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Salk Institute Neurobiologist Zhibin Liang discusses the neuroprotective effects of a cannabis compound known as cannabinol, and the road ahead to validate and build on the research of his team’s recent findings.

Scientists have been exploring the therapeutic effects of medical cannabis for a host of health conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Among the many compounds of cannabis, the best known are cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which have received the bulk of the research community’s attention. However, lesser known compounds, such as cannabinol (CBN), are also making their way into research. Early study results suggest that CBN, for example, may be able to help protect brain cells in aging and neurodegenerative processes. 

Zhibin Liang, Glenn Postdoctoral Fellow in Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory and The Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, joins Being Patient’s LiveTalk series to discuss the progress that scientists have made in studying cannabis’s potential benefits when it comes to aging and Alzheimer’s. He also shares insight into his team’s research on CBN.

 Broadly, what do scientists know and don’t know about the potential protective effects of cannabis in the context of aging and neurodegenerative diseases? 

Zhibin Liang: Medical cannabis [is an] emerging research field. Phytocannabinoids from the cannabis plant [are] well known for acting on the cannabinoid receptors [CB1 and CB2] in the brain, in the central nervous system, or in the peripheral nervous systems. 

It’s well known that this kind of compounds, especially tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the psychoactive compound – have pharmacological effects. For example, [they] can relieve pain. Some research [shows they can] fight cancer and improve memory or behavior. There is also some research [showing that] neurological disorders can benefit [from phytocannabinoids]. 

Right now, most people study two compounds: THC and cannabidiol (CBD). Less studied are the minor cannabinoids. There are over 150 cannabinoids identified from the plant. 

While there are only a few studies focusing on cannabis exclusively for TMJ disorders compared to other illnesses, their results have been promising.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders affect the jaw as well as the muscles responsible for controlling movement in the jaw. The temporomandibular joint functions similarly to a sliding hinge and connects the skull and jawbone. The human body has one of these jaws on each side.

The symptoms of TMJ include tenderness or pain in the jaw, pain in the left, right, or both jaws, clicking sound when you open your mouth, pain around the ear and face, muscle spasms, joint locking, difficulty chewing, and more. These can be caused by various factors such as damage in the joint or the joint cartilage due to impact, eroding of the disk, or misalignment of the jaw disk. In most cases of people with TMJ, the exact cause is unclear.

According to the National Institutes of Health, there are some 10 million Americans that have temporomandibular joint disorders. They tend to affect people between the ages of 20 to 40, and it’s more common in women compared to men. Most cases of TMJ disorders are mild and when diagnosed early, they are not expected to worsen over time.

Lifestyle changes such as eating soft food, application of ice packs, avoiding extreme jaw movements as well as relaxation techniques are recommended. If this is not enough, pain medications and NSAIDS may be recommended by doctors and in severe cases, the use of a stabilization splint, a type of oral appliance, may be needed. In rare cases, botox and surgery may be required.

Millions of people with TMJ struggle with the severe pain and discomfort brought on by this condition.

Scientists link weed smoking to greater empathy, agreeableness, and moral fairness.

Following the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last week, Fox News host Laura Ingraham blithely blamed the perpetrator’s “psychotic behavior” on his alleged marijuana use. Then she claimed without evidence that cannabis legalization is having “violent consequences” for “an entire generation of Americans.”

For all the wrong reasons, Ingraham is right about one thing: cannabis can have a profound influence on social behavior. Depending on dose, strain, and other factors, it may induce a range of emotions and behaviors: withdrawn introspection and peaceful calm, playfulness and joy, and sometimes anxiety or irritability.

In any case, these effects are mediated largely by the cannabinoid receptors, in particular CB1, the prime target of psychoactive THC. And if CB1 is involved, it follows that the broader endocannabinoid system – including the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide and 2-AG, which also bind to CB1, and the enzymes that create and degrade them – must play an important role in modulating human social behavior.

But Ingraham’s rant was more unhinged scapegoating than sound science. In fact, a newly published study suggests that recent cannabis use is associated with prosocial and “humanitarian” behaviors, greater empathy and agreeableness, and greater fairness and harmlessness. Below, read more about it and two other recent studies exploring the link between cannabis, the endocannabinoid system (ECS), and social behavior.

Cannabis consumption boosts empathy

Noting that the existing scientific literature around cannabis use is generally focused on health risks or disease treatment, researchers with the University of New Mexico set out to investigate something different: associations with prosocial behavior among otherwise healthy people.

Leviathan Natural Products Inc. has completed the acquisition of One Cannabis Market Inc. ("OCM"). OCM is a privately-held technology company that provides solutions to consumers and businesses in dynamic markets. The company's mission is to be the industry leader in cannabis technology by innovation and value creation. (Benzinga)

Leviathan has acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of OCM in exchange for 500,000 common shares of Leviathan pursuant to a share purchase agreement dated June 9, 2022. The issued shares shall be subject to restrictions on resale or transfer that may be imposed by applicable securities laws from time to time, including without limitation under National Instrument 45-102 - Resale Restrictions.

In connection with the closing of the transaction, OCM's founder and president, Kamyar Hosseini ("Kam"), will join Leviathan as head of technology, and will help grow Leviathan's technology business. In connection with Kam's appointment, Leviathan's board of directors has authorized the issuance of 500,000 stock options in Leviathan to Kam, exercisable at CA$1.10 ($0.87) per share vesting over 2 years.

Leviathan has a total of 3.82 million stock options representing approximately 4% of the outstanding common shares of the company.

The Indian cannabis wave is coming, one hemp entrepreneur at a time

India is moving into the hemp space—as a new eatery serving infused food in Pune demonstrates. The establishment serves sandwiches, coffee, and other foods infused with hemp. The 30 year owner of the Hemp Cafe, Amruta Shitole, is actually a serial cannabis entrepreneur, having opened the Ganja Cafe previous to this, and has been successfully selling cannabis infused food products for the last four years.

The Delaware House of Representatives failed to override Governor John’s Carney’s veto of a bill to legalize possession of small amounts of cannabis, likely dooming hopes of reform in the state for the foreseeable future.

The Delaware House of Representatives failed on Tuesday to override a veto of a bill to legalize possession of small amounts of pot, likely dashing hopes for meaningful cannabis reform in the state for the rest of the year. Members of the House voted 20-20 in the bid to override the veto, failing to reach the three-fifths majority required for success.

House Bill 371 from Democratic Representative Ed Osienski would have legalized possession of up to one ounce of weed by adults. Osienski introduced the bill and another measure to establish a regulated cannabis industry in April after a more comprehensive proposal to legalize cannabis possession and commerce failed earlier this year.

Osienski has said that the bill to regulate recreational production and sales, House Bill 372, would create good jobs “while striking a blow against the criminal element which profits from the thriving illegal market for marijuana in our state.” But the measure failed in the House last month despite being favored in the vote 24-14, but failing to reach the 60% supermajority required because the bill includes a 15% tax on cannabis sales.

HB 371 fared better, passing in the House by a vote of 26-14 on May 5. A week later, the Delaware Senate approved the measure by a vote of 13-7, sending the bill to Democratic Governor John Carney for his consideration. But on May 24, Carney vetoed the bill, citing concerns about safety and the economic impact of legalizing recreational cannabis.

“That said, I do not believe that promoting or expanding the use of recreational marijuana is in the best interests of the state of Delaware, especially our young people,” Carney said in his message vetoing HB 371.

Hemp Shampoo is amazing for dry, itching scalps. Hemp is the sister plant of cannabis. Like cannabis, hemp also produces CBD (cannabidiol).

Hemp is grown specifically for medicinal and industrial purposes. Hemp is rich in healthy, fatty acids like omega-3, which makes for an exceptionally nourishing shampoo.

To use, squirt shampoo into the palm of your hand and lather into wet hair. Be sure to work the shampoo through your roots, down to the ends of your hair. Rinse your hair until the water runs clear.

After consistent use, your hair will be more hydrated and generally healthier. If you suffer from dry, flaky skin on your scalp, hemp shampoo will get rid of this in no time. We also love this Loxa Beauty CBD Hand Lotion. The natural CBD oils in the lotion make it a great moisturiser for your hard-working, rough hands. 

CBD makes for a great skin and hair product, but it also works miracles on back pain. You may ask how does cbd cream help back pain?

Well, CBD can significantly improve your quality of life if you suffer from chronic or acute back pain. Back pain can appear as a result of old age or overuse. Alternatively, a strained muscle or injured spinal ligament may cause pain.

A growing number of states have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use, and at the federal level, Congress is considering decriminalizing the drug and expunging past convictions for marijuana-related offenses.

These policies align with the views of most Black Americans, according to an October 2021 Pew Research Center survey. Wide majorities of Black adults support legalizing marijuana at least for medical use (85%) and favor reforms to the criminal justice system such as releasing people from prison who are being held only for marijuana-related charges and expunging marijuana-related offenses from the criminal records of individuals convicted of such offenses (74% each).

Opinions vary more on whether marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use or for medical use only. About six-in-ten Black adults (57%) say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use by adults, while 28% say marijuana should be legal for medical use only. Notably few Black adults (11%) say marijuana use should not be legal.

The views of Black Americans on this question are similar to those of the public overall. About six-in-ten U.S. adults overall (57%) say marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, while 31% say it should be legal for medical purposes only and 11% say it should not be legal at all.

The survey comes as Black adults are disproportionately likely to be arrested for marijuana-related offenses, according to FBI data. Though non-Hispanic, single-race Black and White Americans used marijuana at roughly comparable rates in 2020, Black people accounted for 39% of all marijuana possession arrests in the U.S. despite being only 12% of the U.S. population.

Black Americans’ views on legalization differ notably by party identification and ideology. Similar shares of Black Democrats and Black Republicans say marijuana use should be legal (88% and 85%, respectively), though views differ somewhat on the type of legalization. Roughly six-in-ten Black Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party (61%) say medical and recreational marijuana use should be legal, compared with roughly half of Black Republicans and Republican leaners (48%). By contrast, a greater share of Black Republicans than Black Democrats say marijuana should be legal for medical use only (37% vs. 27%).

The Hemp Alliance of Tennessee is leading a study on the feasibility of the production of hemp fiber in the state. The organization, comprised of hemp-industry colleagues who support, educate, and collaborate for a successful industry, partnered with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to fund the research that will be conducted by the University of Tennessee.

The study will include an assessment of the feasibility of hemp fiber production for the Tennessee automobile industry as well as an overall assessment of hemp fiber for the development of the Tennessee economy. The research will take place from now through year’s end.

“We are proud to work with the TDA and the research team at the University of Tennessee to explore the potential hemp has to benefit our state’s economy,” said Frederick Cawthon, President of HAT.

“Our organization and its members are invested in realizing the potential of this plant, and our hope is that this study will prompt significant industry investment in Tennessee hemp and its diverse applications.”

The feasibility analysis will include developing a hemp fiber crop production budget for Tennessee farmers and an analysis regarding the costs, revenue, and profits of processing hemp fiber in Tennessee including transportation and supply chain logistics. The broad outlook portion of the study will assess the likelihood for successful Tennessee-based production and processing for the various major uses of hemp fiber.

Snoop Dogg smokes so much weed, it’s worth the cost of hiring a full-time blunt roller. The Long Beach rapper appeared on The Howard Stern Show alongside actor and fellow weed enthusiast Seth Rogen in October 2019, where he revealed he pays someone up to $50,000 a year to roll blunts for him.

“I don’t have time,” Snoop explained.

“The muthafucka rolls them and puts them in the package. Timing – that muthafucka’s timing is impeccable. That’s his J-O-B, his occupation. On his resumé, it says, ‘What do you do?’ ‘I’m a blunt roller. P-B-R – professional blunt roller. If you’re great at something I need, I’m hiring you.”

He continued, “That’s somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000 a year. Free weed, muthafucking all paid expenses. Everything free I get, he gets. I go get some free clothes, I give him some.”

A new study in South Africa aims to examine the effect of psilocybin on treating depression in HIV-positive women with the goal of increasing treatment compliance.

No matter how effective HIV and AIDS treatment have become in the so-called “first world,” the disease is still devastating in places like South Africa. Indeed, HIV infection represents one of the most serious public health challenges in the country. South Africa has the tragic distinction of being the country with the highest number of people infected with the disease globally and the fourth highest adult HIV prevalence rate according to UN statistics. A whopping 13% of the population is infected.

Further the demographics are different than they have been in Western countries. It is not a disease mostly of gay and bisexual men, but straight, Black women. In fact, women are twice as likely to contract HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Tragically, women between 15-19 years old account for 6 out of 7 new infections and represent 63% of the newly infected. In 2020, 4,200 women between 15 and 24 became infected weekly.

AIDS contributes to about a quarter of all deaths in the country.

Beyond the complications of AIDS, however, are two other large and looming problems.

About one third of all South African HIV patients are also comorbid with tuberculosis. Beyond this, mental illness, specifically major depressive disorder is a widespread and unaddressed problem. According to available data, 40% of South Africans living with HIV also suffer from depression and 60% suffer from PTSD.

Cannabis Cash Coin has reached an agreement to have their new cryptocurrency listed on popular crypto exchange CoinMooner. This agreement will allow cannabis enthusiasts to swap Ethereum for the coin using Uniswap, a service also hosted on CoinMooner.

“We chose CoinMooner as our first crypto exchange because of the exposure potential. In addition, we were excited about the number of users that will be introduced to our coin,” says Cannabis Cash Coin CEO and Co-Founder Robert Felder.

“We believe this listing is the momentum we need, and we fully anticipate being listed on additional exchanges in the coming months.”

The mission of Cannabis Cash Coin is to provide cannabis users with a safe, alternative payment method when purchasing cannabis-related products. Their goal is to unite the cannabis and cryptocurrency industries by providing a mobile app that allows you to buy coins, find local dispensaries, and earn rewards for your purchases. Users will be able to purchase this coin directly through Cannabis Mobile later this year.

Levels for THC and CBG were increased by 17 per cent and 25 per cent more, respectively.

Researchers from the University of Jerusalem have managed to manipulate the number of cannabinoids within a cannabis plant.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the research increased the plant’s THC level to 20 per cent more, something that could help create new strains with more medicinal power and to help boost crop yields.

The researchers were led by Professor Alexander Vainstein and managed to increase a variety of cannabinoid levels, including for THC and cannabigerol (CBG), which were increased by 17 per cent more and 25 per cent more, respectively.

Researchers were also reportedly able to increase increase the ratio of terpenes ⁠— aromatic elements within the plant linked to euphoric and strong medicinal effects ⁠— by 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Per investigators, the goal of the study was to “intervene in the biochemical pathways in the cannabis plant” to manipulate the production of active substances.

LeBron James has said it takes a village to help raise a kid and make a true difference.

And Tuesday's announcement of the new I Promise HealthQuarters furthers his contention that a holistic approach is needed to make change not only in a child's life but for the student's entire family.

The new I Promise HealthQuarters will be the latest addition to the growing set of resources offered by James' namesake foundation and will be situated right across the street from the now-under-construction House Three Thirty.

Like the old Tangier, the property and building was owned by the George family that has operated Bell Music Co. — which supplies arcade-type amusements to businesses — for decades out of the structure that includes offices and a large warehouse space.

Once the renovations are complete, the West Market Street HealthQuarters will offer full medical, dental, optometry, and mental health services and counseling not only to I Promise students but also their families in both the general program and the school the foundation operates just down the street.

There will be room for outdoor and recreational amenities too.

 Green Check Verified (GCV), the leading fintech provider of compliant cannabis banking solutions and services, today announced an official integration with Canix, one of the cannabis industry’s most comprehensive seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions. Canix serves both large commercial operations and single owner operators, and maintains over 2,000 cannabis licenses on its platform. This integration will enable GCV’s partners to seamlessly sync sales with Canix while greatly enhancing their data visualization capabilities. 

As banking legislation and bi-partisan support for cannabis reform gains momentum, industry maturation is on the verge of accelerating with the potential of significant new bills being passed by the end of the year. Yet as legal programs develop in new states across the country and existing programs continue to expand, there is a growing need for cannabis-related businesses (CRB) to have access to advanced regtech solutions as well as tools for processing and automating sales. 

This integration allows CRBs and users to quickly and easily begin syncing sales from Canix, while also mirroring product, price, and total order info so there’s no manually uploading or tracking sales in disparate systems. It also ensures that wholesale orders seamlessly integrate into GCV’s system once transactions are complete, and provides visualization on sales order ID to allow for total cross-referencing of payment details. 

“Over the past year GCV has seen significant market adoption and engagement from both the financial services and legal cannabis communities, and this is an important step in our evolution,” said Kevin Hart, CEO of Green Check Verified.

“Green Check Verified continues to look for ways of bringing more complete and comprehensive solutions for our CRB partners, and we believe that this integration with Canix truly is a value-added combination.”

And then there were two.

That's how many marijuana bills have survived the 2022 legislative session.

One bill would allocate funds from the Smart and Safe Arizona Fund to tribal police and fire departments, university police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety. The other, a strike-everything amendment mirroring a failed senate bill, poses major changes to Arizona’s marijuana licensing process.

All marijuana bills introduced in 2022 bring the legislatures’ developing relationship with the cannabis business into focus. But continuing debate on changes to licensing show the legislative moves in Arizona’s marijuana market continue to remain internal and hotly contested.

Bills looking to heighten regulation and decrease sentencing largely failed early in the process, with many failing to grab a committee assignment or see a vote. The bills that did gain traction often saw mixed opinion from those within the broader cannabis industry.

Living legislation

Senate Bill 1324

Prime Sponsor: State Senator Thomas Shope, R-Coolidge

Researchers asked 145 couples in which a least one of the partners used cannabis to share how regularly they used it and how satisfied they are with their relationships.

Cannabis might have more to do with your love life than you think, according to a new study that examined its associations with couple functioning.

Researchers from Rutgers University and Mount Holyoke College may be on to something. They found that marijuana users appear to present more negative behaviors as they approach managing conflict with their partners.

Moreover, those who use cannabis seemed to be less aware of an unhealthy relationship, as per the results published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

“We looked at different indicators of relationship functioning: how satisfied and committed people felt about their relationship, their behavior, and physiology during a laboratory-based conflict interaction and their perceptions about their conflict discussion and relationship afterward,” said study author Jessica Salvatore, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

In Portugal, the left-wing group Left Bloc is pressing for legalization based on both local drug reform history, as well as current events across Europe.

For those watching the swing of European states into the pro cannabis column, the developments in Portugal have been a source of both optimism and frustration for the past several years.

The production of cannabis for medical export purposes was initiated by Tilray as they looked for a country more open to cannabis cultivation than Germany in 2017. Since then, commercial cultivation and extraction has blossomed domestically. Indeed Portugal is now seen as one of the most important feeder countries for the German medical cannabis market.

As a result of this as well as the general tolerance of cannabis in the country, the legislature was widely expected to introduce and pass formal recreational reform legislation late in 2021 or at the latest, by early this year. However, the issue stalled when the sitting government failed to pass the 2022 budget and a snap election was called for the end of January. The swearing in of the new Parliament was also delayed by a month and a half due to controversies that arose from the counting of overseas ballots.

In such an environment, cannabis reform is not going to be the priority.

European cannabis reform is a zeitgeist topic

However, those advocating for reform have not just gone away. Further, it appears that as of this summer, the prioritization of legalization has re-entered the political room.

What’s safe in pot? Depends on where you are

The spread of legal marijuana across the US is bringing with it a unique challenge: Absent federal guidelines, states are cobbling together hodgepodge rules that leave users without a uniform safety net. 

Take New Jersey, which on April 21 became the latest state with legalized pot. Regulators there are re-examining their own rules on issues as varied as mold limits and batch size for contaminants testing. As with all the 19 states that allow recreational marijuana use for adults, it’s up to local officials to decide what’s best.

This isn’t how the US treats aspirin, lipstick, food, tobacco, carpet, tires — just about everything that’s for sale is subject to uniform health and safety regulations. But marijuana is in odd territory: Federally illegal, yet tried by half the adult population, it’s a fledgling multibillion-dollar market steered by fast-evolving rules. 

Attempts at regulation mark a departure from a black market that flourished bureaucracy-free for decades. But with a US retail market projected to hit $43 billion by 2025, according to researcher New Frontier Data, many in the industry are asking for some government intervention.

“Standardization across product forms, product naming, labeling and testing would simplify our business,” said Dennis Curran, chief operating officer of Acreage Holdings, with 27 dispensaries in eight states.

Pay attention to these signs.

Many people find marijuana beneficial, either for recreation or relief from a medical condition. But some people have a less pleasant experience with cannabis. Marijuana can cause side effects, which can range from unpleasant to risky for health. This is what it may feel like to experience some of the most common side effects of marijuana. 

Smoking marijuana involves inhaling, well, smoke, and that can irritate your lungs. "Research shows that smoking marijuana causes chronic bronchitis and marijuana smoke has been shown to injure the cell linings of the large airways, which could explain why smoking marijuana leads to symptoms such as chronic cough, phlegm production, wheezing, and acute bronchitis," says the American Lung Association.

THC, the main ingredient in marijuana, can raise heart rate by 20 to 50 beats a minute, causing a feeling that your heart is racing. This may last for several hours.

"Marijuana can make the heart beat faster and can make blood pressure higher immediately after use," says the CDC.

"It could also lead to increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and other vascular diseases." Researchers think THC may cause inflammation in blood vessels, damaging them.