Tag: Cannabis

What Are States Doing With Their Cannabis Tax Revenue?

With weed becoming more popular in American culture in the last decade or so, there have been a lot of pro-cannabis arguments that have made their way to congress and other legislative bodies. There are a ton of good reasons for why cannabis should be legal, and a lot of it involves compassionate healthcare for people that need alternative treatment options.

Prescription medications like opioids and other painkillers are not necessarily getting the job done in our society. However, it is also fair to make the assumption that governing bodies really only care about themselves, and to that extent, money. That is why this is one of my favorite reasons for legalizing cannabis in the United States. The tax revenue that can be pulled from the cannabis industry is enormous. We have already seen how important marijuana is to the American public, and that it has been proven to be in steady demand even through the pandemic. One of the huge benefits that states get from legalizing weed programs is the tax revenue.

Not long ago was the biggest year for the cannabis industry in our country, right until recently came along and broke all of those records. The point is that the marijuana industry makes a lot of financial sense in terms of state benefits. Most states are struggling to allocate money around in their budgets to deal with repercussions from the pandemic and subsequent recessions that followed, but many of the states that have legalized marijuana are realizing huge gains from the industry and are able to put that money to good use. Today, I wanted to talk about some of the states with the highest cannabis tax revenues and talk a little about what they are doing with that money.

Usually, the first step for a state that wants to get involved with marijuana for its residents is to come up with a medical marijuana program. However, this takes a lot of time, energy, and money. States spend millions of dollars in order to effectively launch their medical marijuana programs. The cost of getting everything organized and hiring all the necessary people to license and regulate the industry is expensive. Furthermore, it can take some time before the state actually makes a return on their investment.

However, it is always the case that the state makes their money back, and then some. Can the potential tax revenue influence a state’s decision to legalize marijuana? Absolutely! In fact, legalizing adult use marijuana is generally the next step that states take in the mairjauna journey. States that legalize cannabis see substantial increase in tax revenues, and it is totally possible that this can influence the decision to actually legalize it. After all, why wouldn’t it? State governments love money. So let’s talk about some of the states with the highest cannabis tax revenues. Do you think you’d be able to guess the top 3 states?

If you guessed California, Colorado, and Washington, you would be correct. These states realize massive tax revenues from marijuana, and all 3 states have legalized medical use of weed. So what are some of the things that this tax revenue can be used for? Well, much of the money can be used to fund state medicaid programs, as well as deposited into the department of social and health services.

The money can also be used to fund school systems, like the case in the state of Oregon. Who would have thought that your little kid would be using school supplies funded by the sales of marijuana? I hope that this is insightful for you!

The Benefits of Hemp Candles

Hemp is something that has a lot of benefits, including paper, making it flower that’s smokable, and is even considered a biofuel. There are candles that you can get, and it offers a slow and very steady burn that’s much longer than just wax wicks. This is great for relaxing, and if you’re going to be smoking cannabis, this can offer you a much more effective experience. Not just that though, it’s also got terpenes and cannabinoids, which are great for a variety of reasons, including aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy with Hemp candles

Aromatherapy is something that’s quite old, and it’s something that’s beneficial because of all of the constituents of the plant, such as terpenes that you get to experience when you inhale the plant.

You already do engage in aromatherapy whenever you vape or smoke cannabis, or other extracts. Pinene and limonene two popular terpenes, actually do impact the mood, performance, and your cognitive behaviors. While most people use essential oils, hemp candles are great if you want to fill rooms with molecules that are aromatic, and they do offer the benefit of truly relaxing and also offering the hottest glow to a room, making it nice and warm as well.

Why hemp candles

You may wonder why you should add hemp candles to your experience.

Well, there are a few reasons for this.

First and foremost, it’s got an orange glow that’s soft, different from the harsh blue light that you get from your electronics. It’s great for taking your mind off things and forgetting the world around you. Great for reflecting and meditation, and also is good to figure out your feelings too.

It also saves you a lot of money too. If you’re already using candles, you’ll notice that hemp candles last a whole lot longer, so if you’re already using a lot of candles, you’ll save yourself some money.

It again, is great for aromatherapy, as you can mix the smells together. You can also burn this with different essential oils including those with myrcene and pinene that help you really make a unique flavorful combination.

Finally, you can add to this even more by incorporating cannabinoids. You can add CBD, CBG, and also CBN, in order to take this to the next level. You can inhale a little bit of this, or you can create a type of fusion of CBD with candles too!

Using these

Using them is pretty simple. you basically start with a tiny wick, snipping off any excess. You then want to use a lighter or a long match, angle it so that you don’t burn yourself. You can then wait a few moments before you see the wick catching. You can then let it burn for a bit, until the wax then gets to the candle edge. This is something that burns in a nice, even manner, and you can burn this evenly without the wick potentially caving in as well.

Whenever you see the wick cooled off, or blown out when you’re done with this, you can readjust, cut this as needed, and then prepare it for the future session.

Cannabis is great for this, since you can actually light up your blunts with one of these. This is actually better than regular lighters, as it’s usually greener, healthier, and it definitely is something that’ll take the experience to the next level. So for those interested, this is the perfect type of combination that will really make it shine, and helps you get the best experience possible not just for your own personal enjoyment, but cannabis consumption too!

Cannabis and Glaucoma

For a lot of people, glaucoma makes life very hard. Glaucoma is a type of eye condition that causes blindness, and vision loss. The cause of this is not known, and there are no early warnings to heed, and no cure or way to treat this really. There are however, new ways to approach this, and ways to make the pain a little bit easier, and cannabis has become a big way to treat this condition, as it can help with the intraocular pain that people with glaucoma deal with on a daily basis.

The main symptom that people see is eye fluid issues, and damage to the optic nerve. Those who have a low eye pressure, or normal, this may have a symptom, and some may look into how to protect this optic nerve from damage. Some of the symptoms include eye pain, vision that’s blurred a type of tunnel vision, blind spots, nausea, headaches, vomiting, and even halos near lights, and eyes that are cloudy. You may also be sensitive towards light and may have eyes that are larger than normal.

Types of Glaucoma

Glaucoma comes in different types. The most common is open angle glaucoma, and this is usually due to fluid buildup, and this is usually in the aqueous humor, which is a humor in the eye, and that causes the fluid to drain. When there is too much, it causes eye pressure concerns. There is also normal tension, and this is one that’s a subset of open angle, and this is usually where the eye pressure is normal, but for those who have lower blood pressure, heart conditions, or a genetic history of this, you might suffer from this.

There is also angle closure glaucoma, and this is something that’s actually a major emergency. It happens due to the iris bulging forward, restricting, or even blocking this drainage. It then causes the IOP to increase, and then, it’s something that can cause pain. The outer parts of the iris do drain out the fluid, and due to the rapid fluid buildup, it causes eye pressure to increase, and it can cause blindness in days.

There is also congenital glaucoma, which is rare, and the symptoms are pretty easy for you to view. The eyes are much larger, cloudy, and there is a light sensitivity. This usually involves surgery to prevent total vision loss for the rest of your life.

How cannabis Helps

Cannabis has some promising benefits for those who have glaucoma, as it can help with reducing the IOP in certain people after a few hours, and it peaks around two or so hours. Once these effects did wear off, the IOP did go back to normal. While not a good and effective permanent treatment, it can help with making it better for you, and more manageable.

There are many different ways to take cannabis, so if you want longer time and relief, this can offer some benefits. There is also a chance that due to the antioxidant effects within this, you’ll be able to possibly reduce further damage to the optic nerve. There is also another study that also says that cannabis does target the optic nerve, reducing the IOP damage as well.

Overall, while it’s not s cure, and a means to permanently make it go away, it does have some neuroprotectant, anti-inflammatory, and other means, and there is a chance that it can reduce your optic nerve and other further progression of this. However, because there isn’t a ton of research on this, it’s not a cure, but a possible treatment down the line.

CBD and the pain relationship

Pain is super complex based on the experiences of individuals. Our biology, the environment we’re in, and experiences of the past do involve and influence the perception that we have to pain as well, and sometimes, it’s not that easy to treat. With chronic pain and the management also being a controversy, since opioid pain and medications can be detrimental, one way to fix this is another alternative. CBD and cannabis are those which are currently involved to fight the pain receptors.

Cannabis and Using it for Pain

There is constant legal pressure within the US and Europe to accept cannabis as a way to treat pain. THC and CBD are definitely two of the main compounds, with THC receiving most of the focus, but this is indeed changing.

CBD and pain are constantly changing, and there are so many studies that are done to understand the efficacy of this, with most of the studies so far being performed on different animal models and their pain. most of this is centered around your endocannabinoid receptors.

These are of course the receptors that humans and mammals all have, and they consist of different receptors that do interact with those cannabinoids within the body. This has so many different effects and profiles, all of which are a part of the ECS.

With the endocannabinoid system being more popular than ever before, and humans and mammals utilizing this within the body, and over 100 different cannabinoids with different effects and profiles, all of these do interact with one another. Metabolism, mood, appetite, pain and anxiety, all of these are a result of the endocannabinoid system.

So can CBD help

While CBD is not psychotropic, it does work with the neurotransmitters of thew body. in a study done in 2015 examining the way CBD can influence your ECS through increasing the anandamide levels, this works to reduce pain, and improves you mood.

Then, there was a study which was published in May of 2019 that also examined the relationship that CBD and THC had with chronic pain. in this study, it looked at how tolerated the safety of a mouth spray which had cannabinoids would be, and they were add-ons to natural products for patients who had severe pain that was chronic.

Studies on This

It was found that this is one of the most effective treatments for both mental and physical health. One study involving inflammation looked at the impact that oxidative stress and inflammation had via the mechanisms of the ECS, and while it was inconclusive, it does set up for more in-depth and interesting research from this.

Arthritis is another. With over 60 million adults suffering from this, and over 100 different conditions and effects, it makes sense that this is something that does offer varieties of motion. In a study that was done in 2016, they gave the rat some arthritis medications and CBD, and they looked at this. They didn’t see a ton of changes, but it could help.

Finally, there is neuropathy, which includes a lot of sensitivity, pins and needles, and in some cases, excruciating pain. in a review from 2018, it looked at the potential harm that THC and CBD had when it came to pain, and it found that there were people who used this, and talked about the effects of cannabis, especially on certain problems.

So there are studies, and while it does help, there isn’t anything super conclusive yet, so definitely keep that in mind if you decide to use, and also factor that in too when treating various pain.