Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Marijuana and the Brain

The findings were published in the April 2009 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.  The study showed, conclusively, that THC (the active alkaloid in Cannabis) caused brain cancer cells to undergo a process called autophagy.  This process causes cells to feed upon themselves, thereby destroying them, and not only did researchers witness this process, the specific route by which the autophagy process unfolds was isolated as well.

The study was conducted in by Guillermo Velasco at the Complutense University in Spain. Although this study involved injecting mice with live human brain cancer tumors, the study also involved two human patients who both had highly aggressive forms of brain cancer.  When both the mice and the humans received THC, the tumors shrank in size.

Both human patients had already been involved with a clinical trial that was testing THC as a potential treatment for cancer.  In that study, researchers analyzed cancerous brain tissue taken before and after a 30-day THC treatment program.  That simple study also conclusively showed that THC not only killed the cancerous cells, they left the healthy ones intact. Read the rest of this entry »

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico enacted a controversial law on Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging government-financed treatment for drug dependency free of charge.

The law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution; the law goes into effect on Friday.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory — although no penalties for noncompliance are specified.

Mexican authorities said the change only recognized the longstanding practice here of not prosecuting people caught with small amounts of drugs.

The maximum amount of marijuana considered to be for “personal use” under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four marijuana cigarettes. Other limits are half a gram of cocaine, 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams of LSD.

President Felipe Calderón waited months before approving the law.

Law officials prepare a tactical assault on some unarmed plants discovered in Sequoia National Park. Estimated wholesale values of the plants were $36 million dollars. I wish I discovered something like that in my backyard!