Forbes • 27th September 2022

Australian Greens Aim To Legalize Recreational Cannabis By 2023

Australian Greens announced a plan to legalize cannabis in the country by 2023. New South Wales (NSW) Senator David Shoebridge announced on Twitter on Monday, September 26, that he has obtained legal advice showing that the Greens could pass a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis at the national level. "All state legislation criminalizing its legal use, possession, and sale could be overridden. We could legalize cannabis across the country this year!" he tweeted. According to an explainer publ

The New Arab • 26th September 2022

The race for Lebanon's next president

The new parliament formed in May is preparing to elect the next president of the Lebanese Republic, who will be in charge for the next six years. President Michel Aoun is expected to leave office by 31st October, and the election of a new president represents a crucial test bed for political parties to gauge alliances and outline the political direction of the country. By convention, the president of Lebanon is a Christian Maronite, and the main responsibility is to serve as a symbol of the na

Forbes • 21st September 2022

Report: Over 27 Million Pounds Of U.S. Legal Marijuana Industry Will Be Cultivated By 2030

U.S. medical and adult-use cannabis markets have been growing in recent years as new states are increasingly regulating the sale of legal products for medical and recreational use. In such a scenario, cannabis cultivation plays an important key role in the market as it aims to guarantee the excellence of the products. In order to understand the future trends of cannabis cultivation in the U.S., cannabis data company New Frontier Data recently published a report that aims to explore several iss

Forbes • 19th September 2022

Inside The Largest Ever Independent Cannabis Study In The UK

Earlier this month, UK's King's College of London launched Cannabis & Me, a scientific study into the effects of cannabis on mental health, considered the largest cannabis study of its kind. The study, which aims to involve 6,000 participants, will research environmental and biological factors behind the different effects of cannabis consumption on the human brain and provide information to physicians in the UK and across the world for prescribing cannabis safely. The Medical Research Council

Forbes • 16th September 2022

New Report Gives Insight Into Hemp-Derived THC Consumers

Since 2020 hemp-derived THC products have gained popularity in the United States. Many consumers consider psychoactive hemp-derived cannabinoids less intoxicating than adult-use cannabis. Hemp-based products, such as delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, THC-O, HHC, or non-intoxicating CBD, are not regulated. But as they are not illegal at the federal level, psychoactive hemp-based products are widely used by those living in U.S. states that have not legalized adult-use cannabis sales. The 2018 Farm Bi

14th September 2022

Does Smoking Cannabis Long-Term Have the Same Effects as Smoking Cigarettes?

Since cannabis has been part of civilization, people have consumed its flowers by smoking it. Today, even though cannabis can be consumed in different ways, smoking remains the primary method. 90.1% of adult users who consume cannabis are most likely to smoke it. In contrast, according to a 2020 survey by US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the remaining respondents consume it through vaping, dabbing, or edibles. Historically, health c

The New Arab • 14th September 2022

Why Lebanon's capital controls law is causing unrest

On 30 August, a joint parliamentary committee in Lebanon postponed discussions over a controversial capital controls law that would limit the flow of foreign capital in and out of the country. The proposed law is the latest of several versions passed by the parliament over the last year, but the body has now suspended its discussions until the government settles on a fully-fledged reform plan. It aims to legalise and standardise banking restrictions put in place at the beginning of the economi

CBD-Intel • 12th September 2022

Where the parties stand on cannabis ahead of Italian elections this month

Italian citizens have been called to vote in general elections on 25th September to elect a new Parliament following the resignation of prime minister Mario Draghi on 21st July. Polls currently show a broadly right-wing coalition as the favoured bloc for forming the next government, with many reporting a lead of around 20%. ... Do you want to read more? The data or analysis report you have tried to access is restricted to our subscribers. We invite you to take a free trial below where you will

DAWN • 8th September 2022

Lebanon's LGBTQ+ Community Faces New Backlash and a Struggle for 'Dignity and Respect'

Several recent episodes, including during international Pride Month in June, show how the LGBTQ+ community is still struggling to express itself freely and protect its rights, despite Lebanon's relative openness in the Arab world.

Forbes • 7th September 2022

A New Study Debunks The 'Lazy Stoner' Stereotype

In the 1930s, the U.S. war on drugs' propaganda depicted people who used cannabis as potential violent criminals. Cannabis was, in fact, portrayed as the trigger behind a series of heinous crimes. In the same period, several propaganda films, such as 'Reefer Madness' and 'She Shoulda Said No!', backed up this theory and negatively influenced the general opinion on cannabis users. Successively, the entertainment industry made us think of cannabis users as scruffy, lazy potheads, creating the s

Forbes • 29th August 2022

Nearly 60% Of CBD Products Are Mislabeled, A New Study Finds, With Some Containing Heavy Metals

The findings of a new study show that nearly 60% of CBD products marketed in the United States don't match the percentage of CBD advertised on products' labeling. Furthermore, researchers have detected the presence of lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, phthalates, and other heavy metal concentrations in edible CBD products. Published in The Science of the Total Environment journal this month, the study aimed to assess the degree of contamination in CBD products and their label accuracy to better

Forbes • 23rd August 2022

Switzerland To Launch Europe's First Cannabis Sales Pilot Program

Switzerland is to become the first European country to launch a cannabis sales pilot program to study the effects of cannabis legalization. The so-called "Weed Care" pilot program will be officially launched on September 15 and is scheduled to last for two and a half years, ending in March 2025. Participants involved in the pilot program are over 18, reside in Basel-Stadt Canton, and are already adult-use cannabis consumers. Throughout the entire study, the participants will be regularly aske

Middle East Eye • 22nd August 2022

New drive to light up Beirut's power-starved streets

Anyone who has flown over Beirut at night in the past two years to land in the Lebanese capital has been met by wide stretches of darkness interspersed with a few spots of light. Although Lebanon has suffered power outages for decades, the economic crisis has heightened energy instability and has turned the formerly vibrant Beirut into a ghost city.

18th August 2022

The challenges of cannabis marketing

When the Super Bowl, the annual playoff championship game of the U.S. National Football League (NFL), is scheduled to be aired worldwide, the most prominent companies buy advertising spaces for airing high-quality, appealing, and innovative commercials. The occasion is unique. Millions of people watch the final game and the long waited Half-Time Show, where the greatest artists of the music scene perform their most iconic songs. Amid such a spectacular event, cannabis tech company Weedmaps didn

DW.COM • 18th August 2022

Lebanon turns to solar power to address acute energy crisis | DW | 17.08.2022

When Patrick Ardahalian moved from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon in 2010, he was shocked at the frequent power outages in the country's capital, Beirut. "Power outages are something I had never experienced," he said. But for the Lebanese people, the situation was different, he added. "They never experienced stable electricity in their life." To address the country's energy crisis, Ardahalian, who is of Lebanese origin but grew up in Greece, decided to pick up solar power. "Lebanon is a very sunny c

Forbes • 16th August 2022

Hong Kong To Crack Down On CBD Products

Hong Kong is moving towards cracking down on the unregulated market of CBD, targeting businesses specializing in CBD-infused drinks and other products by the end of this year. A government proposal unveiled in June aims to bring CBD under control as a dangerous drug by including the substance in the First Schedule to Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (DDO). As a result, CBD will be scheduled as a dangerous drug in Hong Kong. Authorities will implement the ban on the manufacture, import, export, suppl

15th August 2022

The Rise of Legal Psychoactive Cannabinoid Products

Although more than 18 states have legalized recreational cannabis in the United States, two-thirds of U.S. states haven't yet regulated the industry. Several states, including North Dakota, Ohio, and Minnesota, are running campaigns to regulate the industry in 2022.However, the craving to consume high-THC products, even in states where it is illegal, led cannabis companies to create and sell products containing minor cannabinoids with psychoactive effects. When former U.S. President Donald Tru

Forbes • 15th August 2022

Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Reduces Use Of Synthetic Cannabinoids, New Study Finds

Harmful exposure to synthetic cannabinoids occurs less in those U.S. states where adult-use cannabis is legal, according to a new study that shows some potential public health benefits to legalizing adult-use cannabis. Researchers who published a study in the Journal of Clinical Toxicology last week found that adult-use cannabis legalization has benefits in reducing both motivations and harms associated with the use of synthetic cannabinoid products. They estimated that synthetic cannabinoids

Foreign Policy • 11th August 2022

Beirut’s Collapsing Grain Silos Are a Symbol of Lebanon’s Dysfunction

Exactly two years after a deadly blast, the capital was again enveloped in dust.

Forbes • 3rd August 2022

How The 2023 Farm Bill May Reshape The Hemp Industry

Since former U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp at the federal level, the hemp industry seems to have flourished all over the country. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that the total value of hemp production is worth $824 million in 2021. The demand for CBD-based products has driven the industry's production and sales, despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet allowed CBD in foods, beverages, or dietary