Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Thu, 02 Apr 2015 04:20:21 PST
Hempy PB&J Day!
DEA: Marijuana Plant Seizures Flat For 2014
Washington, DC: Seizures of indoor and outdoor cannabis crops by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) held steady in 2014, but remain well below totals from just five years ago.
According to the DEA's Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Statistical Report, agents eradicated some 4.3 million marijuana plants in 2014. That total is virtually identical to 2013 figures (4.4 million), but is slightly above 2012 figures (4 million). However, these totals continue to reflect a significant drop in DEA crops eradication from previous years, as the agency reported eliminating some 10.3 million cultivated plants in 2010 and nearly 7 million plants in 2011.
As in past years, DEA eradication efforts largely focused on California. Of the 4.3 million plants eliminated by DEA in 2014, some 62 percent were from California.
The DEA reported making some 6,300 arrests in conjunction with their cannabis eradication efforts - a total that nearly mirrored 2013 figures. By contrast, the agency reported making nearly 10,000 marijuana arrests in 2010 and 8,500 arrests in 2011.
House Members Introduce CARERS Companion Bill
Washington, DC: US House members on Monday introduced companion legislation, H.R. 1538, to Senate Bill 683, The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act. Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Don Young (R-AK) are sponsoring the House measure.
The House and Senate measures permit qualified patients, doctors, and businesses to engage in state-sanctioned behavior involving the production, sale, and use of medical cannabis without fear of federal prosecution. Separate provisions in the proposals reschedule marijuana at the federal level and remove the compound cannabidiol (CBD) from the Controlled Substances Act altogether. Additional provisions in the bill allow for financial institutions to legally provide services to medical marijuana businesses, permit VA doctors to authorize medical cannabis, and remove existing bureaucratic barriers that limit investigators from clinically studying the plant's safety and therapeutic efficacy.
According to a recent story in Politico, however, senior Republican leadership in the Senate - including Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), are not inclined to favor the bill at this time.
Study: Cannabis Use Linked With Lower Diabetes Risk In HIV/HCV Patients
Marseille, France: A history of cannabis use is positively associated with a lower risk of insulin resistance (IR) in HIV/Hepatitis C co-infected patients, according to a longitudinal analysis published online ahead of print in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. Insulin resistance is a leading cause of type 2 diabetes.
French investigators evaluated the association between cannabis use and IR in a nationwide cohort of HIV/HCV co-infected patients over a 60-month period. Researchers reported that patients with a history of cannabis use - irrespective of frequency - were nearly three times less likely to be insulin resistant compared to non-users.
"Cannabis use is associated with a lower IR risk in HIV/HCV co-infected patients," authors concluded. "The benefits of cannabis-based pharmacotherapies for patients concerned by increased risk of insulin resistance and diabetes need to be evaluated in clinical research and practice."
In 2013, researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston similarly reported cannabis use to be correlated with lower levels of insulin resistance in a sample of over 4,600 subjects.
Observational trial data published in 2012 in the British Medical Journal also reported that adults with a history of marijuana use had a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes and possessed a lower risk of contracting the disease than did those with no history of cannabis consumption, even after researchers adjusted for social variables such as subjects' ethnicity and levels of physical activity.
Full text of the study, "Cannabis use and reduced risk of insulin-resistance in HIV-HCV infected patients: a longitudinal analysis," appears in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Virginia: Governor Signs Hemp Cultivation Bill Into Law
Richmond, VA: Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed legislation into law last week allowing for the cultivation of industrial hemp in accordance with state-sponsored research programs.
House Bill 1277 and Senate Bill 955 redefine industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity and allow for the plant's cultivation by licensed growers as part of a university-managed research program.
Over 20 states have adopted similar hemp laws. Last year, members of Congress approved language in the omnibus federal Farm Bill explicitly authorizing states to sponsor hemp research absent federal reclassification of the plant.
On Saturday, New Mexico lawmakers gave final approval to similar legislation. It now awaits action from Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.
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