Cannabis Community, Investors React to DEA Decision To Reschedule

Cannabis advocates, executives and investors are celebrating the Drug Enforcement Administration’s reported decision this week to reclassify marijuana under federal drug laws, a development that spurred rejoicing from coast to coast and a spike in cannabis stock prices. The celebrations were tempered, however, by the reality that the decision falls short of the full marijuana legalization that determined activists have been seeking for decades.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the DEA had decided to follow a recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), citing five unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Under the recommendation, marijuana will be changed from Schedule I of the CSA, the most strict classification intended for drugs with no medical value and a high potential for abuse, to Schedule III, a group including the drugs Tylenol with codeine and testosterone.

The groundbreaking decision to reschedule cannabis will facilitate research into the medicinal benefits of the plant that could lead to new treatments for an unknown number of physical and mental health conditions. As a Schedule I drug, cannabis research was subjected to the strictest regulatory conditions under federal law, hampering studies that could result in meaningful medical advances.

Rescheduling cannabis under federal drug laws will also have significant impacts on the regulated cannabis industry. Perhaps most significantly, the change will ease access to banking services and free licensed cannabis companies from IRS rule 280e, which denies most standard business deductions to companies selling Schedule I substances. 

Pot Advocates Hail DEA Decision

After the DEA decision to reschedule cannabis was reported by the Associated Press on Tuesday, the move was hailed by policymakers, cannabis activists and entrepreneurs as an historic milestone in U.S. drug policy reform. In Colorado, one of the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, Democratic Governor Jared Polis hailed the historic moment.

“I am thrilled by the Biden Administration’s decision to begin the process of finally rescheduling cannabis, following the lead of Colorado and 37 other states that have already legalized it for medical or adult use, correcting decades of outdated federal policy,” Polis said in a statement. “This action is good for Colorado businesses and our economy, it will improve public safety, and will support a more just and equitable system for all.”

Chuck Smith, president of the board of directors for Colorado Leads, an alliance of cannabis business leaders created to educate the public and policymakers about the importance of a safe and regulated cannabis industry, said that “reclassification under Schedule III will address the 280e tax issue that has unfairly forced state-legal cannabis businesses to pay a far higher effective tax rate than other legal businesses. Allowing marijuana businesses to start deducting ordinary business expenses will allow Colorado companies to retain more revenue, employ more workers, and further invest in their surrounding communities.”

Ali Garawi, the co-founder and CEO of California independent cannabis operator Muha Meds, said the rescheduling of cannabis will allow funds that are now going to taxes to instead be invested in the growth of the company.

“Like many in cannabis, we have had to really think outside the box in terms of financing. At Muha Meds, we’re entirely self-funded, which has forced us to be incredibly calculated with growth. No longer bound to 280e Tax Regulations leftover from the war on drugs, we will be able to utilize funding that we didn’t have the right to before,” Garawi writes in an email to High Times. “We are looking forward to tremendous growth opportunities and some ease of restrictions in terms of just running a business.”

Bob Groesbeck, co-CEO of Planet 13, a multistate operator that owns what is billed as the world’s largest dispensary in Las Vegas, said that the DEA decision will also result in easier access to traditional banking services for cannabis companies. Advocates of regulated cannabis in Congress have offered legislation to allow banks to serve marijuana businesses over the last 10 years, but so far the Senate has failed to approve the bill.

“Rescheduling cannabis should pave the way for much-needed safe banking solutions. Safe banking in the cannabis industry provides a secure environment for financial transactions, granting access to essential services like checking accounts and loans,” Groesbeck noted. “It ensures transparency, reduces costs associated with cash handling, and offers consumers safe and convenient payment options. Overall, safe banking is crucial for industry growth, regulatory compliance, and enhancing consumer experiences.”

Activists Call for More Siginificant Reform

Although the rescheduling of cannabis was hailed by much of the cannabis community, the DEA decision does not achieve the full legalization of cannabis that has been fought for over decades, leading activists to call for more significant reform. Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said that marijuana should not be regulated by the CSA at all, noting that commonly used but potentially dangerous drugs such as alcohol and tobacco are readily available to adults.

“The goal of any federal cannabis policy reform ought to be to address the existing, untenable divide between federal marijuana policy and the cannabis laws of the majority of US states,” Armentano said in a statement from the group. “Rescheduling the cannabis plant to Schedule III fails to adequately address this conflict, as existing state legalization laws — both adult use and medical — will continue to be in conflict with federal regulations, thereby perpetuating the existing divide between state and federal marijuana policies.”

Sarah Gersten, the executive director of Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit working to secure the release of all individuals incarcerated for cannabis offenses, said that the group will continue advocating for more wide-reaching reform.

“Last Prisoner Project believes that complete descheduling and full legalization of cannabis is a necessary step towards correcting past injustices and creating a fair and equitable criminal legal system,” Gersten said in a statement from the group. “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that individuals burdened with past cannabis convictions have their records expunged and that all cannabis prisoners are released, regardless of the federal scheduling decision. Despite not achieving full legalization, we must use this historic moment to push the fight for cannabis justice forward, and we intend to do so by leveraging this reclassification for broader criminal legal reforms as outlined here.”

Weed Stocks Rally

Despite falling short of marijuana legalization, the DEA rescheduling decision sent share prices of cannabis stocks to significant gains in Tuesday trading. Multistate operator Trulieve spiked nearly 30% Tuesday afternoon, CNBC reported, while Curaleaf jumped 19% to a 52-week high. 

MarketWatch reported that Toronto-based TerrAscend was up more than 25%, while Green Thumb Industries Inc. rose by more than 22% and Cresco Labs Inc. climbed nearly 14%.

Emily Paxhia, co-founder of cannabis investments firm Poseidon Investment Management, said she expects a “surge in liquidity as sidelined capital enters the market, drawn by the potential for legal businesses to thrive” as regulated cannabis companies face off against the entrenched unlicensed cannabis market.

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States with Adult-Use Pot Saw Decrease in Alcohol Use, No Increase in Teen Substance Abuse

Legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis, as well as an increase in retail sales in Canada and the U.S. did not lead to an overall increase in teen substance abuse, a team of researchers found. They also found that adult-use legislation led to a “modest decrease” in teen alcohol and e-cigarette use.

The research was led by co-principal investigators Lynch School of Education and Human Development professor Rebekah Levine Coley, School of Social Work Professor Summer Sherburne Hawkins, and Economics Department Chair Christopher F. Baum. They believe they are among the first to evaluate associations between adult-use cannabis legislation and recreational cannabis retail sales through 2021, and teen substance abuse. Naoka Carey, a doctoral candidate in the Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology department of the Lynch School, as well as Claudia Kruzik, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Maryland-College Park, also contributed to the study.

The cross-sectional study is entitled “Recreational Cannabis Legalization, Retail Sales, and Adolescent Substance Use Through 2021,” and was published online and in JAMA Pediatrics on April 15. Researchers used survey datasets to evaluate adult-use cannabis legalization and retail sales policies, as well as adolescent substance use through 2021.

Adult-use cannabis legalization was associated with modest decreases in cannabis, alcohol, and e-cigarette use, while retail sales were associated with lower e-cigarette use, and a lower likelihood, but also increased frequency of cannabis use among youth consumers, essentially canceling out and leading to “no overall change in cannabis use.”

They found no evidence suggesting otherwise, as the dust settles from 24 states and Washington, D.C. enacting adult-use cannabis legislation, and 18 states implementing adult-use cannabis sales.

The Findings Show Effects of Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization

Researchers wanted to sort through perceived effects of cannabis legalization to determine if it indeed leads to an increase in substance abuse, but didn’t find a link. 

 “Although studies of early-enacting states and Canada reported few effects of recreational cannabis legislation on adolescent substance abuse, experts have highlighted the need to further assess policy outcomes in youth as legislation and retail availability spread, and other policies targeting youth substance use shift,” the authors said. “We found limited associations between recreational cannabis legalization and retail sales with adolescent substance use, extending previous findings.”

Overall however, since findings were mixed, with data showing a lower likelihood of cannabis use despite increased frequency, it shows no increase in teen substance use. They also arrived at other conclusions regarding adult-use cannabis’s impact on alcohol use, and e-cigarette use that are worth noting.

“According to the researchers,” an April 18 announcement reads, “recreational cannabis legalization was associated with modest decreases in cannabis, alcohol, and e-cigarette use, while retail sales were associated with lower e-cigarette use, and a lower likelihood, but also increased frequency of cannabis use among youth consumers, leading to no overall change in cannabis use.”

The findings show that there wasn’t a substantial increase in teen substance use overall.

“The results suggest that legalization and greater control over cannabis markets have not facilitated adolescents’ entry into substance use,” noted the study co-authors.

Other Studies Show No Link Between Adult-Use Cannabis and 

The study aligns for the most part with previous data showing no link between legalization and increased drug abuse. A previous study also found an increase in cannabis use but lower rates of alcohol abuse, with no overall increase in substance abuse disorders.

Researchers published a study, “Recreational cannabis legalization has had limited effects on a wide range of adult psychiatric and psychosocial outcomes,” via  Cambridge University Press on Jan. 5. In it, researchers sought to “quantify possible causal effects of recreational cannabis legalization on substance use, substance use disorder, and psychosocial functioning, and whether vulnerable individuals are more susceptible to the effects of cannabis legalization than others.”

Living in a legal state was “not associated” with substance abuse disorders, although they found it led to higher pot use but lower alcohol use. Living in a legal state was associated, in fact, with lower alcohol use disorder (AUD) rates.

“In the co-twin control design accounting for earlier cannabis frequency and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms respectively, the twin living in a recreational state used cannabis on average more often, and had fewer AUD symptoms than their co-twin living in an non-recreational state. Cannabis legalization was associated with no other adverse outcome in the co-twin design, including cannabis use disorder. No risk factor significantly interacted with legalization status to predict any outcome.”

The findings mount as experts determine the impact of adult-use cannabis policy, laws, and retail sales on public health in multiple states.

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Psychedelic Research Proves Rather Tricky for the FDA

As it turns out, researching the efficacy of MDMA to treat PTSD may be pretty complicated. The initial efforts to secure governmental sanction for a psychedelic substance for mental health care, in this case, MDMA, are facing some serious scrutiny over the clinical trial process, the Washington Post reports. 

MDMA has long been lauded as a treatment for PTSD, which affects 6% of the U.S. population. Per a Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Substances (MAPS) 2023 study on how the drug can treat PTSD, the researchers found that, as High Times reported, in the MDMA group, 86% showed improvement in their standard PTSD assessment. 69% of those in the placebo group also improved. A standard PTSD assessment evaluates the intensity of PTSD symptoms, which can include anxiety, phobias, insomnia, and emotional numbness, among others. When the study wrapped, 72% of people within the MDMA treatment group no longer matched the criteria for PTSD, compared to 48% of the placebo participants.

Given how awful PTSD can be and, to be honest, how fun (and effective) MDMA can be compared to other treatment methods, this research was generally met with enthusiasm. While SSRI antidepressants like Zoloft are FDA-approved to treat PTSD, research shows it’s not always effective. The study in question shows that it had a response rate of 60%, which is obviously lower than the 86% improvement rate that came with MDMA.

However, per an independent analysis into the reliability of patient studies that are backing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) application for MDMA, apparently, it’s pretty tricky to discern how effective these results are. Compared to other treatments, there are some serious hurdles associated with studying and then implementing psychoactive substances such as MDMA. 

While the bliss that MDMA can bring is generally considered a plus, it may make it trickier to study. One of the biggest challenges that arose when looking at the MDMA trial is that participants in the placebo group, who received a fake version of MDMA, could tell they hadn’t received the real thing because they experienced no changes in perception or euphoria, so it was rather obvious that they were in the placebo group, as noted in a draft report by the nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER). This lack of “blinding” in the trial, crucial for assessing the drug’s impact, potentially compromises the validity of the results.

The second hiccup when studying MDMA for PTSD came from the possibility that therapists were skewing the results. They basically thought that the therapists who were a part of the trial, there for mental health support, were biased in favor of MDMA, perhaps along with the participants, many of whom had previous positive experiences with the drug and, as a result, couldn’t provide the neutral ground required for a reliable study. 

The report also highlighted worries that participants who received MDMA felt “pressured to report good outcomes and suppress bad outcomes,” per the Washington Post. It also pointed to a documented instance of therapist misconduct that heightened safety concerns. While MDMA can be used to treat PTSD for sexual assault survivors, the psychedelic community may have some damage control of their own that needs a reckoning. Apparently, the ICER staff talked to folks who were part of a New York Magazine podcast investigating the MAPS’s clinical trial, in particular, patients who said they were victimized by therapists or coerced into reporting beneficial outcomes. According to one account, a woman in a MAPS trial states she was abused by her assigned therapists. 

ICER staffers, after speaking with several former patients and individuals associated with MAPS trials, observed that some adverse effects mentioned in the trial were not captured in the data they reviewed. While MDMA could help relieve horrid symptoms of PTSD, which include self-harm and thoughts of suicide, both of those were also included in the side effects (for both the MDMA group and those who got a placebo). People who have taken MDMA recreationally sometimes speak of “suicide Tuesday,” aka the crash after enjoying the spike of the drug on the weekend, and not only does this appear to roar its head within the trials, but those who spoke on the subject voiced concerns that there may be underreporting of such negative side effects. 

While some of this seems shocking when laid out in print, remember that none of the adverse claims or concerns are news to those in the psychedelic community. There is no medicine that exists without side effects; the silver bullet is a myth. If one finds healing through psychedelics, enjoy it while understanding the well-established risks (and benefits) that come with such a medicine. 

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Study: ‘Little Evidence’ That Cannabis Harmfully Impacts Cognition in People with HIV

Cannabis is widely used to help mitigate the symptoms of a variety of conditions and diseases. Specifically, a number of state medical cannabis programs list HIV/AIDS as a qualifying condition, as cannabis can help to eliminate a variety of symptoms associated with HIV/AIDS treatment.

Though, some clinicians have expressed concern how regular cannabis treatments in this regard may impact patient cognition. 

Researchers affiliated with the University of California at San Diego sought to investigate the cognitive impacts of cannabis use in people with HIV through a newly published meta-analysis in the journal Current HIV/AIDS Reports. 

Ultimately, they conclude that neither the use of whole-plant cannabis or cannabis-based medicines are associated with significant cognitive changes in those with HIV.

Cannabis Use Among People with HIV

In the study abstract, researchers note the potential benefits that cannabis use can offer patients with HIV while recognizing this population’s “high burden of persisting neurocognitive impairment” and physician concerns with adding cannabis into the mix, specifically its potential cognitive effects.

Cannabis use among those with HIV is far from a new trend. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved synthetic oral THC capsules (dronabinol) to treat HIV-induced cachexia, or loss of appetite, in 1985.

Additionally, surveys have consistently affirmed that cannabis use is common among people with HIV, with one 2007 study predating the bulk of medical reform measures in the U.S. still finding that more than 60% of HIV/AIDS patients self-identified as medical cannabis users. 

Another more recent 2022 study noted that 77% and 34% of people with HIV reported lifetime and past-year cannabis use, respectively.

While some of these patients report recreational use as one reason, research over the years has found that cannabis is largely used among people with HIV to stimulate appetite, reduce pain, relax and ease anxiety and help with sleep.

‘Little Evidence’ of Harmful Cognitive Cannabis Impacts

With plenty of existing data to pull from, researchers reviewed data from 34 clinical studies to determine the extent that cannabis impacts cognition among patients with HIV. The results, according to the study, revealed that there is “little evidence” to support that cannabis has a harmful impact on cognition among those with HIV.

“Overall, the number of reported adverse effects were largely outnumbered by beneficial or null findings, providing insufficient support for the detrimental impact of CU [cannabis use] on cognition in PWH [people with HIV],” researchers reported, adding that the results suggest both cannabis and cannabis-based medications can be prescribed to people with HIV “while posing little threat to cognitive function.”

The topic of cannabis use and cognition has seen a recent uptick in popularity, especially given recent conversations surrounding cannabis-induced psychosis (which has largely been linked to pre-existing conditions and vulnerabilities and is not a widespread issue among cannabis consumers, with some advocates arguing that the focus on this topic is a repackaged version of “Reefer Madness” propaganda from decades past).

Of course, it’s important to look at the full picture and recognize how cannabis use and abuse may impact a variety of populations, and myriad studies attempt to look a bit more broadly at the topic.

Recent research shows that cannabis users may actually have a lower chance of cognitive decline overall.  Previous studies have also noted links between heavy cannabis use and cognitive performance, though researchers noted that particular products used, methods of consumption and the reasons for use can also impact cognitive effects associated with cannabis use.

Another recent study similarly found that adolescents who occasionally use cannabis do not see cognitive differences compared to those who abstain, once again highlighting a distinction surrounding frequency of use among other variables.

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ILL BILL & NECRO (BLOOD BROTHERS) – OUTLAW (Official Music Video)

The latest ILL BILL & Necro Blood Brothers collabo “Outlaw” Written by ILL BILL & NECRO Produced by NECRO Mixed by ILL BILL & Elliott Thomas Directed by Jimmy Giambrone Filmed in Brooklyn, NYC BLOOD BROTHERS ℗©2024

from Faygoluvers