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A Beginner’s Guide To Buying Weed Online

psadmin — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 17:48:00 +0000

Marijuana, AKA cannabis or “weed,” has been legal in Canada since 2001 for medical purposes and it was also legalised for recreational use by adults in 2018. While there are multiple ways to obtain marijuana, one of the easiest is purchasing it online. Buying weed online is convenient and safe, provided you follow a few simple rules and don’t run afoul of the law. This starts with finding a reputable and licensed dispensary, such as BuyWeedPacks, understanding the possession limits for medical and recreational use and determining which use you qualify for.

1) Medical Marijuana

Medical cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2001 and patients with a prescription are allowed to possess 150 grams or 30 times the equivalent of one daily prescribed dose of dried marijuana or its equivalent. In order to qualify for the medical-use limits you must have a valid prescription for cannabis from a licensed healthcare provider. Absent a prescription, you must stay within the legal limits for recreational use.

2) Recreational Use

Canada law allows adults, 18 years of age and over, to buy and carry up to 30 grams of dried marijuana in public at one time. This restriction also applies to the amount that can be carried in a vehicle. There are no current limits on how much marijuana can be kept at home. Canada national law allows provinces to modify possession amounts, storage and transport amounts as well as the minimum age requirement. While provinces are allowed to raise the minimum, they cannot lower it. Canadian law allows for the follow possession amounts for adult recreational use:

One (1) gram of dried marijuana
Five (5) grams of fresh cannabis
0.25 grams of concentrate
15 grams of edibles
70 grams of liquid
One (1) plant seed

* Note that the penalties for possession over these limits can range from a relatively small fine to up to five years in prison.

Choosing a Dispensary

The four major locations for purchasing weed online are Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. You might think that buying weed online is as simple as performing a quick search and selecting a store at the top of the search results or going to sites like Facebook or Craigslist. However, caution must be exercised when buying online to avoid disreputable or illegal sellers.

The Medicinal Marijuana Association cautions consumers to be sure to do their due diligence before purchasing weed online as there are some disreputable sites that look legitimate, but are really scams. The same cautions are advisable for recreational-use purchases as well. Check to be sure the dispensary is licensed which means they will be regulated and that means their product will have been screened for contaminants that could cause unwanted side effects.

Once on a site you will be asked to confirm your age before entering the website. Browse through the various categories of products and compare the selections and prices with other online sellers. After you have decided on a dispensary and made your selection, you will checkout and the package will be delivered.

Knowing What to Buy

If this is your first time buying cannabis, you may be a little overwhelmed with all of the different options. Take your time and look through all the buying options. There are two base cannabis species known as Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. Sativa has a more stimulating effect and indica has a relaxing effect on both your mind and body. There are hybrids of the two species that give some of the effects of each species.

The two main compounds found in cannabis are cannabidiol, or CBD, and tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. CBD is a pain killer and can be extracted from either cannabis or hemp. However, THC is what produces the euphoric effect, or “high” and is found mainly in cannabis.

Cost of Buying Weed Online

Like everything, online prices will fluctuate with supply and demand and will typically increase as time goes by to cover the cost of inflation. However, the cost of buying weed online from a reputable vendor will typically be about the same or even cheaper than purchasing it in a store. Check with a few sites to get an idea of what the going prices are and you will learn how to spot a good deal. Note that some dispensaries do charge a delivery or shipping fee, but many will waive the fee if you spend a certain amount. It pays, or saves in this case, to confirm this before making a purchase.

Delivery

Online marijuana delivery is handled much the same as buying other products online with most stores shipping through the Canadian Postal service or via a reputable courier.

Conclusion

Buying weed online is not really any more of a mystery than buying anything else on the web, and all the same common-sense rules apply. Take your time to learn the market, comparison shop and confirm the legitimacy of the vendor before handing over your credit card info and you will be a savvy online weed shopper in short order.

via SFWeekly.com

Pot-pourri: There’s no telling what’s in your favorite weed strain

psadmin — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 20:08:03 +0000

There are over 700 strains of marijuana, each claiming unique chemical and effect profiles. Although marketers are usually required to include dosages of THC and CBD, strain names are unregulated. An analysis of nearly 90,000 marijuana samples revealed that some strains have no consistent chemical profile — almost as if they were named arbitrarily.

Over 700 weed strains decorate the shelves of dispensaries around the U.S., each claiming a unique profile of effects. Granddaddy Purple’s grape-y flavor delivers a fusion of cerebral euphoria and physical relaxation, perfect for combating appetite loss and insomnia. Green Crack, on the other hand, promises an invigorating mental buzz that alleviates anxiety and keeps you going throughout the day.

This diversity of effects is attributed to each strain’s unique chemical profile. Many consumers trust that marijuana strain names consistently reflect a similar profile, regardless of when or where it was purchased. A new study, however, found that strain names do not consistently align with the chemical diversity.

Almost no standards in cannabis industry

Marketers are generally required to disclose the dosage of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) on strain labels. However, they are not obliged to include information about other cannabinoids or terpenes, which are hypothesized to have a synergistic effect on the way a product makes you feel. Therefore, many marijuana users rely on strain names rather than THC/CBD profiles to ensure they are getting the product they want. What many of these buyers don’t know is that marijuana growers and marketers are free to name their products whatever they want.

“A farmer can’t just pick up an apple and decide to call it a Golden Delicious. A beer manufacturer can’t just arbitrarily label their product a Double IPA. There are standards. But that is not the case for the cannabis industry,” said co-author Nick Jikomes, director of science and innovation for the e-commerce cannabis marketplace Leafly.com.

Testing 89,923 different marijuana samples

To get a sense of how similar same-named products truly are, Jikomes paired up with Brian Keegan, an assistant professor of Information Science at CU Boulder. Together, they conducted the largest chemical profile analysis of commercial Cannabis-derived products to date, analyzing 89,923 samples from testing labs in six U.S. states.

State laws require Cannabis-derived products destined for sale in retail locations to undergo testing to determine their chemical profile. The researchers believed it was conceivable that some marijuana merchants used this profile when assigning strain names, thus ensuring consistent products and effects.

In principle, if commercial strain names are indicative of different psychoactive effects in a discernible way, then all the samples with a particular label should share a distinct cannabinoid/terpene profile. Alternatively, because there are few regulatory constraints on the nomenclature of commercial Cannabis, it is possible that Cannabis cultivators may label their products in arbitrary or inconsistent ways.

Some weed strain names are consistently inconsistent

To determine if a weed strain name is indicative of a particular chemical profile, the researchers quantified the similarity of all products sharing a common strain name. For instance, they analyzed all the samples labeled Blue Dream, a deliciously blueberry-scented strain described as producing a balanced high, along with effects such as cerebral stimulation and full-body relaxation. While no strain had a perfectly distinct profile, samples labeled Blue Dream — as well as 25 other strains — were fairly consistent.

“There was actually more consistency among strains than I had expected,” Jikomes said. “That tells me that the cultivators, at least in some cases, may not be getting enough credit.”

However, 15 of the strains that the researchers analyzed were consistently inconsistent. For instance, samples labeled Pineapple Express, a crowd-favorite that rose to fame after the release of the 2008 film by the same name, exhibited such a high degree of variation that there was no distinct cannabinoid/terpene profile. In other words, it’s almost as if cultivators pick random plants and arbitrarily call them Pineapple Express.

Commercial “strain names” are associated with variable levels of chemical consistency across Cannabis products. The dashed line represents the average similarity level if strain names were randomly assigned. Strains with data points closer to 1 had a distinct cannabinoid/terpene profile, whereas strains with lower data points had inconsistent chemical profiles. (Credit: Smith et al. PLOS ONE. 2022)

“Our findings suggest that the prevailing labeling system is not an effective or safe way to provide information about these products. This is a real challenge for an industry that is trying to professionalize itself,” said Keegan. “It’s like if your cereal box only showed calories and fat and nothing else. We as consumers need to be pushing for more information. If we do that, the industry will respond.”

By Peter Rogers, via BigThink.com

Pre-Ground Flower Fans Have No Time for Cannabis Snobs

psadmin — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 19:28:17 +0000

For Toronto’s Irelyne Lavery, her reasons for switching from cannabis flower to pre-ground products were all about convenience and value for money.

It’s simply easier to drop some into a bowl for a bong hit rather than grinding it up first. Plus, the prices are hard to beat, with seven-gram bags going for around $30.

She doesn’t consider herself a connoisseur so she doesn’t notice much of a difference in quality from the more expensive non-milled nugs on the market, nor do most of her friends.

“Over the last couple months, in my circles of friends who also smoke weed, everyone’s made the switch,” the 22-year-old said on a recent phone call.

Pre-ground cannabis sales are rising quarter after quarter

According to the Ontario Cannabis Store’s 2021 quarterly insights reports, milled cannabis sales at the retail level rose 104%, from $6,518,000 to $13,360,000 from Q1 to Q2. By Q3, sales of milled flower rose again to $19,853,000.

Seattle-based data, analytics and intelligence company Headset have also been tracking the progress of the category they’ve named “ground flower” in Alberta, B.C., Ontario and Saskatchewan. In those markets, sales of milled flower have grown from 0.7% of all dried flower sales in January 2020 to 5.8% in March 2022.

According to their data, the top brands today are Shred, Pure Sunfarms and Steel City Green, and 90% of all sales are the seven-gram bag, which is the most common size of milled products.

“This is the battle of the connoisseur versus the practical stoner” ~ Mike, What’s My Pot, says of the milled cannabis trend.

Milled flower popularity makes connaisseurs balk

Owen Allerton, the co-founder of Kitchener, Ont.’s Highland Cannabis Store, has also noted the enormous appetite for milled flower products.

On a recent episode of The Dank Hour, a US-based podcast by Future Cannabis Project, he shared how popular the category has become among shoppers at his store—stunning the longtime consumers and connoisseurs featured on the show.

“You’re blowing my mind that this is a popular product, Owen,” said one guest in disbelief.

On a call from his home in Waterloo, Ont., Mike, the founder of strain recommendation website What’s My Pot, jokingly called his fondness for milled cannabis “my shame”.

Milled products are traditionally thought to be made of shake, the loose bits of cannabis flower that are leftover in containers or fallen to the floor or countertops while the real buds are being processed for sale. Mike explains that this isn’t the case with modern milled products.

CBD Dream pre-ground flower (Courtesy of Pure Sunfarms)

“This is the battle of the connoisseur versus the practical stoner,” he said. “It’s certainly not very connoisseur to be smoking, you know, a milled weed blend. It’s not the sort of thing that’s winning any High Times competitions. But at the same time, we are smoking weed every day because we have to, not necessarily because we even want to, right?”

Mike has type one diabetes, and he said consuming THC helps reduce the volume of insulin he depends on by between 20 and 30%. He has some neuropathy and rheumatoid arthritis, and also uses cannabis to manage pain.

While he also buys a few premium brands and pre-rolls, milled products give him a level of convenience—no fussing with onerous containers and grinding with sore hands, for example—as well as the value that he depends on as a frequent medical consumer.

Shred’s success is a testament to improvements over time

Organigram launched its first milled blends in 2017 in the medical market. But it missed the mark in 2018 with its Prohibition blend, and the product was withdrawn, according to Megan McCrae, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Organigram.

But they took their learnings and applied them to a new set of recipes, launching Shred in 2020 with three flavours: Tropic Thunder, Gnarberry and Flower Power. Strains are blended based on sharing similar aromas, and categories like indica/sativa are left behind.

Tropic Thunder milled cannabis (Courtesy of Shred)

Tropic Thunder’s special mix of cannabis strains, for example, has largely citrus and fruity flavours. THC potency is at a minimum of 18%, and each bag comes with a moisture pack.

“Shred tapped into the somewhat dormant, light-hearted, and rebellious side of a nascent Canadian legal market, that had come to be known for taking itself too seriously and big, corporate brands that all looked and sounded the same,” McCrae wrote in an email.

“It cast a wide net for weed lovers who just liked to get high and weren’t overly concerned with the more progressive elements of cannabis like terpenes, bud structure, breeder history, etc.”

It’s all about the grind

While milled blends aren’t necessarily for the connoisseur, their reputation for being ultra-low quality isn’t really accurate, according to Andrew MacMillan, the senior vice president, commercial at Auxly, whose Back Forty brand is popular in the milled category.

“Our milled flower is selected based on THC content to ensure it meets our high standards and is then assessed for moisture content to ensure the flower does not end up too dry and we deliver a consistent product,” MacMillan said in an email. “Our milled flower is then sifted to remove stems and carefully packaged by hand.”

In addition to potency, hydration, and the absence of seeds and stems, the quality of the grind is one of the most important factors to look at when evaluating quality, said Ryan Roch of Alberta’s Lake City Cannabis.

“One of the bigger mistakes growers make is they go with too fine of a grind at the beginning,” he said. “You’ve got to go with a coarse grind to get your best results out of it.”

Megan McCrae of Organigram concurred. For Shred, the team tested many different types of equipment, aiming to reproduce the quality of a handheld grinder on a larger scale.

“Organigram has tested many different types of milling equipment over the years, and now we have something that is both scalable and consistent,” she said. “Everyone has had their grinder seize up on them from resin build-up. Imagine that a million times worse at our scale of production.”

By Jo Kate Robertson, via Leafly.com

Psychedelics: How They Act on the Brain to Relieve Depression

psadmin — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 18:45:56 +0000

Up to 30 per cent of people with depression don’t respond to treatment with antidepressants. This may be down to differences in biology between patients and the fact that it often takes a long time to respond to the drugs – with some people giving up after a while. So there is an urgent need to expand the repertoire of drugs available to people with depression.

In recent years, attention has turned to psychedelics such as psilocybin, the active compound in “magic mushrooms”. Despite a number of clinical trials showing that psilocybin can rapidly treat depression, including for cancer-related anxiety and depression, little is known about how psilocybin actually works to relieve depression in the brain.

Now two recent studies, published in The New England Journal of Medicine and Nature Medicine, have shed some light on this mysterious process.

Psilocybin is a hallucinogen that changes the brain’s response to a chemical called serotonin. When broken down by the liver (into “psilocin”), it causes an altered state of consciousness and perception in users.

Previous studies, using functional MRI (fMRI) brain scanning, have shown that psilocybin seems to reduce activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that helps regulate a number of cognitive functions, including attention, inhibitory control, habits and memory. The compound also decreases connections between this area and the posterior cingulate cortex, an area that may play a role in regulating memory and emotions.

An active connection between these two brain areas is normally a feature of the brain’s “default mode network”. This network is active when we rest and focus internally, perhaps reminiscing about the past, envisioning the future or thinking about ourselves or others. By reducing the activity of the network, psilocybin may well be removing the constraints of the internal “self” – with users reporting an “opened mind” with increased perception of the world around them.

Interestingly, rumination, a state of being “stuck” in negative thoughts, particularly about oneself, is a hallmark of depression. And we know that patients with higher levels of negative rumination tend to show increased activity of the default mode network compared with other networks at rest – literally becoming less responsive to the world around them. It remains to be seen, however, if the symptoms of depression cause this altered activity, or if those with a more active default mode network are more prone to depression.

The most compelling evidence of how psilocybin works comes from a double-blind randomised controlled trial (the gold-standard of clinical studies) that compared a group of depressed people taking psilocybin with those taking the existing antidepressant drug escitalopram – something that’s never been done before. The trial was further analysed using fMRI brain scans, and the results were compared with other fMRI findings from another recent clinical trial.

Just one day after the first dose of psilocybin, fMRI measures revealed an overall increase in connectivity between the brain’s various networks, which are typically reduced in those with severe depression. The default mode network was simultaneously reduced, while connectivity between it and other networks was increased – backing up previous, smaller studies.

The dose increased connectivity more in some people than others. But the studies showed that the people who had the biggest boost in connection between networks also had the greatest improvement in their symptoms six months later.

The brains of people taking escitalopram, on the other hand, showed no change in connectivity between the default mode and other brain networks six weeks after treatment started. It is possible that escitalopram may bring about changes at a later time point. But the rapid onset of psilocybin’s antidepressant effect means it may be ideal for people who don’t respond to existing antidepressants.

The study proposes that the observed effect may be due to psilocybin having more concentrated action on receptors in the brain called “serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors” than escitalopram. These receptors are activated by serotonin and are active throughout network brain areas, including the default mode network. We already know that the level of binding by psilocybin to these receptors leads to psychedelic effects. Exactly how their activation leads to changes in network connectivity is still to be explored though.

This does raise the question of whether altered activity of the brain’s networks is required for treating depression. Many people taking traditional antidepressants still report an improvement in their symptoms without it. In fact, the study showed that, six weeks after commencing treatment, both groups reported improvement in their symptoms.

According to some depression rating scales, however, psilocybin had the greatest effect on overall mental wellbeing. And a greater proportion of patients treated with psilocybin showed a clinical response compared with those treated with escitalopram (70 per cent versus 48 per cent). More patients in the psilocybin group were also still in remission at six weeks (57 per cent versus 28 per cent). The fact that some patients still do not respond to psilocybin, or relapse after treatment, shows just how difficult it can be to treat depression.

What’s more, mental health professionals supported both treatment groups during and after the trial. The success of psilocybin is heavily dependent on the environment in which it is taken. This means it is a bad idea to use it for self-medicating. Also, patients were carefully selected for psilocybin-assisted therapy based on their history to avoid the risk of psychosis and other adverse effects.

Regardless of the caveats, these studies are incredibly promising and move us closer to expanding the available treatment options for patients with depression. What’s more, internalised negative thought processes are not specific to depression. In due course, other disorders, such as addiction or anxiety, may also benefit from psilocybin-assisted therapy.

By Jo Adetunji, via CyprusMail