Switzerland nears launch of recreational cannabis trial

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1 year ago

March 23, 2023

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Switzerland’s government is one step closer to its yearslong effort to launch a trial program involving the sale and consumption of recreational cannabis.

Called “Züri Can – Cannabis with Responsibility,” the study will involve only Zurich and is intended to provide a scientific basis for the development of the country’s cannabis policies.

The study was expected to start in autumn 2022 but was delayed because the Federal Office of Public Health and the Cantonal Ethics Committee had yet to give their approval.

Only organic and locally produced cannabis products will be permitted in the trial program, the government has said.

Roughly 2,100 people are expected to participate in the Zurich program.

Cannabis “trial” programs of varying degrees have been proposed in Switzerland since at least 2017.

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Michigan is selling more cannabis, but retailers are taking in less money

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1 day ago

May 17, 2024

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Michigan marijuana retailers sold about 9.3% more cannabis in April than in March, but they brought in about 3.5% less money.

In April, Michigan retailers sold 573,206 total pounds of cannabis – 569,620 pounds to adult-use customers and 3,586 pounds to medical marijuana patients – for a total of $278,546,444.

Of that April total, $276,685,183 was spent by recreational shoppers and $1,861,261 by MMJ patients, according to monthly statistics from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA).

In March, Michigan retailers sold 524,285 total pounds of marijuana – 520,469 pounds on the recreational side and 3,816 on the MMJ side – for $288,843,279.

Of that March total, $286,790,258 was spent by adult-use customers and $2,053,021 by MMJ patients, according to CRA data.

The agency reported

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AI is making cannabis cultivation smarter

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3 days ago

May 16, 2024

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(This story is part of the cover package in the May-June issue of MJBizMagazine.)

Machine learning is becoming increasingly common in indoor cannabis grows, as cultivators use sophisticated sensors and cameras to maintain optimal growing conditions, sound the alarm about threats such as pests or disease and reduce labor costs associated with both menial and high-level cultivation tasks.

“Cannabis has always been the enabler of some of these bleeding-edge technologies,” Nick Genty, CEO of North Carolina-based AgEye Technologies, said in an interview with MJBizMagazine.

“They’ve had the margins, and they’ve had the budgets to support investing in new technology versus some of the vegetable guys who don’t.”

There are two main reasons why cannabis and other indoor agriculture companies are implementing artificial intelligence or machine-learning

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Scapegoat or solution? Ouster of top New York marijuana official raises questions

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5 days ago

May 14, 2024

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The exit of Chris Alexander, the top state official overseeing New York’s rollout of adult-use marijuana sales, is seen by many as assigning blame for what has been decried as the country’s worst cannabis market launch to date.

More than three years after New York legalized adult use, only 122 stores were open for business statewide, and the market’s $123 million in 2023 sales was only about one-quarter of projections.

But whether Alexander’s departure as executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will mean a turnaround – or whether his replacement, to be assigned by Gov. Kathy Hochul upon completion of Alexander’s term in September, will be any better – is far from clear, industry observers told MJBizDaily on Monday.

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