California Wakes Up On November 9, 2016

In a twist that reads like an ironic plotline from a television drama, pot farmers in Humboldt County, a powerhouse in California's cannabis cultivation, are grappling with an unexpected challenge to their livelihoods - not from pestilent diseases or plummeting market prices, but from their own neighbors. The impending threat comes in the form of a proposed ballot initiative playfully dubbed the "Karen Law."

The researchers found that advanced cancer patients who used medical cannabis had positive effects. “Ninety-three patients (51.5%) received at least one prescription from a New York licensed marijuana dispensary while 72 (39.13%) were certified but never obtained any medical marijuana,” they wrote. “For patients who took at least one dose of medical marijuana, 48.14% experienced an improvement in pain, 44.95% used fewer opioids, and 85.11%   had an improvement in at least one symptom. Adverse effects were low at 3.72%.,” says the study.

What are some of the positive aspects coming out of COVID for the cannabis industry?  Chris brings up the good points around delivery services, curbside pickups, and online ordering.  The push to get these services set and legal in some states that declared medical marijuana an essential item, will lead to future acceptance in other states.  When you introduce a new normal, you hope it sticks in the next phase of life, as it will be hard for states to “roll back” these changes.  While COVID-19 may have put a damper on funding and recreational sales in some states, the small victories like the new normal being ordering online, delivery, and curbside pickup could now stay in place for the future.