WeedLife News Network

Australia’s Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has received almost $700,000 to investigate the effectiveness, safe dosage and side-effects associated with THC and CBD.

Around 770 children aged up to 14 years are diagnosed with cancer each in Australia, and sadly approximately 100 children under the age of 15 years die from it annually.

It’s hoped medicinal cannabis can play a role in alleviating children’s suffering in the final stages of their illness.

A 3-year QUT trial will compare different combinations and ratios of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to determine which is the more effective in managing symptoms in children with advanced cancer, including lack of appetite and energy, pain, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting. The impact on other areas such as sleep, activity, anxiety and depression will also be measured.

The study marks the first time such an investigation has taken place in Australia involving medicinal cannabis and children with cancer receiving palliative care.  While exploratory in nature rather than a definitive randomised controlled study due to the frailty of the children, it’s envisioned the research will make a significant contribution to the current scant scientific evidence currently available.

When California first passed Proposition 64 legalizing recreational cannabis, voters waited in eager anticipation for natural, quality products to purchase.

What they found instead was 84.3% of sampled cannabis tested positive for pesticide residue. 

The research, conducted by Steep Hill Labs, Inc., further concluded that 65% of cannabis samples submitted to their lab contained Myclobutanil, a pesticide that when smoked or vaporized is converted to Hydrogen Cyanide.

As the name suggests, the chemical is extremely toxic for humans to ingest. 

Discoveries like these underscore the importance of lab testing requirements for cannabis operators.

Rob Tankson. Photo courtesy of PrestoDoctor.

Nowadays, it seems like almost every appointment and meeting is virtual.

While the ease and convenience of platforms like Zoom have transformed everything from education to healthcare since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to remember things weren’t always this way.

This is especially true for medical cannabis patients. 

In a big move for the psychedelic industry, a bill was recently passed by a second California Senate committee which would legalize the possession of numerous different forms of psychoactive drugs in the Golden State.

The legislation, which was sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener (D), advanced through the Public Safety Committee earlier this month, followed by a pass from the Health Committee one week later. If this bill fully passes, an extensive list of psychedelics including psilocybin mushrooms, DMT, ibogaine, LSD, and MDMA would be legalized for adults aged 21 and older.

“The war on drugs has been an abject failure because it is based on the false belief, the false notion, that criminalizing people, arresting them, incarcerating them for possessing, for using drugs, will somehow deter use and improve public safety,” commented Wiener before the vote took place. “It has done neither.”

“Instead we have spent trillions in the last half century on the war on drugs, more people are using drugs now, there’s more addiction, there are more overdoses—I’m talking about drugs generally, not psychedelics. And we have busted taxpayer dollars, and we need to move towards a more health-based approach,” he added.

The bill excludes the use of peyote, an endangered plant, to ensure its availability for traditional Native American spiritual practices, according to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, or MAPS, a global psychedelic research and education organization.

Cannabis started to gain a positive rep after the medical community began to pay close attention to its effective compounds, and now the Asian community has joined the weed “revolution.”

Certain things have taken the world by storm and still haven’t been embraced by the Asian community — not because they aren’t “good enough,” but because they are not culturally accepted. However, there has been a shift in the way Asians view, receive and utilize cannabis. To strengthen marijuana’s place in the Asian community, one must understand what led to this shift.

Asian Americans and the cannabis discourse

The Asian culture is a largely conservative space that had previously shunned cannabis and drug use. The pressure from the United Nations treaties, which the West promoted, birthed an era of cannabis prohibition in Asia, making it difficult for cannabis companies to penetrate the Asian market.

Photo by Mason Wilkes via Unsplash

Clinical outcomes of the first cohort of patients captured in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry are encouraging.

One of the arguments against medical cannabis is the lack of quality evidence supporting its use. This is rapidly changing, with a bunch of studies being carried out around the world. One of the sources of good quality and comprehensive observational data are formalised patient registries.

Initiated by clinicians at Sapphire Medical Clinics, the UK Medical Cannabis Registry is the first database of its kind in the UK. It’s designed to collate outcomes on medical cannabis prescribing. The data it captures includes prescribed formulations, adverse events and patient-reported outcomes. Anonymised data is made available on request to the medical community for analysis.

Sapphire says the Registry will:

A study has been recently published based on the clinical outcomes of the first 129 patients enrolled in the Registry.

A new study is going straight to healthcare workers in the U.S. and Canada to get their input on their experiences with and advice about medical cannabis.

The exploration is part of a recently announced study that will involve the Cannabis Center of Excellence, Inc. (CCOE), Medicinal Genomics and the University of Massachusetts’ Dartmouth Charlton College of Business, Cannabis Science and Technology reports.

The aptly named “Healthcare Provider Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices Related to Medical Cannabis Research Study” will collect information from practising healthcare providers “about their experiences with medicinal cannabis in their practices, prior education around the topic and interest in future clinical education related to medical cannabis,” notes an earlier CCOE announcement.

Dr. Marion McNabb, president of CCOE, points out that even “the basics of the endocannabinoid system, medical cannabis benefits and risks, and approaches to integrating medical cannabis use” are not part of the regular curriculum for most health professionals, Cannabis Science and Technology reports. This includes those in medical, nursing, dental, public health, emergency medicine and addiction and recovery, Dr. McNabb says.

As evidence regarding the efficacy of cannabis continues to emerge and actual use in treatment snowballing, “this study seeks to hear from healthcare providers themselves about what they know and want to know about medical cannabis, and how its use can be integrated into their practices,” she adds.

Here is the good news when it comes to issue of regulating cannabinoids. Last month, the European Commission added Cannabigerol (CBG) to the Cosing List—namely the regional database of allowable ingredients in cosmetics. This after adding natural CBD as an approved substance the month before.

The process of regulating cannabinoids in Europe is well underway. From one perspective, this makes sense. Each cannabinoid is a unique chemical compound. So are other components of the plant—such as terpenes. However, so far, there has never been a regulatory investigation of the entire plant, compound by compound by any national or regional authority. The EU approach to regulation is, in other words, highly unique in the history of the plant itself.

How does this procedure of regulating cannabinoids at the European level integrate with approval of cannabis for both medical and non-medical use? And for what purpose?

The Process of Regulating Cannabinoids For All Uses

Part of the difference now being seen in Europe with regards to regulatory approaches is that first and foremost, certainly after acceptance of its medical efficacy, cannabis as a plant genus is dealt with as a naturally occurring mixture of many different chemical compounds. This is easy to see in the 2019 European Parliament resolution on the same. Namely the EP called on the European Commission (EC) to regulate the drug by its chemical components, given its recognized medical efficacy.

If there is one substance you hear about a lot right now it is cannabis. Some people are against the use of this ‘drug’ while others swear their life has been improved by using by-products of the cannabis sativa plant. So, are there studies and science to back up the claims that cannabis offers health benefits? Indeed, there is evidence that this natural plant and the cannabinoids it contains may offer health benefits. So, let’s take a closer look.

Relieving Chronic Pain

Do you live with chronic pain? Taking NSAIDs and other medications are often discouraged if you have stomach issues and due to their addictive nature. So, people often look for an alternative that can help with pain management. Indeed, this is where cannabis comes in. Research has shown that this plant has the ability to reduce pain for people suffering from arthritis, migraines, fibromyalgia and even endometriosis.

Help with Stress and Anxiety

A large number of people struggle with stress and anxiety on a daily basis. The demands of work and problems in your personal life can leave you suffering psychologically, and this can take a toll on your physical health too. Thus, people have long been searching for a way to help them relieve their symptoms and to encourage better emotions. As you may have guessed, this is why a lot of people are trying cannabis and CBD products. Studies have suggested that it might be able to have a positive impact on serotonin, which is an essential hormone for regulating your moods.

Help for Hepatitis

There is some suggestion that  the effect cannabis has on the liver might be able to help those that have hepatitis, which is a condition that commonly leads to inflammation of the liver. For a long time, there has been research to find new medications and therapeutics for those that are suffering from hepatitis. There is now hope that CBD could be the answer, as a study revealed that it could stop the virus from replicating.

Improved Quality of Sleep

Many people around the world struggle to fall asleep and enjoy quality rest. This can lead to mood swings and tiredness the next day which affects productivity and the enjoyment of activities. But, the good news is that studies on cannabis suggest that this may be a substance that can improve your quality of sleep. It is not clear whether this is a plant that can improve sleep directly or if it was due to indirect effects. For example, cannabis may have enabled someone with anxiety to relax or relieve discomfort, which leads to a better quality of sleep. Either way, it might be the way to enjoy better rest.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is still reviewing a medical marijuana bill that would allow registered patients with qualifying conditions to safely access and use medical cannabis. If Ivey signs the bill into law, Alabama would become the 37th state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana. Learn more in the video above.

Ivey on Thursday signed three bills into law, including legislation for wine delivery and permanent daylight saving time.

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COMPASSION ACT SUMMARY

Qualifying for the Program

Legal Protections

Physicians’ Role and Regulation

Click here to read the full breakdown of the bill.

ALMOST 40% OF Irish people believe cannabis should be legalised for recreational use and there is an overwhelming support for the medical use of cannabis. 

New polling by Red C on behalf of The Journal shines a light on the nation’s views on legalising cannabis, with only 4% of people opposed to the medical use of cannabis.  

At present, the use of four cannabis-based products is allowed in Ireland in strict circumstances and under a pilot scheme.

There is near uniformity across different age groups in believing that medical use should be legal, but opinions vary on whether recreational use of cannabis should be permitted. 

A majority (56%) of 18-34 year olds believe that cannabis should be legalised for both medical and recreational use while this drops to just 21% for those aged over 55. 

Strong support for the legalization of medical cannabis was shown by the candidates from the National Liberation (PLN), Christian Social Unity (PUSC) and Citizen Action (PAC) parties. Of the eleven candidates, eight are in favor, one is against, and no response was received from two other applicants.

In the case of the liberationists, there are two candidates who are deputies and with the power to influence the approval of a bill along these lines. They are Carlos Ricardo Benavides and Roberto Thompson, both green and white legislators. Both are in favor of the initiative promoted by independent legislator Zoila Rosa Volio. File 21,388 was ruled the previous November by the Environment Commission, but since then there has been no progress by the Presidential Office.

“From the beginning I have been in favor of the project of the deputy Zoila Volio on Industrial Hemp and Medicinal Cannabis,” said Benavides. “I consider it a great opportunity for the country to generate wealth and employment in many regions of Costa Rica,” he added.

Other liberationists who agree to legalize medical cannabis are José María Figueres and Rolando Araya. “I would legalize medical cannabis, based on the ample scientific evidence in its favor. In addition, it would authorize the planting of hemp as a profitable alternative for our farmers”, wrote Figueres on his social networks.

For his part, Araya acknowledged being in agreement due to the expert investigations, although he considered the first thing to be to move the country forward. “It’s like the house is on fire and they ask about the color of the curtains, that will be later,” he said.

After multiple failed attempts to legalise medical marijuana, this bill may finally get over the line – and soon.

Access to medical cannabis in Alabama is extremely limited. “Carly’s Law”, which was passed in 2014, permitted the University of Alabama at Birmingham to provide CBD oil to children with debilitating seizures as part of a clinical study. In 2016, “Leni’s Law” was passed to provide an affirmative defence to patients possessing CBD to treat certain debilitating conditions.

Other legislation has been introduced over the years such as HB 243, which wasn’t successful. Alabama’s House has been seen as the place where cannabis legislation goes to die, until now.

Last week, Members approved Senate Bill 46 with a 68 to 34 vote. SB46, which would establish the Compassion Act,  had already passed muster in the Senate with little fuss.

The wide-ranging legislation would also among other things establish the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission. It also clearly notes the legislation is not to provide for or enable recreational use of marijuana in the State.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill on Wednesday that would expand access to medical cannabis for school children in need by removing obstacles to its administration.

The new legislation, SB 21-056, removes the discretion from school principals to set policies that regulate storing and administering cannabis-based medicines.

Photo by Green Chameleon via Unsplash

The bill places the responsibility on principals to “create a written treatment plan for the administration of cannabis-based medicine and on school boards to adopt policies regarding actual administration.”

School boards will be called upon to create guidelines on how cannabis medicines should be stored.

An Australian-based company with an exclusive licence to a variety of rare cannabis cultivars is putting its plants to the test.

Neurotech International (NTI) has begun a study to assess the safety and tolerability of its products to treat symptoms associated with autism in children.

In a release, the company reported it is currently working on a Phase I/II open label clinical study in 20 children aged five to 17 who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

According to the release, the study marks the first time that full-spectrum cannabis extract containing less than 0.3 per cent THC will be assessed in children with ASD.

Professor Michael Fahey, head of paediatric neurology at Monash Children’s Hospital, is supervising the trials, which will measure the impact that cannabis has on things such as focus, agitation, irritability and general quality of life, over 16 weeks.

Cannabis has been a known sedative for centuries, thanks to its relaxing properties.

Sleep. It’s so vital for health and wellness, yet so many of us struggle with it.

Getting a good night’s rest isn’t as easy as you think, at least for a great deal of the population. If you’re between the age of 18 to 64, you need 7 up to 9 hours of good sleep each night. Yet, a surprising 35.2% of American adults sleep less than 7 hours a night while 10-30% of adults report that they struggle with chronic insomnia.

A night of deep sleep is essential to feeling great the next day, and it also helps prevent a host of health problems down the line. It’s crucial for helping the body to repair internally, prevent sickness, keep the immune system up, prevent weight gain… the list goes on.

Photo by Acharaporn Kamornboonyarush via Pexels

The Florida State Boxing Commission has made a major change to its policy regarding cannabis.

At a meeting Tuesday, the commission voted to essentially eliminate marijuana from its prohibited drug list, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation spokesperson Patrick Fargason told ESPN on Tuesday. Previously in Florida, even trace amounts of cannabis found in a fighter's system would lead to a suspension, fine and a victory getting overturned.

"We're not testing for it," Fargason said. "We're not doing anything with it -- period."

The change was based on a recommendation from the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) medical advisory committee, as well as the UFC's anti-doping policy run by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Fargason said. He added that if a fighter is visibly impaired on fight night, the commission would take action. But Florida will no longer test for cannabis with regards combat sports competition.

Florida's new rule would affect boxers and MMA fighters competing in the state. UFC 261 took place April 24 in Jacksonville, Florida, and there were no suspensions for cannabis on that card, Fargason said. The rule voted on Tuesday will go into effect immediately, he said.

There is perhaps no cannabinoid more misunderstood than cannabinol, or CBN as it is better known.

Once thought to be the primary source of the psychoactive effects associated with marijuana, CBN has an ancient tie to cannabis’ first concentrate, hashish, and is now being explored and isolated to provide relief for conditions like insomnia.

The Mysteries of Indian Hemp

When the United Kingdom assumed control over India in the mid-1850s, it was inevitable that the subjects of the British crown would eventually encounter and consume cannabis in one of the plants primal regions of cultivation.

The nation’s subsequent interest and concern in the plant’s resinous products led to the formation of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission in 1893. This commission represents the first major Western attempt at understanding cannabis, the humble beginnings of the path that with current social tolerance allowing for greater research and access, we now see being being freshly paved into an ultra-modern freeway.

In the years following the commission, some scientists were intrigued enough to pry apart the mysteries of “Indian Hemp.” CBN was the first cannabinoid successfully isolated from charas (otherwise known as hand-rubbed hashish) by British researchers in 1896 and, in 1933, was the first cannabinoid to have its chemical structure successfully elucidated.