Twitter becomes first major social platform to allow weed ads

Elon Musk is backing up all his 420 tweets.The owner of Twitter, who sparked a media firestorm after he puffed on a spliff during an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, is making good on speculation that his acquisition of the platform might make it more cannabis-friendly. The company changed its policy to allow U.S. cannabis companies to advertise on its platform Tuesday — although with numerous restrictions.

“It is a groundbreaking thing for many cannabis advertisers to be able to reach their markets and their audiences without doing any type of workarounds,” said Amy Deneson, co-founder of the Cannabis Media Council, a trade association focused on cannabis education. To advertise on Twitter, cannabis companies must be pre-authorized by Twitter and meet many requirements. Perhaps the most significant restriction is that cannabis companies can’t promote or offer for sale cannabis products.

By MONA ZHANG

Among the other requirements cannabis companies must adhere to:

1. Be licensed by the “appropriate authorities”

2. Only target ads to areas where they are licensed to promote products or services online

3. Not target those under 21

4. Assume all legal responsibility for complying with applicable laws and regulations

5. Cannabis advertisements also can’t appeal to minors, make any health claims or show any depictions of cannabis use.

6. Even with this change in Twitter policy, some cannabis companies won’t be able to take advantage of the platform for advertising due to state laws restricting online cannabis advertising.

Cannabis is a complex, multifaceted, and occasionally controversial plant. Cannabis has a wide range of uses and is used in a variety of industries and goods, particularly in the medical sector.

What to know about cannabis?

Although there is a lot of science involved in understanding cannabis, we’ll try to make it as simple as possible: There are more than 120 cannabinoids—components of cannabis—in all. The two most well-known and extensively studied cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The “high” that many people identify with cannabis is caused by THC, but CBD, which you may have seen in the form of oils, candies, beverages, and other products for medical use, is a non-intoxicating, non-euphoric component.

How can CBD be used to benefit health?

There is no denying that CBD has grown to be highly popular and has spawned a new sector; in fact, JWU now offers a degree in Cannabis Entrepreneurship. Even while scientists are still trying to figure out how well CBD works as a medicine, there have already been several encouraging findings. Here are seven health benefits of CBD that have been demonstrated.

1. Lowering blood pressure

A study conducted by JCI Insight in 2017 found that CBD lowered the blood pressure of human participants. It reduced their resting blood pressure as well as their blood pressure after stress tests including mental arithmetic, isometric exercise, and the cold pressor test.

2. Reducing inflammation

CBD has been proven to help reduce inflammation and the neuropathic pain it can cause, according to a study by the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research.

3. Preventing relapse in drug and alcohol addiction

A 2018 study discovered that CBD can be useful in helping people who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction. A preclinical trial with lab rats determined that CBD reduced the stress-induced cravings, anxiety and lack of impulse control that often cause people to relapse.

4. Treating anxiety disorders

Anxiety is perhaps the most common affliction that people have used CBD for, and a preclinical study found that CBD could be effective in treating generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

5. Treating gastrointestinal (GI) disorders

A recent study found that CBD and other non-psychoactive cannabinoids can effectively be used to prevent and treat GI disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis and more. CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties are key to reducing and preventing symptoms.

6. Preventing seizures

Decades of research have gone into using CBD to treat epilepsy and other seizure syndromes, and a recent study showed it can have positive effects in reducing symptoms and seizure frequency.

7. Taking on cancer

In addition to being used to lessen the side effects of chemotherapy, studies have shown that CBD has a number of anti-cancer properties that can help prevent a wide range of cancers, treat tumors, and strengthen the immune system. It has also been shown to stop cell growth and induce cell death in cervical cancer cell lines.