The second round of stimulus checks have been approved by Congress. Here’s when you’ll get yours.
After some debate and back and forth, the approved $600 stimulus checks are on their way to eligible Americans and U.S. residents. This information was confirmed by two tweets from Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury.
.@USTreasury has delivered a payment file to the @FederalReserve for Americans’ Economic Impact Payments. These payments may begin to arrive in some accounts by direct deposit as early as tonight and will continue into next week (1/2)
For those who have direct deposit set up with the IRS, checks may have already arrived. The IRS said in a statement: “Some Americans may see the direct deposit payments as pending or as provisional payments in their accounts before the official payment date of Jan. 4, 2021.”
Photo by Alexander Mils via Unsplash
Like the previous stimulus check, the speed of its arrival will depend on how you filed your 2019 taxes. If you set up a direct deposit payment with the IRS, your stimulus check is likely on the way. If that information has changed, your check will likely experience a slow down.
If you don’t have a direct deposit set up with the IRS, your check will be mailed to you in the form of a debit card or a paper check, and it will take more time to get to you. These documents will begin to be mailed out to eligible recipients starting Wednesday. People will be able to track their checks through the “Get My Payment” tool on the IRS website.
In a case where you are eligible for a check and for some reason it still doesn’t get to you, the IRS explains that the check can be claimed on your 2020 tax return once you’re filing it in 2021.
“I became intrigued by the medical and the medicinal advantages, and the opportunities that cannabis provides.”
When it comes to cannabis, Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle had a change of heart. During his tenure as a public servant, he preferred keeping marijuana in the DEA’s Schedule I category, alongside drugs that aren’t considered safe to use even under medical supervision.
“I was into all of that mindset for many years. I experienced the 60s and 70s and saw the downside of drugs,” Daschle tells Benzinga. “And I think there was a mentality that the best way to address drug abuse and the challenges we face with drugs generally, not necessarily just cannabis, was to try to dissuade people from using drugs by enforcing the laws. And I think that mentality was very pervasive and it was bipartisan.”
Today, the scenario has changed. Cannabis is legal for all adults in 11 states, for medical purposes in 34 and five more states—New Jersey, Montana, Arizona, Mississippi and South Dakota—recently voted to legalize it. And Daschle has changed his tune.
Last year, he even joined the Board of Advisors for cannabis company Clever Leaves Holdings Inc, a multinational cannabis company with cultivation operations in Colombia and Portugal. The former senator knows Clever Leaves CEO and co-founder Kyle Detwiler well. They are both South Dakotans.
“We have a state connection,” Daschle says. “Kyle has a photo with me when he was in high school and I was in Congress.”
In 1978, Daschle was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served eight years. In 1986, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and was chosen as Senate Democratic Leader in 1994. With his political career behind him, Daschle is lending his expertise to the business of cannabis.
“But, over time, science, more information, new approaches to medicine, and really some appreciation of the disjointed history around all of this—it all came to converge,” Daschle adds. “And I became intrigued by the medical and the medicinal advantages, and the opportunities that cannabis provides.”
There are also deals to get done. Daschle, however, downplays the lucrative aspects of the business.
“Frankly, I’m at a stage in my life where I don’t need the money. I’ve been very successful in life. And money isn’t a motivator,” he says. “I’m at a point where I want to do the things I really care about. I want to do the things where I think I can still add some value. I want to do some things that could maybe matter for my children, and grandchildren, and for future generations. So money isn’t a real motivation for me. I’m happy to accept monetary compensation for the things that I do. But I must say there are many things far more important to me than the money.”
The Full Spectrum
Daschle isn’t the only politico to have changed his mind about cannabis in recent years. Former speaker of the House John Boehner was once “unalterably opposed” to cannabis legalization. Today, he sits on the board of New York-based cannabis company Acreage Holdings.
President-elect Joe Biden’s political career was also opposed to cannabis. Yet, during his 2020 campaign, Biden stated that his administration would pursue cannabis decriminalization and expunge cannabis convictions.
For Daschle, his focus is on the medical benefits.
“I’ve done quite a bit of reading. I don’t think there was any one moment where it just clicked, it was an evolution. I recognize that, in healthcare especially, things are changing dramatically,” Daschle says. “We’re in the middle of a transformation in healthcare, COVID-driven in part, but driven by many different factors.”
Among these factors generating change in healthcare is the advent of cannabis as mainstream medicine. As a military veteran himself, Daschle is particularly interested in the use of cannabis for the treatment of PTSD.
“One of the things that I have taken a great interest in over all of my professional life are veterans. And I served on the House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees for 26 years,” he says. “So I took a real interest in PTSD and came to appreciate the potential of cannabis as we look to the medicinal advantages and opportunities that it may provide for not only PTSD patients, but others as well.”
Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images
In his view, the DEA needs to reschedule the plant so it can be studied.
“Rescheduling is really key to our efforts, and that opens up a plethora of opportunity for more research, more understanding,” he declares.
But, when will we see cannabis rescheduled and legalized? In the former politician’s view, it’s just a matter of time.
“I think the patchwork that we have today is a step in the right direction. But you don’t really know when you go from one state to the next what the laws are; you have to do your own research to find out. And while it’s not that difficult to do, I think it is important for us to have a national, rather than a statewide, framework. And I think that day will come relatively soon.”
This month, a historic vote was made in the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, a bill constructed to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and abolish criminal penalties connected to cannabis.
The House subsequently passed a bill to reduce barriers and broaden scientific research into medical cannabis. It also enables private manufacturing and distribution of cannabis exclusively for research demands.
“We’ve made great progress in the last election on state ballot issues across the country,” Daschle says. “I think we can continue to do that. In the meantime, we ought to continue to elevate the issue at the federal level and hope that more and more members in Congress understand, as I’ve come to understand, just what potential there is.”
Why Clever Leaves?
There are three reasons for Daschle’s being bullish when it comes to Clever Leaves.
“One, their adherence to law and their determination to stay within the parameters of current law, and to respect that they’ve done that extremely well,” he says. “Secondly, their dedication to medical applications of cannabis; that really is what led me to explore the partnership and the relationship we have. And I think they’re just getting started. There’s some real potential there.”
Third is the company’s international breadth and scope, he explains.
“An amazing success story in a very short period of time, obviously starting in Colombia, Canada and Europe, with Portugal,” Daschle adds. “And that’s just an enormous footprint for a cannabis company as young as it is and has really done extremely well. So I’m impressed with their international scope, their focus on medicine and my personal relationship with people like Kyle.”
Daschle also touts that it’s “so much easier to run a successful cannabis business legally” in Colombia than it is in the United States.
“That will change and, as it does, I’m sure Clever Leaves’ footprint in the United States will grow dramatically,” he says. “But also I think Colombia has a great economy. I’ve been there on a number of occasions and have a great affection and fondness for the country. I’ve traveled the country quite a bit, so I’ve had the opportunity to better understand Colombia. And obviously, because of its remarkable growing environment, it’s perfect for the cannabis production aspects of our lives.”
Whether Daschle will partake in using cannabis himself remains to be seen.
“You know, I like a good glass of wine. I like a good brandy or a good gin,” he says. “I have to admit, I’m not a user of cannabis, but I think people find it to be recreationally equivalent to moderate use of alcohol. And everything in moderation sounds to me like the best approach going forward.”
If you love to drink, hangovers may be hard to avoid, but there are a few preemptive things you can do to keep them from ruining you.
The holidays are associated with a lot of things, among them, drinking. A lot of drinking. As we get older and our hangovers begin to get stronger and more debilitating, getting through this time of year is a lot, especially if you wish to continue drinking with other people. Is there a way to stop hangovers before they happen? It’s a complicated answer.
While there are no direct ways of preventing a hangover, there are ways of lowering your odds if you pace yourself and hydrated. Cosmopolitan spoke to some health experts who shared some more obscure tips. Here are some of our favorites:
Do some prep before you drink
Photo by Ismael Trevino via Unsplash
Before you go out, make sure to be ready. Work out during the day, burning off extra energy and the need to de-stress. Before you head out, have a filling meal; this will delay your body’s speed when absorbing alcohol (Can You Prevent A Hangover By Eating A Big Meal?). Another less pivotal yet still important factor is who you hang out with. If you want to pace yourself with your drinking, go out with friends who won’t push you to drink more.
Once you’re out, try your best to drink slowly. This is difficult but it’s the most reliable way of staving off a hangover, giving your body enough time to process alcohol. According to medical experts, your liver takes up to one hour to digest each drink. An easy way to keep track of how much you’ve consumed is to add a cocktail emoji to your notes app.
Have a glass of water per drink
Photo by 95839 via Pixabay
Drinking water is pivotal when preventing hangovers, hydrating your body as the alcohol does its best to dehydrate it. While it’s difficult to limit yourself to having one drink per hour, drinking a glass of water per drink is more reasonable. It also keeps you busy and gives you more time to pace yourself.
Experts recommend sticking to alcoholic drinks with low ABV percentage (alcohol by volume). These drinks include beers, wine or mixed drinks, especially if these are sipped leisurely and not chugged. Shots tend to contain higher volumes of alcohol, resulting in worse symptoms of hangovers for a lot of people.
When it comes to preventing a hangover, the key is to slow down the process as much as you can. By keeping yourself active and doing stuff like dancing, playing a board game or doing something else, you’ll cut the time you spend sitting down and drinking without breaks.
While there were high hopes that hemp would become a mega cash crop for the American farming community, the oversupply issue has made it a bust for most participants.
Decades before industrial hemp was legalized again in the United States, advocates claimed the crop would be a salvation’s wing for the environment, economy, and especially the struggling American farmer. But so far, that hasn’t been the case. All the newly legal industrial hemp market has done since it was rolled out two years ago is prove to be another way for the agricultural community to bottom out financially and abandon hope.
That’s not about to change soon.
According to a new study from business consultants Whitney Economics, most of the doom and despair surrounding the industrial hemp sector is caused by oversupply issues and muddled regulations.
Their report, entitled “Déjà vu: An Economics Analysis of the US Hemp Cultivation Industry,” shows that hemp prices have continued to take it on the chin — big time. Crops selling between $40 to $45 per pound in 2018 are now only worth $2.50 per pound. A 135 million pound surplus still left over from 2019 has essentially made it a worthless crop. And while hemp can be used to make things like paper, clothing, insulation and biofuel, not many companies are using it yet.
Therefore, there aren’t any new markets.
Farmers who were quick to get into the industrial hemp game learned the crop was difficult to manage. On top of challenges with finding quality seed, high labor costs, pest management, and complying with the DEA’s 0.3% THC cap, they also had to contend with a weak infrastructure. Many found the crop wasn’t even close to profitable without the ability to sell to CBD companies. And a lot of those operations were already in business with other, more experienced suppliers.
Unfortunately, while there were high hopes that hemp would become a mega cash crop for the American farming community, the oversupply issue has made it a bust for most participants.
“Hemp farmers developed a false sense of security, given the high pre-[Farm Bill] wholesale prices, the report reads.
For now, prices continue to drop.
Meanwhile, farmers have made expensive equipment upgrades, built new facilities, added security systems, and coughed up other expenses to get involved. It’s an investment that outweighs the return. The highly touted salvation’s wing brought to life by Senator Mitch McConnell and the 2018 Farm Bill could become the nail on the coffin for some before the market can recover.
What would aid in that recovery is hashing out all of the regulatory uncertainty. States have different ideas about what industrial hemp should look like, while the federal government continues to block progress. This aspect alone has and will likely continue to present challenges for the hemp sector at every turn, said Beau Whitney, founder & chief economist of Whitney Economics.
Photo by Bloomberg Creative Photos/Getty Images
“The hemp industry is going to continue to be mired with difficulties until regulators can determine if it’s an illicit drug or if it was legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill. Confusion across jurisdictions is causing a regulatory quagmire, slowing down growth and suppressing investment, which is critical to building out a proper infrastructure that can support the rapidly growing industry,” he said.
The good news is the industry will find its way out of the funk, and become a crop that rivals corn, soy and wheat, the report finds. But not until there is a solution for all of the regulatory restrictions.
Federal lawmakers are working on that solution in 2021. U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky recently introduced legislation to increase the THC threshold from 0.3 to 1 percent. Farmers have been struggling to produce hemp crops that fall in line with the DEA’s guidelines on hemp and have been forced to destroy those crops that do not pass inspections. Hemp advocates argue that increasing the THC threshold would be a great benefit to the farming community.
“We believe that loosening up some important interstate business requirements are a much-needed step toward more prosperous times in the hemp economy,” Kentucky Hemp Association President Tate Hall and Vice President Jana Groda said in a press statement released by Paul.
Whitney Economics predicts the $2 billion hemp market in 2020 will be worth $5 billion in the next ten years. It’s just a matter of which farmers have the strength to cultivate this crop for the long haul.
Is coffee just a familiar vehicle for cannabis consumption or is there something more to it?
From its reputation as a taboo herb that the hippie crowd smoked in college to a socially–acceptable add-on to your favorite barista drink, cannabis has completely rebranded itself. As “cannaphobia” is diminishing, people are becoming more comfortable with the idea of using cannabis products in everyday life.
What better place to start than coffee, the sacred bean juice that America runs on! After all, caffeine is the most widely consumed psychotropic compound around the globe. And, cannabis — though not available in cafes worldwide, yet — ranks fourth.
Why not combine two plantproducts, coffee and cannabis, that boast mind-altering substances, caffeine and cannabinoids, respectively? Is coffee just a familiar vehicle for cannabis consumption or is there something more to it? Do the seemingly opposite effects of each cancel one another out? Well, not exactly. Science is always a bit more complicated.
Let’s examine how caffeine works its magic to rev us up. Essentially, it’s all about adenosine, a neuromodulator, whose primary purpose is to promote sleep. Caffeine functions as an antagonist to the adenosine receptors.That means that it gets in the way by blocking adenosine receptors. The end result is a delay of drowsiness signals to the brain. On the other hand, cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid in cannabis, interferes with the reuptake of adenosine, increasing adenosine levels.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao via Unsplash
For some people, caffeine can trigger anxiety and an over-alertness and jittery sensation. CBD is a well-known anxiolytic, or anti-anxiety compound. Perhaps, this is the reason why coffee and CBD have been together, effectively working to take the smooth the edges, so to speak.
While coffee is consumed to rev up the body and help individuals focus, cannabis is typically used to chill and relax.THC, the most potent psychotropic in cannabis, can impair short-term memory. As one of its fundamental properties, forgetting is why cannabis can be useful for individuals with PTSD. Memory loss is not always a bad thing. Interestingly, caffeine can ramp up the memory impairment brought on by THC.
At the end of the day, it’s all about biochemistry and biochemical individuality. What about the differences that can be attributed to genetics in caffeine clearance from the body? Are you a fast or slow caffeine metabolizer? Though a genetic test can reveal this difference, most of us already know. Can you fall asleep before your head hits the pillow immediately after a cup of joe late at night? Or, do you need to stop your caffeine consumption in the morning to avoid insomnia?Maybe a study comparing the impact of cannabinoids on fast and slow caffeine metabolizers is in the works.
Now that COVID-19 is in the picture, people with compromised lungs or an underlying health condition should be extra careful when vaping.
A new study found links between vaping and symptoms of bronchitis in young adults, including coughing, wheezing and chest whistles. While avid smokers experienced more pronounced symptoms, these symptoms specific existed no matter the regularity of vaping.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, provides some supporting data for the mysterious vaping condition that appeared in 2019, which made a lot of people very ill for no known reason. The disease, known as EVALI, affected more than 2,800 people from all over the US, resulting in deaths and hospitalizations that preceded COVID-19.
Researchers examined more than 2,000 young adults who answered questions in regard to their history of vaping and smoking, and their respiratory health. Study results showed that participants who had vaped cannabis had stronger links to symptoms of bronchitis, like coughs, congestion and phlegm, when compared to participants who had never vaped.
Photo by Itay Kabalo via Unsplash
The more times that participants had smoked over the previous 30 days, the higher the odds were of developing these kinds of symptoms. When vaping cannabis three or more times within the past month, researchers noted twice the risk for wheezing and in some cases there were instances of chest whistling. These results weren’t associated with people who vaped nicotine.
“More research is needed to determine if these relatively short term observations are harbingers of chronic changes and the development of chronic lung diseases,” Dr. Albert Rizzo told CNN.
Cases of EVALI have decreased throughout this year, with people steering clear of unknown brands of e-vapes and black markets cannabis cartridges. Still, a lot remains unknown, including the differences between vaping nicotine and cannabis and the effects of some of the chemicals that are present in these cartridges.
Now that COVID-19 is in the picture, people with compromised lungs or an underlying health condition should be extra careful when vaping, steering clear of black market products and perhaps looking for other sources of cannabis. It’s 2020, and methods of getting high abound.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is poised to issue licenses for the cultivation of cannabis for research purposes in the first half of the next year.
The agency is expanding the number of licensed cannabis cultivators for research up from the country’s sole producer of marijuana for research.
“DEA believes a range of three to 15 growers is a reasonable estimate for purposes of this economic analyses, with the understanding that the actual number could vary considerably,” the newly published rule says.
The University of Mississippi is the only entity with the right to grow marijuana for experts studying the plant, Marijuana Business Daily writes.
“I expect them to start issuing licenses no later than the first half of 2021,” Maridose’s president Richard Shain said.
Photo by CasarsaGuru/Getty Images
The Boca Raton, Florida-based cannabis cultivation and research center is one of approximately 30 businesses and institutions that opted to apply for the federal cannabis cultivation permits, according to Marijuana Business Daily.
Other state-legal cannabis businesses that could receive approval to grow cannabis for research purposes include New York-based Columbia Care, G.B. Sciences in Nevada, Green Leaf in Alaska, NuVue Pharma in Colorado, and Illinois-based PharmaCann.
In addition, The University of Massachusetts, The University of California, Davis, and Fraunhofer USA in Delaware also applied for permits.
Shain said the DEA is not inclined to grant licenses to state-legal marijuana company applicants, as their status violates federal cannabis prohibitions.
“Not viewed favorably’ is code for ‘not going to happen,’” he said.
Tobacco is much more problematic than cannabis. So why are the Brits talking like they’re the same substance?
Disclaimer:The views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Fresh Toast.
When I became the National Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) back in the early 90s I felt that it was my duty to go to the High Times Cannabis Cup, which was held annually in Amsterdam during the American Thanksgiving week. Work, work work.
As part of my research I found out — the hard way — that Europeans almost always smoked a cannabis “joint” with tobacco. Until the late 1980s most of the cannabis in the Netherlands, and in the rest of Europe, was smuggled hashish, which can be really harsh to smoke, and since almost everyone smoked tobacco in those dark days, it was only natural to break up the hash and mix it with tobacco, often from a cigarette.
I grew up in a cloud of cigarette smoke, but unusual for my generation, I had never smoked tobacco, so taking a deep drag on a Dutch joint left me a little wobbly until I learned to ask. Fortunately, a few years experience with American cannabis enthusiasts (Stoners) taught our Dutch hosts to warn us if it was not “Pure” or “American”.
In the meantime, thanks in part to American exiles, the Dutch were starting to grow “Nederwiet”, Dutch grown weed that could be more easily smoked without tobacco, but Europeans still liked to mix Wiet with tobacco. However, the Dutch government joined the international effort to discourage tobacco use. In the coffeeshops and other venues where cannabis smoking is “tolerated” smokers can no longer mix it with tobacco, so they provide other herbs with no psychoactive effects. No thanks. I am still “pure.”
Meanwhile, The Guardian, Britain’s best left-of-center newspaper, (The Telegraph is the best right of center paper) ran an article on December 19 titled: Cannabis users ‘fail to grasp health risks of smoking,’ study says.
Reefer Madness from a paper that is usually anti-prohibitionist??
Then really weird: “Study shows that consumers of the drug are not aware they could be risking a lifetime of tobacco addiction.”
Huh?? Then I remembered my wobbly knees in Amsterdam.
Photo by Vladimir Nikolic / EyeEm/Getty Images
The article explains, “Hundreds of thousands of people who smoke cannabis describe themselves as non-smokers, a study has revealed. Experts fear the findings mean cannabis users may not appreciate that smoking the drug carries many of the same health risks as smoking tobacco.”
No. That is not what their study says. It “estimates that 380,000 people who describe themselves as non-smokers are smoking cannabis with or without tobacco at least weekly.”
If people say that they “don’t drink” would you assume that they never drink water or juice? Of course not. If you just ask people if they “smoke” almost everyone would assume that you were referring to tobacco, especially in a country that is still as prohibitionist as Britain.
“It is extremely concerning,” said Hannah Walsh of King’s College London, one of the study’s authors. “It is possible that they do not realise they are putting their health at risk. It’s also a concern that people may be unwittingly establishing a tobacco addiction, with cannabis acting as their route into a lifetime of smoking tobacco.”
Photo by Elsa Olofsson via Unsplash
“The study discusses recent research suggesting that UK-based recreational cannabis users who mix the drug with tobacco will use about 0.35g of tobacco per joint, equivalent to one third of the content of a cigarette.”
“This exposes participants to cotinine (the main metabolite of nicotine found in the bloodstream) levels suggestive of moderate tobacco exposure, equivalent to that found in light/moderate cigarette smokers,” the study notes. It also points to research that finds mixing cannabis and tobacco produces more negative acute cardiovascular effects and is associated with chronic bronchitis.
“Produces more negative effects”… More than what??
“Government generally sees cannabis and tobacco as separate issues but plainly their use is deeply interwoven,” said Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at Action on Smoking and Health.
“Deeply interwoven”? Really? Not in Texas.
“There is an opportunity to address this in the government’s planned Addiction Strategy. This strategy must include measures to tackle the overlapping use of cannabis and tobacco and the resulting harm to health.”
Photo by LexScope via Unsplash
Excellent. May I suggest that they consider legalizing recreational cannabis use, so that there are more ways to consume cannabis without mixing it with tobacco and explain that tobacco is much more problematic than cannabis.
But, that’s not very likely.
“The study found that cannabis was disproportionately used by younger people. Seven out of 10 of people who had taken the drug in the past year were under 39 years old. It also identified that people who said that they used cannabis and tobacco together were more likely to report mental health problems than those who used either product on their own.”
“Surveys suggest more than 75% of cannabis users in the UK mix the drug with tobacco – significantly lower than in other European countries.”
I’ll have to go back to Amsterdam to check on that.
Decreasing marijuana arrests across the country while also trying to learn more about marijuana is a common-sense approach to bringing it further into the mainstream.
Marijuana had a great year in 2020. Not only was the cannabis industry deemed “essential” during the lockdown phase of the pandemic, but five more states legalized it for medicinal and recreational purposes. Even the United Nations moved to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, while Congress tried to legalize it.
However, instead of getting more progressive, some states got busy ramping up law enforcement efforts to take down pot offenders with a vengeance. So even though there’s greater acceptance for the herb, there is still plenty of resistance.
Cannabis advocates are hoping that the incoming Biden Administration will help bring the nation together on this issue. During his campaign, the president-elect revealed a plan to tackle pot reform in the United States. Part of it is to legalize medical marijuana while also eliminating the criminal penalties that keep getting small-time offenders jammed up in the criminal justice system.
All in all, the sentiment behind Biden’s scheme is more than we’ve ever seen from any other president. It would expand research and perhaps provide a more straightforward path toward medical cannabis while setting an example for how states should be policing pot-related crimes.
However, some argue that Biden’s plan doesn’t go far enough. Without full-blown legalization, they say, the nation will not be able to reap the maximum benefits of hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in tax revenue. Still, like it or not, Biden’s approach, while not the most gung-ho approach to cannabis reform, might not be the worst idea. Not in the long term.
It would open the books on cannabis and help science reveal the truth about its therapeutic properties and risks instead of allowing the public to continue wallowing in the anecdotal. Most importantly, researchers could finally get to the bottom of claims like “cannabis cures” this and that disease. If it turns out that it actually does have super healing powers, we’ll have a better understanding.
Biden’s proposal would also help health officials present what is real about the potential dangers associated with cannabis consumption. We could finally get to the bottom of the mental health implications and even learn more about how cannabis consumption affects the body — for better or worse.
Photo by Vladimir Nikolic / EyeEm/Getty Images
Meanwhile, Biden’s plan would eliminate the criminal penalties for some pot offenses at the federal level. Unfortunately, any such policy would not force states to follow suit. But it would perhaps incentivize them to take similar action. And that would be a good thing. Right now, the country is still locking up more than 600,000 marijuana offenders every year. And a large majority of those people would continue to be arrested under Biden’s nationwide decriminalization proposal.
Why’s that? Because most arrests for marijuana in this country are for minor possession, and they are prosecuted at the state level. Biden’s plan would only affect marijuana crimes under federal statutes.
Decreasing marijuana arrests across the country while also trying to learn more about marijuana is a common-sense approach to bringing it further into the mainstream. The only real problem with it is that it wasn’t put into place earlier by a previous administration. After all, we’ve learned a lot about the economics of legalization through the state-level markets, but we still need more knowledge about this plant as a whole.
The United States has waited this long without a fully legal market. Perhaps taking some extra time to establish the pros and cons from a scientific standpoint is a better move than just pushing ahead with nationwide legalization.
Some would argue that we need to go all the way if we want to salvage the economic fallout brought about by COVID. But legalization itself doesn’t have the reach to single-handedly save the nation. It’s better to see how this crop can complement the country rather than continue to overpromise and underdeliver.
CBD companies should refrain from making ANY medical claims about their products, directly or otherwise.
On December 22, the Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) issued new warning letters to five companies that illegally sold and marketed unapproved CBD products, which the companies claimed could prevent, diagnose, mitigate, treat or cure various medical conditions.
This latest round of enforcement actions was triggered by specific concerns with the manner in which many of these CBD products were administered, namely through nasal, ophthalmic and inhalation routes.
The five recipients of these warning letters are:
Bee Delightful, a Texas company, that claimed its “Canna Bees Rescue Blend,” a blend of honey and CBD, has the potential to reduce chronic pain, inflammation, depression and anxiety, to name a few. But what most likely triggered the FDA to target this company were claims that this blend of honey and CBD could help fight “the invisible enemies out there.” The FDA has repeatedly explained that it is focusing on companies selling fraudulent COVID-19 products, which it deems to be major threats to public health.
G & L Wellness, LLC, a Wisconsin company, that sells and markets eye drops for pets and humans, which it both marketed as a “multi-symptom eye-care solution.”
New Leaf Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a Connecticut company, that advertised CBD nasal sprays that the FDA described as “especially concerning from a public health perspective” because of their rapid absorption into the blood stream. Moreover, New Leaf Pharmaceuticals made egregious medical claims about its products, including their ability to reduce the risk of artery blockage and combat tumor and cancer cells.
NextL3vel Service Group, LLC dba This Stuff Is Good For You, a Nevada-based company, that sells and markets CBD pet shampoo, dog treat as well as CBD tinctures, eye drops and vapes for human consumption. Like in the New Leaf Pharmaceuticals warning letter, the FDA took issue with the fact that the company was making claims that target vulnerable populations. In this case, one of NextL3vel Service Group’s social media featured a graphic showing a young child next to the message “CBD FOR CHILDREN ADD/ADHD.”
Wellness Biosciences Rx, another Texas company, that sells a CBD inhaler and CBD topicals. The FDA took particular issue with the metered inhaler “because the ingredients and potential impurities in oral inhalation sprays may trigger laryngospasm and bronchospasm and may be toxic to the tissues in the upper or lower airways.”
This latest round of warning letters was issued less than a week after the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) imposed monetary sanctions on six CBD companies for making similar misleading health claims. However, unlike the FTC warning letters, the FDA letters did not impose fines; instead, they demanded that the companies address the violations with written correction plans within 15 business days.
Photo by Tinnakorn Jorruang/EyeEm/Getty Images
In the agency’s press announcement, Dr. Amy Abernethy, FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner, declared that the FDA will continue to issue warning letters until the agency changes its policy and that the FDA “remain[s] focused on exploring potential pathways for CBD products to be lawfully marketed while also educating the public about these outstanding questions of CBD’s safety.” In addition, Dr. Abernethy explained that the FDA “will continue to monitor and take action, as needed, against companies that unlawfully market their products — prioritizing those that pose the greatest risk of harm to the public.”
This latest round of warning letters should come as no surprise as they squarely align with the enforcement actions taken by the FDA for the past two years (read more on this issue here and here). However, these letters should remind CBD companies that making unlawful medical claims is risky because they may lead to further and more significant headaches, including litigation and major fines and penalties.
In addition, FDA warning letters may result in state law consumer protection claims based on prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices, claims under the Lanham Act for false and misleading advertising, consumer and shareholder actions relating to CBD (think of Curaleaf Inc. and CannaRegs) and even personal injury claims.
So, as we have repeatedly explained on this blog, CBD companies should refrain from making ANY medical claims about their products, directly or otherwise. This is the ONLY way to shield themselves from enforcement actions and other legal headaches.
