Iowa Lawmakers Pass Restrictive CBD-Only Medical Marijuana Bill

From The Daily Chronic – May 2, 2014

DES MOINES, IA — Iowa lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill that would legalize possession of a liquid, non-intoxicating form of marijuana as a treatment for severe epilepsy, sending it to Governor Terry Branstad.

Iowa would join five other states with similar measures including Wisconsin and Mississippi if the Republican governor signs the bill into law, the Washington, DC based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) said.

The bill is “largely symbolic” because it provides no legal, in-state source for Iowa residents to obtain the substance known as cannabidiol, NORML deputy director Paul Armentano said.

Branstad has said he would consider signing the bill approved with bipartisan support by state representatives early Thursday.

The Senate, which had passed a previous version, approved the House changes.

A group of parents who have epileptic children lobbied Iowa lawmakers on the issue and about 100 patients with intractable epilepsy will be able to get a neurologist’s recommendation for cannabidiol if the bill becomes law, lawmakers said.

“What we’re offering today is hope for these families,” said state Representative Bob Kressig, a Democrat.

Armentano said residents of Iowa would have to obtain the oil from a state where marijuana is legal, and break federal law to carry it across state lines.

“The law unfortunately will fail to provide either adequate access or adequate relief to the very patient population it is intended to serve,” Armentano said.

A recent poll found that 59% of Iowa voters would support a comprehensive medical marijuana law in the state.

CBD: unprecedented healing power

 

High on Health: Cannabinoids in the Food Supply

Alan Badiner, Waking Times

Endocannabinoids are naturally occurring compounds found within the human body. They’ve been there for 600,000 years or more, but we’ve only just noticed it! One of the remarkable things about endocannabinoids is their striking similarity to the active ingredients of cannabis called phyto-cannabinoids. In fact, it was the effort by scientists to understand the exact mechanism by which cannabis works in the body that led to the discovery of the Endocannabinoid System little more than a decade ago.The science of endocannabinoid medicine has progressed to a dizzying degree in the past few years. There is wider awareness that the ‘endocannabinoid system’ is the largest neurotransmitter system in the human body, regulating relaxation, eating, sleeping, memory, and, as noted by the Italian scientist Vincenzo Di Marzo, even our immune system.

Pot and the “Big C”

From Metro Times Detroit
Cannabis and cancer? That concept is becoming more and more common these days, and it’s not because smoking the plant causes cancer as some people erroneously claim.

In fact, the clinical evidence that we do have suggests that cannabis could be very helpful in fighting many forms of cancer. In the Petri dish, and in rats and mice, researchers have found that THC and CBD, two active compounds (cannabinoids) in the plant, cause cancer cells to die while leaving healthy cells alone. This is in contrast to conventional chemotherapy wherein all the cells, cancerous and healthy, are killed; hopefully, the cancer dies before you do.

“The scientific studies are consistent in showing that there are constituents in cannabis that have anti-cancer activities,” says NORML deputy director Paul Armentano, who has given court testimony, written and lectured on medical marijuana. “We see that cannabinoids can act as selective anticancer agents in that they target malignant cancer cells and they cause these cells to turn on themselves and trigger cell suicide. They do not trigger suicide in healthy cells.”

Armentano does not claim that cannabis cures cancer. His comments are as cautious as scientists who see potential that cannabis might be used successfully in combination with currently conventional therapies to treat cancer. All of them conclude that more research needs to be done.

A group of researchers at the University of Wisconsin concurred with that after reviewing literature on medical uses for marijuana. Their findings were published in 2007 under the title “Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise” in the journal Cancer Research. They concluded:

NBC News: Marijuana Compound CBD Fights Cancer; Human Trials Next

“If this plant were discovered in the Amazon today, scientists would be falling all over each other to be the first to bring it to market” ~ Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of oncology at the University of California San Francisco

English: 2D structure of cannabidiol (CBD) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

David McNew/Getty Images

from NBC Bay Area (Sept 19, 2012)

The “medical” bit of medical marijuana may be legitimate after all: Turns out a component of cannabis fights cancer, according to research.

Scientists at California Pacific Medical Center found that cannabidiol, or CBD, has the ability to “turn off” the DNA that causes “breast and other types of cancers” to metastasize, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“If this plant were discovered in the Amazon today, scientists would be falling all over each other to be the first to bring it to market,” said Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of oncology at the University of California San Francisco, which has also found science behind marijuana’s efficacy.

Alcohol damaged teens’ brain tissue; marijuana did not (study)

From Alternet

Some new science demonstrates that marijuana may not have the harmful effects critics claim. In fact, while pot had no measured impact in a new study, the very legal and very lucratively-marketed substance alcohol actually has a worse health impact on young users.

The Healing Power of Marijuana Has Barely Been Tapped

From Alternet

There are now legal medical cannabis programs in 18 states plus Washington, DC, with pot fully legal for adults in two other states. Ironically, however, the actual healing power of the plant has barely been tapped. Smoking marijuana with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), or better, vaporizing it (using a device to bake the plant material and inhale the active ingredients), has an indisputably palliative effect and can be medically useful for pain relief, calming and appetite stimulation. It already has confirmed benefits against glaucoma, epilepsy and other specific diseases and disorders. It also gets people high. THC triggers cannabinoid receptors in the brain and this produces the sensation of being stoned. These receptors are found in the parts of the brain linked to pleasure, memory, concentration, and time perception.

Cannabinoids: every body likes them, some bodies need them

See Also: Are you Cannabis Deficient? – Fox News

by Peter Kennedy for Salem-News.com

People have CB1 receptors in the brain. The body makes Anandamide to bond at CB1, and if you smoke marijuana that is where the THC likes to go.

Everybody needs Cannabinoids to be healthy. When your body does not produce sufficient cannabinoids, you need to supplement with medical marijuana to be healthy. When President Obama stops DEA raids on medical marijuana everything gets better: Health Care Costs, Medicare & Medicaid, PTSD Veterans, Auto Immune, Autism, ADHD & Chronic Pain Conditions. By encouraging scientific research, Obama will allow cannabis nutraceutical products to help everyone (when federal law allows), without the Pharmaceutical Industry or taxes or the VA.

This is ALL True. It is happening right now. Part of the solution to all these issues, exists in medical marijuana states. It is time to connect the dots of medical marijuana and the issues facing America today. We need to live, think & plan sustainably. We must create eco-friendly, economically sustainable solutions because Washington does not have any answers.

We are part of the solution. But we do not want to go to jail. We are not legalization activists, drug dealers or gang bangers; we are eco-entrepreneurs: aging baby-boomers, PTSD Vets, old hippies with advanced degrees and/or years in alternative health care. We are ‘out to save the world’; ‘what would Jesus do’ folks.

As part of State Medical Marijuana Programs, individual patients (such as myself) have developed cannabis products (home remedy- cookies or brownies or oils) that have dramatic effect on cancer, heart disease, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis, Tourette syndrome, PTSD, chronic pain, Meth & other addictions, depression, autism, ADHD, and many more. Yes, I have personally helped Oregon Medical Marijuana Patients with all these conditions. My ‘No-High, healthy, Angel Oil Cookies’ allows medical marijuana benefit without smoking or intoxication.