WeedLife News Network

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill on Thursday that tightens limits on cannabis concentrates and puts restrictions on medical marijuana patients and their physicians. The measure, House Bill 1317 (HB21-1317), also funds research into the effect that high-potency marijuana products can have on developing minds.

The South Dakota Department of Health’s proposed rules for medical marijuana include a $100 annual fee for card holders and a $5,000 yearly fee for businesses that sell the cannabis.

The state health agency released 105 pages of draft rules this week that include license fees, the renewal process, packaging guidelines and security plans, among other things.

“The proposed administrative rules are one of many steps our department has taken to develop a safe and responsible medical cannabis program in South Dakota, as the voters intended,” South Dakota Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon said.

The businesses that sell medical marijuana would have to renew their commercial licenses every year.

Each employee of a commercial cannabis business would also have to be certified by the state health department and could not have violent offenses on their background report within the last 10 years, the Argus Leader reported.

Cannabis oil is majorly preferred for recreational reasons. People use it to get high because of its considerable levels of THC.

Smoking might be the trend right now, but trust me, infused oils may very well be the future.

Cannabis plants have various derivatives, a host of psychoactive compounds, 100s of cannabinoids, and various forms of terpenes. This gives users a wide basket to choose their infused oil from, it also makes selecting one a very hard task.

The commonly used oils are hemp oil, cannabis oil, CBD oil, weed stem oil, CBD tinctures, hemp seed oil, etc.

Photo by Iryna Veklich/Getty Images

Scientists and industry insiders are increasingly optimistic about hemp’s potential as a tool in the fight against climate change. They say it’s the world’s most versatile natural product and that it can supercharge efforts to avoid environmental catastrophe.

Hemp’s natural properties and ability to save land and water can benefit farmers when farmed on a large scale. Furthermore, many of the products made from it can help decarbonize industries. There is also potential that hemp can absorb significant amounts of carbon and improve soil fertility, something the world desperately needs right now.

Dr. Michael Obersteiner, the director of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute, told Metro that there’s good reason to be excited about the cannabis plant. He said:

It might turn out to be a land-saving crop in the sense that you would need more land to produce the same amount of protein, oil, biomass if produced by different specialized crops. The land saving would spare the expansion of cropland into forests. This will create substantial emission savings.

The British Hemp Alliance (BHA) says the plant can also host other environmental benefits. Rebekah Shaman, BHA managing director, and co-founder said:

Cannabis opponents have a long history of trying to convince members of the public that cannabis is bad for human brains.

According to many cannabis prohibitionists cannabis is bad for human brains no matter what age they start consuming cannabis or what type of cannabis they consume.

The “dangers” of cannabis for human brains are not isolated to certain consumption methods or any other factor according to these types of cannabis opponents.

Their message seems to be that all cannabis is bad for the brain at all times in all situations. Unfortunately for those prohibitionists, science does not appear to back up their claims.

Decision Making Skills and Cannabis

A team of researchers in Europe recently conducted what they describe to be “one of the largest longitudinal European multicenter studies on the topic” of residual effects of cannabis use on neurocognition (decision making skills).

Amazon certainly isn’t the first major corporation to arrive at the cannabis reform party, but it sure made one of the biggest entrances to-date when it publicly pledged to relax its drug testing policies and also to back federal legalization efforts.

And now it’s a question of how many others will follow — especially during a time when some firms are desperate for workers.

Amazon kicked off June with an announcement that it would stop testing for cannabis metabolites as part of its drug screening program for positions not regulated by the US Department of Transportation. The company also said it would back the federal Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, a recently reintroduced bill aimed at descheduling marijuana and reassessing some past cannabis-related convictions.

It’s not yet clear to what extent Amazon will fund cannabis reform efforts on the federal level as well as to what any future business endeavors in the space may be. Amazon spokespeople did not comment beyond the company’s June 1 statement and declined to respond to questions posed by CNN Business.

Cannabis-laced snacks that mimic popular brand names — including “Trips Ahoy!” and “Double Stuf STONEO” — are being hawked to kids and should be banned by the state Health Department, Nassau County elected officials said at a press conference Wednesday.

The products, which are currently legal under the state’s medicinal marijuana program, contain delta-8 THC and were being sold as of Wednesday at a store in Long Beach, said State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Long Island.

“It is also being marketed aggressively to kids,” Kaminsky tweeted.

Some Connecticut towns and cities are already beginning to formulate studies about how and where recreational marijuana will be sold in their communities, if at all, in 2022.

The town of Prospect, Connecticut, a 10-minute drive east of Waterbury, has already made up their mind. Prospect Mayor Robert Chatfield told News Times that the Planning & Zoning Commission voted unanimously to rule out the sale of recreational cannabis in Prospect.

I would venture to guess that we will see at least one dispensary in Connecticut's largest cities, which go from one to five in this order; Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Hartford, and Waterbury.

The new legislation recently passed allows towns and cities to regulate where it can be sold. City officials in West Hartford, New Britain, and Bristol have already decided where recreational marijuana dispensaries should be allowed.

According to the Hartford Courant, because this new legal pot law is unchartered territory for all of Connecticut's towns and cities, officials will be conducting extensive discussions about zoning regulations to limit where these dispensaries can be. The following video from WFSB 3 digs deeper into the story of recreational cannabis in Connecticut

Medical marijuana patients in Louisiana will now be able to buy the smokable flower form of the drug under a new state law.

Gov. John Bel Edwards recently signed House Bill 391. It passed the state House of Representatives, 75-18, earlier this month and was approved, 23-14, by the state Senate in late May.

The measure allows approved patients to buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana leaf every two weeks from one of the state’s nine medical marijuana pharmacies. Previously, patients could only get non-smokable forms of the drug, such as gummies, ointments and inhalers.

The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2022, and both of the state’s licensed medical marijuana growers have said they would have smokable marijuana for purchase on that date.

Louisiana lawmakers approved the medical marijuana program in 2015 and products became available to patients in 2019.

North Macedonia’s government cannabis regulation body is working on drafting legal framework for decriminalisation, legalisation and use of the substance, the government said on June 24.

The country legalised use of medical cannabis in 2016. In November 2020, Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said that he supports the decriminalisation, but also legalisation, of cannabis consumption saying that this will help the tourism and hospitality industry in the country.

Travel industry publication Travel Daily News reports that cannabis tourism is a growing area. Rather like wine tourism where enthusiasts visit vineyards, cannabis tourists visit areas where the drug is legal.

At the second meeting, the working group adopted definitions of the terms ‘decriminalisation’, ‘legalisation’ and ‘depenalisation’ regarding cannabis use, the government's statement said.

The definitions of terms are needed to better understand the levels of permitted use of cannabis, including recreational use.

In recent years, the number of states that have approved cannabis for both medicinal and recreational use has grown substantially. Yet many doctors are still reluctant to endorse cannabis as a treatment for various ailments — and with good reason.

One group, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), issued a statement in February 2021 saying, “There is not enough high-quality human clinical safety and efficacy evidence to allow IASP to endorse the general use of cannabis and cannabinoids for pain at this time.”

To get a better understanding of why the IASP issued the statement and what the group is looking for in the future, we spoke to psychologist Judith Scheman, PhD.

Who is the IASP and what did they do?

Made up of over 7,000 pain specialists from 125 countries, the IASP is the primary organization for pain specialists in the world. “The IASP is very interested in finding the best and safest way of helping patients manage pain,” says Dr. Scheman.

As the availability of cannabis increased thanks to legalization efforts, the IASP recognized the need to assess the risks and benefits of using it to treat pain. A systematic overview of cannabis and cannabinoids was especially important in light of the opioid epidemic of the last few decades.

The array of consumption methods available might seem overwhelming if you are new to the cannabis world.  How difficult is smoking a joint after all? In fact, it is not that hard, but there are some rules and insider tips to help you consume with confidence- by yourself or with your friends. Have the most important tools like the rolling papers, a light and/or hemp wick and a grinder to have the best experience.

Joint

You may not feel comfortable rolling one if you are new. Until you get the hang of rolling your own, head to your lead dispensary for a pre-roll. If you wish to learn how to roll one, however, no worries, you can just search "How to roll a joint" and a multitude of videos on YouTube are readily available. It’s that simple. Now, to the best part, you don’t smoke a joint like a cigarette. You're going to want to roast, meaning that you light the end without inhalation. Turn it slowly over the flame for an even burn.  Now you are ready to inhale, try not to "lip" meaning don't moisten the joint with saliva.  Rest it on your lip, and then take small inhalations lightly on the joint. Just inhale, pause and exhale after 2 to 3 seconds. You will surely drink some water between hits to soothe your throat.  Then repeat to the desired effect you want.  If you have had enough and you can relight it later by letting the joint go if you want. 

Sharing with Friends

You’d be surprised by the number of etiquettes put into consuming recreational marijuana with your friends but in short “puff, puff, pass”. Or another way of saying it is to take two reasonably long puffs, ash your hit and pass it to your left. No matter who begins the rotation, going to the left (i.e. against the clock) is the traditional universal direction in which to pass a joint. Don't babysit, i.e. take an unnecessarily long time, lip the joint or blow smoke in someone's face to be a more conscientious joint sharer.

Blunts

The same steps are taken as smoking a joint. So, what's the difference and what's right for you? Blunts are visually fatter and recognised by their brown wrappers. Blunt is also made from using a cigar wrap, then adding and rolling up (whether alone or mixed tobacco). They are bigger and contain tobacco.  Blunts isn't for everybody, as the mix has a different kind of high. But it's easy to go tobacco-less blunt in today's market with hemp wraps available.

The company that owns the UK’s biggest cannabis production site for use in pharmaceuticals has called for changes to immigration policy following labour shortages after it was excluded from a visa scheme for farm workers.

Peter Watson, agriculture director of British Sugar — which grows cannabis for use in epilepsy medicines at Wissington in Norfolk — blamed the recruitment problems on the rules of the seasonal agricultural workers’ scheme.

The labour problems come as investments in cannabis companies soar after several countries, including the UK, legalised the use of medicines using extracts from the plant.

The NFL, through a committee formed with the player’s union, plans to fund up to $1 million in research into the potential use of marijuana to treat pain. Former players have strongly pushed for this policy in the past few years as an alternative to prescription opioids.

The initiative is the work of a committee formed in 2020 by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, called the NFL-NFLPA Pain Management Committee (PMC). 

The PMC focuses on all pain-related issues for NFL players, including finding alternatives to using prescription opioids. Past studies show that people outside professional sports have taken the issue into their own hands. For example, several studies show opioid prescriptions drop in places that legalize marijuana. 

Focus of the research 

In 2020, the PMC held two forums about CBD, gathering information on its potential uses. In 2021, the committee sought information from researchers who study pain management alternatives. They’ve learned enough to move forward with new research.

The committee recently requested research proposals that focus on “pain management and the potential effects of pain and cannabinoids on athletic performance in elite football players.”

A recent bill to legalize CBD and other non-psychoactive ingredients of the cannabis plant for the use in food and dietary supplements introduced in the US Senate is just one of a landslide of initiatives that have put the hitherto demonized marijuana and its harmless cousin, hemp, into the mainstream.

The bill also highlights the fact that more and more US citizens and in fact people around the world make the plant a part of their diet. Let us briefly survey the various ways in which this natural medicine and wellness product can help you achieve and maintain a healthy body mass and contribute to your general well-being.

Blood Sugar, Body Mass, and Waist Circumference

Let’s start with the effects of the psychoactive form of medical marijuana—the one that is full of THC, produces the so-called ‘high’ in users, and more often than not is consumed by smoking.

Though a persistent stereotype pictures pot smokers as lazy couch-potatoes constantly stuffing their face with junk food, epidemiologic studies have found that marijuana users have lower prevalence of obesity and diabetes than the general population. Probably there is a link between the regular recreational use of the substance and peripheral metabolic processes. A large-scale survey of 4657 adult men and women has found that “marijuana use was associated with lower levels of fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, and smaller waist circumference”.

But before you decide that a visit to your local dispensary is the best way to treat or prevent diabetes and overweight, check out the study that suggests there is a double risk of a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA, for marijuana smokers with type 1 (not type 2) diabetes.