A relaxing bath with CBD bath bombs probably sounds nice right about now. Here’s what you should know about them.
CBD bath bombs are some of the most successful CBD products on the market, combining skin care and relaxation — two of the compound’s strongest benefits with the most proven results. But how effective are they, really?
It’s hard knowing which results are real and which ones are exaggerated. CBD bath bombs are believed to be very helpful by those who use them, with dozens of blog posts discussing their benefits and perks. Even if the CBD provides little to no effects, the negative side effects of CBD topicals are limited and there’s really no way of going wrong with a well made bath bomb.
It’s important to keep in mind that there’s a big limitation with all CBD products due to a lack of scientific research. This is due to a lack of resources for these studies that can be chalked up to FDA limitations and the compound’s complex legal situation.
CBD bath bombs are simple products that work like many other CBD topicals. These bombs are dissolved in hot bath where users submerge themselves, staying there for at least 30 minutes in order to reap full benefits. CBD bath bombs claim to relax you and help you get rid of stress; they also treat body aches and nourish your skin.
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Aside from interacting with the cannabinoid receptors in your skin, a decent CBD bath bomb should also contain a good amount of essential oils that will augment the bomb’s soothing and relaxing effects.
Despite the mystery that surrounds CBD, CBD bath bombs are some of the most accessible products available. Although there’s no way of proving how valid they are unless CBD goes through rigorous testing, CBD topicals have a track record of plenty of skin benefits. They’re also some of the least invasive ways for people to try out the compound.
The GOP and Biden aren’t concerned about small businesses…or your wallet
Having a 40 hour a week job and working hard should not be a reason you are flagged to not get a car loan. Building a legal business you are passionate about shouldn’t be the reason your bank shuns you. Over 40 states have some form of legal weed and over 48 million have used marijuana. Roughly 90% of Americans believe it should be legal in some form or another. Yet, the GOP and Biden administration believe myths and prefer a thriving illicit (and dangerous) market over a legal, safe, beneficial legal market. There is one elected who is trying to make cannabis SAFER and save you money!
Currently, marijuana business owners, with over 90% being small businesses, operate in an environment where they deal with large amounts of money and second class citizen status. And it directly affects the consumer. Robberies, zero tax breaks, expensive non traditional bank operating loans all get pushed to product cost, impacting the wallet of millions of consumers.
This doesn’t count the 1,500 unlicensed New York City dispensaries which are crushing stores who have gone to the mammoth lengths and huge cost the state has required to operate legally. And they are upcharing consumers also!
Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti
The Washington state Treasurer, Michael Pellicciotti, is leading a group of bipartisan legal state officials to help the Senate understand the practical need for SAFER banking. While pleased the new bill has seen more progress than any other, he knows there is more work to done.
One issue around the lack of a SAFER Banking act it makes it harder on the regular workers of businesses to get car, house and other traditional loans. Without SAFER Banking, this is seen as a negative and counts against a regular worker who is holding onto a steady job. Even with a well paying job, banks are more likely to look at through a “no” lens.
Pellicciotti has an important ally in Washington Senator Patty Murray. Murray is the number three in the Senate, a co-sponsor of SAFER Banking, and a champion. Her support is an excellent counterbalance to Mitch McConnell is has been fighting legal marijuana.
Pellicciotti shared “The lack of routine banking services for cannabis businesses and their employees have industry-wide consequences. For employees, in addition to the continued safety risks of working in a cash rich environment, participation in the cannabis workforce can become a barrier to accessing necessary financial services such as car loans, mortgages, and even checking accounts.”
“For businesses, operating costs are uniquely inflated due to higher insurance and liability rates, security costs, and added fees for those businesses that are able to bank with state chartered financial institutions. Added together, these factors create tremendous pressure at every level of the industry that impacts daily operations and drives up prices.”
Pellicciotti has an important ally in Washington Senator Patty Murray. Murray is the number three in the Senate, a co-sponsor of SAFER Banking, and a champion. Her support is an excellent counterbalance to Mitch McConnell is has been fighting legal marijuana.
“It’s ridiculous that legal cannabis businesses in Washington state are forced to operate entirely in cash—and it puts the safety of their employees and our neighborhoods at risk,” said Senator Murray. “That’s why I’ve been working for years on SAFE Banking legislation and I’m thrilled to see bipartisan momentum behind this bill, which has now advanced further than ever in the U.S. Senate. The SAFER Banking Act is an important first step in doing the right thing for small business owners and the communities they operate in—and I’m going to keep pushing to get it across the finish line. We can’t stop there, though—we need to work towards broader cannabis policy reforms that address the long history of racial injustice and criminalization that have harmed so many communities across the country.”
Wishing this team good luck in trying to make cannabis SAFER and save you money!
“I really appreciated marijuana way more than alcohol or anything else,” the actress once said. Has her view changed? Let’s discuss.
Charlize Theron, one of Hollywood’s most talented actresses, has a real knack for picking roles allowing her to showcase her abilities. She became a force on the big screen, and watching her career develop has been incredible for moviegoers. Known for both her transformative roles (“Monster,” “Bombshell”) and numerous action movies (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Atomic Blonde”), she’s one of the coolest people out there, always getting involved with new and interesting projects. She recently was photographed being stunning at the Dior fashion show in Paris.
Kenneth Branagh, the actor and Thor director is quoted:
“Charlize is a whirlwind of sexual energy. I hate to burden people with expectations but Charlize seems to me an effortless star presence. She’s fearless, beguiling, a big card player and quite a hoot.”
Theron has been pretty open about her past marijuana use. But where is she with weed?
She’s made public comments ranging from the fact that she didn’t try weed until she was older and that her mom used to come over to her house to drop off edibles.
“She showed up at my house, literally drove in her little tennis outfit and brought me a little container and just left it on my kitchen table,” Theron told Jimmy Fallon. “She was like, ‘So I got some blueberry-covered chocolate ones, but if you want it faster-acting, you should go for the mints. Those you suck, and it works faster.’ ”
Photo by Flickr user Gage Skidmore
That same year, while speaking with E! News, she discussed her weed habits more in depth, explaining that while she used to wake and bake regularly, she’s now taking it slower. “But I really appreciated marijuana way more than alcohol or anything else. My chemistry was really good with it when I was younger and then it just changed one day. Like, in my early thirties I just became boring on it and I would just stand in front of my fridge, so that’s no good.”
Theron explains that she doesn’t know what changed in her system when it comes to her marijuana use, only that she needed a break. She has discussed potentially using it for sleep. Around 70% of young adults casually using cannabis report that they do so to help them sleep.
“I’m open to retrying it again because now there’s all these different strains and you can be specific with it,” she said. “And I’m actually really interested because I have really bad insomnia, and I’d much rather get off sleeping pills and figure out a strain that helps me sleep better. So when I have a moment, I’m actually doing that with my mom. My mom has really bad sleep too.”
It seems she might not be currently waking and baking, but potentially, Theron and her mom might be receiving a little help for a good night’s sleep.
Duff Beer and doughnuts are two fake foodstuffs that are pretty hard to eff up. But the cocktails featured on “The Simpsons” are a total mess, a pleasure not to have existing in real life.
That didn’t stop Cocktail Chemistry from attempting to recreate literal versions of a few choice drinks from the show, including Skittlebrau (beer and Skittles) and the Flaming Homer, which Homer invented during an episode where he was booze desperate and combined the end bits of every liquor bottle in his cupboard, including a bottle of kids cough syrup. Fortunately, Cocktail Chemistry had the good sense to make a more palatable version of this drink, minus the Dimetapp and “21 run” booze.
The drinks first showed up when it aired on the Fox network on November 21, 1991. In the episode, Homer tells Moe Szyslak about the Flaming Homer, an alcoholic cocktail of cough medicine and fire that he invented. Moe steals Homer’s recipe, renames it the Flaming Moe and sells it at his tavern.
As if more frequent sex and an increased desire for sex isn’t good enough, it appears that weed makes the whole experience better. Who doesn’t want that?
There’s been a lot of debate about whether or not it’s a good idea to use marijuana before having sex. For some time, the assumption has been made that being high probably isn’t going to improve what happens in the bedroom, but research says otherwise.
Instead, it seems that the majority of users experience some benefit from using weed before sex. Here’s a look at four specific ways marijuana makes for better intimacy.
Increased Sexual Desire
If we’re being totally upfront, and that’s how we do things around here, the effect of marijuana on libido varies from person to person. Of course, this shouldn’t be all that surprising since we already know that not everyone experiences a high in the same way.
That being said, there is some evidence that marijuana can increase sexual desire in a large percentage of adults. For instance, in 2011, Michael Castleman, MA, surveyed his readers at Psychology Today to find out how marijuana affected their libido. Only 12% reported decreased desire while using marijuana while 67% said they experienced increased libido. The remaining respondents said that dose and strain seemed to influence their experience.
These results are in line with additional research published in 2017 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, which found 62% of study female participants associated marijuana use with increased sex drive.
A look at the general population reveals that nearly half of adults are engaging in intercourse roughly once a week, or a few times a month. More frequent sex doesn’t necessarily improve happiness, but individuals who hope to have more frequent sex might give regular marijuana use a try.
Here’s why. In 2017, analysis of self-reported marijuana use and sexual frequency was published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. Both men and women who use weed daily self-reported having 20% more sex than those who abstain.
Better Sex
As if more frequent sex and an increased desire for sex isn’t good enough, it appears that weed makes the whole experience better. Who doesn’t want that?
In the research mentioned above, the female participants also reported experiencing more pleasure during sex if they used marijuana before becoming intimate. More specifically, 68 percent shared that sex was better while high and 62 reported a more pleasurable orgasm when they used marijuana before sex. A smaller percentage said that weed use seemed to increase vaginal lubrications as well.
Reducing Anxiety
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The pressure to perform can have a negative effect on how both men and women experience sex. Erectile dysfunction can be caused by or worsened by feeling anxious.
The right dose of marijuana could help lessen anxiety. According to research published by the University of Washington, a low dose of marijuana is the most effective for calming anxiety. In contrast, a high dose might increase symptoms of anxiety. This means, if your hope is to keep cool in the bedroom, your best bet to take it easy and start slow with pre-love making marijuana consumption.
For those who experience anxiety while high, trying different strains may help. Additionally, cannabidiol, which is a non-psychoactive cannabis product, has been found to reduce anxiety at all doses.
Here’s What You Need to Know First
Thinking about using marijuana before sex? There are a few things you need to know beforehand. In general, it isn’t a good idea to just go for it. Take some time to experiment with different doses and strains before having sex while high. In general, it seems that starting with a low dose is probably the best.
Lastly, and this goes without saying, never ever dose your partner without permission or pressure them into using marijuana before sex. Like all sexual experiences, consent is a non-negotiable when you’re using weed in the bedroom.
June Chin, MD has dedicated her career to finding integrative and holistic ways of treating patients after she discovered how beneficial cannabis was in treating her own chronic pain.
With over a decade of experience, Dr. June Chin has focused on interactive osteopathic medicine for individuals with epilepsy, cancer, and autism. Practicing medicine in California, Dr. Chin has utilized the state’s legalized medical cannabis access by empowering her patients with knowledge about CBD and marijuana’s benefits.
Dr. Chin recently shared an exclusive interview with The Fresh Toast on where cannabis is going and what health practitioners should know. When asked why she was such an advocate for cannabis, Dr. Chin shared that her personal pain journey led her to advocate not just for patients, but for doctors to get information firsthand. Here is her story.
“As a teenager, I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a progressive type of arthritis that affects the spine, pelvis, hips, and back and causes extreme stiffness and nerve pain.
“I spent my younger years trying conventional treatments — epidurals, narcotics, muscle relaxants, acupuncture, physical therapy — but the pain was unrelenting. By the time I got to medical school in San Francisco, I was having difficulty standing for long periods in the operating room. One of the attending physicians saw this and asked me about it. I told him I had AS but that I couldn’t take the meds I needed for relief while doing rounds or while attending a four-hour hip-replacement surgery because they made me drowsy and foggy.
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“Here I was in a hospital surrounded by great medical minds, but I was disheartened to find nothing could help my condition. The attending physician and my mentor Dr. Levine pulled me aside and handed me a bottle containing a tincture. ‘This is marijuana,’ he told me, ‘but it won’t make you high.’
“He didn’t call it CBD oil. He just said it was a different type of cannabis plant. I was mortified but desperate. As a medical student, training to be a doctor, my first thought was, “You are offering me pot? You want to make me a drug addict?” I grew up in the Bronx, where there was a huge social stigma around marijuana. Kids that smoked weed were either the dropouts or involved in gangs. I also grew up in a very traditional Chinese household. My parents believed in reefer madness — weed led to psychosis and schizophrenia!
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“The little brown dropper bottle Dr. Levine handed me smelled like a combination of alcohol, wet dog, and grass, and I didn’t know what to think. To my amazement, the tincture worked very well. The pain and inflammation of my arthritis decreased dramatically, my AS stopped progressing, and my health improved.
“Even though California legalized medical cannabis in 1996, I didn’t dare tell anyone I was using it. I was a young physician and didn’t want to jeopardize my career. But once I got my health back, I decided to learn more about cannabis and how it helps manage pain and improve people’s overall health and wellness.
“Having suffered in pain for so long, I know what it feels like to say to your doctor, ‘I’ve tried everything, and nothing has helped.’
“I have been helping patients integrate medical cannabis into their health and wellness for over a decade. Cannabis changed the trajectory of my life. I would not have been able to finish medical school and become a doctor had it not been for cannabis treatment. I had an educational advantage in doing my medical school training in California. California legalized medical cannabis in 1996. I was in the middle of a switch box and was able to engineer my circumstances to learn holistic, integrative cannabis medicine.”
Dr. Chin has seen firsthand just how much medical cannabis can benefit patients. A Bronx native, who moved back to New York several years ago, Dr. Chin is now registered with the New York State Medical Cannabis Program. She is currently treating both children and adults in New York and is with AskCMD.com, a personalized cannabis service.
While more research is necessary, mixing weed and birth control could lead to negative side effects.
Smoking always comes with health hazards, from life threatening issues such as cardiovascular health and increased cancer odds, to more superfluous damages, like the health of your skin and teeth. When talking about pregnancies, smoking is one of the most risky and dangerous things you can do. What a lot of people don’t know is that smoking can also negatively impact your birth control.
The combination of smoking cigarettes and birth control has been linked to an increased risk of developing blood clots and other kinds of cardiovascular disorders. There are also a wide variety of birth control methods, with some of posing significant levels of risk all by themselves. For example, a couple of years ago, the makers of Nuva Ring were sued by different women who argued that this particular method of birth control increased their odds of getting blood clots and embolisms by a significant margin. All of these risks are increased for women over the age of 35 who have some sort of preexisting condition.
But what about smoking marijuana? What effect does that have on birth control? The short answer: Experts aren’t quite sure.
While THC has been associated with elevated blood pressure, which could theoretically become an issue when combined with birth control, there haven’t been too many studies that support this theory. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Hypertension found “a modest association between recent cannabis use and systolic blood pressure,” but stressed the importance of waiting for other studies to investigate further.
Another fact that people should contend with is that some experts believe THC could mess with your birth control and make it less effective, especially if the birth control is estrogen based. It appears that THC can actually increase estrogen levels, potentially putting you at higher risk of blood clots and stroke.
According to CBD retailer Onyx + Rose, enzyme inhibitors such as CBD can potentially increase breakthrough bleeding and decrease estrogen-based contraceptive effectiveness, leading to an increased risk of unwanted pregnancy.
A large percentage of people are using some kind of birth control, whether it’s pills, condoms or vaginal rings. Most can adapt these methods to their daily lives, still managing to smoke cigarettes or marijuana. What people can do to stay as safe as possible is to evaluate all of their options, to use birth control that is recommended to them by a professional, and to carefully consider which method of ingesting marijuana works best for them and their situation.
More research is clearly necessary in order to keep people safe and to help us all understand how cannabis interacts with our bodies. Until then, it’s best to have an honest conversation with your doctor.
In these times of isolation, taking care of yourself should be a priority. Here are some ways you can start doing that right now.
Self-care is a loaded word, allowing for many interpretations. It can be something as simple as putting on a face mask or as complex as walking out of a toxic relationship.S ome of the most helpful ways of taking care of your mind and body when you’re feeling down are easy, like taking a shower or putting in the effort to make yourself a healthy meal. Creativity is also a great way to take care of yourself. Here are artful ways to practice self-care.
Known as an outlet for your feelings, the more you tap into your creative side, the easier it is to access it in the long term. These exercises can also help you cope with your emotions and the stressors in your life.
Art therapy
Although art therapy is usually associated with kids as a way of getting them to vent about their feelings, it’s also a helpful activity for adults. And there’s no need to be an artist in order to practice it. You only need to block out a fixed amount of time and start drawing or coloring. There are many helpful exercises, such as drawing a safe place, completing a color wheel, and more.
Keeping a journal is a simple habit that you can pick up at any point in your life. It’s a low stakes activity that provides a place to vent and dump thoughts that you don’t have to revisit if you don’t want to. If the pandemic has prompted a surge of feelings and emotions that are surprising and disrupting, a journal can be a good starting point to make lists, log the things that are getting you down and also a place to add stuff that you’re looking forward to…like travel and being able to hug your loved ones!
Crafts
Knitting, embroidery, quilting, etc. All of these activities require you to sit down and complete them by hand. This low stimulus process allows you to calm down and collect your thoughts and feelings. Start off slow, with a project that’s manageable in order to limit your frustration. You’ll eventually get into a groove which will feel incredibly cathartic!
Cooking, when done in the right mindset, can be a liberating and even creative experience. It can help you bond with your loved ones and make you feel better about yourself. If you don’t have much experience, look up a simple recipe, put on some music, and try your hardest to make something that’s delicious and worth your time.
Reading
Reading can even relax your body by lowering your heart rate and easing the tension in your muscles. A 2009 study at the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%. Unlike videos or movies, reading grabs your whole mind and takes it on a journey where you mental absorb and visualize what you are consuming. This allows your mind to focus on something in a healthy way.
It provides us with a healthy escape.
Reading takes us out of our world (and minds) and into another world inside the pages of a book.
Response art
Whether you’re drawing or writing down something that inspires you, you likely have something that produces a strong reaction. Use these passionate feelings to make some art, even if you keep it to yourself. Doing this is a way of translating your emotions and feelings into something physical, and it’s very rewarding.
Dakota Johnson is in the news again about her relationship with Chris Martin, but what we want to know is does she consume.
Dakota Johnson is known for her role in the “50 Shades of Grey” movies, and for being the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. After her contract was up, Johnson made the decision to use her spotlight to work with great directors, resulting in some really great films (no offense to “50 Shades”). In addition, she is the partner of Coldplay’s Chris Martin. She was seen with her mother Melanie Griffith at the Coldplay concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA earlier this week.
Extremely private, she appeared all over social media again in 2020 due to some comments she made in 2017 that made some people question her sexuality. Of course, Twitter ate it up, making fancams, memes, and all sorts of viral posts about the unearthed info.
Okay, but what we really want to know is: Does she smoke marijuana?
Johnson is pretty outspoken. Despite her privacy regarding her personal relationships, she’s open with the media, and has been the subject of some pretty epic clap backs against famous hosts. During a 2019 interview, Jimmy Fallon kept interrupting Johnson until she told him to stop. As for Ellen, Johnson called her out for missing her birthday party.
While doing press for one of the “50 Shades” movies, Johnson said that CBD was her secret when it comes to getting sleep while traveling. “I try to knock myself out on planes; otherwise my whole world falls apart,” she told Elle Magazine.
But that doesn’t really tells us much about her stance on weed, especially since every celebrity uses CBD. More interestingly, last year, she was photographed holding a MedMen shopping bag. Her partner Chris Martin shared this with Rolling Stone “Personally, weed really does nothing for me”. So it seems the Medmen may be for personal use.
A hit from a bong can be much harder to manage for inexperienced users than a hit from a joint. Get to know the different ways of consuming cannabis and tread carefully if it’s your first time.
Getting high is a simple process yet one that can be affected by many different factors. A lot has been said about cannabis and just how little is known about the plant. One of the most interesting parts of consuming it is how it can vary greatly depending on the user, with some people loving its effects and others claiming that it makes them feel paranoid and anxious.
Cannabis leads to very personal and introspective experiences, affecting users differently, but there are a few outside factors that can influence how your body responds to the drug. Here are 5 factors you can play with in order to have better control of your marijuana high.
The most influencing factor on this list is the method in which you consume cannabis. Consuming an edible, smoking a joint or taking a hit from a bong result in very different highs. For example, edibles take longer to have an effect but produce much stronger and long lasting highs than joints or bongs. A hit from a bong can be much harder to manage for inexperienced users than a hit from a joint. Get to know the different ways of consuming cannabis and tread carefully if it’s your first time.
Dosage
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Dosages are also very important. A wrong one can either put you to sleep or prompt a really anxious state of mind. When trying out a new strain, consuming an edible or dabbing, the dose you choose can make or break your high. Do your research and always start off slow. Here’s an essential THC dosing guide for marijuana beginners.
Tolerance
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How experienced you are with the plant dictates how well you’ll adapt to it. Tolerance is personal, changing from user to user and making it likely for you and a friend to have different dosing levels even if you share similar body types and level of experience with the plant. The more you consume cannabis, the more you’ll get a feel for your tolerance level.
Setting is vital when it comes to marijuana, dictating how the high will hit you. If you’re in a crowded or an empty space you might end up with different highs, having more of a party mood in the former scenario or a couch-like high in the latter. If you’re a beginner, the best way to consume marijuana would be to do so in a space that feels safe with friends you trust.
Strain
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THC and CBD focused strains produce different effects — one contains psychedelics (THC) and the other will leave you relaxed and likely unable to do more than sit on the couch. Do your research and try out different types, sticking with the one that you like best and that works more with your body type. Here’s what to know about vaping CBD.
