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General Hydroponics Introduces Customizable, Scalable Feedcharts

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General Hydroponics recently released new feedcharts for many of the company’s base nutrient lines. Why?

The methods and cultural practices of customers have rapidly evolved in recent years. The fact is, growers have never achieved higher yields or been more efficient.

To support the increased growth and changes in methods, General Hydroponics’ nutrient feed recommendations have also evolved. The latest feedcharts are more versatile, scalable and customizable than ever before. 

Each of the new charts now features three nutrient tiers, designed for growers of all skill levels, with optimized nutrient delivery for each nutrient tier to ensure maximum performance and nutrient balance.

Base Nutrient line

+ Pro Performance Pack

+Customized Performance Pack

Each of the new charts now features three feed strengths: light, medium and aggressive to suit the needs of customers unique and evolving growing methods.

Joe Biden appoints hemp and cannabis supporters to influential positions

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The appointment of US President Joe Biden to a number of influential positions in the new administration gives cause for optimism in the hemp and cannabis sector.

While Biden himself appears to remain skeptical of recreational cannabis – having previously stated that it should be included in Appendix II of the Controlled Substances Act category – a wide range of key appointments appear to be solid proponents of hemp and cannabis.

Perhaps the most important appointment for CBD is the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As the main government agency for Healthcare and consumer safety, HHS is responsible for several influential areas, such as: Food Products and new drugs through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), implementing the country’s largest health programs (Medicare and Medicaid), and preventing the outbreak and spread of disease through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Xavier Becerra is the Biden candidate to lead the HHS. Former California Attorney General Becerra has considerable experience in helping cannabis reform and works to protect California’s legal program from federal interference.

Becerra was one of 21 attorneys general to write to congressional leaders to express their support for a bipartisan law to protect government cannabis programs from government interference.

And in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said, “Just as we allow alcohol to be sold, we have entered the 21st century and announced that it is better to regulate cannabis than criminalize it. There are far more important things to worry about than whether or not someone smokes cannabis for medicinal purposes. “

Becerra also spoke out strongly in favor of giving licensed cannabis companies access to the federal banking system. “The continued exclusion of the licensed cannabis industry from the federal banking system is untenable and unwise,” he said saidwhile serving as the California attorney general. “The coronavirus crisis has only exacerbated the economic and investigative challenges that arise from keeping a $ 15 billion industry in the shadows.

“Congress should pass these common sense laws quickly and provide relief to the many local cannabis companies who abide by the rules.”

Rachel Levine has been nominated as Assistant Secretary to HHS and, if confirmed, will bring a wealth of political expertise on medical cannabis – an essential requirement given the strong support medical cannabis enjoys in the new administration, with even Biden expressing his support .

The American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) called her “a pioneer who successfully led the implementation of Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program.” It added, “Pennsylvania is now one of the fastest growing and most momentous medical marijuana markets in the country, in large part due to the work of Dr. Levine. “

Federal medical cannabis policy will be of concern to a large portion of the US population.

Under Levine, the Pennsylvania Department of Health oversaw temporary changes to the state’s medical cannabis program in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This included removing restrictions on the number of patients a registered nurse can work with.

“In the midst of Covid-19, we need to ensure that medical marijuana patients have access to medicines,” she said. “We want to ensure that medical marijuana program cardholders can get medication for one of 23 serious medical conditions during this difficult time.”

Presumably Levine would carry that enthusiasm into her new role at the federal level.

While the HHS will play an important role in how the Biden administration handles the medical and scientific aspects of the policy, the Department of Justice will play a critical role in regulating and enforcing cannabis and hemp. The Biden candidate to head the department is Merrick Garland, a name known to then-President Barack Obama as a candidate for the Supreme Court and who was denied a hearing by then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Biden has hired Garland to lead a demoralized department that has been ravaged by four years of attrition at all levels and unprecedented partisanship. Garland has a reputation for being a smart and sincere manager, but hasn’t made his views on cannabis issues particularly clear.

His court record shows that he has respect for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) when it comes to drug planning, a key aspect of how cannabis is viewed by the federal government.

Some in the industry have criticized him for this approach, saying that it is overall negative for the future of cannabinoid regulation.

The DEA, based in the Justice Department, has repeatedly claimed that cannabis should be kept as a List I drug because the plant has no proven medicinal value and high risk.

Garland’s ruling as a judge on the appellate court in a 2012 federal lawsuit over the DEA’s rejection of a marijuana rescheduling suggests that he believes it is the appropriate authority to weigh cannabis science and establish a scheduling policy.

“Don’t we have to submit to the authorities when it comes to evaluating research into the therapeutic value of marijuana?” Garland asked the attorney who represents the Americans in the reform group for safe access. “Procrastination doesn’t mean they win. But sit back in the sense that we are not scientists – they are – the definition of an adequate and well-controlled study. “

But these comments have to be seen in context. Garland requested this from a lawyer serving as a judge during an oral hearing. The use of the term “postponement” in relation to a federal authority differs slightly from postponement in common parlance.

A judge’s job is to evaluate the evidence presented and determine the credibility and weight that should be placed on it. As a judge evaluating evidence, it is customary to submit to experts on a scientific subject. The role of the Justice Department chief is very different, however, and Garland will be able to influence, if not dictate, the policies and positions of the DEA.

In essence, as the head of the department under which the DEA is organized, the Attorney General has significant influence on the agency’s planning and enforcement policy. If confirmed, Garland would be able to essentially order a postponement of cannabis.

And there is greater potential for reform among his subordinates. One of his key deputies in the Justice Department would be Vanita Gupta, a former prosecutor and civil rights activist who advocated the legalization of cannabis and strongly condemned the harsh policies of criminalizing nonviolent drug offenses.

Gupta currently serves as President of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR) and has spoken out in favor of a House of Representatives bill to legalize state cannabis. She also voted against the injustices of the drug war.

In the meantime, a lot of positive things have already happened in the field of hemp in agriculture. Biden has nominated Tom Vilsack to return to his role as Minister of Agriculture, a position he held every eight years of the Obama presidency.

Under Vilsack’s leadership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (UDSA), the 2014 Farm Bill, which included the hemp pilot program, was passed.

Jonathan Miller of the US Hemp Roundtable named Vilsack a “longtime champion in hemp,” adding, “We are incredibly optimistic that he will help provide the guidance and clarity needed to create opportunities in the hemp industry. “

Such a champion leaves open the slim possibility of further positive revisions to the final USDA rule for hemp production.

The White House issued a memo in late January 2021 urging agencies to withdraw or pause any rules that have not yet been published in the federal register to give the new administration time to review.

The USDA said CBD intelligence: “The new government is taking this opportunity to review new and pending regulatory actions, including the final settlement for the Domestic Hemp Production Program, to ensure that the programs are structured and adequately resourced, and to ensure that the programs implemented in such a way that they best serve the intended stakeholders. Once the review is complete, we will have more information on how to proceed with the rule. “

What that means: Apparently positive dates all around. Even Merrick Garland’s nomination to head the Department of Justice can be seen as positive for most cannabinoids, and even likely positive for the recreational cannabis end of the market.

Significant medical cannabis and CBD support is likely to come from the HHS, and while key appointments with the FDA and DEA are still pending, optimism is about to emerge Federal cannabis legalization during this legislative period.

Although this is still in the extreme range of what is realistically achievable, it is still a long way from the uncertainty and pessimism of recent times.

It looks like Joe Biden is on a pro-cannabis democrat train whether he really wants it or not.

CBD intelligence (www.CBD-Intel.com) provides impartial, independent and world-class market and regulatory analysis, law enforcement and quantitative data for the cannabidiol (CBD) sector.

We offer our clients the tools to navigate this fast-moving sector, adjust their business strategy, optimize resources and make informed decisions. In addition, we offer tailor-made research and advice support.

LA County Board of Supervisors Agree to Reconsider Cannabis Regulations Following Invasion of Illegal Cannabis Grows

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In the March 2019 Cannabis Business Times cover story, Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, co-founder and chief science officer of GB Sciences, said, “My personal mission is to take cannabis-based therapies to the U.S. FDA.”

Just over two years later, Small-Howard, who was promoted to president of the Las-Vegas company in June, is close to her goal.

GB Sciences has completed animal studies on a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and is finalizing another animal trial of a slow-release, cannabis-based pain medication that Small-Howard calls a “game-changer” for people suffering from chronic pain. The next step is to get FDA approval on human trials, which Small-Howard hopes will be in 2022 for the Parkinson’s formulation and shortly thereafter for the pain management drug.

RELATED: Clinical Cannabis: How GB Sciences is Redefining the Industry Through Research

She also co-invented a “drug discovery platform” using artificial intelligence (AI) that is programmed to identify novel, plant-based formulations to treat multiple symptoms of conditions. The company is using the proprietary technology, known as “Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale,” or PhAROS, to expedite plant-based medicines that contain a combination of active ingredients and get them to market sooner. 

“The PhAROS platform is a new version of the software that we developed earlier when we were exclusively studying cannabis-derived mixtures,” Small-Howard said. 

Small-Howard spoke with Cannabis Business Times to share more details about GB Sciences research, how the AI technology works, and what’s next for the biopharma drug development company.

Michelle Simakis: Congratulations on your promotion to president of GB Sciences. What direction do you hope to take the company in?
Dr. Andrea Small-Howard: There was a time when producing cannabis-based products through state-run programs was the majority of what we were doing. Now, the majority of our effort is being spent on preparing cannabis-based formulations for the U.S. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) and other prescription drug markets, which is different. But we used to be a cannabis-based company that did some science. Now we’re a science company that uses cannabis. We really feel there are certainly lots of responsible players that are allowing patients to have access to cannabis-based products through state programs. But where we can add something where other people aren’t is by taking that next step, and saying, “OK, how can we get these into a prescription drug format that everybody’s going to feel is approachable?” It’s got a lot more hoops to jump through, but we’re hoping for patients it makes it more approachable and that physicians have less of an issue with it. I’ve been in the business for more than seven years, and it’s great to see that the industry is becoming more and more destigmatized. But there are still folks [delivering] patient care who are still saying that a cannabis-based product would not be first-line medicine. 

“How can we get these into a prescription drug format that everybody’s going to feel is approachable?” 

MS: Of all the research you are working on, which project excites you most?
ASH: Our Parkinson’s formulations are getting closer to human trial. So are we have a real push on that to finalize all the [requirements] needed to get it into a human trial. We’re also really excited about the promise of our pain formulation, which you take as an oral nanoparticle – [meaning] it has time-release properties. Folks with pain, one of the things that they always complain about is that they’re popping pills or they’re hitting the pipe all day. In order to control their symptoms, they usually have to dose multiple times a day. These time-release formulations in a rodent model–granted, which is not humans, but it’s that next step before a human trial–a single dose gave 11 days of continuous pain relief. And that is a game-changer for folks who are suffering with chronic pain. And so by bringing these plant-based compounds into novel delivery, we think that is going to really change the way people can use them to manage their pain.

MS: What would the timeline look like to get the Parkinson’s and time-release pain management formulations into human trials?ASH: We are hoping to get in a human trial for Parkinson’s next year. The pain one should be a little bit beyond that. It’s hard because right now it’s in animal studies. We had an animal study going, COVID happened, and we lost a year’s worth of work because of that. Luckily, our Parkinson’s animal trials were already done before COVID happened.

MS: GB Sciences recently announced it is using AI technology to help identify individual plant compounds that could become active ingredients in medicine to in tandem to treat many different conditions. Can you explain what “drug discovery research” looks like and how the Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale (PhAROS) platform works?
ASH: Not only does it look at plants like cannabis and help guide us to figure out which ingredients would be the best therapeutic mixtures for different human diseases, it can do it for all plants. We created a database that contains plants from traditional medicine from different areas in the world, like Chinese medicine, Japanese medicine, Indian medicine, from Europe, from South America, from Africa. And our program is able to look within all of these plant-based sources for new therapeutic formulations. We still believe that plants are the answer, but by adding this new AI-enabled technology, we can start to look within plants and more efficiently find new solutions to treat human diseases.

Traditional medicines have been helping people for thousands of years. But they do it in a way that’s fundamentally different than the kind of drugs that you’d get from the pharmacy. Those were made with one ingredient, and as they call it, “the magic bullet approach.” But what we’ve found is that those magic bullets are very rare. What usually happens is you take one single ingredient drug, and then you need three more single ingredient drugs to deal with the side effects. Whereas what we’re trying to do is think about the consequences of all of the ingredients in there at the same time, so that you’re not really having a single ingredient that causes all kinds of side effects—you’ve already factored that in. We believe that the future of medicine will be multi-ingredient drugs, and we believe that the plant-based medicines are the place to go find those solutions.

“We believe that the future of medicine will be multi-ingredient drugs, and we believe that the plant-based medicines are the place to go find those solutions.”

MS: When you say you’re looking at the different plant components and how they work together in medicine to treat different conditions, it reminds me of the entourage effect in cannabis. Is that essentially what you’re trying to do in creating these combinations that could be used as active ingredients in medicines?
ASH: That’s exactly it, but I don’t call it that because the “entourage effect” term has been used disparagingly. We call it synergy. We find evidence of molecular synergy, meaning when we put more than one ingredient in there at the same time, the effects of the mixture are greater than the sum of the individual effects. We’ve got a whole patent portfolio where we did that with cannabis and the ingredients inside cannabis. Now we’ve turned our attention to looking at other plants, [such as] the kava kava, that have a thousand-year history in traditional medicine for being used to treat different conditions, but that seem to also work better when you’re using mixtures.

MS: Although the goal is to create mixtures of active ingredients, the technology singles out those individual components, then discovers what the synergies are among them? How is it programed to find and then mix those ingredients?
ASH: Exactly. One of the things [the AI technology] is thinking about is a holistic view of humans. One of the things that we’ve done with our program is we’ve trained it to think about medicine in the way that traditional medicine does, where it’s not looking at a single aspect of a disease. For example, if you’ve got cancer, it’s not just controlling the growth of the cancer that’s important to you. It’s also pain. It’s also inflammation. It’s also all these other aspects. So the AI program has been taught how to think about what are the multiple kinds of issues you’re going to have with any one condition.

I think this is going to change the way people think about medicine, and 10 years from now, people are going to start asking for a multicomponent drug, not a single component drug.

CBD health and wellness category continues to grow

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CBD companies continue to make advances in the health and wellness subcategory with new product launches, distribution agreements, and ongoing clinical trials.

California-based CBD product maker CV Sciences has announced the launch of a full line of clinical-strength CBD products available only from doctors in the United States.

The company said the products will be backed by published research, randomized controlled trials, and a post-market safety review. It added that they are designed to fit into existing care plans and are available in roll-on, liquid and softgel formulations.

“Alternative medicine use is becoming more common as consumer preferences shift towards natural, herbal remedies for a range of conditions. We are excited to bring ProCBD to market and to partner with health professionals who are seeking science-based, natural alternatives for their patients, “said Joseph Dowling, CEO of CV Sciences.

Similarly, Canadian nutraceutical company NeutriSci International has focused on the health and wellness market. It said it intends to launch its broadband CBD tablet brand Tabletz in Japan.

The company plans to manufacture and distribute several hundred thousand units of the tablet sticks in a number of retail locations in Japan, where, according to NeutriSci, consumers are strong advocates of plant-based health and wellness products. The company said it hadn’t finalized the details of in-store distribution, but previously listed 7-Eleven, KK Lawson and Biople as potential Japanese retailers.

“We believe we can reach a significant share of the CBD market in Japan. There is currently no comparable product on the market, ”said Glen Rehman, CEO of NeutriSci.

The product is now waiting in the port of entry for customs classification (HS code). It is sold in three and seven tab sticks and comes in three flavors – lemon, berry, and mint.

“With product approvals, a pause in new application approvals at the ministerial level, combined with the features and benefits of the product itself, plus a strong distribution network and positive initial consumer feedback, there is strong confidence that Tabletz can do one of the best-selling CBD brands of its kind in Japan be, ”said Rehman.

NeutriSci is also working on the upcoming launch of a large bottle format (35 14 mg tablets totaling 490 mg CBD) from Tabletz, which will also be available in the same three flavors and is expected to be part of a second order for the Japanese market.

The company had previously announced that it would officially launch the Tabletz brand in the Japanese market in November 2020, but this has been delayed for reasons that are currently unclear. It just completed a round of funding that sold nearly 2.5 million shares at $ 0.15 each to raise $ 370,050 to be used for production runs related to its product launch in Japan.

And in Europe, UK health and wellness chain Holland & Barrett has signed distribution agreements with European manufacturer of CBD and hemp oil products, Reakiro, and has expanded its ongoing distribution relationship with World High Life’s Love Hemp brand.

Reakiro’s range of full spectrum products includes oils, sprays, a raw hemp extract pen and gelcaps in a wide range of strengths and will appear in all 737 UK stores and online.

“We are very proud to partner with Holland & Barrett, the leading health and wellness retailer,” said Stuart McKenzie, CEO of Reakiro. “Holland & Barrett and Reakiro share the same values ​​- providing the highest quality natural health products to people around the world. We look forward to a productive and long-term partnership with you. “

Love Hemp has launched another ten products, including sprays and capsules, in 880 Holland & Barrett stores in the UK and Ireland and made the products available through the health food store’s website. These include various strengths from 600 mg to 3,000 mg of CBD.

Love Hemp and Holland & Barrett have also launched a consumer education and awareness program on CBD in 400 of their stores to help build consumer knowledge about the benefits of CBD. It is unclear what paid agents could say who did not violate the ban on marketing health claims.

“This is a significant relationship not only in terms of scale, but also because Love Hemp and Holland & Barrett implemented a groundbreaking education and awareness program designed to educate consumers about the benefits of CBD,” said Tony Calamita, CEO by Love Hemp. “It is important to invest with partners like Holland & Barrett to build consumer knowledge and confidence so that they know they are buying credible products from credible retailers.”

Meanwhile, the Australian company Avecho Biotechnology has joined a medical cannabis study that, if successful, could open up the range of CBD products on the market and increase their therapeutic potential.

The CA Clinics Observational Study (CACOS) will, for the first time, test the performance of Avecho’s oral CBD formulation on human patients to continue previous successful demonstrations of the product’s ability to aid the absorption of CBD drugs in animals.

“This study is an important step in gathering real-world evidence from patients,” said Paul Gavin, CEO of Avecho. “The entry into an existing test framework offers Avecho both cost and speed advantages.”

If the product’s effectiveness is demonstrated in human patients, Avecho believes it could create room for more CBD products on the market at lower cost and with greater therapeutic potential.

“The design of the observational study enables the product to be used in a range of indications that may prioritize certain indications for further development or eliminate indications where treatment is less effective,” said Gavin.

The company will use the study to gather feedback on the performance of the product from patients currently using medical cannabis to treat a range of indications. Performance is compared to commonly prescribed CBD formulations.

The CACOS study aims to recruit 3,000 patients through a network of medical cannabis prescribing clinics and will use questionnaires to examine the side effects, dosage response and treatment satisfaction of medical cannabis formulations on patient health.

The data generated will help shape the future development of Avecho’s pharmaceutical CBD products while also exploring the potential for Australian SAS-B prescribing.

Recruitment for the CACOS trial will begin immediately and will last through 2021.

CBD intelligence provides impartial, independent and world-class market and regulatory analysis, law enforcement and quantitative data for the cannabidiol (CBD) sector worldwide.

We offer our clients the tools to navigate this fast-moving sector, adjust their business strategy, optimize resources and make informed decisions. In addition, we offer tailor-made research and consulting support.

Governor Northam Announces Appointments to Three Cannabis Oversight Boards

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RICHMOND, Virginia, July 19, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE—Governor Ralph Northam announced appointments to the three newly-created boards responsible for overseeing the legalization of recreational cannabis in the Commonwealth. This spring, Virginia became the first Southern state to pass adult-use cannabis legislation, with changes going into effect on July 1, 2021. The new law legalizes simple possession and home cultivation for adults 21 and over, seals some marijuana-related records, and creates a new independent state entity, the Cannabis Control Authority (CCA), to regulate the cannabis market. In the coming years, the General Assembly must reenact sections of the bill, and the CCA must implement regulations before legal sales of cannabis can begin.

“Virginia is committed to legalizing cannabis the right way—by learning from other states, by listening to public health and safety experts and by centering social equity,” Northam said. “There is a tremendous amount of work ahead to establish an adult-use marijuana market in our Commonwealth, and I am proud to appoint these talented Virginians who will bring diverse backgrounds, an incredible depth of expertise, and a shared commitment to public service to this important effort.”

Information about each of the boards and the Governor’s appointments can be found below. Answers to frequently asked questions are available at cannabis.virginia.gov.

CANNABIS CONTROL AUTHORITY

The Cannabis Control Authority (CCA) is the regulatory agency for the legal cannabis market in Virginia. The CCA is led by a five-member Board of Directors responsible for the creation of the adult-use marketplace for cannabis and is statutorily vested with control of the regulated sale, transportation and distribution of cannabis and cannabis products in the Commonwealth. In the coming years, the Board will work to create a fair and equitable regulatory structure and provide critical guidance to the CCA’s staff as they work to develop a workforce, establish regulations, and ensure that marijuana legalization accomplishes the health, safety, and equity goals established by law. Board members cannot have financial interests in the cannabis industry. The enacted legislation authorizes the Governor to appoint all five members of the Board.

“The diverse range of backgrounds and expertise will provide critical perspectives to the Cannabis Control Authority and the important work that is ahead,” said Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, Brian J. Moran. “I look forward to working with the board members as we begin this process.”

Neil Amin of Henrico, Chief Executive Officer, Shamin Hotels
Neil Amin has been appointed to the Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors and will serve as Chair. Neil started his career at Goldman Sachs & Co. where he advised public and private technology companies on merger and acquisition transactions and capital markets activities. Since 2008, he has served as Chief Executive Officer of Shamin Hotels, which owns and operates over 60 hotels under the Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental Hotels, and Hyatt brands. He has previously served on the Virginia Treasury Board, Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates. Mr. Amin graduated summa cum laude from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and a Master of Business Administration.

Michael Jerome Massie, Esq. of Portsmouth, Owner, Michael Jerome Massie, PC
Michael Jerome Massie has been appointed to the Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors and will serve a Vice Chair. Michael is a trial lawyer with experience at every level of Virginia’s courts and federal courts. He is currently the owner of Michael Jerome Massie, PC. He started his practice of law as a Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Portsmouth and has served as a Substitute Judge. Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Government from the University of Virginia, a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado, and a Master of Divinity from Virginia Union University.

Bette Brand of Roanoke, Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Consulting LLC
Bette Brand has been appointed to the Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors. Bette has served in several roles at the United States Department of Agriculture including Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development, Administrator of Rural Business Cooperative Service, and Acting Administrator of Rural Utility Service. Prior to her federal service, Bette held senior leadership positions at Farm Credit of the Virginias for more than 35 years. She is currently Founder and CEO of Strategic Consulting LLC. Bette earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration from Virginia Tech.

Rasheeda N. Creighton of Richmond, Co-Founder, The Jackson Ward Collective
Rasheeda N. Creighton has been appointed to the Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors. Rasheeda is the co-founder of The Jackson Ward Collective and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The 3Fifty Group. She previously served as the Executive Director of Capital One’s 1717 Innovation Center. Rasheeda received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Spelman College and her Juris Doctor from The University of Michigan Law School.

Shane Emmett of Midlothian, Co-Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer, Health Warrior
Shane Emmett has been appointed to the Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors. Shane served as an attorney in the Office of the Counselor to Governor Tim Kaine and then co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Health Warrior, a superfood brand recently acquired by PepsiCo. He is now an occasional advisor to PepsiCo and Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Richmond, while serving on a number of growth consumer brand boards, as an advisor to consumer-facing venture and private equity firms, and working on a book about the American state of food. He has law degrees from Oxford University and Wake Forest University.

CANNABIS EQUITY REINVESTMENT BOARD

Virginia’s adult-use cannabis law dedicates 30 percent of tax revenue from cannabis sales—a predicted $7.8 to 12.9 million in 2024 and $38.4 to 63.9 million in 2028—to a Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. The Fund will be managed by the 20-person Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board and used to provide resources to communities that have experienced disproportionate enforcement of drug laws and economic disinvestment. Specifically, it will support locally designed and community-based responses to such impacts, including grants for workforce development, apprenticeship, and reentry programs, and scholarships for historically marginalized individuals. 

“We are intentionally constructing an equitable blueprint that will embed equity and inclusion at every stage and every level of the marijuana legalization process,” said Dr. Janice Underwood, chief diversity officer to Governor Northam, who will chair the Board. “The Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Board will serve as an important voice for Virginians and help elevate resources to the persons, communities and families most negatively impacted by the disparate enforcement of marijuana laws and ensure that equity remains at the forefront of legalization in Virginia.”

The enacted legislation authorizes the Governor to make five appointments to the Board, including one representative from the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission and four representatives of a community-based provider or community development organization. The General Assembly will make eight additional appointments, including someone who has been previously incarcerated or convicted of a marijuana-related crime, a veteran, a representative from one of Virginia’s historically Black colleges and universities, an entrepreneur, and experts in public health with experience in trauma-informed care, education with a focus on access to opportunities for youth in underserved communities, Virginia’s foster care system, and workforce development. Additional information on this Board, including the seven ex-officio members, is available here.

  • Jorge Figueredo, MPP of Falls Church, Executive Director, Edu-Futuro
  • Amari Harris of Richmond, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Attorney, Virginia Indigent Defense Commission
  • W. Anthony West of Roanoke, Chief Operations Officer, Virginia CARES (Community Action Re-Entry System)
  • Sheba Williams of Richmond, Executive Director, Nolef Turns, Inc.
  • Vickie R. Williams-Cullins of Hampton, Executive Director, OPN-Door Communications LLC

CANNABIS PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY BOARD

The 21-person Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council is an expert advisory council to the CCA Board of Directors. It will assess and monitor public health issues, trends, and impacts related to cannabis and cannabis legalization and make recommendations regarding health warnings, retail cannabis and product safety and composition, and public health awareness, programming, and related resources. Additionally, the Council must approve any health-related regulations before the CCA can finalize them. 

“The Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council will ensure that health experts have a seat at the table as Virginia establishes a legal cannabis market,” said Secretary of Health and Human Resources Daniel Carey, MD, MHCM, who will chair the Council. “I am pleased to serve alongside these dedicated and knowledgeable council members.” 

The enacted legislation authorizes the Governor to make four appointments to the Council, which must include a representative of a local health district, someone from the cannabis industry, an academic researcher knowledgeable about cannabis and a registered medical cannabis patient. The General Assembly will make 10 additional appointments, including a representative from the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, experts in substance use disorder treatment and prevention, a person with experience in disability rights advocacy, a person with a social or health equity background, a member of the Medical Society of Virginia and a representative from the Virginia Pharmacists Association. Additional information on this Board, including the seven ex-officio members, is available here.

  • Ngiste Abebe of Richmond, Vice President of Public Policy, Columbia Care
  • Larry Keen II of Petersburg, Associate Professor, College of Health and Natural Sciences, Department of Psychology, Virginia State University
  • Cynthia Morrow, MD, MPH, of Roanoke, Health Director, Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts
  • Marcus Treiber of Leesburg, Chief Executive Officer, EMT Holdings LLC

 

Groups Working to Place Competing Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Measures on Missouri’s 2022 Ballot

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In the March 2019 Cannabis Business Times cover story, Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, co-founder and chief science officer of GB Sciences, said, “My personal mission is to take cannabis-based therapies to the U.S. FDA.”

Just over two years later, Small-Howard, who was promoted to president of the Las-Vegas company in June, is close to her goal.

GB Sciences has completed animal studies on a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and is finalizing another animal trial of a slow-release, cannabis-based pain medication that Small-Howard calls a “game-changer” for people suffering from chronic pain. The next step is to get FDA approval on human trials, which Small-Howard hopes will be in 2022 for the Parkinson’s formulation and shortly thereafter for the pain management drug.

RELATED: Clinical Cannabis: How GB Sciences is Redefining the Industry Through Research

She also co-invented a “drug discovery platform” using artificial intelligence (AI) that is programmed to identify novel, plant-based formulations to treat multiple symptoms of conditions. The company is using the proprietary technology, known as “Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale,” or PhAROS, to expedite plant-based medicines that contain a combination of active ingredients and get them to market sooner. 

“The PhAROS platform is a new version of the software that we developed earlier when we were exclusively studying cannabis-derived mixtures,” Small-Howard said. 

Small-Howard spoke with Cannabis Business Times to share more details about GB Sciences research, how the AI technology works, and what’s next for the biopharma drug development company.

Michelle Simakis: Congratulations on your promotion to president of GB Sciences. What direction do you hope to take the company in?
Dr. Andrea Small-Howard: There was a time when producing cannabis-based products through state-run programs was the majority of what we were doing. Now, the majority of our effort is being spent on preparing cannabis-based formulations for the U.S. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) and other prescription drug markets, which is different. But we used to be a cannabis-based company that did some science. Now we’re a science company that uses cannabis. We really feel there are certainly lots of responsible players that are allowing patients to have access to cannabis-based products through state programs. But where we can add something where other people aren’t is by taking that next step, and saying, “OK, how can we get these into a prescription drug format that everybody’s going to feel is approachable?” It’s got a lot more hoops to jump through, but we’re hoping for patients it makes it more approachable and that physicians have less of an issue with it. I’ve been in the business for more than seven years, and it’s great to see that the industry is becoming more and more destigmatized. But there are still folks [delivering] patient care who are still saying that a cannabis-based product would not be first-line medicine. 

“How can we get these into a prescription drug format that everybody’s going to feel is approachable?” 

MS: Of all the research you are working on, which project excites you most?
ASH: Our Parkinson’s formulations are getting closer to human trial. So are we have a real push on that to finalize all the [requirements] needed to get it into a human trial. We’re also really excited about the promise of our pain formulation, which you take as an oral nanoparticle – [meaning] it has time-release properties. Folks with pain, one of the things that they always complain about is that they’re popping pills or they’re hitting the pipe all day. In order to control their symptoms, they usually have to dose multiple times a day. These time-release formulations in a rodent model–granted, which is not humans, but it’s that next step before a human trial–a single dose gave 11 days of continuous pain relief. And that is a game-changer for folks who are suffering with chronic pain. And so by bringing these plant-based compounds into novel delivery, we think that is going to really change the way people can use them to manage their pain.

MS: What would the timeline look like to get the Parkinson’s and time-release pain management formulations into human trials?ASH: We are hoping to get in a human trial for Parkinson’s next year. The pain one should be a little bit beyond that. It’s hard because right now it’s in animal studies. We had an animal study going, COVID happened, and we lost a year’s worth of work because of that. Luckily, our Parkinson’s animal trials were already done before COVID happened.

MS: GB Sciences recently announced it is using AI technology to help identify individual plant compounds that could become active ingredients in medicine to in tandem to treat many different conditions. Can you explain what “drug discovery research” looks like and how the Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale (PhAROS) platform works?
ASH: Not only does it look at plants like cannabis and help guide us to figure out which ingredients would be the best therapeutic mixtures for different human diseases, it can do it for all plants. We created a database that contains plants from traditional medicine from different areas in the world, like Chinese medicine, Japanese medicine, Indian medicine, from Europe, from South America, from Africa. And our program is able to look within all of these plant-based sources for new therapeutic formulations. We still believe that plants are the answer, but by adding this new AI-enabled technology, we can start to look within plants and more efficiently find new solutions to treat human diseases.

Traditional medicines have been helping people for thousands of years. But they do it in a way that’s fundamentally different than the kind of drugs that you’d get from the pharmacy. Those were made with one ingredient, and as they call it, “the magic bullet approach.” But what we’ve found is that those magic bullets are very rare. What usually happens is you take one single ingredient drug, and then you need three more single ingredient drugs to deal with the side effects. Whereas what we’re trying to do is think about the consequences of all of the ingredients in there at the same time, so that you’re not really having a single ingredient that causes all kinds of side effects—you’ve already factored that in. We believe that the future of medicine will be multi-ingredient drugs, and we believe that the plant-based medicines are the place to go find those solutions.

“We believe that the future of medicine will be multi-ingredient drugs, and we believe that the plant-based medicines are the place to go find those solutions.”

MS: When you say you’re looking at the different plant components and how they work together in medicine to treat different conditions, it reminds me of the entourage effect in cannabis. Is that essentially what you’re trying to do in creating these combinations that could be used as active ingredients in medicines?
ASH: That’s exactly it, but I don’t call it that because the “entourage effect” term has been used disparagingly. We call it synergy. We find evidence of molecular synergy, meaning when we put more than one ingredient in there at the same time, the effects of the mixture are greater than the sum of the individual effects. We’ve got a whole patent portfolio where we did that with cannabis and the ingredients inside cannabis. Now we’ve turned our attention to looking at other plants, [such as] the kava kava, that have a thousand-year history in traditional medicine for being used to treat different conditions, but that seem to also work better when you’re using mixtures.

MS: Although the goal is to create mixtures of active ingredients, the technology singles out those individual components, then discovers what the synergies are among them? How is it programed to find and then mix those ingredients?
ASH: Exactly. One of the things [the AI technology] is thinking about is a holistic view of humans. One of the things that we’ve done with our program is we’ve trained it to think about medicine in the way that traditional medicine does, where it’s not looking at a single aspect of a disease. For example, if you’ve got cancer, it’s not just controlling the growth of the cancer that’s important to you. It’s also pain. It’s also inflammation. It’s also all these other aspects. So the AI program has been taught how to think about what are the multiple kinds of issues you’re going to have with any one condition.

I think this is going to change the way people think about medicine, and 10 years from now, people are going to start asking for a multicomponent drug, not a single component drug.

‘This is Going to Change the Way People Think About Medicine’

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In the March 2019 Cannabis Business Times cover story, Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, co-founder and chief science officer of GB Sciences, said, “My personal mission is to take cannabis-based therapies to the U.S. FDA.”

Just over two years later, Small-Howard, who was promoted to president of the Las-Vegas company in June, is close to her goal.

GB Sciences has completed animal studies on a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and is finalizing another animal trial of a slow-release, cannabis-based pain medication that Small-Howard calls a “game-changer” for people suffering from chronic pain. The next step is to get FDA approval on human trials, which Small-Howard hopes will be in 2022 for the Parkinson’s formulation and shortly thereafter for the pain management drug.

RELATED: Clinical Cannabis: How GB Sciences is Redefining the Industry Through Research

She also co-invented a “drug discovery platform” using artificial intelligence (AI) that is programmed to identify novel, plant-based formulations to treat multiple symptoms of conditions. The company is using the proprietary technology, known as “Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale,” or PhAROS, to expedite plant-based medicines that contain a combination of active ingredients and get them to market sooner. 

“The PhAROS platform is a new version of the software that we developed earlier when we were exclusively studying cannabis-derived mixtures,” Small-Howard said. 

Small-Howard spoke with Cannabis Business Times to share more details about GB Sciences research, how the AI technology works, and what’s next for the biopharma drug development company.

Michelle Simakis: Congratulations on your promotion to president of GB Sciences. What direction do you hope to take the company in?
Dr. Andrea Small-Howard: There was a time when producing cannabis-based products through state-run programs was the majority of what we were doing. Now, the majority of our effort is being spent on preparing cannabis-based formulations for the U.S. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) and other prescription drug markets, which is different. But we used to be a cannabis-based company that did some science. Now we’re a science company that uses cannabis. We really feel there are certainly lots of responsible players that are allowing patients to have access to cannabis-based products through state programs. But where we can add something where other people aren’t is by taking that next step, and saying, “OK, how can we get these into a prescription drug format that everybody’s going to feel is approachable?” It’s got a lot more hoops to jump through, but we’re hoping for patients it makes it more approachable and that physicians have less of an issue with it. I’ve been in the business for more than seven years, and it’s great to see that the industry is becoming more and more destigmatized. But there are still folks [delivering] patient care who are still saying that a cannabis-based product would not be first-line medicine. 

“How can we get these into a prescription drug format that everybody’s going to feel is approachable?” 

MS: Of all the research you are working on, which project excites you most?
ASH: Our Parkinson’s formulations are getting closer to human trial. So are we have a real push on that to finalize all the [requirements] needed to get it into a human trial. We’re also really excited about the promise of our pain formulation, which you take as an oral nanoparticle – [meaning] it has time-release properties. Folks with pain, one of the things that they always complain about is that they’re popping pills or they’re hitting the pipe all day. In order to control their symptoms, they usually have to dose multiple times a day. These time-release formulations in a rodent model–granted, which is not humans, but it’s that next step before a human trial–a single dose gave 11 days of continuous pain relief. And that is a game-changer for folks who are suffering with chronic pain. And so by bringing these plant-based compounds into novel delivery, we think that is going to really change the way people can use them to manage their pain.

MS: What would the timeline look like to get the Parkinson’s and time-release pain management formulations into human trials?ASH: We are hoping to get in a human trial for Parkinson’s next year. The pain one should be a little bit beyond that. It’s hard because right now it’s in animal studies. We had an animal study going, COVID happened, and we lost a year’s worth of work because of that. Luckily, our Parkinson’s animal trials were already done before COVID happened.

MS: GB Sciences recently announced it is using AI technology to help identify individual plant compounds that could become active ingredients in medicine to in tandem to treat many different conditions. Can you explain what “drug discovery research” looks like and how the Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale (PhAROS) platform works?
ASH: Not only does it look at plants like cannabis and help guide us to figure out which ingredients would be the best therapeutic mixtures for different human diseases, it can do it for all plants. We created a database that contains plants from traditional medicine from different areas in the world, like Chinese medicine, Japanese medicine, Indian medicine, from Europe, from South America, from Africa. And our program is able to look within all of these plant-based sources for new therapeutic formulations. We still believe that plants are the answer, but by adding this new AI-enabled technology, we can start to look within plants and more efficiently find new solutions to treat human diseases.

Traditional medicines have been helping people for thousands of years. But they do it in a way that’s fundamentally different than the kind of drugs that you’d get from the pharmacy. Those were made with one ingredient, and as they call it, “the magic bullet approach.” But what we’ve found is that those magic bullets are very rare. What usually happens is you take one single ingredient drug, and then you need three more single ingredient drugs to deal with the side effects. Whereas what we’re trying to do is think about the consequences of all of the ingredients in there at the same time, so that you’re not really having a single ingredient that causes all kinds of side effects—you’ve already factored that in. We believe that the future of medicine will be multi-ingredient drugs, and we believe that the plant-based medicines are the place to go find those solutions.

“We believe that the future of medicine will be multi-ingredient drugs, and we believe that the plant-based medicines are the place to go find those solutions.”

MS: When you say you’re looking at the different plant components and how they work together in medicine to treat different conditions, it reminds me of the entourage effect in cannabis. Is that essentially what you’re trying to do in creating these combinations that could be used as active ingredients in medicines?
ASH: That’s exactly it, but I don’t call it that because the “entourage effect” term has been used disparagingly. We call it synergy. We find evidence of molecular synergy, meaning when we put more than one ingredient in there at the same time, the effects of the mixture are greater than the sum of the individual effects. We’ve got a whole patent portfolio where we did that with cannabis and the ingredients inside cannabis. Now we’ve turned our attention to looking at other plants, [such as] the kava kava, that have a thousand-year history in traditional medicine for being used to treat different conditions, but that seem to also work better when you’re using mixtures.

MS: Although the goal is to create mixtures of active ingredients, the technology singles out those individual components, then discovers what the synergies are among them? How is it programed to find and then mix those ingredients?
ASH: Exactly. One of the things [the AI technology] is thinking about is a holistic view of humans. One of the things that we’ve done with our program is we’ve trained it to think about medicine in the way that traditional medicine does, where it’s not looking at a single aspect of a disease. For example, if you’ve got cancer, it’s not just controlling the growth of the cancer that’s important to you. It’s also pain. It’s also inflammation. It’s also all these other aspects. So the AI program has been taught how to think about what are the multiple kinds of issues you’re going to have with any one condition.

I think this is going to change the way people think about medicine, and 10 years from now, people are going to start asking for a multicomponent drug, not a single component drug.

What the Research Says About CBD and Anxiety

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Cannabidiol (CBD) has a pretty good reputation for its anti-anxiety effects, but does CBD really help with anxiety? Research on CBD from hemp has been less limited than CBD from cannabis, and even CBD from cannabis has been studied more closely in recent years. A lot of scientific evidence has accumulated over time suggesting that CBD may help some people with anxiety, although it varies from person to person.

As early as 2015, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported CBD has several medicinal benefits. These included anti-anxiety effects, based on several scientific findings showing the safety and effectiveness of CBD in treating a range of symptoms related to anxiety and stress. It was also mentioned that “the anxiety-reducing effects of CBD appear to be mediated through changes in serotonin receptor 1a signaling,” suggesting that more research is needed to determine the exact mechanisms that trigger these anxiety-reducing responses. [1]

This call for more research seemed to skip over at the time research which was published in 2010. Scientists in Brazil examined the neural basis of the anxiolytic effects of CBD in generalized anxiety (SAD). Their research concluded that CBD “significantly reduced subjective anxiety” and recommends CBD for reducing anxiety in people diagnosed with SAD. It should also be noted that the effective dose for the anti-anxiety effects was 400 mg of CBD. [2]

While these research results sound promising, cannabinoid medicine is still a very individual process, which means that it can vary from person to person due to our unique biological makeup. A study The study, published earlier this year, looked at a possible placebo effect if patients are already firmly convinced of the effectiveness of CBD in reducing anxiety. They confirmed that the expected results from CBD influenced many of the participants’ subjective and physiological responses, including anxiolytic effects. [3] CBD seems to help several people with varying levels of anxiety and symptoms, but these types of pointers to keep in mind when wondering whether CBD can help with your anxiety.

References:

1 – Volkow, N. The biology and potential therapeutic effects of cannabidiol. National Institute on Drug Abuse. 2015. https://archives.drugabuse.gov/testimonies/2015/biology-potential-therapeutic-effects-cannabidiol

2 – Crippa, J. et al., Neural Basis of the Anxiolytic Effects of Cannabidiol (CBD) in Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: A Preliminary Report. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2010. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269881110379283

3 – Spinella, T. et al., Evaluation of the anticipatory effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on acute stress and anxiety in healthy adults: a randomized crossover study. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2021 Jul; 238 (7): 1965-1977. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33813611/

The psychological effects of CBD

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With the rise of the cannabis and hemp industries in recent years, cannabidiol (CBD) is now at least vaguely known to everyone. Most people have at least heard the term, and many have seen it on shelves from local cafes to mainstream health stores like Walgreens. Wherever you’ve seen or heard of CBD, there is a good chance you are aware that it is touted for several medical benefits that help with conditions such as pain, inflammation, various forms of epilepsy, and many others. According to a national survey, 14% of Americans admit consuming CBD products, with 40% reporting pain, 20% reporting anxiety, and 11% reporting sleep. [1]

With so many people reporting the medicinal benefits of CBD, it calls into question the psychological effects of CBD. Thanks to the legalization of cannabis and hemp in the United States, restrictions on research into cannabinoids like CBD are further relaxed, giving way to new and important research. In 2020, a systematic review was published that analyzes the available clinical research on CBD for use in various medical and psychiatric conditions and provides several promising results.

When compared, for example, with anxiety, the review found that CBD decreased neurons that cause anxiety, “and infusing CBD directly into the amygdala neurons resulted in decreased anxiety-related behavior”. For those suffering from other psychological conditions like PTSD, a small study mentioned in the review found that “ninety-one percent of patients reported a decrease in nightmare symptoms” after being given oral CBD. [2]

The psychological relationship between CBD and depression also looks positive, with animal models showing a “significant antidepressant-like effect after administration of CBD”. Human studies found that “CBD is a microglial stabilizer in vitro that is similar to the drug lithium that may be beneficial for depression and mood stabilization.” [2]

Even when compared to more intense psychological conditions such as psychosis, especially in schizophrenia, the review says, “In studies of animal models of schizophrenia, CBD has shown that it improves psychotic symptoms.” [2]

All of these pointers are promising indicators that CBD has positive psychological effects, but keep in mind that each person’s biological makeup is extremely unique. The differences between one person’s neurological and mental health to another are extremely individual. This makes your unique properties very important when deciding whether or not CBD can have the same positive psychological effects as the literature discussed.

References:

1 – Brenan, M. 14% of Americans say they use CBD products. Gallup poll. 2019. https://news.gallup.com/poll/263147/americans-say-cbd-products.aspx

2 – Oberbarnscheidt, T., et al., The Influence of Cannabidiol on Psychiatric and Medical Disorders. Journal of clinical medical research. 2020 July; 12 (7): 393-403. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7331870/

Democratic Senators Unveil Major Cannabis Reform Proposal: Week in Review

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 13, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – HERBL, California’s largest cannabis supply chain company, announced its exclusive distribution partnership with Henry’s Original, a vertically integrated craft cannabis brand. HERBL will aid Henry’s Original in scaling its current collection of products, including craft flower and pre-rolls throughout California.

Henry’s Original was launched by co-founders Jamie Warm and Joshua Keats, two farmers who have cultivated cannabis in the Emerald Triangle for over two decades each. Henry’s Original grows its own flower across multiple farms in Mendocino County to bring small-batch, craft cannabis to the California market. All Henry’s Original flower is sun-grown using sustainable, organic methods and is Clean Green Certified.

With this partnership, the HERBL catalog will now feature a full line of Henry’s Original craft and value-priced flower and pre-rolls in a variety of convenient offerings. This includes flower available in eighths, half ounce and 1-gram jars as well as eighths and half-ounce mylar pouches. Pre-rolls come in 1-gram singles and 2-gram multipacks with four half gram pre-rolls.  

“Henry’s Original’s handcrafted and premium-quality products will be met with high demand as more conscious consumers gravitate toward sustainable brands,” HERBL founder and CEO Mike Beaudry said. “Henry’s Original is a welcome addition to our portfolio of unique and thoughtfully cultivated brands, and we are excited to offer products that honor Mendocino County’s strong cannabis heritage.”

“This partnership with HERBL is a tremendous opportunity to put a spotlight on Mendocino County, which has played an instrumental role in the American cannabis story,” Henry’s Original co-CEO Joshua Keats said. “Our team is dedicated to showcasing the region’s exceptional flower to the wider legal market.”