Marijuana Business Magazine October 2018

¬NDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS DEA to Boost Amount of Medical Cannabis Grown for Federal Research The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration took steps to dramatically increase the amount of cannabis that can legally be grown in the United States, a shift potentially signaling that the federal agency intends to expand the number of federally licensed marijuana producers. Currently, the DEA allows only the University of Mississippi to cultivate cannabis for research, but the agency decided to expand the number of approved cannabis-for-research growers in August 2016 and started taking applications that year. More than 20 applications have been submitted, but none had been approved as of the second half of August. According to an Aug. 14 rulemaking proposal signed by Uttam Dhillon, the DEA’s acting administrator, the agency set the amount of cannabis it wants grown in 2019 at 2.45 million grams, or 5,401 pounds. For 2018, the DEA set the quota at 443,680 grams, or 978 pounds. Nova Scotia Places First Recreational Cannabis Order The Nova Scotia agency that regulates recreational marijuana distribution in the province placed its first purchase orders in preparation for the Oct. 17 launch date of Canada’s adult-use cannabis market. The Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. (NSLC) ordered 3.75 million grams (8,267 pounds) of cannabis from 14 licensed Canadian producers, including 11 in Ontario, two in New Brunswick and one in Alberta. With these first purchase orders, NSLC cannabis retailers will carry 282 cannabis products representing 78 strains. The agency said recreational marijuana will come in five formats: flower, seeds, pre-rolls, oil and gel caps. The entity also placed an order with Humble+Fume, a cannabis accessory vendor in Manitoba, to supply 21 accessories to liquor corporation stores. The three licensed producers in Nova Scotia have cultivation permits but not sales licenses, so they could not be selected as suppliers. The agency said Nova Scotia products would be available once those sales licenses are issued. Germany Won’t Award First Cannabis Cultivation Licenses Until Early 2019 Germany intends to award the country’s first domestic licenses for medical cannabis cultivation in the first quarter of next year, with the first crop expected in 2020. The government laid out the timetable in a written response to queries from the Free Democratic Party parliamentary group in the Bundestag. The country is on track to become one of the world’s largest medical marijuana markets as insured patient numbers soar. Earlier this summer, Germany restarted the application process to grow medical cannabis in the country, but the amount being called for remains well short of demand. The deadline to apply is Oct. 22. What's HAPPEN¬NG National & ¬nternational News Developments ( ) 18 • Marijuana Business Magazine • October 2018

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