News in English 2014

[Tapionpoika]

Colorado Will Spend $10 Million Researching Marijuana's Medical Benefits

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) signed a bill Wednesday that will fund up to $10 million for research into the medical efficacy of marijuana.

"SB 155 invests the dollars collected from medical marijuana fees into a meaningful effort to study the therapeutic and medical benefits of the drug," state Rep. Crisanta Duran (D), a co-sponsor of the bill, told The Huffington Post. "Patients will benefit from this investment and Colorado will become a national leader in developing medical marijuana research."

The bill states the research will help Colorado determine which medical conditions should be added to the state's current list of eight ailments that make patients eligible for medical marijuana. It will also help physicians better understand the biochemical effects of prescribed marijuana, add to the growing base of knowledge built from several state-funded medical cannabis research programs about proper dosing and possibly allow the state to conduct clinical trials, the bill outlines.

"This bill is exciting because it gives researchers the opportunity to show why and how marijuana works, and to do research that the federal government refuses to conduct," Mike Elliott of Marijuana Industry Group told HuffPost.

The research will be funded through the state's $10 million medical marijuana program cash fund.

"More information is needed to further understand potential therapeutic uses of marijuana and its component parts," the Medical Marijuana Health Effects Grant Program bill reads. "Research on the therapeutic effects of marijuana and its component parts could benefit thousands of Coloradans who suffer from additional debilitating medical conditions that do not respond to conventional treatments and are not currently permissible medical conditions for medical marijuana use."

Colorado legalized marijuana for medical use in 2000. There are currently more than 115,000 patients on the state registry.

A number of studies in recent years have demonstrated the medical potential of cannabis. Purified forms of cannabis can be effective at attacking some forms of aggressive cancer. Marijuana use has also been tied to better blood sugar control and may help slow the spread of HIV. Legalization of the plant for medical purposes may even lead to lower suicide rates.

Earlier this year, the federal government signed off on a historic study looking at marijuana as a treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. The study will examine the effects of five different potencies of smoked or vaporized cannabis on 50 veterans suffering from PTSD.

Nearly 30 percent of veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars suffer from PTSD, according to a 2012 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Scientists have speculated that marijuana could help veterans suffering from PTSD symptoms, which can include anxiety, flashbacks and depression.

There are 10 states that allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana for PTSD-related symptoms. However, Colorado is not one of them, despite multiple efforts to add the condition to the state's approved treatment list.

Families of children and young people seeking medical marijuana have also made headlines recently for moving to Colorado from other states to take advantage of the expansive medical marijuana laws.

Parents are also coming to Colorado in search of one of the most coveted strains of medical marijuana available: Charlotte's Web, which is named after 7-year-old Charlotte Figi who used to suffer from hundreds of seizures a week, but after two years of treatment is now at more than "99 percent seizure control", according to her mother, Paige. The medicinal strain, high in CBD, the non-psychoactive ingredient in pot, and low in THC, which causes users to feel "high," was developed by the Colorado Springs-based nonprofit group Realm of Caring and has been effectively treating children with debilitating illnesses and conditions.

The number of minors on Colorado's medical marijuana patient registry has been surging over the past year. As of March, 285 minors had state-issued medical marijuana cards -- that's up from only 35 minors from the same month in 2013.

Charlotte's Web and similar strains are administered in liquid or capsule form and, according to doctors, produce few to no side effects. Because of the low THC content, users don't experience the "high" associated with traditional marijuana.

Still, the federal government continues to ban the plant in any form, classifying it as a Schedule I substance "with no currently accepted medical use."


Lähde: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/2 ... f=politics

[Kippari]

Study: Alcohol Linked to Psychosis, Not Marijuana
By Mike Adams · Wed Jun 04, 2014

New research has surfaced that suggests previous studies had it all wrong: it is actually alcohol that increases the chances of developing psychosis, not marijuana.

Researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada recently published these findings in the mental health journal Schizophrenia Research, which outlines a four year journey into the long term effects of commonly used substances: alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, in an attempt to assess the human risk factors associated with the development of psychosis.

In the study, which encompassed a group of 170 participants profiled as having an elevated risk for psychosis, researchers found that marijuana did not contribute to the crazy, so to speak, while alcohol may, in fact, have been the socially acceptable culprit all along.

“Results revealed that low use of alcohol, but neither cannabis use nor tobacco use at baseline, contributed to the prediction of psychosis in the clinical high risk sample,” said lead study author, Dr. Jean Addington, PhD.

Previous studies have indicated for some time that contrary to the American government’s biased science, marijuana consumption does not lead to an increased risk of schizophrenia in otherwise health individuals. In fact, a recent editorial in the Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, Dr. Matthew Hill says that while THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, can invoke temporary symptoms of psychosis, like paranoia, these side effects do not linger and are not relative to an actual mental disorder.

“Within the Western world, cannabis use went from essentially nonexistent in the 1950s to extremely prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite this dramatic shift in cannabis use at a societal level, the prevalence of schizophrenia has largely remained stable.”

Inheritable genetics are still believed to be the primary source of schizophrenia -- responsible for about 80 percent of the cases.

http://www.hightimes.com/read/study-alcohol-linked-psychosis-not-marijuana

[Kippari]

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2014/33245/mexican-president-suggests-possible-marijuana-legalization/

Mexican President Suggests Possible Marijuana Legalization
By Reuters June 9, 2014

MEXICO CITY — Mexico and the United States cannot pursue diverging policies on marijuana legalization, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was quoted as saying on Sunday, hinting he may be open to following the lead taken by some U.S. states in relaxing marijuana laws.

Political pressure has grown in Mexico to take a more liberal stance on marijuana since Washington and Colorado voters approved the legalized possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use in 2012. Other U.S. states, including Alaska, plan votes soon.

Marijuana, along with harder drugs like cocaine and crystal meth, has been a major source of income for violent drug cartels responsible for thousands of deaths in Mexico in recent years.

Proponents of reform say legalizing marijuana would both reduce the gangs’ economic power and help generate more tax revenue.

Pena Nieto says he is in favor of debating the issue despite personal misgivings about legalizing cannabis, and lawmakers say Mexico cannot be out of step forever with the United States, the principal buyer of illicit drugs that cross the border.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, Pena Nieto said legalization of marijuana was a “growing phenomenon” and that the policies followed in the last 30 to 40 years had only led to more consumption and more production of drugs.

“Therefore it’s a failed policy,” he told the newspaper.

“It needs to be reviewed. I repeat, I’m not in favor of legalization, this is a personal conviction. But we can’t continue on this road of inconsistency between the legalization we’ve had in some places, particularly in the most important consumer market, the United States, and in Mexico where we continue to criminalize production of marijuana,” he added.

His comments offered encouragement to supporters of change in Mexico, where polls have for years shown a majority of the population opposes outright legalization of marijuana.

Still, an April survey published by the public opinion unit of the lower house of Congress showed 73 percent of Mexicans backed legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.

In February, Mexico’s leftist opposition Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) presented an initiative to legalize medical use of marijuana and Fernando Belaunzaran, a PRD congressman pushing the plan, welcomed Pena Nieto’s remarks.

Belaunzaran told Reuters the trend of liberalizing marijuana laws in the United States looked irreversible, and said he expected California to back legalizing the drug in 2016.

“Once California has permitted recreational marijuana, maintaining the ban in Mexico won’t be sustainable,” he said.

In 2009, Mexico made it legal to carry up to 5 grams (0.18 ounce) of marijuana, 500 milligrams (0.018 ounces) of cocaine and tiny amounts of heroin and methamphetamines. However, advocates of reform say more must be done to cut crime.

[Kippari]

These two companies have started to import cannabis
Belief in imminent legalization of marijuana in Norway

[Käännetty norjankielisestä tekstistä englanniksi Google Translatella]

Guttorm Pedersen
Astrid Upper Helland

Published 14/6/2014 at 2:18 p.m. Updated 6/14/2014 at 6:06 p.m.

The business plan is secret, but the firm is duly registered in the Norwegian Register: Norwegian Cannabis Company AS.

Behind the sensational establishment are these two men tromsø Atle Harry Arthursøn Kirkegaard and Helge Ekrem. The two are respectively the chairman and vice chairman of the company that is working to "najsonal license for import of cannabis for all applications".

- It was not easy to get the firm registered. We had to go several rounds of bosses in Brønnøysundregisteret - which engaged the Ministry of Commerce. They gave up in the end. Banks have not been easy to deal with, says Kierkegaard.

"Safety and quality products"
The purpose of the company - which was founded in October last year, but approved only a few days ago - is defined as:

"Acquiring national license for import of cannabis for all applications. Provide producers of cannabis throughout the world fair profit of his labor. Provide consumers on the Norwegian market safety and quality goods."

- But why start a company for the import of a product that Norway is not only illegal but associated with severe penalties?

- We strongly believe that this will change in the near future. Just look at developments elsewhere in the world, not least in the U.S. and several European countries. Cannabis is a plant with many excellent features that it will have to be legalized and used for good purposes. There are meters of empirical research that supports this. We are talking particularly about medicinal properties. There is everything from pain to cancer treatment, says Kierkegaard.

Norwegian Cannabis Company AS business address Southern Tollbodgate 4 in Tromso. Where is the store to Helge Ekrem. Hemp - Hemp & Head Shop, called it.

"World's Best conscience"
- Our store is "Do it yourself" equipment that can be used for cultivation of cannabis and whistles and balloons for smoking hashish. It is not illegal to sell goods in Norway, although their use is in violation of the strict penal code sections.

- I'm selling these goods with the best conscience! And I speak with considerable experience, says Ekrem

He is convinced that an important reason for the lead criminalization of cannabis and hashish in Norway's alcohol industry kollosale power.

- There are strong economic interests that create and sustain myths about the dangers of marijuana smoking. I am also sure that many of the problems of abuse and disease caused by just that criminals climate users are forced to be in. I know very many adults established people in this city who smokes almost daily - but living in a denial against spouses and kids, friends and colleagues, says 57-year-old.

Ekrem and Kierkegaard believes, like other liberal marijuana that Norwegian total ban is unhappy, because it has led to extensive hidden turnover with black and criminal economy.

Not only youth
- It also leads to a lot of cannabis introduced is of questionable quality. Therefore, we have listed the "safety and quality goods" as an important point in the company's mission, says Kierkegaard.

He refers to inspect formulas surrounding the use of drugs that would show that more and more young people flout the ban. Kierkegaard believes it shows that the law is out of step with the times.

- But it's a bit odd that the focus is so heavily on the young. No one talks about parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who smoke marijuana in secret.

- It is with hashish as with other drugs. Anything can be abused. You can also die from too much water, he says.

Ekrem and Kierkegaard is not afraid burden it brings to front the highly controversial undertaking.

- However, for safety reasons, we agree to limit how much we yet shall disclose the plans, says Kierkegaard.

- How do you back?

- You can probably imagine. After the company was registered, I have received several calls from hidden numbers that I can not bear to answer.

He believes the chance of an amendment is greater with current government than with the previous one.

- The case was completely locked under the coalition. Old Stoltenberg was probably the only one who called for the relaxation of the law. But now it can happen, he said.

"Seriously from A to Z"
Kierkegaard is not aware of other registered companies in Norway with purpose and business like English Cannabis Company.

- No, we are probably the first and only one in the whole kingdom. And if things go as we hope, we might be up and running with operations in the company next year. But we take one step at a time and do this seriously and properly, from A to Z.

Besides Kirkegaard and Ekrem, the new cannabis-three other company directors, Erling Gjerp, Jostein Karslen and Mari Hansen (deputy).

Police have no other comment to the new company, but to state that the importation and sale of cannabis is illegal.

http://www.nord24.no/nyheter/article7418616.ece

[Fuckmuffin]

If You’re a Strict Parent, Your Kid Is More Likely to Smoke Pot

Overbearing parents may be putting their children at a greater risk of using drugs

A study conducted in six European countries reveals that children who have strict parents are more likely to smoke cannabis, as well as use tobacco and alcohol. The team, led by the European Institute of Studies on Prevention, observed the relationships between parents and their children in Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic, the U.K., Slovenia and Portugal to determine what parenting style best prevents drug usage.

Over 7,000 adolescents between 11 and 19 years old were asked if their parents had a more controlling or lenient parental style. The study found that parents who reasoned with their children were most effective in persuading their kids to abstain from drugs.

“Our results support the idea that extremes are not effective: neither authoritarianism nor absence of control and affection,” Amador Calafat, the main author of the study, told the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Calafat noted that different styles of parenting are helpful in varying situations: when dealing with a child’s school performance, parents who assert low levels of control are the most effective. But, when protecting students from drugs, Calafat asserts that “a good relationship with children” is essential.

http://time.com/2863028/strict-parents-kids-drugs/

[Kippari]

Found Cannabis in Viking Ship Grave
By ThorNews on June 19, 2014

One of the women in the Oseberg ship was found with a little leather pouch full of cannabis. Scientists ask themselves: How would she use them?

The Oseberg mound is the richest Viking burial site ever found. It was excavated in 1904 and contained a Viking ship with two women, an elderly aged between 70 and 80 and a younger about 50 years old. They had brought with them four horse sleighs, a richly decorated chariot, 15 horses, seven beds and several woven tapestries.

They were remarkably well preserved considering how long they have been buried.

Found Red Apples and Bread

- It is so well preserved because of the dense peat and clay it was buried in. This shiould not be possible, says Ellen Marie Næss, associate Professor at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo to NRK.

She says that during the excavation they also found a bucket of apples which were still red, including recognizable blueberries and cress.

- In addition, they found one raised bread dough that was ready to be cooked immediately when the two women reached afterlife, Næss continues.

Powerful Women

The most fascinating is still the two female skeletons. Who were they?

- They must have been incredibly influential in their community being given such a grave. Ordinary people were not buried in an awesome ship with lots of animals and beautiful things. So these are women who may have been political and religious leaders, who have had much power and an important position.

It is however uncertain which of the two women who had the most power.

Probably Died of Cancer

Found Cannabis in Viking Ship GraveOne woman looks like she was a little plumper than the other.

- Yes, she has been eating well and she was also very old. She became nearly 80 years and that is a high age for a Viking woman. The youngest was a little over 50 years old, so there are two pretty adult ladies, Næss explains.

Their skeletons reveal that they have lived for a while and that the oldest have had various health problems – most likely cancer that caused her death.

Cannabis in a Leather Pouch

The older woman was carrying a leather bag that has received much attention because of its content. Næss has several explanations:

- She had lots of pain due to illness and the cannabis found in her pouch must have eased her pains. At the same time, if she was a religious leader (Editor’s note: Old Norse “völva”) she needed the get in touch with the gods and cannabis would help her get good contact. That’s what I think.

It is a fact that the Vikings were well aware of which plants could provide intoxication.

- They had great knowledge of what the plants could be used for. Some would make them intoxicated while others would cure diseases and alleviating pain.

There is also a final explanation of the cannabis found in the Oseberg ship.

- In the Viking Age people used cannabis to make clothes and rope, so it may have been a symbol of an important plant, says Næss.

More Viking Treasures Buried

Næss is absolutely convinced that there are several Viking ship burial mounds throughout Norway.

- The Oseberg ship is so special that I dare not to hope that we will ever find anything like that again, but I have no doubt that there are several Viking ships buried. The question is whether it is right to dig them out. One thing is the financial, but we also have to think in the longer term, we want to save some of them for our children’s children, Næss concludes.


Text modified by: Anette Broteng Christiansen, ThorNews

http://thornews.com/2014/06/19/found-cannabis-in-viking-ship-grave/

[Tapionpoika]

Summa summarum suomeksi: Yhdysvaltain kongressi on hyväksynyt lakiesityksen, joka rajoittaa liittovaltion huumevirasto DEA:n budjettia niin, että lääkekannabisapteekkeja ei voitaisi enää ratsata niissä osavaltioissa, joissa paikallinen osavaltion laki sallii kannabiksen lääkekäytön. Esitys tarvitsee vielä senaatin hyväksynnän, jonka äänestyksen odotetaan tapahtuvan lähipäivinä. Jos se hyväksytään senaatissa, laki tarvitsee enää presidentin allekirjoituksen.

Nyt on iso askel lähellä toisella puolella rapakkoa .

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Congress Votes to End War on Medical Marijuana

You read that correctly — Congress just voted to end the federal government’s war on medical marijuana!

During a debate regarding a Justice Department funding bill, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a longtime MPP ally, offered an amendment intended to block DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries. It passed by a surprisingly wide margin — 219-189. The amendment will not become law until it is signed by the president, but we’re well on our way.

MPP played a key role in building support for this measure, and we couldn’t have done it without our supporters.

We have had a lot of victories since MPP was founded in 1995, but this is one of the biggest — not just in the organization’s history, but in the history of the marijuana policy reform movement.

We worked with Congressman Rohrabacher and former Congressman Maurice Hinchey on this amendment for more than a decade, and our lobbying presence in Congress has never been stronger. This year alone, we met with staffers from more than 100 congressional offices, as well as dozens of members in person. With this victory, even more doors will be open to us in the future.

Lähde: http://blog.mpp.org/general/congress-vo ... /05292014/

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Senate to Vote On Medical Marijuana Amendment

Last month, we made history by passing an amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives intended to prevent the DEA from spending any money raiding and arresting medical marijuana patients and providers in states where it’s legal. Now, in order to get it to President Obama’s desk, we need to pass it in the Senate.

The good news is we will get a vote thanks to two courageous senators who are taking a stand for medical marijuana patients and respecting state laws. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) are sponsoring an amendment identical to the one that passed in the House last month. The amendment was filed yesterday and could be voted on at any time.

Lähde: http://blog.mpp.org/medical-marijuana/s ... /06192014/

[Ribosomi]

The link between weed and schizophrenia is way more complicated than we thought

The association between marijuana and schizophrenia is historically fraught. In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists thought that smoking weed could trigger psychosis in just about anyone. Today, these findings are more nuanced, but researchers still think that cannabis can trigger schizophrenia in people who are predisposed to the disease — meaning those with family histories of the disorder. Yet, in the last decade, some scientists have actually started to look at the effect in reverse. The resulting studies suggest that the neurobiology underlying schizophrenia might also put people affected by the disorder at increased risk for smoking pot. But these results haven't garnered nearly as much attention as studies suggesting the opposite.

Now, a new study, published today in Molecular Psychiatry, lends further support to the idea that schizophrenia plays a role in an individual's likelihood of smoking weed, by showing that the genetic variants predicting schizophrenia can also be used to predict a person's tendency to smoke pot, regardless of their mental health history. This, researchers say, demonstrates that the causal relationship between cannabis use and schizophrenia might not be clear-cut, and that at least a small part of the association might be caused by genetic overlap, where the same genes that predispose certain people to enjoying weed might also predispose others to developing schizophrenia — or both.

To tease apart this relationship, researchers took genetic data from recently published studies of schizophrenia, and identified genetic variants associated with the disease. Then, they applied that information to a random sample of about 2,000 healthy Australians to see if those variants could also predict cannabis use.

"There is a well-established link between people who use cannabis and schizophrenia," says Robert Power, lead author of the study and a genetic psychiatrist at King's College London. But this study indicates "that people who are at risk for schizophrenia are more likely to use cannabis, and in greater quantities," he says — which means the causal relationship might actually go both ways. Moreover, the genetic variants associated with schizophrenia were predictive for cannabis use in healthy individuals, so there appears to be some genetic overlap between the two.

"These findings are very valuable," says Eden Evins, a psychiatry professor at Harvard University who was not involved in the study, "and suggest that increased genetic risk for schizophrenia increases the chance that someone will use cannabis, and use it heavily." But Evins doesn't think these results rule out previous findings that cannabis use increases a person's risk for developing schizophrenia. "Both may be true," she says. This sentiment was echoed by Wolfram Kawohl, a psychiatrist at the University of Zurich, who said the results show that "the connection is more complicated than some people may have thought," and that "both connections may exist parallel along with possible others."

But Lynn DeLisi, another Harvard University psychiatry professor, isn't convinced. "I am suspect that this finding will hold out with the test of time," she told The Verge in an email. DeLisi points to her own work, which showed there was no difference in family history of schizophrenia between people who smoke weed and people who don't. So, although there might be an interaction between smoking weed and schizophrenia, DeLisi said, it would be need to be shown in "studies of people using cannabis compared with those who don't, both having a family history of schizophrenia."

Furthermore, DeLisi thinks that today's high rates of cannabis use among teenagers and adults make it hard to link drug use to mental health issues or their genetic predispositions. "Everyone uses cannabis these days, and I don't think they necessarily have genetic predispositions to do so."
An ongoing debate

"The relationship is an ongoing debate in the scientific world — at least what the nature of the association is," said Matthew Hill, a cell biologist at the University of Calgary in Canada, who recently published an article dissecting this very relationship, in an email to The Verge. In the article, Hill argued that "there is little evidence that, at a population level, cannabis use during adolescence is a primary contributing factor in the development of psychiatric illness." But he also noted that "there is evidence that in high-risk populations, cannabis can be highly adverse, so arguments claiming that cannabis is innocuous are equally flawed."

When The Verge asked about the risks associated with cannabis use, Hill said that "there are detailed studies which have demonstrated that cannabis can have very different effects on the brain of someone who is at risk for schizophrenia than someone who isn't." One 2013 study, for instance, demonstrated that the increased release of dopamine from smoking marijuana is amplified in the brains of people with schizophrenia, as well as in their close relatives. The results of this amplification are poorly understood, but some scientists think that a chronic elevation of dopamine can increase one's likelihood of experiencing psychotic episodes, and make the disorder harder to treat. Moreover, some studies indicate that people who find themselves in the early stages of schizophrenia and who also smoke weed experience larger brain modifications — such as changes in their white matter — compared to those who don't.

"There is definitely some kind of genetic basis to increased vulnerability to these adverse effects [in people with schizophrenia] that go beyond the correlational association discussed in this paper," Hill says. Evins agreed. "It's well known that cannabis use worsens the course of schizophrenia," she said, "so people with schizophrenia should be discouraged from using it."

Furthermore, some studies have found that smoking pot accelerates the development of schizophrenia in those who are genetically predisposed, but that association took a hit in 2010, when researchers found that accounting for things like gender, lifetime mental health history, and socioeconomic status erased the effect. Still, some studies continue to point to this risk.

Perhaps the reasons for these contradictory findings is that some individuals with schizophrenia react more strongly to marijuana than others with the same disorder. This was the finding of one 2010 study that demonstrated that 44 out of 121 schizophrenic participants either developed schizophrenia within a month of beginning to smoke marijuana, or saw their psychosis amplified by drug use.
A complicated relationship

Given all of this conflicting evidence, it seems likely that the relationship between marijuana and schizophrenia is even more complex than we once thought. No single gene has been associated with either drug addiction or schizophrenia, so these illnesses are the result of many genes working in combination, Evins said, "each with a small contribution to the overall risk of developing the disorders." There's also a plethora of environmental factors that need to be taken into account — most of which we barely understand.

Still, Hill said, the idea that cannabis use and schizophrenia share common genes "is interesting," partly because it highlights a dimension of this relationship that doesn't get a lot of attention. But causality is never easy to confirm, so this study will need to be replicated multiple times. And even then, Kawohl said, researchers probably won't be able to say that "cannabis use has no consequences for the risk to develop schizophrenia."

Regardless, it's important to remember that schizophrenia only affects a small number of people — about 1 percent of the US adult population — so "the vast majority of adolescents and young adults who use cannabis won't develop it," Evins said. And that's actually a crucial point, because despite all the studies that link schizophrenia and cannabis, few have been able to explain why schizophrenia rates have remained stable — and may actually be declining — in the face of pot's increasing popularity among teens.

"There may still be a causal role between cannabis and schizophrenia, but our results suggest that this causal role may have been overestimated," Power says. This is important, he says, because some people have used cannabis' relationship with psychosis to argue against its legalization. "Already the actual economic benefit of limiting cannabis use in terms of schizophrenia is pretty small," Power says, pointing to a study that found that policymakers would have to stop at least 3,000 adolescents from smoking weed to prevent one case of psychosis from emerging.

Still, Power thinks people with a family history of schizophrenia should avoid weed. "The clinical advice is to stay away from events that might have a potential to cause stress," he says, because genes and environment are interconnected. Thus, "people who are at-risk should try to avoid things that might damage their mental well-being." These things, he says, include weed.

Lähde: http://www.theverge.com/2014/6/24/58367 ... cated-than

[Kippari]

A Substance Two-Thirds of Americans Consume Is Worse for Your Memory Than Marijuana

By Abdullah Saeed

Alcohol.

While both substances can have detrimental effects on your memory, a number of recent studies suggest that alcohol is far worse than marijuana in a number of ways.

What about the aloof, zoned-out stoner stereotype? Some say it's real, and the short-term and long-term memory loss from regular cannabis is more severe if you start young. Additionally, smoking marijuana, the most common method for consumption, is bad for your lungs (though not as bad as cigarettes).

But the same has been said for alcohol: Regular alcohol use during adolescent or teen years can damage one's motor skills and even stunt long-term motivation. Studies have also shown that alcohol has tremendous negative effects on short-term memory. After reaching a certain blood alcohol level, the booze blocks the brain's ability to create new memories (known colloquially as "blackout").

Advantage weed: Despite their shared negative effects, cannabis has a unique trait that may help it win the battle of which drug is less harmful to the brain.

Though weed damages your memory function, it also repairs some of that damage. While large doses of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, can be detrimental to brain development, CBD, another compound in marijuana, has a variety of medical applications. One is that it increases neurogenesis, repairing the neural connections frayed by THC.

Alcohol doesn't have such a counteractive element within its own chemistry. Instead, it simply destroys your brain and leaves it that way. In fact, research has shown that CBD treatment may actually help undo the neural damage from prolonged alcohol use.

Still, there's a huge research bias against pot. For the past several decades, government-sanctioned and supplied research on cannabis has targeted its negative effects, not its therapeutic value. And most private research proposals into its medicinal value have been denied, partially because the substance's Schedule I classification makes obtaining and testing marijuana very difficult.

In the debate over which is the more dangerous drug, these biases severely handicap marijuana. But now that cannabis research is finally rolling, it's very possible we'll soon view pot not just as a drug that alters your perception and screws with brain activity, but a versatile substance with a multitude of therapeutic applications as well. It's about time common sense prevailed.

http://mic.com/articles/92059/a-substance-two-thirds-of-americans-consume-is-worse-for-your-memory-than-marijuana

[Wannabe Hippi]

Infographic: Legal weed's consequences

Vaikea kopypasteta interaktiivista sisältöä, käykää linkin takaata katsomassa.

[Kippari]

World Health Organisation calls for the decriminalisation of drug use

This month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) – the UN agency that coordinates international health responses – launched a new set of guidelines for HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations. The new document is the culmination of months of consultation and review, and pulls together existing guidance for five groups: men who have sex with men, people in prisons and other closed settings, sex workers, transgender people, and people who inject drugs. These key populations are the most-at-risk of HIV, yet the least likely to access services – a fact that “threatens global progress on the HIV response” according to WHO. By consolidating previous guidance, the document is able to highlight common barriers and needs – including recommendations for legal reforms to support service delivery.

The guidance puts forward a “comprehensive” package of interventions that governments should provide:

a) Essential health sector interventions

Comprehensive condom and lubricant programming
Harm reduction interventions for substance use, in particular needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy
Behavioural interventions
HIV testing and counselling
HIV treatment and care
Prevention and management of co-infections and other comorbidities, including viral hepatitis,TB and mental health conditions
Sexual and reproductive health interventions

b) Essential strategies for an enabling environment

Supportive legislation, policy and financial commitment, including decriminalisation of behaviours of key population
Addressing stigma and discrimination
Community empowerment
Addressing violence against people from key populations

As well as reaffirming the previous WHO, UNODC and UNAIDS guidance on harm reduction (and particularly the importance of needle and syringe programmes and opioid substitution therapy), the new WHO Guidance goes further to explicitly recommend, for the first time, that people who use drugs should have access to naloxone – the WHO essential ,medicine designed to reverse opioid overdose. This endorsement is a major step forward by WHO, and hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved if this recommendation is followed by governments.

Crucially, the WHO Guidance also recommends that “Laws, policies and practices should be reviewed and, where necessary, revised by policymakers and government leaders, with meaningful engagement of stakeholders from key population groups”. Within this so-called ‘critical enabler’ (see graphic) is an explicit calls for the decriminalisation of drug use in order to reduce incarceration – as well as calls to reform laws and policies that block harm reduction services, and the end of compulsory treatment for people who use drugs. The Guidance also cites the experience of Portugal in terms of decriminalisation – citing successes such as the increase in people accessing treatment, the fall in HIV cases among people who use drugs (from 907 cases in 2000 to 267 in 2008), reductions in drug use and less overcrowding within the criminal justice system. According to the press release accompanying the Guidance, “Bold policies can deliver bold results”.

The new WHO Guidance therefore represents the latest high-level, evidence-based call for the end of criminal sanctions for people who use drugs – and one of the most prominent calls from within the United Nations itself. The Guidance will be launched and disseminated at the International AIDS Conference 2014 in Melbourne, calling on governments to strengthen their HIV responses so that all key populations are included.

- Click here for the WHO Consolidated Guidelines on HIV Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment and Care for Key Populations

- Click here for the accompanying WHO Policy Brief

Jamie Bridge, IDPC Senior Policy and Operations Manager

http://idpc.net/blog/2014/07/world-health-organisation-calls-for-the-decriminalisation-of-drug-use

[Hampputukka]

http://www.hightimes.com/read/2014-seed-bank-hall-fame

Tässäpä hyviä siemenpankkeja, olkaatten hyvät!

[Tapionpoika]

Cannabis use DROPS because teenagers in U.S. state where it was legalised think it's 'uncool'

Teenagers are turning their back on marijuana in a U.S. state where the drug has been legalised because it is no longer 'cool'.

The legalisation of cannabis in Colorado led to the drop with one theory suggesting it's an 'adult' drug.

Kayvan Khalatbari, co-founder of a marijuana dispensary, said: "Cannabis, now that it's legal, kind of is an old person's drug.

"It is something that kids are seeing adults use all over the place. It just doesn't seem as cool to kids anymore."

Jatkuu... http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news ... z39zXboYI3

[Jyrgen]

Regular Marijuana Use Bad for Teens' Brains

Psychology and public health experts weigh in on potential effects of legalization on youth

WASHINGTON — Frequent marijuana use can have a significant negative effect on the brains of teenagers and young adults, including cognitive decline, poor attention and memory, and decreased IQ, according to psychologists discussing public health implications of marijuana legalization at the American Psychological Association’s 122nd Annual Convention.

“It needs to be emphasized that regular cannabis use, which we consider once a week, is not safe and may result in addiction and neurocognitive damage, especially in youth,” said Krista Lisdahl, PhD, director of the brain imaging and neuropsychology lab at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Marijuana use is increasing, according to Lisdahl, who pointed to a 2012 study (PDF, 6.43MB) showing that 6.5 percent of high school seniors reported smoking marijuana daily, up from 2.4 percent in 1993. Additionally, 31 percent of young adults (ages 18 to 25) reported using marijuana in the last month. People who have become addicted to marijuana can lose an average of six IQ points by adulthood, according to Lisdahl, referring to a 2012 longitudinal study of 1,037 participants who were followed from birth to age 38.

Brain imaging studies of regular marijuana users have shown significant changes in their brain structure, particularly among adolescents, Lisdahl said. Abnormalities in the brain’s gray matter, which is associated with intelligence, have been found in 16- to 19-year-olds who increased their marijuana use in the past year, she said. These findings remained even after researchers controlled for major medical conditions, prenatal drug exposure, developmental delays and learning disabilities, she added.

“When considering legalization, policymakers need to address ways to prevent easy access to marijuana and provide additional treatment funding for adolescent and young adult users,” she said. She also recommended that legislators consider regulating levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the major psychoactive chemical in marijuana, in order to reduce potential neurocognitive effects.

Some legalized forms of marijuana have higher levels of THC than other strains, said Alan Budney, PhD, of Dartmouth College. THC is responsible for most of marijuana's psychological effects. Some research has shown that frequent use of high potency THC can increase risk of acute and future problems with depression, anxiety and psychosis. “Recent studies suggest that this relationship between marijuana and mental illness may be moderated by how often marijuana is used and potency of the substance,” Budney said. “Unfortunately, much of what we know from earlier research is based on smoking marijuana with much lower doses of THC than are commonly used today.” Current treatments for marijuana addiction among adolescents, such as brief school interventions and outpatient counseling, can be helpful but more research is needed to develop more effective strategies and interventions, he added.

Additionally, people’s acceptance of legalized medical marijuana use appears to have an effect on adolescents’ perception of the drug’s risks, according to Bettina Friese, PhD, of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in California. She presented results from a 2013 study of 17,482 teenagers in Montana, which found marijuana use among teenagers was higher in counties where larger numbers of people voted to legalize medical marijuana in 2004. In addition, teens in counties with more votes for the legalization of medical marijuana perceived marijuana use to be less risky. The research findings suggest that a more accepting attitude toward medical marijuana may have a greater effect on marijuana use among teens than the actual number of medical marijuana licenses available, Friese said.

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/ ... juana.aspx

[Kippari]

Brazilian Senate Considering Legalizing Marijuana
Written by Karine Melo
Monday, 11 August 2014 22:05

The legalization of the production, trade and use of marijuana was once again a topic under debate this Monday, August 11, at the Brazilian Senate's Human Right Commission. The discussion is part of a series of public hearings, and aims to determine whether the issue will provide the subject of a new bill, taking into consideration a report to be drawn up by Senator Cristovam Buarque.

"I haven't adopted a position. I'm not convinced of anything," Buarque admitted. In his view, Brazil is losing its war on drugs. "We must look for other ways to tackle the problem, either by legalizing marijuana or by creating new tools that, without legalization, enable us to win this war", he argued.

Activist Alamar de Carvalho, in turn, holds a very clear opinion on the issue: "We do not want marijuana legalized in our country; we do not accept the argument that says it's beneficial to health as a medicine, through the transformation of its medicinal components into pills or capsules. That marijuana is beneficial to health is not an indisputable fact in the international medical community."

On the other side of the debate is Filipe Marques, a student at the University of Brasília. He calls for changes in legislation. "It's not about legalizing marijuana. It's already legal. People consume it, regardless of whether or not it's forbidden. But when it's legal, the government's given a chance to protect these people," he stated.

Victor Dittz, another university student, said that the current policy "is inefficient, and there are several points for refuting any argument for prohibition, be it the unconstitutionality of the Law on Drugs, the denial of individual rights, or the medical interest."

In the view of Nivio Nascimento, representative from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, "For many years, drug policies focused on the reduction of supply by means of strategies aimed at repressing the use, possession and traffic of narcotics.

The fact is, reducing the demand has no longer been a priority, and that is reflected in strategies directed towards education, treatment and the social reintegration of users and drug dependents," he said.

The debates at the Human Rights Commission of the Senate on the matter will continue. The next public hearing about the topic is slated for August 25.

http://www.brazzilmag.com/component/content/article/137-august-2014/13139-brazilian-senate-considering-legalizing-marijuana.html

[Kippari]

Drugs minister calls for legalising cannabis for medicinal use
Norman Baker will say in a letter to Jeremy Hunt that cannabis would help relieve symptoms of a range of medical conditions

Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
The Guardian, Wednesday 13 August 2014 23.43 BST

Liberalised drug laws should be introduced to legalise the widespread use of cannabis to relieve symptoms of certain medical conditions, including the side effects of chemotherapy, the drugs minister Norman Baker will say.

Amid concerns that "credible people" are having to break the law to secure the only substance that can help to relieve their condition, Baker is writing to the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to call for a review of the medicinal properties of cannabis.

The intervention by the Liberal Democrat minister highlighted differences within the coalition as it became clear last night the Department of Health has no plans to change the law. The Tories take a more cautious approach to drugs, prompting Nick Clegg to criticise his coalition partners last year for refusing to look "imaginatively" at drug laws. The deputy prime minister said earlier this month the Lib Dem general election manifesto would include a pledge to end imprisonment for possession of drugs for personal use.

In his letter to Hunt, Baker will say current laws for the use of cannabis are highly restrictive. The cannabis-based drug Sativex, which can be used to help relieve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, can be prescribed by GPs, though it is highly expensive.

Baker wants to liberalise the use of cannabis to allow it to be used to relieve the symptoms of conditions such as the side effects of chemotherapy and HIV/Aids treatments and Crohn's disease.

The drugs minister said: "I think it is time to reconsider medicinal properties of cannabis, given what I've learned in my role as a minister. I've seen more and more evidence that cannabis can provide genuine medical benefits to treat a number of conditions. There is a growing body of research that shows the medical properties of chemical components of cannabis. I am uncomfortable that there are credible people I have met who tell me that cannabis is the only substance that helps relieve their condition but not only are they stopped from accessing it officially but have to break the law to help their health.

"Other countries recognise that cannabis does have medicinal benefit and we need to look again at this to help people who are ill. This is a quite separate matter from the recreational use of cannabis which is not at issue here."

Baker spoke after United Patients Alliance, which campaigns for the legalisation of cannabis for medical use, held a meeting in Brighton last month which featured a series of sufferers who admitted they broke the law to relieve their condition.

Alex Baker, 23, a musician from Brighton, said that smoking cannabis helped him complete his exams after he was diagnosed with Chrohn's disease. He said: "I worked out that smoking cannabis meant I could control my bowel for a few hours. So I smoked before all my exams and I got through them. I thank cannabis for that, because I think the pain and the constant toilet trips would have meant not being able to get through a few pages of an exam paper."

Keiron Reeves, 29, who treating severe epilepsy with cannabis oil, said: "I feel much healthier and more confident in addressing everyday tasks like washing, shopping, tidying, all those things most people take for granted. I owe this all to cannabis. I need this medicine to live a better quality of life. I don't feel that I should have to risk a criminal record just for trying to have a normal life."

Baker added: "Obviously we have to do this right, we need to ensure that the proper medical processes are applied. But I've always said that we should follow the evidence, even if that takes us to uncomfortable areas of policy-making."The Baker proposals received short shrift. A government spokesman said: "This government has no plans to legalise cannabis or to soften our approach to its use as a medicine. There is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug which can damage people's mental and physical health.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/13/cannabis-norman-baker-liberalised-drugs-laws-health

[Kippari]

Cannabis and the evolution of human consciousness
posted by Seshata on August 14th 2014

Since the counter-culture explosion of the 1960?s, a small but persistent school of thought has expounded the theory that as humans evolved, their use of entheogenic drugs assisted in the development of social constructs such as ritual, language and music. Effectively, some believe, use of psychoactive drugs altered the course of human evolution, and assisted our meteoric rise to global dominance.

Did hallucinogenic mushrooms assist human evolution?

This topic has long inspired fascination among social anthropologists, many of whom have written on the subject at great length, for example Terrence McKenna, whose 1992 work Food of the Gods postulated that hallucinogenic mushrooms coevolved with early nomadic herding communities. These communities are thought to have achieved greater visual acuity when hunting, as well as heightened enthusiasm for social ritual (possibly including fertility rites), thereby strengthening and increasing the population.

While these early nomadic herders enjoyed the benefits offered by the hallucinogenic mushrooms (usually found growing in cattle dung), they in turn safeguarded the other species’ existence by cultivating and protecting it, providing scope for future mutations favourable to the human population to be positively selected for and made dominant. Simultaneously, the benefits afforded the early hunter-gatherers were so great that subsequent human generations were more advantaged if they could respond more precisely to the psychological effects of the drug.

Ultimately, in both species, positive selection of mutually-beneficial traits led to long-term coevolution. The increasing importance of cattle ensured a constant supply of dung, and therefore an abundant supply of mushrooms, so it is hard to ascertain whether use of mushrooms was incidental or central to these emerging cultures. However, even if one species was of lesser overall importance, this relationship could be an example of a three-species system of coevolution.

Coevolution between cannabis and humans

Similarly to mushrooms, cannabis had several benefits to offer the early communities that first encountered it, which may even have been as early as 27,000 BP. Not only did it provide fibre and seed, it also quickly demonstrated its usefulness in the early pharmacopoeia, and it is very likely that its psychoactive effects were utilised in religious practice from very early on (although the first direct evidence of cannabis as a pharmacological agent is thought to date from 2,700 BP). Social use of cannabis has been shown to strengthen interpersonal relationships, increasing feelings of cohesion and trust.

In the brain, cannabinoid receptors are found in many areas, and assist in a range of functions from basic mobility to comprehension of language and perception of emotions. While much of the most striking evolution of the human brain is thought to have occurred during the Great Leap Forward of around 60,000 BP, much of the “fine-tuning” of language capability, as well as several fundamental changes to the structure of the neocortex and cerebellum, occurred over the last 10,000 years.

Evolution of the brain during the post-glacial Holocene epoch

Interestingly, this was also around the time of humanity’s switch to agrarian communities, and may have occurred simultaneously with a 10% reduction in brain size. Rather than pointing to a decline in human intelligence, this reduction may imply an increase in the efficiency of the brain, or a reduction in energy requirements due to the relative peace of settled communities. Whatever the cause, this reduction and restructuring marked a significant shift in the development of human society.

During the Holocene epoch (c. 11,700 BP to present), the human cerebellum grew larger and the cerebral cortex reduced in size compared to our immediate ancestors. The cerebellum has many reciprocal links to the neocortex and is crucial to various functions, from basic motor skills to highly developed cognitive faculties. It is thought that its increased size may assist modern humans in processing increasingly complex cultural and visual stimuli. Significantly, the cerebellum is thought to be crucial to modern humans’ appreciation of music, as well as to our use of ritual, increase in behavioural complexity, and ability to utilise tools.

The importance of music in the evolution of society

The link between our evolution of musical sensibility and cannabis may be quite fundamental to an overall understanding of how our consciousness has been shaped by the drug. In fact, it could be argued that music is central to the evolution of human consciousness. It has enabled humanity to reach greater depths of cohesion, and has been widely utilized to engender an emotional response in listeners: church music to inspire religious devotion and holy awe; war chants to intimidate the enemy and create feelings of solidarity and shared strength; romantic music to increase arousal and intensity of sexual interactions. Research has shown that the social influence of music and the listener’s enjoyment can be altered by consumption of cannabis, and of course, the social link between cannabis and musical genres such as jazz and reggae is universally known.

The brain’s normal response to music is itself complicated. The cerebellum recognises and “enjoys” the basic timing or rhythm, and the frontal lobes respond to language, in the form of lyrics. Within the temporal lobes, the primary auditory cortex converts waveforms into our perception of pitch, while the amygdala undergoes a deep emotional response and retains memories of familiar tunes. Musical response also manifests in the occipital and parietal lobes; therefore each lobe of the cerebral cortex is activated to varying degrees (possibly according to the type of music).

How cannabis alters perception of music

The effects of cannabis on the human experience of music are so complex that it is hard to determine their exact nature. However, previous research has suggested that the evolution of more specialised cannabinoid signalling systems strengthened the synaptic connections from the cerebellum to the various parts of the cerebral cortex. Under the influence of cannabis, the regions of the brain affected when listening to music all experience an altered response.

Use of cannabis has been shown to alter one’s temporal perception by speeding up the “internal clock” of the cerebellum, resulting in a sensation of “stretched” or dilated time. When listening to music, this can increase awareness and appreciation of complex structure. Heightened perception of lower frequencies adds to the richness of perceived sounds, and improves the timbre of one’s own voice; this effect occurs within the auditory cortex. Increased activity in the frontal lobes due to cannabis consumption can heighten comprehension and response to lyrics, in the parietal lobes, increased activity can increase attentiveness and concentration.

Our knowledge of the evolutionary processes leading to our current highly complex state of existence is patchy at best. However, it is likely that selection of genes favourable to a heightened appreciation of music would be beneficial to emerging societies, given how important the music-processing faculties are to communication and social interaction as a whole. Likewise, we would be likely to select cannabis varieties that would increase our appreciation of music. Over the last 10,000 or so years, the rate at which both species have expressed new genes has been remarkably high, increasing the likelihood of mutually-beneficial selection occurring, and it is reasonable to believe that this coevolution will persist long into the future.

http://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/cannabis-evolution-human-consciousness/

[Rooibard]

R.I.P. Dr.Mario Ambrossini! U were an ispirational human rights activist in SA parliament and lately Medical Marijuana spokesperson. In February dr.Ambrossini stood up in parliament to tell about his cancer and claimed he wouldn't be there to speak that day without medical marijuana! He substituted morphine on marijuana and reaped the benefits on its power. He also stated that its outrageous and crime against humanity to keep this plant criminalized.
After he's speach the whole parliament rose up into massive applause and minister of health(stand under correction) promised the goverment to take action in this issue

Kepeet mullat tohtorille,
Peace

[Ribosomi]

Leading Anti-Marijuana Academics Are Paid by Painkiller Drug Companies
By Lee Fang Aug 29 2014

As Americans continue to embrace pot—as medicine and for recreational use—opponents are turning to a set of academic researchers to claim that policymakers should avoid relaxing restrictions around marijuana. It's too dangerous, risky, and untested, they say. Just as drug company-funded research has become incredibly controversial in recent years, forcing major medical schools and journals to institute strict disclosure requirements, could there be a conflict of interest issue in the pot debate?

VICE has found that many of the researchers who have advocated against legalizing pot have also been on the payroll of leading pharmaceutical firms with products that could be easily replaced by using marijuana. When these individuals have been quoted in the media, their drug-industry ties have not been revealed.

Take, for example, Dr. Herbert Kleber of Columbia University. Kleber has impeccable academic credentials, and has been quoted in the press and in academic publications warning against the use of marijuana, which he stresses may cause wide-ranging addiction and public health issues. But when he's writing anti-pot opinion pieces for CBS News, or being quoted by NPR and CNBC, what's left unsaid is that Kleber has served as a paid consultant to leading prescription drug companies, including Purdue Pharma (the maker of OxyContin), Reckitt Benckiser (the producer of a painkiller called Nurofen), and Alkermes (the producer of a powerful new opioid called Zohydro).

Kleber, who did not respond to a request for comment, maintains important influence over the pot debate. For instance, his writing has been cited by the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police in its opposition to marijuana legalization, and has been published by the American Psychiatric Association in the organization's statement warning against marijuana for medicinal uses.

Could Kleber's long-term financial relationship with drug firms be viewed as a conflict of interest? Studies have found that pot can be used for pain relief as a substitute for major prescription painkillers. The opioid painkiller industry is a multibillion business that has faced rising criticism from experts because painkillers now cause about 16,000 deaths a year, more than heroin and cocaine combined. Researchers view marijuana as a a safe alternative to opioid products like OxyContin, and there are no known overdose deaths from pot.

Other leading academic opponents of pot have ties to the painkiller industry. Dr. A. Eden Evins, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is a frequent critic of efforts to legalize marijuana. She is on the board of an anti-marijuana advocacy group, Project SAM, and has been quoted by leading media outlets criticizing the wave of new pot-related reforms. "When people can go to a ‘clinic’ or ‘cafe’ and buy pot, that creates the perception that it’s safe,” she told the New York Times last year.

Notably, when Evins participated in a commentary on marijuana legalization for the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the publication found that her financial relationships required a disclosure statement, which noted that as of November 2012, she was a "consultant for Pfizer and DLA Piper and has received grant/research support from Envivo, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer." Pfizer has moved aggressively into the $7.3 billion (£4.4 billion) painkiller market. In 2011, the company acquired King Pharmaceuticals (the makers of several opioid products) and is currently working to introduce Remoxy, an OxyContin competitor.

Dr. Mark L. Kraus, who runs a private practice and is a board member to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, submitted testimony in 2012 in opposition to a medical marijuana law in Connecticut. According to financial disclosures, Kraus served on the scientific advisory panel for painkiller companies such as Pfizer and Reckitt Benckiser in the year prior to his activism against the medical pot bill. Neither Kraus or Evins responded to a request for comment.

These academic revelations add fodder to the argument that drug firms maintain quiet ties to the marijuana prohibition lobby. In July, I reported for the Nation that many of the largest anti-pot advocacy groups, including the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions for America, which has organized opposition to reform through its network of activists and through handing out advocacy material (sample op-eds against medical pot along with Reefer Madness-style videos, for example), has relied on significant funding from painkiller companies, including Purdue Pharma and Alkermes. Pharmaceutical-funded anti-drug groups like the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and CADCA use their budget to obsess over weed while paying lip-service to the much bigger drug problem in America of over-prescribed opioids.

As ProPublica reported, painkiller-funded researchers helped fuel America's deadly addiction to opioids such as OxyContin and Vicodin. These academics, with quiet funding from major pain pill firms, encouraged doctors to over-prescribe these drugs for a range of pain relief issues, leading to where the US stands today as the world's biggest consumer of painkillers and the overdose capital of the planet. What does it say about medical academia today that many of that painkiller-funded researchers are now standing in the way of a safer alternative: smoking a joint.

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/leading- ... -companies

[BubblerBobble]

Punitive drug law enforcement failing, says Home Office study

UK government study finds no evidence that harsh sentencing curbs illegal use and documents success of Portugal’s decriminalisation


The study ends 40 years of political rhetoric that only harsher penalties can tackle the problems caused by heroin, cannabis and cocaine.

There is no evidence that tough enforcement of the drug laws on personal possession leads to lower levels of drug use, according to the UK government’s first evidence-based study.

Examining international drug laws, the groundbreaking Home Office document brings to an end 40 years of almost unbroken official political rhetoric that only harsher penalties can tackle the problem caused by the likes of heroin, cocaine or cannabis.

It is signed off by the Conservative home secretary, Theresa May, and the Liberal Democrat minister Norman Baker, and will be published alongside an official expert report calling for a general ban on the sale and trade in legal highs.

Baker said the international comparisons demonstrated that “banging people up and increasing sentences does not stop drug use”. He said the last 40 years had seen a drugs debate in Britain based on the “lazy assumption in the rightwing press that if you have harsher penalties it will reduce drug use, but there is no evidence for that at all”.

Baker added: “If anything the evidence is to the contrary.”

The minister added that wider societal factors, such as a more risk-averse generation of young people, who suffered fewer alcohol problems and were healthier, contributed to the general downward trend in drug use.

It documents in detail the successes of the health-led approach in Portugal combining decriminalisation with other policies, and shows reductions in all types of drug use alongside falls in drug-related HIV and Aids cases.

The Home Office international research paper on the use of illegal drugs, which redeems a Liberal Democrat 2010 election pledge for a royal commission to examine the alternatives to the current drug laws, also leaves the door open on the legalisation experiments in the American states of Washington and Colorado, and in Uruguay.


Medicine Man Denver is the single largest legal medical and recreational marijuana dispensary in Denver, Colorado.

It says that “it is too early to know how they will play out but we will monitor the impacts of these new policies in the years to come”.

Regarding legal highs, Baker said the government would look at the feasibility of a blanket ban on new compounds of psychoactive drugs that focused on dealers and the “head shops” that sell tobacco paraphernalia rather than users.

“The head shops could be left with nothing to sell but Rizla papers,” Baker said. “The approach of a general ban had a dramatic effect on their availability when it was introduced in Ireland, but we must ensure that it will work here.”

A ban would apply to head shops and websites. Legal highs are currently banned on a temporary 12-month basis as each new substance arrives on the market. Legislation is possible before the election but not certain.

The new blanket or “generic” ban would not be accompanied by a ban on the possession or use of the new psychoactive substances, which often mimic the effects of traditional drugs. This would remain legal.

It is expected the expert report on legal highs will recommend a threshold for substances to be banned so that those with minimal psychoactive effects such as alcohol, tobacco, tea and coffee would not be caught by the proposed new ban.

The report firmly rejects a New Zealand style-approach of regulating head shops and other sales outlets for legal highs.

Publication of both reports has been held up for months as interminable negotiations between the two coalition parties have gone on over every detailed issue.

Baker has repeatedly warned of the dangers of legal highs, citing evidence that some cannabinoids synthesised in chemical labs are 100 times more powerful than traditional strains of cannabis.

The expert report says there were 60 deaths related to new psychoactive substances in 2013 – up from 52 the year before.

It also considers basing future controls of the effect on the brain rather than the current test of their chemical structure.

Frontline health staff are also urged to receive strengthened training to deal with their effects.

Danny Kushlik, of the Transform drugs charity – which campaigns for drug legalisation, said the international report represented a landmark in British drugs policy since the introduction of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act that is still in force today.

“This is a historic moment in the development of UK drug policy. For the first time in over 40 years the Home Office has admitted that enforcing tough drug laws doesn’t necessarily reduce levels of drug use,” said Kushlik.

“It has also acknowledged that decriminalising the possession of drugs doesn’t increase levels of use. Even more, the department in charge of drugs prohibition says it will take account of the experiments in the legal regulation of cannabis in Washington, Colorado and Uruguay.

“Pragmatic reform will only happen if there is crossparty support for change and we can assume now that the Labour party can engage constructively on this previously toxic issue.”

A Home Office spokesperson, responding to the evidence of the international report, said: “This government has absolutely no intention of decriminalising drugs. Our drugs strategy is working and there is a long-term downward trend in drug misuse in the UK.

“It is right that we look at drugs policies in other countries and today’s report summarises a number of these international approaches.”

Earlier this year the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, pledged to abolish prison sentences for the possession of drugs for personal use – including class-A substances such as heroin and cocaine. He urged David Cameron to look at issues such as decriminalisation or legalisation of drugs.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014 ... ling-study