Report on the Nz recreational cannabis bill released

On september 19, new zealanders will go to polls to vote for their federal government. In addition to the fed, they can vote for contentious referenda as well including recreational cannabis and voluntary assisted dying.

The bill of full recreational cannabis is not only published but the government has also offered an accompanying summary about it.

The summary of the bill is:

·         Adults of 20 years and older than it would purchase products only from licensed stores and there would be no home delivery.

·         Adults would be capable of purchasing up to 14 grams of flower daily.

·         There would be no advertising and only plain packaging would be utilised.

·         Home growth would be enabled but it would be limited to only two plants per person.

·         Licensed venues for consumption would be allowed as well.

Social benefits and industry structure

In comparison with any other legislation related to cannabis, this only has the aim of fulfilling its predetermined purpose, which is concerned with reducing the harm associated with cannabis to people, communities, and families.

If this referendum succeeds and gains effectiveness, it would serve to create a diverse and locally-focused industry that offers genuine social advantages and not jobs and taxes types of benefits that are common from free-market frameworks with respect to cannabis, but original social improvements that are targeted at most disadvantaged societal members along with the ones harmed by the criminalisation of drugs including cannabis.

Cap on the production of cannabis

With the referendum, the government would impose a cap on the amount of cannabis that can be produced by the industry. In addition to it, for permission, licensed companies would apply and that would determine the percentage which will be produced by them. Each applicant would be considered on the basis of the extent to which the applicant:

·         Promotes career pathways and employment opportunities.

·         Builds community partnerships and generates social benefits.

·         And represents communities that are disproportionately affected by cannabis.

The maximum share of the net amount that an organisation could be issued is twenty per cent. It means that no licensed producer will ever accomplish over twenty per cent of the net market by law. Some per cent of this total amount will be segregated for micro cultivators as well.

Approval of products: Cannabis is limited by thc and products associated it would be set while considering consumer choice, the potency of products in the black market, and health concerns. Therefore, it can be said that the cannabis limits of thc are set close to but below the levels of the black market.

The first products to be able would be fresh and dried seeds, plants, and cannabis. With the passage of time, more types of products would be permitted through regulation including concentrates and edibles. Another interesting thing is that some types of products would be banned including packaged fresh or dried cannabis and beverages.

Taxes: It is important to note that cannabis products and cannabis itself would be taxed when it packaged and labelled, and based on the combination of potency and weight. People are allowed to have 14 grams of the cannabis a day and it is the same issue that new zealand’s previous opposition party decried previously. However, the thc content is up for the 15% and it is under the new pro-legislation drug foundation of new zealand. The increase in the taxes is based on the type of product, for instance, for the stronger product, there will be higher taxes applied to it. Cannabis products and cannabis itself would be under taxes for different conditions of potency and weight. The standards are defined for the fee structures and fund regulators. The additional levies would be under the imposed conditions of licensed producers. It requires a direct relation of licenced of the product with the public health interventions. It reduces social harms that are caused by the cannabis. The public health strategies are particularly designed from the advisory committee and it would be responsible for the development of potency limits, aspects of the regime, and production caps.

Success possibilities of a referendum: The success possibilities can be measured by conducting polls but in the present case, it will be unreliable. The proposed legislation plays an important role in political debates. The bill provides information for the cannabis related harms and what are the possible alternative and anti-legalisation conditions. The marginalized communities, in this case, are given with priority for the government-controlled potency. The product requires preapproval and pay levies for the funding of harm reduction of drugs programs. In the cannabis market, the revenues and profitability are the priority and it is important to impose a corporate social responsibility program that works under the marketing exercises. For the model of new zealand, it is difficult to incorporate citizen for the conditions of market share (Freshleafanalytics. com. au, 2020).

Current laws: The amount of cannabis that is allowed to be possessed by the owner is specified under current legal conditions. The person having more amount or above the limited amount of cannabis will be considered as committing illegal action. The current controlling laws are under the misuse of drug act 1975 and this law the maximum sentence of possession of cannabis is months of imprisonment and there will be fine of $500. Another legal condition known as the presumption of supply threshold allows only 28 grams or 100 joints and person having more than this limit will be presumed as a person who supplies it. The maximum penalty of cultivation of cannabis is 7 years imprisonment. Those who are involved in dealing with cannabis will face a penalty of 8 years imprisonment. The approved conditions of possessing cannabis are to be used in the pharmaceuticals and for the patient. The patient is liable to pay the full retail cost. The terminally ill patients are legally allowed to have limited dose and they can defend against the prosecution of having cannabis. Another legal condition is defined to regulate the usage limit under the misuse of drugs (medical cannabis) amendment act (Graham-McLay, 2020).     

Can you overdose on cannabis?

The short answer to respond to the question regarding overdose of cannabis is yes you can overdose on cannabis. There is zero number of people who died due to overdose of cannabis, but overdosing marijuana is impossible. It is a misconception is that cannabis is a lethal drug. The research of the national cancer institute concluded that the receptors of cannabis are not facing brainstem area controlling issues. Therefore, a lot of doses can’t cause significant damage to organs that lead to death. The scientific reason includes oxycontin and heroin that is absorbed by the different parts of the body and it requires essential functions such as breathing.  The lethal issue can come because of lack of oxygen, poor circulation of blood, and irregular breathing. The question arises here about the lethal dose of cannabis (Freshleafanalytics. com. au, 2020).

Statistics show that some users must take 40,000 times the normal amount of cannabis that lead to death chances. Some other estimates show that smokers theoretically consume approximately 1500 pounds of marijuana within 15 minutes and then reach to the lethal response. Some joints in the smoke reach to 20 to 40,000 joints with the 0.9 gram of weed consumption before the death. On the other hand, morphine has a therapeutic index of 70:1. Most of the users wouldn’t take more than 10 mg edible. In addition to the extremely high consumption and the lethal dose amount, there are no significant records for cannabis deaths due to overdose. The research concludes that cannabis induces a significant impact on motor skills, and it can also increase the heart rates and sometimes result as short term memory loss. The consumption of the mixture of cannabis and alcohol can lead to greening out. The reason is that THC is absorbed faster. Some alternatives are there to overcome the issue such as moving towards some comfortable and relaxing environment that cause calming methods for the ease of anxiety attack. The calming method can help in reducing stress. In the case of extreme attack and anxiety, the best solution is to move towards the emergency room and reach the doctor (Potguide. com, 2017).

The doctor can help the most in this situation they can simply talk back and then relax. In extreme cases, doctors can give sedative. Let’s consider some statistics from the past, there are records of 6784 cocaine overdose deaths and 12,989 heroin overdose deaths in 2015 but compared to the cannabis there was not a single death due to marijuana. There are a variety of cannabis products some have adverse effects and the differences are due to different chemical concentrations, formulations, routes of absorption and differential rates of drug absorption in the body. It is common that cannabis users get a big dose and then face the experience of nausea, anxiety, vomiting, paranoia, cognitive impairment and dizziness. The overdose can result adversely due to different levels of contaminations. In the opioid world, sometimes amateurs think that they are purchasing heroin but end up by purchasing fentanyl. In this situation, it could lead to stopping breathing by using the wrong item (Potguide. com, 2017). Consider different users of cannabis in the cannabis world and sometimes people buy cbd product and the contamination level is high for the potency synthetic cannabinoids residual solvents that are extracted from many processes. The level of contaminations directly cause severe health consequences and it could be due to overdose of cannabis. The adverse effect can be for those individuals having pre-existing health conditions and sometimes the uncommon genetic makeup lead to respond abruptly and atypically to cannabis (Potguide. com, 2017).

In such situations, they can suffer adverse consequences, but it never leads to death. Such type of cases is common in young people and the possibility of high-risk issues are for heart patients. The major risk issues are experienced by people having cardiovascular events, acute psychotic episode, myocardial infraction shortly. There are some typical reactions of cannabis that result in increasing case reports in the subset of the population. The cannabis overdose can induce substantial negative consequences. There are no reliable predicting conditions based on experiences as several death due to cannabis is zero. It has essentially no fatal overdose risk and ingesting cannabis at a high level can cause severe health-threatening consequences. The overdose of cannabis can be like a severe version of cannabis intoxication. The symptoms also include anxiety, fast heart rate, paranoia, nausea and vomiting, delusions and hallucinations. In the recent era, the cautions about the fact that cannabis overdose is causing issues can be characterized in two conditions and reports (Graham-McLay, 2020). The reports categorize the situation and extent of issues due to these problems are listed below,

1.      Reports of death due to cardiovascular disease is observed due to the heavy dose of cannabis. The probability increases with the rate of high doses of THC. It led to elevated CVD risk.

2.      The risk of super potent cannabis concentration is higher for THC > 70 per cent.

3.      The reports define some conditions of potent synthetic cannabinoids that are synthetic drugs and they act in a parallel way to the cannabinoid receptors as THC.

4.      The lower estimations are observed for over 50 grams of pure THC and 50 per cent lethality rate for others. Controlling dosage can be measured with a sort of quantity. The edible is more often linked with the adverse events. The poorly dose labelled product and controlled product can cause an increase in risk.

To reduce the risk, it is important to measure the consumption level and how to use it moderately in the safe limits. The only risk is that the user can get extremely sick and end up in hospitals by having a terrible time (Gizmodo. com. au, 2020). The increasing dose can be frightening but it could not end up as death. Cannabinoids are not linked with some sort of the central nervous system. The national cancer institute stated that unlike opioid receptors there are no stem areas that control respiration.        

A Beginner’s Guide to CBD

You might have heard about CBD because it is just around everywhere. You might find it as an ingredient in different things such as cookies, muscle rubs, personal lubricant, olive oil, chocolate, pet treats, moisturisers, soaps, bath bombs and soaks, and even lip gloss. In fact, it is also available in the form of pills and tinctures that are meant to alleviate anxiety and reduce PMS symptoms.

It has a devoted fan base and every other day, new products are popping up. Actually, this popularity is more likely to be tied to its seductive benefits such as reducing seizures and PTSD.

What is CBD?

CBD is also referred to as Cannabidiol. It is found in the cannabis plant and it is one of several cannabinoids that are found in the plant. It is similar to THC that is responsible for the high gained from having marijuana. In contrast with THC, CBD does not produce any type of high as two components act in a different manner on body receptors and brain.

Even though there is a lot of research that needs to be done, it is being analysed and studied thoroughly at the moment because of its potential as a non-addictive and sae substance that provides users with relief from symptoms that are associated with different conditions and illnesses.

How to use CBD?

Actually, CBD can be utilised in a number of ways. For instance, it is available in pills and tinctures, and it can also be mixed into a drink or food. In fact, if smoking or vaping is more your style, you can easily find CBD-only extracts or high-CBD strains. You can even get it through a different products such as scrubs and lotions.

Each and every method has a different degree of usefulness, in accordance with the conditions in which it is used and who is using it. For instance, consuming tinctures may be more useful for combating inflammation than vaping or smoking. However, smoking it could be quite useful in quitting cigarettes or eliminating the consumption of nicotine. However, there also some people who do not benefit from it at all.

Why use CBD?

It is suggested by some research that CBD possesses healing and therapeutic properties like the capacity of lessening the seizure regularity, helping in the treatment of insomnia, reducing pain, inflammation, and treating different types of anxiety and depression. Although much of this research is only anecdotal, it points to the concept that CBD might help those who require relief but they have not been successful in finding it with the use of traditional medicine. Additionally, there is significant positive feedback that leave little doubt about it. Some individuals have gained remarkable relief with the use of CBD.

How To get Started?

The creator of Empower, Trista Okel, has developed a line of cannabis beauty and health products that includes tinctures, rubs, lotions, and personal lubricants. She suggests that you should begin with a product that can be applied to the skin. She has explained that tropical products are not psychoactive. Beauty products that contain CBD are quite a magnificent way of being introduced into the domain of benefits provided by CBD.

Will it be Effective for Me?

Similar to any medicine or product on the market, results seem to vary for every person. Although many users seem to champion miracle drug, there are also those who are disappointed with what they have experienced. A film producer and writer, John Garrett, attempted to use CBD for the management of deliberating anxiety. He says that he had heard some amazing things about oil containing CBD but he did not experience anything amazing from it. It is important to note that many others who have tried it have only experienced its benefits.

Monika T., living in Northern California, has claimed that her condition with follicle lymphoma was cured by the consumption of cannabis. With the use of cannabinoids, she found relief. However, it is important to note that cannabis is not a medicine and it should be taken with other medicines only with the prescription of doctor. Thus, it is safe to say that the results of cannabis vary from person to person. It might be effective for you and there is also a possibility that it might not be effective for you.

Will I experience a High?

No, you will not experience a high by consuming cannabis. Although a topical lotion that contains CBD cannot make you experience a high. However, it can provide you with immediate relief.

The molecules of cannabinoid like CBD are quite large and they do not reach the bloodstream when it is applied to the skin, however, it does activate PPAR-gamma receptors and TRPV-1 in the skin while supressing the TNF-alpha enzyme. Actually, all of these results seem to result in the reduction of inflammation and pain.

The consumption of CBD is non-intoxicating as well but it is reported by some users that they feel calmness and physical sensations when they take CBD. Meanwhile, other people tend to compare it to drinking a glass of Valium and wine, and they also report stress and anxiety reduction when it is utilised through tincture drops.

Advantages of CBD

As it has been explained before, the use of CBD has been evidenced by anecdotal evidence. These researches also determined that the use of CBD is associated with the reduction of insomnia, anxiety, inflammation, anxiety, stress, muscle pain, and different kinds of seizures. In addition to it, many of these of these health concerns make patients obtain a medical card for marijuana usage from their doctor.

CBD is not miracle drug and it should not be treated like such. However, it is important to note that CBD serves for different purposes with differing and varying degrees of effectiveness. Most people are able to find success with the use of cannabis. There are also those who do not find it effective but such people are only a few in many.

References of Nz recreational cannabis bill released

Freshleafanalytics. com. au. (2020). NZ recreational cannabis bill released – prioritises social good over profits. Retrieved from https://freshleafanalytics.com.au/nz-recreational-cannabis-bill-released/

Gizmodo. com. au. (2020). Can You Overdose On Weed? Retrieved from https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/04/can-you-overdose-on-weed/

Graham-McLay, C. (2020). Legalising cannabis: what will New Zealanders be asked to vote on in September? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/05/legalising-cannabis-what-will-new-zealanders-be-asked-to-vote-on-in-september

Potguide. com. (2017). Can You Overdose on Marijuana? Retrieved from https://potguide.com/blog/article/can-you-overdose-on-marijuana/