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CDC Report Confirms First Case of MJ Employee Death From Occupational Asthma

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Almost two years following the death of a 27-year-old worker in a Massachusetts cannabis production facility, state and federal investigators said that work-related occupational asthma was the cause of death during the January 2022 incident. The first case of its kind “illustrates missed opportunities for prevention,” according to an analysis published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Nov. 17 “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.”

The CDC report “represents findings of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection, which included a worksite exposure assessment, coworker and next-of-kin interviews, medical record reviews, and collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.”

While the report does not identify the deceased worker or the cultivation employers, the details correspond with the case of Lorna L. McMurrey, who died Jan. 7, 2022 while working at a Trulieve production facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts. According to the OSHA report, the employee was grinding and packaging pre-rolled joints when she complained that she couldn’t breathe. 

She went into cardiopulmonary arrest before emergency responders arrived, while staff attempted CPR. She was transported to a hospital where she shortly died after arrival.

After the incident, OSHA investigators conducted an inspection including a worksite exposure assessment, interviews with flower production coworkers and family and medical record reviews. The investigation found that four of 10 coworkers with similar responsibilities also had respiratory tract or skin symptoms, despite that particle dust concentrations and other potential airborne hazards were under permissible limits.

However, the new CDC report says that OSHA analyzed air quality only after the grinder was connected to a new shop vacuum with HEPA filtration.

According to McMurrey’s family, she smoked cannabis recreationally but never had asthma until she began working at Trulieve. Her mother had also told NBC about an incident two months before her death where she was rushed to the hospital after having trouble breathing at work.

“That’s where it all came out that she was developing asthma, and she had never had any breathing problems through her whole life,” her mother Laura Bruneau said. “She took her concern to the supervisors.”

According to the CDC report, dust from the grinder was collected by a shop vacuum, though the vacuum had no high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, allowing for visible dust to escape. Additional dust generated through open handling of ground product, like transferring product from the grinder to pre-rolls.

The report also notes that McMurrey’s coworkers reported that her cough increased when the grindr was on. To reduce her coughing, the outside of the grinder vacuum that became coated with dust was covered with plastic and McMurrey’s workstation was moved outside of the grinder room. She also used her own N95 respirator and wore the required long sleeves and gloves while working.

CDC begins the report noting that “occupational allergic diseases, including asthma, are an emerging concern in the rapidly expanding U.S. cannabis industry,” adding that “occupational asthma is generally associated with a latency period of months to years between first exposure and symptoms.”

The CDC concluded that prevention of such incidents is best achieved through a “multifaceted approach, including controlling asthmagen exposures, such as cannabis dust, providing worker training, and conducting medical monitoring for occupational allergy.” The report also suggested that the evaluation of workers with new-onset or worsening asthma is “essential,” along with prompt diagnosis and medical management. This could include “cessation of work” and allowing for workers’ compensation when symptoms are related to work exposures.

“It is important to recognize that work in cannabis production is potentially causative,” the report states.

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Kentucky Considers Funding Ibogaine Research as Possible Treatment for Opiate Addiction

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Kentucky will be hosting a summit in La Grange on November 30 to offer state residents the chance to learn about ibogaine, a psychedelic substance suspected to have potential in helping patients with treatment-resistant substance abuse disorder. 

Kentucky has a big problem with opiate abuse. A 2019 study predicted that  5.9% of the state’s population was afflicted with opiate use disorder. Settlement money from lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies responsible for exacerbating the opiate crisis has used to create the ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, a regulatory body responsible for distributing over $842 million from opiate lawsuits. 

Forty-two million dollars of that money is being considered for ibogaine research, and the Kentucky Summit on Exploring Breakthrough Therapeutic Potential for Opioid Use Disorder is to help the public learn about the drug. Cost of attending the summit ranges from $99-$149 and will include keynote speeches from some notable names including but not limited to the following:

Dr. Deborah Mash, ibogaine researcher

Professor Dr. Nolan Williams, Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab

Doc Askins, author and podcaster 

Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS

Brett Waters, founder of Reason for Hope

Kerry Rhodes, former NFL player 

Srinivas Rao, Atai Life Sciences co-founder

“We recognize that there is likely a large learning gap among the people of Appalachia and the surrounding communities to understand what ibogaine is, what it can do, and how it can possibly help them or a loved one,” said Ben Greenzweig to Forbes. Greenzweig is the founder and CEO of Momentum Events which is organizing the summit. “We want to provide free and low-cost education for the community, so they can begin understanding what ibogaine is, how it works, how it can help, and who it can help by sharing scientific, clinical, policy, and patient perspectives.”

Ibogaine is is an extract taken from a rainforest shrub found in Central Africa called Tabernanthe iboga. It’s a very powerful psychedelic with varying user experiences but can generally be described as much more intense than a typical, lower dose mushroom trip. Many users report cessation of opiate use immediately after one session.

However, ibogaine use is not as cleanly-cut of an issue as one might hope. No deaths have occurred during medical trials (because there haven’t been many trials, if any) but there have been anecdotal reports of adverse cardiovascular events and seizures occasionally resulting in death. Greenzweig told Forbes he hopes the summit will help educate Kentucky residents about the potential of ibogaine but he stressed that it’s not a cure-all, and it comes with its own risks. 

“I hope individuals who have a closed mind to this therapy have the door opened just a crack to want to learn more. It’s important to know that psychedelic therapy is not for everyone. It’s not a magic bullet. It’s a tool that can be part of someone’s healing journey,” Greenzweig said to Forbes. “For those who are already open, I hope they come away with a greater understanding of how these medicines can work, why they should be accessible, and how to use them responsibly.”

What little research there is on ibogaine does show promise in treating symptoms of addiction. A peer-reviewed study from New Zealand in 2018 followed 14 people over 12 months after an ibogaine experience and found that almost all the participants had reduction in withdrawal symptoms or full cessation of use, with the exception of one participant who died during the study. 

“A single ibogaine treatment reduced opioid withdrawal symptoms and achieved opioid cessation or sustained reduced use in dependent individuals as measured over 12 months.” the study said. “Ibogaine’s legal availability in New Zealand may offer improved outcomes where legislation supports treatment providers to work closely with other health professionals.”

Anecdotally, I have a small bit of testimony from a friend I’d like to share here. I’ll keep his name out of it because he has a job and a life and what not but this friend of mine has struggled with heroin and fentanyl addiction for years and years and I am pleased to report he is over 12 months clean after one experience with ibogaine in Mexico. He had the following to tell me about his experience:

“It changed my life, I think about it every day,” he said. “Ibogaine is a mixture of very unpleasant and breathtaking with a sprinkle of weird peppered across about 16 hours of intense hallucinations.” he said. “I plan on doing it again next year, however next time my mind will be stronger. There’s something in there that I want to see more of. It doesn’t show you what you want but what you need to see.”

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Survey Shows Post-Pandemic Teen Cannabis Use Has Not Surpassed Pre-COVID Levels

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According to government data released this week by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, teen cannabis use stands at historic lows, NORML reports. 

The data comes from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And, apparently, just over 11% of kids between the ages of 12 and 17 admitted to having consumed a cannabis product within the last year. Of course, there is always a chance that this figure is higher (pun intended), given that the survey is self-reported. While this number is up from data in 202 and 2021, when teen cannabis use apparently reached historic lows, it clocks in below pre-pandemic (2019) levels.

Meanwhile, the same data shares that 23% of Americans ages 18 and over partook in cannabis during 2022. Over half admitted to having used marijuana at least once in their entire life. 

The data is consistent with findings from various other studies that have consistently shown that the implementation of statewide adult-use cannabis legalization has not led to increased rates of youth marijuana use, NORML reports. As High Times reported, recent data from Illinois found that teens who live near medical dispensaries are not more likely to partake in cannabis. Doug Smith, the director of the Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said: “We need to combat the hysteria that legalizing cannabis is going to have a wild and resounding impact on teens in terms of substance use rates and prevalence,” Smith added. “That’s simply not the case.”

And according to a report released in May 2023 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there was a significant decline in cannabis consumption among high school students, with a 30% drop in usage from 2011 to 2021. 

This period is particularly notable as it coincides with the legalization of cannabis in nearly half of all U.S. states. Additionally, the report reveals a parallel decrease in the number of students who consider themselves current users of cannabis, with the percentage falling by a similar margin. All of such findings show that conservative fear-mongering about adult-use cannabis is wrong. Legalizing marijuana does not lead to increased consumption among teens. 

“These findings ought to reassure lawmakers and the public that cannabis access for adults can be legally regulated in a manner that is safe, effective, and that does not significantly impact young people’s consumption habits,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano commented.

During the pandemic, sources say that cannabis use spiked. Everyone was locked inside, afraid, and with little to do but find a way to get by and manage. While there’s nothing wrong with using cannabis, the fact that numbers have reached pre-pandemic levels may indicate that public fears are somewhat calm and have returned to normal. However, there’s a troubling version of what “normal” means in America. Regarding news on cannabis and teens, while they may be using less cannabis than in the year prior, a recent study reveals that California cops are more likely to arrest Black teens. 

“Over the past four years, the data collected under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act has provided empirical evidence showing disparities in policing throughout California,” the report states. “This year’s data demonstrates the same trends in disparities for all aspects of law enforcement stops, from the reason for stop to actions taken during stop to results of stop.” 

While this data is not explicitly linked to cannabis, according to an October 2022 The Washington Post story, while the state may have legalized adult-use cannabis in July 2021, Virginia police are still more likely to arrest Black people than White folks for cannabis-related offenses. Crime and cannabis are inherently linked. As long as marijuana is illegal on a federal level cops will find a way to weaponize such laws into racist practices. 

Recently, around Halloween, headline after headline warned about the dangers of someone underage mistaking regular candy for THC-infused gummies, getting too stoned, and falling victim to everything that Reefer Madness warned about. As High Times reported, “nothing is scarier than cannabis-infused edibles ‘disguised’ as candy for some parents.” 

Citizens concerned about the effects of cannabis and teens would benefit from looking at racist arrest data rather than ruin the fun of Halloween with fear-mongering, in this reporter’s humble opinion. 

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Hawaii Attorney General Releases Weed Legalization Plan

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Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez last week released a new plan to legalize adult-use cannabis that one lawmaker characterized as the state’s best effort so far. Under the plan, the state would allow for the production and sale of recreational cannabis while protecting the state’s existing industry for medical marijuana. 

Hawaii legalized medical marijuana in 2000, although the state did not license medicinal cannabis dispensaries until 2018. Earlier this year, the Hawaii Senate passed a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, but the bill failed to gain the support of the state House of Representatives.

State lawmakers who have seen the attorney general’s new proposal for adult-use cannabis legalization say that she has produced a comprehensive plan that addresses the shortcomings of previous efforts at marijuana policy reform.

“The attorney general has done a really good job pulling together all of the different input and providing a comprehensive bill,” said David Tarnas, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, according to a report from Hawaii News Now.

The attorney general’s 294-page cannabis legalization proposal establishes a 4.25% excise tax on adult-use marijuana plus a 10% tax surcharge. Tax revenues would be directed to enhancing law enforcement resources and education programs to protect young people.

State Senator Jarrett Keohokalole, the chair of the Consumer Protection Committee, said that the plan is “the best version to date. And part of it is the efforts to try and address a lot of the issues that came up along the way.”

Proposal Modeled After Massachusetts’ Legalization Plan

Lopez’s plan is similar to Massachusetts’ marijuana legalization model and includes a social equity program to address the harms caused by years of cannabis prohibition. The social equity program, which includes grants and support programs for illegal growers to help them adapt to the regulated industry, is designed to help the current illicit industry have a chance to participate in the legal market. 

“The most important thing we can do is we can bring the people who have been growing and selling marijuana illegally into the legal market,” Lopez said.

The cannabis legalization plan establishes a 14-member law enforcement unit to help ensure compliance with the state’s cannabis legalization laws.

“It’s going to be a concerted investigative process to ensure that the law is followed,” Lopez said.

Under Lopez’s plan, the cannabis industry would be regulated by the Hawaii Cannabis Authority. The new agency would be tasked with enforcing regulations, establishing a lab testing program to ensure the safety of cannabis products and implementing social equity and health education programs.

To support medical cannabis patients and the existing medical marijuana industry, the 10% cannabis tax surcharge will not apply to medical marijuana purchases. Retail sales of adult-use cannabis will likely begin at medical dispensaries because they have already completed the state’s licensing process.

“They’re already standing up, they’re already growing, they are already prepared to go to market,” said Lopez. 

Under Lopez’s plan, retail sales of adult-use cannabis would begin 18 months after the proposal becomes law. Lawmakers said the delay is reasonable and necessary to effectively implement the program. Keaohokalole said that he hopes the plan can be introduced and approved during the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January. Tarnas, however, said he was not sure that timeline would be feasible because the legislature will be busy with issues related to responding to this year’s wildfires on Maui and state budget negotiations.

Hawaii lawmakers attempted to legalize adult-use cannabis earlier this year with a bill that was approved by the state Senate in March. Had it passed, Senate Bill 669 would have legalized marijuana for adults 21 and established a regulated market for licensed sales of adult-use cannabis. The state House of Representatives, however, declined to approve the legislation.

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Chuck Schumer Says ‘Time Has Come’ To End Prohibition of Cannabis

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Yahoo News! in a recent interview that believes the end to the federal cannabis prohibition is on the horizon, with legislation to provide cannabis industry access to banking services in the works.

He’s talking about the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act  (SAFER Banking Act) which was passed in late September by a bipartisan majority in the Senate Banking Committee. The bill would allow financial institutions to give out additional small business loans while also providing legal protection for banks that work with cannabis retailers, like any other industry.

“Its time has come,” Schumer told Yahoo News! in a video interview. Thanks to the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Ohio, tipping the scales in terms of U.S. populations that now live in legal states, the pressure is on.

It’s important to note that the U.S. House of Representatives has approved earlier versions of the SAFER Banking Act—seven times—but the bill failed to gain 60 votes in order to advance to a Senate vote.

“Fifteen years ago, before marijuana was legalized anywhere, people said, ‘Oh, there’ll be a lot more crime’, ‘People will become much more addicted’. Guess what? None of that happened,” Schumer said, noting the lasting harm of the War on Drugs, which failed to extinguish drug abuse but instead led to the harsh criminalization of Black and brown communities. It’s bad enough that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called the War on Drugs “the New Jim Crow.” 

A 2020 analysis by the ACLU found that 43% of drug arrests in 2018 were for charges of possession and sale of cannabis, and even though data shows that white and Black Americans use cannabis at equal rates, Black Americans are nearly four times more likely than white Americans to be arrested.

“The bill tries to rectify some of these injustices,” Schumer said.

We’ve heard these comparisons before. Schumer said similar things in 2021, as the Biden administration was first gearing up. Two years ago, he said the sky didn’t fall when pot became legal for adult use in a handful of states.

“In 2018, I was the first member of the Democratic leadership to come out in support of ending the federal prohibition. I’m sure you ask, “Well what changed?” Well, my thinking evolved. When a few of the early states—Oregon and Colorado—wanted to legalize, all the opponents talked about the parade of horribles: Crime would go up. Drug use would go up. Everything bad would happen,” Schumer told Politico. “The legalization of states worked out remarkably well. They were a great success. The parade of horribles never came about, and people got more freedom. And people in those states seem very happy.”

Why the SAFER Banking Act Needs to Be Adopted into Law

The cash-only cannabis industry is open season for burglars and criminals who know that dispensaries are loaded with cash, not having capabilities to run purchases on debit or credit cards.

“Forcing legal businesses to operate in all cash is dangerous for our communities,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, lead sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “The only people benefiting from the current system are criminals.”

Some are doubtful the outcome will be any different this time around, after the Senate was done making revisions to the bill.

“The Senate’s rewrite … throws out carefully crafted bipartisan work and crams in gross overreach to potentially crush industries not in line with the president’s agenda,” Republican Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer told Politico in September. “As it’s currently written, it is dead on arrival in the House.”

The SAFER Banking Act advanced in the Senate Banking Committee last September, clearing a big hurdle in the path to legal cannabis businesses potentially moving away from the dangerous cash-only system they currently operate on.

“Cannabis banking is just one part of the necessary conversation about marijuana policy. There is still much work to be done to acknowledge and mend the damage done by the war on drugs, work to make sure everyone—including our veterans—has access to the medicine they need and allow medical and scientific research on cannabis,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown, in a press release.

SAFER Banking would provide much-needed legal protections for financial institutions to serve businesses in the currently cash-dependent cannabis trade.

If passed, the SAFER Banking Act could provide a much needed lifeline for an industry forced to do business in cash which puts thousands of budtenders, delivery drivers, growers and other ancillary cannabis sector employees at risk of violent crime. It would also provide capital for businesses currently forced to operate using their own money or capital secured through private sources.

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