Women could soon use medical marijuana for painful periods in New York state

Imbalance of men in positions of power means 'some issues that are just about women have gotten shortchanged', says Democrat who proposed law

Women living in New York who suffer from severe period pain could use medical marijuana to ease their cramps after proposals allowing its use were approved by a local health committee.

Painful periods – known as dysmenorrhoea – affect around 20 per cent of women to the extent that daily activities are interrupted, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

A new law adding dysmenorrhoea to the list of conditions that make someone eligible to buy medical marijuana has been put forward by Democrat Linda Rosenthal, a member of the New York State Assembly.

The bill, which was overwhelmingly approved by the Assembly’s Health Committee in a vote of 21 to 2, will now need to be passed by the New York Senate and Governor Andrew Cuomo before it is made law, reported Newsweek.

If the measure is passed, dysmenorrhoea will join conditions including epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain on the list of conditions that allow patients to carry a card letting them buy cannabis legally for medical use.

Ms Rosenthal told the magazine the reason painful periods had not yet been considered for inclusion on the list was that the imbalance of men in positions of power means “some issues that are just about women have gotten shortchanged and that’s because it’s not in men’s everyday consciousness”.

Vapourisers can be used to administer medical marijuana in New York state (KanaVape)

Smoking or eating marijuana is not permitted for medical purposes in New York. Approved forms of the drug include liquids and oils for vaporisation, or oral capsules.

Scientists have called for further research into the medical use of marijuana – an “area of huge untapped potential,” according to an Oxford associate professor involved in a new academic programme in the field.

Tampons and lubricant infused with cannabis to reduce pain caused by cramps without causing a ‘high’ have been praised for their efficacy in online reviews, but have not yet been tested in clinical trials or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Ms Rosenthal previously helped pass a law removing the sales tax on sanitary products and is also working to make feminine hygiene products free for women in prisons, homeless shelters and schools, according to Newsweek.

Cannabis is a Class B drug in the UK, but the cannabidiol CBD, which does not create the ‘high’ associated with recreational use, has been reclassified as a medicine by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

This means doctors can, in exceptional cases, prescribe medicines containing CBD to be manufactured or imported for a patient’s use.

Patients Are Ditching Opioid Pills for Weed

Can marijuana help solve the opioid epidemic?

James Feeney, a surgeon in Connecticut, heard it from his patients. A few actually turned down his prescription for oxycodone, the popular opioid painkiller that has also gained notoriety with the opioid epidemic. 

His patients, Feeney recalls, would say, “Listen, don’t give me any of that oxycodone garbage. … I’m just going to smoke weed.”

“And you know what?” says Feeney. “Every single one of those patients doesn’t have a lot of pain, and they do pretty well.”

Marijuana has worked well enough, anecdotally at least, that Feeney is following his patients’ lead and conducting a trial at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, CT. The state-funded study will compare opioids and medical marijuana for treating acute pain, such as that from a broken rib.

That distinction—acute pain from an injury—is also an important one. A small body of evidence suggests that medical marijuana is effective for chronic pain, which persists even after an injury should have healed and for which opioids are already not a great treatment. But now Feeney wants to try medical marijuana for acute pain, where opioids have long been a go-to drug.

“The big focus from my standpoint is that this is an attempt to end the opioid epidemic,” he says. Overdoses from opioids, which includes heroin as well as prescription painkillers like oxycodone and morphine, killed more than 30,000 people in 2015.

“Listen, don’t give me any of that oxycodone garbage. ...I’m just going to smoke weed.”

Marijuana might have a bigger role in curbing this drug abuse than previously thought. Its potential uses are actually threefold: to treat chronic pain, to treat acute pain, and to alleviate the cravings from opioid withdrawal. And it has the advantages of being much less dangerous and addictive than opioids.

The big roadblock? Marijuana’s status under federal law as a Schedule I drug—the most tightly restricted category—which makes it very difficult for researchers to study. Scientists first have to apply for a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which “can take people years,” says Yasmin Hurd, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai who has a license to study marijuana and its derivatives. Another problem is sourcing. Scientists can only get marijuana from a farm at the University of Mississippi, which grows a limited variety. “You want to be able to study different formations, but if you can only get the compounds from one source, that makes it hard,” says Hurd.

This is especially relevant to Hurd’s work because her interest is not necessarily THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, but cannabidiol, also known as CBD. Cannabidiol doesn’t get you high, but it affects the receptors in your brain more indirectly. In a small pilot study, Hurd has found that cannabidiol can reduce the cravings of people addicted to heroin. “They relapse because they are in conditions that induce craving,” says Hurd. By controlling their anxiety, cannabidiol also seems to be controlling their cravings.

Hurd is now running a larger trial to investigate if the substance could help people addicted to heroin, and she published a recent review on cannabidiol’s role in curbing substance abuse.

Using marijuana to treat chronic pain is a more established idea. A 2015 review of 28 randomized clinical trials found “moderate-quality evidence” that compounds derived  from marijuana or synthetic versions thereof were beneficial.

Interestingly, patients already seem to be replacing opioids with marijuana for chronic pain. A handful of observational studies have also found correlations between states legalizing medical marijuana and a drop in painkiller prescriptions, opioid use, and deaths from opioid overdose.

 And in 2016, Dan Clauw and his colleagues published a survey of patients with chronic pain who started patronizing a medical marijuana dispensary. They cut their previous opioid use by two-thirds.

“They felt a lot better when their pain was being controlled by cannabis rather opioids because opioids have a lot of side effects,” he says. Those side effects include dizziness, constipation, sexual dysfunction and—in the case of overdoses—breathing problems. That’s because opioids receptors are also in the brainstem, the part of the brain that regulates breathing. Marijuana acts on a different set of receptors.

Clauw, who runs a pain lab at University of Michigan, says he would to like understand how marijuana quells pain on a molecular level, but getting the license has proved too big a hurdle.

Meanwhile, Feeney’s hospital trial for acute pain is able to get around the logistics issue of marijuana as a scheduled substance. Medical marijuana is legal in the state of Connecticut, but neither Feeney nor his hospital provides it directly to patients. Rather, a doctor certifies a patient to use marijuana, and the patient then picks it up at a dispensary or pharmacy. “The strains I have to select from are so pure and so potent that the stuff they get from the University of Mississippi pales in comparison,” says Feeney.  

The trial, which was just got started, will enroll 60 patients with rib injuries in total—30 on marijuana, 30 on opioids. The doctors chose rib injuries to study because the pain lasts a predictable six weeks. Because of the study’s design, patients get to choose whether they use opioids and marijuana to control pain. So far, the hospitals has enrolled a handful of patients. They’ve all chosen marijuana.

Source: https://cannabis.fedgeno.com/links/patients-are-ditching-opioid-pills-for-weed-197737

Big Pharma's synthetic cannabis pills are killing people … yet authentic marijuana is still criminalized

Daniel Barker

Leave it to Big Pharma to find a way to turn a natural, effective, plant-based healing substance into something patentable and deadly.

That’s right; the guys in the pharmaceutical labs are so desperate to develop a drug that delivers the same therapeutic benefits as cannabis – under their own exclusive money-making patent, of course – that they don’t mind if a few people die along the way.

That’s what happened last year in France, when a clinical trial involving a synthesized laboratory drug designed to stimulate the body’s endocannabinoid receptor system left six people hospitalized, one of whom was later declared brain-dead.

The pharmaceutical industry has long been in the business of isolating or synthesizing the active ingredients of medicinal plants and patenting the resulting drugs so that huge profits can be made, and they often look to governments to aid them in obtaining exclusive rights and eliminating competition.

From True Activist:

“[W]hen government-connected industries wish to shut out their competition, which in this case is a plant, they lean on the state’s ability to stifle competition through claiming a right to the intellectual property behind a particular set of ingredients – otherwise known as a patent.

“Since no one can patent a wild plant, pharmaceutical industries turn to their labs and chemistry to recreate nature.”

But to reproduce the wide-ranging and nearly-miraculous therapeutic properties of cannabis in a laboratory is no simple task. The effects of cannabis on the human body are very complex, and there are many active compounds contained within the plant.

Scientists have only recently discovered what is called the endogenous cannabinoid system (ECS), and it’s the key to how and why cannabis works so well to alleviate pain and even cure many illnesses.

From Reset.me:

“Cannabis medications work so efficiently because of the endocannabinoid (EC) system, present in all humans and many animals as well. This system consists of a series of receptors that are configured only to accept cannabinoids, especially tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).”

(RELATED: See more news about cannabidiol at CBDs.news)

The way this system works is just beginning to be understood, and the death and hospitalizations that occurred as one drug company rushed to test its own lab-based synthetic ECS stimulant is a testament to the fact that we simply don’t understand the endogenous cannabinoid system well enough yet to begin subjecting humans to experimental drugs designed to affect it.

What we do know, however, is that the “whole” cannabis plant delivers all of the therapeutic benefits, without any dangerous side effects.

That fact scares the hell out of the pharmaceutical industry, because they are seeing people discarding pain pills and other drugs in favor of a natural remedy that costs nothing to grow.

That’s also why Big Pharma is continuing to put pressure on the government to keep marijuana classified as a dangerous drug and to stifle research into the use of the natural plant as opposed to dangerous, government-approved chemical drug research and development.

Fortunately, the prohibition of marijuana is failing. As more and more studies confirm the therapeutic benefits of the plant itself, and the old attitudes and stigma regarding marijuana begin to fade into the past, it will be difficult to continue convincing the public that the plant should be outlawed and that only government-approved chemical cannabis substitutes should be made available.

But the battle isn’t over yet. We, as citizens, must continue to demand the right to have access to cannabis and to be able to grow it at home. Until the federal government completely legalizes marijuana and removes it from the list of controlled substances, the fight isn’t over.

Big Pharma’s chemical version of cannabis is not an acceptable substitute for the real thing.

Sources:

TrueActivist.com

StatNews.com

Reset.me

50 unexpected benefits of cannabis (you might not know)# 6 is surprising

By:Chip Whitley

The Health Benefits of Cannabis

It comes as no shock to anyone who knows cannabis that it’s something of a miracle herb.But as we bring this plant out of the dark and into the light, it continues to blow our minds – just how great the benefits of marijuana actually are!We are talking about benefits to public health, to the economy, and to each and every person who develops a positive relationship with this therapeutic plant.

1. It Can Help You Lose Weight

If you’re an avid Green Flower reader, then you’re already aware that cannabis users have been shown to be slimmer, on average, than non-users. That’s because cannabis helps the body regulate insulin production, and manage caloric intake more efficiently.

2. It Can Regulate and Prevent Diabetes

Because cannabis helps regulate body weight, it only makes sense that it would help prevent and regulate Diabetes. Again, you can thank the herb’s ability to regulate insulin production for this medical breakthrough.

3. It Fights Cancer

This is the big one that everybody’s been talking about. Both scientists and the federal government have released a good amount of evidence showing thatcannabinoids fight certain types of cancer. It doesn’t get much more substantial than that.

4. It Can Help Depression

Depression is one of the more widespread, yet least talked about medical conditions in America. And research is showing that cannabis can help treat it.

“Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression,” said Samir Haj-Dahmane, who is spearheading the research at Buffalo University – research that is only just now beginning to ramp up.

5. It’s Showing Promise in Treating Autism

Like many other high-profile disorders, autism may be a prime target for cannabis-based treatments. Science is digging into it, but in the meantime, some parents are using it to help manage violent mood swings in autistic children.

6. It Provides a Safer Alternative to Drugs and Alcohol

Cannabis can be harmful if you use it irresponsibly, but it’s nowhere near as destructive as alcohol for example. With wider availability, cannabis can and will become a substance of choice – and likely save a lot of lives (and livers) in the process.

7. It Helps Regulate Seizures

Using medical cannabis to regulate seizures is another one of the more high-profile findings coming out of medical science. For folks with disorders like Epilepsy, cannabis is showing immense promise.

8. It Can Help Broken Bones Heal Faster

Can you believe that cannabis can actually mend broken bones? It’s true, as CBD evidently reacts chemically with collagen, spurring along the healing process. Another very exciting find.

9. It’s a Treatment for ADHD

For those with serious trouble concentrating, or who have children suffering from ADD or ADHD, cannabis might be the treatment you’ve been waiting for. It’s safer and more effective than medications like Ritalin or Adderall.

10. It Can Help Treat Serious Addictions

We already mentioned that cannabis can be a viable, safer alternative to substances like alcohol and tobacco, but did you know that it can also be used as a treatment for addictions to these substances, and more? Individuals addicted to serious drugs like heroin, opiates, and cocaine, are showing promise in ridding themselves of their addictions through cannabis therapy.

Of course, it’s entirely possible to develop a dependency to marijuana, also – so responsible and mindful use is key.

11. It Treats Glaucoma

One of the first big medical issue that cannabis was shown to effectively treat is Glaucoma. Ingesting cannabis helps lower the pressure in the eyeball, giving patients at least temporary relief.

12. It Can Improve Lung Health

You probably never saw this one coming – especially since pot is commonly associated with smoking, and smoking with chronic lung problems. But some conditions, including lung cancer and Emphysema, have been shown to regresswhen cannabis is thrown into the mix.

13. It Helps Anxiety

Fact: cannabis can actually cause anxiety but there are ways to potentially avoid that. And it’s also true that for many people, cannabis can help alleviate anxiety disorders.

14. It Can Slow the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease

Cognitive degeneration is pretty much unavoidable as we age, and Alzheimer’s disease falls under that umbrella. The good news is that studies are showingcannabis can stop the progression of Alzheimer’s, which may lead to longer, richer lives for millions.

15. It Helps M.S. Patients

Cannabis helps alleviate many of the symptoms associated with Multiple Sclerosis, most notably the tremors, spasms, and pain.

16. It Can Control Muscle Spasms

We’ve mentioned M.S. and seizures, but general muscle spasms are an ailment that affect millions. Cannabis can help calm those muscles, stop them from twitching, and deal with the pain associated with spasms.

17. It Helps Individuals with Eating Disorders

A common use for medical cannabis is to help regulate eating patterns. Whether you eat too much, or too little, cannabis can help. This is especially helpful for people suffering from disorders like Bulimia and Anorexia.

18. It Treats Arthritis

Another common ailment that cannabis is used to treat is arthritis. The THC and CBD – as well as other cannabinoids – help sufferers deal with the pain, especially when using quality cannabis creams and balms.

19. It’s Helpful for Those with PTSD

With so many veterans in need of effective treatments for PTSD after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the discovery that cannabis is a viable option is fantastic news. Now, the trick is to get the VA and doctors to actually prescribe it.

And of course not all PTSD is combat-related. All sorts of traumatic experiences can put that fight-or-flight response into overdrive, and cannabis is the only medication to address that.

20. It Can Help Regulate Your Metabolism

We touched on how cannabis helps your body process and deal with food, and obesity. This plays into how it also helps maintain and regulate your metabolism. That not only means sticking to an ideal weight level but generally being healthier and happier!

21. It Can Help People with AIDS/HIV

Cannabis can’t directly cure the AIDS virus, but it can and does help those living with it cope. Specifically, cannabis helps those living with AIDS/HIV maintain their diets and handle associated pains and aches.

22. It’s Effective for Treating Nausea

Next up on our list of marijuana facts: nausea. This is a relatively common feeling, and one that is brought on by any number of things. Some people live with constant bouts on a daily basis, and as you can imagine, it can be debilitating. How does cannabis come into the picture? Chemical compounds in cannabis react with brain receptors to regulate feelings of nausea. This is a particular boon for chemotherapy patients (see #27).

23. It’s an Alternative Treatment for Headaches

Lots of people experience headaches every day, and taking the typical medicines – be it acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil) – can take its toll on your body, leading to ulcers, liver damage, and other complications. Cannabis offers a natural alternative, and one that won’t chew threw your stomach lining.

24. It Can Treat Certain STDs

It’s true – cannabis has been found to be at least somewhat effective in the treatment of a handful of sexually transmitted diseases, including herpes and chlamydia.

25. It Will Help with Speech Problems

It comes as no shock to anyone who knows cannabis that it’s something of a miracle herb.But as we bring this plant out of the dark and into the light, it continues to blow our minds – just how great the benefits of marijuana actually are!We are talking about benefits to public health, to the economy, and to each and every person who develops a positive relationship with this therapeutic plant.

If you, or someone you know, has an issue with stuttering, cannabis can help. Research is by and large still lacking, but in the same way that cannabis helps calm spasms and twitches, those with speech problems can potentially benefit from its effects.

26. It Can Improve Skin Conditions

Who would’ve thought that cannabis could be a viable treatment option for skin conditions like eczema? The only issue? Smoking won’t do much good, as smoking actually harms your skin. A quality cannabis topical, on the other hand, can do wonders.

27. It Can Help You Get Through Chemotherapy

This is another extremely popular use for medical cannabis. Those suffering from cancers and its treatments – like chemotherapy – have found comfort in cannabis’s soothing effects.

28. It Regulates Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Those living with OCD can also use cannabis as a treatment option. CBD, which effectively regulates anxiety to some extent, is the main active ingredient which helps those with OCD get a handle on the disorder – and live more functional lives.

29. It Will Calm Asthma Attacks

You probably never saw this one coming. Cannabis and asthma? They’reapparently compatible, or so says science. Again, it has to do with cannabinoid receptors which help control coughing fits as well as the herb’s ability to act as a bronchodilator. Smoking is obviously not the best method of delivery here, as that will likely only make things worse.

30. It Can Replace Viagra for Some Men

How about a natural cure for erectile dysfunction? This another one of the many benefits of marijuana. No more hiding that Viagra in the back of the medicine cabinet, merely stick to cannabis. The research is ongoing, but there is evidence that cannabis can help men overcome this frustrating issue.

31. It Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

Smoking and low blood pressure are rarely synonymous. Thankfully there are several other ways to ingest cannabis, which can help with hypertension and other blood pressure issues.

32. It’ll Calm Your Panic Attacks

As mentioned, calming anxiety is one of cannabis’s more sought-after effects. As a result, it can help people control panic attacks. Of course, it’ll depend on several physical factors, and what specific strains you use.

The Economic Benefits of Cannabis

33. It Can Be Used as a Food Source

Despite the fact that cannabis is hard to find at your local grocery store, throughout history, it’s been a dietary staple for many civilizations. Hemp has often been cultivated as a source of protein, and even today is used to create protein powders, or seeds can be purchased for consumption. On a large production scale, hemp can feed a lot of hungry people if prohibitive laws are overturned.

34. It Makes for an Attractive Investment

Want to make green, from green? Lots of venture capitalists are starting to see the explosive potential in the cannabis industry, and as a result, are dumping money into cannabis-based startups and businesses. Cannabis capital summits are even popping up, attracting investors and entrepreneurs.

35. It Can Help Fight Climate Change

If we are able to get large-scale cannabis farms into production, it could help curb emissions, and fight climate change. This would happen through a number of ways, from providing more carbon-absorbing plants across vast farmlands, to trading off emission-producing animal farms for greener, cleaner cannabis grows.

36. It Creates Jobs

The creation of literally tens of thousands of jobs in the wake of legalization in places like Colorado and Washington is hard to ignore. And in an economy that has been in slow-recovery mode since 2009, looking at any opportunity to add more jobs can’t be overlooked.

37. It Generates Revenue for Schools and Public Health Programs

Instead of having money funnel into the hands of low-level street dealers, or even cartels on the other side of the border, legal marijuana markets areputting money to work in local communities through tax revenue. Marijuana is now supplying millions to schools and public health programs, among other things.

38. Legalizing Cannabis is Getting People Out of Jail

A big point of contention in the U.S. recently has been the large rate of incarceration, and the amount of money flowing to the prison industrial complex. Legalization is clearing out prisons, and freeing up time and resources for law enforcement.

39. It’s Creating New Industries

We mentioned that cannabis is creating a lot of jobs, and that’s because it’s creating new industries which house them. Cultivation, processing, sales outlets – there are numerous facets to the cannabis industry, and as legalization spreads, it’ll continue to grow.

40. It Lowers Crime Rates

Yes, making a previously illegal product legal lowers the crime rate – but it goes deeper than that. Numbers show that states in post-legalization statusare seeing drops in crime, and perhaps most importantly, violent crime.

41. It Leads to Safer Roads

Traffic deaths have gone down in Colorado after legalization, which is fantastic news. This could be due to the substitution effect, people choosing pot over alcohol.

42. It Makes Law Enforcement Cheaper and Easier

In legalized states, police no longer need to spend time chasing marijuana offenders, which also clears up the courtrooms for more serious cases. This makes things easier for everybody, and cheaper for the tax payers.

How Cannabis Can Improve Your Daily Life

43. It Can Keep Your Pets Healthy

Cannabis, in some forms, can make for a healthy supplement for your pets. And for animals that are sick, or living with chronic pain, cannabis-based treatscan offer some relief.

44. It Can Help You Have More Pleasant Dreams

Plagued by bad dreams? Try cannabis before you hit the sack, and see if it makes a difference. For some people, it’s doing the trick. For others, particularly those with PTSD, it can also eliminate dreams completely. The reason, it turns out, is that cannabis impacts REM sleep – the part of the cycle during which you dream.

45. It Can Bring Your Energy Levels up

A lot of people are tired. But a small subset of individuals suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – a disorder that is effectively treated with certain cannabis compounds and strains. Just make sure you’re picking the right ones if you want to avoid fatigue.

46. It’ll Help You Sleep

On the flip side, you can use cannabis to help you get to sleep. Again, though, it’ll depend on what specific strains you’re using, and your physical and psychological makeup. You may have to experiment a bit to get the desired effect.

47. It Can Help You Get Through the Work Day

No matter what kind of job you have, cannabis can probably give you a boost in some way – be it mentally or physically. If you do decide to experiment with cannabis at work, be careful not to let things get out of hand. Be mindful of what works and what doesn’t.
And if you’re operating machinery, or driving? Abstain. Better to get high AFTER work.

48. It Can Make You More Productive

If you can get your cannabis regimen just right, productivity could increase significantly. For a lot of people that may be due to the medical benefits gained from cannabis, or the inspiration, or simply because they’re happier. On the other hand, productivity can also take a complete nosedive if you’re not careful.

49. It Could Make You More Creative

Surprise, surprise – cannabis can help you be more creative. There’s still some debate as to how or why this happens, but cannabis does inspire lateral and divergent thinking, an important mindset for innovation and progress.

50. It Can Protect Your Brain

Cannabis as a brain protector? It’s true. Scientists are finding that chemical compounds found in cannabis actually help protect our brains.

Let’s spread the word!

Wow, that’s a lot of benefits! If this list hasn’t provided you with enough marijuana facts to convert even the most strident prohibitionist, what will?
And of course we have to be realistic. Marijuana does have its own advantages AND disadvantages. Just like anything else it can be abused or mis-used. But if we’re going to educate, we’ve got to de-stigmatize and spark more conversations. The truth is that everybody, everywhere deserves access to all the benefits of marijuana.
2016 is going to be a big year for cannabis and education is critical – if you agree don’t hesitate to share this list and spread the word!

There’s Very Good News for the Lungs of Marijuana Smokers

The news: Conventional wisdom generally says inhaling any kind of smoke is bad for your lungs, and, to that end, smoking marijuana is just as bad for your health as smoking tobacco cigarettes.

However, according to data recently published in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society, inhaling one marijuana cigarette a day over 20 years is not associated with adverse changes in lung health.

In the largest cross-sectional analysis study of its kind, researchers at Emory University in Atlanta found that cannabis exposure and inhalation were not associated with negative spirometry changes, just FEV1 (forced expiratory volume) declines or problems with small airways disease. Additionally, the researchers found that vaporizing marijuana users reported even fewer issues than those who inhaled combusted marijuana.

In other words, unlike tobacco cigarettes and their well-documented highly negative effects on smokers’ lungs, marijuana cigarettes cannot be said to have the same correlation. On top of that, the researchers concluded marijuana smoke exposure could be “associated with some protective lung effects among long-term smokers of tobacco,” reports NORML.

However, the study found that inhaling marijuana smoke led to an increase in symptoms of bronchitis-like coughing, sore throat and shortness of breath. So, some risks are certainly still present, but they pale in comparison to the same risks when smoking tobacco cigarettes.

“In a large representative sample of U.S. adults, ongoing use of marijuana is associated with increased respiratory symptoms of bronchitis without a significant functional abnormality in spirometry, and cumulative marijuana use under 20 joint-years is not associated with significant effects on lung function,” the study’s authors concluded. “The pattern of marijuana’s effects seems to be distinctly different when compared to that of tobacco use.”

Growing science: Previous studies have also shown marijuana to have health effects much different than generally expected, including its effects on pulmonary functions and similar studies on the effects of marijuana smoke on the lungs.

Not only does this data show marijuana smoke isn’t as dangerous as tobacco smoke, but that cannabis could potentially be an effective method of treatment for a number of medical issues, considering the myriad of potential uses.

Already, many state have legalized marijuana in one form or another, though most have approved cannabis for medicinal use. And as the body of science behind marijuana’s positive aspects grows, you can expect even more states to be jumping on board and legalizing.

CAN CANNABINOIDS POSITIVELY IMPACT YOUR BODY’S ORTHOPEDIC AND MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH?

There is emerging science paving the way for the application of cannabinoids such as CBD (cannabidiol) in the world of orthopedic joint, tendon, bone, and connective tissue health.

Musculoskeletal symptoms and orthopedic conditions are the second-most common reason for physician visits in the United States at a staggering annual cost of close to $1 trillion. Finding safe, cost-effective therapeutic options is quickly becoming a top priority for those concerned about health and productivity, from practitioners and patients to government institutions.

Cannabinoid compounds and the endocannabinoid system (ECS) have been making waves for optimizing health and restoring balance related to mood, anxiety, sleep, pain management, neuroprotection, and even metabolic health. However, there is emerging science paving the way for the application of cannabinoids such as CBD (cannabidiol) in the world of orthopedic joint, tendon, bone, and connective tissue health.

We’re Not Quite at Adamantium Levels of Bone Strength, But We’re Getting There

A recent study published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal earlier this year by Kogan et al. demonstrated for the first time that phytocannabinoids can help to regulate the biomechanical properties and structure of bone. Interestingly, it had previously been shown that a number of endocannabionoids (produced within the body) acted as ligands, or hormone-like compounds (“keys”), for important receptors (“locks”) that control how the bone repairs and remodels its mineral and protein content.

In this study by Kogan, CBD led to improvements in healing of a rat femoral fracture model and demonstrated increased load-bearing mechanical properties. In other words, the rat leg fractures of the CBD-supplemented group healed faster and more completely with a stronger callus at the injury site than the control group that received non-cannabis treatment.

What Happens When Your Body’s Inflammatory Response is Unregulated?

The inflammatory response is known to be critical for healthy tissue integrity of the joints, tendons, ligaments, and bones. However, if left uncontrolled or unregulated, the chronic inflammatory response can keep injuries in the initial aggressive stage to clear out damaged tissues in a vicious, constant cycle. If the immune system can’t appropriately progress to the stages of resolution, tissue regeneration, remodeling, and healing, the patient can feel like he or she is on a continuous hamster wheel of pain, heat, swelling, and dysfunction.  

Numerous preclinical studies have demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory effects via activation of cannabinoid receptors (CB1, CB2, PPARs, GP18, and TRPV1) by both endocannabinoids as well as phytocannabinoids such as CBD. Recently, activation of these receptors has been linked to a powerful family of lipids known as specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs). These are the body’s natural “shut-off” system for inflammation that signals a major shift in the behavior and type of white blood cells to calm down and begin repairing and remodeling the injured site. That site may vary from an area of infection to any joint, tendon, connective tissue, or orthopedic injury that needs to be restored and fully healed.

We expect to see an increase of new clinical research developing in the area of applying cannabinoid science to orthopedics and musculoskeletal health in the near future. Not only can this type of therapy be more cost-effective for both patients and practitioners, it showcases the diversity of benefits cannabinoids can pose on the human body.   

This article is sponsored by CV Sciences, one of the leading suppliers of agricultural hemp derived CBD from seed to finished products.

References:

• Kogan NM, Melamed E, Wasserman E, et al. Cannabidiol, a Major Non-Psychotropic Cannabis Constituent Enhances Fracture Healing and Stimulates Lysyl Hydroxylase Activity in Osteoblasts. J Bone Miner Res. 2015 Mar 19.
• Burstein SH. The cannabinoid acids, analogs and endogenous counterparts.
• Bioorg Med Chem. 2014 May 15;22(10):2830-43.
• O’Sullivan Saoirse Elizabeth. Cannabinoid activation of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptors: an update and review of the physiological relevance. WIREs Membr Transp Signal 2013, 2: 17-25.
• Gui H, Tong Q, Qu W, Mao CM, Dai SM. The endocannabinoid system and its therapeutic implications in rheumatoid arthritis. Int Immunopharmacol. 2015 May;26(1):86-91.

Hemp based CBD Paste Kick Ass Big Pharama to Cures 10 Major Diseases

CBD Paste is by legal terms "Hemp". But really it is our proprietary strain of Cannabis. We say this because the law stipulates that hemp must be under .3% THC which CBD Paste is. This is a major breakthrough in our industry as the common hemp contains around .2% THC and if lucky 2 to 3% of CBD. This means you need a lot of hemp to make a CBD product. There are some complications in concentrating hemp. 

The THC also gets concentrated during the process and then chemicals or strong solvents are added. This causes the natural structure to be altered.

CBD Paste took 4 years of crossbreeding and testing over 330 cannabis plants to find what now tests at .24% THC and 21.37% CBD. The high strain of CBD means that we don’t have to use chemicals, butane, or CO2 to separate or concentrate our product. Our slogan is "The whole plant and nothing but the plant, so help me God".

What separates CBD Paste products from the rest of the world is we combine the product "Medium Chain Triglycerides"  (MCT oil) as the added oil. Fatty acids bond to the cannabinoids which is essential for the cannabinoids to travel through the blood brain barrier. This in itself makes CBD Paste medicinally superior.

If one were to research all the companies that sells CBD oil, the retail cost per milligram of CBD averages 20 cents or more per milligram. CBD Paste cost per milligram (calculated with the free shipping) is under 8 cents per milligram.

TOP 10 HEALTH ISSUES THAT CANNABIS PASTE CAN HELP RESOLVE. THE NEW HEALING PASTE IS AVAILABLE IN ALL 50 STATES.

1. CANCER:

Cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana, inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals, and also kill cancer cells. Western governments have known this for a long time yet they continued to suppress the information so that cannabis prohibition and the profits generated by the drug industry proliferated.

THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.

2. TOURETTE'S SYNDROME:

Tourette's syndrome is a neurological condition characterized by uncontrollable facial grimaces, tics, and involuntary grunts, snorts and shouts.

Dr. Kirsten Mueller-Vahl of the Hanover Medical College in Germany led a team that investigated the effects of chemicals called cannabinols in 12 adult Tourette's patients. A single dose of the cannabinol produced a significant reduction in symptoms for several hours compared to placebo, the researchers reported.

3. SEIZURES:

Marijuana is a muscle relaxant and has "antispasmodic" qualities that have proven to be a very effective treatment for seizures. There are actually countless cases of people suffering from seizures that have only been able to function better through the use of marijuana.

4. MIGRAINES:

Since medicinal marijuana was legalized in California, doctors have reported that they have been able to treat more than 300,000 cases of migraines that conventional medicine couldn’t through marijuana.

5. GLAUCOMA:

Marijuana’s treatment of glaucoma has been one of the best documented. There isn’t a single valid study that exists that disproves marijuana’s very powerful and popular effects on glaucoma patients.

6. MULTIPLE SCELEROSIS:

Marijuana’s effects on multiple sclerosis patients became better documented when former talk-show host, Montel Williams began to use pot to treat his MS. Marijuana works to stop the neurological effects and muscle spasms that come from the fatal disease.

7. ADD and ADHD:

A well documented USC study done about a year ago showed that marijuana is not only a perfect alternative for Ritalin but treats the disorder without any of the negative side effects of the pharmaceutical.

8. IBS and CROHN'S:

Marijuana has shown that it can help with symptoms of the chronic diseases as it stops nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

9. ALZHEIMERS:

Despite what you may have heard about marijuana’s effects on the brain, the Scripps Institute, in 2006, proved that the THC found in marijuana works to prevent Alzheimer’s by blocking the deposits in the brain that cause the disease.

10. Premenstrual Syndrome:

Just like marijuana is used to treat IBS, it can be used to treat the cramps and discomfort that causes PMS symptoms. Using marijuana for PMS actually goes all the way back to Queen Victoria.

GREAT OVERVIEW ON THE PASTE-- PLEASE READ FOR CLARITY. 

 Q & A

Who is Canna International?

Canna International is the creator of Cannabis Paste and CBD Paste. We are trade marked with 2 proprietary patents. Our CBD products, Holden’s Hope and Canna Doggy, are legal in all 50 states. Our high THC products are only sold in MMJ dispensaries.

What is the difference between CBD and CBD-A:

New studies show that over heating cannabis or hemp is damaging to the Cannabinoids and Terpenes. We never talk about the remaining 81 Cannabinoids found in Cannabis and Hemp. Why is that? It has been proven that CBD affects THC so we must think Synergistically when it comes to how all 85 Cannabinoids were created to work together. At Canna International we cook the buds at a very low temperature (longer cook time) compared to the 311F industry standard. This greatly preserves the Terpenes and it leaves about 10% of the Cannabidiolic Acid or the "A" from the CBD-A. 

Canna International decarboxylates the majority of the CBD-A into CBD but highly believes that there should be some CBD-A left which in the end product has also preserved the Terpenes levels by over 300 percent.

Does CBD Paste and Canna Doggy have THC in them? 

Technically yes but they have very small amounts, which are under the legal levels of 0.3%. For more information please visit this article What is CBD Paste?

Can I get high from CBD Paste products? 

No. You would have to eat the entire jar and then maybe you would feel a slight buzz. The same goes with CBD oil you see online.

Are Holden’s Hope and Canna Doggy legal to ship anywhere in the US?

Yes. The pharmaceutical industry is passing false propaganda to discourage people from buying hemp products. You will NOT go to jail possessing our products.

How do I administer the paste?

The paste has an earthy flavor and actually tastes better than the CBD oil. Taking (sublingual) it under the tongue is the most effective method. If you can’t stand the tastes then just chase it down with some water. If you are one of those people who just gag on anything, then go to Walgreens and buy empty gelatin capsules, put the paste in the capsule, and take it like a vitamin. Rectal method using gelatin capsules is becoming popular but Sublingual is #1. Some people say its better to take it after a meal. Splitting your desired dose into 2 does per day is recommended. For pets wipe it on their tongue and hold their mouth shut until you see them swallow. Call Canna Doggy for dosage suggestions.

What dosage do I take? 

FDA will not allow us to prescribe a dosage. Body weight, chemistry, diet, and many other factors can affect CBD results. In each box you will find an orange medical spoon that holds about 1 gram of paste. For example: Our 3oz jar contains over 2500 milligrams of CBD. 3 flat spoons is about 3 grams which equals 87 mg of CBD. This is a pretty big dosage of CBD compared to what you will find people(CBD specialists) are recommending as a dose. At 7 cents per milligram our cost is less than half the price of our competitors. A 3oz jar has about 85 scoops or 85 grams by weight. 1 flat (packed) scoop has 29.4 mg of CBD. Read this article Top Ten Secret Shopping Results for CBD Hemp Oil

What about breast cancer or skin cancer?

Years back the owner of Canna international had a crazy idea to mix DMSO with the paste. This targets the cancer. You can take it both orally and topically at the same time. Mix DMSO 50/50 with the paste.

What are the benefits of CBD?

Canna International would love to answer that question ,but the FDA would not like our answer. Canna International has just way too many good things to say about Cannabis and CBD Paste. We can point you to some amazing videos and articles. 

What are the ingredients?

All our products including Canna Doggy are made from only two ingredients: a mix of proprietary high CBD Hemp buds and MCT oil, or your choice of coconut oil. To learn more about our proprietary hemp strains.

Do you ship outside of the country?

Yes, if CBD is legal in that country. There is a 6 jar 3oz minimum (free shipping), though as it will cost us over $110 to ship it, NO coupons are allowed on over seas purchases.

When do you ship the packages? 

All orders received before 12 noon mountain time ship that day on the 2:15 pm Fedex pick up. After 12 noon orders go out the next day (2:15pm)

What are Canna International’s Business Hours:

Canna International is open from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday and 10 am to 3 pm Saturday and closed on Sunday.

How long will a jar of CBD Paste last unopened? 

Easily over 2 years in the fridge unopened. If you are planning on buying several jars to last over a year, we recommend choosing (Shopping cart drop-down) coconut oil as it is a natural preservative. An open jar will be fine for up to 6 months in the fridge. Keep refrigerated even if not opened to help prolong shelf life.

What oils do you use to cook with?

After a few years of research our first choice is MCT oil. We have 2 choices on the drop-down during check out: MCT oil and Coconut oil. If you have a specialty oil you want, feel free to call us. NOTE! MCT oil is a catalyst for cannabinoids and is highly recommended.

What is the difference between Cannabis/Hemp oil and Cannabis/CBD Paste?

This answer can be several pages long, so the short version is CBD oil is heated around 311F and that destroys some of the 85 different kinds of cannabinoids. Paste is cooked at very low temperatures for a very long time and preserves the delicate cannabinoids. Due to this natural method, paste has over 600% more Terpenes than oil. Chemicals are often used to make CBD oil. CBD Paste uses NO chemicals when making the products and uses natural added oils such as organic Coconut oil to create a soft paste type texture. Chemicals such as solvents do NOT bond to cannabinoids. Fatty acids like Coconut or MCT oils bond to cannabinoids. This means CBD and THC oils (RSO) will have a great difficulty passing through the blood brain barrier compared to paste. Our trademark slogan is "The whole plant and nothing but the plant, so help me God"

Read this article! Proof is in the lab test.

How much CBD is in each Jar? What's the cost per milligram of CBD?

There are 3 sizes. 30,60 or 90 scoop jars.

.75 of an ounce or 500 PLUS mg of CBD @12 cents a mg.

1.8 ounces or 1500 PLUS mg of CBD @ 9 cents a mg.

3 oz which is our best value at 2000 PLUS mg of CBD @ the worlds best price of only 8 cents a mg.

Note all the jars are the same size container.The amount of paste we put in the jar (by weight) is what makes the total CBD mg.

So if you get a sample jar please think the jar is half full and not half empty. A little food for thought.

I heard that CBD oil and RSO has to be concentrated to work?

Over the past years the most commonly grown hemp strain was under 2% CBD and needed to be concentrated. Canna International has proprietary cannabis and hemp strains well over 22% in CBD. There is NO reason to concentrate the plant as it is very damaging to the delicate cannabinoids and Terpenes. RSO is one of the worst methods since THC strains have always been strong enough to use without concentrating.

Why are CBD Paste products only 7 cents per milligram and other companies are 14 cent to 26 cents per milligram?

Because our proprietary process does not require a million dollar facility using machines that have to concentrate the product. It took Canna International over 4 years to create strains that have under 0.3% THC and over 26% CBD. Lab tests have proven that when making RSO and CBD oil that 80% of the cannabinoids are left in the plant matter that is thrown in the trash. This, in itself, allows Canna International to pass on this wonderful medicine to the people who normally could not afford it. 80% more cannabinoids means 80% more affordability. Another big factor is we grown our own Hemp and Cannabis.

What are the negative things about paste compared to CBD oil?

The paste is made from the whole bud ground to a fine green powder. Inside the bud is a stem which is a strong fiber. Even though we have a mesh screen filter sometimes you will find a micro fiber from the stem. It’s really a petty thing but if your asking that's the negative about paste. Lastly, it looks like cooked cannabis, so it’s not really pretty. It looks like cooked spinach but much thicker. Also it tastes a bit bitter.

NEWS! Federal law states that hemp farms must not have plants that contains over 0.3% THC. What happens when you concentrate CBD? Well the THC also gets concentrated. Do the math. Yes, CBD oil is technically illegal, but our product is not.