Medicinal cannabis could bring in $6 billion a year for Colombia, gov't says

BOGOTA - Colombia could export $6 billion a year in medicinal cannabis products, making marijuana its third-largest source of foreign exchange, the government said on Thursday, as investors called for simpler regulations for marijuana producers.

Colombian law already regulates the possession, production, distribution, sale and export of seeds and other marijuana products like oils and creams, but investors say the export approval process is tortuous.

"It's possible to be a very important player at an international level in terms of exports. The estimates show we could effectively be at the level of $6 billion annually," commerce vice minister Saul Pineda told attendees at the country's first annual cannabis conference.

Colombia has so far only licensed seed-producing by businesses because of complex compliance standards for everything from sanitation to security, in a country still famous for being a top illegal narcotics producer.

"More forceful action in regulatory terms is needed so we don't lose the momentum that we have been growing with," said Gustavo Escobar, head of innovation at Colombian-Canadian joint venture Clever Leaves.

"We're lacking some adjustments that would allow us to attend to markets as quickly as possible, before other countries get ahead of us," he added.

Colombia's hearty sunlight and equatorial climate could make it a major producer of medicinal cannabis, whose cultivation in the country has been backed by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board. 

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Chronic pain most common reason US patients get medical marijuana

Chronic pain most common reason US patients get medical marijuana
Lisa Rapaport, Reuters

Almost two-thirds of patients in the US who get medical marijuana are using it as a treatment for chronic pain, a new study suggests.

That’s in line with the large number of Americans who suffer chronic pain and the strong scientific evidence that marijuana is an effective pain treatment, the authors report in Health Affairs.

Thirty-three US states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical use since 1996, and 10 states have legalized it for recreational use since 2012, the study team notes. Patients receiving cannabis for medical purposes need a license issued in states where this is legal, and licenses require a doctor to certify that patients have a condition that qualifies for treatment with marijuana.

For the current study, researchers examined data from state registries tracking the numbers of patients using medical marijuana and the conditions they got the drug to treat. Twenty states and the District of Columbia had registries tracking total patients using medical cannabis, and 15 states tracked the conditions that qualified patients for the drug.

Overall, 65 percent of medical marijuana patients used it for chronic pain. After that, the most common reasons patients used cannabis were for multiple sclerosis, nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Based on a 2017 report by the National Academies of Science that assessed the scientific evidence supporting the use of marijuana to treat specific conditions, the study team also looked at how often medical uses are evidence-based. They found uses had strong backing 86 percent of the time.

“The vast majority of conditions for which people use cannabis have substantial or conclusive evidence of cannabis being an effective treatment,” said lead study author Kevin Boehnke of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“However, that doesn’t mean that it’s going to necessarily be easy for them to figure out how best to use cannabis or cannabinoids to treat their conditions,” Boehnke said by email.

That’s because even though many states have legalized medical marijuana, the federal government still classifies it as a “schedule 1” substance with no medical use and a high potential for abuse. Unlike traditional prescription drugs, there are no clinical guidelines for medical marijuana, Boehnke said.

“Medical cannabis patients are placed in a position where they typically have no choice but to experiment to find their optimal dosing regimen,” Boehnke added. “Safety is definitely a concern, especially when smoking or taking high doses of THC.”

“There are still many problems with how medical cannabis is actually utilized in day-to-day medical practice, but this paper provides some reassurance that it is being used in many cases to treat the right medical conditions,” said Dr. Kevin Hill, director of addiction psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a researcher at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

A nationwide patient registry would make it easier to understand how patients are using medical marijuana and whether it’s safe or effective for these conditions, the study authors conclude.

In the meantime, patients should consider cannabis an option to discuss with a doctor after other traditional treatments fail, Hill, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

“Many physicians in specialty cannabis clinics will give certifications to anyone who will pay for it, and the level of follow-up care is often poor,” Hill said.

“One way we can change this is to improve the education that healthcare professionals receive on medical cannabis so that they will feel more comfortable certifying patients when appropriate and be more likely to offer useful guidance to patients on what type of cannabis to obtain, how to dose it, and what side effects to look out for,” Hill added.

“Right now, ‘budtenders’ often play a more important role in medical cannabis than doctors do - and that needs to change.”

SOURCE: bit.ly/2GcqdJp Health Affairs, online February 4, 2019.

Canada Senate passes law legalizing recreational marijuana

OTTAWA - Canada's Senate passed a law Thursday legalizing recreational marijuana, moving it closer to becoming the first member of the Group of Seven nations to legalize the production, sale and consumption of the drug.

Bill C-45, or the Cannabis Act, passed the Senate with 52 votes for, 30 against and one abstention after months of debate over the ramifications of legalization.

The Cannabis Act will now go back to the House of Commons, which passed the bill in November 2017 but needs to sign off on changes made by the Senate.

Legalizing weed was a 2015 campaign promise of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has admitted having smoked a joint with friends "five or six times."

The initial timeline for legal pot sales called for it to be available by July 1, Canada's national day, but August or September now appears more likely.

It would then be up to Canada's provinces and territories to set up distribution networks and enforcement.

The sale of medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001.

Bill C-45 would allow individuals over the age of 18 to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana for personal use.

Sales to anyone under 18 would be banned under federal law but provinces and territories could set their own age limits.

Statistics Canada has estimated that the market will be worth Can$5.7 billion ($4.5 billion US), based on last year's consumption data.

Uruguay approved the recreational usage of marijuana five years ago and nine US states have too but Canada will be the first G-7 country to do so.

'CANADA IS BEING DARING'

In an interview with AFP last month, Trudeau said the world is closely following Canada's plans and predicted several nations would follow suit.

"There is a lot of interest from our allies in what we're doing," he said.

"They recognize that Canada is being daring... and recognize that the current regime (of prohibition) does not work, that it's not preventing young people from having easy access to cannabis.

"In many countries, especially in Canada, it is easier (as a minor) to buy a joint than buy a beer," Trudeau said. "Organized crime is making huge sums of money on the illicit sale of marijuana."

Trudeau insisted that creating a regulated market would take it out of the hands of crime groups and "better protect communities and children."

However, he added the allies he spoke with "are interested in seeing how things go... before they try it," without specifying which nations.

It would also allow the federal government and the provinces to levy taxes on legal weed sales amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Pot sales would be through authorized retail stores much like the current situation regulating alcohol sales in Quebec and Ontario.

A total of 105 businesses have been authorized to grow marijuana and offer pot-based products. Under the new law, individuals could grow up to four plants at home.

The government has also set aside funds to study the impact of legalized cannabis consumption on public health.

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Legal cannabis to generate USD40-B, 400,000 jobs: study

LOS ANGELES - The legal cannabis sector is expected to generate $40 billion and more than 400,000 jobs by 2021 in the United States, according to a study released Tuesday.

The estimate by consulting firm Arcview includes direct purchases by consumers of $20.8 billion and indirect revenue for growers and various subcontractors as well as money spent with businesses not affiliated with the sector, such as supermarkets.

The projection would represent a rise of 150 percent on the $16 billion revenue recorded in 2017, according to the study, released the day after recreational use of marijuana became legal in California.

Arcview and its partner in the research, BDS Analytics, expect $4 billion in taxes to be generated within three years.

The new regime will lead to the creation of nearly 100,000 cannabis industry jobs in California by 2021, about a third of the nationwide figure and 146,000 jobs overall when indirect effects are considered.

Customers and operators in California have complained however about the punitive sales taxes to be applied to cannabis and its derivative products, which can hit 35 percent when state, county and municipal levies are taken into account.

California, the most populous US state, became the largest legal market for marijuana in the world on Monday, and public reaction to the law change has been enthusiastic, with long lines and stock shortages reported at clinics already licensed and open.

   
Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin hailed the reforms at a ceremony on Monday at Berkeley Patients Group, one of the oldest dispensaries in the United States.

"I'm stoked about this historic moment, not just for Berkeley, but for the state of California," Arreguin said, praising the state for "embracing this new economy."

Cannabis possession remains illegal under federal law, and Arcview's Tom Adams said fewer than 100 out of the 3,000 outlets and delivery services operating in California were ready to go with the required local and state permits.

"Those that were generally report doing multiples of their typical day's business with a far more diverse and less experienced customer base that need a lot of hand-holding and educating from their bud-tenders," he added.

"We were very cautious in projecting revenue growth from $3 billion to $3.7 billion in this first year of adult-use legality in California, but we'll have to revise that upwards if, as now appears likely, San Francisco and Los Angeles are going to get permits issued more quickly than we expected."

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California launches legal sale of cannabis for recreational use

LOS ANGELES - California will launch the world's largest regulated commercial market for recreational marijuana on Monday, as dozens of newly licensed stores catering to adults who enjoy the drug for its psychoactive effects open for business up and down the state.

It becomes the sixth U.S. state, and by far the most populous, venturing beyond legalized medical marijuana to permit the sale of cannabis products of all types to customers at least 21 years old.

Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada were the first to introduce recreational pot sales on a state-regulated, licensed and taxed basis. Massachusetts and Maine are on track to follow suit later this year.

With California and its 39.5 million residents officially joining the pack, more than one-in-five Americans now live in states where recreational marijuana is legal for purchase, even though cannabis remains classified as an illegal narcotic under U.S. law.

The marijuana market in California alone, which boasts the world's sixth-largest economy, is valued by most experts at several billion dollars annually and is expected to generate at least a $1 billion a year in tax revenue.

"Adding California to the regulated market for cannabis is a really big deal," said Heather Azzi, a senior attorney for the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group working to liberalize marijuana laws.

Uruguay became the first and only country to legalize recreational marijuana sales nationally, permitted through its pharmacies starting in July 2017, but is far smaller in comparison, with a population of just 3.4 million.

Still, most California jurisdictions are sitting out the highly anticipated New Year's Day inauguration of recreational cannabis sales.

Many, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, will not be ready for days or weeks because of additional red tape required by city and county governments before would-be retailers can obtain their state licenses.

But business will almost certainly be brisk at newly permitted shops ready on Day One. They number about four-dozen outlets across California, according to an authoritative guide to the cannabis market, GreenState, published by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Stores authorized to carry recreational weed were set to go on New Year's Day in San Diego, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Oakland, Berkeley, Eureka and Desert Hot Springs, among other locales. Hundreds more are expected to open throughout the state as the year progresses.

Many previously operated strictly as medical cannabis dispensaries under a patchwork of local regulations, and will now be licensed by the state for recreational merchandise as well.

Among the very first will be the Oakland-based Harborside dispensary, which has long ranked as the largest U.S. medical marijuana outlet. It planned to opens its doors at 6 a.m. local time on Monday.

Customers in the recreational sector - which state regulators prefer to call the "adult use" market - are only permitted to buy an ounce (28 grams) of raw cannabis or its equivalent at a time.

Medical patients can buy unlimited quantities, but must present a doctor's note and have purchased a medical ID card.

The stage for Monday's grand opening was set when voters passed a ballot measure in November 2016, Proposition 64, immediately legalizing personal possession and use of recreational pot by adults 21 and over.

But it has taken California lawmakers and bureaucrats over a year to devise a licensing, regulatory and tax structure for all phases of the commercial distribution chain.

California in 1996 became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use, and more than 30 states have since done likewise. (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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Mexican lawmakers OK marijuana for medicinal purposes

MEXICO CITY - Mexican lawmakers gave final and overwhelming approval Friday to a bill legalizing medical marijuana after a national debate on narcotics policy in a country mired in brutal drug violence.

The legislation also allows use of marijuana for scientific research, as well as production and distribution of pot for those two stated purposes.

The vote in the Chamber of Deputies was 371 in favor and seven against with 11 abstentions.

The bill will now go to President Enrique Pena Nieto for his signature and then publication in the official government gazette, the lower house said in a statement.

The Senate approved the bill by a wide margin in December.

With Friday's vote, Mexico will join several US states and other nations in Latin America that allow cannabis for medical uses.

Pena Nieto proposed legalizing medical marijuana in a major policy shift in April after his government organized forums to discuss changes to the laws.

The bill fell short of demands from some lawmakers and civil groups that argue that a wider legalization of marijuana use could help the country reduce drug-related violence.

But proponents said it was a major step that will address Mexicans' need of an alternative medical treatment.

The bill authorizes the Health Ministry to design regulations for the use, import and production of pharmaceutical products made from cannabis or marijuana, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant's main psychoactive ingredient. Products with one percent concentration of THC will be allowed.

Growing marijuana for medical and scientific purposes will not be punishable.

A family in northern Mexico became a symbol of the push to legalize medical marijuana last year when the parents of a young epileptic girl won a court battle to import a cannabis-based treatment to stop her daily seizures.

The girl's father, Raul Elizalde, told AFP then that the legislation represented "great progress," but that it should make it easier for patients to acquire THC by letting them buy it without a prescription.

In a separate major case in November 2015, the Supreme Court authorized four people to grow and smoke pot for recreational purposes.

Although Pena Nieto is opposed to a broader legalization of marijuana, he has proposed increasing the amount of the drug that can legally be possessed for personal consumption to 28 grams (one ounce) from five grams.

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Advocates pitch benefits of medical marijuana

MANILA -- Advocates of medical marijuana on Tuesday attempted to convince lawmakers of the positive use of the illegal plant in the field of medicine.

Various experts attended the hearing of the House Committee on Health to convince lawmakers to pass House Bill 4477, or the "Compassionate Use of Medical Marijuana Act,'' which was filed by Isabela 1st District Representative Rodolfo Albano III and has 69 co-authors.

The advocates, including a foreign doctor who shared his expertise through a video message, explained the medical significance of cannabis or marijuana.

They insisted that cannabis is a unique drug that has vast potential for treatment.

Marijuana is the only known plant that produces large amounts of a class of chemicals known as cannabinoids, which is naturally produced by the human body.

The cannabinoid system, only discovered roughly two decades ago, is responsible for the regulation and protection of the the body. Cannabis has been used to manage pain, fight inflammation, battle depression, and regulate appetite and sleep, among others.

It has been proven as an effective treatment against serious ailments like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), epilepsy, Parkinson's Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis.

Albano clarified that HB 4477 only seeks to legalize marijuana strictly for medical use only. The bill seeks to regulate the use of cannabis for treatment and medication of patients with debilitating medical conditions.

If enacted, a Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority under the Department of Health will be established to regulate the medical use of marijuana.

Qualified patients will be given identification cards that will protect them from criminal liability for the use of medical cannabis.

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