Changing Public Opinion | Going Green
The rare cannabinoid THCV, according to scientists, could provide treatments for diabetes, lower cholesterol, and other health benefits.
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When it comes to people and their dogs, is CBD use interchangeable? Where does the medicine diverge between man and beast?
The simple answer is that the CBD oil itself is typically no different, except in dosages, but the FDA does have different package labeling requirements for human supplements versus pet ones. Also, CBD oil for dogs often has flavoring to it, like bacon, to make it more appealing to the pooches and also use cod liver oil, which helps enhance the effects in canines.
Just like in humans, CBD is non-psychoactive for dogs, but can go far in treating arthritic inflammation in those that are affected. It will relax the dog (or human), especially if made using high CBD cannabis versus hemp, but not to the point of passing out, unless you really give them a high dose. Consult a professional before titrating.
CBD can go far in improving a dog’s life. Even if it’s the happiest big dawg or little pup, if they are spooked by loud noises, suffer from separation anxiety or are generally nervous, CBD oil, which can be gotten in capsule form and then split open and poured over food, will take the edge off and ease the dog’s mood.
It’s also estimated that up to 5 percent of dogs suffer from seizure disorder. CBD is a known seizure suppressor and in humans and canines alike it can practically cure even the most severe disorders. This is an area where you definitely want to contact a professional as to dosages and other cannabinoids and terpenes that need to be included for optimal results.
One area where there are no differences between humans and doggies is that CBD is a safe and effective treatment for myriad ailments, is thought to be a nervous system protectant and an appetite stimulant among many other things.
Above all, no matter your genus, CBD is an excellent anti-inflammatory. Inflammation is the cause of most aches, pains and even ailments out there. CBD is a medicine that you or wo/man’s best friend should take on a regular basis if needed so that it can be constantly working its magic and building up in the body’s system, whether two or four legged.
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In the past, the main tobacco products that were consumed were mostly in the form of cigars, pipes, water pipes, and chewing tobacco. As time went on though, synthetic tobacco products rapidly grew in the form of synthetically manufactured cigarettes. As a result of this harmful habit, annually, roughly 1 in 5 deaths that occur in the U.S. are caused by tobacco consumption. It has also been found that cigarette smoking is the top leading cause of premature deaths. It’s even the top preventable disease in America and several other countries. Not only do thousands of people die from tobacco-related diseases yearly, many suffer from nicotine dependence and addiction, which can severely impact their well-being and quality of life. Fortunately, though, one natural treatment method that can help individuals beat nicotine dependence and addiction is via cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) usage.
Nicotine is normally defined as a certain type of chemical that possesses nitrogen. Various plant species produce nitrogen including the tobacco plant, which possesses a significantly larger amount of nicotine than in other foods and plants like potatoes and eggplant. Unfortunately, though, it’s very possible for people to become dependent and addicted to nicotine. Oftentimes, tobacco is synthetically manufactured in the form of cigarettes, which can be more addictive than other forms of tobacco.
In addition, nicotine dependence refers to one’s addiction to tobacco products that contain large amounts of nicotine. The dependency comes into play when an individual cannot stop consuming the product or chemical despite understanding how harmful it is. Nicotine creates and delivers results in the form of mind-altering feelings and physical effects within the brain, which leads to short-term pleasure. This ensures that the individual will keep wanting to consume tobacco that contains nicotine, which then results in a dependency problem. When one smokes tobacco, dopamine is released within minutes, and this supports smokers’ urge to keep consuming tobacco.
Furthermore, one study mentioned that ingredients of cigarette smoke besides nicotine contribute to nicotine addiction. The same study stated the following: “In addition to delivering nicotine to the brain quickly, cigarettes have been designed with additives and engineering features to enhance its addictiveness.” Similarly, the study mentioned that nicotine’s speedy absorption rates and access into the brain produce an intense ‘rush’, which strengthens the drug’s effects. It has also been found that when nicotine is inhaled, it enters the body’s lungs and travels to the brain within seconds. Thus, people get hooked on this feeling, the rapid ‘rush’, and they crave to feel like this time and time again.
For years, various scientists and researchers have examined the impact nicotine can have on the brain, the body’s different systems, and functions. Sadly, nicotine dependence and addiction can significantly harm one’s quality of life, well-being, and physical, mental, and psychological health. When one is dependent on nicotine, they can experience physical and behavioral changes in the form of altered habits, routines, and emotions.
Many of these behavioral changes associated with smoking tobacco products can potentially become triggers, which could then stimulate strong tobacco cravings despite how long it has been since the user has smoked. Ultimately, it’s essential to understand which triggers affect a tobacco user, so they can choose the most appropriate treatment method to help combat nicotine dependence or addiction.
Since nicotine creates and delivers mood-altering feelings and physical effects within the brain, short-term pleasure occurs, which keeps users craving for more. When tobacco smoke is inhaled into the lungs, nicotine is even more addictive because this method quickly releases nicotine into the body’s blood, which allows it to reach the brain within seconds of inhaling one puff. Unfortunately, smoking tobacco can negatively impact all the body’s systems, which can then lead to the following health issues: lung disease, cancer, strokes, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, reproductive disease, osteoporosis, cataracts, etc.
Although nicotine dependence can deliver physical and mental health issues, it can also deliver psychological issues like depression, anxiety, emptiness, moodiness, and irritability.
Moreover, annually, only about three percent of tobacco smokers succeed in quitting and stick with it. When one tries to quit, they experience different withdrawal symptoms. There are numerous nicotine withdrawal symptoms with some of them being mood swings, isolation, worthlessness, low self-esteem and self-confidence, irritability, and anxiety. It’s even possible for nicotine withdrawal symptoms to manifest into impatience, frustration, sleeping difficulties, anger, and concentration issues. Once one decides to quit smoking though, they normally experience physical and mental withdrawal symptoms such as depressed moods, diarrhea, severe cravings, elevated hunger, and restlessness.
Fortunately, though, there are various treatment options available, especially for those suffering from nicotine withdrawal symptoms. A few treatment options consist of the following:
-Medications (patches, gums, lozenges, inhalers)
-Support groups, counseling, or stress management workshops
-Acupuncture
-Yoga
-Essential oils and herbs
-At-home changes (healthy eating, more exercise, staying busy during usual smoking times, and avoiding certain triggers)
-Electronic cigarettes
-Cognitive retraining
-Drug therapy or aversion therapy
-Forms of therapy measured by PET imaging
-Cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) consumption
Besides the available traditional treatment methods, cannabis and CBD can help treat many nicotine withdrawal symptoms without further harming the individual. In recent years, different research findings have revealed that cannabis isn’t as addictive as several other illegal substances. Specifically, CBD is non-addictive and non-psychoactive, and one study found that it could help reduce addictive behavior and control addiction, especially nicotine addiction. It has also been discovered that CBD can help control nicotine addictive habits.
One 2013 study that focused on addictive behaviors demonstrated that whole plant derived CBD helped lessen smokers’ tobacco usage, especially users that were nicotine dependent. The study’s participants who used a CBD inhaler demonstrated a 40 percent reduction in the number of smoked cigarettes compared to the subjects who used the placebo.
Furthermore, cannabis and CBD can help alleviate and treat the following withdrawal symptoms associated with nicotine dependence and addiction: headaches, irritability depression, anxiety, sleeping difficulties, panic attacks, restlessness, and cravings. Fortunately, there are different cannabis strains that can treat symptoms due to nicotine dependence and withdrawal such as the following:
To alleviate moodiness and irritability: Pineapple Kush, Blue Dream, & Harley Mandala
To relieve headaches: Purple Haze, Green Crack, Lemon Kush, & G6
To relieve sleeping difficulties: Skywalker, Granddaddy Purple, & God’s Gift
Then, to avoid additional lung irritation and worsening of existing respiratory issues, it’s suggested for tobacco users to consume cannabis and CBD via vaping, oral ingestion, transdermal administration, or topical administration instead of smoking. It’s crucial to experiment with different strains and consumption methods to find which ones work best for you.
Although nicotine dependence and addiction are more prevalent in people with substance-abuse disorders or mental illnesses, anyone can become hooked on nicotine. To avoid harmful tobacco-causing diseases from occurring and a poor quality of life, it’s recommended to quit the consumption of tobacco, especially smoking.
Since cannabis and CBD can naturally help you through this process by relieving negative withdrawal symptoms and improving your well-being, why not try it? You’re strong enough to beat nicotine dependence and addiction, and with cannabis and CBD on your side, you can get back to the best of health, but you must believe it yourself.
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Have you ever felt healthy and on track, and then you get hit with a common cold, virus, or infection? This has likely happened to almost all of us, and at that point, we wish we could feel like our healthy selves again. One common infection that can creep up after having a cold or the flu is pneumonia. Although there are more than 30 causes of pneumonia, in most instances, pneumonia occurs as a result of having the flu or another sickness. When this infection sets in, there are different traditional treatment methods available. However, several traditional methods don’t relieve all pneumonia-causing symptoms that can negatively impact one’s quality of life. What if there was another treatment method that could help naturally alleviate the severity and painfulness of pneumonia? Fortunately for us, one natural method for relieving pneumonia-causing symptoms is medical cannabis and its many cannabinoids.
Pneumonia is known as a lung infection that can be caused by a virus, fungi, or bacteria. This infection can affect one or both lungs, and in most cases, pneumonia is spread from one person to another via coughing, sneezing, breathing, and/or touching. How does pneumonia affect one’s body though? It starts when germs and bacteria seep into the lungs, and once the germs that cause pneumonia get into the lungs, inflammation occurs within the lungs’ air sacs. At this point, fluid fills up in the lungs, which can lead to breathing difficulties, coughs, fevers, and the chills.
In addition, thousands of people die from pneumonia every year, and even more are hospitalized due to this infection. How can pneumonia diagnoses result in deaths though? According to the American Lung Association, deaths from pneumonia occur after oxygen has a tough time reaching the blood. When the blood doesn’t have enough oxygen, the body’s cells struggle to function properly. From here, the risk of pneumonia spreading increases, which could then lead to death. Although pneumonia can be life-threatening, in most cases, it’s just temporarily life-altering.
Despite increasing medical advancements in the U.S. and in other countries, pneumonia diagnoses are quite common. However, since 1999, the mortality rates due to pneumonia have gone down by close to 4 percent. Despite this decrease, pneumonia is still prevalent to this day. In particular, according to the American Thoracic Society, a whopping one million American adults are hospitalized for pneumonia yearly. Out of this number, roughly 50,000 of these affected individuals die from pneumonia.
Even though anyone can develop pneumonia, certain people are more at risk than others. These people include infants, young children, and adults aged 65 and older. When it comes to children though, those younger than five years old fit into the category of 120 million yearly pneumonia cases. Unfortunately, more than ten percent of these cases become severe. Also, individuals who have chronic diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more likely to develop pneumonia.
Moreover, the symptoms of pneumonia vary, but they can be anywhere from mild to extremely severe. Generally, the infection’s symptoms can be draining and overwhelming, especially for those who haven’t had pneumonia before, have weak immune systems, and/or struggle with other medical issues. It’s important to know that there are four types of pneumonia that can develop, which include viral, bacterial, fungal, and mycoplasma pneumonia. These four types fit into a classification based on the infection’s cause, where the infection was transmitted, and how pneumonia was developed.
It’s possible to develop community-acquired pneumonia, which means that the infection was acquired from somewhere outside of a medical setting. However, hospital-acquired pneumonia can develop too, which is a bacterial form that can be acquired while staying at a hospital. Normally, pneumonia’s symptoms are similar to those of colds or the flu. However, pneumonia’s symptoms last for much longer than that of a traditional cold. The most common signs of pneumonia include the following:
Although most pneumonia-causing symptoms go away after a few weeks, in some cases, they can last for a month or more. On top of this, individuals who have pneumonia are close to twice as likely to develop depression or another mental health issue
The cause of pneumonia, the severity of its symptoms, one’s age, and one’s current state of health all dictate which treatment method will be most suitable. The primary intention of treating pneumonia is to cure it and prevent additional complications from occurring. Severe pneumonia cases often require hospitalization, whereas, other cases require taking antibiotics and resting until the infection is killed. The most common treatment methods for curing pneumonia include antibiotics and other medications that relieve fevers, reduce pain, and suppress coughs.
Aside from these treatment options, medical cannabis and CBD are alternative forms of medicine that can help relieve many of pneumonia’s symptoms and side effects. In most instances, medical cannabis can help relieve many symptoms caused by pneumonia including the following: anxiety, depression, fatigue, inflammation, nausea, vomiting, and chest pain due to coughing. Thus far, various studies, clinical trials, and anecdotal evidence support cannabis’s ability to help treat the unwanted health issues listed above while having pneumonia.
Additionally, it has been found that cannabidiol (CBD) contains powerful anti-inflammatory properties. One main symptom of pneumonia is inflammation, which occurs within the small air sacs in our lungs. Therefore, since cannabis and CBD are anti-inflammatory agents, this medical benefit could be of much use to those with pneumonia. Also, cannabis and CBD are known to be effective analgesic, anti-nausea, and anti-emetic agents, which can significantly help pneumonia patients. On top of this, different studies have been released regarding cannabis’s anti-anxiety and anti-depressant properties. Although cannabis cannot cure pneumonia, it can certainly help relieve and reduce many of the infection’s symptoms.
Lastly, since smoking cannabis can irritate our lungs and cause inflammation, it’s strongly recommended to stay away from smoking if you have pneumonia. If you experience any lung related issues at all, it’s advised to stay away from smoking entirely. Fortunately, vaping is a much healthier option that doesn’t play havoc on our lungs. The other cannabis consumption methods to utilize while having pneumonia include the following: oral ingestion via infused edibles, sublingual administration via sprays, suppositories, and/or topical products depending on where relief is needed.
Several cannabis strains that can be consumed for treating pneumonia’s symptoms include ACDC, Cannatonic, Harlequin, Charlotte’s Web, and Sour Tsunami. It’s suggested to consume high CBD strains to reap the cannabinoid’s many medicinal and therapeutic benefits, especially when one has pneumonia and their immune system is weaker than usual.
Overall, even though pneumonia is a treatable infection, it can still be life-threatening, and people can die if pneumonia is left undiagnosed or untreated for too long. If you have any reason to believe that you have pneumonia, get checked by a doctor right away. In the meantime, consider consuming different cannabis-based products to help relieve many of pneumonia’s symptoms while improving your quality of life during this difficult time.
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Even though CBD’s legal status is yet unclear, it’s been launched into the mainstream in recent years. CBD vape pens and gummies can be found at almost any smoke shop worth its incense and big corporations, like Coca Cola, are even thinking of getting in the game. So should we all be downing and applying CBD with abandon?
Many people use CBD as an alternative to THC laden cannabis because it lacks a psychoactive effect and will supposedly not show up on a drug screen. There are companies out there that isolate CBD so that there is 0 percent THC to be screened, but most CBD is made from the hemp plant and is required to have less than 0.3 percent THC. That’s not much THC at all, but it could still potentially have you out of a job if tested.
Recently, a woman in Georgia who was using CBD for pain and anxiety for just two weeks before she was drug tested, failed. While most CBD labels claim to have no THC whatsoever, some have a disclaimer that trace amounts of THC may be found. The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, also wished that she’d known the risk. She did not get the job.
Dr. Oz is calling this market explosion the “CBD oil boom.” On a recent show Dr. Oz and Dr. Sanjay Gupta sat down and talked CBD, it’s differences from THC, it’s milligrams and price per dose. They tested 9 products, which came back with results ranging from 2mg doses to 22mg doses.
“If you need hundreds of milligrams for it to do anything, two milligrams isn’t going to do anything and people are paying a lot of money for it,” extrapolated Dr. Gupta.
Unlike the CBD the woman used in Georgia, the doctors found no THC in any of the 9 products. They also encouragingly didn’t find heavy metals. Dr. Oz pontificated that if a product seems confusing, it’s meant to seem that way, while Dr. Gupta pointed out that as regulations are put into place, proper labeling, milligrams and dosages will become par for the course with time.
CBD is used in the treatment of inflammation, pain, seizure disorder and has myriad forms and applications. From topicals that everything from acne to arthritis to infused products that claim to quell anxiety and lower inflammation, until we figure out what a proper dosage is and if full spectrum CBD is the real ticket, it’s all a sort of wellness crapshoot, with CBD manufacturers coming out on top for now.
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Now that Canada finally has a date for the recreational market start, the federal government, provinces and other regulatory authorities are beginning to issue guidelines and rules that are going to define the early days of the recreational industry.
These include regulations on retail trade, medical sales and use. However this is precisely where the confusion is growing.
In a move to protect patients, Health Canada has announced that it will continue to run the medical part of the market for at least the next five years. In good news for medical users, this announcement was made against calls from the Canadian Medical Association for the medical infrastructure developed on Canada’s path to recreational reform to be phased out. The reason, according to the CMA? Many doctors feel uncomfortable prescribing the drug because of a lack of research and a general lack of understanding about dosing.
Both patients and advocates have expressed support for continuing the medical system. This includes organizations like the Canadian Nurses Association who fear that if a focus is taken off of medical use, producers will ignore this part of the market to focus only on recreational sales.
In the future, after legalization, Health Canada will also continue to support more research and trials.
Despite early statements, the recreational market is still in the throes of market creation and regulation. The laws are also changing in progress, a situation one regulator has described as building an airplane as it hurtles down the runway for take-off.
Athletes in Canada are still banned from using any kind of cannabis.For example, Ontario, the largest provincial market, is also delaying private sector sales in retail shops until next year. It is also moving away from a government-run dispensary model. Government sales will begin in October, but private dispensaries will have to wait until next April to open their doors (and existing operations will have to close their doors while they apply for licenses). This is also a reversal of the regional government’s position that it would only allow government-controlled shops to sell recreational cannabis.
But perhaps the largest unknown in both national and provincial policy outside of retail brick and mortars is in the area of online sales. A major fight is now brewing in many places where the established industry is now siding with the government about unregistered dispensaries (see Ontario) and established if not registered producers are competing directly with the government not only on main street but online as well.recreational users are beginning to sound alarms that they do not want the government to have so much personal information about them
Retailers with a web presence operating in a grey space will continue to pose a significant challenge to the online system now being implemented by the government for two reasons. Product availability (which will be far more limited on the government-run sites) and privacy.
Beyond the lack of diverse products and strains to be initially offered via the online government portals, recreational users are beginning to sound alarms that they do not want the government to have so much personal information about them – and point specifically to the differences in the regulated alcohol industry vs. the new regulations for the recreational cannabis market.
The Canadian military has now issued guidelines for active duty personnel and cannabis. It cannot ban it from soldiers entirely of course, and as it stands, the situation will be ripe for misunderstandings. For example, soldiers are prohibited from consuming cannabis 8 hours before any kind of duty, 24 hours before the operation of any kind of vehicle or weapon and 28 days before parachuting or serving on a military aircraft.
The only problem, of course, is being able to enforce the same. Cannabinoids, notably THC, can stay in the body for up to 30 days for casual users long after the high is over.
Athletes in Canada are still banned from using any kind of cannabis. The reason? They are subject to the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP) under which the use of cannabis will still be prohibited.
That said, the Canadian Hockey League is reportedly now examining how to revise how it addresses the issue of medical use.
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To sell more cannabis products, you must build trust with your customers. Design Shack Magazine explains: “Trust is a key component of user loyalty, and a reason why people come to your company or brand.”
If you don’t get your package design right, people might simply ignore your cannabis products.But building trust is a big challenge for new medical cannabis businesses. That’s where good design can help:“While a lot of trust comes from past performance and a brand’s track-record, it also comes from the design. How a website, poster or package looks can impact how users feel about it and whether they take the leap from casual looker to brand loyalist.”
For a cannabis health supplement business, the product packaging design is one of the most important ways to reassure consumers and build trust.
When a prospective customer first sees your product, they see the packaging before they can touch or see the product. Good product packaging can raise concerns or instill comfort and confidence in a potential buyer.
If you don’t get your package design right, people might simply ignore your cannabis products.
So, let’s take a look at what your business can do to create great product packaging designs that will win over the skeptics and gain customers.
Designing packaging that inspires trust starts with including the right content.
Start by telling people exactly what’s inside your packaging. For example, specify what your product is (CBD Extract Oil vs. Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil Caplets), how much of it there is, a production lot number and a potency level.
Include any qualifiers that may reassure your customers – such as “Organic,” “Non-GMO” or “CO2-Extracted.”
Communicate this information in clean, concise language that shows you have nothing to hide. And, speaking of not hiding – include contact information for your business. Many businesses bury their contact info on their websites and packaging. Don’t do that.
People trust businesses that are transparent and easy to reach. Customers want to know that if they have a question or something goes awry with an order that they can get help.
Including your web address, support email and phone number is a powerful way to reassure clients that your business is legitimate and trustworthy.
And, no packaging is complete without branding elements to help customers identify who your business is and what you’re about. This should include your company’s logo, identifying brand colors and any other small visual elements your brand may use.
Finally, make sure to follow the FDA guidelines for dietary supplement labels.
Clean, simple design is reassuring and inspires trust.
That’s because simple design makes it easy for customers to find what they need or want to know.
It’s easy to miss information in a cluttered design – and people know this.
People naturally mistrust the dense chunks of text at the bottom of many advertisements and product packages. On the other hand, clean, easy-to-read fonts and plenty of white space ensure that your audience can read your product packaging and find the information they want quickly without too much trouble.
With fewer words and graphics competing for attention, the important stuff naturally stands out. And, a simple design also sends the message that there are no hidden loopholes or secrets that may work against your customers.
It doesn’t matter how great your product is if your business comes across as unprofessional. And, for medical cannabis businesses, the bar for establishing professionalism is even higher than for most companies.
Keep these tips in mind to communicate professionalism and reliability.
Mistakes don’t look professional. How many times have you wondered how an error could have passed through so many hands unnoticed that it made it onto the final version?
Consumers notice errors in your packaging design. They see typos and often, discover incorrect or misleading information. Errors make customers think that your business is incompetent. Or worse – they might think that your business is deliberately misleading them. Make sure you proof-read everything before your packaging goes to production.
People buying your cannabis products will have other options. Don’t ignore your competition and be sure to understand how other dietary supplements and medicine is packaged.
Want to build trust by encouraging consumers to group your CBD products with other trusted medical brands? Follow these tips:
Incorporating these elements will create a mental link between your product and other trusted medicinal products.
Last, but not least, your packaging design must align with your brand. When consumers sense a disconnect between the brand identity they’ve come to identify with your business and the packaging design for your products, it creates discomfort.
But packaging that is in line with (or expands upon) the brand identity consumers have come to know will create comfort and trust.
Kevin Keating at PKG Brand Design explains:
Your brand’s packaging design must reflect your company’s story, product, and values. If your packaging claims a “simple” snack product with dozens of ingredients, consumers are going to be left with a disingenuous feeling about your products and company. By ensuring that your messaging, design, and visual impact is in line with your company and your consumer’s preferences, you can build instant trust.
So, ensure that your packaging design is consistent with your existing visual identity. This includes the name of your business or cannabis product, your cannabis business logo, website, and marketing design.
A united and cohesive visual brand presence looks professional and helps to build familiarity – which is key to developing trust. Ultimately, many people judge products based solely on the product packaging. That’s why it’s essential to make sure your product packaging sends the right message.
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