WeedLife News Network

Telehealth services that were made available to Florida’s medical marijuana patients due to the coronavirus pandemic may become a permanent option. 

That’s according to the web publication Florida Politics, which reported this week that the temporary provision first established at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak—and then extended in May—might become a fixture in the state’s medical cannabis program.

The state’s Department of Health unveiled emergency rules back in March that allowed licensed physicians in Florida to see their patients and issue prescriptions remotely. The state’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis extended telehealth services for medical marijuana patients another 60 days in May. Now, with the provision set to expire this week—and the coronavirus experiencing a resurgence in states such as Florida—some advocates think it needs to be extended indefinitely.

“It’s excellent for the patients, convenience-wise, safety-wise and in a lot of other ways,” Barry Gordon,  a former physician in Ohio who now owns a cannabis clinic in Venice, Florida, told Florida Politics. “The majority of the patients can find that they can integrate it into their lifestyle in an appropriate way and don’t need a lot of further medical advice.”

Gordon continued: “Those types of things are easily done in a [telehealth] consultation. I like to call it being a 2020 doctor and not adopting a 1980 philosophy. We don’t know how long this COVID-19 crisis is going to last…. . It just makes sense. It’s a different society now.”

Sales of adult-use cannabis in Illinois hit a new record high last month, as recreational marijuana dispensaries sold more than $47.6 million worth of legal products — a 7.5% uptick versus the previous month.

According to Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), which tracks sales at licensed adult-use shops, nearly $240 million worth of recreational cannabis has been sold in Illinois through the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, sales of medical cannabis from 55 licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in Illinois totaled $29.6 million in June, down slightly from the previous month. Concentrates and infused products made up roughly $15.9 million worth of sales, while dry flower accounted for about $13.7 million.

Medical marijuana sales in Illinois have topped $170 million on the year, according to the state, bringing total statewide cannabis sales (recreational and medical) to about $410 million through the first six months of 2020.

The record-breaking recreational sales in June comes as cannabis firms have wrestled with difficult operating conditions throughout much of the year. When adult-use dispensaries first opened in January, they struggled to maintain adequate inventory levels as initial demand outstripped supply.

In light of the impending November 2020 ballot question, in which New Jersey residents will be asked to vote on the legalization of adult-use cannabis, it is imperative now more than ever that legalization is enacted through the meticulous lens of social equity.

Meticulous in the sense that social equity programs must be more than an afterthought, more than an addendum to a bill and more than simple promises to act.

Social equity provisions must be statutorily enacted to ensure a stable foundation that will hold strong as New Jersey’s nascent cannabis industry continues to evolve.

New Jersey is no stranger to the criminalization of cannabis as it consistently ranks in the top three states in the country for the highest number of cannabis arrests and ranks 25th in the country for highest racial disparity in cannabis arrests.

Despite its incarceration history and despite spending more than $143 million of taxpayer’s money each year on cannabis arrests, New Jersey has yet to implement any social equity initiatives in the state’s eight-year history of having a medical cannabis program.

Despite COVID-19 and the illnesses associated with vaping, industry experts report that sales are doing well and are primed to do better as the year progresses.

The vaping market was on the fast track until a strange pulmonary disease appeared in 2019 and threw everyone for a loop. Then came the new year, along with COVID-19, a respiratory illness that has most government officials asking people to wear masks and maintain social distance in order to prevent the spread. With this in mind, the use of vapes and cigarettes should be fizzling out, but experts don’t think that’s the case.

While most people know that smoking harms the lungs, a lot of people are still smoking marijuana as a way to cope with the stress of the virus and long hours of boredom. Smoking marijuana may cause lung irritation and chronic bronchitis but, unlike smoking cigarettes, it’s not associated with significant abnormalities in lung functioning. While there are obvious risks, people who smoke cigarettes are the ones who are dealing more harm to their lungs, especially since this act is likely repeated several times a day.

Vaping is generally associated with less lung damage. Still, experts warn about the unknown chemicals present in the cartridges. “If you’re using a vape pen, you’re taking some chances that there’s stuff other than pure cannabis oil in that cartridge,” internal medicine specialist Erick Kaufman tells The Cut. “We should all be really protective of our respiratory tracts right now, so it’s probably not a good time to be doing any inhaling of cannabis if you can help it.”

Photo by Lepro/Getty Images

Growth opportunities remain in cannabis, but it requires creativity, enterprise and knowledge, according to top investors.

Take this for an investing conundrum: Where do you put your money in an industry with enormous upside but where many companies don’t yet make profits? An industry where some states consider it “essential business” but the country considers its product illegal? Or an industry where the illicit market is potentially three times bigger than legal sales?

Welcome to cannabis investing, where massive potential and heartbreak live side by side. But opportunity does exist for savvy players, even amid a global pandemic that threatens practically every American business sector.

A vast number of cannabis enthusiasts made up of all ages have discovered the perks of exercising high—often with pleasant results. 

While decades of propaganda and a handful of less-than-conclusive studies promote the amotivational syndrome theory surrounding cannabis, a growing body of empirical evidence defies the concept that cannabis slows down the physical human body and hinders psychomotor ability.

A new study—looking at Americans ages 60 and older—found that cannabis consumers are more adept at regular exercise than non-consumers. 

The findings were published in the July 2020 issue of American Journal of Health Behavior and are published online via Ingenta. The data suggests that Americans pot smokers ages 60 and older exercise frequently and have a lower body mass index than older Americans who do not consume. The team arrived at the conclusion that cannabis did not negatively impact exercise routines among Americans who fall within that age group. 

The study was conducted by a team from the Department of Neuroscience and Psychology at University of Colorado, Boulder. “Although studies have suggested that cannabis may impair psychomotor performance and lung function, cannabis may actually enhance performance in some athletic domains,” researchers wrote. “It is important to note that the few empirical studies directly testing this association lack external validity, as they have utilized forms of cannabis that are not widely available in modern medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries.” 

Easy CBD edible recipes can be a godsend when you are looking for ways to get creative in the kitchen. Not only is making your own edibles a nice way to save money, but you can also turn this hobby into a source of income. On top of that, making your own edibles is the best way to ensure that they are made using quality and healthy ingredients, and cooking gives you complete control over the CBD concentration in each product.

You don’t need great cooking skills to make simple and delicious edibles. Here are some of the easiest CBD edibles to make yourself.

CBD Gummies

Starting with what is easily one of the most popular edibles in the world. Both cannabis and CBD gummies are easy to make. A quick online search will yield many different recipes, but most of them rely on two key ingredients: CBD itself, and gelatin. Other ingredients like honey, fruit juice, and colorants can be used to add flavor and beauty to the gummies. And different silicone molds can be used for aesthetic purposes.

But at its core, making CBD gummies consists of heating up the gelatin and then mixing it with CBD. And while a silicone mold can make it easier to pour and later extract your gummies, you can get away with using an ice tray in a pinch. Gummies can be made using CBD oil, tinctures, isolates, and even by adding ground up hemp to the gelatin. Just make sure to decarboxylate it first.

Look around for CBD gummy recipes and find one that looks delicious to you. Most of them are shockingly simple.

Part of building a returning customer base is investing in a company brand; however, dispensaries in legal markets across are regulated differently state-by-state, limiting the options for traditional marketing, such as radio or TV ads, billboards, distribution of brochures in public spaces, and more.

In many states, retailers are permitted to sell merchandise donning cannabis company logos and other branding—such as clothing, mugs, rolling papers, vaporizers and other products. Retailers are using those opportunities to their advantage to increase awareness beyond their dispensary doors.   

Choosing to smoke cannabis can be therapeutic, capable of relieving any number of conditions from insomnia to the side effects of chemotherapy. But it’s also a superb vehicle for attaining personal balance and increasing our overall sense of well-being.

Here are 10 activities that will maximize the cannabis experience.

Take a bath

If you’re dead tired or your muscles are aching, a hot bath is always inviting. Once you’ve set the scene with scented candles and some relaxing tunes, why not light a joint. Obviously, the hand that’s holding the joint dry needs to remain dry, which will require a bit of coordination when climbing into the water. But once you’ve settled in, you’ll achieve physical and psychological serenity.

Work out with weed

The gym can be a tiresome experience: the same old machines, the same old routine. What’s the solution? Freshen your exercise by catching a buzz before you sweat. Cannabis gives your metabolism a boost. For runners, it alleviates the tedium of putting one foot in front of the other. By the way, the so-called “runner’s high” is very much akin to the cannabis experience, because exercise activates the endocannabinoid system in the same way toking up does.

For those who opt for exercise machines, which are designed to isolate individual muscle groups, cannabis will allow you to focus more keenly on the contraction of those muscles. Many yoga enthusiasts swear by cannabis because it marginalizes linear thought and focuses awareness on breathing and proper alignment.

Professor Rudolf Brenneisen of the Swiss Society of Cannabis in Medicine tells us about medical cannabis in Switzerland.

The Swiss Society of Cannabis in Medicine (SSCM), the Swiss ambassador organisation of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines, aims to see cannabis recognised and regulated as a legitimate form of medicine in Switzerland. MCN speaks with Professor Rudolf Brenneisen, Editor-in-Chief of the SSCM’s peer-reviewed trade journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids, about medical cannabis and cannabinoids in Switzerland.

What are the key benefits of cannabis in medical treatment?

Cannabis can have a plethora of effects – although this does not mean it is a panacea. It can have therapeutic benefits across a broad spectrum of indications, including chronic and neuropathic pain; nausea, vomiting and appetite loss; neurological conditions; chronic inflammation; and more. Cannabis and cannabinoids – primarily THC and CBD – have a broad therapeutic window: this means that they only carry a very marginal risk of physical or organ toxicity, and the risk of potential psychological side effects is low to medium and dependent on the dose. The typical psychotropic side effects of THC may be ameliorated by combining it with a dose of CBD.

Are there challenges or side effects specific to cannabis as a medicinal product?

One really challenging aspect of cannabis is evaluating all the different application forms in order to determine which is optimal for medicinal use. The selection of the medication type must ideally be based on patient and indication, though as some producers claim to offer between 1,000 and 2,000 individual types and chemovarieties, it is still essentially impossible to deliver cannabis-based treatment which is uniquely ‘individualised’ for the patient.

Cannabis and its extracts can be available in the form of isolated single substances, such as THC or CBD; standardised extracts like Sativex®; and full spectrum preparations, such as cannabis flowers. The predominant application forms are:

A Detailed Look at Cannabis Sales in Illinois, Maryland and Massachussetts

We are pleased to share with our readers overviews on three Eastern cannabis markets compiled by BDSA for the month of April. BDSA offers a full understanding of the evolving cannabis market though several offerings, including its GreenEdge Retail Sales Tracking, Consumer Insights, Industry Intelligence and CBD Market Monitor divisions.

As Arkansas’ medical marijuana industry blossoms, with the state issuing more licenses for cultivation centers and dispensaries to serve more than 60,000 authorized Arkansas patients, cultivators are pushing back against a narrative that short wholesale supplies have kept prices too high for some patients to buy.

“The argument for issuing additional grow licenses was based on the idea that cultivators charge too much for cannabis,” one grow operation executive told Arkansas Business. “They said basically that there’s no supply and patients can’t get their medicine. That’s simply not true. We welcome competition and the issuing of new licenses, but not under a false premise.”

Ever since the Spanish colonists began farming hemp in Mexico over 400 years ago, cannabis has been a delicate topic in the country – first used as a painkiller, then banned in 1920, and today, almost legal… but also, not at all. The marijuana (or marihuana) rules are hazy, and the consequences of breaking them are no joke. We broke down the top three things you need to know before using cannabis South of the Border.

These laws only apply to the use of cannabis inside the country. Bringing cannabis of any amount or any kind – recreational or medical – across the border into Mexico is considered international drug trafficking, and can lead to arrest.

1) Medicinal marijuana use is not legal (yet)

In a nearly unanimous vote in 2017, medical marijuana (or, more specifically, “pharmaceutical derivatives of cannabis“) were made legal in Mexico. But, there’s a catch: the Mexican Ministry of Health still needs work out some specifics. This means that it is still illegal for patients to obtain medical marijuana or for doctors to prescribe it, and it won’t be legal until the Ministry of Health produces guidelines for it. Even then, though, the law stipulates that the cannabis derivatives (oils, capsules, etc.) will be required to contain less than one percent THC.

2) Possessing small amounts of recreational marijuana won’t send you to jail

Service members who admit to using cannabis after they leave the military would be permitted to reenlist under a provision of a $740.5 billion defense spending bill approved by the House Armed Services Committee last week. 

Current Department of Defense regulations dictate that service members who leave the military and decide to return are barred from reenlisting if they admit to using any form of cannabis while separated. The prohibition remains in effect even for former service members whose cannabis use occurred in a state that has legalized marijuana.

But under a provision added to a defense spending authorization bill by Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, service members wishing to return to the military could request a waiver on a case-by-case basis. The waiver, if granted by the Pentagon, would allow reenlistment for those who have been convicted of a misdemeanor marijuana offense or who admit to cannabis use up to the level of a misdemeanor offense while not on active duty.

“Smoking pot just once shouldn’t prevent a patriotic American from fighting for our country,” Gallego said in a release. “We need to finally exercise some common sense when it comes to our marijuana policies, and I’m glad my amendment will lead us in that direction.”

‘Common-Sense Reform’

Gallego has introduced the amendment, which he characterized as “a common-sense reform to modernize our military’s restrictions on minor marijuana use,” each year since 2018. He was spurred to draft the measure by the experience of a constituent who wanted to return to the Marine Corps when he had finished attending law school. After revealing he had used marijuana in a legal state, a recruiter told him he would have to lie in order to reenlist.

Policing reform may have passed the House on a mostly party-line vote, but the battle isn’t over, especially for pro-cannabis lawmakers who argue the failed ‘war on drugs’ has fueled racial tension in low-income communities across the nation for decades now.

After being rebuffed by congressional leaders who asked that amendments on cannabis not be offered in the midst of the historic policing reform debate at the Capitol, pro-cannabis lawmakers are vowing to redouble their efforts to get federal decriminalization (if not outright legalization, which remains their ultimate goal) passed by the end of this year.

While Correa raised his marijuana decriminalization amendment in the House Judiciary Committee, he ultimately pulled it after party leaders asked that the legislation stay focused merely on items like banning chokeholds and ending qualified immunity (political-speak for allowing officers to do basically whatever they want without fear of punishment).

But with cannabis and drug arrests of minorities across the US drawing condemnation from international bodies (namely, the United Nations), a growing number of officials and advocates are demanding that overhauling drug laws be a part of any policing reform in the future.

Still, drawing national media attention to the practice of no-knock warrants – along with actually passing the legislation out of the House – is seen as a win. In part because even most lawmakers can’t comprehend the practice.

Cannabis is legal in a majority of states but remains illegal at the federal level. This legislative divide creates uncertainties that dissuade most federally regulated banks from servicing the cannabis industry. With banking providers in short supply, cannabis businesses are struggling to earn and maintain the same access to financial services as their peers in traditional retail industries.

Cannabis and its derivative products are all the rage right now. State after state legalizes its recreational use and dispensaries all over the country are making loads of money. The medicinal aspects of the plant are also heavily taken advantage of by big pharmaceutical companies, with new, branded drugs being released with cannabis as their primary component. 

Nestled near the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers in Upstate New York, the city of Binghamton and the surrounding county, Broome, was always a hotbed of agriculture and manufacturing. From the rivers to railroads to highways, the area has been at the hub of transportation networks and grew steadily through the 20th century.

Part of New York’s Southern Tier region along the Pennsylvania border, it was the home of the Endicott Johnson Shoe Company, IBM and later, the flight simulator, which was invented and continued to be manufactured in Binghamton. The area boomed through the Cold War era, in part because of its defense-heavy industries, earning it the nickname “The Valley of Opportunity.”

But after the fall of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, things began to change and both the city and the region experienced a decline in population and money. The shoe factory once employed more than 15,000, but declined and finally closed in 1998. IBM saw its workforce drop from more than 16,000 in the 1980s to a few hundred before it finally sold the plants in 2002.

“You really saw in the late-’80s and through the mid-’90s the manufacturing sector kind of hollowed out,” says current Broome County Executive Jason Garner.

“We’re a manufacturing community that lost its manufacturing base, not unlike Rochester which lost Kodak, or other places that lost major anchors,” agrees Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, who represents the area in the New York Legislature. “We were the home of IBM and the Endicott Johnson Shoes that collectively employed (thousands of) people that are no longer employed.”

The days, weeks, months and time in general feel like a vague concept in the middle of a pandemic, it’s worth remembering that we’re still in the midst of summer. But the usual beloved summer cultural events we so look forward to all winter — from parades to concerts to food festivals — aren’t happening. Theme parks are shuttered and other tourist attractions are mostly closed.

But don’t fret! Things are still happening, only in the virtual realm. We’ve rounded up some of the best online events happening in the coming months that are worth tuning into — especially when you’re stoned. 

Online baking workshop, July 26

Why not get baked and get into baking? This online workshop will teach you how to make donuts, one of the most ideal stoner snacks, after brownies and cookies. 

Category Is, Every Friday in July and August

Your First Visit to a Dispensary

The cannabis industry is rather new and is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, which means there is a learning curve for consumers. Anyone interested in buying marijuana for medical or recreational use will eventually visit a dispensary, and the first trip to a dispensary can be shocking because of the enormous selection of products available for purchase.

Follow these steps to learn how to prepare for your first trip to a dispensary.

Determine Your Goals

Before you visit the dispensary for the first time, or any time, make sure you know what goals you’d like to accomplish. For example, is there a particular medical condition you’re looking to treat, do you prefer an inhaleable or edible product, or do you prefer a cannabis strain that provides energy or calmness? These are just some questions you can ask yourself when determining your goals.

Research What Products Will Help Accomplish Your Goals

Learn about marijuana here or online by searching Google for terms such as “sativa marijuana strain” and “indica marijuana strain” or “marijuana flower vs edibles” and “marijuana dosage.”

Bring ID and Medical Marijuana Card

Dispensaries have security and receptionists that will ask for your state-issued driver’s license and your valid medical marijuana identification card when you visit.