HempTalk - Business Blogs and Press Releases

Hemp researcher and innovator Carl Martel of Carleton University, Ontario, Canada, will explain how carbonized hemp can be used to create energy storing hempcrete during the 8th Annual Symposium of the International Hemp Building Association (IHBA) Oct. 16-17 in Belgium.

Martel, who has been researching industrial hemp since 2010, is among leading global hemp experts who will give updates on groundbreaking building projects, humanitarian initiatives and the latest developments in hemp-based construction during the event, to be held at Castle Hof Ter Loonst at Kampenhout near Brussels,

Formally trained as a geo-archaeologist, Martel has worked with a number of hemp companies across Canada and Australia. A grain quality post-harvest management systems expert, he is the co-inventor of a grain disinfection system currently deployed in those countries.

Martel’s recent focus has been on value added products from agricultural waste such as carbon foam for insulation, water filtration and desalination, and energy storage.

By Arne Verhoef | HempToday – In the “New Green Revolution” brought on by the resurgence of Cannabis, Asian hemp, with the most genetic diversity on the planet, has a decided advantage.

The original Green Revolution, also called the Third Agricultural Revolution (1960-c. 1979), brought rapid agricultural advances unparalleled in earlier periods. Agricultural inputs and new technologies helped increase production, but that Revolution’s biggest driving force was the genetic improvement of staple crops – high-yielding varieties developed through selective breeding.

A ‘New Green Revolution’

Ironically, hemp escaped much of this development, handicapped by international narcotics conventions. Now, as the return of the Cannabis plant presents a “New Green Revolution” all its own, hemp is rapidly entering mainstream agriculture worldwide.

As the homeland of Cannabis, no place on Earth has a longer history with hemp than Asia. Cannabis occurs all over the continent, from Afghanistan and Vietnam, to Thailand and the Koreas. In India, there are probably as many hemp varieties as there are languages, while in some parts of China it would seem that every valley has its own unique crop.

A richness of heritage strains

In Mongolia near-wild populations of the plant exist, showcasing a staggering array of traits. Japan, with its long history of hemp use, has feral populations of their heritage strains to remind us of their pre-prohibition Cannabis richness.

Insured patients in the USA would pay up to $200 per month for CBD-based drug Epidiolex under a recent pricing announcement from the maker, UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals.

Epidiolex is the first cannabis-derived pharmaceutical to gain federal approval in the U.S. It was primarily developed for the treatment of two severe forms of epilepsy — Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

For the uninsured, Epidiolex will cost about $32,500 per year, or just over $2,700 per month. That’s in line with other prescription drugs used to treat the same afflictions.

“We wanted to make sure we were pricing Epidiolex in such a way where the means to access . . . would be consistent with branded epilepsy drugs these patients already use,” said Justin Grover, GW’s CEO.

Input of insurance companies

The price was determined mainly based on talks with insurance companies, according to Julian Gangolli, GW’s North American President.

Jacek Kramarz, Chief of Sales at Poland’s blue-chip CBD maker HemPoland, will talk about his experiences with a fast-moving startup that’s quickly expanded distribution of its CannabiGold brand into 20 markets over the last two years during “The Future of Medical Hemp” international industry summit and networking event Aug. 24-25 at HempToday Center in Poland.

Kramarz also will give a snapshot of the European CBD markets and run through the basics of CBD and its effects on humans.

Kramarz has been instrumental in the development of HemPoland, a vertically integrated producer that carefully manages the value chain from field to shelf, and which has worked its way into the leading ranks of European CBD purveyors. He previously worked in management consulting in Vienna where he coordinated international projects tackling complex changes in company ownership and restructuring. He is also a licensed securities broker

Only 1 accreditation remains for the Aug. 24-25 networking & intelligence gathering. The application period remains open through Aug. 17.

Three U.S. states are represented

Representatives from the U.S. states of Colorado, Wisconsin and Maine are signed up to attend, as are delegates from Italy, Germany, China, Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Israel and the Czech Republic. Participants have the option of making a 15-minute presentation about their companies, startups or business plans.

The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) has called on over-the-counter (OTC) clearinghouse Clearstream to shield five CBD companies who are in danger of losing post-trading services managed by the Luxembourg firm, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Börse.

More than 100 other cannabis companies are already excluded from a recently announced Clearstream provision that would stop the deposit of shares, due to take effect Sept. 28, 2018, by putting settlement restrictions on “companies primarily, directly or indirectly, active in the field of medical cannabis.”

Outdated cannabis laws

Industry sources say the changes at Clearstream were caused by recently updated guidelines from the local controlling authority, the Commission de Surveillance Financier (CSSF), that are based on outdated cannabis laws in Luxembourg.

The five companies mentioned in the EIHA letter to the Deutsche Börse are Naturally Splendid Enterprises, New Age Farm, Inc., Nutritional High International Inc., all of Canada; and CannaVEST Corp. and CV Sciences, Inc., both of the USA.

Products meet THC limits

“The companies . . . solely work with industrial hemp. Their range of products comprises food products made from industrial hemp (seeds) and/or neutraceuticals of hemp protein or cannabidiol (CBD), which is a non-psychoactive substance and therefore is not subject of the narcotic laws in European Countries (including Luxembourg),” EIHA wrote in the letter, noting several of the firms make products that are already on the market and are established as “medical” or “medicinal” in nature.

Colorado, USA-based Sana Packaging said it has delivered a round of first orders to customers in North America. The startup designs and develops plant-based hemp plastic packaging for the broader cannabis industry.

“We’re excited about our launch and we’re even more excited to provide the cannabis industry with some much needed differentiated, sustainable, and compliant packaging solutions,” Ron Basak-Smith, Sana’s co-founder and CEO, said in a release. “As rapidly growing and emerging industries, we believe the cannabis and industrial hemp industries have a responsibility to be platforms for positive social, economic, and environmental change.”

Sana said it uses 100% plant-based and chemical-free hemp plastic in its products.

The company is led by Basak-Smith and James Eichner, who met at the University of Colorado, Boulder’s MBA program. That’s where Sana got its spark, in a class project. After winning a university pitch competition, the enterprise got a boost from Canopy Boulder, a Colorado cannabis industry accelerator in 2017.

The post Colorado hemp plastic startup says it’s shipped first orders in N. America appeared first on HempToday.

The monopoly on medical knowledge previously held by governments, pharma companies and the medical establishment has now been broken forever due to technological advancements and the internet, according to Boaz Wachtel, an Israeli industry veteran who has launched two cannabis companies traded on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Wachtel will present “The Democratization of Knowledge: What it means for Medical Cannabis,” during “The Future of Medical Hemp” micro conference Aug. 24-25 at HempToday Center in Poland

Only 2 accreditations remain for the networking & intelligence gathering which is limited to 25 participants. Registrants have the option of making a 15-minute presentation about their companies, startups or business plans. The application period is open through Aug. 15.

Sign up for “The Future of Medical Hemp“

“The media tools available today can quickly fuel demand and further data sharing among patient groups in such a way that market estimates for CBD, especially because it is non-psychoactive and safe, are not far from future reality,” Wachtel said.

Canadian Greenfield Technologies Corp. (CGT) says it has developed the HempTrain Decortication System, specialized equipment based on high-speed kinematic technology that turns out intact structural bast fiber while capturing a clean microfiber stream and other hemp derivatives.

A turn-key installation of a HempTrain module with capacity 1 ton/hr is priced at $1,850,000; it includes a bale opener, main processing units, electrical and dust control – delivered, installed and commissioned., the Calgary-based company said in a release.

Short-time payback

“This green microfiber stream significantly increases the value of the production, allowing for a high margin and short-time payback business model,” the company said. The cost of operating the technology is much lower per ton/hr of throughput than conventional decorticators, while producing much higher value materials, according to CGT.

The technology is an advancement over earlier generations of decorticators which employ a hammer mill, which damages bast fiber and causes attrition of hurd fiber.

GTC said it will begin hosting demonstrations of the decorticator in September.

Italy’s Ministry of Agriculture has proposed a special Council to support development of hemp value chains, and to ease the process of getting hemp products to market.

“If we want to market the resulting products from the cultivation of hemp or labeling them as food or give another destination, competent ministries must intervene to say what are the requirements and parameters to do so,” said Agriculture Commission President Filippo Gallinella. “It is absolutely necessary to involve all ministries and various commissions in the Council.”

Clarity on rules needed

Clarity around hemp foods and other products will give entrepreneurs and investors assurance they won’t be blindsided by a lack of rules if they want to start hemp businesses, Gallinella added.

The Council would join the Agriculture Ministry with the Ministries of Health, Economic Development, Interior and Environment, along with trade associations and research sector representatives with the aim of easing the process of getting hemp-based products to market. The initiative was launched during a recent conference by Rome-based Confagricoltura, a confederation of Italian farming enterprises. A wide range of stakeholders attended the conference.

“We have good laws,” said Diana Pallini, a member of the Confagricoltura Council, but clarity is needed in some areas.” She said creating innovative hemp products can help strenthen the “Made in Italy” brand.

A Colorado marijuana company is suing another firm in the state for patent infringement involving its cannabinoid-based medical product formula. United Cannabis Corp. (UCANN) of Golden filed the lawsuit in Denver U.S. District Court on Monday against Pure Hemp Collective of Conifer. The Denver Post reported the lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting Pure Hemp from […]

Colorado medical cannabis companies in patent dispute is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Health care needs to eschew a high-tech approach and go beyond the treatment of symptoms to attack the causes of chronic diseases rooted in current lifesyles. That’s the message Paulius Jaruševičius, Founder and Chairman of the Lithuania-based Lifestyle Medicine Association will bring to “The Future of Medical Hemp,” an international industry summit and networking event focused on CBD that is set Aug. 24-25 at HempToday Center in Poland.

Only 3 accreditations remain for the Aug. 24-25 networking & intelligence gathering. The application period is open through Aug. 15.

How phytocannabinoids work

Jaruševičius’ presntation, “How phytocannabinoids work together with lifestyle change” will explore how lifestyles induce changes in gene expression, which is closely related to the human endocannabinoid system.

European blue-chip CBD brand CannabiGold is the host sponsor for “The Future of Medical Hemp,” where attendees will get an in-depth look at a wide range of topics related to CBD, including investment, product development & innovation, global medical hemp hot spots, the regulatory environment, biochemistry of cannabinoids, and cannabinoid production.

Nine countries are represented

Representatives from Italy, Germany, China, Greece, Poland, USA, Lithuania, Israel and the Czech Republic are already signed on to attend the Summit. Participants have the option of making a 15-minute presentation about their companies, startups or business plans.

The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance has named veteran agribusiness executive Ted Haney its Executive Director. Haney replaces part-time director Kim Shukla, who left the CHTA last May.

“Ted’s experience, insight and connections as a proven industry leader will help hemp produced and processed in Canada make its next leap forward as the industry pursues growth in food and expansion into the fibre, feed and natural health product markets around the world,” CHTA Executive Director Russ Crawford said in a statement.

Haney is an international agribusiness executive with 30 years’ domestic and international management and marketing experience promoting Canadian products and services. He managed the Canada Beef Export Federation (CBEF) for 20 years, and previously served on the board of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance for eight years. His background is in strategic planning, corporate governance, finance, government relations and international market development.

CHTA is establishing an office in Calgary, Alberta where Haney will initially be based when he takes up his duties Aug. 1, Crawford said.

Everything seemed on track with the 2018 Farm Bill – expected to crack the U.S. market wide open – until somebody came up with another great idea to victimize the victims, that specialty of the Trump Administration and its enablers in Congress.

After a Senate-written Farm Bill carrying Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s all-important 2018 Hemp Farming Act passed with strong bi-partisan support, it then got hung up in the feeble, geriatric mind of Sen. Charles Grassley (Republican of Kansas) who, because he doesn’t understand the issues, insisted on attaching a draconian measure barring former drug felons from participating in hemp businesses.

Hands on the throat

In the back-door, back-stabbing, hands-on-the-throat process that requires both houses of Congress to agree on something, ugly things can happen. That McConnell, Our Great Hemp Leader of the Senate, caved to Grassley’s destructive amendment is therefore not surprising.

Down the Great American Hemp Highway: What’s that smell?

And anyway, the reality is that many states already ban felons from the hemp industry under rules put in place as pilot programs, state by state, sprouted up across the USA following passage of an earlier hemp bill included in the 2014 Farm Bill.

Rapidly expanding research has identified a growing number of aging-related chronic conditions that cannabis can treat. That’s both the result of record levels of investment – and an indicator of future growth, said Pavel Kubu, M.D., Founder & CEO of the Prague-based International Cannabis and Cannabinoid Institute (ICCI).

“Both business and government realize that this thriving industry has a future but the development must be based on conclusive research,” Kubu said.

Kubu will discuss that topic as one of the featured speakers at “The Future of Medical Hemp,” the next networking & intelligence event in HempToday’s annual Summit Series devoted to industrial hemp. Only 8 accreditations remain for the Aug. 24-25 gathering at HempToday Center in Poland; the summit is limited to 25 participants total. The application period remains open through Aug. 15.

Vast European market

Europe’s market of over 739 million people is poised to be the largest medical cannabis market in the world, Kubu noted.

As research continues apace, ongoing discovery is sure to address further chronic conditions of aging that may be treatable by cannabis, Kubu said. “As the list grows, so does the potential patient base,” he noted.

Second of Two Parts
Part One: A Hemp Manifesto for Africa

Despite starting research trials on the agronomic feasibility of hemp between 1994 and 1996 when the South African government started growing cannabis to make the THC isomer Dronabinol for the United States, South Africa has yet to properly legislate for hemp cultivation and use.

A study done by Camila Coogan, “The South African hemp story: Saviour Crop or Business as Usual?” details some of the trials and tribulations that has plagued the South African hemp industry. Many of the challenges stem from legislative barriers, while others stem from bad politics, differing stakeholder priorities and lack of any clear vision or consolidated efforts for a viable hemp industry.

Challenging inertia

Advocates, activists and commercial interests are challenging the lack of progress, and uniquely, cannabis prohibition is being challenged as unconstitutional and in violation of human-rights in SA courts. Meanwhile private stakeholders continue to advocate for legalization or de-regulation of cannabis, and are working to establish a hemp industry despite the legal and political challenges. A Cannabis Development Council of South Africa formed in late 2017 aims to facilitate industry growth.

The South African experience through 20 years can provide valuable insight to other countries on pitfalls and policy approaches to avoid as they slowly wake up to the potential of the crop:

An Indian state has made history by granting a cultivation permit for industrial hemp to the Indian Industrial Hemp Association (IIHA). The permit allows a pilot program to take off in the Pauri Garhwal district in the state of Uttarakhand. The project aims to promote hemp farming and the development of hemp industry value chains. Among farmers, hemp is being touted as a desperately needed cash crop.

There is already a large demand for hemp products on the Indian subcontinent, and it is hoped that this project will help establish domestic production, encourage entrepreneurs and investors, and stimulate local economies,  Trivendra Rawat, a state minister told the India123 news service.

Hemp gets its ‘fair due’

Hemp “is getting its fair due and coming to the forefront of a positive dialogue,” Rohit Sharma, the president of IIHA, said in a press release after the permit was issued. The Association is a consortium of stakeholders working in support of the hemp industry in India.

Uttarakhand, which is located in northern India, borders Nepal and China. State officials see hemp’s potential to revive Indian agriculture and create jobs. For starters, new supplies of hemp fiber could rapidly feed into the existing Indian textile industry to address growing global demand for hemp textiles.

But start-ups and R&D projects are popping up all over the country, as government and entrepreneurs awaken to hemp’s broader potential in India, the world’s 7th largest economy.

(First of 2 parts)

By Arne Verhoef | HempToday – Hemp could play a major role in achieving nearly every goal of the so-called “Africa 2063” manifesto, and serve in nearly every aspect of the ambitious Accelerated Industrial Development plan for Africa (AIDA), driven by the African Union and the United Nations. There is no better single crop to help modernize African agriculture and bring more industrialization to African economies than hemp, with its adaptability as a crop and its broad array of potential end products.

Hemp can empower the rural poor and address systemic poverty by including small scale producers into agronomic value chains, and through investing in the skills and resources needed to produce the crop. Its many ancillary industries can drive rapid economic advancement, creating jobs and ensuring inclusive economic participation.

Keeping Africa clean

The crop can address food security, increase climate resilience and minimise Africa’s carbon output, keeping it at the lowest in the world without halting progress. It can create carbon-sensitive infrastructure and dignified, healthy and eco-friendly housing for the millions living in shacks and shanty towns.
Because hemp is a perfect crop to address the critical challenges faced by the continent, it should be in the vanguard of efforts aimed at sustainable economic, social and environmental development.

Addressing the barriers

But in Africa, the barriers are significant. The legislative challenges are immense, and a lot of grassroots work also still needs to be done to overcome rampant stigmas about cannabis in general, and to raise hemp’s profile on the continent. The potential of the crop escapes many everyday Africans. In some regions of Zimbabwe, for example, it’s believed that the plant’s seeds are poisonous. This in a country where malnutrition is relatively common due to protein-deficient diets, and where at least one native hemp variety produces an astounding amount of seed – potentially well-suited as seed crop. The general population needs to be convinced of the plant’s benefits, not just know its religious or recreational use.

A first-ever Asian Hemp Summit set for Kathmandu, Nepal next year will explore the vast possibilities for industrial hemp across the continent. Nepal-based Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures (SHIV), HempToday and Hempoint, Czech Republic, are organizers of the inaugural event, which is scheduled for Feb. 1-2, 2019 at the Gokarna Forest Resort in Kathmandu.

Signups started this month for the conference, which will primarily focus on the markets of China, India, Nepal, South Korea, Thailand, Mongolia and Japan. Organizers encourage stakeholders from all Asian countries to attend, including regulators, politicians, development agencies, private hemp enthusiasts, environmental groups, retailers & consumers.

Investment opportunities

“Opportunities abound for global players – investment is needed all throughout Asia in every hemp sector and sub-sector,” said Dhiraj K. Shah, a consultant who founded SHIV with his wife Nivedita in 2014. “And there’s a lot that can happen cross-border on the continent because of the strong trading traditions and established import-export arrangements among Asian nations.”

World class speakers

Speakers already tentatively confirmed for the Asian Hemp Summit are:

Anar Artur, CEO, HempMongolia
Riki Hiroi, Each Japan
Nivedita & Dhiraj Shah, SHIV, Nepal
Steve Allin, International Hemp Building Association
Paul Benhaim, Elixinol Group Ltd, Australia
Daniel Kruse, HempConsult GmbH, Germany
Hana Gabrielova, Hempoint, Czech Republic
Haile Selassie Tefari, Hemp Service Intl., France
Arne Verhoef, HempHub, South Africa
Morris Beegle, WAFBA & NoCo Hemp Expo, USA
Rick Trojan, Hemp Road Trip, USA.

EUROPEAN HEMP
(Last of 4 parts)
Part 1: Europe’s tough row to hoe: Lack of clarity on CBD, THC
Part 2: Europe’s Great THC Debate: Get moving or fall behind
Part 3: Europe’s futile efforts to slow marijuana use

Investors and startups are clamoring for information and guidance on how to get into the CBD business amid an upsurge in what’s clearly proving to be the pace-setting sector in the overall hemp industry, according to Daniel Kruse, CEO at European advisory HempConsult GmbH.

“We’ve had a huge increase in the number of queries about CBD in the past 12 months. Companies want to know about the legal issues, how the value chain works and what the market looks like overall,” Kruse said.

Leading global consultancy

HempConsult is well positioned to deliver that valuable advice, having 23 years of experience in everything from farming and organic certification to legal and tax issues across all hemp sectors.

Recent approval of GW Pharmaceutical’s cannabidiol-based drug Epidiolex in the United States not only will soon give patients needed relief, but can spur further research into cannabinoids as well as expansion of the CBD sector overall. That could set off a cycle that would result in a greater number of treatment options for patients, GW has said.

GW made cannabis history June 25, 2018 when it earned approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for Epidiolex, a drug crafted as a treatment for two forms of childhood epilepsy. It is the first cannabis-derived prescription drug to gain federal approval in the United States.

The publicly traded, UK-based company has said it is “blazing a trail for any other CBD prescription medications that may follow,” and has consistently refuted accusations it is working to monopolize the cannabinoid-based medicines market, as some critics have alleged, meanwhile muddying the waters for non-prescription CBD products.

Unfounded fears

Critics have pointed to GW’s wide gallery of patents, and the protection orphan drug status provides the company in their theories about GW’s intentions.

Furthermore, some makers of non-medicinal grade CBD products have been fearful that casting CBD in a prescription framework could negatively impact sales in the fast-growing non-prescription CBD food supplements sub-sector. That’s a fear long-time cannabis veteran and consultant Richard Rose says is unfounded.