Why aren’t we building more with hemp? – Part 1

The United Nations recently discussed the environmental and climate change issues our world is dealing with today. There are a lot of possibilities to save the environment, including the increased use of hemp. A lot of people – including the famous Jack Herer – have even said that hemp can save the world. There are […]

Hemp, booming business, more difficult than you think.

Hemp, it is a booming business, you would say. But, as we showed in our last report, hemp producers are facing problems they never encountered before and CBD, as being the main ingredient of the enormous demand, is still a questionable product in most countries. Like the UK. “Instead of capitalizing on the booming CBD […]

Hemp farmers in Portugal: 2019 is a lost year.

Portuguese hemp farmers are giving up on the 2019 growing season due to continuing jurisdictional confusion between two government agencies over licensing. The problem started when Portugal’s Ministry of Agriculture issued a clarification in January 2019 making all hemp related authorizations subject to review by INFARMED, the Portuguese Health Regulator that has authority over pharmaceutical […]

Trekt Uw Plant (TUP) – must shut down and disbanded

The first Belgian cannabis social club – Trekt Uw Plant (TUP) – must shut down and disband. The club was initiated in 2006, and after unsuccessful attempts in 2006 and 2008 to criminalize this club, it now happened. Members were given prison sentences of up to twenty months on probation, and a total of 121,250 […]

50 years of Prohibition in France is an utter failure

France is the number one European country for cannabis use. “The government should create a “public monopoly of cannabis production and distribution”, according to The Council of Economic Analysis. Cannabis could bring up to €2.8 billion per year and create up to 57,000 jobs. 70 public figures now calling for legalization. Cannabis news network: The door is […]

Inside the world’s oldest hemp conference EIHA16: ‘CBD is a global Wild West’

No better way to find out what’s happening in the industrial hemp sector and the booming CBD trade than to visit the oldest and biggest industrial hemp conference in the world, the EIHA in Cologne, Germany. One of the main takeaways from the record-breaking 16th edition is the need for the European hemp industry to […]

Countries can reform under UN law

The international drug control regimes are outdated and do not meet current human rights standards and public health needs. Provisions in three historically prohibitionist United Nations treaties – the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances – […]

So what about hemp and CBD in China?

While the US only recently passed the 2018 Farm Bill which legalized industrial hemp, China is already ahead and has become the largest producer of hemp in the world with 400,000 acres/162,000 ha. Since a couple of years, China has also legalized the extraction of CBD from industrial hemp, which has been used in the increasing […]

Take medical use of cannabis seriously, patients can’t wait

After the World Health Organization (WHO) initially failed to produce their recommendations, on February 1st their recommendations to reschedule cannabis were leaked. Last week, the European Parliament came with their response: take medicinal cannabis seriously. It’s an important message, as clinical trials and the entire pharma chain is taking far too long for patients. The product […]