Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we take a look at using CBD in mouthwash, why cannabis can sometimes produce laughter, a guide to cannabis extracts, good news for veterans working in the marijuana industry and more. Enjoy.
CBD Trends
The benefits attributed to using CBD seem to know no bounds. The latest example can be found in a study out of Belgium. Researchers there reported that cannabinoid-infused mouthwash was just as effective at killing certain plaque-related oral bacteria as chlorhexidine, an active ingredient in many prescription mouthwashes. The cannabinoid mouthwash was also said to be more effective at killing bacteria than two popular over-the-counter products.
That’s the word from Ben Adlin, writing for Marijuana Moment. According to Adlin, the researchers went on to say that the effectiveness of the mouthwashes, which separately contained CBD and cannabigerol (CBG), “demonstrate the potential of cannabinoids in developing efficient and safer mouthwash products and next generation oral care products.”
CBG is another cannabinoid that is less well known than CBD and THC but is starting to become the subject of a growing number of research efforts.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Cannabis Research. It evaluated mouthwashes made by CannIBite, a Belgium-based company that develops cannabinoid-based dental products. CannIBite, which also makes toothpaste and a “protective oral spray,” has patents pending for the application of cannabinoids in dental care. But the company is hardly alone in trying to capitalize on cannabis in oral hygiene. Other companies, such as Impression Healthcare in Australia and San Diego-based Axim Biotechnologies, which also make cannabis-based oral-care products, are testing CBD toothpaste and mouthwash formulas of their own.
You can learn more by reading Ben Adlin’s article in the July 7, 2020 edition of Marijuana Moment.
Cannabis and “the Giggles”
It happens, so the saying goes, in the best of families. The “it” in this case is breaking out with a case of the giggles after consuming cannabis. You know how it goes, you take something or smoke something and after a while the sight of that mound of freshly washed laundry suddenly has you laughing as if you were watching a cavalcade of stand up comedians.
Melissa Pandika, writing for the online publication Mic.com wanted to know why that happens so she visited Timothy Fong, a professor of psychiatry who also helps oversee the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative.
Said Fong, “Laughing is really a reflex, It’s something that can be triggered spontaneously, by things we see and feel.”
He believes that the altered state of consciousness that cannabis produces makes it more likely that the laugh reflex will be triggered. He contends this is a result of cannabis boosting chemicals in the body, such as dopamine, that are involved in triggering the laugh reflex. As a result, said Fong, “things that aren’t funny become funny.”
He also noted that cannabis can lower the inhibition of your laugh reflex in situations that your sober mind would deem giggling inappropriate by acting on the frontal lobe, responsible for inhibiting behavior.
Lewis Nelson, chair of the department of emergency medicine and chief of the division of medical toxicology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School also told Pandika that the binding of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the compound in weed that makes you high, to the endocannabinoid receptors located throughout your body spurs the release of dopamine and serotonin, what he called “the happy neurotransmitters,” can also lower impulse control and help to produce the giggles.
You can learn more by reading Melissa Pandika’s insightful article in the July 6, 2020 issue of Mic.com.
www.mic.com/p/why-weed-makes-you-laugh-according-to-science-27639404?
CBD News and Notes
If you are taking CBD but find you’re not getting the results you desire, you may not be taking enough. So says Mary Clifton, M.D. reporting for Benzinga.
According to Clifton, “if you’re not getting results on a small amount, one of three things is happening: You’re not taking enough, something else is happening that’s contributing to the underlying problem right now, and we’re blaming it on the CBD or you don’t have CB1 and CB2 receptors in your body at a level that you’re going to have a significant result. Considering it only works for 80 percent of people, 20 percent of people try and they don’t like the feeling they get.”
Clifton went on to recount attending an event in New York with some Canadian scientists who are saying that the “sweet spot” for dosing for chronic anxiety is falling somewhere around 300 milligrams a day in divided doses. She acknowledged that seemed like a lot to her, but added it probably suggests that she may not be prescribing enough of a dose for some of her patients who are dealing with a significant amount of anxiety.
Said Clifton,” If you’re not getting a result, take a little bit more time to think about the serving size. Make sure that you’ve truly titrated to a high enough amount so you can assess whether or not it’s working.”
She added, “Always remember to find a great product, a quality product that you can love. “
To learn more, we urge you to read Dr. Clifton’s article in the July 3, 2020 issue of Benzinga.
Spotlight on Extracts
If you are wondering what the buzz is all about when it comes to cannabis extracts you are not alone. It was not that long ago that those who wanted to use cannabis had a limited number of products to choose from. For many there was marijuana in leaf form or occasionally hash or hash oil and that was it.
Then came legalization and products that were only available underground were suddenly on the menu. To help mature consumers sort all this out, Bailey Rahn, writing for Leafly, has put together a glossary of dabbing and extract terms.
Rahn starts with terms such as budder, which refers to extracts that take on a creamy, butter-like consistency, and concentrate, which is a term that refers to any cannabis product that concentrates cannabis compounds from raw plant material and then goes on to discuss shatter, which refers to extracts that take on a transparent glass-like consistency and wax , a term used to describe extracts that take on a soft, waxy consistency.
You can learn more by reading Bailey Rahn’s article—which includes a number of useful FAQ’s—which appeared in the June 26, 2020 issue of Leafly.
www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/beginners-guide-to-buying-dabs-and-cannabis-extracts?
News for Veterans
There is good news for veterans working in the cannabis industry. They will not be automatically blocked from accessing VA home loans because of their employment status.
That’s the word from Kyle Jaeger writing for Marijuana Moment. According to Jaeger, the U.S. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently clarified to Congress that it does not have a policy automatically barring veterans from receiving home loans solely because they work in the marijuana industry.
The VA, in a report submitted to Congress in June 2020, said there is no policy on the books that calls for home loan denials due to employment at a cannabis business.
Jaeger does point out, however, that individual lending companies may be denying home loans to veterans because the cannabis industry-derived income they would use to pay back loans isn’t necessarily stable and reliable due to the fact that federal officials could shut down their employers at any time.
Kyle Jaeger’s penetrating take on this complex issue appears in the July 10, 2020 issue of Marijuana Moment.
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.
