American Cancer Society

Cancer is a beast that comes in many forms and often requires multiple strategies to overcome, including medical cannabis. The American Cancer Society (ACS) has supported medical cannabis research since the 1990s. The organization officially supported California’s Senate Bill 535 in 1997, for instance, which focused on medical cannabis research. SB 535 was controversial but established a $1 million state research program at the University of California to determine the efficacy of medical cannabis for treating AIDS-related wasting syndrome, glaucoma, and cancer. Currently, the ACS does not take an official stance when it comes to cannabis legislation.

American Nurses Association

In June 2003, the American Nurses Association (ANA) issued a resolution saying that the organization aims to “support the right of patients to have safe access to therapeutic marijuana/cannabis under appropriate prescriber supervision.” The organization added that the needless criminalization of cannabis creates a situation that makes it harder for patients who rely on medical cannabis. In 2006 the American Cannabis Nurses Association was created, and gradually helped the ANA warm up to the idea of medical cannabis. In 2023, the ANA went further and officially recognized cannabis nursing as a specialty nursing practice within the organization.

American Osteopathic Association

The field of osteopathic medicine often involves many types of alternative therapies as they relate to our overall health and well-being. In 2011, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) issued a resolution saying that the organization supports “well-controlled clinical studies on the use of marijuana and related cannabinoids for patients who have significant medical conditions.” As recently as 2018, the AOA reiterated its stance, announcing that it officially supports the review of the classification of cannabis at the federal level as it currently falls under Schedule I, in order to facilitate advancement research for health purposes.

Health Canada

Health Canada, a federal institution relatively similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has been involved in Canada’s medical cannabis industry for decades, showing support early on amid the country’s path to legalization. Former Health Canada spokesman Dann Michols told the Ottawa Citizen in 1997 that there is no difference between cannabis and other useful medicines such as morphine and aspirin, which were originally derived from plants. Health Canada has been heavily involved in regulating medical cannabis in Canada for over 20 years. For instance, Health Canada employs a rigorous tracking system in an attempt to thwart illegal cannabis operations.

National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM)

Researchers associated with the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a piece in the National Academy Press in 1999 called “Marijuana as Medicine: Assessing the Science Base.” In it, they wrote that “scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation.” They also recognized the fewer harms of cannabis compared to drugs like opioids, writing that “the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications.”

This article was originally published in the June 2024 issue of High Times Magazine.

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Forget ketamine- and MDMA-assisted therapies: A psychedelics manufacturing company is moving forward with cocaine and heroin—with an end goal to fight fentanyl overdoses and drug addiction.

British Columbia-based Lucy Scientific Discovery, a psychedelics manufacturing company focused primarily on emerging psychotropics-based medicines, announced today in a press release that it has filed an amendment to its current Dealer’s License with Health Canada. The amendment would add cocaine and heroin to its existing list of approved substances the company is authorized to manufacture.

Lucy already is authorized through Health Canada to manufacture several controlled substances, including the psychedelics psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, psilocin, N,N-DMT, mescaline, and 2C-B. Adding cocaine and heroin to the portfolio could lead to treatments to fight addiction.

“We look forward to a time when Lucy can safely supply harm reduction programs globally, aiming to reduce lethal and or negative consequences associated with adulterated drug supply, particularly considering that fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of deaths among 18 to 45-year-olds in the United States,” said Lucy CEO Chris McElvany. “It’s time to realize that the failed war on drugs has caused additional harm to the masses worldwide, and harm reduction programs will lead to less death and more treatment options in the long term.” 

It reflects a sea of change in the way controlled substances are being explored for potential benefits in the field of medicine. With more focus on a public health response to the drug crisis, the company can provide more opportunities for people who use substances to gain access to more harm reduction and treatment options. 

Lucy’s Dealer’s License under Part J of the Food and Drug Regulations of the Food and Drugs Act (Canada) was issued by Health Canada’s Office of Controlled Substances. 

The license enables Lucy to develop, sell, deliver, and manufacture via extraction or synthesis certain pharmaceutical-grade ingredients. The company also works with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that are used in controlled substances as raw material precursors.  

The company works with raw materials, crude extracts, targeted formulations, single-molecule fractions, as well as white label and private label products. 

Alternative therapies to control overdoses are needed now more than ever: The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collects data on deaths involving drugs commonly associated with fatal overdoses. 

Over 106,000 people in the U.S. died from drug-involved overdoses in 2021, mostly due to prescription opioids as well as illegal drugs, the CDC says, according to the latest available data. 

Lucy Launches IPO

Lucy commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on Feb. 9 under LSDI. Lucy announced the closing of its IPO on Feb. 13 for gross proceeds of approximately $7.5 million. After going public with an IPO, Lucy’s leadership believes the company can impact the field of psychedelic medicine.

Lucy also announced today that McElvany, Richard Nanula, Executive Chairman of Lucy, and other members of the company’s board of directors and leadership team will ring the Nasdaq closing bell to celebrate its new IPO. 

“We are excited to celebrate this victory at Nasdaq’s iconic bell ringing ceremony, as today marks an important milestone for the Company,” McElvany stated. “We are pleased to celebrate many months of hard work and team effort that led to the successful completion of our IPO. Seeing Lucy, a pioneer in psychedelics manufacturing, take the next step in its development by becoming the first psychedelics manufacturing company to be listed on NASDAQ is a huge accomplishment. This milestone marks a significant step in the company’s growth and plans for expansion. We look forward to the opportunities ahead of us to continue working on improving mental health and finding sustainable solutions for treatment.”

Stay tuned to see where Lucy goes in this latest development.

Disclaimer: High Times is an affiliate of Lucy Scientific Discovery, Inc.

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For the first time since Heath Canada began tracking it after legalization, they report that over a quarter of their domestic cannabis crop was destroyed in 2021. Over 425 million grams, a full 26% of the unpackaged dried flower produced last year was destroyed, along with all the resources that went into growing it, leading to an environmental nightmare for a supposedly green industry. 

Glut of Unsellable Products Leads to Astronomical Rate of Product Destruction

In addition to the unpackaged dried cannabis that was destroyed, more than 140 million grams of unpackaged extracts (17%), edibles (4%), and topicals were destroyed (4%). If that wasn’t bad enough, more than 7 million packaged products were also destroyed (on average, 3% of the total). The percent of the crop destroyed has gone up every year that Health Canada has data available, with last year seeing a dramatic increase from 19% to 26%, but experts suspect that is still an undercount. “The 425 million grams destroyed is likely only a fraction of the cannabis that was grown but has no market, tons of product remains in inventory in various formats,” says Stewart Maxwell, a crop consultant and founder of Elevated Botanist, adding “I have seen fresh frozen product offered on the market that is several years old.”

Tammy Jarbeau, Senior Media Relations Advisor for Health Canada, told High Times that the reasons for product destruction “include, but are not limited to: crop losses; post-harvest disposal of unusable plant material (e.g., stalks); recalled products; and elimination of unsold or returned products.” Maxwell noted that when it comes to packaged products, “any typo on a label can cause a recall,” which may be a contributing factor to the millions of packaged products destroyed. While, thankfully, “Producers must have recall insurance,” that costs tens of thousands of dollars per year. Unfortunately, Jarbeau was clear that, due to how they collect their data, Health Canada does not know “the amount or percent of cannabis destruction that can be attributed to recalled products.”

Quantities of Unpackaged Cannabis Destroyed (January – December 2021)

Quantities of Packaged Cannabis Destroyed (January – December 2021)

Source: Health Canada

The Root Cause Of Oversupply – Speculative Investment

The huge increase in crop destruction last year is quite paradoxical, as it came at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic drove up cannabis sales in Canada. So, while sales were very good, they were not good enough to deal with a severe oversupply in the market. Jarbeau called the destruction “a part of normal business practices” and attributed the escalating rate of destruction to “the increase in number of the federal license holders since 2018.” Maxwell had a more pointed view, “The glut of product on the market is entirely a factor of overproduction driven by investment hype.” At the onset of legalization, many large companies “were able to raise billions on promises to dominate a brand-new industry,” using square footage of cannabis canopy as a selling point, which Maxwell says led to “an exponential overbuilding of cultivation facilities.” Making matters worse, that cannabis was not very good and didn’t sell, which led to “many of these facilities were shuttered,” such as the Aurora Sky facility in Edmonton. 

An Environmental Catastrophe with Incalculable Costs

Maxwell says that based on the typical cost of goods sold, “the cost of the product destroyed is in the billions,” but that doesn’t take into account the cost of the facilities themselves and other resources spent to grow the cannabis. “This overproduction is an environmental catastrophe and the energy required to cultivate this glut is incalculable,” says Maxwell, “When facilities costing tens of millions of dollars are built, then closed without ever producing product of any quality, the destruction of capital and energy resources is astounding.” 

When asked if they collect information on the water, fertilizer, and other resources used when growing cannabis, Jarbeau told High Times that “Health Canada does not collect this information from license holders.” That means there is no way to accurately know exactly how much of and which resources were destroyed along with those 425 million grams of cannabis. This is one area where data collection can be improved both in Canada and the US to better understand how cannabis can be most efficiently grown.

Can Remediation Be Salvation?

You may be wondering, with billions of dollars of cannabis being destroyed every year, who is left in the red? Maxwell says that “Cannabis producers, and their investors are the losers here, and consumers are the winners.” Costs have dropped consistently both in Canada and around the US, where “it is now possible to purchase an ounce of decent weed for just over a hundred bucks.” According to Maxwell, that plummeting price has “almost entirely disrupted the legacy market,” and even growers using artisanal methods to produce premium flower “struggle to achieve profitability due to the glut of product on the market, excise tax issues, and the regulatory cost burden.” 

Anyone familiar with the cannabis industry has likely heard the term “remediation” before, meaning, to remedy something, which can range from methods of reducing contaminants in a product (pesticides, heavy metals) or reducing the THC content of a hemp product to ensure it legally can be sold as hemp. Remediation is a way for cannabis producers to salvage a batch of products that otherwise would be unable to be sold, and would be a massive waste of money and resources. 

Unfortunately, it does not appear that remediation is an option here. “To my knowledge, there is no avenue to direct excess cannabis flower to other product streams,” says Maxwell, “The product must be destroyed as per Health Canada guidelines,” which include incineration, composting, or mixing with kitty litter. “It may be possible for cannabis to be used in other applications,” says Jarbeau, “however, depending on the activity, it could still be subject to the requirements under the Cannabis Act and its regulations as well as requirements under other Acts and regulations.” Those regulations and requirements can be pretty burdensome, to the point where attempts to remediate products might not even be worth it. One bright spot Jarbeau mentioned was that “Certain cannabis plant parts (e.g. mature stalks stripped of their leaves, flowers, seeds, and branches) … are exempted from the application of the Cannabis Act,” and could be remediated into other uses without a license.

Bigger Than Canada, Bigger Than Cannabis

Unfortunately, the problem of widescale product destruction is not unique to Canada or to the cannabis industry. While Canada destroyed 26% of their unsold or unsellable cannabis flower last year, the US destroyed nearly 11% of our hemp crop because it tested “hot,” above the 0.3% THC limit. While 11% is the average, it is much worse in some states, like Tennessee, where the Department of Agriculture reports “42% of crops are being found non-compliant.”

While the reasons are different, the end result is the same, millions of pounds of cannabis and hemp plants being destroyed rather than used to make products, with investors, farmers, and other businesses left in the red. And remember, it isn’t just the cannabis being destroyed here, but all the water, fertilizer, and other resources that went into growing it. On a deeper level, in many cases it is someone’s dream being destroyed as well, with legacy farmers being forced out of the industry they created while being offered insultingly low prices for artisanal quality flower. 

Now that 2022 draws to a close, Health Canada will be compiling their data from this year, and if current trends hold, Canadian cannabis businesses will be destroying around 1/3 of their unpackaged cannabis crop next year. 

Follow Up After Hearing Back from Health Canada

“I didn’t realize that that number represented total cannabis waste destroyed,” says Maxwell. “Cannabis waste is regularly destroyed during the growing process and at harvest. The weight of this waste varies dramatically based on water content. Sometimes waste is destroyed right away, and the weight is mostly water weight. Other times the waste is weighed, then stored until there is a large amount, then weighed again, the discrepancy is justified in documentation as due to water loss, and the dry waste is then destroyed. As you can imagine, with all of these variables, it is not possible to determine which portion of the total waste would be saleable (but unsold) flower, as compared to stem and leaf waste. I would estimate that for every gram of saleable flower, 2 or more grams would be destroyed as unusable byproduct.

“It would be much more interesting to know the ratio of finished saleable product produced, relative to the annual consumption in Canada,” Maxwell adds. “This would give a much better insight into the scale of overproduction. I would estimate that the vast majority of finished product that is destroyed is excess product rather than recalled product. I hope this helps.”

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Prosecutors with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) told a Canadian court on Wednesday that they had no reasonable expectation of gaining a conviction against three former executives of the cannabis firm CannTrust Holdings and asked to withdraw charges against the men. But defense lawyers for former CannTrust CEO Peter Aceto, former chairman Eric Paul and former vice-chairman Mark Litwin have asked the judge for a full acquittal in the case.

“After careful review of the evidence during the trial, we are of the view that as charged, there is no reasonable prospect of conviction,” OSC lawyer Dihim Emami told Victor Giourgas, the judge presiding over the case.

The case involved allegations that Aceto, Paul and Litwin had overseen the illegal cultivation of thousands of kilograms of cannabis for Canada’s regulated market. In July 2019, CannTrust revealed that Health Canada, the country’s national health department and chief federal regulator of the cannabis industry, had determined that the company’s cultivation facility in Pelham, Ontario was found to be non-compliant with some regulations. The company had accepted the finding, noting that five rooms being used to grow cannabis at the Ontario facility were not properly licensed for cultivation between October 2018 and March 2019. The rooms were not fully licensed to cultivate cannabis until April 2019.

“Our team has focused on building a culture of transparency, trust and excellence in every aspect of our business, including our interactions with the regulator,” Aceto said at the time in a statement from CannTrust. “We have made many changes to make this right with Health Canada. We made errors in judgment, but the lessons we have learned here will serve us well moving forward.”

The OSC alleged that the defendants claimed in corporate disclosures that CannTrust’s cannabis operations were fully compliant with regulations. Aceto, Litwin and Paul were charged by the OSC and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with quasi-criminal offenses including fraud related to failing to disclose the unlicensed cultivation to investors. Litwin and Paul were also charged with insider trading for selling stock in CannTrust after learning about the allegations of unlicensed growing but before they were made public. Additionally, Litwin and Aceto were charged with making a false investment prospectus and a false preliminary prospectus.

Testimony Reveals Weakness Of Prosecutor’s Case

Last week, during the trial of the three former executives, Graham Lee, a former director of quality and compliance at CannTrust, testified that Health Canada staff had inspected the Ontario cultivation in November 2018 and April 2019, but did not take any action related to the unlicensed grow rooms. But at a subsequent visit, Health Canada inspectors inquired about the unlicensed rooms.

“They asked me if plants had been put into the unlicensed rooms, and they had been told other things earlier in the day…and so I clarified for them that, yes, they had been,” Lee testified.

As part of his testimony, Lee also said that CannTrust staff had once staged photographs taken as part of a regulatory submission to Health Canada in an attempt to obscure the purpose of the extra grow rooms. But he also noted that the employees had not been instructed by senior management to do so.

During cross-examination, defense attorneys presented evidence that the Ontario facility had been licensed to grow cannabis that did not contain any references to specific rooms. The revelation made it difficult for prosecutors to prove that unlicensed cultivation had occurred at the facility. 

Scott Fenton, an attorney representing Litwin, presented Lee with an April 5 email he sent to others at CannTrust, in which he wrote, “Please find attached, we are now licensed for all of the remaining outstanding Niagara areas.”

“But you told everybody that you’re now licensed,” Fenton said to Lee.

“Yes,” Lee answered.

“And used the wrong terminology?” Fenton asked.

“Yes,” Lee admitted.

“Were you confused regarding the operation of the Cannabis Act and its regulations?” asked Fenton.

“At times,” Lee replied.

On Wednesday, prosecutors told the court that the revelations made during the trial made it impossible to secure a conviction in the case and asked the judge to drop the charges against the defendants. But their lawyers asked Giourgas to fully acquit the former CannTrust executives of the charges against them.

“I am respectfully against dragging this out,” Fenton said. “The prosecution has determined they can’t prove the case. It is time to end it, and it should end today.”

“I can’t tell you how much anxiety there is among the defendants about the end of this matter for the reasons that you can imagine,” added Frank Addario, Aceto’s lawyer.

Prosecutor Emami asked for more time, saying he had received the request for acquittal that day. The defendants were due back in court on Thursday for the judge’s decision on the motion to acquit.

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It is easier than ever to become a medical cannabis patient in Canada. If you aren’t sure where to start, this resource is for you.

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Health Canada, the nation’s health department, said that drug regulations were being amended based on new research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics.

“There has been emerging scientific evidence supporting potential therapeutic uses for some restricted drugs, most notably psychedelic restricted drugs such as MDMA and psilocybin,” Health Canada noted in the Canada Gazette, an official government publication.

Under the amendment to federal food and drug regulations, physicians will be able to request access to restricted drugs on behalf of their patients through Health Canada’s Special Access Program. Previously, restricted drugs including psychedelics were not available through the program.

The Special Access Program permits health care professionals to request permission to use unapproved treatments for patients with serious or life-threatening medical conditions. The program applies only in cases where conventional therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or not available in Canada. Patients are not permitted to request access to treatment through the program on their own behalf.

Psychedelic Research Continues

Research into psychedelics including psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine has shown that the drugs have potential therapeutic benefits, particularly for serious mental health conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety. A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry in 2020 found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was a quick-acting and effective treatment for a group of 24 participants with major depressive disorder. Separate research published in 2016 determined that psilocybin treatment produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer. 

“Given the growing scientific interest in certain restricted drugs, it is expected that Health Canada would eventually encounter a situation where scientific evidence supports the therapeutic use of a restricted drug within the context of the Special Access Program,” regulators wrote in the January 5 announcement. “The regulatory amendments are therefore expected to benefit patients with serious or life-threatening conditions who may be granted access to restricted drugs through the Special Access Program in instances when other therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or are unavailable in Canada.”

Before Wednesday’s announcement, patients could gain access to psychedelic drugs through two legal avenues. The first method would be to participate in a clinical trial, which only accepts patients on a limited basis and are not available nationwide. Patients could also gain access to restricted drugs by personally requesting a special exemption to regulations from Canada’s Health Minister.

Easing Access for Patients

Regulators noted in the announcement that “the regulatory amendments will not create large scale access to restricted drugs and they do not signal an intent towards the decriminalization or legalization of restricted drugs. The Special Access Program is for emergency treatment only.” But the move should make it easier for patients with an exceptional need to access psychedelic drugs.

Dr. John Huber, a clinical forensic psychologist and the CEO of Tripsitter Clinic, a publicly-traded ketamine therapy telemedicine provider that is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, applauded the Canadian government for continuing to advance and acknowledge the benefits of psychedelic therapy.

“This breakthrough decision will expand access to MDMA and psilocybin therapy and help save the lives of those with life-threatening mental health conditions,”  Huber wrote in an email to High Times. “We hope Canada’s success pushes the U.S. government to follow a similar pathway while awaiting FDA approval for MDMA and psilocybin.”

Greg Rovner, CEO of Heally, a telemedicine platform for psychedelic clinics and patients looking for alternative medicine treatment, said the decision by Canadian regulators to ease access to psychedelics should spur new research into the drugs.

“Health Canada’s recent decision is a ringing endorsement of MDMA and psilocybin’s therapeutic potential,” Rovner wrote in an email. “It recognizes the growing body of research into the benefits of psychedelics and expands access to psychedelics for patients in serious and life-threatening conditions. We hope to see more studies on the safety and efficacy of psychedelics that will spur further regulatory reform.”

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This is why we can’t have nice things, Canada.

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The moral of the story? Keep your kids away from all cannabis edibles—legal or otherwise.

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Charges have been filed in a scandal seemingly straight out of a TV show—hidden grow rooms, possible unlicensed shipping overseas, and 12,500 kg of illegally grown weed destroyed.

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Learn more about the link between cannabis and psychosis, and harm reduction strategies for ‘lower risk cannabis use.’

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