Tag: Marijuana Laws

Cultivators in the United States have been breeding new Cannabis cultivars since the 1960s, seeking to combine or enhance cultivar characteristics such as yield, flavor, aroma, potency, and neurological/physiological effects. Both federal legalization of hemp (i.e., less than 0.3% THC) and increasing state legalization of marijuana have brought about considerable financial opportunities for companies that develop commercially desirable cultivars. But, the development, refinement, and stabilization of Cannabis cultivars requires substantial investments of time and money. However, options for protecting those investments through intellectual property (IP) safeguards remain limited for marijuana cultivars.  Relevant IP protections for Cannabis cultivars include plant patents, plant variety

Arizona hemp farmers may be feeling a bit panicked after the state’s Department of Agriculture’s Plant Services Division published a report stating that 41 percent of the hemp plants they tested had THC levels that were too high.  “It’s a high-risk deal,” said head farmer for Arizona Hemp Supply Co. Dustin Shill. “Right now, it’s just a shot in the dark really. It’s crazy.” A Plant Services Division authority called the numbers “not unexpected,” but they were a call for alarm for some hemp business leaders.  “At 40%, that’s off the charts,” said Sully Sullivan, executive director of the Hemp Industry Trade Association of Arizona in reaction to the state’s released figures. “I’m taken aback by that. That’s substantial.” Hemp farmers must test the THC limits on their products bef

File this one under “a bit too on the nose.”  The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) offered up a statistical nugget in a report last week that would seem like a corny joke if it weren’t true.  In a study published Friday, OEA economist Josh Lehner wrote that cannabis sales along the Idaho border were “much stronger” than he anticipated. “Furthermore, and in things you cannot make up, Oregon sales per adult along the Idaho border are 420% the statewide average,” wrote Lehner. Readers of this publication need no explanation—but mainstream news outlets like the Associated Press and CNN, both of which covered the anomaly, were there to provide one.  “The number 420 is a colloquial term referencing marijuana or cannabis consumption,” deadpanned the AP. The Border Effect

A review of research published this week is leading doctors to warn that the use of cannabis may interact with medications used to treat cardiovascular disease. The review was published online by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Monday. Dr. Muthiah Vaduganathan, a cardiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a lead author of the study, says that using marijuana can affect the efficacy of some medications used to treat cardiovascular disease, including statins and blood thinners. Because these drugs and cannabis are broken down in the liver by the same enzymes, marijuana use can increase the time they stay in the body, effectively increasing the dose. For example, one study published last year found that using cannabis can interact with the effect

Over the weekend, Mexico took its latest step in what has become a seemingly interminable process towards the legalization of adult use cannabis. The country’s Senate published a draft of legislation that would regulate the consumption, production, harvest, packaging, distribution, and other facets of marijuana culture.  Marijuana legalization has dragged considerably in Mexico, where medicinal cannabis was legalized back in June of 2017. In 2018, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that prohibition of adult use cannabis was unconstitutional, and gave lawmakers one year to legislate a new system of legal usage.  But when that deadline came around in October of last year, Mexican legislators claimed they still were not ready to issue regulations. Lawmakers have also come under pressure

A bill proposed last week by a group of Washington lawmakers would limit the THC content of all non-medical cannabis sold in the state to 10 percent.  The legislation, co-sponsored by 22 Democrats in the state House, cited “health professionals and researchers [who] continue to find an association between the use of high potency marijuana and the occurrence of psychotic disorders.” The bill, introduced on Wednesday, would prohibit cannabis retail outlets in the state from selling marijuana concentrates, like those used in vape oils, with a THC concentration greater than 10 percent—unless the customer is a patient with a valid medical marijuana prescription. Washington has had legal medical marijuana since 1998; in 2012, it became one of the first two states (the other being Colora

Terpenes are aromatic hydrocarbons that help make up the smell found in the essential oils of certain plants like cannabis. Ten years ago, the word meant nothing to the average cannabis consumer. Now, it is one of the most cherished aspects of the plant. In fact, a study on terpenes showed that the smell of a strain influenced people’s perception of the value and potency when compared to others. Additional research has suggested they work with cannabinoids to alter effects. Since then, isolated terpenes became a popular product that could be sold to concentrate consumers to mix with their own dabs or vape makers to add flavor and act as a cutting agent in cartridges. They are also used to reintroduced terpenes in products that may have lost them during the growing, curing, drying, or ex

Calling it a potential “an economic game-changer” for the state, New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham initiated a campaign to legalize recreational marijuana.  “The legislature has the opportunity to pass the largest job-creation program in New Mexico in a decade,” Grisham said this week as she outlined her legislative priorities for the new session, as quoted by local news station KOB. “Skeptics have been right to preach study and patience. I agree with their caution – and that’s why we haven’t rushed into this issue. But if we are clear-eyed about the risks, we have to be clear-eyed about the opportunity.” Grisham, a Democrat who previously served in Congress before being elected as governor of New Mexico in 2018, reiterated the call for legal weed in a meeting with local business leaders