Author: Vanessa

On 21st April, 2026, the UK Parliament voted to approve the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. A policy that prohibits tobacco sales to anyone born after 31st December 2008.Under the bill, which comes into force on 1st January 2027, the legal age for purchasing tobacco will rise annually. This means someone born on 1st January 2009 will never legally buy cigarettes in the UK, whilst their friend born just a day earlier can, once they turn 18. As each year passes, the cohort unable to buy tobacco expands, eventually creating a situation where a 40-year-old cannot purchase cigarettes whilst a 41-year-old…

Cannabis has long been judged at the point of cultivation. Genetics, lighting, nutrients, and environmental controls dominate the conversation. Yet the final character of the plant, its flavor, stability, and commercial value, is determined after it leaves the grow room. David Sandelman, CTO and co-founder of Cannatrol David Sandelman, CTO and co-founder of Cannatrol, has spent his career working in industries where that reality is taken for granted. Wine, cheese, and dry-aged meats are defined by post-harvest discipline. Cannabis, he argues, is still catching up. “A winery is basically all about post-harvest,” Sandelman said. “That industry spends 90 plus capital…

Dwight Diotte was 14 when he built his first grow at the end of his bed, lining a cardboard box with tinfoil and screwing in a blue 150-watt bulb. He had noticed the seeds in his teenage stash and decided, with adolescent certainty, that he would grow his own. When asked when he knew cannabis would be his life’s work, his answer was swift. “Immediately, from the time I took the second drag.” That conviction carried him west in the early 1980s, first to British Columbia, then down through Oregon and California, tracing the supply lines of the era in…

For years, the cannabis industry invited a certain kind of storytelling. The dominant narratives favored scale, spectacle, and capital. Expansion itself often passed for strategy. In North America especially, the sector’s early rise was framed through cultivation footprints, licensing races, and the promise of a market that seemed perpetually on the verge of going fully mainstream. Claudia Della Mora has spent enough time inside that world to understand both its appeal and its distortions. Trained in investment banking and shaped by years of work across M&A, regulated industries, and international cannabis development, she built Black Legend Capital into a vehicle…

Cannabis was a core crop in ancient China, ranking alongside rice, millet, barley and soybean as one of the “five grains” fundamental to the development of early agricultural societies, according to new archaeological research.A study of two late Neolithic sites in Shandong, northern China, found that cannabis was “systematically integrated” into daily life between 4,500 and 3,400 years ago, with evidence of the plant present in more than half of all locations examined.Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the study demonstrated that cannabis was used primarily for food and fibre in domestic settings, including houses and ash pits, rather…

Consumer preferences are shifting toward wellness and alternative remedies, and some of the most recognizable names in American business are eyeing cannabis as a fertile ground for expansion. These legacy companies, built on generations of tradition in food, beverages, and pharmaceuticals, see the industry’s rapid growth as an opportunity to attract new demographics and bolster revenues. One such story unfolds with the Vlasic family, known for their iconic pickles, which is extending its brand into cannabis products. This move exemplifies a broader pivot among established enterprises drawn to cannabis’s potential. The cannabis market, valued at over $30 billion in the…

Vaping cannabis produces up to 99% fewer harmful chemicals than smoking it, according to a new self-published study paper by vaporiser manufacturer PAX.The research, which compared toxic compounds in smoke from cannabis joints with vapour from PAX’s own dry herb vaporiser devices, found dramatic reductions across 16 harmful substances, including benzene, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.The combustion of cannabis products – either with a bong, pipe, in rolling papers, or any other form of combustion-based inhalation – creates temperatures exceeding 900°C, triggering pyrolysis and oxidation reactions that produce toxic chemicals. Many of which are also present in the smoke from other sources…

Gummy production shouldn’t feel like a constant battle with inconsistency, inefficiency, and risk. Yet for many manufacturers, that is exactly what it becomes: long cook times, batch variability, operator error, and the ever-present possibility of lost product. Melt-to-Make was created to change this reality entirely. Designed specifically for modern gummy manufacturers, Melt-to-Make removes common production obstacles by replacing complex, time-consuming cooking processes with a streamlined, repeatable system. The result? Faster production, more consistent output, and a workflow your team can depend on every single day. Produce More Gummies. Same Team. Same Equipment. Depending on operational goals, manufacturers using Melt-to-Make have…

Medical cannabis has been used therapeutically across the globe for centuries, but modern regulations make travelling with it complicated. Despite its increasing legalisation for medical use in an ever-growing list of countries, strict controls still govern how it can be transported internationally, even with a legal prescription.As a UK patient with a medical cannabis prescription, understanding these regulations is crucial before you travel. The penalties for getting it wrong can be severe – our guide can help you navigate the complex rules around both domestic and international travel with medical cannabis and provide a simple process to follow for a…

The US Department of Justice has officially reclassified cannabis as a less-dangerous drug, moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ordered the reclassification on Thursday, placing cannabis alongside prescription drugs such as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine and steroids – substances deemed to have legitimate medical uses and lower abuse potential. In a post on X, ⁠Blanche said the Justice Department was “immediately rescheduling ​FDA-approved marijuana and state-licensed marijuana from Schedule ​I to Schedule III.”Under the decisive leadership of @POTUS, this Department of Justice is delivering on his promise to improve…