Cannabis News
How cannabis became a science-backed crop
Recognition of one’s work can take many forms, from peer recognition to institutional awards, and in some cases comes repeatedly throughout a career. This is the course of the cannabis research work of Prof. Nirit Bernstein of the Volcani Institute, which recently ended with the “Cannabis and Hemp Distinguished Achievement Award” given to the Israeli researcher by the American Society of Horticultural Science.
© Nirit Bernstein
The beginning of the modern science of cannabis
Nirit started working with cannabis about 14 years ago, long before the crop gained its current institutional legitimacy. At that time, he approached the Israeli Ministry of Health, through its Medical Cannabis Unit, with a formidable request: to help define cultivation protocols for a crop that is poorly understood from a plant science perspective, to ensure that the plant product is safe for consumers, and to provide growers with the necessary agronomic support. “Back then there was almost no information about the plant science and agronomy of cannabis,” he says. “It was very difficult to establish a cannabis research program at the time because there was no funding, but I felt a great responsibility to do it.”
He did what any academic would do, turned to the scientific literature. For any other well-studied crop, the answers would have been numerous. For cannabis, there was basically nothing. “Cannabis is not a new crop, people have been using it basically forever, so I was hoping to find some useful information,” recalls Nirit. “But when I looked at it, there was basically zero. At that point I understood that if we wanted answers, I would have to start from the very beginning.”
This absence prompted him to redirect his research activity almost entirely to cannabis. Early work focused on the basics, not reinventing the wheel to get into the cannabis side of things, but because every discipline needs a framework to build upon if complex issues are to be addressed. “How the plant responds to mineral nutrition throughout its life cycle. How the vegetative and reproductive stages change in their requirements. What happens when inputs are boosted, limited or misaligned. All of this is decades of knowledge in all crops, but for cannabis it was all new territory.” Nitrogen became one of the first focuses, followed by potassium, phosphorus and magnesium, each of which was systematically analyzed. “Each time we found the optimal level, it became the basis for the next analysis,” he explained. “It was a very cumulative process.”
Academy for cannabis growers
© Nirit Bernstein
As soon as Nirit started presenting the first data at conferences, it became clear how hungry the industry was for validated information. Growers, consultants and companies began arriving in volume with very specific questions about nutrient ratios and cropping decisions, often driven by hereditary practices. “For years, I received hundreds of emails and requests every week,” he says. “People would ask about nitrogen, potassium, light, irrigation, crop management and what not…very practical things. You really feel the responsibility, you know the industry is listening.”
The science of cannabis plants is advancing
This sense of responsibility dictated the direction of his laboratory. His research expanded into environmental drivers, light spectra, HPS versus LED, pruning strategies, plant density, and plant architecture, including some early peer-reviewed work on hood uniformity in cannabis chemistry. “We had very little information about the plant, but at the end of the day cannabis is just a plant,” said Nirit. “Interesting, yes, but it still follows physiological rules that need to be understood.”
As the field arrived, so did the questions. Attention was focused on inflorescence development, trichome ripening and harvest time, with industry conventions still struggling to fully distance themselves from heritage practices. “There’s been a lot of change in the last 9 years,” he says. “In the past, people harvested trichomes when they were about 50% amber. Today, many harvest them as soon as they start to turn amber, but we don’t have enough information about how growing conditions affect that process.”
This gap is now central to his research. With international collaborators, including projects funded by the Cannabis Research Institute in Colorado, Nirit is studying not only pesticide residues, but also how pest management strategies affect secondary metabolism. “It’s not just about waste anymore,” he explained. “If you spray the plant, even with terpene-containing botanicals, that can have a dramatic effect on the production of secondary metabolites.”
The physiology of stress has become another key focus. Time and time again, his work has shown that peak concentrations of cannabinoids and terpenes often coincide with how the plant reacts to stressors, an observation long known to growers. “Stress often affects secondary metabolism,” he says. “What we’re trying to do now is to develop extraction methods that trick the plant into thinking it’s under stress while it’s growing under optimal conditions.”
© Nirit Bernstein
This willingness to investigate grounded practices has continually encouraged her to question her research heritage methods. Physical injury, long dismissed as superstition, was shown to have some stimulatory effects on secondary metabolites. “They told us it worked, and they were right,” he says. Flushing, another divisive subject, showed no consistent increase in cannabinoid levels, but no harm either. “My recommendation is to clean it,” he added. “It helps to save money, it does not damage the plant and it improves the conditions of the soil, especially when growers have used too much fertilizer.”
Further experimental work continues in parallel, including carefully measured salinity stress in the last days before harvest, prolonged preharvest light or darkness, and studies on heavy metal uptake. “Hemp is a hyper accumulator, and ‘drug-type’ cannabis was never really tested for that in a medical context,” he explains. “Some of the nutrients we give to plants, such as iron, zinc, manganese, copper, are heavy metals. The question is how much we can give in the inflorescences and in the extracts produced without reaching critical thresholds.”
In all these lines of research, the methodology remains consistent. “We’ve put a lot of effort into understanding the physiology and biology of the plant,” says Nirite. “Not only agronomy, but also chemistry and the physiological function of plants. Then we translate this knowledge into practical applications. This is how we work in my laboratory.”
Thanks to this approach, Nirite has achieved a series of international recognitions in recent years, from the ‘American Chemical Society’, the ‘American Society of Agronomy’, the ‘American Society of Horticultural Sciences’, to agronomic and horticultural organizations throughout Europe and Israel. The “Cannabis and Hemp Distinguished Achievement Award” now joins that list to confirm that cannabis plant science has reached a level of maturity where fundamental work can finally be recognized as such.
“Cannabis is a fascinating plant,” reflects Nirite. “Not just because of the chemistry, but because the physiology can be so different between cultivars. The more we learn, the clearer it becomes how much we don’t know.”
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After years of vetoing the General Assembly, legislation to create a legal adult cannabis market in Virginia passed both chambers on Tuesday, this time ready for a governor’s signature and retail sales to begin in November. The votes provide the clearest sign yet that Virginia is ready to move from legal ownership to a fully regulated no-sale market, a transition that has eluded the commonwealth since 2021, when lawmakers legalized simple ownership.
On Tuesday morning, the House passed House Bill 642, Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, by a vote of 65-32. A few hours later, the Senate passed House Bill 542 by Sen. Lashrecse Aird, R-Petersburg, by a narrow 21-19 margin, after a failed initial vote.
Similar proposals have cleared the General Assembly in recent years—often with bipartisan support—but were repeatedly vetoed by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin. This year, the political calculation has changed. Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has vowed to sign legislation establishing a regulated retail market.
Under Krizek’s bill, the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would administer the retail system, with no retail sales permitted before November 1, 2026. “It’s about fixing a situation that isn’t working,” he said, noting that while it is legal for adults to possess cannabis, retail sales remain unregulated.
Read more at Virginia Mercury
Curaleaf Holdings has closed a $500 million private debt financing, refinancing existing obligations and extending the maturity of the debt by more than two years.
The company issued senior secured notes with an interest rate of 11.5%, due in February 2029. At the same time, Curaleaf repaid $475 million in prepayments due in December 2026. According to the company, the transaction is non-dilutive and was completed at par.
The refinancing effectively pushes Curaleaf’s near-term debt obligations further down the road, giving the company additional runway as it continues to operate in multiple international cannabis markets. The net proceeds from the offering will be used to support global growth initiatives, as well as to cover transaction-related costs.
© Curaleaf
“This financing strengthens our balance sheet and gives us greater flexibility to execute our long-term strategy,” said Boris Jordan, President and CEO of Curaleaf. He described the deal as the largest bond offering completed in the cannabis sector to date, and pointed to renewed interest from institutional investors as a sign of increased confidence in the industry.
The notes pay interest annually and are secured against the company’s assets. The financing structure also allows for debt issuance under certain leverage conditions, along with $100 million in senior bank financing.
The private placement was conducted under existing securities law exemptions in Canada and the United States and was led by Seaport Global Securities, with ATB Cormark Capital Markets acting as placement agent.
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