Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we take a look at using CBD to manage eczema, treating anxiety with cannabis, changing attitudes on the morality of using marijuana and more. Enjoy.
Managing Anxiety With Cannabis
If you, like many, are looking for a new way to manage anxiety and the chain of obsessive thoughts that can accompany it, there is some indication that using cannabis, particularly at lower doses, may offer some relief from those conditions.
So says Mary Sauer, writing for Benzinga. She points to an article that appeared in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research in 2019. The authors said that while more research needs to be done, they believed that cannabis could be used to offer relief from anxious thoughts and repetitive behaviors.
According to Sauer, research suggests that a lower dose of THC, the psychoactive property of marijuana, reduces anxiety but higher doses can make it worse. If you’re looking at a THC-free cannabidiol, such as CBD, however, a higher dose may provide more relief.
If this is something you want to try, Sauer suggests starting slow and increasing over time. A tincture or edible will allow control over your THC consumption, making it easier to stick with a specific dose. Remember to give yourself time to experience the full effects of THC to avoid overdosing and experiencing increased anxiety that could be a side effect of a higher dose—particularly if you are a relative newcomer to using cannabis.
While Sauer doesn’t mention them, there are a number of factors that come into play if you decide to use cannabis to manage anxiety. First, if you are under a medical professional’s care for any condition, it’s best to discuss the pros and cons of your decision with that professional before you begin to self medicate. This is particularly true if you are already taking medication to help manage your condition.
Another factor to consider is whether or not medical or recreational marijuana are legal and available in the state where you live. Worrying about the legality of self medicating may end up actually adding to your anxiety, should a stranger come to your door.
If you want to try a CBD product to help manage your stress, remember to look for something that is labeled “broad spectrum” and ask to see a product’s COA, or “certificate of analysis.” That document shows how a product performed on tests checking for CBD and THC levels, and the presence of contaminants. Broad spectrum is a term usually used to indicate the product has only a small amount of THC—as low as the 0.3 percent federally required limit for CBD products made from hemp. While small, that 0.3 percent of THC is often needed to enhance the CBD’s therapeutic effect.
To learn more, you can read Mary Sauer’s article in the June 22, 2020 issue of Benzinga.
www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/20/06/16319144/can-cannabis-help-curb-my-obsessive-thoughts?
CBD and Eczema
Eczema may soon join the list of ailments that consumers are managing with CBD. So says Maria Loreto, reporting for The Fresh Toast.
In her article, Loreto points out that eczema is traditionally treated by managing its most prevalent symptoms to prevent flare-ups. She adds that the condition is not contagious and can be very different from person to person, with the most prevalent symptom manifesting as patches of itchy skin.
In addition to moisturizing their skin, the ways in which people treat their eczema are varied and personal, and can often include warm baths and gentle soaps and wearing cotton clothes that won’t irritate the condition or cause discomfort.
She writes that CBD has garnered some acclaim within the beauty and skincare industry and that different studies have demonstrated that CBD can be effective in providing anti-inflammatory effects and managing skin irritation. She reports that there are also studies that have found CBD has antioxidant properties, which, she speculates, may help prevent infections when skin has been damaged by eczema and is at its most vulnerable.
You can learn more by reading Maria Loreto’s article in the June 22, 2020 issue of The Fresh Toast. It also appeared in The Growth Op.
www.thegrowthop.com/wellness/whats-the-deal-with-cbd-and-eczema
Stats of the Week
According to a new survey from Gallup, 70 percent of those Americans queried think it’s morally acceptable to consume Marijuana.
According to the same survey, activities that survey respondents view as less morally acceptable than smoking marijuana include wearing clothes made of animals’ furs (54 percent), sex between teenagers (38 percent), pornography (36 percent) and human cloning (12 percent).
Also, while people who identify as liberal were far more likely to view marijuana use as morally acceptable (83 percent) compared to those who identify as conservative (51 percent), a simple majority of both groups said marijuana consumption is morally acceptable.
To learn more, visit Kyle Jaeger’s article about the survey results in the June 23, 2020 issue of Marijuana Moment.
Quote of the Week
“I’m not telling you God said for you to take it. But if it helps someone in the choir manage a health condition…the church should provide it.”—Pastor Jamal Bryant leads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, an Atlanta-area African-American megachurch with 10,000 parishioners and an online viewership of more than 90,000. He has created a line of cannabidiol (also known as CBD) oil-based products called Canna Blessed.
Pastor Bryant’s comments are taken from a detailed article by Mike Jordan that reveals the range of attitudes about cannabis use held by American clergy in “the age of legal marijuana.” The article appears in the June 28, 2020 issue of the Wall Street Journal.
www.wsj.com/articles/the-word-of-god-in-the-age-of-legal-marijuana-11593343801
Careers In Cannabis
There is good news for mature consumers who would like to pursue a second career in the cannabis industry. According to Iris Dorbian, writing for Forbes, a growing number of colleges and universities have launched special programs designed to prepare students who want to enter the cannabis job market.
Dorbian highlights one program in particular, Excelsior College‘s newly launched Graduate Certificate in Cannabis Control. This unique online program focuses on educating students on how to navigate the complex regulatory landscape of the legal cannabis market.
The three-course, nine-credit certificate “takes an interdisciplinary approach and can be taken alone for college credit and career advancement or applied toward four of Excelsior College’s master’s degree programs,” said the news release touting the program. The three courses in the certificate program are: “Implications of Legalization of Cannabis: Policy and Compliance”; “Interstate/International Commerce: Policy and Regulatory Environment”; and “Risk Assessment in Cannabis Control.”
To enroll in this graduate-level certificate program, prospective students should have already completed their bachelor’s degree.
To learn more we encourage you to read Iris Dorbian’s informative and entertaining article in the June 24, 2020 issue of Forbes.
You can also use the following link to visit the online description of the program.
www.excelsior.edu/program/graduate-certificate-in-cannabis-control/
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com or at 347-528-8753.
