SLEEKSCAPE'S 2022 CANNABIS & MARIJUANA MANIA GRAND SALAMI -- PART II

[sleekscape]

I appreciate your words, Mwyo

It has definitely been a long summer, and a difficult first 2/3 of the year after such a promising legislative victory in the form of federal Hemp & CBD Legalization (and complete descheduling) that took place in late December 2018, ending an 81-year prohibition on hemp

The media has done us no favors so far thus year, fabricating stories of FDA crackdowns and exaggerating the negative for the sake of driving website traffic

Where are the headlines about the American CBD economy exploding in 2019?

Bethany Gomez is sticking with her $5B estimate and 600% growth by end of 2019, which I personally feel is too high — I think $1.5B-$2.5B is more realistic, which still qualifies as an explosion compared to $700M in 2018

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/news/whats-bigger-recreational-marijuana-its-no-high-cousin


Where are the headlines about the 370% growth in hemp acres planted in 2019 (128,000) vs 2018 (27,000)?

https://qz.com/1686276/how-much-hemp-is-grown-in-the-us/


Where are the headlines about Dr. Gottlieb’s multiple proclamations of CBD Isolate Legalization by the FDA in their upcoming inaugural framework?

I think we are looking at a media that has been “shellshocked” by their experience covering the MJ sector since 2014, where we have seen a continual interruption of any positive momentum in the states by the federal government (typically the DOJ, DEA and Congress) at every turn — so their instincts are to react in the same traumatized fashion to even the slightest of negative events in the newly legal Hemp/CBD sector — black and white reporting takes place and all shades of meaning along a spectrum are lost — the details are ignored, the positive stories are ignored, and coverage is overwhelmingly slanted to the negative, with the FDA being written about as if they were the DEA

MJ and Hemp are both forms of cannabis, but that is where the similarities end

Hemp and CBD weren’t just federally legalized (and completely descheduled) by Congress in December 2018

47 states have passed laws legalizing the cultivation of hemp — and these bills get passed with unanimous support, something that never happens with MJ, which is at best a 60/40 issue in state legislatures

There is zero opposition to legalizing the sale of Hemp-CBD products in state legislatures, where bills have routinely gotten 100% support in 2019

Congress, DEA, DOJ and FDA all strongly oppose MJ

FDA is the only obstacle remaining with Hemp/CBD and “opposition” isn’t the right term to use there — even though they say CBD products are “illegal” they haven’t removed any from store shelves — all they really seem to care about is when products make health claims

The most important take home point about why things are about to turn positive for Hemp & CBD in comparison to what kept happening to MJ & THC is that THERE ARE NO REAL SAFETY ISSUES WITH CBD

Unlike with THC, with CBD there are no ER visits due to psychosis from taking too much

Unlike with THC, with CBD there are no concerns about impaired driving

Unlike with THC, with CBD there are no concerns about significant cognitive impairment

The public safety issues with CBD are literally nonexistent — the only potential issue is that when high doses of 99% pure CBD (Epidiolex) are taken daily there is a slight risk of liver damage — the risk of liver damage from Tylenol is far greater and that has been available OTC forever — that’s what warning labels are for, so this is not even a bona fide public safety issue

So what has transpired thus far in 2019, particularly regarding the media’s coverage of the CBD story, is bordering on Twilight Zone level stuff

All that being said, the one major point I will concede is that the Congressional legislative victory did not completely legalize the cultivation of hemp nor the sale of CBD products, because The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 gave the USDA and FDA the full authority to regulate the cultivation, processing and sale of these goods and neither federal agency has issued their regulatory framework yet — so if we want to go down that path, and ignore all of the positive events that have taken place this year in the CBD sector, and all of the massive growth that has taken place this year in the CBD sector, then fine

So we have no regulations in place around cultivation, processing and sales of Hemp-CBD products — so it’s almost as if Hemp-CBD legalization hasn’t even happened yet

So why will the last 1/3 of 2019 be any different?

Well, I just gave away the answer — REGULATIONS ARE COMING!!!

REGULATIONS ARE COMING

REGS ARE COMING

THE USDA AND THE FDA ARE BOTH GOING TO ISSUE REGULATIONS!!!

And with those regulations, the cultivation, processing and sales of Hemp-CBD will finally be USDA and FDA-legal under the auspices of The 2018 Farm Bill

We know the USDA is about as pro-Hemp as a federal agency can get — they love American farmers and know that they are struggling, especially due to the Chinese counter-tariffs on agricultural products like soybeans

The USDA loves CBD and are completely cool with THC as long as it stays at .3% or less

So we will get fantastic pro-CBD regulations from the USDA and nobody has ever said otherwise

The USDA regs are slated to be published in early Fall — that is HUGE!

So that leaves us with the FDA, whose regulations are also slated to be published in early Fall

So here’s the deal with the FDA

They don’t hate Hemp and they don’t hate CBD

They do hate THC

So I’m thrilled that VATE, SIPC and CANB all use CBD Isolate in their products because there is zero THC in CBD Isolate

So THC is the biggest hurdle with the FDA and WE ARE ALL CLEAR THERE

In terms of CBD, Dr. Gottlieb has repeatedly told us that CBD Isolate will be the formulation of CBD that earns the interim approval of the FDA for national sales and enforcement discretion (no medical claims) can be utilized to allow the sales of these products EVERYWHERE until more data comes in that will allow the FDA to craft final regulations

Mitch is going to pass whatever legislation is necessary to take care of any loose ends so that the 2020 growing season can be on full tilt ahead of the 2020 elections when both Mitch and Trump are in danger of not being re-elected (Trump moreso than Mitch) and both of these guys, along with all Republicans in Congress, need to maximize the turnout of the rural vote, which includes farmers

So in the end, I believe Mitch is going to ensure that all CBD products will be legalized for national sale, including Full Spectrum products

But I don’t think we will need Mitch to pass any legislation to legalize CBD Isolate products for national sale, if Dr. Gottlieb is functioning as a mouthpiece for the FDA

This is why the final 1/3 of 2019 will be very different than the first 2/3 of 2019

The enactment of USDA and FDA regulations, officially federally legalizing the cultivation, processing and sale of CBD Isolate products

That continues to look like a very serious recipe for a bona fide cannabis mania in CBD Isolate products, most likely developing in the Sept/Oct timeframe


Sleek