HempTalk - Business Blogs and Press Releases

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to instruct the New York Police Department to stop arrests of New Yorkers smoking weed in public while additionally forming a task force to ease what he sees as an inevitable full legalization of recreational marijuana.

De Blasio will direct the NYPD to hand out summonses to people caught smoking pot by officers in public areas across the city, but not arrest them, aides told the New York Daily News Sunday.

The move is partially a follow-up on his announcement last week to "overhaul and reform" enforcement that has created a wide racial disparity in marijuana arrests.

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Benjamin Fearnow ~ Newsweek.com ~ 

The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) has embarked on a search for a full-time executive director to replace part-time director Kim Shukla, who has left the organization, the Alliance said in a release.

“As new regulations open the door for industrial hemp to provide key natural health products to Canadians and globally, our organization is preparing for significant growth,” CHTA President Russ Crawford said in announcing the search. “Hemp is coming of age in Canadian agriculture.”

Canada’s potential

With a modernized regulatory regime, the Canadian agricultural hemp industry is poised to grow to $1 billion in sales by 2023, creating 3,000 new jobs over the next five years, CHTA said in the release

Coming changes in Canadian cannabis regulations including an Industrial Hemp Regulation require a full-time executive leader as hemp stakeholders turn their attention to the potentially lucrative opportunities in CBD under the anticipated new rules, and as CHTA grows, the Alliance noted.

Push for clarity on CBD

Part of a broader Cannabis Act covering both marijuana and hemp, the new regulations would allow farmers to sell hemp flowers and leaves – parts of the plant required to process CBD which have heretofore been illegal to harvest in Canada. The CHTA, farmers and even Canadian doctors have pushed for clear rules on CBD, citing the sector’s economic potential and the promise the compound has shown in treating certain maladies. Most notable, Canadian hemp proponents point to the U.S. CBD market, where sales are predicted to reach $2-3 billion over the next 4-5 years. U.S. CBD product sales in 2016 were estimated at just $202 million, according to Hemp Biz Journal (USA).

Organizers of the Balkannabis Expo June 1-3 in Athens say signups for the first-ever event are brisk as the Expo announced it has rounded out the speaker panel for a summit devoted strictly to hemp that is a part of the three-day program.

Belgian natural builder Wolf Jordan, Jordan & Co and Italian hemp entrepreneur Rachele Invernizzi, South Hemp Tecno, a hemp processing operation in southern Italy are among international presenters who have joined the program for the Hemp Summit.

The three-day Expo is set for TECHNOPOLIS City of Athens, a cultural and exhibition space adjacent to the the Athens historic center and the Acropolis. A separate conference is scheduled for “MedCannabis Science.” Balkannabis Expo will feature cannabis culture workshops; a large exhibition area and international trade show; networking spaces; masterclasses; a market area; music and other artistic performances.

Also added to the Hemp Summit speaker lineup are Samuel Brookfield-Dardenne, TechniChanvre, France; Dr. Eleni Tsaliki, Dr. Apostolos Kalyvas and Dr. Eleni Malupa, all of the Hellenic Agricultural Organisation Demeter, Greece; and Robert C. Clarke, BioAgronomics Group Consultants, USA

They join previously announced speakers Rafael Dulon, HANF FARM GmbH, Germany; Daniel Kruse, Hempro Int. GmbH and HempConsult GmbH, Germany; Boris Banas, CBDepot, Slovakia; Morris Beegle, NoCo-Hemp-Expo, USA; Hana Gabrielova, Hempoint, Czech Republic; Paul Benhaim, Hemp Foods Australia and Elixinol (USA); Joscha Krauss, Medical Hemp, Germany, and Kehrt Reyher, Editor & Publisher, HempToday.

Fly high with this light-as-a-feather chiffon cake bursting with herbaceous carrot and bright citrus notes.

It’s pillowy soft and oh-so-luscious—especially when served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a pinch of lemon zest.

End your springtime dinner party on a sweet note with this infused dessert.

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Monica Lo ~ Leafly.com ~ 

Supporters of an Ohio marijuana legalization measure can now collect signatures to put the proposed constitutional amendment on a future statewide ballot.

The Ohio Ballot Board on Thursday approved the "Marijuana Rights and Regulations" amendment as a single issue.

The amendment would give people age 21 and older a constitutional right to possess, produce, transport, use, and share cannabis.

The amendment allows the state legislature to regulate commercial marijuana cultivation and sales.

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A powerful Congressional committee on Thursday voted to extend federal protections for state-legal medical marijuana. It’s the latest example of how Congress is progressing on cannabis, one small step at a time.

The US House Appropriations Committee passed by voice vote an amendment introduced by US Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) that would ban the Department of Justice from using its funds to intervene with state laws that allow the growth, distribution, and use of cannabis for medical use.

The bill will now be considered by the full House of Representatives.

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Bruce Kennedy ~ Leafly.com ~ 

Most voters in Georgia now say that marijuana should be legal for recreational purposes, according to an exclusive poll commissioned by 11Alive News and conducted by SurveyUSA.

According to the poll, 55% of Georgia voters believe that recreational marijuana should be legalized, while 35% said it should remain against the law.

Two years ago, 48% supported legalizing recreational marijuana. At that time, opposition was at 38%.

Voters also overwhelmingly support the idea of state-regulated cultivation of marijuana in order to produce legal medical cannabis oil, according to the poll, with 71% saying they'd be in favor. 

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Scott Stern says the perception of marijuana in our culture is changing, and the mainstream opportunities are too hard to pass up.

With Massachusetts preparing to open the recreational marijuana marketplace in just a few months, MIT's Sloane School of Management is turning over a new leaf.

The business of pot is now part of Professor Scott Stern’s graduate classroom.

He says the perception of marijuana in our culture is changing, and the mainstream opportunities are too hard to pass up. 

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When the team at Colorado, USA-based PowerZone Agriculture started to think about farmers and hemp, they put one idea first: ROI – return on investment. That started with the fundamental goal to engineer harvesting and processing technology that could be bolted onto machines and power sources farmers already have.

“Our equipment is designed to maximize yield per acre,” Corbett Hefner, V.P Research, Development and Engineering MG at Colorado, USA-based PowerZone said of the project team’s focus on financial return for the company’s clients. “No capital is tied up in dedicated harvesting machinery that sits idle for the majority of the year,” Hefner added. The entire harvesting platform can be removed in 30 minutes or less so the tractor can be used for other farm operations, Hefner noted.

Focus on flower yield

The system is designed for optimal flower yield for CBD oil and to collect hemp straw; it can crawl through the field at a rate of 12 acres per hour, and features cut options ranging between six inches and 15 feet off the ground. PowerZone’s Fiber Track Genesis decorticating equipment can process up to 10 tons of hemp straw per hour, turning it into hurd for building materials.

The harvesting system, which is fully portable, is designed to harvest clone plants as well as large fields. Primary crop and fiber can be collected in a single pass, reducing hours in the field.

The Fiber Track Genesis decortication line is designed to produce long, strong fiber as well as hurd particles for insulation. The Grasshopper chaff cart is completely self contained, drawing no hydraulic power from the combine.

A Bradenton woman who says her suffering from ALS is decreased because of smokable medical marijuana gets her day in court Wednesday. She and other plaintiffs are challenging the state's ban on smokable medicine.

As lawmakers debated the rules for medical marijuana, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri was adamant.

“We don’t think there should be smokable marijuana,” Gualtieri told lawmakers in January 2017.

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Mike Vasilinda ~ Capitol News Service via WJGH.com ~

It's no surprise people are looking to get educated on marijuana and the business possibilities around it.

The legal cannabis industry is growing at an unprecedented pace.

While estimates vary, U.S. sales in 2017 stood somewhere between $8.2 billion and $8.8 billion according to BDS Analytics.

This figure is expected to surge to roughly $35 billion by 2022, GreenWave Advisors managing partner Matt Karnes told Benzinga in a recent conversation. 

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A draft law to greatly expand medical cannabis regulations in Thailand is expected to be unveiled this week, a move that executives say will open the door to potentially millions of dollars in investments. In the works since last year, the draft narcotics code will permit medical marijuana research on humans. The law will first […]

Thailand set to unveil medical cannabis law is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

CBD oil, made from a compound found in marijuana, is being widely used in natural skincare and beauty products.

Weed-filled beauty products are getting a lot of buzz.

Cannabidiol (CBD) oil, made from a non-intoxicating compound found in marijuana plants said to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and help anxiety, is making its way into mainstream beauty products like lotions, lip balms, face serums and eye creams.

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Jeanette Settembre ~ Moneyish.com ~ 

Aurora Cannabis Inc will buy rival MedReleaf Corp for C$3.2 billion ($2.51 billion) in the biggest deal yet to unify major Canadian pot growers, as the country moves toward legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

The deal announced Monday is the latest in a wave of mergers in the industry as marijuana producers — emboldened by pot legalizations in Europe and a number of U.S. states — seek to cut costs and gain scale.

Canada’s relaxed regulations, a mature industry and free-flowing capital have offered firms a unique opportunity to advance research without the legal and political risks that bog down growers in the United States and elsewhere.

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John Benny and Nichola Saminather ~ Reuters.com ~ 

U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) believes the end of the battle to legalize marijuana across the United States is fewer than four years away.

"I made a bet that within five years, every state will be able to treat cannabis like alcohol and there will be universal access to medical marijuana," he told a crowd of cannabis business owners at Cultivation Classic in Revolution Hall Saturday afternoon.

"If we do our job, it's game over in 2 years." 

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Katie Shepherd ~ Willamette Week ~

Speakers from South Africa, Mongolia and Poland are on the program for the Hemp Food, Health & Beauty Summit at HempToday Center May 25-26.

Entrepreneur Arne Verhoef, founder of S.A.-based HempHub Anar Artur, CEO at HempMongolia, and Jan Zytko, JZ Consulting, Warsaw, an expert in brands, marketing and distribution chains, will join an international speaker panel that will address delegates from 12 countries from around the globe who are signed up for the event, hosted at HempToday Center in Poland. Only three places remain open for the two-day summit.

[See the full lineup of speakers]

Verhoef will give an overview of the hemp scene in South Africa and talk about his experiences as a startup. A biologist by training, he is also a horticulturist and developer of health products based on CBD hemp and other healing plants. He also manages The Stokvel Collective, a Community Supported Agriculture project that seeks to spread regenerative agriculture through grassroots action in Africa.

German engineering firm H8 Automation picked up the Innovation Award for Best Industrial Project at Seville-based Expocáñamo, the Spanish cannabis industry event May 11-13.

The award was granted for H8’s hemp bud stripper, a unique technology that carefully strips flowers, rendering them as if picked by hand.

The first-ever competition was part of a much expanded presence for industrial hemp at Expocáñamo this year; it was judged by a jury of hemp experts, professionals and other stakeholders from Seville and Andalusia.

Designed by H8 CEO Heinrich Wieker, the electrically driven machine is intended to give farmers greater independence from weather conditions during the harvest, and facilitate efficient bud production in countries with high labor costs. It can be used in the field or indoors, and can process about 100kg of flowers per hour.

The post German developer’s bud stripper honored at Expocáñamo appeared first on HempToday.

A Milwaukee County Board committee has voted unanimously to put a marijuana referendum on the November ballot.

The Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee gave their approval to the proposal yesterday.

Milwaukee County is the most populous county in the state of Wisconsin. The election would not by itself end the prohibition of marijuana.

It calls on the State of Wisconsin to legalize cannabis and allow for a regulated and taxed marijuana market. 

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A number of states are expected to vote on far-reaching marijuana ballot measures this year, and recent polling shows that all of them are poised to pass by substantial margins.

A survey released on Thursday, for example, found that 61% of Michigan adults said they favor legalizing cannabis, while only 34% are opposed.

Michigan officials determined last month that activists collected enough signatures to place a marijuana legalization measure on the general election ballot.

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Tom Angell ~ Forbes.com ~