Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at a member of congress who doesn’t approve of legalizing cannabis but likes it as an investment, a study that shows legalization has little effect on teens, new CBD products that might interest mature consumers and more. Enjoy.
Investor News and Notes
The admonition “do as I say, not as I do” seems to apply to the efforts of one member of Congress who wants to keep the federal government from legalizing cannabis.
In this case, a Republican Congresswoman from North Carolina who has spent her Congressional career advocating against the legalization of marijuana is also thought to be the largest holder of marijuana-related stocks in Congress, according to a report from Unusual Whales, a market research firm.
Brett Bachman, reporting to Salon.com, writes that Rep.Virginia Foxx has made at least six investments in Altria, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies and a leader in the burgeoning U.S. cannabis industry, since September of last year. The company, formerly known as Philip Morris, also holds large minority stakes in JUUL Labs and Anheuser Busch InBev, another company exploring the cannabis market.
Bachman notes the timing of the trades is especially newsworthy since they began just a few months before the House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment & Expungement Act (MORE) in December, which was intended to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. The MORE Act, which has recently been revised and reintroduced, has yet to pass the Senate.
Richard Painter, a former White House ethics attorney under President George W. Bush and University of Minnesota law professor, described Foxx’s trades as an obvious conflict of interest. Said Painter, “It brings into question her credibility as a lawmaker.”
According to Bachman, records show that at least 20 House members and six Senators have reported either purchasing or selling cannabis industry stocks since 2020.
You can learn more by reading Brett Bachman’s article. It appeared in the May 29, 2021 edition of Salon.com.
Legal Matters
Mature consumers who were concerned that legalizing the sale of recreational marijuana at the state level might spark an increase in the number of young people who said they used cannabis can breathe a sigh of relief. That’s because it seems that with cannabis, much like other issues, the actions and opinions of adults often have only limited influence on the behavior reported by teens.
In this case, the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) analyzed youth surveys of high school students from 2009 to 2019.
Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment, noted that NCES researchers concluded that there’s been “no measurable difference” in the percentage of those in grades 9-12 who reported consuming cannabis at least once in the past 30 days.
Jaeger also noted that an earlier analysis of the same survey that was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that marijuana consumption among high school students actually declined during the peak years of state-legal recreational cannabis legalization.
In addition, according to Jaeger an official with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s National Marijuana Initiative admitted last year that, for reasons that are unclear to researchers, youth consumption of cannabis “is going down” in Colorado and other legalized states and offered the opinion that it’s “a good thing” even if “we don’t understand why.”
You can learn more by reading Kyle Jaeger’s article on the study. It appears in the May 27, 2021 issue of Marijuana Moment.
CBD Spotlight
Javier Hasse covers the new cannabis product beat for Benzinga and recently he identified two new CBD product lines that he thought were worth a second look by those who make CBD part of their daily wellness routine.
The first is from a company called Happy Place. It’s a line of what he describes as affordably priced CBD topicals. The line includes a patch, a roll-on, hydrating cream and a healing balm.
Hasse reports the products can be found at retail locations in 11 states and can be shipped nationwide if purchased online. The company describes itself as “the ultimate brand of American-made CBD gummies, tinctures, topical and capsules designed to help anyone and everyone balance their mood, brighten their ‘tude , focus their mind and find their groove.”
You can learn more at discoverhappyplace.com/.
Hasse also reported on a new CBD tincture from Kush Queen called Bäre+. It is said to feature a potent combination of THC-free, broad-spectrum CBD and ∆9THCv that can relieve stress, support daytime functionality, and unlike THC, works to suppress appetite.
Hasse notes that THCv should not be confused with THC, as it is an entirely different molecule which does not produce the typical psychoactive “high” effect associated with THC.
And for those who are concerned about such things, the tincture is described as 100 percent vegan, hypoallergenic, non-GMO and gluten-free.
You can learn more at Kushqueen.shop.
To learn more about other new products, we urge you to read Javier Hasse’s article in the May 27, 2021 issue of Benzinga.com.
Stats of the Week
If you’re a mature consumer who has been praying the federal government legalizes cannabis, you may be in the minority. That’s because a new study shows that atheists are more likely to favor legalization.
Kyle Jaeger, writing for Marijuana Moment, reported that while 60 percent of Americans favor legalizing cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes, based on Pew’s latest national survey, religiously-affiliated people overall are less inclined to back fully ending prohibition. However, it should be noted a majority of those polled who identify themselves as “religiously affiliated”—54 percent—still favor legalization.
Jaeger noted that the survey revealed the group least likely to favor adult-use legalization is white evangelical Protestants (44 percent) and the most likely supporters are black protestants (63 percent).
The Pew study also found that 53 percent of Catholics are in favor of legalizing both recreational and medical cannabis, though white members of the denomination are more likely to support the policy change than are Hispanic members.
In addition, among those who are described as the most religious —meaning they attend church frequently, pray often and say religion is “very important” to them—researchers found the most highly religious adults are more likely to say that marijuana should be legal only for medical use than to say it should be legal for medical and recreational use.
It seems that where you stand on the issue may depend on where you kneel.
You can learn more by reading Kyle Jaeger’s excellent reporting on the study. It appears in the May 27, 2021 issue of Marijuana Moment.
Cannabis Trends
When it comes to cannabis products that are not consumed by smoking, it seems prices may be coming down while doses are moving higher.
So says Andrew Long, writing for Marijuana Business Daily. He reports the average price per milligram of THC in infused cannabis products such as beverages and edibles has declined steadily since January 2020. Long contends this is a likely sign of increased competition “as marijuana markets mature.”
However, Long also acknowledged the decline could also be explained by a change in post-pandemic buying trends with marijuana consumers spending more on products with higher THC doses.
Long noted that edibles with 100 milligrams of THC have accounted for a larger share of sales in California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington state, increasing from 78 percent in January 2020 to 83 percent in May 2021.
Cooper Ashley, senior data analyst for Headset, a Seattle-based marijuana data analysis firm, told Long that the price per milligram of THC usually decreases with larger package size, which can cause the overall prices to drop over time.
Long also reported that an analysis by Marijuana Business Daily of adult-use product pricing data from Headset revealed that while price points per milligram varied by category in California, Colorado, Nevada and Washington state, overall prices—as measured by amount of THC in a product—fell in each state.
You can learn much more by reading Andrew Long’s informative article. It appears in the May 25, 2021 issue of Marijuana Business Daily.
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.
