A dentist on TikTok is warning against this common oral health pattern.
Oral hygiene usually works in the following way: you brush your teeth, sometimes floss, and sometimes use mouthwash. Keeping up with two of those steps is a sign of a careful person, but doing all three means you’re serious about your dental health. According to this TikTok, using mouthwash after brushing your teeth is not the best idea.
The video was made by Anna Peterson, a London-based dentist. She suggests using mouthwash after eating or before brushing your teeth, but not after brushing.
She explains that toothpaste has a higher fluoride count than mouthwash. If you use mouthwash right after brushing, you’ll be washing off the fluoride and reduce your protection against foods and drinks. The fluoride in mouthwash is not able to protect your teeth against sugar and other harmful agents.
Flouride is very beneficial to your teeth. It helps rebuild weakened enamel, reverses tooth decay, prevents the growth of harmful bacteria, and slows down the natural loss of minerals. You want to keep that on your teeth for as long as you can.
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While a lot of people like mouthwash for how convenient it is to use, it doesn’t provide the same protection as toothpaste. Mouthwash is a good addition for keeping your breath fresh and preventing different diseases, but it won’t make or break your oral hygiene routine.
Another oral hygiene rule you should keep in mind is the timing of your brushings. You shouldn’t use mouthwash before eating or brush your teeth right after eating. While using mouthwash before eating is silly and will just ensure your food tastes like toothpaste, brushing after eating is common and can be bad for you. Digestion starts in the mouth and creates an acidic environment that might weaken your enamel and damage it.
If you want to control the munchies after a smoke session, here are some tricks to keep that post cannabis hunger at bay.
Munchies are one of the best parts about smoking weed. While they strike people at varying intensities, if you’re a regular consumer you’ve likely had to deal with munchies at some point in your life. There’s nothing wrong with the occasional munchie-induced scarf-down, but, if it’s a recurring issue, you might have to find new ways to curb these impulses. While it might be difficult to eliminate the munchies altogether, here are some hacks to help prevent the munchies.
Eat before you smoke
Photo by Artem Labunsky via Unsplash
The easiest trick you can do is to have a filling meal before you smoke. While the munchies sometimes don’t listen to hunger, they’re way worse if you haven’t eaten in a significant amount of time. If you eat, smoke, and then get the munchies, you’ll be able to recognize that what you’re experiencing is not hunger, which will work in the long run and will give you some strength to resist future munchie attacks.
Keep yourself hydrated
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Water is a great tool for curbing all kinds of hunger, making you feel full, at least until you have to go to the bathroom. Water is especially strong when it comes to munchies, since the impulse to eat after consuming cannabis isn’t necessarily tied to real hunger. Drinking plenty of water can help you recognize what your stomach is feeling while also giving your high a chance to mellow out.
The munchies have a direct correlation to THC consumption, meaning that if you’re smoking a strain that’s THC dominant, there’s higher odds of getting crazy hungry. You can try a more balanced strain or ask your budtender for weed recommendations that don’t transform you into a munchie monster.
The munchies are often more intense when you’re smoking alone in your house. If you’re prone to them, try smoking with friends or keeping yourself focused by doing something else, whether that’s reading outside, listening to music, going for a walk or working out.
Smoke out of your house
Photo by Artur Matosyan on Unsplash
Lastly, as a last resort, you can try smoking when you’re not in your place, where there’s snacks and the comfort of the fact that you can order delivery without much thought behind it. Spending part of your high out of your house will distract you with other people and activities and will make it easier for you to focus on other things aside from your stomach.
Teens who abuse substances are likely to develop problems later on. A new study says poor sleep could be a predictor of substance abuse behaviors.
According to a new study, teens who don’t get a full night of sleep have higher odds of abusing alcohol and cannabis.
The data was published in the journal Sleep and it’s taken from a longitudinal study that wanted to see whether sleep could be a predictor of future substance abuse. It was conducted by the National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA).
Researchers devised the study as a way of measuring whether lack of sleep in teens could have an impact the following year. Authors concluded that lack of sleep was correlated with future substance abuse of cannabis and alcohol.
Researchers gathered data from 831 participants ages 12 to 21. The data showed that subjects who slept late at night and had shorter weekday nights of sleep were at a higher risk for having additional days of cannabis use during the following year.
When discussing alcohol, the later teens and young adults went to bed and the sleepier they were, the higher odds they had of engaging with binge drinking during the following year.
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“Overall, the results suggest that teens in middle and high school may be more vulnerable to sleep-related risk for substance use,” said Brant P. Hasler, lead author of the study. “The particular pattern of sleep predictors in the middle school and high school sample is consistent with the ‘circadian misalignment’ caused by early school start times.”
Sleep is an incredibly important factor for people’s health, especially in teens and kids who are still growing. Results like this have been echoed in other studies, but this research marks one of the first times where there was follow up and more solid conclusions could be reached.
Addiction and substance abuse are tough topics to handle, particularly when discussing teens and young adults. To prevent these types of issues, measures like delaying the start of school and making it easier for teens to get more sleep might provide for more successful and healthier results than dealing with a substance abuse problem that has already started.
Two Ohio House Reps are filing a bill that would legalize adult-use cannabis, marking the first time a proposal allowing recreational cannabis commerce has been introduced in the Ohio legislature.
Co-sponsors of the bill, Reps. Terrence Upchurch and Casey Weinstein, began circulating the draft memo to their colleagues on Thursday in order to garner support prior to formally filing the bill.
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“Ohio can and should be the leader and pave the way for a successful recreational marijuana program,” Upchurch, who represents Northeast Ohio including Cleveland, told Benzinga. “We really need to get the rollout right.”
While the full details have not been released, Upchurch said components of the bill would allow adults 21 to buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to 12 plants.
Ohioans with nonviolent cannabis-related records crimes can have their records sealed and participate in the newly legal industry.
“The number of people who have been negatively affected by cannabis arrests in Ohio is astronomical. I’ve seen firsthand how the lives of good people have been upended for years because of pot convictions,” Upchurch said.
Casey Weinstein, a U.S. Air Force veteran who represents Ohio’s Dayton area, said the time has come for Ohio.
“Quite simply we have reached critical mass,” Weinstein told Benzinga. “Between Ohio’s successful medical marijuana program, other states moving forward, and broad, bipartisan support for the many benefits to reform, it’s time to legalize.”
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Many presume Republican Gov. Mike DeWine will oppose the bill as would the GOP-dominated Legislature, though both Upchurch and Weinstein say there are legislators on both sides of the aisle who support legalization.
Critical Mass? It Looks That Way
First of all, the majority of Ohio voters have almost consistently supported reform through numerous local initiatives. At the moment, nearly two dozen Ohio jurisdictions have adopted statutes drastically reducing the penalty for possession of small amounts of weed, according to the Ohio Sensible Movement Coalition.
In Cincinnati, where cannabis was decriminalized in 2019, Mayor John Cranley tweeted Thursday afternoon: “It’s time we legalize marijuana in Ohio.”
If we legalized marijuana we could invest that tax revenue right back into our communities. We could rebuild our roads and fund public education. We could expand healthcare for our communities.
Dayton’s Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat who is running for Ohio governor, echoed that sentiment in a statement Thursday.
“This is a commonsense change that is both an important criminal justice reform issue, as well as a sensible way for Ohio to bring in more revenue for basic services that communities across our state need.”
Medical Cannabis Patients Increasing – Cannabis Companies Prepare For More
Ohio has close to 100,000 medical marijuana patients, prompting the state to more than double the number of cannabis dispensaries for the coming year.
Cannabis companies now operating in Ohio, include Jushi Holdings Inc (OTC: JUSHF), Ayr Wellness Inc (OTC: AYRWF), Green Thumb Industries Inc. (OTC: GTBIF) and Body and Mind Inc. (OTC: BMMJ), among others. More are expected to make their way to the Buckeye State.
One of the biggest fears of cannabis advocates and opposers is teen drug abuse. Studies show no evidence of this.
Recent data shows that even if marijuana is legal in several U.S. states, teens aren’t having more access to the drug. This data adds to a growing body of evidence suggests that legal marijuana has no connection with teen drug abuse.
Marijuana use in teens and young adults is a serious concern, one that has been correlated with higher odds of developing a dependency on the drug and developing mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and psychosis.
The data came from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and was submitted by high schoolers between the years 2009 and 2019. The analysis demonstrated that there was not a significant change or increase in the percentage of students who consumed cannabis within the past 30 days.
Per the data, the year where teens reported their highest percentage of marijuana use was in 2011 before legal marijuana programs were approved in the U.S.
Opponents of legal marijuana programs have a history of using marijuana use in teenagers and its side effects as ways of scaring people who may be considering supporting legal marijuana. They believe legal marijuana could facilitate drug access for youths during a time where their brains are developing and thus more susceptible to the drug.
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Marijuana advocates believe the opposite; with a legal marijuana program in place, it should be theoretically more difficult for underage people to access the drug. Legal programs require ID and keep track of the customers who purchase these products, creating more barriers and hurdles than black-market marijuana.
Marijuana use in teens should remain a concern for everyone, no matter their stance on legal marijuana. Studies that show no links between legal cannabis programs and marijuana use by young people should be encouraging news for advocates and those who are wary of cannabis. These programs make cannabis access more difficult and result in higher-quality products.
Will the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act pass? Probably not, but it will set the groundwork and lay a plan for federal legalization.
Senators Chuck Schumer and Cory Booker have released their first attempt at federal marijuana legalization called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which weighs in at 163 pages. After reading the reviews and the document, I wanted to give the biggest takeaways that you should be thinking about and discussing online. Marijuana Moment does a great job breaking the bill down here, so you don’t have to read the full 163 pages.
25% Federal Tax Rate in Addition to Your State Taxes
Well, so much for killing the black market. I often wonder if anyone who writes these bills talk to anyone actually in the industry about what they are putting on paper. By introducing a 15% tax rate that rises to 25% in 5 years you are guaranteeing a robust national black market for weed. That federal tax is in addition to your state taxes, which range anywhere from 20% to 50% right now.
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Granted there are some tax credit breaks for sellers that have revenue under $20 million as a way to protect small businesses, but still, imagine going in to buy $100 in edibles and paying $42 to the state of California and $25 to the federal government? So, in 2026 you will be shelling out $167 for your $100 edibles? Hello, black market!
One guess as to why Schumer and Booker put these tax numbers in the bill was to attract Republicans and moderate Democrats. With those numbers baked in they can now try to get enough votes to pass the bill with spreadsheets and charts showing billions upon billions in tax revenue coming in by 2026. No one really thinks consumers are going to pay a cumulative 60% tax rate on their cannabis. Start high to create big tax revenue numbers in order to get the bill passed, then work on lowering them or extending out the time frame by 10 years.
How much margin do they think there is in cannabis, anyway? Yes, margins are big and fat now with limited licenses and federal prohibition, but what do you think happens to margins with federal legalization? As Jeff Bezos ironically said, “Your margins are my opportunity.” Hello Amazon and hello Black Market!
Interstate Commerce is Allowed
As frequent readers of Cannabis.net know, we have been saying any federal law would have to “grandfather” in state licenses that are in good standing and would have to allow business in one legal state to be able to ship and sell to another legal state. We also predicted that you would not be able to ship from a legal state to a non-legal state, only common sense on that one. The bill does include this detail, as it would allow cannabis businesses to now ship and sell products to legal retail stores around the country.
As Marijuana Moment writes:
But it’s important to keep in mind that this legislation—like other federal legalization bills moving through Congress—would not make it so marijuana is legal in every state. The proposal specifically preserves the right of states to maintain prohibition if they way. It stipulates, for example, that shipping marijuana into a state where the plant is prohibited would still be federally illegal.
However, the measure would make it clear that states can’t stop businesses from transporting cannabis products across their borders to other states where the plant is permitted.
That is huge GOOD news for the industry as this, as well as banking, has been holding back the industry like dam holding a flood back. If companies can ship products and wholesale around to other legal states, it will create a much more efficient market, lower prices, hurt black markets, and allow the consumer better choices.
Senator Booker says he will block the SAFE Banking Act Until This Bill is Passed
This is bad news for the marijuana industry. Senator Booker has vowed to block the Safe Banking Act, until this bill, or some form of it, is passed. Why on earth would Senator Booker block a helpful marijuana bill co-sponsored by his vice president? Booker is worried that the Safe Banking Act will just increase market share for the large, rich, and mostly White, cannabis corporations that are publicly traded and privately held.
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Booker wants to see social justice in the form of social equity agreements and social empowerment applicants and companies get help first, not just the big money corporations. While we totally agree that social equity (SE) and economic empowerment (EE) need to be a big part of the future of legal marijuana, blocking one good bill while you wait for a long shot to come in is “winning the battle, but losing the war”.
For one, the end customer doesn’t really care deep down whether dispensaries can have bank accounts and run credit cards. They know they just have to pay in cash for weed, inconvenient, but it is what it is. Blocking all cannabis companies from having bank accounts, credit card machines, and access to the US wire system hurts all cannabis companies, not just the big ones. This is just one of the many factors holding back SE and EE applicants for marijuana licenses in many states.
Sometimes you have to swallow a little vinegar with you water, and yes, banking would be opened up for big corporations, it would also be open up for thousands of small cannabis businesses. States have SE and EE programs, let them implement them as they are doing now. Win the war, get legalization, SE and EE are already happening and will continue to happen with the Safe Banking Act. Don’t cut off your nose despite your face. Support Safe Banking 100% and support this bill 100%. By not supporting the Safe Banking Act you are hurting 5 big companies and trying to hold them hostage? By holding up the Safe Banking Act, who is Booker turning the cannabis into for a fight? Itself?
With this CAOA not having enough votes to pass, not supporting the actual one that might pass is a bad idea and could push cannabis legalization backwards if both fail.
Senator Schumer introduced the bill knowing he does not have the votes to pass it
Senator Schumer knows he does not have the votes to get the Bill passed, and the President has been lukewarm at best in his response to this piece of legislation. So why would Senator Schumer introduce a bill that he knows he can’t get passed right now? One, he has openly said he is looking to negotiate with “the other side” on what they like and don’t like, about the bill. He is penning this bill as an open letter to the 10 Republican votes he needs, and some hesitant Democratic Senators.
Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images
Second, it pushes pressure on the “no” voters. Over 70% of the American public support some form of marijuana legalization and over 40 states now get tax money from the sale of cannabis, so Schumer knows he has the people on his side. He is going to ramp up public pressure to call and write the “no” votes to change their vote.
Third, he gets all the credit for trying to legalize cannabis and gets to paint the Republican as the bad guys who are against legal medicine, social equity, and economic empowerment. Is a “no” vote now akin to supporting the failed War on Drugs and not wanting to support minority communities? You can see how this can be framed as an anti-capitalist, racist, stuck in 1954 White America thing if you don’t vote for the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, right?
Conclusion
While not a perfect legalization bill by far, it is a FEDERAL LEGALIZATION BILL, so let’s take our own advice and win the war and lose a few battles. This is great news and it is the first time a majority speaker of the House has ever introduced a cannabis legalization bill. He may not get it passed, but he did put it out there.
The Safe Banking Act, while it does not legalize cannabis, gives legal businesses access to banks and credit cards. Both bills are extremely important and should get the cannabis industries full support.
Will the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act pass? Probably not, but it will set the groundwork and lay a plan for federal legalization. It will also create a rallying point in the next elections for the Senate and House as to “he/she voted against cannabis legalization last year, vote for me, instead!”.
Right now, Senator Schumer would basically need 10 Republicans and one Democrat who said they would not support this bill if it was introduced to magically change their mind. Not completely nuts, but a major long-shot to say the least. The fact that the President does not support this bill or federal legalization is not helping the Democrats or the cannabis cause right now. Strong support from the White House would help change a few minds and maybe get enough business pressure on Republicans to get them to vote for some form of this bill.
Missing a flight is a huge bummer, but don’t lose hope yet. Here’s how you can remedy the situation.
Racing to your gate only to be told you missed your flight is a situation we all try to avoid. While you may be prepared with enough time and patience, airports have the ability to wreck our plans in seconds. If you miss your flight, there’s a few things you can do depending on your particular situation.
Airports are lawless places, but it works if you approach the subject with the right attitude. Thousands of people miss their flights on a daily basis. If you find yourself in this position, having the right attitude might differentiate you from the rest of the pack.
Here’s what you can do if you miss your flight:
Know the basics
Photo by Flickr user Nick Harris
No matter how nice you are, airlines generally don’t care why you don’t show up at the gate. Whether you overslept or got held back at TSA, it’s up to you to make it to the gate on time. Still, there’s a “flat tire rule,” which gives airline agents some leeway in how to handle these situations.
This depends on the airline, for example, as reported by The Cheat Sheet, Delta’s flat tire rule explains that each situation is handled on a case by case basis. “Many times we can get them on the next available flight,” explained a Delta rep. American Airline’s late arrival policy covers tardiness “as long as you arrive within two hours of the missed flight.”
Be clear about your current situation. If you missed a domestic flight it is generally easier than if you missed an international one. For international flights it’s important to be aware of current COVID-19 measures and to have all of that documentation in place, that way you can avoid any delays in that department. It’s very important to prepare ahead of time, especially now that people are back traveling and rules are changing on a daily basis.
The first thing you should do when you miss a flight is to call your airline as soon as you can. If you don’t show up to the gate, you’ll fall under the “no show” category, meaning that the airline may cancel your itinerary and leave you with fewer options to resolve your trip. If the wait list for the phone is too long, be sure to look for options on their website.
While it’s very difficult to account for all scenarios, it’s good to be as prepared as you can before you board a flight. In order to minimize the odds of losing a flight, try planning your trip with sufficient time, giving you the chance to book a direct flight that’s reasonably priced. When the day of the flight comes, be sure to get there with sufficient time, no matter how terrible the airport is.
This is a rule that prohibits consumers from purchasing an ounce of their favorite strain while also purchasing a few pre-rolls at the same time.
On June 23, 2021, Governor Kate Brown signed SB 408 into law which included a host of important reforms for which Oregon’s cannabis industry has been lobbying for years. The chief backer of SB 408 this session was the Oregon Retailers of Cannabis Association (ORCA).
In my view, the most important aspect of this bill for consumers is the fact that it instantly increased the amount of “useable marijuana” (that is: cannabis flower and pre-rolls) from one ounce to two ounces. It is now perfectly legal for individuals to move about the state with up to two ounces of cannabis flower or pre-rolls without fear of harassment by law enforcement or other cannabigots.
Photo by Heath Korvola/Getty Images
That being said, OLCC rules still limits the amount of usable marijuana a recreational consumer may purchase at a dispensary to no more than one ounce, so while it is now legal to carry up to two ounces in public, you can’t buy it all at one dispensary. Indeed, OLCC’s purchase rules have tracked the public-carry limits in statute in the past, and OLCC has resisted calls to increase purchase limits by retailer and consumer groups on that basis.
Indeed, this is a rule that prohibits consumers from purchasing an ounce of their favorite strain while also purchasing a few pre-rolls to try out new strains at the same time – a result that consumers find inconvenient and incoherent. Yet three weeks have passed with no action by OLCC to amend its rules on a temporary basis to allow consumers to purchase up to the legal limit allowed by law.
CALL TO ACTION
OLCC should immediately, using its temporary rule authority, allow the sale of up to two ounces of useable marijuana by consumers at licensed dispensaries.
Kevin Jacoby is an attorney at Green Light Law Group. He has focused his career on advising small to medium-sized businesses both in litigation matters and in all aspects of administrative compliance and employment relations. In addition to business-to-business litigation, Kevin has devoted a significant amount of his practice to administrative law. You can contact Kevin at info@gl-lg.com or 503-488-5424.
There are several reasons that could explain the drop, including Sen. Schumer’s acknowledgment that the current draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act may not garner enough votes to pass in the Senate.
Details of the draft bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, were released early morning sparking excitement and speculation. Around mid-day, the bill’s sponsors Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) held a press conference.
Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
While the impact was expected to be felt on cannabis stocks, surprisingly marijuana stocks fell.
Cantor Fitzgerald’s Pablo Zuanic offered several possible explanations for this reaction in his latest analyst note, while also emphasizing that investors should “make use of yesterday’s weakness.” There’s an upside, claims Zuanic who recognized that Wednesday was a historic day for the industry despite the decline of cannabis stocks.
For starters, the Canadian Marijuana Index fell 5.3% for the day, the US Marijuana Index dropped 2.8%, the AdvisorShares Trust AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (ARCA: MSOS) lost 3.5%, and AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (ARCA: YOLO) was down 4.3%. All this while the SPDR S&P 500 (ARCA: SPY) was flat (+0.1%).
Why Did Cannabis Stocks Drop?
According to Zuanic, there are several reasons that could explain these market actions:
An ambitious plan — more of an all-out approach instead of a gradual one;
Sen. Schumer’s acknowledgment that the current draft may not garner enough votes to pass in the Senate;
Sen. Booker’s strong opposition to separate banking reform;
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealing that President Biden prefers incremental decriminalization and has not endorsed this marijuana draft bill;
Several troublesome parts of the draft like the notion of interstate trade and a 25% marijuana federal sales tax.
Photo by boonchai wedmakawand/Getty Images
There are several potential areas of compromise, according to Zuanic, and those include: lowering the 10-pound possession limit; do not allow interstate trade for the first few years; implement the 25% federal tax over 10 years instead of the proposed five; leave expungement to the states; set a limit on the funds for the “opportunity programs.”
Use The Weakens But Choose Wisely
With a certain amount of ambivalence around many aspects of the bill, particularly regarding banking reform, Zuanic advised investors to carefully pick multistate cannabis operators to invest in. Cantor’s top US picks remain Curaleaf Holdings (OTCQX: CURLF), Green Thumb Industries Inc (OTCQX: GTBIF) (CSE: GTII), Trulieve Cannabis (OTCQX: TCNNF) and Cresco Labs (OTCQX: CRLBF).
The analyst further noted that investors should avoid “companies lacking state level depth; financially stretched; with high share-based cops to sales ratios; more focused on complaining about their valuations than running their businesses; those in bed with predatory lending entities.”
“Again, make use of Wednesday’s weakness — selectively, in our view.”
Meditating is a very personal practice, but a study found that a set amount of time provides significant benefits and stress relief.
Meditation comes with a significant amount of benefits. Depending on your optics, meditation can be used to strengthen spiritual connections, to cope with anxiety or to decompress before completing an important activity. Still, when you’re just starting to do it, it’s difficult to know how long to time each session and whether or not it’s working.
There’s not one straight answer and it all depends on how long you’ve been meditating, but, according to Healthline, in order to measure how effective a meditation session is, you must account for four factors: frequency of practice, duration, adherence to instructions, competence and enjoyment.
Different studies found that the more people meditated, the more effective it was. How consistent people were and how repetitive also mattered. Lastly, how competent people were at their meditation session was also important, implying that while time and commitment matters, focus is also key.
An important study conducted in meditators who had little experience found that meditating for 13 minutes a day over a period of eight weeks was enough for people to experience decreased negative moods, increased attention span, better memory and less anxiety.
Thirteen minutes sounds like a long time for inexperienced meditators, which is why competency is also important. Headspace explains that, when meditating, if it feels like too much time, it usually is. “If the session feels unbearable and continues to feel unbearable, and we are unable to discover the source of that resistance, then that is not time well spent.” While the session should feel a bit challenging, it shouldn’t be unbearable or demotivating.
If you’re a beginner, start off slow, with 3-5 minutes sessions. Be consistent with your practices, allowing yourself to stretch this amount of time in a way that feels organic and intuitive. Once you’ve reached the 10 or 15 minute mark, you’ll begin to spot noticeable improvements.
