This week, the United Nations made a historic vote on cannabis used for medicinal purposes, choosing to remove it from the world’s list of drugs and rejecting setting a THC limit on medical CBD products. Meanwhile, New Mexico Highlands University is offering a certificate program to prepare its students to either start a hemp business or cultivate hemp.
Here are this week’s headlines you might have missed.
International: The United Nations Commission for Narcotic Drugs (CND) voted narrowly Dec. 2 to remove medicinal cannabis from Schedule IV of a 1961 treaty on narcotic drugs. The CND also rejected a recommendation from WHO to schedule medical CBD, leaving it outside of treaty controls. Read more
National: On Dec. 3, the House Democratic Caucus named Rep. David Scott (D-GA) the new House Agriculture Committee chairman, taking over for Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), who lost his bid for reelection in November. Scott, the first African American to hold the chairmanship, is seen by observers as an advocate for hemp, a champion for underserved communities and committed to bipartisanship. Read more
California: CanBreed, an Israeli cannabis genetics seed company, announced this week its acquisition of a 3.5-acre hemp farm in San Diego. The company is part of the Smart-Agro R&D Partnership, a publicly traded firm on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Read more
Iowa: Hemp Grower spoke with Robin Pruisner, Iowa state entomologist and self-described “Iowa Department of Agriculture hemp person,” to learn more about how this first year went—and where the state’s hemp industry is headed. Read more
New Mexico: NMHU is offering two 18-credit tracks for its hemp certificate beginning in January 2021: the business track, focused on entrepreneurship and innovation, and the science track, focused on cultivation. Read more
New York: Toadflax Nursery, based in South Glens Falls, recently filed a lawsuit against the Washington County sheriff and other department employees after deputies allegedly destroyed more than 250 of its hemp plants in 2019. Read more
