Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 26 Apr 2016 04:20:21 PST
Pennsylvania: Medical Marijuana Measure Signed Into Law
Harrisburg, PA: Governor Tom Wolf signed legislation, Senate Bill 3, on Sunday, April 17 to permit the manufacturing and use of medical marijuana products to qualified patients.
Senate Bill 3 permits regulators to license up to 25 marijuana cultivators and processors, and up to 150 dispensary locations to provide cannabis products to qualified patients who possess a recommendation from select physicians. Qualifying conditions eligible to receive cannabis therapy are: cancer; HIV; AIDS; ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease); Parkinson's disease; multiple sclerosis; damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity; epilepsy: inflammatory bowel disease; neuropathies; Huntington's disease; Crohn's disease; post-traumatic stress disorder; intractable seizures; glaucoma; sickle cell anemia; autism; neuropathic pain; or severe chronic or intractable pain that is untreatable, and/or any terminal illness. Physicians will first need to complete a specialized training curriculum before they can recommend cannabis therapy.
The measure does not permit for the inhalation of herbal cannabis products. Rather, it limits the dispensing of medical cannabis formulations to oils, pills, tinctures, liquids, and topical ointments. To date, only two other states - Minnesota and New York - impose similar restrictions regarding patients' use of herbal cannabis.
Pennsylvania is the 24th state to permit the use of physician-recommended cannabis and/or cannabis-formulated products. The state's Medical Marijuana Program is expected to take between 18 and 24 months before becoming operational.
Study: Cannabis Not Associated With Adverse Immune Effects In HIV/Hep C Co-Infected Patients
Marsielle, France: The use of cannabis does not adversely impact CD4 T-cell count in patients co-infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C, according to data published online ahead of print in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review. CD4 cells are white blood cells that fight infection.
French investigators assessed the self-reported use of cannabis on immune function in a cohort of nearly 1,000 patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C. Authors reported "no evidence [of] a negative effect of cannabis use on circulating CD4 T-cell counts/percentages."
Separate clinical data published in 2013 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases reported that the long-term use of cannabis did not adversely impact liver function in patients co-infected with HIV and the hepatitis C virus.
Subjects diagnosed with HIV and/or hepatitis C frequently acknowledge using cannabis to treat disease symptoms as well as the side-effects associated with conventional drug therapies, such as nausea and appetite loss.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "No significant effect of cannabis use on the count and percentage of circulating CD4 T-cells in HIV-HCV co-infected patients," appears in Drug and Alcohol Review.
Study: Cannabinoids Limit Neuroblastoma Cell Proliferation
Tel-Hashomer, Israel: The administration of the cannabinoids THC and CBD limit cancer activity in neuroblastoma cells in culture and in animals, according to preclinical data published in the journal Current Oncology. Neuroblastoma is an aggressive form of childhood cancer that often goes inadequately addressed by conventional treatment.
Investigators reported that both types of cannabinoids reduced neuroblastoma cell viability, but that CBD demonstrated superior anti-cancer ability. The study is the first to document the anti-cancer properties of CBD in this particular cancerous cell line.
They concluded, "Our findings about the activity of CBD in nbl (neuroblastoma) support and extend previous findings about the anti-tumor activities of CBD in other tumors and suggest that cannabis extracts enriched in CBD and not in THC could be suitable for the development of novel non-psychotropic therapeutic strategies in nbl."
Preclinical data dating back over four decades has consistently documented the ability of various cannabinoids to halt the spread of cancerous cells in laboratory settings.
In 2011, the website for the US National Cancer Institute, cancer.gov, acknowledged the anti-cancer properties of cannabinoids, posting, "Cannabinoids appear to kill tumor cells but do not affect their non-transformed counterparts and may even protect them from cell death. ... In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect." The language was removed from the website a little over a week later.
Full text of the study, "In vitro and in vivo efficacy of non-psychoactive cannabidiol in neuroblastoma," appears in Current Oncology.
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