The prime minister of Malaysia says a package of weed product does not belong to him, though it was mailed to his official office.
According to the Borneo Post, officials in Kuala Lumpur announced they had intercepted a package of cannabis-infused toothpaste whose address specified its destination as both the office of the country’s interim prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and its minister of economy, Rafizi Ramli.
Cannabis is fully illegal in Malaysia — which you may have already gathered from the notion that this apprehension made the news.
“Based on the information received it was suspected that the parcel contained prohibited items, as last week as well the office of the minister of economy received a parcel containing ‘cannabis leaf’,” said the Sepang district’s assistant commissioner to the police chief Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof.
In case you suspect the Malaysian politicians had pooled their funds to shine up their choppers with a bit of weed, the cop went onto explain that the officials to whom the package was addressed likely didn’t order the toothpaste themselves, as an investigation concluded “the confiscated items had no connection with the addressees.”
Apparently, the verboten toothpaste was intercepted by two law enforcement officers on March 10 around 6:30 p.m. Once the package was opened, there was not much ruse in concealing its supposed contents: The tube in question was labelled “Happy Green,” with weed leaves prominently displayed on its packaging design.
Should this Malaysian episode of Law and Order pique your dental interests, know that cannabis toothpaste does in fact exist. Back in 2019, a Belgian dentist named Veronica Stahl announced that she was working on a toothpaste called Cannabite Lifelong.
Stahl said at the time that her product, “can reduce gum disease and pain… Our solutions, built on emerging medical research, relies on the natural extracts of the plant with healing properties and the human body’s endocannabinoid system (where the body can bind to cannabis).”
In 2020, Colgate-Palmolive jumped on board the CBD toothpaste train as well, telling the press that it was acquiring a line of CBD-infused toothpaste, mouthwash and lip balms.
Indeed, there is a history of dentists hyping the use of cannabis before attending your toothy appointments. In 2019, one such professional, Dr. Jared Helfant or Broward County, Florida, told MERRY JANE that consuming a dosage of 1-1.5 milligrams of CBD per 10 pounds of body weight about an hour before an appointment could cut down on the amount of pain you feel in the dentist’s chair.
“CBD also helps with pain after your procedure because it reduces inflammation greatly,” said Helfant. “By reducing inflammation, it helps with gingivitis, sensitivity, receding gums, even TMJ [jaw joint] issues. Plus, if you’re nauseous from a dentist prescribing an antibiotic or from taking anesthesia at the dental office, CBD can definitely help with that nausea aspect of it, as well.”
Scientific investigation seems to back up these claims. A 2020 study published in the Cureus Journal of Medical Science suggested that cannabis is actually more effective in fighting back cavitites and gum disease than many of the synthetic dental products available on the market today. Researchers took the opportunity to allude to weed’s potential in beating back antibiotic resistance, as well.
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Caitlin Donohue via (https://merryjane.com/news/malaysias-prime-minister-says-weed-toothpaste-mailed-to-him-isnt-his)
Keep out of reach of children. For use only by adults 21 years of age and older.
