Politics
Column: A California crackdown on 'diet weed' could devastate patients who rely on CBD
You may have heard the extraordinary story of Charlotte Figi, the little Colorado girl who was dying from unrelenting, violent seizures until her parents decided to try cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-psychoactive ingredient of cannabis and hemp that helped other ailing children.
CBD, it turned out, did for Charlotte what all the pharmaceuticals in the world could not: It saved her life.
For nine years, until she died at 13 in 2020, Charlotte was virtually seizure-free. Her story was chronicled by CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, who said Charlotte’s experience had completely changed his view of cannabis and its medical potential.
Gupta’s 2013 special on the subject, “Weed,” gave much-needed hope to Beth Sahyoun, a Reseda nursery school teacher whose son Armand, then 20, had suffered relentless seizures for six years.
“I was totally reluctant,” Sahyoun told me. “I am not familiar with cannabis. We had been part of the medical establishment, and this felt very, very uncomfortable, but when you are desperate, you go into uncharted territory. You have to.”
She soon found Dr. Bonni Goldstein, a Los Angeles pediatrician and leading cannabis doctor who has helped Armand use CBD to stay nearly seizure-free for nine years.
I met Goldstein years ago while writing about Proposition 64, the 2016 ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana in California. She reached out to me recently, distressed that the California Legislature appears to be on the verge of making it impossible for her patients to obtain the CBD products they need to lead normal lives.
The legislation at issue, Assembly Bill 2223, is a well-intentioned attempt to close a loophole in the state’s cannabis laws that has allowed unregulated, intoxicating, hemp-derived products to flood the market. It has already passed the Assembly with bipartisan support and is now before the Senate.
The federal government legalized commercial production of hemp, a form of cannabis typically cultivated for non-intoxicating uses, in 2018. Under federal law, hemp can contain no more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana known as THC, by weight. If that percentage is exceeded, the plant is considered cannabis, which, unlike hemp, is highly regulated, tested and taxed and can be legally sold only by dispensaries.
Here’s the loophole: A synthetic form of THC can be extracted from hemp-derived CBD. That substance, called delta-8 THC, is psychoactive. Because it is said to pack a softer punch than the THC in cannabis, delta-8 products are often called “weed lite” or “diet weed.” And because hemp is not regulated the way cannabis is, delta-8 products can be purchased by anyone online or in gas stations and convenience stores. A distressing number of teenagers report having used the product, which hasn’t undergone any systematic evaluation of its safety.
“During the conversion of CBD,” Goldstein said, “you get unintended byproducts. When you buy an unregulated, untested delta product, you are taking your health into your own hands.”
Dr. Bonni Goldstein, a pioneer in the use of CBD for pediatric patients, at Hesse Community Park in Los Angeles last week.
(Zoe Cranfill / Los Angeles Times)
Legal cannabis dispensaries, whose owners have jumped through almost unthinkable bureaucratic and financial hoops, are understandably unhappy about a product that seems to both undercut their business and endanger the public.
Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a Yolo County Democrat, is the author of AB 2223, which would outlaw these “weed lite” products. The bill would ban any hemp products that contain more than 1 milligram of THC per container.
“The bottom line,” Aguiar-Curry said in a statement, “is that if it gets you high, it should not be sold outside a dispensary.”
In a statement emailed to me Friday morning, she added, “We are trying to strike the delicate balance between helping kids with health needs and keeping illegal drugs from being accessible to other kids.” Her bill, she said, “makes sure that CBD can be sold in the state as long as it has a non-intoxicating, trace amount of THC. Products containing higher levels of THC would be available in dispensaries, where they can’t fall into the hands of youth.”
The problem is that Goldstein’s patients would run afoul of the legislation. They are typically treated with a CBD-to-THC ratio of about 20 to 1 or more, but they take enough to exceed the proposed THC limit.
“If my patient takes 20 milligrams of CBD, they get 1 milligram of THC as well,” she said. “But if they are getting 200 milligrams of CBD, this same ratio then delivers 10 milligrams of THC. If they are taking 1,200 milligrams of CBD, they are getting 60 milligrams of THC. There is no intoxication because we first start with a low dose and titrate up, which minimizes any impairing effect. Second, the much higher amount of CBD dampens down the THC effects since CBD antagonizes the effects of THC.”
Armand Sahyoun, 29, is on a 25-to-1 formulation; he takes 1,600 milligrams of CBD per day, with 64 milligrams of THC.
“There is no impairment because it took months to work up to this dose,” Goldstein said. “He functions beautifully.”
In dispensaries, she added, “you are lucky if you can find a bottle that contains more than 600 milligrams of CBD. Meaning a child using these high doses would go through an $80 bottle per day.” Beth Sahyoun told me her son’s medicine costs $900 a month.
Paige Figi, Charlotte’s mother, founded the nonprofit Coalition for Access Now, which educates the public and lawmakers about the health benefits of CBD.
“We are collateral damage of these hastily written state bills that are trying to fix the delta-8 problem,” Figi told me. “Forty-five million Americans take a daily dose of CBD for their health — first responders, grandparents, kids with epilepsy, veterans, people with pain. These people are happily using this product.”
If there is no accommodation for families like the Sahyouns, the state Senate shouldn’t pass AB 2223. And if it does pass both houses in its current form, Gov. Gavin Newsom should not sign it.
“You have your child who is sick as a dog, you have no hope, you find CBD hemp, non-impairing, non-intoxicating,” Goldstein said. “Your child is thriving, and now the government says you can’t have it anymore? It’s almost too cruel and too stupid to comprehend.”
A sliver of hope emerged at the end of last week: After trying in vain to reach Aguiar-Curry for some time, Goldstein finally heard from her office. The physician expects to meet with the legislator to discuss her concerns this week.
Politics
Mike Kennedy advances past crowded GOP primary to secure nomination for open Utah House seat
Mike Kennedy on Tuesday won the Republican nomination for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District to replace outgoing Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, becoming the immediate favorite to win the seat in November.
Kennedy beat fellow Republicans JR Bird, John Dougall, Case Lawrence and Stewart Peay in a packed primary pool for the district. Curtis is vacating his seat to run for U.S. Senate to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney.
Kennedy, a state senator, had won the party’s nomination for the seat in April but faced challenges from other candidates who gathered signatures to be on the ballot. Peay had won the endorsement of Romney, who is also Peay’s wife’s uncle. Kennedy had won the endorsement of Sen. Mike Lee, who said he was needed to “fight against the Uniparty and help get this country back on track.”
‘SQUAD’ MEMBER FACES OUSTER FROM CONGRESS AS NEW YORK, COLORADO AND UTAH HOLD PRIMARIES ON TUESDAY
From left, JR Bird, John Dougall, Mike Kennedy, Case Lawrence and Stewart Peay, candidates in the Republican primary for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, take part in a debate at the Eccles Broadcast Center in Salt Lake City on June 12, 2024. (Spenser Heaps/Deseret News via AP/Pool)
Bird, a mayor, emphasized his experience of running a small town as well as the importance of the energy sector and agriculture, according to the Deseret News.
Dougall, the state auditor, had run as an anti-MAGA candidate and had slammed some GOP legislation, including what he saw as an overly aggressive bill that tasks him with enforcing a ban on transgender-identifying individuals using restrooms that are inconsistent with their sex.
WATCH: THIS HOUSE PRIMARY IS MOST EXPENSIVE IN CONGRESSIONAL HISTORY
He has also been deeply critical of former President Trump. On Tuesday on X, he also questioned the “cavalier manner” of any official who swears to uphold the Constitution “then endorses Trump following January 6th.” He has advertised himself as “mainstream, not MAGA.”
At a debate this month, candidates split on the question of military funding to Ukraine as well as whether the federal government should explicitly ban abortion. Peay, Dougall and Case Lawrence – a trampoline park entrepreneur – had called on Congress to keep sending weapons to Ukraine to help it fend off the ongoing Russian invasion.
Bird and Kennedy disagreed, arguing that it was not beneficial to the U.S. to keep funding the Ukrainians, with the two calling for stronger sanctions and the seizure of Russian assets.
HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE PRIMARY CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Sen. Mitt Romney (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Kennedy will go on to face Democrat Glenn Wright in the November election, but the Republican is favored to win comfortably in a district that has voted Republican since 1997.
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Elsewhere in the state, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, a major GOP Trump critic, held off a primary challenge from Phil Lyman, another 2020 election denier who easily won the state party convention.
The Associated Press and Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
California news publishers and Big Tech companies appear to be inching toward compromise on a controversial bill that would require Google and huge social media platforms to pay news outlets for the articles they distribute.
After stalling last year, Assembly Bill 886 cleared a critical hurdle Tuesday when it passed the state Senate Judiciary Committee. Several lawmakers described the legislation as a work in progress aimed at solving a critical problem: The news business is shrinking as technology changes the way people consume information.
“I do believe the marketplace is the best mechanism to regulate industry,” Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange), the committee chairman, said during a hearing on the bill.
However, he said, the demise of journalism harms democracy: “Thus, we have an obligation to find a way to support reasonable, credible journalism.”
The legislation, known as the “California Journalism Preservation Act,” would require digital platforms to pay news outlets a fee when they sell advertising alongside news content. It calls for creating a fund that the tech firms pay into, with the money being distributed to news outlets based on the number of journalists they employ. Publishers would have to use 70% of the money they receive to pay journalists in California.
Umberg noted that the bill does not specify an amount for the fund. He said it would be “a very elegant solution” for the parties involved to agree on what amount that should be.
Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas) described talks as being “closer and closer to the place where we could actually land some kind of deal.”
In Canada, Google is paying $74 million annually into a fund for the news industry under a law similar to the one proposed in California.
Jaffer Zaidi, Google’s vice president of global news partnerships, testified against the California proposal during a hearing in which news executives from across the state lined up to express support for the bill, while tech industry lobbyists lined up in opposition. The bill is sponsored by the California News Publishers Assn., of which the Los Angeles Times is a member.
“The bill would … break the fundamental and foundational principles of the open internet, forcing platforms to pay publishers for sending valuable free traffic to them,” Zaidi said.
“It puts the full burden of support on one or two companies, while shielding many other large platforms who also link to news from California publishers.”
He said Google had shared a proposal for a different way to support journalism “through targeted programs” that would be funded by more companies than just the very largest platforms. The current version of the bill would apply only to Google and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook.
“We hope this can serve as a basis for a workable path forward together,” Zaidi said. “We remain committed to being here and constructively working towards an outcome.”
The bill’s author, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), said she is “aggressively trying to engage” with companies that oppose the bill in the hopes that the sparring sides can reach an agreement that will allow the news industry to thrive.
“At the end of the day, I want the best solution to the problem,” Wicks said.
She closed the hearing by talking about the role journalism has played in exposing problems that lawmakers wind up addressing in the Capitol, such as crafting new laws to extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits after The Times’ investigation revealed a pattern of allegations against former USC gynecologist George Tyndall.
The bill now advances to the Senate Appropriations Committee. It will go to Gov. Gavin Newsom if it clears both houses of the Legislature by Aug. 31.
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail.
FACE OFF: Don’t miss the Fox News Simulcast of the CNN Presidential Debate on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. Stay in the know for more updates here.
What’s happening…
-Calls for Biden to fire official for past anti-Israel tweets
-Trump urges drug test for Biden
-Whistleblower who exposed NPR bias finds new job
What can he say?
Judge Juan Merchan has partially lifted the gag order he imposed against former President Trump – weeks after the jury found him guilty on all counts.
Trump and his legal team have been fighting the gag order since it was imposed upon him at the start of the trial, but had ramped up their efforts when it concluded last month. The former president and presumptive Republican nominee’s legal team had argued the gag order should be lifted before the June 27 presidential debate.
Merchan’s gag order barred Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case – other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.
Merchan on Tuesday partially lifted the gag order because the trial has concluded.
Trump is now able to speak about protected witnesses and jurors.
Trump is still blocked from commenting about individual prosecutors, court staff and their family members. That portion of the gag order will remain in effect until Trump’s sentencing on July 11.
Judge Juan Merchan imposed over Donald Trump (AP)
White House
‘JUST HORRIFYING’: Watchdog group calls for Biden to fire WH official for past anti-Israel tweets …Read more
Capitol Hill
‘OBSCENE’: House GOP lawmaker rips State Dept ahead of vote on U.S. dollars going to Taliban …Read more
U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks to the crowd while he campaigns in the Bronx borough of New York City, U.S., June 22, 2024. REUTERS/Joy Malone (REUTERS/Joy Malone)
Tales from the Campaign Trail
‘THEATER OF CONFLICT’: Democrat challenger slams Bowman tirade, says profanity-laced rally jeopardizes party ‘unity’ …Read more
JUST SAY ‘NO’: Trump urges drug test for Biden, says he’ll do same screening …Read more
EPIC CLASH: How to watch the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast on the Fox News Channel …Read more
‘SUGARCOATING’ CONTROVERSY: California city keeps charged ballot language for non-citizen voting measure …Read more
CALL TO THE BULLPEN: Obama again serving as Joe’s closer ahead of 2024 Trump rematch …Read more
Trials and Tribulations
DAY 3: US v Trump: The afternoon public hearing ended with no decision from Judge Cannon Read more
Across America
NO ABORTIONS FOR MINORS: Tennessee sued over law banning adults from helping minors get abortions without parental consent …Read more
MOVING ON: Whistleblower finds new gig after exposing alleged liberal bias at NPR …Read more
NEW YORK PAYS PRICE FOR NAIVETY: Cuomo scorches Dems for migrant crisis: ‘We’re finding out, 200,000 people later, you needed a plan’ …Read more
GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER: This blue city that ‘Defund Police’ supporters call home has over 1,000 unsolved homicides …Read more
KENYAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE: Kenyan police depart for Haiti to tackle rampant gang violence …Read more
ALL MUST SERVE: Israel’s Supreme Court rules ultra-Orthodox men must serve in military in unanimous decision …Read more
HUGE POPULATION: Houston area, an immigration hot spot, reeling from murder of Jocelyn Nungaray …Read more
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