Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has formally enacted legislation to legalize medical marijuana in a move that he and other leaders believe will assist soldiers in healing from both physical and psychological injuries suffered in the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia.

As of January 2, 2024, per Russia Matters, a project launched by Harvard University, Ukraine’s military has seen over 130,000 individuals killed, severely wounded, or missing. The number of civilian deaths totals 10,058. And this doesn’t count for the trauma endured. 

As many readers with trauma from other sources likely know, cannabis has demonstrated its therapeutic properties for folks experiencing PTSD. It can lower anxiety, improve sleep, decrease the frequency of PTSD nightmares, and also help with chronic pain management. Cannabis can also regulate mood and lift depression symptoms that frequently accompany traumatic experiences. There’s also research that cannabis also affects memory processing, which can ease the suffering surrounding recalling traumatic memories and flashbacks. 

In December, Ukrainian legislators initially passed the medical cannabis bill, but the Batkivshchyna party, in opposition, stalled its progress by insisting on a vote on a resolution to annul the measure. They apparently view the bill as a threat to the integrity of the country’s future. But in a win for survivors of the war, this resolution was defeated in January, effectively removing any obstacles to the bill’s enactment.

Critics attempted to thwart the legislation by submitting hundreds of amendments, which were called out as “spam” by detractors. However, this effort also proved unsuccessful. The bill passed with 248 votes in its favor.

Approximately one month after the legislative progress was freed up, on Wednesday, President Zelensky granted his final endorsement to the bill after the failed attempt to overturn the reform. The legislation is slated to become effective within six months from its official publication date. During this interim period, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, along with the Ministry of Health, is responsible for formulating the regulations for the program.

As Reuters notes, over 6 million people, including soldiers, civilians with PTSD, and healing soldiers, require cannabis. Although the initial version of the bill specifically mentions only cancer and PTSD resulting from the nation’s ongoing war with Russia, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, as qualifying conditions for medical cannabis use, the chair of the health committee noted that legislators regularly receive feedback from patients suffering from other conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy, indicating a broader demand for access to medical cannabis.

Ukraine might begin the importation of marijuana products earlier than the aforementioned six months, following the reclassification of cannabis from being completely banned under List I to being permissible for medical purposes with a prescription under List II in the nation’s drug code.

Zelensky expressed his approval for the medical marijuana legalization back in June, telling parliament that, “all the world’s best practices, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied in Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war.” He further noted the steps required to make this happen, stating: “In particular, we must finally fairly legalize cannabis-based medicines for all those who need them, with appropriate scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production.”

The bill outlines the requirement for specific licenses to grow and sell cannabis, including a mandate for round-the-clock video monitoring of production sites, which will be accessible to law enforcement. Oversight of cannabis cultivation and processing will fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy. Furthermore, the National Police and the State Agency on Medicines will have supervisory and enforcement powers concerning the distribution of the medicinal product.

In December, the Defense Department unveiled a security assistance package worth up to $250 million for Ukraine. This package includes anti tank weaponry, air defense systems, artillery, and additional equipment designed to support Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to fight back against the unprovoked aggression. And cannabis companies stepped up as well.

During the initial month of Russia’s invasion last year, several American cannabis firms offered financial aid to Ukraine. Misha Breyburg, CEO of MediThrive, contributed a portion of the proceeds from cannabis sales to a charity assisting Ukrainians. Additionally, Breyburg had the MediThrive dispensary located in San Francisco’s Mission District decorated in Ukraine’s national blue and yellow colors.

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After hitting a brief snag late last year, a bill approved by Ukraine’s unicameral legislature in December to legalize medical cannabis in the country appears to be back on track.

The delay occurred when the opposing Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party and its leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, announced the party’s intention to appeal to the Constitutional Court to cancel the legislative vote, citing that “the amendments to the bill were considered in a half-empty chamber.”

Tymoshenko, who has been vocally opposed to the reform measure, also said that the bill would legalize “drug trafficking and the drug mafia” in Ukraine, while European Solidarity co-chair Irina Herashchenko argued that the bill’s text focused on industrial production and lacked clear rules around state regulation.

This week, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, unblocked the bill after the resolution failed, earning only 25 of the required 226 votes to repeal the parliament’s adoption of the law. The bill was then formally sent to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s desk on Wednesday, who has publicly voiced his support.

Overcoming the Efforts of Opposing Parties

According to a Ukrinform report, the announcement was first made on Tuesday by MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak from the Holos party on Telegram. Zhelezniak announced the status of the bill alongside a number of other recent legislative updates.

The Verkhovna Rada adopted the law on Dec. 21, regarding regulation of “the circulation of cannabis plants for medical, industrial purposes, research, and scientific and technical activities to create conditions for expanding patient access to the necessary treatment of oncological diseases and post-traumatic stress disorders obtained due to war.”

The next day, the Batkivshchyna registered a draft resolution with the parliament to cancel the decision, though registering a draft resolution of that nature doesn’t allow the Verkhovna Rada chair and the president to sign the adopted legislative act. Rather, the document’s signing was able to be unblocked after the draft resolution was rejected.

Opponents previously tried to block the bill’s progress after introducing almost 900 amendments to the bill, dubbed “spam” amendments by critics, in November.

Ukraine’s Pending Medical Cannabis Legislation

The measure to legalize medicinal cannabis looks to license the economic activity for hemp cultivation for medical, industrial and scientific purposes. Additionally, the law aims to help Ukrainian war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), along with providing relief to those with cancer and other serious illnesses. The legislation only explicitly references that it will “create conditions for expanding the access of patients to the necessary treatment of oncological diseases and post-traumatic stress disorders obtained as a result of war,” with no mention of other qualifying conditions.

The bill would also move cannabis from strictly prohibited in the current List I to availability for medical use with prescription under List II of Ukraine’s drug code. 

According to lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak, the distribution of cannabis for recreational use will still be a crime, and the production of cannabis medicines will be “strictly controlled” at all stages. Only those with an electronic medical cannabis prescription would be allowed to obtain cannabis-based medicines.

The measure received support from Ukraine’s Health Ministry, which called the move a “historic decision.”

“Thank you on behalf of the medical community for the decision made, because medical cannabis is a medicine for millions of people: cancer patients, people with multiple sclerosis, patients receiving palliative care, etc.,” the Health Ministry’s translated statement reads.

In June 2023, Zelenskyy emphasized the need for the reform specifically highlighting the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and, more broadly, those Ukrainians who may benefit from cannabis-based medicines.

“All the world’s best practices, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied in Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “We must finally honestly legalize cannabis-based medicines, relevant scientific research, and controlled Ukrainian production for everyone who needs it.”

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A reader on Twitter recently complained that an earlier article referred to the candidates as “losers,” so I’m curious to know how that reader reacted to Vivek Ramaswamay’s opening remark at the GOP primary debate in Miami which used that same word to refer to the modern Republican party. Republicans lost big in Tuesday night’s elections, leading to both an Ohio constitutional amendment protecting abortion access for women as well as the passing of a bill legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults (Senate President Matt Huffman has promised to repeal the recreational marijuana bill, but there’s nothing to be done about a constitutional amendment at this time). 

In addition to big losses in Virginia and deep-red Kentucky, Vivek also brought up national losses in 2018 and 2020 and lamented the failure of the prophesied “2022 red wave” to materialize. He put a hefty amount of blame on Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel for the losses, who, as it turned out, was sitting in the front row. She declined his offer to immediately resign on camera. He also used his opening statement to attack the moderators of the debate and mainstream media in general, pointedly ignoring the opening question that tasked him with describing his virtues compared to those of national frontrunner Donald Trump. He got some applause, he got some boos, and later Nikki Haley told him that he was scum live on national television and was applauded for it. He had a big night. 

Vivek’s Strategy

Wednesday night’s debate was much more substantive than previous events, possibly because a lot of dead weight has been shaken off. Without Doug Burgum, Mike Pence, or Asa Hutchinson taking up space candidates had more room to maneuver and draw distinctions between themselves and their competitors, and no one accomplished this more successfully than Vivek Ramaswamay. 

Several times throughout the night he was able to sharply separate himself from the predictable Republican talking points the other candidates were giving out. He was far ahead of the curve when it came to Ukraine and the United State’s growing, if unspoken, reluctance to continue funding a war that is taking far too long and accomplishing next to nothing, especially in light of increased spending on Israel’s military assault on Gaza. He alone was willing to question the wisdom of simply attempting to ban a social media app with almost 150 million users in America because China built it. He alone noted some difficulties in going to war with a country that happens to do over 150 billion dollars worth of business with America every year. 

Glorious war with China, banning the perfidious TikTok, and assured victory in Ukraine are all things that almost all republican candidates think they have to vocally believe in and support, but they are all also extremely unlikely if not outright impossible. But only Vivek Ramaswamay is apparently willing to go against the orthodoxy. Vivek has always sought to set himself apart from the crowd of established politicians, and on Wednesday he cranked this up a notch.

But Aren’t Vivek’s Numbers Still in the Toilet? 

Boy, are they ever! Immediately after the last debate, a Fox focus group of Republican voters had found Ramaswamay “untrustworthy” and “arrogant”. His numbers in Iowa reflect this attitude. His unfavorables are a disaster and a shocking number of republican voters have straight up said they will never, ever vote for him, no matter what happens or who is still in the race, which is not what you want to hear going into an election. 

Will This Debate Help?

Help him become president? Absolutely not, except in one very, very particular case. It’s important to remember that Chris Christie has the exact opposite opinions on China, TikTok, and Ukraine, and he’s bouncing along the bottom of the toilet bowl underneath everyone else. Republican voters aren’t deciding this election based on foreign policy. In fact they’ve already decided who they want to be president, and his name is Donald Trump. As long as he’s alive and eligible, he is going to be their pick for the 2024 nominee, and every loser on that stage knows it. They stopped running for President a long time ago. Most of them aren’t even running for Vice President; over half of them either worked directly for Trump, or owe their political career to him, and as a result are seen now as back-stabbers and betrayers for having the temerity to run against him. None of them are getting the nod from Trump. Standing behind them is Tim Scott, a weird possibly-50 year old virgin who pronounces the word “do” with three distinct vowel sounds. He’s probably not going anywhere either. 

And then there’s Vivek, who, while deeply unpopular, has not betrayed Donald Trump, and even went out of his way to avoid criticizing him twice on Wednesday night. There’s more than one way to end up in the White House, even if your campaign is a joke and falls apart a year before  the election. Just ask Kamala Harris. 

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Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin’s fiery death in a plane that went down was due to cocaine and grenades, not a coordinated assassination in retaliation for his uprising, as many suspect.

Prigozhin’s days were numbered the moment he led the Wagner Group—his paramilitary mercenary group—in a short but surprisingly robust uprising against Putin’s military last June. Prigozhin also openly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry, calling the invasion of the Ukraine as more or less a dumpster fire, and saying their reasons for the invasion were lies.

On Aug. 23, an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet crashed near Kuzhenkino in Tver Oblast, about 60 miles north of the Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, where it departed. Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin, and Valery Chekalov—three key figures of the Wagner Group—were aboard and killed. Just before flying, Prigozhin was reportedly oddly given permission to leave Russia for Belarus, but that could’ve been a trap. It’s widely believed to have been an assassination.

CBS News reports that “The Kremlin has dismissed suggestions that it orchestrated the crash in revenge for Wagner’s march on Moscow.”

Pressure was building for Putin to provide an explanation, and he did not disappoint. NBC News reports that in a speech on Oct. 5 at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, about six weeks after Prigozhin’s plane fell from the sky, Putin spun a “wild tale that drugs and grenades caused the fatal crash,” claiming the plane had 11 pounds of cocaine and grenade fragments. A simple drug test would have proven this, he suggested.

U.S. officials told NBC News that intelligence suggests sabotage is the leading theory for the crash.

“I know there must be a question hanging in the air as to what happened to the company’s top management,” Putin said. “The Investigative Committee head [Alexander Bastrykin] reported to me just the other day that hand grenade fragments had been found in the bodies of those killed in the plane crash.”

“Unfortunately, tests on traces of alcohol or drugs in the blood of those killed were not taken, although we know that after the events we all know about [the uprising] the FSB [Russia’s intelligence agency] found not only 10 billion [rubles] in cash, but also 5 kilograms of cocaine in the Saint Petersburg office” of Prigozhin’s company, Putin said.

Putin denied that any missile or projectile was a factor in the crash.

“There was no external impact on the plane,” Putin said. “This is an established fact, a fact established by the examination that Russia’s Investigative Committee has conducted. The investigation still continues.”

U.S. intelligence agrees no missile was involved, but says Prigozhin’s plane crashed due to an explosive that was intentionally set off on board.

Putin Opponents Tend to Die Horrible Deaths

Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian FSB (the new KGB) spy who defected to England, died in 2006 after drinking tea poisoned with a radioactive substance called polonium-210, “the most dangerous substance known to man.” It’s a rare radioactive isotope that caused him to die a slow painful death. And it’s only produced in Russia.

Litvinenko was loudly against Russian policies and spoke out about it often. Litvinenko said he himself was hired to assassinate Putin’s adversaries. On Nov. 23, 2006, Litvinenko succumbed to radioactive poisoning.

Litvinenko said he was poisoned by Putin despite living thousands of miles away. The Daily Beast reports that even the men who are believed to have allegedly delivered the poison are known. Like Litvinenko’s obvious assassination by poisoning, Prigozhin’s death is believed to be an act of retaliation.

A post on Telegram reads, “A short summary: the most combat-ready unit in the history of modern Russia was commanded by alcoholics and drug addicts who, being professional soldiers, did not know about the rules for handling hand grenades.

“However, the people of Russia will forever remember them differently.”

In 2018, Straight Cannabis and High Times reported that Tommy Chong said Donald Trump is “Putin’s Bitch.” This was a Twitter/X response to a tweet posted by Rep. Don Beyer.

Putin is not only losing the war in the Ukraine, but also the War on Drugs.

High Times reported that Russia has the highest number of heroin users per capita of anywhere in the world, according to a Brookings Institution review.  Over 2% of Russia’s entire population inject drugs. In 2020, a total of 18,013 people overdosed on illicit drugs and 7,366 died as a consequence, which is a 16% increase compared to 2019, a 2022 study found. Injection drug use also led to sky-high HIV rates in the country. 

The suspicious deaths of Putin’s enemies aren’t’ helping the country’s image.

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Ukrainian immigrants looking for a better future are turning to opportunities in medical cannabis in multiple states.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that a pair of Ukrainian immigrants are owners of a new dispensary opening up in Huntington, West Virginia. While one of the operators emigrated to the U.S. decades ago, they are proudly supporting their home country as it battles Russian forces.

Over 271,000 Ukrainian refugees have been admitted to the U.S. since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as of Last February. 117,000 of those came via the Biden administration’s “Uniting for Ukraine” program, which allows Americans to sponsor Ukrainians.

Huntington Gardens co-owner Frederick Bartolovic, professor from Marshall University’s Art Department, and his partner Michelle Strader painted a Ukraine-inspired mural on the building with yellow and blue to show support for the homeland. Co-owner Rita Tsalyuk, a cannabis entrepreneur and native of Ukraine, left her country over 30 years ago, but is promoting awareness for the injustices of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Some immigrants are working their way into the cannabis industry in multiple states, including West Virginia. Kayla McClaskey told the paper that she is opening a new dispensary in Huntington for the Colorado-based multistate operator Yuma Way.

“Huntington Gardens at 1338 3rd Avenue should be open by mid-October,” McClaskey told The Herald-Dispatch. “We still haven’t made a decision on our hours of operation, but will finalize all of that [once] our inspections are complete and we are closer to opening.”

​​​​​​Senate Bill 386, signed into law on April 19, 2017, by Gov. Jim Justice, created the Medical Cannabis Act that allows for cannabis to be used for certified medical use. Huntington is the second-largest city in West Virginia, and dispensaries are just beginning to open in the city.

“I am sure that the blue and yellow in the middle of Herd Country must be odd to see for some, especially this time of the year with football season,” McClaskey said. “Rest assured though, it is not some bold representation of the Mountaineers of WVU, in fact the owners of the new dispensary are actually Ukrainian immigrants who have lived and built many successful businesses across Colorado, California, Michigan, New Jersey, and now here in West Virginia.”

Members of the Worldwide Cannabis Community Stand with Ukraine

High Times reported in April 2022 about the small but growing cannabis community in Ukraine that’s standing strong with their country as the nation resists the Russian invasion.

One group, Freedom March, has been advocating for progressive drug policy, leading demonstrations for the legalization of cannabis in Ukraine and defending the rights of medicinal cannabis patients since 2005. Freedom March member Nazarii Sovsun says the majority of the group’s activists are involved in the resistance to the Russian invasion in some fashion.

Freedom March has launched a fundraising campaign, Cannabis Stands with Ukraine, that is seeking donations from the worldwide cannabis community and freedom lovers everywhere. Donations to Freedom March will support the cause in conjunction with the Kyiv School of Economics Charitable Foundation, which has already purchased nearly $300,000 worth of emergency medical supplies for delivery to the region, according to wire transfer documentation and invoices provided by Sovsun.

Reform is taking place on Ukrainian soil as well. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last June called on lawmakers to legalize medical cannabis, saying the treatment could provide relief to those in the country suffering from the “trauma of war.” 

Huntington’s First Dispensary

Berner, as it turns out, was the first entrepreneur to open up a dispensary in the city, as part of his large dispensary chain Cookies, according to a Sept. 22 press release. Cookies opened their first West Virginia cannabis dispensary on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 2689 5th Ave. in Huntington.

Cookies is partnering with local retailer Country Grown Cannabis to open the Cookies dispensary at 2689 5th Ave in Huntington on Saturday, Sept. 23. Cookies is also collaborating with West Virginia professional growers Harvest Care Medical to cultivate Cookies’ acclaimed cannabis cultivars.

“We have been working hard to ensure the highest quality product is ready for the market, and we are excited to offer Cookies products to the growing number of West Virginia patients in need of medical cannabis,” Berner said in a press release. “We can’t wait for West Virginia patients to enjoy our world-class staple menu, and experience a cannabis dispensary like no other—an experience that Cookies is proud to bring to West Virginia.”

The opening of Huntington Gardens and the latest Cookies location provide choices for residents of the city who are taking advantage of West Virginia’s fairly recent medical cannabis law.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday called on lawmakers to legalize medical cannabis, saying the treatment could provide relief to those in the country suffering from the “trauma of war.” 

Zelensky made the comments in an address before his country’s parliament. 

“We must finally fairly legalize cannabis-based medicines for all those who need them, with appropriate scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production,” Zelensky said, as quoted by UPI.

“All the world’s best practices, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied to Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war,” he added, according to the news organization. 

Russia invaded and subsequently occupied parts of Ukraine last year, marking a bloody and costly escalation of the hostilities between the two countries. In April, Reuters, citing a “trove of purported U.S. intelligence documents” that had been published online, estimated that as many as “354,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or injured in the Ukraine war.”

As UPI noted, “Zelensky’s support for medical cannabis legalization also remains consistent as evidenced in 2019, during his presidential campaign, when he said it would be ‘normal’ to allow people to access cannabis ‘droplets.’”

Zelensky’s comments on Wednesday also echo what his cabinet has said recently. 

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Liashko said in a Facebook post that the government had put forward legislation to legalize medical cannabis treatment. In the post, Liashko invoked the ongoing war with Russia as a reason to make the treatment available.

“We understand the negative consequences of the war on the mental health camp,” Liashko wrote in the Facebook post. “We understand the number of people who will require medical treatment in the last breath.”

“Cannabis drugs are not ‘competitors’ to drugs, and measures to regulate their circulation are completely different. Medical cannabis contains cannabidiol, which has no pronounced psychoactive effect, so it’s not suitable for recreational use,“ Liashko continued. “To that, at the same time, we were prepared by the legislator for the preparation of a new cycle of production of preparations based on cannabis in Ukraine: from the development of that processing to full production.”

In the first month of Russia’s invasion last year, a number of cannabis companies in the United States stepped up to provide financial support to Ukraine. 

MediThrive CEO Misha Breyburg donated proceeds from weed sales to a charity providing aid to Ukrainians. Breyburg also had the MediThrive dispensary in San Francisco’s Mission District painted in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine hits home for the founders of MediThrive. CEO Misha Breyburg and his colleagues are Ukrainian Jewish refugees who immigrated from Odessa, Ukraine to the United States as children in the 1970s,” the company said in a statement at the time. “MediThrive believes that everyone should have access to medicine and quality health care. The Medi in our name tells of our humble beginning as a medical cannabis dispensary that filled the cannabis prescriptions of cancer and AIDS patients. In the 1990s, the dispensary opened its doors to patients under the United State’s Compassionate Care Act. We are the oldest cannabis dispensary and delivery service location in San Francisco. Today, we are more than just a medical and recreational cannabis provider; our roots run deep in our community.”

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Ukraine has been fighting invasion since early 2022. Find out how cannabis helps some Ukrainians cope with life under siege on Leafly.

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Anyone who is prescribed the ADHD and narcolepsy medication Adderall has been advised to seek alternative medication after a nationwide shortage was confirmed by the FDA last week, but the reasons behind the shortage remain a bit of a mystery.

The FDA didn’t give much of an explanation for the shortage other than to say one of the main manufacturers of Adderall (which is the brand name given to a particular combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine salts), Teva, was experiencing “ongoing intermittent manufacturing delays” and “other manufacturers continue to produce amphetamine mixed salts, but there is not sufficient supply to continue to meet U.S. market demand through those producers.”

The good news is, at the moment most of those delays are scheduled to be resolved by October or November, which is an updated ETA originally slated for March of 2023. This means we will likely avoid running out entirely. Nonetheless, the FDA did advise patients to seek alternative treatments all the same. 

A New York Times article cited the nationwide rise in ADHD as the main cause of the shortage, and it cannot be overstated that reported cases of ADHD are indeed on the rise. As a heavily regulated Schedule 2 drug, Adderall manufacture is often slow in response to demand because of the red tape required in order to produce it, so the rise in ADHD may indeed be to blame but in terms of the shortage of Adderall itself, it is likely a bit of a mixed bag.

The usual suspects when things are in short supply lately are COVID-related supply chain issues or the ongoing war in Ukraine, but Hamilton Morris, a journalist and scientific researcher known for his TV show Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, indicated on Twitter that the Adderall shortage could be due to a shortage of nitroethane, one of the potential raw ingredients used to make it. One of the main distributors of nitroethane, Sigma Aldrich, has it listed as unavailable on their website. A phone call to the media department at Sigma Aldrich was, alas, not returned fast enough to meet my deadline.

Others disagreed, saying there’s no reason to believe there is a nitroethane shortage quite yet, but it would certainly explain things if it turns out to be true. Chemjobber, a blog dedicated to chemistry news and chemistry jobs, told High Times that while low nitroethane supply may be a potential factor, it’s essentially way more complicated than that.

“I strongly believe it is rarely API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) manufacturing that is the problem,” Chemjobber said. “That is a problem at the back of the chain, and there are 4-5 steps in front of it i.e. you could have a problem with tableting, or shipping, or labor etc.”

To that point, Teva did report earlier this year that they were having issues with labor shortages, a common complaint in the era of COVID-19. Thus, it’s not necessarily a shortage of one chemical as much as it seems to be a perfect storm of bad luck and the basic production limitations of any heavily regulated industry.

In terms of whether or not America will run out of Adderall, Chemjobber likened it to the toilet paper craze of early COVID and projected this too shall pass. It does also appear to be a good sign that Teva moved up its ETA by several months in the span of a week. Unfortunately, they didn’t call me back either.

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Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Liashko announced on June 7 in a Facebook post that the government advanced a medical cannabis bill for approval, even as the country is in the thick of war. A draft bill was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and heads to the Ukraine Parliament for approval.

“We understand the negative consequences of the war on the mental health camp,” Liashko wrote. “We understand the number of people who will require medical treatment in the last breath.”

Kyiv Post reports that a 2021 draft bill was reworked and the government intends to move forward and legalize medical cannabis. “And we understand that there is no time for a check,” he added.

“Cannabis drugs are not ‘competitors’ to drugs, and measures to regulate their circulation are completely different. Medical cannabis contains cannabidiol, which has no pronounced psychoactive effect, so it’s not suitable for recreational use,“ said Liashko.

A bill would strictly control the cultivation, production, and sale of medical cannabis products, as well as authorizations and licenses for the cultivation and scientific research. It would also provide a medical cannabis tracking system in order to provide information for all the stages of products’ circulation.

“To that, at the same time, we were prepared by the legislator for the preparation of a new cycle of production of preparations based on cannabis in Ukraine: from the development of that processing to full production,” Liashko added.

Meanwhile, cannabis companies right here in the U.S. are activating to help Ukraine amid war. Helmand Valley Growers Company (HVGC) was founded by United States Special Operations Veterans (Marine Raiders), and adopts a huge focus on veterans (and civilians) battling PTSD. They provide flower, cartridges, and 100% live resin.

Last April, HVGC launched a Chillum program with proceeds going to World Central Kitchen to help Ukraine, as well as Battle Brothers, a 501c3 charitable organization that empowers veterans, to study how cannabis can help military veterans living with PTSD. That project is wrapping up with a new Ukraine-focused effort to do what they can.

“During this summer, we’re planning to develop Chillums and help benefit an organization called The Mozart Group,” HVGC President and CEO Bryan Buckley tells High Times. “They are in Kyiv right now. It’s my former regimental commander while I was a former Marine Raider. His name is Andrew Millburn. It’s about 100 former special operators from America, UK, and Australia, and they’re training Ukrainians on medical and military tactics.

“This thing is going to rage for a long time,” Buckley adds. “Talking to Colonel Milburn, who is retired, he said that the Russians are ‘worse than ISIS’.”

With PTSD affecting Ukrainians of all types, the time is now to enact medical cannabis legislation.

On June 7, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft bill “on regulating the circulation of cannabis plants for medical, industrial purposes, scientific and scientific-technical activities to create the conditions for expanding the access of patients to the necessary treatment of cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from war.”

The bill would expand medical services to include medical cannabis and promote research on the plant. It would expand patient access to cannabis with over 50 qualifying conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), HIV, cancer, neurological diseases, and neuropathic pain. Epilepsy, glaucoma, psoriasis, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis are also on the list.

Medical cannabis will be available via prescriptions or electronic prescriptions, but the Health Minister acknowledged how cannabis can’t be regulated the exact same way as pills. He also dismissed some of the myths about CBD.

Liashko seemed to compare people who dismiss medical cannabis as the same as people who dismiss the benefits of yoga that are now widely accepted as proven by science. He kind of has a point.

“Communication campaigns against drug abuse in cannabis have been shown to reject the faces on the basis of yoga and cannabis, which are in illegal practice, with the method of ignoring the value of yoga as a medical science and discrediting the very idea of ​​yoga medicine.”

Under the bill, a central executive body would determine the percentage of THC in cannabis through laboratory tests conducted by enterprises, institutions, and other organizations.

Ukraine Congress member Kira Rudik tweeted that the medical cannabis movement in the country was originally spearheaded by the Holos Party in 2019.

The bill now needs to be approved in the Ukrainian Parliament by at least 226 votes. A medical cannabis draft bill—bill No. 5596—failed to be approved by the Ukrainian Parliament on July 13, 2021, and was sent back for revisions.

Activists of the Patients of Ukraine organization and other organizations rallied outside the Ukrainian Parliament demanding the approval of bill No. 5596 regulating use of medical cannabis in Ukraine in Kyiv on July 13, 2021. The bill was considered in Parliament on that day, but it failed to get the necessary approval from MPs.

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With the Russian invasion of Ukraine now in its second month, the Ukrainian people have time and again shown their determination to keep their nation a free and independent country. Ukraine’s military and civilian soldiers who have joined the fight continue to repel the invasion from entering the capital of Kyiv, while last week the Russian aggressors announced a change of strategy in the face of mounting losses.

But despite their bravery and resilience in the face of a much larger force, the unprovoked war has taken its toll on the people of Ukraine. The southeastern city of Mariupol and other areas have been left in ruins, and the U.N. estimates the number of displaced Ukrainians who have fled the country at 4 million. Many of those who remain are facing a growing humanitarian crisis.

Ukrainians from all walks of life are resisting the Russian invasion, and members of the country’s cannabis community are no exception. Although cannabis is illegal for both recreational and medical use, consumption and cultivation of up to 10 plants have been decriminalized. As a result, Ukraine has a vibrant underground cannabis community, including a growing rank of activists advocating for the end of prohibition. Victories so far have been modest, with the country approving the cannabinoid pharmaceuticals nabilone, nabiximol and dronabinol last year.

Cannabis Stands with Ukraine

One group, Freedom March, has been advocating for progressive drug policy, leading demonstrations for the legalization of cannabis in Ukraine and defending the rights of medicinal cannabis patients since 2005. Freedom March member Nazarii Sovsun says the majority of the group’s activists are involved in the resistance to the Russian invasion in some fashion. Some have taken up arms and headed to the front lines to face the aggressors head-on. Others are supporting government logistics to provide humanitarian aid in the cities being shelled by Russian forces. Sadly, one of the group’s activists has been badly wounded and is receiving medical treatment for his injuries. Even those in the western part of the country, away from the most intense fighting, are unable to feel safe during the ongoing conflict.

“Russian rockets can reach any part of our country and air raid sirens have become a routine for all of us,” Sovsun explained in an email from the war-torn nation. “It is an unprecedented situation, and it is hardly possible to foresee what comes next for us.”

To help their fellow countrymen, Freedom March has launched a fundraising campaign, Cannabis Stands with Ukraine, that is seeking donations from the worldwide cannabis community and freedom lovers everywhere. Donations to Freedom March will support the cause in conjunction with the Kyiv School of Economics Charitable Foundation, which has already purchased nearly $300,000 worth of emergency medical supplies for delivery to the region, according to wire transfer documentation and invoices provided by Sovsun.

Freedom March has designated two causes to support with the funds raised by the campaign. As in any conflict, the Russian invasion has taken its hardest toll on Ukraine’s most vulnerable populations. The group’s first priority is the children who have become victims of Russia’s aggression.

“According to the officials, at least 145 children were killed, and 222 injured since the war began,” Sovsun explains. “Thousands of children lost their parents. We will use raised funds to provide those children with shelter, food, physical and mental recovery.”

Secondly, the fundraiser will support the people that have been Freedom March’s central focus — Ukraine’s medical cannabis patients. Supplies of many traditional medications are running low and getting cannabis to the patients who need it is even more difficult than before. To help address the shortages, members of Freedom March are supporting the nation’s medicinal cannabis community on multiple fronts.

“Together with our friends from the local community, we are working to find a way of providing CBD-based medication to those who need it urgently: epileptic patients and wounded soldiers above all,” says Sovsun. “Hopefully, this war makes it obvious to our politicians that people should have access to medical cannabis, so we are active on the legal front, as well.”

Ukrainians Confident They Will Prevail

Despite the challenges faced by the Ukrainian people as they stand up to the Russian invasion, their resolve is palpable, even from thousands of miles away. Sovsun is confident that Ukraine will emerge from the conflict victorious.

“We fight for our friends, our families, loved ones and children — what do Russians fight for? Ukraine is a very freedom-loving country. Just take a look at the demonstrations of our people in the occupied cities,” Sovsun maintains proudly. “They are not afraid of armed soldiers firing rounds at them. They are not afraid to stay in front of a tank column, not letting them go further. Unlike Russian people, afraid of getting days in prison or a fine for protesting, we think of ourselves as free people. Our society has come a long way and we will not surrender.”

Sovsun says that donations are needed to continue the fight, and is calling on those who can help to do so in the name of what is right and just. The group has already raised thousands of dollars, but wants to make it millions.

“Sometimes, if you refuse to take a side you support the evil, so we encourage you to take a strong stance in supporting our cause,” he says, adding, “With your help, peace is one step closer.”

One of Ukraine’s few cannabis brands, AskGrowers, is also supporting the effort to fight the Russian invasion. Because of the illegality of cannabis in Ukraine, the online cannabis marketplace and educational resource focuses on the U.S. market, growing to about 250,000 monthly visitors and a database of more than 5,400 cannabis strains in only two years. The AskGrowers team is based in Ukraine, although some members have been displaced by the war.

Lana Braslavskaia, who heads the brand’s marketing and public relations operations, was able to make it to Belgium to stay with friends, while the company’s SEO specialist has made it safely to Poland. But the male members of the AskGrowers team have remained in Ukraine to help resist the invading forces. No matter their situation, however, AskGrowers is continuing to support its workers during this time of crisis.

“First of all, it was important for our management to preserve the life and health of our employees and their families” Braslavskaia explains in an email. “To this end, it was announced that all salaries will be paid in full, regardless of the number of hours worked, even if the employee does not work at all. Moreover, this rule works for those who volunteer or join the Territorial Defense Forces or the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

Those forces are fighting heroically and have held the Russian military from taking control, despite estimates before the invasion that the country would fall in three days. And last week, the tide of the war seemed to change.

“Russian troops are slowly, bloodily, withdrawing their northern groups,” Braslavskaia reports. “They realized that they could not take Kyiv, and decided to declare that this was part of their plan.”

Like Sovsun, Braslavskaia is confident that her country will prevail over Russian forces. But she says the country will never be the same.

“As a citizen of Ukraine, I have not the slightest doubt that victory belongs to Ukraine,” she says. “Moreover, I am sure that after this war Ukraine will be a different state, both internally and internationally.”

On March 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on people around the world to stand up for his country. In an address delivered in multiple languages from outside a Kyiv government building, he called for global protests against Russian aggression.

“Make yourself visible and heard,” said Zelensky, who has become the international face of Ukrainian resistance and resolve. “Say that people matter, freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”

Braslavskaia echoes the sentiment, calling on the citizens of the world to let the strength and spirit of the Ukrainian people inspire them into action.

“I just want to add one thing, don’t be afraid. Be brave in your speeches against aggression, be brave in helping the Ukrainians, because all this does not require your lives,” she beseeches. “After all, we are not afraid, our men and women fight every day for the lives of their families, our future as a nation and such human values as freedom and dignity. Be as brave as we are.”

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