WeedLife News Network

As the COVID-19 crisis persists and many industries suffer while businesses are forced to close their doors, the cannabis market is just getting started.

Over the next year, legislation vital to the emerging business sector is on the docket.

Key bills pending before Congress include the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, the SAFE Banking Act, Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, House Amendment 398, Further Health Extenders Act, The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act, and the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, said recently “we have seen the war on drugs be a war on people, and particularly Black, brown, and low-income people.”

Teton County Representative Mike Yin along with 13 other Wyoming lawmakers are sponsoring a bill outlining the regulation of marijuana in the state of Wyoming. The bill number, HB0209 was assigned yesterday, March 2.

The bill will allow for the sale, purchase, possession, and cultivation of marijuana, regulated by the state of Wyoming. If the bill passes, a person in Wyoming over the age of 21 may possess up to three ounces of retail marijuana, 16 ounces of solid marijuana retail product, 72 ounces of retail liquid product, and 30 grams of retail marijuana concentrate.

Wyomingites over the age of 21 would also be permitted to grow marijuana for personal consumption, with up to 12 flowering female plants and possess up to 16 ounces of retail marijuana in their homes, “provided that any amount more than two and one half (2 1/2) ounces shall be stored in a container or area with locks or other security devices that restrict access to the container or area”

Reps. Jared Olsen (R-Laramie), Mark Baker (R-Sweetwater) Eric Barlow (R-Campbell/Converse), Landon Brown (R-Laramie), Marshall Burt (L-Sweetwater, Cathy Connolly (D-Albany), Karlee Provenza (D-Albany), John Romero-Martinez (R-Laramie), Pat Sweeney (R-Natrona), Cyrus Western (R-Sheridan), Mike Yin (R-Teton) and Dan Zwonitzer (R-Laramie) and Senators Cale Case (R-Fremont) and Chris Rothfuss (D-Albany) sponsored the bill.

HB0209 seeks to establish licensing requirements, production procedures, testing, taxing, and the sale of marijuana. It also generally provides regulations for marijuana-related activities and prohibiting discrimination based on marijuana activities. The bill will outline specific privacy rights, amend criminal penalities, establish civil penalties for the possession of specified amounts, define terms, repeal obsolete provisions, and establish additional offenses related to marijuana.

Despite more Americans supporting federal legalization of cannabis, many people still don’t know about the industry’s potential to harm the environment.

Just like other agricultural commodities, there are environmental impacts involved when growing cannabis. But many consumers don’t know, or simply don’t care how their cannabis was grown or even if it was sprayed with harmful chemical pesticides.

Tons of carbon is emitted into the atmosphere too just to grow a single cannabis plant. However, there is a growing number of people who do care how their cannabis was grown, and if they are produced with care to reduce its impact on the environment.

With climate change the number one issue our earth faces today, it’s important for you to help make a positive change by looking for products — your cannabis included — from brands or manufacturers that work to reduce their carbon footprint.

Cannabis is one of the oldest agricultural commodities out there, and more grow operations continue to sprout because of demand for the product. However, growing it using modern techniques especially in indoor grows requires massive amounts of energy and water, which have a major carbon footprint. Despite more Americans supporting federal legalization of cannabis, many people still don’t know about the industry’s potential to harm the environment.

Is it possible to trick a drug-sniffing dog? Enthusiastic members of high society have, for decades, told toker tales about how they avoided getting narced out by a K-9 unit during a roadside shakedown. Some have argued that these stories are only urban legends, while others swear that they know a guy who has a cousin whose best friend once smoked weed with an old man that actually did trick the high-powered sniffer of a canine cop.

The stories circulating the scene often suggest the scent of marijuana was masked with a more pungent substance. Other accounts imply that the secret to fooling law enforcement hounds is all in the packaging. But there is too much at stake to leave pot smuggling to chance.

Although marijuana is now legal in over half the nation, there are still plenty of cowboy cops out there ready to nail your balls to the wall for even thinking about transporting weed into their God-fearing community.

Therefore, it is crucial that we get to the bottom of the science behind drug-sniffing dogs once and for all.

Dogs Are King Sniffers and Narcs

The best CBD oil for pain really depends on your condition. Whether you have an injured back or chronic migraines, let us help you find what you need.

If you have never experienced chronic pain, it is difficult to imagine how much a sensation can impact your life. Pain has a way of making itself known in every occasion, taking the limelight in the middle of the night and forcing your attention during quality time with friends and loved ones. This intrusive feeling is the single most common reason people use medical cannabis. Yet, accessing the herb is still difficult around the globe. Fortunately, patients now have another natural option that can help them feel their best: CBD oil for pain.

CBD for Pain: How It Works

Along with emotion, temperature, and pleasure, pain is one of the few ways that the human body communicates with the brain. While there are many different types of pain, the uncomfortable sensation, first and foremost, acts as a signal for tissue damage. When cells in a particular area experience damage, they release chemical compounds that trigger inflammation and sound the alarm to the nervous system that something is wrong.

If everything goes according to plan, pain signals stop when tissue damage stops. However, it doesn’t always pan out that way. Chronic pain occurs when nerves continue to send distress signals to the brain and spinal chord, even if the painful stimuli or tissue damage has stopped.

Here’s where CBD for pain comes into play. Short for cannabidiol, CBD is a non-intoxicating compound found in the cannabis plant. Over the past decade, a growing body of evidence has found that the cannabis compound may act as a strong anti-inflammatory, reducing triggers for pain at the site of injury. However, that’s not the only superpower behind CBD for pain. The molecule may also trigger the release of feel-good neurotransmitters, which not only improve mood but may counteract negative pain signals to the brain.

Could recreational marijuana become legal in Missouri? There are several efforts in the works to make it happen, from legislation to petitions. But not everyone is on board.

Running a dispensary is more than a full-time job.

"It's a lot. It's just 24 hours a day, that’s all we do," said Bianca Sullivan.

Sullivan and her husband, Rob, opened the first medical marijuana dispensary in the Kansas City area. Now, they want to expand to the recreational market.

"We're all for the full legalization of marijuana that nobody goes to jail for and it's not a crime," said Rob Sullivan.

More people are embracing the Adderall and weed combination, but we don’t know much about how they really interact.

A way to level up, or a dangerous drug cocktail? There’s lots of enthusiasm and skepticism out there about the weed and Adderall, aka “weederall,” combination, and plenty of misleading and concern-trolling information about taking the two together.

And that makes learning actual, useful, credible info about the combo difficult. But don’t worry, we’ve done the digging for you. Depending on who you ask, Adderall and weed are an ideal combo, a perfect pair of stimulant and depressant. Yet others who’ve combined the two have had unpleasant and sometimes distressing experiences involving racing hearts and shallow breathing.

Both experiences are true and possible. Complex drugs lead to complex effects, especially when combined in experimental ways. Everyone’s results will vary, but knowing how and why those effects can be so different is important. So if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the Adderall and weed combo, read on.

Why Do People Mix Adderall and Weed?

So what’s behind the cannabis and Adderall combination that’s so attractive to the people who consume and take the two drugs?

Weed trim is a common term used to describe the excess parts a cultivator must trim from their plants post-harvest in order to fully maximize a plant’s bloom and, in turn, get more desirable crystals. In short, a good trim will get the grower a bigger, higher quality plant yield.

With a varying amount of states now allowing marijuana-users to legally grow their own crops, cultivation and harvesting techniques are, arguably, more important now than ever before. When it comes to the excess scraps that come from a fruitful harvest, an inexperienced (or in some cases, even an experienced) grower might not know what to do with weed trim. Luckily, there are several ways you can utilize your weed trim, rather than simply dump it in the garbage and call it a day. So let’s go through and look at what to do with trim leaves after a successful harvest.

What To Do With Trim Leaves — What Are Trim Leaves?

First, let’s go into a little more detail about weed trim, before getting into how to best utilize it.

Typically, weed trim is collected after harvest. In fact, it plays an important role during the growing process, as it serves as an indicator for your plant’s health. The leaves, which are commonly referred to as fan leaves before they are trimmed, can help a cultivator determine if the plant is lacking nutrients, water, or even sunlight depending on the colors of the leaves.

Removing trim helps make the plant’s buds achieve the classic nug look, but it also helps remove some unnecessary parts of the plant, at least in terms of smoking. But some of these parts, although low in potency, can still be consumed. And yes, you can still get high. Or, at the very least, achieve a higher level of physical and mental wellness.

Despite being known for its liberal policies, Washington, D.C. still doesn’t have a recreational market. But that could be about to change. 

Council Chairman Phil Mendleson proposed a new, recreational cannabis regulation bill that focused on progress and equity. The bill is also supported by Kenyan McDuffie, Charles Allen, Brianne Nadeau, Brooke Pinto, Christina Henderson, and Mary Cheh, and the focus is deliberately on equity because of the issues the cannabis industry has with inclusion, and the negative impact the war on drugs has on people of color. 

“This legislation is the culmination of over a year of work by my office and external stakeholders,” Mendelson said about the newly proposed legislation. “It creates a comprehensive regulatory framework for the cultivation, production, and sale of recreational cannabis and most significantly, this bill centers reinvestment and opportunity for people and communities hit hardest by the War on Drugs.”

Equity, Justice, Education

This new plan, known as the “Comprehensive Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Act of 2021,” would establish a social equity program, and would make sure that at least half of all those with licensed businesses are equity applicants. Those eligible for equity applicant status would be folks who were formerly convicted of cannabis offenses or residents from areas with high rates of poverty that have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. 

The bill will also set up a cannabis equity and opportunity fund in order to fund those who are eligible for social equity status. As long as cannabis remains federally illegal, it will be difficult to access cannabis funding and support through traditional channels, so the support for equity applicants is essential to make sure they can actually participate in the legal industry. Thirty percent of the tax money generated from cannabis sales will go into this fund. 

As the cannabis and hemp marketplace continues to mature, more investors have begun to enter the playing field. These groups look at the cannabis space as an opportunity to acquire or merge with businesses that can offer potentially high returns.

But this process is not as simple as it seems.

Sometimes, the true financial picture of a company is not what it is portrayed to be. Companies could report a massive net income, but their operating cash flows may be negative. An extensive process of verification, investigation or audit of a potential deal or investment opportunity is required to confirm all relevant facts and financial information. This is known as financial due diligence.

A majority of French people are in favour of legalising cannabis for recreational use, according to a recent parliamentary survey. Although France has Europe's highest number of cannabis smokers, it also has some of the harshest drug laws.

Legalization could mean millions of dollars for the states as the growth of the supply chain will open multiple opportunities.

The growth of medical marijuana has seen the trend of legalization and opening of new markets prevalent in recent years. Some states that were not leaning towards legalization have greater chances of success this year. More importantly, there is a big possibility for four traditionally red states to make the move to allow medical marijuana programs: Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina.

A paradigm shift has been taking place carefully since last year and 2021 could help solidify that shift. Many Southeastern states are leaning towards following the trend of Mississippi with respect to marijuana legalization. Likewise, states that normally lean towards the Republican view of things are already embracing cannabis. 2020 showed this reality as Montana and South Dakota legalized medical and recreational marijuana use in November. This makes it 38 states with Washington DC that have medical marijuana programs infused in their state health system.

Legalization for these states will do a whole lot of good given the economic and commercial effects of the 2020 pandemic. Legalization could mean millions of dollars for the states as the growth of the supply chain will open multiple opportunities. Jobs will be created for the populace and the states can hugely benefit from the opening of new economic systems and tax opportunities.

Prospects of the new possible markets

Each of the four states has peculiarities in terms of their road to legalization. Kansas already had two medical marijuana bills squashed last year. Nonetheless, the journey of West Virginia to medical marijuana legalization in 2017 leaves much to expect good news in Kansas too. Though the stakeholders in some of these states seem resilient with prohibition, they will have no choice in the face of a decision made by voters. This was the case of Mississippi where voters used the power of the ballot box to incorporate medical marijuana despite resistance from the legislature.

The coronavirus was good for some industries and ruinous for others. For cannabis, 2020 was a breakout year. Legal sales across the U.S.—15 states allow adult use, 35 allow for medical sales—hit a record of $17.5 billion, a 46% increase from 2019, according to a new report.

Most of the sales growth came from adult-use markets, especially mature markets like Colorado, which grew sales by 26% to reach $2.2 billion, and Oregon, which saw sales hit $1.1 billion, a 29% increase over 2019, according to the report published by BDSA, a cannabis sales data platform.

Emerging markets like Illinois, which expanded its medical cannabis market to include adult-use sales last year, saw the largest dollar gain in 2020, rising by $784 million. (Illinois’ cannabis market is now doing over $1 billion in sales.) California, the country’s largest cannabis economy at $3.5 billion, increased sales by $586 million, while Florida saw a $473 million increase.

“We expected more potential impact from an economic downturn, but the industry has proven to be resilient,” says Kelly Nielsen, who runs BDSA’s insights and analytics department. “It’s potentially recession-proof.”

Nielsen says three things contributed to the industry’s growth last year: the Covid-19 pandemic (many states deemed dispensaries “essential businesses” during lockdown); more customers entered mature markets like California, Colorado and Oregon; and states like Illinois and Arizona have created new adult-use markets.

When it comes to products that can be made from hemp, the possibilities seem to be endless.

Hemp may not get you high, but it can do pretty much anything else you can imagine. This low-THC variant of the cannabis plant has a dizzying array of uses, including everything from food to medicine to rope to bricks and more—somebody even made a sports car out of hemp. Here are 15 products that can be made from hemp.

1. Beer

Beer and hemp are the perfect match. That’s because hops and cannabis are essentially botanical cousins.

There are now a handful of breweries around the country that use hemp to make cannabis-infused beer.

Unlike CBD, CBN is not present in significant quantities in fresh marijuana, but when unheated marijuana ages or is exposed to air and light, the THC in it turns to CBN.

According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25% of U.S. adults report insufficient sleep or rest at least 15 out of every 30 days. In addition to its profound impacts on cognitive health and behavioral functioning, sleep deprivation can cause accidents, affect relationships, and contribute to lowered immunity and chronic illness.

A report by Express Scripts, a Cigna-owned pharmacy benefit manager, concludes that more than one in five people say their quality of sleep has suffered during the spread of COVID-19. With that spike, the demand for sleep aids and medications has seen a similar surge, and with it the debut of products containing cannabinol (CBN), a minor cannabinoid with, what some claim is, a uniquely sedative effect.

Unlike CBD, CBN is not present in significant quantities in fresh marijuana, but when unheated marijuana ages or is exposed to air and light, the THC in it turns to CBN, which is only psychoactive if ingested in large doses. Promoted as the cannabinoid with the most significant sleep-inducing qualities studied to date, CBN has been compared to Valium in the way it calms the body without having a negative impact on functioning. While CBN has also been shown to have positive benefits for sufferers of glaucoma, psoriasis, bacterial infection, and pain, sleep is where some say CBN (in concentrated form) comes out on top.

An analysis performed by cannabis testing and analytics company Steep Hill Labs showed that 5mg of CBN is as effective as 10mg of diazepam, a prominent pharmaceutical sedative. Steep Hill later amended their analysis to state that their results did not show conclusive sedative qualities, but enthusiasm for CBN is still on the rise

Will Cannabis Stocks Resume Upward Momentum?

Marijuana Stocks have begun to regain some of the market value they lost at the end of February. On the first day of March, top cannabis stocks saw upward momentum as the day progressed. During trading top pot stocks like Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (OTC: CURLF) ended March 1st up 3.4% showing signs of possibly rising in the market. In reality, the cannabis sector has seen significant gains since the start of 2021.

A decade ago, I was spearheading company growth for Atlas Snowshoes, which had just invented and launched a modern snowshoe. Some consumers associated snowshoeing with flimsy equipment, tedious exercise and winter vacationers who prefer to veer away from ski resorts.

That simply wasn’t going to work.

So we utilized innovative engineering and design to create equipment that people want to own and developed partnerships with major ski resorts around the world to create the luxury snowshoe experience known today. The lessons I learned then serve me well now as I face challenges – both similar and new – in the cannabis industry.

The New Zealand Medical Cannabis Council claims the country’s government scheme is being undermined by unregulated medical cannabis imports.

The NZMCC says some medical practitioners are importing products and selling directly to patients, taking advantage of a loophole in Section 25 of NZ’s Medicines Act.

That section provides an exemption allowing all authorised prescribers to “procure the supply of any medicine”; including approved and unapproved medicines. Among other things, it allows an authorised prescriber to obtain a medicine by direct importation.

The Council claims currently there is less regulatory oversight of Section 25 imports than vitamins sold in supermarkets.

While benefiting patients through lower cost products being available, the situation is impacting on the viability of local producers and distributors who cannot compete on price at this point. Among some of NZMCC’s other concerns is that some of these imported products are of “unknown quality and consistency”.