WeedLife News Network

New research presented this week suggests that cannabis could have certain benefits for people living with bipolar disorder.

There’s a lot more to cannabis and getting high than just joints and bongs. We asked HighHerb Club about it, and they gave us the answer—a couple, even.

HighHerb Club is a freshly opened cannabis dispensary located in Sukhumvit 4 alley (just a short walk away from BTS Nana station), run by a group of friends who discovered the same passion and vision when it comes to cannabis. It really seemed like they got high one day, then one of them said “let’s open a dispensary together,” and they really did. That’s because the result is an establishment that exudes love—both for each other and for the products they offer.

The venue looks professional, modern, yet down to Earth. An array of equipment and strains are carefully laid out on the countertop, as well as adorning the wall behind. “You can fully smoke in here,” exclaims one of the staff, without even being asked if I can. That’s how you know you’re in for a good time.

There’s a lot of ways you can use cannabis, maybe more than you’d think especially if you’re just getting acquainted with it. You don’t have to keep smoking that voodoo swamp weed from a random alley in Khaosan anymore. Here are five levels of cannabis use according to the folks at HighHerb Club.

The five levels of using cannabis, according to HighHerb Club

Level 0: CBD Oil

CBD oil is considered level zero because it is still cannabis—created by extracting the sativa plant in oil form and mixed with an inert carrier oil (e.g. hemp seed oil). However, you’re not going to experience any high like you would expect from it due to the amount of CBD rather than THC contained within.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhile item. CBD oil has a lot of benefits, and it is very useful for people dealing with symptoms from anxiety, depression, and to relieve pain deriving from health complications.

AUSTIN - A topic seen as controversial to some is becoming a booming industry in the Lone Star State.

More Texans are turning to medical marijuana, and this is only the beginning. “We’ve sold medicine to more than 25,000 Texans,” said Morris Denton, CEO of Texas Original. Texas Original first opened their doors on Feb. 8, 2018 and has continued to grow. They are one of three licensed medical cannabis operators in the state. The company is based in Austin, but saw an opportunity in the Piney Woods.

“In East Texas and Nacogdoches in particular, basically started to grow pretty quickly for us,” Denton said. The owners say they are impressed with their dispensary’s performance in Nacogdoches, and now they are looking to expand.

“We anticipate that over the next few years we will end up having a full-time retail location in East Texas,” Denton said. But how is the growing process different from recreational marijuana, which is still illegal here in Texas? Jason Sanders, the Director of Cultivation, takes us through the process from source to dispensaries in your community.

“It all starts with our mother plants. We produce these originally from seed, and then we identify these plants as being the same ratio as what our medicine is,” said Jason Sanders, Director of Cultivation, Texas Original.

They take clippings from the mother plant to create clones. These branches will be planted, left to grow for two weeks, and transferred to a flowering room.

NORTH SIOUX CITY - Voters will decide whether or not to remove a current ordinance on the number of licensed medical cannabis facilities that can operate in city limits.

As it stands right now, the limits are four dispensaries, two growing, two processing, and two testing facilities.

Licenses for those facilities were given out using a lottery system.

If the voters say yes, those restrictions will choose to remove all restrictions on medical marijuana facilities.

The initiative began with a party who failed to secure one of the lottery licenses for the current facilities that are allowed.

“Yeah, one of the parties that was unsuccessful in the original application process, and didn’t win one of the licenses through the lottery decided to take it to a vote of the public, to see whether the public would be willing to take the limits off, which would allow them and others the opportunity to also open cannabis facilities in the city,” said Eric Christensen, North Sioux City city administrator.

NEW YORK - Hip-hop superstar and businessman Sean "Diddy" Combs is investing in the marijuana business. 

A deal estimated at $185 million is in the works in which Combs would buy cannabis production facilities and retail shops from Cresco Labs and Columbia Care in several states, including New York.

"This industry-changing transaction is rooted in Cresco's vision to develop the most responsible, respectable and robust industry possible, and advances Combs' mission to open new doors in emerging industries for Black entrepreneurs and other diverse founders who are underrepresented and underserved," a press release about the deal states. "Throughout his legendary career, Combs has solidified himself as one of the most successful business leaders and cultural icons."

New York City Cannabis Industry Association President David Holland explained why buying Cresco Labs could be huge for Combs.

"They are vertically integrated in New York — meaning they own the cultivation, the processing, the delivery and the sale of their own merchandise," Holland said. "Those are only 10 such licenses given in New York state and now he's the owner of at least one of those."

My mission has always been to create opportunities for Black entrepreneurs in industries where we've traditionally been denied access.

As we look back on a decade since Colorado’s landmark vote on legalized cannabis, we assess how arguments from both sides of the debate have borne out.

Maine clarifies new limits on medical marijuana providers.

PORTLAND - Maine delivered an October surprise to medical marijuana providers with guidance limiting the sale of pre-rolled marijuana and liquid concentrates by treating them like tobacco.

The Maine Office of Cannabis Policy released guidance on Oct. 7 that effectively bans medical marijuana caregivers without a storefront from providing those products altogether while medical marijuana dispensaries and stores must treat them like tobacco products with an age limit of 21. Previously, those could be provided to people 18 and older with a medical marijuana card.

The guidance caused an outcry because pre-rolled products and liquid concentrates for vaping are among the most popular — and profitable — cannabis products sold in medical and adult recreational stores.

Democratic Sen. Craig Hickman, co-chair of the Legislature's Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, accused the Maine OCP of "executive branch overreach and bad faith."

A spokesperson for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services said the guidance doesn't reflect a change in policy or rules. She said the guidance was simply issued to answer questions that had been raised by some medical cannabis providers and registrants.

SIOUX FALLS - Another group has come forward to weigh in on legalizing recreational marijuana for adults in South Dakota.

Last week a group of Sioux Falls law enforcement, elected officials and community leaders spoke out against IM 27, a ballot measure that would legalize recreational marijuana for anyone 21 and older in South Dakota.

Now, a group of former law enforcement officers and veterans are coming together to voice their support for legalizing marijuana in the state.

“I served as a South Dakota police officer for 12 years,” Sioux Falls resident JoAnn Jorgensen said. 

“I’m an Army veteran and a 27-year retired police officer,” Rapid City resident Roseanna Renaud said. 

“I’m an Army veteran,” Madison resident Becky Letsche said. 

Colorado identified “potentially unsafe levels of total yeast and mold and aspergillus” in a strain of flower.

The news comes on the heels of Gov. Kristi Noem (R) saying cannabis legalization can move forward if voters approve it on the Nov. 8 ballot. (Benzinga)

South Dakota regulators approved an important change in the state’s medical marijuana program. In a 5-1 vote on Tuesday, the panel approved the proposal to allow the state Department of Health to remove a requirement from how the department chooses how or if a medical condition qualifies for treatment with cannabis, reported Keloland.

In other words, the department no longer must determine if “treatments currently available for the proposed condition are either ineffective or produce harmful side effects.”

Furthermore, the state official also allowed the department to change the wording of a related requirement.

The wording was changed from “Medical use of cannabis will provide therapeutic or palliative benefits that outweigh the risks of cannabis use” to “Medical use of cannabis is determined to provide benefits that outweigh the risks of cannabis use.”

Tim Engel, an attorney representing the South Dakota State Medical Association, doesn’t support these changes and Rep. Kevin Jensen agrees, saying that there would no longer be any way to identify the benefits.

A boy who used to endure 500 life-threatening fits a month is set to celebrate his 1,000th seizure-free day, thanks to medical cannabis.

Alfie Dingley, who suffers from severe epilepsy, is one of just three people in the UK to have been handed an NHS prescription for the drug.

Mum Hannah Deacon says the cannabis – which was legalised for medicinal use on November 1, 2018 – has made a huge difference to the 11-year-old’s life.

Yet thousands of people are still unable to access funded prescriptions, with families forced to spend thousands of pounds a month to go private, or buy the drug illegally.

Hannah, 43, who co-founded MedCan Support for families looking to access the drug, said this stance has created what she described as “a block” on NHS prescriptions.

She told how medical cannabis had given Alfie back his “quality of life”, allowing him to attend school full-time and start making friends.

Applications for medical cannabis licenses are scheduled to be sent out today, but it may still be months before the first products hit dispensary shelves in Alabama.

Meanwhile, marijuana remains classified as an illegal narcotic in the eyes of the federal government, whether it's bought illicitly off the streets or recommended by a doctor.

So far, 39 states have legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and the federal government has mostly looked the other way. Yet there exists a tension between state and federal laws concerning the drug, and it has led to confusion among lawmakers and enforcers over how the new Alabama law will work on a practical, day-to-day basis.

"Right now, there is no such thing as a prescription for marijuana," State Sen. Larry Stutts (R-Tuscumbia) said. "By the FDA guidelines, marijuana is still listed as a [schedule] 1 narcotic… which is in the same category as heroin; no known medical benefits and can be used only in research."

Stutts said doctors would only be able to recommend medical cannabis for patients, not prescribe it like other medicines due to Food and Drug Administration's guidelines.

"Drug stores won't be stocking it, pharmacists can't dispense it, and physicians can't write a prescription for it," he said. "The deal is, on the federal level, they have just chosen not to enforce that rule in other states, so I'm sure Alabama will not be an exception."

Saying that cannabis is a panacea would imply that cannabis cures all types of diseases. Even in real life, it’s difficult to find one solution that fixes every problem.

The cure-all cannabis narrative has left many rational humans with unsettling feelings about cannabis legalization. Just Google “cannabis -panacea” and what you’re likely to come up with are a number of rebuttals. If anything, the world is just moving from the prohibition era when cannabis was demonized for being one of the greatest ills in society.

Just as a reminder, here are some legendary Henry Aslinger quotes on cannabis:

With such a past that we are only beginning to recover from, it’s not surprising that any attempt to sanitize the herb is met with the level of fire and fury that it deserves. It doesn’t help that cannabis is still regarded as a compound with “no medical use and a high potential for abuse” under federal law. How then can the same plant be a panacea?

What Is a Panacea?

Merriam-Webster defines panacea as “a remedy for all ills and difficulties.” Saying that cannabis is a panacea would imply that cannabis cures all types of diseases. Even in real life, it’s difficult to find one solution that fixes every problem.

So this panacea narrative automatically comes across as a desperate attempt at marketing snake oils to an unread audience. If anything, such “exaggerated” claims seem to be doing more harm than good to the legal industry, at least superficially. But is cannabis really a “cure-all” remedy and where does such a narrative even come from? Here is a good argument for considering cannabis as the ultimate panacea.

Around 1.3 million women experience menopause in the United States each year.

Although menopause begins between 51 and 52 years old, about 5% of women experience early menopause between 40 and 45 years old, while 1% experience premature menopause before the age of 40.

The most significant symptoms of menopause are hot flashes, sleep problems, low libido, and mood changes.

There are different treatments to manage menopause, including hormonal and non-hormonal therapies. Furthermore, lifestyle changes, such as eating well, exercising, and looking after mental well-being, can help with symptoms during menopause.

But as cannabis has become legally available due to its regulation in many US states for both medical and recreational purposes, some women are consuming it to successfully manage menopause, as a recent study has recently shown.

Researchers from McLean Hospital Imaging Center, Belmont, MA, and Department of Psychiatry, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, conducted a survey study recently published in Menopause: The Journal of The North America Menopause Society to find out how the use of cannabis affects women with menopause-related symptoms.

New South Wales, Australia: Terminal cancer patients with refractory pain respond favorably to a proprietary cannabis spray containing equal ratios of plant-derived THC and CBD, according to data published in the journal PLOS One.

A team of Australian investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of a novel water-soluble oro-buccal nanoparticle spray containing 2.5 mgs of THC and 2.5 mgs of CBD in a cohort of patients with advanced cancer and intractable pain.

Researchers reported that cannabis dosing was associated with improvements in pain relief among all patients, with those patients suffering from bone metastasis experiencing the greatest levels of relief. No serious adverse events were reported, though some patients did experience drowsiness following treatment.

Patients also reported improvements in appetite and emotional well-being.

“This study demonstrated that the administration of the investigative cannabis-based medicine was generally safe and tolerated in a short-term exposure in a cohort of patients with advanced incurable cancers with controlled pain or intractable pain despite opioid treatment,” authors concluded. “There was a reduction in pain overall for the study cohort of 12 percent by the end of the treatment phase. … [This] cannabis-based medicine … is of significant clinical interest given that this formulation was a self-titrated medicine, that showed preliminary analgesic efficacy in a subgroup of patients.”

But Not A Single Location Has Been Announced Yet. The delay in Gov. Hochul's plan could jeopardize promised licenses for retailers with weed-related convictions.

Gov. Kathy Hochul says New York is “on track” to open some cannabis dispensaries within months — but industry leaders say they see only red signals ahead.

State Assembly member Crystal Peoples-Stokes told 2 On Your Side, "There's no question we don't know how to determine if somebody is impaired by it or not..."

‘There exists a need for a fair forensic tool capable of detecting THC in the short window of impairment’

Researchers examined all areas where cannabis is legal and found a shocking number and amount of contaminants that, arguably, should not be present on anything that humans consume

PATY DO ALFERES - Medical marijuana is gaining steam in Brazil thanks to lower-court rulings giving the go-ahead for large-scale cannabis plantations.

One of the largest of these plantations – a 600,000-square-meter (148-acre) area in Paty do Alferes, a municipality located two hours from Rio de Janeiro – produces cannabis-derived oils for more than 3,000 patients with illnesses that include epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and autism.

That estate, which produces some 2,000 bottles of cannabis oil per month, is the fruit of a long, complicated effort undertaken by the Medical Cannabis Research and Patient Support Association (Apepi), an NGO that in February won a court judgment allowing it to grow cannabis.

“Our work is ‘sub judice’ (pending final judicial resolution). We’ll only have definitive legal protection once the case has been decided by the Supreme Court, and that will take time,” attorney Margarete Brito, Apepi’s co-founder, told Efe.

Brito and her husband, designer Marcos Langenbach, founded Apepi after discovering that medical marijuana was helping to control their daughter Sofia’s epileptic seizures.

“She had as many as 60 seizures in a month. With cannabis, we were able to reduce them to 15,” she said.