Marijuana Blog

I read somewhere that marijuana helps with brain injuries. With all the concussions in the NFL, when are professional football players gonna be allowed to use weed?

 

—Jerry Nice

 

Right? It makes sense to me. But maybe the NFL hasn’t paid any attention to the various studies showing that cannabis isn’t just an effective neuroprotectant, it also helps to grow healthy brain cells.

 

Perhaps it hasn’t read anything from Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, the person who discovered the THC molecule. He co-authored a paper in 2002 (www.lycaeum.org/research/researchpdfs/ 2002_mechoulam_1.pdf) showing how weed protects the brain during injury. Or maybe it has never heard of Dr. Xia Zhang from Saskatoon? Zhang published a study in 2005 showing that weed helped the hippocampus create new brain cells (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253627).

 

Check this quote from a study done at the University of Washington looking for a drug to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease): “Ideally, a multidrug regimen, including glutamate antagonists, antioxidants, a centrally acting anti-inflammatory agent, microglial cell modulators (including tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha] inhibitors), an antiapoptotic agent, 1 or more neurotrophic growth factors, and a mitochondrial function-enhancing agent would be required to comprehensively address the known pathophysiology of ALS. Remarkably, cannabis appears to have activity in all of those areas. Preclinical data indicate that cannabis has powerful antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects.”

 

That’s right. Cannabis does a lot of things. And it tastes good. If I was in charge of the NFL and I had just settled a lawsuit for almost $1 billion because of all of the concussions players receive, I would dang-near insist that players smoke, eat or vaporize some weed after the game. I would lobby the federal government to reclassify cannabis so it is no longer a Schedule I drug, and allow for more tests to be done about cannabis and brain injuries. I would personally apologize to Ricky Williams for suspending him for cannabis use back in the day. I would encourage the Marijuana Policy Project to put up more billboards extolling weed over booze, like the one erected at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. And I would allow weed sales and discourage booze sales in stadiums. But that’s just me.

 

Read more: http://www.newsreview.com

Denver police are defending their decision to stand down while dozens of people lit up marijuana cigarettes at a free pot giveaway in Civic Center park.

 

Deputy Chief David Quinones tells the Denver Post the department didn't want to incite a riot Monday over a petty offense.

 

Hundreds of people lined up to get free pot during an event organized by opponents of a statewide ballot question over taxing retail marijuana sales.

 

The measure on the November ballot asks Colorado voters to approve a 15 percent excise tax plus a 10 percent statewide sales tax on all retail marijuana purchases.

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com

SACRAMENTO, CA — The president of the California Senate and Chair of Assembly Public Safety introduced bills yesterday to crack down on illegal cultivation and distribution under guise of medical marijuana, and to create one of the most comprehensive regulatory structures in the country to allow bona fide patients to access medical marijuana, from state registered growers, transporters and dispensaries, and to reduce diversion to non-medical users.

 

SB 69 by Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and AB 604 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), Chair of Assembly Public Safety Committee would be a timely response to the recent announcement by the Federal Department of Justice that the federal government would be disinclined to target marijuana cultivators and providers that are operating pursuant to state laws, as long as comprehensive regulation prevents problems, including diversion of marijuana to the illegal market.

 

“This is a much needed move toward comprehensive regulation,” said Tamar Todd, senior staff attorney for the Drug Policy Alliance. “California medical marijuana providers have been targeted by the Federal government. We have not seen the same thing happen in states with comprehensive, state-wide regulation and control of medical marijuana. This new policy will help prevent Federal interference, address environmental and law enforcement concerns, as well as protect access to safe medicine for patients.”

 

Previously, dispensaries in California have been targeted by US Attorneys, even when licensed by their localities. The DOJ has issued a memo telling US Attorneys to back off in states that are comprehensively and responsibility regulating. This new law addresses all the federal concerns set forth in the memo, and establishes a comprehensive program of regulation; therefore the US Attorneys should cease their attacks on medical marijuana organizations in California.

 

The twin bills create a new division within the Department of Alcohol & Beverage Control Board that will register all growers, and legal providers of medical marijuana. They will also be charged with establishing processes for environmental protection, cultivation, testing, labeling and distribution of medical marijuana.

 

The bills order the California Medical Board to prioritize prosecution of doctors who repeatedly recommend medical marijuana without prior examination or clear medical rationale, and say that a doctor cannot provide recommendations for medical marijuana, if he or she works with or profits in any way from the selling of medical marijuana.

 

Read more: http://www.theweedblog.com