A new study published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology has found that cannabidiol – a compound of cannabis – may protect
the heart from the dangerous side effects associated with the popular cancer drug doxorubicin.
For the study, the “potential protective effect of cannabidiol, the major non-psychotropic Cannabis constituent, was investigated against doxorubicin cardiotoxicity in rats.”
Read moreCannabis May Protect From Side Effects of Cancer Drugs, According to Study
The nonprofit organization Sensible Washington – which is strategizing with the ACLU – has announced a new legislative effort to defelonize drug possession in the State of Washington.
Under current Washington State law, the possession of any controlled substance (or over 40 grams of cannabis) is an automatic felony. Under this new proposal – which advocates are currently securing legislative sponsors for, with State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon already signing on – these felony charges would be reduced to misdemeanors (carrying a maximum jail sentence of 90 days, rather than 5 years), a move which advocates believe will free up prison space, and ease some of the harms associated with the drug war.
Read moreEffort to Defelonize Drug Possession Announced in Washington State
“No one should live in fear of being stopped whenever he leaves his home to go about the activities of daily life”, states U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin, who ruled today that New York City’s infamous ‘stop and frisk’ policy is unconstitutional and violates basic human rights.
According to Scheindlin, this policy – which allows police to have individuals empty their pockets, regardless of previous wrongdoing, only to arrest them if they find anything illegal, such as cannabis or other illegal drugs – leads to “indirect racial profiling”, and that the city’s top officials have “turned a blind eye” to the inappropriate use of this already-unconstitutional policy.
Read moreFederal Judge Rules New York ‘Stop and Frisk’ Policy Unconstitutional
In a new policy shift which will be officially announced Monday by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the United States Justice Department will
be scaling back the war on drugs, including ending the use of mandatory minimum charges for nonviolent drug offenders.
Attorney General Holder will announce the changes tomorrow at a speech being given to the American Bar Association in San Francisco; Holder will announce that the he is “mandating that drug offenders with no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs or cartels and no history of violence won’t be charged with offenses that impose mandatory minimums”.
Read moreU.S. Attorney General to Announce Scale-Back of War on Drugs
A new study published by the journal Neuropharmacology has found that cannabinoids may reduce aggression, and improve social interactions.
For the study, researchers “examined the role of cannabinoid CB1 receptors (CB1r) in aggressive behavior”, and found that a compound meant to mimic THC (a prime compound of cannabis) “significantly decreased the aggression levels” of the mice that it was administered to. The researchers also examined mice which were bred without CB1 receptors, and found them to be more inherently aggressive than normal mice.
Read moreNew Study Indicates Cannabis May Reduce Aggression, Improve Social Interactions
On April 1st of this year, a piece of legislation aimed at decriminalizing cannabis possession officially become law in Rhode Island.
Due to this change, the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis is now just an $150 ticket; prior to this new law taking effect, the possession of any amount of cannabis was a misdemeanor charge which carried with it a potential jail sentence of up to a year.
Despite medical cannabis being a constitutional right in Colorado since 2000, the Colorado State Fair has continually refused to allow any cannabis-related booth to be placed within the festival. Now, l
ess than a year after voters approved recreational cannabis legalization (through Amendment 64), the fair has changed its mind, and has approved a booth to be ran by the Cannabis Patients Network Institute.
The Colorado State Fair typically garners roughly half a million visitors every year, assuring that the Cannabis Patient Network will have an unprecedented mainstream audience before them to educate.
Read moreColorado State Fair Approves First Medical Cannabis Booth
It’s a somber, damn-near depressing anniversary, but today marks 100 years since the first cannabis prohibition law took effect in the United States.
This first law prohibiting cannabis within the U.S. occurred in California as part of a “Poisons Act” which banned numerous substances such as opium; “The 1913 law received no public notice in the press, but was passed as an obscure technical amendment by the State Board of Pharmacy, which was then leading one of the nation’s earliest and most aggressive anti-narcotics campaigns”, explains California NORML.
Read moreToday Marks 100 Years Since First Cannabis Prohibition Law Took Effect in the U.S.
A new study conducted by Australia’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), and published online in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence,
has found that “fun seeking” young adults are more likely to consume cannabis.
For the study researchers examined how much of a “fun seeker” someone is using the Behavioral Activation System scale; under this scale, being a sensation seeker, and being impulsive, ups your “fun seeking” score. The study concludes that those who scored highest on this scale were more likely to consume cannabis as they go through their adulthood.
Read moreNew Study Finds Fun Seeking People More LIkely to Consume Cannabis
A new study published by the Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, and conducted by researchers at McMaster University, has concluded that THC – a prime compound in cannabis
– may protect the body against digestive disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease.
Researchers for the study used THC on rats, and found that the substance “could protect the lining of the stomach and intestine from injury and accelerate healing from inflammation.”
Read moreNew Study: Cannabis May Help Treat Digestive Disorders