TSA Updates Marijuana Rules To Allow Hemp-Derived CBD On Flights

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) updated its policy on cannabis over the Memorial Day weekend, changing the medical marijuana section of its “What Can I Bring?” webpage from reading “no” to “yes” (with “special instructions”).

Specifically, the agency is clarifying that hemp-derived CBD products may now be carried on planes under certain circumstances.

Previously, TSA made no distinction between marijuana and hemp-derived preparations and warned on its website that cannabis products cannot be taken as carry-on items or in checked bags. But since the 2018 Farm Bill federally legalized hemp and its derivatives, that’s no longer the case.

Now the agency’s webpage specifies that possession of “certain” cannabis products are illegal under federal law, and TSA agents are required to report suspected violations such as possession of “certain” products to law enforcement.

Here’s the new policy as it appears on TSA’s website:

Via TSA.

“Products/medications that contain hemp-derived CBD or are approved by the FDA are legal as long as it is produced within the regulations defined by the law under the Agriculture Improvement Act 2018,” a new section states.

Here’s what the TSA policy looked like prior to the update:

Via TSA.

It’s not clear how the agency plans to enforce the new policy, unless it intends to train agents to test CBD preparations for the presence of THC and maintain a database of products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

A TSA spokesperson told Marijuana Moment in an email that the policy change was spurred by FDA’s approval of a cannabis-derived anti-seizure medication, Epidiolex.

“TSA was made aware of an FDA-approved drug that contains CBD oil for children who experience seizures from pediatric epilepsy,” the spokesperson wrote. “To avoid confusion as to whether families can travel with this drug, TSA immediately updated TSA.gov once we became aware of the issue.”

But FDA approved the CBD prescription drug nearly a year ago—calling into question the notion that TSA acted “immediately.”

And the representative was not immediately able to comment on part of the TSA website update that now references the broader legalization of hemp-derived CBD under the Farm Bill, which was enacted in December.

The rest of the TSA page on cannabis mostly retains language from the earlier version. The agency’s efforts are “focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers,” it says, so it doesn’t use resources to seek out illicit drugs.

However, “if any illegal substance is discovered during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer.”

TSA has gone back-and-forth on its marijuana policy as more states opt to legalize the plant for medical or adult use. In April 2017, the agency took advocates by surprise after it updated the medical marijuana section of the “What Can I Bring?” page to include a green “yes,” indicating that medical cannabis was permitted in carry ons or checked bags.

“TSA security officers do not search for marijuana or other drugs,” the page said at the time. “In the event a substance that appears to be marijuana is observed during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer.”

But shortly after the page started attracting press attention, TSA temporarily removed the medical cannabis section and tweeted that a “mistake was made in the database.”

AskTSA

✔ @AskTSA

We’re sorry for any confusion. A mistake was made in the database of our new “What can I bring?” tool.

2

10:51 AM – Apr 5, 2017
Twitter Ads info and privacy

The agency later posted an updated version of the page, which specified that marijuana was not in fact allowed on planes.

“Whether or not marijuana is considered legal under local laws is not relevant to TSA screening because TSA is governed by federal law,” TSA wrote. “Federal law provides no basis to treat medical marijuana any differently than non-medical marijuana.”

But with the legalization of industrial hemp and its derivatives, multiple federal agencies are now revisiting their policies to clarify what is and isn’t allowed.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released a memo earlier this month stipulating that certain hemp products may qualify for registered trademarks. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau said in April that CBD cannot currently be added to alcoholic beverages, as the FDA has yet to release updated guidelines on adding hemp-derived products into the food supply.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has told industry stakeholders that they are allowed to import hemp seeds from other countries, and the agency also said it was accepting intellectual property protection applications.

Both the FDA and the USDA are in the process of developing broader regulatory guidelines for hemp and its derivatives, with the FDA set to hold a public hearing on the issue this Friday.

Original Article by Marijuana Moment

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CBD and 26 Major Health Conditions

Our understanding of the human body and the advancements in healthcare have produced a population that lives twice as long as it did just 100 hundred years ago. We now have the knowledge and technology to optimize our bodies to their near full potential. Getting a clear understanding of balance, as it relates to your body and its fundamental functions, will help you along this path.

What is balance and why is it important? Your body works tirelessly to maintain homeostasis to keep you happy, healthy, and disease free. The endocannabinoid system is integral to this work, as are other important systems like the endocrine, renal, and lymphatic systems. Internal balance is as integral to your overall health and well-being as external balance is, and as you probably know, the two are interdependent. Now, this isn’t meant to be a self-help book, but this concept is essential to grab hold of. Being able to wake up and be present, comfortable, and pain-free within your body will enable you to show up and put your best foot forward each and every day.

The American diet can contain up to 70% highly processed foods. If you are like three-quarters of the US population, you have a bottle of multivitamins sitting in your kitchen cabinet. Because of an inadequate diet or to fight off a bad cold, many of us feel like we need the added boost of vitamins to stay out of the doctor’s office and get out the door to work each day. If taken at the right times and with the right foods, supplements are an important step you can take to improve your health. After the generic multivitamin, omega-3/DHA, glucosamine, echinacea, flaxseed oil, and ginseng are among the top dietary supplements in the country.

Are you looking for an improvement in your overall health and wellness? More energy? More mental clarity and focus? Less anxiety? Better sleep? If you have a need, chances are there is a health supplement for that.

Because of the way they are used by our bodies, cannabinoids can do the job of many supplements (and some pharmaceuticals, to boot). It has been my observation over the past decade as a registered nurse that the use of cannabinoids can significantly improve the quality of life of most individuals. When it comes down to it, can we ask for anything more fundamental than that?

So let’s turn our attention to one cannabinoid in particular: cannabidiol. The future of CBD is bright! The myriad ways that CBD works its wonders in the body coupled with its nonintoxicating properties make it an extremely valuable therapeutic compound, and as the scientific study of CBD ramps up we are uncovering new and exciting possibilities for CBD all the time. We already know with a good degree of scientific certainty that CBD can be used to treat a number of symptoms and conditions, and we’ve outlined these for you in the following section.

We’ve put together a list of the concerns and conditions that have the most science backing them up, but there are several others that show real potential based on preclinical study. And did you know that CBD can help your furry friends too? It’s true; CBD is being used to treat a variety of health issues for pets.

We used Uwe Blesching’s The Cannabis Health Index as a jumping-off point. Blesching is a medical journalist who developed the The Cannabis Health Index as an “evidence-based rating system that shows degrees of confidence in cannabis as an effective treatment for a specific condition.” Blesching painstakingly collected the credible scientific studies available for each condition, rated each study on its overall quality and credibility, and tabulated the results to create a 5-point rating scale, ranging from possible to actual in terms of efficacy. Blesching looked at cannabis as a whole and did not break it down as far as individual cannabinoids like THC or CBD.

From there we cross-referenced his ratings in the The Cannabis Health Index with CBD-specific studies to give you information on conditions that have the most evidence to support CBD’s use. Many thanks go to the fine folks at Project CBD for their comprehensive list of scientific studies as they relate to CBD and specific conditions.

Original Article by Very Well CBD

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Colorado Passes Bill That Allows Physicians to Prescribe Medical Marijuana Rather Than Opioids

In Colorado, doctors can now recommend medical marijuana to patients with certain chronic medical conditions.

According to the Denver Post report, Colorado has been trying to bring down the ongoing opioid crisis by passing a bill that will allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana for certain conditions associated with severe pain.

On Thursday, the Governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, signed Senate Bill 13. The new law will go into effect on August 2 after passing through Colorado’s General Assembly.

Dr. Stephanie Stewart, a physician in Colorado, said, “This will substitute marijuana for an FDA-approved medication – something that’s unregulated for something that’s highly regulated.”

According to the Colorado law, doctors are allowed to prescribe medical marijuana to patients who struggle with cancer, HIV and AIDS, PTSD, glaucoma or other chronic medical condition that cause severe pain, nausea, and seizures. The new law includes all medical conditions in which opioids could be recommended.

Although the bipartisan legislation is a win for medical marijuana backers, it has raised concerns among some addiction-centric healthcare professionals.

Dr. Stewart said, “Our real concern is that a patient would go to a physician with a condition that has a medical treatment with evidence behind it, and then instead of that treatment, they would be recommended marijuana instead.”

People who support the new law said it is a safer form of therapy that would help limit the ongoing opioid crisis in the United States. More than 130 people die due to opioid overdose every day, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Ashley Weber, executive director of Colorado NORML, which is a pro-marijuana advocacy group, said, “Adding a condition for which a physician could recommend medical marijuana instead of an opioid is a safer pain management tool that will be useful for both our doctors and patients.” The law applies to Colorado people under and over the age of 18. Those who are under 18, who are prescribed medical marijuana, must take it in an edible form if they are using it on school grounds or transportation.

Original Article by My Healthy Click

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Hemp Could Be the Solution to Our Plastic Pollution Crisis

Bio-plastics made from hemp are a viable alternative to petroleum-based plastics that have become the scourge of the ocean.

Plastic is a significant source of pollution. It’s with harmful additives, made from oil and takes hundreds of years (or longer) to degrade. A patch of plastic and sludge the size of Texas is floating in the Pacific Ocean right now, killing ocean life in untold numbers. By 2050, the United Nations estimates there will be more plastic, by weight, than fish in the ocean.

Our planet is choking on plastic and people are desperately looking for an alternative that won’t pollute the Earth. Hemp just might be the solution to our plastic problem.

Hemp plastic is biodegradable.

One of the biggest selling points for hemp plastic is that it is biodegradable. While your run-of-the-mill plastic bag will take several centuries to degrade, it only takes hemp plastic three to six months to degrade. Naturally, this means that hemp plastic may not always be a perfect fit for every plastic application. But when it comes to single-use products, like plastic straws, hemp would make an ideal replacement.

Making hemp plastic is better for the environment.

Another benefit of using hemp plastic over regular plastic is that its manufacturing process does far less damage to our environment. According to Forbes, most plastics today are made with fossil fuels extracted through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Fracking is a process where deep rock formations containing petroleum and natural gases are fractured with high-pressure liquids.

Although energy companies tout fracking as a “clean” method, the truth is that fracking can pollute the air, ground soil and water supply with a host of harmful toxins. A notorious example of fracking pollution is the documentary Gasland, where in one scene a man sets his water tap on fire by merely holding a lighter next to the faucet.

Since hemp plastic is not made from fossil fuels, it has none of the baggage that comes with traditional plastic.

Hemp is a great raw material for plastic.

Aside from the fact that hemp plastic is better for the environment, hemp is simply an excellent source of plastic. One of the critical components of plastic is a material called cellulose. When looking for an ideal source for plastic, you generally want to use a material that has high concentrations of cellulose. In addition to hemp, two of the leading sources of cellulose are cotton and wood.

On average wood contains approximately 40 percent cellulose and cotton has cellulose concentrations of around 90 percent. Hemp contains roughly 65 percent to 75 percent cellulose. Although hemp has lower concentrations of cellulose, cotton requires 50 percent more water to cultivate and four times as much water to process. While cotton might make a “better” source for plastic than hemp, when you take into consideration the environmental impact, hemp wins out.

Combating pollution and climate change is never easy. Over the last several decades, humans have become set in their ways and often don’t want to give up many of the amazing inventions that have been discovered, like plastic. But luckily, thanks to hemp plastics, they may not have to.

Original Article by Green Entrepreneur

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The Endocannabinoid System – A Guide to Everything you Need to Know

The Endocannabinoid System – A Guide to Everything you Need to Know   The Endocannabinoid System With the rise of popularity of CBD (and THC products if you live in states where it is legal), a great deal of interest has surfaced regarding the Endocannabinoid system. Perhaps one of the most complicated and ill-understood systems …

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A significant number of cannabis patients discontinue use of benzodiazepines

A new study has found that many patients stop using benzodiazepine after receiving medical cannabis. The findings have been published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

“I was interested in this project because it presented an opportunity to address benzodiazepines and cannabis use, both of which are becoming increasingly socially relevant. Benzodiazepines can be effective in treating many medical conditions but unlike opioids, there seems to be little public awareness of the risks associated with these commonly used prescription medications,” said study author Chad Purcell, a medical student at Dalhousie University.

Benzodiazepines are a class of medications used to treat conditions such as anxiety and insomnia. They include Alprazolam (Xanax, Niravam) diazepam (Valium), clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan) and others.

“Having previously worked as a pharmacist, I observed first-hand how benzodiazepines affected the lives of my patients. I became familiar with the adverse effects of these medications that include dependency, falls and increased sedation — especially when used in combination with other medications,” Purcell explained.

“I was excited to investigate the potential mitigation of these risks. With the legalization of cannabis in Canada, Canadian researchers are uniquely positioned to contribute to the developing body literature on the drug. I wanted to take this opportunity to help further understand of the potential uses and harms of cannabis.”

The researchers observed significant benzodiazepine discontinuation rates in 146 medical cannabis patients, who were all regularly consuming benzodiazepines at the beginning of the study. Approximately 45 percent of patients had stopped taking benzodiazepine medication within about six months of beginning medical cannabis.

Many patients also reported decreased daily distress due to medical conditions after being prescribed cannabis.

“We observed a significant number of patients who stopped taking their benzodiazepine medications once started on medical cannabis. We hope that future research will explain this observation and provide recommendations for patients who use benzodiazepines and/or cannabis,” Purcell told PsyPost.

But there are still many unanswered questions about the relationship between cannabis use and benzodiazepine discontinuation.

“The study design precludes our ability to reliably state that the discontinuation of benzodiazepines was caused by initiating medical cannabis. We can simply state that this association was observed. We are also not able to suggest a possible physiological mechanism to explain this association,” Purcell said.

“We did not have access to information on cannabis strains, growth and producers and are unable to generalize these results to products that are currently commercially available in Canada. We do not suggest that cannabis can or should be used as a substitute or addition to medically indicated and prescribed benzodiazepines.”

The study, “Reduction of Benzodiazepine Use in Patients Prescribed Medical Cannabis“, was authored by Chad Purcell, Andrew Davis, Nico Moolman, and S. Mark Taylor.

Original Article by PsyPost

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Study finds CBD effective in treating heroin addiction

(CNN)Cannabidiol, the non-psychoactive ingredient in hemp and marijuana, could treat opioid addiction, a new study says. Given to patients with heroin addiction, cannabidiol, also known as CBD, reduced their cravings for the illicit drug as well as their levels of anxiety.

“The intense craving is what drives the drug use,” said Yasmin Hurd, the lead researcher on the study and director of the Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai. “If we can have the medications that can dampen that [craving], that can greatly reduce the chance of relapse and overdose risk.”
The available medications for opioid addiction, such as buprenorphine and methadone, act in a similar way, curbing cravings. But they are still not widely used. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, just one-third of US patients with opioid dependence in private treatment centers actually receive these kinds of medications. According to the 2016 surgeon general’s report on addiction, only 1 in 5 people who needed treatment for opioid use disorders was receiving any sort of therapy.
Public health experts say there are obstacles to getting these drugs, which are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, widely distributed. Because methadone and buprenorphine are still opioids, who can prescribe and how much can be prescribed are highly regulated. In addition, treatment with these medications can require frequent visits with practitioners. “It’s really burdensome,” Hurd said.
Concerns about diversion and addiction to these drugs remain, despite their success in reducing mortality by up to 59% a year in the year after treatment.

‘So many people are dying’

Nearly 400,000 Americans have died of opioid-related causes since 2000, just slightly fewer than the number of American troops who died in World War II. “So many people are dying, and there is a need for developing medications,” Hurd said.
For their study, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Hurd and her colleagues looked at 42 adults who had a recent history of heroin use and were not using methadone or buprenorphine.
Recruited from social services groups, halfway houses and treatment centers, the participants had used heroin for an average of 13 years, and most had gone less than a month without using. They had to abstain from any heroin use for the entire trial period.
The participants were divided into three groups: one group given 800 milligrams of CBD, another 400 milligrams of CBD and another a placebo. All the participants were dosed once daily for three consecutive days and followed over the next two weeks.
During those two weeks, over the course of several sessions, the participants were shown images or videos of nature scenes as well as images of drug use and heroin-related paraphernalia, like syringes and packets of powder that resembled heroin. They were then asked to rate their craving for heroin and their levels of anxiety.
A week after the last administration of CBD, those who had been given CBD had a two- to three-fold reduction in cravings relative to the placebo group. Hurd said the difference between the two CBD groups was insignificant.
The research team also measured heart rate and cortisol, the “stress hormone,” and found that the levels in those who got CBD were significantly lower than those who hadn’t received the drug.

Promising potential

The researchers used Epidiolex, the first FDA-approved cannabis-based medication, as their source of CBD.
With many CBD products on the market now the exact concentration of CBD is uknown. In addition, they may have additives such as pesticides and even lead. But, Hurd said, with Epidiolex the exact concentration and other ingredients in the drug is known, which was key. “We are developing a medicine. We are not developing a recreational cannabis,” she said.
Participants reported very few bad reactions, such as mild diarrhea, headache and tiredness.
These findings are similar to those of a pilot study Hurd ran, but she says the next step is to do a longer-term study, following subjects for up to six months.
The study’s potential was not lost on others.
“This is an extremely significant paper. We need to utilize every possible treatment in helping people with chronic pain to find other ways to manage their symptoms and in people with opiate addiction to find relief,” said Dr. Julie Holland, a psychiatrist in New York and former assistant professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine.
“CBD not only manages the anxiety and cue/craving cycle, it also diminishes the original pain and inflammation that leads to opiate use in the first place,” said Holland, who was not involved with the new study.
Hurd said there are still a lot of questions to answer in the next study, including the best dose, how many times it needed to be administered and the mechanism in the brain that is working to diminish the cravings.
But she was optimistic about the implications. “It’s not addictive. No one is diverting it. It doesn’t get you high, but it can reduce craving and anxiety,” she said. Ultimately, “this can really help save lives.”
Original Article by CNN

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Joy Organics CBD Review (Awesome CBD)

Joy Organics CBD Looking for a new CBD product to try? Joy Organics is the latest CBD product I have tried. I have tried many products and in this review, I will go in depth as to what I felt while taking Joy Organics CBD products and my overall thoughts on the products. At the …

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Study: With CBD, 80% of Children With Autism Saw Improvement

Israeli researchers have found more compelling evidence that medical cannabis is an effective therapy for children on the autism spectrum. In this soon-to-be-published study in the journal Neurology, researchers treated autistic children with high concentrations of CBD, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant.

Conditions in 80% of the children improved. Alternatively, the children had not shown improvement with conventional drug therapies.

The Study Up-Close

The study was led by the director of pediatric neurology at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Hospital, Dr. Adi Aran, who treated the 60 children with a high-CBD cannabis oil (20% CBD and 1% THC). The children were treated for at least seven months with the oil.

After the treatment period, parents answered assessment questionnaires to characterize their child’s condition. Questions were asked about behavioral changes, anxiety levels and ability to communicate.

Here’s what they reported:

  • 80% of parents noted a decrease in problematic behaviors, with 62% reporting significant improvements.
  • Half of the children had improved communication.
  • 40% reported significant decreases in anxiety. (Note: one-third of the study participants began the study with no anxiety.)

The Pioneer

Just as Israel is a pioneer in medical cannabis research, Aran is a pioneer in cannabinoid therapy for autism. Aran originally began a 2017 project to test 120 autistic children. It was the first study of its kind worldwide, and was made possible by the Israeli government’s funding and progressive approach to cannabis research.

Aran said that when word of the study got out, his waiting lists were soon full with many families from all over Israel who wanted to participate.

Autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental in nature, usually appearing in infancy or early childhood and lasting a lifetime. More severe cases have debilitating symptoms including compulsive, repetitive behaviors and impaired social skills and communication. Some children cannot speak at all. Autism affects around 1% of people worldwide.

The causes of autism are not understood and there is no cure—and the prevalence is climbing. In April 2018, the CDC updated its autism prevalence estimates to 1 in 59 children, up from 1 in 166 children in 2004. Doctors traditionally treat symptoms with antipsychotic medications, which have harmful side effects. Some children do not respond to these medications.

Aran began small autism research studies after similar cannabis studies on epilepsy, a disease that affects about 20% of autistic children. While studying epilepsy, researchers discovered that certain cannabis compounds would likely also help some autism symptoms. Less than 2% of the general population has epilepsy, but up to 33% of people with autism also suffer from epilepsy.

Neuroscientist Dr. Thomas Deuel of the Swedish Hospital in Seattle says there is definitely a connection. While scientists do not clearly understand the reasons behind the relationship, they suspect that the different brain development that occurs in autistic children is more likely to create circuits that cause epileptic seizures.

That link has caused many parents to seek out cannabis treatments for their autistic children. Parents certainly have anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of CBD oils on their autistic children, but mainstream medicine has remained skeptical due to the lack of data. With most conditions treated with cannabis, anecdotal evidence and personal experience far outweigh actual peer-reviewed scientific research.

What’s Next for CBD Research?

In 2015, Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital published a baseline review of cannabis and autism studies to date, showing that the research did show promise, but nothing definitive could be said about cannabis’ ability to improve pediatric patients. The Harvard review stated that most research was animal-based and did not yet show translational impacts to human subjects. In fact, the review concluded with the cautionary statement that cannabis treatments should be used as a last resort after all conventional therapies have failed. Indeed, a widespread reluctance exists within the pediatric community to study the effects of cannabis in children, due to the potential of harmful side effects.

Since 2015, only a few small studies have been conducted, with promising results. One of the biggest impacts to spur on future research has been the U.S. Food and Administration (FDA) approval of Epidiolex, a CBD oil-based elixir manufactured by British drug developer GW Pharmaceuticals as a treatment for two rare types of childhood epilepsy. Scientists took notice at the amazing body of evidence that GW Pharmaceuticals presented regarding the effects of the drug.

Now, New York University (NYU) neurologist Dr. Orrin Devinsky, the same scientist who did research on Epidiolex, is now conducting two studies on CBD effects on children aged 5 to 18 with moderate to severe autism. The only other doctor who is currently doing studies like this is Aran.

Since autism and epilepsy go hand in hand, CBD is showing promise for treating both conditions.

Perhaps as doctors begin to see the effects of Epidiolex, and review research like that of Aran’s and Devinsky’s autism studies, many more will begin to delve further into use of medical cannabis.

Original Article by Leafly

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How Does The Price Of CBD Differ Around The Globe?

How Does The Price Of CBD Differ Around The Globe? The cannabis industry has expanded into an ever-increasing range of medicinal products, primarily due to the therapeutic effects of cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is one of the primary active cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant which has been shown to help ameliorate symptoms of a wide …

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