Despite more Americans supporting federal legalization of cannabis, many people still don’t know about the industry’s potential to harm the environment.

Just like other agricultural commodities, there are environmental impacts involved when growing cannabis. But many consumers don’t know, or simply don’t care how their cannabis was grown or even if it was sprayed with harmful chemical pesticides.

Tons of carbon is emitted into the atmosphere too just to grow a single cannabis plant. However, there is a growing number of people who do care how their cannabis was grown, and if they are produced with care to reduce its impact on the environment.

Technology’s constant innovation has forced many industries to start adapting to mechanical and automated processes to take advantage of these brand new economies of scale. In the last decade or so, this technological integration has been driven by machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), the next step in enhancing the precision, automation, and productivity of industrial processes. The cannabis industry is no exception. In an environment where figures like temperature and THC concentration can make or break an entire batch of product, AI has become an integral part of industrial cannabis cultivation. 

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a going to be a massive market and represents an unprecedented growth opportunity for companies. CBD does not get you high, has incredible health benefits, and can be used an input product in a wide variety of consumer goods.

From food products to cosmetics, CBD has vast applications and this makes the opportunity incredibly exciting. We have been closely monitoring this sector since inception and have a strong understanding of the opportunities available.

Today, we are going to highlight three companies that have been capitalizing on this opportunity and are worth watching. These companies have been aggressively advancing business plans and have recently made some significant announcements.

MCN speaks with Cannabis Council of Canada President George Smitherman about the cannabis landscape and policy in Canada.

Canadian cannabis policy and governance are some of the most progressive in the world; and the country’s legalisation of medical, adult use and derivative forms of cannabis have contributed to a healthy, growing cannabis market. Sales topped $2bn across 2020, with further growth expected this year; while the market for illicit products has been steadily shrinking since 2019.

Hemp may not get you high, but it can do pretty much anything else you can imagine. This low-THC variant of the cannabis plant has a dizzying array of uses, including everything from food to medicine to rope to bricks and more—somebody even made a sports car out of hemp. Here are 15 products that can be made from hemp.

1. Beer

It’s not just the turtles and the fish we need to worry about, humans are now breathing in microplastics from all types of packaging.

According to the lead researcher of a Utah State University study, microplastics are turning into dust and are contaminated with toxic chemicals, plastic fragments, and metals.

These contaminants are in 4% of the air we breathe.

The cannabis industry’s interest in pollution awareness is escalating rapidly.

A decade ago, I was spearheading company growth for Atlas Snowshoes, which had just invented and launched a modern snowshoe. Some consumers associated snowshoeing with flimsy equipment, tedious exercise and winter vacationers who prefer to veer away from ski resorts.

That simply wasn’t going to work.

So we utilized innovative engineering and design to create equipment that people want to own and developed partnerships with major ski resorts around the world to create the luxury snowshoe experience known today. The lessons I learned then serve me well now as I face challenges – both similar and new – in the cannabis industry.

From the point of view of cannabis extraction, scaling production isn’t always a simple equation.

Scaling extraction means putting together puzzle pieces, often within rigid constructs of local regulations, astronomical equipment costs, and overwhelming data management. 

Even when a new extraction machine is financially feasible, local laws may restrict the handling of dangerous materials.

Worse, the backend data management piece can easily inundate a producer who’s used to working within a network of Excel sheets.

Profitable growth in the cannabis concentrate sector means hitting the sweet spot in a Venn diagram, comprising efficient output, compliance management, and robust production-tracking protocols. 

The emerging legal cannabis industry is going global, with a growing list of countries that have legalized cannabis for adult and/or medical use, and even more countries exploring a similar move. At the same time, the world’s climate is changing, with extreme weather patterns picking up in frequency and severity all over the world.

Climate change is affecting virtually every aspect and sector of the agriculture industry, and that is likely to be the case for cannabis too as outdoor cultivation is permitted in more areas. As the global cannabis industry continues to expand across the planet, and climate change, unfortunately, marches on, the problem for cannabis entrepreneurs is going to be more pronounced.

Cannabidiol or CBD is taking the market by storm. Part of CBD’s fame is the anecdotal health claims and therapeutic effects that treat various ailments. It has positive effects on anxiety and pain relief among other benefits. 

While there are many methods of consumption, at the center are CBD e-liquid and CBD vape juices. To most users, these two products are quite confusing. And with the CBD industry at its infancy stage, there’s a lot of misleading information online leaving you unsure which one to trust.