More good news for medical marijuana patients: a recent study found that marijuana use is not linked with the progression of liver disease in patients co-infected with hepatitis C and HIV.

The study, published in the July edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases, examined the effect of regular marijuana smoking on liver disease progression among subjects who were infected with both hepatitis C and HIV. Previous research had produced mixed results, with some studies claiming a “strong link” between marijuana consumption and liver disease. In contrast, this study found “no evidence for an association.” Researchers speculated that associations observed in previous studies were due to “reverse causation;” in other words, patients who already suffered from liver disease used increasing amounts of marijuana to cope with the pain as the symptoms worsened.

These findings debunk the long-held belief that marijuana use exacerbates liver damage, which gives us even more evidence that marijuana is objectively safer than alcohol, in addition to being a relatively benign medicine.

Using marijuana may cause a “complete remission” of Crohn’s disease, a new study suggests.

Published in the medical journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the study examined the effects of regular marijuana consumption on the development of the severely debilitating Crohn’s disease. Researchers at Israel’s Meir Medical Center found that five of the 11 patients (or nearly half) who smoked twice per day for eight weeks achieved complete remission, compared to none of the patients who were given a placebo. Additionally, another five of the test subjects receiving marijuana saw their symptoms cut in half. And, unlike many of the drugs currently prescribed to treat the illness, there were no significant side effects.

The symptoms of severe Crohn’s disease make it a living nightmare for many patients, who can suffer from bloody diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and fevers.

This study is the first placebo-controlled clinical trial to measure the impact of marijuana consumption on Crohn’s disease. While there is no cure for Crohn’s, scientists are working to keep the symptoms in check and prevent further progression of the disease.

The researchers were hesitant to label the findings a total success, but said that they merit further research.

Just as marijuana reform advocates predicted, marijuana in a legal market will be safer for users. In response to Colorado and Washington’s legalization laws, laboratories are springing up that test marijuana for its safety, purity, potency, and active ingredients.

Like alcohol, the regulatory boards in Colorado and Washington will require marijuana products to carry health warnings, ratings for potency, and certification that the product meets safety standards. The regulations are designed to control for adverse health effects that could result from a consumer’s lack of knowledge or from a producer’s poor growing techniques.

Labs are also moving into Oregon, following the state legislature’s recent approval of a bill to legalize medical marijuana dispensaries. Medical experts, politicians, and marijuana research groups have chimed in to support the proposed state requirements for testing.

From the Washington Post:

“This does demonstrate a shift in how we are beginning to treat marijuana in this country,” said Mason Tvert, a spokesman for MPP. “Legal products are regulated and sold in a controlled marketplace. And that’s what we are going to see – are already beginning to see – with marijuana, be it for medical purposes or simply for adult use.”

In May, the organization that regulates the Olympics – the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) – made headlines when it ruled to increase the threshold of permissible marijuana in an athlete’s system from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 ng/ml.

The WADA based their decision on a few key factors, including changes in state marijuana laws, increasing public support for legalization, and the willingness of outed Olympians who were stripped of their medals or disqualified from competition (such as Michael Phelps, Nicholas Delpopolo, and Ross Rebagliati) to talk openly about their personal use. The goal of the new rules is to catch marijuana users who are competing under the influence, rather than those who smoked days or weeks earlier. In other words, the WADA is now treating marijuana like alcohol.

Following suit, the UFC changed their marijuana rules to match the WADA’s just three weeks later. In response to these changes, state athletic commissions have met to discuss raising the marijuana threshold for combat sports. “My personal feeling is that I would much rather focus on obvious performance-enhancing drug use like steroids and blood doping,” Nick Lembo of the Association of Boxing Commissions said. “If I was a trainer, I would much rather have my fighter fighting someone who took marijuana than someone who’s blood doping.”

Given that marijuana is objectively safer than alcohol and does not meet the definition of a performance-enhancing drug, these rule changes are a step in the right direction.

The Partnership at Drugfree.org, formerly known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, released a comprehensive survey yesterday of parents’ feelings on marijuana policy reform. Although the organization coordinates with the federal government to stem marijuana use and reinforce prohibitionist laws, the survey, “Marijuana: It’s Legal, Now What?,” presents an objective look at what parents really want to see from lawmakers.

The survey found that roughly 70% of adults nationwide support medical marijuana, 50% support decriminalization, and just over 40% support legalization. When the terms were accompanied by definitions of what they would entail, support jumped by three to 11 percent. Support for each of these policy changes was even higher among parents living in Colorado and Washington. The survey also found that a majority of parents who support legalization want marijuana heavily regulated and off-limits for kids and teens, a sentiment shared by reformers and included in every major piece of legislation designed to end marijuana prohibition.

[caption id="attachment_6759" align="alignright" width="118"] Steve Pasierb - drug warrior[/caption]

Most importantly, though, is the organization’s admission that there is widespread support for marijuana reform. Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership, said, “The reality is that marijuana is now legalized for recreational use in the states of Colorado and Washington and it’s clear that society’s views on marijuana are evolving dramatically.” Even prohibitionists, who have spent decades fighting against sensible marijuana policies, realize that Americans are tired of the war on marijuana users. Now, they should stop standing in the way of policy reform.

Many of Michigan’s medical marijuana patients have conditions that limit their ability to smoke marijuana. Often, doctors prefer that patients avoid smoking entirely. However, a recent decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals leaves patients who use medical marijuana edible products, tinctures, and ointments at risk of being arrested!

Marijuana patients who are too ill to smoke or prefer a different option should not have to live in fear of arrest. Michigan’s law should accommodate this important option – a lifeline for patients in the state. If you are a Michigan resident, please take a moment to tell your state senator and representative that Michigan’s laws need to protect patients who prefer to consume marijuana in edible form.

Please pass this message on to friends, family, and other supporters in Michigan and help spread the word!

[caption id="attachment_6102" align="alignright" width="240"] David Boyer[/caption]

The Portland Press Herald interviewed David Boyer, the Maine political director of Marijuana Policy Project, about the specifics of Portland’s proposed measure to legalize marijuana for adults.

Following a vote by City Council on Monday, June 15, voters residing within city limits will be able to decide whether to remove all civil and criminal penalties for the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Portland’s City Council voted 5-1 to send the citizen-initiated ordinance to voters, rather than immediately adopting it.

Watch the interview to hear Boyer’s explanation of how the law might work if the measure passes (and past trends in the city indicate that it will). Boyer said the bill’s primary purpose is to stop “punishing adults for using marijuana, a substance that is safer than alcohol.”

Since August 2012, Arizona has seen 98 registration certificates awarded for those wanting to open medical marijuana dispensaries. Last December saw the opening of the first dispensary, Arizona Organix, and 16 were reportedly open in late April 2013. However, Arizona state government has not been the industry’s biggest supporter.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, Rep. John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills, and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery have all done their part to derail progress for medical marijuana, and you can find those details here. Luckily, the courts have supported the will of the voters against challenges to the program. The Arizona Department of Health Services is still issuing ID cards for medical marijuana patients, and the list of approved dispensaries continues to grow.

New dispensaries are still burdened by heavy restrictions and regulations, but access to medical marijuana for patients has never been better. In fact, the Arizona Health Department reports that “47 dispensaries have been inspected and approved to operate, and 35 of those are open and operating throughout the state. Approximately 90% of all Arizonans now live within 25 miles of an operating dispensary.” Arizona’s medical marijuana industry, despite troubles from the government, continues to prosper and works to improve access to all patients in need.

Portland, Maine may become the first city to defy both state and national marijuana laws. Following a vote by City Council on Monday, July 15, voters residing within city limits will have the opportunity to decide whether to remove all penalties for possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for adults 21 and older.

Portland’s City Council voted 5-1 to send the citizen-initiated marijuana legalization ordinance to voters on a November ballot, rather than immediately adopting it. The ordinance received twice as many signatures as was required.

[caption id="attachment_6740" align="alignright" width="213"] Regina Phillips, with MPP's David Boyer (back right)[/caption]

About a dozen speakers delivered presentations during the hearing and a pre-hearing press conference, including Portland City Councilor Dave Marshall, the Marijuana Policy Project’s Maine political director David Boyer, Maine NAACP Executive Committee member Regina Phillips, and Bob Talbot of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.

Phillips highlighted the racial disparities in the enforcement of marijuana laws. She cited recent FBI statistics showing that blacks in Maine are more than twice as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar use rates. “It has begun to feel like locking up young black men has become a national pastime,” she said.

Boyer and City Councilor Marshall emphasized the ineffectiveness of prohibition, the extreme financial costs of enforcement, and the fact that marijuana is objectively safer than alcohol.

“No one’s ever died from a lethal amount of pot,” Marshall told council members at the pre-hearing press conference. “Factually, [marijuana] is safer than alcohol. It doesn’t make logical sense for it to be illegal.”

Currently, Maine is one of 18 states to permit medical marijuana. Recent efforts to legalize marijuana statewide have been accelerating: LD 1229, a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol, was only narrowly defeated in the Maine legislature.

A new study has affirmed that medical marijuana laws do not increase the likelihood that a young person will choose to smoke marijuana recreationally.

The study, “Effects of State Medical Marijuana Laws on Adolescent Marijuana Use,” compared teen use rates of marijuana in several states that now have medical marijuana laws from 2003 – 2011. Conducted by researchers at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, the study was published in the American Journal of Public Health last month.

Researchers found no evidence to support the claim that enacting medical marijuana laws would increase teen use in those states. Rather, of their statistically significant results, they found that teen use rates in one state actually declined after the passage of a medical marijuana law.

Dr. Sarah Landsman, a study author, said, “This is the exact opposite of what we would have expected if the medical marijuana laws were increasing teen recreational marijuana use.”

The results of this study are just the latest to join a growing body of evidence (including a 2012 study by the Institute for the Study of Labor, a 2012 study from McGill University in Montreal, a 2011 study from Brown University, a 2007 study from Texas A&M, and data on Arizona’s teen use rates, as well as this 2011 publication of California Pediatrician ) that medical marijuana laws do not cause the dreaded spike in adolescent use that many fear.

MPP regularly analyzes all available data from medical marijuana states for our Teen Use Report and reaches the same conclusions.