The white ash conversation has been positively insufferable. Heady bois and cannabis connoisseurs from coast to coast have been posting videos of their ash on Instagram for what feels like years now, indicating that they’re smoking top-shelf product solely based on the color of the ash.

As much as I hate to disappoint, not only is white ash not an accurate metric of quality, it can be easily faked, gamed, cheated, duped and bamboozled using particular cultivation techniques, smoking methods, and, as shown by recent court documents, adding small amounts of chalk to the rolling paper.

Recently unsealed documents from a years-long court battle between Republic Technologies LLC and BBK Tobacco & Foods, LLP revealed the ingredient lists used to make OCB Rolling Papers, including one particular additive that Big Tobacco has been familiar with for years, which weed smokers might not be aware of: calcium carbonate.

Chalk-Infused Papers

Court documents from 2014 with regard to OCB rolling papers showed that varying amounts of calcium carbonate were used in some of their rolling papers, specifically the following:  OCB No. 1 Single Wide, JOB Tribal King Size, OCB Slim, OCB Red 1 ¼, JOB Gold 1.25, OCB Organic Hemp 1-¼ and OCB Organic Hemp King Size Slim.

According to the National Institute of Health, calcium carbonate is an inorganic salt found all over the world in rocks like limestone as well as in the shells of many marine organisms and crustaceans. It’s the main ingredient in chalk, antacid medications like Tums, and as it turns out, it has also been used as a whitening pigment in cigarette rolling papers for decades. I was able to find three different patents, two of which date back to the 90s, from tobacco companies, including Phillip Morris, all listing calcium carbonate as a way to make cigarette ash more “attractive.” A study by the Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco describes how calcium carbonate can affect the color of ash:

“Generally, as the size of the precipitated calcium carbonate particle decreased, the ash became more cohesive. As the particle size decreased, the ash became slightly whiter until an optimal particle size was reached at about 0.3 microns,” the study said. “Further reductions in precipitated calcium carbonate size caused the ash to become grayer.”

Calcium carbonate is not necessarily a harmful substance to include in rolling papers, but the material safety data sheet of calcium carbonate does classify it as a potential respiratory tract irritant. A National Institute of Health study of autopsies in smokers versus non-smokers also found that the elemental components of calcium carbonate are found in the lungs of smokers but not in non-smokers, meaning it potentially leaves residual particles in the lungs.

“Potassium carbonate, sulfate, and chloride were not identified in any lung. The percentage of quartz was the same in both smoker and nonsmoker lungs,” the study said. “However, lungs from smokers contained a large percentage (average 23% of all particles) of particles composed of calcium, carbon, and oxygen (probably calcium carbonate) in all sample sites, whereas lungs from nonsmokers usually contained no such particles or only minute numbers (average 0.1%).”

Moving away from the ultra-sciency talk, cigarette companies have added calcium carbonate to their papers for years to make the ash whiter (please Google Marlboro white ash ads, and you’ll see this conversation goes all the way back to the 1950s). Whether or not OCB papers are trying to gain the favor of weed smokers looking for white cannabis ash, I haven’t the foggiest idea, nor would I want to insinuate such a thing for fear of incurring a lawsuit I absolutely cannot afford. The point is that if a substance this common can be added to rolling papers, it would be very easy for an unscrupulous marketing team to use this knowledge to their advantage to sell more cannabis via using these particular papers in pre-rolls or to roll with when making smoking videos for the company’s Instagram, etc. 

I Got a Fever, and the Only Prescription is More CalMag

It doesn’t stop there. I’ve been told by growers that you can also add greater concentrations of CalMag to flowering cannabis plants to achieve the white ash effect, which would make sense because CalMag is, somewhat redundantly, a mixture of calcium and magnesium. Calcium carbonate concentration is also, as far as I know, not included on any cannabis lab test COA, so there’s no concrete way for the consumer to tell if this method was utilized in the grow room. Again, not necessarily a harmful practice as far as I know, but also not an accurate measure of quality.

You can also achieve the white ash effect by rolling and smoking the joint in a particular way, which I’ll describe for you now in an effort to illustrate that you can absolutely, positively fake this shit for Instagram: Roll a full eighth into a joint as tightly as possible without suffocating it (see Doja Pak rolling tutorial from First Smoke of the Day for further reference). Now go buy yourself one of those mini torches that crack smokers use to heat up their pipes, the sketchier looking the better. Torch the end of your joint evenly and slowly. If it catches fire, gently blow it out and continue torching for a minute or two until you have a nice even cherry. Now you’re gonna want to hold the joint upside down, very gently, so that the smoke drifts upwards through your hands. Take a long, slow hit and return the joint to the upside-down position. Rinse and repeat, torching more if necessary until you have a nice white ash pile. Take your picture, post it to Instagram and receive a well-deserved pat on the back from your CEO.

Granted, you need at least somewhat decent weed to achieve this effect, even with the described method above. I will also fully admit I have never smoked a joint that burned completely black, which I would describe as quality weed. The point I’m trying to make here is that there are well-known schemes afoot to fool you into thinking you’re smoking good weed when that is not necessarily the case. Some people have purported that white ash is an indicator the cannabis was dried and cured properly, which has some truth to it because the moisture content of the flower needs to be within an ideal range to achieve a proper burn, but all the white ash really means is that the weed has burned completely, a process known as “carbonization.” An excerpt from “Whiteness of Cigarette Ash,” written by Isao Kanai in 1959 (again, please note the date), explains further:

“The whiteness of cigarette ash plays an important role in the burning quality of cigarettes, and it is considered to be related to the degree of carbonization of organic materials, the combustion-zone temperature of cigarettes, and other complicated ‘combustion phenomena’ of Cigarettes,” the report said. 

A cursory Google search will also populate about 50 different explanations from various tobacco clubs and tobacco companies explaining that white ash is related to combustibility and levels of calcium and magnesium in the soil the tobacco was grown. The same can be said for cannabis.

Fire is in the Eye of the Beholder

So where does that leave us? Well, here’s where it’s gonna get a little subjective on my part. Quality cannabis ultimately comes down to user experience and user preference. There are certain markers that may suggest a particular batch of cannabis can be considered a quality product, but it’s a multi-faceted conversation. There is no single metric that can tell you if flower is good. It comes down to several key factors including, but not limited to: appearance, ash color, density, taste, smokability, cultivation methods (this is a lesser point but while I’m on the subject, the living soil versus salt-nutrients conversation is equally as pointless as the ash conversation), plant genetics, a proper dry and cure cycle and in my opinion the most important factor: effects. Individual microbiome, how one person’s body reacts to cannabis versus another’s, also plays a huge role.

What I will say, and I’m shamelessly stealing this point from our fearless leader Jon Cappetta, is that a better ash-related metric for quality weed is how the ash stacks up on itself (a metric also stolen from age-old tobacco-funded studies, I might add). If you can smoke most of the joint without the ash falling off (infused products don’t count), it means there’s a lot of resin in the flower, causing it to stick together. If the ash is speckled or white on top of that, all the better. Oil ring to boot? Fugedaboutit.

There’s a certain threshold I think we can all agree on that flower has to reach to cross over from bad to mids but past that threshold, as we’ve all witnessed, we all start to argue as a community about mids versus fire and the conversation ultimately devolves into silly, unimportant metrics like “whose ash is whiter.” I think in general the key here is just awareness of what we’re consuming, and the knowledge that our own personal experience with the plant is all that really matters at the end of the day. Don’t let flashy Instagram videos or age-old Big Tobacco schemes fool you into consuming a particular brand or strain. Smoke what feels good to YOU and spread awareness wherever you can so we as a community can properly identify true fire. Past that, I only ask that we all stop arguing online about white ash because it makes the cannabis community look like a babbling gang of rabid hyenas.

Original publication date: February 29, 2024

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A New York state lawmaker is proposing legislation that would give regulators the authority to revoke the liquor, lottery and tobacco retailer licenses from stores that sell weed without a license. If passed, the legislation would go into effect immediately, giving officials new tools to combat the illicit pot shops that have proliferated since the state legalized adult-use cannabis in 2021.

Democratic Assemblyman John Zaccaro Jr., a Democratic legislator from the Bronx, is the lead sponsor of the legislation in the New York State Assembly. The measure (A09520) has already attracted 70 co-sponsors in the chamber after being introduced late last month. A companion bill in the Senate (S08847), sponsored by Democratic Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, has 10 co-sponsors.

The legislation “Provides for the revocation of licenses to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, alcohol and lottery tickets for the possession or sale of illicit cannabis in violation of the cannabis law,” according to the text of the measure. Businesses caught selling cannabis without a license would be subject to losing their licenses for one year on the first offense. A second offense within three years would subject the businesses to license revocation for three years and a third violation would result in the loss of cigarette, liquor and lottery retailer licenses for five years.

Thousands of Unlicensed Pot Shops in New York City

The legislation was introduced as the state, particularly New York City, continues to deal with thousands of retailers selling cannabis without a license. The office of New York Mayor Eric Adams recently reported that approximately 2,500 unlicensed weed retailers were operating in the city. Meanwhile, a slow rollout of licensed cannabis retailers has seen only about 40 regulated pot shops open in the city since the first began serving customers in the closing days of 2022.

Zaccaro said that the unlicensed shops are “choking” the regulated cannabis market as it struggles to get on its feet. Most of the retailers selling weed without a license are smoke shops and bodegas, businesses that would be severely impacted by the loss of the revenue streams provided by cigarettes, alcohol and lottery tickets.

“We need to be able to go back to our districts and be able to let our constituents and people know that we took this issue seriously,” Zaccaro told the New York Daily News on Wednesday The lawmaker added that he hopes the legislation will pass quickly, either as a stand-alone bill or as part ongoing negotiations for the state budget, which have already exceeded a deadline of April 1.

State and city regulators have already made several attempts to combat the proliferation of unlicensed weed shops with little lasting success. In the New York City Council, local lawmakers are supporting a plan to shut down unlicensed pot shops under a decades-old nuisance abatement law that allows the city to close some businesses, such as brothels. Despite having 26 sponsors on the 51-seat council, however, the plan has not had a hearing.

While Zaccaro’s bill to revoke cigarette, liquor and lottery licenses from shops that sell marijuana without a license gives state and local officials new tools to combat the illicit operators, putting them to use is another matter. Cannabis attorney Fatima Afia said that state regulators at the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will have to commit significant resources to enforcement for the legislation to be effective.

“I imagine that it would require a lot of resources, a lot of time, a lot of energy — basically all the things that OCM has clearly not had for purposes of enforcement up until now,”  Afia said, adding that the slow rollout of regulated cannabis retailers is exacerbating the problem.

“The biggest supporter of the illicit shops is the fact that we don’t have enough licensed entities out there to compete with them,” said Afia.

Zaccaro’s bill has been referred to the Assembly Economic Development Committee, while the Senate version is under consideration by the chamber’s Budget and Revenue Committee.

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Americans say that cannabis is much less dangerous than opioids, alcohol, and cigarettes, according to a new survey conducted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and Morning Consult last week. The survey results come from interviews with 2,201 adults conducted between April 20 and 22 of 2023, with a +/-2 percentage point margin of error, analyzing public opinion on the dangers and addictiveness of six different substances—and technology. 

Regarding cannabis, 38% said that it is “very or somewhat unsafe.” Comparatively, 84% of respondents said they regarded cigarettes as unsafe. Sixty-four percent believe alcohol to be unsafe, 66% found prescription opioids unsafe, and 75% found non-prescription opioids unsafe. Reminding us of the negative public perception of vapes, 76% responded that vapes are unsafe. While technology will lose in other categories (here’s where we unintentionally ironically tell you to keep scrolling on your screen to find out), people said that technology was safer than cannabis, with only 23% described as very or somewhat unsafe, making it the only category deemed safer than marijuana. 

The survey also analyzed the public’s perception of addiction. In that category, they perceive cannabis to be less addictive than all of the substances mentioned, in addition to technology. Sixty-four percent said that cannabis can be addictive. Eighty-seven percent say cigarettes are addictive, and 84% deem alcohol addictive. Prescribed opioids are considered 83%, a figure that drops to 74% for non-prescribed opioids. Eighty-one percent think vapes are addictive, and 75% find technology addictive. 

“It is clear that we have gotten the message through that cigarettes are dangerous and addictive,” APA President Petros Levounis said in a press release. “We can help prevent more Americans from other potentially addictive behaviors, like drinking alcohol and technology use.” “For instance, vaping is just as, if not more, addictive than cigarette smoking,” Levounis adds. 

However, even though science agrees that addiction is a medical condition (check out this study published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience), 47% said that addiction results from “personal weakness,” which gives us insight into the stigma surrounding substance use disorders. While cannabis is generally not considered physically addictive, remember that other substances the survey covers, such as opioids, are highly addictive due to how they affect the brain, research confirms. If someone is prescribed opioids after sustaining injuries in an automobile accident, for instance, and they develop an addiction, it is scientifically proven to be due to changes in the brain rather than a lackluster set of morals. 

However, Levounis says the survey can be helpful by offering insight into how to educate the public best. “We can also make sure that people know about our current safe and effective treatments for both substance use disorders and behavioral addictions,” he says. “Addiction treatment works.”

And the numbers are higher for those with less regressive views regarding the cause of addiction. Seventy-six percent of respondents answered that addiction is a medical condition, and 93% of those polled said substance use disorders can be treated, with 76% responding that the condition is preventable. 

The survey also offers insights into the importance of increasing awareness regarding naloxone, a life-saving opioid anti-overdose drug. Only 58% said they were aware of naloxone, and only 35% said they’d know how to access it if they needed it for an overdose. Naloxone can reverse an overdose, but only if used 30 to 90 minutes after the incident is discovered. As a result, it is something everyone should have on hand rather than search for when discovering an overdose. Considering that the study found that 71% of Americans say they’d know how to help someone in their life who’s struggling with addiction, it’s clear that one of the biggest takeaways from the research is the importance of naloxone awareness. 

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A study published in the Journal of Health Economics addresses the topic of tobacco use in the wake of cannabis legalization. Entitled “Have recreational marijuana laws undermined public health progress on adult tobacco use?” researchers found that cannabis reform in individual states has led to decreased tobacco use. The study was conducted by Bentley University, San Diego State University, and Georgia State University. “This study is the first to comprehensively examine the impact of the legalization of recreational marijuana on adult tobacco use,” authors explained.

Researchers reveal three key findings in their study. First, that “first-stage” results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) “show consistent evidence that RML [recreational marijuana laws] adoption increases adult marijuana use by 2- to 5-percentage-points, including through vaping.”

Second, authors state that they “find no evidence that legalization of recreational marijuana increases adult tobacco use.” And lastly, that “RML adoption accompanied by the opening of recreational marijuana dispensaries is associated with larger increases in ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery system] use than RML adoption without open dispensaries.”

Ultimately, authors wrote that the increased number of recreational dispensaries “is an important supply channel to explain substitution between marijuana and tobacco among adults.”

However, they conclude that the rise of cannabis has led to cautionary warnings from public health experts who call for more research. One of their primary concerns is that the rise of cannabis smoking could lead to an unintended “renormalization of smoking” that could potentially set back existing tobacco control policies.

The Surgeon General report of 1964 is famous for connecting tobacco use to lung cancer, stating that smoking cigarettes was “responsible for a 70% increase in mortality rate of smokers over non-smokers,” according to the National Library of Medicine. According to Surgeon General Luther L. Terry, the report “hit the country like a bombshell. It was front page news and a lead story on every radio and television station in the United States and many abroad.” 

Nearly 60 years later, tobacco use has widely decreased. The authors found that tobacco use fell earlier in states with recreational cannabis legalization than those without. “The results provide some support for the hypothesis that tobacco use declined in several of the earliest adopting states, most notably in Colorado and Washington, which are also those states that saw the largest increases in marijuana use following RML enactment,” authors concluded.

Authors also pointed out that the tobacco use reduction is “consistent with the hypothesis that recreational marijuana and tobacco may be substitutes for some adults.”

In February, California legislators introduced a bill that would ban tobacco sales to anyone born after 2006 to phase out tobacco use and addiction. However, big tobacco industry leaders are continuing to find new ways to move into the cannabis industry. One of the biggest tobacco companies in the world, British American Tobacco (BAT), announced last September that it would be purchasing a Germany-based cannabis company called Sanity Group GmbH. “We continue to transform our business, through better understanding of our current and future consumers, as part of our A Better Tomorrow purpose,” said BAT Chief Growth Officer Kingsley Wheaton last year.

Data from other studies still shows evidence that tobacco use continues to plummet. A May 2022 study found that cannabis legalization has contributed to a decrease in alcohol and cigarette consumption. Another study from July 2022 shows that cannabis use is supported by Australians much more than tobacco use, and a Gallup poll released one month later in August 2022 also showed how Americans smoke more cannabis than cigarettes.

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Another questionable study is being used to stoke Reefer Madness 2.0. Here’s what that study really found, and why it’s being used to mislead the public. Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal published a health article titled “Marijuana May Hurt Smokers More Than Cigarettes Alone,” attempting to raise concerns that smoking cannabis may be […]

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More Americans are smoking marijuana than cigarettes, according to a new survey, marking a milestone shift in consumer habits in the United States.

The data, compiled as part of Gallup’s annual “Consumption Survey” and released last week, showed that only 11% of Americans reported themselves as cigarette smokers––a new low since the pollster first started asking the question in the 1940s.

Conversely, around 16% of Americans identified as current cannabis smokers, according to Gallup.

For the first time, the pollster asked Americans if they are current users of cannabis edibles, with 14% reporting that they are.

The findings were foreshadowed by the previous decade, when dozens of states and cities ended the prohibition on pot and Americans turned away en masse from tobacco––often in favor of smokeless nicotine vapes that may or may not be safer.

In 2019, Gallup’s “Consumption Poll” found that only 15% of Americans reported as cigarette smokers, at the time a new low and substantially lower than the 45% of U.S. adults who said they were back in the 1940s. That poll showed that 12% of Americans reported as marijuana smokers.

“Smoking cigarettes is clearly on the decline and is most likely to become even more of a rarity in the years ahead. This reflects both public awareness of its negative effects and continuing government efforts at all levels to curtail its use. Smoking remains legal in general but is prohibited in many public places, offices, modes of transportation and in private places across the U.S. Each pack of cigarettes carries draconian warning messages about their harmful effects,” Gallup’s Frank Newport wrote in his analysis of the latest survey.

Cannabis has perhaps never been more accessible in the U.S. and pot smokers never more ubiquitous––despite the ongoing federal prohibition.

“Despite its widespread use, alcohol’s downsides have been recognized in the U.S. for centuries. This awareness reached a climax over a hundred years ago, when the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — passed by Congress and ratified by 46 of the 48 states — banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol. While the resulting Prohibition may have actually lowered the consumption of alcohol as intended, it had numerous other unanticipated negative consequences and was repealed some 13 years after it took effect,” Newport wrote.

Gallup released findings last year that found a new high of 68% of Americans believe that marijuana should be legal.

But as far as its effects, the country is split.

In the latest “Consumption Poll,” 53% said that marijuana has a positive effect on its users, while 45% said it has a negative effect.

But when it comes to marijuana’s effect on society, 49% said it is positive, while 50% said it is negative.

Gallup’s latest survey found that alcohol remains far more prevalent than either marijuana or cigarettes. About 45% said they had an alcoholic drink in the last week, while 23% said they have one occasionally. A third identified as complete abstainers.

“The future of alcohol drinking presents the most fascinating sociological case study out of the three substances. Alcohol use has been remarkably steady over the past 80 years (the time during which Gallup has measured it). In fact, alcohol has been widely used in the U.S. since the nation’s founding. Its use continues to be intertwined with many aspects of American culture, including social and — in some instances — religious rituals. Alcohol is also a major contributor to the nation’s economy. If the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, then the best guess would be to predict no significant change in alcohol use going forward,” Newport wrote.

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The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed new rules that would prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes in the United States.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said that the new rules, which would also include a ban on flavored cigars, “would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit.”

“Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities,” Becerra said in a statement.

The move was made possible back in 2009, when Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that was then signed into law by President Barack Obama.

The statute empowered the FDA to regulate tobacco products, and the regulatory body responded by imposing on a ban on virtually all flavored cigarettes.

But menthol cigarettes were exempted in that ban, due in part to opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus at the time.

As The New York Times reported Thursday, the proposed ban “would most likely have the deepest impact on Black smokers, nearly 85% of whom use menthol cigarettes, compared with 29% of white smokers.”

According to The Washington Post, “many members [of the Congressional Black Caucus] now support a ban” on menthol cigarettes.

“The authority to adopt tobacco product standards is one of the most powerful tools Congress gave the FDA and the actions we are proposing can help significantly reduce youth initiation and increase the chances that current smokers quit. It is clear that these efforts will help save lives,” said Robert M. Califf, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. “Through the rulemaking process, there’s an important opportunity for the public to make their voices heard and help shape the FDA’s ongoing efforts to improve public health.”

The FDA said that, as of 2019, “there were more than 18.5 million current menthol cigarette smokers ages 12 and older in the U.S., with particularly high rates of use by youth, young adults, and African American and other racial and ethnic groups.”

“Menthol is a flavor additive with a minty taste and aroma that reduces the irritation and harshness of smoking. This increases appeal and makes menthol cigarettes easier to use, particularly for youth and young adults,” the administration explained. “Menthol also interacts with nicotine in the brain to enhance nicotine’s addictive effects. The combination of menthol’s flavor, sensory effects and interaction with nicotine in the brain increases the likelihood that youth who start using menthol cigarettes will progress to regular use. Menthol also makes it more difficult for people to quit smoking.”

The Times reported that the FDA’s exemption on menthol in 2009 “rankled public health groups and a cadre of former U.S. cabinet health secretaries, who noted the 47,000 Black lives lost each year to smoking-related disease.” Those former secretaries, The Times said, argued that keeping menthol on shelves “caves to the financial interests of tobacco companies and discriminates against African Americans.”

But the FDA made it clear last year that it would renew its efforts to ban menthol cigarettes, saying at the time that it was “working toward issuing proposed product standards within the next year to ban menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and ban all characterizing flavors (including menthol) in cigars; the authority to adopt product standards is one of the most powerful tobacco regulatory tools Congress gave the agency.”

The Times reported that White House records “show recent meetings with supporters of a ban, including the American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics,” but that others, such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, remain staunchly opposed.

Sharpton, The Times said, “recently secured a meeting with White House officials along with King & Spalding, a lobbying firm with an extensive record of advocating for RAI Services Company, the cigarette maker formerly known as R.J. Reynolds.”

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Cigarette smokers and vapers beware—a new California law could upend the state’s tobacco industry as we know it, and other states are following suit. Blaming cigarette butts piling up, the law focuses on cigarette and vape waste, rather than focusing on nicotine.

California lawmakers introduced a bill on January 25 that would ban single-use tobacco products with a goal to abate ongoing environmental issues. This affects nearly all types of cigarettes, which have single-use filters, and single-use tobacco vape products. It also targets tobacco products specifically.

Assemblymember Luz Rivas introduced Assembly Bill 1690, or the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act, along with Assemblymembers Cottie Petrie-Norris and Mark Stone. Principal co-authors including Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Lee, Nazarian, Quirk and Wicks also joined, as well as Senators Allen, Becker, Limón, Newman, Portantino and Wiener.

“This bill would prohibit a person or entity from selling, giving, or furnishing to another person of any age in this state a cigarette utilizing a single-use filter made of any material, an attachable and single-use plastic device meant to facilitate manual manipulation or filtration of a tobacco product, or a single-use electronic cigarette or vaporizer device,” the bill reads.

The bill also applies to rolling papers—but appears to apply specifically for tobacco uses. 

“… the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act, an enforcing agency, as defined, may assess civil penalties against any person, firm, or corporation that sells, gives, or furnishes specified tobacco and cigarette related items, including cigarette papers, to a person who is under 21 years of age, except as specified. The existing civil penalties range from $400 to $600 for a first violation, up to $5,000 to $6,000 for a 5th violation within a 5-year period.”

Fox 40 reports that the nicotine or cannabis is not necessarily the concern; instead, it’s the filters and vape pens piling up that is Assemblymember Luz Rivas’ primary battleground. “I want to be clear. This bill is not banning the sale of tobacco or marijuana in California. That’s not the goal of this bill,” said Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley).

Deliveries of said tobacco products would also be banned. “The bill would prohibit that selling, giving, or furnishing, whether conducted directly or indirectly through an in-person transaction, or by means of any public or private method of shipment or delivery to an address in this state,” it reads.

Local law enforcement will be responsible for implementing the law, and violators could face civil penalties of $500, if passed. “This bill would authorize a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney to assess a $500 civil fine against each person determined to have violated those prohibitions in a proceeding conducted pursuant to the procedures of the enforcing agency, as specified.”

Bill proponents said that single-use products are creating a host of environmental issues. After all, efforts in the state force public agencies to spend $41 million a year cleaning up cigarette filters, vapes and other single-use products.

“The smokers: They smoke and they toss. They risk a $1,000 fine by flicking a cigarette out of a vehicle, or throwing it on the beach, or out into the environment anywhere and that’s not a deterrent at all,” said Assemblymember Mark Stone (D- Monterey Bay).

Senator Josh Becker, who represents California’s 13th Senate District, announced on Twitter that he’s proud to support Assemblymember Rivas’ bill as a co-author.

A similar proposal is underway in New York state. The “Tobacco Product Waste Reduction Act” introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Judy Griffin would ban the sales of similar single-use tobacco products. 

In the upcoming months, expect more tobacco products to be introduced that work around the single-use model that we’ve all become accustomed to.

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Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But researchers think psychedelics have a unique ability to unlock patterns in the brain that lead to addiction—notably nicotine addiction.

Mydecine Innovations Group announced on August 18 it has signed a five-year research agreement with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine, to study the efficacy of psychedelic formulations for smoking cessation.

While Mydecine Innovations Group is not disclosing the types of psychedelics to be used in the study, researchers have already explored psilocybin for the treatment of addiction and ketamine for the treatment of addiction, for starters.

“We are excited to expand on the current work we are conducting with Dr. Matt Johnson and his team at JHU in regards to smoking cessation to include numerous other projects over the next five years,” Mydecine CEO Josh Bartch stated in a press release. “The researchers at JHU have proven their incredible depth of knowledge in the field.”

Research to be led by Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Matthew W. Johnson, Ph. D. While research into psychedelics for medical purposes is young, the Johns Hopkins Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit has extensive experience conducting clinical research related to therapeutic use of psychedelics.  

“The long-term potential of this research agreement is captivating for us here at Mydecine,” said Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Mydecine, Rob Roscow. “It demonstrates our commitment to advancing psychedelic medicine by exploring multiple molecules and medicines for a variety of indications.”

The researchers pointed out that it’s important not to forget the deaths caused by tobacco, despite the focus on opioid addiction lately.

“Despite the recent attention to opiate and dependence on other illicit substances, we sometimes forget about the incredible burden that nicotine dependence has on our societies,” said Dr. Rakesh Jetly, Chief Medical Officer, Mydecine. “According to the CDC, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, killing more than 480,000 Americans each year. Despite all the public education and dire warnings, cigarette smoking remains one of the most difficult addiction to treat and contributes to more deaths than all the other substances combined, making research like this vital.”

Smoking Tobacco vs. Smoking Cannabis

While tobacco kills nearly half a million Americans each year, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that cannabis generally does not lead to overdoses, despite common freak-outs out after eating edibles. 

“There are no reports of teens or young adults dying from an overdose of marijuana alone,” the organization states. “But there are reports of individuals who have sought treatment in emergency rooms, reporting uncomfortable side effects after consuming high THC levels in smoked marijuana or marijuana edibles.”

Cannabis smoke is not as equally carcinogenic as tobacco smoke—yes, there is a big difference. There are many reasons for quitting tobacco, however.

The American Cancer Society paints a sobering picture of how much a difference quitting smoking cigarettes can do. Your body changes within minutes and hours after quitting.

Twenty minutes after quitting—your heart rate and blood pressure drop. A few days after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. Two weeks to three months after quitting, your circulation improves and your lung function increases. One to 12 months after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decrease.

“Tiny hair-like structures (called cilia) that move mucus out of the lungs start to regain normal function, increasing their ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection,” The American Cancer Society reports. One to two years after quitting, your risk of heart attack drops dramatically.

Here’s what happens in the long-term:

Five to 10 years after quitting, your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, and voice box is cut in half. Your stroke risk decreases. Ten years after quitting, your risk of lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking (after 10-15 years). Your risk of cancer of the bladder, esophagus, and kidney also decreases. Fifteen years after quitting, your risk of coronary heart disease is close to that of a non-smoker.

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