The Weekly Weed

Posts Tagged ‘cannabis’

Medical Marijuana News Cannabidiol Stops The Spread Of Breast Cancer

Mar 8, 2010 Online Issue

California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute Final Report (2008)

We discovered that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotropic compound from the plant Cannabis sativa, can inhibit the process of breast cancer cells that allow them to grow and spread (metastasis). CBD can also inhibit breast cancer metastasis in a mouse model. The research carried out in our CBCRP proposal demonstrated that CBD is a novel inhibitor of a gene whose activity is intimately linked to the aggressiveness of human breast cancers; this gene has been termed Id-1. Notably, our findings also indicated that Id-1 was a key gene whose expression needed to be reduced in order for CBD to inhibit aggressive breast cancer. One of the most significant high risk components of the initial application was to determine if CBD had appreciable efficacy against breast cancer in vivo (i.e., animal models). This high risk component was not pursued, since an independent group showed CBD was able to inhibit metastasis of MDA-MB231 cells to the lung of nude mice. Building of the previous findings, we made small structural changes to CBD that are expected to produce drugs that are much more active than CBD at inhibiting Id-1 and corresponding aggressive breast cancers. CBD has a low toxicity profile. An anticancer agent with a low toxicity profile that can both inhibit cancer cell growth and metastasis would be extremely valuable clinically. Understanding the mechanisms behind the anticancer activity of CBD may also lead to the discovery of new biological targets for the development of diagnostic tools and additional therapies for the treatment of cancer. In this project we found portions of the CBD structure essential to its biological activity for breast cancer cell growth inhibition. We are in the process of filing a patent on these discoveries. In addition, we studies the moleculr mechanisms that underlie CBD activity, and found that sustained upregulation of Erk (extracellular signal-regulated kinases, a type of protein kinase intracellular signaling molecules) is key to the ability of CBD to regulate the metastasis-specific inhibition of the Id-1 transcription factor.

Antioxidant activity has been reported to be a general property of the phenolic components of marijuana. Unlike Δ9-THC, cannabidiol can be administered at relatively high doses without undesired toxic or psychological effects.1 Cannabidiol at a concentration of 10 µM was neuroprotective against both excitatory neurotransmitter (glutamate) and oxidant (hydroperoxide) induced neurotoxicity.

Watch video on youtube : Medical Marijuana Stops Spread of Breast Cancer – NBC NEWS

Source : 420 Magazine

Tags: cannabis, marijuana, marijuana for medical use, Medical Marijuana, medicinal marijuana

Will Legal Marijuana Be Growning At Warren County Farms?

Mar 8, 2010 Online Issue

New Jersey – Warren County is well known for its still-strong agricultural hertiage, where everything from corn and milk to turkeys and alpacas are grown/raised on local farms. Will we see the day where marijunana for medicinal purposes is added to ths list?

In the most recent weekly e-newsleter from the New Jersey Farm Bureau, the organization includes information that attempts to answer this question.

According to the newsletter: “New Jersey’s approval of the medicinal use of the drug marijuana has created some curiosity about its potential as a new crop. The news media has seized on this also, calling farmers to ask their opinion of this prospect. The reality of the situation, however, is that state authorities will be very restrictive in accessing this material. The Department of Health and Human Services will administer the program, employing only six ‘dispensaries’ statewide.”

NewsHawk: Ganjarden: http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: NJ.com
Contact: NJ.com
Copyright: 2010 New Jersey On-Line LLC.
Website: Will legal marijuana be growning at Warren County farms?

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Source : 420 Magazine News Team
Creating Cannabis Awareness Since 1993
http://www.420Magazine.com

The hemp plant is botanically quite advanced; some plants are male, some are female, and some are androgynous. Most species in the plant kingdom are merely androngynous.
– United States Dispensatory, 1851

Tags: cannabis, marijuana, marijuana dispensaries, marijuana for medical use, marijuana grow, Marijuana Growers, marijuana laws, Medical Marijuana

Pot Growers Hire PR Firm to Develop Marijuana Marketing Plan

Mar 8, 2010 Online Issue

Los Angeles, CA – “The times, they are a changin’, again,” remarked Henry “Pops” Champion to a group of medical marijuana clinic owners and pot growers who all agree that it is time to finally pull out all the stops in getting marijuana prohibition lifted in California, and eventually, nationwide. Pops has been a lifelong smoker and proponent of legalized marijuana.

“Way back in 1996, Proposition 215 was passed allowing anyone with a doctor’s note to cultivate and use medical marijuana in California for a number of ailments, and in our efforts to assist those folks by offering quality grown and processed medical marijuana–not that street dope–we’ve been harassed like common criminals, and it’s time we spoke up for ourselves,” Pops continued.

“Some folks say we want to make California the Netherlands of the United States. That’s simply not true. We don’t want to be another Netherlands. Hell, man, we can’t even speak Dutch,” said Champion, to thunderous applause.

Yuri Lehigh then took the stage. “Man, all our lives we’ve tried to tell people that pot is a lot less harmful than booze and pharmaceuticals, but would the Feds listen? No. Now, after years of abusing alcohol and pills in place of marijuana, only because we could obtain them legally, we find our health dwindling and, ironically, one of the best natural substances for our ailments, from tired eyes to over-worked livers is pot. When are they going to wake up and smell the bud, man?”

“I mean, have you seen the ads on television for some of those ‘legal’ prescription drugs they’re trying to push on us, man? Clear up your allergies, but at the same time, be careful cause you’re gonna get dizzy and pass out and have bad stomach cramps and diarrhea and what not, man, but yeah, like you sure will breathe better. That is like total bullshit, man,” said Lehigh.

He continued, “and booze and beer commercials, what the fu*k is that, man? Have a few beers at a game, drink yourself silly on some Spiced Rum or Kaluha at a friend’s house, but hey, don’t drive. How the hell do you think they’re gonna get home, man? Sure, like anyone is gonna drink responsibly. The whole thing’s a ruse, man. We all know pot is way safer and we have to find a way to get that point across.”

Marijuana Petitioners Clash with ACLU

Feb 28, 2010 Online Issue

By Andy Hobbs, Covington Reporter Columnist
Source: Covington Reporter

Washington State — A grass-roots campaign is under way to legalize marijuana in Washington state.

Sensible Washington is the political committee behind Initiative 1068, which seeks to remove criminal penalties involving adult use, possession and cultivation of marijuana. I-1068 needs 241,153 valid voter signatures by the July 2 deadline in order to appear on November’s election ballot.

Despite a well-known stance for the reform of marijuana laws, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington has drawn criticism from activists for not supporting the initiative.

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Tags: cannabis, marijuana, marijuana legalization

Marijuana Could Be Farmers’ New Crop

Feb 28, 2010 Online Issue

By Joseph P. Smith
Source: Daily Journal

Vineland — New Jersey farmers, including some in this area, see a chance to add an important new crop now that the state has legalized medical marijuana. “We would all like to grow it because we think it would be a good cash crop — literally,” Fairfield nurseryman Roger Ruske said.

The New Jersey Farm Bureau, a trade group for agriculture, has looked into the issue in depth and found good news and problems with the idea. New Jersey last month adopted a law allowing medical use of marijuana.

Farm Bureau research associate Ed Wengryn said the legislation isn’t written clearly enough for the state Department of Health and Senior Services to write regulations. “But I will say there are growers interested in it — but they’re interested in the concept,” Wengryn said.

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Tags: cannabis, marijuana, marijuana grow, Marijuana Growers

Why Growing Numbers of Baby Boomers and the Elderly Are Smoking Pot

Feb 28, 2010 Online Issue

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:22:18 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

An excellent and thoughtful analysis appears today via Alternet.org. Below is an excerpt. To read the entire story, please visit here.

Why Growing Numbers of Baby Boomers and the Elderly Are Smoking Pot
More and more of the nation’s 78 million Boomers are discovering they’d rather smoke marijuana than reach for a pharmaceutical

Conventional wisdom dictates that as younger generations slowly replace the old, conservative social traditions are jettisoned. This may be true for issues such as gay marriage, where there are clear divisions among younger and older voters, but when it comes to marijuana reform, the evidence indicates that simplistic divisions of opinion along age lines don’t apply for pot.

Earlier this week, an AP wire article picked up a lot of buzz in the news-cycle, with a title and premise meant to shock the mainstream: “Marijuana Use by Seniors Goes up as Boomers Age.”

The AP article was pegged to a December report released by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It revealed that the number of Americans over 50 who had reported consuming cannabis in the year prior to the study had gone up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent in the period from 2002 to 2008.
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Tags: cannabis, marijuana

Panel Will Study Medical Marijuana

Feb 28, 2010 Online Issue

Posted by CN Staff on February 24, 2010 at 05:52:23 PT
By Tony Leys
Source: Des Moines Register

Iowa — Iowa legislators plan to keep the medical marijuana issue moving forward, a leading lawmaker said Tuesday.House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the Legislature intends to set up a committee of experts to consider how marijuana could safely be allowed for patients with legitimate medical needs. If that committee comes up with a workable plan, he said, legislators will give the matter serious discussion in their 2011 session.
Last week, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy unanimously recommended legislators reclassify the drug in a way that could make it legal for medical purposes. The board also recommended the state set up an expert task force, including patients, health care professionals, state regulators and law enforcement representatives, to design a system.