Global Ganja Report

Wisconsin became the latest state to pass a strictly limited semblance of a medical marijuana law on April 18 as the arch-conservative Gov. Scott Walker signed Senate Bill 10, allowing patients to receive cannabidiol (CBD) extract from a physician or pharmacy with a prescription. The law, already passed by both houses of the legislature, takes effect immediately. It passed the Senate with only one dissenting vote, pointing to widespread support for the measure in the Badger State.

The medical marjuana advocacy organization Mamá Cultiva, which has been campaigning on the issue across South America, is criticizing the new measure just passed by Argentina's Senate for failing to legalize personal cultivation. The Senate voted unanimously on March 29 to legalize cannabis oil and other derivatives for medical purposes. Talking Drugs blog reports that the bill is set to become law immediately upon receiving President Mauricio Macri's signature, as it was already passed by the lower-house Chamber of Deputies in November. Under the law, patients must register with a planned national program to be overseen by the Ministry of Health.

The group High NY, "New York's Cannabis Community," hosted an event on "How to Apply Your Skills in the Cannabis Industry" at a Lower Manhattan venue the evening of March 22, featuring speakers with background in the biz from California, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. Unlike these three polities, New York state has not legalized. But organizers took heart that on that very same day as their meet-up, chronic pain was added to the qualifying conditions under the Empire State's burgeoning if still limited medical marijuana program.

China is to get its first company dedicated to research, development and marketing of medicinal products based on cannabidiol, or CBD. The firm, dubbed XiBiDi Biotechnology Co, is to operate out of Pudong Technology Park, part of the Shanghai Pilot Free-Trade Zone. It will initially offer hemp-derived CBD oil, as well as hemp-based foods and beverages, according to a press release from ChineseInvestors.com, or CIIX. The Chinese character "XiBiDi" is homophonic to "CBD" in English.

A little New York-California cross-fertilization of herbal consciousness took place as Martin Lee, the author of Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana, spoke in Manhattan's East Village the night of Nov. 10 on "The Future of CBD and Medicinal Cannabis." Lee discussed his current work with California-based Project CBD, dedicated to promoting and publicizing research into the medical uses of cannabidiol, and Emerald Pharms, his CBD-oriented dispensary in Hopland, southern Medocino County. The event was hosted by The Alchemist's Kitchen, a New Age-flavored herbal apothecary—or "botanical dispensary"—on East 1st Street. Under New York state's medical marijuana law, the Kitchen recently launched a Bowery Cannabis Club, which specializes in CBD products.

The British government's Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Oct. 11 issued a finding that cannabidiol (CBD) has a "restoring, correcting or modifying" effect on "physiological functions." The Independent calls the move "a potential milestone in the campaign to legalise cannabis and bring about evidence-based laws regarding drugs."  The review of CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid increasingly studied for its therapeutic value, was undertaken following discussions with MediPen, a London-based company that seeks to market a CBD vaporizer.

A north Florida company on July 20 was awarded the state's first license to process and distribute medical marijuana for the limited number of patients who qualify under stringent regulations. Hackney Nursery, doing business as Trulieve, received approval from the state Health Department to process the state's first harvest at a facility in Quincy, with the first sales expected in the coming days at its Tallahassee dispensary..

Within 48 hours of the June 15 DEA raid on the facilities of his cannabis extracts company in Santa Rosa, Dennis Franklin Hunter was released without charges—and the enterprise, Care By Design (CBD), is back in operation. Advocates are hailing as a victory for the industry and user's rights. At least 150 patients, activists and supporters of the CBD Guild collective filled the steps outside the Sonoma County Superior Courthouse in Santa Rosa following the raid, the local Press-Democrat newspaper reports. Company spokesman Nick Caston, emphasized CBD's commitment to operating within the law, saying: "We produce medicine as determined by the voters in the 1990s, and we do it with the best practices of any company in the state."