President Biden Is Too Busy To Legalize Cannabis? That’s What VP Harris Claims

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April 12, 2021

President Biden Is Too Busy To Legalize Cannabis? That’s What VP Harris Claims

Despite all of the resistance, the fact is that cannabis legalization is happening right now. State by state, country by country, it’s going global.

When the Biden Administration took the White House, the headlines all clamored that it will be a “good time for cannabis”.

Stocks seemed to echo the sentiment.

Yet, since the administration took office, they fired staffers for admitting they smoked weed in the past, Kamala Harris rolled back her “pro pot stance” to align with the President’s, and now the entire “weed thing” has been put on the back burner.

kamala harris snoop dogg lie is the dumbest political controversy of 2019 — Photo by Win McNamee/Staff/Getty Images

“Honestly, right now, we’ve been focused on getting people food, helping them stay in their apartments or in their homes, getting kids back to school, getting shots into arms,” she said in an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle. “That has been all-consuming.”

However – does legalizing cannabis actually conflict with Covid relief? More importantly – how much “input” does the Biden Administration really need to have when it comes to legalization?

Congress has been mulling over cannabis regulations for years now – independent of the administration. It’s a bipartisan issue. There is relatively little to nothing that President Joe Biden needs to do with legislation other than sign it when the time comes.

And they can simply use a Robopen for that.

The only thing that Biden and his administration can do to assist with the entire legalization process is in fact very simple and requires virtually no effort.

They simply have to endorse the idea.

Legalizing Cannabis can help mitigate damages of COVID

We can all agree that the most affected by COVID-19 is the state of the global economy. Millions of people have lost their jobs or have been made redundant due to the pandemic.

One of the few industries who have actually been thriving during COVID is the cannabis industry. Legalization could serve as a vehicle to help kick start the economy, provide new jobs to the millions who have lost their employment and free up state resources to move things forward.

Of course, getting people medicine is important, but while the government is focusing on the apparent health crises…

The economic clusterf**k that will follow is going to create a real problem.

President Biden’s Marijuana Agenda Seems Destined For Trouble — Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

When unemployment rises, so does crime and things generally become more dangerous. People tend to revert back to their basic survival instincts which is a “dog-eat-dog” way of living.

Legalizing cannabis could provide the release of pressure on the economy, giving people something else as their old ways of earning a living got murdered by COVID.

Cannabis can help keep people healthier & indoors

Not only are cannabis users skinnier on average than their non-smoking counterparts, they also tend to be more active and get sick less.

Furthermore, cannabis users can entertain themselves for hours with enough weed on hand meaning if the Biden Administration really wants to keep people indoors they’d legalize home cultivation.

One would think that Biden Admin would jump on this opportunity, rather, they remain steadfast on their position.

Why are they resisting change so much?

At this point, I cannot speculate anymore. Perhaps Biden truly believes that people do not have the ability to decide for themselves what they can and cannot consume.

However, this would put him at odds with the rest of America. Hell, weed is more popular than Biden.

Perhaps, there are some money interests behind the president that do not want cannabis legalized yet and would much rather prefer him to push against the will of the people to maximize profits.

While we may never know for sure, the longer that they maintain their position against cannabis, the longer people are suffering the Casualties of War — the Drug War, that is.

How Marijuana Legalization Will Greatly Benefit The Criminal Justice System — Photo by Gleti/Getty Images

America keeps on pushing

Despite all of the resistance, the fact is that cannabis legalization is happening right now. State by state, country by country, it’s going global.

Senators, Congress people and the likes have all said that “irrespective of Biden’s resistance” to legalization, they will continue to introduce bills that are aligned with the will of the people.

COVID has become a blanket excuse for politicians to dodge their responsibilities.

The Biden Administration is at odds with the rest of the world. They have flip-flopped on the subject matter that the people can now see that they are simply “more of the same”.

For some people, this is a relief from the Orange Menace that sat on the throne before Sleepy Joe.

However, if you recall in 2019, the whole world was in protest against “the same”.

The pandemic shut all that down — for now!

But what happens when the hunger sets in due to the loss of jobs? What happens when people are forced out of their homes and into the streets due to their inability to sustain their current lifestyles?

Will “the same” still be seen as the “timely relief from Trump” or will it reignite the pre-pandemic dissonance that’s still lingering like a time-bomb in the collective minds of the masses?

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.

History Explains Why Getting 8 Hours Of Sleep A Night May Not Be Realistic

Maria Loreto

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April 12, 2021

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History Explains Why Getting 8 Hours Of Sleep A Night May Not Be Realistic

Historical evidence indicates sleeping for eight hours a night wasn’t what people used to do.

Sleeping eight hours a night is a much desired goal for a lot of us. In order to achieve better sleep, we are willing to create bedtime habits and schedules, helping us stay rested and energetic for the coming day. But a growing body of evidence suggests sleeping for eight consecutive hours every night may be unnatural.

The BBC spoke with Roger Ekirch, who published a study that revealed that back in the day, humans slept in two separate chunks of time. This information, gathered from diaries, court records, medical books and literature, suggests people went to bed at some point after dusk. This was then followed by a wake up period of one or two hours and then another sleeping period.

Should Chronic Pain Patients Use Metered Doses For Most Effective Treatment? — Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

Waking periods are assumed to have been active, with reports of people getting up from bed, smoking and even visiting with friends. For the most part, people stayed in bed, doing low key activities like reading, writing or praying. If they had partners in bed, they also used this time to have sex, with a 16th century manual advising that the best time to conceive was “after the first sleep,” which would allow them to have more enjoyable sex.

All of these activities sound like appropriate things to do when faced with a bout of insomnia, especially since experts are now advising against staying in bed and trying to force yourself to get back to sleep.

In ancient years, nighttime used to be associated with criminal activity, making it not appetizing for people to spend their time out of their house, no matter their wealth or social standing. “Even the wealthy, who could afford candlelight, had better things to spend their money on. There was no prestige or social value associated with staying up all night,” explains historian and author of Evening’s Empire, Greg Koslofsky.

Ekirch reports that during mid 17th century, the habit of sleeping twice a night started to disappear from the collective unconscious, more and more until there was no updated record of it. Contributing factors could be attributed to street lighting, domestic lighting and a surge of coffee houses, which would sometimes be open all night. “People were becoming increasingly time-conscious and sensitive to efficiency, certainly before the 19th Century,” he explains. “But the industrial revolution intensified that attitude by leaps and bounds.”

Maybe next time you’re laying awake in bed and start to feel the tingles of sleep less anxiety, use this time to relax and distract yourself with other activities that aren’t all that strenuous. If it’s still dark, you’ll likely get sleepy within a short span of time.

What To Know If Caught Driving While High

David Hodes

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April 12, 2021

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What To Know If Caught Driving While High

Marijuana is like a road test ninja. THC that could indicate intoxication remains in your body for days, even weeks, as small amounts continue to be released into your bloodstream.

Nearly every discussion by lawmakers looking to shoot down cannabis legalization includes concerns about driving while high: Get us a roadside testing device or we’re done here.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, there were an estimated 10,511 alcohol-impaired driving deaths in 2018, but “the contribution of marijuana and other illicit drugs to these and other impaired driving deaths remains unknown.” The NSDUH also reported that during 2018, 12 million U.S. residents reported driving under the influence of marijuana in the past 12 months.

Industry manufacturers are scrambling for a roadside testing device to measure THC intoxication — the Draeger Drug Test 5000, the Securetec Drug Wipe, to name just a couple — but the reliability of those devices has come into question, according to a study. Too many false positives are found—just getting second-hand exposure to cannabis smoke can result in a positive test for THC using a roadside testing device.

Roadside testing is done with these devices using swabs of saliva checking for an established level of intoxication. And it isn’t clear if a CBD-only product with, say, .5% THC or so, would affect the testing measurements and create false positives.

Traffic Searches — Photo by bluegame/Getty Images

This amazing, complex plant is like a road test ninja. THC that could indicate intoxication remains in your body for days, even weeks, as small amounts continue to be released from where they are stored in your body’s fat into your blood while you go about your everyday business. You are not high, but a saliva or blood test could indicate you still hit a limit set by local law enforcement for THC intoxication.

Some 11 states have adopted a per-se measurement scheme (similar to the intoxication level of a drunk driver, measured as a concentration of 5 or 10 nanograms per liter depending on the state) or zero tolerance scheme (meaning that any amount of THC detected in a fluid sample) to measure if you are too high to drive. But the Foundation for Traffic Safety determined that “the scientific evidence of impairing effects of THC on driving performance and crash risk is not clear or uniform.”

Police then are left to conduct the usual field sobriety tests they use for alcoholic-induced impairment, looking for indications of THC intoxication—the smell or marijuana (which some jurisdictions say is not a good enough reason to pull someone over), distracted speech, stopping too long at a stop sign, red eyes—or so-called behavioral impairment.

medical marijuana cardholders can still be busted for stoned driving — Photo by Ed 259 via Unsplash

Can you beat it? Well, you can simply refuse to do the field sobriety test and the breathalyzer. Penalties in most states for that kind of refusal includes surrendering your driver’s license for a period of time. But guess what? That leaves the subjective observations by the law enforcement officer who pulled you over as the only indication of your guilt. And any good lawyer should be able to make that particular subjective analysis go away.

What’s more, the instructor guide for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says roadside sobriety tests should be done “under ideal conditions,” another loophole for a clever defense lawyer to explore.

Plus, chances are if you have to deal with the court about a hearing on your DUID (driving under the influence of drugs), you are going to get a fresh new court-appointed prosecutor who has little or no experience on the legal challenges you—or your attorney—present to him or her.

So take your chances — even the casual consumer knows driving while high has its challenges. Know your rights, but don’t become another statistic just because you want to stick it to The Man.

Joe Biden Isn’t Senile — He’s Just Hard Of Learning When It Comes To Weed

Richard Cowan

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April 12, 2021

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Joe Biden Isn’t Senile — He’s Just Hard Of Learning When It Comes To Weed

Biden may or may not understand the degree to which he owes his election to Trump’s failure to support marijuana legalization.

***Disclaimer:* *The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast.***

President Biden has suffered two avoidable embarrassments. First, he somehow managed to fall three times trying to run up the ramp stairs for Air Gorce One. I’m even older than he is, so I’m sympathetic. Oops. It happens. 

Don’t worry if you missed it. It will run forever on the Trump cult networks to demonstrate how inferior he is to the godlike athleticism of the Apollo of Mar-a-Swampo. 

Biden’s Anti-Marijuana Stance Is Perfect For America Right Now — Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The second embarrassment was deliberate. The Biden White House fired five staffers who honestly admitted to having used marijuana. 

Someone immediately pointed out that this would keep former President Barack (“Lock My People Up”) Obama from being appointed to anything. To which I say, “hooray!”

SEE: Obama’s War on Pot. In a shocking about-face, the administration has launched a government-wide crackdown on medical marijuana

On the other hand, it is utterly inconsistent with his claims that his advisers will lead with science and truth. This places a penalty on both, and arguably creates security risks. 

More substantially, it will pointlessly exclude some truly great minds. Two of the greatest geniuses of the last century were cannabis users, one of whom was the late Carl Sagan, “American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator.”

As Wikipedia described him, “Sagan was a user and advocate of marijuana. Under the pseudonym “Mr. X”, he contributed an essay about smoking cannabis to the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered. The essay explained that marijuana use had helped to inspire some of Sagan’s works and enhance sensual and intellectual experiences. After Sagan’s death, his friend Lester Grinspoon disclosed this information to Sagan’s biographer, Keay Davidson. The publishing of the biography, Carl Sagan: A Life, in 1999 brought media attention to this aspect of Sagan’s life. Not long after his death, his widow Ann Druyan went on to preside over the board of directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), a non-profit organization dedicated to reforming cannabis laws.”

Senate Democrats And President Biden Not On Same Page With Cannabis Reform — Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

I had the honor of being the National Director of NORML at the time, and the dinner that Allen St. Pierre and I had with Sagan and Druyan was one of the greatest experiences of my very fun life.

Another great mind (and a NORML board member, also recruited by Lester Grinspoon) that would be excluded was Nobel Laureate Kary Mullis. He “shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Michael Smith[4] and was awarded the Japan Prize in the same year. His invention became a central technique in biochemistry and molecular biology, described by The New York Times as “highly original and significant, virtually dividing biology into the two epochs of before PCR and after PCR.”

Mullis would have been especially problematic for the truth aversive because In a Q&A interview published in the September 1994 issue of California Monthly, Mullis said:

“Back in the 1960s and early 1970s I took plenty of LSD. A lot of people were doing that in Berkeley back then. And I found it to be a mind-opening experience. It was certainly much more important than any courses I ever took.”[60][verification needed] During a symposium held for centenarian Albert Hofmann, Hofmann said Mullis had told him that LSD had “helped him develop the polymerase chain reaction that helps amplify specific DNA sequences.”

Well, we certainly would not want people like that giving Biden advice, unless it was about holding on to the railing.

Of course, the most serious problem is what this means for the Biden Administration policies. After over 22 million arrests, Biden was shocked, shocked to find out that the laws he supported for decades had disproportionately impacted racial minorities, whose champion he now claims to be.

SEE: Don’t Mention The Drug War. We Must Decriminalize Being Black Because Black Freedom Matters

He may or may not understand the degree to which he owes his election to Trump’s failure to support marijuana legalization and the fact Biden’s supporters obscured his prohibitionist record.

SEE: Biden Sort Of Decides on Marijuana Legalization: He Is Sort Of Still Against It and Did Marijuana Prohibition Cost Trump The Election?

Sadly, Biden reminds me of what Talleyrand said about the Bourbon dynasty: “They had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”

Richard Cowan is a former NORML National Director and author of A Primer About The Smell And Taste Of CBD Oil.

How Marijuana Legalization Will Greatly Benefit The Criminal Justice System

Terry Hacienda

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April 12, 2021

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Prohibiting marijuana hurts the legitimacy and credibility of the criminal justice system. Such prohibitions are undemocratic, racially discriminative, costly, ineffective and a blatant waste of resources.

Cannabis users and enthusiasts always want to focus solely on the medicinal and recreational benefits of the plant, which is excellent, but there is more to understand about marijuana.

For example, you cannot separate marijuana usage from the policy-making process, including legalization and the criminal justice system. These governmental aspects are fundamental because they affect how we all use cannabis.

A Right-Leaning Supreme Court Won't Impede Cannabis Reform, Legal Experts Say — Photo by Esther Kelleter/Getty Images

If the government in your state is hostile towards cannabis use by setting up policies limiting your access to this super plant, you will feel frustrated. So always pay close attention to what goes on in the legislative and governmental sectors regarding cannabis.

Politics and cannabis

During campaign season for the 2020 election, candidates had to share their thoughts on marijuana policy reforms. For candidates like Bernie Sanders he believed that marijuana laws should include its legalization. He also promised to erase all marijuana-related convictions, which made families of incarcerated families happier.

Other political candidates such as Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren agree with Sanders and support the marijuana justice act.

The act calls for removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, thus deleting all marijuana-related convictions. The act also stops federal funds from being sent to states that enforce cannabis discriminatorily.

Current president Joe Biden does not support this idea of fully legalizing cannabis at the federal level; he maintains that states should do legalization. Some experts argue that his reluctance is because marijuana is seen as a way of getting drugs. But through the years, Biden’s assertion about cannabis has been proven false. Although he gave the impression of warming up to the idea of full cannabis legalization pre-election, the latest developments regarding the fired employees makes one wonder where he really stands. One thing is certain though, there are more and more political figures getting onboard the legalization train, and they’re pushing hard to make it a reality.

Research has debunked a lot of the negative propaganda about cannabis. It is already proven that marijuana is beneficial to our criminal justice system, and the marijuana Justice Act is a good policy for America.

Connection between cannabis and the criminal justice system

The background information on the views of America’s president on cannabis puts the challenge in perspective. Marijuana is helpful to many people for its medicinal properties hence the reason more people seek it.

Cannabis enthusiasts are advocating that marijuana should be legalized from the Federal level so people can gain easier access. However, the federal government thinks that such a move will make people abuse marijuana in society.

As Cannabis Reform Continues In 2021, Here's What To Expect — Photo by David Gabrić via Unsplash

But not giving people legal access to marijuana will only encourage them to get cannabis illicitly, especially in states where it is not permitted. This process causes more harm to the justice system because they get to be incarcerated when they are caught.

The government has also continued to give marijuana a lousy name by linking it to a rise in the crime rate. They insinuate that criminals use marijuana as a drug with other substances like alcohol to perpetuate violence and crimes. So anyone caught with marijuana in states where it isn’t legal is sent to prison!

The more people are incarcerated, the more taxpayer dollars the country spends on the criminal justice system. Also, when these individuals get out of jail and cannot reintegrate into society because of their “criminal” record, they become a menace in society.

The solution?

First, let’s state the facts: marijuana is not the cause of the drug use crisis in the country, neither is it associated with an increase in violence and crime rate. Marijuana is also not associated with an overdose risk, and it is not a contributing factor to the opioid epidemic ravaging America.

Legalize marijuana and educate the people (especially those in minority communities such as Black and Latino areas). When marijuana is legalized, the government can set up the instruments for regulation that curtails abuse. When abuse is curtailed, people will use marijuana responsibly, which will reduce or completely eradicate the number of people imprisoned for illegal possession of marijuana.

America’s famous ‘War on Drugs” is a war on marijuana because the majority of the arrests made were for pot offenses. There is no justice with the system because a more significant percentage of those detained and affected are communities of color. The targeting of people of color for committing “drug crimes” just because they have possession of marijuana needs to stop for an effective criminal justice system.

could marijuana legalization unite a divided country — Photo by strelov/Getty Images

There is also an alternative which hinges on halting the wastage of resources on ineffective strategies that don’t help the justice system. Instead of the government spending money on enforcing this so called ‘marijuana laws’ and sentencing ‘marijuana offenders’, funds should be allocated to more efficient preventive and rehabilitation programs.

Prohibiting marijuana is NOT the solution: it is expensive, ineffective, and causes a lot of damage to the criminal justice system. States can do better with regulation and educating minority communities on the right way to use marijuana.

The immense benefits and incredible potential cannabis holds are enough to convince anyone to take it the right way. But when American leaders and politicians use marijuana to score political points, the criminal justice system suffers for it.

Despite the attempts at sabotaging marijuana, its demand has risen, which means legalizing it holds significant potential for increasing tax returns. A part of the tax revenues generated from cannabis can be used for correctional facilities, drug rehabilitation, and crime prevention centers/programs.

Bottom line

Prohibiting marijuana hurts the legitimacy and credibility of the criminal justice system. Such prohibitions are undemocratic, racially discriminative, costly, ineffective and a blatant waste of resources. The resources being wasted on prohibition will be better utilized if it is channeled into criminal justice reforms.

At the core of the reforms should be legalizing marijuana in all states as this move will reduce crime on the streets and ease the monetary burden a lack of legalization places on the justice system.

Some policymakers fear that marijuana use will harm the populace, but if marijuana is not legalized, it will cause more harm because people will seek to get it through illicit means. Let the Marijuana Justice Act thrive in America: it is a good policy that is valuable to the criminal justice system.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.

Women Are Huge Buyers Of This Cannabis Product

Debra Borchardt

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April 11, 2021

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Women Are Huge Buyers Of This Cannabis Product

According to a recent report, women in every single age category outspent men when buying this particular product.

The cannabis industry has seen some players make big bets on beverages, but so far it hasn’t paid off. The market is definitely growing, just not at the rate many had hoped for. Plus, the slow growth of this form factor is not an indication that it won’t continue to increase and eventually gain even more market share.

Cannabis tracking firm Headset recently released a report on the cannabis beverage industry and found that in the U.S., “The beverage category’s market share has held fairly steady between 0.85% and 1.1% over the last several years. In fact, market share to the category was slowly decreasing through late 2019 and early 2020 before maintaining just below 0.9% during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Ongoing Cannabis Drink Boom & Its Crossover With Top Beverage Corporations — Photo by the blowup via Unsplash

Despite consumers tapping the brakes on beverages, the category has begun a turnaround and Headset believes the products are poised to reach an all time high as pandemic restrictions ease. The report also noticed that consumers are at least giving the products a try as basket data is showing more people are tossing some beverages in the bag. The report said, “We can see a relatively steady march upwards over time rising from 1.6% in January 2018 to 2.8% in February 2021. Even though market share hasn’t drastically increased, Beverages are making their way into more and more baskets each month, indicating that more customers than ever are trying THC-infused Beverages.”

A little more than 20% of the shopping carts are filled with only cannabis beverages, meaning the other almost 80% are adding beverages to a larger order. By contrast, a third of edible consumers are buying just edibles when they go to the dispensaries.

New Research Says Women Are Turning To Alcohol To Cope With Pandemic — Photo by Elevate via Unsplash

It’s A Girl Thing

What has been revealed is that women are the big buyers of cannabis beverages. In every single age category, women outspent men when buying cannabis-infused beverages. So, hands down, the main consumer for cannabis-infused beverages are women.

Where things get even more interesting in the report is when Headset dives into dosage. The two main categories for purchases are on either side of the spectrum — either low like a microdose or very high for maximum effect. The report stated, “In fact, most of the growth in the 10mg or lighter section over the last few years has come from the 0-5mg ‘microdosed’ cohort of beverages, which has risen from 14.4% category share to more than 18% of sales this year to date.” For example, so far in 2021 beverages with over 100mg accounted for 59.8% of the market share, while products with less than 5 mg were the second-largest category with a 19.5% market share.

Why Cannabis-Infused Drinks Are Hit Or Miss — Photo by Elsa Olofsson via Unsplash

California Drinking

The report stated that “California beverage sales in January 2021 clocked in at $15.5M, nearly six times greater than the $2.7M recorded during January 2018, the first month of recreational sales.” Also, since the competition is heating up and there are more beverages to choose from, the top three selling brands in 2018 have seen their market share decline. The data showed that some brands, like Kikoko and Cannabis Quencher, have held firm in the market even though new brands have entered the space. “Legal beverages, on the other hand, was unable to keep up, falling from the third top selling Beverage brand in 2018 to a market exit in 2020.”

Headset also determined that there are some newer success stories like Lagunitas Brewing Company’s ‘Hi-Fi Hops’ which sells only products containing 10mg of THC or less per serving. Heineken (OTC: HEINY) owns Lagunitas and so the beer is no longer considered a “craft beer”. “Keef Cola, a legacy brand originating way back in the medical cannabis markets, was relaunched in California in 2019 and quickly rose to a prominent position by offering affordable soda, mocktail, and flavored water products in both 10mg and 100mg package sizes.”

Just like the alcohol industry has seen a big move towards hard seltzers, cannabis beverages have also dipped into the bubbly category. CANN Social Tonics has made a quick splash by using celebrity investors to get attention. The report stated that “Despite extremely high EQ (price per milligram of THC) prices, and with less than a year and a half in the market, CANN has pulled away as California’s top Beverage brand by an increasingly wide margin.” That doesn’t mean it’s alone in the space, Pabst Blue Ribbon recently launched a 5mg seltzer in California, and cannabis-infused wine-like product Rebel Coast left the vineyard to focus on canned seltzer products.

The cannabis beverage is still only a tiny part of the market, but it is slowly growing. Women seem to be the dominant consumer along with Gen-Xers. The desired dose is either maximum effect or just a light buzz. The in-between products aren’t generating as much interest and cannabis seltzers could become just as big as alcoholic seltzers.

This article originally appeared on Green Market Report and has been reposted with permission.

Does Using Cannabis For Sleep Cause Crazy Dreams?

Terry Hacienda

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April 10, 2021

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Does Using Cannabis For Sleep Cause Crazy Dreams?

When you spend more time in a state of deep sleep after taking THC, you may not wake up with as much clarity about your dreams, but you will have a more refreshing sleep experience.

Have you woken up from sleep and thought, “What kind of dream did I have last night?” Or maybe you’ve dreamt the same dream over and over again and you’re curious. It’s also possible that you woke up without any recollection of the dreams you had the previous night. Read on, as I analyze the fundamentals of dreams and clear the air about the role cannabis plays in influencing dreams.

Yes, it can be a very emotional experience waking up from the same dream, especially if you don’t remember the details. Regardless of the state of your dreamy experience, I believe we all want to be able to analyze our dreams.

Before going further, it should be noted that there is a connection between your dreams and cannabis from an analytic perspective. As you go down that dream rabbit hole, you wouldn’t want to wake up feeling distraught, and CBD can help with that. However, before we talk about the connection between cannabis and dreams, we must understand the meaning of dreams.

What are dreams?

Dreams happen in our subconscious, created by our minds as we sleep. Your dreams happen during your Rapid Eye Movement (REM) as you sleep, and this is when your brain is most active.

Since your brain is highly active, it explains why you sometimes do not remember your dream’s details when you wake up. A lack of remembrance makes you feel confused, dizzy, and emotional because you cannot recollect your subconscious information.

Some people believe that dreams take us into our subconscious space to connect with our emotions, sort out deep-rooted issues, and better understand our emotions. Now, what are the different stages of sleep? We need to understand this before knowing the connection between sleep, dreams, and cannabis.

Different stages of sleep

When we sleep, our brain goes through five sleep stages, and the REM we mentioned earlier is the longest stage:

Stage one is light sleep which happens when you drift in and out of consciousness. At this stage, anything can cause you to wake up.

At stage two, your brain’s electrical impulses will start to slow down, ushering in stage three.

At stage three, you will start to feel the “delta waves” at a greater frequency. These delta waves are high brain waves from the cortex, which is associated with deep sleep.

Stage four happens when there is no eye movement or muscle activity.

At stage five, you will be in REM, and this is when your breathing gets irregular. Your heart rate increases, your eyes will move rapidly, and your muscles will be temporarily paralyzed. The REM stage can happen a couple of times as you sleep, depending on how long you sleep.

New Study Says Sleeping To Much Can Kill You — Photo via rawpixel.com

A complete sleep cycle lasts for 100 minutes, and the first REM period will start between 70-90 minutes after you fall asleep. REM also lasts for 10-20 minutes, which means your dreams occur within this timeline.

You wouldn’t know at what point you enter into REM because that is deep sleep, however, now you know that your dreams don’t happen at stage one. Therefore, whatever you dream about is from a place in your subconscious inspired by the emotions, the information you feed your mind, and experiences (past or present).

So what is the connection between dreams and cannabis?

Cannabis and your dreams

For years cannabis has been known for having the capacity to suppress dreams due to the impact of THC on the brain. People who use cannabis frequently talk about how they see a decrease in REM when they sleep.

But then they also experience deep sleep, which means the person slips deeper into the subconscious level. This is not a bad thing because deep sleep is the most restful kind of sleep you will ever experience.

As you experience a decrease in active brain activity while sleeping, the THC in cannabis will help you stay in the subconscious world long enough to have a restful sleep. People who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders or insomnia will need cannabis to calm the mind’s activity, which translates into calmer dreams.

When you spend more time in a state of deep sleep after taking THC, you may not wake up with as much clarity about your dreams, but you will have a more refreshing sleep experience.

cbd for sleep — Photo by Ivan Obolensky via Pexels

For a deeper experience in the rabbit hole and to gain more clarity for your dreams, you may have to decrease THC intake before bedtime. If you take a higher dose, your mind will become very active, making it possible for you to have more detailed dreams that you remember when you wake up.

However, it is essential to note that suddenly quitting cannabis can lead to what is described as a “REM Rebound,” which changes your dream patterns altogether. If you must stop taking cannabis, please start by reducing your doses gradually instead of stopping abruptly.

Bottom line

Cannabis has evolved so much over the years. Unlike before, we now have it popping up in almost every conversation. The rabbit hole is your subconscious where all the dream action happens, and going down that rabbit hole is something that happens whenever you sleep. When you consume cannabis, the THC it contains works as a suppressant such that you have calmer dream experiences.

If you want to remember your dreams’ details, you can increase your CBD intake before going to bed. But if you don’t want to remember the details, then it’s okay to reduce your dosage.

With cannabis, you can take control of your dream life by determining what you want to remember and what you don’t want to remember. You also decide whether you’re going to have a deep sleep or just enough sleep to hold on to your dreams when you wake up.

If you have never paid attention to your dreams and your weed intake, now is a good time to start. You might notice a new pattern that entails you either gaining clarity with your dreams or enjoying a deeper restful sleep!

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.

Reefer Madness Crowd Discovers CBD With Predictable Results

CBD
Opinion

Richard Cowan

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April 10, 2021

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Reefer Madness Crowd Discovers CBD With Predictable Results

The National Consumers League is America’s original consumer advocacy organization. Here are their 4 suggested solutions to their perceived problems with CBD.

***Disclaimer:* *The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast.***

Let me begin by acknowledging that I have “conflicts of interest” on this topic (explained below). But did you know that cannabis is a “substance in marijuana”?? Yep. There it is on the first line of a new report How Safe Is CBD? from the National Center for Health Research.

I am desperately trying to find out if cannabis is also present in ganja, weed, or grass. Pardon the sarcasm, but here we go again.

person holding amber glass bottle — Photo by Christin Hume via Unsplash

There is a new group, Consumers for Safe CBD, which is “a program of the National Consumers League. The National Consumers League (NCL) is America’s original consumer advocacy organization.”

That means they have been around long enough to know better.

Here are their 4 Suggested Solutions to their perceived problems with CBD:

ONE

WARN THE PUBLIC OF THE DANGERS OF THE CBD MARKET

Untested, unapproved CBD products may pose a growing public health threat. This is a rapidly growing consumer market composed of CBD products that – unlike prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, cosmetics, or food products – has been operating outside the scope of federal law and regulation. Nearly all of these products:

Have not been scientifically tested for safety and efficacy. (True, but see 10 dangerous drugs recalled by the FDA Also, note that FDA has not cooperated with testing cannabis under marijuana prohibition.)
Have labels that may or may not be accurate in terms of lists of ingredients and potency. (Fraud is fraud.)
May include ingredients that have not been verified by reliable third parties for purity and potency. May? Yep.
Are illegal under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. (Yep. Like medical marijuana?)

SOLUTION:

The FDA should warn the public about the dangers of unapproved, untested, illegal CBD products. Like this from December of last year: FDA Warns Companies Illegally Selling CBD Products

TWO

ENFORCE EXISTING REGULATIONS REGARDING LABELING AND INGREDIENTS

Mislabeling is common with CBD products. In a 2020 report to Congress, FDA found more than half of the tested products were mislabeled. And consumers utilizing unapproved CBD products run the risk of encountering harmful contaminants. Independent testing of the 240 top-selling CBD products found that 70 percent were contaminated with substances including lead, arsenic, herbicides, pesticides, and toxic mold.

SOLUTION:

The FDA should curtail the proliferation of potentially dangerous, unapproved CBD products by using its existing legal authority.

(Do they mean the FDA should ban CBD until the FDA can get its act together???)

Are High-CBD Hemp Flowers The Next Big Thing In Cannabis? — Photo by BATCH by Wisconsin Hemp Scientific via Unsplash

THREE

DETERMINE SAFE CONCENTRATION LEVELS FOR CBD PRODUCTS

The idea that unapproved CBD products contain only the “safe” parts of the hemp plant is not always correct.  The FDA’s report to Congress found that nearly 20 CBD products tested contained THC.

(Obviously, all products should be accurately labeled, and that is already the law.)

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) recently highlighted a study showing that 18 of 84 CBD product samples tested contained THC levels sufficient to cause impairment. This heightens the risk, particularly for young children and pets. When the THC level is enough to produce intoxication or a positive result on a drug test, which has already led to some consumers unwittingly losing their jobs, it’s clear that we need greater testing and oversight.

(I have not been able to find any corroboration of this claim, but it would require consuming large quantities of CBD with high levels of THC to trigger a positive on a urine test. Dubious.)

SEE: Best CBD Brands To Try: Blue Ribbon Hemp – A Real Tested CBD Feature

Additionally, clinical testing of the sole FDA-approved CBD medication provided scientific data showing that higher levels of CBD can potentially cause liver damage or liver toxicity from cumulative use over time. (I think this is dishonest. See: “Worried About CBD Hurting Your Liver? Here’s What the Experts Have to Say” )

SEE: Almost 200,000 patients at risk from NSAID prescribing, NHS data show

According to Healthline: “While experts point out patients need to be informed about what they’re getting and what the risks can be, the amount of CBD the animals were exposed to is far higher than what most humans would take.”

In that same Healthline article, Dr. Diana Martins-Welch, attending physician in palliative medicine at Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, New York, explains that, “Many people know that taking too much ibuprofen or Tylenol can have detrimental consequences. CBD is no different. Generally speaking, therapeutic CBD doses range from 0.5 mg/kg/day to 20 mg/kg per day,”

FOUR

ENCOURAGE ROBUST CLINICAL RESEARCH INTO CBD’S POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE HEALTH AND LIVES

It is important to encourage robust clinical research into the potential of CBD so that patients will have more treatment options. The potential health benefits of CBD need to be better understood and optimized, which can only be done through clinical testing with scientifically validated methodologies. The rush of untested products to the marketplace isn’t good for public health and has discouraged legitimate companies from dedicating the time, effort, and resources needed to develop products that could be FDA-approved.

Wait, What Does Organic CBD Actually Mean? — Photo by CRYSTALWEED cannabis via Unsplash

Frankly, that is utter nonsense. First, keeping CBD off the market until it has been approved by the FDA would harm the millions of people who find it helpful. So in the land of the free, home of the brave, just shut up and suffer and die until your betters have decided they have the time to determine if you can use a plant that was used as medicine for thousands of years. 

Moreover, the knowledge that cannabinoids could be helpful was not discovered by the FDA or the pharmaceutical industry. It was discovered in the unregulated, banned, criminalized black market. The booming unregulated market has not discouraged investment in cannabinoids. On the contrary. The pharmaceutical industries are pouring billions into cannabinoid research.

SEE: The Curious Case Of GW Pharmaceuticals And The Acquisition Of GW Pharmaceuticals Raises Many Interesting Questions

SOLUTION:

The FDA should incentivize CBD research, clinical trials, and the creation of new CBD treatments that are backed by science and approved by the FDA. Many people agree CBD has the potential to improve lives, but research and clinical data are needed to move the industry forward in the right direction.

Now for my conflict of interest. Yes, I am in the CBD business. But I am also in the CBD testing business. Over a year ago we set up a company www.RealTestedCBD.com to meet the very real need for greater confidence in CBD products. We managed to do this, motivated by the nasty old profit motive, without being approved or funded by the federal government. See: 5 Important Things To Consider Before Buying CBD.

Richard Cowan is a former NORML National Director and author of Comparison Between CBD Isolate And Full-Spectrum CBD Oil.

This Vaccine Side Effect Can Affect Your Whole Body

Maria Loreto

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April 9, 2021

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This Vaccine Side Effect Can Affect Your Whole Body

A rare side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine includes one that affects your entire body. Here’s what you should know.

Now that most Americans are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the majority of us are aware of the possible side effects we may experience once we’ve been inoculated — the majority of which are pretty standard when compared to flu and other shots, specifically headaches, low grade fever, and pain at injection site. But there’s a less common side effect that can affect your whole body.

A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology analyzed results of over 400 people who experienced skin reactions after one or two shots of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine between December 2020 and February 2021. The most common reactions included large localized symptoms, like hives and rashes (such as measles) known as morbilliform eruptions.

CBD Oil And Its Potential Aa A Psoriasis Treatment — Photo by Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images

Dr. Esther Freeman spoke with USA Today about these side effects, claiming that they aren’t dangerous. “People can get full-body rashes, and that can be surprising and a little scary, but these patients did extremely well, recovered and were able to go back and get their second dose,” she said. “For people whose rashes started four or more hours after getting the vaccine, zero percent of them went on to get anaphylaxis or any other serious reaction.”

These mild skin reactions are different than more severe allergic reactions, which are a cause for concern, and occur within the first four hours of getting the vaccine. “Even if you have a pretty impressive rash after the vaccine, as long as it didn’t start within four hours of vaccination you should feel comfortable getting the second dose,” said Freeman.

Freeman said that mild skin reactions like urticaria, angioedema, and/or morbilliform eruptions, may not be an allergic reaction, instead, this response could be your immune system’s response to anti-inflammatory agents taken after vaccination.

Severe allergic reactions should be tended to right away by a medical professional, with these symptoms usually treated with epinephrine or an EpiPen. The CDC explains that symptoms could include hives, swelling and wheezing. If a severe allergic reaction occurs during your first round of mRNA vaccine, it might be the right choice to talk to your doctor and ask if you can take a different type of vaccine.

What Is Bioengineering Marijuana And Why Are People Doing It?

Terry Hacienda

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April 9, 2021

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What Is Bioengineering Marijuana And Why Are People Doing It?

Cannabis cultivation has skyrocketed since legalization began and the introduction of bioengineering modifications will surely be a plus in every aspect.

The growth of cannabis over the years has completely changed the scope of how cannabis cultivation is viewed by many. The different set of activities involved in the production of cannabis are also rapidly improving due to the immense impact of specialization and the input of technology.

Cannabis cultivation has hugely developed from the conventional method of cultivation to a more advanced means of production. Different companies are now adopting different methods aimed at improving the cultivation process to give yields of larger quantities and better quality. This led to the development of the biotechnology arm of the cannabis industry which is now making giant strides in the area of cannabis bioengineering.

What is cannabis bioengineering?

Cannabis bioengineering generally involves the use of genetic modifications to scale up the production process of cannabis and its extracts. Cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, and several others present in the cannabis plant matrix only exist in small quantities. This makes it unfit for use on an industrial scale especially in terms of the pharmaceutical use of the product. Cannabinoids are majorly concentrated in trichomes which are short outgrowth on the cannabis bud. This makes the stem, stalk, leaves unusable in terms of getting the necessary cannabinoids. This apparent need led to the introduction of genetic modifications to cannabis cultivation.

Application of bioengineering in cannabis

The first application of genetic modifications in cannabis is in the use of microorganisms for the production of cannabinoids. Some biotech companies and researchers are working towards how microorganisms, yeast, and some other organisms can be used to modify the production process of cannabinoids in cannabis plants. This encompasses the use of such organisms to produce scarce cannabinoids and the use of such organisms to increase the cannabinoid pull of the producer. With this, the cannabis producer and companies that require the cultivators for cannabis products get to experience more yield of the beneficial product.

The next application of bioengineering in cannabis cultivation is towards the modification of chemical synthesis within the plant. The plant matrix of the cannabis plant primarily consists of cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenes, and other phytochemical molecules. The application of bioengineering in cannabis chemical synthesis operates by altering the cells of the cannabis plant. This alteration will result in the production of the necessary cannabinoids from the top of the cannabis plant to the bottom. This is contrary to the general experience of only trichomes hosting most of the cannabinoids in the cannabis plants as the chemical synthesis improves overall production.

The general goal of all modifications and genetic bioengineering practices done in cannabis is to produce sufficient cannabinoids easily and more efficiently. The high level of effectiveness associated with bioengineering makes it a more reliable method for the production of cannabis products compared to the conventional cultivation processes. The use of these different genetic modifications also increases the production of rare cannabinoids. These molecules naturally occur in trace amounts in cannabis plants and the use of appropriate methods makes them abundant and available.

The Truth About CBD And The Coronavirus Pandemic — Photo by chriss_ns/Getty Images

Another genetic modification that is also gaining traction from cannabis companies is the use of transgenic plants. Such plants are well-tuned to survive under harsh conditions and periods of environmental stress. This makes such super-plants durable and dependable for the production of the needed cannabis products.

Cannabis companies taking the right step

The train of bioengineering in cannabis has left the station and different big cannabis companies are already waking up to this reality. Canopy Growth Corporation, Canada in 2018 purchased Ebbu which is a small company dealing with bioengineering in Canada. The purchase is valued at over $300 million making it one of the topmost cannabis transactions between cannabis companies and biotech companies. Ebbu holds the privilege of being regarded as one of the early players in cannabis bioengineering as the company has begun manipulating the cannabis genome with the gene-editing system CRISPR-Cas9.

Trait Biosciences in Toronto are also at the forefront of cannabis bioengineering though with a different approach. The company has successfully developed ways to genetically engineer the cannabis plant to produce cannabinoids generally around the cannabis plant. This helps to improve overall yield. Further work being done on the cannabis plant is also aimed at making some oil-soluble extracts from the cannabis plant more water-soluble. This will aid the easy incorporation into Cannabis beverages and other water-based cannabis products.

Other companies are also towing this line and a good example is Zenabis from Vancouver, Canada. They already purchased 36 tonnes of bacteria-made CBD from a medical marijuana company called Farmako from Frankfurt, Germany. This transaction is bound to be the first of many as other companies are expected to follow suit soon enough.

Advantages of bioengineering over conventional cultivation practices

Consistency of product

Unlike cultivation processes, the use of bioengineering makes the process of producing cannabinoids easy as the process is easily reproducible along with the products. Cultivation processes are bound to be affected by external factors such as weather, pests, and other environmental factors. Bioengineering, however, mostly depends on the work within and is less prone to such environmental factors.

More environmental friendly

Surprisingly, the use of bioengineering modifications is friendlier to the environment compared to cultivation processes. This is because less energy is applied to run a bioreactor compared to the effect of cultivation which requires power to run lights and ventilation fans. Cultivation processes also have a risk of water and land pollution attached to them.

Photo by Ryland Zweifel/EyeEm/Getty Images

Lesser known cannabinoids are grown more

The use of bioengineering has the added advantage of making available other cannabinoids that are less-known compared to THC and CBD. Examples of such cannabinoids are cannabigerol CBD and tetrahydrocannabivarin THCV. This method also has the possibility of producing compounds not found in nature making it more lucrative along with it being more effective.

Bottom line

Cannabis cultivation has skyrocketed since legalization began and the introduction of bioengineering modifications will surely be a plus in every aspect. There is, however, need for more work to be done by researchers and biotech companies to fully understand and utilize this innovative new technology.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission.

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The National Consumers League is America’s original consumer advocacy organization. Here are their 4 suggested solutions to their perceived problems with CBD.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast.

ONE

SOLUTION:

TWO

​SOLUTION:

THREE

FOUR

SOLUTION:

A rare side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine includes one that affects your entire body. Here’s what you should know.

Cannabis cultivation has skyrocketed since legalization began and the introduction of bioengineering modifications will surely be a plus in every aspect.

What is cannabis bioengineering?

Application of bioengineering in cannabis

Cannabis companies taking the right step

Advantages of bioengineering over conventional cultivation practices

Consistency of product

More environmental friendly

Lesser known cannabinoids are grown more

Bottom line

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***Disclaimer:* *The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast.***

***Disclaimer:* *The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast.***

SOLUTION: