Looking at the Legalization of Pot

California is no longer the only place to have legalized medical marijuana—nearly half of all states have followed suit, with Colorado and Washington serving as bellwethers for recreational use. It may seem like the US is experiencing an end to a prohibition on par with that of alcohol, but just how will the Green Rush grow? And why is it attracting some surprising advocates among doctors, entrepreneurs, politicians, attorneys, and businesspeople?




Weed. Ganja. Marijuana. Pot. During the opening session of the heady 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival held in June of this year, references to the potent plant were the keynote kicker. An intellectual with enviable wit, David G. Bradley, owner of the Atlantic Media Company, delivered an opening monologue that imagined some 250, type-A festival speakers high on Colorado cannabis, enlivening a crowd of CEOs, politicians, doctors, and thinkers with scenarios such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pulling her tempted husband into a car with a reference to her memoir, “We’re making hard choices, Bill.” But all jokes aside, this international platform—which eventually staged a very serious conversation on marijuana between Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and Katie Couric—is illustrative of an escalating national debate embracing medical marijuana and its rapid-fire industry growth. And for many close to the cause, weed is no laughing matter, posing hard choices indeed.

Pot chatter is pervasive throughout the US, whether at dinner parties or on the floor of Congress. In Atlanta, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, who was once vocally anti-pot, passionately discusses the benefits of cannabis in his second documentary film, Weed 2: Cannabis Madness. In Nevada, State Senator Tick Segerblom and Congresswoman Dina Titus are championing bills that favor post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) medical marijuana research and protect the rights of legal users. In Los Angeles, former talk-show host and celebrity Ricki Lake is producing a new documentary, Weed the People, which follows cancer-stricken children and the use of cannabis as medicine. In Denver, Tripp Keber, founder and CEO of Dixie Elixirs and Edibles, is launching his latest edible product, Dixie One. And just a 20-minute drive from Keber’s new 40,000-square-foot Colorado headquarters, Governor Hickenlooper is repeatedly quoted as stating that we are in the midst of one of the “great social experiments of the 21st century.”

On late-night talk shows and in countless political jokes, the enduring dope-fiend stereotype propagandized in the 1936 film Reefer Madness is perpetuated, but in fact, the growth of the marijuana industry is predicted to outpace smartphones: A projected $2.34 billion worth of legal weed will be sold in the United States in 2014, according to the book State of Legal Marijuana Markets

(2nd Edition) produced by ArcView MarketResearch. The same report projects a whopping $10.2 billion market by 2018.
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, a milestone ballot that legalized cannabis for medicinal use. Since that time, more than half of all states have either followed suit—in July, New York became the 23rd state to sanction medical marijuana—or taken steps to decriminalize the substance, making possession of a small amount on par with a traffic ticket. And referendums on legal recreational use of marijuana are cropping up on ballots nationwide since Washington State and Colorado voters approved the practice in 2012; Oregon and Alaska voters legalized such use on Election Day in November.

While California was indeed the first state to pass a medical marijuana law, it has fallen far behind other states when it comes to licensing and regulating medical marijuana providers. In 2014, two initiatives to regulate medical marijuana fell short. As a result, the burden for regulation of medical marijuana businesses remains with local communities, and many around the state are now deliberating medical cannabis regulations.

Conversely, following Colorado and Washington’s lead, The Marijuana Policy Project has filed a committee with the California Secretary of State to support a 2016 ballot initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol in California. Under current California law, possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is a civil infraction similar to a speeding violation. Simply put, we are witnessing an end to a prohibition on par with that of alcohol. As Keith Stroup, founder of NORML, says, “It is the most exciting political change I’ve seen in my lifetime. You almost can’t keep up with the change that’s going on.”

Weed 101

Dr. Sanjay Gupta with Josh Stanley at his family’s booming Colorado grow house, in a still from Gupta’s new documentary, Weed 2. The preferred scientific term for this lauded and condemned botanical is cannabis, from the Greek word kánabis. It relishes sunlight, is an annual, and can flourish in nearly any environment, thus the slang, weed. According to Martin A. Lee’s book Smoke Signals, most scholars agree that cannabis arrived in our neck of the woods during the 16th century. Ships carrying slaves, explorers, and immigrants were outfitted with rope, sails, and netting made of hemp, while slave passengers also carried seeds for marijuana (hemp’s psychoactive cousin) in their pockets.

“Sir Francis Drake, Christopher Columbus, and Ferdinand Magellan all sailed ships equipped with hemp products,” Lee notes. “And in 1619, eight years after colonists first planted hemp in Jamestown, the Virginia assembly passed a law requiring every household in the colony to cultivate the plant because it had so many beneficial uses. Hemp farming and processing played an important role in American history (as evidenced in the name of towns from the Atlantic coast to the Midwest, Hempstead to Hempfield). Several of our Founding Fathers, in fact, were hemp farmers, including George Washington.” By the 1850s, hemp was the third-largest crop behind tobacco and cotton.

As the plant made its way across the globe in many forms—and was ingested via inhaling, tinctures, and medical experiments among varying societal ranks—it gained a particular stronghold in Mexico, where, according to Lee’s research, farmers discovered the power of “Rosa Maria.” During the Mexican Revolution, smoking weed was prevalent in Texas border towns like El Paso, which in 1914 became the first city to ban both the sale and possession of marijuana. Thus, the national debate on this botanical’s potent power began as a murmur, which has since evolved, at times, into a screaming match. Today, though new state laws are being enacted rather quickly, on the federal level, cannabis remains a Schedule I substance, which is defined as “the most dangerous” drugs “with no currently accepted medical use.”

Reefer Madness & Prohibition

Prior to 1906, the federal government had yet to regulate any psychoactive drug. During that year, Congress enacted the Pure Food and Drug Act, the first legislation that included cannabis among ingredients that had to be noted on a product label. By 1914, the Harrison Act tightened narcotic control, stating that a nonmedical user could not possess cocaine or opiates; with this, the first line was drawn in the sand between medical and recreational drug use.
Though alcohol prohibition occurred all at once on the national level, marijuana prohibition was enacted in stages. By the mid-1930s, cannabis was regulated as a drug in every state. It was around this time that Harry Anslinger helmed the newly created Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), a post he held for 32 years. Many allege that Anslinger’s anti-marijuana campaign was fueled by a desire to increase his department’s budget: If he could successfully vilify weed, his bureaucratic power would result in further funding for the FBN. There are also scores of reports that pot prohibition was fueled by big business, a premise referred to as the Hemp Conspiracy Theory. It is reported that the Hearst and DuPont empires felt that hemp would threaten the sales of their wood-pulp paper and nylon products, and the theory thus played a major role in campaigns and propaganda against pot in all its forms.
Love him or hate him, Anslinger was central to the American public’s perception. He coined the term “Devil’s Weed,” championed such anti-pot propaganda as Reefer Madness (today a cult comedy classic often watched ironically by college students as they get high, along with its musical 2005 parody version), and was instrumental in the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act, which heavily regulated the plant and served to drastically limit doctors’ ability to legally prescribe cannabis.
Today, many physicians, including the outspoken Gupta, are realizing that this little green plant could have a huge impact across several medical fields. “This is legitimate medicine,” argues Gupta.

The Little Plant that Could: Medical Marijuana

image: http://s3.amazonaws.com/cmi-niche/assets/pictures/41147/content_Legalizing-Marijuana-3.jpg?1413827569

Tripp Keber at Dixie Elixirs and Edibles. “I am not backing down on medical marijuana; I am doubling down,” proclaimed Gupta in a March CNN column. When asked to explain his 180-degree turn on the benefits of cannabis, he’s quick to explain, “The tipping point was when I started to look at the research coming out of other countries and smaller labs. [When] I started to spend time with patients who were convinced it was helping them, I realized it was a very large group of patients who seemed to be getting objective benefits. And that’s what really started getting me researching it again.”

His research led him to Charlotte Figi, the central figure in his provocative film Weed. Charlotte has been plagued with complex seizures—nearly two an hour, at its peak—since she was an infant, and the film follows a harrowing family journey to save Charlotte’s life after she was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome. Also known as severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy, this rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy was at one point causing Charlotte 300 grand mal seizures a week. As a last resort, the Figi family turned to medical marijuana, pitching Charlotte, then 5 years old, into the center of a national debate as the youngest medical marijuana applicant in Colorado. And though Charlotte’s story has become known across the country, what many may still not fully understand, Gupta explains, is that young patients such as Charlotte are not getting intoxicated.

“This isn’t getting them high. [Particular strains of medical marijuana have a] high-CBD concentration; they may become a little bit sedated, like they would with other antiepileptic drugs,” says Gupta. “The biggest misconception is that kids are getting stoned or high or psychoactive.”
Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the principal psychoactive component in marijuana, the form of cannabis responsible for euphorias, or highs, whether smoked or ingested via edible products. On the other hand, cannabidiol (CBD) is one of at least 60 active cannabinoids identified in cannabis, which, when isolated, can have a wide scope of medicinal uses, and does not get patients high like THC.

Charlotte was given a very specific, highly concentrated CBD strain cultivated by the Stanley brothers—one of Colorado’s largest marijuana growers—at their Garden of Eden grow house. The six brothers crossbred marijuana with industrial hemp, and the resulting strain, Realm Oil (which Charlotte would ingest under her tongue via an olive oil blend, not as smoke), was renamed by the Stanleys as “Charlotte’s Web.” It was so successful in combating Charlotte’s seizures that families with similar stories have relocated to Colorado in order to legally obtain medical marijuana. Today, 8-year-old Charlotte is reported to have about three to four seizures a month. The Stanleys have since created the Realm of Caring nonprofit, which provides free or low-cost cannabis therapies to families in need.

It’s not just celebrity doctors such as Gupta who are championing the potential of medical marijuana. Ed Bernstein, a prominent Las Vegas attorney and television show host, is applying for a dispensary license, with a 33 percent stake in La Casa Verde Operating. As a successful businessman, he sees opportunity, but the impetus for this new venture is his 25-year-old daughter, Dana, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 3. “She’s had about 200 hospital day trips,” explains Bernstein. “She’s had a couple of dozen surgeries. Over the years, she’s had her intestines removed. She is in constant pain, 24/7.”

While living in California during high school, Dana applied for a medical marijuana license and discovered the drug significantly decreased her pain. Now a Nevada resident, it’s become difficult for Dana to obtain marijuana for medicinal use, thus her father’s quest to fight for her rights and open a dispensary.
“Medical marijuana has been legal here for a number of years, but there was no way to access it,” he says. “I am very aware of the legislation, and we immediately looked into getting a dispensary here.” Bernstein hopes to open a boutique that features quality medical marijuana, a shop “that has a welcoming environment, that can offer the very best strains scientifically possible.

You want to be able to have strains of the highest CBD and a variance of those strains that work well with different medical conditions. We are going to focus on doing research with the strains, with universities, with hospitals. My partners all have the same interests in helping people who suffer.”
Both Bernstein and Gupta are quick to point out the harmful side effects of conventional painkillers (in Dana’s case, the opioid Dilaudid). Gupta adds, “The abuse of pain medications is the most tragic thing in our country. Someone dies every 19 minutes from an accidental prescription drug overdose. It’s now the number-one preventable cause of death in the US.”

Gupta also notes that epilepsy, pain, and multiple sclerosis are particularly responsive to cannabis-based medicines. Another hot topic in both medical and political circles is the effect of medical marijuana on PTSD. “We are following the trial of marijuana for PTSD among veterans,” says Gupta. “I think the initial research will be promising. Survivors of the Holocaust are being treated for PTSD with cannabis right now. It’s the initial drumbeat and very positive.”

Use & Abuse: The Next Generation

As the medical benefits of CBD strains are further researched, there’s still considerable apprehension among medical experts (Gupta included), law enforcement, and politicians surrounding marijuana and young users. Now that teens may gain easier access to the drug, potential for abuse and the effects on the young brain are a particular concern.
A groundbreaking study published by The Journal of Neuroscience in April is the first to show that frequent use of marijuana is related to major brain changes. Researchers—including experts from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital—conducted MRIs on 40 people: 20 recreational users who smoke an average of 11 joints per week and 20 nonusers. The scientists found that the shapes and sizes of two neural regions essential to motivation and emotion were significantly altered in users.

Concerns about marijuana’s negative impact on the growing brain has spurred leaders to create forums, such as the Aspen Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo’s Valley Marijuana Council, to discuss the impact and warn young users of the dangers. Though supportive of the legalization of both medical and recreational pot, during an address to the annual NORML Legal Seminar in Aspen, Sheriff DiSalvo stated, “Marijuana is not a product for brains under construction. The message we are giving students is delay, delay, delay. The longer you delay, the better your chances of not compromising a brain under construction. We want to increase awareness and lower adolescent drug use.”

Governor Hickenlooper is in agreement. “We have a moral responsibility to regulate it properly,” he says. “That means making sure kids under 21 don’t get it. But kids think because it’s legal, it’s less dangerous. We are arguing caution.”
So just how does the industry tackle potential abuse among young users, and even adults? Certainly there are scores of medical marijuana licenses issued to “patients” who are, in fact, using medical marijuana licenses to simply get high. As with alcohol, or any substance for that matter, abuse is inevitable. When asked how this will be navigated, most advocates suggest extensive educational outreach.

In August, a controversial Colorado public education campaign titled “Don’t Be a Lab Rat” was driven by the Colorado governor’s office. Human-size rat cages were dropped around Denver in an effort to warn teens that Colorado is a testing ground for medical marijuana legalization, and there is still uncertainty involved in relation to pot use and the young brain. Additionally, though Governor Mark Dayton passed legislation allowing medical marijuana in Minnesota, the state’s strict new law bans smoking marijuana and home cultivation, and allows for only two cannabis dispensaries statewide.

The Mighty Edible

“The only thing consistent in this industry is change,” says Tripp Keber. “It’s at hyper speed.” Standing in what will soon be a sleek reception area of his new 40,000-square-foot headquarters in Denver, the founder and CEO of Dixie Elixirs & Edibles has recently hyped himself on shows such as 60 Minutes and HBO’s Vice. Keber describes the booming marijuana business as having experienced “hockey stick growth,” from completely flat to straight on up.

While leading a tour of his impressive new facility, he candidly explains, “We are not marijuana people. We are businessmen and women who have applied what we have learned professionally to the cannabis space. There has never been a nationally branded line of THC-infused products like Dixie. Our intention is taking this company not only national, but public.”
A successful entrepreneur who served in the Reagan administration, Keber has been called the “Gordon Gekko of Ganja.” But nicknames aside, he helms a serious, and seriously lucrative, business, squarely in the spotlight of edible entrepreneurs (the industry is moving so fast that at a recent Las Vegas “cannabusiness” convention, one business proposal was a Domino’s-esque pot delivery service).

Founded just four years ago, Keber’s Dixie Elixirs has grown from a 400-square-foot office with two employees who made one product (an orange elixir) to what can only be called a marijuana industrial “mansion” that currently houses some 50 employees and serves as the assembly line and grow house for the more than 40 Dixie THC-infused products and 100 different SKUs. Most cannabis sold in Colorado dispensaries comes in four forms: as the buds of the plant; as liquid extractions meant to be used in vaporizer pens; as edibles, such as gummy candies, chocolates, and sodas; and as salves and lotions for rubbing into sore muscles and joints.

The latest Dixie Elixir? Dixie One, a soda that, unlike most edible products, offers a single, measured 5mg dose of THC. Which raises the question—as the fast-paced edible business booms, how does one properly package and regulate dosage amounts? This growing debate among edible entrepreneurs, marketers, and state legislators was further thrust into the national spotlight when New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd alleged in her “Don’t Harsh Our Mellow, Dude” column back in June, that she, unaware of the potency, accidentally ate too much of a THC-infused candy bar, resulting in a panic-stricken hotel stay in Denver.

Commenting on this, Joe Hodas, Dixie’s chief marketing officer, wrote a reactive op-ed in The Times), Keber says, “Dosing is the single-greatest focus that we should be looking at as an industry. Now you have your average soccer mom from Ohio who may or may not have had a relationship with cannabis in 20-plus years, and [today] cannabis is dramatically different. What was previously 3 or 4 percent is now 23 or 24 percent [THC].” As a potential answer to the growing concern of packaging and marketing dosing amounts, Keber and his team developed Dixie One to eliminate the guesswork: one soda, one dose.

Keber touts his new headquarters’ state-of-the-art security, a necessary feature at a time when few banks have been willing to provide accounts and other services to marijuana businesses because of its federal Schedule I classification, so most dispensaries have to conduct business in cash. He notes that two dispensaries in his area had recently been robbed. But his sometimes-risky business also means serious tax revenue—numbers, he opines, that can not be ignored by the government on both the state and federal level, given the potential funding for education, city infrastructure, additional medical research, and much more.

And headway is being made, particularly in Colorado, with banking institutions and the marijuana industry, as politicians and banking co-ops are quickly realizing reform is inevitable in regard to banking and buds.
In February of this year, Governor Hickenlooper stated that taxes and fees from recreational and medical marijuana sales would be $134 million in the coming fiscal year. And though some may criticize his choice of industry, Keber says, “You cannot argue with taxes and jobs. The revenue reported from April [2014] was up 17 percent from the month before, and up 53 percent since January.” There’s no doubt he believes in the industry’s skyrocketing potential. “You are seeing this real steep growth. Sometimes we feel like we have a tiger by the tail.”

National Drug Facts Week 2015 Brings Together Teens and Scientific Experts to Shatter Persistent Myths About Drug Use

January 2015 - National Drug Facts Week, which brings together teens and scientific experts to shatter persistent myths about drug use and addiction, will be held Jan. 26 through Feb. 1, 2015. Ideas for community-based events, as well as success stories from previous years, are highlighted on the National Drug Facts Week Web portal.

“National Drug Facts Week has been growing every year, from 92 events at its inception almost five years ago,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. “This tells us how much teens — who are bombarded daily with misinformation about drugs — want science-based facts about drug use.”

National Drug Facts Week was launched in 2010 to counteract the myths that teens often hear from the Internet, TV, movies, music, or friends. One popular myth is that marijuana is harmless, although science tells us that marijuana use by teens may negatively affect brain development and impair school and athletic performance. Teen use of marijuana is up compared to five years ago, perhaps because fewer teens consider marijuana to be a harmful drug.

To help shatter the myths surrounding marijuana and other addictive substances, National Drug Facts Week encourages events that allow teens to ask questions of addiction scientists or health experts about drug use and addiction. Events can be sponsored by a variety of organizations, including schools, community groups, sports clubs, and hospitals. Topics for discussion can include not only what science tells us about marijuana, but also about prescription drug abuse, and the use of tobacco and alcohol.

NIDA provides an online toolkit that advises teens and their adult advisors how to create an event, publicize it, find an expert, and obtain scientific information on drugs. This year, NIDA has merged its National Drug Facts Week website with its popular NIDA for Teens site, http://teens.drugabuse.gov/national-drug-facts-week. 

This will enable easier browsing between event planning tools and NIDA’s drug information fact sheets, which are designed with teen-friendly language and graphics. Event holders who register online will receive free booklets with science-based facts about drugs, including one of NIDA’s most in-demand teen publications, Drugs: Shatter the Myths. Also this year, NIDA offers three interactive tools that can be projected on large screens at events or used with mobile devices:

• The online 2015 National Drug IQ Challenge is a 12-question multiple choice quiz that teens and adults can take to test their knowledge about drugs. Past-year challenges can be found here:http://teens.drugabuse.gov/quiz/national-drug-facts-week/take-iq-challenge/2014. The 2015 challenge will be posted when it is available.
• Choose Your Path interactive videos encourage students to make decisions about the abuse of prescription drugs using scenarios from their everyday lives: http://teens.drugabuse.gov/peerx/choose-your-path.
• The interactive version of the popular poster Drugs + Your Body: It Isn’t Pretty highlights the effects drugs have on the teen body. It was created in partnership with Scholastic: http://www.scholastic.com/drugs-and-your-body .

National Drug Facts Week is again supported by many federal agencies, including the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP); the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism at NIH; the Office of Safe and Healthy Students in the U.S. Department of Education; the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the Department of Health and Human Services; the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the U.S. Department of Justice; and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (HUD). Each agency will post National Drug Facts Week information on its website and encourage the development of special events linking experts to teens.

“President Obama’s vision is for all of America’s children to grow up in healthy and safe communities,” said ONDCP Acting Director Michael Botticelli. “This administration’s drug policy is based on neuroscience, and we are committed to informing young people and health care professionals about the negative consequences drug and alcohol use can have on their futures.”

The Office of Safe and Healthy Students will help promote National Drug Facts Week and encourage schools to participate. “National Drug Facts Week allows NIDA staff to connect directly with youth and to share facts on drug use in a direct, evidence-based, and non-judgmental fashion,” said David Esquith, director of the Office of Safe and Healthy Students. “Once again, our office is pleased to help promote this week’s activities and to encourage schools to participate.”

DEA will again share in efforts to encourage community-based events. “National Drug Facts Week provides a unique opportunity to discuss drug abuse, relevant science, and the dangers of addiction. DEA is proud to encourage community-based events that engage teens in a dialogue about drugs,” said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. “Having an honest and open discussion about the dangers of drug abuse is a significant first step in drug prevention. We are pleased to support NIDA’s efforts to help youth make informed choices.”

HUD, which reaches approximately 1.5 million families globally, is participating by encouraging executive and field office public housing directors to hold National Drug Facts Week events and by promoting the week-long observance through Facebook.

Also during National Drug Facts Week, NIDA scientists will hold their annual Web chat with teens around the country. Drug Facts Chat Day will be held Jan. 30 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time. Further details on the popular annual chat, including registration information and transcripts from previous years, can be found at http://teens.drugabuse.gov/national-drug-facts-week/chat-with-scientists.

These Professors Believe Marijuana Can Defeat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

“It has been a long time since people died of untreatable bacterial infections and the prospect of returning to that world is worrying.”
This is the concern of Ramanan Laxminarayan, a health economist and professor. He has observed the exponential rise of antibiotic use around the world, and its negative effects on bacteria.
And he’s not the only on to notice.
The Coming Crisis of Antibiotic Resistance In fact, earlier this week, the White House called for increased investment to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria to prevent resurgent diseases once thought eradicated along with new superbugs that gain strength due to the modern penchant for profligate antibiotic use. An investment of roughly $1.2 billion, to be exact.
The proposal called for funding research into new antibiotics, increased monitoring of infection outbreaks, new resistance efforts at veterans’ and military hospitals, and efforts to curb antibiotic over-prescription.
Two professors, however, believe an alternative can be found in the natural antibiotic effects of a variety of plants. The most effective? Cannabis.

In 2008, Professor Simon Gibbons (right), who heads the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry at the University College London School of Pharmacy, and Professor Giovanni Appendino (left) of Italy’s Piemonte Orientale University published a study that demonstrated the ability of various chemicals extracted from marijuana (cannabinoids) to fight methicillin-resistant staph bacteria – one of the most serious and life-threatening sources of bacterial infections in the U.S.
The scientists tested chemicals from marijuana on six different strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) – including strains that are known to be resistant to traditional MRSA treatments – and found that they were just as effective at killing the bacteria as commonly prescribed antibiotics.
The cannabinoids were found to be just as effective as vancomycin – a powerful drug that is only used when other antibiotics fail.
 3 Problems Doctors Face When Prescribing Medical Marijuana
Prof. Gibbons explained the remarkable findings of his 2008 study in an interview with MIT’s Technology Review.

“The cannabinoids even showed exceptional activity against the MRSA strain that makes extra amounts of the proteins that give the bugs resistance against many antibiotics… Everything points towards these compounds having been evolved by the plants as antimicrobial defenses that specifically target bacterial cells.”

Prof. Appendino added that the most promising cannabinoids in their study – cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) – also happen to be non-psychoactive.

“What this means is, we could use fiber hemp plants that have no use as recreational drugs to cheaply and easily produce potent antibiotics.”

With our current understanding of cannabinoids, Prof. Appendino believes there is much promise for cannabis derivatives with bacteria-fighting abilities to be used in hospital settings – where most MRSA infections are acquired.

“The most practical application of cannabinoids would be as topical agents to treat ulcers and wounds in a hospital environment, decreasing the burden of antibiotics.”

Wolf vows to support Senate's medical marijuana bill

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf held an impromptu reception Tuesday for parents of children who are suffering daily from debilitating seizures and vowed to sign a medical marijuana bill that senators are writing.
The greeting in Wolf's ornate Capitol reception room followed a news conference at which Sens. Daylin Leach and Mike Folmer said they plan to broaden their legislation that overwhelmingly passed the Senate last fall.

That bill was opposed by then-Gov. Tom Corbett and died when the House did not act on it at the end of the legislative session.
Leach, D-Montgomery, and Folmer, R-Lebanon, envision a new bill that would expand the list of 10 authorized medical conditions to give doctors more leeway to prescribe medical marijuana as they see fit. The senators also plan to expand drug delivery methods to include smoking and vaporization, as well as extracted oils, edible products, ointments and tinctures.

That bill has not been written, but Wolf said he will support it.
"If they support it and it takes us farther down the road toward what we all want, which is full legalization of medical marijuana, giving doctors the ability and the right to prescribe medicine they think that patients need, I'm for it," Wolf said.
Support for a medical marijuana bill is untested in the state House of Representatives, and Republican leaders there have pledged no support for the Senate's approach. A spokesman for House Republican leaders said Tuesday that the Health and Judiciary committees are planning a series of joint hearings on the subject.

At their news conference, Leach and Folmer were flanked by eight other senators, including Majority Leader Jake Corman and Minority Leader Jay Costa. At least a half-dozen families of children who suffer daily seizures attended the event and went to Wolf's reception room afterward, including Dana Ulrich, whose 7-year-old daughter, Lorelei, suffers from severe seizures.
"We've tried all of her medication options and so we're hoping for a new option with medical cannabis and we're hoping you can help lead us there," Ulrich told Wolf.

Louann Speece told Wolf that her 17-year-old daughter, Diana, has had seizures since she was 9 days old.
"She is a shell. I know she's in there. She doesn't speak, she doesn't really feed herself very well," Speece told Wolf. "I want her to have a good quality of life so hopefully she can convey her needs and wants to people other than me.

Support for the bill has been propelled by parents who believe a marijuana oil extract can help their children. The seizures can inflict brain damage and their affected children often function well below grade level, the parents say. Some parents in Pennsylvania have decided not to wait and are seeing improvement in their children after tapping into a network that brings marijuana oil extracts to states that ban it, Leach and Ulrich said.
Leach and Folmer also want their bill to allow for the wider treatment of others, such as veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer victims.

Medical Marijuana Winning Approval Nationally

It has come onto the scene like gangbusters. Who would have thought ten years ago that the United States would be discussing the legalization of medical marijuana or even the legalization of recreational marijuana. At the present time there are 23 states either legal medical marijuana and 4 who have legalized recreational marijuana. In the upcoming legislative sessions in Pennsylvania and Florida bills are being reintroduced for the legalization of medical marijuana.

In last years mid term elections medical marijuana had a good showing in both States but failed to pass. In the Virginia legislature this upcoming session they will discuss easing the marijuana laws and possible decriminalization.
Our congress will be looking at the decriminalization law that just passed in Washington D.C. Many more states are in the process of looking at medical marijuana or even the Charlotte's Web strain.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has decided to take marijuana off its worse list, upgrading marijuana to actually having a medicinal purpose. This will get doctors to do research on marijuana to see just how valuable it can be to those who are ill. There is definitely a change in attitude toward marijuana and it's coming from the people.
Recently, in Florida the voters had the opportunity to vote on the legalization of medical marijuana in Amendment 2. Many of the law enforcement community were against it.

Recently State Senator Jeff Brandes has introduced a new bill for legalization of medical marijuana. Yesterday, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gaultieri said he would support this new bill. This is big news as Gaultieri who voted against Amendment 2. The United for Care group who brought us Amendment 2 last year has endorsed the new bill by Brandes but are also looking to put another version of Amendment 2 on the 2016 presidential election ballot.

So its a sure bet Florida will have legalized medical marijuana soon
Yes it us true that soon most if not all of the United States of America will have legal medical marijuana and possibly legal recreational marijuana. The times are changing.

Marijuana Policy

Chronicle AM: WY MedMJ Bill Killed, Ukraine Blocks Methadone to Rebel Regions, More (1/26/15)

by psmith, 

Some pleasantly surprising poll results from Michigan, medical marijuana bills are popping up all over the place, the Baby Bou Bou SWAT raid is sparking bills to rein in over-the-top drug raiders, and more. Let's get to it:

Georgia bills seek to rein in over-the-top drug raiders.

Marijuana PolicyMichigan Poll Has Support for Taxing and Regulating Marijuana at 64%. A SurveyUSA poll released late last week has nearly two-thirds of respondents saying they would support legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana to increase school and road funding. That same set of respondents did not support increasing sales tax to increase school and road funding. Only 43% answered yes to that question. Click the link for more poll details.
South Carolina Decriminalization Bill Filed. Rep. Mike Pitts (R-Laurens) has filed House Bill 3117, which would decriminalize the possession of up to an ounce of weed.
Medical Marijuana
Pediatricians Call for Rescheduling Marijuana, Say Compassionate Use for Children Okay. In a new policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending that the DEA reschedule marijuana to ease research on it. The influential medical society is also proposing that medical marijuana be made available on a compassionate basis for children with serious illnesses who have not benefited from other medicines. Click the policy statement link for more detail.
Georgia CBD Medical Marijuana Bill Filed. Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) today filed House Bill 1, which would allow the use of CBD cannabis oil for qualifying patients. He had earlier considered a bill that would allow marijuana to be grown in-state, but he removed that language after objections from Gov. Nathan Deal (R). Peake said he hopes a deal can be struck that will allow for cannabis oil to be imported to the state.
New Illinois Governor Stalling Medical Marijuana Licenses. Former Gov. Pat Quinn (D) left behind a list of companies poised to be granted medical marijuana business licenses, but incoming Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) is in no hurry. Now he wants to conduct "a thorough legal review of the process" used to choose licensees. Medical marijuana patients will have to continue to wait.
South Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Filed. House Minority Leader J. Todd Rutherford (D-Columbia) and several cosponsors have filed House Bill 3140, which would allow qualifying patients to grow and possess limited amounts of marijuana. Last year, the legislature passed a CBD-only medical marijuana bill.
Wyoming Medical Marijuana Bill Killed in House. The House Judiciary Committee last Thursday killed a medical marijuana bill on a 5-4 vote. The bill was House Bill 78.
Drug Testing
Wisconsin Governor Won't Fight Feds Over Food Stamp Drug Testing, But Will Seek Waiver. Gov. Scott Walker (R) had vowed to fight the Obama administration over requiring drug tests for food stamp recipients, but his forthcoming budget proposal now says he will seek waivers from the federal government. Federal law bars adding new eligibility requirements to the food stamp program.
Law Enforcement
Baby Bou Bou SWAT Raid Sparks Georgia Bill Regulating "No Knock" Raids. The May drug raid over a $50 meth sale that left a Georgia infant seriously injured by a flash bang grenade has sparked a reaction in the state legislature. Senate Bill 45, filed by Sen. Vincent Fort(D-Fulton County) this month, would require police to show probable cause that there is imminent potential for life endangerment or destruction of evidence if they knocked and declared their presence at a suspect's door prior to arrest. A separate House Bill 56 would end unannounced arrests between 10pm and 6am, unless a judge specifically grants a warrant.
International
Ukraine Blocking Delivery of Opiate Maintenance Drugs to Rebel Regions. The Kiev government is effectively blockading the pro-Russia regions under control of rebels, including supplies of buphrenorphine and methadone. Russia has been delivering other medical supplies to the region, but not the opiate maintenance drugs, which are illegal in Russia. In Donetsk, the last 52 patients on buphrenorphine ran out earlier this month, and the dwindling supply of methadone will be gone by March 1. There are nearly 400 methadone patients in the region.

Seven States That Are Next In Line to Legalize Marijuana

Written in partnership with Alternet and originally published here.

President Obama is taking a pretty much laissez-faire approach to legalization experiments in the states. (whitehouse.gov

During a series of YouTube interviews Thursday, President Obama demonstrated a remarkably laissez-faire attitude toward marijuana legalization experiments in the states. And he signaled strongly that the Obama administration wouldn't be taking to the hustings to try to beat back legalization efforts, as previous administrations had been wont to do.

"What you're seeing now is Colorado, Washington through state referenda, they're experimenting with legal marijuana," the president said in response to a question from YouTube host Hank Green. "The position of my administration has been that we still have federal laws that classify marijuana as an illegal substance, but we're not going to spend a lot of resources trying to turn back decisions that have been made at the state level on this issue. My suspicion is that you're gonna see other states start looking at this."

Indeed. Legalization bills are already popping up in state legislatures around the country, and while it's unlikely -- though not impossible -- that any of them will pass this year, 2016 looks to be the breakout year for freeing the weed. One state is going to be the first to legalize it through the legislature, and next year seems reasonable. And the presidential election year is also likely to see successful legalization initiatives in several more.
Currently four states -- Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington -- and the District of Columbia have ended pot prohibition. But that's only about 18 million people. By the time they quit counting the votes on Election Day 2016, that number is likely to triple, and then some.
So, where's it going to happen? Here's where:
California
That California is the only state on the West Coast to not yet have legalized pot is an embarrassment to Golden State activists. They were first with medical marijuana in 1996, and they tried to be first to legalize it with Prop 19 in 2010, but came up short, garnering 46% of the vote on Election Day despite leading in the polls up until the final weeks. In 2012, with the big players sitting on their cash stashes, none of the competing initiative efforts even managed to make the ballot.

It will be different in 2016. The actors with deep pockets are all ready to get involved next year, the polling is good (if not great, hovering in the mid-50s), and the state's disparate and fractious cannabis community is already working to forge a unified front behind a community-vetted initiative. The main vehicle for activists is the California Coalition for Cannabis Law Reform, which has already started holding meetings statewide to try to a unified marijuana reform community.

California activists are laying the groundwork for 2016. (cannabispolicyreform.org)

With 38 million people, California is the big prize. It's also an expensive place to run an initiative, with the cost of getting on the ballot alone at around a million dollars. And it'll take several million more to pay for advertising in the key final weeks of the campaign. But the money is lining up, it'll take fewer signatures to qualify for the ballot (thanks to the dismal turnout in last year's midterms), and once it qualifies, it will have momentum from (by then) four years of legalization in Colorado and Washington and two years of it in Alaska and Oregon. California will go green in 2016.Nevada
Nevada is the state that is actually furthest down the path towards legalizing it next year. The Marijuana Policy Project-backed Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Nevada has already qualified a legalization initiative for the 2016 ballot. It would legalize the possession of up to an ounce by adults 21 and over and allow for taxed and regulated marijuana commerce.
Under Nevada law, the legislature now has a chance to approve the initiative. If it does so, it would become law; if it rejects it or fails to act on it, it then goes to the voters on Election Day 2016.
Nevadans approved medical marijuana in 1998 (59%) and again in 2000 (65%), but voted down decriminalization in 2002 (39%) and legalization in 2006 (44%). But it has since then effectively decriminalized possession of less than ounce, and it's now been a decade since that last legalization initiative loss at the polls. Either marijuana will be legal by Election Day 2016 thanks to the legislature or the voters will decide the question themselves at the polls.
Arizona
In Arizona, possession of any amount of pot is still a felony, but polling in the last couple of years shows support for legalization either hovering around 50% or above it. Those aren't the most encouraging polling numbers -- the conventional wisdom is that initiatives want to start out at 60% support or better -- but a serious effort is underway there to put the issue before the voters in 2016.
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is teaming with Safer Arizona and other state activist groups for the 2016 initiative campaign and has formed a ballot committee to begin laying the groundwork for a Colorado-style initiative.
The initiative language is not a done deal, and there are some signs that local activists aren't completely happy with MPP's proposed language, but that's why there are consultations going on.
Maine
The Marijuana Policy Project has been laying the groundwork for a statewide legalization initiative in 2016 with local initiative campaigns in some of the state's largest cities in 2014 and 2013 and is working on final initiative language now. But it is also seeing competition from a state-based group,Legalize Maine, that says it is crafting its own initiative and is criticizing both MPP and Maine politicians for advancing "out of state corporate interests" at the expense of Mainers.

Whether MPP and Legalize Maine can get together behind a single initiative remains to be seen. If they can, good; if they can't, well, Maine is a small and relatively inexpensive state in which to run a signature-gathering campaign. There could be not one, but two legalization initiatives in Maine next year.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Diane Russell has filed a legalization bill in the legislature this year. Maine is one of the states where the looming presence of legalization initiatives could actually move the legislature to act preemptively to craft a legalization scheme to its own liking.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts is another. As in Maine, but to a much greater degree, Bay State activists have been laying the groundwork for legalization for years. Groups such as MassCann/NORML and the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts have run a series of marijuana reform "public policy questions" in various state electoral districts each election cycle since 2000 -- and they have never lost! The questions are non-binding, but they're a clear indicator to state legislators where voter sentiment lies.

The state has also seen successful decriminalization and medical marijuana initiatives, in 2008 and 2012, respectively. In both cases, the initiatives were approved with 63% of the vote. And again as in Maine, the Marijuana Policy Project is organizing an initiative, but local activists with similar complaints to those in Maine are threatening to run their own initiative. Organized as Bay State Repeal, which includes some veteran Massachusetts activists, the group says it wants the least restrictive legalization law possible. Whether the two efforts can reach a common understanding remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the issue could move in the legislature in the next two years. New Republican Gov. Charlie Baker says he's opposed to legalization, but is praising Democratic Senate President Stanley Rosenberg's decision to appoint a special Senate committee to examine issues around legalization. Rep. David Rogers (D-Cambridge) isn't waiting. He's filed a legalization bill, and while previous such bills have languished in the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, incoming committee head Sen. Will Brownberger (D-Boston) has said he will give it a hearing. Something could happen this year, although it's more likely next year, and the voters doing it themselves on Election Day 2016 is more likely yet.
Vermont
Vermont could be the best bet for a state to legalize it this year and for the first state to legalize it through the legislative process. There is no initiative process in the state, so that's the only way it's going to happen. And the state has already proceeded well down that path.
Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) has endorsed legalization in principle -- the devil is the details -- and the legislature last year approved a RAND study on the impacts of legalization, which was just released earlier this month. That study estimated that freeing the weed could bring the state $20 to $70 million in annual pot tax revenues.
Other state officials have expressed openness to the idea, and a May 2014 poll found 57% support for legalization. There's not a bill in the hopper yet this year, but one could move quickly in this state where a lot of the legislative groundwork has already been laid.
The Marijuana Policy Project has formed the Vermont Coalition to Regulate Marijuana to help push the process along. Stay tuned; this is one to watch.
Missouri
And there's a dark horse in the heartland. The Missouri activist group Show Me Cannabis has been running an impressive educational campaign about marijuana legalization for the past few years. The group tried to get an initiative on the ballot last year, but came up short.
They've already filed paperwork for 2016 for a constitutional amendment to make it legal to grow, sell, and use marijuana for people 21 and over.
One reason Show Me Cannabis came up short in 2014 was the lack of support from major players outside the state. Given the lack of polls showing strong support for legalization, the big players remain sitting on their wallets, but that could change if good poll numbers emerge. And there's still plenty of time to make the 2016 ballot.

Chronicle AM: VA Forfeiture Reform, Jamaica to Decriminalize, Supreme Court Drug Dog Case, More (1/22/15)

There's medical marijuana action in the states, the Supreme Court hears a case about drug dogs, Jamaica is about to decriminalize ganja, an asset forfeiture reform bill is moving in Virginia, and more. Let's get to it:

South Dakota Highway Patrol drug dog and trainer. How long can you be detained waiting for them to show up? (dps.sd.gov)

Marijuana PolicyWashington State "Comprehensive Marijuana Reform Act" Filed. State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Seattle) is filing this week legislation designed to bring the state's existing medical and recreational marijuana systems into agreement. "The main intent of my bill is to simplify and unify the two systems so that complex gray areas and dangerous illicit markets will eventually cease to exist," she said. The bill would eliminate unregulated dispensaries and collective gardens, but it would also direct the state Liquor Control Board to increase the number of retail outlets by and adopting a competitive, merit- and experience-based licensing application system.
Medical Marijuana
Kansas Parents Get Senate Hearing on Medical Marijuana Bill. The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee heard Wednesday from parents of chronically ill children were speaking in support of pending medical marijuana legislation, SB 9, introduced by Sen. David Haley (D-Kansas City). Click on the title link for hearing details.
Maine Bill Would Allow Medical Marijuana in Hospitals. State Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Auburn) has filed LD 35, which would allow registered patients to use medical marijuana in hospitals. It does so by adding hospitals to list of eligible primary caregivers, the list of places where patients can store and use medical marijuana, and barring hospitals from prohibiting the use of smokeless marijuana by patients.
Nebraska Medical Marijuana Bill Filed. State Sen. Tommy Garrett (D-Bellevue) has filed LB 643, a full-blown medical marijuana bill that allows patients or caregivers to grow up to 12 plants and possess up to six ounces, envisions a dispensary system, and allows the plant to be used for a specified list of diseases and conditions.
Opiates
New Jersey Legislators Tackle Package of Heroin and Pain Pill Bills. State Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Woodridge), chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, announced Wednesday that legislators from both parties had introduced a package of 21 bills aimed at confronting widespread heroin and prescription pill use. The bills are designed to increase access to treatment and recovery. Click on the link for more details.
Asset Forfeiture
Virginia House Panel Approves Bill Ending Civil Asset Forfeiture. A bill that would require a criminal conviction before asset forfeiture could take place has passed the Criminal Law Subcommittee of the House Committee for Courts of Justice. HB 1287, sponsored by Del. Mark Cole (R-Spotsylvania) now heads for a full committee vote.
Criminal Justice
Vera Institute for Justice DC Event Next Week Features Sen. Cory Booker. The Vera Institute is hosting "Justice in Focus: The Path Forward," in Washington, DC, next Tuesday. The event will feature a keynote interview with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), as well as panels with other major figures in criminal justice reform. Click on either link for more information and event details.
Drug Testing
Wisconsin Governor Moving Forward With Public Benefits Drug Testing Scheme. Republican Gov. Scott Walker today announced more details of his plan to require drug screening and testing of people seeking public benefits, including food stamps and unemployment benefits. He said that those who fail the drug test would get a chance for free drug treatment and receive job training. More details will come when he unveils his budget proposal on February 3.
Search and Seizure
Supreme Court Hears Arguments Over Roadside Detentions While Awaiting Drug Dogs. How long can a police officer detain you on the side of the highway while waiting for a drug-sniffing dog to come sniff your vehicle? That was the question before the Supreme Court Wednesday. The case is that of a man pulled over in Nebraska. He was issued a warning ticket and asked to consent to a search of his vehicle. He refused, but rather than allow him to go on his way, the officer detained him for eight more minutes until a drug dog arrived. From their questions, it doesn't appear the justices are inclined to side with the defendant; click the link to get the flavor of their comments. The case is Rodriguez v. US.
International
Jamaica is About to Decriminalize Ganja. The island nation most closely associated with marijuana is about to decriminalize it. The Jamaican cabinet Monday approved a bill that would do just that, as well as allow for the creation of medical marijuana and hemp industries. The bill, the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act of 2015, goes to the Senate tomorrow and will be debated there next Friday. It would decriminalize the possession of up to two ounces of ganja; allow its use for religious, medical, scientific, and therapeutic purposes; prohibit smoking it in public places; and provide for the granting of licenses for the development of a legal hemp and medical marijuana industry.

Jamaica is About to Decriminalize Ganja

by psmith,

This article was published in collaboration with AlterNet.
The island nation most closely associated with marijuana is about to decriminalize it. The Jamaican cabinet Monday approved a bill that would do just that, as well as allow for the creation of medical marijuana and hemp industries.

Rastaman has a reason to smile. (wikimedia.org)

The bill, the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act of 2015, goes to the Senate tomorrow and will be debated there next Friday.

It would decriminalize the possession of up to two ounces of ganja; allow its use for religious, medical, scientific, and therapeutic purposes; prohibit smoking it in public places; and provide for the granting of licenses for the development of a legal hemp and medical marijuana industry.
While Jamaica is home to the Rastafarian religion, whose sacrament is marijuana, and has high usage rates (9.8% of the adult population, ranking it 10th worldwide, according to the UN), it has been slow to move forward on marijuana law reform.
It's been 14 years since a government-appointed National Commission on Ganja recommended decriminalization. At the time, Jamaican politicians were able to point to baleful threats coming from Washington as a reason not to move forward.

But things have changed. The United States is no longer wielding international drug control treaties as clubs with which to beat down reform efforts and, in fact, is moving unevenly toward marijuana legalization itself. Four states and the District of Columbia have already legalized it, and 14 more have decriminalized it.
The situation in the hemisphere is similar. Uruguay has already legalized it, while Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico have decriminalized the possession of small amounts. The land of the legendary Lamb's Bread pot strain and the home of ganja icon Bob Marley is in danger of being left behind when it comes to bringing marijuana laws into the 21st Century.

Groups such as the Ganja Law Reform Coalition, the Ganja Future Growers and Producers Association, and the Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Task Force have been urging the government to loosen the island's pot laws not only for the sake of social justice, but also for fear that failure to act will hurt Jamaica's competitiveness in what is foreseen to be an emerging international legal marijuana market.
Now, while they're not getting full legalization, they are getting decriminalization and the opportunity to lay the groundwork for a legal marijuana industry.

"The development is long overdue and comes after years, and, in recent times, heavy pressure from what is now a diverse and broadening group of stakeholders on human rights, social, economic, scientific and medical grounds," cannabis taskforce director Delano Seiveright said in a statement.
For Prime Minister Michael Golding, it's less about social justice than economics. Marijuana law reform could boost the island's already significant tourist industry, he said.
"We need to position ourselves to take advantage of the significant economic opportunities offered by this emerging industry," Golding said.

Kingston

Jamaica

 

 

National Drug Facts Week is January 26 - February

Follow Rosecrance all week for trends in drug use and information on substance abuse prevention and treatment.

By Rosecrance Health

Did you know?

Marijuana Can be Addictive

• Approximately 9% of ALL marijuana users will become addicted.
• About 17% of those who start smoking in their teens will become addicted.
• 25-50% of daily marijuana users will become addicted.
• The average age marijuana users start smoking in the United States is 14.

Teen Drinking Can Lead to Alcoholism

• Teens who start drinking before age 15 have a 47% chance of becoming an alcoholic, compared to 9% of those who start drinking at 21 or older.
• The average age a person has their first alcoholic drink in the United States is 12.

Talking to Your Child About Drugs is Important

• 14% of teens believe that their parents would be OK with them smoking marijuana.
• 10% of parents say they are OK with their child smoking marijuana.
• Teens are less likely to use substances if their parents teach them about the risks; however, 21% of teens say their parents have not had this discussion with them.

Sources: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence; American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry; Drugfree.org.
Rosecrance offers Prevention Classes in our Northbrook, Naperville and Frankfort locations. We also have Intensive Outpatient (IOP) for teens in Northbrook and Frankfort and Outpatient for young adults (ages 18-26) in Northbrook. Rosecrance’s Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Centers for adults and adolescents are located in Rockford, IL. To access these services call, 815.387.5615 to schedule a free assessment. For more information, visit www.rosecrance.org.
For more information on National Drug Facts Week, visit http://teens.drugabuse.gov/national-drug-facts-week.

In Case You Missed It, This New Marijuana Study Has a Smoking Revelation

Regardless of which president takes office in two more years, one thing is becoming clear: Marijuana is increasingly becoming a part of American consumers' agenda.
Marijuana takes center stage
Over the past decade, the public's opinion surrounding whether or not marijuana should be legalized has done a complete 180. Just one in four respondents in a Gallup poll would have been in favor of marijuana's legalization just a decade ago. As of 2013, this figure had jumped to 58%, signaling that many view the drug more favorably for a number of reasons.
For starters, there's the belief that marijuana possesses medical properties that could be beneficial in treating certain diseases. This is the primary reason we've witnessed 23 states legalize marijuana for medical purposes since 1996. Florida tried to become the 24th state in this past election, but it fell 2% shy of the 60% needed to officially pass the amendment and change Florida's constitution.

Source: Flickr user futureatlas.com.

However, the enthusiasm goes beyond just marijuana's medical benefits. The movement to pursue adult-use legalization of the drug is gaining steam in a number of states. In 2012, Washington and Colorado legalized recreational use marijuana. Oregon and Alaska doubled the number of recreation-legal states in 2014 when their residents approved a similar law.

Both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana help individual states generate tax revenue that they can use to close budget gaps, so select states where marijuana isn't currently legal are seriously considering putting the measure to vote.
Yet, putting aside public opinion, a number of concerns remain in the forefront. Perhaps none is greater than the long-term effects marijuana smoking might have on the health of a person.

Look around, and you'll certainly get a wide range of opinions -- and with good reason. You see, a vast majority of studies involving marijuana's effects on the body over the past few decades have targeted its potential risks rather than its benefits. There simply aren't many long-term studies to establish a safe track record for marijuana.
However, one long-term study that recently emerged from Emory University could have Americans changing their view on marijuana.

I bet you didn't see this coming
According to an abstract published online ahead of a print publication in the Annals of American Thoracic Society, smoking one marijuana cigarette per day for as long as 20 years wasn't associated with any adverse effects on lung function.

Source: Flickr user Ashton.

Specifically, researchers noted that marijuana smoke exposure in adults aged 18 to 59 wasn't associated with a decline in FEV1 values, or the maximum amount of air you can exhale within one second. A decline in FEV1 would be expected with chronic or obstructive lung diseases, such as asthma or COPD, which can be caused by lifelong smoking of tobacco products.

It should be noted that the method of marijuana inhalation mattered as well. Those who smoked combustible marijuana cigarettes were more likely to report increased symptoms of bronchitis. For those individuals who vaporized their marijuana, there were considerably fewer reports of adverse respiratory symptoms. In spite of a higher propensity to get bronchitis, the conclusion that marijuana smoke leads to no long-lasting adverse effects on the lungs would appear to be a major victory for marijuana proponents.

Why this study is important
This study and the need for others like it are important for marijuana supporters as it potentially distances marijuana from the known harmful effects of smoking tobacco products, and it offers the idea that marijuana could be used over the long term in moderation without causing any major damage to a user's lungs.
In the 23 states where marijuana is legally allowed to be prescribed for medical purposes, cancer is a common qualifying condition.

However, there are a number of other potentially long-term conditions like glaucoma, chronic pain, and hepatitis C, for example, where medical marijuana may be prescribed over the long term. Thus it's important to understand how long-term use of medical marijuana might affect the user. Based on this latest study, the results demonstrate that medical marijuana's benefits could outweigh its risks.

Source: GW Pharmaceuticals.

It's also a positive for high-profile cannabinoid drug developer GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH  ) , which is looking to use its more than five dozen cannabinoid compounds to effect positive biological change. In its pipeline, GW Pharma's most promising candidate is Epidiolex for adult and childhood epilepsy, but it has other experimental therapies as well to treat type 2 diabetes and cancer pain. The more beneficial long-term studies GW Pharma can get behind (even though its products aren't smoked or vaporized) the more publicly acceptable it could be for GW to target unmet childhood indications with cannabinoid-based products.

Still a long way from approval
But even with this markedly positive study on moderate long-term use, marijuana is still, admittedly, a long way away from being approved across the board.
It's highly unlikely that the federal government is going to change its tune on marijuana as a schedule 1 drug anytime soon. In fact, marijuana supporters should be counting their blessings that the federal government has allowed the individual states to manage their own marijuana laws by taking a hands-off approach. However, if the laws within those states break down or fail to keep legally grown marijuana within a states' borders, it could invite the federal government to take a more active role in policing the drug.

We also have to bide our time until more studies analyzing the long-term effects of marijuana are available. Until researchers have a better understanding of how marijuana affects cognitive function over the long run, it could place a cap on marijuana's expansion into new states or even across the country.
As an investor, I continue to believe this is one to avoid. Traders are emotional, and there aren't solid business models in place behind a majority of marijuana companies. Even GW Pharmaceuticals is likely to lose money throughout the remainder of the decade.

From a consumer standpoint, it's really anyone's guess. Marijuana does have the potential to generate substantial tax revenue, but until some of these aforementioned questions have answers, it's unlikely to gain serious traction.

Jamaican government proposes non-commercial legalization of ganja

Mark Golding is the Jamaican Minister of Justice. Below the fold is the text of a press release from his office about legislation that would decriminalize of cannabis possession and legalize its production and sale for medical use and for use in Rastafarian religious observance.
In addition, the fine print:

Permits the cultivation of five or less ganja plants on any premises, which will be regarded as being for medical or therapeutic use of the leaves or for horticultural purposes

In other words, the proposal is for complete but noncommercial legalization.
Key sentence:

The system of complete legal prohibition of ganja in Jamaica has been in place since 1948, has not worked and is no longer considered fit for purpose.

Note the cross-national difference in terminology: to “table” a bill means to offer it, not to defer its consideration. Also note that under a parliamentary system, a Cabinet bill is likely to become law without much modification.


STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF JUSTICE
ON THE DANGEROUS DRUGS (AMENDMENT) BILL FOR POST-CABINET PRESS BRIEFING
Introduction
The public will recall that in June and September, 2014 Cabinet approved the amendment and enactment of legislation to, among other things:
i. Make the possession of two ounces or less of ganja a non-arrestable, ticketable infraction that does not result in a criminal record;
ii. Permit the use of ganja for religious, medical, scientific and therapeutic purposes;
iii. Prohibit the smoking of ganja in public places;
iv. Provide for the grant of licenses to permit the development of a lawful industry for medical ganja and industrial hemp.

The much-anticipated legislation to make provisions treating with these legislative reforms was, on January 19, 2015, approved by Cabinet for tabling in the Houses of Parliament. It is a Bill entitled the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2015.
Background
The system of complete legal prohibition of ganja in Jamaica has been in place since 1948, has not worked and is no longer considered fit for purpose. The reality is that ganja remains as prevalent in Jamaica as it ever was, perhaps more so. Many thousands of Jamaicans have been arrested, detained prosecuted and convicted for possession and smoking of ganja. It has been a source of deep distrust, bitterness and dysfunctional relationships between many youths and the Police.

It has damaged many lives through criminal records which prejudice employment prospects and travel possibilities. It has abrogated the rights of the Rastafarian community, who regard the plant as a holy sacrament, who have faced nearly a century of oppression in giving expression to their religious beliefs.
For decades the reform of the law relating to ganja has been the subject of several recommendations and reports by public and private sector groups, including the 1977 and the 2003 Joint Select Committees of Parliament and the 2001 Report of the National Commission on Ganja. Nevertheless, despite all this, prior to 2014 nothing was done to right the wrong.

The winds of change have been blowing internationally. There have been significant reforms in some European countries. In our hemisphere, regulated medical cannabis has been permitted in Canada, and recreational liberalisation has been enacted in Uruguay. The United States has recognised the need for some flexibility in approaching this issue, given that many of their own states have introduced laws to permit medical marijuana, and some states have gone further to introduce more general liberalization.

In Jamaica, this Administration has decided to move in a measured, deliberate way towards ganja law reform. The reforms introduced by the 2015 Bill reflect some of the recommendations coming out of the 2001 Reports and other consultations at the local level, and also current developments and trends in other countries.
A significant reform relates to the modification of the penalty for smoking ganja and possession of ganja in small quantities. The harsh penalty for these offenses under the existing law was a common point of concern in all the reports, in particular the imposition of a criminal record and the adverse long-term social and economic consequences suffered by persons convicted of such offenses, predominantly young men, as a result of this.

The first step in our reform was achieved by the passing of the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) (Amendment) Act 2014, which was brought into effect on October 12, 2014. It has removed the attachment of a criminal record for possession of small quantities or smoking ganja. Administrative arrangements have been put in place to facilitate the expungement of the past records.
The new penalty structure introduced by the 2015 Bill, and the removal of the attachment of a criminal record, seek to offer the opportunity for rehabilitation while respecting the human rights of offenders. In addition, the new approach is expected to positively impact the caseload of the courts, as research has shown that these minor ganja cases have significantly contributed to the case backlog which burdens our overstretched criminal justice system.

Another significant reform which has also been the subject of comment and recommendation in the various reports and consultations, relates to the criminalization of the use of ganja by Rastafarians for religious purposes. This is viewed as an undue restriction on their freedom of religion guaranteed under the Constitution and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms introduced by bipartisan cooperation in 2011, as the sacramental use of ganja is an integral aspect of their religious practice. The provisions of the Bill permit the use of ganja by Rastafarians for religious purposes, and provides also for related activities such as the cultivation, possession and conveyance of ganja pursuant to such use, subject to stipulated requirements.

Further, with increased recognition of the medicinal advantages of ganja, not only locally but also internationally, the Bill provides also for a legal, regulated system for medical, scientific and therapeutic purposes. With the changes to the ganja laws in other territories such as the United States of America, Australia and Canada, and the revenue that has been acquired by them as a result of their reforms, there has been extensive campaigning and consultation surrounding the establishment of a medical ganja industry in Jamaica.

Some Jamaican scientists are already engaged in research into the medicinal uses of ganja, through longstanding ad hoc arrangements. However, a viable medical ganja industry cannot be established without a robust legal framework to support it. We need to position ourselves to take advantage of the significant economic opportunities offered by this emerging industry. The current law prohibits the cultivation, production, import, export, transport, trade in, possession and use of ganja. Therefore, the reforms and objectives proposed can only be accomplished through legislative amendments, primarily to the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Economic opportunities also exist in relation to the production of hemp (i.e. cannabis with a very low level of the psychoactive ingredient THC) and its versatile array of industrial by-products, and the 2015 Bill will also enable a regulated industry in hemp to emerge.

International Obligations
Jamaica is a small independent country that believes in the rule of law. Given our size and limited resources, our national security and territorial integrity depend on upholding the rule of law in the international sphere, and we have always respected and complied with our international obligations, just as we expect other countries to do the same.
Therefore, in considering any change to the law relating to ganja, it is critical that regard must be had to obligations under the relevant international agreements to which Jamaica is signatory. These agreements place certain limitations on the changes that can be made to our domestic law without violating our international obligations. Of particular significance are the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1972 Protocol Amending the Single Convention, which list Cannabis among the most dangerous substances which are particularly harmful. Unless and until the stipulated requirements in the abovementioned international conventions are reviewed and adjustments made, Jamaica is obliged to ensure that the reform of our domestic legislation is within the present scheme of our international obligations.

However, these international conventions permit some flexibility. They allow for the use of ganja for medical or therapeutic purposes, subject to regulation by way of a licensing regime, and also industrial hemp (i.e. cannabis with a very low level of the psychoactive ingredient THC). They also recognize the supremacy of the Constitutions of member states, when it comes to the particular domestic regimes to give expression to the obligation to control, restrict and impose sanctions in respect of prohibited activities relating to drugs.

The international conventions therefore provide some flexibility in the treatment of the use and possession of ganja in our local context. Our approach to this reform is fully cognisant and respectful of these international conventions and Jamaica’s obligations under them, and seeks to operate within the treaty framework of permissible approaches.
The 2015 Bill that has been approved by Cabinet therefore amends the law taking into account recent developments in other jurisdictions, our local culture and economic advancement, without violating our international obligations.

Illegal drug trafficking and abusive use of ganja

Before I describe the reform provisions in the 2015 Bill, two important aspects of this legislation need to be highlighted.
Firstly, it must be emphasized that these reforms do not represent a softening of our stance on illegal drugs and related criminal activities. Jamaica remains fully committed to the fight against transnational illegal trafficking in all forms of prohibited drugs and the organized crime that it fuels, an ongoing effort which is fundamental to our national security at home and our international reputation and relationships. The financial penalties related to the offences involved in transnational drug-trafficking have become outdated with the depreciation in real terms of nominal monetary values over time. These financial penalties are therefore being significantly increased by the 2015 Bill, and Jamaica will continue to work cooperatively with our international partners to ensure robust law enforcement in this area.

Secondly, it is fully recognised that the use of ganja in Jamaica by adolescents and other vulnerable groups, is a pressing social problem. However, the current approach of outright prohibition of ganja has in no way addressed this problem – in fact, it has made it worse, because many adolescents are attracted to experimenting with things that are regarded as taboo, and this has attracted many of them to ganja use. Whereas public education around unsafe sex and alcohol drinking practices has become quite prevalent, the legal prohibition on ganja has meant that the very real need for public messaging to discourage abusive practices in relation to ganja has been largely ignored.

This needs to change. Therefore, it is intended that a portion of the revenues from the licensing regime that is to be established under the Bill will be used to support a public education campaign to discourage the use of ganja by adolescents, persons with mental disorders, pregnant women and other vulnerable persons, and to mitigate adverse public health consequences associated with the use of ganja. It is also intended that our institutional arrangements for tackling the problems of drug abuse, and in particular our mental health services and the National Council on Drug Abuse, will be strengthened by this source of new revenues.

The revenues will also be used to support the regulatory framework being established to govern the medical, scientific and therapeutic ganja industry. The Minister of Finance is given specific authority under the Bill to direct the allocation of these revenues for these important purposes.
I will now describe in general terms the main reform measures that will be introduced by the 2015 Bill.

The Reform Provisions of the Bill

The 2015 Bill:
General amendments
i. Amends the definition of ganja to exclude hemp;
ii. Makes the possession of two ounces or less of ganja a ticketable infraction that is not subject to powers of arrest or detention, is dealt with outside the court system and does not result in a criminal record;
iii. Removes the existing offence of smoking ganja from the Dangerous Drugs Act, and makes smoking ganja in public places a ticketable infraction that is not subject to powers of arrest or detention, is dealt with outside the court system and does not result in a criminal record;
iv. Permits the cultivation of five or less ganja plants on any premises, which will be regarded as being for medical or therapeutic use of the leaves or for horticultural purposes;

Amendments related to Religious Purpose
v. Permits the possession of ganja for religious purposes as a sacrament, in adherence to the Rastafarian faith;
vi. Empowers the Minister responsible for justice:
• to authorize a person, group of persons or organization adherent to the Rastafarian faith, to cultivate ganja on designated land, to be used for religious purposes; and
• to declare an event an “exempt event” where he is satisfied that it is promoted or sponsored by a person, group of persons or organization adherent to the Rastafarian faith and is primarily for the purpose of the celebration or observance of the Rastafarian faith, so that persons will not be subject to penalty for conveying to, possession or smoking of ganja at the event;
Amendments related to medical and therapeutic purposes
vii. Permits the use of ganja for medical or therapeutic purposes, as prescribed or recommended in writing by a registered medical practitioner, or other health practitioner approved by the Minster of Health;
viii. Permits persons who are suffering from cancer or other serious chronic illness, to import ganja or products comprising ganja, where their use is recommended by a registered medical practitioner, in an amount not exceeding that recommended by the registered medical practitioner (this measure recognizes an immediate need for persons with such illnesses to access cannabis strains and derivative products that have been developed overseas, pending Jamaica developing our own medicinal capacities in this area);
ix.

Permits persons visiting Jamaica who provide satisfactory evidence that their use of ganja for medical or therapeutic purposes has been prescribed by a medical practitioner in the jurisdiction where they are ordinarily resident, to purchase permits authorising them to purchase and possess up to two ounces of ganja while in Jamaica, subject to conditions (including the payment of a prescribed fee);

Amendments related to scientific and research purposes
x. Permits the use of ganja for scientific research conducted by an accredited tertiary institution or research institution otherwise approved by the Scientific Research Council;
xi. Empowers the Minister responsible for science and technology, by order, to authorize an institution or body to cultivate and/or import ganja or any part of the plant for scientific research;

Amendments related to the Licensing Regime
xii. Provides for the establishment of a new regulatory body, the Cannabis Licensing Authority, which will be responsible for establishing a lawful, regulated hemp and medicinal ganja industry. The Cannabis Licensing Authority will, with the approval of the Minister responsible for justice, make Regulations treating with (among other things) procedures and criteria for applying for and retention of licenses, permits and other authorizations for cultivation, processing, distribution, sale and other handling of ganja for medical, scientific and therapeutic purposes. The Bill specifically requires that the Regulations must be compliant with Jamaica’s international obligations.

Jamaica recognises that certain monitoring, reporting and other enforcement mechanisms must be implemented to safeguard against the licensed activity being used as a pretext for illicit drug trade or to contribute to financing criminal enterprises. These reforms will be supported by a regulatory framework to be developed and enacted by way of Regulations under the Bill. The new Cannabis Licensing Authority will take the lead in developing the details of the regulatory framework.
It is my intention to table this 2015 Bill in the Senate this week Friday.