WeedLife News Network

Time flies – it was 25 years ago on Friday voters in the US state of California gave the green light for medical cannabis.

California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996, Prop. 215, was the  first law to legalize the personal use and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes since prohibition took effect in the United States. The state’s voters approved Prop. 215 with 5,382,915 (55.6%) votes in favor and 4,301,960 (44.4%) against.

The Act protected patients and defined caregivers possessing or cultivating marijuana recommended by a physician from laws that would otherwise see them prosecuted. It also forbid the punishing of physicians recommending the use of medical marijuana.

This occurred in the face of federal prohibition still applying – and while raids and prosecutions from the feds continued for some years, in March 2009 federal officials announced that they would no longer attempt to interfere with medical marijuana distribution/use in the state.

Where California went, other states followed – albeit very slowly for the next two decades. But today the majority of states have programs in place, albeit with varying levels of restrictions.

Hemp oil comes from the same species of Cannabis sativa plants that yield marijuana and CBD oil, but it's a decidedly different product.

Hemp oil, aka hemp seed oil, is produced by cold-pressing the seeds from hemp plants, similar to how olive oil is made by pressing olives.

However, hemp seeds have little to no THC or CBD, says Jeffrey Chen, MD, co-founder and CEO of Radicle Science, a health-tech company that offers research and validation services for CBD products.

Instead, many of hemp oil's purported health benefits come down to its nutrients: Hemp oil is a rich source of minerals and healthy omega fatty acids, which may help with skin, hair, and nail health among other things. However, research is still in the early stages.

Hemp nutrition

One tablespoon of hemp oil contains roughly 125 calories and 14 grams of fat (18% DV). In addition, hemp seeds are a rich source of other nutrients, including:

Though little to no medical research links cannabis use with COVID-19 relief, that is definitely not the case in business where the pandemic proved to be a boon for the industry.

As the world continues to contend with COVID-19, much about the virus remains uncertain, including its interactions with cannabis. (original article appeared on Benzinga)

In the early months of the pandemic, various studies linked pot to both adverse and beneficial results. The trend continues today, with little conclusively known about the cannabis-COVID medical connection if indeed there is one.

That said, it is much clearer to see that the pandemic created a significant beneficial impact on the marketplace.

Almost All Conclusions Require Additional Data

Several physicians and researchers tell Benzinga that little has been concluded regarding any cannabis-COVID connections, beneficial or adverse.

Dr. Robert Milanes, a California-based cannabis physician of telehealth platform Heally, stated, "One thing we know conclusively is that cannabis cannot cure COVID-19."

The cult hero products sold out within five days

CBD skincare is making waves in the beauty industry and has been endorsed by celebrity fans Gwyneth Paltrow and Kristen Bell, who have raved about the benefits of cannabidiol. Growing in popularity, hemp skincare can drastically improve various skin conditions, thanks to its ability to reduce sebum production and act as an anti-inflammatory.

Recently, Hey Bud Skincare – Australia’s number one-selling hemp skincare range – launched two new CBD skincare products which sold out within just five days. But now, they’re back in stock – and we have a 15% discount code…

The two CBD products on offer? Hey Bud’s Daily Hemp Gel Cleanser, and Hyaluronic Acid + Hemp Serum, which garnered a waiting list of 27,000 people.

This gentle foam cleanser will leave skin cleansed, brighter, moisturised, and balanced. Enhanced with Hemp Seed Oil, this cleanser clears pores while regulating oil balance, making it ideal for those with spot-prone skin. Meanwhile, the Sodium PCA ingredient will provide advanced hydration, and hyaluronic acid will help to combat dry or flaky skin.

Police said 4,000 pounds of hemp flowers were taken from the business on Seagate Way just before 6:40 p.m.

An armed robber broke into a hemp flower wholesaler in Oceanside Wednesday night, confronted an employee, and made off with $1.3 million worth of product, Oceanside police said.

Someone called police just before 6:40 p.m. to report spotting at least one person outside the Cultivaris Hemp business on Seagate Way, said police spokesperson Jennifer Atenza.

The caller, who was monitoring security footage, also said they couldn’t reach an employee who was at the business.

GALLOWAY TWP. - Stockton University next week will host the Cannabis Career Fair and Business Expo, bringing a slew of industry leaders to the campus to provide insight and talk about open positions at their respective companies.

Beginning at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 17, the expo will feature keynote speakers and former NFL players Dominique Easley and Jordan Reed, who now own cannabis apothecary Legacy Partners. Those in attendance will also have the opportunity to have professional headshots taken as they talk with potential employers.

Cannabis earnings season is here, and there are some terms you should watch out for as they could signal trouble.

Many cannabis companies are reporting their quarterly results in November. And for investors, it can sometimes be difficult to interpret the numbers as cannabis earnings reports are often littered with adjustments and gains or losses, making it challenging to determine whether the company really had a good quarter.

But there are some ways you can quickly scan beyond just how the company did on its top and bottom lines to see whether there are any problems you need to be paying close attention to. Here are three words you don't want to see come up on an earnings report or call.

The amount of time you allow for your T-break is important, but how you spend that time away from THC can also affect the effectiveness of your respite.

Tolerance breaks, often referred to as T-breaks, are a great way to reset your body and reawaken the long-forgotten feeling you had when you first started using cannabis. If you use marijuana regularly, its effects can alter and weaken over time. When you need more and more weed to feel the same effects, you might be one of many cannabis users who could benefit from a T-break.

The saying “absence makes the heart grow fonder” can certainly be applied to a tolerance break, which gives you a chance to regroup and start enjoying marijuana like you did when you first started consuming. But what if your T-break does not bring back that old feeling and you still need the same amount of product to feel its effects?

When you take a break from THC and it does not seem to affect your tolerance, you may need to rethink the way you take your T-breaks.

If your break did not lower your tolerance, or did not restore the feeling you once had when you enjoyed it for the first time, try taking a longer one. According to WebMD, cannabis breaks should be at least 21 days long. Try to last for three weeks without THC in order to effectively reset your tolerance, especially if your previous T-breaks were brief.

Photo by Ivan-balvan/Getty Images

Governors across U.S. states and territories have penned a letter to congressional leaders, urging for cannabis banking access.

The governors of 24 states and U.S. territories sent a letter to congressional leaders on Thursday calling on lawmakers to pass legislation that would permit financial institutions to provide banking services to the regulated cannabis industry. The letter from the bipartisan group of two dozen governors seeks passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which was approved by the House of Representatives in September as part of a comprehensive defense spending authorization bill.

In the letter, which was sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, the governors of 21 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, call for provisions of the SAFE Banking Act to be included in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2022 fiscal year.

Relief for a Cash-Heavy Industry

If passed by the Senate and signed into law, federal banking regulators would be prohibited from penalizing banks that choose to serve cannabis firms doing business in accordance with state law. Under current regulations, banks are subject to penalties under federal money laundering and other laws for servicing such companies, leaving the cannabis industry to operate in a risky environment heavy in cash. The legislation was initially introduced in the House in 2013 by Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, who has reintroduced the bill each subsequent congressional cycle.

“Medical and recreational cannabis sales in the U.S. were estimated to total $17.5 billion last year, but because of antiquated federal banking regulations, almost all cannabis transactions are cash-based,” the governors wrote in their letter. “Not only are cash-only businesses targets for crime, cannabis businesses are further disadvantaged compared to other legal businesses by being unable to open bank accounts or obtain loans at reasonable rates.” 

The SAFE Banking Act was passed by the House of Representatives in 2019 and again last year as part of a COVID-19 pandemic relief bill. The House passed the bill again in April as standalone legislation and has included the measure in the defense authorization bill currently under consideration, but the bill has so far failed to be passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the president.

The Greenhouse of Walled Lake is launching a home delivery service and is now hiring 12 delivery drivers but is only seeking veterans of the military.

Oakland County's first fully licensed medical and recreational marijuana dispensary is launching the new home delivery service on Tuesday, just two days before Veterans Day, and is seeking "12 good men and women" for the jobs that can pay up to $50,000 per year.

No knowledge of the cannabis industry is necessary to apply but a valid Michigan driver's license and good driving record are both required.

Owner Jerry Millen said they launched the service on Tuesday, just two days before Veterans Day.

"So I'm looking to hire up to 12 veterans. We started delivery today at the Greenhouse of Walled Lake because there's such a demand for deliveries.  It's called greenhouse to go," he said

But that's not all. Jerry wants to help veterans by giving them $10,000 from the sales of the Veterans Day infused-chocolate canna-bar

A key congressional committee has approved legislation that would direct the VA to conduct studies into the use of cannabis as a therapeutic treatment for PTSD and chronic pain.

A key congressional committee last week approved a bill that would authorize federal research into the therapeutic applications of cannabis for military veterans. Under the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would be required to conduct clinical trials into the potential of cannabis as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain among the nation’s veterans.

The bill was approved by the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Nov. 4 by vote of 18 to 11, receiving support from all the panel’s Democratic members as well as one Republican. The committee approved previous versions of the bill last year and in 2018, but the legislation has yet to be passed by the full Congress and signed into law.

“Our veterans are no strangers to confronting challenges, and that’s why Congress needs to explore alternative treatment options,” Rep. Lou Correa, a California Democrat and sponsor of the bill, told Marijuana Moment. “The VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2021 meets veterans where they already are and opens a new door for federal policy that supports treatment options preferred by veterans.”

“How can we not try to gather the vast resources of Congress and the federal government to explore alternative treatment options like cannabis when veterans themselves are telling us that’s what they need,” Correa added. “To not support this legislation would be to defer once again of our obligation to care for those who have sacrificed so much to help protect our nation.”

The VA has acknowledged that PTSD and trauma experienced on the battlefield can contribute to a higher rate of suicidal ideation. Anecdotal evidence shows that cannabis can help ease the symptoms of PTSD, but clinical evidence has so far been inconclusive. In addition, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has advised Congress that there is “substantial evidence” that cannabis has medicinal value as a treatment for chronic pain and urged lawmakers to fund research into the potential risks and benefits of medical marijuana.

Leon County Commissioners scheduled a workshop for this spring that looks to explore alternatives to arrest for people caught with small amounts of marijuana. 

The issue has been on the wish list for several years and has had some success already after a 2018 program launched by State Attorney Jack Campbell aimed at issuing civil citations for such offenses. 

Still, on March 22, Campbell is likely to join Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil and county commissioners to address continued efforts to reduce penalties for possession of marijuana. 

McNeil will also join a workshop the same day where issues with bail, reentry initiatives and a review of the County’s electronic monitoring program will be addressed.

For years, a committee formed by McNeil has looked to examine monetary bail and Leon County’s pretrial release program.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and two other Democratic senators sent a letter on Tuesday to President Biden pressing him to make good on campaign promises and pardon federal nonviolent cannabis convictions. 

“After over a century of failed and racist cannabis policies, we write to urge a change of course: we request that you use your executive authority to pardon all individuals convicted of non-violent cannabis offenses, whether formerly or currently incarcerated,” Warren said in the letter co-signed by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

Democrats have been pushing Biden since the beginning of his presidency to reform cannabis laws, which have disproportionately affected communities of color.

"Number one, I think we should decriminalize marijuana, period," Biden said at the time. "And I think everyone — anyone who has a record should be let out of jail, their records expunged, be completely zeroed out."

The senators wrote that marijuana laws must be overhauled but that the president can also act immediately on his own. 

The House of Representatives approved a massive infrastructure bill late Friday, which includes allowing researchers to study marijuana purchased from state-licensed dispensaries. The legislation is now heading to President Joe Biden’s desk. (article originally appeared on Benzinga)

The bill will allow scientists to study research cannabis that is not exclusively government-grown, in addition to encouraging states with legal cannabis to educate people about impaired driving.

The move came on the heels of recently approved legislation that would require the VA to conduct clinical trials into the therapeutic potential of marijuana for military veterans.

Bill Removing Barriers To Cannabis Research

The new infrastructure measure requires collaboration between the transportation secretary, attorney general and the secretary of health and human services in which the three agencies are expected to complete a public report within two years of the bill’s enactment. The report is expected to contain a recommendation on establishing a national clearinghouse to “collect and distribute samples and strains of marijuana for scientific research that includes marijuana and products containing marijuana lawfully available to patients or consumers in a state on a retail basis” as well as a study that looks deeply into impaired driving. 

The measure also stipulates that scientists working in states that are not yet in the process of legalization should also have access to dispensary products available in jurisdictions that have ended prohibition.

A large majority of Americans are in favor on cannabis legalization. The time is now to tell our lawmakers that we have ‘Cannabis in Common.’

Headcount, a non-partisan organization that strives to get people registered to vote through music, has announced a new effort to legalize cannabis on a federal level and clear the records of thousands of people who have been convicted of cannabis-related crimes.

On November 9, Headcount and the U.S. Cannabis Council launched a nationwide education project called Cannabis in Common to mobilize cannabis-friendly citizens to start contacting their political representatives. In one YouTube video related to the announcement, Sarah Silverman narrates the current state of cannabis in the United States, inspiring people to rise up and take action.

Courtesy Cannabis in Common

“There’s at least one thing most Americans have in common: More than two-thirds of us agree cannabis should be legalized. And we have a real shot at getting federal legalization done now if we speak up,” Silverman says in the video. “If we don’t make a change soon, settling for laws that disproportionately land people of color in prison. We’re leaving hundreds of thousands of jobs on the table and giving up tax revenue that can go toward education and other community investments.”

Rogen proposes that people hit up their representatives via email or phone to get their attention. “Legalizing cannabis for good is long past due, but if we make enough noise, we can make it happen.”

Cannabis in Common makes reaching out to House and Senate Representatives a breeze. By visiting its website, individuals can send a quick email with the click of a button or instantly locate the phone number of the desired representative to open up a discussion about federal legalization. See where each of state representative stands on the issue here.

Following the green light from the USDA, hemp should finally (legally) appear Idaho fields again next year.

Idaho was the last US state to have a ban on hemp cultivation. In April this year, the state’s senate voted in favour of HB 126, the Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act. HB 126 was subsequently signed into law by Governor Brad Little not long after.

But that didn’t mean cultivation could begin. The Idaho State Department of Agriculture was tasked with developing a hemp plan in harmony with the 2018 Farm Bill, which then required the USDA’s approval. On November 1, that approval was granted.

Regulations establishing New York State’s Cannabinoid Hemp Program make things very clear on the issue of Delta-8 THC. But this doesn’t mean it’s game over for the controversial cannabinoid.

Delta-8 THC can be created by manipulating hemp-derived cannabidiol. Its legality at a federal level is a topic of some heated debate, with a perceived loophole resulting in a flood of Delta-8 products hitting the US market. Like Delta-9 THC, Delta-8 has intoxicating effects and it is claimed to have similar potential therapeutic benefits.

Various states have clamped down on the rapidly growing hemp-derived Delta-8 industry and New York is joining them.

Regulations approved by the Cannabis Control Board for the Cannabinoid Hemp Program prohibit the sale of Delta-8 THC products, and the NYS Office of Cannabis Management urges consumer caution on buying and consuming them. However, this doesn’t shut the door, with the Office saying such products are better left to be regulated in New York State’s future Adult-Use program.

Texas Delta-8 Battle Continues

In other Delta-8 THC related news, we recently reported on Hometown Hero, an Austin company involved in a lawsuit against the state of Texas in relation to the state’s stance on Delta-8 THC. 

In a recently released video dissecting a June Town Hall with the US Department of Agriculture and Drug Enforcement Agency, Hometown Hero CEO Lucas Gilkey says it provides confirmation from the DEA that Delta-8 is federally legal; or more accurately, the DEA liaison states the Agency doesn’t consider Delta-8 THC a controlled substance. While the DEA’s position isn’t crystal clear, no specific ruling has been made and this is at a federal level,  it could have some weight in the Texas action.

A cannabis substance known as Delta-8 has become temporarily legal in Texas after retailers challenged a ban in court.

Delta-8, short for Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol, is a compound found in the Cannabis sativa plant that is known to have psychoactive effects.

Cannabis producers can concentrate Delta-8 and sell it in various forms, including as Delta-8-infused gummy sweets.

According to the Texas Tribune, many cannabis product retailers in the state had thought Delta-8 was legal under this legislation.

On Monday this week, this decision was successfully challenged by a group of companies including Sky Marketing, Create a Cig and Hometown Hero.