Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at Cannabis and the Trump administration, the relationship between cannabis and tomatoes, a proposal to regulate CBD for pets and more. Enjoy.
Cannabis, the Trump Administration and Seniors
Never one to miss an opportunity to spark a headline, President Trump sent shock waves through the cannabis sector over the weekend when he posted a video on the Truth Social platform that extolled the benefits of cannabis — CBD in particular — for seniors.
Produced by The Commonwealth Project, the video even suggested that covering CBD under Medicare would be “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”
According to Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment, the video also briefly features a Fox News clip describing the economic benefits of medical marijuana legalization, saying that on an annual basis it would amount to cost savings of “$64 billion a year if cannabis is fully integrated into the healthcare system.”
Jaeger noted in his article that the video states that “it’s time to educate doctors on the endocannabinoid system, provide Medicare coverage for CBD and give millions of seniors the support they deserve.”
The video also acknowledges that an estimated twenty percent percent of seniors are already using CBD for pain, arthritis, cancer, symptoms, sleep disorders, Alzheimer’s and many other ailments of aging.
As one might suspect, many cannabis investors were in a downright tizzy on news of the video, with a number of cannabis stocks spiking higher in Monday’s trading.
So says Graham Abbott, reporting for Ganjapreneur. According to Abbott, Canopy Growth was up 18.3 percent, Tilray Brands posted a rather robust gain of 42 percent and the cannabis exchange-traded funds AdvisorShares and Roundhill gained 21.8 percent and 21.6 percent respectively.
That being said, it’s wise to remember that “there is many a slip between the cup and the lip,” particularly when it comes to cannabis and regulatory changes.
More news as more news develops.
As always, the reporting by both Kyle Jaeger and Graham Abbott is insightful and on point.
To read Kyle Jaeger’s article, we urge you to visit the September 28, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
To read Graham Abbott’s work, visit the September 28, 2025 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
https://ganjapreneur.com/cannabis-stocks-surge-after-trump-shares-video-promoting-cbd-medicine/?
Cannabis Corner
A new survey indicates cannabis may be a kind of gateway drug after all, just not the kind that prohibitionists usually suggest.
According to Tom Angell, reporting in Marijuana Moment, a new survey of 1,327 home cannabis cultivators found that two-thirds (66 percent) said growing their own marijuana inspired them to start growing tomatoes in their backyard gardens as well.
The poll also revealed that nearly a fourth of respondents said they never grew tomatoes until years after cultivating their first cannabis plant.
Said Jessica Hanson, co-founder and managing director of Homegrown Cannabis Co., which conducted the survey, “We’ve been saying it for years, once people experience the joy of growing their own cannabis, they can’t stop. Cannabis isn’t a gateway drug, it’s a gateway crop. Before you know it, you’ve got a backyard full of tomatoes, and maybe even a few zucchinis.”
Added Hanson, “Cannabis teaches patience, attention to detail, and care, the same skills you need to grow healthy tomatoes. Plus, they pair perfectly in the garden. One for your salad, one for your soul.”
Angell noted that according to the poll, after tomatoes, the top crops people were inspired to grow after cultivating cannabis were basil, strawberries, chili peppers, cucumbers and lettuce.
Tom Angell is the editor of Marijuana Moment and his reporting here is concise and on point. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the August 7, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/marijuana-is-a-gateway-drug-to-growing-tomatoes-poll-suggests/
Tips for Cannabis Cultivators
Those who grow their own cannabis may benefit from following a few conventional farming practices, such as crop rotation.
That’s the word from Shawn Docheff, an outdoor cannabis grower with Organic Growers of Southern Ontario, Canada. Docheff, profiled in an article in MMJDaily, is one of the first Canadian growers to put smokable hemp flower on the market and comes from a family deeply rooted in agriculture: his grandparents and father-in-law farmed tobacco and cash crops, while his father spent his career working at a tobacco research station.
Said Docheff, “In traditional agriculture, crop rotation is the normal thing to do. But in cannabis, it’s almost never used.”
He explained, “When you’re doing corn on corn, or cannabis on cannabis for that matter, the pest pressure and soil pathogens are going to build up over time. You never get that break in the pest and disease cycle. Rotation is just common sense in farming.”
Dochett believes in treating the soil as an asset to be maintained, not a medium to be exploited. Said Dochett, “If you take care of the ground, it’ll take care of you. Our crops are going to get better with soil health and less disease pressure. That saves money too. You don’t have to put as much into the crop to get it nice.”
In the article, Dochett makes the point that greenhouse operators could also benefit from a crop rotation approach. Said Dochett, “I know growers who rotate hemp with strawberries. In a greenhouse with gutters and fertigation, you could run strawberries outside of cannabis season, even with a fairly low-cost portable system. That rotation would keep the farm productive while giving the soil and the pest cycle a break.”
Bringing his traditional farming techniques to Organic Growers has paid off. Recent harvests have tested as high as 34 percent THC with 4.3 percent terpenes — levels rarely achieved in large-scale outdoor production. In addition, the company recently became the first company in Canada to ship outdoor grown EU-GMP compliant cannabis to Germany.
To learn more, we suggest reading the article written by the staff of MMJDaily.com. It appeared in the September 16, 2025 issue of the publication. Simply click on the link that follows.
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“The blanket classification of CBD as medicinal is now out of step with science and practice. It creates barriers for responsible businesses and pushes pet owners towards unregulated products bought online. This is risky for animals, who may be exposed to poor quality or contaminated products, and it also leaves vets unable to give balanced advice without fear of breaching the law.
There is also inconsistency across regulators. While the Food Standards Agency (FSA) applies proportionate, risk-based rules for human CBD products, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) denies animals and owners the same protections. Other countries, such as the US and Switzerland, have taken more pragmatic approaches that separate wellbeing supplements from licensed medicines.”— Cannabis Trades Association
This week’s quote is taken from a much longer post on the website of the Cannabis Trades Association. The CTA is the British Isles’ largest and only trade body representing the business interests of the cannabis industry.
In the post, the CTA argues for what it calls a two tier classification system for CBD products created for animals:
• One tier would be for licensed veterinary medicines for products that make treatment claims or use higher doses.
• A second tier would be for regulated wellbeing or nutraceutical products for general support for animals, such as mobility or calm behaviour, without any disease claims.
The CTA contends that wellbeing products, what are often referred to as wellness products in the U.S., should have to meet clear quality and safety standards. That means adopting what are considered Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) to ensure quality products are consistently produced and controlled. This also would require batch testing with Certificates of Analysis, strict contaminant controls, and conservative daily limits for CBD and THC products tailored to each species.
In addition, the organization claims labelling should include warnings for sensitive groups and a clear statement that these are not veterinary medicines. Importantly, there should be mandatory adverse event reporting, giving the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, or VMD, oversight, while avoiding unnecessary barriers to use. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) protects animal health, public health and the environment. It is part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
According to the CTA, adopting this two-tier approach when manufacturing CBD products designed and marketed for animals would have a number of significant benefits, such as:
• International consistency, bringing the UK into line with best practice overseas.
• Better animal welfare, through access to safe, quality-assured wellbeing products.
• Public protection, by closing the door to unregulated grey market imports.
• Veterinary engagement, allowing vets to guide owners responsibly.
• Business confidence, with clear rules that encourage UK innovation.
The CTA closed its post by calling on both the DEFRA and VMD to update its position on CBD products for animals and consider a new regulated pathway for animal wellbeing products. This does not mean removing oversight. Rather, it means adopting what it believes are proportionate, risk-based rules that reflect the evidence we now have, while continuing to protect animals and the public.
The CTA also stated it believes the opportunity exists to modernize manufacturing of CBD products, reduce risks to animals, and support both animal owners and the businesses that serve them.
While this is a policy proposal for the U.K., it does offer some food for thought as the debate over how best to regulate CBD products for humans and animals in the U.S. continues.
To learn more about the Cannabis Trades Association and its policy proposal for a new way to regulate CBD wellness products for animals in the U.K., click on the link that follows.
https://www.cannabistrades.org/articles/time-to-rethink-cbd-in-animal-wellbeing-products
Notable Numbers
This week’s notable number is 80 percent. That, according to a new poll, is the percentage of National Health Service (NHS) doctors in the U.K. who state they would prescribe cannabis for patients, if they could.
According to Sarah Sinclair, reporting for Cannabis Health News, over two-thirds (67 percent) of the physicians polled say patients with chronic pain conditions take up the vast majority of their week and the physicians feel there are too few options for treating patients with conditions such as fibromyalgia, arthritis and back pain.
Sinclair noted that the poll also highlighted concerns about the overprescribing and long-term use of opioids, with three-quarters (75 percent) of doctors believing that typical treatments for chronic pain have worrying long-term side effects, and the majority saying the U.K. is over-reliant on these to manage chronic pain symptoms.
She also makes the point that when asked about the type of alternative treatment they believe should be available, almost nine in 10 (87 percent) doctors agreed that they’d be open to prescribing medical cannabis to manage chronic pain, and 80 percent of GPs said they would prescribe it to manage women’s health conditions, if it were part of the National Health Service toolkit.
Dr Nikki Ramskill, a GP and founder of The Female Health Doctor Clinic, told Sinclair the survey revealed the “urgent need” for more “tailored treatments” for conditions such as endometriosis, PMDD and chronic pelvic pain, with existing options rarely addressing the underlying cause.
Said Ramskill, “Too often, women are offered antidepressants or painkillers as a default, despite symptoms being hormonal, inflammatory or complex in origin.”
Sinclair also points out that patients in the U.K. who receive care from private physicians have easier access to cannabis prescriptions. For example, recent data shows significant growth in the number of private prescriptions for cannabis-based medication in the U.K. (Over 130 percent increased from 23-24) but fewer than five patients have been able to access such a prescription through the National Health Service (NHS).
Said Nabila Chaudhri, Medical Director at Alternaleaf, “Medical cannabis has been legal in the U.K. since 2018, yet awareness remains low and access through the NHS is virtually non-existent.”
Sarah Sinclair does an excellent job of highlighting the challenges and opportunities revealed by the poll. To learn more, we suggest reading her article in the August 14, 2025 issue of Cannabis Health News.co.uk.
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.