Tag: medical marijuana

Nebraska Court Weighs Legal Challenge That Could Prevent Medical Marijuana Ballot Votes From Being Counted After Election

A Lancaster County District Court judge said Friday she intends to issue “narrowly” at the end of next week whether to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to invalidate Nebraska’s medical cannabis petitions.

Judge Susan Strong made the announcement during a 20-minute initial briefing on the lawsuit filed by John Kuehn, a veterinarian, rancher, former state senator and former member of the Nebraska State Board of Health. The lawsuit seeks to either remove the two certified marijuana measures from the November 5 ballot or prevent counting of votes and void the election results.

“Hopefully we can all work together and resolve these claims as expeditiously as possible, hopefully before the election, though I understand we don’t have to,” Strong said at the initial hearing. “I think that would be the best course.”

Under state law, challenges to ballot measures can come before or after the election at issue, but Strong and attorneys for Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R) and Kuehn said they were inclined to move quickly so voters know the impact before November’s election.

Attorneys for Evnen and the campaign sponsors each asked for all or part of the lawsuit to be dismissed. The sponsors’ attorneys derided the lawsuit as the “equivalent of a recount.”

Kuehn alleges too many invalid signatures

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Georgia Pharmacy Begins Selling Medical Marijuana To Patients In Defiance Of DEA Warnings About Federal Law

Nearly a year after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sent letters to dozens of Georgia pharmacies warning them against dispensing medical marijuana in accordance with state law, at least one pharmacy is now selling cannabis in open defiance of the federal agency.

Georgia’s medical marijuana law is the first in the nation that, at least in theory, allows registered pharmacies to dispense cannabis. That plan, however, has largely been on hold following DEA warnings last November that pharmacies licensed with the agency “may only dispense controlled substances in Schedules II-V of the Controlled Substances Act.”

But a pharmacist in Augusta is now flouting that guidance. Vic Johnson, who owns the Living Well Pharmacy, began selling medical marijuana to state-registered patients earlier this month, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) report on Thursday.

“It’s a new frontier,” he told the paper. “I really think pharmacies are an ideal outlet for dispensing medical cannabis, because if you come to my pharmacy already, we can talk about what medications you already are taking.”

He also said that many patients are already taking highly addictive drugs, “and the quality of life that can happen when they come off those medications is just incredible.”

Johnson is selling products produced by Botanical Sciences, one of the state’s two licensed producers. Prior to the DEA letters—in October of last year—at least three pharmacies had begun dispensing Botanical Sciences products, the company said in a press release at the time.

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Nationwide Legalization Of Medical Marijuana Could Save $29 Billion In Annual Health Insurance Costs, Study Finds

New research by the medical cannabis company Leafwell suggests that state-level medical marijuana legalization may significantly reduce health insurance costs. In states with legal medical cannabis, companies paid 3.4 percent less for health insurance premiums compared to where marijuana remained illegal—a savings of about $238 per employee per year.

If all states were to implement medical cannabis programs, the study says, the country could save an estimated $29 billion in health insurance costs annually.

“This report strengthens the case that investing in cannabis care isn’t just beneficial to patient care, it’s also good for business efficiency,” Leafwell Chief Medical Officer June Chin said in a statement about the new findings. “By including cannabis in insurance plans, employers can foster a more inclusive and supportive work environment, enhance employee satisfaction, and ultimately contribute to a healthier, more resilient workforce.”

The study, published this month in the journal Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, looked at data from an annual surveys of employers, analyzing a period from 2003 to 2022.

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Medical Marijuana Leads To ‘Improvements In Physical, Social, Emotional And Pain-Related’ Quality Of Life, Study Shows

A new study finds that patients who used medical marijuana for three months improved on a variety of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures, including physical functioning, bodily pain, social functioning, fatigue and general health.

“Gains were observed in all HRQoL domains assessed after three months of medical marijuana use,” note authors from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Public Health Management Corporation, also in Philadelphia. In several measures, however—including physical functioning and pain—patients’ age played a significant role, “with older participants displaying less improvement than younger participants.”

The longitudinal study, published in the Journal of Cannabis Research last week, followed 438 new medical cannabis patients who completed “semi-structured interviews” both before they began using cannabis and again three months into use. Most participants were recommended marijuana to treat either anxiety disorders (61.9 percent) or pain (53.6 percent).

“New medical marijuana users experienced improvements across all domains of HRQoL over the first three months of medical marijuana use for any of the more than 20 qualifying medical conditions for use in” Pennsylvania, the authors wrote. “Notably, participants endorsed greater than 20 percent increases in ratings of their role limitations due to physical health problems and emotional problems, and in social functioning after three months of medical marijuana use.”

Researchers described the study as “one of the largest longitudinal studies of quality of life in individuals using medical marijuana in the US.”

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Medical Marijuana Has ‘Promising Results’ For Fibromyalgia Patients, New Study Shows

Marijuana is useful in treating pain and other symptoms related to fibromyalgia, a new study shows—with authors reporting pain relief, improved sleep and better quality of life in patients who vaporized THC-rich cannabis.

Researchers behind the new case series concluded that “cannabinoids treatment showed promising results in the management of chronic pain and other FM [fibromyalgia]-associated symptoms, improving the quality of life of these patients,” though they acknowledged the need for further study given the limited nature of their initial observations.

The research, published in the Journal of Alternative Complementary and Integrative Medicine, looks at the impact of cannabis treatment on three patients in Portugal who used an 18-percent THC cannabis flower product. The product, from the Canadian producer Tilray, is “the only commercially available medical cannabis product in Portugal,” the study notes.

In addition to reductions in pain and improvements in sleep quality—seen in all three subjects—two of the patients also reported decreases in other medication they were seeing, suggesting a substitution effect.

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Medical Marijuana Helps People With Arthritis And Other Rheumatic Conditions Reduce Use Of Opioids And Other Medications, Study Shows

New research on the use of medical marijuana among people with rheumatic conditions such as arthritis finds that more than 6 in 10 patients who used medical cannabis reported substituting it for other medications, including NSAIDs, opioids, sleep aids and muscle relaxants. Most patients further said that the use of marijuana allowed them to reduce or stop using those medications entirely.

“The primary reasons for substitution were fewer adverse effects, better symptom management, and concerns about withdrawal symptoms,” says the study, published this month by the American College of Rheumatology. “Substitution was associated with THC use and significantly higher symptom improvements (including pain, sleep, anxiety, and joint stiffness) than nonsubstitution.”

The findings, say authors at the University of Michigan Medical School, McGill University and the University of Buffalo, “suggest that an appreciable number of people with rheumatic diseases substitute medications with [medical cannabis] for symptom management.”

Data for the study came from an online, anonymous survey of adult residents of the United States and Canada, which was advertised on social media and through email contact lists of the Arthritis Foundation and Arthritis Society Canada. Of 1,727 completed surveys, 763 respondents said they currently used cannabis, while 655 said they’d never used marijuana and 268 said they’d used but since discontinued. Researchers analyzed responses of only those who said they were current cannabis users.

“Among 763 participants, 62.5% reported substituting MC products for medications, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (54.7%), opioids (48.6%), sleep aids (29.6%), and muscle relaxants (25.2%),” the report says.

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Colombia’s Diverse Environments Grow Marijuana With ‘Uncommon Terpenes’ That Can Have ‘Unique Therapeutic Benefits,’ Study Shows

New research on Colombian-grown cannabis reveals “significant phytochemical diversity” in the plants, uncovering what authors say are “four distinct chemotypes based on cannabinoid profile” as well as plants that are rich in uncommon terpenes.

The findings “underscore Colombia’s capacity to pioneer global C. sativa production,” the study says, “particularly in South America with new emerging markets.”

The diversity in compounds produced by Colombian cannabis plants could benefit not only growers—for example, by increasing resistance to pests and other pathogens—but also the development of unique medical marijuana products, says the study, published in the journal Phytochemical Analysis.

One factor behind the observed biological diversity could be Colombia’s varied environmental zones, the research says. The country is home to snow-covered volcanoes, tropical beaches, deserts, grasslands, rainforest and more. That variety also contributes to Colombia’s other agricultural industries, such as coffee.

Authors of the new study, from universities in Columbia, Germany and the United States, sought out licensed cultivators of medical marijuana across Colombia. Ultimately, growers donated 156 samples from 17 total cultivation sites, representing seven provinces and five different regions.

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New Hampshire Governor Signs Bill Allowing Medical Marijuana For Any Condition A Doctor Thinks It Can Help

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) has signed into a law a major medical marijuana expansion bill that will allow doctors to recommend cannabis for any debilitating condition they believe it would improve. Previously, patients needed to be diagnosed with certain specific conditions to qualify for legal marijuana access.

“This is BIG,” Rep. Wendy Thomas (D), sponsor of the newly signed HB 1278, said in an email to Marijuana Moment. “It opens up the therapeutic program to ANY person who has a debilitating or terminal illness.”

Thomas, a cancer survivor and medical marijuana patient herself, told colleagues at a committee hearing earlier this year that cannabis has helped her manage chronic pain, insomnia, eating issues, gastrointestinal issues, PTSD and anxiety. “I found relief from all of these symptoms,” she said, “some of which are not covered in the program.”

The new law adds to the state’s qualifying conditions for medical marijuana “any debilitating or terminal medical condition or symptom for which the potential benefits of using therapeutic cannabis would, in the provider’s clinical opinion, likely outweigh the potential health risks for the patient.”

The provision does not replace New Hampshire’s enumerated list of qualifying conditions, which Thomas has previously described as a useful way for clinicians who are less familiar with cannabis to navigate the system. “The point of this is that they would be allowed to…refer a patient to the program for any condition that they think would fit and benefit the patient,” she told Marijuana Moment earlier this year.

“This bill sets up two paths for health providers,” Thomas said at the time. “For those who are not familiar with cannabis, they can use the legislated symptom and conditions list. For those providers who are cannabis literate, they will be able to recommend the program for a health condition that they think cannabis may be able to help, but that might not be on the list.”

Other examples of symptoms that could be effectively managed with marijuana that are not specifically listed as qualifying conditions, Thomas said, include severe menstrual cramps, symptoms of long COVID and pre-dentist anxiety and post-surgical pain control.

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A Fetus Doesn’t Need Its Own Medical Marijuana License, Oklahoma Court Says

Oklahoma resident Amanda Aguilar was arrested after using marijuana while pregnant. Though Aguilar had a medical marijuana prescription, prosecutors reasoned that her fetus did not. They charged the mother of five with child neglect, a felony.

Now, the state’s highest criminal court says prosecutors had no basis to do that.

The ruling should be good news for women who use marijuana to help with morning sickness and other pregnancy ailments. But the opinions in this case make clear that some Oklahoma judges would like to see pregnant marijuana users criminalized.

“The baby has no medical marijuana license,” wrote Judge Gary L. Lumpkin in a dissenting opinion.

Even Judge Scott Rowland, who wrote the majority’s opinion, stressed that the court does not “condone marijuana use by an expectant mother” and urged Oklahoma lawmakers “to consider an addition to the law making clear when, if ever, the licensed use of marijuana may constitute child neglect.”

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