May 07 2023

Voters in Texas City Override Council Repeal of Marijuana Decriminalization

By literally one vote, voters in Harker Heights, Texas have approved an initiative to override their city council’s repeal of a voter-approved ordinance to decriminalize marijuana.

Last November voters in Harker Heights, a city with a population of around 26,000, overwhelmingly passed an initiative (Proposition A) to decriminalize marijuana on the city level by a vote of 64% to 36%. In the same election, four other Texas cities passed similar measures. Despite voters making their voice clear on the issue, the Harker Heights City Council took a vote following the initiative’s passage to repeal the proposal, effectively preventing it from taking effect.

This action led to activists submitting a new initiative that repeals the repeal in order to allow marijuana decrim to take effect despite the council’s opposition.
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May 06 2023

Study: CBD Exhibits “Significant Therapeutic Potential” Against HIV-1 Infections, Neuroinflammation

The results of newly published research shows that “CBD has anti-inflammatory properties and exhibits significant therapeutic potential against HIV-1 infections and neuroinflammation.”

Titled Anti-inflammatory effects of CBD in human microglial cell line infected with HIV-1, the study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. It was conducted by researchers at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University.

“Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with a chronic inflammatory stage and continuous activation of inflammasome pathway”, says the study’s authors. “We studied the anti-inflammatory effects of the compound cannabidiol (CBD) in comparison with Δ (9)-tetrahydrocannabinol [Δ(9)-THC] in human microglial cells (HC69.5) infected with HIV.”
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May 06 2023

Colorado Governor Sent Bill to Ban Denial of Professional Licenses Over Marijuana Use

The Colorado Legislature has sent legislation to Governor Jared Polis that prevents the Department of Regulatory Agencies from denying applications for professional licenses and certifications based solely on a civil or criminal judgement regarding the consumption, possession, cultivation, or processing of marijuana.

(Photo Credit: Claire Caulfield/KJZZ)

Senate Bill 265 was sent to Governor Polis yesterday after being signed by the president of the Senate on Thursday and then by the speaker of the House the following day. The final vote in the Senate was 32 to 1, with the final House vote being 49 to 13. The legislation was filed by Senator Kevin Van Winkle along with a bipartisan coalition of 17 cosponsors.

“DORA is our agency that regulates professional licenses. Everything from optometrists to nurse practitioners, you name it,” said Representative Marc Snyder, one of the bill’s sponsors. “Trying to get more people, eligible people, into the workforce, and looking to remove barriers that are unnecessary, and have a real hindrance to people in getting new opportunities.”
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May 05 2023

Report: 78% of Cannabis Consumers Say It Improves Their Mental Health, 63% Say it Makes Them More Social

A new Cannabis Consumer Report conducted by Drive Research has found that a strong majority of marijuana consumers say it positively impacts their mental health and overall happiness.

According to the report, 78% of cannabis consumers say that consuming the plant has positive impacts on their mental health. The report also found that most users believe cannabis positively impacts their overall happiness (79%) and makes them more social (63%).

For the report survey data was collected from 3,926 cannabis consumers across the United States.
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May 05 2023

Oregon Issues License to Nation’s First-Ever Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms) Service Center

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has issued a license to the state’s and nation’s first-ever psilocybin service center as part of the regulatory framework created by the voter-approved Oregon Psilocybin Services Act.

OHA’s issued the license to EPIC Healing Eugene, located at 3003 Willamette St. in Eugene. The issuance of the license comes a couple weeks after the OHA issued the state’s first licenses for psilocybin facilitators and a testing facility. Psilocybin is the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms.

“We want to congratulate Cathy Jonas of EPIC Healing Eugene on being the first licensed service center in the state,” says Oregon Psilocybin Services (OPS) Section Manager Angie Allbee. “This is such a historic moment as psilocybin services will soon become available in Oregon, and we appreciate the strong commitment to client safety and access as service center doors prepare to open.”

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May 05 2023

California Marijuana Contest Seeking Judges

An annual marijuana competition hosted by High Times in Southern California is seeking cannabis experts to serve as judges for the contest.

The High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal: People’s Choice Edition is inviting those 21 and older to join in as judges by purchasing a judges kit containing various marijuana strains and products in order to provide feedback that would in tern be used to help crown winners in each of the 12 categories. This event will be the third that is open to the SoCal public and will feature the largest pool of judges in history with 2,200.

“This is a sampling dream to get your products into the hands of hundreds of new customers who will provide feedback on your entries, plus thousands of impressions”, says High Times. “May the best products win!”
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May 05 2023

Study Finds CBD “is a Credible Candidate to Address Alcohol-Induced Sleep Disturbance”

The marijuana compound cannabidiol (CBD) is a credible candidate to address alcohol-induced sleep disturbances, according to a study published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism.

The abstract of the study was published ahead online ahead of print by the US National Library of Medicine, and it was conducted by researchers at McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, both in Canada.

Among individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), it is estimated that the majority suffer from persistent sleep disturbances for which few candidate medications are available, notes the study’s authors. “Our aim was to critically review the potential for cannabidiol (CBD) as a treatment for AUD-induced sleep disturbance.”
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May 05 2023

Study: CBD Attenuates Periodontitis in Animal Model

A new study “demonstrated that CBD attenuates ligature-induced periodontitis”.

A comparison between a health tooth (left), and a tooth with periodontitis (right).

Titled Cannabidiol attenuates periodontal inflammation through inhibiting TLR4/NF-κB pathway, the study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Periodontal Research. It was conducted by researchers at Sichuan University and Yunnan Hempson Bio-Tech Co., both in China.

“Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease involving soft and hard tissue destruction in the periodontal region”, states the study’s abstract. “Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural compound isolated from cannabis, which has the effect of inhibiting inflammation. However, the role of CBD in periodontitis remains unclear.”
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May 05 2023

New York Legislation Would Allow Licensed Marijuana Cultivators to Sell Directly to Consumers

Companions bills that would temporarily allow marijuana growers to sell directly to consumers was recently filed in the New York Assembly and Senate.

(Photo credit: REUTERS/Blair Gable)

The legislation would allow marijuana cultivators who are licensed with the state to temporarily sell marijuana on farm premises, directly to consumers. Proponents argue that this would allow farmers to recoup the cost of external circumstances that have caused farmers to be stuck with large amounts of marijuana and marijuana products that they have no current means of dispensing.

“[A] conditional adult-use cultivator licensee shall be authorized to sell their own or another conditional adult-use cultivator licensee holder’s cannabis products directly to consumers until no later than September thirtieth, two thousand twenty-three”, states the bill’s text. “Such authority shall allow for on-farm sales of tested, packaged and sealed products.”
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May 04 2023

Study: Coating Strawberries With CBD Nanoparticles Delays Deterioration

An interesting new study shows that CBD may serve “as an efficient active food coating agent”.

The study, published in the upcoming issue of the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and published online ahead of print by the National Library of Medicine, is titled Influence of a Transparent and Edible Coating of Encapsulated Cannabidiol Nanoparticles on the Quality and Shelf Life of Strawberries.

The study’s goals were to “prepare encapsulated cannabidiol isolate (eCBDi), evaluate the effect of eCBDi edible active coatings on the physicochemical properties of strawberries, and determine whether CBD and sodium alginate coatings could be used as a postharvest treatment to promote antioxidation and antimicrobial activity and prolong the strawberry shelf life.”
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