WeedLife News Network

Tip jars started to take shape around a decade ago when medical marijuana was first beginning to build momentum across the country.  

Now that marijuana legalization has taken hold in more parts of the United States, people are showing up to cannabis dispensaries in droves to see what it’s like to purchase legal weed. Sure, there is a novelty factor to it for some, while others are stepping inside these establishments destined to become regular patrons. 

At the front of the house are budtenders. These folks act in several different capacities, assisting customers in finding the best possible strain, showing them new products and answering questions to help them walk away with the best possible experience. It is important work, especially when it comes to dealing with a new customer whose only experience with marijuana was that one time back in college when they took a hit off a bong. These people need to be guided through the latest developments on the cannabis scene and the budtender is a big part of the process.

One of the things a new customer might notice while browsing the display cases in a dispensary is the presence of tip jars. This trend started to take shape around a decade ago when medical marijuana was first beginning to build momentum across the country. But now they seem to be turning up more in both the medical and recreational sectors. The idea, as with any situation where a tip jar is present, is to give the budtender an opportunity to earn additional income.

It is also an incentivizing measure. If a budtender believes he or she can earn an extra $50 or more each day by simply providing superb customer service, chances are they will come to work ready to make it rain.  

The newly formed Culinary Cannabis Association promotes safe, legal enjoyment of infused foods. As well, the CCA offers a certification program to teach foodies and weed enthusiasts everything they need to know about using cannabis as an ingredient. The next certification course takes place in Vancouver on Aug. 19–20. To get you started, CCA co-founder and director of culinary Travis Petersen serves up these buzz-worthy recipes.

Herb-Infused Stuffed Chicken Breast

Makes 2 servings

iStock / Getty Images Plus

Ingredients

4 tsp (20 mL) Infused Butter (see recipe below)
2 sprigs each fresh thyme, rosemary and sage
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tbsp (15 mL) dried oregano
1 tbsp (15 mL) dried kief
½ tsp (2 mL) ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp (15 mL) canola oil
2 boneless chicken breasts

Directions

Each chicken breast yields 11 mg of THC.

Every day, people across the United States demonstrate how legal cannabis could save the nation’s economy from the virus-caused downtown. They do so by buying record amounts of weed.

Almost all legal cannabis states made medical and adult-use dispensaries essential businesses that could stay open as lockdowns began. The lone exception, Massachusetts, has since changed course. This is good news for industry workers in the state since it now has more cannabis industry employees than hairstylists and cosmetologists. Most legal cannabis states release numbers each month that prove how right they were in making the choice to keep dispensaries open.

Oklahoma provides a great example. Only in the last year becoming a hotbed for cannabis advocates, the state clocked its fourth month in a row of record sales in May. Consumers spent $73.8 million on medical marijuana in April. The sharp rise in sales started with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Oklahoman.

And sales could have risen even more in future months. In May, state lawmakers from both parties voted for a bill that allowed dispensaries to deliver weed and for people from out of state to buy cannabis with a 90-day temporary card. 

Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, vetoed the bill.

Although there’s a lack of scientific research on CBD due to the compound’s strange legal standing, many experts are hopeful in the effect it could have on eczema.

Eczema is a condition that targets a large percentage of people across the country. Known for irritating the skin and leaving it patchy and red for stretches of time, eczema occurs due to a combination of genetics and environmental situations. Flare ups of the condition can occur from pollen in the air or the types of foods and drinks you ingest.

Could CBD provide some relief for this type of skin inflammation?

Eczema, which refers to a group of skin conditions that can manifest in different ways, is traditionally treated by managing its most prevalent symptoms in order to prevent flare ups. The condition is not contagious and can be very different from person to person, with the most prevalent symptom manifesting as patches of itchy skin.

There is no cure for eczema, which is why people who suffer from this ailment have to be careful, moisturizing their skin often, while also looking for effective ways of avoiding triggers. The ways in which people treat their eczema are varied and personal, ranging from warm baths and gentle soaps to wearing cotton clothes that won’t hurt them.

It’s well-known smoking cigarettes during pregnancy can increase the risk of harm to the baby and is best avoided.

But in our research, published today in the Medical Journal of Australia, we show using cannabis during pregnancy is also associated with poorer outcomes for babies.

Are pregnant women using cannabis?

While we don’t have data on how common cannabis use is during pregnancy, results from the 2016 Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey showed 10 per cent to 20 per cent of women of reproductive age had used cannabis during the preceding 12 months. Recent literature from overseas shows the number of women who become pregnant while using cannabis increased by as much as double from 2002 to 2017.

This is likely driven in large part by the legalization of cannabis in many parts of the world. In turn, increasing social and medical acceptance of its use has led to an overall perception cannabis is a safe drug.

In places where cannabis is legal, cannabis dispensaries sometimes promote it for the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. But there are no studies evaluating whether it’s effective in this context, let alone whether it’s safe.

In the last decade, we’ve learned a lot about how cannabis affects digestion. Thanks to the numerous studies that have been done over the years, we’ve gotten valuable insight on how this ultra-beneficial plant can be used to treat a range of diseases and conditions. Although a lot of anecdotal evidence and multiple studies exist on the topic, we’ve still only scratched the surface of unlocking its full potential.

But before we delve into what it can treat, how exactly does cannabis affect our digestive system? Like many of our body’s processes, including our mood, sleep, immune function and reproduction, the regulation of our digestion, appetite, and metabolism are done by the endocannabinoid system (ECS_. To understand how cannabis affects our digestion, the ECS is a crucial part of the puzzle.

Active compounds in cannabis, called phytocannabinoids such as THC and CBD, interact with the body through the ECS via cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) that are distributed throughout the digestive system and in regions of the brain that are considered essential for the gut-brain axis. It takes the phrase ‘going with your gut’ to a whole new level.

Both CB1 and CB2 receptors can be found in the digestive tract, with the former of the two the more abundant. The ECS plays a number of roles in digestion, including regulating stomach acidity, motility (the speed in which matter passes through the intestines), satiety, inflammation, pain, as well as visceral sensation, which affects our ability to perceive bodily organs. High levels of endocannabinoids are found throughout our digestive system and also contribute to stimulating our appetite.

Hunger pangs aren’t actually generated in the stomach but in the brain. When our stomach is empty, the hormone ghrelin is released, which stimulates the GI tract’s vagus nerves, which then travel up to the brain along the gut-brain axis to reach the brain’s hypothalmus, where hunger pangs originate.

In response to stay-at-home orders and nighttime police curfews, three marijuana nonprofits are finding creative ways to fulfill their missions. In an exclusive story with Green Entrepreneur, all have agreed to reveal their strategies for successfully managing the stresses of the pandemic and protests during these unprecedented times. 

#1 Last Prisoner Project (LPP)

Andrew and Steve DeAngelo founded the Last Prisoner Project alongside other industry leaders to help those imprisoned for cannabis-related charges. LPP’s mission is to “get every cannabis-charged prisoner out of prison,” says Andrew DeAngelo, longtime cannabis advocate and co-founder of Harborside Health Center

Freedom and rehabilitation

LPP advocates for and educates about marijuana incarceration, pushing to improve living conditions for prisoners and helping them reintegrate into society by supplying access to an apartment, job, and professional training courses.

Their service programs include pro bono legal services, including efforts to secure prisoners’ release and executive clemency to expunge their records. This is often a complex problem, requiring support from the governor or the federal level, according to DeAngelo.

Once prisoners are out of jail, LPP offers further guidance with re-entry programs where they can find help.

To ensure you have the best experience during your first dispensary trip, make sure you understand this short list of things a person needs to know before visiting.  

People have a tendency to get a bit excited when the concept of legal weed comes alive in their state. Hey, we can’t say that we blame them. It’s not every day that a plant still considered as dangerous as heroin and LSD in the eyes of the federal government gets the green light to be sold in a retail environment similar to beer. It’s a big deal, we don’t care who you are, especially considering the checkered, eight-decades long history of cannabis prohibition in the United States.  

We’ve watched curious cannabis enthusiasts plot entire vacations around legal marijuana, traveling thousands of miles just to get in on the weed action that their home state may not be progressive enough to have. We’ve also seen some of these people get to a dispensary and be turned away or have bad experiences because they didn’t necessarily understand all of the rules associated with these places before making their journey. To keep that misfortune from happening to you, we have assembled a shortlist of 4 things a person needs to know before visiting a weed store.  

To ensure you have the best experience during your first dispensary trip, make sure you understand this short list of things a person needs to know before visiting.  

People have a tendency to get a bit excited when the concept of legal weed comes alive in their state. Hey, we can’t say that we blame them. It’s not every day that a plant still considered as dangerous as heroin and LSD in the eyes of the federal government gets the green light to be sold in a retail environment similar to beer. It’s a big deal, we don’t care who you are, especially considering the checkered, eight-decades long history of cannabis prohibition in the United States.  

Preparing edibles doesn’t have to be that complicated, especially when using ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen.

Preparing edibles is usually a process that takes some time and work. Unlike lighting a joint and reaping instant benefits, edibles demand a lot of care. If your edibles taste awful (here’s how to make them taste less like weed), you’ve just wasted a good amount of cannabis, which is not fun. Fortunately, we have some tips for you so this doesn’t happen.

In order to prepare edibles, it’s important to start off slowly. Cooking tends to be a trial and error process; once you add cannabis into the mix, it’s even more personal and less accurate. Before preparing any edible, you must decarboxylate. If you skip this step, your brownies are going to taste just like raw cannabis (read as: they’re gonna suck).

With the rise in baking and cooking that many of us have been experiencing in lockdown, it’s a great time to experiment with making your own edibles.

Cannabutter

Photo by ponce_photography via Pixabay

We’re all geared up to enjoy summer after months in quarantine. And while Vitamin D is great, sunburns, bug bites and overheating can be a total buzzkill. Here’s how cannabis and CBD can help.

It’s finally (almost) here: sweet, sweet, summertime! Summer is a season that’s meant to be enjoyed. From spending more time outdoors thanks to longer days, to glorious weather that makes you want to jump in the pool or drive to the beach (while taking precautions, of course), there’s a lot to love about this time of year.

But then… there’s also the other side of the seasonal debate. Summer also means extreme heat, sunburn, and bug bites, which can be a downer.  

If you want to enjoy the summer as much as possible, cannabis and CBD can help. Here’s how.

Sunburn

Photo by Charles McQuillan/Stringer/Getty Images

A new study titled Systemic review of cannabis use and risk of occupational injury has found that adults who consume marijuana are no more likely to suffer injuries at work than are those employees who abstain from the substance. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of British Columbia, was published in the journal Substance Use and Misuse.

For the study researchers conducted a systematic review of scientific papers assessing any potential links between marijuana consumption and occupational accidents. They found that few studies “employed research designs that ensured that cannabis use preceded the occupational injury outcome.” Others failed to adequately assess or control for confounding variables, such as the concurrent use of alcohol or other psychoactive substances, as noted by NORML who first reported on the study.

Due to these limitations, authors concluded, “[T]he current body of evidence does not provide sufficient evidence to support the position that cannabis users are at increased risk of occupational injury.”

Their finding is consistent with that of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine which conducted its own literature review in 2017 and concluded, “There is no or insufficient evidence to support … a statistical association between cannabis use and … occupational accidents or injuries.”

“In recent months, lawmakers in several municipalities – including New York City, Richmond, Virginia, and Washington, DC – have enacted legislation limiting the use of marijuana-specific pre-employment drug screening”, states NORML. “Both Maine and Nevada have enacted state-specific legislation barring certain employers from refusing to hire a worker solely because he or she tested positive for cannabis on a pre-employment drug screen.”

There’s no denying that these are extremely stressful times. Cannabis, because of its ability to help us achieve balance in restoring homeostasis throughout our bodies, can be a great tool to calm any nerves we’re all collectively experiencing right now. That’s because the world’s most favored flower has been shown to blunt anxious reactions by reducing the release of the stress hormone cortisol. 

If you are looking for some ideas on how to mix relaxation and cannabis, try some of these methods and see if they work for you.

PHOTO Dan Armstrong

1. Take a Cannabis-Infused Bath

A cannabis-infused bath can be part of your daily routine if you’ve got the time to soak, or you can keep a stash ready for an especially rough day when you need the tension to just melt off. With these topical methods of use, there won’t be a psychoactive or “head high” feeling.

People over time have ingested cannabis, used cannabis tinctures or smoked it as flower or hash, but only in the last decade has the bathing experience reached these new heights. What a time to be alive!

CBD won’t solve all your problems.

While many other companies would like to have you believe differently, it’s true. It’s not a panacea. It’s not a miracle product. Millions of people have already begun to regularly use CBD for one reason or another, but the truth is it doesn’t work for everyone.

There are many reasons for this. Some of them have to do with the nature of CBD and the endocannabinoid system; some have to do with the fact that every person is different and has a unique lifestyle and genetic makeup. 

Here are the top five reasons why, while CBD can contribute greatly to your health and well begin, it doesn’t work for everyone.

1. We all have a unique endocannabinoid system that responds differently to CBD.

Similar to a fingerprint, each person has a uniquely configured endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS is one of the largest molecular systems in the human body and is made up of millions of cannabinoid receptors scattered throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. It supports your body in maintaining a stable equilibrium in response to environmental changes. 

An attorney in Myrtle Beach wants to write a law that would decriminalize cannabis in the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

Jonny McCoy is the man who served as attorney for Julian Betton, a man who was shot nine times by police during a drug raid in Myrtle Beach in 2015. Now, McCoy wants the city to decriminalize cannabis so something like this doesn’t happen again. 

“In South Carolina, if you get stopped and you get arrested and you have 28 grams of marijuana on you, you go to jail. My office is right here and we’re filled to the brim with clients who’ve been arrested for simple possession of marijuana,” McCoy said.

McCoy’s proposal would decriminalize cannabis just within city limits. Simple possession wouldn’t carry with it a serious criminal punishment, and this would hopefully decrease incidents like the one that left Betton wounded. Although Betton received $11.25 million in a settlement with the state, he is still permanently disabled from the accident. 

“In my mind, you go to jail, you pay a bond and you get out. If you can pay the bond. But in this instance, you would get a ticket, and get out,” said Gregg Smith of Myrtle Beach City Council, who has seen the proposal. “To me, it’s something worth looking at. I don’t know if it’s the right answer, but it’s something worth looking at.”  

New Jersey lawmakers have introduced a bill that would decrease punishments for marijuana possession from arrests to fines, reviving a years-long effort as the nation grapples with racial bias and brutality in policing.

The new bill, S2535, introduced to the state Senate Thursday afternoon, would decriminalize possession and distribution of less than one pound of weed, but would not make marijuana legal. Violators would receive a written warning for a first offense and a face fines of $25 for second and subsequent offenses.

“We have been over-penalizing marijuana offenses for far too long. We all know it is not nearly as dangerous as heroin or cocaine and it has no place being classified with them in statute,” Sen. Sandra Cunningham, D-Hudson, a bill sponsor, said in a statement.

“This legislation will right the ship, revising the damaging criminal codes put in place under the war on drugs, which were intentionally created to target the black community.”

Currently, possessing from one ounce to five pounds is an offense punishable by three to five years in prison and up to a $25,000 fine. Under the new bill, anyone caught with more than one pound of weed would receive a disorderly persons offense, punishable by six months in jail and up to $1,000 in fines.

Though NORML said marijuana legalization will not solve racial injustice in America, the organization believes it can be “an important part of this emerging discussion.”

The National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws (NORML) released a statement this week detailing how marijuana advocates can play a role in enacting racial justice in America. Following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, voices across the nation have protested against police brutality and policies that disproportionately target communities of color.

Racial inequalities have long existed in enforcing drug policies. According to analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), African Americans are close to four times as likely to get arrested for marijuana possession compared to white Americans, despite the group consuming marijuana at similar rates. In some states, black people were up to six, eight, or almost ten times more likely to be arrested. From 2010 to 2018, racial disparities actually increased in marijuana enforcement.

“As protests continue to take place across our nation, more Americans are beginning to publicly demand action from their local, state, and federal leaders to end the policies and practices that promote, enable, and drive systemic racial injustice,” NORML executive director Erik Altieri said in a statement.

“In these conversations about policy solutions, many will include in their demands an ending to the war on drugs — or, at a minimum, an ending to marijuana criminalization. But while ending cannabis prohibition is both important and necessary, we must also recognize that doing so is but a single piece of a much larger puzzle.”

The movement to show support for Black Lives Matter has encompassed the nation. Protests have erupted calling for systematic change, police have responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, stores have been ransacked, including some in the cannabis industry.

We help, in part, beginning in the smallest way—where our money goes.

Not every consumer knows where they spend precious dollars, or how to best contribute their money to causes and people they want to support. As we become more conscious consumers, Green Entrepreneur is highlighting small businesses and black-owned, equity, indigenous, and people of color-owned businesses.

In cannabis, those businesses are few-and-far-between. Equity entrepreneurs work tirelessly to receive licenses in their respective markets. Against all odds, sometimes with massive inequities in funding and access to the type of revenue stream that cannabis industry businesses need to get off the ground. They deserve patronage now.

Here are 20 black-owned cannabis businesses that you can support.

America’s cannabis industry is a fractured marketplace. A scattered hodgepodge of state, county, and local municipalities piecing together a byzantine set of rules and regulations that seem to defy logic and common sense. And don’t even get me started about the social media restrictions.

Figuring out which hoops brands have to jump through within each state takes up enormous resources. But the fog of this minutiae can cloud the bigger picture: Do you know who your audience truly is?

To define how consumer psychographics can vary from state to state, we at The Statement Group dug into the analytics of cannabis consumers in Florida and California. While Florida is a medical-only state, it is a growing powerhouse with massive potential that will only increase as restrictions loosen. And California is already the largest legal cannabis market on the planet.

Below are four notable macro-level takeaways on the behavioral interests and psychographic makeup of each state’s consumers. We define those consumers by analyzing the millions of connections across those following a cross-section of brands in each state.

This analysis gives us the ability to understand the broad differences in interests (can you guess which state loves Porsche more?), as well as digs deep into the data to find the granular passions specific to each brand. We get insights into everything from which influencers their audience actually follows most, to the publications and other brands they consume. Answering these questions is vital for brands to build laser-focused marketing strategies and create deeper connections with their target audience.

A new poll found that 65% of Arizonans would vote for the Smart and Safe Arizona Act if it makes it onto the ballot this November. The initiative would legalize marijuana use and possession for adults 21 years and older in Arizona.

The poll by HighGround also found that just 25% said they’d oppose the ballot measure and 9% are still undecided, AZ Mirror reported.

In March, the Smart and Safe Arizona ballot initiative reported that it had already gathered more than 300,000 signatures, well surpassing the 237,645 required to get listed on the ballots in November.

“Voters 50 and older are likely to make up more than half of the Arizona electorate this November,” said HighGround. “Despite reservations that these audiences have indicated in the past, they appear likely to support Smart and Safe Arizona this time around. Voters 50-64 support the proposal with 63% and 65 and older indicated 55% support… In fact, across all demographics, the only subset that did not achieve a majority of support was among those who described themselves as ‘Very conservative.’ Among that audience, the issue was split evenly – 47.6% in favor and 47.6% opposed.”

In 2016, Proposition 205, an initiative attempting to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona, failed 48.23% to 51.77%. This failure was, in part, due to pro-marijuana Arizonans vying for multiple initiatives instead of compromising on Prop 205, which was by far the most popular initiative with the best chance of winning. If Arizonans had joined forces, Prop 205 would have passed and adults in Arizona could have been enjoying legalized recreational cannabis for the past few years.