Chief Cannabis Correspondent Ryan Nerz interviews Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a Professor Emeritus at Harvard University and the author ofMarihuana Reconsidered. Grin spoon has written anopen letterto NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, advising him to consider allowing cannabis as a treatment for post-concussion syndrome.
Professor Grinspoon claims that CBD-heavy strains of marijuana serve as a powerful neuroprotectant, effectively helping the brain heal from concussions.
“The NFL should pay some attention to the fact that we are now pretty confident that cannabis, marijuana, has as a medicine, some qualities about it which make it clear that it is neuro-protective,” said Prof. Grinspoon. “We are talking about a particular formulation of the cannbanoids, that is a formulation which is largely made of CBD, and to a much lesser extent THC, and of course along with it other phytochemicals, like terpenoids, that come from the marijuana bud. And these three, these three components, work in an ensemble effect. There is no psychoactive effect. Anybody who takes this combination of high CBD and low THC, will if he tries to use it as a psychoactive drug, will be disappointed. He can’t get high on it.”
In the future, Grinspoon believes, many people will take the same non-intoxicating cannabis pill that he himself takes every night…as an antioxidant and neuroprotectant.
Credit: Ryan Nerz, Omar Michaud, Sebastian Perry and Jesse Swinger
A Canadian pot entrepreneur wants his chain of medical marijuana stores to reach the same level of ubiquity as famed doughnut shop Tim Hortons.
The businessman, Don Briere, certainly has experience. He was one of the people behind the rise of British Columbia’s famous “B.C. bud,” according to Canada’s National Post, and says he earned millions selling illegal weed in the late 1990s.
“We were outlaws. My share was $5 million a year,” he told the Post (presumably without providing tax returns).
Briere eventually did a few stints in jail, but he’s back in the business at the age of 63. He owns three medical marijuana stores outright and holds at least 50 percent ownership in five more — what he calls “franchises,” according to the Post.
Why the comparison to Tim Hortons? His products are fresh and he prizes customer service. Anyone else imagining a combo store?
Cops across the country are cutting down on marijuana arrests
Cannabis use is growing in popularity, but that isn’t spurring law enforcement to action. From 2007 to 2013, the number of days Americans used marijuana rose 57 percent, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. But at the same time, pot-related arrests dropped by 21 percent.
Dude, don’t tell him it’s oregano. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Pot wasn’t legal recreationally in Colorado and Washington until 2012, so the change is a little surprising. RAND Corporation expert Beau Kilmer told the Post that evolving laws around medical marijuana, as well as the decriminalization of possession in California, likely contributed to the slowdown.
Colorado’s marijuana tax haul falls short of expectations
Colorado collected $44 million in taxes from recreational marijuana last year, which fell short of the $70 million estimate presented to voters who approved the initiative back in 2012.
Colorado lawmakers will still likely be obligated to return some of the pot money to taxpayers, due to a 1992 law meant to limit government spending. Legislators don’t want to do that, of course, and elected officials from both parties are expected to draft a bill allowing the state to keep the additional marijuana cash.
Some observers say high taxes on recreational pot are driving people to purchase cannabis from medical dispensaries (where taxes are lower) or on the black market. Another reason the tax haul was lower than expected: the original estimate was just an educated guess.
"Can Pot Make You a Better Athlete?" Outside, February issue
Can smoking marijuana make you a better athlete? That's probably a question you hadn't pondered, given pot's reputation for creating mellowness and a craving for munchies. But with growing numbers of states legalizing or decriminalizing the drug, Outside magazine decided to answer that question. So author Gordy Megroz ran on a treadmill, skied and performed a host of physical tests under the influence, and he talked to scientists to get their take (not toke) on his performance. Here's what he found:
Skiing: "After popping a 10-milligram THC gummy, I experience a slight yet very functional high. But something else stood out: I felt invincible and proceeded to attack the steepest lines without fear." Stanford Medical School professor Keith Humphreys's comment: "We have cannabinoid receptors throughout our brains and when the THC hits those receptors, it triggers a system that reduces anxiety," he told Megroz. Feeling more aggressive "is a natural reaction to the drug." (Megroz writes that the World Anti-Doping Association bans marijuana in competitions in part because of its anti-anxiety effects.)
Treadmill test: Without pot, Megroz ran at a pace of 5 mph, regularly increased the incline on the ramp and ran for 19 minutes until his legs gave out. Later, after taking a hit of pot before getting on the treadmill, "I can still feel the pain, but I'm not fixated on it." He lasted 30 seconds longer. Rerunning the sober-high comparison twice more on other days produced similar times.
Positive comparisons also emerged for bench pressing (not as sore afterward, which Humphreys says may be due to pot's anti-inflammatory effect) and mountain biking, when he feels "flowy and fast" — at least until he biked "straight off the trail" after failing to adjust his speed on a turn. Which may be the moral of the story: "You might feel invincible out there," Humphreys says, "but you're probably putting yourself in more danger."
In the end, Megroz says, he ended up preferring "the natural high of a hard run."
Colorado, the first US state to legalise cannabis for recreational use, raises substantial taxes in first year - but less than the $70 million originally predicted
Colorado, the first US state to legalise cannabis for recreational use, made $44 million (£29 million) in taxes from the first year of sales of the drug.
The total was below the $70 million (£46 million) estimated at the start of the experiment in which cannabis is sold to anyone over the age of 21 in state-licensed shops.
Fees levied on the cannabis industry and taxes on medical sales of the dug brought the total collected to $76 million.
Pat Steadman, a Democrat state senator, said: "Everyone who thinks Colorado’s rolling in the dough because of marijuana? That’s not true."
In Washington state sales to recreational users began in July and the state had collected $16.4 million in taxes by the end of 2014.
The levels of tax revenue in both states are being closely watched by other US states where legalisation is being considered.
According to the ArcView Group, a San Francisco-based financial network specialising in cannabis investment, the industry including medical sales was worth $2.6 billion in 2014. It predicts that could rise to $10.2 billion by 2018.
Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard University economist, said: “Being able to claim some non-trivial tax revenue is important to the legalisation movement,."
Illustration, above, Cannabis oil with a 1:1 ratio of THC:CBD
Holland. CBD-rich Medical Cannabis Available In Coffee Shops
The Dutch coffee shop model for cannabis distribution made some important progress recently when the ‘Siberie’ coffee shop started to offer CBD-rich cannabis. The move has been popular with medical cannabis users in Holland, many of whom have a high value for the CBD-rich cannabis varieties which offers a range of valuable benefits for medical users. Many people with MS, Crohns Disease, epilepsy, chronic pain and others ailments have found that CBD-rich cannabis offers significant benefits over the traditional THC-rich cannabis. CBD-rich cannabis contains 4% or more Cannabidiol (CBD) in the dried buds.
Siberie’s first CBD-rich offering is Dutch Passion’s ‘ComPassion’ variety which has a 1:1 ratio of THC:CBD, and typically has around 7%-8% of both CBD and THC in the buds. Most typical ‘street weed’ contains around 0.1% CBD, meaning that the CBD-rich varieties can only be created by careful selective breeding coupled with intensive analytical laboratory testing throughout the process.
It was less than a year ago when the mainstream media was chock-full of headlines like this one: ‘Brain changes associated with casual marijuana use in young adults, study finds.’ The alarmist headlines were in response to a controversial paper published by researchers at Harvard University in Boston and Northwestern University in Chicago which alleged to have found differences in brain morphology in a cohort of 20 college-age marijuana users as compared to 20 non-users. The study’s investigators attributed the differences to subjects’ cannabis use.
But a funny thing happened when a team of scientists from the University of Colorado and the University of Kentucky tried to replicate these results in a separate, larger sample (158 participants) of subjects after rigorously controlling for both groups’ use of alcohol.
Writing in the January 28 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, authors summarized:
“[T]his retrospective study examined brain morphology in a sample of adult daily marijuana users (n = 29) versus nonusers (n = 29) and a sample of adolescent daily users (n = 50) versus nonusers (n = 50). Groups were matched on a critical confounding variable, alcohol use, to a far greater degree than in previously published studies.
We acquired high-resolution MRI scans, and investigated group differences in gray matter using voxel-based morphometry, surface-based morphometry, and shape analysis in structures suggested to be associated with marijuana use, as follows: the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, hippocampus, and cerebellum.
No statistically significant differences were found between daily users and nonusers on volume or shape in the regions of interest. Effect sizes suggest that the failure to find differences was not due to a lack of statistical power, but rather was due to the lack of even a modest effect.”
Why the contradictory results? Investigators speculated that previously reported imaging studies failed to adequately control for the impact of alcohol, a substance that “unlike marijuana, … has been unequivocally associated with deleterious effects on brain morphology and cognition in both adults and adolescents.” In other words, researchers theorized that previously reported differences in the brain images of marijuana consumers as compared to non-users were likely because of subjects consumption of booze, not cannabis.
They concluded, “In sum, the results indicate that, when carefully controlling for alcohol use, gender, age, and other variables, there is no association between marijuana use and standard volumetric or shape measurements of subcortical structures. … [I]t seems unlikely that marijuana use has the same level of long-term deleterious effects on brain morphology as other drugs like alcohol. The press may not cite studies that do not find sensational effects, but these studies are still extremely important.”
An abstract of the study, “Daily Marijuana Use Is Not Associated with Brain Morphometric Measures in Adolescents or Adults,” is online here.
- See more at: http://blog.norml.org/2015/02/10/study-marijuana-use-not-associated-with-previously-reported-changes-in-brain-morphology/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Study%3A+Marijuana+Use+Not+Associated+With+Previously+Reported+Changes+In+Brain+Morphology#sthash.mY0MfphN.dpuf
Alcohol has been my drug of choice since my very first White Russian. From guilty pleasure drinks to perfectly crisp martinis, something about the ritual of making and sipping a cocktail had me sold early on.
I never gave marijuana much love, and even in college, I always chose watery beer over those fat, clumsy joints. But now that bartenders across the country are experimenting with weed-spiked cocktails, I’m paying attention—as should you. The “Julia Child of Weed” has already been anointed, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before we discover the “Charles H. Baker of Marijuana.”
Source: (from left) Absinthes.com via Bloomberg; Alaska Distillery via Bloomberg
As a growing number of states take steps to legalize and decriminalize marijuana, bartenders and bud-tenders are coming together, much the way chefs have begun experimenting with high-end, gourmet edibles spiked with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the potent part of the herb). Mixologists are trying out two kinds of potables: cocktails spiked with THC (where legal), and cocktails designed to mimic the actual green, skunky flavors of marijuana.
Compared to edibles, for which oil- or butter-based extractions are favored, tinctures (herbal essences that are extracted by alcohol) are the preferred vehicle for drinks. Bartenders use Everclear or a different high-proof alcohol to draw THC from the plant, a process similar to that used to make bitters. The most popular seems to involve grinding and then baking the bud at a low temperature (a process called “decarboxylation”) before steeping it in alcohol for a stretch that can range from hours to days. The liquid is then strained and stored, often in a container with an eyedropper or dasher attachment. (I’m coining the term “cannabitters” here and now.)
Source: Mary Jane Wines/Twitter via Bloomberg
A standard infusion of liquor is an alternative: You merely soak a bunch of weed in a bottle. Those who have experience with making edibles and potables warn that this can create an overly potent drink; tinctures can be used with more precision. If hard alcohol isn’t your thing, there’s always gentler infused wine such as Mary Jane Wines or a soon-to-come offering from singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge. There’s also weed-spiked beer. (After all, hops and cannabis are related.)
Where Is It Legal?
Don’t go running to the nearest bar to order a cannabis cocktail just yet. Even in states where recreational marijuana is legal (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington), public consumption is usually prohibited, which precludes weed-y gatherings in bars or restaurants. Cutting-edge experimentation takes place at private events and in the smoky underground.
The gold standard for high-end cannabis cocktails may have been set in 2012, at Roberta’s in Brooklyn. The restaurant’s underground weed dinner included THC-infused riffs on the Gin Sour (gin, lemon, sugar, egg whites, and grapefruit bitters, plus a tincture made with gin, Earl Grey tea leaves, and a “grapefruit-y” strain of indica cannabis) and the California Painkiller (rum, fresh-squeezed orange juice, pineapple, and marijuana-infused coconut oil, topped with grated nutmeg; see recipe below).
The gold standard for high-end cannabis cocktails may have been set back in 2012, at Roberta's in Brooklyn.
Photographer: Shawn Hoke/Flickr
These aren’t just drinks with weed dumped in; these are thoughtful cocktails composed to emphasize (or, where it made more sense, deemphasize) the flavors and aromas of the specific strains of marijuana used.
“I remember thinking, this opens a new door into cocktails,” recalls Mike Stankovich, who created the drinks for the event and is now bar manager at Brooklyn’s Alameda. “No one ever talks about it, but you go out to drink cocktails to feel something, whether you call it relaxing or loosening up. In terms of recreational benefits, you’re opening the window a little bit more.” Stankovich doesn’t serve the cocktails now, but he liked the Painkiller drink so much that he offers a faux version at Alameda, made with shiso instead of cannibis.
Potential Risks
Of course, not everyone is a fan of the idea of mixing alcohol and marijuana. Adding a weed tincture to a high-octane drink such as an Old Fashioned is “not the most responsible way to consume either alcohol or cannabis,” insists Jane West, owner of Edible Events, a cannabis events production company based in Denver, Colo.
Scott E. Lukas, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry (pharmacology) at Harvard Medical School, agrees, and he has done considerable research about the combined effects of alcohol and marijuana to back his opinion.
“People are not good at recognizing when the effects of the two drugs are combined,” he notes. “They’ll slow you down, impair your decision-making, and alcohol tends to make you take more risks.” Lukas is particularly concerned about people who might try to drive after sipping a THC-infused libation. His research has shown that THC can impair perceptions of time and distance as long as 24 hours after consumption, even if the “acute” high has long faded.
A further concern: Binge drinkers might not notice the protective reflex to purge due to overindulgence, since THC can help combat nausea and vomiting. (This is one reason it is often prescribed to cancer patients). “People do die from drinking too much alcohol,” Lukas adds.
That said, highballs (such as a gin and tonic, or a Jack and ginger) could be an ideal delivery mechanism for conveying cannabis tinctures, says West: a little bit of alcohol, a lot of mixer, and just enough THC-tinged tincture to catch a buzz. Noted.
Photo illustration: Jeremy Allen/Bloomberg Business; cannabis leaf: David Malan/Getty Images
“I think there will be an entirely different way to consume intoxicating beverages in 10 years,” West muses. In other words, imagine a world in which “intoxicate” has a completely different meaning, incorporating the effects of THC, with or without booze. “I think alcohol companies will get wind of this and create low alcohol [THC-infused] products that taste like a whiskey or bourbon.”
The Future Market
It may be time to place bets on who will capitalize first and best on the nascent and potentially lucrative marijuana boom. After all, the U.S. market for legal cannabis grew 74 percent in 2014, to $2.7 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2013, according to ArcView Group, a cannabis industry investment and research firm based in Oakland, Calif. This makes it one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S. Already there are rumblings that reality TV star and Skinnygirl booze entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel is getting into the branded marijuana game. Might liquor conglomerates be close behind?
Stankovich thinks so: “Flash forward 30 years from now. You’re going to have Stoli Weed.”
Chicago-based Earth Mama, has already debuted a "marijuana-inspired" vodka infused with “herbs and botanicals.”
Source: Earth Mama via Bloomberg
It might not yet be on Stolichnaya’s radar, but a smaller company, Chicago-based Earth Mama, has already launched a "marijuana-inspired" vodka infused with “herbs and botanicals.” They sent a bottle my way so I could conduct an experiment: comparing a flight of martinis made with vodka, dry vermouth, and bitters. (Yes, I know a proper martini is made with gin; stay with me.) The goal of this project was to see how the drinks compared in terms of taste and aroma, as well as overall experience.
Here’s how the results stacked up:
Martini #1: vodka, dry vermouth, and orange bittersTastes like: Drinking a martini–crisp, clean, and bracing, with a pleasant whiff of orange from the bitters. Feels like: Drinking a martini. And I’m ready for the next round!
Martini #2: Earth Mama “marijuana-inspired” vodka, dry vermouth, and orange bittersTastes like: Drinking a martini, but laced with hints of cedar and dried oregano. Feels like: Drinking a martini. Although I wish this one had gin.
Martini #3: vodka and dry vermouth, plus “cannabitters,” aka a tincture made with THC and orange peel Tastes like: A poorly made martini. The tincture throws the drink off balance, so I mostly taste bitterness from the orange peel. At least, I think it’s from the orange peel. If I was served this martini at a bar, I’d order a shot of bourbon instead. Feels like: Nap time. As cocktail trends go, I found this one to be a bit of a snooze, literally. Keep passing that vape, but as far as I'm concerned, ice-cold gin still should be the strongest ingredient in my martini.
Cannabis Cocktail Recipe
California (Mendocino) PainkillerCourtesy Mike Stankovich
Created for an “underground weed dinner,” cream of coconut was infused with Northern Lights marijuana, then strained and cooked over low heat into a butter-like consistency to make the Coco Lopez cream of coconut for the THC Painkiller mix.
2 ounces Pusser’s Rum 4 ounces THC Painkiller mix* Nutmeg, to garnish
In a cocktail shaker, combine all ingredients with ice. Shake well, and strain over cracked ice. Grate a liberal amount of fresh nutmeg on top to garnish. Put on pajamas and enjoy.
*THC Painkiller mix 1 part fresh-squeezed orange juice 1 part THC-infused Coco Lopez cream of coconut 4 parts fresh pineapple juice
Chemical structure of cannabidiol. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons)
CBD, or cannabidiol, is quickly changing the debate surrounding the use of marijuana as a medicine.
Most people have heard of a chemical called THC, which is the ingredient in marijuana that gets users high. But recently, attention has shifted to another compound in marijuana called CBD — and for good reason.
Because while doctors can’t seem to look past certain side effects of THC, CBD doesn’t seem to present that problem. On the other hand, evidence of CBD’s medical benefits continues to grow.
Here are five facts that you should know about this unique compound:
1. CBD is a key ingredient in cannabis
CBD is one of over 60 compounds found in cannabis that belong to a class of molecules called cannabinoids. Of these compounds, CBD and THC are usually present in the highest concentrations, and are therefore the most recognized and studied.
CBD and THC levels tend to vary among different plants. Marijuana grown for recreational purposes often contains more THC than CBD.
However, by using selective breeding techniques, cannabis breeders have managed to create varieties with high levels of CBD and next to zero levels of THC. These strains are rare but have become more popular in recent years.
2. CBD is non-psychoactive
Unlike THC, CBD does not cause a high. While this makes CBD a poor choice for recreational users, it gives the chemical a significant advantage as a medicine, since health professionals prefer treatments with minimal side effects.
CBD is non-psychoactive because it does not act on the same pathways as THC. These pathways, called CB1 receptors, are highly concentrated in the brain and are responsible for the mind-altering effects of THC.
A 2011 review published in Current Drug Safety concludes that CBD “does not interfere with several psychomotor and psychological functions.” The authors add that several studies suggest that CBD is “well tolerated and safe” even at high doses.
3. CBD has a wide range of medical benefits
Although CBD and THC act on different pathways of the body, they seem to have many of the same medical benefits. According to a 2013 review published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, studies have found CBD to possess the following medical properties:
Medical Properties of CBD
Effects
Antiemetic
Reduces nausea and vomiting
Anticonvulsant
Suppresses seizure activity
Antipsychotic
Combats psychosis disorders
Anti-inflammatory
Combats inflammatory disorders
Anti-oxidant
Combats neurodegenerative disorders
Anti-tumoral/Anti-cancer
Combats tumor and cancer cells
Anxiolytic/Anti-depressant
Combats anxiety and depression disorders
Unfortunately, most of this evidence comes from animals, since very few studies on CBD have been carried out in human patients.
But a pharmaceutical version of CBD was recently developed by a drug company based in the UK. The company, GW Pharmaceuticals, is now funding clinical trials on CBD as a treatment for schizophrenia and certain types of epilepsy.
Likewise, a team of researchers at the California Pacific Medical Center, led by Dr. Sean McAllister, has stated that they hope to begin trials on CBD as a breast cancer therapy.
4. CBD reduces the negative effects of THC
CBD seems to offer natural protection against the marijuana high. Numerous studies suggest that CBD acts to reduce the intoxicating effects of THC, such as memory impairment and paranoia.
CBD also appears to counteract the sleep-inducing effects of THC, which may explain why some strains of cannabis are known to increase alertness.
Both CBD and THC have been found to present no risk of lethal overdose. However, to reduce potential side effects, medical users may be better off using cannabis with higher levels of CBD.
5. CBD is still illegal
Even though CBD shows much promise as a medicine, it remains illegal in many parts of the world. CBD is classified as a Schedule I drug in the United States and a Schedule II drug in Canada.
On the other hand, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a request to trial a pharmaceutical version of CBD in children with rare forms of epilepsy. The drug is made by GW Pharmaceuticals and is called Epidiolex.
According to the company, the drug consists of “more than 98 percent CBD, trace quantities of some other cannabinoids, and zero THC.” GW Pharmaceuticals makes another cannabis-based drug called Sativex, which has been approved in over 24 countries for treating multiple sclerosis.
A patent awarded to the U.S. Health and Human Services in 2003 (US6630507) also covers the use of CBD as a treatment for various neurodegenerative and inflammatory disorders.
Before whipping out a joint, glass pipe, or your favorite vaporizer pen in Florida, you might want to check the Sunshine State’s statistics when it comes to marijuana citations.
In a comprehensive report from Evan Anderson of Muckrock, the researcher details which states not to smoke in, based on the average number of citations given to smokers throughout a year.
Yearly Marijuana Citations Per Capita (Courtesy of Muckrock Reporting)
According to data, Florida blew other states out of the water when it came to money collected from marijuana violations. Not only does the Sunshine State take the cake when it comes to the most marijuana citations per year, but it’s also a place where possessing 20 grams or more of marijuana, can send you to federal prison for at least five years.
To put Florida’s anti-marijuana sentiment in proper perspective, when compared to Arizona, California, Texas, and Vermont between 2011 and 2014, Florida had about five times as many marijuana citations, even though Florida’s population is 50% less than California’s.
Furthermore, Evan Anderson points out in the report that, “even after controlling for population, Florida still surpasses the rest of the states by far, handing out tickets to one in 294 people in 2011.Compare this to Arizona, the next largest distributor of marijuana citations per capita in the sample, which issued one citation for every 3,313 people in 2011.”
During last year’s marijuana elections, Florida narrowly missed a 60% voting percentage needed to pass medical marijuana for the state by 2.5%, despite the majority of people voting yes for Amendment 2.
To make matters worse for marijuana enthusiasts living in the Sunshine State, front-runner for the GOP nomination of the 2016 Presidential election, Jeb Bush, who admitted to smoking marijuana as well as selling hash while attending boarding school, fiercely opposes both medical and recreational marijuana for the state. Go figure.
Although marijuana legalization in Florida remains an uncertainty for now, this new data, coupled with the current political climate in Florida, proves at least one certainty: Florida has no love for stoners.
