Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at medical cannabis as an employee health benefit, cannabis and cognitive health, education for budtenders and more. Enjoy.
The Shape of Things to Come
In what some might call a groundbreaking policy decision, three New Jersey municipalities are adding medical marijuana coverage as a healthcare benefit for employees. The coverage will provide access to discounts at participating dispensaries as well as cannabis-related telehealth care.
According to Ben Adlin, reporting for Marijuana Moment, employees of the city of Trenton and the boards of education in Orange and Teaneck, New Jersey, are eligible for the new employee benefit, which is facilitated through the company Bennabis Health. As a result of the coverage, participating workers will reportedly get at least 15 percent off the amount that a typical medical marijuana patient would pay.
Company co-founder and president Don Parisi, in a statement to NJ.com, called the benefit in Trenton, which will be offered broadly to city workers, “a historic development.”
Said Parisi, “What is happening with Trenton is so profound that, to our knowledge, it is the first time in U.S. history that an employer who is not already in the cannabis industry is offering to make cannabis accessible as an employee benefit. This is not only a local milestone, it is likely a first in national history.”
Said Trenton’s mayor, Reed Gusciora (D), “We’re excited to support Bennabis’s initiative to provide insurance coverage for medical marijuana. This forward-thinking plan not only makes treatment more accessible for patients but also acknowledges the growing body of evidence supporting the benefits of medical marijuana.”
In his article, Adlin makes the point that Steph Sherer, founder and president of the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access noted that similar benefits had been offered in the past around alternative therapies such as acupuncture and that the model is now being applied to cannabis.
Adlin noted that the employee benefits involve partnerships between insurance carrier Aetna, the benefits manager Broadreach Medical Resources and Leafwell, a company that helps patients obtain state medical marijuana cards, as well as related educational materials.
According to Adlin, Bennabis is currently negotiating with other local governments to offer similar public employee benefits and is currently negotiating contracts with several dispensaries in Maine. In addition to New Jersey, the company offers discounts at dispensaries in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico and Washington, D.C.
To learn more, we urge you to read Ben Adlin’s informative reporting in the November 22, 2024 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Cannabis and Cognition
Men with a history of cannabis use had less cognitive decline from early adulthood to late midlife when compared to men without a history of cannabis use. That’s a key takeaway from a new study conducted by a team of Danish researchers.
The study, which was published in the journal Brain and Behavior, used data from the Danish Aging and Cognition (DanACo) cohort, which was designed to study predictors of age-related cognitive decline from young adulthood to late midlife, to evaluate the cognitive health of 5,162 men over a period of 44 years.
Wrote the study’s authors, “Among cannabis users neither age of initiation of cannabis use nor frequent use was significantly associated with greater age-related cognitive decline.”
In its study, the research team, which was affiliated with the University of Copenhagen, found, “the mean cognitive decline was found to be 6.2 IQ points over an average of 44 years. Notably, cannabis users exhibited statistically significantly less cognitive decline compared to nonusers. In the fully adjusted model, cannabis use was associated with 1.3 IQ points less cognitive decline than the decline observed in the reference group.”
The researchers also found, “Years of frequent cannabis use were generally associated with no significant difference in cognitive decline when compared with no frequent use.”
As is often the case, the researchers contend that further studies are needed. In this case, they believe there should be further investigation to determine whether these findings reflect that there are no adverse effects on cognitive decline or that the effects of cannabis are temporary and disappear after a prolonged period of time.
To read an abstract of the study or the study itself, which appeared in the November 2024 issue of the journal Brain and Behavior, click on the following link.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.70136
Spotlight on Education
Budtenders in certain retail dispensaries in Vermont may soon be required to undergo training so they can better serve medical cannabis customers.
So says Howard Weiss-Tisman, reporting for Vermont Public. According to Weiss-Tisman, since Vermont’s retail cannabis shops first opened in October of 2022, the number of people using the state medical cannabis registry has dropped by about one-third. And, with fewer people using the medical registry, two of the state’s six medical dispensaries have closed.
Now, writes Weiss-Tisman, in an effort to continue serving those who use cannabis for medical purposes, the state plans to allow regular retail stores to apply for a special license to sell medical cannabis, which has a higher potency than the cannabis currently available at retail locations in Vermont.
Said Cannabis Control Board Chair James Pepper, “You got all these dispensaries closing, so you’ve got all these patients now using recreational stores instead of medical dispensaries. There’s this serious concern about what budtenders are saying to patients who are walking in and saying, ‘Hey, I’m on a statin, I’m on these sleep meds, I take aspirin every day, and should I try this vape or that gummy over there?’”
As a result, notes Weiss-Tisman, if a store wants to sell medical cannabis, there will be some special requirements, including separating the medicinal and regular adult-use product, protecting patient privacy and starting an educational training program for employees.
The mandatory training will include lessons on the physiological effects of cannabinoids, appropriate dosing protocols, and learning the risks and common side effects of cannabis.
Said Pepper, “Our job at the cannabis board is to find some sort of evidence-based, peer-reviewed training procedure so that budtenders aren’t in the position of giving medical advice.”
In addition, Weiss-Tisman reports that the state’s cannabis board wants to contract with an online service called Cannify that would allow customers to get the medical advice after filling in a questionnaire at a computer located in the store.
However, Jessa Barnard, the Vermont Medical Society’s executive director, says the online information system could be potentially harmful to patients.
Said Barnard, “We certainly support the idea of making sure everybody who is working with Vermonters who are involved with the medical program have evidence-based information. But when it turns into recommending certain branded products, we have concerns.”
You can learn much more by reading Howard Weiss-Tisman’s article in the November 22, 2024 issue of Vermont Public.org. His reporting is concise and informative.
Consumer Corner
A majority of Americans who use marijuana say they’re spending more on cannabis now than they were last year—and many expect to spend even more over the next year.
That’s the word from Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment on a survey conducted by the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD.
According to Jaeger, 61 percent of the 273 respondents said they’re now spending either “much more” (41 percent) or “more” (17 percent) on cannabis compared to last year. Only 22 percent said they’re spending less, while 16 percent said their spending levels are “about the same.”
In his article, Jaeger notes that NuggMD said that the data on the increased spending—and anticipated additional spending over the next year—reflects a combination of market dynamics influencing the price of marijuana products as well as an expanding appetite for cannabis among consumers.
Said Andrew Graham, head of communications at NuggMD, “We believe that most cannabis use is rooted in wellness, whether or not the consumer has a recommendation for medical cannabis. So, when looking at this polling data through that lens, of course most consumers are going to pay what it costs—and costs for cannabis at the point of sale have increased during the past year. That may continue. This and the continuing mainstream acceptance of cannabis use have driven and will drive spending higher, according to our poll.”
If you want to learn more, we suggest reading Kyle Jaeger’s excellent reporting on this and other NuggMD surveys in the November 14, 2024 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/most-marijuana-consumers-are-spending-more-money-on-cannabis-now-than-they-were-last-year-poll-finds/
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com.
