News on the Green

Elephants to be Given CBD

Two African elephants housed at the Warsaw Zoo in Poland will be receiving CBD to treat stress.

According to CNN the zoo announced last week that staff would be experimenting with CBD as a way to improve the mood of elephants who are suffering from stress.

“To begin with,” read the statement, “the program included Fredzia the elephant, who after the recent death of Erna (the former head of the elephant herd) was a bit stressed and had a bit of trouble finding her position in the herd.” In a Facebook video, Warsaw Zoo zookeeper Patryk Pyciński says that elephants can suffer for weeks and even years following the loss of a herd member.

The experiment will be conducted with Fredzia and another female herd member, Buba. According to the zookeepers, Fredzia began trying to assert her dominance over Buba following the death of Erna. It’s hoped that the treatments will curb Fredzia’s “undesirable” behavior. Warsaw Zoo veterinarian Agnieszka Czujkowska said it could take months before the results are compiled. “Like most zoos we do research [and] we monitor the level of stress hormones. Thanks to this we will know if the substances [will] help the elephants,” said Czujkowska.

The CBD oil used for the experiment will be provided by Dobrekonopie.

No Youth Cannabis Use Spikes In Legal States

A recent study found that lifetime cannabis use among teenagers has declined in states where the drug is legal in some capacity.

According to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lifetime marijuana consumption among high schoolers increased between 2009 and 2013, and then decreased between 2013 and 2019. During the latter time period, a number of states legalized recreational cannabis—the first legal adult-use sales occurred in 2014. The study found no change in the rate of current cannabis use among teens between 2009 and 2019. It also found that there was a higher prevalence of drug use among 11th and 12th graders.

Participants were asked, “During the past 30 days, how many times did you use marijuana?” and “During your life, how many times have you used marijuana?” Most of the students who reported using cannabis in the last 30 days had used it one or two times.