Norml

Prohibitionists are spending millions to buy a do-over on legalization. A deep-pocketed out-of-state group fueled by dark money has poured over $3M into repealing Massachusetts’ voter-approved legalization law. Question 8 seeks to make Massachusetts the first state to recriminalize home cultivation and outlaw adult-use cannabis dispensaries. Make an urgent donation today to help NORML defeat Question 8. Your support helps fund the voter outreach needed to counter the lies that dark money can buy.

London, United Kingdom: The sustained use of medical cannabis preparations provides safe and effective relief for patients with inflammatory arthritis, according to observational data published in the journal Clinical Medicine Insights: Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders. British researchers assessed the use of botanical cannabis, oil extracts, and topical ointments in 192 patients with inflammatory arthritis-associated pain enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry.

Asbury Park, NJ: Most US adults say that marijuana doesn’t pose significant dangers to either consumers or to society, according to nationwide polling data compiled by Rasmussen. Fifty-five percent of respondents said that cannabis is either ‘not dangerous at all’ or ‘not very dangerous.’ Just 13 percent of respondents perceived marijuana as ‘very dangerous.’ Respondents who identified as Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say that cannabis posed significant risks.

Sydney, Australia: Patients with eating disorders such as anorexia frequently report using cannabis to improve their symptoms, according to survey data published in the Journal of Eating Disorders. Australian researchers assessed cannabis use trends in an international sample of more than 5,300 respondents with eating-related disorders. Over half of the respondents acknowledged having used cannabis products within the past year, and over 40 percent reported daily use.

Lincoln, NE: For the second time this month, members of the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected litigation that sought to invalidate the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis access law. The Court’s ruling affirmed a lower court decision finding that the petitioner, former state Senator John Kuehn, lacked standing to challenge the law because he personally had not suffered any ‘injury’ from it.

“All pain-specific measures showed improvements at each follow-up period,” the study’s authors concluded. Respondents who identified as Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say that cannabis posed significant risks. Study participants rated cannabis’ efficacy in the treatment of eating disorders as “superior to all prescription drugs.” The Court’s ruling affirmed a lower court decision finding that the petitioner, a former state Senator, lacked standing to challenge the law.

The New York Times is setting its sights on cannabis, again. Their primary concerns? Marijuana is too strong and too many people are using it. However, a deeper dive into both issues reveals that there’s far more to the story than the NYT is reporting. First, sensational claims of increases in marijuana’s potency are nothing new.

Cannabis products provide long-term pain relief and greatly reduce the need for pharmaceutical interventions in patients with refractory lower back pain, according to observational data published online in the European Spine Journal. “These results add to the growing and compelling body of data indicating that cannabis is a clinically meaningful, opioid-sparing option for patients with various types of treatment-resistant pain conditions,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said.

Minneapolis, MN: Patients suffering from seizure-related disorders, such as epilepsy, report decreases in their seizure frequency following their use of state-authorized medical cannabis products, according to data published in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior. Investigators with the University of Minnesota assessed the efficacy of state-approved medical cannabis products in patients with seizure disorders enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis access program.

Hamilton, Canada: The use of various cannabis preparations is associated with symptom relief and quality of life improvements for patients with incontinence and other lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), according to data published in the Journal of the Canadian Urological Association. Canadian investigators from McMaster University reviewed findings from 12 relevant studies.