.
The real question is… what’s the difference between legal and lawful.
For example, it may be legal for Australia to send its unvaccinated to internment camps. It may be legal for the Canadian government to force the risky COVID vaccine on its population.
But is it lawful? When Fidel Castro seized power and killed his political opponents, it was legal. But was it lawful?
In Quebec, you have to show your papers before you can buy cannabis. It’s legal, but is it lawful?
Sources
Janet Ajzenstat et al., eds., Canada’s Founding Debates (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003)
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CALEB MCMILLAN
STAFF WRITER
Caleb focuses on the political economy of the cannabis industry. A freelance writer and sometimes ghost-writer, his work has appeared on Zero Hedge, Mises.org, and a few print magazines. He lives in British Columbia and enjoys a good wake-n-bake.
Jodie Emery and Marc Emery.
Growing bunk weed?
Another Dud!
Health
Alcohol should have cancer warning labels, say doctors and researchers pushing to raise awareness of risk
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Advocates of warning labels want Canadians to understand alcohol is one of top causes of preventable cancer
Thom Bonno· CBC News · Posted: Jan 08, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: January 9
Alcohol can cause cancer, so why don't most Canadians know that?
6 days ago
Duration7:52
Alcohol is one of the top three causes of preventable cancer, so why aren’t Canadians being informed about the risks? Health experts say it's time to put warning labels on alcohol — something the industry has pushed back against. 7:52
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It's not a secret, but it may as well be. Few Canadians know the truth, and few may want to hear it: Alcohol, any amount of alcohol, can cause cancer. There is no safe amount, and the calls to inform Canadians are growing.
"Even drinking one drink a day increases your risk of some cancers — including, if you're a woman, breast cancer — but also cancers of the digestive system, the mouth, stomach," said Tim Stockwell, a senior scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria.
"The risk increases with every drink you take."
Alcohol has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen (carcinogenic to humans) for decades by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. It's right up there with tobacco and asbestos. Alcohol is also a top cause of preventable cancer after smoking and obesity.
But the vast majority of Canadians have no idea of the risk.
Stockwell wants to change that, and he and other health experts are advocating for cancer warning labels on alcohol containers. People need to know, he says, that though there are other genetic and lifestyle factors that contribute to developing cancer, every drink comes with a risk.
"The risk from alcohol, it's a dose response. The bigger and more frequent the dose, the higher your risk."
Tim Stockwell, a senior scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, is among the researchers and doctors pushing for cancer warning labels on alcohol. (University of Victoria)
Kathy Andrews had no idea that the wine she enjoyed most nights before she got pregnant was dangerous. The Vancouver resident was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016.
"Some of the risk factors for me were that I'd been through IVF with my child and then pregnancy, as well as a stressful lifestyle and drinking, not exercising enough. So all of those things, I think, played a role," she said.
When Andrews did her own research after her diagnosis, she says she was shocked to discover that moderate alcohol consumption has been linked to an approximate 30 to 50 per cent increased risk of breast cancer.
WATCH | Cancer survivor Kathy Andrews on why she's dismayed at the lack of public awareness of alcohol's link to cancer:
Cancer survivor Kathy Andrews on why she's dismayed at the lack of public awareness of alcohol’s link to cancer
5 days ago
Duration0:17
Vancouver resident Kathy Andrews, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, talks about why she's dismayed that most people don’t know that alcohol can cause cancer. 0:17
Andrews is not alone.
According to the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, only about 25 per cent of Canadian drinkers know that alcohol can cause cancer.
In Canada, alcohol was linked to 7,000 new cancer cases in 2020 alone.
Soaring alcohol sales since the start of the pandemic have triggered concerns of an impending global increase in related cancer cases. Experts say the risk has always been there, but is easy to ignore because drinking is so normalized and so celebrated as a form of relaxation and reward.
Pandemic's stress and loneliness create dangerous cocktail for alcohol abuse
Alcohol and cannabis sales across Canada rose by over $2.6B during the pandemic, study suggests
"COVID will end, right, and cancer will continue, and there will be more cancer because people are drinking more," said Dr. Fawaad Iqbal, a radiation oncologist at the Durham Regional Cancer Centre in Oshawa, Ont.
Iqbal says even among his cancer patients, the perception persists that consuming moderate amounts of alcohol has health benefits, particularly for cardiovascular health. Iqbal says studies suggesting health benefits have largely been debunked, yet they continue to circulate, adding to the general confusion and misunderstanding.
And he says that despite what those studies find, it doesn't negate the fact alcohol can cause cancer and that people should be aware of that risk.
WATCH | Radiation oncologist Dr. Fawaad Iqbal on the links between alcohol and cancer:
Radiation oncologist Dr. Fawaad Iqbal on the links between alcohol and cancer
5 days ago
Duration0:13
Dr. Fawaad Iqbal, a radiation oncologist at the Durham Regional Cancer Centre in Oshawa, Ont., describes the lack of knowledge even among cancer patients that alcohol is a carcinogen. 0:13
"It's shocking. In an information era, we have warning labels on everything I can think of. I bought my kids fishing rods this summer, and their fishing rods have warning labels that say this fishing rod can cause cancer. Whereas, you know, a level-one carcinogen that is everywhere has no particular warnings on it."
Iqbal has drafted a proposal to the Canadian Medical Association asking it to advocate for explicit labelling of alcoholic beverages warning of the carcinogenic risk to the consumer. He's also reached out to Ontario's liquor board, provincial and federal health authorities, as well as to the prime minister.
"I don't like when people are lied to, including myself. This toxin is there for everybody to consume and nobody's warning you."
As for why so many people are in the dark, Iqbal says he thinks that, "it boils down to money. Alcohol is a $1.5 trillion a year [global] industry. They'll lose money, and money wins at the end of the day."
Stockwell says the experience of the Yukon is proof of that.
In 2017, public health researchers and the Yukon government agreed to test cancer warning labels on all alcohol containers in the government-owned liquor store in Whitehorse. But less than a month after the cancer labels were put on, they were taken off under pressure from the alcohol industry.
New booze labels in Yukon warn of cancer risk from drinking
Booze industry brouhaha over Yukon warning labels backfired, study suggests
Stockwell was one of the label study's leaders. He says even though alcohol is a known carcinogen, industry representatives argued the cancer labels were alarmist and misleading. The territory, he says, couldn't afford a potential costly legal battle, so the cancer warning labels were pulled while other labels, including information about standard drink size and low-risk drinking guidelines, remained.
"The industry's claims of defamation were completely false, completely and utterly false," Stockwell said. But, he added, "they serve the purpose of delaying, freezing things from happening, and in some ways, keeping that message out of the awareness."
Labels warning of the health risks associated with alcohol are seen on bottles involved in a labelling test program in Yukon. (Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research)
CBC's The National reached out to Beer Canada, Spirits Canada and Wine Growers Canada asking whether they accept the link between alcohol and cancer, and whether they believe they have a responsibility to inform consumers of that risk. All three focused their answers on the need to drink responsibly and in moderation.
In a statement, Beer Canada said, "The decision whether to drink, and if so, how much, is a personal one. Responsible, moderate consumption can be part of a balanced lifestyle for most adults of legal drinking age." It added that it is common knowledge that over-consumption comes with health risks and that, "For some people, even moderate consumption may be associated with health risks."
Wine Growers Canada (WGC) said it is aware of the health risks that may be associated with alcohol consumption, and it recently launched the The Right Amount initiative, "to provide Canadians with information and tools to help make informed decisions on alcohol consumption." It noted that the website includes responsible drinking guidelines, a standard drink calculator, and harm reduction recommendations for at-risk groups including pregnant women and youth.
It also added that, "the right amount of alcohol for some is none."
Why some women are pushing back against alcohol and the wine-to-unwind culture
As for Spirits Canada, it maintains there are health benefits to drinking. In a statement, it said, "moderate consumption of alcohol has long been recognized as contributing to a healthy lifestyle and research has consistently indicated beneficial effects for cardiovascular diseases, reducing the risk of stroke and some diseases associated with aging."
Spirits Canada added there are several policies in place to ensure consumers are aware of the risks of misusing alcohol, including government-controlled liquor boards, legal drinking age requirements, as well as restrictions on where alcohol can be sold and the setting of minimum prices. "Against this comprehensive background of control and management of alcohol, warning labels have not been shown to be useful in altering consumer behaviour or reducing the amount people drink."
However, evidence of the effectiveness of alcohol labels is growing, including the results of the Yukon labelling study. It continues to be cited by researchers and governments around the world because, despite the alcohol industry's intervention, the study found information had an impact on people's behaviour.
Stockwell says even though the cancer labels were only in place for four weeks during the study, people remembered them. Combined with the other labels that remained on alcohol containers for a total of four months, researchers found that by the end of the study alcohol sales dropped by about 7 per cent.
Another key finding, says Stockwell, is that the more people knew, the angrier they got.
WATCH | Tim Stockwell on alcohol 'masquerading as something safe and glamourous':
Tim Stockwell on alcohol 'masquerading as something safe and glamourous'
5 days ago
Duration0:12
Tim Stockwell, a senior scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, says that in a study of alcohol warning labels in Yukon, people were 'furious' when they were told about the cancer risks associated with drinking alcohol. 0:12
Dr. Erin Hobin co-led the study with Stockwell. A senior scientist at Public Health Ontario as well as a collaborating scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, Hobin says the study's labels were effective because they were well-designed. They were intentionally colourful and used a bold font, which helped make the message clear to consumers.
Hobin says the Yukon study also found that the more aware people were about the risks related with alcohol, the more likely they were to support increases in its price.
"Which generally is not a popular policy among the public or policy makers, but is a policy that is well-established for reducing alcohol harm," Hobin said.
Hobin adds that Canada is a world leader in designing effective tobacco and cannabis warning labels. She says recent research indicates that labels that are well-designed, "can be an effective tool for supporting more informed and safer decisions related to alcohol, and may even start to shift consumers' perceptions of alcohol from a relatively benign substance to a substance associated with serious health risks that should be considered when drinking alcohol."
A senior scientist at Public Health Ontario as well as a collaborating scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, Dr. Erin Hobin says Canada could apply its expertise in designing effective tobacco and cannabis warning labels to alcohol labels as well. (Jared Thomas/CBC)
Several European countries are considering cancer warning labels on alcohol.
Asked by CBC's, The National whether Health Canada plans to do the same, a department spokesperson says it continues to fund research into the best ways to inform Canadians of the various harms associated with alcohol use, and that updates to the current national low-risk drinking guidelines and standard drink information are coming. Those updates are expected at the end of this year.
In the meantime, awareness is spreading through graphic public health campaigns around the world, including in the U.S. and Australia. Just before the pandemic, British Columbia's Fraser Health Authority also ran posters spelling out the cancer risks that come with drinking.
Health professionals are urging governments at every level to act now to warn Canadians about the cancer risk as well as other alcohol-related diseases.
"I think it's tragic," said Dr. Eric Yoshida, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and chair of the Canadian Liver Foundation's Medical Advisory Committee. "I think it's actually horrible. I think it's unacceptable. I think the conversation should have started years ago, decades ago."
Yoshida is calling for product warning labels to raise awareness and deter alcohol misuse. He says he has seen a "tidal wave" of patients in need of a transplant since 2019, when patients in B.C could qualify for a liver transplant without needing to abstain from drinking for six months.
Many of his patients, Yoshida says, are young people in their 20s and 30s who had no idea their drinking could cause so much harm.
"They were shocked,"' he said, to realize, "that the alcohol could actually kill them."
WATCH | Dr. Eric Yoshida on the devastating impact of alcohol and liver disease among young people:
Dr. Eric Yoshida on the devastating impact of alcohol and liver disease among young people
5 days ago
Duration0:34
Dr. Eric Yoshida, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and chair of the Canadian Liver Foundation’s Medical Advisory Committee, says patients - particularly younger ones - often express shock and disbelief that alcohol has caused them serious illness. 0:34
Yoshida says warning labels must be part of a broader awareness effort.
"I think the government has to step up. I think leaving it to the education system, leaving it to the media, leaving it to people's families, I think it probably isn't good enough."
Breast-cancer survivor Andrews agrees, adding that had she known of the cancer risks linked to drinking, she would have abstained or consumed a lot less. She's grateful that she's now recovering, but wants people to know more than she did.
"It can cut their lives short and take them away from the people that love them. People are putting really dangerous stuff in their bodies, and they don't know. And it's not worth it."
Simon is a Linton clone... all pumping, no sales.
Luckily for Him, there,s lots of cannabis market naive suckers around...
Yup great move from Tilray since drinks are not selling... Lol
Tilray, Budweiser maker AB InBev end cannabis beverage partnership
The world’s leading brewer, AB InBev, and Canada’s leading cannabis producer by market share, Tilray, have ended their partnership, the New York-based cannabis company quietly acknowledged in a regulatory filing early Monday.
The partners had pledged to launch CBD-infused drinks on the Canadian market as early as December 2019. But beverage sales have been underwhelming in Canada so far, as consumers largely prefer the same or similar products to those that were available before legalization.
Home / All U.S.
Tilray misses ‘muted expectations’ on plunging cannabis sales
author profile pictureBy Matt Lamers, International Editor
January 10, 2022 - Updated January 10, 2022
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Tilray reported net revenue of $155. 1 million (196 million Canadian dollars) in the quarter ended Nov. 30, considerably lower than consensus expectations of $170 million in cannabis sales, citing coronavirus-related headwinds, supply-chain issues and a lower share of the key Canadian market.
However, the New York-based company eked out net income of $5.7 million, compared with a loss of $34.6 million in the previous quarter, and said it’s still the market leader in Canada.
Tilray also unveiled the new name of its parent company, Tilray Brands.
The lower sequential revenue mostly stems from lower cannabis sales, which declined 16.6% in September-November to $58.8 million from the previous quarter.
In the company’s key Canadian adult-use market, gross sales fell 28.8% to $49.5 million and medical cannabis sales declined 5.3% to $7.9 million.
Marijuana sales accounted for only 37.9% of the company’s overall revenue, down from the previous quarter, when cannabis accounted for more than 40% of revenue.
In a note to investors, Andrew Carter, an analyst for St. Louis-based investment research firm Stifel GMP, wrote that “Tilray underperformed our muted expectations with cannabis revenue $4 million below our estimates, with gross adult use cannabis revenue down 29% sequentially (and) with Headset trends suggesting the combined portfolio of brands declined 20% sequentially during the fiscal quarter.”
Distribution was the company’s biggest segment in the quarter, with $68.9 million in sales, or 44.4% of revenue.
Wellness revenue fell 7.5% compared to the previous quarter, to $13.8 million in the three months ended Nov. 30.
Net beverage alcohol revenue fell 11.4% to $13.8 million.
Gross international sales declined to $13.7 million.
European revenue fell 1.4% from the previous quarter to $74.9 million.
On a conference call with analysts, Tilray CEO Irwin Simon said he doesn’t see legalization happening in the United States for at least the next two years.
He was more hawkish on the European market.
“We’re working with the German government in ways that (legalizing cannabis) is going to happen,” he said. “It’s probably going to get announced soon (but) it will probably take 12-18 months before it can happen.
“You will see potentially Portugal and other countries go ahead. You even see (French President Emmanuel) Macron talking about it in France in regards to his election in May that is something he will have on his election platform.”
Dream on Simon...
The CEO acknowledged the company has lost market share in Canada but said Tilray won’t drop prices as much as some competitors.
“We have lost some share in the marketplace,” Simon said. “Some of it was self-inflicted on ourselves, but the easiest thing is to drop price and get share, but we’re here to build something for the long term.”
Blair MacNeil, president of Tilray’s Canadian division, said 157 new brands launched in the highly competitive Canadian market last year, helping push overall prices lower.
Oversupplied & Oversaturated cannabis market?
“In the last year, we’ve come down on price 1.7% while the market has come down 22.6%. We have definitely protected our margins on the way down,” he said.
Grey market is a bitch...
Lol
DOOMED
Police dictating fear in Berlin is exact same as Canada,s flop.
Cannabis Act was implemented by Toronto ex chief of Police Bill Blair.
It was designed to fail by a cannabis hater!
Ad canna naive Policemen to canna naive C.E.O.s.
Mix it all up with professional politician for good measure.
And voila!!!
Instant dud.
Lol
More "we are on track for" b.s.
They are on track to go down in flames.
will see how they fare against BLACK MARKET
Lol...
DEA is not a problem...
the Department of Health and Human Services
Patent 6630507 was granted to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2003. When the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which operates under this department, uncovers potential innovations or other discoveries, they apply for a patent so that they can control the research and allow others to do testing.Jul 25, 2019
Canna is Overgrowned worldwide.
Market is Oversaturated worldwide.
Cannabis prices going south daily.
LP,s are doomed and they know it.
Breaking : LP,s having to sell below cost to show any revenue.
Tilray last Q = minus 76 millions
Data shows that Morrocco-Spain-Albania owns Europe canna market.
Grey market is a bitch.
Tilray will fare no better than Canada.
6 million profit?
Is that a good Q?
After manny years running a legal permit to print money?
6 freaking million...
SMALL TIME!
Tilray is DOOMED!!!
The only plan needed is to grow good weed for less money.
Because that is what consumers want... but are not getting.
Grow good weed and they will come!
Easy cheesy. Anything else is just stock market fluff.
By the way... Please tell us what Simon,s plan is?
BLACK MARKET GENETICS(GREAT GARDENER)TO THE RESCUE
BUSINESS
More genetics programs will help boost Canada’s cannabis market in 2022
Currently just a relative handful of nurseries supply hundreds of licensed producers with clones and seeds
Thom Bonno
While a lack of genetic diversity has stifled the growth of Canada’s regulated cannabis market, a number of incoming or expanding programs will give more options to producers, distributors, retailers and consumers over the next 12 months.
During the first years after legalization, the vast majority of legal weed was just bad.
With little competition and blind optimism, corporations pumped out as much product as they could for as much as they thought they could charge for it.
But as a host of small- and medium-sized producers came to market through 2020 and 2021, a new problem emerged: too much of a good thing.
With more talent at the helms of legal grows, and only a handful of nurseries supplying them with genetics, the market was flooded with popular cultivars.
Salespeople tasked with getting products picked up by provincial distributors – like Janeen Davis, national director of sales at Joint Venture Craft Cannabis – have detailed the devastating impact this sort of saturation can have, especially for micro cultivators at the end of the line.
Black Cherry Punch for days
Getting a buyer excited about another batch of Black Cherry Punch when they already list a dozen similar SKUs is a recipe for disappointment.
“Provincial distributors are being more discerning about what they stock,” she told Mugglehead in an interview earlier this year.
Some of the problem stemmed from a lack of exclusivity.
Most of the Black Cherry Punch originated from Mother Labs, Canada’s largest nursery. With 15 per cent or more market share of the sector, it’s easy to see how the company’s hot, high-THC genetic became too widely available.
The abundance of a cultivar at market makes it harder for producers to get their products listed by provincial distributors.
As the cultivar’s success grew faster than anyone anticipated, Mother Labs’ VP of genetics Adam Brockest said controls are in place to stop a similar situation from happening again.
Working with five or fewer micros, and around two standard licences with a particular genetic should help stifle future oversaturation.
“We’ve realized that if we get some strong micro-cultivate licensed partners, they’re going to help us build the hype and the anticipation behind this, and then creating strategic value-add for some of those larger producers,” he explained.
The nursery company is also now working on more intimate partnerships with growers. One of those is with Habitat Craft Cannabis, an aquaponics-focused producer based in Kelowna, B.C.
In that arrangement, Habitat provides its own genetics, and uses Mother Labs’ capacity and expertise to hunt for saleable phenotypes.
Developing great unique genetics one of the best ways for producers to build a brand. Hype does not work. Ask Canopy.
Right now it’s very important for cultivators to find a path to control their own genetics, says founder and CEO Rudi Schiebel. “That’s one of the best ways to be able to build a brand and a different product that you can talk about.”
Other respected craft producers have made partnerships with large entities, like North 40 Cannabis being a client of Aurora Cannabis Inc.’s (TSX: ACB) (Nasdaq: ACB) breeding program.
That agreement, announced in September, was revealed a year after North 40 suffered a series of devastating outbreaks of powdery mildew.
In an effort to expand its genetics business, Aurora launched Occo in November. The program functions as a full-service nursery starting with more than 30 cultivars at launch.
While offerings like these add to the pool of genetics available to licensed growers, the relative size of that pool remains small.
Currently, Health Canada lists 26 nursery licences serving 598 cultivation licences.
The deep knowledge of the plant, industry connections, capacity, strict sanitation and years-long pheno-hunting process required to run a successful nursery has kept the number of operators low.
But consumer demand for variety is ever-high, which is why saturation has a big impact on retail, and why grey market does so well.
While stores are a slave to whatever the market provides, consumers don’t want to choose between five Wappas.
Part of the solution is more producers doing genetic selection in-house, explains Jennawae McLean, co-owner of Calyx + Trichomes Cannabis in Ontario. “But nobody has the knowledge, the time or energy to do it.”
More genetics programs will help boost Canada’s cannabis market in 2022 - pacific og tantalus labs
Tantalus Labs is a producer that develops its own genetics at its facility in Maple Ridge, B.C. Photo of Pacific OG via Tantalus Labs
So the vast majority of growers will never develop their own genetics, but a select number of seasoned vets are doing just that.
Great Gardener Farms, based out of B.C.’s Cowichan Valley, is producing its own cannabis as well as selling its own cultivars.
For CEO Kirk Tousaw and his team, the dearth of genetics is an opportunity.
“Part of the reason we went in the direction we did was we understand that as a consumer, you always find the strains you love, and maybe they’re your go-to, but you also like to try new things,” he says.
With internationally prized genetics years before they joined the regulated market, “[We] thought we could perhaps step in and assist micro cultivators that want to get good, proven, reliable genetics, but don’t necessarily have the time or inclination to go through the breeding process themselves.”
New entrants to the regulated space like Great Gardener will breathe more lifeforce into the industry. But given the difficulty inherent in breeding and cumbersome regulations that may not shift anytime soon, the pace of change will likely remain a trickle rather than a flood.
TILRAY TO THE MOON!!!!
good luck with your prohibition!!!!
how has that worked for you since 1932?
fact is, black market weed is overgrowing and overselling your ass
you are fucked but you just don,t know it yet
You will wait for ever but i won,t...
You are cannabis naive to think tilray will start to grow fire...
Roxie,s Holly Grail
LP,s can,t sell the stuff... it,s so bad... and expensive...
What ever happened to scaling?
Prohibition prices is not cutting it.
One even has to show i.d to cop bunk weed.
Scaling mold, and terrible tasting cannabis is a bitch!
LPs are doomed!!!
just a matter of time before they ALL POP!
My tax dollars at work helping doomed LP,s!!!
As a canna naive invester GoSing is unaware of the canna\alcool difference...
Dude is golden!
Home / Canada
Canadian marijuana industry employment tumbled as producers drew federal COVID-19 cash, analysis shows
Thom Bonno, International Editor
January,4, 2022
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A breakdown of the Canadian cannabis job gains and losses
(This is the first in a series examining employment and pandemic-related wage subsidies in Canada’s cannabis industry.)
Thousands of Canadian marijuana industry workers have lost or left their jobs since early 2020, even as their employers received more than 140 million Canadian dollars ($112 million) in federal subsidies to retain or rehire employees amid the pandemic, an MJBizDaily analysis has found.
That raises questions about both the cost-effectiveness of the wage-subsidy program and whether most of the funding went to businesses in need of serious restructuring (read: prohibition prices for poor quality cannabis) even before the pandemic hit – instead of businesses struggling to cope with the pandemic’s fallout.
The job losses also have come at a time when annual executive compensation at certain cannabis companies jumped, in some cases to levels exceeding annual revenue.
These findings and questions emerged after we examined the regulatory filings for 50 of the largest Canadian cannabis businesses by market capitalization.
The analysis looked at the number of people the companies employed before the pandemic versus the number detailed in the most recent regulatory disclosures – or, in some cases, after the pandemic started but before significant mergers and acquisitions occurred that might have resulted in job losses.
All told, roughly 6,000 people lost or left their jobs at licensed cannabis producers since the end of 2019, representing 30% of some 20,000 positions tracked.
Cannabis industry veteran Jeannette VanderMarel – who co-founded licensed producer The Green Organic Dutchman (TGOD) – called the job losses “catastrophic.”
Four companies accounted for almost three-quarters of the lost jobs:
Canopy Growth.
Aurora Cannabis.
Sundial Growers.
Tilray.
Most of the layoffs tracked occurred in 2020\2021, and the data accounts for only some of the cannabis industry job losses this year, because most companies have not yet disclosed their 2022 employment levels.
At the same time, the data shows companies that recorded a net loss in the number of workers received the vast majority of the CA$180 million in grants from the federal government – or about CA$141 million in total.
The grants, mostly from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), covered some of the wages for employers whose businesses were affected by the pandemic so they could retain or rehire workers and prevent further job losses.
Approximate wage subsidy and job gains and losses
A list of companies collecting wage subsidies in Canadian dollars along with their job gains and losses. Source: Revenue Canada, Regulatory filings, MJBizDaily research
Show
10
entriesSearch:
Company Type Wage subsidy applied for or received Pre-pandemic workforce ... as of Current workforce ... as of Workforce net difference
Aurora Cannabis Licensed producer $50,600,000 3,000 Sept. 2019 1,643 9/27/2021 -1,357
Canopy Growth Licensed producer $50,000,000 4,434 3/31/2020 3,259 3/31/2021 -1,175
Sundial Licensed producer $6,100,000 1,064 12/31/2019 394 12/31/2020 -670
Tilray (pre-merger) Licensed producer $5,089,653 1,646 12/31/2019 1,030 12/31/2020 -616
Hexo Licensed producer $0 1,260 7/31/2019 798 7/31/2020 -462
Supreme Cannabis Licensed producer $0 750 9/17/2019 400 9/24/2020 -350
Tilray Nanaimo Licensed producer N/A 300 9/16/2021 0 Projected -200
Organigram Licensed producer $12,152,000 770 8/31/2019 552 11/20/2020 -218
Zenabis Licensed producer $4,924,973 740 12/31/2019 564 12/31/2020 -176
Hexo's (2021 acquisitions) Licensed producer N/A 155 11/9/2021 0 Projected -155
Showing 1 to 10 of 52 entriesPreviousNext
Human toll
The pandemic struck the cannabis industry at a particularly sensitive time.
After spending billions to expand via mergers and acquisitions, the largest LPs collectively lost more than CA$5 billion.
The companies took steps to stem the losses, which ultimately included destroying more cannabis than they were able to sell.
In essence, the largest companies poured billions of dollars into cultivation facilities, with the financial backing of Bay Street and Wall Street, even after MJBizDaily reported in January 2018 that those businesses had already bankrolled more than enough capacity to meet demand.
The gamble apparently backfired and ended up putting the largest companies at a competitive disadvantage, as they soon became too slow to react to the fast-evolving sector looking for quality products, only available on the black market, for better prices.
In the ensuing months, many facilities were closed and sold for pennies on the dollar.
“There is a human toll, and I think that’s clearly been missed,” said VanderMarel, who also helped launch Good & Green in 2018 before it was acquired in 2019 by 48North, where she served as co-CEO.
VanderMarel said that a focus on stock price over customers and quality control contributed to many problems for the large producers.
She suggested that having thousands of employees made some companies look good, “even if it wasn’t really reflective of what the company was doing or what it needed.”
“But showing job growth showed corporate growth, which was the goal to maintain or raise the stock valuation in order to get more investor money.”
Who hired, who fired
A majority of the cannabis businesses analyzed experienced a net gain in employment during the pandemic, as they hired to keep up with demand in an industry that has seen month after month of record national sales.
That’s consistent with previous reporting that found smaller, more nimble producers have been taking significant market share from larger rivals throughout 2020,2021 and 2022.
The four companies that experienced the biggest net gain in employment since the end of 2019 were:
Alberta-based retailer High Tide, which added 342 employees.
British Columbia’s Pure Sunfarms, which gained 266 workers.
Aphria, which added approximately 150 employees before its merger with Tilray.
The Valens Co., which grew its workforce by 145.
In all, the roughly two dozen businesses that added to their workforces employed 1,697 more people as of their latest employment disclosures, compared with the respective disclosures they made before the pandemic started.
Twenty experienced a net loss in the number of people they employed. Data was not available for two: Choom Holdings and TerrAscend Corp.
According to the regulatory filings, the four companies with the biggest disclosed net job losses after the pandemic started versus before it began were:
Canopy, which employed 1,175 fewer people as of March 2022, 27% lower than one year earlier.
Aurora, which employed 1,357 fewer people as of September 2022, 45% less than September 2019. (Aurora discloses its workforce data every September.)
Sundial, which employed 670 fewer staffers at the end of 2020 versus one year earlier.
The premerger Tilray, which employed 616 fewer people versus one year earlier.
Tilray did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An Aurora spokesperson acknowledged the company received CEWS funding amounting to approximately CA$50 million.
“Like other Canadian businesses, we have applied the funds to support the continued employment of Canadians through our business operations in Canada,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Canopy said via email that CEWS funds allowed the company to partially offset losses compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We thank the Federal Government for recognizing the value of the cannabis industry as a source of innovation, economic growth, and job creation for Canadians,” the spokesperson wrote.
Scale before sale
Some large, licensed producers shrank their workforces almost as fast as they built them.
Aurora, for instance, had just under 1,000 employees in 2018. That number ballooned to 3,000 employees the following year before falling to 2,380 and 1,600 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
“Many cannabis companies can benefit from large cuts – and they truly need them,” said Mitchell Osak, president of Toronto-based Quanta Consulting.
The companies that expanded the quickest had to take aggressive rightsizing measures, which at least partly precipitated their respective market-share declines over the past two years.
No one company currently controls more than 11% of the Canadian market outside Quebec, according to BMO Capital Markets.
“Widespread and rapid layoffs really hurt the morale and engagement of the people remaining,” Osak said.
“This will result in lower productivity and create resource gaps and could increase future turnover/complicate growth as the remaining employees disengage and ‘look to jump from the sinking ship.’
“Fundamentally, it’s hard to shrink and grow at the same time.”
Businesses that avoided staff cuts fared much better.
The CEO of Motif Labs, Mario Naric, told MJBizDaily the Ontario-based company has been methodical in its expansion.
“Our methodology to date has really been sales before scale,” he said.
“We designed our licensed (processing) site to be able to scale into a big business, but we started with modest amounts of equipment and people until we can prove out the model.”
Naric suggested that some businesses are resorting to mass layoffs because of a lack of focus or “a shotgun approach of getting into every single category under the sun.”
“Focus permeates through everything we do, from the processes we pursue to the people we employ and how we choose to strategically scale our business,” he said.
“We don’t take any decision lightly, which is why we’ve employed the people we need, right when we needed them, and we’ve kept them through all of COVID and the industrywide layoffs.”
Cash compensation paid to executives at large producers has climbed since the start of the pandemic, including at companies that experienced the largest drops in their workforces, MJBizDaily research found.
For example, Canopy Growth awarded executives retroactive raises in 2020 that, in some cases, were between 30% and 100%, according to regulatory filings.
Also in 2020, Aurora executives pulled in cash bonuses worth nearly CA$700,000.
Tilray awarded CEO Irwin Simon a retroactive raise this year, increasing his annual salary by 30% to CA$2.1 million, according to the latest proxy. That’s the highest salary in the cannabis industry.
Simon’s cash bonuses so far this calendar year total CA$16.7 million.
The biggest compensation packages in 2021 went to:
Neptune Wellness Solutions CEO Mike Cammarata, who earned CA$58.7 million. (Cannabis is one of Neptune’s four verticals.)
Canopy CEO David Klein, whose compensation package was CA$42 million from January-March 2020 before falling to CA$3.5 million over the next 12 months.
Aphria CEO Simon, who had total compensation of CA$18.6 million.
In the cases of Neptune and Canopy, a significant portion of the pay was in the form of stock, options and restricted shares, which will only be paid out if the respective businesses see significant reversals in their share prices.
In a statement, a Neptune spokesperson said the business “was grateful to receive this funding which was a vital asset to allow us to continue operations, especially during our transition from a B2B extractor to a diversified CPG company.
“While we do have a cannabis vertical in Canada not all of our businesses fall under that category.”
Regulatory filings show that Tilray’s median worker salary, which does not include the CEO, was CA$18,589 from January to May 2021.
Canopy’s median worker earned CA$58,261 last year.
Not all cannabis CEOs saw a windfall, or a potential windfall, during the pandemic.
Norton Singhavon, CEO of British Columbia-based Avant Brands, deferred his salary.
“I do not believe any of the companies with significant compensation packages have demonstrated the performance required to justify it,” he told MJBizDaily.
“We have cannabis CEOs who have been compensated the equivalent of JPMorgan’s CEO. I think this is something that leaders, board members, compensation committees and executives need to address moving forward, or investors will view the cannabis sector as one that is rifled with self-enrichment.”
Canadian marijuana industry employment tumbled as producers drew federal COVID-19 cash, analysis shows
author profile pictureBy Matt Lamers, International Editor
January 3, 2022 -
SHARE
A breakdown of the Canadian cannabis job gains and losses
The pandemic struck the cannabis industry at a particularly sensitive time.
After spending billions to expand via mergers and acquisitions, the largest LPs collectively lost more than CA$5 billion.
The companies took steps to stem the losses, which ultimately included destroying more cannabis than they were able to sell.
In essence, the largest companies poured billions of dollars into cultivation facilities, with the financial backing of Bay Street and Wall Street, even after MJBizDaily reported in January 2018 that those businesses had already bankrolled more than enough capacity to meet demand.
The gamble apparently backfired and ended up putting the largest companies at a competitive disadvantage, as they soon became too slow to react to the fast-evolving sector.
In the ensuing months, many facilities were closed and sold for pennies on the dollar.
“There is a human toll, and I think that’s clearly been missed,” said VanderMarel, who also helped launch Good & Green in 2018 before it was acquired in 2019 by 48North, where she served as co-CEO.
VanderMarel said that a focus on stock price over customers and quality control contributed to many problems for the large producers.
She suggested that having thousands of employees made some companies look good, “even if it wasn’t really reflective of what the company was doing or what it needed.”
“But showing job growth showed corporate growth, which was the goal to maintain or raise the stock valuation in order to get more investor money.”
LP,s hire incompetant CEO who don,t understand the cannabis culture.
Dudes only care about share prices.
They know there is no money for LPs.
Black market produces fire for much less. No i.d. needed...
They have sold suckers and bag holders to an inexistant market.
Stock market weed is a Ponzi.
You,re all good with Crappy Growth...
Too Costly To Harvest: Why Some California Marijuana Farmers Let This Year’s Crop Rot
Thom Bonno
Contributor
Vices
I cover cannabis capitalism: legalization’s winners, losers, scammers and suckers.
By every estimate, more marijuana was grown in the United States this year than ever before, as legal sales of the country’s favorite here to fore illicit drug are projected to top $26 billion, according to one vague estimate.
That’s a lot of value. But in California—where more than 1 million pounds of cannabis entered the legal market this year, according to state figures—farmers also left more marijuana plants in the ground past their due date, sacrificing them to the weather and the earth, rather than harvest them, according to interviews with growers, distributors, and small-farm advocates.
“This year, people are just letting it rot,” confirmed Swami Chaitanya, the co-founder and icon behind Mendocino County-based heritage brand Swami Select. “Why bother?”
Bunk weed is not popular
And paying millions for Martha is not helping any...
Folks are after TASTE... not harshness.
Linton sold suckers 69% of Canadians were for cannabis légalisation, hence a 100 billion $ market.
Linton was on tv land selling 69% of all Canuks were to start to puff away upon legalization.
Happy was going along with drummer boy credo « Tweed was to build the biggest greenhouses ».
It was all about SCALE.">SCALE." />
Perfect pitch, right?
Think again...
Data shows that no newbies got in the caper.
Line ups were essentially stoners being curious.
Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, You, Tube reviews we’re,not good.
So there was no market for expensive bunk gamma ray weed.
Health Canada data shows only 15% of Canadians indulge in canna.
That 15% is a black market strong hold.
Canna is not for everybody.
The word was spreading fast... Crappy Growth = bunk weed - no return allowed.
100,s of millions were spent on Martha, Snoop, Drinks, Gummyes, 2.0, 3.0, to no avail.
Did not sway Consumers and line ups dried out quickly.
It,s easy happy...folks want good weed.
Bunk sits on the bottom shelf.
It has been that way for thousands of years...
Anything else is just a stock market Ponzi.
Trying to compete the grey market is a waste of money.
They have been serving folks since 1965.
Running like a Swiss train.
“We have to earn people’s trust, and we can’t gamble away that by lowering standards,”
They will blow it like they have blown it in Canada/USA
Canna naive suits cannot grow canna at scale and expect good product
Sell bunk once and they don,t come back.
They will miror "growing at scale" and large greenhouses to newbs
Picture of billion dollars raining on share holders
Suckers & bag holders will pile up bragging and cheerleading
Only to realise, after a few years, they been fucked
Another doomed pipe dream
Selling bunk is a recipe for failure IN ANY VENTURE!
Nobody wants to get fucked copping bad tasting weed.
Especially when you cannot return the product for refund.
Burned once, twice shy...
That Ponzi was designed to fail.
You need good weed.
That is what folks want.
Doomed Ponzi!!!
BUSINESS Acreage gets US$150M credit facility
The firm says proceeds will fund growth and help with its balance sheet
ByThomBonnoPublished2 days ago
Acreage gets US$150M credit facilityAcreage operates three dispensaries in New Jersey under its The Botanist banner. Photo via Acreage
American cannabis operator Acreage Holdings, Inc. (CSE: ACRG.U) — which is slated to be acquired by Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX: WEED) (Nasdaq: CGC) come federal legalization — has entered into a large debt facility for expansion and to help with its balance sheet.
In a statement Thursday, the New York-based company said it secured a US$150-million credit facility with AFC Gamma, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFCG) and Viridescent Realty Trust, Inc.
Under the terms of the loan, US$100 million is available immediately, with US$50 million available in future once certain milestones are achieved.
Acreage says it will use the proceeds to fund expansion initiatives, repay existing debt and provide additional working capital.
The credit facility has an annual interest rate of 9.8 per cent, payable monthly, with a maturity date of Jan. 1, 2026.
AFC will provide US$60 million, with an additional US$10 million syndicated to an affiliate, of the US$100 million available immediately, and US$30 million will be held by co-agent Viridescent.
The loan is secured by first-lien mortgages on Acreage’s wholly owned real estate and other commercial security interests.
Acreage notes that its board chairman Kevin Murphy is also the president and board chairman at Viridescent, so the latter firm’s participation in the loan is a “related party transaction.”
The firm says it relied on exemptions from formal valuation requirements, as it doesn’t have securities listed on a prescribed stock exchange.
Read more: Canopy-Acreage deal drops US$2.4 billion in value
Read more: Valens enters US CBD market with purchase of Florida firm
It also says it’s exempt from minority shareholder requirements, “as the related party’s participation in the credit facility is on the same terms as AFC Gamma, a person dealing at arm’s length to Acreage.”
The financing is a strong recognition of the significant work the company has done to position it for long-term success, CEO Steve Goertz said in a statement.
This non-dilutive source of capital further enhances our balance sheet and provides us with increased financial flexibility as we continue to focus on driving profitability and accelerating growth in our core markets to ultimately maximize shareholder value,” he said.
In November, the firm reported third-quarter revenue up 9 per cent to US$48.2 million, net loss of US$12.3 million, as well as cash and cash equivalents of $27.9 million.
In June 2020, Canopy said it would pay US$843 million to acquire Acreage in a deal contingent upon the U.S. legalizing weed federally. That price was a significant drop compared to the $3.4-billion size of the deal when it was initially announced in June 2019.
BUSINESSCredit card for cannabis stores to launch in US
SuperNet’s card will be going online in California and Florida first and a multi-state launch is planned in April
ByThomBonoPublishedDecember 7, 2021
Credit card for cannabis stores to launch in USSuperNet's credit card was developed for the cannabis industry but the firm is advertising to general merchants too. Photo via Pexels
A credit card created for the cannabis industry is launching in the U.S. next year, allowing transactions in state-legal pot shops that are left to mostly deal with cash in the absence of federal legalization.
Fintech company SuperNet will start issuing cards in January, starting in California with a multi-state launch set for April.
While most states have reformed laws to regulate a state-level cannabis industry — whether it’s recreational, medical or both — banking institutions aren’t protected from federal interference and cannabis stores end up relying on cash transactions.
Offering a credit card that works in cannabis stores is a step toward normalizing the industry, CEO Michael Tsang says.
“So when you use a credit card from us, you don’t have to think ‘Oh, this is my cannabis card,’ [but rather] ‘This is my credit card that I want to spend at my local restaurant and at the local dispensary,'” he tells Mugglehead.
“We operate the same way as American Express and Discover.”
SuperNet is beginning to onboard cannabis and general merchants to accept the card.
But getting to the point of being able to offer the card has been a long process spanning more than a decade, Tsang explains, one that led the company to become a payment processor when it couldn’t find one.
“I could probably write a book about all the challenges that we’ve been through,” he says, detailing meetings with financial institutions to reshape thinking around cannabis banking.
Global cannabis sales grow 41% in 2021 BDSA - planet 13 cashier
Image via Planet 13
While there have been pushes from both sides of the aisle to federally legalize weed, whether or not regulations change doesn’t impact SuperNet’s card.
“The [Secure and Fair Enforcement] SAFE Banking is great for a lot of things, but I don’t think it’s gonna normalize payments, per se. If it does, we already were a payment processor,” he says.
If the U.S. changes rules around banking, Tsang says the firm can “turn the switch” to allow for other card payments as well.
He says what sets the SuperNet card apart from other banking solutions for the cannabis industry is that as a credit card, it’s highly regulated.
“We’re not a workaround — we’re a real solution for [the cannabis industry],” he continues. “We made sure that we cross our t’s and dot our i’s to make sure this product is something that will be sustainable.”
He says his company hopes to expand its services to other countries with similar issues.
You mean to say that Cheech and Chong was a parody?
No way!!!
Way!
Look at Remo on You Tube, 30 grams a day, and jolly?
No way!!
Way!
Fact is, there are no impairement on daily canna users!
Their endocannabinoid system is working just fine.
Experienced users : no impairement
Newbie : huge impairement
No new canna customers for lps as 20% of users were allready in.
Newbs get so fucked up on weed that they never come back for more.
Doomed biz!
SCIENCE AND RESEARCHTHC biomarkers ‘poor’ indicators of impairment, study shows
The research casts doubt on currently used methods for detecting impairment
ByThom BonnoPublishedDecember 2, 2021
THC biomarkers 'poor' indicators of impairment, study showsTop photo by West Midlands Police via Wikimedia Commons
Detecting THC — the main psychoactive compound in cannabis — isn’t a good way to measure if someone is impaired or not, according to new research.
A recent paper by researchers at the University of Sydney’s Lambert Initiative analyzes all available studies on the relationship between driving performance and concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol in blood and saliva.
The “surprising” results, published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, suggest that THC concentrations in blood or oral fluid are relatively poor or inconsistent indicators of impairment.
This contrasts with the strong relationship between blood-alcohol concentration and driving ability. The findings have implications for driving laws globally, the researchers say.
While other studies and legal experts have been critical of technology that measures blood-THC concentration to determine impairment, such devices are currently the de-facto method used by law enforcement around the world.
Read more: Cannabix announces new THC breathalyzer milestone, DUI lawyer skeptical
Read more: Stoners drive less impaired than doobie newbies
For the study, researchers pooled data from 28 publications involving either ingested or inhaled forms of cannabis. Then they characterized relationships between THC concentrations in blood or saliva and driving performance.
The findings solidify the notion that regular consumers are less impaired when high compared to occasional or non-users. The researchers note that THC-related biomarkers are associated with impairment in less-frequent users, but not in regular users. But most of the relationships were weak.
“Of course, this does not suggest there is no relationship between THC intoxication and driving impairment,” lead author Danielle McCartney said in a statement. “It is showing us that using THC concentration in blood and saliva are inconsistent markers for such intoxication.”
Of the biomarkers tested, a metabolite called 11-COOH-THC was the strongest indicator of impairment, though still only “moderate.” Researchers say the finding was unexpected given the compound is non-intoxicating.
THC biomarkers 'poor' indicators of impairment, study shows - chart
The coloured regions indicate the expected relationships between impairment and blood concentrations of THC, as well as related metabolites 11-OH-THC and 11-COOH-THC. Chart via ‘Are blood and oral fluid ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and metabolite concentrations related to impairment? A meta-regression analysis’
The research calls into question the validity of current methods to assess weed-related impairment.
“Our results indicate that unimpaired individuals could mistakenly be identified as cannabis-intoxicated when THC limits are imposed by the law. Likewise, drivers who are impaired immediately following cannabis use may not register as such,” McCartney continues.
The authors also found that people were a bad judge of how impaired they were, and shouldn’t rely on their own subjective assessment of intoxication to decide if it’s safe to drive. They suggest waiting for a fixed amount of time, three to 10 hours after use, or using an app to determine impairment.
THC concentrations in the body clear have a very complex relationship with intoxication, notes Lambert Initiative academic director Iain McGregor.
“THC concentrations in the body clearly have a very complex relationship with intoxication,” he says. “The strong and direct relationship between blood-alcohol concentrations and impaired driving encourages people to think that such relationships apply to all drugs, but this is certainly not the case with cannabis.”
Read more: Legalizing weed didn’t put more Canadian drivers in hospital: study
Read more: Ontario police arrest driver trying to pay for gas with weed
“A cannabis-inexperienced person can ingest a large oral dose of THC and be completely unfit to drive yet register extremely low blood and oral fluid THC concentrations. On the other hand, an experienced cannabis user, might smoke a joint, show very high THC concentrations, but show little if any impairment.”
He says more reliable ways to identify cannabis impairment on the roads and in workplaces are needed. He underscores this need for patients using cannabis medically who are legally prohibited from driving.
“The increase in legal recreational use of cannabis across multiple jurisdictions worldwide is also making the need for reform of cannabis-driving laws more urgent.”
Pf!!!izer is mooving in. LPs are done for
BUSINESSPfizer buys firm with cannabinoid therapy in clinical trial
Olorinab is a CB2 receptor agonist in a Phase 2 trial for IBS
ByThomBonnoPublished4 days ago
Pfizer buys firm with cannabinoid therapy in clinical trialPhoto by Coolcaesar via Wikimedia Commons
Big pharma now has a bigger stake in cannabinoid therapeutics, as Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) — maker of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — buys Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) in an all-cash deal valued at US$6.7 billion.
The boards of directors of both companies have approved the transaction, Pfizer said in a statement earlier this week.
Arena has a number of development-stage therapeutic candidates, with potential treatments in clinical trials for ulcerative colitis, Chron’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, atopic dermatitis and acute heart failure.
Among those is olorinab, an orally ingested agonist of the cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2), which is in a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients experiencing abdominal pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Arena says olorinab, through its selectivity for CB2 versus CB1, is being investigated for pain relief without psychoactive effects.
Research has identified CB2 as a therapeutic target for its apparent therapeutic effects on various types of inflammation, without leading to psychoactive effects associated with CB1.
But Arena’s lead therapeutic candidate is etrasimod, which is in a Phase 3 trial for ulcerative colitis, as well s a Phase 2/3 trail for Chron’s disease. Both are chronic, inflammatory bowel diseases that cause ulcers in the digestive tract.
Pfizer also has a candidate in a late-stage clinical trail for ulcerative colitis, oral tofactinib.
“The proposed acquisition of Arena complements our capabilities and expertise in Inflammation and Immunology, a Pfizer innovation engine developing potential therapies for patients with debilitating immuno-inflammatory diseases with a need for more effective treatment options,” says Mike Gladstone, president and general manager at Pfizer Inflammation and Immunology.
“Utilizing Pfizer’s leading research and global development capabilities, we plan to accelerate the clinical development of etrasimod for patients with immuno-inflammatory diseases,” he said in a statement.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Pfizer will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Arena common stock for $100 per share in cash, according to a statement.
Pfizer says it expects to finance the transaction with cash on hand.
Company stock soared almost 6 per cent Wednesday to $58.80 on the New York Stock Exchange.
just spreading the knowledge before they all pop.
That my friend is the beginning of the end for stock market weed!
THAILAND
GENERAL
Ministry pushes full cannabis legalisation
Use, processing and sale of flowers and buds will also be legal, with THC content capped
PUBLISHED : 11 DEC 2021 AT 19:44
WRITER: Thom Bonno
14
26
Snacks with marijuana as an ingredient are shown at the Ganja Appetit exhibition at Seacon Square mall on Nov 26. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)
Snacks with marijuana as an ingredient are shown at the Ganja Appetit exhibition at Seacon Square mall on Nov 26. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)
The Ministry of Public Health will next year push for legalisation of all cannabis parts, lifting the last remaining hurdle preventing full use and commercialisation of the plant.
Thailand earlier removed stems, roots, leaves and sprigs of cannabis from its Category 5 narcotics list, but kept flowers and buds on it.
The new Narcotics Code, which took effect on Thursday, no longer has cannabis and hemp on it.
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The next step is for the ministry to announce a revised narcotics list of all five categories based on the new law. Cannabis in all but one form will no longer be on it, minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Saturday.
The only exception is cannabidiol (CBD) extracts with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) of more than 0.2%, he added.
Once the new list comes into effect, all cannabis products such as oil, soap, cosmetics and supplements, which normally have less than 0.2% of THC, can be made and used freely.
“The number is not unilaterally set by Thailand. It’s the World Health Organization standard,” he said, referring to the concentration level deemed dangerous.
Mr Anutin was in Nakhon Phanom province on Saturday to launch the “Cannabis Kickoff on Mekong Bank” event. It aims to encourage people to grow and process cannabis to supplement their incomes, which will in turn stimulate the economy and agricultural tourism, he said. (continued below)
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visits an exhibition of cannabis products at the ministry in January this year. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)
There will be no restrictions of how many plants each household can grow. The only requirement is that they ask for permission from authorities before planting it.
The Food and Drug Administration has been instructed to streamline and facilitate the process.
Village health volunteers will also be urged to inform people that almost all hospitals in Thailand now have cannabis clinics offering alternative medicine, Mr Anutin said.
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The next step is to put approved medicines with cannabis extracts on the main drug list for the universal coverage scheme available to all people.
“What we have achieved so far is to declare that cannabis stems, roots, leaves and sprigs are not drugs. Starting next year, we’ll remove everything — stems, roots, sprigs, leaves, buds, flowers and seeds — from the narcotics list,” he said.
Mr Anutin added that people had been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and the cannabis initiative would help.
“When the economy is picking up and we don’t have new products as alternatives, people will keep doing the same things and competing with one another,” he said. “But if we offer them a choice, they can learn to build on it, creating new products and business models, which will in turn speed up the economic recovery.”
The ministry also has a policy to promote other herbs such as hemp and kratom.
Thailand has got it down path... the only way to go for cannabis to be succesful... stock market Ponzi weed is not cutting it...
At long last...Power to the people!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thailand Cannabis Law Reform – Boosting the economy
In Thailand, a large part of the economy is generated from the tourism industry. As one could imagine, the pandemic has had a devastating impact. This move is being made to help boost Thailand’s agricultural industry. The goal is to bounce back economically and the plan is to do it through cannabis.
Citizens are being encouraged to start growing at home to supplement their income.
There are no plant count restrictions; but, each household is required to ask for permission before they begin growing cannabis.
Starting as early as next year, it will be legal to grow, process, and consume recreational cannabis in Thailand.
May the best cannabis win!!