The city of Basel will be the first Swiss city to authorize some of its inhabitants to legally consume cannabis. From the end of the summer, 400 residents of Basel will be able to buy flowers and resin in pharmacies, even if cannabis remains a “illegal substance” in the country. This free pass will last two and a half years.

The cannabis will be supplied by Pure Production, a company from the canton of Aargau in northern Switzerland. It has already benefited from government research authorization since 2020.

In this German-speaking city, participants must be of legal age, regularly consume cannabis, and reside in Basel. The authorities are looking for “ordinary” consumers. They will also have to agree to be followed by doctors. Because this authorization to consume cannabis legally is a life-size scientific study.

This is the whole objective of a pilot project voted by the Swiss government in April 2021. A political soap opera that has been going on since 2016. The authorities want to observe ” the effects of regulated cannabis sales on the consumption behavior and health of cannabis users”specifies the canton of Basel-City in a press release. The 400 participants will therefore be the guinea pigs of this study.

A “discussion basis” for future legalization

The authorities therefore do not give a blank check to consume cannabis in peace. On the contrary, consumers will be studied very closely. They ” will be regularly questioned about their cannabis use behavior and their physical and mental health” .

After Basel, other Swiss cities are considering embarking on this experiment in turn. The economic capital, Geneva, but also the second city, Zurich, could pass there. If these studies are conclusive, the Confederation could consider legalizing cannabis for the whole country. ” These results should contribute to a solid basis for discussion for a responsible cannabis policy in Switzerland.”continues the canton.

The country is already at the forefront in its regulations around cannabis. On the health side, the medical use of the plant is authorized on a case-by-case basis. On the hemp and CBD side, Switzerland authorizes the sale of varieties containing up to 1% THC. This is currently the highest rate in Europe, where the other countries of the continent set the limit between 0.3% and 0.6%.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the RAND Corporation studied weed prices and sources of supply among American consumers in states with and without retailers. licensed recreational cannabis.

“The results demonstrate that consumers are using sources that they are legally allowed to access, suggesting that an increased number of physical retail stores and online delivery services could increase the use of legal sources in states with recreational cannabis laws,” the study authors write.

Using data from theInternational Cannabis Policy Study in 2019 and 2020, investigators recruited 9,766 U.S. respondents online, ages 16-65, who purchased dried cannabis flower in the past year.

Cannabis purchases in states where cannabis is legal and those where it is not were then compared, notes the study published online earlier this month in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

Respondents living in US states that had not legalized cannabis for adult use, only legalized medical cannabis, or allowed recreational cannabis but no retail stores, all paid a unit price higher for weed.

Compared to states where recreational cannabis stores are legal, flower prices were 20.5%, 23.6%, and 27.4% higher, respectively.

Investigators found that most respondents in states with recreational cannabis stores had last purchased from stores/dispensaries and that the likelihood of purchasing legally “increased with each additional year after stores opened.” “.

The researchers “report that consumers residing in states with a mature retail market rarely go to the unregulated market for cannabis flower.” Shoppers in recreational states with stores purchased about 80% of the dried flower from legal sources in the past 12 months, the report noted.

In states like Colorado, which have had adult cannabis stores for nearly a decade, “consumers reported purchasing nearly 90% of the dried flower from legal sources.”

The price, decisive in the act of purchase

A report published last November concluded that price is the number one concern when it comes to buying cannabis.

“Price is consistently listed as a primary factor in purchasing decisions,” said Matthew Hollingshead, Hifyre President and Chief Innovation Officer at Fire & Flower. He expects prices to remain volatile “as existing markets mature and new ones emerge. »

In 2020, theOntario Cannabis Store (OCS) announced that its online prices were lower than those on illegal mail-order sites.

In its quarterly report at the time, the OCS indicated that the average price of the dried flower per gram between April 1 and June 30 was $7.05, including tax. This price compares to an average of $7.98 on illicit mail order sites.

“The emergence of larger, 28-gram products at prices as low as $4.20 per gram (tax included) is another highlight of this quarter,” said Cheri Mara, chief commercial officer of OCS.

The study concludes that cannabis prices and purchasing behavior are strongly influenced by the legal status of cannabis and the presence of stores. However, it takes several years after the legalization of cannabis for adult use “for the legal market to establish itself, with the number of retail stores increasing and prices decreasing. »

This is Canada in 1972. The gateway theory – cannabis would lead to hard drugs – was widely believed, supported by Canadian police, and the Ontario government feared that decriminalizing cannabis would lead to “reefer madness”. “, a cannabis madness created from scratch by the American prohibitionist government of the Nixon years.

A few years earlier, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government convened the “Le Dain Commission of Inquiry into Non-Medical Drug Use” and invested millions in studying the potential impact of decriminalizing cannabis. for personal use. Findings come out in 1973 and find cannabis-related sentences ‘grossly excessive’ and ‘completely unreasonable’ while advising repeal of ban on simple possession of cannabis and cultivation for personal use

At the time, possession of cannabis could be worth seven years in prison. If you helped out a mate, you could end up behind bars for life – and the penalties for trafficking were even tougher.

A traumatic experience

In 1971, the Addiction Research Foundation opened a research and treatment hospital where the study of Bill Miles, a British psychologist working in Toronto, Project E206 or Project Venus would take place.

The research was part of a million-dollar program, the latest in a series of experiments designed to answer one of the country’s most pressing questions, raised when then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, discussed the idea of ​​legalizing cannabis: what impact would legalization have on Ontario’s youth and consumer productivity?

Bill Miles assembles a team comprising two behaviorists, a doctor, a psychiatrist, a social worker and a full staff of nurses. The hospital welcomes 20 women to the ward at a formal dinner on January 31, 1972.

They will be locked up for 98 days in the study center and divided into two groups. Half of them – the experimental group – will have to smoke increasingly potent doses of cannabis twice a night, while the other half – the control group – will not use cannabis.

Both groups will be able to buy as many (relatively light) joints as they want for 50 cents each at a store that also sold liquor, junk food, toiletries, cigarettes and magazines.

A key part of the study was his microeconomics. Women had to cover the cost of their existence for 98 days. They could keep all the money they earned and did not spend on food, clothing or entertainment. A bonus of 250 dollars awaited those who remained until the end of the experience. Those who quit early lost their bonus and up to 75% of their savings.

They earned their living with a loom on which they wove colorful, fluffy woolen belts with tied tassels. For each belt that passed inspection – it had to contain at least two colors and be 132 centimeters long – the women received $2.50.

After a few days of practice, the task became easier. But the experience didn’t end well. The joints grew so strong that some demanded a medical certificate to escape their nightly duties, claiming they were too sick to smoke. Others left, more traumatized than thrilled by the experience. Over the past week, the women who have remained so far in the compulsory smoking unit have refused to continue.

Mixed evidence

Despite the enormous amount of data produced by Miles’ study, it has, for the most part, been swept under the rug. The experiment was so little known that it took until 2013 for Toronto Star investigative reporter Diana Zlomislic to uncover the fiasco in a gripping report. The results of the study, Zlomislic notes, were never made public.

The behaviors observed during the study, however, provided mixed evidence on the effects of cannabis use. The most motivated subjects, for example, woke up at 4 a.m. to get a head start on weaving and earn extra money. In a smaller experiment conducted earlier on men, the subjects even went on strike to demand a salary increase which, when accepted, boosted the productivity of the group.

John Kagel, an economics professor at Ohio State University who worked with the study data, perhaps best sums up the failure of the experiment.

“If you legalized cannabis, were you going to get a bunch of stoned people who just smoked cannabis all the time and didn’t do any work? [L’étude] is pretty compelling evidence that it wasn’t going to happen,” he said.

Did the conclusions go against a desire to persist in prohibition? The story does not say.

A film based on this experience

Directed by Craig Pryce (Good Witch, Dark Oracle), who bought the story rights, the Canadian film The Marijuana Conspiracy looks back on this strange experience, which disappeared without saying a word.

“Of the doctors, behaviorists and psychologists who were trying to prove their weed guesses were true, everyone [dans l’étude] had an agenda,” Pryce said, “except the girls. This film tells what they went through and how they came together and overcame circumstances. »

Residents of the Canadian province of Newfoundland who want to grow their own cannabis at home will soon have access to one of the first legal sources of over-the-counter cannabis clones in Canada.

Newfoundland and Labrador-based cannabis cultivator Atlantic Cultivation, which also operates 7 cannabis stores in the province, has announced that it will soon be delivering its stores with cuttings.

Dropping 200 x Ethos – Cookies R2 clones into our retail shops on Monday🙌🔥 under our @CrookedDory brand! Only $17 per clone 👌 pic.twitter.com/YLfc55XnWq

—Chris Crosbie (@chris_crosbie) April 13, 2022

Chris Crosbie, the company’s founder, told StratCann that Atlantic Cultivation has been working since late last year with the cannabis department of the Newfoundland Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC), the provincial cannabis regulatory body, on this new product category and has just received approval for two new clone references.

The clones will retail for CA$17 (€13) each, or CA$60 for four rooted clones, and while he’s producing a large batch of clones for the first shipment, he hopes customers will then place pre-orders to allow him to better assess demand for future batches.

Three of Atlantic Cultivation’s seven stores will be stocked in clone before opening to more locations across the province.

“I’m very happy to be able to offer something so unique in our stores, and it’s a win for the community if I can get well-priced clones into people’s hands,” said Chris Crosbie.

While most provinces do not allow cannabis producers to sell their products directly to retailers, or only through a specialized “farm” model, Newfoundland and Labrador does allow some producers to operate their own retail outlets and deliver their own products directly to their stores.

“It’s a very close collaboration with the NLC,” says Chris. Crosbie. “They want to see us hire people, they want to figure out how we can get to market as quickly as possible. They really help the industry in Newfoundland. »

“The biggest opportunity is simply the conversion of these consumers from the traditional market to the legal market… but we have to offer the right products at the right prices to maintain this conversion,” he continues.

Newfoundland and Labrador was the first province to allow consumers to purchase cannabis clones as early as 2018, but sales have been very low, likely because they were only available by mail order. Other small pilots have taken place in other provinces on a limited, trial basis.

This will be the first time Newfoundlanders will have a legal, over-the-counter source for their own home cultivation.

Oklahoma could vote to legalize cannabis next November. While the state had failed to legalize in 2018 and then in 2020, two state issues seeking to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes now clash.

State Question 820, a statutory amendment, has already passed the state Supreme Court while State Question 819, a constitutional amendment, is stalled there. The two groups behind these state issues cannot agree on how to achieve this.

“We believe that the rights and freedoms of people are not rights unless they are guaranteed by the Constitution,” said Jed Green, director ofOklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) at the origin of Question of State 819. The ORCA recently lost a blocking procedure against Question 820.

Jed Green believes that if State Question 819 passes, Oklahoma would dispose of cannabis after just two months, whereas with State Question 820, the state legislature could delay implementation until at 4 years, a delay already experienced on medical cannabis to the detriment of patients..

“We’re not picking on these people, we’re not picking on our friends here, we just have a difference of opinion,” Green said. “They have a different approach and we think that’s the wrong approach. The market is there. He has been there. He will be here. Cannabis has been the first commercial crop for a long time and so it is inevitable. »

Question of State 820 is now in the hands of the Secretary of State. State Question 820 organizers will have 90 days to obtain 95,000 signatures.

If they manage to get past the 10-day period for contesting signatures, cannabis legalization will be on the November ballot of this year.

New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) has approved the first 13 dispensaries that will be allowed to sell cannabis for adult use in the state. The recreational sale to adults 21 and older is set to begin next month. The 13 dispensaries are owned by 7 vertically integrated operators, including Curaleaf, TerrAscend and Columbia Care.

Last month, the CRC feared that the legal supply would fail to meet consumer demand when the legal market opened. She was also concerned about the ability of medical producers already operating in the state to open their doors to recreational sales without interrupting access for medical patients.

Today, representatives from 7 multi-state medical cannabis operators testified before the CRC about their plans to protect medical access and social equity across the state. The board’s vote granted certifications to all seven companies, allowing them to expand operations into the adult-use cannabis market at 13 of their 18 locations combined.

When will cannabis sales begin in New Jersey?

CRC President Dianna Houenou clarified that dispensaries are “not allowed to start immediately” and must wait for the Commission to grant them their official license. Each establishment must pass a final site evaluation by the CRC, pay a fee of up to $1 million, and receive its official license before commencing recreational sales.

No specific date has been set for the opening of recreational sales. Each of the 13 dispensaries will open as soon as they meet their license requirements.

Jeff Brown, the CRC’s executive director, said the process could take more or less than 30 days for each dispensary, depending on how quickly they complete their assessments and pay the required fees. Once these conditions are met, the dispensary can open to the public.

“Expansion into the adult use market, with a very advantageous start for new applicants, is a privilege that should not be taken lightly,” said Dianna Houenou. “We expect these operators to deliver on their promises to patients and communities; and that recreational customers are adequately served. »

Further licenses will be issued

In addition to approving extensions for the seven medical producers, the CRC also approved 34 conditional license applications for New Jersey growers and manufacturers who can begin work later this year. This brings the number of conditional licenses approved to date to 102.

Recipients of these conditional licenses now have approximately four months to find a site, obtain local permission to operate and apply for an annual license. Conditional licenses are a way for small businesses to get in the game before annual licenses are granted to larger operators.

As of March 30, 2022, the CRC had received 732 applications: 511 of these were from companies owned by various interests (70%), 213 from social equity companies (29%) and 310 from companies in the impact zone (42%), according to the CRC. Of the 732 applications received, 410 entered the priority review process.

Initiated in 2019 in its latest version, the legalization of cannabis in New Jersey tries to bring to the fore the repair of the damage caused by the war on drugs. Like their neighbors in New York and Massachusetts, New Jersey lawmakers are building social equity into cannabis laws and procedures for receiving licenses from day one.

Since the Kanavape case in 2020, the European hemp industry has continued to grow at a rapid pace.

At the forefront of this development is the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), which is conducting major toxicological studies on THC that could bring even more change to this burgeoning industry.

Upstream Cannabis Europa London 2022Lorenza Romanese, the organization’s chief executive, spoke to BusinessCann about the current state of European hemp and what needs to be done to keep it evolving.

Thank you for joining us Lorenza, could you start by telling us a bit about yourself and the work you do at EIHA?

My name is Lorenza Romanese, I am the General Director of EIHA. We are a small team of five people based in Brussels, and we represent and defend the three main players in the hemp supply chain: growers, manufacturers and processors, and traders.

We are a business-run association, which means businesses pay a membership fee to receive benefits, including receiving regular industry updates. They receive information from us, and our members are our source of information.

Our goal is to take information from the sector and translate it into political messages, and try to solve the problems of companies in the market. We also collect information from the main DGs (Directorates General of the European Commission), which are like a ministry for the rest of the Member States. That’s what we do.

Last month saw the publication of the UK FSA’s public list of novel foods. You must have been happy to see a number of members of the EIHA consortium included?

The EIHA is very, very happy with the publication of the list. Of course, we regret the delay, we have been waiting for the list for a year.

But we welcome the publication of the list and we are very happy that our two applications are now on their waiting list. Remember that the waiting list is intended for companies and requests for which toxicological studies are still in progress, as in our case.

Once the toxicological studies have been completed, we will upload the report attesting to the safety of our products on the FSA portal. We should then be able to move on to the validated list.

It is certain that the waiting list and the validated list give the possibility of operating and remaining in the market.

The safety assessment of these products will be carried out, as will the risk assessment, at a later stage within the FSA as well as with EFSA in Europe. Today, it is therefore more about administration and the will to invest in toxicological studies, and risk assessment will come later.

You mentioned in a press release “inaccuracies, inconsistencies and even some surprising absences on the list”, can you explain what you mean by that?

Let me re-emphasize that we really welcome the FSA’s approach and willingness to regulate this market. We have probably all, even as a trade association, underestimated the size of the market.

Nevertheless, the project was very, very ambitious. The FSA decided to monitor, verify and display the marks, and by displaying the marks, it multiplied the number of products and the collection of data that was needed to compile this list.

It is therefore more than human to have a few errors. 10 days after the publication of our press release, we are very happy that all errors have been corrected and that all of our members are now displayed on the list, with one exception. We are still awaiting some clarification on the documentation to be submitted to show that the last member was compliant.

Can you tell us about your toxicological studies?

We are embarking on a major project that goes beyond the usual public affairs work that we do here. We understood that the sector was facing a common challenge, very complex, very costly, very ambitious. We have therefore decided to join forces and prepare a common response to this challenge.

So we built that spec, we decided what products they wanted to bring to the UK and European market, and once we agreed on the spec, we did a simple assessment of how many studies already available for these products.

We found some shortcomings and decided to raise 3.5 million euros to invest in toxicological studies, which were divided into three main costs. The first are toxicological studies dedicated to the CBD isolate, therefore all the studies necessary to ensure the safety of this product and to define the correct TDI (tolerable daily intake).

We performed the same set of toxicology studies with a bit more complexity for full-spectrum extracts, and the third major expense was running the largest clinical trials for THC.

The purpose of this clinical trial is to make sure that we might be able to increase the level and the precise reference dose for THC.

There are many things we need to clarify, we need to define a NOAEL (No Observed Adverse Effect Level), a LOAEL (Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level) appropriate, and an appropriate measurement of the uncertainty factor for THC.

When it comes to CBD, there are also shortcomings. So we need to set a correct TDI. The FSA guidelines suggest a TDI of 7mg, we would like to increase this. Another is the level of THC and other minor cannabinoids in full-spectrum extracts.

Our goal is to define the values ​​that are still missing and to identify higher values ​​than those that have been proposed by the authorities.

Can you provide an update on your preliminary results and let us know when you expect them to be complete?

Toxicological studies are a complex set of studies, some are shorter, some longer, some must be carried out in parallel, others are large. The most important are the 90-day studies.

They give us the possibility to follow the rats for a long period, followed by a recovery period, in order to be able to measure the parameters liveand then measure things like toxicity in the liver.

As for the CBD isolate, the 90-day studies have been completed. We are in the process of drafting the report to submit to the FSA, and I expect that report to be submitted by July this year. As for the full spectrum, the results will be known by the end of the year. As for THC on humans, the results will be known in 2023.

All studies on the isolate and the full spectrum of CBD are therefore complete. And so far I can just say that there is nothing to worry about. There were no values ​​above or even close to the limit. So this product, according to the level we tested, can be considered safe.

We found that all the tests were negative, which in toxicology is a very good thing because it means that there is no negative effect for the parameters that we tested at the level that we tested.

The European Commission recently announced its decision to establish a new maximum level of THC in hemp food products, what does this mean for the European hemp industry?

The EIHA advocated for a common approach regarding the maximum level of THC in foods [ndlr : 7,5mg/kg de THC pour l’huile de chanvre et 3g/kg pour les aliments secs à base de chanvre]. We therefore welcome the new European regulations which will be directly applicable in all Member States.

Until a few weeks ago in Europe, there was no maximum level, no regulation, no provision, there were only guidelines drawn up by EFSA.

This is a great achievement for the sector, because finally, from Lisbon to Warsaw, all the products will be the same, because all the limits will finally be European limits.

There are still a few points that could be clarified. But let’s wait for our toxicological studies on THC which may support other changes later.

During the controversial Kanavape case in 2020, which threatened to classify CBD as a narcotic throughout Europe, it was suggested that this galvanized support for increased THC limits across the sector. Do you think this has had an impact on recent developments?

The court case came when the industry needed it most. Let’s do a little recap. In 1997, the European Commission declared that the leaves and flowers extracted from hemp did not constitute a new food, which led to numerous investments in the sector.

In 2016, some cannabinoid-containing products were considered novel foods for the first time, but basically low-level products were still salable as foods.

In 2019, all products were considered novel foods. In 2020, hemp was considered a narcotic. Then came the Kanavape case, which, as I said, came at the right time for the industry.

The judge of the Court of Justice made it clear that hemp should not be considered a narcotic, and that all parts of the plants should be marketable because none of them should be considered a narcotic.

It was a game-changer from that point of view. We cannot measure the real impact today, because when it comes to cannabis, it always takes a little time.

Since the adoption of the 2020 decision, we have not seen a major change in Europe. I know that the European Commission is still working on the integration of this principle within the EU. So, again, let’s wait for the results of our toxicology studies.

The Bermuda Assembly has again passed a bill legalizing the commercial cultivation and sale of cannabis in Bermuda. The governor of the state must give it royal assent before the text becomes law.

A year ago, the legislation was blocked in the Senate, but the Upper House can no longer block the bill. The project had been criticized in particular for its purely “business” orientation without conferring more advanced rights on individuals.

the Cannabis Licensing Act 2022 create a regulated framework for the cultivation and sale of cannabis. A series of licenses will be available through a regulatory body, allowing companies to cultivate, harvest, sell and export cannabis or cannabis-containing products.

The bill was introduced this time by Home Secretary Walter Roban, who replaced Attorney General Kathy Lynn Simmons.

Picking up on Ms Simmons’ speech to the House a year ago, Walter Roban said the illegality of cannabis was “an unjust colonial legacy” and evidence of “systemic and racial disparities”, with black people being criminalized by a white oligarchy. He added that the changes to the law were “long overdue”.

“We need radical new thinking – more and more, legalization is not that radical,” said Walter Roban, adding that the public consultation had demonstrated “an overwhelming appetite for change in our laws. on cannabis – the public accepts that there are changes in the regime”.

Currently, it is illegal to be in possession of more than seven grams of cannabis. If legalized, smoking cannabis in public will still be prohibited, except in authorized places, and sale will be permitted to people over 21.

“The proposed legislation package allows for more effective regulatory control to displace the illicit market and full economic access at a time when families are suffering and seeking new economic opportunities. It will bring the greatest good to the greatest number,” he said.

The bill was approved last Friday by 18 votes to 6, all opposition MPs One Bermuda Alliance having voted against.

Several Caribbean countries have begun reforming cannabis laws. In 2018, leaders from 19 Caribbean countries agreed to “review the current status of cannabis with a view to reclassification, emphasizing the ‘human and religious rights’ issues arising from criminalization as well as ‘the economic benefits to withdraw” from legalization.