(A version of this story originally appeared at Marijuana Business Daily and will be updated.) An Irish pharmaceutical firm, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, has agreed to purchase United Kingdom-based GW Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest medical cannabinoid companies in the world, for $7.2 billion, the drug companies said Wednesday. The proposed... Read more
A former federal prosecutor in western Kentucky has re-joined the U.S. Hemp Roundtable to lead efforts to cooperate with law enforcement. Russell Coleman was appointed by former President Donald Trump as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. He served from 2017 until Jan. 20, resigning when President... Read more
A key market regulator for trade in the European Union has updated its guidelines to add plant-derived CBD as a legal ingredient in cosmetics. The change comes after the European Industrial Hemp Association pointed out that the European Court of Justice recently ruled that CBD should not be classified... Read more
Kristen Nichols This column appeared in the January edition of Marijuana Business Magazine. You made it! Through 2020, that is. But for many in the hemp and CBD business, it’s hard to celebrate. As the United States opens this year hoping for a reprieve from a merciless pandemic, hemp entrepreneurs have even more crises to confront—plummeting wholesale prices, dwindling... Read more
Want to know the best time to plant hemp in the Midwest? Or what cultivar consistently produces a crop below 0.3% THC? Researchers in the Midwest have successfully pooled that information despite the pandemic, creating a database designed to give farmers an idea of what to expect from their... Read more
Pennsylvania awarded $1.3 million in agricultural research grants, including funding for projects looking at hemp use in construction materials and animal medicine. The state’s agriculture secretary, Russell Redding, said the projects being funded can spur innovation in medicine, clean water, healthier soil and a safer food supply. “Meeting the... Read more
Hemp farmers getting federal pandemic assistance will see those payments frozen because of the changed administration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that payments under the latest round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program are on hold “until further notice” — though interested farmers can continue applying through Feb.... Read more
The Senate Agriculture Committee talks to an experienced hemp regulator Tuesday when it considers the confirmation of Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack, an Iowan, is President Joe Biden’s nominee and served in the same role for all eight years of the Obama administration. He oversaw the USDA... Read more
A top official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture praised the agency’s work on hemp this week, putting into doubt any plans to make additional changes. Sonia Jimenez, deputy administrator for the Specialty Crops Program in the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, talked up the rules in a newsletter the... Read more
Thailand’s public health minister has approved regulations legalizing hemp production beginning Friday. The new rules allows hemp cultivation for commercial, medicinal, and research purposes, the Bangkok Post reported. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul approved the rules Thursday. The regulations will allow both exports and imports and the plant can... Read more
