A FLOURISHING $40 MILLION MEDICAL MARIJUANA INDUSTRY HELPS ISRAELIS FORGET

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Holocaust survivor Moshe Rute, a resident at Hadarim nursing home, where he smokes cannabis daily to fight chronic pain. (Shira Rubin)

On a recent afternoon in Kibbutz Naan, near the city of Rehovot, Israel, Moshe Rute took a hefty puff from his pot pipe, with the blessing of the government. His hands stopped convulsing, and he drifted into the story of how cannabis had done for him something that no person could—help him forget. A “Holocaust child,” he said the memories of his past—of hiding in a chicken barn in his native France to escape the Nazis, and the later death of his wife—haunted him.

For years Rute, 81, had been silenced by his psychological baggage and unsuccessful at sleep. But in 1988, when he arrived at the Hadarim nursing home in central Israel, where he was prescribed medical cannabis for a cocktail of ailments, he finally “opened up,” he said. “When I was a child my imagination saved me. I was alone, talking to the chickens. What saved me here was the cannabis.”

After the hourlong smoking session on the porch, we retreated into a spartan, ground-floor room, where the creative by-products of his drug use were on display. They included sketches of chickens and of his late wife, as well as black-and-white Pollock-style splatter paintings. He’d already completed three books.

In the United States, marijuana has been approved for medical use in 18 states and the District of Columbia and for recreational use in two states, but with federal statutes still criminalizing the drug, the future of the substance remains unclear. In Israel, meanwhile, the $40-million-per-year medical-marijuana industry has flourished.

Illegal for recreational use, today medical cannabis is prescribed to some 11,000 Israeli patients, up from 1,800 in 2009, according to the Israeli Health Ministry. It is used to treat an extensive list of illnesses including cancer, Parkinson’s, Tourette syndrome, and PTSD. While government attempts to limit use have sparked a heated debate, legislation is still relatively liberal. In May, Health Minister Yael German announced that an additional 11 doctors would be certified to prescribe cannabis—bumping up the number to 19—by the end of the year.

While rabbinic support for medical cannabis has long existed in Israel, government regulation is relatively new. The issue was raised for the first time in 2009, in the wake of a documentary titled Prescribed Grass, directed by Zach Klein. “I made the movie because my mother was suffering from cancer, and she was afraid to take hashish, afraid about the long-term effects,” Klein told me. “It was time that Israel woke up.”

He said the term marijuana has proven a detrimental moniker, conjuring up connotations of street crime, whereas the word cannabis has historical precedent in the Bible. He added that an accurate, shared vocabulary is needed for both politicians and patients to feel comfortable discussing the drug.

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Rivke Holop, 85, prefers the yogurt preparation. Photo: Dan Balilty

With chief nurse Inbal Sikorin, Klein built the Hadarim nursing home. Bustling trays of cannabis—in liquid, food, and pill form—for the lunchtime crowd, Klein and Sikorin agreed that the “munchies effect” is one of the drug’s most beneficial perks. Many patients here suffer from chronic pain from chemotherapy or other treatments and are at serious risk of having dangerously low body weight. Thus, Sikorin said, allowing the use of medical cannabis is an issue of medical ethics.

Sikorin remembered that in the days before marijuana was common treatment at Hadarim, “We had learned to prolong life, and we did that very well, but it wasn’t clear to me what we could offer them in terms of quality of life. We would always give them medicines that weren’t completely perfect. So, we would add other medicines, and they had their own side effects. This was, also, not at all cost-effective.” Of the 16 patients receiving medical cannabis, there are a few special cases, like half-paralyzed and wheelchair-ridden Rom (he requested his last name be omitted for privacy), 90 years old. He can’t speak or stay awake for more than a few seconds, let alone swallow a pill, and thus consumes the marijuana via vaporizer.

As Sikorin and I watched him inhale, we saw his eyes immediately light up. He yawned, to the delight of Sikorin. His wife Rachel prodded him to finish his third cannabis balloon, so that he could join her for lunch.

The pot doled out here comes from an organic greenhouse in the Galilee called Tikkun Olam, referring to the Jewish principle of healing the world. The largest of eight other government-sponsored cultivation digs, the cannabis farm supplies about 2,000 patients across Israel and goes by the motto derived from Psalm 118, “This is God’s doing; it’s marvelous in our eyes.”

At Tikkun Olam, crossbred products include a strain that reportedly inspires the most powerful high in the world and another that provides none at all. The latter is achieved by isolating the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, responsible for the “high,” and upping the concentration of the non-psychoactive cannabidiol, or CBD, which has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In the 1960s Israel was a world leader in research on marijuana and its components under the so-called grandfather of cannabis, professor Raphael Mechoulam, at Hebrew University, who first isolated the THC component.

Dr. Ruth Gallily, an immunology professor at Hebrew University who has researched CBD for 15 years, said the drug offers still unknown potential in treating neurological and physical illnesses. “Where the THC binds to the brain receptor, giving the high feeling, the CBD doesn’t bind, making it effective without toxicity,” she said. “It can be used for liver inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, and even diabetes type 1, which afflicts millions of people.” But the fact that it is a plant, she said, and is therefore harder to control and impossible to patent, makes it an unattractive investment for medical companies.

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Another Haradim resident receives cannabis injections directly into his stomach. Photo: Getty Images

Dr. Reuven Or is the director of the bone-marrow transplant department at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where he said medical cannabis was first used. He said that holes in the bureaucratic system and demands on already overburdened doctors to handle prescription requests are compensated by “independent organizations and a lot of grace.” He maintains, though, that there’s still a long way to go in fully understanding the drug.

At the distribution center at Hadassah Hospital, patients, including young children, attend group classes on how to take the drug. Every patient has a prescription and pays a monthly fee of 370 shekels (about 100 dollars). To register at distribution centers like this, patients must present a green card signed by their doctor, specifying their monthly cannabis allowance. Patients can also petition to have the monthly cost covered by their health-care providers.

Daniel Davis, a 34-year-old yoga practitioner who has salivary gland cancer, attends those classes as both a student and a teacher. A self-declared “former pothead,” he said he has a “calling” to demystify the drug for nervous first-timers. On the other hand, he said, “The kind of sneaky part in me is telling me that I beat the system. Not only am I getting marijuana from the government, they’re also subsidizing three quarters of the cost.”

Davis said marijuana was “a savior” in helping him gain back the 20 pounds lost during intensive bouts of chemotherapy. He maintains a vegan diet and does yoga and meditation when he can muster the strength, though his deteriorating condition has his doctors pessimistic. But even in facing this difficult truth, Davis said, marijuana helped. “It enables me to let go,” he said, “to not fight so much, not to struggle with the current reality.”

 

Source:  Tablet


Marijuana Could Be the Answer to Curing Alzheimer’s Disease, Study Shows

The clinical failure rate of Alzheimer’s drugs is exceptionally high, yet early data from researchers at the Salk Institute suggests marijuana could provide a cure.

The statistics associated with Alzheimer’s disease are downright depressing.

The disease, which typically affects the elderly and is characterized by a progressive decline in cognitive function, currently afflicts 5.4 million Americans, and the Alzheimer’s Association expects the direct and indirect costs of treatment to reach $236 billion in 2016. Some one in nine people over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s disease, and within the U.S., it’s the sixth-leading cause of death.

These statistics are even scarier when you consider how much researchers still have to learn about this disease. Though there are medications designed to slow the progression of the various stages of the disease, a cure for Alzheimer’s disease remains elusive for the time being.

A number of big-name drug developers have taken aim at Alzheimer’s, only to have their studies end in disappointment. Drug giants Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer teamed up to develop bapineuzumab, while Eli Lilly developed solanezumab. Both drugs missed their primary endpoints in phase 3 studies. It’s difficult to get medicine through the blood-brain barrier, and the clinical success rate of Alzheimer’s drugs is particularly low.

Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) is hoping to change that with experimental therapy aducanumab, which, in early-stage studies, produced reduced cognitive decline and substantial beta-amyloid clearance. (Beta-amyloid is a protein found around the brain that, when clumped together, can form plagues that block neurons and lead to a progressive decline in cognitive function.) Unfortunately, early-stage success stories often miss the mark in later-stage studies, so the jury is still out on aducanumab.

Is cannabis the answer to Alzheimer’s disease?

However, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies believe the cure to Alzheimer’s disease might come from a readily available substance: marijuana.

In order to test their theory, researchers at the Salk Institute modified nerve cells to produce high levels of beta-amyloid. Researchers then noted that these higher levels of beta-amyloid production led to the expression of pro-inflammatory proteins and eventually nerve cell death. The ongoing death of these nerve cells is what leads to the progressive cognitive decline witnessed in Alzheimer’s patients. This itself was an intriguing finding, as it was long believed that an immune-like response, not the proteins themselves, led to nerve cell death.

Now here’s where things get interesting. As the researchers noted in their findings, nerve cells in the brain contain receptors that are activated by lipid molecules known as endocannabinoids, which are naturally produced by nerve cells. These endocannabinoids are believed to help nerve cells with their ability to send signals relating to appetite, pain sensation, and memory. Marijuana contains the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (more commonly known as THC), which is similar to endocannabinoids and can activate those same nerve cell receptors. In other words, the researchers at Salk Institute hypothesized that cannabis could block the receptors that lead to the release of pro-inflammatory proteins and prevent nerve cell death.

For their test, the researchers applied THC to nerve cells producing high levels of beta-amyloid. The findings showed that beta-amyloid production was reduced, eliminating the pro-inflammatory protein response and sparing the nerve cells from death.

Understandably, this study would need to be tested in a well-controlled clinical setting to have validity, but it nonetheless offers significant hope that cannabis could hold the key to curing Alzheimer’s disease.

Before you get too excited…

While the findings from Salk Institute’s researchers are eye-opening and exciting from a medical standpoint — and they mark another victory for cannabis enthusiasts who’d like to see medical marijuana legalized throughout the country — the reality is that cannabis’ path to approval as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease could be long and difficult.

If you recall, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently issued a ruling that will keep cannabis designated as a schedule 1 (i.e., illicit) substance. Although the DEA appears to be relaxing its stance on marijuana for the purposes of medical research, there are no guarantees that access to cannabis for medical research will improve anytime soon. This also complicates matters for residents living in the 25 states that haven’t legalized medical marijuana.

Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration’s recommendation on cannabis seemed to coincide with that of the DEA. The stance of both the DEA and FDA is that much is still unknown about the chemical composition of marijuana and that marijuana has no recognized medical benefits. There are also unknowns surrounding its safety that could make it difficult for any marijuana or cannabinoid-based drug to make it past the FDA.

Beyond these restrictions on marijuana’s medical potential, the marijuana business in general faces some inherent disadvantages. Because marijuana remains an illicit substance at the federal level, marijuana businesses struggle to obtain basic financial services ranging from a checking account to lines of credit. Just 3% of the nation’s 6,700 banks are currently working with companies in the cannabis industry.

Marijuana businesses also face disadvantages come tax time. U.S. tax code 280E prohibits businesses that deal with federally illegal substances from taking normal business deductions, leaving them to pay tax on their gross profits instead of net profits.

Ultimately, marijuana has shown flashes of medicinal potential across a number of disease types, including Alzheimer’s disease. However, without controlled and FDA-approved clinical studies, the evidence needed to give marijuana recognized medical benefits just isn’t there. Unfortunately, both Alzheimer’s patients and investors looking to take advantage of marijuana’s potentially expansive growth prospects will have to watch and wait from the sidelines.

Source: The Motley Fool


45 Ailments Treatable with Cannabis

Once you learn about the endocannabinoid system in your body, it becomes very clear just why cannabis can treat so many different illnesses.

The great thing about cannabis as medicine is that it’s all-natural, and you don’t have to worry about potentially fatal side effects that you get with other so-called medicines.

Our medicine should be something that makes us feel better, not a chemical experiment that makes us feel worse or that could kill us.

And with cannabis, we literally have decades’ worth of research (despite government restriction) that proves its effectiveness and safety.

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The endocannabinoid system is responsible for keeping all of our metabolic processes in check.

The good news is that as prohibition continues to fall apart, patients have an increasing number in cannabis options, be it through vaporizing, edibles,topicals, or even transdermal patches.

Here are just 45 of the ailments treatable with cannabis.

#1) Prostate Cancer

Recent anecdotal and scientific evidence – including a 2009 study published in the British Journal of Cancer – suggests that prostate cancer could be inhibited through cannabinoid treatment.

#2) Depression

Depression is a medical issue affects 9 percent of Americans. A ray of hope has come through preliminary research released in 2015 in the Journal of Neuroscience found that compounds gleaned from cannabis could help ease symptoms of depression in patients.

#3) Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Most prevalent in children and often carried over into adulthood, ADHD shows through a seeming inability to pay attention and a general exhibition of hyperactivity and impulsivity. According to Dr. David Bearman, cannabis is likely more effective than pharmaceuticals in treating ADHD by increasing the availability of dopamine in the brain, which is responsible for regulating behavior and focusing attention. This would explain a lot of the anecdotal reports we get from people who successfully self-treat their ADHD with cannabis.

#4) Crohn’s Disease

Multiple studies have found this painful and life-threatening disease – also known as ‘inflammatory bowel disease’ – to be treatable with cannabinoid therapy.

#5) Chronic Stress

Chronic stress – with such symptoms as panic attacks, depression, sleep deprivation, and cardiovascular diseases – can have debilitating effects on a person’s psychological and physical health. Thankfully, multiple studies – including one conducted by researchers from Vanderbilt University – find cannabis to be highly effective in reducing chronic stress and its effects.

#6) Cigarette Addiction

Cigarette addiction is regarded as one of the leading worldwide causes of preventable death, and curbing the rate of smokers has become a top priority for physicians. Luckily, it turns out that the administration of cannabidiol (CBD) helps with the management of withdrawal symptoms for smokers looking to quit.

#7) Arthritis

Compounds from cannabis have proven to be a remarkably effective treatmentof both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

#8) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

People have believed for years that cannabis could be effective in the treatment of PTSD. Now it appears that the view is going mainstream: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) approved in April a clinical study to combat the disorder’s effects. Meanwhile, PTSD patients have been telling us all along that cannabis works best.

#9) Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a disease in the optic nerve that often results in blindness. The use of cannabis – particularly through oral ingestion – has been found to lower pressure in the eye. Yet despite initial optimism, further study into cannabis’s effects on glaucoma patients has been encouraged by medical professionals.

#10) AIDS/HIV

While not offered as a ‘cure’ for HIV/AIDS, cannabis has proven to be effective in the treatment of symptoms, which include nausea, loss of appetite, and anxiety.

#11) Alzheimer’s Disease

While a great deal of research has yet to be completed on the matter, preliminary scientific literature suggests that cannabinoids therapy can provide symptomatic relief – as well as a slowing of Alzheimer’s’ progression.

#12) Headaches

Over-the-counter drugs can be effective in the treatment of headaches; however, many of the common OTC treatments – such as Aleve and Tylenol, among others – can lead to deterioration in stomach lining. Cannabis, on the other hand, has been found to be a potentially effective natural treatment for headaches, including migraines.

#13) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

CBD – one of the main compounds in cannabis – has been shown to effectively combat and regulate anxiety. This could prove to be a game-changer for those living with the effects of OCD.

#14) Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

MS is a degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system and can ultimately result in permanent disability or even death. While examination of the disease is ongoing, people are finding cannabis to be an effective measure of relief for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis.

#15) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease)

ALS is a debilitating disease of the nervous system that attacks spinal cord and brain neurons, over time resulting in paralysis and often times death from respiratory failure. No cure currently exists for ALS, but studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that medical cannabis could play a future role in the disease’s treatment and relief of symptoms.

#16) Chronic Pain

Chronic pain has been defined as any pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks – and encompasses such areas as physical, pathological, neurobiological, psychological, and social pain. While the causes of chronic pain are many, cannabis has is an often recommended treatment by physicians, and the number one ailment among medical cannabis patients.

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Physicians around the world are embracing cannabis as medicine because they want to see their patients actually get better.

#17) Pancreatic Cancer

At least one study – appearing in the seminal publication Cancer Research – suggests that cannabis could prove instrumental in treating the cancer regarded as the fourth-deadliest cancer diagnosis.

#18) Opioid Addiction

The media and the medical community alike have acknowledged opioid addiction as one of the country’s leading public health crises. However, one study, appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found states with relevant medical cannabis laws have a lower opioid-related mortality rate (by nearly 25 percent!).

#19) Disc Degeneration

Intervertebral discs – also known simply as ‘discs’ – are masses of cartilage that sit between each vertebra. Degenerated discs, if left untreated, can result in spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, or herniated discs. A 2014 study on rats with recreated disc degenerations found that the subjects treated with higher doses of cannabidiol saw their conditions measurably improve.

#20) Skin Cancer

While the medical establishment remains dubious on this one, people continue to share with the world how cannabis helped them overcome skin cancer.

#21) Traumatic Brain Injury

Two recent surveys – one appearing in The American Surgeon and the other in Brain Sciences – offer substantial support to the notion that cannabis can be an effective treatment for traumatic brain injuries among both adults and perinatal children.

#22) Parkinson’s Disease

A significant amount of research has already been completed on the relationship between cannabis and the management and improvement of Parkinson’s Disease patients’ health. Such studies have found an improvement in sleep, improvement of motor control, and a general improvement in quality of life.

#23) Muscular Dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy is the slow degeneration of muscle mass throughout the body. Though the disease is genetic and research on the issue has yet to be fully sussed out, one 2010 study detailed the ways in which cannabis could prove beneficial to patients suffering from the disease.

#24) Epilepsy

This seizure-inducing condition has been on the radar of cannabis advocates for years, and we are beginning to see why: Multiple studies have found a link between cannabis treatment and the lowering – or even cessation – of epileptic seizures.

#25) Autism

Scientific studies – plus a sizable amount of anecdotal evidence – suggest that placing greater emphasis on supplementing the endocannabinoid system with phytocannabinoids could lead to enhanced treatment of autism, especially in children.

#26) Lupus

This chronic inflammatory disease affects approximately 1.5 to 2 million Americans. Though the disease has no cure, two of the most common therapeutic properties of cannabis – pain and inflammation relief – are effective in alleviating lupus’s symptoms.

#27) Malaria

Malaria is transmitted to humans by mosquitos and may result in everything from blood vessel clogs to brain cell damage. While deaths related to malaria have fallen in recent years, an animal study published last year inNeuroscience found CBD treatment to improve the mental functioning and survival rates of subjects infected with the disease.

#28) Schizophrenia

This debilitating mental disorder could result in hallucinations, incoherent speech, social withdrawal, and institutionalization. Despite conflicting studies and reports, many schizophrenia patients turn to cannabis to ease their symptoms, and one study has revealed that the endocannabinoid system has a direct involvement in the mental illness.

#29) Leukemia

This dangerous form of cancer – which affects the blood and starts in the bone marrow – has been investigated for its possible responses to CBD and THC treatment. Though there remains a great deal of work to be done on the issue, preliminary studies suggest that cannabis treatment for leukemia has a bright future in the years ahead.

#30) Strokes

Strokes – defined as the temporary blockage of blood to the brain – can have debilitating long-term effects on motor and speech skills, as well as brain damage. It turns out cannabis can protect the brain of stroke victims, reducing the amount of damage suffered.

#31) Breast Cancer

This is the most common cancer among women and while a great deal of research remains to be completed on how the disease responds to cannabis treatment, a study published last year in Molecular Oncology found CBD to be a “potent” drug in fighting triple-negative breast cancer.

#32)Fibromyalgia  

This muscle pain- and fatigue-inducing disorder has been found to be effectively treated using medical cannabis. Cannabis users in this study, conducted by researchers at Spain’s University of Granada, experienced a decrease in pain and a greater quality of life.

#33) Colon Cancer

This particularly vicious strain of cancer has been met with effective treatment through the use of cannabis extracts high in CBD.

#34) Heart disease

Cardiovascular disease – also known as heart disease – is cited as the world’s leading cause of death, with roughly 17.3 million deaths per year. However, studies working with medical cannabis compounds have found cannabinoids to be effective in improving cardiovascular functions, but also that the damage caused by heart attacks may be constrained through ultra-low doses of THC.

#35) Asthma

Studies have found that the effects of cannabis and its components have resulted in measurable improvement in asthma-like symptoms, and there are actually several reasons why cannabis can work wonders here.

#36) Huntington’s Disease

This neurodegenerative disorder over time can result in physical and mental degradation. No cure currently exists, but studies indicate that cannabis may be effective in preventing certain neurodegenerative diseases, as well astreating some of the symptoms associated with Huntington’s.

#37) Alcoholism

For many people suffering from alcoholism, cannabis has become a go-to substitute. Essentially, cannabis provides them a much safer, healthier alternative.

#38) Diabetes

An estimated 29.1 million people in the U.S. suffer from diabetes. Cannabis, however, has proven to be helpful in managing or even preventing type-2 diabetes.

#39) Bladder Cancer

A February 2015 study published in The Journal of Urology found the use of whole-plant cannabis in California men to be “inversely associated with bladder cancer risk.” While the study took care to say that a causal effect was not detected, the study nonetheless offers promise to those looking to counteract the effects or even prevent this harmful and often fatal disease.

#40) Obesity

A recent study by the CDC found that a whopping 36 percent of Americans are considered obese. Thankfully, studies show cannabis being highly effective in the fight against obesity.

#41) Painful Bladder Syndrome

At least one study has found that interstitial cystitis – a chronic bladder disease also known as painful bladder syndrome – may be treated through the use of cannabinoids.

#42) Sleep Disorders

Lack of sleep can lead to a slew of health problems including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Many insomnia patients have found relief through cannabis, specifically THC, which acts as an all-natural sleep aid.

#43) Shingles

The skin rash shingles, while most common in older patients, is nonetheless highly prevalent. It is estimated that as many as one third of people will develop shingles in their lifetime. While a cure for the rash has yet to be discovered, cannabinoids may offer treatment for the pain associated with the disease’s effects.

#44) Tourette’s Syndrome

The neuropsychiatric disorder Tourette’s Syndrome – which results in a series of involuntary ‘tics’ and
the cause of which remains unknown – has no known cure. However, while research on the disorder’s relationship with cannabis remains ongoing, studieshave already been undertaken showing promise through treatment with cannabinoid therapy.

#45) Osteoporosis

Several studies published in the last five years – including one in the British Journal of Pharmacology and one in Cell Metabolism – found that bone erosion caused by osteoporosis could be curtailed by bolstering the endocannabinoid system of affected patients with cannabinoid therapy.

Wow that’s a lot of ailments. Imagine how much more effective our healthcare would be if cannabis were fully embraced for the medicine that it is – the medicine that our bodies and endocannabinoid systems need.

Green Flower Media