#vaping episode of Science Vs

[bibleofficial]

i hate not being able to unpack like i NEED to get into a mf let agreement ASAP 😭😭

[zooophagous]

The podcast "Science VS" did a great episode talking about vaping and how bad all that stuff going into your lungs is! It also explores how flavoring needs to be extensively researched before we can consider it safe - google "popcorn lung" at your own risk.

I'll have to check it out. I'll also go ahead and encourage people to take a hard look at sources that claim vapes are not bad for you, because the tobacco industry has a veeeery long track record of paying for 'research' that conveniently downplays the risks of what they're selling. Is the article from an independent scholarly source that's subject to peer review, or is it an online listicle literally anyone can write?

If it's the latter, consider who may have commissioned that piece to be written.

[ear-worthy]

Three Podcasts About Dreams: ScienceVs; Nerdpreneur; Speaking Of Psychology

Sigmund Freud published The interpretation Of Dreams in 1899 and revised it multiple times. It took almost 100 years to disavow many of the conclusions from Freud's opus. Today, we know more about dreams thanks to knowledge acquired in the field of neuroscience.

Research shows we remember on average one to three dreams per week. However, not everyone is equal when it comes to recalling dreams. People who say they never dream make up around 2.7 to 6.5% of the population. Often, these people used to recall their dreams when they were children. The proportion of people who say they have never dreamt in their entire life is very low: 0.38%.

Dreams fascinate us, and anything that fascinates us often find its way into a podcast, or better yet, multiple podcasts. In this article, we are going to review three recent podcasts that covered dreams. Two of the podcasts take a scientific view of the dreams we have when we are asleep. One podcast takes a deeply philosophical view of the dreams we have when we're awake. Dreams about what we want our lives to be.

 ******************************************************************

 Let's start with Science Vs, which is a long-running show from Spotify Studios that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. The podcast does the hard work of sifting through all the science, so listeners don't have to, and cover everything from 5G and Pandemics, to Vaping and Fasting Diets.

Hosted by science journalist Wendy Zukerman, Science Vs takes on the fads, trends, and opinionated mob to find out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between.

In the show's March 21, 2024 episode, Zukerman and her team covered dreams.  One of their guests, Professor Francesca Siclari, a neuroscientist at Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, said "…And a lot of people associate this stage of sleep — REM — with dreaming… and not just people, but scientists had wrongly thought for ages that we really only dreamt in REM sleep and that’s because if you look at what’s going on in the brain, we had this really neat and tidy story"

Then, Professor Bob Stickgold and his team launched a sleep / dream experiment where they had people to play Tetris over a couple of days. Then just as the test subjects were going to sleep, the team would wake them up and say – "what was going on in your mind just before we woke you up???  And what do you know?"

Stickgold admits: "They just saw Tetris pieces floating down."

Zukerman concludes: "This all suggests is that while we might remember the vivid and weirdo dreams we have ... most of the time through the night, we're dreaming about stuff that's happened to us ...that we've seen."

**************************************************

  "At Nerdpreneur we have fun conversations with people turning their weird passion into a successful business! We interview entrepreneurs from around the world to discover the hacks, tools, and mindsets that turn nerd passion into full-time income."

 I have recommended the Nerdpreneur podcast for nerds and non-nerds. The podcast has highly capable, smart, playful, and insightful co-hosts and fascinating guests, who have transformed their passion into a business.

The podcast boasts that it "interviewed dozens of niche professionals from all over the world, including board game designers, dice retailers, D&D content creators, tarantula breeders, and even a German zombie magician!"

In the April 10, 2024 episode, Chris Saunders and Frank embark on a profound exploration of dreams and aspirations. They delve into the significance of not just dreaming, but actively pursuing those dreams with clarity and intention. Highlighting the transformative power of dreams, the conversation covers various categories, from personal to professional aspirations, emphasizing the importance of setting actionable goals and embracing growth. The episode is underpinned by the powerful message that those who dare to dream with their eyes open possess the potential to bring about real change.

The exercise in the episode is based on the work of Matthew Kelly, as outlined in his book The Dream Manager.

Dream Categories Discussed: Personal Aspirations: Insights into the value of personal growth and the pursuit of happiness through achieving personal dreams. Professional Goals: Strategies for setting and achieving professional milestones, emphasizing the journey of entrepreneurship and career advancement. Creative Dreams: Exploring the desire to create and share art, music, literature, and other forms of creative expression. Adventure Dreams: Encouraging listeners to seek out new experiences and adventures, from travel to unique hobbies. Financial Dreams: Practical advice on setting financial goals, from becoming debt-free to making strategic investments. Legacy Dreams: The importance of creating a lasting impact, whether through charitable actions, community involvement, or inspiring others. Spiritual Dreams: Reflections on the pursuit of inner peace, spiritual growth, and the search for meaning.   The guys end with this quote: "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." – T.E. Lawrence

 I loved the episode because it expands our view of dreams as not just a strange experience while asleep, but an active, awake motivational drive to find ourselves, improve ourselves, and define ourselves. During the episode, Chris and Frank share some of their dreams, including six-pack abs! Kudos to Chris and Frank for a superb episode.

***********************************************

 Speaking of Psychology is an audio podcast series highlighting some of the latest, most important, and relevant psychological research being conducted today.

Produced by the American Psychological Association, the objective of these podcasts is to help listeners apply the science of psychology to their everyday lives.

The host of the podcast is Kim Mills, who is the senior director of strategic external communications and public affairs for the American Psychological Association (APA), where she has worked since 2007. 

On episode 258, Mills welcomed Mark Blagrove, PhD, who is a professor of psychology and the director of the sleep laboratory at Swansea University, U.K. He studies sleep and dreaming, and his research interests includes sleep and memory consolidation, the relationship between what happens in our waking life and our dream content, and how sharing our dreams with others can build empathy.

In the episode, Dr. Blagrove talks about sharing dreams: "there’ve been several papers written on the benefits of that to people and to their friendships and relationships of sharing the dreams to other people and the greater closeness that results as a result of that. There’s even then been work done on the motivations for sharing dreams and the fact that they can be shared for entertainment or out of a wish to find out more about the dream, or because the other person is in the dream, and so they want to share it for that reason."

When Mills asks if there is a difference between non-REM dreams and REM dreams, Dr. Blagrove responds: "Yes, there are qualitative differences. The non-REM dreams are shorter, they may have fewer emotions, fewer characters, fewer scenes, and there is a dispute, a debate goes on about that because if you control for the length of the dream in words, then short rapid eye movement, sleep dreams are very similar to long non-rapid eye movement dreams. Dr. Blagrove continues: "One theory says that actually the REM and non-REM dreams only differ in terms of how long they are, there’s that difference, and they don’t actually have any qualitative difference. They don’t really have any qualitative difference. As you get nearer to the end of the night, the non-REM dreams start to look more like REM dreams. They start to get longer, they start to get more bizarre and with more characters. And so there are all of this multitude of factors coming in that affect the dreams across the night.

Finally, Mills wants to know if animals dream.

Dr. Blagrove: "So there is that type of circumstantial evidence that non-human animals might be having dreams that they’re reacting to during the night. After all, these animals quite possibly have a level of possibly even daydreaming, you could say, similar to us, or imagery going on similar to us. And so possibly it would seep over into their sleep to have dreams as well."

****************************************

I hope you enjoyed this article about three podcasts dedicating episodes to dreams.

Sweet Dreams. 

[foobarshow]

Episode 139 | foobarshow.com The Foos talk about the premier of Geeking Out with The Foos #Joint Report: -Developments on the #Vape #Cartridge deaths around the country -Thickening additives are being used to cut the #THC oil - #VitaminEoil is killing people -Science journals to regulate THC in the #NFL - #Cannabis events in the LA area #Music Highlights: -When I was Young by The #Pharcyde -Carry Me Away by #JohnMayer -Hey Man, Nice Shot by #Filter The Greatest #ThemeSong of All Time - #Television : - #Family Guy vs #Happy Days . - #FoxSports vs #MadMen . - #GameofThrones vs #TheWalkingDead . - #Animaniacs vs #XMen . https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RlAz1pTbQ/?igshid=1gy6mmbx3lvl5

[weedconsortium2]

According to a September 3, 2019 report by Mike Adams, There are Two Things Happening Right Now That Could Force U.S. Government To End Marijuana Prohibition:

Is the United States on the verge of federal marijuana legalization? 

Ready or not, marijuana legalization is on the verge of happening nationwide. Or so they say.

Although Congress really hasn’t made much progress on the issue of cannabis reform in the past nine months, some federal lawmakers still insist that the nation is close to tearing down the walls of marijuana prohibition in the United States, potentially before the end of the year. 

From where I am sitting, however, it seems highly unlikely that the same grey-haired Congress that hasn’t yet managed to pull it together on a simple banking bill is all of a sudden going to rise up and legalize the leaf nationwide as its Christmas gift to the nation.

Sure, the SAFE Banking Act has a heck of a lot of sponsors in the House of Representatives — and more Republican support than you might imagine — but there is still no sign that Senate leadership, a crucial component to all of this bill passing business, is prepared to embrace any pot-related legislation.

As far as we know, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell still isn’t willing to make even the slightest move toward legal weed; however, there have been some wicked, unforeseen developments. 

When Mitch McConnell made it his mission last year to legalize industrial hemp in the United States for the first time since 1937, he probably didn’t think for a second that it was going to inadvertently lead to marijuana legalization. But ending pot prohibition at the federal level might be the only way out of the conundrum that he has created.

You see, law enforcement can’t seem to distinguish between legal hemp and marijuana. After all these decades, the cops still don’t have the technology to tell the difference between the two plants. And that spells trouble.“

It is already causing a slew of problems in states across the nation. Here are three of the most pressing matters that might give Congress absolutely no choice but to surrender to marijuana legalization in the interest of public health and safety. 

Reason #1: Police confused on how to distinguish the difference between​ hemp and marijuana.

In Hemp vs. Marijuana, the Law Enforcement Community is in a State of Confusion Over What Is Hemp and What Is Marijuana But these are high stakes, no pun intended.

What’s the difference between hemp and marijuana? Megan Mittelhammer examined the issue on August 22, 2019:

You might not think there’s a reason to know the distinction between the two leafy green plants, but a new Georgia hemp law just made it a little more important in the state. Marijuana is still not legal in the state, but law enforcement cannot accurately tell the difference between the substances right now. But, what really is the difference between hemp and marijuana?

The science: Marijuana and hemp come from the Cannabis plant but are different variations. Marijuana contains higher amounts of psychoactive THC and can be used for recreational or medicinal purposes, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Hemp, on the other hand, contains 0.3% or less THC, meaning it doesn’t cause the same psychoactive effects. Hemp can be used in health foods, cosmetics and textiles.

Both hemp and marijuana can be used to create CBD extracts, but hemp has a higher concentration of the compound. CBD does not create the same high as THC and can be used for chronic pain and anxiety relief, according to Harvard Medical School. Both hemp and marijuana have extreme physical similarities.

The politics: It’s a confusing time for cannabis-users in the United States. It seems like every state has different regulations on the plant, and Georgia now has stark distinctions between marijuana and hemp. The 2018 Farm Act made hemp production and distribution legal on a federal level and left up to the states for regulation.”

The Associated Press also warned the public back in March 2019 that Legal hemp, pot’s look-alike, creates confusion for police.

However, this is not a new debate. Back on June 4, 2018, in honor of Hemp History Week, Jessica Walters at CannaMD explored the background of “marijuana’s controversial cannabis brother, hemp – a non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis plant, cannabis sativa.” The fact that distinguishing CBD from Marijuana Poses Current Challenges for Law Enforcement is a conundrum.

On September 10, 2019, Marijuana Business Daily highlighted one ambitious anti-cannabis governor targeted hemp, saying plant too close for police:

A Republican governor who strongly opposes cannabis legalization says that allowing hemp cultivation is just as problematic. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem took her argument national in The Wall Street Journal, arguing in an op-ed column that law enforcement doesn’t have the testing capacity to discern between marijuana and legal hemp, which has no more than 0.3% THC.”

Reason #2: Fake Cannabis Vapes Leading To Health Epidemic. Fake vapes could force the federal government to change marijuana laws.

In an additional report by Mike Adams in Forbes, he accurately states that “People all across the United States are developing potentially life-threatening lung issues as a result of using marijuana vaporizers. There have been hundreds of cases reported nationwide where vape users have been admitted to Intensive Care Units of local hospitals for pneumonia-like respiratory infections. At the time that this article was written, there has been at least one death connected to this scourge. This health problem is a direct result of federal cannabis prohibition.

Just like the days when alcohol was outlawed in the United States, back when thousands of people died every year as a result of tainted liquor produced in the underground, black market criminal organizations are counterfeiting popular cannabis brands.

These knock offs are being sold all over the country — the only way to curb (or stop) this sort of thing from happening is to end marijuana prohibition at the federal level and allow weed to be taxed and regulated like tobacco and alcohol. It is conflicting state and federal law that has allowed the black market to swell into the monster that it has become.

So, if fake cannabis vapes end up spawning a vicious health epidemic that puts more Americans at risk of life threatening health issues, that might be enough to inspire the federal government to make a change. Let’s just hope that something happens, though, before more people end up sick or dead.”

CDC Says Number Of Possible Cases Of Vaping-Related Lung Illness Has Doubled, reported Joe Neel. While Vaping-Related Lung Disease Prompts Public Health Questions Across Cannabis Industry pointed out that:

With five vaping-related deaths leading national headlines, the industry examines hypotheses about this rash of illnesses. The perplexing narrative of vaping-related lung illnesses escalated into a full-blown national media frenzy last week with news that a fifth person had died from alarming pulmonary symptoms. While not every case of this mysterious disease is linked to concentrated cannabinoid cartridges (or even products sold in legal state cannabis markets), the question of what, precisely, is causing vaping technology to harm individuals has captured the American consumer’s attention.”

New York State Department of Health issued a warning against illicit-market vape products on September 6, 2019, including various branded cartridges obtained across the U.S. in recent years.

The state’s health officials pointed specifically to vitamin E acetate as a potential culprit. Even as the department was publishing its health advisory, a third death, this time in Indiana, was linked to vaping products; by the weekend, the death count had risen to five. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported more than 450 other cases of vaping-related illnesses in 33 states.”

The dark-blue shading on this map represents U.S. states that have reported cases resembling the vaping-related lung disease. While health officials are targeting all vape products and technologies, the cannabis industry has its own vaping-related concerns alongside the tobacco industry. 

A 2017 study published in ACS Omega by Jiries Meehan-Atrash, Wentai Luo and Robert M. Strongin from Oregon State University, titled “Toxicant Formation in Dabbing,” found ‘issues with terpene concentration in cannabis extracts and nicotine cartridges.’”

The national debate about vape cartridge and vaporizers is not new. Three months ago, Kenneth Morrow’s June 18, 2019 article What’s in Your Vape Cartridge.

Five months ago on April 5, 2019, Justine Griffin examined the vital cannabis question If smoking is bad, how can smoking medical marijuana be good? We asked doctors:

While smoking medical marijuana is touted for its health benefits, smoking still comes with risks. Doctors say they look forward to seeing more research on the subject as more states allow marijuana in smokable form.

When Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature made it legal last month to smoke medical marijuana, they did it in the name of better health — the idea that thousands of Floridians would gain relief from a variety of illnesses. Yet it seemed to run counter to everything modern medicine says about smoking. Isn’t it really bad for you?

Physicians say yes: Smoking anything, be it tobacco or cannabis, comes with some risk. But the answer is more complicated”

Bottom lines:

Smoking and vaping both cause health concerns. 

Law enforcement is confused about cannabis and hemp products. 

Meanwhile, in addition to the FDLE, both the Boards of Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine need to be more heavily involved in this medical marijuana conversation, both on the national and state levels.

But in addition to the two reasons mentioned above, I would argue that there is a third, vitally important reason that will force marijuana reform at a federal level.

Reason #3: Physicians-in-training are not prepared to prescribe medical marijuana. Therefore, a small number of Florida doctors are approving thousands of medical marijuana patients in Florida. 

In November 2017, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, warned:

With even more states on the cusp of legalizing medical marijuana, physician training should adapt to encompass this new reality of medical practice. iui(1) While most physicians-in-training think education about medical marijuana should be required; (2) only 9% of medical schools have medical marijuana documented in their curriculum; and (3) education can improve physician preparedness to prescribe medical marijuana.”

How can we improve awareness of cannabis as a medicine within the medical community? The Society of Cannabis Clinicians offers the insightful Educating Healthcare Professionals About the Medical Use of Cannabis.

But right now, the state and national medical boards are not part of this vital cannabis conversation at all, and Florida recently discovered the abysmal fact that Just 89 doctors certify 94,850 Florida medical  marijuana patients, report finds, as reported by Christine Sexton on September 3, 2019:

As the number of Floridians allowed to use medical marijuana continues to grow, new numbers show that a relative handful of doctors have been responsible for a majority of the patients approved for pot. Florida had 168,810 patient ‘certifications’ for medical marijuana between Oct. 1 and March 31, and more than half of them came from 89 doctors, according to a new draft state report on medical marijuana.

The report has alarmed members of a special panel of doctors charged with keeping tabs on the ordering patterns of physicians who can authorize patients to take medical marijuana. Panel members fear that if left unabated, medical marijuana will become the state’s next public-health problem.

Although members of the Physician Certification Pattern Review Panel of the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine were hazy about what sort of recommendations they should submit, with concerns stemmed from data showing that 1,207 physicians had active medical-marijuana certifications during the six-month review period, but just 89 of them were responsible for 94,850 of certifications. Put another way, 7 percent of the physicians were responsible for 56 percent of the medical marijuana certifications.”

Larry Dobrow closely examines this cannabis educational void in his September 16, 2019 article, Everyone says they know cannabis, but most professionals need an education: “For all the talk about how cannabis will transform the worlds of health and wellness, one impediment stands in the way of its ascendance: an education gap. Marketers and entrepreneurs of all stripes want to hop on the cannabis bandwagon as soon as possible, but many of them don’t know what they don’t know.”

This presents a highly problematic situation because Medical marijuana markets expanding at varying rates, with Oklahoma, Florida setting the pace as explained by Maggie Cowee on August 13, 2019:

While medical marijuana is legally available in 36 states and Washington DC, the fragmented nature of the industry – each state creates its own set of rules – means each market grows at a different rate. The new quarterly release of the Marijuana Business Factbook presents updated profiles of each state market, highlighting the growth occurring in each. An analysis of state markets that release patient counts on at least a quarterly basis reveals several key takeaways. 

Namely that Florida is the second-fastest-growing market in terms of patients joining the registry, with registered patients making up 1.6% of the state’s total population. This leaves room for further growth, which may occur from the recent legalization of smokable flower and continued wide access to dispensaries.”

In October 2018, the U.S. showed a Record-High Number Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana, as reported by Lydia O’Connor, with 66% supporting legal weed. That’s roughly two-thirds of Americans, marking a record-high approval rate and  a stance more and more Americans have taken this stance since 2000, when only 31% endorsed legalization, finding that:

Legal weed is now supported by a majority of Americans across various demographics. The record-high support comes in spite of the federal illegality.”

Additionally, Marijuana Policy Project’s resources on Medical Marijuana indicate that: “Because Congress and the DEA have failed to make medical cannabis legal — despite ample evidence of its safety and efficacy —polls consistently show that states have enacted their own laws to protect patients.”

For further information on  medical marijuana in the U.S., view  their informative Medical Marijuana by the Numbers and read the Medical Marijuana Briefing Paper.

The post Battle of the Weedwork Stars, Final Episode? appeared first on CBD Oil Vape Liquid Spray - Cbd Pain Relief Capsules - Weed Consortium.

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[bestmarijuanaboutiques]

Battle of the Weedwork Stars, Final Episode?

New Post has been published on https://bestmarijuanaboutiques.com/?post_type=wprss_feed_item&p=23672

Battle of the Weedwork Stars, Final Episode?

According to a September 3, 2019 report by Mike Adams, There are Two Things Happening Right Now That Could Force U.S. Government To End Marijuana Prohibition:

Is the United States on the verge of federal marijuana legalization? 

Ready or not, marijuana legalization is on the verge of happening nationwide. Or so they say.

Although Congress really hasn’t made much progress on the issue of cannabis reform in the past nine months, some federal lawmakers still insist that the nation is close to tearing down the walls of marijuana prohibition in the United States, potentially before the end of the year. 

From where I am sitting, however, it seems highly unlikely that the same grey-haired Congress that hasn’t yet managed to pull it together on a simple banking bill is all of a sudden going to rise up and legalize the leaf nationwide as its Christmas gift to the nation.

Sure, the SAFE Banking Act has a heck of a lot of sponsors in the House of Representatives — and more Republican support than you might imagine — but there is still no sign that Senate leadership, a crucial component to all of this bill passing business, is prepared to embrace any pot-related legislation.

As far as we know, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell still isn’t willing to make even the slightest move toward legal weed; however, there have been some wicked, unforeseen developments. 

When Mitch McConnell made it his mission last year to legalize industrial hemp in the United States for the first time since 1937, he probably didn’t think for a second that it was going to inadvertently lead to marijuana legalization. But ending pot prohibition at the federal level might be the only way out of the conundrum that he has created.

You see, law enforcement can’t seem to distinguish between legal hemp and marijuana. After all these decades, the cops still don’t have the technology to tell the difference between the two plants. And that spells trouble.“

It is already causing a slew of problems in states across the nation. Here are three of the most pressing matters that might give Congress absolutely no choice but to surrender to marijuana legalization in the interest of public health and safety. 

Reason #1: Police confused on how to distinguish the difference between​ hemp and marijuana.

In Hemp vs. Marijuana, the Law Enforcement Community is in a State of Confusion Over What Is Hemp and What Is Marijuana But these are high stakes, no pun intended.

What’s the difference between hemp and marijuana? Megan Mittelhammer examined the issue on August 22, 2019:

You might not think there’s a reason to know the distinction between the two leafy green plants, but a new Georgia hemp law just made it a little more important in the state. Marijuana is still not legal in the state, but law enforcement cannot accurately tell the difference between the substances right now. But, what really is the difference between hemp and marijuana?

The science: Marijuana and hemp come from the Cannabis plant but are different variations. Marijuana contains higher amounts of psychoactive THC and can be used for recreational or medicinal purposes, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Hemp, on the other hand, contains 0.3% or less THC, meaning it doesn’t cause the same psychoactive effects. Hemp can be used in health foods, cosmetics and textiles.

Both hemp and marijuana can be used to create CBD extracts, but hemp has a higher concentration of the compound. CBD does not create the same high as THC and can be used for chronic pain and anxiety relief, according to Harvard Medical School. Both hemp and marijuana have extreme physical similarities.

The politics: It’s a confusing time for cannabis-users in the United States. It seems like every state has different regulations on the plant, and Georgia now has stark distinctions between marijuana and hemp. The 2018 Farm Act made hemp production and distribution legal on a federal level and left up to the states for regulation.”

The Associated Press also warned the public back in March 2019 that Legal hemp, pot’s look-alike, creates confusion for police.

However, this is not a new debate. Back on June 4, 2018, in honor of Hemp History Week, Jessica Walters at CannaMD explored the background of “marijuana’s controversial cannabis brother, hemp – a non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis plant, cannabis sativa.” The fact that distinguishing CBD from Marijuana Poses Current Challenges for Law Enforcement is a conundrum.

On September 10, 2019, Marijuana Business Daily highlighted one ambitious anti-cannabis governor targeted hemp, saying plant too close for police:

A Republican governor who strongly opposes cannabis legalization says that allowing hemp cultivation is just as problematic. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem took her argument national in The Wall Street Journal, arguing in an op-ed column that law enforcement doesn’t have the testing capacity to discern between marijuana and legal hemp, which has no more than 0.3% THC.”

Reason #2: Fake Cannabis Vapes Leading To Health Epidemic. Fake vapes could force the federal government to change marijuana laws.

In an additional report by Mike Adams in Forbes, he accurately states that “People all across the United States are developing potentially life-threatening lung issues as a result of using marijuana vaporizers. There have been hundreds of cases reported nationwide where vape users have been admitted to Intensive Care Units of local hospitals for pneumonia-like respiratory infections. At the time that this article was written, there has been at least one death connected to this scourge. This health problem is a direct result of federal cannabis prohibition.

Just like the days when alcohol was outlawed in the United States, back when thousands of people died every year as a result of tainted liquor produced in the underground, black market criminal organizations are counterfeiting popular cannabis brands.

These knock offs are being sold all over the country — the only way to curb (or stop) this sort of thing from happening is to end marijuana prohibition at the federal level and allow weed to be taxed and regulated like tobacco and alcohol. It is conflicting state and federal law that has allowed the black market to swell into the monster that it has become.

So, if fake cannabis vapes end up spawning a vicious health epidemic that puts more Americans at risk of life threatening health issues, that might be enough to inspire the federal government to make a change. Let’s just hope that something happens, though, before more people end up sick or dead.”

CDC Says Number Of Possible Cases Of Vaping-Related Lung Illness Has Doubled, reported Joe Neel. While Vaping-Related Lung Disease Prompts Public Health Questions Across Cannabis Industry pointed out that:

With five vaping-related deaths leading national headlines, the industry examines hypotheses about this rash of illnesses. The perplexing narrative of vaping-related lung illnesses escalated into a full-blown national media frenzy last week with news that a fifth person had died from alarming pulmonary symptoms. While not every case of this mysterious disease is linked to concentrated cannabinoid cartridges (or even products sold in legal state cannabis markets), the question of what, precisely, is causing vaping technology to harm individuals has captured the American consumer’s attention.”

New York State Department of Health issued a warning against illicit-market vape products on September 6, 2019, including various branded cartridges obtained across the U.S. in recent years.

The state’s health officials pointed specifically to vitamin E acetate as a potential culprit. Even as the department was publishing its health advisory, a third death, this time in Indiana, was linked to vaping products; by the weekend, the death count had risen to five. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported more than 450 other cases of vaping-related illnesses in 33 states.”

The dark-blue shading on this map represents U.S. states that have reported cases resembling the vaping-related lung disease. While health officials are targeting all vape products and technologies, the cannabis industry has its own vaping-related concerns alongside the tobacco industry. 

A 2017 study published in ACS Omega by Jiries Meehan-Atrash, Wentai Luo and Robert M. Strongin from Oregon State University, titled “Toxicant Formation in Dabbing,” found ‘issues with terpene concentration in cannabis extracts and nicotine cartridges.’”

The national debate about vape cartridge and vaporizers is not new. Three months ago, Kenneth Morrow’s June 18, 2019 article What’s in Your Vape Cartridge.

Five months ago on April 5, 2019, Justine Griffin examined the vital cannabis question If smoking is bad, how can smoking medical marijuana be good? We asked doctors:

While smoking medical marijuana is touted for its health benefits, smoking still comes with risks. Doctors say they look forward to seeing more research on the subject as more states allow marijuana in smokable form.

When Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature made it legal last month to smoke medical marijuana, they did it in the name of better health — the idea that thousands of Floridians would gain relief from a variety of illnesses. Yet it seemed to run counter to everything modern medicine says about smoking. Isn’t it really bad for you?

Physicians say yes: Smoking anything, be it tobacco or cannabis, comes with some risk. But the answer is more complicated”

Bottom lines:

Smoking and vaping both cause health concerns. 

Law enforcement is confused about cannabis and hemp products. 

Meanwhile, in addition to the FDLE, both the Boards of Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine need to be more heavily involved in this medical marijuana conversation, both on the national and state levels.

But in addition to the two reasons mentioned above, I would argue that there is a third, vitally important reason that will force marijuana reform at a federal level.

Reason #3: Physicians-in-training are not prepared to prescribe medical marijuana. Therefore, a small number of Florida doctors are approving thousands of medical marijuana patients in Florida. 

In November 2017, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, warned:

With even more states on the cusp of legalizing medical marijuana, physician training should adapt to encompass this new reality of medical practice. iui(1) While most physicians-in-training think education about medical marijuana should be required; (2) only 9% of medical schools have medical marijuana documented in their curriculum; and (3) education can improve physician preparedness to prescribe medical marijuana.”

How can we improve awareness of cannabis as a medicine within the medical community? The Society of Cannabis Clinicians offers the insightful Educating Healthcare Professionals About the Medical Use of Cannabis.

But right now, the state and national medical boards are not part of this vital cannabis conversation at all, and Florida recently discovered the abysmal fact that Just 89 doctors certify 94,850 Florida medical  marijuana patients, report finds, as reported by Christine Sexton on September 3, 2019:

As the number of Floridians allowed to use medical marijuana continues to grow, new numbers show that a relative handful of doctors have been responsible for a majority of the patients approved for pot. Florida had 168,810 patient ‘certifications’ for medical marijuana between Oct. 1 and March 31, and more than half of them came from 89 doctors, according to a new draft state report on medical marijuana.

The report has alarmed members of a special panel of doctors charged with keeping tabs on the ordering patterns of physicians who can authorize patients to take medical marijuana. Panel members fear that if left unabated, medical marijuana will become the state’s next public-health problem.

Although members of the Physician Certification Pattern Review Panel of the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine were hazy about what sort of recommendations they should submit, with concerns stemmed from data showing that 1,207 physicians had active medical-marijuana certifications during the six-month review period, but just 89 of them were responsible for 94,850 of certifications. Put another way, 7 percent of the physicians were responsible for 56 percent of the medical marijuana certifications.”

Larry Dobrow closely examines this cannabis educational void in his September 16, 2019 article, Everyone says they know cannabis, but most professionals need an education: “For all the talk about how cannabis will transform the worlds of health and wellness, one impediment stands in the way of its ascendance: an education gap. Marketers and entrepreneurs of all stripes want to hop on the cannabis bandwagon as soon as possible, but many of them don’t know what they don’t know.”

This presents a highly problematic situation because Medical marijuana markets expanding at varying rates, with Oklahoma, Florida setting the pace as explained by Maggie Cowee on August 13, 2019:

While medical marijuana is legally available in 36 states and Washington DC, the fragmented nature of the industry – each state creates its own set of rules – means each market grows at a different rate. The new quarterly release of the Marijuana Business Factbook presents updated profiles of each state market, highlighting the growth occurring in each. An analysis of state markets that release patient counts on at least a quarterly basis reveals several key takeaways. 

Namely that Florida is the second-fastest-growing market in terms of patients joining the registry, with registered patients making up 1.6% of the state’s total population. This leaves room for further growth, which may occur from the recent legalization of smokable flower and continued wide access to dispensaries.”

In October 2018, the U.S. showed a Record-High Number Of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana, as reported by Lydia O’Connor, with 66% supporting legal weed. That’s roughly two-thirds of Americans, marking a record-high approval rate and  a stance more and more Americans have taken this stance since 2000, when only 31% endorsed legalization, finding that:

Legal weed is now supported by a majority of Americans across various demographics. The record-high support comes in spite of the federal illegality.”

Additionally, Marijuana Policy Project’s resources on Medical Marijuana indicate that: “Because Congress and the DEA have failed to make medical cannabis legal — despite ample evidence of its safety and efficacy —polls consistently show that states have enacted their own laws to protect patients.”

For further information on  medical marijuana in the U.S., view  their informative Medical Marijuana by the Numbers and read the Medical Marijuana Briefing Paper.

[themirokai]

Good episode of Science Vs last year on the science behind how bad vaping is for you.

I know I sound like your mom but you kids need to stop fucking vaping

[ear-worthy]

Science Vs. Podcast Season 15 Launching September 14

Spotify announced that its popular podcast series Science Vs. will return for Season 15 on Thursday, September 14. Hosted by science journalist Wendy Zukerman, Science Vs. takes on the fads, trends, and opinionated mob to find out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between.

 Season 15 will cover even more puzzling and enticing topics and debunk the latest trends on social media to inform listeners on what science has to say. Wendy and her guests will discuss UFOs, the effects of vaping, dig into the dangers of energy drinks, explore why gossip lights up our brains, if “self-care” truly helps us de-stress and more. In the premiere episode, Wendy will guide listeners through some breathwork to uncover the hottest new trend…breathing.

“We’ve seen tremendous audience growth with Science Vs, especially among Gen Z,” said Julie McNamara, Head of Global Podcast Studios. “Wendy and her team bring a unique combination of expertise, curiosity, humor and B.S. detection to answer the questions everyone is asking, and we can’t wait to share how they explore the latest trends and topics making headlines in Season 15.”  

Wendy Zukerman has been a science journalist for over a decade, reporting on everything from octopus intelligence to superbugs. She started her career as the Australian correspondent for New Scientist Magazine and then went to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 

 Last season reached record highs on the platform, with consumption hours growing more than 60% since the previous season and the audience size more than doubling. Season 14 focused on some of the most buzzed-about topics including the infamous weight loss drug Ozempic, behind-the-scenes insights from the blockbuster film, Oppenheimer, and the growth of AI (Artificial Intelligence).

New episodes will be available every Thursday, and available on numerous podcast platforms. 

You can check out the season 15 trailer HERE. 

 Season 15 Episode 1 Logline: Breathing

Breathing has become the hot new trend to cure your anxiety and supercharge your brain. There are ads on Instagram selling breathing devices to calm your mind, breath-work gurus promising deeper concentration, and even books telling us that we're breathing all wrong. So what's the deal here? Are you really breathing badly? And if you learned the right way to breathe, could you be living a happier and healthier life? We'll take one big deep breath on the surprising science around breathing. 

There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs. is the show from Spotify Studios that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science, so you don't have to, and cover everything from 5G and Pandemics, to Vaping and Fasting Diets.