15TH ANNUAL TORONTO GLOBAL MARIJUANA MARCH
It was this past Saturday, May 11th, 2013. Good times, good people, good vibes. Thank you Toronto!
A four year pilot program for medical marijuana on the bill in Illinois
A swing in public attitudes about marijuana could lead to passage this year of an Illinois law allowing medical use of the drug, according to proponents.
A vote in the Illinois House is expected this week on House Bill 1, a bill that would create a four-year pilot program through which patients suffering certain ailments could use marijuana. If approved, it then would go to the Senate, which approved such a measure once before.
Medical marijuana is becoming a lucrative business in Hawaii
Legal users soared to more than 8,000 over the past decade from 255 in 2001, the program's first year.
$38 million a year, with patients consuming an average of 1 ounce per month at a street price of $400.
It's a burgeoning business for doctors, who charge as much as $300 to certify medical marijuana patients. The consultation typically lasts an hour and often is not covered by medical insurance.
There were 175 physicians licensed to certify medical marijuana patients as of June, up from 35 in 2001, according to the Narcotics Enforcement Division of the state Department of Public Safety.
The state charges a $25 processing fee for a medical marijuana certificate. Patients are required to be certified annually.
Hawaii's medical marijuana law allows patients with a debilitating condition — such as cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, severe pain or nausea — to use the drug if they are certified by a physician registered with the state. It is still illegal to buy marijuana, but patients can grow it legally.
Cannabis whets appetite for cancer patients
People with advanced cancer said food tasted better when they took the active ingredient in cannabis compared with sugar pills, a small Canadian study showed.
Cancer patients commonly report decreased appetite and changes in their sense of taste and smell that can lead to weight loss, anorexia, a poorer quality of life, and decreased survival, according to several short-term studies.
To explore whether tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis — actually improves taste and smell perception and appetite, researchers in Montreal and Edmonton tested THC and placebo capsules in 21 adults with cancer. Of these, 11 were randomly assigned to THC and 10 to placebo.
Indiana may reassess medical marijuana laws
Indiana may not currently have much in common with California, but that could change due to recent legislation that would place the Hoosier state one step closer to
decriminalizing marijuana.
Senate Bill 192 successfully passed through the Senate Committee on Corrections, Criminal and Civil Matters on Tuesday with a vote of 5-3.
The bill would require an existing committee to research the effects of marijuana’s current illegal status.
According to the Indiana General Assembly’s website, the Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee would study marijuana’s possible medicinal usage, its effect on the Indiana justice system and whether or not it should be controlled and regulated like alcohol.
Researchers awarded $4.7 million to study effects of marijuana on HIV
In recent time studies have shown that smoking marijuana helps relieve the aching, burning nerve pain associated with HIV. Two teams of researchers from the University of South Florida and University of California are searching for some answers on how to best treat the disease. The experts have been awarded $4.7 million by the National Institutes of Health to examine the effects of THC intake on HIV.
The University of Florida Health Science Center report that the study be five years long to properly determine the changes to immune function and progression of HIV when the substance is abused. Using a technique called systems biology the virologists will study HIV-infected and HIV-free white blood cells specific cellular change relating to active marijuana compounds.
The question is what effect does THC have on the mental problems HIV-infected people experience throughout their lives. Can it slow the dementia? Could it provide therapy for the movement and cognitive problems?
Read more at Medical News Today and at UF's College of Medicine Insider
VIDEO: Polls show increased support for Prop 19 in California
The push to legalize marijuana in California is seeing increased public support.
A field poll shows likely voters support Proposition 19 by a 49-to-42 percent margin. In July Prop 19 trailed by four points.
The new field poll is similar to an exclusive Action News Poll conducted by SurveyUSA this month. It showed 47-percent of likely voters said they would vote to legalize marijuana, while 43-percent were opposed.
Montreal researchers study shows marijuana is effective in reducing pain
A team of Montreal researchers has lent scientific credibility to the view that smoking marijuana can ease chronic neuropathic pain and help patients sleep better.
People suffering from neuropathic pain often turn to opioids, antidepressants and local anesthetics, but those treatments have limitations and the side effects can be punishing. Many physicians and policy-makers, however, are reluctant to advocate the use of cannabis since there has been little scientific research into its effectiveness, even though patients champion its use.
The study, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that pain intensity among patients decreased with higher-potency marijuana. It is one of a handful of scientific attempts to determine the medicinal benefits of the drug.
Los Angeles strictly interprets restriction on pot dispensaries
When the Los Angeles City Council adopted its medical marijuana ordinance, it aimed to rout unscrupulous dispensary operators whose unruly customers irritated residents and operators who opened up willy-nilly across the city, ignoring a ban on new stores.
But the ordinance has snared operators who appear to have tried hard to adhere to state law and the city's rules. Among them are some of the most politically active operators whose dispensaries are considered model operations. Last week, the city sued these dispensaries and dozens of others and asked a judge to rule that they could be shut down.
Know the Benefits of Cannabis
Do you know what the current medical laws sweeping the United States mean? Do you really know how they work? Some of you may think that anyone can get medicinal cannabis... but this is not the case.
According to some new state laws, you must have at least one illness that exists on a very specific list of conditions that qualify. This illness must be diagnosed by a real doctor who recommends cannabis as an appropriate medication.
The doctor provides the patients with a written recommendation that it will alleviate the symptoms of their condition. Patients then have several options open to them depending on which state's laws they live under.
The first option in many states is to simply take the letter of recommendation from your doctor to a medical marijuana dispensary. They will most likely keep a copy of your letter on file and then you can purchase your prescription pot from this dispensary from that point on. If you need to move or buy them from another location, you need only have the doctor's note with you.
The next option is for you to take the letter from your doctor and send it in with certain health department forms to your state government. Your state's health department will then send you a medical card. This card can then be used at various dispensaries within your state. This option is required in some states and not in others, but either way you must have a condition for which your doctor can write a letter of recommendation to ingest cannabis.
Most states also provide a third option for patients. You can acquire your doctor's letter of recommendation and then send it in to the state's health department with the necessary forms. This third option, however, requires you to request a medical card in order for you to grow your own medicinal cannabis. The laws in this area not only vary by state, but also by county in some cases.
A qualified patient can be in possession of anywhere from eight ounces of them to several pounds and they can grow and maintain from six to fifty plants of varying maturity depending on which county of the state they live in.
It may seem like the new laws allowing prescription cannabis for certain patients are legalizing pot, but this is not the case. The new laws such as proposition 215 in California are being instituted to allow people who suffer from certain illness to access the medicine they need to feel better.
Double Toke! Ammiano Reintroduces Bill to Legalize, Tax Marijuana
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has reintroduced his pioneering bill seeking to legalize and tax pot in California.
In a statement released this afternoon, Ammiano's office said the San Francisco Democrat hopes the new legislation will build on support garnered by AB 390, his first pot-legalization measure, which passed out of committee in Sacramento but overran its deadline for consideration by the rest of the Legislature.
The bill's expiration last month appeared more or less in line with the grand strategy of Ammiano, who said he wanted to take plenty of time to build consensus on the issue. Now AB 2254, the latest incarnation of the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act, will get a second shot.
"We're even more optimistic about the fate of this bill than we were about AB 390," Aaron Smith, California director for the Marijuana Policy Project, told SF Weekly.
