Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at cannabis tax revenue in Illinois, using medical cannabis to treat major depression, treating vascular diseases with CBD, investing in cannabis and much more. Enjoy.
Stats of the Week
Once again there’s evidence that if you legalize it, they will come—and they’ll bring their wallets. That’s why this week’s magic number is $417 million. According to Graham Abbott, reporting for Ganjapreneur, that’s how much the state of Illinois collected in tax revenues based on the sales of recreational cannabis by licensed retailers in 2023.
Ben Adlin, reporting for Marijuana Moment, writes that all legal cannabis sales for 2023 in Illinois set a new annual record of just under $2 billion.That includes more than $1.6 billion from the state’s adult-use market, which launched four years ago.
Said Governor JB Pritzker (D), “From day one, my administration has put equity first to build the most accessible cannabis industry in the nation. Our work will continue to repair past harm while providing opportunities for communities across the state and creating a more prosperous future.”
Currently, Illinois has 177 adult-use cannabis dispensaries open for business. That includes 67 social equity licensees. Typically, these licenses are awarded to individuals who come from communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
According to Abbott, a 2023 report noted that in 2022, Illinois collected $36 million in tax revenue from people from Wisconsin who traveled to Illinois to participate in the state’s legal cannabis industry, according to a report. Cannabis remains fully prohibited in Wisconsin.
To learn more about Illinois’s “love affair” with legal cannabis, we suggest reading the work of Graham Abbott and Ben Adlin. Mr. Abbott’s reporting appears in the January 16, 2024 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
www.ganjapreneur.com/illinois-nets-417m-from-2023-cannabis-tax-revenue/
Mr. Adlin’s article can be found in the January 11, 2024 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“On balance, the available data indicate that there is some credible scientific support to substantiate the use of marijuana in the treatment of: pain; anorexia related to certain medical conditions; and nausea and vomiting (e.g. chemotherapy-induced), with varying degrees of support and consistency of findings.”—The Department of Health and Human Services
This statement about the medical value of cannabis is taken from a letter HHS sent to the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) to support the rescheduling of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III status.
According to Suzanne B. Robotti, President and Founder of an organization called MedShadow, under the DEA’s classification system, Schedule I drugs have no currently accepted medical use and aren’t considered safe to use even under medical supervision. They are also thought to have a high potential for abuse and dependency.
Schedule III drugs are thought to have a lower potential for abuse, although the potential for psychological dependence does exist. Examples of Schedule III drugs include: Ketamine, Vicodin (combination products containing less than 15 milligrams of hydrocodone per dosage unit), Tylenol with Codeine (products containing not more than 90 milligrams of codeine per dosage unit), and buprenorphine (Suboxone).
In addition, since there are fewer restrictions on Schedule III drugs, it is easier to acquire them for research.
Ben Adlin, reporting on the letter for Marijuana Moment, noted that federal health officials said that when they were preparing their letter, their research found that more than 30,000 healthcare professionals “across 43 U.S. jurisdictions are authorized to recommend the medical use of marijuana for more than six million registered patients for at least 15 medical conditions.”
This would seem to bolster the agency’s position that cannabis “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and has a “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”
The letter also made the point that,“the risks to the public health posed by marijuana are low compared to other drugs of abuse (e.g., heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines), based on an evaluation of various epidemiological databases for [emergency department] visits, hospitalizations, unintentional exposures, and most importantly, for overdose deaths….For overdose deaths, marijuana is always in the lowest ranking among comparator drugs.”
The bottom line is that this debate about the status of cannabis is being conducted by two organizations that have very different missions and world views. HHS is concerned with promoting the health of the nation while the DEA is concerned with the enforcement of drug laws.
Hopefully, we will learn before too long which perspective will win out.
If you care to learn more, we suggest reading Ben Adlin’s article in the January 12, 2024 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Treating Depression With Medical Cannabis
A new study suggests individuals grappling with depression may find some relief when medical cannabis is added to their treatment program.
Recently, a team of German researchers conducted an 18 week study of 59 individuals with major depressive disorder. Previous treatment with antidepressant medication was required for inclusion into the study.
Standardized data collection was carried out when participants entered the program and during monthly consultations. Severity of depression was measured on a 0–10 point rating scale. Side-effects were assessed by a checklist.
The study participants were treated with medical cannabis via a “telemedical platform.” According to the publication Medical News Today, as of 2022 it was estimated that 76 percent of hospitals in the United States connect with people at a distance through video conferencing or other technology.
The age of patients in the study ranged from 20 to 54 years old. Over 70 percent were male and one third reported times of regular cannabis consumption within the previous five years. The drop out rate of participants was 22 percent after 18 weeks, which the researchers said was “comparable to those in clinical trials of antidepressant medication.”
The research team reported that the “mean severity” of depression as reported by participants decreased from 6.9 points at entry to 3.8 points at week 18. A treatment response of greater than a 50 percent reduction of the initial depression score was observed in just over 50 percent of participants by week 18. While one third of patients complained about side effects, none was considered as severe. About a third of participants continued to use antidepressant medication during the study (31 percent), however the researchers felt that medication did not appear to play a role in the results reported by the patients.
The research team concluded that since the medical cannabis was well tolerated and the patients reported a clinically significant reduction of depression severity, further research on the effectiveness of medical cannabis for major depressive disorder seems warranted.
The study was published in Pharmacopsychiatry in the journal’s first issue of 2024. To read the abstract, simply click on the link that follows.
www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/a-2215-6114
Investor News and Notes
So far, in early 2024 cannabis investors are witnessing a “bullish surge in cannabis stocks.”
That’s the word from Nicolás Jose Rodriguez who covers the cannabis investment beat for the financial publication Benzinga.
According to Rodriquez, Water Tower Research (WTR) recently offered a concise overview of the significant gains and emerging trends shaping the cannabis market and the potential future of cannabis investments.
WTR pointed to the recent gains posted by MSOS, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks the performance of the North American Marijuana Index, as an example of the potential growth investors may see in the sector in 2024, particularly if the DEA proceeds with making cannabis a Schedule III drug. WTR holds the opinion that this reclassification could help to eliminate the restrictive 280E tax code affecting US-based plant-touching operators. This could significantly boost the profitability of the industry.
Rodriquez notes that the report from WTR identified multi-state, full service operators such as Jushi, The Cannabist, Cresco and AYR as cannabis companies that have recently posted substantial gains.
WTR’s analysis also identified Agrify, a provider of advanced cultivation and extraction solutions for cannabis operators, as another cannabis company that recently posted modest but positive gains.
This once again demonstrates that companies that serve the sector without “touching the plants” can be a profitable investment.
To learn more, we urge you to read the insightful and informative article by Nicolás Jose Rodriguez in the January 9, 2024 issue of Benzinga.com.
Spotlight on CBD
A new study suggests CBD may have a role to play in the treatment of common vascular diseases (VD), such as atherosclerosis, arterial occlusion, and vasculitis.
The study, which was conducted by a team of researchers from the Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery of The First Medical Centre of PLA General Hospital in Beijing, China, summarized the currently available data on CBD in the management of VD, addressing four aspects: the major molecular targets of CBD in VD management, pharmacokinetic properties, therapeutic effects of CBD on common VDs, and side effects.
They wrote that currently, the most common treatment for vascular disease is surgery, with drug therapy “progressing slowly.” However, they contend that drug therapy could offer an important alternative for particular patients for whom surgery is not feasible (patients with surgical contraindications or who cannot tolerate surgery due to poor general conditions).
Therefore, they believe there is an urgent need to develop new pharmacological agents for VD treatment. That’s why they explored the feasibility of treating patients who have a vascular disease with CBD.
Their findings indicate that CBD’s anti-anxiety, anti-oxidation, and anti-inflammatory properties can inhibit abnormal proliferation and apoptosis (death) of vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells.
This led the study team to suggest CBD shows promise as a therapeutic agent for atherosclerosis—which is the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on the artery walls, stress-induced hypertension, diabetes-related vasculopathy (a term for any disease affecting blood vessels, such as narrowing, inflammation, or clotting) and ischemia-reperfusion injury.
This last condition is the tissue damage caused when blood supply returns to tissue (re- + perfusion) after a period of ischemia or lack of oxygen (anoxia or hypoxia). The absence of oxygen and nutrients from blood during the ischemic period creates a condition in which the restoration of circulation results in inflammation and oxidative damage through the induction of oxidative stress rather than (or along with) restoration of normal function.
The study team also believes vascular damage caused by smoking and alcohol abuse may also respond to treatment that involves CBD and that this study provides a theoretical basis for further research on CBD in the management of VD.
The study appeared in the January 2024 issue of the Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, To read an abstract, click on the link that follows.
cardiothoracicsurgery.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13019-023-02476-y
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.
