Panel discussion about about Anti-Drug Vigilantes in Northern Ireland, broadcast on Resonance FM 18th November, featuring Eamonn McCann, John Lindsay, Maureen Hetherington and Seamus Farrell.
Author: WebTeam
An interesting new study published by the journal Clinicaland Developmental Immunology and the National Institute of Health has found that activation of the body’s cannabinoid receptors – something done naturally by cannabis – can actually reduce the risk of erectile dysfunction in those with hypercholesterolemia. According to the study’s researchers, hypercholesterolemia (which is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood) is “one of the most important risk factors for erectile dysfunction, mostly due to the impairment of oxidative stress and endothelial function in the penis”. After studying the effects of cannabinoid receptor activation on mice with high…
Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that begins in the bone marrow, and has a median survival rate of around 3 years. According to a study published in the most recent issue of the International Journal of Cancer, cannabidiol, a compound found in cannabis, can slow, and even kill multiple myeloma cancer cells. “Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell (PC) malignancy characterised by the accumulation of a monoclonal PC population in the bone marrow (BM). Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid with antitumoural activities”, begins the study’s abstract. After studying the effects of cannabidiol on multiple myeloma cells,…
José “Pepe” Mujica shot back on Friday at the president of the International Narcotics Control Board, a U.N. agency, for saying that his administration refused to meet with the agency’s officials before legalizing marijuana this week. Mujica batted down the criticism, insisting that his administration is open to discussing the law and accusing the INCB President Raymond Yans of applying a double standard by criticizing Uruguay, even as U.S. states pass laws to legalize recreational marijuana consumption. “Tell this old guy not to lie,” Mujica told reporters, according to Colombian daily El Espectador. “Any guy in the street can meet…
Good news for people who’ve worried that smoking too much marijuana (cannabis) — especially as a teenager — might lead to some dramatic problems in the future, even schizophrenia. New research from Harvard Medical School, in a comparison between families with a history of schizophrenia and those without, finds little support for marijuana use as a cause of schizophrenia. “The results of the current study suggest that having an increased familial morbid risk for schizophrenia may be the underlying basis for schizophrenia in cannabis users and not cannabis use by itself,” note the researchers. The new study is the first…
GW Pharmaceuticals a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform, announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. Application Serial Number 12/996,124, a patent which covers the use of cannabinoids for treating glioma. Glioma describes any tumor that arises from the glial tissue of the brain. Glioblastoma, or GBM, is a particularly aggressive tumor that forms from abnormal growth of glial tissue. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, GBM accounts for approximately 46% of the 22,500 new cases of…
The world’s most far-reaching cannabis law has been passed by the Uruguayan parliament, opening the way for the state to regulate the production, distribution, sale and consumption of the planet’s favourite illegal drug. The law, effective from next year, will: allow registered users to buy up to 40g of marijuana a month from a chemist’s; registered growers to keep up to six plants; and cannabis clubs to have up to 45 members and cultivate as many as 99 plants. A government-run cannabis institute will set the price – initially likely to be close to the current black market rate of…
“There Was No Reason EVER For Cannabis To be Illegal” Dr David Nutt Neuropsychopharmacologist
SCIENTISTS are considering running a trial which would see stroke survivors given the illegal class-B drug cannabis in a bid to reduce brain damage. The “exciting” research has been compiled by researchers at the University of Nottingham, who have pulled together research from around the world to suggest that ‘cannabinoids’ – chemicals related to those found in cannabis, some of which also occur naturally in the body – could reduce the size of stroke and improve neurological function. The research – so far which has only been done on rats – indicates that all three classes of cannabinoid could be…
A new study published and funded by the National Institute of Health has found that poor working memory and attention control is associated with a lower efficiency of the endocannabinoid system, indicating that cannabis could improve these functions as it activates and positively regulates this system. “Our results suggest that.. a lower efficiency of the endocannabinoid system, probably due to a lowered expression of CB1R, produced a reduction in the performance of these subjects when attentional control and working memory processing is challenged.” The study, which can be found by clicking here, was conducted by researchers at the Universidad Nacional…
