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Tasmanian Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff has strongly criticised the State Government’s medical cannabis Controlled Access Scheme.

Introduced in 2017, the Scheme only enables medical specialists the ability to prescribe products to patients in circumstances where conventional treatments have failed. It’s a seven-step process:

.. but added to that, all usual Commonwealth exemptions, authorisations or approvals are also required.

It’s a very clunky program and its negative impact is evidenced by the number of authorisations. Under recent questioning from the Greens in Budget Estimates, it was revealed of 39 applications made by specialists on behalf of their patients, only 17 were accepted by the Health Department. The failure rate aside, the number of applications wouldn’t reflect demand – patients would be put off even embarking on the process.

“The exasperatingly low figure divulged today is yet more evidence of the Liberals’ ideological opposition to medicinal cannabis,” said Ms. Woodruff. “It follows a Senate Committee singling out Tasmania as the only state that has refused to join the national scheme for access.”

Marijuana makes you dumb. At least according to the tired trope surrounding its use. Back in the day, stoners were considered slackers and anyone who smoked weed was on a one-way ticket to Loserville.

Today, many of those stigmas have fallen away. But some still linger in the popular consciousness, like the perception that every hit on a joint results in a lower IQ. But does smoking marijuana actually make you stupid?

Not really, according to a review published in the journal Neuropsychology. Canadian researchers Scot Purdon and Daniel Krzyzanowski aimed to better understand what long-term cognitive effects cannabis could have on users. They analyzed 23 previous studies to determine if marijuana abstinence had any impact on verbal learning and memory abilities.

Based on available literature, they wrote, whatever impairment marijuana use inflicted upon memory and verbal learning “appear to resolve between 7 and 28 days of sustained abstinence.” However, they added, “years of regular use were inversely related to longer periods of abstinence and verbal learning performance, undermining a confident inference that abstinence alone has direct benefits to verbal learning and memory.”

This isn’t the first research conducted by Purdon that focuses on marijuana and memory. In 2018, Purdon conducted a study that found marijuana hinders verbal learning — the ability to read and retain information — for up to 24 hours after usage. Within one to three days, that impairment is reduced by half.

Whether you’re a long-distance runner, a trekking enthusiast, or a gymnast, fitness is a crucial part of every human being. With the ongoing pandemic and closure of gyms, online workout sessions are the new normal. A person’s fitness goal can be anything from losing fat to gaining muscle to improving joint flexibility and endurance. Sticking to a fitness regimen is the hardest thing that can keep you lingered from achieving your fitness goal. This is why many fitness freaks look for natural supplements that can promote energy and alleviate pain to keep you motivated and consistent towards the fitness goal.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a component derived from the cannabis plant. It is non-psychoactive, meaning; it won’t give you a euphoria. This article will look into the seven unique ways CBD can help reach your fitness goal.

1. CBD ban boost energy

Exercising makes you feel strong and resilient. However, after a while, the repeating movements make your muscles feel weak and tired. This is called muscle fatigue, which reduces the muscle’s capability to perform over time. The most common symptoms of muscle fatigue are soreness, muscle cramps, and localized pain. CBD can be beneficial in relieving muscle fatigue and boosting energy. According to a 2017 report, CBD can influence mood-related neurochemical chemicals in the brain. It can help to fight a lack of stamina and increase strength. Purchase CBD vape juice that works from a trusted brand to ensure a higher CBD concentration and less THC.

2. CBD may promote healthy sleep

Adequate rest by sleeping is crucial for the healthy functioning of the body. Most people don’t realize that getting sufficient sleep can boost their fitness efforts. According to reports, when researchers put a group of fitness enthusiasts on a sleep schedule, they started losing weight from fat. It showed that people on a sleep-deprived diet lost less fat than their well-rested counterparts.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is an excellent plant component for healthy sleep. According to research, people who took CBD showed improvement in REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Pain is also a cause of disturbed sleep. Fitness enthusiasts often feel muscle soreness and pain in their joints due to their strenuous workouts. According to a 2018 review, consuming CBD can soothe pain, thus improving sleep. People who are deprived of sleep can take CBD vape juice for insomnia related issues which is an effective and trusted way to help you sleep better.

If you’re new to the world of medical marijuana, you may be finding it hard to know where to start. Between smoking, taking edibles, whether you are looking for more of an upper or relaxation stimulant, in this article we’ll help you to make better sense of the products available and aid you in choosing what is best for your requirements. If you live in any of the 33 states in which this substance is legal in a healthcare context, such as Pennsylvania, getting a medical marijuana card is extremely easy. All you need to do is take a few minutes to enter some details, and you won’t be billed until your application is approved.

The Uses of Medical Marijuana

There are many reasons why people explore medical marijuana as a means of improving their health and wellbeing. The substance is believed to have numerous beneficial properties, including the treatment of muscular and joint pain, swelling, cramps and spasms. It is also widely used as a relaxation aid, with many professionals prescribing it as part of a treatment plan for depression, anxiety, stress or insomnia. In addition, marijuana is thought to effectively tackle the symptoms of numerous chronic health conditions including multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and issues affecting the spinal cord. It is also used in the treatment of IBS and Crohn’s Disease, epilepsy and arthritis. Many people who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS or who are undergoing treatment for cancer also report that medical marijuana helps them to fight the associated nausea.

The Perfect Product for You

Your ideal cannabis-derived product should be determined by the purpose you wish for it. For example, if you want to treat muscle aches, pains or tightness, you may find that a balm or topical cream is best. This can be applied directly to the affected area. If you wish to use MMJ to aid in relaxation and stress relief, you may prefer incense or essential oils that can be inhaled as a scent. In order to tackle more complex or intense conditions, marijuana can be smoked, taken as a capsule or oil or even eaten or imbibed as a drink. You can decide what is best depending on your preferences and lifestyle.

CBD is one of the active components of cannabis that is most useful in the treatment of certain health issues. Its oil and capsule form chiefly contain the same type of solution. However, a capsule is swallowed once a day with water, while oil is applied as droplets under the tongue. It also takes longer to feel the effects of a CBD capsule than an oil. Edibles and tea have similar effects, which are often quite intense and long-lasting, but tea is reported to be a little quicker acting. Cannabis contains a range of vitamins and antioxidants, so this is a great way to supplement a healthy diet. Finally, CBD is widely available in vape-form, which is perfect if you already use an e-cigarette, as it can be very easy to adopt into your existing routine.

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In some studies, THC appears to ease inflammation inside and outside the body, therefore decreasing the threat of acne.

While it is true that the cannabinoids in cannabis can have some effect on the skin and can treat itching and even skin diseases like psoriasis, marijuana’s impact on the skin adds a level of complexity to the debate. 

Even without Congressional assistance, the president has the authority to initiate the process of getting marijuana rescheduled by the Controlled Substances Act. 

While it is still kind of hard to see through the funk of the 2020 election, rest assured it is over for Donald Trump. As of January 2021, President-elect Joe Biden will take his shot at making America great again.

It will be during his first 100 days, a period that typically sets the tone for the presidency, that America will get to see precisely what kind of leader it is dealing with. Some citizens hope to see action that will help rebuild an economy crushed by the dreaded COVID-19, others want an effective vaccine, and a good deal of the population just wants medical marijuana.

Although more than half the nation has laws on the books that allow people to use marijuana for medicinal use, the federal government isn’t as progressive. Cannabis remains a Schedule I dangerous drug within the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which basically means that it is highly addictive and doesn’t possess any healing properties. But science disagrees. There is a growing body of evidence showing that marijuana can help patients treat a variety of health conditions ranging from insomnia to more life threatening illnesses. And as for all of that business about being “highly addictive,” even Uncle Sam admits that it is only about as habit forming as caffeine. 

Still, it would take an act of Congress to reschedule cannabis. Well, that or a highly motivated president. 

More Utah doctors will be able to recommend medical cannabis to qualifying patients, under a new bill being proposed.

The forthcoming legislation will allow physicians to recommend cannabis for up to 15 patients without having to go through hours of specialized training through the state. But if a doctor does, they can help up to 275 patients.

"We want to make the barrier to entry on the part of providers, prescribers, lower," said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers.

As FOX 13 reported in an investigation last year, qualifying patients still struggle across Utah to find doctors willing to recommend medical cannabis. Some don't want to go through so much paperwork and licensing for a handful of patients, while others are uneasy about recommending cannabis.

"This bottleneck that we have here, it is forcing patients to go outside and try to doctor shop which was never the intention," said Desiree Hennessy, the head of the Utah Patients Coalition, which sponsored Proposition 2 that legalized medical marijuana in Utah.

Increased medical knowledge and changes in social norms have meant that over the last decade attitudes towards medical cannabis have changed exponentially. After speaking to clinicians and patients studies have concluded that while it may have once been taboo, medical cannabis is now believed to be a legitimate medical therapy by some. It may be much more accepted but few studies have looked into how patients use medical cannabis and whether men and women see it differently. A new study has found that a significant number of women would use cannabis to treat chronic conditions and pain. 

The study, which was published in the Journal of Women’s Health assessed the gendered attitudes patients have towards medical cannabis. It found that after obtaining a medical cannabis card women are more likely to cut down or discontinue using prescribed medication and medical assistance. The study was supported by research that suggested that while men are more likely to be experienced cannabis users more generally, women are more likely to substitute prescribed medications and painkillers for medical cannabis. 

Cannabinoids are compounds found in cannabis. Research has suggested that they could be a great painkiller. PMS and PMDD, endometriosis and some gynecological cancers are some of the conditions which can cause intimate and pelvic chronic pain. The study revealed that a substantial number of women would be open to using medical cannabis to treat pain, especially if they’d used it before. 

It’s not completely clear as to why women are more likely to swap out prescribed medication for medical cannabis. However, past research has found that women engage with complementary or alternative medicine differently to men. Women are more likely to access preventative services, use alternative medicine to treat pain, mental health conditions or insomnia and for headaches and migraines. As medical cannabis has increasingly been seen as a safe and legitimate treatment and news of the opioid crisis has spread it may now fall under the category of complementary or alternative medicine. 

The researchers wrote, “the implication that women may conceptualize medical cannabis as complementary or alternative medicine merits further research, as this finding may be viewed as a consequence of patient experience with cannabis, and not only of shifting public attitudes toward it.” 

A new study finds that women are now more open to treating gynecological conditions with cannabis.

A new study reveals that women would consider using cannabis to treat different gynecological conditions, from menopause to menstrual pains.

Published in the Journal of Women’s Health, the study shows that women have a history of using cannabis to cope with chronic pelvic pain, menstrual cramps and pain associated with gynecological cancer. “A larger proportion of women who reported ever using cannabis were willing to use cannabis to treat conditions commonly seen in gynecological practices compared to never-users (91.6% vs. 64.6%),” says Leo Han, MD, MDH, and one of the lead authors of the study.

Authors of the study theorize that this willingness to give cannabis a shot could be influenced by the relative safety associated with cannabis use and with the negative side effects that are common when using opioids for pain management. It’s important to note that conditions like endometriosis are infamously difficult to diagnose and treat, resulting in more and more women being willing to try alternate methods of treatment.

According to Journal of Women’s Health Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, the study found that “a large proportion of those women who had never used cannabis were willing to try it to treat gynecological pain. Fewer, but still a substantial percentage, would use it for procedural pain or other gynecological conditions.”

Cannabidiol (CBD) is extremely popular right now.

In fact, it is so popular that Google search data for the last few years shows that CBD is searched more often than THC.

For many decades THC was the cannabinoid that most scientists and cannabis enthusiasts focused on, however, that has clearly changed.

Products containing CBD are far more legally available in the global marketplace compared to products containing large amounts of THC.

That, combined with a growing body of peer-reviewed studies that find CBD to be an effective medicine, has resulted in exponential growth in the use of CBD worldwide.

As more research finds that CBD can be a useful medicine for dogs and cats, the compound has become one alternative medicine that’s being considered much more now than ever before.

In the U.S. and many other countries, dogs and cats alike are adored as loving family members. The ASPCA has estimated that in the U.S., 78 million dogs and 85.8 million cats are owned and treated as pets. Similarly, 44% of all American households have a dog as a pet, and 35% have a cat. Due to the abundance of pet dogs and cats, the demand for medical and veterinary services is significantly high, and it keeps growing.

For decades, pharmaceutical medications and traditional treatment methods tended to be the norm. However, in recent years, cannabidiol (CBD) has been making a large splash within the veterinary medicine industry. So, stick around to learn about the unique relationship between cannabis, but specifically CBD and modern-day veterinary medicine. 

CBD Usage and Pet Mammals—What the Research Says

As more research findings are released about CBD’s medicinal properties that can be reaped by mammals including dogs and cats, the compound has become one alternative medicine that’s being discussed and/or considered much more now than ever before.

To date, publications from Colorado State University (CSU) and Cornell University have documented the pharmacokinetics of CBD in dog subjects. The study reported that orally administered CBD (by mouth) is absorbed more effectively than transdermally administered CBD (applied on the skin’s surface). The study also found that orally administered CBD was well tolerated, which supports CBD’s solid safety profile.

There's a bill going through the House of Lords which will decide how the country will regulate its medicines after January 2021. It's called the medicines and medical devices bill. Among other things, it will decide how a post-Brexit UK will maintain a high degree of patient access to the best medicines, guarantee patient safety and high manufacturing standards, and ensure British regulators do not stifle global investments into our life sciences industry.

The main sentiment underlying that debate is that Britain must retain its international reputation within the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries.

Brexit represents a step into the unknown. A no-deal Brexit will create abrupt and fast changes to British regulation, threatening the country's attractiveness. But it might at least prompt a shake-up of the regulatory status quo.

One of the industries that stands to greatly benefit from any change to the status quo is the British medical cannabis industry. Since its legalisation in 2018, the sector's environment has stagnated. British patients have barely benefitted: patient access has been sluggish and confined to less than 20 cannabis products being prescribed on the NHS. The 1.4 million patients who currently self-medicate are stuck paying for pricey private prescriptions or accessing their medicine through the black market and risking arrest.

For such a leader in healthcare, why have so few British patients and businesses benefited from the industry getting the green light in 2018? A lack of NHS funding into research hasn't helped, and nor has a highly restrictive prescribing regime. There's been an extreme reluctance by the government to approve more domestic cannabis cultivation or allow British businesses to export.

A recent study taking place in Israel looked at how effective medical cannabis can be at treating chronic pain, with an emphasis on long-term pain management use. 

The study, originally published in The European Journal of Pain and conducted by researchers with University of Haifa, looked at patients over the course of one year and examined and measured how cannabis worked with their chronic pain conditions and how much relief they received. It checked in with users at one three, six, nine, and twelve months after the treatment started to see how patients were doing with their cannabis treatment.

“At one-year, average pain intensity declined from baseline by 20 percent. All other parameters improved by 10 to 30 percent,” the study reported. “A significant decrease of 42 percent from baseline in morphine equivalent daily dosage of opioids was also observed. Reported adverse effects were common but mostly non-serious.” Reports of adverse effects declined over the course of the study period.”

Another Study, A Consistent Finding

Of course, this is not entirely new information. It backs up what other studies have found, which is that cannabis can help with long term pain relief and reduction of opiate use, as patients rely on cannabis instead of more dangerous treatment options. However, there are some things about the study that are unique. 

“This study is novel in identifying possible predictors for treatment success, including normal to long sleep duration, lower BMI and lower depression scores,” the study explains in detail. “In contrast to current beliefs the diagnosis of neuropathic pain predicts a less favorable outcome. These findings provide physicians with new data to support decision making on recommendations for MC treatment.” 

Using cannabis-related products has become increasingly popular in North America. Scientific research has discovered a wide variety of ailments that these products could be useful for. Accordingly, the CBD market has surged. 

People are now integrating CBD products into their everyday lives. When shopping for  CBD near you, visit sites like cbdoilnearby.com to find which stores are worth visiting. For the best deals, always buy online unless it’s not an option in your town or city.

What Does CBD do?

The normalization of CBD products is still a relatively new concept. Therefore, not everyone is exposed to information regarding the benefits that this compound can have. In this article, we are going to learn how CBD products can have a positive impact on men’s health.

Cannabidiol known to most as CBD is an active compound that can be derived from cannabis and hemp. It is the second most prevalent, after THC. Many people know THC due to its psychoactive properties. Essentially, THC is what makes users feel “high.”

In the short term, marijuana hinders your learning ability, but doesn’t seem to cause long-term impairment.

Marijuana makes you dumb. At least according to the tired trope surrounding its use. Back in the day, stoners were considered slackers and anyone who smoked weed was on a one-way ticket to Loserville.

Today, many of those stigmas have fallen away. But some still linger in the popular consciousness, like the perception that every hit on a joint results in a lower IQ. But does smoking marijuana actually make you stupid?

Not really, according to a review published in the journal Neuropsychology. Canadian researchers Scot Purdon and Daniel Krzyzanowski aimed to better understand what long-term cognitive effects cannabis could have on users. They analyzed 23 previous studies to determine if marijuana abstinence had any impact on verbal learning and memory abilities.

Based on available literature, they wrote, whatever impairment marijuana use inflicted upon memory and verbal learning “appear to resolve between 7 and 28 days of sustained abstinence.” However, they added, “years of regular use were inversely related to longer periods of abstinence and verbal learning performance, undermining a confident inference that abstinence alone has direct benefits to verbal learning and memory.”

The passage of medical marijuana in Mississippi by voters Tuesday is being hailed as an historic vote.

Jay Czarkowski, a Boulder Colorado-based cannabis industry consultant who donated to the campaign to get medical marijuana approved in Mississippi, said his best advice to Mississippians is to become involve in the process of establishing the rules and regulations for a medical marijuana program.

"There isn't anything urgent; It will take time for this program," he said.

What do you need to know about medical marijuana in Mississippi? We provide answers:

Who will be able to use marijuana under the proposal?

Initiative Measure No. 65 amends the Mississippi Constitution to allow qualified patients with debilitating medical conditions — certified by licensed Mississippi physicians — to use marijuana.

A new study out last month from researchers affiliated with DePaul University and John Hopkins University helped illuminate some notable differences between men and women who are prescribed medical cannabis. 

The study, published last month in the Journal of Women’s Health, found that women “are more likely to report decreased use of prescription medications to treat symptoms, and report lower levels of support from physicians for [medical cannabis] use,” and that subsequent research on gender differences among those who use medical cannabis treatment “may benefit from more detailed data related to symptomatology, utilization, dosing, and outcomes associated with [medical cannabis], and interactions with the health care system to extend these findings.”

The researchers surveyed 361 patients who participate in Illinois’ medical cannabis program. “We summarized participants’ qualifying conditions, symptoms treated with MC, perceived physician support for MC use, use of MC and prescription medications, then analyzed differences by participant gender,” the researchers wrote, noting that they found that “that men report higher levels of support for [medical cannabis] use from both specialist and primary care physicians,” while women “were significantly more likely to increase use of cannabis after acquiring an [medical cannabis] card, and to discontinue prescription medications through [medical cannabis] use,” and that “that being a woman, using [medical cannabis] to treat multiple symptoms, and reporting higher levels of support for [medical cannabis] use from a primary care provider significantly increased the likelihood of discontinuing prescription medication through [medical cannabis] use.”

Gender and Cannabis Use

Researchers have long explored differences between gender when it comes to cannabis use. In 2016, a study from researchers at Columbia University found that “prevalence of past-year marijuana use increased for both men and women between 2002 and 2014.” In that same period, researchers found, “more men reported past-year use than women, but since 2007, the rate of increase was greater for men than for women, leading to a widening of the gender gap in marijuana use over time.” But despite such differences, the researchers said it was difficult to pinpoint a clear explanation.

“These changes parallel national trends in decreased perceived harmfulness of marijuana use, and legalization of both recreational and medical use in over half of U.S. states,” said Dr. Hannah Carliner, one of the authors of the Columbia University study.  “However, changes in attitudes and legality do not sufficiently explain why we observe a sharp increase in use in 2007, or why this increase was greater in men than in women.”

Researchers in Brazil have found that cannabis oil can be an effective treatment for patients with fibromyalgia, according to the results of a clinical trial completed recently. An abstract of the study, “Ingestion of THC-rich cannabis oil in people with fibromyalgia: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial,” was published last week in the journal Pain Medicine.

To conduct the study, researchers tested the effectiveness of a plant-derived cannabis oil on 17 women with fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic pain syndrome characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. The patients were treated over a period of eight weeks with a cannabis oil rich in THC. The initial dose was one drop per day, with subsequent dosage increases according to symptoms. The mean dose for those in the cannabis group was 3.6 drops per day, equating to a total of 4.4 milligrams of THC and 0.08 milligrams of CBD per dose.

Patients were separated into two groups, one of which received the cannabis oil, while the members of the control group received a placebo. The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) was administered at pre- and post intervention moments and in five visits over eight weeks. The researchers reported that “the impact of the intervention on quality of life in the cannabis group participants was evident, resulting in reports of well-being and more energy for activities of daily living. Pain attacks were also reduced.”

First Gold-Standard Study

“To our knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial to demonstrate the benefit of cannabis oil – a THC-rich whole plant extract – on symptoms and on quality of life of people with fibromyalgia,” the investigators wrote. “We conclude that phytocannabinoids can be a low-cost and well-tolerated therapy for symptom relief and quality of life improvement in these patients, and we suggest that this therapy could be included as an herbal medicine option for the treatment of this condition in the Brazilian public health system.”

Because of the impact that fibromyalgia can have on the health of patients and the need for effective and affordable medicines to treat them, the researchers recommended further research to study cannabis as a treatment for the condition.