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Welcome to a roundup of the best in local, regional and national cannabis news curated by the Santa Fe Reporter. As the number of patients enrolled in New Mexico's medical program continues to skyrocket, we see a need for sustained cannabis coverage and a way to insert our state in the national legalization discourse.
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Health News
Congress protects medical cannabis from Jeff Sessions
After Attorney General Jeff Sessions released a memo in January targeting both medical and recreational cannabis industries across the country, many questioned how this would affect a provision tacked onto federal spending bills since 2014 preventing the Department of Justice from prosecuting state cannabis programs. But a powerful committee in the House of Representatives voted Thursday to include the provision once again, meaning the DOJ won't be granted funds to prosecute medical industries.
Doctors: Cannabis is good for cancer, probably
The vast majority of doctors practicing today never received adequate medical training on how to prescribe or recommend cannabis. Still, one survey of 237 cancer doctors found that 80 percent had discussed cannabis with their patients, with a sizable number recommending it for everything from pain to nausea. Peer-reviewed studies into cannabis are still all but impossible to come by due to federal prohibition, though we're getting close to the first FDA-approved CBD drug.
Government patent says CBD, THC aids brain trauma
Traumatic brain injuries are surprisingly common. According to a US-government held patent, CBD and THC can limit "neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke or trauma." In other CBD brain news, researchers from Brazil found that the compound could aid in opioid addiction recovery by disrupting the mental process that associates certain environmental cues with drug cravings.
Regional News
Outgoing New Mexico DOH adamant that cannabis is “addictive”
New Mexico Political Report obtained documents indicating that the state's Department of Health continues to insist that cannabis is an addictive substance, and may even exacerbate opioid addiction. While some research has shown that cannabis can be habit-forming, at least a few scientists still draw a distinction between a psychological and physical addiction. Cannabis doesn't create physical dependency like opioids, and the World Health Organization has unambiguously said that CBD, at least, is both nontoxic and nonaddictive.
Steep fall in Nevada medical cannabis cardholders since legalization
This may be a trend worth watching for New Mexicans: The number of cardholding patients in Nevada fell from about 28,300 in May 2017 to about 21,700 in February 2018, according to the Las Vegas Sun. One Nevada state senator speculated that cardholders may now be buying recreationally to avoid state surveillance of their purchases, despite the additional 10 percent tax.
Study finds more Californians using cannabis since legalization
A survey of 1,001 Californians found that cannabis consumers account for about 29 percent of adults in the state, up from 23 percent one year ago. Other indicators from the study suggest that acceptance and tolerance of cannabis use is broadly becoming more common in the state. Time will tell if these numbers level off, but at least among teenagers, federal data has shown that legalization correlates with declining cannabis use by adolescents.
Around the Web
LEEDing the way
Over at Rolling Stone, reporter Amanda Chicago Lewis heads to Oregon to investigate LED lights for indoor grows, which can have expensive upfront costs but save money in the long run. It can be tricky convincing some producers to make the change, because many are only in the cannabis game for the short term, Lewis writes. Outdoor and greenhouse grow operations are much cheaper, but cloudy weather and onerous regulations make it difficult for producers in many states to pursue these methods.
Finding solutions to that sticky scent
More recently, Lewis profiled an entrepreneur trying to invent solutions for smelly weed. The problem can be far greater than attempting to mask the scent wafting from your college dorm room smoke sesh; in at least two states, producers have been successfully sued over the smell, on the basis that it harms property values. And in America, if there's one thing you don't want to mess with, it's property values.
The Shaun King treatment
Intercept columnist Shaun King has built an immense following by tracking instances of racist violence and harassment committed by both police and pedestrians. On Friday, he published a column opening up about a lifetime of physical pain he's endured, and the expensive, time-consuming, and needlessly stressful process of obtaining a cannabis prescription in the state of New York. He links New York City's prosecution of low-level cannabis possession to the difficulty patients like him have obtaining medication—a connection that too few writers on cannabis are willing to make in such a personal way.