Delta-8

The Tallahassee Police Department is investigating a homicide at a Florida Hemp Distribution store.
Officers arrived at the business located at 220 West Tennessee Street just before 6 p.m. whe

This should not surprise anyone!  Beyond dissapointing the DeSantis put poltics before the health and safety of all Floridians & tourists visting Floirda. 

1. Today's marijuana is not just a plant - it is genetically modified, potent and contains toxins

2. Marijuana can have contaminants and toxins.

3. The drug industry targets youth

4. Marijuana stunts brain growth 

5. Marijuana is Addictive

6. Marijuana is a risk factor for psychosis and schizophrenia....
 

We were told those seven students had to be rushed to the hospital after ingesting the gummies that officials said were brought to school by a student.
The sirens of first responders were heard loud and clear outside of the school Tuesday afternoon.
The seven students were taken to Texas Children’s and Kingwood hospitals after ingesting the gummies.
It’s unclear who originally gave one of the students those gummies, but if you’re 21 and up and live in Texas you can buy multiple forms of THC in most gas stations.

THC exposure during adolescence may cause microglial cell death and brain changes, increasing schizophrenia risks in genetically susceptible individuals.
 
Earlier, a 2023 study found heavy marijuana use may trigger schizophrenia, particularly in young men. This study examined the health records of nearly 7 million Danish citizens and determined that up to 30% of schizophrenia diagnoses — around 3,000 in total — could have been prevented if young men hadn’t abused marijuana.

A 12-year-old girl was sent to the hospital after she ate what she told FOX 13 she thought was a piece of candy given to her by another student. The seventh grader, Amanda, said at one point, she thought she was going to die. Her parents said she suffered a severe allergic reaction and couldn't breathe. 

Surge of THC products, vapes has states struggling to regulate the booming market

"The lack of federal regulatory clarity surrounding consumer products containing delta-8 THC and other potentially intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids frustrates state legislators' efforts to protect their consumers and public health," said Florida Senator Colleen Burton, a member of NFWL who supported the resolution.

To report concerns about a retailer who sells snacks containing hemp-derived products, contact:

• Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
• Hillsborough County Code Enforcement, Regulatory Compliance
• - Report online or email RegComp@HCFLGov.net

  Photo Information: A properly labeled hemp-derived food product that complies with tightened regulations on snacks that contain THC, such as delta 8.

Panel begins at 17 minutes; Public Comment at 1:33:00

When teenagers smoked marijuana back in 1995, the amount of THC, or active ingredient in the drug, was about 4%. But times have changed. With new methods of testing, growing, and regulating marijuana, teens now have access to cannabis with increasingly higher levels of THC. One study found that in 2017 the average potency of marijuana had increased to 17%. This increased potency, plus easier access to many forms of marijuana in recent years, has some dedicated healthcare professionals working to address the possible mental health effects marijuana use may be having on young users, including the risk for psychosis.

Ellen Snelling is with the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance. She said that state lawmakers should have outright banned the sale of Delta-8 as part of the hemp bill passed earlier this year.
“This law is a great step in the right direction but, in my opinion, not nearly enough,” Snelling told the committee. “I supported the original bill that did set limits and caps on THC content. THC limits are needed — and even better, in my opinion, to have a complete ban on these hemp-synthesized intoxicants to protect public health and safety.”

“These products have not been deemed safe by any Nebraska or regulatory body,” he said. “In fact, even states where marijuana is legalized outlaw synthetically produced THCs, including delta-8, or place significant limits on their use.”
Consuming as little as 2.5 milligrams of a THC-containing gummy can “exceed the toxicity threshold” for a 3-year-old child and send that child to the hospital, the lawsuits say.

Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome  
I've seen cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome several times in the past few years. It occurs in daily to weekly pot users. Very rarely, it can cause cerebral edema, but it is also associated with seizures and dehydration that can lead to hypovolemic shock and kidney failure.

"To see his whole body shaking, not being able to open his eyes, is something I would never forget," Claudia Curiel said

Delta-8 THC Legal Status by State 10/11/2023

July 3 (Reuters) - Wrigley, the maker of multi-colored fruit-flavored Skittles candies, has settled a lawsuit accusing a seller of cannabis-related merchandise of trademark infringement for marketing products under the "ZKITTLEZ" name.
Under a proposed permanent injunction filed on Monday in Chicago federal court, Terphogz LLC agreed not to use Skittles, Zkittlez or similar terms for cannabis-related sales.
Terphogz would stop using slogans such as "Taste the Z Train" and "Taste the Strain Bro," which Wrigley found too similar to Skittles' longtime slogan "Taste the Rainbow."
It also agreed to give up the domain name zkittlez.com, though it may use the letter "Z" if people will not be confused.

Powerpoint presentation with excellent ideas to help motivate and engage your community to help educate everyone on any issue specifically drug prevention.

DeLoach said a 12-year-old female student reportedly was passing out and exhibiting symptoms of an overdose. The principal told deputies the child might have taken THC gummies along with three other students who may have eaten some as well.

Dr. Roneet Lev- Years ago, she advocated against the overprescription of opioid painkillers like OxyContin. Now, she believes she’s seeing the same thing all over again: the specious claims of medical benefits, the denial of adverse effects. “From Big Tobacco to Big Pharma to Big Marijuana—it’s the same people, and the same pattern.”
Today, teenagers are “dabbing” a product that’s three, four, or five times stronger, (than 30 years ago) and are often doing so multiple times a day. At that level of potency, the impact of the drug on a user’s brain belongs to an entirely different category of risk than smoking a joint or taking a bong rip of even an intensively bred marijuana flower. It’s highly addictive, and over time, there’s a significant chance it can drive you insane.

I am an emergency and addiction physician who practices on the front lines of the emergency department. I had the honor to serve as the first Chief Medical Officer at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Every shift I, along with my colleagues across the United States, treat patients with marijuana poisoning. CHS and Cannabis Induced Psychosis are the most common marijuana associated daily diagnosis in emergency departments across our country.

COOK COUNTY - Northwest suburban Elk Grove Village passed an ordinance Tuesday night that prohibits license tobacco stores from selling any products that contain THC — the ingredient in marijuana that makes users feel "high."
The ordinance was introduced after the village discovered a "gray area" in state law that allowed products containing THC that weren't FDA approved to be sold at smoke shops.

Some of the unregulated products were delta 8 vapes and edible candies such as gummy bears.

The study, published May 4 by the Cambridge journal Psychological Medicine, examines 6.9 million people ages 16-49 and more than 45,000 schizophrenia cases from 1972 to 2021. It found that the adjusted incidence risk ratio for males ages 16 to 20 was more than twice that for females of the same age group, concluding that “[a]t a population level, assuming causality, one-fifth of cases of schizophrenia among young males might be prevented by averting CUD” (cannabis use disorder).

Key findings from the RDCOS March ‘23 issuance on novel and alternative cannabinoids include:

• There is significantly greater Delta-8 consumption in states where cannabis remains illegal than in states with adult-use cannabis markets.
• Past month consumption of Delta-8, Delta-8 THCO, Delta-10, THCP, THCV, CBN, and HHC each are associated with a greater prevalence of driving under the influence of cannabis (DUIC) and the severity of problematic cannabis use.
• Delta-8 consumption by past-year cannabis consumers has increased by 10% since December 2022.
• THCV, a cannabinoid commonly branded as “diet weed,” is the most popular alternative cannabinoid among past-year cannabis consumers.
• A total of 23% of 16–20-year-olds who consumed cannabis in the past year reported consuming Delta-8 at least monthly.

The Georgia Supreme Court has cleared the way for Gwinnett County to resume raids, arrests and prosecutions to stop the sale of cannabis-derived products Delta-8 and Delta-10.
Cannabis-derived products containing very low THC amounts are broadly considered legal in Georgia and are widely available at shops around the state.
So when Gwinnett County cracked down on the products last year, shop owner Jennifer Byrd said her business was threatened and she took the county’s district attorney to court.

Conclusion: The first report of D8-THC, in the FAERS database, as a suspect drug appears to be in 2011. Overall, there are 183 total cases listing D8-THC as a suspect drug in the FAERS database as of June 30, 2021. Of the 183 cases, most were respiratory in nature.
 
FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) Public Dashboard

More than 5.4 million Americans are medical cannabis patients. In Florida alone, there are 788,297 medical cannabis cardholders as of Jan. 27 – a 1,107.01 percent increase since 2018.

BY GISELE GALOUSTIAN | 2/9/2023

In the United States, 49.6 million Americans ages 12 and older used cannabis or marijuana in 2020. More than 5.4 million Americans are medical cannabis patients. In Florida alone, where medical cannabis has been legal since 2014, there has been a 1,107.01 percent increase in the number of people with medical cannabis cards, from about 65,310 cardholders in 2018 to 788,297 as of Jan. 27.
One primary reason for the continued increase in cannabis use is risk perception. Many people believe cannabinoids – plant derived, medicinal, and synthetic or chemically engineered – are safe to use because they are non-psychotropic and non-psychoactive. However, for some people, cannabis can be addictive and potentially cause harm when taken with other substances such as alcohol or other drugs.
Despite its widespread use in the U.S. and globally (more than 200 million worldwide), little is known about deaths that are associated with or caused by using cannabinoids. 
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing are the first to conduct a statewide analysis of deaths in Florida associated with cannabis and synthetic cannabis use, utilizing data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement from 2014 to 2020. For the study, they examined sociodemographic characteristics, health-related conditions, the presence of other substances, and the type of death associated with the use of these substances.
Results, published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship , show that 386 people died as a result of cannabis use; of these, 258 cases were caused by synthetic cannabis. Nearly 65 percent of these cases involved synthetic cannabis as the only drug involved.
“Synthetic cannabinoids are part of the new psychoactive substances that are two to 100 times more potent than THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana,” said Armiel Suriaga, Ph.D., senior author and an assistant professor in FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. “Synthetic cannabinoids are manufactured chemicals sprayed onto dried, shredded leaves or plant materials that mimic the effect of cannabis, but their actual effects are unpredictable, harmful and deadly.”  
Findings showed that nearly 28 percent of deaths caused by cannabis and synthetic cannabis were in those ages 45 to 54, compared to 9 percent in those ages 8 to 24. This finding suggests a change in the age demographic in the context of mortality considering the attributable health conditions such as cardiovascular heart diseases.
More than 13 percent of cases had cardiac-related conditions such as hypertensive heart disease related to high blood pressure, atherosclerotic heart diseases, cardiac arrhythmias, and cardiomegaly, an enlarged heart. There was one case of death from an ischemic stroke and one case of a death from a hemorrhagic stroke, both related to synthetic cannabis use.
Among the study’s key findings:

• Nearly 88 percent of those who died from cannabis and synthetic cannabis use were men.
• Approximately 65 percent were non-Hispanic whites.
• One hundred percent of cannabis-related deaths occurred in urban counties.
• In rural counties, 28.3 percent of deaths were related to synthetic cannabis use; 39.9 percent were African American.

Nearly 99 percent of individuals using cannabis and synthetic cannabis died from accidents. Most of these accidents were due to drug intoxications (83.93 percent) and motor vehicular crashes or collisions (14.17 percent) that caused blunt traumas to the head and torso. More motor vehicular accidents were observed in cannabis use as a cause of death rather than synthetic cannabis use. Four individuals died from drowning under the influence of cannabis.
The highest count of deaths related to cannabis use was in 2019; the highest count for synthetic cannabis as a cause of death was in 2018. The lowest count of deaths from both substances ranged from one to three deaths, which occurred in 2014.
“The persistent deaths from cannabis and synthetic cannabis use are a legitimate public health concern,” said Suriaga. “The public should remain vigilant of the adverse health outcomes associated with these substances and their unpredictable effects, especially for men who are disproportionately affected, and particularly for people with underlying cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.”
Study co-authors are Ruth M. Tappen, Ed.D., RN, FAAN, the Christine E. Lynn Eminent Scholar and professor, FAU Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing; and Elizabeth R. Aston, Ph.D., an assistant professor, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health.
This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse Substance Use Disorder Evidence- Based Practice Training Awards and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
-FAU-

An ongoing investigation by the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy and U.S. Food and Drug Administration is examining complaints about the company's "Death by Gummy Bears" edibles, including a report that suggests at least one person died after consuming the products, according to the pharmaceutical board. The FDA has not determined whether adverse reactions reported by consumers were caused by the "Death by Gummy Bears" edibles, but notes on its website that products containing delta-8 THC, like these gummies, "have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safe use in any context."

The notion of legalizing intoxicating cannabinoids simply because they are derived or synthesized from hemp is ludicrous. A comparable scenario would be deregulating wine on the grounds that it derives from grape juice. An intoxicant is an intoxicant. Both common sense and public safety dictate that these substances must be handled with care. The proliferation of untested and unregulated synthetic and semi-synthetic intoxicating cannabinoids is a public health disaster. Action must be taken immediately to protect public safety. Specifically (see article)

Keep in mind that THC is a potent compound – a dose is typically measured in milligrams (thousandths of a gram), not grams. In the regulated California cannabis market, a single serving of an infused edible is capped at 10mg of THC per serving (and 100mg per package). If, as loosely interpreted, the Farm Bill allows for 0.3 percent THC in the final product and there is no cap on THC per package for “hemp-derived” products, here’s how much “hempderived” THC you could see in a single infused gummy, cookie, brownie, or 12-ounce beverage: PRODUCT TYPE 2 GUMMIES 1 COOKIE 1 BROWNIE 1 BEVERAGE UNIT WEIGHT (GRAMS) 5.8g 16g 70g 340g 0.3% THC (MILLIGRAMS) 17.4mg 48mg 210mg 1020mg Those are astonishingly high doses and mean we could have unregulated, hemp-infused edibles and beverages with up to 100 times the THC allowed in the regulated California cannabis market.

Like CBD, delta-8 (delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol) is just one of more than 100 chemical compounds found in the cannabis sativa plant. Most people are familiar with THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that gives you a euphoric high.
The 2018 Farm Bill legalized the production and sale of CBD products (which don’t get you high) on the federal level in the U.S. as long as they contain less than .3% of THC. In theory, this would allow federal legalization of CBD products with delta-8 under those same guidelines, but doctors, like internal medicine specialist Paul Terpeluk, DO, are expressing concerns about delta-8 products because delta-8 is psychoactive and produces same or similar highs as THC.

The company, Hemp Boms, is a Tampa based compay. Is this what we want Tampa to be known for?  Delta-8 is extremely harmful. It is being advertised as a hemp product and is not regulated.  
READ THE INFORMATION BELOW: 
TAMPA, Fla., June 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hemp Bombs, the manufacturer and distributor of award-winning CBD, Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC Gummies, announces its newest line of gummies, Hemp Bombs High Potency Delta-8 THC Gummies.
There should be a red label with large letters WARNING.  Not how many should I eat!!!
"How many Delta 9 Gummies should I eat?   If it’s your first time trying Delta 9 gummies, we recommend starting with one-half or one whole gummy. This serving size should allow you to become accustomed to Delta 9’s effects. You can increase or decrease how many gummies you take once you’re familiar with the results. "
 

Conclusions
Findings provide initial insight into the current state of Delta-8 THC use in the US. Given the limited knowledge on use of Delta-8 THC, and considering emergence of reports indicating its harmful effects, there is urgent need for nationally representative data to investigate correlates of Delta-8 THC use (e.g., effectiveness of state-specific restrictions on its products). Such information can guide public-health policy around Delta-8 THC use.

After dinner one night, she says her family stopped for a treat at Groovy Smoothie in Tarpon Springs. According to their Facebook page, the store sells items such as fruit bowls, juices and smoothies with the choice of being infused with cannabis.
Villarreal claims an employee offered to make them a smoothie without cannabis in it that was safe for children to consume.
“I told her I thought it was just a smoothie store. She said, ‘No, no, it’s okay. I can still make a smoothie for the kids,” Villarreal said.
Meanwhile, her 3-year-old son asked for a cake pop from a refrigerator that was labeled as a “kid-friendly cake pop.”
“Ten minutes later, it triggered him,” Villarreal said. “He fell asleep on the car ride home, and we put him to bed. When he woke up, he was screaming and crying.”
That’s when she rushed her son to Advent Health North Pinellas Hospital. The diagnosis was accidental marijuana overdose.

WHAT STATES HAVE BANNED DELTA-8? Delta-8 is currently outright banned or restricted in the following states:  AK AZ AR CO CT DE KY ID IA MS MT NY ND RI UT VT WA For sale at corner stores, grocery stores, vape shops, and online NO warning labels on packages NO federal or state laws setting a minimum age to purchase NO FDA Regulations so there is no way of knowing what you are purchasing I

Hundreds of reports to the National Poison Data System have been linked to insufficiently labeled products containing delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration are urging consumers to keep the products out of reach of children and pets.
In the first seven months of 2021, the National Poison Data System received 660 reports of adverse events in people exposed to delta-8 THC. About 41% of reports involved unintentional exposure, and 77% of the unintentional exposures were in children under 18 years. Some of the children who were exposed to products with delta-8 THC were admitted to intensive care units.

"What we're seeing here today is not the end result but the next step in the way to stone America," Sheriff Judd said. "I'm worried about the health of your loved one that drives on the same highway with a person that takes enough of this low Delta 8 to get stoned. So it's not going to be safe."