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5 Conditions That Marijuana’s CBD Can Improve Immediately

Maria Loreto
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5 Conditions That Marijuana’s CBD Can Improve Immediately

THC is the most famous cannabis component, but marijuana’s CBD is the unsung hero, especially when it comes to its medicinal properties. Also known as Cannabidiol, this component is one of the main cannabinoids that make up the marijuana plant, with a large concentration of 40 percent that, unlike THC, provides no intoxicating effects. CBD has proven to offer a strong and positive influence on anxiety, physical ailments, depression, and many other symptoms.  

Here are some of the strangest and most amazing benefits that CBD, with the necessary research and study, can provide to us in the near future:

Diabetes

Research done on mice and lab rats suggests that CBD can be a useful tool in preventing diabetes. By treating non-obese mice with CBD, scientists discovered that the cannabinoid can help stop the production of IL-12, a receptor that’s present in Type 1 Diabetes.

Nicotine Addiction

A research conducted on smokers divided their test subjects into two groups, one who was given a placebo while the other one was provided with CBD. The latter group demonstrated that users cut back on their smoking by at least 40 percent, showing that the cannabinoid helped them manage their cravings for nicotine. 

Crohn’s Disease

CBD has anti-inflammatory properties that can help patient’s with Crohn’s disease and other illnesses that affect their intestines. Other properties present in cannabis can help patients by improving their appetite, helping them gain some weight, and decreasing the intensity and frequency of Crohn’s disease symptoms.

Acne

Thanks to it’s anti-inflammatory properties, different products that contain CBD have proved that it can be a good option for acne and general skin care treatment when applied to the sebaceous glands of the face and other sensitive areas.

Anxiety

One of CBD’s biggest strengths are its anti-anxiety properties, which can help patients with social anxiety, OCD, and even more severe illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder. These diseases are hard to treat and stunt the growth of endocannabinoids in our bodies. These components can be reactivated with the help of CBD and other cannabinoids in cannabis sativa.

6 Important Cannabis Trends That Will Change The Game In 2018

Kathy T. Cooley
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6 Important Cannabis Trends That Will Change The Game In 2018

Enthusiasm for cannabis has grown exponentially in recent years, from the legalization of it as a recreational drug in California and Maine to its potential for medicinal use. While medical research is scant on exactly what marijuana can do, the tides are set to change rapidly for the popular plant as the market warms up to its potential.

The cannabis trends in 2017 may have included the creation of a variety of different products, from extracts to concentrates, and its decriminalization in New Hampshire, but what does the future hold for the newly booming industry? According to a report from Arcview Market Research, the number of marijuana sales in North America grew to $6.7 billion in 2017, representing a 30 percent increase from the previous year.

Amazingly enough, this growth is expected to continue since there’s more in store for cannabis in the coming year. With celebrity strains set to become more popular and the branding of CBD oil and cannabis as solutions for body ailments, the sky is the limit when it comes to the substance.

From trendy chocolates that contain CBD oil to more funding for the medical use of cannabis, here are some of the marijuana-related things you might see in 2018.

Increased Funding For Medicinal Research

The cannabis indica and cannabis sativa plant varieties have been used for a number of years to help those undergoing chemotherapy deal with the treatment’s side effects. However, due to cannabis’s classification as a Schedule 1 drug, which can be prone to abuse, it’s been difficult for marijuana to be studied for its medical potential. Fortunately, as time goes on and the legality around the drug changes, so will our knowledge of its true medical potential. According to a report by Salar Media Group and Civilized, “The trend here is that cannabis is now being treated as a medicine with specific benefits and applications to specific diseases. This research will only continue to expand in the years ahead.” With medical marijuana in greater demand than the stuff used for recreational purposes, there’s too much possibility to be ignored.

The Branding Of Cannabis 

Small batches have become popular for everything from craft beer to jam to coffee, but as cannabis continues to enjoy its more prominent reputation, there’s going to be a lot more market appeal for unique, sought-after strains. While there are sure to be some celebrity brands that appear in the coming years, big brands will likely stay away from the product until it has mass appeal, leaving the door open for marijuana-specific brands like Diego Pellicer and Recreator. While this economic boost will create a lot of expensive marijuana options that are unique in strain and luxurious in style, with so many producers there will still be options for every pocketbook. 

The Success In CBD Oil

Cannabidiol is the part of the cannabis plant that doesn’t cause the familiar effects associated with marijuana use; as a result, it’s often used in medical marijuana to treat pain or the symptoms associated with chemotherapy. Fortunately, with the ever-changing marijuana map and the bump in research of marijuana as medicine, the CBD oil industry is set to see a huge boost in profits over the next few years.

Hemp Business Journal estimates a growth of $2.1 billion in sales by 2020, a figure that represents a 700% increase in sales from 2017. Not only that, consuming CBD oil in some of your favorite products will also be more common. Sakara Life, a Gwyneth Paltrow approved brand, is now producing delectable CBD chocolates, made with cacao butter, coconut sugar and CBD oil.

Marketing The Marijuana Seeds

While CBD oil is projected to make itself known on the marketplace in the short term, one can also make a bet that marijuana seeds will be showing up in a variety of other marketable products. Given the low concentration of THC (the compound that provides the familiar high) in marijuana seeds, they should be showing up in a few more corners of the world, from beauty products to well-known food items and CBD water. With the sales for a company like Medical Marijuana Inc. at approximately $8 million in 2016, a figure that has more than doubled from $3.4 million in 2013, the market is changing rapidly. With the falling prices of cannabis and marijuana seeds, this product is set to be more economical and readily available than ever before.

Delivery, Anyone?

Options for marijuana use may be more attainable than ever before with producers popping up all over the place, but alongside this newfound prominence you can also look forward to getting your pot like you would your pizza! The cannabis delivery company Eaze just recently received $27 million in funding to become a home delivery service that caters to all your cannabis needs. And not far behind them, other companies like Buddha Blossoms and Kind Courier are also following the potential for this up-and-coming delivery service. With Oregon and Alaska already set to allow the delivery of recreational marijuana, more states will likely follow suit in the coming year, with the delivery start-ups right behind them.

Kathy T. Cooley wrote this story for MJ News Network. 

Maryland’s Cannabis Dispensaries Are Finally Set To Open

Mary Schumacher
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Maryland’s Cannabis Dispensaries Are Finally Set To Open

Five years after having been voted into law, Maryland’s cannabis dispensaries are set to open and overflow with good medicine. Before the week is through, the dispensary Rise will be offering a variety of cannabis products, including flowers and oils.

Eight dispensaries are slated to open, four of them Friday, which will launch Maryland’s pot program into the spotlight and they’ll join the ranks sharing in this billion dollar industry.

Eugene Monroe, Baltimore Ravens tackle, carried a huge pair of red scissors to the ribbon cutting ceremony, telling crowds, “I’ve been waiting, just like you guys.”

Now retired from football, Monroe is a part of the Green Thumb Industries team, though he’s also been an advocate for using cannabis for pain management for even longer. He’s called for cannabis to be taken from the banned substances list at the NFL.

GTI is the parent company of Rise and their focus is on compliance and diversity in the industry, which bodes well for both staff and patients at the new dispensary.

According to the Washington Post, 8,500 out of the 15,000 people who signed up have been approved for medical marijuana, while 14 growers, 12 processors and nine dispensaries have been licensed by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission.

Though Rise’s shelves aren’t stocked with flavorful, cannabinoid rich herbal products yet, there are numerous pieces of local glass blown pipes, bongs and rigs. However, they’re “eager to get started.”

Anthony Darby leads Peninsula Alternative Health on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and said that he hopes to start sales soon, but is wary of promising a targeted date they’ll be open by.

“I have been in this situation at least two other times, and because of testing labs and other reasons, product hasn’t gotten to us,” said Darby. “We are hopefully optimistic that this is different and the delivery from Curio will happen.”

We remain equally hopeful and optimistic and congratulate Maryland on finally being able to purchase their medicine over the counter. We look forward to the day that not only Maryland, but the rest of the country that hasn’t done so yet, legalizes it, at least for compassionate medical use.

The Link Between Marijuana And Creativity: Is It A Thing?

Al Olson
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The Link Between Marijuana And Creativity: Is It A Thing?

What does science say about the connection between marijuana and creativity? The late Steve Jobs said “the best way I would describe the effect of the marijuana and the hashish is that it would make me relaxed and creative.”  He’s not the only one who has expressed this opinion. But is J0bs and others like him actually more creative? Or do they just perceive themselves to be more creative?

The scholarly literature on the subject is inconclusive, but there is a body of scientific research that suggests a solid connection.

What Is Hyper-Priming?

One  study conducted in 2010 demonstrated that the primary property of cannabis is it’s ability to increase hyper-priming. Put simply, hyper-priming is what occurs when your brain makes a connection between two items that are seemingly unrelated. When under the influence of THC, most people are capable of making these connections faster than those not under the influence. In other words, cannabis produces psychotomimetic symptoms, which leads to connecting disparate concepts, the type of divergent thinking that is considered primary to creative thinking.

Vaughan Bell, a British clinical psychologist who has studied the effect of cannabis and the creative mind, says:

“As cannabis certainly causes smokers to have freewheeling thoughts, the researchers decided to test whether stoned participants would show the ‘hyper-priming’ effect…[And indeed they found that]…volunteers who were under the influence of cannabis showed a definite “hyper-priming” tendency, where distant concepts were reacted to more quickly.”

Another report, this one from 2000, suggests that a drug-induced altered state of mind leads some to break free from traditional ways of thinking and increases the likelihood of generating out-of-the-box ideas. (Think again of Steve Jobs.)

This is not a modern concept. In Creativity and Beyond: Cultures, Values, and Change, Robert Paul Weiner wrote:

“From American Indian use of peyote to Chinese people using plum wine, to Coleridge’s opium use, and Hemingway’s alcohol consumption, individuals have found that the exaggerated emotions and altered perspectives they’ve gained from drugs stimulated their creativity”

Not Everyone Agrees

But there are other studies that debunk the creativity claim.  An oft-reported 2014 Dutch study suggested “the evidence is not conclusive.” The Leiden University study suggests that “cannabis with low potency does not have any impact on creativity, while highly potent cannabis actually impairs divergent thinking.”

Dr. Lorenza Colzato, co-author of the study wrote:

“The improved creativity that they believe they experience is an illusion. If you want to overcome writer’s block or any other creative gap, lighting up a joint isn’t the best solution. Smoking several joints one after the other can even be counterproductive to creative thinking.”

There certainly is an abundance of anecdotal evidence pointing to creative enhancement.

Carl Sagan said this of his consumption of cannabis:

“I find that most of the insights I achieve when high are into social issues, an area of creative scholarship very different from the one I am generally known for. I can remember one occasion, taking a shower with my wife while high, in which I had an idea on the origins and invalidities of racism in terms of gaussian distribution curves. It was a point obvious in a way, but rarely talked about. I drew the curves in soap on the shower wall, and went to write the idea down. One idea led to another, and at the end of about an hour of extremely hard work I found I had written eleven short essays on a wide range of social, political, philosophical, and human biological topics. Because of problems of space, I can’t go into the details of these essays, but from all external signs, such as public reactions and expert commentary, they seem to contain valid insights. I have used them in university commencement addresses, public lectures, and in my books.”

Sagan’s widow and longtime professional collaborator Ann Druyan, said:

“Marijuana made it possible for both of us to be far more creative. The things that people find distinctly unique about Carl’s work, and our work together, and my work since, were certainly influenced by the perspective that was made possible by knowing what it was like to be high.”

Nobody is suggesting that taking a few puffs of cannabis will turn you into a creative genius. But what science suggests is that marijuana allows the mind to be more open to different pathways of information. For most of us, that leads us to a more creative mindset.

Want To Have Sex With Your Ex? Here’s 4 Reasons Why

Maria Loreto
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Want To Have Sex With Your Ex? Here’s 4 Reasons Why

If you were to tell your friend that you’re thinking of sleeping with your ex, they’d probably slap you across the face and tell you to snap out of it. It seems like a really awful idea. Yet this is something that happens a lot. The issue can provide closure for some people, or for others it can prolong a string of ongoing relationship problems. In most cases, sleeping with your ex causes embarrassment, confusion, and big big emotional wreck.

YourTango.com suggests that this phenomenon happens because of several reasons, be that because you’re feeling lonely, or because you want to have sex with someone you’ve already slept with.

Check out these 4 reasons why you might be considering sleeping with your ex: 

You Want Closure

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This is very common for people who had a strange or uneven break up where they don’t know where they stand. Breakup sex can be very useful if you’re the type of person who can move on easily afterwards. For others, it’s the perfect recipe for a lot of confusion.

You Want A Gentler Breakup

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This is the case for many long term relationships, where breakups take more than a single conversation or argument. It’s understandable to ease out of a relationship slowly than to simply disappear from someone’s life.

You’re Lonely

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Creating new relationships and putting yourself out there is hard, so it might be easier and less daunting to just sleep with your ex if you’re feeling lonely. Plus, you already trust this person and have slept with them.

You Think It’s Simple Because You’re No Longer In A Relationship With Them

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You feel like you already know the outcome of the encounter, so you just do it. This may end up causing a lot of heartache and complications or, if you’re a person who knows themselves very well, it can provide some closure.

Happy Holidays: These Churches Are Giving Away Marijuana

Brendan Bures
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Happy Holidays: These Churches Are Giving Away Marijuana

Is this place of worship actually a church or is it coverup to run an illegal dispensary? Two religious establishments in San Jose, California are facing such scrutiny locally after announcing they would offer marijuana to churchgoers.

Coachella Valley Church includes everything you might expect from a normal church: pews, altars, images of Jesus. But you’ll also find attendees lighting up and entire room dedicated to marijuana storage. Members of the church have access to that room and can purchase products at a discounted price, as afforded by the church.

“We’re a church,” responded Coachella Valley volunteer Sebastian Grey, when ABC13 asked if they were a dispensary.

“It’s just a $10 donation to be part of the church and then you’re a lifetime member… you’re able to show your ID, we’ll get you checked in, and you can go in the back, purchase products,” Grey also added.

 

City officials have been investigating Coachella Valley, as well as Oklevueha Native American Church, commonly referred to as ONAC. Both offer members cannabis. City officials don’t fret over churchgoers lighting up, but instead the sales and distribution occurring within the building.

Some believe that because the city limits the amount of dispensaries to 16, these churches were developed as a loophole. A judge recently filed an injunction for ONAC to stop operating within the next 10 days and reports indicate the judge will soon file a similar injunction against Coachella Valley.

“Whatever their followers want to smoke, that’s not the issue,” said Rick Doyle, the city attorney for San Jose. “It’s the distribution and sale coming from the dispensary. The church issue just doesn’t fly.”

Rocking Yourself To Sleep Might Help You Cope With Insomnia

Maria Loreto
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Rocking Yourself To Sleep Might Help You Cope With Insomnia

Sleep (deep sleep, not catnaps) is very important, having a significant impact on your health, quality of life, and mood. Surprisingly enough, sleep is a big problem in the country, affecting around 80 million of Americans. It can be disrupted due to a large variety of things, such as stress, hormonal imbalances or disturbances in your environment.

Hemelayaa, from Yoga Journal, believes that the secret to battling insomnia lies in rocking yourself to sleep, an action that has some scientific back up even though it sounds a little weird. A 2011 study from Current Biology states that swinging motions initiate a sensory stimulation that supplements sleep rhythms. The research compared subjects who were sleeping on rocking beds and subjects who were sleeping on stationary beds, with the results proving that rocking motions assist people in transitioning states; from alert, to relaxed, to finally sleeping. 

If you’re struggling with your sleeping habits, you can try rocking yourself to sleep by following these 4 simple steps:

  1. Lie on your back. Extend your legs out straight.
  2. Sway your foot side to side like a windshield wiper. This will in turn rock your whole body into a soothing state taking you into slumber.
  3. Move your hips side to side. It should be effortless.
  4. Do it for about 30 sec and let it go.

We hope you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, because that really sucks for them.

The Good News: Check Out These 5 Health Benefits Of Stress

Maria Loreto
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The Good News: Check Out These 5 Health Benefits Of Stress

Stress is bad for you, in fact, some studies claim that high stress can be just as damaging as smoking five cigarettes a day. While that may sound like an exaggeration, or the case of someone who has an unbearably high amount of stress, the point remains the same: stress is really damaging for your health. What most people don’t know is that stress, in reasonable amounts, can also help you get things done and even help you battle some illnesses and stressors.

Check out these 5 health benefits that a little stress can provide: 

Warding Off Colds And Infections

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Have you ever had a big test coming and felt like you were going to be sick, but then your body surprised you by holding off the disease until you were free of responsibilities? Crazy, but true.

Newidea.com reports that this is due to your body working overtime to avoid illnesses while you’re preoccupied with something. In times like these, your body releases cortisol which acts as an anti-inflammatory agent that protects you for short periods of time. 

Speeding Up Recovery After Surgery

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Surgeries are always stressful, which can be a good thing, helping you heal faster and more efficiently. This stress prepares your brain for the changes that are about to happen in your body, prompting a release of immune cells in your bloodstream and redirecting them to the areas where they’re most needed.

Bond With Those Around You

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Short term levels of stress boost the amount of oxytocin (the bonding hormone) your body produces. This might be a reason why very stressful moments tend to bring you closer to people, creating a bond that wouldn’t have been developed in another scenario.

Enhances Short Term Memory

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Stressful situations can make your brain act like a super brain, remembering things more clearly and leaving you on top of your game when performing a demanding task. This is due to a rush of hormones to your prefrontal cortex, that boost your problem solving skills.

Boosts Your Resilience

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While stressful situations are awful while you’re going through them, after some time has passed and you’ve gained some perspective you can look back and see that the stress helped you grow and become a better person, stronger and better equipped to deal with stress in the future. 

Gossip: When And Where For Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s Wedding; What Will Meghan’s Title Be?

Naughty Gossip
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Gossip: When And Where For Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s Wedding; What Will Meghan’s Title Be?

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle will be marrying at Windsor Castle. In May!

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are to marry in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in May, it has been announced, as is it was revealed they are planning the wedding themselves.

It was also revealed on Tuesday afternoon that Prince Harry and Ms Markle will carry out their first public engagement together at an Aids charity in Nottingham on Friday. The month chosen for the nuptials, which will be paid for by the Royal family, means the couple will avoid clashing with several high-profile events in April.

The Duchess of Cambridge is due to give birth to her third child in April and the Queen will also be busy with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is being hosted in London and Windsor in mid-April.

St George’s Chapel is a smaller venue for the church wedding than Westminster Abbey, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wed, or St Paul’s Cathedral, where Harry’s parents married.
[From The Telegraph]

Meghan Markle Probably Won’t Be A Princess, She’ll Be A Duchess

Don’t look for Princess Meghan anytime soon. Now that Meghan Markle is engaged to Prince Harry, her royal title is one of the key issues to sort out. Unlike Kate Middleton, however, she will not be given a princess title — but the Duchess of Sussex could be just the right fit.

When Kate married Prince William, the couple received their royal titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. As the next in line to the throne behind Prince Charles, William is expected to become the Prince of Wales — and Kate, therefore, the Princess of Wales — when Charles ascends the throne. (Princess Diana, of course, was previously the Princess of Wales.)

Harry is fifth in line to the throne and will slide down to sixth after William and Kate’s third baby arrives in April 2018. Most insiders believe that if the Queen hands him a royal dukedom, like Prince William received upon his 2011 wedding, Prince Harry will be made the Duke of Sussex on his own wedding day. That would make Meghan the Duchess of Sussex, mirroring Kate’s title of the Duchess of Cambridge.

Other options include the Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the Duke of Connaught and the Duke of Windsor — but considering that the last Duke of Windsor (Edward VIII) abdicated the throne to marry his divorced American wife, that seems unlikely.

‘Unless they create a new title for them, I think the Duke of Sussex is the most likely title,” says Joe Little of Majesty magazine. “Otherwise, Keghan would be known as Princess Henry of Wales and people wouldn’t not understand that these days. But they may surprise us.”

As for where the newlyweds will live, Clarence House confirmed on Monday that they will settle in Nottingham Cottage, Harry’s two-bedroom residence at Kensington Palace in London, where staff already know Markle. In a similar fashion, Prince William and Kate Middleton lived together at St. Andrews University and then at a secluded farmhouse in North Wales briefly before they wed in April 2011. There has been speculation that one day Harry will move into Apartment 1 at the palace, which has 21 rooms and is currently the home of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

Love the fresh dirt we bring over daily from Naughty Gossip? Let us know in the comments!

Pikachu Speaks In His New Movie And People Are Not Okay

Maria Loreto
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Pikachu Speaks In His New Movie And People Are Not Okay

If there’s one thing we all know is that Pikachu doesn’t speak. We can easily recall those adorable yet nagging “pikas” that the little character would spew, which could have different meanings depending on the context of the conversation.

Apparently, ‘Pokemon: I Choose You!’, didn’t get the memo, because Pikachu starts talking right in the middle of it (spoiler: it’s in a dream sequence, but who cares?). Movie goers claimed that the most unrealistic part of the movie was this piece of Pikachu dialogue, even less credible than the fact that people in this world collect monsters inside little balls (how do they even fit in there?).

What the fuck indeed. Pikachu’s creepy and sensuous voice doesn’t make things easier either. This is a kid’s movie people, and bestiality is also not okay.

You don’t have to be a fan of the franchise to know that Pikachu doesn’t talk. That’s just Pokemon 101. If we’re trying to be rational here and excuse why the writers thought this was a good idea, then yes, I guess in the world of Pokemon there are a few Pokemons that talk. Meowth, the evil cat member of Team Rocket, can talk and it’s mostly funny because of course cats can talk in a parallel universe. That makes perfect sense. There’s also Mewtwo, who’s kind of a literal God, and it’s very scary when he starts speaking because you know shit’s gonna go down. But Pikachu? So unnecessary, guys.

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