Empower Clinics Inc. has entered into a non-binding term sheet with Aibeida LifeTech Ltd. with a view to opening a fully functioning, hemp-based CBD extraction facility in greater Portland, Ore. sometime during the second quarter of 2019.

As per the agreement, Empower will pay Aibeida US$1 million in cash at closing and a US$250,000 performance holdback, notes a statement from Empower, an owner/operator of a network of physician-staffed clinics that are focused on helping patients to improve and protect their health through innovative uses of medical cannabis.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Here’s a new health-related adage to consider: Regular consumption of marijuana keeps you thin and active.

According to researchers at Oregon Health and Science University, people who use marijuana more than five times per month have a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who do not marijuana.

The researchers concluded:

Heavy users of cannabis had a lower mean BMI compared to that of never users, with a mean BMI being 26.7 kg/m in heavy users and 28.4 kg/m in never users.

In December last year, US President Donald Trump raised some eyebrows when he signed the 2018 Farm Bill — a bill including the Hemp Farming Act of 2018, which sees hemp officially removed from the Controlled Substances Act.

In short, this means that hemp can now be regulated as an agricultural crop, representing a major win for hemp growers and hemp CBD companies (CBD stands for cannabidiol — you can learn how CBD interacts with the body here).

Oregon’s two senators on Tuesday urged the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to update federal regulations to permit interstate commerce of food products containing a key non-psychoactive ingredient of cannabis.

The appeal by Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley came after Congress legalized the production and sale of industrial hemp and hemp derivatives, including cannabidiols, known as CBD. Wyden and Merkley had been behind a hemp provision that Congress passed and was included in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Despite the cannabis industry’s multi-million-dollar boon, the hospitality industry has been anything but hospitable to cannabis, even in legal states, writes Courtney Eldridge.

Oregon officials are considering a bill that would drastically change how cannabis businesses operate and could establish a historic new direction for the industry.

A bill to allow the exporting of cannabis across state lines to neighboring states such as Washington and California is being reviewed by state lawmakers. This could potentially be a huge development as no other state permits the export of cannabis.

Oregon growers have produced significantly more cannabis than its residents can consume. In fact, according to Rolling Stone, Oregon growers are currently sitting on more than one million pounds of cannabis. Currently, there is no plan to be able to sell the extra supplies to in-state consumers.

Industry observers expected that the marijuana legalization trend in the U.S. would hurt liquor sales, but a new study from a booze trade association says that hasn't been the case in the three states where weed has been legal the longest.

Overall industry trends remained consistent, according to the Distilled Spirits Council, which did the study. Spirits sales went up in the three states – Colorado, Oregon and Washington state – although wine and beer stayed on their mixed to negative course.

"At this point, we've seen no impact on spirit sales from legalized recreational marijuana," said Chris Swonger, CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council.

Last year was like no other for the marijuana industry. Previously considered a taboo topic, cannabis broke through as a legitimate business model in 2018 with the legalization of recreational weed in Canada this past October. When growing capacity is fully up to speed by the early part of the next decade, the industry could be generating in excess of $5 billion in sales per year.

 For the second year in a row, Oregon cannabis farmers have harvested more than a million pounds of usable marijuana.

The huge harvest (more than 453,592 kilograms) is again driving down prices for consumers and putting pressure on growers who aren't getting the price they hoped for after a similar phenomenon in 2017, The Bulletin reported Thursday.

Oregon's cannabis market is limited to sales within the state's borders, yet the state of about 4 million people has 1,107 licensed active producers and another 900 producers seeking licenses from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

Marijuana could take the next step toward joining pinot noir and craft beer on Oregon’s list of famous exports, under a proposal likely to go before state lawmakers in the new year.

The Statesman Journal reports that the Craft Cannabis Alliance, a business association led by founder and executive director Adam Smith, is working with legislators to let Oregon start exporting pot to other legal-weed states by 2021.

Among them is Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who said he also plans to reintroduce provisions from Senate Bill 1042, a similar proposal that died in the statehouse in 2017.