The anti-high

So I just heard that some people are using high doses of CBD to counteract the effects of ingesting too much THC. Does this really work?

—Oso Hyman

Good question. One of the things we know about cannabidiol (CBD) is that it acts as a sort of THC inhibitor. Cannabis plants with a high amount of THC but low CBD content will get you “higher” than plants with a high CBD content, even if the THC percentage is the same. No one has done any studies yet, but there are anecdotal reports of folks, especially those folks that enjoy cannabis concentrates (hash, wax, dabs, hash oil, etc.) or edibles, using either a sublingual CBD tincture or pills containing a high amount of CBD, to assuage the effects of overindulgence. In fact, my homie Grand Daddy Mike is working on a commercial product designed to lessen the effects of THC in case of accidental or intentional cannabis overindulgence.

That being said, I wouldn’t recommend using high-CBD products as a magical “make yourself sober” pill. Generally, time (or being busted by an authority figure) is the only way to sober up. Don’t go around thinking you can smoke a bunch of dabs, eat a 200-milligram THC brownie and just pop a few CBD pills to smooth out before you get behind the wheel of your car. Be a responsible drug user.

But, for real though, how cool would it be if there was a product out there that could counteract the effects of too much THC? Higher than giraffe boobies one minute, sober as a judge a few minutes later. Coming down from too much weed by using a different kind of weed seems counterintuitive, but it may be what the future holds. You can’t do that with booze. Marijuana is awesome.

What’s up with the Department of Justice? Are they still going after cannabis clubs?

—Khan Cerned

They keep trying, and they keep losing. Last week, the Ninth Circuit court once again reminded the DOJ that the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment in the current budget prohibits the DOJ from going after businesses that are in compliance with state law. The DOJ tried to slip around the amendment with some legalese about “not going after the state, but going after individual businesses,” but the courts saw through their subterfuge and told them to quit it with the shenanigans and leave state legal canna-businesses alone. The DOJ appealed, of course, and their appeal has just been slapped down by the Ninth Circuit. To wit: “at a minimum, [Rohrabacher-Farr] prohibits DOJ from spending funds from relevant appropriations acts for the prosecution of individuals who engaged in conduct permitted by the state medical marijuana laws and who fully complied with such laws.” Duh.

The whole point of the amendment is to keep the DOJ from threatening and harassing and jailing legitimate cannabis companies, and the DOJ needs to accept that the world has changed, and cannabis businesses should be free to conduct business as long as they abide by state law.