HOLLYWOOD’S SMOKING HOT TREND: WEED FOR HEALTH

With a recent vote to legalize recreational marijuana use and “Hollyweed” vandalism of the Hollywood sign, cannabis also is at the forefront of a growing health movement in Los Angeles.

HOLLYWOOD’S SMOKING HOT TREND: WEED FOR HEALTH –  Hollywood’s affinity for marijuana may go back decades, but with the November vote to legalize recreational use — and the Jan. 1 vandalizing of the Hollywood sign to read “Hollyweed” — it has hit a fever pitch.

The town’s 420 entrepreneurs abound (Melissa Etheridge makes a wine tincture; Wiz Khalifa and Margaret Cho have their own strains; Whoopi Goldberg markets a bath soak to reduce menstrual cramps) while stoners even enjoy their own yoga sessions at Culver City studio Goda Yoga ($15 per class). “On any given day in this city, it’s safe to say that the next hit song or screenplay is being written with a little help from this plant,” says Adam Steinberg, co-founder of craft cannabis brand Flow Kana, who in addition to well-known pothead Seth Rogen cites reported industry users Richard Branson, Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman.

But the real news is hot new wellness ingredient CBD, a cannabidiol from hemp that’s low in psychoactive THC and, studies suggest, reduces inflammation and the effects of PTSD.

The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a comprehensive report acknowledging that “conclusive or substantial evidence” exists for cannabis’ efficacy in patients suffering from chronic pain, and sharply criticized longstanding federal regulatory barriers to marijuana research – in particular “the classification of cannabis as a Schedule I substance” under federal law.

Sources: Hollywood Reporter