HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A judge put a hold on plans to implement the research provision of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana law Tuesday, siding with dispensaries and growers who challenged the Health Department's approach.

Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough issued a preliminary injunction that halted the agency's regulations pertaining to handing out additional licenses to growers and dispensaries that partner for research with medical schools.

RELATED: Marijuana Growers Seek to Extinguish Pennsylvania's Cannabis Research Program

McCullough said the regulations may go beyond provisions of the law and circumvent its detailed method of licensing growers and dispensaries.

"The regulations appear to be inconsistent with the legislative intent of Chapter 20, which was to permit distribution of medical marijuana for purposes of and in conjunction with research studies conducted jointly" with the medical schools, she wrote, adding the regulations seem "to require only a minimal commitment to research" in order to be licensed.

Read more

Top Image: © denissimonov | Adobe Stock

Black Hammer Brewing in SoMa debuted a very special beer for the 4/20 holiday in 2017: Toke Back Mountain, an IPA brewed with cannabidiol, the hemp-derived compound better known as CBD. The brewery said it was California’s first cannabis beer.

Since then, Black Hammer has done brisk business in the cannabis beer category, releasing eight brews containing CBD. “They’ve been extremely well received,” says owner Jim Furman. “Our line of CBD beers has been our most popular line.”

But a few weeks ago, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ordered Black Hammer to cease production of all its CBD beers.

Read more

DENVER (May 23, 2018) – PRESS RELEASE – NanoSphere Health Sciences INC, the nano-biotechnology company that has commercialized a patented delivery system known as the NanoSphere Delivery System, has been awarded the 2018 Technology Innovation Award by Frost & Sullivan as part of the annual Best Practices Awards for North America. These awards recognize excellence across a number of fields and are the result of independent research conducted by Frost & Sullivan, which specializes in business growth partnerships.

The Technology Innovation category of 2018 was awarded based on criteria including technology attributes, future business value, application diversity, customer acquisition and beyond. Previous winners of the Best Practices Award category include key pharmaceutical players such as Nemaura Medical, Boehringer Ingelheim, 3M and Acino.

Independent research concluded that NanoSphere Health Sciences has achieved truly superior delivery of pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutraceutical agents and that it outperforms competing solutions by providing significant biocompatibility, safety, efficacy and versatility. It was recognized that NanoSphere Health Sciences has effectively solved a complex problem in drug delivery with its unique ability to control the efficacy of drug formulations once inside the body.

The NanoSphere Delivery System is a smart lipid nanoparticle delivery platform. Patented ‘NanoSpheres’, or lipid nanoparticles, nano-encapsulate biological agents into a protective, phospholipid membrane. The encapsulated ingredients are rapidly delivered through the skin or mucosa to targeted sites with increased bioavailability, bioactivity and therapeutic potential. NanoSphere Health Sciences recently received the patent for this technology, giving it ownership over the biggest development in non-invasive medical delivery in over 25 years.

NanoSphere Health Sciences has developed products that successfully leverage the next-generation NanoSphere Delivery System in the cannabis industry. The company’s revolutionary Transdermal NanoSerum, a serum delivering cannabinoids through the skin, is ideal for localized pain and inflammation, as well as providing systemic therapy and relief from anxiety. The nano-encapsulation technology significantly increases the bioavailability of cannabis when compared to NanoSphere’s competitors. NanoSerum is already commercially available in Colorado under the company’s brand name Evolve Formulas and will soon launch in California, Arizona and Nevada. 

“The recognition of our NanoSphere Delivery System as a breakthrough innovation is a direct reflection of our team’s dedication to finding inventive solutions for improving the effectiveness and precision of how medical benefits are delivered,” said Robert Sutton, CEO of Nanosphere Health Sciences and Evolve Formulas. “Receiving this prestigious honor represents the culmination of many years of careful research, development and formulation.”

“NanoSphere Health Sciences stood out from its competitors in the 2018 Technology Innovation category. Each year, we look for disruptive technology that solves the most complex problems in the scientific world,” said Marta Piotrowska, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, who provided the independent analysis that led to this award. “Looking ahead, the application potential for this revolutionary NanoSphere Delivery System is limitless, stretching from big pharma to the personal care and beauty markets. For its strong overall performance that addresses major challenges and opens opportunities within the nano-encapsulation market, NanoSphere Health is recognized with Frost & Sullivan’s 2018 Technology Innovation Award.”

Top photo courtesy of NanoSphere Health Sciences

Washington, D.C. - PRESS RELEASE - On Wednesday, cannabis business leaders with the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) joined members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol to draw attention to the success of regulated legal cannabis programs around the country and to advocate for policy reforms to protect the legal industry.

Lawmakers including Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Matthew Gaetz (R-FL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Lou Correa (D-CA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Jared Polis (D-CO) voiced their support for preventing the federal government from prosecuting businesses operating in compliance with state laws, as well as current legislative efforts to open access to financial services, create parity in the tax code for legal cannabis businesses, end racial disparity in marijuana enforcement, and expand access to medical cannabis for our nation’s veterans.

This event coincides with NCIA’s 8th Annual Lobby Days, during which more than 200 cannabis industry leaders representing 23 states and the District of Columbia met with hundreds of congressional offices to discuss the success of legal cannabis programs and promote policies that will end governmental discrimination against their industry. 

“The states have already proven that replacing the criminal marijuana markets with tightly-regulated and transparent small businesses is working,” said Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. “Now the responsibility falls on Congress to reform federal laws so that the legal cannabis industry can be treated fairly, like any other legitimate business sector in the U.S.”

Also on Wednesday, NCIA is releasing a new report analyzing the progress made in states where cannabis is legal for medical and adult use. The report provides a detailed look at the economic and social impact of legal cannabis programs, success in reducing access for minors, ways to address continuing racial disparity in marijuana enforcement as well as access to legal business opportunities, and the need for fairness in banking and tax policy. 

The full report is available at https://thecannabisindustry.org/2018StateProgressReport.