Mj news for 02/29/2016

[7greeneyes]

URL: https://www.leafly.com/news/health/cannabis-and-cancer

Cannabis And Cancer​

This is part one of a two-part series. Part two will examine the evidence that cannabis can cure cancer.

Cancer has touched the lives of nearly every American, either directly or through a loved one. Although the US Food & Drug Administration hasn’t approved marijuana as a cancer treatment, America’s shifting legal landscape has encouraged many patients to consult their physicians about the effects it can have on cancer and cancer-related symptoms.

The medical benefits of cannabis are no secret. In October 2003, the government patented medical marijuana under US Patent # 6630507, which mentions the antioxidant properties of cannabinoids. The patent also identifies the active chemicals in cannabis that cause drug-like effects on the body, and cites their benefits for patients going through chemo, radiation, or other sources of oxidative stress.

What is Cancer?
Cancer is not one disease, but the name given to a collection of related diseases characterized by an abnormal growth of cells. There are more than 100 different types of cancer that are caused by both external factors (such as smoking, viruses, or carcinogens) and genetic factors (such as genetic mutation inherited from one's parents). Trillions of cells compose the human body, meaning cancer could start anywhere.

Like humans, cells grow old or become damaged and eventually die. Other cells grow and divide to form new ones to replace these old and damaged cells, but when cancer develops, abnormal cells including the old and damaged ones survive even though they should die. Some of the body’s cells will start to divide interminably and spread into surrounding tissues, creating new cancerous cells that aren’t needed. And since these new cells won’t stop growing and dividing, they are likely to hide in the immune system and form abnormal growths like masses of tissue known as tumors.

Cancerous tumors can spread into and invade nearby tissues because they’re malignant. Although they can be removed, these tumors are likely to grow back. As tumors grow, cancer cells can break off and travel through the blood or the lymph system to any other part of the body to form new tumors — often far away from the original one. This process is known as metastasis.

Benign tumors, on the other hand, don’t spread to or invade nearby tissue and won’t grow back after being removed. Unfortunately, benign tumors in the brain can be life-threatening.

What are the Symptoms of Cancer?
Cancer (and its treatments) leave its host feeling weak and dizzy. Symptoms may differ depending on where in the body the cancer is located, but may include:

- Blood in pee or stools
- Bruising
- Changes in genitalia
- Coughs lasting more than a month or accompanied by blood
- Depression
- Difficulty breathing
- Difficult bowel movements
- Discomfort after eating
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Heartburn
- Lumps or swelling
- Persistent indigestion
- Night sweats
- Spots and growths on the skin or changes in size, shape, and color of an already-existing mole like yellowing, darkening, or redness
- Sores that won’t heal
- Weight loss
- Weight gain
- Unexplained bleeding
- Unexplained joint pain

What are Current Cancer Treatments?
Cancer treatment can be costly and time-consuming, often requiring repeat visits to administer treatments in cycles. Doctors will likely begin by performing a biopsy to determine which treatment will be most effective.

Surgery: Surgeries can be performed to remove or debulk tumors and ease the pains and pressure they're causing. Tumors can sometimes be removed using minimally invasive surgery. Surgeons will often remove some healthy tissue and lymph nodes as well.

Radiation: High doses of radiation can kill cancer cells after weeks of treatment or slow their growth, as well as shrink tumors. Sadly, it can take months for the cancerous cells to die and radiation can leave patients feeling exhausted by killing or damaging healthy cells.

Chemotherapy: Chemo, which is the use of drugs to directly kill cancer cells, became one of the most common ways to treat cancer in the 1940s. It is often administered in cycles. Today, more than 100 drugs are used to treat cancer, while more are being investigated and developed.

Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is the administration of living organisms to stimulate the immune response, which often leaves the patient with flu-like symptoms.

Hormones: Administered orally, via injection, or during surgery, hormone therapy can be used to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells and reduce or prevent cancer symptoms from arising. It can be used with other treatments to lessen the chance of the cancer returning. Along with nausea, diarrhea, and fatigue, hormone therapy may weaken bones and cause menstrual changes in women.

Heat: Local hyperthermia can destroy small areas of cells (like a tumor), while regional hyperthermia, or whole-body hyperthermia, can be used in conjunction with other treatments to help them work better. Hyperthermia may be created externally, using a machine’s high energy waves aimed at the tumor, or internally, when a thin needle is put right into the tumor to release heat energy.

How Can Cannabis Help Cancer?
Cannabis contains at least 85 different types of cannabinoids, the active chemicals that create drug-like effects throughout the body. The impact of these cannabinoids in treating cancer symptoms as well as the side effects of cancer therapies is so favorable, cannabinoids are synthesized for legal, prescription use. Dronabinol and Nabilone/Cesamet, two synthetic pill forms of THC, are FDA-approved and currently being used to treat nausea and vomiting associated with chemo.

Cannabinoids that are known to benefit people living with cancer include CBC, CBD, CBDa, CBG, THC, and THCa. Cannabidiol (CBD) is known to relieve pain, lower inflammation, and decrease anxiety without the “high” of THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. In Canada, a cannabis extract containing THC and CBD called Nabiximols/Sativex is approved for pain relief in patients with advanced cancer and multiple sclerosis.

According to the U.S. government’s National Cancer Institute, other effects of cannabinoids include anti-inflammatory activity, blocking cell growth, preventing the growth of blood vessels that supply tumors, fighting viruses, and relieving muscle spasms.

NCI also acknowledges that inhaled cannabis is attributed to improved mood and sense of well-being. Studies suggest cannabis can be used for symptom management in cancer patients by preventing vomiting, stimulating appetite, providing pain relief, and improving sleep as well as inhibiting the growth of certain types of tumors.

Other studies leading scientists down promising avenues of cancer treatment include:

- A 1979 study showed THC damaged and killed liver cancer cells and, when the study was repeated in mouse models, showed it had anti-tumor effects that could aid in the fight against lung and breast cancer.

- A 1996 study discovered the protective effects of cannabinoids on the development of certain types of tumors. Cannabinoids were observed causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and preventing the development of the blood vessels tumors needed to grow suggesting cannabinoids may be able to kill cancer cells while protecting normal cells.

- A series of studies on brain tumors conducted in 2003 proved CBD may make chemo more effective and increase the deaths of cancer cells without harming normal cells.

- A 2004 study on mice which showed cannabinoids protect against inflammation of the colon, thus reducing the risk of colon cancer and possibly aiding in its treatment.

- In 2011, the American Association for Cancer Research revealed CBD kills cells associated with breast cancer while having little to no effect on normal breast cells. When studied in mice, CBD reduced the growth, number, and spread of tumors.

- A study published in February 2015 found rates of bladder cancer are 45% lower in cannabis users, compared to those who do not use it.

Cannabinoid receptors have been discovered in the brain, spinal cord, and nerve endings throughout the body, suggesting cannabis may play a larger role in immunity as well.

Several studies are in progress on the effects of cannabis on cancer in adults, including:

*Treating solid tumors with oral CBD

*Treating recurrent glioblastoma multiform with a THC/CBD oral spray

*Treating graft-versus-host disease with CBD in patients who’ve undergone stem cell transplants

Stay tuned for part two of our Cannabis and Cancer series, where we look at whether cannabis can cure cancer.

 

[7greeneyes]

url: http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetrut...aigrette-is-our-marijuana-recipe-of-the-week/

Salad days for healthy marijuana recipes [Cannabis-curry vinaigrette is our Marijuana Recipe of the Week!]​

Marijuana-infused edibles will always be based on a foundation of space cake cookies and sweets, but patients in need of routine medication simply can’t eat that way all the time.

This weekend, get your daily dose of Vitamin Cannabis without having to pack on extra pounds with a recipe for a mixed greens salad with Cannabis-Curry Vinaigrette, Smell the Truth’s Recipe of the Week.

This week’s recipe comes from the pages of “The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook: Feel-Good Food for Home Cooks,” a collection of easy marijuana-infused dishes compiled by Robyn Griggs Lawrence, a Colorado-based lifestyle journalist and advocate of marijuana law reform.

Chef Scott Durrah shares with us a quick, healthy, and delicious melange of citrus fruits and vibrant greens tossed in a mildly-spicy curry vinaigrette that makes use of our previous recipe for 20-minute Cannabis Olive Oil.

Please note that THC calculations for these recipes were made based on the assumption of 10 percent THC in the plant. That’s used as a standard, but your chances of growing or buying cannabis with 10 percent THC are extremely low. These calculations are for comparison purposes only. The potency of the material you use is the most important indicator of how a recipe will affect you.

Enjoy this recipe responsibly, and pick up “The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook” today through your favorite retailer.

Mixed Greens, Mango, and Pineapple with Cannabis-Curry Vinaigrette

If you eat cannabis food, Scott Durrah wants you to take responsibility for your own destiny because you’re the only one who understands your own tolerance.

With this fresh, bright salad, Scott can feed people of varying tolerance levels by serving the vinaigrette made with a quarter cup of cannabis-infused olive oil on the side. Diners can control the dosage by sprinkling on the dressing with a heavy or light hand.

Vitamin C-rich mangoes have high levels of myrcene molecules, which are also the dominant terpenes in cannabis. Because of this, researchers are studying whether mangoes’ reputation of increasing, strengthening, and lengthening cannabis’s euphoric effects is scientifically true.

Our advice? Eat the mango as if that were true. Dress the salad lightly the first time you try it.

(Curry powder blends vary. Start out using less than this recipe calls for and taste before you add more.)

Serves 2–4

THC per serving: 24 milligrams

Dressing ingredients:

1⁄4 cup cannabis-infused extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon curry powder

Salad ingredients:

2 cups mixed greens
1⁄2 cup mango, sliced
1⁄2 cup pineapple, chopped
6 cherry tomatoes
1⁄4 cup cucumbers, sliced

Procedure:

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Toss salad.
Serve with dressing on the side.

 

[7greeneyes]

url: http://www.fox4news.com/news/98645308-story

(Texas) Fort Worth cannabis expo draws thousands​

The rules were strict this weekend at the Southwest Cannabis Conference and Expo: No Cannabis allowed on site and none allowed to be used.

But that only seemed to empower the crowd, intent on helping to make marijuana legal for recreation and medical uses.

One advocate is 10-year-old Alexis Bortell who now lives in Colorado and calls herself a Texas medical refugee.

She told crowds, "I use medical marijuana every day and my Republican parents are proud of me."

Bortell, formerly of Rowlett, says her epilepsy gave her seizures every there days while taking pharmaceutical medications.

"In the hospital they stuck me with needles, put me in a tube that made loud banging noises and stuck a whole bunch of funny wires on my head that smelled terrible," she said.

Bortell says doctors suggested using THC. It's a chemical in marijuana and illegal in Texas, but not in Colorado so Bortell became a medical refugee.

"With all the arguing in Texas, I thought it was going to be a big deal, but it turns out it was just a brown oil in a glass bottle that smells like a skunk," she said.

Last March, Bortell started using THC and cannabis to control her condition.

"I'm happy to say the seizures went away and today I'm 346 days seizure free. My life is so much better now," she said.

Although the Texas legislature has legalized cannabis oil for Texans with her condition - intractable epilepsy - any other use is still illegal and Bortell says the state's no-THC law won't bring any refugees home.

 

[7greeneyes]

url: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/medical_marijuana_sales_could.html

(Michigan) Medical marijuana sales could generate up to $63 million annually, report claims​

Calling the estimate "conservative," an economist on Monday said medical marijuana could generate up to $63 million annually for state coffers if regulated as proposed under bills currently in the Michigan Legislature.

"(It) can generate significant revenue and jobs," Dr. Gary Wolfram, an economist and professor at Hillsdale College, said via telephone at a press conference. "It will create a robust marketplace that will provide a positive economic impact."

Wolfram's report, commissioned by the Michigan Cannabis Development Association, says Michigan could expect revenues between $44.3 million and $63.5 million per year. Regulation could also create about 10,000 jobs.

The amounts are based on the number of registered patients who can legally buy medical marijuana. The 2015 medical marijuana patient population was 182,091, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory affairs, a press release said.

Wolfram estimates the state would generate $44.3 million assuming two-thirds of those people purchased marijuana from a licensed medical retailer. If 80 percent of those people bought marijuana from a licensed retailer, the revenue would exceed $52 million, according to his analysis.

If a "more regulated, accountable and transparent medical marijuana system" is implanted -- such as proposed by House Bills 4209, 4210 and 4827 -- the number of patients could increase, bringing the revenue up to $63.5 million per year, according to the report.

House Bill 4209, which won bipartisan support in the lower chamber, would create a system to regulate and tax medical marijuana dispensaries in communities that decide to allow them, according to previous MLive.com reports. The state would also license large-scale growers, processors, distributors and testing facilities.

HB 4210 would allow and regulate medical marijuana edibles and other non-smokable forms of the drug, while HB 4827 would create a seed-to-sale tracking system for marijuana plants and processed products.

The tiered system for medical marijuana growers, distributors and retailers is akin to the way the state regulates alcohol.

So where would all the money go?

Wolfram's analysis found that municipalities would receive $4.4 million to $6.3 million; counties would get $5.9 million to $8.5 million; county sheriffs would receive $800,000 to $1.1 million; and Michigan's General Fund would get $3.7 million to $5.3 million, according to a press release issued by the Byrum and Fisk public relations firm on behalf of Michigan Cannabis Development Association.

The revenue distribution is based on an excise tax of 3 percent on all medical marijuana retailers, as proposed in the legislation, the release said.

In a press conference via telephone Monday, Wolfram also stated regulating marijuana could also cut into the sales of illegal drug dealers.

"It will hopefully eliminate the black market," he said.

It will also make the marijuana people would consume safer.

"The patients will know where their marijuana is coming from," Wolfram added.
the Wolfram's breakdown

Wolfram was joined at the press conference by Willie Rochon, vice president of the Michigan Cannabis Development Association, who said the current proposed regulation and further regulation will help clear up any confusion surrounding the Medical Marijuana Act, approved by voters in 2008.

"The bottom line is that medical marijuana is here to stay in Michigan," Rochon said. "Now we have an opportunity to clarify this."

Read the full report:

Medical Marijuana Economic Report_Gary Wolfram.pdf

 

[7greeneyes]

url: http://www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/marijuana-sales-may-be-tricky-for-hawaii/

Marijuana sales may be tricky for Hawaii​

With less than five months to go before medical marijuana dispensaries can open in Hawaii, business owners could be facing unique obstacles in a state of islands separated by federal waters.

Dispensaries can open as soon as July 15, but industry experts say they could be confronted with challenges unlike those in other states, such as navigating rules that ban inter-island transport and limit the number of growers — all of which could cause marijuana shortages. A lack of labs to test the crop presents another challenge for state lawmakers.

“Hawaii is going to be a really interesting market in general, basically because of the geography,” said Chris Walsh, managing editor of Marijuana Business Daily. “First, it’s a chain of islands separated by bodies of water, and second, it’s remote.”

The Hawaii Department of Health is currently reviewing dispensary applications, and plans to award licenses in April. Actor and marijuana advocate Woody Harrelson and video game designer Henk Rogers are among 59 Hawaii residents who have applied for licenses.

Under a law passed in 2015, Hawaii will grant eight licenses for marijuana businesses, each of which can have two production centers and two dispensaries. Three licenses will be awarded for Oahu, two for Hawaii Island, two for Maui and one for Kauai.

However, the law banned inter-island transport. Marijuana advocates say that will separate the industry into distinct economies on each island, unlike other states. It could also lead to marijuana shortages, and go as far as preventing some dispensaries from even sellingmarijuana until laboratories are approved.

All medical marijuana must be tested in a state-approved laboratory before it’s sold, but currently, there are none in Hawaii. Some worry that high startup costs and low patient numbers will prevent laboratories from opening on rural islands.

“Clearly, not every island can support a full-on laboratory,” said Pam Lichty, president of the Drug Policy Action Group.

In response, Hawaii lawmakers are considering whether to allow marijuana to be transported to another island if a laboratory isn’t available. Rep. Della Au Belatti, who introduced the bill, said lawmakers are trying to figure out how to get around federal laws that preventmarijuana from being transported by sea or air. She said she asked state agencies to look at other state policies for answers.

Some airports in Washington, Oregon and Alaska allow travelers to fly with marijuana, airport officials told The Associated Press. They said the Transportation Security Administration sends travelers with marijuana to local law enforcement officers, who allow people to board flights carrying legal amounts under state law.

However, the Federal Aviation Administration is required to revoke pilots’ licenses if they knowingly commit a federal crime involving a controlled substance on an aircraft — for instance, transporting marijuana.

The Department of Justice says it is less likely to interfere with state marijuana programs as long as they’re well-regulated, according to a 2013 memo.

Medical marijuana advocates in Hawaii say patients would benefit from relaxed laws on inter-island transport. For instance, a crop failure on Kauai, with only one license, could leave patients without medicine for months.

Marijuana shortages are not unheard of. States like Massachusetts and New Jersey have dealt with shortages due to low yields and mold contamination. Those in the industry say Hawaii dispensaries could face pot shortages if something goes wrong in the grow process, which could be a higher possibility as growers start out.

“Grows that are not set up properly will fail,” said Jeremy Nickle, who owns Hawaiian Holy Smokes and is applying for a dispensary.

Hawaii’s medical marijuana industry could also face other problems, such as the nation’s highest electricity costs and a thriving underground market. Hawaii was the first state to legalize medical marijuana through the legislative process 16 years ago, which means many patients already know where to find marijuana.

 

[7greeneyes]

URL: http://www.courant.com/health/hc-anti-marijuana-day-rally-0301-20160229-story.html

Health Professionals: Say No To 'Big Marijuana' In Connecticut​

HARTFORD – Health professionals came to the Capitol Monday to push back against what they see as a loosening of the state's drugs laws that could open the door for "big marijuana."

A public hearing will be held this week on a proposal to expand the state's medical marijuana program to include children and 10 Democrats have introduced a bill to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Advocates at Monday's event said those types of legislative actions send the wrong message to youth.

"Any policy that increases the use of marijuana by adults will lead to increased access for adolescents regardless of age restrictions," said Sandra Carbonari, a pediatrician in Waterbury and immediate past president of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Several high schoolers who attended Monday's event said they've noticed a shift in perception among their peers regarding the drug in the four years since Connecticut's medical marijuana program began and after states like Colorado completely legalized use of marijuana for adults.

Surveys conducted by the Connecticut Association of Prevention Professionals bear that out. In the roughly two dozen communities they surveyed, the percentage of high schoolers who described marijuana use as harmful dropped from 67 percent to 47 percent from 2011-2014.

John Daviau, a psychologist and executive director of the prevention professionals association, said a cannabis industry association has been started in the state with "business entrepreneurs who … want to start these businesses here in Connecticut." He worried the businesses would target youth the way some groups in the tobacco and alcohol industries have.

"Why would a marijuana industry act any differently?" Daviau asked.

With the state facing mounting deficits, Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said he doesn't want the taxation of marijuana to be seen as a potential source of revenue.

"That didn't work out so well for cigarettes, it didn't work out so well for casinos and gambling and it certainly would not work out well to allow for the recreational use of marijuana," he said.

"Sure there's money to be made," Daviau said, "but not for the state coffers, but for some entrepreneur's pockets."

The marijuana legalization bill introduced in mid-February hasn't been scheduled for a public hearing and is unlikely to be called for a vote this session. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he opposes the legislation. But Daviau warned the crowd that the idea wasn't going away.

"I think that realistically we can expect after the election year is over and we get to the long session in 2017 we can expect to see these bills again," he said. "So I think that we need to be prepared. We need to be ready."

 

[7greeneyes]

url: http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/2016/02/29/crossover-day-capitol/81099098/

Stripped-down medical marijuana bill passes Georgia house​

ATLANTA -- It’s a big day at the Georgia Capitol as time is running out for bills trying to make it to the other side.

Monday morning, a stripped down medical marijuana bill passed the Georgia state house 152 to 8.

The bill opened up cannabis oil to a larger group of patients by adding six conditions to the list of allowed illnesses and diseases on the current bill.

But the legal growth of medical marijuana in Georgia, the key piece of this legislation, was slashed out of the bill last week amid concerns by Governor Nathan Deal and state law enforcement.

Monday is known as “Crossover Day” as bills try to make it to other the House or Senate, otherwise they die. Lawmakers will work late into the evening voting on legislation from medical marijuana, to casinos, even fireworks.

 

[7greeneyes]

url: http://www.9news.com/news/local/marijuana-boosts-real-estate-in-pueblo/61530664

(Colorado) Marijuana boosts real estate in Pueblo​

PUEBLO - Struggling cities, take note: A county-conducted survey shows Pueblo’s commercial-construction industry is “clearly being driven by the burgeoning cannabis industry.”

The survey found that about 40 percent of all commercial-building permits in the city and county were related to marijuana last year, and expenditures on marijuana-related projects county wide were nearly $15 million.

“Most everyone I come into contact with in commercial real estate is getting business from the cannabis industry, from realtors to engineers to contractors,” County Surveyor Randy Reeves said in a statement.

 

[7greeneyes]

url: http://www.khou.com/story/news/loca...-favor-more-medicinal-use-marijuana/81093508/

New poll: Texans favor more medicinal use of marijuana​

Ever since Colorado legalized recreational use of marijuana two years ago, an inevitable question has arisen: Could it happen here?

Could staunchly conservative Texas – once notorious for occasionally imposing lengthy prison sentences on young people convicted of marijuana possession – go the route of other states where peddling pot has become a burgeoning business?

Don’t hold your breath, but a new poll suggests a continuing trend in that direction.

Texas lawmakers have already legalized the use of cannabis oils for epilepsy patients.

And The Texas Tegna Poll indicates 71 percent of the state’s voters would support expanding medical marijuana treatments for patients suffering other health problems. Another 19 percent oppose the idea, while 11 percent aren’t sure.

“The fact that even Republicans, by a margin of almost 71 percent, support marijuana uses for medicinal health reasons I think suggests that this is where you’re beginning to see the trend,” said Bob Stein, KHOU’s political analyst.

But Texans apparently don’t want to see their state go as far as Colorado and other states that have legalized recreational use of dope.

Almost half of surveyed voters - 49 percent - oppose that idea, while 41 percent favor it and the remaining 10 percent are undecided.

This latest poll dovetails with a pattern of surveys indicating Texans’ attitudes toward marijuana are softening with the passage of time.

A Texas Lyceum Poll conducted last year indicated voters were about evenly split on legalization, but slightly more voters favored than opposed it by a 50 percent to 46 percent margin.