#NORML #News Source: @norml @WeedConnection Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com media :: news - Tue, 22 Jun 2021 04:20:21 PST
Connecticut Set to Legalize Marijuana Use, Retail Sales for Adults
Hartford, CT: Members of the state House and Senate have given final approval to legislation, S.B. 1201, legalizing the adult-use marijuana market. The bill will now be transmitted to Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, who is expected to sign the bill into law.
The proposed measure allows adults 21 and older to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis flowers or an equivalent amount of cannabis concentrates in public, and up to five ounces of marijuana in their private residence. Adults will be able to possess cannabis without penalty beginning on July 1, 2021.
Those with past criminal records for activities involving up to four ounces of cannabis will have their convictions automatically expunged. Those with convictions for more serious offenses can petition the courts for relief.
Licensed retailers will be subject to both state and local regulations, and local municipalities may impose moratoriums on cannabis-related businesses. Marijuana flowers available at retail facilities will be capped at 30 percent THC, while concentrated products (except vape cartridges) will be capped at 60 percent THC. Retail purchases will be subject to the state's sales tax. Designated public consumption facilities are permitted under the law in municipalities with 50,000 residents or more.
Home cultivation is permitted under the measure. Patients registered in the state's medical cannabis program will be allowed to home-cultivate cannabis later this year, while non-patients must wait until 2021 until they are legally permitted to home-cultivate marijuana for their own personal use without any penalties.
The measure limits the discriminatory actions that employers, hospitals, and others may take against those who test positive for past cannabis exposure. It also provides protections for parents and tenants who use cannabis in compliance with the law. The bill mandates that the odor of marijuana alone cannot be used as a basis for police to search an individual, and it prohibits jail time as a penalty for those under the age of 21 who are caught in possession of marijuana. Young adults (those ages 18 to 20) will face civil penalties for marijuana possession.
"Connecticut is just the latest domino to fall as states begin to repeal their failed prohibition of marijuana and replace it with a sensible system of legalization and regulation. Never before has the momentum for legalization looked as strong as it does in 2021, with four state legislatures already approving bills to ensure state law reflects the overwhelming will of their state residents in just a few short months," said Erik Altieri, NORML's Executive Director. "Federal lawmakers need to stop dragging their feet and get the message: it is time to take swift action to end our federal prohibition and allow states to legalize marijuana as they see fit."
Eighteen states have enacted adult-use legalization laws — with four doing so legislatively this year.
Clinical Trial: Short-Term Use of Cannabinoids Effective in Patients with Chronic Insomnia
Crawley, Australia: The short-term use of plant-derived cannabis extracts is safe and effective in patients with chronic insomnia, according to placebo-controlled data published in the journal Sleep.
Australian researchers assessed the use of a proprietary, sublingual cannabis extract product (ZTL-101, produced by the Australian-based company Zerila Therapeutics) versus placebo in 23 subjects with chronic insomnia. Extracts contained percentages of plant-derived THC, CBD, and CBN (cannabinol), as well as various terpenes. Subjects administered between 0.5ml and 1ml of ZTL-101 one hour prior to bedtime for a period of two weeks.
Compared to placebo, cannabis extracts were associated with "significantly lower" Insomnia Severity Index scores. Participants receiving the extracts reported that they fell asleep faster, slept longer, and experienced improved sleep quality. No serious adverse events were reported.
Authors concluded: "This study has demonstrated that ZTL-101, a novel cannabinoid therapy, is well tolerated and improves insomnia symptoms and sleep quality in individuals with chronic insomnia symptoms. These improvements, observed over a two-week dosing period, are encouraging and support further investigation of ZTL-101 for the treatment of insomnia in studies with larger sample sizes."
Data published in 2018 reported that the nighttime inhalation of herbal cannabis was associated with "clinically significant improvements" in patients with insomnia.
Findings of a more recent clinical trial, published last year in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, reported that the use of herbal cannabis use is associated with an overall "positive effect on maintaining sleep throughout the night" in older subjects. Authors of the study concluded: "MC [medical cannabis] patients were less likely to report problems with staying asleep compared with non-MC patients. ... These findings may have large public health impacts considering the aging of the population, the relatively high prevalence of sleep problems in this population along with increasing use of MC."
Full text of the study, "Treating insomnia symptoms with medicinal cannabis: A randomized, cross-over trial of the efficacy of a cannabinoid medicine compared with placebo," appears in Sleep.
Louisiana: Marijuana Decriminalization Law to Take Effect August 1
Baton Rouge, LA: Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed legislation into law this week eliminating the possibility of jail time for low-level marijuana possession crimes.
House Bill 652 amends state law so that offenses involving the possession of up to 14 grams of marijuana for non-medical purposes are punishable by a fine of no more than $100 - no arrest and no jail time. The fine-penalty remains in place regardless of whether the offender has any prior marijuana convictions.
Enhanced penalties and jail time remain in place for repeat offenders who are convicted of possessing more than 14 grams of marijuana.
According to an analysis conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, African Americans are arrested for low-level marijuana violations in Louisiana at three-times the rates of whites. In some cities, like Baton Rouge, Blacks are arrested for violating marijuana laws at six-times the rates of whites.
"This is a much-needed policy change for Louisiana," NORML State Policies Manager Carly Wolf said. "The passage of this legislation is great progress toward ending the racially discriminatory policy of branding otherwise law-abiding Louisianans as criminals for minor marijuana possession offenses when law enforcement should instead be focusing on fighting legitimate crime."
The new law takes effect on August 1, 2021.
Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation either legalizing or decriminalizing the possession of marijuana for adults.
Enactment of Adult-Use Marijuana Laws Doesn't Encourage Drugged Driving Behavior
Columbus, OH: The passage of statewide laws legalizing the adult use of cannabis is not associated with either changes in attitudes or behaviors specific to driving under the influence, according to data published in the journal BMC Research Notes.
A team of researchers affiliated with The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio assessed attitudes regarding marijuana and driving in a nationally representative sample of 55,000 subjects.
They determined that incidences of drugged driving behavior did not become more prevalent post-legalization. Rather, "marijuana users in states that legalized RM [recreational marijuana] self-reported driving after marijuana use less than their counterparts (who resided in states where adult-use cannabis remained illegal). They were also less likely to find such behavior [driving after ingesting cannabis] acceptable."
Authors concluded, "[W]e found no predominant pattern suggesting that behaviors and attitudes were more tolerant in states with liberal marijuana policies."
Commenting on the study, NORML's Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: "These findings ought to be reassuring to those who feared that legalization might inadvertently be associated with relaxed attitudes toward driving under the influence. These conclusions show that this has not been the case and that majorities of the public continue to perceive drugged driving as unacceptable, regardless of marijuana's status under state law."
Full text of the study, "Demographic and policy-based differences in behaviors and attitudes toward driving after marijuana use: An analysis of the 2013-2017 Safety Culture Index," appears in BMC Research Notes.
Clinical Trial: Cancer Patients Reduce Their Intake of Opioids Following Medical Cannabis Treatment
Minneapolis, MN: The use of medical cannabis products is associated with reduced levels of opioid use among patients with cancer, according to clinical trial data published in the journal Supportive Care in Cancer.
A team of investigators affiliated with the Cancer Research Center in Minnesota and with the Minnesota Department of Health assessed the relationship between the consumption of state-licensed cannabis products and opioid use patterns in a cohort of 30 cannabis naive, stage IV cancer patients. Participants in the study consumed plant-derived cannabis extract products over the course of the trial. Patients were advised to begin dosing at 2.5-5 mg/2.5-5 mg (THC/CBD), respectively, with a titration plan to escalate their dose to 30-40 mg of THC and 30-40 mg of CBD per day over two-to-four weeks. (At the time the study was conducted, Minnesota law did not permit dispensaries to provide herbal cannabis.)
Researchers reported: "Medical cannabis use led to improvements in achieving personalized pain goals and lower overall opioid requirements. No serious adverse events with cannabis were reported, and most patients who used cannabis reported that benefits outweighed negative effects."
Authors concluded: "Our results support prior studies suggesting cannabis may improve pain and minimize opioid utilization in both cancer and non-cancer settings. ... Incorporating cannabis into routine cancer care may improve pain control and minimize opioid requirements."
A pair of recent registry studies involving over 4,000 patients with cancer similarly reported that the use of medical cannabis results in clinically meaningful improvements in patients' symptoms while also reducing their use of opioids, benzodiazepines, and other prescription medications. Dozens of studies assessing the initiation of medical cannabis therapy in other patient populations have reached similar conclusions.
Full text of the study, "A randomized trial of medical cannabis patients with stage IV cancers to assess feasibility, dose requirements, impact on pain and opioid use, safety, and overall patient satisfaction," appears in Supportive Care in Cancer.
Conventional Field Sobriety Tests Not Particularly Sensitive to Cannabis-Induced Impairment
Baltimore, MD: Neither subjects' performance on conventional field sobriety tests nor the detection of THC in their blood are reliable indicators of cannabis-induced impairment, according to clinical trial data published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
A team of investigators affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Medical University of South Carolina assessed the effects of cannabis ingestion on a battery of behavioral and cognitive tests. Participants in the study were infrequent users of cannabis. Subjects vaporized cannabis flowers of varying potencies (low-THC, high-THC or placebo) and consumed THC-infused brownies (10 mg THC, 25 mg THC, or placebo).
Researchers identified few behavioral or cognitive changes in performance associated with the ingestion of low-THC products, but they did identify changes associated with the consumption of higher-potency products. Nonetheless, subjects' performance on conventional field sobriety tests, like the ‘walk-and-turn' test and the one leg stand, "showed little sensitivity to cannabis-induced impairment" - a finding that is consistent with previous studies. Similarly, the detection of THC in subjects' blood was also "a poor proxy of cannabis impairment" - a finding that is also consistent with prior research.
By contrast, authors acknowledged that the use of the mobile device performance application, DRUID, was adequately sensitive to cannabis-induced changes in subjects' performance. NORML has frequently opined in favor of the use of performance testing technology as a more reliable indicator of cannabis-induced impairment.
Investigators concluded: "Standard approaches for identifying impairment due to cannabis exposure (i.e. blood THC and field sobriety tests) have severe limitations. There is a need to identify novel biomarkers of cannabis exposure and/or behavioral tests like the DRUID that can reliably and accurately detect cannabis impairment at the roadside and in the workplace."
Full text of the study, "Assessment of cognitive and psychomotor impairment, subjective effects, and blood THC concentrations following acute administration of oral and vaporized cannabis," appears in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
