VIDEO: Introduction to Cannabis Hemp and industrial revolution
PeaceBud explains how the political changes in America's past along with the industrial revolution has led us into a historical era of post-industrial Oil Wars.
Cannabis by product helps reduce effects of Parkinson disease medication
Brazilian researchers have tested the positive effects of canabiodiol
Six patients with Parkinson were given during a whole month small doses of "canabiodiol" one of the 400 substances in marijuana, following which encouraging results were confirmed according to scientists from the Riberao Preto Medicine School from the SP University.
"Patients with Parkinson developed improvements in their sleeping alterations, in their psychotic symptoms and could even reduce their trembling" said psychiatrist Jose Alexander Crippa, Neuro-sciences Department professor.
The paper on the discovery was published last November and next year an additional paper with test results on the anxiolytic effects of "canabiodiol" in patients with obsession and compulsion disorders will be released.
Daily Pot Smoking May Hasten Onset of Psychosis
Progression to daily marijuana use in adolescence may hasten the onset of symptoms leading up to psychosis, an Emory University study finds. The study was published in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The researchers analyzed data from 109 hospitalized patients who were experiencing their first psychotic episode. The results showed that patients who had a history of using marijuana, or cannabis, and increased to daily pot smoking experienced both psychotic and pre-psychotic symptoms at earlier ages.
"We were surprised that it wasn't just whether or not they used cannabis in adolescence that predicted the age of onset, rather it was how quickly they progressed to becoming a daily cannabis user that was the stronger predictor," said Michael Compton, lead author and assistant professor of psychiatry in the Emory School of Medicine.
The study also found a gender difference: The female subjects who progressed to daily pot smoking had a greater increased risk for the onset of psychosis than the males.
Marijuana tough on the teenage brain possibly leading to depression or just shedding a tear
According to a Canadian researcher, the effect of heavy doses of cannabis on young brains is more severe than expected.
Dr. Gabriella Gobbi, a psychiatric researcher from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre has completed a study that suggests smoking pot on a daily basis can cause depression and anxiety.
Notably, the activity can have an irreversible long-term effect on the brain.
“We wanted to know what happens in the brains of teenagers when they use cannabis and whether they are more susceptible to its neurological effects than adults,” explained Dr. Gobbi, who is also a professor at McGill University.
CANADA: Guelph cannabis club a smoking “business” — not far from Toronto
Rade Kovacevic runs the Medical Cannibis Club of Canada in Guelph where medicinal marijuana is available. Credit: Guelph Mercury
It’s a controversial operation but quietly so.
While it promotes itself and its workings via the internet, it guards its location closely. Even when you’ve arrived at the lobby of the downtown building where it’s situated – for now at least – only a simple sign marks its presence. White plastic letters on a brown board softly announce: Medical Club of Guelph.
The front door of the second-floor office is always locked. A doorbell chimes when a visitor wants access.
Behind the closed door, employees of the club – the Medical Cannabis Club of Guelph — dispense medical marijuana. It opened just over three years ago. It has quietly grown to 238 members.
The discreetness is to keep away those seeking recreational marijuana, said club founder Rade Kovacevic.
Marijuana, Alcohol Addiction May Share Genes
The genes that make people susceptible to alcoholism also make them prone to becoming addicted to marijuana, a new study suggests.
Researchers interviewed almost 6,300 men and women aged 24 to 36, including almost 2,800 sets of twins who were part of the Australian Twin Registry, about their use of alcohol and marijuana over their lifetime.
Twins are valuable to researchers in determining the role of genetics in various diseases or conditions because identical twins share 100 percent of their genes, while fraternal twins share 50 percent of their genes, the same as other siblings.
About 60 percent of the likelihood of becoming a heavy drinker, a frequent marijuana user or of becoming dependent on marijuana can be attributed to genes, according to the study, while about half of the likelihood of being an alcoholic can be traced to genetics.
Cannabis cure prostate cancer?
Chemicals found in cannabis leaves can be used to stop prostate cancer cells. The researchers hope that cannabis leaves can be used as a remedy for the treatment of prostate cancer.
The AMA eases its stance on marijuana
The Obama administration announced last month that people who buy or sell medical marijuana in the growing number of states that have decriminalized its therapeutic usage should not be targeted for arrest or prosecution by federal authorities. Now, the American Medical Association (AMA) has called for the federal government to go one step further in easing restrictions, the Los Angeles Times reported last week.
Although the new AMA policy is far from outright support of medically sanctioned pot smoking, delegates of the organization recommended at an interim meeting in Houston last week that marijuana be removed from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Schedule I category of drugs, which includes heroin and LSD. Drugs in this category are deemed unsafe with no currently acceptable medical use. With its recommendation, the AMA hopes to facilitate research on the clinical effects of smoking marijuana, as well as other delivery methods for the drug.
Growing Medical Marijuana Industry Sparks Debate in California
California is one of 14 states that allow people to use marijuana for medical reasons, and a thriving cannabis industry has developed in the West Coast state. Federal officials say the use and sale of marijuana is illegal, but the Obama administration recently said it will not prosecute marijuana dispensaries that follow state laws.
Marijuana clinics are spreading in California, which has some people calling for a crackdown, and others demanding that marijuana be legalized.
In Oakland, California, the state's largest marijuana dispensary, called the Harborside Health Center, serves 600 patients a day. It provides marijuana for a wide range of ailments, from cancer to difficulty sleeping. "When a patient comes to us for the first time, we first, of course, verify that they're a legal medical cannabis patient. And then we ask them to sign an agreement. And in that agreement, they elect to become a member of our collective and they authorize all of the other members of the collective to grow cannabis on their behalf," said Steve DeAngelo, the center's founder and chief executive officer.
Medical marijuana gets a boost from major doctors group
The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.
The nation's largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.
Pennsylvania Health and Human Services decides medical marijuana has merit
The phone is ringing off the hook in Rep. Frank Oliver's office. That is because he has decided that PA HB1393 "is worthy of discussion."
Patients and doctors have been frustrated by the failure of Pennsylvania to legalize medical marijuana. Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana and other organizations had hoped that hearings would be held in September. But the Pennsylvania state budget crisis took priority.
