The Kush

Hi! Welcome to the 19^th edition of The Kush, our newsletter written specifically for Mondays and Tuesdays. If you’re reading this for the first time, then welcome. We took a break from our usual blazing selves yesterday, a Sunday, when several hours were spent doing nothing, gazing into the skies, before falling asleep. But we’re back, and every Monday is when we begin our fight against the mundane and the monotonous, the peddlers of bad logic so to speak.

Let’s start blazing.

France is Committed to Medical Cannabis

Every nation in the world is going to adopt cannabis in some form or the other – medical, industrial and recreational, or any one or two aspects of cannabis, for sure. There’s no doubt about it, simply because the science of cannabis’ efficacy and basic economic principles are enough to silence the peddlers of bad logic and emotional hysteria.

Quoting from Marijuana Business Daily:

“Nicolas Authier, a university professor and chair of the ANSM scientific committee on medical cannabis, told Marijuana Business Daily that there’s “Five more months of work before the first prescriptions” but “France is now officially committed to access to medical cannabis.”

“The French government published a long-awaited decree this week detailing how a limited medical cannabis experiment will be carried out. It was also confirmed that up to 3,000 patients will be able to participate in the experiment. Participating companies will have to supply the medical cannabis products to patients free of charge, and the products will have to comply with pharmaceutical standards, including Good Manufacturing Practice. The first prescriptions are now expected to occur in March 2021. The experiment will be limited in time – two years starting with the first prescription or March 31, 2021, whichever comes first. The decree also determined that the Ministry of Health and Solidarity is responsible for the execution of the project.”

As we’ve mentioned time and again before in this newsletter, governments all across the world ought to loosen restrictions on letting research institutions, agricultural universities and private companies get access to the cannabis they need, in order to study the health, wellness, medicinal and industrial applications of the cannabinoids present in the cannabis plant.

Exciting times.

Let’s keep blazing.

Pot Stocks Blazed After Kamala’s Statement

The stock markets are information processing machines, with individuals and institutions trying to predict the future financial performances of the companies listed on stock exchanges. Canada’s cannabis companies were the first ones to start blazing and raise money from the public markets owing to the rapid strides made by the Canadians for cannabis, in addition to multiple states in the United States following suit and opening up their medical and recreational cannabis markets as well.

Quoting from Market Watch:

“Shares of cannabis companies enjoyed a broad rally Thursday, amid growing hopes of federal decriminalization following comments from vice-presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris. “We will decriminalize marijuana, and we will expunge the records of those who have been convicted of marijuana,” Harris said in the vice-presidential debate late Wednesday. The Cannabis ETF THCX shot up 7.4% to close at a three-week high of $9.32. It has run up 15.2% since closing at a four-month low two weeks ago.”

The 2020 US Election result towards Joe Biden’s presidency is being widely predicted as a watershed moment for the decriminalization of cannabis use at the Federal level (equivalent to India’s central government), overturning years of prohibition, that began all the way back in 1937. 2020 has proven to be a watershed year in many years and we aren’t even thinking about the coronavirus. In fact we think the unpredictability of the coronavirus may have given a boost to the faster adoption of medical cannabis. This is our personal opinion so to speak.

“Among some of the ETF’s more active components, the U.S.-listed shares of Aurora Cannabis Inc. shot up 10.6%, Aphria Inc. jumped 10.3%, Canopy Growth Corp. soared 13.5% and Tilray Inc. ran up 18.3%. Shares of Corona beer brewer Constellation Brands Inc. which has made a large investment in Canopy Growth, tacked on 2.0%. The likelihood of former-Vice President Joe Biden winning the presidential election next month has increased recently, after the latest polls showed Biden widening his lead over President Trump.”

Private cannabis companies all over the world still find it difficult to raise funds from investors owing to the lack of education and awareness with respect to the science underpinning the benefits of cannabis.

Not us. Let’s keep blazing.

The Thais Are Blazing Ahead as Usual

Thai government officials have been more active than usual in the past one year when it comes to medical cannabis. They’re going full steam ahead into the research stage and are restricting imports of cannabis to spur their own entrepreneurs to make medicines using cannabis for the Thai people. Quoting from Yahoo News below:

“Thailand’s health minister helped plant cannabis seedlings on Thursday as the government nurtures plans to harvest the multibillion-dollar potential of medical marijuana. The kingdom in 2018 became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise medical marijuana, although many Thais have long used the herb in traditional treatments. The government has invested in the extraction, distillation and marketing of cannabis oils for use in the health industry.”

We highly recommend the pro-active approach from the Thai Health Minister, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand in supporting medical cannabis. This gesture assures many millions of patients that cannabis can be used for medical purposes in a safe and legal manner, not exactly a plus point in many countries where government officials have shied away from committing to the science of medical cannabis, in spite of the volumes of research available.

“Wearing a hairnet and green gardening gloves, deputy prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul joined health officials planting seedlings at Thailand’s second industrial-scale marijuana greenhouse at Nong Yai, Chonburi province. In a statement, Anutin said the administration wanted to “support with sincerity the patients who need to use cannabis for treatment”. The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation’s 1,550-square-metre facility will house 1,300 plants supplying marijuana products to hospitals and clinics. The government wants to further broaden Thailand’s laws on cultivating cannabis. A bill is expected to go before parliament in the coming weeks which would allow individuals to grow the plant for medicinal purposes — something only state agencies can do currently. The minister said he hoped the changes could boost rural incomes across the northeast by allowing farmers to grow and sell the plants.”

Way to go, Thailand. God bless you.

Let’s keep blazing.

Have a great day 🙂