Move Over Epidiolex, Sativex Wants The Spotlight

Sativex (nabiximols) is a complex botanical medicine formulated from the extracts of the cannabis plant that contains the principal cannabinoids THC and CBD.

The post Move Over Epidiolex, Sativex Wants The Spotlight appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

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Retail cannabis sales in the United States are on pace to surpass $15 billion by the end of 2020, according to Marijuana Business Daily (MBD). That’s an increase of nearly 40 percent over last year. The site further reports that US sales of both medical and recreational marijuana might surge as high as $37 billion by 2023.

Keep in mind that COVID-19 has made financial projections a guessing game this year. But still, even with record numbers of unemployment, sales are reportedly booming in nearly every commercial cannabis market that’s not dependent on tourists.

The sales report notes the uptick coincides with government unemployment benefits being increased by $600 each week over the past several months. That extra money may be a factor in increased consumer spending, which may change once the additional funds are no longer distributed at the end of July.

Government stimulus programs in response to the pandemic are reportedly a wildcard when it comes to predicting cannabis spending trends. Regardless, even with 2020’s unprecedented circumstances, “the long-term potential of the cannabis industry remains intact,” according to the report.

New medical marijuana markets, such as Florida, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, are allegedly ablaze with sales. In Oklahoma alone, more than 8 percent of the state’s entire adult population is registered to legally use medical cannabis. As a result, Oklahoma is expected to bypass $1 billion in pot sales next year. So is Florida.

Sales in Illinois and Michigan, which both recently legalized recreational pot use, are reportedly slow-burning, but moving on an upward trajectory. Both states are projected to generate more than $2 billion from cannabis by 2024.

After dipping for quite some time, sales in the pioneering legal weed regions of Colorado and Washington are reportedly holding steady or slowly rising.

California remains a cannabis conundrum. Despite the massive market potential, issues regarding steep taxes, convoluted licensing frameworks, and over-regulation make it impossible for the legal industry to truly compete with California’s age-old illicit weed market.

That aside, California generated $3 billion in legal weed sales last year, a number that is expected to grow as businesses make sense of regulations and adapt to changing market dynamics.

Finally, the latest pot sales numbers seem to indicate that young people, as always, just “get it.” As Marijuana Business Daily reports: “While there’s no definitive answer, data suggests consumers from Generation Z – those born in 1997 and later – and consumers who continue to transition out of the illicit market and into the licensed, legal channel contributed to the growth.”

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From High Maintenance to Bill Maher to Anthony Jr. sneaking a joint at his confirmation party on The Sopranos, HBO has long been an outlet for 420-friendly entertainment. Now, HBO Max is teaming up with two major cannabis companies to release a limited-edition line of THC-infused gummies connected to its new animated series, Close Enough.

HBO partnered with Sunderstorm’s Kahna to produce these dope edibles, which will be sold in select dispensaries throughout California. You can also find them online through cannabis tech delivery service, Eaze. These limited edition gummies are available as of Monday, June 29, and will remain available through the end of July. 

Close Enough, created by JG Quintel of Regular Show, is a surreal comedy said to focus on “a married couple, their five-year-old daughter, and their two divorced best friends/roommates all living together [while] juggling work, kids, and pursuing dreams, while also avoiding time-traveling snails, stripper clowns, and murderous mannequins.” Edibles, indeed, sound like a perfect pairing for this whacky show.

The 10mg Close Enough gummies will come in four varieties. Each flavor and effect is inspired by a specific character’s personality, according to an official press release. 

Josh, for instance, the “cool dad, husband, and future world-famous video-game designer,” likes to chill, so he’s represented by indica strawberry gummies.

Emily, Josh’s wife, is a logical, organized, planner — basically everything her husband isn’t. She’s a loving mother and a strong working woman who aims to have it all. Obviously, she’s on that sativa vibe and depicted by a pineapple flavored gummy. Yum.

Alex is Josh’s neurotic best friend from high school. He lives in a walk-in closet of the apartment he shares with Josh, Emily, and others. He likes getting lost in thought, so he’s the embodiment of watermelon hybrid gummies. 

Then there’s Bridgette, a “glamorous” social media influencer — at least in her mind. “Working” is more of a hobby she squeezes in between partying. Bridgette is clearly a social butterfly, so she has to feel good, balanced and avoid getting too high. That’s why her gummies are the 1:1 THC to CBD pink lemonade gummies.

“It has been so thrilling for my team and I to create a campaign that feels so authentic to Close Enough,” said Peter Sherman, senior vice president of marketing at HBO Max. “When crafting any campaign, our aim is always to create an experience for the audience that feels genuine and exciting, and this partnership with Kanha hits the nail on the head. We’re so excited about this one and we can’t wait to see how fans react.”

Close Enough debuts on HBO Max on Thursday, July 9. You can order and eat Close Enough weed gummies any time you want to, though — at least throgh the end of July.

Study Suggests Women Are More Sensitive To THC Than Men

One theory that the researchers posed is that estrogen, a primarily female hormone, could influence the metabolism of THC.

The post Study Suggests Women Are More Sensitive To THC Than Men appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

Enormous Tax Revenue Is Exactly Why The Feds Won’t Legalize Cannabis

State governments may gain money from legal cannabis, but the feds would actually lose money should prohibition end.

The post Enormous Tax Revenue Is Exactly Why The Feds Won’t Legalize Cannabis appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

The Link Between Flavonoids, Alzheimer’s And Marijuana

Researchers recently discovered that a diet low in flavonoid rich foods could hold one of the keys to the disease.

The post The Link Between Flavonoids, Alzheimer’s And Marijuana appeared first on The Fresh Toast.

Dr. Ethan Russo launched a new company to explore the potentials of the endocannabinoid system and its potentials for healing.

The post Cannabis pioneer launches company to unlock the potentials of the endocannabinoid system appeared first on Leafly.

Even in the historically conservative Deep South, cannabis reform is possible—and happening now.

Members of a criminal justice task force created to inform presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign have been discussing marijuana legalization — a policy the former vice president continues to oppose.

Most of the group—which consists of advisors appointed by both Biden and former primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — support ending cannabis prohibition, and advocates have held out hope that they would recommend that Biden adopt the policy platform in the run-up to the November election.

While some members have publicly talked about the issue since joining the task force, including Linn County, Iowa Supervisor Stacey Walker, who recently commented on the need for reform in light of racial disparities in marijuana criminalization, a new report from Politico appears to be the first confirmation that the group itself is actively considering a formal recommendation on the policy change.

“Multiple people said marijuana policy has been discussed on the criminal justice panel, one of the policy groups of the unity task force,” the outlet reported. “Sanders appointees have advocated for legalization. Some Biden appointees personally support legalizing pot and have debated putting the policy in the panel’s recommendations to the former vice president, according to two people familiar with its deliberations.”

A majority of panel members appointed from both camps have previously gone on record in favor of legalization. That includes Tennessee Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D), former federal prosecutor Chiraag Bains, former Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Walker.

“There’s an opportunity to advance a really bold agenda on criminal justice,” Bains, a Sanders-appointee to the task force, said. “This is part of envisioning a completely different future, not returning to a pre-Trump era. I say that as someone who served proudly in the Obama administration. We just have to be much more aggressive about rooting out systemic racism and injustice in the legal system.”

Biden should “end the War on Drugs, including by legalizing marijuana,” he told Politico.

Walker, whose position on the issue has been lesser-known than other members, also talked about the need for reform during an interview with Little Village that was published on Wednesday. The Iowa official said he knows many white people, including those from prominent families in the state, who consume cannabis and travel to legalized states to obtain it without concern about potential criminal penalties.

“It is no secret that African Americans use marijuana as a substance, recreational substance, just as much as everybody else. I often say, I operate in professional spaces. I know most of my white professional friends in this state use marijuana,” he said. “They do it without ever, ever, ever thinking they will face some sort of legal consequence. It doesn’t even cross their mind. They talk about it openly.”

“They don’t ever think about a legal consequences because it’s not real to them— because they can’t conceive of it because they’ve never faced a consequence,” he added. “We’ve just created a system that over-criminalizes people by their race and by their economic situation. That is not right. It is not fair. It’s an aberration of justice.”

He went on to say that decriminalizing cannabis would minimize police encounters that lead people, particularly from communities of color, to be incarcerated and enter the criminal legal system.

Biden has backed the modest reform of decriminalizing marijuana and said that people should be diverted to treatment instead of facing jail time for possessing drugs, but he’s declined to get on board with the majority of Americans, particularly Democrats, who embrace fully legalizing cannabis. He’s opted instead to draw the line at legalization for medical use, expunging prior records, allowing states to set their own policies and federal rescheduling.

Bains said earlier this month that decriminalization is not sufficient, as it “typically means that you don’t have a criminal penalty, but you could still be issued a civil fine. And then there are other kinds of consequences that could follow from that.”

“It’s still illegal conduct,” he said. “If possession of marijuana is just decriminalized and that is the hook for extensive police involvement in people’s lives, and if you haven’t addressed the underlying systemic problems in policing and the justice system overall, then people could continue to be stopped and searched and frisked and so forth.”

It’s not clear whether the task force will ultimately recommend that Biden adopt a pro-legalization platform—or if he would accept that recommendation even if they did. Pressed repeatedly on the issue, Biden has continued to argue that more research should be done before enacting broad reform.

He also recently indicated that his personal experience knowing individuals who consume cannabis has not convinced him that the plant should be legal for recreational use.

For what it’s worth, Sanders doesn’t seem especially optimistic that the former vice president will evolve further, declining in an April interview to list the policy among those from his own platform that he feels Biden will come around to.

That said, as President Trump’s reelection campaign pushes to frame the incumbent as the criminal justice reform candidate, there may be added pressure on Biden to align himself with more progressive policies such as legalization.

Where members of the Biden-Sanders criminal justice task force stand on cannabis policy: 

Akbari, the Tennessee senator, has filed legislation to legalize marijuana in his state and he’s said the reform move is necessary both to promote social equity and to generate revenue that can be used to fund public schools.

Bains, who also serves as the director of legal strategies at Demos, has voiced support for Sanders’s cannabis legalization plan and emphasized the need for racial equity in the legal industry.

Justin Bamberg, a South Carolina lawmaker, has cosponsored legislation to decriminalize marijuana and legalize medical cannabis.

Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Right, backs legalization and has strongly condemned harsh criminalization policies for non-violent drug offenses.

Holder, the former top prosecutor in the U.S., has said that he’d vote in favor of legalizing marijuana if he was in Congress and claimed to have internally tried to convince the administration to reschedule cannabis.

Symone Sanders, senior advisor to Biden, doesn’t have a clear public stance on legalization, but she’s characterized Biden’s modest marijuana reform plan as being progressive.

Scott, a current member of the House, has cosponsored legislation that called for marijuana descheduling and reinvestments in communities harmed most by prohibition.

Walker’s views on the issue became clearer in the recent interview, where he stressed that cannabis laws have been enforced in a racially discriminatory manner.

This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.

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