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Samsung Looks Toward Blockchain Development .....
Samsung Developing Ethereum-Based Blockchain, May Issue Own Token
April 24, 2019 ..... by Yogita Khatri
South Korean electronics giant Samsung is developing its own blockchain network and eyeing the issuance of its own token further down the road.
An exclusive CoinDesk Korea report on Tuesday, citing a person “familiar with Samsung’s internal situation,” said that the company’s blockchain task force – part of its wireless division – is building a blockchain mainnet based on ethereum. The work, however, is still at the “internal experimental” stage.
The source said:
“Currently, we are thinking of private blockchain, though it is not yet confirmed. It could also be public blockchain in the future, but I think it will be hybrid – that is, a combination of public and private blockchains.”
When the development of the blockchain is completed, Samsung may also move to launch a “Samsung Coin” token, according to the report.
The person said:
“The market expects Samsung Coin to come out, but the direction has not yet been decided.”
If the company develops a public blockchain in the future, then Samsung Coin could be traded publicly on cryptocurrency exchanges just like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH). Samsung could also bring blockchain technology to its payments app Samsung Pay, but the move is not yet decided, according to the source.
Samsung’s blockchain task force has been in active development for at least a year, and is working on a number of projects, according to the report.
Two months ago, the company made a leap into the blockchain arena with the unveiling of its flagship cellphone, the Galaxy S10, which has the ability to store cryptocurrency private keys and other features such as support blockchain-based digital signatures.
In March, Samsung officially revealed the cryptocurrency wallet, which is compatible with ether (ETH) and ethereum-based ERC20 tokens, although notably not bitcoin in early glimpses. According to some reports, the wallet is not yet available in some jurisdictions.
The S10 also supports decentralized apps (dapps) such as crypto gaming platform Enjin, beauty community Cosmee, crypto collectibles platform CryptoKitties and merchant payments service CoinDuck.
Edit (14:40 UTC): Corrected an error arising from translation. CoinDesk Korea’s source was not, in fact, described as an official.
Curious CBD Seizure Allegedly By The FDA .....
This story from January 8, 2019 will likely raise certain points of awareness for individuals who may be reading slowly and thoughtfully .....
Of course ..... one might wonder if the owner of the AZ smoke shop ever received the promised "paperwork ? " .....
FDA Officials Seize CBD Edibles From Arizona Smoke Shop
Why did the FDA confiscate those CBD products?
January 8, 2019 ..... by A.J. Herrington
Officials who claimed to be from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seized CBD edibles from an Arizona smoke shop last week, according to media reports. David Murray of the Neverlow Glass Gallery in Yuma said that just after the store opened on January 3, three people who identified themselves as officials from the FDA came to the shop and confiscated CBD products from the store shelves. Murray said the FDA officials from “another enforcement unit” came with the FDA officials, although he could not remember which agency they were from.
“They came in this morning and they took eight chocolate bars, 14 packs of gummies, and 23 K-cups,” said Murray.
The business owner said that the officials flashed badges and identification cards but did not show a warrant and did not leave a receipt for the items that they had taken.
“It wasn’t much,” Murray said. “They said they were going to send me paperwork within seven to 10 business days or I was going to get my product back.”
He also said that the FDA officials told him that CBD products were required to be labeled “as a pet product,” he said, along with the words, “if consumed by a human, there’s no concern.”
The officials also told him that the FDA was “making their own regulations for [hemp].”
Murray said that four days earlier, FDA officials had come to the shop asking which products were edible and intended for human consumption. Murray then showed them the coffee, gummies, and chocolate. The officials left and Murray did not know that they had planned to return.
Similar Activity at Different Arizona Store
Chris Martin operates Hempful Farms, the manufacturer of the coffee and chocolate confiscated at the Neverglow Glass Gallery. Although he hadn’t heard of any other products being seized, he said that his store in Phoenix was visited by three “jarhead-looking guys, straight outta military,” also on Thursday. The men refused to identify themselves and asked strange questions while they were at the shop.
“You take this and put this in your mouth?” Martin remembers one of them asking.
“Patients don’t do that. People who are just looking for help don’t do that stuff,” he said.
Murray said that he does not know what he is going to do next. He is waiting for the paperwork from the FDA or the return of his merchandise. In the meantime, he still has CBD products to sell if he so chooses. Only the CBD edibles on store shelves were taken, even though Murray had additional product in the store’s inventory.
“I have more chocolate bars, I have more K-cups, I have more gummies,” Murray said. “But they only took what was on my shelf. That’s what confuses me about this whole thing …They should’ve taken everything.”
In a statement issued to the Phoenix News Times, the FDA declined to comment on the matter.
“The FDA, by policy, does not discuss possible or ongoing investigations; however, if an investigation were performed and the case is deemed closed, the information will be releasable via a written Freedom of Information Act request for records,” the statement read.
Curious CBD Seizure Allegedly By The FDA .....
This story from January 8, 2019 will likely raise certain points of awareness for individuals who may be reading slowly and thoughtfully .....
Of course ..... one might wonder if the owner of the AZ smoke shop ever received the promised "paperwork ? " .....
FDA Officials Seize CBD Edibles From Arizona Smoke Shop
Why did the FDA confiscate those CBD products?
January 8, 2019 ..... by A.J. Herrington
Officials who claimed to be from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seized CBD edibles from an Arizona smoke shop last week, according to media reports.
David Murray of the Neverlow Glass Gallery in Yuma said that just after the store opened on January 3, three people who identified themselves as officials from the FDA came to the shop and confiscated CBD products from the store shelves. Murray said the FDA officials from “another enforcement unit” came with the FDA officials, although he could not remember which agency they were from.
“They came in this morning and they took eight chocolate bars, 14 packs of gummies, and 23 K-cups,” said Murray.
The business owner said that the officials flashed badges and identification cards but did not show a warrant and did not leave a receipt for the items that they had taken.
“It wasn’t much,” Murray said. “They said they were going to send me paperwork within seven to 10 business days or I was going to get my product back.”
He also said that the FDA officials told him that CBD products were required to be labeled “as a pet product,” he said, along with the words, “if consumed by a human, there’s no concern.”
The officials also told him that the FDA was “making their own regulations for [hemp].”
Murray said that four days earlier, FDA officials had come to the shop asking which products were edible and intended for human consumption. Murray then showed them the coffee, gummies, and chocolate. The officials left and Murray did not know that they had planned to return.
Similar Activity at Different Arizona Store
Chris Martin operates Hempful Farms, the manufacturer of the coffee and chocolate confiscated at the Neverglow Glass Gallery. Although he hadn’t heard of any other products being seized, he said that his store in Phoenix was visited by three “jarhead-looking guys, straight outta military,” also on Thursday. The men refused to identify themselves and asked strange questions while they were at the shop.
“You take this and put this in your mouth?” Martin remembers one of them asking.
“Patients don’t do that. People who are just looking for help don’t do that stuff,” he said.
Murray said that he does not know what he is going to do next. He is waiting for the paperwork from the FDA or the return of his merchandise. In the meantime, he still has CBD products to sell if he so chooses. Only the CBD edibles on store shelves were taken, even though Murray had additional product in the store’s inventory.
“I have more chocolate bars, I have more K-cups, I have more gummies,” Murray said. “But they only took what was on my shelf. That’s what confuses me about this whole thing …They should’ve taken everything.”
In a statement issued to the Phoenix News Times, the FDA declined to comment on the matter.
“The FDA, by policy, does not discuss possible or ongoing investigations; however, if an investigation were performed and the case is deemed closed, the information will be releasable via a written Freedom of Information Act request for records,” the statement read.
You have raised a valid issue with RIGH .....
The question remains, will the RIGH ticker ever be used for a new business venture?
Marketing Of "Full-Spectrum Hemp Extract" Moves Forward .....
I am speculating this bold Market strategy justifies Market traction based upon the recent 2018 Farm Bill's legalization of the Hemp plant ..... HEMP had been legislatively removed from "schedule one" ..... calling into question the legality of the FDA's assertion of seeming "supreme authority" to regulate extracts from the agricultural based hemp plant ..... overlooking the hemp plant now included as part of a broad agricultural commodity group along with corn and wheat .....
The lone justification for calling CBD a "drug" appears to hinge upon the recent approval of Epidiolex by the FDA ..... a process inviting additional ethical ..... practical ..... and moral scrutiny ..... from my perspective .....
GWPH did not use "agricultural hemp" to engineer their drug into the Market ..... so why should Epidiolex suddenly have the political power to control and impede the entire CBD Industry ? ..... By a foreign Corporation ..... no less ..... Allow the rest of the world an opportunity to regulate and restrict our domestic commerce ? ..... For their own personal profit !!! ..... while America shoulders the potential of exponential business losses !!! ..... This seems like a reasonable and fair question to be asking !!!
It looks like Congress may need additional legislative protection to set the hemp plant "free of special interest manipulation" .....
For now ..... the "hemp" story remains in process as the new FDA director ..... Dr. Sharpless ..... picks-up the reigns of guidance from departing FDA honcho ..... Dr. Gottlieb .....
Vitamin Shoppe To Sell Edible CBD Supplements As Consumers Clamor For Cannabis Compound
April 17 2019 ..... by Angelica LaVito
Key Points
There’s now one stop for all your vitamins: including A, B and CBD.
The Vitamin Shoppe is now started stocking its shelves with CBD soft gels.
Vitamin Shoppe will add CBD drops later this month.
CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid all recently said they would carry CBD-infused products in some states.
There’s now one stop for all your vitamins: including A, B and CBD.
The Vitamin Shoppe started stocking its shelves with oral CBD soft gels this week and will start selling CBD drops by the end of the month. It’s one of the first major national retailers to sell CBD supplements since Congress legalized the cannabis derivative in December. The move flies in the face of guidance from the Food and Drug Administration that prohibits companies from adding CBD to dietary supplements until the agency has a chance to write new rules regulating its sale.
The nonintoxicating cannabis compound promises to treat everything from anxiety to pain relief and everything in between — though the science behind those claims is thin at best. The FDA has targeted CBD manufacturers making egregious claims such as being a cure for cancer or Alzheimer’s disease
Vitamin Shoppe will stock Irwin Naturals soft gels filled with full spectrum hemp extract, which is the entire slate of cannabinoids found in the hemp plant, including CBD. At the end of the month, Vitamin Shoppe will also start selling Garden of Life Dr. Formulated Broad Spectrum CBD Extract soft gels and liquid drops. These products will be available in 14 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
“The customer relationship is the cornerstone of The Vitamin Shoppe’s reinvention, and our customers have told us loud and clear they want CBD,” Vitamin Shoppe CEO Sharon Leite said in an emailed statement.
For more on investing in health-care innovation, click here to join CNBC at our Healthy Returns Summit in New York City on May 21.
Vitamin Shoppe started selling hemp extract essential oils nationwide in March.
Selling ingestibles, or CBD-containing products that you eat or drink, takes Vitamin Shoppe a step further than other national retailers have gone. Customers have asked for these products, both in stores and online, the company said.
“Our goal at The Vitamin Shoppe is to be first to market with innovative, high-quality products, as well as provide our customers the education, guidance, and services essential to helping them live their best life, however they define it. These new product offerings are another example towards us fulfilling that promise,” Leite said.
CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid all recently said they would carry CBD-infused products in some states. For now, they all plan to carry only creams, lip balms or other items you apply to the skin. Although Congress legalized hemp-based CBD late last year, the FDA said it’s still technically illegal to add the cannabis compound to food, drinks and dietary supplements until it has a chance to write new rules for the market.
Vitamin Shoppe declined to comment on whether it has any concerns about violating the FDA’s rules.
“We have more than 40 years of experience in the supplements industry, and we know our customers need a reliable place they can purchase products they desire and trust, including CBD hemp extract,” Leite said.
Vitamin Shoppe hopes selling CBD products will help further distinguish itself as it fends off competition from Amazon and other online retailers who make it easy for consumers to order vitamins and protein powders online. The company is trying to personalize the experience and offer more health services, such as rewarding loyal shoppers with free nutrition consultations.
Marketing Of "Full-Spectrum Hemp Extract" Moves Forward .....
I am speculating this bold Market strategy justifies Market traction based upon the recent 2018 Farm Bill's legalization of the Hemp plant ..... HEMP had been legislatively removed from "schedule one" ..... calling into question the legality of the FDA's assertion of seeming "supreme authority" to regulate extracts from the agricultural based hemp plant ..... overlooking the hemp plant now included as part of a broad agricultural commodity group along with corn and wheat .....
The lone justification for calling CBD a "drug" appears to hinge upon the recent approval of Epidiolex by the FDA ..... a process inviting additional ethical ..... practical ..... and moral scrutiny ..... from my perspective .....
GWPH did not use "agricultural hemp" to engineer their drug into the Market ..... so why should Epidiolex suddenly have the political power to control and impede the entire CBD Industry ? ..... By a foreign Corporation ..... no less ..... Allow the rest of the world an opportunity to regulate and restrict our domestic commerce ? ..... For their own personal profit !!! ..... while America shoulders the potential of exponential losses ..... This seems like a reasonable and fair question to be asking !!!
It looks like Congress may need additional legislative protection to set the hemp plant "free of special interest manipulation" .....
For now ..... the "hemp" story remains in process as the new FDA director ..... Dr. Sharpless ..... picks-up the reigns of guidance from departing FDA honcho ..... Dr. Gottlieb .....
Vitamin Shoppe To Sell Edible CBD Supplements As Consumers Clamor For Cannabis Compound
April 17 2019 ..... by Angelica LaVito
Key Points
There’s now one stop for all your vitamins: including A, B and CBD.
The Vitamin Shoppe is now started stocking its shelves with CBD soft gels.
Vitamin Shoppe will add CBD drops later this month.
CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid all recently said they would carry CBD-infused products in some states.
There’s now one stop for all your vitamins: including A, B and CBD.
The Vitamin Shoppe started stocking its shelves with oral CBD soft gels this week and will start selling CBD drops by the end of the month. It’s one of the first major national retailers to sell CBD supplements since Congress legalized the cannabis derivative in December. The move flies in the face of guidance from the Food and Drug Administration that prohibits companies from adding CBD to dietary supplements until the agency has a chance to write new rules regulating its sale.
The nonintoxicating cannabis compound promises to treat everything from anxiety to pain relief and everything in between — though the science behind those claims is thin at best. The FDA has targeted CBD manufacturers making egregious claims such as being a cure for cancer or Alzheimer’s disease
Vitamin Shoppe will stock Irwin Naturals soft gels filled with full spectrum hemp extract, which is the entire slate of cannabinoids found in the hemp plant, including CBD. At the end of the month, Vitamin Shoppe will also start selling Garden of Life Dr. Formulated Broad Spectrum CBD Extract soft gels and liquid drops. These products will be available in 14 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
“The customer relationship is the cornerstone of The Vitamin Shoppe’s reinvention, and our customers have told us loud and clear they want CBD,” Vitamin Shoppe CEO Sharon Leite said in an emailed statement.
For more on investing in health-care innovation, click here to join CNBC at our Healthy Returns Summit in New York City on May 21.
Vitamin Shoppe started selling hemp extract essential oils nationwide in March.
Selling ingestibles, or CBD-containing products that you eat or drink, takes Vitamin Shoppe a step further than other national retailers have gone. Customers have asked for these products, both in stores and online, the company said.
“Our goal at The Vitamin Shoppe is to be first to market with innovative, high-quality products, as well as provide our customers the education, guidance, and services essential to helping them live their best life, however they define it. These new product offerings are another example towards us fulfilling that promise,” Leite said.
CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid all recently said they would carry CBD-infused products in some states. For now, they all plan to carry only creams, lip balms or other items you apply to the skin. Although Congress legalized hemp-based CBD late last year, the FDA said it’s still technically illegal to add the cannabis compound to food, drinks and dietary supplements until it has a chance to write new rules for the market.
Vitamin Shoppe declined to comment on whether it has any concerns about violating the FDA’s rules.
“We have more than 40 years of experience in the supplements industry, and we know our customers need a reliable place they can purchase products they desire and trust, including CBD hemp extract,” Leite said.
Vitamin Shoppe hopes selling CBD products will help further distinguish itself as it fends off competition from Amazon and other online retailers who make it easy for consumers to order vitamins and protein powders online. The company is trying to personalize the experience and offer more health services, such as rewarding loyal shoppers with free nutrition consultations.
Cryptocurrency "Visa-Debit-Card" For UK-EU Customers .....
Practical applictions for cryptocurrency related "business streamlining" continues to gain momentum for savvy clients seeking new and innovative solutions .....
From my perspective ..... one would have to be in deep slumber like legendary fantasy character ..... penned in story ..... by Washington Irving ..... "Rip Van Winkle" ..... to miss the unfolding of "blockchain-technology-oriented" new events ..... while BITCF remains "held-back" from normal trading practices ..... for what looks like "elite-oriented protectionist measures" deployed by the SEC to protect their likely "foolhardy frinds" ..... who had been seemingly "losing their underdrawers" shorting BITCF when the share price neared $3 .....
Only an ethical and morally rooted Congress can change such apparent "knee-jerk" regulatory practices deployed by ..... Federal agencies securely "beached into a quasi-legal Safe Harbor" ..... free of all rsponsibility to become ACCOUNTABLE to an electorate which ..... by consensus ...... positions all political representatives into public office ..... How convenient !!! ..... Safely out of reach !!! ..... How lucky can one get ? .....
Anyone doing honest DD relative to the SEC will quickly notice the public record indicates a past history of "highly-questionable and dicey behavior" ..... resulting in regulatory actions against Corporations and individuals which cannot be adequately or fairly contested by "rule-of-law" .....
Coinbase Launches Crypto Visa Debit Card For UK and EU Customers
April 10, 2019 ..... by Yogita Khatri
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has launched a Visa debit card allowing customers in the U.K. and EU to spend their cryptocurrencies directly from their Coinbase accounts.
The San Francisco-based firm announced the news in a blog post on Wednesday, saying that with the “Coinbase Card,” customers will be able to spend their bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC) and other cryptocurrencies “as effortlessly as the money in their bank.”
The exchange said it will “instantly” convert cryptocurrency to fiat currency, such as the British pound (GBP), when customers complete a transaction using the debit card.
The card supports all crypto assets available to buy and sell on the Coinbase platform, and customers can use them to pay for everyday purchases, such as a meal or booking tickets, according to the announcement.
With previously available products of this type, customers had to pre-load a specified amount of cryptocurrency onto the card in order to spend, Coinbase said.
The exchange has also launched an app for the card on both Android and iOS platforms, enabling customers to select which cryptocurrency wallet they will use to fund their spending. The app also offers “instant” receipts, transaction summaries and spending categories.
For the first 1,000 customers, Coinbase said it will waive the card issuance fee of £4.95 ($6.48).
PaySafe, a U.K. payment processor, is the issuer of the cards, a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk.
In a similar development last month, banking startup 2gether said it was launching a prepaid Visa debit card that allows users to spend cryptocurrencies. With the 2gether card, customers will be able to pay with either euros or any of the following seven cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, XRP, bitcoin cash (BCH), EOS, Stellar (XLM) and litecoin (LTC).
I see "American-Green" Corporate strategy as "Smart-Play" .....
From partnering with CANX to the weekly newsletter ..... Anyone paying attention knows ERBB has become a viable competitive-business concern in a budding sector having exponential growth ..... Some "special-interest" people want others to overlook remarkable statistics clearly indicated by the Cannabis Industry "growth curve" .....
ERBB allegations concerning "extreme dilution" has never worried me ..... because I always saw the "action" from the perspective of an "overzealous W.O.D." impeding progress ..... as one might imagine .....
Over time ..... the large OS may become a blessing in disguise ..... since American Green can "buy-back" shares when an income stream makes such a decision possible ..... which would become a natural path toward preventing the possibility of a "hostile takeover" .....
Available American Green products are expanding in number ..... rather than shrinking ..... while the Corporation remains receptive to Investor input ..... It doesn't get much better than this when the "collective" becomes empowered to participate !!! .....
Amazon had not been profitable during their early years ..... nor had Microsoft ..... and take notice of what they have become now ..... Patience will become a virtue over time !!! .....
Removing the "straight-jacket and shackles" from the cannabis plant can potentially open the doors to a "New-World" ..... from my perspective ..... and Congress seems busy making small steps to empower that reality ..... while the electorate continually "seeks change" by way of voting their sentiment .....
Best Wishes
Barr Supports Cannabis "STATES-ACT"-Calls Current Policy Intolerable !!! .....
This should be "huge" news for the entire Cannabis Industry !!! .....
I suspect a multitude of MYDX Investors have learned how to be patient and "wait-out" a seeming inevitable outcome when ..... Cannabis Prohibition will be "over-and-done" .....
Then the military and DEA will most likely lose most of their overly generous funding designated for the counter-productive scenario ..... seen by many ..... as "Nixon's W.O.D." .....
The process toward ending prohibition ..... by necessity ..... had to be a series of small steps ..... because the W.O.D. strategy had been designed to have a "strong-firewall" of seemingly endless barriers put in place to prop-up its "lost-cause" toward denying the public access to cannabis ..... for whatever reason imagined or practical ..... and all things related .....
Most people .... by now ..... realize the cannabis plant has had a remarkable history of longstanding human use and trade for thousands of years .....
Apparently ..... few people take notice of the "windfall prospect" cannabis will most likely have toward dramatically reducing healthcare costs ..... It looks like the old cliche ..... "The-proof-is-in-the-pudding" ..... will have an opportunity to convey its "grass-roots" wisdom .... for all to see .....
AG William Barr Indicates Support For STATES Act Marijuana Bill, Calls Current System 'Intolerable'
April 10, 2019 ..... by Blair Miller
DENVER – U.S. Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he would prefer the U.S. take an approach to marijuana similar to the one outlined in the states’ rights marijuana bill sponsored by Colorado’s U.S. senators over the current system.
Barr’s comments came in response to questions from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is a cosponsor of the STATES Act, which was introduced last week for a second straight year and is cosponsored by Sens. Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet, as well as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo.
Murkowski asked him to share his thoughts on the measure and asked whether senators would be able to work with him on the issue of states’ rights regarding marijuana.
Barr said the current situation regarding the federal approach to states that have legalized marijuana is “intolerable” and said that the Department of Justice was circulating the STATES Act through the department for comment.
“Once we get those comments, we’ll be able to work with you on any concerns about the STATES law,” Barr told Murkowski. “But I would much rather that approach, the approach taken by the STATES Act, than where we currently are.”
He said he would still favor a rule that barred marijuana federal but said he was open to a different approach.
“Personally, I would still favor one uniform federal rule against marijuana, but if there is no sufficient consensus to obtain that, then I think the way to go is to permit a more federal approach so states can make their own decisions within the framework of federal law, so we’re not just ignoring the enforcement of federal law.”
Murkowski told Barr that there would be a group of senators willing to work with him and the Justice Department after the department’s review.
Gardner said in a statement that he met with Barr earlier this year to discuss “the disconnect between federal and state marijuana laws” since most U.S. states and several territories and tribes allow some form of marijuana.
“The bipartisan, commonsense bill ensures the federal government will respect the will of the voters – whether that is legalization or prohibition – and not interfere in any states’ legal marijuana industry,” Gardner said in a statement Wednesday. “I’m glad Attorney General Barr today reiterated his belief that the current situation is untenable and that the STATES Act is an approach he would be interested in pursuing, and I hope my colleagues will hear his loud and clear call for Congress to act.”
President Trump said last June he would “probably end up supporting” but the measure never made it to his desk for consideration.
Gardner said last week that Trump had reiterated his support for this year’s measure.
“The President has been very clear to me that he supports our legislation. He opposed the actions that were taken by the Attorney General to reverse the Cole Memorandum, and believes that we need to fix this and that is why he believes the STATES Act is the right way to do this," he said in the news conference announcing the measure.
There are several pillars to the STATES Act, which would change federal code to give more leeway to states where marijuana is legal after the Cole Memo was rescinded in January 2018 by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
This year’s measure would amend the Controlled Substances Act so that states and tribes complying with state or tribal law would no longer see many of the act’s provisions apply. But it would continue to prohibit the endangerment of human life while manufacturing controlled substances and bar anyone under age 18 from working in the marijuana industry.
Other pillars of the STATES Act include prohibiting the sale or distribution of marijuana to people under age 21 and prohibiting the sale or distribution at federal transportation facilities like truck stops and rest areas.
The Government Accountability Office would be ordered to study the effects of legal marijuana on traffic safety and states’ testing standards and clarify banking and financial regulations between states where marijuana is legal and the federal financial system.
The measure has support from a host of various banking, civil rights and drug policy organizations.
The STATES Act was unveiled last Thursday, a day after the city of Denver wrote to Barr and the members of Congress from Colorado asking for clarification on how the feds plan to interact with states and territories where marijuana is legal. At least two Denver residents were denied naturalization because of their work in Colorado’s marijuana industry.
Barr Supports Cannabis "STATES-ACT"-Calls Current Policy Intolerable !!! .....
This should be "huge" news for the entire Cannabis Industry !!! ..... especially $ERBB .....
I suspect a multitude of American Green Investors have learned how to be patient and "wait-out" a seeming inevitable outcome when ..... Cannabis Prohibition will be "over-and-done" ..... Then the military and DEA will most likely lose most of their overly generous funding designated for the counter-productive scenario ..... seen by many ..... as "Nixon's W.O.D." .....
The process toward ending prohibition ..... by necessity ..... had to be a series of small steps ..... because the W.O.D. strategy had been designed to have a "strong-firewall" of seemingly endless barriers put in place to prop-up its "lost-cause" toward denying the public access to cannabis ..... for whatever reason imagined or practical .....
Most people .... by now ..... realize the cannabis plant has had a remarkable history of longstanding human use and trade for thousands of years .....
Apparently ..... few people take notice of the "windfall prospect" cannabis will most likely have toward dramatically reducing healthcare costs ..... It looks like the old cliche ..... "The-proof-is-in-the-pudding" ..... will have an opportunity to convey its "grass-roots" wisdom .... for all to see .....
AG William Barr Indicates Support For STATES Act Marijuana Bill, Calls Current System 'Intolerable'
April 10, 2019 ..... by Blair Miller
DENVER – U.S. Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he would prefer the U.S. take an approach to marijuana similar to the one outlined in the states’ rights marijuana bill sponsored by Colorado’s U.S. senators over the current system.
Barr’s comments came in response to questions from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is a cosponsor of the STATES Act, which was introduced last week for a second straight year and is cosponsored by Sens. Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet, as well as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo.
Murkowski asked him to share his thoughts on the measure and asked whether senators would be able to work with him on the issue of states’ rights regarding marijuana.
Barr said the current situation regarding the federal approach to states that have legalized marijuana is “intolerable” and said that the Department of Justice was circulating the STATES Act through the department for comment.
“Once we get those comments, we’ll be able to work with you on any concerns about the STATES law,” Barr told Murkowski. “But I would much rather that approach, the approach taken by the STATES Act, than where we currently are.”
He said he would still favor a rule that barred marijuana federal but said he was open to a different approach.
“Personally, I would still favor one uniform federal rule against marijuana, but if there is no sufficient consensus to obtain that, then I think the way to go is to permit a more federal approach so states can make their own decisions within the framework of federal law, so we’re not just ignoring the enforcement of federal law.”
Murkowski told Barr that there would be a group of senators willing to work with him and the Justice Department after the department’s review.
Gardner said in a statement that he met with Barr earlier this year to discuss “the disconnect between federal and state marijuana laws” since most U.S. states and several territories and tribes allow some form of marijuana.
“The bipartisan, commonsense bill ensures the federal government will respect the will of the voters – whether that is legalization or prohibition – and not interfere in any states’ legal marijuana industry,” Gardner said in a statement Wednesday. “I’m glad Attorney General Barr today reiterated his belief that the current situation is untenable and that the STATES Act is an approach he would be interested in pursuing, and I hope my colleagues will hear his loud and clear call for Congress to act.”
President Trump said last June he would “probably end up supporting” but the measure never made it to his desk for consideration.
Gardner said last week that Trump had reiterated his support for this year’s measure.
“The President has been very clear to me that he supports our legislation. He opposed the actions that were taken by the Attorney General to reverse the Cole Memorandum, and believes that we need to fix this and that is why he believes the STATES Act is the right way to do this," he said in the news conference announcing the measure.
There are several pillars to the STATES Act, which would change federal code to give more leeway to states where marijuana is legal after the Cole Memo was rescinded in January 2018 by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
This year’s measure would amend the Controlled Substances Act so that states and tribes complying with state or tribal law would no longer see many of the act’s provisions apply. But it would continue to prohibit the endangerment of human life while manufacturing controlled substances and bar anyone under age 18 from working in the marijuana industry.
Other pillars of the STATES Act include prohibiting the sale or distribution of marijuana to people under age 21 and prohibiting the sale or distribution at federal transportation facilities like truck stops and rest areas.
The Government Accountability Office would be ordered to study the effects of legal marijuana on traffic safety and states’ testing standards and clarify banking and financial regulations between states where marijuana is legal and the federal financial system.
The measure has support from a host of various banking, civil rights and drug policy organizations.
The STATES Act was unveiled last Thursday, a day after the city of Denver wrote to Barr and the members of Congress from Colorado asking for clarification on how the feds plan to interact with states and territories where marijuana is legal. At least two Denver residents were denied naturalization because of their work in Colorado’s marijuana industry.
Barr Supports Cannabis "STATES-ACT"-Calls Current Policy Intolerable !!! .....
This should be "huge" news for the entire Cannabis Industry !!! .....
Too bad Angel is not officially around ..... to enjoy the continuing momentum toward progress ..... after numerous decades of counter-productive "prohibition mentality" !!!
AG William Barr Indicates Support For STATES Act Marijuana Bill, Calls Current System 'Intolerable'
April 10, 2019 ..... by Blair Miller
DENVER – U.S. Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he would prefer the U.S. take an approach to marijuana similar to the one outlined in the states’ rights marijuana bill sponsored by Colorado’s U.S. senators over the current system.
Barr’s comments came in response to questions from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is a cosponsor of the STATES Act, which was introduced last week for a second straight year and is cosponsored by Sens. Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet, as well as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo.
Murkowski asked him to share his thoughts on the measure and asked whether senators would be able to work with him on the issue of states’ rights regarding marijuana.
Barr said the current situation regarding the federal approach to states that have legalized marijuana is “intolerable” and said that the Department of Justice was circulating the STATES Act through the department for comment.
“Once we get those comments, we’ll be able to work with you on any concerns about the STATES law,” Barr told Murkowski. “But I would much rather that approach, the approach taken by the STATES Act, than where we currently are.”
He said he would still favor a rule that barred marijuana federal but said he was open to a different approach.
“Personally, I would still favor one uniform federal rule against marijuana, but if there is no sufficient consensus to obtain that, then I think the way to go is to permit a more federal approach so states can make their own decisions within the framework of federal law, so we’re not just ignoring the enforcement of federal law.”
Murkowski told Barr that there would be a group of senators willing to work with him and the Justice Department after the department’s review.
Gardner said in a statement that he met with Barr earlier this year to discuss “the disconnect between federal and state marijuana laws” since most U.S. states and several territories and tribes allow some form of marijuana.
“The bipartisan, commonsense bill ensures the federal government will respect the will of the voters – whether that is legalization or prohibition – and not interfere in any states’ legal marijuana industry,” Gardner said in a statement Wednesday. “I’m glad Attorney General Barr today reiterated his belief that the current situation is untenable and that the STATES Act is an approach he would be interested in pursuing, and I hope my colleagues will hear his loud and clear call for Congress to act.”
President Trump said last June he would “probably end up supporting” but the measure never made it to his desk for consideration.
Gardner said last week that Trump had reiterated his support for this year’s measure.
“The President has been very clear to me that he supports our legislation. He opposed the actions that were taken by the Attorney General to reverse the Cole Memorandum, and believes that we need to fix this and that is why he believes the STATES Act is the right way to do this," he said in the news conference announcing the measure.
There are several pillars to the STATES Act, which would change federal code to give more leeway to states where marijuana is legal after the Cole Memo was rescinded in January 2018 by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
This year’s measure would amend the Controlled Substances Act so that states and tribes complying with state or tribal law would no longer see many of the act’s provisions apply. But it would continue to prohibit the endangerment of human life while manufacturing controlled substances and bar anyone under age 18 from working in the marijuana industry.
Other pillars of the STATES Act include prohibiting the sale or distribution of marijuana to people under age 21 and prohibiting the sale or distribution at federal transportation facilities like truck stops and rest areas.
The Government Accountability Office would be ordered to study the effects of legal marijuana on traffic safety and states’ testing standards and clarify banking and financial regulations between states where marijuana is legal and the federal financial system.
The measure has support from a host of various banking, civil rights and drug policy organizations.
The STATES Act was unveiled last Thursday, a day after the city of Denver wrote to Barr and the members of Congress from Colorado asking for clarification on how the feds plan to interact with states and territories where marijuana is legal. At least two Denver residents were denied naturalization because of their work in Colorado’s marijuana industry.
Barr Supports Cannabis "STATES-ACT"-Calls Current Policy Intolerable !!! .....
This is "huge" news for the Cannabis Industry ..... especially $USMJ .....
AG William Barr Indicates Support For STATES Act Marijuana Bill, Calls Current System 'Intolerable'
April 10, 2019 ..... by Blair Miller
DENVER – U.S. Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he would prefer the U.S. take an approach to marijuana similar to the one outlined in the states’ rights marijuana bill sponsored by Colorado’s U.S. senators over the current system.
Barr’s comments came in response to questions from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is a cosponsor of the STATES Act, which was introduced last week for a second straight year and is cosponsored by Sens. Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet, as well as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo.
Murkowski asked him to share his thoughts on the measure and asked whether senators would be able to work with him on the issue of states’ rights regarding marijuana.
Barr said the current situation regarding the federal approach to states that have legalized marijuana is “intolerable” and said that the Department of Justice was circulating the STATES Act through the department for comment.
“Once we get those comments, we’ll be able to work with you on any concerns about the STATES law,” Barr told Murkowski. “But I would much rather that approach, the approach taken by the STATES Act, than where we currently are.”
He said he would still favor a rule that barred marijuana federal but said he was open to a different approach.
“Personally, I would still favor one uniform federal rule against marijuana, but if there is no sufficient consensus to obtain that, then I think the way to go is to permit a more federal approach so states can make their own decisions within the framework of federal law, so we’re not just ignoring the enforcement of federal law.”
Murkowski told Barr that there would be a group of senators willing to work with him and the Justice Department after the department’s review.
Gardner said in a statement that he met with Barr earlier this year to discuss “the disconnect between federal and state marijuana laws” since most U.S. states and several territories and tribes allow some form of marijuana.
“The bipartisan, commonsense bill ensures the federal government will respect the will of the voters – whether that is legalization or prohibition – and not interfere in any states’ legal marijuana industry,” Gardner said in a statement Wednesday. “I’m glad Attorney General Barr today reiterated his belief that the current situation is untenable and that the STATES Act is an approach he would be interested in pursuing, and I hope my colleagues will hear his loud and clear call for Congress to act.”
President Trump said last June he would “probably end up supporting” but the measure never made it to his desk for consideration.
Gardner said last week that Trump had reiterated his support for this year’s measure.
“The President has been very clear to me that he supports our legislation. He opposed the actions that were taken by the Attorney General to reverse the Cole Memorandum, and believes that we need to fix this and that is why he believes the STATES Act is the right way to do this," he said in the news conference announcing the measure.
There are several pillars to the STATES Act, which would change federal code to give more leeway to states where marijuana is legal after the Cole Memo was rescinded in January 2018 by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
This year’s measure would amend the Controlled Substances Act so that states and tribes complying with state or tribal law would no longer see many of the act’s provisions apply. But it would continue to prohibit the endangerment of human life while manufacturing controlled substances and bar anyone under age 18 from working in the marijuana industry.
Other pillars of the STATES Act include prohibiting the sale or distribution of marijuana to people under age 21 and prohibiting the sale or distribution at federal transportation facilities like truck stops and rest areas.
The Government Accountability Office would be ordered to study the effects of legal marijuana on traffic safety and states’ testing standards and clarify banking and financial regulations between states where marijuana is legal and the federal financial system.
The measure has support from a host of various banking, civil rights and drug policy organizations.
The STATES Act was unveiled last Thursday, a day after the city of Denver wrote to Barr and the members of Congress from Colorado asking for clarification on how the feds plan to interact with states and territories where marijuana is legal. At least two Denver residents were denied naturalization because of their work in Colorado’s marijuana industry.
Dubai Announces Establishment Of "Global Blockchain Council" .....
Some Investors on this BITCF board understand the future of Finance and Business transactions will be rooted in "Blockchain Technology" ..... And its just a matter of TIME !!! ..... as visionary global leaders begin to pay attention and implement !!! .....
GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN COUNCIL
As part of its efforts to adopt the latest technologies and innovation practices at the global level, Dubai Future Foundation has announced the establishment of the Global Blockchain Council to explore, discuss current and future applications, and organize transactions through the Blockchain platform. Blockchain records every transaction made by the digital currency Bitcoin.
The Council will highlight the implications of this innovation on the future of business and finance sectors, and its role in facilitating transactions within the various sectors of financial and non-financial sectors as well as to increase efficiency and reliability levels.
Transactions on Blockchain can only go through if all the members approve, which limits the chances of fraud and money laundering, as the digital currency cannot be forged or damaged and can be moved across borders with ease. It also facilitates the shopping process across social media and websites.
Blockchain Council
The council consists of 46 members, all of which are potential key players in the Blockchain industry, and are shaping the market day by day. They include government entities, international companies, leading UAE banks, free zones, and international Blockchain technology firms, including:
Microsoft, Du, SAP, IBM, Cisco, TECOM, Dubai Holding, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), EmirateNBD, Emirates Islamic, Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), Souq.com, Careem, Mashreq, InfoSys, Wamda, Propertyfinder.com, Kraken, BitOasis, Umbrellab, AstroLabs, YellowPay, SmartStart Fund, Etheruem, Viktor Koenig LLC, Privity FZ LLC, Digitus, Network int, Michael Mainelli, Vinay Gupta, Smart Dubai Office and Dubai Smart Government.
Blockchain Market
The establishment of the Global Blockchain Council comes in line with the efforts of Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation to promote innovation and use the next generation of technologies to enhance UAE’s position as a leading centre for innovation and knowledge economy.
Global market for digital transactions will reach
9.5 billion$
Investments in Blockchain will reach
300 billion$
Bitcoin transactions in 24 hours
105.6 million$
Bitcoin market cap is averaged
6.8 billion$
Western Union Expands Philippines Remittances With Cryptocurrency-Wallet ....
Western Union Integrates With Crypto Wallet to Expand Philippines Remittances
April 8, 2019 ..... by Daniel Palmer
Money transfer giant Western Union has teamed up with blockchain startup Coins.ph to enable residents of the Philippines to more easily receive cash remittances.
The newly inked deal will see both international and domestic payments made via Western Union’s network arrive directly into the digital wallets held by Coins.ph’s “over 5 million” users, the startup announced late last week.
The service aims to offer “quick and convenient access to remittances, in urban and remote underserved areas,” Coins.ph said, adding that linking with Western Union’s digital and retail networks enables customers to receive payments from virtually all nations and territories worldwide.
With possibly 10 million Filipinos working and living outside their home nation, the Philippines is one of the top destinations globally for remittances. It’s also a growing industry. Coins.ph cited Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, as saying that monthly personal remittances from Filipinos living abroad had reached $2.7 billion last July and grown 3 percent year-on-year.
Molly Shea, senior vice president and general manager, Global Money Transfer, Asia Pacific, Western Union, said:
“With this collaboration with Coins.ph, we are delighted to offer customers in the Philippines with an unmatched depth of services and capabilities, and convenience right at their fingertips.”
Coins.ph offers financial services for Philippines residents, including those who do not have a bank account, offering a mobile wallet enabling services such as remittances, bill payments and cryptocurrency purchases. The firm holds both Virtual Currency and Electronic Money Issuer licenses issued by the central bank.
“There are many overseas Filipino workers who send money back home regularly and are always looking for additional remittance options that will make it most convenient for their loved ones to receive money,” said Coins.ph co-founder and CEO Ron Hose.
The firm noted that users of the service must first complete an online Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process and, after successful completion, can then receive Western Union transfers into their wallets. There is also a monthly remittance maximum of 100,000 Philippine pesos per month (almost $2,000).
The tie-up between a crypto firm and the noted money sender is a notable one. While Western Union has previously teased possible relationships with both Ripple and Coinbase, neither came to fruition. And while it has previously said that it’s only open to cryptocurrency if the tech is regulated like currency, that hasn’t stopped it form seeking patents involving the tech.
Cryptocurrency Will "See It's Day" Once Again .....
From my perspective ..... cryptocurrency will see its time of use and acceptance once again ..... Consider a multitude of factors in play ..... and a bit of historical perspective ......
1- Goldman Sachs and JPM had listed cryptocurrency as a risk factor almost a year ago .....
2- Dubai has set a goal by the time they host WORLD-EXPO 2020 to have ALL government functions up and running with blockchain technology ..... IBM along with others have had "boots-on-the-ground" working toward resolving practical issues ......
3- Apparently ..... America's largest defense contractor has been streamling their production business model with blockchain technology for many years .....
4- Facebook has expressed interest in deploying the use of cryptocurrency as has Amazon ....
5- Elon Musk just went on record declaring the technology "Brilliant" .....
6- What happens when other billionaires recognize the potential and see the need to empower blockchain technology ?
7- The SEC has been seen by many as playing the role of a "shill" to protect the "too corrupt to fail" Financial Services Industry ..... What happens if Congress pushes the SEC to be become accountable for their actions ? ..... The SEC never explained why they intentionally destroyed thousands of their own MUI ..... "Matters Under Investigation" ..... files which would normally become the basis to justify a mulñtitude of seemingly capricious regulatory decisions ..... though impossible to prove or disprove ..... after SEC files have been allegedly destroyed by way of "In-House" instructiions .....
Credit Crisis: Where was the SEC ? ..... leading up to the 2008 meltdown ? ..... which cost taxpayers trillions of dollars ? ..... And it need not happen again ..... by way of embracing intelligent applications with blockchain technology .....
https://www.forbes.com/2008/02/05/sec-cmos-banking-biz-wall-cx_lm_0206sec.html#20a06a956450
8- Numerous Global Emerging Markets open to cryptocurrency .....
9- Financial Services Industry apparently needed a break to "buy-time" to adjust to the potential of cryptocurrency usage and blockchain technology .....
10- The United Nations has already allegedly experimented with cryptocurrency as a means of payment .....
11- Clearly ..... the security and use of Bitcoin must be "tested-by-fire" ..... before it can function with a solid foundation of Internatioinal support ..... I have always supported "highly skilled experts" attacking the cryptocurrency system and blockchain technology ..... to check for vulnerabilities ..... because I believe "sufficient collective brainpower" exists to slove ANY and ALL problems .....
12- Where is First Bitcoin Capital Corp headed with their technological cutting-edge business model today ?
"I believe I have likely missed mentioning numerous other reasons why cryptocurrency should be making a strong return in the world of International Business and Finance" .....
Best Wishes
Cryptocurrency Assets Surge First Quarter 2019 .....
Many people anticipate appreciating cryptocurrency valuations as 2019 moves forward ..... The reasons appear to be multi-faceted !!! .....
Numerous Investors speculate with respect to exactly where First Bitcoin Capital ..... BITCF ..... fits into the overall Alt-coin scenario .....
Note of interest: A few people noticed the price of Bitcoin has hit a high today of $5325.23 ..... so far ..... by 6:06 p.m.
Alt Season? ..... Over 100 Crypto Assets Outperform Bitcoin In Q1 Surge
Apr 1, 2019 ..... by Sam Quimet
The first quarter of 2019 was a breath of fresh air for the cryptocurrency market, having recorded its first quarterly increase in overall network valuations since the fourth quarter of 2017.
Interestingly, however, bitcoin is among the least significant price gainers so far this year while still flashing a noteworthy Q1 increase of 10 percent. What this means is that a sizable portion of the market’s recent growth came from the many other cryptocurrencies trading on exchanges today.
In fact, data from analytics provider Messari reveals that 118 cryptos increased more in price on a year-to-date basis than bitcoin, with several boasting triple-digit percent increases during that period.
As a result, the total network value of all cryptocurrencies – excluding bitcoin – came within 1 percent of suprassing that of bitcoin’s in March.
With Q1 of 2019 now in the history books, let’s dive into some of the more notable individual performances by way of breaking down their respective asset size classes and market sectors.
Performances by asset size
There is a wide spectrum of assets, in the cryptocurrency market. These range from some of the biggest, like ethereum (close to $15 billion), to the smallest, like dancoin (DAN), which is worth just over $3 million. Hundreds of networks fall in between.
The table below depicts how Messari segments crypto-asset sizes into the four groups (large cap, medium cap, small cap and micro cap), as well their respective best and worst performers for the Q1 period.
While the highest-ranked cryptocurrencies in terms of asset size tend to be the most well-known coins in the industry (they trade with the most volume), data shows they are not always the strongest performers.
As can be seen, the top performers in both the medium and small-cap segments saw significantly better Q1 performances than the leader of the large-cap segment, binance coin (BNB), the price of which nearly tripled during that period.
Ravencoin’s (RVN) performance surpassed all other medium cap cryptos, boasting a 386 percent increase in Q1, almost all of which was achieved in the month of March when its price jumped from the monthly open of $0.013 to its close of $0.061, according to data from Binance.
Pchain (PAI) was the best performer in the small-cap segment as well as the single strongest performer in the entire cryptocurrency market. PAI recorded a Q1 price increase of roughly 781 percent, Messari data reveals.
While many cryptocurrencies boasted double and even triple-digit gains in Q1, not all outperformed bitcoin or even finished the quarter with gains.
Bitcoin SV’s (BSV) 26 percent loss and NEM’s (XEM) 13 percent loss was enough to establish them as the worst performers in the large and medium cap segments, respectively, while the worst performer of the broader market was the small-cap crypto Grin (GRIN), which lost 70 percent of its value since its main-net launch on January 15.
It should be noted that market cap as a metric for valuing crypto-assets does have limitations not observed when used in traditional finance for valuing a publicly traded company. For example, lost bitcoins are technically accounted for in bitcoin’s market capitalization, even though they are no longer part of the “circulating” supply and can never be spent.
This is not an issue when determining the market cap of a company since only outstanding and liquid shares are taken into account, leading cryptocurrency researchers to come up with alternative network valuation models like “realized cap“, first proposed by Coinmetrics in 2018, that aims to account for such limitations.
Performances by sector
Another way to segment the cryptocurrency market is by sector, which describes the key parts of the crypto-economy.
Messari provides a number of different market sector classifications, the Q1 average and median performance of which are shown in the table below, and were calculated by taking the performance of the top 5 coins by market cap in each sector into account.
As can be seen, the “Miscellaneous” sector was the best performing sector in Q1 on average, but this was largely due to the fact the best and near 800 percent quarterly gainer Pchain (PAI) is included in the category.
Since PAI’s growth significantly skews the average performance of the sector, the median which describes the true middle value of a given sector’s quarterly performances, perhaps most honestly describes the sector with a more modest 52 percent median price increase.
The strongest sector in terms of median performance in Q1 were the coins intended to act as bridges between cryptocurrencies, making those networks interoperable. That list is comprised of names like Ontology (ONT), Chainlink (LINK) and Aion (AION). The sector finished Q1 with a 78 percent increase as the median performance.
In all, the top five cryptocurrencies by market cap in each sector averaged no worse than a 20 percent price increase.
Emergence above a key moving average
It’s one accomplishment to have a strong quarter. It’s another feat entirely for an asset to trade above its 200-day moving average.
Generally regarded to as the dividing line between a strong market and one that is not, the 200-day moving average is a technical hurdle that several top-ranked cryptocurrencies were able to climb above for the first time this quarter in nearly a year.
The last time CoinDesk conducted the same analysis on March 13, just four of the top 20 cryptocurrencies had both of its BTC and USD pairs trading above the 200 day moving average as signs of life in the market were just beginning to re-emerge.
Since then, however, four more cryptocurrencies joined the list, including Ontology (ONT), Tezos (XTZ), Cardano (ADA), and EOS (EOS) all of which now are trading with both pairs above the moving average. This indicates that a shift from bearish to bullish trends is on the rise.
Still lagging behind with neither trading pair above the MA are the first and third largest cryptocurrencies in the world by market cap, bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP), as well as six others (not including USDT and Bitcoin SV, the latter of which has less than 200 days of trading history).
Renewed optimism
Indeed, Q1 was an impressive stretch for the cryptocurrency market, which has seemingly renewed optimism among some of its market participants.
On March 22, CoinDesk Markets conducted a Twitter poll to gauge the public’s longer term outlook on the market leader bitcoin by asking what price it will trade closest to on the date of its next supply production halving event in May of 2020.
CoinDesk Markets
@CoinDeskMarkets
On the day of #bitcoin's next halving, what will its price be closest to?
The next halving is anticipated to occur in May of 2020
47%$15,000
27%$10,000
13%$5,000
13%$1,000
6,450 votes • Final results
90 people are talking about this
Interestingly, the most popular option was a value closest to $15,000, accumulating 47 percent of the 6,450 votes.
Currently priced around $4,000, that would mean the majority of those polled believe bitcoin will increase at least 275 percent or nearly quadruple its value in less than 14 months.
Jokes-Aside!!!.....Why Has Bitcoin Appreciated Beyond $5128 ? .....
I am "speculating" it may be the "Musk-factor" if Elon has been busy accumulating ..... I'm open to hearing other perspectives !!!
Elon Musk Calls Dogecoin ‘My Fav Cryptocurrency’
April 2, 2019 ..... by Brady Dale
Elon Musk has diversified his cryptocurrency. Or at least, his crypto-related tweets.
A month and a half after calling bitcoin “brilliant,” the Tesla and SpaceX founder lauded one of the crypto market’s longest-running, and famously whimsical, alternatives.
“Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool,” Musk tweeted Tuesday.
His praise for the meme-inspired asset came in response to an April Fool’s Day poll posted the day before by the official Dogecoin account asking who should be the cryptocurrency’s next CEO (an absurd notion on its face, since crypto projects are supposed to be decentralized). Musk won with 54 percent of the vote.
So at 18:26 UTC Tuesday, the official Dogecoin account posted, “Looks like you’re the CEO now @elonmusk, DM us where to email the access codes ”
Musk then returned the favor with several tweets mentioning the cryptocurrency including one declaring that “Dogecoin rulz” – with a Doge meme attached.
‘$4.20 billion’
Then Jackson Palmer, the creator of Dogecoin – currently the 25th most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap – parodied Musk with this tweet:
“Am considering selling Dogecoin.com for $4.20B. Funding (not yet) secured.”
That was a reference to an infamous older post from the Tesla CEO that ultimately led to a Securities and Exchange Commission action.
For those who don’t get it: Last summer, Musk tweeted that he had secured funding to sell his electric car company at $420 per share. The statement proved to be untrue, ultimately costing Musk personally his chairmanship of the company and $20 million.
Skeptics who followed Musk’s tendency to troll the internet took note of the price: “420,” a number that’s familiar code to pot users. Hence Palmer’s asking price of “$4.2 billion.”
Palmer, it should be noted, is not involved with this or any cryptocurrency (though he did confirm to CoinDesk that he still owns the website).
But Musk, who also founded the Boring Company, dreamed up the Hyperloop and is a member of the PayPal mafia, seemed proud of his new affiliation.
On Tuesday he changed his Twitter bio to “CEO of Dogecoin” (and later updated it again to say he was the “former CEO.”) The most recent tweet from the dubiously appointed executive as of this writing warns investors:
“Dogecoin value may vary.”
Cryptocurrency International Payments Procedure Streamlined And FREE .....
I don't know if this is the reason for the price of Bitcoin soaring to almost $5,000 overnight ..... but it might tie-in with the overall emerging cryptocurrency picture .....
I realaize First Bitcoin Capital ..... OTC stock ticker BITCF ..... is plenty "smart enough" to leverage this streamlined International payment process into their emergent "future-looking" business model ..... I look forward to hearing whatever their informed professional response may be !!! .....
Coinbase Soft Launches International Payments With XRP And USDC
April 1, 2019 ..... by Stan Higgins
Following the publication of this report, a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk in an email that the service has been available since Coinbase added XRP to its services on Feb. 28.
“It’s primarily designed as an educational resource for customers to learn about the benefits of using crypto for cross-border payments,” the representative said.
Coinbase appears to be offering a “fast and free” payments service for its users, according to the Coinbase website.
The exchange is using two cryptocurrencies for the service, XRP and USDC, the latter of which was launched last fall by Circle affiliate CENTRE. USDC was also the first stablecoin to be listed by Coinbase. XRP was added to Coinbase in late February, a move long sought by supporters of the Ripple-tied token.
Coinbase customers will have access to the no-fee service when sending to other users. Otherwise, Coinbase will charge “a nominal on-chain network fee for sending outside of Coinbase.”
As the firm’s website explains:
“You can now send money to any user with a Coinbase account around the world using XRP or USDC. By using cryptocurrencies that are optimized for cross-border transmission, you can send and receive money virtually instantly by sending those cryptocurrencies and having the recipient convert them into local currency.”
On the page, Coinbase stresses that what’s being offered “is not a money remittance; rather, it is a cryptocurrency transaction with conversion into local currency after receipt.”
The company also notes that “in countries where Coinbase does not support the local currency, recipients need to transfer their XRP/USDC to an exchange that supports exchanges from XRP/USDC to local currency.”
Coinbase doesn’t seem to have made an official announcement regarding the service. A request for comment wasn’t returned by time of publication.
Coinbase app logo image via Shutterstock
UN Moves Toward Ending Cannabis Prohibition .....
https://m.ctpost.com/news/article/The-UN-Is-Moving-Toward-Ending-Decades-of-13714844.php?mc_cid=e75d7bb477&mc_eid=4e4291d709#item-85307-tbla-2
Best Wishes
UN Moves Toward Ending Cannabis Prohibition .....
https://m.ctpost.com/news/article/The-UN-Is-Moving-Toward-Ending-Decades-of-13714844.php?mc_cid=e75d7bb477&mc_eid=4e4291d709#item-85307-tbla-2
Best Wishes
Cryptocurrency Markets Broaden Exposure .....
CoinMarketCap Crypto Indices Launch on Nasdaq, Bloomberg, Reuters
March 20, 2019 ..... by Yogita Khatri
Two cryptocurrency benchmark indices from data provider CoinMarketCap will launch today on financial data feeds from Nasdaq Global Index Data Service (GIDS), Bloomberg Terminal, Thomson Reuters Eikon (Refinitiv) and Germany’s Börse Stuttgart, as well as on its own platform.
CoinMarketCap announced the news Wednesday, saying that the benchmark indices will be the “most comprehensive” crypto data offerings for the markets, covering the top 200 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, one including bitcoin (BTC) and the other without.
The first index is named CMC Crypto 200 Index (CMC200), which includes bitcoin, and covers more than 90 percent of the global cryptocurrency market, the firm said.
The second, CMC Crypto 200 ex BTC Index (CMC200EX), tracks the market’s performance without the influence of bitcoin. The world’s largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin currently has just over 50 percent dominance of the total market capitalization.
“These indices will promote greater accessibility to cryptocurrency data in an easier-to-digest format,” said CoinMarketCap CEO Brandon Chez.
CoinMarketCap has partnered with Germany-based provider of financial indices Solactive for the effort, which will calculate and administer both the indices, as well as rebalance them on a quarterly basis, according to the announcement. Price data is being provided by CoinMarketCap.
Solactive’s head of sales Fabian Colin said that CoinMarketCap data would also give his firm the opportunity to develop custom indices for clients, adding:
“We are looking forward to developing more crypto indices in the future, which will optimistically result in investable indices and might lead to further products.”
Earlier this week, CoinMarketCap also added crypto asset letter grades to its platform from blockchain analytics startup Flipside. The Fundamental Crypto Asset Score (FCAS) metric developed by Flipside evaluates factors such as developer activity and a broad set of transaction data.
Bloomberg Terminal image via Shutterstock
Dr. Ned Sharpless Appointed Temporary FDA Commissioner .....
The temporary appointiment of Dr. Ned Sharpless replacing Gottlieb may not be a serious cause toward worry ..... relative to CBD issues ..... though Trump administration policy has been known to "shape-shift" shortly after announcements of initial intentions .....
Apparently ..... Dr. Sharpless recognizes the need to remove restraints from Cannabis research and realizes the plant's history of use stretches back thousands of years .....
From my perspective ..... the Sharpless appointment may have the potential to "open the doors" relative to Big-Pharma becoming a more active participant in the emergent cannabis-hemp Industry ..... and they happen to be the potential "players" with multi-billion dollar budgets ..... A great deal of "profit potential" sits on the table for savvy Industry concerns to work with.....
Most casual observers have noticed the explosive CBD demand in the public sector empowered by Mitch McConnel's recent Hemp Farm Bill ..... finally making hemp a legal agricultural commodity .....
A few other FDA candidates on the list of potential permanent appointments give some cause for optimism relative to a more liberal CBD regultory outlook .....
What the Next FDA Director Actually Means for Marijuana Companies
Discussion
Cannabis companies have taken a big dive recently. Albeit I fault the decline partly and perhaps unjustly to the general ebbing of the Healthcare Sector, there has been another suspected.
Tony Owusu, author with Cramer’s The Street, blames Aurora’s ($ACB) 4% drop today on the pending resignation of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) head Scott Gottlieb. To be honest, I don’t know what is more shocking: Gottlieb’s suspiciously abrupt announcement to leave the FDA hours after attacking major corporations for enabling minors to smoke or Cramer’s minion thinking that this resignation would disrupt the Cannabis Sector.
Gottlieb isn’t exactly a proponent of marijuana. Although the FDA has approved cannabidiol-based medications like GW Pharmaceuticals' ($GWPH) Epidiolex, in a Novemeber 2018 interview on CNBC, Gottlieb repudiates: “We have approved compounds derived from marijuana but there is no demonstrated medical use for botanical marijuana.” Gottlieb, the hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana users would disagree with you.
In fact, the primary candidate to take Gottlieb’s roll, Amy Abernethy, current principal deputy commissioner the FDA is more than likely a supporter. Abernethy, who was just recently brought on the FDA is a researcher who spent a majority of her academic career at Duke. During her time as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Nursing and Director of the Palliative Care Clinical Research Initiative at the university, Abernethy helped edit a paper by Bill H. McCarberg titled, “Cannabinoids - Their Role in Pain and Palliation.” Understanding that Abernethy, who is also a former Disney Can-Can dancer, has devoted much of her time in modern research and assisted in publishing articles advocating the use of cannabis in pain management, it is plausible that marijuana regulation will likely loosen if she heads the FDA.
Norman Sharpless (Ned), current director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is another contender for Gottlieb’s position. In the 1980’s Ned coauthored articles that discussed marijuana's euphorigenic properties in rats. Today, the NCI’s website admits, “cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years.. promoted for reported analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and anticonvulsant effects.” Their website even states that physicians were the principal opponents of the Marihuana Tax Act 1937 which made cannabis more difficult to procure. As many cancer patients are users of medicinal marijuana and NCI’s website seems to recognize the benefits of both THC and CBD, Ned Sharpless would likely clear the way for healthcare providers to research and develop cannabis medication.
Next on the list is Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, FDA’s parent agency. Giroir has been extremely public about removing CBD from DEA’s Schedule 1 status writing that “CBD and its salts [should] be controlled in Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act." Schedule V drugs demonstrate medical values and are deemed unlikely to cause harm, abuse, or addiction.
Janet Woodcock is another prospect for the position. Currently heading the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research CDER, Woodcock has rejected proposals by Drug Watch International to place marijuana on another list of restricted substances. She is already part of the team that is working with companies to fast track effective medications including those containing CBD.
So why, Tony Owusu? Why do you think that Gottlieb’s resignation is cause for cannabis investors to panic? Does it really justify a massive selloff like we saw today? Is it really any cause for concern? The FDA already admits that marijuana has been known for medical use for over 3,000 years despite what the DEA says. Marijuana has unjustly been classified as Schedule 1, 49 years ago. Perhaps 50 years is enough. It is more than likely that next head of the FDA that replaces Gottlieb will not only help fast track cannabis medications but also ease most restrictions on CBD products.
Dr. Ned Sharpless Appointed Temporary FDA Commissioner .....
The temporary appointiment of Dr. Ned Sharpless replacing Gottlieb may not be a serious cause toward worry ..... relative to CBD issues ..... though Trump administration policy has been known to "shape-shift" shortly after announcements of initial intentions .....
Apparently ..... Dr. Sharpless recognizes the need to remove restraints from Cannabis research and realizes the plant's history of use stretches back thousands of years .....
From my perspective ..... the Sharpless appointment may have the potential to "open the doors" relative to Big-Pharma becoming a more active participant in the emergent cannabis-hemp Industry ..... and they happen to be the potential "players" with multi-billion dollar budgets ..... A great deal of "profit potential" sits on the table for savvy Industry concerns to work with.....
Most casual observers have noticed the explosive CBD demand in the public sector empowered by Mitch McConnel's recent Hemp Farm Bill ..... finally making hemp a legal agricultural commodity .....
A few other FDA candidates on the list of potential permanent appointments give some cause for optimism relative to a more liberal CBD regultory outlook .....
What the Next FDA Director Actually Means for Marijuana Companies
Discussion
Cannabis companies have taken a big dive recently. Albeit I fault the decline partly and perhaps unjustly to the general ebbing of the Healthcare Sector, there has been another suspected.
Tony Owusu, author with Cramer’s The Street, blames Aurora’s ($ACB) 4% drop today on the pending resignation of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) head Scott Gottlieb. To be honest, I don’t know what is more shocking: Gottlieb’s suspiciously abrupt announcement to leave the FDA hours after attacking major corporations for enabling minors to smoke or Cramer’s minion thinking that this resignation would disrupt the Cannabis Sector.
Gottlieb isn’t exactly a proponent of marijuana. Although the FDA has approved cannabidiol-based medications like GW Pharmaceuticals' ($GWPH) Epidiolex, in a Novemeber 2018 interview on CNBC, Gottlieb repudiates: “We have approved compounds derived from marijuana but there is no demonstrated medical use for botanical marijuana.” Gottlieb, the hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana users would disagree with you.
In fact, the primary candidate to take Gottlieb’s roll, Amy Abernethy, current principal deputy commissioner the FDA is more than likely a supporter. Abernethy, who was just recently brought on the FDA is a researcher who spent a majority of her academic career at Duke. During her time as Assistant Professor of Medicine and Nursing and Director of the Palliative Care Clinical Research Initiative at the university, Abernethy helped edit a paper by Bill H. McCarberg titled, “Cannabinoids - Their Role in Pain and Palliation.” Understanding that Abernethy, who is also a former Disney Can-Can dancer, has devoted much of her time in modern research and assisted in publishing articles advocating the use of cannabis in pain management, it is plausible that marijuana regulation will likely loosen if she heads the FDA.
Norman Sharpless (Ned), current director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is another contender for Gottlieb’s position. In the 1980’s Ned coauthored articles that discussed marijuana's euphorigenic properties in rats. Today, the NCI’s website admits, “cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years.. promoted for reported analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and anticonvulsant effects.” Their website even states that physicians were the principal opponents of the Marihuana Tax Act 1937 which made cannabis more difficult to procure. As many cancer patients are users of medicinal marijuana and NCI’s website seems to recognize the benefits of both THC and CBD, Ned Sharpless would likely clear the way for healthcare providers to research and develop cannabis medication.
Next on the list is Brett Giroir, Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, FDA’s parent agency. Giroir has been extremely public about removing CBD from DEA’s Schedule 1 status writing that “CBD and its salts [should] be controlled in Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act." Schedule V drugs demonstrate medical values and are deemed unlikely to cause harm, abuse, or addiction.
Janet Woodcock is another prospect for the position. Currently heading the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research CDER, Woodcock has rejected proposals by Drug Watch International to place marijuana on another list of restricted substances. She is already part of the team that is working with companies to fast track effective medications including those containing CBD.
So why, Tony Owusu? Why do you think that Gottlieb’s resignation is cause for cannabis investors to panic? Does it really justify a massive selloff like we saw today? Is it really any cause for concern? The FDA already admits that marijuana has been known for medical use for over 3,000 years despite what the DEA says. Marijuana has unjustly been classified as Schedule 1, 49 years ago. Perhaps 50 years is enough. It is more than likely that next head of the FDA that replaces Gottlieb will not only help fast track cannabis medications but also ease most restrictions on CBD products.
FDA Commissioner Gottlieb Reveals Details Concerning CBD Regulation .....
A careful and thoughtful reading of this information will likely reveal more insight about proposed CBD regulation to those able to focus on details most media had not reported ..... The CBD issue may not be as dire as many have suspected ..... though I remain steadfast in seeing Gottlieb's departure as a positive sign .....
I hope $USMJ CEO Steven Rash will attend the open CBD hearing in early April to voice the concerns and perspective of majority USMJ Investors .....
Clearly ..... GWPH did not use Agricultural grade Hemp to engineer their FDA approved medicine to Market ..... so this fact opens the door to making a distinction with respect to medicinal grade CBD and agricultural grade CBD derived from hemp ..... which would most likely help enable PURA's EVERx products reaching the high-demand consumer Market ..... Plus ..... I believe Congress will make additional legislative changes to help clarify the CBD issue ..... since the potential downside would involve impacting numerous Business interests to the tune of many billions of dollars in losses .....
Gottlieb remarks ..... “I’ll say at the outset that we heard Congress loud and clear with respect to that legislation,” Gottlieb said, referring to the Farm Bill. “I understand Congress wants there to be a pathway for CBD to be available.”
FDA Head Reveals New Details About Agency’s CBD Regulation
February 27, 2019 ..... by Kyle Jaeger
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb revealed new details about plans to pursue alternative pathways for CBD regulation and also acknowledged that federal prohibition drives research into medical marijuana overseas on Wednesday.
Gottlieb’s latest comments were in response to questions from Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) during a hearing before a House Appropriations subcommittee.
Among the revelations that came out of the hearing was that Gottlieb will shortly announce that the FDA will hold a public meeting “sometime in April” to hear from stakeholders about how to best regulate CBD derived from hemp, which was legalized late last year as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. He also said he’d be forming a working group comprised of agency experts to inform him on regulatory options for CBD.
Pocan wanted to know “how actively” the FDA was considering different pathways to regulate food and dietary supplements that contain hemp-derived CBD, and he requested a timeline for when the agency expects to release guidance on the issue.
“I’ll say at the outset that we heard Congress loud and clear with respect to that legislation,” Gottlieb said, referring to the Farm Bill. “I understand Congress wants there to be a pathway for CBD to be available.”
But he added that this “is not a straightforward issue.” Not only has the already FDA approved a CBD medication for epilepsy, Epidiolex, which generally means the compound can’t be added to food, but it’s also the “subject of substantial clinical investigation”—another reason it wouldn’t be be allowed in the food supply.
That said, “the law does allow us to go through a regulatory process and go through a notice and comment rule-making to establish a framework to allow it to be put into the food supply,” Gottlieb said. Their first step to that end will be a public meeting “sometime in April” that the agency will soon formally announce.
The commissioner offered a theoretical regulatory model that the FDA could implement for CBD.
CBD could potentially exist “in a high concentration, pure formulation as a pharmaceutical product” and also exist “at a different concentration as a food product or dietary supplement.” The reason the agency would want that separation is “because we want to preserve the incentive to study CBD as a pharmaceutical product,” Gottlieb said.
“We believe it does have therapeutic value and has been demonstrated,” he said. “But I will tell you this is not a straightforward process. There’s not a good proxy for us doing this through regulation.”
If the task of developing an alternative regulatory approach for CBD proves “sufficiently complicated,” Gottlieb said the FDA will “come back and have a discussion with Congress about how we might be able to work together on this,” suggesting that further legislative action beyond the Farm Bill may be necessary.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) briefly followed up on Pocan’s questioning and said he goes into markets and see “displays of CBD-containing products, and it’s not at the pharmacy behind the counter obtained with a prescription.”
“I think this is something that crept up on us and I appreciate your answer to Mr. Pocan on that,” Harris said.
Pingree was the lead author of a bipartisan letter that was sent to the commissioner last week, inquiring about the timeline for the FDA’s guidance on how businesses can lawfully sell hemp-derived CBD products across state lines. At the hearing, the congresswoman said she wanted to “emphasize the need for some sense of urgency” around the issue.
“I will tell you that we’re deeply focused on this. We have taken on other hard challenges before,” Gottlieb said. “I think we have a good track record of trying to come to resolution on other challenges. You have my commitment that I’m focused on this one.”
Today I asked Commissioner Gottieb about FDA's timeline and resources to develop legal pathways for food products with #CBD. He said the agency is developing a working group focused on this issue, but if it takes too long Congress may need to act. #mepolitics
The commissioner said he will soon announce “a high-level working group that’s going to report to me on this, with some senior officials in the agency who are going to be chairing that.”
“I will tell you that if we make a determination that the pathway here is going to be a multi-year regulatory process that could take two, three, four years, I will come back to Congress to have a discussion about whether or not there are other frameworks that could help address this,” he said.
Further, the FDA may “need statute that either addresses this as a whole framework or address CBD specifically.”
Lee, who became the first woman and first person of color to co-chair the Congressional Cannabis Caucus in January, said she was excited to have the opportunity to speak about two of her favorite subjects: “Cuba and cannabis.”
For the latter, she focused on the FDA approval of Epidiolex. Specifically, she wanted to point out that a UK-based pharmaceutical company was awarded the drug approval because the UK government licenses them “to privately grow strains of cannabis for the purpose of drug development.”
“Is it possible under our US federal system, Schedule I, can a U.S.-based company similarly bring a plant-derived cannabis-based drug to market via the traditional FDA review and approval process?” Lee asked. “Because so many states now have passed medical marijuana initiatives and it’s a shame that we haven’t been able to move forward with the research.”
“With respect to cannabis-derived compounds, it really depends on which active ingredient you’re talking about—whether you’re talking about THC or CBD and whether or not it’s being derived from marijuana or hemp,” Gottlieb said.
He added that it remains an “active question” as to whether hemp-derived CBD was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, which would mean the compound “can be studied in a more fluid fashion.” (Some experts don’t see this as an open question, however, as the agriculture legislation did remove hemp-derived products from the Controlled Substance Act.)
The commissioner said he has his “own personal opinion” about the issue but said his lawyers wouldn’t want him to give a “legal opinion.”
“I think we’re going to have a resolution on that very soon about whether or not the CBD derived from hemp doesn’t fall under the scheduling process,” he said.
Finally, Gottlieb conceded that existing federal marijuana laws mean that “the ability to conduct research on marijuana is more restricted, more heavily regulated.” While he said he didn’t know “all of the nuances” around it, one problem is that there’s only one federally authorized marijuana manufacturer in the United States, and that lack of supply has driven some researchers to conduct studies in other countries.
“Over the years, you have seen, in all candor, companies go overseas to conduct research with foreign-grown product that is more easily sourced for the purposes of clinical trials,” he said. “I think the issue you’re getting at is a valid one. The only thing I can say is that the environment here is changing quickly.”
“Very quickly,” Lee agreed.
“We would certainly support more research,” Gottlieb said.
Brief Scientific Perspective Concerning CBD-THC .....
The following information provides adequate cause to question the wisdom of the FDA wanting to declare CBD's illegal for human consumption .....
A few remarks from the information imparted below seem deserving of increased scrutiny .....
"Given CBD's low affinity for the cannabinoid receptors CB1, it lacks euphoric side effects. In other words, CBD does not produce a high.
It is being evaluated as a potential treatment option for conditions such as schizophrenia."
Also .....
"CBD, if taken with a high-THC medication used to treat nausea and improve appetite, could reduce the side effects of THC, which can include paranoia. This is because CBD is an antagonist to CB1 receptors and suppresses the qualities of THC that activate these receptors."
100's of peer reviewed studies relative to CBD's have been published ..... Also ..... the hemp strain named "Charlotte's Web" ..... which has a highly elevated CBD profile ..... has been shown to be effective treating CHILDREN with chronic epileptic conditions ..... with no dangerous side-effects reported .....
CBD Vs. THC: The Science Behind The Most Popular Cannabinoids
by Shanthi Rexalinea
Whenever pot is discussed, two acronyms — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and cannabidiol, or CBD — are usually mentioned in the same breath. The following is a look at how the substances differ.
The Science
Cannabis sativa, an annual herbaceous flowering plant, has numerous uses thanks to the multiple natural compounds present.
Cannabinoid, or phytocannabinoid, is the broader term used to refer to the more than 100 different chemical compounds in cannabis plants.
Incidentally, cannabinoids can also be produced in the body (endocannabinoids) or synthetically manufactured (synthetic cannabinoids).
These compounds act on the cannabinoid receptors in cells — CB1 in the brain and CB2 in the body — that alter neurotransmitter release in the brain.
THC and CBD are the two major phytocannabinoids. Among the different varieties of the cannabis family, a particular variety has a higher proportion of the mind-altering chemical THC: 5-20 percent compared to sub-5 percent levels of CBD.
Cannabis used for human consumption is usually obtained from the flower or bud. Some varieties may have a balance in the CBD-THC ratio, while others may have a higher proportion of THC relative to CBD.
Some of the other cannabinoids derived from the cannabis plant are:
Tetrahydrocannabivarin, or THCV.
Cannabidivarin, or CBDV.
Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A, or THCA.
The Cannabis Capital Conference is coming back to Toronto April 17-18!
CBD
CBD occurs in the cannabis plant in the form of cannabidiolic acid, or CBDA, which yields CBD when heated.
Given CBD's low affinity for the cannabinoid receptors CB1, it lacks euphoric side effects. In other words, CBD does not produce a high.
It is being evaluated as a potential treatment option for conditions such as schizophrenia.
In 2018, the FDA approved GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR (NASDAQ: GWPH)'s plant-derived CBD with the brand name Epidiolex for treating seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome, two rare and severe forms of epilepsy, in patients two years or older.
How CBD Works
CBD has several mechanisms of action, including acting upon the CB1 and CB2 receptors indirectly. It mostly binds to the CB2 receptors found in the peripheral organs and skin.
It also interacts with other receptors such as serotonin, vanilloid, GPR55 and PPARs.
THC
THC is a major cannabinoid derived either from the cannabis plant or produced synthetically that is primarily responsible for marijuana's psychotropic properties. It is known for its recreational as well as therapeutic uses.
Marijuana sold in dispensaries has an average THC content of 21 percent, according to Origins Cannabis.
The synthetic THC drug Dronabinol, sold under the brand names Marinol, Syndros and Cesamet, has been approved by the FDA for treating nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.
How THC Works
THC's chemical structure is similar to the endocannabinoid anandamide, which transmits chemical messages between nerve cells. Due to the similarity of the structure, the brain is tricked into believing THC is an anandamide. Just like anandamide, THC binds with the cannabinoid receptor CB1 like a key in a lock, forcing the body to release dopamine.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that sends signals between nerve cells and regulates movement, attention, learning and emotional responses. It helps us to see rewards and to initiate actions to move toward them.
The Entourage Effect
The entourage effect is the result produced by the synergistic interaction of compounds such as cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenes and fatty acids found in cannabis instead of one compound at a time.
CBD, if taken with a high-THC medication used to treat nausea and improve appetite, could reduce the side effects of THC, which can include paranoia. This is because CBD is an antagonist to CB1 receptors and suppresses the qualities of THC that activate these receptors.
Terpenes are found in the cannabis plant and are responsible for smell; when combined with CBD, terpenes can work synergistically to treat pain, inflammation, depression, anxiety, addiction, epilepsy, cancer, fungal and bacterial infections.
Related Links:
How Topicals Are Bringing CBD To Mass Retail Customers
Cowen: CBD Market Could Reach $16B By 2025
Current CBD Status And Awareness .....
From my perspective ..... this CBD information is worth taking a very careful and thoughtful read ..... since I find some unsound thinking laced with ostensibly contradictory assertions .....
Like Hemp becoming a legally recognized Agricultural commodity by way of Senator McConnels Farm Bill ..... and then the FDA asserting "absolute regulatory authority" to prevent Hemp from being "legally consumed" ..... under the pretext of the Hemp plant containing the component CBD ..... which has clearly been erroneously considered a "drug" for approximately the last eight decades ..... Now seemingly corrected !!! ..... But NOT !!! .....
A "legally designated Agricultural commodity" normally means you can "EAT IT" ..... but not in the apparent "clouded mind" of retiring FDA Director Gottlieb ..... Even "The World Health Organization" recommended recently that CBD does not deserve a schedule-one designation ..... Though the special UN "drug-authority-council" ..... apparently stacked with hand-picked "Reefer-Madness Wingnuts" ..... has been gifted the "toothless international authority" to delay a CBD ruling "eternally" ...... due to undisclosed partisan affiliations ..... most likely ..... handsomely paid for ..... by "elite special interests" ..... though the "Honcho in charge" parrots the everlasting excuse of "not enough time to research the issue" ..... It looks like nearly an entire century has slipped away without producing credible information about CBD or Cannabis ..... What a curious dilemma .... indeed !!!
The FDA has already approved "drugs" with CBD ..... and now they officially want to claim they are "unable to determine" if CBD is actually safe ..... Why does Gottlieb get to play a phony "common sense game" from both ends of an issue ..... and appear to "come out on top ?" ..... Like CBD legally approved by the FDA for use ..... and now illegal as a componenent in legally sanctioned HEMP ? ..... It looks like the FDA wants to milk a "Cash-Cow" ..... for many more millions of dollars .....
Dr. Gottlieb wants to look like he may be standing on solid ground ..... though even pubescent children are likely to sense Gottlieb's thinly justifed and conflicted rationale appears to be mired in quicksand .....
Why does CBD deserve to be called a "drug" ..... in the first place ..... since it has no known intoxicating effects ? ..... Oh !!! ..... I almost forgot !!! ..... Due to hemp's longstanding American history of denial as a basic food substance and the denigrating ..... heavy-handed influence ..... by virtue of "partisan targeted ignorance" ..... imposed by profit-seeking interests ..... Let's conveniently forget that most of America's Founding Fathers cultivated Hemp ..... and it was also allegedly approved as a means to pay taxes !!! ..... though I fail to grasp exactly how that assertion may have played-out !!!
"After the 2018 Farm Bill goes into effect, hemp was made legal in 50 states, but CBD for human consumption was not, according to an FDA clarification released on Dec. 20." ..... The use of the term "clarification" ..... in this instance ..... should merit being seen as an oxymoron ..... from my perspective .....
The good part about the churning CBD issue would have to be the momentum of strong interest by "Major Corporate Players" ..... as detailed in the following article .....
Everything You Need To Know About CBD, The Non-Intoxicating Cannabis Elixir That Isn’t Fully Legal — Yet
January 26, 2018 ..... by KARI PAUL
Do you take cream or sugar with your coffee? How about CBD?
Cannabidiol, a chemical component of cannabis known as CBD, has been popping up at an increasing number of bars and coffee shops in major cities in recent years. Without the psychoactive components in marijuana, the substance reportedly offers some of the anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory benefits of the drug without getting consumers high.
CBD exists in a kind of legal gray area: in many places it is not necessarily legal, but it’s also not illegal. The 2018 Farm Bill, which passed on Dec. 20, 2018, was expected to remove hemp and CBD from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of “Schedule I” controlled substances, making it an ordinary agricultural commodity and allowing it to be legally sold in all 50 states. But after its passage, the FDA clarified in a public statement that the law did not change that CBD remains an “illegal substance under federal law.”
The agency promised to take steps to “better define our public health obligations in this area” in coming months, but that could take awhile, given that the FDA was running with reduced staff due to the government shutdown, it announced on Jan. 2.
Until then, it is unlawful to introduce new products to market that contain CBD or THC into interstate commerce. The FDA is also warning companies against making unproven claims about uses of CBD, including therapeutic and health benefits. CBD is often marketed as a natural sleep and anxiety aid.
Despite the FDA’s failure to approve it across the market, CBD going mainstream is inevitable, industry representatives have argued. Beverage giants like Coca- Cola KO, -0.37% and Pepsi PEP, -0.48% are eying CBD-infused beverages as consumption of traditional soda declines. The market for CBD products is anticipated to grow to more than $2 billion in total sales by 2020. People are using CBD for anxiety, sports injuries, and face serums, and even giving it to their pets.
What is CBD?
Cannabis plants contain hundreds of chemical components called cannabinoids, but the two main ones are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). THC is an intoxicating substance that interacts with endocannabinoid receptors in a user’s brain, activating reward mechanisms that produce dopamine and get a user high.
CBD does not affect these receptors the same way and, therefore, does not have a psychoactive effect. Like THC, CBD extract can be consumed in liquid and other edible forms or through a vape pen.
Is it legal?
Some 47 states as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. have passed laws allowing the use of CBD to some extent, according to marijuana advocacy organization NORML. After the 2018 Farm Bill goes into effect, hemp was made legal in 50 states, but CBD for human consumption was not, according to an FDA clarification released on Dec. 20.
What is it used for?
While CBD is advertised to treat insomnia, chronic pain, depression, and anxiety, there is little scientific evidence to prove it is effective for these ailments. CBD may be effective for depression and anxiety treatment, studies on rats have shown, but there’s little research on the effects of CBD on humans.
The chemical can be effective for treating seizures due to epilepsy, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed.
In September, a CBD treatment that GW Pharmaceuticals GWPH, -0.25% created for child-onset epilepsy received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale as a medicinal product. Tilray, Inc. TLRY, -8.09% is also currently developing a cannabis-derived epilepsy treatment. The treatment is currently in clinical trials.
Is it safe?
A preliminary report published by the World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence found CBD is “not associated with abuse potential” and that it does not induce physical dependence. “CBD is generally well tolerated with a good safety profile,” the researchers wrote.
However WHO “does not recommend cannabidiol for medical use” because there is still little evidence to prove its effectiveness. Although CBD is relatively safe and it is virtually impossible to overdose on it, a user should talk to their doctor before trying it, especially if they are taking other medications, according to Tristan Watkins, chief science officer of cannabis lifestyle brand LucidMood.
“Although CBD is non-intoxicating, large doses can still cause drowsiness,” he said. “It is always advisable to see how you respond to CBD before operating a vehicle or engaging in any other potentially dangerous activity. Additionally, it is generally advisable to speak with your doctor before using any CBD products since some medications may interact.”
Is it regulated?
CBD has thus far been only very loosely regulated and a number of brands have received warnings from the FDA for misrepresenting what goes into their products. Some 70% of cannabinoid extracts sold online are mislabeled, a 2017 study from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found.
Approximately 43% of the products surveyed contained too little CBD, while 26% contained too much. And 1 in 5 CBD products contained THC, that active compound that does get people high.
Consumers should be careful about where they purchase CBD and read labels carefully, said Mathew Gerson, founder and chief executive officer of cannabis brand Foria, which sells a 1-ounce CBD “tonic for daily wellness” for $98. “Buy CBD from reputable brands with a demonstrated commitment to transparency and purity — including sharing test results for all claims about product content,” he said.
One telltale sign that a company may not be reliable: It lists “CBD” as an ingredient instead of “hemp oil,” Gerson said. Printing “CBD” on a product’s ingredient list runs afoul of Federal Drug Administration regulations, he said.
“If a company prints CBD on their package you have to wonder what other FDA rules they’re not abiding by, and whether they’re actually doing lab tests for purity on their product,” he said.
Products labeled as “hemp extract” CBD are legally required to have less than 0.3% THC, according to the Farm Bill. Other products may have higher levels of THC. Standard drug tests don’t typically look for CBD.
What kind should you get?
Consumers should also check labels for important information like where it’s manufactured, the ingredients, the amount of CBD in the product, the date of manufacture or expiration date, and the batch or lot number, Chris Stubbs, chief science officer at CBD and hemp company GenCanna, said.
“Any firm that is meeting or exceeding food production standards as determined by the code of federal regulations should be able to show transparency in their supply chain and provide substantiating documentation to support,” he said.
Oral CBD added to drinks like coffee and CBD cocktails tend to have a slower effect on the body, while vaporizers have a more immediate effect, but it doesn’t last as long. Topical products like lotion or balm containing CBD work locally on muscles and nerves and have been shown to help with arthritis pain, according to a 2016 National Institute of Health study.
Some companies will label CBD with specific strain information, like “indica” and “sativa.” These strains make more of a difference when consuming THC than CBD: Indica is known to have a more calming, sedative effect while sativa is a more energetic high. However, the provenance of the product is more important than the strain, Gerson said.
This story was originally published on Oct. 29, 2018 and updated on Jan 25, 2019.
Very Uplifting $USMJ-$PURA News !!!
Thanks for posting !!! ..... Good timing too !!! .... since I had just read the USMJ CEO ..... Steven Rash ..... ACI letter from June 6, 2019 ..... and picked-up a few more shares of USMJ .....
Exponential consumer demand will surely follow on the heels of the Arnold Sports Festival ..... and the event's rapid sellout of the PURA "EVERx CBD Sports Water" ..... Also contracts allegedly signed along with enhanced M & A interest ..... What more could an Investor hope for ? ..... I know ..... I know ..... "Share Price to the moon" !!! ..... though the future certainly looks bright for $USMJ ..... and the entire ACI family of investments ..... at this point in time ..... conservatively speaking ..... from my perspective .....
https://marketwirenews.com/news-releases/puration-signs-new-cbd-beverage-distribution-orders-with-even-bigger-orders-underway-fueling-m-a-interest-7819140.html
Best Wishes
$USMJ CEO Steven Rash Shareholder Letter 29-06-18 .....
This information might help clarify many questions I encounter on this Investor's Board with respect to USMJ and their Corporate mission and historical perspective .....
Though I find cause to wonder when Mr. Rash states a USMJ-PURA dividend has already been paid ..... It sounds like there had been an earlier USMJ-PURA dividend apart from the anticipated dividend ? .....
Also ..... "American Cannabis Innovations" ..... ACI ..... would be the parent organization of USMJ ..... PURA ..... NOUV ..... and PJET ..... This fact seems worth paying attention to !!! .....
A paragraph from the June 6, 2018 Steven Rash Investor letter below .....
"Those of you that have been around USMJ for a while will recall the transaction we did with PURA. USMJ sold its cannabis extraction business to PURA in exchange for stock in PURA. Some of the PURA stock was distributed to shareholders of USMJ through a dividend distribution. Admittedly, the cannabis extraction business sale and subsequent dividend distribution of PURA stock to USMJ shareholders did not go as smooth as silk, but it did finally get done. The PURA stock was distributed to USMJ shareholders and after a year holding period, the distributed PURA stock was eligible to trade. Most shareholders holding PURA dividend stock have processed a removal of the restrictive legend on the PURA stock through the PURA transfer agent. If you haven’t had the legend removed on PURA dividend stock that you are holding, follow the instructions on our website - https://www.aciconglomerated.com/faq/. With the first USMJ spinoff and PURA dividend under our belt, we are confident that our next spinoffs and dividends will go more smoothly."
LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS: USMJ AND PURA CELEBRATE OKLAHOMA MEDICAL MARIJUANA VOTE
Dallas, TX – June 29, 2018 – North American Cannabis Holdings, Inc. (USOTC: USMJ) and Puration, Inc. (USOTC: PURA) today released a letter to shareholders with details on the two company’s combined plans to spinoff select operations with the dividend distribution of stock in the spinoffs to the shareholders of USMJ and PURA. The details in the letter to shareholders come in conjunction with Oklahoma’s recent vote to legalize medical marijuana. Management emphasizes Oklahoma’s recent vote as an illustration of the potential for marijuana businesses catering to the expanding legalization of cannabis. The letter to shareholders is included in its entirety below:
Dear Fellow Shareholders –
Thank you for your response. Wow! Hundreds of people responded to our last press release asking shareholders to sign up to receive this letter with the latest details on our recently implemented strategic plan to expand our reach into the ever-evolving market for legal cannabis products and services. Most of you included a question or comment when you signed up. The comments ranged from votes of encouragement to some really fabulous suggestions and introductions. Some of you signing up are downright celebrities and we are delightfully surprised to have garnered your attention. Start-ups are exciting but really hard work, and in the cannabis sector, the hard work comes with a fair amount of periodic browbeating and shaming, which can admittedly take the wind out of your sails. Your enthusiastic and supportive comments and questions of genuine interest were well received, and we thank you. As an entrepreneurial start-up, we’re just a small group (to keep expenses down), but we will get back to all of you as soon as we can. We hope the information here today is helpful in response to the questions we received and can hold you until we reach you individually.
Support for legalized cannabis is growing in epic proportions. Canada just voted to legalize recreational marijuana across the entire country, but in what we believe is even bigger news, Oklahoma just became the 30th state to legalize medical marijuana. With the likes of an Oklahoma, a longtime conservative state, voting to legalize medical marijuana, continued political conservative resistance to legalization is likely to lose republican seats in Congress. Late Show host, and frequent political satirist, Stephen Colbert paid tribute to Oklahoma’s legalization vote with his own rendition of Rodger and Hammerstein’s title song Oklahoma, changed to Tokelahoma. It’s a fun watch: .....
..... The founders behind what is now USMJ and PURA entered into the cannabis sector back in 2013 motivated by our own personal experiences. In all honesty, each of us came from Jeff Sessions’ side of the fence adamantly opposed to the “evil” weed. We were each compelled to the pro-cannabis side by health issues facing someone close to us where cannabis made a substantial difference. Recognizing that our “evil” weed thinking had come from decades of erroneous government propaganda denouncing cannabis, we set out to find the truth. With the genuine purpose of discovery, we set out to explore what benefits might come from cannabis. Through our incubator business development approach, we have examined numerous cannabis industry business opportunities and found a variety of benefits that can be derived from cannabis use. In response to our exploration into various cannabis enterprise endeavors, we have heard so many accounts of how cannabis has made lives better, that we are more convicted than ever to stay the course on continuing to explore even more cannabis business opportunities where cannabis products and services can be made available to an even wider audience to make even more lives better.
We built our incubator business model into a penny stock platform for the specific purpose of accessing investment. With the intention of delivering a return on that investment, and in an effort to access continued investment, we have implemented a spinoff strategy. When one of our incubated cannabis businesses shows promise, we structure that business into its own penny stock platform through a spinoff transaction. Specially, a cannabis business that we believe is ready to stand on its own is sold to an independently listed penny stock company. We look for penny stock company platforms that don’t have much in the way of existing operations at the moment, and without much in the way of operations, on the hunt for a new business opportunity. We sell the cannabis business that we have decided is ready to stand alone to the target penny stock company in exchange for stock in the target penny stock company. We then take some of the stock in the target penny stock company and distribute to our shareholders through a dividend distribution.
Those of you that have been around USMJ for a while will recall the transaction we did with PURA. USMJ sold its cannabis extraction business to PURA in exchange for stock in PURA. Some of the PURA stock was distributed to shareholders of USMJ through a dividend distribution. Admittedly, the cannabis extraction business sale and subsequent dividend distribution of PURA stock to USMJ shareholders did not go as smooth as silk, but it did finally get done. The PURA stock was distributed to USMJ shareholders and after a year holding period, the distributed PURA stock was eligible to trade. Most shareholders holding PURA dividend stock have processed a removal of the restrictive legend on the PURA stock through the PURA transfer agent. If you haven’t had the legend removed on PURA dividend stock that you are holding, follow the instructions on our website - https://www.aciconglomerated.com/faq/. With the first USMJ spinoff and PURA dividend under our belt, we are confident that our next spinoffs and dividends will go more smoothly.
We are ready to grow our current family of independently listed cannabis businesses. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to review the strategic plan for expanding USMJ and PURA’s reach into the growing cannabis market. We have already announced plans for USMJ to spinoff its AmeriCanna Cafe business into a standalone penny stock company and for PURA to spinoff its cannabis cultivation business into another standalone penny stock company. The milestone announced earlier this week is that two target penny stock companies for facilitating the respective USMJ and PURA spinoffs have been identified. The purpose of this letter has been to expand upon the details of the two spinoffs by first explaining how the transactions will work in more detail and second, previewing a schedule of next steps. We shared the experience (above) with USMJ spinning-off its cannabis extraction business to PURA and issuing PURA stock to USMJ shareholders in a dividend distribution as a way to illustrate how the upcoming USMJ and PURA spinoffs and dividends will work. Below we will preview a schedule of next steps.
Before the end of July, we expect to announce the names of the two target company’s for the USMJ and PURA spinoffs. In separate announcements, also before the end of July, we expect to announce the terms of the spinoff transactions to include how many shares of each target company will be distributed to USMJ and PURA shareholders in proportion to the number of USMJ and PURA shares they own. In August, we expect to announce the anticipated dates when shareholders can expect for the USMJ and PURA spinoff transactions to close and when the dividends of spinoff stock will be issued. In general, we are working toward closing the two spinoff transactions shortly after Labor Day and executing the dividends shortly thereafter. In the meantime, USMJ and PURA anticipate disclosing more details on the business development plans for the new standalone AmeriCanna Cafe and cannabis cultivation operations, as well as the ongoing cannabis ecommerce and cannabis beverage businesses that will respectively remain in USMJ and PURA.
On behalf of everyone here at USMJ and PURA, thank you for your interest in our developing business and your vote of confidence. We look forward to getting back to you on your individual questions, suggestions and introductions.
Sincerely,
Steven Rash
CEO, North American Cannabis Holdings, Inc.
CEO, ACI Conglomerated
For more information visit www.aciconglomerated.com.
Disclaimer/Safe Harbor:
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include the expectation that any of the companies mentioned herein will achieve significant sales, the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the companies' contracts, the companies' liquidity position, the companies' ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Steven Rash
info@aciconglomerated.com
+1-800-861-1350
Facebook Plans Entry Into Cryptocurrency .....
Nice to see a major player engaging the cryptocurrency experience !!! .....
Facebook Plans Cryptocurrency Launch First Half 2019: NYT Report
By Zack Seward ..... February28, 2019 .....
Facebook is talking to exchanges about potentially listing a cryptocurrency.
That’s the main finding from a New York Times story published Thursday on several efforts to introduce native cryptocurrencies to widely used messaging platforms. The Times reports that Signal and Telegram are also planning to roll out tokens over the next 12 months.
Citing “four people briefed on the negotiations,” the Times reports that Facebook has told exchanges it expects to get a product out in the first half of 2019.
The Facebook project, which had previously been reported by Bloomberg as a stablecoin for its WhatsApp messaging service, would be the most high profile of the bunch. The social media giant has 2.5 billion global users.
One source speaking to CoinDesk on condition of anonymity confirmed that the company is working on a stablecoin, based on past meetings with the Menlo Park company.
Facebook has beefed up its blockchain team in recent months, with a hiring push and at least one talent-minded acquisition. The company is currently seeking to fill nearly 20 blockchain-related positions. According to the Times report, more than 50 Facebook engineers are dedicated to the company’s blockchain project.
Increasing the reach of the project, the story notes prior reporting that Facebook has plans to integrate users across its Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram messaging services.
Gottlieb Replacement Not Anticipated To-Be CBD Obstructionist .....
The best news from the FDA in a long time would have to be yesterday's unforeseen resignation of their Director ..... Dr. Gottlieb ..... since ..... from my perspective ...... he had taken an obstructionist view toward regulating CBD ..... which may have had a profoundly negative impact upon the emergent CBD Industry worldwide ..... and he apparently fast-tracked an opioid drug more potent than other known dangerous drugs ..... though the stated reason toward his departure ..... slated for the end of this month ..... had been ..... he wanted more time with his family .....
Perhaps ..... Mitch McConnels recent Hemp Farm Bill has some chance to become more than just a "toothless dog" .....
And $USMJ Investors have better reason to become optimistic ..... though it remains to be seen ..... at this point in time ..... exactly what the CBD agenda of the new FDA leadership might be ..... Only our president might know .....
Also in question would be the Cannabis legislative orientation of Senator McConnell ..... who apparently remains on-record against recreational cannabis use ..... Will Mr. McConnell be willing to "take the risk" to stonewall all proposed cannabis legislation for discussion and / or vote ? ..... Former House Rules Committee Chairman .... Pete Sessions ..... blocked all proposed cannabis legislation since 2015 ..... for both discussion and vote ..... then got flushed from office by a wide majority ...... by way of our last 2018 election .....
Many important people in this current Trump Administration claim cannabis laws need to change ..... but they can only do so ..... if and when our democratic process is given an opportunity to proceed by popular opinion ..... while to many ..... Congress appears to move about as quickly as cold taffy ..... Many appear to blame the "legislative slowdown" on the Trump Government shutdown ..... which does not make a lot os sense to me .....
Hemp seemingly has a history as old as our planetry species ..... and has had a trade value for countless generations ..... Touted to have at least 25,000 commercial uses ..... and once showcased as the Department of Agriculture's ..... "domestic plan for the future" ..... in "Popular Mechanics" ...... I have forgotten the exact year ..... Even visionary Henry Ford produced an all-hemp car fueled by hemp diesel ..... which proved to be 10X stronger than steel construction might have been .....
However ..... "elite special interests intervened to tax Hemp and then make it illegal along with its sister companion Cannabis ..... And we seem to be stuck in a deep groove of denial and opposition since the stringent regulatory outlook of the Nixon era ....
Which seems like a long time to correct unfair and unjust policy ..... in light of Nixon's "Blue-Ribbon Drug-Study Commission's" recommendation to legalize Cannabis ..... Some may feel cognitively obliged to conclude ..... "Special interests must have interceded to control the agenda" ..... If so .... why has this cannabis dilemma remained in a seeming "straight-jacket" for almost seven decades ? ...... with abundant suffering and violence resulting ? ..... Not to mention crippling costs to taxpayers .....
Best Wishes
$PURA-$USMJ News Has Major Potential For USMJ-Investors .....
Thanks for posting this information !!! ..... I have been reading on both the PURA and USMJ Boards ..... and feel certain $USMJ Investors have good cause to become excited ..... especially following the recent PURA run to .13 ..... though I find reason to become concerned relative to the FDA seemingly claiming a regulatory status of "absolute authority" ..... following on the heels of Hemp legally becoming an agricultural commodity ..... which would clearly turn Mitch McConnels popular HEMP Farm Bill into something like a "toothless dog" .....
It appears the FDA would be taking a protectionist measure to safeguard windfall and questionable profits for "elite special interests" ..... if CBD obstruction survives ..... rather than the FDA demonstrating any concern whatsoever for the health and well-being of the American people .....
So Director Gottlieb apparently claims hemp is seen more fittingly as a "food additive" ..... more specifically the "CBD component"..... rather than having the legal agricultural commodity status it has just earned ? ..... And hemp widely known to be safe for human consumption ..... for thousands of years .....
Gottliebs "Cannabis rap" before the Hemp Farm Bill .....
https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm628988.htm
Sounds like Gottlieb must be a partisan crusader for some protectionist cause !!! ..... While he conveniently turns a blind eye toward regulating "wheat" ..... in light of compelling information indicating wheat has become a "toxic digestive substance" ..... due to all the hybrid crosses ..... rather than from an effect of GMO engineering .....
NY cardiologist ..... Dr. William Davis ..... has told the distressing wheat-effect story many years ago ..... by way of his bestselling book ..... "Wheat Belly" .....
https://www.wheatbellyblog.com/
Clearly ..... the wheat dilemma would be a compelling health-related story which the FDA considers unworthy for obvious economic reasons ..... Many intelligent people likely understand why !!! .....
The FDA seems to have a longstanding documented public record of approving dangerous drugs for human consumption ..... while it has taken many long years to have some of these same toxic substances withdrawn ..... since many were proven to be "gold-star-cash-cows" .....
Best Wishes
Mexico Legalizes Recreational Cannabis .....
This appears to be a big change on the way for America ..... to become sandwiched between two important neighbors who have legalized Cannabis for recreational purposes !!! .....
Mexico Legalizes Marijuana For Recreational Purposes
By Yucatan Times on February 26, 2019
The most important battle in Mexico has just been won: the chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the nation (SCJN) has published case law in which it states that all judges may grant prescriptions to those who need them, for the recreational use of cannabis. The resolution will be published in 6 days and will continue towards its complete decriminalization.
Until now, judges could refuse the protection of self-consumption issued by the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), since the law partially prohibited consumption.
Olga Sánchez Cordero
Last november, the senator and current secretary of the interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, presented a proposal to regulate the plant for personal, scientific and commercial purposes.
Following the decision of the First Chamber, the matter advances with substantial support to the Supreme Court, where it would approve the general statement to establish case law against five sections of health legislation that would prohibit personal use or consumption, as well as planting, cultivation, harvesting, preparation, possession and transport of the plant. Legislators had a period of 90 calendar days to amend or repeal these five articles.
“THE INITIATIVE AIMS TO END ONCE AND FOR ALL THE WAR THAT CONTINUES TO KILL US,” SAID SÁNCHEZ CORDERO
Once the decision is published in the official journal Semanario Judicial, all federal judges in the country will be required to provide protection to people who ask to consume legally.
THIS FIRST CHAMBER UNDERSTANDS THAT THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO THE FREE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY ALLOWS, THUS TO SAY, THAT ADULTS DECIDE WITHOUT INTERFERENCE WHICH TYPE OF RECREATIONAL OR LEISURE ACTIVITIES THEY WISH TO EXERCISE, AS WELL AS TO CARRY OUT ALL ACTIONS OR ACTIVITIES NECESSARY FOR POWER. CONCREE THIS CHOICE “, UNDERLINES THE THESIS.
This opens the door to anyone who wishes to start their own proceedings before the COFEPRIS and then seek the protection of a judge. It should be recalled that case law does not bind any authority other than the judiciary, so that neither the police nor COFEPRIS nor the Ministry of Health are obliged to recognize this right until the law is issued. In other words, you always run the risk until further notice.
MEXICAN COMPANIES PREPARE TO BECOME CBD GIANTS
The country is positioned as the second largest market in the region, after Brazil, and these newly created companies are ready to take advantage of this activity.
In this context, companies have become interested in the CBD market: the product that comes from the plant that contains no psychotropic agents.
17 MILLIONS OF POTENTIAL PATIENTS IN LATIN AMERICA
In 60 countries that are on the verge of legalizing marijuana, more than 90% of cases focus on the development of CBD-containing products for industrial and medical reasons. The most important region in this development is Asia, and in Latin America, Brazil is leading the consumption. Then there is Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina, explains Giadha Aguirre, Executive Director of New Frontier Data.
These countries have a market potential of 10 billion, which opens up the possibility of creating power in CBD production alongside Asia, Canada, Europe and the United States
China is the largest producer of hemp, with 95% of the industry. This is why, according to Aguirre, the countries of Latin America should join forces. “The growth of the region will depend on many factors, such as the lower cost of culture, as in Thailand and Indonesia, or innovation, such as that of the United States and Canada, which is the most competitive and mature market. .
The problem with Europe, which ranks second for consumption, is that it can not grow or produce, which is why Latin America, Asia and Canada are competing for who will export more Cannabis to the rest of the world.
Source: https://www.cannabis-mag.com
Mexico Legalizes Recreational Cannabis !!! .....
This appears to be a big change on the way for America ..... to become sandwiched between two important neighbors who have legalized Cannabis for recreational purposes !!! .....
Mexico Legalizes Marijuana For Recreational Purposes
By Yucatan Times on February 26, 2019
The most important battle in Mexico has just been won: the chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the nation (SCJN) has published case law in which it states that all judges may grant prescriptions to those who need them, for the recreational use of cannabis. The resolution will be published in 6 days and will continue towards its complete decriminalization.
Until now, judges could refuse the protection of self-consumption issued by the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), since the law partially prohibited consumption.
Olga Sánchez Cordero
Last november, the senator and current secretary of the interior, Olga Sánchez Cordero, presented a proposal to regulate the plant for personal, scientific and commercial purposes.
Following the decision of the First Chamber, the matter advances with substantial support to the Supreme Court, where it would approve the general statement to establish case law against five sections of health legislation that would prohibit personal use or consumption, as well as planting, cultivation, harvesting, preparation, possession and transport of the plant. Legislators had a period of 90 calendar days to amend or repeal these five articles.
“THE INITIATIVE AIMS TO END ONCE AND FOR ALL THE WAR THAT CONTINUES TO KILL US,” SAID SÁNCHEZ CORDERO
Once the decision is published in the official journal Semanario Judicial, all federal judges in the country will be required to provide protection to people who ask to consume legally.
THIS FIRST CHAMBER UNDERSTANDS THAT THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO THE FREE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY ALLOWS, THUS TO SAY, THAT ADULTS DECIDE WITHOUT INTERFERENCE WHICH TYPE OF RECREATIONAL OR LEISURE ACTIVITIES THEY WISH TO EXERCISE, AS WELL AS TO CARRY OUT ALL ACTIONS OR ACTIVITIES NECESSARY FOR POWER. CONCREE THIS CHOICE “, UNDERLINES THE THESIS.
This opens the door to anyone who wishes to start their own proceedings before the COFEPRIS and then seek the protection of a judge. It should be recalled that case law does not bind any authority other than the judiciary, so that neither the police nor COFEPRIS nor the Ministry of Health are obliged to recognize this right until the law is issued. In other words, you always run the risk until further notice.
MEXICAN COMPANIES PREPARE TO BECOME CBD GIANTS
The country is positioned as the second largest market in the region, after Brazil, and these newly created companies are ready to take advantage of this activity.
In this context, companies have become interested in the CBD market: the product that comes from the plant that contains no psychotropic agents.
17 MILLIONS OF POTENTIAL PATIENTS IN LATIN AMERICA
In 60 countries that are on the verge of legalizing marijuana, more than 90% of cases focus on the development of CBD-containing products for industrial and medical reasons. The most important region in this development is Asia, and in Latin America, Brazil is leading the consumption. Then there is Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina, explains Giadha Aguirre, Executive Director of New Frontier Data.
These countries have a market potential of 10 billion, which opens up the possibility of creating power in CBD production alongside Asia, Canada, Europe and the United States
China is the largest producer of hemp, with 95% of the industry. This is why, according to Aguirre, the countries of Latin America should join forces. “The growth of the region will depend on many factors, such as the lower cost of culture, as in Thailand and Indonesia, or innovation, such as that of the United States and Canada, which is the most competitive and mature market. .
The problem with Europe, which ranks second for consumption, is that it can not grow or produce, which is why Latin America, Asia and Canada are competing for who will export more Cannabis to the rest of the world.
Source: https://www.cannabis-mag.com
Cannabis Banking Gets First Congressional Hearing .....
This is merely one small Congressional first-step ..... so please do not become impatient and expect rapid results ..... But be assured ..... this is an important conversation and needed legislative change for the entire Cannabis Industry ..... Not just $RIGH .....
Cannabis Banking: SAFE Banking Act Gets A Hearing
February 23, 2019 ..... by Michael Harlow, Partner, CohnReznick
Last week, Congress held its first-ever hearing on the issue of cannabis banking, titled “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses.” The hearing before the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions addressed a draft of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Banking Act) introduced by Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.).
The SAFE Banking Act would:
Provide a safe harbor for financial institutions to legally provide services to cannabis-related industries in states where cannabis has been legalized in some form;
Allow legal businesses to access financial services in states where cannabis has been legalized;
Address a void in banking that faces cannabis-related businesses, and increase the number of banks providing financial services to these businesses; and
Help prevent tax evasion, fraud, and public safety issues.
Historic Hearing
CohnReznick observed the historic hearing, held five-and-a- half years after the August 2013 issuance of the Cole Memorandum, which provided U.S. attorneys with guidance about enforcement actions against cannabis businesses in states which had legalized marijuana. In 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo, subsequently creating confusion and uncertainty for many cannabis business owners.
Impact on the Industry
The SAFE Act could have a tremendous impact on the cannabis industry. Given the burgeoning rise of medical and adult-use cannabis businesses, it is critical that banks and financial institutions be able to provide services and have a presence sufficient to serve such a rapidly growing industry. While there was much debate during the hearing, with many proposed improvements to the bill, it appears that the bill has the votes necessary to advance it out of the committee.
Increase Transparency and Accountability
CohnReznick does not take a position on federal cannabis legalization but supports any efforts to enable access to banking through the SAFE Banking Act. Access to the regulated banking industry will increase financial transparency and auditability. This should be of significant benefit to investors, regulators, and taxing authorities
Cannabis Banking Gets First Congressional Hearing .....
This is merely one small Congressional first-step ..... so please do not become impatient and expect rapid results ..... But be assured ..... this is an important conversation and needed legislative change for the entire Cannabis Industry ..... Not just $USMJ .....
Cannabis Banking: SAFE Banking Act Gets A Hearing
February 23, 2019 ..... by Michael Harlow, Partner, CohnReznick
Last week, Congress held its first-ever hearing on the issue of cannabis banking, titled “Challenges and Solutions: Access to Banking Services for Cannabis-Related Businesses.” The hearing before the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions addressed a draft of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Banking Act) introduced by Congressman Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.).
The SAFE Banking Act would:
Provide a safe harbor for financial institutions to legally provide services to cannabis-related industries in states where cannabis has been legalized in some form;
Allow legal businesses to access financial services in states where cannabis has been legalized;
Address a void in banking that faces cannabis-related businesses, and increase the number of banks providing financial services to these businesses; and
Help prevent tax evasion, fraud, and public safety issues.
Historic Hearing
CohnReznick observed the historic hearing, held five-and-a- half years after the August 2013 issuance of the Cole Memorandum, which provided U.S. attorneys with guidance about enforcement actions against cannabis businesses in states which had legalized marijuana. In 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo, subsequently creating confusion and uncertainty for many cannabis business owners.
Impact on the Industry
The SAFE Act could have a tremendous impact on the cannabis industry. Given the burgeoning rise of medical and adult-use cannabis businesses, it is critical that banks and financial institutions be able to provide services and have a presence sufficient to serve such a rapidly growing industry. While there was much debate during the hearing, with many proposed improvements to the bill, it appears that the bill has the votes necessary to advance it out of the committee.
Increase Transparency and Accountability
CohnReznick does not take a position on federal cannabis legalization but supports any efforts to enable access to banking through the SAFE Banking Act. Access to the regulated banking industry will increase financial transparency and auditability. This should be of significant benefit to investors, regulators, and taxing authorities
WHO Speculation Indicates Cannabis Schedule-Change .....
This same information has been alleged before and makes the future look brighter toward ending Cannabis prohibition .....
A note of interest to Cannabis Investors : A number of people likely recall the Federal CBD patent is set to expire during 2019 ..... which should add a boost of momentum toward legalization .....
As far as I can tell $AEGY is not bvurdened with toxic debt and has not been diluting "paper" into the Market ..... Stuck in a .0001 share price trading groove for many years ..... so what's the holdup ? ..... I keep repeating ..... I believe it would have to be the Federally illegal designation of Cannabis which appears to be in a process of legislative transition ..... However slow and stalled by elite special interests !!! .....
Can one afford to sober-up for a moment and recognize the FDA has a longstanding history of saturating the Market with toxic profitable drugs ? ..... whenever the "producer" can afford to pay a premium ..... Why are so few willing to admit the FDA looks about as trustworthy as a $3 bill ? ..... If CBD could legally be added to foods ..... millions of people would likely get much healthier and then have a vastly reduced need for healthcare ..... Saving our Great American citizens and the government potentially "billions of dollars" .....
Unfortunately ..... President Trump gives this issue seemingly little to no thought when he just might be poised to prevail as the "Universal Hero of Humanity" .....
How Alleged WHO Recommendations Would Affect International Cannabis Markets
February 11, 2019 ..... by New Frontier Data
An anticipated recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) calling for the international rescheduling of “marijuana” and derivative products is poised to be a watershed moment with implications to be observed throughout global markets.
If an unconfirmed leak of a WHO document reported February 1 by a cannabis legalization activist and journalist* is accurate, United Nations (UN) global health experts next month will advocate for whole-plant marijuana and cannabis resin to be rescheduled from a Schedule IV classification (the most restrictive as defined within a 1961 international drug convention), and for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related isomers to be completely removed from a separate 1971 international drug treaty.
The proposed rescheduling would de-emphasize marijuana and resins to Schedule I (the lowest level of international restrictions), and would remove altogether CBD having THC levels below 0.2%. Cannabis tinctures and extracts would also be designated as Schedule I. (Note: That designation contrasts with classification under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act of 1970 [CSA], in which Schedule I is the most restrictive level).
The rescheduling of cannabis products would accelerate the pace of global cannabis reform. Currently, more than 60 countries allow for some form of legalized medical, adult-use, or industrial cannabis production or research activities. Countries which have previously resisted reform efforts for fear of international repercussions would be encouraged toward developing domestic cannabis industries and expanding international trade between newly opened markets.
The global hemp industry would also expand in both scope and influence. Based on data in The Global State of Hemp 2019 Industry Outlook (released tomorrow), the de-scheduling of hemp-derived CBD would lend economic accelerant to a market already afire: As detailed in the report, global CBD sales in 2018 are estimated beyond $800 million, with the overall global hemp market forecast to expand at a 17.5% rate through 2020. By removing industrial hemp-based CBD products from any scheduling, look for the pace of global growth to quicken, and for more countries to utilize hemp to provide economic development.
The proposed changes by the WHO would also significantly affect the U.S. medical, adult-use, and industrial markets. By having the world’s leading health organization endorse health-related benefits to cannabis, U.S. regulators, legislators, and other policymakers would be hard-pressed to justify the current CSA scheduling, which asserts there being no medicinal value in cannabis and continues a policy that prioritizes the most punitive penalties for cannabis violations. Pressure for legislative and regulatory reform is already underway given Canada’s nationwide program and Mexico’s judicial repeal of prohibition.
That noted, much remains to be decided: Member states of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) originally expected to receive the recommendations from WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) in December 2018, before they were delayed to CND’s annual meeting next month. Now, however, there is conjecture that the ECDD recommendations may not be presented until sometime in 2020 to offer additional time for their consideration by member states.
WHO Speculation Indicates Cannabis Schedule-Change .....
This same information has been alleged before and makes the future look brighter toward ending Cannabis prohibition .....
A note of interest to Cannabis Investors : A number of people likely recall the Federal CBD patent is set to expire during 2019 ..... which should add a boost of momentum toward legalization .....
As far as I can tell $RIGH is not bvurdened with toxic debt and has not been diluting "paper" into the Market ..... Stuck in a .0001-.0002 share price trading groove for many years ..... so what's the holdup ? ..... I keep repeating ..... I believe it would have to be the Federally illegal designation of Cannabis which appears to be in a process of legislative transition ..... However slow and stalled by elite special interests !!! .....
Can one afford to sober-up for a moment and recognize the FDA has a longstanding history of saturating the Market with toxic profitable drugs ? ..... whenever the "producer" can afford to pay a premium ..... Why are so few willing to admit the FDA looks about as trustworthy as a $3 bill ? ..... If CBD could legally be added to foods ..... millions of people would likely get much healthier and then have a vastly reduced need for healthcare ..... Saving our Great American citizens and the government potentially "billions of dollars" ..... Unfortunately ..... Trump gives this issue seemingly little to no thought when he just might be poised to prevail as the "Universal Hero of Humanity" .....
How Alleged WHO Recommendations Would Affect International Cannabis Markets
February 11, 2019 ..... by New Frontier Data
An anticipated recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) calling for the international rescheduling of “marijuana” and derivative products is poised to be a watershed moment with implications to be observed throughout global markets.
If an unconfirmed leak of a WHO document reported February 1 by a cannabis legalization activist and journalist* is accurate, United Nations (UN) global health experts next month will advocate for whole-plant marijuana and cannabis resin to be rescheduled from a Schedule IV classification (the most restrictive as defined within a 1961 international drug convention), and for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related isomers to be completely removed from a separate 1971 international drug treaty.
The proposed rescheduling would de-emphasize marijuana and resins to Schedule I (the lowest level of international restrictions), and would remove altogether CBD having THC levels below 0.2%. Cannabis tinctures and extracts would also be designated as Schedule I. (Note: That designation contrasts with classification under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act of 1970 [CSA], in which Schedule I is the most restrictive level).
The rescheduling of cannabis products would accelerate the pace of global cannabis reform. Currently, more than 60 countries allow for some form of legalized medical, adult-use, or industrial cannabis production or research activities. Countries which have previously resisted reform efforts for fear of international repercussions would be encouraged toward developing domestic cannabis industries and expanding international trade between newly opened markets.
The global hemp industry would also expand in both scope and influence. Based on data in The Global State of Hemp 2019 Industry Outlook (released tomorrow), the de-scheduling of hemp-derived CBD would lend economic accelerant to a market already afire: As detailed in the report, global CBD sales in 2018 are estimated beyond $800 million, with the overall global hemp market forecast to expand at a 17.5% rate through 2020. By removing industrial hemp-based CBD products from any scheduling, look for the pace of global growth to quicken, and for more countries to utilize hemp to provide economic development.
The proposed changes by the WHO would also significantly affect the U.S. medical, adult-use, and industrial markets. By having the world’s leading health organization endorse health-related benefits to cannabis, U.S. regulators, legislators, and other policymakers would be hard-pressed to justify the current CSA scheduling, which asserts there being no medicinal value in cannabis and continues a policy that prioritizes the most punitive penalties for cannabis violations. Pressure for legislative and regulatory reform is already underway given Canada’s nationwide program and Mexico’s judicial repeal of prohibition.
That noted, much remains to be decided: Member states of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) originally expected to receive the recommendations from WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) in December 2018, before they were delayed to CND’s annual meeting next month. Now, however, there is conjecture that the ECDD recommendations may not be presented until sometime in 2020 to offer additional time for their consideration by member states.
WHO Speculation Indicates Cannabis Schedule-Change .....
This same information has been alleged before and makes the future look brighter toward ending Cannabis prohibition .....
A note of interest to Cannabis Investors : A number of people likely recall the Federal CBD patent is set to expire during 2019 ..... which should add a boost of momentum toward legalization .....
How Alleged WHO Recommendations Would Affect International Cannabis Markets
February 11, 2019 ..... by New Frontier Data
An anticipated recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) calling for the international rescheduling of “marijuana” and derivative products is poised to be a watershed moment with implications to be observed throughout global markets.
If an unconfirmed leak of a WHO document reported February 1 by a cannabis legalization activist and journalist* is accurate, United Nations (UN) global health experts next month will advocate for whole-plant marijuana and cannabis resin to be rescheduled from a Schedule IV classification (the most restrictive as defined within a 1961 international drug convention), and for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and related isomers to be completely removed from a separate 1971 international drug treaty.
The proposed rescheduling would de-emphasize marijuana and resins to Schedule I (the lowest level of international restrictions), and would remove altogether CBD having THC levels below 0.2%. Cannabis tinctures and extracts would also be designated as Schedule I. (Note: That designation contrasts with classification under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act of 1970 [CSA], in which Schedule I is the most restrictive level).
The rescheduling of cannabis products would accelerate the pace of global cannabis reform. Currently, more than 60 countries allow for some form of legalized medical, adult-use, or industrial cannabis production or research activities. Countries which have previously resisted reform efforts for fear of international repercussions would be encouraged toward developing domestic cannabis industries and expanding international trade between newly opened markets.
The global hemp industry would also expand in both scope and influence. Based on data in The Global State of Hemp 2019 Industry Outlook (released tomorrow), the de-scheduling of hemp-derived CBD would lend economic accelerant to a market already afire: As detailed in the report, global CBD sales in 2018 are estimated beyond $800 million, with the overall global hemp market forecast to expand at a 17.5% rate through 2020. By removing industrial hemp-based CBD products from any scheduling, look for the pace of global growth to quicken, and for more countries to utilize hemp to provide economic development.
The proposed changes by the WHO would also significantly affect the U.S. medical, adult-use, and industrial markets. By having the world’s leading health organization endorse health-related benefits to cannabis, U.S. regulators, legislators, and other policymakers would be hard-pressed to justify the current CSA scheduling, which asserts there being no medicinal value in cannabis and continues a policy that prioritizes the most punitive penalties for cannabis violations. Pressure for legislative and regulatory reform is already underway given Canada’s nationwide program and Mexico’s judicial repeal of prohibition.
That noted, much remains to be decided: Member states of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) originally expected to receive the recommendations from WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) in December 2018, before they were delayed to CND’s annual meeting next month. Now, however, there is conjecture that the ECDD recommendations may not be presented until sometime in 2020 to offer additional time for their consideration by member states.
Probably illegal to advertise Cannabis in Georgia .....
I am guessing that might be the most reasonable cause for CBS rejecting the Cannabis commercial .....
From my perspective ..... Congress needs to quit making excuses and start legislating Cannabis law in-step with the broad-sentiment of the American electorate ..... who invested their state Representatives ..... by voting ..... with specific responsibility Congress and the Executive Branch continure to delay ..... OR there will be some expected ..... adverse consequences ..... by next election season .....
Best Wishes
Interesting Industry-Wide Cryptocurrency Opinions And Strategies .....
"We Asked 66 Startups Just How Bad This Crypto Winter Has Been"