Extroverting

Author: Brad Dunn

  • Marijuana May Make Insomnia Worse, Not Better

    Marijuana helps many people fall asleep, but that short-term benefit doesn’t always translate to long-term use. A new study backs up the idea that you may not get a great night’s sleep if you use cannabis every day, according to Lifehacker.

    Research at the University of Michigan found that people who used marijuana every day were more likely to have insomnia. People who used it occasionally had a lower rate of insomnia, similar to people who did not use the drug at all.

    “While there are still many questions to be answered, existing research suggests that the effects of cannabis on sleep may depend on many factors, including individual differences, cannabis concentrations and frequency of use,” says author Deirdre Conroy.

    Read the full story.

  • The Best Cannabis Strains for Aspiring Home Growers

    The Best Cannabis Strains for Aspiring Home Growers

    Purple Kush

    What do Jack Herer, Purple Kush, Og Kush, Moby Dick and White Widow have in common?

    They are the most popular marijuana strains grown at home, according to Civilized.

    The site says different cannabis plants require specific care. Some strains are easier to grow than others, because they produce a higher yield or require a shorter flowering period. Unfortunately, many beginner growers opt for the more budget friendly strains, though they may ultimately cost more because they may be more difficult to grow. For this reason, there are a number of popular home grown marijuana strains that yield some of the best flowers.

    Watch the video here.

  • Daily Marijuana Use on the Rise for Adults

    Daily Marijuana Use on the Rise for Adults

    The latest federal survey data shows that while teen marijuana use continues to decline in the era of legal pot, adult use is rising. The percent of people over the age of 18 who smoke it in a given year has risen from 10.4 percent in 2002 to 14.1 percent in 2016. In other words, 46 million people got high last year, according to the Washington Post.

    In and of itself, the increase in adult marijuana use isn’t particularly alarming. Public-health researchers are typically more worried about adolescent drug use, which can derail a young person’s life. If more adults are smoking marijuana once or twice a year — even once or twice a month — it’s not really a huge concern.

    More concerning, though, is the number of people who are getting high all the time — heavy users who smoke on a daily or near-daily basis. The federal data shows that those numbers are increasingly precipitously.

    Read the full story.

  • California Backs Away From Ban on Cannabis Ads

    [tweet https://twitter.com/LegalTechnique/status/900785278192762880 width=’300′]

    California lawmakers have dropped a plan to impose significant restrictions on cannabis advertising, agreeing to kill a bill that would have banned cannabis-industry ads on clothing and other merchandise, according to Leafly.

    The proposal, by state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), would have prohibited state-licensed cannabis businesses from advertising “through the use of branded merchandise, including, but not limited to, clothing, hats, or other merchandise with the name or logo of the product.” Nonprofits and other noncommercial speech would have been exempt.

    Allen and other supporters of SB 162 said the measure was aimed at protecting children from potentially harmful marketing practices. But critics complained that the bill went too far and could ultimately do more harm than good.

    Read the full story.

  • ‘Mum, Cannabis and Me’: A Moving Documentary Debuts in New Zealand

    ‘Mum, Cannabis and Me’: A Moving Documentary Debuts in New Zealand

    A medical student is set to add new perspective to the medicinal cannabis debate in New Zealand by sharing her terminally ill mother’s “heart-breaking” secret use of it in a new documentary. The 30-minute film “Mum, Cannabis and Me” premieres tonight in Wellington.

    It is narrated by fifth year medical student Victoria Catherwood, who hopes the film will inspire fresh conversations about medical marijuana — a hot topic after cannabidiol (CBD) was removed from the Misuse of Drugs Act in New Zealand yesterday.

    “We hope to bring this discussion into the public domain to kind of let doctors feel less stigmatized about talking about it, and also to let patients have these doctors informed so that all these unnecessary harms can be minimized and any benefits can possibly be utilized.”

    Catherwood’s mother is terminally ill with breast cancer.

    Click here to see the preview.

  • Alcohol Up, Marijuana Down for Teens

    Alcohol Up, Marijuana Down for Teens

    Cannabis use has hit a 20-year low for minors aged 12 to 17, according to a new government study.

    Marijuana consumption by U.S. teenagers fell in 2016, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Meanwhile, alcohol use rates among teens have risen — leaving some to wonder if minors may be substituting cannabis for alcohol, according to Leafly.

    [tweet https://twitter.com/CannabisBizNews/status/908388251026776064 width=’300′]

    Past-month youth cannabis-use rates among minors aged 12 to 17 have gently but steadily decreased since 2002. The rate in 2016 — 6.5%, down half a percentage point from a year earlier — is now the lowest in more than 20 years, according to SAMHSA data released this month.

    Read the full story here.

  • TBT: That Time When Cannabis Became Public Enemy No. 1

    TBT: That Time When Cannabis Became Public Enemy No. 1

    For hundreds of years, cannabis was a revered plant in the United States — valued for its many and varied uses. But in the early 20th Century, it suffered a blow to its public image that turned it from miracle plant to “smoke of hell.”

    Why all the hubbub? Here’s a great look back at cannabis’s sudden fall from grace.

  • Activists Plan Marijuana Ceremony in D.C. Church During Eclipse

    Activists Plan Marijuana Ceremony in D.C. Church During Eclipse

    A group that believes there is an ancient and little-known connection between Christianity and cannabis plans to burn oil full of psychoactive cannabinoids inside the nation’s largest Roman Catholic church during the solar eclipse on August 21.

    Anne Armstrong, a longtime cannabis activist and leader of Rhode Island’s Healing Church, says infused olive oil will be put at the bottom of a metal censer and topped with incense for use during a prayer service.

    “We’re timing it to coincide with the eclipse, there’s a lot of interesting astrological things going on,” she says.

    Read the full story.

  • How Much Does an ‘Office of Cannabis’ Director Earn? More Than $200K

    How Much Does an ‘Office of Cannabis’ Director Earn? More Than $200K

    San Francisco plans to hire the director of the new Office of Cannabis at a salary of more than $200,000 next month after the Board of Supervisors approved its creation Tuesday.

    The Office of Cannabis, which will come under City Administrator Naomi Kelly, will decide who receives operating permits, both recreational retailers and medical dispensaries — while all marijuana business will still need to go through other city departments for approval.

    The Office of Cannabis was included as part of Mayor Ed Lee’s $10.1 billion budget proposal, which the board also approved Tuesday, and was part of separate legislation by mayoral appointee Supervisor Jeff Sheehy that was also approved.

    Read the full story.

  • New Study: Cannabis Effective Treatment for Alcoholism

    New Study: Cannabis Effective Treatment for Alcoholism

    A recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience has found that chronic alcoholics could have a smoother recovery process through the use of cannabis.

    Cannabinoids, the primary healing compounds found in cannabis, work as a neuroprotective shield, allowing the substance to infiltrate the part of the brain damaged by the withdrawal process. As a result, cravings are dramatically reduced, giving the alcoholic a stronger chance of recovery.

    While some health experts have shown concern that such treatment is simply replacing one habit with another, those living with alcohol addiction view cannabis as the more manageable, and less harmful, option. The U.S government has published statistics showing that alcohol is responsible for nearly 88,000 deaths in the country each year, where there has yet to be any casualties reported as a result of cannabis usage.

    Read the full story.