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Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
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- Tue, 23 Feb 2016 04:20:21 PST

Federal Bills Seek To Reinstate Student Aid Eligibility To Minor Marijuana Offenders

Washington, DC: A bipartisan coalition of US senators introduced legislation last week to restore student financial aid eligibility to minor marijuana offenders.

Senate Bill 2557: The Stopping Unfair Collateral Consequences from Ending Student Success Act, aka the SUCCESS Act, sponsored by Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), repeals the language in the Higher Education Act that strips students of aid because of a past drug offense, and removes the drug conviction question from the student aid application form (FAFSA).

Between 2013 and 2014, 1,107 applicants lost eligibility for a full year of aid because of a drug conviction or a failure to report one, according to Department of Education.

"A youthful mistake shouldn't keep a person out of college and the middle class," Sen. Casey said. "There's now an emerging bipartisan consensus on the need to reform our criminal justice system and ensure students who have already paid their debt to society are not punished twice."

Separate House legislation, HR 3561: The Fair Access to Education Act, also remains pending in Congress.


Australia: Lawmakers Poised To Permit Medical Marijuana Production

Canberra, Australia: Australian lawmakers are anticipated to approve landmark legislation in the coming months allowing for the production and use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.

The legislation, which is backed by Australia's Prime Minister, Health Minister, and leading political parties, amends national drug laws to permit for the licensed cultivation and distribution of medicinal cannabis.

The move by Parliament follows recent efforts by several Australian territories to provide patients participating in clinical trials with access to the plant. "Allowing controlled cultivation locally will provide the critical missing piece for a sustainable legal supply of safe medicinal cannabis products for Australian patients in the future," Health Minister Susan Ley told Parliament.

To date only a handful of nations, including Canada, Israel, and the Netherlands, federally license private growers to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients. Colombia, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico are also expected to begin licensing medical marijuana manufacturing in the near future.

In 2013, Uruguay officials approved legislation authorizing the retail production and sale of cannabis to those age 18 and older. Consumers in that country are anticipated to be able to begin purchasing cannabis at state-licensed pharmacies by mid-2016.


Colorado: Regulated Marijuana Sales For 2015 Total Nearly A Billion Dollars

Denver, CO: Licensed sales of marijuana totaled nearly one billion dollars in 2015, according to economic data provided by the Department of Revenue.

Licensed retail stores sold $996,184,788 worth of cannabis in the past year, resulting in $135 million in new tax revenue. As mandated by state law, $35 million in tax revenue was earmarked for public school construction projects.

Total sales in 2015 far exceeded those of 2014, during which time retailers sold just under $700 million in cannabis-related products.

Legal cannabis sales nationwide are anticipated to surpass $21 billion annually by 2020, according to a recently released report by ArcView Market Research.


Study: Synthetic THC Kills Leukemia Cells

Tubingen, Germany: The administration of FDA-approved synthetic THC (dronabinol) induces death in leukemia cell lines and offers a "low-toxic therapy option" for patients with cancer, according to findings published online in the journal BMC Cancer.

German researchers evaluated the impact of dronabinol on leukemia cells. Investigators reported that synthetic THC displayed "remarkable anti-proliferative as well as pro-apoptopic efficacy ... in a broad spectrum of acute leukemia cell lines." These findings "provide a promising rationale for the clinical use of cannabinoids ... in distinct entities of acute leukemia," they concluded.

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, publically 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.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, 'Dronabinol has preferential antileukemic activity in acute lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemia with lymphoid differentiation patterns," appears in BMC Cancer.


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