#NORML #News Source: @norml @WeedConnection Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com media :: news - Tue, 12 Dec 2017 04:20:21 PST
Study: Alcohol Sales Fall Following Cannabis Legalization
Storrs, CT: Sales of alcoholic beverages decline following the enactment of medical marijuana access laws, according to a working paper authored by a team of researchers from the University of Connecticut and Georgia State University.
Authors evaluated the relationship between medical marijuana laws and retail alcohol sales in more than 2,000 US counties for the years 2006 to 2015. Alcohol sales trends in medical cannabis states were compared to sales trends in states where cannabis remained illegal. Researchers determined that counties located in medical cannabis jurisdictions, on average, experienced a reduction in monthly alcohol sales of 15 percent.
Researchers concluded: "We find that marijuana and alcohol are strong substitutes. ... States legalizing medical marijuana use experience significant decreases in the aggregate sale of alcohol, beer and wine. Moreover, the effects are not short-lived, with significant reductions observed up to 24 months after the passage of the law."
Consumer trend data from California reports that those with legal access to cannabis frequently reduce their alcohol intake. A 2016 analysis of beer sales in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington reported that retail sales "collectively underperformed" in the years following the enactment of adult use marijuana regulations.
Full text of the study, "Helping settle the marijuana and alcohol debate: Evidence from scanner data," appears online.
Study: Gelatin CBD Capsules "Safe and Efficient"
Tel Aviv, Israel: The oral administration of gelatin capsules containing purified cannabidiol (CBD) is safe and efficient in human subjects, according to clinical trial data published online ahead of print in the journal Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development.
Israeli investigators evaluated the safety and tolerability of 10mg and 100mg oral doses of CBD encapsulated in a proprietary gelatin mold. Oral CBD administration was compared to Sativex - an oral spray prescription drug containing equal ratios of THC and CBD.
Researchers reported that oral CBD administration was associated with delayed drug onset compared to Sativex, but that it resulted in greater peak blood levels.
Authors concluded, "[This is a] user-friendly oral formulation that demonstrated safe and efficient delivery of CBD and therefore could be an attractive candidate for therapeutic indications."
Full text of the study, "Single-dose pharmacokinetics of oral cannabidiol following administration of PTL101: A new formulation based on gelatin matrix pellets technology," appears in Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development.
Minnesota: Regulators Expand Medical Cannabis Program
Saint Paul, MN: State health regulators have decided to expand the state's medical cannabis program to include patients diagnosed with autism and sleep apnea.
Advocates petitioned health officials to add the two new qualifications, as well as several other diagnoses - such as anxiety - that regulators ultimately rejected. Health officials also denied requests to expand the program to permit patients to access whole-plant cannabis or edibles. Under existing law, qualified patients may only access cannabis-infused oils.
Patients with autism and/or sleep apnea will be eligible to participate in the program beginning on July 1, 2018.
Wisconsin: Hemp Pilot Program Signed Into Law
Madison, WI: Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed legislation into law to establish a state-sponsored pilot program to "study the growth, cultivation, and marketing of industrial hemp." Members of the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate had unanimously approved the measure.
Senate Bill 119 defines cannabis with no more than .03 percent THC as industrial hemp. It calls on regulators to facilitate rules to permit "selling, transferring, importing, exporting, or taking possession of industrial hemp."
Under a 2014 federal law, states may license hemp cultivation as part of a university sponsored pilot program. Thirty-two universities in nineteen states - Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia - have participated in hemp cultivation projects this year, according to data compiled by the advocacy organization Vote Hemp.
