“First-mover advantage.” Why Canadian weed producers will dominate the global marijuana market.

In marketing strategy, there’s a term called “first-mover advantage”. It’s when a few key players in a particular industry gain an advantage because they entered into the marketplace first. These companies are able to establish strong brand recognition, shore up the best sources of funding, and build a loyal customer base simply because there aren’t any competitors in the way during their first few years of operation. 

Picture the stereotypical pot smoker: young, dazed and confused. Marijuana has long been known for its psychoactive effects, which can include cognitive impairment. But new research published this week in Nature Medicine suggests the drug might affect older users very differently than young ones—at least in mice. Instead of impairing learning and memory as it does in young people, the drug appears to reverse age-related declines in the cognitive performance of elderly mice.

Regular low doses of THC dramatically boosted memory and learning in older mice, say scientists, who plan a clinical trial in humans later this year.

Researchers have come up with an unusual proposal to slow, or even reverse, the cognitive decline that comes with old age: small, daily doses of cannabis extract.

The idea emerged from tests on mice which found that regular, low doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis – impaired memory and learning in young animals, but boosted the performance of old ones.

A German research group is hoping to recruit 25,000 cannabis consumers for a study on the long-term psychological effects of cannabis use. A Berlin-based group the Research Initiative on Cannabis Consumption are currently applying for government approval for the study, as reported by The Local.

The application was first submitted to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices in November last year, but an updated application was handed over on 19th April. Research Director, Professor Thomas Schnell, said:

The global medicinal cannabis market is rapidly growing.

Lifespot Health (ASX:LSH) and Seng Vital Germany will form a 50:50 joint venture in Australia to integrate the Seng Vital Cannamed vaporizer into Lifespot’s BodyTel platform.

The Cannamed vaporizer is used for the controlled delivery of cannabis to users.

Lifespot will use its BodyTel medical diagnostic and monitoring technology to assist in the administration and monitoring of cannabis use.

This report, prepared by the foreign law specialists and analysts of the Law Library of Congress, provides a review of laws adopted in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, and Uruguay with regard to decriminalization of narcotics, and touches specifically on cannabis and legalization.

The German government finally passed its legalization framework for medical cannabis consumption in March 2017. The country’s market is expected to record modest growth with its high 82 million population and a policy that allows prescriptions to be paid through health insurance plans, thus potentially encouraging patients to explore medical cannabis health benefits.

Local marijuana producers with vast experience in mass growing of high quality product and hungry to capture the lucrative €12 – €15 a gram (roughly C$17 – C$21.75 per gram) German medical cannabis market, have been taking positions in growing their international business portfolios.

A research initiative hopes to get approval for a study that would recruit 25,000 recreational cannabis consumers in Berlin - if it can get government approval.

The group called the Research Initiative on Cannabis Consumption is hoping to get an application for a new study approved so that they can analyze the “consequences of cannabis for psychologically healthy, adult consumers”. The aim is to understand what effects cannabis use has after several years, according to the group, which was started by a Berlin lawyer and a clinical psychology professor at the Medical School Hamburg.

Germany, the largest country in the European Union started 2017 by legalizing medical cannabis creating a major opportunity for cannabis businesses across the world.

Although Germany began to permit patient access to medical cannabis in 2005, domestic production does not currently exist. Until state-supervised cannabis plantations are set up, the country will continue to rely solely on imported products.