WeedLife News Network

Now, the next time you’re in the middle of a smoke session with friends and the munchies hit, you can offer an explanation behind why it’s happening.

Having access to your favorite meals or snacks is essential to any successful session.  Most people are familiar with the concept of getting the munchies after consuming marijuana, but why they occur still remains a mystery to many.

Even though the munchies may seem like one of life’s unsolved mysteries, there are a few scientific reasons that can explain what causes it. Here are a few factors that help explain why people get the munchies after consuming marijuana.

The Role Sleep Plays in Bringing on the Munchies

Want to keep the munchies at bay? You may want to make sure you get enough sleep.  Numerous studies attribute an increase in appetite to a poor sleep schedule.

“We found that sleep restriction induced qualitative changes in food intake, biasing choices toward energy-dense options, without altering total calorie intake,” wrote researchers, adding that, “Our results further elaborate on the effects of sleep deprivation on the human brain, suggesting that neural processing of odors is enhanced in primary olfactory brain areas after sleep restriction.”

Taking this into consideration, getting a full night’s rest could be instrumental in helping to ward off the munchies.

Cannabis company stock prices have taken a nearly year-long hit that some investors might describe as extreme considering the potential for federal marijuana legalization in the foreseeable future. Now, companies in Pennsylvania have more potential bad news coming down the pike from the state's department of health.

Failure to comply with a new order from the state agency could result in suspension or revocation of cannabis operator licenses. Two marijuana producers with a heavy concentration in The Keystone State are Jushi Holdings (OTC: JUSHF), and Trulieve Cannabis (OTC: TCNNF), both of which sell vape products in the state.

Etain is an oasis of calm in midtown Manhattan.

When thinking of weed dispensaries, especially in light of the relatively recent legalization of recreational marijuana in the state of New York, thoughts don't necessarily drift to soothing, spa-like destinations offering the sort of calm that is usually associated with self-care. And, yet, that is exactly what Etain, the only cannabis dispensary in New York that is owned by women, feels like. (In Irish mythology, Etain is a Gallic goddess who represents women in a transformational capacity.)

The Minnesota Department of Health said Wednesday it’s not approving anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, unlike neighboring North Dakota and three other states.

State Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said there’s not enough scientific evidence of benefits of medical cannabis use when compared to the possibility of “unintended consequences.” No new conditions will be added to the existing list of 17 qualifying health issues.

“We received many comments from health care practitioners treating patients with anxiety disorder, and they urged us to not approve it as a qualifying medical condition,” Malcolm said.

North Dakota added anxiety disorders to its accepted uses two years ago, when it immediately became the most commonly cited condition.

“Expanding delivery methods to gummies and chews will mean more options for patients who cannot tolerate current available forms of medical cannabis,” Malcolm said.

With the legal sale of recreational marijuana set to begin Jan. 1 across Montana, Lake County residents are being asked to weigh in on whether to impose a local tax to benefit county and city governments.

Lake County commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a resolution to hold a special election to determine whether a local-option tax of 3% will be implemented beginning in July. Commissioners produced the resolution after the county’s three municipal governments — Polson, Ronan and St. Ignatius — agreed to hold the vote and contribute to the cost of the election.

The county estimates local governments could collectively take in $180,000 annually if voters approve the tax. That number was derived by taking a Missoula estimate and adjusting for population, so actual revenue could be much higher or lower.

The county will hold a public hearing on marijuana sales in January, and the special election is expected to occur in early April. If approved, the tax would go into effect July 5 to coincide with the start of a new fiscal year.

After deciding to seek approval for a local marijuana tax, commissioners also had to decide whether to apply the same tax to recreational and medicinal sales. They settled on a ballot with separate questions regarding medicinal and recreational sales. Commission Chairman Bill Baron said he favored addressing the two types of sales as one. However, commissioners Gayle Decker and Steve Stanley supported the two-question ballot.

A marijuana cultivator and producer in Washoe County could lose its license after it avoided paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, according to a complaint filed by the Cannabis Compliance Board this week.

NNV Operations I, INC, which operates under the name Silver State Trading, had numerous unpaid or underpaid wholesale marijuana taxes to the Department of Taxation dating back to June 2019, according to the complaint filed by the board. The state collects a 15 percent wholesale cultivation and production tax on marijuana in the state.

As deputies went to investigate a fight in rural Oklahoma, they said a man was found being held against his will for three months at an illegal marijuana operation, according to media reports. It led to charges against three individuals, who Garvin County officials say would not let the victim leave on his own. “He claimed to fear for his life,” Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett told the Pauls Valley Democrat. “He claimed they had kidnapped him and forced him to keep working.” Several people called 911 on Nov. 29 about a man being dragged on the road in Elmore City, which is about 65 miles south of Oklahoma City, according to KWTV. The victim was trying to escape the facility with a bag of personal items, KXII reported. “They’re in the middle of the road, they’re fussin’,” one called told dispatchers, KWTV reported. “They’re trying to drag him back in the yard.” Cyber Monday Sale Unlimited digital access - $6 for 6 months CLAIM OFFER When deputies entered the residence, they found nearly $2 million worth of marijuana, along with firearms and cash, KXII reported. It was deemed an illegal operation, as it was not properly registered with the state, the TV station reported. The victim said he was forced to stay at the facility so the three suspects could “extort money from a wealthy family,” KWTV reported. He was not allowed to leave unless he was with someone else, the Pauls Valley Democrat said. Xiaobing Chen, Xuechun Ruan and Quan Zhao each faces charges of kidnapping, illegal drug trafficking, possession of guns while committing a felony and other drug charges, according to media reports. They are being held at the Garvin County jail without bond, jail records show.

Union Springs. Hogansburg. Kill Buck.

Brad Kotansky, CFO at Copperstate Farms, will serve a two-year term on the ADA board and represent the local cannabis business community

Copperstate Farms Management, LLC, a vertically integrated cannabis operator based in Arizona, today announced Chief Financial Officer, Brad Kotansky, will serve on the Arizona Dispensaries Association (ADA) board of directors. The incoming 2022 board members will lead the organization into the state’s second year of adult-use legalized cannabis.

Many people associate cannabis with eco-friendly, counter-cultural movements, but we know the environmental impacts of the cannabis industry are significant. Given the climate crisis, cannabis production companies have a responsibility to ensure future demands of the industry are met in an environmentally sustainable way. We also know that as the world is seeing the impacts of climate change, consumers are changing their spending habits 1. As a result, companies also have the financial incentive to seriously consider implementing more environmental policies, to align their interests with the interests of consumers. Unfortunately, restrictions on cannabis research and the legal industry create barriers to implementing many environmentally friendly alternatives in production.

Cannabis, in all its forms, is more prevalent and accessible than ever before in this country. Still, it often seems that much of its story is mysteriously unknown. Health studies are still very new, and it sometimes may seem that the plant had no relevant history before the 1900s.

As cannabis becomes more prevalent, perhaps it’s time to discover the lesser-known facts about this iconic plant to help understand what exactly makes cannabis so interesting and important. Here are eight fun facts you may not have known about this elusive organism we call weed.

Cannabis Dates Back Thousands of Years

It is easy to assume marijuana cultivation began in fairly modern times. However, the first recorded use of cannabis dates back thousands of years before The United States was even an idea. 

Cannabis was mentioned in the sacred Hindu texts known as The Vedas, estimated to have been produced around 2000 to 1400 B.C. Woven hemp fibers were even discovered at a burial site in Taiwan that date back 10,000 years.

As marijuana becomes legal for recreational use, its retail popularity is skyrocketing. In the last few years, marijuana dispensaries have become more plentiful than Starbucks and even McDonalds in some areas.

A group of Missourians have launched a campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in the state.

Legal Missouri 2022 is working to get a measure on next year’s ballot to legalize recreational marijuana. At least 18 states, including Illinois, have legalized recreational marijuana.

Medical marijuana is legal in Missouri. Currently, more than 146,000 Missourians have patient or caregiver licenses for medical marijuana.

“There’s a Republican bill in the House. There’s a Democratic bill in the House. There’s a state ballot initiative. There is a yearning for this to happen in the state of Ohio”.

State Representative Terrence Upchurch lays it out plainly. He co-sponsored the Democratic bill that’s been introduced in the House. He says it’s a great opportunity for Ohio, but there’s also a threat if the state doesn’t join the 19 others that have reaped the benefits.

“What I don’t want to see happen is we begin to lose business, our population continues to decrease, and we lose out on huge economic opportunity because we’re still lagging behind.”

Thirty cities in Ohio have taken a step forward by decriminalizing misdemeanor cannabis possession. That means having smaller amounts is no longer an arrestable or fineable offense.

Decriminalization is not new or innovative. Twenty-seven other states have done this. The maneuver protects users, but it doesn’t do anything to regulate or monetize the usage.

Law enforcement can't keep up with drug traffickers growing marijuana in national forests, who poison wildlife, siphon water, and risk wildfire.

New York design studio Zero is getting into the weed business by partnering with Dosist and Sunday Goods founders to launch a "brand-centred" cannabis company called Studio. It marks the first step into creating their own series of cannabis brands after years of helping build them for clients.

With plans to expand to other markets across the United States, Studio initially launched in Arizona. The state is poised to be one of America's most attractive legal cannabis markets, with a projected $2.6B in cannabis revenue by 2025. Seeing this opportunity, Matt Seashols of Dosist, Randy Smith of Sunday Goods and the Zero team decided to combine their experience in retail, content, design, strategy and building trendsetting brands to create something of their own.

Despite the inauspicious beginning of 2020, Hawke Media believes the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented opportunities for companies in the right industries: specifically cannabis.

Hawke Media, a digital marketing company operating as an “outsourced” chief marketing officer (CMO), believes that such an opportunity existed, and still exists, at the convergence of the e-commerce, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and cannabis spaces.

Wisconsin lawmakers recently unveiled a bipartisan bill to decriminalize marijuana statewide. The bill is not the first of its kind, but it benefits from the exceedingly rare support of some Republican politicians, setting it apart from the usual Democrat-led initiatives shunned by the Republican legislature.

Under this bill, possession of a personal-use amount of marijuana would be subjected to a fine of $100 for possessing 14 grams of marijuana or less. Municipalities would have some discretion, but they cannot enact a penalty lesser than $100 or greater than $250, or up to 40 hours of community service. Any amount greater than 14 grams could still be subjected to the current law.

Currently, Wisconsin law states that a first offense of possessing personal use amounts of marijuana can incur a fine up to $1,000 and six months of incarceration. A repeat offense is a felony and can be punished with three and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine. This makes Wisconsin one of the worst locations in the United States in terms of personal use of marijuana.

Remove the Threat of Prison

Most importantly, the bill in question would eliminate counting for the purpose of determining whether there has been a repeat violation in cases where the amount seized is 28 grams or less. This would remove the threat of prison entirely from most low-level marijuana cases, statewide, and would turn thousands of serious offenses every year into slaps on the wrist.

As such, this proposal seems appealing, especially for Wisconsinites who live outside of the main centers of population, many of which have already enacted some form of decriminalization. As more and more localities have taken the initiative to enact cannabis reform without waiting for the regressive legislature, this bill aims to harmonize the law across the state. Co-author Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez has argued in a press conference that marijuana laws in Wisconsin are “a patchwork,” which confuses residents who expect rules applied in Milwaukee and Madison to be applied elsewhere.

We’re now armed with more facts about marijuana than ever before, but a lot of misinformation continues to circulate. Here are some untruths you should be aware of.

As marijuana becomes more mainstream, so do   myriad myths and legends. Fallacies and untruths about marijuana have existed as long as its opponents have. The main difference between then and now, however, is legalization and popularity.

Increased data and newly-funded research have given birth to scientific findings that help shed light on how marijuana actually affects people and society. As weed becomes legal and the states that legalize it continue to operate normally, many skeptics are starting to realize some of the great myths of marijuana are just that — myths.

Marijuana Use Causes Cancer

The research and study of how marijuana affects or contributes to cancer is still very new and inconclusive overall. Although marijuana has proven to be a helpful therapy for those undergoing cancer treatment, whether or not marijuana causes cancer is still up in the air.

Weed Is Not as Potent as It Used to Be

There is a common rumor, sometimes spoken among more senior generations, many of whom are reformed marijuana users, claiming the potency of marijuana has decreased. There is no denying the way cannabis is grown in this country has changed a great deal. 

Marijuana was illegal and often farm-grown in the 1960s, and today it is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.

Despite a high rise in Michigan’s marijuana business, Delta Township does not have a dispensary — and township officials don’t expect that to change any time soon.

According to Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency, more than 700 dispensaries opened in the state of Michigan since 2021.

In 2019, the township board voted against allowing dispensaries within Delta Township’s borders. Since then, this issue hasn’t been revisited, while nearby cities such as Lansing and East Lansing are dabbling into Michigan’s now multimillion-dollar business.

Township resident Amy Zander, owner of Zeedia Media, said Delta should stay current and competitive with other communities.

“The money it could bring to the community and adding more businesses to the Delta Township community will make our economy stronger,” Zander said. 

The West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis is holding registration events in several cities in the coming days.

The public events for medical cannabis patients will be held Wednesday in Morgantown at Fairfield Inn and Suites, Thursday in Weston at Hampton Inn and Dec. 7 in Princeton at Country Inn & Suites. Each registration will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.