Faced with the exigent needs of really sick kids, the government of England has said it is preparing to allow emergency use of medical cannabis within the next two weeks. English patients who could benefit from cannabinoid therapies have little access to the types of formulations found in established medical cannabis markets like Canada, California,…
FDA Approves GW Pharma’s Epidiolex {$excerpt:n} According to a press release, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved GW Pharma’s drug Epidiolex for the treatment of rare forms of epilepsy. Just a few months ago, news broke of a very encouraging FDA panel assessment, which indicated a positive outlook for the drug’s approval.…
The first batch of medical cannabis could be in Malta “within a week” after Aurora announced it has begun shipping two strains of medical cannabis to Malta – Pedanios 22/1, and Pedanios 20/1. They began shipping the products yesterday. “We are very pleased that through Pedanios, Aurora is the first supplier of medical cannabis to…
A small town in Estonia recently announced they would be placing a hemp leaf on their flag, a traditional crop for the region. And while it may be tempting to think of this as simply local flavor, this decision says a lot about changing attitudes towards cannabis in Europe, writes Calvin Hughes. Kanepi, a region and a…
Top 10 Common Findings Detected During Cannabis Laboratory Assessments: A Guide to Assist with Accreditation {$excerpt:n} With the cannabis industry growing rapidly, laboratories are adapting to the new market demand for medical cannabis testing in accordance to ISO/IEC 17025. Third-party accreditation bodies, such as Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation, Inc. (PJLA), conduct these assessments to…
How to break into Europe’s untapped cannabis markets, according to the experts {$excerpt:n} With a rapidly changing and geographically inconsistent legal landscape for cannabis in Europe, defining an optimal market entry strategy can be a serious challenge for licensed producers in North America and other countries hoping to wheel and deal in Europe. Still,…
German Public Health Insurer Takes First Look at Cannabis Coverage Techniker Krankenkassen (or TK as it is also frequently referred to) is one of Germany’s largest public or so-called “statutory” health insurance companies. It is companies like TK that provide health insurance to 90% of the German population. TK is also on the front lines…
Quality Plans for Lab Services: Managing Risks as a Grower, Processor or Dispensary {$excerpt:n} This article is the first in a series that will look into the risks any user of laboratory services (growers, processors or dispensary owners) will face from the quality systems in place in the laboratory. I will discuss specific risk…
A brief standoff between a 12-year-old medical marijuana patient and the United Kingdom government ended Monday with law enforcement officials seizing cannabis oil—“smuggled openly” from Canada, where the drug is legal—from the parent of an epileptic child at Heathrow Airport in London. Twelve-year-old Billy Caldwell, a native of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, at one point suffered…
The Four Pillars of Cannabis Processing {$excerpt:n} Cannabis extraction has been used as a broad term for what can best be described as cannabis processing. A well-thought-out cannabis process goes far beyond just extraction, largely overlapping with cultivation on the front-end and product development on the back-end1. With this in mind, four pillars emerge…