Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we feature tips on how to tell if your CBD product is working as it should, a U.S. insurance provider that has taken the cannabis plunge, a snapshot on what seems to be everyone’s favorite cannabis confection—gummies—and more. Enjoy.
Tracking the Benefits of Taking CBD
Often, when trying to determine the effectiveness of a substance, such as cannabis, it’s important to know what you are looking for.
For example, if, like many, you are just not sure how to tell if the CBD you are taking is working properly, there is good news. Emma Loewe, the Senior Sustainability Editor for the website Mind Body Green, has come up with five indicators that can help you assess whether or not your CBD is actively contributing to your sense of wellness.
First, you feel physically comfortable and relaxed. Loewe contends that CBD seems to help ease chronic pain in adults and contribute to an all-around relaxed sensation throughout the body.
Second, you’re less phased by things that used to stress you out. There are a number of studies that indicate participants who take CBD report that events that they usually found stressful, such as public speaking, no longer had that effect on them.
Third, you feel less anxious about the future. According to Loewe, because of the way CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), there is some evidence CBD can positively affect mood and reduce stress by acting on the serotonin receptors in the brain and helping to regulate both GABA (a naturally occurring amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter in your brain) and glutamate (another neurotransmitter)—all of which is thought to help to reduce stress.
Fourth, you’re more productive. According to Loewe some people report feeling like they’re more focused and productive after taking a CBD product during the day. This increased productivity, Loewe believes, is due to the fact that cannabinoids can ease stressful, anxious thoughts and make it easier to concentrate on the task at hand.
Fifth, you fall asleep faster. Others report that when they take CBD at night they find they fall asleep faster. Some attribute this to CBD helping to reduce stress, which can help to cause insomnia.
If you wish to learn more we encourage you to read Emma Loewe’s article in the January 31, 2021 edition of Mind Body Green, a site that has been promoting wellness and health since 2009.
www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/5-ways-to-tell-if-your-cbd-product-is-working
Cannabis Quote of the Week
This week’s cannabis quote comes in the form of a tweet from Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Nikki Fried, dated January 28, 2021.
“Medical marijuana is medicine. If we don’t ask job candidates about opioids or anti-anxiety drugs, then we shouldn’t ask about legally prescribed medical marijuana. And we definitely shouldn’t report them. It’s wrong, it’s discrimination, and it punishes job seekers.”—@NikkiFriedFL
Cannabis and Health Insurance
Last week we took a look at an agreement between one of Canada’s largest labor unions and Canadian cannabis company Aleafia Health (TSX:AH). The agreement is designed to make it easier for union members to have access to medical cannabis products.
This week we can report similar insurance benefits are now being offered by a U.S. company called Novus through its Novus Cannabis MedPlan. Through this plan the company has pioneered the practice of offering guaranteed health plans in the U.S.that include cannabis.
According to the company’s CEO, Frank Labrozzi, Novus, was founded in 2015. It currently has a sales distribution base of 1,000 insurance agents, brokers, and wellness companies who sell their plans.
At present, the company has a customer base of 2,000 individuals who pay—on average—$24.95 per month. Its in-network provider base includes close to 325 cannabis companies that offer pre-negotiated discounts on THC Plans which are state-specific and CBD plans that are drop-shipped nationwide.
According to Labrozzi, as cannabis moves toward federal legalization, Novus is poised to offer its plans in all 50 states. At that point it expects to transition to what it calls User-Based Insurance (UBI) which will include a calculation of a user’s consumption behavior. It will then offer tiered premium charges based on that calculation, creating what he describes as a win-win for the company, dispensaries, and consumers.
To learn more you can read Frank Labrozzi’s description of the company and its benefits. His article appears in the January 28, 2021 edition of Benzinga.
www.benzinga.com/markets/cannabis/21/01/19268177/cannabis-health-insurance-plans-are-now-a-reality
Stat of the Week
This week’s magic number is 60,000. According to Chef Matt Kulczycki, Edible Product Manager of California’s CannaCraft, that’s how many individual gummies the company is able to produce in 11 hours each work day. Given the consumer demand for this type of edible, it’s not likely they will go to waste.
As Dante Jordan points out in an article for Leafly, gummies have made it to the top of the edible “pyramid” for a number of reasons.
First, they are easy to dose. According to Jordan gummies are easy to make in a uniform manner and get an exact dose every time. That’s not necessarily the case with other edibles, such as chocolate and fruits which can be made in different sizes, making it more difficult for such products to pass consistent potency testing.
Secondly, they preserve well over time. Gummies, and candies in general, have a much longer shelf life than brownies and other edible baked goods. Also, gummies, particularly those made with pectin, have a much higher melting point than edibles made with chocolate. This reinforces the fact that gummies are a particularly convenient confection.
According to Jordan, the challenge for companies that manufacture gummies is figuring out exact formulas—including the characteristics of specific strains—to deliver specific effects on a consistent basis.
He contends that in the near future, consumers are sure to see an expansion of products based on cannabinoids, terpenes, and production methods of gummies.
This notion was reinforced by Chef Kulczycki of Canna Craft. Said Kulczycki, “I think we’re going to start seeing THCV gummies; Delta-8 gummies are a big one too. And I think you will see in the future, CBN and CBG. Right now the costs are so high on those that it’s hard to add [CBN and CBG] to the gummies.”
To learn more we encourage you to read Dante Jordan’s informative and entertaining article in the January 26, 2021 edition of Leafly.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. They can be reached at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
