Cannabis News

Ultra Health plans to seek an adult-use license when the application becomes available later this year, and Novel said the company is already preparing for the application process.

The company has been monitoring the Cannabis Control Division’s proposed rules and has provided feedback during the public comment period. To prepare its comments, Ultra Health worked with NPG Consulting, the firm that works with the Colorado Department of Revenue to produce demand reports for the state, to commission a demand report for New Mexico.

“We worked with NPG to create this very robust demand report, and we learned that this industry could be as large as $786 million for both medical and adult-use by 2026,” Novel said. “That was really exciting insight because … now we have a roadmap that says if we have adequate plans, if we have a robust industry right out the door, then we can reduce and eliminate the illicit market and create an $800 million industry for the state of New Mexico.”

With this data in hand, Novel said Ultra Health can take an active role in the rulemaking process by providing informed feedback on the proposed regulations to hopefully help guide what the application and, ultimately, the industry will look like.

Ultra Health has also launched several expansion projects to prepare for legalization, deploying about $20 million to expand its retail, production, manufacturing and distribution operations across four New Mexico counties. This includes a newly contracted, 225,000-square-foot building in the southern part of the state that will be used for production, R&D and warehousing.

“It’s equipped with temperature-controlled processing rooms, [as well as] designated warehouses for processing materials and finished goods,” Novel said. “The ceiling heights are about 25 feet with water systems, so it’s basically a large-scale operator’s dream building. … It did not come cheap, but we knew that the forthcoming activity levels would be bigger than we could really imagine, so we chose to dream big.”

Ultra Health has also invested in additional outdoor farmland in Tularosa, as well as a 50,000-square-foot distribution space that will act as a distribution hub to transport cannabis from its Bernalillo campus to Southern and Southeastern New Mexico.

The company is also expanding its water rights; in 2018, Ultra Health purchased 200 acres of land and 1,000-acre feet of water to feed the plants, and earlier this year, the company added another 150 acres of farmland and 750-acre feet of water.

“We knew that water would be a major issue during the onset of legalization and afterward,” Novel said. “There is unfortunately a drought in New Mexico, and we took the initiative years ago to be that responsible operator, where we’re going to go secure water rights from the Tularosa basin that has more water than that area near Albuquerque and Bernalillo where a lot of people live. We knew this was going to be an issue, and we’ve essentially been playing the long game. And it’s really starting to pay off.”

Ultra Health currently operates 25 retail locations, with 15 more in the pipeline. Novel said the company plans to have 50 operational dispensaries by the fall of 2022.

“It’s really about furthering the convenience aspect of our business model,” she said. “We want to make sure that New Mexicans and those spending time in New Mexico have ample convenient options to choose from when they want to shop at a legal, regulated source. That’s a huge part of getting the illicit market into the regulated market.”

“We’re also excited about revitalizing some of the smaller, rural New Mexico areas,” Novel added. “We want to offer individuals good-paying, stable jobs that can turn into lifetime careers. A lot of these small towns, they don’t have new businesses coming to town, so the job market suffers. But if you allow those cannabis operators to come in and give those good wages and create that activity that the local jurisdictions can then tax, a rising tide lifts all boats. It’s an opportunity for those smaller communities to be revitalized and have that business opportunities that they’ve been looking for.”

Bateman suggests growers check rootzone salinity weekly to give them precisely the right amount of food. They can accomplish this by simply collecting runoff leachate and measuring the conductivity of that solution, then comparing it to their nutrient solution EC, he says.

“For example, if a grower is using a medium growth feed chart and is in early bloom, EC is going to be about 1.8,” he says. “So, you make up your nutrient solution, pour it over your plants, a little bit drains out of the bottom, and then you measure that, and it comes to 3.0, then you know there’s almost double the nutrients in the pot.”

If that were to occur, the grower could flush the plant out with a reduced strength nutrient solution to reduce the rootzone salinity and try to get them back to baseline, he says.

For new growers, using a measuring tool such as a conductivity meter is a simple way to understand if your crops are being over or underfed.

Measure pH Balance Weekly

Bateman suggests growers check their plants’ pH balance weekly, using the same method he described for measuring EC, as pH determines the availability of most plant nutrients.

Whether growing indoors, outdoors or in greenhouses, one thing all cultivators strive for is more control. While outdoor farmers are at the whims of weather and are more vulnerable to pest outbreaks, controlled environment agriculture has its own challenges. One of the most pressing demands and perhaps the most puzzling for newer growers is how to establish the right nutrient balance. For decades, commercial growers have increasingly moved to using hydroponic systems to feed and water plants more effectively, and the cannabis industry has taken note.

“Cultivators are borrowing from conventional horticulture and agronomics, and learning to be more efficient,” says Ian Bateman, who works in professional technical services at Hawthorne Gardening Company’s Horticulture Division. “[Hydroponics] is a highly efficient way to grow crops. That, along with advances in lighting and tech, is why yields are up so much.”

Growing hydroponically using a soilless medium and relying on water to deliver nutrients helps cultivators control their irrigation and nutrient delivery more effectively and avoid some of the most common setbacks of new cultivators, Bateman says. When setting up a hydroponic system, there are choices growers can make to increase success, and it’s not a matter of “set and forget.” Here, Bateman shares his top tips for getting the most out of hydroponic systems.

1. Install a fertigation system.

A fertigation system is essential and standard when growing hydroponically, as nutrients are delivered via water, which gives growers much more control than when working with soil, Bateman says.

“Your nutrients are instantly available, and you can change them right away,” he says. “So, let’s say you are unhappy with the feed solution or recipe that you are using. The very next time you irrigate, you can theoretically change it and fix that problem right away.”

However, using fertigation systems is not necessarily fail-proof, he says.

“When you are fertigating your crops, every time the plant is thirsty for water, you are also giving it nutrients,” he says. “That can be good and bad, because your plant can just be really hot and just need to move water through itself to cool itself down, and nutrients are just coming along for the ride.”

2. Monitor pH and EC at least weekly.

To get a better understanding of what plants actually need and how they are responding to irrigation and feeding, measuring electrical conductivity (EC) of both the soil and the plant root is key.

“If the salinity of the soil exceeds the salinity of the inside of the root, it pulls water out,” Bateman says. “There are very basic and very complex ways of measuring these things, but you should at least be measuring these things once per week at a minimum. There are sensing probes that growers can insert into their pots that [provide] continuous readings. That’s probably the best way because then you can look at these trend lines every day.” 

Growers can also collect leachate after irrigating and use an EC meter and a plastic saucer to measure EC.

“You don’t want to wait until your plants are sick or unhealthy to make a change–you want to monitor that way ahead of time,” he says.

Another metric to watch closely is pH, which can be difficult to treat once it’s out of balance. Growers can work with labs to test water to measure alkalinity and determine if source water needs to be treated, then continue to monitor that for changes from the baseline.

3. Water and feed plants often.

Plants tend to perform best when provided with multiple “little snacks throughout the day,” Bateman, says, rather than providing crops with one heavy meal to sustain them for a day or more. Consistent, small feedings also help to keep EC and pH in check.

“That works a lot better, as it turns out, because roots don’t like big sudden changes,” he says. “So if you go from really dry to really wet as the plant is exchanging ions, EC is swinging, and the plant roots aren’t appreciating that.”

EC levels are maintained with more feedings, and stronger nutrient concentrations are more difficult to control.

“The plant root zone and where it’s sending all the nutrients is like a highway, and nutrients are the cargo, and if I only have one truck that goes up once per day or once every other day, it better be full of cargo. It better last,” he says. “Your pot can only hold so much water and nutrients before it comes out the bottom. If I feed my plants 20 times a day, my EC can be really low because as soon as that plant drinks up that little irrigation shot, it’s drawing that up.”

4. Determine the appropriate amount of fertilizer for your crop.

How often growers are irrigating also helps determine how much fertilizer is needed, Bateman says.

“This is actually the best way of predicting how strong a nutrient feed needs to be. It’s not what lights are being used or what cultivars they are growing, he says. “It comes down fundamentally to how often the plants  are being fed.”

One common pitfall he sees in the industry is fertilizer overapplication in the flowering stage, as growers try to bulk up plants to increase yield just before harvest.

“Sometimes during  the growing cycle the plants will be healthy and great up until the third and fourth weeks of flower–and I think for a lot of growers this will resonate with them–and all of a sudden crop health takes a dive, and why? Because that’s the time when cultivators are applying a ton of fertilizer to their plants because they want to blow their plants up,” he says.

Maintaining a balance throughout the propagation, vegetative and flowering phases is paramount.

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

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.

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.