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Clinical Trials: Cannabis Formulations Dominant in THC and CBN, but Not CBD, Associated With Improved Sleep Quality

Recife, Brazil: Cannabis formulations containing THC and CBN (cannabinol) are associated with improved sleep quality, according to the findings of a meta-analysis published in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews.

Brazilian researchers reviewed data from six randomized controlled trials involving 1,077 participants.

Investigators reported that cannabinoid-based interventions “are associated with improvements in sleep quality in individuals with or without insomnia.” But they cautioned that the inclusion of either THC or CBN largely drove their efficacy.

“Our findings indicate that only treatments incorporating THC and/or CBN were associated with a significant improvement in subjective sleep assessments compared with placebo, whereas interventions with CBD alone did not demonstrate a statistically significant effect,” researchers reported. “These results support the hypothesis that different cannabinoids may exert distinct roles in modulating sleep-related therapeutic benefits.”

The study’s authors concluded, “The results are encouraging and provide support for further investigation of cannabinoid therapies for the treatment of poor sleep.”

One in six US adults say that they use cannabis as a sleep aid, according to survey data compiled earlier this year by Harris Polling. Data published in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine reports that the enactment of adult-use marijuana legalization laws is associated with significant reductions in the sales of over-the-counter sleep aids.

Full text of the study, “Effectiveness of cannabinoids on subjective sleep quality in people with and without insomnia and poor sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized studies,” appears in Sleep Medicine Reviews.

Florida: Appellate Court Rules That Odor of Marijuana No Longer Constitutes Probable Cause for a Motor Vehicle Search

Tampa, FL: Police may no longer initiate motor vehicle searches solely based on smelling cannabis, according to a ruling issued by judges on Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal.

In the Court’s majority opinion, judges acknowledged that the use of cannabis in certain circumstances is legally regulated statewide. Therefore, state and local police can no longer presume that the odor of marijuana is, by definition, probable cause of a crime.

The majority opined, “By defining and legalizing discrete forms of cannabis on bases that are manifestly not discernable by smell, … the mere odor of cannabis standing alone no longer can make it clearly or immediately apparent that the substance is contraband without conducting some further search.” The ruling is anticipated to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Their decision is consistent with a recent ruling by Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal, finding that police officers may not initiate a warrantless search of a motor vehicle based solely on an alert from a specially trained police dog.

Courts in several states where cannabis is legal for either medical or adult-use purposes – including Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Vermont – have also determined that the odor of marijuana emanating from a motor vehicle is not by itself sufficient grounds to justify a warrantless search.

In a separate ruling earlier this year, judges on Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal determined that police cannot solely rely on the “appearance” of cannabis as evidence of a crime because “legal hemp and illegal cannabis are indistinguishable by appearance, texture, and odor.”

The case is Williams v. Florida.

Missouri: Supreme Court Ruling Narrows Pool of Marijuana Offenses Eligible for Expungements Under State’s Voter-Approved Law

Columbia, MO: A recent state Supreme Court decision restricts which marijuana-related offenses are eligible for expungement under Missouri’s voter-approved law.

Voters in 2022 passed a ballot initiative legalizing the adult-use marijuana market and mandating courts to review and expunge a broad range of cannabis-related convictions, including felony convictions. Since then, courts have expunged over 140,000 marijuana-related convictions.

However, a recently issued Supreme Court opinion (C.S. v. Missouri State Highway Patrol, et al., SC 100944) finds that only those with convictions involving three ounces of cannabis or less are eligible for expungement relief under the law.

Missouri NORML Coordinator Dan Viets, who helped draft the initiative’s expungement provisions, said that the Court’s new, narrow interpretation violates the intent of the voter-approved law.

“The Missouri Supreme Court majority is clearly substituting its personal preferences for the will of the voters as expressed in the plain language of the initiative,” Viets stated in a press release. “This decision is an example of the Court engaging in an extreme form of judicial activism. It is clearly abusing its authority by ignoring the expressed intent of the voters.”

Viets added, however, that many marijuana-related felony convictions have already been expunged and that he does not believe “those are going to be undone” by this decision.

“The effect is primarily going to be those cases from the 20th century, from before 2000, when most records were on paper,” Viets said. “And those cases still need to be examined, and those cases which are eligible under this new definition still need to be expunged.”

Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws providing explicit pathways to either expunge (or otherwise set aside) the records of those with low-level marijuana convictions. According to publicly available data compiled by NORML, state and local officials have issued over 100,000 pardons and more than 2.3 million marijuana-related expungements since 2018.

Survey: THC Beverage Consumers Acknowledge Reducing Their Alcohol Intake

New Orleans, LA: Consumers of hemp-derived cannabinoid-infused beverages frequently report reducing their alcohol intake, according to survey data compiled by the beverage manufacturer Crescent Canna.

Pollsters surveyed 1,066 respondents ages 21 and older. Survey participants were culled from Crescent Canna’s consumer database. Survey results were provided to the cannabis news site Marijuana Moment.

Over 56 percent of respondents acknowledged consuming either “slightly less” or “much less” alcohol after trying cannabis-infused beverages. Another 21 percent of respondents said that they quit drinking alcohol altogether.

According to separate survey data published last year, 60 percent of cannabis consumers say that their marijuana use results in less frequent alcohol consumption. The results of a clinical trial published in September in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence find that adults drink less alcohol and experience fewer alcohol cravings immediately following their use of cannabis.

Additional information from the Crescent Canna survey is available from Marijuana Moment.