Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we take a look at how to select a cannabis caregiver, a new study on using CBD to treat fibromyalgia, a cannabis hotline staffed by nurses, words of wisdom from Tommy Chong and more. Enjoy.
Tips On Selecting a Cannabis Caregiver
It’s not uncommon for individuals who use medical cannabis to rely on a caregiver to purchase and transport the cannabis for them and, in some cases, even help to administer it.
In states where medical marijuana is legal, the role of a cannabis caregiver is usually highly regulated and not everyone qualifies.
Clearly, some thought must be given when selecting an individual to fulfill this complex role. To help, Amanda Singleton, writing for AARP, offers these tips on finding the right individual.
• Start by selecting someone who is reliable.
• The person selected to be a caregiver should be willing to become familiar with the laws and the benefits and drawbacks of medical marijuana.
• The caregiver has to be able to purchase it for the patient whether through an ordering process or transporting it themselves.
• It’s important for the patient and caregiver to feel comfortable with the use of the medicine and its possible effects on the patient.
In addition, depending on the qualifications set out for a cannabis caregiver in a particular state, a caregiver may have to be a certain age, pass a background check, take a certification course and submit the proper application to the agency that oversees medical marijuana.
To learn more, we urge you to read Amanda Singleton’s insightful and helpful article. It appears online in the December 21, 2020 issue of AARP.org.
www.aarp.org/caregiving/health/info-2020/medical-marijuana-caregiver.html?
CBD and Pain from Fybromyalgia
Fybromyalgia is a painful syndrome that affects muscle and soft tissue. It’s experienced by millions of individuals aged 35 and older in the U.S. every year. Often, it is accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues.
The main focus of treatment, in general, is to reduce the pain associated with the condition and improve quality of life. For many that means adjusting their diet and getting enough sleep and exercise. Also, for a growing number of people, it means self medicating with CBD to address pain and quality of life issues.
According to a study that appeared in the Journal of Pain, a publication of the U.S. Association for the Study of Pain, CBD use is common among people with fibromyalgia, and the results suggest that many derive benefit from using CBD to address a variety of symptoms.
More specifically, the study found:
— 60 percent of participants with fibromyalgia had tried CBD in the past or currently used CBD.
— 32 percent of participants currently used CBD, mostly for pain, anxiety, and sleep.
— 30 to 40 percent of those studied reported relief from a variety of symptoms.
— Participants typically tried CBD due to inadequate relief from other medications.
In addition, the authors of the study contend clinicians should discuss CBD use with fibromyalgia patients and future studies are needed to rigorously assess CBD’s therapeutic value for fibromyalgia symptoms.
More details of the study can be found by clicking on the link that follows.
www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(20)30117-6/fulltext
Resources for Mature Consumers
There is good news for mature consumers of cannabis who have a question about using cannabis but can’t wait for the next issue of Senior Cannabis Digest.
There is now a free hotline that provides guidance and support for cannabis users. Called Leaf 411, it was created by Katherine Golden and Jennifer Axcell as a service to help people use cannabis safely and to its full potential.
The hotline is staffed by a team of trained cannabis nurses who are described as being passionate about helping individuals access balanced education about legal cannabis use while also improving public perception of the cannabis industry.
To learn more or chat for free with a trained cannabis nurse you can visit https://leaf411.org/ or call 844-LEAF411. The hotline is open Monday to Friday 9:00am to 7:pm MST.
The hotline was recently the focus of the Enhance Your Life podcast, hosted by journalist Jonathan Small and sponsored by Wana Brands. The podcast tells the stories of people who claim their life has been changed for the better by cannabis.
You can visit the podcast by clicking on the following link: https://www.wanabrands.com/category/podcast/.
Quotes of the Week
“If Trump had made marijuana decriminalization part of his platform, I guarantee you he would have found 20,000 votes in Georgia and 100,000 in Pennsylvania and 100,000 in Wisconsin.” —Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky).
Massie’s comment was part of a longer article by Matt Laslo on Trump, the electoral college and marijuana reform. The article appeared in the January 6, 2021 issue of The News Station.com. A link to the article appeared in the January 12, 2021 issue of Marijuana Moment.
www.marijuanamoment.net/az-issues-cannabis-app-forms-and-draft-rules-newsletter-january-12-2021/
thenewsstation.com/will-trump-gop-electoral-college-challenge-hamper-marijuana-reform/
“I don’t smoke a whole lot. Maybe a joint, maybe half a joint a day because when I started smoking, I was afraid of it, and so I would just take a little toke and put it out and see what happens….And even though I got more weed than I’ll ever smoke in a lifetime, I still treat it like it’s a rare commodity, and so I smoke maybe not quite a joint, about half a joint a day with my one toke.”—Tommy Chong of the comedy team Cheech and Chong.
In a revealing interview with Louis O’Neil for the Green Fund, Chong—a long-time cannabis advocate—shows himself to be a thoughtful and complex individual who is the soul of moderation. And no, Dave’s still not here.
The interview appears in the December 18, 2020 issue of The Green Fund.
thegreenfund.com/tommy-chong-talks-about-his-daily-cannabis-use-and-more
Stats of the Week
This week’s magic number is 60 percent. That’s how much the sales of recreational and medical edibles increased in the year 2020. That translates to $1.23 billion in sales, up from $767 million in 2019.
According to Nina Zdinjak, who covered the story for Benzinga, this increase surpassed the increase posted by the entire cannabis market, which was 54 percent And, according to Cooper Ashely, a data analyst from Headset, edibles now have a market share 11.07 percent, which is up from the 10.65 percent in posted in 2019.
Makers of cannabis edibles contend the increase in sales and consumption is based on both new and mature consumers trying edibles for the first time and consumers looking for more discrete ways to consume cannabis because of the coronavirus pandemic.
You can learn more by reading Nina Zdinjak‘s article in the January 11, 2021 issue of Benzinga and Bart Schaneman‘s review of the data which appeared in the January 11, 2021 edition of Marijuana Business Daily.
mjbizdaily.com/edibles-outperform-cannabis-industry-growth-in-2020-on-covid-spurred-sales-surge/
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.
