Author: tiffany

[ad_1] Every five months Irvin Rosenfeld gets a FedEx shipment, courtesy of the federal government, containing six metal canisters, each with 300 perfectly rolled joints of what today would be considered rather mediocre weed. But the quality of the government-issue reefer matters less than the fact that Uncle Sam has been supplying him with it regularly since 1982, when Rosenfeld won the right to smoke cannabis for reasons of medical necessity under the auspices of the federal government’s Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program. Rosenfeld smokes cannabis every day to treat a rare and excruciatingly painful bone disease called multiple…

[ad_1] “It’s rope, not dope!” So went the clarion call from early activists seeking to restore the incredibly versatile hemp plant to its rightful place in U.S. industrial production. Just a few decades ago, that catchy slogan accurately summarized the distinction between hemp and cannabis. Up until recently, “hemp” referred to low-resin, non-intoxicating Cannabis Sativa L that had been bred for maximum fiber or seed oil content and grown for multiple industrial purposes, while “cannabis” typically meant plants bred and grown for maximum resin content and imbued with medicinal and recreational qualities well-suited for human consumption. Today, though, the distinction…

[ad_1] Dr. Andrew Weil is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. His early publications (The Natural Mind and From Chocolate to Morphine) focused on exploring altered states of consciousness. He is the author of several bestselling books, including Spontaneous Healing (1995), Eating Well for Optimum Health (2000), and Healthy Aging (2007). NM: As someone who has been researching cannabis for decades, how do you feel about the current legalization situation worldwide and in Japan, in particular? Dr. Andrew Weil: I think the trend very clearly is that in most developed…

[ad_1] Adapted from The Cannabis Cancer Connection: How to use cannabis and hemp to kill cancer cells by Joe D. Goldstrich, MD, with Angela Bacca (Flower Valley Press, 2023). There is a growing body of anecdotal and scientific evidence that the “major cannabinoids” tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), certain “minor cannabinoids” (some without a name), and other cannabis compounds have antineoplastic action against cancer cells.  The vast majority of the existing research is on how specific cannabinoids kill cancer, but a growing body of work is revealing how the entourage of compounds found in whole-plant cannabis kills cancer.  Although most of…

[ad_1] Every five months Irvin Rosenfeld has gets a FedEx shipment, courtesy of the federal government, containing six metal canisters, each with 300 perfectly rolled joints of what today would be considered rather mediocre weed. But the quality of the government-issue reefer matters less than the fact that Uncle Sam has been supplying him with it regularly since 1982, when Rosenfeld won the right to smoke cannabis for reasons of medical necessity under the auspices of the federal government’s Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program. Rosenfeld smokes cannabis every day to treat a rare and excruciatingly painful bone disease called…

[ad_1] Earlier this year, the Food & Drug Administration disclosed that it would not regulate non-pharmaceutical CBD products, thereby putting the onus on Congress to devise an appropriate regulatory framework for cannabidiol and other hemp-derived cannabinoids. Solicited by a formal Congressional Request for Information (RFI) on ideas for how to regulate hemp-derived CBD, public feedback included a diverse range of perspectives from businesses, trade associations, and other stakeholders. But today’s “hemp” market has moved way beyond CBD, as noted by several commentators who expressed concerns about the unregulated proliferation of high-dose THC consumables and novel synthetic intoxicants thanks to loopholes…

[ad_1] Earlier this year, the Food & Drug Administration disclosed that it would not regulate non-pharmaceutical CBD products, thereby putting the onus on Congress to devise an appropriate regulatory framework for cannabidiol and other hemp-derived cannabinoids. Solicited by a formal Congressional Request for Information (RFI) on ideas for how to regulate hemp-derived CBD, public feedback included a diverse range of perspectives from businesses, trade associations, and other stakeholders. But today’s “hemp” market has moved way beyond CBD, as noted by several commentators who expressed concerns about the unregulated proliferation of high-dose THC consumables and novel synthetic intoxicants thanks to loopholes…

[ad_1] I counted over 175 talks and posters at the 33rd annual gathering of the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS), which convened in Toronto at the end of June. In accordance with longstanding ICRS policy, all speakers presented new findings and data that had not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. But this year’s 4-day ICRS conference was notable not only for its cutting-edge science. It was also the first ICRS meeting since the passing of its cofounder and guiding light Raphael Mechoulam. Several colleagues paid homage to Mechoulam in a moving memorial session that honored his many contributions…

[ad_1] Dr. Mark A. Scialdone, a recognized expert in the field of organic chemistry who specializes in natural product chemistry, is an inventor of 37 issued US patents and the author of 17 peer-reviewed articles in science publications. From 1994 to 2013, he was employed as a principal investigator at DuPont Central Research and Development. Dr. Scialdone is a founding member of the Cannabis Chemistry Subdivision of the American Chemical Society from which he received the 2018 CANN-CHAS Heidolph Award for Excellence in Cannabis Chemistry. Scialdone is currently founder and president of BetterChem Consulting, which provides consulting services worldwide in…

[ad_1] It was once a common assumption within the cannabis community that plant cannabinoids aren’t “activated” or useful until they are “decarbed” — short for decarboxylated — which refers to the process of heating cannabis before it is consumed. But that notion has proven to be way off the mark. The major and minor cannabinoids in raw, unprocessed cannabis plants are found in their acid form: THCA, CBDA, CBGA, CBCA, and THCVA. When decarboxylated at a particular temperature, these cannabinoid acids are converted into their neutral counterparts: THC, CBD, CBG, CBC, THCV, etc. (and the ‘A’ vanishes). This process also occurs naturally,…

[ad_1] Pain, anxiety, and sleep are major drivers of medical cannabis use. But gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea and upset stomach, aren’t far behind.1 Even small doses of cannabis can soothe the stomach and stimulate the appetite. In fact, of the four cannabis-derived drugs approved so far by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, three are prescribed for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. One gastrointestinal condition long associated with self-medication through cannabis is inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A flurry of recent research bears this out. In a newly published survey of 162 IBD patients in Puerto Rico, where…

[ad_1] Cannabis is supposed to be relaxing and fun. What’s not to like about giggles, munchies, and a brief break from the mundane? Unfortunately, the news from California’s Emerald Triangle is anything but upbeat these days. Report after report portends doom with headlines like “the world’s largest legal weed market is going up in smoke” (The Economist), “California pot industry facing ‘extinction event‘” (SF Gate), and “Despair in Emerald Triangle as CA legal cannabis collapses” (CalMatters). Is It Really That Bad? Yeah, it is. Legal sales have been on a downward slide for over two years with no signs of…