Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 14 Jul 2015 04:20:21 PST
Federal Drug Agency Head Calls For Expanded Medical Marijuana Research Supply
Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse Director (NIDA) Nora Volkow told a Congressional committee that the agency's monopoly on the federally licensed production of marijuana for clinical research is problematic and ought to be amended to include additional producers.
Speaking late last month at a hearing before the US Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, Dr. Volkow acknowledged, "It would be beneficial" for the federal government to allow private entities to produce cannabis for clinical research purposes.
Federal regulations currently demand that investigators seeking to conduct clinical trials with cannabis or organic cannabinoids (such as cannabidiol) are required to gain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the US National Institute on Drug Abuse. Further, approved protocols may only utilize marijuana supplied by the University of Mississippi, the sole provider of cannabis for federally approved research.
An additional regulatory requirement mandating that the US Public Health Service review all clinical protocols was abolished last month.
In 2009, former DEA director Michele Leonhart set aside a 2007 administrative ruling demanding that the agency license non-government entities to produce cannabis for FDA-approved clinical research.
Last month, NIDA announced its intent to increase marijuana production. It is the second time this year the agency has sought permission to increase the amount of cannabis available for federally approved clinical research.
Florida: Largest County Depenalizes Marijuana Possession Offenses
Miami, FL: Commissioners in Florida's largest county decided last week in favor of an ordinance that permits police to cite rather than arrest minor marijuana offenders.
Commissioners for Miami-Dade county voted 10 to 3 in favor of a countywide ordinance to treat marijuana possession offenses involving 20 grams or less as a civil infraction, punishable by a $100 fine -- no arrest, no criminal prosecution, no incarceration, and no criminal record. The new ordinance takes effect later this week.
Under state law, minor marijuana possession offenses are classified as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. According to an analysis by the ACLU, an estimated 60,000 Floridians are arrested for cannabis possession violations annually - the third highest statewide total in the nation.
According to a countywide analysis by CBS News, misdemeanor marijuana arrests accounted for 10 percent of all cases filed in the Miami-Dade criminal court system between the years 2010 and 2014. While African Americans comprise just 20 percent of the county's population, they comprised over half of all of those arrested for marijuana possession offenses.
Senior county officials have yet to provide explicit details in regard to how police will implement the new law or what criteria they will use to determine whether to issue a citation or make an arrest.
Several metropolitan areas, such as Milwaukee and Philadelphia, have previously enacted local decriminalization ordinances.
California: Governor Signs Law Expanding Medical Marijuana Patients' Rights
Sacramento, CA: Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation, Assembly Bill 258, to allow medical marijuana patients to be considered to receive organ transplants.
Hospitals in California and elsewhere have denied patients from receiving organ transplants solely based on their status as medicinal marijuana consumers. Assembly Bill 258 reads, "A hospital, physician and surgeon, procurement organization, or other person shall not determine the ultimate recipient of an anatomical gift based solely upon a potential recipient's status as a qualified patient, as defined in Section 711362.7, or based solely upon a positive test for the use of medical marijuana by a potential recipient who is a qualified patient."
The new law takes effect on January 1, 2016.
In a prepared statement, the bill's sponsor, Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) said that the new law will "save lives by ensuring medical cannabis patients are not discriminated against in the organ transplant process."
According to a study published in the American Journal of Transplantation, marijuana use by patients undergoing transplants does not adversely impact survival rates.
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