Larry SchlesingerSep 26, 2019 AFR Share Shopping centre owners have talked up the prospects of malls as “destination living centres”, as retail property as an asset class came under fire at The Australian Financial Review Property Summit 2019 in Sydney. Earlier at the Summit, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg urged landlords to “take it easy on retailers”. Dexus chief executive Darren Steinberg said Australia had “built too much retail space” while Mirvac boss Susan-Lloyd Hurtwitz said no one needed to go to a shop ever again “if they desired”. But Vicinity Centres managing director Grant Kelley said there were winners and losers in retail. Among the winners, Mr Kelley said, were destination centres like its flagship Chadstone and Emporium Melbourne malls, where people come to “hang out, go to the movies or buy a handbag”, as well as convenience malls where people “do their grocery shopping or go to the gym”. “It’s the middle of the…

Canberra is the first city in Australia to legalise cannabis for personal use  The bill was passed in the ACT Parliament on Wednesday afternoon  Canberrans will be allowed to possess 50g of cannabis and grow two plants Canberra has become the first city in Australia to legalise cannabis for personal use. The bill was passed in the ACT Parliament on Wednesday afternoon after getting support from labor and the Greens. Canberrans over 18 will be allowed to possess 50g of cannabis and grow two plants.  A household can only have four plants total and hydroponic growing will remain illegal, The ABC reported. The law change will not come into effect until January 31.  ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith must also sign off on the bill. The private member’s bill was introduced by Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson. While legalising the drug might clash with federal drug laws, Mr Pettersson on Tuesday said he was ‘very…

Sue Mitchell Sep 25, 2019 AFR Coca-Cola Amatil is bracing for a potential hit to soft drink and bottled water volumes when New Zealand introduces a container deposit scheme next year. The New Zealand government announced on Wednesday that work was under way to launch a container deposit scheme by August 2020. Beverage containers such as plastic and glass bottles, and cans, will carry a refundable deposit – likely to be between 10¢ and 20¢ – redeemable when containers are returned to collection points. Greenpeace hailed the decision as a “breakthrough moment for plastic waste in New Zealand”. Only half the 2 billion single-use beverage containers sold in New Zealand each year are recycled. Based on the impact of container deposit schemes introduced in NSW in December 2017 and Queensland in November 2018, the scheme is likely to dent beverage volumes in New Zealand as bottlers including Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA)…

Victoria Scott  September 24, 2019 Foxbusiness  Concerned parents and multiple coalition groups are pushing to ban vaping products entirely. States like New York, Massachusetts and Michigan already put down the hammer when it comes to legislation surrounding e-cigarettes. Charlie’s Chalk Dust CEO Brandon Stump was quick to protest Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s recent decision to ban e-cigarettes for four months. “It’s no surprise to me that we’re talking about flavor bans and how that’s appealing to the youth,” Stump told FOX Business’ Liz Claman on “The Claman Countdown.” Charlie Chalk Dust is a company that specializes in flavored e-cigarette vapor-liquid, in flavors like peanut butter and strawberry-watermelon. Prohibiting e-cigarette flavors was a first step towards decreasing children’s interest in partaking in vaping, yet Stump believes a ban could lead to another problem altogether. “What I can tell you is that 500,000 people are going to die this year from smoking…

AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS 25 September 2019 ACT is expected to pass a bill legalising possessing and growing cannabis Bill will allow Canberrans to possess 50 grams of cannabis and grow two plants Labor needs the support of the Greens to pass the private member’s bill The ACT Legislative Assembly is expected to pass a bill legalising possessing and growing cannabis for personal use in the nation’s capital. The private member’s bill on Wednesday from Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson would allow Canberrans over 18 to possess 50g of cannabis and grow two plants. Labor needs the support of the Greens to pass the bill, and they have offered their conditional support. While legalising the drug might clash with federal drug laws, Mr Pettersson on Tuesday said he was ‘very confident’ there wouldn’t be any problems. But in a report on the bill, the ACT government said it could not rule out…

Jonathan Shieber 24 September 2019 TechCrunch  In a small corner on the second floor of a roughshod maker space in Philadelphia, the founders of Hava Health are plotting the launch of what they call the first vaporizer designed for smoking cessation. Robots roam the open floors of the offices at NextFab, where Josh Israel and Devin Serago, two serial entrepreneurs and college friends, work on nailing down the technical aspects of vape that would systematically reduce nicotine concentrations over time to ween smokers and vapers alike off of nicotine. “We’re not revolutionizing a completely new product,” says Israel. “The understanding of vaporizer has been around for 10 years plus… patented a new design to let people do what we set out to do which is to actually help people quit smoking.” Israel and Serago have already raised a small seed round from some big names in the venture capital investment…