Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash

As the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on global stock markets, one company says the unfolding crisis is bound to hit the cannabis industry.

California online vape retailer ProVape said Wednesday the coronavirus is creating issues for industry around the world as Chinese vape manufacturers are being shut down due to their government’s quarantine of millions of people.

The factory shutdowns mean shipments from China of vape hardware such as coils and batteries have dwindled to a “frightening number,” ProVape said.

The co-founder of global circus company Cirque du Soleil has been detained for growing cannabis on his private island in the South Pacific.

Billionaire Guy Laliberté turned himself in to police in French Polynesia.

The Canadian entrepreneur is due to appear in court on Wednesday.

In a statement, Mr Laliberté's company Lune Rouge denied he was growing the plant on his private island of Nukutepipi for commercial gain.

It said that he used cannabis for "medical" and "strictly personal" purposes

"Guy Laliberté completely dissociates himself from any rumour implicating him... in the sale or traffic of drugs," it said.

Tight restrictions in the government’s revolutionary proposal to legalise the import and use of medical cannabis have left those supporting sweeping deregulation with a bittersweet feeling, according to biologist and Friends of Cannabis group co-founder Petros Evdokas.

Patients and activists have long fought for the legalisation of medical cannabis, but, despite mounting evidence pointing to its benefits in both pain relief and the treatment of specific conditions, have always stumbled on strong resistance by mainstream attitudes. According to Health Minister Giorgos Pamboridis, the main problem has been a “widespread, albeit false, notion that it somehow helps legitimise the use of recreational cannabis”.

Israel's Health Ministry recently released new directives easing restrictions on the possession and use of medical marijuana by authorized users. The directives, which go into effect immediately, allow patients who have been prescribed marijuana to consume the drug in public as oil or as vapor.

However, smoking cannabis, the method that most patients in Israel use, is still banned in public.

Permits for the use of medical marijuana have until now been very strict: Patients were only allowed to use it at the address listed in the permit, usually their home, and not in the presence of another person. Possession of marijuana was also restricted to the user’s home.

Canada is on track to become the second country in the world to legalize the consumption and sale of recreational marijuana, after Uruguay made the big leap in 2014.

On Thursday, the Liberal government introduced its Cannabis Act, which allows people aged 18 and over to purchase and consume marijuana.

Much like alcohol, many of the nuts and bolts of legislation will be left to the provinces, who will be able to raise the minimum age if they so wish, and will be required to implement a retail system.

‘Israel’s Cabinet has approved new measures on the path to decriminalize the use of marijuana in the country. Anyone caught using the drug for the first time will only be fined roughly $270 instead of facing criminal charges.

The new policy formulated by the Public Security and Justice ministries shifts focus from criminal prosecution of smokers to administrative fines and educational campaigns.

The policy abandons criminal proceedings against would be first-time offenders who are caught smoking weed in public. Instead, they will be fined 1,000 shekels ($271). The fine will double if the offender is caught the second time.

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