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Medical Marijuana News - September / October 2014
In our Medical Marijuana News you will find the latest news on the topic of cannabis in medicine.
In the September / October issue we have news on the legalisation of medical marijuana in England - in Italy the army is to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes - a long-term study shows that cannabis can reduce deaths from painkillers by 1/4 - the pharmaceutical industry is funding prohibition - CBD helps treat acne - and some more...
Ministers in the UK for the legalisation of medical marijuana
Norman Baker of the Liberal Democrat MP, who as Minister of State is responsible for narcotics, requested in a letter to the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, that medical cannabis be legalised.
Baker said: "From what I have been able to find out as a minister, I believe it is time to recognise the medicinal properties of marijuana. There is more and more evidence that cannabis has great medical benefits in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases. There has been a sharp increase in the number of prosecutions for possession of cannabinoids. I feel bad that people for whom cannabis is the only substance to improve their disease status have to break the law to help themselves. Other countries have already legalised the possession of medical cannabis and we should also go in that direction to help sick people."
(Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-28796950 )
Italian army to grow cannabis
The Italian Minister of Health, Beatrice Lorenzin, recently commissioned the armed forces to cultivate cannabis for therapeutic purposes in order to enable patients to be treated with cannabinoids at more affordable prices than with imported medicines. Sativex, for example, can cost up to €700, which is far too high a cost for the Italian social security system (statutory health insurance).
According to the Ministry of Defence, production can be done by the army at the military pharmaceutical plants in Florence, which were built in 1853. The Italian government plans to distribute the first cannabis medicines next summer. Thus, 80-100kg of the active ingredients of cannabis are to be extracted each year to meet the needs of local pharmacies and hospitals throughout the country.
Umberto Veronesi, former Italian Minister of Health emphasises that "marijuana is an excellent product, a sedative that can help with nausea and vomiting, for example. However, because it is classified as a narcotic, people are still a little afraid to use it."
Medical marijuana approved in Colombia and Chile
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has just presented a bill to legalise medical marijuana. Santos explains that this decision is "a sensible and compassionate one to relieve pain and reduce the anxiety of patients suffering from serious diseases, but also a form to reduce crime." In Colombia, the possession of small amounts (up to 20g) has been legalised until now.
(Source: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/santos-endorses-medical-marijuana-colombia )
The Chilean town of La Florida, south of Santiago, has just received government permission to produce medicinal cannabis oil, which will be distributed free of charge to people with cancer. The municipality will grow 416 marijuana plants and the entire harvest will be turned into oil and distributed among the town's 200 patients.
( Source: http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Alcaldia-de-Chile-plantara-marihuana-con-fines-medicinales-20140908-0037.html )
Medical marijuana reduces deaths from painkillers by 25%
A long-term study conducted in the US between 1999 and 2010 shows that painkiller overdose mortality decreased by 24.8% in the 13 states where medical marijuana was legalised compared to the states where it remained illegal. The painkillers, much of which consisted of opiates, are highly addictive, leading many patients to regularly increase doses to levels that can lead to death.
Marijuana allows many patients to reduce their consumption of anti-pain medications, as it leads to an enhancement of the effectiveness of them across different modes of action. Some patients were even able to avoid treatment with optiates.
The US Centre for Disease Prevention and Control observed that more Americans die after excessive painkiller use (more than 16 000 overdose deaths per year) than from heroin and cocaine. The therapeutic index (ratio between the effective and lethal dose) of marijuana is one of the highest in the world; it is impossible to die from a marijuana overdose.
(Source: http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/671056/Medical_Cannabis_JAMA_Proof.0.pdf )
Pharmaceutical industry finances cannabis prohibition
As the American newspaper The Nation discovered, the pharmaceutical industry substantially finances opposition groups against marijuana in the USA, such as CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America) or Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.
The main sponsors of these groups include Purdue Pharma, the producer of Oxyconton, Abbott, which poduces the opiate drug Vicodin, Alkermes, which markets the new and very controversial anti-pain drug Zohydrol (10 times stronger than Oxyconton), Jansen Pharmaceuticals, producer of the drug Nucynta for pain, or Pfizer, producer of various opioid products.
( Source: http://www.thenation.com/article/180493/anti-pot-lobbys-big-bankroll )
THC in children and adolescents with spasms and pain
A study by the University of Saarbrücken, Germany, shows the therapeutic benefit of THC in the treatment of pain and spasticity in children and adolescents. A group of 17 children aged 6 months to 17 years suffering from severe pain, restlessness and severe spasticity (10 children with infantile cerebral palsy, 2 with leukodystrophy, 3 with metabolic defects and 2 children with hypoxic-ischaemic brain damage) were administered doses of 0.1 mg to 1.1 mg THC per kg body weight.
In total, 16 children showed a significant reduction in pain, 14 a reduction in spasticity and 12 showed an improvement in restlessness and sleep disturbances. In 5 children, the opioid medication could be reduced during the course, and in 2 children, the pain medication could be completely eliminated.
( Source: https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0034-1374526 )
CBD, a new natural and effective treatment for acne
A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows that CBD (cannabidiol) has a sebostatic and anti-inflammatory effect on human sebositis, making it an effective treatment for acne pimples . This study confirms the excellent results that many sufferers have already achieved with their own products.
( Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151231/ )
Third International Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine in France
The iCare UFCM is organising the International Conference on Cannabinoids in Medicine again this year, which will take place on 22 October 2014 at the Faculty of Medicine in Strasbourg. Over 150 health professionals will meet to exchange views on pharmacological advances and therapeutic uses of cannabis.
Among the conference speakers are Dr. Manuel Guzman from the University of Madrid, famous for his research on cannabinoids against cancer, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, who isolated THC in 1964, making the trip from Israel to talk about the importance of cannabinoids in the medicine of the future, and also Sebastien Beguerie from UFCM presenting legal CBD cannabis products.
This conference is an opportunity for researchers, medical professionals, international experts and, of course, patients to meet and discuss together the development of marijuana in Europe.
( Source: http://ufcmed.org/association/3eme-conference-internationale-sur-les-cannabinoides-en-medecine/ )
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