Guess Where The Tallest Building Ever Made With Hemp Is & More Cannabis News Around The World

South Africa: 12-Stories Tall, Eco-Friendly, Hemp Hotel To Open

• At 12 stories tall, the 54-room Hemp Hotel is scheduled to open in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The hotel, which provides an impressive view of Cape Town’s massive Table Mountain, has a “minimal ecological footprint" and is considered the world’s tallest building made with industrial hemp.
• The walls were built with blocks of hempcrete, which are made from woody parts of the hemp plant and are reinforced with a cement-and-concrete structure.
• Benefits of this hempcrete include climate-friendly and fireproof characteristics. Furthermore, hempcrete is considered a “carbon negative” material as its production absorbs more carbon position pollution out of the air than it releases.
• “The plant absorbs the carbon, it gets put into a block, and [it] is then stored into a building for 50 years or longer,” Boshoff Muller, director of Afrimat Hemp, told AFP. 
• See Also: Words 'Cola,' 'Ginger Ale' Banned On Canadian Pot Labels, France's On-Spot Weed Fines & More Reg. Updates

Germany: First Marijuana Bill To Be Presented In Cabinet This August

• Some three months after Germany's Health Minister Karl Lauterbach unveiled the long-awaited cannabis legalization plan, it is confirmed that the country's regulators plan to split its reform into two minimum two separate draft laws. 
• The first one should rich the federal Cabinet as early as mid-August, writes MJBizDaily. 
• The first draft law is focused on “nonprofit cultivation associations,” and is expected to allow nonprofit associations to grow marijuana for recreational purposes and distribute it to members for personal use. Widespread sales through dispensaries would remain illegal. This plan is expected to be implemented by the end of the year. 
• A second draft law will concern pilot projects with commercial supply chains with the idea behind these trials to gather information for future regulations. 
• “We expect the draft law on municipal regional model projects in the fall,” said Katja Mast, parliamentary director of the Social Democratic Party of Germany parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

Canada: More Women Turning To Pot To Ease Menopause-Related Symptoms

• More women aged 35 and older in Alberta, Canada are turning to marijuana to relieve menopause-related symptoms, a new survey revealed.
• Researchers at the University of Alberta surveyed 1,485 women via social media and analyzed responses to find out that out of 499 women currently using marijuana, more than 75% were using it for medical purposes.
• “Most common reasons for current use were sleep (65%), anxiety (45%) and muscle/joint achiness (33%). In current users, 74% indicated that cannabis was helpful for symptoms. Current cannabis users were more likely to report experiencing menopause symptoms compared with non-users. History of smoking and general health status were associated with current cannabis use,” the study authors wrote.
• The researchers highlighted that these results are not representative of the full population of women aged 35 and older, other than those who took the survey.
• Related Links: Australia's Legalize Cannabis Party Introduces Bill, Indigenous People In Canada Seek Rights & More

Photo: Benzinga edit with Andrei Minsk and Marti Bug Catcher on Shutterstock