Look Who’s Giving a Grant for Medical Marijuana Training

By Nina Shapiro

 The UW’s Beatriz Carlini
Here’s a sign of the times: The state Attorney General’s office recently gave a $110,000 grant related to marijuana. Announced earlier this month, the grant is not aimed at stopping marijuana distribution or abuse, the kind of preoccupations historically taken up by law enforcement entities, but rather at helping healthcare providers learn about pot’s pain-relieving properties.
Full Article:

 

Fashion world is high on hemp!

Aleksandra Spaseska
ver
 
 
Imagine wearing a breathtaking glimmering gown created by a well known designer that is not only high fashion, but it’s eco-friendly, too. Now imagine it’s made of hemp. Well you can stop imagining and start reading, because the fashion world is already living the eco-fashion dream. Hemp is usually associated with something scratchy, stiff and definitely unstylish, but thanks to modern softening techniques, hemp is turned into a pleasant, silky, breathable fabric that designers have been using to create not only stylish, but also accessible clothing pieces.
 
Full Article:
https://www.bastetnoir.com/en/hemp-fashion

Cannabis not causing psychosis in teens

Ernie Gorrie / The Citizen
 
Cowichan Bay – As a former clinical supervisor in a major youth forensic psychiatric facility, I appreciated the intent of Karen Sargent’s letter on the issue of youth, mental health and cannabis. I believe however that more information would change her views and those of others regarding the Sensible BC initiative.
Sensible BC’s initiative would do nothing to change the application of cannabis laws with regard to youth. It seeks only to modify the application of the criminal law on adults. Cannabis, like alcohol, would remain a prohibited substance for youth.
Ms. Sargent expresses the opinion that “teens often have psychotic episodes from smoking pot”. This is simply incorrect. The incidence of psychosis among youth is very low and the incidence of cannabis use among youth is very high. Lifetime prevalence of use in Grade 12 students in the USA was 49 per cent in 2007 (Eaton et al., 2008), while in 2008 over 15 per cent of 12th graders reported using cannabis daily for at least a month at some point in their lives (Johnston et al., 2009). Diagnostic uncertainty is high in this population, yet despite the high cannabis usage, the incidence of schizophrenia is only one per 500-10,000 in mid-adolescents (Gearing R.E., 2008). Teens do not often develop psychosis, whether they are in the 50 per cent that have used cannabis or the 50 per cent who have not.
 
Full Article:
http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/opinion/cannabis-not-causing-psychosis-in-teens-1.677279

Cannabidiol reduces cigarette consumption in tobacco smokers: preliminary findings.

Morgan CJ; Das RK; Joye A; Curran HV; Kamboj SK
Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK. c.morgan@ucl.ac.uk
 
“These preliminary data, combined with the strong preclinical rationale for use of this compound, suggest CBD to be a potential treatment for nicotine addiction that warrants further exploration.”
 
Full Abstract:
http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/23685330

Arizona family sues for right to treat ill 5-year-old with medical marijuana extract

By Travis Gettys
Zander WeltonACLUJeans
 
An Arizona family has sued for the right to treat their 5-year-old son’s debilitating seizures with medical marijuana extract under a law approved three years ago by voters in their state.
The parents of Zander Welton said medical marijuana is the only treatment that’s worked for their son, who suffers from severe, drug-resistant epilepsy that is a symptom, along with autism, of a rare congenital condition.
He’s had portions of his brain removed during two surgeries and has taken pharmaceuticals with serious side effects, including organ failure and behavioral problems, and doctors said the only traditional treatment is a third brain surgery that could leave Zander paralyzed or in a vegetative state.
 
Full Article:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/10/29/arizona-family-sues-for-right-to-treat-ill-5-year-old-with-medical-marijuana-extract/

Hemp serves as a good option to any diet plan

BY

MIGUEL BETRADO
Hemp seeds contain amino acids and help control blood sugar. /Courtesy of Paulo Ordoveza Hemp seeds contain amino acids and help control blood sugar.
Courtesy of Paulo Ordoveza
 

Living a natural and clean lifestyle is important to anyone looking to keep their body in top condition. Fitness enthusiasts all know the great blessings that superfoods give to our bodies. Superfood is a name given to a natural food that contains multiple benefits toward our health. Eating a good amount of superfoods is a much more natural choice than taking numerous amounts of supplements everyday.

There are a wide variety of superfoods that all have great nutritional value. Out of all of those out in the markets, there is one food that has not received its much deserved attention, it may even be one of the healthiest foods someone can eat—hemp. Many people only know hemp’s relation to marijuana. However, hemp is actually the non-psychoactive breed of the cannabissativa plant, meaning hemp does not contain the ingredients that can produce a high.

Full Article:
http://www.dailytitan.com/2013/10/hemp-serves-as-a-good-option-to-any-diet-plan/

Psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon Smoked Weed with Carl Sagan—A Lot

By David Bienenstock

 
Dr. Lester Grinspoon’s interest in marijuana dates back to 1967, the year he decided to research the subject sufficiently enough to convince his best friend—who just happened to be Carl Sagan—and a few other associates to stop smoking the stuff. While the internationally renowned astronomer never publicly acknowledged his use of cannabis, the bestselling author and host of “Cosmos” did partake frequently and enthusiastically in private, invariably encouraging his straight-laced companion Lester to join in.
Instead, Dr. Grinspoon began to visit the Harvard Medical School library, prepared to spend as much time as necessary putting together a well-referenced argument against grass, one that would demonstrate a medical and scientific basis for the plant’s prohibition. Instead of finding the hard data he’d expected, however, Grinspoon had an epiphany—he’d been brainwashed about marijuana, as had just about every other citizen in the United States.
 
Full Article:
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/psychiatrist-lester-grinspoon-smoked-weed-with-carl-sagana-lot

N.J.’s youngest medical marijuana patient gets her turn

By Susan K. Livio/The Star-Ledger 

 
Today New Jersey’s youngest medical marijuana patient, 2-1/2-year-old Vivian Wilson, left the Compassionate Care Foundation medical marijuana dispensary in a stroller with a stuffed dog. Her parents, Brian and Meghan Wilson of Scotch Plains, left with a little more hope than they had the day before.
The moment was historic for the dispensary, which opened this morning — nearly four years after the state passed the law creating the program. But it was just as important for the Wilson family and other families with critically ill children across the state. It was the first time a family was able to buy the drug that in other states has helped curb the seizures that have stunted the toddler’s development, and could take her life. Vivian has a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, which conventional medicine and a strict diet have not cured.
The Wilsons fought a very public battle that compelled the legislature and Gov. Chris Christie to remove some, but not all, of the barriers that have blocked children from trying medicinal pot. After Brian Wilson confronted Christie over the summer at a diner and politely pleaded with him to not let his daughter die, the governor signed a bill that will allow edible marijuana products to be sold to children and broadened the number of strains that may be grown.
 
Full Article:
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/njs_youngest_medical_marijuana_patient_gets_her_turn.html