Why Cannabis Juicing Can Be Good For You
As the THC in cannabis only becomes psychoactive when heated, consuming raw cannabis allows one to get the benefits of the plant in a non-intoxicating way.
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Can Canadians soon have cannabis covered by insurance?
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Two candidates running for the West Virginia House of Representatives will introduce one of the country’s most comprehensive cannabis reform bills if they are elected this November.
Democratic candidates Rusty Williams and Chris Yeager unveiled their proposed bill in a live stream from a hemp farm last Friday. The bill, titled “The Normalization of Cannabis Act,” is supported by WV Can’t Wait, an advocacy group pushing for a wide range of progressive political policies, including a workers bill of rights, cannabis reform, and small business support.
Both candidates have first-hand experience with the healing powers of cannabis. Williams began campaigning for medical marijuana after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and helped push the state to pass its medical cannabis law in 2017. Yeager, a Marine Corps veteran, runs a hemp company, Appalachian Cannabis Co., which produces CBD products.
“People hear the term ‘comprehensive cannabis’ and want to know what that means,” said Williams during the live stream, Marijuana Moment reports. “What that means is this bill will decriminalize the cultivation, production and personal use of cannabis for all West Virginia adults over 21.”
On top of allowing adults to possess and use weed, the proposal would allow home-grows of up to 12 pot plants for personal use. The bill would also create a taxed and regulated retail market, but uniquely, it would block large corporations from dominating the industry. Instead of leaving applications open to anyone, the state would only offer micro-permits to small, vertically-integrated weed businesses. The cost of these permits would be discounted by 50 percent for any applicant who had previously been convicted of a nonviolent weed crime.
“One of the major criticisms we’ve had with the Medical Cannabis Act is that the entire industry was going to be run by ten companies,” said Williams. “When we end prohibition, we have got to make sure that we clear a path for small businesses and small farmers to get into the game and participate in this industry, and that’s exactly what micro permitting will do.”
The bill would also direct the state courts to expunge all nonviolent cannabis-related convictions dating back to 1937, when prohibition began. “Not only will we release people from jail who are wrongfully incarcerated for possessing or using a plant, but this bill also provides for transitional services for people released, so we can help them with schooling, education, housing, anything that we can help them with to get them back into society, which is where they should be in the first place,” Williams explained.
A third Democratic candidate, Hilary Turner, also announced her support for the proposal at the event. “I support full cannabis and hemp legalization across our nation and right here in West Virginia,” she said at the event, Marijuana Moment reports. “My family had a farm in Greenbrier County for six generations, and we would love to be able to grow industrial hemp, but the current regulations are so burdensome that it makes it really hard for small family farms to just get started.”
To address these concerns, the bill would ease restrictions on hemp production and raise the THC limit on hemp to 3 percent, ten times the 0.3 percent limit imposed by the federal government and pretty much every US state.
Voters in Arizona, South Dakota, New Jersey, Montana, and Mississippi will get a chance to vote for either adult-use or medical cannabis legalization this year, but voters in other states still have the means to enact cannabis reform. The election brings a chance to vote pro-cannabis candidates into office on state and federal levels. It also brings an opportunity to vote prohibitionist lawmakers – like senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – out of office. Minnesota even has a pro-cannabis political party, and Nebraska is working to establish their own pro-weed party.
Vermont Is This Close To Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Sales
A new measure would prioritize minorities, women, and those disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs for a marijuana business license.
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5 Things To Keep In Mind When Using Cannabis For Sleep
Cannabis and sleep go great together. Here’s a few things you should keep in mind when using the herb to help you rest.
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Cannabis plants aren’t people, so why use an HVAC system designed for human comfort for your grow?
The post Is a tailor-made HVAC system the key to creating ideal cannabis growing conditions? appeared first on Leafly.
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A new survey regarding marijuana as a treatment for migraine headaches is the latest example of how, at long last, science is formally documenting what cannabis users have known all along: Weed heals.
The survey, conducted by healthcare technology provider Healint, found that nearly one-third of migraine patients have used cannabis to effectively manage pain. Among medical marijuana patients, 82 percent said weed provided significant relief.
“Cannabis is becoming a prominent treatment option for chronic pain patients, especially for migraineurs,” Healint CEO Francois Cadiou said. “With more and more states across the United States legalizing medical marijuana, migraine patients are becoming acquainted with cannabis as a natural remedy that can help alleviate migraines and even prevent them. Research about the benefits of cannabis use among migraine patients is slowly emerging, but more must be done to properly inform individuals about the use and dosage of medical marijuana to treat migraines.”
The Healint survey is in keeping with a number of other recent studies exploring the use of marijuana to treat migraines. This past July, for example, a Journal of Integrative Medicine study reported that 94 percent of migraine sufferers who inhaled pot said they felt relief within two hours, specifically experiencing a drop in symptom intensity of 3.3 points on the ten-point scale.
Last June, the journal Brain Sciences reported similar results that connected long-term cannabis inhalation with a reduction in migraine frequency.
A 2019 Journal of Pain study reported that “inhaled cannabis reduces headache and migraine severity ratings by approximately 50 percent.” That same year, the journal Neurology reported a 42 percent reduction in average monthly migraine occurrences after patients ingested cannabis.
For a 2016 study, 121 migraine sufferers reported a decline from 10.4 to 4.6 migraine headaches per month after they started using cannabis.
Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), pointed out that this data is useful and encouraging but, that it’s not exactly shocking for those who use cannabis.
“Migraines have a debilitating impact on tens of millions of Americans and, in many cases, are poorly addressed by conventional therapies,” Armentano said. “Therefore, it is not surprising to see a significant percentage of migraine sufferers turning to cannabis as a therapeutic option. Those that do so are consistently reporting it to be safe and effective at reducing both migraine symptoms and migraine frequency. With the legal status of cannabis changing in more and more states, no doubt this population of medical users will continue to grow over time.”
Most people see the word “indica” and think Ambien. For so long we’ve equated the effects of indica cannabis strains to being couch-locked. And while it’s true that some indicas may tuck you in for the night, it’s even truer that you can’t just generalize an entire third of weed plants under one single high.
There are thousands of indica strains; some may feel relaxed and happy, others may feel drowsy and tired, some even make you feel the complete opposite. It all depends on your body, and knowing your body is knowing that finding the right strains is up to you. Here are seven of the best indicas to get you started.
Hindu Kush is a pure indica from the Hindu Kush mountain range between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its compact buds usually have a vibrant white shine to them due to the stark coat of trichomes on top of light green flowers. An original landrace strain, Hindu Kush is believed to be one of the first plants to be used for hash.
Hindu Kush terpenes usually hit the nose with a sweet and piney aroma, while the smoke can have sweet, floral, and pine flavors. Effects-wise, most people expect to feel a calm and relaxing cerebral high that pairs great with the ending of a long day on your balcony. Hindu Kush is a great suggestion for anyone seeking a long-lasting euphoric experience.
Just as old as Hindu Kush is the famous Northern Lights. Its influence on the world of indicas can’t be stated enough. This Afghani descendant is known for having resinous buds and skunky terpenes that fill the room when the plant is cured. You can expect sweet and herbal flavors when you smoke it.
Equally as potent as it is stinky, most consumers report a hard-hitting body high that’ll leave you on stuck mode for the remainder of the evening. If you’re looking to get stoned and run through a sack of gas station snacks, this — or its popular phenotype Northern Lights #5 — may be the one.
Granddaddy Purple is that classic purple flower that completely changed the game of weed aesthetics. It’s a cross of Purple Urkle and Bid Bud that first came to life in 2003. Though plenty of purple flowers existed before it, GDP was one of the first to become a household name in weed culture. No budtender hears “purp” without immediately thinking of this strain.
Granddaddy Purple is world famous for its deep purple buds that give off sweet, grapey, earthy terpenes. Picture if you were to buy a bag of grapes and roll them in a blunt, that’s smoking Granddaddy Purple.
From legendary breeder DJ Short comes DJ Short’s Blueberry, or simply Blueberry, another indica-leaning strain with Afghani (and Thai) genetics. It has compact green buds stacked with an assortment of purple and red-coloring that make it as pretty as it is flavorful.
As its name suggests, Blueberry smells and tastes like fresh fruit from your neighborhood Farmers Market. Whether consumed as flower or concentrate, those berry terps are shining through. Most consumers feel a relaxed, happy, and slumped-over type of body high after consuming Blueberry. If you’re looking for a night cap that appeals to your taste buds, check out this strain.
9 LB Hammer is a heavy indica that hits your head just like that: a 9 LB hammer. A cross of Gooberry and an OG Kush varietal, 9 LB genetics usually produce dense flowers with dark green colors and a blended coat of white trichomes. On the terpene side of things, you can expect 9 LB hammer to smell earthy and somewhat chemmy, while tasting mostly like the former.
Where this strain lacks in terps, it more than makes up for it in effects. Most people feel a heavy head high that slowly creeps into the body, causing you to starfish in bed for the next couple of hours.
Personally speaking, 9 LB hammer doesn’t make me sleepy, but it does produce a super duper stone that makes me want to never move again.
For the last fruity suggestion, it was a toss up between Grape Ape or Forbidden Fruit. And I had to go with Forbidden Fruit for three reasons:
Forbidden Fruit was born by crossing Cherry Pie with Tangie. The result is a staunchly purple flower, covered in a flurry of orange hairs, that gives off an extremely tropical guava-like aroma. When consumed, it’ll taste like you’re smoking a bowl of fruit cocktail, and the effects are much lighter than people associate with indicas and purple strains. Instead of sleepy and down, you’ll feel a relaxing euphoria that makes everything a little funnier.
You can’t talk about indica cannabis strains and not mention the lochness monster of the weed world: G-13.
Legend has it that G-13, or Government Indica Strain 13, was a U.S. Government experiment where the intelligence agencies (CIA, FBI, etc.) collected all of the “best” and “most potent” indicas from all over the world, then bred them together to create the Megazord of all cannabis strains. The alleged reason we can all go to a dispensary and purchase this super secret government mission of a strain is because some disgruntled government agent stole a cut of the plant and leaked it to the public. Chances are that this story is not true, but it’s okay to believe it anyway.
What is true is that G-13 will absolutely knock your socks off. Regardless of how you consume it, both G-13 flower and oil usually makes people feel hungry, relaxed, and sleepy, i.e. stoned out of their minds. Its intense high might not put you to bed, but it will make you stare off into space for the next few hours as you wonder why some people don’t have middle names.
Find thousands of strains on Weedmaps
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Do Cannabis Products Over Promise And Under Deliver?
Cannabis consumers, especially newcomers hoping to find a cure for their specific condition, should manage their expectations when using this plant.
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Wildfires Expected To Impact Hemp Crops
The fight is far from over for cannabis growers whose crops went up in smoke and cannabis companies who will be struggling to stay afloat.
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