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CANNABIZ AFRICA RESEARCH & INNOVATION
The cannabis industry is at the juxtaposition of many disciplines: agriculture, science and technology, genetics, health, medicine, manufacturing, textiles, construction, finance and much more. Cannabis legalization, in a variety of forms, is taking place across the world, and there is a swell of research and innovation that has been unleashed. Cannabiz Africa’s Research and Innovation section keeps you up to date with the latest developments in this sector.
Dr Gallow in Demand: SA’s ‘Medical Cannabis Ambassador’ Hits the World Stage After Concluding Ground-breaking SA Research
Dr Shiksha Gallow recently wrapped up SA’s first Pharma-ethics and DOH approved clinical trials involving cannabis and has now become a highly sought after presenter in the international medical cannabis arena. She is presenting two papers in Brisbane this week at the CIU Australian Medical Cannabis Conference. This follows her whirlwind tour of USA, Costa Rica, Thailand and the Philippines in the past few months
CBD Shots Prove There’s Life Left in the Old Nag as Israel Develops New Pain Treatment Product for Animals
20 February 2025 at 12:30:00
Israeli company Innocann, has developed a single shot CBD injection treatment for osteoarthritis that could have wide application in the international veterinary world. The Liposomal CBD treatment was administered to Ariel the elderly donkey with positive results and there could be future application for humans.
Dr Gallow in Demand: SA’s ‘Medical Cannabis Ambassador’ Hits the World Stage After Concluding Ground-breaking SA Research
19 February 2025 at 12:30:00
Dr Shiksha Gallow recently wrapped up SA’s first Pharma-ethics and DOH approved clinical trials involving cannabis and has now become a highly sought after presenter in the international medical cannabis arena. She is presenting two papers in Brisbane this week at the CIU Australian Medical Cannabis Conference. This follows her whirlwind tour of USA, Costa Rica, Thailand and the Philippines in the past few months
Welcome to the World of ‘Comseceuticals’: CBD Cosmetics Can Blend Beauty and Healing
14 February 2025 at 07:15:00
CBD is set to play an increasing role in cosmetic and beauty products such as skin and hair care as research highlights the cannabis compound’s anti-aging and antioxidant effects. It’s also been found to accelerate the healing of wounds.
New Partnerships, New Paradigms: Eco Green Becomes SCIPP’s Satellite Lab To Research Indigenous Psychedelics
26 January 2025 at 08:30:00
Cape Town cannabis lab Eco Green Analytics has entered the traditional medicine research field by partnering with the Pretoria-based Southern Centre for Indigenous Psycho Pharma (SCIPP). It will offer its services to analyse medicines used by traditional healers and psylocibin mushrooms in a quest to unlock the therepeutic benefits of indigenous plants.
Scratching the Next Surface: Minor Cannabinoids Hold the Key to Major Therapeutic Benefits
4 December 2024 at 06:00:00
From CBN to CBG and THCA, there are more than 100 cannabinoids in the plant with different psychoactive and non-psychoactive components. Indeed, each cannabinoid counts different attributes, with research only beginning to scratch the surface of how we can leverage specific cannabinoids for specific therapies.
Zimbabwe's Ivory Medical Launches Therapeutic Product Range Integrating Cannabis and Traditional African Medicine
11 November 2024 at 06:00:00
Zimbabwe has been struggling to develop its medical cannabis value chain but this looks set to change as Ivory Medical brings an innovative product range to market. Its CannaQure range, launched last week, integrates traditional African medicines into cannabis-based therapeutic products.
Waxing Lyrical: Stellenbosch Academics Patent New Cannabis Extraction Process Using Plant Wax to Boost Productivity
31 October 2024 at 05:00:00
Extracting active compounds from cannabis for medicinal purposes is a fast-growing industry world-wide. The enormous impact this could have on the local cannabis industry has seized the imagination of a Stellenbosch University chemical engineering team who have developed and patented a unique extraction process involving the purification of plant wax to preserve active compounds
Breaking New Frontiers: Afriplex Unveils Process to Turn Cannabinoids into Non-Cannabis Catalysts For Industrial Applications
3 October 2024 at 10:00:00
Afriplex, a subsidiary of the investment group, Impilovest, has invested R150 million in upgrading its scientific technology capacity in the past four years and has entered a completely new space in the cannabis industry. It has invested in highly-specialized equipment that uses cannabinoids as building blocks to create new compounds and processes. These have nothing to do with traditional cannabis applications but have a wide range of industrial and other uses.
Cannabinoid Research: CBD & THC May Not Balance Each Other Out After All
9 September 2024 at 09:00:00
The two most studied compounds in cannabis may not balance each other out like it's commonly claimed. THC and CBD are often pitted against each other, but their effects on the human body may not be in a tug-of-war after all. A new study reveals CBD may not take the edge off THC, but in fact, taken at high doses may enhance the psychoactive effect.
Agriculture Department Commits R146 Million to Cannabis Research: Focus is on Industrial and Medical Use
6 September 2024 at 09:00:00
The Department of Agriculture has committed to funding the Agriculture Research Council with R146 million for cannabis research. This emerged from a Cabinet briefing on progress on the National Cannabis Master Plan in which it was agreed that stakeholder consultation would begin soon on a policy to commercialise cannabis.
Greenhouse Growing: Offset Challenges by Starting with the Right Genetics and Tight Control Over Airflow
5 September 2024 at 10:00:00
South Africa is well-suited to cannabis greenhouse growing, but that comes with its challenges in quality and consistency. Canadian consultant Rob Smallman says that to get the best results, the greenhouse cultivator has to start with the right genetics - and keep a close eye on humidity and airflow.
Sweetwaters Pioneers Aquaponics in Africa, Aims to Dominate Organic Cannabis Market
25 August 2024 at 08:00:00
Health conscious consumers are driving the growth of the organic cannabis market. Sweetwaters Aquaponics, an Eastern Cape grow op that’s majority-owned by Labat Africa, is actively pursuing this market segment, growing what may arguably be some of the purest commercial cannabis in South Africa.
NWU Academic: ‘Use Indigenous Knowledge Act to Protect and Promote Legacy Growers’
11 August 2024 at 06:00:00
Legacy growers are in danger of losing their “intellectual property” as South Africa moves towards a new cannabis regulatory system. A North-West University academic is researching how their rights can be protected and their communities enhanced through using existing laws that protect and promote indigenous knowledge systems.
CSIR Says it Has Incubated 23 SMME’s for Local and International Cannabis Markets
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24 July 2024 at 11:00:00
Official support for the fledgling SA cannabis industry is starting to shape up. The CSIR, with the support of other Government departments, has prepared 23 small businesses to take on the cannabis market
Cannabis Use Disorder: The Dark Side of Legalization Comes Under the Spotlight at Nelson Mandela University
27 June 2024 at 06:30:00
As cannabis legalization makes strides across the world, so the risks become more apparent. There are increasing reports of cannabis use disorder (CUD), particularly in Africa, where substance abuse is reaching crisis proportions in some countries. CUD is the focus of Nelson Mandela University student Musa Aminu’s new research programme.
New Study: Drugs are Affecting the Environment, Big Pharma Needs to Make ‘Greener’ Products
8 June 2024 at 08:00:00
A report published by Nature Sustainability shows that human drug usage is becoming a threat to wildlife. Among the findings are that addiction, anxiety and sex reversal have been reported in species by researchers as a range of substances contaminate ecosystems around the world.
SA’s “Magic Plant”, Kanna, Predicted to Trend This Year Along With 5 Other Entheogens
9 January 2024 at 12:00:00
ACS started off as a cannabis testing facility in the eastern USA in 2017. It’s journey has now opened the ‘Entheogen era’. Entheogen is a neologism to designate psychoactive substances employed in culturally sanctioned visionary experiences in ritual or religious contexts.
Taking it to the Next Scientific Level: Cape Sativa Launches New NanoCBD Water Product Range
22 September 2023 at 08:00:00
The plant gives in all its forms. Now we have a South African company patenting a nanotechnology platform to produce 100% ‘bioavailable cannabidiol water’, which they say makes CBD easier to absorb into the body.
Khoisan Women To Introduce Traditional Cannabis Construction Techniques into the Modern Sphere
4 September 2023 at 09:30:00
At the recent Women Indaba conference in the Northern Cape, a leading Khoisan activist told workshop on ‘women in the construction industry’ that it was her mission to re-introduce traditional building techniques involving cannabis.
From the Archives: SA Scientists Unearthed Evidence that Shakespeare May Have Been a Stoner
20 June 2023 at 08:30:00
One of South Africa's most interesting archaeological excavations was an analysis of smoking pipes found at William Shakespeare's Stratford on Aven home. Francis Thackery of the University of Pretoria claims there is strong evidence suggesting "The Bard" consumed cannabis. This report was first published in the Conversation in 2015, but it is worth dusting off in the context of South Africa's evolution in cannabis consciousness.
Voice of Reason from Mpondoland: Chief Zwelinkhanyile Diko Tells Parliament: Keep it Simple, Just Classify Local Landraces as Industrial Cannabis
30 May 2023 at 12:00:00
Chief Zwelinkhanyile Diko is the ancestral leader of the Magingqi Community who have been farming cannabis in the Port St Johns area of the Eastern Cape for over 150 years. He has established the Magingqi Community Trust to develop a legit cannabis economy in Mpondoland and leave a legacy for future generations. He knows what he’s talking about. This is his virtual submission to Parliament’s Justice and Correctional Services Portfolio Committee on 23 May 2023 on the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill.
Unpacking Psychedelic Therapies: Basically They Enable the Brain to Make New Neural Connections and Break Past Patterns
19 May 2023 at 14:00:00
There’s been an explosion of interest in the potential healing power of psychedelics with more and more research coming onto the market. This is an excerpt from a paper by Edel Hyland of Queen’s University, Belfast, that sums up what psychedelic medicine is all about.
AI and Biotech: Developing New Drugs Faster
18 May 2023 at 09:00:00
The way drugs are developed is being rewritten as we speak. Discovering and approving new drugs is a lengthy process that requires years of development and a dismal success rate, but artificial intelligence (AI) could rev up the process in a major way.
US Perspective on AI and Cannabis: What Answers Lie in the Algorhythms?
5 May 2023 at 06:00:00
There’s been a lot of hope and hand-wringing over how artificial intelligence will reshape medicine, education and our understanding of reality itself. 420 Intel says it seems worth asking how it could affect one of the most popular drugs in America.
Afriplex launches AfriTaste Brand; Commercially Re-Imagining the Food and Beverage Sector From a Botanicals Perspective
4 May 2023 at 08:00:00
Afriplex CEO, Danie Nel, says the Paarl-based botanicals processing and extracting company has developed a range of “health-orientated, multisensorial ingredients” for food and beverage companies through its new AfriTaste portfolio.
SA Entrepreneurs at the Cutting Edge of International Psychedelic Therapies
3 May 2023 at 12:00:00
South African entrepreneurs have launched one of the world’s most cutting edge therepeutics group, Psyence, which is now gaining major traction in psychedelic medicine. The Toronto-listed firm, which has a psychedelics production license in Lesotho, is now launching clinical trials in Australia.
AI and Drugs: ChatGPT on the Ethics of Cannabis, How to Make Crack Cocaine and Advice on Joining a Cartel
9 February 2023 at 07:00:00
Vice Magazine’s International Drugs Editor Max Daly spents time with ChatGPT’s asking all the really difficult questions skirting legality and illegality, and finds in some instances, the chatbot is just as confused as humans are about drugs.
What’s the Buzz? Honey Bees Respond Positively to CBD As Importance of Antioxidents in All Life Systems Becomes Apparent
8 February 2023 at 12:30:00
Bees are a crucial pollination agent and are in danger the whole world over. A study by Polish researchers has shown honey bees respond positively to CBD, but the implications go further than the health of our pollinators. It suggests that cannabis could be beneficial to antioxident systems in other species too.
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