Know Your Herbs

Month: March 2020

Why Won't Kyle Turley Stop Spreading Misinformation about CBD and Coronavirus?

Herbs

Former NFL player Kyle Turley believes CBD can prevent and cure coronavirus—and he’s not backing down on that clinically unsubstantiated claim despite pushback from marijuana legalization supporters and prohibitionists alike.

In fact, he accused those advocates of cowardice, alleging in an interview with Marijuana Moment that they’re afraid of the consequences of spreading what he claims is the “truth” about cannabis. He also said he would welcome Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforcement against his CBD company over these COVID-19 claims and would use such an action as an opportunity to expose the government for covering up the medical potential of the plant.

In a series of tweets in recent weeks, Turley has repeatedly hawked CBD products, arguing that because the compound interacts with the endocannabinoid system, which plays some role in regulating the immune system, they can be used to prevent and cure coronavirus. He says he’s basing that take on anecdotal evidence, as well as conversations he said he’s had with experts in the field.

But the claim about a CBD coronavirus cure isn’t backed by clinical research. And at a time when there is no vaccine or approved treatment option available for the virus, advocates and experts say this kind of marketing is dangerous and could lead people to avoid conventional health care options, putting them at risk.

“The last thing the world needs in these difficult and often confusing times is someone with any level of celebrity using their public platform to sell their personal products on false promises and pseudoscience,” Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “Marijuana and its components do not cure the coronavirus, to say the opposite just to put a few more bucks in your pocket is grotesque. All Americans should be on alert for these modern day charlatans and snake oil salespeople.”

But Turley evidently is undeterred by the criticism. He tweeted on Sunday that “CANNABIS WILL PREVENT & CURE COVID19!!!!!!!” and acknowledged that the statement would elicit “hate.”

In a phone interview with Marijuana Moment on Monday, the athlete-turned-entrepreneur said he has “lots of reasons to believe what I believe and I will continue to proclaim god’s truth in this whole thing because he saved my life through this plant. Period.”

But it’s not a point taken well by allies and opponents of marijuana reform, who’ve widely condemned the claim.

“All I’m saying is that the immune system will kill the coronavirus if you give your immune system cannabis. It will boost it to its levels where it will kill the coronavirus,” Turley said. “In return, it is very feasible and logical for me to back my statements and say CBD will cure and prevent the coronavirus. Why wouldn’t it?”

Turley is promoting a line of CBD products from his company, NEURO XPF, with an ad using the slogan “Crush Corona” along with artistic renditions of the virus. FDA would likely take issue with that kind of advertising, as it’s made clear it will take enforcement action against cannabis companies that make unsubstantiated claims about the therapeutic potential of their products.

The agency has sent several warning letters to such companies over the last year, imploring them to cease making therapeutic claims that aren’e backed up by research.

But as far as Turley is concerned, FDA action would represent an opportunity.

“I welcome it,” he said. “Please shut my company down so I can have another blockbuster press release on how the FDA and the United States government is suppressing truth and information when we have study after study now being driven by major cannabis companies in getting clinical trials to prove what I’m saying is true.”

Several people have commented on Turley’s Twitter posts, encouraging him to stop spreading misinformation about the therapeutic potential of cannabis when it comes to the virus.

In another tweet, Turley appeared to claim that cannabis products are “the cure for cancer.”

The former NFL player also said on Sunday that he would mail free CBD to individuals who reach out with documentation showing that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19. So far, he said, only one person has reached out with a positive test, and that that Louisiana-based individual will receive a full month’s supply of CBD from his company NEURO XPF.

Advocates have been loud and clear that businesses should not promote misleading claims about marijuana in the midst of this pandemic. They’ve further recommended avoiding combustable marijuana products, as the virus targets the respiratory system.

Turley had a simple message for advocates who have rejected his claims: “Cowards. Cowards.”

“I’ve been putting in work on my own dime, on my own time, taking away from my family, to move this conversation forward. And that’s what I’ve done,” he said, adding that they’re “scared to say too much because we don’t want the government, we don’t want the man, to start coming down on us.”

“Well guess what? I was a first round draft pick, I made millions of dollars, god saved my life through this plant and I live in America. So get used to it,” he said. “And I’m going to continue to spread his word.”

Featured image by Shutterstock

This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.

The post Why Won't Kyle Turley Stop Spreading Misinformation about CBD and Coronavirus? appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Source: wm

NY Governor: Cannabis Legalization 'Not Likely' In New York Budget

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Marijuana legalization is “not likely” to be included in the final budget in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said on Tuesday, explaining that the issue proved too complicated as the state grapples with the coronavirus.

Another sign that the policy change isn’t happening as Cuomo and advocates had planned comes from a pair of newly revised budget bills that exclude the proposal, making it all but certain that legalization won’t make the final cut.

“Too much, too little time,” the governor said of the proposal during a press conference.

Wednesday is the deadline to deliver a budget, and so the identical Senate and Assembly spending bills that were freshly amended on Tuesday are unlikely to substantially change before they get a vote and sent to the governor’s desk. A provision in Cuomo’s original proposal that would implement an adult-use cannabis market was “intentionally omitted,” text of the legislation states. That phrase is used repeatedly throughout the legislation for policies that missed the cut.

That’s not to say that there’s no appetite for the reform move within the legislature. It was expected to make it into the budget, but the coronavirus outbreak shifted legislative priorities and legalization evidently proved too complicated an issue to work out ahead of the deadline. Top lawmakers have said there’s no reason that they can’t develop a comprehensive reform plan outside of the budget.

However, Cuomo said earlier this month that his preference would be to address legalization through the budget because, outside of that process, “the easiest thing for a legislative body to do is to do nothing.”

The release of the budget bills seems to confirm details included on a draft budget report that was shared with Marijuana Moment on Monday. It similarly said that the “Adopted Budget omits the Executive proposal to legalize adult use cannabis.”

A revised standalone legalization bill was recently introduced in the Senate, and advocates hoped the language would be inserted into the budget, but that didn’t pan out. However, it’s possible that legislators could still take it up separately after the budget is handled. That said, it remains to be seen when the legislature, which has scaled down other activity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, will be able to tackle the issue.

A spokesperson for the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Liz Krueger (D), told Marijuana Moment on Monday that “nothing is done until it is done, but the Senator has said previously that the Governor’s staff essentially took marijuana off the table weeks ago” in budget talks.

The senator still believes that “if it can’t get done the right way in the budget right in the middle of overlapping public health and fiscal crises, that there is no reason it can’t get done right later.”

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D), who has also sponsored a legalization bill, told Politico that “I wish that it was [included in the budget], but I don’t believe that it is.”

Marijuana Moment reached out to Senate and Assembly leadership for comment about the budget bills, but representatives were not immediately available.

Cuomo also originally planned to tour legal cannabis states to learn from their experiences and take lessons back home, but that plan was also derailed due to the coronavirus.

The governor pitched legalization in his budget proposal last year as well. But following months of negotiation, the legislature failed to produce a passable bill—with disagreements centering on issues such as how tax revenue would be allocated—and so the effort carried over to this year.

Cuomo seemed optimistic that 2020 would be the year for legal cannabis in New York, and he touted the proposal in his State of the State address in January. Just last week, he indicated the effort was still alive, though he also recognized that it may prove too complicated an issue to ultimately deliver through the budget this round.

Covid-19 hits cannabis legalization efforts.

Meanwhile, drug policy reform efforts across the country are struggling amid the pandemic.

Activists in California recently released a video asking California officials to allow digital signatures for a petition to revise the state’s adult-use marijuana program. In Washington, D.C., advocates for a measure to decriminalize psychedelics similarly wrote to the mayor and local lawmakers, imploring them to accept online signatures for their ballot petition.

Another California campaign to legalize psilocybin mushrooms is struggling and asking for electronic signature gathering to qualify for the ballot. An effort to legalize medical cannabis in Nebraska is facing similar signature gathering challenges. A campaign to legalize cannabis in Missouri is also in jeopardy.

In Oregon, advocates for a measure to decriminalize drug possession and a separate initiative to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes have suspended in-person campaign events amid the pandemic.

Arizona activists shared some more positive news last week, however, announcing that they have collected more than enough signatures to qualify for the state’s November ballot—though they have not yet been submitted to or verified by the state.

Featured image by Shutterstock

This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.

The post NY Governor: Cannabis Legalization 'Not Likely' In New York Budget appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Source: wm

First Legal Marijuana Home Deliveries Begin In Colorado

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For the first time, people in Colorado will be able to legally have marijuana products delivered directly to their homes starting on Friday.

The launch of the limited program focused on medical cannabis patients comes one week after the dispensary chain Native Roots announced that its Boulder location The Dandelion had received the state’s first marijuana delivery license. And while the license wasn’t related to the coronavirus outbreak, the timing is opportune, as officials have increasingly cautioned against leaving home to avoid catching or spreading the virus.

The delivery service will be limited to patients living in either Boulder or Superior. They must also be registered with the dispensary, and those who are not already signed up must do so in-person for the time being—though Native Roots said it is “looking into a compliant, remote solution for patient registration.”

Native Roots said there is a $100 minimum purchase, and they’re encouraging patients to pay with a debit card rather than cash, presumably because drivers could be targets of burglaries if they’re transporting large amounts of cash or because of concerns that money changing hands could further the spread of COVID-19.

Cannabis delivery services are a new feature of Colorado’s legal marijuana program. Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed legislation last year allowing the option, though individuals jurisdictions must proactively opt-in, so as of now that number of cities permitting deliveries is limited. Native Roots said it’s been engaging with local governments about the issue for months.

Deliveries for recreational cannabis consumers won’t begin until January 2021 under the law.

As more businesses shutter as a result of the pandemic, there’s growing demand for alternative means of obtaining marijuana products, and several states have taken steps to address that concern by encouraging deliveries and curbside pickup, for example.

For patients and reform advocates, that represents an ideal solution compared to closing dispensaries altogether. Numerous legal states have categorized cannabis shops as essential services that are exempt from mandates to close down. And according to a poll released this week, a majority of Americans agree with that decision.

But while the market remains largely operational in the midst of this health crisis, reform advocates across the U.S. are feeling the impact and struggling to continue campaign activities, including in-person signature gathering.

Campaigns to change state marijuana programs, legalize psilocybin mushrooms, legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes, legalize medical and recreational cannabis, decriminalize psychedelics and broadly decriminalize drug possession have all faced challenges amid the pandemic, and several have implored officials to allow electronic signature gathering to overcome the barrier.

An exception to this appears to be Arizona, where activists recently said they’ve collected more than enough signatures at this point to qualify for the state’s November ballot.

Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps

This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.

The post First Legal Marijuana Home Deliveries Begin In Colorado appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Source: wm

Weedmaps Buyers' Guide: Pipes and Bongs

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Like every aspect of the wild world of weed, how we smoke it has evolved considerably. What started as fumbling through a pack of rolling papers, has become puffing shatter out of a Puffco Peak at your ten-year reunion. 

While there have never been more ways to get high than right now, bongs, pipes and traditional dab rigs are still some of the most effective ways to medicate. More importantly, these products are exempt from the technological issues futuristic smoking accessories like vapes and electronic rigs frequently experience. Plus, there’s something enjoyable about a simple hit of good weed from a clean glass bong.

That’s not to say that the analog world of smoking accessories hasn’t seen an explosion in innovation since legality. Widespread acceptance has made it okay to want your bong to be as stylish as you. 

Here’s our buyer’s guide to pipes and bongs, with some dab rigs and a bubbler sprinkled in for good measure. 

Pipes

JET Water Pipe X5 

JET’s X5 Water Pipe is the perfect bong in that it hits smooth like an expensive glass piece, but doesn’t break like one. Impact-resistant materials make this bong invincible, which is exactly how you’ll feel after taking a hit.

Price: $214.34

The Mia Water Pipe 

Chic, versatile, with a “technical sphere body,” and unapologetically round, the Mia Water Pipe by Snoop Dogg’s glass line Smoking Pounds is chock full of star power. It sings, it dances — it also comes with all the necessary equipment to double as a dab rig.

Price: $139.99

Eyce Hammer

Some occasions, especially those of the outdoor, drunken variety, aren’t particularly glass-friendly. Enter the Eyce Hammer, a perfectly sized, perfectly indestructible silicon bubbler that comes with a snap-in glass bowl, hidden jar, and steel poker. Throw it in a backpack and rage on.

Price: $39.99 

Miwak Junior’s Sierra Lima 

Miwak Junior makes simple, stunning pieces of ceramic art you can also use to smoke. The Sierra Lima — or “The Lefty” — is a tribute to the artistic world of the left-handed in pipe form. Each pipe is handmade and essentially one of a kind, hitting smooth, and looking smoother. 

Price: $80

Edie Parker Flower’s Glass Strawberry Pipe

A fabulous addition to any fruit bowl, dinner party or drab, dreary situation that needs a splash of color, Edie Parker Flower’s Glass Strawberry Pipe puts a pop art twist on getting high, and what could be more fun than that? 

Price: $115

The Spoon Pipe

Tradition meets innovation with The Spoon Pipe by Marley Natural. Suitable for any smoking situation, whether you’re an old man in a rocking chair or a 22-year-old toking out the window of a hippie van, its strong and classic design features heat-resistant glass and an experience that is, above all else, exceptionally smooth. 

Price: $60

6-inch Grav Sherlock

Grav’s Sherlock pipe may look typical, but the devil is in the details. The inverted mouthpiece catches any ash that falls through the bowl, ensuring a Scooby Snack-free smoke. Plus, the weight and durability make the Sherlock pipe ideal for everyday toking.

Price: $19.99

Top Secret Stealth

Genius designed a smoking device that Steve Jobs would have been proud of. The Top Secret Stealth is sleek, modern and makes the perfect gift for the friend who is on that industrial, futuristic level. The patented dimple design makes millions of micro vortices with each inhale which filters and cools the smoke while bringing out the flow

Glassy Can Pipe

Glassy keeps it real with this porcelain nod to a stoner classic

Price:$60

Bongs

The Session Bong

Experience millennial design at its finest with The Session Bong. It’s minimalist, practical and comes with an array of rubber pastel cases. It’s the perfect companion to getting high enough to bear the gig economy. 

Price: $120

Chongo Marble

Summerland’s Chongo Marble fuses simplicity with elegance with this breathtaking spin on the classic bong. Its form brims with familiarity while the marble finish makes a real work of art. 

Price: $250

The Coyote Bong

Manifest the psychedelic vibes of the desert with this ceramic piece from My Bud Vase. With textured sand detail and a matte painted base, this arty, laid back bong will stoke your creativity. 

Price: $100

Heir Waterpipe

Heir’s Waterpipe is as sleek and simple as it is heavy-duty. Thick glass and a metal bowl make it perfect for packing top shelf flower. Its sleek design makes cold-filtered toking intuitive and easy to clean.

Price: $260

Rigs and Bubblers

4-inch Grav Hammer Bubbler

Sometimes you have to drop the hammer on them — Grav’s Hammer Bubbler is the ideal gift for such occasions. With approximately a half-inch of water, the smoke filters through the downstem and bubbles up to the surface to create the ideal sesh.

Price: $47.99

Honey Bear Dab Rig/Bong 

Few things in life are as cute as this Honey Bear Bong/Rig hybrid from the Daily High Club. 

Price: $69.99

By Lindsay MaHarry and Allena Braithwaite

The post Weedmaps Buyers' Guide: Pipes and Bongs appeared first on Weedmaps News.

Source: wm