Marijuana Blog

A bill approved by the California state senate on Monday would further restrict the state’s medical marijuana industry by requiring the end of all for-profit sales of the drug to licensed patients and caregivers.

 

The proposed law would go further than the state attorney general’s non-binding guidelines issued in 2008, making the not-for-profit collective model mandatory for dispensaries. Provisions in S.B. 439 would also place even greater records-keeping requirements on dispensary owners, who would still be entitled to reasonable compensation for their time and efforts. In theory, that should allow tax enforcers to peer more closely at dispensary finances to ensure shady businesses are not taking profits while reporting none.

 

“Everybody benefits from tighter regulations,” Chris Lindsey, legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Raw Story. “Where you run into problems is when you have a law that can be interpreted several different ways, which means that people trying to comply with the law don’t know where they stand.”

 

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com

Smoking cannabis may be key in treating Crohn's disease, research suggests.

 

In a recent trial marijuana was shown to induce 'complete remission' for patients suffering from the condition, which is also known as inflammatory bowel disease.

 

Scientists at Meir Medical Center, Israel, studied 21 people with severe Crohn’s disease who did not respond to various therapies.

 

They split the patients into two groups: 11 were given a joint to smoke twice a day for eight weeks, while 10 were given a placebo cigarette which contained no trace of cannabinoids.

 

A 'complete remission' of Crohn's disease was recorded in 5/11 (45%) of the cannabis group and 1/10 in the placebo group.

 

A total of 10/11 patients in the cannabis group responded to the clinical trial with Crohn's symptoms (which include pain, diarrhoea, tiredness and weight loss) significantly reduced.

 

In addition, study authors wrote: "Subjects receiving cannabis reported improved appetite and sleep, with no significant side effects."

 

"Further studies, with larger patient groups and a non-smoking mode of intake, are warranted," they added.

 

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

A "LONELY" bachelor has been spared jail for growing and supplying cannabis to deal with sleep deprivation while he battled cancer – and repay people who helped him out.

William Burton, 68, of Lancaster Avenue, Grimsby, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009 and spent months in chemotherapy which left him depressed and alone.

 

He suffered from extreme sleep deprivation – he was lucky to get a few hours of rest, and when he did, he was plagued by nightmares.

Mr Burton heard from friends that cannabis would help and turned to the drug to aid his sleep and lift his mood.

 

But Mr Burton, who was in the Merchant Navy for more than 30 years, is now living on benefits and found it too expensive.

 

Virtually housebound, he started growing it for himself and others with health problems – and to reward the growing number of people he was relying upon.

 

Mr Burton said: "When you spend all that time feeling ill and sleeping after chemotherapy, people soon stop coming round – but you need help because you're ill.

 

"A worse thing was not sleeping so I started smoking it before I went to bed and I could actually get a full night's sleep.

 

"I wasn't making money – I would give it to other people like me who were in need and they would do the same for me."

 

Read more: http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk