The New Year featured many big changes, but one of the most influential might be what happened in California. On January 1st, the Golden State became one of a few states that have officially legalized recreational marijuana use, and the impact will be huge. So far, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Nevada have legalized possession and use and have set up marketplaces for buying and selling cannabis. However, as a recent Vox article points out, these states’ economies are rather small in comparison to California.

Altogether, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska have less than half the population of California (39 million and 17 million collectively), and California is two and a half times wealthier than those states combined. In fact, California boasts the sixth-largest economy in the world on its own, supplanting countries like India, France, Brazil, Italy, and Canada.

According to the Vox article, one cannabis consulting firm estimates that California’s marijuana industry could be worth more than $5 billion by 2018. A recent report from an investment bank believes that the legalization of marijuana in California could triple the size of the nation’s marijuana industry within a decade. This is a big development and could eventually lead to the full repeal of the prohibition of marijuana.

Why Daniel Fung Knows Times Are Changing

Daniel Fung of Watertown CT is an advocate for safe medical marijuana use as users have experienced numerous health benefits. Although marijuana studies are restricted because of antiquated drug laws, we do know that medical marijuana is a viable option for those who suffer from epilepsy, chronic pain, insomnia, and other challenging conditions. It is far safer than opioids, and you cannot overdose on marijuana as you can with prescription pain medication and alcohol.

Beyond marijuana, the field of cannabidiol (CBD) has simply exploded in popularity. Since CBD is extracted from the marijuana plant, the study, marketing and application of both go hand in hand. What’s important to note about CBD, according to Daniel Fung of Watertown CT, is that there is no psychoactive element here. CBD’s low THC level means those who ingest the extract – whether it’s in the form of a cream or candy – won’t get the “high” that marijuana delivers. At this point, companies marketing CBD have championed it for pain-relieving characteristics and the ability to boost immune systems and general health over time.

According to Inverse.com, CBD-infused gummy candies are a way of getting both the benefits of an extract as well as essential vitamins and nutrients. It’s for these reasons and more that Daniel Fung of Watertown CT is encountering more folks using CBD to, according to the Inverse.com article, “help to reduce pain, relieve stress and anxiety, as well as encourage better sleep.” There are many others like Daniel Fung of Watertown CT, too, who are championing new science. We know this because surveys have shown this time and time again.

While CBD can legally be sold to adults, there’s still plenty of confusion surrounding this new hot ingredient we’re seeing added to health and wellness products across the country. It’s certainly part of a trend that is also increasing rates of acceptance. More people in every age group believe that marijuana should be legalized. And the highest percentages are in the younger age groups, which will soon represent a majority of the voters in the United States. There are many states that will join California very soon to legalize marijuana. Massachusetts voted yes to it in the 2016 and officials are still working on creating the framework. NJ is electing a governor who said he will sign legislation the second it hits his desk. Delaware and Vermont are not far behind either.

As more and more people explore the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes, there is growing evidence that marijuana should certainly be taken off the Schedule 1 list and studied to see how it may help relieve a number of different health ailments.

There was a recent survey conducted by Brightfield Group and HelloMD, which sought to examine how people were using CBD and whether or not they found it to be effective. CBD is short for cannabidiol, which is one of more than 100 active cannabinoids that can be found in cannabis.

Unlike THC, CBD does not get you high, which is why it is currently legal in every state in the U.S. CBD is obtained from industrial hemp (in most states) and then processed into various products, including tinctures, balms, vape pens, patches, edibles, and more.

Daniel Fung of Watertown, CT says that there were a number of interesting figures from the survey. The first thing was that 55% of those surveyed who said they used CBD were women. And males surveyed said they were more likely to be interested in medical marijuana products that had a greater percentage of THC.

However, there was one thing that was clear: users believed that CBD was working for them. According to a doctor representing HelloMD, 42 percent of the CBD users said they stopped using pain relievers, like Tylenol, and even some prescription medications. Instead, they found that CBD provided enough pain relief to forgo using those other products that often come with significant side effects.

This is no big surprise to Daniel Fung of Watertown, CT and other experts who say that CBD research has indicated the powerful positive effects CBD can have on the body. Daniel Fung works with the best extract artists in the MMJ industry at Dank Fung Extracts to develop vape pens for the tastiest dab experience. He has seen firsthand how CBD can help people suffering through various health ailments.

Although we are only at the very beginning stages of understanding how cannabidiol (CBD) can benefit public health, the potential is significant: mitigating symptoms of chronic pain, anxiety, and insomnia are just several that come to mind. However, Daniel Fung of CT (Connecticut) and a leading extractor in the MMJ industry, says that some of the most promising research shows a clear link between CBD and epilepsy treatment.

Epilepsy is a condition that one in 26 Americans will suffer from at some point in their lives. Epilepsy is characterized by the onset of seizures but other health problems may manifest as well. Unfortunately, its effects are most pronounced in children as 34 percent of all childhood deaths are caused either by a seizure or by an accident that occurs during a seizure. Overall epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder overall.

We currently do not have a standard treatment protocol for epilepsy because every case is unique. Although it can be triggered by a brain injury or the result of family history, the cause will often be unknown. This makes treatment even more difficult. While some will find a cocktail of drugs that work or simply grow out of it, the truth is that others will have to deal with the lifelong recurrent threat.

CT’s Daniel Fung Wonders if CBD is an Answer for those who are Suffering with Epilepsy?

There have been numerous success stories that have shown how CBD has helped children and adult control their epilepsy symptoms. Although cannabis is a Schedule 1 drug, the DEA is beginning to loosen the reigns to study the plant for its medicinal effects. However, only a small portion of patients currently have excess to the clinical trials currently going on investigating CBD-rich cannabis.

From what we have seen so far, according to researchers, CBD has had a beneficial impact on some types of seizures, and researchers will see if patients may benefit from products that contain a combination of CBD/THC if they don’t respond to those with just CBD. As the endocannabinoid system, which affects nearly all of the body’s major systems including the nervous system, can be regulated by cannabinoids found in cannabis, Daniel Fung from CT says it makes sense that CBD may be a potential treatment solution for epilepsy and other chronic conditions.

There are increasing numbers of scientific studies that back up this theory, too. According to a July 2019 article from The Conversation.com, CBD-derived drugs may prove useful to the 30 percent of children who have not seen any success from traditional medicines. The article also notes that just under 500,000 U.S. children are dealing with epilepsy and increased tolerance of current treatments is a common occurrence, so the drive to develop a cure is indeed great. As with many current applications of CBD in everything from lotions to gummy worms, the exact benefits are hard to nail down. This trend continues for epilepsy treatment: “While the exact mechanism of action for CBD is unknown, it is thought to generally increase inhibition of brain cell activity to stop seizures,” the article states.

Even more encouraging is the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Epidiolex to treat childhood epilepsy. To date, the FDA has either opted to not weigh in on the varied claims that CBD companies make or outright deny that this is indeed some sort of miracle drug. New studies into CBD and medical conditions are the only way to find new forms of treatment. MMJ industry extractor Daniel Fung, of CT, is hopeful that medical science will be used to spearhead both new uses of CBD and the elimination of illnesses.