WeedLife News Network

The Virginia legislature has passed bills to modify the state’s medical marijuana program to allow for the production and sale of herbal forms of cannabis. The measures, House Bill 2218 and Senate Bill 1333, were approved this week with overwhelming majorities in both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate.

The legalization of medical marijuana in Virginia began with a strictly limited 2015 law that allowed for CBD and THC-A oils to be used by patients with severe epilepsy. The regulations have been loosened since, and medical marijuana dispensaries selling products with up to 10 milligrams of THC per dose opened in the state last year.

Under Virginia’s current laws, the state medical marijuana program only allows processed forms of cannabis, such as tinctures, edibles, and oils. Herbal forms of cannabis including smokable marijuana are not permitted. With the new change, regulated medical marijuana producers will be permitted to offer products made from “cannabis oil or botanical cannabis,” according to the text of the legislation.

The medical marijuana industry and advocates lobbied for the addition of herbal forms of cannabis to the roster of legal products as a way to improve affordability for patients. The change is expected to greatly increase the number of patients with physician recommendations for medical cannabis, which now totals about 10,000.

Activists Laud The Change

Jenn Michelle Pedini, the executive director of the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said in a press release that the change will make patients’ medicine accessible in the form many prefer.

Arizona celebrated its first month of recreational marijuana sales yesterday, and there's much to cheer. More than 100 medical marijuana dispensaries have been cleared to sell recreational marijuana to customers 21 years and older, and business is booming. Drive past a Valley dispensary in the middle of the day, and there's a decent chance you'll still find a line outside the door.

For longtime marijuana shoppers in Arizona — MMJ patients, that is — there's been less to celebrate. Ironically, many of them feel that legalization has made marijuana less accessible for them.

One gripe: those lines.

"I should not see young, able-bodied folks coming in and out of a dispensary while there are folks in wheelchairs and using walkers waiting in line," says James Carter, a medical marijuana patient in Mesa.

Some dispensaries, still adjusting to balancing medical and rec sales, have begun implementing new policies that aim to prioritize patients. Many Harvest locations have a special window for medical patients. Territory Dispensary has implemented a cashless, pre-pay system for online orders called TreezPay that expedites the pick-up process, cutting down the amount of time customers have to spend in the store. Raul Molina, COO of The Mint dispensaries, recently told Fox 10 that their goal is to serve medical patients within 10 minutes and recreational patients within 30 minutes.

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) announced its partnership with Roseville Farms to implement an industrial hemp program.

The program, which is led by Brian Pearson, an assistant professor of crop management at the UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center, "provides a science-based evaluation of industrial hemp varieties," the organization states in a news release.

While South Dakota is still stalled when it comes to making legal cannabis a reality within state borders, the state is already working on legislation that allows banks to decide whether or not to do business with the legal cannabis and hemp industry. 

Topical CBD (cannabidiol) products are becoming increasingly popular – but recent testing indicates some who use them may not be getting what they paid for.

CBD topicals are being used for a number of applications including general cosmetics, moisturising, treating skin irritations and to relieve muscle and joint pain. Research indicates cannabidiol may be effective in treating or managing a number of skin problems.

As an active ingredient it’s important that what’s in the product is reflected by what’s on the label.

Leafreport engaged Canalysis Laboratories to test dozens of CBD topicals including creams, balms, serums and toners, and found 31 of the 40 products contained 12% to 99% cannabidiol versus what was on the label either way (less or more). Just 9 of the products had CBD levels within 10% of the label and 11 were off 30% or more from what the label noted. The majority of the products (31 or 77.5%) contained more CBD than advertised.

While more CBD may sound like a good thing, it raises the question – if a company can’t get CBD levels pretty right, what else is happening with the product? Additionally, more CBD than indicated can make it difficult for a user to determine what they actually need.

Topical CBD (cannabidiol) products are becoming increasingly popular – but recent testing indicates some who use them may not be getting what they paid for.

CBD topicals are being used for a number of applications including general cosmetics, moisturising, treating skin irritations and to relieve muscle and joint pain. Research indicates cannabidiol may be effective in treating or managing a number of skin problems.

As an active ingredient it’s important that what’s in the product is reflected by what’s on the label.

Leafreport engaged Canalysis Laboratories to test dozens of CBD topicals including creams, balms, serums and toners, and found 31 of the 40 products contained 12% to 99% cannabidiol versus what was on the label either way (less or more). Just 9 of the products had CBD levels within 10% of the label and 11 were off 30% or more from what the label noted. The majority of the products (31 or 77.5%) contained more CBD than advertised.

While more CBD may sound like a good thing, it raises the question – if a company can’t get CBD levels pretty right, what else is happening with the product? Additionally, more CBD than indicated can make it difficult for a user to determine what they actually need.

The U.S. Hemp Authority announced it has released Guidance Procedures 3.0, a revised version of the 2.0 standards. 

The organization creates regulatory standards and certifies hemp and CBD businesses through third-party auditing.

“The revised version is a reflection of the strong intention of the organization to continue measures of improvement to apply lessons learned about the new industry, and reflect broad and deep public input,” the organization states in a news release.

The changes from version 2.0, which was implemented in 2019, include new regulations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and revisions that are designed to help clarify expectations for farmers, with additional insights from another year of experience gained by the industry, the release states.

According to the summary of changes, some revisions from version 2.0 include a new introduction section to describe the program’s intentions and objectives. The glossary has also been updated to revise definitions and remove unnecessary terms. 

A study by researchers at the University of Minnesota show the genetic makeup of high-CBD hemp plants is largely marijuana.

There are two types of cannabis plants. One that creates marijuana, which has psychoactive properties and the other creates hemp, which can be used to make industrial products. The difference between the two plants is the level of the tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, which creates the "high" sensation. Under federal regulations, CBD can only be 0.3% THC.

In the study, recently published in New Phytologist, researchers that breeding high-THC plants with hemp-type plants would create a new plant with high levels of CBD instead. 

According to the study, when the high-CBD plants mature, hemp farmers could be at risk of having their crops above the legal THC limit.

It can be argued that the high taxes are well-intentioned, signaling support for an inclusive cannabis market.

Due to ongoing federal prohibition, America’s cannabis regulations remain fragmented by state. Until reform occurs, states will continue to set their program frameworks, including how it taxes the supply chain, with consumers feeling the brunt directly by taxes or indirectly by retailers up-charging to offset costs.

The cannabis plant is extremely complex and nuanced.

With a dizzying amount of active ingredients — including over 200 cannabinoids — it’s hard to imagine the majority of the legal market is comprised of products containing THC, CBD, or a combination of those two alone.

But so-called “lesser-known cannabinoids” are beginning to emerge as research and development on the plant itself grows along with the industry. 

Cannabinoids such as CBN, CBG, and THC-A have been making their way into retail in a variety of forms, and interest in the potential of cannabis beyond the current status quo is rising fast.

Could these lesser-known cannabinoids be the future of the marijuana marketplace?

A new research paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests a connection between marijuana legalization and a decline in workers’ compensation claims.

The study, conducted by a team of researchers from  William Paterson University, Temple University, University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash and the RAND Corporation, examined “the effect of state recreational marijuana laws (RMLs) on workers’ compensation (WC) benefit receipt among adults 40-62 years.”

“Marijuana has increasingly become legalized in the United States. We study the effects of recent state laws that legalize the recreational use of marijuana on work capacity—the ability to productively engage in paid employment—among older working-age adults,” the researchers wrote in the study’s introduction. “We rely primarily on Workers’ Compensation (WC) benefit receipt as a signal of diminished work capacity; WC benefits are received when individuals become injured or ill while working and require time away from work to recover. In addition to providing a useful measure of labor productivity and work capacity, injuries incurred while working represent substantial costs to the national economy.”

They found that workers’ compensation receipt “declines in response to [recreational marijuana laws’] adoption both in terms of the propensity to receive benefits and benefit amount.

“We estimate complementary declines in non-traumatic workplace injury rates and the incidence of work-limiting disabilities,” they wrote. “We offer evidence that the primary driver of these reductions is an improvement in work capacity, likely due to access to an additional form of pain management therapy.”

North Dakota Representatives gave the green light to recreational marijuana.

The House voted Tuesday morning to legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 years or older.

This bill would also allow people to be able to grow or possess marijuana.

“There’s a lot of things I don’t agree with, but if it’s good policy and I think it’s going to be for the betterment of the State of North Dakota, I vote for it. And so I ask for a green vote,” said Rep. Jason Dockter, from Bismarck.

“Let’s vote green,” said Rep. Pat Heinert, from Bismarck.

Marijuana and hemp-related businesses are one step closer to gaining access to South Dakota banks.

House Bill 1203 proactively lays groundwork for banks and their subsidiaries to work with any person that acquires an industrial hemp or marijuana license, pending legalization of the substances at the state level. The legislation passed in the state House of Representatives on Monday afternoon with a vote of 64 in favor, four opposed and two excused.

Without a bill of this kind, those involved in cannabis industries would only be able to carry out business transactions in cash, as marijuana is considered an illegal business at the federal level.

The legislation’s prime sponsor Rep. Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown, noted during Monday’s session that banking in industrial hemp and marijuana is “heavy in compliance” issues, and that not all banks will choose to opt into working with these industries.

No state representatives besides Bartels spoke on the bill.

The medical marijuana market in Florida created nearly 15,000 new jobs in 2020 and employs an estimated 31,444 state residents, according to a new analysis.

Florida recorded nearly $1.23 billion in marijuana sales in 2020, according to the report posted by Leafly and Whitney Economics. Florida’s sales were more than every state except California and Colorado, where marijuana is legal for adults.

Over the last 11 months, the cannabis industry has begun marketing directly towards a new demographic: moms. Plagued with the stress of parenting during a pandemic, working from home, and a shared sense of community upheaval, many mothers have turned to cannabis for the first time — or so the story goes. 

Researchers at the University of Sydney are conducting a wide-ranging study concerning quality of life issues for medicinal cannabis patients.

Funded by Australian medicinal cannabis firm Little Green Pharma (LGP), the QUality of life Evaluation STudy (The QUEST Initiative) will delve into related patient outcomes and aims to recruit 2,100 patients by June this year.

The Australian Government is backing the study.

“The QUEST Initiative represents a significant Australian contribution to the global need for reliable, objective and clinically-relevant quality of life data for patients accessing medicinal cannabis treatments for a broad range of chronic conditions,” said Federal Minister for Health, Greg Hunt.

The research, being led by Associate Professor Claudia Rutherford, also has the endorsement of various national bodies including MS Research Australia, Chronic Pain Australia, Arthritis Australia and Epilepsy Action Australia.

Cannabis legitimization has demonstrated several advantages for some reasons – pot’s remedial worth improves lives and decreases compulsion and the business development and potential is useful for the economy. However, there are as yet the individuals who demand that ongoing cannabis utilization, such as using phoenix tears Canada, simply makes individuals more dumb.

To exacerbate the situation, a recent report has as far as anyone knows discovered confirmation that pot use diminishes an individual’s IQ after some time. This deception has fanned out quickly among against pot distributions throughout the previous five years, prompting expanded disarray on the issue. 

There are a ton of elements that go into play when considering these patterns – and making these cases – and considerably more that specialists deliberately forget about. In this way, before you experience another enemy of pot crusaders wanting to act wonderful about the hazards of cannabis and knowledge, we should investigate what these examinations truly propose. 

The Science Behind Cannabis and IQ 

There is next to no exploration contemplating the drawn out impacts of cannabis and the data that is out there is very restricted. You can also choose the CBD version of cannabis, where there will be THC effects of weed. These can be bought at places like CBD Oil Canada. This makes it hard to think of exact ends and considerably more hard to induce with conviction that patterns in some random examination address precise relationships among cannabis and (fill in the clear). 

For instance, since cannabis stays illicit, it very well may be hard to track down guinea pigs in any case not to mention ones who will stay for the long stretch. Utilization patterns are additionally difficult to screen due partially in view of its illicit status and to a limited extent due to the numerous factors that go into item power or individual resilience levels. Yet, maybe the most factor of all, the one that will decide if an examination produces positive outcomes or negative ones, are analyst inclinations. 

Industrial hemp has a less than 0.3% THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive agent in Marijuana) level.
Furthermore, hemp was removed from its classification as a controlled substance.

The Farm Bill contains a change of how industrial hemp is now classified.

Under the Farm Bill, hemp is no longer considered a controlled substance non-hallucinogenic cousin of marijuana; hemp has been considered a controlled substance because it has that tiny amount of THC. However, hemp has about as much chance of getting someone high as honeybuns have got someone drunk (honeybuns contain a correspondingly small amount of alcohol.)

So, other than a wholly undeserved stigma created by an industrial juggernaut engaging its political allies to remove its biggest competitor through a campaign of utter falsehoods and racially-charged exaggerated fabrications: there is absolutely no reason not to farm hemp and reap all the socio-economical benefits from farming hemp in 2021. None.

The pathway to a uniquely versatile product that produces millions of dollars within 100 days has been approved, cleared, and green-lighted by the Biden Administration and the US government. On a planet whose atmospheric composition has become a bit too heavy with carbon dioxide lately, the carbon-sequestering ability of hemp offers yet another win-win scenario. The more hemp planted, the more CO2 neutralized.

For years, the pattern has held: The New Hampshire House recommends fully legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in the Granite State, and the Senate shoots the measure down.

Perhaps not this year.

In a notable move late last month, the House Criminal Justice Committee recommended that the 400-member body scrap two bills that would greatly loosen marijuana laws in the state. After one hearing, the committee recommended putting off until next year House Bill 237, which would legalize the use marijuana, and House Bill 629, which would legalize it and allow growing at home.

The 14-7 vote was opposed by seven Democrats on the committee.

With nearly 21,000 people working in marijuana dispensaries or affiliated businesses, Arizona ranks No. 4 nationally for jobs in the cannabis industry, according to a report released Tuesday by Leafly.

The report was based on employment in 2020, before Arizona launched adult-use marijuana sales in January, so those figures are sure to rise as dispensaries around the state ramp up to meet the new demand from sales to any adult over age 21, not just medical-marijuana patients.

Arizona had more than $1 billion in medical-marijuana sales last year, with about 5,600 new jobs created just last year, according to estimates in the report.