HIGH NEWS

New York City Opens Third Legal Cannabis Store

DEA Data Shows Marijuana Legalization Linked To ‘Reductions In Opioid Demand,’ New Study Finds

In the largest city in the United States, cannabis retail stores are sprouting up while unlicensed locations continue to prosper despite multiple attempts to close them down. The third adult-use cannabis shop in New York City opened its doors on February 13 in Lower Manhattan.

Union Square Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store will be the newest authorized retailer to operate, and it will be situated on East 13th Street between Broadway and University Place. According to the store’s website, it will sell smokable flower, edibles, concentrates, and vapes. Governor Hochul stated in a statement, “We’re building a cannabis industry here in New York State that is equitable and delivers new resources to Nonprofits that bring supportive services to our communities”. “This is the latest recent milestone in our efforts to grow the cannabis industry while creating jobs and opportunities for those who have historically been disproportionately targeted for cannabis offenses,” the statement reads.

After the non-profit Housing Works launched one on East 8th Street, Broadway, and Smacked LLC, a store that opened on Bleecker Street last month, it is the third legal cannabis establishment. During the governor’s announcement, the new store management marked the occasion of its opening. “We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has contributed to the opening of the Union Square Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store. From our amazing partners at The Doe Fund who had the courage and innovation to embrace this opportunity; to the OCM, New York State and New York City in paving the way for this new industry and their ongoing commitment in ensuring this legal industry will be a success; our amazing team members who have worked day and night to get us to this point; and our friends & family who have supported us in this endeavor from the beginning,” said CEO of Union Square Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store, Paul Yau. “We thank you all.”

According to a recent study that uses data from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the legalization of marijuana at the state level is linked to considerable drops in the opioid codeine’s prescription (DEA).

The study, which was released last week in the journal Health Economics, compared 11 states that legalized cannabis for adult use between 2010 and 2019 against prohibitionist ones by examining data on prescription opioid shipments. A “26 percent decrease in retail pharmacy-based codeine distribution” was discovered to be a result of recreational marijuana legalization. The same trend, according to the researchers from Cornell University, George Mason University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Pittsburgh, was not seen for shipments of other opioids, such as hydrocodone and morphine, or to hospitals, which frequently have stricter prescription guidelines. But because codeine is a lower-potency opioid with a significant potential for abuse, the study’s findings “are suggestive that [recreational legalization] may help achieve reductions in opioid overuse.”

Collectively, the study’s findings “are consistent with the notion that, unlike [medical cannabis laws], [recreational cannabis laws] may be evidence of decreased opioid misuse more so than decreased usage of prescription opioids to relieve chronic pain,” the authors said. This research piece is distinctive in that the DEA’s Automation of Reports and Consolidation Orders System served as its “main data source” (ARCOS).

To our knowledge, this is the first study to use ARCOS data, which breaks down distribution by endpoint (pharmacies, hospitals, doctors, and narcotic treatment programs), to analyze the impact of legalizing marijuana for recreational use. The effect of legalization on the prescription of codeine, they said, “rising from -17.5 percent one year after RCL implementation to -37.3 percent four years after implementation,” over time.

“That our findings suggest RCLs affect a reduction specifically in codeine distribution is of particular interest because, among legally distributed opioids, codeine is particularly likely to be misused and diverted,” they wrote.

“We cannot rule out that these reductions are due to a reduction in use of codeine as prescribed; however, the lack of other reductions in opioid dispensing suggests that this is not the case. Our findings stand in contrast to the literature on MCLs, which finds that MCLs affect reductions in the dispensing of a variety of opioids that do not have misuse rates as high as codeine.” According to a recent survey by the American Medical Association (AMA), one in three people with chronic pain report using marijuana as a therapy option. The majority of this population has substituted cannabis for other painkillers, such as opiates.

A different recent AMA study discovered that legalizing medical marijuana at the state level is linked to a considerable decline in opioid prescriptions and use among some cancer patients.

Twitter Stops Suggesting People Who Search For ‘Marijuana’ May Need Drug Treatment

Twitter appears to have stopped a federal agreement that suggested drug treatment to users who searched the site for specific drug-related keywords, including “marijuana.” For “alcohol” searches, no such suggestion had come up.

The function, which was introduced in 2020, has drawn criticism from campaigners who feel that the social media giant is wrong to imply that any interest in marijuana is a sign of possible substance abuse. For instance, it did not separate out searches for items and policy news. The function, which was launched in coordination with the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), was abruptly discontinued last month.

It’s likely that a contract between Twitter and SAMHSA for the search feature expired or that it was taken down as Elon Musk, the new site owner, tries to cut back on numerous services after taking over the business. When Marijuana Moment contacted Twitter to inquire about the timing and justification for the change, no one was immediately available.

Help is accessible. You are not alone if you or someone you know is having problems with substance abuse, the previous warning stated. It pointed users to the SAMHSA website and helpline.

Massachusetts Recreational Marijuana Sales Have Officially Exceeded $4 Billion, State Regulators Announce

Since the state’s market opened for business in late 2018, Massachusetts adult-use marijuana sales have surpassed $4 billion, according to authorities’ announcement on Friday.

Data from the Cannabis Control Commission show that as of January 12, the state’s gross cannabis sales were $4,000,732,608. (CCC). This shows that the business is still expanding less than a year after Massachusetts reached the $3 billion mark.

The state presently has 265 merchants and 14 delivery services functioning, and through the commission’s Open Data Platform, regulators track and share sales data. Marijuana sales in the state totaled $1,483,898,510 in 2022 alone.

Researchers Published A Record Number Of Scientific Studies About Cannabis In 2022, NORML Analysis Shows

According to a NORML survey, researchers published more than 4,300 papers on marijuana and its constituent parts in 2022, setting a new yearly record.

One of the most frequent arguments used by opponents of change is that more research is needed, despite the fact that cannabis is one of the most regularly studied medical topics. Most people feel that research on a plant that is the most commonly used illicit substance in the world should continue, particularly as more jurisdictions consider legalizing it in some form. However, there is a widespread cultural assumption that it has not been sufficiently investigated and that there are too many unanswered questions to proceed with policy reform. But according to an analysis of the federal PubMed.gov site conducted by NORML, there were more than 4,300 research articles published worldwide focusing on cannabis this year. That exceeds last year’s total of just over 4,200 marijuana studies that were published and listed on the federal database.

“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,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a blog post. “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,” he said. Lawmakers and legalization advocates have actually aligned with prohibitionists to support expanded research into cannabis—a point that’s underscored by the fact that President Joe Biden signed a historic standalone bill this month to streamline studies, for example.

Both the House and Senate passed earlier versions of their separate but similar cannabis research bills in late 2020, but nothing ended up getting to then-President Donald Trump’s desk by the end of the last Congress. Congressional researchers separately released a report in March that details the challenges posed by ongoing federal prohibition and the options that lawmakers have available to address them.

DEA has taken steps in recent years to approve new cultivators of marijuana to be used in studies, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recently published a solicitation for applications from those authorized growers as it looks for new contractors to supply the agency with cannabis for research purposes.

Meanwhile, large-scale infrastructure legislation that was signed by Biden last year contains provisions aimed at allowing researchers to study the actual marijuana that consumers are purchasing from state-legal businesses instead of having to use only government-grown cannabis. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) recently sought an update on the status of a federal report into research barriers that are inhibiting the development of a standardized test for marijuana impairment on the roads, as required under that infrastructure legislation.

NIDA Director Nora Volkow told Marijuana Moment last year that scientists have been unnecessarily limited in the source of cannabis they’re permitted to study—and it makes sense to enact a policy change that expands their access to products available in state-legal markets.

DEA Says Novel Cannabinoids Including Delta-9 THCO Are Illegal

This week, the DEA revealed in a letter that it views goods containing new cannabinoids like Delta-9 and Delta-8 THCO, also known as THC acetate ester, as Schedule I drugs that are nonetheless unlawful under federal law even if they come from hemp.

Rod Kight, a lawyer for the cannabis sector, received the notification after getting in touch with the organization last August to ask about the status of THCO products’ oversight under the Controlled Substances Act. After receiving a follow-up email on February 7, the organization replied to Kight on Monday, claiming that because the new cannabinoids can only be produced synthetically, they do not believe THC acetate ester products are covered by the 2018 Farm Bill, which federally legalized hemp.

“Delta-9-THCO and delta-8-THCO do not occur naturally in the cannabis plant and can only be obtained synthetically, and therefore do not fall under the definition of hemp.” — DEA, in the letter to attorney Rob Kight In a blog post about the development, Kight said the letter confirms his concerns about “the proliferation of THC acetate ester,” which can be easily found in products sold via online marketplaces alongside other cannabinoids such as CBD and delta-8 THC. Kight notes that delta-8 THC “falls within the definition of ‘hemp’ because it is a ‘derivative’ as set forth in the 2018 Farm Bill.”

“For this reason, many people assume that THCO also meets the definition of a hemp derivative since it is typically created from a starter cannabinoid. This is not correct,” Kight wrote. “D8 is distinguishable from THCO because the hemp plant naturally produces D8; however, it does not produce THCO. From this perspective … THCO is properly seen as synthetic THC, not ‘hemp.’”

Wu-Tang’s Raekwon Seeking to Rehab Historic New Jersey Building for Consumption Lounge

According to Jersey Digs, the marijuana business that Raekwon, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, owns a portion of plans to construct an adult-use cannabis club in Newark, New Jersey. The city’s historic building, which once housed the engineering company A.R. Meeker & Co. and Stoutenburgh & Co. Newark Clothiers, will be renovated as part of the rapper’s plans. e Newark Hashstoria lounge’s design would make the structure look more cohesive. The project’s principal, Rachael Grochowski, of RHG Architecture + Design, said there will be “community art in the window that would be changing.”The structure, which was constructed in 1839 and is located in Newark’s Four Corners Historic District, has undergone a number of updates throughout time The application has been unanimously approved by the Landmarks Commission. New Jersey only recently announced it would allow social cannabis consumption and the state is accepting public comments until March 18, after which the rules will be finalized and adopted. Once the rules are filed and published in the New Jersey Register, the commission will accept consumption area applications for dispensaries already in operation or that have their permits.Hashstoria currently has locations in Astoria, Gladstone, and Springfield, Oregon. The New Jersey location is set to open in March..