From brain diseases to pets, start-ups develop new cannabis cures

As recreational use of marijuana ramps up, entrepreneurs are trying their hand at cashing in on the green rush.

At the East Coast Cannabis Business Expo in midtown Manhattan, creative start-ups are finding new applications for cannabidiol—or CBD, for short—the cannabis compound that has medical properties.

That compound, CBD, should not be confused with another marijuana compound tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, which is the component that causes users to get high.

Some unique ventures are focused on CBD-related, medical applications. One small business is targeting cannabis treatments for injured athletes; while another is focusing on cannabis products for pets.

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Its cool for me, as a lifelong advocate for the medical and recreational use of the marijuana plant, to finally start seeing cannabis in the public eye like it is. Just look, business is booming! its so funny to me that we have kept this plant under lock and key for so long under a myriad of different legal guises, all of which were (and are) based on outmoded concepts and ideas of racial and class inequalities. If you want a look at what type of insane rhetoric was used in the war to demonize pot look no further than Reefer Madness.





Seems pretty freaking ridiculous to us nowadays huh? But think about the folks that didn't know about the "dangers" of cannabis back then, that relied on government to tell them what was safe and moral. They believed this tripe, bought it hook, line and sinker.

This thread isn't entirely about that though. No, I want to go into an article I came by a little while ago.

Pot for Pooches

San Diego-based HempMeds has developed cannabis pet food, treats and oils that help animals that may suffer from anxiety, digestive issues, seizures and more.

Rob Streisfeld, a consultant for HempMeds, says CBD is naturally found in the cannabis plant, and will not get your dogs and cats stoned.

"It's non-psychoactive, so it doesn't get your pets high," Streisfeld said."It does have tremendous benefits and potential to help with seizures, anxiety and all other benefits regarding neuro-protection."

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So here we have CBD being used too treat disease and general illness in canines! I mean, how rad is that? Cannabis can even be used to improve the quality of life for our beloved pets! Geez, whoever put that stuff here sure knew what they were doing eh?



Tackling traumatic brain injury

KannaLife hopes its products will help treat degenerative brain diseases for patients—including professional athletes.

The medications are designed to help those with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE, which is a degenerative brain ailment found in professional athletes, alongside Hepatic Encephalopathy or HE, which is a loss of brain function due to liver disease, according to Dean Petkanas, founder and chief executive of KannaLife.

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Whatever your take on Medical Marijuana, specifically the use of CBDs (the non-psychoactive property of the cannabis plant) it is hard to deny that, especially within the next few years, cannabis will be making some breakthroughs in the medical field. We need to let go of the stigma surrounding marijuana and begin treating it the same way we treat alcohol and cigarettes, even those lovely prescription drugs half of the world seems to be addicted to.

After all, its just a plant and it can't hurt you unless you let it and even then its ability to actually hurt you is brought strongly into question.

Important Disclaimer: Discussion of "personal use" is strictly prohibited (please don't do it)

Kallisti

a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

I am sorry, but, it will not be that easy.

For pets, sure, why not.

For humans, that is another matter requiring the permission of various government agencies and just advertising without your million dollar studies, clinical trials and all of the other fiery hoops you will have to jump through will land you in court.

Big Pharma will put every death defying roadblock in your path so much so that it will make your head spin.

We have seen what happens when professors in universities try and go against the wishes of the big pharmaceuticals ..... they get fired.

Don't expect anything too soon. It will always be 'fringe' medicine and will be fought tooth and nail.

Until of course, big pharma design it, patent it, make obscene profits from it and then you will go to jail for patent infringement.

P

originally posted by: pheonix358
a reply to: CagliostroTheGreat

I am sorry, but, it will not be that easy.

For pets, sure, why not.

For humans, that is another matter requiring the permission of various government agencies and just advertising without your million dollar studies, clinical trials and all of the other fiery hoops you will have to jump through will land you in court.

Big Pharma will put every death defying roadblock in your path so much so that it will make your head spin.

We have seen what happens when professors in universities try and go against the wishes of the big pharmaceuticals ..... they get fired.

Don't expect anything too soon. It will always be 'fringe' medicine and will be fought tooth and nail.

Until of course, big pharma design it, patent it, make obscene profits from it and then you will go to jail for patent infringement.

P

I agree that the pharmaceutical industrial complex (PID) will fight to the bloody bitter end to block any further reformation of cannabis law, it is their best interest to keep the public hooked on their poisons after all, but with the rapidity that cannabis laws have been changing just in the last decade I don't/can't envision a future that does not include far looser marijuana laws.

Either way the health benefits are, in my opinion, undeniable and far outweigh any risk that might come with consuming this specific plant.

oh, and I would be way more worried about megacorps like Monsanto getting a hold of and patenting the food supply than cannabis... oh wait...

Kallisti

a reply to: pheonix358

Big Pharma, will do what they have always done.....synthetically produce the CBD in their labs, maybe even add 10% of the real stuff, and claim it is far more effective than the plant extract. Of course the vast majority of the public will buy into it 'because scientists know what they're doing'!


................besides putting their dollar might to get the genuine article removed.


Jane

I have a fatal lung disease. I sooooo want to try CBD, hoping it will heal me. Buuuut, where I live it's illegal. It really makes me po'd that I would have to risk arrest and incarceration should I exercise MY RIGHT TO USE A PLANT TO ATTEMPT TO HEAL MYSELF--USING THIS PLANT IN MY BODY ONLY!! Whatever happened to no injury, no crime??

originally posted by: Habit4ming
I have a fatal lung disease. I sooooo want to try CBD, hoping it will heal me. Buuuut, where I live it's illegal. It really makes me po'd that I would have to risk arrest and incarceration should I exercise MY RIGHT TO USE A PLANT TO ATTEMPT TO HEAL MYSELF--USING THIS PLANT IN MY BODY ONLY!! Whatever happened to no injury, no crime??

It is a crime against humanity to make nature illegal and I feel for you... As a user who is medicating illegally, I understand all too well where you are coming from

i fear if I ever get caught, due to current legislation here, they will just see me as a drug user and will decide my medicine is bad for me, pushing me onto a very slippery slope I feel.

Disgusting that, instead of being happy with a cure, we have to be ashamed and careful with our every move, due to common stubborn misconceptions...

a reply to: NoNameNeeded & a reply to: Habit4ming

I feel you guys. Its sad that we have to be afraid of going to prison for nothing more than using a natural medicine that has been used by humans for centuries. Its funny how disillusioned people are with regards to the truth of the cannabis plant. Without it, I would be dead. No lie.

originally posted by: CagliostroTheGreatWithout it, I would be dead. No lie.

Exactly the same for me. Would have taken my life and almost did, then went ahh # it, might as well try drugs first, and it at least made me happy again! then boom, couple months later i had what the medical world refers to as psychosis, i was reborn, had an ego death, rediscovered myself and all my worries were suddenly hilarious little issues that were not even worth a tear anymore, let alone to kill myself over... I was one with the universe, i did t understand or know the little details. But i felt the greater truth, love, an inseparable connection to everything around me, and a strong urge to "fix" the world by making others see it as i now newly did! Thankfully the psychotic part faded and what remained was a very down to earth guy that was left with unresolved issues as well as new ones (i was now a self proclaimed pothead, hippy, artist, you name it), issues Im still struggling with, but i love life though, which cant be said for the first 22-ish years of my life, pretty sad when you know im still only 26 now! But i think greatness lies ahead, i have to believe that after all the sh"t that happened...

Still on the long road to recovery, not going to lie, psychological damage from the past is not fixed that easily, but for some twisted people it would have been better, if i had just killed myself, because now im a junk, a drug user, doesnt matter im making something of my life, there is still a stigma on my habits and the stigma in turn limits me in making something of my life. Ironic how people think they are helping me because its "bad", when its exactly their attitude that brings bad aspects about it to the surface, at least for me...

a reply to: NoNameNeeded

Yup.

It is about time that America, The World, completely decriminalizes MJ. The rhetoric, the propaganda, the flat out lies about this plant have got to stop and ALL non-violent drug offenders should be released from slavery ('cause really, that's all prison is) and the PIC should duly compensate all injured parties on the grounds of false and unlawful imprisonment and indentured slavery. Its just insane to think that so many lives have been torn apart because of a plant. Think about that, A PLANT! It has to end. Yesterday.

Kallisti