First published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology on Dec. 12, 2022, a team of researchers led by Neal L. Benowitz discovered a link between THC-O acetate and significant danger to the lungs. THC-O acetate shares structural similarities with vitamin-E acetate—an additive that becomes dangerous to the lungs when converted by heat.

According to the California Department of Public Health, the 2019-20 outbreak of EVALI lung disease sickened and hospitalized 249 Californians—five of them fatally. On Nov. 15, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed that vitamin E acetate is the likely culprit for EVALI. Vitamin E acetate also produces carcinogens such as alkenes and benzene when heated.

When heated in a vape pen, both substances—vitamin E acetate and THC-O Acetate—produce ketene, a “highly potent lung toxicant.”  

“We put out the press release specifically because of a study showing that vaporizing vitamin E acetate was similar to THC-O acetate,” Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer told High Times.

 “Apparently when heated up, it produces a serious lung toxin called ketene.”

As cannabis consumers, we often have to filter through anti-cannabis hysteria, but certain risks hold weight when products aren’t regulated properly. Usually vaping dangers arise when random thickeners and unvetted compounds are added.

Gieringer added, “We have a lot of concerns about some of these other new cannabinoids that are being synthesized from hemp, which are brand new and never been tested in human subjects before. Some of them are advertised as being way more potent than THC. THC-O acetate is being advertised as three times more potent than delta-9. THCP is being advertised as having 30 times the binding power to receptors as THC. That kind of reaction sets off a lot of concerns with us. 

“These compounds have never been found in nature before—being made by fairly amateurish underground hemp chemists—raise a lot of concern.”

Gieringer added that delta-8 THC isn’t his primary concern, given there is slightly more known about the compound, but it’s contaminants and other new cannabinoids he’s most worried about, mostly due to the unknowns: THCP, THCjd. THC-H, THC-B, HHC, and Delta-10 THC. 

Cal NORML reports that the sale of psychoactive hemp derivatives was recently deemed legal under federal law by a Ninth Circuit Court decision (AK Futures v. Boyd Street Distro). That’s up for debate though, given that synthetic cannabinoids can be considered illegal under the Federal Analogue Act. 

Under the 2018 federal Farm Bill, cannabis with less that 0.3% THC is legal to grow, and its products can be sold nationally, but the THC often exceeds the limit regardless.

California’s industrial hemp law, which is overseen by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), currently disallows the sale of hemp products with active cannabinoids other than CBD.

THC-O acetate begins as hemp-derived CBD and goes through a chemical process. Going beyond how cannabinoids like delta-8 THC are processed from CBD, acetic anhydride is added to the mixture, making it an acetate.

THC-O is believed to be three times as potent as delta-9 THC—the naturally occurring cannabinoid most of us are used to.

“Cal NORML strongly advises consumers to avoid hemp products with psychoactive cannabinoids, especially novel ones stronger than THC, whose safety is particularly suspect. CBD products may be safely obtained from state-registered industrial hemp product manufacturers, whose products must be tested for safety and cannabinoid content,” the release reads. “Under state law, hemp products should have a batch number and a label, website, QR code or barcode linking to the laboratory test results that state the levels of cannabinoids, total THC, and presence of contaminants, as well as the address and phone number of the manufacturer. Violations can be reported to CDPH.

Cal NORML adds that the less common cannabinoids that are deemed safe for human use are CBN, CBG, CBC, THCV, THC-A, CBD-A, and Delta-8 THC.

The post Cal NORML Warns of Potential THC-O Acetate Risk appeared first on High Times.

The first guidelines on cannabis use and the surgery timeline were published on Jan. 3 by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine), who acknowledged that up until now there  is “no single document” that summarizes all of these concerns.

The guidance is based on known data and recommendations from the Perioperative Use of Cannabis and Cannabinoids Guidelines Committee—a group composed of 13 anesthesiologists, chronic pain physicians, experts, and patient advocates.

The committee answered nine questions and made 21 recommendations using a modified Delphi consensus method. They arrived at an over 75% agreement required for recommendation, and all 21 recommendations achieved full consensus.

Recommendations include screening all patients before surgery; postponing elective surgery in patients who have altered mental status or impaired decision-making capacity at the time of surgery; Counseling frequent users on the potentially negative effects of cannabis use on postoperative pain control; Counseling pregnant patients on the potential risks of cannabis use to the unborn child.

Addressing Surgery and Cannabis Concerns

“While many of the perioperative risks and challenges related to perioperative cannabis, such as how to advise patients preoperatively, the effects of cannabis on anesthetic medications, and the interaction between cannabis, opioids, and pain, have been described in the literature, there is no single document that summarizes all of these concerns and provides evidence-based recommendations,” the document reads.

The document continues, “Flexibility in this clinical practice guideline is intended to enable person-centered decision-making that takes into account an individual’s expected health outcomes and well-being within the context of various regulatory environments.” 

No recommendations were made for the reduction of cannabis administered by other non-smoking routes before surgery “due to current lack of evidence;” the routine tapering of cannabis and cannabinoids before, during, or after surgery; the use of intraoperative electroencephalogram (EEG) in patients who have taken cannabinoids; nor adjusting opioid prescriptions afterward in surgical patients who use cannabinoids.

Authors noted the wide range of recommendations for pre-op patients, but cautioned that surgery should be postponed for a minimum of two hours after smoking cannabis. People who rely on medical cannabis are advised to taper off before surgery in some cases.

Most current recommendations, however, advise patients to abstain from cannabis a few to 10 days prior to surgery. “A recent consensus-based guideline recommended reducing cannabinoid use 7 days prior to surgery (to less than 1.5 g/day of smoked cannabis, 300 mg/day of CBD oil, 20 mg/day of THC oil) while cautioning not to attempt any tapering strategies within 6 days of elective surgery and not to attempt tapering a day prior to surgery.”

The document continues with the range of guidance, “Contrary to this recommendation, recent reviews of perioperative cannabinoids recommended cessation 72 hours prior to surgery. An even more conservative recommendation was recently provided, in which the authors recommended up to 10 days of cessation of oral cannabis consumption.”

Does Cannabis Impact An Anesthesia?

Research has a long way to go, however there is a growing body of evidence showing potential interactions and effects of cannabis before or after surgery.

One study published in Baylor University Medical Proceedings in 2019 shows that cannabis consumers may require higher doses of anesthesia than non-consumers, as well as a slew of other potential interactions, while another study found no significant difference before surgery in the gastrointestinal tract.

Cannabis might be an issue at the dentist as well. There is a strong belief that cannabis interacts with novocaine and local anesthetics like lidocaine. In one study dating back to 1976, THC interacted undesirably with anesthetic medications.

The post First U.S. Surgery, Cannabis Guidance Released appeared first on High Times.

With over 300 million people battling depression, ketamine serves as a vital tool for mental illness, pain relief, as a party favor, and as a meditative aid. Consider it your very own genie in a bottle, but instead of rubbing it to have your wishes come true, you simply set an intention. Oh, and let’s not forget the importance of going into it with the right vibration, too. 

Someone in Bali once said to me, “Let’s go to the moon?” and it stuck. But interestingly, while being on K, I could look at the sun; the sun would start projecting halos, almost emitting its vibrant aura and talking directly to me. It was a pleasant reminder that not only are we connected to the moon, but also the sun. 

• Plus, it’s good to know that you can open your third eye (the pineal gland) by sun gazing during the first few minutes of sunrise and the last few minutes of sunset.

Everything is energy, and all matter carries a vibration. That said, it makes sense that your energetic vibration and mindset would affect your ketamine trip. Unfortunately, ketamine is widely misunderstood and therefore many people go into it without preparing properly. This, I can’t emphasize enough, is exceptionally important if you want to go to the moon (as opposed to getting stuck in a bathtub at someone’s house party).

Call it a “horse tranquilizer,” “special K,” “ket,” or whatever you want, but there’s no denying the fact that ketamine is one genuinely fascinating drug. It could also be described as a kind of “fairy dust,” because when used wisely, it can catapult you to fairytale-like realms. (Not to be confused with angel dust, however – the nickname for PCP).

On the other end of the spectrum, when ketamine is abused with alcohol, one can plummet into a “k-hole.” If you’ve never experienced one and want to avoid it, you’re going to want to keep reading. If you have found yourself climbing out of a k-hole before, then you’ll know it’s not the kind of place one dreams about…

Jumping on the ketamine express can be quite an alluring prospect for anyone who wants to indulge in some magical moments and tap into altered states of awareness. The medicine can also enhance focus and deliver some super creative ideas (so long as the body is well prepared).

Featured on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, this unique medicine is starting to claim more media coverage than ever before, and there’s no wonder why.

Ketamine clinics are cropping up all over the country and, according to the Ketamine Clinics Direct that represents Ketadosage, some people are paying up to $2,000 per session. 

The Rise of Ketamine

Ketamine’s history rewinds back to 1956, when it was first synthesized by the Parke-Davis chemist Victor Maddox at Parke-Davis and Company‘s laboratories in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It was at that point that it was being used as an ‘ideal’ anesthetic for monkeys. The drug was named because of the ketone and for the fact that its chemical structure falls into the amine group.

On August 3, 1964, intravenous ketamine was injected into a human being for the first time. Subjects described the experience as “floating in space, as if they were disconnected from their body and environment with a loss of feeling in their limbs.”

Due to the strange sensation, ketamine is considered to be a dissociative anesthetic. Following the stamp of approval that ketamine received from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1970, ketamine was eventually used to treat wounded soldiers during the Vietnam War because of its large margin of safety. 

Since this time, the market (both black market and legal) has swelled to immense proportions. A report by Fairfield Market Research indicates that ketamine will exhibit a CAGR of 16.0% between the years of 2021 and 2026 as clinical trials explore its suitability for treating alcohol dependence, bi-polar depression, suicide ideation, and social anxiety.

Using Ketamine with Crystals for Meditation

There’s a very spiritual element to ketamine, so you’d better get ready to awaken your inner light. We are souls, we have a body. Our body is just our avatar and the way we treat it certainly influences our experience on ketamine. (By the way, I’d like to take a moment to ask anyone who’s reading this to raise their hand if they have ever watched Avatar in 3D on ketamine…) 

We all signed up for this. Maybe you just don’t remember why yet, but wouldn’t you like to know? That’s the thing about ketamine, it can remind you of your soul’s purpose. Ketamine – as well as some other very important ingredients, might I add – can be infused with the body to unleash the soul.

In a nutshell, if you don’t prepare your body before you consume ketamine, ketamine will consume you. Use it wisely and you’ll be treated to immense pleasure, as well as gain the privilege of delving into some majestic realms of divine white light and blissful dimensions of consciousness.

Remember when Aldous Snow strokes the furry wall in Get Him to the Greek? Well, let’s substitute the furry wall for some selenite, and the snow for the K. Ketamine can be used as an amplifier tool for meditation and when used with crystals, it’s entirely possible to become a master not only of your own mind, but your reality.

The late writer and artist Timothy Wyllie claims to have had conversations with angels on ketamine, which can be snorted in the form of a crystalline powder (it can also be swallowed, smoked or injected) crystals can be held in our hands while using ketamine to completely change the trip. Yes, you read that right. Crystals. If you’re snorting ketamine crystals, might as well be holding a complimentary crystal to bolster the medicine’s magical touch.

K can be used in such a way that you can recall your true higher self and understand why you came here, but it can also be abused (such as with alcohol) and send you into states of shit, instead of hiking you up to sublime states of golden slumber. This is why it’s important to prepare for the ride.

Manifesting

I truly believe that ketamine can be harnessed as a tool for manifesting by tapping into altered states of consciousness and getting into what Abraham Hicks likes to call “the vortex”.

Ketamine can essentially help us to raise our vibration or lower it. The outcome depends on the preparation. It’s entirely possible to customize your trip based on your vibration and mindset. With a high vibration, we can enter the quantum field. That being said, ketamine may serve as a magic tool for slipping into the quantum field and manifesting our desired reality through visualization meditation.  

According to Dr. Joe Dispenza, “you cannot perceive the reality of the quantum field with your senses, it exists on another plane. You have to perceive it with your consciousness.”

The expert states that at this level you start to feel like you already have everything you dream of, and I believe ketamine can shift us into this state if used smartly. 

“When you are in the place called the quantum field and you feel like you already have everything you dream of, you don’t have to fight anymore. Creating something through the field creates changes in three-dimensional reality. This can be healing from illness or negative experiences, for example.”

Preparing for the Ride…

So many people are confused about K. They think it’s bad. They fall into an ugly mess and don’t want to try it again because they feel that they may have the same experience, of course. It’s not nice to be out of control, but if you go into it unknowingly, you may not like the experience whatsoever.

Research indicates that both ketamine and meditation impact our default mode networks in our brains. This part of the brain is what we default to when we are not actively focusing on the outside world and in a depressed individual, it can be “hijacked.” Could ketamine be the cure for soothing a busy mind? Perhaps.

To ensure a desired outcome, there are a few key elements of any ketamine trip:

• Stay hydrated with water
• Load up on colorful fruits and vegetables to awaken the chakras and promote a better overall experience
• Avoid doing it in unfamiliar spaces
• Chew raw ginger before doing it (this raises your vibration and will catapult you into some wonderful worlds)
• Prepare your music playlist wisely – the frequency of music affects us while tripping. Reggae classics on Spotify is a pretty good choice. Steer clear of unusual sounds

It also helps to take some vitamin C beforehand. Since research indicates that vitamin C may reduce anxiety levels, it’s guaranteed to give your mind an extra dose of calm, so as to ensure that you get the most out of your experience.

Steering Clear of a K Hole 

In Kit Kelly’s book, The Little Book of Ketamine, he notes that you will probably have “telepathic synergistic” communications with God while on ketamine. He’s not wrong – I (and I’m sure many others) have been flung into otherworldly portals of divination while under the influence of ketamine. A k-hole won’t take you there, however. 

There are many misconceptions about ketamine, because most people do it on a low vibration. Slipping into a k-hole seems to be common practice for partygoers who snort ketamine powder with alcohol. It’s tricky to distinguish the effects of ketamine combined with alcohol. Both drugs impair coordination and thought processes.

If you want to see what this drug can do, I suggest going into the experience well-hydrated and loaded up on vitamins. What I’ve learned to discover with ketamine is that the higher our vibration, the better the overall experience. After all, everything is energy and every single substance we consume carries an energetic frequency. Energy is everything.

The post Healing the Mind With Ketamine appeared first on High Times.

Used by a wave of trainers and gym members, cannabis is reported to help benefit in an array of physical and mental fashions. I had seen positive personal returns from using it when I returned to the gym in 2017 and 2018. During that period, smoking pot pre-workout helped me reach modest fitness goals, like running my first sub-10 minute mile and feeling less fatigue and soreness after workouts. 

If pot helped a schlub like me, I wondered how many others, including high-performing individuals, were finding similar gains.

During the pandemic, I kept up with the pot-fitness combo. But after a while, I often became distracted by something during my at-home bike and resistance band routines. If it wasn’t what was on TV or Spotify throwing me off, it was what was on my mind. 

By late 2022, I needed a change and re-enrolled in my old gym. I wondered if I’d find similar results as before. Would cannabis help me with my workouts? Or would potless sessions lead to better outcomes? And more importantly, would either magically help me figure out how to adjust the ab machine properly? 

I set out for answers in late November. The plan was to document my first month back at the gym, doing four workouts per week, two with cannabis and two without. I didn’t have a set regimen for how much cannabis I would consume before going to the gym. Often the amount varied depending on how much I had earlier in the day. But typically, I tried to take three to four hits from my one-hitter or vape pen 15 minutes before going to the gym. On non-cannabis-consuming days, I made it a point not to have pot at least three hours before working out. I brought some for immediately after. 

The progress was moving along fine for the first two and a half weeks. I didn’t notice any significant takeaways other than that I struggled to get “in the zone” and focus on non-pot days. The big reveal of that portion of the test came when Miguel, the manager at my Brooklyn gym, reported that “everyone” on staff used pot at some point in the day. That made me question why I was doing this, but I pushed on. 

However, the slew of December colds and viruses bit into my plan. Two rounds of head colds made going to the gym reckless for myself and the public. Thus, cutting the self-analysis at Day 15 and eight workouts. Still, my indisputably clinical analysis of the subject allowed me to confirm my hypothesis:

Working out without weed fucking sucks. 0/10 stars, no doubt. 

Now that my non-bias, Nobel-caliber lab analysis is published, let’s dive in further. Some people shouldn’t use cannabis at the gym for various reasons. But for most of us, that doesn’t apply. My online interactions and with folks at the gym make it appear that most of us use pot as part of our fitness routines, pre-, post- or sometimes during workouts. 

Bain Blackraw heads up South Florida’s B-Raw Fitness, where the 25-year ex-athlete is a personal trainer. A consumer since high school, Blackraw said he smokes joints before intense workouts.

“I love the fact that it gives me extreme focus during my workout,” he said, adding he feels more relaxed when using cannabis. Post-workout, Blackraw said cannabis helps him with muscle recovery and reducing soreness. 

Antonio DeRose, a runner, endurance athlete and co-founder of cannabis-centric training brand Green House Healthy, spoke of similar benefits. Along with his co-founder and wife, Heather, the Missouri-based brand has a team of 27 cannabis-consuming runners and cyclists who compete and educate about cannabis use. 

“When I consume cannabis before a workout, it boosts my mood, enhances my focus on the run or workout I’m about to perform, and keeps me in the zone while I’m working out,” said DeRose.

The reported results seem similar across the board. Whether a high-performing athlete or an average Joe/Jane, pot may help ease minds and bodies. I had felt these effects pre-pandemic and was happy to see it wasn’t lost. 

Working out with cannabis didn’t seem to alter my performance at the gym considerably. What I did notice was that gym days using pot always felt better. Pot elevated my mood, and I was more relaxed overall. I felt more enthusiastic and focused when doing reps. Combined with the right music in my headphones, I was ready to take on the gym with a confidence I hadn’t ever had before. 

Shout out an array of playlists to help me get there–including Above & Beyond’s Group Therapy, the Finnish metal band Ensiferum and various pro wrestling entrance songs, including Kenny Omega and Jamie Hayter. 

The combination did wonders for my mood. With the music and pot coursing through me, I wanted to do my best. I pushed myself a bit more. It wasn’t as if I felt superhuman or any stronger. Instead, cannabis made me enjoy being at the gym like I never had before. As someone who was never comfortable at the gym, it allowed me to focus on the tasks at hand and laugh at myself when I pulled rookie moves, like not knowing how to adjust a machine. Sadly, I must report that pot did not help me figure out how to do that. Just ask someone for help with that one. 

Like in most cases, weed alone won’t reshape your experience, but it does seem to help many at the gym and after rigorous workouts. All I know is that if people like Bain, Antonio, and potentially the entire staff at my gym are doing it, then I’ll keep using pot until I notice any adverse results. And after nearly three weeks off, I will surely be hitting the one-hitter when I go back in. 

The post I’m an Average Dude in His Mid-30s. Can Weed Help Me at the Gym? appeared first on High Times.

“Cannabis is a very tissue culture resistant plant. There are certain plants that are that way,” says Lauren Avenuis, CEO of Node Labs, explaining why it took so long for the technology to become viable for cannabis. “So, like avocados, grape vines, they just don’t like to go into micropropagation. They don’t like that kind of replication. And since cannabis is an annual plant, it likes to grow from a seed, flower, and die.”

The scientists working with Node, a small lab located within an unassuming red barn in rural Petaluma, California, spent years studying tissue culture before discovering the methodology that made stem cell technology for cannabis work. Now that they have, their facility houses an impressive bank of cannabis genetics. It causes a few snickers when I say it aloud, but being inside a room filled with shelves devoted to tissue culture clones, each in their own container, reminds me of being in a pet store aquarium. All the plants are growing within a clear jelly-like substance derived from seaweed called agar, allowing their whole root structure to be seen. They are terrariums that hold the story of pot’s past, present, and future.

Chief Science Officer Chris Leavitt walks me through the procedures at Node by explaining that plants, unlike humans, do not have an awareness of their entire body.

“[Plants] are a colony of cells that are attached to each other,” Leavitt says. “So if a stem is receiving all the like sap that it would be getting normally in the agar, it doesn’t even know that it’s not still attached to the plant. You can grow plant parts in tissue culture in a way you cannot grow outside. You can grow a dissection of just a leaf or just a stem… you can really break the rules of typical plant growing by having it in that setting.”

My tour at Node starts in the pre-fab clean room where the media, the agar, is mixed within an autoclave, a device designed for sterilization. This room is also where the other tools used for the tissue culture process, such as scissors and jars, are sterilized. I put on a second set of surgical booties before heading into the growth chamber and transfer room, where I watch the hot agar being dispensed into the same clear plastic containers I see in the bulk food section of my local grocery store. Within this room, the air quality is at ISO 8, a measure that contains a thousand specks of dust within a cubic yard that is also used in electronic and medical manufacturing. All the sterilization and air cleanliness ensure no contamination enters the lab.

“One of the things that we do here is we clean plants,” says Luis Mautner, Node’s director of propagation. “Cleaning plants is a process by which you take a plant from the outside world and you run it through a process that we developed here. We select the plants that do not have any issues associated with them like pathogenic bacteria, fungi, fusarium being one of the ones that affects the cannabis industry very much. Also, we index for HLVd, which is hop latent viroid.”

Mautner started working with cannabis after a career in tissue culture that included work with the berry company Driscoll’s and tropical ornamental plants such as peace lilies. He says the clear media is used because it’s diagnostic and shows when things should not be growing on the plant.

Next, we enter another room where shelves store cannabis plants in various stages of growth. There are also shelves containing some other plants Node is testing for research, including wine grapes and the cutest tiny Tempranillo.  

To start work with Node, clients provide 10 clone stems from a cannabis plant to form what Mautner calls a bouquet. The clones are broken down to the cellular level because cannabis has a strong affinity for endogenous contaminants within its stem, Leavitt explains. The scientists at Node cut the clones down to one part, the meristem, a type of tissue in plants that houses stem cells, or cells from which all other types of cells develop.

“What you’re basically doing is taking [the cannabis clones] down to essentially the stem cells of the plant,” Avenius says. “You’re eliminating all of the epigenetic, all of the genetic toggles related to stress or environment. You’re getting [the plant] down to its pure expression, its genetics, and then also removing essentially all the vascular tissue. So you’re just getting a brand new pure example and sample of that cannabis plant that we can now grow into tissue culture free of any other influences and then see its pure genetic expression.”

When cut down to the meristem, the clones are only about half a millimeter to a millimeter in size. Once the plants grow bigger and start looking like cannabis plants instead of little blobs, they are tested for HLVd. HLVd is a widespread pathogen in cannabis clones that causes growth stunting and reduces the plant’s ability to produce trichomes. Leavitt explains that HLVd is like skin cancer in that it can affect one part of the plant, but not another. This is another reason tissue culture has been such a valuable tool in combating the virus because it reduces a plant to its most basic elements.

After the plants have passed the extensive screening process, they are grown to about 3 to 4 inches and are used to fill the bank, the system in which Node keeps cannabis genetics within a genetic library. 

“These two refrigerators play a huge role in the large genetics cannabis market,” Avenius says as I eye Node’s genetic bank, containing work from cannabis breeders like Sherbinski and Masonic as well as companies like Cannarado, Connected, and smaller growers like Sonoma Hills Farm, which banked its Pink Jesus. 

The genetic bank aspect of the company ties into the beginnings of Node Labs. Node was founded in 2018 after Felipe Recalde, CEO of Compound Genetics and Node co-founder, lost his genetic library of cannabis cultivars and his home in the Tubbs Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California’s history that tore through Santa Rosa in 2017. Recognizing everyone around him had also lost their mom stock, Recalde saw tissue culture as the future for genetic preservation. He’d been experimenting with faulty kits for tissue culture since 2010. Still, it wasn’t until he partnered with Leavitt, who had been working on using tissue culture to preserve endangered species, that he saw that tissue culture could be viable for cannabis. Nowadays, genetics are stored within the lab and at a place offsite to serve as an additional backup against a disaster like a fire. 

Some of the work Node does is private client services of storing the genetics, but some companies like Connected Cannabis Co. also have certified genetics available for licensing. The consistency of the tissue culture clones one receives from Node Labs ensures that brands that operate in many states, like one of the lab’s partners Khalifa Kush backed by rapper Wiz Khalifa, can provide standardized, consistent flowers across the country. Node’s primary partnership with Compound Genetics allows the lab to grow clones to flower for clients to test. The minds at Compound Genetics grow plants from seed in their San Francisco facility and phenohunt to provide the best clone selections for their clients. The process at Node gives the genetics an authentication that does not occur if someone obtains a clone cut from a friend.  

The future of the tissue culture industry is not in creating a million plants to order, but instead holding genetics and delivering mother plants that growers can multiply through traditional propagation, Leavitt says. 

“The main functionary of [tissue culture] here is not in micropropagation. It’s not to get you 50,000 plants in one go,” Leavitt explains of the difference in tissue culture techniques in cannabis versus traditional agriculture. “It’s germplasm storage, which is the fancy term in the agriculture issue of holding genetics, genetic banking.”

Another indication of the future of cannabis propagation occurring at Node Labs is the process of in vitro phenohunts or growing seeds within the agar jelly within test tubes. Node takes a tissue culture from small plantlets the seeds produce and grows those plants out, saving time for cultivators because if they like the results, the tissue culture already exists.

“It allows us to save a lot of time, but it also means that when we pop that seed and then we take that clone and put it out, we already have some of the advantages of tissue culture the first time we grow,” Avenuis says. “As an immature plant, it hasn’t been exposed to any viruses or pathogens. And then it has some of the unique morphology that you get from tissue culture plants. They tend to have higher vigor, higher yields, better stem strength. So you’re already seeing a better-performing plant from the very beginning.” 

Leavitt points out an example within the lab, Gastro Pop #5, a cross of Apples & Bananas and Grape Gas which was developed in-house via an in vitro phenohunt. 

“That Gastro Pop #5 over there, the plants in this lab have never seen microbial fungus and bacteria in their entire life,” Leavitt says. 

If someone finds an outstanding cultivar they are in love with, a six-month process to get a tissue culture clone could stunt the excitement, he explains.

“With that process, in vitro, we could have the excitement of smoking the joint and going ‘This is the one’ and going, ‘Cool, it’s here at the lab’ at the same time,” he says.

An in vitro phenohunt is how Sherbinski and Compound created Tribute, a cross of Gelato #41 and Apples & Bananas. Look out for future collaborations between Compound Genetics and Tiki Madman and Compound Genetics and Green House Seed Company. 

At the Emerald Cup Harvest Ball held in December 2022, Compound was able to offer “bare pulse” tissue culture clones of their newest offerings. These came without the agar jelly because the clones are more transportable that way. The bare pulse part comes from the fact that they are bare root or stored without soil around the roots. The bare pulse clones can be planted in a chosen medium and become a mother plant to power a grow with consistent genetics.

“We love this as the next gen of clones,” Avenuis says.

The whole process of tissue culture clones is an exciting new frontier for cannabis, one which I was able to experience firsthand when Recalde gifted me a tissue culture clone at a social gathering. I took the test tube, filled with a clone held in suspense within what I’ve since learned is agar, home and grew it out to flower. At the time, I didn’t know that miniature plant contained within a test tube had the mighty makings to power a brand.

Read more about Node Labs in the upcoming Science & Technology issue of High Times Magazine.

The post Weed’s Tissue Culture Moment Has Arrived appeared first on High Times.

But many more aren’t aware that he was once hired by the U.S. government to discredit cannabis in a political move, as the psychoactive properties within the plant promoted critical thinking at a time in history when the people were rising up.

The year was 1967 and Mikuriya had been hired by the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies to research marijuana for negative outcomes. The National Center for Drug Abuse would be created in 1974, solely funding studies on cannabis and other drugs for abuse, while shelving positive findings.

One such infamous study on pregnancy from the 1970s in Jamaica was slated to last 20 years, but was shut down after the five-year-olds given cannabis tea since birth were shown to excel in every area. This was after their mothers were monitored drinking the tea while pregnant, with positive outcomes noted.

“One of my assignments was to spy on the communes in California because at the height of the fear of the Vietnam War, the year of the Tet Offensive, and the total embroilment in the conflict in the United States, as well as Vietnam,” he shared. “They were fearing the fall of civilization as manifested by certain rebellious behaviors, principally on the West Coast.”

The Tet Offensive was an escalation of military campaigns during the Vietnam War against forces in South Vietnam, at a time when our failure to excel in the conflict was kept from the people, until The Pentagon Papers revealed the deceit.

The powers that be understood that psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin mushrooms, along with cannabis, were being used socially, and became a big part of the anti-war movement. The more Mikuriya learned of the campaigns against what he found to be beneficial and useful compounds, the more he rebelled.

“Frankly I was aghast at being part of this machine back in D.C. that could be so blind and mean-spirited,” he continued. “Their take on marijuana was, ‘how can we suppress it and prevent it,’ because this is something that promotes that dangerous trait of critical thinking. Because it was linked with the rebellion of the anti-war movement against the military machine, the military industrial complex.”

Third Eye Open

Dr. Mikuriya didn’t linger on the theories of demonizing hemp for industry or the plant’s potential competition with big pharma. He was trained in psychology and understood completely the government’s fear of psychedelics opening up the third eye, with critical thinking a threat to being a good soldier, being led into the jungle for a war that was little understood.

The same year Mikuriya was hired by the government to demonize the plant, Timothy Leary shouted out to 30,000 hippies in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, “Turn on, tune in, drop out,” further cementing the theory that psychoactive plants and compounds don’t make good foot soldiers.

Interesting to note, in 1974, alleged MK Ultra survivor, Cathy O’Brien, was asked at a lecture podium what she knew about cannabis and why the government opposes the plant. Without a beat, she responded, “Because it blocks mind control.” This is poignant, as MK Ultra was said to have been a covert government mind control project.

“So, basically, I defected,” he said of his post that lasted less than a year.

At this point in the interview, von Hartman interjected, “Excuse me for interrupting, but you were told not to find any positive result in your research, is that true?”

“Correct,” Mikuriya responded, firmly. “They were interested in finding anything toxic, anything that could be used to dissuade the use of cannabis. But at the same time they recognized, although it couldn’t be admitted, that it was relatively benign. The big problem with dealing within the federal bureaucracy – or I suppose any bureaucracy – is the compartmentalization, that restriction on the flow of information.”

The Doctor’s Journey

There is no mention of Mikuriya’s gig with the federal government in his obituary in the New York Times upon his passing in 2007. They do go into great detail on his advocacy for the plant and subsequent persecution.

Mikuriya was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on September 20, 1933, to parents who raised him and his two siblings as Quakers.

“The Quakers were proprietors of the Underground Rail[road], I’m proud to say,” he was once quoted, making reference to the underground route to safety for slaves in Colonial America.

His mother, Anna Schwenk, was a German immigrant and a special education teacher. His father, Tadafumi Mikuriya, was the descendant of a Japanese Samurai family, trained as an engineer. 

Mikuriya earned a bachelor’s degree from Reed College in Oregon in 1956, and his MD from Temple University in 1962 – where he stumbled upon a reference in a pharmacology textbook on the uses of medical marijuana.

Intrigued by the many medicinal applications listed, he decided he needed to experience cannabis first hand.

“… I was smitten by an attack of idle curiosity during my sophomore year in medical school during the pharmacology course,” he explained. “I happened to unintentionally read a chapter on cannabis in Goodman & Gilman, which described the medicinal uses and described also, fairly Draconian punishment for its use. This was consistent with what social attitudes existed back then in 1959.”

Reading up what was available at the library, he said that summer he traveled down to Mexico to score some weed. Using some slang words for cannabis on a street dealer that he said approached him upon crossing the border, he succeeded in his quest.

Mikuriya said he took the man up to his hotel room and at random picked one of the 10 hand-rolled marijuana cigarettes laid out, instructing the dealer, “Okay, light it up, take a few puffs.” When the man showed no hesitation to partake, Mikuriya was relieved to see it was not poisonous, and partook himself.

With his curiosity whetted, he said he quickly realized he should keep the experience to himself, and that this was not something he would submit to any department for a research project, because it would surely have been the end of his medical career.

“So, then I embarked upon my personal bioassay experience,” he continued. “I put this down after a while, having no one to communicate with and no source, until 1964. At which time, during my psychiatric practice training up in Oregon I became aware of it.”

After finishing his psychiatric residency at Mendocino State Hospital, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a medic. Shortly thereafter, ironically, he became Director for a drug addiction treatment center of the New Jersey Neuropsychiatric Institute in Princeton, under the tutelage of Dr. Humphrey Osmond, who was well versed in psychedelic drugs.

“I then was headhunted by the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies, with the specific assignment of research into marijuana,” he said. “Needless to say, this seemed to be right up my area of interest, and left New Jersey for the psychosis inside the Beltway.”

Reefer Madness, Part 2

The psychosis inside the Beltway refers to the Reefer Madness he experienced while working in Washington D.C. researching cannabis, then finding that the laws weren’t exactly copasetic to what he knew to be the plants full potential. 

He also came to the realization that cannabis had been part of the American Pharmacopoeia for at least 200 years prior to it being politicized in the late 1930s. Thankfully, the plant was added back to the list fairly recently in 2016.

“First stop was at the National Library of Medicine, where I ran across many more medicinal and pharmaceutical papers that motivated me to assemble what I felt to be the ‘creme de la creme’ and put it into a book, The Marijuana Medical Papers: 1839 to 1972,” he shared, of the compilation still available today.

Mikuriya became a consultant for the Shafer Commission, formerly known as the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, appointed by then President, Richard Nixon, with the report released in 1972.

The commission’s now infamous report, Marijuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding, called for more research and the decriminalization of cannabis possession. But, Mikuriya said it was “D.O.A.” and ignored by Nixon’s White House, who proceeded to add the plant to its failed War on Drugs.

“This was part of the Nixon administration’s distraction and palliation of the scientific and medical communities, as he put together the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, that classified cannabis as having no medicinal redeeming importance and being Schedule I, highly dangerous, to be avoided – which was a total lie,” he said. “But this is the way it is today. That federal law still is driven by this insanity, put together by the Nixon Justice Department apparatchiks.”

So good was the government’s campaign against the plant, that at the time a mere 12% of Americans supported its legalization, with public sentiment viewing cannabis users as dangerous. In reality, the committee found them to be more “timid, drowsy and passive,” concluding that cannabis did not cause widespread danger to society, further outing the political hoax.

“The use of cannabis goes into antiquity, as probably everybody knows, but what is not known, or what is not appreciated, is the fact that it was clinically available for roughly a hundred years in America and Western Europe for a variety of therapeutic uses. It was called ‘cannabis,’” he explained. “And the term ‘marijuana’ was described as a ‘mongrel word,’ that was applied to the Mexican use of cannabis, that very few agencies within the federal government at the time back in 1937 understood that it was the same as cannabis, so they thought that marijuana was really a separate plant, a separate material. And didn’t connect it with the medicinal uses.”

In the years that followed, Mikuriya would go on to document 200 case studies from his own clinical research from patients successfully using cannabis as a serious medicine for both emotional and physical issues. But, as long as cannabis was listed on the Department of Health’s Schedule 1, showing no medicinal value, he was shouting at the wind.

The Endocannabinoid System (eCS) wouldn’t be discovered until 1988 by researchers Allyn Howlett and William Devane at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, in a government-controlled study that also discovered the body’s CB1 and CB2 receptors; the pathway for plant compounds to distribute themselves throughout all human biological systems.

As they say, timing is everything. Having the knowledge of the eCS during the Shafer Commission’s work might have saved the plant from the crossfire of the failed War on Drugs, but we’ll never know.

California Medicine, Federally Illegal

The disappointment of the Shafer Commission’s report may have had the good doctor fleeing Washington D.C., but it only empowered him as an advocate once back in California, where the LGBTQ+ community had already championed cannabis as medicine for AIDS patients.

By the mid-1990s Mikuriya became one of the architects and co-authors of Proposition 215, with California voters giving a green light for residents to become cannabis patients. Mikuriya was the first physician in the state to write a script, recommending cannabis as medicine for the first cannabis patient.

A collective sigh of relief was heard throughout the world, as California became the leader in compassionate care and education on cannabis as medicine. Mikuriya thought it would be smooth sailing from then on, that the voters had spoken and the people would finally be educated on this powerful plant. But, the celebration was cut short.

“Within a month after we passed the law back in ’96, there was a meeting at McCaffery’s office in the White House,” he said. “The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, where they hatched schemes to nullify the state laws, either directly in court or through other means – and the other means would be to go after both the patients and the physicians.”

Barry McCaffrey was the first “Drug Czar” for the The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), established by President Nixon overseeing his War on Drugs. The position is still just one step down from the Oval Office, with it and its agency’s existence just one executive order away from the president’s pen. 

The State’s Attorney General, he said, opposed the proposition before it passed, and was dedicated to “blocking and suborning it.” With this, the DEA became empowered, embedding themselves into local law enforcement agencies in the state, in fiscally subsidized partnerships, causing a financial dependence that continues today, even in legal states.

Physician, Heal Thyself

Mikuriya became a thorn in the side of the DEA, claiming representatives from the privatized “prison-industrial complex, our version of the military-industrial complex,” were big supporters of the War on Drugs, funding the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (now, Partnership to End Addiction). 

“These are the subversives that are embedded in the civil service system,” he said. “The California Narcotics Officers Association believes that medical marijuana is a hoax, and have sponsored and organized statewide meetings within the criminal justice system for orientation and training, in actuality laying out templates of ways for blocking it.”

An outspoken patient himself, ordinances dictate that doctors aren’t allowed to touch the plant. They aren’t educated in medical school and they can’t prescribe cannabis as medicine, they can only “recommend.”

With the plant still federally prohibited, with no medicinal value admitted, Mikuriya was hotly criticized, with an attempt made to strip him of his medical license.

“In my case, an undercover agent was sent to infiltrate a clinic of mine, not even bothering with the niceties of the Medical Board, filtering and embellishing it, went directly to the AG’s office,” he said. “So, there’s been this clique of opponents who are doing their damndest to hurt the physicians and dissuade participation in the law.”

The incident happened in 2000, with the Medical Board of California giving Mikuriya five years probation and a $75,000 fine for what they called “gross negligence, unprofessional conduct, and incompetence” for failing to conduct proper physical examinations on 16 patients for whom he had written scripts. The truth was, Mikuriya had given out around 9,000 scripts all told.

The fact that they pinned 16 questionable scripts on him with probation and a fine seems to have been a weak attempt to slow him down, as he continued his private psychiatric practice, as a cannabis clinical consultant, until his death.

“I want to see cannabis defined as an easement, which is not a narcotic, not a psycho-stimulant, not a hallucinogen,” he surmised. “One of the things in managing chronic conditions with cannabis is the absence of side-effects as being the critical factor. Cannabis has a remarkable profile compared with any synthetic pharmaceuticals. In fact, it really enhances both the quality of life and rehabilitation from illness. Since cannabis both modulates and activates certain kinds of very positive healing functions of the body.”

Author’s Note: This profile was taken from transcript, The Lost Interview, Berkeley, California, 2004, Interview by Paul J. von Hartman.

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After concluding the briefing, Beshear took questions from the press. Al Cross, a professor at the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media who also writes for the Northern Kentucky Tribune, asked about the lack of convenience for those seeking to obtain medical cannabis.

“The executive order isn’t going to make it convenient for anyone on the medical marijuana front. What it will ensure is that they’re not a criminal,” Beshear said. “And that’s the limitations that I have in executive power and the limitations that other states have set if we don’t have our own full program. And it’s why it’s so important that the legislature go ahead and pass medical marijuana.”

Beshear shared that his administration is working on putting together regulations for Delta-8 products, which was recently ruled legal by a Northern Kentucky circuit judge. He also explained that the legislature needs to do its part to assist patients throughout the state by passing an official medical cannabis program.

“I want our people to be able to get it close to home, I don’t want them to have to drive to Illinois. That takes an act of the legislature,” Beshear said. “I am the first to admit the executive order is imperfect because the legislature should have done this a long time ago, but it’s also fluent. And just by reissuing an additional executive order, we can shore up anything that we have the ability to, as we have those discussions with other states.

Beshear mentioned that soon there will be a “palm card” issued to law enforcement next week to educate them about what the executive order accomplishes. “Also the palm card for law enforcement will be out there by Jan. 4. First, it is very simple,” Beshear briefly explained. “But just talking to the Mothers for Medical Marijuana the other day, [the] executive order is a step they find exciting and provides some comfort that they won’t be prosecuted, but it’s not the answer. But I do hope it provides pressure.”

According to WHAS11, Beshear described the palm card as a checklist for law enforcement to work through, including showing a receipt that states where a product was purchased.

Recently, advocates from Kentucky Moms for Medical Cannabis and Kentucky NORML spent time in the Kentucky capitol building hanging more than 350 images of patients with chronic conditions who benefitted from access to medical cannabis. Beshear visited the exhibit on Dec. 28 to meet with those advocates. “Many Kentuckians with chronic pain are suffering and searching for relief. Today I visited with Moms for Cannabis, advocates who are looking for health solutions that don’t sacrifice quality of life—something medical cannabis can deliver,” Beshear wrote on Twitter. 

Julie Cantwell from Kentucky Moms for Medical Cannabis is hoping that the legislature takes action in 2023. “Year after year, we’re overlooked, and this year we’re hoping that the legislature is going to pass a medical cannabis bill,” Cantwell told WYMT. “So, a lot of these people you see on the wall can’t make it to Frankfort, so we’re bringing the people to Frankfort.”

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The Wall Street Journal, citing agency officials, reported this week that the FDA is “studying whether legal cannabis is safe in food or supplements and plans to make recommendations for how to regulate the growing number of cannabis-derived products in the coming months.” 

“Given what we know about the safety of CBD so far, it raises concerns for FDA about whether these existing regulatory pathways for food and dietary supplements are appropriate for this substance,” Janet Woodcock, the Food and Drug Administration’s principal deputy commissioner, told the Wall Street Journal.

According to the newspaper, Woodcock has “led the agency’s efforts looking at cannabis regulation.”

Reuters reports that, “after weighing the evidence on the compound’s safety, the FDA will decide within months how to regulate legal cannabis and whether that will require new agency rules or new legislation from Congress.” 

The outlet noted that, following the Wall Street Journal’s report on the news, “shares of U.S.-listed cannabis companies were down between 5% and 9% in afternoon trade.” 

CBD products have exploded in the American marketplace over the last four years following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized industrial hemp production. 

But the products have outpaced regulation, which has caused some state and federal officials to scramble in order to play catch up. 

Earlier this year, regulators in Idaho began enforcing a ban of CBD pet supplements, saying that the state’s “new law did not legalize hemp in every setting or product type.”

“Similarly, Idaho law does not recognize hemp as a feed or remedy ingredient. Safe levels of hemp and hemp-derived products in animal feed have not yet been established under federal or state law. As such, these products are not approved feed ingredients and cannot lawfully be added to or incorporated into commercial feed. This includes feeds, treats and remedies intended for pets, livestock, or any other animal,” the Idaho Department of Agriculture said in a memorandum. 

“As hemp manufacturing begins to take place in Idaho, ISDA is working with new hemp licensees and animal feed companies to understand what is legal in the state. Interest in hemp animal feeds and remedies has grown significantly, and these products are known to be available online and in retail stores. We recognize that some states have adopted laws and rules that allow for hemp to be included in human and animal foods,” the deparmtnet added.

The lack of regulation has resulted in some consumers being duped about the CBD products that they are buying.

A study from Johns Hopkins Medicine that was released in July found that many such products are incorrectly labeled. 

The researchers found that 18% of the products they analyzed contained 10% less CBD than what was advertised on the label, while another 58% contained 10% more CBD than what was listed. Less than a quarter of the products contained the same amount of CBD as was advertised. 

“Misleading labels can result in people using poorly regulated and expensive CBD products instead of FDA approved products that are established as safe and effective for a given health condition,” said the study’s lead author, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Tory Spindle.

“Recent research has shown that people who use CBD products containing even small amounts of THC could potentially test positive for cannabis using a conventional drug test,” Spindle added.

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Specifically, this update pertains to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved products that contain CBD, or topical, hemp-derived CBD products with 0.3% or less THC. “Certain formats, including YouTube Masthead, will not be eligible for serving. CBD will be removed from the Unapproved Pharmaceuticals and Supplements list. All ads promoting other CBD-based products, including supplements, food additives, and inhalants, continue to be disallowed,” Google states.

Google is partnering with LegitScript to create a certification program for non-ingestible CBD manufacturers. LegitScript CEO Scott Roth explained how the certification aims to create a standard for the cannabis industry. “When people see the LegitScript seal on your product or website, they know that you operate safely and transparently,” said Roth. “In an industry that is still seeing widespread problems with products that are tainted, substandard, or illegal, it’s more important than ever to give consumers confidence that the CBD products they’re purchasing have been properly vetted.”

LegitScript works with other payment service providers such as Visa, Google, Bing, and Facebook. “LegitScript Certification lets the world know which healthcare merchants, CBD products and websites, and drug and alcohol addiction treatment facilities operate safely and transparently,” the company states in a press release. “The result? Certified merchants can stand out from the crowd, grow their online presence, and demonstrate credibility in high-risk industries. LegitScript is the leading third-party certification expert in these tightly regulated and complex sectors.”

LegitScript will charge a fee for processing and monitoring applicants (although the company’s website says that fees are waived through March 31, 2023). Applicants may submit their websites for a LegitScript certification in order to advertise on Google. After LegitScript certifies a website, they will be given “information on demonstrating your certified status,” such as a LegitScript “Seal of Approval” that can be displayed on a certified website.

LegitScript’s starting fees per CBD product vary between $650 for one to five products, decreasing for brackets including $600 for six to 50 products, $550 for 51 to 99, and finally $500 for 100 or more. There is also an annual monitoring fee that ranges between $750 to $1,000 depending on the number of CBD products as well. Full websites require an $800 fee per website, with either a $1,600 annual fee per website, or $2,250 annually for a “probationary website” for websites with “a past history of significant compliance issues.”

This move is a step in the right direction for hemp products, although there is currently no mention of expanding this new update to other states yet.

In the past, there have been some negative interactions between Google and cannabis-related content. In 2016, one Minnesota-based medical cannabis company fought against Google for banning it from advertising online due to having “dangerous products or services.” That same year, Google saw a 75% increase in cannabis searches online, and allowed games about the War on Drugs to be promoted on Google Play. 

In 2017, Google Docs temporarily labeled documents, including those relating to cannabis, as inappropriate (although the event was considered to be due to a coding error and was promptly fixed).

In July 2019, Google announced that cannabis products would be banned from the app store, and during the height of the vaping epidemic later that year, Apple also removed all vaping-related apps from the iOS store.

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While it’s common to hear opponents of cannabis state that more research is necessary before legalization can occur, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano released a statement to counter that argument. “Despite claims by some that marijuana has yet to be subject to adequate scientific scrutiny, scientists’ interest in studying cannabis has increased exponentially in recent years, as has our understanding of the plant, its active constituents, their mechanisms of action, and their effects on both the user and upon society,” Armentano said. “It is time for politicians and others to stop assessing cannabis through the lens of ‘what we don’t know’ and instead start engaging in evidence-based discussions about marijuana and marijuana reform policies that are indicative of all that we do know.”

NORML compiled numerous scientific studies involving cannabis between 2000-2021, exploring findings from studies on a wide variety of medical conditions such as chronic pain, Huntington Disease, insomnia, Multiple Sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and so much more. The review analyzes the evolution of researcher’s scope of cannabis. “As clinical research into the therapeutic value of cannabinoids has proliferated so too has investigators’ understanding of cannabis’ remarkable capacity to combat disease,” NORML wrote. “Whereas researchers in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s primarily assessed marijuana’s ability to temporarily alleviate various disease symptoms—such as the nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy—scientists today are exploring the potential role of cannabinoids to modulate disease.”

Even recently, the scientific community has released many intriguing cannabis studies in recent months. One recent study published in the Journal of Sleep Research found that cannabis was an effective treatment for insomnia, with researchers stating that participants experienced an 80% increase in sleep quality, and 60% were no longer classified as clinical insomnias following the end of the two-week study. Another study found evidence that cannabis has “uniquely beneficial effects” on those with bipolar disorder, while one found a link between cannabis consumption and physical activity in HIV+ patients. And there are many more studies underway, such as King’s College London which recently launched a massive 6,000-person study in September, with a goal of publishing early results in 2023 or 2024.

Cannabis is more mainstream than it has ever been before. President Joe Biden’s recent monumental signing of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act which “establishes a new registration process for conducting research on marijuana and for manufacturing marijuana products for research purposes and drug development.” Biden also signed an infrastructure bill in 2021, which contained provisions for cannabis. It states that in two years, the Attorney General and Secretary of Health and Human Services must submit a report that addresses how researchers can receive increased samples of various strains, establishing a “national clearinghouse” that will help researchers better distribute cannabis products for research, and an increased amount of samples for researchers who don’t live in states with medical or adult-use cannabis legalization. 

On the side, studies exploring the benefits of other psychedelic substances are also rising. One study in the journal Psychopharmacology found evidence that psilocybin can treat those with autism spectrum disorder. The University College of London released the results of a recent study as well, which analyzed brain imaging of consumers who attended psychedelic retreats. Another from the University of Melbourne explored how ayahuasca benefits outweigh the risks.

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