My inbox is a lost cause

[rthstewart]

I've been on travel and gearing up for presentations the last month.  Yesterday,  I was on the way to another conference when it was cancelled 2 hours before I would have boarded a plane. So suddenly, yesterday at 4 PM, I had nothing to do.  I binged 4 episodes of Project Runway (Don't tell me how it ends but I've been very amused by Victoria from Moldova -- I've been to the Moldovan part of Romania in the 90s). 

And now I've attempted to tackle a backlog of hundreds of three sentence fics and my DW notifications -- I've got well over a thousand separate entries and emails ... it's not happening. 

So, alas, dear F-list, if something important or terrible or wonderful has happened and I've not seen it or responded, by deepest apologies.  Please share what's happened in the last month if you are so inclined.

For me, it's all been work -- so much work.  Weed -- specifically cannabidiol or CBD and prescription drug importation have taken over my life.  I won't bore you with the details but my powerpoints are gorgeous.  I warn you, I'm not kind to either CBD (mostly fraud, lotsa bad data, the placebo effect is profound and if it works, it's probably the THC) or importing drugs from Canada (leave the drugs in Canada, import the pricing model and repeal the non-Interference clause) and I'm very sad I never got to vote for Warren, Harris, Klobuchar, or Gillibrand.  Oh look, another old white dude.  But god this is all for nothing if we don't take the Senate.

And as for COVID-19, well, our health infrastructure is shit and even being well off and well insured won't protect you.  Millionaires will have to wait for hospital beds too.    I'm not panicking for myself or my son who is traveling on spring break.  We both have robust immune systems and practice good hygiene.  My spousal unit, on the other hand, has the immune system of a 90 year old, is vulnerable to respiratory disease due to pneumonia 2 years ago,  does not have the spoons to remember things like washing his hands and would never, ever deign to use hand sanitizer.  Stress induced memory loss and depression is a thing and wow, I just hope he doesn't get too close to people on public transit.

I think the product sourcing from China is going to be an issue -- so many raw materials are sourced there -- not just pharmaceuticals and medical devices but lots of food ingredients too.  I'm very amused that Campbell's Soup is seeing a big surge -- they source about 90% of their ingredients in the US -- or maybe Mexico and Canada as part of NAFTA. This will likely spur a long overdue and important conversation about supply chain resiliency -- it had begun in the pharmaceutical space last year and I see it expanding which would be a very good thing for U.S. workers. 

So, I'm going to head to the grocery store and pick up a few things, maybe another can of tomatoes and some frozen things.  Can I get you something? 

How are you?

Comments

[gingicat]

Very interested in any and all CBD large-scale double-blind data.

[rthstewart]

As it happens.... you can search all clinical studies of CBD in humans at clinicaltrials.gov -- in theory, they should all be listed there.
The FDA requested data on cannabis compounds in FDA regulated products over the summer and, as they stated last month, they got a lot of comments and not a lot of data (4,452 comments, very little data).
GW Pharmaceuticals had, far and away, the best summation of CBD human clinical data in their FDA submission over the summer. https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2019-N-1482-4257. They had to do randomized clinical trials to get their FDA approval of Epidiolex. Their data are also summarized on the FDA webpage, in their labeling, and published somewhere. I forget where.
The Public Health Institute wrote a good, well reasoned analysis, focusing though on cannabis more broadly, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2019-N-1482-4054 They are very concerned about the more recent, more potent strains of marijuana and edibles that are appealing to children.
When you review the comment by GW, you realize just how weak the data really are supporting other supposed benefits of CBD outside of its outstanding efficacy in treatment of certain seizure disorders**.
But the best cases that could be put forth at least in the FDA docket on cannabis compounds in FDA-regulated products was by Dixie Brands, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2019-N-1482-4165
Aurora Cannabis was another one that was pretty thorough, if weak, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2019-N-1482-4240, maybe Vertical BioScience, https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2019-N-1482-4250

The FDA has been more focused on safety of CBD as a regular component of the diet than what it actually does. There's probably support for a "general feeling of well being." And if there's enough THC in the product, that might produce a micro-dosing effect that would produce calming sensation or make you sleepy -- especially in a cannabis naive person.

** There are several reports of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP)in patients who stopped taking their regular meds to try over-the counter CBD products. That's bad. a full 60-70% of those products are mislabeled and don't contain the amount of CBD that's stated on the label.

Phew. I spend A LOT of time on weed from a regulated industry standpoint at the federal level.

[writerkit]

I've been eaten by quarantine prep! I'm figuring there's at least reasonable odds that eventually the kind of large-scale quarantines you're seeing in Italy will make it here, particularly given how poorly we've been doing at containment, so I've been doing quarantine prep-- I've got a post up about my list of supplies. The last week has been utterly exhausting.

[rthstewart]

So exhausting. I've not really been doing much prep. We have dog food. I have lots of frozen food and canned stuff anyway because that's just how I am. I did buy another can of tomatoes, some more brown rice, some beans and tofu, and some big cuts of chewy meat. I should probably stock up on a few bags of frozen vegetables and get some more apples. But this is stuff I have anyway and... just found out my son won't be going back to college in a week -- his school has extended their spring break another week so he's coming home for an extra week and we'll see what happens.

[corvidology]

Sounds like a fascinating but pretty exhausting time.

I have to admit to having done nothing in the quarantine prepping line.

[rthstewart]

I admit my quarantine prep has been mostly buying one or two extra of things I normally buy. But... my son's college just announced they are shutting down for another week -- extending the spring break. They are evaluating alternatives to in-class time. So... yeah... at a minimum I'll have an extra mouth to feed. But I do wonder at whether people are really going to be using all those canned tomatoes they bought? I mean, I use them but do others know what to do with them? Or that pasta sauce will probably be all they really need? Eh. Maybe I should buy another chicken and a few more cans of beans and add some frozen vegetables. I have dog food. People have lost their minds.

[adaeze]

Faced, a year ago, with the twin delights of a government who looked all too horribly likely to crash us out of most of our trade deals suddenly and without any replacements in place, and a bad blizzard which the supermarket supply chains took a full week to recover from, I made sure that we had a well-stocked store cupboard, and have kept it that way - I figured that even if the government was suddenly hit by an outbreak of efficiency and competence, we'd learned that the supply chain was sufficiently fragile that any event well out of the ordinary was likely to have serious effects. The only thing I've had to panic-buy was a couple of pocket bottles of hand sanitizer (when thinking War! Blizzards! I completely forgot Pestilence).

I think it's senseible to be able to go a week or so without having to go out (either because the Zombie Apocalypse has finally struck, or because we're just too poorly to want to do anything). If we do catch it, I'll probably end up using the easiest things, and the home-made bread can wait until we're feeling better.

[generalleia]

"Oh look, another old white dude"

Le sigh. Yep.