WeedLife News Network

Around 1.3 million women experience menopause in the United States each year.

Although menopause begins between 51 and 52 years old, about 5% of women experience early menopause between 40 and 45 years old, while 1% experience premature menopause before the age of 40.

The most significant symptoms of menopause are hot flashes, sleep problems, low libido, and mood changes.

There are different treatments to manage menopause, including hormonal and non-hormonal therapies. Furthermore, lifestyle changes, such as eating well, exercising, and looking after mental well-being, can help with symptoms during menopause.

But as cannabis has become legally available due to its regulation in many US states for both medical and recreational purposes, some women are consuming it to successfully manage menopause, as a recent study has recently shown.

Researchers from McLean Hospital Imaging Center, Belmont, MA, and Department of Psychiatry, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, conducted a survey study recently published in Menopause: The Journal of The North America Menopause Society to find out how the use of cannabis affects women with menopause-related symptoms.

New South Wales, Australia: Terminal cancer patients with refractory pain respond favorably to a proprietary cannabis spray containing equal ratios of plant-derived THC and CBD, according to data published in the journal PLOS One.

A team of Australian investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of a novel water-soluble oro-buccal nanoparticle spray containing 2.5 mgs of THC and 2.5 mgs of CBD in a cohort of patients with advanced cancer and intractable pain.

Researchers reported that cannabis dosing was associated with improvements in pain relief among all patients, with those patients suffering from bone metastasis experiencing the greatest levels of relief. No serious adverse events were reported, though some patients did experience drowsiness following treatment.

Patients also reported improvements in appetite and emotional well-being.

“This study demonstrated that the administration of the investigative cannabis-based medicine was generally safe and tolerated in a short-term exposure in a cohort of patients with advanced incurable cancers with controlled pain or intractable pain despite opioid treatment,” authors concluded. “There was a reduction in pain overall for the study cohort of 12 percent by the end of the treatment phase. … [This] cannabis-based medicine … is of significant clinical interest given that this formulation was a self-titrated medicine, that showed preliminary analgesic efficacy in a subgroup of patients.”

But Not A Single Location Has Been Announced Yet. The delay in Gov. Hochul's plan could jeopardize promised licenses for retailers with weed-related convictions.

Gov. Kathy Hochul says New York is “on track” to open some cannabis dispensaries within months — but industry leaders say they see only red signals ahead.

State Assembly member Crystal Peoples-Stokes told 2 On Your Side, "There's no question we don't know how to determine if somebody is impaired by it or not..."

‘There exists a need for a fair forensic tool capable of detecting THC in the short window of impairment’

Researchers examined all areas where cannabis is legal and found a shocking number and amount of contaminants that, arguably, should not be present on anything that humans consume

PATY DO ALFERES - Medical marijuana is gaining steam in Brazil thanks to lower-court rulings giving the go-ahead for large-scale cannabis plantations.

One of the largest of these plantations – a 600,000-square-meter (148-acre) area in Paty do Alferes, a municipality located two hours from Rio de Janeiro – produces cannabis-derived oils for more than 3,000 patients with illnesses that include epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and autism.

That estate, which produces some 2,000 bottles of cannabis oil per month, is the fruit of a long, complicated effort undertaken by the Medical Cannabis Research and Patient Support Association (Apepi), an NGO that in February won a court judgment allowing it to grow cannabis.

“Our work is ‘sub judice’ (pending final judicial resolution). We’ll only have definitive legal protection once the case has been decided by the Supreme Court, and that will take time,” attorney Margarete Brito, Apepi’s co-founder, told Efe.

Brito and her husband, designer Marcos Langenbach, founded Apepi after discovering that medical marijuana was helping to control their daughter Sofia’s epileptic seizures.

“She had as many as 60 seizures in a month. With cannabis, we were able to reduce them to 15,” she said.

LAS VEGAS - On October 6, 2022, President Biden announced that he will pardon all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana and will call on federal regulators to review how the drug is classified.

The pardons will affect approximately 6,500 people convicted of federal offenses for simple possession from 1992 through 2021, as well as thousands of people in Washington D.C., according to senior administration officials. President Biden is also calling on governors to take similar actions.

“Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Mr. Biden said. “Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing and educational opportunities.”

The president wants to end what he calls a failed approach to marijuana that disproportionately affects people of color with simple possession convictions, officials said.

Among additional steps, the president will also direct the attorney general to issue certificates of pardons that individuals can show to law enforcement and employers, two administration officials said.

Mr. Biden also plans to direct the Department of Health and Human Services and attorney general to review the status of marijuana as a schedule 1 controlled substance, a category that also includes heroin and LSD, the officials said.

Dozens of licensed cultivators have about 80,000 marijuana plants growing.

Around 1,100 patients have signed up for medical marijuana, and 96 doctors or nurse practitioners are working to certify them. Small growers are complaining a large one has been allowed to skirt the rules.

But the Mississippi State Department of Health has zero investigators — and only three staffers — overseeing Mississippi’s new medical marijuana program.

So far only one testing facility has been licensed and is only partially ready to test products. Plus, the health department’s program director still has another job — running the department’s Office Against Interpersonal Violence.

Health Department officials told the Board of Health on Wednesday that the agency is in a four-month “provisional” period with licensed marijuana businesses. As it finds problems or violations, it’s typically just issuing “corrective actions,” giving marijuana businesses a chance to straighten up without hitting them with fines or sanctions or calling in law enforcement.

The Health Department in a meeting with its board Wednesday pledged transparency in its oversight of medical marijuana, shortly before going into a closed door session to brief the board on specific active marijuana program investigations. During its public meeting, some board members’ questions were deferred to the upcoming executive session.

New York seems to have a weed store on every corner. None of them are legal.

New York City’s crisp autumn air has a distinct scent to it, and this year that scent is weed. Many of the city streets have a fresh look to them, too — marijuana and cannabis products are for sale, out in the open, everywhere.

New York legalized recreational marijuana in the spring of 2021, but the state is still in the process of doling out licenses to legally sell it, which makes the situation ... confusing.

So I recently treated myself to a little NYC cannabis secret shopping-reporting tour to try to figure out what was going on. A tarot card reader sold me a pre-rolled joint off of a table in Washington Square Park, warning me to watch out for other sellers who might not know what they’re talking about.

An issue to ponder for another day, on both of my merchant’s entrepreneurial fronts. Later, I bought an edible from a smoke shop even though neither I nor the guy selling it seemed clear on what it was. CBD? Just regular marijuana? The synthetic stuff that might set me up for a very bad time? Maybe the tarot reader had a point.

In the Lower East Side, I popped into a store with marijuana-leaf stamps adorning its facade. “This dispensary is not a speakeasy bar ... or is it ... sorry,” a sign outside read. Then, in some fine print, it got to the point: “We sell weed.” There, I bought what I think are more reliable edibles and chatted at length with the guy behind the counter about his plans for the store.

“We're going to have this entire new universe of plastic waste of the worst kind,” says one environmental activist.

A member of the Australian Greens says fresh legal advice paves a clear path for the national legalisation of cannabis.

Suzan Kennedy has smoked marijuana, and says her Wisconsin roots mean she can handle booze, so she was not concerned earlier this year when a bartender in St. Paul, Minnesota, described a cocktail with the cannabinoid delta-8 THC as “a little bit potent.”

Hours after enjoying the tasty drink and the silliness that reminded Kennedy of a high from weed, she said, she started to feel “really shaky and faint” before collapsing in her friend’s arms. Kennedy regained consciousness and recovered, but her distaste for delta-8 remains, even though the substance is legal at the federal level, unlike marijuana.

“I’m not one to really tell people what to do,” said Kennedy, 35, who lives in Milwaukee and works in software sales. But if a friend tried to order a delta-8 drink, “I would tell them, ‘Absolutely not. You’re not putting that in your body.’”

The FDA and some marijuana industry experts share Kennedy’s concerns. At least a dozen states have banned the hemp-derived drug, including Colorado, Montana, New York, and Oregon, which have legalized marijuana. But delta-8 manufacturers call the concerns unfounded and say they’re driven by marijuana businesses trying to protect their market share.

So what is the difference? The flower of the marijuana plant, oil derived from it, and edibles made from those contain delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the substance that produces the drug’s high, and can be legally sold only at dispensaries in states that have legalized marijuana.

Similar products that contain delta-8 THC are sold online and at bars and retailers across much of the U.S., including some places where pot remains illegal. That’s because a 2018 federal law legalized hemp, a variety of the cannabis plant. Hemp isn’t allowed to contain more than 0.3% of the psychotropic delta-9 THC found in marijuana.

HARRISBURG - A series of investigative stories from Spotlight PA this year has uncovered serious flaws in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program and prompted calls for change from doctors, patients, industry leaders, and policymakers.

The coverage — based on months of reporting, dozens of interviews, and thousands of pages of public records — has revealed misleading or dangerous tactics by cannabis businesses, unequal advertising rules, legal gray areas for workers and employers, and inconsistent enforcement by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.

Here’s a look at the reporting, its impact, and the issues we’re keeping an eye on:

“Unproven, Unsafe”

A first-of-its-kind review of more than 60 websites revealed that some cannabis companies made statements that multiple health policy and addiction treatment experts called misleading, incorrect, or even dangerous. Spotlight PA’s analysis focused on claims companies made about using cannabis to treat opioid addiction.

Thousands of pages of records obtained by Spotlight PA also showed that state regulators do little to ensure cannabis dispensaries, which require a permit from the state, make accurate medical claims on their websites. Meanwhile, companies that offer to help patients obtain a medical marijuana card operate with little to no oversight.

Impact: One dispensary removed incorrect information from its website after Spotlight PA contacted the company in December.

CARY - While marijuana is illegal in North Carolina, cannabis enthusiasts have found a loophole.

Store owners can legally sell products with less than 0.3% THC -- the psychoactive compound in marijuana -- under the 2018 Farm Bill. This legislation cleared the way for products like Delta 8 to hit store shelves and gain popularity, especially in places where recreational marijuana is still illegal like North Carolina.

Delta 8 is a type of THC itself, distilled from Cannabidiol (CBD), another chemical found in marijuana. The type of THC regulated by the Farm Bill and other legislation is known as Delta 9 THC.

But while Delta 8 is technically legal, there is little regulation of the industry that produces it. Dr. Ziva Cooper, Director of the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids, said this can allow for bad actors to swoop in and make products that are unclean, unsafe or even just incorrectly labeled.

"A lot of these Delta 8 THC products are made through this type of synthetic pathway where there can be contaminants," Cooper said. "There can be heavy metals, pesticides, solvents, there can be other cannabinoids in there that people aren't aware of."

In fact, in a study published in the December 2021 edition of Chemical Research in Toxicology, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center tested 27 Delta 8 products. They found that none of them contained the correct amount of Delta 8 THC, and many contained additional byproducts including heavy metals and additional cannabinoids including delta 9 THC.

According to representatives of the cannabis industry, Colorado’s medical marijuana sales sit at their grimmest point, leaving the state’s cannabis industry “on the brink," reported The Modesto Bee. (Benzinga)

What Does The Colorado Department Of Revenue Say?

In July, the state’s recreational and medical cannabis sales hit almost $154 million, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue (CDOR) figures.

So far this year, total sales have reached more than $1 billion. Yet medical marijuana sales for July only reached just over $18 million, "the lowest monthly figure ever recorded since January 2014," when retail sales were legalized in the Centennial State.

Adult-use sales had it better at more than $135 million, which is a jump from April, May, and June figures. Still, that's significantly lower than last July at nearly $168 million. “There is a dangerous perception that Colorado’s cannabis industry is a cash cow,” said Tiffany Goldman, board chair of the Marijuana Industry Group. “This perception is false.”

The state employs more than 41,000 people to work in the industry. However, Goldman expressed that a number of small cannabis businesses had to close. As an example, Buddy Boy Brands' seven metro-area dispensaries closed permanently in June, with owner John Fritzel blaming "a tax balance," a market downturn, and high costs.

In the last few years, more and more countries have a positive attitude towards the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Of course, there are laws that regulate its cultivation, sale and consumption of marijuana. Although its positive effect is emphasized a lot, there are also opponents of the use of this plant.

Its medicinal properties, such as the relief of pain and inflammatory processes, have long been known. It was still used by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. If you want to find out what Florida law thinks about the medical use of marijuana, keep reading.

What is anxiety and what are the symptoms?

Anxiety is a state of consciousness, involving the whole organism, emotions, physical sensations and perceptions, thoughts and behavior. States of fear, worry and panic have been recognized as problems since ancient times.

Constant nervousness and anticipation that something bad will happen significantly lowers the quality of life. An example of anxiety is the constant thought that we will fail in society, that we will not be able to pay the bills at the end of the month, that something will happen to a close person, etc.

Nervousness and fear lead to loss of control, because the autonomic nervous system is more easily activated in such people than in other people.