SUBMISSION OF THE BEYOND PROHIBITION FOUNDATION IN RESPONSE TO PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO HEALTH CANADA’S MARIHUANA MEDICAL ACCESS PROGRAM
INTRODUCTION
The Beyond Prohibition Foundation was established in 2010 to advocate for the repeal of cannabis prohibition and its replacement with a system of regulated production and distribution. It operates the website www.whyprohibition.ca, Canada's largest dedicated drug policy reform website and host to more than 30,000 members. The Foundation's mission includes advocacy on behalf of safe access to medicinal cannabis and cannabis byproducts for those obtaining therapeutic and medicinal benefit.
This submission responds to Health Canada's consultation document titled "Proposed Improvements to Health Canada's Marihuana Medical Access Program" (the "Consultation Document"). In the Consultation Document, Health Canada foreshadows significant changes to Canada's medical cannabis policies. The Foundation welcomes Health Canada's tacit acknowledgement that the current Marihuana Medical Access Regulation (MMAR) system is deeply flawed and in need of significant reform. That reform is necessary in two primary areas: (1) the need to improve access to the legal protections afforded by the legislative and regulatory scheme; and (2) the need to provide consumers with safe access to an effective supply of medicinal cannabis and cannabis byproducts. This submission lays out the Foundation's view of the proposed changes and offers suggestions for making necessary improvements to the federal program.
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Oregon on Wednesday became the latest state -- and the first in many years -- to officially reclassify marijuana from its Schedule I status as a dangerous drug with no medical value.
The Oregon Board of Pharmacy (BOP) voted 4-1 on June 16 to move cannabis to Schedule II, thereby recognizing its medical use.
The BOP decision came after months of deliberation and input from the public. The Oregon Legislature passed SB 728, which directed the BOP to reclassify marijuana to Schedule II, III, IV or V, in August 2009.
Although Oregon and 13 other states in the U.S. have legalized marijuana for medical use, it has officially remained a Schedule I substance according to the federal government. Most states defer to that federal status. Read more »
Cannabis therapy may reduce symptoms and prolong survival in patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s disease), according to a scientific review published online last week by the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine.
Investigators at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle and Temple University in Pennsylvania reviewed preclinical and anecdotal data indicating that marijuana appears to treat symptoms of ALS as well as moderate the course of the disease.
Authors wrote: “Preclinical data indicate that cannabis has powerful antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects. … Cannabis also has properties applicable to symptom management of ALS, including analgesia, muscle relaxation, bronchodilation, saliva reduction, appetite stimulation, and sleep induction. … From a pharmacological perspective, cannabis is remarkably safe with realistically no possibility of overdose or frank physical addiction. There is a valid, logical, scientifically grounded rationale to support the use of cannabis in the pharmacological management of ALS.” Read more »
Newswise — Combining the two most common cannabinoid compounds in Cannabis may boost the effectiveness of treatments to inhibit the growth of brain cancer cells and increase the number of brain cancer cells that die off. That’s the finding of a new study published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
Researchers at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (CPMCRI) combined the non-psychoactive Cannabis compound, cannabidiol (CBD), with Δ9-tetrahyrdocannabinol (Δ9-THC), the primary psychoactive active ingredient in Cannabis. They found the combination boosts the inhibitory effects of Δ9-THC on glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain tumor and the cancer that claimed the life of Sen. Ted Kennedy last year.
LONDON (Reuters) - The active ingredient in marijuana appears to reduce tumour growth, according to a Spanish study published on Wednesday.
The researchers showed giving THC to mice with cancer decreased tumour growth and killed cells off in a process called autophagy.
"Our findings support that safe, therapeutically efficacious doses of THC may be reached in cancer patients," Guillermo Velasco of Complutense University in Madrid and colleagues reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Chemicals found in cannabis could prove an effective treatment for the inflammatory bowel diseases Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease, say scientists.
Laboratory tests have shown that two compounds found in the cannabis plant - the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol - interact with the body's system that controls gut function.
Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, which affect about one in every 250 people in Northern Europe, are caused by both genetic and environmental factors. The researchers believe that a genetic susceptibility coupled with other triggers, such as diet, stress or bacterial imbalance, leads to a defective immune response.
Dr Karen Wright, Peel Trust Lecturer in Biomedicine at Lancaster University, will be presenting her soon-to-be published work at The British Pharmacological Society's Winter Meeting in London today (Thursday).
OTTAWA — Experts call it Canada's hidden drug problem, one that kills more people in Ontario than heroin overdoses. The difference? Instead of scoring on the street, you can get it with the flick of doctor's pen.
Deaths from the misuse of prescription narcotic pain relievers have nearly doubled in 13 years, says a study released Monday.
Salvia divinorum, a cousin of the common garden flower, is a strong hallucinogenic substance. Some say it should be made illegal, while others argue it may have medical uses and should remain legal so research can be done.
Purple blossoms of midnight salvia and stems of blue chiquita salvia adorn the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House and thousands of other backyards.
The common garden flowers have a lesser-known hallucinogenic cousin. It's called salvia divinorum, or salvia for short, and it is the subject of controversy over whether it should be classified as an illegal drug. A few state and local governments have made it illegal or restricted its use.
About 2 miles from the White House garden, at B&K News Stand in the bar-strewn Adams Morgan neighborhood, packets of dried salvia leaves cost from $20 to $40, depending on the amount and potency.
Salvia is a genus in the mint family. When salvia is smoked or chewed, the Mexican native herb produces a short but intense psychoactive high, on par with that of synthetic hallucinogens. Like its cultural cousin, marijuana, salvia may have medical uses.
Don Pio says he spent two hours in custody for possessing marijuana he depends on for his health.
Pio, 35, says he has a medical condition that requires him to smoke pot every 40 minutes or so. He had marijuana on his breath when he followed his wife into Kelowna Law Courts on Friday – an odour that landed him in handcuffs on the floor of a sheriff‘s van and later in a jail cell.
“It was harsh, man. The worst morning of my life. I have no (criminal) record,” he said on Sunday.
“They arrested me for smelling like pot.”
No medication controls his shaking and nausea better than cannabis, Pio said. Last December, Health Canada granted him a medicinal-marijuana card based on his doctor‘s prescription. The document, which features Pio‘s photo, name and address, permits him to use cannabis to suppress his symptoms.
The University of Victoria in beautiful British Columbia, Canada hosts Hempology 101 every Wednesday. This group of dedicated activists teaches a class about the many multidisciplinary aspects of cannabis. This week's Hempology 101 video is about the medical uses of cannabis, hosted by Ted Smith.
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By Steve Elliot, Toke of the Town
By Paul Armentano
Newswise — Combining the two most common cannabinoid compounds in Cannabis may boost the effectiveness of treatments to inhibit the growth of brain cancer cells and increase the number of brain cancer cells that die off. That’s the finding of a new study published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
LONDON (Reuters) - The active ingredient in marijuana appears to reduce tumour growth, according to a Spanish study published on Wednesday.
By Justin Anthony Monarez, Kansas City infoZine
The University of Victoria in beautiful British Columbia, Canada hosts 
