Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at cannabis and weight loss, the effect of cannabis on sexual activity, the growing trend of pairing cannabis with food and more. Enjoy.
Cannabis and Weight Loss
Surprising as it may sound, there is actually a strain of cannabis that contains a cannabinoid that is said to help curb a person’s appetite. That’s the word from Lester Black, writing for the online publication SFGate.com.
The strain, called Pink Boost Goddess, is grown by Mendocino County’s Emerald Spirit Botanicals and is said to have an energizing effect and to reduce a consumer’s interest in food, creating a kind of “no munchies” zone.
According to Black, the strain’s unique properties—which have earned it the nickname “diet weed”— stem from the fact that it contains THCV, a unique cannabinoid that behaves wholly unlike THC, the cannabinoid that produces the state of intoxication commonly associated with consuming cannabis.
Black notes that until recently, finding strains of cannabis that contain THCV has been difficult. However, given that commerce abhors a missed opportunity, he reports that some California cannabis farms have started to grow strains of cannabis that naturally contain high levels of THCV and that it is now possible—at least in California—to find cannabis flower that tests over 10 percent THCV, as well as cannabis pills that contain precise doses of THCV.
Laurie Vollen, a Berkeley medical doctor who specializes in medical marijuana, told Black she usually recommends cannabis that contains THCV to people who have issues gaining weight or people who want cannabis to help with creative projects, such as writing.
Said Vollen, “I’ve been working with it for a number of years, and primarily, my initial interest came from the very early reports of no increase in appetite.I had a few patients [using THCV flower], and they have noticed that it’s not an appetite stimulant in any way.”
Vollen added that while she thinks THCV has the potential to help treat obesity or even diabetes, there isn’t enough evidence for it to be a primary treatment for either. Said Vollen, “I’m not going to contend that I have had patients with weight loss [from using THCV].”
So, while there is no magic bullet when it comes to cannabis and weight loss, it appears that consuming strains of cannabis that contain THCV will make it less likely that you will eat the entire plate of jelly doughnuts.
To learn more, we suggest reading the article by Lester Black that appeared in the February 17, 2023 issue of SFGate.com.
www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/california-rare-thcv-diet-weed-17787099.php
Cannabis and Sex
While we don’t doubt that some of you have been conducting your own research on the matter, you may be interested in the results of a new study that suggests that cannabis appears to have a positive impact on the sex lives of those who consume it.
So says TG Branfalt, reporting for Ganjapreneur. According to Branfalt, the study, which appeared in the Journal of Cannabis Research, suggests that cannabis use has a positive impact on what the researchers described as “sexual quality.”
The study, which consisted of an online survey, queried 811 people ranging in age from 18 to 85 years old. The researchers—who at the time of the study were affiliated with East Carolina University and North Carolina State University—found that more than 70 percent of respondents reported increased sexual desire and orgasm intensity with cannabis use and more than 40 percent of the women surveyed indicated an “increased ability to have more than one orgasm per sexual encounter.”
The researchers also found that a majority of participants indicated that cannabis enhanced their pleasure while masturbating (62.5 percent) and that cannabis enhanced their sense of taste (71.9 percent) and touch (71.0 percent). In addition, another 87.7 percent of respondents reported slight-to-significant increases in relaxation during sex when using cannabis.
Branfalt also noted that the research team reported that a majority of study participants identified as female (64.9 percent), white (78.9 percent), and college-educated (80.1 percent). Twenty-three percent of the participants identified as LGBTQ and 73.7 percent of the participants said they were in a monogamous sexual relationship.
So, the bottom line is that cannabis and sex seem to go together in a positive way. Science marches on.
As usual, TG Branfalt does an excellent job of unpacking the study and reporting on the findings of several other studies. You can learn much more by reading his article in the February 20, 2023 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
www.ganjapreneur.com/study-cannabis-has-positive-impact-on-sexual-quality/?
If you care to read the study itself, which appeared in the January 20, 2023 issue of the Journal of Cannabis Research, simply click on the link that follows.
jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42238-022-00169-2
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“It’s amazing how friendly people can be when they have a bit of THC in their system.”—Alexis Isaacs, a board member of the advocacy group Doctors for Cannabis Regulation.
Ms. Isaacs’s comment is taken from an article by Jamie Davis Smith about the growing trend among restaurants and retailers to offer products that are infused with cannabis. Ms. Isaacs was describing a dinner she attended where she was served a mixture of Filipino and Jamaican dishes that were infused with cannabis.
To avoid ingesting too much cannabis, Ms. Isaacs explained, “I just made sure I ate a good balance of both [infused and non-infused foods]. And when I started to feel high, I stopped eating and started to drink more water.”
The chef, Jordan Andino, told Ms. Smith the infused dishes on the menu, such as oxtail and rice, contained “very low” amounts of THC. Isaacs added that those who wanted to increase their high,”could use the sauces … [that] were also infused with THC.”
In her article, Ms. Smith also told the story of a dispensary in West Hollywood, California that has a consumption lounge where patrons can select food and drinks from an extensive menu of infused cannabis foods and beverages … including tea and coffee, macarons and infused chocolate spreads and honey that can be added to non-infused food items.
In addition, Smith also described a pizzeria in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood that has teamed up with two other local businesses to create the “Up in Smoke Pipeline Pizza.” This takeout product pairs specific strains of cannabis with different pizza toppings. When a customer orders the special pie, they get their pizza in a distinctive box designed by a local artist, then head to a nearby dispensary to pick up a joint that has been selected specifically to go with their particular pizza.
You are what you eat, indeed.
You can learn much more about this growing trend by reading the article by Jamie Davis Smith in the February 16, 2023 issue of Yahoo!Life.com.
Cannabis and Safety
A recent story in the New York Post can serve as a cautionary tale for mature consumers and others when it comes to keeping edibles out of the reach of children and grandchildren. It also raises another issue—when is a story about cannabis really about something else?
According to Georgia Worrell, reporting for the New York Post, recently an 11-year-old Staten Island boy was hospitalized after eating THC gummies he mistook for candy at a Super Bowl party.
The child’s mother noticed her son was “acting really strange” after returning home from a gathering at their friends’ house. He was taken to a hospital where a urine test revealed the child had ingested a considerable amount of THC prior to being admitted.
The mother later learned that her son had taken the cannabis-infused gummies from a candy drawer at the home of the family that was hosting the Super Bowl party. It seems the homeowners, who Worell described as “straight laced,” did not know the candy the child found in the drawer contained THC. They claimed that the mixup resulted from what they described as misleading packaging that made the edibles look like a regular, better-known candy brand.
Fortunately, the young man and his mother reported that he had no ill effects after his exposure to the cannabis candy and was resting comfortably at home.
Worrell also noted that the number of calls to poison-control centers for abuse and misuse of cannabis products in Americans ages 6 to 18 has increased significantly– rising from 510 cases in 2000 to 1,761 in 2020, according to a recent study published in Clinical Toxicology.
All of which raises the following points:
• Edibles need to be kept in a secure location, away from children, in much the same way alcohol and other “adult beverages” are kept out of the reach of children.
• Those who purchase edibles can do their part to promote the safety of family members and others by purchasing their products from legitimate retailers or dispensaries. The products offered by such establishments are much less likely to be sold in misleading packages.
• There is nothing amusing or “ironic” in marketing cannabis products in a way that resembles candy or food that might interest children. It’s for adults only.
• Stories such as these are less about cannabis and more about the responsibilities of those who sell edibles and purchase them, particularly the need to keep such products away from kids and vulnerable individuals.
To learn more, we suggest reading Georgia Worrell’s article in the February 18, 2023 issue of the New York Post.com.
nypost.com/2023/02/18/11-year-old-nyc-boy-overdoses-on-weed-gummies-at-super-bowl-party/
Business Trends
Even though, as we noted last week, cannabis businesses in Amsterdam are going through a period of change, some politicians and business people in California’s cannabis sector are still looking to the famed cannabis cafes of that city for inspiration.
So says Dario Sabaghi, in an article for Forbes. Sabaghi writes that a California lawmaker, Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill that would allow marijuana shops in California to serve food and beverages and host live music events, a common practice for many cannabis coffeeshops in Amsterdam.
Haney’s proposed legislation is intended to help marijuana businesses that are struggling in a highly competitive market by allowing them to diversify and become more multidimensional in the goods and services they provide.
While there are cannabis lounges that currently operate in the San Francisco and Oakland areas, those businesses can only provide cannabis-based products and are not permitted to serve any additional items.
Sabaghi also notes that in an interview with Bay City News, Haney made it clear that he is not proposing that traditional coffee shops should be authorized to sell cannabis. Rather, he proposes that cannabis shops should be permitted to sell food and beverages.
Said Haney, “It shouldn’t be illegal for an existing cannabis business to move away from only selling marijuana and instead have the opportunity to grow, thrive and create jobs by offering coffee or live jazz.”
The way the proposed legislation is designed, local authorities would be in charge of regulating these businesses, enforcing licensing and other requirements.
All of this underscores the notion that a cannabis business is just that, a business and not a license to print money. This is particularly true for retail operations located in a highly competitive market. To succeed they still have to find a competitive advantage.
To learn more, we urge you to read Dario Sabaghi’s excellent reporting in the February 23, 2023 issue of Forbes.com.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
