Cannabis News

grokit

grokit

well-worn member
Elizabeth Warren asks CDC to consider legal marijuana as alternative painkiller
The Massachusetts senator called for more research to be done on medical marijuana and prescription opioid addiction amid abuse and overdose epidemic

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‘Opioid abuse is a national concern and warrants swift and immediate action,’ Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in her letter to the CDC. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to consider the role legal marijuana could play in the prescription opioid epidemic.

Warren asked for more research into medical marijuana and painkiller addiction in a letter to the CDC director, Thomas Friedan.

“Opioid abuse is a national concern and warrants swift and immediate action,” Warren wrote.

Her request comes as politicians, including the presidential nominees, search for the best response to the opioid epidemic.

The use of prescription opioids doubled between 2000 and 2014, according to the CDC. And Massachusetts experienced its highest number of unintentional opioid overdose deaths in 2014, with nearly 1,100 people succumbing to overdose deaths.

Warren applauded the CDC’s actions so far to curb the epidemic but called on the agency to look at whether medical marijuana could be an alternative painkiller.

She also urged the agency to quickly finalize its guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain and called for increased collaboration between the CDC and other federal health agencies to determine the long-term effects of opioid use in children and the increased use of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Nestled in with these recommendations is a call to consider the role of marijuana legalization in the crisis.

Specifically, Warren requested the agency to provide more information on “the use, uptake and effectiveness of medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids for pain treatment in states where it is legal”.

She also asked them to look into “the impact of the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana on opioid overdose deaths”.

Medical marijuana is illegal under federal law, which is a significant hurdle for any federal agency hoping to study its effects, and makes it impossible to prescribe through a pharmacist.

But using the plant for some medical purposes is legal in 23 states, including Massachusetts, plus Washington DC. Marijuana is also legal for recreational use in Colorado, Washington state, Oregon and Alaska.

Medical cannabis laws were tied with lower state-level opioid overdose death rates, according to a study published in the December 2014 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association. And hundreds of people in Massachusetts who are addicted to opioids are being treated with medical marijuana.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ren-medical-marijuana-painkiller-opioid-abuse
 
J

Joel W.

Deplorable Basement Dweller
Accessory Maker
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - The full House has approved legislation that would regulate vapor products in Washington, including banning people under age 18 from using them.

House Bill 1645 passed the House on a 59-36 vote Friday and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The state's Liquor Control Board would license distributors and retailers of vapor products if the bill becomes law. Vapor products, which include vaporizers and liquids with nicotine, are not currently regulated. They can't be sold to people under 18, but it's not illegal for minors to possess, use or purchase vapor products under existing law.

The bill would also create a set of standards and rules that retailers and distributors must follow, among other regulations like requiring school districts to ban use of vapor products on school buses.
http://komonews.com/news/local/hous...r-products-in-washington-02-13-2016-192256982
 
GetLeft

GetLeft

Well-Known Member
grokit said:
Elizabeth Warren asks CDC to consider legal marijuana as alternative painkiller
The Massachusetts senator called for more research to be done on medical marijuana and prescription opioid addiction amid abuse and overdose epidemic

3500.jpg

‘Opioid abuse is a national concern and warrants swift and immediate action,’ Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote in her letter to the CDC. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to consider the role legal marijuana could play in the prescription opioid epidemic.

Warren asked for more research into medical marijuana and painkiller addiction in a letter to the CDC director, Thomas Friedan.

“Opioid abuse is a national concern and warrants swift and immediate action,” Warren wrote.

Her request comes as politicians, including the presidential nominees, search for the best response to the opioid epidemic.

The use of prescription opioids doubled between 2000 and 2014, according to the CDC. And Massachusetts experienced its highest number of unintentional opioid overdose deaths in 2014, with nearly 1,100 people succumbing to overdose deaths.

Warren applauded the CDC’s actions so far to curb the epidemic but called on the agency to look at whether medical marijuana could be an alternative painkiller.

She also urged the agency to quickly finalize its guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain and called for increased collaboration between the CDC and other federal health agencies to determine the long-term effects of opioid use in children and the increased use of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Nestled in with these recommendations is a call to consider the role of marijuana legalization in the crisis.

Specifically, Warren requested the agency to provide more information on “the use, uptake and effectiveness of medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids for pain treatment in states where it is legal”.

She also asked them to look into “the impact of the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana on opioid overdose deaths”.

Medical marijuana is illegal under federal law, which is a significant hurdle for any federal agency hoping to study its effects, and makes it impossible to prescribe through a pharmacist.

But using the plant for some medical purposes is legal in 23 states, including Massachusetts, plus Washington DC. Marijuana is also legal for recreational use in Colorado, Washington state, Oregon and Alaska.

Medical cannabis laws were tied with lower state-level opioid overdose death rates, according to a study published in the December 2014 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association. And hundreds of people in Massachusetts who are addicted to opioids are being treated with medical marijuana.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ren-medical-marijuana-painkiller-opioid-abuse
Click to expand...

I so badly wanted EW to run for president. Her deference for HC may have cost us the opportunity for one heck of a president.

On the otherhand, at least that asshole Christy is history.

http://mobile.philly.com/beta?wss=/philly/news&id=369721481
 
Magic9

Magic9

Plant Enthusiast
"Why it is time to legalize drugs" by former U.N Secretary General, Kofi Annan.


"In my experience, good public policy is best shaped by the dispassionate analysis of what in practice has worked, or not. Policy based on common assumptions and popular sentiments can become a recipe for mistaken prescriptions and misguided interventions.


Nowhere is this divorce between rhetoric and reality more evident than in the formulation of global drug policies, where too often emotions and ideology rather than evidence have prevailed."
 
cybrguy

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
WOW!!!


Marijuana economy may hit $44 billion by 2020
By Daniel Roberts 5 hours ago




Cannabis buds are shown on first day of legal recreational marijuana sales beginning at midnight in Portland, Oregon in this October 1, 2015 file photo. Liberal-leaning Vermont could become the first U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana use through legislation, rather than by voter initiative, in a move that advocates for the drug contend could speed its legitimization across the nation.

The weed business is booming.

In its annual report on the U.S. cannabis industry, Marijuana Business Daily predicts up to $44 billion in economic impact by 2020. Last year's report predicted $14 billion to $17 billion in impact for 2016. The publication has been producing the report since 2012.

The impact figure is separate from sales of marijuana; it represents sales plus all the money pumped into the economy as a direct result of sales. It encompasses everything from wholesale growers to grow-light manufacturers to marijuana accoutrements and everything below it touched by the trickle-down effect of marijuana money. It even extends to home purchases in places like Colorado, which has attracted new residents since legalizing recreational use.

The marijuana mag assigned the marijuana economy an economic multiplier of 4—that means every dollar spent on marijuana leads to another $3 working its way into the economy.

"We've been expecting rapid growth in the marijuana industry for a while now, and that's exactly what's playing out," says MBD managing editor Chris Walsh. "The main drivers of the growth in recreational sales are Colorado, Washington and Oregon. And also, interestingly, even the mature medical marijuana markets are growing very quickly, like Arizona, New Mexico, and states that have had medical programs for years now. And then you have new medical marijuana states like Illinois, Nevada and Massachusetts." In other words, there's marijuana momentum almost everywhere.

As for actual sales of marijuana, that figure is estimated at $3.5 billion to $4.3 billion for this year in just states that have legalized medical and recreational use. That's up from $3 billion to $3.4 billion last year, and in 2014 it was $2 billion to $2.4 billion. The overall sales market for marijuana each year in all states (not just where legalized), in case you wondered: "Between $30 and $45 billion in the U.S., and that includes the black market," Walsh says. For just legal sales, MBD projects $6 billion to $11 billion by 2020.

Of course, the cannabis revolution could be heavily affected by a change in political regime—and federal law still prohibits marijuana, which has made it extremely difficult for marijuana businesses to get bank accounts. But Walsh bets that there's too much momentum now for any one politician to slow it down. "You might get an anti-cannabis president in January, but even then, it's hard to see this going in the opposite direction," he says. "The genie's out of the bottle, half the country has legalized medical marijuana and an increasing number of states are legalizing recreational. Anyone who tries to stand in its way is going to have a hard time."


45ab60a0-ea0a-11e5-8f99-cf5ffbf339aa_Marijuana-econ-impact.gif

Marijuana Business Daily​
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CarolKing

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
Be careful what you wish for pertaining to legal cannabis. If you do get legal or medical, be sure the state doesn't attach a huuuuge tax on it.

We had just medical in WA state. Now with the recreational legal they are attaching a huge tax on the medical cannabis. It's making it difficult for folks that medicate that are lower income, come this July 2016.

Many folks will no longer be able to go to their dispensary that they have depended on. They will need to find a store that will fit their needs. Many are not sure if they can get the medical cannabis that has been serving their needs.

There is a 47% tax on rec. a 37% tax on medical. Some folks have been getting free cannabis, that won't be happening any longer.

Dispensaries have been closing down in Seattle. They haven't closed in my area yet. Don't let your state screw up medical cannabis like they have here.

If cannabis is too expensive the black market will continue to thrive.
 
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GetLeft

GetLeft

Well-Known Member
My money's on PA definitely screwing things up, so I'll be careful about what I wish for.

I'll be in Seattle in a little over a week. Can you stick your head into a dispensary just to look around or do they card you at the door? Are they hard to find?
 
GetLeft,
MinnBobber

MinnBobber

Well-Known Member
CarolKing said:
There is a 47% tax on rec. a 37% tax on medical. Some folks have been getting free cannabis, that won't be happening any longer.
Click to expand...
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47% tax on rec, those greedy b#stards.
Might as well put up giant billboards saying, "Welcome black market ganja dealers". States need to not see cannabis as the golden tax goose which they'll flog to death. They need to start seeing it as the ultimate "wellness supplement" for everyone that wishes to use it. Low tax rate to drive out black market drug dealers. Allow home grows and your farmer's markets sound like the best ever--sad they will disappear :(
 
cybrguy

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
CarolKing said:
Be careful what you wish for pertaining to legal cannabis. If you do get legal or medical, be sure the state doesn't attach a huuuuge tax on it.
snip
If cannabis is too expensive the black market will continue to thrive.
Click to expand...

This WILL ruin it for everyone. I would HOPE that the state will realize what they are doing and back off some on the taxing. They won't be able to make anything (let alone big bucks) if people keep going to the black market for their cannabis. It may take some learning before they get it right...
 
cybrguy,
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anasrzi

anasrzi

Well-Known Member
kellya86 said:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-35798523

This is not what we need, some little prick using cannabis as a scapegoat for his stupid actions...

His Lawer has obviously told him to plead this, so as to remove the blame from him...

I hope the jury see through this shit....
Click to expand...

We also had the same day the ever so lovely (yet somewhat clueless) holly willowby asking a late heroin addicts mother about the "fact" cannabis is a gateway drug, to which she said it clearly isn't because it wasn't his first drug of choice, alcohol no doubt. But this still shows how lacking the media in the u.k actually are toward cannabis while literally countries continue to legalise rightly or wrongly across the board , you do have to be careful what you wish for, normalisation is a far better option IMO let adults consenting adults decide there personal, fact based drug consumption choices can't see it on the horizon yet but we can but hope :)
 
cybrguy

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
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