Introducing New Zealand’s Inaugural iHemp Summit

Source: NZ Hemp Summit

Hold the Date: 5-6 July 2018

When: 5-6 July 2018
Where: Massey University , Palmerston North
Next steps: Program and registration details to follow very soon
 

New Zealand’s first iHemp (industrial hemp) Summit will provide a platform for setting the vision for our country’s industrial hemp value chain. This 2-day event will bring together current and potential industry participants and give them a voice in shaping the future of this emerging industry.

The Summit will be centered around 3 main themes:

• Food
• Fiber
• Medicine

Specific topics will include: cultivation, processing and manufacturing, domestic and export markets, industry economics, legislation, intellectual property and investment.  International guest speakers will also provide valuable insights on global issues, lessons learnt and key opportunity areas.

Our objectives are to:

• Support the creation of a connected and collaborative industry
• Identify pathways to uniquely position ourselves on the world stage
• Create a platform for influencing New Zealand’s legislative position on industrial hemp and it’s uses

Please forward this email to anyone in your network who may be interested in coming along and email admin@hempsummit.nz if you have any suggestions on topics of interest or potential speakers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FinCanna Releases Infographic on the Green Rush

Source: cannabisfn.com

FinCanna has partnered with Visual Capitalist to release the following infographic on the Green Rush. Please click below to read more about the legalization impact on California.

Hemp homes are cutting edge of green building

By Wendy Koch
Source: usatoday.com


Hemp is turning a new leaf. The plant fiber, used to make the sails that took Christopher Columbus' ships to the New World, is now a building material.



In Asheville, N.C., a home built with thick hemp walls was completed this summer and two more are in the works.

Dozens of hemp homes have been built in Europe in the past two decades, but they're new to the United States, says David Madera, co-founder of Hemp Technologies, a company that supplied the mixture of ground-up hemp stalks, lime and water.



The industrial hemp is imported because it cannot be grown legally in this country — it comes from the same plant as marijuana.

Its new use reflects an increasing effort to make U.S. homes not only energy-efficient but also healthier. Madera and other proponents say hemp-filled walls are non-toxic, mildew-resistant, pest-free and flame-resistant.



"There is a growing interest in less toxic building materials, says Peter Ashley, director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.

"The potential health benefits are significant," he says, citing a recent study of a Seattle public housing complex that saw residents' health improve after their homes got a green makeover.



The U.S. government has not taken a "systemic approach" to studying chemicals in homes and instead addresses problems such as asbestos, lead, arsenic and formaldehyde only after people get sick, says Rebecca Morley, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing, a private research group.

She says green building so far has focused mostly on the environment, not the health of the people inside.

Ashley agrees that federal attention has been "sporadic," but says an interagency group began meeting last year to tackle the issue more broadly. He says HUD is funding more research on the health and environmental benefits of eco-friendly homes.

Some green-rating programs, such as the one run by the private U.S. Green Building Council, give points for indoor air quality.

"We are taking the next step in green building," says Anthony Brenner, a home designer with Push Design who created Asheville's first hemp home. "We're trying to develop a system that's more health-based."

Brenner says he's been searching for non-toxic materials because he wants to build a home for his 9-year-old daughter, Bailey, who has a rare genetic disorder that makes her extremely sensitive to chemicals. "We have to keep her away from anything synthetic," he says, or she'll have seizures.
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He says a hemp home can be affordable, even though importing hemp makes it more expensive than other building materials, because skilled labor is unnecessary and hemp is so strong that less lumber is needed.

The hemp mixture — typically four parts ground-up hemp to one part lime and one part water — is placed inside 2-foot-by-4-foot wall forms. Once it sets, the forms are removed. Although it hardens to a concrete-like form, wood framing is used for structural support.

"This is like a living, breathing wall," Madera says. Hemp absorbs carbon dioxide and puts nitrogen into the soil, so it's good for the environment, he says.

Alex Wilson, executive editor of Environmental Building News, says hemp can be grown with minimal use of chemicals and water. He says it has a midlevel insulating value (R-2 per inch) but is usually installed in a thick enough wall system to make it appropriate for all but the most severe climates.

The mixture, "Tradical Hemcrete," has not previously been used in U.S. homes, but in 2008 it went into a community center on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Badlands, S.D., as well as a small chapel and pottery studio near Houston, says Mario Machnicki, managing director of American Lime Technology, a Chicago company that imports hemp from the United Kingdom.

Asheville's second hemp home will be finished in about six weeks, says builder Clarke Snell of the Nauhaus Institute, a non-profit group of designers, engineers, developers and others interested in sustainable urban living.

Snell says the home, which has 16-inch-thick walls, is airtight and energy-efficient. He expects it to meet rigorous Passive House Institute standards, which call for homes to use up to 90% less energy than regular ones.

"On the coldest day in winter, the body heat of 10 people should heat the home," he says. "We're basically building a European home."

Snell says his group will own the 1,750-square-foot house, and its engineer will live there for a couple of years to monitor energy use.
He doesn't know how much it will cost because, as a prototype, it was built with donations and volunteer labor.

The owners of the first hemp home say it cost $133 a square foot to build, not including land and excavation.

"That's pretty remarkable" for a custom home in Asheville, which is a pricey area, says Karon Korp, a writer who moved into the house in July.

Korp says she and her husband, Russ Martin wanted primarily an energy-efficient home. They're not particularly sensitive to chemicals, but they were drawn to Brenner because of his modern aesthetic and green building enthusiasm. She says they're thrilled their house is made of a renewable, toxic-free material and hope it sets an example for the nation.

"Hemp could replace tobacco if it were legalized," says Martin, Asheville's GOP mayor from 1993 to 1997. He says some area tobacco farms have gone bust.

Martin says they have spent less than $100 a month so far to cool the home, which has 3,000 square feet plus a garage. It has 12" thick walls, Energy Star appliances, dual-flush toilets, high-performance windows and LED lights. Korp says they might add a windmill, because the house sits atop a mountain.

They say they have fantastic views. "We seen the sun rise," he says. She adds, "and the sun set."

Trump Administration Weighs In On Industrial Hemp

By Rod Knight
Source: cannabislaw.report

2-25-18

The Trump Administration (Administration) made public its views on industrial hemp last week. After speaking at the Governor’s Forum on Colorado Agriculture in Denver on February 21, Greg Ibach, undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), told the press that current hemp regulations are “fairly narrow”. He implied that the Administration does not want to see that change when the Farm Bill is rewritten this year, which will likely include a revision of the industrial hemp provisions.

“Opening the door wide open nationwide, with no restrictions, may not be in the best interests of the hemp industry. One of the challenges we maybe have in the hemp industry is to make sure that demand and production coincide.”

When asked how the USDA and the Administration envision hemp being regulated, Ibach said there’s danger to opening up the market to all states:

“We need to be careful so that we don’t kill the market for hemp by overburdening the market with supply before there is demand for it.”

Ibach went on to state that oversight of industrial hemp should not be with the USDA. Rather, the Administration contends it should be with the U.S. Department of Justice (Justice Department), which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Although it is true that there have been some concerns about oversupply, these statements are disingenuous, at best. First of all, the Administration routinely boasts about how quickly and thoroughly it eliminates regulations in the market. Its desire to regulate hemp is completely out of character. Second, the idea that the Justice Department and DEA should regulate industrial hemp is ludicrous. In fact, Congress has gone out of its way to get these agencies out of hemp’s way by enacting consecutive appropriations acts which specifically prohibit federal funds from being used to interfere with legal hemp. The most recent appropriations act actually calls out the Justice Department and DEA by name. So what gives?

I think there are three possibilities as to why the Administration has taken this position. The first is a simple lack of education regarding hemp. Without getting into politics at large, we’ve all seen this Administration take public positions on issues about which it has limited knowledge or understanding. Strangely, and hopefully, this is the most likely reason for Ibach’s statements. Despite its meteoric growth and expansion, industrial hemp remains widely misunderstood. If (mis)education is the issue, then that is something that can fairly easily be remedied. My concern is that there is active lobbying against industrial hemp by two powerful forces, Big Pharma and/or the DEA.

The second possibility is that so-called “Big Pharma” has the Administration’s ear. Medical marijuana, and, in particular, cannabidiol (CBD) from hemp, is cutting into its profits. Additionally, with several major pharmaceutical companies actively developing cannabinoid based medications, it is conceivable that they are quietly lobbying for greater restrictions on hemp and hemp-derived CBD to limit competition.

The final possibility that comes to mind is that the DEA has been exerting some behind the scenes influence on the Administration. The DEA has been notorious in its attempts to interfere with hemp, starting with blocking importation of seeds to Kentucky shortly after the 2014 Farm Act was enacted. The DEA is currently being sued for interfering with hemp-derived CBD. A bipartisan group of 28 Congressional representatives filed an amicus (“Friend of the Court”) brief in the case, stating:

“[T]he “principle” at the core of the [DEA’s Marihuana Extract Rule] was that DEA did not intend to follow the direction of Congress.”

The idea that the DEA should control a non-psychoactive agricultural product, rather than the USDA, makes no sense whatsoever.

Time will tell whether the Administration holds fast to its position. In the meantime, I recommend letting your political representatives in Congress know your views about hemp.

Rod Kight is a lawyer based in Asheville, NC. He is licensed in North Carolina and Oregon and represents legal cannabis businesses. You can contact him by clicking here.

Kight on Cannabis
84 West Walnut Street
Asheville, NC 28801

Western Australia hemp farmers praise higher THC content limit

By Emma Kirk
Source: watoday.com.au

The state government's boost to loosen THC levels in the hemp industry could not have come at a better time for Busselton hemp farmers.

Vasse Valley owner Bronwyn Blake said the amendment to allow hemp to be grown with a THC content of up to one per cent was fantastic.

Vasse Valley hemp farmers Bronwyn and Chris Blake. Photo: Supplied

Hemp farmers were restricted to the Industrial Hemp Act, which only permitted hemp with a THC content below 0.35 per cent.

Ms Blake said that while most hemp varieties were bred to have low THC levels, WA hemp farmers were at risk of losing their crop if the plants tested slightly over the limit.

She also said the variety of hemp WA farmers could access had a tendency to slightly top the 0.35 limit if the plants became stressed from environmental conditions.

"A lot of the farmers had trouble with their first crops, which went slightly over in THC," Ms Blake said. 

"One farmer had beautiful plants and we thought he would have a bumper crop but it came in at 0.5 per cent THC.

"He just could not use it and had to import more seeds or get more seeds from another farmer.

"To go from 0.35 to one per cent is such a massive increase and comes just before testing occurs in the next few weeks."

Food Standards and Australia and New Zealand Code permits the sale of food products derived from hemp seed with a THC content of up to one per cent.

Amending legislation on maximum THC concentration brings the WA industry in line with national standards and is expected to increase the number of varieties available for industrial hemp production.

"I am really happy WA has come to the table so quickly," Ms Blake said.

Vasse Valley hemp farmers roast seeds from the plants to give it a really intense flavour. The farmers then work with other food producers to make roasted hemp seed food and beverages.

"We wanted to do something we were passionate about and would not be too laborious, and hemp seemed to tick all the boxes," she said.

"We took a big risk growing something there was not a lot off or any of market for."

Since hemp foods were legalised in Australia, Ms Blake said there had been a lot of interest from the state government about what they do.

"There are not a lot of facts and figures about how it grows in WA, we had one crop which went well then another one that failed," she said.

Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said interest in WA's hemp industry had never been higher.

"The first WA hemp food and drink products are appearing in the market, and we want to support development of this job-creating industry," she said.

"We see real potential for a scale-up of hemp production in WA to commercial levels, helping to create jobs in agriculture and processing right across the regions."

 

 

Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Crucial In Opioid Death Reduction

By Terry Lassitenaz
Source: hempgazette.com

It appears just legalising medical cannabis isn’t enough to help deal with the opioid abuse crisis – dispensaries also play an important role.

A recent study looked at previous work that found medical marijuana laws reduce the daily doses filled for opioid analgesics and population-wide opioid overdose deaths in the USA; searching for the potential mechanism.

One of the very interesting findings with regard to reducing the damaged wreaked by opioids is that the over-regulation of medicinal cannabis dispensaries may be doing more harm than good.

“The key feature of a medical marijuana law that facilitates a reduction in overdose death rates is a relatively liberal allowance for dispensaries,” states the study abstract.

“As states have become more stringent in their regulation of dispensaries, the protective value generally has fallen. These findings suggest that broader access to medical marijuana facilitates substitution of marijuana for powerful and addictive opioids.”

Meanwhile in Australia, a University of Queensland drug abuse expert has challenged claims medical cannabis use has reduced opioid overdose deaths in the USA.

The challenge came after an article published on The Conversation regarding the issue; but not directly related to the study mentioned above.

“The statements that legalising medical marijuana reduces opioid overdose deaths by offering a less risky method of pain management are based on studies with results that have not been confirmed through more rigorous scientific methods,” said Professor Wayne Hall from UQ’s Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research.

It’s the second time the issue of due process and rigourous science have popped up in Australia in the last week; the first being the Royal Australasian College of Physicians arguing along similar lines about medicinal cannabis generally.

That article was criticised by Professor Iain McGregor, academic director of the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics.

“Rather than providing a coherent and balanced account of the current state of play, the “perspective” reads like a patronising and scaremongering diatribe, misrepresenting the literature to frighten off would-be prescribers,” said Professor McGregor.

While it might not be in the form some want, evidence concerning the potential benefit of cannabis in battling the opioid epidemic is growing – previous articles we’ve published on the topic can be viewed here, here, here and here; plus more can be found here.

 

Cannabis does not significantly impair driving: study

Source: echo.net.au

There is growing disquiet about the NSW drug driving testing regime. (file pic)

Nimbin’s Hemp Embassy is calling on police across Australia to ‘back off’ following the publication of a study that found cannabis use caused almost no impairment on driving.

The study found that the impairment that it did cause was similar to that observed under the influence of a legal alcohol limit.

Researchers at the University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator carried out the study, sponsored by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Institute of Drug Abuse, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The study, which was published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, also found that participants who consumed only alcohol weaved more during a 35- to 45-minute simulated driving test than those who consumed only vaporized cannabis.

Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone.

Nimbin Hemp Embassy president Michael Balderstone, who also leads the Australian HEMP Party, welcomed the study.

‘Finally some research to show how silly and damaging the saliva testing of cannabis drivers can be,’ Mr Balderstone said.

‘Many, many people have been punished severely losing their licence when their driving was never impaired.

‘Many lost their jobs as a result of this as well.

‘Hopefully the police across Australia will do the right thing now and back off. The issue re driving is impairment, surely…no matter what drugs or not you have in your system.’

The study found that, as expected, there was impairment in all areas when alcohol and cannabis were mixed.

‘But cannabis itself, when taken in moderate amounts, seems to cause no significant driving impairment.
In fact, some would argue that it makes them drive safer or slower,’ the study authors said.

‘The study’s findings further illuminate the fact that alcohol is a much more dangerous drug than cannabis, and somehow the former is legal while the latter is not.’

You can read more about the study’s results here.

 

Market demand, competition test strength of PHL’s abaca

By Jasper Y. Arcalas
Source: businessmirror.com.ph


Abaca or 'Manila Hemp' plant.

WE’VE been duped twice. For one, the coconut is not a nut. For another, Manila hemp is not hemp.

But the two, especially Manila hemp, are quite synonymous to one: the Philippines.

Unlike the Russian hemp and American hemp, both of which come from cannabis sativa, Manila hemp, which is locally known as abaca (Musa textilis), is a banana.

 

American educator Elizabeth Potter Siever wrote in her book, The Story of Abaca: Manila Hemp’s Transformation from Textile to Marine Cordage and Specialty Paper (2009), that abaca gained its moniker “Manila hemp,” in 1800s.

By those times, according to Siever, abaca was utilized as a cordage fiber, or for rope-making, particularly those used in ships and boats. “Actually, all rope makers of the time made little distinction regarding the biological family of the fibers they chose to use, but instead called them all hemp and sometimes differentiated among them according to their country or port of origin,” Sievert said.

“It seems likely that the traders and consumers of abaca had little concern for the botanical derivation of the fiber. Rather, they saw its importance only as one of a class of fibers [hemp] that could be spun into rope and would identify abaca the port from which they received it: Manila. Hence, the term, ‘manila hemp’ or simply, ‘manila,’” she added. Because of its high tensile strength and natural length, abaca became the widely used cordage fiber by navies since then.

Land area

THROUGH the years, land area dedicated to abaca farming has been constantly expanding to meet the growing demand for its fiber.

In fact, in 2016, total land area planted with abaca rose to a decade high of 180,302 hectares, from the 141,711 hectares recorded in 2006.

However, despite the increase in land area, the Philippine Fiber Development Authority (PhilFida) noted this hectarage level is considerably small compared to other endemic crops planted in the country.

“The ratio of the total land area for abaca planting over the total land area of the country reveals that only a small portion of the country’s land area is utilized for growing abaca because abaca farms are concentrated in isolated and mountainous areas,” the PhilFida said in its newly crafted “Philippine Abaca Roadmap 2018 to 2022.”

The PhilFida estimates the average abaca farm size in the country is only about 1.6 hectares per farmer.

“Almost one third of the abaca areas can be found in Region 5 or the Bicol region, with 52,493 hectares. The land area is comparable to combined abaca areas of Regions 13, 11, 12 and 6,” it said.

“Second to Bicol region is Eastern Visayas, with a total land area of 45,527 hectares. [The] Caraga and Davao regions ranked third and fourth with areas of 19,087 hectares and 15,880 hectares, respectively,” it added.

In terms of yield, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has the highest volume for the past 10 years, averaging at around 718 kilograms per hectare annually.

This was followed by Davao region with 509 kilograms; Bicol region with 455 kilograms; and, Eastern Visayas with 358 kilograms.

Production

DESPITE a size of farming of abaca of less than 200,000 hectares, the Philippines remains as the world’s top abaca producing country, accounting for at least 87.5 percent of global output.

In the span of the past decade, from 2006 to 2016, the country’s production of abaca fiber averaged at 67,329 metric tons (MT), according to the PhilFida.

Driven by favorable planting conditions, Philippine abaca output rose to a five-year high of about 72,000 MT in 2016.

“From 2006 to 2008 Eastern Visayas had been the leading abaca-producing region with an average of 23,560 MT,” the PhilFida said. “The last six years, however, was dominated by the Bicol region, contributing an average of 20,082 MT, or 35 percent.”

“Eastern Visayas followed with an average of 14,623 MT, or 25 percent, while Davao Region, [which] supplied 13 percent or an average of 4,376 MT, ranked third. Catanduanes consistently remained as the biggest abaca-producing province,” the PhilFida added.

Demand

IN terms of demand, local processors use an average of 49,260 MT or 76.51 percent of the country’s average yearly production of abaca fiber during the past decade, the PhilFidA said.

Abaca fiber is being processed locally into pulp, cordage and various fiber-craft items, including furniture. “The pulp sector consistently remained as the growth area of the abaca industry, utilizing an average of 37,043 MT, or 75.2 percent of the annual average local consumption and increasing at a minimal rate of 0.4 percent per annum,” the PhilFida said.

“The pulp millers’ utilization level is highly dependent on the demand for pulp by the specialty paper manufacturers abroad as abaca pulp is the raw material used in meat and sausage casings, tea or coffee bags, k-cups, bags, cigarette paper, currency paper, Nano cellulose [a material that enhances fiber strength], polyester and other specialty papers,” the PhilFida added.

Abaca pulp are usually exported to Europe, the US, Japan and China, where processing facilities capable of manufacturing specialty papers are located. There has been no specialty paper-manufacturing facility in the Philippines to date.

“The cordage sector, on the other hand, consumed an average of 8,493 MT of abaca fiber per annum, or about 17.2 percent of the yearly average usage of domestic manufacturers. Utilization decreased by 6.4 percent per year from 2006 to 2015,” the PhilFida said.

“Cordage and allied products have continuously been facing stiff competition from synthetics and other cheaper natural materials. Major cordage companies in the Philippines are the Manila Cordage and Pacific Cordage,” it added. The PhilFida, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, said the country’s revenue from abaca exports from 2006 to 2016 averaged $100 million.

“Some 87 percent, or an average of $87 million, came from abaca manufactures, such as pulp, cordage, yarns, fabrics and fiber crafts,” the PhilFida said. “The rest [13 percent] was from raw fiber exports with yearly average earnings of $12.94 million.”

Some of the top buyers of the country include the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Japan and the United States. The same applies for exports of abaca pulp and other manufactures.