BudDigest – Page 388

May 30, 2019

If Cannabis Is Having Any Dire Health Effects, Canadian Hospitals Haven’t Seen Them

More than half a year in, Canada’s relaxed cannabis laws appear to be earning a clean bill of health from major medical organizations.

While many hard numbers on health shifts are not yet available, some of the country’s largest mental health and emergency centres say the new laws have dumped no discernible increase in cannabis-related cases on their doorsteps.

“It’s certainly something that we’re very concerned about and want to be watching for,” says Robert Mann, a senior scientist and impairment expert at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. “But I’ve heard nothing — no indication that there’s all of a sudden a large increase.”

– Read the entire article at The Star.

May 11, 2019

How to Invest in Cannabis as the Industry Matures

Although the legal marijuana industry is still very much an emerging niche for stock market participants, the market for investing in cannabis is maturing.

In a recent sign of how far the legal cannabis sector has come, BlackRock Funds has made substantial investments in dispensary operator Curaleaf Holdings, the same company that also announced it will sell products infused with a non-psychoactive hemp component in CVS Health Corp (NYSE: CVS) stores.

Institutional Investment, Industrialized Processes

The CVS deal indicates that cannabis products are becoming more mainstream. The BlackRock investment is a high-profile example of institutional money entering a space that has been called the Wild West of investing. “We expect to see a floodgate [open]of more institutional investment,” said Matt Karnes, founder and managing partner with GreenWave Advisors.

– Read the entire article at YahooNews.

April 24, 2019

Cannabis Advocates Drop Off Donations at Windsor Food Banks

Rain this past weekend kept the EPIC 420 Cannabis Festival from getting the attendance organizers were hoping for, but still they were able to support Windsor area food banks.

Event organizer Leo Lucier dropped off a truck and trailer full of groceries at Street Help on Monday.

Lucier later went to the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and helped fill their shelves with food and other necessities.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

March 26, 2019

Can smoking whole flower marijuana actually be good for you?

Can smoking marijuana be good for you?

When the good people of the state of Florida voted to expand their medical marijuana program to actually include marijuana there was no question in anyone’s mind at the time that this included smokable forms of marijuana — eg. dried flower (aka bud), hashish, rosin, and cannabis oil. However, when lawmakers got their hands on the constitutional amendment (no less), they decided that they know better than the majority of their constituents and that it was their job to protect the public by prohibiting the sale and use of smokable forms of marijuana because, well, smoking is bad for you, right? But is it really?

Before we answer that question, let us point out that the Florida situation actually has a happy ending. Florida attorney, John Morgan, who bankrolled the voter initiative to expand access to medical marijuana took it upon himself to put together a case against the state to overturn the smokables ban. The courts agreed that the intention of the measure was to include smokables as a form of administering medicinal cannabis. So did the incoming governor who insisted that lawmakers regroup on the matter and legalize smokables. They did so in short order by a unanimous vote.

Is smoking marijuana bad for you?

Let’s start out by stating the obvious: all things in moderation. If you’re spending the bulk of your days huffing on a bong or lipping blunts, you’re probably going to mess up your lungs. In fact, there is evidence that excessive pot smoking can cause chronic bronchitis. What there is not is evidence that smoking weed causes lung cancer. In fact, cannabis might even prevent lung cancer.

In the spring of 2005, Donald Tashkin, a professor of pulmonology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine claimed that….

March 13, 2019

CBD in Florida – 2019 Complete Guide

Is CBD oil legal in Florida?

Historically, Florida has been one of the strictest states in the U.S. when it comes to both hemp and marijuana — both of which are sources for CBD-rich cannabis oils. However, in recent years, Florida has undergone a sea change in its acceptance of cannabis as a medicinal plant.

Recently instituted legislation has created a full-blown medical marijuana industry minus smokables. This means that both CBD oil from marijuana and CBD oil from hemp are accessible to Floridians with a medical marijuana card. Other than that what about Floridians without a marijuana card? Because hemp CBD oil is not made from marijuana, can anyone in Florida buy it? What exactly are Florida’s laws when it comes to hemp CBD oil?

What are Florida’s CBD Laws as of 2019?

Back in November of 2016, Florida approved a constitutional amendment which gave patients suffering from a list of serious medical conditions access to medical marijuana, including both high-THC cannabis oil, and low-THC CBD-oil. Passing by a landslide margin of 71 percent, Amendment 2 superseded an older law which made legal the use of only low-THC CBD oil, and only….

How Does Medical Marijuana Help With and Treat Alcoholism or Alcohol Abuse – MedCard

For some time, the use of marijuana in treating medical conditions has been a controversial topic in the medical community. The reason is that while some well-respected doctors are advocating for its use, others are more concerned about its addictive properties as well as long term effects. Some researchers have however focused on exploring the potential of marijuana as treatment for chronic diseases like cancer and AIDS, whereas recent studies are focusing their efforts on the effects of marijuana on alcoholism.

Recall that the conventional western model of treating alcoholism has been statistically proven to have a poor success rate as an estimated half of individuals who begin an addiction treatment program often relapse within a period of six months. Well, the truth is that for alcoholics, the only real choice of emerging victorious over their affliction is to quit drinking in its entirety. This therefore explains why many forward thinking recovery programs have been replacing the daily use of alcohol with that of medicinal marijuana.

There are however shreds of evidences that marijuana may be useful in combating alcoholism as well as cocaine cravings. That said, cannabis aided alcoholism recovery is commonly known as…..

Illinois Opioid Alternative Program 2019

Illinois Opioid Alternative Program

Illinois residents who have been prescribed opioids now have an all natural alternative to the addictive and sometimes deadly painkillers. The aptly named Opioid Alternative Pilot Program will provide enrollees with access to medical marijuana for the duration of their treatment.

Illinois’ medical marijuana legislation was signed into law in 2015. The measure allowed patients with any of around 40 qualifying medical conditions to purchase and possess cannabis products at state-licensed dispensaries. Qualifying medical conditions include ALS, cancer, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy, glaucoma and many others. Since it was initiated, sales of medical marijuana have topped $260 million. The state has licensed more than 50 dispensaries.

The program was expanded to include the opioid alternative back in August of 2018. Along with the expansion, a fingerprinting and background check requirement was dropped.

The addition of the opioid replacement program is expected to dramatically increase the demand for medical marijuana in the state, while cultivators and dispensaries are scrambling to keep up with demand.

The Opioid Epidemic In Illinois

The dramatic and rapid rise of prescription opioids and the number of deaths resulting from their use is no less than an epidemic in the U.S. Opioids are responsible for 49,000 of the 72,000 drug overdose deaths in……

Read More Here

December 4, 2018

19 Stylish, Cannabis-Adjacent Gifts for Those Who Like to Smoke Weed

Your friend, significant other, sibling, parent — anyone!

We know it’s hard to find the right gifts for your loved ones, so we’ve compiled a ton of fashion and beauty-focused gift guides tailored to a range of interests and budgets. Check out our latest below and find more right here.

As marijuana continues to earn legalization for recreational use around the world, the act of smoking pot is rapidly transforming within the luxury market across fashion, beauty and media. (We’ve covered one, not two, but three very chic magazines on weed that just launched this year.) From designers getting inspired by the marijuana leaf’s aesthetic to new beauty brands banking on the benefits of CBD, the options for stylish cannabis-friendly products are plentiful right now.

– Read the entire article at Fashionista.

September 14, 2018September 14, 2018

Opioids Kill, Marijuana Cures. Solving An American Crisis – Part 1

The Statistics are Alarming

Presently, opioid painkillers are the most commonly prescribed group of analgesics in the US. The numbers of opioids addicts are rising and one third of the total number of deaths from overdose is due to opioid painkillers. The consequences of the epidemic for American society are enormous, starting with health care. Hospitals in Florida and throughout the country complain that their emergency aid is becoming overloaded, and the re-use of needles has increased the spread of Hepatitis B and C in recent years. One in five of mental disorder patients also consumes some legal or illegal opioid. In the US, the number of deaths…READ MORE HERE

September 10, 2018September 10, 2018

Can Marijuana Solve The Opioid Crisis in America – Part 1

Medical Marijuana and The Opioid Crisis

Opioid Crisis in America Overview

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, morphine, and many others. Opioids are strong painkillers and are usually prepared from opium. There are mild opioids, such as tramadol and codeine, and strong ones, like morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl. The abuse of opioids is very controversial because they cover illegal substances as well as prescription. In many states including Florida & Illinois, there are signs of an increase in the prescription of strong opioids.

Opioids work mainly on the opioid receptors, which are majorly found in the brain regions that are involved in pain regulation, the central nervous system and in the gastrointestinal tract. This is why opioid painkillers work as analgesic and euphoric drugs. Opioids block pain signals in the central nervous system and give a euphoric feeling to the user. In patients with chronic pain, a slight pain can trigger all the tendency to use opioids.

Heroin is the most used illegal opioid while fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone are some of the most abused prescription drugs. Oxycodone has the same chemical compositions with morphine and heroin. It also provides a short-term relieve for chronic pain patients. Before now, oxycodone was mainly used for terminal cancer patients but in recent years, its use has rapidly increased. Oxycodone has a major dark side. Some health professionals believe if you take it as a painkiller for more than thirty days, the chances are that you will become addicted to it.

According to a University of Wisconsin study, since the end of the nineties, the use of these opioids has increased significantly worldwide. For example, the morphine in the US increased from about 70 mg per person in 1990 to 701 mg per person per year in 2014. In Europe these numbers are lower, but increase at the same rate: from 6 to 34 mg in 1990 to 214 to 485 mg per person in 2014.