LATEST ALERTS
Regulations governing hemp-derived CBD are likely to increase sharply in the near future but then tail off as the product is integrated into general regulatory frameworks for food, cosmetics and industrial products, according to an expert in international law.
At the same time, new regulatory issues will emerge in a number of different areas as global export markets for cannabis grow.
There will be a drive for more environmental regulation, and for greater intellectual property and trademark protections, while international drug treaties will be modified and new cooperation agreements set up, according to international cannabis advisor Charles Feldmann.
Although it is currently splintered along the regulatory regimes of individual countries, Feldmann, of Colorado, US-based law firm Feldmann Nagel Cantafio Margulis Gonnell, predicts the cannabis industry will consolidate over the next five or so years.
Right now, countries are scrambling to build true export models for the cannabis industry, with no US presence in the global marketplace, he said.
In the current patchwork of regulations, each country has its own import/export rules, and its own definition of what counts as cannabis. With each country that legalises medical cannabis, the market grows while commoditisation increases.
Eventually, Feldmann believes, the US will make the necessary legislative reforms and will then consume the global market. Until then, individual opportunities will flourish in smaller markets.
Youth vaping furore
Feldmann predicts that marijuana-derived CBD will see THC content driven lower and lower and that positive medical uses of purer CBD will be brought out by medical and scientific research.
Asked whether the furore over youth vaping in the US threatens to impact upon the regulation of cannabis products, Feldman told CBD-Intel there was some risk of that. But he linked the issue to the need for further research.
“Of course keeping all drugs away from kids is always going to be a goal, but vaping is just one means of consumption, and I see the vaping discussion as its own separate and distinct issue from the safety of cannabis consumption as a general matter,” Feldmann said.
“The science behind a vape pen, or whatever contraption vapes the cannabis, is a matter of engineering and design, and that issue has to be sorted out on its own before its application to cannabis can be properly evaluated.”
Charles Feldmann will speak at Global Cannabis Business Development 2019, taking place at the Crowne Plaza Portland-Downtown Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, on 28th February and 1st March. CBD-Intel managing director Tim Philips will also be a speaker at the conference.
The two-day event will feature a mix of presentations and roundtable discussions on issues affecting CBD, such as global legalisation and research and is intended for leaders in the medical cannabis and industrial hemp value chain.
Another event will be held at the Hotel Novotel Roissy CDG in France on 9th and 10th April to discuss the development of the hemp and cannabis markets in France.
A special 25% discount on tickets is available to CBD-Intel subscribers. Book using the code CBD on the following link: https://bit.ly/2Ins5Re.
– Daniel Mollenkamp CBD-Intel staff
Photo: Feldmann Nagel Cantafio Margulis Gonnell
