New Form Of Medical Marijuana Helps Treat Kids With Epilepsy
A new strain of marijuana containing high levels of cannabidiol, or CBD, may be the answer to treating various medical conditions, including epilepsy, schizophrenia, and cancer. Scientists think this new form has some very important health benefits, while not getting the user high.
Marijuana is made up of two major substances, cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The two chemicals have a specific and simple relationship in the marijuana plant: the higher the CBD, the lower the THC, and vice versa.
The THC in cannabis creates the infamous mind-altering effects, not CBD. With a low amount of THC, the new form of high-CBD marijuana is ideal for medical purposes, especially since most patients do not want the high associated with THC.
Since a user does not get “buzzed” by the substance, marijuana containing high levels of CBD has helped alleviate many of the political, legal, and medical concerns of legalizing the plant for medical purposes. With a lower threat of criticism and potential legal ramifications, this has encouraged many cannabis growers to produce marijuana plants with high levels of CBD specifically for the medical community.
Some cannabis growers cultivating new strain of medical marijuana. [Image by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images]
Martin Lee, the director of a nonprofit organization named Project CBD, believes CBD can help change the negative perception of medical cannabis, according to a Washington Post report.
“CBD has been a game-changer for medical marijuana. Its safety and lack of psychoactivity undermines any argument that it should be illegal. It’s really shifted the national discussion on this issue.”
Despite some concerns from pediatricians and lawmakers, thousands of kids nationwide use medical marijuana to help relieve symptoms of various health conditions. As of yet, there are no national laws that address how medical cannabis should be used to treat children.
For most of his young life, Jackson Leyden had no health issues and acted like most 8-year-old kids. Yet, in 2011, he suddenly started having multiple seizures everyday. While most were minor, lasting only a few seconds, some episodes were severe enough to cause collapse and injury. From 2011 to 2013, Jackson was in the hospital nearly four dozen times.
Multiple doctors tried to help, prescribing various medications, but nothing seemed to stop the seizures. In 2014, Jackson’s parents tried something new – medical marijuana.
Jackson’s mother, Lisa, was amazed by the results.
“Within a few days, he was having hardly any seizures. I was shocked.”
Now 13-years-old, Jackson still uses medical marijuana for treatment. The number and intensity of his seizures has fallen dramatically from nearly 200 a month to less than 10.
In recent years, scientists have seen great potential in CBD, especially with epilepsy research. A recent study conducted by New York University neurologists Orrin Devinsky and Daniel Friedman found patients taking CBD had 39 percent fewer seizures than others who continued their traditional drug routine.
Despite federal restrictions, high-CBD marijuana still being researched as a possible epilepsy treatment. [Image by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images]
While much more research is needed to determine if high-CBD cannabis does make a difference, many patients are eager to get their hands on it.
“If other drugs don’t work, it’s certainly reasonable to try this,” Devinsky said.
Other potential medical benefits of cannabis containing high levels of CBD include relief of symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. While most research has been done on lab mice, a German study four years ago found giving CBD to schizophrenic patients significantly reduced hallucinations and episodes of confusion.
The treatment of cancer is another area where the new strain of marijuana might help. Researchers Sean McAllister and Pierre Desprez with the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute discovered CBD can effectively block cancer cells from metastasizing.
Even though the high-CBD marijuana strain does not get a user high, it is still illegal under federal law. As a result, very restrictive laws limit most research of the drug and discourage many scientists from even trying. According to Devinsky, getting government approval to study CBD for epilepsy is a lengthy process that requires “dozens of hours of extra work.”
Currently, 29 states have legalized medical marijuana in some form. An additional 15 states allow low-THC, high-CBD cannabis for treatment of various medical ailments.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/01/02 ... s-epilepsy
News in English 2017
Alueen säännöt
Politiikka ja media
Tämä alue on tarkoitettu kannabis- ja päihdepolitiikasta keskusteluun.
Alue on erittäin tiukasti moderoitu; lue ohjeet ennen kirjoittamista. Alueelle kuulumattomat keskustelut siirretään Tuhkakuppiin.
Kirjoita viestisi asialliseen ulkoasuun. Ylläpidolla on oikeus muuttaa epäasiallisen viestin sisältöä tai poistaa viesti.
Politiikka ja media
Tämä alue on tarkoitettu kannabis- ja päihdepolitiikasta keskusteluun.
Alue on erittäin tiukasti moderoitu; lue ohjeet ennen kirjoittamista. Alueelle kuulumattomat keskustelut siirretään Tuhkakuppiin.
Kirjoita viestisi asialliseen ulkoasuun. Ylläpidolla on oikeus muuttaa epäasiallisen viestin sisältöä tai poistaa viesti.
Re: News in English 2017
Fibromyalgia: Pain Management with Cannabis proved superior than Big Pharma Drugs
Being diagnosed with fibromyalgia means that you can say goodbye to any semblance of a normal life. It is a serious debilitating condition characterized by constant muscle pain and fatigue, symptoms which are usually accompanied by headaches, difficulty sleeping, and widespread joint pains. Because of the severity of the condition, people with fibromyalgia also tend to suffer from anxiety and depression. If you spend most of your days dealing with extreme pain and fatigue, you just won’t have the energy to do things you enjoy. The fatigue can be so debilitating that for many patients still feel tired even after sleeping 10 hours a night. That’s if they’re lucky: many patients suffer so much from fibromyalgia symptoms that falling and staying asleep becomes difficult.
The exact cause of fibromyalgia remains unknown, although the medical community agrees that it could be because of several factors including genetics, infection, or physical and emotional trauma. People who already have rheumatic conditions, such as diseases of the bones, joints, and muscles, are at higher risk for developing fibromyalgia.
There is no cure for fibromyalgia, although the treatments prescribed to patients are focused on minimizing the pain and getting enough self-care (physical therapy, bed rest, and exercise in mild cases). Patients are often given pain medications, anti-depressants, and anti-seizure drugs, all of which can have serious side effects later on. In addition, consuming more painkillers only worsens the existing overdose problem that we already have. With 5 million people American adults diagnosed with fibromyalgia, it’
According to the National Pain Foundation and the National Pain Report, the FDA has only approved three medications to treat fibromyalgia. These pharmaceutical treatments can only make things worse for patients, considering all their side effects:
1.Cymbalta: nausea, fatigue, constipation, drowsiness, diarrhea, headaches, insomnia, restlessness, decreased appetite
2.Lyrica: constipation, infections, headache, dizziness, ataxia, tremors, fatigue, vertigo, difficulty thinking, speech disturbance, cognitive dysfunctions, twitching, edema
3.Savella: dizziness, hot flashes, insomnia, constipation, increased pulse, hypertension, palpitations, migraines
Pharmaceutical companies are earning millions of dollars from the sale of these drugs alone. But are they really helping patients? The same report discusses the results of a survey conducted in 2014, which consisted of more than 1,300 fibromyalgia patients. Nearly a third of participants said that they’ve tried medical marijuana to ease their symptoms, and 62% said that it was “very effective”.
On the other hand, only 8-10% said that Cymbalta, Lyrica, or Savella were “very effective”.
No wonder big pharma continues to fight legalization…
In a 2011 observational trial of 28 users and non-users in Spain, the participants reported beneficial effects after using cannabis to address fibromyalgia symptoms especially when it came to muscle and pain relief. According to the study’s authors: “Patients used cannabis not only to alleviate pain but for almost all symptoms associated to FM, and no one reported worsening of symptoms following cannabis use. … Significant relief of pain, stiffness, relaxation, somnolence, and perception of well-being, evaluated by VAS (visual analogue scales) before and two hours after cannabis self-administration was observed.” In addition, participants who used cannabis also had better mental health scores compared to the non-users. The researchers added, “The present results together with previous evidence seem to confirm the beneficial effects of cannabinoids on FM
symptoms.”
Medical marijuana is effective in treating the severe pain associated with fibromyalgia. This is because of the plant’s miraculous analgesic qualities. Although clinical trials are still limited because of the prohibition, there is a significant amount of anecdotal evidence about cannabis and its pain-relieving qualities.
Aside from treating pain, there are many other reasons why cannabis is such a potent and beneficial medicine for those suffering from fibromyalgia. Cannabis can also help patients sleep better. Sleep is elusive for many people living with fibromyalgia. Because this is such a common problem, many agree that difficulty sleeping combined with muscle and joint pain are the distinctive characteristics of fibromyalgia. Smoking a quality indica strain can help you relax, reduce pain, and enjoy deep restful sleep. Getting enough shut-eye isn’t just important for health; it can impact fibromyalgia patients even more because interruptions in the sleep cycle make the pain much worse.
Cannabis can also help reduce the tightness and muscle spasms that typically accompany fibromyalgia. Many studies over the past few years have proven how effective cannabis is at reducing muscle spasms, which can happen even while you’re sleeping. Cannabis can also be a great help in addressing the depression. Toking up will do wonders for your body and even put a smile on your face. Thanks to cannabis, a former debilitating condition like fibromyalgia can now be a thing of the past (and goodbye to painkillers!)
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/01/06 ... arma-drugs
Being diagnosed with fibromyalgia means that you can say goodbye to any semblance of a normal life. It is a serious debilitating condition characterized by constant muscle pain and fatigue, symptoms which are usually accompanied by headaches, difficulty sleeping, and widespread joint pains. Because of the severity of the condition, people with fibromyalgia also tend to suffer from anxiety and depression. If you spend most of your days dealing with extreme pain and fatigue, you just won’t have the energy to do things you enjoy. The fatigue can be so debilitating that for many patients still feel tired even after sleeping 10 hours a night. That’s if they’re lucky: many patients suffer so much from fibromyalgia symptoms that falling and staying asleep becomes difficult.
The exact cause of fibromyalgia remains unknown, although the medical community agrees that it could be because of several factors including genetics, infection, or physical and emotional trauma. People who already have rheumatic conditions, such as diseases of the bones, joints, and muscles, are at higher risk for developing fibromyalgia.
There is no cure for fibromyalgia, although the treatments prescribed to patients are focused on minimizing the pain and getting enough self-care (physical therapy, bed rest, and exercise in mild cases). Patients are often given pain medications, anti-depressants, and anti-seizure drugs, all of which can have serious side effects later on. In addition, consuming more painkillers only worsens the existing overdose problem that we already have. With 5 million people American adults diagnosed with fibromyalgia, it’
According to the National Pain Foundation and the National Pain Report, the FDA has only approved three medications to treat fibromyalgia. These pharmaceutical treatments can only make things worse for patients, considering all their side effects:
1.Cymbalta: nausea, fatigue, constipation, drowsiness, diarrhea, headaches, insomnia, restlessness, decreased appetite
2.Lyrica: constipation, infections, headache, dizziness, ataxia, tremors, fatigue, vertigo, difficulty thinking, speech disturbance, cognitive dysfunctions, twitching, edema
3.Savella: dizziness, hot flashes, insomnia, constipation, increased pulse, hypertension, palpitations, migraines
Pharmaceutical companies are earning millions of dollars from the sale of these drugs alone. But are they really helping patients? The same report discusses the results of a survey conducted in 2014, which consisted of more than 1,300 fibromyalgia patients. Nearly a third of participants said that they’ve tried medical marijuana to ease their symptoms, and 62% said that it was “very effective”.
On the other hand, only 8-10% said that Cymbalta, Lyrica, or Savella were “very effective”.
No wonder big pharma continues to fight legalization…
In a 2011 observational trial of 28 users and non-users in Spain, the participants reported beneficial effects after using cannabis to address fibromyalgia symptoms especially when it came to muscle and pain relief. According to the study’s authors: “Patients used cannabis not only to alleviate pain but for almost all symptoms associated to FM, and no one reported worsening of symptoms following cannabis use. … Significant relief of pain, stiffness, relaxation, somnolence, and perception of well-being, evaluated by VAS (visual analogue scales) before and two hours after cannabis self-administration was observed.” In addition, participants who used cannabis also had better mental health scores compared to the non-users. The researchers added, “The present results together with previous evidence seem to confirm the beneficial effects of cannabinoids on FM
symptoms.”
Medical marijuana is effective in treating the severe pain associated with fibromyalgia. This is because of the plant’s miraculous analgesic qualities. Although clinical trials are still limited because of the prohibition, there is a significant amount of anecdotal evidence about cannabis and its pain-relieving qualities.
Aside from treating pain, there are many other reasons why cannabis is such a potent and beneficial medicine for those suffering from fibromyalgia. Cannabis can also help patients sleep better. Sleep is elusive for many people living with fibromyalgia. Because this is such a common problem, many agree that difficulty sleeping combined with muscle and joint pain are the distinctive characteristics of fibromyalgia. Smoking a quality indica strain can help you relax, reduce pain, and enjoy deep restful sleep. Getting enough shut-eye isn’t just important for health; it can impact fibromyalgia patients even more because interruptions in the sleep cycle make the pain much worse.
Cannabis can also help reduce the tightness and muscle spasms that typically accompany fibromyalgia. Many studies over the past few years have proven how effective cannabis is at reducing muscle spasms, which can happen even while you’re sleeping. Cannabis can also be a great help in addressing the depression. Toking up will do wonders for your body and even put a smile on your face. Thanks to cannabis, a former debilitating condition like fibromyalgia can now be a thing of the past (and goodbye to painkillers!)
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/01/06 ... arma-drugs
Re: News in English 2017
Study Finds That Life-Long Marijuana Users are Healthy
Long-term cannabis use does not seem to lead to a decline in overall physical health, though decades of smoking the sweet leaf could contribute to periodontal disease, a significant new study finds.
In a study of nearly 1,000 New Zealanders tracked over 40 years, people reporting nearly 20 years of consistent pot smoking did not show any signs of a decline in lung function, high blood pressure, diabetes, or any other deterioration of physical health.
In fact, the only negative consequence researchers say was present in heavy cannabis smokers as opposed to non-smokers was more gum disease.
“We can see the physical health effects of tobacco smoking in this study, but we don’t see similar effects for cannabis smoking,” said lead study author Madeline Meier, assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University.
This means while choosing to smoke cannabis as a preferred method of consumption may bring about some oral health problems over an extended period of time (researchers noticed this happening to people between the ages of 26 and 38) there is no evidence to suggest that smoking weed on a regular basis, even if that means decades of daily use, has the potential to sabotage one’s health in a similar manner to that of long-term use of tobacco.
“What we’re seeing is that cannabis may be harmful in some respects, but possibly not in every way,” says study co-author Avshalom Caspi, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. “We need to recognise that heavy recreational cannabis use does have some adverse consequences, but overall damage to physical health is not apparent in this study.”
Interestingly, in countries that have legalised cannabis for medical purposes, some insurance companies have already begun to separate those who use cannabis from the same rank as their tobacco toking counterparts — classifying patients who smoke weed for therapeutic purposes as “non-smokers” — because research has shown cannabis and tobacco, while typically consumed through the same process, are actually very different when it comes to their individual effects on human health.
In a move that is being praised by medical cannabis patients all across Canada, BMO and Sun Life recently announced that they would no longer require cannabis users to select the “smokers” box on their respective life insurance questionnaires — a move that could save many of those participating in the northern nation’s medical cannabis program up to 50 percent on their insurance premiums.
“In our industry, we keep up to date with medical studies and companies update their underwriting guidelines accordingly,” Sun Life said in a statement. “As a result, people who use marijuana are now assessed … at non-smoker rates, unless they also use tobacco.”
Insurance experts say the insurers’ decision to no longer classify cannabis users as smokers is a sharp signal from the bowels of the corporate world that cannabis is, without a doubt, safer than tobacco. Otherwise, neither company would have dared take such a bold leap. After all, they are in the business of expanding the bottom line, not to make moral judgments or take any sort of political stance that could jeopardise the financial standings of shareholders.
“What this tells me is that they have done their research, examined the evidence and concluded that the patterns of risk associated with typical cannabis use is much lower than that of typical tobacco use,” Paul Groontendorst, rector of the division of social and administrative pharmacy in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, told reporters.
At the core of the entire debate surrounding whether cannabis is as dangerous as tobacco is a disease that is expected to kill around 595,690 people in the United States this year — cancer.
Last week, researchers at the University of Western Australia published an outlandish paper in the journal of Mutation Research that suggested people who smoke weed were altering their DNA in such a way that could cause their children to have cancer in the early years of their life. The study, overseen by Associate Professor Stuart Reece and Professor Gary Hulse from UWA’s School of Psychiatry and Clinical Sciences, said: “Even if a mother has never used cannabis in her life, the mutations passed on by a father’s sperm can cause serious and fatal illnesses in their children.”
Come to find out, the researchers in the study never conducted any tests to arrive at this shocking conclusion — the entire basis for the research was a review of other studies. Cannabinoids experts quickly came out in opposition of the two scientist’s findings, arguing that their report was “based on a foundation of falsehoods.” Although previous research has concluded that other drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, have the potential to damage DNA, Dr. Ethan Russo, former Senior Medical Advisor for GW Pharmaceuticals said the smoking-weed-will-give-your-kids-cancer study is missing so many critical variables that it would be irresponsible to entertain their report as anything other than modern day reefer madness.
So, while there may be evidence smoking cannabis for decades is hard on your gums, it appears that even the habitual user can sleep soundly tonight knowing their longtime love affair with the herb is not likely to chisel their or anybody else’s tombstone.
http://medicalsecrets.com/study-finds-l ... s-healthy/
Long-term cannabis use does not seem to lead to a decline in overall physical health, though decades of smoking the sweet leaf could contribute to periodontal disease, a significant new study finds.
In a study of nearly 1,000 New Zealanders tracked over 40 years, people reporting nearly 20 years of consistent pot smoking did not show any signs of a decline in lung function, high blood pressure, diabetes, or any other deterioration of physical health.
In fact, the only negative consequence researchers say was present in heavy cannabis smokers as opposed to non-smokers was more gum disease.
“We can see the physical health effects of tobacco smoking in this study, but we don’t see similar effects for cannabis smoking,” said lead study author Madeline Meier, assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University.
This means while choosing to smoke cannabis as a preferred method of consumption may bring about some oral health problems over an extended period of time (researchers noticed this happening to people between the ages of 26 and 38) there is no evidence to suggest that smoking weed on a regular basis, even if that means decades of daily use, has the potential to sabotage one’s health in a similar manner to that of long-term use of tobacco.
“What we’re seeing is that cannabis may be harmful in some respects, but possibly not in every way,” says study co-author Avshalom Caspi, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. “We need to recognise that heavy recreational cannabis use does have some adverse consequences, but overall damage to physical health is not apparent in this study.”
Interestingly, in countries that have legalised cannabis for medical purposes, some insurance companies have already begun to separate those who use cannabis from the same rank as their tobacco toking counterparts — classifying patients who smoke weed for therapeutic purposes as “non-smokers” — because research has shown cannabis and tobacco, while typically consumed through the same process, are actually very different when it comes to their individual effects on human health.
In a move that is being praised by medical cannabis patients all across Canada, BMO and Sun Life recently announced that they would no longer require cannabis users to select the “smokers” box on their respective life insurance questionnaires — a move that could save many of those participating in the northern nation’s medical cannabis program up to 50 percent on their insurance premiums.
“In our industry, we keep up to date with medical studies and companies update their underwriting guidelines accordingly,” Sun Life said in a statement. “As a result, people who use marijuana are now assessed … at non-smoker rates, unless they also use tobacco.”
Insurance experts say the insurers’ decision to no longer classify cannabis users as smokers is a sharp signal from the bowels of the corporate world that cannabis is, without a doubt, safer than tobacco. Otherwise, neither company would have dared take such a bold leap. After all, they are in the business of expanding the bottom line, not to make moral judgments or take any sort of political stance that could jeopardise the financial standings of shareholders.
“What this tells me is that they have done their research, examined the evidence and concluded that the patterns of risk associated with typical cannabis use is much lower than that of typical tobacco use,” Paul Groontendorst, rector of the division of social and administrative pharmacy in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, told reporters.
At the core of the entire debate surrounding whether cannabis is as dangerous as tobacco is a disease that is expected to kill around 595,690 people in the United States this year — cancer.
Last week, researchers at the University of Western Australia published an outlandish paper in the journal of Mutation Research that suggested people who smoke weed were altering their DNA in such a way that could cause their children to have cancer in the early years of their life. The study, overseen by Associate Professor Stuart Reece and Professor Gary Hulse from UWA’s School of Psychiatry and Clinical Sciences, said: “Even if a mother has never used cannabis in her life, the mutations passed on by a father’s sperm can cause serious and fatal illnesses in their children.”
Come to find out, the researchers in the study never conducted any tests to arrive at this shocking conclusion — the entire basis for the research was a review of other studies. Cannabinoids experts quickly came out in opposition of the two scientist’s findings, arguing that their report was “based on a foundation of falsehoods.” Although previous research has concluded that other drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, have the potential to damage DNA, Dr. Ethan Russo, former Senior Medical Advisor for GW Pharmaceuticals said the smoking-weed-will-give-your-kids-cancer study is missing so many critical variables that it would be irresponsible to entertain their report as anything other than modern day reefer madness.
So, while there may be evidence smoking cannabis for decades is hard on your gums, it appears that even the habitual user can sleep soundly tonight knowing their longtime love affair with the herb is not likely to chisel their or anybody else’s tombstone.
http://medicalsecrets.com/study-finds-l ... s-healthy/
Re: News in English 2017
DEA Removes Marijuana Misinformation from Website After Months of Public, Legal Pressure
Americans for Safe Access Says Not Good Enough, Still in Violation of IQA
WASHINGTON DC — After months of public pressure, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has removed factually inaccurate information from its website. The change comes after Americans for Safe Access, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring safe and legal access to medical cannabis for therapeutic use and research, filed a legal request with the Department of Justice last year demanding that the DEA immediately update and remove factually inaccurate information about cannabis from their website and materials.
Americans for Safe Access argued that the more than 25 false statements on the DEA’s website about cannabis constituted a violation of the Information Quality Act (IQA, aka Data Quality Act) which requires that administrative agencies not provide false information to the public and that they respond to requests for correction of information within 60 days.
One publication, “Dangers and Consequences of Marijuana”, contained 23 of the 25 factual inaccuracies in violation of the Information Quality Act. Such inaccuracies included claims that cannabis was a gateway drug, caused irreversible cognitive decline in adults, and contributed to psychosis and lung cancer.
“The DEA’s removal of these popular myths about cannabis from their website could mean the end of the Washington gridlock” said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access. “This is a victory for medical cannabis patients across the nation, who rely on cannabis to treat serious illnesses. The federal government now admits that cannabis is not a gateway drug, and doesn’t cause long-term brain damage, or psychosis. While the fight to end stigma around cannabis is far from over, this is a big first step.”
But the fight is not over. As of February 13th, the government is one week beyond the required deadline to respond to the Americans for Safe Access’ legal petition and the group claims that the DEA is still spreading false information about cannabis.
“We are pleased that in the face of our request the DEA withdrew some of the damaging misinformation from its website” said Vickie Feeman, of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. “However, the DEA continues to disseminate many damaging facts about the health risks of medical cannabis and patients across the country face ongoing harm as a result of these alternative facts. We are hopeful the DEA will also remove the remaining statements rather than continue to mislead the public in the face of the scientifically proven benefits of medical cannabis.”
"If the DEA does not take the necessary action to comply with the binding time lines in the IQA, petitioners can always seek an intervention by OMB as the Department of Justice so informed the court in W. Harkonen v. USDOJ or in the courts as demonstrated in Prime Time v. USDA" stated Jim Tozzi, the father of the Information Quality Act and member of ASA’s Patient Focused Certification Reviewboard.
Americans for Safe Access argues that correcting false information about cannabis is especially important now that the Department of Justice is led by newly-confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions has been a staunch supporter of the DEA and cites their publications and opinions about marijuana to justify his opposition to medical cannabis policy reform. Today, Americans for Safe Access delivered a letter to the DEA explaining:
“It is crucial that the DEA correct it’s inaccurate statements, especially in light of Senator Jeff Sessions’ confirmation as Attorney General of the United States. Attorney General Sessions has made several statements demonstrating his beliefs that cannabis is a gateway drug and that its psychological effects are permanent. These beliefs are verifiably false, as confirmed by the DEA in its “Denial of Petition to Initiate Proceedings to Reschedule Marijuana.”[1] As the top law enforcement official in the nation, Mr. Sessions must have access to accurate information based on current scientific data in order to make informed decisions regarding the enforcement (or non-enforcement) of federal drug laws. Allowing Mr. Sessions to make law enforcement decisions based on biased, out-of-date information does a tremendous disservice to ASA’s members and the American people at large. Therefore, ASA respectfully requests that the DEA respond to its Request, and/or remove the remaining inaccurate statements from its website.”
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/iqa_victory
Americans for Safe Access Says Not Good Enough, Still in Violation of IQA
WASHINGTON DC — After months of public pressure, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has removed factually inaccurate information from its website. The change comes after Americans for Safe Access, a national nonprofit dedicated to ensuring safe and legal access to medical cannabis for therapeutic use and research, filed a legal request with the Department of Justice last year demanding that the DEA immediately update and remove factually inaccurate information about cannabis from their website and materials.
Americans for Safe Access argued that the more than 25 false statements on the DEA’s website about cannabis constituted a violation of the Information Quality Act (IQA, aka Data Quality Act) which requires that administrative agencies not provide false information to the public and that they respond to requests for correction of information within 60 days.
One publication, “Dangers and Consequences of Marijuana”, contained 23 of the 25 factual inaccuracies in violation of the Information Quality Act. Such inaccuracies included claims that cannabis was a gateway drug, caused irreversible cognitive decline in adults, and contributed to psychosis and lung cancer.
“The DEA’s removal of these popular myths about cannabis from their website could mean the end of the Washington gridlock” said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access. “This is a victory for medical cannabis patients across the nation, who rely on cannabis to treat serious illnesses. The federal government now admits that cannabis is not a gateway drug, and doesn’t cause long-term brain damage, or psychosis. While the fight to end stigma around cannabis is far from over, this is a big first step.”
But the fight is not over. As of February 13th, the government is one week beyond the required deadline to respond to the Americans for Safe Access’ legal petition and the group claims that the DEA is still spreading false information about cannabis.
“We are pleased that in the face of our request the DEA withdrew some of the damaging misinformation from its website” said Vickie Feeman, of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. “However, the DEA continues to disseminate many damaging facts about the health risks of medical cannabis and patients across the country face ongoing harm as a result of these alternative facts. We are hopeful the DEA will also remove the remaining statements rather than continue to mislead the public in the face of the scientifically proven benefits of medical cannabis.”
"If the DEA does not take the necessary action to comply with the binding time lines in the IQA, petitioners can always seek an intervention by OMB as the Department of Justice so informed the court in W. Harkonen v. USDOJ or in the courts as demonstrated in Prime Time v. USDA" stated Jim Tozzi, the father of the Information Quality Act and member of ASA’s Patient Focused Certification Reviewboard.
Americans for Safe Access argues that correcting false information about cannabis is especially important now that the Department of Justice is led by newly-confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions has been a staunch supporter of the DEA and cites their publications and opinions about marijuana to justify his opposition to medical cannabis policy reform. Today, Americans for Safe Access delivered a letter to the DEA explaining:
“It is crucial that the DEA correct it’s inaccurate statements, especially in light of Senator Jeff Sessions’ confirmation as Attorney General of the United States. Attorney General Sessions has made several statements demonstrating his beliefs that cannabis is a gateway drug and that its psychological effects are permanent. These beliefs are verifiably false, as confirmed by the DEA in its “Denial of Petition to Initiate Proceedings to Reschedule Marijuana.”[1] As the top law enforcement official in the nation, Mr. Sessions must have access to accurate information based on current scientific data in order to make informed decisions regarding the enforcement (or non-enforcement) of federal drug laws. Allowing Mr. Sessions to make law enforcement decisions based on biased, out-of-date information does a tremendous disservice to ASA’s members and the American people at large. Therefore, ASA respectfully requests that the DEA respond to its Request, and/or remove the remaining inaccurate statements from its website.”
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/iqa_victory
"Ihminen ei usko mihinkään niin lujasti kuin sellaiseen, mistä tietää vähiten."- Michel de Montaigne
Re: News in English 2017
HOUSE BILL TO REMOVE POT FROM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE LIST
On Monday, Rep. Tom Garrett (R-VA) announced the introduction of legislation aimed at decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level.
The ambitiously named “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017” would actually take cannabis off the federal controlled substances list—leaving regulation up to the states and essentially giving the herb the same status as alcohol and tobacco. The bill revives an effort first launched in the Senate by Bernie Sanders in 2015.
Upon introducing the bill, Garrett said in a statement: “I have long believed justice that isn’t blind, isn’t justice. Statistics indicate that minor narcotics crimes disproportionately hurt areas of lower socio-economic status and what I find most troubling is that we continue to keep laws on the books that we do not enforce. Virginia is more than capable of handling its own marijuana policy, as are states such as Colorado or California.”
Garrett added that “this step allows states to determine appropriate medicinal use and allows for industrial hemp growth, something that will provide a major economic boost to agricultural development in Southside Virginia. In the coming weeks, I anticipate introducing legislation aimed at growing the hemp industry in Virginia, something that is long overdue.”
Garrett is, somehwhat ironically, taking the Trump administration’s new hardline Attorney General Jeff Sessions up on his own challenge.
During his confirmation hearings, then-senator Sessions made tough-on-pot noises and told legislators that if they did not like his approach they should change the laws. Garrett says he anticipates bipartisan support for his legislation, which is co-sponsored by Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI).
http://hightimes.com/news/
On Monday, Rep. Tom Garrett (R-VA) announced the introduction of legislation aimed at decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level.
The ambitiously named “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017” would actually take cannabis off the federal controlled substances list—leaving regulation up to the states and essentially giving the herb the same status as alcohol and tobacco. The bill revives an effort first launched in the Senate by Bernie Sanders in 2015.
Upon introducing the bill, Garrett said in a statement: “I have long believed justice that isn’t blind, isn’t justice. Statistics indicate that minor narcotics crimes disproportionately hurt areas of lower socio-economic status and what I find most troubling is that we continue to keep laws on the books that we do not enforce. Virginia is more than capable of handling its own marijuana policy, as are states such as Colorado or California.”
Garrett added that “this step allows states to determine appropriate medicinal use and allows for industrial hemp growth, something that will provide a major economic boost to agricultural development in Southside Virginia. In the coming weeks, I anticipate introducing legislation aimed at growing the hemp industry in Virginia, something that is long overdue.”
Garrett is, somehwhat ironically, taking the Trump administration’s new hardline Attorney General Jeff Sessions up on his own challenge.
During his confirmation hearings, then-senator Sessions made tough-on-pot noises and told legislators that if they did not like his approach they should change the laws. Garrett says he anticipates bipartisan support for his legislation, which is co-sponsored by Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI).
http://hightimes.com/news/
Re: News in English 2017
GERMANY EXPECTS CANNABIS-GROWING PROGRAM TO BE GOING IN 2019
BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say they expect to have a cannabis-growing program up and running in 2019 after the country approved legislation allowing some patients to get the drug as a prescription medication.
Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices said Friday that it’s setting up a “cannabis agency” to oversee the growing program. It plans to solicit bids from throughout the European Union to find companies to run it.
The program’s first cannabis is expected to be available in 2019. Until then, prescriptions will be fulfilled with imported marijuana, which currently comes from the Netherlands and Canada.
The government has stressed Germany’s new rules don’t mean marijuana will be legal for non-medical purposes.
Patients in Germany previously had to seek special authorization to use the drug. About 1,000 people did so.
http://hightimes.com/news/
BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say they expect to have a cannabis-growing program up and running in 2019 after the country approved legislation allowing some patients to get the drug as a prescription medication.
Germany’s Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices said Friday that it’s setting up a “cannabis agency” to oversee the growing program. It plans to solicit bids from throughout the European Union to find companies to run it.
The program’s first cannabis is expected to be available in 2019. Until then, prescriptions will be fulfilled with imported marijuana, which currently comes from the Netherlands and Canada.
The government has stressed Germany’s new rules don’t mean marijuana will be legal for non-medical purposes.
Patients in Germany previously had to seek special authorization to use the drug. About 1,000 people did so.
http://hightimes.com/news/
Re: News in English 2017
French Socialists choose Benoit Hamon as candidate
Benoit Hamon defeats his centrist rival, ex-prime minister Manuel Valls, in a clear victory for the party's left wing.
He also wants to levy taxes on robots, legalise cannabis, introduce stricter rules on chemical products and introduce a new corps of state inspectors to combat discrimination.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/f ... 40684.html
Benoit Hamon defeats his centrist rival, ex-prime minister Manuel Valls, in a clear victory for the party's left wing.
He also wants to levy taxes on robots, legalise cannabis, introduce stricter rules on chemical products and introduce a new corps of state inspectors to combat discrimination.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/f ... 40684.html
Re: News in English 2017
FEDERAL AGENCY STOPS ASKING IF MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS REAL
Earlier this month, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) updated its web page on medical marijuana. The change is subtle, but significant.
For several years, NIDA’s primer on medical cannabis started with a fundamental question: “Is marijuana medicine?” before diving into the ensuing discussion. The conclusion one could draw, without reading a word further, was that nobody was really sure one way or the other; the question was an open one.
Since then, a majority of states across the country have gone ahead and answered with a resounding “Yes.”
This was before the National Academy of Sciences published its landmark review in January, in which it found “conclusive” evidence of cannabis’s efficacy as a medicine for certain medical conditions—with some very suggestive evidence, unproven for lack of research, for its value in other ailments.
Whether it was red states like Arkansas and North Dakota embracing cannabis or a massive gang of scientists too large to ignore, NIDA has stopped asking the question—at least on its official web resource.
Instead of asking “Is Marijuana Medicine?,” as it has since the last revision in July 2015, the official DrugFacts page on cannabis, updated in March 2017, now leads with the declaration “Marijuana as Medicine.”
Other changes include further information on synthetic marijuana, which has exploded in popularity, potency and as a public-health menace over the past year. The NIDA page now also includes a warning for pregnant women considering whether to use cannabis to soothe morning-sickness-induced nausea.
Even that note is shockingly positive, considering the source: NIDA declares that there is “no research that shows that this practice is safe,” and encourages women to check with their doctors before taking cannabis during pregnancy.
As we wrote earlier this year, NIDA is relying on some flawed studies to declare cannabis a health risk to developing fetuses—some research involved mothers who also drank alcohol or used tobacco while pregnant—but on the whole, the agency cannot be faulted for publishing what is a mostly sober and straightforward summation of the facts.
But back to the main point—the loss of a question mark.
Can the change in headline be interpreted as tacit admission from NIDA and its parent agencies that it’s now beyond doubt that marijuana is medicine? Keep in mind that Tom Price is America’s health secretary. As a member of Congress, Price was a reliable vote and voice against accepting cannabis’s legitimacy as a medical treatment—and Price is now NIDA’s ultimate decider.
Perhaps this is the act of some NIDA staffer before the Trump axe falls. Or perhaps we’ve reached the point where nobody, not even the federal government, can deny the obvious.
www.hightimes.com/news 20.3.2017
Earlier this month, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) updated its web page on medical marijuana. The change is subtle, but significant.
For several years, NIDA’s primer on medical cannabis started with a fundamental question: “Is marijuana medicine?” before diving into the ensuing discussion. The conclusion one could draw, without reading a word further, was that nobody was really sure one way or the other; the question was an open one.
Since then, a majority of states across the country have gone ahead and answered with a resounding “Yes.”
This was before the National Academy of Sciences published its landmark review in January, in which it found “conclusive” evidence of cannabis’s efficacy as a medicine for certain medical conditions—with some very suggestive evidence, unproven for lack of research, for its value in other ailments.
Whether it was red states like Arkansas and North Dakota embracing cannabis or a massive gang of scientists too large to ignore, NIDA has stopped asking the question—at least on its official web resource.
Instead of asking “Is Marijuana Medicine?,” as it has since the last revision in July 2015, the official DrugFacts page on cannabis, updated in March 2017, now leads with the declaration “Marijuana as Medicine.”
Other changes include further information on synthetic marijuana, which has exploded in popularity, potency and as a public-health menace over the past year. The NIDA page now also includes a warning for pregnant women considering whether to use cannabis to soothe morning-sickness-induced nausea.
Even that note is shockingly positive, considering the source: NIDA declares that there is “no research that shows that this practice is safe,” and encourages women to check with their doctors before taking cannabis during pregnancy.
As we wrote earlier this year, NIDA is relying on some flawed studies to declare cannabis a health risk to developing fetuses—some research involved mothers who also drank alcohol or used tobacco while pregnant—but on the whole, the agency cannot be faulted for publishing what is a mostly sober and straightforward summation of the facts.
But back to the main point—the loss of a question mark.
Can the change in headline be interpreted as tacit admission from NIDA and its parent agencies that it’s now beyond doubt that marijuana is medicine? Keep in mind that Tom Price is America’s health secretary. As a member of Congress, Price was a reliable vote and voice against accepting cannabis’s legitimacy as a medical treatment—and Price is now NIDA’s ultimate decider.
Perhaps this is the act of some NIDA staffer before the Trump axe falls. Or perhaps we’ve reached the point where nobody, not even the federal government, can deny the obvious.
www.hightimes.com/news 20.3.2017
Audentes fortuna iuvat
Re: News in English 2017
The Best Recipe for Maximizing the Medical Effects of Marijuana
CBD (cannabidiol) is getting a lot of attention these days as the medicinal cannabinoid in marijuana. CBD-only products are all the rage in the ever-expanding medical marijuana market, and CBD-only medical marijuana laws are becoming a favorite resort of red state politicians who want to throw a sop to those clamoring for medical marijuana, but are hesitant to actually embrace the demon weed.
But is CBD the miracle molecule on its own? Or would users benefit from using preparations made from the whole pot plant? Not to knock CBD, which even by itself clearly provides succor for many people, but advocates of "whole plant medicine" make a strong case.
That case is based on the entourage effect, which posits an interactive synergy between the components of the plant, and not just the major cannabinoids, such as THC and CBC, but also the lesser-known but still therapeutically active cannabinoids, such as CBG, CBN, THC-a, and THC-v, and even the terpenoids, the molecules that make pot plants smell and taste lemony (limonene) or piney (pinene), earthy (humulene) or musky (myrcene). The entourage effect suggests that if people want to unlock the full benefits of medical marijuana, they need to be using whole plant medicine.
"CBD and THC seem to work better together. They lessen each other’s side effects," said Eloise Theisen, RN, MSN, director of the American Cannabis Nurses Association.
"CBD has value, but its value can be enhanced with the whole plant and we can develop more individualized medicine," said Mary Lynn Mathre, RN, MSN, and president and co-founder of Patients Out of Time.
And again, it's not just the cannabinoids.
"THC seems to potentiate all the effects of CBD and conversely, CBD affects THC," explained Dr. Perry Solomon, chief medical officer for HelloMD. "Dr. Ethan Russo further supports this theory by demonstrating that non-cannabinoid plant components such as terpenes serve as inhibitors to THC’s intoxicating effects, thereby increasing THC’s therapeutic index. This ‘phytocannabinoid-terpenoid synergy,’ as Russo calls it, increases the potential of cannabis-based medicinal extracts to treat pain, inflammation, fungal and bacterial infections, depression, anxiety, addiction, epilepsy, and even cancer," he said.
"Terpenes act on receptors and neurotransmitters; they are prone to combine with or dissolve in lipids or fats; they act as serotonin uptake inhibitors (similar to antidepressants like Prozac); they enhance norepinephrine activity (similar to tricyclic antidepressants like Elavil); they increase dopamine activity; and they augment GABA (the 'downer' neurotransmitter that counters glutamate, the 'upper')," Solomon continued.
The entourage effect makes whole plant medicine the preferred means of ingesting therapeutic marijuana, the trio agreed.
"I think that any whole plant medicine is more effective than any CBD-only product," said Solomon.
"Whole plant medicine is the only way to go," echoed Theisen.
"It's safer and more effective, and tolerance will develop more slowly—if at all," Mathre concurred.
The traditional method of consuming whole plant marijuana has been to smoke it, but that's not an especially favored route among medical marijuana advocates. And there are other options.
"Vaporization or tinctures of whole plants. Any sort of extraction method that isn’t going to deplete it," said Theisen.
"Delivery methods vary greatly in terms of their efficiency and their effects. I heard a colleague say that smoking a joint for therapeutic effect is akin to opening your mouth in the rain to get a drink of water," said Constance Finley, founder and CEO of Constance Therapeutics. "Our preferred methods are buccal (cheek) ingestion or sublingual ingestion, vaping from a vaporizer or vape pen whose hardware is safe to use with cannabis extracts, and topical for additional localized impact."
With whole plant superior to single-cannabinoid preparations, people living in states that have only passed CBD-only laws are not able to enjoy the full benefits of medical marijuana. That's a damned shame, said an exasperated Mathre.
"We have lawyers and politicians practicing medicine without a license—they don’t know what they are talking about," she said. "Clearly there may be some patients who need little to no THC, but the vast majority will benefit from it. Patients should have all of the options open to them and research needs to continue to help determine how to best individualize cannabis medicine."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/03/23 ... -marijuana
CBD (cannabidiol) is getting a lot of attention these days as the medicinal cannabinoid in marijuana. CBD-only products are all the rage in the ever-expanding medical marijuana market, and CBD-only medical marijuana laws are becoming a favorite resort of red state politicians who want to throw a sop to those clamoring for medical marijuana, but are hesitant to actually embrace the demon weed.
But is CBD the miracle molecule on its own? Or would users benefit from using preparations made from the whole pot plant? Not to knock CBD, which even by itself clearly provides succor for many people, but advocates of "whole plant medicine" make a strong case.
That case is based on the entourage effect, which posits an interactive synergy between the components of the plant, and not just the major cannabinoids, such as THC and CBC, but also the lesser-known but still therapeutically active cannabinoids, such as CBG, CBN, THC-a, and THC-v, and even the terpenoids, the molecules that make pot plants smell and taste lemony (limonene) or piney (pinene), earthy (humulene) or musky (myrcene). The entourage effect suggests that if people want to unlock the full benefits of medical marijuana, they need to be using whole plant medicine.
"CBD and THC seem to work better together. They lessen each other’s side effects," said Eloise Theisen, RN, MSN, director of the American Cannabis Nurses Association.
"CBD has value, but its value can be enhanced with the whole plant and we can develop more individualized medicine," said Mary Lynn Mathre, RN, MSN, and president and co-founder of Patients Out of Time.
And again, it's not just the cannabinoids.
"THC seems to potentiate all the effects of CBD and conversely, CBD affects THC," explained Dr. Perry Solomon, chief medical officer for HelloMD. "Dr. Ethan Russo further supports this theory by demonstrating that non-cannabinoid plant components such as terpenes serve as inhibitors to THC’s intoxicating effects, thereby increasing THC’s therapeutic index. This ‘phytocannabinoid-terpenoid synergy,’ as Russo calls it, increases the potential of cannabis-based medicinal extracts to treat pain, inflammation, fungal and bacterial infections, depression, anxiety, addiction, epilepsy, and even cancer," he said.
"Terpenes act on receptors and neurotransmitters; they are prone to combine with or dissolve in lipids or fats; they act as serotonin uptake inhibitors (similar to antidepressants like Prozac); they enhance norepinephrine activity (similar to tricyclic antidepressants like Elavil); they increase dopamine activity; and they augment GABA (the 'downer' neurotransmitter that counters glutamate, the 'upper')," Solomon continued.
The entourage effect makes whole plant medicine the preferred means of ingesting therapeutic marijuana, the trio agreed.
"I think that any whole plant medicine is more effective than any CBD-only product," said Solomon.
"Whole plant medicine is the only way to go," echoed Theisen.
"It's safer and more effective, and tolerance will develop more slowly—if at all," Mathre concurred.
The traditional method of consuming whole plant marijuana has been to smoke it, but that's not an especially favored route among medical marijuana advocates. And there are other options.
"Vaporization or tinctures of whole plants. Any sort of extraction method that isn’t going to deplete it," said Theisen.
"Delivery methods vary greatly in terms of their efficiency and their effects. I heard a colleague say that smoking a joint for therapeutic effect is akin to opening your mouth in the rain to get a drink of water," said Constance Finley, founder and CEO of Constance Therapeutics. "Our preferred methods are buccal (cheek) ingestion or sublingual ingestion, vaping from a vaporizer or vape pen whose hardware is safe to use with cannabis extracts, and topical for additional localized impact."
With whole plant superior to single-cannabinoid preparations, people living in states that have only passed CBD-only laws are not able to enjoy the full benefits of medical marijuana. That's a damned shame, said an exasperated Mathre.
"We have lawyers and politicians practicing medicine without a license—they don’t know what they are talking about," she said. "Clearly there may be some patients who need little to no THC, but the vast majority will benefit from it. Patients should have all of the options open to them and research needs to continue to help determine how to best individualize cannabis medicine."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/03/23 ... -marijuana
Re: News in English 2017
The US Government Just Inched Closer To Recognizing Marijuana As Medicine
The U.S. government inched closer to recognizing marijuana as medicine earlier this month when a federal research organization changed its tune on cannabis. The National Institute on Drug Abuse - which controls cannabis research in America - offered a more progressive stance on medical marijuana in a recent update to its webpage.
The title of the NIDA website's section on medical marijuana has been changed from 'Is Marijuana Medicine?' to 'Marijuana as Medicine,' a subtle revision that essentially recognizes the medical value - or at least the medicinal potential of cannabis. The story was first reported by San Francisco-based journalist Chris Roberts.
The revamped site also explains why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn't officially recognized marijuana as medicine yet. "So far, researchers haven't conducted enough large-scale clinical trials that show that the benefits of the marijuana plant (as opposed to its cannabinoid ingredients) outweigh its risks in patients it's meant to treat," according to the site.
The small change in the revised webpage is a big deal because the federal government has lagged behind the states on the issue of cannabis reform for decades. As of today, 29 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized medical marijuana. But cannabis consumption - for medical or recreational purposes - remains federally illegal. And members of the Trump administration like Attorney General Jeff Sessions want to uphold the status quo on cannabis prohibition.
Right now, the federal government's Controlled Substances Act defines cannabis as a substance that is as dangerous and addictive as heroin. So seeing NIDA recognize marijuana's potential as medicine is a big deal. If nothing else, it brings the feds closer to being on the same page as the States when it comes to cannabis. But the federal government doesn't look ready to close the book on cannabis prohibition just yet.
Maybe the new cannabis study promoted by medical marijuana patient and advocate Sir Patrick Stewart will change minds in Congress.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/03/23 ... a-medicine
The U.S. government inched closer to recognizing marijuana as medicine earlier this month when a federal research organization changed its tune on cannabis. The National Institute on Drug Abuse - which controls cannabis research in America - offered a more progressive stance on medical marijuana in a recent update to its webpage.
The title of the NIDA website's section on medical marijuana has been changed from 'Is Marijuana Medicine?' to 'Marijuana as Medicine,' a subtle revision that essentially recognizes the medical value - or at least the medicinal potential of cannabis. The story was first reported by San Francisco-based journalist Chris Roberts.
The revamped site also explains why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn't officially recognized marijuana as medicine yet. "So far, researchers haven't conducted enough large-scale clinical trials that show that the benefits of the marijuana plant (as opposed to its cannabinoid ingredients) outweigh its risks in patients it's meant to treat," according to the site.
The small change in the revised webpage is a big deal because the federal government has lagged behind the states on the issue of cannabis reform for decades. As of today, 29 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized medical marijuana. But cannabis consumption - for medical or recreational purposes - remains federally illegal. And members of the Trump administration like Attorney General Jeff Sessions want to uphold the status quo on cannabis prohibition.
Right now, the federal government's Controlled Substances Act defines cannabis as a substance that is as dangerous and addictive as heroin. So seeing NIDA recognize marijuana's potential as medicine is a big deal. If nothing else, it brings the feds closer to being on the same page as the States when it comes to cannabis. But the federal government doesn't look ready to close the book on cannabis prohibition just yet.
Maybe the new cannabis study promoted by medical marijuana patient and advocate Sir Patrick Stewart will change minds in Congress.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/03/23 ... a-medicine
Re: News in English 2017
EXCLUSIVE | Liberals to announce marijuana will be legal by July 1, 2018
Provinces will have right to decide how marijuana is distributed and sold, CBC News has learned
The Liberal government will announce legislation next month that will legalize marijuana in Canada by July 1, 2018.
CBC News has learned that the legislation will be announced during the week of April 10 and will broadly follow the recommendation of a federally appointed task force that was chaired by former liberal Justice Minister Anne McLellan.
Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief who has been stickhandling the marijuana file for the government, briefed the Liberal caucus on the roll-out plan and the legislation during caucus meetings this weekend.
Provinces to control sales
The federal government will be in charge of making sure the country's marijuana supply is safe and secure and Ottawa will license producers.
But the provinces will have the right to decide how the marijuana is distributed and sold. Provincial governments will also have the right to set price.
While Ottawa will set a minimum age of 18 to buy marijuana, the provinces will have the option of setting a higher age limit if they wish.
4 plants per household
As for Canadians who want to grow their own marijuana, they will be limited to four plants per household.
Legalizing marijuana was one of the more controversial promises Justin Trudeau made as he campaigned to become prime minister.
Highlights from the federal marijuana task force report
What can Canada learn from U.S., Uruguay about selling marijuana?
But in their platform the Liberals said it was necessary to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana" in order to keep drugs "out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals."
The Liberals had promised to introduce legislation by the Spring of 2017. Announcing the legislation the week of April 10 will allow the party to hit that deadline.
Raids raise questions
Trudeau referred again to that rough timetable a few weeks ago when he said the legislation would be introduced before the summer. But at the same time he also warned that it wasn't yet open season for the legal sale of marijuana.
"Until we have a framework to control and regulate marijuana, the current laws apply," Trudeau said in Halifax March 1.
That warning became more concrete a week later, when police in Toronto, Vancouver and other cities carried out raids on marijuana dispensaries and charged several people with possession and trafficking, including noted pot advocates Marc and Jodie Emery.
Trudeau's promise to legalize marijuana was seen as one of the reasons for the Liberals' strong showing among youth voters in the 2015 election.
But at the NDP's leadership debate in Montreal Sunday, which was focused on youth issues, several of the candidates pointed to marijuana legislation as an example of a broken Liberal promise.
"I do not believe Justin Trudeau is going to bring in the legalization of marijuana and as proof that ... we are still seeing, particularly young, Canadians being criminalized by simple possession of marijuana," said B.C. MP Peter Julian.
Provinces will have right to decide how marijuana is distributed and sold, CBC News has learned
The Liberal government will announce legislation next month that will legalize marijuana in Canada by July 1, 2018.
CBC News has learned that the legislation will be announced during the week of April 10 and will broadly follow the recommendation of a federally appointed task force that was chaired by former liberal Justice Minister Anne McLellan.
Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief who has been stickhandling the marijuana file for the government, briefed the Liberal caucus on the roll-out plan and the legislation during caucus meetings this weekend.
Provinces to control sales
The federal government will be in charge of making sure the country's marijuana supply is safe and secure and Ottawa will license producers.
But the provinces will have the right to decide how the marijuana is distributed and sold. Provincial governments will also have the right to set price.
While Ottawa will set a minimum age of 18 to buy marijuana, the provinces will have the option of setting a higher age limit if they wish.
4 plants per household
As for Canadians who want to grow their own marijuana, they will be limited to four plants per household.
Legalizing marijuana was one of the more controversial promises Justin Trudeau made as he campaigned to become prime minister.
Highlights from the federal marijuana task force report
What can Canada learn from U.S., Uruguay about selling marijuana?
But in their platform the Liberals said it was necessary to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana" in order to keep drugs "out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals."
The Liberals had promised to introduce legislation by the Spring of 2017. Announcing the legislation the week of April 10 will allow the party to hit that deadline.
Raids raise questions
Trudeau referred again to that rough timetable a few weeks ago when he said the legislation would be introduced before the summer. But at the same time he also warned that it wasn't yet open season for the legal sale of marijuana.
"Until we have a framework to control and regulate marijuana, the current laws apply," Trudeau said in Halifax March 1.
That warning became more concrete a week later, when police in Toronto, Vancouver and other cities carried out raids on marijuana dispensaries and charged several people with possession and trafficking, including noted pot advocates Marc and Jodie Emery.
Trudeau's promise to legalize marijuana was seen as one of the reasons for the Liberals' strong showing among youth voters in the 2015 election.
But at the NDP's leadership debate in Montreal Sunday, which was focused on youth issues, several of the candidates pointed to marijuana legislation as an example of a broken Liberal promise.
"I do not believe Justin Trudeau is going to bring in the legalization of marijuana and as proof that ... we are still seeing, particularly young, Canadians being criminalized by simple possession of marijuana," said B.C. MP Peter Julian.
-
No Surprises
- Viestit: 93
- Liittynyt: 23.8.2007
Re: Pienet uutiset 2017
Kanadasta uutisia englanniksi.
The wild west of weed: will legalisation work for Canada?
Canada’s current ‘green rush’ makes Amsterdam’s coffeeshops look restrained – but Justin Trudeau hopes to tame it by making recreational cannabis legal
Opposite a bleak government building in suburban Ottawa, Canada, a barebones “cannabis clinic” – with just a cash register, jeweller’s scales and a glass counter – is doing a brisk trade. “Pirate! Muslim! Gangster! Yes! We all smoke!” shouts one teen as he high-fives the owner, Rohmi. He pockets his pungent bag and bounces out, giggling.
On the wall, there’s a menu listing today’s special: moonrocks – buds rolled in cannabis oil then dipped in powdered hash at C$40 (£24) a gram. There are cans of Canna Cola; potent, weed-laced gummy bears; a mound of gooey hashish smelling of dark chocolate, hops and pine resin.
If this is medicine, it’s unclear what the illness is, other than sobriety. It makes an Amsterdam coffeeshop look tame – and it’s this free-for-all, wild-west-of-weed attitude that Canada’s government wants to tame by legalising cannabis during prime minister Justin Trudeau’s first term in office. Laws that will legalise cannabis for recreational use will be announced in the week of 10 April, and will be passed by July 2018, say government sources, making Canada the first G7 country to do so.
Globally, cannabis prohibition is being briskly dismantled, a wave of decriminalisation or legalisation sweeping south through the Americas, with states such as Colorado leading the way. California voted to legalise recreational use in November 2016. The US currently has 29 states offering legal medical marijuana and eight states with legal recreational cannabis markets. Countries including Uruguay, Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Colombia and Chile are either creating legal markets for medicinal cannabis or relaxing rules on possession and cultivation. In the EU, Germany is preparing for imminent full medicinal legalisation, and the Republic of Ireland voted in December 2016 to allow medical use. In the UK, medical marijuana is available in the form of a tincture spray, Sativex, but access is severely limited.
What is different about Canada’s plans to legalise is the scope of the law change – it will be legal, nationally, for anyone over the age of 18 to use cannabis for pleasure next year.
Trudeau told journalists early this month that he wanted to seize the profits of the criminalised market and use the income to help those with drug problems. But his main aim in legalising the drug was to make it harder for children to get hold of it, arguing that alcohol laws showed that proper controls and regulations work. “It’s easier for a teenager to buy a joint right now than a bottle of beer, and it’s not right,” he said. “We know by controlling and regulating it, we are going to make it more difficult for young people to access marijuana.”
The evidence is on his side: in Colorado, where cannabis has been legal since 2014, teen use has fallen by about 12%, due to a combination of factors including a smaller black market and better drugs education.
Ironically, however, the upcoming change in Canada has prompted a huge growth in outlaw dispensaries. Rohmi and hundreds of other dealers selling in kerbside clinics are claiming to be operating under rules allowing Canadians to use cannabis to treat complaints as diverse as insomnia, ADHD and chronic pain. In reality, they are cashing in and riding the pre-legalisation green rush.
Police are clamping down, with dozens of raids in recent weeks, but the mood on the streets and in the clinics is one of delighted anarchy, with some outfits simply reopening the day after a raid in a new spot.
Rohmi says he takes C$15,000 in cash every day, and claims his business is an act of civil disobedience. “We’re doing this as a Gandhi type of thing. Peaceful protest, activism,” he says. Isn’t he afraid of getting robbed? He laughs and nods at a plank in the corner with the word “Bertha” scrawled on it. “I got Bertha, she’s my security!”
The road to legalisation in Canada has been long and circuitous. Medical cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2000. By 2012, under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, there were 40,000 Canadians growing cannabis at home, says Chuck Rifici, a cannabis entrepreneur and former chief financial officer for the centre-left Liberal party. “The average Canadian is not particularly concerned with cannabis usage, or its illegality,” he says, with wry understatement. Some of these homegrowers now illegally supply the clinics that are commonplace in all Canadian towns, while there are 38 licensed producers for the medical market, which has 130,000 users.
Trudeau, who won the 2015 general election for the Liberals on a promise to free the weed, has spoken of his own cannabis use in casual terms, cementing his image as a modern progressive. Trudeau sought policy advice from Bill Blair, an old-school cop famed for his zero-tolerance approach to cannabis when he ran the force in Toronto. Trudeau told Blair he wanted to legalise cannabis to stop criminals from preying on kids, and Blair agreed that this was the best way to present the policy to the public.
Cannabis is popular in Canada – one-third of 18 to 24-year-olds use it, as do 3.4 million of all Canadians, 10% of the country’s population. For comparison, in the UK, there are about 2 million users, 3% of the population.
Blair told Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper in January: “Our intent is to legalise, regulate and restrict. There needs to be reasonable restrictions on making sure that we keep it away from kids, because I think that is very much in the public interest.”
Trudeau set up a taskforce, led by Blair, in June 2016 to write the roadmap towards legalisation. A more moderate and Canadian approach is hard to imagine. Experts included researchers and academics, patients and lawyers, users, chiefs of police and fire departments, and government officials and associations.
Steve Moore, of British thinktank VolteFace, which is campaigning for legalisation in the UK, says Canada’s model is more sensible than that of the US. “The American states that have legalised are too libertarian, with their billboards and TV advertising,” says Moore, who lauds Trudeau’s focus on tackling crime and reducing youth access. The Canadian path to legalisation is at once liberal and conservative, adds Moore, who believes such an approach could work in the UK.
The Canadian taskforce’s paper made more than 80 recommendations, including a minimum age of access – 18 – with restrictions on advertising, and guidance on production, manufacturing and distribution. It laid out measures for testing, packaging and labelling, with a strong emphasis on education around the risks of use, especially driving under the influence. It drew no conclusions on whether legalisation would lead to increased use, and instead took a harm-reduction and public-health approach – acknowledging the risk inherent in cannabis use and proposing ways to mitigate it.
Police will admit privately that the cannabis clinics aren’t a priority. “We have other problems,” says a source, drily. A public emergency has been declared in the state of British Columbia, where opiate users are dying in unprecedented numbers. With a population of just 4.6 million, in 2016, there were more than 900 deaths from fentanyl, a super-strong synthetic opioid. In the UK in 2015, there were just 11 fentanyl deaths, and 1,201 heroin deaths, according to the Office of National Statistics.
The Canadian government is preparing for the public-health problems that an estimated 600,000 new smokers will bring. No one yet has a satisfactory answer as to how driving under the influence will be managed, since a roadside test for the drug is still not sufficiently accurate, and no agreed metric of cannabis impairment has been set.
Another day, another dispensary; this time, Montreal. I decide to register to see how strictly procedures are observed. They have run out of forms, so I am handed a laminated document that I fill in with a whiteboard pen, claiming a bad back and occasional anxiety. I’m registered in minutes, and wander into the striplit room for my medical consultation. The staff know little about the dosage, onset or duration of effects for the drugs they are selling me, and hand me a small pinch-seal bag of capsules with a handwritten label on it: “20mg THC”. A child could open it in a second – and they look like sweets. It is easy to see why a more regulated market solution is being urged.
An altogether more orderly vision of the future can be found a short drive from Ottawa, in the town of Gatineau, western Quebec, where a licensed medicinal cannabis producer, The Hydropothecary, is expanding ahead of legalisation, hoping to supply the new market. We approach the farm and more than 100 security cameras silently track us. We kit up in hazmat suits, shoe covers, hair- and beardnets (the site has to follow safety rules drawn up for opioid factories) before we enter the grow room.
The unmistakable aroma of 1,200, two-foot female cannabis plants is like a gentle slap in the face, but I’m blinded by 1MW of high-pressure sodium light beaming down on the spiky leaves and budsites.
The plants are stretching towards a bespoke arched glass roof that shelters them from the Canadian winter, pumping out THC in a fruitless search for a male. It’s a female-only space; pollen from males would fertilise them, rendering the bud seedy and worthless. This room can produce 350kg of marijuana a month, says Adam Miron, the firm’s co-founder. A similar operation in the UK would currently carry up to a 10-year jail sentence.
The crop will sell for an average of C$10 a gram, and as the company is vertically integrated, selling via next-day mail order, all profits stay in-house. Miron flips fluently between biology and marketing matters, to legal and political issues, and back to branding. He introduces his master grower, Agnes Kwasniewska, a permanently delighted and highly educated Polish-Canadian who takes pride and interest in every plant.
We enter the drying vault through a thick steel door, where millions of dollars of product lie curing in temperature-controlled cases. There’s a litre flask of cannabis oil worth C$80,000, which is passed between the terrified visitors as if it’s plutonium. Every gram is documented from seed to bag. Every gram will be taxed, and children will not be allowed to buy it. Trudeau and Blair would be happy.
Just as the 1,200 plants in Gatineau were being tended by Kwasniewska, a vast, illegal grow was discovered in Wiltshire in a nuclear-bomb shelter, with three trafficked and enslaved Vietnamese teenage boys tending about 4,000 plants, imprisoned behind a five-inch steel door. Industrial-scale cannabis farmers in the UK have often used trafficked children who are imprisoned for months and forced to water and monitor and protect the plants from rival gangs. Upon discovery, the children, already abused and exploited, are jailed.
Canada, meanwhile, is creating a C$20bn-a-year industry that will employ thousands of people, minimise public-health harms, cut teen access to the drug and save the taxpayer millions in enforcement costs. There’s a sense of energised hope and cautious optimism in every conversation you have: Canadians feel that change is coming.
Miron’s desire to grow this business is impassioned and infectious, and seems more than simply financial. What drives him? “Two years ago, my father had terminal lung cancer,” he says. “Very terminal. He was given months to live. He didn’t have much breath capacity, but I will never forget holding a vaporiser to his lips as he sat on the porch with me, and he managed to inhale a few puffs. He slept there, free from pain for the first time in days, resting. He was my first customer.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/29/the-wild-west-of-weed-will-legalisation-work-for-canada
Viestiin lisätty uutinen.
T:ylläpito
The wild west of weed: will legalisation work for Canada?
Canada’s current ‘green rush’ makes Amsterdam’s coffeeshops look restrained – but Justin Trudeau hopes to tame it by making recreational cannabis legal
Opposite a bleak government building in suburban Ottawa, Canada, a barebones “cannabis clinic” – with just a cash register, jeweller’s scales and a glass counter – is doing a brisk trade. “Pirate! Muslim! Gangster! Yes! We all smoke!” shouts one teen as he high-fives the owner, Rohmi. He pockets his pungent bag and bounces out, giggling.
On the wall, there’s a menu listing today’s special: moonrocks – buds rolled in cannabis oil then dipped in powdered hash at C$40 (£24) a gram. There are cans of Canna Cola; potent, weed-laced gummy bears; a mound of gooey hashish smelling of dark chocolate, hops and pine resin.
If this is medicine, it’s unclear what the illness is, other than sobriety. It makes an Amsterdam coffeeshop look tame – and it’s this free-for-all, wild-west-of-weed attitude that Canada’s government wants to tame by legalising cannabis during prime minister Justin Trudeau’s first term in office. Laws that will legalise cannabis for recreational use will be announced in the week of 10 April, and will be passed by July 2018, say government sources, making Canada the first G7 country to do so.
Globally, cannabis prohibition is being briskly dismantled, a wave of decriminalisation or legalisation sweeping south through the Americas, with states such as Colorado leading the way. California voted to legalise recreational use in November 2016. The US currently has 29 states offering legal medical marijuana and eight states with legal recreational cannabis markets. Countries including Uruguay, Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, Colombia and Chile are either creating legal markets for medicinal cannabis or relaxing rules on possession and cultivation. In the EU, Germany is preparing for imminent full medicinal legalisation, and the Republic of Ireland voted in December 2016 to allow medical use. In the UK, medical marijuana is available in the form of a tincture spray, Sativex, but access is severely limited.
What is different about Canada’s plans to legalise is the scope of the law change – it will be legal, nationally, for anyone over the age of 18 to use cannabis for pleasure next year.
Trudeau told journalists early this month that he wanted to seize the profits of the criminalised market and use the income to help those with drug problems. But his main aim in legalising the drug was to make it harder for children to get hold of it, arguing that alcohol laws showed that proper controls and regulations work. “It’s easier for a teenager to buy a joint right now than a bottle of beer, and it’s not right,” he said. “We know by controlling and regulating it, we are going to make it more difficult for young people to access marijuana.”
The evidence is on his side: in Colorado, where cannabis has been legal since 2014, teen use has fallen by about 12%, due to a combination of factors including a smaller black market and better drugs education.
Ironically, however, the upcoming change in Canada has prompted a huge growth in outlaw dispensaries. Rohmi and hundreds of other dealers selling in kerbside clinics are claiming to be operating under rules allowing Canadians to use cannabis to treat complaints as diverse as insomnia, ADHD and chronic pain. In reality, they are cashing in and riding the pre-legalisation green rush.
Police are clamping down, with dozens of raids in recent weeks, but the mood on the streets and in the clinics is one of delighted anarchy, with some outfits simply reopening the day after a raid in a new spot.
Rohmi says he takes C$15,000 in cash every day, and claims his business is an act of civil disobedience. “We’re doing this as a Gandhi type of thing. Peaceful protest, activism,” he says. Isn’t he afraid of getting robbed? He laughs and nods at a plank in the corner with the word “Bertha” scrawled on it. “I got Bertha, she’s my security!”
The road to legalisation in Canada has been long and circuitous. Medical cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2000. By 2012, under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, there were 40,000 Canadians growing cannabis at home, says Chuck Rifici, a cannabis entrepreneur and former chief financial officer for the centre-left Liberal party. “The average Canadian is not particularly concerned with cannabis usage, or its illegality,” he says, with wry understatement. Some of these homegrowers now illegally supply the clinics that are commonplace in all Canadian towns, while there are 38 licensed producers for the medical market, which has 130,000 users.
Trudeau, who won the 2015 general election for the Liberals on a promise to free the weed, has spoken of his own cannabis use in casual terms, cementing his image as a modern progressive. Trudeau sought policy advice from Bill Blair, an old-school cop famed for his zero-tolerance approach to cannabis when he ran the force in Toronto. Trudeau told Blair he wanted to legalise cannabis to stop criminals from preying on kids, and Blair agreed that this was the best way to present the policy to the public.
Cannabis is popular in Canada – one-third of 18 to 24-year-olds use it, as do 3.4 million of all Canadians, 10% of the country’s population. For comparison, in the UK, there are about 2 million users, 3% of the population.
Blair told Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper in January: “Our intent is to legalise, regulate and restrict. There needs to be reasonable restrictions on making sure that we keep it away from kids, because I think that is very much in the public interest.”
Trudeau set up a taskforce, led by Blair, in June 2016 to write the roadmap towards legalisation. A more moderate and Canadian approach is hard to imagine. Experts included researchers and academics, patients and lawyers, users, chiefs of police and fire departments, and government officials and associations.
Steve Moore, of British thinktank VolteFace, which is campaigning for legalisation in the UK, says Canada’s model is more sensible than that of the US. “The American states that have legalised are too libertarian, with their billboards and TV advertising,” says Moore, who lauds Trudeau’s focus on tackling crime and reducing youth access. The Canadian path to legalisation is at once liberal and conservative, adds Moore, who believes such an approach could work in the UK.
The Canadian taskforce’s paper made more than 80 recommendations, including a minimum age of access – 18 – with restrictions on advertising, and guidance on production, manufacturing and distribution. It laid out measures for testing, packaging and labelling, with a strong emphasis on education around the risks of use, especially driving under the influence. It drew no conclusions on whether legalisation would lead to increased use, and instead took a harm-reduction and public-health approach – acknowledging the risk inherent in cannabis use and proposing ways to mitigate it.
Police will admit privately that the cannabis clinics aren’t a priority. “We have other problems,” says a source, drily. A public emergency has been declared in the state of British Columbia, where opiate users are dying in unprecedented numbers. With a population of just 4.6 million, in 2016, there were more than 900 deaths from fentanyl, a super-strong synthetic opioid. In the UK in 2015, there were just 11 fentanyl deaths, and 1,201 heroin deaths, according to the Office of National Statistics.
The Canadian government is preparing for the public-health problems that an estimated 600,000 new smokers will bring. No one yet has a satisfactory answer as to how driving under the influence will be managed, since a roadside test for the drug is still not sufficiently accurate, and no agreed metric of cannabis impairment has been set.
Another day, another dispensary; this time, Montreal. I decide to register to see how strictly procedures are observed. They have run out of forms, so I am handed a laminated document that I fill in with a whiteboard pen, claiming a bad back and occasional anxiety. I’m registered in minutes, and wander into the striplit room for my medical consultation. The staff know little about the dosage, onset or duration of effects for the drugs they are selling me, and hand me a small pinch-seal bag of capsules with a handwritten label on it: “20mg THC”. A child could open it in a second – and they look like sweets. It is easy to see why a more regulated market solution is being urged.
An altogether more orderly vision of the future can be found a short drive from Ottawa, in the town of Gatineau, western Quebec, where a licensed medicinal cannabis producer, The Hydropothecary, is expanding ahead of legalisation, hoping to supply the new market. We approach the farm and more than 100 security cameras silently track us. We kit up in hazmat suits, shoe covers, hair- and beardnets (the site has to follow safety rules drawn up for opioid factories) before we enter the grow room.
The unmistakable aroma of 1,200, two-foot female cannabis plants is like a gentle slap in the face, but I’m blinded by 1MW of high-pressure sodium light beaming down on the spiky leaves and budsites.
The plants are stretching towards a bespoke arched glass roof that shelters them from the Canadian winter, pumping out THC in a fruitless search for a male. It’s a female-only space; pollen from males would fertilise them, rendering the bud seedy and worthless. This room can produce 350kg of marijuana a month, says Adam Miron, the firm’s co-founder. A similar operation in the UK would currently carry up to a 10-year jail sentence.
The crop will sell for an average of C$10 a gram, and as the company is vertically integrated, selling via next-day mail order, all profits stay in-house. Miron flips fluently between biology and marketing matters, to legal and political issues, and back to branding. He introduces his master grower, Agnes Kwasniewska, a permanently delighted and highly educated Polish-Canadian who takes pride and interest in every plant.
We enter the drying vault through a thick steel door, where millions of dollars of product lie curing in temperature-controlled cases. There’s a litre flask of cannabis oil worth C$80,000, which is passed between the terrified visitors as if it’s plutonium. Every gram is documented from seed to bag. Every gram will be taxed, and children will not be allowed to buy it. Trudeau and Blair would be happy.
Just as the 1,200 plants in Gatineau were being tended by Kwasniewska, a vast, illegal grow was discovered in Wiltshire in a nuclear-bomb shelter, with three trafficked and enslaved Vietnamese teenage boys tending about 4,000 plants, imprisoned behind a five-inch steel door. Industrial-scale cannabis farmers in the UK have often used trafficked children who are imprisoned for months and forced to water and monitor and protect the plants from rival gangs. Upon discovery, the children, already abused and exploited, are jailed.
Canada, meanwhile, is creating a C$20bn-a-year industry that will employ thousands of people, minimise public-health harms, cut teen access to the drug and save the taxpayer millions in enforcement costs. There’s a sense of energised hope and cautious optimism in every conversation you have: Canadians feel that change is coming.
Miron’s desire to grow this business is impassioned and infectious, and seems more than simply financial. What drives him? “Two years ago, my father had terminal lung cancer,” he says. “Very terminal. He was given months to live. He didn’t have much breath capacity, but I will never forget holding a vaporiser to his lips as he sat on the porch with me, and he managed to inhale a few puffs. He slept there, free from pain for the first time in days, resting. He was my first customer.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/29/the-wild-west-of-weed-will-legalisation-work-for-canada
Viestiin lisätty uutinen.
T:ylläpito
Re: News in English 2017
Does Cannabis Boost Athletic Performance? Anecdote Says More Than Science, for Now
In Colorado, we pride ourselves on being physically fit and active.
There is no other state in the union where hiking 14,000-foot mountains is an unexceptional hobby, or where most of the population understands the phrase “baggin’ ’teeners.” On top of being a state filled with trim bodies, we’re also a state full of trim marijuana. But how does recreational weed — a sub- stance typically associated with lazy, pot-bellied stoners eating potato chips on bean bag couches — fit into our self-image of a state filled with sexy hiker bodies with abs as solid as the rocks we climb?
Local cannabis expert and former pharmacist Dean Frankmore was very excited to try to answer that question, continually describing weed’s interaction with the body as a relationship. “Cannabis isn’t just gonna hand you everything, there’s gonna be some give and take there,” he says. “If you use it for depression, I recommend you do therapy as well ... One toke or one session — you can’t judge just from that whether or not it’s gonna be helpful for you.”
And, if you’re going to start using weed as an athletic performance enhancer, then you have to ask yourself what exactly you’re trying to get from it.
What does he get from it? “For me it feels like my mind turns on a little bit more,” Frankmore says. “I feel more receptive and absorb what’s around me more.”
Contrary to popular stereotypes, Frankmore believes consuming cannabis can be a motivator. Getting high can get us off the couch and to the gym when we’re feeling lazy, he says, but we have to be open to it. Asked which strains he finds motivating, he recommends sativas, as they’re generally more of an upper, more of a head high. Though Frankmore himself prefers indica/sativa hybrids, when it really comes down to it, he pays less attention to strains and more to intent. “If I want to go hike a mountain, any strain will really help,” he says.
Anecdotally, Frankmore’s take rings true. He’s hardly the only marijuana activist extolling the benefits of the long-stigmatized plant. But, where’s the concrete evidence?
There hasn’t been much scientific research to clarify the effect of cannabis on athletic performance. In fact, there’s not much research on human consumption of cannabis at all — it still being a federally illegal substance.
That’s where Jennifer Mullen, interim director of the Cannabis Research Institute of Colorado (CRIC) steps in to talk about what direction the science of cannabis is heading. Located at Colorado State University at Pueblo, CRIC was founded in June 2016. It’s funded primarily by the state of Colorado and Pueblo County, with 10 multidisciplinary studies on various aspects of canna- bis now underway.
“We think the [Institute] is uniquely positioned to do pressing research into cannabis applications,” Mullen says.
Currently, the only study conducted with human subjects concerns epileptic patients whose seizures are not being controlled through regular medicines. Other studies include biological research on viruses and probiotics, genome testing on plants, neuroscientific study of cognition, as well as research into industrial applications of hemp.
Asked about the possibility of future research on cannabis as fitness boost- er, Mullen was vague, saying, “Conclusions are a long way off. People want research talking about human use, but we have to start with basics like neuroscientific research.” She was very clear, however, that the Institute’s mission is not cannabis advocacy; it is research and education.
So, people like Frankmore may claim that weed helps them train for marathons — but is that really the cold, hard truth? Until cannabis research becomes more robust, that kind of anecdotal testimony may be the best evidence we’ve got.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/19 ... cience-now
In Colorado, we pride ourselves on being physically fit and active.
There is no other state in the union where hiking 14,000-foot mountains is an unexceptional hobby, or where most of the population understands the phrase “baggin’ ’teeners.” On top of being a state filled with trim bodies, we’re also a state full of trim marijuana. But how does recreational weed — a sub- stance typically associated with lazy, pot-bellied stoners eating potato chips on bean bag couches — fit into our self-image of a state filled with sexy hiker bodies with abs as solid as the rocks we climb?
Local cannabis expert and former pharmacist Dean Frankmore was very excited to try to answer that question, continually describing weed’s interaction with the body as a relationship. “Cannabis isn’t just gonna hand you everything, there’s gonna be some give and take there,” he says. “If you use it for depression, I recommend you do therapy as well ... One toke or one session — you can’t judge just from that whether or not it’s gonna be helpful for you.”
And, if you’re going to start using weed as an athletic performance enhancer, then you have to ask yourself what exactly you’re trying to get from it.
What does he get from it? “For me it feels like my mind turns on a little bit more,” Frankmore says. “I feel more receptive and absorb what’s around me more.”
Contrary to popular stereotypes, Frankmore believes consuming cannabis can be a motivator. Getting high can get us off the couch and to the gym when we’re feeling lazy, he says, but we have to be open to it. Asked which strains he finds motivating, he recommends sativas, as they’re generally more of an upper, more of a head high. Though Frankmore himself prefers indica/sativa hybrids, when it really comes down to it, he pays less attention to strains and more to intent. “If I want to go hike a mountain, any strain will really help,” he says.
Anecdotally, Frankmore’s take rings true. He’s hardly the only marijuana activist extolling the benefits of the long-stigmatized plant. But, where’s the concrete evidence?
There hasn’t been much scientific research to clarify the effect of cannabis on athletic performance. In fact, there’s not much research on human consumption of cannabis at all — it still being a federally illegal substance.
That’s where Jennifer Mullen, interim director of the Cannabis Research Institute of Colorado (CRIC) steps in to talk about what direction the science of cannabis is heading. Located at Colorado State University at Pueblo, CRIC was founded in June 2016. It’s funded primarily by the state of Colorado and Pueblo County, with 10 multidisciplinary studies on various aspects of canna- bis now underway.
“We think the [Institute] is uniquely positioned to do pressing research into cannabis applications,” Mullen says.
Currently, the only study conducted with human subjects concerns epileptic patients whose seizures are not being controlled through regular medicines. Other studies include biological research on viruses and probiotics, genome testing on plants, neuroscientific study of cognition, as well as research into industrial applications of hemp.
Asked about the possibility of future research on cannabis as fitness boost- er, Mullen was vague, saying, “Conclusions are a long way off. People want research talking about human use, but we have to start with basics like neuroscientific research.” She was very clear, however, that the Institute’s mission is not cannabis advocacy; it is research and education.
So, people like Frankmore may claim that weed helps them train for marathons — but is that really the cold, hard truth? Until cannabis research becomes more robust, that kind of anecdotal testimony may be the best evidence we’ve got.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/19 ... cience-now
Re: News in English 2017
Report: Selfies Kill 800% More People Than Cannabis In The U.S.
Nothing captured the mindless hysteria of prohibitionists quite like the 1936 film Reefer Madness, where pot users were portrayed killing people, committing suicide and going mad. Eighty-one years later, some people – such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions – still push falsehoods and propaganda about cannabis.
The war on drugs is too profitable to the State and the corporatocracy. Big Pharma funded propaganda campaigns in 2016 as nine states were voting whether to legalize medical and/or recreational cannabis. Thankfully, the propaganda had little effect, as all but one state voted for freedom.
Part of the prohibitionist strategy is to try and convince you that cannabis does bad things to people, and can even cause death. But, unlike other drugs – including alcohol and cigarettes – no one has ever died from ingesting cannabis. There is not a single recorded fatal overdose from cannabis.
In fact, responsible use of cannabis, including oil extracts, can be quite beneficial to the health, which is why states are continually adding to the list of allowable health conditions treated by medical cannabis. We are only just beginning to understand the body’s endocannabinoid system and how cannabis can be used to stimulate this system to reduce inflammation, which is thought to be the cause of many diseases.
Despite the fact that cannabis does not kill people and does not cause the harmful effects of legal drugs, it remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance – the most dangerous category.
To illustrate the absurdity of the situation, it helps to compare cannabis to things that actually do kill people. Among them: icicles, cows, scalding tap water, vending machines, lightning strikes, pencils, hot dogs, jellyfish, fireworks, champagne corks, and coconuts.
A relatively recent entry on the list of odd things that kill people, albeit rarely, is the selfie. Smartphones and a lack of awareness are combining to tragically end the lives of a surprising number of people.
Between March 2014 and Sept. 2016, there have been 127 recorded selfie deaths around the world, according to researchers from the U.S. and India. The vast majority – 76 – have occurred in India, while eight selfie deaths have been recorded in the U.S.
But the government still feels the need to put cannabis in the most dangerous category of controlled substances under strict prohibition. The government will lock you in a cage, tear your family apart, take away your money and possessions, and even kill you for possessing a plant that has been used by humans for thousands of years.
In fact, the most dangerous part about having pot is the chance of police killing you over it or hauling you to jail. The Free Thought Project has documented many instances of this happening.
Zachary Hammond, 19-years-old, was shot and killed at point blank range by South Carolina police officer Mark Tiller in a sting operation over a few grams of pot. Jonathan Santanella,17-years-old, was shot and killed in his car by Texas police officer Rey Garza, who thought he saw some pot in Santanella’s car.
The stories are numerous and tragic, and they underscore the injustice of the drug war. Cannabis never killed anyone. It is a medicinal plant with so much potential to heal if only government would get out of the way.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/18 ... annabis-us
Nothing captured the mindless hysteria of prohibitionists quite like the 1936 film Reefer Madness, where pot users were portrayed killing people, committing suicide and going mad. Eighty-one years later, some people – such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions – still push falsehoods and propaganda about cannabis.
The war on drugs is too profitable to the State and the corporatocracy. Big Pharma funded propaganda campaigns in 2016 as nine states were voting whether to legalize medical and/or recreational cannabis. Thankfully, the propaganda had little effect, as all but one state voted for freedom.
Part of the prohibitionist strategy is to try and convince you that cannabis does bad things to people, and can even cause death. But, unlike other drugs – including alcohol and cigarettes – no one has ever died from ingesting cannabis. There is not a single recorded fatal overdose from cannabis.
In fact, responsible use of cannabis, including oil extracts, can be quite beneficial to the health, which is why states are continually adding to the list of allowable health conditions treated by medical cannabis. We are only just beginning to understand the body’s endocannabinoid system and how cannabis can be used to stimulate this system to reduce inflammation, which is thought to be the cause of many diseases.
Despite the fact that cannabis does not kill people and does not cause the harmful effects of legal drugs, it remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance – the most dangerous category.
To illustrate the absurdity of the situation, it helps to compare cannabis to things that actually do kill people. Among them: icicles, cows, scalding tap water, vending machines, lightning strikes, pencils, hot dogs, jellyfish, fireworks, champagne corks, and coconuts.
A relatively recent entry on the list of odd things that kill people, albeit rarely, is the selfie. Smartphones and a lack of awareness are combining to tragically end the lives of a surprising number of people.
Between March 2014 and Sept. 2016, there have been 127 recorded selfie deaths around the world, according to researchers from the U.S. and India. The vast majority – 76 – have occurred in India, while eight selfie deaths have been recorded in the U.S.
But the government still feels the need to put cannabis in the most dangerous category of controlled substances under strict prohibition. The government will lock you in a cage, tear your family apart, take away your money and possessions, and even kill you for possessing a plant that has been used by humans for thousands of years.
In fact, the most dangerous part about having pot is the chance of police killing you over it or hauling you to jail. The Free Thought Project has documented many instances of this happening.
Zachary Hammond, 19-years-old, was shot and killed at point blank range by South Carolina police officer Mark Tiller in a sting operation over a few grams of pot. Jonathan Santanella,17-years-old, was shot and killed in his car by Texas police officer Rey Garza, who thought he saw some pot in Santanella’s car.
The stories are numerous and tragic, and they underscore the injustice of the drug war. Cannabis never killed anyone. It is a medicinal plant with so much potential to heal if only government would get out of the way.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/18 ... annabis-us
Re: News in English 2017
Cannabis-based therapy shows promise in skin conditions
Previous studies have investigated the use of cannabis-based therapy in areas such as chronic pain, nausea, and anorexia. A review of current literature has now determined that the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids could make them useful in the treatment of a wide-range of skin diseases.
Writing in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology , the authors said cannabinoids have a promising role in the treatment of itch. Studies to date have shown benefits with the use of cannabinoids in conditions such as pruritis, xerosis, prurigo and allergic dermatitis, to name but a few.
While the findings are promising, Dellavalle cautioned that most of these studies are based on laboratory models and large-scale clinical trials have not been performed before these therapies can be used for the management of dermatological conditions in practice. He said however, that for those who have used other medications for skin disease without success, trying a cannabinoid is a viable option.
"These diseases cause a lot of problems for people and have a direct impact on their quality of life," he said. "The treatments are currently being bought over the internet and we need to educate dermatologists and patients about the potential uses of them."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/21 ... conditions
Previous studies have investigated the use of cannabis-based therapy in areas such as chronic pain, nausea, and anorexia. A review of current literature has now determined that the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids could make them useful in the treatment of a wide-range of skin diseases.
Writing in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology , the authors said cannabinoids have a promising role in the treatment of itch. Studies to date have shown benefits with the use of cannabinoids in conditions such as pruritis, xerosis, prurigo and allergic dermatitis, to name but a few.
While the findings are promising, Dellavalle cautioned that most of these studies are based on laboratory models and large-scale clinical trials have not been performed before these therapies can be used for the management of dermatological conditions in practice. He said however, that for those who have used other medications for skin disease without success, trying a cannabinoid is a viable option.
"These diseases cause a lot of problems for people and have a direct impact on their quality of life," he said. "The treatments are currently being bought over the internet and we need to educate dermatologists and patients about the potential uses of them."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/21 ... conditions
Re: News in English 2017
Groundbreaking Study On Marijuana Use Coincides With World Cannabis Day 4/20
Legalization:
The majority of Americans (57%) support legalization, and support is highest among men (61%), particularly younger men (79%), and Millennials overall (68%). Among current users in states where marijuana is not currently legal, 37% say they are likely to consume more marijuana after it’s legalized.
Only 16% of Americans believe Marijuana is “very harmful”, which is lower than alcohol (27%), processed sugar (23%) and saturated fat (33%). A majority (51%) believes consumption can be beneficial, while only 32% believe that regular users are less successful in life. However, 25% report having a close friend or family member whose life was negatively affected by marijuana.
Usage:
Among the findings, approximately 2 out of every 10 Americans (22%) have used recreational marijuana in the past year and an additional 24% would potentially use it if it became legal. Usage is highest among people aged 18-34 (30%) and those who are making less than $60K (27%). Nearly 11% of men in this age group report smoking marijuana daily.
Those who currently use marijuana report they do so to reduce stress and relieve anxiety (24%) or to promote relaxation and wellbeing (31%). Interestingly, while smoking remains the most common form of consumption, 54% have tried edibles, indicating a growing market opportunity for producers. Younger users are also more likely to have tried Vaping.
Activities:
When people are high they are most likely to watch television (52%), eat (45%), listen to music (41%), socialize (33%) or drink alcohol (31%). Younger people were less likely to combine marijuana with alcohol as compared to those over 35.
Purchase:
Most Americans get their marijuana by purchasing it directly (53%), while others consume what they get from others (26%), and 21% report having a friend or family member purchase it on their behalf. Those that purchase typically buy a quarter ounce or less. The average price is $10/gram. Where legal, 57% purchase at a dispensary. Most (42%), however, purchase at someone’s residence. A large majority (73%) report feeling very safe when purchasing marijuana and half say they’re never concerned about police intervention.
About the Study:
Dig Insights Inc., a market research firm based in Toronto, Canada, conducted this study on marijuana usage and attitudes. Responses were collected online between April 3 and 7, 2017. The survey sampled n=1,108 Canadians and n=1,105 Americans aged 18-65 sourced from Research Now’s leading panel. Results have been weighted to reflect census proportions for age, gender and region in both countries. The margins of error are +/- 2.9% in each country.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/20 ... is-day-420
Legalization:
The majority of Americans (57%) support legalization, and support is highest among men (61%), particularly younger men (79%), and Millennials overall (68%). Among current users in states where marijuana is not currently legal, 37% say they are likely to consume more marijuana after it’s legalized.
Only 16% of Americans believe Marijuana is “very harmful”, which is lower than alcohol (27%), processed sugar (23%) and saturated fat (33%). A majority (51%) believes consumption can be beneficial, while only 32% believe that regular users are less successful in life. However, 25% report having a close friend or family member whose life was negatively affected by marijuana.
Usage:
Among the findings, approximately 2 out of every 10 Americans (22%) have used recreational marijuana in the past year and an additional 24% would potentially use it if it became legal. Usage is highest among people aged 18-34 (30%) and those who are making less than $60K (27%). Nearly 11% of men in this age group report smoking marijuana daily.
Those who currently use marijuana report they do so to reduce stress and relieve anxiety (24%) or to promote relaxation and wellbeing (31%). Interestingly, while smoking remains the most common form of consumption, 54% have tried edibles, indicating a growing market opportunity for producers. Younger users are also more likely to have tried Vaping.
Activities:
When people are high they are most likely to watch television (52%), eat (45%), listen to music (41%), socialize (33%) or drink alcohol (31%). Younger people were less likely to combine marijuana with alcohol as compared to those over 35.
Purchase:
Most Americans get their marijuana by purchasing it directly (53%), while others consume what they get from others (26%), and 21% report having a friend or family member purchase it on their behalf. Those that purchase typically buy a quarter ounce or less. The average price is $10/gram. Where legal, 57% purchase at a dispensary. Most (42%), however, purchase at someone’s residence. A large majority (73%) report feeling very safe when purchasing marijuana and half say they’re never concerned about police intervention.
About the Study:
Dig Insights Inc., a market research firm based in Toronto, Canada, conducted this study on marijuana usage and attitudes. Responses were collected online between April 3 and 7, 2017. The survey sampled n=1,108 Canadians and n=1,105 Americans aged 18-65 sourced from Research Now’s leading panel. Results have been weighted to reflect census proportions for age, gender and region in both countries. The margins of error are +/- 2.9% in each country.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/20 ... is-day-420
Re: News in English 2017
A drug derived from marijuana may be the first of its kind to treat a rare form of epilepsy
An experimental drug derived from cannabis to treat epilepsy is on the brink of becoming the first of its kind to win US government approval.
The drug is called Epidiolex, and its active ingredient is cannabidiol, the compound in marijuana thought to be responsible for many of its therapeutic effects.
Since cannabidiol doesn't contain THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, it doesn't get users high. But it does appear to help reduce seizures in one of the hardest-to-treat forms of epilepsy, known as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome or LGS.
That's according to new findings released this month from a large clinical study, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's yearly meeting in Boston. For the study, researchers looked at 225 young people with LGS. The participants were all having nearly 100 drop seizures each month and had already tried a handful of epilepsy drugs that failed to help. The subjects were split into groups and given a high dose of the cannabidiol, a lower dose, or a placebo for 14 weeks.
The participants given the higher dose saw their seizure occurrence drop by an average of 42%; for about 40% of those people, their seizure rate was cut in half. Those who took the lower dose also saw their seizure occurrence go down, but at a slightly lower percentage of 37%. The participants on the placebo, on the other hand, only saw a 17% reduction in their seizures.
Those are significant and promising findings. They build on some previous research the company behind the drug, GW Pharma, did last year in people with a rare form of severe epilepsy called Dravet syndrome. For that study, those given the drug saw their monthly convulsive seizure rate drop by more than a third, while those given the placebo saw a reduction of only 13%.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, epilepsy affects more than 4.3 million Americans. Among these millions, however, various types and forms of epilepsy exist — and everyone reacts to treatments differently. GW Pharma, which aims to submit its new drug application to the FDA later this year, is exploring treatments for various forms of epilepsy, but this drug would likely be aimed at treating only specific types.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/21 ... m-epilepsy
An experimental drug derived from cannabis to treat epilepsy is on the brink of becoming the first of its kind to win US government approval.
The drug is called Epidiolex, and its active ingredient is cannabidiol, the compound in marijuana thought to be responsible for many of its therapeutic effects.
Since cannabidiol doesn't contain THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, it doesn't get users high. But it does appear to help reduce seizures in one of the hardest-to-treat forms of epilepsy, known as Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome or LGS.
That's according to new findings released this month from a large clinical study, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's yearly meeting in Boston. For the study, researchers looked at 225 young people with LGS. The participants were all having nearly 100 drop seizures each month and had already tried a handful of epilepsy drugs that failed to help. The subjects were split into groups and given a high dose of the cannabidiol, a lower dose, or a placebo for 14 weeks.
The participants given the higher dose saw their seizure occurrence drop by an average of 42%; for about 40% of those people, their seizure rate was cut in half. Those who took the lower dose also saw their seizure occurrence go down, but at a slightly lower percentage of 37%. The participants on the placebo, on the other hand, only saw a 17% reduction in their seizures.
Those are significant and promising findings. They build on some previous research the company behind the drug, GW Pharma, did last year in people with a rare form of severe epilepsy called Dravet syndrome. For that study, those given the drug saw their monthly convulsive seizure rate drop by more than a third, while those given the placebo saw a reduction of only 13%.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, epilepsy affects more than 4.3 million Americans. Among these millions, however, various types and forms of epilepsy exist — and everyone reacts to treatments differently. GW Pharma, which aims to submit its new drug application to the FDA later this year, is exploring treatments for various forms of epilepsy, but this drug would likely be aimed at treating only specific types.
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/21 ... m-epilepsy
Re: News in English 2017
America's First Drive-Thru Marijuana Shop Will Open on 4/20
The doors — or rather, windows — will soon open on the Tumbleweed Express Drive-Thru, the nation's first legal drive-thru marijuana dispensary.
Located in a converted car wash space in Parachute, Colo., the dispensary will sell weed from 4 p.m. to midnight on the weekends, giving buyers late-night access. Naturally, the shop is planning to open on April 20, better known as 4/20.
"I didn't set out thinking this would be national news," CEO Mark Smith told the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. "I didn't have some big epiphany. I just saw a need for our customers." Smith is the latest in a line of cannabis entrepreneurs, including celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg and Snoop Dogg, taking advantage of increasing mainstream interest in weed consumption.
The drive-thru counter is subject to the same strict regulations as all other recreational marijuana dealers. Namely: no one under the age of 21 is allowed on the premises; in this case, that includes the back seats of cars. And the substance is not allowed to be visible from outside the dispensary. Security measures must also be in place. But for the town of Parachute — population 1,100 — marijuana sales are an important component of the local economy, accounting for nearly 30% of the 2016 sales tax revenue. Cannabis sales have also been contentious, with a ban in place prior to 2015. With the weed market booming across the state, however, Parachute appears to be joining the bandwagon.
"We think the drive-through is a very creative and innovative idea,'' Parachute Town Manager Stuart McArthur said in February, when the store's business license was initially procured, according to the Post-Independent.
The state's Marijuana Enforcement Division added that it was not aware of this business model "ever coming up before," giving the shop its claim to fame.
Tumbleweed Express Drive-Thru's big opening day is set to coincide with the unofficial national holiday celebrating cannabis culture.
http://time.com/4745692/marijuana-drive ... rado-weed/
The doors — or rather, windows — will soon open on the Tumbleweed Express Drive-Thru, the nation's first legal drive-thru marijuana dispensary.
Located in a converted car wash space in Parachute, Colo., the dispensary will sell weed from 4 p.m. to midnight on the weekends, giving buyers late-night access. Naturally, the shop is planning to open on April 20, better known as 4/20.
"I didn't set out thinking this would be national news," CEO Mark Smith told the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent. "I didn't have some big epiphany. I just saw a need for our customers." Smith is the latest in a line of cannabis entrepreneurs, including celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg and Snoop Dogg, taking advantage of increasing mainstream interest in weed consumption.
The drive-thru counter is subject to the same strict regulations as all other recreational marijuana dealers. Namely: no one under the age of 21 is allowed on the premises; in this case, that includes the back seats of cars. And the substance is not allowed to be visible from outside the dispensary. Security measures must also be in place. But for the town of Parachute — population 1,100 — marijuana sales are an important component of the local economy, accounting for nearly 30% of the 2016 sales tax revenue. Cannabis sales have also been contentious, with a ban in place prior to 2015. With the weed market booming across the state, however, Parachute appears to be joining the bandwagon.
"We think the drive-through is a very creative and innovative idea,'' Parachute Town Manager Stuart McArthur said in February, when the store's business license was initially procured, according to the Post-Independent.
The state's Marijuana Enforcement Division added that it was not aware of this business model "ever coming up before," giving the shop its claim to fame.
Tumbleweed Express Drive-Thru's big opening day is set to coincide with the unofficial national holiday celebrating cannabis culture.
http://time.com/4745692/marijuana-drive ... rado-weed/
Re: News in English 2017
Cannabis Company Designs Pain Patch For Fibromyalgia And Nerve Pain
As research progresses, we are coming to realize the phenomenal power of the cannabis plant. In years past, the study of this hardy “weed” has been limited due to its legal status in North America and much of the world.
Now that restrictions are lifting, science is freer to explore medical cannabis’ chemistry and implications for human health.
How Cannabis Works
Within cannabis phytochemistry is a group of over 85 compounds called cannabinoids. The human nervous and digestive systems contain endocannabinoid receptors and the body makes its own cannabinoids that are responsible for sleep, appetite, movement, and emotion. (1)
Terpenes form another family of compounds in cannabis that have also been indicated for the treatment of pain. Both cannabinoids and terpenes are anti-inflammatory and analgesic. Our bodies are made to metabolize these phytochemicals in cannabis.
The property of cannabis that became (an absurd) stigma is its psychoactivity and is what prompted all varieties of the plant to be made illegal—even hemp, which is devoid of this characteristic. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is responsible for the “high” feeling but it’s just one cannabinoid. Most cannabinoids aren’t psychoactive and all have healing effects. Cannabidiol (CBD) is the second-most prevalent cannabinoid in cannabis. For therapeutic use, it can be derived from strains of cannabis with low THC content, such as Charlotte’s Web.
Cannabis for Pain
An area of human health for which cannabis has been particularly effective is in the treatment of chronic pain. The mechanism by which CBD works to relieve pain is complex.
Peripheral nerves contain cannabinoid receptors. Once CBD enters the bloodstream, it attaches to receptors and blocks pain signals from reaching the brain.
Beta-caryophyllene is another non-psychoactive cannabinoid involved in the process. This substance has a different molecular structure than most other cannabinoids to provide a dual approach to inflammation and neural pain reception. Beta-caryophyllene can be found in other plants, such as oregano, basil, black pepper, and cinnamon. (2)
Cannabinoids not only block pain but also reduce inflammation that leads to pain. Plus, they regulate the immune system to support the body’s efforts to heal itself. (3)
Safety of Cannabis
A University of Michigan study found that using medical cannabis to manage chronic pain decreased the need for opioid painkillers:
“Patients using medical marijuana to control chronic pain reported a 64 percent reduction in their use of more traditional prescription pain medications…[patients] also reported fewer side effects from their medications and a 45-percent improvement in quality of life since using cannabis to manage pain…We are learning that the higher the dose of opioids people are taking, the higher the risk of death from overdose… patients in this study rated cannabis to be equally effective [as opioids] for those with different pain severity.” (4)
This finding is in line with research on the impact of cannabis use to replace opioids in the management of pain: in the states that have legalized medical marijuana use, there has been a 25% reduction in the number of overdose deaths. In contrast, no one has ever died from an overdose of medical marijuana.
This is significant in the context of pain management, as 30% of Americans suffer from chronic pain.
Cannabis vs. Opioids
Supporting cannabis’ efficacy for pain relief are numerous studies and patient testimonies, prompting institutions like Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine to devise treatment methods using non-addictive alternatives to opioids. In addition to the danger of overdosing, opioids are highly addictive.
“Opioid use and addiction has become an epidemic in the United States due to doctors over-prescribing opioid medications to treat chronic pain…’emerging data indicate that drugs that target the endocannabinoid system might produce analgesia with fewer side effects compared to opioids,’” writes United Press International (5)
When it comes to the safety of medical marijuana, the consensus is clear: other than developing dry mouth or the munchies, it’s safer to use than ibuprofen. In fact, Université de Montreal conducted a study into the safety of using medical cannabis to treat chronic pain. With one exception of adverse reaction in the group of 215 study participants: “Medical cannabis use over one year was associated with improvements in pain, function, quality of life and cognitive function.” (6)
Medical Cannabis for Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain. It also causes fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. It’s a serious neurological issue that can come about without any specific trigger (7).
Fibromyalgia is typically treated with acetaminophen, prescription pain relievers, antidepressants, and antiseizure medication. However, many patients self-medicate using medical marijuana (8). In fact, a 2014 survey from the National Pain Foundations found that 62% of fibromyalgia patients find that marijuana was very effective at treating pain and other symptoms. 33% found that it helped a little. In contrast, traditional drugs were rated as very effective for 8-10% of patients and a little effective for 22-32% (9).
Other studies found that medical cannabis is also a healing option for people with diabetic neuropathy or multiple sclerosis (10,11).
Introducing the Cannabis Patch
Smoking or vaping cannabis doesn’t appeal to everyone but that’s not the only way to absorb cannabinoids. The herb can be applied topically, injected, or ingested as well; how it’s best delivered depends on the nature and location of the pain.
In November of 2016, Cannabis Science in California announced its release of a “pain patch” for transdermal delivery of medical cannabis; it’s being marketed for the treatment of fibromyalgiaand neuropathy pain but its application can readily be expanded to other diagnoses. Similar to a nicotine patch used to aid in smoking cessation, an adhesive patch is applied to the afflicted area where the cannabis is absorbed by the skin and enters the bloodstream.
The news release wrote: “…the patch provides a controlled release of the medication into the patient, usually through either a porous membrane covering a reservoir of medication or through body heat melting thin layers of medication embedded in the adhesive which will be containing high potency cannabinoid (CBD) extract that slowly enters into the bloodstream and then penetrates the central nervous system.” (12)
The publicly-traded biotech company sees the development of their pain patches as “the tip of the iceberg”. They are currently continuing research into other cannabis applications and delivery methods.
It’s worth mentioning that Mary’s Medicinal already sells both transdermal medical cannabis patches and transdermal pens. They are available in Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Michigan, and Oregon (13).
Pain is a symptom, not a cause. While alleviating pain, do what you can to get to the root of the problem. Start by changing your diet, lifestyle, and stress levels. To support you during these changes, look no further than medical cannabis!
https://dailyhealthpost.com/medical-cannabis/
As research progresses, we are coming to realize the phenomenal power of the cannabis plant. In years past, the study of this hardy “weed” has been limited due to its legal status in North America and much of the world.
Now that restrictions are lifting, science is freer to explore medical cannabis’ chemistry and implications for human health.
How Cannabis Works
Within cannabis phytochemistry is a group of over 85 compounds called cannabinoids. The human nervous and digestive systems contain endocannabinoid receptors and the body makes its own cannabinoids that are responsible for sleep, appetite, movement, and emotion. (1)
Terpenes form another family of compounds in cannabis that have also been indicated for the treatment of pain. Both cannabinoids and terpenes are anti-inflammatory and analgesic. Our bodies are made to metabolize these phytochemicals in cannabis.
The property of cannabis that became (an absurd) stigma is its psychoactivity and is what prompted all varieties of the plant to be made illegal—even hemp, which is devoid of this characteristic. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is responsible for the “high” feeling but it’s just one cannabinoid. Most cannabinoids aren’t psychoactive and all have healing effects. Cannabidiol (CBD) is the second-most prevalent cannabinoid in cannabis. For therapeutic use, it can be derived from strains of cannabis with low THC content, such as Charlotte’s Web.
Cannabis for Pain
An area of human health for which cannabis has been particularly effective is in the treatment of chronic pain. The mechanism by which CBD works to relieve pain is complex.
Peripheral nerves contain cannabinoid receptors. Once CBD enters the bloodstream, it attaches to receptors and blocks pain signals from reaching the brain.
Beta-caryophyllene is another non-psychoactive cannabinoid involved in the process. This substance has a different molecular structure than most other cannabinoids to provide a dual approach to inflammation and neural pain reception. Beta-caryophyllene can be found in other plants, such as oregano, basil, black pepper, and cinnamon. (2)
Cannabinoids not only block pain but also reduce inflammation that leads to pain. Plus, they regulate the immune system to support the body’s efforts to heal itself. (3)
Safety of Cannabis
A University of Michigan study found that using medical cannabis to manage chronic pain decreased the need for opioid painkillers:
“Patients using medical marijuana to control chronic pain reported a 64 percent reduction in their use of more traditional prescription pain medications…[patients] also reported fewer side effects from their medications and a 45-percent improvement in quality of life since using cannabis to manage pain…We are learning that the higher the dose of opioids people are taking, the higher the risk of death from overdose… patients in this study rated cannabis to be equally effective [as opioids] for those with different pain severity.” (4)
This finding is in line with research on the impact of cannabis use to replace opioids in the management of pain: in the states that have legalized medical marijuana use, there has been a 25% reduction in the number of overdose deaths. In contrast, no one has ever died from an overdose of medical marijuana.
This is significant in the context of pain management, as 30% of Americans suffer from chronic pain.
Cannabis vs. Opioids
Supporting cannabis’ efficacy for pain relief are numerous studies and patient testimonies, prompting institutions like Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine to devise treatment methods using non-addictive alternatives to opioids. In addition to the danger of overdosing, opioids are highly addictive.
“Opioid use and addiction has become an epidemic in the United States due to doctors over-prescribing opioid medications to treat chronic pain…’emerging data indicate that drugs that target the endocannabinoid system might produce analgesia with fewer side effects compared to opioids,’” writes United Press International (5)
When it comes to the safety of medical marijuana, the consensus is clear: other than developing dry mouth or the munchies, it’s safer to use than ibuprofen. In fact, Université de Montreal conducted a study into the safety of using medical cannabis to treat chronic pain. With one exception of adverse reaction in the group of 215 study participants: “Medical cannabis use over one year was associated with improvements in pain, function, quality of life and cognitive function.” (6)
Medical Cannabis for Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain. It also causes fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. It’s a serious neurological issue that can come about without any specific trigger (7).
Fibromyalgia is typically treated with acetaminophen, prescription pain relievers, antidepressants, and antiseizure medication. However, many patients self-medicate using medical marijuana (8). In fact, a 2014 survey from the National Pain Foundations found that 62% of fibromyalgia patients find that marijuana was very effective at treating pain and other symptoms. 33% found that it helped a little. In contrast, traditional drugs were rated as very effective for 8-10% of patients and a little effective for 22-32% (9).
Other studies found that medical cannabis is also a healing option for people with diabetic neuropathy or multiple sclerosis (10,11).
Introducing the Cannabis Patch
Smoking or vaping cannabis doesn’t appeal to everyone but that’s not the only way to absorb cannabinoids. The herb can be applied topically, injected, or ingested as well; how it’s best delivered depends on the nature and location of the pain.
In November of 2016, Cannabis Science in California announced its release of a “pain patch” for transdermal delivery of medical cannabis; it’s being marketed for the treatment of fibromyalgiaand neuropathy pain but its application can readily be expanded to other diagnoses. Similar to a nicotine patch used to aid in smoking cessation, an adhesive patch is applied to the afflicted area where the cannabis is absorbed by the skin and enters the bloodstream.
The news release wrote: “…the patch provides a controlled release of the medication into the patient, usually through either a porous membrane covering a reservoir of medication or through body heat melting thin layers of medication embedded in the adhesive which will be containing high potency cannabinoid (CBD) extract that slowly enters into the bloodstream and then penetrates the central nervous system.” (12)
The publicly-traded biotech company sees the development of their pain patches as “the tip of the iceberg”. They are currently continuing research into other cannabis applications and delivery methods.
It’s worth mentioning that Mary’s Medicinal already sells both transdermal medical cannabis patches and transdermal pens. They are available in Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Michigan, and Oregon (13).
Pain is a symptom, not a cause. While alleviating pain, do what you can to get to the root of the problem. Start by changing your diet, lifestyle, and stress levels. To support you during these changes, look no further than medical cannabis!
https://dailyhealthpost.com/medical-cannabis/
Re: News in English 2017
What the Guys Who Coined '420' Think About Their Place in Marijuana History
By now, you don't have to be a smoker to know that April 20 is considered by many to be a sort of national holiday for cannabis culture. Some have suggested that the date comes from "420" being a code among police officers for "marijuana-smoking in progress," while others say that there's a connection to 4/20 being Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's birthday. But the most credible story about the origins of the illicit observance involves neither of those ideas.
Instead, it involves five high school students who, back in 1971, would get together at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana by a statue of chemist Louis Pasteur at San Rafael High School in Marin County, Calif. Known as the "Waldos" — Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich — they would say "420" to each other at some point during the school day as code to meet for a smoke.
Reddix's brother helped him get a job as a roadie for Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, and the term "420" caught on in that Deadhead circle. The legend goes that on Dec. 28, 1990, Deadheads in Oakland handed out flyers inviting people to smoke "420" on April 20 at 4:20 p.m — and one got in the hands of Steve Bloom, a former reporter for High Times magazine. The publication published the flyer in 1991 and continued to reference the number, and before long those digits became known globally for their association with marijuana. In 1998, the outlet recognized the "Waldos" as the "inventors" of 420.
The Waldos still live in northern California, in Marin County and Sonoma County, and are still good friends. TIME caught up with Reddix, now a documentary filmmaker and former CNN cameraman, and Capper, who runs a business that works with staffing agencies, to learn more about the history behind the high.
The reasons for their meeting time, it turns out, aren't very complicated: school ended around 3:00 p.m., and then came sports practice, and then it would be about 4:20. And the social circumstances that led to the ritual might be familiar to any number of high-schoolers.
"We got tired of the Friday-night football scene with all of the jocks," says Reddix. "We were the guys sitting under the stands smoking a doobie, wondering what we were doing there."
What happened after 4:20, however, could be a little more unusual. The group challenged each other to find new and interesting things to do while they were high — Reddix says he kept a log of their "safaris" — and tried, at least in some cases, to stay away from their homes as much as possible. (Reddix says he didn't get along with his stepfather, and that Jeff Noel's father "happened to be a high-level state narcotics officer," which the boys sometimes took advantage of by trying to make off with contraband that might be locked in his car, but which also posed its own obvious risks.) In one stand-out example of such a safari, Capper says, the group drove out to a rural area and saw something "magical."
"The car's filled with pot smoke, and when we roll down the window, we see two single lines of cows following our car," he recalls.
"We thought they were hamburgers," Reddix jokes, but it turned out that they had been trained to follow the farmer's truck if they wanted to be fed.
Magical cows aside, a lot has changed in the marijuana world between 1971 and 2017, they say — and not just that, in their experience, the weed available today is much stronger than it once was.
Capper says that the mainstream American perception of people who smoke marijuana has evolved significantly, as it's more accepted that people who are marijuana enthusiasts can also be healthy and smart. He says that his business partner has at times worried that the publicity around Capper's association with 420 might be bad for business, but that in practice, the people he meets at conferences who are aware of the connection are more likely to ask for a selfie than to judge him. (As for high school, "while I was smoking all this pot, I did two years of coursework in one year and got straight As," he says.) More accepted medical use of marijuana has also changed the conversation about the drug; Reddix's wife has used cannabinoids for migraines, and he says it seems to help. And, obviously, the spread of the legalization movement has brought marijuana much more into the open than it once was — "It's cool that it's legal, and people aren’t going to jail as much," says Capper.
As for their own place in that history, they enjoy seeing "420" come up in pop culture — as in Pulp Fiction, in which some of the clocks are set to 4:20, or hotel room 420 in Hot Tub Time Machine — and hope their coded contribution to cannabis culture provides those enthusiasts who observe the day with a little bit of the "private joke quality" and the "brotherhood of outlaws" feeling that they experienced growing up, when their habit was strictly underground.
"Now legalization is happening so fast, you've got to stand back and go, this is weird," says Capper. "This is a trip."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/20 ... na-history
By now, you don't have to be a smoker to know that April 20 is considered by many to be a sort of national holiday for cannabis culture. Some have suggested that the date comes from "420" being a code among police officers for "marijuana-smoking in progress," while others say that there's a connection to 4/20 being Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's birthday. But the most credible story about the origins of the illicit observance involves neither of those ideas.
Instead, it involves five high school students who, back in 1971, would get together at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana by a statue of chemist Louis Pasteur at San Rafael High School in Marin County, Calif. Known as the "Waldos" — Steve Capper, Dave Reddix, Jeffrey Noel, Larry Schwartz, and Mark Gravich — they would say "420" to each other at some point during the school day as code to meet for a smoke.
Reddix's brother helped him get a job as a roadie for Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, and the term "420" caught on in that Deadhead circle. The legend goes that on Dec. 28, 1990, Deadheads in Oakland handed out flyers inviting people to smoke "420" on April 20 at 4:20 p.m — and one got in the hands of Steve Bloom, a former reporter for High Times magazine. The publication published the flyer in 1991 and continued to reference the number, and before long those digits became known globally for their association with marijuana. In 1998, the outlet recognized the "Waldos" as the "inventors" of 420.
The Waldos still live in northern California, in Marin County and Sonoma County, and are still good friends. TIME caught up with Reddix, now a documentary filmmaker and former CNN cameraman, and Capper, who runs a business that works with staffing agencies, to learn more about the history behind the high.
The reasons for their meeting time, it turns out, aren't very complicated: school ended around 3:00 p.m., and then came sports practice, and then it would be about 4:20. And the social circumstances that led to the ritual might be familiar to any number of high-schoolers.
"We got tired of the Friday-night football scene with all of the jocks," says Reddix. "We were the guys sitting under the stands smoking a doobie, wondering what we were doing there."
What happened after 4:20, however, could be a little more unusual. The group challenged each other to find new and interesting things to do while they were high — Reddix says he kept a log of their "safaris" — and tried, at least in some cases, to stay away from their homes as much as possible. (Reddix says he didn't get along with his stepfather, and that Jeff Noel's father "happened to be a high-level state narcotics officer," which the boys sometimes took advantage of by trying to make off with contraband that might be locked in his car, but which also posed its own obvious risks.) In one stand-out example of such a safari, Capper says, the group drove out to a rural area and saw something "magical."
"The car's filled with pot smoke, and when we roll down the window, we see two single lines of cows following our car," he recalls.
"We thought they were hamburgers," Reddix jokes, but it turned out that they had been trained to follow the farmer's truck if they wanted to be fed.
Magical cows aside, a lot has changed in the marijuana world between 1971 and 2017, they say — and not just that, in their experience, the weed available today is much stronger than it once was.
Capper says that the mainstream American perception of people who smoke marijuana has evolved significantly, as it's more accepted that people who are marijuana enthusiasts can also be healthy and smart. He says that his business partner has at times worried that the publicity around Capper's association with 420 might be bad for business, but that in practice, the people he meets at conferences who are aware of the connection are more likely to ask for a selfie than to judge him. (As for high school, "while I was smoking all this pot, I did two years of coursework in one year and got straight As," he says.) More accepted medical use of marijuana has also changed the conversation about the drug; Reddix's wife has used cannabinoids for migraines, and he says it seems to help. And, obviously, the spread of the legalization movement has brought marijuana much more into the open than it once was — "It's cool that it's legal, and people aren’t going to jail as much," says Capper.
As for their own place in that history, they enjoy seeing "420" come up in pop culture — as in Pulp Fiction, in which some of the clocks are set to 4:20, or hotel room 420 in Hot Tub Time Machine — and hope their coded contribution to cannabis culture provides those enthusiasts who observe the day with a little bit of the "private joke quality" and the "brotherhood of outlaws" feeling that they experienced growing up, when their habit was strictly underground.
"Now legalization is happening so fast, you've got to stand back and go, this is weird," says Capper. "This is a trip."
http://420intel.com/articles/2017/04/20 ... na-history
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