Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at the fate of a bill to outlaw THC products in Texas, cannabis and chemotherapy, how to make shopping at a dispensary less stressful and more. Enjoy.
Legislative Update
In a followup to a story we posted last week, the Texas House of Representatives has given final approval to the amended version of SB3. The Senate concurred with the House amendments on May 25, 2025, sending the bill to Governor Abbott.
Once signed into law by the Governor, the bill will ban products containing any amount of THC, even when sourced from federally legal industrial hemp crops. The ban, however, does not apply to the state’s limited medical cannabis program.
That’s the word from Graham Abbott, reporting for Ganjapreneur. In his article, Abbott notes that the new law will prohibit the sale of any products containing delta-8 or delta-9 THC — or any other cannabinoids, except CBD or CBG — effectively shuttering the state’s $8 billion retail hemp products industry.
Said the Texas Hemp Business Council, in a statement, “We are deeply disappointed by the Texas House’s passage of [SB3], a bill that dismantles the legal hemp industry and ignores the voices of small businesses, farmers, veterans and consumers across the state who rely on hemp-derived products for their livelihoods and well-being.”
Abbott also reported that prior to passing SB3, House lawmakers in Texas voted to expand the state’s medical cannabis program by adding chronic pain and Crohn’s disease to its list of qualifying conditions.
To learn more, we suggest reading Graham Abbott’s article in the May 23, 2025 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/texas-lawmakers-pass-total-ban-on-thc/
Cannabis and Chemotherapy
A scientific review of available evidence suggests that the cannabinoids in medical marijuana can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs while minimizing the often uncomfortable side-effects of conventional cancer treatment.
So writes Ben Adlin in an article for Marijuana Moment. According to Adlin,the twenty-three page study, which was published in the journal Pharmacology & Therapeutics, assesses a range of clinical and preclinical findings that “mainly relate to combination treatments for glioblastoma, hematological malignancies and breast cancer, but also for other cancer types.
Wrote the authors of the report, a pair of researchers at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Rostock University Medical Center, in Germany, “To summarize, the data available to date raise the prospect that cannabinoids may increase the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents while reducing their side effects.”
The two-person research team went on to write that there are “two important therapy-relevant aspects of the interaction between cannabinoids and chemotherapeutic agents that could potentially benefit cancer patients: firstly, the systemic potentiation of chemotherapeutics by cannabinoids, primarily leading to an extension of life by overcoming therapy resistance and secondly, the reduction of chemotherapy-induced side effects.”
Adlin makes the point that while the report does not deal with other cancer-related symptoms in depth, it does note that cannabinoids are also administered to relieve cancer-related chronic pain.
Adlin also acknowledged that the authors of the study did question, “the extent to which the route of administration influences the interaction with chemotherapeutic agents, particularly in the case of cannabinoids where the widespread practice of smoking is a major influencing factor.” However, they did not include a definitive response on the matter.
In his article, Adlin also addressed a study, published in the journal Frontiers in Oncology, that analyzed data from 10,641 peer-reviewed studies. He reported that the results of that study “indicate a strong and growing consensus within the scientific community regarding the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, particularly in the context of cancer.”
Commenting on this study, lead author Ryan Castle, head of research at Whole Health Oncology Institute wrote, “We expected controversy. What we found was overwhelming scientific consensus. This is one of the clearest, most dramatic validations of medical cannabis in cancer care that the scientific community has ever seen.”
Castle added that the analysis in the article “showed that for every one study that showed cannabis was ineffective, there were three that showed it worked. That 3:1 ratio—especially in a field as rigorous as biomedical research—isn’t just unusual, it’s extraordinary.” The ratio also rivals or exceeds the level of consensus applied to many [Food and Drug Administration]-approved medications.
Ben Adlin does a masterful job of marshaling the salient factors associated with both the study that appeared in the journal Pharmacology & Therapeutics and the research that was published in the journal Frontiers in Oncology.
You can learn much more by reading Adlin’s article in the May 22, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/medical-marijuana-could-increase-efficacy-of-chemotherapy-to-fight-cancer-while-reducing-side-effects-study-suggests/
Cannabis Trends
If you are a mature consumer who finds the experience of shopping at a cannabis dispensary can be too much of a good thing, you’re not alone.
According to Cara Wietstock, reporting for GreenState, a recent survey found that nearly a third of consumers—29 percent— said they find the experience of shopping at a dispensary to be “overwhelming.” She contends, however, the solution may call for dispensaries to adopt a “less is more” approach.
In her article, Wietstock noted that additional takeaways from the survey, sponsored by The Sanctuary Wellness Institute, included the following.
• When asked to name their favorite cannabis strain, the top three specific strains listed by consumers were Blue Dream, a sativa-leaning hybrid, followed by OG Kush, a hybrid, and finally Gorilla Glue (sometimes known as GG4), an indica-leaning hybrid.
• 77 percent of consumers said they prioritize strain names over brands and growers. 64 percent look for mental effects, 57 percent seek physical effects, and 45 percent prefer to shop by aroma and flavor.
• Only 37 percent of people get their strain recommendations from a budtender, while 59 percent like to ask their friends for tips on strains worth trying. 45 percent of respondents said they prefer online reviews and forums for their strain recommendations and 27 percent of people in non-legal states trust their dealer. The survey also revealed that one in six consumers said they use new tech, such as apps and social media, when looking for new varieties of cannabis.
In her article, Weistock proposes that one way to address consumers’ experience of being overwhelmed by the range of selections offered in a dispensary is for dispensaries to take what she describes as a “niche” approach. She points to a dispensary in San Francisco that instead of trying to be all things to all consumers, caters to sungrown, craft cannabis, with a few larger, better-known brands to round out the lineup.
She contends that taking a “less is more” approach can make for a more rewarding and less stressful shopping experience.
To learn more, we urge you to read Cara Wiestock’s article in the May 20, 2025 issue of GreenState.com.
https://www.greenstate.com/business/cannabis-dispensary-problem/
Notable Numbers
This week’s notable number is 24 percent. According to Mathew Klass, in an op-ed he penned for MJBizDaily, cannabis businesses operated by Native American tribes often play an important role in supplying consumers with legally sourced cannabis—and their presence in the cannabis sector is growing.
As of April 2025, there are 77 tribally owned cannabis outlets in nine states. That represents an increase of 24 percent in the number of cannabis stores operating on tribal lands since this time last year and reflects the growing role played by tribal operations in the cannabis sector in general.
In his article, Klass notes that roughly ten percent of 574 Native American tribes recognized by the U.S. government have opened recreational marijuana stores and/or medical cannabis dispensaries.
Klass also points out that Native American nations are sovereign, and their marijuana laws can, in some cases, differ from the state law applicable outside the tribe’s jurisdiction.
Sometimes tribal laws are more restrictive – such as banning cannabis use even in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized – but they can also be more permissive than state laws.
For example, he writes, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians owns the Great Smoky Cannabis Co., which is the only legal marijuana store in North Carolina. That’s because both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal outside the tribe’s jurisdiction.
Klass maintains that stores and dispensaries operated on tribal lands can often fill a gap in the supply chain. For instance, when a state legalizes adult-use marijuana but fails to quickly license retailers, it opens demand for a product that cannot be fulfilled—legally. That’s when stores operated on tribal lands can perform a much-needed service, supplying legal products to consumers and diminishing the chance that consumers will turn to the illicit market to purchase cannabis.
It is important to remember that just as the customs followed and the languages spoken by Native Americans can vary from tribe to tribe, not all of the tribes in the U.S. have embraced cannabis in the same way.
Some, such as the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, have chosen to focus on developing grow facilities rather than immediately opening a dispensary. Others, such as the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Cannabis Control Board in New York, have licensed 20-plus cannabis retailers.
This diversity, Klass believes, has enabled Native American peoples to play an increasingly significant role in the cannabis sector in the U.S. In his article, Klass contends further growth and innovation can be expected, as more tribes invest in cannabis, open new stores and expand existing operations.
To learn more, we suggest reading the article by Mathew Klass that appeared in the May 23, 2025 issue of MJBizDaily.com.
https://mjbizdaily.com/tribally-owned-cannabis-stores-have-grown-by-24-percent-since-may-2024/
Travel Tips
Summer is often the time mature consumers and others travel to foreign destinations, many of which have laws governing the possession and use of cannabis that are more restrictive than many jurisdictions in the U.S. That’s why it’s important to know before you go.
The latest example of someone paying the price for failing to do their legal homework—or thinking that a little bit of cannabis wasn’t a big problem—is the case of an American basketball player who was recently arrested in Indonesia for allegedly smuggling cannabis-infused candies into the country. The Southeast Asian nation’s strict drug laws include severe punishments for drug-related charges, including—potentially—execution by firing squad.
Graham Abbott, reporting for Ganjapreneur, tells the story of Jarred Dwayne Shaw, originally from Dallas, Texas, who was playing in a professional basketball league in Indonesia.
According to Abbott, Shaw was arrested after police raided his apartment outside the capital city of Jakarta. Police said they seized 132 cannabis candies during the raid — enough for prosecutors to seek life imprisonment or the death penalty. It’s believed the candies were shipped from Thailand, where cannabis has been decriminalized.
While not exactly a tourist, either Shaw was not aware of Indonesia’s strict prohibition against cannabis or thought he could evade detection. Either way, Shaw failed to do his homework and in addition to incarceration has been banned from playing professional basketball in Indonesia.
Abbott notes that of the 530 people currently on death row in Indonesia, 96 are foreigners.
If you are traveling to a country with strict laws against cannabis and you are thinking of trying to smuggle edibles or a similar cannabis product, think again.
Remember, you are a tourist and an amateur, while the police in your destination country detect smugglers for a living.
To learn more, we suggest reading Graham Abbott’s reporting in the May 21, 2025 issue of Ganjapereur.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.
