International Cannabis News

Constellation Brands, the brewer of Corona beer and a major distributor for Svedka vodka, just invested nearly $4 billion (CAD $5 billion) into Canada’s Canopy Growth, Marketwatch reports. It is the largest investment ever in the cannabis industry. After news of the announcement broke, Canopy Growth — which is publicly listed on both the New York and […]

In November, the United Nations will perform a deep review of cannabis’ scheduling status under the 1962 Single Convention treaty, which coordinates international drug laws, reports Marijuana Moment‘s Tom Angell. The UN World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence found in a pre-review in June that there was sufficient scientific evidence to support a full critical […]

Canadian hemp growers can now harvest the entire hemp plant — including its flowers, buds, and leaves — after Health Canada established new rules on August 10, Producer.com reports. Previously, hemp farmers could only farm the plant for its seeds and fiber. The move is expected to open access to another potentially massive source of cannabidiol (CBD), a […]

Online retail giant Shopify has been cutting huge deals with Canadian provinces and cannabis producers to set itself up as the largest cannabis point-of-sale and inventory management platform, reports The Motley Fool. Shopify has signed contracts with the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, as well as with Aurora Cannabis, Canopy Growth Corp., Hydropothecary Corp., […]

Entrepreneurs are flocking to Toronto, Ontario in order to secure real estate for future cannabis retailer locations, CBC reports. The rush is underway despite there being no official word from province officials about how it plans to manage the private cannabis retailer market. “Ontario is a frenzy right now in terms of entrepreneurs, real estate developers […]

Canada’s federal government will provide some of the same subsidies to cannabis growers that it does to traditional agriculture operations when the cannabis market opens later this year, Forbes reports. Agricultural ministers from all levels of Canadian government decided during an annual meeting in Vancouver to allow cannabis growers access to the same programs that support […]

An insider source reportedly says the Ontario government will allow for privately owned cannabis shops when Canada’s adult-use market comes online in October, according to a CBC report. The source, who spoke with The Globe and Mail on the condition of anonymity, suggested that the government would maintain its control over cannabis distribution and online sales. Officials […]

Medicinal cannabis products will be available by prescription in the United Kingdom this fall after the government relaxed drug laws surrounding the plant’s chemical compounds this week, The Independent reports. The move was prompted by several stories this summer about parents encountering trouble at the border after traveling overseas to acquire life-saving, cannabis-based epilepsy medicine for […]

Lebanon, which has been struggling under large national debts, is considering legalizing medical cannabis in the near term to help generate more national revenue, Bloomberg reports. Lebanon’s government was advised to consider a legal cannabis market, among other revenue-generating options, by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. Lebanon’s trade minister Raed Khoury said enacting the changes advised by […]

Toronto-based Province Brands is developing the world’s first beer brewed using raw materials from the cannabis plant, The Guardian reports. Other companies have undertaken similar projects, but those companies typically create a beer from barley and hops and then infuse the beverage with cannabis or hemp oils, according to Province Brands’ Dooma Wendschuh. “That’s not what […]

Canadian cannabis producer and processor Tilray made history last week as the first cannabis company to hold an initial public offering on the U.S.-based Nasdaq stock exchange, according to a report from Fox Q13. Other Canadian cannabis companies have traded on U.S.-based stock exchanges — Tilray, however, is the first to do so with an […]

Thailand’s government is currently debating a bill that would legalize medical cannabis, according to a Bloomberg report. Thailand, like many Southeast Asian countries, currently has extremely strict drug trafficking laws. However, as recently as the 1980s, Thailand was one of the world’s foremost cannabis exporters. Thailand’s government is a military junta, or dictatorship, where civilian political power answers […]

British Columbia, Canada has signed agreements over production rights for the province’s adult-use cannabis market with 31 different licensed producers, the province’s Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) announced on Wednesday. The LDB will be B.C.’s sole wholesale distributor of cannabis. All 31 of the cannabis cultivators are currently registered with Canada‘s federal government under the nation’s medical cannabis […]

Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset, is expected to vote this week on a law that would decriminalize cannabis possession, according to a High Times report. The law would change the penalty for cannabis possession from jail time to a simple fine for the first three offenses. The fine ranges from 1000 – 2000 shekels, approximately $275 – […]

A woman returning from Amsterdam to her home in the United Kingdom this week became the first person to legally carry THC-rich cannabis oils into the country, according to The Independent. Hannah Deacon was carrying a five-month supply of cannabis oils for her son, Alfie Dingley, who, at six years old, suffers regularly from epilepsy-induced seizures. […]

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) of nations have embraced a report by their own regional commission on cannabis and intend to rethink the legal status of cannabis, Tom Angell reports for Marijuana Moment. In a report covering the latest session of CARICOM, the organization decided: Heads of Government recognised that the current classification of marijuana as an […]

The U.S. Border Patrol has been giving lifetime bans at the border to those associated with Canada’s legal cannabis industry, according to The Star Vancouver. Because the border is under federal jurisdiction — even in states like Washington that have legalized cannabis — Border Patrol agents are required to obey U.S. federal requirements and issue […]

Authorities in Saskatchewan, Canada have established a provincial fine structure for cannabis offenses for after federal legalization takes place in October. According to a Global News report, the fines will range from between $200 and $2,250 depending on the severity of the offense.  Justice Minister Don Morgan said the goal was to create “an appropriate disincentive for […]

Mexico’s general elections were held on Sunday, July 1 and the emerging victor for the country’s presidential run, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is likely to push for criminal drug law reforms, according to a teleSUR report. President-elect López Obrador, who is a former mayor of Mexico City, is already considering decriminalizing recreational cannabis use and regulating […]

The Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Commission (AGLC) announced the 13 licensed producers who will serve the province’s adult-use marketplace when cannabis becomes federally legal in Canada on October 17, the Calgary Herald reports. Only two of the companies, Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth, actually have production facilities located in Alberta. The other 11 companies are: […]

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned Canada’s recent legalization of adult-use cannabis, according to a Newsweek report. The Ministry said in an official statement that the move was a breach of Canada’s “international legal obligations.” “We expect Canada’s partners in the G7 to respond to its “high-handedness” because this alliance has repeatedly declared its adherence to the […]

While cannabis enthusiasts are celebrating the passage of Canada‘s historic legalization legislation this week, the rules agreed on by lawmakers include unfortunate stipulations for entrepreneurs in terms of product packaging and branding opportunities, according to a report by World Trademark Review. Specifically, cannabis products sold in Canada’s adult-use marketplace must include “little branding and strict health […]

Poppy farmers in Mexico who helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic say that the price of opium paste — the key ingredient in heroin — has dropped so dramatically that many have stopped growing poppies and are returning to cannabis as their primary cash crop, Fox News reports. With legalization continuing to spread across the […]

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that the nation’s adult-use cannabis industry will officially launch on October 17, The Hill reports. The landmark legislation, which passed its final hurdle in the Senate this week with a 52-29 vote, makes cannabis possession and consumption legal for adults 18 and older throughout the nation. “Today I’m also […]