Every Monday, Zeweed brings you the best in hemp wellness and cannabis news with this week: Business Cann, Le Temps, Prague Morning, Benzinga, ProActive Investors and CTV News.
Germany: The timetable for cannabis legalization becomes clearer.
The cannabis bill proposed by Olaf Scholz’s government should be ready by the end of 2022, with the launch of its adult-use market in early 2024.
Over the month of June, more than 200 experts met with five expert committees to prepare for the legalization of cannabis for adult use
Two of these – consumer health and protection, and protection of minors – were held last week, while three others (on supply chains, control and licensing, and international experience) were due to be completed by June 30.
In an interview with German online news portal WEB.DE, Burkhard Blienert, the federal government’s commissioner for addiction and drugs, said the hearings would pave the way for legislation by the end of 2022.
The Business Cann article is available here
Switzerland: From August 1, all doctors will be able to prescribe medical cannabis.
The Federal Council has lifted the ban on medical cannabis prescribed without special authorization. From August 1, it will be possible for doctors and patients to decide directly whether or not to resort to such treatment. Full reimbursement, however, will only be available in exceptional cases.
All doctors in the Swiss Confederation will be able to prescribe medical cannabis, making it easier for patients to access the medicine. On Wednesday, the Federal Council set the date for the revised narcotics law to come into force.
Cannabis, whether recreational or medicinal, has been banned in Switzerland since 1951. Doctors may, however, prescribe a medicine based on this substance if they obtain exceptional authorization from the Federal Office of Public Health.
The article is available here
Czech Republic: the leading country for cannabis use among young people.
The availability of drugs in European Union countries remains high, and in some cases higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to this year’s report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
In the Czech Republic, 23% of people aged 15-34 have tried marijuana at least once. Compared to the other 24 EU states, the Czech Republic ranks first, and is on a par with the USA.
The EMCDDA estimates that around 30% of European citizens aged 15-64 have tried at least one prohibited substance in their lifetime. The most widely used substance is cannabis, which 79 million people have tried at least once in their lives. In the past year, 22 million people (7% of the EU population) have used cannabis at least once. Among young people aged 15 to 34, the figure was 15.5%.
The Prague Morning article is available here
Canada: Sales of legal cannabis continue to rise.
Cannabis sales in Canada appear to be picking up after another month of improvement. New data from Statistics Canada tells us that April sales improved by 25.8% year-on-year to C$372.4 million ($286.5 million), reports New Cannabis Ventures.
Sales growth, according to the outlet, can be attributed to an increase in cannabis retail outlets and lower flower prices.
Ontario, Canada’s largest province in terms of population, saw sales increase by 4% sequentially and 53% year-on-year. In British Columbia, sales were down 6% quarter-on-quarter, but up 21% year-on-year.
Benzinga’s article is available here
Australia: cannabis treatment shows very promising results in the fight against brain tumours.
MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd recently reported promising pre-clinical trials using psychotropic cannabinoids to treat an aggressive form of brain cancer. Data already collected have shown “exceptional results”.
More specifically, the pharma lab has demonstrated that such treatment induces programmed cell death in tumors (better known as apoptosis), and therefore full remission;
MGC plans to undertake further research to definitively establish the power of the herb on such tumors.
The Pro active Investors article is available here
World: Global cannabis consumption on the rise, according to a UN study.
According to a UN report covering all countries/regions of the world (including US states that have legalized cannabis), the observation is as follows: cannabis consumption has increased, as has its regular use.
Cannabis has long been the world’s most widely consumed drug, and consumption is increasing as the cannabis on the market strengthens in terms of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, detailed the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its annual World Drug Report.
The CTV News article is available here
