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CBD And THC, What Are They And How Do They Affect Your Health?
As more time passes, the medical benefits of both CBD and THC are slowly becoming apparent.
You’re probably familiar with the words CBD and THC, but what they are and how they can affect your health? Cannabidiol (CBD) and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are two compounds found in members of the cannabis plant genus. They’re just two of many compounds called cannabinoids found in the plant.
While they both come from the same plant, they have vastly different effects and benefits. Knowing the differences between the two and learning as much as possible about the two compounds prior to use can help you see the potential health benefits and risks of each. Start by knowing what they are, followed by their risks, side effects and potential healthy uses.
What is THC?
THC (the abbreviated name for tetrahydrocannabinol) generates many of the psychological (or high) effects the body may experience when using marijuana. It is only one of a great deal of compounds in the cannabis plant, but it can have a range of psychoactive effects.
THC interacts with cannabinoid receptors in the human brain. The body’s cannabinoid receptors — associated with memory, pleasure, thinking and motor skills — are activated when THC touches them. This leads to some of the impairments in memory, senses and time perception associated with the compound.
Per an in-depth report by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the combination of all the changes in your system creates the high and causes it to differ from person to person.
What is CBD?
Cannabidiol, colloquially known as CBD, is another cannabinoid that comes from the cannabis plant. It tends to reduce or neutralize effects of THC, based on the amount of each one a consumer uses. Mostly consumed oil form, it’s readily accessible to those interested in using it for its health benefits.
Perhaps the most significant difference between CBD and THC is that CBF does not have any psychoactive properties. CBD is ideal for taking advantage of the plant’s healthy benefits without getting high or experiencing any psychoactive effects.
Risks and side effects
There are a few risks and side effects associated with both compounds.
Per Harvard Medical School, CBD can cause nausea, fatigue, irritability or potentially increase the level of a blood thinner called coumadin within your bloodstream. Knowing the proper dosages to use is also not exact, as CBD is more often sold as supplement (which the FDA does not regulate) rather than a medication. Studies show it may be effective for treating epilepsy and inflammation, but using the compound may make you tired, decrease your appetite or experience some gastrointestinal issues within the first few weeks of use. There is also some concern via the FDA that taking unapproved CBD with other medicines could affect your body and they warn taking it with alcohol could cause some damage.
THC is difficult to measure and could result in the risk of stronger than intended dose especially in regard to edibles. THC can also affect memory and may affect a decline in general knowledge or cause some respiratory issues later in life for those who smoke it often.
The medical benefits of both CBD & THC
As more time passes, anecdotal evidence from users is assessed and studies on their effects are conducted, the medical benefits of both CBD and THC are slowly becoming apparent.
CBD is used to help mitigate and alleviate some medical conditions including inflammation/pain, bowel disease, seizures, depression and anxiety (among others). It may also help a person fall (and stay) asleep. CBD has a strong legacy of helping ease these conditions and more studies are conducted each year to further explore its benefits and medicinal uses.
THC on the other hand is typically used more for pain, glaucoma, muscle issues, insomnia, nausea and a lower than normal appetite.
Additional learning resources
Education is always the best route to understanding and you can learn more by exploring a number of additional resources both online and at your local library if possible. The FDA, WHO and CDC are good sources of information.
Source: https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/cbd-and-thc-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-affect-your-health/
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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