Cannabis has been used since 4000 BC and in the 1990s, opioid prescriptions took off. But what really is the difference between cannabis and opioids?
Cannabis has been used to treat ailments since 4000 BC. Despite its abilities to offer relief for those in pain, this drug became demonized and criminalized beginning in the early 20th century. Conversely, in the 1990s, opioid prescriptions took off, leading to an epidemic of dependency and overdoses. Until this time, chronic pain was severely untreated. But what really is the difference between cannabis and opioids?
Cannabis has been proven to alleviate chronic pain without the health risks posed by opioids. Our team at Apollo Cannabis Clinic created the below infographic, “Cannabis Vs. Opioids,” to offer an in-depth comparison between these two drugs – and ultimately offer an alternative to opioids.
Infographic via NJ News Network
For more cannabis business coverage, visit the MJ News Network.
The non-conventional practice certainly has its detractors.
A Los Angeles drug rehabilitation clinic is offering a radical approach for patients wanting to kick a dangerous addiction. It’s called Cannabis-Inclusive Treatment and the controversial program is making headlines across the country for allowing patients to smoke marijuana.
High Sobriety provides a “a spectrum of treatment alternatives for individuals who have been previously unable to stop using alcohol and/or other drugs after attending traditional abstinence-based settings,” according to its website.
TheNew York Times features the clinic on Monday. Times reporter Matt Richtel describes the experience:
In almost any other rehab setting in the country, smoking pot would be a major infraction and a likely cause for being booted out. But here at High Sobriety — the clinic with a name that sounds like the title of a Cheech and Chong comeback movie — it is not just permitted, but part of the treatment.
The new clinic is experimenting with a concept made possible by the growing legalization of marijuana: that pot, rather than being a gateway into drugs, could be a gateway out.
Dr. Mark Wallace, chairman of the division of pain medicine in the department of anesthesia at the University of California, San Diego, told the Times that over the last five years he has used marijuana to help several hundred patients transition off opiates.
“The majority of patients continue to use it,” he said of marijuana. But he added that they tell him of the opiates: “I feel like I was a slave to that drug. I feel like I have my life back.”
The non-conventional practice certainly has its detractors. “It’s an affront to evidence-based treatment and it has no place in recovery,” Kevin Sabet, a drug policy consultant told Addiction Professionallast month.
The Los Angeles clinic says its main goal is to prevent relapse. According to the website:
At High Sobriety, our first and foremost goal is to eliminate the risk of death from drug use. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, pharmaceuticals, and other street drugs all have a lethal dose. Leading the death toll, killing more than all others combined, is alcohol. Cannabis has no known lethal dose. The simple truth is eliminating drugs with a lethal dose and using a drug with no lethal dose is a massive improvement, life improving, and life saving. For generations we have been told that cannabis is a “gateway” drug, at High Sobriety, we believe it is an exit drug. A medical protocol that can aid the minimization of harm and elimination of use of drugs with a lethal dose. With comprehensive mental health treatment, people can live happier and safer lives by switching from egregious, lethal drugs to safer, cannabis, creating space for strides and improvements in all areas of life.
And there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that cannabis may, indeed, be an exit drug. States that legalized medical marijuana report treating far fewer opioid users, according to a new study.
Hospitalization rates for opioid dependence and abuse dropped on average 23 percent in states after cannabis was regulated for medicinal purposes. Hospitalization rates for opioid overdoses dropped 13 percent.
The fear perpetrated by anti-cannabis advocates that legalized weed would lead to more cannabis-related hospitalizations is simply unfounded, according to the report in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
“Medical marijuana laws may have reduced hospitalizations related to opioid pain relievers,” said study author Yuyan Shi, a professor at the University of California, San Diego. “This study and a few others provided some evidence regarding the potential positive benefits of legalizing marijuana to reduce opioid use and abuse, but they are still preliminary,” she added.
A common thread in these hit pieces is the idea that millennials are lazy, shallow and disruptive. When I think of my friends, many of whom were born in the 1980s, and my undergraduate students, most of whom were born in the 1990s, I see something different. The millennials I know are driven and politically engaged. We came of age after the Iraq War, the Great Recession and the bank bailout – three bipartisan political disasters. These events were formative, to an extent that those who remember the Vietnam War might not realize.
The idea that young people are ruining society is nothing new. I teach medieval English literature, which gives ample opportunity to observe how far back the urge to blame younger generations goes.
The most famous medieval English author, Geoffrey Chaucer, lived and worked in London in the 1380s. His poetry could be deeply critical of the changing times. In the dream vision poem “The House of Fame,” he depicts a massive failure to communicate, a kind of 14th-century Twitter in which truths and falsehoods circulate indiscriminately in a whirling wicker house. The house is – among other things – a representation of medieval London, which was growing in size and political complexity at a then-astounding rate.
“Winner and Waster,” an English alliterative poem probably composed in the 1350s, expresses similar anxieties. The poet complains that beardless young minstrels who never “put three words together” get praised. No one appreciates old-fashioned storytelling any more. Gone are the days when “there were lords in the land who in their hearts loved / To hear poets of mirth who could invent stories.”In a different poem, “Troilus and Criseyde,” Chaucer worries that future generations will “miscopy” and “mismeter” his poetry because of language change. Millennials might be bankrupting the napkin industry, but Chaucer was concerned that younger readers would ruin language itself.
William Langland, the elusive author of “Piers Plowman,” also believed that younger poets weren’t up to snuff. “Piers Plowman” is a psychedelic religious and political poem of the 1370s. At one point, Langland has a personification named Free Will describe the sorry state of contemporary education. Nowadays, says Free Will, the study of grammar confuses children, and there is no one left “who can make fine metered poetry” or “readily interpret what poets made.” Masters of divinity who should know the seven liberal arts inside and out “fail in philosophy,” and Free Will worries that hasty priests will “overleap” the text of the mass.
On a larger scale, people in 14th-century England began worrying that a new bureaucratic class was destroying the idea of truth itself. In his book “A Crisis of Truth,” literary scholar Richard Firth Green argues that the centralization of the English government changed truth from a person-to-person transaction to an objective reality located in documents.
Today we might see this shift as a natural evolution. But literary and legal records from the time reveal the loss of social cohesion felt by everyday people. They could no longer rely on verbal promises. These had to be checked against authoritative written documents. (Chaucer himself was part of the new bureaucracy in his roles as clerk of the king’s works and forester of North Petherton.)
In medieval England, young people were also ruining sex. Late in the 15th century, Thomas Malory compiled the “Morte d’Arthur,” an amalgam of stories about King Arthur and the Round Table. In one tale, Malory complains that young lovers are too quick to jump into bed.
“But the old love was not so,” he writes wistfully.
If these late medieval anxieties seem ridiculous now, it’s only because so much human accomplishment (we flatter ourselves) lies between us and them. Can you imagine the author of “Winner and Waster” wagging a finger at Chaucer, who was born into the next generation? The Middle Ages are misremembered as a dark age of torture and religious fanaticism. But for Chaucer, Langland and their contemporaries, it was the modern future that represented catastrophe.
These 14th- and 15th-century texts hold a lesson for the 21st century. Anxieties about “kids these days” are misguided, not because nothing changes, but because historical change cannot be predicted. Chaucer envisioned a linear decay of language and poetry stretching into the future, and Malory yearned to restore a (make-believe) past of courtly love.
But that’s not how history works. The status quo, for better or worse, is a moving target. What’s unthinkable to one era becomes so ubiquitous it’s invisible in the next.
Millennial bashers are responding to real tectonic shifts in culture. But their response is just a symptom of the changes they claim to diagnose. As millennials achieve more representation in the workforce, in politics and in media, the world will change in ways we can’t anticipate.
By then, there will be new problems and a new generation to take the blame for them.
Our ongoing column today covers a doctor’s take on marijuana topicals and arthritis.
Dear Dr. Green,
My grandfather is 85 and suffers from arthritic pain. I would like him to try a cannabis-infused lotion to help mitigate the daily aches and pain. Is there anything I should be wary of? — Stephanie K., Manhattan Beach, Calif.
I have heard excellent anecdotal reports about the benefits of cannabis creams for arthritic pain and muscle injury. There are few clinical studies using THC or CBD absorbed through the skin. Nevertheless there are multiple preparations sold with different combinations of THC and CBD.
When using cannabis as a local cream, we have to consider the unusual possibility of skin irritation or allergic response where the lotion is applied. If this occurs, it generally responds well to simple washing or a local anti-histamine cream.
In the elderly, we have to be very cognizant of any medication that may affect their brain function. It is unusual for a cannabis lotion to cause drowsiness, sedation, impaired coordination, decreased concentration, feeling high, euphoria or depression. Since CBD appears to have less of an effect on cognitive function than THC, I would be inclined to search out a lotion which has a higher percentage of CBD.
Personally, I feel the use of cannabis cream is very low risk in his age group and might be a worthwhile addition to other allopathic treatments. I would always advocate for a thorough evaluation by a rheumatologist for arthritic pain since there are different types of arthritis and different therapies.
You no longer have to decide between missing your flight or grabbing breakfast. Two new apps make on-demand gate delivery possible. Airport Sherpa is Seamless for airports.
Airport Sherpa is a lot like any other food delivery company. Essentially, travelers input their flight info and the app will spit out a list of food and other items — gifts, magazines, etc. — that are available for purchase in the airport, spanning all terminals.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV8Apf0ldtV
There is a dedicated location for pick-up, but those who are in a hurry or don’t want to leave their gate (“gate huggers”) can get their items delivered straight to them for a fee ($4-$8).
According to USA Today, Airport Sherpa will “calculate delivery time for each order based on preparation time from the store and the time it will take the Sherpa to walk from the store to the delivery location.” They also have precautions in place to make sure your products would arrive before boarding.
Airport Sherpa debuted at Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) this week. And a similar app, At Your Gate, is coming to San Diego Airport (SAN) in August. The latter, so says USA Today, is partnering with Grab, a mobile-ordering app that currently lets travelers preorder food for pickup at 150 concessions in 18 airports.
The actress posted a sweet pic on Instagram on Monday, July 17, clutching her baby bump and holding a balloon with the number 3 alongside her two children, Honor, 9, and Haven, 5.
“First thing we’ve got to get Colin to do is cut his hair. Listen, I’m not up here to try to be politically correct. Even if he puts cornrows in there. I don’t think he should represent himself in that way in terms of just the hairstyle. Just go clean-cut. You know, why not? You’re already dealing with a lot of controversy surrounding this issue. The most important thing that he needs to do is just try to be presentable,” he said.
Love the fresh dirt we bring over daily from Naughty Gossip? Let us know in the comments!
Baked into hip hop culture is the notion of hustling for success. Whatever tools you have available to you in your situation, you should exploit them for all their worth. This is why more and more rappers invest in products outside rap itself, using their name and brand to develop larger business ventures previously closed to them.
Within recent years, one of the biggest industries rappers have flooded toward is cannabis. You know the big names, but you’d be surprised just how successful multiple rappers are when it comes to selling weed as legal business. Here are the 13 rappers currently thriving in the industry.
Snoop Dogg
You know how involved Snoop Dogg is in marijuana culture. He is one of the driving forces in demystifying the drug and introducing it into the mainstream. His brand is called Leafs by Snoop and has been a major success thus far. Let’s medicate, elevate and put it in the air,” as Snoop writes on the brand’s website.
Wiz Khalifa
Another rapper already well-known for his ties to the cannabis industry, we don’t need to go into too much detail. Wiz has his own strain called Khalifa Kush and his own brand of rolling papers. He also launched is own educational marijuana mobile game this year named Wiz Khalifa’s Weed Farm.
B-Real
Though not as high-profile as Snoop or Wiz, Cypress Hill’s B-Real has close ties with the cannabis industry. He has developed highly-regarded strains and created Phunky Feel Tips, which are glass tips you can place on the end of joints or blunts to smoke easier. He recently opened his own dispensary called Dr. Greenthumb, where you’ll find many cannabis products from fellow rappers on this list.
He also hosts a popular web series called The Smokebox, which features cannabis conversations with everyone from Michelle Rodriguez to Doug Benson and ScHoolboy Q.
Like others, Freddie Gibbs decided to release a weed strain of his own called “Freddie Kane OG.” Gibbs has been adamant about helping the development of the strain into something he would want to smoke. A press release describes it as “‘euphoric, tranquilizing and analgesic’ and is a groundbreaking collaboration that highlights the natural synergy between the worlds of cannabis and music.”
Berner
More recognized for his weed game than his rap name, Berner has quietly built one of the largest cannabis brands in the country. It all started with the infamous Girl Scout Cookies weed strain. Berner turned fellow rappers like Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Curren$y, Alchemist, and more onto the strain and its popularity blew up.
Capitalizing on that success, Berner built the lifestyle brand Cookies now known around the world. Berner claims the clothing line alone did more than $8 million in sales last year. It also has brick-and-mortar locations around the country where you can purchase streetwear, paraphernalia, and scent-free bags to transport your product. Not close to one of the store locations? Don’t worry. It’s also sold in stores like Zumiez.
In addition, he launched a line of hemp-infused vitamin waters called Hemp2o. He is also involved in Weed Maps, a directory system, and hosts his own marijuana documentary series on YouTube. Don’t get it twisted, Berner is a bona fide cannabis industry mogul.
Redman & Method Man
Unlike others on this list, Redman and Method Man aren’t involved with any cannabis product itself. Instead they’re about helping you find weed through technology. Last year the legendary rap duo invested in an app called Blaze Now. Pinpointing your location, the app will help you locate nearby dispensaries, delivery services, vape shops, and doctors. Of course the app is only useful in areas where marijuana is legalized.
Riff Raff
Riff Raff is a joke rapper but a rapper nonetheless. His way of establishing his weed strain Jody Highroller sounds like the most Riff Raff thing ever. Allow LA Weekly to explain:
Turns out that Riff did not actually toil in the fields of Humboldt, or even procure a lab coat and a bunch of LED lamps to concoct it. As with everything to do with Riff Raff, the real story is a lot simpler: After perusing the shop’s 50 some-odd types of product a few weeks ago, he simply picked a dank purple indica to rechristen Jody Highroller. The whole thing took less than 15 minutes.
The Game
The LA rapper has the title of being the first celebrity to own his own dispensary, The Reserve. He also launched Trees by Game, which is one part investment fund and one part lifestyle brand. If you’re not looking to smoke, The Game also has cannabis-infused lemonade drinks called G Drinks. The Game is hoping to lead the charge of pot pioneers in California following its legalization and says he’s in a friendly competition with Snoop to become the industry’s first billionaire.
It would make sense that Mr. Purple Haze himself would launch his own weed strain. Partnering with the same company as Freddie Gibbs, Cam’ron has done research in developing his own strain. No official word on its release yet.
Kurupt
Regarded as one of the strongest marijuana strains on the planet, Kurupt helped launch the powerful weed strain Moon Rocks. Also known as cannabis caviar or CP30, Moon Rocks are buds dipped in hash oil and then coated in kief. As the product’s website claims, Moon Rocks can contain up to 64% THC.
The Moon Rocks team also launched Moonwalk, which is a syrup edible you can add to your favorite drink like Sprite if you’d prefer not smoking.
Paul Wall
Seeing the success Berner had in California with the Cookies brand, Paul Wall decided to launch his own Texas version. Everything links back to a strain Wall’s involved with called OG Satellite. From there he launched his own apparel line called Satellite Supply Co., a Santa Cruz Shredder grinder, a Trippy Stix herbal vaporizer, and a collaboration with Gold Leaf.
Master P
When Master P announced his arrival in the legal weed business, his Master P’s Trees line intended to shift the culture around marijuana. As his press release stated, Master P’s Trees is a “complete lifestyle including all the Master P OG flower strains and edibles, and now, it’s also focused on turning green into liquid gold by revolutionizing the vape trend.”
His “liquid gold” flavors include Sweet Tea, Chocolate Beignet, Peach Cobbler, Red Velvet. As usual with Master P, those flavors are about as Southern as you can get in the vaping world.
I remember when I personally started drinking rose on the regular. Hip hop had adopted pink wine as the post-Patron sign of leisure and luxury. I think more people identify with this than the boat shoes and lobster roll faux affluence image that rose is currently sporting. Taking the pink wine trend full circle, now there are frozen versions kicking around at even fine dining restaurants, because the truth about rose is that it’s so drinkable and refreshing that it cannot be denied.
Going one step further and introducing cannabis to Frose is incredibly savvy, since the wine is not only already low in alcohol but also watered down with ice and fruits, it’s a safe place to put a dose of cannabis without worrying about overdoing it. Not only is it incredibly Instagramable, it’s delicious and keeps you hydrated better than wine alone. It’s what Migos would want me to do.
Frosé
Danielle Guercio, 2017 Makes 5, 6mg THC per glass
1 bottle rosé wine (drier the better, since you’re adding sweetness!)
½ carton of fresh strawberries, leaves removed
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp cannabis glycerin tincture*
2 cups ice cubes
Fruits for garnish
There are two ways to approach this drink. You can make them on demand or to order two at a time by dividing the ingredients in half for each run of the blender. This way you’ll have a fresh slush-like texture for each drink.
If you make them ahead, they can melt and you will end up with watery wine, no bueno. The other way is to go big.
Photo by Danielle Guercio
To make the drink, toss everything in the blender and pulse until you have a silky slush texture and all of the ice has been chomped up right. Serve in a wine glass and garnish with the fruits that you have leftover.
Translating this into a large format cocktail is really simple, but you still have to blend it in batches, since we have already established that frozen drinks have a life of less than 10 minutes. First determine the number of total drinks you want to have, and scale up the ingredients list to accommodate that amount. Then macerate the strawberries with the lemon and tincture. This will make a rough fruit compote which you can then spoon into the blender (2 Tbs per drink roughly) before adding the wine and ice. Serve in rocks glasses for a margarita-like appearance or keep it in stemmed glasses to preserve the texture of the slush as long as possible.
Photo by Danielle Guercio
*Cannabis Glycerin Tincture
In an oven safe container double sealed with foil, decarboxylate 3.5 grams finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Put cannabis in a mason jar or vacuum sealed bag, pour over 2 oz vegetable glycerin and seal tightly. Place in a water bath at just under boiling for 1 hour. Strain and keep contents in a sterilized container. Stores indefinitely in freezer.
Photo by Danielle Guercio
What could be better than medicated frozen drinks? I don’t know because I used to make them all the time and not many things have come close to being as fabulous or satisfying. If even fancy pasta joints in SoHo, NYC are making this, you know it’s more than a fad in drinks, it’s the consummation of everything that is wonderful about pink wine, leisure, and in this case, cannabis.
The lazy stoner is an outdated stereotype that holds little weight in today’s cannabis world. We’ve seen how cannabis enthusiasts can become successful entrepreneurs and fuel their creative endeavors and support their families. The swelling wellness trend that fuses cannabis and fitness is just another proof of how using marijuana doesn’t mean you’re glued to the couch.
One of the biggest examples is the 420 Games, which adds competition into the mix. The 420 Games is a place to showcase how cannabis enthusiasts support a healthy lifestyle. The games has an upcoming competition in Denver. It will include a 4.20-mile run, stand-up comedy, music, and kickball tournament hosted by Athletes for Care (A4C).
A4C is a non-profit organization that creates a community of athletes who come together to advocate for research, education, and compassion in addressing health issues facing athletes and the public at-large.
One ongoing discussion for athletes is using cannabis to reduce pain and inflammation in their bodies, instead of the opiates they are prescribed. That message is important for A4C and why they’re teaming with the 420 Games to deliver the First Annual Athletes for Care Kickball Tournament to Denver.
The A4C Kickball Tournament invites anyone to join the team of one of six former professional athletes. The price of admission and you could find yourself on the team of former NFL players or UFC athlete. The roster includes:
UFC legend Frank Shamrock
Former Denver Broncos’ Reuben Droughns, Charlie Adams, and Tatum Bell
Some of the players are known cannabis advocates and even participate in the business themselves, like Britton and his Be Tru Organics line of CBD products. You’ll have the opportunity to meet with them afterwards for a little extra and learn more about how cannabis and fitness is a trend more people are joining.
Democratic senators have demanded them. Lawsuits have been filed. Now visitor logs for President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach will be released. Nonprofit government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, announced Monday morning that as part of an ongoing lawsuit, the Department of Homeland Security will release the logs to the organization by Sept. 8. CREW said it then plans to make public the lists of who has visited Trump’s exclusive social club.
“The public deserves to know who is coming to meet with the president and his staff,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a news release. “We are glad that as a result of this case, this information will become public for meetings at his his personal residences—but it needs to be public for meetings at the White House as well.” Since taking office in January, Trump has visited Mar-a-Lago seven times.
Elon Musk Warns: Regulate AI Before It’s Too Late
The Guardian reports:
Tesla and Space X chief executive Elon Musk has pushed again for the proactive regulation of artificial intelligence because “by the time we are reactive in AI regulation, it’s too late”.
Speaking at the US National Governors Association summer meeting in Providence Rhode Island, Musk said: “Normally the way regulations are set up is when a bunch of bad things happen, there’s a public outcry, and after many years a regulatory agency is set up to regulate that industry.”
“It takes forever. That, in the past, has been bad but not something which represented a fundamental risk to the existence of civilization.”
Musk has previously stated that AI is one of the most pressing threats to the survival of the human race, and that his investments into its development were made with the intention of keeping an eye on its development.
Love the fresh dirt we bring over daily from Naughty Gossip? Let us know in the comments!
By then, there will be new problems and a new generation to take the blame for them.
