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https://hightimes.com/

Portland, Maine ‘Deprioritizes’ Prosecution for Psilocybin

The city council in Portland, Maine “voted 6-3 to pass a resolution deprioritizing prosecution for possession” of magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs, according to local news outlet News Center Maine, and NBC affiliate. The outlet noted that the resolution does not decriminalize such psychedelics, as has been reported elsewhere. Instead, it “sets official city policy to put those crimes at the lowest priority for prosecution,” News Center Maine reported. The outlet reported: “When reached for comment Wednesday, Maeghan Maloney, district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset Counties and president of the Maine Prosecutors Association, wanted to warn Mainers not to get a false sense of security if they chose to use psychedelics in Portland moving forward.” “If someone interprets that [resolution] to mean… this criminal statute will no longer be enforced, that would be a wrong interpretation,” Maloney said, as quoted by News Center Maine. Decriminalize Maine interim director Aaron Parker said that the resolution was a good foundation for broader reform. “If we already have at least some element of the city government saying, ‘OK, we don’t want to waste our time and resources criminalizing people for these things,’ it makes it that much easier to, next time, be like, ‘Alright,’ and we’re gonna re-write the ordinances,” Parker told the outlet. Decriminazlie Maine, which describes itself as a “grassroots organization that promotes the decriminalization of cultivation, possession, and adult use of plant and fungal medicines,” was one of the groups that championed the resolution. “In our work, we recognize the importance of practices rooted in decolonization, sustainability, and intentional community building, consciousness expansion, and transformative justice. Decriminalize Maine cultivates community through educational opportunities on decriminalization and risk reduction; in this work, we enthusiastically partner with complementary organizations. Additionally, we support, encourage, and disseminate professional and academic research. Our work relies on the financial support from foundations and from the community,” the organization says on its website. On Monday, the group celebrated the resolution’s passage on its Instagram account, but also noted that it is essentially a good starting point. “The city council wants to treat drugs as a public health issue (good), but it’s only an opinion. Ending the war on drugs and using the savings to offer voluntary support to drug users is a policy that is supported by lots of bits of evidence and the success of national adoption in Portugal (the country),” the organization said in the Instagram post. “Hopefully this statement by the council can be used by advocates of harm reduction (or risk reduction if you prefer that term) to leverage support for such things as safe consumption sites, permanent supportive housing and maybe even a safe supply program.” Parker said that it will ultimately be up to the Maine state legislature to decriminalize psilocybin. “The resolution I don’t think really adequately decriminalizes anything in Portland. While we do want to protect people from potential criminal penalties, we are also looking to reduce the stigma around these substances which is an important part of harm reduction for this type of material,” he told Maine Public Radio. According to Maine Public Radio, state lawmakers will “will debate a similar bill in January which would decriminalize psychedelic plants and fungi as well as create a regulated framework for legalization.” A bill to decriminalize and regulate psilocybin in the state was introduced in the Maine legislature earlier this year, but was tabled. Lawmakers there held a hearing in May, when they heard testimony in support of the legislation. Spectrum News reported on the hearing at the time, highlighting testimony from Army veteran Nicolas Hamlin. “I stand before you today as living proof of the healing ability psilocybin has to offer and plead for the approval of [the bill],” he told the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, as quoted by Spectrum News. “This has helped me and many others maintain productive lifestyles,” he added. “I wish that psilocybin as a treatment option be available to those that will benefit from it.” Spectrum had more details on Hamlin’s testimony and the proposed legislation: “A Portland native, [Hamlin] joined the military in 2000 and completed multiple deployments to the Middle East. After his service ended, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and ‘my own demons’…Hamlin was one of many people who testified Monday in support of the bill, which would direct the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to create regulations that would allow physicians to recommend its use at designated facilities for those who are 21 and older.” The bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Donna Bailey, modeled the proposal “on laws in Colorado and Oregon, where the substance has been legalized,” according to Spectrum.

https://hightimes.com/

Cannabeginners: The Family Cannabaceae

Despite having a small size, the Cannabaceae family has had an outsize impact on human history. Between the many uses for cannabis and hemp, the importance of hops in beer brewing, and the food provided by hackberry trees, these diverse plants have long been a boon to humanity. In scientific taxonomy, there are eight levels of classification in the hierarchy. From lowest to highest, those taxonomic classifications are: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain. Species, like Cannabis sativa, will be lumped into a genus, which is also Cannabis in the case of marijuana, which are then further combined into families of related plants or animals. I know things might get confusing with a species and genus having the same name, so if you see something Capitalized, know that is the genus name. Cannabaceae, also widely known as the hemp family, is a relatively small family of flowering plants, including about 170 species (in 11 genera). While cannabis and hemp are what the family is named for, the largest genus in the family is Celtis, which contains around 100 species. Hops (Humulus) is another notable genus in the Cannabaceae family, which is well known to anyone who likes IPA beers. Humanity has a very long history of using cannabis, over 2,500 years, and has used the common hop (Humulus lupulus) as a bittering agent and preservative in beer for hundreds of years. Genera in the Cannabaceae family are physically diverse, including actual trees (Celtis), metaphorical trees (Cannabis), and vines (Humulus). Despite plants looking quite different, one somewhat common trait among members of the hemp family is that plants are often dioecious, having both male and female plants. Cannabaceae plants also tend to have petalless flowers which are pollinated by wind, not bees or other insects. It should come as no surprise to anyone who is a fan of Lagunitas brewery, that they have one of the better articles online discussing the genetic links between cannabis and hops. To sum it up, cannabis and hops are very closely related. How close? Not quite brother and sister close, but like cousins. Lagunitas lays out the history, clearly establishing that cannabis came first, long before hops, which tracks with the known history of human use (we have been using cannabis for nearly 2,000 years longer than hops). While hops doesn’t have cannabinoids, it does share numerous terpenes with cannabis, most notably myrcene and humulene. Beyond just terpenes, another connection between cannabis and hops are esters. Research has shown that “Fruity smelling esters play an important role for the aroma of hops and beer and they have been characterized as key aroma compounds in different hop varieties.” While a genetic connection between cannabis and hops was long suspected, it was confirmed about a decade ago. Out of all the plants in Cannabaceae, hops and cannabis are the most alike. Beyond the basics, like a shared method of pollination, both have “resinous glands which contain their active compounds. Hops plants are known for their lupulin glands, and cannabis plants are known for their trichomes.” Given these similarities, it should come as no surprise that there are recipes for cannabis beers online. Medicinal Genomics (MG), a world leader in medicinal plant genomics, notes that Hop Latent Viroid (HLVd, also commonly seen as HpLV and HpLVd) occurs worldwide in hops plants but recently it made the jump to infect cannabis plants as well. According to MG, “HLVd is a single-stranded, circular, infectious RNA. Similar to viruses, viroids are completely dependent on their host plant’s metabolism for replication. However, unlike viruses, viroids do not have a protective layer, such as a protein coat.” Kevin McKernan, is the CSO and Founder of MG, and recently completed his own study on HLVd, where they tried to intentionally infect various cultivars with it. In their study, McKernan found that the cultivar Jamaican Lion appeared to have some tolerance and was able to keep the viroid confined to its roots and was otherwise asymptomatic. Currently, it is not known if it was just the particular Jamaican Lion plants in their study with this tolerance, or if it is common to all Jamaican Lion plants. This study gives hope that there could be more cultivars with some tolerance or resistance to HLVd, or at the least, that resistance can be crossbred into other cultivars. An interesting variable they found to be connected to this resistance to HLVd was increased anthocyanin production, offering a potential clue as to where that tolerance came from. Dark Heart Industries (DHI), is a major cannabis nursery and genetics company in California. DHI conducted HLVd testing for more than 100 growers across California between August 2018 and July 2021. Their findings shocked the industry, reporting “more than 33% of the tests from almost 90% of the cultivation sites were positive for HLVd [which supports projections] that Hop Latent Viroid affects more than 30% of all cannabis plants.” DHI pegged the annual economic losses from HLVd at around $4 billion for 2021. Dr. Bryce Falk, Professor Emeritus at UC Davis’s plant pathology department, has called HLVd “perhaps the greatest threat to the legal cannabis industry.” The big risk with HpLVd isn’t to consumers, this isn’t a viroid that can be passed on to people who consume the bud, it is a viroid that attacks the plants themselves and stunts their growth, a process known as “dudding.” MG’s research on Jamaican Lion holds the promise that, in time, we could have a solution to the economic blight of dudding. Despite many growers claiming to grow trees, and some cannabis plants being well over ten feet tall, with reports of some topping twenty, the only actual trees in the hemp family are in the genus Celtis (hackberry trees), some can grow up to 90 ft tall. As Celtis is by far the most prevalent genus in Cannabaceae, some sources refer to it as the hackberry, rather than the hemp family, but they are incorrect as Celtis is a recent addition to the already established Cannabaceae family (previously it was a member of the Elm family). While every species in Celtis is unique, the leaves of the common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) are some of the first to yellow in the fall, usually in late September. Many species of hackberries produce small black drupes, the berry in the name “hackberry.” Those berries were used as food by native american tribes and are still used as food by dozens of species of birds and mammals. One thing that makes the common hackberry truly unique among members of Cannabaceae is that, while there are no Cannabis plants native to North America, hackberry trees are, which is a bit of a paradox since hackberry trees evolved from cannabis and hops. Presently, there is no sign of HLVd infecting any species in Celtis. The diverse Cannabaceae family is clear proof that just because two plants are related, they may not look or act anything alike.

https://hightimes.com/

Legalizing Hemp Changed Everything

We all have those conversations that stick with us throughout the years. I’ve been friends with Jimi Devine for almost a decade now, and while you’ll mostly see us laughing together while puffing on a blunt, I remember one time in 2018 when we disagreed about a piece of cannabis policy. Since I have this platform to voice a weedy opinion, I figure why not do the most petty thing possible and tell Jimi why he was wrong all these years later? Can you hear me laughing aloud in this otherwise quiet room? I can. Our argument centered on the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp in America. At the time, I thought the news was earth-shattering and would forever change the face of cannabis as we knew it. Jimi disagreed, and while I don’t remember his exact talking points against me (isn’t that the beauty of me writing this instead of him?), I’m here in 2023 to say I was absolutely correct. The reason legalizing hemp was able to change so much about how we think of cannabis was that it established how we define hemp. While hemp and cannabis are the same plant, the Farm Bill used a conservative threshold, 0.3% THC, to separate hemp plants from cannabis plants. Plants with less than 0.3 % THC are legal hemp; above that line, the same plants become defined as federally illegal cannabis plants. The cannabinoid THC is only one of many chemical elements that make up the cannabis plant. Because hemp was made legal and was only defined by its composition of THC, the 2018 Farm Bill brought about a frenzy of development surrounding another cannabinoid, CBD. The CBD rush went way too far (I swear I received a pitch for CBD blue jeans and heard a CBD ad on the radio in the same tone and cadence of a Monster Truck rally), and although it’s peaked, it will never be completely done. The idea that you can receive some of the medicinal benefits of cannabis without the “high” associated with THC is very enticing to many people. Don’t get me wrong, CBD has many medical promises. When I last spoke with Raphael Mechoulam, the Israeli chemist who first identified THC, he told me he was looking into CBD’s ability to affect bone density for conditions such as osteoarthritis. Mechoulam pioneered cannabis research and believed that understanding the active compounds in cannabis and how they relate to an endogenous system we all have, the endocannabinoid system, would someday have great significance in modern medicine. I absolutely agree with this, but I also think adding CBD oil to fried tater-tots—a dish I once saw on the menu in Austin, Texas—isn’t the “healthy” choice it’s made out to be. One of the things Mecholam was also a proponent of was the entourage effect. According to another noted cannabis scientist, Ethan Russo, the entourage effect suggests that “one molecule is unlikely to match the therapeutic and even industrial potential of Cannabis itself as a phytochemical factory.” That means that the medicinal benefits of cannabis work best when the chemicals in the plant work together rather than in isolation. Another nuance in the discussion of CBD’s medical benefits is that the CBD industry is unregulated, meaning a product that says it has 10 mg of CBD might not even have any CBD. A 2022 study showed that nearly half the CBD products researchers studied were mislabeled. While we usually just say THC, the cannabinoid that gets us high is more specifically delta-9 THC. The 2018 Farm Bill said plants would be defined as hemp if they had less than .03% of delta-9 THC. This led to another loophole to develop alternative cannabinoids, including a chemical analog of delta-9 THC, delta-8 THC. Delta-8 THC products are now available all over the county. I say products because while delta-8 is produced naturally in the cannabis plant, it’s only in small amounts. Products containing delta-8 are created through a chemical conversion of CBD. According to The New York Times, Google searches for delta-8 grew by more than 850% in the United States between 2020 and 2021. Research on delta-8 THC is scarce, but a 1973 study shows that delta-8 THC is about two-thirds as potent as delta-9 THC and has similar effects. Synthetic cannabinoids, such as THC-O, are also experiencing a boom due to the definition of hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill. The cannabis plant does not naturally produce these cannabinoids, and these are the products that draw the most concern regarding potential adverse health effects. In 2022, the California Cannabis Industry Association published a white paper examining “the dangers of a national, unregulated, hemp-derived intoxicating cannabinoid market.” “You have cannabinoids that are organically produced by the plant. They just might be concentrated in the extraction, like THCV is a good example of that,” one of the report’s authors, Tiffany Devitt, explains. “And you have cannabinoids that go through a little bit of processing like delta-8, which typically takes CBD, concentrates it, and then takes it through a process of using solvents and catalysts to change it. And then you have what I consider to be fully synthesized cannabinoids, which either don’t occur in the natural plant, like THC-O, or occur in the plant in such minute quantities that there’s not really evidence—toxicological evidence—that they are safe because no one has been ingesting them in meaningful quantities.” Cannabinoids interact with receptors, CB1 and CB2, within our bodies. Delta-9 THC is a partial agonist, which means it can only stimulate or block the receptors so much. Devitt is concerned about the potential adverse health effects of synthetic cannabinoids because they are agonists. “You can think of those cannabinoids, it’s kind of like the dimmer switch, and if it’s only partial, no matter how much you take, there’s only so far that you’re going to be able to stimulate or block that receptor,” Devitt explains. “The difference between a partial agonist and an agonist is a dimmer switch that turns it up a little bit brighter or a little bit darker versus making it blindly bright or pitch black.” While THCP is a cannabinoid found in small amounts in the plant, so it is not technically synthetic, it is an agonist that researchers report is 33 times stronger than delta-9 THC. The newest development in playing the “it’s legal hemp” game is THCA. THCA is the acidic precursor of THC. For THC to become “activated” it needs to be heated, which in cannabis means either smoking it or baking it for edibles. When hemp was legalized, it opened the cannabis seed market because seeds don’t contain delta-9 THC. Cannabis flowers also don’t contain delta-9 THC. They have THCA, which isn’t converted into THC unless it’s heated through decarboxylation. Eating a raw cannabis bud won’t get you high. If you juice cannabis buds and leaves you’ll get THCA, which has shown health benefits in terms of anti-inflammatory effects but is not psychoactive. The hemp regulatory loophole game now includes flowers labeled as THCA, and the flowers are THCA. All the weed you’ve ever smoked was composed of the cannabinoid THCA before you lit up your joint or bowl. There has yet to be a crackdown on THCA flowers available in states that do not yet have a legal framework for cannabis, but that might be coming. There have been discussions to refine the definition of hemp in America. If that doesn’t happen, the legalization of hemp also legalized all cannabis, and I think that’s a pretty big deal.

https://hightimes.com/

Jon’s Stone-Cold Cop List #42: Puffcon, Round 3

I’ve said many times before that Puffcon is one of my favorite events in this scene – it’s like a family reunion – and thankfully this year’s event was no different. If anything, it was better. Opening to the public for the first time – that is, to people who don’t already own a Puffco product, it was the heaviest hitting lineup yet, and admittedly the busiest of the events they’ve had so far. Collectively it felt like they finally maximized the potential of the downtown footprint they’ve called home the past three years – even adding a new area for food vendors, and more actual hash brands on the floor. There was little left to be desired. Personally, I didn’t see anything but people having fun with their friends, enjoying great music and hash, at a great event. Speaking of which, lemme throw out some shoutouts real quick to those not mentioned below. As always, it was excellent to see the homies All My Hats Are Dead, Trapis Designs, and Earth Trade Center down in LA. The homies Trichadelics, Guru, Kalya, Wooksauce, and the Terp Hogz all had booths vending their latest and greatest, and both Liquid Death and Jones Soda were giving product away adjacent to cool vehicles. It was a fun time. Finally, I can’t forget the Puffco crew – thank you Roger, Kevin, and the entire squad once again for all you did to make the event special. Below are my event-specific highlights, but feel free to let me know yours – or what needs to be on the next one of these – over on (what will forever be known as) Twitter. Always the belle of the ball, this year TT switched up the program, moving from the Terp Cottage they’d built out the past two years into a full-fledged head shop in the upper indoor area. Introducing a slew of new products from lighter sleeves to branded Flower Mills and Rip Tips, they even had custom glass proxy holders, bowls and chillums for fans to further accessorize. It feels like there’s finally something for everybody over there now. Even further, in perhaps their first official THC collaboration, the Terps crew debuted 3 collab rosin jars with Pioneer Farms. Both the Zazul and the Tropical Z were worth writing home about, but you’re not going wrong with any of these. Super Chill is known for making killer THC edibles, but did you know they’re dabbling in the fungi world now too? Perhaps the most exciting new product I saw at Puffcon this year was Super Chill’s new Super Fung! Packaged in a paper produce container like you’d find blueberries in at the supermarket, their new mushroom product comes with 1.5 grams and looks like fresh mushrooms, with an almost meringue like dry marshmallow to shape the cap and stem, and a bit of infused chocolate hiding in between. These things not only look adorable, they smack too! I know people get mad when I talk about packaging here, but these things are the full package – that’s just a fun detail! I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned him in a Cop List yet, but I’ve long been a fan of the creativity sprouting from the homie Truly Red Panda. The ideator behind the ‘I’m wearing Carhartt because I’m working on myself’ and ‘…because there’s work in here’ bags, for his latest drop he’s released a sack that’s fun for the whole family. Essentially a Red Panda stuffed animal with arm loops and two storage spaces (inside the plush’s back & tail), this backpack is great not just for people of all ages, but they’re incredibly popular with our four legged friends as well. Speaking of Panda, I should also mention his additional collab with Astraluxe, but first let me give you a proper introduction. If you haven’t heard about Astraluxe yet, prepare to be amazed. Introduced to me by Action Matt Jackson a few weeks ago, Astraluxe’s ‘Space Ice Cream’ has immediately become my favorite edible in the game. Dosed at 30 mg per serving and in 150 mg tubes, eating one of these is an oral experience. It starts hard and dry, but almost immediately upon getting wet begins to encompass all of your taste buds, providing the best mouthfeel I’ve experienced in an edible. Their Pina Colada and OJ varieties are especially pleasing. They taste exactly as described, but with the fun effect that still kind of surprises me every time. That said, the new drop with Panda, their Hashpresso line, is less heavy on the THC side, but packs an energizing punch, with 10 mg of THC and 50 mg of caffeine in every piece. If you’re worried about the strength of the big boys, that’s a great place to start. Waves has been producing some incredible flower the past few months, but today I’ve got to give him props for the insane merch he dropped for the event this year. I’ve seen him crushing the branding game on his jars for as long as I’ve known him, but I was not expecting the flood of heat he brought out for all of us to wear. From a unique graphic that included both of Puffco’s premier products, as well as a Jolly Roger tribute featuring Puffco’s CEO with rosin eyes, every item in the collection was not only something you’d LIKE to wear, but doubles as a statement piece. Considering it was a hash event, I expected to see some solid Honey Bananas rosin floating around the lot, but I’ll be honest, finding Honey Banana flower was probably the last thing I expected to see. In fact, I’d never seen it before, just the rosin. Well that all changed when I went by Professor Sift’s booth, and he showed me some of the flower that Ted from Alien Labs had grown out… it’s otherworldly. Not the prettiest looker, but boy does she smell beautiful – and with a flavor that transfers perfectly. I know it’s a bit early to call, but if this hits the market I think it’s safe to say that while HB’s had a solid hash run the past few years, 2024 is going to be the year of the HB flower. Another creative I’ve been stoked on lately has been the insanely talented Blazzy. I was originally put on by my late homie Jesse when the original anime ashtrays dropped, but Nothing Personal, Blazzy’s brand, has not stopped making noise since. Having now released a third version of the cult classic ashtray, Bend Over Becky, what I’m actually the most excited about from these guys right now is the collab they’re dropping with Don Merfo’s, the duffle bag tray. Coming to you in a sealed evidence box – true to form for the Nothing Personal squad, their packaging stays next level – this one’s much deeper than your typical tray, and is ideal for when it’s windy and you don’t want your mess getting all over the place. If you haven’t tapped in with Nothing Personal yet, it’s time. Another Weed & Wagyu special, I know Jesse and Fidel had been working on this collaboration before he passed, and I’m so proud to see it finally come to fruition despite Jesse’s early departure. Truly taking the W&W lifestyle to the next level, together they dropped a cooler filled with everything you need to live this life – from hash holes, rosin, and flower, to an actual cut of the highly coveted meat, straight from Japan. Jesse didn’t play about that. Of course there’s some meatwads & banana pudding in there too, which, if you didn’t know, stays selling out at all available retailers. If you haven’t gotten a chance to grab a taste yet, there may be a few more coolers floating around… Metro Bloomin’s been boomin’ in the streets for ages now, but his latest play is lifting the brand up past just cannabis, and into tobacco. A ton of brands have launched their own leaves in the past few months, but out of all the ones I’ve gotten to try thus far, these are my favorites. Sourced from the Dominican Republic, and pre-cut into rectangles so you don’t have to trim the leaves down yourself, the Jungo’s come 5 to a pack like your traditional backwood, but without all the filler. When it comes to blunts in the past I’ve only really liked two types of wraps: the big Dutch Masters, and Brothers Broadleaf. Now we can add a third to that list. Sam launched a Cookie Club last year, and while this traditional mailer business was good, at Puffcon this year she brought the club to the party, and was rolling around with her latest creations fresh for attendees to try. While she’s always been adventurous, concocting crazy recipes that would make any mouth water, her latest Flan cookie may be the best cookie I’ve ever had, period. The combination of chewy crunch on the outside, and then pudding in the middle… It was like a mystery ball cookie. I had no idea what I was getting into, but if possible I’d eat these cookies exclusively going forward. It’s true, I was incredibly high at the time, but trust, it was next level. You’re going to want to try one for yourself. I think the award for the most creative set up of the event goes to West Coast Cure, who recreated the house Jerett lived in when he started the brand for fans to walk through. Complete with butane running equipment, dehydrators filled with slabs, and rigs set up in the backyard, it was like walking through a time warp for those of us that can remember those days, and a great way to introduce the young bucks to how things used to be. The front of the house was adorned with a classic low rider, as well as a ping pong table in case you needed an activity to keep you from freaking out. Overall great display. While WCC wins most creative, 710 Labs definitely wins funniest. Their entire set up was a soundproofed room filled with a lie-detector test and polygraph examiner, and they offered the chance to win a year’s supply of weed if you could just answer their 21 questions honestly. This was easier said than done. If you’ve seen the show ‘Moment of Truth’ before, this is what they were recreating, and you have a good idea where this is headed. However, if you’re like me and had NOT heard of the show, the gist is they ask some of the most humiliating questions possible, in front of your loved ones, and if you tell the truth you could win a lot of money. Let’s just say I’m quite certain the questions on the show weren’t as graphic as these. I can’t wait to see the footage… As far as afterparties go, this is the first time I’ve been to one at a deli, but the vibes were the best I’ve experienced, especially considering we basically took over a sidewalk in North Hollywood in the middle of the night. Bumping from 11-2, and featuring the Kebab Senpai grilling up out front, Archie’s is often a late night jaunt, but with all the friends in town, and everyone ready to devour some good eats after a long day, this one hit the spot. In case you’re unfamiliar, Archies has everything from fire sandwiches to exotic snacks and sodas from around the world – and unlike some of these exo shops, nothing in there is TOO crazy expensive.

https://hightimes.com/

USDA Approves Low-THC Hemp Plants for U.S. Production, Breeding

A variety of hemp plant genetically modified to produce little-to-no THC has been approved by the United States Department of Agriculture as safe to grow and breed on U.S. soil. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released a notice about the plants last week, created and submitted by Indiana-based Growing Together Research, a biotechnology company specializing in cannabis, hemp, psychedelics and agriculture. APHIS regulates the “movement of organisms modified or produced through genetic engineering.” “APHIS found this modified hemp is unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated hemp,” the USDA notice said. “As a result, it is not subject to regulation under 7 CFR part 340. From a plant pest risk perspective, this hemp may be safely grown and bred in the United States.” Growing Together Research announced in June of this year that they had achieved the ability to modulate how much Delta 9 THC is expressed in plants. They credited the reasoning behind their experiment with attempting to help US hemp farmers whose crops test “hot,” or over the allocated .3% THC limit at which point the law requires the whole crop be destroyed. The same announcement by GTR also hinted at experiments underway in trying to get cannabis plants to produce more THC than normal, a feat I can only surmise will resonate much more positively with a majority of the High Times readership. “Based on its demonstrated ability to turn ‘down’ or ‘off’ the genes coding for THC expression, now GTR is applying the same techniques to turn THC expression ‘up.’ GTR will soon commence an effort in collaboration with Canada-based academic and commercial partners to create a cannabis cultivar with enhanced expression of THC. An initial set of high THC cultivars are expected to be created by the third quarter of 2023,” GTR said in June. An announcement for the super-weed has not been released yet but GTR estimated that almost 10 percent of the American hemp crop had to be destroyed between 2018 and 2020 due to testing too high in Delta-9 THC. They also suggested that current testing methods may be leading to inconsistent levels of THC and other cannabinoids in hemp-derived products. GTR explained their ability to modulate THC levels up and down as the “Delta 9 dial” which they activate by editing particular genes. They likened the process to a menu of genetic traits that they could essentially pick and choose from with their genomics platform. This supposedly allows them to block or encourage the production of Delta-9 THC, which is the compound traditionally associated with the “high” in cannabis. “Understanding the mechanics of the THC pathway are perhaps the most important component of truly unlocking the promise of cannabis and hemp,” said Sam Proctor, chief executive officer of GTR. “We are very excited about our results to date and look forward to further innovating for the benefit of stakeholders across the cannabis and hemp supply chain.” It was not immediately clear based on the USDA announcement if these new hemp genetics will contain altered or reduced levels of hemp-derived cannabinoids like Delta-8 THC, which have skyrocketed in popularity since Donald Trump legalized commercial hemp production under the 2018 Farm Bill. Hemp-derived gummies, vapes and isolates can now be found in head shops all across the country, even in certain states where cannabis is still medically and recreationally illegal. This includes the sale of “THC-A flower” otherwise known as regular cannabis flower tested a certain way to skirt Delta-9 THC regulations by keeping the THC in its decarboxylated form, THC-A. More clarification will potentially come soon regarding the new hemp plants as the USDA was tasked primarily with determining if the genetically modified hemp plants posed a “plant pest risk” rather than regulations concerning the compounds contained in the plant, which are largely left up to the FDA and DEA. This is due to the Plant Protection Act which gives the USDA the “authority to oversee the detection, control, eradication, suppression, prevention, or retardation of the spread of plant pests to protect agriculture, the environment, and the economy of the United States.” After thorough review the USDA decided GTR’s new diet hemp plants are not a plant pest risk so unless any further clarification comes down the chain from other federal agencies, the plants can be freely grown and bred all throughout the continental United States.

https://hightimes.com/

Cannabis Companies, Breast Cancer Organizations Join Forces for Breast Cancer Awareness

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 240,000 women and 2,100 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. Of that number, an estimated 42,000 women and 500 men lose their lives to the disease. There are many factors that contribute to a person’s diagnosis, including older age, genetic mutations, or having a family history of breast cancer. In order to treat the condition, patients can undergo surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and more, but it depends on the type of treatment and the stage of cancer. Like with other cancers, people with breast cancer have often found relief from their symptoms by using cannabis. So as Breast Cancer Awareness Month kicks off, we’re bringing attention to the fact that cannabis can help. There are many organizations that are helping people get through their breast cancer diagnoses and treatment. While cannabis in itself is not a treatment for the disease, it has been known to help many patients manage their symptoms. According to Breastcancer.org, a survey they collected showed that 42% of people diagnosed with breast cancer were using medical cannabis to treat the side effects of their treatments. Most participants ranged in age, cancer stages, and treatment phases, and 75% of them said it was “very” or “extremely” helpful. To help support breast cancer patients, there are many worthwhile organizations to donate money to the cause. Additionally, each year many cannabis businesses are partnering up with these organizations to support these patients and research efforts. In August, Mint Cannabis in Tempe, Arizona partnered with Check for a Lump to offer free mammograms to locals. During the pandemic, many cancer screenings were canceled and delayed, which caused more than 80,000 people to miss their cancer diagnoses. This year, Clovr Cannabis in Missouri recently began a “Bonbons for Boobies” campaign, featuring limited time pink raspberry caramel chocolates. “Satisfy your sweet tooth while making a difference! Benefits go toward Breast Cancer Patients and will be donated to @BraCoutureKC. Our Bonbons for Boobies are Raspberry Caramel in White Chocolate and here to spread love and support during #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth!” the brand wrote on social media. Verano is a multi-state operator spread across Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. On Sept. 29, the company announced the launch of its 3rd annual breast cancer support campaign as well, which benefits the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation. Throughout the entire month of October, the company will hold numerous fundraising opportunities to collect funds for patients. “As one of the leading organizations in its field, Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation conducts critical research, education and prevention, and we’re thrilled to offer our support for a third year in a row,” Verano Founder and Chief Executive Officer, George Archos, said. “We are proud to once again demonstrate the power of the cannabis community as a catalyst for positive change by uniting our team, patients and customers together to continue the fight against breast cancer throughout October and beyond.” Tilt Holdings, which owns the Jupiter vape brand, also announced its partnership with the PA Breast Cancer Coalition for the month of October. Its subsidiary, Standard Farms, is offering a $5 donation for every Jupiter™ Pink Ceramic Mouth Tip cartridge sold. “Patient-centered care is paramount at Standard Farms,” said TILT CEO Tim Conder. “We know so many medical cannabis patients bravely battling this disease with the support of their families, friends and communities, and we are proud to be part of a larger support network in the state by helping to raise money for PA Breast Cancer Coalition.” The Florida-based CBD company, Sunmed, also announced a partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (NBCF). They’ve pledged to donate 3% of online product sales between Oct. 1-31 to NBCF, which will be used for early detection services, education, and support. They are also donating $1 for specific products purchased in-store as well. “We are incredibly proud to stand alongside the National Breast Cancer Foundation in the fight against breast cancer,” said Sunmed CEO Marcus Quinn. “This partnership represents a milestone for not only Sunmed but the entire CBD industry. By combining our community resources, expertise, and passion, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of those affected by breast cancer.” These are just a few companies making moves to help patients, but there are many more who will announce their promotions and partnerships with other breast cancer organizations as the month progresses. Breastcancer.org founder and chief medical officer, Marisa C. Weiss, spoke about how cannabis works for patients back in a 2020 interview with Healio. “People who receive cancer treatment, especially people with breast cancer, end up going through a variety of treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapies and estrogen therapies, which can all go on for years,” Weiss said, noting that common symptoms include pain, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, and vomiting. “A common symptom people struggle with is peripheral neuropathy after chemotherapy,” Weiss explained. “In some patients, the pain and discomfort from this means they can’t even wear a regular shoe or stand on their feet for extended periods of time. Or, for those whose hands were affected, they cannot button a shirt or open a jar of peanut butter to make sandwiches for their kid’s lunch. The throbbing ‘pins and needles’ pain make each day a struggle and can also wake people up in the night.” Weiss mentioned a relative study that was ongoing at the time, but results were published in October 2021. It found that many people were using cannabis to treat breast cancer specifically, but many participants did not feel comfortable telling their doctor about their cannabis consumption. In May this year, researchers published a study in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care that showed evidence of pain reduction in patients of genitourinary, breast, and bowel cancer. Research on the benefits of medical cannabis use during breast cancer treatments has continued to increase. Just recently on Sept. 27, researchers at the UF Health Center and University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center received a five-year, $3.2 million U01 award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study medical cannabis benefits and harms. According to Dejana Braithwaite, associate director for cancer population sciences at the UF Health Cancer Center, this could lead to a better understanding of patient’s use of medical cannabis. “As many as 40% of U.S. cancer patients use medical marijuana to manage cancer-related symptoms, yet we know very little about its effects during and after cancer treatments,” Braithwaite said. “This innovative study is an ambitious effort to provide answers to pressing questions about medical marijuana and cancer. It will help doctors address questions about the effects of medical marijuana among cancer patients of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as shed light on the benefits and harms of medical marijuana.” The research team will analyze 600 breast cancer patients before and after their treatment, and hypothesize that medical cannabis can help patients “by targeting and modulating the inflammasome/inflammatory pathway.”

https://hightimes.com/

I Didn’t Think Microdosing Worked, But This Month Has Me Thinking…

Microdosing is the often inexact practice of consuming small doses of psychedelics, notably psilocybin and LSD. While some measure 0.1 and 0.3 mg quantities, many eyeball it with an estimated pinch into their mouths or beverages. The microdosing trend kicked off around 2010, with its popularity surging by 2015, leading to notable publications running with the claims made by diverse demographics, including psychedelics researchers, business leaders and stressed moms. The reported effects differed from person to person, but overall, positive reports often centered around decreased mental stress, increased happiness, improved focus, expanded creative energy, and other mental health and cognition effects. By 2018, the trend had picked up enough momentum that the first-ever lab trial analyzing microdosed LSD began. Since then, lab studies and analysis have come in quite steadily. Researchers have recorded slight psychological changes in some studies when consuming psychedelics in microdose form. Some short-term improvements include decreased levels of depression, stress and mind wandering. However, the reported outcomes did not align with those participants expected to see change. Many studies in recent years have concluded that microdosing does not demonstrate an overwhelmingly positive impact on areas such as introvertive awareness or emotion processing. Even notable medical cannabis and psychedelics researchers like Dr. Peter Grinspoon have stated that microdosing psychedelics has yet to provide any definitive evidence that it is either safe or effective. Still, despite the clinical evidence suggesting otherwise, numerous consumers have provided anecdotal feedback that microdosing has benefited them–some in a life-changing fashion. I’m no psychedelics expert. Nor am I a complete novice. I’ve done macro doses of psychedelics probably around a dozen times between ages 21 and 38. Most of the doses have been with psilocybin and two with LSD. I also tried microdosing a handful of times several years ago. Mainly based on my own experiences, I was convinced that macro doses were the way to go if I wanted to feel something profound. But with little time to myself these days, I could barely find time to trip. While there were a few moments here and there that would be considered adverse, most of the time, I was loving life on a macro dose. I usually came away with some epiphany or mental clarity I had been seeking either consciously or subconsciously. With microdosing, the effects weren’t as clear and present. I noticed slight effects, if at all. I could say that my energy level or focus increased. But without dosing on a consistent regular basis, I never really set myself up for the best possible results. I was content with staying in this frame of mind that microdosing didn’t work. My experiences, combined with a rush of often ineffective and underwhelming licensed psychedelic products being sent my way as part of press campaigns, made me feel like microdosing was a sham or at least overhyped. Many of these products I received came in sleek packages and tasted like elite chocolatiers were behind the recipe. They checked all the boxes for a quality product except for the crucial fact that few delivered any psychedelic results. I began to feel like much of the psychedelic world had become bullshit. The feeling persisted for several years. My stance began to alter about six months ago when I ran into my friend, Chill Steel Pipes CEO Justin Johnson. He had been going through a particularly trying time in life that saw the unexpected passing of his business partner and good friend. The events led to a surge in work demands that left him spread thin and taxed in numerous ways. With so much on his plate, Justin told me he didn’t feel like he could smoke to relax while needing to learn several new aspects of the business. Needing some relief, he turned to psilocybin and found immense relief. I kept our interaction in my back pocket for several months but didn’t do much with it until recently. My inaction presumably came from the burnout I hadn’t been able to shake for the past few years. I can’t tell if it was the pandemic or other factors in business and life, but one or many things had taken me out of what made me who I was–especially at work. My drive wasn’t there. My patience got thinner. I found myself angry, apathetic and incredibly uninterested more often than not. All the while, I worked more than ever to make ends meet, costing me my free time to enjoy life. It became an endless negative loop. I felt trapped and even less free than when I was shackled to a 9-to-5 office job. When working, I often found myself in a haze of assignments and errands while constantly struggling to stay mentally composed. What once brought me joy now felt like a burden. I needed a change, and tried many things over the past year or so to generate a transformation of any kind. I worked out more. I tried to sleep better. I changed my diet, meditated, and so many things. In late August 2023, I lost a major freelance client, causing me to panic about my monthly income and desire to pick back up with freelancing. The unease and wish to avoid self-destruction led me to pull the trigger in search of a new perspective. Or, at the very least, to guinea pig myself to find out if microdosing had any positive effect. To get things started, I bought an eighth of Penis Envy shrooms from my plug, cleaned out my coffee grinder and turned my dick-looking psilocybin into a funky smelling powder. I placed that powder inside a Pyrex container and stored it in my cabinet next to my coffee grounds. I made a note in my calendar to microdose every three days with my coffee. Saturday, September 2nd, was the first microdose. That day started to sway my opinions. Typically, it takes me several hours to finish my errands around the house. I love to procrastinate between tasks. That wasn’t the case when I microdosed. About 45 minutes in, I understood why some people consider microdosing mushrooms a “natural Adderall.” I wouldn’t go that far, but I got work done effectively and happily. I breezed through my errands in just a few hours. I still took a few minutes here and there to rest, but I got through tasks all while laughing at podcasts and enjoying music. It wasn’t anything profound, and may even be the standard for many reading this. But it felt incredibly different and positive to me–as if I had reconnected with something I loved doing but forgot all about at some point in adulthood. The second dose came on a Tuesday and provided the first challenge during a work day. I didn’t set any clocks or trackers to detect any difference in my work performance. Nevertheless, I noticed that I was more focused and driven to handle my tasks and work on improving my feelings of being burnt out. While I hadn’t found any clear-cut solutions by this point, my brain started sending me advice that almost felt like daily mantras about the importance of staying original and not forgetting what has worked for me for the better part of a decade. And even if I wasn’t finding solutions, I was laughing more. I felt lighter and freer as if a mental burden had lifted to some degree. For the first time in a long time, I was enjoying myself. Around dose three or four, I started to see my energy and focus plateau. I still felt more energized during the days I microdosed. But I also dipped back into my old form, where I would get distracted by social media or other thoughts I didn’t need to focus on during the work day. One thing that had bothered me for some months now was how much I started to be affected by social media posts. I don’t like much of what I see, including what I was putting out there. But at some point, I felt a voice in my head say to let what was being said slide off your back–and for the love of God, stop posting so much. While my activity is still wildly imperfect, I started actively trying to be more responsible and restrict what I put online. At the same time, I found myself laughing at posts and accounts that used to upset or annoy me. Social media is still a hellhole, though. I stopped tracking how I felt each session on dose five. By then, it felt like I had settled into a groove where I wasn’t receiving much of an increase in energy or focus on the days I microdose. Instead, my outlook felt like it was transforming daily. My focus has improved, though I still have days where it wanes. And while I still feel like there’s far too much negativity and grandstanding in cannabis (and life), I’ve realized where I stand in my role. Instead of worrying about the next steps, I am eager to implement more of those thoughts into my life. This has continued through the ninth dose I took two days ago. I don’t know if microdosing works for certain. Numerous lab studies suggest that it has yet to demonstrate a significant ability to produce substantial, or any, effects on consumers. Still, many, like Justin, swear by microdosing. I’m still a bit skeptical to say that it works because I have a lingering feeling that this could all be a placebo effect. I want to stick with it for a month or two more before I form any firm opinions. But this past month and my first regimented microdosing schedule have given me much anecdotal evidence to consider. Whether it be placebo or plant medicine at work, this past month has given me the clarity I’ve long needed–and that’s something I’ve been searching for a long time.

https://hightimes.com/

Nearly $37M of Illegal Weed Found in Oakland, California Warehouse

Last weekend, officials descended upon a warehouse in Oakland, California, allegedly full of illegal cannabis plants, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Not only cannabis opponents, but also law-abiding operators are not fans of illegal cannabis operations that they must compete with. The department said that it’s one of the largest cannabis busts this year in the Bay Area, where illegal operations are common. Agents raided the warehouse on Sept. 28, located on the 300 block of Adeline Street in Oakland. Law enforcement officers eradicated 41,082 cannabis plants and destroyed 1,841 pounds of “processed cannabis.” Officials say the estimated retail value was $36,930,300. “We have a history of combating illegal outdoor cannabis grows, which has evolved to a broader range of operations including warehouse grows, in support of establishing a thriving legal marketplace,” Janice Mackey, a CDFW spokesperson told High Times in an email. “CDFW’s cannabis enforcement program is always gathering intelligence, receiving information and conducting an array of investigations with our state and county partners on various aspects of the illegal cannabis supply chain.” “This is one of the largest cannabis enforcement actions (in terms of retail value) in the Bay Area this year,” said Mackey. Fox KTVU 2 reports that three guns were confiscated at the scene as well. “No one was arrested, but suspects were interviewed,” Mackey told KTVU 2 in an email. It’s unclear what tipped off officials to the warehouse, but they typically rely on concerned citizens to bring attention to these operations. CDFW representatives said this is an ongoing investigation and no other information is available at this time. CDFW maintains that it has a public trust responsibility to protect and conserve California’s fish and wildlife resources. Cannabis cultivators, like most other industries, must comply with Fish and Game Code. CDFW Inspections have led to violations for water diversions and storage, grading, chemical use, wildlife threats, timber conversion, and public safety, the department notes. Between 2013 and 2018, over 700 inspections resulted in 399 tons of trash removed from public and private lands including 2.4 million feet of irrigation pipe, 50 tons of fertilizer, and 465 gallons of chemicals, many illegal. In addition, the removal of 709 dams and water diversions related to cannabis grows resulted in restoration of 800 million gallons of water back into local watersheds. CDFW agents said they seized nearly 40,000 cannabis plants in raids on April 25, The San Francisco Standard reported. In that bust, a similar amount, over $36 million worth of cannabis, was seized in the raids at 744 Kevin Court and 4825 San Leandro St. Oakland residents are used to rising crime in the area—sometimes with cannabis businesses and the people behind them as the victims. Last year, C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis was robbed at gunpoint and about $100,000 in product was stolen. Making things worse, eyewitnesses say it took “hours” for police to arrive at the scene. A man was shot at the Oakanna dispensary in February 2022. Oakanna dispensary owner Joshua Chase was shot in the foot after a group of burglars tripped an alarm in the early morning hours at his relatively new retail facility. Criminals are also getting creative in the way they target cannabis businesses, such as smash and grab attempts, now with heavy machinery. Security footage obtained last June shows a huge forklift being used in a break-in attempt at another dispensary. The cannabis delivery industry in the area has also been hit hard. Access to banking services could solve many of those problems and make dispensaries safer for the people who work in them. Wildlife officers with the CDFW’s Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) also spearheaded several enforcement investigations in rural areas during August and September, a Sept. 27 news release indicates. During Sept. 4-8, MET officers raided several illegal cannabis operations on rural private lands in Shasta, Tehama and Sutter counties. Often officers depend on concerned citizens to drop the dime: Officers were tipped off by a hunter who stumbled on one of the trespass grow sites and reported it. MET officers destroyed more than 5,500 illegal plants, arrested four suspects, seized several firearms including one stolen handgun, dismantled several water diversions and removed thousands of pounds of trash. Backup was provided from CDFW’s Air Services and K9 Units, as well as the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) task force. “Many recreationists who venture into California’s backcountry are our best eyes and ears for reporting poaching, pollution and illegal cannabis cultivation on public land,” said Nathaniel Arnold, Acting Chief of Enforcement for CDFW. “These enforcement actions not only provide public and consumer safety, but they also combat the illegal cannabis supply chain. I could not be more proud of these dedicated officers.” The recent raids in the Bay Area and beyond highlight the issue and proliferation of illegal cannabis operations in both urban and rural areas of California.

https://hightimes.com/

Brandmydispo Voted #1 Cannabis Packaging Company in 2023

Ladies, gents, and cannabis enthusiasts of all stripes, pop the cork! Brandmydispo has just been anointed the “Best Cannabis Packaging Company of 2023!” They’re not just your run-of-the-mill dispensary packaging. They’re the maestros, the da Vincis of weed packaging. What’s cooking at Brandmydispo? A delicious blend of wicked design and eco-friendliness. Their custom cannabis packaging isn’t just eye-candy; it’s a conscious love affair with Mother Earth. Oh, you like your bud looking stylish? How about some custom dispensary packaging that also gives a hat tip to sustainability? Yeah, they’ve got that! Take it from the industry insiders and happy customers—Brandmydispo is the cannabis packaging Michelangelo. “This isn’t just about holding cannabis; it’s about elevating it! They’re the Da Vinci of dispensary packaging,” raves Hayden Kingsley, the mastermind behind HappyHigh Dispensary. Cannabis deserves better than sub-par packaging. It deserves a palace! At Brandmydispo, they’re not just putting cannabis into boxes; they’re putting their souls into it. From keeping your herb fresh as morning dew to making sure little Johnny can’t pop it open, their child resistant packaging is the Chuck Norris of functional design—strong yet sensitive. Being the king of the cannabis packaging jungle isn’t enough for Brandmydispo. They’re cooking up some groundbreaking innovations in custom dispensary packaging that’ll take marijuana packaging from “meh” to “mind-blowing.” The future? It’s sustainable, secure, and sensational! This is not your typical corporate jargon. Brandmydispo is making waves with an eco-pledge that actually counts. They’re going far beyond reusable materials—think carbon-offset programs, partnerships with environmental orgs, and a promise to make dispensary packaging that gives back to Earth. It’s a ripple effect of goodness, folks. It’s not just about packages with Brandmydispo; it’s a whole vibe! Memes, viral challenges, and interactive customer polls—Brandmydispo knows how to tickle the internet’s fancy. If there’s buzz about custom cannabis packaging, you can bet Brandmydispo started the conversation. Brandmydispo doesn’t do ‘basic.’ Their limited-edition collections are the stuff of legend. Imagine custom marijuana packaging inspired by iconic eras, influential artists, or even famous mythical creatures. These editions drop like secret gigs—when they’re out, they’re THE talk of the town. Cannabis connoisseurs and industry experts are not shy about their love for Brandmydispo. From detailed video unpacking sessions to in-depth editorial reviews, the word is unanimous: Brandmydispo is the Picasso of weed packaging. Brandmydispo isn’t content with just dolling up the end product. Nah, they’re all about spotlighting the green thumbs who nurtured your bud from baby sprout to full-blown superstar. By teaming up with farms that think organic isn’t just a label—it’s a lifestyle—they’re offering you a leaf-to-lighter adventure. Hold onto your seats, folks. Brandmydispo’s design inspo doesn’t just stop at your local boutique. They raid the global aesthetic pantry: a dash of Scandi-cool here, a sprinkle of Saharan hues there. When you open a Brandmydispo package, you’re basically stamping your passport. AR’s not just for video games, people. Brandmydispo’s about to flip the script on custom marijuana packaging. One scan from your phone, and boom! You’re taking a VR stroll through a cannabis garden or maybe solving a 3D puzzle that reveals exclusive deals. In short, it’s a trip within a trip. Cannabis is a whole experience, okay? Brandmydispo gets it and is about to up the ante. Picture artisan playlists that harmonize with your chosen strain and snack collabs that’ll give your munchies a Michelin-star touch. It’s a multi-sensory cannabis festival, and your ticket’s already booked. Hold the phone—did someone say ‘free design’? Yep, and it’s not an optical illusion. Brandmydispo believes that your wildest custom marijuana packaging dreams shouldn’t get stuck in the “if only I could afford it” drawer. Whether you’re a greenhorn dispensary still using Clip Art or an established player craving some new mojo, Brandmydispo has your back. Think of it as haute couture for your cannabis, sans the couture price tag. “Think of your cannabis package as the golden ticket. With us, it’s not just a wrapper; it’s an invitation to a world of pure imagination.” stated Sean Millard, co-founder of Brandmydispo. Ah, you thought Brandmydispo was just a box and mylar bag sort of show? Cue the drumroll and prepare for the curtain to rise on a cavalcade of packaging marvels! We’re talkin’ mylar bags so ritzy, they could headline their own Vegas act. Jars so stylish, you’d want them front-and-center on your Instagram grid. But wait, there’s more—cones, cartridges, vape pens, each a work of art in its own right. Got a thirst? Check out their drink containers. Need labels? Theirs could be framed in modern art galleries. And because life’s too short for boring, they throw in an encore of snazzy accessories. This isn’t just a product lineup; it’s a festival for your senses and a playground for your brand. “At Brandmydispo, custom packaging serves as an indelible signature, unique to each client, and reflective of their distinct brand identity.” stated Courtney Trouten, co-founder of Brandmydispo. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Brandmydispo is the juggernaut of cannabis packaging. They’ve been combining style, innovation, and good ol’ responsibility to create a legacy that even your grandma would approve of. Picture an empty room. Not just any room, but a room about to be filled with the clamor of creation. That room—the ground zero of Brandmydispo—came alive when two entrepreneurial souls, Sean Millard and Courtney Trouten, struck their first chord in the symphony of change. No brass bands, no ticker tape parades, just the kinetic zap of vision colliding with opportunity. Identifying a yawning gap in the cannabis packaging game, they saw a runway of untapped potential, stretching far and wide. This wasn’t going to be another “me too” venture. No, sir. This was the stage for a David Bowie in a sea of cover bands—a true original. Like navigators charting unexplored territories, they forged ahead. Every bump in the road? A stepping stone. Every wall? A canvas. And so, with their eyes laser-focused on the endless horizon, they brought Brandmydispo from a scribble on a napkin to a roaring reality. They aimed to do nothing less than redefine the cannabis universe, one package at a time. No more generic envelopes, no more dreary brown boxes. Instead, they visualized a cascade of packaging experiences, each resonating with the essence of the brand it contained. Got questions? Brandmydispo has answers, and not the pre-recorded kind. Real humans, passionate about cannabis, ready to chat about your deepest, darkest dispensary packaging desires.

https://hightimes.com/

Sinaloan Cartel Appears To Ban Fentanyl Trafficking in Their Area

Large banners have appeared throughout the narco-controlled Mexican state of Sinaloa appearing to ban fentanyl production and sales at the behest of “Los Chapitos,” the sons of the notorious cocaine kingpin “El Chapo.” According to Reuters, it is unknown who put the banners up, known as “necromantas,” despite what the banners themselves may read as the Chapitos signature could be a disinformation tactic by another criminal group. “Attention. Due to the incessant disinformation of some media and the obvious omission of the government in not investigating and prosecuting the true culprits of this epidemic,” the banners said (in Spanish). “In Sinaloa, the sale, manufacture, transportation or any type of business that involves the substance known as fentanyl is strictly prohibited, including the sale of chemicals for its preparation. We have never been nor will we be related to that business. [Be warned of] the consequences. Att: Chapitos.” The Chapitos, which translates to “Little Chapos,” are the four sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán who ran the Sinaloa Cartel until he was extradited to the United States in 2017 after several previous unsuccessful attempts to imprison him. The Chapitos consist of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, Joaquin Guzman Lopez and the youngest: Ovidio Guzman Lopez who was just extradited to the United States in mid September to face drug trafficking and money laundering charges. El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was also released just weeks ago from U.S. prison after serving a three year sentence for helping her husband run his criminal empire. The banners may be in response to recent efforts by the United States government to put pressure on Mexico to stop the flow of drugs, particularly fentanyl, from entering U.S. soil. Ovidio Guzman Lopez’s arrest came shortly after some talk from conservative congressmen of the possibility of military intervention in Mexico if the surge of fentanyl coming across the border did not stop. “This action is the most recent step in the Justice Department’s effort to attack every aspect of the cartel’s operations,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement about the arrest. The banners could also indicate the Chapitos don’t want any more extraditions or fentanyl-related deaths on their hands (which totaled around 75,000 in the U.S. in 2022), but a former DEA agent told Reuters it’s likely an attempt to fool the authorities, corner the market for themselves or both. “Coupled with extradition of one of the brothers, it’s a ploy to take the heat off of them,” said Leo Silva, a former DEA agent who previously worked in Mexico to Reuters. “I don’t see them stopping production.” According to the Reuters article, this is actually the second such attempt claimed by the Chapitos at stopping fentanyl production. In July, a Mexican news outlet Riodoce reported that cartel members had told fentanyl makers in the state capital to stop production, followed shortly thereafter by the discovery of several bodies left with fentanyl pills on them. A supposed cartel source who spoke to Vice on the condition of anonymity said both these attempts were nothing more than a strategic maneuver by the cartel to ward off other would-be fentanyl traffickers and corner an even bigger piece of the market for themselves. “There are a lot of other families [of traffickers] who are mad at them because they have been killing a lot of people that used to produce fentanyl on their own and now they want the whole business for them. But I can tell you, fentanyl production hasn’t stopped in Sinaloa. And it will not stop,” said the cartel source to Vice. “It’s too much money to turn down or turn their back on,” Silva said to Reuters. Los Chapitos have been accused of several heinous crimes other than fentanyl trafficking, including using human beings as test subjects in their drug laboratories to see how people will react to fentanyl of different strengths and so on. There are also, according to this article in El Pais, an unspecified number of tigers kept at Iván Archivaldo Guzman Salazar’s ranch in Sinaloa for the purpose of feeding enemies to, dead or alive. The same article made allegations of torture by way of waterboarding, electrocution and other tiger-related methods the specifics of which i’m sure are too ghastly to include here. Ovidio Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty on September 15 on a laundry list of drug charges. Some of the charges he faces carry a life sentence maximum.

https://hightimes.com/

Michigan K-12 Students Could Use Medical Pot on School Grounds Under New Bill

Michigan students enrolled in K-12 schools might be allowed to consume their medical cannabis on school grounds soon (and on the bus, something anyone who was bullied on those tragic vehicles is likely jealous of), FOX 2 Detroit reports. That is if new legislation introduced last week passes. Michigan House Democratic representatives introduced the bill, which would allow students to take edibles, infused beverages, and other low-dose cannabis and CBD products. However, as much fun as some readers may have to imagine kids lighting up a joint on the back of a school bus and telling bullies where to shove it, teachers will be in charge of administering the cannabis (and not in the form of joints). Those prescribed medical marijuana will require written specific permission about when it can be taken. The legislation aims to make it easier for kids who use cannabis therapeutically to take their medicine. For pretty obvious reasons, steeped in our country’s drug war, the idea of kids taking cannabis at all, even with the blessing of a doctor, is pretty controversial. But if children were prescribed another medication yet unable to take it while at school, which takes up most of their day, communities would be in an uproar. This latest proposed legislation aims to treat cannabis as just another prescription. In Michigan, the use of medical cannabis by children requires approval from not just one, but two medical professionals. This rule sets Michigan apart from the majority of states where medical marijuana is legal, as many of these states do not impose a minimum age requirement of 18 for medical marijuana users. Conditions that can be treated by medical cannabis for children include epilepsy, autism, muscular dystrophy, attention deficit disorder, and pain and nausea due to cancer. In other Michigan news, looking at adults, those past school age and part of the job market, as of Sunday, most government jobs will no longer drug test prospective employees for cannabis. It even has retroactive effects, as those who have been denied jobs regarding positive THC tests have a chance to get the same sanctions. John Gnodtke, State Personnel Director, proposed this change to the Michigan Civil Service Commission on May 12. Following that, at a July 12 meeting, the Michigan Civil Service Commission approved the proposed additional changes while adopting rule amendments that would allow for revoking active sanctions for some applicants who tested positive for cannabis in drug tests since 2020. “When a drug test is required, an appointing authority shall require testing for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, and phencyclidine, except that marijuana testing is not authorized for a preemployment drug test for a new hire to a position that is not test‐designated and cannot be used to rescind a conditional offer of employment to such a position,” the amended rule reads. “Before 9f an agency requires testing for other drugs, it must first obtain written approval from the director. A request must include the agency’s proposed initial test methods, testing levels, and performance test program. When conducting reasonable‐suspicion or post‐accident testing, an agency may require testing for any drug listed in schedule 1 or 2.” In late August, a leaked letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine recommended reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug, as per the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA defines a Schedule III substance as “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.” The DEA says that the potential for abuse of Schedule III drugs is less than that of Schedule I and Schedule II drugs—but more habit-forming than Schedule IV (which Xanax falls into) and Schedule V drugs (such as Robitussin AC). Other examples of Schedule III drugs include pills containing less than 90 mg of codeine per dosage unit, ketamine, and testosterone. This move was directed to DEA’s Anne Milgram. While hailed as “historic,” it’s worth noting that while this reclassification would relax certain restrictions, cannabis would still be considered a controlled substance, leaving plenty of folks to argue that it falls far too short of fully ending cannabis prohibition and the ongoing War on Drugs. Confirmation of this recommendation came shortly after the leak when HHS said that their representative had indeed passed along their findings to the DEA. An HHS spokesperson stated, “Following the data and science, HHS has expeditiously responded to President Biden’s directive to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and provided its scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA on August 29, 2023.” While most pro-cannabis activists think it’s not enough, the impact of the suggestion alone was enough to send cannabis stocks soaring.

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New DEA Report Examines Drug Testing Data for 2022

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently released its National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) Drug 2022 Annual Report, which compiles drug testing data collected during 2022. The NFLIS collects drug results from drug cases across the country by federal, state, and local forensic labs, and compiles the data to report illegal drug use and trafficking trends. “NFLIS-Drug includes information on the specific substance and the characteristics of drug evidence, such as purity, quantity, and drug combinations,” the report explained. “These data are used to support drug scheduling decisions and to inform drug policy and drug enforcement initiatives nationally and in local communities around the country.” NFLIS began publishing data on illegal drug reports in 2001. Between January 1, 2022-December 31, 2022, the report analyzed test results from 648,738 drug cases that were sent to state or local testing labs in the U.S., which were mainly drugs seized by law enforcement. Everything was examined by March 31, 2023, and 1,181,750 drug reports were reported. Among all the most frequently identified drugs across the nation, methamphetamine led as the drug with the highest number of reports (341,049), followed by cocaine (169,972), fentanyl (163,201), cannabis/THC (146,631), and heroin (41,227)—the combination of which totaled to 73% of all drug reports. In comparison to report data from previous years, methamphetamine decreased since 2021, cocaine data remained the same through 2022, fentanyl increased “significantly” starting from 2014 and through 2022, cannabis/THC decreased in 2022, as did heroin. On a national scale, the report explained the increase in fluorofentanyl and alprazolam, the decrease of oxycodone and buprenorphine, but that psilocin/psilocybin saw a decrease between 2010-2016 and doubled between 2016-2022. Regionally, psilocin/psilocybin reports increased in all regions with the exception of the western U.S., where the DEA noted a drastically decreased number of reports. Cannabis/THC reports also decreased in the northeast, southern, and western parts of the country. A large majority of the report analyzes main drug categories, such as narcotic analgesics, which does not include cannabis. However, it does include an overview of synthetic cannabinoids, of which there were 5,410 reports in 2022—ultimately less than one percent of all drug reports. The most common were MDMB-en-PINACA (33%), ADB-BUTINACA (20%), and ADB-FUBIATA (4%). Synthetic cannabinoids were reported mainly in the northeastern U.S. (42%), the Midwest (37%), the west (31%), and the south (27%). The report also included a detailed map of some of the country’s forensic laboratories, and the regional shifts between leading illegal drugs. For example, the highest percentages of methamphetamine were tested in Rapid City, South Dakota (74%), Fresno, California (65%), Los Angeles, California (63%), Lincoln, Nebraska (57%), and San Diego, California (51%). Cocaine drug testing, however, was found in Miami, Florida (45%), New York City (44%), McAllen, Texas (43%), and El Paso, Texas (38%). Heroin was more commonly tested in areas like Salt Lake City, Utah (14%), San Francisco, California (13%), and Chicago, Illinois (11%), and fentanyl was found the most in Phoenix, Arizona (45%), Santa Fe, New Mexico (34%), Seattle, Washington (32%), and Denver, Colorado (31%), among many others. The aforementioned synthetic cannabinoid MDMB-en-PINACA was tested in only 4% of labs, and was reported in Birmingham, Alabama. The report data reflects the harms of various drugs, but also shows how only illegal cannabis is a threat. The widespread acceptance and legalization of cannabis is reflected in other arms of the government as well, such as the U.S. Sentencing Commission which reported in October 2022 that 6,577 people could potentially receive pardons after President Joe Biden announced pardons for people with simple cannabis convictions. This summer, the Justice Department Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that there is a 61% decline in federal cannabis prisoners between 2013-2018. According to BJS director Alex Piquero, this was a significant decrease in prisoners compared to those imprisoned for other substances. “Although the number of people in federal prison for drug offenses decreased over this five-year span, they still accounted for a large share—almost half—of the people in [Federal Bureau of Prisons] BOP custody in 2018,” Piquero said. “At the same time, we saw differences by the type of drug involved, with more people incarcerated for heroin and methamphetamines and fewer for marijuana and cocaine.” Unfortunately, the illegal cannabis industry continues to thrive, even if it’s a small percentage of illegal drug trafficking and sales overall. Last August, a Canadian Border Agency reported 2,000 pounds of illegal cannabis being exported. Just one month later in June 2022, 400 pounds of cannabis were found by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In June 2023, one driver unknowingly traveled through a U.S./Canadian border (allegedly following his GPS) with another 400 pounds of cannabis. In August, more than 2,000 pounds of cannabis hidden in frozen waffles was discovered at the border of Canada as well. Earlier this month at the border of the U.S. and Mexico, two tons of cannabis (or ~4,000 pounds) were discovered in a truck, valued at $10 million.

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More Than 150 Oklahoma Dispensaries Face New State Fines

More than 150 Oklahoma medical marijuana dispensaries have received letters from state regulators notifying owners that they owe thousands of dollars in fines for transactions that do not comply with the state’s medical cannabis regulations. Some providers could also lose their licenses for selling too much medical marijuana in a single transaction, according to a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA). The letters, one of which has been shared with High Times, notify owners that the potentially illegal transactions occurred between January and May of this year. The correspondence also informs the businesses that a November court date has been set in relation to the alleged violations. Dispensary owner Rob Speight is one of several business owners who say the letter came as a shock, adding that he is unsure how he will afford to pay the fine. “It is saying that I’m getting charged $5,000 for a transaction that was over the limit of 84 grams,” Speight, who received the letter from OMMA last week, told local media. He also adds that the letter is lacking in detail and does not contain basic information such as the date of the flagged transaction. “We don’t know exactly when it was, I’m not saying it didn’t happen,” said Speight. “We don’t make a habit of ever overweighing the legal limit…it’s simple, you just break it up into a second transaction.” Under Oklahoma’s medical marijuana laws, purchases by patients are limited to 84.9 grams (about 3 ounces) of cannabis flower, 28.3 grams (one ounce) of cannabis concentrate, 72 ounces of marijuana edibles, six mature cannabis plants and/or six cannabis plant seedlings. Transactions that exceed the stated limits are contrary to the state’s regulations and subject owners to fines. Jed Green, the director of the medicinal cannabis advocacy group Oklahoman’s for Responsible Cannabis Action, met with OMMA officials last week in an effort to gain more information about the letters and alleged rule infractions. “It has left some of our business owners scrambling. Especially those who truly are compliant…to go back looking for a needle in a haystack of say one potential violation over 10s of thousands of transactions,” Green said. “OMMA has indicated that they will make those violations known… it would be nice if that might have been more isolated up front.” Green added that technical glitches in the OMMA’s tracking system could be responsible for some of the alleged infractions. “We talked about the way mathematics were being done in conversion of standard American units to metric units,” Green said. “We were discussing that and wanting to ensure that OMMA was being thorough and that in some of these cases there could be some glitches between multiple software systems.” The letters note that upon the first violation, offenders are subject to a fine of $5,000. Subsequent violations are levied fines of $15,000. The letter shared with High Times, which was sent to a business owner who wishes to remain anonymous, detailed three violations, bringing the total fines assessed to $35,000. Some dispensary owners fear that the penalties could put them out of business. “It’s also a crisis to the business owners to get fined so much that it’s shutting people’s door is it’s costing them their livelihood,” said Cynthia Myers, the owner of three dispensaries. “I’ve been in this five years and in November….I don’t have $30,000 to pay a fine on top of raising other permits and stuff, too.” In a statement to local media, OMMA public relations manager Porsha Riley said that some of the dispensaries that received letters also face losing their license to serve patients. “As the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, we are responsible for regulating the medical cannabis industry in our state. That responsibility includes upholding the highest standard of compliance,” Riley said in a statement. “Our agency recently filed petitions against 161 licensed dispensaries for sales over the legal limit. Of those 161 cases, 39 seek fines and revocation of licenses; 122 seek fines. Enforcing legal limits on sales is essential to maintaining the integrity of our medical market, preventing unauthorized use or distribution, and controlling oversupply.” Speight said he faces a court date on November 8 to answer for the alleged violation. “I have to obtain a lawyer, to go to court, to challenge something that I actually have no idea what, where, or when it happened,” he said. According to the letters, business owners who have their licenses revoked are ineligible to apply for a new license for a period of five years. Bri Padilla, the executive director of the trade group The Chamber of Cannabis, said that some dispensary owners had reached out for help about compliance before the letters were issued but did not receive the support they needed. “What is particularly concerning, is that operators and lawmakers in Oklahoma have been asking for support as it relates to seed-to-sale tracking options since before January of this year. Now, we are seeing operators fined, shut down, and otherwise threatened due to potential glitches in software. That is unacceptable and merits inspection,” Padilla wrote in a statement to High Times. “As all Cannabis programs roll out and grow, some hiccups are to be expected but issues of this scope simply should not be happening.”

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Ed Sheeran Recalls Getting Outsmoked by Snoop Dogg Backstage, ‘I Can’t See Right Now’

On Monday’s Oct. 2 episode of Conan O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend on SiriusXM Garage, Ed Sheeran, 32, laughed and discussed many things including getting high as hell at a sesh with Snoop Dogg, 51, backstage after a concert in Australia last March. Even though Sheeran’s mother-in-law and wife were nearby, he couldn’t resist crossing off his bucket list goal of smoking weed with Snoop at some point, and fortunately for fans, most of the encounter is posted all over Instagram. On March 4, during Snoop’s Melbourne, Australia stop of his I Wanna Thank Me Tour at Melbourne Park, Snoop Dogg presented both Sheeran and actor Russell Crowe with gold Death Row Records chains in a dressing room backstage. (Snoop said “I wanna thank me” during his speech after receiving his Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2019). They both appear to love the chains in Snoop’s Instagram Reel of the interaction, and there’s a weed cloud emanating in the dressing room in the video. The Reel received over 50,000 likes. Crowe bobbed his head to the music in the video as he opened up the box with his chain. At this point, Sheeran looks coherent, and he posted his own Instagram post with a pic with Snoop and a big smile, managing to type “I had a good time.” Snoop also posted a pic on Instagram of the encounter, putting on Sheeran’s chain, and writing “Amazing. Mr. Ed.” Sheeran toked up with Snoop in the dressing room until he “couldn’t see.” Sheeran’s wife Cherry Seaborn, and mother-in-law were also around as they are friends with Crowe. “I’ve sort of got quite close friends with Russell Crowe over the years and he is really close with Snoop Dogg,” Sheeran admitted to Conan. “I was in the dressing room and they’re just [smoking] like blunt for blunt for blunt for blunt. I was like, I guess at some point during the night, I have to, just to say I smoked with Snoop Dogg.” Snoop told ET last year that Crowe and himself smoked together at some point, when they asked him to drop the name of a secret smoker celebrity. Anyone who is knowledgeable in the field of pot knows that if you haven’t smoked in a few months or more—you’re going to get tore. But Sheeran was the first to admit he’s not an every-day smoker. “He was like, ‘Do you want some?’ and I was like, now’s the time,” Sheeran said. “We were having a good conversation. So I have a bit and I was like, I don’t feel too bad, this is good. Then I have a bit more, and then I have a bit more, and then I have a bit more.” “I just remember looking at him and being like, I can’t see right now,” Sheeran said, as O’Brien and the studio audience laughed. Last year, Sheeran also remembered another event in 2013 when he said he took one hit of The Game’s weed and was gone, while the rapper stayed in the studio unfazed. During the leg of the tour, Snoop also shared fan letters from fans in Australia in a video the next day. While Sheeran was high af, it was probably nothing for Snoop. Snoop said he estimated that he smokes 81 blunts per day in a 2013 Twitter/X post, and later said he smokes 75-150 blunts per day in an Australian podcast in 2022. This explains the need for a full-time blunt roller. Snoop Dogg announced on Dec. 29, 2022 that Death Row Records would be entering the cannabis game with Death Row Cannabis. Despite being a celebrity brand, it was popular with High Times readers for a few reasons. The man who curates Death Row Cannabis is the one and only, mighty AK—“hand-selected by Snoop himself.” AK is best known for his role alongside former partner Wizard Trees in sprouting, selecting, and cultivating strains such as RS11 (aka Rainbow Sherbert #11), Studio 54, and Shirazi from breeder DEO Farms. Last April, High Times interviewed Death Row Cannabis CEO Tiffany Chin. Last May, Death Row Cannabis dropped three new strains—Strawberry Gelato, LA Runtz, and SFV OG—at select locations across California. O’Brien frequently interviews Snoop Dogg as well. O’Brien launched a podcast for several reasons, including the need to be free from FCC regulations. “After 25 years at the Late Night desk, Conan realized that the only people at his holiday party are the men and women who work for him. Over the years and despite thousands of interviews, Conan has never made a real and lasting friendship with any of his celebrity guests. So, he started a podcast to do just that.” The encounter between Snoop and Sheeran is hardly surprising.

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Cannabeginners: Cannabinoids Without the Cannabis

Even though cannabinoids are named for the cannabis plant, cannabinoids and chemicals that interact with our endocannabinoid system (ECS) are not exclusively found in cannabis. Research going back more than 40 years has demonstrated that a range of plants can have pronounced impacts on our ECS, and more recent research has shown some of those plants to be capable of producing their own phytocannabinoids. Even though preliminary studies done decades ago hinted that some plants could impact the ECS, it took until 2008 to properly identify the first dietary cannabinoid, something that was not a cannabinoid but interacted with the ECS and was part of a normal human diet. Jürg Gertsch led a team of researchers looking at the impacts of β-Caryophyllene (BCP), “the primary sesquiterpene contributing to the spiciness of black pepper,” and a major terpene in cloves, hops, rosemary, and cannabis. In their pioneering study, Gertsch and his colleagues found that, despite BCP having a totally different structure than cannabinoids, it interacted with the CB2 receptor in a cannabinoid-like way, and produced a range of potential medical benefits. It would seem that 2008 was a big year for researching cannabimimetic compounds (non-cannabinoids that interact with the ECS), and that same year a team of researchers looking at olive oil made some striking discoveries. They found that, “short-term feeding of [a] Mediterranean diet high in monounsaturated fat, diet high in saturated fat, or diet high in polyunsaturated fat … can affect tissue levels of endocannabinoids.” By 2014, the Italian cannabinoid researcher Mauro Maccarone found that “By adding olive oil to an animal’s diet, we can restore a normal CB-1 receptor level that will protect cells against cancer.” The next study to advance our understanding of olive oil’s impact on the ECS found that “olive oil significantly induced CB2 receptor expression and it was able to control inflammatory and proliferative activity,” suggesting further benefits against cancer. These effects were so fascinating that by 2019 the Father of Cannabis Research, Raphael Mechoulam, was doing his own investigations. He told MG Magazine in an interview, “we found the derivative [of olive oil] —an anandamide-like compound—which most definitely is a very potent anti-osteoporotic compound.” His findings suggest that the cannabimimetic compounds in olive oil were not just potent against inflammation and cancer, but also osteoporosis. Last week a study was released, offering the most current look at the “endocannabinoid-like mediators” found in olive oil. Their findings suggest that olive oil can both help rebalance gut microbiota but also could help prevent over-eating. Earlier this year the Internet was abuzz with stories about the wooly umbrella plant’s uncanny ability to produce more than 40 different cannabinoids. While that isn’t close to the more than 100 known phytocannabinoids in cannabis, it is the most cannabinoids produced by any non-cannabis plant, and offers a new and unique way to obtain cannabinoids. Wooly umbrella, also called Helichrysum umbraculigerum, is a perennial herb from South Africa with velvety yellow flowers, commonly used as an ornamental plant in gardening, related to daisies, sunflowers and lettuce. Even though wooly umbrella is not related to cannabis, interestingly, the biochemical pathway used to synthesize the cannabinoids is the same. Wooly umbrella has long been burned in folk rituals to release intoxicating fumes, which may be why German scientists studied it more than four decades ago, and found evidence that it could produce cannabinoids, findings that were unable to be replicated until this year’s study. Specifically, the researchers found six cannabinoids that were identical to those in cannabis, including CBG, though they were not able to find THC or CBD. As CBG is derived from CBGa, which can also become THCA, CBDA and CBCA (which then convert to THC, CBD, and CBC), it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that you could find THC or CBD. In addition to the known cannabinoids found in wooly umbrella, the researchers discovered more than thirty new phytocannabinoids. So far we’ve been talking about naturally occurring cannabinoids and cannabimimetics found in plants, but what about cutting edge scientific efforts to tweak plants, fungus, and bacteria to produce cannabinoids? A team of researchers out of UC Berkeley had the idea to tweak brewer’s yeast to brew up something much more interesting than just alcohol – cannabinoids. In 2019, they announced the “Complete biosynthesis of cannabinoids and their unnatural analogues in yeast,” effectively turning simple sugars into cannabinoids; in other words, spinning gold from straw. In a nutshell, they engineered a yeast to contain cannabis genes and produce the needed chemical precursors to make cannabinoids. “For the consumer, the benefits are high-quality, low-cost CBD and THC: you get exactly what you want from yeast,” said Jay Keasling, a faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, “It is a safer, more environmentally friendly way to produce cannabinoids.” A 2022 study by a different group of researchers noted that this sort of engineering can be done not just with yeast, but also with bacteria. At least one company, Hyasynth Bio, has attempted to bring products to market made using cannabinoids from yeast. It may not sound as appealing as using brewer’s yeast as the starting point, but multiple teams of researchers are tweaking algae to produce cannabinoids. As early as 2018, the US Patent And Trademark Office received at least one application regarding a “method for producing a cannabinoid in algae.” In 2020, a team of researchers based out of the University of Quebec, partnered with the Canadian government, announced they were “the first to demonstrate that cannabinoids can be successfully grown in microalgae.” While algae is large enough to be seen with the naked eye, microalgaes are single-celled organisms and may be prokaryotic (like cyanobacteria) or eukaryotic (like green algae). While this article focused on black pepper, olive oil, wooly umbrella, and engineering algae or yeast, that is by no means an exhaustive list of non-cannabis sources for things that interact with the ECS. Gertsch, the same researcher who identified BCP as a dietary cannabinoid, followed up on his 2008 study with another two years later that did a deep dive into plants containing cannabimimetics. Back in the 1990s, some constituents in chocolate were shown to inhibit the breakdown of anandamide, offering some benefits to the ECS. Soon after, some alkamides in echinacea were demonstrated to interact with the CB2 receptor. Those benefits of chocolate and echinacea to the ECS were further supported by additional studies in the early 2000s. The common rue and brassica vegetables (i.e. cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli) have been shown to contain the anticarcinogenic metabolite 3,3′-diindolylmethane, which interacts with the CB2 receptor. The hallucinogenic herb Salvia divinorum was also found to display “indirect cannabimimetic effects at CB1” but the mechanism of action is unknown. Finally, a 2018 study found that a chemical in liverwort “resembles THC in its 3D shape, and can bind to many of the same cannabinoid receptors as THC.” Despite all these many ways to produce cannabinoids from something other than cannabis plants, none has seen mass use in the marketplace yet. It is only a matter of time before consumers will need to decide between more than just cannabis or hemp derived products, and may need to consider cannabinoids from yeast, bacteria, algae, or even wooly umbrella.

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Gov. Newsom Signs Bill Allowing MDMA, Psilocybin Prescriptions If/When Feds Reschedule

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law which would allow California doctors to immediately begin writing prescriptions for MDMA and psilocybin medications should the federal government choose to reschedule them. Gov. Newsom signed AB 1021 on Saturday in an effort to prepare California doctors ahead of expected federal movement regarding psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin, which have increasingly shown effectiveness against several different mental health related issues. MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms are currently considered Schedule 1 narcotics under the Controlled Substances Act. “Notwithstanding any other law, if a substance listed in Schedule I of Section 11054 is excluded from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act and placed on a schedule of the act other than Schedule I, or if a product composed of one of these substances is approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration and either placed on a schedule of the act other than Schedule I, or exempted from one or more provisions of the act, so as to permit a physician, pharmacist, or other authorized healing arts licensee acting within their scope of practice, to prescribe, furnish, or dispense that product, the physician, pharmacist, or other authorized healing arts licensee who prescribes, furnishes, or dispenses that product in accordance with federal law shall be deemed to be in compliance with state law governing those acts,” the bill said. In layman’s terms, all that legal language means that AB 1021 actually allows for any substance currently listed under Schedule 1 (heroin, LSD, MDMA, psilocybin, cannabis and peyote to name a few) to be prescribed by California doctors if rescheduled, not just limited to MDMA and psilocybin though they are the current most likely candidates for rescheduling other than cannabis. The bill actually specified that none of these changes apply to cannabis because they have already been addressed in other legislation. “This section does not apply to cannabis or a cannabis product, as defined in Section 26001 of the Business and Professions Code. However, cannabis or cannabis products may be authorized pursuant to Section 11150.2,” the bill said. AB 1021 does not allow for doctors to start writing prescriptions just yet but after years of research and studies the FDA could be prepared to reschedule these medications as early as next year, further confirmed by recent results of a phase 3 clinical trial which concluded that MDMA effectively reduced symptoms for treatment-resistant patients with moderate to severe PTSD. “Thanks to the combined efforts of dozens of therapists, hundreds of participants who volunteered in MAPS-sponsored trials, and many thousands of generous donors, MDMA-assisted therapy is on track to be considered for approval by the FDA in 2024,” said Rick Doblin, founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) which sponsored the study. Gov. Newsom also signed a bill into law on Saturday concerning cannabis edible testing. AB 623 essentially established what’s called a testing variance for edible cannabis products that are considered lower-dose than the current standard dose of 10 milligrams. A testing variance means that it’s hard to make cannabis edibles all exactly one very specific dose so the law currently allows for the dose to be off plus or minus 10 percent of the 10 milligram dose, loosely meaning if it falls within 9-11 milligrams it will pass. What AB 623 did was require the California Department of Cannabis Control to establish what the variance should be for products that have less than five milligrams of THC in total to provide more consistency (less variance) for people who use lower-dose products. “Ultimately, this bill tasks the [the Department of Cannabis Control] with the responsibility to determine what the appropriate testing variances should be for those products with a lower level of THC than what is currently specified in statute as 10 milligrams to ensure that testing standards are consistent, accurate and appropriate for smaller dosing sizes,” said state analysis of the bill. Still sitting on the governor’s desk is a bill that would decriminalize psychedelics in California, a bill that would severely restrict packaging options for California cannabis companies, a bill to legalize cannabis cafes, some proposed changes to the track and trace system, a bill that would let certain elderly people with chronic diseases consume cannabis at the hospital, and a bill that would prevent employers from asking about past cannabis use on job applications.

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Michigan Drug Testing for Pot Ends for Most Government Employees

Most government jobs in Michigan will stop drug testing prospective employees for cannabis, per a rule change that took effect Sunday. The changes also provide people who’ve already been denied jobs over positive THC drug tests an opportunity to get the sanctions retroactively rescinded. The rule change was first proposed to the Michigan Civil Service Commission by John Gnodtke, State Personnel Director, on May 12. At a July 12 meeting, the Michigan Civil Service Commission approved the proposed new changes and adopted rule amendments to allow rescinding active sanctions for some applicants who tested positive for cannabis in drug tests since 2020. “When a drug test is required, an appointing authority shall require testing for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, and phencyclidine, except that marijuana testing is not authorized for a preemployment drug test for a new hire to a position that is not test‐designated and cannot be used to rescind a conditional offer of employment to such a position,” the amended rule reads. “Before If an agency requires testing for other drugs, it must first obtain written approval from the director. A request must include the agency’s proposed initial test methods, testing levels, and performance test program. When conducting reasonable‐ suspicion or post‐accident testing, an agency may require testing for any drug listed in schedule 1 or 2.” Commissioner Nick Ciaramitaro said the change is needed to comply with Michigan’s adult-use cannabis statute, which was approved via a statewide ballot measure in 2018. Voters also legalized medical cannabis 10 years earlier with the approval of the state’s 2008 ballot proposal. “Whether or not we agree with it or not is kind of beyond the point,” Ciaramitaro told MLive. “Use of marijuana on the job is different than having used it months before you take the test … It doesn’t make sense to limit our ability to hire qualified people because they took a gummy two weeks ago.” Michigan residents made the decisions to “treat marijuana, recreational marijuana, much like alcohol,” said Commission chair Jase Bolger. Two years ago, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sent a legal opinion to Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Appeals Commission, which argued that employees fired from their jobs for cannabis use outside the workplace are technically still eligible for unemployment benefits per state law. “Marijuana was not used on the job or on the employers’ premises, nor did it impair the employee during work hours,” Nessel’s office said in a statement at the time. “The people spoke loud and clear when they voted in 2018 to legalize marijuana once and for all,” the Nessel said. “Nobody over 21 can be penalized or denied any right or privilege solely for legally using marijuana, and employers cannot control their employees’ private lives by calling the legal use of marijuana outside of work hours ‘misconduct.’” Nessel’s argument appears to stand and go beyond unemployment benefits. One major reason to update drug testing policies is its utter failure in deterring job candidates from refraining from smoking. Failed drug tests for THC hit an all-time high just months ago, according to one analysis. According to a Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index Analysis that was published on May 18, post-accident workplace drug testing hit an all-time high in 2022. Last year, 7.3% workforce drug urine samples contained cannabis, in comparison to 6.7% of workers in 2021. Quest Diagnostics states that it has recorded a steady rise in post-accident cannabis positivity since 2012, with a 204.2% increase in workers testing positive for cannabis over the past 10 years. Between 2002-2009, post-accident positive test results had decreased. The report indicates that cannabis was the primary reason that workers’s drug tests have been positive, but other substances such as amphetamines have also contributed to the increase, with cannabis increasing by 10.3% and amphetamines increasing by 15.4%. In 2022, the most common industries that saw a rise in positive workplace drug tests were Accommodation and Food Services (7%), Retail Trade (7.7%), and Finance and Insurance (3.6%). In September 2022, New Jersey regulators issued employment guidance for cannabis rules in the workplace, which “is meant to support employers’ right to create and maintain safe work environments, and to affirm employees’ right to due process.” Changes are taking place at the federal level as well. In February 2021, the Biden administration announced a new policy that would allow applicants to be hired even if they had previously consumed cannabis. “The White House’s policy will maintain the absolute highest standards for service in government that the President expects from his administration, while acknowledging the reality that state and local marijuana laws have changed significantly across the country in recent years,” the policy stated.

https://hightimes.com/

New Jersey Cannabis Funds Used for Hospital-Based Intervention Services

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced in a press release that $5.5 million in cannabis tax funds will be going toward New Jersey Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (NJHVIP). The money comes directly from the state’s Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Fund. According to state law, cannabis tax funds consist of money that comes from cannabis taxes and fees to fund a variety of community services and programs. The NJHVIP is managed by the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance (VIVA) by way of the Office of Violence Intervention and Prevention. VIVA was initially established by Platkin in September 2022 “with the goal of elevating and formalizing violence intervention and victim services work within the Department of Law and Public Safety.” “Through the New Jersey Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program, our Administration is making progress on our commitment to creating a safer state for all New Jerseyans,” said Murphy in a press release. “These innovative violence intervention programs allow providers to tend to vulnerable victims of violent crimes in the early days of their road to recovery in order to break the patterns of violence that have tragically taken the lives of too many New Jerseyans. We will continue to do what we can to support this work to prevent and overcome violence in our communities across the state.” “New Jersey’s Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs are essential aspects of our comprehensive approach to public safety, and they empower communities to interrupt cycles of victimization and violence,” said Platkin. “Under Governor Murphy’s leadership, we are continuing our historic investment in NJHVIPs by making available $5.5 million for these innovative services. Through this funding, we are making clear that we will use every tool and resource available to combat gun violence and violent crime that affects too many of our communities.” VIVA executive director, Patricia Teffenhart, also expressed the importance of the NJHVIP. “Our NJHVIP partners are a key part of Attorney General Platkin’s trauma-informed, survivor-centered commitment to building safer, more resilient communities in New Jersey,” Teffenhart said. “By bringing together medical and community-based violence intervention teams that put victims at the center of service, their work supports the kind of healing that helps put victims on the road to recovery and a path to safety.” The press release explained that hospital-based violence intervention programs like NJHVIP help support victims of crime through unified teams of “hospital clinicians, social workers, case managers, violence interventionists, and community health workers.” Services such as crisis intervention, victim compensation, and more, all serve people in need, and the $5.5 million being granted will help fund these services. The New Jersey Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program began in January 2020 with funds from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) program. New Jersey was one of the first states to implement a program with VOCA funds. It began with nine hospital partnerships, including Center for Family Services, Trinitas Health Foundation, AtlantiCare, Capital Health, Jersey City Medical Center, RWJ University Hospital, University Hospital, Jersey Shore University Medical Center/Hackensack Meridian, and St. Joseph’s Health. By January 2023, the number increased to 11. During his time as governor since 2018, Murphy has helped send $45 million in federal and state funding to various NJHVIP sites. In August 2023, the NJHVIP’s third year of operation, $15 million was earmarked for violence prevention services through the use of the same cannabis fund, including guidance for at-risk youth as well as street intervention services. “For far too long, pockets of our state have been scarred by violence. And, since day one of our Administration, we have been committed to solving this problem,” Murphy said last month. “Through initiatives such as the [CBVI] Programs, we have made great strides on that pledge. I am incredibly grateful for Attorney General Platkin and his team’s steadfast dedication to reducing violence in our state and creating a safer community for all.” The $5.5 million from the cannabis tax fund for this year will be granted starting in 2024. Organizations that seek to apply for NJHVIP grants can do so by Oct. 18, 2023. According to the Notice of Availability of Funds, applicants may apply for no more than $995,000 per project. A webinar was held on Sept. 29 for interested applicants, but those who did not originally attend on that day can check out a recording of the meeting when it’s published online on Oct. 3. In news of other community services, three New Jersey attorneys (Andrew Cooper, Michael Hoffman, and John Williams) recently held an expungement service event at the 420 Expo, which was held between Sept. 29-Oct. 1. The “stigma-free celebration of the legal cannabis lifestyle” was host to more than 100 vendors, and also included educational seminars and appearances from celebrity Cheech Marin. “The so-called war on drugs has been particularly hard on minority and low-income communities, and although studies show white, brown, and Black people use cannabis equally, Black and brown people were nearly four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis violations,” Cooper explained. “Despite laws designed to assist these communities, the individuals affected most are also least able to benefit due to a lack of access to information and support. The Expungement Clinics at 420 Expo are intended to provide the kind of meaningful access to information otherwise sorely lacking in society.”

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