Dec 13 2022

Activists in Texas City Submit Signatures to Override Council’s Repeal of Marijuana Initiative

Activists in Harker Heights, Texas have submitted enough signatures to put to a vote a referendum that would repeal the city council’s decision to override a recently approved marijuana decriminalization initiative.

Last months 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 the voters making their voice clear on the issue, the Harker Heights City Council took a vote following the initiative’s passage to repeal the new law, effectively preventing it from taking effect.
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Dec 13 2022

Report: 37% of Australians Over 14 Have Tried Marijuana, 77.9% Support Decriminalizing it

37% of Australians over the age of 14 have used cannabis at least once, 7.6 million people in total, and a large majority want it to be decriminalized, according to a new report from the Penington Institute.

Photo credit: GETTY

The Penington Institute developed the Cannabis in Australia 2022 report using published data and interviews with around 100 experts.

“A fixture of the Australian drug landscape for over half a century, cannabis is our most widely consumed illicit drug”, states the report “Despite its prevalence, a lack of reliable data paired with conflicting messages from our government and media mean that community understandings of cannabis remain poor.”
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Dec 12 2022

Study: CBD Has an “Antioxidant and Cardioprotective Effect in Several Pathophysiologies”

According to a new analysis “CBD can prevent cardiac oxidative damage in many conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, or even through the cardiotoxic effects induced by chemotherapy”.

This makes CBD “a potential target for future clinical use to minimize the deleterious effects of many pathophysiologies”, states the study which was published in the journal Current Hypertension Reviews and was epublished on the website for the National Institute of Health. The study was conducted by researchers at Centro Universitário de Volta Redonda and niversidade do Estado de Minas Gerais, both in Brazil.

For this review researchers conducted an analysis of dozens of peer-reviewed studies and discussed “the beneficial effects of CBD treatment on different and common conditions of cardiac oxidative stress such as hypertension, diabetes, or even the cardiotoxic effects induced by chemotherapy.” For the selection of studies “a MEDLINE-based search was performed using the following keywords: “Cannabidiol”, “Oxidative stress”, “Heart”, “Antioxidant”, and “Anti-inflammatory”.
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Dec 12 2022

Report: Global CBD Market to Grow from $5.18 Billion to $22.05 Billion by 2030

The global cannabidiol market was valued at $5.18 billion as of the end of 2021, and it’s expected to grow rapidly over the next 7 to 8 years.

This is according to a new report conducted and released by Million Insights. The report found that the global CBD market is expected to grow at an annual compound growth rate of 16.8% between 2022 to 2030, growing the market to just over $22 billion

As noted by the report, cannabidiol is a chemical compound extracted from the cannabis plant. “The cannabidiol-extracted medications have properties that overcome anxiety, reduce pain, and minimize seizures, benefitting the healing treatments”, thus, “the acceptance and demand for these products are increasing for health and wellness purposes.”
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Dec 11 2022

Study: Both THC and CBD Improve Wound Healing, May be Valuable As Skin Rejuvenators

A new study published this week by the journal Cells has found that phytocannabinoids such as THC and CBD may be useful in skin rejuvenation and can significantly improve wound healing.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Lethbridg in Canada, the Universität zu Lübeck in Germany, the Vellore Institute of Technology in India and the University of Aberdeen in the UK, and its full text can be found by clicking here.

“In light of the increased popularity of phytocannabinoids (pCBs) and their appearance in beauty products without rigorous research on their rejuvenation efficacy, we decided to investigate the potential role of pCBs in skin rejuvenation”, states the study’s abstract.
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Dec 09 2022

Connecticut: Legal Marijuana Sales Begin January 10th

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has notified licensed marijuana retail outlets that they may begin selling cannabis products to all adults 21 and starting Tuesday, January 10, 2023.

“I am proud of the hard work our team has done to meet the goal of opening adult-use sales in a safe, well-regulated market,” said DCP Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull. “We know that many people are excited to participate in this marketplace, whether as a business or a consumer, and we encourage adults who choose to purchase and consume these products to do so responsibly once sales begin on January 10.”

Following the Social Equity Council’s vote Tuesday, all existing medical marijuana producers have met the requirements for an expanded license that allows them to supply both the adult-use cannabis and medical marijuana markets. The law requires at least 250,000 square feet of growing and manufacturing space in the aggregate be approved for adult-use production before retail sales can begin at licensed retailers, including hybrid retailers. With all four producers successfully converted, the 250,000 square-foot threshold has been met.
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Dec 09 2022

Colombia Senate Votes 56 to 3 to Legalize Marijuana

Colombia’s Senate has voted 56 to 3 to pass a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for all adults.

“Historic plenary approval of the project to regularize #CannabisDeUsoAdulto in its fourth debate”, said Senator María José Pizarro Rodríguez in a translated Twitter post following the vote. “We made progress in changing the country’s drug policy.”

If signed into law by President Gustavo Petro as expected, it would amend Article 49 of the country’s constitution to offer “the right of the free development of the personality, allowing citizens to decide on the consumption of cannabis in a regulated legal framework.” The amendment would also establish regulations and taxes for legal cannabis sales, and organize how to divide revenue between local cities, as well as health, education, and agriculture departments.
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Dec 08 2022

Study: Medical Marijuana Legalization Associated With Reduced Opioid Use and Pain-Related Hospitalization Among Cancer Patients

The legalization of medical marijuana “was associated with a lower rate of opioid dispensing and pain-related hospital events” among some new cancer patients, finds a new study published in the journal JAMA Oncology.

According to researchers from Cornell University the objective of the study was to “assess the associations between medical marijuana legalization and opioid-related and pain-related outcomes for adult patients receiving cancer treatment.” The full text of the study can be found by clicking here.

The analysis included 38,189 patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer, 12, 816 with colorectal cancer, and 7,190 with lung cancer. Data was examined from 34 states before and after medical marijuana legalization
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Dec 07 2022

D.C. Council Votes to Expand Medical Marijuana Law

The Washington D.C. Council has passed legislation to significantly expand the district’s medical marijuana program.

The Medical Cannabis Amendment Act was passed by the council through its first reading by a vote of 7 to 4. It will now be required to received one final vote by the council before it can be sent to Mayor Bowser for approval.

The proposed law would make several changes to expand the district’s medical marijuana program, including eliminating the cap on marijuana businesses and creating new business categories within the industry including on-site consumption facilities and marijuana cooking classes.
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Dec 06 2022

Study: Every $1 of Medical Cannabis Sold Associated With $0.74 – $0.84 in Decreased Alcohol Sales

Medical cannabis sales in Canada are associated with a large decrease in alcohol sales, according to a new study published in the journal Health Policy.

Conducted at Brock University in Canada, the full text of the study can be found by clicking here.

“The extent to which legalizing cannabis use might lead to increased or decreased alcohol use has important implications for public health, economic growth, and government policy”, notes the study’s abstract. Researchers analyzed Canada’s monthly per capita sales of alcohol and legal medical cannabis using “fixed effect panel data linear regressions.”
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