Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at why cancer patients use cannabis, treating cats with CBD, what classifying cannabis as a Schedule III drug might mean and more. Enjoy.
Cannabis Stats of the Week
This week’s magic number is 31 percent. A recent study examined the results of an online /phone survey of over 1,200 patients who received treatment for nine different types of cancers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between March and August 2021. The survey asked about their cannabis use and their attitudes, and communication about cannabis.
The survey findings revealed that 31 percent of those surveyed reported that they used cannabis after their diagnosis. The reasons the patients gave for using cannabis included difficulty sleeping (48 percent); stress, anxiety, or depression (46 percent); and pain (42 percent).
Among the respondents who said they used cannabis to improve symptoms, 70–90 percent reported improvement, depending on the symptom.
Another significant take away from the survey was that only 25 percent of patients discussed cannabis use with their healthcare providers.
Given that patients use cannabis, largely for symptom management and their oncologists may not know about their patients’ cannabis use, the research team concluded that research is needed to determine benefits and harms of cannabis use during cancer treatment in order to improve decision making about cannabis use during cancer care.
The survey findings were published in the August 31, 2023 issue of the journal Supportive Care in Cancer. To read an abstract of the study, simply click on the link that follows.
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00520-023-07994-y
Political News and Notes
With all of the news about the increased acceptance of cannabis by the public, from millions of dollars in sales in states where it is legal — e.g. Illinois retailers sold $139.2 million worth of recreational marijuana products in August — to the suggestion by HHS that the DEA should reclassify the legal status of cannabis from Schedule I to the less restrictive Schedule III, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that not everyone sees cannabis in the same light.
For example, there is news that U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) has introduced a proposal that would withhold some federal funds from states and Native American tribes that have legalized cannabis for adults.
That’s the word from TG Branfalt, writing for Ganjapreneur. According to Branfalt, under what Edwards dubbed the Stop Pot Act, states and tribes that legalize or have legalized cannabis for adult use would have 10 percent of federal highway funds frozen. The proposed law would not apply to states and tribes that legalize or have legalized cannabis for medical use.
Said Edwards, “The laws of any government should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation, and federal funds should not be awarded to jurisdictions that willfully ignore federal law. During a time when our communities are seeing unprecedented crime, drug addiction, and mental illness, the Stop Pot Act will help prevent even greater access to drugs and ease the strain placed on our local law enforcement and mental health professionals who are already stretched thin.”
Branfalt notes that the proposed bill is is backed by anti-cannabis advocacy groups Smart Approaches to Marijuana Action and the Christian Action League and comes as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who are based in Edwards’ home state, will vote this week on allowing the sale and adult use of cannabis on their tribal lands. If approved, lands owned by the tribe would be the only place in North Carolina to legally buy cannabis for non-medical use.
More news as more news develops.
To learn more, we suggest reading TG Branfalt’s article in the September 5, 2023 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
The Shape of Things to Come
Speaking of Illinois and cannabis, organizers there have announced a two-day event that merges music and cannabis culture, making it Illinois’ first concert that permits cannabis consumption on site.
According to Alonzo Small, reporting for Chicago TV Station WGN, the event, called the “Miracle in Mundelein,” is set to take place September 9-10 in Mundelein—a suburb of Chicago—and will feature performances by Cypress Hill, Action Bronson, and Stephen Marley.
Organizers also told Small that the festival will feature rolling stations and dab bars and that complimentary grinders, lighters, papers, and rolling trays will be provided. Bongs or glass pieces will not be issued, however.
Event organizer Peter Shapiro, founder of Dayglo Presents, a live music and media company, told the online publication JamBands.com that the event “is a testament to the relationship that music and legal cannabis can have when brought together in the right way.”
Said Shapiro, “We named the event, “The Miracle” because it really is remarkable that we can now bring cannabis and music together in 2023, and it is permitted and legal. Our goal is to create a new type of event, which showcases the uplifting impact of cannabis in a legal environment, while also supporting and growing a real community.”
You can learn more by reading the article by Alonzo Small that appeared in the September 1, 2023 issue of the website WGNTV.com.
wgntv.com/news/illinois/illinois-first-music-festival-permitting-cannabis-consumption-announced/
TG Branfalt also covered the story for Ganjapreneur. You can read his reporting in the September 4, 2023 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
www.ganjapreneur.com/illinois-concert-will-be-states-first-to-allow-cannabis-consumption
Policy Update
While there has been a great deal of discussion about the proposal by HHS to have the DEA change the status of cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug—some say before the 2024 election—there are still many questions about what that change really means, both for consumers and for those in the industry.
For instance, Ben Adlin, writing for Marijuana Moment, suggests that rescheduling could bring about at least one big win for the existing cannabis industry. The change would allow businesses to take standard tax deductions, which they’re currently prevented from doing under section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code.
The current prohibition applies only to substances classified in schedules I and II, which means cannabis would appear to “be off the hook” if the change to Schedule III becomes a reality.
This would most likely be welcome news for both companies and investors, given that the lack of financial flexibility resulting from the stringent tax code has been an obstacle for many cannabis companies when it comes to posting a profit.
While noting that rescheduling cannabis to a Schedule III status would bring about a number of other changes—from relaxing restrictions on advertising through the mail to increasing opportunities for research—Adlin makes the point that there are things that rescheduling alone would not change.
For example, in his article Adlin notes that “Moving marijuana to Schedule III would not broadly legalize, or even merely decriminalize the drug.”
Quoting from a fact sheet released by several advocacy groups, Adlin also points out that,”Rescheduling marijuana will not release anyone currently incarcerated for a marijuana conviction or expunge any marijuana-related records. Nor would it address the immigration related consequences which are a leading cause of deportation of immigrants to the U.S. or restore eligibility for public benefits such as housing and nutritional assistance for people with marijuana convictions.”
To learn more, we urge you to read Ban Adlin’s detailed and insightful article in the September 1, 2023 issue of Marijuana Moment.net. It’s a very valuable read.
Treating Cats with CBD
There is hopeful news for those who care for a cat that has a chronic inflammation of the gums known as gingivostomatitis. A new placebo-controlled study suggests that adding CBD to the cat’s treatment program may be beneficial.
The study was conducted by a research team in Lisbon, Portugal to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of a commercially available cannabidiol (CBD) oral formulation as an adjunctive treatment for pain management of feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS).
According to the experts at the Cornell Feline Health Center, the condition is most frequently diagnosed among cats with certain viral diseases—especially infection with the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)—as well as bacterial infections and various nutritional and hormonal conditions.
Said Jennifer Rawlinson, DVM, chief of the dentistry and oral surgery section at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, “The immune system becomes overly reactive to plaque and causes severe inflammation in the gingiva, initially around an affected tooth and then quickly progressing to the tissue in the surrounding area. By the time a cat’s owner has noticed the inflammation, it is likely to have spread well beyond the tissue immediately around the affected tooth, potentially involving the tissue in the back of the mouth—the glossopalatine arch—and beneath the tongue.”
As part of the Lisbon study, CBD was included in a multimodal treatment routinely performed on client-owned cats with FCGS that were submitted for dental extractions. Twenty-two cats were consecutively included in the study. The first group was treated using a fixed dosage of 4 mg per cat every 12 hours for 15 consecutive days, and the second received a placebo of similar features. Treatments began 2 hours before dental extractions.
Pain and disease severity were assessed at the beginning of the study and on day 15 using the Composite Oral Pain Scale (COPS-C/F) and the Stomatitis Disease Activity Index score (SDAI). Weight, vital and biochemistry parameters, and analgesic reinforcement needs were also registered at the same time points.
The research team reported that a significant improvement in the SDAI scores of cats medicated with CBD was found. They also concluded that the protocol is safe since severe adverse effects and biochemical changes were not observed during the treatment period and that the cats benefited from this treatment.
Pet owners should note that we are not suggesting that they should medicate their cat with CBD on their own. However, they may want to begin the conversation about adding CBD to the cat’s treatment plan the next time they speak with the veterinarian in charge of the cat’s treatment.
To read an abstract of the study, which appeared in Volume 13, issue 17 of the journal Animals, simply click on the link that follows.
www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/17/2716 cats
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. Yuo can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
