Blog – OCNorml

State Policy Weekly Update (1/28/22)

Here is NORML’s weekly update on pending state legislation in Washington, Virginia, Utah, Tennessee, South Dakota, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Illinois, Hawaii, and Delaware.
The post State Policy Weekly Update (1/28/22) appeared first on NORML.

Mississippi: Lawmakers Advance Medical Cannabis Access Bill to Governor’s Desk

The bill now goes to the desk of Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who has repeatedly threatened to veto the measure. However, the Act has ample support from lawmakers to override a veto.
The post Mississippi: Lawmakers Advance Medical Cannabis Access Bill to Governor’s Desk appeared first on NORML.

South Dakota: House Lawmakers Move to Repeal Citizen-Initiated Home Cultivation Rights

This vote is the latest of many actions taken by lawmakers to undue voters’ actions on Election Day, when they approved a pair of ballot initiatives legalizing marijuana for both medical and adult-use purposes.
The post South Dakota: House Lawmakers Move to Repeal Citizen-Initiated Home Cultivation Rights appeared first on NORML.

New York: Regulators Expand Medical Cannabis Eligibility to Include “Any” Patient for Whom a Practitioner Believes Will Benefit From It

“A patient’s treatment options should not be limited by the government, but rather should be determined in confidence between a patient and their doctor. Doctors should be fully empowered to decide what treatment options are best — free from political interference.”
The post New York: Regulators Expand Medical Cannabis Eligibility to Include “Any” Patient for Whom a Practitioner Believes Will Benefit From It appeared first on NORML.

We Need You to Help Pass the MORE Act

We have a chance to push a major marijuana legalization bill through the House of Representatives, but time is quickly running out.
The post We Need You to Help Pass the MORE Act appeared first on NORML.

1/21/22 – State Policy Update

Here is NORML’s weekly update on pending state legislation with helpful links to action alerts.
The post 1/21/22 – State Policy Update appeared first on NORML.

Maryland: Protect 2nd Amendment rights of medical cannabis patients

The post Maryland: Protect 2nd Amendment rights of medical cannabis patients appeared first on NORML.

The Fight Continues for Medical Marijuana Access in Mississippi

Despite numerous setbacks and the Governor’s threat to veto, Mississippi lawmakers have confidently advanced the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, which would legalize medical marijuana in the Magnolia State. The bill is now up for consideration in the House.
The post The Fight Continues for Medical Marijuana Access in Mississippi appeared first on NORML.

Does Cannabis Prevent COVID Infection?

In news that was widely reported and joked about by Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, a preliminary study from Oregon State University found that cannabinoids in raw cannabis (CBGA, THCA, and CBDA) have strong affinities for binding to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Researchers used affinity selection–mass spectrometry (AS-MS), which “involves incubating a therapeutically important receptor like the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with a mixture of possible ligands such as a botanical extract,” then separating the possible active compounds using magnetic microbead affinity selection screening (MagMASS).
Upon further study, CBDA and CBGA “were confirmed to block infection of human epithelial cells by a pseudovirus expressing the spike protein,” researchers wrote. “More importantly, both CBDA and CBGA block infection of the original live SARS-CoV-2 virus and variants of concern.”
This study doesn’t mean that cannabis users are protected against the virus. The cannabinoids Δ9-THC, Δ8-THC, CBD, etc. “showed only weak or no binding” in the study. These decarboxylated, active compounds are what are ingested when smoking a joint or eating an edible.
Most commercially available cannabis contains very little CBDA or CBGA, and in any case this is a preliminary, preclinical study that isn’t necessarily translatable into what would happen in the human body. Animal and human studies would be necessary to prove that.
Why wasn’t THCA also studied more thoroughly, despite its affinity for the spike protein? The study’s lead author Dr. Richard van Breemen wrote to Cal NORML, “Because THCA-A can be easily converted to THC, which is a controlled substance, THCA-A is also controlled. Sufficient quantities of THCA-A for cell culture evaluation were not available without a special license. Therefore, we tested only CBDA and CBGA.”
The post Does Cannabis Prevent COVID Infection? appeared first on CaNorml.org.

/background/caloriginsmjproh.pdf

Please follow this link.

The post /background/caloriginsmjproh.pdf appeared first on CaNorml.org.