In ‘This Week in Cannabis’ we want to help you uncover leading cannabis news, industry insights, scientific discoveries and more. Our hope is to help educate the greater public on the many uphill battles we still need to achieve prior to legalization. There are still a lot of laws, regulations and problems that cannabis companies and consumers are faced with.

This Week in Cannabis: March 1st-7th 2020

Legal cannabis just keeps marching forward this week. Everyone from the state of Alabama to the NFL seems to be getting more cannabis-friendly! In other news, cannabis extracts may even be utilized as part of the fight against coronavirus (that’s what one company thinks, at least).

Let’s take a closer look at 5 of this week’s most newsworthy topics. Here’s what happened:

Alabama Gets One Step Closer to Medical Cannabis

It seems like the bible belt’s fear of cannabis is finally fading. In Alabama, a bill proposed by senator Tim Melson would provide patients with 15 medical conditions access to medical marijuana. 

And it’d all be by the books: patients would have to see a physician, get a medical card, and be placed in a state registry. “This bill is not about getting high. This bill is about getting well,” commented Colorado-based Dr. Alan Shackelford. Look for the bill to be voted on by the senate soon.

Read more on the difference between medical and recreational cannabis.

Arrests Persist Even After Cannabis is Legalized

But even the rising tides of legalized cannabis haven’t put an end to cannabis-related arrests. A study from Oregon and Washington demonstrated an unexpected trend: cannabis infractions among those under 21 actually increased. 

On the bright side, discrimination against underaged minorities using cannabis seems to be slowly fading away. “Rates for black youth were double that of whites before legalization, and this disparity decreased after legalization,” study authors explained.

Ready to Go ‘Cali Sober’?

Cannabis’ tenous legal status seems even more illogical when it’s compared to fully legal substances like alcohol. And speaking of alcohol, a JAMA study published February 21st highlighted some disturbing trends:

• 425,045 alcohol-induced deaths were identified from 2000 to 2016 
• 76.3% of deaths were among men in 2000; versus 73.3% in 2016
• The largest increases by race/ethnicity were observed among American Indian and Alaska Native men, American Indian and Alaska Native women.

What’s the meaning of it all?

According to the study’s authors, “the recent acceleration of alcohol-induced deaths observed in this study indicates a broad public health challenge worthy of urgent attention.”

Could substituting alcohol for cannabis be a viable solution? For some people, this practice — which is known as going “cali-sober” — already is. As Cannabis expert Dr. Tod Mikuriya notes: “it would appear that for selected alcoholics the substitution of smoked cannabis for alcohol may be of marked rehabilitative value. The drug effect of cannabis, as compared with alcohol, while having a sense of euphoria and detachment in common, lacks any other similarity except the intent for which it is taken.”

Cannabis & Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 continues to spread around the globe. And while very few cases have been confirmed in North America, it can be hard for all of us watching from afar to distinguish between fear-based paranoia and legitimate concern. Facemasks and sterilizing wipes are selling out in Hawaii — just like they already have in Asia, Italy, and elsewhere.

What’s next?

A company called Kali-Extracts think they may have found a solution. Apparently they’ve developed a proprietary CBD extract designed specifically to alleviate coronavirus-related respiratory symptoms. This interesting product will be called RespRx. 

We get it if all this seems far fetched but then again, it might not be! CBD’s action as a conditional antioxidant really could be useful to those with respiratory illnesses.

The NFL Might Finally Chill Out

The NFL has been staunchly against cannabis for, well, as long as it’s been around. But that could be changing soon as the NFL Player’s Association is pushing for relaxed cannabis policies.  

More specifically, the Association asks that players not be suspended unless they demonstrate “extreme and repeated disregard of the policy or significant violations of applicable law regarding the possession and use of marijuana.” If all goes well, this new policy could be in effect for 2012’s football season. 

 

To Sum Things Up

So, that’s a wrap! This Week In Cannabis highlighted three important trends:

• More states and sports are looking into relaxing cannabis policies 
• CBD might what the world needs to help chill themselves of Corona 
• Weed is becoming ‘cooler’ and healthier than alcohol. That’s a given. 

All in all, the industry is still marching forward, one step at a time. And at Key to Cannabis, we couldn’t be more thankful to be a part of it.