Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at a new study on using cannabis to manage chronic pain, a recipe for hot sauce that contains THC, Mike Tyson’s latest cannabis venture and more. Enjoy.
Using Cannabis To Manage Chronic Pain
There is hopeful news for mature consumers and others who experience chronic pain. Another study found that participants reported that medical cannabis helped them manage their pain.
Researchers affiliated with the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New York, USA, the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Spokane, Washington DC, USA, and St. George’s University, Grenada, conducted a survey of chronic pain patients certified to use medical marijuana in order to assess pain relief and effectiveness. Chronic pain is included in the list of the ten conditions that allow an individual to qualify for access to medical marijuana in the State of New York.
The study was carried out in an outpatient pain clinic setting in New York from October 2018 to May 2019. All patients who were qualified to legally use medical marijuana and were returning to the clinic for their follow up visits between the period October 2018 and May 2019 were offered the survey. Patients under the age of 18 were excluded from this survey. Eventually, the researchers had access to a total of 21 participants who responded to the survey—11 women and 10 men, ranging in age from 31 to 71.
All patients were asked to answer the following questions:
1) What is your overall pain score before using the medication and afterwards on a scale of 1 – 10?
2) How much relief would you say you have had as a percentage, e.g. 50 percent overall relief?
3) Is your sleep improved and if so by how much as a percentage, e.g. 50 percent better?
4) Has your overall function improved and if so by how much as a percentage, e.g. 40 percent better (function included aspects like walking, cooking etc. activities of daily living)?
5) Any improvement in other symptoms not mentioned above?
6) Any comments you would like to make on the use of medical marijuana?
The survey found that the pain score was halved in the respondents, sleep was improved and overall function improved with the use of medical marijuana.
The researchers contend the study shows that medical marijuana can help chronic pain patients manage pain and that further studies need to be done and access to the medication needs to be improved so more patients with chronic pain can benefit from its use.
To learn more, we suggest you read the abstract, or the study itself, which appeared in Open Journal of Anesthesiology. Simply click on the link that follows.
www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=115717
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“Cannabis has always played an important role in my life. Cannabis has changed me for the good both mentally and physically, and I want to share that gift with others who are also seeking relief.”—Mike Tyson.
Yes, it’s that Mike Tyson, fighter turned cannabis entrepreneur. The quote comes from an article Gael Fashingbauer Cooper wrote for CNET profiling Mr. Tyson’s latest cannabis product—ear shaped gummies that look like someone has already taken a bite out of them.
It’s not clear just how strong the gummies—called Mike Bites—are but Tyson did promote them on Twitter in a tweet that said, “These ears actually taste good!”
Even if you are not a fan of the sport known by some as the “sweet science,” chances are you remember the 1997 boxing match between Mr.Tyson and Evander Holyfield during which Mr. Tyson bit Mr. Holyfield’s ear— twice.
After the second bite Tyson was disqualified, his boxing license was revoked, and he was fined more than $3 million. And yes, he did actually bite off a piece of Holyfield’s ear.
In a very dramatic case of “that was then and this is now,” today Mike Tyson is a successful cannabis entrepreneur whose products are available at certain marijuana retailers in California, Colorado and Nevada.
It’s likely the new gummie did not come as a surprise to Holyfield. In her article, Fashingbauer Cooper cites a report in the World Boxing News that the two boxers discussed it in a 2019 video.
Tyson reportedly told Holyfield, “You might be in business because we’re going to make some holy ears. Some edibles [of the ear] that got a bite taken out of ’em.” to which Holyfield reportedly responded, “Well, I could do that.”
It’s yet to be determined if Holyfield will actually share in the profits from the product but it’s likely that if Holyfield doesn’t get a piece of the action Tyson will get an ear full, so to speak.
To learn more, we suggest you read the article by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper that appears in the March 15, 2022 issue of CNET.com.
www.cnet.com/culture/mike-tysons-cannabis-company-making-pot-edibles-in-shape-of-bitten-ear/
A Different Kind of Edible: Hot Sauce
There’s good news for mature consumers who live in a state where cannabis is legal and like to enjoy both chilis and cannabis. In an article for the website Cannigma, Charleen Caabay, the first Filipino American female champion on the Food Network’s ‘Chopped,’ shares a recipe for a hot sauce that contains THC.
Caabay is a culinary creative and Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer at The People’s Ecosystem. As such, she promotes cannabis education, resources, and services to women-led and BIPOC businesses.
Caabay’s recipe for THC infused hot sauce takes about 30 minutes to prepare, not counting the decarboxylation process and yields about 32 ounces of sauce.
If you are stumbling over the word decarboxylation, it is the name for a process that activates the THC in cannabis and is much easier to perform than to say.
Caabay is so emphatic that anyone who is following the recipe must start with the decarboxylation process that she even includes a diagram in her recipe that shows how to decarboxylate cannabis for making any kind of edible at home.
Simply break up the cannabis, spread it on a baking sheet and bake it at 220 to 245 degrees for 30-40 minutes. That’s pretty simple—and if you are wondering why you can skip this step when smoking cannabis it’s because lighting up performs the process for you before you inhale.
Caabay also makes the point that the golden rule of edibles is to start low and go slow. She suggests it’s best to have a small serving of your hot sauce to get an idea of how strong it is and how it makes you feel before you use a lot of it at one serving or pass it around. Once you know, you can adjust the serving size.
Also, while she doesn’t make the point, we will. There is nothing funny about “accidentally” dosing someone, whether with hot sauce or a brownie. Don’t do it.
For the complete recipe, which contains mangoes, several kinds of chilis, garlic, vinegar and much more, we urge you to visit the article by Chef Charleen Caabay that appears in the March 13, 2022 issue of Cannigma.
cannigma.com/recipes/thc-hot-sauce/?
Investor News and Notes
As you may know by now, we are reluctant to promote particular cannabis stocks as a good investment for two reasons: a) we are not qualified and b) we are not qualified.
However, we do know this much—the cannabis sector in general remains quite volatile and picking cannabis stocks that are likely to provide a significant return on investment is difficult. This challenging prospect is underscored by a recent article in Ganjapreneur by Lukas Barfield in which he reported on a recent survey by the National Cannabis Industry Association and Whitney Economics that found that 37 percent of cannabis businesses in the U.S. are not profitable.
According to Barfield, the survey points to several specific challenges facing the industry that affect its profitability, such as competition from the illicit market and over-taxation. The survey also cites lack of access to banking and price volatility as potential stumbling blocks for cannabis entrepreneurs.
Beau Whitney, the founder of Whitney Economics, told Barfield that the results came as “no surprise.” Said Whitney, “The narrative out there is that everyone is swimming in cash because of cannabis. But, for many, unless you have $2.5 (million) to $3 million, you’re not able to cover a loan or rent or health care.” So much for the bad news.
By now, some of you may be wondering, in the words of the old joke, if “there’s a pony in here somewhere.” As we have said before, there is a pony of sorts, at least a less volatile pony in the cannabis sector and it can be found in the form of ancillary cannabis companies—companies that support the cannabis industry without touching the actual plant.
For example, cannabis REITS— real estate investment trusts— companies that own, operate, or finance income-generating real estate dedicated to different aspects of the cannabis industry—continue to show promise as a type of ancillary cannabis company that has the potential to turn a profit.
For example, Business Wire has reported that Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. (IIP)—described as the first and only real estate company on the New York Stock Exchange focused on the regulated U.S. cannabis industry—recently announced that its board of directors has declared a first quarter 2022 dividend of $1.75 per share of common stock. That represents an approximately 17 percent increase over the company’s fourth quarter 2021 dividend of $1.50 per share of common stock, and an approximately 33 percent increase over its first quarter 2021 dividend of $1.32 per share of common stock. The dividend is equivalent to an annualized dividend of $7.00 per common share.
Now that may pale against the more robust dividends posted by well-established companies in other industries, but a dividend is a dividend and this most recent one seems to indicate a growth trajectory—however modest— in the short term for Innovative Industrial Properties.
We’re reporting on it not to promote the stock but to offer it as an example of how investors who want to get involved in the cannabis sector can benefit from “betting on the barn instead of the horse.”
To learn more, we suggest you read Lukas Barfield’s article in the March 16, 2022 edition of Ganjapreneur and the article on Innovative Industrial Properties that appeared in the March 14, 2022 issue of BusinessWire.com.
www.ganjapreneur.com/survey-more-than-one-third-of-u-s-cannabis-companies-not-profitable/?
New Product Spotlight
A company described as a leading CBD wellness brand has announced it’s introducing an over-the-counter (OTC) product specifically formulated to provide relief for arthritis pain.
Green Roads, a subsidiary of The Valens Company, has created a roll-on that includes ingredients known to relieve arthritic pain such as menthol and camphor, plus 1,500 milligrams of hemp-derived CBD and other supportive botanicals including black cohosh root, chickweed herb, comfrey leaf, devil’s claw root, evening primrose flower, and horsetail grass extracts.
A Green Roads’ employee who has severe rheumatoid arthritis, Steve Michaels, participated in the development of the product. Said Michaels, “I joined Green Roads in 2018 because of the impact this brand had already had on my life. It’s an incredible moment for me to be able to help my arthritis community with this new roll-on.”
The new roll-on product is now available for purchase on the company’s website, GreenRoads.com, and in select retail locations across the country.
The company also announced it is an official Supporting Sponsor of the Arthritis Foundation after making a $120,000 donation to support the organization’s pain management initiative which is designed to advance improved quality of life for those living with chronic pain.
The company noted arthritis is America’s leading cause of disability, and physical pain is one of the most pervasive conditions caused by this disease.
To learn more you can read the company’s announcement of the new product and the donation. It appeared in the March 8, 2022 edition of Globe Newswire.com.
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and 347-528-8753.
