As you kick off the week, here are five things making news in the cannabis industry:
- New Blog: Budget 2019: What’s in it for Cannabis?: The new federal budget includes a change to the tax structure around new categories of cannabis products and medical expense tax credit.
- Research News: The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada is joining with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to provide $1.5 million in funding for research into how cannabis can be used to manage the symptoms of MS as well as its effect on the disease. Daily Hive has the details.
- On March 22, Bill C-93: An Act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis was tabled in the House of Commons. A cross-Canada, ‘Pardon Truck’ run by the Cannabis Amnesty campaign calling for government to wipe clean minor cannabis convictions has hit the road again after making a first stop Friday in Vancouver. As the Vancouver Sun reports, organizers are petitioning Ottawa to go beyond pardons by expunging past simple possession convictions.
- “It’s very important that the small producers are brought in to the legal market. Many of them have been experts in their field, they are a significant asset to the industry and the country.” As the Daily Hive reports, David Hurford says the BC Small Cannabis Producer and Processor Co-op can help.
- Food for Thought: The introduction of edible cannabis products into the legal market provides an occasion for both education and harm reduction. As Huffington Post reports, Canada needs to settle on a safe standard dose for cannabis edibles because the THC content guidelines proposed by Health Canada could lead to unintended overconsumption.
