Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at legalization efforts in Ohio, cannabis consumption in wartime, cannabis use and heart disease and much more. Enjoy.
Breaking News
Ohio has decided to join the party. According to Jared Gans, reporting for The Hill, Ohio voters have voted to legalize recreational cannabis, making it the 24th state to do so.
Gans writes that the initiative that passed, known as Issue 2, will allow adults aged 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and grow up to six marijuana plants at home. The measure also establishes a 10-percent tax on marijuana sales. The state legalized medical marijuana in 2016.
However, as Tyler Buchanan of Axios Columbus points out, this is more the end of the beginning than the beginning of the end. That’s because the public’s vote is not the final word on marijuana legalization.
In his reporting Buchanan notes that Issue 2 was an initiative, not a constitutional amendment. That means state lawmakers can adjust or even repeal the law.
For example, State Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) says the legislature will review the law and could potentially change its tax proceeds. One assumes other changes are also possible.
For example, Marijuana Moment reports there is already rumbling that some Republican lawmakers and prohibitionist groups are looking for ways to water down the law voters approved with changes to specific provisions such as tax revenue allocations and others floating an outright repeal.
This is the part where Yogi Berra says “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
However, barring any surprises and fully aware that “there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip,” the law is set to go into effect in 30 days.
To learn more, we suggest reading the election night reporting by Jared Gans in the November 7, 2023 issue of The Hill. We also encourage you to read the first-rate analysis by Tyler Buchanan in the November 7, 2023 issue of Axios Columbus.
thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4298355-ohios-issue-2-passes-to-legalize-recreational-marijuana/
www.axios.com/2023/11/08/ohio-legalizes-weed-marijuana-law-issue-2?
Cannabis Corner
If there is one topic upon which mature consumers and industry insiders agree, it’s the need for well-informed budtenders who understand customer service. Fortunately, thanks to organized labor, that need is being addressed in New York City.
According to Carl Campanile, reporting for the New York Post, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union has launched what it calls the first-in-the-nation apprenticeship program for aspiring “budtenders.” It’s designed to prepare graduates to work at licensed cannabis stores in New York and New Jersey.
The program, which includes 80 hours of classroom instruction followed by 2,000 hours of on-the-job training, is being developed in conjunction with the Queens-based business called Cannabis Place. The program’s graduates will be certified as “cannabis professionals.”
The students are taught about the history of cannabis and how to grow and manufacture marijuana — the so-called “seed to sale” process — as well as the chemistry of cannabis, including cannabinoids, such asTHC, cultivars or strains and the terpenes responsible for the aromas and flavors of the plant.
Students also are advised on how to interact with customers—including conflict resolution—and are briefed on the ins and outs of the business and the regulations governing the industry.
Said Hugh Giordano, director of organizing at UFCW Local 360, “No-one has done this before. We have a visionary employer harnessing our unmatched cannabis industry expertise to train ambitious, local, but often overlooked talent.”
The “visionary employer” he was speaking of is Cannabis Place founder Osbert Orduna. Orduna said he formed a partnership with UFCW as part of the community benefits program he submitted when he obtained cannabis licenses to operate in New York and New Jersey.
Campanile notes that Orduna, an ex-Marine and disabled vet who operates a licensed cannabis store in Jersey City, as well as a weed delivery service based in Queens, said of the apprenticeship, “We are training people to be budtenders, to be cannabis professionals.”
Campanile also makes the point that organized labor has high hopes for its role in the growing cannabis industry and is proud to “put the marijuana plant under the union label.” The UFCW has been at the forefront of unionizing cannabis workers nationwide, and initially enlisted employees in New York’s medicinal marijuana program.
Said Giordano, of UFCW, “The best employers recognize the enormous untapped pool of amazing talent out there. Programs like this help attract that talent and release its potential.”
To learn more, we encourage you to read Carl Campanile’s entertaining and informative article in the November 5, 2023 issue of the New York Post.
Cannabis During Wartime
Israel is no stranger to medical cannabis, so it should come as no surprise that data from Israel’s Ministry of Health shows a sharp expansion in the reach of the medical marijuana program in that country since the beginning of the war with Hamas.
According to Ben Adlin, reporting for Marijuana Moment, newly released government numbers show that patient enrollment in Israel’s medical cannabis registry rose by 2,202 people in October. Adlin notes that figure is roughly twice the recent monthly average, though he acknowledges it’s not quite the rapid growth seen in early 2021, when nearly 3,000 patients were registering each month.
Adlin also points out that along with more enrolled patients, there’s been a corresponding uptick in the amount of marijuana that is being prescribed. The country’s medical cannabis rules specify that a patient can purchase only up to a certain amount of specified products. In October, those products totaled 5,173 kilograms—which Adlin notes is not only a record in itself, but also the largest monthly increase ever recorded in the system, according to a local Israeli cannabis news publication. Data also showed an increase in the number of patients prescribed relatively high doses of marijuana.
According to the latest government numbers about a third of Israeli medical marijuana patients are ages 46 to 65 and about 18 percent are 65 or older.
Unfortunately, according to Adlin’s reporting, Israel is not the only country where war is motivating people to use medical cannabis to find relief from trauma and pain. In Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the legalization of medical marijuana to help people impacted by the “pain, stress and trauma of war.”
Said Zelensky this past June, “We must finally, fairly legalize cannabis-based medicines for all those who need them, with appropriate scientific research and controlled Ukrainian production.”
Ben Adlin does an excellent job of unpacking a complicated and timely issue and we urge those who wish to learn more to read his excellent reporting in the November 7, 2023 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Cannabis and Neuropathic Pain
There may be hopeful news for those who suffer from neuropathic pain. A new study indicates that treating the symptoms with cannabis may offer some relief.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, neuropathic pain can happen if the nervous system is damaged or not working correctly. It is often described as shooting, burning, stabbing, or electric shock-like pain or a tingling, numbness, or a “pins and needles” sensation. The pain is often accompanied by sleep disturbances. It’s estimated diabetes is responsible for about 30 percent of neuropathy cases.
The study, conducted by researchers affiliated with the Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, Algea Care GmbH (Company), Frankfurt, Germany and the Department of Global Development and Health, The University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden, involved 99 patients with chronic neuropathic pain.
According to the authors of the study—which appeared in the journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids— the patients received medical cannabis by means of inhaling dried cannabis flowers with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of 12 to 22 percent at a maximal daily dose of between 0.15 grams and 1 gram.
Up to six follow-up sessions were carried out at intervals of 4 to 6 weeks. Pain severity, sleep disturbance, general improvement, side effects, and therapy tolerance at the follow-up consultations were assessed in interviews and compared with the baseline data.
Within 6 weeks on the cannabis therapy, the researchers reported the following:
• The median of the pain scores decreased significantly.
• The proportion of patients with severe pain decreased from 96 percent to 16 percent.
• Sleep disturbance was significantly improved These improvements were sustained over a period of up to 6 months.
The research team also reported that there were no severe adverse events reported. Mild side effects reported were dryness in mucous tissue, fatigue and increased appetite. Therapy tolerance was reported in 91 percent of the interviews.
As a result of these findings, the researchers concluded that medical cannabis is safe and highly effective for treating neuropathic pain and related sleep disturbance.
To learn more and read a more detailed account of the study, we urge you to read the abstract that appeared in Volume 6, Issue 1 of the journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Simply click on the following link.
karger.com/mca/article/6/1/89/860557/Medical-Cannabis-Alleviates-Chronic-Neuropathic
Cannabis and Heart Health
Let’s address the elephant in the room. Much has been made recently about two new non-published studies presented at a recent meeting of the American Heart Association. One paper stated that older adults who don’t smoke tobacco but do use marijuana were at higher risk of both heart attack and stroke when hospitalized, while the other paper said people who use marijuana daily were 34 percent more likely to develop heart failure.
According to Sandee LaMotte, who covered the story for CNN, Robert Page II, chair of the volunteer writing group for the 2020 American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Medical Marijuana, Recreational Cannabis, and Cardiovascular Health, said in a statement, “Observational data are strongly pointing to the fact that … cannabis use at any point in time, be it recreational or medicinal, may lead to the development of cardiovascular disease.” He was not involved in either of the new studies.
As is often the case, the headlines generated by these papers may not tell the entire story and may, in fact, distort the findings of the research teams.
Here are a few things to consider. For starters, negative findings about cannabis use should never be ignored or dismissed out of hand. However, they should, instead, be understood in context.
For example, LaMotte reports that in the first paper researchers found the 8,535 adults who abused cannabis had a 20 percent higher risk of having a major heart or brain event while hospitalized. While that’s not good news, it’s a finding based on a group of individuals who are “abusing” cannabis—using it excessively—and—at 20 percent—the finding does not reflect the experience of the majority of the individuals in the study. Nor does the study describe any other health problems these individuals may have had prior to their hospitalization.
In the second study, researchers found people who reported daily marijuana use had a 34 percent increased risk of developing heart failure, compared to those who reported never using marijuana. As LaMotte points out, heart failure doesn’t mean the heart has stopped working, but that the heart isn’t pumping oxygenated blood as well as it should.
Again, while not good news, the researchers did acknowledge that they did not know if the marijuana was smoked or eaten. This can make a difference.
In both studies, the researchers seem to assume that the cannabis was consumed by smoking or vaping—behavior that has been historically linked to heart disease, a primary concern of the American Heart Association.
We suspect that while both studies offer food for thought, it would be wise for future research to take into account the method of consumption in order to determine if the risk is based in a person’s behavior—smoking or vaping—or in the chemistry of the substance—cannabis and the cannabinoids and terpenes it contains.
As LaMotte correctly points out in her article, older adults often develop a number of chronic conditions by age 65. That’s why we have always held that older individuals who are using cannabis on a daily basis are probably using it for medicinal purposes and should be doing so under the watchful eye of a physician or medical professional who “speaks” cannabis.
One thing we know for sure, mature cannabis consumers must be vigilant when it comes to their health and the effects that using cannabis may have on their health, both good and bad.
To learn more, we suggest reading the article by Sandee Lamotte that appeared in the November 7, 2023 issue of CNN.com.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/06/health/marijuana-heart-stroke-risk-wellness/index.html
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.
