WeedLife News Network

Seniors’ use of cannabis and their support for its legalization is on the upswing.

According to nationwide polling data compiled by the Pew Research Center, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of “Boomers” (those born in the United States between the years 1946 and 1964) now say that marijuana ought to be legal for adults. That percentage is up significantly from a decade ago, when fewer than one-in-three seniors endorsed its legalization.

Some of this change in attitude is arguably the result of more seniors having firsthand experience with cannabis. According to data published this month in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, “From 2016 to 2018, cannabis use increased for men in all age groups and in most women. … Among those aged 65 to 69 years, cannabis use increased from 4.3 percent to 8.2 percent in men and from 2.1 percent to 3.8 percent in women.”

Why are increasing numbers of seniors turning to — or in some cases, returning to — cannabis? For starters, in many jurisdictions, marijuana’s legal status has changed. Medical cannabis is now legally available in 33 states and throughout Canada — providing many older adults for the first time with safe, above-ground, uninterrupted access to an array of marijuana products. This access is pivotal to older consumers, as the majority of seniors prefer non-herbal, non-smoked cannabis preparations, such as marijuana-infused capsules or edibles — preparations that are rarely available in the illicit marketplace.

Furthermore, seniors are becoming more familiar with and accepting of cannabis’ therapeutic properties. Not only are increasing numbers of seniors becoming aware that cannabis can mitigate many of the health-related symptoms that come with older age, such as chronic pain, but they also understand that it can do so with fewer side-effects than many prescription drugs, like opioids.

This coming October, I’ll be completing my third half marathon — fingers crossed. Considering that I could barely run one kilometer when I first started jogging six years ago, I am pretty proud of myself. However, I am also self-aware enough to know that this journey has solely been to push my body and boundaries, not break any long distance records or compete in the Olympics.

One thing that has always been a concern for me, pre- and post-race, is pain management. I am laden with a myriad of ailments — think: lower back issues, torn ligaments in my left foot and a broken big toe on the right, both of which never quite healed properly. And ever since I was a child, I have been wary of taking pain meds.

So when I started looking into cannabis, for curiosity and journalism sake, I quickly came upon stories of people consuming cannabis for training purposes when it came to sports.

“Cannabis can be helpful for sports both during activity and afterward,” Dr. Jordan Tishler told me recently over email. “Its primary role is that of a pain reliever, which can be helpful in both situations.” Dr. Tishler, a Harvard-trained physician and cannabis therapeutics specialist with over 23 years experience in the field, notes that one stoner-ism does ring true regarding marijuana — it’s not a performance enhancer, and it can affect reaction time, so choose wisely when consuming for sports. “However,” he adds, “for real-world exercise, the decrease in pain, and perhaps increase in focus, can be of greater benefit than any specific detriment.”

One fascinating aspect for me were the women who were using cannabis as a pain salve while pushing their bodies to the limit.

While CBD and THC certainly can’t take over the entirety of a pain management regimen, studies on cortisone treatments are bringing the conversations of cannabis to greater light.

From joint pain to the often debilitating effects of arthritis, corticosteroid injections have been a staple in managing pain and inflammation for the almost 30 million Americans that suffer from osteoarthritis (OA). With new research showcasing the long-term effects of one of the most used treatments for OA, doctors and researchers are concerned about the risks of injections and the potential risks involved with cortisone. 

A Boston University study published this month found that patients who had been given the medicine by injection found a risk for “accelerated OA progression or adverse joint events after treatment.” Meaning, when a patient was treated for osteoarthritis via a shot of cortisone, it may have accelerated the progression of the disease, including complications, joint destruction, and bone loss. 

Interestingly, the study found that certain preexisting conditions, such as older age and Caucasian race seemed to increase the risk for the outcome even more. Researchers recommended MRI pre-screening before injections were given to identify the area better and find if the danger could be accurately assessed before the dose was given. 

Understanding the Effect of Cannabis on OA

Long cited and used for inflammation and joint pain, cannabis and CBD oil have helped with not only chronic pain conditions, but managing symptoms of OA. In a 2018 study published in the Current Opinion in Pharmacology, researchers stated, “There is a growing body of scientific evidence which supports the analgesic potential of cannabinoids to treat OA pain.” To dive deeper, Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia found that since OA pain is multi-faceted, cannabis can help trigger the body’s own endocannabinoid system (ECS) to block pain receptors and potentially offer relief. 

Two congressmen have introduced a bill that would allow cannabidiol (CBD) and other hemp-derived products to be sold as dietary supplements in the U.S. as manufacturers still await federal regulation regarding the use of CBD in food. 

The Hemp and Hemp-Derived CBD Consumer Protection and Market Stabilization Act of 2020 was announced by Representatives Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Morgan Griffith of Virginia last week. 

This bipartisan piece of legislation, only the most recent effort to help consumers access CBD in the aftermath of the 2018 Farm Bill, would mandate that “cannabidiol derived from hemp, and any other ingredient derived from hemp shall be lawful under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) as a dietary ingredient in a dietary supplement.”

Manufacturers would need to comply with the new dietary ingredient requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

“Hemp was historically an important crop for Virginia farmers, and dietary supplements made from it do not possess dangerous addictive qualities. Nevertheless, the current state of regulation creates confusion about its legal uses. I joined this bipartisan bill to provide certainty for hemp farmers that their crop may find legal uses,” Representative Griffith said in a statement. 

France and the EU have been fighting it out in court over import laws concerning a CBD case. If the EU wins it means a forced legalization of CBD across the entire EU… But if France wins, could it be the beginning of the end for CBD?

Before looking into EU CBD laws, we need to shift our attention to the World Health Organization. One of the big cases in the world of legal cannabis has to do with an upcoming vote about cannabis scheduling based on recommendations put out by the WHO (World Health Organization). There are several recommendations that cover a variety of topics on the subject, a few of the main ones being: taking cannabis out of schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (substituting it instead with simply THC), and removing THC altogether from the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

It also recommends looking at individual cannabinoids, like CBD, separately from the rest of the plant, and not scheduling non-psychoactive cannabinoids the same as those that are psychoactive. Along with this it recommends allowing cannabis extracts with up to .2% THC to not be scheduled by either convention. This last one opens the door for easier trade between countries since it would set a legal international benchmark.

The recommendations were supposed to be voted on already, but due to different issues the vote has been put off a couple times, with a current date in December. During this time, member countries are implored to better understand the recommendations and all their implications before the vote.

Now, if the vote goes sideways in December, and the recommendations are rejected, then the old rules regarding cannabis apply. Cannabis is illegal, a schedule I drug according to the Single Convention, and CBD and all other cannabinoids are scheduled the same.

This would erase a lot of the progress that’s been made in the gray area of the last few years, and essentially illegalize CBD. If that happens, what’s going on between France and the EU won’t matter at all. But if those recommendations go through…well there might be some very interesting CBD case laws coming out of the EU thanks to France and its super stringent policies about cannabis.’

A cannabis-based medicine has been approved for use on the NHS in Scotland for the first time, giving hope in the treatment of rare types of childhood epilepsy.

Cannabidiol (Epidyolex) has been accepted for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a condition which can cause frequent debilitating seizures, by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).

It has also been allowed to treat Dravet syndrome, another rare type of epilepsy, which again is characterised by severe seizures of various types.

Patients can have learning disabilities, sleep problems and usually required 24-hour care and are fully dependent through their lives.

However, Cannabidiol in combination with clobazam can reduce the frequency and severity of seizures for some patients, enabling them to have a better quality of life.

As Maine inches closer to finally fulfilling the voters’ desire to bring legalized recreational marijuana to the state, Tuesday represents a significant milestone.

That is when Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy intends to begin issuing the first active licenses to recreational cannabis businesses.

The office said last month that active licensure is “the culmination of a three-step application process which also includes conditional licensure and local authorization, respectively.” 

Recreational Marijuana’s Journey In Maine

It is perhaps the last major milestone before October 9, when retail sales of recreational marijuana will be permitted—the climax in a nearly four-year long journey to ending prohibition in Maine that has been beset by repeated delays.

The most recent interruption to the rollout of the new law came earlier this year, which the Office of Marijuana Policy said “had been indefinitely postponed in April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Just as some wine aficionados seek wine based on terroir, some cannabis consumers like to explore the subtleties of individual strains. Which type of cannabis works best in this situation?

When recreational cannabis consumers examine the array of flower available at their local dispensary, they’ll notice that cannabis buds may have the same strain name and potency but they look and smell differently. So how do they know which ones to purchase? 

CDFA’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division is managing the campaign, which profiles the wide range of licensed California cannabis farmers, from legacy outdoor farms in rural Humboldt to high-tech, vertically-integrated operations in urban locations.

“This is California Cannabis” will feature comprehensive outreach and education efforts, including community events and workshops to highlight the technical assistance and support that is available year-round to licensed growers and new applicants seeking commercial cannabis cultivation licensure. “We’re proud of California’s vibrant cannabis cultivator community,” said Richard Parrott, director of CDFA’s CalCannabis Cultivation Licensing Division. “California is known for growing the best cannabis in the world and our licensed cultivators are leading the way with innovative practices and environmental sustainability.”

California cultivators who are interested in seeking a license can begin the application process online at calcannabis.cdfa.ca.gov or by contacting a licensing specialist by calling toll-free 1-833-CALGROW (1-833-225-4769) or sending an email to calcannabis@cdfa.ca.gov.

CDFA provides year-round support and technical assistance, including updated services for commercial cultivators during the pandemic. For more information about the campaign, please visit growwithCA.com to view the videos, farmer profiles, and other outreach materials.

Pakistan has unveiled plans to allow the industrial production of hemp, spurring hopes farmers and businesses in the conservative Islamic country will be able to tap into the lucrative global cannabis market.

The move comes as Prime Minister Imran Khan's government struggles to boost the country's foreign exchange coffers that have been drained by a struggling economy, fiscal deficits and inflation. 

"This hemp market could provide Pakistan with some $1 billion in the next three years and we are in a process of making a full-fledged plan for this purpose," science and technology minister Fawad Chaudhry told reporters Wednesday.

Hemp is a type of cannabis plant containing cannabidiol (CBD) which advocates say has numerous medicinal and relaxing properties.

It does not contain significant quantities of high-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

The word on the street is that cannabidiol (CBD) is the most medicinal part of the cannabis plant. The non-intoxicating compound of marijuana has gained rock star status ever since Dr. Sanjay Gupta showed the world in his documentary Weed 2 that it has the power to control seizures in epilepsy patients.

Fast forward a few years and now the substance has become so much a part of popular culture that it is even being counterfeited by hacks trying to strike it rich on the heels of Uncle Sam’s regulatory incompetence.

But is CBD really the most effective medicine in terms of cannabis sativa? In other words, could the U.S. government save the nation from strife and suffering by simply legalizing this part of the plant?

The answer is a resounding no.

Some of the research conducted over the past several decades shows the only way to maximize the therapeutic aspects of cannabis medicine is to use the entire plant. After all, it would be naïve to think a single component of the plant, especially considering it has hundreds of various cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, would be the only part contributing to the health of civil society.

The lottery for licenses to run cannabis dispensaries in Illinois is set to happen in the next few weeks.

Gov. JB Pritzker vows there will be social equity as far as who gets those licenses. But several minority leaders call that an empty promise, and say Black and Brown Chicagoans are being ignored.

“It makes no sense that again, in 2020, Governor Pritzker, you have a Black lieutenant governor, you have a Black mayor of Chicago, you have a Black drug czar overseeing the marijuana industry here in Illinois, but you don’t have any Black-owned marijuana dispensaries?” said community activist Tio Hardiman.

Regardless of the economic and health crises this year, the marijuana industry continues to be one of the quickest growing industries in United States.

Only a couple months remain until voters in numerous states will see medical and recreational cannabis legalization measures on their ballots. South Dakota will actually have a medical and a recreational legalization measure on its ballot.

Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota have ballot initiatives that could legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older. Mississippi, Nebraska, and South Dakota have ballot initiatives that could establish medical marijuana programs.

These 6 states will be voting on cannabis legalization in November 2020:

The Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, tabled in parliament on 1 September, provides clarity around the growing and private use of cannabis in South Africa.

While the bill can be seen as the first step in a revised, progressive approach to cannabis in the country, the proposed legislation also throws up a number of red flags, says law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.

“The focus remains on restricting access to, and the use of, cannabis against the threat of rather severe legal consequences in the form of fines and jail time,” it said.

“What those in the industry were hoping for was a collaborative effort between the various departments such as Health, Agriculture, Finance, and the like.”

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said that the drafters of the bill have seemingly adopted a ‘narrow and traditionalist perspective’, which as currently constructed, does not give an inch more than was mandated by the Constitutional Court.

Canada updated its quarterly sales numbers for the nationwide cannabis industry on Sep. 4. During the second quarter, which lasted from April to June, household spending on unlicensed cannabis totaled 785 million Canadian dollars and was down 4.7% from the previous quarter. This number has declined in every period since the recreational market opened in Canada on October 17, 2018. In the legal market, CA$648 million was spent on recreational pot and CA$155 million was spent on medicinal marijuana, combining for a total of CA$803 million.

Researchers at Kansas State University have recently earned a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study hemp in cattle feed.

The $200,000 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture will help the researchers determine the concentrations of cannabinoids in livestock after exposure to industrial hemp.

While hemp is federally legal, it needs approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM) as well as the Association of American Feed Control.

"Although hemp can be legally cultivated under license in Kansas, feeding hemp products to livestock remains prohibited because the potential for cannabinoid drug residues to accumulate in meat and milk has not been studied," said Hans Coetzee, professor and head of the anatomy and physiology department in the university's College of Veterinary Medicine, in a news release.

The research team at Kansas State University is comprised of pharmacologists, toxicologists, analytical chemists and horticulture experts. The hemp used in the studies was grown at K-State's John C. Pair Horticultural Center near Wichita.

A growing number of Australians support the legalization of cannabis, while almost three in five back the idea of pill testing, according to a new national survey.

The 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey also shows Australians are drinking and smoking less, but some illicit drug use is on the rise.

Importantly, this national snapshot, released on Thursday, shows the Australian community is becoming more open to less punitive measures around drug use.

Changes to drug use

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey is conducted every three years. The 2019 results showed an increase in illicit drug use from 2016.

This includes the proportion of Australians who used cannabis (up from 10.4% to 11.6%), cocaine (2.5% to 4.2%), ecstasy (2.2% to 3.0%) and ketamine (0.4% to 0.9%).

The last few years have been a roller coaster ride in terms of cannabis regulation, and there hasn’t been a whole lot of consistency. Now, with the scheduled vote on WHO drug scheduling coming up, the fate of CBD hangs in the balance.

So, who exactly is this WHO which makes designations as to which drugs are narcotics and which are not? The World Health Organization is an agency belonging to the United Nations and is responsible for public health globally.

One of the first things to understand about the global scheduling of drugs is that a lot of current legislation is set according to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, a treaty signed by 186 governments as of 2018. It prohibits the production and supply of narcotics, including – because of how its scheduled – cannabis

It should be noted that the Single Convention does not act alone, and member countries are also required to have their own drug policies, so long as they are in line with the Single Convention. As part of this, the World Health Organization, through the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, is an office that can add, transfer, or remove drugs from within a specific scheduling class, of which there are four. Scheduling goes as follows:

In the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, a separate set of scheduling guidelines for different substances was made.

In the last few years, as different countries have changed their laws, the question of this scheduling has come into play.