#NORML #News Source: @norml @WeedConnection Posted By: norml@weedconnection.com media :: news - Tue, 25 Oct 2016 04:20:21 PST
Gallup: Record High Percentage Of Americans Back Legalizing Marijuana
Princeton, NJ: Sixty percent of Americans believe that "the use of marijuana should be legal," according to nationwide polling data released by Gallup. The percentage is the highest level of support ever reported by the polling group, and represents more than a doubling in public support over the past two decades.
The data closely follows the release of polling data compiled by the Pew Research Center showing a similar, dramatic shift in public opinion in favor of legalization.
Those ages 18 to 34 (77 percent), Independents (70 percent), and Democrats (67 percent) were most likely to endorse legalization in the Gallup poll. Support was weakest among Republicans (42 percent) and those age 55 or older (45 percent).
The poll possesses a margin of error of +/- four percentage points.
Report: Tax Revenue From Retail Marijuana Sales Exceeds Expectations
Washington, DC: Tax revenue collection from retail marijuana sales in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington is exceeding initial projections, according to a report published by the Drug Policy Alliance.
The DPA study finds that marijuana-related tax revenue in Colorado totaled $129 million over the 12-month period ending May 31, 2016 - well exceeding initial estimates of $70 million per year. In Washington, tax revenue totaled $220 million for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2016. Regulators had initially projected that retail sales would bring in only $162 million in new annual tax revenue. In Oregon, marijuana-related tax revenues are yielding about $4 million per month - about twice what regulators initially predicted. (Alaska has yet to begin collecting tax revenue from cannabis businesses.)
The report also finds that legalizing the adult marijuana use market has not been associated with any increases in youth use of the substance, nor has it had an adverse impact on traffic safety. "In Colorado and Washington the post-legalization traffic fatality rate has remained statistically consistent with pre-legalization levels, is lower in each state than it was a decade prior, and is lower than the national rate," it determined.
In addition, marijuana-related arrest totals have fallen significantly in these jurisdictions post-legalization. According to the report, the total number of all annual marijuana-related arrests decreased by 59 percent in Alaska, by 46 percent in Colorado, by 85 percent in the District of Columbia, and by 50 percent in Oregon. In Washington, the number of low-level marijuana court filings fell by 98 percent.
Cannalytics Survey: Cannabis Consumers Most Likely To Identify As Independent Voters
Los Angeles, CA: Americans who use cannabis or hold favorable views toward the plant tend to identify themselves politically as Independents rather than as Democrats or Republicans, according to the results of a Cannalytics consumer research survey.
Forty-six percent of survey respondents define themselves as Independent. Among this group, over 90 percent consider marijuana policy reform to be among the most important election issues, and more than 75 percent said that they are more motivated to vote this election because of pending cannabis-specific ballot measures.
Voters in nine states will decide on Election Day in favor of statewide ballot measures seeking to legalize either the medical use or the adult use of marijuana.
Cannalytics and its partners, including NORML, provided a 51-point questionnaire to over 5,800 respondents to gauge their opinions on cannabis policy, as well as their own marijuana use. Respondents typically were well educated, most did not smoke tobacco, and 53 percent suggested that they would consume less alcohol if cannabis were legal.
Boston, MA: Cannabidiol (CBD) administration is associated with the mitigation of treatment-resistant seizures, according to the findings of several recent clinical trials.
In one trial, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital assessed CBD treatment over a 12-month period in 18 patients with refractory epileptic seizures due to Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Researchers reported that CBD treatment reduced subjects' median weekly seizure frequency by half. Authors concluded, "[T]hese findings suggest that cannabidiol may be an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for patients with refractory seizures in TSC."
In a separate trial, investigators at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Texas Children's Hospital assessed CBD administration, in the form of Epidiolex, in seven children with persistent refractory seizures due to febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES). Cannabidiol dosing reduced seizure frequency and duration in six of the seven subjects. Participants in the study also eliminated their use of four anti-epileptic drugs.
In another trial, Epidiolex treatment was associated with reduced seizure frequency and was well tolerated in subjects with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, a rare and severe form of treatment-resistant epilepsy, in a recently concluded Phase III trial. Epidiolex is an oral pharmaceutical formulation of extracted CBD that has received Fast Track Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Finally, the administration of CBD extracts was reported to be efficacious in a pair of case reports summarized in the journal Frontiers of Pharmacology. Authors reported that CBD dosing resulted in "complete seizure remission" in a seven-year-old boy with Dravet syndrome and in a ten-year-old girl with refractory epilepsy.
Michigan: East Lansing City Council Votes To Eliminate Marijuana Possession Penalties
East Lansing, MI: Members of the city council in East Lansing, Michigan (population 49,000) have voted 4 to 1 in favor of a municipal ordinance that eliminates criminal and civil penalties pertaining to the private possession and use of cannabis by those age 21 and over.
Similar local measures are in place in several other Michigan cities, including Detroit, Flint, and Lansing. However, each of those measures was decided by voter initiatives, not by a city council vote.
The East Lansing ordinance reclassifies minor marijuana possession violations for those under the age of 21 to a civil violation.
Under state law, the possession of any amount of cannabis is classified as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to one-year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
