CONGRESS PUSHES BACK AGAINST VA ON POT AND PTSD

The nearly decade-long battle to get American veterans access to medical cannabis continued on Capitol Hill this week. 

With the exception of seeing little kids with extreme forms of epilepsy like Dravet’s Syndrome, nothing went further in changing the national conversation around medical cannabis than supporting vets with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This movement was a direct result of first-hand experiences with medical cannabis safety and efficacy when it came to PTSD, as more veterans continue to take their own lives. In its own 2017 study on cannabis and PTSD, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) noted over one-third of patients seeking cannabis for medical purposes list PTSD as the primary reason for the request, and 15% of VA patients at outpatient clinics are using medical cannabis in the last six months. 

Cannabis Caucus founder Rep. Earl Blumenauer picked the fight up this week, to get vets access to cannabis. He originally started pushing the effort in 2014. In 2016, things looked great, but the language ended up getting stripped in final negotiations by then-Illinois Senator Mark Kirk. 

At the time, Blumenauer noted, “It’s incredibly frustrating and disappointing that despite broad bipartisan, bicameral support, a handful of out-of-touch lawmakers put politics over the well-being of America’s wounded warriors. Our veterans deserve better. We will continue to seek every opportunity to make sure they have fair and equal treatment and the ability to consult with, and seek a recommendation from, their personal VA physician about medical marijuana.”

But things are looking up. On Wednesday, Blumenauer passed an amendment to end the VA’s prohibition on providers assisting veterans in accessing state-legal medical cannabis. Not only did it pass, it passed unanimously in a voice vote. In this heavily divided Congress, surely that is a reasonable sign of how bipartisan supporting veterans is. 

After the amendment passed on Wednesday, Blumenauer told L.A. Weekly,

“Veterans in Oregon and across the country have shared with me how medical cannabis has literally saved their lives. It is a gross injustice that the VA continues to prohibit its providers from helping veterans access medical cannabis. My amendment with Brian Mast would finally allow the VA to help veterans complete forms in compliance with state-legal cannabis programs, allowing them to access a far less addictive alternative to opioids in managing PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other chronic conditions.”

Blumenauer also came out against the VA’s move to strongly advocate against medical cannabis as a treatment for PTSD this week. This recommendation came despite the VA noting some participants from its own focus groups, “spoke about the benefits of newer pharmacologic treatments (e.g., ketamine) and were interested in exploring other newer treatments such as psilocybin, cannabis, LSD, and other psychedelics.” 

The VA cited that same 2017 study we mentioned before when it came out strongly against using cannabis for PTSD. But that study’s own authors noted there are very few methodologically rigorous studies examining the effects of cannabis in patients with PTSD. 

“We found only two observational studies, which suggest that cannabis is potentially associated with neutral effects on PTSD or depression symptom severity, and employment status, and negative effects in terms of violent behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicidal ideation,” the authors noted in their findings. “However, the strength of evidence is rated as insufficient due to the potential for bias in the two included studies in this review and the small number of controlled studies reporting data on benefits and harms of cannabis for treating PTSD symptoms.”

So how can something that notes how limited the information being used is be the ethos for the VA’s prohibition on medical cannabis for PTSD? And with all the discussion around vets and cannabis, how is this still what they are citing in the debate all these years later? How has the VA not pushed this research further in that time period?

In a letter to the VA’s leadership, Blunenauer said, “The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense have a long history of claiming the best interest of our veterans and servicemembers only to deny the reality of medical marijuana as a key treatment option for those impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Blumenauer went on to note the updated June 2023 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of PTSD perpetuates this misguided denial of services to our nation’s veterans. 

“For decades, I have heard from veterans across the country that medical cannabis has been a life-saving treatment for PTSD,” Blumensauer told the VA and DOD leadership. “I urge you to reconsider the antiquated and insufficient recommendation against the use of cannabis or cannabis derivatives in treating patients with PTSD.”

Etienne Fontan of Berkeley Patients Group and Veterans Action Council was pleased with Blumenauer’s success. 

“We want to thank Blumeneur and the Cannabis Caucus for keeping true to their words to help veterans gain cannabis access via the VA. Many politicians talk a lot of talk, but very few walk the line like they have for us. We are grateful for their continued support on this issue,” Fontan told L.A. Weekly, “This has been the work of many hands and organizations to get us to this point, and we are not across the line yet. This is a significant first step in the direction that many veterans want to see nationwide. It must still get through the House, and the President must sign it, and we will remain skeptical until the process plays out fully.”

Fontan closed by noting activists have been disappointed too many times in the past with promises that never see fruition.

VIBES AND THE LAST PRISONER PROJECT DROP RELEASE PAPERS

Vibes and The Last Prisoner Project are releasing a new line of papers advocating for the release of cannabis prisoners. 

Founded by Cookies co-founder and rapper Berner, Vibes has carved a place for itself in the higher-end rolling paper scene traditionally dominated by Raw’s unbleached papers and Elements. Regardless of how difficult it is to truly claim a chunk of the rolling paper market, Vibes was able to pull it off. A variety of sizes and offerings you just don’t see from the competition also helped put the company on the map. 

Vibes will now turn that energy to aid the Last Prisoner Project(LPP). At the end of July, Vibes and LPP launched Release Papers in collaboration with the creatives at Mother. The papers now serve as the heart of an advocacy campaign looking to push the continued release of cannabis prisoners. 

“So many people are still locked up with lengthy sentences related to cannabis. While at the same time, so many states have made up their mind that cannabis should be legal, and those states are where those people are still serving time, which makes absolutely no sense,” Berner said when announcing the effort. “Campaigns like this are part of who I am, we have to speak up, stand next to and support causes like Last Prisoner Project. I’ve helped raise awareness for Richard Delisi, Corvain Cooper and soon, Robert Deals. There are so many more people to fight for, and I need your help to fight for their freedom.” 

The collaborators went on to note 72% of Americans support cannabis pardons for the numerous folks serving time for nonviolent cannabis offenses.

The general ethos of the campaign is to use RELEASE PAPERS as an educational tool that will also get the public to engage in advocating for those still behind bars. The papers will include the name of one of the four prisoners featured in the pack. They are:

• Edwin Rubis, currently serving a 40-year sentence in Talladega, Alabama, for a victimless offense
• Hector McGurk, serving a life sentence in Victorville, California, without the possibility of parole for a nonviolent marijuana offense
• Moe Taher, sentenced to 25 years in prison in Welch, West Virginia, for selling cannabis
• Ricardo Ashmeade, serving a 22-year sentence in Pollock, Louisiana, for a victimless offense. Despite a reclassification of a California conviction from a felony to a misdemeanor, the federal courts have refused to resentence him.

The collaborators noted inside the pack people will find a QR code directing them to release-papers.com. The site gives supporters the opportunity to sign the Cannabis Clemency Now petition urging President Biden to release federal cannabis prisoners. Site visitors also will be able to participate in the letter-writing program supporting the featured inmates. 

I work at a dispensary that used to organize letter-writing campaigns for Eddy Lepp, one of California’s most famous medical cannabis prisoners. He always notes how thankful he was when mail call came and it showed how much people cared about his fight. It’s not unreasonable to think the same could be said for the four prisoners featured in this campaign. 

“Vibes Release Papers are helping illuminate the injustice our constituents continue

to face, even as more states legalize cannabis. President Biden has the power to right

history and free Edwin, Hector, Moe and Ricardo with the stroke of a pen, says

Stephanie Shepard, LPP board member and director of advocacy. “We are grateful to

have Vibes join our fight, as we keep advocating until everyone still incarcerated for

cannabis is fully free.”

A portion of the profits also will go back to the Last Prisoner Project to support its efforts in calling on President Biden to grant clemency to the tens of thousands of individuals currently incarcerated due to federal cannabis-related convictions.

MISSOURI CELEBRATES FIRST ADULT-USE CANNABIS SALE

Missouri’s first weekend of legal cannabis sales is in the books. 

The nearly 200 dispensaries dotting the state netted $12.6 million in sales in the first three days of adult-use sales. There is an argument to be made that number may have been higher had the permit release timing been a little clearer; even operators didn’t realize they would be allowed to commence sales Friday. 

John Mueller is the CEO of Missouri’s largest operator Greenlight, a multi-state operator that has 15 retail permits in Missouri. Mueller, a Missouri native, told L.A. Weekly that Greenlight had its fair share of action over the weekend, with sales doubling overnight once adult-use kicked in. 

Mueller notes the tail end of last week was a bit of a gray zone. 

“Then what happened is, on Thursday, the state said they would start issuing out the licenses and you didn’t have to wait. We thought they would have all licenses at open at whatever time on the sixth,” Mueller explained.

They would get the permit at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning and be open in an hour and a half. But unlike the big lines we’re used to seeing outside dispensaries on opening day, at first it was a quest by consumers to confirm the news on shops opening earlier than expected. Mueller says the phone continues to ring off the hook in that regard. 

Even with the traditional first sale not the spectacle it’s been in other states, dispensaries did great. Mueller noted some places saw up to four times the amount of usual foot traffic depending on where. 

Mueller said there is plenty to be happy about besides the numbers. He feels dispensary operators got a lot to work with in the regulations. 

“Thrilled with the performance, but there is a whole lot of stuff. You know we got drive-through here authorized, express pick-up windows in the lobbies and then also making sure that that patient wasn’t relegated to a bad status.”

Greenlight has separated the adult-use and medical lines at the dispensaries to make sure none of the state’s 200,000 medical cannabis patients feel left behind in the transition over to adult-use sales. 

Mueller doesn’t feel like things have been overly restrictive on operators, apart from the normal childproofing packaging and things like that.

“We carry about 300 products per store, so we’re a pretty wide selection and we’ve got a pretty robust cultivation and manufacturing side of this equation,” Mueller said. 

He noted the dispensaries currently operating are able to acquire flower from 28 different cultivators in the state. He thinks there are about 50 different manufacturers in the state that are all cranking out products too. 

While that number may sound small to Californians, it’s still a decent number of producers on day one. We asked Mueller if it was enough for a real level of competition similar to the fight for shelf space we’re seeing on the west coast. 

He was quick to argue, sure. Currently, Greenlight’s discount eighths are running $25, with the top shelf clocking in at $45. 

There weren’t a lot of surprises for Greenlight during the transition. The company was able to lean on its past experiences transitioning from a medical market to adult-use in Nevada. Greenlight also has operations across the southeast and midwest in Arkansas, West Virginia, Illinois and South Dakota.

Photo: Pretty DrugThings/Unsplash

PSYCHEDELIC DECRIMINALIZATION BILL PASSES CA ASSEMBLY

The California State Assembly passed this year’s effort at psychedelic decriminalization, sending it off to a Senate that has already passed it previously for a final stamp before heading on to the Governor’s desk. 

Things look good for psychedelic decrim in The Golden State. Senate Bill 58 would remove criminal penalties for the personal possession of certain naturally occurring psychedelics. The list includes psilocybin/psilocin, Dimethyltryptamine (“DMT”), and mescaline. 

Peyote is excluded to prevent drug tourism from leading to its extinction in the wild. Indigenous users in California already have federal protections, so they don’t need to worry about it.  

Before sending it back to the Senate after its 42-13 vote, the Assembly added amendments to establish a working group under the California Health and Human Services (CalHHS) Agency. It would be tasked with issuing a recommended framework governing the future therapeutic use of the substances specified in this bill. The working group would be mandated to issue that report laying out the plan by Jan. 1, 2025. 

There would also need to be another bill that came out of that report that would officially implement whatever the guidelines and structure of everything are figured out. 

“California’s veterans, first responders, and others struggling with PTSD, depression, and addiction deserve access to these promising plant medicines,” said Senator Scott Wiener, who continues to lead the effort. “SB 58 has prudent safeguards in place after we incorporated feedback from three years of deep engagement with a broad array of stakeholders. We know these substances are not addictive, and they show tremendous promise in treating many of the most intractable conditions driving our nation’s mental health crisis. It’s time to stop criminalizing people who use psychedelics for healing or personal well-being.”

After the victory, Weiner took to Instagram to thank the veterans and medical professionals who helped push the bill across the finish line in the Assembly. 

“Every day that criminal penalties prevent veterans from accessing psychedelic plant medicines is a day their lives are at risk,” said Jesse Gould, veteran and founder of the Heroic Hearts Projects. “Psychedelics helped heal the unseen scars from my service in the War on Terror after traditional medicine failed me for years. Since then, I’ve dedicated my life to educating veterans in the safe and effective use of psychedelics. Removing criminal penalties for the use of these substances will help that work, not hurt it.”

Heroic Hearts connects veterans to psychedelic therapy for treating complex trauma and has become an international voice for veterans demanding effective mental health treatment options. Gould was originally cured of his PTSD during an ayahuasca retreat in the jungles of Peru. Quickly realizing its impact on his life, he founded Heroic Hearts in 2017 to help fellow veterans try to get the same level of personal healing he achieved in the jungle. 

Other advocates were also excited about the potential relief for veterans. Currently, veteran suicide rates are 1.5 times that of the general public. 

“I was against psychedelics until I was in a dark place, and the V.A. helped me through psychedelic research with my severe PTSD,” said Courtney Ellington, executive director of One Vet One Voice. “When we decriminalize psychedelics, we help those who are trying to help themselves. Psychedelic decriminalization equals street drug prevention, suicide prevention, and an opportunity to build a better community.”

In addition to Weiner, SB 58 is co-authored by Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) and Assemblymembers Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley), Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), Alex Lee (D-Fremont), and Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland). Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) is a principal co-author.

Photo: Andy Feliciotti

ADVOCATES WANT CANNABIS DESCHEDULED NOT RESCHEDULED

Last week’s leaked letter from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommending that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance under federal law was lacking for advocates who want to see it descheduled. 

All of the OG cannabis reformers are weighing in. Congressman Earl Blumenauer has been involved in cannabis reform for 50 years. He founded the Congressional Cannabis Caucus in 2017. 

“This is a step in the right direction, but it is not sufficient. I hope it is followed by more significant reforms,” Blumenauer said. “This is long overdue.”

Blumenauer noted he pushed the Biden Administration to deschedule marijuana last December. Later in the spring, he called for more transparency in the wider Controlled Substances Act scheduling process. 

NORML, the nation’s oldest marijuana reform organization, noted the DEA said as recently as 2016, cannabis had no current accepted medical use regardless of all the babies with Dravet’s Syndrome that started the CBD explosion making national headlines for years at that point. The DEA will have the final say in all of this; we know how it went the last four times. 

NORML’s deputy director and longtime policy ninja, Paul Armentano, weighed in on the letter.

“It will be very interesting to see how DEA responds to this recommendation, given the agency’s historic opposition to any potential change in cannabis’ categorization under federal law,”  Armentano said. “Further, for decades, the agency has utilized its own five-factor criteria for assessing cannabis’ placement in the CSA — criteria that as recently as 2016, the agency claimed that cannabis failed to meet. Since the agency has final say over any rescheduling decision, it is safe to say that this process still remains far from over.”

Like Blumenauer, NORML has been calling for cannabis to be removed from the Controlled Substances Act for years. They recommend doing it in a manner that’s similar to liquor and tobacco. 

“The goal of any federal cannabis policy reform ought to be to address the existing, untenable chasm between federal marijuana policy and the cannabis laws of the majority of US states,” Armentano said. “Rescheduling the cannabis plant to Schedule III of the US Controlled Substances Act fails to adequately address this conflict, as existing state legalization laws — both adult use and medical — will continue to be in conflict with federal regulations, thereby perpetuating the existing divide between state and federal marijuana policies.”

Armentano closed, noting it’s the same level of intellectual dishonesty to categorize cannabis next to anabolic steroids as it is in its current situation on the list next to heroin.

With the US recreational cannabis market worth more than ever, it would seem something is going to have to be done to remedy the situation. Last week, California announced it had taken in just over $5 billion since the legal market kicked off in 2018, New York City’s first shop did $12 million in its first six months, and there are about 50 more data points off the top of my head why states aren’t going to let this fly. 

In the end, descheduling is likely. But the road is going to be a bit longer. And you can expect it to be the result of a future Congress and White House taking some kind of mandated action that the DEA won’t have a say in. 

IS AI IMPAIRMENT TESTING NEXT FOR CANNABIS? 

Predictmedix Inc. may have the answer to squash concerns about stoned driving.

The lack of a validated mechanism to test someone’s level of impairment from cannabis use on the spot has complicated the national rollout. Regulators and elected officials vent their fears about stoned driving all the time. You can test someone’s saliva, urine, blood or hair, but these detection methodologies are too dated for the modern era. Mostly because they aren’t focused on the moment but whether you’ve used drugs over a more extended time frame that goes long after the impairment has stopped. If you were to base impairment on those tests, you would have a ton of false positives since more of the workforce are enjoying off-the-clock use and have those spent THC metabolites in their system. 

The same people who don’t want to change drug testing laws to protect off-the-clock use are ironically well-versed in the reality of current testing not truly benefiting public safety in real time. But what if you could use artificial intelligence to determine someone’s level of impairment in 20 seconds?

Predictmedix calls itself an emerging provider of rapid health screening, medical devices, and remote patient care solutions globally. Over the last three years, the now publicly traded company has raised $3 million. 

“And all that money has gone into developing the technology. And now we’re commercially deployed,” Toronto venture capitalist Steve Singh told L.A. Weekly. He went on to break down the difference between their tech and the breathalyzer tech that’s been in development for years. “With the breathalyzer and you get a result in 20 minutes that’s biased, with Rahul’s technology, it’s 20 seconds and unbiased.”

The Rahul that Singh mentioned is Dr. Rahul Kushwah who founded Predictmedix after leaving academia to pursue AI-based impairment testing. To date, 50,000 people have now been screened by his Safe Entry Stations at places like The Super Bowl and F1 races. 

The stations are powered by a proprietary AI. It uses multispectral cameras to analyze physiological data patterns with its screening technology to detect many conditions. They include cannabis or alcohol impairment, infectious diseases, mental illness, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, respiratory illnesses, COVID 19, and signs of fatigue. The stations are about 90% accurate. Kushwah told LA Weekly that the tech still had trouble with people under the age of 18 and over 75. If you were to remove those groups from the data pool, he estimates the accuracy would be well over 95%. 

“It’s almost like we have developed this new language. With this language, you can write impairment, you can write fatigue. You can write health care parameters, screening for diseases, whatever you want. So effectively, we have a platform that can be used to screen an unlimited number of things,” Kushwah said. 

We asked Kushwah how helpful it is to have the road out in front of them with no real sign of another mechanism to test a person for their current level of cannabis impairment in the near future.

“So let’s say we talk about cannabis impairment. First of all, this whole concept of using breathalyzers for cannabis just cannot work from a scientific perspective because the only time you can make a freaking correlation is if you can measure the level of THC in the brain,” Kushwah replied. “The THC has to cross the blood-brain barrier to impair you in the first place. So that’s why we’re not even going after measuring THC. What we’re identifying are signs of impairment.”

Kushwah went on to explain, Predictmedix can actually create thresholds in terms of what you want to define as impairment within your organization. If it’s zero tolerance, they can make it that way in the Safe Entry Stations. The red light is going to come on, even if somebody is showing just the slightest signs of impairment. 

Since launching the Safe Entry Station, Predictmedix has worked to scale down the machines to something a bit more manageable. They’ve not reached the point where they’ll release a phone app that pairs with a small multispectral camera you plug into your phone. 

“You put the camera in front of you, you look at the camera, you say a few sentences that are popping up on your phone and that’s it, and that can be used to identify impairment in 10 to 15 seconds,” Kushwah said. 

Kushwah explained the reason for using multispectral imaging is because they don’t really care about how you look on top of your skin. He argues there is no such thing as looking stoned. 

“It’s more about, how are the changes in the underlying blood flow patterns that we are able to identify. And that’s part of the reason that our technology, I mean, is a bit Star Trek in a way. I mean, just think about it. Not only the technology can tell you if you’re impaired if you’re fatigued, but it can also tell you your heart rate, breathing rate, temperature and a lot of your vitals, without even touching you,” Kushwah said. “ And we have completed a few clinical studies in different parts of the world where we have had medical institutions basically signing off on our technology and saying how this is the future and the future is now.”

The app could certainly be a game changer. Imagine police officers being able to give people impairment tests without even getting out of their cars. If they fail, they can do a full sobriety test that would confirm the test or catch a false positive

We’ll continue to keep an eye on how this plays out.