Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at the risks associated with using cannabis while taking prescription drugs, cannabis and opioid use, using cannabis during the holidays and more. Enjoy.
Cannabis and Prescription Medications
A new study indicates mature consumers who use medical cannabis need to be cautious when they also take other prescribed medications.
That’s the word from Jelena Martinovic, writing for Benzinga. Martinovic reports that new research by scientists at Washington State University (WSU) suggests major metabolites found in the blood of test subjects who use cannabis can interfere with two families of enzymes that help metabolize a wide range of drugs prescribed for a variety of conditions.
This means the cannabis-related metabolites may decrease the positive effects of the prescribed drugs. The researchers contend there is also a chance the metabolites may interfere with the body’s ability to metabolize the prescription drugs, which can trigger unintended side effects such as toxicity or, in the extreme, accidental overdose.
Philip Lazarus, senior author of the paper and Boeing Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences said “It’s one thing if you’re young and healthy and smoke cannabis once in a while, but for older people who are using medications, taking CBD or medicinal marijuana may negatively impact their treatment.”
Shamema Nasrin, a graduate student in the WSU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences said, “Taking CBD or marijuana might help your pain but could be making the other drug you’re taking more toxic, and that increase in toxicity may mean that you can’t continue taking that drug.”
The bottom line is that mature consumers who use medical cannabis on a regular basis, along with prescribed medications, need to be cautious and, above all, let their physician know they are using cannabis as part of their wellness routine. This would give the physician an opportunity to recalibrate the dosage of the prescription medication. In certain circumstances mature consumers may have to forgo using cannabis, at least in the short term.
To learn more, we urge you to read Jelena Martinovic‘s article in the December 13, 2021 issue of Benzinga.com.
Cannabis and Opioids
Using medical cannabis may help individuals reduce their reliance on opioid medication prescribed to help them deal with chronic pain.
That’s the finding of a group of researchers who took a look at the impact cannabis use had on opioid usage by a group of patients in Delaware.
The researchers, a group that included professionals from Georgetown University, Delaware, an advocacy group based in New York and others, found, in their words, “an association between medical cannabis certification (use) and a decrease in opiate use among the study group individuals.”
The researchers added that the study also suggests that medical cannabis use may help individuals reduce their opiate requirements, when done under the guidance of a physician.
As is often the case, the research team suggested more research is needed to validate their findings.
To learn more we suggest you read an abstract of the article, Medical Cannabis Certification Is Associated With Decreased Opiate Use in Patients With Chronic Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Delaware. It appears on the website Cureus, a publication described as an open access medical journal.
Stats of the Week
Fa-la-la-la-wow. This week’s magic number is 68.7 percent. According to a new survey, nearly three quarters of cannabis users—68.7 percent— say they will probably use even more cannabis during the holidays to help them deal with holiday induced stress.
That’s the word from CBD Oracle, a cannabis consumer research company. Researchers surveyed 1,925 U.S. adults, all of whom had used cannabis at least once before, and found that most cannabis users said they will likely consume more cannabis—nearly half said “way more”—over the holidays, while with family, traveling, eating and having what they described as difficult conversations.
The most common explanation for the increased consumption—given by 56.5 percent of respondents— was that they used it to help manage the financial and social stress from the holiday. Helping with sleep and improving mood were the next two most-popular reasons.
In addition, 48 percent said it would help them manage discussions around politics and 61.5 percent said it would make them more comfortable around anti-vaccine family members.
We suspect it might also help you sit through your Uncle Al recounting yet again how he once met Keith Richards at a farmers market and endless debates about what kind of candied fruit they actually put in fruitcake.
If you care to learn more, you can read highlights from the survey that appeared in the December 14, 2021 issue of Cision, an online publication of PRNewswire.com. Just click on the link that follows.
Financial Matters
While the majority of marijuana dispensaries are cash only businesses, some have started to let consumers use a device known as a cashless ATM to pay for their purchases.
Now Visa, the world’s second-largest card payment company, has weighed in on the practice and they don’t like it one bit. In fact they’ve warned cannabis retailers such transactions could lead to penalties or other unspecified enforcement action.
For the uninitiated, according to the blog Cardnox, a cashless ATM, otherwise known as point-of-banking technology, is a payment terminal that enables customers to make purchases with a debit card in the same way as they would make an ATM transaction to withdraw cash.
It’s said the system was originally created as an alternative payment solution to serve high-risk businesses—such as legal medical marijuana dispensaries. However, the payment method has now spread to other types of businesses including lunch trucks and vendors at farmer’s markets.
Ben Adlin, reporting for Marijuana Moment, describes how the transaction works. According to Adlin, a cannabis retailer might round up a $45 purchase to $60 and code the sale as a cash disbursement. The retailer then subtracts the purchase price plus taxes from the apparent $60 withdrawal and gives the change to the customer.
To the payment processor the transaction would look like a $60 ATM withdrawal, but to the customer it would seem as though they’d bought cannabis with a card.
Quoting from a memo from Visa that was obtained by Marijuana Moment, Adlin writes the company is “aware of a scheme” in which merchants are using the cashless ATMs to effectively sidestep restrictions on what types of sales that payment cards can be used for.
Adlin adds that a Chicago Bar Association blog post said that miscoding cannabis sales would not only violate payment processors’ policies but “would be a violation of federal law as well.”
In addition, Visa could also take disciplinary action against a merchant who uses the system, including a potential fine of $200,000 and termination of the Merchant’s account.
Convenience, it seems, is not always what it is cracked up to be. Perhaps it’s wiser to just bring cash the next time you head over to the dispensary.
You can learn much more, including industry responses to the memo, by reading Ben Adlin’s informative article in the December 10, 2021 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.
