What was the most exciting cannabis news of 2023?
The many milestones this year include the Dept. of Health and Human Services' (HHS) scheduling recommendations to the DEA, Ohio becoming the 24th state to legalize recreational marijuana, President Biden's pardon of thousands convicted of cannabis possession and a lawsuit filed against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland by cannabis operators and investors.
Interestingly though, these important developments were not necessarily the stories that attracted the most attention from our readers. According to page-view statistics, the stories that most resonated with Benzinga readers this year included marijuana use by seniors who partook for reasons having to do with keeping their brains sharp, treating age-related conditions or just because! Among the surprising political moves were those that involved Republicans and other perceived cannabis opponents who suddenly had a change of heart. And the often humorous actions of high-profile celebs like Elon Musk and Snoop Dogg were irresistible. Let’s take a look.
Month by month, these are the most-read Benzinga cannabis stories in 2023:
January
As cannabis users get older and/or as weed consumption among seniors becomes more common (it has quadrupled in the past seven years!) a group of scientists honed in on this large demographic of pot-smoking baby boomers..and guess what? Their results suggest that the use of whole-plant cannabis does not have a negative impact on cognition. In fact, the opposite is true.
The study, done at the University of Colorado Boulder, examined the effects of cannabis use in adults aged 60 to 88 with no history of alcohol or other substance use disorder.
Gary Wenk Ph.D., a scientist not involved in the study, noted that while high THC levels can have negative effects on the adolescent brain, quite the opposite is true with older brains. Older cannabis users, relative to non-users, have significantly greater neuronal communication between the cerebellum and hippocampus.
Why? Age-related changes in the endocannabinoid system (ECS) include a decrease in the number of cannabinoid receptors throughout the brain. The ECS, a significant aspect of our human physiology that helps maintain homeostasis, is a complex cell-signaling system in the brain and body that interacts with just about all of our other body systems.
February
Elon Musk Calls This Drug The 'Most Concerning:' Is It Marijuana, LSD, Speed, Or Caffeine?
Elon Musk, who in August 2022 weighed in on the impact of different classes of psychoactive drugs, commented on the topic yet again on Friday.
What Happened: The billionaire, in August, reacted to a graphic shared by one of his Twitter followers which showed the results of a study conducted by NASA on the effect of various psychoactive substances on spiders.
The study evaluated the web pattern formed by spiders when fed marijuana, LSD, speed, and caffeine. The results of the study published in 1995 showed that the ones given caffeine and LSD produced the most bizarre and incomplete patterns.
Musk chimed in with his view that the effect produced by caffeine was the most concerning.
March
Is cannabis helpful for alleviating arthritis-related challenges? Although there are no ultimate studies that have proven cannabis benefits various conditions, the testimony of patients is what matters the most, or should.
When it comes to arthritis, many people swear that medical marijuana helps with painful inflammation. One such person is a 68-year-old man from a town north of London. He wanted to protect his identity and asked for his name to be changed when interviewed by Express.co.uk. Robin, the outlet called him, has two grandchildren and has been dealing with severe arthritis for about five years.
Shortly after being diagnosed, his body “started to deteriorate,” and he ended up on crutches. For four years, Robin relied on morphine to get through the day, but still felt like he was “going downhill.”
Then, things changed when he reached out to Mamedica, a private cannabis clinic in central London.
April
The medical cannabis industry in Canada has come a long way over the past few decades, particularly after the passing of Bill C45 in 2018 in the Canadian Senate and the publication of the Royal Assent. The bill legalized the use of cannabis subject to strict rules governing its use. With new products, technologies and research coming out every day, Canadians now have access to a greater range of treatments tailored to their needs. This is an exciting time for the industry, and many look to continued growth ahead in the future.
Among the companies helping to lead the way is Aleafia Health AH ALEAF. With its commitment to cutting-edge innovation, research and development and its ability to deliver high-quality, effective and safe treatments, Aleafia Health reports making waves in the Canadian market and beyond.
Aleafia Health's mission is a bold and lofty one. The company strives to establish itself as a top global medical cannabis brand, leading the charge in the adult medical cannabis market. With an initial focus on Canada and later Germany — the largest and most profitable medical marijuana market in Europe — Aleafia Health hopes to spearhead the industry in those countries and become an essential piece of the larger puzzle in terms of a worldwide presence.
May
A hop-latent viroid (HLVd), an infectious pathogen, is devastating cannabis farms in California by infiltrating plants and ruining entire crops just before they’re ready for harvest.
By causing a 30% reduction in plant weight, HLVd destroys THC production, clearly a devastating financial loss for growers. First identified in 2019, it has since infected around 90% of California's cannabis crops, posing a global threat to the entire industry.
To combat the spread of HLVd, a Bay Area startup Purple City Labs, reports SFGATE, has developed an on-site test that claims to deliver results within hours. The test is thought to surpass current methods that involve sending samples to labs and then waiting days or weeks. By swiftly identifying infected plants, this testing approach could help slow the pathogen's spread, says Luke Horst, director of business development for Purple City Genetics.
“We didn’t just identify a great test that is accurate, but it’s [also] easy to use and it doesn’t require a high level of expertise,” said Horst. “You can take microbiology to the public and put it in their hands. … It’s important for people to have this type of testing.”
June
Florida's medical marijuana patients will be allowed to use telehealth to renew their physician approvals, under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Doctors will still need to conduct an in-person exam before approving a patient, but they can then use telehealth visits for renewals. The move will affect Florida's 828,000 MMJ patients who at the moment have to visit their doctors in person at least every seven months.
The new law goes into effect on July 1.
The bill (HB 387) will also help Black farmers get valuable medical marijuana licenses after years of delays.
July
Oops! GOP Senators Admit Cannabis Legalization Forces Drug Cartels To Curtail Their Operations
A group of Republican senators consisting of Bill Cassidy M.D., Marco Rubio, Ted Budd, and Bill Hagerty, sent a letter to Robert Califf, commissioner of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), expressing their concerns about the expected restrictions on tobacco products.
To make their case, the lawmakers used marijuana legalization as an example of how liberal laws are actually affecting the illegal market.
What Happened: The GOP Senators argue that prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes and placing a maximum nicotine level on tobacco products could result in Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCO) seizing the opportunity to bolster the black market with these products.
The DEA noted that TCO makes the “greatest criminal drug threat the United States has ever faced.” Senators further wrote that these drug cartels are in charge of illegal drugs such as cannabis, heroin and fentanyl.
August
Tilray Brands, Inc. TLRY, a cannabis and consumer packaged goods company, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire eight beer and beverage brands from Anheuser-Busch BUD. The acquisition places Tilray Brands as the 5th largest craft beer business in the U.S., up from 9th.
In view of Bud Light’s recent controversy, parent company Anheuser-Busch seems to be delighted with the new situation. Bud Light sparked an anti-trans backlash when it announced its collaboration with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney.
The hoopla surrounding Bud Light impacted sales of the normally top-selling beer, putting pressure on the parent company's shares.
“Tilray Brands reached out to us early this year with interest in purchasing these brands and breweries, and since then, we’ve had many positive conversations that led to today’s announcement," said Andy Thomas, president, The High End at Anheuser-Busch. "The talented people behind these brands and breweries, along with our significant investments in them over the years, have positioned them for a bright future with Tilray Brands. We are committed to working with Tilray Brands over the coming months to ensure this is a smooth transition for the people who are working every day to get these amazing beers and beverages to consumers across the U.S.”
Meanwhile, Tilray is pleased to grow its U.S. alcohol beverage segment.
September
Snoop Dogg took to TikTok to rip into Donald Trump and tell his supporters they really shouldn't vote for him.
In his usual expletive-laden language, Snoop says he’s no political analyst but knows enough not to support the “punk” Donald Trump in the 2024 election. He called people who would willingly vote for the GOP candidate ignorant and misguided fools, in his own words of course.
"I want to say this real quick, I don’t know political s**t. Ain’t no f**king way y’all could vote for Donald Trump when he comes back up again. If y’all do vote for him, y’all some stupid mother f**kers,” Snoop says in the video, which has circulated on multiple social media platforms including Twitter/X, where it has amassed hundreds of thousands of views.
October
The Georgia Board of Pharmacy began accepting applications from nearly 120 pharmacies to provide medical marijuana products, making it the first state in the nation to allow the sale of low-dose cannabis at independent drug stores.
This expansion of medical marijuana sales to drug stores, known as the pharmacy rule, will vastly expand access to patients. There are only seven dispensaries in Georgia to serve people suffering from such illnesses as Parkinson’s disease, seizures, terminal cancers and PTSD.
The state's only two licensed cannabis producers, Botanical Sciences LLC and Trulieve Cannabis Corp. TCNNF, would provide the pharmacies with products. The two were the first in Georgia to get the green light earlier this year to serve registered medical cannabis patients.
November
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) met Monday with the state House Speaker Jason Stephens (R) and Senate President Matt Huffman (R) to discuss possible changes to the recently approved Issue 2, an adult-use cannabis legalization bill.
While DeWine was reluctant to share more details about the meeting with journalists at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, he did confirm that they didn’t bring any new ideas to the table that they hadn’t already announced last week, reports Cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer.
In less than 48 hours after the voters had approved cannabis legalization DeWine came to the public seeking changes to the law that would restrict advertising, limit public consumption, and mitigate the risks of impaired driving.
After Monday’s meeting, DeWine said, “I don’t think there’s any surprises out there. I don’t think any of the things that I have suggested that we do really flies in the face of the spirit of what people were voting for. I truly believe that most people went in (to voting booths), and the issue was, are we gonna have legal marijuana or we’re not going to have legal marijuana? And the details – I’m not sure people got focused on it. I have to focus on it because we have to administer it. We have to make sure it actually does in fact work.”
December
GOP's Stunning Reversal: Ohio Senate Approves Immediate Marijuana Sales, Home Grow & Expungement
In a surprise move, Ohio's GOP-controlled Senate passed a revised bill significantly expanding the scope of the state's voter-approved cannabis initiative, known as Issue 2. The legislation put forward by the Senate, rather than gutting the initiative as advocates feared, will allow adults to start buying cannabis from existing medical marijuana dispensaries in as soon as 90 days. It also maintains the right to cultivate marijuana plants at home and includes a key provision for the automatic expungement of certain past cannabis-related convictions.
In a stunning reversal, Gov. Mike DeWine and state Senate leader Matt Huffman who'd vowed to significantly alter Issue 2, have now thrown their support behind the amended bill, which passed the full Senate in a 28-2 vote.
Initially, the Senate General Government Committee proposed eliminating home cultivation and delaying legalization. However, after angry public testimony and advocacy this past week, the committee revised the legislation, maintaining the right to grow up to six plants per household (down from the initially proposed 12).
In a Wednesday night press conference before the Senate Session reconvened, DeWine urged the House to expedite the Bill’s passage, stressing the importance of safe and regulated cannabis consumption and the bill's role in preventing the expansion of the black market as well as the practice of Ohioans buying their cannabis in neighboring Michigan.
Photo: Benzinga edit with images by HOTSPOTATL, Shaleah Craighead, Republican Party, U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor cokley via Wikimedia Commons, RDNE Stock project via Pexels, Tingey Injury Law Firm via Unsplash
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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