Barriers to SBA assistance were a major complaint from cannabis companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the fact that the industry was designated as “essential” by nearly every state with a functional marijuana market.
A Democratic senator has formally introduced a bill that, if successful, would make U.S. cannabis companies fully eligible for federal loans through the Small Business Administration.
According to a news release, Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada put forth the Fair Access for Cannabis Small Business Act, which would reverse the current prohibition on financial assistance for marijuana businesses.
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“The unfair barriers to basic federal support and resources have hurt our state’s legally operating cannabis small businesses,” Rosen said in the announcement. “This legislation will level the playing field so that cannabis small businesses — including those owned by people of color, women, and veterans — have access to the same federal resources and loans that other legal businesses are entitled to.”
Barriers to SBA assistance were a major complaint from cannabis companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the fact that the entire industry was designated as “essential” by nearly every state with a functional marijuana market. And the overall lack of access to traditional financial services and banking has been an ongoing hurdle.
Rosen’s bill, according to the release, would give marijuana businesses access to “7(a) loans, disaster loans, microloans, the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, and SBA’s resource partners including SCORE, Veterans Business Outreach Centers, and Women’s Business centers.”
Several industry leaders hailed the bill and said it could be a major financial boost to much of the cannabis sector.
The bill, however, likely faces an uphill climb given the political dynamics in the Senate, where Democrats only hold a slim majority. A 60-vote majority would be needed to break a Republican filibuster.
Earlier this year, the Nevada senator urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to push for similar reforms through federal spending bills and also advocated with House Armed Services Committee leaders for the passage of the SAFE Banking Act.
Researchers found that cannabis was effective in improving cognitive function while helping reduce risky decision making, which is common among individuals with bipolar disorder.
Around 46 million people around the world struggle with the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Also known as manic depression, bipolar disorder can disrupt daily life, affecting relationships and ability to work.
There are three kinds of bipolar disorder: bipolar I, with symptoms including manic episodes that can last at least a week and may even require admission to the hospital; bipolar II is characterized by patterns of manic and depressive episodes, particularly elevated moods that make patients more agitated and energetic; and cyclothymic disorder, with symptoms including a rapid cycling of high and low mood swings, going from excessively energetic and happy to depressive in a switch.
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Psychotherapy and medications are recommended for the treatment of bipolar disorder. Pharmaceutical medications are conventionally seen as necessary to help regulate moods. However, many patients don’t find relief from symptoms from pharmaceutical medications especially its effects take a while, and they usually come with side effects.
Cannabis is a safer, more natural alternative that can help patients with bipolar disorder.
A brand new study, that sought to understand how cannabis affected cognitive and goal-directed behaviors among people with bipolar disorder, reveals that marijuana may have “uniquely beneficial effects” for this condition. Researchers, who presented the findings at the Neuroscience 2022 conference, specifically found that cannabis was effective in improving cognitive function while helping reduce risky decision making, which is common among individuals with bipolar disorder.
The researchers also suggest that cannabis reduces the dopaminergic activity in the brain to help suppress its symptoms.
“Chronic cannabis use may have uniquely beneficial effects in people with BD. Previous studies suggest that some people with BD have increased dopaminergic activity due to a reduced dopamine transporter expression,” they concluded. “Chronic cannabis use has been shown to reduce dopamine release, thus chronic cannabis use may result in a return to dopamine homeostasis in people with BD and consequently normalizing their deficits in goal directed behaviors. We are engaged in additional studies that explore this potential,” wrote the authors.
Other Studies
There have been similar findings in other older studies.
According a 2018 clinical trial data, researchers found that cannabis consumption is linked to improvement in clinical symptoms of bipolar disorder. It also doesn’t negatively impact cognitive performance, they shared. Researchers from Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, and Tufts University analyzed the impact of cannabis on cognitive function and moods among patients who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This marked the first clinical trial to ever be conducted with the goal of analyzing how marijuana affects neuropsychological performance and mood.
They found that cannabis use resulted in reduced scores for depression, anger, and tension. It was also associated with increased vigor. However, patients who consumed marijuana also showed no significant changes in cognitive performance compared to subjects who abstained.
“The current study highlights preliminary evidence that patients with BPD who regularly smoked marijuana reported at least a short-term clinical symptom alleviation following marijuana use, indicating potential mood-stabilizing properties of marijuana in at least a subset of patients with BPD,” they concluded.
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A significant portion of the population do not even know they have bipolar disorder. They do, however, experience mild symptoms of mood swings and other symptoms of dysregulated moods. For them, cannabis can also help.
A 2020 review from researchers at the University of New Mexico involving the analysis of real-life information taken from the Releaf App found that cannabis was effective in treating the symptoms of depression. “One of the more interesting findings from this study, is that cannabis flower with relatively high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is particularly associated with immediate reductions in the intensity of depressive feelings,” explains researcher Jacob Miguel Vigil.
“With no end to the depression epidemic in sight, and given the limitations and potential severe negative side effects of conventional antidepressant medications, there is a real need for people to be able to treat mood disturbances with natural, safe, and effective medications, and the cannabis plant checks off all three boxes,” he added.
Boosting the endocannabinoid system with the use of cannabinoid-based products has been shown to positively impact the neuroendocrine, neurotransmission, and neuroimmune systems. These systems are all greatly affected by those who suffer from depression and other mood disorders such as bipolar disorder.
In a 2006 study out of Montreal, researchers found that increasing the amount of endocannabinoids produced by the brain is effective in improving one’s mood. Investigators from the McGill University Health Center revealed that using the synthetic URB579 agent resulted in “potent anti-depressant-like effects” in animal models because it was successful in preventing cannabinoids from degrading.
It was the first study to ever prove that something external can help boost cannabinoids and overall mood.
According to lead researcher Gabriella Gobbi, “This is the first time it has been shown that a drug that increases cannabinoids in the brain can improve your mood,” she said.
Additionally, a 2020 report from BMC Psychiatry found that whole plant cannabis and plant-based cannabinoids are effective in improving moods and sleep while reducing anxiety and psychotic disorders.
Conclusion
While the body of research on cannabis for bipolar disorders is fairly young, the studies and anecdotal evidence is promising. If you or a loved one struggle with bipolar disorder and want to use cannabis or CBD products, be sure to do so with the guidance of your physician.
The joke about going for a walk with your cousin every Thanksgiving may be a thing of the past. With so many new forms of cannabis consumption, that “walk” to go smoke a joint with your cool cousin undetected could become Thanksgiving lore.
Beverages, edibles, and, in some cases, the convenient vape pen dominated Green Wednesday sales, as the day before Thanksgiving has come to be called.
Inflation also seemed to rear its ugly head this year. Sales transactions were up, but the amount customers spent was less. Data from both Headset and Jane Technologies demonstrate that Green Wednesday continues to be a winner for cannabis consumption.
Headset ran the numbers to see if Green Wednesday sales popped versus previous Wednesdays for dispensaries — and indeed they did. Combined sales data from California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state saw sales jump by 48% compared with previous Wednesdays in November.
Headset also found that this year’s Green Wednesday was the third-highest grossing day of sales after 4/20 and the Friday before the 4th of July. Green Wednesday overtook Black Friday as the highest-grossing day during the Thanksgiving holiday stretch. In 2021, Green Wednesday saw a 61% increase in sales compared to a typical Wednesday.
As expected, sales fell on Thanksgiving Day as many dispensaries closed for the holiday, and Black Friday only experienced a slight increase of 1%. It looks as if consumers stocked up before heading out to relatives for the weekend.
Secret Stoners
Category Performance
The products that people could consume without Aunt Gertrude being any wiser grew. Headset noted that topicals (15.7%), beverages (13.2%), and edibles (6.1%) all experienced sales growth during the holiday stretch. Popular inhalable products, such as concentrates (-11.4%) and flower (-10.8%), took the biggest hit.
In Jane’s data, vape cartridges were the top-selling category, beating out flower by 20%. Vapes are easy to carry and not nearly as stinky as smoking flower.
Sales Lift
Jane Technologies looked at nationwide sales and in particular the new market of New Jersey. Jane found that Green Wednesday’s total sales increased by 77% compared to the previous four Wednesdays in a nationwide view. The average store saw sales increase by 20% over last year.
In New Jersey, sales increased by 100%. More mature markets saw sales fall or grow only slightly. California sales fell by 8%, Colorado fell by 7%, and Massachusetts dropped by 30%. Illinois’ Green Wednesday average store sales increased by 9%.
It seems consumers were on a budget this year. Transactions were up, but shopping carts weren’t full. Nationwide, Jane Technologies said that the average cart size fell by 8% from last year. In California, the cart size fell by 18%, in Colorado by 8%, Massachusetts carts fell by 17% and in Illinois, shoppers’ carts dropped by 14%.
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Discounts
Headset noted that discounts increased across the board during the holiday stretch with the average discount increasing 7.3 percentage points to 21.8% across the three days of holidays.
While Green Wednesday was the largest sales day, it had the smallest average discount (19.8%), though an increase of nearly 6 percentage points from a typical Wednesday. Thanksgiving (22.2%) and Black Friday (23.7%) saw the largest average discounts both with an increase of more than 8 percentage points compared to a typical Thursday and Friday.
In Closing
Grabbing a beverage or munching an edible during the holiday may have replaced the annual walk with your cousin. It might lower the tensions that come with some family gatherings and even boost the munchies so that you can avoid insulting Granny by not eating that second piece of pie.
Ultimately, the cannabis industry, which has seen declining sales in some markets, must’ve been pleased to see customers pouring in on Wednesday. Let the holidays begin! And let’s keep that tradition of walking with your cousin — just bring them a gummy instead.
With seniors becoming a crucial part of the retail market, it seems high time we understand the different ways marijuana impacts us as we age.
If you use cannabis regularly or have casually enjoyed it for many years, you may have noticed it affects you differently today than it did 5, 10 or even 20 years ago. A lot of this change may have to do with factors like tolerance, the weed itself or even life experience. Here is how marijuana affects us differently as we age.
After all, once we get used to a substance it doesn’t quite feel the same as it once did, and it takes more of the substance to feel the similar effects. But there could be something else contributing to this change you feel. Your age might be one of the reasons that cannabis affects you differently today than it did when you were younger.
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Marijuana use has increased significantly in the older demographics in the last several years. According to a 2020 study published in the JAMA Network, “Marijuana use in the prior year among people over 65 had jumped 75 percent from 2015 to 2018, from 2.4 percent of that group to 4.2 percent. By 2019, use had reached 5 percent.” With this steady increase in older folks getting high, it is more pertinent than ever to understand if and how marijuana use affects people differently based on age.
Cannabis use is only now starting to be widely studied and tested. It will take years of data and more cannabis decriminalization before we get the more nuanced answers to how marijuana affects us as we age. But while much more research must be done, with the limited research available, scientists are uncovering some very interesting findings – and some might even surprise you.
For one, there is memory and mental capacity to consider. You might think that as we get older, marijuana might mess with our memory and cognition more than it once did. After all, as we age, our minds aren’t exactly what they used to be. But this might not be the case when it comes to marijuana use. According to a 2021 study titled “Are the Acute Effects of THC Different in Aging Adults,” the results, and previous reports, actually differ from what you might think.
“Consistent with some reports in the preclinical literature, the findings suggest that older adults may be less sensitive to the effects of THC on cognitive and affective measures.” In other words, older users tended to keep their wits about them just fine (if not better) than younger adults. In the end, their findings suggest that “THC has an adverse impact on aspects of cognition in younger adults and that young adults are more susceptible to phenotypes of THC dependence.”
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When it comes to cannabis and age, the curious results are not limited to just seniors and more “seasoned” cannabis users. There are also some studies that compare mature adult usage to adolescent cannabis usage. According to a 2019 study that examined age-related differences regarding cannabis use, adolescents showed a slightly more resilient memory than older users. “Human adolescents exhibited less impairment in memory post-intoxication than adults,” according to thestudy.
But while the younger users may have had less impairment, they found that younger users tended to crave cannabis more. “Craving and inhibitory control may not decrease as much after cannabis intoxication in adolescents compared to adults.” The authors also noted these trends were most noticeable among “very heavy and dependent users.”
More research is required in order to uncover more concrete evidence within these trends. Marijuana affects everyone differently, and the user’s age is a not-often researched, but clearly significant variable when it comes to THC and how we react to it.
Now, more than ever, this type of research is important. After all, more and more seniors (and adults in general) are reaching for cannabis instead of other substances. Even retailers are getting in on the trend. “Major retailers offer dispensary discounts of 10 to 20 percent on ‘Silver Sundays’ or ‘Senior Appreciation Days,’” according to theNew York Times.
With seniors becoming a crucial part of the retail market, it seems high time we understand the different ways marijuana impacts us as we age.
The start of the new pilot program comes as a third phase of the Medical Marijuana Assistance Program (MMAP) that was launched in the state earlier this year.
Medical marijuana patients who are also senior citizens with low incomes in Pennsylvania will receive financial assistance for medical cannabis via a new pilot program. The state’s Department of Health recently launched a program offering $50 a month in financial assistance to help nearly 1,400 senior citizens afford the cost of medical marijuana.
“The payments are the first step toward establishing a third phase for the financial assistance program authorized to help low-income medical marijuana patients afford the drug,” reported Capitol Wire. “Because insurance companies don’t include medical marijuana in their prescription drug coverage, medical marijuana patients are left to pony up the full cost of medical marijuana when they visit the state’s dispensaries.”
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The outlet further reported that the Keystone State doesn’t have enough resources to offer needed financial help to all of the low-income patients.
The start of the new pilot program comes as a third phase of the Medical Marijuana Assistance Program (MMAP) that was launched earlier this year, writes HighTimes.
Phase 1 focused on eliminating yearly card fees for eligible participants registered in the commonwealth’s financial hardship program, according to the PA Health Dept. Phase 2 removed all background check fees for eligible caregivers, while Phase 3 aims to distribute yet-to-be-established benefits per funding period for eligible patients.
Prices for medical marijuana in the state have been an issue for a while now. Earlier this year, John Collins, former director of the Office of Medical Marijuana called attention to the issue.
“I’m clearly calling out today, secretary, a red flag that needs to be investigated,” Collins told Pennsylvania Health Secretary Keara Klinepeter, reported the Inquirer.
A recent report from the Marijuana Policy Project revealed that Pennsylvania is one of 19 US states where marijuana possession is penalized with possible imprisonment and a criminal record.
In 2021, 12,439 adults and 1,057 juveniles were arrested for simple cannabis possession, data from Pennsylvania State Police showed. Even though the figures represent a 30% drop between 2020 and 2021, they remain high.
Being conscious about what it is you’re doing can go a long way in mitigating lasting damage. And you certainly don’t need to hold big monster hits to get higher.
Everyone knows smoking is bad for your health. Cigarettes are especially bad due to the nicotine and tar in tobacco. But what about cannabis? How to keep your longs healthy as a marijuana smoker?
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Over the past week or so, I’ve been seeing more headlines about a small study that looked at cannabis smokers, tobacco smokers, and non-smokers’ CT scans to see if they could visibly see effects their substance us one the lungs.
You can spot a smoker by merely looking at CT scans, and so the researchers wanted to see what the effects of cannabis were.
Study co-author Dr. Giselle Revah, a cardiothoracic radiologist and assistant professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada, said it’s possible to see that someone is a heavy or longtime cigarette smoker just by looking at their CT scan. She wondered if marijuana, the second most commonly smoked substance after tobacco, would show similar results. She was surprised to find little information existed.
For this study, the researchers compared chest CT results from 56 marijuana smokers, including some who also used tobacco, with 33 who smoked only tobacco and 57 nonsmokers. Roughly 75% of the weed smokers had emphysema compared to 67% of the tobacco-only smokers and 5% of nonsmokers.
Additionally, there were some men who had enlarged breast tissue within the cannabis group. Of course we don’t know how many “some men” are within the small sample group.
While the sample size of the study was very small, I can very much imagine that chronically smoking weed will have some detrimental effect on the lungs. While lung cancer isn’t very prevalent in cannabis smokers, it makes sense that there would be damage to the air sacs in the lungs.
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The Working Theory
According to the researchers, the nature of how people smoke cannabis could play an important role in the type of damage they are seeing.
First, cannabis smokers tend to smoke without a filter. The filter serves to cool down the smoke and filter out some undesirable plant matter, etc. Most people do make “cardboard filters” by rolling a piece of cardboard and putting it in the end of the joint or blunt.
However, this doesn’t provide the same level of filtration as a tobacco filter which has cotton doused in chemicals. While the other stuff in the filter is probably murderous, the filtration of the smoke from the burning plant matter is superior to rolled up cardboard.
Then there’s the factor of cannabis users “holding” the smoke in their lungs. This is a cannabis myth where they want to “absorb as much THC per hit” as possible. However, the truth of the matter is that you absorb up to 97% of THC from the smoke in the first 2-3 seconds. Therefore, you just need to inhale, hold it for a second or two, and then release.
Holding the smoke will not “get you higher”. What is getting you higher is oxygen deprivation. When you enter into a hypoxic state, you can feel light headed which in combination with the THC makes you “feel way higher”.
At the end of this article I’ll provide you with some exercises to “get higher” without needing to hold any smoke.
Nonetheless, researchers believe this is why there was greater evidence of emphysema in the CT scans of cannabis smokers than tobacco smokers. They also said the golden words: more research is needed. And with good reason. The sample for this study does not indicate anything. It simply shows some correlation between CT scans and cannabis users, but with a sample size that small, you can’t definitively say that this is true across the board.
Irrespective of whether it’s true or not, the information provided by the research does give you the opportunity to mitigate the damage from cannabis smoke. An informed cannabis smoker can reduce risk armed with actionable information.
So for the rest of this article we’re going to be talking about ways that you can keep your lungs healthy as a cannabis smoker.
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Don’t Inhale So Deeply
When you’re smoking weed to get high, you don’t have to inhale a full lung of smoke. You simply need to know how to inhale diaphragmatically. However, even if you don’t know how to inhale diaphragmatically, you simply need to take a hit up till where it’s comfortable.
Trying to force as much smoke into your lungs as possible won’t “make you higher”. In fact, if you want to achieve the “highness” from oxygen overstimulation or deprivation, then stick to the end of this article. I’ll show you exactly how you can “trip balls” on O2.
Nonetheless, just take normal tokes. No need to over do it. You can always take another hit if you need more. However, trying to force an ungodly amount of smoke in your lungs could have a more detrimental effect on your overall health over time.
Don’t Hold It Like a Dumbass!
While I have spoken about this above, I think it’s important to reiterate that holding it in doesn’t necessarily make you higher. Rather, you’re playing around with the dynamics of the breath and you don’t need to hold in smoke to achieve similar results.
It’s best to smoke up, rest, and then dive into breathwork or something similar if you truly want to “trip balls”. If that’s what you’re after.
Holding it in doesn’t provide any inherent benefit, therefore, simply cutting out this practice can reduce the stress you place on the lungs.
Don’t Smoke Too Much!
If you’re smoking from the moment you open your eyes to the moment you’re closing them, you might have a dependency on cannabis. Nonetheless, even if you’re chronically impaired, then why not switch things up. You can have edibles, you can vape, you can even have tinctures.
All of these non-smoking alternatives can reduce the impact of the “smoke” on the lungs. Maybe instead of your regular wake and bake, you can take a few drops of tincture and drop it into your coffee. That way you get the morning buzz without burning any plant matter.
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Bongs or Bubblers
While a bong can certainly give you more volume of smoke per hit, it’s also cleaner because the smoke gets filtered through the water. Therefore, if you’re going to smoke, using a bong is actually not a bad idea. All you got to remember is to take moderate tokes.
While there isn’t too much “science” on the quality of bong smoke (I wonder why), it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that when you add a filter to the smoke you’ll get fewer harmful particles. Does this make it safe?
Of course not! But certainly less harmful than smoking a blunt!
Vaporize
Vaping eliminates the combustion process from “smoking marijuana”. However, I would argue that vaping “dry bud” should be the gold standard of vaping. When it comes to pre-mixed cannabis, you don’t know what else they put in there. However, when we’re using straight up cannabis in a dry herb vaporizer, you’re heating up the process enough to turn the cannabinoids into vapor but not enough to start combustion thereby eliminating smoke altogether.
Whether vaporizing might have some other risks involved — only time will tell. However, when compared directly to smoking, it’s certainly a lot less riskier.
An added benefit of vaporizing is that your weed lasts longer. You get more “toke per bowl” with a vaporizer than with a traditional pipe. Therefore, even though the price tag of a Pax pocket vaporizer might be hefty, after a month or two of use, you would have saved that much money in weed.
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Keep Your Lungs Active
One thing that I’m very surprised about is that there isn’t more education on breath control. The fact of the matter is that the cardiovascular system is responsible the majority of the energy you wield. Think about it.
How long can you go without food? In some cases, a human being can go months without food. How about water? Water is a more essential element for the human condition seeing that 60% of our mass is water. Therefore, you can go for roughly one week without water before you suffer organ failure. I’m sure there are some people who can go even longer, but the average Joe and Jane would only be able to do a few days at most.
Now how about air? Air is so vital to your life that the vast majority of people can only go a few minutes without air before they cease to exist.
Yet, despite this being such an important function for living, we hardly have any education on how to properly breathe, how to regulate our nervous system using the breath etc.
One would think that with such a vital resource for sentient life, we would have countless studies on the subject matter. However, that isn’t really the case. Modern science is only now getting into the “science of breathing” and we have been “re-discovering” some ancient truths.
The fact of the matter is that the breath has been studied extensively by ancient cultures. The Vedic Sciences have entire volumes dedicated to “breath control” or “Pranayama”.
Pranayama, for those who don’t know, is basically yoga for the lungs.
A Few Exercises You Should Try
Deep slow breathing is definitely something that everyone should try daily. Not only is this proven to relax and calm down your nervous system, it also can help provide mental clarity and help declutter the mind, lower your blood pressure, and increase your dopamine levels.
To do this, you simply have to inhale slowly through the nose shooting the air into the diaphragm. Once you have filled the diaphragm to the brim, then open up the mid section of your lungs, and finally the top. Try to inhale in a single smooth movement.
On the exhale, with pursed lips, simply let go for about eight seconds of exhalation. This full expansion allows your lung to extend completely, and helps exercise the lung. In the book “The Yogi Science of the Breath” they call this type of inhalation the “Yogic Complete Breath”.
You can practice this a few times per day and you will notice a significant improvement in your overall vitality. It’s also a good way to take a moment to re-center yourself, if shit is going a bit haywire.
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Do Some Breathwork
While the yogic complete breath is definitely going to be something that will give you a boost in life, doing regular breathwork is probably one of your best bets to strengthening the lungs. There are plenty of styles of breathing out there, so depending on the type of person you are, you’ll find something that fits.
A good way to get your feet wet is to buy a breathwork bundle pack, which contain several different modes of breathwork. That way you can experiment with different techniques and see which ones you like.
Of course, there’s also plenty of free material on Youtube where you can experiment with the breath. Not only will you see a major improvement in your breathing capacity, you’ll also feel an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility as the breath is directly tied to the autonomic nervous system.
In other words, when you realize that by changing your breathing patterns you can actually flip a switch in your nervous system — it’s a game changer!
Sticky Bottom Line
In the end, these suggestions are simply meant to make you aware of the fact that whenever you smoke anything, you’re still doing some damage to the organism. Being conscious about what it is you’re doing can go a long way in mitigating lasting damage.
At the very least I hope you realize that you don’t need to hold big monster hits to “get higher”.
In fact, if you want to get “high” on the breath, just go ahead, smoke a bowl of your favorite weed, wait like 10-15 minutes, and stretch. Then, lie down flat on the back, put on some headphones, and do this breathwork video.
As cannabis lounges start to open and more mainstream brands launch their twist on a cannabis beverage, it’s hard to see this trend going anywhere but up.
Cannabis beverages have come a long way in a very short time. Technology and science has made it possible to emulsify THC and help these beverages hit the bloodstream quicker, getting the drinker high almost as quick as a joint, and hours faster than a gummy.
At the same time, there is even growing interest from major alcohol brands, with companies like Pabst Blue Ribbon dipping into the cannabis beverage market with theirHigh Seltzer.
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There is lots of momentum, plenty of buzz and all the necessary tools for cannabis beverages to make a huge splash in the cannabis market pool. Yet cannabis beverages only make up about 1.1% of the total legal U.S. cannabis market, according to Headset. That’s not exactly a cannon ball; it’s barely a ripple.
So with all these great things working in its favor, why haven’t cannabis beverages caught on in a more mainstream way as of yet?
The first reason is not so shocking — cannabis in all its forms is still illegal on a federal level. With a federal prohibition still in play, it means there is all sorts of red tape to navigate. States have different laws when it comes to edibles and cannabis beverages. You also can’t transport cannabis over state lines like you can with beer or any other canned beverage. This poses all sorts of logistical issues, and all of these hurdles add up. And according to CNBC, “This keeps many companies from growing in a significant way, which has led to some pulling back on their efforts in the market and others giving up completely.”
There is also the convenience factor to consider, and when it comes to discretion and convenience, edibles win or beverages every time. “One reason for this is the category dominance of candy edibles, particularly gummies, which have an advantage over beverages because they offer convenience and portability, two factors that are top product choice influencers according to BDSA Consumer Insights,” BDSA’s chief commercial officer Jessica Lukas told Beverage Industry.
She then added another reason, which has less to do with consumer interest, and more to do with cost. “Another reason is that cannabis beverages present more logistical issues to distributors and retailers, as most beverage products are more costly to transport and store at retail than smaller and lighter edible form factors,” Lukas continued. Cannabis beverages are heavy and bulkier than almost any other type of weed product. This makes them more expensive to ship.
The size and volume of cannabis beverages can lead to other challenges in addition to shipping costs. There is also the struggle of finding space on the often-small retail portion of a dispensary to showcase the products to consider.
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“If canned cannabis beverages were allowed in grocery stores, I think it would become a top-five beverage category,” Petalfast CEO Jason Vegotsky told Beverage Dynamics told Beverage Dynamics. “Instead, right now the main channel for cannabis beverages is dispensaries,” Vegotsky continued. He explained in the interview that dispensaries pose all sorts of selling challenges for cannabis beverages. After all, most dispensaries have limited to zero refrigeration space (cold beverages are much more appealing after all).
Also, each can takes up significantly more space than an entire pack of gummies. Some states don’t even allow the beverages to be showcased at dispensaries, and if they do, the odds of a dispensary giving up much of their limited real estate for this still-small portion of the market is pretty unrealistic.
While getting the cans on shelves and in the hands of new customers is definitely a challenge currently, many are optimistic that this is a temporary issue, sort of like a growing pain. “It’s so hard to get your elbow in the door, but if you have a product that has repeat purchase or loyalty, within two to three months, the retailer gets it,” Luke Anderson, co-founder of cannabis drink brandCANN, told Bloomberg.
After all, while cannabis beverages have had a slow start, the market has big goals, and even bigger backers.
As cannabis lounges start to open and more mainstream brands launch their twist on a cannabis beverage, it’s hard to see this trend going anywhere but up. “There have been multiple false starts for anointing beverages the next big thing,” Travis Tharp, CEO of Keep Brands, told CNBC. “But I think we’ve gotten to a point where we are showing that the year over year growth is something that is substantial.”
With the recent issuance of the first-ever recreational marijuana retail permits in New York — and the launch of adult-use sales inching ever closer — a major question remains: Will the state’s thriving underground market undercut legal sales, as it has in California?
The answer is: nobody yet knows for sure.
New York authorities do appear to be launching a crackdown so that the upcoming legal market will flourish in place of unlicensed sales, but some industry insiders say it may already be too little, too late.
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“I do think that now that licenses are coming out and New Yorkers are going to have a legal supply of cannabis that they are going to start to crack down, but the job is too big for the workforce,” said Joe Lustberg, the founder of cannabis investment firm Upwise Capital in New York City.
Lustberg, who partnered with his brother on one of the 903 CAURD retail applications filed in New York, said he’s skeptical that the state will actually be able to get the gray market under control.
If it isn’t controlled, it could upend the entire new market, the same way unlicensed cannabis dealers have been the bane of Los Angeles for years. A common analogy used to describe the problem in L.A. is the whack-a-mole game, because the penalties for lawbreaking cannabis retailers is typically civil fines instead of serious jail time. That in turn leads to illicit shops getting busted and shut down, and then the same operators reopening in a different location.
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“(New York authorities) need to create a specific task force or police unit to shut down these operations, and if they don’t, they’re going to thrive like they do in California, and the whack-a-mole analogy is going to come to fruition,” Lustberg said, adding that it’s impossible to go more than two city blocks in Manhattan without encountering a smoke shop selling marijuana.
“If it’s a slap on the wrist, these guys are making huge profits,” Lustberg said. “You’re talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars a month, in revenue. A small fine is not going to affect these guys. It has to be some sort of jail time and a criminal offense.”
It’s also unclear, Lustberg said, whether many that are already selling in the gray market will eventually be able to make the transition to the fully regulated and licensed retail game. Many are relying on legal advice that relies on an interpretation of state law under which “gifting” cannabis is perfectly legal, Lustberg said, and added he knows operators that are likely willing to take that argument to court if necessary.
The takeaway for entrepreneurs looking at the New York landscape, Lustberg said, is essentially there’s intense competition from all corners, particularly gray market dealers who are connected to and supplied by California cannabis sources, since West coast weed is still in very high demand in the Big Apple.
Researchers at Southern Illinois University (SIU) may be on the way to determining how cannabis can help cure ovarian cancer, reported the Daily Egyptian, the student-run news organization for the SIU community.
Conducted by the Cannabis Science Center, the research was led by Dr. Dale “Buck” Buchanan, a researcher and professor of physiology at SIU, whose effort is directed mainly toward prevention of the disease.
“The vast majority of ovarian cancer research is focused toward extending what we call ‘progression-free survival,'” he said. “So it seems misguided to me that the focus of the research is on this incremental increase in life, […] so we’re really interested in prevention.”
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What Is Ovarian Cancer?
Sadly, ovarian cancer remains the most common cause of cancer death from gynecologic tumors in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Buchanan explained that as a result of the process of ovulation, scar tissue that develops after the egg erupts through the surface of the ovary can go awry, resulting in the development of cancerous tissue.
Do Omega-3 Acids Help With Cancer?
His research proved that Omega-three acids created when flaxseed was introduced into a diet, can prevent the development of ovarian cancer and also minimize its severity. By reducing inflammation and allowing the healing of tissue, Omega-three acids compete with the naturally produced inflammatory proteins within the human body.
“The consequence of this is that it has a 70% reduction in the severity of cancer and a 30% reduction in the incidence, and all we did was introduce flax into their diet,” Buchanan said. “But we know nothing about how it works, so that’s our work.”
What Is The Role Of The Endocannabinoid System?
While examining the effects of introducing flax into the diet, the researchers took a closer look at the system of protein receptors throughout the body that react to internally produced and external cannabinoids, also known as the endocannabinoid system.
According to Didas Roy, a graduate student assisting in the research, the endocannabinoid system has, although still unclear, a role in the production of ovarian cancer.
“So in the endocannabinoid system, there are cannabinoids produced inside our bodies, and they’re binding to specific receptors, one and two,” Roy said. “So two is not that much expressed in the ovary, but receptor one is there in high abundance, and it seems like the expression of those receptors increases in cancer.”
Roy’s focus is currently directed toward a protein called TGF-ß, which is present both in the ovaries and the broader endocannabinoid system.
“We know TGF-ß is also implicated in cancer, so we are trying to see how the both of them are related to each other, who is controlling whom and how they’re contributing to ovarian cancer,” Roy said. “TGF-ß is a family of many, many receptors and ligands, so I’m trying to look at all of them.”
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Marijuana & Cancer
Meanwhile, there is a growing body of evidence by scientists proving that cannabis can either slow the growth of or cause death in certain types of cancer cells.
Earlier this year, Cannabotech (CNTC.TA) reported that in experiments conducted on a cell model, the fungus extract eliminated 100% of pancreatic cancer cells relatively selectively and without damaging normal cells. Cannabotech is involved in the development of a botanical drug based on an extract of the Cyathus striatus fungus and a cannabinoid extract from the cannabis plant.
The same Israeli biotech company is behind another cell model study, which showed that its “Integrative-Colon” products killed over 90% of colon cancer cells. The Integrative-Colon products are based on a combination of several cannabinoids from the cannabis plant and various mushroom extracts.
A study conducted by Hadassah Medical Center physicians last year provided a ray of hope to those with breast cancer. The research revealed a sixfold improvement in killing breast cancer cells when using specific Cannabotech’s medical cannabis products in combination with standard oncology treatments and drug protocols, such as chemotherapy, biological and hormonal, over the existing treatment.
Cannabis is increasingly becoming an integral part of Americans’ holiday celebrations, with the average consumer anticipating they’ll spend $100 or more on products to enjoy, gift or share with others.
Ever since cannabis legalization has swept across the United States, it has changed how millions of consumers around the country think about cannabis. It’s now part of the very fabric of our culture and society, present during social activities, traditional holidays, even weddings.
The end of the year holidays are no different, as people have decided to use this as another opportunity gift loved ones with marijuana — the gift that keeps on giving. After all, who wouldn’t want to receive a marijuana product as a gift?
However, there’s a lot to understand about consumer cannabis buying behavior around the holidays. This information is valuable for cannabis businesses.
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A recent report from Weedmaps has just shared some new data that businesses can benefit from. The online cannabis marketplace sourced the data from over a million transactions that occurred from October 2021 to January 2022, providing a deeper look into marijuana shopping trends during the busiest time of year for retail, reports Yahoo Finance.
They found that in 2021, there was a 167% jump in orders made with promo codes, boosting the overall increase in total orders made. Weedmaps also found that Black Friday is the most lucrative day as consumers use these discounts as an opportunity to stockpile marijuana for the holidays. There were 300% more people shopping around and claiming deals around Weedmaps sites, followed by large increases during Green Wednesday and Thanksgiving too.
Sixty-one percent more claimed deals on Thanksgiving, followed by 93% and 170% on Green Wednesday and Black Friday, respectively. But when it came to the quantity of orders made per day, Green Wednesday deals saw the biggest increase.
Cannabis Is No Longer a Novelty Item
Ayr Wellness, an integrated marijuana operator together with real-time marketing solutions business Suzy, recently conducted a survey of around 1,600 Americans this past October. The purpose was to better understand the buying and consumer habits as well as beliefs of people about cannabis and Thanksgiving as well as holiday season.
According to Forbes, the survey revealed that 90% of marijuana consumers intended to purchase as much bud for the 2022 holidays as they did last year. Even if inflation had an impact on consumers’ budgets, overall. Seven in 10 consumers reported they would be buying cannabis to share with their loved ones. It was also interesting to find that consumers reflect the mentality that cannabis is no longer a novelty item, but instead an integral part of holiday shopping and gatherings with family.
Photo by Cappi Thompson/Getty Images
Additionally, two-thirds of poll respondents said that they’d buy the same amount of marijuana as they typically do around the holidays. Meanwhile, 24% acknowledged they will be spending more on marijuana this year compared to last year.
The average cost to consumers is $112 during the holidays, and almost a quarter reported they will spend a minimum of $100 on marijuana for the holidays.
“This survey is reaffirming to Ayr, and the industry, that cannabis isn’t a luxury purchase for consumers but an essential good they’re incorporating into their holiday rituals,” said Jonathan Sandelman, Ayr’s CEO, in an email to Forbes. “Whether you’re sharing cannabis with friends and family or coping with family drama, data shows that ‘Danksgiving’ is going mainstream,” he says.
“Cannabis is increasingly becoming an integral part of Americans’ holiday celebrations, with the average consumer anticipating they’ll spend $100 or more on products to enjoy, gift or share with others,” Sandelman disclosed in a statement. “As stigmas continue to break down, we look forward to the day when cannabis will be as synonymous as pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving,” he said.
More Data Shows Increase In Sales During the Weeks Before Christmas & New Year’s Day
Headset, a leading real-time cannabis and market intelligence firm, has also shared similar buying patterns.
They shared in January that US and Canadian marijuana markets saw a jump in sales from December 18-24 2021 compared to the weed prior. The biggest increase was seen in the Canadian marijuana market, where they saw a 26% boost in sales while the US saw 17%. Markets in both countries saw the biggest increase in the topicals category right before Christmas, followed by beverages and edibles.
New Year’s Eve saw additional discount increases among both markets, adds Headset. The average discount was 21.1% in the US, and 4% in Canada. Drinks, flower, and concentrate led the category sales during New Year’s Eve in the US while sublinguals and tinctures were ahead in Canada.
Meanwhile, LeafLink also shared post-holiday insights. They found a 6.8% jump in platform sales last December 2021 compared to three months prior. For them, flower was the most popular purchase, accounting for over a third of sales. Customers spend the most on packaged bud, though flower in bulk followed next. The second most popular category was cartridges, taking over 24% of sales.
Conclusion
Cannabis retailers can use these valuable insights for designing holiday promotions and offers both in-store and online. Knowing what products are most popular among customers for gifts during the season of gifting can help strategically create offers and let you know where to place discounts if necessary. With the holiday rush already here, hopefully this guide has helped you!
