Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at using medical cannabis to treat osteoarthritis, a subscription service for CBD, the rise in popularity of pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes and more. Enjoy.
Treating Osteoarthritis with Cannabis
Patients with chronic osteoarthritis who use medical cannabis can reduce their use of opioids to treat pain and experience an improvement in both pain management and quality of life.
That’s a key take away from a study conducted by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The researchers investigated whether using medical cannabis in the management of chronic pain stemming from osteoarthritis can reduce opioid use.
Osteoarthritis can result in significant pain, which is often treated with opioids. There is, however, a growing belief by members of the medical community that medical cannabis has the potential to be an alternative to opioids for chronic pain conditions.
In the study, forty patients with chronic osteoarthritis pain were certified for medical cannabis and received an oral tincture and/or a topical preparation that contained THC and/or CBD. Over the course of the study, average morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per day of opioid prescriptions filled within the six months prior to using medical cannabis was compared to that of the six months after. Scales of reported pain and quality of life were also studied.
The researchers found that among the test subjects using medical cannabis, opioid use reduced significantly. The subjects also said they experienced less pain and their quality of life improved.
To learn more, we suggest you read the abstract or the entire peer reviewed study. It appears in the January 24, 2022 edition of the journal Cureus. A link to the study follows.
CBD Spotlight
There may be an opportunity for savings and increased convenience for mature consumers who use CBD. A leading retail-focused Canadian-based cannabis company—High Tide—has announced that its subsidiary, FAB CBD, has launched a CBD Subscribe-and-Save discount program in the United States.
So says Dania Nadeem in an article for the website Seeking Alpha. Nadeem reports that customers will be able to customize their orders each month from the company’s product lines, which include oils, gummies, topicals, pet treats, and “superfoods.”
In addition, the folks at High Tide also said customers will have the ability to customize their delivery frequency for each individual product in the order within a range of every two to 10 weeks and will get a 20 percent discount for life on all FAB CBD products.
The company believes that the program will benefit consumers by enhancing savings and convenience and benefit the company by cultivating a recurring revenue stream that will be much more predictable than when customers only had the option to manually place their orders.
To learn more we suggest you read Dania Nadeem’s article in the March 7, 2022 edition of the website Seeking Alpha.com.
Cannabis And Public Opinion
There is more evidence of a growing acceptance of cannabis use in the U.S. A new poll reveals that if consumers were presented with a choice between using alcohol and cannabis, more Americans now think it’d be good if people switched to marijuana and drank less alcohol.
That’s the word from Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment. Jaeger writes that when asked in a survey by YouGov, twenty-seven percent of respondents said that it’d be ideal if people used more cannabis instead of booze. However, 20 percent said switching over would be a bad idea, while most respondents (38 percent) said it would be neither good nor bad.
Jaeger noted a demographic breakdown of the poll showed that people aged 30-44 were the most likely to say substituting cannabis for alcohol would be good (34 percent), whereas just 17 percent of those 65 and older agreed. Democrats were more likely to support the switch to marijuana from alcohol (34 percent), compared to Republicans (18 percent) and independents (27 percent).
Beyond the survey, in some states consumers appear to be voting with their wallets. For example, Jaeger points out that according to state data, Massachusetts is officially collecting more tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol and in 2021 Illinois collected more tax money from the sale of cannabis than from alcohol sales.
To learn more, as always we suggest you read Kyle Jaeger’s reporting for Marijuana Moment. His article on the survey appears in the March 2, 2022 issue.
Consumer Trends
When it comes to which cannabis products are preferred by mature consumers and others, convenience and a desire for more potent products are starting to drive a significant segment of the market.
That’s a key finding of a new analysis of retail sales in six key markets by Headset, a Seattle-based data-analytics firm that specializes in cannabis trends.
According to Bart Schaneman, writing for MJBizDaily, sales of vapor pens accounted for nearly $2.6 billion in retail sales in those markets in 2021, making them the second-largest product category by revenue behind flower.
In addition, the same study revealed that the pre-roll category rose from fourth-largest to No. 3 with $1.42 billion in sales in 2021, bumping edibles from the top three highest-revenue categories.
According to Cooper Ashley of Headset, cartridges made up the vast majority of vapor pen sales, but disposable vape pens also had very strong growth in 2021. Arshad Lasi, CEO of the Nirvana Group, a vertically integrated medical marijuana company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, contends the growth in the number of people buying disposable vapes is driven by consumers looking for discreet, convenient products.
Schaneman also reported that according to Ashley, the more specialized segment of pre-rolls showed the most growth. For example infused pre-rolls – these are often made by applying concentrates or cannabis oil to flower – stood out as the second-largest segment in both 2020 and 2021, with sales of infused pre-rolls more than doubling in each of those years.
Reinforcing the notion that a desire for potent products is driving much of interest in pre-rolls, Nirvana Group’s Lasi described a type of pre-roll that’s made by applying concentrate oil to the outside of the product and then dusting it with kief, or THC crystals. It’s estimated infused pre-rolls such as these can achieve levels of THC potency testing in the 40 percent-50 percent THC range, something that flower on its own cannot achieve.
To learn more, we urge you to read Bart Schaneman’s clear and concise reporting on these trends. His article appears in the March 9, 2022 issue of MJBizDaily.
mjbizdaily.com/marijuana-vapes-pre-rolls-popular-among-us-consumers-seeking-potency-innovation/?
Know Before You Go: A Cautionary Tale
Speaking of vapes and cartridges, by now you may be aware that WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport when a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges that contained a form of cannabis oil.
According to Doug Feinberg, who covered the story for the Associated Press, the Russian Customs Service said possession of such vape cartridges could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Feinberg notes that Griner, who plays for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, is one of several WNBA players who play in Russia during the off season. No tourist, Griner has played in Russia for the last seven years.
According to Feinberg, the State Department issued a “do not travel” advisory for Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine and urged all U.S. citizens to depart immediately, citing “the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials” and “the Embassy’s limited ability to assist” Americans in Russia.
Whether or not one is a celebrity, Griner’s arrest makes it clear that consumers cannot take their use of cannabis for granted, particularly when traveling.
When it comes to cannabis in any form, the reality is you can’t always take it with you. When traveling, whether for business or pleasure, consumers need to plan ahead and check the laws governing the possession and use of cannabis at their destination and the processing they will have to undergo when they arrive. Such preparation is an investment in your safety and can apply to domestic as well as international travel.
To learn more about Brittney Griner’s predicament, we suggest you start by reading Doug Feinberg’s article in the March 5, 2022 edition of Associated Press.com.
apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-entertainment-sports-moscow-brittney-griner
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.
