🌿 Bong Appetit

Good morning and welcome to The Greenfields. We hope you all get flowers for valentines day and when we say flowers what we really mean is cannabis.

What've we got for you today?

• Bong Appetit

• South Australia driving in the wrong direction

• Colorado weed vending machines

• RAW papers get rolled in court

• Dr. Lenny looks at treating skin conditions with cannabis

Bong Appetit

Thailand's cannabis industry is booming and it's not all just about smoking. Clever cannabis entrepreneurs are crafting amazing experiences for locals and tourists. One of the most exciting offerings is Bong Appetit by luxury hotel The Slate Phuket and Empty Plates.

Bong Appetit is a cannabis infused dining experience packaged with a spa treatment at The Slate Phuket. The dining experience has been carefully curated by Steven John of Empty Plates. In addition to the cannabis infused meals they offer a 'bud' pairing insisting that cannabis should be treated like wine and carefully paired with the meal by experts.

The whole experience including one night accommodation, spa treatment, dinner and extras will set you back about $1100 AUD for two people.

Cannabis consumption experiences like this are popping up all over the world. So if you're in hospitality you should watch the progress of legalisation in Australia carefully and be thinking about how to position yourself to offer experiences for cannabis tourists.

South Australia Driving in the Wrong Direction

It'd be nice to go less than a day without Australian politicians getting off on punishing the public, but that day isn't today.

South Australian Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott and Emergency Services Minister Joe Szakacs announced on Monday that drivers found with cannabis, methamphetamine, or MDMA in their system would lose their licence straight away. Typically they would get to hang onto it until they go to court.

What was very telling about the announcement was no one had any stats to offer except the claim: "one in five people who have died on our roads in the last number of years had drugs in their system should be shocking." Did those people cause the crashes though? 🤷‍♂️

Colorado Weed Vending Machines

We've all been there. When you're high you don't always want to interact with other people. Sometimes you just want to be left in your own little world to do your thing.

And that's perfectly fine.

A Colorado dispensary has partnered with a vending machine manufacturer to help people get their buds without having to interact with anyone. They've created the Automated Cannabis Experience, or ACE (*slow clap*) vending machine.

To get your buds you just have to show your ID, choose your product and pay cash and you are on your way back home with your buds. In theory...

Unfortunately this has all been tried before in Colorado with the Anna vending machine. Due to regulations a dispensary employee still had to be at the machine all the time to slap a label on any cannabis purchased to prove a legal transaction had occurred.

With a few changes to regulations it might be possible for these machines to replace budtenders, but don't expect to find them amongst your offices fat boxes anytime soon.

Enjoy The Greenfields?

Make sure your friends don't get left behind by the cannabis business. Send them this email now.

Are you the friend? Subscribe now:

RAW gets rolled in court

RAW rolling papers have been ordered to stop making claims about their rolling papers including that they are made by artisanal craftsmen in Alcoy, Spain and that they contribute to a charitable foundation "RAW Foundation" that does not exist.

We'd like to think they just enjoyed one too many joints and forgot to actually setup the foundation or the artisanal rolling paper factory, but given the enormous list of wild stuff they've been told they can't say anymore it feels like a little more than forgetfulness.

Dr. Lenny's Lab

A reader asks: I have been plagued by Vitiligo on my hands since 2019. Never had any skin disorders or problems before that! They tell me it’s an autoimmune condition! [...] I was wondering if medicinal cannabis can help me in any way?

Dr. Lenny: I’m sorry to hear about your health challenges with Vitiligo. Cannabis could be a promising treatment for vitiligo, but let’s look at what causes it first.

Vitiligo is when pigment producing cells in the skin die. Pigmentation protects the skin from ultraviolet light and free radicals (cell damaging atoms).

Scientists know of at least three causes for vitiligo: the immune system, the endocrine (or hormone-producing) system, and lifestyle. Sometimes your immune system attacks and kills the pigment producing cells in the skin. Other times vitiligo is caused by stress, diet, and medications. It’s a pretty complex and unpredictable disease that can have many causes.

There’s promising news for vitiligo sufferers though. Scientists have found that dosing pigment producing cells with cannabinoids dramatically increased their pigment production. Cannabinoids directly turn on the pigment producing gene MITF!

So in theory, cannabis should kick start pigment production in the surviving pigment producing cells by activating the MITF gene. This would protect the skin from external stressors and prevent the spreading of vitiligo. It’s a positive feedback loop!

There’s also strong evidence that cannabis transforms free radicals into less harmful forms. This means cannabis might also help with vitiligo caused by free radicals.

(not those free radicals)

Treatments for vitiligo are inconsistent and can have harsh side-effects. Medicinal cannabis has the potential to help without negative side-effects. It may also reduce emotional stressors that can trigger vitiligo. However, because vitiligo is complex and has many causes, cannabinoids may not work for everyone.

My advice to you as a biomedical researcher (I’m not a medical doctor) is to discuss medicinal cannabis with your doctor or a clinic. We hope you find a treatment that works for you soon!

Send your questions on cannabis and plants, brains, biology, or medicine to Dr. Lenny at: [email protected].

Quick News

• Emyria (ASX:EMD) jumped 12% yesterday on news they had secured clinical grade MDMA for use in Australia. By the end of the day they were only up 2% once everyone realised that the market for MDMA treatments is a long way away.

• Vitura Health (ASX:VIT) was up over 9% thanks to their $7.7 million half-year profit, an increase of 127% over the first half of the financial year.

• 61% of Americans plan to incorporate cannabis into their valentines day celebrations.

That’s your walk through The Greenfields of the cannabis industry today. We’ll see you again on Thursday, but if you want more follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is not financial advice. It is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell anything or to make any financial decisions. Please do your own research and do not buy anything dodgy.