#NORML #News Source: @WeedConnection @ RR Productions Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com media :: news - Tue, 05 Aug 2019 04:20:21 PST
US Government Approves Increased Production of Cannabis for Clinical Research
Washington, DC: Federal officials have approved plans for the University of Mississippi to grow 2,000 kilograms (4,409 pounds) of cannabis to provide to investigators for clinical trial research, according to the Associated Press. Since 1968, the University of Mississippi farm, which is governed by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, has held the only available federal license to legally cultivate cannabis for FDA-approved research in the United States.
According to the AP, marijuana crops will include plants of varying THC and CBD potencies, including strains high in cannabidiol. According to the program's current marijuana menu, no available samples contain more than seven percent THC and all samples contain less than one percent CBD.
Investigators wishing to conduct FDA-approved clinical trials on cannabis have long complained that federally-provided samples are of inferior quality. A research analysis published earlier this year reported that the strains currently available from NIDA shared genetics typically associated with industrial hemp, not commercially available cannabis.
The crop will be the largest grown by the University of Mississippi in several years.
In August 2016, Drug Enforcement Administration officials adopted a new policy "to increase the number of entities registered under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to grow marijuana to supply legitimate researchers in the United States." To date, however, the agency has neither affirmed or denied any of the 26 applicants that have sought the DEA's permission for a federal cultivation license.
Study: Adolescent Cannabis Exposure Not Associated With Structural Brain Changes in Adulthood
Tempe, AZ: The use of cannabis during adolescence is not associated with structural brain differences in adulthood, according to longitudinal data published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Investigators from Arizona State University and the University of Pittsburgh assessed the impact of adolescent cannabis exposure on brain morphology in adulthood. Researchers tracked differing adolescent use patterns – from no cannabis use (defined as four days of use or less) to heavy use (defined as, on average, 782 days of use) – in a cohort of 1,000 teenage boys. A subset of participants subsequently underwent structural brain imaging in adulthood (between the ages of 30 to 36). Scientists examined 14 brain regions of interest, including the amygdala and the hippocampus.
Authors reported, "We found that adolescent cannabis use was not associated with adult brain structure in a sample of boys followed prospectively to adulthood."
They added: "Boys were classified into one of four prototypical adolescent cannabis trajectory subgroups based on prospective assessments of cannabis use frequency from age 13–19: infrequent use/no use, desisting use, escalating use, or chronic-relatively frequent use. ... We found no differences in adult brain structure for boys in the different adolescent cannabis trajectory subgroups. Even boys with the highest level of cannabis exposure in adolescence showed subcortical brain volumes and cortical brain volumes and thickness in adulthood that were similar to boys with almost no exposure to cannabis throughout adolescence."
They concluded, "[T]he patterns of cannabis use typically seen in community-dwelling adolescents does not appear to have lasting effects on brain structure."
The findings are consistent with those of several prior brain imaging studies, such as those here, here, here, and here. A recent meta-analysis published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry similarly reported that youth cannabis exposure does not appear to be associated with any sustained cognitive deficits in adulthood.
Commenting on the new study, NORML Advisory Board Member Mitch Earleywine – Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York at Albany – said: "These data replicate previous work to reveal that even some of the most frequent users of cannabis do not show changes later in brain structure. The measures are very sensitive and the researchers looked throughout the brain very thoroughly. Let's hope that these findings mitigate some of the alarmist cries that have too often persisted and dominated this narrative."
Full text of the study, "Associations between adolescent cannabis use frequency and adult brain structure: A prospective study of boys followed to adulthood," appears in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Study: Cannabis Use Associated with Lower Mortality Risk Among Patients Co-Infected With HIV/HCV
Paris, France: The use of cannabis among patients co-infected with HIV and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with a reduced mortality risk, according to data published in the journal AIDS and Behavior.
A team of French and Brazilian investigators evaluated the association between psychoactive substance use and both HCV and non-HCV mortality in HIV/HCV co-infected patients over a five-year period. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, they reported, "Regular/daily cannabis use, elevated coffee intake, and not currently smoking [tobacco] were independently associated with reduced HCV-mortality. ... [P]otential benefits of cannabis-based therapies [should be] investigated."
Separate studies have reported an association between a history of cannabis use and reduced in-hospital mortality in patients suffering from acute pancreatitis, heart attacks, and traumatic brain injury, among other conditions.
Full text of the study, "HCV-related mortality among HIV/HCV co-infected patients: The importance of behaviors in the HCV cure era," appears in AIDS and Behavior.
New York: Governor Signs Measure Reducing Marijuana Possession Penalties, Expunging Past Convictions
Albany, NY: Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed legislation into law amending marijuana possession penalties and establishing procedures for the automatic expungement of prior, low-level cannabis convictions.
The new law takes effect August 28, 2019.
Specifically, Assembly Bill 8420-A reduces the penalty for minor marijuana possession violations (up to one ounce) to a $50 fine. It also amends penalties for offenses involving the possession of more than one ounce but less than two ounces of cannabis from a criminal misdemeanor (punishable by up to three months in jail) to a non-criminal violation punishable by a $200 fine – regardless of an offender's prior criminal history.
The new law also amends the classification of offenses involving the use or possession of marijuana in public from a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail, to a fine-only offense. In New York City alone, police typically make tens of thousands of marijuana arrests annually under the 'public view' exception. Over 87 percent of those charged with the crime are either Black or Latino.
Finally, A. 8420-A establishes procedures to allow for the automatic expungement of criminal records specific to crimes involving the possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana. Several hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers will be eligible for expungement under the plan.
"Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by laws governing marijuana for far too long, and today we are ending this injustice once and for all," Governor Cuomo said. "By providing individuals who have suffered the consequences of an unfair marijuana conviction with a path to have their records expunged and by reducing draconian penalties, we are taking a critical step forward in addressing a broken and discriminatory criminal justice process."
Assembly Bill 8420-A was negotiated in the closing days of the 2019 legislative session after lawmakers failed to agree on provisions of a marijuana legalization measure.
North Dakota: Reduced Penalties for Low-Level Marijuana Possession Take Effect
Bismarck, ND: Legislation reducing the criminal penalties for low-level marijuana possession offenses takes effect on Thursday, August 1.
Under the new law, first-time offenses involving the possession of a half-ounce or less of cannabis are now classified as a criminal infraction – punishable by a fine, but no possibility of jail time. Previously, such offenses were classified as criminal misdemeanors, punishable by up to 30 days incarceration.
The new law also reduces penalties for the possession of up to 500 grams of cannabis (formerly a felony offense, punishable by up to five years in prison) to a class B misdemeanor. Penalties for the possession of greater amounts have been amended from a felony to a Class A misdemeanor.