South Africa’s first ethically-approved cannabis clinical trials have begun in Johannesburg with the goal to determine if cannabis can replace opioids for pain management, according to a June 21 press release. More and more, cannabis shows potential for reducing or replacing opioids for certain types of pain management.

Biodata, subsidiary of Labat Africa, “is the brainchild of Dr. Shiksha Gallow, a cannabis clinician, and the principal investigator in the trials, which took over 18 months to get official clearance,” the announcement reads. Dr. Gallow is a South African pioneer in the field of international medical cannabis research.

Researchers will observe 1,000 participants who have been taking opioids for pain management for at least three months and are prepared to switch to cannabis as an alternative. Two chemovars currently being used are Tallyman and Exodus—sourced from Labat’s Sweetwaters Aquaponics SAHPRA-licensed facility in the Eastern Cape. Aquaponics is a cultivation technique believed to allow for more benefits. The third strain to be introduced shortly, 9 Pound Hammer, will be next—chosen because of its high THC and CBG profile, and being rich in beta caryophyllene and myrcene.

“We are currently recruiting patients, and data-capturing all the questionnaires and feedback from the patients for the live study,” Dr. Gallow said. “It has been fairly slow. However, more options have been introduced in the live study as suggested by the patients in the pilot study. The pilot results of the study were very promising, as it showed 98% of the patients have some sort of pain relief from the cannabis.”

Researchers were able to wean patients off their opioid treatment. Flower contained a high amount of THC, 15-25 mg THC, with 0.5 mg of CBD. The Oil (1:1 ratio) balanced formulation contained 15-20 mg THC/15-20 mg CBD. In the pilot group of patients under 55 years old, they preferred to smoke flower, while patients over 55 years old preferred the oil. Patients who smoked cannabis gained relief almost immediately, while the oil took time.

Dr. Peter Grinspoon is a medical cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, as well as the son of psychiatrist and longtime cannabis advocate Lester Grinspoon. You can watch him discuss America’s opioid crisis on HarvardX or similar topics on TEDx.

“First of all, I think cannabis is really good for mild to moderate pain,” Dr. Grinspoon tells High Times. “I don’t think it works for severe pain. So I think it depends a little bit on what the patient’s conditions are and how severe their pain is, and it’s not just a question of being on cannabis and opiates or off cannabis and opiates. Together, they work very well. Synergistically, they co-work on some of the same receptors.”

Grinspoon added that people who resort to that alternative can achieve a better quality of life, and cannabis is generally safer than opiates. “But I think for other people they’ll probably achieve a dose reduction, which will also be a huge harm reduction [benefit]. So again, it’s not really binary, like off opiates or not off opiates.”

There’s evidence showing other people have reduced opioid use with the help of cannabis—which is what makes it incredibly stupid to test people on opiates for cannabis because it is probably helping them.

“There’s no reason for a pain specialist to view it as the enemy,” he said.

“We don’t really know how effective opiates are,” Dr. Grinspoon added, since there are people under withdrawal symptoms who have pain that’s hard to separate from chronic pain. But then again, there are people with severe pain like phantom limb pain who absolutely need opioids.

“It’s either opiates non-steroidals which, you know, like your Advil, your Motrin, and those aren’t safe either,” Dr. Grinspoon says.

“Those things are really dangerous, and can cause heart attacks, gastric ulcers, and a lot of kidney damage. So the question is like, what is the least harmful medication to use for chronic pain? There’s no free lunch. All medications have side effects, cannabis certainly have side effects, but I always ask myself, ‘what is the least dangerous thing to use and often?’”

Cannabis is definitely safer than opiates, he said, and he wonders if in some cases it’s safer than the non-steroidals.

In the meantime, research showing the true potential for cannabis in the field of pain management is growing. Dr. Gallow’s team of researchers in South Africa renewed this study for another year.

The cannabis drinks market is among the fastest-growing industries, and now there are events that represent that rapid growth. Hosted by the Beverage Trade Network, the 2022 Cannabis Drinks Expo will kick off next month and spotlight the legal cannabis market and provide insight into the true potential for business, according to a June 20 press release.

Expo themes include increasing the overall category list by showcasing successful exhibitors, creating networking opportunities, and exploring current “multi-state bottlenecks.”

So why all the buzz? The global cannabis beverages market is predicted to grow from $503.58 million in 2020 to $2958.60 million by 2028, representing a CAGR of 24.5% during the forecast period of 2021-2028. This includes the psychoactive drinks as well as hemp-infused drinks. Beyond cannabis alone, the beverage sector is experiencing radical change in and of itself with a push towards wellness drinks with natural ingredients.

The show will have an international and national focus that offers multistate operators synergistic opportunities to do business with each other.

Cannabis Drinks Expo provides the cannabis and drinks industry with a unique platform to expand business, explore the category, and source amazing brands. The theme for the 2022 show is “Growing the Category.”

Drink makers could use the boost of visibility in a competitive playing field. At the expo, you’re likely to find the full spectrum of brands.

“The Cannabis Drinks Expo offers brands like mine a view into a very early stage waltz,” famed Master-Mixologist Warren Bobrow told High Times. Bobrow is also known as “the Cocktail Whisperer,” who is behind the made-to-drink cannabis-infused beverage Klaus. “Two steps forward. One back. Two forward one back, and networking with those you can’t meet on [LinkedIn] nor Instagram.”

While other cannabis drink brands are focused on sweet ingredients, Bobrow is instead more interested in the refined ingredients that make his terpene-forward drink Klaus. His drinks list ingredients such as Picketts™ ginger syrup and fine fruit extracts sourced from France. It’s also designed to kick in fast, making it a viable alternative to other recreational delivery systems.

The expo also picked up the attention of local media outlets. “From hemp-based sports drinks to cocktails that get you high, science has finally cracked the code to making cannabis beverages that don’t taste awful,” reported Jonathan Bloom for NBC Bay Area News.

The world of cannabis drinks can get confusing fast, which is why part of the program is designed to make things easier to understand. At the expo, experts will be available to clarify and explain the process of infused foods while industry panels will go over facts to demystify the cannabis-infused beverages procedure. Top names in the cannabis industry will offer a full day of presentations, which have not yet all been announced. Attendees can also browse the expo floor and connect with companies on the cutting-edge of the industry.

Exhibitors will include medical cannabis producers, growers, cannabis producers, product developers, processors, distributors/transporters, wineries, breweries, distilleries, branded drinks companies, drinks manufacturers, Pharma companies, equipment and service providers, CBD manufacturers, edibles providers, testing and laboratory services, logistics, and supply chain operators, drinks distributors/wholesalers, drinks importers, lobbyists/public affairs businesses, and political advisors.

Fortunately, the expo is being provided in California as well as Illinois with two events. Check below for individual events times and places.

San Francisco: July 28, 2022, South San Francisco Conference Center, 255 South Airport Boulevard, South San Francisco, California 94080.

Chicago: August 2, 2022, Midwest Conference Center, 401 W. Lake St., Northlake, Illinois 60164.

Visitor Registration is open, so get your passes now to save on tickets. Click below to register as a trade show visitor:

San Francisco Tickets  

Chicago Tickets 

George Wajackoyah, one of four Kenyan presidential candidates in the pending national elections, is proposing to legalize cannabis and raise snakes for their venom to jump start the domestic economy.

Beyond the cannabis play, snake venom is used to manufacture drugs like high blood pressure medication and is used in treatments for blood clots, heart disease and as an antidote for snake bites. On the foreign export market, venom can be sold for as much as $120 per gram. The market for this product is also growing—and expected to reach $1.5 billion by 2027.

Wajackoya is a lawyer and a member of the Roots Party which is also advocating for a four day work week. However, it is his esoteric proposals on the cannabis and venom front which is allowing him to make at least a decent showing if not capture votes that might otherwise go to the leading two candidates—a former Prime Minister and the current Deputy President. The cannabis theme alone is pulling undecided voters to his camp. Some expect him to do well enough to force a runoff.

In the meantime, the entire election is getting even more controversial with the barring of Reuben Kigame, a well-known blind gospel singer, from being a candidate at all. Beyond the presidential race, six of the top candidates vying for governorship positions are now facing unwanted scrutiny for allegedly submitting fake academic credentials to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

Cannabis reform, in other words, is far from the most controversial topic in Kenyan national politics this year even though it is one of the most internationally newsworthy ones.

The Impact of Cannabis Cultivation in Kenya

Kenya, a country in East Africa bordering Uganda (now exporting high THC cannabis to Israel and Europe), is holding its presidential elections this August. There are several other proposals on the table to help the average citizen, including a $60 a month stipend for Kenyans who are unemployed.

It is primarily known for its Big Five wildlife population, annual wildebeest migrations and Mount Kilimanjaro.

Tragically the country is also known for other reasons that are not so breath-taking. The country is considered a lower-middle income economy with about 16% of its population at or below the international poverty line. Beyond this, it suffers from extreme gender and other economic inequality, government corruption and severe illnesses that affect large parts of the population such as HIV, malaria, and pneumonia. Beyond this, the country suffers from a terrible lack of basic infrastructure that leaves about 19 million people (about 35% of the population) without access to clean drinking water.

Kenya is also suffering from direct fallout of the Ukraine War. The conflict has disrupted the supply of wheat, maize, fertilizer, and oil seeds to the country. Wheat prices alone have more than doubled. This may be the reason that as of early this month, the country became one of the top three countries in Africa to receive money from expats working abroad (used to pay for education as well as basic medical and household expenses).

The Worth of African Hemp

While presidential promises are often not all they are cracked up to be post-election day no matter where such contests are held, this may be especially true in Kenya. Here is why. According to U.S. federal data from the USDA, hemp prices can vary dramatically from state to state even in the U.S. For example, in Colorado, hemp sold for $4.09 a pound last year. In contrast, it went for $503 a pound in Massachusetts. That delta is for a product that has now been made legal on a national level.

International sales are equally divergent in price. High quality, indoor grown GMP hemp is a far different beast than hemp grown outdoors. Beyond this, the plants must test clean of heavy metals and pesticides—and below national and regional import countries mandates on THC percentage (between 0.02% and 0.03%).

Bottom line? Snake venom farming may prove to be more lucrative on the international market for the struggling Kenyan economy. But it is clear that cannabis reform is a global topic this year—and likely to show up in elections far from Africa.

Though cannabis has been common in Jamaica for a long time, Kaya Herb House was the first regulated medical cannabis dispensary to open in not only Jamaica, but the Caribbean—stocked with its own flower and concentrates.

It’s thanks to Jamaica’s transformation on cannabis reform that can be seen by the swift changes in law over the past several years.

In February 24, 2015, the Parliament of Jamaica voted to drastically amend the nation’s cannabis laws—making possession of up to two ounces a petty offense, establishing a licensing authority and a medical cannabis system. Cultivation of five or fewer plants is permitted, and practitioners of Rastafari can use cannabis for religious purposes—the first country to officially recognize the use of cannabis for that reason.

It was historic in that Rastafarians have fought in vain for the religious right to smoke herb for decades—one example being when former Attorney General Janet Reno denied American Rastafarians the right to do so in 1998.

The new amendments to law enable the company to thrive. Kaya Herb House’s sister companies Kaya Farms, Kaya Spa, Kaya Café, and Kaya Tours are a testament to how much the company has expanded—both vertically and geographically.

Kaya Farms announced its first legal harvest on February 20, 2018, grown at Drax Hall, St Ann, to be sold at Kaya Herb House. (Timeless Herbal Care also competed for that title, releasing a harvest during the same time period.) Kaya Herb House has been both a leader in high quality cannabis on the island as well as a prime source of education on the plant.

Balram “Bali” Vaswani is Kaya Herb House’s Chief Ganja Officer, born in Jamaica and witness early on to legendary strains dating back to the 1970s, such as Lamb’s Bread.

His team follows the strict rules of Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), and was actually subject to a random check-up during our call. But he says the systems in U.S. states prepared him well for the regulated industry in Jamaica.

“I was in, you know, I was in Colorado from around 2011 and I got a chance to see medical move to recreational and thought it was so interesting being able to be in a place and watch it happen,” Vaswani tells High Times.

After seeing how the framework in Colorado operates, Vaswani decided to participate in the formation of the licensing process in his own country as people lobbied in Jamaica to move towards the same agenda. “Both governments in 2015 were bipartisan, meaning they both kind of approved it and it had gone to Parliament, but the law has never really changed. And there was one milestone activity,” he says.

Vaswani says all the legislative change in Jamaica was spurred by an incident—a clear-cut example of injustice—involving one young man who died in prison, over one joint.

Mario Deane was arrested in February 2014 for possession of a single spliff (joint), and was tragically beaten to death inside his cell at the Barnett Street Police Station in Montego Bay. Anyone who has been to Montego Bay, including myself, knows how common weed is there, which makes it even more angering. Police claim he was brutally beaten to death by his cellmates, Marvin Orr and Adrian Morgan, but his family and friends suspect police foul play could be the real reason.

“I believe the date was Friday, February 2, and he died in jail on Sunday—for one joint,” Vaswani laments. “And that triggered [action] because it was already in Parliament on February 5, went to Parliament immediately with the riots and stuff saying, this is ridiculous that we’re this far and we’re still, you know, still being brutalized. And coincidentally law was changed and enacted and decriminalized on February 6, 2015. And the government said ‘we’re going to issue based on the rules and the regulations of anybody under the U.N. treaty that we’re going to decriminalize and allow for research and development until we formed laws of what the cannabis license authority would do’.”

Vaswani was one of the first to get in early in the program, beating the odds. In 2015, he launched Ganja Labs LLC, which grew legal cannabis at the University of Technology, Jamaica in Kingston, under the UTech medical cannabis research license granted by Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr. Andrew Wheatley.

“I was lucky enough to get one, the exclusive one with the University of Technology, [Jamaica] in 2015. So we got that in May, 2015 and we broke ground in November,” he says. “And then we had the first harvest or legal harvest in Jamaica in 2016, but only for research and development.”

In 2016, Vaswani told Rolling Stone about how he shared the first harvest with longtime friend Rohan Marley, son of Bob Marley. The two have put their minds together on several business pursuits.

The change in laws was a significant time because they could get genetics, the software, and they could train people how to clone plants. Vaswani said that there’s a learning curve in a regulated industry, and you realize how much you have to do on a daily basis.

On March 10th, 2018—representing the first legal sale in the Caribbean—Bali recalls as many as 5,000 people lining up in front of the dispensary to buy medical cannabis. He remembers celebrating because from that day, you could buy cannabis legally with a receipt, with a medical card—instead of out of a backpack from sellers on the beach, or elsewhere.

“And the only difference between the laws in the U.S. and Jamaica right now in terms of the medical side is that we don’t have edibles at all, but every other component in terms of rosin, resin, hash oils, et cetera, are all available, but just [the] ministry of health has not adopted the edibles.”

One location is in front of the cruise ship terminal about 30 or so minutes from Montego Bay. Then there’s another location two minutes away from Bob Marley’s house and across the road from T.G.I. Fridays in the heart of Kingston. In 2019, Kaya Herb House did its first export of oils, and then last year during COVID, they sent the first export of flower to Australia. “We’re not really a MSO, but we’re kind of an international company rather than a multi-state operator. And, you know, just to broaden our wings we said, ‘How can we continue to expand?’ So we launched our first franchise in December 2020 during COVID.”

Vaswani explained how they have a smoke room, and they are providing a lot of education because in Jamaica they didn’t really have the varieties of what you have in the U.S. “Our gum was finger gum that came off your finger, not really full hash, you know,” Vaswani says. “They didn’t have fresh clothes and they didn’t have kief so little by little we’ve, you know, we’ve educated a wider thing.”

The dispensary experience in his stores varied greatly from what you might see in the U.S., Vaswani says.

“In Colorado, we try to get people out between 45 seconds and a minute and a half per transaction,” he says. “Our typical transaction, our stores, for about an hour and a half they’ll come in … they’ll hit a dab, they might go for an espresso. So they might have pizza. So people might share, they might go back in and just get something else. And they’re kind of on the go. And then sometimes we see people three times a day.”

Kaya Herb House plans to build its next location in the Blue Mountain, which is four and a half thousand feet up, as their first entrance into “wellness.”

Vaswanis reminds us that psilocybin mushrooms are legal in Jamaica, and you can buy them as well.

“Our mushrooms are functional and psychoactive, you know, that would be available in our new location. Imagine looking over the city at 4,000 feet, and we have 4,000 acres surrounded by UNESCOs heritage site, you know, so it’s a protected area. So we’re, we’re, we’re gonna be inside the protected area of the forest.”

Check out what Kaya Herb House offers, especially if you plan on traveling to Jamaica.

kayaherbhouse.com

A federal judge has struck down provisions of Nebraska’s voter initiative process in a ruling that will simplify efforts to put a medical cannabis legalization measure on the ballot for the November election. In his ruling, federal district court Judge John M. Gerrard wrote that a requirement that campaigns for ballot initiatives collect signatures from 5% of the voters in 38 counties violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Gerard issued an order on Monday barring Nebraska from enforcing the rule as activists work to collect signatures on two complementary medical cannabis legalization initiatives for the 2022 general election.

Under Nebraska law, citizens wishing to place a measure on the ballot must collect signatures from at least 7% of registered voters, including a minimum of 5% of voters in at least 38 of the state’s 93 counties. In a lawsuit, activists with the group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) and the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that the 38-county rule is unconstitutional because it violates rights to free speech and equal protection guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

Nebraska Initiative Process Violates ‘One Man, One Vote’

The plaintiffs argued that the rule violates the principle of “one man, one vote” by making the signatures of voters in sparsely populated rural counties more valuable than the signatures of voters in Nebraska’s cities. Under the rule, the plaintiffs said that one voter in rural Arthur County is the equivalent of 1,216 voters in Douglas County, which includes Omaha, Nebraska’s most populated city. NMM also stated that the requirement violates the First Amendment rights by dictating how the group prioritizes its signature-gathering efforts.

“A county number or how likely we are to qualify has dictated where I send my resources, where I send volunteers, you know, signature collectors,” Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana campaign manager Crista Eggers, a named plaintiff in the lawsuit, told local media.

Gerrard agreed with the plaintiffs and issued an injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing the 38-county rule for ballot measures, including those currently being circulated by NMM for two related medical cannabis legalization measures.

“The State of Nebraska is absolutely free to require a showing of statewide support for a ballot initiative—but it may not do so based on units of dramatically differing population, resulting in discrimination among voters,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Gerrard also attacked the legal argument in support of the 38-county rule advanced by Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Attorney General Doug Peterson, who argued that if the requirement were struck down it would destroy the state’s entire initiative process.

“For the State to argue that the baby must go with the bathwater is eyebrow-raising,” Gerrard wrote in his 46-page opinion.

Two Medical Cannabis Proposals Vying for Voters’ Support

Activists with NMM are currently circulating petitions for two medical cannabis initiatives for the November ballot. The first proposal would “require the Legislature to enact new statutes protecting doctors who recommend and patients who possess or use medical cannabis from criminal penalty,” according to a report in the Lincoln Journal Star. Under the second initiative, lawmakers would be required “to pass legislation creating a regulatory framework that protects private entities that produce and supply medical cannabis.”

The group has until July 7 to submit at least 87,000 signatures for each of the two initiatives. So far, the group has collected a combined total of about 80,000 signatures. Leaders of the drive say that Gerrard’s ruling will make the task easier because fulfilling the 38-county rule has been a challenge, especially since the death of a major donor to the drive died in March.

“This allows me to be able to go and collect signatures from all Nebraskans,” said Eggers.

Nebraska state Sen. Anna Wishart, another leader of the campaign, said that Monday’s ruling is a “big win” for residents who want to see the medicinal use of cannabis legalized.

“Nebraskans across the state support this issue because they know a loved one, friend or neighbor, who is sick and would benefit from having access to medical cannabis,” Wishart said.

On Tuesday, a federal judge denied a motion from Evnen to stay the injunction. The attorney general’s office said that Gerrard’s ruling would be appealed, a move that received the secretary of state’s approval.

“I concur with the decision to immediately appeal the District Court’s order, which nullifies a Nebraska State Constitutional provision concerning initiative petitions,” Evnen said on Monday night.

The Nebraska ACLU said it will continue working to ensure the 38-county rule is not reinstated.

“We will just have to see what Secretary Evnen does,” said Daniel Gutman with ACLU of Nebraska. “And we’ll obviously be ready to respond.”

The first doctor to hold the position of Director of the Office of National Drug Policy, Dr. Rahul Gupta, recently spoke with the Financial Times about how they plan to address the ongoing opioid crisis. “For the first time in history, the federal government is embracing the specific policies of harm reduction,” Gupta said.

Over 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Two thirds of those deaths were attributed to Fentanyl overdoses.

In May, the Biden Administration announced that it would be providing $1.5 billion to a State Opioid Response grant funding opportunity (a follow-up to President Biden’s promise in his State of the Union).

“At this time, less than one out of 10 people in the United States who need addiction care get it. That is why, President Biden released a National Drug Control Strategy to beat the overdose epidemic by going after its drivers: untreated addiction and drug trafficking,” Gupta said in May. “Today we are delivering on key parts of our Strategy through this new funding, which will expand access to treatment for substance use disorder and prevent overdoses, while we also work to reduce the supply of illicit drugs in our communities and dismantle drug trafficking.”

Harm reduction policies and monitoring policies have been implemented in some regions of Europe and Australia, but progress in the U.S. is hindered by legislators who believe it would only promote drug abuse and access.

While the country’s first two supervised drug-injection sites opened in New York in November 2021 to help prevent overdoses, an Appellate Court stated in January that these sites are illegal under Federal law. “The Department supports efforts to curb the opioid crisis ravaging this country, but injection sites are not the solution,” said Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. “There are more productive ways to address drug abuse, and today’s ruling by the Third Circuit has confirmed that these sites are illegal and therefore not the answer.”

According to Gupta, the solution of whether or not these injection sites should be shut down would be based on “science, data, and evidence available.” Furthermore, he believes that science will also drive the White House’s approach to cannabis legalization. “We’re learning from those states [with legalization]. We’re monitoring the data and trying to see where things go. But one thing is very clear, and the president has been clear about that. The policies that we’ve had around marijuana have not been working,” Gupta said.

Prior to his appointment to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gupta was an advisor to a multi-state cannabis operator called Holistic Industries (the same company that produces the Jerry Garcia cannabis brand, Garcia Hand Picked.)

In a testimony published on June 15, Gupta expressed the importance of action. “Every life is precious and worth saving,” Gupta wrote. “If this Strategy is implemented as intended, we could save 164,000 lives over the next three years, and help tens of millions of people get into treatment and on the path to recovery. The President and I are committed to seeing this through because American lives depend on it.”

Although President Biden said he was supportive of medical cannabis, he has not taken any action toward legalization. However, he did sign an infrastructure bill in November 2021 to allow researchers to use commercial cannabis, rather than government-grown cannabis, when conducting studies. Most recently, Biden declared methamphetamine as an “emerging drug threat.”