Norma Pence

Cannabidiol (or CBD), a nonpsychoactive derivative of marijuana or hemp , is thought to ease everything from anxiety to chronic pain , but if you’ve wondered if it could help treat your inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome, the answer is, well, perhaps. While the two conditions are very similar, there are distinct differences in what we know about their causes and symptoms and how CBD can be used to alleviate them, explained Rachna Patel, MD , a California-licensed physician and CBD expert. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an autoimmune issue in which the body attacks the GI tract, often diagnosed as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis . The symptoms include severe stomach cramps and nausea and, more rarely, vomiting and poor appetite. The cause of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) isn’t as well understood, but it shares many of the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, as well as a few more, including alternating episodes of diarrhea and constipation . Can CB...

The candy bowl is filled, the party invites are out, and the spooky decorations are making the pad look deliciously goth. Hell, you even carved a pumpkin this year. You’re ready for the stoner Halloween night of your nightmares, except … you’ve still got to stock up on strains! Nothing gets people in the mood for scary movies and candy corn like sparking up a joint or passing around a bowl. So, if you still need to run out and pick up, here are a few of Marijuana.com’s favorite Halloween-themed marijuana strains to a wonderfully dark and lit All Hallow’s Eve. Your 2018 Halloweed Strain List Frankenstein Frankenstein re-animates the soul and invigorates the mind. According to Seattle’s Private Reserve , this Indica-like strain was created from a mysterious pool of intoxicating genetics, and is is known for its intriguing appearance and powerful cerebral effects. Great for relaxing on any normal evening, this strain would make the perfect companion for watching your favorite horror m...

You’ve probably heard that marijuana legalization is on the ballot in several states in November. But if you haven’t heard—and you live in one of those states—you might soon be receiving a call from a volunteer with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). The national advocacy group recently launched a “legalization phone bank” to help get out the vote ahead of the midterm elections. Volunteers can use a tool on the group’s website to register to call voters in Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota and Utah and make sure they know that cannabis reform is on the ballot. To help callers get started, SSDP provided scripts and links to other reference material for each of the four states. A call to North Dakota, which has a full cannabis legalization initiative on the ballot, might sound like this, for example: 1. Hi, is this (voter)? My name is (caller), and I’m a volunteer with Students for Sensible Drug Policy. In this election, you’ll have the chance to vote on Measure 3, which wo...

The top Republican in the U.S. House has issued a surprise endorsement of a key marijuana ingredient’s medical benefits, as well as the uses of industrial hemp. “It has proven to work,” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said of cannabidiol (CBD) on Oct. 30, 2018, specifying that it “helps reduce seizures.” “We do this in Wisconsin,” he said, referring to his home state’s limited CBD law. “That that oil, I think works well.” The speaker, who is not running for re-election and is retiring from Congress early next year, shared that his own mother-in-law used a synthetic form of cannabinoids, presumably the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) pill Marinol, while dying from melanoma and ovarian cancer. “That’s off the record,” he said jokingly, referencing TV cameras at the well-attended Kentucky rally where he was appearing in support of Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is locked in a tight re-election race. Ryan, responding to a medical marijuana question from a woman whose husband died, al...

Another day, another round of studies suggesting that legalizing marijuana can help mitigate the harms of the opioid epidemic. This time, one study published Oct. 25, 2018, in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence looked at how adult-use legalization impacted opioid prescriptions. And a separate research paper published Oct. 20, 2018, explored how medical cannabis dispensaries affect opioid overdoses. Both studies bode well for reform advocates who’ve argued that legal marijuana can serve as a safer alternative to prescription painkillers. Here’s what you need to know about each new paper. 1. Adult-use legalization is associated with a decrease in the number of prescriptions, total doses and spending on opioids among Medicaid enrollees. Researchers examined prescription data for Medicaid enrollees from 2010 to 2017. The team found “ no evidence to support the concern that recreational marijuana legalization increased opioid prescriptions received by Medicaid enrollees.” Rath...

As the old saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar—but apparently you catch even more with marijuana. At least, that seems to be the case with blood-sucking phlebotomine sand flies, according to a new study published this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Because this type of fly is known to serve as a vector for a tropical disease called leishamiasis—which can cause skins sores and affect internal organs —researchers wanted to learn about its feeding preferences. The idea was that discovering those preferences can help prevent disease transmission by essentially luring the flies away from vulnerable populations, using their favorite meal as bait. While female sand flies suck blood for protein, males and females both consume “plant-based sugar meals” for energy. And after rounding up some sand fly samples from five sites in Africa, South America and Asia, the researchers used a sequencing tool to figure out what kind of plants the flies p...

You’ve probably heard that marijuana legalization is on the ballot in several states in November. But if you haven’t heard—and you live in one of those states—you might soon be receiving a call from a volunteer with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). The national advocacy group recently launched a “legalization phone bank” to help get out the vote ahead of the midterm elections. Volunteers can use a tool on the group’s website to register to call voters in Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota and Utah and make sure they know that cannabis reform is on the ballot. To help callers get started, SSDP provided scripts and links to other reference material for each of the four states. A call to North Dakota, which has a full cannabis legalization initiative on the ballot, might sound like this, for example: 1. Hi, is this (voter)? My name is (caller), and I’m a volunteer with Students for Sensible Drug Policy. In this election, you’ll have the chance to vote on Measure 3, which w...

The midterm elections could loosen marijuana restrictions in the United States, as four states put ballot initiatives on legalization to a vote. Voters in Utah and Missouri will choose whether patients should gain access to medical marijuana. In Michigan and North Dakota, where medical marijuana is already legal, residents will decide whether to allow it for recreational use. If so, they would join nine U.S. states , Washington, D.C., Canada and Uruguay in launching a regulated recreational marijuana market. Another 22 American states have adopted comprehensive medical marijuana programs since 1996, when California became the first to recognize the medicinal uses of marijuana in easing the symptoms of serious illnesses like HIV, cancer, epilepsy, PTSD and glaucoma. Recently, marijuana’s potential value for treating chronic pain has garnered attention as an alternative to opioids. Read: Canada is running out of marijuana No tipping point Support for marijuana legalization has...

Just weeks after closing a $100 million capital raise , Chicago-based Cresco Labs is growing again – this time through acquisitions in Arizona and Illinois. The multistate cannabis firm announced that it has acquired Arizona Facilities Supply, which provides management services to Encanto Green Cross Dispensary. Encanto is licensed to cultivate, process and dispense medical marijuana across the state. The deal adds two cultivation sites, a processing facility and a dispensary to Cresco’s Arizona portfolio, which already includes a cultivation and dispensary operation. Terms of the deal, which included cash and equity considerations, were not disclosed. Cresco also signed a definitive agreement to acquire FloraMedex, a medical cannabis dispensary located in the Chicago suburb of Elmwood Park – Cresco’s third acquisition in Illinois. Cresco Labs also has operations in California, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. “Our growth strategy from Day One has been set on having a nationa...

(This is an abridged version of a story that appears at  Hemp Industry Daily .) Some Canadian hemp farmers are proposing a 0.5% tax on product sales that would help fund research and promotion of their goods. The plan – similar to commodity checkoff programs that are common in the U.S. – would include the  creation of an agency to research better ways to grow hemp and to publicize its health benefits. The Farm Products Council of Canada plans to consider the proposal at a hearing in January. Written opinions are due Nov. 24. If the Council likes the idea, it could recommend the hemp checkoff to Canada’s Minister of Agriculture. A federal Cabinet would make the final decision. The ad hoc pro-tax group has the support of the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance. But a fear the levy could decrease profits doesn’t sit well with some other Canadian hemp farmers. ( Click here to read more about the debate over this unique proposal.) Original Article Source: https://mjbizd...

DPA gives $50k to state legal marijuana measures; How to make CO law more equitable; Federal RICO trial starts this week Subscribe  to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day. Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible… This issue of Marijuana Moment, and our original reporting that is featured in it, are made possible by the generous support of 337 Patreon sponsors . Cannabis industry professionals receive valuable rewards for pledges of $25 and up. Check out the perks of being a sponsor on our Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW The latest Michigan marijuana legalization campaign finance reports show that opponents have significantly more cash on hand for lead up to Election Day than supporters do. The political arm of the Drug Policy Alliance kicked in $25,000 to each of the legal marijuana efforts in Michig...

Major late contributions are flowing into the coffers of Michigan and Missouri political action committees that have been set up to support or oppose marijuana ballot initiatives in those states, Marijuana Moment’s latest analysis of campaign finance data shows. In Missouri, physician Bradley Bradshaw continues to pour money into the Find the Cures committee in support of Amendment 3. For October, since filing quarter three reports , the group reports $343,000 in contributions from Bradshaw in the form of loans. He had contributed $7,500 in cash in quarter three, and also provided $186,121 in loans. Find the Cures is also getting late support from legal firms, with five outfits contributing $45,000. New Approach Missouri, which supports Amendment 2, reported that it had received $125,000 from Washington, D.C.-based New Approach PAC. A committee set up to combat Bradshaw’s Measure 3, Patients Against Bradshaw Amendment Formally Known As Find The Cures Political Act...

Major late contributions are flowing into the coffers of Michigan and Missouri political action committees that have been set up to support or oppose marijuana ballot initiatives in those states, Marijuana Moment’s latest analysis of campaign finance data shows. In Missouri, physician Bradley Bradshaw continues to pour money into the Find the Cures committee in support of Amendment 3. For October, since filing third quarter reports , the group reported $343,000 in cash contributions from Bradshaw. He had contributed $7,500 in cash in the third quarter and provided $186,121 in loans. Find the Cures is also getting late support from legal firms, with five practices contributing $45,000. New Approach Missouri, which supports Amendment 2, reported that it had received $125,000 from Washington, D.C.-based New Approach PAC. A committee set up to combat Bradshaw’s Measure 3, Patients Against Bradshaw Amendment Formally Known As Find The Cures Political Action Committee, reported only $757...

By, Melinda Deslatte BATON ROUGE, La. ( AP ) — More than three years have passed since Louisiana lawmakers established a framework for dispensing medical marijuana in the state, and the timeline for patients to gain legal access to the drug keeps getting pushed back. The new estimate for when therapeutic cannabis will be available is late January 2019, though the only state-sanctioned grower currently operating says that product release may be stalled until May 2019 instead, amid a disagreement with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. State regulators took years to set the rules, license the doctors, and choose the pharmacies. And now that the crop has been planted, new issues seem to continue emerging as the conservative Southern state grapples with how to restrict, yet offer medical marijuana. Friction in particular seems to have emerged between GB Sciences, the grower chosen by the agricultural center at Louisiana State University (LSU), and the agriculture...

Most women experience at least some mild aches and discomfort before and during menstruation. For an unfortunate minority, period cramps go beyond an annoyance to a severity that can be debilitating, disrupting the lives of these women and leaving them sidelined from regular activities for a few days each month. Is it possible that cannabis can kick those cramps to the curb? To answer this question, Marijuana.com spoke to gynecologist Dr. Melanie Bone  Board-certified for almost 30 years in West Palm Beach, Florida, Bone became a certified medical marijuana practitioner in 2016.  She says she is passionate about “the intersection of cannabis and women’s health,” and has come to believe in the importance of the endocannabinoid system and the role all types of phytotherapies play in women’s well being. Q: Let’s cut to the chase. Can cannabis relieve menstrual cramps? A: If you look at the data available on using cannabis for things like menstrual cramps, there are no prosp...

Marijuana and tobacco were featured in nearly half of the most popular hip-hop and R&B music videos from 2013 to 2017, new research finds. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine on Monday, takes a critical look at the prevalence of regulated products appearing in hit music videos. The team of researchers found that 40 to 50 percent of the videos reviewed depicted smoking or vaping tobacco or cannabis. “While there is no doubt that hip-hop artists have made many positive contributions to social change—speaking out on issues like police violence against minorities—there’s also a history of showing regulated substances in hip-hop and other popular music,” Kristin Knutzen, lead author of the study, said in a press release. “These depictions may affect fans’ attitudes toward smoking and increase the likelihood of smoking—particularly among young people.” For the analysis , researchers examined the Billboard Top 50 charts for R...