Terpenes produce more than just scents. These secret weapons and key communicators of the plant world – about 20,000 distinct chemicals have been identified so far – can also induce a wide range of biological effects. There’s evidence that some…
Author: jshum
How Does Cannabis Impact Alcohol Consumption?
Alcohol and cannabis: strange bedfellows indeed. Often discussed (and partaken) together, these ubiquitous inebriants couldn’t be more different. One is a toxin and the other a sort of skeleton key to one of the body’s most critical systems. Yet the…
Flies, Lies & Magic Mushrooms
My friend Arsenio can’t stop talking about flies. It’s all he talks about. He’s convinced there are more flies in his yard today than there were yesterday. He texts me a video he took of a swarm near the fence…
Alcohol & the Endocannabinoid System
Excerpted from Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana—Medical, Recreational and Scientific. A grapevine and a cannabis plant are depicted side-by-side on a bas-relief from a ruined Roman temple at Baalbek in Lebanon’s fertile Bekaa Valley. One of the world’s…
Doctor Sues DEA for Right to Give Psilocybin to Ailing Patients
Dr. Sunil Aggarwal Research into the use of psychedelics to treat PTSD, depression, addictions, and other conditions is rapidly gaining momentum. At the forefront of this effort are several prestigious medical and educational institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, New York…
Nomenclature Alert: Beyond Indica and Sativa
Since the 1970s, cannabis consumers have distinguished between two kinds of herb: Indica and Sativa. But this framework is flawed – problematic at best, arbitrary and misleading at worst. And while some producers and providers are beginning to rethink their…
California Greenlights Hemp-Derived CBD Commerce
California has taken a major step to resolve the ambiguities and inconsistencies in the regulation of hemp-derived CBD — a move that could see the state setting a de facto national standard for CBD consumables in light of continued inaction…
Alzheimer’s Disease & the Endocannabinoid System
Many parallels exist between cannabis and psychedelics. Among them are the diverse therapeutic effects for which both classes of drugs are now being investigated, from fighting pain and inflammation to aiding treatment of some psychiatric disorders. Also on the list:…
Death Trap: Human Rights Abuses & Drug War Casualties at Riker’s Island
Photo Credit: Legal Aid Society, Isaabdul Karim Isaabdul Karim was the eleventh person to die this year while incarcerated at Riker’s Island, New York City’s principal jail. His avoidable death drew attention to the horrific and deepening crisis at the…
Cannabis Therapy for Headaches
Migraine is one of the most prevalent illnesses in the world. Some 39 million people in the United States and 1 billion people worldwide suffer from migraine headaches, or one in eight men, women, and children living on the planet…