Health Pedia

 States in the US may be one step closer to legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, especially now that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has updated its website FAQs to include studies proving cannabis as a natural remedy for cancer.  As InfoWars reports, NCI updated its page to include various studies revealing how cannabis “may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow” while also protecting normal, healthy cells.  NCI stated:  “A laboratory study of cannabidiol (CBD) in estrogen receptor positive and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells showed that it caused cancer cell death while having little effect on normal breast cells. Studies in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer showed that cannabinoids may lessen the growth, number, and spread of tumors.”  The full list provided by the National Cancer Institute follows:  Cannabinoids may inhi...

    Doctors in NSW will be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients.  Doctors across New South Wales will be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis from tomorrow. Cannabis medicines have so far only been available to patients enrolled in clinical trials in NSW, but Premier Mike Baird said that regulatory changes would allow the drugs to be prescribed to patients who had exhausted standard treatment options. “People who are seriously ill should be able to access these medicines if they are the most appropriate next step in their treatment,” he said today. The Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Amendment Regulation will take effect tomorrow, and will allow doctors to apply to the NSW Health board to prescribe cannabis-based products that are not currently on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. Mr Baird said the extension would “increase the options available for doctors” by broadening the number of medicines that can be prescribed. Doctors will...

The vapor from electronic cigarettes contains two previously unidentified chemicals that can cause cancer, according to a new study. The new research, published in Environmental Science & Technology , also shows that levels of harmful chemicals vary between e-cigs. Researchers in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory used two different electronic cigarettes and simulated vaping at different battery power settings. Then they analyzed the e-cigs’ vapor. They found that the vaporizers released 31 harmful chemicals, including two possibly cancer-causing compounds that had never been previously found in e-cig vapor. The amount of chemicals produced varied, based on the temperature at which liquids are "vaporized" by the device’s "heating coil." The higher the temperature inside the coil, the higher the amount of chemicals emitted. E-cigs with one heating coil instead of two also released higher chemical levels, probably because two coils better dis...

  This building on North Davis Hwy could soon be the area’s first legal dispensary for medical Marijuana products. The first medical marijuana dispensary in the state opened its doors Tuesday in Tallahassee, and the CEO of the dispensing company says a Pensacola location is on the way. Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, said Wednesday that the company has identified a location within Pensacola City limits, received zoning verification, and is in the permitting phase with the Department of Health. City spokesman Vernon Stewart confirmed that Trulieve had submitted a zoning verification form for 3119 N. Davis Highway. Rivers said the company would work with architects to plan the necessary security renovations to convert the location into a dispensary. Rivers did not want to speculate when the Pensacola dispensary might open, but said they are "prepared to move as quickly as the process will allow." "We think it's very important that we're serving patients...

The Oregon State Fair celebrates oddities like the "curviest vegetable" and the "most misshapen fruit." Fairgoers can marvel over award-winning onions and pumpkins and snap photos of the top pig and llama. This year, the state fair is adding a new attraction: prize-winning marijuana plants. For the first time, Oregon's marijuana crop will be on display at the annual event, which runs Aug. 26 through Sept. 5. Don Morse, chairman of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, the sponsor of the marijuana exhibit, said nine plants will be displayed in a greenhouse that will have its own entrance and exit. The area will be monitored by a security guard. Only people 21 and older will be allowed in. Fair officials said the inclusion of cannabis plants is a nod to the newly legal status of the crop. "This is really a reflection of where Oregon is now as a state," said Dan Cox, spokesman for the fair. He said the state fair is an "inclusive sort of ...

Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that growing, possessing and smoking marijuana for recreation is legal under the right to freedom. The measure was approved in 4-1 vote on the five-justice panel, backing the argument that smoking marijuana is covered under the right of “free development of personality.” Here’s a quick look at five countries where Marijuana is legal and what the law states: Czech Republic Czech Republic permits possession of up to 15 grams for personal use. Marijuana for medical use on prescription has been legalised since April 2013. Switzerland According to Switzerland laws, growing marijuana on private property for personal consumption by adults is legal. However, buying or selling marijuana is a strict criminal offence and punishable by a fine. North Korea Surprising as it may seem, but the growth, sale and consumption of marijuana in the communist country is legal and widely unregulated by the government. Just remember it’s North Korea! Urug...

Marijuana, or cannabis, has been used for at least 5,000 years and has an extensive history of traditional uses as an industrial material and a botanical medicine all throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. Read on to learn more about medical marijuana’s healing benefits, how it has gotten its bad rap, and find out why you’d want your own state to approve its use, too. What Is Medical Marijuana? The term “medical marijuana” refers to the use of the whole, unprocessed marijuana plant and its pure extracts to treat a disease or improve a symptom. It must be sourced from a medicinal-grade cannabis plant that has been meticulously grown without the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers. Marijuana’s incredible healing properties come from its high cannabidiol (CBD) content and critical levels of medical terpenes and flavonoids. It also contains some tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the molecule that gives the psychoactive effect, which most recreational users are after. Thr...

*The following is an opinion column by R Muse* Despite the myriad advances of medical science over the past two centuries, human beings still fall victim to a wide variety of diseases, sickness, and epidemics; even in a technologically-advance nation like America. Of course all diseases, conditions and infirmities are brutal, but one that is extraordinarily so is Alzheimer’s; that deadly chronic neurodegenerative disease that slowly, but fundamentally, shuts down the brain and eventually the life of its victim. There is so little known about Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) that researchers have spent decades seeking not only the cause, but a medical prophylactic against the deterioration of neurons in the brain. Now, in a breathtaking announcement from the Jonas Salk Institute published in the journal Aging and Mechanisms of Disease, scientists have discovered a compound present in marijuana that triggers the removal of beta-amyloid protein from nerve cells, or neurons. The Salk ...

They also saw $165.2 million in Medicare savings. States looking for a way to reduce Medicare spending and prescription drug use may want to turn to legalizing medical marijuana, a new study suggests. The District of Columbia and the 17 states that had medical marijuana as an alternative to prescription drugs in 2013 saved an estimated total of $165.2 million in Medicare program and enrollee spending that year, researchers at the University of Georgia reported in the journal Health Affairs this month. “The results suggest that if all states had implemented medical marijuana the overall savings to Medicare would have been around $468 million,” a press release on the findings stated. The study reviewed drug prescriptions for ailments that could be treated with medical marijuana. One such ailment, which is often treated with oxycodone pills, is pain. The researchers looked at prescriptions filled by Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (or Part D) enrollees from 2010 to...

Cannabis kills cancer. However, decades of negative propaganda against this plant medicine still influences the way many people look at it, and it’s often compared to tobacco when considering its effect on human health. There is no doubt tobacco causes lung cancer, as well as many other chronic and deadly illness, yet it is still available everywhere while people are being locked up for using a plant that heals. Contrary to our previous understanding, it turns out that cannabis can stop and even prevent lung cancer, according to scientists from the American Association of or Cancer Research. In 2007 the association produced a report demonstrating that the psycho-active ingredient in cannabis, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), “cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread.” “In the present study, the researchers first demonstrated that two different lung cancer cell lines as well as patient lu...

Law officers have located thousands of marijuana plants at a pot farm hidden in a wooded area of North Texas. The Navarro County Sheriff's Office says some of the plants discovered Saturday were flourishing at a height of 10 feet. Officers acting on a tip located the illegal crop. ================= Sheriff Elmer Tanner says investigators are trying to determine who tended the site in northeast Navarro County. Hoses and other watering mechanisms were at the scene. Investigators say the property owner was not aware of the marijuana operation that yielded plants with a street value of several hundred thousand dollars. Authorities didn't immediately provide specifics on the location of the marijuana plot or how many plants were found and face eradication. ======================== Navarro County is about 60 miles southeast of Dallas. Source: Deputies Found Thousands of Marijuana Plants in North Texas | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Deputies-Found...

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – New regulations allowing Coast Guard vessels and commands to retain and use seized property mean the nearly $20 million in marijuana seized at sea on Friday morning will not put in an incinerator. Instead, it was burned at Friday night’s morale event. ========== “This is, like, the best thing since we were able to get tattoos past our elbows,” said Petty Officer Rick Howell, after taking an “epic rip” from a Coast Guard-themed bong. Howell’s cutter, USCGC  Robert Yered  (WPC-1104), seized 9,662 pounds of marijuana from a Panamanian flagged vessel southeast on July 22. The “really righteous shit” was disguised in rice bags and seized in the Caribbean, Howell said. “That’s $20 million worth of weed that won’t reach the streets,” Coast Guard spokesman Timothy Cronin said. “So who better to use it than our heroes?” Sources say the Cutter Robert Yered has adopted “wake and bake” as an official motto and has been blasting B...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The first organization authorized to dispense medical marijuana in Florida has made its first home delivery. Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, said Saturday that the company has delivered low-THC medical cannabis to a patient in Hudson, Florida, who is suffering from dystonia, a condition characterized by chronic muscle spasms and seizures. Hudson is in Pasco County, near Tampa. Trulieve and Hackney Nursery, which is the dispensing organization for Northwest Florida, received processing and dispensing authorization from the state Department of Health on Tuesday. Trulieve plans to begin in-store sales at a dispensary in Tallahassee on Tuesday. Patients suffering from cancer, epilepsy, chronic seizures and chronic muscle spasms can order medical marijuana by contacting their physician, as long as both are listed in a state registry. Department of Health spokeswoman Mara Gambineri said only 15 doctors are currently in the state's registry. The legislat...

The study’s results suggest that if all states followed California’s lead in legalizing medical marijuana the overall savings to Medicare would be roughly $468 million. Recent findings may show that medical marijuana not only saves state and federal governments millions on Medicare, but it may help curb prescription drug use too. A new study reports that in states where medical marijuana is available prescriptions for painkillers has dipped drastically.  There’s been a spate of growing studies on how overdose and painkiller abuse — particularly among chronic pain patients — are lower in medical marijuana states, but the researchers have largely hypothesized that these patients are picking pot over prescription drugs. Now, a recent report in the journal Health Affairs suggests that the link between prescriptions and marijuana is no longer just a hypothesis.  Authored by a University of Georgia research team, the study found that in the ...