Medical Marijuana

As we celebrate Black History Month, the contributions of black scientists, both men and women, often go unacknowledged in a world where the importance of science is being overlooked, even denied, by our own leaders.

Having said that, the beat goes on.

A group of scientists, led by noted Jamaican cancer researcher Dr. Henry Lowe, have discovered a breakthrough in the treatment of hepatitis C—using cannabidiol (CBD).

Dr. Lowe’s team from the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica (UWI) announced that CBD is very destructive to the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is responsible for cirrhosis of the liver and also causes liver cancer.

Read More:http://hightimes.com/medicinal/jamaican-scientists-close-in-on-affordable-cbd-based-hepatitis-treatment/

While Arkansas remains the first state in the Deep South to approve medical marijuana, obstacles remain as Arkansas medical marijuana laws see amendments to the original legislation being debated. This month, two such medical marijuana-related bills were finally approved. They bring with them amendments to the original version, passed by 53 percent of Arkansas voters.

Thursday afternoon Senate Bill 254 was approved by the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee. The Baxter Bulletin reports that it now is on it’s way to the Senate for a vote, and would give the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission the power to allow a dispensary to grow a limited number of marijuana plants if the commission felt that it was in the best interests of citizens.

Read More:https://www.theweedblog.com/arkansas-sees-amendments-to-their-medical-marijuana-law/

Hawaii medical marijuana moves forward with cultivator licenses as the state just named it’s third cannabis cultivator, Manoa Botanicals. The company got the green light from officials to begin growing the plant in their production center on Oahu.

That means the state of Hawaii says they can obtain seeds, and grow clones and marijuana plants – for medical marijuana patients. Qualified patients are to be registered with the Medical Marijuana Patient Registry Program.

The first notices to proceed with cultivation went to to Maui Grown Therapies on Maui, and Aloha Green Holdings on Oahu. More production companies are expected to be announced in the months ahead, as inspections continue by the Hawaii Department of Health.

Read More:https://www.theweedblog.com/hawaii-medical-marijuana-moves-forward/

Oklahoma may finally OK medical marijuana and patients may have access a year or so earlier than expected, if Representative Eric Proctor (D-Tulsa) gets his bill passed before voters get to decide on State Question 788.

The big difference is the breadth of ailments covered – critics of the new bill complain that the scope is too narrow, covering only a handful of ailments.

Rep. Proctor says his bill comes on the heels of some of his constituents became medical marijuana refugees, to other cannabis-legal states, in order to get the medicine they needed. Meanwhile, Oklahomans for Health, which OKNews reports is backed a petition drive to get the measure on the ballot, is suing Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt over his rewrite of the ballot title.

Read More:https://www.theweedblog.com/ok-may-finally-ok-medical-marijuana/

The move was hailed as a major victory by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and a tribute to one of its Members of Parliament, the late Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, who fought for the legalization of cannabis oil, known in South Africa as “dagga” oil.

Italian-born South African MP Oriani-Ambrosini started the debate over medical cannabis when he stood up in the South African National Assembly in 2014 and made a direct, impassioned plea to South African President Jacob Zuma to decriminalize dagga oil for medical use.

Six months later, MP Oriani-Ambrosini died of stage 4 lung cancer.

Read More:http://hightimes.com/news/medical-cannabis-finally-given-green-light-in-south-africa/

Advocates push for a 2017 Texas medical marijuana bill during a Constituent Advocacy Day that brought a few hundred cannabis supporters to the state capitol, in Austin.

The effort to galvanize support for cannabis in the southern state was organized by a coalition of groups including chapters of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) under the umbrella of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy.

The Texas Cannabis Report says the event was the first real push for marijuana reform in the new year. There was a glimmer of hope back in 2015, when two bills passed out of committee, but they were never heard by the full House of Representatives.

Read More:https://www.theweedblog.com/2017-texas-medical-marijuana-bill/