Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at treating pets with CBD, cannabis-friendly accommodations for travelers, concerns about products made from delta-8-THC and more. Enjoy.
CBD and Pets
Those who think CBD can’t be used to treat animals may be barking up the wrong tree. The American Veterinary Medical Association has reported that as of October 1, 2021, veterinarians in Nevada can administer hemp and cannabidiol products below 0.3 percent THC without fear of sanction from the state licensing board.
According to Hemp Industry Daily, the practice does remain a bit of a gray area. While CBD is commonly sold through veterinary channels in all states, veterinarians could be sanctioned for administering it because the products haven’t been approved for animal use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The ban remains in place despite promising research on CBD to treat epilepsy in dogs.
Said Nevada Assemblyman Steve Yeager, sponsor of the legislation, “I certainly hope that other states follow Nevada’s lead and provide reassurances to licensed veterinarians that they can administer CBD or talk about it with patients without fear of facing disciplinary proceedings.”
NielsenIQ, a market analytics firm that tracks sales of hemp-derived CBD products, predicts that pet CBD sales will be roughly $300 million in 2021 and about $500 million by 2025.
To learn more, you can read the article “Nevada First State to Allow Veterinary CBD Treatment.” It appears in the September 9, 2021 issue of Hemp Industry Daily.
hempindustrydaily.com/nevada-first-state-to-allow-veterinary-cbd-treatment/?
Travel Tips
There is good news for mature consumers who factor in the opportunity to use cannabis when making their travel plans. A new Canadian-based company now offers cannabis-friendly accommodations for travelers.
Javier Hasse, writing for Benzinga, reports the company, called HiBnb, provides travelers with cannabis-focused accommodations, adventures and activities.
Said Elizabeth Becker, the company’s founder, “HiBnb was built to fill the gap in hospitality and leisure activities to service the needs of the growing cannabis industry within a legal framework across Canada and in select US states. We’re thrilled at the response we’ve had from both the cannabis community and in the short-term rental industry, people are really excited.”
According to the company’s website, cannabis-friendly activities and events can range from classes in making cannabutter to yoga “in the park” to scheduling the services of a mobile chef. Where legal, travelers can also order cannabis products and have them waiting at their accommodations.
Once they register with the AirBnB-style company, hosts are free to charge what they wish and set the ground rules of what they expect from guests. The company looks for hosts who are knowledgeable when it comes to cannabis and cannabis-friendly activities in their area.
To learn more, we urge you to read Javier Hasse’s excellent article in the September 14, 2021 issue of Benzinga or visit the company’s website.
Stats of the Week
This week’s magic number is 268 million. According to a new report on global cannabis consumption by New Frontier Data, that’s the estimated number of individuals worldwide who have used cannabis at least once since 2020.
The report also revealed nearly 50 million (49.6) of those folks reside in North America while 93.8 million are in Asia and 59.2 million are in Africa.
The report also found there are an estimated 4.4 million active medical cannabis patients globally who access legalized, high-THC products. Americans registered in medical cannabis programs make up 84 percent of those patients. Currently there are 38 U.S. state medical cannabis programs in operation. The researchers at New Frontier Data contend that globally the number of patients in those programs will grow by more than 2 million over the next five years, to a combined 6.5 million worldwide by 2025.
According to Kacey Morrissey, Senior Director of Industry Analytics, New Frontier Data, nearly half of American cannabis consumers reported using cannabis to help manage stress and anxiety during the pandemic.
In addition, Morrissey is of the opinion that medical cannabis has been the main driver of legalization and that educating consumers about how to most effectively use cannabis medicinally, and “transitioning their purchases” to legal, regulated markets will be central drivers of legal cannabis market growth globally in the coming years.
To learn more we suggest you read the report “Grass Grows Greener Globally as Total Cannabis Consumers Increase Worldwide.” It appears in the September 13, 2021 issue of Cannabit, a publication of New Frontier Data. A link to the report follows.
Concerns About Delta-8-THC
Increasingly, those who live in states where cannabis is not legal have turned to products made with a hemp-based product called delta-8-THC that offers some of the intoxicating properties of delta-9-THC.
Because of its molecular structure delta-8-THC does not, at least as of today, fall under the regulations that prohibit products made with delta-9-THC, the intoxicating cannabinoid in marijuana. While delta-8-THC does occur naturally in cannabis, it is found in such small quantities that those who sell it commercially usually produce it by converting CBD.
Because the products made with this substance are not regulated and there are a growing number of reports of what it calls “adverse effects,” the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has weighed in by issuing a warning to consumers. The warning lays out several concerns:
• “delta-8 THC products likely expose consumers to much higher levels of the substance than are naturally occurring in hemp cannabis raw extracts. Thus, historical use of cannabis cannot be relied upon in establishing a level of safety for these products in humans.”
• “Some manufacturers may use potentially unsafe household chemicals to make delta-8 THC through this chemical synthesis process. Additional chemicals may be used to change the color of the final product. The final delta-8 THC product may have potentially harmful by-products (contaminants) due to the chemicals used in the process, and there is uncertainty with respect to other potential contaminants that may be present or produced depending on the composition of the starting raw material.”
• “Manufacturing of delta-8 THC products may occur in uncontrolled or unsanitary settings, which may lead to the presence of unsafe contaminants or other potentially harmful substances.”
To learn more about the concerns raised by the FDA, we suggest you read its consumer update on the topic: “5 Things to Know about Delta-8 Tetrahydrocannabinol – Delta-8 THC.” A link to the article follows.
www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/5-things-know-about-delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol-delta-8-thc
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“I am most excited about the possibility that we will be able to use minor cannabinoids to tackle some of the most prevalent diseases in the western world. Foremost to my mind is the cannabinoid THC-V in the cannabis plant which has potential therapeutic efficacy against obesity and diabetes. THC-V can encourage weight loss in rodent models even when the administered doses are quite low. The prevalence of adult obesity in the US is above 40 percent and costs the country as much as $200 billion each year in healthcare and lost productivity. If we can find a way to safely harness the endocannabinoid system to treat this, the implications would be enormous.”—Dr. Peter Grinspoon. Dr Grinspoon, an American born physician, is an Internist and medical cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. He is considered an expert on the topic of medical and recreational cannabis.
Dr. Grinspoon’s comments are taken from an interview that appeared in the publication Key Insights From the Pharmaceutical Cannabis Report: 2nd Edition. The report, which examines the use of cannabinoids in the treatment of medical conditions, is a product of Prohibition Partners, a cannabis consulting company. A link to the publication and the interview follows.
prohibitionpartners.com/2021/09/09/the-pharmaceutical-cannabis-report-2nd-edition-key-insights/
Cannabis Etiquette
Clearly, the current pandemic has changed many things, including the way individuals use cannabis in a social setting.
Many people, with good reason, no longer feel comfortable sharing a joint or passing a pipe around. However, if you still enjoy cannabis with friends, the cannabis-focused public relations firm NisonCo offers the following etiquette tips. While most of these can be filed under common sense, we find it interesting that someone went the extra mile and wrote them down.
• If you’re the lucky one to get the first hit off of a fresh bowl, make sure you burn from the corner of the bowl. This helps ensure everyone can get a fresh hit.
• Don’t take a bite out of your burger and then hit the joint or pipe in rotation. No one wants to have a taste of what you’re eating for dinner when they take the hit after you.
• Don’t blow smoke into pets’ faces. Marijuana may be harmful to them and can make them uncomfortable or scared.
• If you’re storytelling, don’t get carried away and hold on to the weed for too long. Take your hit (or two) and then pass it along and continue with your story.
For more tips you can read the article “11 Essential Cannabis Etiquette Tips.” It appears both on the NisonCo company website and in the September 15, 2021 issue of Benzinga.
www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/21/09/17570974/11-essential-cannabis-etiquette-tips?
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.
