Medical Marijuana News Channel.com

Monday, June 13, 2016

What a change in DEA's pot rules might mean for medical research

Most doctors approach medical marijuana with a great deal of uncertainty because drug laws have hindered researchers' ability to figure out what pot can and can't do for sick patients.

That could soon change.

Image Source: PIXABAY

The marijuana industry is blossoming, and 2016 could wind up being its best year yet in a number of ways.

Canada's medical marijuana industry has recently become a battleground between the nation's "gray market" dispensaries - illegal storefronts selling marijuana in cities like Vancouver and Toronto - and licensed producers such as Tilray and OrganiGram, who sell cannabis to patients through Health Canada's mail-order system.

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Following a resounding marijuana initiative defeat last November, this state seemingly defied the odds to become the 25th to legalize medical marijuana.

Charles Schatz of Bel Air, Maryland holds a sign demanding the use of marijuana for medical cases as he joins dozens of protestors for the legalization of marijuana in front of the White House, April 2, 2016, in Washington, DC. Mike Theiler/AFP

John Kasich signed Ohio's medical marijuana bill into law yesterday, making it the 25th state (26 counting Washington, D.C.) to allow some form of medical marijuana use.

When Medical Marijuana Is Difficult To Access, 'Street Pharmacists' Are Some Patients' Only Hope: VIDEO

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As I wandered down Nostrand Avenue looking for the right building, he stood in the middle of the busy sidewalk, raised his left hand high, and waved in my direction.

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Pennsylvania just became the 24th U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana.

Biotech company AXIM Biotechnologies has launched clinical trials for medical cannabis chewing gum that they hope will successfully treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis, irritable bowel disease and Crohn’s Disease.

PHOTO BY PIOTR LOOP

Cannabis has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes by various civilizations. Despite this fact, the U.S. Federal Government has classified it at the highest level, making scientific research extremely difficult to perform. Currently the public’s view on cannabis is changing and now over 30 states allow some type of cannabis based products for medical use. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, for cannabis to be truly considered a medicinal drug, guidelines for its use must be established. When doctors prescribe drugs to help improve our health they always tell you when and how much of it should be used to alleviate your symptoms. Currently the bulk of medical professionals are unable to give any such guidelines when they sign off on medical marijuana cards. Determining how and what cannabis based products medical professionals recommend to patients are of critical importance to legitimizing medical marijuana. This point was prominently made during a recent government meeting sponsored by several institutes from the National Institutes of Health, Marijuana and Cannabinoids: A Neuroscience Research Summit, that convened in late March.

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Already a pioneer in high-tech and cutting-edge agriculture, Israel is starting to attract American companies looking to bring medical marijuana know-how to a booming market back home.

SB 3 passes House Wednesday evening, now returns to Senate for final approval

Senate Bill 3 advocates for the legalization of medical marijuana use in Pennsylvania: it passed the State House late Wednesday evening, and is now moving back to the Senate for final approval.

CSU researcher goes to crowdfunding for study on pot and MS patients

A screen grab of Colorado State University researcher Thorsten Rudroff, from a crowdfunding video about a study on marijuana and multiple sclerosis patients. (Colorado State University/YouTube)

Thorsten Rudroff, who proposed the multiple sclerosis marijuana study, says: 'This research can't be done in many other states that don't have the same marijuana laws'

A Colorado State University researcher is launching a crowdfunding campaign to study the effects of long-term marijuana use among multiple sclerosis patients in northern Colorado.

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Montel Williams, a TV and radio talk show host and advocate for medical marijuana as a treatment for multiple sclerosis and other chronic illnesses, has joined the board of KIND Financial, a technology solutions company, as a key advisor in efforts to support and expand the drug’s use.

A new campaign called “End our pain” is asking people to sign a petition calling on the U.K. to allow all patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) there to have access to medical cannabis as a treatment for MS symptoms, in keeping with countries such as Canada and Germany, and a number of U.S. states.

MMJ Phytotech (ASX:MMJ) has taken its first steps towards its end-goal of filing a New Drug Application (NDA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to grow and supply medicinal cannabis. MMJ is the first medical grade cannabis company to be listed on the ASX, operating a ‘farm to pharma’ strategy that could see the company bloom into a pharmaceutical company with full supply chain integration.

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Australia is expected to legalise the cultivation of cannabis for medical or scientific purposes with a bill introduced to parliament on Wednesday -- the first step towards doctors eventually prescribing it to patients with chronic pain.
The bill will see Australia create a national licensing and permit scheme to supply medical cannabis to patients with painful and chronic conditions on clinical trials.

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Syracuse's first medical marijuana dispensary is set to open this week. Etain LLC will open for registered patients Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. But, the dispensary is holding an open house Tuesday at its new facility on Erie Boulevard. Brad Vivacqua is outside of the facility and has details on this.

Multiple sclerosis: Using marijuana or some of the chemicals in the plant may help prevent muscle spasms, pain, tremors and stiffness, according to early-stage, mostly observational studies involving animals, lab tests and a small number of human patients. The downside -- it may impair memory, according to a small study involving 20 patients.

At most offices in America, smoking a joint during your lunch break or eating cannabis-laced brownies at your desk would land you in HR.

While arguing in court that marijuana has no medical value and is a dangerous drug on the one hand, the federal government is patenting marijuana extracts for health-related uses on the other. And now it is set to grant a license to GW Pharmaceuticals for treating patients with multiple sclerosis with a cannabinoid-based drug called Epidiolex.

AXIM Biotech hoping for 2017 release of its pain-relief gum, MedChew Rx, moving into clinical testing

MedChew Rx, by AXIM Biotechnology, Inc., the world’s first patented cannabinoid release chewing gum for pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS), is moving into clinical testing. If all goes well, the company plans for a global release date of 2017.

Columbia Care, the city's first medicinal marijuana dispensary, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. (Credit: Yeong-Ung Yang)

The city’s first medical marijuana dispensary opens Thursday in Union Square, allowing qualified patients a new treatment for symptoms of medical conditions such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

Global News Agency Documents AXIM® Biotech’s Clinical Trials on Patented Cannabinoid Release Chewing Gum for Pain and Spasticity in Multiple Sclerosis; Global Release Date as Soon as 2017

NEW YORK, Jan. 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A groundbreaking story by Reuters global news agency profiled AXIM® Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTC:AXIM) and the company’s upcoming clinical trials on the world’s first patented controlled-release cannabinoid chewing gum MedChew Rx™.

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AXIM Biotechnologies Inc, a small, Manhattan-based company with ties to the Netherlands, says it has a trump card in its quest to develop a cannabis-based chewing gum to ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Enrollment opens online as patients wait for doctors to register

Patients with severe illnesses can now begin enrolling in the New York State's Medical Marijuana Program.

A look inside Chicago's first medical marijuana dispensary. (Leonor Vivanco)

Steve Torres was among the first patients on to walk through the doors of Chicago’s only medical marijuana dispensary, which officially opened in Uptown on Wednesday.

Montel Williams speaks at State Capital in support of allowing an up or down vote on Medical Marijuana legislation currently stalled in committee. June 11, 2015. James Robinson, PennLive.com

By Montel Williams

There's a large group of Americans who spend every day struggling with a serious debilitating illness. It's a mostly powerless and unheard group, and I'm a member.

In this Aug. 21, 2015 photo, David Sloan, who is a multiple sclerosis patient and medical marijuana client of the highly successful marijuana seller The Clinic, sits at home in Highlands Ranch, south of Denver.
Image Source: AP Photo (Brennan Linsley)

One marijuana business hosts an annual golf tournament in Denver to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. Another Colorado pot company donates to a gay-rights advocacy group and is a sponsor of an AIDS walk.

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Talk show host Montel Williams has used marijuana to battle symptoms of multiple sclerosis for 14 years, and he urged Ohioans on Wednesday to pass Issue 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot despite its recreational pot component.

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Medical Marijuana Use for Pain Relief in Medical Conditions like MS and AIDS Explored in New Nature Article

Cannabis is a plant that can be used in a wide range of settings such as medical purposes, a source of fiber and oils, or as a recreational drug. Growing evidence has been reported on the clinical benefits of medical marijuana (herbal form) for treating chronic pain. Currently, several countries in the world and almost half of all U.S. states authorize the use of medicinal marijuana.

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Count Gov. Bruce Rauner among those who are skeptical of medical marijuana as a cure-all.

September 15, 2015 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aphios Corporation today announced that it has been awarded Phase II of a Fast Track SBIR grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NIH for manufacturing cannabidiol (CBD) from marijuana following current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) for Multiple Sclerosis and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

AN ELDERLY couple appeared in a Limassol court during the week after they were arrested for growing cannabis plants in their home.

Image Source: MEDICALCANNABISNEWS

More and more evidence is accumulating that denying medical cannabis to patients suffering from diseases likes multiple sclerosis should no longer be acceptable under any state’s law.

Israeli researchers have long been on the cutting edge of medical marijuana research. Now a team of scientists from Tel Aviv University have shown that certain compounds found in cannabis can help treat multiple sclerosis-like diseases by preventing inflammation in the brain and spinal cord.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease characterized by the destruction of insulating covers on nerve cells by the immune system. The most common form for the disease, relapsing-remitting MS, is characterized by clearly defined attacks of decreasing neurologic function (relapses) followed by partial or complete recovery periods (remissions). Research into novel therapy approaches continues to investigate safer, more effective alternatives to the currently approved MS therapies. The use of cannabinoid-based therapies in particular appear to show promise for controlling relapses in those with the disease.

Some Illinois health systems say no to medical marijuana

Dr. Matthew Gibb, MD Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Carle Foundation Hospital Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, in Champaign, Ill. Talks about the many points of view about the clinical efficacy of cannabis as a therapeutic or medical treatment option and believes that the providers practicing in their areas of specialization have the best understanding of their patients. Seth Perlman AP Photo

Patients must have a doctor's signature to buy medical marijuana in Illinois, but some health systems are forbidding doctors from putting pen to paper because the drug is still illegal at the federal level.

As the state readies its medical marijuana facilities, physicians are divided over recommending it to patients once it becomes available to them next year.

Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC Pink:MJNA) is an agricultural hemp industry innovator that sources, evaluates, invests in and acquires value-adding companies with a focus on industrial hemp. The Company is pleased to announce that one of its investments – AXIM® Biotechnologies, Inc. (OTC:AXIM) – is conducting clinical trials of its patented pharmaceutical chewing gum MedChew™ RX in Europe. The cannabinoid controlled-release chewing gum is the first of its kind and is being developed for patients suffering from pain and/or spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).

When he first began buying medical marijuana to treat his multiple sclerosis, Mark Manasse was forced to visit a dispensary every time he needed to get fresh buds.

AXIM Biotechnologies, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on global research, development and production of pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, food and cosmetic products derived from industrial hemp, has announced commencement of clinical development of its leading patented pharmaceutical chewing gum, MedChew RX, for registration as a drug for relieving pain and/or spasticity in patients suffering from with multiple sclerosis (MS).

New York has stepped carefully toward limited legalized pot consumption with the selection of five companies to grow and dispense medical marijuana.

A cannabis spray used to treat epilepsy, pain and multiple sclerosis will be considered for public funding next month.

A new survey of 219 PatientsLikeMe members has found that patients with certain conditions who use medical marijuana believe it is the best available treatment for them, with fewer side effects than other options and few risks. The survey, conducted in June 2015, is among the first to gauge patient perceptions about the benefits and risks of medical marijuana and their level of willingness to recommend its use.

Medical Marijuana: Not Your Dad's Weed: AUDIO

It took Connecticut nearly two years to start dispensing the medical marijuana the legislature approved for conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, epilepsy and cancer.

The current issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association includes two articles that review studies of marijuana's medical utility and come to similar conclusions about the applications that are best supported by the existing evidence: treatment of chronic pain, neuropathic pain, and spasticity. There is also substantial evidence that THC, marijuana's main active ingredient, is effective at relieving nausea and restoring appetite.

One-quarter of patients with multiple sclerosis report having used cannabis therapeutically and nearly one out of six (16 percent) currently use it to treat symptoms of the disease, according to survey data commissioned by the North American Research Committee on MS.

Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday issued a one-time, temporary waiver aimed at helping the state’s first marijuana dispensary begin selling pot for medicinal purposes.

Lydia Foster, 15, moved to Colorado last Fall with her mom Debbie, to try and get help with her epileptic seizures using medical cannabis. The treatment had some success but they moved back to their home near Gettysburg after four months because their family was split apart. Image source: Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

There's a large group of Americans who spend every day struggling with a serious debilitating illness. It's a mostly powerless and unheard group, and I'm a member.

With 26 states plus the District of Columbia now allowing medical marijuana use, according to a recent North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) survey, many people with multiple sclerosis are considering the herb as a therapeutic option. NARCOMS is a research program that allows people with Multiple Sclerosis to expedite MS research by volunteering information about their experience with the disease.

Medical Marijuana News Channel

Monday, June 13, 2016

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