Actualités

The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. is changing its name to BZAM Ltd. The cannabis company says it will also change its ticker symbol on the Canadian Securities Exchange to BZAM.

Hemp is increasingly used to insulate homes and commercial buildings. In addition to its insulating properties, it could be the solution to make buildings carbon neutral.

A Las Vegas hotel in which cannabis will be accepted will open this spring after the tourist city approved cannabis consumption lounges last year.

The Quebec government does not allow cannabis edibles sold in its Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) stores to be somewhat appealing to young people. So consumers who don't want to smoke must choose from a selection of less "candy" products, such as dried figs. But industry players and observers believe that these strict regulations help the black market thrive.

The Canadian Cannabis Survey 2022 has been released by Health Canada. According to the survey, cannabis use among 16- to 19-year-olds has returned to pre-legalization levels and the proportions reporting daily or almost daily use have remained stable. Smoking remains the most common method of use, followed by edible use and vaping. Also of note, the proportion of respondents reporting that they obtain cannabis from legal sources has increased.

Today, Health Canada announced that amendments to the Cannabis Act and its regulations concerning cannabis research and testing, and cannabis beverages have been approved and are now in force as of December 2, 2022. A copy of the final regulations, as well as the Regulatory Impact and Analysis Statement is expected to be published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on December 21, 2022.

To reduce barriers to trade and labour mobility, the Canadian government has developed an Action Plan. This plan has five main components, including the review of CFTA to reduce federal exceptions, particularly in the area of government procurement. This is of great interest to our industry as "Minister LeBlanc mentioned the federal government's initiative to include non-medical cannabis under CFTA". We welcome this initiative since, as we know, the cannabis industry is an active participant in the country's economic success, having contributed more than $43.5 billion to the Canadian GDP since 2018.

Alexandre Gauthier, vice president of research and development and director of cultivation and sales analyst at Origine Nature, gave an interview to Narcity in which he pushes for a better knowledge of artisanal cannabis. Because, he says, what differentiates craft cannabis from mass-produced cannabis is passion. "[In large-scale cannabis facilities] everything is dried quickly. Everything is cut by machine. Everything goes through an automated line to separate the buds and package them automatically. And so that's where you become, of course, mass production. When you're talking about artisanal cannabis, there are a lot more human steps and human control." This passion drives Origine Nature to create the perfect conditions for cannabis plants, a plant that is very sensitive to its environment. So any changes in the climate or in its irrigation level will have an impact on the final product. And this also pushes Origine Nature to innovate in order to create a more ecological and nature-friendly industry: "we lay the foundations, we make sure that everyone realizes that we can do it", explains Alexandre Gauthier.

As the voice of the industry in Quebec, the Association québécoise de l'industrie du cannabis (AQIC) submitted to Health Canada a brief entitled "A sustainable and responsible industry: key success factor in the legalization of cannabis", as part of the legislative review of the Cannabis Act. The document includes requests for changes that require legislative amendments and requests for changes that do not require such amendments, that can be implemented quickly. The Canadian Cannabis Act Review Committee proposes 30 recommendations that aim to enable the Quebec and Canadian cannabis industries to help governments achieve public health and safety objectives.

While traditional fossil fuel-based plastic has a large environmental footprint (its carbon footprint is estimated to reach 19% of global emissions by 2040), researchers at Northern Illinois University want to replace some of the plastic produced with industrial hemp fiber. As Professor Robert Tatara explains: "By adding a natural component that tends to absorb water, that should improve degradation (of the plastic products) or recyclability. But those qualities also will depend somewhat on what plastics are in the mix. We’re going to be trying different types of plastic, with the intent of creating an eco-friendly and viable product. There is always a need for better composites and for composites you can ultimately recycle." Another advantage? Hemp absorbs carbon faster than most other plants and twice as fast as forests. Thus offering an effective solution to pollution.

MJBiz CEO Chris Walsh shared his predictions for the coming year at MJBizCon this week in Las Vegas. According to him, we should see, first of all, consolidation in the U.S. market, especially in the states of California and Michigan. The State of New York will have a hard time containing the illicit market that is well established in its territory. He also believes that other states will legalize cannabis during the year and that banking reform will indeed occur. This gives a lot of hope for American businesses. However, he cautions that resistance to legalization is becoming more organized and gaining ground, especially in Republican states. In Canada, he believes that inventories will continue to rise to a peak and then fall back down the following year.

Selon un nouveau sondage du Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, l’acceptabilité sociale du cannabis a bondi depuis 2009 avec 66% des répondants qui trouvent que les consommateurs de cannabis ne devraient pas être poursuivis en justice. Un chiffre qui a doublé depuis le dernier sondage. Selon Dr Anna Ross, spécialiste de la politique en matière de drogues à l'université d'Édimbourg, ce changement d’attitude serait grandement influencé par les médias. Ainsi, en 2001, 51% des personnes interrogées étaient en faveur de lois plus libérales. Cependant, ces résultats avaient donné lieu à un débat autour de la reclassification du cannabis, une grande campagne médiatique avait été orchestrée afin d’empêcher cette reclassification et de nombreux médias ne parlaient que du cannabis à forte teneur en THC. Par contre, depuis quelques années, les nombreux avantages thérapeutiques du cannabis médical et le nombre croissant de pays qui légalisent la plante ont eu un effet positif sur l’opinion publique. Comme le démontre le récent sondage. Ainsi, selon Dr Anna Ross : « ce que cela met en évidence, c'est que l'opinion publique concernant le cannabis est influencée par les médias, et maintenant le cannabis est largement accepté par les médias comme étant normal ».