Tag Archives: Medicinal Cannabis

International, Marijuana Prohibition, Politics

Medical Cannabis Patients in Israel Will Now Be Allowed to Drive

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Tel Aviv, Israel – The Israeli Health Ministry, on Tuesday, introduced a new amendment that will allow individuals to drive after using medical cannabis, after many patients complained that their freedom of movement was being restricted.

Currently, Israel recognizes more than 30,000 medical cannabis users who have a government-issued permit, but these patients were previously not allowed to drive since the government classified cannabis and all its derivatives as a dangerous drug under Israeli law, classifying anyone with a dangerous drug in their system as being “drunk,” according to Haaretz.

The Israeli permit to use medical cannabis specifically states: “While using the dangerous drug it is completely forbidden to carry out acts requiring concentration, including driving and operating heavy equipment.”

According to a report from Haaretz:

The new amendment, which will come into effect in about 30 days, stipulates that patients will be permitted to drive three hours after smoking cannabis. If they consumed it in the form of edibles or as oil, they will have to wait six hours before getting behind the wheel, while those who also consumed alcohol will have to wait 12 hours after taking cannabis before being allowed to drive.

The amendment puts further restrictions on drivers who use cannabis, requiring them to be under the supervision of the doctor who signed their medical cannabis permit and to refrain from consuming other substances classified as dangerous at the same time. The amendment also limits the cannabis dosage for drivers to 50 grams a month with an active ingredient concentration below 15 percent, or up to 40 grams a month with an active ingredient concentration below 20 percent.

Health ministers had previously refused to make an exception for the medicinal use of cannabis, requiring patients to acknowledge that they understood they were not allowed to drive if being treated with cannabis. Under the new amendment, individuals will be allowed to drive three hours after taking the drug, but critics note that there is no way to enforce the amendment due to being unable to verify when a patient last used cannabis.

[RELATED: Reality Check: Jeff Sessions Wages War on Cannabis]

The amendment decriminalizes patients who had become “offenders against their will,” according to the Health Ministry. Despite the progress, the Medical Cannabis Association, which advances patients’ rights, was critical of the amendment, highlighting the fact that amendment doesn’t apply to many patients using medical cannabis.

“There’s no way to ascertain the percentage level of active ingredients in each and every flower, so there’s no way to determine what active ingredient percentage a patient consumed in the hours before he got behind the wheel,” the Medical Cannabis Association noted.

“On top of that, the number of patients who take more than 40 grams of cannabis a month is significant, as is the percentage of patients who use another narcotic medicine as well. The amendment doesn’t apply to at least a quarter of medical cannabis users,” the non-profit group added.

Health, Marijuana Prohibition, Politics

Marijuana Shows Potential in Treating Painkiller Addiction

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Could marijuana be just what the doctor ordered to kick an addiction to opioid painkillers, the most widely prescribed class of drugs in America today?

Two reputable studies published in the last year point to this conclusion.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 14,000 people died from overdoses involving painkillers in 2014. That’s roughly 40 individuals per day.

When heroin is thrown into the mix, the death toll from opiates surpassed 28,000 people in 2014, a 14 percent increase year over year.

The rise in heroin use corresponds with an increase in prescription drug abuse over the last decade.

Prescription painkillers, for example, are involved in 68 percent of opioid overdoses treated in emergency rooms, according to the CDC and Federal Drug Administration.

The toll does not discriminate, impacting all major demographics, including women, inner-city racial minorities and suburban white youth. Sales of opioids reached nearly $2 billion in 2014.

Earlier this month, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the rate of death related to painkillers is 25 percent lower on average in states where medical marijuana use is legal compared with states where it remains prohibited.

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia allow the marijuana plant to be used for medicinal purposes. And 16 states allow the use of cannabis oil without psychoactive effects to be used for certain medical conditions like epilepsy and Crohn’s disease.

And last summer, a Columbia University study found that among 60 patients, smoking marijuana was associated with successful completion an opioid detoxification program.

“Post-hoc analysis showed that the 32 percent of participants who smoked marijuana regularly during the outpatient phase had significantly lower ratings of insomnia and anxiety and were more likely to complete the 8-week trial,” the study extract reports.

Meanwhile, several states are moving to limit the prescribing of opioid painkillers like Hydrocodone and Oxycontin in an effort to limit abuse and dependence.

Lawmakers in Massachusetts, for example, passed a bill this month to restrict painkiller prescriptions to a 7-day supply. Vermont and Maine are exploring similar proposals.

And in Kentucky, opioid prescriptions dropped 8.6 percent in 2012 after doctors were required to check databases designed to weed out pill mills and doctor shopping.

Most states now have similar monitoring programs in place.

Drug War, Featured, Opinion, Politics, US

Mother Who Treated Son With Cannabis Rejects Plea Deal

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Madison, MN- Angela Brown, a Minnesota mother charged with child endangerment for using medicinal cannabis oil to treat her son Trey’s pain stemming from a traumatic brain injury, appeared at Montevideo District on Monday and was offered a one-year stay of adjudication by the prosecution.

A stay of adjudication would mean that if Brown pleaded guilty, she would have no record of a conviction as long as she complied with the conditions of sentencing. Angela rejected the offer.

Defense attorney and cannabis law expert Michael Hughes said that Mrs. Brown is not guilty of child endangerment and they intend to challenge the charges. Hughes plans to file an “interest of justice” motion to dismiss the charges. Meanwhile, county family services have dropped their case against Mrs. Brown.

Three years ago Trey Brown suffered a blow to the head with a baseball, resulting in time spent in the hospital for a stroke and following coma. Angela treated Trey with medicinal cannabis after many unsuccessful attempts were made using other treatments to minimize the extreme pain Trey was experiencing. The story of Trey Brown’s injury and relief due to medicinal cannabis is one of many accounts illustrating the potential of marijuana oil and CBD oil, as documented by Ben Swann last month.

Minnesota has passed legislation to authorize the use of medical marijuana that will take effect July 2015.

Patrick McClellan of Minnesotans for Compassionate Care has requested that Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton to show support for Brown. Independent Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Hannah Nicollet also called on Dayton to convince the prosecutor to drop the charges.

The video below details what led the Brown family to use medical cannabis oil, and the legal troubles that ensued.