Buzz Kill: Marijuana Genome Sequenced For Health, Not Highs

by Eliza Barclay

from http://www.npr.org/

Enlarge JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images

  The scientists who sequenced the marijuana plant say they hope the next generation of pot will have stronger therapeutic compounds.

The scientists who sequenced the marijuana plant say they hope the next generation of pot will have stronger therapeutic compounds.

Stoners and scientists alike may be stoked to learn that a startup biotech company has completed the DNA sequence of Cannabis sativa, or marijuana. But here's something that could ruin a high: The company hopes the data will help scientists breed pot plants without much THC, the mind-altering chemical in the plant. The goal is instead to maximize other compounds that may have therapeutic benefits.

Kevin McKernan, founder and chief executive officer of the company, called Medicinal Genomics, says Cannabis sativa has 84 other compounds that could fight pain or possibly even shrink tumors. But anti-marijuana laws make it difficult for scientists to breed and study the plant in most countries. That's one reason he decided to publish his data for free on Amazon's EC2, a public data cloud.
  McKernan, who has an office in Massachusetts and a lab in the Netherlands, where he can legally gather DNA from marijuana plants, has spent most of his career studying tumors in humans. But he tells Shots he had several friends with cancer who asked him about medical marijuana and whether it might do them some good. That got him interested in the emerging medical research on pot's healing properties.

Then he heard about a drug called Sativex, a Cannabis-derived drug developed by a German pharmaceutical company to treat muscle stiffness from multiple sclerosis. Sativex contains THC and another cannabanoid called CBD, which the company says keeps the psychoactive effects of THC in check. The drug is now available in the United Kingdom, Spain and Germany, and it's in trials to see if it works for cancer pain.
McKernan says Sativex might just be one of the first in a line of future pharmaceuticals using cannabis compounds for a variety of serious illnesses.

"We know which genes govern CBD and THC, but not the other 83 compounds," McKernan tells Shots. "Now that we've sequenced this genome, we can sequence other strains, and then we can tie the differences in DNA to different traits."

Opening up access to the data is especially important for a plant like Cannabis, McKernan says, because many scientists who'd like to study it in the U.S. and other countries can't get a license to grow it.
"A lot of people who want to contribute to this field can't, but now that this information is available, a lot of research can get done without growing any plants," McKernan said.

Marblehead startup seeks to unlock secrets of cannabis

By Carolyn Y. Johnson
from: http://articles.boston.com/

It’s a plant more commonly associated with lava lamps and Pink Floyd than cutting-edge science. But today, a small Marblehead company plans to post online the hundreds of millions of letters of DNA that make up Cannabis sativa in a first step toward truly understanding and enhancing marijuana’s therapeutic potential.
For years, Kevin McKernan built genome sequencing technologies - powerful tools designed to provide insights into cancer and potential treatments.

But when desperate friends with cancer forwarded studies of medical marijuana’s use, he became intrigued. Earlier this summer, he founded Medicinal Genomics, a small firm that will partner with pharmaceutical companies to explore compounds made by the plant.

It’s not what most people would think - or what most stoners might hope. Medicinal Genomics might, for example, use insights from the plant’s genetic blueprint to create a plant that produces more of certain compounds, such as cannabidiol, which shows promise in early cancer studies - and even look at reducing the amount of THC, which gives the plant its psychoactive effects.

“The genetics were poorly understood,’’ McKernan said.

The company ultimately plans to sequence more than a dozen Cannabis species. This fall, Medicinal Genomics will launch an iPad app providing access to the data.

McKernan acknowledged that by making the information public, someone might try to use the genetic code to brew more potent pot. But not him, he swears. He’s only interested in marijuana for its medicinal value.

“Our goal is to help people,’’ he said.

Carolyn Y. Johnson

Big Day For Medical Marijuana in Mass?

by Chris Faraone

0

From : http://thephoenix.com/

It's hard to make stoner jokes about this week's hearing for House Bill 625 (and corresponding Senate Bill 1161), which would “regulate the medical use of marijuana by patients approved by physicians and certified by the department of public health.” Sure some token pot smokers were on hand at the Massachusetts Statehouse, sporting homemade jewelry and Rasta head wraps for their testimonies before the Joint Committee on Public Health. But the pachouli stench was overpowered by compelling words from folks who need weed just to stand up and hold down food.

Select Massachusetts legislators have been trying to sanction medical grass for decades, according to veteran Amherst senator Stanley Rosenberg, a lead sponsor of the Senate bill. Still for a number of reasons, the commonwealth has yet to deliver for its most vulnerable citizens. Despite marijuana decriminalization, and reduced risk for those carrying less than one ounce, anyone caught growing cannabis faces severe penalties. To medical marijuana advocates, that's unacceptable.

Bolstering the state's most sophisticated push for prescription weed yet – 27 legislators co-sponsored the House bill – more than 80 citizens filled hearing room A-1 for several hours of testimony yesterday. Setting the tone, Brookline representative (and lead House sponsor) Frank Smizik described the measure – formally known as the Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Act – as a matter of “compassion,” explaining the obvious but oft-ignored fact that trees are less harmful than most legal drugs.

Anyone interested in the detailed mechanics of the bills should read them in full. But for the sake of clarity here are some basic elements:

-First and foremost, this is an “act to protect patients with debilitating medical conditions, as well as their practitioners and designated caregivers, from arrest and prosecution.” In other words: THIS IS NOT FULL-OUT LEGALIZE AND TAX LEGISLATION!!!

-This bill would set up a marijuana prescription and dispensary system similar to those currently in 13 other states, including neighboring Maine and Rhode Island. If passed, however, there won't be a might-as-well-be-legal free-for-all like in California, but rather a maximum of 19 licensed (and heavily regulated) medical treatment centers statewide.

-These medical treatment centers will be not-for-profit entities that are permitted to “acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, deliver, transfer, transport, supply, sell, and/or dispense marijuana” to qualifying patients and other approved cardholders like primary caregivers and treatment workers.

-In order to obtain a marijuana card from the Department of Public Health, patients must get written certification from a licensed practitioner (just like any other prescription drug). Qualifying ailments include cancer, glaucoma, and post traumatic stress disorder.

-Qualified patients (and their caregivers) can either use not-for-profit resources, or grow marijuana on their own (cardholders can legally possess up to 24 plants, and between four and eight ounces of smokable weed).

Presentations to the joint committee ranged from fact-filled to frightening, with one bill proponent pleading – while holding up two soda can-sized pill bottles – “What are you saying? That I either have to take these or break the law? Why should I be a junkie just so I don't have to be in pain?” Another gentleman, testifying from his wheelchair, spoke through a computer on account of his suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease. “I can't function without it,” he said, explaining how weed relaxes his his nerve and muscle spasms. “But I don't want to go to jail for it.”

Some legislators seemed to get it. Medford representative Carl Sciortino, who sits on the committee and co-sponsored H625, even pressed a bill opponent to justify claims that marijuana is a gateway drug. Joint committee co-chair and Jamaica Plain representative Jeffrey Sanchez also showed a sincere understanding, asking questions that demonstrated an apparent commitment to advancing meaningful reform.

Other lawmakers, however, gave insight into why Mass has yet to make this happen. Lincoln senator Susan Fargo suggested the potential benefits of THC alternatives. Worcester senator Harriette Chandler touted the testimony of former Worcester commissioner of public health Leonard Morse – even though she admittedly missed most of it! One of the few outspoken opponents of H625 in the room, Morse rejects this particular measure on grounds that doctors don't know enough about weed.

Others in the packed conference room took issue with the House and Senate bills for other reasons. Attorney Steven Epstein, who founded the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (MassCann/NORML) 20 years ago, believes H625 is unconstitutional on grounds that “people have the right to self-medicate.” He's also skeptical of the bill's livelihood, since powerful law enforcement officials are lobbying hard against marijuana prohibition. (It should be noted that legislators heard powerful testimony from members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), who hopefully convinced some that the war on drugs is a sham).

But for most people in the crowded room, it's too risky to hold out for legalized weed. “This is an issue of life and death for a lot of people,” said Erik Wunderlich, a board member of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, in an interview outside of the conference room. A chronic pain sufferer whose wife also has severe ailments, Wunderlich says there are countless people who count on marijuana just to make their final days tolerable. “This is not about getting high. This is about social justice.”

Marijuana Soda Provides a High Without the Smoke

Analysis by David Teeghman 

 

From: http://news.discovery.com/

Photo: Dixie Elixirs

One Colorado soda company has developed a line of sodas that have an unusual ingredient: marijuana. Dixie Elixirs has made their drinks available to anyone with a prescription for medical marijuana.

The drinks come in eight different flavors, including pink lemonade, root beer and grape. But if the company really wants to get their drinks into the hands of marijuana lovers, they may want to start working on pizza and nachos flavors.

But marijuana is only legal to consume in 14 states with a prescription from a doctor. So, unless you are one of the approximately half-million people who is a medical marijuana patient, this pot-infused soda won't do you much good.

It's an open secret that you can smoke marijuana and still be a valuable part of society. But when you think of smoking weed, you're more likely to think of Cheech and Chong than the people running the United States government. (Even though at least two U.S. presidents have admitted smoking it.)

The drink makers say part of the reason they developed their line of mary-jane drinks was to remove that "reefer madness" stigma associated with marijuana smokers.

If California voters decide to make recreational marijuana legal this November, you may start seeing these organic sodas (the drink makers really know their audience) in grocery stores and liquor stores right next to the stuff from Pepsi and Coke.

But if Coca-Cola's history is any sign of what the company might do next, they could return to the heady days of putting mind-altering substances in their sodas.

At a time of sagging soda sales, drink makers are looking for a way to boost sales, and marijuana might be the answer. Medical marijuana has already proven an effective way at boosting newspaper sales, of all things. The New York Times reports that medical marijuana ads in small Colorado newspapers boost revenues enough for it to increase the size of its staff.

All L.A. County medical pot dispensaries face prosecution, district attorney says

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said today that all the medical marijuana dispensaries in the county are operating illegally, and that "they are going to be prosecuted."

There are hundreds of dispensaries throughout the county, including as many as 800 in the city of Los Angeles, according to the city attorney's office. They operate under a 1996 voter initiative that allowed marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, and a subsequent state law that provided for collective cultivation.

Based on a state Supreme Court decision last year, Cooley and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich have concluded that over-the-counter sales are illegal. Most if not all of the dispensaries in the state operate on that basis.

Cooley said his office had already begun preparing to prosecute a Culver City dispensary called Organica.

Widespread criminal prosecutions could deal a sharp blow to the medical marijuana movement in California, where advocates have argued that access to the drug has helped many cancer patients and others manage pain, nausea and other health issues.

Cooley and Trutanich announced their plans after a training session for narcotics officers at the Montebello Country Club. Outside about 100 medical marijuana advocates protested, saying that not allowing over-the-counter sales threatens the distribution of a product that many sick people have come to rely on.

Barry Kramer, operator of the California Patient Alliance, a dispensary on Melrose Avenue, said, "If this is the way it goes, we'll go underground again. There will be a lot more crime."

-- John Hoeffel

Photo: Vanessa Richards helps a customer from La Cresenta at the Roscoe Compassionate Collective in Canoga Park on July 21.

Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Related: Where's the weed? Use The Times' interactive map to see the locations in the city of Los Angeles ocations where applications for medical marijuana dispensaries have been filed.

Pot TV? New show focuses on marijuana

WEST LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KABC) -- It's the latest in niche programming -- a TV show devoted exclusively to marijuana. The show's producer says his audience is hungry for more.

Brad Lane is a television producer on a mission. While some might say his new TV show is half-baked, Lane would probably tell you it's almost completely baked.

• Video: Behind the scenes at 'Cannabis Planet'
• Miller: Burbank class teaches legal pot growing
• More: Most Popular stories, videos and more
• More: Get breaking news alerts

"The name of our show is 'Cannabis Planet,'" said Lane. "We're all about the merits of cannabis plant. Industrially, agriculturally, medicinally."

Lane's half-hour show airs twice a week on KJLA. It features marijuana-related news, marijuana growing tips and even marijuana cooking advice from a bona fide chef.

"I'm showing them that they can ingest it in every single meal of their life," said Chef Mike Delao.

"Cannabis Planet" is a relatively low-budget endeavor. Lane says it costs about $10,000 a week to produce. He wants to eventually air it in every state that allows medical marijuana.

It's fair to say he has high hopes for the show.

"I get a ton of positive email from basically all around the world and all walks of life," said Lane.

Lane says after just seven episodes, "Cannabis Planet" is starting to break even thanks to a handful of advertisers with names like Big Bud and MediCann.

"Cannabis Planet" was originally going to air on KDOC in Orange County, but Lane says station management got cold feet. Lane then took "Cannabis Planet" to KJLA and its potentially five million viewers. Lane claims his late-night show most likely will be watched in about 30,000 homes.

Lane then took "Cannabis Planet" to KJLA and its potentially five million viewers. Lane claims his late-night show most likely will be watched in about 30,000 homes.

That's evidence, perhaps, that local TV is indeed going to pot.

"You bet TV is going to pot, and it's a good thing," said Lane.

• Miller: Burbank class teaches legal pot growing

Chronic City: The Results Are In -- Medical Marijuana Works

By Steve Elliott

julianayrs.com

You can't argue with results.

​"There's no proof that medical marijuana works. It needs more study. There's only anecdotal evidence. It doesn't treat specific conditions. People just want to get high." Every cannabis advocate and medical marijuana patient has run into these arguments, threadbare as they are in 2009. Even from professionals who should know better -- such as many medical doctors -- the same tired arguments come up again and again.

As baffling as it may be, just listening to the patients (what a concept!) isn't considered "proof" by the medical establishment, which considers such evidence interesting, but "merely" anecdotal.

But after a new groundbreaking round-up clinical evidence for the efficacy of medical pot, however, such misconceptions are going to be a lot easier to shoot down.

In the landmark article, published in the Journal of Opioid Management, University of Washington researcher Sunil Aggarwal and colleagues document no fewer than 33 controlled clinical trials -- published over a 38-year period from 1971 to 2009 -- confirming that marijuana is a safe, effective medicine for specific medical conditions.

"The most common misconception among doctors and the general public regarding medical marijuana is that its effectiveness claims are substantiated only by compelling anecdotes from patients," Aggarwal told SF Weekly. "What is not acknowledged is that 33 separate controlled clinical trials with patients -- at least a third of which are of gold standard design -- have been conducted and published in the United States by investigators at major research centers using the same federal cannabis supply and mode of delivery.

"In fact," Aggarwal and colleagues write, "nearly all of the 33 published controlled clinical trials conducted in the United States have shown significant and measurable benefits in subjects receiving the treatment."

Photo by Joe Mabel

Dr. Sunil Aggarwal: The results are in.

Additionally, the article documents the growing acceptance of the therapeutic use of marijuana among organized medicine groups. More than 7,000 American physicians (in the 13 states where medical marijuana is legal) have signed medical marijuana authorizations for a total of 400,000 patients, according to Aggarwal and colleagues.

Notably absent from medical marijuana patients in the published trials -- and in glaring contrast to opiate drugs -- are withdrawal symptoms and other signs of drug dependence. Adverse effects were relatively rare, and "the vast majority of reported adverse effects were not serious... It is clear that as an analgesic, cannabis is extremely safe with minimal toxicity."

Unfortunately, ignorance regarding marijuana still remains widespread, even in the medical community, according to the article. "There remains a near complete absence of education about cannabinoid medicine in any level of medical training," Aggarwal writes.

"This is arguably the most thorough review of the literature on medical marijuana since the Institute of Medicine report over a decade ago, with a trove of data that wasn't available to the IOM," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which works for legalization. "It is simply incomprehensible that a medicine that is so clearly safe and effective remains banned from medical use by federal law and the laws of 37 states."

Under current federal law, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, defining it as having high potential for abuse, unsafe for use even under medical supervision, and lacking currently accepted uses in the U.S.

The article, "Medicinal Use of Cannabis in the United States: Historical Perspectives, Current Trends, and Future Directions," is available here (PDF).

Aggarwal offers a complete list of the 33 U.S. clinical trials; contact him here.

Multiple Sclerosis Patient Faces 20 Years For Med Marijuana

Judge won't let Franklin Township man cite medical need for marijuana

by Jennifer Golson/The Star-Ledger

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerJohn Wilson listens during his hearing in Somerset County Superior Court. Wilson who has multiple sclerosis is accused of first-degree maintaining or operating a drug manufacturing facility for the 17 marijuana plants police found growing behind his house.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP -- A Somerset County man won't be able to use multiple sclerosis as a defense for the 17 marijuana plants police found growing behind his house, a Superior Court judge ruled today.

A claim of personal use simply does not apply to the charges against Franklin Township resident John Ray Wilson, Judge Robert Reed said, following a hearing today in Somerville.

Wilson, 36, is accused of first-degree maintaining or operating a drug-production facility, second-degree manufacturing and third-degree drug possession. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

A helicopter pilot spotted marijuana growing behind the house Wilson rented on Skillmans Lane last August and alerted State Police. Detectives found well-worn trails leading to the plants, some as tall as 6 feet. Authorities also found Miracle-Gro in a shed and psilocybin mushrooms and bags of processed marijuana in the dwelling, according to court papers.

Wilson said he uses marijuana to help alleviate the pain and other symptoms that have plagued him since 2002.

In March, Reed denied the defense's motion to dismiss the charges, saying there is no personal-use exemption for the cultivation of marijuana.

Deputy Attorney General Russell Curley filed a motion in April asking Reed to bar defense attorney James Wronko from asserting personal use as a defense and from referencing Wilson's medical condition at trial.

The criminal case is progressing as the state Legislature contemplates the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. If it passes, New Jersey would become the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana.

During today's hearing, Reed cited the bill but said the establishment of medical marijuana for personal use as a state policy or as a defense to criminal liability is a matter for the Legislature to decide and not for a court to create.

In his brief, Curley echoed the argument he raised in March.

"A person who maintains or operates a controlled dangerous substance production facility for planting, propagating, cultivating, growing or harvesting marijuana is, in fact, guilty of maintaining or operating a controlled dangerous substance production facility, regardless of whether the marijuana is produced for distribution or personal use," he wrote.

During the hearing, Curley said allowing information about multiple sclerosis is merely a way to garner sympathy and could encourage jury nullification. Jurors might opt to acquit Wilson, believing he had a reason to break the law.

Wronko said the jury should be allowed to hear the circumstances surrounding the plants. If not, they "could readily speculate that he was operating an illegal commercial grow operation and must have done so for years to develop a market for the marijuana," he wrote in court papers.

Omitting Wilson's disease would keep him from addressing the issue of continuous use, one of the elements of operating a production facility. He would not be able to testify this was the first and only crop he has tried to grow, Wronko said.

Barring the medical-use argument, "is basically tying our hands unfairly," Wronko said in court.

Reed said the personal-use defense does not negate the elements of the production facility or manufacturing offenses. He also said introducing evidence of Wilson's disease "would create a powerful emotional argument in favor of jury nullification because it gives defendant a sympathetic reason for breaking the law."

Reed said he is mindful of the danger in becoming a "judicial legislator."

"When judges appropriate legislative pronouncements and executive prerogatives, they demean those branches of government, and diminish the stature of the courts," Reed wrote. "If medical marijuana use is to be recognized as an exemption to our criminal law, the legislative process must produce that result. This court will not do so."

A case such as Wilson's is precisely why the Legislature needs to pass a medical marijuana bill as soon as possible, said Rosanne Scotti, director of the Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey, a major proponent of the bill. The fact that this case is coming up and the defendant faces such a harsh penalty "should light a fire under the Legislature to do something, because the ball really is in their court."

My Friend Bill, a Medical Marijuana Patient

By Phil Daigle

My friend, Bill is dying of cancer. He probably has two or three days left. He's not conscious and while the caretakers say that he can recognize my voice, I doubt it. He's being given a lot of drugs including morphine, but they don't seem to give him peace. His body struggles as if he is trying to free himself from unseen restraints. Perhaps he's pain-free, but he definitely does not seem comfortable. However, I was able to say goodbye to Bill with a smile on my face because of something his wife told me a few minutes earlier. She said, "Bill spent the last five days of his conscious life smoking pot." Now, if you knew Bill you'd know how utterly preposterous that statement sounds. Bill was a retired Pediatric Cardiologist. He voted Republican all his life until he voted for Obama. He did not waste money or words. And he definitely had never smoked marijuana.

Some weeks back, Bill's internist suggested that he consider medical marijuana as a way to restore his appetite which had been destroyed by chemotherapy. Later Bill decided to give it a try. Bill and his wife found a dispensary nearby after a brief internet search. They called the dispensary and were told they would need a referral letter and that a "doctor" would be on the premises that afternoon. At the time, Bill could only walk short distances and he was very weak, but they went over to the dispensary. They stood in a queue of seemingly able-bodied young men also seeking relief from something. The doctor relieved them of $140 and provided each with the referral letter. Bill's wife said that she was less than impressed with the certification process and ventured an opinion that "Bill was the only truly ill individual that doctor would see all week." The young dispensary clerks were very helpful. They suggested that Bill purchase two thumb sized buds "one of indica for pain and one of sativa for depression". Bill also picked out a nice psychedelic pipe. Once home, bill tried it. His wife said that once he felt the effects of the first puff a little smile brightened his face. He smoked some more and the smile broadened. His wife chuckled as she remembered his fondness for the stuff. She said, "I'd ask him if he'd like anything and he usually answered, "I believe I'll have some of that marijuana." It made Bill happy at the end of his journey. What a gift!

I agree with those that say that medical marijuana is mostly used by recreational pot smokers, but I know that there are other people like Bill who are truly ill and can't get anything from the medical community that works as well as marijuana to put a smile on their faces.