LATEST ALERTS
25th July 2024
Cannabis – recreational
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Daily regulatory updates of legal changes in the cannabis sector, including monthly compilations
25th July 2024
- Canada: Health Canada has released a new webpage with contact information for cannabis and industrial hemp licence holders, applicants and the industry.
24th July 2024
- Thailand: Deputy prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that prime minister Srettha Thavisin has agreed to not re-list cannabis as a narcotic in yet another reversal in the country’s cannabis policy, press reports. Anutin, who spearheaded the legalisation of cannabis in 2022, said that the regulation of cannabis would now be handled legislatively through the parliament instead of as an executive regulation to re-list it as a narcotic. Proposed regulations to limit cannabis strictly to medical and scientific purposes have been on track for approval but have not yet been approved by the Narcotics Control Board. Political parties are now likely to submit draft bills on how to regulate the industry.
18th July 2024
- US - Delaware: House Bill (HB) 408 has been signed into law by governor John Carney. HB 408 allows temporary “conversion licences” to permit medical cannabis dispensaries to distribute recreational cannabis if certain conditions are met. It also allows the Delaware Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC) to open applications for conversion licences by 1st August of this year. Delaware legalised recreational cannabis last year, but sales have not yet begun.
18th July 2024
- Costa Rica: President Rodrigo Chaves told press he will not make further moves on the bill to legalise recreational cannabis and that the bill is practically archived. Speaking about the National Assembly archiving the bill, he said: “They have already issued their opinion – they filed it away – am I going to continue being a fool? They have already given their opinion before the people of Costa Rica – let them live with it.”
17th July 2024
- Czech Republic: A leaked new governmental draft of the Cannabis Management Act seeks to establish a fully regulated commercial adult-use cannabis market, media reports. National drug coordinator Jindřich Vobořil, who spearheaded the cannabis regulation draft, has announced he will resign from his role in August, but he continues to contribute as an expert adviser in the meantime. The new draft aims to legalise the self-cultivation of cannabis for personal use, establish a licensing and tracking system, and set up cultivation associations along with a regulated commercial cannabis market. We assume the draft will next be circulated publicly.
17th July 2024
- US - Federal: The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have issued another round of cease-and-desist letters to five companies allegedly producing copycat delta-8 THC edible products. The letters focus on the risk of consumption by children and overconsumption due to confusing and misleading packaging that resembles popular food products. The FDA has not approved any cannabinoid as a food ingredient, which provides the agencies with authority to take enforcement action. The agencies took similar action against six companies in July 2023.
11th July 2024
- US - Federal: The House Appropriations Committee approved a provision in the 2025 budget that would prevent the US Department of Justice (DOJ) from spending federal funds to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III drug, press reports. Although the provision presents a potential obstacle to the federal government’s rescheduling efforts, the budget still faces a lengthy process before approval, as it must be voted on by the entire House and Senate, the latter of which is controlled by Democrats, who are likely to oppose efforts to prevent the rescheduling.
11th July 2024
- Thailand: A health committee has approved a proposal to re-list cannabis and hemp in the narcotics list and will submit the proposal to the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) soon, press reports. The proposal would make cannabis buds illegal again, as well as any extract with more than 0.2% THC, while still allowing for stems, roots and leaves of the plant. Medical cannabis would also remain legal. The proposal calls for all necessary legal amendments to occur before 1st January 2025. Interior minister and former health minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who spearheaded cannabis legalisation in Thailand, says he will advocate against the re-listing of cannabis on the country’s narcotics list when it goes before the NCB for a vote, press reports. However, Anutin holds only 1 of 36 votes on the NCB.
11th July 2024
- US - North Dakota: Organisers of a ballot initiative to legalise recreational cannabis in North Dakota say they have submitted more than 22,000 signatures, 15,582 of which must be valid for the measure to reach the November ballot. If enough signatures are validated, voters will decide whether adults (21+) will be allowed to possess, purchase and cultivate certain amounts of cannabis for personal use. The initiative would allow for 18 recreational cannabis dispensaries and 7 manufacturing facilities in the state.
11th July 2024
- Philippines: Senator Robinhood “Robin” Padilla of the majority bloc Philippine Democratic Party has filed Senate Bill 2729, which seeks to amend the Vape Law to ban HHC e-cigarettes. The bill also provides that manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers and consumers of HHC-containing e-cigarettes will be punished based on the penalties under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
9th July 2024
- Germany: The first cannabis cultivation association in Lower Saxony received its approval yesterday (8th July), according to the press. In the district of Oldenburg, agriculture minister Miriam Staudte of the Green Party is said to have handed over the first licence. “As far as consumer protection is concerned, it is clear to me: cultivation by associations avoids the risks of illegally sold cannabis, such as excessive THC levels,” the minister said.
4th July 2024
- Switzerland: An initial evaluation of the legal distribution of recreational cannabis as a pilot project in Basel, known as the Grashaus Projects study, has shown that participants have increasingly used lower-risk products such as vapes and edibles compared to smoking, press reports. In addition, participants said they had consumed significantly less cannabis from illegal sources since the start of the study.
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