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Is Cannabis Legal in California

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Cannabis use is legal in California. But cities and counties can prohibit cannabis businesses, like retail, from existing. The Department of Cannabis Control website notes that the state is a patchwork of areas where it is and is not legal to establish a cannabis business. Can the residents of Indian Wells or Ranch Mirage purchase cannabis in their cities? No.

If cannabis is legal in the State of California, why is it prohibited in 78% of the cities in the state? There are 235 out of 539 (44%) cities prohibiting the testing of cannabis. Fifty-six percent (304/539) of cities and counties do not allow any cannabis businesses. Sixty-two percent (334/539) do not allow any retail businesses.

Cities may have different rules than Counties

Counties can decide which types of cannabis businesses they license or prohibit. But county rules only apply to the unincorporated parts of the county. They do not apply to incorporated cities that are within the county. Incorporated cities can decide which types they license or prohibit within their city. Their rules do not need to align with the rules of the county where they’re located.

Licenses with Restrictions

Some cities and counties license a type of cannabis business, but also put restrictions on it. For example, they may limit the number of businesses that can get a license. Due to these limits, there are 4.5 retail licenses per 100K people in California (as of July 2022). Alcohol, which is more dangerous than cannabis, is ubiquitous. It is in every restaurant and grocery store. So, what do we do to fix this morass of conflict between the state vs the cities, or the state vs federal laws?

State and Federal Legislation Fixes

The California legislature has SB 1186: Medicinal Cannabis Patients’ Right of Access Act, scheduled for a hearing in the appropriations committee on August 11, 2022. This bill would “prohibit a local jurisdiction from adopting or enforcing any regulation that prohibits the retail sale by delivery within the local jurisdiction of medicinal cannabis to medicinal cannabis patients or their primary caregivers by medicinal cannabis businesses.” Call Senator Anthony Portantion, the chair of the appropriations committee at (916) 651-4025 and express your opinion.

The non-partisan National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has voted to adopt a revised policy directive that expresses support for federal marijuana descheduling and cannabis banking reform. In addition, the directive calls for changes in federal law that would allow for robust cannabis research and access to traditional banking. Currently, in the US research on humans is prohibited.

Banking Issues for Cannabis Businesses

Under federal law, cannabis businesses in states that have legalized the sale of cannabis are unable to utilize the country’s banking system, forcing them to operate as primarily cash-only entities. The NCSL urges Congress to pass legislation allowing financial institutions to provide banking services to legitimate state-authorized cannabis-related businesses. This reliance on cash makes cannabis businesses prime targets for theft, burglary, armed robbery, and other property crimes.”

Another path to mitigate this morass is for residents to become active in local politics. When is the last time you called your city councilmen? Do you even know who your councilmen or mayor is? I am embarrassed to say I do not. This I think is disgraceful. I believe in the power of citizen activists. If you live in a city or county that prohibits cannabis businesses, call your mayor, supervisor, or councilmembers, and voice your discontent. The only way change happens is when we demand change. Even if California SB 1186 passes, there will be mayors who persist in defying the law. Our voices need to be louder than the prohibitionist.

In summary, cannabis is both legal and illegal in California. The only way to change this is for the silent majority to wake up and become active in local politics.

Yours truly will be presenting medical cannabis education to the public at The Vault Dispensary and Lounge in Cathedral City, time, and date TBA. Call The Vault at 760-866-9660, to sign up in advance.

previously published in on August 10, 2022

Synthetic Cannabinoids are Escaping the Lab

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Previous articles on synthetic cannabinoids showed how dangerous they were during the vape crisis of 2019. Now super-potent synthetic cannabinoids are escaping labs and gaining notoriety among chemists, medical researchers, pharmaceutical companies, law enforcement, legal experts, public-health officials, and drug users. Research is revealing more dangerous chemicals that mimic 10 times the effect of THC. There are three types of cannabinoids. Endogenous or endocannabinoids we make ourselves. Phytocannabinoids are from the plant. Finally, synthetic cannabinoids, (which do not occur in nature), and are made in a lab. Synthetics are novel molecules that are providing good research but unfortunately are adding more volatile damage to street drugs.

Is this research, which is investigating novel approaches for specific disease entities, creating a crisis for the non-legalized drugs being produced? I will shed some light on that question in this article.

THC and JWH-018

Projectcbd.org writes about the molecule known as JWH-018 (named after its founder John W Hoffman). It is a potent synthetic cannabinoid with an affinity for the CB1 receptor five times greater than that of THC. This means, roughly speaking, that one-fifth of the dose elicits a similar effect.  Just like the Wuhan virus escaped from the lab in China, new chemicals produced by chemists are now escaping the lab and being found in street drugs.

The Netherlands’ research at Maastricht University evaluated the JWH-018 compound’s effects on neurocognitive and psychotomimetics alongside the effects of THC. The new study, published in May 2022 in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, indicates that at equivalent subjective intoxication levels THC and JWH-018 are actually not as different as they seem.  However, dissociative effects, are the one category they differ. Dissociative effects were considerably more pronounced for JWH-018 than THC. Dissociative effects mean the person has a feeling of being separate from reality. They are different people in different contexts. Some can commit a crime during a dissociative episode.

Mepirapim & Spice

Japan in 2013, detected Mepirapim, another synthetic cannabinoid in illegal compounds. It is structurally similar to JWH-018, a controlled Schedule 1 substance in the United States.  Korea-based authors published a paper in June 2022 in the journal Pharmaceuticals showing that Mepirapim has a high potential to exhibit psychotropic effects with dangerous side effects. It can cause cardiac deaths in subjects that combine it with other drugs. Two individuals created a conundrum when Mepirapim was laced with acetyl fentanyl, an analog of fentanyl. One individual inhaled it and died. The other individual took it intravenously and did not.

What does all this mumbo-jumbo mean?

It means more studies on synthetic cannabinoids to better understand the negative effects. Just like the dangerous lab leaks from the gain of function research, so can lethal synthetic cannabinoids leak into illegal or quasi-illegal street drugs.

A small class of molecules designed expressly to evade legislation passed in China in July 2021. It banned synthetic cannabinoids containing one of seven general core new chemicals, called OXIZID cannabinoids. These alternative core structures are technically legal – or at least not explicitly illegal.

Prohibition creates the market for completely unheard-of drugs that can be talked aboutsup as marijuana-like. While media tends to refer to these drugs merely as “fake pot,” there is some important scientific nuance that gets left out of conversations about cannabinoid synthetics. It’s the brass tacks of what is called the “potency problem.” Potency is not the same as efficacy which the media, legislators, and “say no to cannabis promoters” do not or will not understand.

Receptors are not simply off-on switches. They are more like light bulbs on a dimmer switch. A full agonist will crank the receptor to its full level of “brightness” which is not possible with THC. The black-market synthetic cannabinoids are full agonists causing medical emergencies, including adverse cardiovascular events, stroke, and death.

While there is voluminous research on all types of cannabinoids there is not equal education about the scientific difference between potency and efficacy. The crisis of illegal consumption of synthetic cannabinoids and death will continue until the FDA stops denying the safety of plant medicine. Tell me what you think.

previously published in on August 3, 2022

California Drug Cartel Crisis is the Corridor to America

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Border Patrol detectives warn how LA and southern California’s main hubs are corridors for bringing narcotics across the border. These main hubs, called stash houses, are in Fresno Sacramento, and San Jose. The illegal marijuana and narcotics are dropped at these hubs and then transported to the rest of the United States through the I-5 corridor that runs all the way up California. Then you have the corridors that run east from southern California.

The National Drug Threat Assessment reported that California has 10 cities where cartel operations do business. The different cartel groups are classified as Transitional Criminal Organizations, according to the DEA. “Mexican TCOs continue to control lucrative smuggling corridors, primarily across the SWB [southwest border], and maintain the greatest drug trafficking influence in the United States,” the report states. The wealth that is built off growing cannabis in CA, a safe place to grow without harsh penalties, furthers their organization in very large ways financially.

Border detectives find that a significant amount of money has gone to China, where the cartel members have bought the compounds and materials to make fentanyl. These materials are sent to Mexico, where the fentanyl pills are pressed and created in labs.

Ohio’s AG Dave Yost issued a warning about the prevalence of nitazenes added to the illicit drugs made in Mexico. A dangerous, new group of synthetic opioids called “nitazenes” is rapidly spreading across the U.S. The drugs, nicknamed “Frankestein opioids,” can be 1.5 to 40 times more potent than fentanyl, have not been approved for medical use anywhere in the world, and are currently being made in clandestine labs, according to a bulletin from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). These drugs are produced as chemical experiments. In April, Ohio outlawed nitazenes and in December the DEA issued a notice of intent to classify nitazenes as Schedule I drugs. Ohio has a bill in the legislation to ban nitazenes. Canada and Florida also moved to ban nitazenes.

In some instances, nitazenes are being found in combination with other drugs, primarily fentanyl and fentanyl pharmacophores, but also tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and PCP analogs. Frankestein opioids are even more lethal than the drugs already responsible for so many overdose deaths. Now cannabis nurses must also be knowledgeable in synthetics that interact with whole plant cannabis.

And what are our illustrious legislators in the California Assembly and Senate worried about? AB 1894 requires a label of a 150-word hazardous waste message onto the current densely packed cannabis warning labels on vape pens. The effect of these efforts cumulatively is to pile on massive amounts of information on products that are small, in most cases not much bigger than 2 by 3 inches. And do the naive legislators believe the user is going to worry about disposing of his/her vape cartridge in a hazardous waste container because it has a small battery?

Or SB 864 a bill that mandates a fentanyl test by the hospital physician on any person who comes to the ER with a suspected opiate overdose. Do the legislators really believe doctors in ERs do not know how to diagnose a fentanyl overdose? Are the California legislators doing anything about closing the border or the drug smuggling corridors?

There are over one hundred bills involving cannabis in the 2021-2022 legislative session. Many are to increase taxes on the already burdened medical user. When will the legislators realize that increasing the cost of cultivating, manufacturing, and labeling, incentivizes people to buy from illegally grown products? Are they even aware of what nitazenes are?

Hopefully, with this year’s election, we can remove the ineffective senators and assemblymen and vote for common sense people who put California First and actually solve the opiate crisis to which California contributes.

Bong Smoking is More Dangerous than Cigarette Smoking and Other Fake Research

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It does not stretch credulity to assume the bias in discussing the harms of cannabis while reading research papers. Just like the media journalist are no longer investigating the truth about masks, vaccines, mandates, and natural therapeutics as a treatment for all sorts of disease manifestations, they ponce on all manner of harm legitimate or fake. This article will illustrate some of those fake accusations.

I was always taught that marijuana fried my brain. It was not until I needed marijuana due to the inadequacy of opioids for chronic pain that I delved into the science of cannabis hidden from medical curricula. I found how the legacy media seems to be in favor of both the alcohol and pharmaceutical industry.

Let us first look at the publication in JAMA Network Open. A study recently published concluded that secondhand cannabis smoke released from bong hits contains fine particulate matter at a concentration dangerously higher than secondhand smoke from tobacco cigarettes.

Subjects smoked their own weed, used their own bong (clean or dirty, as a dirty bong means they are inhaling tar), unknown home conditions, unknown number of people in home, unknown if anyone smoked cigarettes, and unknown air flow which is critical for determining secondhand smoke. No controls, no peer review, yet the author claims secondhand cannabis smoke is more dangerous than secondhand smoke from tobacco cigarettes. Fake science.

A Harvard study on cannabis and driving risk published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the article unequivocally states in the title: “Recreational cannabis use impairs driving performance in the absence of acute intoxication.” The researchers (Mary Kathryn Dahlgren et al) state their results may be related to other factors. You think. The cannabis-using group was 82% male, while the control population was only 38% male. Men are more likely to smoke cannabis than women. Male teens normally have a higher accident rate as evidenced by insurance rates. Yet the study did not control for sex. Fake science.

Adrian Devitt-Lee, from projectcbd.org,  highlights how to spot faulty research data and misinformation. “ Time and time again, diehard prohibitionist have argued that cannabis legalization should be forestalled because stoned drivers will cause fatal accidents. The Harvard study will provide more fodder for their feckless arguments. But closer inspection shows that blood levels of THC are not correlated with driving risk.

A Norwegian epidemiologist, Ole Rogeberg, deconstructs how the metrics used in traffic research exaggerate the danger of cannabis. “The average person who gets high on cannabis before driving appears to have a 30% increase in the likelihood of crashing. (By comparison, driving with a passenger increases the crash risk by 60%, twice as much as cannabis.) Fear about cannabis and driving seem to be more motivated by a political ideology of criminalizing cannabis use rather than genuine concerns for safety.” Fake science.

A May 2014 article in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior examined the addictive potential of cannabinoids. Using rats or mice as a subject infers injecting ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or other cannabinoids intravenously or force-feeding with a syringe. The excessive dosages/kg used are never applicable to humans. Also, the solvent used to extract the cannabis is neurotoxic, not what the cannabis industry uses.

Animal models of disease are created, for the mice and then treated with cannabinoids (rarely cannabis itself). But a disease model is not the same as an actual disease, and data from animal studies are not always applicable to humans. Animals don’t have the exact same proteins, anatomy, and brains as people. Fake science.

Research on cannabis and pregnancy, where women who drink alcohol while pregnant are rarely excluded from studies. Instead of comparing pregnant cannabis smokers who don’t drink to other pregnant women who don’t drink, scientists may attempt to statistically control for the effect of alcohol on the fetus. But some cannabinoids, in fact, exacerbate fetal alcohol syndrome. Fake science.

The dangers of cannabis require a deep dive into alternate sources of information which have become more prevalent since COVID. The public is learning how the government lies about science and how biased our medical research publications have become.

Treating Ulcers With Cannabis

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As a hospice nurse, I came across numerous venous or diabetic leg ulcers. What was remarkable is how my patients’ caregivers had their own effective treatments. There are as many treatments for skin ulcers as there are nurses. While we are obligated to follow physician’s orders in the hospital or other medical institutions, in the home of a hospice patient, the family has the prerogative to adjust the treatment. Of course, if it were ineffective the family would acquiesce, but if the wound were healing, we as hospice case managers adjust the family’s treatment plan from their input.

Way back as far as fifteen years, my hospice caregivers taught me the value of treating ulcers with cannabis and manuka honey from New Zealand. It did, however, take the caregiver several weeks to fess up to the fact that she was putting manuka honey into the bed of the wound. After not balling her out, she then a week later was able to admit to also putting a cannabis tincture in the wound. These were ulcers that previously were not healing over the past five months before coming onto hospice.

Other nurses hearing these successes, started suggesting cannabis oil for their patient’s wounds. Now there are sterile manuka wafers available on Amazon for wound care. A product that combines manuka honey and cannabis is available. While this is not the formula for a leg ulcer science supports this for daily skincare.

Treatments for leg ulcers have the worst outcome measures. A person with a leg ulcer can endure months of painful dressing changes, possibly an infection, and occasionally death. These successes of unorthodox treatments are now explained in medical journals. The endocannabinoid system (ECS), discovered in the nineties, is the most significant chemical signaling system in our bodies. There are cannabis receptors on the surfaces of all cells and skin cells have more receptors than any other area of our body.

A study by Dr. Vincent Maida, in Toronto Canada, showed amazing improvement when leg ulcers were treated with cannabinoids like delta9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), terpenes such as beta-caryophyllene, flavonoids like quercetin, diosmin, and hesperidin. In fact, an FDA-approved drug called Daflon is already on the market in the US for the treatment of venous circulation disorders combining the flavonoids diosmin and hesperidin.

A further open-label study self-funded by Maida in which fourteen complex patients with recalcitrant leg ulcers were treated with his formula alongside compression bandages found that 79% of the patients had total wound closure in jaw-dropping 34 days.

Cannabis is not only used for open ulcers. Topically it can relieve the suffering of psoriasis and many other skin diseases. In the last decade, accumulating evidence has indicated that phytocannabinoids might have anti-tumor effects on skin cancer as well as other cancers. Whole cannabis extracts which contain significant amounts of differing phytocannabinoids, on different cancer lines from various tumor origins, show that specific cannabis extracts impaired the survival and proliferation of cancer cell lines as well as induced apoptosis (cell death).

Cannabis topicals are excellent for treating arthritis, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, pressure ulcers, rashes, cancer, pigmentation disorders like vitiligo, radiation burns, and numerous skin ailments. Remember, CBD is mainly for inflammation while THC is mainly for pain.

Our United States Government (we taxpayers) has a patent dated Feb. 28, 2019, (US020190060252A120190228) for treating vitiligo, a long-term condition where pale white patches develop on the skin due to the lack of melanin, the pigment in the skin. The patent states: “The method comprises topical application of a composition containing cannabinoids, in particular, cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG), at a concentration of 3 % – 20 % by weight of the composition onto the affected skin area of a subject in need thereof. Application may be twice (2) daily for about six (6) weeks. Cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) may be sourced naturally or synthetically and applied daily for about six weeks.”

The science of cannabis is verified over and over what the public already knows. Cannabis is the miracle plant made by God to mirror the homeostatic chemicals our spiritual bodies manufacture for survival.

Cancel Culture and the Cannabis Corner

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Corona virus disease COVID-19 medical web banner with SARS-CoV-2 virus molecule and text on a white background. Horizontal vector illustration

Spoiler alert! During 2022, occasionally I will discuss cancel culture, the Chinese virus, in-patient hospital protocols for treating the Chinese virus, and many other issues that most of my readers think, but dare not speak. If you believe the experimental jab for the virus is safe then STOP read no further. However, if you are in a “knowledge desert” and want to take control of your medical care then continue reading. These are historic times. Ten years from now, how will you view your engagement during this pandemic? What will you tell your children or grandchildren? I will tell them I did my utmost to counter the misinformation and outright lies our government officials tried to force down our throats.

Doctors are being threatened with license revocation, suddenly without warning. Banks are deplatforming clients. Social, print, and entertainment media are banning any discussion that questions Lord Fauci’s dictates. We all need to stand up to this or we will lose our country. I can no longer be silent while our government officials make millions off this pandemic but folks like you and me lose our livelihood. The medical profession’s bioethics is being violated.

But the tide is changing. In court cases all over this nation, mandates are getting struck down by the last firewall that protects our freedom from the grasp of medical tyranny. The Supreme Court invalidated the vaccine mandates in non-governmental businesses this past week. A Missouri Judge ruled the vaccine and masks mandates for health care workers in ten states, by unelected bureaucrats, are unconstitutional. West Virginia’s newly elected governor, on his first day in office, stopped all masks and vaccine mandates in schools and banned critical race theory.

Even Bill Gates is starting to say the Chinese virus is burning out. The Olympics are only three weeks away, but danger is on the horizon. China is locking down major cities without telling us why. There seems to be a new virus strain. What are they hiding? Will our athletes be subjected to a new pathogen? Will the vaccine mandate dangerously subject them to cardiomyopathy? This side effect cannot be repaired. It is permanent. Ending the careers of accomplished athletes.

If you have not read any articles by Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor of the mRNA technology, then this is where to start getting scientific information. https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/

In addition, this website has COVID-19 treatment protocols for home and in-patient hospitalizations. https://covid19criticalcare.com/covid-19-protocols/math-plus-protocol/

What seems to be apparent over the last two years of lockdowns, is the Herculean effort needed to scour the Internet for alternate views. Print and TV media have failed us. This kind of propaganda is remarkably familiar to the cannabis aficionados. The government and the media both besmirch the use of plant medicine. The American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association continue to institute policies that negate research on the medicinal use of cannabis.

Studies are showing that cannabinoids can block the SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants from entering cells. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35007072/ Richard B van Breemen, et, al, published a study in the Journal of Natural Products, this month, which showed cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) prevented infection of human epithelial cells (translation: lung tissue) by a pseudovirus expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and prevented entry of live SARS-CoV-2 into cells. These cannabinoids, isolated or in hemp extracts, are bioavailable when taken sublingually or inhaled, and have the potential to prevent as well as treat infection by SARS-CoV-2.

We are living in dangerous times. The future of our children is at stake. The search for truth looks at all sides and cancels none. I can no longer remain silent when I have access to a plethora of scientific information that counters the government lies. The last concern I will share is the dangerous policy of “vaccinating our children.” The SARS virus is not a danger to children, the vaccine is. Dissect my views with a jaundiced eye. Viewing this declaration https://doctorsandscientistsdeclaration.org/  Then tell me you can accept these permanent side effects, transient myopericarditis linked to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. These have mostly occurred in young males after the second dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

Millennials Normalize Marijuana in a Changing Culture

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A decade ago, more than half of all drug arrests were because of marijuana. According to the ACLU, states spent more than $3 billion per year enforcing marijuana laws. Today, twenty-one states consider it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees for use of medical marijuana. Five states and seven cities, including Washington D.C. and Atlanta, go further and protect employees from discrimination based on the recreational use of marijuana.

The conundrum of marijuana testing is a positive test for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, (THC) can show up after one month of use. An employee whose alcohol use during the workday will not be tested unless they show signs of impaired work performance. So, why test for marijuana. Managers can monitor drug abuse by looking for the following behaviors: avoidance of co-workers, irrational blaming of others for their mistakes, a decline in the employee’s personal appearance or hygiene, complaints of failing relationships at home, or finally, the taking of time off from work for vague illnesses or family problems. Medical cannabis physicians teach users that symptom relief comes without the high and will not fall in those categories.

A study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, specifically looked at the effect recreational marijuana use would have on worker’s compensation benefits for those between 40 and 60 years old. Researchers found declines in worker’s compensation use, as well as non-traumatic workplace injuries. They theorized that access to an additional form of pain relief contributed to these drops. The development of an accurate electronic potency measuring device acceptable to the court system for marijuana or other THC products has yet. Because of the discriminatory testing of THC vs opioids/alcohol/cocaine or other intoxicants many employees in some parts of the state are moving to eliminate pre-employment testing of THC.

In other California legislative news, after 25 years of the legal use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation by Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) expanding end-of-life treatment options for Californians by requiring hospitals and certain types of healthcare facilities in the state allow terminally ill patients the use of medical cannabis for treatment and/or pain relief. The legislation does not require the health facility to provide medicinal cannabis, nor does it require the facility to dispense the cannabis from the pharmacy.

The US DOJ is prohibited from using any federal funds to interfere with state medical cannabis laws, and the Biden Administration has made every indication that it will not interfere with state cannabis laws, medical or recreational.

Currently, terminally ill patients in California healthcare facilities are given heavy opiates for pain that rob them of their precious last moments with family and friends. Does this mean a terminally ill patient’s family will be allowed to bring cannabis into the hospital and administer cannabis to their loved ones? Not by a long shot.

The medical politics in Coachella Valley and other parts of the state will continue to fight the implementation of this law. Similar to the backlash the medical community exhibited when the assisted death legislation passed years ago, medical physicians opposed to cannabis will deny referrals to hospices who want to carry out Ryan’s Law.

While Sen. Hueso has received confirmation from CMS and the safeguards in the law, that healthcare facilities have the necessary authority to implement these provisions while ensuring the safety of other patients, guests, and employees of the healthcare facility, compliance with other state laws, and the safe operations of the healthcare facility, it will be a lengthy battle to see this law implemented. Policies will need to be agreed upon along with protocols presented to ethical committees. Physicians will still fear the loss of their medical licenses. The physician’s orders for cannabis will need to be written. But what physician in Coachella Valley is an expert in the specialty of cannabis? None.

In a state where only 53% of the fifty-eight counties in California allow for commercial Medicinal/Adult-Use cannabis business operations, we have a long way to go before our local hospitals allow Ryan’s Law to be implemented.

Pearls of Wisdom Concerning Cannabis Side Effects

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In trying to pick a topic to write about I came across an article concerning the hypothermic side effect of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It appears several folks get an intense cold sensation. After doubling my dose of THC one day, I walked around freezing, wanting to put the heat on in 110° weather. Cannabinoids can change body temperature in a dose-dependent manner.

Research on rats demonstrates high doses of cannabinoids can cause hypothermia following exposure to THC, low doses of THC can cause hyperthermia. However, there are no clinical case reports of life-threatening hyperthermia associated with the use of cannabis alone.

The body has a brilliant system for regulating temperature by the hypothalamus, which balances heat production and heat loss, with the goal of maintaining homeostasis. The hypothalamus does not work alone — it coordinates with skin, sweat glands, and blood vessels, the “vents, condensers and heat ducts of your body’s heating and cooling system.”

The abuse of synthetic cannabis products that are more potent can cause deleterious side effects with young adults who believe synthetics like Spice are safe. Synthetic cannabinoids increase blood pressure through non-cannabinoid mechanisms. Structurally HU-210 is the molecule in Spice similar to Δ8-THC and 11-Hydroxy-Δ9-THC and is more potent than natural THC from cannabis with an extended duration of action. In July 2009, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) placed HU-210 on its Drugs and Chemicals of Concern list.

Any, body-temperature changes caused by cannabis is usually mild and passes quickly. Smoking will not cause any significant issues related to body heat. If uncomfortable symptoms persist, you may want an evaluation by a medical professional for other issues like hyperthyroidism. Follow Riley Dee on Tiktok at https://www.tiktok.com/@cannabichem

All side effects from ingesting cannabis are dose-dependent and dissipate within hours. The half-life of THC for an infrequent user is 1.3 days. For heavy users, the half-life can be 5-13 days. This means that it takes about 1.3 days for half of the THC metabolites to be eliminated from the body in an infrequent cannabis smoker’s body. Specimens can be found to be positive after 4, 5, and 12 days of consumption in infrequent users. In heavy users’ positive results were found after 17, 22, and 27 days. Half-life for oral cannabidiol (CBD) in humans, is about 1 to 2 days.

Notice how I emphasized side effects are dose-dependent? How can these compounds do both, relieve stress, anxiety, then cause anxiety, allow you to sleep at night then cause insomnia? The other rule about cannabis side effects is the “biphasic effect.” The biphasic effect makes certain compounds — including CBD, caffeine, and alcohol — to have an opposite effect depending on whether you take smaller or larger amounts.

Cannabis plays a vital role in maintaining cellular balance in the human body. The goal is to find the Goldilocks zone. Too much, too little, or the wrong combo of cannabinoids can have a biphasic effect causing the opposite. Do you know anyone who drinks coffee in the morning to rinse the cobwebs in their brain, and then drinks coffee at 2 am and proceeds to fall blissfully asleep?

The biphasic effect is the most frequent reason people discontinue using medical cannabis. Environmental, medical, and activity changes all affect response to cannabis. Knowing how to juggle and titrate your dose is a skill developed over time, not a fixed constant like taking 100 mg of Synthroid for life. Cannabis users learn to manage unexpected operations, muscular injuries, common colds, or terminal diseases with various doses and ratios of THC and CBD.

If you have given up on using cannabis visit holistic caring for a professional coach who can reduce the pharmaceuticals in your medicine cabinet and replace them with various combinations of cannabis for the maladies you encounter. It is worth the effort when you remember side effects from pharmaceuticals are lethal but there is no documented case for death by cannabis.

The graph above is a replica of Figure 23 in CBD: A Patient’s Guide to Medicinal Cannabis by Leonard Leinow + Juliana Birnbaum.