Source: @norml @WeedConnection
Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com
media :: news - Tue, 10 Jun 2014 04:20:21 PST
House Members Vote To Limit Feds' Interference In State Medical Marijuana Programs
Washington, DC: A majority of members of the US House of Representatives voted last week in favor of a budgetary amendment to the 2015 Commerce, Justice, and Appropriations Bill that restricts the Justice Department's ability to take action against those who are compliant with state medical cannabis laws.
The amendment, offered by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), states, "None of the funds made available in this act to the Department of Justice may be used ... to prevent ... states ... from implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana."
Members of the House decided 219 to 189 in favor of the amendment, with 170 Democrats and 49 Republicans endorsing the measure.
Commenting on the vote, NORML Communications Director Erik Altieri said, "For the first time, a majority of federal lawmakers are acknowledging that states that seek to regulate the controlled use of medicinal marijuana ought to be allowed to act in a manner that is free from federal interference."
The language still must be approved by a majority of the US Senate.
House members also voted in favor of a separate amendment prohibiting the federal government from funding efforts to interfere with state-sanctioned industrial hemp programs, including those that allow for the plant's cultivation. Earlier this year, members of Congress approved language (Section 7606) in the omnibus farm bill authorizing states to sponsor hemp research absent federal reclassification of the plant.
More than a dozen states have enacted legislation redefining hemp as an agricultural commodity and allowing for state-sponsored research and/or cultivation of the crop.
Study: CBD Mitigates Parkinson's Disease Symptoms
Sao Paulo, Brazil: The administration of cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychotropic cannabinoid, controls sleep disorders in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), according to a series of case summaries published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.
An international team of investigators from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil and the University of Minnesota Medical School reported on the ingestion of CBD by four Parkinson's disease patients with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) - a condition characterized by nightmares and active behavior during dreaming.
Daily cannabidiol treatment reduced symptoms in each of the four subjects, researchers reported. Symptoms returned with the same frequency and intensity following subjects' discontinuation of the cannabinoid.
"[T]his case series indicates that CBD is able to control the symptoms of RBD," authors concluded. "Further research is necessary to confirm the possibly beneficial effects of CBD in the treatment of RBD in patients with PD. Furthermore, the enrolment of patients with idiopathic RBD in clinical trials with CBD is desirable as it would enable the investigation of the effects of the drug both on the symptoms of the disorder and as a neuroprotective agent."
Observational trial data published March in the journal Clinical Neuropharmacology reported that inhaled cannabis was associated with "significant improvement" in the mitigation of tremor, rigidity, and bradykinsea (slowness of movement) in subjects with Parkinson's disease.
Full text of the study, "Cannabidiol can improve complex sleep-related behaviours associated with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder in Parkinson's disease patients: a case series," appears in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.
Washington: Parolees Permitted To Consume Marijuana
Olympia, WA: Parolees may consume cannabis without facing legal repercussions, according to policy changes implemented by the Washington State Department of Corrections.
Under the newly announced policy, the state's estimated 14,000 parolees will no longer be tested for the presence of THC or its byproducts. In 2012, voters decided in favor of a statewide initiative regulating the production, sale, and use of cannabis by adults.
Commenting on the policy change, state Department of Corrections Assistant Secretary Annmarie Aylward told KING 5 News: "There's no way the department of corrections is endorsing the use of marijuana. We are simply aligning with state law."
Aylward acknowledged that Washington judges still possess the legal authority to prohibit the use of marijuana on a case-by-case basis.
In Colorado, where the adult consumption of marijuana is also allowed, cannabis use by parolees is not permitted.
(c) Copyright 2006-2420 - WeedConnection LLC - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
#Support Your #OG @WeedConnection! (Click Here)
