Weekend round-up: The six biggest cannabis stories this week

It’s been another week of big news in the cannabis world.

At Cannabis Health, our in depth coverage of the ongoing growth of cannabis as a medical and wellness product continues.

Over at our new title, Cannabis Wealth, we’ve been following all the big industry and policy news in a week which has seen some important developments.

Been busy and want to get caught up in a hurry?

Here are the six things you need to read to stay in the loop this week.

1. Can CBD help long Covid sufferers? 

For some people, coronavirus can cause symptoms that last weeks or months after the infection has gone, some of which could potentially be helped by CBD.

Last year was a learning curve when it came to Covid-19, and one of the key findings to emerge from the pandemic was that, for some, it was far from a brief illness.

Can CBD help people struggling to shake the effects of the virus? Read more here.

2. Big changes afoot in the Netherlands?

The Netherlands has long been seen as a trailblazer on cannabis laws, largely because of Amsterdam’s reputation as a global hotspot for cannabis tourism.

The Netherlands is planning for a cannabis experiment to test the legal supply of coffeeshops

But the country’s laws have been flawed for decades and created an uncertain legal framework for sellers and customers.

A new experiment for how the market could work is under way – and it could have implications for medical cannabis users too.

Read the deep dive into a complex problem here.

3. Scottish medical cannabis taking off

Hundreds of Scottish patients have accessed medical cannabis treatment since the country’s first clinic opened last month.

Scotland’s first medical cannabis clinic says it welcomed more than 500 new patients in its first week of operations.

Sapphire Medical Clinics received Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) registration to safely prescribe medical cannabis to patients across the country earlier this year.

Big development – read all about it here.

4. Lesotho, the ‘world’s biggest cannabis farm’ and some big questions

Development on what could wind up being the world’s biggest ever medical cannabis farm in Lesotho are progressing.

But the operation raises some big questions about exporting production to a poor country with low wages in an industry which has always been keen to shout about its progressive values.

It’s complex and interesting – you can read the full feature here.

5. Britain’s ‘quiet cannabis revolution’

The CBD market in the UK is worth significantly more than previously thought but needs more government help to thrive.

CBD usage in the UK is growing all the time.

That’s the key message from of a new report by the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry and Centre for Medicinal Cannabis released today.

According to the new research, the industry generated £690 million in sales in 2021, well above the £526 million forecast produced in 2019.

Read more here.

6. Scottish cannabis farm gets big boost

A Scottish medical cannabis company has raked in £2m to help forge ahead with cultivation and extraction facilities.

Hilltop Leaf is in the process of developing a growing operation near Dumfries in south Scotland that has the potential to be one of the largest in the UK.

The seed funding round will support the development of the operation and go towards ‘creating a science-led Scottish pharmaceutical product while bringing jobs and innovation’ to the region.

Full story here.