Cannabis and Big Business

Cannabis is now fully legal in Canada and rapidly taking over the rest of the world, as soon as politicians get their acts together. Even though outlets are limited and the industry is in its nascent stages, big business is beginning to pour billions in investment to get ahead of the pack for worldwide dominance. Now that hemp is legal and no longer controlled by the Controlled Substance Act in the US, some say it is the crack in the dam and time to look for even more action and investments. Following are a few recently announced deals.

AB InBev (Budweiser, Labatt's, Stella Artois, and more) said it is teaming up with Canada's Tilray to research cannabis-infused drinks. Together, they will invest a combined $100 million into researching non-alcoholic drinks containing cannabis elements.

Marlboro owner Altria invested $1.8 billion in cannabis company Cronos. Phillip Morris is also looking for a cannabis partner to invest in.

Constellation brands (Corona and others) invested four billion dollars into Canopy Growth, another Canadian marijuana business.

Heineken launched Hi-Fi Hops, a cannabis-only beverage in a handful of dispensaries in California. The beverage is designed to taste like beer, but does not contain alcohol. Currently, the beverage comes in a ten-milligram version with THC, and a hybrid version with five milligrams of THC and five milligrams of CBD.

Molson Coors Canada announced a joint venture with The Hydropothecary Corporation, a recognized leader in Canadian medical cannabis to develop a line of non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages.

Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis Inc. recently announced a license agreement with Alcanna, Canada’s largest private-sector liquor retailer paying $82.5 million for a 19.9 percent ownership interest in Alcanna, which at the time was called Liquor Stores N.A. Alcanna already begun converting some of its 229 liquor stores into cannabis retail outlets.

Microsoft shook the cannabis industry and much of the business world when it announced that it would be entering the cannabis industry via a partnership to provide seed-to-sale tracking software, a lucrative sector in cannabis.

Jack in the Box fast-food chain teamed up with the Snoop Dogg-backed cannabis media company Merry Jane to offer a limited-time meal for the cheeky price of $4.20. It is available at a handful of locations in Southern California. The meal was more symbolic than it was an actual entry into the cannabis industry. It marked the first time a non-cannabis company the size of Jack in the Box publicly marketed directly to cannabis consumers.

Walmart, Amazon, and Home Depot sell hydroponic equipment, grow lights, and a number of other products that are used for cultivating cannabis. These are essential items for some cannabis growers, but they have other uses too, so the retailers selling them do not necessarily raise eyebrows. They also sell products that are specifically geared towards cannabis cultivation. American Cannabis Company has a distribution agreement with all three retailers. The retailers will distribute such products as SoHum Living Soils – designed for cannabis cultivation.

Incidentally, investing in cannabis stocks is looking like investing in Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and others was, before they achieved wildly inflated prices they command today.

Hemp CBD vs. Cannabis CBD

CBD (cannabidiol) oil and hemp oil are both low in THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), but the difference in the amount of CBD these products contain is high.

Hemp oil usually has about 3 to 5 percent of CBD, while cannabis CBD oil has about 18 to 20 percent. It is the higher concentration that makes cannabis CBD beneficial in the treatment of various health disorders.

Hemp oil based CBD products do not contain enough of the compound to be considered much more than a health supplement. These are the products found in health food and other stores and legal in all 50 states.

Consider hemp oil-based CBD as a vitamin grade and Cannabis CBD as pharmaceutical grade.
Incidentally, Hemp CBD is regulated by the FDA as a dietary supplement, and like other dietary supplements the FDA is “not authorized to review dietary supplement products for safety and effectiveness before they are marketed.”

Hemp and marijuana are both Cannabis. Hemp is Cannabis sativa, and marijuana is either Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica. Hemp is the common and legal term for cannabis that contains less than .3% THC. Marijuana is the common and legal term for cannabis that contains .3% and more THC.

Cannabis History

US Drug Enforcement Administration Museum in Arlington, Virginia, states that the oldest written references to cannabis date back to 2727 B.C., when the Chinese  supposedly discovered the substance and used it medicinally. Ancient Taiwanese were using hemp fibers to decorate pottery about 10,000 years ago, according to "The Archaeology of Ancient China." The plant itself was in use in both Europe and Asia more than 10,000 years ago and grew naturally across both continents.

According to a recent study, the world's first-known pot dealers were the nomads of the Eastern European Steppe. The Yamnaya, traders from what is now Russia and Ukraine, may have traded cannabis throughout Europe and East Asia about 5,000 years ago.

Archaeological records show a spike in cannabis use in East Asia around 5,000 years ago, at the time when the nomadic Yamnaya established a trade route across the steppes. Yamnaya sites show signs of cannabis burning, suggesting they may have brought the habit of smoking marijuana with them as they moved about.

The difference between hemp and pot is a single genetic switch. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan announced that they discovered the genetic alteration that allows psychoactive cannabis plants (cannabis sativa) to give users a high, compared to industrial hemp plants, which do not.

Industrial hemp plants are the same species as marijuana plants, but they do not produce a substance called tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA). This is the precursor to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in pot. Hemp plants fail to produce this substance because they lack a gene that makes an enzyme to produce THCA. Hemp is rich in non-psychoactive CBDA, while marijuana produces THC.

In the US, before the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, cannabis was a common ingredient in medicinal tinctures, and sellers were not required to mention it on their labels. During the 1920s and 1930s, Mexican immigration to the United States spiked as a result of the Mexican Revolution. People moving from Mexico brought along the custom of using marijuana for recreation, and the drug became linked with public fears of the newcomers.

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Incidentally, it is not possible to overdose on marijuana like you can on heroin or cocaine. 

CBD vs. THC

Different strains of cannabis have different and higher CBD or higher THC levels.
CBD is the abbreviation for cannabidiol, the cannabinoid second only to THC when it comes to average volume. Recently, research has shown CBD to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-anxiety properties without the psychoactive effects, such as getting high. Its use looks promising to combat  Crohn’s disease, PTSD, multiple sclerosis, and Dravet’s Syndrome.

THC is one of over 480 different compounds present in the cannabis plant. So far about 85 have been identified as cannabinoids The most well known of these compounds is the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC.
Bottom line, THC is the stuff in cannabis that makes us high, while CBD is the stuff in cannabis that is used for medicinal purposes and does not make us high. Neither has a lethal dose.


Incidentally, marijuana is the most-consumed illegal drug in Germany, but as of this month, March, cannabis has expanded medical and legal allowances. Now doctors can simply write their patients a prescription if, for example, they suffer from chronic pain or a serious loss of appetite due to an illness. German health insurance providers also now must cover the costs of cannabis treatments.

CBD vs. THC

 Cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are the two main ingredients in a cannabis plant. Both CBD and THC belong to a unique class of compounds known as cannabinoids.

While many strains of marijuana are known for having abundant levels of THC, high-CBD strains are less common. THC is probably best known for being the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. CBD is non-psychoactive. In other words, CBD does not get you high. This unique feature of CBD is what makes it so appealing as a medicine.

THC is known to cause some people to feel anxious or paranoid, but CBD is believed to have the opposite effect. Studies show that CBD works to counteract the anxiety caused by ingesting THC. A number of studies also suggest that CBD can reduce anxiety when administered on its own.

In addition to being non-psychoactive, CBD seems to have antipsychotic properties. Researchers believe that CBD may protect marijuana users from getting too high by reducing the psychosis-like effects of THC. On its own, CBD is being tested as an antipsychotic medicine for people with schizophrenia.

One of the most common uses of cannabis is as a sleep aid. THC is believed to be responsible for most of marijuana’s sleep-inducing effects. On the other hand, studies suggest CBD acts to promote wakefulness, making CBD a poor choice as a sleep medicine. The opposite effects of CBD and THC on sleep may explain why some strains of cannabis cause users to feel drowsy while others are known to boost energy.

While most countries have strict laws surrounding cannabis and THC, the legal status of CBD is less clear. In the United States, CBD is technically illegal since it is classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law. A pharmaceutical form of CBD, called Epidiolex, was only recently cleared by the FDA to be tested in children with severe epilepsy.

CBD is also found in hemp, which can be legally imported and sold in the U.S. Some companies have taken advantage of this loophole by importing high-CBD hemp extracts from other countries where hemp is produced.