Marijuana Blog

Marijuana activists are giving out free joints Monday in Denver to protest plans to tax pot sales.

 

Organizers said they are upset about proposed taxes on recreational marijuana and will protest by passing out as many as 4,000 marijuana cigarettes during Monday’s anti-Proposition AA rally in Denver, Fox affiliate KDVR reported.

 

The protesters said Amendment 64 legalized the use of recreational marijuana in private for those 21 and over and it should be taxed the same rate as alcohol, not tobacco.

 

"The marijuana industry wants to pay taxes and supports these issues very well, but these measures would simply be too far and out of reach for people who consume marijuana," protester Miguel Lopez told the station.

 

Lopez, who believes the industry is already overtaxed and over-regulated, supervised a joint-rolling session at a Denver park on Sunday afternoon. He said Monday’s marijuana distribution would help demonstrate that an untaxed black market in pot could flourish if Proposition AA is passed in November.

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com

A new study published by the journal Neurobiology of Aging has found that marijuana might actually help treat Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Based on a series of experiments with mice, researchers believe that they have evidence which shows that Alzheimer’s disease is worsened by a deficiency in the body’s cannabinoid receptors, indicating that the disease could be treated with cannabis.

 

According to the study’s abstract:

 

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by amyloid-β deposition in amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, inflammation, neuronal loss, and cognitive deficits. Cannabinoids display neuromodulatory and neuroprotective effects and affect memory acquisition. Here, we studied the impact of cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) deficiency on the development of AD pathology by breeding amyloid precursor protein (APP) Swedish mutant mice (APP23), an AD animal model, with CB1-deficient mice. In addition to the lower body weight of APP23/CB1−/− mice, most of these mice died at an age before typical AD-associated changes become apparent.

 

The surviving mice showed a reduced amount of APP and its fragments suggesting a regulatory influence of CB1 on APP processing, which was confirmed by modulating CB1 expression in vitro. Reduced APP levels were accompanied by a reduced plaque load and less inflammation in APP23/CB1−/− mice. Nevertheless, compared to APP23 mice with an intact CB1, APP23/CB1−/− mice showed impaired learning and memory deficits. These data argue against a direct correlation of amyloid plaque load with cognitive abilities in this AD mouse model lacking CB1

 

Read more: http://www.opposingviews.com

Lawmakers in Puerto Rico have filed a proposal aimed at legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana; the measure will be debated by the legislature in the coming days and weeks.

 

The measure – which is sponsored by State Reps. Jose Baez and Carlos Vargas – would allow authorized patients to possess cannabis, and purchase it through state-licensed clinics. Patients who can’t afford to purchase their medicine through clinics could apply for a special permit to cultivate their own cannabis at home.

 

“Treating this strictly as something that should be punished has clearly not worked,” says Representative Vargas.

 

Earlier this year a proposal was filed in Puerto Rico to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes; the bill, although it started an important conversation, never advanced, and currently sits in committee.

 

This new proposal, which is strictly for medical purposes, is something that advocates believe lawmakers will be much more willing to accept.

 

Those in Puerto Rico who support medical cannabis legalization should be contacting their lawmakers, urging them to support this new proposal.

 

Read more: http://www.theweedblog.com