WeedLife News Network

From spicy “happy” salads to soups sprinkled with cannabis shoots and deep-fried marijuana leaves — a Thai hospital restaurant has rolled out a weed-inspired menu which has curious customers flocking to sample its euphoria-inducing offerings.

Since becoming the first Southeast Asian country to legalize medical marijuana in 2018, Thailand has ploughed ahead on the extraction, distillation and marketing of cannabis oil — eager to capitalize on the multibillion-dollar industry.

The plant itself was finally removed from the kingdom’s narcotics list last month, which means licensed providers — like hospitals — can now use its leaves, stems and roots in food.

This marks a return to Thailand’s culinary past, said doctor Pakakrong Kwankhao, who heads the Centre of Evidence-based Thai Traditional and Herbal Medicine in Chao Phya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital.

“Putting cannabis leaves in the food is our culture,” she told Agence France-Presse Friday.

Sales of 1-gram cannabis flower packages tumbled in multiple North American marijuana markets last year, likely related to consumers who shopped less often because of the COVID-19 pandemic but made larger purchases when visiting a dispensary.

The shift away from 1-gram packages offers implications for both retailers and producers trying to keep up with shifting consumer preferences sparked by the pandemic. Despite the shift, the single-gram flower format – the smallest, cheapest size of marijuana bud available on the market – remains relatively popular in terms of unit sales. That suggests consumers haven’t given up on the package size altogether.

Nevertheless, the downward slide in 2020 readily is apparent in point-of-sale data from Seattle-based cannabis data-analytics firm Headset.

“I think that one of the big reasons that we see grams trending down is as a result of COVID,” said Liz Connors, Headset’s director of analytics.

Connors said the 2020 trend toward fewer sales of small cannabis packages mirrored broader trends in consumer packaged goods during the pandemic.

No one has died from a marijuana overdose and there is no evidence of anything more lasting than embarrassment. That certainly is not the case with alcohol.  

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast. 

The pandemic has produced a number of social changes that we hope may last. An online Harris Poll sponsored by marijuana company Curaleaf found that 45% of cannabis consumers age 21 and up have replaced or reduced their alcohol consumption with marijuana since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, and one-third of those who use cannabis recreationally prefer cannabis to drinking alcohol. 

Half of the respondents (50%) said they increased their use because cannabis helped them relax, and 48% said they did so to help them sleep. Of those who said they use marijuana recreationally, a third (33%) said that they prefer cannabis over alcohol.

Interestingly, parents are actually turning to cannabis at higher rates than those without children. Think of the children!  

Hemp is one of the most talked about ingredient in the beauty industry. When it comes to skincare the many benefits of hemp or hemp seed oil makes it’s a hero ingredient. It contains a very little cannabinoid, a compound often used for therapeutic purposes and help in soothing the skin and relieving inflammation. Along with essential fatty acids, hemp oil contains vitamins, minerals, and amino acids which improves skin’s health. Nowadays the buzzy ingredient is taking over the world of beauty and skincare, from hand cream and facemask to body oil, creams and cleansers, there is an array of hemp-infused products popping up in beauty supply stores everywhere.

Plabita Sharma, Beauty Training Manager, The Body Shop India lists down the top five benefits of hemp induced skincare products:

Good for sensitive to super dry skin: One of the many benefits of hemp induced skincare product is that it has been found to have significant soothing properties. Its substantial skin-soothing and skin-normalizing effects can help minimize issues related to skin sensitivity, dryness including redness and reactivity. Since all skin types are affected daily by environmental stressors, hemp seed oil soothing mechanism can help and keep everyone’s skin in check.

Rich in Antioxidant: Hemp seed oil is a rich source of antioxidant and helps in promoting repair and rejuvenation of skin. It can also protect the skin from environmental damage, such as over-exposure to sunlight which can accelerate premature sign of aging like fine lines, dark spots and more.

Promotes clearer skin: Acne is a most common concern for oily skin however incorporating a skincare product enhanced with hemp oil could mean the difference between pimple-ridden skin and a clearer complexion. Hemp oil is perfect for most skin types as it can moisturize without clogging your pores. It can even help to balance out oily skin, hydrating it and regulating the skin’s oil production. Dryness can also cause your skin to overproduce oil, which in turn, can stimulate acne. Hemp oil can prevent dry skin without clogging pores. This helps reduce acne that’s caused by excess oil.

How Hemp Helps You During the Winter

Discover the benefits of taking hemp during the winter and how it benefits our body. 

Hemp- A Helping Hand for the Cold Winters

Winter is here and during the winter season we barely get any long sunny days, it is rather filled with long cold nights. All we want to do is lay in bed under our comfy blankets and just be lazy, wishing someone would bring us a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallow toppings.

Moreover, the gloominess outside from the pale white skies makes us depressed and we feel a lack of motivation to go by our daily routine. It is that time of the year where due to dry weather, the sale of moisturizers, lip balms, and other such products increase and become our basic need. If you think winter completely brings your spirits down then we have the perfect solution for you – Hemp.

After three straight months of declining sales, statewide medical marijuana dispensaries saw an increase in revenue in November.

According to the most recent data from the Oklahoma Tax Commission, statewide dispensaries remitted $11.8 million in total revenue in November, an increase of more than $1 million from the $10.7 million dispensaries remitted in October. The latest OTC marijuana data reflects data collected two months prior.

November marks the first month since July that statewide dispensaries remitted more revenue than the previous month.

Although revenue numbers from December have not been released, the revenue remitted by dispensaries in 2020 is on track to nearly double the revenue remitted in 2019. Through November, statewide dispensaries remitted more than $127 million in total revenue in 2020, compared to $73 million in all of 2019.

While statewide dispensaries saw a November revenue increase, Norman dispensaries saw a decrease compared to October. Norman dispensaries remitted $3.1 million in November, a decrease of $300k compared to the previous month.

Did you know that we’re supposed to get 5 to 9 servings of fruit and vegetables every day? This equates to roughly two cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables. Although this is the recommended amount of fruit and veggies we should eat according to the USDA (United States Dietary Association), most of the American population doesn’t come close to meeting these guidelines.

Fortunately, though, another plant consumed for centuries due to its plethora of medicinal, therapeutic, and nutritional benefits is cannabis. Recently, numerous researchers and physicians have labeled cannabis a superfood, worthy of incorporation into your diet in some way or another. Here’s why.

Medicinal, therapeutic, and nutritional value 

Cannabis’s many medicinal and therapeutic benefits have been well established, but the nutritional benefits of cannabis are still gaining recognition and public coverage. According to the British Dietetic Association (BDA), superfoods are unprocessed foods rich in vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, which are often derived from fruits, vegetables, and other herbs. Under this definition, numerous doctors believe cannabis can be grouped into the ‘superfoods’ category.

Besides cannabis’s array of medicinal and therapeutic benefits, the plant is an excellent source of vitamins and nutrients. In general, there are various parts of cannabis that can be consumed such as its leaves, stems, and buds whether they’re heated up or not. To reap cannabis’s nutritional benefits though, consuming raw parts of the plant is the way to go.

Superfood properties

Cannabis sativa (hemp) seeds:

Various cultures and countries have used cannabis for medical purposes going back thousands of years.

The cannabis plant is capable of providing tremendous wellness benefits and has been found to be an effective form of treatment for a variety of conditions.

One area that the cannabis plant can provide significant benefit, but is often overlooked, is when it comes to treating addiction to harmful substances.

Historically, cannabis has been portrayed as a ‘gateway drug,’ however, it is now being more commonly referred to as an ‘exit drug’ because of how it can help folks curb consumption of much more harmful substances.

Cannabidiol and tobacco

The World Health Organization estimated that tobacco use contributes to over 8 million deaths annually. 

Because of the recent health and wellness trend, cannabis is gaining popularity for being a gluten-free, no calorie substitute for alcoholic beverages.

One of the most common stereotypes to circulate around the cannabis scene over the past several decades is that people who use marijuana are lazy, unemployed wastes of space. But according to the latest data from market research company BDS Analytics, this is not the case with the majority. In fact, it is safe to say that the average cannabis consumer — at least with respect to the modern day user in the newly legal climate — is more active and productive than anyone else in the throes of the daily grind.

Researchers at BDS found that 43% of cannabis consumers are busy with outdoors activities several times a week. This is significantly higher that non-cannabis users, according to the data. Only 25% of this group admitted to getting off their back cracks long enough to engage in activities outside the house.

Another interesting tidbit from the study is that cannabis users are more concerned about their overall health and wellness. Researchers found that around 40% regularly attend a gym or fitness center, which was about 10 points higher than non-users. This should come as no surprise. It’s like legendary stoner icon Tommy Chong once said (we’re paraphrasing, of course), “You’ve got to be in shape to do drugs, man.”

This pursuit of health and wellness is now a major trend across the United States. A recent analysis from Rabobank found that, because of this, cannabis is gaining popularity for being a gluten-free, no calorie substitute for alcoholic beverages.

Blue Dream, Purple Haze, Girl Scout Cookies, Red Headed Stranger, Acapulco Gold, Fruity Pebbles or Pineapple Express… all classic strain names and all of them meaningless.

“Strain names are absolutely misleading with considerable variation in the same cannabinoid content among different specimens of the same strain. You can get the same color and the same smell, but actually levels of the THC and CBD and some of the other compounds could be quite different,” says Robin Marles, Ph.D., chair of the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) Botanical Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines Expert Committee.

USP has assembled an expert panel of clinicians, scientists and industry representatives from around the world to provide necessary information and guidance on critical quality attributes, including recommendations for naming , all laid out in an article in the Journal of Natural Products, Cannabis Inflorescence for Medical Purposes: USP Considerations for Quality Attributes.

“USP recommendations are entirely focused on the inflorescence of the cannabis plant, popularly known as the flower or ‘the bud.’ And as with any plant product, the first challenge was to determine how to classify the various varieties and subtypes that are currently in use.” said Ikhlas Khan, Ph.D., USP’s Cannabis Expert Panel chair.

USP has elected to recognize cannabis as a single plant species, Cannabis sativa L., with different varieties or subtypes that can then be classified based on their THC and CBD content. The expert panel provided guidance for organizing the plant material into three “chemotype” categories: THC-dominant, CBD-dominant, or intermediate varieties that contain physiologically meaningful levels of both – intending to give prescribers or consumers greater clarity about what substances they are using.

Maine is currently the only state in the country to kick off recreational marijuana sales during the pandemic.

According to the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy, even with nearly 45 active licenses given to growers, manufacturers, testing sites and retail stores across the state, the demand has been too high for the supply chain to keep up.

But officials expect that to change and they predict more sales in the future.

John Lorenz, the owner of Sweet Relief, agrees.

“There's Downeast travel again. If 3 million people head to Acadia again every year for lodging and restaurants and food, they will pass my location,” said Lorenz.

Marijuana sales in Colorado in November pushed the industry’s annual revenue over $2 billion for the first time since cannabis was legalized for recreational use by a 2012 ballot measure.

Recreational and medical sales for marijuana accounted for about $175 million of revenue in November, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Revenue.

While the month’s revenue was down about 12% compared to October, the numbers were sufficient to help the state surpass the $2 billion annual revenue threshold, The Denver Post reported.

The state collected about $32 million in taxes and fees from marijuana sales in November.

The 2020 uptick in marijuana revenue coincides with political momentum that saw voters in South Dakota, Mississippi, New Jersey, Arizona and Montana legalize some form of use in the November election.

Oregon recreational cannabis sales soared in 2020, peaking during a challenging summer of racial justice protests and coronavirus lockdowns.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the result was a record year of business for the state’s marijuana purveyors, based on data from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which oversees marijuana sales.

Total marijuana sales in Oregon jumped from $795 million in 2019 to more than $1 billion, for the year that just ended.

State tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2020 likely will exceed $150 million. Much of that will go toward substance-abuse screening and programs to address addiction.

Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/business-coronavirus-pandemic-oregon-marijuana-b08fe949276ae844d4e5181f31affbc7

As with so many things between 2016 and 2020, the idea that marijuana damages IQ became popular in some circles because soon-to-be-former President Donald Trump said it.

In audio secretly recorded in 2018 and leaked in early 2020, President Trump told a group gathered at a White House dinner party that marijuana "does cause an IQ problem. It lowers your IQ." 

Interestingly, his son, Donald Trump Jr., disagreed with him, saying: "I will say this, between that and alcohol, as far as I'm concerned, alcohol does much more damage. You don't see people beating their wives on marijuana. It's just different."

Research shows that the belief marijuana lowers IQ is mostly a myth. But the IQ thing stuck. In December, North Carolina Rep. David Rouzer Tweeted that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) "states that regular marijuana use can reduce IQ by 8 points." 

That sounds very authoritative. But it's not true, according to the NIH itself.

Marijuana use increases throughout the calendar year, with use up 13 percent on average at the end of each year (2015-2019) compared to the beginning, according to a new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

We found that marijuana use is consistently higher among those surveyed later in the year, peaking during late fall or early winter before dropping at the beginning of the following year. We think this may be due, in part, to a 'Dry January' in which some people stop drinking alcohol or even stop using marijuana as part of a New Year's resolution. We're now in the time of year when people are the least likely to use marijuana."

Joseph Palamar, PhD, MPH, Study Lead Author and Associate Professor of Population Health, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University

Palamar is an affiliated researcher with the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU School of Global Public Health

Prior research shows that alcohol and drug use vary by time of year, with drug use often increasing during summer months, possibly due, in part, to social events. These seasonal variations can inform interventions--for instance, studies show that programs to reduce heavy drinking among college students should begin during the summer.

The year 2020 was a dud in many, many ways due to the pandemic. However, it was a record year for the emerging cannabis industry. Cannabis entrepreneurs around the globe sold a record amount of cannabis and cannabis-infused products.

Unfortunately, no countries legalized cannabis for adult use in 2020, but a number of countries either allowed medical cannabis industries to launch or expand. Many cannabis industry projections from years ago focused on the year 2020 and virtually every one of those projections proved to be too conservative.

So what does 2021 have in store for the emerging cannabis industry? Ultimately, only time will tell. Below are some things to consider.

Cannabis Reform in 2021

It is very likely that 2021 will be a banner year for cannabis reform around the globe. For starters, Mexico will hopefully, finally legalize cannabis for adult use, and if or when that happens, it will create the largest adult-use cannabis market on the planet.

It is also at least somewhat likely that one or more other countries will also legalize cannabis for adult use on the European and/or African continent in 2021.

America has a bad case of pandemic anxiety.

COVID-19 infections are rising.

Tens of millions of workers lost their jobs and face dismal prospects of getting new ones.

There is no end in sight.

Anxiety has gone mainstream and so has marijuana.