Marijuana legalization is popular, more popular than Trump.

[seemslikeadream]

Marijuana access is associated with decreased use of alcohol, tobacco and other prescription drugs
By Paul Armentano, opinion contributorFebruary 05, 2019 - 07:00 PM EST
Marijuana access is associated with decreased use of alcohol, tobacco and other prescription drugs
A significant amount of data has been generated in recent years showing that cannabis access is associated with reduced levels of opioid use and abuse. But emerging data also indicates that many patients similarly substitute marijuana for a variety of other substances, including alcohol, tobacco and benzodiazepines.

Last month, a team of researchers from Canada and the United States surveyed over 2,000 federally registered medical cannabis patients with regard to their use of cannabis and other substances. (Medical cannabis access has been legal across Canada for nearly two decades).

Investigators reported that nearly 70 percent of respondents said that they substituted cannabis for prescription medications, primarily opioids. Forty-five percent of those surveyed acknowledged substituting cannabis for alcohol and 31 percent of respondents said that they used marijuana in place of tobacco.

Among those who reported replacing alcohol with cannabis, 31 percent said they stopped using booze altogether, while 37 percent reported reducing their intake by at least 75 percent. Fifty-one percent of those who reported substituting cannabis for tobacco said that they eventually ceased their tobacco use completely.

This documentation of cannabis substitution is not unique. A 2017 study of medical cannabis patients similarly reported that 25 percent of the cohort reported substituting cannabis for alcohol, while 12 percent substituted it for tobacco. A 2015 paper published in the journal, "Drug and Alcohol Review" also reported that over half of patients surveyed substituted marijuana in lieu of alcohol. A placebo-controlled clinical trial performed by researchers at London's University College reported that the inhalation of CBD - a primary component in cannabis - is associated with a 40 percent reduction in cigarette consumption.

Numerous studies also indicate that legal cannabis access is associated with reductions in overall prescription drug spending. While much of this reduction is the result of the reduced use of opioids, studies also report decreases in patients' consumption of other prescription drugs, such as sleep aids, anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications. A 2019 study by a team of Canadian researchers reported that the use of marijuana is associated with the discontinuation of benzodiazepines. (The popular anti-anxiety medication was responsible for over 11,500 overdose deaths in the United States in 2017, according to the US Centers for Disease Control). In their study of 146 subjects, the initiation of medical cannabis resulted in significant and sustained reductions in patients' use of the drug.

By the trial's conclusion, 45 percent of participants had ceased their use of benzodiazepines. In a separate study, also published this year, of over 1,300 US medical cannabis patients suffering from chronic pain conditions, 22 percent reported substituting marijuana for benzodiazepines.

These scientific findings run contrary to the so-called "gateway theory" - the long-alleged notion that marijuana exposure primes users to ultimately engage in the use of far more intoxicating and addictive substances. By contrast, for many people cannabis appears to act as an "exit drug" away from potentially deadly pharmaceuticals, booze, cigarettes and even other illicit substances such as cocaine.

As more jurisdictions move away from cannabis prohibition and toward a system of regulated access it will important to monitor the degree to which these trends continue and to assess their long-term impacts on public health and safety.

Paul Armentano is the deputy director of NORML - the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He is the co-author of the book, Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? and the author of the book, The Citizen's Guide to State-By-State Marijuana. Laws.
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/ ... co-and?amp

[seemslikeadream]

Scientists just made marijuana compounds in a lab for the first time, and it could open the door to new treatments for devastating diseases

Erin Brodwin
Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have for the first time created cannabis compounds in a lab, instead of by harvesting them from a plant.
They detailed their work, which uses synthetic biology, in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
If the technique can be scaled, it could transform the marijuana industry by allowing scientists to explore little-known cannabis compounds and manufacture those like THC and CBD for less money.
Several other startups have announced similar efforts, but none has demonstrated publicly that it has a technique that works.
Lab-made marijuana is coming.

In a move that's expected to transform the marijuana and pharmaceutical industries, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced on Wednesday that they had for the first time created cannabis compounds in a lab, instead of by harvesting them from a plant.

If the technique can scale, it could pave the way for making marijuana's therapeutic components more quickly and efficiently, for a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.

Using an increasingly popular approach known as synthetic biology, the researchers genetically engineered yeast to churn out a key component of marijuana that's a precursor to two of the best-known compounds in the plant: THC and CBD. Using those precursors, they made the compounds themselves — no farm or field required.

While THC is the part of marijuana that causes a high, CBD has an emerging reputation as a therapeutic and is the active ingredient in the first federally approved marijuana-based medication. Thanks to the health and wellness uses that CBD is tied to, the market for the compound could reach $16 billion by 2025, up from perhaps $1 billion or so now.

Marijuana plants contain a host of other, little-known compounds that scientists suspect also carry therapeutic properties. But it's been too difficult to produce them in large enough quantities to study.

That could now be set to change.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, the Berkeley researchers outlined how both types of marijuana compounds — the well-known ones like THC and the lesser-known ones like THCV — could be made in a lab. That's likely to have big implications for startups and pharmaceutical companies that want to make new marijuana-based drugs for everything from epilepsy to pain and arthritis.

Several companies are working on similar efforts. Wall Street has noticed as well, saying that lab-made marijuana is one on a growing list of factors helping to accelerate cannabis' entry into the pharmaceutical and consumer-wellness industries.

"There could be whole host of new products that could come from this," Jay Keasling, a UC Berkeley bioengineer who led the study, told Business Insider.

'A critical step in the pathway that no one's had until this point'

Lab-made marijuana compounds could help researchers find new medical treatments.
Shutterstock
Before they could make marijuana compounds without a field or a greenhouse, Keasling and his team had to go hunting for the ingredients required to make it work in a laboratory — something of a holy grail for the cannabis industry.

Lab-made marijuana could have multiple advantages over traditionally grown marijuana, like a lower cost and a smaller environmental footprint.

Several companies are interested in becoming the first to prove that the method, also known as biosynthesis, works, including Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic-biology startup in Boston; Intrexon, a biotech in Maryland; and Hyasynth Bio, a Canadian startup.

Wall Street is keen to see it happen too.

"Compared to chemical methods, biosynthesis methods are more cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally friendly," analysts at the investment firm Cowen said in a note circulated this week.

Keasling and his team spent years figuring out how to do it.

They uncovered a clue in the patent literature about a way to tweak the genes of yeast using marijuana DNA that would result in it churning out a key precursor to CBD and THC.

The process of modifying the DNA of a basic organism like yeast or E. coli to coax it into producing another product is known as synthetic biology. In recent years, investors have been pouring money into companies in the area.

Put simply, synthetic biology involves harnessing the power of cells to make things like drugs, biodegradable building materials, and less toxic sweeteners for food.

Read more: A Silicon Valley startup with 26 patents under its belt just raised $400 million from SoftBank and Goldman Sachs to make materials from living things

So Keasling and his team took all the basic ingredients identified by previous researchers — components of yeast DNA and components of cannabis DNA — and tried to make the marijuana compounds in a lab. Several attempts failed.

"We tried all the tricks we had," Keasling said. "We just could not get it to work."

So they took another stab at it. After several years of work exploring hundreds of marijuana genes, they were able to home in on their target: an enzyme called CsPT4. It allowed them to make the ingredients they needed to then make compounds like CBD and THC.

"This is a critical step in the pathway that no one's had until this point," Keasling said.

A startup that wants to make new drugs and sign deals with pharma

Pharmaceutical companies and startups could be interested in the new approach to creating marijuana compounds.
Shutterstock
The next step for Keasling is scaling up. To do that, he must prove in larger experiments that his technique works and at a lower cost than traditional manufacturing.

That could be of major interest to pharmaceutical companies like GW Pharma, which recently became the first company with a US-approved marijuana-based drug. (Called Epidiolex, the drug is designed to treat rare forms of epilepsy using high concentrations of CBD.)

It might also interest several startups that in recent years have pledged to turn marijuana compounds like CBD into federally approved drugs for diseases like Crohn's and multiple sclerosis.

Read more: A pair of high-profile Stanford scientists wants to use marijuana to treat an entire class of diseases where big pharma has fallen short

Keasling has already licensed the technology he described in the study to a startup he founded in 2015 called Demetrix. He said it would be open to working with a range of established companies in the pharmaceutical industry or the food industry.

Jeff Ubersax, Demetrix's CEO, told Business Insider that the startup had raised $11 million in venture capital led by Horizon Ventures, a VC firm in Hong Kong. Horizon has also backed Impossible Foods, the company behind a plant-based burger, and Siri, the developer of Apple's virtual assistant.

No stranger to startups, Keasling has founded several companies and is as an adviser to four. In 2003, he helped found Amyris, now a skincare company, and in 2010 he founded Lygos, a startup that wants to use microbes for renewable-energy purposes. He's no longer involved with Amyris but remains an adviser to Lygos.

Read more: After a kick-start from Bill Gates, a Silicon Valley company aims to be the 'Intel Inside' of the $200 billion sweetener and skincare market

With Demetrix, Keasling and Ubersax are focused on two goals, they told Business Insider.

They want to churn out lab-made versions of cannabis' well-known compounds. They also want to make a handful of understudied marijuana compounds, ingredients Keasling said are likely to have therapeutic properties; THCV, for example, could have appetite-staunching potential.

Other startups have similar goals. Ginkgo Bioworks recently signed a $122 million deal with the Canadian marijuana producer Cronos to make the well-known cannabis compounds and the lesser-known ingredients, using the same synthetic-biology principles.

Keasling said he thinks he can make marijuana compounds for a fraction of the cost of traditional cannabis production because his method wouldn't require greenhouse-building materials, large amounts of land or water, or manual labor.

"From a scientific perspective, with all the rare cannabinoids we're going to be able to produce, I think it's going to be really cool," Keasling said.
https://www.businessinsider.com/first-l ... rix-2019-2

[seemslikeadream]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6YhSDQ8zgU

The Real Origin of 420 (and 4/20, and 4:20) Lies With a Bunch of High School Kids
They called themselves The Waldos, and they toked so we could rip.

By Esquire EditorsApr 19, 2019

Everybody knows 4:20 is the time to smoke pot. And everybody knows 4/20 is the international pot-smoking day. But not many people, not even the oldest and most ardent pot smokers, knows why or how the number 420 became linked to pot smoking.

There are a few old tales which describe how this national holiday, and that special time of the day, became so iconic. Here's everything we know about how 4/20 became more than a mid-April day.

It Started With Some High School Kids

You know who does know a thing or two about this? Larry "Ratso" Sloman, author of Reefer Madness: A History of Marijuana. The most accepted root of the high holiday starts with some high school kids in San Rafael, California, back in 1971. Sloman says the phrase started as "420 Louis," meaning "at 4:20 [they'd] meet by the Louis Pasteur statue outside the high school" and get high.

It turns out one of these kids' older brothers was friends with Grateful Dead's bassist, Phil Lesh. And the group—"they called themselves 'Waldos,' " Sloman says—started getting high with the Grateful Dead at their rehearsal studio in San Rafael.

Around 1990, High Times magazine senior editor Steve Bloom saw a flyer at a Dead concert that "told the story of 420, and that was news to me," he wrote in a copy of the magazine obtained by the Huffington Post. Bloom wrote that "420" was originally California police code for smoking pot.

But it turns out the story on the flyer was horseshit. Bloom says "after about five years," the Waldos story emerged.

"A few of these Waldos surfaced and contacted High Times to set the record straight in 1997," Sloman says. Which is "about five years" if you're baked. So it checks out.

Some People Think Bob Dylan Has to Do With It

This one's pretty simple. Bob Dylan's got a song called "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35." At some point, someone, presumably pretty stoned, was listening to ol' Bob and realized that if you multiply 12 by 35, you get—you guessed it, 420.

Oh how nice this would be, to trace the high holiday back to one of the best artists to listen to while engaging in the devil's lettuce. But alas, even though the song was recorded in 1966, well before the Waldos did their thing, it's highly unlikely this is our one true source.

There's a Theory About the Actual Plant, Too

This one's a shut and closed case, too. Although it has been stated that there are "more than 400 chemical compounds" in a cannabis plant, no one ever clearly stated that that number is 420.

It's Got Nothing to Do With the Law or the Lawmen

There are a couple of 420 theories having to do with the police and Congress, too. The first, referring to what police would utter over the radio should they see you buying a baggie, is incorrect. Unfortunately that radio code is for homicide.

The one about Congress? Well, it's not that the two aren't related. There is a bill in the California Senate numbered 420, but it's named for the staple of cannabis culture, not because of it. The bill, which went through in 2003, was crucial to the birth of medical marijuana in California.

And Then There Are Just Some Batshit Ideas

The remaining theories around 420 are so wild we might as well not even go into detail. Some think it's named after the day Bob Marley died, but he died on May 11. Some think it has something to do with Adolf Hitler's birthday, but why the hell would that mean anything? (Even if it is his birthday.) Lastly, some stoned-off-their-ass person once said April 20 is the best day to plant marijuana, but that very clearly depends on where you're planting it.

In the end, the only real way to trace it back is to those ambitious high school kids in San Rafael. They toked so we could rip. They lied to their parents so we could have an excuse once a day—and especially on April 20—to pull out all the stops and get as high as the lord above us.

So breathe deep folks, and remember, weed isn't a bad thing. These states know what I'm talking about.https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a ... ning-0110/

[thrulookingglass]

There's been some strange discoveries with cannabises increasing legalization/proliferation amongst society. I saw a recent study that said patients who regularly use cannabis require greater amounts of the chemicals used to anesthetize you for surgery. There was also a scientific report on High Times that stated subjects in an experiment that smoked cannabis showed genetic changes in their sperm. They didn't state whether these changes were good or bad. I can't help thinking about what Cathy O'Brien stated that cannabis use was absolutely prohibited for their mind controlled agents. Altered consciousness is a true new frontier and I can understand why one might want a spiritual sherpa to guide them through events such as ayuahasca or LSD trips. Terry McKenna seemed to have such a kind way about him, it can be heard in his voice even. Timothy Leary, Theodore Kaczynski, the whole spiritual aspect of these plants, opium even. I feel like there's some tremendously great lie hiding behind these 'forbidden fruits'. Jim Morrison states, "I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown." The truth is out there...way out there...

[seemslikeadream]

The DEA just made a huge change to how the government treats medical marijuana

A bland announcement in the Federal Register on Monday may mark the beginning of the end of federal drug cops' 50-year Reefer Madness crusade.

ALAN PYKE
AUG 26, 2019, 12:37 PM
UPDATED: AUG 26, 2019, 2:43 PM

The federal government announced plans to expand cannabis research Monday, paving the way for the robust clinical trials cannabis experts believe will force the government to downgrade marijuana’s Controlled Substances Act classification.

The decision comes just two days before a key deadline in a lawsuit against the agency brought by cannabis researcher Dr. Sue Sisley of the Scottsdale Research Institute. Sisley had sought to end three years of stalling by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Monday’s regulatory filing, and the warm remarks from Attorney General William Barr that accompanied it in a press release, effectively mean Dr. Sisley’s won. Coupled with Barr’s ardently anti-pot predecessor Jeff Sessions’ departure, progress toward looser federal treatment of cannabis may resume.

“Until today, no one could do anything. We were handcuffed, in limbo,” said Shane Pennington, a member of Dr. Sisley’s legal team. “Now they’ve done something. It’s a huge, huge deal.”

The actual notice published in the Federal Register is characteristically dry, but it says the DEA will soon unveil a proposed regulation to govern applications to grow cannabis for scientific and medical research. For half a century, only one grow was legally approved for such purposes — a University of Mississippi facility contracted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

That monopoly on production has hampered researchers like Dr. Sisley for years. The U-Miss project only produced a handful of strains of cannabis and their cultivation methods produced low-grade flower. Dr. Sisley’s research — which probes cannabis’s potential to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and focuses on combat veterans — required product of higher quality, more consistent quality, and a wider variety of chemical makeups. The subtleties of cannabis chemistry go far beyond the THC that produces a recreational high, and some researchers believe other attributes of the plant might have various psychological and physiological benefits.

A monopoly on production for research meant NIDA and the growers in Mississippi had no incentive to deliver what Dr. Sisley and her peers wanted for their studies.

Back in 2016, the DEA claimed to be ready to smash up NIDA’s single-actor control of research cannabis back. That announcement was greeted with great fanfare in the research and drug policy communities, and prompted Dr. Sisley to apply for a research-grow license from the DEA later that year.

But it was only a departmental policy. There was no follow-through. Nobody at the government would respond to her application or the dozens of others filed since. And because there were no federal regulations related to the 2016 policy memorandum, Dr. Sisley’s attorney explained, it was almost impossible to force the agency to do what it had promised.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed a bill to legalize marijuana in Illinois into law. The law, which goes into effect next year has set a new benchmark for addressing the War On Drugs myriad social inequities. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images)
Illinois’ cannabis bill is first to incorporate reparations — the dream of legalization movement
“They asked for these applications, they acknowledged the importance of this research, and then they did nothing for years,” Shane Pennington said in an interview. But the rulemaking process announced Monday opens the floor to public comments, which in turn obligates the DEA to respond in writing. That writing will generate specific points of contention that courts can review. The final regulations will obligate the DEA to process applications in some specific fashion that will allow would-be research grows to appeal rejections to a federal judge if they believe they’ve been arbitrarily kept out of the market.

Despite the good news, Sisley cautioned Monday that the new regs leave the DEA plenty of room for further shennanigans.

“Now we just need to keep the DEA’s feet to the fire,” Sisley said in a statement. “DEA/DOJ can slow-roll this for many years to come, leaving progress of medical cannabis research in limbo indefinitely. But at least that door is now theoretically kicked open.”

The agency could have taken this step with no fanfare had it wished. But it got a full press rollout from the Department of Justice.

“I am pleased that DEA is moving forward with its review of applications for those who seek to grow marijuana legally to support research,” Attorney General Barr said in a statement on the agency’s move.

The good news for researchers, and those who suffer from the illnesses and difficulties they hope to cure with cannabis products, is only the beginning.

Monday’s announcement is likely to provide a major boost to the push for federal decriminalization or even legalization.

There’s a ping-pong logic at play here, Pennington explained. The DEA has insisted that cannabis remain a schedule I narcotic — the tightest category of criminal enforcement and pharmaceutical regulation under federal drug law — even as half the states in the nation have legalized it for either medical or recreational use. If clinicians like Dr. Sisley succeed in identifying specific medical uses of cannabis or its extracts, and the Food and Drug Administration certifies those findings, that would force the DEA to reschedule cannabis nationwide.

“The only thing keeping it schedule I at this point is that, according to the DEA, there is no acceptable medical use in the United States for marijuana,” Pennington said. “Now, how do you get that? Through clinical trials that show it’s safe and effective. And who’s the gatekeeper there? The DEA and the FDA.”

The DEA filing notes the agency “anticipates that additional strains of marihuana (sic) will be produced and made available to researchers” under the forthcoming regs, and anticipates the changes will “potentially aid in the development of safe and effective drug products that may be approved for marketing by the [FDA].”

That’s a recipe for moving cannabis down to schedule II, and a vindication of the confidence cannabis industry insiders have shown in recent years. The sheer amount of money being made thanks to state experiments with legalization has led many investors and entrepreneurs to view federal legalization as a matter of when, not if.

Largest legal pot farm may mark end of cannabis industry’s “Wild West” phase
It’s important not to overstate the significance of potential cannabis rescheduling. State legalization has succeeded because two presidents in a row have decided to allow it to continue. If cannabis drops to schedule II, nothing would change legally about the current order of battle on legalization and retail sales.

But as a practical and political matter, rescheduling would be a major signal that the feds are closer than ever to giving up on the drug war’s most destructive lie. Ending federal prohibition isn’t the magic bullet for ending mass incarceration that some advocates have portrayed it as over the years. But it would fundamentally reset the relationship between police and drug users — and the communities where they currently interact as hostiles would stand to gain from the change.

Much like the NIDA monopoly on research growing has effectively locked in Nixon-era Reefer Madness ideas at the federal level by making proper medical research impossible, the DEA’s insistence that pot is so dangerous it must be classified alongside schedule I drugs like heroin has warped funding streams, enforcement priorities, civil forfeiture regimes, and other law enforcement practices with far-reaching effects on communities.

Now, the DEA’s formal announcement it plans to respond to research grow applications sets the stage for all that to change.

“They may deny many of [the applications], but if they register even some… It’ll be the end of the 50-year NIDA monopoly,” Pennington said. “That’s giant.”
https://thinkprogress.org/dea-concedes- ... 0015acd1d/

[seemslikeadream]

Mitch McConnell Meets Marijuana Executives And Tours Cannabis Facility In Hushed California Visit
By Kyle Jaeger October 10, 2019
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is meeting with marijuana industry executives in Southern California this week and is scheduled to tour a cannabis facility there—a development indicating that the senator is increasingly willing to engage with stakeholders of hemp’s “illicit cousin,” as he describes it.

As first reported by MarketWatch, McConnell was scheduled to discuss cannabis banking issues on Wednesday and Thursday, just weeks after the House of Representatives passed a bill to protect financial institutions that service state-legal marijuana businesses from being penalized by federal regulators. Industry participants have been working to convince the senator to allow a vote on the legislation in his chamber.

Sources familiar with McConnell’s California cannabis activities vaguely discussed the plans with Marijuana Moment, but did not provide a list of invited meeting attendees or the name of the facility he is touring.

The majority leader has been a strong champion of hemp, shepherding a provision of the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the crop and its derivatives to passage. But he’s been a staunch critic of broader marijuana reform, and so the meetings with industry executives comes as something of a surprise.

Marijuana Moment reached out to McConnell’s office for comment on the meetings, but representatives did not respond by the time of publication.

Earlier this week, Fox News host Laura Ingraham publicly urged McConnell not to allow a vote on the marijuana banking legislation, raising fears that it would free up industry money that would go toward campaign contributions to Democrats.

This is a developing story and will be updated.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/mitch-m ... nia-visit/

Mexican Senate Leader Says Marijuana Will Be Legalized This Month
By Kyle Jaeger October 7, 2019
The Senate leader of Mexico’s ruling party said that the lawmakers will vote on a bill to legalize marijuana for adult use by the end of the month.

There are numerous pieces of legalization legislation already on the table, but Sen. Ricardo Monreal of the MORENA party said his chamber is nearly done crafting a new reform bill that will be the product of weeks of public forums and open-session debates. Members of the other half of Mexico’s legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, will be invited to weigh in on the bill.

“We’re thinking that we’ll bring the law out, approve it, at the end of October,” Monreal said. “That’s the schedule we have.”

That would mean that lawmakers are expecting to meet a Supreme Court deadline to end federal cannabis prohibition. Last year, the court ruled that the country’s ban on personal possession, use and cultivation of marijuana was unconstitutional and said the government must formally legalize those activities by October. Many key lawmakers have said the country should go even further by legally regulating cannabis sales and production as well.

The Senate held a series of events in recent weeks meant to solicit public input on legalization proposals and hear from experts on the issue in order to inform their bill. During one panel, a former White House drug czar spoke about the need for “robust regulations” in a legal cannabis market.

The chamber held another forum on the international marijuana market on Monday.


Senado de México
✔
@senadomexicano
· Oct 7, 2019
Foro: #Cannabis en el mercado internacional, del 7 de octubre de 2019 https://www.pscp.tv/w/cGtU1TFsWktwWEpEd ... iKcK6LT9_Y …

Senado de México @senadomexicano
Foro: #Cannabis en el mercado internacional, del 7 de octubre de 2019
pscp.tv

Senado de México
✔
@senadomexicano
#HoyEnElSenado se realiza el foro “Cannabis en el mercado internacional”, encabezado por el senador @NarroJose y en el que expertos de distintos países dialogan sobre el marco regulatorio en la materia.http://comunicacion.senado.gob.mx/index ... ional.html …
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Mario Delgado Carrillo, the coordinator of the MORENA party’s bench in the Chamber of Deputies, filed legislation to legalize and regulate cannabis last week, but he proposed having the government run the market to prevent large marijuana firms from monopolizing the industry.

Neither Monreal nor President Andrés Manuel López Obrador are in favor of having a state-controlled cannabis program, however, according to El Universal. And Carrillo later clarified that his bill was designed to reflect a personal preference. Monreal said that he’s willing to incorporate certain ideas from the lawmaker’s proposal, however.

Another piece of legalization legislation that will be considered by the Senate was introduced by a member of the MORENA party, Sen. Julio Menchaca Salazar, in September.

“The idea is to try to make the best law possible,” Monreal said. “We’ve spent hours and hours debating this issue in the Senate and we’re going to respectfully invite [deputies] so that they join us in the next debates.”
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/mexican ... his-month/

Seth Rogen And Snoop Dogg Offer Marijuana Advice To First-Time Consumers
By Kyle Jaeger October 9, 2019
Seth Rogen and Snoop Dogg have some advice for first-time marijuana consumers: if you bump into them and want to sesh, limit yourself to one hit—or even half a hit.

The cannabis icons joked about their shared love for the plant and offered some tips for novices during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday.

Stern started by asking if the pair had smoked together before. Not surprisingly, they confirmed participating in joint sessions and both agreed that they were enjoyable experiences

“What do you mean when you say you enjoy smoking with Seth?” the host asked Snoop. “Are there people who can bum you out?”



“Yeah, because they talk too motherfuckin’ much and they just get in the way, but Seth enjoys the moment. He’s creative,” the rapper replied. “This motherfucker knows how to make a joint that looks like a cross.”

“He’s a bad motherfucker at that,” he said. “When he pulled that cross out, I was like, ‘God, let there be light!'”

Stern also brought up the fact that one of the show’s producers, JD Harmeyer, planned to smoke cannabis for the first time. For the occasion, Stern told Harmeyer he should probably stick to no more than three hits, and he asked his guests if that was good advice.

“I’d start with one,” Rogen said.

“I’d say a half of one,” Snoop said.

“This is from two guys who have had too many motherfuckers come up and get way too high,” Rogen added.

“And fall out,” Snoop said. “I have a lot of people [say], ‘my dream is to smoke with you.’ Bang. He dying, I’m gone.”

On Monday, actress Jennifer Aniston also gave Harmeyer advice and urged him to “pace yourself” because “it could be the best day of your life or the worst day of your life” depending on how much he smoked.



Later on Tuesday’s show, Snoop and Rogen gave Harmeyer some more advice about what kind of cannabis to smoke while flipping through a menu that appears to be from the nation’s first marijuana cafe, operated by Lowell Farms in Los Angeles.



Snoop said that the producer should stick to a sativa “because it’s a little bit lighter and it’s more of an introduction.”

Rogen agreed that it should be a sativa, but he said the concentration of THC should be on the higher end “to make sure you actually feel something because you might not.”

“But again, one fucking hit,” the actor, who also owns a cannabis company called Houseplant, reiterated.

Rogen has also leveraged his marijuana stardom for philanthropic purposes, putting on an adult carnival where the plant was featured to raise money for research into Alzheimer’s disease.

He appeared at a congressional hearing in 2014 and joked that while people might expect him to advocate for marijuana reform before the Senate committee, he was actually there to promote research into the disease, which his mother-in-law suffers from.

More recently, Rogen participated in a PSA meant to raise awareness of National Expungement Week, a series of events that took place throughout the country last month meant to help people erase criminal convictions, including those for non-violent cannabis offenses, from their records.

Photo courtesy of YouTube/The Howard Stern Show.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/seth-ro ... consumers/

Black Market Marijuana Still Popular in States Where Pot is Legal, Exported to Other States
By Jeffery Martin On 10/9/19 at 8:27 PM EDT
Marijuana has been decriminalized in Rhode Island but, according to WPRI, federal agents have been investigating an illegal growing operation in the state since 2017. During the course of the investigation, authorities have seized over one thousand plants, approximately 400 pounds of processed marijuana and in excess of $250,000.

After properties were raided in the Vancouver, Washington area, state troopers and Vancouver police netted around 950 marijuana plants, 50 pounds of processed pot, three vehicles and three guns. One of the four men arrested in the raids allegedly sold pot by the pound on the street for $700, The Columbian reports.

Right now, medical marijuana is legal in 33 states while recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states. Yet, even in those states, black market marijuana is big business.

Pricenomics.com says that legal marijuana is still usually more expensive than weed purchased illegally. People in most states can save around 10 percent by purchasing marijuana on the black market. Grand Rapids, Michigan is noted for having black market weed average $160 less expensive than the average cost of $392.

According to KABC, California has 874 licensed dispensaries. Yet there are almost 3,000 illegal dispensaries in the state. These unlicensed stores could be selling a lower grade product.

"If you're a consumer and you can go somewhere and get 40 percent less price for what they think is the same product, you're going to go there," said the Executive Vice President of Project Cannabis, Cameron Wald.

marijuana, growing, black market, legal pot
Even where marijuana can be obtained legally, black market weed may still be less expensive. Getty
Confusion between legalization and decriminalization may also lead to people buying weed illegally, thinking they won't get in trouble.

Where marijuana has been legalized, consumers cannot receive a citation, be convicted or arrested for using the drug. That is dependent on state laws, says Market Watch.

Decriminalization, on the other hand, means that consumers may still be arrested, pursuant to state laws, depending on the amount of marijuana they possess.

Rhode Island considers possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a civil violation, carrying a fine of $150. After that, anything up to a kilogram of weed is a misdemeanor with a fine of $500 and up to one year in jail.

There is still no federal law allowing marijuana usage and it is considered a controlled substance.

While the legalization of marijuana in some states has been seen by many people as a boon, the market for illegal weed still exists. In May 2019, law enforcement raided 247 homes in Colorado, seizing more than 80,000 plants, said the Associated Press.

Colorado state law allows up to 12 marijuana plants per residence for personal use. Those arrested had gone over that limit and were allegedly exporting weed out of state.
https://www.newsweek.com/black-market-m ... es-1464273

[seemslikeadream]

ooopsy

The Sleazy Marijuana Plot Buried In The Explosive Indictment Of Giuliani’s Associates

TPM Illustration/Alexandria Sheriff's Office/Getty Images
By Kate Riga
|
October 10, 2019 12:19 pm
40
JOIN TPM FOR JUST $1
Before Rudy Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were trying to manipulate U.S.-Ukrainian politics to aid President Trump in 2020, they made time for a little side venture to allegedly rake in some green.

According to the explosive indictment dropped Thursday, the two, plus businessmen David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, allegedly funneled money from an unnamed foreign national to candidates for political office in Nevada who could change state laws about recreational marijuana licensing. The group intended to set up a recreational marijuana business and wanted to change licensing laws in multiple states to build the weed empire.

They wanted to conceal the identity of the foreign funder due to what Kukushkin allegedly described as “his Russian roots and current political paranoia about it,” per the indictment.

According to state election records, Fruman made donations to Nevada state candidates Adam Paul Laxalt and Wesley Karl Duncan, both Republicans. Laxalt, who received $10,000 from Fruman, ran unsuccessfully for governor of Nevada in 2018. Duncan, the recipient of another $10,000 donation, lost his 2018 election to be Attorney General of Nevada.



The gang allegedly planned to implement their scheme in both New York and Nevada and Correia drew up a table in September or October 2018 to estimate the amount of money they’d need to make inroads with the various state and federal political candidates. They calculated that to execute a “multi-state license strategy,” they would need between $1 and $2 million. The foreign funder wired two $500,000 deposits to a U.S. bank account controlled by Fruman and another unnamed individual, one on September 18 and one on October 16.

However, according to the indictment, the crew overlooked one small detail in their pot plot: the licensing application deadline in Nevada was back in September. By the point they started to put their plan into action, they were two months too late. The indictment alleges that they “did not timely apply for a recreational marijuana license in September 2018, the then-deadline for such applications in Nevada.”

On October 25, Kukushkin told the group that it looked like they were “2 months too late to the game unless we change the rules.” They would need to persuade a “particular Nevada State official,” in the indictment’s words, to give the “green light to implement this.”

The donations to Laxalt and Duncan, $10,000 each and made in Fruman’s name, were logged by the Nevada Secretary of State’s office on November 1, 2018.

Though the group allegedly continued to discuss the scheme into the Spring, the venture never came to fruition.

Soon after, Parnas and Fruman were traipsing around Kyiv as Giuliani tried to convince Ukrainians to manufacturing dirt on the Bidens and cast doubt on the origins of the U.S. investigation into election meddling in 2016. The President’s role in that effort has prompted Congress’ impeachment inquiry.

The two also funneled money to an unnamed congressman, suspected to be former Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who they hoped could help get rid of the Ukrainian ambassador and further Giuliani’s efforts.

Parnas and Fruman, alongside Correia and Kukushkin, were charged by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York on two counts of conspiracy, false statements to the FEC and falsifying records.

They are due in federal court in Virginia on Thursday.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mari ... ent-nevada

[seemslikeadream]

Sep 10, 2019, 05:46pm
Cannabis King: Boris Jordan, Chairman Of Curaleaf, Becomes The Only Pot Billionaire

Rachel Sandler Forbes Staff


Boris Jordan
Boris Jordan owns about a third of Curaleaf, a cannabis company based in Massachusetts. PHOTO BY ARSENY NESKHODYMOV FOR FORBES
Topline: Curaleaf chairman Boris Jordan is worth $1.1 billion, according to reporting from Forbes Russia, making him the only billionaire Forbes has identified whose fortune comes from the marijuana industry.

Massachusetts-based Curaleaf is the sixth most valuable cannabis company in the world and the largest retailer by market cap in the U.S., according to Cannabis Market Cap.
Jordan owns a 31% stake in Curaleaf.
He also has sizable investments in a number of European and Russian-based companies through Sputnik Group, a private equity firm he founded in 1998.
Jordan also founded Measure 8 Ventures, a firm focusing on investments in the pot industry.
Curaleaf owns and operates 48 medical marijuana dispensaries across 12 states, according to the company’s website, and aggressively entered the recreational market with recent acquisitions of cannabis companies Crua and Grassroots.
Jordan told financial news website Benzinga last year that he sees Curaleaf—which grows and processes its own marijuana—as the Starbucks of cannabis.
What we don’t know: How future regulation could impact the company. The company’s shares took a dive in July when the Federal Drug Administration issued a warning for selling CBD products with unsubstantiated medical claims.

Key Background: Jordan is an American citizen with Russian ancestry. After graduating from New York University, where he sits on the school’s board of trustees, he got his start in 1987 at the now-defunct investment firm Kidder Peabody. From there, he went on to lead Credit Suisse’s investment banking division First Boston in Russia, which was transforming its economy after the fall of the Soviet Union. He’s the chairman of both the Sputnik Group and Renaissance Insurance, one of the largest insurance companies in Russia.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsand ... 585ceb37dc

The owner of Renaissance Insurance, Boris Jordan, became one of the first Russian marijuana businessmen.

The names of some Russian businessmen who invest in marijuana have been revealed. Entrepreneurs try to disguise that aspect of their activities since cannabis containing psychoactive substances is prohibited in Russia.

“Russian businessmen have been developing their projects on the market for soft drugs for several years now,” Forbes writes. Thus, eight out of 25 investors admitted that they are either thinking about investing money in marijuana or are already doing it.

The owner of Renaissance Insurance, Boris Jordan, became one of the first Russian marijuana businessmen. He is a co-owner of Curaleaf, a company that produces goods in the United States, where marijuana use is partially permitted. Another co-owner of Curaleaf is the long-time partner of oligarch Roman Abramovich Andrei Bloch.

Andrei Kukushkin, the former vice-president of Renaissance Investment Management, has invested in US pharmacies selling marijuana. Then he spent in the cultivation of cannabis. By May 2019, his revenue reached $60 million. Another Russian businessman invested in the production of cannabis in Israel.

The production, storage, and distribution of marijuana are prohibited in Russia. Violation of the relevant articles of the Criminal Code entails imprisonment. For example, a drug dealer faces a life sentence for 27 kilograms of marijuana, which the security forces seized in Novosibirsk.
https://en.crimerussia.com/gromkie-dela ... marijuana/

[seemslikeadream]

As of 2019, legal cannabis has created 211,000 full-time jobs in America
Bruce Barcott
How many jobs are there in the legal cannabis industry? It’s a common question—and one the government refuses to answer.

Because cannabis remains federally illegal, employment data agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics ignore all jobs related to the industry.

Legal cannabis is the greatest job creation machine in America. Our employment data proves it.
That’s too bad, because they’re missing one of the most dramatic job booms in recent history.

Over the past three months Leafly’s data team, working in partnership with Whitney Economics, has gone state-by-state to tally the total number of direct, full-time jobs in the state-legal cannabis industry.

There are now more than 211,000 cannabis jobs across the United States. More than 64,000 of those jobs were added in 2018. That’s enough people to fill Chicago’s Soldier Field, with 3,000 more tailgating outside.

Legal cannabis is currently the greatest job-creation machine in America. The cannabis workforce increased 21% in 2017. It gained another 44% in 2018. We expect at least another 20% growth in jobs in 2019. That would represent a 110% growth in cannabis jobs in just three years.

Download the full report

Special Report: 2019 Cannabis Jobs Count is available only at Leafly. The main report offers a national overview of direct employment as well as indirect positions and jobs induced by the legal cannabis industry. We also offer data about tax revenue in legal states, growth predictions for 2019, salary ranges for the most in-demand cannabis jobs, and tips on getting hired. The report’s appendix offers a state-by-state analysis of market size, growth, and job numbers.


Click to download the full report.
Growth compared to what?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently compiled a list of the industries with the fastest-growing employment figures. Opportunities for home health care aides are expected to grow 47%. Openings for wind turbine technicians are expected to increase 96%. The need for solar voltaic installers is expected to grow 105%. Those gains are projected to happen over the course of 10 years.

Here’s the incredible thing: The 110% growth in cannabis jobs will have happened over just three years.

Federal job counters won’t tell you that. We just did.

These states are booming

Some states that have had legal adult-use cannabis sales for a while now—Colorado and Washington opened their stores in 2014—are just now seeing the growth in cannabis jobs start to plateau.

Meanwhile, newly legal states, such as Florida (medical) and Nevada (adult use), are experiencing cannabis job booms with eye-popping gains:

Florida grew its cannabis employment by 703% in 2018, adding more than 9,000 full-time jobs.
Nevada added more than 7,500 jobs during that same year.
Pennsylvania ended 2017 with around 90 cannabis jobs. It ended the 2018 with nearly 3,900.
New York grew its cannabis employment by 278%, ending 2018 with more than 5,000 jobs.
Download the state-by-state analysis


Click to download Leafly’s state-by-state analysis.
Who’s hiring in 2019

California, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Florida, and Arkansas are seeking talent—and they need it now.

California’s cannabis hiring remained relatively flat in 2018 due to the disruption caused by the changeover from an unregulated medical system to a licensed, regulated markets for medical and adult use. But we expect cannabis jobs in the Golden State to increase by 21% in 2019. In raw numbers, that means 10,261 jobs with good salaries, benefits, and opportunity for advancement are waiting to be filled.
In Massachusetts, the state’s adult-use market is just getting underway. We expect more than 9,500 jobs to be added in the next 12 months.
Florida should add more than 5,000 jobs in 2019, bringing the state’s total cannabis employment to around 15,000.
Oklahoma is the Wild West of cannabis right now. There were zero cannabis jobs one year ago. Now there are 2,107. A year from now, we expect there to be 4,407.
Arkansas is just getting its medical marijuana program underway, but there’s room for growth: from 135 jobs now to 960 jobs by the end of the year.
How to land a job

All this week, Leafly will roll out a series of articles about working in the cannabis industry: where the growth is, what it’s like to work in the cannabis industry, and how to crush that job interview and bring an offer home.

Leafly Senior Editor Bruce Barcott oversees news, investigations, and feature projects. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and author of Weed the People: The Future of Legal Marijuana in America.

View Bruce Barcott's articles
https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/le ... eport-2019

[seemslikeadream]

Bernie Sanders wants to pile $50 billion from legal marijuana tax revenue into business grants
Jacob Pramuk
Published Thu, Oct 24 20194:20 PM EDT

Bernie Sanders aims to legalize marijuana nationally and use tax money from sales to boost business creation and economic development in areas disproportionately hit by current drug laws.

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and independent senator from Vermont released his plan Thursday, before the Friday start of a three-day forum on criminal justice at Benedict College, a historically black college in the early primary state of South Carolina. Sanders and a handful of his Democratic rivals, along with President Donald Trump, will speak at the event.

The senator says he will take executive action directing the Justice Department to declassify marijuana as a controlled substance in his first 100 days in office, then work to pass a bill making legalization permanent.
Sanders plans to review all federal and state marijuana convictions and expunge past convictions.
He also aims to put $50 billion in tax money generated from marijuana sales into four pools of grants to invest in “communities hit hardest by the War on Drugs, especially African-American and other communities of color,” according to the proposal released by his campaign.
The measure also includes Sanders’ trademark pledges to limit corporate influence, as his campaign says the senator “will not allow marijuana to turn into Big Tobacco.” The plan would bar products targeting young people and include market share and franchise limits “to prevent consolidation and profiteering,” among other provisions, according to the proposal.
“We’re going to legalize marijuana and end the horrifically destructive war on drugs,” Sanders said in a statement. “It has disproportionately targeted people of color and ruined the lives of millions of Americans. When we’re in the White House, we’re going to end the greed and corruption of the big corporations and make sure that Americans hit hardest by the war on drugs will be the first to benefit from legalization.”

Marijuana legalization has garnered more public support in recent years: a Gallup poll this week found two-thirds, or 66%, of Americans support making the substance legal. Only 30% of those surveyed oppose it.


Eleven states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana use. Meanwhile, 33 states and Washington, D.C., have approved some kind of medical marijuana program.

Many Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike have increasingly cited the disproportionate damage enforcement of drug laws has done to communities of color, tying marijuana legalization to broader efforts to make the criminal justice system more fair. The vast majority of the 18 Democrats who aim to challenge Trump for the White House next year have backed federal marijuana legalization.

In February, Sen. Cory Booker — a New Jersey Democrat and presidential candidate — reintroduced a bill he co-authored called the “Marijuana Justice Act.” Sanders’ plan shares many of the planks of Booker’s bill, including investment in communities most affected by drug law enforcement.

At the time, Sanders and three of Booker’s other rivals for the Democratic nomination — Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California and Michael Bennet of Colorado — co-sponsored the legislation.

Among the other top contenders for the nomination, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has called for legalization. Former Vice President Joe Biden wants to remove marijuana as a controlled substance and let states decide whether to legalize it.

Under Sanders’ plan, the $50 billion in investment would cover several areas. The biggest chunk, $20 billion, would go toward a grant program for “entrepreneurs of color who continue to face discrimination in access to capital,” according to the campaign.

The proposal would put $10 billion toward grants for businesses majority owned by individuals in areas disproportionately hit by drug law enforcement or who have been arrested or convicted of marijuana-related offenses. It would allocate another $10 billion to help those individuals start farms or growing operations.

The final $10 billion would go toward an economic and community development fund.

Along with the controls to prevent industry consolidation, the Sanders plan would also bar tobacco companies from getting into the marijuana business.

The Sanders plan did not include a proposed tax rate for legal marijuana sales or an estimate for annual revenue raised. A study released last year by New Frontier Data estimated legal marijuana nationwide would generate about $132 billion in tax revenue over a decade. It based the figures on a 15% retail sales tax along with other business-related taxes, according to The Washington Post.

Sanders, who has typically ranked among the top three 2020 primary candidates in national and state primary polls, has said he has only tried marijuana a few times himself. Earlier this year, he told “The Breakfast Club” radio show that it “didn’t do a whole lot for me,” according to Politico.

“My recollection is I nearly coughed my brains out, so it’s not my cup of tea,” he said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/24/bernie- ... imary.html

[seemslikeadream]

A black entrepreneur plans to front marijuana dispensary application fees for 100 social equity candidates
Here’s how you can apply for no- or low-interest loans to cover the $2,500 state fee offered by Bronzeville businessman Seke Ballard.

Tom Schuba
Oct 28, 2019, 10:36am CDT

Seke Ballard, co-founder and CEO of Good Tree Capital, is offering loans to 100 social equity applicants applying for marijuana dispensary licenses.
Provided photo
UPDATE: Good Tree has extended the deadline to apply until Nov. 15.

A Chicago entrepreneur is offering up $250,000 in loans to 100 social equity applicants hoping to win licenses to operate recreational pot shops in Illinois.

Fearing that people of color will be “grossly underrepresented in the applicant pool,” Seke Ballard, 35, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he plans to offer selected companies and individuals no-or low-interest loans to cover the $2,500 application fee for dispensary licenses.

“We’re not going to wait on the state [and] we’re not going to wait on the city,” said Ballard, the founder of Seattle-based Good Tree Capital, a startup that lends money to small cannabis firms. “We are going to make sure that at least 100 social equity applicants have the support and knowledge they need to submit complete, compelling applications.”

Good Tree will finance application fees for the first round of licenses offered to companies and individuals that don’t already have an interest in the state’s pot industry. The applications will be accepted between Dec. 10 and Jan. 2 — a day after sales of recreational marijuana kick off statewide — and up to 75 conditional dispensary licenses will be issued by May 1, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Individuals will get an edge by qualifying as social equity applicants if they’ve lived for five of the past 10 years in an area that’s been disproportionately impacted by past drug policies or have been arrested for or convicted of a minor pot offense. Additionally, employers will qualify if the majority of their workforce meets those criteria.

Some social equity applicants can also qualify for waivers from the state to cover half of their application fees. To qualify for a loan from Good Tree, applicants must fill out a form online to confirm they meet the qualifications before Nov. 15.

“We’re going to provide you with the capital,” Ballard said. “We expect to be paid back, but we’re not trying to make a profit off of you. We just want to make sure you’ve got the resources you need.”

FILE - In this July 1, 2017, file photo, a person buys marijuana at the Essence cannabis dispensary in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) ORG XMIT: LA538
Good Tree Capital is offering loans to 100 social equity applicants applying for recreational marijuana dispensary licenses in Illinois
AP Photos
Guided by self-reliance

Ballard’s entrepreneurial spirit can be traced back to his sleepy hometown of Leland, North Carolina, where his father ran a logging company and other businesses. He recalls a simple lesson his father instilled in him at young age: “No one will ever pay you your worth.”

Guided by that message of self-reliance, Ballard struck out on his own.

After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Republic of Georgia and later earned his masters in business administration from Harvard University. Then, for years, he worked for a pair of monolithic corporations, Procter & Gamble and Amazon.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Ballard heeded his father’s advice to start his own business. That’s when he cashed in his shares of Amazon stock, moved to Chicago from Seattle and developed Good Tree at the 1871 tech incubator.

Driven to act by the lack of banking options for cannabis firms, Ballard built the crowdsourced funding platform to offer loans to licensed cannabis firms, many of which are led by minority entrepreneurs in five states — California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Massachusetts.

Good Tree has however shifted its focus “almost exclusively to Illinois,” according to Ballard, who now lives in Bronzeville. Despite lauding the equity provisions laid out in the state pot law, Ballard has concerns about the rollout.

During one informational session hosted by Good Tree, many of the 50 qualifying applicants in attendance were unaware of the provisions in the legalization law that were specifically written to benefit them. He said he was shocked to learn that no one knew about a state-run business development fund that could provide them with grants, loans and technical assistance.

Ballard worries the poor communication by state officials could end up making it hard to reach the law’s social equity goals and result in a “failure across the board.”

“I feel like I’m sort of alone on an island waving a red flag and hoping someone sees that danger is approaching,” he said. “And to me, danger looks like Jan. 1.”
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/10/28 ... ial-equity

Sales of marijuana edibles up in at least four states in wake of vape health scare
Published 5 hours ago | By Margaret Jackson

The vaping health crisis apparently has been good for the marijuana edibles sector, a sign that consumers are funneling more money into infused products instead of vaporizers.

Since the first vape-related death was reported in August, retail sales of edibles have climbed steadily in four states while those of vaping products have declined, though the vaporizer market appears to be stabilizing – and even rising – in all but Washington.


And while edibles manufacturers say they’re not seeing a dramatic impact on sales yet, marijuana retailers are reporting that sales of infused products are up since the beginning of the vaping health scare that has sickened more than 1,600 people and killed about three dozen in 49 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to data provided by Seattle-based Headset, the share of cannabis sales captured by edibles has increased steadily through Oct. 6 since the first vaping death was reported Aug. 23:

Colorado: 15%, up from 12.7%.
Nevada: 14.9%, up from 10.9%.
California: 13.6%, up from 10.9%
Washington: 10.6%, up from 8.9%.
New accounts for edibles makers

During the week of Oct. 13 alone, Manzanita Naturals landed six new retail accounts, which will bump monthly sales up by about $30,000, said Andrew Amend, CEO of the San Francisco-based maker of all-natural, THC-infused craft sodas.

“People are starting to wake up and ask questions about what’s in their product,” Amend said. “Stores in San Francisco are dumping their vape cartridges and preparing for a ban and talking to me about beverages now.”

Denver-based Binske, which makes both edibles and vape pens, is ramping up production of its edibles products – even though it hasn’t yet noticed an increase in demand.

“Customers are starting to ask more questions and be more concerned about the products,” said Alex Pasternack, Binske’s executive vice president. “But the trickle-down effect hasn’t gotten to the brands yet.”

Vape sales decline

Meanwhile, sales of vape products in the same four markets have shown a marked decline since Aug. 23, though they appear to be back on the rise in California and Nevada.

In Colorado, vape products accounted for 19.4% of marijuana sales on Aug. 23 but had dropped to 12.4% of sales by the week of Sept. 23. By Oct. 6, vape sales had climbed back to 13.9%.

Sales of Coda Signature’s edibles have risen, but it’s difficult to say whether that is tied to the vaping health scare because the company’s sales have increased every month since it launched in 2015.

The company, based in Denver and Trinidad, Colorado, recently launched in California, where 105 dispensaries signed up to sell its products within 45 days of entering the market Sept. 9 – just 18 days after the first vape death was reported. Coda products are available at 630 Colorado retailers.

“In our concentrates, we’re seeing a little flattening,” said Mark Grindeland, co-founder and CEO of Coda Signature, which makes edibles, concentrates used in vape products and topical items. “Fortunately, we’re not just a vape company.”

Grindeland worries that the vape health scare will perpetuate the stigma the cannabis industry is striving to overcome as people further question the safety of marijuana products.

“As we look at vapes, everybody in the industry should be concerned,” Grindeland said.

Education is key

Andy Singh, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based vaporizer company Nuvata, said sales have been stagnant in the roughly 20 stores where the company’s pens are sold.

Still, the company is striving to increase its footprint and anticipates its products being sold by at least 40 retailers by the end of the year.

“We’ve gotten into about 10 stores – maybe more – since the vape crisis started,” Singh said.

“We continue to educate consumers and not allow them to associate the regulated cannabis vape brands with the brands they’re seeing on the news.”

Margaret Jackson can be reached at margaretj@mjbizdaily.com

https://mjbizdaily.com/sales-of-marijua ... lth-scare/

128 Million People About to Gain Access to Legal Pot: What It Means for Marijuana Stocks
Mexico is very close to opening a huge new legal recreational pot market. But the news might not be as great for marijuana stocks as you think.

Keith Speights
Oct 27, 2019 at 7:00AM
Author Bio
Right now, around 41 million people have access to recreational marijuana that's legal at a federal level. Two countries have legalized recreational pot -- Canada and Uruguay. We can't include the millions of Americans who live in the 11 states that have legalized recreational marijuana in our total since marijuana remains illegal at the federal level in the United States.

But very soon another 128 million or so people will gain access to legal marijuana. Legislators in Mexico are finalizing regulations to make marijuana legal. The legislative effort came after the country's Supreme Court ruled last year that Mexico's ban on recreational pot was unconstitutional.

The time is rapidly approaching for the federally legal global marijuana market to more than quadruple. What does this mean for marijuana stocks?

A group of people holding Mexican flags with the sun rising in the background
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

What's in the draft legislation
At least for now, Mexico's regulations for legalized marijuana aren't finalized. However, a document on the Mexican Senate's website appears to be the draft legislation that's potentially on the road to approval. This document outlines several key aspects of the country's plans for legalizing marijuana.

Perhaps most importantly, a new entity called the Mexican Cannabis Institute would be created to oversee the implementation of marijuana legalization in the country. This institute must be established by Jan. 1, 2021, at the latest. With this relatively lengthy period for the Mexican Cannabis Institute to be up and running, it could take longer for marijuana to be legalized than many anticipated when the Mexican Supreme Court made its ruling last year.

One key function for the Mexican Cannabis Institute is to issue licenses for four types of businesses: cultivation, sale, transformation, import/export of cannabis. But there are a few catches with these licenses.

A single entity won't be able to hold more than one license for a given type. In other words, vertical integration where one company is involved in cannabis cultivation and retail sales won't be allowed.

However, one entity can have multiple licenses within a single type, with the institute to establish the maximum number of licenses permitted with the exception of retail licenses -- the proposed legislation includes a maximum limit of three. Importantly, the draft regulations don't allow licenses to be transferred in any way.

In addition, the kinds of products allowed to be sold will be limited. Cannabis-infused beverages and edibles won't be allowed in the recreational market but are permissible as medical products. Cannabis cosmetic products won't be allowed, either.

Mexican standoff?
These proposed rules appear to present some major obstacles for major Canadian or U.S. cannabis producers in expanding into the Mexican market. Winning in Mexico could prove to be very difficult.

The limitation on vertical integration will probably be especially disappointing for U.S.-based companies. Two of the biggest U.S. cannabis companies, Cresco Labs (OTC:CRLBF) and Green Thumb Industries (OTC:GTBIF), play up their vertical integration.

Both companies, along with well-known U.S. cannabis retailer MedMen (OTC:MMNFF), also have business models that rely on owning and operating a relatively large number of retail stores. But Mexico's proposed limit of the number of retail licenses to only three per license holder would mean that significant retail operations are out of the question.

Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) surely hoped to be able to launch cannabis-infused beverages in the Mexican market. But the restriction of these products for only medical use is likely to throw a wet blanket on any plans along these lines.

And none of the big Canadian or U.S. companies will be able to buy their way into the Mexican marijuana market after licenses are granted. The prohibition on transferring licenses ensures that this won't be a viable option.


Potential winners
Still, there are some marijuana stocks that could be winners when the large Mexican marijuana market opens for business. I'd put Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) at the top of the list.

Aurora acquired Farmacias Magistrales S.A. last year. Farmacias was the first federally licensed importer of cannabis containing THC in Mexico. You can bet that it will try to secure licenses in the new legal marijuana market that's on the way and will probably have a good chance of winning at least one license.

Canopy Growth could also still have a good shot at the Mexican market. The company already has significant Latin American operations in Colombia and Peru. Canopy has hinted in the past that it was keeping a close eye on developments in Mexico. Look for the company to make a move when the country's regulations permit.

But with the limitations that appear to be on the way, it seems clear that Mexico doesn't want its legal recreational marijuana market to be dominated by companies from other countries. Don't count on the quadrupling of the legal recreational marijuana opportunity resulting from Mexican legalization to dramatically change the fortunes for Aurora and Canopy Growth anytime soon.

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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

This Marijuana Stock Could be Like Buying Amazon for $3.19
A little-known Canadian company just unlocked what some experts think could be the key to profiting off the coming marijuana boom.

And make no mistake – it is coming.

Cannabis legalization is sweeping over North America – 10 states plus Washington, D.C., have all legalized recreational marijuana over the last few years, and full legalization came to Canada in October 2018.

And one under-the-radar Canadian company is poised to explode from this coming marijuana revolution.

Because a game-changing deal just went down between the Ontario government and this powerhouse company...and you need to hear this story today if you have even considered investing in pot stocks.

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STOCKS
Canopy Growth Corp. Stock Quote
Canopy Growth Corp.
NYSE:CGC
$22.08 up $0.16 (0.73%)
Aurora Cannabis Inc. Stock Quote
Aurora Cannabis Inc.
NYSE:ACB
$3.79 down $0.01 (-0.13%)
Cresco Labs Inc. Stock Quote
Cresco Labs Inc.
OTC:CRLBF
$6.50 down $0.05 (-0.76%)
Green Thumb Industries Stock Quote
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Better Buy: Canopy Growth vs. Constellation Brands
You could own a piece of the largest legal marijuana company, or hedge your bets by taking a stake in its biggest investor.

Jeremy Bowman
Jeremy Bowman
(TMFHobo)
Oct 28, 2019 at 11:05AM
Author Bio
For investors seeking to profit from the legal marijuana industry, the choice between Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) and Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) presents a unique conundrum. Since the Corona distributor owns about 40% of the Canadian pot grower, deciding between the two is essentially a question of whether you'd rather own a piece of a pure-play marijuana business or a diversified alcohol company that also has significant exposure to the marijuana industry.

As you can see from the chart below, while Canopy has had some more pronounced ups and downs, both stocks are trading below where they were on Aug. 15, 2018, when Constellation announced it was upping its stake in Canopy to 38%. But where do they stand, today, and which one now holds more potential to reward shareholders?

STZ Chart

STZ DATA BY YCHARTS

Losing that high
Marijuana stocks widely have fallen since Canada legalized pot for recreational use a little more than a year ago. In typical buy-the-rumor/sell-the-news fashion, high hopes and valuations have run up against hard realities, with a number of sector headwinds including regulatory issues and accounting errors coming into play. Canopy is no exception -- its stock is down 57% since Oct. 17, 2018.

Nonetheless, in its latest earnings report, Canopy continued to show off strong growth. Net revenue jumped 249% to 90.4 million Canadian dollars as dried cannabis sales in the Canadian recreational market increased 94% sequentially, demonstrating that Canopy is quickly penetrating its home market.

A little plastic bag with a marijuana nugget on it
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Other metrics pointed to its rapid growth, including 183% sequential growth in kilograms harvested. However, the company is still clearly in its high-growth investment phase, as it posted an operating loss of $123 million.

Earlier this year, Canopy also ousted co-CEO Bruce Linton, who had done much of the work that built the company. Among other things, he forged brand partnerships and secured the deal with Constellation. His removal was a sign that its losses had gotten deeper than some investors, including Constellation, could stomach.

Canopy has long been the largest pot company by market cap, but it faces the same fundamental challenges that many of its peers do -- differentiating itself and its products in a commoditized industry, and ultimately turning a profit. Though its Tweed brand is well recognized, Canopy, like the rest of the pot industry, still represents a significant risk. While the company's valuation seems more reasonable after the recent slide, it's still likely to burn cash for the foreseeable future as it expands. Considering the recent negativity in the sector, it may be hard for Canopy to bounce back until investor sentiments change broadly, or a catalyst like progress on U.S. legalization comes along.

A bucket of beers against an ocean background
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

The stars look out of alignment
Like Canopy, Constellation was once a big winner for shareholders. Its shares marched higher from 2012 to 2018, gaining nearly 1,000% following the company's acquisition of the distribution rights to the Modelo Group's beers in the U.S. With clever marketing and an expansion of the line, which includes Corona, sales and profits surged.

However, its more recent moves haven't had the same type of effects. The blockbuster Canopy deal that cost it about $4 billion has thus far been a bust, and its acquisition of Ballast Point to move into the craft beer space has led to writedowns. The company also sold several discount wine brands as part of a strategy to focus itself on premium beverages.

In its second quarter (the most recently reported one), Constellation's beer business continued to show solid growth, with revenue and operating income up in the high-single-digit percentages, but overall growth was essentially flat due to the loss of business resulting from the sale of those lower-end wine brands to E.J. Gallo. Revenue increased just 2% to $2.34 billion, and adjusted operating income was up 1% to $792 million.

Earnings per share are also expected to fall slightly from $9.28 in 2018 to a range of $9 to $9.20 this year.

Considering that its beer business, which produces the majority of its sales, remains in good shape, Constellation should be in a better position after it completes the realignment of its wine and spirits segment, though headwinds from its Canopy stake could persist.


What's the better buy?
The biggest difference between these two stocks lies in their valuations. Constellation is a stable, profitable company, trading at a price-earnings ratio of around 20, which is near the market average. Canopy, on the other hand, is losing money and still has significant growth priced in, meaning it's only suitable for risk-seeking investors, and its volatility is likely to continue.

The possibility that marijuana could be legalized federally in the U.S. offers an intriguing opportunity for both companies. That scenario would give their partnership the greatest opportunity to succeed, as the two could jointly develop and market cannabis-infused beverages. U.S. legalization would also trigger Canopy's acquisition of Acreage Holdings, which would significantly increase its capacity.

However, U.S. legalization does not look imminent. Nothing is likely to happen at the federal level as long as Republicans control the White House and Senate, and momentum in the states also seems to have stalled, with attempts to legalize recreational pot in New York and New Jersey faltering as lawmakers found themselves unable to reach consensus on the details.

Given that climate, and the general negativity about pot stocks at the moment, Constellation looks like the better stock buy. Its steady profits put a floor under its share price, and it is in position to profit from any progress on U.S. marijuana legalization. While Canopy would also have significant upside potential in that scenario, it comes with much greater risk.

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[seemslikeadream]

The Most Potent Cannabis Flowers Revealed by Advanced Microscopy
By University of British Columbia October 28, 2019

Finola with Frostlike Trichomes
Finola with frostlike trichomes. Credit: Samuels Lab/UBC
The frostier the marijuana flower, the more potent the cannabis: Advanced microscopy reveals internal structures of cannabis biochemical factories.

Cannabis flowers with the most mushroom-shaped hairs pack the biggest cannabinoid and fragrance punch, according to new research from the University of British Columbia.

While the cannabis leaf is iconic, it’s the chemicals produced by the tiny, frostlike hairs on cannabis flowers that give the plant its psychoactive and medicinal properties and distinctive smell.

In a study published in The Plant Journal, UBC researchers have revealed the unique structures and chemical outputs of the different types of hairs, or glandular trichomes, for the first time.

Their findings confirm what many cannabis connoisseurs have long suspected: that the largest, mushroom-shaped stalked glandular trichomes are the richest source of THC- and CBD-forming metabolites and fragrance-giving terpenes.

Multi-Photon Microscopy Image of Stalked Glandular Trichome
Multi-photon microscopy image of stalked glandular trichome. Credit: Samuels Lab/UBC
“Despite its high economic value, our understanding of the biology of the cannabis plant is still in its infancy due to restricted legal access,” said co-lead author Teagen Quilichini, a postdoctoral fellow at UBC botany and Anandia Laboratories Inc. “Trichomes are the biochemical factories of the cannabis plant and this study is the foundation for understanding how they make and store their valuable products.”

Previous research had identified three types of glandular trichomes based on their appearance – bulbous, sessile and stalked – but their relative contributions to the chemical production of cannabis flowers were unknown.

For this study, the UBC researchers used a combination of advanced microscope techniques and chemical profiling to examine the internal structures and development of individual trichomes in a fast-flowering hemp variety of Cannabis sativa called ‘Finola.’

They found that under ultraviolet light, the stalked trichomes emitted a bright blue color and contained a large, distinctive pie-shaped disc of cells. The smaller sessile trichomes, which do not have a stalk, emitted a red color, had smaller secretory discs, and produced fewer fragrant terpenes.

Different Types of Glandular Trichomes
Left to Right: Stalked, sessile and bulbous glandular trichomes of cannabis plant. Credit: Samuels Lab/UBC
“We saw that stalked glandular trichomes have expanded “cellular factories” to make more cannabinoids and fragrant terpenes,” said co-lead author Sam Livingston, a Ph.D. candidate at UBC botany. “We also found that they grow from sessile-like precursors and undergo a dramatic shift during development that can be visualized using new microscopy tools.

As a result, Livingston explains, UV light could be used to monitor trichome maturity on flowers and inform optimal harvest times.

The researchers also conducted a gene expression analysis to investigate how instructions in trichome DNA are converted into the plant’s biochemical products. They found that the stalked trichomes in Finola were strongly geared towards making cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and terpenes.

“We found a treasure trove of genes that support the production of cannabinoids and terpenes,” said principal investigator Anne Lacey Samuels, a botany professor at UBC. “With further investigation, this could be used to produce desirable traits like more productive marijuana strains or strains with specific cannabinoid and terpene profiles using molecular genetics and conventional breeding techniques.”

Next, the researchers will investigate how trichomes export and store the metabolites they produce.

“Trichomes store the metabolites in their cell walls,” said Livingston. “And what’s really astounding is that such high levels of product should be toxic to the cells, so we want to understand how they manage this.”

###

Reference: “Cannabis glandular trichomes alter morphology and metabolite content during flower maturation” by Samuel J. Livingston, Teagen D. Quilichini, Judith K. Booth, Darren C. J. Wong, Kim H. Rensing, Jessica Laflamme-Yonkman, Simone D. Castellarin, Joerg Bohlmann, Jonathan E. Page and A. Lacey Samuels, 30 August 2019, The Plant Journal.
DOI: 10.1111/tpj.14516

The research was funded by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and a MITACS Elevate postdoctoral fellowship, in partnership with Anandia Laboratories.

[seemslikeadream]

Women of weed rise high in Philly
by Sam Wood and Erin Arvedlund, Updated: October 30, 2019- 5:00 AM

MIGUEL MARTINEZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
One area woman has received $3.5 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health to study aspects of marijuana. Another is a former martial arts athlete who ran an erotic boutique before seguing into CBD products. And a third is a former Top Chef contestant who infuses marijuana in her food and aims to write a cookbook.
Cannabusiness is attracting women of all backgrounds, from millennials to boomers, from private equity hotshots and serial entrepreneurs to planners of underground pot parties.
EDITOR'S PICKS
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As farmers flock to hemp, Amish and ‘English’ in Pennsylvania foresee real profits
Is there “pink-washing” in marijuana, where male-owned businesses use women as cover on an application? Probably. But nevertheless, women persist.
The Inquirer is profiling women who have started businesses or are active in the field of recreational and medical marijuana. Pennsylvania and New Jersey both award medical marijuana licenses, among 33 states that have done so, and there have been proposals in both states to broadly legalize recreational use.

It’s not just marijuana that is opening up business opportunities. Hemp, marijuana’s cousin and the source of the nonintoxicating CBD, was grown in Pennsylvania for more than 260 years as a valuable cash crop until it was banned in the 1930s. Hemp production became legal for research in 2014, and now is legal to farm across the United States. Researchers are exploring the plant’s potential to suppress weeds, add diversity to crop rotations, and boost farmers’ bottom lines.
Christina Visco, owner and CEO, TerraVida Holistic Centers

Christine Visco, 48, of Conshohocken, President/COO of Terra Vida Holistic Center. "There are no women in weed," Visco said. "Women just need to get out there. Women have a huge opportunity in this business."
TYGER WILLIAMS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Christine Visco, 48, of Conshohocken, President/COO of Terra Vida Holistic Center. "There are no women in weed," Visco said. "Women just need to get out there. Women have a huge opportunity in this business."
Chris Visco is Pennsylvania’s dominant retailer of medical marijuana. The mother of three is the cofounder and CEO of TerraVida Holistic Centers, with three cannabis dispensaries scattered across the Philadelphia suburbs, and the largest legal weed dealer in the Keystone State.
TerraVida sells between 30 and 40 pounds of marijuana flower a week through each of its three locations. Visco employs 130 full-time workers.


“There are very few women in weed,” said Visco, one of the most high-profile names in Pennsylvania’s marijuana industry, male or female. She’s hoping other women will join her in the business, although she acknowledges it requires serious capital.
“Women need to raise their own money and put their face on the business. Right now, we’re one of the the only women-owned [marijuana] businesses in the state. We got investors, but we made sure to retain control," Visco said.
And there is pink-washing going on, she alleges. “Some men put their wife’s name on the application” for a marijuana businesses that isn’t truly female-owned or -operated.
“It’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Visco, a native of Conshohocken and a retail guru who was mentored by the president of Boscov’s. She has said she wants to be known as “the Al Boscov of cannabis.”
What would she advise other women thinking of getting into marijuana as an industry?
“Do it, but be aware of the challenges. Make sure to get private investors, venture capital and angel investors, and have a strong financial plan.”
Business runs in her blood. Visco’s grandmother started a plastics company in Trevose, and “she gave me little jobs as a kid in the back office.”
And be prepared to do a lot of your own marketing, she adds.


“I personally appear at all kinds of events in the community.” She’ll be speaking next on Nov. 12 at the KleinLife center at 7763 Old York Rd., Elkins Park.
Lindy Snider, financier, founder Treehouse Global Ventures
Lindy Snider, co-founder Treehouse Global Ventures and founder of LindiSkin.
COURTESY OF LINDY SNIDER

Lindy Snider, co-founder Treehouse Global Ventures and founder of LindiSkin.
Snider is considered Philadelphia’s first-mover in cannabis investments. She became interested in the business of medical cannabis while she developed LindiSkin skincare products. It was while studying available treatments for cancer patients, she said, that she saw a need to develop best practices for an industry hampered by a dearth of science-based research.
Snider was at the vanguard of the legal cannabis expansion in Pennsylvania. She has been actively investing since the days when medical cannabis was legalized in only a handful of states. She co-founded Treehouse Global Ventures investment firm and also is involved with the Arcview Group, Greenhouse Ventures, and Manna Capital; property-focused Stem Holdings; Kind Financial, which provides banking services to cannabis businesses; And companies such as Lenitiv Scientific, founded by Montel Williams.

Her philanthropic endeavors include serving as the chair of Athletes for Care, a nonprofit founded by pro athletes who advocate for cannabis research and education, and working with the Entrepreneurship and Social Impact Initiative to foster diversity in the cannabis industry.
Her advice to women entering the cannabis space: "Stay focused. The cannabis industry isn’t one industry. It’s 100 industries, no different than the rest of the business world. It's agriculture, retail, branding, technology, insurance, legal. Focus on one sector."
Also, cannabusiness prides itself on being socially conscious, and keeping women and minority access top of mind, Snider said. “Women and minorities are recognized as untapped and needed as a resource. There’s a great opportunity right now.” That said, the ratio of women founders to men in cannabis is probably still around 20%, which needs improvement, Snider added.
Cherron Perry-Thomas, economy developer
Cherron Perry-Thomas, co-founder of the Diasporic Alliance for Cannabis Opportunities.
HEATHER KHALIFA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Cherron Perry-Thomas, co-founder of the Diasporic Alliance for Cannabis Opportunities.
Cherron Perry-Thomas, co-founder of the Diasporic Alliance for Cannabis Opportunities (DACO), is spreading the word. “DACO was created to promote awareness,” said the Germantown marketing executive. “You have a lot of marginalized communities that are not aware of the legal space and the economic opportunities happening in cannabis.”
Perry-Thomas and co-founder Desiree Ivy launched DACO last year with a conference at Temple University that attracted over 800 people. “That showed us that there’s a lot of smart people who want this information. A demographic survey showed that 75% of the attendees were college-educated and 65% made $75,000 or more a year.”
Perry-Thomas said her desire for social impact drives her passion for the nascent marijuana industry. “How can we take this business and revenues from this industry and put it somewhere where it can make a larger social difference, especially in population centers that have been devastated by the War on Drugs?”
She teaches aspiring entrepreneurs what questions to ask. “It’s about more than ‘how can we make money,’” she said. “It’s about showing people how we can create intergenerational health.”
Maria Rodale, adviser to Treehouse and Rodale Institute
Maria Rodale, former chairman and CEO of Rodale Inc., now on the advisory board of Treehouse Global Ventures and Rodale Institute.
COURTESY OF MARIA RODALE

Maria Rodale, former chairman and CEO of Rodale Inc., now on the advisory board of Treehouse Global Ventures and Rodale Institute.
Maria Rodale was chairman and CEO of Rodale Inc., which published Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, Runner’s World, Bicycling and other magazines before it was sold to Hearst in 2017.
Now she’s joined the advisory board of Treehouse Global Ventures, working with Snider and others in the cannabis investment space. She recommends watching Grass Is Greener, a Netflix documentary about the history of marijuana and the targeting of African Americans during the War on Drugs.
“While I myself am not a big proponent of the use of cannabis for recreation, I’m very interested in its medicinal uses and hemp for farmers," she said. "As a publisher. I saw the double-edged sword of the pharma industry up close. I’m very interested in the power of plants and organic remedies in partnership with medicine. But if you’re going to pick between Vicodin and oxycontin or smoking a joint, for God’s sake smoke the joint.”
“Hemp was one of the most important crops around the world."
Maria Rodale
Treehouse invests in hemp, cannabis, and CBD companies that preferably support women and minorities, Rodale said. “This industry today reminds me of the early days of organics and the vitamin industry. There are a lot of players, some credible, some not at all. There’s no clear regulations, and the research is still just in its infancy.”
She is also a current board member of the Rodale Institute, a nonprofit agricultural research organization near Kutztown, Pa., now researching hemp as a crop.
“Hemp was one of the most important crops around the world," she said. “Then it was banned, and we’ve become a culture of corn and soy, which is overproduced and unnecessary.” Luckily, she noted, hemp was made legal to grow in the U.S. last year.
Kristal Bush, StayLyfted.co

Kristal Bush, founder of StayLyfted.co, hosts pop-up marijuana branding parties around Greater Philadelphia and consults for start-ups.
COURTESY OF KRISTAL BUSH
Kristal Bush, founder of StayLyfted.co, hosts pop-up marijuana branding parties around Greater Philadelphia and consults for start-ups.
Kristal Bush, 30-year-old founder of StayLyfted.co, hosts pop-up pot parties around Philadelphia every month. Profiled by her alma mater, Temple, in its “30 Under 30” alumnae magazine feature, Bush also refers patients to doctors including Michael McCoy on Germantown Avenue and Medicinally Jointed on Broad Street in Center City.
“I’m excited about the new [legalization] bill in the state. I host pop-ups at secret locations. It’s older, younger people. I encourage people to go get their medical marijuana cards for their treatment. If you have lupus or cancer, you can’t buy weed off the street, you need to go to a dispensary. You know what you’re getting and learn about the science” of cannabis. Her next party is Nov. 30, by invitation only from info@staylyfted.co.
A Wynnefield resident, Bush also works with local start-ups to market and “compete with the high-end companies such as Cresco.” Prices start at $400 for a package to incorporate and create a logo.
In addition, Bush and her business partner, Crystal Wyatt, founded Cannabis Transportation Service to shuttle patients between their homes and dispensaries.
Desiree Ivey, co-founder of Medicinally Jointed

Dr. Kisha Vanterpool (left) and Justin (center) and Desiree Ivey at the main entrance of Medicinally Jointed.
JESSICA GRIFFIN / FILE PHOTOGRAPH
Dr. Kisha Vanterpool (left) and Justin (center) and Desiree Ivey at the main entrance of Medicinally Jointed.
“Don’t buy your CBD at a Sunoco,” quipped Desiree Ivey at a recent B.PHL conference in Center City. Ivey, a co-founder of Medicinally Jointed and a leader with DACO and Women Grow, made the crowd-favorite remark on the panel in October, while discussing everything from where to begin when navigating CBD and marijuana as a health and wellness tool to what the future holds in regards to Pennsylvania law.
Ivey wants consumers to get prescriptions from doctors or a holistic care center like the one she helped open.
Ivey and her business partners were profiled earlier this year by The Inquirer. In 2014, Ivey began to explore alternative medicine for pain relief, which included Rick Simpson Oil, named after a Canadian medical marijuana activist. It’s characterized by a high concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana that gets people “high,” although Ivey said it helped her swelling and inflammation.
She and her husband teamed up with internist Kisha Vanterpool and Valerie Armstead, director of anesthesiology research at Fox Chase Cancer Center. In October 2018, they went into business together by opening Medicinally Jointed, an alternative wellness center and spa in Constitution Health Plaza at 1930 S. Broad St.
Medicinally Jointed has helped almost 1,000 people with state-approved conditions to obtain Pennsylvania medical marijuana cards. It charges $200 for a medical consultation and offers holistic services and treatments, like massage therapy, and CBD/hemp-based products, such as CBD-infused water and CBD 500mg tincture, a blend of hemp, hemp seed, and oils, which cost $10 and $40, respectively.
For women, she advises: “Manage expectations. Being a business owner, you have to manage expectations at home, your investors, and you can’t slow down. I had to train myself that both are important. When you have investors, you’re married to them, not just your spouse.”
Judy Wicks, activist and entrepreneur

Serial entrepreneur (Free People, Urban Outfitters, White Dog Cafe) and social justice advocate Judy Wicks.
TOM GRALISH / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Serial entrepreneur (Free People, Urban Outfitters, White Dog Cafe) and social justice advocate Judy Wicks.
“We have the opportunity to build the cannabis and hemp industries from the ground up,” said Judy Wicks, “And we shouldn’t blow this chance. Do it the right way.”
Wicks is a legendary Philadelphia entrepreneur. She co-founded the original Free People store, now known as Urban Outfitters, in 1970. Then she pioneered the farm-to-table movement in 1983 with White Dog Cafe. Since then she’s written several books and built business networks focused on sustainable local economies.
Her latest venture is All Together Now Pa., which stitches together locally owned farms and business to create a network of self-reliance. Cannabis cultivation, plant medicine, and renewable energy are cornerstones of the recently launched project.
“Hemp is a versatile plant,” said the long-time cannabis enthusiast. “It’s everything you need, and it’s all in one plant. It’s food, it’s medicine, it’s biofuels. We can build houses from hemp. It can be turned into bioplastics that are already being used as components in BMWs. And it’s our history. The Declaration of Independence was printed on hemp paper, and the sails of colonial ships were created from hemp fiber. It was stupid to make it illegal for 70 years”
Wicks wants to prevent the new industry from becoming a “green gold rush” for corporations. She doesn’t like how the state has allowed multi-state operators to dominate the medical marijuana program.
“We need it to create self-reliant local economies, bring prosperity to our communities, reduce dependency on the supply chains, and build economies that build things locally,” she said.
“Like craft breweries that have sprung up all over the state, I see cannabis helping to revitalize small towns.”
Judy Wicks

Wicks envisions a future that allows small producers to create craft cannabis.
“I’d like to see vertical businesses where the farmer grows outdoors, processes it, and sells it on the farm,” she said. “It’ll be just like a winery. And eventually there’ll be cannabis tours, just as in California.
“Like any kind of crop, cannabis reflects the soil and conditions of a particular region,” she said. “There’ll be regional variations. People will want to try different strains. Like craft breweries that have sprung up all over the state, I see cannabis helping to revitalize small towns.”
Sara Jane Ward, pioneering researcher
Sara Jane Ward holds two vials of CBD in her hands in her lab at Temple University.

DAVID SWANSON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Sara Jane Ward holds two vials of CBD in her hands in her lab at Temple University.
For the last dozen years, one of the world’s preeminent cannabinoid researchers has quietly been digging into the healing properties of cannabis at Temple.
Sara Jane Ward is an assistant professor in the department of pharmacology at the Katz School of Medicine. In 2014, she was awarded $2.25 million from the Department of Defense to study CBD for spinal cord injury. In September, the NIH awarded her $1.25 million to evaluate the effectiveness of CBD and other cannabis compounds on neuropathic pain.
“The preclinical evidence is exciting and robust,” Ward said about CBD’s possibilities. “But I think it’s really important that people don’t get false hopes about it. I’m very excited about the potential promise, but we need to couch that in the evidence that’s available.
“The clinical evidence is coming along more slowly,” said Ward, who also serves on the scientific advisory board of FSD Pharma, a Canadian medical marijuana producer.
As recently as five years ago, the NIH refused to fund projects into phytocannabinoids, the hundreds of compounds produced by the marijuana.
“They didn’t consider cannabis a natural product, and weren’t interested in funding the research,” she said. “Now my most recent grant was one of nine the institute funded to study non-psychoactive cannabinoids for pain.”
The explosion of the hemp-derived CBD market worries her.
“People can now walk into a Wegmans and buy bottles of this stuff,” she said. “I have concerns about the reliability, the potency, and the purity of those products. Even if we know what’s in it, how much should we use? Are those products capable of having negative interactions with other medicines? Are they safe for people with liver disorders?
“We just don’t know yet.”
Blythe Huestis, president, Beyond/Hello dispensaries

Blythe Huestis is the national vice president of retail operations for Jushi. Based in Philadelphia, Huestis oversees dispensary operations at Beyond/Hello dispensaries in the region and across the country.
COURTESY OF BLYTHE HUESTIS / HANDOUT
Blythe Huestis is the national vice president of retail operations for Jushi. Based in Philadelphia, Huestis oversees dispensary operations at Beyond/Hello dispensaries in the region and across the country.
Blythe Huestis operated medical marijuana retailers in Arizona before she relocated to Pennsylvania and became president of Beyond/Hello, a chain of cannabis dispensaries with three outlets in the Philadelphia region.
After Beyond/Hello was acquired this summer by Florida-based Jushi, the combined company named her the national vice president of retail operations.
“Pennsylvania remains my primary focus,” Huestis said. “The program is robust and strong, and there’s incredible opportunity. I’m also working on projects in Virginia and Ohio, but Pennsylvania is my baby.”
Huestis said the cannabis industry has been extraordinarily welcoming to women. Within Jushi, the number of females in positions of power is 40%, she said. “We have women in the c-suite, in operations and manufacturing roles. Those are positions that are usually male dominated.”
Huestis, who maintains an active role in staffing and hiring, said it’s possible to ascend quickly through the ranks. “Women who started as bud tenders and pharmacists have risen to become managers.”
She gets alliterative as she talks about what she wants in a new hire: “We want to create a fantastic patient experience, so we look for people who are passionate, positive, professional, polite, precise, and punctual.
“If you possess those qualities, you’ll likely be successful,” she said. “You don’t need deep knowledge of cannabis. We do a lot of promotion from within. My message to women who are interested in this industry is that it’s OK to start as a bud tender or a patient consultant to get your foot in the door. I encourage anyone interested to apply, call us, talk to us."
Bridget Hill-Zayat, attorney at Hoban Law

Attorney, Bridget Hill-Zayat is an attorney with Hoban Law Group, a national cannabis firm.
JOSE F. MORENO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Attorney, Bridget Hill-Zayat is an attorney with Hoban Law Group, a national cannabis firm.
Bridget Hill-Zayat didn’t plan on a career in cannabis law. When she started out, the field barely existed. She was a corporate attorney who represented energy suppliers when a client asked her to check out an anomaly. A residential customer inexplicably was using megawatts of power. The client couldn’t figure it out.
“I went to do a site inspection and it turned out to be ... a marijuana grow,” she said.
Her first encounter with weed world piqued her interest.
“The customer was paying 14 cents a kilowatt hour. But if they had asked for the commercial rate, they’d have paid $5,000 less a month,” she said. “So it began an interesting legal exercise to me. I thought I could make this better. I could figure out the rules.”
Hill-Zayat earned her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from Rutgers University. Since 2016, she’s been with the Hoban Law Group, a national cannabusiness firm. She maintains a portfolio that includes growers, dispensaries, and ancillary firms with licenses in several states. ”A lot of what I do is serve as liaison between the businesses and the regulators,” she said. “Many times I have to explain the market to the regulators.”
Since May, she also has served as the executive director of the Maryland Wholesale Medical Cannabis Trade Association. She also finds time to teach cannabis business courses at Stockton University in New Jersey.
She doesn’t consider herself a cannabis enthusiast. “It’s not like I was ever a patient or had a sob story. I just liked that it was a new field. I could learn it from the bottom up. I needed something that was truly interesting,” she said, “and cannabis more than fit the bill.”
Khara Cartagena, CBD entrepreneur

Khara Cartagena, CBD entrepreneur and businesswoman.
HEATHER KHALIFA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Khara Cartagena, CBD entrepreneur and businesswoman.
“It’s always going to be a man’s world, but I love playing in it,” said cannabis entrepreneur Khara Cartagena. “I really look at myself as a 6-foot-tall man trapped in a 5-foot woman’s body.”
A former Division 1 martial arts athlete, Cartegena had a string of successful careers before launching Breakthrough Brands. As the company’s CEO, she has created a line of CBD products — creams, emulsions and other skin care products — targeted at tattoo enthusiasts through a branding partnership with Inked magazine. She also has a line of encapsulated CBD “nanotapes” created for serious athletes and gym rats.
Cartegena began her professional career as a stockbroker at Janney Montgomery Scott. She later raised money for Keef Brands, a manufacturer of THC-infused beverages and edibles in Colorado. She was then recruited by a private equity firm.
While scoring wins in finance, she dabbled, prosperously, in Philadelphia real estate and opened the Velvet Lily, an erotic boutique at 12th and Chestnut Streets.
Cartegena is holding discussions with buyers from athletic gear companies, department store chains, and drug stores. Eventually, she hopes to segue into manufacturing psychoactive THC products.
Though women are few in the cannabis industry, Cartegena sees plenty of opportunities for people with the right skill sets and imagination. “I think women bring a certain style to branding,” she said, proving the principle that it takes one to know one. “The soccer moms are the unicorn market; that’s the one market you want. And everything should be tailored for their convenience, discretion, and aesthetics.”
Jennifer Zavala, the Cannachef

Jennifer Zavala is a chef and caterer with a part-time career as a cannabis chef to Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients. Here, she demonstrates the proper use of a rolling pin at her main gig at Underground Arts.
SAM WOOD / STAFF
Jennifer Zavala is a chef and caterer with a part-time career as a cannabis chef to Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients. Here, she demonstrates the proper use of a rolling pin at her main gig at Underground Arts.
“I love to cook with high citrus strains, but I also do hybrids or sativas,” said Jennifer Zavala, a former Top Chef contestant turned purveyor of fine cannabis cuisine. “People tend to get really ripped when I use indica, so I try not to use that.”
The heavily tattooed chef has her own catering business, once ran a renegade tamale food truck, and recently launched a culinary partnership with the nightclub Underground Arts.
But it’s Zavala’s off-hours gig, private dinners with a focus on a special seasoning, that won her a Best of Philly award from Philadelphia Magazine in 2018 in the “High Fun” category. (And yes, there are two other professional chefs doing pot luck in Philadelphia. But you’ll have to find them yourself on Instagram.)
A veteran of Xochitl, Amada, and Silk City, Zavala began cooking with weed because she felt she had to. Her father was wasting away from bladder cancer. “He was uncomfortable and really thin, and this was a way to help him,” she said.
Word got out. Other ailing gourmands started calling her regularly. Business took off. Her clients have to have a medical marijuana card. “This is about healing.” She prioritizes people who are sick. She asks her clients to provide their own medical-grade herbs.
“I have done party dinners. But those can get crazy,” Zavala said. “You try to advise people not to smoke, drink, or smoke more weed. They don’t always take my advice.”
Zavala said she doesn’t dose entire dishes. “I’m a really good chef, and want you to eat all your food and get through every course. So there may be a single infused crouton in your salad, instead of the entire plate. So you can skip that bite if you want to slow it down.”
She prefers to accentuate the flavor of cannabis rather than cover it up. Her preferred strain is Orange Crush. Someday, she said, she’ll write a cookbook.
Recreational cannabis is inevitable, she said. And she hopes her part-time vocation establishes her reputation as “a credible cannabis chef.”
“But right now, I want to be on the forefront of making it a normal thing.”
Sunny Podolak, regulator

Sunny Podolak, assistant director of the Office of Medical Marijuana, is the chief regulator of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program.
PA. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Sunny Podolak, assistant director of the Office of Medical Marijuana, is the chief regulator of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program.
Sunny Podolak began her career with the Pennsylvania Department of Health in 2002. She served with the Bureau of Community Health Systems before becoming assistant director of the Office of Medical Marijuana in 2016.
Though she had no hands-on experience with cannabis, “it was an exciting opportunity to be part of building a program from the ground up while linking my experience in public health to this new and exciting industry in PA that helps so many people,” she said in a statement. She declined to speak directly to a reporter.
Podolak’s statement said she develops processes and policies to ensure compliance with the Medical Marijuana Act and its regulations. She also provides direction and oversight for the activities of the field inspectors.
Podolak wouldn’t say if she has set foot in a cultivation facility or a working dispensary.
She envisions continuing to move the program forward with more permitted grower/processors and dispensaries becoming operational, and patients continuing to access the medicine they need. She also looks forward to implementation of the clinical research program.
Laurel Freedman, leader for Women Grow network
Laurel Freedman is a “market leader” for the Philadelphia chapter of Women Grow, a national network of cannabis entrepreneurs that encourages women to take leadership roles in the industry.
COURTESY OF LAUREL FREEDMAN

Laurel Freedman is a “market leader” for the Philadelphia chapter of Women Grow, a national network of cannabis entrepreneurs that encourages women to take leadership roles in the industry.
Laurel Freedman wears many hats. She’s a “market leader” for the Philadelphia chapter of Women Grow, a national network of cannabis entrepreneurs that encourages women to take leadership roles in the industry. She consults with iCan, an Israel-based concern focused on growing the worldwide cannabis industry through international conferences.
She stages cann-events herself. Freedman organized the groundbreaking “Faith in Cannabis: Religion, Science and Justice in PA’s Medical Marijuana Program” at Center City’s Congregation Rodeph Shalom, where her husband, Eli Freedman, is a rabbi. The forum generated national headlines.
Last year, she led outreach and educational presentations for Maryland-based Holistic Industries, which operates Liberty dispensaries in Pennsylvania. Her programs were directed to physicians and organizations promoting legal access to medical marijuana.
In September, she was named the director of cannabis marketing for a Los Angeles-based video production company, Pollution.tv, which produces a marijuana-focused YouTube series called High Cuisine.
Her professional involvement in weed world came as an accident. “Someone gifted me a ticket to the Women Grow Summit in Colorado three years ago during a lull in my career,” she said. “I went with no expectations and wound up meeting some of the most incredible, inspiring women. It was invigorating.”
Though men overwhelmingly dominate the cannabis space, she doesn’t view it as a boy’s club.
“I get along with boys really well,” she said. “But we have a situation where the women are acting way more territorial than I’ve witnessed with men. There’s a lack of support for women by other women at the table. At Women Grow, we aim to fix that. It’s a very cutthroat industry. [Lindy Snider and Chris Visco are honorable exceptions. They are beacons of hope.”
For more stories about hemp, medical marijuana, and cannabis in all its forms, visit inquirer.com/cannabis.
https://www.inquirer.com/business/weed/ ... 91030.html

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https://www.cannabisground.com/immune-system/


Relationship between cannabis and the immune system
by Cannabis Ground|Published May 19, 2019

The new tendency among researchers points toward cannabinoids having an adaptive immunomodulating effect, instead of a suppressing immune activity

Even though cannabis has been used for medical and nutritional purposes for thousands of years, people used to consume because they felt the benefits of it. But they knew nothing else. They used it because they could feel. They experienced how it relieved the pain and calmed down their mood.

But now, the researchers are trying to understand more than just the molecular composition of cannabis. They want to know the way it interacts with the biological systems in our organisms. We have seen many fantastic discoveries but the truth is that we don’t know much about this unique plant, especially when it comes to the interaction between marijuana and the immune system.

There are studies that state that some cannabinoids like THC and CBD are immunosuppressant. This could explain the relief with autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammation we experience after consuming medical marijuana.

Other studies concluded that cannabis consumption increases white blood cells counts in immunodeficiency disorders such as HIV, which suggests it has an immune-boosting effect.

The matter becomes more complicated when we think that the effects of marijuana are mainly mediated by the endocannabinoid system, which most researchers think interacts with the whole biological activity, which includes our immune system.

The truth is that we have much to discover about the way marijuana affects our immune system. In this article we will try to expose what we know so far.

A GLOBAL VISION OF OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

Human beings are always exposed to infections, bacteria and viruses. They all want to harm our organism. If we did not have some kind of defense in our organism, humanity would have been extinct a long time ago. That is why we have our immune system: an incredible net of cells, tissues and organs that keep us healthy.

The most important “soldiers” in this constant fight are white blood cells or leukocytes, which are always looking for the enemies. We can divide leukocytes in two groups: A/ lymphocytes (B cells and T cells) which get rid of antigens and help the organism to remember previous attackers. And B: phagocytes that neutralize foreign invaders.

Many people know T cells due to their relationship with the HIV virus, which kills them. Because of this HIV patients are severely affected by usually harmless infections.

Our immune system is very important to detect malfunctioning cells inside our organism and through the process of apoptosis or cell death, makes sure that these cells cannot grow and, therefore, become tumors.

The killing of the cells is an essential factor of any healthy immune system in order to keep a perfect equilibrium between growth and death. For instance, in case too many cells die, we can develop autoimmune diseases. However, if our immune system kills too few, we can develop the perfect environment for cancer. It is a question of balance.

THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

A perfect immune function implies a perfect balance based on continuous and constant communication between our cells, our tissues and our immune organs. Since the endocannabinoid system was discovered in the 1990s, researchers have discovered another key element.

Our endocannabinoid system consists of two main receptors (CB1 and CB2) coupled to proteins, endogenous ligands called endocannabinoids (anandamide and 2-AG), plus the proteins that our endocannabinoids carry and also the enzymes that break them down in the body.

The endocannabinoids are generated as they are demanded by our organism, they travel through the cerebral chemical synapse and they modulate the activity of the cells. This is the explanation, in a certain way, of why the ECS (Endocannabinoid System) has been called our regulator of homeostasis, which operates continuously for the maintenance of the biological balance of the body.

The ECS regulates many physiological processes, such as immune function and inflammation. Both CB1 and CB2 receptors are located in immune cells. However, there are between 10 and 100 times more CB2 receptors than CB1. Endocannabinoids exert their function on immune cells through the CB2 receptor.

Activation of the CB2 receptor produces an anti-inflammatory effect and, therefore, is an objective for the therapy of autoimmune disorders and also neurodegenerative diseases. However, the most generalized medical opinion is that any immunosuppressive activity of the ECS is transient and, in fact, can be canceled when necessary in the presence of an infection.

Researchers know that some cannabinoids like THC and CBD have a great impact on our health through the interaction in several ways with the endocannabinoid system. Therefore, it is logical to think that the consumption of medical marijuana will directly affect our immune system. However, researchers are still trying to understand how it happens.

CANNABIS AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

When it comes to cannabis, we are dealing with more than 400 different molecules. These molecules include the most well-known cannabinoids, such as THC and CBD, others more than 100 lesser known cannabinoids, terpenes and a large number of flavonoids, whose composition depends on each cannabis variety.

Although most research has been done on individual cannabinoids, especially THC and CBD, we are trying to reach decisive conclusions about how they affect our immune system.

Most of the research has focused on THC and CBD. THC binds to the CB2 receptor and activates it, producing an anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, THC is immunosuppressant. Researchers are convinced that THC has a great future in the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease and multiple sclerosis. For its part, CBD, despite its low binding affinity to cannabinoid receptors, is also immunosuppressive and reduces the production of cytokine 3 and also inhibits the function of cells known as T 4.

However, there is much more than what has been exposed up to here. There is a new research trend and there is evidence that cannabinoids have an adaptive immunomodulatory effect, rather than the simple ability to suppress immunological activity.

CANNABIS AND HIV

Medical cannabis is a very effective palliative medicine in the treatment of HIV due to its ability to reduce anxiety, increase appetite and relieve pain. But new research suggests that THC has more properties in the treatment of this disease because it is able to regulate the immune system and improve the health of patients.

At first, the research corroborated the idea that THC was an immunosuppressant in HIV, by increasing the viral load and weakening the disease. But more recent research shows that it has immunostimulating effects.

In 2011, a study was conducted at the University of Louisiana that showed spectacular results when THC was administered to monkeys, more than 28 days before being infected with SIV, which is the simian version of the virus. THC had a protective effect that extended the life of the monkeys by reducing the viral load.

Later in 2014, the same team gave the THC to the monkeys for 17 months before being infected with SIV. Not only did it increase the number of T cells and decrease the viral load, but it also protected the apes against the intestinal damage that the virus produces.

These incredible results were also replicated in humans. In a study conducted by researchers at the universities in Virginia and Florida, CD4 and CD8 white blood cells counts were compared in a group of 95 HIV patients, among which there were chronic cannabis consumers. Researchers discovered that both types of infection-fighting immune counts were higher among those who consumed marijuana. This means that cannabis is able to improve our immune systems.

CANNABIS, CANCER AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Unfortunately, cancer is a disease that will affect many people at some moment in our life. Why does it happen? We don’t know it. But what we know is that most cancers share the same mechanism.

Our immune system is prepared to detect malignant cells and, through apoptosis, eliminate those that can become tumors. Unfortunately, cancer cells can trick our immune system and make it work in its favor.

Spain and Israel lead the investigation of medicinal cannabis potential. Esther Martínez, a cannabis research scientist at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), describes a type of interference between cancer cells and the immune system. “When the tumor contacts the immune cells, it inverts the signal,” explained the scientist at a conference of the CBD Project. “It’s as if they said I’m here and I want you to work for me” And instead of attacking the tumor, it gives signs of survival, so the immune system surrounding the cancer undergoes a change. Tumors have the ability to close the immune system “

Once the immune system is disarmed, the cancer cells grow without any kind of control. Until very recently, the only anti-cancer tools approved were treatments such as chemotherapy, which, although it destroys malignant cells, also destroys healthy cells.

The enormous emotion that has caused the antitumor capacity of cannabis, specifically the cannabinoids THC and CBD, is normal. In fact, it was the prestigious colleagues of Esther Martínez at the Complutense University of Madrid, Manuel Guzmán and Cristina Sánchez, the scientists who initiated the investigation of the medicinal properties of cannabinoids in the treatment of cancer through, though not exclusively, the apoptosis.

But very little is still known about the relationship between the immune system and cannabinoids in this specific process. One of the problems is that in most preclinical trials human tumors that are grafted into mice are used to prevent rejection of hosts (mice).

There are some studies that use immunocompetent mice, such as the 2014 report of Dr. Wai Liu, who studied the effects of THC and CBD on brain tumors when combined with radiation therapy. Dr. Liu, a cannabinoid scientist, not only discovered a significant reduction in tumors, but also little or no immune reaction.

Without a doubt it is very good news because cannabinoids can also cause apoptosis in lymphocyte cells, potentially suppressing the immune system. The ability of cannabinoids to strengthen or suppress immunological function gives prestige and credibility to the concept that the endocannabinoid system is involved in immunomodulation, as Dr. Liu said. And it can improve immunity through the suppression of immune cells that are valuable for the containment of cells that kill, based on the immune system.

IMMUNOTHERAPY FOR CANCER

The lack of absolute certainty about the interaction between cannabinoids and the immune system generates doubts about the use of medical marijuana during immunotherapy. Considered the best treatment against cancer in the future, immunotherapy rebuilds the white blood cells in order to detect and erase cancer in the organism. So far, there has only been one research that studies the way cannabinoids may affect this process. But the results were kind of troublesome.

Some patients who took medical marijuana along with the anti-cancer immunotherapy drug at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, had 50% less response, compared to immunotherapy alone. Patients who received high-THC cannabis had a better response to immunotherapy than patients with low THC levels in the products they consumed. No significant change in survival rates was observed.

There are some reports from California cancer patients who say that they had more benefits by combining immunotherapy with a low-dose, CBD-rich cannabis oil regime. Moreover, a growing number of preclinical data shows that the combination of CBD and THC with chemotherapy and radiation could produce a good synergistic effect to treat cancer. However, these discoveries haven’t been replicated in human tests.

Despite there are no clarity enough about cannabinoids and immunotherapy, researchers think is time to forget the old immunosuppressant label and admit the idea that cannabinoids are bidirectional immunomodulators. This is what Dr. Mariano Garcia de Palau, a Spanish cannabis clinician and member of the Spanish Medical Cannabis Observatory has checked in his experiences.

Dr. Mariano Garcia de Palau believes that cannabis is immunosuppressive when there is hyper-immune response. But if it is not like that, cannabis regulates and corrects the immune system in our organism. As a matter of fact, cannabis works like the endocannabinoid system and generates equilibrium in the organism.

But what can this implicate if you regularly consume marijuana, have a compromised immune system or you are beginning immunotherapy? You always must ask your doctor about it but in the meantime we can only expect more investigation to continue learning more about the interaction between endocannabinoid system, our immune response, and the cannabinoids.

[conniption]

RT

Priorities anyone? US House passes marijuana decriminalization while clock runs out on Covid-19 aid

4 Dec, 2020


Oregon residents celebrating decriminalization © Reuters / Steve DiPaola

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has finally passed a bill to decriminalize marijuana – but even supporters of the move are rolling their eyes as the country languishes without a second pandemic stimulus.

The historic legislation passed by the House on Friday would not only see possession of marijuana decriminalized, but require federal marijuana convictions to be re-assessed. It passed mostly along party lines, though six Democrats voted against it and five Republicans voted in favor.

Despite the popularity of marijuana decriminalization among the American populace, however, many on social media were bewildered by the legislators’ priorities. With most Covid-19 aid programs due to expire at the end of the month and the country nowhere near recovered economically, they asked, why is Congress wasting its time on the pot issue?



...continues: https://www.rt.com/usa/508741-house-vot ... uana-reax/