Cannabis Industry News and Updates - Dec 21 2017

vinmaru (47)in #cannabis • 7 years ago (edited)

Here are some of the latest Cannabis industry news and information to help you stay on top of what is happening in the sector.

Cannabis and Mental Health: Cause, cure, or it’s complicated? (Yes)

As the countdown to legal Canadian cannabis ticks forward, there’s growing interest in cannabis’s medical potential when it comes to mental illness, something that affects one in five Canadians.

Given those stats, and the reality that, outside of tobacco and alcohol, cannabis is the most common psychoactive substance used among the general population, it’s inevitable that the potential overlap of cannabis and mental illness will lead to a spike in questions for doctors.

And yet, many patients share a similar experience: When they approach their doctors about the possibility of using cannabis to help with mental illness, the suggestion is strongly dismissed. Since cannabis has a long way to go before it shakes off the stigma of being an illicit drug, some perceive it as a chicken-or-egg conundrum among those who use it to treat mental illness. Are those with mental illness using it to help with symptoms, or are they using it as a result of having a mental illness?

Because research into this quandary is minimal and doctors are often unforthcoming, the evidence is largely anecdotal.
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5 Headlines that are driving the Canadian LP rally

Canadian cannabis stocks have been a bright spot of the marijuana stock market so far this week and we are monitoring how the sector continues to trade.

This rally has been primarily driven by company developments and we have highlighted 5 announcements that are significant and that investors need to be aware of.
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https://marijuanaindex.com/

Health Canada nearly doubles the number of marijuana production licences in second half of 2017

OTTAWA—Health Canada has nearly doubled the number of licensed cannabis producers in the country over the past six months and new numbers show hundreds more applicants are in the final stages of approval as the government rushes toward national marijuana legalization by next July.

The dramatic surge in approved and aspiring producers comes in the wake of the agency’s concerted efforts to loosen its bureaucratic approval process and head off what many experts fear will be a looming supply crunch for the burgeoning legal cannabis market.

In late May, Health Canada announced it would “streamline” the approval process, which many would-be producers described as onerous and contended took years to complete. The agency stepped up the resources to process applications and said it would start conducting some phases of the approval process at the same time and also made it easier for existing licence holders to expand.

When the announcement was made, Health Canada had granted just 44 production licenses since it starting doling out approvals four years prior. Since then, however, the number has almost doubled to 80.

A Health Canada spokesperson said that as of Dec. 1, 208 applicants were in the final stages of the approval process.
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Click Here For A Directory Listing of Licensed Growers in Canada

MedReleaf signs supplier agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart

MARKHAM, ON, Dec. 21, 2017 /CNW/ - MedReleaf Corp. (TSX:LEAF) ("MedReleaf" or the "Company") has announced today that it has entered into an agreement to become a medical cannabis supplier to Shoppers Drug Mart.

Subject to Health Canada's approval of Shoppers Drug Mart's application to be a licensed producer, under the terms of the agreement the Company will supply Shoppers Drug Mart with MedReleaf branded medical cannabis products. It is expected the products will be sold online, as Canadian regulations currently restrict the sale of medical cannabis in retail pharmacies.
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Where Marijuana is and isn't legal

It's interesting to see what various nations are doing with cannabis laws, here is a quick look at some countries that have either legalized, decriminalized or simply chosen to tolerate recreational marijuana.