Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at a new study of the impact of medical cannabis on older adults, Snoop Dogg’s new retail operation, Roger Stone on rescheduling and more. Enjoy.
Medical Cannabis and Older Adults
A company described as a global leader in the medical cannabis field—Tilray—has announced the publication of an observational study that examined the real-world impact of medical cannabis on patients who are over the age of 50 and under the guidance of a healthcare provider.
Called The Medical Cannabis in Older Patients Study , or “MCOPS,” the study—which appeared in the May 15, 2024 issues of the journal Cannabis— examined the effects of medical cannabis on 299 participants with an average age of 66.7 years. In addition, 62.2 percent of respondents identified as female.
According to a release describing the study, approximately 90 percent of patients participating in the study used medical cannabis to treat pain-related conditions such as chronic pain and arthritis. This study focused on the impact of medical cannabis on health outcomes, with a focus on pain, sleep and quality of life.
The findings resulting from the MCOPs show a correlation between using medical cannabis under medical supervision and improvements in pain scores, sleep and quality of life.
Plus, a significant reduction of co-medication was observed, which according to the authors of the study, indicates that treatment with medical cannabis can be a cost-effective option for this population.
More specifically, over the six-month study period, significant improvements were noted in pain, sleep, and quality of life measures, with 45 percent of participants experiencing a clinically meaningful improvement in pain interference and in sleep quality scores. Additionally, nearly 50 percent of patients taking co-medications at baseline had reduced their use of those medications by the end of the study period.
In addition, almost all patients reported a preference for oral cannabis products (e.g., extracts, edibles) rather than inhalation products (e.g., flower, vapes), and most preferred oral formulations high in cannabidiol and low in tetrahydrocannabinol.
Said José Tempero, Tilray’s Medical Director, “Our involvement in this initiative underscores our unwavering commitment to advancing medical research and highlights our dedication to providing products that supports the findings to the comprehensive research that bring us one step closer to unlocking the full therapeutic potential of medical cannabis, especially reinforcing its role as a treatment option for an aging population.”
Tilray is a leading provider of medical cannabis products in over 20 countries with a comprehensive portfolio of THC and CBD products.
Granted, Tilray had a vested interest in having the study produce positive results when it comes to older individuals and cannabis use. Still, that’s not necessarily a reason to dismiss what appears to be positive news for seniors.
To learn more about the study, visit the July 9, 2024 release from Global Newswire.
For a more detailed review of the study, click on the link that follows.
publications.sciences.ucf.edu/cannabis/index.php/Cannabis/article/view/239
Senior Celebrity Spotlight
Rapper, producer, actor, celebrity spokesperson, BFF of Martha Stewart and Willie Nelson, cannabis advocate and High PooBah of the Sticky Icky—Snoop Dogg—has gone retail.
According to Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment, Snoop has opened his first licensed dispensary and is launching a line of cannabis products that pay tribute to rapper/actor Tupac Shakur, who was also known by his stage name of 2Pac.
Snoop’s Los Angeles-based retail location goes by the moniker of S.W.E.D.—which stands for “Smoke Weed Every Day”—and features various nods to Snoop’s musical career as a recording artist for Death Row Records, which he took over in 2022. For example, there’s a DJ booth where Snoop can smoke and spin music, memorabilia associated with the label and graffitied quotes from the artist.
Jaeger notes in his article, an unique feature of the Los Angeles dispensary is its catered selections of marijuana offerings, which will include a new line of limited-edition products from Snoop’s Death Row Records Cannabis brand.
Writes Jaeger, “That product line honors rapper Tupac Shakur, or 2Pac, an iconic artist who Snoop befriended before he was killed in a shooting in 1997. It was 2Pac who gifted Snoop his first blunt.”
Said Snoop, “That first blunt sparked a friendship that ran deep. We’ll always have his music, but this is another way I can bring what was meaningful to 2Pac to his fans.”
It seems 2Pac’s gift took hold. Snoop once estimated that he smokes 81 blunts per day and made headlines in 2019 after he disclosed that he paid a person upwards of $50,000 a year to roll his blunts for him.
That blunt roller—Rana Samarghandi — was recently selected to be a judge in an Ohio cannabis festival. Talk about upward mobility.
As always Kyle Jaeger’s reporting is clear, concise and revealing. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the July 15, 2024 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
To learn more about the upcoming Stargazer Cannabis Festival, you can read Mark Feuerborn’s reporting for Fox8 (TV) website.
fox8.com/news/snoop-dogg-staffer-among-ohio-cannabis-festivals-chosen-joint-rolling-judges/
And to close things out, here’s Kermit the Frog singing a classic by Snoop Dogg. Enjoy. (Not for the easily offended.)
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“Cannabis helped my father in his epic struggle with cancer by both easing his pain and giving him an appetite, Rescheduling cannabis, which is now legal for medicinal purposes in majority of the states would would imbue rights to patients and would prevent employment discriminations as well as set up a federal regulatory system for medical cannanbis {sic} and it would still leave states to make their own decisions. Republicans who stand in the way of this like James Lankford are fools.”— Roger Stone
Heartfelt testimonials about the medicinal benefits of cannabis and the opportunities that would be created by rescheduling don’t always come from the guys and gals in the white hats. On rare occasions they can come from a real black-hat wearing desperado with a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his back.
Case in point: Roger Stone—aka “The Prince of Darkness”— is a professional black hat who has specialized in political dirty tricks going back to the days of Richard Nixon. Charged in 2019 with witness tampering, obstructing an official proceeding, and five counts of making false statements, a jury convicted him on all seven felony counts. Sentenced to 40 months in prison, then president Trump commuted his sentence and later pardoned him.
Still, while you’re waiting for an endorsement of the benefits of rescheduling from the likes of Jimmy Carter or Tom Hanks or for “a savior to rise from these streets,” you have to go with what you’ve got and that’s why we are sharing Mr. Stone’s insightful comment on the benefits of rescheduling and the relief his father found with cannabis.
Sometimes, even bad guys can tell the truth…at least when they are not doing crimes.
Stone’s comment is taken from a tweet he recently posted on X. To read the original tweet, click on the following link.
Statistic of the Week
This week’s magic number is 1 billion, as in one billion dollars.
According to TG Branfalt, reporting for Ganjapreneur, Illinois surpassed $1 billion in combined adult-use and medical cannabis sales this year by July 1. That’s about two weeks earlier than 2023.
Branfalt notes that includes more than $850 million in adult-use sales and nearly $150 million in medical cannabis sales.
Said Gov. JB Pritzker (D), “Growing sales in 2024 means cannabis tax revenue will continue to play a major role in righting decades of wrongs in the state’s criminal justice system.”
Added Pritzker, “Illinois has the most equitable cannabis industry in the country and it’s growing and thriving. The increase in total adult-use cannabis sales, combined with the policies my administration is implementing to support communities ravaged by the War on Drugs, highlights how this emerging industry is helping us set a national standard in equity and economic justice.”
Branfalt makes the point that according to Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office data, Illinois consumers made 81 percent of the total value of purchases through the first six months of 2024, while out-of-state consumers made 19 percent. Nearly half – 49 percent – of all cannabis sales in the state were flower, followed by vape products (32 percent) and edibles (22 percent), which includes beverages (1.1 percent).
Tax revenue collected from cannabis sales has led to more than $244 million in R3 Grants for economic development, violence prevention, and youth development in disproportionately impacted communities across the state as well as the Illinois Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program, according to the Governor’s Office.
Sure looks like the genie is out of that bottle.
To learn more, we urge you to read TG Branfalt’s insightful reporting in the July 16, 2024 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
ganjapreneur.com/illinois-reaches-1b-in-combined-cannabis-sales-for-2
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edit by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
