ECW: European Cannabis Week
The first edition of the European Cannabis Week has taken place in London between June 26th and 29th. The series of events has represented the first major showcase of this kind for both Europe and the UK, where in November 2018 the Government loosened restrictions on CBD and medical cannabis
The ECW gathered experts and speakers from around the world, in order to discuss topics including politics, science, health, patient needs, advocacy, investment and culture. Furthermore, ECW has offered a great opportunity for networking and a good chance for the whole of Europe to gain a premier position on the world’s cannabis-industry stage.
Held at the Southbank Centre, Cannabis Europa is the event that kicked off the ECW, exploring the recent wave of legalisation that crossed the Old Continent in the last few years with its developments in terms of industrialisation and professionalisation.
Several other events followed throughout the week (the full list can be found on ECW website).
It goes without saying that Europe and its emerging cannabis market can benefit very much from this kind of events, which are arising all over the Continent. The cannabis world is looking forward to next year’s ECW.
London for Legalisation
According to a poll commissioned by the Evening Standard and the independent think-tank Volteface, 63% of Londoners are in favour of legalising cannabis for recreational use. This poll was published yesterday on the Evening Standard, following the ECW which has seen London as its protagonist.
The poll displays that only 19% of Londoners are opposing legalisation. A similar trend is reflected in the rest of the country, where 47% back legalisation, with 30% against and 23% undecided.
Interestingly, the highest percentage (65%) in favour of legalisation is found among people between 25-34, whereas 56% young adults (18-24) support legalisation efforts – a cipher comparable to the 35-44 range (56%).
On the political level, people voting Liberal Democrats are usually the most open to the perspective described, with 61% supporting recreational use. Labour voters follow with 56% in favour. A completely different trend arises among Conservative voters, as the majority oppose legalisation and only 36% say to back legalisation efforts.
72% agree that the most compelling reason is that legalisation of cannabis could take £2.5 billion from criminals and go into the regular economy.
Liz McCulloch, director of policy for Volteface, said: “The result shows the economic incentive is most prominent, as well as health concerns to limit potency of cannabis, which probably reflects concerns around the harms of high potency cannabis known as ‘skunk’.”
The question now is: will the UK follow Canada’s example and become the first major European economy to legalise adult recreational use? Sentiment for reform seems to be there, among the public.
Supreme Heights
On June 24th, at the beginning of a very intense week for London, the Canada-based company Supreme Cannabis announced the launch of Supreme Heights, an investment platform which will be based in London.
This investments platform aims to identify opportunities in the UK and in Europe in the CBD health and wellness field. Supreme Heights is conceived as a separate entity which will explore the British and European markets, though it will be able to benefit from the company’s resources and expertise.
“The rapidly evolving CBD markets in the UK and Europe present compelling investment opportunities given the promising environments for new health and wellness companies to establish differentiated brands and capture meaningful market share. Supreme Heights is positioned to quickly act on attractive opportunities and establish an early mover advantage in the space,” said Navdeep Dhaliwal, CEO of Supreme Cannabis.
Patrick Morton, previously co-founder of Cannabis Invest, one of the UK’s major Investors Conferences, will serve as CEO of Supreme Heights.
The Stop and Chat 