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
Senator Barbara Boxer’s advisor resigns after being caught with marijuana
An economic adviser to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer has resigned after being arrested Tuesday for attempting to bring marijuana into the Hart Senate Office Building.
The U.S. Capitol Police stopped Marcus M. Stanley Tuesday morning when he allegedly tried to "remove and conceal" a leafy green substance from his pocket as he was going through security at the Hart Office Building, say U.S. Capitol Police. The substance later tested positive for the chemical compound in marijuana, police said.
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.
POLL: High Support for Medical Marijuana around the United States
High Support for Medical Marijuana ABC News/Washington Post Poll: 81 Percent Support Legalizing Marijuana for Medical Use Credit: Getty Images
Eight in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use and nearly half favor decriminalizing the drug more generally, both far higher than a decade ago.
With New Jersey this week poised to become the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana, 81 percent in this national ABC News/Washington Post poll support the idea, up from an already substantial 69 percent in 1997. Indeed the main complaint is with restrictions on access, as in the New Jersey law.
Fifty-six percent say that if it's allowed, doctors should be able to prescribe medical marijuana to anyone they think it can help. New Jersey's measure, which is more restrictive than most, limits prescriptions to people with severe illnesses. State health officials can add to the list.
DECRIMINALIZE? – Apart from medical marijuana, there have been recent efforts to decriminalize marijuana more broadly in some states. A preliminary vote on one such measure is to be held in the Washington state Legislature this week. In California organizers say they've collected enough signatures to hold a statewide referendum on the issue next fall. And a separate proposal in California to legalize and tax the drug cleared a legislative committee last week. A Field poll there in April found 56 percent support for the idea, which its backers say would raise $1.3 billion a year.
Top 10 Cannabis Studies the Government Wished it Had Never Funded
Yes, that's right.....Government funded studies have reached conclusions that marijuana prevents cancer, the gateway effect is a myth, and has no increased risk of lung cancer.
Can't really claim bias for this one....
10) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY:
A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death.
A Big Week for Marijuana Legalization
The California Assembly's public safety committee voted 4-3 yesterday in favor of a bill that would legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol. Although the bill likely won't go anywhere (it will miss a deadline to reach the full floor for a vote), this is the first time a statewide committee has approved such a measure and it's a sure sign that attitudes are changing in California and across the country.
The news came a day after New Jersey became the 14th state to approve marijuana for medicinal use. Gov. Jon Corzine says he'll sign the bill into law before he leaves office this week.
The momentum toward marijuana legalization continues to grow. On Monday, activists filed a petition in Washington state that will put full legalization on the ballot before voters in November.
A poll this week in California found 84 percent of the state in favor of legalizing marijuana, and a study conducted by the legislature found that taxing marijuana $50 an ounce would raise about $1 billion for the state.
Marijuana Compounds Could Beat Back Brain Cancer
Preliminary research suggests that a combination of compounds in marijuana could help fight off a particularly deadly form of brain cancer.
But the findings shouldn't send patients rushing to buy pot: the levels used in the research appear to be too high to obtain through smoking. And there's no sign yet that the approach works in laboratory animals, let alone people.
Still, the finding does suggest that more than one compound in marijuana might boost cancer treatment, said study author Sean McAllister, an associate scientist at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco. "Combination therapies might be more appropriate," McAllister said.
Researchers have long studied the compounds in marijuana known as cannabinoids, which are thought to hold possible health benefits. One, known as THC, is well known for its role in making people high when they smoke or eat pot. Researchers have been testing it as a treatment for the brain tumors known as glioblastomas.
The economics of drugs: marijuana, cocaine, meth – supply vs demand is twisted!
Now that's a nice cloud of marijuana smoke. Credit: Pam Templeton
The Government Action Plan on Methamphetamine is working by at least one measure – price. A gram of P, according to one Auckland drug dealer, now costs around $800, whereas a year ago the same amount set users back about $300-$400.
The doubling in price tells a supply side-story. Prime Minister John Key launched the plan in early October and, among other measures designed to restrict supply, made the important precursor drug, pseudoephedrine, prescription-only.
Also, in the two months to early December, Customs intercepted a total of 230kg of pseudoephedrine at the border. When commodities become scarce, consumer demand drives the price up.
The government is, says Key, winning "the fight against P".
But if "we" are winning the fight, what will success entail? An exhaustive account of the global cocaine trade (The Candy Machine, How Cocaine Took Over the World, by Tom Feiling) suggests all of the efforts by government and its agencies will make not a jot of difference and may even generate a worse social outcome.
NORML Director: Amazing 2009! Awesome 2010 Ahead!
Dear NORML Supporter: It is not often that I feel compelled to write to NORML’s membership and supporters regarding the day-to-day operations of America’s leading marijuana lobby group. Then again, in my tenure as Executive Director of NORML and the NORML Foundation, there’s never been a time like right now.
Over the past several months NORML’s public prominence and political influence has grown by leaps and bounds. As I write you today I’m reflecting upon two of the most significant – and productive – weeks in NORML history. As we close the year 2009 I am proud to say that NORML has galvanized its position as the leading marijuana law reform organization. Why do I say this? Take a look at the events of these two weeks late this fall, and decide for yourself.
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.
Mainstream Media Botches Marijuana Stories
For anyone who missed the worldwide corporate media’s hysterical anti-pot headlines last week, here’s a sampling:
Cannabis more damaging to adolescent brains than previously known
via Emax Health
“New research shows that teens who consume cannabis daily can suffer anxiety and depression. Smoking marijuana can have long-term irreversible effects on adolescent brains, and is more harmful to teens than previously known.”
Teen marijuana use affects brain permanently: study
via CBC News
“The findings suggest daily marijuana use by teens can cause depression and anxiety, and have an irreversible effect on the brain.”
Pot damage on teens worse than thought
via UPI wire services
“Daily consumption of marijuana in teens can cause depression and anxiety, and have irreversible long-term effect on the brain, Canadian researchers say.”
