Category: NEWS

Cannabis sales are touching new highs as customers across the United States and Canada stockpile weed to prepare for long spells of isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Reuters.*

Between March 16 and March 22, sales of recreational cannabis across key U.S. markets, including California, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska, were up 50% and medical marijuana sales rose 41% from the same period last year, figures obtained from cannabis point of sale and data platform Flowhub show.*

Several U.S. states and Canadian provinces have taken steps to curb the fast-spreading coronavirus by issuing stay at home orders, restricting business operations, or closing down borders as death toll in both countries approaches 600.*

While many businesses have been ordered shut, cannabis stores have been listed as essential services and allowed to remain open.*

In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, online sales on the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store’s (OCS) website have soared over the last two weeks, OCS director of communications Daffyd Roderick, said. For example, last weekend’s orders were more than twice as high as only two weeks ago.*

In Nova Scotia, which on Sunday became the latest province to declare coronavirus emergency, cannabis sales spiked 76% last week, according to the province’s liquor commission, which controls sales of cannabis there.*

Fears of months of supply disruptions were boosting Canadian sales, Stuart Titus, CEO of California-based Medical Marijuana Inc (MJNA.PK) told Reuters.*

“We have seen stockpiling in Canada by consumers who have snapped up products from LPs (licensed producers).”*

The surge in demand may offer pot producers a welcome respite after investors sold off cannabis stocks throughout much of last year as profits in the sector remained elusive.*

Jamie Pearson, CEO of California-based Bhang Inc BHNG.CD, which makes cannabis-infused beverages, chocolates and other products, said sales were booming and should boost revenue and profits this quarter.*

Pearson said edibles such as gummies, brownies, and chocolates, were most popular, probably because they were easier to store and eat, even with gloves on.*

Still, Titus and others recommended caution, saying the long-awaited reversal of fortune could prove not much more than a short-lived relief.*

“The cannabis industry is showing itself to be recession-proof but at times like this, it’s important to understand that the spike in consumer demand is probably not going to last long,” Avis Bulbulyan, CEO of cannabis consulting firm Siva Enterprises, said.*

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Millions of California’s Bay area residents can still legally light up as cannabis facilities are exempt from a cornonavirus lockdown that has shuttered most businesses in San Francisco and nearby cities, reports Reuters*.

Cannabis store managers say they have lines longer than local grocery shops and waiting room only. Most staff at a dozen stores reached Tuesday evening said they were too busy to talk to Reuters. *

“Oh man, we’re flooded. As soon as people heard we were still open, they started lining up,” said Anthony Barajas, the general manager of Cana Culture in San Jose. *

“Once all the toilet paper got sold out, they knew they needed some relief,” he said. *

Bars, clubs, gyms and other businesses all closed Monday under one of the strictest orders made so far in the United States aimed at stemming the coronavirus pandemic. Around 7 million people reside in the area affected by the orders. *

Cannabis stores and vendors join the short list of “essential” places that can stay open along with grocery stores, pharmacies and doctors offices, the San Jose Mercury News and other media reported, citing the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control and local officials. *

California has more than 500 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least 12 people have died. *

Cana Culture is following strict rules, such as no more than 10 people in the facility at a time, either shopping or relaxing in a smoking area. Outside, the store’s security officers enforce a store rule that everyone has to stand about an arm’s length away from each other. *

“We’re a necessary service,” said Barajas. “People need this for medical purposes and recreation. The public still needs access to lab-tested medicine.” *

“It’s been steady from the time we open right up until we close, with people still waiting outside,” Barajas said. “And we’re still allowed to do curb-side service.” *

He added: “I guess the state still needs some tax revenue while everything else is closed.” *

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Malawi has become the latest country in southern African to relax laws against growing and selling cannabis, making it legal for use in the production of medicines and hemp fibres used in industry,

Malawi’s parliament passed a bill on Thursday that makes it legal to cultivate and process cannabis for those two uses, but stops short of decriminalising recreational use. Agriculture Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa tabled the bill. *

A growing number of countries around the world are either legalising or relaxing laws on cannabis, also known as marijuana, as attitudes towards the drug change. They include several in southern Africa, most recently Zambia, which in December legalised production for export. *

They follow Lesotho, which became the first country in the region to legalise cannabis, for medicinal purposes, in 2017, and Zimbabwe. South Africa meanwhile has decriminalised domestic personal use, and is in the process of lifting a ban on commercial cultivation of the plant. *

“We are very happy that finally we’re taking the right steps to move the country’s economy forwards,” Chauncy Jere, a director of Ikaros Africa, one of the two companies conducting industrial hemp trials in Central Malawi, told Reuters. *

“There’s no denying that cannabis would be a lucrative industry and its demand is huge,” said Jere, who is spokesman for the Hemp Association of Malawi. *

Tobacco, a drug scientists say is far more addictive and ruinous to health than cannabis, has been Malawi’s chief foreign currency earner since independence from Britain in 1964. *

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In just four years, marijuana use grew by 75% among Americans aged 65 and older, according to a new study, and researchers expressed concern over a lack of information on the potential health implications, reports Reuters.*

The increase was most pronounced in women, those with higher incomes and more education, according to a report published on Monday Feb 24th, in JAMA Internal Medicine. *

The findings continue a trend seen over the last decade, said the study’s lead author, Benjamin Han, an assistant professor of geriatric medicine and palliative care at the New York University School of Medicine. *

“Consider that not even 10 years ago 0.4% of adults 65 and older said they had used marijuana in the past year, and now it’s 10 times that at 4%,” Han said. *

The trend is concerning, Han said, because of the lack of research on the effects of cannabis on older people. Some prescription and even over-the-counter medicines, such as Benadryl, affect older people differently, he said. *

It was not known whether the trend is tied to marijuana becoming legally available in a growing number of U.S. states, or if people had been using the drug for many years before turning 65. *

Although researchers initially suspected medical issues might have driven the rise in marijuana use among seniors, most appeared to be in relatively good health, Han said. *

Researchers looked at four recent years of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Among 14,896 respondents to the nationally representative survey who were 65 or older, marijuana use increased from 2.4% to 4.2% from 2015 through 2018. *

In men, the percentage rose from 3.6% to 4.2%, while for women it jumped from 1.5% to 2.9%. Among college educated seniors, marijuana use over age 65 rose from 2.9% to 6.2%, and in those making $75,000 a year or more, from 2.4% to 5.5%. *

The findings underscore the importance of monitoring marijuana use in this growing population, said Ziva Cooper, research director at the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative, who was not involved with the study. *

“Without these data, we wouldn’t know what was going on in this age group,” she said. “It’s the fastest growing one and it’s important to study.” *

It also points to the need for additional research. *

“You want to know about the frequency of use, what percentage are using daily, weekly, monthly, and what are the consequences of use in this age group,” Cooper said. “Another question is are these people newly initiating use or are they ones who were smoking marijuana in the ‘60s and ‘70s and are going back to it now.” *

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*** ed: Professor Han’s studies are frequently funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). NIDA-funded studies are known to be essentially negative or to create distrust of all kinds of substances, including cannabis.

Legalizing access to medical marijuana may lead to fewer workers’ compensation claims, a U.S. study suggests, reports Reuters.*

In states with laws allowing medical marijuana, researchers tied the accessibility of cannabis to a nearly 7% decline in workers’ comp claims. When there were claims, they were for shorter periods of time, on average, after medical marijuana was legalized, according to the analysis in Health Economics

“We think there is a lot of overlap between conditions for which medical marijuana can be used in managing symptoms and the types of illnesses that lead people to file workers’ compensation claims,” said study coauthor, Catherine Maclean, an associate professor in the economics department at Temple University in Philadelphia.*

For instance, medical marijuana can be used to reduce chronic pain symptoms. While cannabis use isn’t going to cure the condition causing the pain, it can allow the individual to mitigate the symptoms, said Maclean, who is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research affiliate at the Institute for Labor Economics.*

“When a state adopts medical marijuana legalization there is a modest decline in the propensity to file claims and a reduction in the (overall average) income people receive from workers’ compensation,” Maclean said.*

In some of her earlier research, Maclean found that after legalization of medical marijuana, older workers experienced a reduction in pain and an increase in the number of hours worked.*

To look at the potential impact of medical marijuana legalization on workers’ comp claims, Maclean and her coauthor turned to data from the Census Bureau’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey in 1990-2013. Each year between February and April, the survey interviews 150,000 U.S. residents aged 15 and older.*

When the data were analyzed, the researchers found a 6.7% decrease in claims when medical marijuana was legally available. In addition, the dollar amount of claims decreased by 0.8%.*

The new study provides a window on the possible impact of medical marijuana legalization on people’s ability to work even when in pain, said David Powell, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation in Arlington, Virginia.*

“The literature studying medical marijuana laws is constantly trying to understand whether these policies provide additional opportunities for pain management,” Powell said in an email. “This study takes a very clever look at whether medical marijuana policy affects workers’ compensation claiming behavior, an interesting proxy for the ability to work with reduced pain that this literature has not studied before.” *

Overall, the study is very carefully done and provides convincing evidence, he said. “The estimates are relatively small in terms of workers’ compensation claiming behavior but possibly hint at bigger effects on other labor-supply margins.”*

SOURCE: bit.ly/374dNw9 Health Economics, online February 4, 2020.*

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Aurora Cannabis said Chief Executive Terry Booth will retire and Executive Chairman Michael Singer become interim CEO as the beleaguered marijuana producer announced C$1 billion ($752.79 million) in impairment charges on Thursday Feb 6, reports Reuters.*

The company also cut about 500 jobs, including about 25% of corporate positions.*

Aurora’s U.S.-listed stock fell 13% in after-hours trading. The shares were halted earlier on Thursday.*

Aurora expects impairment charges of as much as C$225 million on assets and as much as C$775 million on goodwill in the second quarter, it said. Net revenue will be between C$50 million and C$54 million, compared with C$54.2 million a year ago.*

Aurora also said on Thursday it had made amendments to its secured credit facilities, including removal of some covenants, giving it options to refinance at maturity. Analysts have warned the company may not be able to meet the covenants of a C$360 million loan due in August 2021.*

Aurora’s expenses in the most recent quarter were almost four times its sales, and it holds less than two quarters’ worth of cash and short-term investments.*

Singer takes the helm as Aurora faces criticism for its aggressive global expansion amid uncertain demand. Aurora has stopped estimating when it will become profitable after missing its own guidance.*

The executive change makes Aurora the latest in a string of Canadian cannabis companies, including Canopy Growth, Aphria, Supreme Cannabis and Sundial Growers to change leadership as soaring costs and disappointing sales prompt concern from investors sitting on billions of dollars in losses.*

Singer has been on the board of the Alberta-based company since May 2016 and was named executive chairman nearly a year ago.*

Booth, a co-founder of the company, will remain on Aurora’s board and will become a strategic adviser to the company, Aurora said, confirming an earlier Reuters story.*

“I don’t think we’re going to see some sort of major strategic change, because Singer has been involved with the company and they’re keeping Booth on as an adviser,” said Andrew Kessner, an analyst at William O’Neill in New York. “This is to signal to the market that they are making changes.”*

Aurora has begun a formal search for a permanent CEO, Booth said in the memo without providing a time frame, adding that details would be shared once the process is complete.*

Booth’s departure follows the abrupt exit of Chief Commercial Officer Cam Battley in December.*

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