Oct 01 2024

Study: Chronic CBD Treatment May Improve Cardiovascular Health

An important new study published in the Journal of Hypertension reveals that long-term treatment with cannabidiol (CBD) can significantly improve cardiovascular health in an animal model of renovascular hypertension.

Conducted by researchers from the Federal University of Paraiba and São Paulo State University in Brazil, the study explores CBD’s potential to lower blood pressure, enhance vascular function, and reduce oxidative stress—offering intriguing new possibilities for treating hypertension and related cardiovascular complications.

While previous studies have shown that acute CBD administration can reduce blood pressure and oxidative stress in hypertensive rats, this study sought to investigate the long-term cardiovascular effects of chronic CBD treatment. Using a well-established 2-kidney-1-clip (2K1C) model, the researchers induced renovascular hypertension in male Wistar rats to assess how sustained CBD treatment affects cardiovascular health over time.
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Oct 01 2024

Study: Psilocybin Increases Optimistic Engagement in Animal Model, Showing Potential for Depression Treatment

A new study published in the journal Translational Psychiatry provide insights into how psilocybin, the active compound in “magic mushrooms”, could aid in the treatment of depression.

Dried psilocybin.

“Psilocybin has shown promise as a novel pharmacological intervention for treatment of depression, where post-acute effects of psilocybin treatment have been associated with increased positive mood and decreased pessimism”, states the study, conducted by researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and the University of Tulsa in Arizona. “Although psilocybin is proving to be effective in clinical trials for treatment of psychiatric disorders, the information processing mechanisms affected by psilocybin are not well understood.”

For this study, researchers “fit active inference and reinforcement learning computational models to a novel two-armed bandit reversal learning task capable of capturing engagement behaviour in rats.” The model revealed that “after receiving psilocybin, rats achieve more rewards through increased task engagement, mediated by modification of forgetting rates and reduced loss aversion.”
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Oct 01 2024

New Hampshire Committee Schedules Vote on Recreational Marijuana Legalization Bill

A key legislative committee in New Hampshire has scheduled a vote for legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana for everyone 21 and older.

The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee has scheduled an executive session vote on House Bill 544 for October 17 at 10am. The vote, which comes a little over a month after the committee held a public hearing on the measure, will take place at  Legislative Office Building 302-304.

House Bill 544, filed in January 2023 by five Democrats, would legalize marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, including a putting control of the legal marijuana market in the hands of the state liquor commission.
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Sep 30 2024

Washington State Marijuana Sales Top $100 Million for Fourth Straight Month, Over $800 Million Year-to-Date

In August, licensed marijuana stores in Washington State sold over $100 million worth of marijuana as well as a variety of marijuana products such as concentrates, edibles, tinctures and topicals.

According to data released by the research firm Headset, marijuana sales in in Washington topped $100 million for the fourth straight month, with $104.6 million sold. This is on par with the $103 million sold in July, and the $103.8 million sold a year prior in August 2023,

The yearly total for marijuana sales is now around $810 million, resulting in approximately $300 million worth of tax revenue. In 2023 there was $1.25 billion in marijuana sales resulting in over $400 million in taxes.
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Sep 30 2024

California Governor Gavin Newsom Vetoes Legislation to Allow Direct Marijuana Sales at Farmers Markets

California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed legislation that would have allowed licensed marijuana growers to sell their products directly to consumers at farmers markets.

Assembly Bill 1111, sponsored by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D), would have authorized the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) to issue temporary event licenses, enabling on-site cannabis sales and consumption at designated venues within jurisdictions that permit such activities.

“While I appreciate the author’s intent to support small and equity cannabis cultivators, I am concerned that the bill’s broad eligibility, which extends to the vast majority of licensed cultivators, would undermine the existing retail licensing framework and place significant strain on the Department of Cannabis Control’s ability to regulate and enforce compliance”, said Governor Newsom in a veto letter.
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Sep 30 2024

The Top Indica Marijuana Strains As of September 2024

As the legal marijuana industry continues to thrive across nearly half the country, certain indica strains are consistently leading the way in popularity due to their relaxing effects and widespread availability.

Grandaddy Purple.

Using data from state regulatory agencies as well as platforms like Leafly and Weedmaps, here are the top 10 indica marijuana strains as of September 2024.
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Sep 30 2024

Arkansas Attorney General Says Medical Marijuana Expansion Initiative Will Not Appear on November Ballot

An Arkansas initiative to expand the state’s medical marijuana program, in addition to establishing a federal trigger for recreational marijuana legalization, has narrowly failed to make the November ballot.

Today, Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston announced that Arkansans for Patient Access (APA) did not gather enough valid signatures to qualify the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2024 for the November 5 ballot.

In July, APA submitted 111,402 signatures from 62 counties, surpassing the 90,704 signatures required across 50 counties to place the initiative on the ballot. However, the state found that a significant number of signatures were invalid. The group was given 30 days to collect the remaining signatures, but they were unable to meet the requirement.
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Sep 30 2024

California Governor Signs Bill Legalizing Marijuana Cafés

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law legislation that legalizes Amsterdam-stye marijuana cafés.

Today, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1775, nearly a year after he vetoed a similar bill by the same prime sponsor.

The proposal was approved overwhelmingly by the state’s legislature: 58 to 6 in the Assembly, and 30 to 7 in the Senate. The measure will “authorize a local jurisdiction, if specified conditions are met, to allow for the preparation or sale of noncannabis food or beverage products, as specified, by a licensed retailer or microbusiness in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed, and to allow, and to sell tickets for, live musical or other performances on the premises of a licensed retailer or microbusiness in the area where the consumption of cannabis is allowed.”
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Sep 30 2024

Kamala Harris Calls for Marijuana Legalization for First Time as Presidential Nominee

For the first time as the official Democratic nominee for president, Kamala Harris has expressed her support for legalizing marijuana.

Although Vice President and Democratic nominee for president Kamala Harris has supported legalizing marijuana since 2019, including cosponsoring a descheduling bill while in the Senate, she has (until now) not made any comments on the issue since becoming the official nominee.

In an interview with All the Smoke podcast , Harris said “I just feel strongly, people should not be going to jail for smoking weed. And we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail.”
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Sep 29 2024

Study: Single Dose of Psilocybin Shows Promise for Veterans with Treatment-Resistant Depression

A recent study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital has revealed promising results for veterans battling severe treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Dried psilocybin mushrooms.

Published in the Journal of Affective Disorders and online ahead of print by the National Library of Medicine, the study is the first to examine how a single dose of psilocybin could impact veterans with depression that has failed to respond to traditional treatments.

The study involved 15 veterans diagnosed with severe TRD, defined as a major depressive episode that either failed to respond to at least five previous treatments or persisted for more than two years. These individuals were given a single dose of 25 mg of psilocybin, a psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms. To measure the effects of the treatment, researchers utilized the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), with response defined as a 50% or greater reduction in MADRS scores and remission as a score of 10 or less.
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