The largest survey on cannabidiol or CBD usage to date found that women were more likely than men to use CBD and once they started using it, were likely to drop their traditional medicine. A new survey from Brightfield Group and HelloMD covered 2,400 of HelloMDas community of 150,000 members and did a deep dive into the usage of CBD products and their effectiveness. HelloMD is an online community that brings together doctors and cannabis patients. [continues 633 words]
There are nine state ballot measures regarding the legalization of marijuana that will be voted on this November. Five states will vote to legalize recreational marijuana, while the other four states are voting on legalizing medicinal marijuana. Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada are all looking to legalize recreational marijuana. Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota are proposing medical marijuana legislation. Equity research firm Cowen and Company said that if all five measures pass, the percent of the U.S. population and GDP covered by recreational states would grow roughly four times to 23% and 26% respectively. [continues 503 words]
There's been a long and heated debate about whether marijuana actually triggers long-term changes in a person, both neurologically and psychologically. Some research has found that pot is linked to psychotic symptoms, and it's certainly been linked to schizophrenia across multiple studies. However, it's a bit of a chicken-or-egg problem, since it can be difficult to tell which is the pre-existing "condition," the pot smoking or the psychological/psychotic symptoms. Now, a new study from King's College London finds that smoking skunk, a high-potency variety of pot, is linked to changes in the white matter connections between the two hemispheres of the brain. And this seems to be true whether a smoker experiences psychosis or not. [continues 594 words]
There's a moment of some joyous hilarity today as an organisation calling itself "GrassIsNotGreener.com" takes out an ad in the New York Times opposing that newspaper's editorial line that the time has come to legalise marijuana. The fun comes from looking at who is supporting this campaign and then trying to work out why they're doing so. The co-founder seems to be one of the more addicted Kennedys, the former Congressman from Rhode Island, Patrick. I'm afraid that I stray from accepted wisdom here, I tend not to think that addicts, whether former or not, have any great insights into what the rest of us should be allowed to do. I'm much more likely to take seriously on these subjects someone like myself who has dabbled in all sorts of things over the decades but not really found myself even discommoded, let alone trapped, by any of them. Given that that seems to be the usual human experience, most of us have tried one drug or another and few of us have become addicted to any of them, that sounds like the more sensible group of people to listen to. Rather than, say, someone who blamed a car crash on the use of too much Adderall. [continues 478 words]
Texas law enforcement are continuing to enrich themselves using a little-known legal doctrine known as civil forfeiture, according to a new series of investigative reports. Under civil forfeiture, property can be forfeited even if its owner has never been charged with a crime. In these proceedings, accused criminals have more rights than innocent owners and the government sues the property, not its owner. These cases can be so baffling, one Texas Supreme Court Justice recently compared civil forfeiture to Alice in Wonderland and the works of Franz Kafka. But civil forfeiture isn't just a quirky curiosity-it's a powerful incentive for law enforcement to take millions. [continues 1435 words]
Early this morning, by a vote of 219 to 189, the House of Representatives approved an amendment aimed at stopping federal interference with state laws that "authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana." If it is included in the appropriations bill passed by the Senate and signed by the president, the amendment would prohibit the Justice Department, which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), from spending taxpayers' money on dispensary raids or other attempts to stop medical use of marijuana in the 22 states that allow it. [continues 1936 words]
Yesterday The Atlantic's Molly Ball BLL +0.25% attended a debate about marijuana legalization at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and came away convinced that critics of the war on drugs are ascendant within the conservative movement. The debate pitted conservative blogger and Fox News commentator Mary Katharine Ham against Christopher Beach, a producer for former drug czar Bill Bennett's radio show. Ball reports that the discussion "turned out to be surprisingly one-sided," with the audience, or at least the most vocal parts of it, overwhelmingly in favor of legalization, the position taken by Ham. [continues 437 words]
According to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 55 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization, which is similar to the results of a CNN poll conducted a few weeks ago and a Gallup poll conducted last fall. The wording of the latest survey was unusual, asking respondents how they would react "if a law passed in your state that allowed adults to purchase small quantities of marijuana for their own personal use from regulated, state-licensed businesses." Only 19 percent said they would "actively work to overturn it," while another 24 percent said they would oppose the law without seeking to change it. On the pro side, 24 percent of respondents said they would "actively support" the law, while another 31 percent said they would favor it without actively supporting it. [continues 154 words]
Barack Obama According to a recent CNN poll, 87 percent of Americans think marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol. According to an interview with The New Yorker published yesterday, President Obama is one of them: As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol. [continues 393 words]
"Colorado will be leaving prohibition behind in the new year," Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, told CNN the other day. 2014 is the year pot officially comes out of the smoky shadow and the Internet is burning up with anticipation. But living in Colorado the past year, you get used to the clash of expectation and reality. The first misunderstandings are fairly simple: Pot did not suddenly replace cigarettes as the smoke of choice in public, which explains why tickets for public pot smoking nearly quadrupled in Boulder since Amendment 64. [continues 449 words]
Prohibitionists commonly warn that it's dangerous even to discuss legalizing marijuana, whether for medical or general use, because such talk sends "the wrong message" to the youth of America, encouraging them to smoke pot. If so, you might expect that the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, approved by voters more than a year ago, would have a noticeable impact on marijuana use by teenagers. Yet the latest data from the government-sponsored Monitoring the Future Study, released today, indicate that teenagers observed the momentous events in Colorado and Washington, absorbed the deleterious message supposedly sent by legalization, and continued smoking pot at pretty much the same rates as before. [continues 802 words]
Today the Obama administration hosted the first-ever White House Conference on Drug Policy Reform. But don't be confused: Although "drug policy reform" usually means moving away from the use of violence to stop people from consuming arbitrarily proscribed psychoactive substances, that is not what President Obama has in mind. "Drug policy reform should be rooted in neuroscience, not political science," says Obama's drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, in the email message announcing the conference. "It should be a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue. [continues 479 words]
Amsterdam Coffee Shop Amsterdam Coffee Shops near schools will have to close during school hours Amsterdam's mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, recently announced that as of next January, cannabis cafes located within 250 meters of secondary schools must close their doors during school hours. And that has given new impetus to the ongoing - often vehement - national debate over the Netherlands' marijuana policy. Despite repeated assertions about his intention to keep the city's coffee shops - cafes where small amounts of cannabis are sold - open to everyone, against national requirements to the contrary, the decision seems to indicate a new turn around a complicated issue that has set the national government against progressive mayors of major cities with Van der Laan at their head. [continues 472 words]
At the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Denver last week, many attendees were excited about the recent Gallup poll finding that 58 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana. Writing at The Huffington Post, anti-pot activist Kevin Sabet tries to pee on this parade, but his aim is not so good. Sabet cites "at least three major problems with using Gallup as a reliable marker for marijuana attitudes in the U.S." Let's consider them one at a time: [continues 736 words]
Voters in three states helped overturn marijuana prohibition this past Tuesday, but the War on Drugs is far from over. Colorado voters celebrate the passage of Amendment 64 in Denver (AP/Daylife) Election day was a big win for the president, Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in the House, and for advocates of gay marriage in Maine and Maryland. It was also a big win for an issue that's been gaining support at a surprising clip over the past decade or so: the end to marijuana prohibition. [continues 1538 words]
DENVER - APRIL 20: A woman passes a joint at a pro-marijuana '4/20' celebration in front of the state capitol building April 20, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. April 20th has become a de facto holiday for marijuana advocates, with large gatherings and 'smoke outs' in many parts of the United States. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use has become more mainstream. (Image credit: Getty Images North America via @daylife) [continues 748 words]
"The drug war is weakening state institutions, infiltrating judicial systems and undermining rule of law," all of which is bad for business, Cesar Zamora, Nicaraguan businessman and vice president of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA) told the Christian Science Monitor on February 16, 2012. A criminal cancer is spreading through the global economy, taking its nutrition from the world-wide illegal drug business. In many countries, your travel agent, your lawyer, your banker or your telephone installer is as likely as an assassin or brothel manager to be working for a criminal organization. Almost everywhere, narco-dollars corrupt government officials and business agencies and fuel criminal opportunities. [continues 900 words]
It is hard to believe that in this day and age someone as intelligent as Alan Mozes could write an article about a study of one single synthetic cannabinoid compound and relate that study to "medical marijuana." First of all, this compound is but one of many cannabinoids that most medical researchers and even law enforcement officials feel should be tested for their efficacy as potential drugs. This has nothing to do with the current laws that permit the smoking of whole marijuana in states that passed so-called medical marijuana laws. [continues 346 words]
When it comes to the controversy surrounding medical marijuana, an international team of researchers is busy stirring the pot by releasing findings that suggest the drug helps promote brain cell growth while treating mood disorders. According to the study in rats, a super-potent synthetic version of the cannabinoid compound found in marijuana can reduce depression and anxiety when taken over an extended period of time. This mood boost seems to be the result of the drug's ability to promote the growth of new brain cells, something no other addictive drug appears able to do, the researchers say. [continues 965 words]
(HealthDayNews) -- Methamphetamine abuse is a dangerous, yet growing practice. So it's important for parents to discuss the problem with their children, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says. Methamphetamine -- also known as chalk, crank and crystal -- is a highly addictive stimulant. After smoking or injecting it, the user experiences an intense sensation, called a "rush" or "flash," that lasts only a few minutes. After the initial rush, users can become very agitated and violent. Other side effects can include insomnia, decreased appetite, irritability, anxiety, nervousness, convulsions and heart attack. Meth is addictive, and users develop a tolerance quickly, so they need progressively larger amounts to get high. Chronic use can cause paranoia, hallucinations, repetitive behavior and delusions of insects crawling under the skin. Long-term abuse can also cause strokes and death. [end]
