Category: Wellness

Does Cannabis Improve Athletic Performance?

Exploring THC, CBD, recovery, reaction time, and the emerging science at the intersection of cannabinoids and sport. At some point not too long ago, I was exercising regularly. It all started when a good friend convinced me to start taking martial arts classes with him. There we were: two middle-aged men willingly dressed in what … Continued

What Were the Ancients Smoking?

Scientists Resurrect Ancient Cannabis Genes People have been consuming Cannabis for a very long time. Humans were already experimenting with this plant in surprisingly creative ways long before dispensary menus, lab certificates, or debates about THC percentages. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of Cannabis used in burial rituals, smoked out of gourds and through hollowed-out bones, … Continued

The Endocannabinoid System Under Pressure

What Stress and Spaceflight Reveal About Human Balance There are few stress tests more honest than weightlessness. To demonstrate, imagine that while reading this, the ground beneath you suddenly gave way. Rationally, you might know you aren’t actually falling—but every sensor in your body would disagree. Your inner ear would panic. Your heart would spike. … Continued

Cannabis, Alcohol, and the Delicate Physics of Desire

There are few sights more American than a cold drink in the hand at the end of a long day. And until recently, that drink was almost always alcoholic. But history, like biology, does not move in straight lines. It loops, adapts, compensates—and sometimes substitutes. As cannabis legalization expands and THC-products multiply like caffeinated rabbits, … Continued

Hemp Sandwich Futures: From Meat Analogs to Bread

What do you see when you look upon a vast field of hemp? Economic opportunity? A public health menace? A sandwich? Maybe a pizza? How about a new type of cheese? These tasty possibilities are easy to visualize, if you sift through just a small fraction of the latest hemp research. Increasingly, researchers are investigating … Continued

Cannabis and Lifespan

Reflections on The impact of cannabis use on ageing and longevity: a systematic review of research insights by Nain et al. (2025) published in the Journal of Cannabis Research. (Open Access) Aging is one of biology’s longest-running paradoxes. It brings wisdom but also decline; it slows the body yet can sharpen perspective. Into this riddle … Continued

Cannabis, Opioids, and Pain: What the Latest Science Really Means for You

The Challenge of Measuring Pain Discussed in this article: Medical Cannabis Authorization and Opioid Milligram Equivalents Over Time In Patients with Chronic Pain: A Retrospective Analysis, by Michelle Sexton, ND, et al. Pain Medicine (2025). Open Access. Pain is one of the great riddles of medicine. It is invisible, subjective, impossible to measure with a ruler … Continued

Shadows on the Brain: The Unfinished Promise of Cannabis and Neurology

A Conversation Between Valley Wellness and Dr. Michelle Sexton For this article, the CSO of Valley Wellness sat down with Michelle Sexton, ND, to discuss cannabis and neurology. It is not often that a dispensary operator calls a researcher with a scientific inquiry. “My employees want to know about neurological conditions and cannabis—they were asking … Continued

No Love for No Harm: A Hidden Story of Cannabis Research and the Heart

Reexamining the Headlines: Cannabis and Cardiovascular Risk A conversation with Dr. Jamie Corroon about the limitations of population-level cannabis studies and why “no impact” or null findings deserve more airtime. New studies have surfaced, reigniting debates about the health impacts of cannabis use. Chief among them: a 2025 meta-analysis by Storck et al., published in Heart, … Continued

Toothaches and Tinctures: Can CBD Ease Dental Pain?

Toothaches and Tinctures: Can CBD Ease Dental Pain? The dentist’s chair, that confessional booth of pain, anxiety, and fluorescent lights, is not where you expect to find a conversation about cannabis or hemp. And yet, here we are. The age of the needle and the opioid is giving way—perhaps—to the age of the dropper and … Continued