A cannabis packaging company, GreenLab Packaging, a focused division of FILAMATIC, helps businesses transition to a higher level of automated manufacturing.

BALTIMORE, MD, July 20, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – GreenLab Packaging provides innovative, advanced, and 100% USA-made liquid filling equipment while delivering the lowest cost of ownership to its partners.

“With experience working with highly regulated verticals like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and contract packaging, we leverage our network and industry knowledge, coupled with FILAMATIC’s innovative design and engineering for the benefit of our customers as well as the overall cannabis industry,” notes Dorjee Tenpa, Business Development, GreenLab Packaging.

Click here to schedule a virtual/live demo.

GreenLab Packaging provides the industry with a new, formal standard as it relates to liquid packaging experience needed to help businesses achieve their growth goals – while still maintaining required levels of quality, accuracy, and product packaging repeatability.  Whether you require a tabletop filling machine, a turnkey fill-cap-label system, or a fully automated, integrated filling and capping solution, G-LAB has the experience to ensure your satisfaction is exceeded.

Liquid filling systems for your business needs:

Aaron Saxton, Director of Sales/Marketing, FILAMATIC, says, “Despite some of the familiar issues that still exist today regarding industry acceptance or legal hurdles, downstream challenges like satisfying regulatory and compliance needs, packaging criteria, quality equipment, product traceability, and reliable vendor partnerships continue to drain organizations of energy and resources. That’s how GreenLab Packaging with FILAMATIC adds value by providing a high level of manufacturing quality and reliability, allowing you to do what you do best – not spending time maintaining equipment, but developing products, meeting new customers, and growing as an organization.”

GreenLab Packaging offers standard as well as customized liquid filling solutions for the following types of cannabis products: CBD oils, tinctures, hemp oils, different Delta products, a range of terpene-rich oils and distillate recipes for cartridges and disposable pens, as well as plant-infused gels, creams, and lotions.

For more information on GreenLab Packaging liquid filling systems, please visit www.greenlabpack.com today. You can also email or call 866.258.1914 and a representative will contact you shortly.

Canapa unveils new "grow as you go" preroll automation.

July 20, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Canapa has announced that its JuanaRoll automated preroll machine is now available in eight different configurations to fill most every production rate need.

The JuanaRoll is the industry’s most flexible pre-roll machine with a straight-line design that allows users to expand production as needed. Customers can now start with a one-channel model and produce up to 4,000 prerolls in an eight-hour shift and then expand up to an eight-channel model or anything in between to produce up to 32,000 prerolls per eight-hour shift.

Featuring the most edge weight cell technology with 2/1000g resolution, an integrated PreCheQ check weigher and stations for compacting, tamping, twisting, trimming and crowning, this high-performance machine also includes no cone-no fill detection, a cone open camera vision system, and two digital cameras with free online support and training.

The JuanaRoll is designed for speed, accuracy, flexibility and expandability. This highly productive machine is built with a stainless-steel frame and contact parts to allow for easy cleaning and includes a user-friendly HMI for unlimited recipe setup and precise control over compaction and twisting. Real-time production reporting can be displayed at the touch of a button and data is easily exported to USB or email.

For a full-length testimonial video and to learn more about the JuanaRoll pre-roll machine, including operational videos from facilities around the world, visit www.canapasolutions.com/pre-roll-packaging-machine.

The change was approved last year and is separate from a state law that took effect July 1 to allow the sale of edibles and beverages infused with hemp-derived THC.

Big changes are coming to Minnesota’s medical cannabis program next month, when patients will be able to access edibles starting Aug. 1.

The change was approved last year, when the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announced that cannabis edibles and flower would be made available to the state’s patient base.

RELATED: Minnesota to Add Infused Edibles to Medical Cannabis Program

Minnesota’s dispensaries began selling flower March 1 as part of the rule change.

To access new product formats, such as flower and edibles, patients enrolled in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program must have a consultation with their dispensary, according to a local KSTP report, and patients are encouraged to set up an appointment ahead of Aug. 1 if they are interested in edible products.

“The state’s medical cannabis program continues to respond to the needs of patients, and gummies and chews may be useful options for those who may have difficulty swallowing pills or tablets, do not want to smoke medical cannabis, or don’t like the taste of other forms of medicine,” MDH Commissioner Jan Malcolm said in a statement.

The rule change regarding medical cannabis edibles is separate from a state law that took effect July 1 to allow the sale of edibles and beverages infused with hemp-derived THC.

RELATED: Cannabis Edibles and Beverages Containing Hemp-Derived THC Now Legal in Minnesota

Under that law, adults 21 and older can purchase “edible cannabinoid products” that contain a maximum of 5 milligrams of hemp-derived THC per serving and 50 milligrams per package, and a maximum of 0.3% THC by dry weight.

The sale of edibles containing CBD and delta-8 THC was already legal in Minnesota, but the new law that took effect this month allows for delta-9 THC to be used as an additive in edibles and beverages as long as it is derived from legally certified hemp.

The Minnesota Board of Pharmacy is responsible for regulating those products, while the MDH continues to oversee the state’s medical cannabis program.

Sid Miller, the state’s agriculture commissioner, said in a recent editorial that cannabis prohibition came from an authoritarian desire to control others.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a staunch Republican whose seat is up for election in November, came out in support of medical cannabis in a recent editorial, calling access to the plant a fundamental freedom. 

Texas is one of 13 states where medical cannabis is not fully legalized without low-THC restrictions. Texas does have a program, but that program includes a 1% THC cap on medical cannabis—toeing the line with the legal definition of hemp, which is 0.3% THC or lower.

An eighth-generation farmer and rancher, Miller is currently serving his second four-year term as commissioner of the state’s Agriculture Department after previously serving 12 years in the Texas House of Representatives.

“In a free society, government should only make something illegal for a powerful reason or set of facts,” he wrote in a July 15 editorial. “The freedom of the people to make their own choices and decisions is a fundamental [principle] of a true democracy.”

Miller compared policies on cannabis to the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s, writing that the drug war has fostered gangs, corruption and widespread violence against the lives and liberties of American citizens.

“As I look back, I believe that cannabis prohibition came from a place of fear, not from medical science or the analysis of social harm,” he wrote. “Sadly, the roots of this came from a history of racism, classism, and a large central government with an authoritarian desire to control others. It is as anti-American in its origins as could be imaginable.”

While progress toward reform has been made in the U.S., including 19 states and Washington, D.C., fully legalizing cannabis for adult use by those 21 and older, there are still more than half a million Americans being arrested for cannabis possession every year, according to Marijuana Policy Project.

In Texas, possessing any amount of cannabis can result in 180 days of incarceration and a $2,000 max fine, while possessing 2 ounces to 4 ounces is punishable by a year in prison and a $4,000 fine, according to NORML. Possessing more than 4 ounces is a felony.

While Miller called for an end to prohibition, writing that a new chapter and a new attitude about cannabis use must come in the 21st century, he also suggested that Texas is not yet ready for a commercial adult-use retail market. 

“While I am not sure that Texas is ready to go that far, I have seen firsthand the value of cannabis as medicine to so many Texans,” he wrote. “Those states that have gone before Texas are providing real-world data and research about what they are doing right and what can be improved. But the roots for good Texas policy on cannabis have already been planted.”

Those roots are shallow compared to the majority of states with medical cannabis programs in the U.S.

Texas expanded its medical program in September 2021 to include cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as qualifying conditions, but chronic pain remains on the sideline as a condition to gain access to 1% THC cannabis. In states without potency limits, patients generally have access to flower that tests between 20% and 30% THC, while 35% THC is not unheard of.

“It is my goal next year to expand access to the compassionate use of cannabis products in Texas so that every Texan with a medical need has access to these medicines,” Miller wrote. “When four out of five Texans support compassionate use, we need to have state law and state policy reflect that desire. I will urge our state Legislature and our governor to make that a top priority in the upcoming legislative session.”

From the executive level, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1535 into law last year—legislation that led to the program’s expansion in September. Abbott also has shown support for justice reform, specifically signaling that he favors decriminalization policies during a January campaign stop in Edinburg.

Advocating for broader legalization efforts is Texas governor hopeful Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat who is challenging Abbott, a two-term incumbent, this November.

O’Rourke has supported a shift in cannabis policies since at least 2009. His stance is now shared by the majority in Texas, where 67% of the state’s citizens support legalizing cannabis for adult use, according to a November 2021 survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.

As reported by The Hill, Abbott holds a 5-point lead on O’Rourke in the gubernatorial race, according to a poll released July 12.

Regardless of who wins in November, Miller called for elected officials to put their political differences aside and have an honest conversation about cannabis, including “where we have been, where we are going and what role the government should properly play.”

He concluded his editorial by writing, “We owe it to our fellow Texans, especially those who are suffering, to lead or just get out of the way if we cannot formulate effective cannabis policy for Texas.”

The “Wayne State Warriors Marijuana Clinical Research Program,” a five-year study, will look at the impact of cannabinoids on the behavioral health of veterans.

[DETROIT, MICHIGAN, July 11, 2022] – Redbud Roots Inc. is proud to support Wayne State University on the “Wayne State Warriors Marijuana Clinical Research Program,” a five-year study investigating the impact of cannabinoids on the behavioral health of veterans.

This Veteran Marijuana Research Grant (VMR) funded study via the State of Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) supports two large-scale randomized controlled clinical trials over five years that will evaluate the efficacy of cannabis and cannabinoids for improving behavioral health in U.S. military veterans living in Michigan. This project focuses on the potential for improving symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects up to 31% of U.S. military veterans. Importantly, veterans living with PTSD are at increased risk of suicide and other poor outcomes, such as depression, substance use disorders, sleep disturbances, and even cardiovascular events (e.g., stroke). In the latest annual report from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration, a staggering average of 17.2 veterans died by suicide per day in 2019.

“We are overjoyed to be working with Wayne State on this study” says Alex Leonowicz, co-founder and COO of Redbud Roots, Inc. “Veterans deserve full legal access to medical cannabis and anything we can do to help change this conversation – we’ll put our weight behind.”

Although medical cannabis use is permitted in 38 states, cannabis remains federally illegal and many veterans fear losing their benefits if they are found to be using cannabis. Veterans need and deserve as many safe and efficacious treatment options as can be identified to manage the mental and physical toll that military service can cause.

This important and timely project will provide much-needed scientific understanding of the potential risks and/or therapeutic benefits of cannabis and cannabinoids. In addition, given that this project is centered at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, it has the potential to benefit veterans living in Michigan now and in the future. The project is led by clinician-scientists and Wayne State University faculty, Drs. Leslie Lundahl and David Ledgerwood. To learn more about the project, visit www.warriorcare.net.

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