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Marijuana Cannabinoids And Kidney Disease
Although there are different diseases and medical conditions that take people’s lives, in the US kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death. It’s also estimated that 31 million Americans (10 percent of the US adult population) are diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The proper functioning of our organs is essential, especially our kidneys. One of the main symptoms of chronic and non-chronic kidney disease includes long-lasting pain, which can lead into other painful symptoms. Currently, many physicians prescribe opioids to patients to help them manage their pain. However, opioids and other pharmaceutical drugs have been proven harmful and addictive. Fortunately, though, cannabis and derivatives of it can provide relief to people with kidney disease, especially chronic pain associated with the disease. Here is information about marijuana’s cannabinoids and kidney disease which might prove useful.
Purpose Of The Kidneys & Possible Causes Of Kidney Disease
For those who don’t know, the main purpose of our kidneys is to clean our blood through the removal of excess fluid, minerals, and waste. Our kidneys also help keep the body clean and free from toxic compounds including byproducts accumulated from chemical consumption, digestion, and even muscle activity. Additionally, the kidneys are responsible for maintaining the correct amount of potassium, sodium, salt, phosphorous, and minerals within our bloodstream.
Regarding possible causes of kidney disease, it’s important to know the different types of this disease. For example, the different types of kidney disease/malfunction are categorized as chronic kidney disease (CKD), acute kidney injury, and acute renal failure (ARF). In most cases, CKD can be caused by immune system conditions such as HIV/AIDS, Lupus, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. Other possible causes for kidney disease include injuries, different medications, or genetic issues.
Also, if an individual has been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, or one of their relatives has kidney disease, that individual is at a greater risk of being diagnosed with kidney disease.
Current Kidney Disease Treatments
To determine if someone has kidney disease or poor kidney function, a physician can administer different tests to find out what’s going on. Once someone is diagnosed with kidney disease, it’s common to experience chronic pain alongside other physical and emotional symptoms. Many physicians prescribe painkillers like opioids to their patients as a form of pain management. However, opioids can cause and/or intensify additional adverse effects of the disease including nausea, insomnia, anorexia, and pruritis. These adverse effects can negatively impact a patients’ quality of life and overall well-being. Depending on the severity of the disease though, some patients undergo dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Alternative Kidney Disease Treatments (Cannabis)
Aside from the treatments briefly mentioned, many patients seek out alternative forms of treatment like cannabis. Recent research has been done on cannabinoids, which has helped legitimate the usage of cannabis-based medicine. According to the National Institute of Health findings, CB1 and CB2 receptors are found in numerous tissues within the body including the kidneys. Although cannabis and different cannabinoids can relieve many kidney disease symptoms, it doesn’t cure the disease completely.
Regardless, cannabinoids have demonstrated their effectiveness in helping treat symptoms associated with kidney disease including anorexia/cachexia, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and pruritis. Chronic pain is another common symptom associated with kidney disease, which can be treated with THC. It has been found that THC acts as an analgesic in addition to containing anti-emetic, anti-nausea, appetite stimulating, and muscle relaxant properties. Additionally, several clinical studies have discovered that sleep quality significantly improved in patients who consumed cannabinoids to treat chronic pain and intractable pruritis.
Medical Benefits Of Cannabis In Treating Kidney Disease
Furthermore, cannabis and derivatives of it could prevent kidney damage while also relieving pain and other distressing symptoms. Whereas, many non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can result in harmful chemicals entering the bloodstream. As a result, the kidneys are put under significant pressure. Numerous non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including Ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, Aspirin, and Aleve contain a high amount of substances that are toxic to the kidneys. On the other hand, cannabis has very few side effects on our organs. There’s also no risk of a cannabis overdose resulting in harming or damaging our organs.
Overall, small improvements in kidney disease symptoms through the usage of THC and CBD could be clinically beneficial for patients who experience hard-to-treat symptoms. So far though, cannabis-based medicine for kidney disease, and specifically, CKD is being considered.
Although cannabis doesn’t cure kidney disease, it can effectively alleviate many symptoms associated with it. As a result, a quality of life improvement can occur, which can lead to a life with more enjoyment and less pain. At the end of the day, isn’t that what we all want?
Source: https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/marijuanas-cannabinoids-and-kidney-disease/
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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