The bare, dusty ground is littered with rusty blades and crack pipes. The area reeks of urine and garbage. At least three times a day, Charly Roue is drawn to this neighborhood, one of the most sordid in Paris, always following the same ritual. After panhandling tens of euros at cafes not far from some of the most popular tourist spots, he heads to the northern edge of the city, where he can buy crack cocaine at La Colline, or the Hill, France's largest open-air market for crack. [continues 1108 words]
Paris, France -- France's fight against cannabis, through tough laws to punish users, has long been a failure -- the French remain among Europe's biggest dope smokers. So will a change of strategy under President Emmanuel Macron have more success? The new centrist government is preparing to soften legislation, making users caught with cannabis liable for an instant fine of 150-200 euros ($180-250) instead of prosecution and the threat of a one-year jail term. The change was an election campaign pledge from Macron last year, justified on the grounds that it would reduce the time spent by the police and judiciary on criminal cases involving recreational smokers. [continues 604 words]
(AP) - France's health minister has said she wants to ban a cannabis-extract electronic cigarette that has been launched in France. Marisol Touraine told French radio she was opposed to the self-styled "e-joint," that was launched online Tuesday. She said it will encourage cannabis use and she will approach the courts to ban the product. Though cannabis is illegal in France, the French-Czech company KanaVape says its hemp vaporizer product is legal and does not contain the mind-altering THC substance found in marijuana. The company extracts the less potent molecule Cannabidiol from hemp, a variety of cannabis grown for fiber and seeds. "It will not make you 'high' but will help you relax," the company says. [end]
Study: Cardiovascular Events in Young Users Up Over a five-year period, a government-andated tracking system in France showed that physicians in that country treated 1,979 patients for serious health problems associated with the use of marijuana, and nearly 2 percent of those encounters were with patients suffering from cardiovascular problems, including heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia and stroke, as well as circulation problems in the arms and legs. In roughly a quarter of those cases, the study found, the patient died. [continues 178 words]
Smoking cannabis can cause potentially lethal damage to the heart and arteries of young and middle-aged adults, a study has found. Researchers in France, who looked at almost 2,000 patients with medical problems related to cannabis use, identified 35 serious instances of cardiovascular complications. Twenty heart attacks were recorded, as well as 10 cases involving arteries in the limbs, and three affecting blood vessels in the brain. Nine patients, about a quarter of the total, died. Most of the patients were male, with an average age of 34.3 years, and people with pre-existing cardiovascular weaknesses appeared to be more prone to the harmful effects of the drug. [continues 63 words]
SMOKING cannabis can cause potentially lethal damage to the heart and arteries of young and middle-aged adults, a study has found. Researchers in France who looked at almost 2,000 patients with medical problems related to cannabis use identified 35 serious instances of cardiovascular complications. Twenty heart attacks were recorded, as well as 10 cases involving arteries in the limbs, and three affecting blood vessels in the brain. Nine patients died. Most of the patients were male, with an average age of 34.3 years. Dr Emilie Jouanjus, from the University of Toulouse, said: "The general public thinks marijuana is harmless, but information revealing the potential health dangers of marijuana use needs to be disseminated." [end]
SMOKING CANNABIS can cause potentially lethal damage to the heart and arteries of young and middle-aged adults, a study found. Researchers in France who looked at almost 2,000 patients with medical problems related to cannabis use identified 35 serious instances of cardiovascular complications. Twenty heart attacks were recorded, as well as 10 cases involving arteries in the limbs, and three affecting blood vessels in the brain. Nine patients, around a quarter of the total, died. Most of the patients were male, with an average age of 34.3 years. [continues 115 words]
The French drug safety agency has approved commercial sales of a medicine derived from cannabis for the first time in France. France's health ministry said on Wednesday that sales of Sativex will be allowed for the treatment of muscle spasms linked with multiple sclerosis. Sativex is said to contain two of marijuana's best known components - delta 9-THC and cannabidiol. [end]
In experiments with rodents, scientists have discovered that a steroid hormone blunts the effects of marijuana, virtually eliminating its high. The hormone, pregnenolone, occurs naturally in the body. In the laboratory, it worked by reducing the reaction to THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the intoxicating ingredient in marijuana, the researchers said. "When the brain is stimulated by high doses of THC, it produces pregnenolone - a 3,000 percent increase - that inhibits the effects of THC," said senior researcher Dr. Pier Vincenzo Piazza of Neurocentre Magendie in Bordeaux, France. [continues 651 words]
Inside France
