difference between herbal cannabis and cannabis pharm meds
by Fabio Santacroce June 18 2011
Once again, the political
debate on a possible connection between cannabis and psychosis has
raised its head - this time, by Charles Walker (Broxbourne,
Conservative) in the UK House of Commons, concerning psychosis in young
people. [1]
There has been much debate and
assertions that modern day "skunk" cannabis is much stronger than the
cannabis
of the 1960's and 1970's. The problem with this debate is that there is
no evidence that actually shows what the THC level was at that time.
There are some people who actually believe that "skunk" cannabis was
deliberately introduced into Britain [1b]
The initial molecular research
of THC was accomplished in 1964, by Yehiel Gaoni and Raphael Mechoulam.
[2] Mechoulam later commented "I was surprised
to find that the
active componentís) of cannabis had never been isolated in a pure form
and its structure was known only in a general way. A few cannabinoids
had been reported but the structure of only one, the psychotropically
inactive cannabinol, had been fully elucidated." [3]
As early as 1969, when cannabis
was medically researched as a causal factor towards psychosis, NO
EVIDENCE was found:
"There is no evidence that this
activity is ... producing in otherwise normal people conditions of
dependence or psychosis requiring medical treatment" [4]
The
Politics of Dishonesty
Since 1969, all medical reports
concerning cannabis use and psychosis and schizophrenia that have not
matched up to or agreed with the government's prohibitionist agenda
have been ignored. They only want to pay attention to documents that
agree with their prohibitionist attitude and agenda - the rest are put
aside. If these reports did not exist, then one could say that the
government was ignorant (in the true sense of the word.) The fact that
such reports DO exist thus shows the dishonest attitudes of
successive intransigent governments who seek to make continued false
medical
claims against cannabis, for the simple reason of keeping the raw
cannabis plant in prohibition - for medical users, for recreational
users, for all users.
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WE VOTE INTO POWER. I suggest that we no longer
vote for any politician who does not believe that cannabis should be
legalised and is not prepared to work to do something about it. WHY DO
WE WANT, OR NEED, TO VOTE FOR A POLITICAL CANDIDATE
WHOSE POLICIES WILL CONTINUE TO CRIMINALISE CANNABIS USERS?
The Government Ball Game
Politicians are determined to
keep cannabis law reform workers in the defensive position of
contradicting false government health assertions with medical links
which show that cannabis is not a harmful drug. They come with the hype
of reefer madness and we come with the answers. This is the ball game
that they want the cannabis law reform movement to play with them.
AND WHY?
Enter the Trojan Horse
The political opposition against cannabis is not about psychosis, is not about schizophrenia and is not
about anything else except world governments' collusion in their determined protection of Sativex and their expected furtherance of cannabis pharmaceutical research and delivery for further illnesses that can benefit from cannabis pharm meds.
The big question: What is the advantage to any government in promoting or protecting the interests of pharmaceutical companies in general, or with respect to pharmaceutical cannabis, in particular?
Governments insist all drugs to be clinically tested for specific illnesses, to be prescribed by doctors, with recommended doses, via pharmacy delivery. This is the official path of drug delivery that all governments follow. They believe that, given time, a whole list of cannabis treatable conditions will be added to the list for which Sativex may be prescribed.
To this end, world governments are now licensing cannabis farming and cannabis pharmaceutical production in the form of Sativex to pharmaceutical companies like GW Pharm, so that cannabis pharm meds can be regulated by the government
according to their current model. Governments KNOW that the cannabis law reform campaign is a threat to its harmaceutical agenda and thus use all means at their disposal - including dishonesty - to keep herbal cannabis in prohibition.
All they have to do is keep
campaigners engaged in playing their Ball Game. They do this by making
blanket statements such as "illegal drugs are dangerous and will
therefore remain illegal" and they refuse to engage in serious debate
with campaign group representatives. This has been going on since the
1960's.
Governments know that the legalisation of cannabis would destroy the
future regulated cannabis pharm med industry market, which is why they
are so
determined to keep herbal cannabis in prohibition.
Many unwell people have the
sincere wish to be able to grow their own cannabis and self-medicate.
They are thus in a different position to recreational cannabis users in
that they have the pressing concern of health problems to deal with;
health problems which they know that herbal cannabis can cure, or
ameliorate the symptoms of, their illnesses.
Cannabis pharm meds seem to be
acceptable to some unwell people but are they acceptable to unwell
people who wish to grow their own cannabis as medicine or to people who
use cannabis as a recreational drug? Both of these categories of
cannabis users are likely to continue to be prosecuted long after the
full roll-out of Sativex [5] and thus need to place
themselves in the
forefront of the cannabis law reform campaign to expose government lies
about herbal cannabis causing schizophrenia and psychosis.
Pushing out the Trojan Horse
Canada was the first
country to
approve Sativex on April 13, 2005 [6] which just so
happens to be the
break-off time point of the "Keele Report" [7] which
concluded:
"Between 1996 and 2005 the
incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia and psychoses were either
stable or declining. Explanations other than a genuine stability or
decline were considered, but appeared less plausible. In conclusion,
this study did not find any evidence of increasing schizophrenia or
psychoses in the general population from 1996 to 2005."
This Keele Report thus
demolishes any notion that the strength of skunk cannabis has caused an
increase in psychosis or schizophrenia during the abovementioned time
period.
Since that time, we have
witnessed a back-tracking of government positions on the classification
of cannabis, most notably in the UK.
In the same year (2005), the UK
Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, asked the ACMD to review evidence on
the effects of strong cannabis on mental health. The council decided to
confirm its status as a class C drug but issued a reminder of its
harmfulness. "At 56 pages long, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs (ACMD) final report referred to more scientific papers than
before. But if a precautionary principle was applied it was to the data
itself, not to its implications or to their classification
recommendation. So cautious were they that they completely ignored the
key published British longitudinal data on cannabis use and
schizophrenia. [7] They relied instead on a GP data
base survey they
decided to commission from one of their own members." [8]
In December of 2005, the ACMD
concluded in their letter to Charles Clarke: "After a detailed scrutiny
of the evidence, the Council does not advise the reclassification of
cannabis products to Class B; it recommends they remain within Class C.
While cannabis can, unquestionably, produce harms, these are not of the
same order as those of substances within Class B." [9]
Derek Williams at UKCIA noted
the timing connection and implications between the Guardian's article [10] concerning
the Keele Report and the discussion between Gordon Brown and his
team on the reclassification of cannabis from Class C back to Class B.
Derek correctly commented "Now this has a very important consequence
for everyone in the UK,
way beyond the single issue of cannabis and it’s ranking in the Misuse
of drugs act. Our Prime Minister Mr Brown was made aware of this study
before he made his decision to return cannabis to class B." and Derek
wrote a very good essay which connected the Guardian article with the
fact that Gordon Brown completely ignored the Keele Report [11]
Cannabis was reclassified
back to
Class B in the UK on Monday January 26, 2009 [12] which
was 5 months before the Keele Report was first published on June 26,
2009 [7b]
And so the dishonesty of
government continues, with seemingly no end in sight.
After the June 2011 Global
Commission on Drug Policy petition was presented to the UN and world
leaders, the UK Home Office announced "We have
no intention of liberalising our drugs laws. Drugs are illegal because
they are harmful - they destroy lives and cause untold misery to
families and communities." [13]
The reasonable working
alternative to cannabis prohibition
If any government wishes to
succeed in protecting adolescents and young people against any ill
effects (their supposition - not mine) that they perceive from cannabis
use in these age groups, then they need to be getting started with
formulating a regulatory system for the supply and use of cannabis that
incorporates workable laws for non-adult use. At the moment, young
people have no protection at all.
The government answer in
increased tax expenditure to further the efforts of law enforcement is
not the answer, as portrayed by the fact that the government has failed
to reduce cannabis use in the aforementioned age groups. If anything,
even more young people are experimenting with cannabis today. The
government is responsible for the consequences of drug use by minors in
that they have failed to address cannabis law reform in a properly
regulated manner.
Herbal cannabis is regulated in
16 US States and Washington D.C. [14] - yet by the
way that UK gov talks about herbal cannabis,
one would think that they have never heard of that big country across
the Pond called "America." What pathetic excuse is next up? Something
like "Ah, but we're not American, we're British?" This form of
government attitude is deceptive in the extreme because this is not any
kind of blanket ignorance on their part and the omission of a
comprehensive UK regulatory policy on cannabis is nothing short of
government neglect and dereliction of duty in addressing the issue of
adolescent and youth use of drugs by failing to initiate a regulatory
form of herbal cannabis legalisation.
Enough of cannabis prohibition -
it's time to tax and regulate all aspects of cannabis, from seed to end
user. Only by doing this will the government have a chance to reduce
any perceived harm to minors, as well as addressing the regulated use
of
cannabis for adults who wish to use cannabis without the criminal
record, possible prison time and/or fines.
Conclusions: Will the
Trojan
Horse Succeed?
As one commenter on the
Sativex
video said "So, the cure is the cause? So stop spending endless amounts
of OUR money on kicking peoples doors in to bust a few plants &
deal with the real issues instead." [15]
Research material on
cannabinoids is available to the public - but at a high price. [16] It
is my strong belief that the authors of such material should flood
these documents and books into the public arena as digital documents,
either free of charge, or at very low cost. To keep this important
research material as a virtual prisoner in the realm of academia is
completely wrong because it assists governments in maintaining the
prohibition of herbal cannabis. Why should the general public have to
rely on youtube videos and blogs for their information, when the full
research documents are out there, and available, yet at very high
price? Why must we settle for a meagre abstract of such important
research information?
One pertinent answer to this
question is that long-time eminent researchers and authors on cannabis
and cannabinoids are now working within the cannabis pharmaceutical
industry. As an example of this point, Ethan Russo is the Senior
Medical Advisor at the GW Pharmaceuticals (producers of Sativex)
"Cannabinoid Research
Institute." [17] Russo considers himself fortunate to
be a scientific
advisor to the world's premier cannabis research and products company
GW Pharmaceuticals. "I greatly appreciate that they are using whole
cannabis extracts for their unique delivery systems. They recognize the
synergistic potential of cannabis components, and provide them in a
safe, reliable, and reproducible pharmaceutical form," Russo said. [18]
Does this imply that herbal
cannabis is not safe or reliable? GW Pharmaceuticals are not using
"whole" cannabis extracts for their delivery system at all. Contrary to
Russo's above comment, the cannabis that is used is stripped down
to only two cannabinoids - tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol
(CBD) to deliberately remove the "high" that cannabis gives in its raw
herbal form. [19] Russo himself acknowledges the
partial use of cannabinoids in Sativex on
a GW Pharm poster
when he says that "active cannabinoids, ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
and cannabidiol (CBD)." [20]
Russo's salary must be good, to
be seeking to keep this wonderful plant called cannabis trapped into
the pharmaceutical model, while it continues to remain in worldwide
prohibition in raw herbal form.
Russo once said: "Cannabis is the single most
versatile herbal remedy, and the most useful plant on Earth," Russo
says with a smile. "No other single plant contains as wide a range of
medically active herbal constituents. I like to think of it as Nature's
highest expression of unrequited female botanical passion!" [18] which same, past, herbal sentiments are surely a
far cry from his current employment at GW pharm.
Yes, "nature's highest
expression" - messed around with in a clinical factory to satisfy the
shareholders of a government sanctioned private sector pharmaceutical
corporation and their partner distributors. A very lucrative
proposition, indeed.
No wonder then, that GW say, in
their own words: "GW has never endorsed or supported the idea of
distributing or legalizing crude herbal cannabis for medical use. In
both our publications and presentations, we have consistently
maintained that only a cannabinoid medication--one that is standardized
in composition, formulation, and dose, administered by means of an
appropriate delivery system, and tested in properly controlled
preclinical and clinical studies--can meet the standards of regulatory
authorities around the world, including those of the FDA. These
criteria are also mandatory if the modern medical model—informed
patients working with, and being advised by, knowledgeable physicians
to identify appropriate treatment options--is ever to be attained with
a cannabinoid medication." [21]
Towards the end of the
penultimate edition of the magazine "Journal of
Cannabis Therapeutics" Ethan Russo commented: "In closing, I
would like to
thank Lester for his idea, Tip for his support that has sustained me
beyond his passing, Bill for his enduring encouragement, Dale
Gieringer, Franjo Grotenhermen, John McPartland for their multitudinous
submissions, GW Pharmaceuticals for their commitment to the future of
cannabinoid therapeutics, and all the remaining board members and
subscribers for their attention and largesse. For this, I am extremely
grateful." Sincerely, Ethan Russo, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of
Cannabis Therapeutics, October 2003 [22]
The article "GW Pharmaceuticals
List of Abbreviations and Definitions of Terms" appeared in the
same penultimate edition of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics at the
same time as the above comments. [23] Was the demise
of The Journal of
Cannabis Therapeutics a personal requiem for the magazine or a general
requiem for the end of Russo's support of herbal cannabis? It is very
sad when capable cannabis researchers, people within the cannabis
community who started out with a great admiration
for the cannabis plant, who then go on to make a personal career move
over to cannabis
pharmaceutical
research
instead
of
working
within
the
cannabis law reform movement to
further the cause for herbal legalisation.
I mean no personal ill-will towards Ethan Russo and have never
personally spoken with the man, but anyone reading Mr. Russo's previous
comments about herbal cannabis can surely be left in no doubt that his
current occupation is a far cry from the herbal delights that he
expounded on in his pre-GW Pharm era. [18]
After all, the US "War on Drugs" is a war that is waged only on SOME
drugs that the US government choose to keep in prohibition. The fact
that tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) are still a Schedule 1 under
"Psychedelic
substances" drug having "no currently accepted medical use in treatment
in the United States" [24] is surely a great and
scandalous INJUSTICE, in view of the fact that the US government holds
the patent on cannabinoids, [25] has been running an
MMJ scheme for selected patients for over 30 years [26]
which
provides
them
with
a
monthly
allowance of rolled marijuana joints
[27] and chooses to allow a UK business corporation
called GW Pharm to run clinical trials on cannabis therapeutics with a
view to the FDA giving approval for cannabis pharmaceutical
preparations. [see 28 to 30 below]
The Obama administration may find that they will not have much choice
in the matter of rescheduling THC because the FDA will eventually
approve Sativex
(seeing that they have allowed all the clinical trials to go ahead) and
it would seem impossible for them to do so with THC in Schedule 1,
having "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United
States" which is probably the reason why morphine is in Schedule 2,
(along with opium and methadone etc) [duh] as
it is used to help terminally ill patients. It will surely be GW Pharm
that
succeeds in the rescheduling of cannabis. They've got the big bucks to
pay the lawyers and advisors etc do it. Pharm meds will succeed where
the campaign of the cannabis community has not - and not for any lack
of trying, over such a long period of time. The one consolation
that the cannabis community will be able to draw from any federal
rescheduling of cannabis is that the penalties for herbal cannabis
possession will be lowered accordingly.
The Cannabis Legalisation Campaign is Being
Railroaded
I have not yet read one single
article on the internet that truly emphasises the seriousness of the
threat that Sativex
poses to the worldwide legalise cannabis campaign - and I make a point,
health permitting, of researching and rationally evaluating these kind
of issues and how they may impact (positively or negatively) on the
global campaign for cannabis legalisation.
The acceptance, endorsement
and
promotion
of
cannabis
pharm
meds,
such as Sativex, is a serious
subject. I know of
people who believe that the promotion of Sativex is a good thing,
because they believe that it promotes cannabis, so they think that
Sativex can only be good. But let's not get stuck here with aesthetics
- the two are not the same thing at all, not by a long chalk. Let's
have a look at how far this trojan horse called Sativex has moved along
in the USA. GW Pharmaceuticals
won FDA
approval in the USA to launch a Phase III trial on January 3, 2006 [28] Sativex
Entered Phase III Clinical Programme In Cancer Pain on November 23 2010 [29] and a US Patent was
granted for Sativex in cancer pain on April 20, 2011 [30]
(4-20
-
maybe
they
thought
we
wouldn't
notice)
Upon approval in the United States,
Sativex will be marketed by Otsuka. [31]
GW Pharm have developed quite an array of Sativex marketing partners in
recent times. [31b]
So, GW Pharm has already
clinched a Sativex marketing deal in the USA. I hate to think of what
is further in store for MMJ law (and patients and everyone connected)
in the USA when the FDA finally
approves
Sativex for sale as a prescription medicine. It is entirely plausible
that an undisclosed policy scenario is the primary
reason for
our witnessing the current DEA crackdowns on dispensaries,
patients and all, in the USA, along with state tampering with, and even
successfully voting to repeal, [32] MMJ laws since
the failure of Proposition 19 on
November 2, 2010. [33] Thus the failure of Prop 19 is
achieving the very thing that campaigners were blue-in-the-face from
campaigning about, in the time leading up to the Vote - that in the
event of the failure of Prop 19, state and federal governments will
politically twist the failure to read "the people of California do not
want cannabis to be legalised" and thus take the opportunity of this
green light to bring on MMJ repression within the United States.
Are we getting sick of this
Trojan Horse yet?
I certainly am. If the cannabis law reform
movement does not begin to see a clear difference between herbal
cannabis and cannabis pharm meds and to SHOUT OUT against these issues
concerning Sativex by
using documented
evidence to further the campaign for the general cannabis law reform of
herbal cannabis, then I fear that we will not see the general
legalisation of cannabis
at all. Yes, that's blunt and to the point - AND IT NEEDS TO BE SAID
AGAIN AND AGAIN.
The possibility of herbal
cannabis remaining forever in prohibition does not deter me - if
anything, it makes me determined to campaign even harder. This single
issue of the political protection of Sativex should be of the utmost
importance to the worldwide cannabis law reform movement as it is not
something that is just happening "over there" - it is an issue that is
slowly but surely impacting on the campaign for cannabis legalisation
and
as long as cannabis is in prohibition I will never stop talking about
the threat that Sativex poses to the interests of the worldwide
cannabis campaign.
Let us remember this: it was Rick Simpson, a member of the cannabis
community, who discovered that hemp oil is the cure for cancer, a man
on the run, wanted by the Canadian government for cannabis "offences",
a man who is living under-cover in Europe - THE MAN WHO DISCOVERED THE
CURE FOR CANCER. The man who does not even have a page on Wikipedia. IF
RICK HAD BEEN A PHARMACOLOGIST WORKING ON CANNABIS MEDICAL RESEARCH IN
A GOVERNMENT APPROVED LAB, HE WOULD BE AWARDED THE NOBEL PRIZE "FOR
PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE." [34] The cannabis community
is fully capable of discovering the illnesses of which cannabis can
cure or ameliorate
symptoms.
The last word, over to
Rick: "In 1847, Dr.
Semmelweis, a respected Hungarian physician who was concerned about the
high mortality rate of women giving birth in hospital, instituted a
procedure at one hospital whereby doctors washed and disinfected their
hands before delivering babies. Immediately, the mortality rate dropped
from THIRTY percent to near zero. Seven other hospitals followed suit
with similar results.
The
European medical establishment recognized Dr. Semmelweis’s achievement
by blocking his applications for further research funds, vilifying and
ostracizing him, and, ultimately, causing him to lose his prestigious
positions at maternity hospitals. In America, the newly formed American
Medical Association added insult to injury by threatening to revoke the
license of any doctor caught washing his hands. Dr. Semmelweis was so
distressed that women continued to die that he suffered a mental
breakdown that eventually led to his death in 1865.
Don’t expect a doctor working inside the system to buck the system. The
risks are still too great! The advice she or he offers you is
controlled by the large medical industry that makes its money from
expensive cancer fighting drugs and treatments. It is an industry that
doesn’t look favorably on natural supplements or other cancer
treatments that they cannot patent or make a large profit from. Years
from now the current conventional cancer treatments used by doctors
will on the whole be viewed in the same light that we view the old
medical practice of blood letting to cure illnesses." [35]
Please share these points
widely. Whenever you get the opportunity. June 29, 2011.
Article researched and
written by Fabio Santacroce
Founder, ASCIA
http://www.legalizziamolacanapa.org
Researched Tuesday June 14 - Friday June 17 2011
Legalise Cannabis
International wishes to make clear that any individual named in this
article may not necessarily agree with any or all of the content of
this article.
References,
Links and Further Reading:
[1] "Cannabis
and
Psychosis
(Young
People)"
House of Commons debates, 9 June
2011, 6:00 pm (Hansard
record
of
debate
beginning
at
6pm)
[1b] "Treating Yourself -
Meet Dr. Frankenbeanstein" by Jo Pietri
[2] "Isolation,
Structure, and
Partial Synthesis of an Active Constituent of Hashish" by Y. Gaoni,
R.
Mechoulam, April 1964
[3]
"Marihuana
chemistry."
Science
168:1159-66,
1970. Mechoulam
R.
[Laboratory
of
Natural
Products,
Pharmacy
School,
Hebrew
University,
Jerusalem,
Israel]
[4]
"The
Wootton
Report" January 1969, Page 21
[5] "Sativex
and
the
Cannabis
Community" Jayelle Farmer Nov 28, 2010
[6] Health
Canada
Approval
of
Sativex
[7]
June 26, 2009: (Note: This study is
sometimes referred to as "The Keele Report")
"Assessing the impact of
cannabis use on trends in diagnosed schizophrenia
in
the
United
Kingdom from 1996
to 2005" by Martin Frisher, Ilana Crome, Orsolina Martino, Peter
Croft
Article history: Received 17
April 2009, Received in revised form 27 May 2009, Accepted 30 May 2009
[7b]
International Association for Cannabis as Medicine: "Science:
The
development
of
the
number
of
new
schizophrenia
cases
in
the
UK
does
not
support
the hypothesis that cannabis use increases schizophrenia
risk"
"According to research of
scientists at Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, the incidence (the
number of new diagnosed cases) of schizophrenia in the years 1996 to
2005 does not support the hypothesis that cannabis use increases the
risk for the development of schizophrenia or psychosis. For this study
an analysis of data from 183 practices in England, Wales, Scotland and
Northern Ireland was conducted. The study cohort comprised almost
600,000 patients each year, representing approximately 2.3 per cent of
the UK population aged 16 to 44. Between 1996 and 2005 the incidence of
schizophrenia and psychoses were either stable or declining.
A recently published study found
that cannabis use increased fourfold between 1972 and 2002 and 18-fold
among people under 18 years of age. If the risk of schizophrenia is
elevated 1.8-fold among light users and 3.1-fold among heavy users as
suggested by another study, and assuming an elevated risk for 20 years,
an increase in schizophrenia incidence of 29 per cent would have been
expected between 1996 and 2005. Researchers concluded that "the causal
models linking cannabis with schizophrenia/psychoses are not supported
by this study" and that "the underlying causes of
schizophrenia/psychoses remained stable/declined over the study period."
(Source: Frisher M, Crome I,
Martino O, Croft P. Assessing the impact of cannabis use on trends in
diagnosed schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005.
Schizophr Res. 2009 Jun 26. [Electronic publication ahead of print])
[8] "Marijuana
In
The
UK
And
The
Advisory Council On The Misuse Of Drugs" (National
Drug
Prevention Alliance)
[9] "Further
consideration
of
the
classification
of
cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971"
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, December 2005
[10] "Brown
plans
tougher
line
on
cannabis
against advice of own drug
experts"
The Guardian. April 4, 2008
[11] "Cannabis and
mental illness
– the Keele Study" Derek Williams (UKCIA) July 4th, 2009
[12] Reclassification
of
cannabis
to
Class
B
[13] Home Office comments
after release of Global Commission Report, June 2011
[14] US states that have
legalised cannabis for medical use
[15] "Sativex - Inside
the UK
grow rooms - Medical Marijuana" (video)
[16] Cannabis
and
Cannabinoids
search
on
books
[17]
Cannabinoid Research Institute at GW pharmaceuticals
[18] Dr. Ethan Russo: Pot
Pioneer
[19] Sativex:
"Summary of Product Characteristics"
[20] "Sativex
cannabis
based
medicine..." poster
[21] Q:
"What is GW's position on
crude herbal cannabis?" GW Pharmaceuticals website
[22] "Journal
of Cannabis
Therapeutics: A Requiem" by Ethan Russo, October 2003. (MS Word doc)
[23] "GW
Pharmaceuticals
List
of
Abbreviations
and
Definitions of Terms" published in the
penultimate
edition Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, Year 2003, Edition No. 3/4
[24]
Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) Schedule
1
"Psychedelic
substances"
"having
"no
currently accepted medical use in
treatment in the United States"
[25]
U.S. patent applications available from 2005 to present: "Cannabinoids
as
antioxidants
and
neuroprotectants"
[26] May
7, 2008 Alternet: "Psst...
Government-Supplied Marijuana Program Turns 30 That's right, our
government has been supplying medical marijuana to some patients for
three full decades."
[27]
Video: "Irvin Rosenfeld HB
5470 Michigan Medical Marijuana Testimony"
[duh]
List
of
Schedule
II
drugs
(US)
Opiates: 9300 Morphine
[28] GW
Pharmaceuticals
wins
FDA
approval
to
launch a Phase III trial January 3, 2006
[29] Sativex
Enters
Phase
III
Clinical
Programme
In Cancer Pain November 23 2010
[30]
US Patent granted for Sativex in cancer pain on April 20, 2011
(4/20)
[31] Q. "Who markets
Sativex?"
Upon approval in the United States, Sativex will be marketed by Otsuka
[31b] Full
List of GW Pharm Marketing Partners As a side note, Novartis are
the Swiss company who litigated against the Indian government over
trade mark infringment via India permitting the sale of generic cancer
treatment drugs - drugs that are the reason for Bernard Rappaz, hemp
pioneer, sitting in prison in Switzerland. Read my Swiss article here.
Shocking stuff.
[32]
"Montana House votes to repeal medical marijuana law"
[33]
Russ Belville "10
Lessons
Learned
from
Marijuana
Election
Defeats"
[34] All
Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine
[35]
Rick Simpson: "Whose
oil can you trust?"
[36] James Cole (DoJ) June 29, 2011 Memorandum
to
US
Attorneys c/f Ogden
Memo
October
19, 2009
[37] DoJ
Memo
Sends
a Chilling Message. "In a move that impacts hundreds of
thousands of medical cannabis patients nationwide, the US Department of
Justice (DOJ) sent a chilling message tonight to state and local
officials who are seeking to implement medical cannabis laws and to
those trying to provide legal medicine: You may be prosecuted. In
a memo to US Attorneys nationwide, US Deputy Attorney General James
Cole said that Persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling
or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such
activities… are subject to federal enforcement action, including
potential prosecution. State laws or local ordinances are not a defense
to civil or criminal enforcement of federal law… Those who engage in
transactions involving the proceeds of such activity may also be in
violation of federal money laundering statutes and other federal
financial laws."
[38] Thursday June 30, 2011: Second
phase
III Sativex cancer pain trial commences
[39]
Monday July 4, 2011: Sativex
Launched
in Germany
[40] Friday July 8, 2011: "Federal
government says marijuana has no accepted medical use."
Further Reading:
"The man who secretly
(and legally) grows 20 tonnes of cannabis a year"
Justin Gover, boss of GW
Pharmaceuticals, explains how a drug called Sativex can ease the pain
of multiple sclerosis sufferers – if the NHS can afford to buy it
Page 13: Conclusion: "In
addition, all of the schizophrenic subjects had been treated with anti-
psychotic drugs, so it is possible that the changes in CB1 receptors we
have measured in schizophrenia are due to the effects of such
treatment."
"STUDIES ON [3H]CP-55940 BINDING IN THE HUMAN CENTRAL
NERVOUS SYSTEM: REGIONAL SPECIFIC CHANGES IN DENSITY OF CANNABINOID-1
RECEPTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA AND CANNABIS USE"
"Conclusions: Neither CNR1 nor
CHRNA7 variation appears to alter the risk of schizophrenia.
Furthermore, our results do not support the presence of different
effects of cannabis use on schizophrenia according to variation within
COMT." British
Journal of Psychiatry, "Genotype effects of CHRNA7, CNR1 and COMT in
schizophrenia: interactions with tobacco and cannabis use"
"Interestingly, they also failed
to find a previously reported association between cannabis use and the
catechol-O-methyl- transferase (COMT) gene. They suggest that cannabis
use is not associated with the ValMet COMT allele, and they do not find
evidence of a geneenvironment interaction between the COMT genotype and
cannabis use exerting an effect on developing schizophrenia." British
Journal of Psychiatry "OPTIMALTREATMENTS FOR ANOREXIA AND GENETIC RISK
IN SCHIZOPHRENIA"
Page 1272/1273 "Causal
effects of cannabis cannot be established from this study, and it would
not be possible to establish causality from any observational study.
However, the re- sults clearly show that cannabis-induced psychoses do
not occur randomly. Rather, the degree of hereditary pre- disposition
in individuals who receive treatment of can- nabis-induced psychosis
closely mirrors that in those who develop schizophrenia with no history
of cannabis- induced psychosis. The results agree with those of other
studies that show that cannabis predominantly causes psy-chotic
symptoms in those persons who are predisposed to develop psychosis or
show signs of psychosis in the absence of cannabis use. "Familial
Predisposition
for
Psychiatric
Disorder:
Comparison
of Subjects Treated for
Cannabis-Induced Psychosis and Schizophrenia" American Medical
Association, November 2008 by
Mikkel Arendt, MScPsych, PhD;
Preben B. Mortensen, DrMedSc; Raben Rosenberg, DrMedSc; Carsten B.
Pedersen, MSc; Berit L. Waltoft, MSc
Wikipedia: Arguments for and against drug
prohibition
"Cannabis
and Cannabis Extracts:
Greater Than the Sum of Their Parts?" by J.M. McPartland, E.B. Russo
"Cannabis
is
more
than
simply
D9-tetrahydrocannabinol" by Ethan B. Russo &
John M. McPartland
"Journal
of
Cannabis
Therapeutics" All
articles may be
downloaded.
Media & Government: "Reefer
Madness" Lies
May 24, 2011: Australia: High
risks: cannabis and psychosis: "Both the Mental Health Review
Tribunal in NSW and the National Cannabis Prevention and Information
Centre have said publicly that if cannabis was removed from the
chemistry of young brains, the incidence of schizophrenia in this
country would be dramatically reduced."
June 16, 2011:
UK: Mail
Online: "Cannabis
'kills
30,000
a
year'
Updates
Monday June 20, 2011 - Added "Full List of GW Pharm Marketing Partners"
[31b]
Friday July 1, 2001 - Added "James Cole (DoJ) Memorandum" [36]
Friday July 1, 2001 - "Added DoJ Memo Sends a Chilling Message" [37]
Thursday June 30, 2011 - Added "Second phase III Sativex cancer pain
trial commences" [38]
Monday July 4, 2011 - Added "Sativex Launched in Germany" [39]
Friday July 8, 2011 - Added "Federal government says marijuana has no
accepted medical use." [40]
