Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:00 PM on Monday, January 13th, 2020
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DOPE! New cannabis compound 30 TIMES more potent than THC found in one marijuana variety
Compound is one of two newfound cannabinoids that have been discovered in the Cannabis plant glands of the sativa L species.
A NEW cannabis compound has been discovered and it may be 30 times more potent than THC.
Scientists aren’t yet sure whether the compound causes a high or has
medical benefits so they’ve been conducting tests to try and figure this
out.
The compound is one of two newfound cannabinoids that have been discovered in the Cannabis plant glands of the sativa L species.
Cannabinoids is the collective term for the group of diverse chemical
compounds that act on the cannabinoid receptors of the brain.
THC is just one of these cannabinoids and it’s currently considered to be the principal psychoactive component of cannabis.
THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, plugs into brain receptors and can
alter our ability to co-ordinate movements, reason, record memories and
perceive things like time and pleasure.
THC in cannabis is what can give smokers a high feelingCredit: Getty – Contributor
It’s thought that cannabis contains over 140 similar chemicals that can interact with receptors all over the body.
However, THC is currently the only one we know can result in a high spaced out feeling.
Of the two new cannabinoids discovered, one looks similar to the compound CBD, which isn’t psychoactive.
The other appears similar to THC but may even produce stronger mind-bending effects.
This THC lookalike is called tetrahydrocannabiphorol (THCP).
Recent research suggests that it interacts with the same brain receptor as THC but has slight differences in its chain of atoms.
The slight difference in shape of THCP means it can technically fit more snugly into its preferred brain receptor than THC.
A test showed that the compound can actually bind 30 times more reliably than THC.
When given to lab mice, the THCP made them behave as if they were on THC with slower movements and decreased reactions to pain.
The mice reached this state with a much lower does than would have been required with THC meaning the new compound is stronger.
However, this lab experiment still doesn’t mean that the same effect would happen in humans.
THCP doesn’t appear to be present in large amounts in cannabis plants
but even if it was, increased psychoactive properties would still not
be guaranteed.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:15 PM on Monday, January 13th, 2020
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Young people buying into ‘fake news’
By: Esther Cepeda
My son, his best friend, Dave, and I were chatting over a pizza last
weekend when Dave dropped some (absolutely incorrect) information: The
elderly are forgoing nursing homes for cruise ships, because the room
and board cost about the same, plus you get entertainment and travel.
Again — this is not a real phenomenon. A few healthy, affluent
retirees have spent a few years this way, but the cruise ship industry
is in no way prepared to offer extended care for masses of frail elderly
adults with complex medical conditions like chronic diseases and memory
problems.
When I prompted our friend for more information, he said it made
sense because cruise ships have onboard medical staff and morgues.
When further pressed — in my son’s spirited retelling, I’m described
as in a rabid state, pouncing on his innocent pal — Dave said he’d
definitely read a news story about it.
Errrrr, actually, he knew he’d definitely seen it somewhere.
Mmmmmm, maybe on Reddit?
My son acts like at this point I had fire blazing from my eyes. I’ll only admit that I was alarmed.
Dave is a bright young man who attended an excellent high school,
just completed his first semester of college at a fancy East Coast
university and is generally thoughtful and curious about the world.
But he passed on information he believed was fact because he saw
“something†on a news aggregation and message board site, or
“somewhere.â€
This gem about retiring to a cruise ship has been around since at
least 2003, according to the fact-checking site Snopes.com. It started
out as a bit of viral e-lore, and there have been a few
examples of real-life extended stays. But today, otherwise legitimate
news-gathering organizations post branded, sponsored-content “articlesâ€
(these are paid advertisements) about how to plan such a retirement
alongside real news that was reported by professional journalists and
vetted by editors.
I’m not picking on a kid I care about — he’s just an example of how
incredibly ill-equipped our young people are to navigate an internet
that’s loaded with fake news, junk science and other “informationâ€
designed to fool them and everyone else.
In a 2018-19 national assessment of U.S. high school students,
researchers at Stanford University found that two-thirds couldn’t tell
the difference between reported news stories and advertisements set off
by the words “sponsored content†on the homepage of a popular news
website.
And more than one-third of middle school students in the U.S. said
that they “rarely†or “never†learned how to judge the reliability of
sources, according to an analysis of 2018 survey data from The Nation’s
Report Card by the Reboot Foundation, a Paris-based nonprofit that
promotes the teaching of evidence-based reasoning skills.
But while it’s clear that students must be taught media-literacy
skills, there are few teachers prepared to do so. Many people, not just
teachers, tend to believe that their maturity and life experience make
them naturally media literate — i.e., not likely to fall for fake news
or bad sources of information.
A small 2011 study of the effectiveness of teacher training on media
literacy found that eight hours of in-person training — quite a lot by
the common standards of professional development — prepared someone to
pass on such skills. And the study also showed that, like anyone else,
teachers need systematic, direct instruction on media literacy, and it
must be practiced over time.
The bright side is that it’s not rocket science. For the average
reader, becoming media literate is generally simple: Find some good
sources, check bold assertions and be aware of any fine print, like the
basis of an author’s expertise or their potential financial interest.
Now, no one can check every fact in every bit of text they read, but a
high level of skepticism is warranted in this time of newsy
advertisements and active disinformation campaigns. If it sounds too
good (or too bad) to be true, it probably is. And since those types of
pieces of “information†are what drive clicks, views and “reader
engagement,†they’ve proliferated.
Do yourself and your loved ones a service, bookmark a few key
fact-checking websites and use them regularly (an extensive list can be
found in the appendix of the Reboot Foundation’s report, at
reboot-foundation.org/fighting-fake-news).
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:00 PM on Monday, January 13th, 2020
SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp.
aims to provide access to quality education from around the world.
The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job
industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing
an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.
How Edtech Can Fill Gaps In Quality Education In Tier-3 Cities?
A majority of young Indians, mostly belonging to Tier-3 cities, are deprived of quality education due to a lack of accessible educational infrastructure and resources
Lack of committed educators, unavailability of textbooks, and a dearth of credible coaching centres are among a few of the problems underserved Indian students have to deal with on a daily basis
While there is some merit to heeding to
your relatives’ advice of devoting more time to “self-studyâ€, for a
large number of students across the country it happens to be a singular
necessity and unfortunate compulsion. A majority of young Indians,
mostly belonging to Tier-3 cities, are deprived of quality education due
to a lack of accessible educational infrastructure and resources. Lack
of committed educators, unavailability of textbooks, and a dearth of
credible coaching centres are among a few of the problems underserved
Indian students have to deal with on a daily basis.
The absence of quality coaching centres
in Tier-3 cities in India is a major reason why multiple youths
preparing for competitive examinations like UPSC choose to migrate to
Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities like Delhi, Nagpur, Pune, Jaipur,
Mumbai, etc., in search of better learning prospects. However, in
addition to offering greater learning resources and opportunities, and
an improved lifestyle overall, the expense of living in metro cities
also puts a magnified financial burden on to these students. Besides
paying the fees of the institution they join, the basic outlay of living
(surviving) alone, which includes food and rent of hostels or PGs,
becomes unmanageable for all youths not belonging to the affluent class.
Add to this the expenditure of buying study material and conveyance, at
the minimum. All of these expenses together end up causing the students
to go in debt.
The financial aspect aside, the teaching
institutes and coaching centres accommodate a very large number of
students and the curriculum in these places is designed to cater to
those who are either fast-learners or those who have already had a solid
academic foundation. A lack of individual teaching approach aimed at
educating each and every student based on their individual learning
abilities and sensibilities causes a majority of at-risk students to
struggle with mental health problems. Impersonal teaching methods of the
teachers bent upon drilling information into the students’ heads
further adding to the tribulations of most of these students who find it
difficult to cope with the vast and fast-paced nature of the syllabi.
It is here that EdTech presents itself as an impeccable solution to all of these problems.
By providing a personalised learning
experience to students, EdTech platforms enhance their methods of
self-study and self-assessment. Since most of the EdTech platforms
contain video lectures on the same topic by multiple instructors, a
student can choose to watch the video most agreeable to his or her
style. The most empowering featuring of video lectures when compared
with in-classroom lectures is that a video can be played, re-played, and
paused as many times and as per the convenience of the viewer. Thus, a
student can watch and re-watch a lecture until they get the wholesome
understanding of a concept, something that is not possible in real-time.
This feature comes as a boon for shy
students who find it difficult to engage in discussions during a
lecture. For most youths, the overcrowded classroom atmosphere can feel
overpowering and even suffocating. E-learning tools can solve their
problem by letting them hold one-on-one interactions with senior
students or subject experts over the cyberspace. In this way, online
engagement gives a student a way out of the limiting classroom
environment to get their queries resolved on their own terms as suits
them best without them having to follow rigid classroom schedules that
run on express speed.
In addition to these facilities, most
EdTech platforms also leverage advanced AI-based technologies like data
analytics, machine learning and deep learning to map a student’s
learning journey and produce recommendations accordingly. The e-learning
platforms can then use this data to come up with personalised test
series and assessment plans for individual students. Simultaneously,
students can also utilize this facility to make self-assessments and
accordingly work upon their weaknesses and strengths with respect to
each subject.
EdTech is already disrupting the
education sector the world over on the back of its exceptional
accessibility, efficiency, and unparalleled convenience. For students
belonging to a developing country like India, EdTech comes as both a
welcome extension and a much-needed alternative to the existing
educational infrastructure.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:45 AM on Monday, January 13th, 2020
SPONSOR:ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE)
Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a
Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed
small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More
than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest
small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.
This Chart Shows the Crypto Market Is On Verge of Bull Phase
Murad Mahmudov, CIO of Bitcoin fund Adaptive Capital, recently drew attention to a textbook chart that applies to any financial market — including crypto — which shows what trends in an asset’s volume, open interest, and price means for said asset’s future trajectory.
Over the past seven months, analysts have been wondering when the crypto market is going to revert back to a bull phase.
You see, when Bitcoin started rallying from $4,000 higher in
early-2019, analysts and investors thought this was the start of a new
bullish paradigm for the cryptocurrency market. But, they were sorely
mistaken when BTC fell by 50% from its peak and crypto assets like Ethereum and XRP actually posted losses on the year.
Per a simple tried-and-true chart depicting trends in markets, the
crypto market is likely on the verge of entering its next bull phase.
Here’s more on why.
Crypto Market About to Enter Bull Phase
Murad Mahmudov, CIO of Bitcoin fund Adaptive Capital, recently drew attention
to a textbook chart that applies to any financial market — including
crypto — which shows what trends in an asset’s volume, open interest,
and price means for said asset’s future trajectory.
The chart shows that the most optimistic scenario for any market is
if the asset’s price, volume, and open interest for its futures market
rise in tandem, suggesting “strength,†“bullish†price action, and an
overall trend of prices rising.
And what do you know! Bitcoin, over the past few weeks, has seen its
price, volume, and open interest increase all at once, showing
effectively no signs of weakness. This suggests the crypto market is on
the verge of entering into a serious uptrend for the first time in
months.
Related Reading: Key Bitcoin Sell Signal Flashes: Here’s Why Analysts Aren’t Concerned
Notably, there is a bull case for Bitcoin rapidly building. For
instance, the Lucid Stop and Reversal indicator, which “signals a stop
and an entry in the opposite direction†when it reverses, just printed
an extremely bullish signal. The indicator shows that Bitcoin just saw its first buy signal since March 2019, with the trend as defined by the SAR turning bullish.
On the fundamental side of things, Bitcoin is now four or so months out from its next block reward reduction, known as a “halvingâ€
or “halvening.†Prominent investors, including former Goldman Sachs
employees, have suggested that this event will affect BTC’s
supply-demand dynamics in a way that will push prices dramatically
higher.
With Bitcoin leading the rest of the crypto market, any strong
increases in the price of BTC should lead to similar price action for
altcoins. Of course, there is a growing expectation that altcoins will underperform the market leader, but a strong uptrend in BTC shouldn’t do anything but help the rest of the crypto market higher.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:50 PM on Sunday, January 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum
group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral
Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an
additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.
For more than a year the silvery-white metal has been more precious than gold Palladium is used in the production of hybrid cars such as Toyota’s Prius, and high prices for the precious metal have led to a rise in the theft of catalytic converters Palladium is used in the production of hybrid cars such as Toyota’s Prius, and high prices for the precious metal have led to a rise in the theft of catalytic converters
Global efforts to clean up petrol cars are driving a record surge in
the precious metal palladium, which has rallied 8 per cent in the first
week of the year to more than $2,000 a troy ounce. The precious metal,
which is now more valuable than gold, has benefited from continued
demand from the car industry for palladium-based catalytic converters on
exhausts, along with limited supply from mines in South Africa and
Russia. Prices for palladium have surged by about 25 per cent since the
beginning of October. Demand for car catalysts has increased over the
past few years due to stricter emissions regulations in Europe and plans
in China to toughen standards.
Catalytic converters take toxic emissions and produce carbon dioxide,
water and nitrogen. Palladium-based catalysts are also used in hybrid
cars, which are powered by engines as well as batteries. Often hybrid
cars require greater quantities of the metal, since the engine is
required at short notice and does not have time to warm up the catalyst.
The high price of palladium has led to a rise in the theft of catalytic
converters from cars.
Last year Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid car, warned drivers in
the UK to take precautions to prevent theft by buying a “Catlocâ€
device, which is fitted around the converter to stop it being cut out.
Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch expect carmakers to struggle
to source more palladium in the next few years as global supply is set
to remain flat, at about 10.2m ounces. Last year it rose to 10.5m
ounces, from 9.9m.
The price of the silvery-white metal overtook gold in December 2018
for the second time, having been more expensive for a period spanning
2000 and 2001. On Thursday palladium was trading at $2108 a troy ounce,
to gold’s $1546. Palladium’s price rise has boosted the stocks of South
African miners, sending the FTSE/JSE African Platinum Mining index up 4
per cent already this year. Michael Widmer, an analyst at BofA, said big
carmakers had begun to consider substituting palladium for other
materials, such as platinum or rhodium, which are in the same family of
precious metals. Rhodium prices are up by about 15 per cent this year,
outpacing palladium.
“Carmakers are starting to look into substitution. It will probably
take another 12 to 18 months,†Mr Widmer said. “You can get hold of
palladium but you have to pay up for it.†He added: “The quicker they do
the substitution, or re-jig the catalysts, the quicker the rally will
ultimately come to an end.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:30 PM on Sunday, January 12th, 2020
SPONSOR:ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE)
Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a
Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed
small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More
than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest
small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.
The race to integrate crypto into global banking is real
Public sector projects are driving greater interest to adopt fiat-backed cryptocurrencies by central and regional banks.
Metamorworks / Getty Images
Central banks in Asia and Europe are in the final stages of launching digital currencies for future payment systems and cross-border transactions, according to a new report from accounting firm KPMG.
And governments around the world see the launch of these blockchain-based central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as something that could one day give them a competitive advantage in global trade.
“In 2020, we at KPMG expect to assist regional and central banks in
the development of well-defined technology frameworks that can anchor
private-sector initiatives,†Arun Ghosh, U.S. Blockchain Leader at KPMG,
said in a blog post.
Among other banking entitires, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has shown support
for fiat-backed cryptocurrencies, saying they can reduce the reliance
on government-issued money, “and unlike bank transfers, crypto asset
transactions can be cleared and settled quickly without an
intermediary,†Dong He, deputy director of the IMF’s Monetary and
Capital Markets Department, wrote in a post for the IMF.
“The advantages are especially apparent in cross-border payments,
which are costly, cumbersome, and opaque,” He said. “New services using
distributed ledger technology and crypto assets have slashed the time it
takes for cross-border payments to reach their destination from days to
seconds by bypassing correspondent banking networks.â€
In a blog post, the IMF said today’s fiat currencies are in flux “and innovation will transform the landscape of banking and money.â€
Other countries are already looking to innovate in ways that given them an advantage.
China is reportedly close to releasing a national cryptocurrency
that, because of greater efficiencies, could challenge the U.S. dollar
as the de facto currency for international trade. Other smaller
countries such as Sweden are planning their own state-sponsored
cryptocurrency. (Sweden’s would be called the e-Krona.)
And the Bank of England has been researching cryptocurrency since 2015. Even though theit does not currently plan to issue a cryptocurrency linked to Pound sterling, it has published extensive research on the monetary policy and financial system implications of issuing CDBCs.
“If a central bank issued a digital currency, then everyone
(including businesses, households and financial institutions other than
banks) could store value and make payments in electronic central bank
money,†the Bank of England said in a research paper. “While this may
seem like a small change, it could have wide-ranging implications for
monetary policy and financial stability.â€
Regardless of any movement by central banks, Ghosh said, fiat-based ‘stablecoins’
are already being issued by the private sector to support enhanced
value exchange and settlement within organizations and across banking
networks.
For example, JP Morgan Chase announced last year
it had developed what was seen at the time as the first cryptocurrency
backed by a major bank – a move that could legitimize blockchain as a
vehicle for fiat cryptocurrencies. JPM Coin, as the bank calls its new
digital money, is considered fiat currency because it’s backed by U.S.
dollars in accounts designated at JPMorgan Chase N.A.
Each JPM Coin is equal in value to one U.S. dollar.
Wells Fargo has also announced
it will pilot its own cryptocurrency to enable near real-time money
movement and cut out settlement middlemen, thus reducing fees.
And the Reserve Bank of Australia has conducted pilots
with Ethereum-based cryptocurrency in the hope it could be used by
third parties for cross-border payments. So far, the bank has not found a
significant case for its use in light of Australia’s relatively stable
banking system, according to a Senate inquiry into the matter last month.
“The upside for businesses and consumers will trickle down through
adoption…, Ghosh said, nothing that the new systems could result in
“near instantaneous value settlement” with “enhanced cash flow
realization and/or liquidity of certain positions.”
Blockchain is being piloted by financial services institutions in
five primary areas: for clearance and settlement, trade finance,
cross-border payments, insurance claims processing and anti-money
laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) efforts.
For cross-border transactions, stablecoin could cut settlement times
from days to minutes by eliminating the need for private organizations
such as Depository Trust and Clearance Corp. (DTCC) in the U.S. and Euroclear in the European Union. The DTCC and Euroclear now handle securities settlements.
Blockchain-based systems could also streamline the process of buying
and selling stocks and bonds. Those transactions can take up to three
days, with longer delays of up to 10 days not uncommon, according to Bruce Fenton, founder and managing director of Atlantic Financial and a board member of the Bitcoin Foundation.
“The challenge with securities now is you need a trusted third party
to say what’s true,” Fenton said. “It’s not your broker. It’s not
Merrill Lynch or Fidelity and it’s not the issuer either; Apple has no
clue who their shareholders are, either. The function is performed by
these large centralized groups because the brokers don’t necessarily
trust each other; they’re dealing with their competitors.”
The problem with relying on central settlement organizations is that
transactions can get bottlenecked through the use of a single ledger,
such as VisaNet or SWIFT,
he said. With blockchain, trust becomes moot since digital tokens
representing securities or money are inextricably linked to the funds or
securities – and transfers can be done in hours, Fenton said.
Given those efficiencies, more than a half dozen universities are already working on developing a payment system to rival today’s conventional clearance and settlement networks.
In addition to the scaled adoption of cryptoassets now being driven
by the public sector, Ghosh sees four other crypto trends likely to
emerge over the next year or so as business executives apply “an
unprecedented level of innovation … driving new revenue models by
leveraging blockchain and tokenized assets.â€
Those trends include:
Advances in cryptoasset custody technology, or how digital assets
are owned, stored, secured, transferred and accessed in a decentralized
environment.
A shift from private-permissioned to interoperable blockchain
implementations. With many private blockchain implementations coming to
fruition, the next step is interoperability.
More success when scaling the technology with a converged artificial
intelligence (AI) framework – and better results when initializing
their AI investments.
The convergence of AI, blockchain and the Internet of Things (IoT) to help manage climate change.
About that last prediction, Ghosh said: “Decentralized, transparent
data models enabled by blockchain, which houses data transferred via IoT
that is measurable using advanced analytic techniques, can be visible
to a vast number of countries and regulators that are jointly monitoring
and reporting on carbon emissions, rising sea levels and the
remediation of toxic waste, among other applications.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:00 PM on Sunday, January 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE)
Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14
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interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro
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Nickel demand set to rise in 2020 along with growth in electric vehicle sales
China is stepping up its efforts to be a leader in autonomous cars and is aiming for a quarter of all cars sold in the country to be new-energy vehicles by 2025
500,000 tonnes of refined nickel will be used annually in lithium-ion batteries for EVs by 2025 Â
Nickel’s demand outlook looks bright, especially from the electric vehicle sector of the automotive industry
Fastmarkets analysts estimate that
500,000 tonnes of refined nickel will be used annually in lithium-ion
batteries for EVs by 2025, up from 100,000 tonnes in 2018.
That growth in nickel consumption comes
even before the wider adoption of the nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM)
8-1-1 battery, which the market expects to become an industry staple.
A recent report drafted by the Ministry
of Industry & Information Technology indicates that China will step
up its efforts to be a leader in autonomous cars and is aiming for a
quarter of all cars sold in the country to be new-energy vehicles [NEVs]
by 2025.
NEVs include electric cars, hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles.
Ban on nickel exports in Indonesia
In response to the risk of increasing
demand tightening local supply, the Indonesian government announced a
ban on the export of raw nickel ores, bringing the ban forward from 2022
to January 2020.
According to GlobalData director of
analysis David Kurtz, this ban is intended to produce value-added nickel
products, stimulate domestic processing of ore, and make the country a
hub for electric vehicle production.
Indonesia is the largest global producer
of nickel and a major supplier of the metal to China’s stainless steel
industry. In anticipation of the ban, Chinese producers are building up
nickel inventories.
This has increased the price of nickel
significantly, with prices at the end of September 2019 reaching more
than $16,000 per tonne, an increase of more than 60% from January.
When the ban was announced, nickel prices increased by 8.8% to reach a peak of $18,620 per tonne, the highest price since 2014.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:00 PM on Sunday, January 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: PRIMO NUTRACEUTICALS INC.
(CSE: PRMO) (OTC: BUGVF) (FSE: 8BV) (DEU: 8BV) (MUN: 8BV) (STU: 8BV)
provides strategic capital to the thriving cannabis cultivation
sector through ownership and development of commercial real estate
properties. The company also offers fully built out turnkey facilities
equipped with state-of-the-art growing infrastructure to cannabis
growers and processors. Click here for more info.
2020 could be a defining year for the cannabis industry
“There’s going to be a lot of movement in 2020,” said Chris Walsh, chief executive officer of Marijuana Business Daily, a cannabis industry trade publication. “Whether it leads to actual legalization in some states remains to be seen.”
New York (CNN Business)2019 was a momentous year for the cannabis industry: Hemp-derived CBD had a heyday, Illinois made history, California got sticky, vapes were flung into flux, and North American cannabis companies received some harsh wake-up calls.
2020 is gearing up to be an even more critical year.
There’s a well-worn saying in the cannabis business that the
emerging industry is so fast-moving that it lives in dog years. 2020 is
barely a week old, and cannabis is already making headlines after
Illinois kicked off the new year
with recreational sales. Other states are inching closer to
legalization this year — with several mulling how best to ensure social
equity. Also in 2020, there’s the FDA could chill the CBD craze, and a move from Congress could change the game entirely.
The tumultuous past few months have set 2020 up to be a
make-or-break year for some of the biggest in the business as well as
the scores of lesser-known players priming to make their moves.
“There’s going to be a lot of movement in 2020,” said Chris Walsh,
chief executive officer of Marijuana Business Daily, a cannabis industry
trade publication. “Whether it leads to actual legalization in some
states remains to be seen.”
The next US states to legalize cannabis
Fourteen US states and territories have legalized recreational
cannabis sales for adults (although regulations aren’t fully fleshed out
in places like the District of Columbia and Vermont). A total of 33 states have legalized cannabis for medical purposes. Illinois
will remain in focus, after it made history last year with the first
legislatively-enacted recreational cannabis program. Critical aspects of
its program include social equity and social justice measures created
to help people and communities most harmed by the War on Drugs.
“Underserved groups are holding the industry accountable,” said Gia
Morón, executive vice president for Women Grow, a company founded to
further the presence of women in the cannabis industry. “And our
legislators are recognizing that [social, gender and minority concerns]
are a part of this now.”
New York and New Jersey have been flirting with legalization but
have held off to navigate some logistics related to aspects that include
social equity. The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and
Pennsylvania convened this past fall for a summit on coordinating cannabis and vaping policies. New Jersey is putting a recreational cannabis measure before voters in November, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed Wednesday that New York would legalize cannabis this year.
Other possibilities for states to legalize recreational cannabis
could be Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico,
North Dakota and South Dakota, Walsh said. Even Alabama, Mississippi and
South Dakota could become new medical cannabis markets and other
states’ medical programs could see expansions, he added.
“If you look at the map right now of the US, we’re getting to the
point where there isn’t that many [states] left that can legalize,” he
said. “You can look at any of those and say there might be a chance in
the next year or two for them to legalize.”
Federal legalization
Whether national legalization is on the horizon remains to be seen, said Walsh.
How federal agencies regulate hemp, a cannabis plant with under
0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and derivatives such as cannabidiol
(CBD) could be extremely telling for how the US government might
approach regulation of other forms of cannabis down the road, he said.
CBD products have been all the rage, but they may be on shaky
ground. CBD oils, creams, foods and beverages have seen an explosion in
availability following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which
legalized hemp but left plenty of discretion to the US Food and Drug
Administration, which regulates pharmaceutical drugs, most food items,
additives and dietary supplements.
The FDA is reviewing CBD and has yet to issue formal guidance,
although the agency has issued warning letters to CBD makers that make
unsubstantiated health claims. Class action lawsuits have been filed
against several CBD companies, including two of the largest, Charlotte’s
Web and CV Sciences, alleging they engaged in misleading or deceptive
marketing practices, Stat News reported.
Cannabis insiders are closely awaiting the fate of
industry-friendly bills such as the STATES Act, which would recognize
cannabis programs at the state level, and the SAFE Banking Act,
which would allow for banks to more easily serve cannabis companies.
Those and other bills likely won’t pass in full, but it’s possible that
some language makes it into more comprehensive legislation, Walsh said.
“It feels like [legalization] has to happen soon, but it might not
happen how people think. You get a bill passed to allow banks to clearly
serve this industry without a whole bunch of restrictions, and that
could be pseudo-legalization,” Walsh said. “So, the actual move by the
federal government to ‘legalize’ marijuana or let states decide might
not come for years; but that reality might play out anyway with some
other type of legislation.”
New regulation in older markets
In addition to the promise of new markets, the evolution of
established cannabis programs could also play a significant role in the
cannabis business landscape.
In California, the world’s largest cannabis industry has developed in fits and starts.
Regulators are taking aim at an entrenched illicit market as businesses
decry tax increases and local control measures that limit distribution.
“California is going to get worse before it gets better,” Walsh said.
And in Colorado, where the nation’s first legal recreational
cannabis sale took place, a slate of new laws are poised to shift the
cannabis landscape by allowing for social consumption businesses and the
ability for out-of-state and publicly traded companies to own licenses.
New products come to Canada
Canada’s “Cannabis 2.0” roll-out
of derivative products — such as edibles, vapes and beverages — is in
its beginning stages. The Canadian publicly traded licensed producers
that have been beset by missed and slow market development have bet
heavily on these new product forms.
But it takes time for provincial and state cannabis programs to get
off the ground, for businesses to come online and for production and
supply to get in a good balance with demand. So any big returns won’t
happen immediately, said Morgan Paxhia, managing director and co-founder
of cannabis investment firm Poseidon Asset Management.
“It’s not going to look any better in Q1 and really into Q2,” he said of the Canadian cannabis sector.
‘Blockbuster failures’
Overall, 2020 should bring volatility for cannabis companies in
Canada and the United States, he said, noting the industry’s current
business cycle is mirroring that of the dot-com bubble and subsequent
burst.
“There were very good companies that have emerged from that period,
but most of the companies during that time are gone,” he said. Paxhia
expects at least one — if not several — “blockbuster failures.”
The capital constraints are expected to continue into the first leg
of 2020 as some initial bets don’t pan out for some companies, said
Andrew Freedman, Colorado’s former cannabis czar who now runs Freedman
& Koski, a firm that consults with municipalities and states
navigating legalization.
Some companies’ low points could create opportunities for other
firms and investors that waited out the first cycle, Freedman said.
“In 2020, I see that everybody will understand the economics of cannabis a little bit better,” he said.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/09/business/cannabis-2020-legalization/index.html
Tags: CBD, Hemp, Marijuana, stocks, tsx, tsx-v, weed Posted in All Recent Posts | Comments Off on PRIMO Nutraceuticals Inc. $PRMO.ca – 2020 could be a defining year for the #cannabis industry #CBD $CROP.ca $VP.ca NF.ca $MCOA
Posted by AGORACOM
at 7:53 PM on Friday, January 10th, 2020
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“Experts say we are approaching a tipping point for graphene commercialisation”
Andy Burnham, Mayor for Greater Manchester, made a fact-finding tour
of facilities that are pioneering graphene innovation at The University
of Manchester.
The Mayor toured the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre
(GEIC) which is an industry-facing facility specialising in the rapid
development and scale up of graphene and other 2D materials
applications.
As well as state-of-the art labs and equipment, the Mayor was also shown examples of commercialisation – including the world’s first-ever sports shoes to use graphene which has been produced by specialist sports footwear company inov-8 who are based in the North.
Andy Burnham – a running enthusiast who has previously participated
in a number of marathons – has promised to put a pair of graphene
trainers to the test and feedback his own experiences to researchers
based at The University of Manchester.
“Manchester is the home of graphene – and when you see the
brilliant work and the products now being developed with the help of the
Graphene@Manchester team it’s clear why this city-region maintains
global leadership in research and innovation around this fantastic
advanced material.”
Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester Mayor
By collaborating with graphene experts in Manchester, inov-8 has been
able to develop a graphene-enhanced rubber which they now use for
outsoles in a new range of running and fitness shoes. In testing, the
groundbreaking G-SERIES shoes have outlasted 1,000 miles and are
scientifically proven to be 50% stronger, 50% more elastic and 50%
harder wearing.
“Manchester is the home of graphene – and when you see the brilliant
work and the products now being developed with the help of the Graphene@Manchester
team it’s clear why this city-region maintains global leadership in
research and innovation around this fantastic advanced material,†said
Andy Burnham.
“I have been very impressed with the exciting model of innovation the University has pioneered in our city-region, with the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre playing
a vital role by working with its many business partners to take
breakthrough science from the lab and apply it to real world challenges.
“And thanks to world firsts, like the graphene running shoe, the
application of graphene is now gaining real pace. In fact, the experts
say we are approaching a tipping point for graphene commercialisation –
and this is being led right here in Greater Manchester.â€
Posted by AGORACOM
at 7:38 PM on Friday, January 10th, 2020
Definitive distribution agreement to partner on the sale of
Vertical’s wollastonite from its world-class St-Onge Deposit in place.
Supplying the fast growing cannabis and hemp industries.
Vertical’s high quality Wollastonite has been shown to be beneficial to cannabis plants in a variety of ways
In every case the most optimal results occurred with an admixture rate of 10% to 15% wollastonite to the growth medium.
The
high-grade St-Onge Wollastonite deposit has pit-constrained mineral
resources of: 7,155,000 tonnes Measured@ 36.20% Wollastonite &
6,926,000 tonnes Indicated@ 37.04%
B.C. Buds Testing Confirmed Wollastonite is critical to marijuana growers
Engaged
AGRINOVA over the past year to conduct research and testing of
Vertical’s St-Onge wollastonite on a range of important agricultural end
uses.
WOLLASTONITE
St-Onge-Wollastonite Deposit located approximately 90 kilometres
Northwest of the city of Saguenay, in St-Onge township, in the
Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of Quebec, Canada.
Research and testing in the Phase 1 program for use in cannabis growth was managed and monitored by AGRINOVA, a highly-regarded Center for Research and Innovation in Agriculture in Quebec
