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Officials in Maine reported on Tuesday that licensed retailers sold more than $250,000 worth of cannabis products during the state’s first weekend of legal recreational marijuana sales. The first retail cannabis dispensaries in Maine opened for business on Friday, nearly four years after voters approved recreational marijuana sales for adults in 2016.

“According to preliminary data, the long weekend (sales commencing on Friday, October 9, 2020 and concluding at end of the day Monday, October 12, 2020) saw sales of adult use marijuana surpass a quarter of a million dollars,” the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy (OMP) wrote in a tweet on Tuesday.

The total sales of recreational cannabis products for the four-day holiday weekend came to $258,411.58, according to the agency. The figure represents the revenue from 6,430 transactions, which generated a total of $25,841.16 in state sales tax. The OMP noted that the results had not yet been finalized and that all of the sales tax collected might not hit state coffers until next month.

“These figures are preliminary in nature and subject to further revision. Actual sales tax returns from the month of October are not due to the State Tax Assessor until November 15,” the agency tweeted.

State Regulator Applauds Smooth Launch

OMP director Erik Gundersen said in a press release that the first weekend of sales “went smoothly” and acknowledged both businesses and consumers for their role in the successful launch.

Researchers out of Michigan say it looks like legalizing weed may lead to greater cannabis use, which means that more pregnant women who smoke could be exposing their developing babies to THC.

There was a 32.5 per cent increase in THC-exposed newborns at a Michigan hospital between 2018 and 2019, following legalization of recreational weed in late 2018, according to Healio. The findings were presented recently at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition.

In all, 320 newborns born in the hospital between January 2014 and January 2020 tested positive for THC in their meconium, Healio reports. But the findings also indicate a steady rise in the rate of THC in meconium dating back to 2015.

While traces of THC were detected in five per 1,000 live births at the hospital in 2014, that increased annually after 2015. That year, the rate was 4.9, while it was 5.5 in 2016, 6.8 in 2017, 8.0 in 2018 and 10.6 per cent in 2019.

Although positive tests doubled over the 2014 to 2019 period, Healio points out, the biggest hike occurred from 2018 to 2019, representing the first year after legalization of recreational weed.

Although there is a lot of talk these days over the therapeutic benefits of marijuana’s non-intoxicating compound cannabidiol (CBD), the truth is that some of the best medicine derived from the cannabis plant includes all of its components. There are so many combinations of cannabinoids, terpenes and other less popularized elements that make whole-plant therapy the only way to get the most from this medicine.

When it comes to cannabis extracts, the term “full-spectrum” is an important one to remember. Normal extractions are known to sift out certain components, which can leave the finished product missing the depth present while in plant form. So a customer might get his or her hands on some highly potent shatter, which can have well over 50% THC, only to lose flavor and other crucial aspects. In the world of full-spectrum extracts, the chemist works to bring the plant’s exact profile to the resin.

To truly understand the importance of full-spectrum, it is first necessary to get a grip on this thing the cannabis industry refers to as “the entourage effect.” Simply put, the cannabis plant consists of more than 80 cannabinoids, a variety of terpenes, flavonoids, etc. that all work in synergy to bring the plant’s unique therapeutic qualities to life.

Photo by Shopify Partners via Burst

Working in family medicine for more than 20 years, Dr. Mark Ware has long witnessed the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, not only to address physical pain and discomfort, but also to treat mental health.

Many of Dr. Ware’s patients have chronic pain and have exhausted conventional therapies. Cannabis, in some cases, has helped not only to manage their pain, but also to alleviate the accompanying stress and anxiety.

“It was obvious to me very early on that cannabis had a very broad effect on people’s health, including their mental health,” Dr. Ware, chief medical officer for Canopy Growth, told The GrowthOp. “Cannabis and mental health are intimately intertwined.”

It’s a relationship, however, that is just starting to be understood.

Cannabis is not a singular compound; there are more than 100 cannabinoids in the plant that can produce different, sometimes opposing, effects. Add to that that every person has an individual endocannabinoid system that responds differently to those compounds.

CBD, one of the main components of the cannabis plant, is now being looked at as a highly effective remedy for all kinds of conditions.

Although not enough research has been conducted to prove it can cure any specific ailments, research indicates it can be effective in treating a wide variety of health issues.

When you read about all of its benefits, it almost seems like some kind of “miracle drug.”

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a miracle drug.

Even though it is holistic and safe, CBD does have some side effects associated with its use. 

A new study has found cannabis use is becoming more common among older adults in the USA – and it’s being used mostly for medical purposes.

University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers surveyed 568 patients 65 years and older and found 15% had used cannabis in the past three years. Half of those reported using it regularly and 61 per cent started using cannabis after the age of 60.

“New users were more likely to use cannabis for medical reasons than for recreation,” said Kevin Yang, one of the UC San Diego researchers involved. Mr. Yang said this group were more likely to use cannabis topically rather than by smoking it or using edibles.

“Also, they were more likely to inform their doctor about their cannabis use, which reflects that cannabis use is no longer as stigmatized as it was previously.”

46% of the group using cannabis daily or weekly were using cannabidiol-only products.

Like most cannabis related activities, the preparation of edibles requires a healthy amount of trial and error.

A big part of making edibles if figuring out dosage. Depending on the potency of your cannabutter or base oil, some batches are going to be more powerful than others.

While there’s no way of protecting yourself against all unexpected factors when making infused treats, there are a few simple mistakes that can be avoided with some foresight. These will prevent your edibles from tasting gross and, most importantly, from not wiping you out with a single bite. Here are five common mistakes to watch out for when preparing edibles.

Use equal amounts of weed and oil

“Less is more” might as well be marijuana’s tag line, because it’s preferable to be a little buzzed than to have a full blown freak out because you ate an edible that was too strong. Even if you want to get crazy high, there’s only so much the lipids in oil will bind to your cannabis, so avoid wasting your weed and money.

The ratio you’re looking for is 1:1 — equal parts ground cannabis and oil. If you want to extend the life of your weed, you can also infuse your oil with cannabis stems, trims and vaporized flower.

Vermont has become the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana sales with an announcement from Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday that he will let a bill establishing a regulated cannabis market become law without his signature. State lawmakers approved the measure, Senate Bill 54, after a bicameral committee reached an agreement on sticking points in the legislation last month.

“This has been a top priority for the majority in the Legislature for four years, but their work is not complete. They must ensure equity in this new policy and prevent their priority from becoming a public health problem for current and future generations,” Scott announced in a statement on Wednesday. “For these reasons, I am allowing this bill to become law without my signature.”

Although S. 54 includes provisions called for by Scott including the right of local governments to approve commercial cannabis activity in their jurisdictions and funds for education and drug prevention programs, the governor called on lawmakers to address what he characterized as “deficiencies in the bill.”

“Their work is not done,” he said. “The Legislature needs to strengthen education and prevention—including banning marketing that appeals in any way to our kids—otherwise they are knowingly failing to learn the lessons of the public health epidemic caused by tobacco and alcohol.”

Pot Legalized In 2018

Vermont legalized the personal possession and cultivation of cannabis by adults in 2018, but lawmakers failed to establish a framework for the regulation and taxation of commercial cannabis sales. Under S. 54, the cultivation, production, and sale of marijuana for use by adults will be regulated, with an excise of 14% levied on retail sales in addition to state sales tax.

Everybody's talking about the power of CBD these days. We're using it in our coffee. We're dropping CBD oil in our mouths to help us sleep. We're using it for pain relief.

But a growing trend is CBD for skincare. We explain some ways it's effective in helping your skin below.

Is CBD Oil Good For Your Skin?

CBD is being used to address a variety of issues, from pain, to insomnia, to anxiety. But if you further explore the medical literature about cannabidiol you’ll find CBD affects more than just these internal issues. Evidence suggests that CBD can be useful for managing skin issues like psoriasis, acne, and more. 

CBD oil is often used topically and is absorbed by the skin quite easily. Below we review five of the potential ways CBD impacts skin health and wellness.

Fights Acne

A lot of excitement surrounding CBD topicals is regarding CBD’s effects on acne. Sebum, an oily secretion that comes from skin, has naturally protective properties. However, when it builds up and mixes with debris, it can clog pores and trigger acne. 

All headaches are painful, however, a migraine headache is especially agonizing.

If you suffer from migraines, then you know first-hand that the pain can be absolutely unbearable.

For some migraine sufferers the pain can be so excruciating that they are rendered debilitated and cannot perform even basic life functions.

Migraine headaches are often described as a throbbing or pulsing pain that is worsened by even moderate physical activity, bright light, or loud sounds.

A typical day for someone who is suffering from a migraine consists of laying down in a very dark, quiet room, waiting for medication to kick in.

Legal cannabis sales continue to break records in Illinois with a total of more than $99 million in sales of both recreational and medical marijuana products sold in September, according to state regulators. The figure tops the previous record for total cannabis sales from August, when combined sales totaled more than $95 million, according to data from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

“We are not surprised to see another record month for cannabis sales in September approaching $100 million,” said a spokesperson for Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, a multi-state operator with facilities in 12 legal cannabis markets in the United States. 

“Consumer demand remains strong throughout the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and we expect industry growth to continue as operators ramp up capacity to increase supply, new stores open throughout the state, and existing stores add adult-use sales,” the spokesperson continued in the statement emailed to High Times, noting that a new location of its Rise brand of dispensaries will be opening in Naperville, Illinois this week.

September sales of adult-use cannabis products, at more than $67 million, also eclipsed figures from August, when sales were just shy of $64 million. Legal sales of recreational marijuana began in Illinois at the beginning year, with more than $39 million in sales posted in January. Following a slight dip in February sales at more than $34 million, the total for recreational marijuana products has increased each subsequent month. 

Since the launch of recreational marijuana sales in Illinois in January, nearly 9.5 million cannabis products totaling more than $431 million have been sold. Sales figures do not include the taxes collected on adult-use cannabis sales.

For many decades THC was the most popular and well-known cannabinoid.

That has changed in recent years to some extent.

THC is still very popular, however, other cannabinoids have seen their popularity increase recently, with CBD seeing the most dramatic increase in popularity and awareness.

Google search trends show that CBD is queried more often than THC, and that has been the case for a few years now.

Interest in CBD is clearly on the rise, but what about actual use? 

The Gentlemen, an action-comedy focused on an American ex-pat (played by Matthew McConaughey) who builds a cannabis empire in London and then tries to sell the business, is getting remade for television, reports Deadline.

Guy Ritchie, who wrote and directed the film, will also be writing and directing the TV adaptation.

“Miramax Television is thrilled to break new creative ground in our partnership with Guy Ritchie on The Gentlemen,” said Marc Helwig, Miramax’s head of worldwide television. “One of the most distinctive and prolific filmmakers working today and someone whose creativity I have admired for many years, we couldn’t be more excited to bring the cinematic journey of The Gentlemen forth into the realm of global premium television.”

The film, which was released in January of this year, grossed more than US$115 million worldwide. McConaughey plays the role of Mickey Pearson, an American millionaire who uses an auto body business, the aptly named THC Wheels, as a front for his cannabis business.

Gemma Jackson, the film’s set designer, told Hollywood Reporter that making the weed look real was one of the film’s biggest obstacles.

With an origin story stretching back millions of years, hemp is making an overdue appearance in Paleo diets.

Paleo purists may disagree, but the benefits of hemp — a plant with a known history dating back 28 million years ago to central Asia — are undeniable, according to Yes! Weekly. The Denisovans may have been the first human ancestors to make use of the crop 160,000 years ago but evidence of its ancient use dots history books from around the world.

“The cannabis plant seems to have been distributed widely from as early at 10,000 years ago, or even earlier,” said Tengwen Long, a researcher at the Free University of Berlin in Germany.

Hemp originates from cannabis sativa, the same plant that produces marijuana, but with just a fraction of the psychoactive substance THC, its recent road to legalization and expanded use has been much easier than that of marijuana.

The popular Paleo Diet encourages a return to the foods that would have been available 2.5 million years ago in the Paleolithic Age, such as fruits, meats, vegetables and nuts, and an avoidance of dairy and processed foods. With more than 25,000 known uses throughout human history — and hemp-made products now considered superfoods — the crop would seem an ideal fit.

There are expected to be a number of fast-growing trends this decade, including cloud computing, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. But don't sleep on marijuana.

After generating an estimated $10.9 billion in worldwide sales in 2018, legal channel cannabis sales are expected to hit anywhere from $50 billion to $200 billion a year by 2030, according to various Wall Street estimates. Yes, this is a pretty wide range, but it's to be expected of an industry that's never been legalized in the modern era, and which has tens of billions of dollar in activity occurring behind the scenes.

It's also an industry that could soon get a lot bigger in the United States. Currently, two-thirds of all states have given the green light to medical marijuana, with 11 of these states also allowing for the consumption and/or retail sale of adult-use weed. But in less than a month, we could see these figures tick higher.

The Nov. 3 election will feature five states with cannabis measures on their respective ballots. However, none is going to be more unique than what the Mount Rushmore State is presenting to its residents.

The Mount Rushmore State is four weeks away from making cannabis history

While we've witnessed a number of unlikely ballot measures before, South Dakota is about to do something no state has previously attempted: It's trying to legalize medical and recreational marijuana at the same time, albeit with two separate ballot measures.

Cannabis does not actually calm the digestive tract. Instead, this is how it treats nausea.

People around America more and more are using cannabis as a treatment for nausea, from cancer patients trying to combat the nausea that follows chemotherapy to expecting mothers trying to keep food down in the months before birth.

As more is discovered about the endocannabinoid system, scientists are coming closer to pinpointing exactly why cannabis helps to reduce nausea.

Nausea is a necessary function of the body, used primarily to alert the body that something it ate might be poisonous or rotten and should be avoided now and in the future, or that the body is experiencing an illness or imbalance and needs treatment or rest. For example, dehydration can trigger nausea because the body is trying to send a signal that it’s unbalanced and needs more water.

But there are other factors, like motion or certain medications, that will also increase the signals being sent to the brain from the rest of the body, many of which the brain interprets as nausea

In a time marked by shuttered business, depressed consumer shopping, and plunging retail spending, not many markets can claim the victory that the CBD (cannabidiol) market has done so far. Back in 2018, sales of CBD products in the United States alone harvested a generous $600 million-$2 billion. Sales of CBD have actually grown slightly from those impressive numbers in 2019, as more consumer concerned about their health have switched their shopping habits, and now buy full-spectrum CBD online directly from the manufacturers. This is according to a report published by Forbes, which also foresees the figure inflating upwards of $16 billion by 2025.

As a cannabis-derived compound that harbors numerous pharmacological actions, such as antiemetic, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic and antipsychotic properties, it is understandable why the market has such promising prospects. 

While emerging research is highlighting the benefits of this non-psychotropic cannabinoid, a handful of studies have also spotlighted how CBD lacks the non-toxic properties to cause negative changes on food intake, blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, gastrointestinal transit, psychomotor and psychological functions.

But just how safe is it and should you be wary of introducing CBD into your lifestyle? Read on to find out.

CBD Research Has Been Suffocated by Classification Standards 

Due to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifying the cannabis plant as an illegal substance since the 1970s, strict restrictions have been imposed on CBD research for the past decade. Anyone who wishes to study the plant-derived compound is welcome to do so, buy only if they have obtained the necessary license.

A Massachusetts health care system said it is seeing an uptick in children becoming sick after ingesting candies, chocolates and gummies containing THC.

South Shore Health, located in Weymouth, said the many of the THC-laced edibles are packaged to look like brand name candies and snacks.

“Over the past few months, South Shore Health’s pediatric emergency department noted an uptick in incidences involving children who have become ill after ingesting products such as candies, chocolates, sours and ‘gummies’ containing THC,” South Shore Health said in a news release. “One case involved gummies which were packaged to look nearly identical to a leading brand of children’s vitamins.”

The health care system said recently one teen was treated after consuming five (600 mg each) fruit-flavored, THC candies.

"Children often can’t tell the difference between a food product laced with THC and one without. Edibles laced with THC, and intended for adult consumption and dosages, have a greater clinical impact on children based on their smaller size due to the child’s larger “volume of distribution.” said Mark Waltzman, chair of Pediatrics at South Shore Hospital.

More than 113 cannabinoids have been discovered in the cannabis plant, including tetrahydrocannabivarin, or THCV. An obvious molecular cousin to the infamous euphoric tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), THCV offers distinct characteristics in the world of cannabinoids.

According to Raphael Mechoulam, the Israeli researcher who discovered THC in 1964, “Most of the cannabinoids in cannabis have not been fully evaluated for their pharmacological activity. Tetrahydrocannabivarin is a potent antagonist of anandamide, a major endogenous cannabinoid. It seems possible that many of the non‐psychoactive constituents of this plant will be of biological interest.”

The Details on THCV

Probably the most distinct — and distinctly marketable — aspect of THCV is its ability to suppress appetite. This characteristic of this molecule is the opposite of THC, which has a reputation for enhancing appetite to create what is sometimes dubbed “the munchies.” This cannabinoid should be avoided by those suffering from anorexia.  

The medical community finds obvious interest in the appetite suppressing qualities of molecules such as THCV. The efficacy of natural and non-addictive products, lacking the side effects of traditional pharmaceutical therapies, is of obvious benefit to consumers suffering from conditions like obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

THCV regulates blood sugar levels and reduces insulin resistance. It is believed to be helpful for osteoporosis and other bone-related conditions. For the same reasons that it is helpful for Alzheimer’s disease, this special cannabinoid shows promise for alleviating the symptoms of and delaying the neurodegeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease. THCV may also prevent and relieve panic attacks in PTSD patients.

It can reduce anxiety, promote healing, and relax the body and mind. Here are some other ways athletes use cannabis to enhance performance.

Anna Symonds, Education and Partnership Manager for East Fork Cultivars, has been a  rugby player for 18 years and attributes a lot of her longevity as a professional athlete to cannabis. 

While she experimented with cannabis as a teenager, she discontinued this practice when she got more serious about sports. After she smoked with some teammates after a game, she experienced immediate healing and muscle relaxation. “I started to have this mental shift of seeing cannabis as medicine.” About five years ago after she got a back injury, cannabis proved to be the only thing that would provide her with pain relief and muscle relaxation, while increasing her functionality without the side effects from other medications.

Some time ago, Symonds observed how she would play better if she smoked the night before. “In addition, it  helped with the anxiety that comes before a competition, as well as relaxing the mind and body.” Also, the munchies enabled her to take in enough good calories so she could power up for the next day.

By microdosing before practice with a 1:1 full spectrum chocolate edible containing 1 mg THC, Symonds found the sweet spot where her pain would reduce and her mind would get into flow state where she was fully present and performing fully optimally.