Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week you’ll find an article on trying to treat viruses with CBD, legislative proposals on medical marijuana that target veterans, a new study on treating fibromyalgia pain with cannabis, the limits of executive orders when it comes to marijuana and more. Enjoy.
Treating Viruses With CBD
From reducing inflammation to helping to manage stress, mature consumers attribute a wide range of benefits to using CBD. Unfortunately, curing a virus, such as coronavirus, does not appear to be something CBD is able to do.
So say Dr. Reggie Gaudino, Chief Science Adviser, New Frontier Data, and Ken Kovash, Cannabis Genetics Specialist, G.I. Grow Biomedical Farm. In an article the pair authored for Cannabyte they make the point that while cannabinoids—such as CBD—have been found to work well against many types of bacteria and fungus, including superbugs such as MRSA and many common fungal infections, they stress there just is not sufficient information to judge their effectiveness on viruses.
According to the authors, CBD may help with some viruses, but not all. Because CBD is known to help reduce inflammation, it may indeed help reduce the severity of an infection, particularly when a virus needs inflammation as a mode of host invasion. However, the use of CBD or another cannabinoid which reduces inflammation against a virus that doesn’t depend on inflammation to flourish can inadvertently end up suppressing the immune system which in turn can make the chances of beating the virus worse.
Thus, they contend that it is far too early to suggest CBD can be an effective treatment against all viruses, including coronavirus.
To learn more you can read the informative article by Dr. Reggie Gaudino and Ken Kovash that was written for Cannabyte. It also appeared in the March 8, 2020 issue of New Frontier Data.
newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/cbd-versus-viruses-what-do-we-really-know/?
Quote of the week
“Because of the [Covid-19] virus, consumers are worried about scarcity, which is likely why they are purchasing more products than usual. I also think that many of our customers are turning to our cannabis offerings to promote mental wellness and ease their minds in the midst of the nationwide panic.” —Kiana Anvaripour, Chief Marketing Officer of Sweet Flower.
Sweet Flower is a dispensary with several locations in the Los Angeles, California area. For more insight into how the virus outbreak is affecting cannabis sales, you can read Lindsay Weinberg’s article in the March 12, 2020 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.
Spotlight on Legislation
It appears the House of Representatives has taken what many consider a step in the right direction when it comes to removing barriers faced by veterans who want access to medical marijuana. However, the legislative process is far from over.
According to Emiy Disalvo, reporting for The Hill, the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has advanced two bills related to medical marijuana use for veterans. The first bill—sponsored by Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.)—would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to research the effects of medical-grade marijuana on the health outcomes of veterans with conditions such as chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
An amendment to the bill was offered by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) that would prevent veterans’ health care facilities from denying benefits to patients who use medical marijuana in states where it is legal. Both the amendment and bill were adopted unanimously by the committee.
In her article Disalvo acknowledges that both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are among those who have expressed support for research into medical marijuana use for veterans.
A second bill, sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), would permit VA providers to offer recommendations to patients who are interested in participating in state marijuana programs. VA providers currently cannot discuss medical marijuana as a form of treatment for veterans, even in states that allow for medical marijuana.
Disalvo points out that these are committee votes and even if the bills are approved by the full House it’s likely they would face an uphill battle in the GOP-controlled Senate.
More information is available in Emily Disalvo’s excellent article in the March 12, 2020 edition of The Hill.
Stat of the Week
“Just two months into adult-use legalization and Illinois dispensaries are selling more than a million dollars of legal cannabis—per day.”
For a detailed analysis of how those sales are taxed and how those tax dollars are allocated, you can read the reporting by David Downs in the March 10, 2020 edition of Leafly.
www.leafly.com/news/politics/illinois-one-million-legal-weed-per-day?
Cannabis and Pain Management
The results of a new study published in Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology may offer some hope for those who suffer from the condition called fibromyalgia. The authors of the study contend that, at least in some patients, cannabis can be used effectively to address the pain associated with the condition.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.
The study recruited just over a hundred patients at the Luigi Sacco University Hospital in Milan, Italy. The average participant was 52 years old, and over 90 percent of those who suffered from the condition were women .
The primary focus of the study was on individuals who are stably taking medications, but haven’t found relief. Patients such as these are often referred to as “refractory patients.” Just under half of the patients in the study were taking two other drugs, while nearly a third took at least three. These drugs included opioids, anticonvulsants, nerve blockers, and antidepressants.
Researchers found nearly half of patients (47 percent) received enough relief from cannabis to reduce or cease their painkiller usage.
In addition, researchers found that between one third and one half of the patients experienced what they described as “notable benefits” with respect to sleep, anxiety, depression, and pain symptoms.
For a more detailed description of the research you can read the full article by Adrian Devitt-Lee in the March 10, 2020 edition of the Project CBD newsletter.
www.projectcbd.org/medicine/new-study-cannabis-effective-fibromyalgia?
Legalization Through Executive Order: Fact or Myth
Those who believe a president could legalize marijuana with a simple wave of a magic wand, a stroke of a pen or what’s known as an executive order may be gravely disappointed when it comes time to execute such a plan.
The reality is that an executive order would merely start a regulatory process that could take months or even years, with no guarantee of success.
As an article by Louis Jacobson in The Poynter Institute’s Politifact publication points out, before marijuana could be legalized at the federal level, marijuana’s designation as a Schedule 1 Drug in the Controlled Substance Act would have to be changed by updating the Act.
This would require the secretary of Health and Human Services to open a scientific and medical evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration to determine whether marijuana’s scheduling status should be changed. The last time the FDA reaffirmed marijuana’s Schedule I status was in 2006.
Or, the attorney general, most likely through the Drug Enforcement Administration, could open a parallel review. Either process could take quite a while.
As University of Michigan law professor Julian Davis Mortenson noted, “It’s not feasible to legalize marijuana nationally by executive order. An executive order can’t repeal the state laws prohibiting marijuana, and it can’t repeal federal criminal law.”
All of which is not to say that the federal prohibitions can’t be changed. However, the notion it can be done “overnight” through an executive order is best described as a pipe dream.
For a thorough review of the barriers faced by any attempt to make such a change through an executive order read Louis Jacobson’s analysis of the proposal in the March 9, 2020 edition of the PolitiFact publication of The Poynter Institute
www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/09/could-bernie-sanders-legalize-marijuana-executive-/?
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Koht and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com or at 347-528-8753.
