News in English 2017

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Frustrations Mount for Some Doctors, Lawmakers as Medical Marijuana Rollout Continues in Florida

As one of the doctors in Florida that can recommend medical marijuana, Dr. Jonathan Adelberg urges caution to his patients. “I want people to operate - whether it's the speed limit or medicinal marijuana - inside the law.”

However, Dr. Adelberg says legalization hasn't been a smooth trip.

“The law is so fluid regarding medicinal marijuana, it's hard to navigate those waters,” he says.

And the doctor fears that turbulence may continue

Separate medical marijuana bills are currently moving through the Florida House and Senate after voters approved Amendment 2 in November

Lawmakers are far apart on agreeing what the law will allow, however.

For example, while the Senate bill bans smoking. The House bill bans smoking, vaping and edibles – and also allows fewer licenses.

As a result, Dr. Adelberg worries the needs of patients will ultimately be lost in the shuffle

“They're trying to craft a set of laws that are going to appease certain moralities associated with marijuana, vs the scientific facts,” he says.

We caught up with Florida State Representative Emily Slosberg, who said she doesn’t agree with the restrictions on the House bill.

“Whatever type is medically necessary should be allowed,” she says. “I think the voters spoke...we need to need to make sure doctors take the courses and start distributing medical marijuana the way it should be.”

For now, Dr. Adelberg has advice for medical marijuana users. “The best thing I can tell them is to be patient.”

Patience - as the growing pains of this budding industry continue

“There's nobody specific to blame,” he says. “It's a bureaucracy that wasn't really ready.”

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/25 ... -continues

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Swiss Group Launches New Initiative to Legalize Cannabis

The Swiss public could have another chance to decide if cannabis consumption should be legalized after the group Legalize It launched a popular initiative to that effect last week.

Cannabis is illegal in Switzerland though the law was relaxed in 2013. Instead of facing criminal proceedings, adults caught with ten grams or less of pot can be subjected to a 100-franc spot fine, though that is enforced to varying degrees across the country.

Quoting figures from the federal statistics office Tages Anzeiger said some 19,000 fines were issued in 2016. While 4,286 were issued in Zurich, Bern only dished out 203.

Legalize It has long campaigned to legalize the drug but all previous attempts have failed.

This new popular initiative proposes cannabis consumption and production for personal use should be made legal – except for minors – and that its sale should be regulated and taxed by the government, reported the Tages Anzeiger.

That differs from a failed 2008 referendum that aimed to legalize cannabis for everyone including minors, though it stipulated measures should be put in place to protect young people. Neither did the 2008 initiative propose any government tax.

Speaking to the Tages Anzeiger on Friday, Nine Forrer of Legalize It said: “The ban on cannabis is wrong from a social perspective, wrong from a legal point of view and simply stupid from an economic point of view.”

Legalizing the production and consumption of cannabis under government control would dry up the black market, argues the group.

Currently plans are afoot to trial the state-controlled sale of cannabis in so-called ‘cannabis clubs’ in four cities, though the project is still awaiting government approval.

And the Swiss capital is involved in another project to trial the sale of cannabis in selected pharmacies in the city.

According to estimates, around 500,000 people in Switzerland smoke pot at least occasionally.

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/25 ... e-cannabis

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The Future Of Cannabis Has Arrived… And It’s Flavored

If you thought cannabis was flavorful before, your taste buds are about to get rocked. A new, revolutionary technology is taking the plant into the future, offering a way to customize the flavor and overall experience from a strain, post-harvest. Though concentrate and cannabis isolates are becoming increasingly more popular, Yofumo is painting the way for a new way to appreciate cannabis bud.

Flavored cannabis is almost here

When it comes to picking out great cannabis, it’s best to follow your nose. Each cannabis strain seems to have its own distinct fragrance and taste.

Consumers have terpenes to thank for this cannabis aromatherapy. Terpenes are the flavor and aroma molecules found in plant resins, and cannabis happens to contain a lot of them.

In fact, a recent study from the University of British Columbia found that there were over 30 genes in the herb that manufacture these romantic compounds.

Now, one technology company is offering a way to improve the curing process, the final aging step in cannabis cultivation that imparts the highest degree of flavor and smoothness in a bud, and enhance the herb’s natural flavors.

Launched commercially in January 2017, with consumer units mapped out for the next few years, Yofumo is a line of high-tech storage units have the capacity to dry, cure, and enhance the terpenes in cut cannabis plants.

Each of Yofumo’s units is rooted in a proprietary process that safely rids any mold, yeasts, fungus or other bacteria that can easily occur anywhere along the post-harvest system, from curing to consumption.

Yofumo’s commercial products, which have already been installed in grows across three states, have a few different ways to enhance terpenes. It can bring out terpenes already found inside the bud, it can play up some flavors over others, and it can also dial in new natural flavors onto curing bud.

Searching for something grape-y to pair with some Sour Diesel? Yofumo can make it happen. What bout some coconut to go with a little Red Dragon? It’s now possible thanks to Yofumo.

Yofumo: Toward the future of cannabis

The potential applications of Yofumo are far-reaching. As it stands now, this technology is paving the way for truly craft cannabis buds in the near future. While the herb was once blacklisted as an illicit substance, individual states are bringing the herb into the light.

With this new attention, talented growers and breeders currently are transforming the once basement-dwelling herb into a craft consumer good comparable to wines, coffee, and chocolate. Yofumo is the technology that will speed up the jump as Alfonso Campalans, CEO and Founder of Yofumo explains,

Our Technology gives growers and consumers the tools they need to bring craft cannabis to the same level as the best wine cellars in the world.

The ability to control the flavor of cannabis adds another layer of complexity to the craft of cannabis, akin to culinary concoctions or liquid libations. It can make an okay bud better and it makes already great flower incredible.

Honing in on the craft of cannabis market isn’t the only use for Yofumo, however. These days, terpenes are all the rage in the cannabis world. Research suggests that these aroma molecules may have a more complex relationship to the plant that one might expect.

While the cannabis plant is famous for psychoactive and healing compounds like THC and CBD, more research than ever shows that terpenes may also have some medicinal benefit on their own.

For example, one review suggests that linalool, a lavender-scented terpene may have anticonvulsant properties when combined with CBD.

Though this research is only in its infancy, technologies like Yofumo are sure to be a vital part of cannabis cultivation in the future.

The presence of this technology is the dawn of a new era in the cannabis world. Now, it’s time to wait for new flavored and customized cannabis products to hit the dispensary shelves.

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/25 ... s-flavored

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Teen Denied New Lungs Due to Marijuana Traces Found in System Dies After Transplant Surgery

A teenager denied new lungs because he had traces of marijuana in his system has died after transplant surgery.

Riley Hancey, 19, was diagnosed with a rare lung infection after both collapsed which he suffered after complaining of the flu.

The shock diagnosis stunned his parents and three siblings who described him as a "healthy teen" who enjoyed winter and summer sports.

Riley was working in Utah, USA, for his brother and at a ski resort when he was struck down with the infection.

He was admitted to the University of Utah Hospital and placed on the transplant list but was denied surgery there after tests showed traces of marijuana in his system.

University officials said rules stated patients with "active alcohol, tobacco or illicit drug use" will not receive organs until "issues are addressed" in its explanation for not performing surgery.

It led to a desperate fundraising appeal by family members for another hospital to provide the double lung transplant operation as well as living and travel costs.

Two months after it launched Riley was flown to the University of Philadelphia after it agreed to carry out the transplant.

Last month, relatives told how doctors were "optimistic" after Riley received his new lungs.

But sadly the teenager died on Saturday following complications from the surgery.

His family posted on his fundraising page: "It has been a long battle to save Riley’s life.

Read More

"We know that in our hearts we gave him every opportunity to survive. He will live in our hearts forever.

"Riley is now free to climb every mountain, ski the back country, go fishing, and run every river. He will continue to do so with his family in spirit.

"In his honor, we ask that you take a moment to do a random act of kindness for someone. Riley’s kind spirit, laughter, and smile will be deeply missed by all that knew him."

Relatives added a celebration of Riley's life will be held in due course.

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/25 ... transplant

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Cannabis and Patents 101

As the Canadian cannabis industry continues to expand innovations will flood the market. The patent is a robust piece of intellectual property that can be filed across many different industries, and cannabis is no exception. We asked David Wood, a trusted lawyer at Borden Ladner Gervais in Calgary with clients in the Canada’s ACMPR regime, to tell us a bit about patents and their interaction with the cannabis plant.

So just what can be patented? “Let’s start here,” David told Lift. “Here’s my favourite way of putting it. You’re planting a seed, growing the seed, harvesting the stuff you’ve planted, the outcome of that could be flowers or a vape cartridge and anything in between. Any of those steps can be optimized and patented. Look at something like extraction. The way you do that stuff is full of details. If you come up with some new details that really improve efficiencies, you can get patents on that.”

The main forms of patents are for “methods, devices, and what is called a composition of matter,“ Wood said. “And if you’re patenting a plant, that’s what you would get. It still has to be new, so that gets very tricky with plants.”

Generally if something is a technology that is created and it is new and inventive, you can get a patent on it. “Patents protect technological innovations. People call them inventions. If the patent office considers your development, as it’s been described, to be an invention, to be new, you can get a patent on it.”

What are some parts of the cannabis industry that are ripe for an explosion in patents?

“Something the Lift readership might appreciate is home-growing. That whole industry is going to be made easier and easier by technology. I’ve already met 3 or 4 companies that sell a thing that sits in your house in which a plant grows inside.”

We asked Wood about US patent number 6,630,507, a patent held by a United States government agency that some cannabis activists have claimed is proof the US federal government knows the medicinal benefits of cannabis, and that they hold wide-ranging rights to cannabis as a medicine.

“Some people think it’s a tacit admission by the US government that cannabis has medical benefits,” Wood told us.

Can the US patent prevent others from using cannabis?

“I seriously doubt it. It’s not a concern because that patent was filed in the late 1990s. Let’s pretend it was 1995, as long as you’re doing something that people did before the patent application, you’re not liable for patent infringement because you’re doing something that existed prior, so it’s impossible to patent.”

Finally we asked Wood about what are colloquially termed patent trolls. Will they be coming to Canada soon? Wood thinks it’s a problem particular to the United States but that it could creep up into Canada.

“In the states you have many smaller participants who are less sophisticated. I think in that environment you’re going to find more people who (a) have money, and (b) are going to choose not go down the path that will cost a lot of money. The whole practice with a non-practicing entity is that they just have a lawyer on staff that doesn’t charge by the hour. It definitely happens—there’s nothing really stopping this.”

Wood was also quick to tell us that it won’t just be patents that will drive the future of the industry, but also trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, pointing to the home grow boxes that are coming on the market.

“Talking more broadly about IP, some of those companies enter into an agreement with you where you get ongoing support and function and updates, but in exchange they obtain the same information you use to optimize your growing.”

Wood believes the new Cannabis Act is ripe for innovative technologies to swoop in, and he thinks the practice of combining cannabis with patents will only become bigger as cannabis becomes more accessible.

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/25 ... atents-101

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NixT™ 420 enters the Cannabis Market with Advanced Odor Eliminator

A U.S. green biotech company today announced the North American release of NixT™ 420 Odor Remover, a cutting-edge odor eliminator that banishes the scent of marijuana with just a few sprays. Available for wholesale and retail sale at http://www.NixT420.com, the product was introduced April 20 in what was the most momentous celebration day yet for a booming cannabis culture.

“About 60 percent of Americans now live in a state where cannabis is legal in some form,” said NixT™ 420 spokesperson Terry Sachetti. “As marijuana use becomes a mainstream choice, more consumers are looking for ways to fit it comfortably into their lives. One of their top challenges involves combatting the tell-tale scent that lingers after smoking.”

NixT™ 420 was created by BlueGreen Systems, an innovator in the development of green-compliant, high-performance cleaning products free of harsh and hazardous ingredients. Based in St. Paul, the group serves the hospitality, healthcare and commercial cleaning sectors with more than a dozen specialty applications. The launch of NixT™ 420 brings the firm’s proven odor-elimination expertise to individuals and businesses eager to eradicate marijuana “aftersmell” from homes, dorm rooms, cars and clothing – as well as from furniture, curtains, carpets and more.

Escalating marijuana use means spiking demand for odor control, but NixT™ 420’s research suggests cannabis fans are unhappy with the solutions already available. While some such products are highly toxic, others are heavily scented. “We’ve talked to smokers who tried ‘odor eliminators’ that literally drove them out of the room,” said Sachetti. “And no one we interviewed could name a solution that really works.”

NixT™ 420 aims to fill that gap. Relying on BlueGreen’s scentless base technology, the spray works on the molecular level to eradicate cannabis and other unpleasant odors. Rather than just masking so-called “skunk smell,” NixT™ 420 is formulated to destroy odor molecules on contact. In trials conducted before its release, NixT™ 420’s beta-testers expressed high satisfaction with the product. But because smelling is believing, NixT™ 420 is issuing an invitation to the ever-growing cannabis crowd: “Create the loudest pot smell you can,” said Sachetti, “and then use NixT™ 420 as directed. The skunk smell will disappear nearly instantly and, if you did a thorough job, it won’t come back. NixT™ 420 promises to protect your privacy, and ‘Leave No Trace™,’ and we mean it.”

To mark the launch and encourage public engagement, NixT™ 420 is sponsoring a video contest. Customers are invited to submit original one- to two-minute videos featuring NixT™ 420. Monthly winners will receive a 15-bottle case of NixT™ 420 and have their filmmaking talents showcased online.

For more information or to order, visit http://www.NixT420.com. NixT™ 420 Odor Remover is available for online sale at the introductory price of $12.95 per 4-oz. bottle, as well as in convenient 3-packs and discounted display cases of 15 bottles. The website offers full specialized service to wholesalers.

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/25 ... eliminator

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STUDY: MEDICAL MARIJUANA COULD SAVE MEDICAID $1 BILLION

Marijuana is a drug. This nobody can deny. Look: there it is—marijuana!—on the country’s Controlled Substances Act, the list of America’s most dangerous drugs.

But when they’re not being bad, drugs are also medicine. And, in the 28 states where medical cannabis is legal, so is marijuana. In those 28 states, something interesting happened over the past decade: sick people on Medicaid filled fewer prescriptions—so fewer prescriptions, that if medical marijuana were available in all 50 states, Americans would save more than $1 billion on Medicaid costs, according to a new study.

By now, it’s no secret that cannabis is useful for many of the ailments associated with aging and accompanying serious diseases including chronic pain and cancer (two common ailments for which the typical pharmaceutical cocktail prescribed by a doctor will include some kind of opiate).

Seeking to quantify the extent to which cannabis flower, CBD oil and other medical marijuana preparations may be supplementing or replacing outright prescription pharmaceuticals, researchers from Health Affairs studied prescription data from Medicaid programs in states between 2007 and 2014. And, in five out of the nine clinical categories examined, the authors found fewer prescriptions filled where cannabis was available. Far, far fewer prescriptions.

Specifically, the authors found “a 13 percent reduction for drugs used to treat depression, a 17 percent reduction for those used to treat nausea, 12 percent reductions for those used to treat psychosis and those used to treat seizure disorders, and an 11 percent reduction for drugs used to treat pain.”

“If all states had had a medical marijuana law in 2014, we estimated that total savings for fee-for-service Medicaid could have been $1.01 billion,” the authors wrote. “Our findings suggest that patients and physicians in the community are reacting to the availability of medical marijuana as if it were medicine.”

Of course, this study only parses data from health-care programs funded by Medicaid, the country’s low-income healthcare program (which, unless you are a military veteran, is about as close as America comes to a single-payer system). About 20 percent of Americans are on some form of Medicaid—which suggests that the total savings in prescription drug costs is several billions more.

Furthermore, as most marijuana advocates know, not every medical marijuana program is created equal. Reacting to a conception that medical marijuana was too easy to obtain—as compared to, you know, actually deadly drugs like Tylenol or opiates—many of the states that created medical marijuana programs in the past decade have strict lists of qualifying conditions and tightly controlled methods of access. This means, in some states such as New York, medical marijuana is next to impossible to obtain, despite being “legal.” Thus, it stands to reason that if cannabis were as simple to purchase as prescription or over-the-counter drugs, Medicaid would save even more.

This news, coming as it does at a vital time for Medicaid in America, is both good and bad. Marijuana’s number-one enemy in America is almost certainly Big Pharma—which, as this study shows, stands to lose much from widespread legal cannabis access. Fear over legal marijuana spurred Insys Therapeutics, a marketer of an overdose-inducing fentanyl-based drug that’s also working on a synthetic marijuana pill, to donate heavily to an anti-legalization campaign in Arizona. Those Medicaid dollars, spent on prescriptions, amount to a public subsidy to pharmaceutical companies. And in America, public support for private enterprise does not go away quietly.

Earlier in the year, House Republicans, led by Speaker Paul Ryan, attempted to cut $839 billion over the next 10 years from Medicaid. Nearly 75 million Americans rely on Medicaid, as Republican lawmakers were reminded at town-hall meetings across the country. The Medicaid bloodbath, part of the “repeal and replace” of Obamacare, failed spectacularly, but the risk hasn’t gone away.

It’s hard to tell from the Joycean exercise in free thought and word association that passed for a lengthy interview with the leader of the free world, but Donald Trump is apparently still interested in gutting Medicaid—if that’s what the congressional leaders to which he’s delegated the onerous task of fulfilling his own campaign promise want.

And they do. If there’s one thing Trump can listen to for more than a few seconds (other than friendly coverage on Fox and Friends), it’s money. And medical marijuana no doubt costs the country’s healthcare industrial complex serious money.

http://hightimes.com/news/study-medical ... 1-billion/

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Does Cannabis Help or Hinder Creativity?

For many of us, creativity and cannabis walk hand-in-hand. A nice, uplifting sativa may be all you need to clear the mental logjam of writer’s block or to bring a fresh pair of eyes to your art. Abstractly, marijuana seems to give rise to new avenues of thought and insight, and this phenomenon has been recognized by revered, brilliant minds like that of Carl Sagan and Steve Jobs.
However, a study published in Psychopharmacology will tell you that the creative burst you’re feeling is just an illusion. Allow us to explain.
Researchers in the Netherlands administered vaporized cannabis in three different amounts to 53 participants who were self-reported regular consumers. One group received a low dose of THC (5 mg), another was administered a higher dose (22 mg), and the last group was given a placebo. The subjects’ cognitive performances were then measured using two different exams: one that measured creative, divergent thinking while the other measured convergent thinking, or one’s ability to arrive at a single solution for a well-defined problem. Interestingly, there was little difference in scores among each group for the convergent thinking test.
The divergent test consisted of inventing various uses for common household items, supposedly demonstrating different cognitive skills associated with creativity. A point-based system was used to score three performance markers: fluency, or the number of responses provided; flexibility, or the variation in answers; originality, or the response’s uniqueness compared to those of other participants; and elaboration, or the amount of detail provided in explaining a response.
As shown by the chart below, larger doses of THC correlated with worse performance on this creative task, while researchers noted that small doses and placebo were comparable. Interestingly, there seems to be no mention of how subjects would perform had they been knowingly sober for the exam. Furthermore, how did each individual’s sober performance compare to his or her stoned performance? This chart shows average results for each category, but did individual variation skew the results?

While this study is thorough in its consideration of participants’ moods and anxiety levels, it seems to neglect a myriad of head-spinning complexities. The definition of creativity here is restricted to a single cognitive task which took place in an unnatural environment under unnatural conditions. But what if you were in the comfort of your home exercising creativity in the ways most conducive to enjoyment and emotional expression? What if you instead vaporized a stimulating sativa like Island Sweet Skunk, and how would that differ from a sleepy indica like Romulan? And how does tolerance, anxiety, and other aspects of brain chemistry affect our creative output under the influence of cannabis?

It seems this study raises more questions than it answers, but perhaps this framework will give rise to more refined explorations of cannabis and creativity. In the end, we have to wonder if creativity will ever be something we can measure empirically, or if it is indeed a personal matter rooted in a tangle of biopsychological nuances. For now, we’ll leave it up to you.

https://www.leafly.com/news/science-tec ... creativity

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Campaigners Call for Digital Cannabis Market for the UK

The UK should have a legal, digital-only cannabis market in the UK, according to a new report.

The regulated market would limit access to anyone younger than 21, with checks similar to buying alcohol online.

The report, from pro-drug legalisation think tank Volte Face, argues that a controlled market would offer safer products and offer the ability for revenues to be taxed - potentially raising around £800m for the exchequer.

"We believe that Britain's multibillion-pound cannabis market should be developed and operated exclusively online by a private sector that is stringently controlled and regulated by democratically elected governments," the report, called The Green Screen, argues.

But anti-drugs campaigners have called the suggestion an "opportunity for national disaster" and "absolutely the most irresponsible thing to do".

Around 2.1 million people use cannabis every year, according to government figures, despite it being illegal.

Mike Power, the author of The Green Screen report, told Sky News: "The current situation, any young person with five or ten pounds can come to Camden and buy a bag of cannabis.

"They can't go to a supermarket and buy alcohol without having their identity checked and verified."

"We would argue that a digital model would enable that to be the case. So that every purchase would have to have age and ID verified before you actually bought it.

"As well as that, it would mean that you could tax every single purchase, and monitor it, and make sure that money was going directly into the taxpayers' pocket."

Power argues that a digital-only market would circumvent objections to cannabis cafés, as in the Netherlands, or the shops that are starting to appear in certain US states - both in terms of attracting young people and concerns over antisocial behaviour they might bring to neighbourhoods.

Other countries, including Portugal and Lisbon, have taken or announced measures towards decriminalising cannabis. Volte Face has advised the Canadian government on methods.

Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, the founder of support charity DrugFAM, told Sky News: "It's not a credible argument".

"My personal story is sadly losing one of my sons at the age of 27 as a result of his addiction to drugs, which began with using cannabis - the gateway drug.

"[For] vulnerable young people - particularly those who are willing to try anything in their teenage years - this is just opening up an opportunity for national disaster.

"It's absolutely the most irresponsible thing to do."

Shaun Attwood, a former drugs dealer and now an author and activist for drugs legalisation, told Sky News that a digital cannabis market would deprive organised criminals of millions of pounds.

"The illegality of drugs creates an inflated black market price.

"I take full responsibility for what happened to me. On 16 May 2002, a swat team smashed my door down. And I ended up in the jail that's got the highest rate of death in America."

"If there had been an online legalised marketplace for drugs, job opportunities for dealers would have ceased to exist. I couldn't have arbitraged that price from Holland over to America because the users would be buying the drug online.

"So I'd have been taken out of the loop completely."

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/26 ... -market-uk

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Australia: Canada and Eight US States Have Done It. Why Can't NSW Legalise Cannabis?

Some big news has come out of North America and it has nothing to do with Trump. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has introduced legislation that will legalise and regulate cannabis use in Canada. This would make Canada the second country the world (after Uruguay) to legalise adult use of cannabis. This comes off the heels of some ground-breaking reforms that took place in November last year when California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada all voted to legalise and regulate cannabis use, joining Colorado, Alaska, Washington and Oregon. One in five Americans now live in a state where adult use of cannabis is legal or is in the process of being made legal. So why has the debate barely even begun in Australia?

In Australia the long arm of the law still has a long reach, waging a war on drugs. Last year, there were more than 26,000 criminal incidents of cannabis possession in NSW. These made up more than half of all drug possession offences and more than all other drugs combined. These failed attempts to wipe out cannabis use continue to drag people through the criminal justice system causing unnecessary harm to them and their families while also wasting limited police resources. Moreover, the Government's glacial pace of legalising medicinal cannabis has meant that these arrests include those who are forced to access cannabis on the so-called black market for treatment.

Cannabis isn't my cup of tea, but it is of many Australians. More than one in three have consumed cannabis in their life and one in 10 has done so in the previous year. Surely, no one can agree that these millions of people are criminals.

Whether adults are using cannabis for recreational purposes or to treat illnesses, there is no excuse for arrests and criminalisation. Australian National University's 30-year election study published this year found less than a third of people support the current system of criminalisation. Evidence is mounting for us to at least look into alternative system of managing and minimising harm. The same drivers for legalisation in the United States are very much present here in Australia – principally, to end ineffective and punitive approaches and their damaging health and social consequences.

The secondary economic benefits of a regulated system of cannabis use have also become evident. Licensing revenues of regulated cannabis can generate significant income which can then be reinvested in education and health programs. For example, in 2016 in Colorado, the legal cannabis market was worth $1.3 billion and generated about $199 million in tax and fees which is put towards schools and public health. The legal cannabis industry is expected to employ 300,000 people by 2020 in the US states that have legalised it. However, any system of legalisation and regulation must allow people to retain the right to grow their own cannabis for personal use, within reasonable limits.

In some respects, we are already on the road to decriminalisation, but we need to go further on cannabis. In many Australian states, there is a Cannabis Caution Scheme that has operated for some years. In NSW, based on a recommendation of the NSW Drug Summit in 1999, police have the discretion to caution rather than charge adults detected for minor cannabis offences. But how you are dealt with by the law depends on where you are. A 2011 NSW Auditor General's report found concerning geographic disparities as to whether someone found with a small amount of cannabis was cautioned or whether they were charged. Police in the Eastern Suburbs, North Shore and Hills districts issues a caution more than 70 per cent of the time. This plunges to less than 20 per cent at Quakers Hill, Walgett and Bathurst. The law must be clear and equal for all.

Finally it is important to point out that legalising cannabis is not an issue dominated by the left or the right. In the United States, the majority of people in Alaska voted for legalisation but they haven't voted for a Democratic president since 1964. In Britain, the neoliberal Adam Smith Institute has called the current drug strategy a failure and is strongly advocating for legalisation as the only solution to crime and addiction problems. In NSW, the Greens policy calls for the regulation of cannabis through the formation of a legal supply.

By maintaining a prohibition on cannabis, we continue to allow unregulated black markets to flourish. . We fail people who want to seek support for drug dependence by keeping them in the shadows.

It is time to admit that we need a different approach that will work for everyone and one that promotes safety and harm reduction. It's time to develop a system for legalising and regulating cannabis use in NSW.

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/26 ... e-cannabis

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Canopy Growth Corp. To Implement New Pesticide-Testing Regime for Cannabis

Canada’s biggest licensed marijuana producer plans to subject its products to enhanced testing for pesticides and other contaminants, as the industry seeks to restore consumer confidence amid a tainted cannabis scare.

Canopy Growth Corp., which owns the Tweed, Bedrocan, and Mettrum brands, will unveil a new testing regime on Wednesday that it hopes will reassure customers that the products haven’t been exposed to dangerous chemicals. The move comes after The Globe and Mail revealed in December that a recall of medical marijuana at Mettrum was due to the discovery of myclobutanil, a banned pesticide that is not permitted for use on cannabis because it emits hydrogen cyanide when heated and can lead to serious health problems. A similar recall was announced at rival producer Organigram soon after.

Canopy, which purchased Mettrum in January, said it would implement new measures to ensure such a recall doesn’t happen again.

Since the recall, Health Canada has required Mettrum and Organigram to have their products independently tested at federally accredited labs before they are shipped to customers. The regulator also announced that the rest of the industry – roughly three dozen companies – will be subject to random screening.

Little is known about how the program will work, and whether it will be effective in protecting consumers. In addition to the new testing requirements for Mettrum, Canopy says it will introduce its own system of monthly random tests across all of its operations, which will be conducted in addition to any random testing done by Health Canada.

At least one product lot from its Tweed facility in Smiths Falls, Ont., will be randomly screened each month, along with one lot from its Tweed Farms facility in Southern Ontario, and one lot from the Bedrocan operation. The random testing covers roughly one-tenth of the production from each facility in a given month, Canopy chief executive officer Bruce Linton said.

The screening will be conducted by an independent, federally accredited laboratory, and the selection of each sample will be managed by the company’s quality assurance official, with the results posted on the company’s website, Mr. Linton said. Growers responsible for each crop will have no say in the random sample each month, and the company may expand the testing to multiple lots some months, he added.

Canopy is the latest in a series of companies to introduce independent testing programs amid the tainted cannabis controversy that now hangs over the industry.

In February, Saskatchewan-based CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. posted test results for some of its products online to demonstrate they were free of banned chemicals. In March, Aurora Cannabis, which issued a recall over a bulk shipment it purchased from Organigram, announced it would begin testing products and posting the results online for consumers to scrutinize. Soon after, the Cannabis Canada Association (CCA), which represents 15 federally licensed companies, said it would follow suit with a similar initiative.

However, there are still no uniform measures in place from the government to ensure consumer safety in the industry. Meanwhile, dozens of patients have told The Globe they have become seriously ill from exposure to the tainted products, and now suffer breathing difficulty, persistent pain, headaches, nausea and rashes, among other problems.

The recalls have raised troubling questions about Health Canada’s oversight of the sector, particularly as the federal government prepares to legalize cannabis for recreational use next year. Though the federal government has touted the licensed producers as safe, medical-grade product, Health Canada acknowledged to The Globe in January that is was not testing those companies to ensure that they weren’t using dangerous chemicals to help their crops.

Health Canada figured it didn’t need to screen the industry for safety because the companies knew what chemicals were banned, and therefore shouldn’t be using them. The companies were essentially left to police themselves.

But in an industry where crops can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and companies can ill afford to lose that revenue due to pests, growers may resort to unauthorized chemicals as a shortcut to save their plants, rather than anger shareholders with financial losses. Meanwhile, growers at many companies are incentivized based on crop yields, and may be further tempted to use chemical shortcuts to boost their output, despite the harm it can do to patients.

A former employee of Mettrum told The Globe the company used myclobutanil to control mildew on plants as far back as 2014, knowing it was banned. To avoid detection, staff hid the chemicals in the ceiling tiles whenever Health Canada inspectors visited the site, knowing that the regulator wasn’t testing the plants.

Some producers believe Health Canada needs to strengthen its approach to testing in order to protect patients. Aphria Inc., one of the 15 companies in the CCA that pledged to post independent test results online, recently said Health Canada should enforce regular testing across the industry, and have it funded by the industry through a fee paid to the government. Mr. Linton agreed, and said Canopy would support such a model.

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Why Pharmaceutical Companies Are Fighting Off Cannabis Use

Many US politicians continue to oppose legalising marijuana, both medical and recreational, even going so far as ignoring the wishes of their voters in Florida. Although 71% of Florida voters approved medical marijuana last year, the Florida legislature has been dragging its feet to complete necessary regulation.

Until recently, legislators – including Ray Rodrigues – argued that marijuana in pill form should be the only type of cannabis allowed – no smoking, no vaping, no edibles – or needed. The legislature is now considering allowing vaping and edibles, but still not smoking or using a bong.

Tallahassee Democrat Mark Moore estimates the state has lost $740m in licensing fees because of this recalcitrance. Still, Big Marijuana is poised to make a profit. The Motley Fool reports, based on multiple sources, that legal cannabis sales were $6.9bn last year, up 34%, and could go as high as $50bn by 2026.

Big Pharma vs. Big Marijuana

But Big Pharma is not taking this threat lying down. With opioids already demonised (not for nothing; the pharmaceutical companies’ exaggerations of how new prescription medicines would be addiction-free recalls similar claims for Bayer’s Heroin in 1898), pharmaceutical companies are gearing up to offer legal marijuana-based treatments, natural and synthetic, with the hopes of a nine-figure payday. The last thing they want is legal marijuana competing with them, so they are also funding anti-cannabis groups and campaigns.

The irony is that these legal products – the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems eager to approve them – may be more harmful and less effective than natural cannabis. Pain management doctors and opioid recovery advocates, who ought to be natural allies of legal cannabis, are jumping on the anti-pot bandwagon, either out of misguided concern or because of money from Big Pharma.

The Big Names

Patrick J. Kennedy, a former Democratic congressman and scion of the Kennedy political clan, is not only bipolar and an admitted alcohol and drug addict – who has exhibited many of the physical signs of alcohol abuse and drug addiction, including on the floor of Congress. He has formed a couple of groups to help addicts and the mentally ill: the non-profit Advocates for Opioid Recovery (AOR) and the mental health advocacy group The Kennedy Forum. He also is on the Board of Directors for CleanSlate Addiction Treatment Centers.

All three entities are partially funded by Apple Tree Partners, the private equity firm that owns Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, which markets Probuphine, an implant with the maintenance medication buprenorphine. Apple Tree has given AOR $675,000 as of September 30th, with another $225,000 promised. Kennedy and Gingrich personally benefit in that they receive an (undisclosed) salary as advisers for AOR.

Kennedy also has formed the misleadingly named Smart Approaches to Marijuana. That sounds like a medical cannabis legalisation group – at least for chronic pain and addiction withdrawal – but actually opposes all use of marijuana except the FDA-approved Marinol, a synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the principal psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana – in a pill form.

Marinol has been around since 1985. It started out as a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act – meaning it could be prescribed under some circumstances – and now is on the less restrictive Schedule III. Natural marijuana, which contains other, non-psychoactive cannabinoids, is still Schedule I, the most restrictive class, alongside heroin.

Is Synthetic Better?

If cannabis keeps getting legalised, Big Pharma will likely ramp up its claim that its synthetic products are better and safer than the natural plant – a similar tactic by baby formula manufacturers – including Nestle – against breast milk resulted in bad press and a boycott. As of 2014, however, infant formula remained a $11.5bn market.

According to Forbes, the problem with Marinol – generic name dronabinol – is that 45% of patients stop using it after one round because of side effects. Taking THC in pill form makes it harder to control the dosage. Too much THC makes some people who benefit from cannabis’ painkilling or nausea-controlling properties ill. For them, a drag or two on a joint is sufficient. Since Marinol is swallowed, it goes through the liver, which breaks it down and releases more of the side effects associated with THC – impaired thinking, slower reactions – as it is metabolised. The physical signs of alcohol abuse are sometimes similar.

Some of those problems may be avoided when Axim International releases its Marinol-based time-release chewing gum. The company already makes chewing gum with cannabidiol (CBD), the next most plentiful cannabinoid in marijuana – one that has more painkilling properties but is not psychoactive. Still, it is regulated like marijuana as a Schedule I drug: highly addictive, no accepted or safe medical uses.

Axim is not the only company with a dronabinol product in the pipeline. Insys Therapeutics has won approval for Syndros, a liquid synthetic version of THC that it claims is safer than cannabis. Now that it is on Schedule II, Piper Jaffray predicts Syndros could generate $300m to $400m for Insys Therapeutics.

Not surprisingly, the Arizona-based Insys Therapeutics contributed at least $500,000 to Arizona’s successful anti-cannabis legalisation efforts. It also is the company responsible for the Fentanyl-based med Subsys, a super opioid 50 times stronger than heroin. Fentanyl killed musician Prince, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman and many opioid addicts.

More to Cannabis than THC

Another problem with synthetic THC is that it only contains THC. Cannabis contains hundreds of compounds, and there is increasing evidence that the efficacy of marijuana depends on a so-called entourage effect: several or all of the compounds working together. Although DEA/FDA-approved study is limited by cannabis’ Schedule I designation, what research there is and anecdotal evidence suggests that CBD oil has been found to be more effective when it contains some THC. But there is less of a market or profit incentive for pharmaceutical companies to sell actual marijuana/cannabis than there is to isolate and synthesise its components.

And synthetic cannabis so far ignores one of the most promising areas of cannabis research: its use as a substitute for or means to withdraw from opioids – such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and heroin – and alcohol. Because cannabis has some elements of depressants, the physical signs of alcohol abuse are similar to those of marijuana, but marijuana is less addictive and may be used to control alcoholism.

Cannabis still needs to be thoroughly tested, but the US government does not seem interested, and neither do pharmaceutical companies. 28 of the 50 United States have already legalised medical marijuana. One wonders how many more will have to do so before the government takes them seriously.

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Doctors Say South Australia's Medicinal Cannabis Law Changes Give Patients False Hope

It is stretching the truth for the South Australian Government to suggest medicinal cannabis products can now be easily prescribed for patients in the state, doctors have said.

SA doctors are allowed to prescribe medicinal cannabis for periods of up to two months without having to get government approval, but a longer-term prescription still needs that formal approval.

The chair of the SA branch of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Daniel Byrne, said there were no approved medicinal cannabis products in Australia which doctors could readily prescribe.

"The South Australian Government has put in place the stepping stones, but there's no actual product we can prescribe easily," he said.

"There's a lot of interest in the community so I'm being asked at least once a week by patients who say 'Is it for me? Could I be using it?'

"Announcements like this get people's hopes up, stretching the truth — until there's a legal product for us to prescribe, it's a bit of a false premise."

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) must approve any imports of medicinal cannabis products.

Dr Byrne said the process could take weeks and prove expensive for patients.

"I've heard of one recently that's available if you go through all this process, but it's $875 for one bottle," he said.

Dr Byrne said controls were essential to ensure products were safe but he did not believe medicinal cannabis products would become "front-line" medications for several years.

"For the right patient, who has tried everything else and their specialist wants to give a cannabis-based product a go, it could be of benefit," he said.

"But some of the research trials are saying you're getting a 30 to 50 per cent response rate — that's not setting the world on fire.

"We just want to see safe, proven medications available."

Acting Premier Kyam Maher denied the Government was promoting false hope.

"What we're doing is making sure we're doing what is in our power to make it easier for patients to be prescribed medicinal cannabis," he said.

"We're getting out of the way at first instance. It's still the Federal Government's responsibility through the TGA to register medicinal cannabis products."

Holden factory might have drug future

The New South Wales Government has backed three medicinal cannabis trials, including for epileptic children, which could improve the medication supply.

Other parties have been seeking licences for cultivation or to manufacture medicinal cannabis products.

Australian Cannabis Corporation director Ben Fitzsimons is keen to develop an industry in South Australia and is eyeing off the current Holden factory in northern Adelaide, which is due to be vacated next October.

He said getting a cultivation, manufacturing or research licence for medicinal cannabis was difficult.

"[That is] as you'd expect with something that was a while ago considered an illicit and narcotic drug," he said.

"There are a number of groups in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia that have received their licences, but that doesn't mean they will be delivering product to the market place any time soon.

"Just because the [prescription] pathway's been opened up by the Government it doesn't mean people are going to be able to access it."

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Researchers Hope to Recruit 25,000 Berlin Weed-Smokers for Study

A research initiative hopes to get approval for a study that would recruit 25,000 recreational cannabis consumers in Berlin - if it can get government approval.

The group called the Research Initiative on Cannabis Consumption is hoping to get an application for a new study approved so that they can analyze the “consequences of cannabis for psychologically healthy, adult consumers”. The aim is to understand what effects cannabis use has after several years, according to the group, which was started by a Berlin lawyer and a clinical psychology professor at the Medical School Hamburg.

The initiative reported last week that they had submitted an updated application to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) for approval.

BfArM declined to comment to Tagesspiegel on Monday as to whether it had in fact received the application, or what chances the project might have for being approved.

Germany officially legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes at the beginning of this year, allowing doctors to prescribe their seriously ill patients the drug if they believe it will bring about positive results.

But the research initiative is hoping to shed light on the effects of recreational use - which is still illegal - rather than of medical treatments.

So far 2,000 people have signed up to participate in the study within the first ten weeks of the search. The initiative leaders said that in selecting participants, they will rule out anyone under 18, first-time pot smokers, as well as anyone with potential addiction or psychiatric problems.

If the study obtains approval, participants would be allowed to pick up 30 grams of cannabis normally reserved for medical patients each month from a pharmacy.

“In Germany several million people regularly get high on cannabis,” wrote lawyer and chief executive of the project Marko Dörre in a statement.

“It is time that science becomes more engaged with recreational use.”

Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in Germany, with 7.3 percent of teens and 6.1 percent of adults reporting that they had used it at least once in 2015, according to a report released earlier this month.

Up until the recent medical cannabis legislation, just a select few could apply to be granted permission to consume the drug if they had serious medical conditions. Only around 1,000 people had been given this permission when the law was passed.

The new law will also allow the government to collect data and do research on the therapeutic use of cannabis.

“With the law implemented in March changing controlled substance regulations, the German parliament took on a new risk assessment of cannabis,” said Dörre.

“The new assessment will also benefit science.”

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Marijuana May Be a Miracle Treatment for Children with Autism

When Noa Shulman came home from school, her mother, Yael, sat her down to eat, then spoon-fed her mashed sweet potatoes — mixed with cannabis oil.

Noa, who has a severe form of autism, started to bite her own arm. “No sweetie,” Yael gently told her 17-year-old daughter. “Here, have another bite of this.”

Noa is part of the first clinical trial in the world to test the benefits of medicinal marijuana for young people with autism, a potential breakthrough that would offer relief for millions of afflicted children — and their anguished parents.

There is anecdotal evidence that marijuana’s main non-psychoactive compound — cannabidiol or CBD — helps children in ways no other medication has. Now this first-of-its-kind scientific study is trying to determine if the link is real.

Israel is a pioneer in this type of research. It permitted the use of medical marijuana in 1992, one of the first countries to do so. It's also one of just three countries with a government-sponsored medical cannabis program, along with Canada and the Netherlands.

Conducting cannabis research is also less expensive here and easier under Israeli laws, particularly compared to the United States, which has many more legal restrictions.

Autism is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders, affecting 1 in 68 children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its debilitating symptoms include impaired communication and social skills, along with compulsive and repetitive behaviors. Autism typically emerges in infancy or early childhood.

Advocates for combating the disorder are calling attention to it by declaring April National Autism Awareness Month.

Noa's mother has to feed and bathe her and change her diapers. Noa is unable to speak and often behaves aggressively. Yael, a mother of three with a full-time job in this city halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, has tried to find caretakers to help, but they don’t last long.

Only two medications have been approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the symptoms of autism. Both are antipsychotic drugs that are not always effective and carry serious side effects.

When Noa took them, “she was like a zombie,” Yael said. “She would just sit there with her mouth wide open, not moving.”

Noa is part of a study that began in January at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. It involves 120 children and young adults, ages 5 to 29, who have mild to severe autism, and it will last through the end of 2018.

Adi Aran, the pediatric neurologist leading the study, said nearly all the participants previously took antipsychotics and nearly half responded negatively. Yael desperately pushed Aran and other doctors to prescribe cannabis oil after a news report aired about a mother who illegally obtained it for her autistic son and said it was the only thing that helped him.

“Many parents were asking for cannabis for their kids,” Aran said. “First I said, 'No, there’s no data to support cannabis for autism, so we can’t give it to you.'”

He said that changed about a year ago after studies in Israel showed that cannabis helped children with epilepsy by drastically reducing seizures and improving behavior for those who also have autism. Epilepsy afflicts about 30% of autistic children, Aran said.

Mounting anecdotal reports of autistic children who benefited from cannabis also led Aran to pursue more scientific testing. After seeing positive results in 70 of his autistic patients in an observational study, Aran said, “OK we need to do a clinical trial so there will be data."

Study participants are given liquid drops like those mixed into Noa's sweet potatoes. They receive one of two different cannabis oil formulas, or a placebo. The oil does not cause a high because of low levels of THC, marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient.

Yael doesn't know if her daughter is receiving the cannabis or a placebo. Noa is calmer on some days since beginning the trial, she said, but on other days she's aggressive and irritable.

Even so, just being a part of the study gives Yael hope. “I had really come to a point where I no longer had the power — not physically, not emotionally,” she said.

More than 110 cannabis clinical trials are underway in Israel — more than any other country, according to Michael Dor, senior medical adviser at the Health Ministry’s medical cannabis unit.

Alan Shackelford, a Harvard-trained physician, sparked a surge in American interest in cannabis treatment for epileptic children in 2013, when he used medical marijuana to treat a young girl in Colorado and her seizures drastically decreased. He said he tried for years to conduct clinical trials in the U.S., but “I was meeting nothing but closed doors to study something that was so clearly beneficial.”

Shackelford said a colleague spent seven years trying to get approval from U.S. authorities to study cannabis treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. By contrast, Aran said it took Israel’s Ministry of Health six months to approve his clinical trial with autistic children.

“Israel leads the world in inquiries and studies on cannabis as a potential medical treatment,” said Shackelford, who recently launched an Israeli company to conduct research on medical cannabis here because of the restrictions he faced in the United States.

He said the U.S. government has funded $1.4 billion in marijuana research since 2008, but $1.1 billion of that went to studying addiction, withdrawal and drug abuse.

Aran cautioned against premature conclusions about cannabis as a treatment for autism, but he said many children have shown significant improvements. Some no longer hurt themselves or throw tantrums. Some are more communicative. Others were able to return to classes after they had been suspended for behavioral problems.

Tamir Gedo, CEO of Breath of Life Pharma, which provides the cannabis oil for the study, said one mother reported, "My child is speaking relentlessly. … He never spoke before. And he's 12 years old.”

One major concern is the long-term impact of prescribing cannabis to young patients, said Sarah Spence, co-director of the Autism Spectrum Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. “There certainly could be harm” to brain development, she said.

But opioids and antipsychotic drugs currently prescribed to children are more harmful, said Gedo. “These families have no other hope.”

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Top Cannabis Benefits for your Health

The marijuana plant has many health benefits, especially for those with chronic illnesses. Many people believe that cannabis benefits everyone because it is considered a miracle herb. As the marijuana plant gets more exposure, it has continued to surprise many people of how many benefit it has. Cannabis benefits not only the health of individuals, but also the economy, relationships, public safety and public health. Let’s look at these benefits and how they are instrumental in changing the dynamics of society.

Weight Management

If you keep up to date with marijuana, you may be aware of the fact that marijuana users tend to be a little slimmer than the average person that does not use marijuana. Why is that so? Well, that is due to the fact that cannabis helps to regulate the body’s insulin production and it also efficiently manages caloric intake.

Prevents and Regulates Diabetes

Marijuana is helpful in regulating your body weight and so it will also be instrumental in preventing and regulating diabetes. Why? The insulin production in the body is regulated when you use marijuana and that it is the reason why cannabis benefits the diabetic.

Fighting Against Cancer

Cannabis also benefits people with cancer and it helps fight against all different types of cancer as research as shown. The cannabinoids in the marijuana plant goes directly to the cancerous tumors.

Avoid Depression

Many people around the world suffer from depression and the alternative to getting addicted to prescription drugs for depression, why not use marijuana? Research has shown the positive impact of marijuana on depression. It has also helped many people suffering from depression.

Treats Autism

Cannabis benefits children with autism. Science is showing more and more that the CBD in the marijuana plant is good for autistic children, managing their mood swings and making parents happy.

Safe Alternative

Marijuana is a safer alternative to hard drugs like heroin and cocaine. Why? Marijuana is harmless. No one can overdose on marijuana. In addition, marijuana is safer than alcohol, which can greatly damage the liver over time.

Normalizes Seizures

Medical cannabis benefits children and adults who experience ongoing seizures. Medical science is still catching up, but Charlotte’s Web has proven that cannabis is a promising alternative for people with epilepsy.

Faster Healing to Broken Bones

If you have broken bones, you can bet that cannabis will help to heal your wounds faster. The CBD in the marijuana plant chemically reacts with the collagen in your body, therefore speeding up the healing process.

Treats ADHD

If you have a child with an attention deficit (ADHD or ADD), it is not easy to watch as a parent. Cannabis has been proven to treat children with this disorder and it is better than prescribed medications such as Adderall and Ritalin.

Treats Glaucoma

When you ingest marijuana in its liquid form (hash oil or hemp oil), it can lower the pressure in the eyes caused by Glaucoma, providing temporary relief.

Improves Lung Health

Many people believe that smoking in general is bad for lung health. However, cannabis benefits pot smokers. If you have a chronic lung problem, smoking pot can regress your condition.

Aids Anxiety

Cannabis benefits people with anxiety as it does depression. It helps you to feel calm and relaxed, putting aside all your worries.

Slow Advancement of Alzheimer’s Disease

Marijuana slows down the advancement of Alzheimer’s Disease. As you age, it reduces the degeneration of your cognitive skills, allowing you or your loved one to live a richer life.

Food Source

In spite of the fact that marijuana cannot be easily found in a grocery store, it is legal in many states and has become a dietary staple in a lot of cultures. Hemp is a great source of protein and used to make seeds and protein powders. If cannabis could be legalized in all states, hemp could feed so many hungry people.

Creates Jobs

Cannabis benefits the community and individuals at large by creating thousands of job in the states where it is legalized. It cannot be ignored that cannabis helps to build the economy and it also adds more revenue to public health and school programs.

Lowers Crime Rates

Wherever cannabis is legalized, the crime rate has shown an obvious reduction. Illegal drugs take a back seat and violent crime rates drop in states that legalize marijuana.

Combat Insomnia

If you have a hard time falling asleep, there are specific cannabis strains that will help you combat insomnia. Speak to a budtender to find out which strain is best for your insomnia.

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Marijuana Delivery Via Drone Could Be Just Around the Corner

Despite the legalization of recreational marijuana in California, delivering weed is still a risky business. Pot delivery services currently are illegal in the city of L.A. (though that's likely to change), and drivers carrying cash and cannabis could become targets for police and robbers alike.

Cannabis delivery service Eaze (which operates statewide but not in the city of L.A.) dreams of another way. Over the weekend the company demonstrated drone delivery of marijuana at the High Times Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino. Though it says the technology is perhaps years away from being put into use, the "Drone Lifted Experience" demo (see video, below) showed how simple it could be.

At the National Orange Show Events Center, Eaze had a drone lower a package into the eager hands of a participant. "The biggest takeaway from the demonstration is how technology is moving the industry forward," says Sheena Shiravi, Eaze's head of public relations. "It's not that far away."

The legality of drone delivery is still up in the air. The L.A. City Council has been empowered by voters, who approved Measure M in March, to set up a framework to legalize delivery — in a way that's consistent with state law. California regulations require any delivery service to be attached to a permitted brick-and-mortar source; supporters of legalizing weed delivery in L.A. say the council could simply permit delivery warehouses to satisfy the state rules.

It's not clear if the city plans to leave the door open to drone-based delivery. But proponents see it as a no-brainer that would take drivers out of the line of fire of cops and criminals. Shiravi says that if the council doesn't open the door to legal delivery services — with the possibility of drones being used in the future — the black market could advance. "If you don't allow for legal delivery, people will do what's easier — often turning to the illicit market."

Drones have already been used to deliver illegal drugs to prisoners in Londonlast year. And some critics are already sounding the alarm about a future where drones, devoid of the kind of tracking used by the U.S. Postal Service, could be used to facilitate worldwide narcotics trafficking.

Eaze has no immediate plans to deliver weed via drone. It just wants the world to see the possibilities, Shiravi says. "We really want to showcase the power of technology in this industry and help regulators understand it," she says.

Daniel Yi, a spokesman for MedMen, a tech-savvy marijuana dispensary in West Hollywood, says it's open to the idea of sending a pot-bearing drone to your door.

"These are exciting times for the cannabis industry," Yi said via email. "As marijuana becomes more mainstream, we expect to see all kinds of innovations in the sector. That’s the beauty of opening up the space to legitimate commerce. You invite creative minds from other sectors to apply their ideas into this space. Whether any single innovation sticks will be up to consumers and regulators to decide, but ideas should always be welcome."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxbbHwGrT8g

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Cannabis Doesn't Ruin Lives, Big Pharma Does

Although pharmaceutical companies have the most to lose from the legalization of marijuana, no company has taken it as far as Insys Therapeutics (INSY); the company responsible for developing and oversubscribing a fentanyl spray that resulted in hundreds of deaths and overdoses.

In 2016, the disgraced pharmaceutical company donated $500,000 to promote opposition to Arizona’s recreational marijuana ballot initiative.

11 Execs Arrested for Overprescribing and Kickback Schemes

Last year, 11 former executives and managers were arrested and charged with conspiring to defraud health insurers and bribe doctors in exchange for prescribing Subsys. Several physicians who received speaking fees from Insys were also disciplined or arrested for their role in the scheme.

Insys’ ex-CEO Michael Babich was arrested and charged as part of the scandal. As CEO, he sold more than $30 million worth of INSY stock and was paid more than $10 million in accelerated stock options and cash as part of his severance package.

Heather Alfonso was arrested for her part in the scheme. In 2012, she was among the top 10 Schedule II prescribers in the country. In 2013, Alfonso was the top prescriber in Connecticut, writing $2.7 million in prescriptions. Insys also paid her about $1,000 per event to speak at more than 70 dinner programs.

In 2015, Dr. Gavin Awerbuch was also arrested after federal prosecutors said he defrauded Medicare of $7 million and improperly prescribed Subsys to patients. Dr. Jerrold Rosenberg, was also reprimanded for inappropriately prescribing Subsys and other painkillers.

Pill Mills are the Real Problem

Painkillers have become a serious issue in the United States. During the past 15 years, there has been tremendous growth in both the sales of prescription opiates and the number of people who die each year from abusing them.

After Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly addressed the current war on drugs and said that cannabis was “not a factor” in the United States’ current fight against narcotics. Kelly quickly reversed his stance and the next day said that marijuana is a potentially dangerous gateway drug that frequently leads to the use of harder drugs.

Read the rest of the article
https://technical420.com/cannabis-artic ... harma-does

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Legalizing Marijuana: What Does This Mean?

Perhaps more people know of marijuana because of the stigma surrounding it and its users. But that was then. Now, as more and more people are learning about the benefits that marijuana can provide, its popularity as medical substance has increased. This time, an increasing number of people are starting to ask for its use to be legalized not just in the medical aspect, but also for recreational purposes. Indeed, studies have shown a downward trend of the percentage of people who voted against the legalization of marijuana with an inversely upward trend of those who voted for it to be legalized. It’s still an ongoing debate, but what does legalizing marijuana entail?

State Law vs. Federal Law

To put it simply, states can choose how they want to address marijuana. Having a law that prohibits the use of marijuana is not allowed as it can be considered as coercion, which goes against the 10th Amendment. Instead, states have the option to set up marijuana-related laws, or have none at all, and it varies from one state to another. Legalization of marijuana use on the state level means that you can’t get ticketed, arrested, or convicted just for using marijuana so long as you follow the state laws governing the age, area, and amount of consumption of this substance.

Federal law is a different story, though. Under federal law, marijuana is treated like all other controlled substances like heroin and cocaine. It’s viewed as having no medical value, and highly addictive at that, hence, its possession, sale, production, and use are considered illegal and can come with criminal liabilities. Between state law and federal law, it’s the latter that wins. So legalizing marijuana entails more than just a state passing its approval on its use within their states boundaries and state laws.

International Treaties

Lastly, there are existing international conventions that hover over the United States government’s stand on legalizing marijuana. The United States agreed to such a convention which requires it to limit the use of marijuana due to its potential of being dependence-producing.

Public Support

A quick look at recent surveys shows that public support for the nationwide legalization of marijuana has been increasing. In fact, poll results show that more than half the country voted in favor of marijuana legalization. Additionally, there have been proposals submitted by several members of Congress calling to legalizing marijuana nationwide. Although such proposals have been raised before to no success so there’s no assurance that the laws prohibiting marijuana will be reformed any time soon.

Employment Consideration

There is also the issue with employment when it comes to talks on legalizing marijuana. Different types of companies are being required to have their employees under drug tests, and compliance could earn these companies additional benefits. But more than just the benefits, these tests which involve blood collection and possibly marijuana drug test kits are conducted to weed out those who use prohibited or controlled substances. By doing so, they can be recommended to undergo intervention, or if found out during the job application process, are not hired at all. This is a safety measure, intended to keep the company’s employees, the community, and the company itself safe from the negative effects that marijuana might bring about. Legalizing marijuana actually goes against that, since legalizing its use both medically and for recreational purposes won’t discourage people from using cannabis.

For marijuana to be completely legalized in the United States, both the state governments and federal government would have to make certain necessary changes. The thing to remember, though, is that while state governments can change or completely repeal their own marijuana laws, it still won’t change the federal law that concerns marijuana. Nonetheless, if this is going to pass through the law and have it legalized, there’ll be no more drug testing or criminal issues under the use of marijuana.

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Medical marijuana middlemen in Canada: How specialty clinics cash in on legal prescriptions

Across Canada, specialty medical clinics are making money within the government's legal medical marijuana regime by acting as middlemen between doctors, patients and licensed marijuana producers.

The clinics are in the business of taking referrals from doctors and arranging consultations with physicians who assess potential patients and write prescriptions for those who qualify. Clinic staff then educate those patients on how to use medical marijuana, and register them with the licensed medical marijuana producers who will ultimately provide the patients with legal cannabis by mail.

Some of the clinics also receive money from those licensed producers, raising questions about medical ethics and transparency.

The clinics are needed to bridge the gap between patients who could benefit from medical marijuana and doctors who are hesitant to prescribe it, according to patient advocate Jonathan Zaid, executive director of Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana.

"Each clinic operates a bit differently, but a well-operated medical cannabis clinic plays an important role for patient access, especially considering many physicians still feel uncomfortable authorizing medical cannabis," he said.

How one clinic business works

Canadian Cannabis Clinics has 17 locations in Ontario and two in Alberta. It opened its first clinic in St. Catharines, Ont., in 2014.

"The response was overwhelming, because there was a very strong pent-up demand both from patients as well as from local physicians who had patients who wanted medical cannabis but were unable to assist them," said Ronan Levy, the company's chief corporate officer and general counsel.

A Canadian Cannabis Clinics location on Danforth Avenue in Toronto. (Doug Husby/CBC News)

He said patient assessments at Canadian Cannabis Clinics are performed by physicians who work as independent contractors. Those doctors bill provincial health insurance programs for their consultations, and the clinic takes a percentage of that billing to cover administrative costs.

"We make money like any other medical clinic," he said.

If a patient is given a prescription for medical marijuana, clinic staff help them register directly with a licensed producer, then educate the patient about how to use medical cannabis.

Money from licensed producers

Levy said Canadian Cannabis Clinics has contracts with 12 licensed producers, which pay a separate counselling service called CanvasRx that educates patients within the clinics. CanvasRx was previously owned by Canadian Cannabis Clinics, but was spun off and purchased by licensed producer Aurora Cannabis in 2016.

Despite those relationships with producers, Levy said patients can choose any licensed producer they wish.

"But if you happen to register with one of the licensed producers for which we have a contractual arrangement, that licensed producer would pay CanvasRx a fee for that patient."

Under Health Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, a patient can only be registered with one licensed producer at a time. According to Health Canada, 142,541 medical marijuana clients were registered with licensed producers as of Jan. 31, 2017.

Seeking growth among veterans, professionals

CannaConnect, another clinic business, takes a targeted approach to finding new patients.

"Veterans [have] become a big focal point for us over the last 12 to 18 months," said CEO Lee Grossman. "I'd say we're the second-largest medical cannabis clinic geared towards veterans in the country."

His company has opened locations in towns and cities with military bases, like Fredericton and Petawawa, Ont.

Promotional materials, including empty containers used to hold medical marijuana grown by licensed producers, is seen on display at a CannaConnect office in downtown Toronto. (CannaConnect)

CannaConnect recently opened a location on the 25th floor of a Bay Street office tower in downtown Toronto to serve the area's white-collar workers.

"These are people living with high-stress jobs," Grossman said. "A lot of stress, anxiety, sleeping issues, and they're often self-medicating on their own without a prescription, so here's a legal option for them to actually obtain a prescription above board."

CannaConnect receives educational grants from licensed medical marijuana producers, and refers clients to what Grossman called "a curated list of recommended producers," although clients are free to choose their own licensed producer.

CannaConnect's physicians are compensated as consultants, usually at an hourly rate, said Grossman. They are not paid on a per-patient basis.

The educational funding provided by licensed producers helps patients navigate a complex system, said Mark Zekulin, president of Canopy Growth Corporation, which owns multiple licensed producers and is Canada's largest legal medical marijuana company by market capitalization.

"At the end of the day, there is this gap with patients understanding what to do and where to go and how to do it," he said.

Selling patient data

Canabo Medical Corp., a publicly traded company based in Halifax that operates Cannabinoid Medical Clinics across Canada, also uses doctors to assess patients and write their prescriptions, then refers the patients to an educator who helps them choose a licensed producer. Those educators don't receive any funding from licensed producers and "are not directed in any way" to refer patients to a certain producer, said Dr. Neil Smith, executive chairman of Canabo.

"We don't get a kickback from the licensed producer based on whether we get them a script or not," Smith said.

Instead, Canabo collects patient information in a detailed database, then sells the anonymized data to licensed producers who use it for market research purposes, as well as insurance companies.

'Serious ethical concern'

One medical ethicist said he has "some serious ethical concern" about how these clinics operate.

"The clinics that are running don't have any clear oversight," said Kerry Bowman, an assistant professor of bioethics at the University of Toronto.

"You've got a lack of transparency, you potentially have conflict of interest, and you potentially have kickbacks," he said.

"I don't want to paint everyone with the same brush. There may well be clinics out there that are really acting in the best interests of patients, but it's hard to be sure."

Jonathan Zaid of Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana believes the clinics should be fully transparent with patients about any money they receive from licensed producers. He recommends prospective patients do some research before choosing a clinic.

"I've heard reports of clinics charging very excessive fees, or not adequately serving patients' needs," he said. "It's important to ensure they provide adequate followup care, as well as not restricting [patients] to a limited list of licensed producers."

http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/27 ... cash-legal