Hello friends of CannaVigilance,
Starting in Barcelona, we kicked off the trade shows for this year with a panel on ICBC Barcelona and a visit to check out Spannabis.It felt good to be back after a long break and everything felt normal again at The Cannabis Expo in Cape Town. For the first time we had a booth on the continent and got to be speaking at two panels, the expo was very exciting and a great success for the company. We were able to get closer to the African cannabis industry which we also tackled in our latest news posts. But there is also a lot happening in Europe – find out more in our Global CannaVigilance Newsletter below.
The EU is tweaking the GACP
Let’s start with Europe: Growing medicinal cannabis is a business in its infancy and therefore the laws tend to change a lot. The EU proposes a revision of the “Guideline on good agricultural and collection practice for starting materials of herbal origin” to guarantee that the guideline reflects the state of the art and practical experiences. The initiators of the revision have made it made it easy to voice your opinion – find out in our article how you can do this and what the revision is exactly about.
From herbs to herb: A talk with Cian McClelland
Cian McClelland is an inyanga amongst other things and his company, Druids Garden sees themselves as a health and wellness company rather than just a straight up cannabis grower. They manufacture and distribute a range of medicinal and general health related products. What problems Cian faces in his work in South Africa and how overcomes them, can be read in our interview with Cian.
Why a compliance software can help the African cannabis industry
Not only the South African cannabis industry has a lot of potential, but the African cannabis industry in general also looks green with many potentials that will attract growers and investors alike. To exploit the potential, a compliance software like Cannavigia can help you to document the necessary steps along the value chain and can support with compliance processes. We have summarized in this article why a compliance software is important and how it can help the African cannabis industry.
A review of Spain’s cannabis conferences
Attending the ICBC and Spannabis at the beginning of the month, it was good to meet the Spanish speaking world of the industry and we felt again that we are part of a very collaborative community. We talked about both fairs to our CEO Luc Richner and master grower Shlomo Booklin. Read the interview and check out the panel discussion both attended.
Next stop is Zurich: We will be attending the CB Club, Switzerland’s b2b cannabis meeting, on April 14th. We will soon share more info on our LinkedIn page.
A vigilant eye on cannabis news:
- INDIA’S fourth largest pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy’s Labs (DRL), became the latest big-pharma company to break ground in the European cannabis industry last month. India currently boasts the world’s third largest pharmaceutical industry by volume, according to figures from its government, and is the largest exporter of generic drugs on the planet accounting for a fifth of the global supply.
- Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar on March 9th signed a cannabis decriminalization bill into law. The country’s government will no longer consider the use or possession of small amounts of cannabis a crime. In addition, last month Israel finally removed CBD from its Dangerous Drugs Regulation. The maximum THC concentration for all CBD products was raised from 0.2% to 0.3%.
- Large-scale trials of medical cannabis in the UK will begin “as soon as possible”, the department of health and social care has said. The government’s National Institute for Health Research is to oversee the studies – which will look at the effects of the substance on epilepsy sufferers.
- Europe’s decision to establish a new maximum level of THC in hemp food products will prompt a surge of investment, says the industry’s leading trade group. This European Food Safety Authority recommendation has led to numerous cross-border cargoes being seized and destroyed by customs officers across the EU – suppressing the appetite of the larger food companies.
- The Danish capital city Copenhagen has presented a motion this month that calls for the freedom to operate their own cannabis policy within the city. The motion put forward at the beginning of March to parliament, known as Folketinget, outlines the city’s plan to let its citizens not only possess and consume cannabis recreationally but also to grow their own and store it at home.
- The government of Rwanda is moving ahead with plans to go into the medical marijuana business. The government first revealed its plans to grow and export marijuana for medicinal purposes in 2021. The Rwanda Development Board says a significant number of companies have shown interest in partnering up with the government.
- AUDACIOUS has announced a new partnership with Thailand’s Golden Triangle Health to open the first Herbidus Medical Center in Bangkok, and the first medical cannabis clinic in Southeast Asia that is supported by a US multistate operator.
Comments