cannabis | Common News Update

Nov72019 by adminNo Comments

Cannabis to be given to patients to test impact on seven conditions

Technology

Thousands of patients are to be given cannabis in the first large-scale study of the drug's clinical effect.Medical cannabis, which is grown to a precise grade of active ingredient, was legalised in the UK a year ago. But only a handful of patients have since been prescribed the drug on the NHS because of what medical authorities have called a "paucity of evidence" that it works and is safe. Image: Professor David Nutt says cannabis medicines can be life-saving in disorders like childhood epilepsy The only option for patients is to either source cannabis illegally, and risk prosecution, or pay for a private prescription of the drugThe new study, called Project Twenty21, will subsidise cannabis for 20,000 patients to test its impact on...

Aug82019 by adminNo Comments

‘Lack of evidence’ holding back cannabis medicines

Health

Media playback is unsupported on your device NHS patients are not getting cannabis-based medicines because of a lack of evidence they work, according to an official review.Multiple sclerosis patients and parents of children with severe epilepsy have been fighting for access to the drugs.The NHS England report found hospitals also had issues affording the medicines and getting hold of a safe supply.The report said the health service must support studies to gather evidence "as soon as possible".The law was changed in November 2018 to allow specialist doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis for the first time. The decision fuelled demand from parents of children with severe epilepsy, who were having hundreds of seizures a week, as well as patient...

Jun152019 by adminNo Comments

Chinese tombs yield earliest evidence of cannabis use

Science

Researchers have uncovered the earliest known evidence of cannabis use, from tombs in western China.The study suggests cannabis was being smoked at least 2,500 years ago, and that it may have been associated with ritual or religious activities.Traces of the drug were identified in wooden burners from the burials.The cannabis had high levels of the psychoactive compound THC, suggesting people at the time were well aware of its effects.Cannabis plants have been cultivated in East Asia for their oily seeds and fibre from at least 4,000 BC. But the early cultivated varieties of cannabis, as well as most wild populations, had low levels of THC and other psychoactive compounds.The burners, or braziers, were found at Jirzankal Cemetery,...

Jun82019 by adminNo Comments

Illinois legalizing cannabis could help New York, New Jersey do the same: U.S. pot CEO

Finance

Marijuana is growing on U.S. consumers.Last week, Illinois became the 11th U.S. state to approve cannabis for recreational adult use, joining a growing cohort that includes California, Vermont and Michigan. The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.Now, U.S. cannabis companies like Cresco Labs are undergoing expansion so they're able to produce the supply required to meet the demand in the fifth-largest state in the country, said Charles Bachtell, co-founder and CEO of Cresco. "You're talking about a state that is going from a relatively conservative medical program — we have about 70,000 patients in it currently — to the fifth-largest state in the country: 13 million people, over 100 million tourists a year, and anybody over the age of 21 are going to have access to the program," he sai...

Jun62019 by adminNo Comments

Advisors down on crypto but give cannabis stocks and passive investing a thumbs up: survey

Finance

Jose Luis Pelaez | Iconica | Getty ImagesCryptocurrencies are out and cannabis stocks are in, according to the latest investing trends survey by the Financial Planning Association.The 392 financial advisors who participated in this year's study, the 2019 Trends in Investing Survey, said that 55% of their clients have asked about investing in marijuana stocks and companies in the past six months.The proportion of clients inquiring about cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, fell to just 25% this year, from 53% in 2018. This was the first year the survey asked advisors about cannabis stocks.For their part, advisors remain highly skeptical of cryptocurrencies as an asset class. Just 1% of survey respondents believed they are a viable investment option that has a place in a portfolio. Another 1...