Sustainability & Quality Go Hand-In-Hand In The Cannabis Industry

I recently attended the CannaGrow Expo held in Denver, Colorado. It was a fantastic event, per usual, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of presentations by industry experts where the central themes were sustainability and environmental stewardship. I was particularly struck by Adam Maher’s presentation, where he discussed the merits of micro grid technologies and the ease …

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill? Part 4: Banking & Tax Reform

To round out our federal reform review, we look at the bills introduced into the 115th Congress that attempt to resolve the banking and taxation problems faced by state-legal cannabis businesses. As this is perhaps the biggest thorn in the side of the cannabis industry, any movement by the feds on these issues will be welcomed. As it turns out, …

FDA Issues Warning To CBD Companies

On November 1st, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a press release addressing warning letters issued to four companies. The warning letters, sent to companies marketing cannabidiol (CBD) products with therapeutic claims, cites unsubstantiated claims about their products’ ability to treat or cure cancer and other diseases. A snippet of the warning letter issued to Greenroads According to …

Shimadzu, Cure And CK Sciences Partner On R&D of Pharmaceutical Cannabis Products

Yesterday, Shimadzu announced the formation of a partnership with Cure Pharmaceutical Group and CK Sciences to research and develop pharmaceutical cannabis-based products, according to a press release. The three organizations entered a collaborative agreement with the goal of researching and developing products, then moving them through clinical trials using FDA guidelines. According to the press release, the partnership’s primary goal …

KIND Financial Launches Canadian Payment Solution

KIND Financial, a technology and compliance software solutions provider in the cannabis industry, is launching a new e-commerce and payment processing platform in Canada. According to the press release, they are partnering with a Canadian bank to launch the KIND Seed to Payment platform, which is essentially an e-commerce gateway integrated with their compliance software, KIND’s RegTech platform. David Dinenberg, …

NCIA, CCIA Host Fundraiser For Those Impacted By CA Fires

On Monday, the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) sent an email announcing their Cannabis Industry Fire Relief Fundraiser in Santa Rosa, CA on November 6th. Co-hosted by the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), the fundraiser will take place 6:30-9:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek (170 Railroad St, Santa Rosa, CA 95401). All proceeds from the event will go to …

Quality Assurance In The Field: Instruments For Growers & Processors

As the cannabis marketplace evolves, so does the technology. Cultivators are scaling up their production and commercial-scale operations are focusing more on quality. That greater attention to detail is leading growers, extractors and infused product manufacturers to use analytical chemistry as a quality control tool. Previously, using analytical instrumentation, like mass spectrometry (MS) or gas chromatography (GC), required experience in …

What Is Going On With Germany’s Cannabis Bid?

Germany is proceeding down the path to officially grow its own medical cannabis crops. Medical use became legal this year, along with a federal mandate for cheap access. That means that public health insurance companies, which cover 90% of Germans, are now firmly on the hook if not front line of the cannabis efficacy issue. As such, Germany’s medical market …

Ask The Expert: Exploring Cannabis Laboratory Accreditation Part 2

In the first part of this series, Michelle Bradac, senior accreditation officer at the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), told us about the basics of laboratory accreditation, what it means and why it is such a cornerstone of product safety. In this next piece, we sit down with Roger Brauninger, A2LA Biosafety Program manager, to learn why states are …