Massachusetts Residents Can Apply For The Medical Marijuana Program In Northampton

If your someone from Massachusetts who can benefit from the use of cannabis and are not sure where to turn to, look no further, we have the information your looking for. To make the process super easy, below we have step by step directions for you.

Massachusetts recently legalized medical marijuana. Unfortunately most residents don't have the first clue as to how to access this new program. I was one of those people at one time. However if you live in Massachusetts, or better yet, Western Mass, I have the perfect place for you to get started with medicinal marijuana.

Northampton Medical Marijuana, A Division of Pedalmed.com has a small office located right in Northampton, Massachusetts. They opened 2 years ago as a “lifestyle medicine” practice providing physician house calls by bicycle for homebound patients.  When the medical marijuana law passed in November 2012 their patients began asking for this medicine and they began studying it.  Northampton Medical Marijuana began writing recommendations for Medical Marijuana in March and were amazed and humbled by the experience.  Not only did they find that marijuana is helpful for many many different conditions, they have literally seen hundreds of patients get their lives back.......(Read the full story here)

This article is brought to you by Cannabis Country

The proposed marijuana tax could generate millions of dollars more than whats needed to regulate cannabis.

Tomorrow is election day, and among the most contentious issues is Proposition AA, which would establish tax rates for recreational marijuana sales. Prop AA opponents say a special sales tax of at least 10 percent, in addition to a 15 percent excise tax (not to mention other state and local taxes), is much too high, while backers believe the figures will guarantee proper regulation and safety.

But what would Prop AA do for state revenues? An online tool offers ammunition for both sides.

We first told you about Backseat Budgeter in 2011. Developed by Engaged Public, a public-policy firm, and Colorado State University's Bighorn Leadership Program, the program is intended to give the citizenry as a whole a better idea about the challenges before legislators when it comes to balancing a budget. Users can develop their own budgets and cut whatever they'd like -- although the program let's them know if their priorities could potentially lead to lawsuits, for example.

What happens when you apply Backbeat Budgeter to Proposition AA?

"If Prop AA passes," according to the folks behind the site, "the revenue from the taxes will be placed into a restricted or 'cash' fund dedicated to covering the state expenses associated with the legalization of recreational marijuana. These expenses include but are not limited to regulation of the industry, public health, and safety.

"In the case that the tax elections in November 2013 are successful, there will be little or no General Fund impact as a result of the legalization of recreational marijuana. In fact, there is a possibility that revenues from the taxes will exceed the cost of regulating the industry."........

Click here to read the full story

Author of this story is Michael Roberts. 

Understanding Cannabis Tinctures

A tincture is an alcohol extract of plant material. As such, understanding the concentration of ingredients is different for a tincture than it is for the plant material. One difference is that alcohol tinctures are rarely heated above the boiling point for ethanol (~60° C = 140° F). At that temperature, it would take quite a long time to convert all of the THC-A (the most prevalent cannabinoid in the plant) into THC (thought to be the most prevalent active ingredient after exposure to high heat, such as in a pipe or vaporizer). Some tincture recipes call for heating the plant material in an oven before making the tincture. Thus, the cannabinoid profile in a tincture depends heavily on the details of how it was made. Steep Hill Halent testing reports show you the whole cannabinoid profile so you know what is there.

Another difference is in the percent (%) of ingredients in tinctures vs the raw material. For example: If a patient consumes 1⁄2 gram (g) of dried plant material with 10% of a particular ingredient in the plant, then the amount of that ingredient consumed would be 50 milligrams (mg):

Mass of dried plant material consumed:

0.5 g = 500 mg

10% of that mass is active ingredient:

500 mg x 10/100 = 50 mg

A tincture made from that plant material would probably not have a concentration as high as 10%, however. That’s because liquids are much more dense (heavier per unit volume) than dried plant material. Let’s assume that the consumer wants to ingest the same amount of the active ingredient as above: 50 mg, by drinking 3 milliliters (mL) of tincture – about one medium dropper full. Well, 3 mL of ethanol tincture has a mass of ~2.4 g. If 2.4 g (3 mL) of tincture contains 50 mg of active ingredient, then that concentration is 2%.

Volume of tincture = 3 mL

Density of ethanol = 0.789 g/mL

Mass of 3 mL of tincture:

 3 mL x 0.789 g/mL 2.4 g = 2,400 mg

 

Percent of tincture that is active ingredient:

(50 mg / 2,400 mg) x 100% = 2.08%

Thus, 3 mL of a 2.08% tincture delivers the same dose of active ingredient as 0.5 g of dried plant material that is 10% in the active ingredient. Another way that this information is presented is in terms of “mg/mL” – that is, if a tincture is reported to contain 16 mg per mL, it is about 2% in active ingredient.

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