Tag: legal

In a bid to tackle racial disparities in the prosecution of marijuana-related crimes, the state accelerated to July 1 its timetable to pass the legislation, rather than waiting until 2024.*

“Seventy-one days from now, Virginia will no longer police adults possessing small amounts of marijuana,” Northam said at Wednesday’s ceremonial signing of the bill.*

Northam cited a report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission that showed Black residents were more than three times as likely to be arrested for possessing small amounts of the drug.*

“We are moving forward in a way that promotes equity, provides a clean slate to those with prior convictions, and reinvests in the communities harmed by over-criminalization,” he said on Twitter.*

The legislation, signed a day after the informal April 20 pot holiday, also known as 4/20, allows anyone aged 21 or more to possess up to one ounce (28.4 grams) of marijuana.*

People in the state can cultivate up to four cannabis plants per home for personal use.*

NORML, a pro-marijuana group, celebrated the decision as an “extraordinary victory for cannabis justice” in the state.*

The timeline for the state to adopt provisions licensing commercial cannabis production and sales is July 1, 2024.*

On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that lets banks provide services to cannabis companies in states where it is legal, a step towards levelling what analysts call a barrier to the development of a national industry.*

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Lesotho has helped pioneer the nascent legal cannabis sector in Africa which could be worth more than $7.1 billion annually by 2023 if new laws are introduced, the African Cannabis Report said two years ago.

Launched in 2017, MG Health has its cultivation and modern processing facilities at a secluded location some 2,000 metres above sea-level in mountainous Lesotho, which is completely surrounded by South Africa.

MG Health chief executive Andre Bothma said the firm had received certification to export cannabis flower as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) under the EU’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) protocol.

“What this means is that we have authorisation to export our products as an API into Germany and the wider European market. We expect to start in June,” he said on the sidelines of a media event with his Munich-based import partner, Drapalin Pharmaceuticals.

Besides the EU and Germany, Bothma said they also planned to enter the UK and Australian markets.

A growing number of countries around the world are either legalising or relaxing laws on cannabis as attitudes towards the drug change. They include several in Africa, such as South Africa, Rwanda, Morocco and Malawi. read more

MG Health currently produces around 250kg of packed cannabis flower a month on a pilot-scale production footprint of 5000 square meters. As soon as exports start, another 10,000 m2 of greenhouse space will be added, officials said.

“Our contract is for a minimum of two tonnes for the first year,” Bothma said.

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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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