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Treasury Report: Over 800 Banking Institutions Report Relationships With State-Licensed Cannabis Businesses

Washington, DC: Over 830 financial institutions have filed paperwork with the US government acknowledging their relationships with licensed cannabis businesses, according to quarterly data from the US Treasury Department.

That figure is a slight uptick over last year’s totals and is nearly twice the number of banks and credit unions that reported partnering with the cannabis industry in 2018.

However, fewer than ten percent of all financial institutions nationwide are currently provide services to state-licensed cannabis businesses.

Federal law discourages banks and other institutions from maintaining relationships with cannabis businesses because marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I controlled substance. On seven occasions, members of the US House of Representatives have passed legislation to explicitly permit banks and other institutions to engage in relationships with marijuana businesses without running afoul of federal law. However, Senate leadership has never advanced this language to the floor for consideration.

According to survey data compiled by Whitney Economics, over 70 percent of participating cannabis businesses say that the “lack of access to banking or investment capital” is their top challenge.

NORML has repeatedly called upon Congress to amend federal banking legislation, opining: “No industry can operate safely, transparently or effectively without access to banks or other financial institutions, and it is self-evident that the players in this industry (smaller and minority-owned businesses in particular), and those consumers that are served by it, will remain severely hampered without better access to credit and financing.”

Analysis: Liberalized Cannabis Laws Not Associated With Subsequent Upticks in Tobacco Use

San Francisco, CA: States that legalize marijuana use for either medical or adult use do not experience any subsequent rise in the public’s use of either tobacco or nicotine, according to longitudinal data published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

Researchers affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco assessed trends in the use of tobacco and nicotine in a nationally representative cohort of 9,000 participants (ages 18 to 94) for the years 2017 and 2021.

They reported that the adoption of state-level legalization laws did not increase participants’ likelihood of using either tobacco or nicotine.

“The odds of tobacco/nicotine use and co-use with cannabis were not associated with cannabis legalization,” the study’s authors concluded. “Tobacco/nicotine use significantly declined (−1.9 percent); co-use of cannabis and tobacco/nicotine did not change significantly (+0.2 percent)” during the study period.

Researchers did report a modest increase in participants’ marijuana use (3.3 percent) following adult-use legalization, a finding that has been reported in prior analyses.

Full text of the study, “Cannabis legalization and changes in cannabis and tobacco/nicotine use and co-use in a national cohort of US adults during 2017-2021,” appears in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

Survey: Over 90 Percent of State-Registered Patients Report Cannabis Relieves Their Anxiety, Depression, Chronic Pain

Gainesville, FL: Patients enrolled in Florida’s medical cannabis access program overwhelmingly report obtaining therapeutic benefits from marijuana products, according to survey data published in the journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids.

Researchers affiliated with the University of Florida at Gainesville surveyed 632 patients authorized to access state-licensed medical cannabis products.

The top ten most frequently reported reasons for using cannabis were anxiety, chronic pain, depression, post-traumatic stress, migraine, fibromyalgia, ADHD, bipolar disorder, high blood pressure, and cancer. Those suffering from chronic pain, depression, and anxiety were most likely to report symptom improvements following their use of medical cannabis. Patients with high blood pressure and ADHD were least likely to perceive improvements following treatment.

The study’s authors concluded: “Among those who had the top ten most frequently reported medical conditions, most respondents reported improvement in chronic pain (98.4 percent), depression (97.2 percent), anxiety (95.3 percent), fibromyalgia (93.9 percent), PTSD (91.5 percent), bipolar disorder (88.8 percent), insomnia/sleeping problems (86.4 percent), headaches/migraine (78.9 percent), and ADHD (66.7 percent). For high blood pressure, our respondents most frequently reported improvement (42.6 percent); however, a high percentage of the respondents also reported experiencing no change (35.2 percent) or being unsure (22.2 percent) about MC’s [medical cannabis’] impact on their blood pressure. A small percentage reported a perceived worsening impact of MC on ADHD (1.6 percent), fibromyalgia (1.2 percent), anxiety (0.9 percent), depression (0.8 percent), insomnia/sleeping problems (0.7 percent), headaches/migraine (1.4 percent), bipolar disorder (1.1 percent), PTSD (0.4 percent), and chronic pain (0.3 percent).”

Approximately 860,000 people are registered in Florida to access medical cannabis products. Full text of the study, “Reasons for use and perceived effects of medical cannabis: A cross-sectional statewide survey,” appears in Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids.

Literature Review: Cannabis Is Effective in Managing Chronic Pain

Wrocław, Poland: Cannabis and cannabinoid-based products effectively manage neuropathy and other pain-related conditions in patients with chronic pain syndromes, according to a scientific review paper published in the journal Dental and Medical Problems.

Polish researchers identified 36 studies concluding that the use of cannabis and cannabis-based formulations leads to significant reductions in patients’ pain. They reported, “In the present review, cannabis and CBD were found to be most effective in managing chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain, chronic secondary visceral pain and chronic neuropathic pain, which is consistent with recommendations from clinical research.”

The study’s authors concluded: “Medical cannabis can be considered an option in carefully selected patients with chronic pain syndrome for the management of chronic pain when other treatment options fail to achieve an adequate response, and when potential benefits outweigh the risks. Patients with chronic secondary headache and orofacial pain, chronic secondary visceral pain, chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain, and chronic neuropathic pain can benefit more than other groups of patients experiencing chronic pain. However, there is still a need for well-designed clinical research to establish the long-term efficacy and safety of cannabinoids.”

Data published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that nearly one in four pain patients residing in states where medical cannabis access is legal self-identify as marijuana consumers.

Full text of the study, “Efficiency of cannabis and cannabidiol in managing chronic pain syndromes: A comprehensive narrative review,” appears in Dental and Medical Problems.