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.
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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!
If you’ve been trying to buy cannabis but don’t know how, this easy guide will turn you into a confident cannabis consumer in no time.
The first time entering a dispensary, it can be intimidating. With so many product types, insider jargon like dabs and sauce, and obscure cannabis measurements like quarter of weed or dub of weed or zip of weed, it is normal to feel a bit timid. But lots of people visit their first dispensary and find a welcoming, wellness-oriented community waiting with open arms. So, how to buy weed? Here are tips.
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How to buy weed from a dispensary
Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind if you or someone you know is planning to visit their first dispensary. If you are planning to buy weed from a dispensary, don’t forget to bring your government ID and medical marijuana card, if you have one.
Have an ID card and cash ready
You need a government-issued ID (verifying you’re over 21 years old) to get into a cannabis dispensary. While some dispensaries have ATMs, everyone uses it, so you might find it out of order. It is best to bring cash to avoid any issues. Some dispensaries accept credit or debit card payments as well.
Think about what you want
How do you want to feel? Do you want a cannabis product that makes you feel energized or relaxed? Do you want to smoke cannabis flower, or would you prefer something easy and discreet like a tincture? Different cannabis ingestion methods can have different effects.
Ask questions
Ask questions whenever you need assistance. The budtenders there to help you. You can also ask your budtender to explain how to use the products.
Buy your products
Once you have found a product, all you need to do is buy it. Just resist the desire to vape or smoke a joint near the dispensary, as it generally illegal to consume cannabis in public—although you should check your local laws and regulations. Now you know how to buy weed from a dispensary.
How to buy weed online
Buying weed online is very convenient. Of course, you can only buy cannabis online if you live in a state where you can legally purchase cannabis from a dispensary through an online point-of-sale system.
To avoid purchasing through an illegal internet operation, visit your dispensary’s website and navigate to online purchases. If online purchases are not available in your area, you cannot buy cannabis online. Some dispensaries have paired with delivery services, while others require you to come in in-person to pick up your cannabis products. Watch out for websites that request cryptocurrency payments or e-transfer.
Find top-rated products for your goals
Jointly is a cannabis discovery app that makes it easy to find and match with the best cannabis and CBD products for your goals. Your matches are calculated from the real product ratings and experiences of hundreds of thousands of people using the Jointly app.
If you’re ready to discover new products and reach your goals, download the Jointly app today on theApp Store or Google Play, or explore your matches on the Jointly website.
With Jointly, match with top-rated products, and build lists of your favorites to save, share, and bring to your local dispensary to help guide your shopping experience.
Jointly also helps you track your cannabis experiences through reflections that help you understand what’s working, and what’s not. In fact, the quality of your diet,how much you slept,who you’re with, and thetime of day are just some of the factors that can impact your experiences.
So if you’re ready to enjoy your perfect cannabis experience, download the Jointly app today on theApp Store or Google Play, or explore your matches on the Jointly website. Discovery awaits.
Sam Anderson is the Content Director at Jointly, a cannabis wellness company powered by a proprietary data platform to help people reach their full potential. The company was created on the premise that purposeful cannabis consumption is the key to unlocking a better you. This article originally appeared on Jointly and has been reposted with permission.
There are some universal red flags that you can look out for to see if it might be time for you to put down the bong and give weed a break.
With winter and the holidays fast approaching, elastic waisted sweat pants and mid-afternoon sunsets have also reemerged. The dawn of the holiday season not only brings cheer, but also tends to bring some lethargy and increased consumption. You may have already noticed a bit of cold weather weight gain as your activity has decreased. Maybe your weed consumption has increased as more hours are spent indoors. Is it time for a cannabis detox?
Perhaps your cannabis consumption has even increased a little too much. But determining when your cannabis habit has become a bit more than a habit can be a bit tricky.
Knowing when it’s time to take a break from cannabis is an individual decision with many variables at play. Still, there are some universal red flags that you can look out for to see if it might be time for you to put down the bong and give weed a break. Here are five clear signs that it is time for you to take a cannabis detox.
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Your Cannabis Budget Keeps Expanding
One of the easiest signs to notice that maybe it’s time to cool it on cannabis is purely financial. This warning sign is relatively easy to track – just check your bank account. If you notice you are spending a lot more money on weed than normal, it usually means two things. For one, you are definitely getting high more often than you used to. It also means that your tolerance has gone up.
As we havereported in the past, the more you use cannabis, in turn the more you need to consume to achieve the same effect. If your tolerance and weed budget has more than doubled going into the holidays, perhaps a tolerance break is in order. At the very least, it will help get your weed budget back to a manageable number.
You’re Getting High When You Shouldn’t
Another sign that you are in need of a weed detox is if you find yourself getting high in situations where it is not socially acceptable, or downright illegal. If, for example, you are driving around aimlessly while high, this is a big red flag. If you are showing up high to work and hoping the boss doesn’t notice, then you should probably take a sober look in the mirror and see how you can change this behavior.
Worse, if you have lost your job, sacrificed relationships or had other negative impacts due to getting high when you shouldn’t, you should really think about taking a break. These impacts are often caused by cannabis dependance, which can happen when we rely on cannabis (or any substance) as a crutch.
You Feel Like You “Need” It For Certain Activities
There is truth to the saying “too much of a good thing.” While cannabis can be deeply therapeutic, if abused, just like pretty much any substance, it can have harmful effects. While marijuana is not very physically addictive, at least not in the way that nicotine, opioids, or alcohol are, it can lead to dependence in some. Cannabis use disorder, as defined by the CDC, is “are unable to stop using marijuana even though it’s causing health and social problems in their lives.” It mentions some symptoms to include using more marijuana than intended, and “using marijuana even though it causes problems at home, school or work.”
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You’re Cannabis Use Is Weighing on You
Another big red flag that it is time for a detox is if your cannabis use is affecting your wellbeing. If you are dwelling on how often you get high and it makes you guilty, or even depressed, then maybe it is time to regroup. Sure, as we havereported before, some studies have suggested cannabis can help with some symptoms of depression.
But other studies, like a 2017 study on this subject, found that, “cannabis reduces perceived symptoms of negative affect in the short-term, but continued use may exacerbate baseline symptoms of depression over time.” So it is too soon to tell whether weed is helping or hurting your own unique mental state.
Taking a break, and accompanying that break with productive and healthy activities is a great way to get your mind right. You can always get high again down the road, but your happiness and mental health is paramount, and if you think cannabis is getting in its way, give it a rest.
Your Routine Has Become Lethargic (And Is Mostly Indoors)
It can happen to the best of us, but sometimes we hibernate more than any human being is meant to. This lethargy can be heightened by cannabis use, as it can be incredibly easy to get high and do nothing but snack all day when it’s below freezing outside. Sure, lazy days are part of winter, but every day? That might be pushing it.
Consider your health. If, for example, you find that your clothes don’t fit, or if you are winded walking up a flight of stairs that normally causes you no issue, then maybe consider a pivot in your lifestyle. A cannabis detox is often a great place to start.
Cases brought against cannabis companies have seemingly been on the rise as of late. The legal actions vary in form and could create a sense of unease within the industry. With the headline-grabbing cases, are bad actors in cannabis on the decline?
RICO Charges Target Cannabis
One of the most common legal tactics used in recent years has seen the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Enacted by the Nixon administration as part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, RICO charges were designed to keep proceeds from illicit operations out of legal entities, primarily targeting organized crime and triple damages for winning plaintiffs.
But more civil plaintiffs have turned to RICO charges for issues unrelated to organized crime.
Unlike federal RICO action, civil cases have not focused on illegal funds. A Colorado case in 2017, Safe Streets Alliance v. Hickenlooper, saw the anti-cannabis organization alleging that nearby cannabis operations drove down property values. The claim was ultimately dismissed.
Cannabis operators have filed RICO charges as well. In June 2022, the Cayuga Nation claimed a RICO violation and conspiracy allegations against Pipekeepers Tobacco & Gas, saying the shop operated illegally and was taking money from the Nation. The case is ongoing, but two of the RICO claims were dismissed in September. The only issue remaining is the claim that the store building was bought with racketeering funds.
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In Arkansas, four cannabis operators face RICO charges over alleged inflated THC numbers. The class action case brought by three patients alleges that lab Steep Hill Arkansas and three grow operations, Bold Team, Natural State Medicinals, and Osage Creek Cultivation, took part in deceiving customers via inflated THC figures.
Rather than being representative of bad actors in the industry, some insiders say that the cases are driven by outsiders looking to stifle the industry.
Steve DeAngelo, a Steep Hill co-founder who left the company in 2019, doesn’t consider the allegations against that company significant. Instead, he called the charges “shady,” alleging the plaintiffs in the case “are folks who are basically trying to invalidate a state medical cannabis law using a federal preemption clause.”
Despite the lack of worry over the Arkansas RICO charges, DeAngelo expressed concern over the legal tactic. “There’s a real danger that if you set a precedent, federal law can preempt the state medical cannabis law,” he said.
David Feder, a business and litigation attorney and founding member of firm Weed Law, feels that the cannabis space continues to suffer from bad actors in the public and private sectors in part because they hide behind EBITDA numbers rather than bottom line results.
“If cannabis companies weren’t allowed to use adjusted EBITDA, we’d probably have a lot more truth and transparency,” he said.
Feder is involved in his own RICO case against Acreage Holdings, in which he alleges Acreage stole the New York license held by his company, EPMMNY, to sell to patients in the legal market.
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Additional Charges of Concern
While RICO cannabis charges have proved generally ineffective in court, other approaches might have more success.
In November, California brands Greenfield Organix and LPF JV Corporation were named in a class action customer lawsuit filed by firm Dovel & Luner. The charges allege THC potency inflation in Kingroll-brand pre-rolls.
The filing is the firm’s second class action against California THC brands. In October, they filed a customer class action against DreamFields Inc. and Med for America Inc., alleging that Jeeter-brand products contained lower THC percentages than stated.
THC often gets headline attention but is far from the only possible fraud charge in the sector. In October, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Canadian cannabis brand Cronos and former Chief Commercial Officer William Hilson with fraud and aiding and abetting company violations. The action stems from a $2.3 million accounting oversight between 2019 and 2021, which Cronos self-reported after an internal audit.
Cronos settled with the SEC, paying no financial penalties and agreeing to hire independent compliance consultants. Hilson paid a five-figure fine to the Ontario Securities Commission and is prohibited from practicing before the SEC for three years.
Despite ongoing concerns and recent rises in reports, Lewis Koski, chief strategy officer for Metrc and former director of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division, feels regulatory technology and market maturation are helping minimize intentionally improper companies and actors.
“My personal experience as a former regulator, the regulated framework and the businesses that operated within that framework shine a really bright light on the ones that are not,” he said.
Before you head out to meet your family this turkey day, read up on these five essential tips so you can have a successful thanksgiving celebration with cannabis.
Cannabis lends itself quite nicely to Thanksgiving celebrations. From mouthwatering food to reconnecting with loved ones, there are all sorts of reasons why a little weed can go a long way to enhance this holiday.
In fact, in a recentAyr Wellness survey of U.S. cannabis consumers, 65% of respondents said they will choose cannabis over alcohol for “Danksgiving,” and 34% plan to serve THC-infused food.
So if you are someone planning to add a little cannabis to the more traditional seasonings of nutmeg and clove that flavor this holiday, you aren’t alone. But just because you are not alone does not mean you should throw caution and common sense to the wind; there are plenty of ways your holiday can go off the rails.
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Don’t Show Up Looking or Smelling Stoned
This rule should always be followed. In fact, if you’re a seasoned cannabis user then you should know better by now. If you need to have some herbal therapy before embarking on a day with the extended family, make sure you brush your teeth, use mouthwash, cologne, eye drops – all the above if necessary.
Showing up smelling like bong water or with bright red eyes is only going to worry your grandparents. If you plan to take the elevated route with your family, do so incognito as much as possible. Consider bringing low-dosage edibles or a non-offensive smelling vape if you think you will require some assistance throughout the day. Reconsider bringing along dank smelling nugs.
Consider Microdosing to Reduce Family Stress
If you are thinking about how you will cope with the added stress that family holidays bring, consider sprinkling small doses of weed into your holiday plans. Microdosing, as we havereported, can have many benefits. One great benefit is helping you feel relaxed and calm.
Make sure you have the proper dosage down before Thanksgiving so you don’t overdo it on the actual holiday. Microdosing is a great way to incorporate the benefits of weed without being noticeably high, or too out of it to enjoy the day.
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Post-Meal Weed Walk and Talk (With the Right Audience)
Cannabis doesn’t always need to be something hiding in the shadows. So you may want to use weed as a chance to bring you and some of your family even closer.
Now, that doesn’t mean lighting up a joint at the dinner table and passing it to your uncle. But a pre-planned walk in a nearby park with your cousins, or somewhere you all used to play as kids might be a great way to reconnect and reminisce. Just make sure you aren’t breaking any laws in the process.
Save Weed for Post-Family Movies With Friends
Lots of people plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with weed. But that doesn’t mean that everyone (or even a large minority) of people want to get high around their families. In fact, according to the Ayr Wellness cannabissurvey, 54% of respondents said they will consume cannabis with friends on Thanksgiving. So maybe save the weed for later in the day.
You can get high and share heaps of leftover desserts with your friends or head to one of the many blockbuster movies that come out on the holiday. Either way, just know you can always wait until later on to infuse your Thanksgiving with weed.
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Don’t Get Too High, Seriously
Just like you shouldn’t show up looking or smelling high, also make sure you don’t use Thanksgiving as an excuse to get baked out of your mind – at least not around your family. Overeating is accepted on Thanksgiving, getting uncontrollably stoned is not.
Try to consume a conservative amount, leaving room for error. Thanksgiving should be a day for enjoying food and giving thanks, not struggling to stay awake and fight off paranoia.
