The report, released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on January 12, is the first since 1999 to take a comprehensive look at the overall state of marijuana research, and may have a significant impact on future policy-making decisions at the state and federal level. (RELATED: Learn more breakthroughs in natural medicine at Medicine.news.)

But whether or not the information contained in the report will actually benefit the pro-marijuana movement overall is an open question, since the findings are a mix of positive and negative regarding the use of marijuana and its impact on public health.

The positive findings include “conclusive or substantial” evidence that the above-mentioned therapeutic applications are effective and the fact that there is little or no evidence linking marijuana smoking to cancer.

Perhaps the most potentially significant conclusion made by the researchers was that under marijuana’s current classification as a Schedule I drug, new cannabis research is made difficult to undertake.

The daunting bureaucratic maze and approval process encountered by scientists often discourages new research from being conducted – research the report stressed as necessary to gaining a full understanding of marijuana’s effects on human health and society as a whole.

Study’s impact on future cannabis policy remains to be seen

But the report also contained findings that some in the media are interpreting as a threat to the marijuana industry and legalization movement.

For example, a January 16 Fox News story title asks the question: “Could This Study Be Disastrous for Marijuana Stocks?”

Fox’s take on the report’s potential impact is rather grim:

“A study just released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine slams many of the purported benefits of marijuana. In one of the most comprehensive studies of the effects of marijuana ever, a heavy-hitting lineup of health and medical experts punched holes in several key arguments that marijuana proponents make. Could this study be disastrous for marijuana stocks?”

The “purported benefits” allegedly slammed by the report include marijuana’s effects on epilepsy, PTSD, HIV/AIDS, Tourette syndrome and other conditions, but the researchers’ general conclusions were that there is simply just not enough evidence to prove such benefits – it’s unclear how Fox News managed to interpret that as a “slam.”

But there were other aspects of the study that indeed may prove to be worrisome for cannabis advocates. The researchers reported evidence associating marijuana to an increased risk of automobile accidents, lower birth weights for babies whose mothers smoked cannabis during pregnancy, and a link between marijuana smoking and bronchial problems.

The release of the study comes a time of flux and uncertainty regarding marijuana’s legal status, particularly in terms of the current divergence between federal laws and those of states which have passed marijuana initiatives. (Stay informed about hemp and marijuana science at HempScience.news)

How will the Trump administration handle the marijuana issue?

It’s unclear how the incoming presidential administration will deal with the issue – Donald Trump himself has provided scant information and somewhat mixed signals – leading up to and since the election – regarding his stance on marijuana, and his nominee for Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions, has also given conflicting statements to the press.

In the past, Sessions has said things like: “We need grown-ups in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized,” and “good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

But during his confirmation hearing, when queried on the subject, Sessions said:

“I won’t commit to never enforcing federal law… I think some of [the Obama-era guidelines] are truly valuable in evaluating cases… Using good judgment about how to handle these cases will be a responsibility of mine. I know it won’t be an easy decision, but I will try to do my duty in a fair and just way.”

Most observers seem to agree that going against the wishes of the majority of American voters regarding marijuana legalization would be an unwise political move for the incoming administration. Let’s hope they truly understand that fact and opt for doing the right thing.

Sources:

ARSTechnica.com

FoxBusiness.com

Economist.com

LATimes.com

Few have been quite as ignorant as the mainstream media, whose obsession with normalizing everything somehow passed right by marijuana and cannabis products. Instead, they normalize things that are objectively evil like war crimes, pedophilia and government corruption. If you don’t realize that they have a certain agenda, then you simply aren’t paying close enough attention.

Then there are the few media outlets that are finally acknowledging the benefits of cannabis, but they also act so surprised by this fact that it is endlessly frustrating for those of us that have been fighting for truth on the matter for years now. This happened most recently with CBS News, when they appeared completely baffled while reporting on a story about a man whose cancer was cured through the use of cannabis oil. (RELATED: Stay informed about CBD oil and other cannabinoids news at CBDs.news)

Brett Blume of CBS St. Louis reports, “The 50-year-old Granite City man is putting out the word that a steady diet of cannabis oil coupled with chemotherapy wiped out what doctors had only months earlier diagnosed as ‘incurable, inoperable’ lung and pericardial heart sac cancer. He’d basically been given about a year to live, with chemo. … He carried with him a stack of medical documents to back his claim that he’s been given a clean bill of health just months after being handed a death sentence.”

But while Blume seems shocked by this advancement, it really shouldn’t be all that surprising. There have been hundreds of reports over the years of people explaining how cannabis oils, marijuana and other products of a similar nature helped cure various illnesses and diseases. The fact that the mainstream media has been refusing to acknowledge any of these reports goes to show just how unconcerned they are with reporting on the truth and standing up to the status quo.

The only reason that marijuana isn’t already legalized is that the federal government profits far too heavily from the alternatives. The pharmaceutical industry would be put on life support almost instantly if marijuana were legalized across the United States, and since they are in the pockets of both the federal government and the mainstream media, that isn’t happening any time soon.

We need to hold the mainstream media to a higher standard and continue to spread the truth about cannabis. The fact that there are still people in the United States that are misinformed about the plant is frustrating and unforgivable. All we can do at this point is fight back against misinformation and ignorance. That is the only way that we can win this battle.

So let’s get to work. (Read more news about advances in natural medicine remedies at Remedies.news)

Sources:

StLouis.CBSLocal.com

MerryJane.com

DailyMail.co.uk

Prior to the UK unveiling its decision to reclassify CBD oil as a medicine, the Drug Enforcement Agency in the US recently declared that the substance was equivalent to heroin by placing it in the same, heavily restricted class — Schedule I.

Indeed, unlike the tyrannical government agencies that have all but taken over our country, the UK seems to have chosen to take the compassionate, common sense approach to natural medicine that actually helps devastatingly ill people.

Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, known as the MHRA for short, recently announced their decision to classify the compound as a medicine, based on the substantial amount of credible evidence to support its efficacy. CBD oil is used to treat a wide range of conditions, including childhood epilepsy, autism and cancer.

In the declaration of their opinions on CBD products, the MHRA stated, “We have come to the opinion that products containing cannabidiol (CBD) used for medical purposes are a medicine.”

They agency went on to say, “Our primary concern is patient safety and we wish to reiterate that individuals using cannabidiol (CBD) products to treat or manage the symptoms of medical conditions should discuss their treatment with their doctor.”

“MHRA will now work with individual companies and trade bodies in relation to making sure products containing CBD, used for a medical purpose, which can be classified as medicines, satisfy the legal requirements of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.”

Sadly, the UK approach does not allow consumers to purchase CBD products over the counter as a dietary supplement. While there will still be criticisms on both ends of the spectrum — with some saying it is too stringent, while others will say it is too lax — at least there appears to be some sort of effort from the UK government to acknowledge the very real benefits of this natural plant medicine.

Conversely, here in the USA, the DEA has all but sold the citizens it purports to protect up the river. As of January 13,  CBD oil, and all cannbinoid compounds,  have joined the list of Schedule I restricted substances, rendering them highly illegal — in spite of the fact that CBD and most other cannabinoids do not even produce psychoactive effects. (The hemp industry has already filed suit against the DEA and has announced plans to vigorously fight the DEA’s illogical regulatory change.)

CBD is a medicinal compound; at least three different studies have confirmed it is beneficial in the treatment of seizures, according to The Free Thought Project.

This recent change of heart in the United Kingdom underscores the sheer negligence and probable corruption that has infiltrated the DEA, among other government agencies. While the DEA twiddles their thumbs and pretends that they aren’t aware of any potential for cannabinoid compounds to be medicinal, there are literally thousands of people who treat their ailments and diseases with these life-saving plant medicines. If the DEA was as omniscient and powerful as they think they are, how can they really expect us to believe that they just don’t know how beneficial it is? It seems a lot more like they know and don’t care, doesn’t it?

This becomes especially clear when you see that while the DEA is off banning medicinal compounds, the FDA is approving Big Pharma’s latest concoctions — guess what their newest drugs are going to be based on: the compounds found in marijuana. Kratom is another medicinal plant that has been subjected to the scorn of the DEA, only to also have its natural pain-relieving compounds synthesized and patented.

If these compounds are such a “hazard to public safety” — as the DEA itself has said — why on earth are they being used to create medicine?

Stay informed about more hemp science news at HempScience.news.

Sources:

AnonHQ.com

Gov.UK

NaturalNews.com

Is this a massive power grab to try to criminalize all hemp extracts, even when they contain virtually no THC? Or is it just an administrative housekeeping announcement for international treaty compliance?

The hemp industry says this move by the DEA is no big deal, and they’re even prepared to challenge it in the courts. I’ve been told by some of the largest CBD product companies in America that they aren’t going to stop selling their CBD hemp extracts.

This may put the hemp extract industry on a collision course with the DEA. But with Trump taking office, the DEA could be headed for some huge changes anyway. It’s all very fluid right now, so stay informed on all the news related to hemp science at HempScience.news

Be sure to check Censored.news for all the real news on hemp and CBD that the mainstream media is trying to censor.

Here’s the full video:

]]> /cbdsnews/2017-01-14-dea-just-listed-cbd-as-a-schedule-i-controlled-substance.html/feed 0 /cbdsnews/2017-01-09-more-and-more-countries-continue-to-awaken-to-the-benefits-of-legalizing-marijuana.html /cbdsnews/2017-01-09-more-and-more-countries-continue-to-awaken-to-the-benefits-of-legalizing-marijuana.html#respond Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://162.244.66.231/cbdsnews/2017-01-09-more-and-more-countries-continue-to-awaken-to-the-benefits-of-legalizing-marijuana Over the past few years, the United States has taken great strides towards legalizing marijuana nationwide, but we aren’t the only country moving in that direction.

Around the world there is a growing push for the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis, especially as the therapeutic value of the plant becomes more widely documented and acknowledged by the medical and scientific community.

Currently, Uruguay is the only nation that has completely legalized cannabis for recreational and medical use, but several other countries have decriminalized marijuana use, and in some, medical and/or recreational marijuana is either already legal or legalization is under consideration.

More than 20 countries are now introducing legislation allowing either medical or recreational cannabis use; in 2017, Canada plans to legalize and regulate both.

From CNN:

“Ireland, Australia, Jamaica and Germany approved measures this year for its medicinal use, while Australia also granted permission for businesses to apply for licenses to manufacture or cultivate marijuana products for medicinal purposes and to conduct related research. Decisions are still pending in South Africa.”

Testing the waters

Because legalization is such a new issue – there are few road maps in terms of regulation, taxation and public safety, for example – other nations are looking to the United States and other countries where the herb is already legal or decriminalized as examples, and are carefully monitoring how things are working out there.

So far, the experiments have been working. In the United States, legalization has largely proven to be a success. States like Colorado, for example, have seen dramatic tax revenue increases and a decrease in drug-related crime. And there have been surprising and unexpected benefits as well, such as the fact that traffic fatalities in many states have dropped significantly since legalization went into effect.

As in the United States, where marijuana laws differ from state to state, marijuana policies abroad also differ from country to country, but with the same general results. In other words, countries that have either decriminalized or legalized cannabis have seen positive results.

An interesting example is Portugal, which in 2001 decriminalized all drugs for personal use. Since then, that country has seen crime and hard drug addiction rates drop dramatically, proving that decriminalization works – and not just for marijuana use.

In the Netherlands, where weed has been more or less legal for 40 years, the percentage of the population who use marijuana is far lower than that of the United States. Incidentally, the rate of incarceration in the Netherlands is one-tenth that of the United States.

The truth shall prevail

Decades of drug war propaganda brainwashing is slowly beginning to wear off, particularly as new scientific evidence pours in documenting the nearly-miraculous properties of cannabis in treating a wide range of conditions.

Videos showing Parkinson’s sufferers and children with epilepsy obtaining instant relief from their symptoms after taking a few drops of cannabis oil are going viral, and after watching such videos it’s difficult to imagine anyone being opposed to the use of cannabis as medicine.

And so, as the blinders come off and the truth about cannabis becomes more widely disseminated, governments and citizens throughout the world are beginning to embrace the fact that marijuana is not a dangerous substance that should be outlawed. In fact, its use is beneficial and should be made completely legal, without any accompanying social stigma or criminal penalties.

At this point, the only people who oppose legalization are the ones who have either been duped by decades worth of “war on drugs” rhetoric, or those who continue to profit from cannabis prohibition, i.e. law enforcement agencies, drug cartels and industries like Big Pharma and for-profit prisons.

Sources:

Edition.CNN.com

News.Vice.com

DrugWarFacts.org

TheCannabist.co

Article by The Weed Blog

Before making your purchase, it’s important to know that not all CBD varieties are created equal. The key difference lies in the sources of the medicine. While marijuana – or more clearly the THC and resin content – is still banned in many places, many companies found ways around using a legal loop hole. Industrialized Hemp.

The Difference Between Marijuana & Hemp

Often times, people assume that these two are exactly the same, but that the terms refer to different aspects or uses of the plant. This is true to a certain extent. However, it is more the way the plant is grown that drives the ultimate difference.

Hemp

A low-resin, low-THC (almost non-existent) Cannabis Sativa plant – the same as marijuana, grown for its fibers and seeds. Growers typically leave little space between the plants leaving the harvest to appear more like bamboo with tall skinny stalks. It can tower up to 10 or 15 feet and is considered an agricultural crop.

Marijuana

A high-resin, high-THC, high-CBD Cannabis Sativa plant grown for its psychotropic and medicinal qualities most often found the flower of female plants. Plants are grown with more room, allowing them to spread out as opposed to spread up, and creating a fuller plant over all. It is considered a horticulture crop and is typically hand-harvested, trimmed, dried and cured.

Don’t get us wrong. Hemp is an extremely useful plant, but it’s low levels of cannabinoids don’t favor medicinal qualities.

The Difference between Hemp CBD & Marijuana Hemp

Hemp CBD

According Medical Marijuana Inc., who was the ousted by Project CBD for what they considered misleading information, good CBD help oil comes from high-CBD, low-THC hemp. “Using these uniquely potent plants, it is possible to extract cannabis oils that contains a significant level of cannabidiol, as well as essential vitamins, mineral, fatty acids, terpenes, flavonoids, and other non-psychoactive cannabinoids,” their website also claims.

However, while hemp can be grown to elicit higher CBD levels through cross-pollination, the chances of this happening are slim if the plant is pollinated within it’s own crop. Hemp just doesn’t contain enough CBD to have a medicinal effect on the user. Some have even claimed that hemp CBD has lead to them feeling sick from it’s use.

Marijuana CBD

Marijuana CBD is what the medicinal cannabis industry is referring to when they discuss the benefits of the oil. Products like Charlotte’s Web are high-CBD, low-THC (nearly nonexistent) oils proven to help treat certain conditions. CBD oil repeatedly continues to demonstrate medicinal qualities for debilitating conditions. The difference being that the cannabis plant use is grown and harvested for medicinal use. The plant’s CBD levels line up with current research.

CBD isn’t the only cannabinoid necessary to elicit the medicinal qualities of marijuana. CBD needs to perform biological process with THC and other cannabinoids.

Related: What is the Difference Between THC and CBD?

How Hemp CBD found it’s way on the market.

So if Hemp CBD doesn’t have the same medicinal outcome, why are some selling it as such? There’s a long history of hemp and this is where hemp CBD comes into play. In brief, the legality of marijuana stems from the plant’s THC or the amount of resin produced by the plant.

This loop hole in the Controlled Substances Act allows hemp farmers in some states to grow the plant and produce CBD. However, since hemp contains such low levels, concerns have been raised about the amount of “fillers” that could be present in the product. Perhaps this is what leads to those who have used hemp CBD as a substitute for marijuana CBD to feel ill after it’s use.

For those living in a state where CBD oil is not available, hemp CBD seems like a viable option for medical treatment. But the proof just isn’t there. Calling your state congressmen and women and asking them to support medicinal cannabis legislation is you best bet for receiving the treatment you need.

For more information on marijuana CBD oil, we recommend checking out Project CBD.

Read more at: theweedblog.com

Article by Zoe Wilder

Her parents then met the Stanley brothers, owners of Colorado’s largest dispensary at the time and cultivators of a high-CBD strain of cannabis very few people were purchasing. Together, they developed the dormant strain into a continual harvest and constant supply of medical marijuana CBD oil to treat Charlotte, and subsequently, other patients seeking similar relief. The strain became what’s known today asCharlotte’s Web. When the news of this process, and others like it, aired on CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta’s documentary Weed in 2013, people across the globe, especially parents of children suffering seizures, flocked to the Internet to find this “miracle” CBD oil. Little was to be found.

Capitalizing businesses quickly jumped in to fill the void created by the Federal Controlled Substances Act, which strictly prohibits the use and sale of marijuana because of the presence of THC, not CBD. Under the law, hemp-derived CBD is completely legal, but CBD doesn’t appear out of thin air. In order to produce CBD oil, you must first harvest high-CBD cannabis plants, legally. In the United States, this requires growers to be licensed in their state either as an industrial hemp farmer or a medical/recreational marijuana grower. Not all states provide these licenses, and where some do, each type of license has a completely different set of parameters, rules, and regulations, including whom you can sell your products to.

Needless to say, the rabid overnight demand for CBD oil combined with the intricacies of a nation involved in a drug war created a very confusing topic, and an opportunity for businesses to sell snake oil. Still today, people are discovering the wonders of CBD and yearning for information on how to obtain it. In an effort to untangle this web, here’s a go-to guide for understanding the differences between hemp-derived CBD oils and marijuana-derived CBD oils.

Hemp CBD Oil

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabinoid known largely for its muscle relaxant properties. Isolated on its own, CBD is non-psychoactive and it’s been reported to be effective in treating seizures, even in young children.

CBD is found in both the drug producing Cannabis Indica and hemp producing Cannabis Sativa. Hemp CBD oil is derived from industrial hemp, the C. Sativa species of cannabis, which produces nearly no amount of the cannabinoid Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), but does produce some amount of the cannabinoid Cannabidiol (CBD). Industrialized hemp production is legal at the federal level, with laws and licensure varying from state-to-state.

Not All Hemp CBD Oils Are Created Equal

Not many cannabis researchers or cannabis professionals will refute the efficacy and wonders of the cannabinoid Cannabidiol. It can be a potent and powerful product with amazing therapeutic benefits. However, the ways in which cannabidiol is extracted from industrial hemp plants, then manufactured, concentrated, formulated, etc., and delivered or administered to a customer or patient, is largely suspect. Some customers have even reported becoming violently ill from poorly manufactured hemp CBD products, many of which either contain mysterious inactive chemicals or ingredients different than those listed on the label.

Hemp CBD is regulated by the FDA as a dietary supplement, and like other dietary supplements the FDA is “not authorized to review dietary supplement products for safety and effectiveness before they are marketed.” This is in direct opposition to most modern day medical and recreational marijuana markets. Both regulated medical and recreational markets typically have stringent production and testing guidelines and manufacturing regulations, and these guidlines typically exclude the sale of hemp-derived CBD through medical and recreational dispensaries.

This is from the FDA’s website:

“In late February 2015, FDA issued several warning letters to firms that market unapproved drugs for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of diseases. Some of these firms claim that their products contain cannabidiol (CBD). FDA has tested those products and, in some of them, did not detect any CBD. It is important to note that these products are not approved by FDA for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease, and often they do not even contain the ingredients found on the label. Consumers should beware purchasing and using any such products.”

A list of FDA warning letters and test results for Cannabidiol related products and manufactures can be found here.

Conversely, the Stanley Brothers, creators of the original Charlotte’s Web now manufacture CBD Hemp Oil under the name CW Hemp. Because Charlotte’s Web products contain less than 0.3 percent THC, they are allowed by U.S. Federal law to ship their acclaimed Hemp CBD oil products straight to your doorstep.

Many Medical Marijuana Producers Are Producing Consistent, Top Quality CBD, Too

Charlotte’s Web is not the only high-CBD strain or CBD product out there. Strains likeAC/DC, Harlequin, Cannatonic, Sour Tsunami, Ringo’s Gift, and many others exist.

Since 1996, there have been several medical marijuana markets growing in the western United States. In the region, states like California, Washington, and Oregon created an avenue for seasoned cannabis cultivators to farm cannabis medicines for their patients. Nearly two decades later, these states and several others, including Colorado, are expanding into the country’s first full-fledged recreational cannabis markets. Growers in these markets have been producing both high-THC and high-CBD strains of marijuana and merging them into edibles, concentrates, and topicals of all forms to assist customers and patients with their therapeutic needs.

These markets are now becoming known for having stricter testing standards than standard produce agriculture, and now nearly half the country’s states have some form of medical marijuana program or more. In these markets, medical marijuana cardholders can typically access CBD products containing much higher concentrations of Cannabidiol than hemp-derived CBD products, and due to stringent testing, oftentimes purer CBD products as well. When obtaining CBD products through a regulated medical or recreational marijuana marketplace, customer service representatives should be able to display and explain a product’s origins, ingredients, and test results. State-certified labs provide these insights, and some even provide full cannabinoid and terpene analysis, too.

CBD Works Best Combined With Other Cannabinoids

Cannabis contains hundreds of compounds, 80 of which are currently categorized as cannabinoids. CBD and THC are the principal cannabinoids in cannabis, both commonly occurring in the relatively largest concentrations, and they are incredibly synergistic.

Embracing the full-spectrum of cannabis’ naturally occurring phytonutrients is part of a process called whole plant medicine. This practice is highly regarded in the holistic and alternative medicine communities, existing in stark contrast to the practice of fractionated medicine, a process involving the heavy use processing and chemical synthesis popularized by the pharmaceutical industry.

Long before people began hybridizing cannabis to create the highest THC strain to wow judges at cannabis competitions, naturally occurring fields of cannabis most likely contained plants with moderate concentrations of both primary cannabinoids CBD and THC along with other naturally occurring therapeutic cannabinoids like CBG, CBN, plus various terpenes, flavonoids, and all other phytonutrients found in healthy cannabis plants. Thanks to Israeli researcher Raphael Mechoulam, the synergies of all these compounds working together is now known as “The Entourage Effect.”

While not sanctioned for children because of its euphoria-producing properties, adding any amount of THC to a therapeutic dose of CBD largely enhances CBD’s effects. Medical cardholders in many states can now access CBD products with varying ratios of CBD to THC. Everything from 20:1 to 1:1 ratios, even 2 parts THC to 1 part CBD, make for an incredibly therapeutic array of options for patients seeking the benefits of Cannabidiol.

Hopefully this guide will help you better understand the intricacies and the processes involved in accessing varying forms of CBD.

Read more at: merryjane.com