Lp,s are doomed!
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Photos courtesy of the Mendocino Craft Farmers AuctionINDUSTRY EVENTS Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction: The “Napa” of Cannabis
Inspired by the Napa Valley Wine Auction, this private, high-end cannabis benefit event is raising consciousness about the premium, small-batch craft cannabis grown in the rich terroir of Northern California. And of course—the farmers growing it.
ByNikki LastretoPublished on June 6, 2023
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It seems like lifetimes now that the craft cannabis farmers of California have been fighting to be heard and allowed to prosper. It’s been a tough road with State and local government forces who seem to not want us around, plus the simple fact that high taxes keep most consumers going to their “guy down the block” for weed. As they say, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. As such, we always manage as much as possible to toss some FUN into the mix.
It came to me in a flash a few years back: If Napa can do it, so can Mendocino. I was thinking about the famous Napa Valley Wine Auction, which began in 1981 with a group of vintners who wanted to gain notoriety while helping local causes. After 40 years, they raised millions of dollars for a variety of charities and Napa became known as one of the premier grape-growing regions in the world.
Benefiting the Mendocino Community
Our time has come. Hence, the Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction came into being. The inaugural event took place last July and was such a success that we raised $20,000 for the Redwood Community Services Mental Health division. This year, all proceeds after expenses will benefit the Mendocino Land Trust and the Cancer Resource Centers of Mendocino. Although times are tough on most cannabis farmers, it feels great to give back to our community. The MCFA is produced by the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance (MCA) and the Mendocino Producers Guild (MPG) with support from Visit Mendocino.
Several cultivators from award-winning farms in the region will be on hand at the auction to share knowledge about the benefits of sungrown cannabis. The MCFA will be held Saturday, June 17, from 5-10 pm at The Brambles near the hamlet of Philo in the magnificent Anderson Valley in the southern part of Mendocino County. The elegant venue is donated to the auction by Jim Roberts and Brian Atkinson, who also own the chic cannabis brand Bohemian Chemist. By now, you must be wondering if we plan to auction off cannabis! Well, after much thought and consultation with cannabis attorney Omar Figueroa, we came up with a plan. It’s simple, fun and everyone gets to enjoy some of the best cannabis on the planet.
The Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction is a private event, meaning that if you’d like to attend, you can write us with your request, and we’ll send you information on how to purchase tickets ($200). All earnings go through an official 501c3, and tickets are partially tax-deductible, according to your accountant.
Since it’s private, we don’t need the full entourage of government agencies, retail dispensaries and more on-site, as no cannabis sales will take place. Instead, guests place bids on the many fabulous offerings. Their generosity is matched by growers who want to share from their Private Reserve. In other words, you’ll get to take home some very special cannabis grown in a fine farmer’s personal garden. It’s a win-win for both the HIGH bidder, as well as the charities receiving the benefits.
Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction benefits the community
The 2022 Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction raised $20,000 for the Redwood Community Services Mental Health division.
Celebrate Beneath the Redwoods
The Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction is a magical time spent under the soaring redwoods. The evening starts with the silent auction. As guests mingle and enjoy local organic wines and hors d’oeuvres, they’ll no doubt be greeted by the “Joint Girl” with her tray of rolled-up libations. It’s also very amusing to peruse the silent and live auctions items on display and play the bidding game on treasures, including curated farm baskets and collectible arts; wellness experiences; hotel stays both near and far in exotic places like Lake Atitlan and Jamaica; local cannabis farm tours and so much more.
After the silent auction tables are closed, guests head towards the lovely open-air dining area, where a delicious meal prepared by Chef Dan Hagopian of the Valley of the Moon will be served. By now, everyone is feeling fantastic and a little community is being formed. Many of the guests who came last year are returning to see friends they made then—that’s a lot of what this event is all about. Making meaningful connections.
There’s something so special about dining under the stars and redwoods on a warm Mendocino evening. During dessert, the live auction will take place, conducted by the very entertaining auctioneer Johnny Bessolo. He’s a fast-talking man who knows just how to play with the crowd to get everyone excited.
By the close of the auction, guests are happy and ready to dance. This year the DJ is none other than Zack Darling—the incredible marketing mind and music maker. Farmers and city folks alike will kick up their heels in celebration.
Most people don’t have a clue about the wonders and benefits of growing cannabis in the Emerald Triangle, where the terroir is ideal in every way. Likewise, most people think of pot farmers as a bunch of stoned-out, lazy hippies in the hills. However, we are truly exceptional, first-class artisanal craftspeople who should be lauded as much as the finest vintner. The Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction is our way of raising consciousness about the high quality of the cannabis produced here and the incredible people who produce it.
We strive to be known as “the Napa of Cannabis” by showing that we can do it with style too. The time has come to place craft cannabis alongside fine wine and other HIGH-class comestibles.
If you’re looking to attend a coveted cannabis experience this summer in the heart of the Emerald Triangle, this is it. Come and discover the eclectic wonders of Mendocino County and find out why the Emerald Triangle is claimed to grow the very best cannabis while having fun and donating to very worthy causes. Tickets for the Mendocino Craft Farmers Auction on June 17 are available now from mendocinocfa.com.
Legacy rules!
That will be the day you become a MILLI-Onaire!
Good call!!
For years now, MJBizDaily has tracked a growing accumulation of unsold cannabis in Canada’s legal adult-use market.
Now, the latest data on that stockpile is out — and, no surprise, it’s still growing.
As of December 2022, total inventory of packaged and unpackaged dried cannabis in Canada reached a high of 1.47 billion grams, or 3.2 million pounds.
That reserve of unsold weed has contributed to falling wholesale and retail prices, putting pressure on Canadian cannabis businesses of all kinds.
Meanwhile, licensed cultivation canopy continues to shrink.
As the U.S. cannabis industry hopes for federal legalization, Canada’s experience serves as a cautionary tale of what can happen when the national supply of regulated recreational marijuana greatly outweighs demand.
Anyone who believes this Linton guy, believes Trump has won the election.
Linton was a great pumper, but being canna naive, he did not know what to do.
Paying Martha and Snoop millions… as if folks need those dorks.
What folks need is great weed on the cheap.
Read 1$/gram or less for fire.
And that is your legacy for you.
Can you compete?
I did not think so.
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WHY CANNABIS CONSUMERS ARE SKINNY
Avatar photoCALEB MCMILLAN·JUNE 8, 2023
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Why are cannabis consumers skinny? Of course, not every connoisseur is slim. Cannabis stimulates appetite, so we tend to consume more calories than the average person.
But in general, cannabis connoisseurs are thinner than, say, recreational alcohol drinkers sporting a beer gut.
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, think they’ve discovered why. But, they warn, this “pseudo-health” benefit comes at a price.
Is this true? Or is reefer madness sneaking its way into a scientific research paper?
What’s the skinny on perpetually thin cannabis consumers?
DETAILS OF THE STUDY
The “why cannabis consumers are skinny” study is titled, “Adolescent exposure to low-dose THC disrupts energy balance and adipose organ homeostasis in adulthood.”
The researchers gave adolescent mice low doses of THC and compared them to the control group. They found the THC mice were leaner, but they described this state as “pseudo-lean.”
They claim the mice treated with THC suffer from “Molecular and functional adipose abnormalities.”
Adipose tissue is fat tissue. It’s responsible for storing energy in the form of fat. It plays a significant role in regulating metabolism and hormone production.
“Molecular abnormalities” imply deviations from normal genetic processes within the fat tissue. “Functional abnormalities” refers to physiological change, including how fat tissue stores and releases energy or changes in hormone secretion.
Now, this doesn’t sound good. Fat tissue dysfunction is associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. But that’s not what the researchers found when giving adolescent mice low THC doses.
As per the study,
We found that daily low-dose administration of cannabis’ intoxicating constituent, ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), to adolescent male mice causes an adult metabolic phenotype characterized by reduced fat mass, increased lean mass and utilization of fat as fuel.
Where’s the bad news?
WHY CANNABIS CONSUMERS ARE SKINNY
Why Cannabis Consumers Are Skinny
Let’s break down further why cannabis consumers are skinny. What exactly did the researchers find in THC-treated mice? Is this “pseudo-lean” state just reefer madness masquerading as science?
The researchers found THC-treated mice had less body fat and more muscle mass and changed how their bodies burned fat for energy. But they also found the mice exhibited partial resistance to obesity or abnormal blood lipid levels.
This suggests THC “exposure” during adolescence actually has a protective effect against these conditions.
The THC-treated mice also produced more heat (enhanced thermogenesis), likely associated with their increased lean mass. Additionally, researchers found THC-treated mice had increased production of proteins typically associated with muscle tissue.
THC-treated mice did have impaired lipolysis, which is the breakdown of fat stored in adipose (fat) tissue. This was significant in exposure to cold and with stimulating ß-adrenergic receptors.
This suggests the body isn’t releasing fatty acids in response to the cold. This may also explain why stoners have lower-than-average body temperatures.
Overall, answering why cannabis consumers are skinny requires more than one study on mice. The terms used in the study, “overexpression” and “dysfunction,” also imply a bias.
Why not use the term “increased production” instead of “overexpression.” And how can they use the word “dysfunction” if the study did not establish causality between the observed metabolic phenotype and the changes in the adipose (fat) tissue?
The term “pseudo-lean” is a value statement. If the researchers were testing a weight-loss drug, they likely concluded that it works, albeit with side effects.
So why the reefer madness?
THC AS A WEIGHT-LOSS DRUG
Why Cannabis Consumers Are Skinny
If you’re obese, then smoking cannabis isn’t going to make you skinny. If anything, the munchies may contribute to your condition.
These researchers found that low-THC exposure in adolescent mice reduces fat mass and increases lean mass. These are considered “functional abnormalities in the adipose tissue.”
And thus, this “pseudo-lean” state may not be healthy or optimal. It may be rooted in dysfunction within the adipose tissue. But what’s true for mice isn’t always true for humans.
The researchers use the term “pseudo-state” because they don’t know the long-term implications for metabolic health.
Fortunately, people have been consuming cannabis for thousands of years. And this study used low doses of THC, so critics can’t come back with “today’s potent weed is different from previous generations!”
If there were long-term metabolic health problems from skinny cannabis consumers, then we likely would have noticed it by now.
We didn’t need a study to confirm that long-term alcohol users end up with fatty liver disease. The ancient Greeks thought the condition came from excess phlegm and an imbalance of “humors.” It wasn’t until 1836 that researchers figured out what was happening.
This brings up an important bias in this “Why Cannabis Consumers are Skinny” study.
WHY CANNABIS CONSUMERS ARE SKINNY
Why Cannabis Consumers Are Skinny?
Putting aside the fact that what’s true for mice isn’t necessarily true for humans (and this study didn’t prove any causality), the results are still fascinating.
For example, THC-treated mice had lower fasting plasma insulin, leptin, triglycerides, cholesterol, and serum glucose levels than the control group.
Lower fasting plasma insulin levels suggest that the THC-mice had improved insulin sensitivity. Which means they need less insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels.
Leptin (a hormone secreted by fat cells) plays a role in regulating appetite and energy balance. The study suggests that low doses of THC in your teen years alter leptin. Likewise, lower levels of triglycerides indicate reduced fat accumulation or altered lipid metabolism.
Researchers associate elevated cholesterol levels with cardiovascular risk. The THC-treated mice had lower cholesterol levels, positively impacting lipid metabolism and cardiovascular health.
The glucose (sugar) concentration in the bloodstream indicates lower blood sugar levels. However, the researchers found no difference in how the body processes glucose between the THC mice and the control group.
DOES THIS STUDY ANSWER WHY CANNABIS CONSUMERS ARE SKINNY?
So does this study answer why cannabis consumers are skinny? Not quite. It sheds some light on the processes, but only through the study of mice.
The scientific conclusions and media headlines may have differed if this had been a weight-loss drug trial. But, as this is cannabis, all benefits are considered “pseudo,” so the researchers caution about long-term unknowns.
And indeed, an obese teenager should clean up their diet and begin exercising before smoking weed for weight loss.
That said, the “pseudo” status attached to cannabis’ tendency to produce skinny consumers is unjustified. For this study, at least.
FOOTNOTE(S)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413123001791
15 years of prime cannabis clues and you still believe in stock market bunk weed?
There are no + earnings.
You want earnings?
Check on legacy.
Lps are selling under production cost.
Making positive earnings difficult.
The only positive for lps, is loads of hopefull suckers splurging on stock market shares.
Meet The Thai Entrepreneurs Building Bangkok’s First Cannabis Wellness Complex.
Bonno
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I cover cannabis, psychedelics, and altered states of consciousness.
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Jun 7,2023,07:00am EDT
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Jamiez Rayzoowaht Spaunpullsate and Boss Asakon Singsikornkun at Raymi Bar in Bangkok
Together with Canadian partners, Jamiez Rayzoowaht Spaunpullsate and Boss Asakon Singsikornkun ... [+]PHOTO COURTESY REMEDY'S & CHARLIE'S
Whether for its white-sand beaches, spicy cuisine, or ancient temples, Thailand has long been a popular destination among international travelers. More recently, tourists have been flocking there for another reason: to enjoy cannabis.
Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalize recreational cannabis in June 2022. While cannabis policies go largely unenforced, the growing retail market has generated an estimated $1.2 billion and is set to nearly triple in size within the next five years. Decriminalization has had a profound impact on the nation’s hospitality industry, with bars in every city hawking pre-rolled joints alongside buckets of mixed drinks, and restaurants serving cannabis-infused food and cocktails to guests looking for a different kind of buzz.
The change in policy has come at an important time for businesses struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, while creating a new opportunity for Thai people who for years have been keeping their appreciation for cannabis under wraps.
In Bangkok’s Chinatown district, Thai entrepreneurs Boss Asakon Singsikornkun and Jamiez Rayzoowaht Spaunpullsate are building a multi-floor cannabis complex where local and traveling cannabis lovers alike will be able to learn about the plant and enjoy a relaxing massage, a delicious meal, and some locally grown flower—all without having to leave the building.
The view from Raymi Bar's rooftop lounge, where guests can enjoy an infused meal and locally grown ...
The upscale cannabis complex is the brainchild of Singsikornkun, the founder of Landmark Development, and Spaunpullsate, a hospitality veteran and the owner of Remedy’s Dispensary. Both were born and raised in Chinatown and are eager to add a luxury component to the bustling district’s cannabis-friendly offerings.
“Chinatown is a destination for visitors from around the world,” says Singsikornkun. “I have been an entrepreneur my whole life and I am excited to build a brand in the neighbourhood I grew up in. I have a special place in my heart for cannabis and see it as a natural way to help people.”
Thanks to strict Thai cannabis laws, Spaunpullsate spent most of his life as a covert cannabis consumer, struggling to find it and being careful to smoke discretely when he did. He says Gen Z-ers in Thailand perceive cannabis in an entirely different way from his parent’s generation: “They understand that it’s an herb, not a chemical. It makes me excited for the future of cannabis.”
Rema Wellness massage room
The second floor will house Rema Wellness, a high-end medical spa offering infused massages and ... [+]PHOTO COURTESY REMEDY'S & CHARLIE'S
Guests on the first floor of the complex will be guided through a futuristic cannabis museum before entering a private dispensary, Remedy’s & Charlie’s—conveniently supplied by a medical grow located in the same building. The next floor will house Rema Wellness, a high-end medical spa offering infused massages and other wellness treatments that utilize the medicinal properties of the plant. After a massage, guests can enjoy a THC-infused meal, a cocktail, and a pre-rolled joint on the rooftop bar and restaurant, Raymi. While Raymi is already open for business, the spa and dispensary are set to open by August.
The development in Bangkok is an important one for a market that is being heavily influenced by U.S. interests—take Cookies opening its first dispensary in Bangkok in January 2023, or the way Thai growers say they are being undercut by illegal cannabis imports from the U.S.
Spaunpullsate, Younge, and Singsikornkun at Raymi, the rooftop bar.
Singsikornkun and Spaunpullsate wanted to build the complex’s cannabis grow facility to the highest industry standards while supporting the local cannabis economy. To do that, they hired renowned local grower, Pai Siwakorn Ngaolee, as their head of cultivation, and brought in Canadian partners, Clint Younge and Chris Chetty of Charlie’s Cannabis Co.
“It’s never been done before, the way we’re amalgamating these businesses under one roof and making them work in harmony,” Younge says. “It’s a place for everybody, but the vision is really about creating something in Boss and Jamiez’s community—a place for education, but also for wellness.”
There has been speculation that cannabis regulations could be tightened after the recent election of the Move Forward Party, but Younge is confident that even if the political climate in Thailand changes, “we’re building the businesses to such a high standard that we will fall into even the toughest regulations.”
Remedy’s & Charlie’s will hold its grand opening event, HighTaste, in partnership with Hightable Bangkok on June 24 and 25 at Raymi Bar.
“Being able to share a part of history, and more importantly a part of the future with Boss and Jamiez, is powerful, and we’re honoured to be a part of it,” says Chetty. “We’re excited to be a part of this era where cannabis is no longer this elephant in the room.”
You take your clues from stock market annalist who have no clue of what is happening.
Dude was pumping restaurant before pumping lps stock.
Home / Legal
Critics question whether Biden-signed marijuana research law has ‘any value’
author profile pictureBy Chris Roberts, Reporter
June 7, 2023
Starved for good news from Washington DC, the broad cannabis movement greeted President Joe Biden’s signing of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act into law in December with enthusiasm and hope.
Surely, new research supporting the rescheduling of marijuana – and, with it, tax relief for the cannabis industry – as well as other federal reform would soon follow the first stand-alone bill related to MJ signed into law since Richard Nixon’s presidency.
At least, that’s what industry executives and investors hoped would happen after the bipartisan legislation became law Dec. 2.
But six months later, a growing chorus of critics note that the federal government has registered zero new cannabis research projects under the new law.
Nor have any new applications for producers of research-grade cannabis been approved under the new law, according to the Federal Register.
That’s where the U.S. attorney general must place a notice in order for research applications to be considered.
And that is something Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to do.
‘We have not seen any benefits’
Yet, many of the same obstacles – including questions of funding as well as how to navigate an onerous federal review process – remain for any would-be researchers of marijuana.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which funds and oversees national marijuana prohibition efforts, also supervises federally approved cultivation of cannabis used for research purposes.
Under the new law signed by Biden, the DEA, rather than health or science officials, remains in charge of allowing new research, according to Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
For decades, NIDA has supplied researchers with marijuana as well as funding.
In an emailed statement to MJBizDaily, Volkow noted it’s simply too soon to tell how the DEA will choose to wield that power.
“Studies on cannabis and other scheduled substances are critical,” she said, “and NIDA welcomes efforts to facilitate the process of obtaining a DEA registration to conduct research on these substances.
“As we do not yet know how the DEA will implement the new law, at this time, we cannot comment on the impact it will have on research.”
A DEA spokesperson told MJBizDaily the agency would have no comment.
But one DEA-licensed researcher says the new research bill hasn’t helped.
“In fact, we have not seen any benefits in velocity of marijuana research from this new law. And I question whether the law had any value,” Sue Sisley, an Arizona-based physician and principal investigator on a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial involving cannabis, told MJBizDaily via email.
Sisley’s Scottsdale Research Institute is one of the eight entities with DEA permission to produce cannabis.
All eight applied well before the research bill took effect. The DEA has not approved any new producers since then.
“If you’re asking, ‘Has the bill greased the wheels for research?’ – I don’t think anybody can endorse that,” Sisley wrote.
Six months isn’t very long in science, but that lapse in terms of practical effect is giving some observers pause.
So is one of the organizations that claimed credit for the bill.
‘Drafted’ by marijuana’s sworn enemy
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is one of the Washington lobbies that says it helped draft the bill and guide it through Congress.
That group is arguably the country’s most vocal and effective anti-legalization organization, though critics have accused SAM of cherry-picking data and misrepresentation.
SAM’s executive director, Kevin Sabet, appeared at a May Senate Banking Committee hearing to testify against cannabis banking reform.
In a Dec. 2 news release hailing Biden’s signing of the cannabis research legislation, SAM claimed to have “drafted” the bill.
Then, in a Dec. 6 release, U.S. Rep. Andy Hunter, a Maryland Republican and a bill co-sponsor, said SAM “helped” with the bill.
Sabet would not consent to an interview with MJBizDaily for this story.
However, a Sabet spokesperson emailed a statement that, while not addressing SAM’s role in drafting the bill, did dismiss any notions the legislation was ill-intended.
“Legalizers have long argued that marijuana is medicine and this bill advanced a solid, science-based research agenda – not hyperbole,” Sabet’s statement reads in part.
“It is no surprise that those who opposed the bill and those who stand to profit from full-scale commercialization continue to mischaracterize legitimate legislation that clearly expands research opportunities.”
A follow-up email also attributed to Sabet noted that “it often takes a long time for federal legislation to be fully enacted. It has only been six months. It isn’t serious to suggest that the bill hasn’t achieved its intent at this time.”
‘No one realizes how bad’ the research law is
Shane Pennington, a cannabis policy attorney, is among the research law’s staunchest critics.
“No one realizes how bad that research bill is,” he told MJBizDaily. “I didn’t realize it, until I went and looked at it again.”
In a Substack post last July, Pennington highlighted the new authorities granted to the DEA regarding cannabis research, arguing they are counterproductive.
Those include the ability to unilaterally determine whether an application to study the drug is incomplete and then, without consequence, to ignore the application.
More recently, Pennington pointed out how the research reform bill altered the Controlled Substances Act to create cannabis-specific research requirements, independent of the drug’s status under the act.
This means that, even if Congress or the Biden administration were to elect to reschedule marijuana, the same barriers to research could well remain.
All of this, coupled with the authority over research delegated to law enforcement rather than health or science officials, led Pennington to call the law a brilliant coup: Legislation to stymie cannabis research was passed off as a major breakthrough.
“Marijuana is on lockdown unless you can get the attorney general to say, ‘Well, how about some cannabis science?’” Pennington told MJBizDaily.
“You are giving authority over cannabis science to the biggest enemies of cannabis science who have ever existed on planet earth.”
Even more circumspect observers have noted the bill doesn’t help researchers wanting to study commercially sold marijuana, which tends to have higher THC levels than federally approved research cannabis.
University of California, San Diego, researcher Ziva Cooper argued in an interview with Psychiatric News that the new law mainly benefits researchers who already enjoy the logistical and administrative support of institutions with established cannabis programs.
In other words, pressing questions about marijuana and health could remain unanswered, such as how dispensary-grade cannabis or delta-8 THC might interact with a teen’s anxiety or ADHD drugs or even a senior’s diabetes or heart medication.
According to Sisley and Pennington, the much-vaunted research reform act won’t help fill in those blanks.
“This whole thing is a public health travesty,” Pennington said.
Doomed.
Kris Krane is in the business of pumping stock to share holders.
You take your clue from your broker?
Lol.
No wonder.
[Home / Legal
Critics question whether Biden-signed marijuana research law has ‘any value’
author profile pictureBy Chris Roberts, Reporter
June 7, 2023
Starved for good news from Washington DC, the broad cannabis movement greeted President Joe Biden’s signing of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act into law in December with enthusiasm and hope.
Surely, new research supporting the rescheduling of marijuana – and, with it, tax relief for the cannabis industry – as well as other federal reform would soon follow the first stand-alone bill related to MJ signed into law since Richard Nixon’s presidency.
At least, that’s what industry executives and investors hoped would happen after the bipartisan legislation became law Dec. 2.
But six months later, a growing chorus of critics note that the federal government has registered zero new cannabis research projects under the new law.
Nor have any new applications for producers of research-grade cannabis been approved under the new law, according to the Federal Register.
That’s where the U.S. attorney general must place a notice in order for research applications to be considered.
And that is something Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to do.
‘We have not seen any benefits’
Yet, many of the same obstacles – including questions of funding as well as how to navigate an onerous federal review process – remain for any would-be researchers of marijuana.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which funds and oversees national marijuana prohibition efforts, also supervises federally approved cultivation of cannabis used for research purposes.
Under the new law signed by Biden, the DEA, rather than health or science officials, remains in charge of allowing new research, according to Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
For decades, NIDA has supplied researchers with marijuana as well as funding.
In an emailed statement to MJBizDaily, Volkow noted it’s simply too soon to tell how the DEA will choose to wield that power.
“Studies on cannabis and other scheduled substances are critical,” she said, “and NIDA welcomes efforts to facilitate the process of obtaining a DEA registration to conduct research on these substances.
“As we do not yet know how the DEA will implement the new law, at this time, we cannot comment on the impact it will have on research.”
A DEA spokesperson told MJBizDaily the agency would have no comment.
But one DEA-licensed researcher says the new research bill hasn’t helped.
“In fact, we have not seen any benefits in velocity of marijuana research from this new law. And I question whether the law had any value,” Sue Sisley, an Arizona-based physician and principal investigator on a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial involving cannabis, told MJBizDaily via email.
Sisley’s Scottsdale Research Institute is one of the eight entities with DEA permission to produce cannabis.
All eight applied well before the research bill took effect. The DEA has not approved any new producers since then.
“If you’re asking, ‘Has the bill greased the wheels for research?’ – I don’t think anybody can endorse that,” Sisley wrote.
Six months isn’t very long in science, but that lapse in terms of practical effect is giving some observers pause.
So is one of the organizations that claimed credit for the bill.
‘Drafted’ by marijuana’s sworn enemy
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is one of the Washington lobbies that says it helped draft the bill and guide it through Congress.
That group is arguably the country’s most vocal and effective anti-legalization organization, though critics have accused SAM of cherry-picking data and misrepresentation.
SAM’s executive director, Kevin Sabet, appeared at a May Senate Banking Committee hearing to testify against cannabis banking reform.
In a Dec. 2 news release hailing Biden’s signing of the cannabis research legislation, SAM claimed to have “drafted” the bill.
Then, in a Dec. 6 release, U.S. Rep. Andy Hunter, a Maryland Republican and a bill co-sponsor, said SAM “helped” with the bill.
Sabet would not consent to an interview with MJBizDaily for this story.
However, a Sabet spokesperson emailed a statement that, while not addressing SAM’s role in drafting the bill, did dismiss any notions the legislation was ill-intended.
“Legalizers have long argued that marijuana is medicine and this bill advanced a solid, science-based research agenda – not hyperbole,” Sabet’s statement reads in part.
“It is no surprise that those who opposed the bill and those who stand to profit from full-scale commercialization continue to mischaracterize legitimate legislation that clearly expands research opportunities.”
A follow-up email also attributed to Sabet noted that “it often takes a long time for federal legislation to be fully enacted. It has only been six months. It isn’t serious to suggest that the bill hasn’t achieved its intent at this time.”
‘No one realizes how bad’ the research law is
Shane Pennington, a cannabis policy attorney, is among the research law’s staunchest critics.
“No one realizes how bad that research bill is,” he told MJBizDaily. “I didn’t realize it, until I went and looked at it again.”
In a Substack post last July, Pennington highlighted the new authorities granted to the DEA regarding cannabis research, arguing they are counterproductive.
Those include the ability to unilaterally determine whether an application to study the drug is incomplete and then, without consequence, to ignore the application.
More recently, Pennington pointed out how the research reform bill altered the Controlled Substances Act to create cannabis-specific research requirements, independent of the drug’s status under the act.
This means that, even if Congress or the Biden administration were to elect to reschedule marijuana, the same barriers to research could well remain.
All of this, coupled with the authority over research delegated to law enforcement rather than health or science officials, led Pennington to call the law a brilliant coup: Legislation to stymie cannabis research was passed off as a major breakthrough.
“Marijuana is on lockdown unless you can get the attorney general to say, ‘Well, how about some cannabis science?’” Pennington told MJBizDaily.
“You are giving authority over cannabis science to the biggest enemies of cannabis science who have ever existed on planet earth.”
Even more circumspect observers have noted the bill doesn’t help researchers wanting to study commercially sold marijuana, which tends to have higher THC levels than federally approved research cannabis.
University of California, San Diego, researcher Ziva Cooper argued in an interview with Psychiatric News that the new law mainly benefits researchers who already enjoy the logistical and administrative support of institutions with established cannabis programs.
In other words, pressing questions about marijuana and health could remain unanswered, such as how dispensary-grade cannabis or delta-8 THC might interact with a teen’s anxiety or ADHD drugs or even a senior’s diabetes or heart medication.
According to Sisley and Pennington, the much-vaunted research reform act won’t help fill in those blanks.
“This whole thing is a public health travesty,” Pennington said/b]
Doomed.
Kris Krane is in the business of pumping stock to share holders.
Lol.
Home / All U.S.
Marijuana trade organization NCIA cuts staff
By MJBizDaily Staff
June 6, 2023
Widespread layoffs in the marijuana industry are affecting trade organizations such as the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), which cut close to half its employees last week.
Chief Operating Officer Rob Kellogg, Director of Government Relations Michael Correia and Director of Communications Bethany Moore will all be departing NCIA, according to Green Market Report.
Two support staff were also affected, leaving NCIA with six full-time employees.
Layoffs have become a common occurrence in the North American marijuana industry as companies struggle to find a path to profitability with a whole set of challenges, including:
Fierce competition and oversaturated markets.
Wholesale cannabis price compression.
High interest rates and taxes.
Low interest from investors.
Such headwinds have led to a decline in NCIA membership, CEO Aaron Smith told Green Market Report.
“We’ve had members who have been members for years who aren’t renewing because they’re doing layoffs,” he said.
“And how can they renew a membership if they just laid off their staff?”
The NCIA once employed more than 20 workers, Smith told Green Market Report.
Home / Cultivation
Fewer research analysts covering cannabis underscores industry woes
author profile pictureBy Kate Robertson, Writer
June 6, 2023
Fewer research analysts are covering the U.S. marijuana industry, which experts say reflects the challenging economic headwinds facing the industry, including high taxes, high interest rates, rock-bottom stock prices and the slow pace of federal MJ reform.
New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald and Cowen are among the more notable financial-services firms that have dropped coverage of U.S. plant-touching cannabis companies.
“It speaks to the unhealthy state of our industry,” Jesse Redmond, the managing director of the cannabis sector and head of research at Florida-based Water Tower Research.
U.S. cannabis stocks have taken a beating in the past 18 months.
The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF – which tracks major U.S. marijuana stocks under the symbol MSOS – has fallen to just over $5 from a high of more than $56 in February 2021.
In addition, cannabis companies are increasingly turning to debt financing rather than equity raises, which means there’s a smaller audience for research.
Low share prices and fewer mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and other types of banking activities mean there’s less revenue to fund research, Redmond said.
“Without that activity, there aren’t the revenues to justify paying the person to write the research,” he said.
The recent shake-up includes:
New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald, which has stopped covering all U.S. marijuana companies except for WM Technology, which operates the Weedmaps platform, after the departure of analyst Pablo Zuanic.
New York-based Cowen, which was recently acquired by Canada-based TD Bank, is no longer covering U.S. cannabis companies. But analyst Vivien Azer will include the industry’s larger trends as part of her beverages, tobacco and cannabis portfolio.
Jon DeCourcey, a former analyst covering the cannabis industry, is no longer with financial services firm BTIG, which specializes in investment banking, institutional trading and research. He is now head of investor relations at Florida-based multistate cannabis operator Ayr Wellness, according to DeCourcey’s LinkedIn profile.
Neither Cantor Fitzgerald, Cowen nor BTIG responded to requests from MJBizDaily for comment.
Many other financial-services firms are still providing coverage of U.S. plant-touching companies, such as Florida-based Water Tower Research, New York-based capital markets company Viridian Capital Advisors, Toronto-based Echelon Wealth Partners and Vancouver, British Columbia-based Canaccord Genuity.
Analysts have been ‘a little too optimistic.
When Cowen became the first big financial-services firm to initiate coverage in 2019, investors said it lent legitimacy to the burgeoning industry.
Back in 2019, both operators and service providers were optimistic that federal legalization and/or the SAFE Banking Act would be passed in Congress.
Industry officials also were increasingly hopeful that big institutional investors would take an active interest in the U.S. cannabis industry – a move that could have provided key funding to companies.
But none of that has happened.
Instead, retail investors still make up the bulk of investment in U.S. cannabis, Water Tower’s Redmond said.
And retail investors can often access research only if they pay for it or are clients of the financial-services firm producing it.
That optimism might have also bled into analyst research.
“We’ve all been a little bit too optimistic,” Redmond said.
Between price targets and predicting the passage of SAFE Banking, many analysts through the second half of 2022 underestimated the impact of factors such as high interest rates, falling wholesale cannabis prices and high taxes.
“I think that even the ones that were doing the research and getting it out, maybe it wasn’t that helpful for people,” Redmond said.
Cannabis ‘not ready for prime time’
But the industry has other issues in addition to overly optimistic forecasting from analysts and slow movement on federal cannabis reform, Matt Karnes, founder of New York-based cannabis financial consultancy Greenwave Advisors and a former sell-side and buy-side analyst, told MJBizDaily.
Plenty of cannabis companies are still finding their footing, he said, pivoting out of oversaturated legal markets and looking for promising paths to profitability.
Another sign of the industry’s immaturity?
A disproportionate number of cannabis companies have restated their financial results, he said, showing that the industry is still mastering the accounting intricacies of the sector.
“You make your investment based on what comes out on a quarterly report,” Karnes said.
“And then two quarters later – oops! How is that supposed to give any investor confidence?”
With fewer analysts covering cannabis, Karnes said, it could contribute on a small level to the enormous difficulties U.S. plant-touching companies are having attracting investment in the industry.
But, he noted, there are still analysts covering U.S. plant-touching operators, such as Matt Bottomley at Canaccord Genuity and Andrew Semple at Echelon Wealth Partners.
“It’s a slight incremental negative,” he said of the impact on raising capital.
“But I don’t think the industry was necessarily ready for prime time.”
Home / Finance
Oregon marijuana retail chain Chalice Farms seeks receivership
By MJBizDaily Staff
June 6, 2023
Canadian holding company Chalice Brands, doing business as Chalice Farms, filed court documents asking to place five of its Oregon subsidiaries under receivership.
The subsidiaries, which are part of Oregon’s third-largest retail chain, are unable to pay roughly $35 million in debts, Willamette Week reported.
Chalice filed documents with Multnomah County Circuit Court on May 23.
According to the filing, “This situation has led to an urgent liquidity crisis for the defendants.
“They are unable to pay key suppliers and have recently failed to make payments to creditors, including lenders, landlords, suppliers, and others.”
Toronto-based Chalice wants to restructure its vertically integrated business and find buyers for its assets.
In the meantime, the holding company has also asked a Canadian court for a stay that protects it from legal proceedings initiated by its creditors.
Chalice trades as CHALF on the U.S. over-the-counter markets.
The company’s listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange, CHAL, was suspended about a year ago because, according to Willamette Week, “it hasn’t filed its 2021 and 2022 financial reports.”
Cannabis MSO Trulieve ceasing operations in Massachusetts
By MJBizDaily Staff
June 6, 2023
Women, minority execs show few gains in U.S. cannabis industry, according to the latest data from the MJBiz Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Report. Get your copy here.
Florida-based multistate marijuana operator Trulieve Cannabis is shutting down operations in Massachusetts and further downsizing in California.
The company hopes the moves will “preserve cash and improve financial performance,” according to a news release.
Trulieve’s three Massachusetts dispensaries – in Framingham, Northampton and Worcester – will close on June 3. Its cultivation and processing facility in Holyoke will shutter by year’s end.
The company also will close its marijuana retail location in Grover Beach, California.
A total of 128 employees will be affected by the cuts, said a spokesperson for Trulieve Cannabis in an email to MJBizDaily.
Kim Rivers, Trulieve’s chief executive officer, said in a statement that the most recent cuts are part of the company’s plans to jettison “non-contributive assets” and grow its core markets.
In Florida, one of Trulieve’s core markets, the company has contributed more than $25 million toward an adult-use cannabis legalization advocacy campaign.
Trulieve reduced its California footprint, shuttered its Nevada operations and downsized its total workforce by approximately 16% last year.
The company attributed its lower-than-expected revenues in Massachusetts during 2022 to price compression and competition in its full-year financial results.
“We remain fully confident in our strategic position and the long term prospects for the industry,” Rivers said in the statement.
The Source+, another cannabis retailer in Northampton, closed in December.
After one of its Massachusetts employees died last year, the company agreed to pay a reduced fine to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and to research the safety risks of ground cannabis dust in the workplace.
Cannabis sales in California slid to $1,249,584,223, the lowest quarterly total since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest statistics from the state’s Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
Sales were down 5.9% from the same quarter a year ago and the lowest since the second quarter of 2020, when sales were $1,153,285,028.
The first-quarter statistics put California’s marijuana operators on track to generate just less than $5 billion in sales this year, or 7.1% less than 2022, when taxable sales of recreational and medical marijuana eclipsed $5.3 billion.
If projections hold true, cannabis sales would fall for the second consecutive year in the world’s largest regulated market.
It’s the first time that has happened since regulations for adult-use retail sales were established in 2018.
Sales last year decreased 8.6% from roughly $5.8 billion in 2021, according to state data.
Beyond high taxes, competition from the illicit market and wide swaths of the state still lacking retail access, a credit crises has engulfed the California industry for the better part of a year.
That has prompted marijuana distributors and brands in the state to hire a credit association to rate retailers in hopes of reducing hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices – and reining in repeat offenders.
In a related initiative, a group of California cannabis companies formed a coalition to raise awareness and provide solutions to mitigate the credit crisis threatening to upend the local marijuana industry.
Dozens of cannabis brands, wholesalers and producers last week launched Financial Stability for California Cannabis to confront complex debt problems affecting the entire supply chain.
Home / All U.S.
Marijuana trade organization NCIA cuts staff
By MJBizDaily Staff
June 6, 2023
Widespread layoffs in the marijuana industry are affecting trade organizations such as the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), which cut close to half its employees last week.
Chief Operating Officer Rob Kellogg, Director of Government Relations Michael Correia and Director of Communications Bethany Moore will all be departing NCIA, according to Green Market Report.
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Two support staff were also affected, leaving NCIA with six full-time employees.
Layoffs have become a common occurrence in the North American marijuana industry as companies struggle to find a path to profitability with a whole set of challenges, including:
Fierce competition and oversaturated markets.
Wholesale cannabis price compression.
High interest rates and taxes.
Low interest from investors.
Poor quality products.
Such headwinds have led to a decline in NCIA membership, CEO Aaron Smith told Green Market Report.
“We’ve had members who have been members for years who aren’t renewing because they’re doing layoffs,” he said.
“And how can they renew a membership if they just laid off their staff?”
The NCIA once employed more than 20 workers, Smith told Green Market Report.
Home / Legal
Critics question whether Biden-signed marijuana research law has ‘any value’
author profile pictureBy Chris Roberts, Reporter
June 7, 2023
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Image of various testing glassware containing cannabis flower
Starved for good news from Washington DC, the broad cannabis movement greeted President Joe Biden’s signing of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act into law in December with enthusiasm and hope.
Surely, new research supporting the rescheduling of marijuana – and, with it, tax relief for the cannabis industry – as well as other federal reform would soon follow the first stand-alone bill related to MJ signed into law since Richard Nixon’s presidency.
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At least, that’s what industry executives and investors hoped would happen after the bipartisan legislation became law Dec. 2.
But six months later, a growing chorus of critics note that the federal government has registered zero new cannabis research projects under the new law.
Nor have any new applications for producers of research-grade cannabis been approved under the new law, according to the Federal Register.
That’s where the U.S. attorney general must place a notice in order for research applications to be considered.
And that is something Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to do.
‘We have not seen any benefits’
Yet, many of the same obstacles – including questions of funding as well as how to navigate an onerous federal review process – remain for any would-be researchers of marijuana.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which funds and oversees national marijuana prohibition efforts, also supervises federally approved cultivation of cannabis used for research purposes.
Under the new law signed by Biden, the DEA, rather than health or science officials, remains in charge of allowing new research, according to Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
For decades, NIDA has supplied researchers with marijuana as well as funding.
In an emailed statement to MJBizDaily, Volkow noted it’s simply too soon to tell how the DEA will choose to wield that power.
“Studies on cannabis and other scheduled substances are critical,” she said, “and NIDA welcomes efforts to facilitate the process of obtaining a DEA registration to conduct research on these substances.
“As we do not yet know how the DEA will implement the new law, at this time, we cannot comment on the impact it will have on research.”
A DEA spokesperson told MJBizDaily the agency would have no comment.
But one DEA-licensed researcher says the new research bill hasn’t helped.
“In fact, we have not seen any benefits in velocity of marijuana research from this new law. And I question whether the law had any value,” Sue Sisley, an Arizona-based physician and principal investigator on a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial involving cannabis, told MJBizDaily via email.
Sisley’s Scottsdale Research Institute is one of the eight entities with DEA permission to produce cannabis.
All eight applied well before the research bill took effect. The DEA has not approved any new producers since then.
“If you’re asking, ‘Has the bill greased the wheels for research?’ – I don’t think anybody can endorse that,” Sisley wrote.
Six months isn’t very long in science, but that lapse in terms of practical effect is giving some observers pause.
So is one of the organizations that claimed credit for the bill.
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‘Drafted’ by marijuana’s sworn enemy
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is one of the Washington lobbies that says it helped draft the bill and guide it through Congress.
That group is arguably the country’s most vocal and effective anti-legalization organization, though critics have accused SAM of cherry-picking data and misrepresentation.
SAM’s executive director, Kevin Sabet, appeared at a May Senate Banking Committee hearing to testify against cannabis banking reform.
In a Dec. 2 news release hailing Biden’s signing of the cannabis research legislation, SAM claimed to have “drafted” the bill.
Then, in a Dec. 6 release, U.S. Rep. Andy Hunter, a Maryland Republican and a bill co-sponsor, said SAM “helped” with the bill.
Sabet would not consent to an interview with MJBizDaily for this story.
However, a Sabet spokesperson emailed a statement that, while not addressing SAM’s role in drafting the bill, did dismiss any notions the legislation was ill-intended.
“Legalizers have long argued that marijuana is medicine and this bill advanced a solid, science-based research agenda – not hyperbole,” Sabet’s statement reads in part.
“It is no surprise that those who opposed the bill and those who stand to profit from full-scale commercialization continue to mischaracterize legitimate legislation that clearly expands research opportunities.”
A follow-up email also attributed to Sabet noted that “it often takes a long time for federal legislation to be fully enacted. It has only been six months. It isn’t serious to suggest that the bill hasn’t achieved its intent at this time.”
‘No one realizes how bad’ the research law is
Shane Pennington, a cannabis policy attorney, is among the research law’s staunchest critics.
“No one realizes how bad that research bill is,” he told MJBizDaily. “I didn’t realize it, until I went and looked at it again.”
In a Substack post last July, Pennington highlighted the new authorities granted to the DEA regarding cannabis research, arguing they are counterproductive.
Those include the ability to unilaterally determine whether an application to study the drug is incomplete and then, without consequence, to ignore the application.
More recently, Pennington pointed out how the research reform bill altered the Controlled Substances Act to create cannabis-specific research requirements, independent of the drug’s status under the act.
This means that, even if Congress or the Biden administration were to elect to reschedule marijuana, the same barriers to research could well remain.
All of this, coupled with the authority over research delegated to law enforcement rather than health or science officials, led Pennington to call the law a brilliant coup: Legislation to stymie cannabis research was passed off as a major breakthrough.
“Marijuana is on lockdown unless you can get the attorney general to say, ‘Well, how about some cannabis science?’” Pennington told MJBizDaily.
“You are giving authority over cannabis science to the biggest enemies of cannabis science who have ever existed on planet earth.”
Even more circumspect observers have noted the bill doesn’t help researchers wanting to study commercially sold marijuana, which tends to have higher THC levels than federally approved research cannabis.
University of California, San Diego, researcher Ziva Cooper argued in an interview with Psychiatric News that the new law mainly benefits researchers who already enjoy the logistical and administrative support of institutions with established cannabis programs.
In other words, pressing questions about marijuana and health could remain unanswered, such as how dispensary-grade cannabis or delta-8 THC might interact with a teen’s anxiety or ADHD drugs or even a senior’s diabetes or heart medication.
According to Sisley and Pennington, the much-vaunted research reform act won’t help fill in those blanks.
“This whole thing is a public health travesty,” Pennington said.
Wrong insiders…
Insiders have traction. Read millions of followers. D.D. Is mui important in this business
These two newbies have none. (57 views (including yours) after 7 days)
If you don’t know inside insiders you are starting on the wrong foot??????????
Re-doomed!
Home / Cultivation
Canadian wholesale cannabis prices are off more than 40% in 2022
author profile pictureBy Matt Lamers, International Editor
February 15, 2023 - Updated February 15, 2023
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Image of Canadian cannabis
Canadian cannabis wholesale prices tumbled more than 40% last year as companies continued to work through stubborn supply gluts and struggling cultivators chose to sell off their unsold marijuana instead of destroying it.
Looking at the latter part of 2023, some industry experts see the oversupply of wholesale cannabis easing somewhat as more licensed producers leave the market and the remaining cultivators adjust growing volumes to match demand.
But others are more bearish and foresee wholesale prices continuing to fall.
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“Oversupply and excess capacity have resulted in high-quality flower being widely available and sold well below the marginal cost of production,” Zach George, the CEO of cannabis producer SNDL, said in a news release this week.
Citing industrywide overproduction, the release noted that SNDL is eliminating about 85 employees and scaling back activity at a production facility in Olds, Alberta.
MJBizDaily previously reported that the total amount of stored cannabis by licensed producers, wholesalers and retailers had reached 1.4 billion grams (1,543 tons), citing the latest Health Canada data.
Prices of bulk wholesale flower fell to record lows in 2022 on the Canadian Cannabis Exchange (CCX), a live trading platform for B2B wholesale marijuana, according to the company’s annual Bulk Wholesale Cannabis Pricing Report.
Prices on the exchange, which is privately held, are considered a barometer for wholesale prices in Canada and do not reflect prices for all wholesale transactions in the country.
Canada isn’t alone. Wholesale prices have been falling across the United States because of a glut of product.
In Canada, the average price per gram for bulk wholesale flower in 2022 was 1.06 Canadian dollars (79 cents) a gram on the CCX, representing a decrease of 41% compared to 2021, which saw an average price of CA$1.80 a gram.
“The big takeaway here is that 2022 was a super challenging year for Canadian cannabis,” Steve Clark, the CCX’s chief executive officer, said in a phone interview.
“We started seeing in the back half of the year a lot of consolidation, a lot of small to midsize cultivators essentially started to run out of free cash flow or lines of credit.”
Clark said that was one of the factors driving prices lower.
“People were almost jumping over each other as the offer prices came down, just to move product that had been sitting in the vault,” he said.
“That, paired with a number of larger producers needing to get capital at quarter end and year end, really became that perfect storm where it’s really a race to the bottom.”
Other factors for falling wholesale prices cited in the CCX report include:
Overbuilt infrastructure leading to oversupply.
High taxes, which squeezed wholesale prices.
Lower retail prices, which put downward pressure on wholesale prices.
“Companies that overproduced were forced to drop prices of aged product and CCX saw this throughout early 2022 as larger lots were liquidated, including aged flower and sizable volumes of popcorn bud and smalls that did not sell in 2021,” the report noted.
Higher THC, lower volatility
The Canadian Cannabis Exchange facilitates transactions for six indices based on THC content.
Generally, flower with lower THC content experienced wholesale price declines on average last year.
For example, flower with THC scores in the 15%-20% range, or what CCX calls “Index 3,” traded at a weighted average price of CA$0.29 a gram last year, approximately 62% lower than in 2021.
“Heading into early 2023, do not expect Index 3 price levels to recover materially, as a robust supply of higher-potency flower will continue to weigh on the market,” according to the CCX report.
“Index 3 is trending towards extraction grade and converging with trim pricing.”
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Flower with THC scores in the 20%-25% (Index 4) and 25%-30% (Index 5) ranges also saw substantial declines in average prices.
Index 4 traded at an average price of CA$1 a gram in 2022, while Index 5 was CA$1.56 a gram, representing declines of almost 50% for both categories compared to 2021.
Erin Butler, vice president of corporate development for the CCX, said “there’s an immense amount of volume in that 20%-25%, so the competition for sellers is really, really tight right now.”
The report said flower with 30%-plus THC was more stable than other dried flower indices, finishing 2022 between CA$1.95 a gram and CA$2.12 a gram in four out of the five months it was published.
In 2022, the CCX did just over 45,000 kilograms of flower and trim deals in around 900 transactions.
‘Vault liquidations’
Dan Sutton, CEO of British Columbia-headquartered cannabis producer Tantalus Labs, expects prices will continue to fall.
“What we’re anticipating is further gluts of supply that drive prices down even further,” he said in a phone interview.
“There was some notion that perhaps we’d find the price floor. The problem with average prices in the wholesale market around a dollar for 20%-22% cannabis is that it is way below production costs for your average craft-scale producer.
“For the next six months, these vault liquidations will persist, and that will pull prices down, in my view.”
Sutton cited the increasing number of cannabis producers as one of the factors driving down prices.
He said general wholesale market trends, such as falling overall prices, do affect the price of higher-quality flower sold by craft producers.
“The reality is, prices are always reflective of other quality grades,” he said.
“So if I have a better-quality product than commodity grade, and commodity prices have come down 40%, it pulls on my own pricing.”
A number of cannabis producers called it quits in 2022, such as Zenabis Global and Eve & Co.
“We’re seeing artificially deflated prices from these liquidation events, and that is going to challenge other wholesalers who are building a business in the wholesale market,” Sutton said.
Fourteen of the 35 Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) filings in Canada – or 40% – between Jan. 1 and Dec. 22 of last year involved cannabis companies.
“For craft cultivators and small (cannabis) businesses, the time is now to be as lean as you possibly can,” Sutton said.
“Survival is victory. That’s been true the last couple of years and it will be true in 2023.”
‘Follow the leader’
CEO Clark said THC remains the main barometer for price, but terpene profiles are becoming more sought after by buyers.
Clark suggested it’s important for cultivators to try to stay ahead of trends.
“It’s not always following what everybody else is doing, but staying ahead of trends and trying to find a unique terpene and cannabinoid profile,” he said.
“In the Canadian market, it’s a little bit of ‘follow the leader.’ There’s a popular strain, a couple guys grow it, and then we’d see more entries starting to grow that (cultivar) four to six months later.”
Clark said growers need to find unique cultivars with more than 25% THC or risk not being picked up by companies’ respective distribution channels.
Clark and Butler said buyers are emerging for forward lots, for delivery later this year, in the 25%-and-up categories.
“They’re looking to lock up good growers now at a slightly above-market price,” Clark said.
“They’re starting to realize that with a lot of these larger cultivators shutting down facilities, consolidation and closures of some of the micros, and there’s a lot of demand for high-quality flower.”
Matt Lamers
No money there.
Contrary to stock market weed, legacy only sells what sells…??
Supply/demand for cannabis extracts in Canada
Supply (inventory): 17,125,400 units
Demand (sales): 4,522,601 units
Production: 4,482,672 units
Industry supply is 3.8X sales.
Period: 2022-12
Supply/demand for edible cannabis in Canada
Supply (inventory): 19,159,478 units
Demand (sales): 4,726,840 units
Production: 3,655,721 units
Industry supply is 4X sales, which is bad but an improvement for this category.
Period: 2022-12
Supply/demand
In 2022, roughly 2 billion grams of cannabis was produced.
How much was sold? Hard to say, but way less than that.
Headset says 360 million grams of flower and prerolls were sold at retail in Alberta, BC, Ontario and Sask. (which account for 3/4 of ????'s market)
These facts make some people very uncomfortable:
—Some large cannabis corporations largely misallocated most capital they raised in 2017-2021 & mismanaged their respective businesses.
—????'s federal & provincial gov'ts had big rolls in creating those macroeconomic conditions.
The macroeconomic conditions of Canada's cannabis industry are very poor.
Significant price compression, combined with excessive gov't gouging, hyper-competition, VERY poor corporate stewardship & awful capital allocation have all resulted in billions in private sector losses.
Some execs and investors tell me the oversupply of cannabis biomass is great for products like extracts and edibles, but I have to question that conclusion given the above data - Industry supply for edibles is 4X sales; and Industry supply for extracts is 3.8X sales.
Supply/demand for cannabis topicals in Canada
Supply (inventory): 509,142 units
Demand (sales): 81,049 units
Production: 87,220 units
Industry supply is 6.2X sales.
That is a lot of product to be incinerated.
Period: 2022-12
Don,t confuse facts with predictions would be my advise to you sir.
.??????.
I will remember my first cannabis CBG prescription to a newborn who had seizures.
Fighting for patients right became my goal when i saw the result.
They are mostly poor and in bad shape.
Health Canada gave me flack.
I sold the clinic to co-workers.
Free to do what i want.
Exposing the B.S. is my goal.
While having fun but.
Suckers abound.
Sitting in a Casino.
Unaware of the burning fire consuming the building.
Gamblers don,t want to learn.
Emotional losers.
Canada’s unsold cannabis inventory balloons to 1.5 billion grams
Matt Lamers, International Editor
June 6, 2023 - Updated June 6, 2023
Business failures and consolidation failed to stop Canada’s stockpile of unsold cannabis from reaching a new high in the final quarter of 2022, the latest sign that shrinking prices and margins could continue to squeeze companies.
Packaged and unpackaged inventory of dried cannabis jumped to an all-time high of 1.47 billion grams (3.2 million pounds) as of December 2022, according to the latest data from Health Canada, which tracks overall unsold stockpiles of licensed producers, wholesalers and retailers.
That’s an increase from 1.3 billion grams in December 2021.
Federally licensed cultivators were sitting on 1.39 billion grams of packaged and unpackaged inventory as of December 2022, while stores and wholesalers held 80.7 million grams of packaged inventory.
The data suggests the country’s cannabis industry remains gripped by a supply-and-demand imbalance, even though many of the biggest producers have mothballed their largest cultivation facilities.
Last year, for instance, Aurora Cannabis closed its flagship Aurora Sky facility in Edmonton, Alberta – one of the biggest in Canada.
The oversupply situation is thought to be one of the factors forcing down cannabis sale prices lower than production cost.
The retail price of cannabis has fallen by almost 30% since 2018, when Canada legalized adult-use sales, according to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index.
Other estimates suggest the overall price decline is more severe.
Wholesale prices in the country tumbled more than 40% last year alone, according to the Canadian Cannabis Exchange (CCX), a live trading platform for B2B wholesale marijuana.
Hypercompetition
Falling prices are putting the squeeze on businesses across the cannabis supply chain in Canada.
Fourteen of the 35 Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) filings in Canada between Jan. 1 and Dec. 22 of last year involved companies operating in the cannabis space.
The filings are equivalent to bankruptcy filings in the United States.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of competition in Canada – I think there’s overcompetition,” said Elad Barak, CEO of Djot, a Toronto-based company selling cannabis dispensers and pod systems for concentrates.
“They’re growing cannabis because that’s what they know how to do. But when they go to sell it, they can’t,” he said.
“You’re seeing two results – some companies are going under, but the cannabis doesn’t disappear. They hold it or sell it” via liquidations of unsold inventory, as companies go bankrupt, he said.
Citing the latest Health Canada figures, Barak noted that there are now nearly 1,000 licensed producers in Canada that are competing in various parts of the federally regulated supply chain.
The number has not stopped growing since legalization in October 2018, despite companies exiting the industry via consolidation and others via the CCAA.
As of last summer, there were 886 licensed cultivators, processors and sellers under Canada’s Cannabis Act.
That figure was approximately 730 in 2021.
In 2020 and 2019, the numbers were 440 and 206, respectively.
Record ‘croptober’
Canadian cultivators produced a record amount of cannabis during last fall’s “croptober” – when most of the outdoor cannabis harvest comes in.
Dried cannabis produced last September, October and November totaled 640 million grams, a year-over-year increase of 14%.
In the same three months of 2021, approximately 560 million grams of dried cannabis was produced.
In all of 2022, roughly 2 billion grams of cannabis was produced, according to Health Canada data.
For perspective, in the same year, approximately 360 million grams of dried flower and pre-rolls were sold at retail in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan, according to Cooper Ashley, analytics manager at Seattle-based cannabis data firm Headset.
Those provinces account for about three-quarters of the Canadian market.
Cultivation area falling
Canada’s licensed growing area is continuing to decline, according to the Health Canada data.
The total area within federally licensed sites where indoor/greenhouse cannabis cultivation activities occurred measured 1,595,724 square meters in December 2022.
That’s almost 30% lower than the all-time high of 2,217,216 square meters reached in May 2020.
Cannabis greenhouse area as a percentage of all greenhouse area – including those used for vegetable cultivation – is also in decline.
At its peak in 2020, cannabis cultivation accounted for a little more than 11% of Canada’s total greenhouse space.
As of today, cannabis accounts for 7.6% of Canada’s total greenhouse and indoor cultivation area – a reduction of more than 30%.
Licensed outdoor cultivation area is declining at a much slower rate.
The area where outdoor cultivation activities occurred in December 2022 measured 595 hectares (1,470 acres).
That’s approximately 16% lower than the all-time high reached in December 2021, when 713 hectares were used for cannabis cultivation.
Businesses cope
Some businesses have adopted strategies to cope with falling prices and soaring inventories.
SNDL, a cannabis producer and retailer based in Alberta, launched a “pop-up” retail brand called Firesale Cannabis.
Pop-up retail outlets are stores which are not intended to be permanent.
In an investor presentation, SNDL called the pop-up strategy a “solution to the sustainability challenges facing the cannabis industry.”
“Our cannabis liquidation pop-ups help licensed producers sell aged stale inventory at deeply discounted prices, with the aim of providing the most affordable cannabis products in Canada.”
SNDL operated two Firesale stores as of May 12, 2023.
Adam Coates, chief revenue officer of Decibel Cannabis Co. – one of the top cannabis producers in Canada by sales – said falling prices in the discount and value segments puts pressure on the core and premium segments.
“Pricing in those categories is relative, so while there are a lot of discount and value options in dried flower, the more profitable core and premium segments see volume declines when the price difference between those lower price tiers widens,” he told MJBizDaily in a phone interview.
“It has an impact on how we think about our pricing strategy and what’s required to be successful in dried flower.”
Coates said Decibel sells all the cannabis it produces.
He said price is being used as the main driver by some competitors to get market share and volume growth.
“But that strips out all the profitability as well, because excise tax stays the same no matter where your pricing is (when priced below $10 per gram),” he said.
“At some point, that has to stop.”
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Canada’s unsold cannabis inventory balloons to 1.5 billion
June 6, 2023
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Business failures and consolidation failed to stop Canada’s stockpile of unsold cannabis from reaching a new high in the final quarter of 2022, the latest sign that shrinking prices and margins could continue to squeeze companies.
Packaged and unpackaged inventory of dried cannabis jumped to an all-time high of 1.47 billion grams (3.2 million pounds) as of December 2022, according to the latest data from Health Canada, which tracks overall unsold stockpiles of licensed producers, wholesalers and retailers.
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That’s an increase from 1.3 billion grams in December 2021.
Federally licensed cultivators were sitting on 1.39 billion grams of packaged and unpackaged inventory as of December 2022, while stores and wholesalers held 80.7 million grams of packaged inventory.
The data suggests the country’s cannabis industry remains gripped by a supply-and-demand imbalance, even though many of the biggest producers have mothballed their largest cultivation facilities.
Last year, for instance, Aurora Cannabis closed its flagship Aurora Sky facility in Edmonton, Alberta – one of the biggest in Canada.
The oversupply situation is thought to be one of the factors forcing down cannabis prices.
The retail price of cannabis has fallen by almost 30% since 2018, when Canada legalized adult-use sales, according to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index.
Other estimates suggest the overall price decline is more severe.
Wholesale prices in the country tumbled more than 40% last year alone, according to the Canadian Cannabis Exchange (CCX), a live trading platform for B2B wholesale marijuana.
Hypercompetition
Falling prices are putting the squeeze on businesses across the cannabis supply chain in Canada.
Fourteen of the 35 Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) filings in Canada between Jan. 1 and Dec. 22 of last year involved companies operating in the cannabis space.
The filings are equivalent to bankruptcy filings in the United States.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of competition in Canada – I think there’s overcompetition,” said Elad Barak, CEO of Djot, a Toronto-based company selling cannabis dispensers and pod systems for concentrates.
“They’re growing cannabis because that’s what they know how to do. But when they go to sell it, they can’t,” he said.
“You’re seeing two results – some companies are going under, but the cannabis doesn’t disappear. They hold it or sell it” via liquidations of unsold inventory, as companies go bankrupt, he said.
Citing the latest Health Canada figures, Barak noted that there are now nearly 1,000 licensed producers in Canada that are competing in various parts of the federally regulated supply chain.
The number has not stopped growing since legalization in October 2018, despite companies exiting the industry via consolidation and others via the CCAA.
As of last summer, there were 886 licensed cultivators, processors and sellers under Canada’s Cannabis Act.
That figure was approximately 730 in 2021.
In 2020 and 2019, the numbers were 440 and 206, respectively.
Record ‘croptober’
Canadian cultivators produced a record amount of cannabis during last fall’s “croptober” – when most of the outdoor cannabis harvest comes in.
Dried cannabis produced last September, October and November totaled 640 million grams, a year-over-year increase of 14%.
In the same three months of 2021, approximately 560 million grams of dried cannabis was produced.
In all of 2022, roughly 2 billion grams of cannabis was produced, according to Health Canada data.
For perspective, in the same year, approximately 360 million grams of dried flower and pre-rolls were sold at retail in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan, according to Cooper Ashley, analytics manager at Seattle-based cannabis data firm Headset.
Those provinces account for about three-quarters of the Canadian market.
Cultivation area falling
Canada’s licensed growing area is continuing to decline, according to the Health Canada data.
The total area within federally licensed sites where indoor/greenhouse cannabis cultivation activities occurred measured 1,595,724 square meters in December 2022.
That’s almost 30% lower than the all-time high of 2,217,216 square meters reached in May 2020.
Cannabis greenhouse area as a percentage of all greenhouse area – including those used for vegetable cultivation – is also in decline.
At its peak in 2020, cannabis cultivation accounted for a little more than 11% of Canada’s total greenhouse space.
As of today, cannabis accounts for 7.6% of Canada’s total greenhouse and indoor cultivation area – a reduction of more than 30%.
Licensed outdoor cultivation area is declining at a much slower rate.
The area where outdoor cultivation activities occurred in December 2022 measured 595 hectares (1,470 acres).
That’s approximately 16% lower than the all-time high reached in December 2021, when 713 hectares were used for cannabis cultivation.
Businesses cope
Some businesses have adopted strategies to cope with falling prices and soaring inventories.
SNDL, a cannabis producer and retailer based in Alberta, launched a “pop-up” retail brand called Firesale Cannabis.
Pop-up retail outlets are stores which are not intended to be permanent.
In an investor presentation, SNDL called the pop-up strategy a “solution to the sustainability challenges facing the cannabis industry.”
“Our cannabis liquidation pop-ups help licensed producers sell aged inventory at deeply discounted prices, with the aim of providing the most affordable cannabis products in Canada.”
SNDL operated two Firesale stores as of May 12, 2023.
Adam Coates, chief revenue officer of Decibel Cannabis Co. – one of the top cannabis producers in Canada by sales – said falling prices in the discount and value segments puts pressure on the core and premium segments.
“Pricing in those categories is relative, so while there are a lot of discount and value options in dried flower, the more profitable core and premium segments see volume declines when the price difference between those lower price
“It has an impact on how we think about our pricing strategy and what’s required to be successful in dried flower.”
Coates said Decibel sells all the cannabis it produces.
He said price is being used as the main driver by some competitors to get market share and volume growth.
“But that strips out all the profitability as well, because excise tax stays the same no matter where your pricing is (when priced below $10 per gram),” he said.
“At some point, that has to stop.”
Lps are doomed!
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VCBC Launches Constitutional Challenge Against B.C. Government
VCBC DENIED EXEMPTION
Avatar photoCALEB MCMILLAN·JUNE 5, 2023
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Health Canada has denied Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club (VCBC) a special exemption status, negatively affecting medical cannabis patients. It took the federal health bureaucracy two years to come to this decision.
In the meantime, VCBC has raked up $6.5 million in fines from B.C.’s extrajudicial “Community Safety Unit” Gestapo.
In a letter delivered to VCBC on May 30, David Pellmann, an “acting director general,” wrote:
I maintain that you have not demonstrated that the proposed exemptions are necessary for a medical or scientific purpose, or otherwise in the public interest, taking into account the objectives of the Cannabis Act (the Act) and the existing licensing and medical access framework.
Translated: We’ve defined “public interest,” and the VCBC does not align with our personal interests and institutional agendas.
VCBC’S DENIED EXEMPTION IS CRIMINAL
VCBC Denied Exemption medical cannabis
I maintain that Health Canada doesn’t understand basic cannabis economics. And the letter sent to VCBC confirms this.
Pellmann writes,
Additionally, you indicated that an exemption allowing the production and sale of edible cannabis products that exceed the 10mg limit on THC would benefit people who use cannabis for medical purposes. However, insufficient evidence or additional information was provided to demonstrate why such an exemption is necessary, given that multiple units of the same cannabis product can be consumed to achieve the desired effect.
It is incredible that someone thought this, wrote it, edited it, and sent it off. Now, being a writer myself, I understand that typos happen. Editors don’t always catch mistakes. But this is a glaring flaw in their logic.
If a 10mg cookie costs $25, and a medical cannabis patient needs 100mg daily for pain relief, they’re spending $250 a day, nearly two grand a week. Remember that many of these people are on fixed incomes, unable to work because of their illnesses.
VCBC’s denied exemption letter continues,
Moreover, insufficient evidence was provided to demonstrate that currently available edible cannabis products are inadequate in meeting the medical needs of people who use cannabis for medical purposes or that other ingestible cannabis products with higher THC limits, such as encapsulated extracts and tinctures, cannot be used as an alternative to edible cannabis.
The first part of this quote again demonstrates why politically-connected bureaucracies should not be making rules and regulations. We already have laws on the books to regulate goods and services in an economy.
Our common law tradition encourages innovation while protecting individual rights. Until legislatures stepped in for the “public interest,” the common law even prevented companies from polluting the air.
As for why patients can’t purchase other products with higher THC limits – such as extracts and tinctures – consider the ingredients and the bioavailability of different cannabis goods.
VCBC DENIED EXEMPTION LETTER DOES NOT ADDRESS BIOAVAILABILITY
A 2012 study looked at the bioavailability of different delivery systems. They found oral consumption had a bioavailability of around 6%. Meaning of that 300mg capsule, you’re likely only getting 20mg of cannabinoids.
Smoking and vaping, of course, have some of the highest bioavailability at 31%. While eating cannabinoids is a slow process, as the cannabis passes through your digestive tract, more of it is absorbed.
With a higher bioavailability than extracts, cannabis edibles are the best means for medical patients. Consider, as well, that edibles taste good.
Cannabis companies often dilute extracts in MCT oil or olive oil. If you try to mask the taste by mixing it with a drink, you lower the bioavailability even further.
If you’re consuming hundreds of milligrams a day of cannabis extract, you’ll also consume a lot of saturated fats. Not everyone can handle high-fat intakes – especially in the form of oil. Some people do better on a carbohydrate-based diet.
Health Canada denies these people exist, evidently.
VCBC DENIED EXEMPTION? SEE YOU IN COURT
VCBC Denied Exemption medical cannabis
Dan Dicks of Press for Truth interviews Kirk Tousaw
Health Canada has denied VCBC an exemption status—time for the lawyers.
“We look forward to taking our case to the judiciary to prove that Health Canada continues to violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of sick and dying Canadians with their unacceptable medical cannabis program,” writes Ted Smith in an e-mail.
“Lawyers Jack Lloyd and Kirk Tousaw have been preparing for years to convince a judge that an exemption is in the public interest, especially with the opiate crisis continuing to spiral out of control.”
Of course, the Supreme Court may accept Health Canada’s ruling that VCBC’s denied exemption is in the “public interest.”
Just as they decided that Canadians don’t have a right to private health care. Or that far-left ideologies are the “public interest.”
Or that Quebec‘s home cultivation ban is justified.
A forgotten part of history is how lawyers, judges and law societies went along with Nazi Germany. They were able to justify Hitler’s actions based on their interpretations of the “rule of law.”
As legal scholar John Hasnas has argued, “The law is always open to interpretation and there is no such thing as a normatively neutral interpretation. The way one interprets the rules of law is always determined by one’s underlying moral and political beliefs.”
If the Supreme Court rejects the VCBC’s argument, it will be the opinion of nine unelected “experts.” Civil disobedience is still justified. And it may become the only option.
IS CLN BREAKING THE LAW TOO?
Despite having a medical cannabis program. Despite “reasonable access” to medical cannabis being a protected Charter right. And despite the plethora of randomized control trials proving cannabis’ efficacy, Health Canada says promoting cannabis for health benefits is against the law.
As the VCBC Denied Exemption letter reads:
We wish to remind you that the prohibition on making medical claims in relation to cannabis products is not limited to provincially or territory-authorized storefronts. Under subsection 104.12(1) of the Cannabis Regulations, it is prohibited to promote cannabis, a cannabis accessory or a service related to cannabis if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the promotion could create the impression that health or cosmetic benefits may be derived from the use of the product. This provision of the regulations applies regardless of whether the cannabis is intended for medical purposes.
So does that mean we here at CLN are also breaking the law? It’s evident in Trudeau’s Canada that we must limit our free expression for “public health and safety” reasons. Which, incidentally, aligns with corporate-state interests.
Canadians have a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws. And that includes giving patients information about medical cannabis.
And not just physically ill patients. Someone suffering from mental health issues might want to hear about double-blind, placebo-controlled studies showing how cannabis helps relieve anxiety.
HEALTH CANADA DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU
VCBC Denied Exemption medical cannabis
Treating cannabis as a scourge on society (while handing out free opioids and turning a blind eye to alcohol companies marketing to youth) is just one more reason to ignore Health Canada.
Six million Canadians (a third of us) don’t have access to a family doctor. But what does the Public Health Agency of Canada focus on? Combating “white supremacy” and “capitalism.”
Canada is undergoing a Maoist cultural revolution. Federal bureaucrats do not care about medical cannabis patients.
Perhaps some of us can (with consent) relocate to a First Nation Reserve where cannabis, individual rights, traditions, and the environment are respected. Of course, the Community Safety Unit Gestapo still raids Reserves. And the Reserves are technically the property of the federal government.
So perhaps it’s time for the cannabis culture and “Land Back” movement to unite. There is strength in numbers.
Cannabis is a gateway drug to liberty and prosperity. It has health and therapeutic benefits. Industrial hemp can save the world.
Throughout history, individuals and small groups have sparked broader movements. Cannabis legalization is a testament to that fact.
And it all began by disobeying unjust laws.
FOOTNOTE(S)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E9REUUGcpiKIL9FcOC6zyO66zhsVEn-n/view
https://www.docdroid.net/TdZQREO/fed-exemption-upload-pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K6063od4w-vJM_gaL11-8LV7pAP7Ckzt/view?usp=drive_link
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3763649/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221479931830064X
https://medusa.teodesian.net/docs/liberty/MythFinalDraft.pdf
http://walterblock.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/EconomicsandtheEnvironment.pdf
https://www.nature.com/articles/npp20116?foxtrotcallback=true
The report "provides an assessment of the cannabis market under prohibition"
Summary
—In 2011-2015, prices of cannabis declined slightly
—Under prohibition, cannabis demand appears to be inelastic
—Medical prices reported by LPs tends to be higher than those on 'Price of Weed'
Lps 7.75$/gram
Legacy 80cents/gram