This Week in CBD: November 9, 2018

With the resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week, hemp and medical cannabis advocates are hoping for a friendlier face to step into the role.

Sessions had been notorious for his negative views on cannabis. But what about Matthew Whitaker, the interim AG?

Marijuana Moment reports that Whitaker’s previous on-the-record statements about cannabis have been mixed. While he’s expressed sympathy for people who get medical benefits from CBD, he has also blamed the illicit cannabis market for violence at the US-Mexico border.

Medical CBD dispensaries will open in Iowa on December 1st. This will make CBD products available to patients who suffer from one of a short list of qualifying conditions.

Five dispensaries will open their doors in the state. They will offer tinctures, capsules, and creams to patients who obtain a medical CBD registration card.

Medscape took a deep dive into new studies investigating the use of CBD for neuropathic pain.

Preclinical trials suggest that repeated doses over time will be the best method for treating neuropathic pain (and related anxiety) with CBD.

While researchers stress the need for more research, in vitro and animal studies help to lay the groundwork for clinical trials in humans. The new data will help to guide dosage recommendations and to determine the length of treatment.

Officials seized CBD products from retailers in Yankton, South Dakota. A spike in positive drug tests raised suspicions that these products contained THC, according to the Yankton Police Department.

According to Detective Joe Erikson, the YPD understands the state law to only allow the sale of the FDA-approved CBD medication Epidiolex. They consider any other CBD product to be a schedule IV controlled substance, which means that possession without a prescription is a felony.

The state of Tennessee is a rising star in hemp agriculture, but will this week’s election throw a wrench in the works?

Tennessee’s Governor-elect Bill Lee has been a vocal opponent of legal medical cannabis, and he also seems to be skeptical about non-intoxicating cannabidiol.

With Lee as governor, it will be even more challenging for medical cannabis advocates to get legislation signed into law. But the thriving industrial hemp program shows no sign of slowing down.

Revive Therapeutics received orphan drug status from the FDA to study CBD for ischemia-reperfusion injury.

This damage occurs during organ transplants when blood returns to tissue that has been temporarily deprived of oxygen. This triggers an inflammatory response that can cause results ranging from reversible cellular damage to multi-organ failure.

Revive believes that CBD may, through its immuno-suppressant and anti-inflammatory properties, lessen the damage that occurs during organ transplants, ultimately reducing the rates of organ rejection.