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7/17/2011 – Dr. Uri Napchan was lead author on a commentary published by the American Headache Society, which discussed the possibility of using synthetic cannabinoids or natural Cannabis for the treatment of headaches. Given what scientists know about how Cannabis works, marijuana-like compounds or synthetic cannabinoids may be a promising treatment for acute, refractory, or cluster headaches.

The authors warn that it is premature to make strong clinical recommendations as there are only a small number of case reports and surveys suggesting a possible benefit from Cannabis for headache treatment. The authors do point out that Cannabis is a Schedule I drug and there is dispute over its value in different medical conditions among experts. Therefore, the authors imply that synthesizing a new cannabinoid specifically for headaches could be the best approach. This new chemical drug would not have anything from the natural Cannabis plant.

In a strange turn of events these scientists (and others like them) could see their research on a collision course with politicians in the United States. Ironically, the compounds that have the best possibilities are being swiftly prohibited. Under an “emergency” measure the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) moved several synthetic cannabinoids into the Schedule I category under federal laws.

Over the last year synthetic cannabinoids have been demonized in this country because of a new fad drug on the streets marketed as “K2″ or “Spice.” Although these packages sold as “incense” just as often contain synthetic opiates (that are still perfectly legal by the way), the cannabinoids are what public officials seem to rant about.

The compounds already targeted for prohibition, called JWH cannabinoids, were supposed to be the building blocks of a variety of promising research that should be explored further. They were regularly used in academic laboratories but are now much more difficult to obtain for legitimate research.

The authors of this study present a well-found notion of creating a non-psychotropic synthetic cannabinoid that could treat headaches. But while more states approve laws for whole-plant medical marijuana, even more are passing local laws banning synthetic cannabinoids. Politics alone could prove to be the most significant barrier for developing the science in this headache study.

Jahan Marcu is currently investigating the pharmacology of cannabinoid receptors. He was working at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute when exciting discoveries were made showing enhanced anti-cancer effects with THC and CBD from the Cannabis plant. The findings were published in the Journal of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. In 2009 he received the Billy Martin Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). Jahan is currently the vice-chair the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board at Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Questions?   Contact    [email protected]

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent any University, business or affiliates. While the information provided in this blog is from published scientific studies it is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.

This is in response to Radical Russ Belville’s latest piece entitled “Is it NORML to be Sexist?”

Mr. Belville takes on a common issue regarding women’s roles in the marijuana movement, addressing the scantily clad babes often seen at pot trade magazines and expos and how they could be ultimately hurting “the cause.” He also notes the disproportionate amount of men in relation to women throughout said cause, as well as being smokers.

“Those who have tried pot in their lifetime are 54% male; by the time you get to the daily tokers like me, it’s 68%.  That’s two tokers for every tokette!  (Hmm, is “tokette” sexist?)”

No, tokette is obviously not sexist. But way to diminish terms that genuinely are! Sexism tends to be the one “ism” that can be joked about freely (and kind of lamely, in this case). Had you made a similar remark re: African American people (Hmmm…is “darkette” racist?), it wouldn’t have been construed as remotely funny. But alas, by simply critiquing a joke, I must be utterly lacking in a sense of humor. (It’s one of the age-old techniques to shut up a feminist: “Your dour, humorless wench, you. Can’t you take a joke?” Yes, but as a rule, I prefer my jokes the way I prefer my men: funny.)

“On one side you have free speech and sexual expression advocates explaining that sex sells! The marijuana industry is no different in that respect than the fast food, car, and beer manufacturers.”

No, Mr. Belville, marketers say that sex sells, not sexual expression advocates (whoever the heck they are and can I join their club?). Your implication is that scantily clad women selling goods is a form of sexual expression, which it obviously isn’t; it’s just good old-fashioned objectification.

Or do we flaunt our freedom to communicate any message we like, risking it may harm recruiting efforts and public opinion for legalization?  Bottom line (if you’ll pardon the pun): are the extra dollars from advertising marijuana with babes in booty shorts worth impeding the legalization of marijuana?

Ah, priorities. Sure, the exploitation of women may impede a movement, but (and this is a tiny but…oops! Pardon the pun!), it may also oppress half of the population in a broad range of far-reaching and insidious ways. My takeaway? You’re not so concerned with women being squelched by this type of exploitation, because it doesn’t affect you directly. You do care if it affects the legalization of marijuana.

Mr. Belville goes on to question:

Does our outlaw counterculture and male/female imbalance just shelter us from recognizing the sexism that the mainstream’s been addressing and correcting over the past three decades, or does it actively foster an environment of sexism?

First of all, the imbalance of women to men pot smokers isn’t that substantial. Look at your numbers again. There are a lot of women smoking weed. It’s not a man’s sport. Obviously, women are shutting up for the same reasons they always shut up: fear of repercussion, not lack of agreement.

And do tell me what happened three decades ago. I had no clue that the mainstream has been “addressing and correcting” sexism since 1981. I so didn’t get that memo. Open up a magazine, turn on your television, listen to your radio, walk down your street. Sexism is alive and well and raping and exploiting in 2011. Using hot chicks to sell stuff is hardly counterculture; it’s simply more of the same. It’s very…frat. And you’re right; it does diminish a message.

I get what you were going after and do appreciate your underlying points. You’re taking the baby steps required to truly understand the objectification and unheard voices of women. And you nailed the head (is that an “excuse the pun” too? Head? Get it?) on many levels.

But as a woman, I have to walk this walk. I have to look good and sell beer. I have to speak out, and then shut up. And I have to get the joke. Even when it’s not funny.

Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished artist with over 15 years of experience, as well as the president of Hot Buttered Media. She currently resides at the Jersey shore where she can be found surfing or singing karaoke at a local dive bar.

Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com

On March 21, 2011 New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced the winning applications for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) in the Garden State. Twenty-one applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee.

The non-profit’s are:
· Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center, Corp., Ocean, Central Region; The ATC would be located in Manalapan, Monmouth County.

· Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc. (CCCAF), Jersey City, Central Region; The ATC would be located in New Brunswick, Middlesex County.

· Compassionate Care Foundation Inc., West Trenton, Southern Region; The ATC would be located in Bellmawr, Camden County.

· Compassionate Sciences, Inc. ATC, Sea Cliff, NY, Southern Region; The location of the ATC is undetermined, but will be located in either Burlington or Camden County.

· Foundation Harmony, Cliffside Park, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Secaucus, Hudson County.

· Greenleaf Compassion Center, Montclair, Northern Region; The ATC would be in Montclair, Essex County.

However the regulations governing the facilities have not been finalized and remain in a hard-fought Legislative dispute.

Ken Wolski the executive director of The Coalition for Medical Marijuana-New Jersey (CMMNJ) said,

“We certainly wish the successful applicants luck because patients need legal marijuana as soon as possible.   However, we have serious doubts that these non-profit organizations will be able to develop a working program with the overly restrictive regulations proposed by DHSS.  CMMNJ still supports the legislative Resolution to invalidate significant parts of the DHSS regulations.”

Read the full press release from NJ DHSS here: http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/dhss/njnewsline/view_article.pl?id=3681

4/13/2011 – Documents from the application process in New Jersey for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers are being released. The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) and Freedomisgreen.com acquired the six applications that were approved.They are posted online for public download here: http://www.scribd.com/NJcannabisDocs

Requests for the information were filed through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) with the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

DHSS officials said that the scoring and review documents from the application process are being released later today. The additional twenty-five unapproved applications are expected later this week.

CMMNJ and Freedomisgreen.com will continue to post the documents online for public review.

Officials may announce the winning applications for the medical marijuana Alternative Treatment Centers  (ATCs) in the Garden State today. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) confirmed in an email that they would release a statement.

More than 20 applicants submitted exhaustive business plans along with a $20,000 filing fee. But the regulations governing the ATC facilities have not been finalized and remain in a Legislative dispute. Potential non-profits have stated that they would find it nearly impossible to operate under the current proposed rules, even if the state does give them a green light.

Read more: NJ Health Commissioner treats medical marijuana patient

John Ray Wilson in 2010

10/6/2011 – John Ray Wilson has been granted bail by the New Jersey Appellate Division pending his final appeal to the State Supreme Court. Although the New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Russell Curley requested $150,000 cash, the judge set $15,000 and allowed a posting of 10 percent.

His family moved quickly to secure Wilson’s release. In a phone call this week John said he was glad to be home, “My grandma needs a lot of help right now, so at least I can be there for her.”

In January 2010, just as the NJ medical marijuana law was passed, Wilson was convicted of growing 17 cannabis plants. Wilson lives with multiple sclerosis and without health insurance. He has always maintained that the marijuana was cultivated for his personal medical use.

This is the second time that Wilson has been incarcerated and bonded out as his case continues through the courts.

MS is one of the few recognized medical conditions under the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. Cannabis treats muscle spasticity in MS patients and been shown to slow the progression of the disease.

New Jersey’s medical marijuana program remains in trouble. Delays and added restrictions imposed by Governor Chris Christie have kept state-sanctioned cannabis from being grown or distributed. Patients with qualifying conditions have only the illegal, underground market for access.

Wilson may not use cannabis while on bail and has gone back to using bee-sting therapy.

The NJ Appellate Division ruled that “manufacturing” marijuana can never be considered for personal use (medical or otherwise).

Legal observers note that granting bail may hint that the state’s highest court may take up the case.

“We think that the appellate decision is misguided,” said Wilson’s attorney William Buckman, “we are hoping that the Supreme Court will set the record straight that New Jersey doesn’t want to put sick people or simple individual marijuana users into prison at the cost of $35,000 a year.”

Pot smokers have endured their fair share of negative publicity. The 1930’s movie Reefer Madness highlighted pot smokers who simply went bonkers from smoking a joint; jumping out of windows, beating each other to death and laughing maniacally (the last part may still hold some truth).

Decades later, pot smoking became personified by Sean Penn’s “Spicoli” in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Damn, that one hurt. For a number of reasons:

1.   The public at large began to think of all pot smokers as Spicoli: brain-fried, dopey and irresponsible.

2.   Sean Penn morphed into a pompous jerk after this role, as if the funny were just smoked right out of him. (Give that man some Spicoli back, damnit!)

But times have changed. Over 40% of the U.S. population has admitted to smoking marijuana. Pot smokers aren’t falling out of vans in a cloud of smoke; they’re running multi-million dollar companies, winning Olympic medals, making movies and writing best-selling novels.

Here are just a few successful and motivated stoners:

• Stephen King, best-selling author
• Anita Roddick, British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner
• Michael Phelps, Olympic Gold-medalist
• Rick Steves, Author and historian
• Richard Branson, British entrepreneur
• Montel Williams, television host, MS spokesperson
• Jodie Emery, executive director of Cannabis Culture
• Carl Sagan, astronomer and author
• Anita Thompson, best-selling author
• Ayn Rand, Novelist, philosopher and playwright
• Oliver Sachs, British neurologist and author
• Ted Turner, American media mogul
• Missy Suicide, founder of Suicide Girls, alternative pin-up site.

So how can you be a more motivated stoner?

Here are a few pointers:

1.   Smoke and Do. Initiate a project after a smoke session. It’s surprising how much you can accomplish. Whether it’s a spring-cleaning or a car repair or a complex splinter removal, smoking pot can free up your mind and help you focus.

2.   Smoke and Move. Physical exercise after getting high is naturally pleasurable. Get outside, breathe in the air, don’t be afraid to care. Fire up the iPod. Go for a bike ride. Run. Dance. Stretch. Have a real-life, aerobic surround-a-sound experience.

3.   Smoke and Sit. Meditating and marijuana smoking go together like peanut butter and that weird marshmallow shit they used to put on our sandwiches way back when.

4.   Smoke and Storm. Feeling at crossroads? Smoke a little weed and brainstorm. Grab a big pad of paper and a black Sharpie. Allow your mind to wander and then write drawn or draw out possible solutions. Weed allows for more fantastical ideas to arise; ones that can easily translate into “real life” if necessary.

5. Smoke and Stay. To be truly motivated, one must be relaxed and ready. For some, smoking weed allows them mental downtime and deep relaxation, which ultimately translates into a well-rested individual, capable of executing the tasks at hand.

6. Smoke and Smile. Nothing can get in the way of a motivated life like anger. Or grief. Or guilt. Marijuana can offer the perspective needed to look at your psychological well-being and make improvements, without being so emotionally enmeshed. Simply the act of laughing is therapeutic, which weed more than happily supplies.

We’ve entered a new era; one in which pot smoking is becoming increasingly accepted, and occasionally extolled for its virtues. And while weed is not going to find you a new job or get you out of your deadbeat relationship, it can be used as a tool for change. Why not?

Or…you could embrace your inner Spicoli and enjoy the blissful state of doing nothing. After all, doing stuff is a little overrated anyway.

All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I’m fine. – Jeff Spicoli

The New Jersey state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Services Committee held a public hearing on January 20, 2011 on resolution SCR 130. This is part of a constitutional process to rescind and re-write overly restrictive rules for the medical marijuana program.

A recent review on the applications of cannabinoids for the treatment of Glaucoma suggests that some of these compounds may be “ideal drugs” to manage this disease. The authors call for additional studies that could examine the safety and effectiveness in order to integrate these cannabinoid compounds into daily, clinical use.

Abstract:  Cannabinoid applications in glaucoma.

[Article in English, Spanish]

Medical cannabis growing at Oaksterdam via Chris Goldstein

11/2/2012 – John O’Brien, the director New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program (MMP), reported today that the state’s only cannabis provider was unaffected by Hurricane Sandy.  Greenleaf Compassion Center is the single, fully permitted Alternative Treatment Center. They operate a dispensary in Montclair, NJ and a growing facility at an undisclosed Northern New Jersey location.

O’Brien said via email this morning: “The Greenleaf cultivation facility didn’t miss a beat, no loss of power.  Their harvested product is good and the new cultivation is doing well.  Mr. Stevens [Greenleaf CEO] and company have assembled a secure and sustainable facility.  He deserves a lot of credit for his planning and forethought.”

Concern has turned to relief among registered and potentially qualifying NJ patients who wondered if the historic storm could have an impact on the nascent program.

Patients have started to receive their identification cards from the NJ Department of Health (DOH). Still, prior to the storm Greenleaf ATC had not started serving patients just yet.

O’Brien did not give a time-frame but said, “We continue to work with Joe towards an opening date.”

Advocates at The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ) point out that severe weather is just one of the reasons why more medical cannabis ATCs must be opened in different regions of the state. NJ is the first state to pass a compassionate use law that does not include provisions for home cultivation by patients or caregivers. Governor Chris Christie and NJDOH regulators have also refused to allow the ATCs to deliver cannabis to homes; a common practice with pharmaceutical medication.

At the moment, any registered NJ medical marijuana patient or their registered caregiver must travel to Greenleaf ATC to purchase cannabis that is legal under the law. Montclair is in northern New Jersey, just outside New York City. Although the area is easily accessible via roads and public transit, MMP participants in southern NJ (such as Cape May County) face a 10-hour round-trip journey, under the best conditions.

NJ MMP website: http://www.state.nj.us/health/medicalmarijuana/index.shtml

Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. Questions?  [email protected]