Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we take a look at treating chronic back pain with THC, using CBD to manage anxiety, the risks associated with using cannabis overseas and much more. Enjoy.
Cannabis and Chronic Back Pain
There may be hopeful news for mature consumers and others who suffer from chronic back pain. Recent testing of a full-spectrum cannabis extract made by a German pharmaceutical company found the experimental drug was an effective treatment for chronic lower back pain.
That’s the word from Graham Abbott, reporting for Ganjapreneur. According to Abbott, to conduct the study researchers enrolled 820 people with chronic lower back pain and randomly assigned them either a placebo or an extract-based drug containing 5 percent THC.
The participants who took the experimental drug, called VER-01, reported pain relief and improved sleep quality. The research team did not identify significant side effects or signs of addiction among those who took the drug.
Said Winfried Meissner, co-author of the study and a researcher at Jena University Hospital, in an interview with the publication New Scientist, “It’s one of the first really high-quality studies for medical cannabis which many people, both researchers and patients, have been waiting for. So far evidence is poor, past studies are of lower quality, fewer patients.”
Abbott noted that the Associated Press reported that Vertanical, the drug’s manufacturer, has filed to register its drug with European regulators, and said it’s “working closely” with U.S. officials to design a study to help earn the FDA’s approval.
Graham Abbott’s reporting, as usual, is clear and concise. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the September 30, 2025 issue of Ganjapreneur.com.
https://ganjapreneur.com/study-cannabis-extract-an-effective-treatment-for-chronic-back-pain/
CBD Spotlight
There’s helpful news for mature consumers and others who suffer from anxiety. A study conducted by scientists affiliated with Harvard Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry found that CBD, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant, can ease symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety after just a short period of use.
Aaron Houston, writing for Marijuana Moment, reports that the authors of the study wrote in an article that appeared in the August 2025 issue of Biomedicines, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, “Results from this open-label clinical trial provide evidence that a hemp-derived, full-spectrum, high-CBD product similar to those currently available in the marketplace may be both safe and efficacious for the treatment of anxiety.”
According to Houston, the trial included 12 adults with moderate to severe anxiety, all of whom were required to abstain from marijuana use prior to enrolling and throughout the seven-week duration of the study.
During the study, participants self-administered the CBD formulation twice daily for six weeks, totaling 30 milligrams per day. The researchers believed using a standardized formulation of the cannabidiol (CBD) product during the study was helpful when it came to evaluating how consumers on a broader level may behave outside of a lab setting.
Wrote the research team, “In the present study, dramatic reductions in anxiety occurred following just one week of treatment with the study product. First-line treatments for anxiety, such as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), can take several weeks to demonstrate efficacy.”
In the study, the research team used a proprietary CBD formulation — which contained trace amounts of THC — made by the Charlotte’s Web company, which provided funding for the study. The authors of the study stated that the funders had no role in the design of the study, the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.
Wrote the researchers, “Findings from this clinical trial provide preliminary evidence that use of this proprietary hemp-derived, full-spectrum, high-CBD sublingual product may result in clinical improvement with few side effects in patients with moderate-to-severe anxiety, extending previous work suggesting CBD may be efficacious for anxiety.”
In addition, the researchers noted that no serious adverse events occurred.
While the trial’s findings show efficacy and tolerability of the CBD product in patients with moderate-to-severe levels of anxiety, the authors caution that more research is needed. “Given the potential benefits observed in this trial, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of hemp-derived high-CBD products are warranted to obtain robust data regarding the safety and efficacy of CBD-containing products for anxiety.”
Aaron Houston does an excellent job of unpacking a complicated story. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the September 26, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Travel Tips
This issue’s travel tip comes at the expense of yet another American basketball player who has run afoul of a foreign country’s cannabis laws. Unfortunately, instead of two shots, this foul could potentially cost him his life.
According to Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment, Jarred Shaw—a 35-year-old Texan who’s been playing for a team in the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL)—was arrested in May by Indonesian law enforcement after receiving a package containing over 100 cannabis gummies.
In his article, Jaeger notes that Indonesia has extremely harsh drug laws. The crime of cannabis possession, for example, carries the possibility of capital punishment.
Jaeger reports that Shaw conceded in an interview with The Guardian that he made a “stupid mistake,” but he explained that he uses cannabis to treat symptoms of his gastrointestinal issues.
Said Shaw, in the interview, which was conducted while he was in pre-trial detention in Jakarta, “I use cannabis as a medicine. I have an inflammatory condition called Crohn’s disease that’s incurable. There’s no medicine apart from cannabis that stops my stomach from aching.”
Added Shaw, “I made a stupid mistake. There’s people telling me I’m about to spend the rest of my life in prison over some edibles.”
Jaeger noted that the cannabis gummies that were delivered to Shaw in Indonesia weighed a total of 869 grams. That resulted in a charge that accused him of possessing a kilo of marijuana even though most of the weight was from the non-cannabis components of the edible.
According to Jaeger, a State Department spokesperson told Marijuana Moment that “we are aware of reports of a U.S. citizen detained in Indonesia,” but that “due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”
Clearly, Shaw’s status as a professional athlete did not prevent his arrest in Indonesia, nor did his declaration that he uses cannabis as medicine. That’s why it’s important to “know before you go” when it comes to possessing cannabis while traveling to a country where the cannabis laws are different than the ones to which you are accustomed.
Last time we checked, “it’s just a gummy I use as medicine” or “I’m from the USA” are not adequate defense strategies. In most cases, nobody cares.
As usual, Kyle Jaeger’s reporting is insightful and on point. To learn more, we urge you to read his article in the October 3, 2025 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Investor News and Notes
One investment analyst thinks President Trump’s passive-aggressive endorsement of a video on the Truth Social platform that promoted the benefits of medical cannabis, particularly for seniors, was a trial balloon intended to help his administration gauge support for legalization of cannabis at the federal level.
It should be noted that aside from the posting of the video on his social media platform, President Trump did not offer an opinion on its content.
Rich Smith, in an article he penned for The Motley Fool, wrote, “President Donald Trump just gave his “strongest signal yet that movement on cannabis policy may be imminent” and that the federal government may be ready to finally legalize marijuana use in the U.S.
Smith also quoted a comment from Adam Stettner, chief executive officer of FundCanna (a leading lender to the marijuana industry), who thought that the president’s posting a CBD promotional video “reflects a shift in thinking from the White House.” Stettner added that this was the first time a “sitting president has ever publicly pushed for Medicare to cover cannabinoids.”
Smith noted that the video was produced by the Commonwealth Project, a nonprofit backed by philanthropist Howard Kessler. It says it is “working to prioritize the 65-plus population by integrating medical cannabis into mainstream healthcare for seniors.”
In his article, Smith went on to describe a scenario where during his State of the Union address, the president could “call upon Congress to pass a bill for his approval, legalizing marijuana use once and for all. Then would come Congressional debate, votes on the bill in the House and Senate followed by a presidential signature some months later.” Given strong Democratic support and now support from the other side of the aisle as well, Smith assumes the law will pass easily.
Smith argued in his piece that investors are already acting as if the passage of the bill is a foregone conclusion. He cited the recent gains posted by what he described as “popular marijuana stock names”, such as Aurora Cannabis which was up 28 percent on the news of the video, and Tilray, shares of which posted a gain of 60 percent on the same news.
Rich Smith is a contributing Motley Fool defense and stock market analyst who covers publicly traded and emerging companies in defense, space, aerospace, and other sectors. Prior to The Motley Fool, Rich practiced international corporate law for Clifford Chance in Russia, and for the Russian-Ukrainian Legal Group in Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington, D.C.
To learn more, we suggest reading his article, which appeared in the October 5, 2025 issue of Fool.com.
https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/10/05/prediction-president-trump-will-legalize-marijuana/
Notable Numbers
This week’s notable number is 77 percent. According to a recent poll conducted by the cannabis beverage company Crescent Canna, that’s the percentage of THC beverage consumers who reported they’re drinking less alcohol since trying THC beverages.
In addition, more than 20 percent of respondents said they have quit drinking alcohol entirely since trying THC drinks.
Other key takeaways from the poll included:
• Respondents ages 35-54 make up the majority (52.5 percent) of THC drink consumers, and more than a third of THC drink consumers are over the age of 55.
• After consuming THC beverages, respondents said they engage in a variety of activities, from watching movies to finding a creative outlet. Some report even getting some work done.
• About a third of respondents said they tried their first THC beverage at home or at a friend’s place, highlighting comfort and privacy as key factors in initial consumption.
• Sixty-eight percent of adults said they purchased their THC drinks online.
• About 78 percent of respondents said they drink THC beverages to relax and unwind. Another 64 percent said they just enjoy the feeling the drinks elicit.
• Fifty-nine percent said they value cannabis beverages because they don’t get the hangovers associated with alcohol, 52 percent said it helps them avoid the broader negative impacts of alcohol and 51 percent said the THC drinks help them sleep.
Said the company, in a statement, “The survey clearly shows that consumers who try THC drinks are aware of their benefits and enjoy them for many of the same reasons they might otherwise use alcohol or other forms of cannabis, as well as for reasons not commonly associated with alcohol or cannabis use in general.”
The survey’s findings are based on insights collected from 1,066 respondents, all of whom were in Crescent Canna’s customer database and had tried a THC beverage at least once. The company contacted these consumers by email and offered a $25 coupon as a thank-you for participating. All respondents were 21+.
The company makes a variety of hemp-based edibles, beverages and CBD products.
To learn more about the survey, we suggest visiting the company’s blog. Simply click on the link that follows.
https://www.crescentcanna.com/thc-beverage-survey/
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com or at 347-528-8753.