WeedLife News Network

There are many new and fun ways to spoil mom this year. Take it to the next level this time around by considering what will make them feel most loved.

Mother’s Day is Sunday, and it’s time to show them just how much they mean to us. Moms, maternal figures, and caregivers give us so much of their time and energy year and after, it’s only deserving that this Mother’s Day is extra special.   

Instead of gifting them another Starbucks gift card or redeem-me-never coupon for chores around the house, consider what kind of gift would make your mom feel loved. One way to do this is to know their love language.

There are five different love languages, which are ways of expressing and receiving love, and it’s likely your mom has a specific one or two that make her feel most loved. If none of these resonate, there’s a quiz that can help!     

Words of Affirmation 

This love language is all about verbal acknowledgments of affection, compliments, words of appreciation and encouragement.  

Try a special way to tell her you love her. You can get her favorite podcast host or even reality TV star to send her a special Mother’s Day shoutout (check out Cameo and all the celebrities they have available). Or consider compiling a video from all the kids and family answer the question ‘why we love you.’ 

Since July of 2020, military service members have been allowed to use CBD products, after the House of Representatives approved a measure permitting the use of hemp products as well as its derivatives.

The measure passed by a vote of 336 to 71. The initiative was led by Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is also a military veteran.

Military Troops And CBD

The Congressional measure specifies that Secretary of Defense may not prohibit ”the possession, use, or consumption” of hemp or hemp-derived product to a “member of the Armed Forces” as long as the crop meets federal standards.

In addition, the possession, use, and consumption of such products must be “in compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local law.”

The measure is a part of a package of a dozen other non-cannabis amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

“We’re incredibly proud to be the first cannabis company to sponsor Colorado’s first professional ultimate disc team and hope this will drive a movement toward the acceptance of cannabis in professional sports.”

Colorado’s first professional ultimate disc team has announced its newest sponsor.

Local dispensary Star Buds will have its logo featured on the team’s jersey, a move that the company hopes will fuel the further acceptance of cannabis in professional sports.

Owned by parent company Schwazze, Star Buds has been operating in Colorado since 2013.

StupidDOPE LLC (or “stupidDOPE") announced today the launch of an in-house brand marketing, content distribution and big data advertising agency serving the Cannabis and CBD industry. With a focus on big data and content distribution partnerships within the cannabis industry, the lifestyle brand will help companies intelligently target and engage in-market Cannabis and CBD shoppers.

stupidDOPE delivers social media, photo and video, press trips, media buys, influencer marketing, and experiential event strategies since 2008. Its custom-built digital marketing campaigns are powered by a patented algorithm that delivers personalized content on behalf of 200M+ mobile users in the U.S. stupidDOPE’s in-depth experience in the Cannabis and CBD industry provides insight into reaching shoppers, while meeting certified corporate and regulatory compliance standards.

“Major advertising channels, including Google and Facebook, continue to shut down digital Cannabis and CBD campaigns in response to the complex regulatory market in the U.S.,” said LeVar Thomas, co-founder, stupidDOPE.

“At stupidDOPE, we are solving this dilemma for Cannabis, CBD brands and retailers who need to reach new customers without access to the most popular digital marketing channels available.”

Founded in 2008, stupidDOPE brings together a massive audience and top tiered content distribution partnerships with its lifestyle destination, sharing the latest in video, music, travel, culture, fashion, art and more. The company has worked with Fortune 100 companies and global brands, including AT&T, Harley-Davidson, Sony Entertainment Network, Frito-Lay, Topgolf USA, State Farm, M&M’s Racing, Nissan and many more. A Google, Bing, and Apple News publisher, stupidDOPE delivers timely content on trending topics, infused with unique advertising opportunities and custom created content.

An effort to save a bill that would legalize medical cannabis in South Carolina failed on Wednesday in the state legislature, dimming its prospects this year.

The State newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina reports that “House lawmakers on Wednesday voted 59-55 against an appeal proposed by House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, to keep the bill alive,” which followed a request from a Republican member of the state House that “the proposal be ruled unconstitutional since it creates a new tax, arguing that revenue-raising bills can only originate in the lower chamber.”

As the newspaper noted, the move “likely [ends] any hope of passage this year.”

It marks a disappointing development after the bill won approval in the state Senate in February. Members of that chamber deemed medical cannabis a major priority at the start of the legislative session earlier this year.

The bill’s sponsor, GOP state Sen. Tom Davis, has been pushing a medical cannabis bill since 2015.

“If you pound at the door long enough. If you make your case. If the public is asking for something, the state Senate owes a debate,” Davis told The Post and Courier in January.

Hemp and CBD are legal in Tennessee but marijuana (medical and recreationional) is not. So where does this leave Delta-8?

A Tennessee lawmaker proposed a bill this legislatative session that would have regulated and taxed Delta-8 products, but the bill didn’t make it out of committee. Meanwhile, stores selling Delta-8, CBD and hemp products are cropping up across the state, and there’s even a CBD restaurant and bar that’s coming to Nashville.

Despite the recent spike in interest in the cannabis industry, startups still experience difficulties when it comes to setting up businesses.

Similar to crypto institutions, cannabis businesses struggle to access financial services from banks and other payment providers. These businesses would either be denied financial services outright or have to pay exorbitant fees for receiving them.

Utilizing blockchain and cryptocurrency, global blockchain technology company BitCanna offers an alternative in the form of cashless payment. 

Alternative funding for cannabis companies

As mentioned, BitCanna ensures cannabis companies can gain access to financial services through blockchain. Instead of dealing with the restrictions set by credit card companies and banks, cannabis groups can receive payments through BitCanna Pay — an application providing instant, worldwide access to payments.

Built on the Cosmos blockchain (ATOM), BitCanna transactions take an average of five seconds to process and cost less than a tenth of a cent. The network is powered by its BCNA token, which is harnessed by both users and cannabis companies to facilitate payments. 

Not only this, but BitCanna assists the cannabis industry and users in tracking and tracing cannabis-related products by utilizing blockchain technology. This to ensure transparency regarding quality and origin to provide information regarding product standards.

Jukebox will replace the Copperstate cartridge line and expand the product suite to include cartridges, pre-rolls, edibles and pre-packed flower.

Food and Drug Administration ‘concerned’ about unproven health claims and packaging that appeals to children

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warnings to companies selling products including delta-8 THC, a cannabis compound, for making unsupported claims about the health benefits of the items.

The FDA said even though there is very little research on delta-8 THC, a substance found in the cannabis sativa plant, online retailers and cafes are claiming products containing the compound will reduce anxiety or help with sleeping.

Delta-8 can induce a “high” in users but is derived from a similar part of the marijuana plant to CBD, a non-psychoactive and legal compound, which makes the legality of delta-8 unclear.

The FDA said several people had been hospitalized after taking delta-8 and sent warning letters to five companies – ATLRx, BioMD Plus, Delta 8 Hemp, Kingdom Harvest, and M Six Labs – for allegedly making false claims about its benefits.

“The FDA is very concerned about the growing popularity of delta-8 THC products being sold online and in stores nationwide,” said Janet Woodcock, deputy commissioner of the FDA. “It is extremely troubling that some of the food products are packaged and labeled in ways that may appeal to children.”

Digital marketplaces may allow small cannabis farmers follow in the footsteps of successful craft brewers.

As legalized weed becomes massive business, California's small cannabis farmers have been left in the dust by vertically-integrated brands and national conglomerates. Now, in a move that resembles the strategic alignment of the craft beer movement a decade ago, these independent farmers are banding together to save their craft. 

The solution is a Web3 platform that aims to connect growers directly with consumers via a crypto-exclusive POS ecosystem. It's called Emerald Road, and the marketplace is the brainchild of legacy farmer Justin Calvino. Part brand store and part consumer-brand interface platform, the dream is to let customers interact directly with their favorite farm, take a tour, talk to growers, and buy products that are delivered via Organic Kind, which has signed on as the platform's delivery partner. 

"Large verticals affect small producers by driving down the cost of production, which allows them to sell their own products at a much better price point," Calvino told ZDNet.

"The bigger issue isn't necessarily the competition of value, it is the lack of education for consumers about what makes quality cannabis."

Calvino added that "small batch cannabis produced by legacy farmers is much higher quality than large-scale overproduced, homogenized cannabis put out by corporations." 

Smoking weed during pregnancy significantly can increase the risk of low birth weight, preterm delivery and requiring neonatal intensive care, according to a recent study published in JAMA.

The tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, in marijuana will pass through your system to your baby and may harm your baby’s development. If you are planning to get pregnant, have learned you are pregnant or are breastfeeding, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends stop smoking weed, using marijuana edibles or exposing yourself to secondhand marijuana smoke.

“More research is needed on the harms of marijuana use during pregnancy, but we know there can be significant risks,” said Kathryn R. Bradley, M.D., OB/GYN with Norton Women’s Care. “Those who are pregnant, planning to get pregnant or breastfeeding can protect their own health and that of their baby by not using marijuana.”

Possible risks of smoking weed for your fetus or while breastfeeding

There is no evidence that marijuana eases morning sickness. Your OB/GYN can recommend alternative ways to help your symptoms.

The study in the journal, “Birth Outcomes of Neonates Exposed to Marijuana in Utero,” analyzed the results of 16 other studies that included a total of nearly 60,000 patients. The authors concluded that educating patients about the risks of marijuana could improve neonatal health, especially in light of increased marijuana legalization and use.

The study compared pregnancies and outcomes for those who said they used marijuana versus those who said they didn’t. The authors wrote that enough data exists to rule out tobacco use along with marijuana as a factor in outcomes such as low birth weight and preterm delivery.

Senators on both sides of the aisle are throwing support behind a proposal to tuck key marijuana banking legislation into a larger package aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness, increasing the odds that a significant cannabis bill gets through the upper chamber this year.

Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the No. 3 Senate Democrat, is leading a push to pass the SAFE Banking Act, which would enable cannabis firms to use banking services, as part of a sweeping package lawmakers are hashing out in both chambers that is intended to bolster the country’s supply chains and manufacturing.   

While the cannabis measure was not included in the bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act that passed the Senate, the legislation was featured in the House’s version of the bill, known as the Competes Act, that passed in February.

Murray says she is “fighting every which way” to get the cannabis legislation included in the final bill. She noted that federal law currently forces weed dispensaries to use cash, making them prime targets for robberies.

“This is a cash-only business right now. It’s dangerous for the employees,” Murray, a member of the Senate conference committee heading negotiations for the final version of the bill, told The Hill.

If you’re looking for more than a sugar rush from a baked good, Holly Teegarden’s business might be your new favorite sweet spot.

She runs Moodedibles, an online bakery specializing in hemp-derived edibles that will soon be popping up around Pittsburgh.

Inside a small commissary kitchen in Sewickley, the treats are made with CBD, Delta-8 THC and other minor cannabinoids that reportedly offer therapeutic, non-intoxicating benefits.

By June, her food trailer will be showing up around town, dispensing information along with goodies. It is already booked for the second and fourth Saturdays at the Terminal in the Strip District.

Teegarden says she’s not in the business of getting people messed up.

Legal adult use and medical cannabis sales in 2021 topped $24.5 billion, which outpaced the North American sales total of $20.5 billion for Starbucks Corp. SBUX, -1.38%, according to the MJBiz Factbook released Wednesday.

Revenue growth of 30% in the cannabis business also outpaced the 25% growth by Starbucks, the study said. Cannabis sales managed the total with legal business in 39 states and the District of Columbia, compared to sales in all 50 states for Starbucks. By contrast 2021 U.S. cigarettes sales totaled $52.8 billion and global opioid sales amounted to $23.2 billion in 2021. The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF MSOS, -1.35% is down 2.5% on Wednesday and has lost 43.4% so far in 2022, compared to a 20.6% drop by the Nasdaq COMP, -1.43%.

A study entitled “The Effects of Consuming Cannabis Flower for Treatment of Fatigue” was published in Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids in April. The authors conducted the interview through the Economics and Psychology Departments at University of New Mexico (UNM), as well as MoreBetter, which is the creator of an app called Releaf that was used in this study to track consumption.

The study analyzed 1,224 people who conducted 3,922 cannabis flower consumption sessions within the range of June 6 through August 7, 2019 using the Releaf app. Participants recorded their levels of fatigue prior to consumption, as well as afterward, and also included notes about the specific strain and properties they consumed.

The results described that an average of 91.94% of participants felt that their fatigue decreased overall after consuming cannabis. Researchers noted that specific strains labeled as indica, sativa or hybrid did not provide a positive/negative effect in combating fatigue. However, participants who smoked joints felt fatigue relief more than those who chose to consume via pipe or vaporizers.

The authors also wrote that less than 24% of consumers felt negative side effects (described as “lack of motivation or couchlock”) while approximately 37% felt more positive effects (such as “feeling active, energetic, frisky, or productive”). “The findings suggest that the majority of patients experience decreased fatigue from consumption of Cannabis flower consumed in vivo, although the magnitude of the effect and extent of side effects experienced likely vary with individuals’ metabolic states and the synergistic chemotypic properties of the plant.”

In an interview with Benzinga, research author Dr. Jacob Miguel Vigil described that the results of this study were quite the opposite of the pre-existing stigma that still exists in relation to cannabis. “Despite the conventional beliefs that frequent Cannabis use may result in decreased behavioral activity, goal-pursuit, and competitiveness, or what academics have called ‘amotivational syndrome,’ people tend to actually experience an immediate boost in their energy levels immediately after consuming cannabis,” Vigil said.

New Frontier Data highlights the importance of ESG principles as global economy takes shape

New Frontier Data, the premier data, analytics and technology firm specializing in the global cannabis industry, in its latest report, highlights the imperative for leaders in the emerging global cannabis industry to adopt a robust Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) framework. The report will be released at Regenerative Cannabis Live: Sustainable Development for and by the Cannabis & Hemp Industry, a one-day event hosted by Regennabis at the United Nations in New York City on May 5, 2022.

Now, Oregon is perhaps most notably known for its artisanal craft cannabis and CBD offerings.

A state with a long history of relaxed cannabis laws, Oregon is where many of the most important political and social events in American hemp history have occurred. Interestingly, Oregon has decriminalized cannabis twice, first in the late 1970s, then in 1998. Moreover, in 2008, Oregon was the second state to enact a Medical Marijuana Program.

Oregon’s fertile farmlands, pristine water sources, ideal climate, and deep-rooted counterculture, propelled it to its preeminent position both figuratively and geographically atop Northern California’s Emerald Triangle.

Malawi has just followed Zimbabwe in reaffirming an intended agricultural switch from tobacco to cannabis. Both countries are doing so for economic survival as the long-term viability of tobacco is giving way to another crop entirely.

The MORE Act becoming law in 2022 is more of a fantasy than reality, and Republicans seem to be succeeding in blocking this bill without receiving much flack.

Last month, and much to the excitement of cannabis enthusiasts, The MORE Act passed in the House of Representatives. While this was not the first time the house passed such a bill, there was a renewed sense optimism, especially since the majority of Americans support some form of marijuana legalization.

In order for the MORE Act to continue on its way towards law, however, it has what appear to be insurmountable hurdles. The Act “will need to gain 60 votes in the evenly divided Senate before moving to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature, an outcome widely seen as unlikely given the lack of Republican support for the measure,” according to Reuters.

If Republicans do not support the MORE Act, which it looks likely they will not, what will this mean for those Republicans who are up for re-election in states where marijuana is an important issue? Furthermore, how are Republican senators and congresspersons still able to keep their seats when their voting seems to contradict the general consensus of the American people?

One belief is that although many Republican lawmakers are voting “nay” to the MORE Act and other marijuana legislation, they are not doing so simply to adhere to the old and tired Republican “War on Drugs” platform.

“Every two years, you get a new crop of members from both parties, but certainly from the Republican Party, who don’t have to defend the drug war … and they don’t have to prop it up,” cannabis advocate and former Maryland GOP state delegate Don Murphy told Politico. He says that instead, they are able to vote with their conscience. This also means, however, that these congress members and senators are able to use a long list of new reasons as to why they vote against marijuana legalization.

Seth Rogen recently invited Architectural Digest to present a tour of the Houseplant headquarters’ interior décor and operations. Architectural Digest often explores the personal living spaces of celebrities, such as Cara Delevingne, Serena Williams, Chelsea Handler, Neil Patrick Harris, and Binging with Babish, to name a few.

Architectural Digest’s tour of Houseplant, which went live on April 27, is a little different. It explores the décor both as a home, as well as a business space. Houseplant was founded in 2019 by Rogen and his business partner, Evan Goldberg. Originally they partnered with Canopy Growth Corp. to operate exclusively in Canada, but have since moved to operate out of California instead, as of 2021.

The brand sells a line of cannabis that is currently only available in California, but also offers a variety of unique and modern home décor items such as ashtrays, lighters, and even a lighter caddy in the shape of Rogen’s dog, a Cavalier King Charles named Zelda.

Houseplant’s headquarters is located in a 1918 bungalow in Los Angeles. Architectural Digest describes it as “Mid-century-modern-inspired furniture creates a cozy but streamlined aesthetic.”