Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at the latest “big thing” in cannabis, a new deal between a Canadian union and a cannabis company, using CBD to fight MRSA and gonorrhea and another proposal to legalize adult use cannabis in New York State. Enjoy.
Cannabis Trends
There is good news for mature consumers who want to experience the benefits of cannabis, such as pain relief or reducing inflammation, without the intoxicating properties of THC.
While many have turned to products that contain CBD for just this reason, there is another cannabinoid that may be even more effective and efficient than CBD. It’s called CBG and many think it will be the next “big thing” in cannabis products.
According to Josh Hurst, writing for Health.com, CBG, which stands for cannabigerol, is considered the “mother” or precursor of all the other phytocannabinoids. Hurst makes the point that the process of producing THC and CBD in the cannabis plant all starts with the acidic form of CBG, cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA. As cannabis plants go through their flowering cycle, CBGA transforms into different cannabinoids, such as CBD, THC, CBN, and others. Essentially, without CBG, there would be no CBD oil or THC products that we see today.
Like CBD, CBG is not psychoactive, which means it won’t cause you to feel intoxicated or “high” in the way products that contain THC do. While researchers are just starting to pay attention to CBG and explore its possible uses, there are a number of benefits the cannabinoid is believed to offer, such as helping to alleviate inflammation within the body, particularly as it relates to colitis. helping to stimulate appetite and killing bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. In addition, it is thought to be more efficient than CBD in the way it interacts with cannabinoid receptors and enzymes that are said to exist within the human body.
While Hurst makes it clear in his article that more research is needed to understand the potential benefits and risks of using CBG, a number of products are already being brought to market, in the form of tinctures or oils. Some of these products contain both CBG and CBD while others contain CBG alone. Some also contain terpenes and minor cannabinoids and are said to offer what’s known as the “entourage effect” which is thought to offer more benefits than those experienced by CBG alone.
To learn more about CBG and see a review of five different CBG products, visit Josh Hurst’s article in the January 22, 2021 issue of Health.com.
www.health.com/mind-body/cbd/best-cbg-oil
Spotlight on Healthcare
In what may be a glimpse of the future for U.S. workers, Unifor, Canada’s largest private union, has struck a deal with Canadian cannabis company Aleafia Health (TSX:AH).
The goal of the deal is to “support union members, retirees and their eligible dependents who receive medical cannabis insurance coverage through Unifor’s collective bargaining agreements.” The union has more than 300,000 members and represents workers at the big three automakers concentrated in Ontario, Canada.
Javier Hasse, reporting for Benzinga, writes that Aleafia will serve union members and their families through its network of medical cannabis clinics, products, and scheduled same day delivery, according to the company’s CEO Geoffrey Benic. While patients currently pay out of pocket for medical cannabis, Benic contends this is changing, as employers are now realizing the benefits of medical cannabis as an alternative to traditional pharmaceuticals.
Said Benic, “Obviously the adult-use market gets the most attention, but we think that medical cannabis has been largely overlooked and we will capitalize on that opportunity.” He went on to say that having union members at Canada’s largest employers receive insurance coverage for cannabis is “an important breakthrough in access.” He believes the new relationship benefits patients as well as Aleafia’s continued growth.
You can learn more by reading Javier Hasse’s article in the January 21, 2021 issue of Benzinga.com.
CBD and Superbugs
CBD may soon be a not-so-secret weapon in the fight against the bacteria responsible for gonorrhea, meningitis, legionnaires disease and other “superbugs” that are often resistant to treatment with antibiotics.
That’s a key finding of a new research collaboration between the Institute for Molecular Bioscience’s Centre for Superbug Solutions at the University of Queensland in Australia and Botanix Pharmaceuticals Limited. It’s believed the research could lead to the first new class of antibiotics for resistant bacteria in 60 years.
The research, which has been published in Communications Biology, found that in addition to penetrating and killing a wide range of bacteria including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhea, the study also demonstrated that CBD was widely effective against a much larger number of what are called gram-positive bacteria than previously known, including antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) or “golden staph.”
Director of the Centre for Superbug Solutions, Associate Professor Mark Blaskovich said “This is the first time CBD has been shown to kill some types of Gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria have an extra outer membrane, an additional line of defense that makes it harder for antibiotics to penetrate.”
Dr Blaskovich also said cannabidiol (CBD) was particularly good at breaking down biofilms—the slimy build-up of bacteria, such as dental plaque on the surface of teeth—which help bacteria such as MRSA survive antibiotic treatments.
The collaboration with the Institute has enabled Botanix to begin testing a topical CBD formulation in clinical trials for use against MRSA before surgery.
To learn more, we urge you to read the article “Establishing the Antibiotic Potential for Cannabis.” It was published on January 19, 2021 as a release of the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience. You can find it by clicking on the link below.
imb.uq.edu.au/article/2021/01/establishing-antibiotic-potential-cannabis?
Stats of the Week
This week’s magic number is 1.6 million. It’s estimated that’s how many people in New York State consume cannabis at least once a month, with 2.4 million consuming it at least once a year. Neither number includes the individuals who consume it as part of the state’s legal medical cannabis program.
These numbers become significant when considered in light of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to legalize and tax adult-use cannabis in the nation’s fourth-largest state. According to J.J. McCoy, Senior Managing Editor, New Frontier Data, the governor has repeatedly maintained that a tax-and-regulate stance for recreational cannabis would help fill the state’s historic, $15 billion budget deficit.
McCoy writes that the Governor asserts that a projected $350 million in annual revenue from cannabis taxes represents an opportunity to aid an economy that has suffered amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo said that the state would divide the revenues, with $100 million dedicated for a social equity fund but “$250 million towards the budget and our needs.”
New Frontier Data’s initial projections for New York’s adult-use cannabis market calls for it to reach $1.26 billion in the first year of sales, reaching $3.59 billion by its fourth year.
To learn more, we encourage you to read J.J. McCoy’s detailed analysis, “One More Time: New York Governor Makes Third Try to Adopt Adult-Use Cannabis.” It appears in the January 25, 2021 issue of Cannabyte, a publication of New Frontier Data.
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.
