The three biggest questions about how marijuana affects athletic performance

Kevin Loria

 

 
The 420 games may or may not do much to change marijuana stereotypes. 420 Games
 
As more and more states have made the decision to legalize marijuana, we've started to get a more accurate picture of how people use cannabis.

Among a number of fascinating revelations, this stands out: a number of people use marijuana to fuel workouts.

"Marijuana relaxes me and allows me to go into a controlled, meditational place," elite triathlete Clifford Drusinsky, a Colorado gym owner who also leads training sessions fueled by marijuana edibles, told Men's Journal in 2014. "When I get high, I train smarter and focus on form."

The World-Anti Doping Agency has banned competing while high for years now, at least partially because they say there's a possibility it could boost performance by reducing anxiety and potentially improving blood oxygenation and the ability to focus.

But does it actually work that way? How does marijuana affect working out?
We ... don't really know.

The reason we don't know illustrates what's still the biggest problem about marijuana research. It's still really hard, if not impossible, to study marijuana in the ways that people actually use it.

But a 2015 commentary on marijuana research in the journal Sports Medicine by Arielle Gillman, Kent Hutchison, and Angela Bryan from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder helps clarify exactly what we do and don't know about marijuana's effects on fitness. They explain that while we still don't know much about marijuana's effect on fitness, we can say what the three biggest questions are and what we know about them.

 
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1. How does marijuana affect athletic performance itself?

The only reason we have to think that marijuana might help runners crank out long miles faster is that some people anecdotally report that they feel better running (or skiing, climbing, or engaging in some other pursuit) while high.

Gillman tells Business Insider via email that there are some in the running community, especially ultrarunners, who say cannabis can make runs "more fun and interesting" and that it can also reduce pain and nausea. It's possible that a change in the way runners perceive time has an effect too.

But it's hard to know many people actually use marijuana while working out. Gillman says that some small and preliminary surveys of undergraduates in marijuana-friendly Boulder have reported that between 20 and 30% have used marijuana before exercise, but she says she thinks the majority of people fall into the "I could never exercise/run while high" category.

Still, even if it is rare, those reports seem like a good reason to study how marijuana affects performance. But researchers can't give premium quality marijuana from a Colorado dispensary to study participants — even in states that have legalized recreational usage, "research weed" still has to come from very limited DEA-approved research facilities.

Not only is that hard to get access to, it's usually different from what recreational users purchase. Plus, Gillman says, it's hard to convince the review boards that approve studies that it's ethical or safe to study how stoned people do on a treadmill.

 
Philipp Guelland / Stringer / Getty Imagers
 
The few studies we do have illustrate just how little this has been researched. One study the Colorado team analyzed found a slight decrease in power for cyclists. Another study demonstrated a very slight decrease in the amount of time a cyclist could maintain maximum speed, but they also found decreased lung resistance and increased metabolic rate for those cyclists, things that could potentially improve performance.

Still, these studies had few participants and used cannabis with less than 2% THC, which is the main psychoactive component (cannabinoid) in marijuana. Average THC levels are now around 20% and many people who report using cannabis while working out don't smoke it, they eat it or vaporize it, which may have different effects, especially on the lungs.

2. Does marijuana affect the motivation to exercise?

The research doesn't tell us much to confirm or debunk the stereotype of the Doritos-munching stoner, but the Sports Medicine commentary helps provide some perspective.

People who use marijuana are less likely to be obese than the average American, but we have no idea if that's because cannabis users are more likely to eat well or exercise than non-cannabis users or if it's due to some totally tangential reason. 

Marijuana is loaded with cannabinoids, including the well-known THC and CBD (thought to decrease inflammation), but there are also many more. Our bodies also make cannabinoids, and Gillman explains that some of those may be partially responsible for the feeling of a runner's high.

She says it's possible that by bonding to the same receptors that our natural endocannabinoids do in the brain, marijuana cannibinoids could have two wildly different effects. They could impair a runner's high by blocking those receptors or they may enhance it — we just don't know without watching the process in a number of people.

 
David Ramos/Getty

Complicating the picture further is that we don't know how different blends of cannabis with different levels of cannabinoids will have different effects and we won't know that without studying it more thoroughly in the ways people use it.

"In our work we strongly argue that scientists need to study multiple strains of cannabis with different ratios of cannabinoids in order to gain a more nuanced (and true) understanding of the effects of cannabis, in all its forms," says Gillman.

3. How does marijuana affect the recovery process?

Most of the actual physical transformation that occurs from exercise happens as your body heals itself after you've already completed a workout. Here, the same questions about marijuana persist.

By decreasing pain and reducing inflammation, marijuana might might it easier to push through some long workouts and may make the recovery process less painful. However, other research has shown that anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen or acetaminophen (in Tylenol) may reduce the gains people get from working out.

Exercise-induced inflammation creates certain healing compounds that help your body get stronger.

Suppressing that initial inflammation may harm that strengthening process.

Again, without studying it, we won't know how cannabis fits into the picture.

Unfortunately, Gillman says it's unclear when it'll become easier to research cannabis. It seems that ongoing state legalization has increased interest but not necessarily made things easier to study.

Federal legalization for recreational use would likely be necessary for medical review boards to decide some of these studies are safe.

In the meantime, all we have is anecdotal reports and extremely limited research.

New Study Determines if Maternal Cannabis Use During Pregnancy Affects Babies

by ireadculture

There hasn’t been too much research into the maternal use of cannabis and how it affects unborn babies, until now. Certain states have the authority to take a child away from a mother who has consumed cannabis during pregnancy, however it seems like moderate cannabis consumption during pregnancy may be less harmful than previously believed.

Dr. Shayna Conner was the lead researcher responsible for the study that set out to determine if cannabis use during pregnancy leads to negative health repercussions for the children who are in utero. Since the researchers could not ethically administer cannabis to pregnant women, they instead reviewed various observational studies in which compared birth outcomes to cannabis consumption.

Common birth outcomes associated with cannabis consumption appeared to be low birth weight and preterm delivery at first glance. However, upon further investigation, the team determined that other factors like tobacco use were the cause for these effects and that cannabis itself was not responsible for low birth weight or preterm delivery.

The study explained, “Maternal marijuana use during pregnancy is not an independent risk factor for adverse neonatal outcomes after adjusting for the cofounding factors. Thus, the association between maternal marijuana use and adverse outcomes appears attributable to concomitant tobacco use and other cofounding factors.”

To clarify further, the study found that when cannabis is used by itself and sparingly, it poses no threat to the health of a baby. However, when tobacco is used with cannabis, the instances of low birth rate and premature birth are more frequent. Cannabis cannot protect unborn babies from the dangers associated with using tobacco, alcohol or other drugs while pregnant.

Dr. Conner does not recommend anyone who is pregnant to consume cannabis. Conner told NPR, “Any foreign substance that doesn’t directly benefit maternal or fetal health should be avoided.”

This study focuses primarily on the effects of moderate cannabis use on babies at birth, but it does not look into long-term effects that are claimed by other studies, such as ADHD or cognitive difficulties. Until there is more research into cannabis and pregnancy, expecting mothers should be informed about what they choose to consume.

Canadian pot smokers barred for life from entering the U.S.

By Dan Karpenchuk

Canada's public safety minister says he will push the United States to change some of its border policies when it comes to marijuana. Some Canadians have been barred for life from entering the U.S. after admitting to American border guards that they have smoked marijuana in the past.

It's a policy that doesn't appear to be enforced along the entire border, but does happen in some pockets.
 
It happened to 46-year-old Ted Gilliat when he crossed from British Columbia into Washington state.

When he admitted to smoking pot recreationally in the past, he was denied entry and questioned for hours by American border guards. He has also been barred from the U.S. for life. 

In Gilliat's case, there was history. He had been caught in 2005 with some marijuana while trying to cross the the border on a bicycle. At that time, he was turned back, with no fines or prosecution.

Canadian lawyer Len Saunders says he has had a couple of dozen cases and expects more as Canada prepares to legalize pot.

Canada's public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, calls the U.S. border policy ludicrous and says he will raise it with officials in Washington and let them know about Ottawa's plans to legalize marijuana.

"We will be, obviously, pointing out to the Americans, the change in the Canadian legal regime, which actually mirrors, in some respects, changes that have been made in a number of states in the United States," said Goodale.

Goodale says he believes Canada's coming policy will be more effective in keeping pot out of the hands of children and the profits out of the hands of organized crime. He also says it is ironic that marijuana use is already legal in several U.S. states.

As for those who may be questioned at the border, they could admit to pot use or refuse to answer the question, both of which would likely result in refused entry. 

Prop 64: As THC Levels Hit New Highs, Health Effects Of Marijuana Still A Big Unknown

Drew Bollea

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – This week we’ve explored different aspects of Proposition 64, which would legalize recreational marijuana in California. We went to Colorado to see how they’ve handled legalization for the last three years, how they regulate and enforce marijuana, and what impacts weed has on business, taxes, and public health.

Colorado consistently leads the nation when it comes to marijuana use.

According to a state report, adults are reporting using marijuana more often than before legalization – 21 percent in 2006 compared to 31 percent in 2014.

Teen use has stayed about the same.

“We certainly haven’t seen anything dramatic in regards to poor health outcomes,” said Dr. Larry Wolk.

Wolk is Colorado’s Director of Public Health. He says there are notable positives with medical marijuana, but also some documented concerns – especially for young people.

“We certainly know there is negative consequences, certainly for youth with regards to the developing brain,” said Wolk.

Wolk says the drug may reduce thinking, memory and learning ability.

There are other notable effects in teens.

“With teenagers, you can see things like a loss of motivation, a loss of drive,” he continued.
But is there a widespread public health concern?

“We’re unable to see any causation between legalization and an increase in some sort of public health and public safety,” said Andrew Freedman, Colorado’s Director of Marijuana Coordination.

According to a federal report, Colorado hospitalizations related to marijuana increased by 3,200 in the years following legalization. The number rose from 8,200 in 2013 to 11,400 in 2014. The increase may be easily explained with inexperienced users.

“The majority of those are occurring among out of state-ers, people who don’t live here in Colorado,” said Wolk.

An American Medical Association study shows pediatric hospital visits in the state related to marijuana rose from 9 to 47 from 2009 to 2015.

The main cause: kids accidentally eating edibles, which commonly look like cookies or candy.

“We certainly didn’t want edible marijuana products to be enticing to kids,” said Wolk.

Starting Oct. 1, a new Colorado law will require more identification on edible products.

“It will be a caution sign with an exclamation point with the letters T-H-C,” explained Freedman.

Potency is another issue, with products getting stronger.

“Very clear evidence that potency is rising. Average potency has risen substantially,” said Rosalie Pacula, a researcher at RAND Drug Policy Research Center.

According to a Colorado State report, and the National Institute of Health, THC – the psychoactive chemical in marijuana – is at an unprecedented level.

Marijuana flowers and buds have risen from a potency of 6 percent in 2003 to an average potency of 17 percent in 2016.

Concentrates, like edibles and oils, average 62 percent in 2016.

“People are viewing these new products and potencies and intake methods that have never been seen before as safe,” said Diane Calrson, with Smart Colorado.

She argues the scientific information to back-up the “safe” claims just aren’t there.

The federal government lists weed as an illegal substance, which limits research and leaves it up to special interests groups to make the case of what’s safe and what isn’t.

“There is a lot of conflicting information out there about the potential effects of marijuana,” said Drew Soderborg with California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.

He says it’s difficult to find credible information for voters in this state. And it’s why public health officials in Colorado say they’re part of a grand experiment, with the people as the sample.

“I would like to see a more restrictive start so we can understand the science of marijuana and THC a little bit better,” said Wolk.

Marijuana really can be deadly – when encountering police officers

 

Courtesy of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department video

This police body camera screen grab released on Sept. 24, 2016, shows Keith Lamont Scott lying on the ground after being shot as a police officer approaches in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 20, 2016.
Christopher Ingraham,

New details released by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department last weekend indicated that suspected marijuana use was a key factor in police officers’ decision to approach Keith Lamont Scott in a confrontation that turned fatal.

Plainclothes officers were sitting in an unmarked car waiting to serve a warrant in an unrelated case when Scott’s car pulled in nearby, according to a police summary of the incident. The officers say they saw him holding what looked like a marijuana “blunt.”

“Officers did not consider Mr. Scott’s drug activity to be a priority at the time,” according to the incident summary, but police say they later saw a gun. “Due to the combination of illegal drugs and the gun Mr. Scott had in his possession, officers decided to take enforcement action for public safety concerns.”

When Scott didn’t comply with the officers’ commands, police say, they shot and killed him.

It’s not the first time low-level marijuana possession has escalated to a fatal police encounter. Last August, 19-year-old Zachary Hammond was fatally shot by police in Seneca, South Carolina, as he tried to flee from an attempted marijuana bust. In 2012, officers killed unarmed Bronx teenager Ramarley Graham as he tried to flush pot down the toilet. Trevon Cole was doing the same thing when police killed him in Las Vegas in 2010 during a drug raid at which no weapons were found.

As the Drug Enforcement Administration notes, nobody has ever died of a marijuana overdose. But aggressive enforcement of drug laws has led to some deaths. Growing efforts to decriminalize or legalize marijuana in part seek to reduce these kinds of police encounters that can turn fatal.

Places that have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana treat offenses essentially like parking tickets. Data shows that decriminalization typically leads to drastic reductions in the number of marijuana-related arrests. For instance, the month after the New York City Police Department announced it would treat low-level drug possession as a noncriminal violation instead of a misdemeanor, arrests plummeted 75 percent year over year, according to the Associated Press.

But as the cases above vividly illustrate, decriminalization doesn’t eliminate violent encounters. Marijuana was decriminalized in Nevada when Cole was killed. It was decriminalized in New York state when Graham was killed. And it’s decriminalized in North Carolina, where Scott was killed.

This is one reason many drug policy reformers say decriminalization isn’t enough. “Legalization is really the big key” in preventing fatal encounters over marijuana use, said Sharda Sekaran of the Drug Policy Alliance, a reform group. “We had de-facto decriminalization in New York state, but stop-and-frisk still happened” in New York City.

“Decriminalized” isn’t the same as “legal,” after all. If a police officers see a person with a small quantity of marijuana in a state that has decriminalized it, the officer can still choose to confront that person and cite them for possession, no matter how small the actual penalty may be.

Sekaran notes that places like Colorado saw their marijuana-related arrest rates drop dramatically after legalization.

Black Americans are much more likely to be at the receiving end of drug-related police encounters. A 2013 American Civil Liberties Union report noted that while blacks and whites smoke weed at similar rates, blacks are four times more likely to be arrested for it.

Marijuana enforcement can be deadly for police officers, too. In 2011, members of a narcotics task force raided the home of a military veteran suspected of growing marijuana plants to self-medicate for post-traumatic stress disorder. After hearing his door broken down the veteran, Matthew Stewart, grabbed a handgun to defend himself and killed one of the task-force officers in the ensuing gunfight.

It’s not just initial police confrontations that can turn deadly as a result of suspected marijuana use. In 2013, the body of North Dakota college student named Andrew Sadek was found at the bottom of a river with a backpack full of rocks and a bullet wound in his head. His family says his death was related to his informant work, and have sued the sheriff’s department for wrongful death.

In a state where marijuana isn’t fully legal, the simple presence of pot is enough to suggest a connection between the person holding it and the black market economy supplying it. That alone may be enough for an officer to initiate an encounter with that person in the hope of making inroads into that economy and taking down some of the larger players in it.

Decriminalizing marijuana use, but not legalizing it completely, still allows for the “invasion of peoples’ privacy and violations of their liberty. And it takes their lives,” said the Drug Policy Alliance’s Sekaran. “Ending marijuana prohibition wont get rid of all that, but it will take away a big tool used by law enforcement in real corrupt ways.”

The deaths of Scott, Hammond and others are a reminder that as long as a drug remains illegal, its mere presence is enough to trigger an encounter with law enforcement that could turn out deadly for individuals on either side of it.

‘The penalty is just so extreme, it’s insane’: Man on a mission to decriminalize marijuana in Wisconsin city

By Sari Lesk, Stevens Point Journal Media

STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Ben Kollock was a kid when he learned an important life lesson from the cartoon character Captain Planet: If he sees an injustice in the world, he should do something about it.

Kollock sees an injustice in Stevens Point, and he’s following the lessons he learned from superheroes, the Stevens Point Journal reported. The 28-year-old wants the city to reform its policies surrounding marijuana possession to keep people caught with a small amount of the drug out of the criminal system.

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One year ago, Kollock persuaded the Stevens Point City Council that $300 is too much money to charge people who are caught for the first time with up to 5 grams of marijuana. Now he’s calling for more reforms: He wants the city to decriminalize possession of up to 25 grams, or roughly an ounce, of marijuana. He also wants people to be ticketed instead of charged with a crime for getting caught more than once with small amounts of marijuana.

“It makes so much sense,” Kollock said. “Our police officers, if they’re spending less time trying to prosecute and fine people that are using marijuana in their home and instead going after people who are hurting people, who are assaulting people, child predators, going after people who actually do violent crimes and thefts. That’s where their time be better spent.”

In 2015, the City Council approved Kollock’s request to slash the fine against first-time offenders from $300 to $100. This year, he requested the additional changes, a plea that local officials are now considering. Under state law, a second conviction under the state’s criminal code for possessing marijuana is a felony — which can affect everything from a convict’s right to vote or own a gun to getting financial aid for school. Kollock said he believes that is too harsh for someone caught with a small amount of weed. He suggests the fine increase by $50 each time for each next offense, maxing out at $500.

City Council member Meleesa Johnson, who leads the committee that is considering Kollock’s request, said she is open to a conversation about what options and authority the city has. She said she wants everyone to do their research and know all the potential consequences of further decriminalization before the committee makes a recommendation to the full council.

Wisconsin law allows municipalities to handle marijuana possession through a civil discipline process if the local district attorney declines to press charges or if his charges are dismissed. Portage County District Attorney Louis Molepske said he takes officers’ discretion seriously regarding whether an alleged violation of the law should be handled through civil or criminal processes.

“The officers who are the closest to the people suspected of violating the law have the best understanding at that time of the offense,” he said. “They have the most facts of why they made the decision at the scene, and I think that’s really important.”

Molepske said he is meeting with the city’s attorney and police chief to discuss options. Chief Marty Skibba said every incident is different, and more charging options would give officers discretion to find a charge that fits the offense.

He said officers on scene know best, based on all of circumstances, whether a violation should move through the criminal system or can be addressed with a ticket. People who stay out of trouble for years between offenses should not necessarily be punished the same as someone who is suspected of the same offense just weeks apart, he said.

Hull resident Charles Green, 30, joined Kollock in advocating to the city this month for reform. He said he is opposed to the country’s war on drugs and thinks the punishment people face for having marijuana is too stiff.

Although he doesn’t live in the city, Green said he believes times are changing and it’s time for Wisconsin to catch up to other states’ policies regarding the drug, which he will advocate for when he can.

“The penalty is just so extreme, it’s insane,” Green said.

Kollock’s interest in marijuana policy started when he was being treated for leukemia in 2014. None of the medications doctors offered helped treat the nausea and anxiety he experienced as a result of his treatments, and he said doctors told him they would have prescribed medical marijuana if it were legal in Wisconsin.

The experience inspired Kollock to research the science and politics of the herbal drug, and he decided that he needed to do something about how much trouble people can get in if they’re caught with a small mount of weed. Although Kollock said he does not smoke, he doesn’t think people should face criminal charges for having a few grams in their possession.

Kollock said he looks forward to the city exploring additional changes, a conversation expected to continue in the coming months.

“I’m trying to tackle the problem that I see,” he said.

Corrupted Science: the DEA and Marijuana

by Jesse Ventura

While I was on my book tour for Jesse Ventura’s Marijuana Manifesto, I was shocked to discover how many Americans didn’t know our Founding Fathers grew cannabis. From talk radio and TV hosts to fans at my book signings, many were unaware that the 13 colonies were of great value to the British Crown because by law, colonists had to grow hemp and give it to England free of charge as part of their taxes. This obviously saved the British Navy an incredible amount of money, as everything from uniforms to rope to paper to ships’ sails were made from hemp.

Most people I spoke to also didn’t know that the DEA would consider George Washington and Thomas Jefferson criminals today because they grew marijuana and hemp. I was often asked: Why isn’t this information taught to us in school when we learn about American history? For the same reason when you Google marijuana, one of the first things that comes up is “gateway drug.”

For generations, our Federal government has been re-writing America’s history as it pertains to cannabis. Today, the DEA is also playing a dangerous role when it comes to medical marijuana studies.

Just this month, we learned that 50 years ago, Big Sugar paid Harvard scientists to refute evidence from a major study that showed sugar plays a significant role in increasing the risk of heart disease. After receiving their payout, Harvard scientists decided to point the blame at fat instead, and for the past 50 years, we’ve been relying on that very study to determine what is a healthy, nutritional diet.

We take fat out of everything, but have you noticed how much sugar is in our food, starting of course with baby products? Of course, too much fat isn’t good for you either, but the point is: little did we know, these scientists weren’t above being bribed. A scientific study is supposed to be objective.

Scientists go into a study looking for answers. In this situation, scientists were told what the outcome of the study had to be, and they did their job.

The interesting part about this story is that at the time, other researchers were conducting similar studies and found the results that Harvard did not disclose: that sugar played a significant role in heart conditions. The Harvard researchers actually dismissed any conflicting studies, stating things like eating less sugar and more vegetables isn’t a feasible dietary change. Or that other studies didn’t go far enough to determine that fat was the true culprit of things like coronary heart disease.

Even though it took 50 years for the truth to finally come out and many of the original Harvard scientists are now deceased, sadly this manipulative practice is still going on. Corporations like Coca-Cola have offered to pay researchers to determine that drinking sugary drinks does not lead to a greater risk of obesity or Type 2 diabetes. But how does this relate to marijuana? Easy.

There are two conflicting “scientific” ideologies when it comes to marijuana:

1) marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic, just as dangerous as heroin, with no medical benefits whatsoever, and it is a gateway drug.
2) marijuana is a medicinal plant with great value for many diseases and incurable conditions.

Over the years, studies have proven both points. How can that be possible? Take a look at who is funding and approving the studies. Take a look at who is conducting the studies. Take a look at where the studies are being conducted.

If the results of the study fit into the first “scientific” ideology, then that’s a pretty good indication that the study was conducted in the United States. Since marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic, any researcher looking to study it must go to the DEA and ask permission to do so.

The DEA then decides if the study is worth pursuing. Only in America can a law enforcement agency have the right to decide what scientists can and cannot research. Why on earth would the DEA approve a study looking to determine any positive attributes of marijuana, when the DEA’s job is to eradicate the plant and imprison anyone who uses it?

If you come across a study that lists any positive results—such as how THC can cause brain tumors to shrink and disappear entirely—then that’s a good indication the study was conducted in another country, such as Spain, Germany, or Israel.

There’s also a good chance that the study has been published in several noteworthy medical journals, but we the American people probably won’t hear about it. The mainstream media in the United States sure wouldn’t cover the findings, and if any politician is asked about the medical benefits of marijuana, the response remains “we need more research.”

Why would that be? Think about all the industries who would be threatened by marijuana if it became legal, especially for medical purposes. Think about all the money those companies give to politicians. Think about how much money those corporations spend on advertising. Any media company would be shooting itself in the foot if breaking news went against what those corporate sponsors want. Don’t believe me? Re-read what I just wrote about Big Sugar. The same principle applies.

While I was on my book tour, a conservative talk show host tried to “get me” with a study that showed marijuana has a negative impact on the brain’s ability to remember. He didn’t know where this study was conducted, or who led the charge on the research. He also didn’t know about the studies that show marijuana helps people with Alzheimer’s.

I admittedly don’t know every single scientific marijuana study that has been done in the US and abroad, but when I wrote my marijuana manifesto, I read enough of them to notice a pattern: America likes to rewrite history, ignore facts, and claim that a law enforcement agency has no conflict of interest when it decides what drugs to classify as illegal, and what studies scientists can conduct.

The problem with this pattern is that it is dangerous. Marijuana could alleviate and possibly cure conditions that affect thousands, if not millions of people. How can the DEA act this way when no one knows what the future holds? One day, you or someone you love might have exhausted all pharmaceutical options and find that you actually need what this plant can provide. What will you do then?

As far as I know, there is one DEA- and FDA-approved study underway on US soil that could prove unprecedented positive results. Dr. Sue Sisley’s study is examining if whole-plant cannabis can help with severe cases of PTSD if veterans are allowed to smoke it as a treatment option. She had to wait nearly seven years to get the study approved, and she claims the only way she even received federal approval was due to support from veterans’ groups that pressured the government.

With 20 or more veterans committing suicide every day (that means more service men and women die after returning home from combat than on the battlefield), this study was long overdue. I hope it is the first step in reversing our prejudice against this incredible plant, but did you realize what it took for the study to happen in the first place? We the People had to rise up and demand it.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Nixon’s War on Drugs. If we really want to make America great, then it’s time to end the war against the American people. It’s time to realize the Founding Fathers knew the value of democracy as well as cannabis. In poll after poll, more than half of the American people want to see marijuana legalized. If that’s true, then we have to rise up together and demand it.

Are Religious People Less Likely to Support Marijuana Legalization?

By Agata Blaszczak-Boxe, 

People who believe that the Bible should be taken as the literal word of God may be much less likely to support the legalization of marijuana than those who believe the Bible is a book of moral fables, according to a new study.


The study found that people who reported in national surveys that they believed that the Bible is God's word were 58 percent less likely to also say they support marijuana legalization, compared with people who thought the Bible is a book of fables and should not be taken literally.

In addition, the more frequently that people attended religious services, the less likely they were to support marijuana legalization, the study found.

However, the extent to which people considered themselves to be religious was not a significant predictor of their views on marijuana legalization, said study author Daniel Krystosek, a graduate student in sociology at the University of Nevada.

The results show that the relationship between people's religiousness and their views on marijuana legalization is complex, according to the study, published Sept. 3 in the International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice.

In the study, Krystosek pooled data from three years of national surveys that included a total of about 3,800 people in the U.S. The surveys were conducted in 2006, 2008 and 2010 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

The surveys included questions about whether people thought that marijuana should be legal. The surveys also asked how often people attended religious services, to what extent they considered themselves to be religious, how often they prayed, and whether they thought that the Bible is the actual word of God and should be taken literally or whether it is an ancient book of fables that should not be interpreted literally.

They also asked the people if they owned guns and whether they supported legalized abortion. Moreover, the surveys asked the people about their political views.

Krystosek found that 58 percent of the people who supported marijuana legalization also supported legalized abortion. In comparison, only 32 percent of people who opposed marijuana legalization supported legalized abortion. The higher support for legalized marijuana among people who also support abortion might be explained by a belief that the government should not influence people's choices, Krystosek told Live Science.

In the study, he also found that people with conservative political views were about 53 percent less likely to support marijuana legalization, compared with people with liberal views. People who had moderate views were 37 percent less likely to support marijuana legalization, compared with people with liberal views.

Most American adults now seem to support marijuana legalization: A 2015 Gallup poll found that 58 percent of U.S. adults say that marijuana should be legal in the U.S. That was the third consecutive poll to show a majority of Americans support marijuana legalization, Gallup said.

The older the people in the study, the less likely they were to support marijuana legalization.

"As people get older, they start families, and many parents do not want their children experimenting with drugs," Krystosek wrote in the study. "Therefore, they might oppose the legalization of marijuana."

Hey, Chelsea, This is How Many People Have Died of a Weed Overdose

Chelsea Clinton flat out got it wrong on killer marijuana, as her spokespersons now acknowledge.

By Janice Williams

The Drug Enforcement Administration has never reported a single overdose caused by marijuana use, but Chelsea Clinton was apparently unaware of that fact when she recently told an audience in Ohio that people have “died” after using marijuana during a speaking engagement. A spokesperson for Hillary Clinton’s daughter said the presidential candidate’s only child “misspoke” on the marijuana facts, according to The Washington Post.

The 36-year-old was asked about her mother’s support of marijuana reform in the United States while talking to students last Saturday at Youngstown State University in Ohio and expressed the older Clinton’s support of cannabis research and states experimenting with recreational and medical pot use. However, she followed up by alleging marijuana could potentially be deadly and claimed people in Colorado have died after using it.

“But we also have anecdotal evidence now from Colorado, where some of the people who were taking marijuana for those purposes, the coroner believes, after they died, there was drug interactions with other things they were taking,” she said.

Using the plant can increase risks of developing certain types of cancer, and marijuana smokers are more prone to bronchitis, emphysema and bronchial asthma, the DEA said. However, there is no evidence supporting Clinton's implication that weed can be deadly.


While overdosing doesn’t appear to be an issue for marijuana users, the altered state and high feeling associated with weed can lead to cataclysmic circumstances. Since Colorado legalized recreational use in 2012, cannabis has led to a significant increase in emergency room visits throughout the state.

A 2015 study on the effects of legal marijuana’s impact on Colorado said that ER visits were up by 57% from 2011 to 2013. Traffic deaths, hospital visits, school suspensions, lab explosions and pet poisoning in correlation to pot's legalization had also increased exponentially.

Cancer survivor: Reform weed policy in Point

Sari Lesk

STEVENS POINT - Ben Kollock was a kid when he learned an important life lesson from the cartoon character Captain Planet: If he sees an injustice in the world, he should do something about it.
Kollock sees an injustice in Stevens Point, and he's following the lessons he learned from superheroes. The 28-year-old wants the city to reform its policies surrounding marijuana possession to keep people caught with a small amount of the drug out of the criminal system.

One year ago, Kollock persuaded the Stevens Point City Council that $300 is too much money to charge people who are caught for the first time with up to 5 grams of marijuana. Now he's calling for more reforms: He wants the city to decriminalize possession of up to 25 grams, or roughly an ounce, of marijuana. He also wants people to be ticketed instead of charged with a crime for getting caught more than once with small amounts of marijuana.

"It makes so much sense," Kollock said. "Our police officers, if they're spending less time trying to prosecute and fine people that are using marijuana in their home and instead going after people who are hurting people, who are assaulting people, child predators, going after people who actually do violent crimes and thefts. That's where their time be better spent."

In 2015, the City Council approved Kollock's request to slash the fine against first-time offenders from $300 to $100. This year, he requested the additional changes, a plea that local officials are now considering. Under state law, a second conviction under the state's criminal code for possessing marijuana is a felony — which can affect everything from a convict's right to vote or own a gun to getting financial aid for school. Kollock said he believes that is too harsh for someone caught with a small amount of weed. He suggests the fine increase by $50 each time for each next offense, maxing out at $500.

City Council member Meleesa Johnson, who leads the committee that is considering Kollock's request, said she is open to a conversation about what options and authority the city has. She said she wants everyone to do their research and know all the potential consequences of further decriminalization before the committee makes a recommendation to the full council.

Wisconsin law allows municipalities like to handle marijuana possession through a civil discipline process if the local district attorney declines to press charges or if his charges are dismissed. Portage County District Attorney Louis Molepske said he takes officers' discretion seriously regarding whether an alleged violation of the law should be handled through civil or criminal processes.

"The officers who are the closest to the people suspected of violating the law have the best understanding at that time of the offense," he said. "They have the most facts of why they made the decision at the scene, and I think that's really important."

Molepske said he is meeting with the city's attorney and police chief to discuss options. Chief Marty Skibba said every incident is different, and more charging options would give officers discretion to find a charge that fits the offense.

He said officers on scene know best, based on all of circumstances, whether a violation should move through the criminal system or can be addressed with a ticket. People who stay out of trouble for years between offenses should not necessarily be punished the same as someone who is suspected of the same offense just weeks apart, he said.

Hull resident Charles Green, 30, joined Kollock in advocating to the city this month for reform. He said he is opposed to the country's war on drugs and thinks the punishment people face for having marijuana is too stiff.

Although he doesn't live in the city, Green said he believes times are changing and it's time for Wisconsin to catch up to other states' policies regarding the drug, which he will advocate for when he can.

"The penalty is just so extreme, it's insane," Green said.

Kollock's interest in marijuana policy started when he was being treated for leukemia in 2014. None of the medications doctors offered helped treat the nausea and anxiety he experienced as a result of his treatments, and he said doctors told him they would have prescribed medical marijuana if it were legal in Wisconsin.

The experience inspired Kollock to research the science and politics of the herbal drug, and he decided that he needed to do something about how much trouble people can get in if they're caught with a small mount of weed. Although Kollock said he does not smoke, he doesn't think people should face criminal charges for having a few grams in their possession.

Kollock said he looks forward to the city exploring additional changes, a conversation expected to continue in the coming months.

"I'm trying to tackle the problem that I see," he said.

Virginians Pay $1.8 Million A Year To Cage Alleged Pot Users In The State’s Deadliest Jail

At least eight people have died at Hampton Roads Regional Jail in the past 17 months.

Ryan J. Reilly

WASHINGTON ― Mark Goodrum died last year after spending a month in Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Virginia. He had been charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession and was unable to come up with the approximately $100 he needed for a bail bond.

Getting locked up in connection with a simple marijuana possession charge isn’t particularly rare at Hampton Roads, according to Norfolk Sheriff Robert McCabe, who took over management of the jail facility on an interim basis two weeks ago.

“We had 86 inmates that were in there for simple possession of marijuana,” McCabe said in a interview with The Huffington Post this month. McCabe says he looked up those numbers in early September.

If that rate held steady throughout the year, it would translate to a cost of roughly $1.84 million per year to lock people up for possession of marijuana (at a rate of $58.69 a day per inmate), according to McCabe. Another 300 or so inmates, out of a population of around 1,100, are charged with marijuana possession plus at least one other offense, McCabe said.

(At the national level, FBI statistics released this week indicate that marijuana arrests are at a 20-year low of 643,000 per year, or about once every 49 seconds. The vast majority of marijuana arrests are for possession.)

Hampton Roads Regional Jail holds inmates on behalf of five different cities in the region: Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake. Eighteen people have died at the jail since 2012, including at least eight in the past 17 months.

Goodrum’s death was first reported as part of The Huffington Post’s jail deaths project, which seeks to chronicle every jail death that happened in the U.S. in the year following the death of Sandra Bland on July 13, 2015.

Our analysis indicates that Hampton Roads Regional Jail is one of the deadliest jails in the country, and it has been named the most dangerous jail in Virginia by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The Justice Department is currently mulling whether to launch a civil rights investigation into conditions at the facility following a request from Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring.

The Virginian-Pilot reported this month that federal authorities pulled immigration detainees out of the jail in 2014 because the facility had failed to meet detention standards. That was a $10 million hit to the jail authority, and it happened the year before the deaths of Jamycheal Mitchell, 24, and Henry Clay Stewart, 60, which have received significant media attention.

(Mitchell’s case was particularly disturbing, as starvation ― or “wasting syndrome” ― was a major contributor to his death. Some inmates have alleged they were threatened for speaking up about Mitchell’s death.)

McCabe, who said he expects to be on the job at Hampton Roads Regional Jail for a few months until a permanent replacement is found, is familiar with the DOJ civil rights investigative process, as he was in charge of the Norfolk City Jail during a federal probe in the 1990s.

“When I took over the Norfolk City Jail, it had some issues,” McCabe said. “I think that they thought maybe some of that experience would be helpful to take over here in the interim.”

McCabe has been on the board of the Hampton Roads Regional Jail for 17 years, and says the previous head of the jail hadn’t been keeping the board informed about important matters. Internal and external communication has been a major issue at Hampton Roads, McCabe added. He held his first press conference at the facility last week ― pledging firings, promotions and restructuring ― and said he’ll hold a press conference each Friday for the foreseeable future.

“The challenge here is to restore confidence that if there are any problem areas here at the regional jail, that we’re going to make sure that they’re addressed and that the public feels confident that this jail is being well-managed and that the inmate health care is what it should be by all standards,” McCabe told HuffPost.

“At the very least, we can probably agree that the transparency and communication was not what it should have been,” McCabe said, noting that there were limits on what officials could tell the press due to litigation and health care privacy laws.

The facility was “not the easiest jail to work in,” McCabe said, “because out of the five jurisdictions, most of them send over their most chronically ill.” He estimated that 80 percent of the inmates have some sort of medical problem.

As part of his transparency push, McCabe has released video from the hours leading up to Mitchell’s death, as well as a list of all the inmates who have died at the facility in recent years. This has sent media outlets digging into additional deaths, like that of 69-year-old William Thrower.

“Please help me,” Thrower wrote on a medical grievance form in February, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Thrower said he was having sharp pains and could not sleep. On March 19, he once again asked for help, saying he hadn’t been able to sleep for four days and had been unable to use the bathroom. Someone made a note on his form indicating that it wasn’t an emergency medical grievance, according to the Times-Dispatch. Thrower was dead the next day.

As first reported in HuffPost’s jail death database, Thrower died from acute gallstone pancreatitis. Dr. David Buxton, a Richmond-area palliative care physician, told the Times-Dispatch that Thrower’s condition would have been very painful, and that it would likely have been obvious to a medical provider that he was seriously ill.

Gallstone pancreatitis is not typically deadly and can be fixed with surgery, Buxton told the Times-Dispatch. Such a surgery, of course, would have been costly for the medical provider, and could potentially have eaten into the private medical provider’s profit margin. The Times-Dispatch said it wasn’t even clear who was serving as medical director when Thrower died.

Thrower was not a pretrial detainee, but many of the individuals incarcerated at the facility have not yet gone to trial or been convicted. McCabe says the jail has little control over which inmates it receives, and that only the cities that send people there have the power to change policies to help people facing low-level charges to avoid incarceration.

“Each individual locality, the magistrates in those localities determine whether someone is going to get a high bond, a low bond or no bond,” McCabe said. “Some localities have pre-trial services where they don’t have to put up a bond, but they’ll let them out because of the nature of the offense.”

Unlike some jurisdictions that determine whether someone can be arrested based on their threat to public safety, many jurisdictions that feed inmates to Hampton Roads Regional Jail are tied to a bail bond system that leaves indigent people locked up even though they are legally presumed innocent.

But Michael Crichlow, a 35-year-old black man who runs Michael’s Bail Bonds in Newport News, Virginia, and works with people incarcerated at Hampton Roads Regional Jail, is not swayed by arguments that the money bail system is unfair to the poor.

“They can afford to get drunk at the bar, but you mean to tell me that you can’t spend $100 to pay bail? It’s absurd to me,” Crichlow said. “Whatever these liberal social justice warriors want, it’s ridiculous. I don’t run across people who can’t afford $50, $100. In 2016, it’s absurd to think that somebody cannot afford $100 to get out on bail.”

Crichlow, a self-identified member of the Libertarian Party, says he’s been arrested three or four times, so he’s been on both sides of the bail system. About a year before the Newport News police knocked on Mark Goodrum’s door, they’d shown up to a party Crichlow was throwing.

In addition to possession of marijuana, Crichlow was charged for loud music and resisting arrest. He says his bond was $1,000, and he was able to get out of jail pretty quickly.

“I had to pay $100 to a bondsman that I know,” Crichlow said. He said he has little sympathy for someone like Goodrum, a bedridden 60-year-old who was arrested on an outstanding warrant in connection with his marijuana possession charge as he was being evicted from his apartment.

“They’ve got money to buy a half ounce of weed for $150,” Crichlow said. “You mean to tell me you can’t spend $150 to get out of jail?”

Goodrum’s friend T.J. Thompson, a disabled Navy veteran and medical marijuana advocate, said Goodrum really didn’t have any money.

“I knew he had absolutely zero dollars to his name,” Thompson said. “He couldn’t afford anything.”

Thompson, who said he bonded with Goodrum over music, told HuffPost that Goodrum typically received marijuana as a gift and would use it for pain relief in lieu of painkillers. Goodrum would give Thompson “that extra push” to do the type of medical marijuana advocacy that Goodrum couldn’t do on his own.

Goodrum was arrested on the warrant and arrived at Hampton Roads Regional Jail on Oct. 14, 2015. Although he went in with significant medical problems, there are major questions about the quality of the care he and other inmates received at the facility. 

Reviews of records held by the jail’s former medical provider have “raised significant concerns regarding the quality of assessment, care, follow-up, and documentation,” according to a report from the Virginia Office of the State Inspector General.

Goodrum died on Nov. 13, 2015, of “end stage renal disease” with history of “hemodialysis, hypertension, anemia of chronic disease, peripheral vascular disease, tobacco use, diabetes mellitus, and history of stroke contributing,” according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Virginia.

Like many people who knew Goodrum, Thompson found out he had died before he knew he’d been in jail. Thompson said Goodrum could be “somewhat difficult to deal with at times,” and that he’d lost touch with Goodrum in the last few months of his life. “If you’re in that much pain and suffering, you’re going to be mad at the world,” Thompson said. “It’s understandable.”

Life had “just been tough on [Goodrum], it seemed,” Thompson said. “We would just talk about music, and he’d forget about all the crap of the world.”

 

Election 2016: Fact And Fiction Swirls Medical Marijuana Debate

By Abe Aboraya

12-year-old Christina Clark takes medical marijuana.

Her mother Anneliese Clark uses it to treat the seizures her daughter has had since she was three months old. At her worst, “she just literally, she wasn’t doing anything,” Anneliese Clark said. “She laid on the couch and shook and twitched.”

Clark remembers Christina locked in a fetal position, unable to hold her head up, swallow her own spit, or control her bodily functions. After trying 17 different pharmaceutical drugs, Anneliese turned to medical marijuana.

Illegal But Effective
Now, Christina Clark sits at a small table in the living room in a Jacksonville suburb. She pulls toys out of a box, one by one. First a maraca, then a bell. She doesn’t speak, but she makes noise, and has started using different tones.

The drug Anneliese credits with keeping her daughter seizure free for the last eight weeks is a medical marijuana oil from Hungary. It comes in a small glass bottle with a rubber dropper at the top.

She keeps it on her kitchen counter, along with other medical marijuana oils she’s tried. They look like herbal supplements you’d buy at the grocery store.

Full-strength medical marijuana is illegal in Florida, and Anneliese Clark felt exposed after she started doing interviews about her situation. Now, she keeps a note on her fridge with instructions on what to do if she’s arrested. It includes who to call for bail money, how to alert the press, and the number for the local sheriff and a narcotics detective, both of whom know she gives her daughter medical marijuana.

Ironically, Clark used to be against legalizing the drug.

“I was also misinformed,” Clark said. “I thought medical marijuana was a ruse for legalizing it.”

Cutting Through The Smoke: The Legalities And Science Of Medical Marijuana
Medical marijuana legalization is back on the Florida’s ballot this year.

Supporters and detractors have spent a total of more than $5.6 million to sway voters on Amendment 2. A similar measure was narrowly defeated in 2014.

Opponents like Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings say it would amount to defacto legalization of recreational marijuana. The issue is personal for Demings. His brother died of an opioid overdose in 1999.

“My brother was first introduced to an illegal substance, a controlled substance, back in the late 1960s,” Demings said. “Marijuana was that substance. That ultimately I think created the type of desire in him to experiment with other illegal substances, and he became addicted to heroin and cocaine over the years.”

This story is part of a series looking at issues voters find important this election. Check here for more.

Demings and other detractors fear if Amendment 2 passes, marijuana would be as easy to get in Florida as it is in California, which legalized medical marijuana in 1996.

Professor Jon Caulkins of Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College has been studying drug policy for 25 years. He says Amendment 2’s language is more restrictive than California’s law.

“The list of conditions for which someone can get a recommendation does not have the obvious, gaping loopholes that the authors of the California proposition inserted, likely intentionally because they wanted to create such a loophole,” Caulkins said.

In California, patients can get medical marijuana recommendations by simply telling a doctor they have chronic pain or anxiety. Florida’s Amendment 2 would require a diagnosis of one of 10 conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, HIV-AIDS, and multiple sclerosis.

Medical Effectiveness Largely Unknown
Scientists are still studying the effectiveness of marijuana as a medical treatment.

“It’s not true that cannabis has no value whatsoever and there’s no science,” said Dr. Igor Grant, a psychiatrist and the director of the Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California – San Diego.

Grant said research shows medical marijuana is effective as a treatment for four conditions: chronic neuropathy, or nerve pain; muscle spasms resulting from multiple sclerosis; nausea; and low appetite in patients who need to gain weight.

Grant said marijuana is also effective for lowering pressure in the eye to treat glaucoma, but, he wondered, “do you want people to be stoned to treat their glaucoma when there are other treatments?”

“It’s also not true that it’s a panacea and will cure everything,” Grant said with a laugh.

Grant also pointed to early indications that states using medical marijuana to treat pain are seeing a statistically significant drop in opioid overdoses. He said early research suggests low doses of medical marijuana can reduce the amount of opiates patients use to treat pain.

“Maybe the dose could be low enough that you can benefit the pain without the person becoming stoned or impaired as a driver,” Grant said. “This is an area we’re very interested in.”

If Florida voters approve Amendment 2, many of the details about implementation will be left up to the Florida Department of Health.

“It would be really wonderful to separate out the medical issues from the more general social policy on marijuana,” Grant said. “Quite often the discussion of medical marijuana gets tied up with legalization for recreational use.”

B.C. pot producer sought federal approval to use fungicide

Grant Robertson

One of Canada’s largest medical marijuana producers, which raised concerns with Health Canada over harmful chemicals found in cannabis sold at Vancouver dispensaries, sought permission to use a controversial fungicide on its own crops last year, but says it later abandoned the idea.

According to the British Columbia Lobbyists Registry, Tilray asked for British Columbia’s support in getting federal approval to use Nova 40W, a fungicide that contains myclobutanil – a chemical effective at controlling crop diseases, but one that has been at the centre of controversy. It is banned by several U.S. states for use on cannabis because of concerns it emits hydrogen cyanide when heated.

Tilray said it sought to use the product in the belief that it was being employed by non-licensed marijuana grow operations to control a fungal disease known as powdery mildew. The company didn’t say how it knew the product was being used by those operations, but Tilray spokesman Zack Hutson said the bid was halted after Health Canada subsequently issued a list of alternative fungicides that the company now uses.

“Tilray contacted the B.C. government on March 19, 2015, to inquire about the process for initiating an application to obtain approval for the use of Nova 40W on cannabis,” Mr. Hutson said in a statement Wednesday. “We stopped lobbying on the issue a few weeks later, after we found existing Health Canada-approved organic solutions that have already undergone [federal testing].”

The revelation is one of several events in recent months that illustrate the need for scrutiny of the burgeoning big-money cannabis industry, as the government intends to legalize the drug for recreational use next year, to ensure consumers are protected from harmful chemicals, bacteria and other contaminants.

In July, The Globe published the results of an investigation that discovered one-third of nine cannabis samples obtained from Toronto storefront dispensaries, which operate with no federal oversight, contained potentially harmful bacteria that could have serious effects on elderly patients or those with compromised immunity. One sample contained mould that can lead to serious lung conditions in patients.

Last week, documents obtained through the Access to Information Act showed Health Canada was warned nearly a year ago about harmful chemicals showing up in marijuana sold at storefront dispensaries in Vancouver. Lab results submitted to Health Minister Jane Philpott’s office showed 13 of 22 samples tested showed high levels of carbamate, which is not approved for cannabis, or dodemorph, a chemical that is not approved for human consumption. Health Canada later revealed those test results were submitted by Tilray.

Despite evidence of a potential public health threat, Health Canada did not act on the warnings, nor inform local authorities in Vancouver. Health Canada said it considers dispensaries to be illegal, and therefore not its responsibility. However, those same dispensaries have flourished across Canada this year as a direct result of the federal government’s announcement that it will legalize the drug. Ottawa has not addressed their growth, saying it is up to local police to address the issue.

After initially telling The Globe that she couldn’t recall if she’d seen the documents, the Health Minister issued a statement on Friday confirming the results were sent to her office. Tilray then called on the government to act: “We are disappointed and concerned that nearly a year after sharing these results, patients continue to be at risk. If dispensaries are going to be permitted to continue to operate, then they should be held to the same standards as licensed producers.”

It is unlikely Tilray would have received federal approval to use Nova 40W if it had proceeded with the request. Such requests must be submitted by the manufacturer of the chemical, Dow AgroSciences, and tests must be conducted to ensure it can be used safely on a particular crop, which takes up to two years.

Nova 40W is similar to Eagle 20, which sparked controversy in the United States when it was discovered to be widely used on cannabis. Both contain myclobutanil, which is approved in small doses for some crops that are eaten, such as berries, since it is metabolized by the digestive system. 

However, it is thought to be potentially dangerous on products that are consumed in other ways. Lawmakers in Colorado, Washington and Oregon, which have legalized cannabis for medical or recreational use, moved quickly to ban the use of myclobutanil as a result.

In Canada, there are questions as to how much scrutiny is being exercised in this new industry. Health Canada says myclobutanil is not permitted, but The Globe’s investigation found that not all labs enlisted to test cannabis bother to check for the chemical, or are calibrated to detect its presence, indicating a blind spot in the safety testing regime. Though dispensaries are not held to any federal standards, Health Canada said if a licensed medical marijuana producer were found to be using such chemicals, it would take action.

“Chemicals such as myclobutanil or dodemorph are not authorized for use by licensed producers. If the Department had reason to believe that a licensed producer was using unauthorized pesticides or other chemicals, it would take immediate enforcement action,” Health Canada said. Such steps “could include detention of product, recalls, or potentially revoking the producer’s licence.”

The B.C. Lobbyists Registry indicates Tilray’s request is active, which Mr. Hutson said is a mistake. The company has lobbied the B.C. government on other subjects related to the industry in recent months, and those meetings have been erroneously linked to the same file on the registry, he said, adding the company is now trying to have the record corrected. 

However, a spokeswoman for the registry said companies can’t have information changed retroactively, even if mistakes are made.

Study Links Pot Use to Relapse in Psychosis Patients

By Randy Dotinga

A British study says it provides new evidence that marijuana use may boost the risk that people who struggle with psychosis will relapse.

But critics said the effect seems to be small, and they questioned the validity of the research.

A study co-author stands by the work, however.

"We show that pot use causes an increase in the risk of relapse in psychosis and demonstrate that alternative explanations are unlikely to be true," said Dr. Sagnik Bhattacharyya, a reader in translational neuroscience and psychiatry at King's College London.

"It would be appropriate to at least aim for reduction in pot use in patients with psychosis if complete abstinence is not realistic," Bhattacharyya added.

People suffering from psychosis lose touch with reality and may hallucinate, develop delusions and struggle to think and speak normally. Sometimes psychosis is a symptom of a condition like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Earlier this year, a British study in the journal BMJ Open linked pot use in psychosis patients to higher levels of hospitalization and less response to medications. But experts said at the time that this could be because psychotic patients turn to marijuana when they're feeling less stable or because genetics make a person likely to both become psychotic and want to use pot.

In the new study, researchers looked at 220 patients -- 90 women and 130 men, aged 18 to 65 -- who were diagnosed for the first time with psychosis. Bhattacharyya said his team tried to expand upon the previous research by using statistical techniques to look more closely at the impact of pot.

The researchers found that the risk that patients would relapse was 13 percent higher when they used pot than when they didn't. And the odds appeared to go up when the patients used more pot. This suggests -- but doesn't prove -- that pot use raises the risk of relapse, instead of the other way around, the researchers said.

They added that it's not clear how pot use might boost the risk of relapse. Nor is it clear whether marijuana may have beneficial effects that aren't being measured, or if the drug may cause more relapses while making them less severe.

Mitch Earleywine is a marijuana rights advocate and a professor of psychology at University at Albany, State University of New York. He said the study "suffers from most of the problems that plague a lot of the human research on cannabis and psychosis."

For one thing, he said, the researchers didn't randomly assign one group of patients to use marijuana and another to abstain. Then there's the possibility that a desire for pot is simply a sign that a relapse is coming, he said.

"In all likelihood, those who notice a need for cannabis earlier might be the same ones who are more likely to have another psychotic break whether they had cannabis or not," he said.

Earleywine also called the increased risk of relapse "ridiculously small."

Study co-author Bhattacharyya disagreed with this assessment. He said it's important that the extra risk seen in his study persisted even after the researchers compensated for factors like higher or lower numbers of psychotic patients who stopped taking their medications or used other illegal drugs.

Charles Ksir, a professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Wyoming, also criticized the study, saying the increase in risk was small and unproven. "Perhaps the individual begins to decompensate, and as part of that process they are a bit more likely to use cannabis," he said.

What about urging psychotic patients to avoid pot?

"It's fair to say that anyone who has ever had a psychotic break or has a schizophrenic relative should stay away from the plant," Earleywine said.

But Ksir said that "efforts to influence cannabis use among psychotic patients have not been successful in getting them to stop or reduce their use."

What happens to marijuana use when states legalize it

Green on the ballot. (Reuters/Robert Galbraith) 

Written by Neha Thirani Bagri

The debate over marijuana regulation has been picking up steam, and 2016 may be a landmark year for marijuana legalization in the United States. In November, five states–Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada–will consider measures to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes on their ballots. Four other states–Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota–are set to vote on medical marijuana initiatives.

The support for marijuana legalization has been steadily growing in recent years and an April 2015 survey by Pew Research found that 53% of Americans think that the drug should be made legal. The dramatic growth in the industry has been likened to a gold rush, with legal marijuana sales in 2015 reaching $5.4 billion.

Opponents of measures to legalize marijuana have long argued that such legislation would cause marijuana use to spike. A recent study carried out by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, looked at the impact of marijuana legalization in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon, for clues on how the policy plays out. Colorado and Washington legalized recreational use in 2012 while Alaska and Oregon did in 2014.

Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health Results for Colorado, Washington and Oregon, the study examined changes in rates of marijuana consumption per month. The rate of increase in marijuana use didn’t change significantly after legalization in Colorado, Washington and Oregon. Marijuana use has been steadily increasing in all three states since the early 2000s.

Opponents of marijuana legalization are especially concerned that young people would use more marijuana if it’s legalized. The study looked at surveys of health behaviors conducted in middle schools and high schools as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Colorado and Alaska, and found that there was no significant change in trends of youth marijuana use post-legalization. The data was not available for Washington and Oregon.

It could be that marijuana legalization occurs as marijuana use increases. “All those observed patterns in marijuana use might provide evidence for a cultural explanation behind legalization: As marijuana becomes more commonplace and less stigmatized, residents and legislators become less opposed to legalization,” the authors wrote. “In essence, rising marijuana use may not be a consequence of legalization, but a cause of it.”

The authors of the study are Angela Dills, professor of regional economic development at Western Carolina University, Sietse Goffard, a researcher at the economics department at Harvard University and Jeffrey Miron, director of undergraduate studies in the economics department at Harvard University. 

Chelsea Clinton ‘misspoke’ on marijuana risks, spokeswoman says

By Christopher Ingraham

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, addresses the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

 

Speaking at a town hall at Youngstown State University over the weekend, Chelsea Clinton made a remark about the risks of marijuana use that left many drug reform advocates scratching their heads.

The daughter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested that legal marijuana use had contributed to the deaths of people who were using other drugs simultaneously, due to a bad drug interaction.

A spokeswoman for Chelsea Clinton now says that the Democratic presidential candidate's daughter simply misspoke.

An audience member had asked the younger Clinton about her mother's support for changing the federal regulatory status of marijuana to allow more research into potential medical uses of the drug.

Chelsea responded that Hillary Clinton supports more research, and that she supports the states experimenting with various medical and recreational regulatory regimes for marijuana.

Then she said the following:

But we also have anecdotal evidence now from Colorado, where some of the people who were taking marijuana for those purposes, the coroner believes, after they died, there was drug interactions with other things they were taking.

 Marijuana advocates were perplexed by the apparent implication that marijuana could be deadly.

"The former and possible future first daughter of the United States acknowledges that marijuana has medical value, but she also seems to believe that cannabis use can lead to death," wrote Tom Angell of the pro-legalization group Marijuana Majority in a piece for marijuana.com.

"Chelsea Clinton suggests marijuana is killing people," blared a headline in High Times.

On its own, marijuana is not known to have any fatal dosage level. The DEA itself acknowledges that nobody has ever died from marijuana alone.

A spokeswoman for Chelsea Clinton told The Post in a statement that "while discussing her and her mother’s support for rescheduling marijuana to allow for further study of both its medical benefits and possible interactions with other medications, Chelsea misspoke about marijuana's interaction with other drugs contributing to specific deaths."

She added, "Hillary Clinton has said we should allow states that have reformed their marijuana laws to act as laboratories for our democracy and we should reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance."

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in an interview that "there's zero evidence anywhere that using marijuana in combination with other drugs can be fatal."

He added, "one of the things that make marijuana such a safe drug to use is that if you combine it with anything, it's not fatal."

That doesn't mean that pot doesn't interact with other drugs, Nadelmann added. For instance, smoking marijuana can intensify the psychoactive effects of alcohol, which is why studies generally show that driving under the influence of alcohol and weed is considerably more dangerous than driving under the influence of one drug alone.

Researchers generally agree that marijuana use is less risky than the use of a number of other common recreational drugs, including alcohol and tobacco.

This November five states will vote on whether to legalize recreational marijuana, and voters in four more will vote on medical marijuana provisions.

Williamson Co. changes policy for some caught with marijuana

Lauren Kravets

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The Williamson County Attorney’s office secured a $65,000 grant to pilot the “Cite and Release” program next year.

If you’re caught with an invalid drivers license or marijuana under two ounces, instead of going straight to jail, you’ll get fingerprinted and have to go to a processing center. That is where you’ll also get your court date.

“What we’re doing is replacing that jail stay with the processing center; go there, get everything you would’ve gotten information-wise from the jail,” explains Williamson County Attorney Dee Hobbs. “At that point, everything is the identical process that it is now.”

Hobbs says that means offenders would still face the same type of penalties, like jail time and fines if they’re found guilty.

The Round Rock Police Department will be the first Williamson County agency to test out the program. They’re hoping it will help them keep more officers on the streets.

“So if they have a high priority call with a violent offender or citizen in distress, they have all the resources on duty at that time, to go and respond to that, and we can handle these non-violent offenders through the court system as it always was intend ended,” said Hobbs.

The goal is to also reduce jail population, which taxpayers fund. The Williamson County Jail can currently hold 1,104 inmates; however they would need to increase staffing to actually house that many inmates.

“Do we really need to be putting our people in jail if they’ve got a suspended license? As a resident of Williamson County, I’m far more concerned about our serious criminal offenses and those defendants being held in jail,” said Justice of the Peace for Precinct 3, Judge Bill Gravell.

The county hopes to have the program running by January, but they still have to get fingerprint scanners to use on the side of the road and at the processing center. A definite location has not been picked yet for the processing center, how the county is considering the Williamson County Justice Center, where court is held.

In 2014, Williamson County saw 1,781 cases of possession of marijuana under two ounces, and 1,806 cases of driving with an invalid license. In 2015, there were 1,510 cases of possession of marijuana under two ounces, and 1,164 cases of driving with an invalid license.

How the Ultra-Rich Smoke Weed

Written by Madison Margolin

Cheryl Shuman likes to make weed purées for dessert, topped off with Goldschlager Cinnamon Schnapps.

"Imagine a beautiful cannabis infused chocolate soufflé with a raspberry purée on top with the gold sparkles from the Schnapps,” she told me. “It's delicious and oh so glamorous.”

This is Shuman’s world: glitz, glam, and ganj. As the director of the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club, a high-end purveyor of luxury weed and accessories, her love for cannabis overlaps with her activism which overlaps with her pot rebranding campaign. And while we might associate weed with Ziploc baggies and hazy basements, this is more about diamond studded vape pens and Hollywood soirées.

And she’s not alone—Shuman is part of a growing circle of entrepreneurs capitalizing on what she calls the "pot com boom." With US marijuana sales expected to top $10 billion by 2018, there's a lot of money to not only be made in the legal bud industry, but also to be spent. So 14-karat gold vape pens, dank artisan grown bud, golden rolling papers, munchie-free skinny weed, and gourmet edibles are transforming a once underground trade into a luxury business.

Beverly Hills Cannabis Club products. Image: Courtesy of Cheryl Shuman.

"Since Colorado's historic decision to legalize marijuana for recreational use, states are lining up—and so are we as branding experts, designers, and entrepreneurs," said Shuman, who is also the head of Moms for Marijuana, a network of mothers advocating for safe and legal cannabis.

Her cannabis club offers a range of sparkly accessories, from gold and pavé diamond vaporizers to couture handbags with hidden stash compartments. She is also working to soon launch cannabis-friendly resorts, hotels, fine dining, internet cafes, workout yoga centers, and coffee shops with the club's signature products. The team already hosts private Hollywood events, such as a Grammy's afterparty and weed-infused dinner parties, cooked by professional chefs.

The luxury cannabis market is usually not just about getting high. It’s about the taste, texture, quality, feeling, and environment in which the consumer ingests it and in which the bud itself is grown. So it’s not surprising that in our food-obsessed world, the high-end weed industry is taking munchies and edibles to a whole new level.

LA-based cannabis cook Jeff the 420 Chef also caters to this “high” end scene. He travels to individual homes and parties—celebrity parties, yacht parties, cannabis magazine parties—to cook up infused feasts. Kale salad, hazy Thai wings, and 420 Irish Cream (sans alcohol) are some of his favorites. He keeps the dose at around 10 milligrams per person (assuming you don't stuff yourself), which he says would have about as strong an effect as two glasses of wine.

Cannabis-infused wings. Image: Courtesy of Jeff the 420 Chef

But for those worried the munchies will mess with their lithe yoga bodies, their luxury weed circle has also introduced skinny weed. Bethenny Frankel's "Skinnygirl Marijuana", for example, has garnered press for being specifically engineered to be munchie-free. Perhaps best known for starring in The Real Housewives of New York City, Frankel already made her Skinnygirl cocktails a household name, so cannabis wasn’t far behind.

Skinny weed is based on some very specific chemistry. The endocannabinoid system, or the body's endogenous network of cannabinoid receptors, regulates, among other functions, appetite and metabolism. Endocannabinoid receptors tell the body when to release ghrelin, also known as the "hunger hormone."

Some of the cannabinoids, or chemical compounds in cannabis, activate the same receptors in the brain and digestive tract as the body's endocannabinoids—hence, why some cannabinoids found in cannabis, specifically THC and CBN, stimulate appetite. Others, however, such as THCV and CBD, do the opposite. Cannabis strains like Skinnygirl can be bred to highlight specific cannabinoids. And strains that already have high levels of THCV or CBD include Durban Poison, Doug's Varin, ACDC, and Harlequin.

The way a strain is bred, whether for its effect on appetite, or for its overall quality, has become a luxury craft, like microbrewed beer or aged whiskey. At the Emerald Exchange Farmers Market this past August, pot farmers from Mendocino, California, trekked down to Malibu to show off their crop, just like a wine tasting. And like wine or champagne, high quality cannabis has come to be labeled to prove its quality and origin.

Before cannabis appellations you generally just had to trust your dealer. But Justin Calvino, an entrepreneur in Mendocino, is hoping to distinguish cannabis quality by where it's grown. Calvino owns Terroir Event Company, which organizes cannabis farmers markets in Mendocino, and the one in Malibu. "We're creating a marquee brand that will showcase our methodology, our strain development, and our climate, [which] make for the finest and highest quality cannabis in the world," he said.

The craft bud is primarily sungrown outdoors or in a greenhouse, and in customized native, composted soil infused with different kinds of tea. "You can taste the earth in our cannabis," Calvino said. "It's the highest quality product money can buy, to an educated palate."

Whereas cannabis quality used to be determined by its potency and THC levels, Calvino said tastes have evolved as marijuana becomes more ubiquitous. "We're in a movement to honor the terpene profile," he said. While the average toker may not recognize these subtle differences, cannabis connoisseurs can understand and feel the importance of terpenes, or the essential plant oils in cannabis that give the bud its aroma and flavor.

Evoxe vapes include cannabis mixed with essential oils. Image: Evan Mann

Evoxe Laboratories, one of the companies featured at the Emerald Exchange Farmers Market, banks on the desired effects of a bud's variety, combining cannabis oil with terpenes from aromatic essential oils for users to vape. Blending an indica strain with lavender, chamomile, and orange essential oils has a more relaxing effect, while a sativa strain with peppermint, lime, cypress, and cinnamon oils will be more uplifting—like the "Red Bull of cannabis," said Michael Katz, president of Evoxe.

While all the chemicals in cannabis work synergistically during what's called the "entourage effect," adding in essential oils and chemicals from other plants like Evoxe does enhances that effect even more. "Luxury cannabis is knowing your cultivator and knowing the quality of the product you're using and how it's made," said Katz.

Once you've got some luxury dank, there are more luxurious ways to smoke it than ever before.

Artisan bongs and art piece pipes can cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Dab rigs can also be expensive, costing up to $10,000. Not to mention a couple thousand dollars will get you a prime rozin press (not a perfectly good hair straightener) and torches. Nice dabs themselves can also be hundreds of dollars depending on how much you get.

For the rest of us plebes without an extra grand in your wallet, there's always golden rolling papers. The only kind of edible gold is 24 karats, said Dave Brown, CEO of Shine Papers. His products range from $14 to $55 per pack.

Woven gold rolling papers. Image: Courtesy of Shine Papers

"No, it's not oxygen,” Brown said, “but people like to show off. People like to celebrate with their friends. Shine is a very social product. You're probably not sitting alone on your couch smoking Shine, you're probably doing it with your friends or at a concert."

With all the fanfare around how high society gets, well, high, smoking a simple joint seems all of a sudden rudimentary. But even the people selling luxury weed say that at the end of the day, it’s all about how you feel.

"But it's not all about just getting high," said Calvino. "What function does it serve? Is it a relaxant, is it for focus? Are the desired effects met? And how do you enjoy the way you feel when you're smoking?"