WeedLife News Network

Major beer companies are investing in THC-infused drinks, but the sector represents less than 2 percent of the overall $20 billion marijuana market.

More than 100 million U.S. residents already live in a recreational state and 95% of residents live in a state with legal medical weed — so the consumer population is present and growing. (This article originally viewed on Benzinga By Michael Sassano)

Multi-State Operators (MSOs) in the United States are primed for the next big stock amp-up, which could see at minimum a 50 percent move starting as early as late August even without federal legislative movement. As volumes start to pick up this July, US stocks don’t need a special event to bounce off this latest correction. 

The future looked bright for hemp farmers, but the demand for CBD didn’t follow at the expected levels.

Delta-8 and smokable flower are the two products keeping hemp framers alive. The regulatory loophole that has allowed Delta-8 to be sold legally is also causing legal confusion. Delta-8 is a cannabis product that can be derived from hemp, but still give the consumer a light psychotropic experience. Some states have issued restrictions around the product, while others haven’t addressed it at all. Either way, the demand has been a blessing to hemp farmers who planted lots of acres in 2019 expecting a surge in CBD products, only to see the market contract and prices plummet. 

When the first Missouri dispensaries opened their doors in 2020, getting a Missouri marijuana card didn’t really do much for qualifying patients. The selection of medical marijuana products only covered a narrow spectrum of needs, and there were no options for people with a very low or high tolerance to THC.

Fortunately for residents of the Show Me State, the medical marijuana selection is now flourishing. From St. Louis to KC, St. Joseph to Poplar Bluff, and everywhere in between, you can find exactly what you’re looking for, whether it’s edibles with a higher CBD content, vape pens with a higher THC content, or a perfectly balanced smokable flower.

While using medical marijuana without becoming uncomfortably impaired is one of the top concerns most of our patients have, it’s also important to help people with an exceptionally high THC tolerance get the most out of their natural treatment plan as well.

For those of you who struggle to get the kind of relief you’re looking for because your body just doesn’t seem to register the results, we see you, too. In this post, we are going to take a look at reasons for some people’s tolerance to be higher than others’, and what you can do to boost the effectiveness of your cannabis every time you use it.

Reasons Why Some People Have a Higher Tolerance to THC

There are two main reasons why some people have a higher tolerance to THC than others. Mitigation strategies will be approximately the same no matter what your reasons are, and it will likely take a bit of trial and error in order to find the solutions that work best for you. But experimentation is half the fun, right?

Planet 13, a tourist hotspot, is among a number of Las Vegas marijuana dispensaries crafting plans for consumption lounges, which the state Legislature approved earlier this year.

At Planet 13’s superstore on West Desert Inn Road, a 20,000-square-foot storage warehouse will likely be converted into a lounge, Farris said.

“We want to make something that people can travel to, something like a club concept,” Farris said. “We know the pressure is on us to build something special.”

Connecticut will be rolling in heavy green due to its legalization of recreational marijuana, according to the state’s Office of Fiscal Analysis.

The OFA projects that the medical marijuana industry will generate $3.1 million in sales during fiscal year 2022 – which runs from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 – and another $1 million in municipal taxes.

Retail sales are expected to begin in Connecticut by the end of 2022, with the result that FY23 will generate $20.4 million in sales and another $5.9 million in municipal taxes, all of which will go to the general fund.

"Excited to have a positive impact, providing a solution for our Black community, stay in line with marijuana laws, avoid unnecessary interactions with police."

“[Drivers who possess cannabis] can violate the law, maybe not even knowing they’re violating if it’s not in a sealed container,” Sarah noted. PHOTO BY LOCKGREEN PRODUCTS INSTAGRAM

Sarah and Ronald Morton are locking down their place as cannabis entrepreneurs.

We talk a lot about melatonin here at cbdMD because it works so well in combination with CBD. But we realize - we've kind of dropped the ball, so to speak. We have yet to address what we've assumed everyone knows. Most people know what melatonin does but have no idea what melatonin is. We thought it's time we get to the bottom of these questions: What is melatonin? What is melatonin used for? We'll also explain how it works in your body and why we love pairing it with CBD so you can get your best sleep.

And do we need to even talk about why sleep is so important for your body? Ask those dark circles under your eyes if sleep is one of the most crucial things you do for your body. We cannot survive without sleep, an essential function of our body that allows our mind and body to recharge themselves and do crucial reparative work. Our cognitive function, memory, and our immune systems all depend on the work of sleep. And to make sure we get enough of it, our bodies produce a natural 'drowsy' hormone.

So, let's talk about melatonin, nature's little sleeping helper. Here's what we'll cover today:

Key Questions We'll Answer (and More!)

What Is Melatonin?

Hemp Seed Market with 2021: Emerging Technologies, Sales Revenue, Key Players Analysis, Development Assessment and Industry Expansion Strategies 2027

By Nina Zdinjak

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s cannabis and lifestyle brand Houseplant and cannabis giant Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC) will terminate their partnership.

The two companies that created a joint venture three years ago and launched in Canada have mutually agreed to end their collaboration. Since the brand’s launch, the Canadian cannabis market has significantly expanded, thus the parties decided it was time for Houseplant to further evolve on its own while Canopy will continue working on its wholly-owned brands.

During their years of working closely together, Houseplant grew to become a popular consumer brand in Canada and is now among the top 10 in the premium cannabis market in Ontario.

Among the most successful products are beverages with Houseplant Grapefruit becoming the top-selling cannabis drink in Canada in its first year. In 2020, more than one million cans of Houseplant beverages were sold in Canada.

Imagine it’s 2025…

Cannabis is the nation’s cash crop, and your friend is telling you about a new “super strain” at the local dispensary.

But he didn’t tell you that it was produced using CRISPR gene editing.

CRISPR technology can edit a plant’s genetic code by removing or replacing a specific genetic sequence.

Gene editing will improve the efficiency of growing operations and unlock higher profit margins for cannabis companies.

If you’re one of the millions of people who have trouble sleeping, you may have considered a cannabis compound, such as CBD. Some say cannabis compounds are helpful, but more research is needed. And they might not be legal, depending on where you live. Look up the laws to know what’s allowed.

What Does the Research Say About Cannabis?

Also known as marijuana, there’s growing interest in the health benefits of cannabis, specifically cannabis compounds. Two cannabinoids that get a lot of attention are:

Research results on cannabis and sleep are mixed. So far, there haven’t been many controlled studies to show that THC, CBD, or a combination of both can boost sleep quality, says Bhanuprakash (Bhanu) Kolla, MD. He’s an associate professor of psychiatry and psychology and a consultant for Mayo Clinic’s Center for Sleep Medicine in Rochester, MN.

But some studies show promise. That includes a small one on dronabinol, a human-made version of medical THC. Early research shows it might help with obstructive sleep apnea. But “at this point, we do not recommend the use of cannabis products for treatment of sleep apnea or other sleep disorders,” Kolla says.

Ryan Vandrey, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimoe, looks at how cannabis use affects sleep. He says there’s evidence that THC can help you fall asleep faster in the short-term. But “there’s a big gap in our knowledge” for how cannabis affects overall sleep quality long-term or if it can help people with sleep disorders.

Climate change got personal for my family in 2013, when a refugee bear fleeing a nearby wildfire scaled my goat-corral fence and killed most of the herd in front of our eyes. Milk providers, yoga partners and friends Natalie Merchant, Bette Midler and Stevie Nicks were lost that day (we name our goats after singers we like). Baby Taylor Swift survived and slept inside with my human kids for a while.

Since that day, I’ve been consciously sequestering carbon — trying to reduce carbon miles by eating and buying locally, avoiding petroleum-based plastics in favor of compostable materials and furthering both of these goals by planting hemp and milking goats. It’s my day job: farming so my grandkids have a habitable planet.

State regulators say the lottery to award licenses to operate six new medical cannabis facilities has been delayed due to an ongoing appeal of a rejected lottery applicant.

The administrative appeal first delayed the lottery in the spring and now it will not happen the first week of August either, the Providence Journal reported.

Matthew Santacroce, chief of the Office of Cannabis Regulation within the Department of Business Regulation, said Tuesday that the lottery will not be scheduled until the appeal has run its course and it remains unclear how long that could take.

The new facilities will be dispersed around the state in six regions, joining the dispensaries in Providence, Portsmouth and Warwick.

A nightly dose of medicinal cannabis (MC) improved sleep and other quality of life (QOL) outcomes in patients with high-grade gliomas, according to results of a study published in Frontiers in Oncology.

Researchers conducted a randomized, phase 2 trial comparing 2 ratios of oral MC oil in patients diagnosed with recurrent or inoperable high-grade gliomas, including glioblastoma multiforme and grade III anaplastic astrocytoma.

The study enrolled 88 patients. Their average age was 53.3 years, a majority of patients were White (95.2%), and about half were women (49.4%).

Patients were randomly assigned to receive a 1:1 ratio of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to cannabidiol (CBD) or a 4:1 ratio of THC to CBD. In the 1:1 group, the dose of THC was 4.6 mg/ml, and the CBD dose was 4.8 mg/ml. In the 4:1 group, the THC dose was 15 mg/ml, and the CBD dose was 3.8 mg/ml.

The researchers assessed QOL changes from baseline to week 12 using a paired t-test for the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy – Brain (FACT-Br). The results showed greater improvements in physical domains (P =.025), functional domains (P =.014), and sleep (P =.009) with the 1:1 ratio over the 4:1 ratio.

An organization hoping to regulate marijuana in Ohio has changed routes on legalization. 

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced Tuesday it will now try passing a state law instead of through a constitutional amendment, which was the original plan, as outlined in March 2020.

“We are proposing to regulate marijuana for adult use, just like we do for alcohol," said Tom Haren, a spokesman for the group, in a statement. "Our proposal fixes a broken system while ensuring local control, keeping marijuana out of the hands of children, and benefiting everyone.”

The coalition submitted its proposal, along with more than 1,000 signatures, to the Ohio attorney general's office on Tuesday. The AG has 10 days to review the summary proposal.

The group would need to collect 132,887 signatures of registered Ohio voters to put the measure before the Legislature.

Darren McCarty said he wouldn't be alive today if he never found marijuana.

The former NHL star and four-time Stanley Cup champion balanced a 16-year hockey career with binge drinking and alcoholism, McCarty told Insider in an interview. But once he retired in 2009, there was no sport left to balance out his addiction, and his drinking habits escalated to life-threatening levels over the next six years.

"I was 280 pounds," McCarty said. "My blood pressure when I was in the hospital was 265 over 145. I should be dead."

But in November 2015, he made the decision to do a seven-day detox in his garage while under the care of his wife Sheryl Simmons, who served as his nurse.

But the key ingredient that helped McCarty get through the detox, he said, was Rick Simpson Oil, or RSO, a cannabis-oil product with high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana that gets users high.

Children whose parents regularly smoke or vape marijuana may experience viral respiratory infections, such as the common cold, more frequently than those whose parents do not smoke, according to a study published in the journal Pediatric Research.

Researchers from Wake Forest School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado, USA surveyed 1,491 parents and caregivers who lived in Colorado, a US state where recreational and medicinal use of marijuana is legal. The researchers found that parents who regularly smoked or vaped marijuana reported that their children experienced more viral respiratory infections in the year prior to the survey, compared to children whose parents did not smoke tobacco or marijuana. Parents who smoked or vaped marijuana reported that their children had not experienced other conditions often related to second-hand tobacco smoke exposure, such as ear infections and asthma attacks, more frequently nor that they had visited a hospital emergency department more often in the previous year, compared to children whose parents did not smoke.

The negative impact that exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke can have on children's health has been extensively studied but the impact of second-hand marijuana smoke on young children is unclear. Our findings identify the potential for increased respiratory infections in children exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke. This could have significant healthcare implications as more states in the USA move towards legalising recreational marijuana use."

Adam Johnson, Corresponding Author

Of the parents and caregivers who participated in the survey, 78 (5.2%) reported regularly smoking or vaping only marijuana, 214 (14.3%) reported regularly smoking only tobacco and 80 (5.4%) reported regularly smoking both marijuana and tobacco. The researchers found that those who only smoked marijuana tended to be younger, educated to a higher level, less likely to identify as Hispanic, and have a higher income than those who did not smoke or who only smoked tobacco. Parents and caregivers who smoked both marijuana and tobacco tended to be younger and were less likely to identify as Hispanic than non-smokers. They also had lower income and education levels than non-smokers, compared to those who only smoked marijuana and those who only smoked tobacco.

Alabama became the 36th state to allow cannabis for medical use when Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law the Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act on May 17, 2021. The act establishes a process through which applicants will compete for a limited number of licenses in the following categories: (1) cultivator; (2) processor; (3) dispensary; and (4) “integrated facility” (which can cultivate, process, transport, and dispense medical cannabis under one license), as well as a to-be-determined number of licenses for secure transporters and testing laboratories. A 14-member Medical Cannabis Commission licenses and regulates the medical cannabis program, with input from the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries on cultivation matters. The act requires that the Commission and the department adopt regulations that allow license applications by September 1, 2022.

This article provides an overview of the requirements for obtaining a dispensary license, and is part of a series of similar overviews for the other five license categories. 

What is a dispensary license?

A dispensary license authorizes the licensee to: (1) purchase and transfer cannabis from a processor, integrated facility, or cultivator, if the cultivator contracted with a processor to process its cannabis on the cultivator’s behalf; and (2) dispense and sell medical cannabis to a registered qualified patient or registered caregiver.

How many dispensary licenses will be issued?

The act authorizes the Commission to issue four dispensary licenses. At least one license must be awarded to a business entity that is 51%+ owned by individuals of “African American, Native American, Asian, or Hispanic descent,” and “managed and controlled” by such individuals “in its daily operations.” Each dispensary licensee may operate up to three dispensing sites, each of which must be in a different county from any other dispensing site and is subject to other restrictions.

What are the requirements for obtaining a dispensary license?

Applicants for a dispensary license must pay a non-refundable application fee of $2,500. Each “owner, shareholder, director, [and] board member” of an applicant, along with each “individual with an economic interest in an applicant,” must submit to a “state and national criminal background check.” If any “owner, director, board member, or individual with a controlling interest” has been “convicted of or released from incarceration for [any] felony” or “convicted of a controlled substance-related felony” within the last 10 years, the applicant is ineligible for a license.