Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 01 Jul 2015 04:20:21 PST
Obama Administration Removes PHS Review Requirement For Marijuana Research Studies
Washington, DC: The US Department of Health and Human Services announced this week that it has removed a requirement mandating that all investigative protocols seeking cannabis for clinical study must undergo a Public Health Service review. The review process, which was enacted in 1999 and applied only to clinical studies involving cannabis, was long criticized by advocates as unnecessarily burdensome and time-consuming.
Commenting on the change, a Health and Human Services spokeswoman said, "The department expects the action announced today will help facilitate further research to advance our understanding about the health risks and any potential benefits of medications using marijuana or its components or derivatives."
Under the new policy, investigators seeking to conduct clinical trials with cannabis or organic cannabinoids (like CBD) will still be 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 provide marijuana supplied by the University of Mississippi, the sole provider of cannabis for federally approved research.
NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano welcomed the change, but acknowledged that additional, more systemic changes in the process are necessary, "Since the agencies in place to oversee and preserve cannabis prohibition are the very same agencies that control the approval process for clinical marijuana research, it remains unlikely that this change will lead to the sort of systemic changes necessary to permit the type of rational, objective review cannabis so deserves."
He added, "But even despite existing barriers to research, ample studies already exist to contradict cannabis' federal, schedule I status as a substance without medical utility, lacking acceptable safety, and possessing a high potential of abuse. More clinical research is welcome, but unfortunately science has never driven marijuana policy. If it did, the United States would already have a very different policy in place."
Delaware: Governor Signs Measure Decriminalizing Marijuana Possession Offenses
Dover, DE: Democrat Gov. Jack Markell signed legislation late last week decriminalizing minor marijuana possession offenses.
House and Senate lawmakers had previously approved the measure despite vocal opposition from law enforcement and Republican legislators. No Republican lawmakers voted in favor of the bill.
Under state law, the possession of personal use quantities of cannabis is classified as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a criminal record. House Bill 39 reduces penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana to a civil violation punishable by a $100 fine only -- no arrest, and no criminal record.
The use of marijuana in public or in a moving vehicle will remain a criminal offense.
The new penalties take effect in mid-December.
According to the ACLU, Delaware ranks #17 in the nation in per capita marijuana possession arrests. Blacks in Delaware are three times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana possession.
Delaware's decriminalization law mimics similar laws in California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont - each of which treat minor marijuana possessions as a civil violation. Similar legislation approved by lawmakers in Illinois is awaiting action from the Governor.
Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio classify marijuana possession as a misdemeanor punishable by a fine only.
Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, DC previously enacted marijuana decriminalization policies, but have since amended their laws to legalize the plant's possession and use.
On Tuesday, Gov. Markell signed separate legislation, Senate Bill 90, expanding the list of qualifying conditions for which a physician may recommend medical cannabis to include intractable epilepsy.
The measure also creates a patient registry for those under the age of 18. In instances where patients are diagnosed with pediatric epilepsy, the recommending physician must be a pediatric neurologist, a pediatric gastroenterologist, a pediatric oncologist or a pediatric palliative care specialist. Under the new law, adolescent patients are only permitted to possess oil formulations containing at least 15 percent CBD and no more than 7 percent THC and/or oils containing 15 percent THC acid and no more than 7 percent THC.
Over a dozen states similarly acknowledge the use of CBD for patients with pediatric epilepsy.
Study: Use Of Vaporizers Mitigates Pulmonary Risks Associated With Cannabis Smoking
Albany, NY: The inhalation of cannabis via a vaporizer reduces pulmonary risks associated with smoking the plant, according to a literature review published in the Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy. Vaporization technology heats cannabis to a point where cannabinoid vapors form, but below the point of combustion.
"The vaporizer raises cannabinoid levels in humans but does not raise exhaled CO (carbon monoxide) levels," researchers concluded. "The majority of studies suggest that vaporizers adequately reduce risk of pulmonary symptoms."
Previous clinical trials of cannabis vaporization have concluded the method to be a safe and efficient vehicle for rapid cannabinoid administration.
Full text of the review, "What the initial literature suggests regarding vapourized cannabis and respiratory risk," appears in The Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy or online @ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4456813
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