No Cap...Unless it's on THC Content

Why is cannabis legal, but there are so few dispensaries? Are they going to cap THC content? How far apart do dispensaries have to be? Join us for a 15 minute update on cannabis current events.

Marissa: Welcome to the Last Call Podcast. My name is Marissa Whitaker, and I'm the prevention educator at SUNY Cortland.

Sarah: And my name is Sarah McGowan. I'm the assistant Director of Student Health and Wellness at Onondaga Community College. Our jobs are to educate students about potential risks associated with substance use.

Marissa: We approach substance use from a neutral stance, and our episodes are rooted in public health with a focus on science and harm reduction.

Sarah: Welcome back to the Last Call Podcast. So today's episode is actually going to be a 420 episode. We are going to be doing an update to one of our first podcasts, weeds Legal. Now what? So today we're going to be going through current cannabis legislation kind of updates and some things to keep in mind with legalization. So, March 31 marked two years, actually. Can you believe it, Mariss?

Marissa: Yeah, two years. And it's interesting to see that from the outside, it doesn't look like a lot has changed aside from legalization.

Sarah: So, Marissa, I think it's really interesting that New York still hasn't established a lot of legalized markets. But one of the things that I feel like I see them focused on a lot in the news and anytime I'm reading an article is the underground market. New York right now is more interested in delaying. So an example of this is that New York is now so they haven't okay more than a handful of legalized dispensaries, but now they're talking about zoning restrictions, so they're calling them retail buffer zones. So this is a newly added policy change. And previously it was already determined that dispensaries aren't allowed within 500ft of school grounds or 200ft of a place of worship. But now the state is saying that in communities with more than 20,000 residents, cannabis retail establishments can't be located within 1000ft of each other. And then if you have fewer than 20,000 residents, there must be a 2000 foot radius between each dispensary. Other states that have attempted these restrictions have faced lawsuits due to trying to enact these types of restrictions.

Marissa: And so for anyone who's really bad at figuring out how far 2000ft is, it's zero point 37 tenths of a mile. So there's roughly about four tenths of a mile in between dispensaries with what that new legislation would say.

Sarah: And Marissa, something that's also interesting about that is I'm not sure about in courtland, but in Syracuse right now, there's a real lack of real estate that's kind of coming onto the market. So if there's only two properties available and they're close to each other, how do you navigate that?

Marissa: Yeah, so along those lines of where dispensaries can be located, this has been an ongoing issue, but there was actually some recent development about a week ago. So if people are looking around who may be in the central region, mid Hudson, western New York, Brooklyn, or the Finger Lakes, there have been five areas that it's been stuck in litigation. If dispensaries can open. The reason for this is that there was a claim saying that it was unconstitutional to prioritize New York residents to get the first round of licenses. And the person who brought this lawsuit was a majority owner who lived in Michigan. So they thought that it wasn't fair to give out dispensary licenses to people that had a cannabis conviction in New York if somebody lived in another state. And so this was finally resolved on March 29 of this year. And now all of the regions except for the Finger Lakes can now open dispensaries. So they may be coming soon, but that could be a little bit of an explanation as to why there has been a hold up for so long.

Sarah: Maris so there have also been a couple of stories lately that have come out that have talked about THC capping. Can you kind of walk us through what that looks like for New York right now?

Marissa: Yes, definitely. And just so everybody knows, we are going to attach the articles that we're referring to in the footnotes of the episode. So if you are curious to explore more of what we're talking about, we will have the sources and the articles for you to do your own research on this.

Sarah: And also just a disclaimer, everything is changing so quickly and rapidly. So by the time that we release this podcast, there may have been additional stories or legislation that has come out in the meantime. So if you've seen something different from what we're telling you, let us know, email us, and we'd love to take a look and do another update eventually.

Marissa: Yeah, and that is one of the fascinating things that always keeps us on our toes that the law is changing. But that can be really hard when we're educating others or also, frankly, educating ourselves. Like we have to stay on top of our game in order to have the best information for other people. So bringing it back to THC capping, there was recently an article that they want to tap the THC concentration in flour products at 15% and then all other cannabis products at 25%. So for a frame of reference, most flour now that is getting purchased at a dispensary ranges anywhere from 20% to 25%. 15% is kind of at the low end as far as potency for cannabis products concentrates. So the cartridges, people that may be using Dab, rigs, all of that stuff, that usually ranges anywhere from the mid sixty s to the mid to upper 90% THC. So going from a pen that has 92% THC to a pen that has 25% THC, that's going to be a real big difference for people. It's a very hot button issue. So, on one hand, you may have supporters of this bill saying that high potency cannabis is leading to psychosis cannabis hyperemesis syndrome and really a litany of other health issues. So to try to prevent that, having a more moderate THC content would hopefully curb some of that. Then on the other side to that coin, you have opponents of this that don't support THC. Capping really equating this to the difference between buying a light beer versus buying hard liquor versus buying moonshine so you can't drink a Mic Ultra the same way that you would be drinking moonshine. And cannabis, to that degree, is argued that it's no different in that regard. There's both sides to the argument.

Sarah: If we think about prohibition, morris people who couldn't get alcohol, then we're making it themselves. So who's to say that we're not offering these THC products that people actually want to buy, that they're not going to turn and make it themselves or turn to the gray or unregulated market?

Marissa: Exactly. And the last thing we need is some homemade Breaking Bad with your own butane stripping system to make your own cartridges when it could be purchased at a dispensary. But just as you said, if that's limited, as we know from cannabis prohibition historically, people will do it on their own. And the technology to use and make cannabis is outpacing the technology to detect it and to legislate it. So, yeah, very complicated.

Sarah: Well, and have any other states done that where they've capped the THC concentration like that?

Marissa: That's a very good question. And as of right now, vermont is the only state that has capped THC potency. They've capped interesting, though, they've capped the flour at 30% THC and concentrates capped at 60% THC. So it's really like double what New York has set up. And just knowing, regardless of how someone feels about that law, in practicality, I don't see that going over very well, but time will tell. So as we're talking about THC, tell me a little bit about this article you sent me the other day about the THC content. We're talking about limiting something that might not even be accurate in the first place.

Sarah: So there was a whistleblower article where an anonymous person visited multiple up and coming dispensaries in New York. And so what they did was they took eight samples of the highest potency cannabis that they could find and they sent it off to a third party lab to check the concentration of THC that was in it. So just for reference, for most dispensaries, an acceptable difference in THC concentration from what's on the package to the actual content is 10%, give or take. So this is what New York is considering for their acceptable margin of error. Multiple other states have gone to this 10% because it's not like a huge margin of error when we're talking about THC concentration. So when they sent these samples off to the lab, they found that one strain was found to have a difference in potency of 21.7%, and another strain was found to have a difference in 47% what was advertised and what the product actually contained for a THC level. Now, if they're advertising that it's higher and it's actually lower if you're advertising that a product is only 10% THC and you buy it and it's triple that or almost it's bad if you're getting a lower potency, but if you're getting something that you think isn't high potency and it's triple the amount of THC that you think you're getting, that you might have a horrible reaction, might be a bad time.

Marissa: Well, that's just it. I was going to say that's the difference between feeling maybe a little tired and groggy versus like you can't get up off the couch, which depending on what you have to do that day, that could be a big difference. And then similar to the argument about THC capping, there's two sides to this argument as well about the content not being accurate. So for businesses that are touting how much THC is in their product and it's less than that, you're overinflating what you're selling, and that's just shady business. But then on the other side, for people that are talking about how dangerous this new cannabis is, this much THC, it's high potency, it's the devil's lettuce that THC content might not be as high as you think. So again, similar to a lot of the conversation around cannabis, no matter what side of the aisle you fall on, there's still misinformation for both sides, or at the very least, things aren't clear for both sides.

Sarah: It's also interesting to think about if you are a THC dispensary product consumer, if you know you can only handle a certain amount, it's always better to buy that lower amount because there could be that 10% margin of error in dispensaries that have been up and running for a long time. Again, New York, this was shocking because I think a lot of these products ended up being pulled off the shelves and being unable to be sold because it wasn't accurate what the THC content was. So in this whistleblower complaint story that came out, there was actually only one brand that had gone through that third party testing that had been exactly the potency that it was labeled. So that's something else to keep in mind is with these new brands, everyone's still learning, everyone's still trying to make the best quality product that they can, but it might also not be accurate TXT content.

Marissa: That's a very good point, because as we said before, the ability to detect and accurately measure cannabis, that research is lacking. So a little bit of grace to be afforded because everybody's learning about cannabis science and how to test it, but at the same time we want something accurate so we can determine some degree of equivalency. I'm not saying alcohol and cannabis are the same because I'm arguably very different, but we know when we have a beer that one can is a serving. We don't know that with cannabis yet, and so it's really hard to come up with a dose if we don't even know how much THC is accurately represented in each cultivar of cannabis in each product that's being sold. So at the end of the day, just as you said, use the least amount of THC, the least amount of cannabis, as you need to feel the level of higher intoxication that you're going for. And speaking of gray market people that are growing cannabis right now, unless they have a medical card, they're growing it illegally, too. So keep that in mind that even though cannabis has been legalized for consumption, it's still not legal for recreational consumers to grow cannabis right now. I think right now, the closest projection they were saying was around 2024. So if you're using cannabis that was grown from somebody who doesn't have a medical card, there's a chance that that product also wasn't grown legally, but that market is still out there.

Sarah: So, Morris, can you walk us through things that aren't legit with the law or are sketchy at best, just kind of examining everything that's happened as a result of the MRTA. Legalization.

Marissa: Yeah. I think the big thing, especially when we're talking about edibles, when you're seeing a product that has 500 milligrams is in that not legit. There might be 500 milligrams in that, which is arguably very cautious when you're taking that, seeing a product that was purchased maybe at a sticker shop, at a gas station, at a convenience store. I would argue any products purchased from there are, again, sketchy at best. People saying, I just bought bought weed at that corner store. It's probably a Delta Eight pre roll that you got, which is CBD with synthetics. Again, from a harm reduction standpoint, be very mindful of using Delta Eight.

Sarah: I was going to say, Maris, even 100 milligrams is too much. So you have one gummy that's 100 milligrams per gummy. That is way too much, and no store should be selling any products like that, so keep that in mind. We've said this before in this episode, but you always want to start small. You never want the first cannabis experience that you have to be a 100 milligram gummy where you're going to be extremely high for eight plus hours and unsure of how you're going to feel and how your body is going to be able to handle that cannabis. So even 100 milligrams is too much for one product.

Marissa: Yeah, and that's a really good point that you bring up, too, how to tell what your dose is. So we'll attach also in the footnotes, new York State Office of Cannabis Management came out with kind of like a how to guide. So if you're going to a dispensary and buying a product, how to read what your dose should be or what you might want to start as, it'll include the THC content again, like how much of the product equals our best guess at what a dose is right now. Keep that in mind. When you're getting gummies, as we said in countless episodes, who eats just one sour patch or one gummy? If that has five or ten milligrams, that could be enough for you.

Sarah: Most people aren't just chewing the head off of a gummy bear either. So to say that you're going to buy it and quarter it up, that's probably not likely either. So it's all best to take the least amount of THC that you think you're going to need.

Marissa: Excellent. So those are our current updates on cannabis legalization in New York. As we've said before, they are always evolving and always changing. So you can count on us to keep you updated as things progress. Until next time.

Sarah: Bye.

Sources for this episode:

Last Call with Sarah and Marissa

No Cap...Unless it's on THC Content

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