Category: Cannabis

More than a Cigarette

Setti Coscarella
(Photos courtesy of Taat Lifestyle and Wellness)
Taat products offer smokers their familiar ritual without the disadvantages of nicotine and tobacco.
By Marissa Dean
In recent years, we’ve seen the tobacco and vapor industry change dramatically—focus has been shifted to less-risky products, including heat-not-burn and low-nicotine products. Now, enter hemp.
In 2018, U.S. Congress passed the Farm Bill, legalizing hemp with less than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, in all 50 states. Since then, some tobacco farmers have either shifted to growing hemp or added it to their repertoire as an additional income source. In the November 2020 election, some states voted on cannabis legislation, deciding whether to legalize medical and/or recreational cannabis.
This poses the question of how the hemp and cannabis industry may interact with or change the tobacco and vapor industry. Some major tobacco companies have taken a stake in the hemp industry as it has grown while others are hesitant to go that route due to regulations and legality questions across states. Taat Lifestyle & Wellness seems to be bridging the gap between the two industries—its products will offer smokers a direct, comparable alternative to traditional combustible tobacco cigarettes.
Taat Lifestyle & Wellness is a publicly traded company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. According to its website, it is an early stage life sciences company. The firm says it aims to provide smokers with a better overall experience than smoking traditional cigarettes. Taat CEO Setti Coscarella notes that Taat is not your traditional cigarette. In fact, he classifies it as a completely new product.
“Nicotine is a problem,” said Coscarella, who was previously a lead strategist at Philip Morris International where he worked on the IQOS heated-tobacco product and studied smokers. “None of the tobacco companies or vape companies can wrap their mind around selling something that isn’t addictive. … [O]ur product is nonaddictive. So it has hemp, yes; it has CBD, but I’m not positioning it as a hemp cigarette with CBD because it doesn’t have the same experience as a hemp cigarette.”
Taat has created this new product using its proprietary Beyond Tobacco filler, a hemp-based filler that is processed to smell, taste and look like traditional tobacco but without the nicotine. “Nicotine as a drug is a very useless drug,” Coscarella said. “It does nothing other than keep you addicted to doing the thing that you need in order to consume that drug.”
The company’s goal with Taat cigarettes is to offer users another alternative to traditional tobacco products that will not become addictive. “I want to give smokers the freedom to choose; if they want to smoke, they can smoke; if they don’t, then they don’t have to. I think that is a very important freedom we want to give back to smokers. That’s ultimately why we exist.”

Taat cigarettes are designed to offer users an alternative to traditional tobacco products that will not become addictive.
Coscarella hopes Taat’s new products will allow smokers to make a choice—continue smoking traditional cigarettes or using vapor products, all with some level of nicotine in them, or switch to Taat, which offers the ritual of traditional cigarettes but does not contain any addictive drugs. Coscarella believes that choice is important. “I don’t think nicotine is the main reason people smoke; if it were, then for everybody who wants to quit, the [nicotine] patch would work. … If it were, then the vapes and the heat-not-burn products would have a higher long-term efficacy rate with actual smokers because I’m just giving you nicotine. But they don’t. [Smokers] go back [to smoking traditional combustible cigarettes] because there’s a certain ritualistic component on the other side that none of these other things have. I think it’s important to try to match that ritual where I think the low-nicotine products obviously would have something from that standpoint, but you still have a physiological piece that needs to counterbalance somehow.”
Low-nicotine products are attempting to “fix” the smoking problem—the idea behind these products is that smokers can switch to low-nicotine cigarettes and then eventually stop smoking. However, Coscarella does not think they will work very well. “You haven’t replaced it [nicotine] with anything. You’re just giving your consumers less of something.” Taat, however, aims to avoid that issue by replacing the nicotine with CBD in the products. Many people erroneously think that cigarettes calm them down, according to Coscarella, when in reality they feel calm after smoking only because they were experiencing nicotine withdrawal. Smoking provides the nicotine your body was craving. Taat products can give consumers that calming feeling to counteract the feeling generated from nicotine withdrawal, thanks to the CBD in the Beyond Tobacco filler.

Taat products will soon be on the market; on Dec. 11, products will be shipping to Ohio distributors for sale. Each pack will retail for $3.99—allowing users of any cigarette brand to afford Taat—and will be available for purchase by those aged 21 or older. Taat will have online age verification for purchases through its website and much like tobacco, will work with retailers to ensure their customers are of legal age as well. “We’ll have a self-declaration online, so someone should be over the age of 21. And then from a retailer standpoint, they should endeavor to police this as they do any combustible cigarette product that they would otherwise sell,” said Coscarella.
Currently, hemp is not regulated in the same ways that tobacco and vapor products are. Outside of the Farm Bill, regulations vary from state to state, and hemp products are not under the oversight of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or subject to anti-smoking bills or certain federal, state or municipal excise taxes. “That being said,” said Coscarella, “it’s imperative that we’re able to communicate what the value of this product is from a societal standpoint,” in much the same way that the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process aims to do with tobacco products.
Coscarella believes the FDA will eventually get involved with hemp. “If cannabis were to be legalized—depending on how the election pans out—it’s likely that it will require regulation, and if that happens, I don’t think they’ll carve out hemp. No different than how it was done in Canada. When they passed the Cannabis Act—the Cannabis Act encompasses both cannabis and hemp.” So while Taat isn’t currently faced with major restrictions, that could change.
Much like the rest of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the launch and marketing of Taat. While in-person events would help with building the buzz, Coscarella said, the company’s marketing plan will be heavily online-based. “I think you get a better return on investment from a digital ad that can be served to somebody when they’re in the time to see it.”
Taat cigarettes will be an interesting addition to the ever-changing smoking industry. As the company prepares to roll out this initial product, Coscarella is already looking ahead. “I think there are other areas within the tobacco space that would be interesting for us to look at, whether it be through different delivery mechanisms or different formats. … But initially, I think the exercise is to go after the biggest category and build a family of brands that can help capture some of those ancillary areas.”
Marissa Dean joined Tobacco Reporter in the summer of 2018 as a copy editor.Since that time, she has taken on additional responsibilities, including feature writing.Her skills span the publishing industry from layout and design to copy editing to content creation.

January 1, 2021
22nd Century Patent for Cannabis Technology

Photo: cytis from Pixabay
22nd Century Group has been granted a new U.S. patent related to the control of cannabinoid and terpene production in plants. This new intellectual property exclusively provides 22nd Century with unique and powerful tools to alter the cannabinoid biosynthesis pathway in hemp/cannabis plants.
“We are delighted to receive this patent, which is the result of work carried out by our own scientists. This important, new technology will allow us to genetically modify hemp/cannabis plants to modulate their cannabinoid and terpene profiles in order to tailor these plants’ therapeutic qualities and enhance the consumer’s hemp/cannabis experience,” said Juan Sanchez Tamburrino, vice president of research & development at 22nd Century Group in a statement.
“Our patent application describes eight promoters, which are essentially molecular on/off switches, covering all of the major steps in the cannabinoid biosynthesis pathway. Typically, developing hemp/cannabis plants with new cannabinoid or terpene profiles could take 10 to 20 years using traditional breeding methods.
“Now, with the combined technologies and know-how of 22nd Century and KeyGene, we expect to shorten the development timeline to create new, differentiated, hemp/cannabis plant lines in just four to five years. Doing so will provide the company and its potential licensees and customers with significant competitive advantage as hemp/cannabis continues to penetrate the life science, consumer product, and pharmaceutical markets.”
“At 22nd Century Group, we take a scientific and solutions-oriented approach to advancing ground-breaking, plant-based technology. We are excited to secure this patent, and we believe that it demonstrates our unique and leading role in plant science innovation within the $100 billion global hemp/cannabis market,” said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group.
The new patent, published as U.S. Patent No. 10,787,674 B2 and entitled “Trichome specific promoters for the manipulation of cannabinoids and other compounds in glandular trichomes,” enables 22nd Century to develop and deliver new hemp/cannabis plants that are designed to produce cannabinoids more efficiently.
The company can potentially increase the yield of plants, stabilize the level of cannabinoids that are produced, and create custom cannabinoid profiles optimized for specific therapeutic uses. 22nd Century will also be able to potentially modulate the terpene levels within the plant—increasing them to deliver new strains of cannabis for the adult-use/recreational market and reducing them to remove the odor and taste for improved application in foods and beverages.
Cannabinoids, such as CBD, CBC, and CBG, are valuable compounds that hold great promise for the development of new medicines and other therapeutic applications. Cannabis sativa is the only plant species that produces significant amounts of these compounds including more than one hundred different cannabinoids in varying quantities.
In nature, cannabis plants restrict production of these potentially toxic compounds to the trichomes which are tiny hair-like stems and globes that grow on the surface of the plant. To successfully manipulate cannabinoids, the company’s new technology activates molecular promoters, “on/off switches,” specifically and only in the plant’s trichomes where the majority of cannabinoids are produced.
These regulatory sequences dynamically enhance or restrict gene expression levels, controlling the expression of genetic information that leads to the production of cannabinoids.
December 17, 2020
U.S. House Votes to Decriminalize Marijuana

Photo: forcal35 from Pixabay
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level on Friday.
Dubbed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, the bill removes cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and facilitates canceling low-level federal convictions and arrests related to marijuana.
Among other provisions, the bill calls for an excise tax on cannabis sales and directs the money to be targeted to communities adversely affected by the so-called war on drugs.
The bill specifically adds incentives for minority-owned businesses to help them enter the cannabis market, which has exploded in recent years given the relaxation in controls in some places within the United States.
While the legislation is not expected to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate, marijuana has been gaining acceptance in many jurisdictions.
In a series of ballot initiatives accompanying the recent U.S. presidential election, several states already legalized marijuana. In early December, the United Nations reclassified cannabis as a less dangerous drug.
Further legalization of marijuana could open new opportunities for tobacco farmers faced with declining demand for their crops.
In 2018, U.S. Congress legalized hemp with less than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, in all 50 states. Since then, some tobacco farmers have either shifted to growing hemp or added it to their repertoire as an additional income source. Some major tobacco companies have taken stakes in the cannabis industry in recent years. Altria Group, for example, purchased a stake in Cronos Group, a leading global cannabinoid company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Pyxus International, the parent company of leaf tobacco merchant Alliance One International, purchased a 40 percent share in Criticality, an integrated industrial hemp company.
The global industrial hemp market size is expected to reach $15.26 billion by 2027, exhibiting a revenue-based compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent over the forecast period, according to Grand View Research. Additionally, according to Global Market Insights, the cannabidiol (CBD) market exceeded $2.8 billion in 2019 and is set to grow at around 52.7 percent CAGR between 2020 and 2026, with the global market valuation for CBD crossing $89 billion by 2026.
The opportunities presented by legal marijuana extend also to suppliers of the tobacco industry. For example. German tobacco machinery maker Hauni recently developed equipment or cannabis processing.
December 5, 2020
Zimbabwe: Cannabis Could Outstrip Tobacco as Cash Crop

Photo: NickyPe from Pixabay
Zimbabwe’s earnings from cannabis exports could outstrip those of tobacco by almost three times, according to local officials, reports Bloomberg.
Last year, the southern African nation legalized cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use. Since announcing rules for growing cannabis in September, the government has issued 44 licenses
Treasury spokesman Clive Mphambela expects sales to reach $1.25 billion in 2021. By comparison, Zimbabwe earned $444 million from the 2020 marketing season that closed in August, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board.
John Robertson
John Robertson, an independent economist based in Harare, said the projections were ambitious. “It’s a massive overestimate and ignores that cannabis is grown in many markets outside of Zimbabwe,” he told Bloomberg.
“It’s sold in grams, not in kilograms or tons, so there will be disappointment,” Robertson said. “The only enthusiasm will be from producers, but massive supply globally will depress prices.”
South Africa, Malawi, Zambia and Lesotho have also legalized medicinal cannabis.
In his budget statement on Nov. 26, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said cannabis production for medicinal purposes has “immense potential” to generate export receipts and tax revenues. A so-called cannabis levy will be introduced next year, in line with export values, Ncube said. Taxes of as much as 20 percent will be applied on oils, bulk extracts and dried cannabis flowers.
Growers, most of whom are locals with international partners, can produce $40 million to $46 million worth of cannabis a month, underpinning Treasury’s “very conservative” estimates, Mphambela said.
December 4, 2020
U.N. Reclassifies Cannabis as Less Risky

The United Nations (UN) has voted to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, reports The New York Times. The decision pertains to cannabis used for medicinal purposes.
Cannabis has been listed on Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs alongside drugs like heroin. The decision removes cannabis from this list.
The vote passed 27 to 25, with the U.S. and European nations among those in favor and China, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Russia among those opposed.
The change will open the door to more medical cannabis research. Local governments will still decide how to regulate cannabis, but many governments look to bodies like the U.N. for guidance.
“This is a huge, historic victory for us; we couldn’t hope for more,” said Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli, an independent researcher for drug policy who has closely monitored the vote and the position of member states.
The proposal was first presented in 2019, but because the decision was highly politicized, a final vote had been delayed.
December 3, 2020
The Next Level

Photos: Hauni
Hauni has entered the hemp cigarette market with three machines for cylindrical pre-roll manufacture.
By Stefanie Rossel
In the past years, cannabis has rapidly transited out of its dirty corner, turning into one of the world’s fastest growing industries. Business intelligence companies outbid each other with forecasts for the category. According to a 2019 report by Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics, for example, global licensed store sales are expected to reach $40.6 billion by 2024, and that estimate does not even take into account general retailers selling cannabidiol (CBD) products and cannabinoid-based drug developers selling marijuana-derived pharmaceuticals.
The U.S. is projected to remain the world’s largest market with a forecast $30.1 billion in marijuana spending by 2024, the report says. Canada, which legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018, is expected to experience similar growth rates. Despite slower growth, the total cannabis market, including medical use, is forecast to generate up to $7 billion in sales in 2020 with $2 billion to $4 billion in the legal recreational market, according to cannabisbusinessplans.com.
While recreational cannabis remains prohibited at the U.S. federal level, 11 states have legalized the substance since 2012. Medicinal use is legal in 33 states. According to New Frontier Data, 223 million Americans, or 68 percent of the population, now live in a state that has expanded access to CBD, medical cannabis or full adult use. The organization lists related investments of $13.8 billion and $11 billion in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
The 2018 Farm Bill has turbocharged the boom: Among other things, it removed hemp’s low amounts of THC from the Controlled Substances Act. Furthermore, the bill allows hemp production in all 50 states for any use, including flower production and CBD or other cannabinoid extraction, as well as interstate commerce. The U.S. defines hemp as cannabis that contains 0.3 percent or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in cannabis that produces the “high” people experience when they smoke marijuana or eat foods containing it. Legally, “marijuana” refers to cannabis that has more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight. For an intoxicating effect, a THC content of 5 percent to 10 percent is required. The nonpsychoactive component in cannabis, CBD, is believed to provide health and wellness benefits.
While Research and Markets expects the overall U.S. market for cannabis derivatives to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 23 percent by 2027, Nielsen has singled out smokable hemp as one of the fastest growing and most lucrative segments in the CBD and hemp industry. For 2020, the firm projects U.S. sales of smokable hemp to reach up to $80 million. By 2025, it is expected to stand at $300 million to $400 million, representing about 5 percent of the hemp-derived CBD consumer products category in the U.S., which Nielsen expects to increase from $1.7 billion to $2 billion in 2020 to $6 billion to $7 billion in the next five years.

Opportunity for technological progress
The considerable potential of the legal smokable hemp category suggests opportunity for suppliers of machinery designed for tobacco products. Almost two years ago, a U.S. provider of tobacco processing equipment already ventured into this field with dedicated cannabis drying and processing machinery. Now German tobacco machinery manufacturer Hauni Maschinenbau is entering the market. At the open house event of its Hauni Richmond subsidiary in October, the company launched three machines for cylindrical pre-roll making as well as a range of accompanying equipment.
Thomas Gruss
To efficiently increase production levels in the smokable hemp industry, technological advances are the next logical step, according to Thomas Gruss, head of business development for hemp/cannabis projects at Hauni. “Typically, the hemp cigarette industry consists of small-scale manufacturers that produce pre-rolls manually or semi-automatically,” he says. “To produce THC-containing pre-rolls made from processed cannabis flowers, the cones or tubes are stacked vertically into a tray. A so-called ‘knock box’ containing the ground cannabis flowers is put on top. By shaking the knock box, the blossom material is fed into the cones or tubes. Even some larger companies mainly work with knock boxes, which involves a lot of manual labor and is rather inefficient, resulting in an output of approximately 2,000 pre-rolls per day per operator.
“There are other manufacturers that use machinery, but this allows only for a typical manufacturing speed of 30 to 40 pre-rolls a minute,” Gruss continues. “A third group manufactures ‘king-size’ hemp cigarettes that are made from biomass and resemble regular tobacco cigarettes. Those companies produce on old cigarette-making equipment. Overall, there is a clear trend within the industry toward machine-made production, and it is toward cylindrical tubes as hemp cigarettes become more of a mainstream product. With our machine models, we want to address all three manufacturer groups.”
For tobacco cigarette manufacturing, the Hauni group of companies offers a range with a variety of production speeds. However, a one-to-one transfer of its tobacco manufacturing technology to the new category proved impossible. Cannabis is a more complex raw material than tobacco. The latter is consumed primarily for its main active substance, nicotine. The lion’s share of the world’s tobacco harvest ends up in combustible cigarettes, the dominant nicotine-delivery device. Farmers cure tobacco leaves—as opposed to blossoms—and manufacturers thresh it into a relatively dry, string-line mass that is comparatively easy to process.
By contrast, cannabis contains more than 100 different chemicals, called cannabinoids, each of which has a different effect on the body. The various plant parts fetch greatly differing prices on the market. The dried blossoms, which contain THC in the shape of small resinous beads, are the most valuable, selling for about $2,000 per pound. This means they cannot be damaged during the pre-roll manufacturing process. Processing the blossoms is also challenging because they are sticky, thus requiring frequent machinery cleanings. The finished joints sell for $12 to $20 per piece; unlike tobacco cigarettes, THC-containing pre-rolls are sold in batches of seven units at most.
To produce more affordable CBD-containing hemp cigarettes, which usually retail at $13 for a pack of 20, manufacturers use cannabis biomass, which consists of leaves, stems and blossom parts. This shredded hemp makes a crumbly filling, requiring the tube or cone to be twisted or closed at the end.
In addition to the mechanical challenges of manufacturing cannabis products, most players lack the financial resources of their tobacco counterparts. “The cannabis market is quite sensitive when it comes to large investments,” says Gruss. “Players in the U.S. are not willing to invest millions of dollars in a higher speed maker as tobacco companies would, as most of them have to finance their equipment from their own resources. Besides, the market is still small compared to the cigarette market. Our objective, hence, was to offer machinery that costs well below the million-dollar figure benchmark.”

For varying requirements
To cater to the cannabis sector’s varying needs, Hauni has developed three different solutions. The company’s tube-filling TFM is an entry-level model with an output of 85 pre-rolls per minute. The machine automatically fills cylindrical, standard pre-manufactured hemp filter tubes and closes their ends with a folding motion rather than a twisting motion.
Hemp or biomass is fed horizontally into the open tube, thereby avoiding any human contact with the raw material. The maker creates a homogeneous filling, which is compressed to make the material less likely to trickle out of the finished cigarette. Its careful handling of the filling material also makes the TFM suitable for larger companies manufacturing pre-rolls containing expensive flowers, according to Gruss. The machine layout has been kept simple, avoiding the need for a skilled operator. The TFM runs on household power, is easy to handle and to clean and allows for easy weight change.
Cantos is a semi-automatic maker that can process hemp biomass as well as pure flower material. The machine is based on the company’s tobacco cigarette rod maker technology and coupled with a flexible filter assembler. The maker allows for cylindrical rod formation with or without a filter, running at speeds of up to 150 pre-rolls a minute. The plug-and-play machine enables flexible format settings with only a small amount of format parts required for diameter changes and no parts required for length changes. It can handle small batch sizes, has an online weight control system and allows for the attachment of different filter types.
“For the TFM and Cantos, the stipulation was to design machines that require as little external infrastructure as possible,” says Gruss. “Unlike in the tobacco industry, there are few trained operators in the cannabis sector. The larger a machine, the more complicated and time-consuming the operating and cleaning process. We developed the Cantos in such a way that it is mostly cleaning resistant. The parts that need to be cleaned can be reached easily.”
Nano-H is the company’s premium model—a fully automatic maker for industrial production that can manufacture up to 5,000 pre-rolls a minute and has been optimized for shredded hemp blends and processed paper. Heavy particles such as stems and seeds are separated, and a microwave system with closed-loop weight control allows for highly accurate rod formation for a homogeneous hemp rod with minimized waste. Manufacture is batch compliant. Hauni provides full operator training and technical support.

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To handle the sticky raw material, Hauni deployed technology it had developed for other tricky products, such as kreteks. The cannabis machines are also capable of processing thin papers because cannabis consumers tend to prefer papers with gauges between 16 grams per square meter and 18 grams per square meter, which is thinner than papers typically used for commercial tobacco cigarettes. The construction of the filter in hemp cigarettes is equally important. Like the other components, it is supposed to be “natural” with low draw resistance and minimal taste adulteration. For many cannabis consumers, the primary purpose of a filter is not smoke filtration but to prevent particles from falling out of their cigarette.
In response to such preferences, Hauni has developed a “crutch-type” filter maker that manufactures biodegradable filters typically made from natural fleece or paper bobbins
To further support customers in their development of pre-roll products, Hauni also offers a hemp flavor collection and is testing a reconstituted hemp paper at its new pilot recon plant in Hamburg, Germany. “There is a lot of interest in the market to manufacture tobacco-heated products that contain hemp. Once the raw material has been processed into a reconstituted sheet, it can be used much more conveniently in a blend,” notes Gruss.
For the time being, cannabis cigarette products remain largely unregulated. Gruss expects this to change soon. “Tar and carbon monoxide limits will become relevant as well as hemp-specific alkaloids,” he says. Anticipating such developments, Hauni has adapted its quality control, emission testing and smoke analysis equipment for cannabis smoking products. Completing its offerings, the company has added a hemp recovery unit. Increased automation, he insists, will contribute to both the quality of hemp cigarettes and the growth of the sector.

Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

December 1, 2020
Malawi Gears up for Cannabis Production

Malawians are hoping that hemp earnings will help offset declining tobacco revenues.
(Photo: Taco Tuinstra)
Malawi is ready to start commercial production and processing of cannabis for medicinal and industrial use, reports Reuters, citing the country’s newly created Cannabis Regulatory Authority.
In February, Malawi’s parliament passed a bill that makes it legal to cultivate and process cannabis for medicines and hemp fiber used in industry but stops short of decriminalizing recreational use.
The board chair of Malawi’s regulator, Boniface Kadzamira, said his board had received more than 100 applications for licensing which were under review.
The license fees will range from $100 to $10,000 a year for the cultivation, selling, storage, distribution of industrial and medicinal hemp.
Kadzamira believes hemp has the potential to surpass earnings from tobacco, currently the country’s main export crop.
Malawi’s earnings from tobacco have fallen dramatically over the years in part due to declining demand and poor weather.
During the 2020 season, Malawi’s tobacco output fell by 31.3 percent, resulting in a 26.4 percent decline in the country’s overall tobacco revenues.
Due to the disappointing earnings, the country’s tobacco auctioneer, Auction Holdings, has failed to pay salaries for the last two months.
November 25, 2020
Several U.S. States Legalize Marijuana

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
Marijuana has been legalized in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota, Mississippi and Montana in a series of ballot initiatives accompanying the U.S. presidential election.
On Nov. 4, 2020, the majority of New Jersey and Arizona residents voted to approve constitutional amendments that would legalize marijuana for people over the age of 21. Since both states already allow marijuana for medical use, the next steps for New Jersey and Arizona would be to establish rules for regulation to implement the new policy and establish permits for vendors. According to a New Jersey analysis, “the cannabis market could generate around $126 million a year” for the state’s economy.
Voters in South Dakota approved marijuana for medical use. South Dakota has a second ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana, but on Nov. 10 the votes were still being counted. Mississippi voters approved an initiative to establish a medical marijuana program for patients with debilitating conditions. Voters in Montana voted for two initiatives to legalize, regulate and tax recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older, according to the Great Falls Tribune.
Eleven other states (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Alaska) and the District of Columbia already allowed legal recreational marijuana use prior to Election Day.
The global industrial hemp market size is expected to reach $15.26 billion by 2027, exhibiting a revenue-based compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent over the forecast period, according to Grand View Research. Additionally, according to Global Market Insights, the cannabidiol (CBD) market exceeded $2.8 billion in 2019 and is set to grow at around 52.7 percent CAGR between 2020 and 2026, with the global market valuation for CBD crossing $89 billion by 2026.
November 11, 2020
Recreational Cannabis Poised for Growth

Recreational cannabis sales will drive global legal market growth by 376 percent over the next five years, outpacing medical and CBD, according to global market research company Euromonitor International’s new cannabis database.
Recreational cannabis will capture 67 percent of legal sales globally in 2025, whereas medical cannabis will account for only 9 percent, declining from 23 percent in 2020, according to Euromonitor.
“New consumption occasions and tailored value propositions will drive the industry into fast-moving consumer goods territory,” says Spiros Malandrakis, head of alcoholic drinks at Euromonitor International. “The modern cannabis consumer will not only continue to drink less alcohol and smoke less tobacco but also diversify from traditional recreational flower to other formats.”
Flower remains the dominant legal cannabis format globally but will record the biggest share of sales decline, from 35 percent in 2020 to 27 percent in 2025, according to Euromonitor’s new webinar, “The Evolving State of Global Cannabis: Market, Consumers and the Future,” which is scheduled for Nov. 17. Topicals, tinctures and edibles will steal market share as the three fastest-growing categories, respectively, over the next five years.
Shane MacGuill
“Cannabis is already a nearly $170 billion global industry, but the legal market today is only approximately $30 billion,” says Shane MacGuill, senior head of nicotine and cannabis at Euromonitor International. “As regulation progresses, the legal market is expected to capture 40 percent of global cannabis sales in 2025, and companies will be able to tap into a large existing user base as well as nurture the curiosity of new adult consumers.”
Euromonitor’s new cannabis database provides global, regional and country-level sales and pricing across categories, including recreational, medical, CBD and illicit, and 10 formats, including flower, edibles, vapor and topicals, among others. The database also features a new Cannabis Survey, tracking consumer habits and attitudes in 20 markets.

November 10, 2020
Turning Point Invests in Cannabinoid Business

Photo: Herbal Hemp from Pixabay
Turning Point Brands (TPB) will invest $15 million Dosist, a global cannabinoid company. It has also signed an exclusive co-development and distribution agreement for a new CBD brand, created in partnership with Dosist’s THC-free business unit.
TPB has an option to invest another $15 million at predetermined terms within the next 12 months.
“The cannabis market is exploding, and now is the opportune time to invest in the space and significantly expand our addressable market,” said Larry Wexler, CEO of TPB, in a statement. “With its leadership in results-oriented plant-based formulas and dose control technology, global recognition, consumer trust and scalability, Dosist was the clear choice to be our new partner in this critical growth market.”
“We are extremely proud to partner with Turning Point Brands on our next phase of growth and distribution as we continue to transcend the way consumers think about their health and wellness,” said Gunner Winston, CEO of Dosist. “Turning Point’s leadership team has demonstrated remarkable foresight and vision about the future and opportunity for federally legal cannabinoid products. The synergy between our brands around this scope and mission is incredible and we are excited by what we will achieve together with this partnership.”
Dosist’s cannabis products are currently available in California, Colorado, Nevada and Canada, serving a total dispensary network of more than 700 stores. The company has plans to launch into key new markets in the coming months, adding geographies as they continue their North American expansion.
October 28, 2020