tagged w/ Marijuana Research
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By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 17:13 EDT
R. Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on Tuesday denied there was any reason the United States should regulate marijuana the same way it regulates alcohol.
“There are no good reasons to legalize marijuana,” he said at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress.
“I often hear about tax, regulate and control as an answer,” Kerlikowske continued. “And then I look at prescription drugs — which as I mentioned take over fifteen thousand lives a year, let alone the number of people who come into emergency departments and the number of people that are treated — and prescription drugs are already taxed, are already regulated, are already controlled and we do a very poor job of keeping them out of the hands of abusers and young people.”
“So I don’t see that we would do a very good job with a substance that can easily evade the tax scheme because it doesn’t take rocket science to grow marijuana.”
Residents of Colorado and Washington will vote on a ballot initiative to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in November. A similar ballot initiative failed in California in 2010.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/05/02/drug-czar-there-are-no-good-reasons-to-legalize-marijuana/
Watch video, clipped by the Marijuana Policy Project...
"I don't think he ever answered the question, and Yes, we just may legalize marijuana here in Colorado in November!!!" =)By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 17:13 EDT
R. Gil Kerlikowske, the director... more
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Young adults who used cannabis nearly twice as likely to suffer psychosis.
Numerous studies have linked marijuana use and psychosis, but some researchers have wondered whether cannabis actually triggers psychotic episodes, or whether people suffering psychosis are using marijuana to treat their symptoms. A new study involving nearly 2,000 young people suggests marijuana may trigger episodes, reports the BBC. The subjects, aged between 14 and 24, were assessed over a 10-year period and researchers found that cannabis users were nearly twice as likely as non-users to suffer psychotic episodes.
The study found that an increase in psychotic episodes followed cannabis use, instead of it being the other way around, the Telegraph notes. The researchers believe THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, makes the brain more susceptible to psychosis. "This study adds a further brick to the wall of evidence showing that use of traditional cannabis is a contributory cause of psychoses like schizophrenia," said a professor of psychiatric research. However, he notes, it did not "address the important question of whether skunk and other potent types of cannabis carry a higher risk of psychosis than traditional resin and marijuana."
http://www.newser.com/story/113165/pot-triggers-psychosis-study.htmlYoung adults who used cannabis nearly twice as likely to suffer psychosis.
Numerous... more
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Research on mice suggests pot can foil immune response.
So much for legalization proponents who argue that marijuana is relatively harmless: New research suggests the drug actually increases your chances of getting cancer and other diseases. THC, the chemical that causes a marijuana high, also fuels production of cells that weaken the immune system, experiments on mice show. It is thought to increase vulnerability to pneumonia, bacterial infections, and tumors in the breast, bladder, lung, and elsewhere, the Daily Mail reports.
THC triggered the production of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), immune cells that act as a brake to ensure the immune system doesn’t get out of control while battling disease. The “massive” number of MDSCs produced, however, appear to make it easier for tumors to grow or diseases to set in. On a positive note, the research suggests that marijuana could be useful in treating disorders where the immune system does need to be repressed.
http://www.newser.com/story/106166/marijuana-linked-to-cancer-disease.htmlResearch on mice suggests pot can foil immune response.
So much for legalization... more
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Cannabis therapy may reduce symptoms and prolong survival in patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s disease), according to a scientific review published online last week by the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine.
Investigators at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle and Temple University in Pennsylvania reviewed preclinical and anecdotal data indicating that marijuana appears to treat symptoms of ALS as well as moderate the course of the disease.
Authors wrote: “Preclinical data indicate that cannabis has powerful antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. … Cannabis also has properties applicable to symptom management of ALS, including analgesia, muscle relaxation, bronchodilation, saliva reduction, appetite stimulation, and sleep induction. … From a pharmacological perspective, cannabis is remarkably safe with realistically no possibility of overdose or frank physical addiction. There is a valid, logical, scientifically grounded rationale to support the use of cannabis in the pharmacological management of ALS.”
They added, “Based on the currently available scientific data, it is reasonable to think that cannabis might significantly slow the progression of ALS, potentially extending life expectancy and substantially reducing the overall burden of the disease.”
Investigators concluded, “There is an overwhelming amount of preclinical and clinical evidence to warrant initiating a multicenter randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of cannabis as a disease-modifying compound in ALS.”
Writing in the March 2004 issue of the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Other Motor Neuron Disorders, investigators at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco reported that the administration of THC both before and after the onset of ALS symptoms staved disease progression and prolonged survival in animals compared to untreated controls. To date, however, no clinical trials have assessed the use of marijuana or any of the plant’s cannabinoids on patients diagnosed with ALS.
Lou Gehrig’s Disease is a fatal, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brain stem, and motor cortex. An estimated 30,000 Americans are living with ALS, which often arises spontaneously and afflicts otherwise healthy adults. An estimated 70 to 80 percent of patients with ALS die within three to five years following the onset of disease symptoms.
http://blog.norml.org/2010/05/19/marijuana-may-extend-life-expectancy-of-lou-gehrig%e2%80%99s-disease-patients-study-says/Cannabis therapy may reduce symptoms and prolong survival in patients diagnosed with... more
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The study found that while the drug may reduce bone strength in the young, it could protect against osteoporosis, a weakening of the bones, in later life.
The results were uncovered by a team at the University of Edinburgh who compared the drug's effects on mice.
Osteoporosis affects up to 30% of women and about 12% of men at some point in their lives.
The group found that cannabis can activate a molecule found naturally in the body that is key to the development of osteoporosis.
When the type 1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1) comes into contact with cannabis, it has an impact on bone regeneration.
However, until now, it was not clear whether the drug had a positive or negative effect.
'Early results'
Researchers, funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign, investigated this using mice which lacked the CB1 receptor.
The scientists then used compounds - similar to those in cannabis - that activated the CB1 receptor.
They found that compounds increased the rate at which bone tissue was destroyed in the young.
Despite this, the study also showed that the same compounds decreased bone loss in older mice and prevented the accumulation of fat in the bones, which is known to occur in humans with osteoporosis.
Stuart Ralston, the Arthritis Research Campaign Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Edinburgh, who led the study, said: "This is an exciting step forward, but we must recognise that these are early results and more tests are needed on the effects of cannabis in humans to determine how the effects differ with age in people.
"We plan to conduct further trials soon and hope the results will help to deliver new treatments that will be of value in the fight against osteoporosis."
The results are published in Cell Metabolism.The study found that while the drug may reduce bone strength in the young, it could... more
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Having spent years reporting on the War on Drugs, Lisa Ling offers her perspective on marijuana.
"I really think that it's time that our law makers and drug enforcement officials, perhaps scientists and intellectuals, actually sit down and scrutinize this issue and figure out a way to possibly better regulate it, possibly decriminalize it, and there is a way, I think, because, relative to methamphetamine and cocaine, it's not as extreme a drug. I don't know if marijuana will ever become legalized, it quite possibly could become decriminalized, but I do know that the arguments for legalization are very strong!"Having spent years reporting on the War on Drugs, Lisa Ling offers her perspective on... more
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