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Bulletin .

A newsletter about cannabis and cannabinoids as medicine

2016
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    IACM-Bulletin of December 25, 2016

    🌐 Canada — The Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation presents its report

    The Canadian government is giving itself until late 2018 or early 2019 to open up the market for recreational cannabis, based on a report, which was published on 13 December. The rules will allow everyone over 18 to purchase cannabis from a variety of producers and retailers or to grow their own. The chair of the task force is former Liberal minister Anne McLellan and the vice chair is Mark Ware, chairman of the IACM. The report provided 80 recommendations to end the prohibition on cannabis that dates back to 1923, using a model similar to the one in place for sales of tobacco and alcohol.

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    IACM-Bulletin of December 11, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Cannabis use in cancer patients halved their risk to die in hospital

    Cannabis use was associated with a 59% reduced risk to die in hospital. For cancer patients, the risk to die in a hospital was reduced by 56% among cannabis users compared with non-users. This is the result of an analysis of hospital patients in the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample database between 2007 and 2011, which covers about 1,000 hospitals , by researchers from the University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, and the University of Alabama, USA. The database included about 3.9 million hospital patients, of whom 387,608 had a diagnosis of cannabis dependence or cannabis abuse.

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    IACM-Bulletin of November 27, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Cannabis use improved cognitive function in a longitudinal study

    Treatment with cannabis was associated with “some improvement on measures of executive functioning” in 11 patients within 3 months, researchers of Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, reported in Frontiers in Pharmacology. As part of a larger longitudinal study, 24 patients certified for medical cannabis use completed baseline executive function assessments and 11 of these so far have participated in their first follow-up visit 3 months after initiating treatment.

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    IACM-Bulletin of November 13, 2016

    🌐 USA — Florida, North Dakota, Arkansas and Montana legalize the medical use of cannabis

    On 9 November the voters of four states (California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada) legalized the recreational use of cannabis. In additional four states voters passed bills on the medical use of cannabis (Florida, North Dakota, Montana and Arkansas). Now 29 states and the District of Columbia have laws allowing access to the medical use of cannabis to different extents. Here is an overview on the new medical cannabis laws.

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    IACM-Bulletin of October 30, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — A combination of palmitoylethanolamide and luteolin improved symptoms of autism in a child

    A combination of the endocannabinoid palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and the flavonoid luteolin improved symptoms in a 10-year-old boy with autism. Luteolin is found in many plants, including celery, broccoli, green pepper, chamomile tea, carrots and olive oil. Researchers of the University of Messina, Italy, and other Italian and US institutions conducted a study with a mice model of autism and then gave the preparation to a child.

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    IACM-Bulletin of October 16, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — In states of the USA with medical cannabis laws there is a greater workforce participation and an improvement in overall health of older individuals

    States that passed medical cannabis laws saw a significant boost to older Americans' workforce participation, according to a new working paper from researchers at Johns Hopkins and Temple University (USA). States with medical cannabis laws also saw improvements in overall health for older men, although the health effects for older women were more mixed. The study compared what happened in medical cannabis states before and after the passage of medical cannabis provisions, and compared them to trajectories in similar states that did not implement medical cannabis. The data come from the Health and Retirement study, a long-running survey of the health and economic well-being of older American adults.

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    IACM-Bulletin of October 2, 2016

    🌐 Germany — First patient gets a permission to grow his own cannabis

    On 28 September the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, an agency of the Federal Health Ministry, issued its first permission to grow cannabis for his own medical needs to a 57-year-old patient suffering from multiple sclerosis. The permission is valid until 30 June 2017. It has to be prolonged, if the health insurance does not cover the costs for cannabis flowers from the pharmacy thereafter.

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    IACM-Bulletin of September 18, 2016

    🌐 Holland — Patients, who use cannabis for medicinal purposes, may grow their own in the town of Tilburg

    The Netherlands: Patients, who use cannabis for medicinal purposes, may grow their own in the town of Tilburg

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    IACM-Bulletin of September 4, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Cannabis may be useful in adults with epilepsy according to a survey

    The use of cannabis may improve seizure control in adult patients with epilepsy. Scientists of the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences of Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, published a survey with 292 patients suffering from epileptic seizures, from psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), and with both epileptic and PNES. Their age ranged from 27 to 49 years, and 57.2% were women. Epilepsy was documented in 190, PNES in 64, and both types of seizures in 26.

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    IACM-Bulletin of August 21, 2016

    🌐 Canada — The government allows patients to grow their own cannabis

    Medical cannabis patients will be allowed to grow a limited amount of cannabis for their own use or designate someone to grow it for them, the Canadian government said on 11 August. The government had been given six months to comply with a federal court ruling that struck down the previous ban on self-cultivation of cannabis by patients.

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    IACM-Bulletin of August 7, 2016

    🌐 Australia — Medicinal cannabis now legally available in New South Wales

    New South Wales doctors can legally prescribe medicinal cannabis for their patients now. Under the amendments to the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods regulations, cannabis-based medications will be available to a range of people for whom more mainstream treatments are not effective.

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    IACM-Bulletin of July 24, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Mecical cannabis laws in the USA are asscociated with a decline of absence from work due to sickness

    Utilizing the Current Population Survey, a study identified that absences from work due to sickness declined following the legalization of medical cannabis in the 24 states with medical cannabis laws analysed. The effect was stronger for full-time workers, and for middle-aged males, which is the group most likely to hold medical cannabis cards.

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    IACM-Bulletin of July 10, 2016

    🏷️ Science 🌐 USA — Elderly patients were prescribed fewer medicinal drugs if they had access to medical cannabis

    Physicians wrote significantly fewer prescriptions for painkillers and other medications for elderly and disabled patients who had legal access to medical cannabis, a new study finds. Medicare saved more than 165 million dollars in 2013 on prescription drugs in the District of Columbia and 17 states that allowed cannabis to be used as medicine, researchers calculated. Medicare is a national social insurance program of the USA. If every state in the USA legalized medical cannabis, the study forecast that the federal program would save more than 468 million dollars a year on pharmaceuticals for disabled Americans and those 65 and older.

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    IACM-Bulletin of June 26, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Cannabis showed beneficial effects in bipolar disorder in clinical study

    For some bipolar patients, cannabis may result in partial alleviation of clinical symptoms in bipolar disorders, scientists of McLean Hospital in Belmont, of Harvard Medical School in Boston and Tufts University in Medford, USA, said. Twelve patients with bipolar disorder who smoke cannabis, 18 bipolar patients who do not smoke, 23 healthy cannabis smokers and 21 healthy controls completed a neuropsychological battery. Further, they rated their mood three times daily as well as after each instance of cannabis use over a four-week period.

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    IACM-Bulletin of June 12, 2016

    🌐 USA — Ohio is the 25th state to legalise the medical use of cannabis

    Governor John Kasich signed Ohio's medical cannabis bill into law on 8 June, making it the 25th state (26 if Washington, D.C. is counted) to allow some form of medical cannabis use. Ohio's measure is more restrictive than medical cannabis bills in many other states. It does not allow patients to smoke cannabis -- they must ingest it orally via edible products, or use a vaporizer. It doesn't allow patients to grow their own cannabis and only a handful of conditions, including epilepsy, chronic pain and cancer, qualify for a medical cannabis recommendation.

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    IACM-Bulletin of May 29, 2016

    🏷️ IACM — Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research is now publishing in collaboration with the IACM

    Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, the peer-reviewed open access journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, announces a new collaborative partnership with the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines. This new collaboration promotes the missions of the Journal and Association to further the science of cannabis, cannabinoids, and the endocannabinoid system, for potential therapeutic and medical application. “The IACM welcomes this collaboration with Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research,” says Dr Mark Ware, Chairman of IACM. "We are particularly excited about increasing the amount of published clinical research that will become available for healthcare professionals and decision makers.”

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    IACM-Bulletin of May 15, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Animal — New function of the CB2 receptor in the brain

    In the brain, there is a delicate interplay of signalling substances and cellular activity. Scientists of the Neuroscience Research Centre and Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Berlin, Germany, have now identified another key player within this ensemble. In a laboratory study they found that the cannabinoid 2 receptor influences information processing inside the hippocampus. The research results might help advance our understanding of schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, say the authors.

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    IACM-Bulletin of May 1, 2016

    🌐 Canada — The government intends to legalize cannabis in 2017

    Canada's Liberal government will introduce a law in spring 2017 to legalize recreational cannabis, it said on 20 April, fulfilling an election pledge. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during last year's election campaign that his Liberals would legalize recreational cannabis, but the time frame has been unclear. Trudeau has previously admitted to smoking cannabis a few times in his life but said he never enjoyed it much.

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    IACM-Bulletin of April 19, 2016

    🌐 Crowdfunding for medical cannabis — The charity “Medical Cannabis Declaration (MCD)” kicks off crowdfunding for a world wide information campaign

    What if you had a serious disease that prevented you from living a normal life? Conventional medicines may not always work. What if there was an affordable natural medicine that could help, but there was no reliable source of information about this medicine or national laws would not allow you to use it?

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    IACM-Bulletin of April 17, 2016

    🌐 Australia — Victoria has become the first state to legalise the medicinal use of cannabis

    Victoria has become the first state in Australia to legalise the use of medicinal cannabis. Children with severe epilepsy will be the first to access to the drug in 2017, Victoria's Health Minister Jill Hennessy said, after the Access to Medicinal Cannabis Bill passed Parliament. The legislation enables the manufacture, supply and access to medicinal cannabis products in the state.

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    IACM-Bulletin of April 3, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Cannabis reduces the stretch reflex in patients with multiple sclerosis

    In a clinical study with 57 patients with multiple sclerosis cannabis reduced the stretch reflex, Italian researchers wrote in the journal International Clinical Psychopharmacology. They also observed a reduction in a numeric rating scale for spasticity and spasticity according to the modified Ashworth scale. There was a low concordance between the three measures, which according to authors was “likely related to the different aspects of muscle hypertonia assessed.”

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    IACM-Bulletin of March 20, 2016

    🌐 Germany — Two patients with an approval to buy cannabis flowers from the pharmacy, who grew their own cannabis, acquitted

    On 9 March the district court of Duisburg acquitted Lars S., who is suffering from Tourette’s syndrome, from the accusation of illegal cultivation of cannabis. He has got an exemption from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, a body of the Federal Health Ministry, several years ago to use cannabis flowers from a pharmacy, because other medicinal drugs are not effective enough. The court stated that the defendant was not able to buy cannabis flowers, which cost 15 to 20 Euros per gram (about 17 to 23 US dollars) in the pharmacy, in the necessary amount and therefore had no alternative to growing the drug himself. During a raid about 440 grams of cannabis were confiscated. In another court case before the district court of Karlsruhe against Matthias S., who is suffering from ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) about 900 grams had been confiscated. In this case the court also ruled that the defendant acted in a state of emergency. In both cases the prosecutors agreed to the ruling.

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    IACM-Bulletin of March 6, 2016

    🏷️ IACM — Partner organizations selected and educational cooperation with ICEERS

    The Network Committee of the IACM Board of Directors selected first partner organizations, which are published on the IACM website. These are:

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    IACM-Bulletin of February 21, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Cannabis use was associated with improved outcome after bleeding in the brain

    In patients with spontaneous bleeding in the brain (intracerebral haemorrhage, ICH) those, who had used cannabis, showed less disability when leaving hospital. This is the result of an analysis of an international, multicentre, observational database of 725 patients with spontaneous bleeding in the brain conducted by scientists of the Neurological Service, San Camillo de' Lellis General Hospital in Rieti, Italy.

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    IACM-Bulletin of February 7, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — CBD rich cannabis was beneficial in children with epilepsy in retrospective study

    Cannabis rich in CBD showed promising therapeutic effects in 74 patients with epilepsy aged 1-18 years, who did not respond to other treatments. Several centres in Israel participated in this study published in the journal Seizure. Patients were resistant to standard anti-epileptic drugs and 66% also failed a ketogenic diet, vagal nerve stimulator implantation, or both. They all started medical cannabis oil treatment in 2014 and were treated for at least 3 months (average 6 months). The selected formula contained CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol at a ratio of 20:1 dissolved in olive oil. The CBD dose ranged from 1 to 20mg per kg body weight daily.

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    IACM-Bulletin of January 24, 2016

    🏷️ Science/Human — Patients with migraine may profit from cannabis according to an observational study

    The frequency of migraine headache can be decreased by the medical use of cannabis according to research by scientists of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy of the University of Colorado in Aurora and other medical institutions of Colorado. They conducted a retrospective chart review of 121 adults with the primary diagnosis of migraine headache, who were recommended migraine treatment or prophylaxis with cannabis by a physician, between January 2010 and September 2014, and had at least one follow-up visit.

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    IACM-Bulletin of January 9, 2016

    🌐 Germany — The government presents a draft for a law, which would make cannabis flowers available on prescription by every doctor and force health insurances to reimburse cannabis-based medicines in certain cases

    On 7 January the Federal Health Ministry presented a detailed draft for a law, which would set up a state cannabis agency to regulate the cultivation and distribution of cannabis to pharmacies. More patients would be given regulated access to the drug on prescription and paid for by their health insurance under measures outlined in the draft bill. Health organizations and associations, including the German ACM (Association for Cannabis as Medicine), were invited to comment on the draft until 5 February. Patients would get cannabis-based medicines (cannabis flowers, extracts, dronabinol, nabilone) reimbursed, if no other treatment works for them. On 1 October 2015 527 patients suffering from at least 60 different diseases, including chronic pain, inflammatory diseases, psychiatric conditions, neurological diseases, appetite loss and nausea have been legally authorised to obtain cannabis at their own expense, because other treatments are not effective enough.

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