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A Field Guide To Picking The Best Vaporizer For You

Greg Lepkoff
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A Field Guide To Picking The Best Vaporizer For You

Vaporizers are becoming the most popular method to ingest cannabis and tobacco. Why are they so popular? Generally, vapes are easy to use, portable and often healthier. Many vape pens are small and require very little expertise to operate. Just push a button to turn them on and you’re ready to vape. You might have to set the temperature, but we’ll help you out with that. Most portable vape pens look just like an e-cig so you can vape discreetly. Finally, when you smoke any plant material, you are inhaling tar and carbon monoxide released during combustion. Many vaporizers heat your herb, wax, oil, or liquid enough to convert them into vapor without the harmful side effects caused by smoke.

Now you’re convinced that a vaporizer is the way to go but don’t know where to start. There are so many different types of vapes and it can get pretty confusing. Below is a breakdown of the different types of vaporizers and the various features available, including temperature control, battery size, portability, and design. While there is no perfect vape as everyone has their own personal preference, read below to find the perfect vaporizer for your needs.

What are the Different Types of Portable Vaporizers?

There are four main types of vaporizers: dry herb, wax, oil and e-liquid (or e-juice). While this is largely based on what you prefer consuming, it’s important to know the pros and cons of each one.

Dry Herb Vaporizers

If you prefer the taste and feel of buds, then a dry herb vaporizer is the way to go. Popular among cannabis patients who want to enjoy their favorite strain without any negative side effects caused by smoking, dry herb vapes are simple and easy to use. However, they’re not as convenient as the other three. They need to be loaded much more frequently and you need to grind your herb before loading it.

Wax Vape Pens

Wax is a cannabis concentrate that can be THC or CBD heavy. In case you forgot what these are, THC is the main psychoactive compound found in cannabis famous for mind-altering properties. CBD is used for its various medical benefits and high-CBD waxes are popular with cannabis patients. Wax is highly concentrated, containing around 60-80% THC. Compare this to dry herb, which is usually around 10-20% on top-shelf products. Thus, a gram of wax will last you quite a bit longer than a gram of dry herb. This makes portable wax vaporizers pretty convenient. However, most wax vapes will actually use combustion to give you more of a ‘dab’ than a vape hit. This is great if you’re looking for powerful hits, but you won’t reap the health benefits from vaping.

Oil Vapes

Cannabis oil is another concentrate that can be even more concentrated than wax. Most oil vapes will take sealed oil cartridges that you buy pre-sealed. You can also buy refillable cartridges to fill your own. Oil vapes are nice because a sealed cartridge could last you up to a few weeks depending on your usage. Oil vapes are definitely the most convenient vapes, and oil vape pens are often super easy to use. You just press or hold a button and take a hit. Oil vapes are great for travel, as you can just bring a couple cartridges, the pen and a charger.

E-Cigarette Vaporizers

E-liquid or E-juice can be made from THC or CBD heavy cannabis or tobacco. It first became popular among tobacco smokers looking for a healthier alternative. Many tobacco e-liquids are infused with all sorts of flavors so it’s kinda like a modern handheld hookah. It’s gaining steam among cannabis users but cannabis e-liquid may be harder to find than dry herb, wax or oil. Definitely check your local shop or dispensary to make sure you can pick up e-liquid before choosing this option.

How to Understand Vaporizer Temperature Control?

The temperature control of a vaporizer depends on the type of vape. Dry herb vaporizers usually have a temperature setting in degrees. The higher end units, like the E-CLIPSE dry herb vaporizer and the Volcano, can be adjusted by the degree. Ideal temperatures for vaping dry herbs are between 375°F and 430°F and this varies based on personal preference and herb variety.

Some wax vaporizers won’t have a user temperature control at all. These types heat up as you use them, so the less time you wait between hits and the harder pulls you take will heat up the wax hotter and hotter. Other wax pen vaporizers have variable voltage settings. In wax pens, temperature is controlled by wattage output, not actual temperature. Ideal temperatures for vaping wax are between 420°F and 550°F. If your wax vape has variable settings, start at the lowest setting and work your way up until you get nice thick clouds that are still smooth. Oil vape temperature settings are similar to that of wax vapes. However, ideal temperatures for vaping oils are slightly lower, between 340°F and 445°F. Again, it’s best to start vaping at the lowest setting and turn it up until you reach the perfect vape point.

What are the Different Types of Vape Batteries?

Convection vaporizers use more power than their combustion counterparts. For this reason, they have a much higher storage capacity, usually around 2,000 mAh. Since wax and oil vapes don’t use as much power, they usually have a capacity under 1,000 mAh, often around 280-650 mAh. Almost all vapes should have a lithium-ion battery, the same type of battery used in phones. Lithium-ion batteries will last much longer and hold a charge better than the older NiMH rechargeable batteries. Box mods have a high-capacity, lithium battery that will last all day on a full-charge. They typically have a larger battery than vape pens for two reasons – they take a bit more power to deliver big hits and they are also popular among e-juice smokers, who are often using their box mod all day long. However, box mods have become very popular with wax atomizer attachments making them a solid choice for wax enthusiasts who want big hits without having to recharge as often.

The Design and Portability of a Vaporizer Device

When choosing the best weed vaporizer, physical design and portability are major factors for most consumers. If you’re looking for a pen to take around everywhere, you want something small. The smallest mini-pens are super easy to transport and discreet, but they have their downsides. Most mini-pens are pretty basic, which means they have limited temperature control settings and a smaller battery. While great for quick use on the go, you might get annoyed if this is your only pen.

On the opposite spectrum, box mods are quite versatile vaporizers. They can be used with attachments for dry herbs, wax, oil or e-liquid making them an all-in-one vaporizer. They also have a high-capacity battery, so they work great both at home and for travel. They are definitely bulkier than a vape pen, but a great option for users who want one vape that can do it all.

Anywhere in-between are the various desktop vapes and portable handheld vapes. Desktop vapes don’t usually have a battery meaning they must be plugged in. They are also made almost exclusively for vaping dry herbs. Desktop vapes like the Volcano are great at home, but they are less portable than a bong.

Other than box mods, most wax vapes will be ‘pens.’ This just refers to the vape being roughly the size and shape of a pen (sometimes a very large pen). Vape pens have become the most popular vaporizers because you can handle them like a cigarette and they are easy to slide into your pocket. Many vape pens have powerful batteries and versatile temperature control. There is almost no downside to a higher-end vape pen.

There are also dry herb vape pens. A chamber full of wax could last all day, and a new oil cartridge could last weeks. Unfortunately, dry herb isn’t concentrated so a chamber full of dry herbs won’t last more than a few minutes. For this reason, chamber size is an important factor when picking out a dry herb vaporizer. A bigger chamber means less refills and more vaping.

What’s all the Fuss about Vape Threading?

If you have been searching for vaporizers, you probably have seen the term 510 threading. It is the industry standard and is effective and reliable. While other threads are out there, they often fall apart or lock up. It’s not worth saving a few bucks if you have to buy a new vape pen a couple weeks later. Make sure you buy a battery with 510 threading.

What kind of Vapor Does Each Type of Vape Create?

Vapor production is highly correlated with the temperature being used. Although remember this also varies based on the material (dry herbs, wax, oil, or liquid). A lower temperature setting leads to lighter vapors, while a higher setting will increase the vapor cloud thickness and visibility. In general, herb vapes don’t provide huge clouds and they dissipate quickly. This comes in handy if you’re trying to vape discreetly. Wax and oil vapes are similar but you can get pretty decent clouds out if you crank up the temp and take massive rips. E-Liquid vapes and box mods deliver huge vapor clouds. This is because they are often vaping e-juice which gives off thick, heavy vapor. Additionally, they are using more power output, thus getting you bigger hits.

Why do You Need Extra Vape Parts?

Convection vaporizers are usually one complete product meaning the battery, chamber and charger are all-in-one. A well-made dry herb vape that is properly maintained could last years. The only replacement parts you will ever need are a mouthpiece, screens, and possibly a charger. With desktop vapes, you may want to change the hose after a few years or get some new bags if you have a Volcano.

Wax vapes use quartz coils or ceramic rods in their heating chambers. Coils can wear out due to their high heat and the heating chamber can easily be replaced. Batteries and mouthpieces are also available, however a lithium battery should last years before needing to be replaced. Oil vapes are similar to wax atomizers and you can change out the heating chamber when you can no longer get heavy hits. On the other hand, if you are using a pre-filled oil cartridge, the atomizer is tossed in the trash once the cartridge is empty.

What is a 3 in 1 Vape Pen?

We mentioned earlier how a box mod is a versatile vaporizer because it can use different attachments to modify it to be used with dry herbs, wax, oil or even e-liquid. Dry herb vapes typically don’t have this ability but there are several wax and oil vapes that can be used for various materials. These are great vapes for those jumping into the vape world that want one tool that can vape it all. Keep in mind when using dry herb vape attachments, they will create combustion rather than pure vapor.

How to Choose the Right Portable Vaporizer?

The key differences between vapes have now been outlined. So now you’ve got all the information you need to select the perfect vape. It’s all up to personal preference now. Are you a connoisseur who loves to indulge in dry herbs, waxes, and oils? A 3 in 1 vape is perfect for you. Do you want something portable for discreet vaping but don’t need all the bells and whistles? A mini-pen could be just right. Do you want a healthy way to enjoy your dry herbs both at home and away? A convection dry herb vape might be your winner. Whatever you decide, we hope this helped you sort through the wide variety of vaporizers on the market today. Happy vaping!

5 Products That Can Help Boost Your Productivity

Maria Loreto
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5 Products That Can Help Boost Your Productivity

It’s hard to maintain focus, even when you’re doing something you love and enjoy. Maintaining your focus is a skill that asks for you to concentrate and to say no to distractions, and it often leads to a lot of frustration. In order to get your work done, there are no easy answers or set pathways to follow.

While there’s no perfect device that will make you focus and do your work, there are several tools which are convenient and can be used at any time, especially when you’re feeling stuck or distracted. These tools can help you concentrate and see the problem in front of you with fresh and clear eyes.

Bustle compiled a list of the best productivity boosting tools out there; check out five of our favorites:

Pen and notebook

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While this solution is on the simple side of things, putting your thoughts on paper has always been a good way of solving your problems. Notebooks are great for jotting down thoughts, ideas, to-do lists, song lyrics, cute doodles, and anything else that’s on your mind. Having one at hand while you’re working or trying to work is a smart way of giving your brain some breathing room; a notebook can be a blank canvas that allows you to think, which sometimes is all you need.

Fidget cube

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There are dozens of these on Amazon, raging from cheap and ordinary to more expensive and amazing looking. While fidget spinners and cubes have developed a bad rep because they’re annoying and are just glorified toys for kids, they can help you move your brain and reduce your anxiety, pushing you into thinking in different ways. They’re also a great tool for those who have a lot of energy and need extra help concentrating.

Calendar

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Writing appointments and deadlines on your calendar can help you visualize your schedule and organize your time. While there are tons of great digital calendars on the Internet, having one in the shape of a notebook can help you remember appointments more easily—since you wrote these down by hand—and remind you of stuff without having to look it up online.

Timer

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Timers are available on all phones and there are dozens of cute devices which can be placed on your work desk if you’re into that sort of thing. These tools can restrict you and keep you focused, giving you a mental deadline for work, so you can stay on track and avoid as many distractions as possible.

Ergonomic keyboard

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These keyboards are great because they won’t hurt your hands and wrists since they’re designed for comfort and for using your computer for long periods of time. While it may not seem like having comfortable wrists is the key to productivity, it definitely helps you concentrate when your body isn’t in pain.

Jelly Nails Are The Latest Insta Manicure Trend

Maria Loreto
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Jelly Nails Are The Latest Insta Manicure Trend

There’s a whole stack of nail art on Instagram where users upload their coolest and most elaborate looking nails. Sometimes these images look awesome, highlighting the talent that some people have, and other times the nails uploaded look extremely long, dangerous, and ugly. Nail art trends can be a little unpredictable. Now jelly nails are the latest Insta manicure trend.

The current trend, as Teen Vogue pointed out, are jelly nails which are a clear throwback to the 90’s, just like chokers and wearing bright neon colors. These nails are so shiny and glittery like that you might want to snack on something sweet before you see them.

A post shared by ??Zara Evry?? (@cutie_kills) on

These shiny nails look like something a Barbie doll would love to wear, or something that you’d see on a Spice Girls music video. They evoke the 90’s and early 2000’s that much.

While the nails are potentially dangerous, there’s this certain allure and charm to them, that fits especially well with the Summer season. This style is also known as “see through nails,” and “glass nails.” You can find plenty of images with varying degrees of success all over these hashtags on Instagram, where people upload creative videos and images.

A post shared by ICYNAILSX? (@icynailsx) on

While the trend is characterized by the bright colors, the nails can be long, short, and painted in all sorts of shades. Their main characteristic is the fact that they’re translucent, bright, and glittery. According to Hello Giggles, the look is achieved through the application of a clear and translucent tip to the nail or by sculpting a hard gel on top of your finger.  You can get this look at the salon or,  if you’re very creative and gifted with your hands, put them on yourself. So now you know, jelly nails are the latest Insta manicure trend for the net 5 days.

Canada Invented First Beer Brewed With Whole-Plant Cannabis And It’s A Game Changer

Brendan Bures
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Canada Invented First Beer Brewed With Whole-Plant Cannabis And It’s A Game Changer

I was visiting family in Canada this past week when I couldn’t help overhearing a cannabis-related conversation. With the Canadian government officially legalizing recreational marijuana and the nature of my job here, weed talk has been prevalent. Ducking out for a lovely bowl of pho soup one rainy afternoon, three middle-aged women were abuzz about trying new weed products once legal sales began this October. The usual culprits were quickly mentioned—edibles, creams, vaporizers—but one woman couldn’t contain her elation over one product—cannabis beer.

As the Guardian reports, Canadian brewers have become serious about creating cannabis beer since legalization hit. Most brewers opt to infuse beverages with a THC/CBD oil or distillate, but start-up brewer Province Brands is making waves for actually brewing batch with the cannabis plants—all of it. “Our beer is brewed from the stalks, stem and roots of the cannabis plant,” Dooma Wendschuh of Province Brands told the Guardian.

Though initial attempts at such a beer resulted in funky tastes, including one that tasted like “rotten broccoli,” Province found a winning formula of hops, yeast, water, and cannabis. Any alcohol that’s fermented in the process is removed, leaving a non-alcoholic, gluten-free beer.

“The flavour is dry, savoury, less sweet than a typical beer flavour,” he said. “The beer hits you very quickly, which is not common for a marijuana edible.”

Because the Province formula utilizes stocks, stem and roots of the cannabis plant, it has created a sustainable use for what otherwise results in a waste product. Wenschuh said growers gladly hand off the product to them, as it saves them from hiring a licensed disposal company.

Calling this the first cannabis beer would be slightly erroneous. It’s the first beer brewed with the plant, but American brewers like Lagunitas, which is owned by Heineken, recently unveiled a THC-infused sparkling water called Hi-Fi Hops. Meanwhile Blue Moon creator Keith Villa announced plans to create an entire line of non-alcoholic, cannabis-infused craft beers. However, cannabis beer remains a novelty for reasons outside of taste or demand.

Across the United States feds have gone after independent and micro-brewers alike for anything even resembling weed beer. Crackdowns included California brewers for producing CBD-infused pints and Florida brewers for utilizing terpenes to create cannabis-flavored beers. While marijuana-infused drinks have been promoted as the next big trend in the cannabis industry, marijuana beer has received consistent blowback. You can still find goodies like New Belgium’s Hemperor HPA or Coalition Brewing’s Two Flowers IPA (the first commercially-produced and legal CBD beer), but the proliferation of cannabis beer hasn’t yet occurred on a widespread scale thanks to regulations the fed might impose on American brewers.

Canadian brewers don’t have those same restrictions, which makes what Province is doing possible. If these cannabis beers can launch across Canada, it will represent the first serious experiment of how cannabis drinks and products might impact liquor and beer sales. I’m sure Big Beer in America will be watching very closely across the border as it all unfolds.

Snapchat Is Having A Rough Time And Is Forced To Shut Down Snapcash

Maria Loreto
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Snapchat Is Having A Rough Time And Is Forced To Shut Down Snapcash

Peer to peer payment technologies are on the rise with trustworthy apps such as Venmo, PayPal and Zelle. It’s a tough business to be a part of when you don’t have the numbers or the credibility, as demonstrated by Snapchat which will soon be terminating Snapcash.

TechCrunch made this discovery thanks to a code buried on the Snapchat Android app, which stated that Snapcash will no longer be available after an unknown date. The website contacted Snapchat for comment and the company replied confirming that Snapcash’s services would on August 30th, and so would their partnership with Square Inc.

Via TechCrunch:

“Yes, we’re discontinuing the Snapcash feature as of August 30, 2018. Snapcash was our first product created in partnership with another company – Square. We’re thankful for all the Snapchatters who used Snapcash for the last four years and for Square’s partnership!”

Aside from the low amount of users that Snapchat has been reporting, TechCrunch claims that Snapcash had a reputation for being used to pay for erotic content and for the services of adult performers. These rumors are unconfirmed but closing a service to avoid a PR scandal sounds like a good explanation behind this decision.

Snapchat is still trying to survive, developing it’s services and trying to become a more commerce oriented application. While the company has been forced to let go of employees, it’s still planning to introduce new features that allow users to shop within the app. Snapchat’s Android code contains a feature called “Eagle”, which would gives users the ability to scan a barcode with the app’s camera, showing them the results on Amazon. It’s not known if this feature will debut any time soon.

A Vet Shares How To Tell a Dog Or Cat’s Age

Jesse Grady
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A Vet Shares How To Tell a Dog Or Cat’s Age

Jesse Grady, a vet, shares how to tell a dog or cat’s age.

“Just how old do you think my dog is in dog years?” is a question I hear on a regular basis. People love to anthropomorphize pets, attributing human characteristics to them. And most of us want to extend our animal friends’ healthy lives for as long as possible.

It may seem like sort of a silly thing to ponder, born out of owners’ love for their pets and the human-animal bond between them. But determining a pet’s “real” age is actually important because it helps veterinarians like me recommend life-stage specific healthcare for our animal patients.

There’s an old myth that one regular year is like seven years for dogs and cats. There’s a bit of logic behind it. People observed that with optimal healthcare, an average-sized, medium dog would on average live one-seventh as long as its human owner – and so the seven “dog years” for every “human year” equation was born.

Not every dog is “average-sized” though so this seven-year rule was an oversimplification from the start. Dogs and cats age differently not just from people but also from each other, based partly on breed characteristics and size. Bigger animals tend to have shorter life spans than smaller ones do. While cats vary little in size, the size and life expectancy of dogs can vary greatly – think a Chihuahua versus a Great Dane.

Human life expectancy has changed over the years. And vets are now able to provide far superior medical care to pets than we could even a decade ago. So now we use a better methodology to define just how old rule of thumb that counted every calendar year as seven “animal years.”

Based on the American Animal Hospital Association Canine Life Stages Guidelines, today’s vets divide dogs into six categories: puppy, junior, adult, mature, senior and geriatric. Life stages are a more practical way to think about age than assigning a single number; even human health recommendations are based on developmental stage rather than exactly how old you are in years.

Dog breed and its associated size is one of the largest contributors to life expectancy, with nutrition and associated weight likely being the next most important factors for individual dogs.

But this still doesn’t answer the question of how old your individual animal is. If you’re determined to figure out if Max would be graduating from high school or preparing for retirement based on how many “dog years” he’s lived, these life stages can help. Lining up canine and human developmental milestones over the course of an average life expectancy can provide a rough comparison.

In a similar manner, the joint American Association of Feline Practitioners-The American Animal Hospital Association Feline Life Stage Guidelines also divide cats into six categories: kitten, junior, prime, mature, senior and geriatric. Since most healthy cats are around the same size, there’s less variability in their age at each life-stage.

Figuring out how old Buddy is in dog years or Fluffy is in cat years allows a veterinarian to determine their life-stage. And that’s important because it suggests what life-stage-specific health care the animal might need to prolong not just its life, but also its quality of life.

Physicians already apply this very concept to human age-specific health screenings. Just like a normal human toddler doesn’t need a colonoscopy, a normal puppy doesn’t need its thyroid levels checked. An adult woman likely needs a regular mammogram, just like an adult cat needs annual intestinal parasite screenings. Of course these guidelines are augmented based on a physician’s or veterinarian’s examination of the human or animal patient.

And as is the case for people, your pet’s overall health status can influence their “real age” for better or for worse. So next time you take your pet to the veterinarian, talk about your animal’s life stage and find out what health recommendations come with it. Watching out for health abnormalities and maintaining a healthy weight could help your cat live long past the literal “prime” of its life.

Jesse Grady, Clinical Instructor of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University

Starbucks Will Open Its First US Deaf Friendly Store This Fall

Amy Hansen
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Starbucks Will Open Its First US Deaf Friendly Store This Fall

Starbucks announced plans to open its first Singing Store in the U.S., a café designed specifically for the deaf community. The store is opening in Washington D.C., where all baristas will be versed in American Sign Language (ASL). While the store will appeal to all customers, it will promote accessibility and offer employment to the Deaf and hard of hearing community.

“The National Association of the Deaf applauds Starbucks for opening a Signing Store that employs Deaf and hard of hearing people,” said Howard A. Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf. “Starbucks has taken an innovative approach to incorporating Deaf Culture that will increase employment opportunities as well as accessibility for Deaf and hard of hearing people, while at the same time educating and enlightening society.”

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According to Starbucks, the store will employee up to 25 deaf, hard of hearing and hearing partners from across the country to work at the Signing Store with a requirement that all be proficient in ASL. Says Starbucks:

The idea to open a Signing Store in the U.S. was inspired by a similar Starbucks Signing Store which opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2016 with nine Deaf partners. Starbucks partners in the U.S. voiced the opportunity to create a similar third-place experience for the Deaf and hard of hearing community in the U.S., and traveled to Malaysia last July for the first-year anniversary to understand design modifications and gain knowledge to create the best possible store experience for Deaf and hard of hearing customers in the U.S.

Deaf baristas will have special ASL aprons (embroidered by a deaf supplier), and hearing partners who sign will have an “I Sign” pin. According to the company, the Singing Store “will also incorporate aspects of Deaf Space, including an open environment for communication and low glare reflective surfaces. For customers new to sign language, the store will offer communication options for ordering and receiving beverages at the hand-off counter.”

The Signing Store is scheduled to open in early October.

Will The Empire Or Garden State Legalize Weed First?

Mary Schumacher
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Will The Empire Or Garden State Legalize Weed First?

The latest big question looming as New Jersey continues to drag its feet in adult-use cannabis legalization is this: will New York now get there first? And if New York does go first, what will it mean for the New Jersey marketplace once it opens?

It’s true, New Yorkers don’t often have call to cross into New Jersey. Maybe that’s where their family lives or they’re shore lovers. Perhaps the casinos call every now and again or a football game can’t be missed. But what experts think will really draw the Big Apple crowd to the Jersey side is legal cannabis, according to NJ.com. That draw would mean even heftier tax revenue for the state, but that’s only if it legalizes first.

Plenty of Northern New Jerseyans commute to New York for work, entertainment and shopping every day, and though Gov. Phil Murphy is more gung-ho about cannabis legalization than NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo seems to be, Cuomo has been warming up to the idea of cannabis legalization in a big way recently. Plus, Cynthia Nixon of  “Sex And The City” fame is planning a run against Cuomo in the coming gubernatorial primary and part of her platform is the legalization of cannabis in NY state.

Likely because he is soon facing off with Nixon in a high stakes election, Cuomo recently commissioned a study into what cannabis legalization in New York would look like. Well, the study is complete and the results came back positive. New York is pregnant with the need for legalization. The study showed that the benefits to recreational allowance outweighed the negatives and the once anti-marijuana Cuomo appears to have been convinced.

NJ’s Murphy ran on a partial platform of cannabis legalization, touting that he’d have it legalized in his first 100 days in office. Those days have come and gone, and Murphy has fixed up and expanded medical use, but legalization is proving a harder sell to the State Senate. They’re reportedly getting closer to an agreement, but only time will tell.

Whichever state does end up coming in first will likely reap some extra tax revenue from residents of the other, but either way it’s a win and either way both states seem to be leaning in the direction of imminent legalization, so there is much to celebrate in the way of cannabis on both sides of the Hudson River.

Dem. Lawmaker: ‘Marijuana Should Be Legal In All 50 States’

Brendan Bures
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Dem. Lawmaker: ‘Marijuana Should Be Legal In All 50 States’

The political support for cannabis legalization grew louder over the weekend, thanks to Rep. Tim Ryan. The Ohio Democrat called for marijuana to be legalized in all 50 states in an op-ed for CNN.

“As co-chair of the House Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, I’ve been hesitant to support legalizing marijuana in the past,” Ryan wrote. “But after meeting with countless Ohio families and youth whose lives have been irreparably harmed by a marijuana arrest, I find the social and economic injustices of our marijuana policy too big to ignore.”

Ryan added that believes “no person should be sentenced to a lifetime of hardship because of a marijuana arrest.” He called such action “morally wrong” and “economically nonsensical.”

“That is why I am calling for an end to marijuana being used as an excuse to lock up our fellow Americans,” he wrote. “Marijuana should be legal in all 50 states.”

Ryan emphasized the need for Americans to invest in a country that would boost everyone. To support his views Ryan referenced studies that demonstrate how legalizing marijuana could impact financially. In fact, marijuana legalization could save “save $7.7 billion in averted enforcement costs and add $6 billion in additional tax revenue — a $13.7 billion net savings. Not to mention the reported 782,000 jobs it could create on day one.”

A massive improvement Congress could make, according to Ryan, is to pass the Marijuana Justice Act. The bill would remove marijuana’s designation as a Schedule I drug, which would eliminate criminal penalties for those who distribute marijuana.

“The War on Drugs failed the American people,” Ryan concluded. “It is time for us to take the necessary steps to right our nation’s wrongs. We cannot afford to leave people behind and money on the table.”

Birthing This Many Kids May Increase Alzheimer’s Risk By 70%

Amy Hansen
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Birthing This Many Kids May Increase Alzheimer’s Risk By 70%

The number of times a woman gives birth can greatly affect her chances of developing Alzheimer’s Disease, according to a new study.

The research, which was done on more than 3,500 women in South Korea and Greece, found that women over the age of 60, who birthed at least five kids, may be 70 percent more likely to be afflicted by the disease than those who have given birth to fewer children. On the flip side, women who had experienced one or two incomplete pregnancies were much less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than women who had never been pregnant at all.

“Based on previous research, we expected that pregnancy with childbirth may be associated with the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” study author Dr. Ki Woong Kim, a neuropsychiatrist at Seoul National University, told CNN. “However we were quite surprised that incomplete pregnancy was associated with the lower risk of Alzheimer’s, which we did not expect at the beginning of our research.”

In the United States alone, 5.5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s — 3.4 million of which are women.

So, what gives? It appears to be a result of estrogen cycles during pregnancy.

“In animals, early pregnancy was associated with improved cognition while late pregnancy and early postpartum with impaired cognition,” Kim told CNN. “In both animals and humans, estrogen is neuroprotective when it is modestly elevated while neurotoxic when extremely elevated.”

Kim told CNN that by the third trimester, estrogen levels can spike “up to 40-fold higher” than during a woman’s menstrual cycle. However, within four days of giving birth, estrogen levels for most women quickly drop back to normal.

And this may be the problem, according to Kim, who says too many births may have a negative effect on women by continually exposing them to dramatic peaks and valleys of estrogen levels.

The takeaway here is that more research needs to be done, as women can be more susceptible to Alzheimer’s for multiple reasons.

James Hendrix, who directs the global science initiatives for the Alzheimer’s Association, agrees with the need for more research. He tells CNN he feels that it’s premature to suggest hormones are the main culprit.

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The Fresh Toast is an award-winning lifestyle & health platform with a side of cannabis. We work hard each day to bring uplifting and informative information about culture, weed, celebrity, tech and medical marijuana.

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