The primary cannabinoid of marijuana, Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has been shown to either inhibit or potentiate tumor growth, depending on the cancer type and its pathogenesis. Little is known about activity of cannabinoids such as THC on epidermal growth factor receptor-over expressing lung cancers that are often highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.

In the study, the researchers characterized the effects of THC on the EGF-induced growth and metastasis of human non-small cell lung cancer using the cell lines A549 and SW-1573 as in vitro models. It was found that these cells express cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, known targets for THC action. It was also found that THC inhibited EGF-induced growth, chemotaxis, and chemoinvasion. The signaling studies indicated that THC could act by inhibiting the EGF-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, JNK1/2 and AKT. The primary cannabinoid of marijuana was also responsible for inducing phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase at tyrosine 397.

Additionally, there was significant inhibition of the subcutaneous tumor growth and lung metastasis of A549 cells in THC-treated animals as compared to vehicle-treated controls in vivo studies. Tumor samples from animals treated with THC revealed anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects of THC.

The study suggested that cannabinoids such as THC must be explored as novel therapeutic molecules to control the growth and metastasis of certain lung cancers.

Reference:
Oncogene 10: 339-346

Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is one of the most common anxiety conditions with social life impairment. CBD (cannabidiol), a major non-psychotomimetic compound of the cannabis sativa plant, has demonstrated anxiolytic effects both in humans and in animals.

Preliminary results of the study aimed for comparing the effects of a simulation public speaking test (SPST) on healthy control (HC) patients and treatment-naïve SAD patients who received a single dose of CBD or placebo. In a double-blind randomized design 1 h and a half before the test, a total of 24 never-treated patients with SAD were allocated to receive either CBD (600 mg; n=12) or placebo (placebo; n=12). The same number of HC (n=12) performed the SPST without any medication.

Each of the volunteers participated in only one experimental session in a double-blind procedure and subjective ratings on the Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAMS) and Negative Self-Statement scale (SSPS-N) and physiological measures (blood pressure, heart rate, and skin conductance) were measured at six different time points during the SPST.

The obtained results were submitted to a repeated-measures analysis of variance. Pre-treatment with cannabidiol significantly minimized anxiety, cognitive impairment and discomfort in their speech performance, and significantly reduced alert in their anticipatory speech. The placebo group presented higher anxiety, cognitive impairment, discomfort, and alert levels when compared with the control group as assessed with the VAMS.

However, no significant differences were observed between CBD and HC in SSPS-N scores or in the cognitive impairment, discomfort, and alert factors of VAMS while the increase in anxiety induced by the SPST on subjects with SAD was reduced with the use of CBD, resulting in a similar response as the HC.

Co-authors of the study were Bergamaschi MM, Queiroz RH, Chagas MH, de Oliveira DC, De Martinis BS, Kapczinski F, Quevedo J, Roesler R, Schröder N, Nardi AE, Martín-Santos R, Hallak JE, Zuardi AW, and Crippa JA.

Reference:
Neuropsychopharmacology 2011 May; 36(6):1219-26

The House Bill 1983, The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act ensures that medical cannabis patients, caregivers, or third-party providers in states that have approved its use will no longer have to fear arrest or prosecution from federal law enforcement agencies. It states, “No provision of the Controlled Substances Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict in a State in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use under applicable State law.”

Says the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep Barney Frank (D-MA): “The time has come for the federal government to stop preempting states’ medical marijuana laws. For the federal government to come in and supersede state law is a real mistake for those in pain for whom nothing else seems to work. This bill would block the federal prosecution of those patients who reside in those states that allow medical marijuana.”

State-authorized medical marijuana businesses have full access to banking services by amending the federal Bank Secrecy Act, as per the House Bill 1984, The Small Business Banking Improvement Act of 2011. The measure is sponsored by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), who states: “When a small business, such as a medical marijuana dispensary, can’t access basic banking services they either have to become cash-only — and become targets of crime — or they’ll end up out-of-business. In states that have legalized medical marijuana, and for businesses that have been state-approved, it is simply wrong for the federal government to intrude and threaten banks that are involved in legal transactions.”

The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 has been amended to allow a deduction for expenses in connection with the trade or business of selling medical cannabis pursuant to state law under the House Bill 1985, The Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2011. The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) said, “Our tax code undercuts legal medical marijuana dispensaries by preventing them from taking all the deductions allowed for other small businesses. While unfair to these small business owners, the tax code also punishes the patients who rely on them for safe and reliable access to medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor. The Small Business Tax Equity Act would correct these shortcomings.”

Forms that would be required by alternative treatment centers to get permits to start doing business were posted by the state Health and Senior Services Department. Earlier this year, New Jersey selected six non-profit groups for growing and selling pot to qualifying patients under a law adopted in January 2010. But, the state is yet to finalize regulations for the program.

Greenleaf Compassion Center, one of the prospective pot-providers, says it has already lined up locations and awaiting state approval. The center also said that it would take about four months to grow a crop before it could begin selling to patients from a storefront in Montclair.

The forms ask the organizations for background checks on employees and for local zoning approval documentation, among other things. The state may take 60 days for issuing permits after receiving completed forms, under the law.

Health Department spokeswoman Donna Leusner said the reviews would be “completed expeditiously to ensure the integrity of the program and to make medicinal marijuana available to patients as soon as possible.”

1.    Alaska: Medical marijuana can be availed for the treatment of health complications such as cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy and other disorders characterized by seizures, Cachexia, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other disorders featured by nausea and muscle spasticity while the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes may be approved by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services for other health conditions. It has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by patients having a written physician documentation that they may benefit from medicinal marijuana use.

2.    Arizona: The state allows patients having a written physician documentation that they may benefit from medicinal marijuana use and health conditions that are approved for use of medical marijuana are ALS, Crohn’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe and chronic pain, severe nausea, severe or persistent muscle spasms (including multiple sclerosis), and seizures (including epilepsy).

3.    California: The state has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by patients having a written or oral physician recommendation that they may benefit from medicinal marijuana use. The health conditions for which marijuana is approved are anorexia, arthritis, cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, glaucoma, migraine, persistent muscle spasms, AIDS, severe nausea, and other chronic or persistent medical symptoms.

4.    Colorado: The state allows patients having a written physician documentation that they may benefit from medicinal marijuana use and health conditions that are approved for use of medical marijuana are glaucoma, HIV/AIDS positive, cachexia, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, cancer, and other conditions are subject to approval by the Colorado Board of Health.

5.    District of Columbia (DC): The approved health conditions for use of medicinal marijuana are HIV, AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and other chronic, long-lasting, or debilitating conditions that interfere with the basic functions of life or conditions for which marijuana may be beneficial such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

6.    Delaware: A patient can buy or posses marijuana in Delaware only if he or she has a written physician documentation that he or she may benefit from medicinal marijuana use and suffering from a specified debilitating medical condition (cancer, HIV/AIDS, decompensated cirrhosis, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, or a condition producing wasting syndrome, or severe debilitating pain that has not responded to other treatments for more than three months, or if other forms of treatment have produced serious side effects) but a patient or caregiver cannot grow marijuana at home.

7.    Hawaii: The state has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by patients having a written physician recommendation that potential benefits of medicinal marijuana use would likely outweigh the health risks and the patient is suffering from a debilitating condition. The approved medical conditions are Cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition that may lead to cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, and other conditions that may be subjected to the approval by the Hawaii Department of Health.

8.    Maine: The state has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by patients having a written or oral physician recommendation that they may benefit from medicinal marijuana use and the approved health conditions for which medicinal marijuana may be used are glaucoma; multiple sclerosis, other disorders characterized by muscle spasticity, epilepsy and other disorders characterized by seizures, and nausea or vomiting due to AIDS or cancer chemotherapy.

9.    Michigan: Medicinal marijuana is legal for the treatment of health conditions, including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, nail patella, cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe and chronic pain, Crohn’s disease, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, severe and chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, epilepsy, muscle spasms, and multiple sclerosis.

10.    Montana: The state has legalized medical marijuana for the treatment of cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, or a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment producing cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or any other medical condition or treatment for a medical condition adopted by the department by rule.

11.    Nevada: The state has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by patients having a written physician recommendation that they may benefit from medicinal marijuana use and the approved health conditions are AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, or any medical condition or treatment to a medical condition producing cachexia, persistent muscle spasms or seizures, severe nausea or pain, or any other condition that may be subjected to approval by the health division of the state Department of Human Resources.

12.    New Jersey: The state has legalized medical marijuana for the treatment of seizure disorder, including epilepsy, intractable skeletal muscular spasticity, severe nausea or vomiting, cachexia, or wasting syndrome resulting from HIV/AIDS or cancer, severe or chronic pain, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), multiple sclerosis, terminal cancer, muscular dystrophy, or inflammatory bowel disease, or terminal illness.

13.    New Mexico: The state has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use and possession of marijuana for conditions, including severe chronic pain, painful peripheral neuropathy, intractable nausea/vomiting, severe anorexia/cachexia, Crohn’s disease, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C infection, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with intractable spasticity, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, and hospice patients.

14.    Oregon: The state has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by patients having a written physician recommendation that they may benefit from medicinal marijuana use when it comes to mitigating of debilitating symptoms. The approved conditions are cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, or a medical condition producing cachexia, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, or other conditions are subject to approval by the Health Division of the Oregon Department of Human Resources.

15.    Rhode Island: The approved conditions for use of medicinal marijuana in the state are cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, or treatment of a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment producing cachexia or wasting syndrome, or any other medical condition or its treatment approved by the state Department of Health.

16.    Vermont: The approved conditions for use of medicinal marijuana in the state are cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, or treatment of a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment producing cachexia or wasting syndrome or severe pain or nausea or seizures.

Washington: The state has removed state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana by patients having a written physician recommendation that potential benefits of medicinal marijuana use would likely outweigh the health risks and the patient is suffering from a debilitating condition. The approved health conditions are Cachexia, cancer, HIV or AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy, intractable pain, multiple sclerosis, or other conditions that are subjected to approval by the Washington Board of Health.

The Papago Plaza shopping center at Scottsdale and McDowell roads has been opened by the Green Horizons University, next to the Red Kimichi Korean Restaurant, Holy Hill Acupuncture, and the Flower Cart.

Dan Halbert, the school director, remarked that there was a requirement for education in terms of medical marijuana before dispensaries and cultivation centers open across Arizona. “Stoners, the young men who really love the plant, can be trained to work at a dispensary, to learn the effects of the plant, or at a hydroponic growing center,” Halbert said.

Halbert operates two medical marijuana dispensaries: the RainForest Collective near Venice Beach in Los Angeles and Sons of Beaches in San Diego.

A large number of marijuana cultivation schools are already operating in other medical marijuana states, including Cannabis Training University, the so-called Harvard of medical marijuana colleges, Oaksterdam University, and Hempgard University.

The courses of Greenway would include the history of hemp, cannabis therapeutics, and budtending 101 and all the offered courses have been approved by the Colorado Board of Occupational Schools. Green Horizons would also be selling growing equipment for medical marijuana cultivation and providing legal, medical, and auditing consultation to dispensary operators.

“It’s been known anecdotally,” says researcher Mark Ware, MD, assistant professor of anesthesia and family medicine at McGill University in Montreal. “About 10% to 15% of patients attending a chronic pain clinic use cannabis as part of their pain [control] strategy,” Ware remarked.

The study of Ware is more scientific in nature as it was a clinical trial in which his team compared placebo with three different cannabis doses. The study “adds to the trickle of evidence that cannabis may help some of the patients who are struggling [with pain] at present,” Henry McQuay, DM, an emeritus fellow at Balliol College, Oxford University, England, writes in a commentary accompanying the study.

Twenty-one men and women, with an average age of 45 years, were evaluated by Ware and his team. All of the 21 people had chronic nerve pain (or neuropathic pain). Three different potencies of marijuana were tried by the team of Ware and the highest of all concentrations was at 9.4% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) herbal cannabis, the other two being 2.5% and 6% THC.

“Each person was in the study for two months, and used all four strengths [including placebo],” Ware says.

The participants were allowed to continue on their routine pain medications and all took a single puff of marijuana three times a day for five days for each of the doses and the placebo. Participants rated their pain on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 being the worst after each of the five-day trials.

Ware said the highest dose (9.4%) offered relief and reduced their pain down to 5.4, compared to 6.1 from placebo. “We’ve shown again that cannabis is analgesic,” Ware says. “Clearly, it has medical value.”

The research is published in CMAJ, the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The worst part is that marijuana has been defined as having no medical use and potentially additive in nature even though medical studies have proven that medical marijuana is one of the best drugs for treating health complications such as arthritis, neuropathic pain, nausea, spasticity, glaucoma, movement disorders, malignant tumors, HIV, the AIDS wasting syndrome, or dementia. Medical marijuana is also second to none when it comes to providing relief to patients suffering from health diseases, including hepatitis C, incontinence, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, chronic pain, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes mellitus, fibromyalgia, Huntington’s disease, and Tourette’s syndrome.

If that was not all, the marijuana provided by he National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is regarded as less potent when compared to the marijuana often easily available on the street. Furthermore, studies that emphasize on finding the positive benefits of marijuana smoking are not easily funded, while those highlighting negative effects of marijuana get easy funds.

The research has suggested that marijuana is highly effective for easing some types of pain and could be useful for muscle spasticity from multiple sclerosis, according to the official report from the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, based at the University of California, San Diego.

The center has funded 15 clinical studies, since it was founded in 2000, including seven trials.

It was argued by the report that marijuana may have a “novel mechanism of action not fully exploited by current therapies.” The drug may also have an effect on multiple-sclerosis patients’ spastic motions “beyond the benefit available from usual medical care,” the report says.

The report also flagged some mild effects, such as dizziness and cognition changes. The opponents of marijuana would however probably say that the studies were not long term in nature and good enough to indicate the potential downsides of chronic use. The center has made these findings in a document that is supposed to reach the general public.

Eric Gunnels, the Co-Founder of All Natural Health & Wellness Center, said marijuana is a drug that has been vastly misunderstood and it has no additive properties. Gunnels further remarked that there has been no recorded death with the use of marijuana in the history of mankind.

All Natural Health and Wellness Center, the first patient care facility in Michigan to allow use of marijuana for gathering drug research, will be emphasizing on educating the general public about the medicinal benefits of marijuana through its non-profit Cannabis Research Institute. Rob Lapeen, the Co-Founder of All Natural Health & Wellness Center, said the center will help public find different ways to use their medicines and get a doctor’s appointment for new patient approval.

The center is expected to bring an end to the marijuana black market and will be providing protection dog training for medical marijuana care-givers who want to guard their homes.