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6 Facts That Totally Changed What I Thought I Knew About Cannabis

This primer for newbies will teach you how to navigate the world of weed. 

OK, I admit it: I’ve always been a bit of a dunce when it comes to cannabis. I’m 31 and have only smoked a joint a handful of times with friends (and once on a first date when we got so high that I burst into hysterical laughter because there were too many pho options on the menu). Until I spoke with Up Cannabis’s horticulture manager, Katie Iarocci, who manages the growing, harvesting and processing of Up’s plants, words like sativa, indica, cannabinoid and terpene were gibberish to me. Katie was kind enough to answer all my questions, changing everything I thought I knew about cannabis. (As we already discussed, I didn’t know much.) If you’re in the same boat as me—a cannabis newbie and sort of curious—get ready to learn a whole new language.

Fact #1: Cannabis has a lot of slang names.

Cannabis, marijuana, weed, pot, kush—they’re all basically the same thing. The big difference? Cannabis is the technical name of the plant, whereas all other terms are slang. Points to you if you already knew this factoid before reading this article… because I didn’t before writing it.

Fact #2: There are many types of cannabis and each one creates a different experience.

I always thought pot was pot—that it all looks and smells similar and basically has the same effect on the brain and body. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The two most common types of cannabis are sativas and indicas (which then have infinite strains within those categories, as well as hybrid versions). Sativas and sativa-dominant hybrids are preferred for daytime use because they “promote more of an energetic, creative high,” says Katie, whereas indicas, or indica-dominant hybrids, are better for relaxation and nighttime use. Find out how cannabis can be used as a remedy for stress.

Fact #3: Just because you hated one strain of cannabis, doesn’t mean you’ll hate another.

If you tried cannabis once and didn’t like it, you might want to give it another go. Aside from the fact that you might prefer a sativa over an indica and vice versa, each strain will also have its own unique levels of cannabinoids—over 100 chemical compounds that make up the cannabis plant. The two best-known cannabinoids are cannabidiol (CBD), which combats pain, inflammation and anxiety, and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is psychoactive (meaning it will get you high) and acts as a muscle relaxant and antiemetic (i.e. it prevents nausea and vomiting). The levels of CBD and THC in the strain you choose will affect your experience.

Still totally confused about where to start? Thanks to legalization in Canada, it will be much easier to learn about the strains that a brand offers, though it will still likely involve some trial and error to find the strains that work best for you. Up has five cannabis strains to start: Eldorado (a sativa with high THC and low CBD for an energizing, creative high), Gems (a sativa-dominant hybrid with a stimulating head high and a bit of a relaxed body feeling), Grace (an indica that will put you to sleep), 50 MC (an indica-dominant hybrid that offers mild sedation and is better for nighttime use) and Morning Moon, pictured above (an indica-dominant hybrid that’s high in CBD and is perfect for a novice user).

Fact #4: Each strain has a unique scent and flavour.

Remember how I told you I thought all weed smelled the same? Katie felt the same way when she was younger, but now she can tell a strain just by its scent. That’s because each one has a special blend of terpenes, which are “organic compounds produced by a wide variety of plants that are used in perfumery, aromatherapy and even food flavouring,” says Katie. “When you smell lavender essential oil, for example, those are terpenes that you’re inhaling and you’re receiving those molecules into your olfactory nerves and sending messages to your brain.” Those terpenes have the ability to promote wellness, the same way that breathing in lavender essential oil promotes a calm feeling. Here’s some more information on how terpenes can boost your health.

Fact #5: There’s this thing called “The Entourage Effect” and it matters for consumption.

For the same reason that vitamin capsules often won’t be as effective as simply eating a wide variety of foods filled with nutrients, consuming isolated cannabinoids such as CBD won’t have the same effect as if you were to “consume cannabis with the entire profile of cannabinoids intact,” says Katie. “That’s called the entourage effect and it’s a theory that’s gaining a lot of traction as research continues.” It doesn’t mean that taking isolated CBD capsules or using CBD oil has no effect. It simply means that using the entire bud—whether you smoke it, vape it or eat it in an edible—will potentially have more impact on your overall wellbeing. Hopefully, with legalization in Canada, more research can be conducted into this theory.

Fact #6: The illicit cannabis market was dominated by men, but that’s changing.

Guess what? Cannabis isn’t just for men, even though men have historically dominated the space, choosing and using strains for their own benefit. But as Canadian cannabis brands like Up begin to enter the marketplace, they’ve started to target women with advertising and education. Of course, selling to women helps the bottom line of any company, but it’s also important that cannabis be available to women if they choose to partake. “We could really use female consumers’ feedback,” says Katie. “Historically cannabis works for men, but maybe there are other strains that are better for women.” Plus, cannabis shows promise for helping alleviate menstrual symptoms—something that men know nothing about.

Think you’re ready to try some cannabis again or for the first time? Dosing is key. Up goes by the motto that “one puff is enuff,” because until you understand how a strain affects you, you should start with just a small dose and slowly increase. “It’s a huge misconception that you take a puff and can be transported into outer space,” says Katie. Becoming “greened out” or incredibly high (see my above first date experience) only happens if you smoke or ingest too much weed at once. So take a puff and see how it goes. You might love it, you might want to try a different strain or it might not be your thing.

Whatever you decide, have fun and be responsible, too. 

Andrea Karr


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Can Marijuana Be The Answer For Pain?

Like many of her friends, Alexandra Callner, now 58, experimented with recreational marijuana when she was younger.

“I had tried it, and hated it, in my 20s,” Callner says. “When I was around pot smokers, I thought, ‘Ugh, losers.’ ”

But, that was before her knee arthritis became so bad, it robbed her sleep, night after night. She took two over-the-counter pain pills a day, but the pain would wake her up at night. And the drugs were hard on her stomach.

“It was making me kind of nauseous,” she says of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories. Plus, she needed to stay active to manage her dog boarding service in Pasadena, CA.

Then came another solution. “A neighbor said, ‘Try this,’ ” Callner says. It was a joint.

Callner got a medical marijuana card, and then she tried it. “I slept through the night.”

That was a year ago, and it’s now her nightly ritual. “Every night, I get into bed, read about an hour, take one or two puffs, and then I am off to sleep,” she says. “The pain is much lighter.”

About 50 million Americans like Callner live with chronic or severe pain. Patients and doctors are seeking treatments besides the potent prescription painkillers like opioids and the nonprescription medicines that Callner found tough to tolerate.

So could marijuana be the next pain reliever of choice?

Lack of Research

Donald Abrams, MD, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, helped review research on marijuana for a 2017 report from the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

There is a lack of evidence about the health effects of marijuana, he says.

Adds Angela Bryan, PhD, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Boulder: “The evidence we have thus far suggests that cannabis is moderately effective for pain relief.” But most studies haven’t compared marijuana with other ways to relieve pain, she says.

Cannabis is the scientific name for the marijuana plant. Researchers prefer to use “cannabis” instead of “marijuana” because marijuana is associated with recreational use, Abrams says.

Why the lack of evidence from research in the U.S.?

Although medical marijuana in some form is legal in 30 states and Washington, D.C., it’s still illegal on the federal level. It’s classified as a Schedule I drug — putting it in the same category as other drugs of “high potential for abuse” that have ”no currently accepted medical use,” such as heroin and LSD.

That means federal rules put limits on what researchers can do.

“In the state of Colorado [which allows medical and adult private use], I can go to any dispensary and buy whatever I want to treat whatever I want,” says Bryan, who’s also co-director of the CU Change Lab, which explores health and risk behavior. “You would think that means researchers can, too. The problem is, researchers are in a federal institution [at the University of Colorado]. If we do anything in violation of federal law, we could have all federal funding withdrawn.”

Bryan’s team has grants for four research studies on marijuana, including one on lower back pain. Participants come to the university for their initial assessment, but then must go to the dispensary on their own to buy the marijuana, she says. Declassifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug would make her research easier, Bryan says, or at least as easy as alcohol research.

“If I want to do a study on alcohol, I bring someone in, give them wine, get blood [samples], and see what happens when they use alcohol.”

Bryan says she could use marijuana supplied by the government. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a license to the University of Mississippi to cultivate marijuana for research. The marijuana from dispensaries is different and more potent  than that supplied by the National Institute on Drug Abuse farm, she says.

Patient groups, including those for veterans, are among those pushing for more research. Nick Etten, a former Navy SEAL, founded the Veterans Cannabis Project in 2017. “We are bringing stories to the Hill,” he says, ”of veterans who have found relief from their health issues through cannabis.” He reaches out to individual U.S. legislators, he says, to elevate marijuana as a health issue and to persuade them to declassify marijuana.

In 2016, the National Football League Players Association created a pain management committee to study ways to help players deal with injuries and chronic pain, says Brandon Parker, a spokesman. “Marijuana is just one of several alternative pain relievers being studied by the committee,” he says.

Research Scorecard

The National Academies’ report looked at data from 1999 on, reviewing more than 10,000 scientific studies, of which only seven were directly related to pain relief. One of the seven looked at data from 28 studies.

Abrams says the evidence on marijuana and pain is strongest for helping nerve pain (neuropathy) and cancer-related pain. The committee also concluded that certain oral cannabinoids improved muscle spasms in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Cannabinoids are one of more than 60 chemicals in the cannabis plant. Abrams says it makes sense that marijuana may help relieve pain because the body has cannabinoid receptors, or places where the chemical attaches to cells.

Cannabinoid
The above wheel serves as a resource to determine which cannabinoids
may help treat symptoms associated with mood, eating/gastrointestinal disorders,
neurological disorders, pain, sleep disorders, and other medical conditions.

Here is a sampling of research or reviews published in the past year:

  • Israeli researchers found marijuana gave substantial pain relief to more than half of 1,200 cancer patients who used it for 6 months.
  • In a review of 16 published studies including more than 1,700 participants with chronic nerve pain, German researchers found that marijuana-based remedies increased the number of people who reported a 50% or more reduction in pain relief. But they also concluded that the risks may outweigh the benefits. People taking marijuana-based remedies were more likely to have sleepiness, dizziness, and confusion.
  • In a small study of 47 patients with Parkinson’s disease, Israeli researchers found a 27% improvement in pain with marijuana use.
  • Medical marijuana helped to ease pain in 26 patients with fibromyalgia, a condition in which the body has ”tender” points. Half the patients stopped taking any other medicines for fibromyalgia, but 30% did have mild side effects.
  • A study from the European Academy of Neurology found that cannabinoids given at various doses eased pain in migraine patients by 40% or more. It helped cut pain in people with cluster headaches, too, but only if the patient had a history of childhood migraine.
  • Marijuana and cannabinoids may have modest effects on the pain and muscle spasticity that come with multiple sclerosis, according to an Australian review that looked at 32 studies.

Not for Everyone

Experts also saw potential downsides to marijuana. The European Academy report found that marijuana use may:

  • Make you more likely to be involved in a car accident
  • Raise the chance of unintentional marijuana overdose injuries among children, something that has happened in states where marijuana use is legal
  • Lead to more frequent bronchitis if smoked on a regular basis
  • Raise the odds of having schizophrenia and, to a lesser extent, depression

Smoking marijuana is also linked to delivering a lower birth weight baby, although the relationship with other pregnancy and childhood outcomes is not clear, the report says.

Abrams says marijuana can raise heart rate and either raise or lower blood pressure. Frail older people with balance issues have a risk of dizziness and falling.

Will Marijuana Replace Opioids?

Some research suggests that marijuana could take the place of opioids. Two recent studies found that states with medical marijuana laws or legalized recreational use may have a decline in opioid prescriptions.

In another study, researchers polled nearly 3,000 medical marijuana patients, including about a third who said they had used opioid pain medicines in the past 6 months. Most said the marijuana provided relief equal to their other medications, but without the side effects. While 97% said they were able to lower the amount of opioids they took if they also took marijuana, 81% said that taking marijuana alone was more effective than using both marijuana and opioids.

That finding makes sense to Alex Jordan, 29, an artist who works at the Green Valley Collective, a marijuana dispensary in the Los Angeles area. She manages her chronic pain with daily use of marijuana joints and products that contain cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid.

Her experience helps her guide her customers, who range from young adults to those over age 80, to an effective remedy. “I would say 60% of our users use [marijuana] to manage some kind of pain, whether it be physical or mental,” she says.

Without it, her pain is severe – usually a 4 to 7 on a 10-point scale, she says. It started after she was in a car accident in 2011. The van she was riding in hit black ice and flipped seven times. The accident left her with a broken sternum (breastbone), six broken ribs, six crushed vertebrae, and collapsed lungs, making breathing difficult. Morphine helped relieve the pain in the hospital. Later, she says, “I could get any pill I wanted” for pain relief. She wore a neck brace for 2 months and a back brace for 6, but the pain persisted.

She wanted off the potent painkillers and had used marijuana recreationally in years past. She experimented with different options until she found her current regimen. And to make access easier, she and her husband moved from New York City to Los Angeles, where recreational marijuana is legal, last year. Before the move, the pain had gotten so bad, she had trouble putting on a shirt. These days, she’s working regularly and branching out as a freelance artist.

“The lack of pain is a wonderful thing,” she says. “It brings me to tears.”

 

By Kathleen Doheny        April 20, 2018
WebMD Article Reviewed by Arefa Cassoobhoy, MD, MPH on April 20, 2018

Sources

Article: Can Marijuana Be The Answer For Pain?
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendation’s for Research,” January, 2017.
National Conference of State Legislatures: “State Medical Marijuana Laws.”
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML): “Legalization.”
Donald Abrams, MD, oncologist and professor of clinical medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
Angela Bryan, PhD, professor of psychology and neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder; co-director, CU Change Lab.
Nick Etten, founder, Veterans Cannabis Project.
Brandon Parker, spokesman, National Football League Players Union.
Alexandra Callner, owner, Spoiled Dog Pet Care, Pasadena, CA.
Alex Jordan, artist; budtender, Green Valley Collective, North Hollywood, CA.
JAMA Internal Medicine: “The Role of Cannabis Legalization in the Opioid Crisis.”
European Journal of Internal Medicine: “Prospective analysis of safety and efficacy of medical cannabis in large unselected population of patients with cancer.”
Cochrane Database System Review: “Cannabis-based medicines for chronic neuropathic pain in adults.”
Clinical Neuropharmacology: “Medical Cannabis in Parkinson Disease: Real-Life Patients’ Experience.”
Journal of Clinical Rheumatology: “Medical Cannabis for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia.”
Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports: “The Use of Cannabis and Cannabinoids in Treating Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis: a Systematic Review of Reviews.”
World Health Organization: “Cannabidiol (CBD) Pre-Review Report,” Expert Committee on Drug Dependence Thirty-ninth Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 6-10, 2017.

 


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9 Remarkable Healing Properties Of CBD

Cannabis has been stigmatized for decades, but scientists and society cannot deny that the plant’s active ingredients, known as Cannabinoids, provide a natural remedy to a host of health issues. While CBD, extracted from the cannabis plant, is structurally similar to THC, part of the allure is that it won’t get you high.

“CBD is now the most researched cannabinoid on the market and rightly so because the studies go back to the 1940s proving its effectiveness on the nervous and immune systems, with no toxicity, side effects, nor psycho-activity,” says Jared Berry, CEO of Isodiol, a company that produces hemp-extracted CBD for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmetic companies.

Cannabis is known to have 85+ different cannabinoids, many of them potentially having health benefits.

“Cannabinoids promote homeostasis at every level of biological life, from the sub-cellular to the organism, and perhaps to the community and beyond,” writes NORML, a foundation that works to reform marijuana laws.

According to research, cannabinoids synergize and help support humans’ built-in Endocannabinoid System (ECS). It was in 1992 that scientists discovered that the ECS plays a direct role in homeostasis, which regulates every metabolic process in the body, such as pain sensation, appetite, temperature regulation, stress reactivity, immune function, and sleep, as well as other processes. Even more interesting is that muscle and fat tissue also utilize these receptors to control their processes.

So basically, CBD communicates with our body’s main command center to keep things running as they should. Pretty amazing.

While the government has arguably made selling CBD quite difficult, the US Department of Health and Services ironically patented cannabinoids in 2001.

The FDA and DEA refuse to change their stance on cannabis.

“Naturally, this shows a certain amount of hypocrisy that there is ‘no accepted medical use’ for cannabis according to federal law,” Sam Mendez, an intellectual property and public policy lawyer who serves as the executive director of the University of Washington’s Cannabis Law & Policy Project recently told the Denver Post.  “And yet here you have the very same government owning a patent for, ostensibly, a medical use for marijuana.”

Politics aside, let’s look at just nine of the myriad ways CBD can help improve  health.

EPILEPSY
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder caused by unusual nerve cell activity in the brain. Each year, about 150,000 Americans are diagnosed with this condition. Many turn to mind-numbing medications, brain surgeries and invasively implanted electrical stimulation devices, with little to no relief.

Yet, 20 years of research has shown that CBD has anti-seizure activity, and has been used successfully to treat drug-resistant, epileptic children with no side effects.

“CBD oil is also really good option for people with seizures, because you want a method of delivery they can’t choke on. As an oil, it can be rubbed on the gums and under the tongue,” adds Payton Curry, the founder of Flourish Cannabis, and a huge proponent of CBD. Curry views cannabis as a vegetable, and uses everything from the bud to the root stock to maximize its non-psychoactive properties.

DEPRESSION
These days, just thinking of the future of the health care system in this country and the assaults on our environment is enough to get a person down and out.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, in any given year, persistent depressive disorder PDD, affects approximately 1.5 percent of the U.S. population ages 18 and older. That’s about 3.3 million American adults.

In 2015, an estimated 16.1 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.

CBD has shown to have antidepressant-like actions, enhancing both serotonergic and glutamate cortical signaling through a 5-HT1A receptor-dependent mechanism.

ANXIETY
We live in a Xanax-addled society. Anxiety Disorders today affect 18.1 percent of adults in the United States, which equates to approximately 40 million adults, between the ages of 18 to 54.

One of CBD’s most promising implications is in the realm of anti-anxiety. Studies show that CBD can positively impact behavior and reduce psychological measures of stress and anxiety in conditions such as PTSD, social anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

CBD also significantly reduced cognitive impairment and discomfort in speech performance, and significantly decreased angst surrounding public speaking.

Even some pet owners have reported that using CBD oil on their dogs has calmed them down, writes Gunhee Park, Co-Founder of Ministry of Hemp.

While more research is needed to illustrate optimal dosage for anti-anxiety, consider this an opportunity to experiment and learn what works for you.

OXIDATIVE STRESS
Today, chronic disease is on the rise like never before with oxidative stress playing a significant causative role. Oxidative stress occurs when the body has too many free radicals and can’t counteract the damage. People fall prey when eating a nutrient deficient diet or when they experience an onslaught of toxins and the body can’t keep up and detox, causing more symptoms of dis-ease.

Oxidative stress is associated with a number of ailments including neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease, gene mutations and cancer.

How amazing that CBD is particularly beneficial in the treatment of oxidative stress-associated diseases of the CNS, because cannabinoids’ ability to cross the blood brain barrier and exert their antioxidant effects in the brain.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY
Chronic low-level inflammation can severely erode your health; the silent lurker contributes to at least seven of the 10 leading causes of mortality in the United States, which include heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and nephritis.

While real organic food and proper nutrition should be the base of any anti-inflammatory protocol, CBD has shown to significantly suppress chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain without causing dependency or tolerance.

CHRONIC PAIN AND NEURO-PROTECTION
Studies also indicate that this magical compound can help reduce chronic pain, which is fantastic considering America is witnessing a serious and deadly opioid epidemic. To put things in perspective, we are now losing more people to opioids than from firearms or car crashes – combined.

Cannabis can regulate immune functions and shows positive effects where neurons have been damaged, which makes it a safe and effective treatment for ALS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and MS. CBD has also slowed down cell damage in diabetes patients and worked effectively to block progression of arthritis.

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
As if CBD wasn’t already a home run, CBD also plays a positive role on our metabolism, and body weight regulation.

In a published study in the scientific journal Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry

CBD was found to:

  •       Stimulate genes and proteins that enhance the breakdown and oxidation of fat.
  •       Increase the number and activity of mitochondria, which increases the body’s ability to burn calories).
  •       Decrease the expression of proteins involved in lipogenesis (fat cell generation).
  •       Help induce fat browning.

SLEEP
Not sleeping can wreak havoc on your psyche and physique. According to the American Sleep Association, 50-70 million U.S. adults have a sleep disorder today.

Evidence suggests that CBD oil can improve quality of sleep and reduce anxiety. I can attest. One study found that CBD blocked anxiety-induced REM sleep suppression, resulting in better quality of sleep. Another study found that the oil reduced participants’ cortisol levels, which are linked to anxiety and stress in the body.

When it comes to doses for treatment, Gunhee writes that CBD dosing experiments have shown that small doses of CBD have an “active” effect, meaning it actually helps you stay active and focused while interestingly, large dosages have the opposite effect: sedation.

ADDICTION
How ironic that we can use a compound belonging to a Schedule 1 Drug (marijuana) to stop the addiction of other narcotics.

CBD is thought to modulate various neuronal circuits involved in drug addiction. A limited number of preclinical studies suggest that CBD may have therapeutic properties on opioid, cocaine and psychostimulant addictions. One of the most promising application is using CBD to curb the habits of cigarette smokers.

CBD can even be effective for the treatment of cannabis withdrawal syndrome and certainly helped me kick Xanax for good.

Many of these could replace synthetic drugs that have flooded the market and allow patients and customers to use a natural non addictive plant compound as a remedy.

In the words of Gunhee, co-founder of Populum: “…maybe that’s the exact reason why progress has been so slow; approval of CBD as a legitimate supplement and drug would be a significant blow to big pharmaceutical companies.”

By: Maryam Henein       May 12, 2017       About        Follow at @MaryamHenein


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Pot Policies: Everything You Need To Know About Marijuana Legalization

A look at pot policies across Canada

A look at how the provinces and territories plan to manage weed consumption once it’s legalized in Canada.

Cannabis curious? Jonesing for your first legal joint? Either way, get ready to roll: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says marijuana will be legal by next summer.

Bill C-45, which will legalize cannabis across the country, largely leaves it up to the provinces and territories to determine how marijuana can be sold and used. Below, we take a look at the current state of these pot policies.

Some things to consider:

  • Ontario is the only province that has passed its marijuana law. Other provinces and territories are in various stages of completing theirs, so much of the below information is subject to change. Saskatchewan and Nunavut have been excluded from our reefer roundup as both have yet to unveil even partial pot plans.
  • In every province and territory, the federally-mandated public possession limit of 30 grams of dried cannabis has been maintained, though some provinces, like Quebec and Alberta, will permit you to keep more at home.
  • With the exception of Manitoba, all jurisdictions have opted to keep their legal dope-smoking ages in line with those for drinking alcohol.
  • Bill C-45 allows individuals to grow up to four marijuana plants, though some provinces, like Manitoba and Quebec, plan to ban home cultivation.
  • Provincial and territorial plans vary widely on whether you’ll be able to smoke in public.
  • Provinces and territories also differ on whether pot shops will be publicly or privately owned. For those opting for publicly-owned stores, these will be operated by provincial Crown corporations that sell liquor. In some cases, provinces have even created subsidiaries of these companies with names like CannabisNB and the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation. Unless otherwise noted, these will be standalone stores wholly separate from those that sell alcohol.

After our jurisdictional breakdown, keep reading. We’ll also attempt to peer through the haze at the biggest issues still facing marijuana legalization: namely, testing drivers for impairment, weed in the workplace, smoking in rental properties and the availability of edible products.

ALBERTA
Age: 18+
Where to buy: Privately-run storefronts plus government-operated online sales.
Grow your own?: Up to four plants. Outdoor growing will be banned.
Where to smoke?: Only where tobacco may be smoked.
Other notes: No possession limits in private residences.

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Both government and privately-run storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: To be determined.
Where to smoke?: Only where tobacco may be smoked.
Other notes: More details are expected in early 2018.

MANITOBA
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Privately-run storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: Not permitted.
Where to smoke?: To be determined.
Other notes: Legal age is one year above the legal drinking age. Municipalities will be able to hold referendums to ban retail stores.

NEW BRUNSWICK
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Government-operated storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: Up to four plants.
Where to smoke?: Only on private property and in private residences.
Other notes: 20 cannabis stores will be open in July. No possession limits in private residences. All cannabis must be securely locked up at home.

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Privately-run storefronts plus government-operated online sales.
Grow your own?: To be determined.
Where to smoke?: Only on private property and in private residences.
Other notes: Government-run liquor stores will sell cannabis in some smaller municipalities. Private online sales may be permitted in the future.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Privately-run liquor stores and government-operated online sales
Grow your own?: Up to four plants.
Where to smoke?: On private property and in private residences. Smoking will also be allowed on trails, highways, streets, roads and in parks when they are not in use for public events.
Other notes: Cannabis will initially be sold through liquor stores. Individual communities will be able to enact cannabis restrictions and/or prohibitions. Landlords will also be able to declare their properties smoke-free.

NOVA SCOTIA
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Government-operated storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: Up to four plants.
Where to smoke?: To be determined.
Other notes: Cannabis will be sold alongside alcohol in provincial liquor stores.

ONTARIO
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Government-operated storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: Up to four plants.
Where to smoke?: Only on private property and in private residences.
Other notes: 40 cannabis stores will be open in July. 150 will be in operation by 2020.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Government-operated storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: To be determined.
Where to smoke?: Only on private property and in private residences.
Other notes: More details are expected in early 2018.

QUEBEC
Age: 18+
Where to buy: Government-operated storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: Not permitted.
Where to smoke?: Only where tobacco may be smoked, with the exception of university and CEGEP campuses.
Other notes: 15 cannabis stores will be open in July. 150 will be in operation by 2020. Users will be able to keep up to 150 grams at home.

YUKON
Age: 19+
Where to buy: Government-operated storefronts and online sales.
Grow your own?: Up to four plants.
Where to smoke?: Only on private property and in private residences.
Other notes: At least one cannabis store to be opened in Whitehorse in July. Private retailers may be allowed in the future. Landlords will be able to ban marijuana use.

Other issues to consider:

IMPAIRED DRIVING

  • There is currently no government-approved roadside testing technology for marijuana impairment.
  • According to a recent Health Canada survey, there is also currently no consensus on how long it takes to be able to drive safely after consuming cannabis.
  • Experts say roadside urine and blood tests are not useful ways to test drivers for impairment because regular marijuana users can yield positive results days — or even weeks — after use.
  • Currently, specially-trained police “Drug Recognition Experts” (DREs) use a 12-step system to detect drug impairment in drivers, including examining one’s eyes, attention, blood pressure and pulse.
  • While the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that DREs can be used for expert evidence in trials, critics have decried the subjective nature of their evaluations.
  • The RCMP, in conjunction with other Canadian police departments and Public Safety Canada, has recently experimented with roadside saliva tests. While these have proven to successfully test for the presence of marijuana in a driver’s system within several hours of use, they cannot quantify a driver’s level of impairment the way roadside alcohol tests do. It is thus feasible for a driver to fail a roadside saliva test despite not being impaired. A recent University of Calgary study, moreover, shows that it’s also possible to fail a roadside saliva test after inhaling second-hand marijuana smoke.
  • Regarding drug-impaired driving, some provinces are opting to err on the side of caution. Quebec, for example, has proposed a zero-tolerance policy that allows police to arrest anyone who fails a roadside saliva test and immediately suspend their license for 90 days. Ontario will also be enforcing a similar zero-tolerance policy for commercial drivers and drivers 21 and under while simultaneously beefing up existing fines and penalties for non-novice drivers over the age of 21.
  • Once cannabis becomes legal, police forces across the country will likely be utilizing roadside saliva tests before moving onto assessments by DREs to determine if a driver is impaired.

 

WEED AT WORK

  • Employers have expressed concern that marijuana legalization will lead to impairment, lower productivity, poor attendance and safety issues in the workplace.
  • An even bigger grey area is whether employers will legally be able to test, discipline or even fire workers for using a substance that is legal.
  • Business groups are hoping that provincial legislation clarifies both employer and employee rights regarding marijuana.

 

REEFER IN RENTALS

  • It remains unclear if landlords will be able to prohibit tenants from smoking marijuana in rental properties.
  • Landlords are also concerned about tenants growing marijuana, which could lead to increased electricity usage and the spread of damaging mould.
  • Real estate lawyers are currently looking to tobacco-smoking rules for guidance. While landlords cannot retroactively prohibit smoking tobacco in rental units, they can include such restrictions in new leases. It is unclear if such existing restrictions will be applicable to marijuana once it becomes legal. Landlords are also currently able to take action on cigarette smoking if migrating smoke bothers others in a property. Court rulings regarding such cases, however, have been inconsistent.
  • Saskatchewan, Yukon and the Northwest Territories have proposed laws that would allow landlords to ban using marijuana on their properties. Only time will tell if courts will offer landlords those same rights in other jurisdictions.

 

EDIBLE PRODUCTS

  • Marijuana-infused edible products like packaged cookies and candies will not be available in the summer of 2018.
  • For medicinal users, however, Health Canada has emphatically recommended against smoking the plant due to the potential for respiratory issues.
  • According to a September study, nearly half of Canadians want to try edible marijuana products after legalization goes into effect.
  • While dried cannabis and cannabis oil – both of which will be sold in 2018 – can be used to make edible products at home, the federal government has said that packaged edible products won’t be commercially available until approximately one year after legalization goes into effect.
Daniel Otis, CTVNews.ca Writer    @dsotis
Tuesday, December 26, 2017


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World Health Group: Pot’s CBD Has Health Benefits

A compound found in the cannabis plant is not harmful, has health benefits, and does not have abuse potential, experts at the World Health Organization say.

The WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence focused on cannabidiol, or CBD, one of the naturally occurring cannabinoids found in cannabis plants.

After reviewing evidence from animal and human studies, the committee concludes that “In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential.”

The experts produced the report in November, while the WHO announced its conclusions this week. In May, the committee will study cannabis and cannabis-related substances more fully.

Other major studies have shown marijuana and its products can relieve pain, nausea related to cancer treatment, and multiple sclerosis-related muscle spasms. But using cannabis has well-known short-term and long-term health effects, such as learning and coordination problems.

Because federal law makes it a crime to have marijuana and CBD, researchers must pass strict government scrutiny just to study its usefulness.

DEA View of CBD
The conclusion of the WHO flies in the face of the view of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It says that CBD must be treated the same as THC and other cannabinoids from a cannabis plant, and it should remain a Schedule I drug.

NORML Response
Marijuana advocates applauded the WHO’s conclusion. “It was terrific to see WHO acknowledge what other scientific research has already stated,” says Justin Strekal, political director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

In an email statement, he adds: “While we are pleased to see the WHO finally acknowledge that absurdity of international restrictions, the continued domestic classification and criminalization of cannabidiol as a Schedule I controlled substance is out of step with both available science and common sense. It is yet another example of the U.S. government placing ideology over evidence when it comes to issues related to the cannabis plant.”

 

CALM Response
Scott Chipman, Southern California chairman of Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM), took issue with the report.

“We need to maintain a strict scientific perspective and protocols when it comes to new drugs,” he says. “We need double-blind studies related to marijuana and all components, research on the harms versus the benefits, identification of the side effects and specific ailments identified through these studies – even for CBD,” he says.

He says some ongoing drug studies of CBD do show promise in treating seizure disorders, but he also sees potential problems with the drugs, along with concerns about contamination and other potential harms with over-the-counter products.

What Is Medical Marijuana?
Medical marijuana is any part of the marijuana plant that you use to treat health problems. People use it to get relief from their symptoms, not to try to get high.

Most marijuana that’s sold legally as medicine has the same ingredients as the kind that people use for pleasure. But some medical marijuana is specially grown to have less of the chemicals that cause feelings of euphoria.

The experts also say that CBD might be able to treat epilepsy (where most research has focused), although results are mixed. Other conditions it might treat are Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, anxiety, depression, and other maladies. CBD may ease inflammation, provide antioxidants, and relieve pain.

Based on its research, the committee concluded that current information does not call for scheduling of the drug. In the U.S., CBD is a Schedule 1 controlled substance. These are defined as drugs with no medical use and likely to be abused.

Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes. Other states, including Georgia, have legalized the possession of CBD to treat specific disorders.

It remains a federal crime, however, to have or sell any form of marijuana, including CBD. Despite those federal regulations, CBD is an ingredient in popular products sold over the counter as oils, extracts, supplements, and gum to treat many ailments.

CBD usually is given as a capsule or dissolved in liquid to be taken orally, under the tongue, or as a nasal spray. CBD does not produce the high that another cannabinoid – tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -does, experts say. In fact, CBD appears to have effects opposite of THC.

The WHO announcement drew a positive response from marijuana advocates and criticism from those who don’t want it to be legal.

By Kathleen Doheny   Dec. 15, 2017       Article Reviewed by Neha Pathak, MD on December 15, 2017

Sources
World Health Organization: Cannabidiol (CBD) Pre-Review Report, Expert Committee on Drug Dependence Thirty-ninth Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 6-10, 2017.
Scott Chipman, Southern California chairman, Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM).
Justin Strekal, political director, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
Governing: “State Marijuana Laws in 2017 Map.”
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: “Nearly 100 Conclusions on the Health Effects of Marijuana and Cannabis-Derived Products Presented in New Report; One of the Most Comprehensive Studies of Recent Research on Health Effects of Recreational and Therapeutic Use of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Products.”

source: WebMD


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Study Highlights Medical Marijuana’s Underexplored Potential For Helping Opioid Addiction

A small human pilot study, along with a number of animal studies, are revealing that cannabinoids, extracts of cannabis legally sold as medical marijuana, could reduce cravings and ease withdrawal symptoms in heroin users. In light of the U.S. opioid epidemic, this is a neglected area of research that quickly needs attention, argues neurobiologist Yasmin Hurd of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who studies how both cannabinoids and opioids act on the brain. She discusses her position in a short review published February 2 in Trends in Neurosciences.

While both cannabinoids and opioids regulate the perception of pain, the two drugs affect different parts of the brain and how the sensation is communicated from neuron to neuron. This translates into cannabinoids having, for example, a stronger effect on inflammation-based chronic pain. Meanwhile, opioids are particularly good at relieving acute pain, which is why they are used in surgery. The problem is that opioids can quickly lead to a deadly addiction.

“If you look at both drugs and where their receptors are, opioids are much more dangerous, in part because of the potential for overdose–the opioid receptors are very abundant in the brainstem area that regulates our respiration, so they shut down the breathing center if opioid doses are high,” Hurd says. “Cannabinoids don’t do that. They have a much wider window of therapeutic benefit without causing an overdose in adults.” Young people can overdose from consuming too much edible medical marijuana.

medical-marijuana

Accumulating evidence in animal models supports that cannabinoids could have long-lasting therapeutic effects. A specific cannabinoid, cannabidiol, has been seen to reduce heroin cravings in animals more than a week after abstinence, and seems to restore some of the neurobiological damage induced by opioid use. A small pilot human investigation led by Hurd mirrored these findings in rodents. In the study, cannabidiol particularly helped relieve anxiety related to cravings in heroin users abstaining from use.

Politicians are only beginning to acknowledge that an epidemic of opioid overdoses is taking place across the United States, particularly in suburban and rural areas, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse is asking researchers to think creatively about new strategies for pain relief (10.1016/j.neuron.2016.09.051). Marijuana has been a neglected option because there are restrictions on studying its effects in humans. While there has been a growing interest by the scientific community in cannabinoids since the legalization of medical marijuana, it means that we still don’t know much about how it could be used therapeutically, despite at least a million people having prescriptions.

“We have to be open to marijuana because there are components of the plant that seem to have therapeutic properties, but without empirical-based research or clinical trials, we’re letting anecdotes guide how people vote and policies that are going to be made,” Hurd says. “It’s one of the first times in our history that we’re making laypeople and politicians decide whether things are medicinal or not. If we want to say something is medical marijuana, we have to prove that it is medicinal.”

CELL PRESS      February 2, 2017
 


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Britain Reclassifies CBD As Medicine While U.S. Still Calls It A Dangerous Drug

Imagine you are the parent of a child with a life-threatening form of epilepsy. Your young one experiences hundreds of debilitating and horrific seizures on a weekly basis. If you are like most parents, then you’d do anything you could to find a medicine that helped them.

That’s the story of Paige and Matt Figi, whose daughter Charlotte had a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet’s syndrome. In fact, Charlotte’s grand mal episodes were so bad that her heart actually stopped several times. Paige and Matt tried every potential remedy doctors recommended, from medication to a medically induced coma, but nothing seemed to work.

Article:  Raw Honey and Coconut Oil: 5 Fantastic Uses of This Superfood Duo
After exhausting all conventional options, Matt and Paige stumbled across a Youtube video of a California boy with Dravet’s who had been helped by cannabis. The Figis made the courageous decision to give CBD oil — a non-psychoactive extract derived from medical marijuana — a chance. Miraculously, the cannabis-based medicine proved to be a life-changing and life-saving treatment.

Indeed, Charlotte’s seizures decreased dramatically from several hundred a week to just two or three a month. In addition, she began to make progress on multiple fronts, so much so that she started doing many things normal for her age such as walking and riding a bicycle. As her mother Paige put it, “[Before treatment] I didn’t hear her laugh for six months. I didn’t hear her voice at all, just her crying. I can’t imagine that I would be watching her making these gains that she’s making, doing the things that she’s doing [without the medical marijuana]. I don’t take it for granted. Every day is a blessing.”

The British government reclassifies CBD as medicine

A growing body of clinical studies are confirming anecdotal reports Charlotte’s story. A scientific and medical consensus is emerging. Cannabis-based medicines like CBD oil are helping patients with epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and numerous other conditions.

Recently, the UK moved to reclassify CBD as a legitimate medicine. The decision, made by Britain’s Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) means that CBD products can now be distributed and used for medicinal purposes within the United Kingdom.

As a spokesperson for the agency put it, “We have come to the opinion that products containing cannabidiol (CBD) used for medical purposes are a medicine. MHRA will now work with individual companies and trade bodies in relation to making sure products containing CBD, used for a medical purpose, which can be classified as medicines, satisfy the legal requirements of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.”

 

what-is-cbd
 => US and Britain Are Opposed When It Comes To CBD Oil
=> American classifies CBD oil as a Schedule I drug along with heroin
=> Medical marijuana has proven health benefits

The DEA blows it by classifying CBD as a Schedule I drug

As our neighbors across the pond were crafting policy based on the evidence the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in this country was busy ignoring it. In mid-December, the agency stealthily moved to classify CBD as a Schedule I substance. That designation encompasses drugs that have a high potential for abuse (like heroin) and no accepted medical use.

The DEA insisted that the establishment of a new drug code covering CBD was simply a bureaucratic measure intended to make it easier to track and distinguish research involving CBD extracts and marijuana. As Russell Baer, a DEA spokesperson explained, “It’s an internal accounting mechanism for us. The purpose is to drill down and get more accurate information about research that’s being conducted with CBD in particular.”

However, critics and legal experts are not convinced. They believe that the DEA’s actions are a ruse to ensure that all cannabinoids — including non-psychoactive CBD — remain illegal. In fact, they contend that the DEA’s action amounts to an illegal power grab.

For example, as Robert Hoban, a law professor at the University of Denver notes, “This action is beyond the DEA’s authority. The DEA can only carry out the law, they cannot create it. Here, they’re purporting to create an entirely new category called ‘marijuana extracts,’ and by doing so wrest control over all cannabinoids. They want to call all cannabinoids illegal. But they don’t have the authority to do that.”

The science behind medical marijuana

The DEA’s actions are probably unlawful. But they are demonstrably unscientific, irrational and inhumane as well. In recent years, scientists have discovered that the body’s endocannabinoid system — a network of receptors responsible for hormonal signaling and homeostasis — is critical to our emotional and physical well-being.

Indeed, the endocannabinoid system is so crucial to regulation of our emotional and physical health that it’s possible to think of this network as the intersection of the mind and body. Deficiencies or impairments in the endocannabinoid system are believed to be behind a wide range of conditions including mood disorders, immune dysfunction, irritable bowel syndrome and migraines.

Cannabinoids in marijuana mimic the body’s natural system

The body manufactures endocannabinoids naturally. However, scientists like Dr. Ethan Russo speculate that lack of exercise, stress, bad diet and poor quality sleep may contribute to endocannabinoid deficiencies, which can manifest as chronic pain, fatigue and immune dysfunction.

The cannabinoids found in marijuana, of course, mimic the function of the endocannabinoids that the body manufactures. The centrality of the endocannabinoid system to health and the fact that cannabinoids found in marijuana can help address deficiencies goes a long way in explaining why cannabis-based medicines are proving so effective for immune disorders like MS, fibromyalgia and arthritis.

Cannabis is also proving efficacious for a host of other maladies, from epilepsy to chronic pain to metabolic disorders as well. Dr. Ethan Russo sums up the growing recognition among health practitioners well when he writes, “Cannabis is the single most versatile herbal remedy and the most useful plant on Earth. No other single plant contains as wide a range of medically active herbal constituents.”

Even with DEA verdict, Americans support medical marijuana

Britain’s decision to reclassify CBD as medicine is simply an acknowledgment of the scientific evidence. On the other hand, on the face of it, the DEA’s move to designate CBD as a Schedule I substance reeks of hypocrisy and a willful blindness to scientific and medical facts. The agency’s decision is not just contrary to reason, sane public policy and compassion. It is also decidedly at odds with public opinion — at least 89 percent of Americans now support the use of medical marijuana. The DEA’s edict is destined to go up in smoke.

By Scott O’Reilly    January 13, 2017


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6 Scientific Reasons Why You Should Consider Not Smoking Weed On A Regular Basis

It’s about being balanced and informed.
Exploring the upsides and downsides to cannabis.

We’ve reported a ton on the benefits of cannabis and its potential in medical applications, but what about the other side of the coin? Is it fair to say cannabis comes with no downsides? When treating people and seeing positive benefits, what negative effects might also come?

Marijuana has been the subject of intense debate over these last few years. Now legal in multiple states in the U.S. and authorized for medicinal purposes in even more, an increasing number of people are recognizing how arbitrary the line is between legal substances, like alcohol and cigarettes, and illegal ones, like pot — particularly since both alcohol and cigarettes have been shown to be extremely detrimental to the human body, while marijuana has not.

But what’s the reason for that? Getting marijuana to study has proven to be incredibly difficult for many researchers and therefore getting study results has been tough.[2]

So given that this natural substance is being used incredibly regularly, and yet doesn’t have a full scope of research behind it, we wanted to balance the scales and bring awareness to the fact that we should really think twice before using this substance daily for long periods of time and thinking it’s completely safe. Unless of course you have been prescribed the substance, but even at that, it’s good to be in the know.[2]

This article came in response to a recent article pointing out the sheer benefits of smoking cannabis without mentioning the other side of the coin. We feel any research that takes this approach is simply not beneficial to public awareness.

To be clear, we’re not saying this plant should be illegal. It’s a plant, but we don’t know as much about its safety in daily and long term use as we’d like.

We Can’t Blindly View It As Safe

The massive support for the legalization of marijuana does have its drawbacks, as it leads people to believe that smoking marijuana is completely harmless, and even good for you. While it can be quite therapeutic for dulling pain or alleviating anxiety, so can alcohol and even prescription drugs. It seems like people are willing to see the downsides of those substances but not cannabis. [1]

In reality, research shows that smoking cannabis on a regular basis may still be hazardous. Many forget that the plant’s medicinal benefits are most readily taken advantage of when it is ingested, not smoked.

It is admittedly encouraging to see all of the support for the legalization of marijuana, and all of the evidence emerging that smoking it is not as harmful as it was originally said to be. The legalization of marijuana threatens many industries, so perhaps this is why it has taken so long to get the ball rolling.

That being said, more of a balance is needed: with so much support out there for marijuana, many people, especially young people, think there are no health consequences of smoking it. This is why we’ve decided to put together a list of 7 reasons why you should really consider not smoking marijuana on a regular basis.

We are very well aware of the other side of cannabis (articles). For example, we recently published an article showing how cannabis helped cure a girl from cancer. She is one of many examples of people who have benefited immensely from cannabis, and it’s important to raise awareness about how paediatric cannabis is saving lives. You can read that article here.

We have also published a number of articles on why marijuana should be legal, as well as reported on the dozens of health benefits it boasts, from helping people with pain and epilepsy to replacing prescription drugs and more.

A number of studies have been published that show cannabis completely annihilates cancer. We are talking about decades of research (a simple google search for scholarly articles on cannabis and cancer will show you this). Despite this fact, no human clinical trials have been conducted. Here is an article of a molecular biologist explaining how THC kills cancer.

It’s also important to mention that we are not against smoking weed, but based on the science, smoking weed regularly on a daily basis for a period that lasts more than a year could be harmful to your health.

“Really, the way to do these things, is to do them rarely so that your whole system can reassert itself and come to equilibrium. . . I think the real way to do cannabis is like, once a week. . . . ” — Terrence McKenna (source)

1. Most of the Medicinal Benefits of Marijuana Come From Different Methods of Ingestion, Not Smoking

Cannabinoids are any group of related compounds that include cannabinol and the active constituents of cannabis. They activate cannabinoid receptors that already exist in our body, and our bodies themselves actually produce compounds called endocannabinoids.  These play a vital role in the human body, helping to create a healthy environment. Cannabinoids themselves also play an important role in immune system regeneration. Studies have shown that multiple constituents of cannabis can kill cancer cells, repair damaged brain cells, and more.[3] The medical potential of this plant is truly miraculous, and it’s a shame that despite decades of research showing undeniable results, like its ability to completely annihilate cancer, human clinical trials are only n0w commencing, and only in conjunction with chemotherapy drugs.

It’s important to know that contrary to popular belief, smoking cannabis does not assist a great deal in treating disease within the body, as therapeutic levels cannot be reached through smoking. Creating oil from the plant or eating the plant is the best way to absorb cannabinoids. Smoking also alters the plant molecules; when cannabis is heated and burnt it changes the chemical structure and acidity of the THC, which in turn negates its therapeutic value. The smoke from marijuana is toxic to the body, just as the smoke from any other substance would be. (I will discuss this further on in the article.) Furthermore, anytime you burn something and inhale it, you create oxidation within the body, which is unhealthy and can lead to many issues.

None of the health benefits of marijuana come from smoking it. When one says “cannabis cures cancer,” that doesn’t mean smoking it.

2. Heavy Marijuana Use Is Linked To Lower Dopamine Levels In The Brain

Researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University have found that heavy smokers of marijuana could have a compromised dopamine system. When studying heavy smokers, they discovered lower dopamine release in one region of the brain, the striatum, which is the part of the brain that’s involved in working memory, impulsive behaviour, and attention. Several other studies have shown that addiction to other drugs can have similar effects on dopamine release, but this is the first evidence of its kind linking it to smoking cannabis.[4]

The study examined 11 adults between the ages of 21 and 40 who were heavily dependent on cannabis against 12 healthy control subjects. 16 was the average age these individuals started smoking, and they had not stopped since.

Their press release outlines how the study was conducted, and the methods used:

Using positron emission tomography (PET) to track a radiolabelled molecule that binds to dopamine receptors in the brain, the scientists measured dopamine release in the striatum and its subregions, as well as in several brain regions outside the striatum, including the thalamus, midbrain, and globus pallidus. The cannabis users in this study stayed in the hospital for a week of abstinence to ensure that the PET scans were not measuring the acute effects of the drug. Participants were scanned before and after being given oral amphetamine to elicit dopamine release. The percent change in the binding of the radiotracer was taken as an indicator of capacity for dopamine release.
Compared with the controls, the cannabis users had significantly lower dopamine release in the striatum, including subregions involved in associative and sensorimotor learning, and in the globus pallidus. (source)(source)

Anissa Abi-Dargham, MD, a professor of psychiatry (in radiology) at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and a lead author of the paper, said that “the bottom line is that long-term, heavy cannabis use may impair the dopaminergic system, which could have a variety of negative effects on learning and behaviour.” She also went on to emphasize that “these findings add to the growing body of research demonstrating the potentially adverse effects of cannabis, particularly in youth, at the same time that government policies and laws are increasing access and use.” (source)

Here is another study that was done two years ago that examines the same thing.

We all know correlation does not mean causation, but we all know that it doesn’t either. You have to make your own judgements, use the Bradford Hill Criteria, and look at a number of different studies from both sides.

Based on everything I’ve looked at, in my opinion, marijuana smoking does have some sort of effect on the brain in multiple ways, differing from person to person. Whether it’s ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ I’m not sure.

joint

3. Smoking Marijuana Linked To Schizophrenia, But It’s Complicated

A number of studies have linked smoking cannabis to schizophrenia and psychosis.[5] For example, a fairly recent study found that schizophrenia plays a role in a person’s likelihood of smoking weed. The study showed that genetic variants predicting schizophrenia  can also be used to predict a person’s tendency to smoke pot. The study showed that the same genes that predispose people to enjoying smoking cannabis might also predispose some to develop schizophrenia.

Lead author of the study, Robert Power, a genetic psychiatrist at King’s College London stated that “there is a well-established link between people who use cannabis and schizophrenia.” (source)

Based on the scientific literature, it’s quite clear that there is a link, and at the same time, it seems to be clear that there isn’t. Mathew Hill, a cell biologist at the University of Calgary, tells us “the relationship is an ongoing debate in the scientific world — at least what the nature of the association is.” He also told us that “there is little evidence that, at a population level, cannabis use during adolescence is a primary contributing factor in the development of psychiatric illness.” (source)

Just because some studies show an associative link does not mean there is one. At the same time, it doesn’t mean that there’s not one. This is the key! Some studies have shown that people who are in the early stages of schizophrenia that also smoke weed experience much larger brain modifications, like changes in white matter, compared to those who are not susceptible to schizophrenia.

What is clear is that people who already show signs of psychotic illness do experience adverse effects from smoking marijuana.

“There is definitely some kind of genetic basis to increased vulnerability to these adverse effects (in people with schizophrenia) that go beyond the correlational association.” — Mathew Hill (source)

Again, it’s well-known that marijuana smoking by people with schizophrenia only worsens the disease, and a number of studies have shown that smoking marijuana actually increases the development of schizophrenia in those who might be genetically predisposed to it. So, if you have a family history of psychotic illness, smoking weed is something you might not want to partake in, or if you suffer from any other ailment that’s classified as a mental illness for that matter.

One thing seems to be certain: cannabis smoking does affect the brain in various ways, especially at crucial stages of brain development in adolescents.

Below is a great publication and a good summary to find out more information about this topic and why it’s so confusing. Again, this connection (between schizophrenia and marijuana smoking) is still up for debate in the scientific world, and there are conflicting studies that continue to contradict each other every single year. This suggests that we simply don’t know enough and therefore should be careful with our habits.

So, next time someone tells you that there is a link between schizophrenia and marijuana smoking, they’re wrong, and next time someone tells you there is no link, they are also wrong! The best way to avoid any risk is to just avoid smoking marijuana all together.

Clearing the smoke: What do we know about adolescent cannabis use and schizophrenia?

4. Smoking Marijuana Changes Your Brain

One recent study found that using marijuana daily for at least four years or longer can create certain anatomical changes in the brain. In this particular study, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the brains of approximately 50 adults who were chronic marijuana users, compared to more than 60 people who didn’t use marijuana at all.

Researchers found that the people who had been smoking daily for at least four years had a smaller volume of gray matter in their orbitofrontal cortex, which is usually associated with addiction.

Lead author of the study, Francesca Filbey, an Associate Professor in the School of Behavioural Brain Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas said, “not only is there a change in structure but there tends to be a change reflected in connectivity…all we can say is that we do see these [differences].” (source)

This is concerning, especially given the fact that grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system. Not only is it associated with addiction, it’s also associated with muscle control, sensory perception, memory, emotions, speech, decision making and self-control. A smaller amount of grey matter has also been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, including depression. There is a widespread reduction of gray matter in people who suffer depression, and yes, smoking marijuana may give temporary relief from depression, but when one doesn’t have it, they might feel depressed.  Marijuana could contribute to depression, and the fact that one feels better when one smokes it might make them think that it helps with their depression. This could be dangerous as they could be constantly depleting their gray matter.

Again, there are a number of studies that show smoking marijuana recently can drastically change the brain, and also disrupt brain development.

Another recent study also found that marijuana smokers showed signs of damage in the corpus callous, which is a major white matter tract that connects the left side of the brain to the right side. However, the study did mention that the people examined could have had deviant brain structures prior to their use.

A study published a few years ago showed that people who constantly smoke marijuana have abnormal brain structures, but multiple studies have also shown that marijuana smokers show no difference in brain structure.

The list goes on and on, but one thing is for certain: the effects on the brain are unclear. Further research is needed to identify what smoking marijuana does to the brain because there are still a number of studies that are contradictory. That being said, there is no doubt that it does something, but the way it interacts with our biology can vary for each individual.

5. Smoking Harms The Lungs

Regardless of what you are smoking, smoke is harmful to lung health; this is a no-brainer. Whether it’s burning wood, tobacco or marijuana, toxins and carcinogens are released from the combustion of materials. Smoke from marijuana combustion is no different. According to the American Lung Association:

Smoking marijuana clearly damages the human lung. Research shows that smoking marijuana causes chronic bronchitis and marijuana smoke has been shown to injure the cell linings of the large airways, which could explain why smoking marijuana leads to symptoms such as chronic cough, phlegm production, wheeze and acute bronchitis.

Again, marijuana smoke contains a similar range of harmful chemicals to that of tobacco smoke, and there is no shortage of research suggesting that long-term marijuana smoking is associated with an increased risk of some respiratory problems. Despite this proven correlation, there is no association between smoking marijuana and lung cancer.

There are other alternatives to smoking marijuana, such as vaporizing or eating it.

6. Smoking Marijuana Can Increase Your Risk of Serious Cardiovascular Disorders

Multiple studies have connected smoking marijuana with potential cardiovascular disorders. One recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association noted that:

Several striking cardiovascular complications following cannabis use raised the issue of possible implications of cannabis in cardiovascular outcomes…The rate of cannabis-related cardiovascular complications reported steadily rose during the past 5 years.  Cardiovascular disorders represented 2 percent of the reports related to cannabis, classified into cardiac, cerebral, and peripheral arteriopathies. This result is consistent with previous findings and strengthens the idea that cannabis may be responsible for serious complications, in particular on the cardiovascular system. (source)

Another recent study, published last year concluded that:

The evidence reported in this article point toward an undisputed linkage between cannabis consumption and potentially lethal cardiovascular complications. (source)

Something to Consider:

Trouble Living Life Without Smoking

As with so many of our other favourite habits, smoking is a vice, and many people who smoke weed have difficulty stopping. Life often feels boring without it; smoking becomes a need and almost a mental addiction (we know there is no physical addiction involved.) And this is obviously problematic. It is rare to find someone who will be able to smoke a joint a couple of times a month, which is the amount many experts in the field of “mind-altering”‘ drugs propose. It’s a substance that is abused and not given the respect it deserves, often being used as an escape — helping the person avoid asking themselves why they feel the need to alter their state so often. If you are a regular smoker and notice that without smoking for a night or two you become bored, anxious, or depressed, or have certain feelings come up because you don’t have a joint in your hand, it may be time to consider reducing your usage, and perhaps facing those negative feelings head-on.

If you have a hard time going without smoking a joint, that in itself is a problem. Alternatively, if you are a regular marijuana smoker but can easily stop for weeks at a time, without any desire to smoke, perhaps you don’t have a problem. The main point here is that smoking shouldn’t be used to escape one’s problems because it just prolongs the process of facing them.

How Is It Grown?

These days, it’s hard to find ‘pure weed.’ Most people are not aware of the original source, and marijuana can be grown with harmful pesticides. In fact, it wasn’t after the legalization of marijuana in Colorado when authorities found dangers pesticides in most of the marijuana that was being sold. You can read more about that here.

Where do the seeds come from? When Big Pharma takes over, what type of seeds will they be, and how will it be grown? Are they genetically modified? There are still many questions to be asked.

Concluding Comments

So what can you take from all of this? We simply don’t know enough about this plant and smoking it to do it everyday and expect nothing bad will happen. There has been a very misleading culture spread about how safe this is to use in all forms and that simply isn’t the case.

Many natural substances are harmful to you if you have too much of it and too regularly. Even natural medicinal botanicals are things like this are not meant to be used everyday.

Again, we hope this helps to clear up the negative stigma around marijuana and also the blind-faithed positive stigma around it. Balance is important in this case and what we strive to convey in this report.

by Arjun Walia        April 25, 2016


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Study Finds Alcohol Makes You Aggressive; Pot, Pretty Much the Opposite

Pot heads are mellow, drunks can be mean. That’s the common wisdom, and now, thanks to a group of researchers from the Netherlands, it has some scientific validation. In a just-published study in the journal Psychopharmacology, they found that—doh!—people on  booze act out, while people on pot peacefully space out.

“The results in the present study support the hypothesis that acute alcohol intoxication increases feelings of aggression and that acute cannabis intoxication reduces feelings of aggression,” the researchers concluded.

The study itself sounds like fun. In a random, controlled trial, the researchers recruited 21 heavy pot smokers (at least three times a week), 20 heavy drinkers (at least three drinks a day for men, two for women), and a control group of 20 who used neither substance heavily.

alcohol_agression

They then had the drinkers drink until they were too drunk to legally drive (0.08% blood alcohol level) and the tokers vape up 300 micrograms of THC per kilogram of body weight, enough to get them nicely baked. The control group, being the control group, missed out on the intoxicants.

Then all three groups completed a number of tests designed to get people wound up. In one, subjects played a computer game in which the object was to win money by pressing buttons, but players’ efforts were undermined by an “adversary” that took money from them. The adversary was actually part of the computer program. In a second test, known as a “single category implicit association test,” subjects were shown images of violent and aggressive behavior and asked to match positive and negative words to the photos.

The researchers measured aggression by asking the subjects to rate how aggressive they felt on a 100-point scale, and weighed that against a baseline score established by asking them the same question before they had gotten wasted. And they ran the tests one more time a week later, with the same subjects, but without getting them high or drunk.

“Alcohol intoxication increased subjective aggression in the alcohol group,” the researchers found, but pot smokers became less aggressive when baked.

It wasn’t just subjective. While alcohol drinkers rated themselves as more aggressive when drunk, they were also found to be objectively more aggressive, as measured by their willingness to undermine their opponents in the computer game.

We already know that marijuana is a less harmful drug than alcohol, being both far less toxic and less addictive than booze. And now we get some scientific backing for something else that was already patently obvious.

By Phillip Smith       AlterNet       July 23, 2016       Hold the presses
Philip Smith is editor of the AlterNet Drug Reporter and author of the Drug War Chronicle.
source: www.alternet.org 

 

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Harm Caused By Drugs Table

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How to Reverse the Negative Effects of Marijuana Consumption

Every substance we put into our bodies has an impact on our mind and body functions. Marijuana is the most used illegal substance in the world. Millions of North Americans smoke marijuana occasionally (occasional users) while others use it on a regular basis (chronic users). As mentioned before, marijuana has a series of short and long term effects in several dimensions of the human body, and it’s not as light as presented, especially if there is an addiction or history of extended use, since often an addiction has tragic effects on the addict and their relatives. In this article we will address how to minimize the negative effects of marijuana. If you enjoy smoking or taking this drug, this could be a perfect way to minimize the possible guilt of using the substance and minimizing the negative side effects.

Minimizing and Reversing the Negative Effects of Chronic Marijuana Consumption

• Most people who use smoke their marijuana. Try using a vaporizer to minimize the side effects of the smoke in lungs. Marijuana could be a risk factor in pulmonary diseases like bronchitis or emphysema.
• Give yourself a break! The best way to minimize the effects of marijuana is by taking progressively fewer doses and progressively sensitizing the brain to low quantities. Sensitize is a reverse toleration. Toleration is a common phenomenon in substance abuse and is described as the need for higher substance concentrations to get the same effect . This occurs at a molecular level, where there the neurons get used to a particular quantity of the metabolites involved. If you take a periodic breaks from smoking, from 1 day to 1+ years, you’ll find the effects are stronger, because the brain starts to rebuild and to rest from the intense neurochemical firing, particularly in the brain reward center. If you don’t wish to stop smoking at all, take a few breaks every now and then to rest your brain and lungs, and clean your liver and blood from the chemicals involved. If you cannot stop, it may be a warning sign that you are addicted to cannabis.
• Move your body. Exercise. Smoking harms the body in 1000 different ways and scientists are still learning the effects of smoking in each of our cells. Exercise improves circulation, oxygen absorption, and appropriate wasting of toxins. Exercise is a preventive measure for lung cancer, diabetes and heart disease. It improves cognitive function as well, use exercise to improve your cardiovascular, mood and energy levels.
• Cognitive training. There is a debate if the popular brain gym training pages that circulates through internet are beneficial or not. Some propose that these type of games won’t transfer to real world situations. However, some studies suggest a positive effect in everyday functional outcomes. Games like chess, memory match, scrabble, puzzles, or hand coordination games like jenga, may be beneficial and help the brain to function even better.
• Yoga and anxiety. Some people use marijuana to relieve stress and to avoid anxiety. If you are less anxious, you will probably decrease the desire to smoke. Yoga and meditation have been shown to decrease social anxiety in several populations and improve quality of life. The focused attention on breath and sensations have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety.
• Detox. The by-products in marijuana are stored in fatty acids and secreted by sweat, feces, and urine. Some of the metabolites can store in your body for months, depending in the doses taken and body fat. Try fasting or detoxification with raw food and juice smoothies.

cannabis-infographic
By Andres Carvajal         Edited by Stephanie Dawson        Aug 19, 2013
 
Sources
  • Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: A review and meta-analysis. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15, 593–600
  • Mendonca GV, Pereira FD, Fernhall B. Effects of cigarette smoking on cardiac autonomic function during dynamic exercise. J Sports Sci. 2011 Jun;29(9):879-86
  • MARIJUANA & THE BRAIN, PART II: THE TOLERANCE FACTOR By Jon Gettman, July 1995 High Times


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Canada Plans to Use Its Marijuana Revenue in the Best Possible Way

Kyle Jaeger  DECEMBER 22ND 2015

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has become one of the marijuana legalization movement’s greatest allies since taking office in October. And his latest plans for legal pot demonstrate how the public can benefit from marijuana whether or not they are smoking it.

Once the country implements its legalized marijuana system, Trudeau said that revenue from pot sales will fund addiction treatment, mental health services, and education programs. Rather than put the money toward general revenues, Canada intends to use cannabis sales to support public health.

“It was never about a money-maker. It was always about public health, public safety,” Trudeau told The Canadian Press last week.

To be sure, the prime minister recognizes that marijuana will likely bring in “a bit of revenue,” but he wants to make pot taxes low in order to keep the substance off the black market. Canada plans to legalize, regulate, and restrict access to cannabis; that means making marijuana affordable for eligible adults and preventing criminals from profiting off pot.

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“The fact is that, if you tax it too much as we saw with cigarettes, you end up with driving things towards a black market, which will not keep Canadians safe, particularly young Canadians,” Trudeau said.

The Canadian federal government appears to be taking a page straight from the Colorado legalization playbook with this latest announcement. As ATTN: previously reported, Colorado—which legalized marijuana for recreational and medical purposes in 2012—plans to use pot revenue to fund a range of social services, including addiction treatment and education programs.

But unlike the U.S. federal government, which prohibits marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act, Canada’s Liberal party is already acting to remove cannabis use and possession from the country’s Criminal Code. Instead of punishing people for smoking pot, Trudeau said there will be new laws that severely punish those who provide pot to minors or drive while under the influence of marijuana.

“Trudeau promises to set up a task force with representatives from the three levels of government and, with input from experts in public health, substance abuse and policing, design a new system of marijuana sales and distribution,” The Canadian Press reported.

“We are going to get this right in a way that suits Canadians broadly, and specifically in their communities,” Trudeau said.

Kyle Jaeger is a Los Angeles-based reporter for ATTN:. He’s formerly written for VICE, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Morning News, among other publications.

source: www.attn.com