Maine: Medical Marijuana Program Expanded To Include Patients With PTSD And Other Debilitating Disorders

Patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, Crohn’s disease, and other debilitating disorders will now be eligible for cannabis therapy, under legislation approved yesterday absent the Governor’s signature.

The new law expands the list of qualifying conditions for which a Maine physician may legally recommend cannabis to include “post-traumatic stress disorder,” “inflammatory bowel disease” (such as Crohn’s and/or ulcerative colitis), and “dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders and other diseases causing severe and persistent muscle spasms” (such as Parkinson’s disease and/or Huntington’s disease). It is the second time that Maine legislators have acted to expand the pool of patients who may have access to medicinal cannabis.

See the expanded list: MaineLegislature.org
Read the full artical : NORML

Cannabidiolic acid, a major cannabinoid in fiber-type cannabis, is an inhibitor of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell migration.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

This does not imply that weed cures cancer. There are negative and positive effects caused by smoking. However the continued demonization of marijuana could be preventing any number of drug treatments derived form it's component parts.

Abstract
Cannabidiol (CBD), a major non-psychotropic constituent of fiber-type cannabis plant, has been reported to possess diverse biological activities, including anti-proliferative effect on cancer cells. Although CBD is obtained from non-enzymatic decarboxylation of its parent molecule, cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), few studies have investigated whether CBDA itself is biologically active. Results of the current investigation revealed that CBDA inhibits migration of the highly invasive MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells, apparently through a mechanism involving inhibition of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A, coupled with an activation of the small GTPase, RhoA. It is established that activation of the RhoA signaling pathway leads to inhibition of the mobility of various cancer cells, including MDA-MB-231 cells. The data presented in this report suggest for the first time that as an active component in the cannabis plant, CBDA offers potential therapeutic modality in the abrogation of cancer cell migration, including aggressive breast cancers.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker Declares Drug War ‘A Failure,’ Endorses Medical Marijuana

Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker tweeted on Wednesday, calling the government's war on drugs a failure that unfairly targets the black population. His criticism comes after New Jersey advanced a bill to decriminalize marijuana. If it passes, a person caught with 15 grams of pot or less would only face a $150 fine.


Booker supports treatment over incarceration, saying the drug war was costing billions and destroying lives. He stated the high percentage of blacks in New Jersey's prisons, writing that they make up 60 percent of the jail population, despite being 15 percent of the state's population.

Drug war is a failure costing billions of tax dollars annually AND destroying lives, plus it has a glaring racial component @LibProgressive
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 23, 2012


In NJ blacks are about 15% of population but over 60% of prison population and DRUGS fuels much of the incarceration @LibProgressive
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 23, 2012


So yes we need to radically change the conversation from INCARCERATION to what will really end this national nightmare. @LibProgressive
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 23, 2012


I fear legalizing it all would lead 2 more addiction RT @msupolitical: last thing I want is giving more power 2 govt. legalize it all period
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 23, 2012


However, I’m with you on medical marijuana. And NJ should do more to make it real for those who need it@msupolitical
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 23, 2012

Nancy Pelosi condemns raids on medical marijuana

Pelosi.House.gov

May 2, 2012
San Francisco – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in response to recent federal government actions threatening safe access to medicinal marijuana for those who are seriously ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies:

“Access to medicinal marijuana for individuals who are ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is both a medical and a states’ rights issue. Sixteen states, including our home state of California, and the District of Columbia have adopted medicinal marijuana laws – most by a vote of the people.

“I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medicinal marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California, and undermine a policy that has been in place under which the federal government did not pursue individuals whose actions complied with state laws providing for medicinal marijuana.

“Proven medicinal uses of marijuana include improving the quality of life for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other severe medical conditions.

“I am pleased to join organizations that support legal access to medicinal marijuana, including the American Nurses Association, the Lymphoma Foundation of America, and the AIDS Action Council.

“Medicinal marijuana alleviates some of the most debilitating symptoms of AIDS, including pain, wasting, and nausea. The opportunity to ease the suffering of people who are seriously ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is an opportunity we must not ignore.

“For these reasons, I have long supported efforts in Congress to advocate federal policies that recognize the scientific evidence and clinical research demonstrating the medical benefits of medicinal marijuana, that respects the wishes of the states in providing relief to ill individuals, and that prevents the federal government from acting to harm the safe access of medicinal marijuana provided under state law. I will continue to strongly support those efforts."

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to Open in Washington, D.C.

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Set to Open in Washington, D.C.

This summer, residents will be able to buy legal cannabis at dispensaries within a few miles of the White House, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Cultivation centers are leasing space, and the city will decide who will be able to open shops by the end of March.

“The DEA is based here. The drug czar’s office is based here. How is that dynamic going to work when some of these entities say marijuana is not a medicine” with lawful medical marijuana dispensaries nearby, said Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Washington’s law will be stricter than California’s. To purchase pot, patients must be diagnosed with HIV, cancer, glaucoma or other terminal or chronic illnesses and will be authorized to carry a maximum of 2 ounces. They won’t be allowed to smoke in public or at dispensaries.

Great step in the right direction, but full legalization will always be the goal.

DEA Admits THC is Medicine

If the Feds Get Their Way, Big Pharma Could Sell Pot -- But Your Dime Bag Would Still Send You to Jail | Drugs | AlterNet

The DEA initially made public its desire to recognize the use of marijuana plant-derived pharmaceuticals in a "notice of proposed rulemaking," which appeared in the November 1, 2010 edition of the Federal Register.


The agency posted, "This proposed rule is issued by the Deputy Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to modify the listing of the Marinol formulation in schedule III so that certain generic drug products are also included in that listing." (Marinol is the brand name for dronabinol, a prescription pill approved by the FDA in the mid-'80s that consists of synthetic THC in sesame oil and is encapsulated in a soft gelatin capsule.)

Florida Medical Marijuana Bills Filed

Florida Medical Marijuana Bills Filed | The Daily Chronic

For the second year in a row, medical marijuana legislation has been filed in Florida, and for the first time ever, bills have been filed in both the House and the Senate. The bills, House Joint Resolution 353 and Senate Joint Resolution 1028, ask the legislature to approve a referendum on medical marijuana for the November ballot.

If the legislature approves the resolutions, the referendum must then win the approval of 60% of the voters. If 60% of the voters approve it, the state constitution would be amended to include medical marijuana language.

Under the resolutions, patients with a doctor’s recommendation and his or her primary caregiver would have an affirmative defense if charged with a marijuana offense as long as the amount of marijuana was not greater than the amount set by the state and could still mount an affirmative defense if it was, provided that greater amount is “medically necessary.” The amount is not set in the resolutions; instead, the legislature would be charged with setting quantity limits in the event the referendum passes.

Czech Republic Works On Plan To Legalize Medical Marijuana

​Czechs work on plan to legalize medical marijuana - CBS MoneyWatch.com

A government committee in the Czech Republic is working on a law to legalize medical marijuana in that Eastern European nation.

The country's experts have proposed that marijuana would either be imported or grown locally by farmers who are registered and licensed for such a crop, which is currently illegal.

The draft of the new marijuana bill will be completed in December. If approved by the government and parliament, the law could become effective by the middle of next year.

Some 8,000 Czechs have signed an Internet petition supporting the move, arguing that such marijuana use is legal in a number of European countries and the United States.

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/news/czechs-work-on-plan-to-legalize-medical-marijuana/6319480/#ixzz1bldsVdAR

Vermont Legalizes Medical Marijuana

Gov. Pete Shumlin (D) signed S. 17 into law. Vermont will now authorize up to four dispensaries to sell medical marijuana to patients in the state.

Vermont is now the 8th state (Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico and Rhode Island)with a law that explicitly authorizes dispensaries where patients can legally purchase medical marijuana. (And, overall, medical marijuana is legal in 16 states and the District of Columbia.)

This was a major victory for MPP and patient advocates. MPP funded a two-year lobbying campaign in Montpelier to pass the measure. We started by finding the best bill sponsors we could find, including then-Senate President Pete Shumlin. We then helped elect Shumlin to the governorship through our political action committee.

via: MMP.org

San Jose Collects First Month's Marijuana Tax: $290,000

​Excerpts form San Jose Collects First Month's Marijuana Tax: $290,000 - Toke of the Town

San Jose, California now has its first month's worth of marijuana tax in hand. "As of May 10, 73 medical marijuana collectives have remitted approximately $290,000 in taxes for the month of March," the city announced on Friday.

Starting March 1, San Jose slapped a seven percent tax on medical marijuana dispensaries under a measure city voters overwhelmingly approved last November. Even though San Jose officially considers all 100 or so of its dispensaries to be unlawful, pot providers are still required to pay the special marijuana tax to the cash-strapped city.

Most dispensary owners always assumed taxation would also mean legal acceptance, but now it appears the beleaguered providers will be catching it from both sides: they're still subject to police raids at the same time they are responsible for paying taxes.

This is a great step forward but it is also dis hearting that even when paying tax you are still subjected to being raided.

DOJ 'scare tactics' to stop medical marijuana

Scott Morgan is a professional marijuana legalization activist currently working in Washington, D.C. and he needs our help saving medical marijuana in America.

Scott is trying to get the message out that the Dept. of Justice is launching a new effort to destroy medical marijuana laws, which is a violation of Obama and Holder's promises that state laws allowing medical marijuana would be respected under this administration.

We're challenging these actions on multiple fronts, but what I'm asking from reddit is simple. Please just take a minute to visit the White House contact page, http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact , and politely remind the President that you support medical marijuana and oppose federal interference with state laws protecting patients. That's all.

Once again lets get out and support this movement, the apathy about prohibition won't help anyone.

WA Governor Says She Likes New Medical Marijuana Bill

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire on Thursday gave her approval to the new medical marijuana proposal being developed in the state Senate. The new measure is the offshoot of the legislation the governor weakened last week.

Medical marijuana has been legal in WA since voters approved it in 1998, but patients can still be arrested and lack safe access, which SB 5073 would have fixed.

According to Gregoire, Sen. Jeanne Kohlp-Welles's latest bill is "absolutely mindful" of the reason for the governor's "partial veto" of 5073 (which removed almost all useful portions of the original bill): her supposed concern that state employees might be prosecuted for administering a medical marijuana program.

I love the fact that more and more states are taking up the cause, but a state law is a state law until there is a federal change it will always be a uphill battle. The war on drugs just doesn't work. It never will

I'm looking at you Mr President. Lets see a change by 2012.

Medicalized State - Israel's Med-Pot Movement

Legalize 2012 : Colorado Marijuana Legalization Campaign

Legalize 2012 is putting a citizen's initiative on the ballot in Colorado in 2012 to amend the Constitution to re-legalize cannabis and hemp for all uses. The Legalize 2012 Project is a grassroots organization working with all cannabis activists in the state to write an initiative that has a broad base of support.

For medical cannabis patients, the Legalize 2012 Constitutional Amendment is an important step in fixing Amendment 20, Colorado's flawed medical marijuana law that was passed by voters in 2000. Amendment 20 was poorly-written by out-of-state interests and has allowed the state to take over the medical marijuana program to the point where there is now a new branch of law enforcement dedicated to fingerprinting and videotaping patients and tracking every gram of cannabis from "seed to sale." Citizens can write a better initiative that will allow all adult Coloradans to have safe access to cannabis, thus protecting the rights of sick people to also have unfettered, safe access.

Get involved in the real grassroots effort to put an initiative on the ballot in Colorado: Legalize 2012.

Judge on Medical Marijuana

"What is baffling beyond belief is the amount of ardent opposition to Medical Marijuana use. It is a Godsend for those suffering from horrible diseases like Glaucoma and yet there are self righteous ignorant control freaks in the Govt. who want to keep these people in perpetual pain" said Judge Napolitano while reporting the recent Montana Governor Veto of Govt repeal of Medical Marijuana law.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday vetoed the bill that would have repealed Montana’s medical marijuana law, calling it draconian and contrary to the will of the state voters who approved it in 2004.

Schweitzer pointed to the 2004 medical marijuana ballot initiative, which 62 percent of Montana voters approved.

Medical Marijuana Defense Bill Advances In Maryland House

The Maryland House of Delegates Judiciary Committee approved a bill, SB 308, on Thursday which would allow patients who use marijuana to treat medical conditions to use a medical necessity defense in court.

The bill would also create a panel to advise the Legislature on the best practices for creating a medical marijuana program for Maryland in 2012.

The Senate passed the bill by an overwhelming 41-6 vote on March 24, and will need to approve the bill again because of amendments made by the Judiciary Committee. Thursday's committee vote was the biggest obstacle advocates faced in their effort to remove criminal penalties for medical marijuana users.

Marijuana for Kids!

An interesting video on the use of marijuana on kid

Activist's Harsh Words For City Attorney Delivered Hours Before Pot Shop Was Raided

A Los Angeles police raid of a Venice medical marijuana dispensary last week, at a time when the city of L.A. has stated it will hold off on pot-shop enforcement, happened on a day when a City Hall activist happened to have been badmouthing the City Attorney on the issue via web radio.

Zuma Dogg played audio of his Thursday web-radio show for the Weekly. He said, in part, "I'd like to send this one out to Carmen Trutanich" while calling the City Attorney "incompetent" and a "moron" over his handling of enforcement of the city's medical marijuana ordinance. Zuma Dogg described his "broadcasting-live" location as as a Venice collective with "Green" in its title.

Thursday night (reportedly at about 7:45 p.m. -- an odd time for such action) the the Green Goddess Collective at 70 Windward Ave. was raided by police. A representative of the collective told Yo! Venice! that the shop was raided for allegedly failing to shut down under the new city law and for operating without proper permits.

The representative claims the dispensary was running legally the city "until further judicial notification," and that it will ask for a restraining order to prohibit further police action against it.

While police confirmed the raid to the Weekly, a City Attorney's spokesman said he did not know anything about the police action Thursday.

Zuma Dogg over the weekend tweeted, "Was it coincidence LAPD busted a collective SAME DAY ZD said he was broadcasting @ area collective?"

Zuma Dogg says he befriended people who worked at the dispensary he had mentioned, telling them he'd give it a plug on his web radio show after finding out they played it over the store's sound system.

On Thursday he let loose with his usual mix of dance music, but stated that he was broadcasting live from a "Green' collective in Venice.
At the same time, he called Trutanich several names.

The City Attorney has held a hard line against dispensaries and has been quick to move against out-of-compliance shops that are the source of complaints in L.A. neighborhoods.

However, last month the city backed down on enforcement against pot shops after it realized its ordinance, contrary to the desires of some of those City Council members who voted for it, would only allow about 40 of nearly 600 pot shops in the city survive.
The pause in enforcement would only last until court challenges to the law were worked out in court later this month.

On the timing of the raid last week, Zuma Dogg thinks it was supicious, but he adds, "Maybe it's a coincidence."

via [LAWEEKLY]

Marijuana Has Anti-Inflammatory That Won't Get You High

A compound in marijuana may be a potent anti-inflammatory agent that won't get people high, scientists say.

The finding could be a boon to sufferers of arthritis, cirrhosis, and other diseases. Existing drugs can be less effective for some people and can carry side effects, from stomach ulcers to increased risk of heart attacks.

Marijuana supporters have long argued that the plant's active ingredients, known as cannabinoids, are safe and effective treatments for pain, nausea, and other ailments.
The most active cannabinoid—delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC—is known to have anti-inflammatory properties. But it is also responsible for the plant's psychotropic effects.

Now researchers say that another cannabinoid, called beta-caryophyllene, or (E)-BCP, helps combat inflammation without affecting the brain.

(E)-BCP is already part of many people's daily diets, the researchers note. Foods that are particularly high in the compound include black pepper, oregano, basil, lime, cinnamon, carrots, and celery.

Essential oils from cannabis plants—whose leaves and flowers are used to make the marijuana drug—contain up to 35 percent (E)-BCP.

But even after decades of cannabis research, scientists hadn't previously known that the compound had anti-inflammatory properties.

"This is because the focus was on the classical cannabinoids [rather than (E)-BCP]," said lead study author Jürg Gertsch of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Lone Receptor

Cannabinoids in marijuana are known to primarily affect two of the many molecular receptors in the human body.

The CB1 receptor is found in the brain and central nervous system and is responsible for the high people experience when they smoke pot.

The other receptor, called CB2, is found in tissues in the rest of the body and triggers a cascade of biochemical reactions that can help combat inflammation.

"Our interest is to exploit the pharmacological nature of the CB2 receptor," because it does not have psychotropic side effects, Gertsch explained in an email.

"Targeting the CB2 receptor could be a therapeutic strategy to prevent or treat diseases like Crohn's disease [inflammation of the intestinal tract], liver cirrhosis, osteoarthritis, and atherosclerosis."

THC activates both receptors, so it won't alleviate inflammation without also making people high.

But (E)-BCP affects only the CB2 receptor, according to the new study, which appears in today's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

As part of their research, the scientists engineered a strain of mice that lacked the CB2 receptor. The team then fed the modified mice and normal mice a diet rich in (E)-BCP.

When the scientists induced inflammation with chemicals, normal mice experienced an anti-inflammatory effect while the genetically engineered mice did not.

"This experiment shows that the anti-inflammatory effects are mediated via the CB2 receptor," Gertsch said.

Drug Building Block?

Stephen Safe, director of the Texas A&M University's Center for Environmental and Genetic Medicine, said he is impressed by the team's results both in mouse cells and in live mice.

"They did a good study," said Safe, who was not involved in the research.

He also noted that a lot of other studies have been finding that fat-soluble chemicals from plants activate many receptors in the body.

"A lot of these [come from plants that] have been used in traditional medicine," he said. "This is another example of that—but a bit of a sexy one."

In this case, he noted, Gertsch's team has identified some "petty good" activators of the CB2 receptor.

"Can they be further developed and modified into better anti-inflammatory drugs?" he asked. "Maybe. [(E)-BCP] could be a new model [compound] for drug design."

Via: NationalGeographic.com

Marijuana Helps Anxiety Disorders

POT STIRRING

After years of prescription antidepressants that offered no relief from anxiety disorder, Patsy K. Eagan experiments with her drug of choice— marijuana, which for some may be the medicine to send SSRIs up in smoke

A thimbleful is all it takes. After a day’s work, I pinch off a small amount of marijuana and put it in a steel-tooth grinder. The flowers, covered in tiny white diamonds of THC, release a piney scent when crushed. I turn on the TV, and instead of taking a glass of wine with my evening news, I take out my vaporizer and set it on the coffee table.

Outside the walls of my bungalow in Oakland, California, I can hear the rush-hour traffic, but I’ve already changed into my Big Lebowski–style robe and slippers. I tap the ground flakes into a canister that I attach to another piece, this one with a bag on the end, and set both on the vaporizer. I flip the switch, and the bag slowly inflates with plumes of white smoke. Once it’s fully clouded, I attach a mouthpiece to the canister, put this to my lips, and press. On the inhale, the cannabinoids taste like sunned grass. My prescription for anxiety disorder didn’t always begin and end with an herb. But I’ve run through enough pharmaceutical drugs to know that pot dulls my panic better than any pill.

One could say I diagnosed myself in high school, when I recognized my symptoms in a psychology textbook. Finally, I had “generalized anxiety disorder” to describe the dread I felt of some future event that was overtaking my present. I usually sensed the panic attacks first in my chest. Then my vision would start to go to static, and my body would crumple to the floor. There I’d ride it out until the adrenaline ran its course.

Soon after I started to suffer several of these episodes a day (and so often that fear of another one kept me indoors), I sought out a psychiatrist. I told her about the times I’d be driving and convince myself that I was about to spin off the road—the looping, invented terrors. A little talk therapy and a prescription later, I discovered that Zoloft only exacerbated my panic and depression. I stopped taking the little white pills and cut out caffeine instead; I exercised and practiced meditation. For years I abstained from medication, and aside from the occasional pot smoking with friends, I swore off drugs entirely.

By the time I graduated from college, I knew all about the female hysteric and how anxiety was still cast as a womanly defect. Women experience generalized anxiety disorder at twice the rate of men. Every year, as many as 4.5 million American women are diagnosed with GAD—not including the several other permutations of anxiety disorders, namely social phobia, obsessive-compulsiveness, post-traumatic stress, and agoraphobia—for which, as with most mental illnesses, they are prescribed medications. Thus, I resisted pills for the backward “rest cure” and institutionalization they stood for: the only thing to be done for the hysterical female.

For the full artical visit: Elle.com