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Oregon regulators enacted a six-month ban Friday on the sale of flavored nicotine and cannabis vape products in stores and online statewide amid an outbreak of illnesses that has sickened nearly 1,300 people nationwide and killed 26, including two people in Oregon.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates the recreational marijuana market, voted unanimously to approve the temporary sales ban on the same day that the Oregon Health Authority, which regulates tobacco sales statewide, filed the ban with the Oregon Secretary of State.

Dozens of marijuana processors and vape manufacturers packed the commission room during the vote and some shouted out in frustration during a news conference when an official said the ban would only affect 10 percent of the cannabis vape market.

“It’s going to kill immediately 70% of my company’s revenue. It’s based off of what we consider faulty logic and faulty understanding” of the science behind adding flavor to marijuana vape pens, Jason Thompson, the sales director for Eugene, Oregon-based Sublime Solutions, said after the vote.

The ban applies to all nicotine and cannabis vapes that contain flavoring derived from anything except pure marijuana terpenes. Terpenes are organic compounds that give plants and fruits their flavor or scent — for example, the citrusy smell from an orange or the aroma of lavender. Vape pen manufacturers add natural and artificial terpene mixes to nicotine- or cannabis-containing oil to give the products popular flavors, from cherry to mint to candy cane.

Earlier this month Gov. Kate Brown ordered the temporary ban. Several other states, including Washington, New York Rhode Island and Michigan, have also imposed temporary bans.

The illnesses first appeared in March, with symptoms including shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain.

Federal investigators say that nearly 80 percent of people who have come down with the vaping illness reported using products containing THC, the high-inducing chemical found in marijuana. They have not traced the problem to any single product or ingredient. But investigators are increasingly focused on thickeners and additives found in illegal THC cartridges sold on the black market.

The Oregon Health Authority, which is investigating nine cases of illness in Oregon and two deaths, had asked Brown for broader six-month ban on sale and display of all vaping products, including tobacco, nicotine and cannabis. The agency also urged Oregonians to stop using all vaping products until federal and state officials have determined the cause of the illnesses.

TJ Sheehy, manager of the OLCC’s marijuana technical unit, told commissioners before Friday’s vote that vape brands that contain flavor compounds are “completely unknown black boxes in terms of their contents” and that consumers have to “take on faith” their safety.

Oregon regulators test the marijuana oil in the vape devices for solvents and pesticides before the terpenes are added, but the companies that make the terpenes are outside the state regulatory system and the pens aren’t tested after the flavoring is added, he explained. Nicotine-only vape pens undergo even less scrutiny, officials said.

“Quite frankly, no one buying these things knows what’s in them,” Sheehy said, adding later that many contain so-called “fillers” that are dangerous to inhale.

The ban goes into effect Tuesday and lasts until April 11.

Disgruntled and worried marijuana entrepreneurs milled in the hallway after the vote and said the sales ban would crush their businesses.

Joe Bergen, general manager for two companies, Avitas Oregon and Hellavated, said his sales have already dropped because of the scare over lung illnesses and he’s had to reduce his workforce by nearly 20%.

Hellavated makes flavored marijuana vapes, while Avitas only makes vaping devices containing pure marijuana.

Hellavated will be “heavily impacted” by the new ban, he said, and it’s unclear if the OLCC’s move will help because the cause of the illnesses hasn’t been determined.

“One of the things this crisis has illuminated is that there is no long-term research on vaping and cannabis consumption, period,” Bergen said. “There needs to be more research into both those things.”

California will ban smoking on state parks and beaches starting next year under legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law also bans disposing cigar and cigarette waste at parks and beaches. Violations of the law will be punishable by a fine of up to $25. Newsom, a Democrat, announced Friday he had signed the bill into law.

It covers smoking traditional cigarettes as well as using electric smoking devices. Smoking will still be allowed in parking lots at beaches and parks. Film and television productions can still allow people to smoke on state property with the proper permits.

Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer has been pushing such a ban for years, with lawmakers approving it several times. But former Gov. Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat, repeatedly vetoed it.

“We have many rules telling us what we can and can’t do and these are wide open spaces,” he wrote last year.

Glazer has argued such a rule will protect public health and curtail pollution.

California already prohibits smoking at child care centers, within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of farmers’ markets, in government buildings and on public transportation. Cities and counties can also adopt their own smoking laws.

California has roughly 280 state parks and 340 miles (547 kilometers) of coastline.

A legislative analysis predicts it will cost the state parks system nearly $2 million to put up more than 5,000 signs alerting people to the ban and complying with various state regulations.

The law is supported by many medical and environmental groups as well the cities of Huntington Beach and Santa Monica. Many Republicans in the Legislature voted against the measure.

In a bid to highlight the country’s foray into legal medical marijuana, Thailand will host the inaugural World Ganja Festival early next year. The event is being organized by the Association of Researchers of Thailand with cooperation from the national and local governments.

“We’re the main host. Thailand’s the main host. We’re deciding who we will invite to the Ganja Festival,” said the World Ganja Festival’s Honorary Advisor, Gen. Charan Kullawanit. “There will be Chinese, Japanese and American guests. They once opposed the idea.”

“We’ll invite them so we can listen to their academic ideas, presentations, and statements,” he added. “We’ll see how the event will benefit the global community.”

The Association of Researchers of Thailand announced that the group had signed agreements to hold the first World Ganja Festival next year from January 29 through February 2 with the Thai Nationalism Foundation, the Journalist and Media Association of Thailand, and provincial administrative organizations of Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, and Mukdahan. The event will be held at a 40-acre venue near the Nong Yat Reservoir in Nakhon Phanom province.

Sharing Knowledge About Cannabis

The World Ganja Festival 2020 will serve as a platform for the sharing of knowledge about the medicinal uses of cannabis, according to Gen. Kullawanit. The event will include educational seminars, information about technological innovations, and opportunities for business negotiations. A music festival and product design competition will also be featured.

Organizers of the festival hope the event will help create new opportunities for Thailand, the first country in the region to legalize medical marijuana. They also hope to provide a better understanding of cannabis and the legal issues pertaining to its cultivation and use.

Thailand legalized cannabis for medicinal use and for research last year, a move that was affirmed by royal decree in February. The government is looking to legalization as a way to benefit the Thai people both medically and by providing new economic and agricultural opportunities for the country.

Thailand has a tradition of cannabis use to relax muscles and for the treatment of fatigue and labor pains that goes back centuries. In August, the Thai government began distributing 10,000 vials of medical cannabis oil to hospitals to be used for patient care.

Finding products that are going to work well for people not only during an entire day, but across their lifespan is very important.

Internet chat rooms are exploding with people talking about cannabis to treat their ADHD, but does it really work? I’m Doctor Mary Clifton. I’m an internal medicine doctor practicing in Manhattan, New York and I thought I would never have to treat ADHD. I mean, it’s a diagnosis of childhood.

There’s the issue with being able to pay attention, but then there’s also the issue of being able to sit still. It affects people over their course of their entire lifetime, in most cases. And it affects people over the course of their entire day. It not only impacts work and school outcomes, but it also impacts relationship outcomes at home. Finding products that are going to work well for people not only during an entire day, but across their lifespan is very important.

I’m going to share with you a study that holds great promise for how cannabis might be helpful in managing the impulsivity component of ADHD. This study looked at cannabis users compared to healthy controls. They used a PET scanner, which is the functional MRI, the MRI that makes the brain light up or cool off in various locations depending on input. They found that the people treated with methylphenidate, which is one of the stimulants that’s used currently to treat ADHD and the people treated with cannabis had the same changes in metabolism in the cerebellum. Both stimulants that are currently used frequently to manage ADHD and cannabis, affect the movement centers of the brain the same way when they’re studied with a functional MRI.

If you’re dealing with impulsivity with difficultly sitting still, you may find that cannabis is going to give you a pretty similar outcome to methylphenidate, at least based on this one small study. Further studies are needed. Additional recommendations for managing ADHD in children can’t be made at this time because we don’t have much information about the way things work in an adolescent brain exposed to cannabis, There may be some promise for some treatments or maybe some distillations of cannabis in the future. The pharmacology companies are certainly paying attention.

The 1st of November 2019 will mark the one year anniversary of the legalisation of medical cannabis in the United Kingdom. A year after Charlotte Caldwell's tireless campaign to obtain life-saving medication for her son Billy catapulted medical cannabis onto the public agenda, the cost of prescriptions has dropped substantially while the number of scripts written has increased, but more needs to be done before it can be more widely offered by the National Health Service (NHS).

The average price of a month's supply of medical cannabis imported through Logist has dropped from £750 to £550, reducing the average monthly prescription cost by 27%, while the average price per gram has also fallen by 25%. The reduction in cost is a combination of increased volume (meaning the costs associated with importing products is lower per prescription) and the increased availability of different products.

The type of medical specialist consultants writing prescriptions for medical cannabis has also diversified to include pain, oncology and neurology. There has also been a broadening in the delivery method for medical cannabis requested by specialist consultants to include different cannabis oils, pills and flowers, which is largely a result of the greater range of products available. Since February, Logist has imported approximately 1.5kg of flower to the UK.

The vast majority of medical cannabis has made its way to the UK thanks to Logist, a joint-venture formed between specials importer IPS Pharma, and Grow Biotech, the UK's leading medical cannabis market access specialists.

Timeline of Events

• 1st November 2018 - New regulations introduced, which allowed for the import and prescription of cannabis-based medicines
• 14 February 2019 - The first bulk import of medical cannabis in the UK and first patients to receive medication from Logist
• May 2019 - EU based bio-pharmaceutical company MGC Pharma appoints Logist
• August 2019 - NICE publish interim report on medical cannabis
• August 2019 - American medical cannabis giant Columbia Care announces that it will fund and provide medicine for clinical trials in the UK
• September 2019- Leading Canadian company Aurora appoints IPS Pharma and Grow Biotech as importer and distributor for the UK market
• September 2019 - Medical cannabis consultant informs Logist that a patient is no longer using opioids to manage their condition following treatment with medical cannabis

Looking forward to the near future, Chief Operating Officer of Grow Biotech, Hari Guliani, said, "Over the next twelve months we expect the UK's medical community as a whole to take on the challenge of understanding how cannabis might help their patients. We are expecting leading consultants to publish papers on the impact they have seen on their patients, as well as evidence gathered through MHRA-approved trials. This will significantly improve the data available to regulators, policymakers and NICE."

At present, it is only available on the NHS in extremely limited circumstances and is only obtainable through a prescription written by a specialist consultant in the private sector. NICE (The National Institute of Health Care Excellence) has advised that more clinical trials need to be undertaken in the UK and overall costs of medication need to be reduced before medical cannabis can be prescribed by NHS consultants. However, new medical trials are now underway and prices associated with the import of medical cannabis are falling dramatically, giving hope to the thousands of patients who are still struggling to access life-changing medication.

Another major change which cannot be overlooked is funding for the UK's young medical cannabis industry. Ben Langley, Chief Executive Officer of Grow Biotech explained that, "We have seen a massive increase in funding for UK businesses operating within the medical cannabis space, especially from North America. In addition to the £5m Grow Biotech has raised over the last two years, there have been notably well received fundraises for Emmac Life Sciences PLC (£11m raised in March 2019) and for Oxford Cannabinoid Therapeutics ($10m in April 2019). This trend is likely to accelerate as European medical cannabis gradually establishes itself as an attractive asset class for global capital and European equity exchanges start to open their doors to cannabis companies."

Both Ben Langley and Hari Guliani are available for comment and interview.

About Grow Biotech

Grow Biotech exists to unlock the medical potential of cannabis for those who need it.

Grow Biotech's market access team launches medical cannabis producers' businesses into new markets, creating long-term value for them. The company's R&D team creates new technologies for medical cannabis producers to create better, more cost-effective, medicines.

In a large-scale study commissioned by Duke University, researchers observed the dental health of regular cannabis users, and the results weren’t very reassuring.

The study looked at 1,000 New Zealanders who had been using cannabis for more than 20 years. Thankfully, there were no adverse health effects when it came to lung function, blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight – however, the health and gums seemed to suffer. Researchers made sure to account for any confounding factors such as poor hygiene and the use of tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs.

The results remained the same. “Study participants who had used marijuana to some degree over the last 20 years showed an increase in periodontal disease from age 26 to 38,” researchers reported. This isn’t the first study to find that cannabis might not be the best thing for our chompers. Research from 2005 and 2008 has reached the same conclusion.

As a result, the American Dental Association’s (ADA) official position is that cannabis smoking “is associated with periodontal complications, xerostomia (chronic dry mouth), and leukoplakia (white patches inside mouth) as well as increased risk of mouth and neck cancers."

As you may know all too well, smoking cannabis often results decreased saliva production, AKA cotton mouth. Although the issue is certainly well documented among users, the science behind it is a bit less understood.

The reason this happens is because THC mimics ananadamide – a natural endocannabinoid that regulates many different functions in the body, including saliva production. When we use products that are too high in THC, they bind to the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the submandibular region and signal them to create less saliva.

Saliva is one of the most important components in the homeostasis of the human mouth. It’s responsible for breaking down food, clearing away bacteria and other buildup, and preventing cavities, tooth rot, and various gum diseases. Because saliva is full of antimicrobial components, as well as electrolytes and enzymes, a mouth without enough it is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

But it’s not just the THC that’s causing mayhem. Smoking anything is bad for the mouth and gums, and I’ve been told by dentists that the heat from holding a lit pipe or joint in front of your teeth is also bad.

Combine all that with the munchies and the urge to often eat foods high in sugar, it’s no surprise cannabis users are on the dentist’s watch list. “People’s behaviors when smoking cannabis—drinking more sugary drinks, eating junk food and not taking good care of their teeth, are probably more harmful than the THC itself,> said Dr. Jared Helfant DDS, a practicing dentist in Florida and president of Sparx, a California-based cannabis purveyor.

So what’s the takeaway here? Well, if plan to continue smoking cannabis, make sure you stay hydrated, floss regularly, brush 3 times daily, and use some type of mouthwash afterwards to prevent the buildup of extra bacteria around your teeth and gums.

If you make sure to take good care of your teeth, there is no reason to stop using cannabis as the risks of periodontal disease don’t outweigh the many benefits of using cannabis.

The solution to cannabis dependency might simply be more cannabis. That’s according to a new study from researchers at University College London, which found that cannabidiol (CBD) can help people reduce their consumption of THC. Presenting the study at this year’s London’s New Scientist Live festival, lead author Val Curran called the findings “really remarkable.” Curran, a professor of psychopharmacology at University College London, and her team were the first to test the idea of using CBD extracts to treat cannabis use disorders. And indeed, the results are very promising: Curran’s study found that CBD extracts cut the amount of cannabis people smoked in half.

CBD Extracts Can Help Reduce Cannabis Dependency

Cannabis “addiction” can be difficult to define. With no strong chemical dependencies, cannabis use disorders aren’t as destructive or difficult to overcome as those involving more addictive substances, such as nicotine and alcohol. Still, rough estimates put about ten percent of cannabis users in the “addiction” camp. For these cannabis consumers, reducing intake or trying to quit can lead to withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety, insomnia and agitation. Scientists believe increasingly potent THC products are increasing the number of people becoming addicted to cannabis or struggling with dependency issues.

But Curran thinks her research is pointing to an answer. And the answer, she says, is treating cannabis addiction with more cannabis. But Curran doesn’t mean more flower, edibles, concentrates or other THC-dominant products. Instead, she says therapeutic doses of another cannabis compound, cannabidiol (CBD), can help people quit or reduce cannabis use without withdrawal symptoms.

Curran’s study took 82 people living in the U.K. who were classified as “severely addicted” to cannabis. The participants were divided into three groups, and over the course of a four-week trial, each group was given either a daily 400 mg dose of CBD, 800 mg of CBD, or a placebo. All participants also had access to counselors and other psychological support to help them drop their cannabis habit.

According to the study, the 400 mg CBD group experienced the greatest reduction in cannabis use after six months. Researchers measured cannabis consumption by testing participants’ urine for THC. Not only did the 400 mg CBD group have half as much THC in their urine, they also doubled the days when their urine did not test positive for THC. The 800 mg CBD group saw some improvement, but less than the 400 mg group. The placebo group saw no reduction in cannabis consumption.

Cannabidiol (CBD) and the Fight Against Addiction

Curran’s University College London study resonates with other recent findings about the ability of cannabidiol to both counteract the negative side effects of THC and fight addiction. One recent study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, found that CBD prevents the brain from amplifying stressful stimuli. THC, say researchers, sparks off a chain reaction of nerve signals in the brain that can spiral into stress and anxiety. Cannabidiol counteracts the runaway-train effect, blocking the signaling pathway and preventing the unwanted mental disturbances that potent doses of THC can cause. “CBD gets rid of the toxic effects of THC,” Curran said during her “Cannabis: medicine or madness?” talk at the New Scientist Live festival.

“CBD has a variety of anti-addictive properties,” said University of Sydney professor Iain McGregor. McGregor worked on Curran’s study and is also researching the use of CBD to treat alcohol addiction. Anxiety is a major side effect of detoxifying, and McGregor says CBD is very good at reducing anxiety.

These important studies continue to highlight the wide-ranging therapeutic and health benefits of cannabidiol. But it’s important to keep in mind that most of the commercial CBD products available today, especially outside legal cannabis markets, do not have the potency of the capsules used in Curran’s study. And in most places, CBD products face little if any regulatory scrutiny.