A Weekly Roundup of Stories We Found Interesting – From The Profound To The Profane

Is The United Kingdom Being Flooded With High Potency Cannabis?
Weed is the most popular illegal drug in the UK. A recent study suggests that marijuana has become so strong it puts users at risk of developing psychotic disorders. Is the United Kingdom being flooded with high potency cannabis? And does it really pose the mental health dangers some experts say it does?

How a Racist Hate-Monger Masterminded America’s War on Drugs
This is a very interesting piece on how Harry Anslinger, the head of Federal Narcotics Bureau (a precursor to the DEA) for more than three decades, conflated drug use, race, and music to criminalize non-whiteness and create a prison-industrial complex. Jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday were targeted for Anslinger’s persecution.

Nearly All Cancer Patients Medicating With Cannabis Report Improvement
The European Journal of Internal Medicine recently published a study on cancer patients, half which were in stage 4 of their diseases. A whopping “96% reported an improvement in their condition.”

Sensing Big Bucks, Tobacco Companies Pivot Toward Marijuana
After Philip Morris International denied its intention to sell marijuana-based products in 2016, later that same year, it sunk $20 million into Syqe Medical, an Israeli-based firm that makes 3D-printed cannabis inhalers. In the years prior, the company’s European subsidiary, Philip Morris Products S.A., applied for and received a patent for plants “producing terpenes of interest… including…. Cannabis sativa.” This is just the beginning.

Hemp Harvest? These Central Illinois Farmers See an Opportunity in Cannabis Fiber
Illinois farmers could benefit if the state approves a law allowing them to grow industrial hemp which is used for all types of different things: fiber-based products like rope, fabrics, some resins and plastics. There are also opportunities for possible food products, and the oils can be used much like vegetable oils

Two Personal Stories from Popsugar.com Focusing on Women in Cannabis
Women are making a huge impact in the Cannabis industry. This week, Popsugar.com published two personal stories: Jessica VerSteeg going from model to cannabis entrepreneur, and Stormy Simon, a former president of Overstock.com, now a marijuana legalization advocate.