The Fresh Toast – It is common but annoying, so here are the best ways to prevent cotton mouth. Dry mouth, called xerostomia in medical contexts, is a common side effect of cannabis and is often referred to as “cotton mouth” or “cottonmouth” by cannabis users. Many people wonder if this side effect is due to smoke, cannabinoids, or dehydration. Here are some of hte best ways to prevent cotton mouth.
What Causes Dry Mouth When High?
Smoke can dry out your mouth and produce a feeling like cottonmouth. However, the dry mouth you experience from smoke is different from cottonmouth from cannabis. Smoking does not cause cottonmouth, but it can exacerbate it.
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a role in modulating many different biological processes, including saliva production. Cannabinoid receptors are found in the salivary glands. Marijuana causes cottonmouth because of the way the chemical compounds in the cannabis plant interact with your saliva glands. When cannabinoids from weed bind to receptors in the salivary glands, these glands secrete less saliva. Both the CB1 and CB2 receptors play a critical role in cottonmouth.
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According to recent research, CB1 receptors modulate the flow of saliva, while CB2 receptors seem to modulate consistency and content of saliva (for example, sodium levels.) Consuming cannabis leads to a significant drop in saliva production, which creates that parched, dry mouth feeling that defines cottonmouth.
So, if using marijuana gives you a dry mouth, does marijuana dehydrate you? While having a dry mouth or cottonmouth can make you feel thirsty, marijuana does not dehydrate you. That is one reason that cannabis does not produce a hangover in the same way alcohol does. While cannabis does not cause dehydration, you can try to drink a little extra water when you are using cannabis to see how it affects your experience. Your hydration level is one of the 15 factors that you can control to improve your results with cannabis.
Do Edibles Give You Cottonmouth?
While smoking may exacerbate dry mouth, cottonmouth is caused by cannabinoids interacting with receptors in your salivary glands. In short, any ingestion method that gets you high on THC will cause cottonmouth unless you have built up a tolerance to this specific side effect.
How to Mitigate Dry Mouth from Cannabis
Here are some general suggestions on how to mitigate side effects from cannabis, and then we will explore some specific suggestions about how to fix cottonmouth.
Try a new product: Different cannabis products will contain different chemical compounds like cannabinoids and terpenes, which may exert distinct effects.
Try a new ingestion method: Additionally, the way you ingest a product will change how it affects you. Smoking a joint of cannabis flower may produce slightly different effects from vaporizing it, although both ingestion methods involve heating cannabis and inhaling the active compounds. Each ingestion method has its own advantages and may produce different effects or side effects.
Add in a companion food: Did you know that weed companion foods can enhance your cannabis experience in different ways? Mangoes, dark chocolate, green tea, and thyme are all weed companion foods. Chemical compounds in these foods may alter your cannabis experience, and potentially mitigate adverse side effects like drowsiness. To learn about these foods and how to add them into your cannabis wellness routine, check out our article Do These Foods Get You Higher?
Find your minimum effective dose: Most adverse side effects from cannabis are caused by ingesting too high of a dose of THC. While you cannot die from ingesting too much cannabis, a THC overdose is a real risk. The single most effective way to mitigate side effects is to microdose and titrate up your dose until you find the minimum effective dose of cannabis to get the effect you want.
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How to Fix Cottonmouth
We have gone over some ways that you can mitigate side effects in general, but what is the best way to fix cottonmouth? Can you prevent cottonmouth in the first place? Because cottonmouth is such a well-known side effect from cannabis, there are special products like mouth sprays made to combat cottonmouth, which are formulated to help resolve this side effect. Chewing gum is thought to help block signals to suppress saliva production, so chewing gum when you consume cannabis may allow you to prevent cottonmouth entirely. Cough drops are demulcents, meaning they coat mucous membranes with a protective film. This film helps prevent dryness of the mouth. You could try sucking on a cough drop during your cannabis experiences to fix and prevent cottonmouth.
Part of the cannabis industry supported the new president, betting he was going to move and move quickly on cannabis – the White House finally commented.
The cannabis industry has been a boon for consumers, medical patients, veterans and legal states, but for the thousands of mom and pop businesses is has been a roller coaster. With a huge demand, it would seem to be easy money, but the federal, tax, and banking restrictions have made it difficult to grow and expand. Part of the industry were all for the new administration assuming they would support positive change, but many in the new cabinet and the House Speaker Mike Johnson are foes. Now the White House finally comments on marijuana industry…and it doesn’t show a clear path.
The administration’s current stance on marijuana reform is marked by inaction, despite campaign promises and earlier signals of support for cannabis-related reforms. A White House official recently confirmed that “no action is being considered at this time” regarding marijuana policy, leaving advocates and industry stakeholders uncertain about the administration’s priorities.
During his campaign, the resident expressed support for rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which would move it from Schedule I to Schedule III, easing restrictions on medical use and enabling cannabis businesses to access banking and tax benefits. However, since taking office, no concrete steps have been taken to advance this initiative. A DEA hearing on rescheduling, initially planned for January 2025, was postponed due to procedural appeals and remains unscheduled.
The president has also voiced support for state autonomy in cannabis policy and endorsed state-level legalization initiatives, such as Florida’s failed 2024 ballot measure for recreational marijuana. While this reflects a more favorable stance compared to his first term, his administration has yet to prioritize federal reforms like the SAFE Banking Act, which would facilitate banking services for cannabis businesses. Efforts to include such measures in a government funding bill late last year were unsuccessful.
The delay in federal action has significant implications for the cannabis industry. Rescheduling marijuana could alleviate financial burdens by eliminating restrictions under IRS Code Section 280E and promoting medical research. However, the stalled process leaves businesses navigating regulatory uncertainties and limited financial access.
While stakeholders continue lobbying for reform, the administration appears focused on other priorities such as immigration and foreign policy. Advocates hope the President will leverage his influence to advance cannabis reform, but for now, the issue remains sidelined. Until then the industry struggles and waits.
States are starting to scramble with looming budget deficients, but marijuana is a boon to some – especially one state.
The new federal administration is revamping how the government operates. With Doge, they are changing agencies and reducing services and support of states, which has left budget deficients in many. But some states have legal marijana and it has been a boon, for like alcohol…people are still consuming. States who are fully legal are making more money on weed than booze and this state’s cannabis revenue keeps pouring in. Missouri, the show me state, is being shown unexpected revenue.
“Due to a strong cannabis market and effective, efficient regulation of that market,” Amy Moore, director of the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation, told The Independent this week, “the funds available for the ultimate beneficiaries of the cannabis regulatory program continue to outpace expectations.”
Funds will help veterans and other key projects. The other benefit is as seen in data from legal states, teen use is down so it frees up some other funds. Legal states are seeing benefits from legal cannabis including lower teen use and crime reduction.
States with legal cannabis are experiencing a significant boost in tax revenue, surpassing those generated by alcohol sales. This trend highlights the economic benefits of marijuana legalization, as cannabis markets expand and mature.
In California, cannabis excise taxes have consistently outperformed alcohol-related taxes, bringing in over double the revenue. Colorado has seen even more striking results, with marijuana tax revenues totaling seven times those of alcohol. Similarly, Massachusetts has collected more tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol since fiscal year 2021, marking a notable shift in state finances.
Nationally, legal cannabis states generated nearly $3 billion in excise taxes on marijuana in 2021—20% more than alcohol taxes. By 2024, total adult-use cannabis tax revenue exceeded $20 billion, with states like Illinois and Washington reporting record-breaking contributions. Illinois alone collected $451.9 million from cannabis taxes in fiscal year 2022—one-and-a-half times the revenue from alcohol.
The funds are being put to good use. States like Illinois are channeling marijuana tax dollars into mental health services and community programs, while Colorado has invested nearly $500 million into public education. California has allocated millions to nonprofits addressing the impacts of the war on drugs.
This growing revenue stream underscores the potential of cannabis legalization to support vital public services and bolster state economies. As more states embrace regulated marijuana markets, the financial benefits are expected to continue flourishing.
The federal administration is all over the board around fed cannabis policy…and millions of patients are worried.
The industry employees over 440,000 workers at all lives and is driven in a large part by mom and pop businesses. Millions use medical marijuana for health issues ranging from chronic pain to sleep. But there are mixed messages from the feds about cannabis, and people are very worried. The federal government’s stance on marijuana has become increasingly complex, as recent developments show conflicting approaches to the drug’s potential benefits and risks. On one hand, there’s a push for research into medical marijuana for veterans, while on the other, a campaign against cannabis use is being launched.
The juxtaposition of initiatives highlights the federal government’s inconsistent approach to marijuana policy. While some departments are exploring the potential benefits of cannabis, others are actively working to discourage its use. This dichotomy is further exemplified by ongoing legislative efforts. For instance, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) has reintroduced the Veterans Equal Access Act, which would allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to patients in states where it’s legal. Meanwhile, documents from an ongoing lawsuit suggest that the DEA may have weighted the marijuana rescheduling process to ensure rejection of moving the drug from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3.
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The Department of Defense (DOD) has allocated nearly $10 million in funding for research into the therapeutic potential of MDMA for active-duty military members. This initiative, driven by congressional efforts, aims to explore MDMA’s effectiveness in treating conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX) expressed pride in this development, stating that it could be a “game-changer” for service members battling these combat-related injuries.
Additionally, a bipartisan effort in Congress has been pushing for VA research on medical marijuana for PTSD and other conditions affecting veterans. The VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act, introduced in both the Senate and House, would mandate studies on how cannabis affects the use of addictive medications and impacts various health outcomes for veterans.
In stark contrast to these research initiatives, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has partnered with an anti-cannabis nonprofit to launch a social media campaign targeting young people. The campaign, set to run ahead of April 20 (4/20), aims to “flood” Instagram with anti-cannabis content. The DEA is offering monetary incentives to students for creating and posting anti-THC videos, with payments ranging from $25 to $50 depending on the type of content produced.
This approach has raised eyebrows, as it seems to contradict the growing acceptance and legalization of marijuana across the United States. Critics argue that such campaigns may be out of touch with current societal trends and scientific understanding of cannabis.