Monday, October 2, 2023

Get off your couch seniors

 Older adults may have a new reason to get off the couch: a recent study suggests that having a sedentary lifestyle may increase the chances of developing dementia.  
Research published earlier this week in JAMA found that being sedentary for 10 hours or more each day was “significantly associated “with dementia, a general term for a loss of cognitive functioning.1 Symptoms include memory loss, confusion, and difficulty expressing thoughts.2
National Institute on Aging. What Is Dementia? Symptoms, Types, and Diagnosis.
"One of the most compelling things I find about the study is that regarding the associated risk with dementia, the total time spent being sedentary matters more than the way this time is being accumulated," study author Daniel Aslan MS, a PhD candidate in human and evolutionary biology at the University of Southern California's Department of Biological Sciences, told Health.  

Have a read, no paywall

https://www.health.com/sitting-increase-dementia-risk-7971559

 

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Recreational sales hit 5 billion dollars in Ma

 Sales of adult-use marijuana hit the $5 billion mark in Massachusetts, where the executive director of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission shot down an earlier announcement that he is resigning.

Massachusetts cannabis regulators said sales have not slowed as more Northeastern states have implemented adult-use programs, according to the Worcester Business Journal.

In January, the state reached the $4 billion milestone since adult-use sales began in November 2018.

According to the Business Journal, regulators noted that the state’s recreational retailers took in $1 billion between January and August – the fastest that licensed sellers have generated that much in sales.

“Massachusetts continues to hit record sales even as other states have come online,” Shawn Collins, executive director of the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), said in a statement.

“In fact, our neighboring states Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut also had record sales this summer.”

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

The long awaited P.O.S.T report is out

As many of you already know, the P.O.S.T commission was established after the killing George Floyd. Governor Baker assembled a group of different people with various backgrounds to weed out the bad actors in law enforcement and ensure that transparency and accountability were part of every police department in the state. Unfortunately under the current administration residents still see no transparency and accountability. 

 Have a look at the POST web site.

 The database includes records dated as early as December 1984 and as recent as Jan. 31, 2023.
 

Disciplinary records by officer last name

Disciplinary records by law enforcement agency

Disciplinary records CSV file

You will see each department in the state and the officers who have been disciplined and for how long.

 You will see some familiar names. There is one not certified to work as I understand the rules. All the rest (24) have been suspended or disciplined. So now I see why the huge jump in OT in the this years budget.

 https://www.boston.com/news/crime/2023/08/22/massachusetts-police-database-disciplinary-records-public/?p1=hp_featurestack

Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Plants over pills, Dr Sanjay Gupta

 Seniors — people over the age of 65 — are now the fastest growing group of cannabis users in the United States.

 This show on CNN last Sunday is worthy of our readers watching it. Research in Israel has expanded the medicinal uses of cannabis without getting high.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/06/health/weed-cannabis-seniors-sanjay-gupta/index.html