Sunday, December 21, 2025
Home Blog Page 948

Proof Marijuana Is More Than 100 Times Safer Than Alcohol

Trey Reckling
-
0
Proof Marijuana Is More Than 100 Times Safer Than Alcohol

There are more than 2,000 alcohol poisoning deaths each year in the U.S. — that’s an average of six a day. Marijuana, on the other hand, is not considered lethal at any humanly reasonable dose.

If alcohol were under the same scrutiny for its health impact that marijuana continues to be, bars would not be allowed to exist. After all, marijuana has been shown to be more than 100 times safer than alcohol. Is it any wonder that many Americans are reassessing their relationship with alcohol and are now choosing to smoke some dank buds instead of opening a Bud Light? Science has delivered proof marijuan is more than 100 times safer than alcohol.

It’s hard to second guess the logic. What we know about alcohol from impact studies shows it to be a public health crisis that continues year after year. Excessive alcohol use has been tied to heart disease, fatty liver, cirrhosis, depression, dementia and other life altering conditions.

As we know, it is far from the benign party enhancer that commercials sell:

  • Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive drug in the United States.
  • 33 million Americans struggle with alcohol use disorder. 
  • The Centers for Disease Control estimate that approximately 88,000 Americans die as a result of excessive alcohol use each year 
  • 10,265 people died in alcohol-impaired driving accidents In 2015 alone. That is 1/3 of all traffic deaths that year.

There are approximately 2,200 alcohol poisoning deaths each year in the U.S. That is an average of six a day. Marijuana enthusiasts in the know will be quick to remind you that cannabis is not considered lethal at any humanly reasonable dose.

RELATED: Can Medical Marijuana Help Alcoholics Stop Drinking For Good?

In addition to impact to individuals, binge drinking has real economic impact as well. In 2010 alone alcohol use was estimated to cost the US nearly $250 billion.

In both American and Canadian studies, about 40 percent of patients have shown to replace alcohol with marijuana use when given the option. The studies seem to have been foreshadowing of public choices in the marketplace.

The Cannabiz Consumer Group has shown that legal marijuana has stripped nearly 7 percent from beer sales in markets where both legal options are available. They predicted that the beer industry alone would stand to lose $2 billion in annual sales if legal marijuana were available in all 50 states.

RELATED: The Key To Treating Alcoholism With Medical Marijuana

Although millennials were the segment of the public expected to make the switch to cannabis, seniors have also been shown to be a quickly growing population. Considering the therapeutic qualities of the herb for ailments often associated with aging, it should be no surprise that many older consumers appreciate the value in this healthier intoxicant.

Consumers of all ages may appreciate and benefit medicinal qualities of cannabis as a remedy for inflammation, chronic and neuropathic pain, GI issues as well as insomnia and a host of others.

Large numbers of patients are ahead of the curve and have substituted their pharma meds for marijuana. Medicaid records have shown a substantial decrease in pharmaceutical reimbursements in states that have medical marijuana available.

The question seems to be not whether people will substitute alcohol use with marijuana but how much they will do it. Though marijuana is not without risk, it’s tough to argue against an intoxicant that is exponentially safer than alcohol and not known to produce hangovers. That is simple math for some. In time we’ll see just how many.

How PAX Plans To Truly Become The ‘Apple Of Marijuana’

Brendan Bures
-
0
How PAX Plans To Truly Become The ‘Apple Of Marijuana’

If you talk to the folks of PAX Lab, the company behind the cannabis industry’s premiere loose-leaf vaporizer, don’t expect a conversation about products. They’re more than willing to discuss their line of vaporizers of course, but what they’re interested in as a brand is something more abstract. As the cannabis industry expands into a more mainstream platform, PAX is changing how it approaches its consumers, and becoming something more “mission-driven.”

In short, their tagline of being “the Apple of cannabis” will soon mean something more literal.

“We derive a great amount of inspiration from Apple and other brands that have built products where it’s fairly user-centric,” PAX CEO Bharat Vasan says. “We feel an obligation and a desire to earn folks’ trust every day on the quality of the product, the quality of the experience, keeping their best interests in heart.”

In a page stolen from the Steve Jobs’ playbook, PAX Vice-President & General Manager of PAX Era JJ O’Brien says, “It’s about storytelling. It’s about finding ways to tell new stories.”

The shift in direction from the brand’s origins also marks an overall change in connecting with their consumers. Instead of being recognized as a company that produces great products, Vasan wants PAX to focus on cannabis education and overall making marijuana “a little more approachable, a little less scary.”

When Vasan talks about the company in this way, the Apple comparisons become obvious. For many, the iPod was their first mp3 player, the iPhone was their first “smartphone,” and the iPad the first tablet they ever owned. More than any technology company, Apple focused on making something possibly niche into a palatable and pleasant user experience.

PAX only made sleekly designed and packaged products like Apple at first. The first PAX vaporizers famously didn’t come with any directions. Hidden features abounded inside the device, but you could only discover them through either word of mouth or trial and error. But starting with the PAX 3 and PAX Era—which The Cannabist called “the vaporizer of the future for concentrate lovers”—users can access an app that can customize temperature and flavor, as well as provide security for their vaporizers.

“There’s all these things you can do that humanize the same core product,” Vasan says. “Whereas the first buyers of the iPhone were probably hardcore cutting-edge technology geeks, I think we see the same evolution where PAX has done really well and has street cred with folks that really use the product and know the space. But it also has a lot of credibility because we focus on things like design simplicity, ease of use, security that makes it easier for new people coming in.”

That attitude also explains their partnership with Blue River and Thievery Corporation for 4/20. “Lebanese Blonde” was Thievery Corp’s breakout single, memorably featured in the 2004 Zach Braff film Garden State. You may not immediately recognize it while listening, but it’s a song about smoking a strain of Lebanese hashish. Though other weed-friendly celebrities haven’t been shy about cashing out and slapping their name on any product, Thievery Corp. sat on the possible tie-in.

Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation called it an “easy choice” to work with PAX and Blue River, whose proprietary technology allows for a full-plant extract on cannabis concentrates. Together the partners have produced a Thievery Corporation limited edition PAX Era and a “Lebanese Blonde” cannabis oil PAX pod.

Photos courtesy of PAX

Echoing how craft beer made beer culture more approachable, this collaboration is another means of mainstreaming marijuana to a more casual consumer, one who doesn’t care for stoner culture and Rastafarian beanies and Purple Dank.

“We aren’t out there touting Rasta flags and speaking to the cannabis culture of years ago, we’re really pushing forward what it means to be a cannabis consumer in this dawn of the legal cannabis age,” O’Brien says of the collaboration. “That’s really the kind of ethos we’ve taken with this and we’ll continue take going forward.”

With the ongoing expansion of the cannabis industry, the space exists for a cannabis brand to introduce and develop a genuine relationship with new consumers. To truly become the “Apple of marijuana,” in other words. One thing’s for sure, though: PAX wants to assume that mantle moving forward.

“These are incredibly personal products to people and we don’t take that lightly,” Vasan says. “We’re not in the business of selling them lots of products. The relationship is about trust fundamentally, so we take that seriously.”

How CBD Helped Control This Teenager’s ADHD And Tourette’s Syndrome

Sara Somerset
-
0
How CBD Helped Control This Teenager’s ADHD And Tourette’s Syndrome

Roxanne Benton has a store that sells tools and supplies to people in the aromatherapy industry. A few years ago when her teenage son Bevan was diagnosed with ADHD and Tourette’s, she asked a dear friend what she would do in the same situation, and it just so happened she had some helpful essential oils on hand.

Fast forward a few years, Bevan’s Tourette’s kicked in with a vengeance. The social pecking order of junior high is tough enough. Throw in ADHD and Tourette’s and you have one unhappy, picked-on kid.

Bevan’s doctor had given him Clonadine, a blood pressure medication, to “chill him out a bit.” It didn’t do anything for his anxiety or help him sleep. And it certainly didn’t do anything for his tics or “glitches,” as he and his mom called them. From the sidelines, Roxanne could still see him “glitching” while he was on the Lacrosse field.

“Seeing your son twitch uncontrollably with such force — tantamount to whiplash — is horrifying. I would do anything for him, take any pain I could for him. That’s what moms do.”

Since Roxanne had been using essential oils in her health and wellness routines as well as her business for over six years at this point, it eventually led her to meeting John Taylor. He informed her about a CBD project he was working on in Kentucky. This project utilized hemp that is grown under a Federal Pilot Program. It is flavored with natural CO2 extracts, is pesticide-free and is federally legal throughout the U.S., as per the Farm Bill of 2014.

Naturally, Roxanne trusted her friend John and considered the idea of allowing Bevan to try some CBD oil.

“I was so excited to get my first bottle from John. I gave some to Bevan, and took some myself. I don’t know if he slept so well because he was just tired and could finally get to REM sleep, or what – but I was grateful that he could finally sleep so soundly. After two days of taking CBD, I knew that while we still had lots of work to do, I had my boy back – for the first time in a very long time,” she said with relief. Bevan was calmer and more attentive. He was still “glitching,” but not nearly as drastically.

Incidentally, Bevan is Celtic for “Youthful Warrior.” Fairly soon after he implemented CBD in his diet, this ordinary mom’s extraordinary kid rediscovered himself, while Roxanne discovered the potential to heal, in the cannabis space.

After seeing him a few times, Bevan’s therapist noticed that his demeanor had changed. He was paying more attention during his sessions, and he seemed to be more “present.”

Roxanne hadn’t mentioned to her son’s therapist that he was taking CBD until he remarked to her that her son was behaving differently.

“I told him about the whole story about my friend, the manufacturer of CBD in Kentucky and how we gave it to Bevan. His therapist said to ‘keep it up!’ ” she said.

Roxanne was so happy with Bevan’s progress — He is now 15 and still plays Lacrosse — that she began to spread the news to her aromatherapy followers.

“I already had a small audience, and they were thirsty for knowledge about how this misunderstood plant, this natural product, could help so many with widely varied issues. So, I did what I do best — dug into research and started offering my own brand of Patriot Botanicals CBD to my customers.”

These days Roxanne is helping people realize that CBD is neither a snake oil nor a cure-all. “As I understand it,” she says, “CBD mainly helps bring our bodies back to homeostasis, so our bodies can work more efficiently.”

New NASA Animation Is Literally Over The Moon

Maria Loreto
-
0
New NASA Animation Is Literally Over The Moon

NASA has released a video showing how incredible the moon looks on 4K resolution. The footage was captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft that’s tasked with recording the different sides of the moon and capturing the satellite in all its glory.

This footage was recorded in 2011, when the spacecraft was launched on a mission called the Tour of the Moon, where the camera visits a lot of interesting sites in order to show the different features of lunar terrain. The footage was recently released with a voice over and 4K resolution, so people would make popcorn, watch this with their friends and scream every five seconds about how trippy and weird space is.

The tour shows the viewer the different sides of the moon, including the parts that are facing the Earth, which can be seen through a telescope, and the areas that can only be seen from space. It also includes digital elevation models, which show how the terrain is made up.

The guy who narrates the video explains the different parts of the moon and informs you on interesting things, such as a part of the moon that features some of the coldest weather ever reported. The best part of the video is when they show some of the Apollo landing sites, just in case you want to watch the Tom Hanks movie after you’re done and have a space double feature.

Pepper Is The Coolest Humanoid Robot Even If It’s A Little Dumb

Maria Loreto
-
0
Pepper Is The Coolest Humanoid Robot Even If It’s A Little Dumb

Pepper is a robot designed by SoftBank Robotics America with the purpose of making life easier and assisting humans on the job. Pepper is a greeter, one of the first robots of its kind. It helps guests out in hotels, hospitals, malls and airports, saving them time and helping them avoid human interaction for those moments when people don’t feel like engaging in conversations.

WIRED interviewed SoftBank Robotics, which explained how Pepper works. The robot can only handle basic conversations, mostly based on yes or no answers. It can also dance and propose games. Pepper has trouble when it comes to more complex forms of conversations, ones that involve social cues or facial interactions. Because of this, the robot has a touchscreen, which you can activate when you want to find something fast or don’t feel like asking.

Pepper works very similarly to Alexa and the Google Home. The main difference between these different forms of artificial intelligence (A.I.) is the fact that Pepper has a body and, for us humans, that’s a big deal. Even though you can ask any A.I. questions, there’s something about interacting with a device that has a physical and relatable presence.

A.I. of this sort marks a new type of interaction for humans. Interacting with Pepper is not like interacting with a person or a pet; it’s something new altogether that has the possibility of changing and growing.

The First Major Sports Team To Have Marijuana Sponsorship

Brendan Bures
-
0
The First Major Sports Team To Have Marijuana Sponsorship

For the first time, an American professional sports team will publicly associate with a cannabis company. The Las Vegas Lights is an expansion team in the United Soccer League, and thanks to a deal with the local Paiute tribe, they can partner with the NuWu Cannabis Marketplace. The team will promote NuWu Cannabis at the home stadium, Cashman Field. The Las Vegas 51s, the New York Mets Triple-A franchise, also plays there.

Related: Cannabis Company Receives Big Investment From Snoop Dogg

“We love Las Vegas, and we’re not embarrassed to support any business here,” team owner Brett Lashbrook told ESPN. “This is the right time and the right market to do this, and we’re not going to hide. We think this will be part of the destigmatization of this substance and business. This isn’t some shady guys walking around with hoods over their heads. This shop is closer to an Apple Store.”

Not only does NuWu Cannabis more closely resemble an Apple Store, it’s also the biggest marijuana store in the world at 5,800 square feet. It also operates a 24-hour drive thru. According to the vice chairman of the Chris Spotted Eagle tribe, the marketplace services more than 1,000 people a day through a combination of medical and recreational cannabis sales.

Related: Combining Seattle’s Coffee And Cannabis Cultures Into One Shop

How exactly the team will promote marijuana might prove tricky, due to federal laws regarding cannabis advertising to children. But Lashbrook expects the deal will lead to branded cannabis inside the store and Spotted Eagle indicated Las Vegas Lights paraphernalia is a possibility. Only in Las Vegas.

Nike Launches White Widow Sneaker For 4/20

Terry Hacienda
-
0
Nike Launches White Widow Sneaker For 4/20

Nike has done it again. In honor of 4/20, the unofficial cannabis holiday, the global shoe giant has teamed up with renown skateboard artist Todd Bratrud to launch a limited-release sneaker inspired by the marijuana culture.

The Nike SB Dunk Mid “White Widow” pays homage to the popular type of marijuana found in just about every cannabis retail store in the nation. The sneaker features Bratrud’s unique design of a red-eyed spider on the insoles.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhXuYuTAn4E

This is not the first time Nike and Bratrud have collaborated on a shoe design specifically for the 4/2o holiday. In 2010, the creative partnership created Nike SB Dunk High “Skunk” and in 2011, there was the Nike SB Dunk High “Cheech & Chong.”

This is how Nike describes the footwear on its website:

Acclaimed skate artist Todd Bratrud brings his illustrative talents from skateboards to footwear, teaming up with Nike SB for this SB Dunk Mid Pro. Featuring a hairy suede upper in green with matching white overlays, red accents add style inspired by the white widow graphic on the sockliner. A stash pocket under the tongue helps secure your essentials before, during and after your session.

The sneaker will be available at select Nike retailers and on Nike.com beginning Friday, April 20. The retail price is $100.

The price may seem a bit high, but some shoe collectors consider these babies to be a worthwhile investment. A pair of the Cheech & Chong sneakers is for sale on eBay for $799. 

Social Media Pro Tips: How To Get Instagram Verified

Amy Hansen
-
0
Social Media Pro Tips: How To Get Instagram Verified

When looking for someone important on Instagram, you usually stop scrolling when you see the little white checkmark encapsulated by a blue circle next to the name. Translation? That person is verified (i.e. important).

But not just anyone can get verified. According to Instagram:

Accounts representing well-known figures and brands are verified because they have a high likelihood of being impersonated. We want to make sure that people in the Instagram community can easily find the authentic people and brands they want to follow.

Forbes contributor Tom Ward made it his mission to try and find out if an average Joe like himself could get verified. And by “average Joe,” we mean someone who has a substantial Instagram following already.

According to Instagram, it’s not currently possible to request or purchase a verified badge. “Only some public figures, celebrities and brands have verified badges,” they say.

According to Ward, that’s not actually true. You can both request and pay for a badge — just not through Instagram. Says Ward:

I reached out to every verified person that I knew, and found that there are really only three ways to be verified: Be famous and have a ton of followers, work with a digital agency and have them submit a request for you, or pay a third party or someone at Instagram to get you verified.

Ward says most of the verified people he spoke with worked with a digital agency or publicist to get their badge, because “agencies and publicists have access to a digital portal that the rest of us don’t.”

Public figures with millions of followers will likely have no problem getting verified, even if it takes awhile. But regular folks? “Really, the only way to do it is to know someone at Instagram or pay a third party to do it for you,” says Ward, who reached out on Twitter to see if anyone had any advice.

He was contacted by a guy who knows a guy at Instagram who charges $500 per verified badge. Very blackmarket.

“He told me it’s his friend’s side hustle, and although Instagram has cracked down on employees getting their friends verified; he still charges a couple of people a month to get verified.”

So, which is easier? Giving up $500 or making that blue dot your next side hustle by working tirelessly to grow followers the old-fashioned way, through content creation and engagement? Both sound terrible.

Inside Lyft’s 420 Campaign That Hopes To Keep Roads Safe

Terry Hacienda
-
0
Inside Lyft’s 420 Campaign That Hopes To Keep Roads Safe

If you’re going to be celebrating 4/20, the unofficial cannabis holiday, the last thing you want to do is drive impaired. Ride-sharing service Lyft is teaming up with the movie Super Troopers 2 to spread the word.

“Lyft wants to be a reliable, and affordable partner for marijuana enthusiasts,” according to the company’s website. “That’s why during April 20 we will also be offering up to $4.20 off your next ride.”

The PSA campaign and ride discounts will be available in six large cities from legal marijuana states:

  • Denver
  • Las Vegas
  • Los Angeles
  • San Francisco
  • Portland
  • Seattle

In each of these cities, Lyfe will be offering discounted rides of up to $4.2o.

A recent report by The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that, after analyzing data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, deadly crashes rise 12 percent after 4:20 p.m. through the rest of the day.

Researchers looked at records from April 20ths in the past 25 years. The crash was considered fatal if someone involved in it died within 30 days of it happening. Calculations showed 7.1 crashes per hour during that time period. Similar incidents during the control group, the same time period a week before and after that day, were 6.1.

“These crashes really don’t have to happen,” the senior author, Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, told The New York Times. “In the Netherlands, they’ve had legalized marijuana for years, but they have many more interventions—speed cameras, radar, sobriety checkpoints. The roads in the Netherlands are now much safer than those in the U.S.”

The increase is in line with the rise in risk on Super Bowl Sunday.

When the data was broken down by state, New York topped the list of fatal crashes on April 20 with Georgia second. Minnesota saw the smallest increase.

Prince William And His Bodyguard Can’t Get Enough Of This Fast Food Chain

Amy Hansen
-
0
Prince William And His Bodyguard Can’t Get Enough Of This Fast Food Chain

We’re seriously starting to wonder if Prince William has ever eaten anything other than chicken. He’s acknowledged it’s the one dish he loves to cook, it’s the dish he and Kate make at home when they’re just hanging out being royal, and now, he “reveals” that he’s a big fan of a fast-food chicken joint. You’re a thrill a minute, Will.

The future brother-in-law of Meghan Markle said that he’s a fan of a place called Nando’s, which has locations across the globe, including Illinois, Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC Nando’s serves peri-peri chicken, which according to their website, “PERi-PERi, also known as the African Bird’s Eye Chilli, is the key to our legendary, flame-grilled PERi-PERi chicken. It’s grown in the African soil, so the magic starts from the ground up. ”

Will says he became a fan after one of his protection officers, who is a diehard fan, introduced him to the fast-casual spot.

According to People, Will told told Robert Brozin, the guy who started the company in Johannesburg, South Africa back in 1987, that he recently started eating the eatery’s spicy chicken. Referring to his protection officer, Will told Brozin, “This man here is your biggest fan, he’s introduced me to Nando’s. It’s very good.”

Brozin said he wasn’t surprised Will had eaten his chicken because “the beauty of Prince Harry and Prince William is that they’re really accessible and they are guys that go out a lot – I’m very happy that they’ve tried it.”

Other celebs who enjoy a Nando’s every now and then include Oprah, Jay-Z, David Beckham, and Rihanna.

Brozin credits “the people that work for us and the product obviously, it’s the people that make the chicken.”

1...947948949...1,460Page 948 of 1,460

Don't Miss Your Weekly Dose of The Fresh Toast.

Stay informed with exclusive news briefs delivered directly to your inbox every Friday.

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.

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.

© Copyright @2020