Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at the role cannabis is playing in the government shutdown, using CBD as part of dental care, treating insomnia with CBD and more. Enjoy.
Cannabis and the Government Shutdown
If you’re a mature consumer who’s a fan of hemp-based cannabis products, you might want to stock up on them while you still can.
The federal spending bill the Senate has sent to the House has provisions that will effectively recriminalize most hemp-derived THC products, including those containing the Delta-8 cannabinoid.
So says TG Branfalt, reporting for Ganjapreneur. According to Branfalt, the Senate Agriculture Appropriations text would exclude products that include THC “synthesized or manufactured outside of” the cannabis plant with more than 0.3 percent of THC and “any intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products which are marketed or sold as a final product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use.”
In addition, the bill would outlaw products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC, and THCA, and redefine hemp in a manner that significantly restricts its definition and uses.
Branfalt also reports that Republican Sen. Rand Paul (KY) opposes this language in the bill and has told Politico that the provisions would “kill an entire industry.” Paul has threatened to drag out the passage of the bill to end the shutdown when it returns from the House if he doesn’t get alternate language that he could support.
Of course, that assumes the House will make changes to the Senate’s version of the bill. If there are no changes then Paul’s comments are just an idle threat.
The Senate bill, however, does have the support of the American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH). The organization’s Director of State Advocacy and Public Policy Chris Lindsey said the language clarifies “Congress’ intent in the 2018 Farm Bill” and “clearly distinguishes between intoxicating and nonintoxicating products, synthetic and natural products, and industrial and consumer products.”
While his comments perpetuate the notion that manufacturers of intoxicating hemp-based products somehow took advantage of a “loophole” in the 2018 farm bill, that argument may be more myth than reality.
In an interview with Marijuana Moment, Steve Bevan — who, as an advisor, worked with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to help draft the hemp language contained in the 2018 Farm Bill — told Kyle Jaeger that, “We specifically added language about ‘extracts, derivatives, and cannabinoids’ to the definition of hemp to help American farmers and rural communities build businesses around hemp-derived products.”
Added Bevan, “Senator McConnell understood this and changed the definition. This wasn’t an accident or a loophole—it was intentional to ensure that the farmers of Kentucky newly producing hemp—could reach markets with their new crop.”
Mr. Bevan is a partner at OCan Group and has been described as, “a world-renowned expert and ambassador for federally legal outdoor cannabis — with decades of experience in finance, management, and corporate leadership.”
More news as more news develops.
TG Branfalt did his usual stellar job of reporting on this fast-moving story. His article appears in the November 10, 2025 issue of Ganjapeneur.com.
To read Kyle Jaeger’s interview with Steve Bevan in the November 5, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net, click on the following link.
CBD and Sleep
There may be good news for cancer patients who struggle to get a good night’s sleep. A study conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, found that cannabidiol (CBD) can provide meaningful improvements in sleep quality for cancer patients, particularly when taken at higher doses. The study was published in the journal Clinical and Translational Oncology.
Anthony Martinelli, in an article he penned for a publication called The Marijuana Herald, reported that the patients who participated in the study rated their sleep disturbance on a scale from 0 to 10, with the average score at enrollment being 6.72.
The researchers found that after beginning medical cannabis treatment, scores decreased by an average of 1.63 points, which represented a 24.3 percent reduction in symptom severity. The researchers found that patients in the top fifth of CBD dosing experienced an average improvement of 1.87 points—an improvement considered clinically significant on this scale.
The study also revealed that the level of THC contained in the dose given to patients and the THC-to-CBD ratio were not consistently linked to better sleep outcomes. Instead, CBD stood out as the most reliable factor.
Martinelli reports in his article that most patients in the program used oral cannabis products, with an average daily intake of 32 mg of THC and 14 mg of CBD.
Wrote the researchers in the article describing the study, “Compared to the highest quintile category of CBD dose, lower dose quintiles were 29–35 percent less likely to be associated with at least a 30 percent improvement in sleep disturbance scores.”
Clearly, the size of the dose mattered.
You can learn much more by reading Anthony Martinelli’s reporting in the October 22, 2025 issue of The Marijuana Herald.com.
CBD Spotlight
There may be good news for those who associate a trip to the dentist with pain and discomfort. Adding CBD to a dental treatment plan can help to reduce pain and inflammation.
That’s the key takeaway from a study conducted by a research team affiliated with the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil. An article describing the study was published in the Journal of the American Dental Association.
While the team did not conduct “hands on” research, it did perform a comprehensive search in five databases, looking for randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized trials that evaluated CBD’s clinical effects on oral disorders. Of the 4,093 records reviewed, 7 studies met the study’s inclusion criteria. Six were randomized controlled trials and one was a nonrandomized clinical study.
The researchers found the studies indicated topical CBD products and CBD products taken orally had beneficial effects when it came to reducing pain, muscle tension, gum disease (gingival inflammation), bacterial load, and canker sores (aphthous ulcer symptoms). No serious adverse effects were reported.
The research team acknowledged that several factors, such as different dosage levels, follow-up plans and outcome measures limited direct comparison across studies and precluded meta-analysis.
They concluded that CBD may serve as a safe adjunct in managing oral pain and inflammation. However, the researchers also stated that further validation through standardized, long-term clinical trials to ensure efficacy and safety is needed before CBD can be fully integrated into dental care protocols.
The article describing the study appeared in the October, 2025 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association. To read an abstract of the study, click on the link that follows. https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(25)00478-7/abstract
Cannabis Corner
When it comes to legalizing recreational cannabis, prohibitionists often ask, “But what about the children?”
Well, a new study from Canada indicates they are doing just fine, thank you very much.
According to Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment, a federally funded study out of Canada shows that youth marijuana use rates declined after the country legalized cannabis — a finding that contradicts the concerns often voiced by prohibitionists.
Jaeger reports that researchers at the University of Waterloo and Brock University used data from Canada’s annual COMPASS Study to compare marijuana use trends among adolescents from 2017-2018 (pre-legalization) and 2021-2022 (post-legalization).
The COMPASS (Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, Sedentary behavior) study collects health behavior data once a year from a rolling cohort of Canadian secondary school students.
What they found was that 15 percent of students in the pre-legalization cohort reported past-month cannabis use, while 12.3 percent in the post-legalization group reported the same. In the latter group they also found an increased number of reports of students who said they never use marijuana. Their findings were published in the journal Addictive Behaviors Reports.
Jaeger also notes in his article that the study was released about three months after German officials released a separate report on their country’s experience with legalizing marijuana nationwide. That report found that fears from opponents of the legislation about youth use—as well as traffic safety and other concerns—have so far proved largely unfounded.
A separate study conducted by German federal health officials also found that rates of marijuana use declined among youth after the country legalized adult-use cannabis.
As always, Kyle Jaeger’s reporting is insightful and on point. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the November 7, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Consumer News and Notes
Location, location, location is more than a magic mantra for real estate professionals. A new study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, suggests the location of a dispensary can influence the behavior of the individuals who live nearby.
Graham Abbott, writing for Ganjapreneur, reports that researchers found that people who live close to dispensaries are more likely to consume cannabis regularly and are less likely to be heavy drinkers.
To conduct the study, researchers affiliated with Oregon State University examined telephone survey data from over 60,000 Oregonian adults collected over nine years as part of the state’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. This data collection is organized annually by the Oregon Health Authority.
Said the leader of the research team, Professor David Kerr, “The bottom line is that Oregonians who lived near more licensed cannabis retailers, and in closer proximity to them, were more likely to use cannabis 10 or more days per month than people living in areas with fewer retailers. Another key finding was that adults living closer to cannabis retailers were less likely to report heavy drinking.”
According to Abbott, Kerr also noted that the two key takeaways from the study — higher rates of frequent cannabis use and lower rates of heavy alcohol use — were most pronounced in people aged 21-24, and those aged 65 or older.
Graham Abbott’s reporting is clear and concise. To learn more, we suggest reading the article in the November 7, 2025 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can each them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.