Bloomington’s Cannabis Task Force To Begin Its Work Thursday

“(WJBC) — Bloomington’s cannabis task force will meet for the first time Thursday night aiming to gather information and recommend whether the city council should allow the sale of recreational marijuana in the city.

Our news partner WJBC reports, the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Miller Park Pavilion, is being held just three days after the city council in nearby Decatur decided to prohibit cannabis sales despite a new state law allowing recreational marijuana use.

If the council legalizes marijuana sales, elected leaders would also decide whether to collect taxes on the purchases and if specific areas of Bloomington should be zoned for cannabis dispensaries.

Last week, the Bloomington council approved Mayor Tari Renner’s slate of 10 task force members despite criticism from council member Kimberly Bray. She claimed Renner’s picks were biased in favor of allowing cannabis sales.

Also serving on the task force are Downtown Bloomington business owners Jan Lancaster and De Urban, addiction specialist Deb Carter, John Walsh of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Illinois State University Instructional Assistant Professor and Black Lives Matter activist Olivia Butts, President of the Bloomington-Normal Chapter of the NAACP Linda Foster, Bloomington Assistant Police Chief Greg Scott and Police Sgt. Aaron Veerman.

Week.com

CBD Oil Side Effects To Watch Out For

“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a widely used marijuana ingredient in U.S. products. Manufacturers have been adding the chemical to cosmetic products, food, dietary supplements and medications for added health benefits.

Despite the lack of scientific backing, the CBD market in the U.S. has been growing. Estimates showed that it could grow to more than $20 billion by 2022 and the figure may continue to increase in the following years, according to BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research.

Companies and advocates said using CBD oil in products is safe and has fewer side effects compared to other common medications. The chemical is also known for not causing behavioral and psychological side effects.

Side Effects of CBD

Problems With Digestion

There have been reports that some supplements that contain CBD could cause digestive issues. The drugs, including the FDA-approved Epidiolex, have been linked to nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and changes in appetite, according to SelfHacked.

Dry Mouth

Marijuana products are known for causing dry mouth. In a survey with 1,500 people, researchers found nearly 12 percent of respondents experienced the condition after using CBD. The chemical potentially caused a decrease in saliva secretion after exposure.

Fatigue

This side effect of CBD oil was found in studies that tried to explore the chemical’s effects on sleep. Exposure to high doses of CBD helped people increase sleeping time, while lower amounts promote wakefulness.

However, some people reported feeling tired after exposure. Experts recommend not taking CBD before or while driving or using heavy machinery.

Liver Damage

In studies aimed at finding the link between CBD and seizures, researchers found that the chemical could contribute to liver damage. The risk of liver injury increased depending on the dose of drug and combination with anti-seizure drug valproate.

Read the full article at MSN

Should You Buy or Sell Aurora Cannabis Right Now?

“he past couple of months have seen some of Wall Street’s top cannabis stocks fall from grace. Perhaps the first company to come to mind is Canopy Growth, the world’s biggest pot stock by market cap, which saw its shares decline substantially when it reported a surprising $1 billion financial loss in its recent quarterly results. Investors quickly began to fear that other well-established cannabis stocks could witness a similar decline in the weeks to come.

That’s exactly what has happened with Aurora Cannabis. In its recent financial results, the company not only failed to see a profit once again but also warned investors that it likely won’t be profitable until 2020, which was a major disappointment to analysts and investors alike.

Looking at the financials

Despite selling more cannabis in Canada than its rival Canopy did during the quarter and growing its revenues by 52% from the previous quarter, Aurora Cannabis ended up embarrassing itself when its revenue figures still missed its own unaudited guidance it had released just a month prior. The company sold $43 million worth of cannabis in the adult market compared to the $30 million reported last quarter. However, Aurora Cannabis wasn’t able to sell all of this pot through direct distribution channels, instead of having to dump $20 million worth of marijuana into the wholesale market at a lower margin. Overall, earnings came in at a loss of $11 million for the quarter.

Analyst opinions

Aurora Cannabis used to be one of Wall Street’s favorite marijuana stocks, with Cowen & Co. analyst Vivien Azer singling the company out as her top sector pick earlier in 2019. Now that the stock has fallen by 50.4% since reaching its 2019 high point in mid-March, financial experts are starting to change their tune.

Another major sell-off came last week when Stifel Nicolaus analyst Andrew Carter issued a sell rating for Aurora Cannabis just months after he started covering the company. Assigning a new price target of just 5 Canadian dollars, or 30% lower than its current price, Carter argued that this recent financial disappointment will be the beginning of a larger, much more worrying trend. Eventually, he expects Aurora will need to return to the capital markets in order to drum up more financing.

Read more at The Motley Fool

Enhancing Athletic Performance With Cannabis

“Anna Symonds, education manager for East Fork Cultivars, has been a rugby player for 18 years and attributes a lot of her longevity as a professional athlete to cannabis.

While she experimented with cannabis as a teenager, she discontinued this practice when she got more serious about sports. After she smoked with some teammates after a game, she experienced immediate healing and muscle relaxation. “I started to have this mental shift to seeing cannabis as medicine.” After a back injury five years ago, cannabis proved to be the only thing that would provide her with pain relief and muscle relaxation while increasing her functionality without the side effects of other medications.

By microdosing before practice with a 1.1 full spectrum chocolate edible containing 1 mg THC, Symonds found the sweet spot where her pain would reduce and her mind gets into a flow state where she was fully present and performing fully optimally.

Cannabis as an aid for performance and recovery

While Antonio DeRose, head of Green House Healthy, has used cannabis recreationally for more than 15 years, he didn’t begin using this plant to help with his performance and recovery as a trail runner until about five to six years ago. He describes himself as a “wake and bakes” person. “When I wake up in the morning, I use cannabis to recharge my endocannabinoid system. Then I do some sort of physical activity.”

DeRose prefers a high-dose edible followed by some flower before he runs. “Cannabis is a bronchodilator, so it allows me to absorb more oxygen with each breath.” He finds cannabis aids in recovery in calming down his nervous system and reducing inflammation. Topicals work well for isolated areas where he has specific pain. Also, he uses hemp as a nutritional supplement, noting that as the body regenerates bones every 10 years, technically he’s made of hemp.

Chicago Tribune

Fueling The Scientifically-Driven Approach In A Crowded CBD Market

“The rise of new holistic treatments and remedies in popular culture are, unfortunately, typically accompanied by snake oil salesmen pitches and an emerging market rife of false advertising and capricious product origins. Welcome to the contemporary demand for CBD-infused products.

Cannabidiol (CBD), the natural oil cannabinoid extract of the cannabis plant, a molecule of the plant that has shown therapeutic promise without the “high,” has been at the center of an unprecedented race among competing startups offering a “panacea” to everything from anxiety to arthritis pain. Fueling a reported market for CBD oil products projected to reach $3.86 billion by 2025, growing by a CAGR of 39.5 percent since 2018, it is easy to see why there is so much hype around the once overlooked component of the cannabis plant famous for its sister constituent — THC.

However, despite the early warning signs that the CBD mania is on a trajectory for too much speculation followed by underperformance, there are some intriguing signs that tangible applications of the extract may make their way into modern medical pathways.

“There is an overall lack of formalized studies and clinical pathways to the actualization of legitimate CBD products in the commercial market,” details Layne Beal, CEO of Viridian Pharmaceuticals, a firm focused on developing safe and effective delivery of natural therapeutics through the skin using topical creams. “To help legitimize the science of this molecule, we are investigating how our proprietary delivery technology coupled with CBD works for specific indications in our planned clinical trials.”

Imbuing Credibility Into The World of CBD & Beyond

It may appear that CBD has gained sufficient credibility with the likes of Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS announcing the sale of CBD products in their retail locations earlier this year, but the truth is much more nuanced. The FDA has come under growing pressure to regulate CBD products, which came on the heels of a liver damage scare following some studies into the potential adverse side effects of the extract.

Viridian’s topical cream, called Notion, is based on the company’s proprietary technology that has been funneled through efficacy tests in pharmacokinetics and bioavailability studies to optimize its delivery impact. Importantly, they have laid the groundwork for a formalized clinical roadmap, including treatments for chronic migraine and osteoarthritis based on existing medical literature using CBD.

“The science is evolving in the CBD space, and there aren’t a lot of specific dosing guidelines aside from the first FDA-approved drug, Epidiolex,” says Beal. “We spent a significant amount of time learning from our in-home trial users about the amount of CBD that seems to have positive results for most, which brought us to the CBD concentration in our first product, which is 750mg per 30mL jar.”

Read more at Forbes

Magic Mushrooms As Medicine? Johns Hopkins Scientists Says Psychedelics Could Treat Alzheimer’s, Depression And Addiction.

“Just a few decades ago, the approach would have been unfathomable to many. Using psychedelic drugs to treat people with PTSD? Depression? Addiction? To make them stop smoking? To perhaps treat Alzheimer’s? Wow. Just say no. Weren’t these the drugs we were told growing up gave you emotional disorders? But times have changed, and today, as with so many other cultural shifts, people are taking a second look at some of the things considered taboo not so long ago. And it just could be that the same generation that popularized the drugs could benefit from their therapeutic potential.

Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., a psychopharmacologist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in an interview that the approach could offer “an entirely new paradigm for treating psychiatric disorders.”

He should know. Griffiths initiated the psilocybin research program at Johns Hopkins almost 20 years ago and led studies investigating the effects of its use by healthy volunteers. His research group at Johns Hopkins was the first to obtain regulatory approval in the U.S. to re-initiate research with psychedelics in psychedelic-naïve healthy volunteers in 2000. Griffiths said his group’s 2006 publication in the journal Psychopharmacology on psilocybin is widely considered the landmark study that sparked a renewal of psychedelic research worldwide.

Griffiths will head up the new Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The first of its kind in the U.S. and the largest research center of its kind in the world, the center is being funded initially by a $17 million donation from a group of private donors to advance the emerging field of psychedelics for therapies and wellness. The center will house a team of six faculty neuroscientists, experimental psychologists, and clinicians with expertise in psychedelic science, as well as five postdoctoral scientists. Graduate and medical students who want to work in psychedelic science, but have had few avenues to study in such a field, will be trained at the center.

Psychedelics are a class of pharmacological compounds that produce unique and profound changes of consciousness. The most common psychedelics are psilocybin, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), DMT (dimethyltryptamine), and mescaline. Much of Griffiths’ work is focused on psilocybin, the chemical found in so-called magic mushrooms.

Although research with these compounds began in the 1950s and 1960s in America, Griffiths said it was the “cultural trauma” of the psychedelic 60s—which included some adverse effects of the compounds—that ended it in the early 1970s. The unfavorable media coverage that ensued resulted in misperceptions of the risks of the drugs and highly restrictive regulations.

Continue reading at Forbes

CBD for Type 2 Diabetes: What Are the Benefits and Risks?

“You probably don’t have to look farther than your local drugstore or beauty product supplier to know CBD has taken a starring role in everything from sparkling water and gummies to tincture oils and lotions. Some may even say that CBD is the “it” ingredient of this day and age.

You’ve probably also heard that CBD — which is an abbreviation for cannabidiol — can help with stress, anxiety, and pain. “When people are in pain, they have a stress response, which causes an increase in cortisol and an increase in blood sugar,” says Veronica J. Brady, Ph.D., CDE, a registered nurse and an assistant professor at the Cizik School of Nursing at the University of Texas in Houston. Relieving pain can help alleviate the stress response and improve blood sugar levels, as well as improve sleep, she adds.

If you’re managing type 2 diabetes, it’s natural to be curious about whether CBD might help you manage those symptoms, too, to help stabilize your blood sugar. Some healthcare professionals say CBD may play a role in treating diabetes, but it’s important to understand that the only health condition CBD has proved effective for is epilepsy in kids. The jury is unfortunately still out, because of a lack of comprehensive research on CBD and type 2 diabetes.

Scientific Studies on CBD and Type 2 Diabetes, and Barriers to Research

Despite interest among people with type 2 diabetes, large, rigorous studies showing how CBD may affect type 2 diabetes are lacking, says Y. Tony Yang, MPH, a doctor of science in health policy and management and a professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Specifically absent are randomized controlled trials, which are the gold standard of medical research, per a June 2016 article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But early research may suggest the two are worth studying further. For example, a small study published in October 2016 in Diabetes Care in the United Kingdom of 62 people with type 2 diabetes found that CBD did not lower blood glucose. Participants were not on insulin, nor were they on any diabetes drugs, and they were randomly assigned to five different treatment groups for 15 weeks: 100 milligrams (mg) of CBD twice daily; 5 mg of THCV (another chemical in cannabis) twice daily; 5 mg CBD and 5 mg THCV together twice daily; 100 mg CBD and 5 mg of THCV together twice daily; or placebo. According to the authors, THCV (but not CBD) significantly improved blood glucose control.

A Canadian study published in Pain of 37 people with diabetes found that a synthetic cannabinoid called nabilone improved nerve pain. “We also found patients had better sleep measures, so their sleep was more complete. Anxiety levels improved to a smaller amount,” says Dr. Toth, who led the study.

Historically, cannabinoids (a group of chemicals in the cannabis plant) have been lumped together, including CBD, THC, and more than 100 others. In the past decade, growers and manufacturers have been able to isolate CBD, mainly by cultivating industrial hemp that is high in CBD and very low in THC, says Jackson. The 2018 Farm Bill removed industrial hemp from the controlled substances list, clearing the way for more production and research of hemp and thus CBD.

Continue reading at Everyday Health

Cannabis 2.0 Legalization: Canada Is Ready

“Federally, cannabis legalization saw daylight in Canada in 2018. The Cannabis Act legalized recreational marijuana in October 2018. Now, the country is all set for the second wave of legalization, Cannabis 2.0, which includes cannabis edibles, cannabis-infused beverages, extracts, and various other products. Let’s dig into this more.

Canada’s second wave of legalization

Next month, Canada will legalize cannabis-infused edibles for recreational use. The Canadian market will see a limited selection of products in retail outlets and online stores after the legalization, but not earlier than mid-December.

Canada legalized medical and recreational marijuana. However, the country has been very careful to ensure that public health safety is also taken into account. Keeping in mind how the edibles market could attract young people, Health Canada implemented a strict legal framework for cannabis. The amendments to Canada’s regulations in June will ensure legal production and sale of edible cannabis, cannabis extracts, and cannabis topicals.

Why regulations are important

Gummies look like the favorite choice in edibles. However, Health Canada will be careful with product labels and marketing. Since gummies are a popular product among children and youth, officials want to ensure that marketing strategies don’t influence them.

Health Canada ensured that there are stricter regulations and guideline for the products. Notably, Health Canada released a new set of guidelines on June 14 for edible cannabis, cannabis extracts, and cannabis topicals. The regulations include marijuana and industrial hemp regulations.

Canada’s cannabis industry

What fascinates me about Canada’s approach to legalization is its model. The Canadian government made efforts to pass legislation. Notably, the legislation controls marijuana use and sales even though it’s legalized. By allowing marijuana to be sold only by government-licensed retailers and grown only by licensed producers, Canada can keep illicit activities in check. Illicit activities are a major concern in the cannabis industry.

Recently, I discussed how California is on the path to become marijuana’s biggest black market. Read Marijuana Policy: Can California Shape It for the US? to learn more.

More black market sales would impact cannabis companies with exposure to the California market. A Forbes article in March discussed how higher taxes, opposition from local officials, and clumsy regulations are making the black market popular. Also, getting a license, renewing licenses annually, and other operating costs make dealing with legal cannabis expensive.

Read the full article at Market Realist

CBD Tinctures: 5 Things Every Consumer Should Know

“It’s no longer surprising that CBD is gaining popularity, as its purported health benefits are almost mind-blowing, with some derivatives even thought to help ease cancer-related symptoms.

But just because tinctures are gaining popularity doesn’t mean you should rush to the store and get a bottle for yourself. There are some key things you need to know before considering them, starting with these five essentials.

1. CBD tincture is not CBD oil.

In simple terms, a tincture is derived by soaking the cannabis plant in an alcohol and water solution, while to concoct CBD oil, plant extracts are infused in a carrier oil, like coconut, olive or hemp seed.

2. Always check the label before purchasing a CBD tincture.

An interesting study by the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that only 30 percent of CBD products are accurately labeled. That means you need to be extra careful when buying your tincture. One of the things to look out for is the Certificate of Analysis, or COA, which indicates the tincture’s level of cannabinoid and its overall purity.

3. Tinctures need to be taken in small doses.

Tinctures are extremely concentrated, so it’s vital that you take them in small doses. Although you can’t overdose on a tincture, it’s better to stay safe and restrict yourself.

4. Potent tinctures contain terpenes.

The cannabis plant contains medicinal constituents called terpenes that provide the tincture’s aroma and flavor. To boost its medicinal value, terpenes from other plants or herbs are often added to it. Since tinctures are usually taken to help ease a specific ailment, the kind of terpenes added is targeted to those particular symptoms.

5. Don’t be misled by the cheaper price.

Without a doubt, CBD tinctures have powerful benefits but don’t be seduced by lower price points. Higher-quality CBD tinctures are necessarily expensive.

Entrepreneur

Vape Pen Lung Disease Has Insiders Eyeing Misuse of New Additives

“SAN FRANCISCO—During alcohol prohibition, drinkers had to worry about getting sick and dying from “bathtub gin.” This week, vapers are learning of similar quality control issues with cannabis oil vape cartridges purchased on the illegal market.

A rash of tainted THC vape cartridge poisonings is thought to have claimed one life in Illinois and caused lung inhalation injuries to as many as 215 people in 25 states, according to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conference call last Friday, and updates Aug. 30.

California now has 24 suspected cases of the hyper-inflammatory lung response, first identified by doctors in the Central Valley town of Hanford on Aug. 14 after recognizing that seven young adults had all suffered from sudden acute respiratory distress in the past month. The common thread: Each patient had purchased disposable, THC-filled vaporizer cartridges from illegal street markets.

Nearly All Cases in the Illegal States

Most importantly, no cases are associated with adult-use or medical cannabis products from legal state-licensed stores. Almost all affected states do not have adult-use legalization in effect. They include Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. Additional states are pending verification. The California incidents occurred in Kings County, which has banned licensed cannabis stores.

West Coast Carts, Dank Vapes Named

In Wisconsin, a family member of a victim there said another suspected tainted cartridge came from an illicit-market brand called “Dank Vapes.” Medical and adult-use cannabis products are not legal in Wisconsin.

Neither brand is traceable to a single company. Outside of a state-regulated system, anyone can order vape packaging and fill it with their choice of ingredients.

The CDC is not sure whether the national reports are all linked to a common contaminant or a combination of toxins. Officials are not sure if every patient has the same illness or when the series of respiratory injuries really began. They’re just starting to coordinate information collection among the states, agency officials said last Friday.

Continue reading at Leafly

What You Eat Might Make Your CBD OilWork Even Better

“Cannabidiol (CBD) oil has become a multi-billion dollar industry, with recreational athletes dishing out a large chunk of that change for the promise of pain relief, faster recovery, better sleep, and more.

Some people claim remarkable benefits from CBD, while others find effects elusive at best. Myriad factors influence how well (or not) you respond to CBD, including the type you take, how much you take, and even your genes.

Now, research published in the journal Epilepsia shows that the food you eat along with your CBD supplement may have a dramatic effect on how much of the compound your body absorbs—and that may play a role in how effective it is.

The small study included eight adults who were prescribed CBD for seizures related to epilepsy (a condition which CBD has been FDA-approved for). For the first part of the study, half the volunteers took their CBD first thing in the morning before eating and had breakfast four hours later, while the other half ate a high-fat breakfast burrito, containing about 850 calories and 52 percent fat, within 30 minutes of taking their CBD oil. After two weeks, they switched groups.

The researchers concluded that CBD should be taken with food to maximize absorption and that a low-fat meal may not have the same absorption boosting the effect as one that is higher in fat.

“The type of food can make a large difference in the amount of CBD that gets absorbed into the body. Although fatty foods can increase the absorption of CBD, it can also increase the variability as not all meals contain the same amount of fat,” said Angela Birnbaum, Ph.D., a professor in the College of Pharmacy and study co-author, in a press release.

Full article at Bicycling

Marijuana Legalization: Is the White House Warming Up?

Marijuana legalization is a major issue in the cannabis industry. Marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act in the US. It’s illegal at the federal level. However, now, White House officials may be warming up to legalization.

Is the White House warming up to marijuana?

A Marijuana Moment article on Friday said two federal drug officials expressed their views about legalization. Apparently, Jim Carroll told Fox 59 reporter Kayla Sullivan that he believes legalization is a states’ rights issue. Carroll is President Donald Trump’s principal advisor on drug control issues. Additionally, he wishes to see targeted education campaigns about cannabis use.

Another member of the Office of National Drug Control Policy also told CentralIllinoisProud.com that she wishes to have more research done on cannabis use before legalization could reach the federal level.

Legalization under the Obama administration

Under the Obama administration, federal agencies introduced the Cole Memo, a policy that protected marijuana-legal states from federal scrutiny. It favored marijuana-related businesses. The memo mostly helped federal prosecutors avoid taking action, especially in states where marijuana is legal.

Legalization under the Trump administration

Under the Trump administration, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions revoked the Cole Memo. The session was a harsh critic of marijuana. The cannabis sector in the US was optimistic upon his resignation last year. The newly appointed US Attorney General, William Barr, said he would leave cannabis companies alone. A Forbes article last year said that the attorney general’s logical first step would be to reinstate the Cole Memo.

The US sentiment toward cannabis seems to be improving. Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in ten states and Washington, D.C. Additionally, 14 states have decriminalized marijuana, and around 33 states now allow medicinal marijuana use.

Now White House officials’ comments prove they may be warming up to marijuana too. We’ve also seen presidential candidates standing up in support of legalization. Many Democrats, including Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Beto O’Rourke, have expressed such views.

Does President Trump support marijuana legalization?

Nonetheless, President Donald Trump hasn’t directly discussed the matter. Trump is known to be very vocal about issues on Twitter. However, he’s been quiet up until now about the cannabis industry. A Growth Op article discussed how word on the street is that Trump will soon push the topic to clinch his reelection. Read President Trump: Is Marijuana Legalization a Key Weapon? to know more.

Read the full article at Market Realist

Wasn’t the DEA Going to Let Others Grow Research-Grade Cannabis?

“Arizona-based researcher Dr. Sue Sisley is spearheading an extraordinary lawsuit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), demanding that the agency stop dragging its feet on a years-old promise to end the federal government’s monopoly on growing cannabis for clinical research.

Sisley is a medical doctor who recently made history with her federally-approved studies regarding the effects of cannabis on military veterans with PTSD. The results of those PTSD studies are expected to be released later this year.

Her next scheduled study will look at how late-stage cancer patients can perhaps use cannabis for pain relief.

With the help of two Texas attorneys who are working pro bono, Sisley’s Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI) is calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the federal government to follow through on the DEA’s 2016 announcement in the Federal Register.

In that announcement, DEA officials said they would permit other facilities to grow and manufacture cannabis for clinical trials and research.

Demanding an Explanation

DEA officials have declined to comment on the litigation. “We are still working through the process and those applications remain under review,” an agency spokesperson told the Associated Press last month.

Matt Zorn, one of the attorneys at the Houston-based Yetter Coleman law firm working on the SRI lawsuit, declined to comment on that speculation. Instead, he’s focusing on the damage done by the government’s inaction.

“They’re not saying yes, they’re not saying no,” Zorn told Leafly. “Until the agency says something, there’s nothing to go to a court with, nothing to appeal. It’s stuck in purgatory. So what we’re trying to do is get the agency to explain why they’re not processing these applications. It’s gotten to the point where we think a court needs to step in and do something about it.”

Read the complete article at Leafly

The Unintended Consequences of More Potent Pot

“The legalization of recreational marijuana in almost a dozen states shows how America’s attitude toward the drug may be changing. But the drug has changed too: Newly developed strains of marijuana are far stronger than what people were smoking in the past, leading to unintended consequences like addiction and marijuana toxicity.

“Typically, young children around the age of 2 are getting into caregivers’ — whether it’s parents’, grandparents’, babysitters’ — marijuana products, often edible products,” said Dr. Sam Wang.

Wang’s findings from Colorado’s Children’s Hospital are included in a new nationwide study that showed a 27% increase in children and teenagers getting emergency treatment for marijuana toxicity. Seventy percent of the cases occurred in states with legalized marijuana.

An exponential increase in marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient, THC, is at the center of the crisis. THC content has spiked from 3.7% to more than 20% — and some cannabis concentrates contain close to 100% THC.

Twenty-year-old Colton said that his addiction to marijuana began when the drug was legalized five years ago while he was attending high school in Colorado.

States that legalized recreational marijuana has generated almost $3 billion in tax revenue since 2014 when Colorado first started sales.

“The state was highly focused on how much tax revenue it could generate from marijuana sales,” Brandt said. “Nobody really spent a lot of time thinking about, well, how this going to impact some of the younger community?”

For Brandt, the impact became clear when Colton was failing in college, couldn’t quit cannabis and asked to go to rehab.

CBS News

Cannabis Oil Complicates Drug Testing

“The growing popularity of cannabis oil is leading to more positive tests for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component in marijuana.

But what exactly is cannabis oil? Can workers get high from it? Why would they use it? Is it illegal?

Experts weigh in to keep HR professionals and managers up-to-date on the ever-changing reality of drug use in the workplace.

Cannabis Oil, CBD Oil, Hemp-Derived CBD

Cannabis oil refers to concentrated extracts from cannabis and could be pure THC, pure cannabidiol (CBD) oil, or a combination of these and other chemicals, said Sara Jane Ward, Ph.D., a professor of pharmacology with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia.

People who use cannabis oil or CBD oil sometimes have disabilities, and their use of the product is understandable: to reduce pain or anxiety, help with sleep, treat tremors or symptoms of epilepsy, and alleviate multiple sclerosis symptoms, for example.

“There’s no high from CBD oil made only from CBD,” said Amy Epstein Gluck, an attorney with FisherBroyles in Washington, D.C.

A product labeled as hemp-derived CBD is extracted from the hemp variety of cannabis, which is typically low in THC. CBD can be produced in a spray, lozenge or cream. These products must have less than 0.3 percent THC to be legal under federal law, but “regulation of these products is currently very loose,” Ward said.

Evolving CBD Marketplace and Regulation

“Many of the CBD oils on the market are unregulated, and while a buyer may think the product has no THC or very little THC, there is no way to know for sure,” said Kathryn Russo, an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Melville, N.Y. Research published by the Journal of the American Medical Association has shown that 43 percent of CBD oils tested contained more THC than was labeled on the bottle. “This means that a person using these products might test positive on a workplace drug test for marijuana, particularly if they are using it in large quantities on a regular basis,” Russo stated.

While cannabis oil can contain any range of constituents, including THC, hemp-derived CBD products are supposed to contain only up to 0.3 percent THC, and some contain no THC. But some products are labeled as containing less than 0.3 percent THC when they have more.

“In a product that does contain 0.3 percent THC, there is still a potential to test positive for THC, depending on the amount consumed, the frequency of use and individual metabolism of the product,” Ward said. “There is also a chance that pure CBD tests positive for THC, depending on the type of drug screen used, but this is much less likely to happen.”

Continue reading at SHRM

Should Magic Mushrooms Be Legal?

“Marijuana is becoming legal in more parts of the country, both medicinally and recreationally. A new group of advocates is following the pot playbook to change laws regarding hallucinogens, specifically magic mushrooms.

A small but growing campaign to legalize magic mushrooms has spread its spores into a handful of spots across the United States. In May, Denver became the first city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms. A month later, the Oakland City Council did the same. Under decriminalization, psilocybin is still officially illegal, but city agencies do not enforce laws that ban it.

Under federal law, psilocybin and similar hallucinogens are classified by the U.S. government as Schedule I drugs, substances with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

Supporters of legalizing magic mushrooms point to evidence that the classification is incorrect on both counts. Recent research suggests psilocybin may be an effective treatment for psychological issues such as depression and anxiety. Magic mushrooms also come with a low risk of addiction, studies suggest. There is some evidence that psilocybin can help people break their addictions to other substances, specifically smoking.

Read the full article at Yahoo News

Should Magic Mushrooms Be Legal?

“Marijuana is becoming legal in more parts of the country, both medicinally and recreationally. A new group of advocates is following the pot playbook to change laws regarding hallucinogens, specifically magic mushrooms.

A small but growing campaign to legalize magic mushrooms has spread its spores into a handful of spots across the United States. In May, Denver became the first city in the country to decriminalize psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms. A month later, the Oakland City Council did the same. Under decriminalization, psilocybin is still officially illegal, but city agencies do not enforce laws that ban it.

Under federal law, psilocybin and similar hallucinogens are classified by the U.S. government as Schedule I drugs, substances with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

Why there’s a debate:

Supporters of legalizing magic mushrooms point to evidence that the classification is incorrect on both counts. Recent research suggests psilocybin may be an effective treatment for psychological issues such as depression and anxiety. Magic mushrooms also come with a low risk of addiction, studies suggest. There is some evidence that psilocybin can help people break their addictions to other substances, specifically smoking.

Many of these benefits, some say, are present when users practice “microdosing” — taking a small amount that provides psychological benefits without creating a hallucinogenic effect. Microdosing can improve creativity and focus, practitioners report.

Perspectives

Psilocybin may be a revolutionary treatment for depression

“It’s really unprecedented in medical history to see effects for depression that are caused by a single medication.” — Johns Hopkins University researcher Matthew Johnson to NPR

The drug should be made accessible to certain vulnerable groups

“If Prozac had the effects observed in the best current studies on psychedelics, withholding it from the depressed or dying would be considered a human rights violation as serious as failing, out of spite, to set a broken leg.” — Graeme Wood, Atlantic.

Continue reading at Yahoo News

Why that CBD Oil You Just Bought Might Be Fake

“It seems everywhere we turn these days there is a big, flashing sign that reads “CBD Sold Here.” But instead of seeing these circus-style advertisements around legitimate medical facilities dedicated to creating a healthier population, they are appearing in front of smoke shops, convenience stores, and malls. America has gone buck wild for this non-intoxicating cannabis-hemp derivative. So much, in fact, they have failed to take into consideration that some of these products might be fake.

Not all CBD is the therapeutic heal-all you’ve been reading about for the past few years. Some of it is junk, containing only trace amounts of the cannabinoid. Reports abound of counterfeit CBD oil sold in parts of the country. So, yes, if you purchase CBD oil the last time you filled up your vehicle with gasoline or bought a blacklight poster from Spencer’s Gifts, there’s a good chance the CBD you’ve been taking is just a load of bull.

Research published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that around 40 percent of CBD products purchased online do not contain as much of the compound as printed on the labels. About 26 percent included higher concentrations than they were supposed to. Some of these products even tested positive for enough THC (the stoner compound) to cause a person to fail a drug test. Reports of CBD users testing positive for marijuana have become more prevalent as of late because of these kinds of manufacturing discrepancies.

Getting your hands on quality CBD products is relatively simple. It’s always a good idea to buy from a reputable dealer in a legal marijuana state where these products are held to testing standards. But if a legal state isn’t an option, consumers shouldn’t just rely on Amazon or their local truck stop for help. You just can’t be sure about the quality when buying CBD from these retailers. Ultimately, consumers should do some research and find cannabis companies that employ strict testing standards as though they were under the thumb of the FDA. Sniffing out those firms can sometimes be tricky. But this list from the U.S. Hemp Authority is an excellent place to start.

The Growth Shop

Why Do You Think Medical Cannabis Will Disrupt the Pharma Industry?

Medical cannabis can reach new heights – as long as the researchers and policymakers keep their feet on the ground.

Dr. Delon Human, Head of Innovation and Medical Affairs of PharmaCielo Ltd., a global medical cannabis company headquartered in Toronto has decades of experience as a health consultant. This experience includes high-ranking appointments with both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Medical Association (WMA), Dr. Human has seen trends come and go. However, medical cannabis, he says, will only keep growing.

Having shaken off its counterculture mantle and taken root in health care, cannabis offers opportunities to a range of stakeholders – from innovators and investors to suffering individuals. As the industry matures, Dr. Human wants to ensure the benefits continue to outpace the risks.

As it happens, Dr. Human comes from a background of harm reduction and has spent much of his career fighting the excesses of tobacco, alcohol, and substance use. Which raises the question: why would a man who has devoted years to helping people ‘say no’ step into a leadership position at a cannabis company?

Dr. Human also explains what sets PharmaCielo apart—like the fact that the company grows its cannabis under open skies in Colombia (hence the word “Cielo,” or sky, in the name) and partners with a combination of professional flower growers, rural farmers and indigenous peoples with centuries-old expertise to support its farming operations; or why PharmaCielo has placed its bets on cannabis oils and extracts, rather than dried flowers, for its finished products.

How does the public perception of cannabis products match up with reality?

There is still a lot of ignorance around this plant. Part of it has to do with the product’s legacy. As a symbol of so-called hippie culture in the sixties, cannabis still wears the ‘stoner’ hat in some people’s minds. However, if you strip away this historical association, cannabis is just a plant, just like basil or tomato. It happens to be a fascinating and multidimensional plant, with the potential to reduce human suffering.

The connotation of cannabis with smoking has also damaged public perception, though this knee-jerk image is fading as people become aware of the different ways of ingesting the product. Currently, about 70% of cannabis sold in Canada is dried, milled and smoked, but I believe the proportion will get a lot smaller.

How is medical cannabis disrupting the traditional pharmaceutical industry?

In the traditional pharmaceutical industry, innovation and access are always pulling against each other. Broadly speaking, the more innovative the molecule, the more it costs and the greater the barriers to access. Poorer countries and poorer people don’t usually have the same level of access as richer ones. When you consider that most pharmaceutical products treat noncommunicable chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis or cancer, the traditional pharma model leaves a lot of people out.

Organisations such as the WHO spend a lot of energy trying to balance innovation and access, but the tension and unfairness persist.

In contrast, cannabis offers the possibility of both high innovation and high access. It is inexpensive to produce, and the right policies can ensure widespread access to those in need, disrupting the traditional marketplace.

Continue reading at Health Europe

Many Teens Are Using Ultra-Potent ‘Marijuana Concentrates’

A striking proportion of teens are using highly potent forms of marijuana known as marijuana concentrates, at least in one state, a new study suggests.

The study, published today (Aug. 26) in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed data from nearly 50,000 eighth, 10th and 12th graders in Arizona. The researchers found that one-third of participants said they had used marijuana, and nearly a quarter said they had used marijuana concentrates at least once in their lives.

Marijuana concentrates are substances with very high levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana responsible for the drug’s intoxicating effects. Sometimes known as “butane hash oil,” “dab,” “wax,” “crumble” or “shatter,” these concentrates typically contain three times more THC than does the dried marijuana flower.

It’s important to note that the new study only included teens in Arizona, and the percentage of teens who use marijuana concentrates in other states is unknown. More studies will be needed to understand if the trend is confined to Arizona, or whether it’s happening in other states as well.

The usage rates could be similar in other states that have legalized medical cannabis, as Arizona has, Meier said. However, some states have legalized medical cannabis but not marijuana concentrates, so their use might be lower in those ones, she added. It’s also unclear whether states that allow recreational marijuana in addition to medical marijuana have higher rates of teen marijuana-concentrate use.

A yearly national survey known as Monitoring the Future, which looks at drug use among teens across the U.S., has also examined rates of marijuana-concentrate use to some extent. However, that survey classifies “concentrated THC” as a hallucinogen, and so only teens who report the use of hallucinogens are asked about the use of concentrated THC. As a result, this type of questioning tends to underestimate use, Meier said. In 2018, the Monitoring the Future survey found that just 1.1% of 12th graders reported the use of concentrated THC.

The new study also found that teens who used marijuana concentrates had much higher rates of electronic cigarette use. Indeed, teens who used marijuana concentrates were three times more likely to report using e-cigarettes, compared to those who used other forms of marijuana. (Teens are probably using e-cigarettes to vape marijuana.)

Read the full article at Live Science