The country’s parliament previously agreed on an amendment to the law in March 2021 to enhance access to medical marijuana, aiming to “facilitate access to cannabis for medical use for patients.”
The Swiss government confirmed that it will remove limitations on medical marijuana use, starting August 1. Medical marijuana patients are required to seek exceptional authorization from the health ministry to get medical cannabis prescriptions, which causes needless delays.
Starting in August, the decision to use a cannabis-based medicine for therapeutic purposes will be taken by the physician in consultation with the patient, reported Leafie.
Photo by Henrique Ferreira via Unsplash
The country’s parliament previously agreed on an amendment to the law in March 2021 to enhance access to medical marijuana, aiming to “facilitate access to cannabis for medical use for patients.” According to the Federal Office of Public Health, new rules should benefit thousands of patients, some suffering from cancer or multiple sclerosis, who deal with chronic pain daily. It turns out that the demand for medical marijuana treatments has boomed in Switzerland recently. In 2019 alone, the health ministry issued 3,000 exceptional permissions.
At the moment in Switzerland, only licensed medical marijuana products containing less than 1% THC, such as Jazz Pharma’s Sativex, are allowed.
“Switzerland just took another big step in opening up access for cannabis patients by giving the doctors freedom to prescribe cannabis products easier and with less government restrictions,” Mike Sassano, founder, chairman & CEO of Somai Pharmaceuticals told Benzinga. “Switzerland is following suit of European countries; Germany did something similar in 2019 by allowing more medical indications to be treated. More European countries are now revisiting restrictive policies, like only allowing cannabis as a last resort. Changes in regulations like what Switzerland is doing is expected to sweep Europe over the next 2 years. Recently Spain just announced they will be creating regulations to allow medical cannabis, and they will most likely look at the success in Germany and positive regulations by the Swiss.”
Photo by Janosch Diggelmann via Unsplash
Recent Cannabis Developments In Switzerland
In May 2021, an amendment to the Federal Narcotics Act came into force in Switzerland, allowing pilot trials involving the dispensing of cannabis for non-medicinal purposes. These trials are intended to create the basis for future legal regulation and will include 5,000 registered participants, who have proven to the federal government they already have been consuming cannabis.
In April 2022, Swiss authorities green lighted a pilot project under which a few hundred people in the city of Basel will be allowed to buy cannabis from pharmacies for recreational purposes.
The same month, Schlosshotel Zermatt, the first CBD Spa in Europe was inaugurated at the foot of the Matterhorn Mountain (famous for its ski resorts and for being the logo of the Toblerone chocolate brand) in the Swiss Alps.
In addition, CBD companies will be able to air ads during MLB games though as yet there is no info available yet as to what the league and its teams will receive in compensation.
Major League Baseball has officially approved CBD sponsorships for team jersey patches and more, according to Sports Business Journal.
Although CBD sponsorships can only be sold if the company is certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF). The means the company’s CBD products cannot contain psychoactive levels of THC, which goes without saying because, well, that’s what CBD is.
“We’ve been watching this category for a while and waiting for it to mature to the point where we can get comfortable with it,” MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden said. “… It’s a good opportunity for us and the clubs. The last few companies that came to see us about this, the process of NSF certification was embraced. That gave us a comfort level to be able to move forward.”
Garden added that between three and five brands are in the process of receiving NSF certification. In addition to NSF certification, the commissioner’s office will need to approve the deal.
Beginning with the 2023 season, MLB jerseys will feature jersey patch sponsorships and CBD companies will be allowed to make deals for those patches. The NBA already has jersey patch sponsorships, and the NHL will also add them in 2022-23.
“We are open-minded to doing a patch deal here, depending on the brand and what that brand represents,” Garden said. “It has to have a brand that represents sports.”
In addition, CBD companies will be able to air ads during MLB games though as yet there is no info available yet as to what the league and its teams will receive in compensation.
Permitting CBD sponsorships could be wildly lucrative for the MLB and other professional sports leagues in view of the fact that the global CBD market is expected to reach nearly $5 billion in the coming years.
Pro Athletes Have Been Using And Praising CBD For A While Now
A number of professional athletes already use and advocate for CBD products, including professional golfer Rickie Fowler, former NFL’s Rob Gronkowski, Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson and US Women’s National Team soccer player Megan Rapinoe.
A recent Forbes.com article list even more Olympians, including hurdler Devon Allen, softballer Haylie McCleney, and WNBA champion Sue Bird, who serve as team ambassadors for Rapinoe’s CBD-infused products.
Given the great risk of fatality and serious brain damage that can occur with meningitis, it’s in the best interest of patients to maximize all the available alternative medications that can work well with conventional treatment.
Meningitis is a condition characterized by inflammation that occurs within the brain’s protective membranes. It’s caused by a viral or bacterial infection of the fluid around the brain and the spinal cord, which causes swelling.
Other possible causes of meningitis include drugs, injuries, various infections, and cancer. Because of the many possible causes of meningitis, there are several names for this condition including bacterial meningitis, viral meningitis, fungal meningitis, parasitic meningitis, and many others. The symptoms can show up within a few days or in as little as a few hours, and it can include fever, confusion, stiff neck, and severe headaches.
Bacterial meningitis can be extremely fatal if diagnosis and antibiotic treatment has been delayed. The longer treatment is delayed, the more it can cause permanent brain damage or even death. This condition has also been associated with other complications such as memory and hearing loss, learning difficulties (especially among children), kidney failure, problems with gait, and shock. According to the World Health Organization, untreated meningitis has a high fatality rate
Depending on the cause of the condition, treatment may vary though it usually includes intravenous antibiotics, corticosteroids, bed rest, and medications to counter the fever and body aches. However, due to the sensitive nature of this condition, the use of other alternative medications such as cannabis can help prevent further complications.
How Cannabis Helps
The human endocannabinoid system is responsible for helping suppress inflammation while improving neuroprotection and immunodilation. Even though there are very few studies documenting the use of cannabis specifically for meningitis, there have been other case studies suggesting that cannabis can be a powerful anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral agent for treating the symptoms of this condition.
There’s a 2021 study, however, conducted by researchers at the University of Queensland together with Botanix Pharmaceuticals Limited. They found that cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, was effective in treating many different types of bacteria. “This is the first time CBD has been shown to kill some types of Gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria have an extra outer membrane, an additional line of defence that makes it harder for antibiotics to penetrate,” explains Dr. Blaskovich, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland.
“Our company is now primed to commercialize viable antimicrobial treatments which we hope will reach more patients in the near future. This is a major breakthrough that the world needs now,” he said. “Those Phase 2a clinical results are expected early this year and we hope that this will pave the way for treatments for gonorrhea, meningitis, and legionnaires disease,” he adds.
Blaskovich has been involved in other similar studies, and in 2019 he presented the findings of his analysis on CBD for treatment-resistant bacteria. “The first thing we looked at is CBD’s ability to kill bacteria,” Blaskovich says. “In every case, CBD had a very similar potency to that of common antibiotics.” Together with his team, they looked at how CBD worked compared to common antibiotics such has daptomycin and vancomycin. “We looked at how quickly the CBD killed the bacteria. It’s quite fast, within 3 hours, which is pretty good. Vancomycin kills over 6 to 8 hours.”
They also discovered that CBD was effective in breaking the biofilm around bacteria which makes it harder for antibiotics to penetrate and thus kill it off.
In another study, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark led by Janne Kudsk Klitgaard, PhD, showed promising results of CBD treating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For the study, they tested Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, a major pathogen that causes many types of diseases that cause people to be hospitalized. The researchers believe that combining CBD with antibiotics could be a novel treatment for infections especially for antibiotic-resistant cases. When the bacteria was given a combination of both, they were found to be unable to normally divide.
“Based on these observations, the combination of CBD and BAC is suggested to be a putative novel treatment in clinical settings for treatment of infections with antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive bacteria,” they wrote in their research paper. “With fewer antibiotics available to treat MDR bacterial infections, the possibility of entering a pre-antibiotic era is looming ahead,” they wrote.
Photo by Jesper Aggergaard via Unsplash
Symptoms of Meningitis
Medical marijuana can be used to help alleviate the painful and uncomfortable symptoms of meningitis as well. This is due to its potent neuroprotectant and anti-inflammatory properties from THC and as well as CBD. Since meningitis affects the brain and spinal cord, these benefits are important since cannabis can help reduce the potential of further damage, saving people’s lives.
Pain: Patients with meningitis struggle with extreme pain due to inflammation in the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. The exact way it works to treat pain is unknown although there are several hypothesis, such as the ability of cannabinoids to regulate our pain thresholds by acting on the nociceptors. It also reduces the production of cytokines to minimize the amount of pain we feel while decreasing inflammation, among many others.
Skin rashes: Some cases of meningitis are characterized by skin rashes, another symptom that cannabis can help with. CBD products can be applied topically to the affected area to treat with itching and inflammation, though it can also be taken orally to address inflammation from the inside.
Patients can also take cannabis to help address the depression and anxiety that often comes with this condition.
Given the great risk of fatality and serious brain damage that can occur with meningitis, it’s in the best interest of patients and their loved ones to maximize all the available alternative medications that can work well with conventional treatment.
US congressional lawmakers have included a novel section alongside myriad other marijuana provisions in appropriations legislation covering the fiscal year 2023 financing for several federal agencies
Cannabis has never been more accessible. With its popularity skyrocketing, many professional athletes have been outspoken regarding their use of marijuana.
Megan Rapinoe, an Olympic gold medalist, two-time Women’s World Cup soccer champion and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year told Benzinga earlier that she ventured into cannabis in a search of a “healthier, more natural option for pain management, sleep aid, relaxation while flying, and general recovery.”
However, it seems that many of her colleagues have been penalized for cannabis use, including U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson who made international headlines in 2021 after being suspended for one month after testing positive for THC.
To tackle the growing issue, U.S. congressional lawmakers have included a novel section alongside myriad other marijuana provisions in appropriations legislation covering the fiscal year 2023 financing for several federal agencies, reported Marijuana Moment.
House Appropriations Committee leaders’ move is aimed to push international officials to “change how cannabis is treated” as it seeks to put an end to the practice of suspending athletes from competition after being tested positive for cannabis.
The recently released spending bills and attached reports are related to spending packages for the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG), as well as Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education.
Now, the committee is urging the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which manages the anti-doping program for all U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee-recognized sports, to take action.
“The Committee encourages USADA to support additional research on the effects of cannabis on athletic performance, including whether marijuana use during the in-competition period delivers performance-enhancing effects, and to engage in efforts to change how cannabis is treated under the World Anti-Doping Code and World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List,” the committee’s report said.
The study results found that cannabis can produce lung diseases with increasing years of use, and cause weakening in the immune system, leading to pneumonia.
A new study using data from 500 thousand participants is shedding light on the effects of smoking cannabis on the lungs of users.
In a new study released this week, researchers used data from UK Biobank (UKB) to evaluate the effect of cannabis on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection and to determine whether cannabis lung damage might facilitate COVID-19 infection in formerly regular users.
The UKB study was a prospective observational study comprising about 500,000 men and women from across England, Wales and Scotland, between 2006 and 2010. Included in the study were all UKB subjects who had cannabis-use data, COVID-19 test data, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) data.
From March 16 to April 26, 2020, the electronic linkage between UKB records and National Health Service COVID-19 laboratory test results in England was made available.
The study results found that cannabis can produce lung diseases with increasing years of use, and cause weakening in the immune system, leading to pneumonia. In addition, researchers said that heavy use of cannabis can result in airway obstruction and worse COVID-19 outcomes.
“As soon as a tobacco smoker quits, his chances are diminished of getting cancer and other diseases. Our findings imply that cannabis may be similar. Fifteen years after quitting tobacco, the risk of coronary heart disease is close to that of a nonsmoker. Unlike the heart, the lung does not forget the insult from inhaled tobacco or cannabis, even many years later, but after quitting the lung damage may not further increase,” the researchers said.
In 2012, a study stated that occasional and low cumulative marijuana use was not associated with adverse effects on pulmonary function. At the time, researchers concluded that cannabis use did not cause loss of air flow rate and lung volume.
However, the latest study concluded that cannabis use might reduce lung inflammation and inhibit viral replication in COVID-19 infections, leading to a better outcome.
A new study found that Americans spend $50 billion a year on a product that offers virtually no benefits.
Over the years, vitamins and dietary supplements have proved to be ineffective. Still, this hasn’t prevented hundreds of catchy companies to capitalize on this market. A new study shows that Americans don’t care or don’t know any better, with them spending billions of dollars on these items.
A new report shows that over half of Americans take dietary supplements, contributing to an industry that’s valued at $50 billion a year.
The US Preventative Services Task Force published in JAMA Network a report that analyzed 84 different studies on dietary supplements, concluding that there’s no evidence to support the claim that dietary supplements can prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer. They also published an article that expanded on these scientific results.
“Unfortunately, based on the existing evidence, the Task Force cannot recommend for or against the use of most vitamins and minerals and is calling for more research,” said the USPSTF’s interim officer John Wong.
The results make it clear that dietary supplements offer virtually no effects for people who aren’t pregnant and who have no nutritional deficiencies.
The article that accompanied the results argues that the problem with these supplements is that they give people a false sense of security, taking their money while claiming to protect them from diseases when science has made it clear that these effects are not real. These products give people an out for following healthy diets and suggest that a pill can provide the same benefits of eating fruits and veggies and working out regularly.
“The USPSTF concluded that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of the use of multivitamin supplements, single supplements, or most paired supplements for the prevention of cardiovascular disease or cancer (I statement),” write the study’s authors.
Researchers concluded their study by relying on some well-worn advice. It’s important for people to eat healthily and to practice a healthy lifestyle, including plenty of physical activity. Dietary supplements are an expense and a distraction from maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle.
“The Senate continues to ignore the public safety risk of forcing cannabis businesses to deal in all cash,” said Ed Perlmutter, (D-CO), who sponsored the legislation.
Marijuana banking legislation will not be included in the final version of the United States Innovation and Competition Act (a/k/a The America COMPETES Act), bipartisan congressional members concluded, Punchbowl News first reported on Thursday.
Even though the U.S. House of Representatives formally attached the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act as an amendment to large-scale legislation dealing with innovation and manufacturing in February, the Senate’s final version of the legislation did not include that provision.
Many industry experts believed that SAFE Banking Act, which aims to protect financial institutions that wish to provide their services to state-legal marijuana businesses, had a better chance of passing the Senate than the MORE Act, which would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances list and allow states to legalize its production and sale free from federal interference. The Senate, however turned the measure down for the sixth time.
Previously, the House advanced the cannabis banking measure some six times, either as an amendment or as a stand-alone piece of legislation. The last time the legislation advanced to the Senate as a stand-alone measure was in April 2021 in a 321-101 vote.
The House approved the language of the SAFE Banking Act for the first time as a standalone cannabis policy reform bill in 2019, only to get two more approvals as part of pandemic relief packages. The bill was rejected by the Senate.
Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) who sponsored the legislation commented on the latest exclusion of the amendment. “The Senate continues to ignore the public safety risk of forcing cannabis businesses to deal in all cash,” he told Marijuana Moment. “In the wake of the Senate’s inaction, people continue to be killed, businesses continue to be robbed, and employees and business owners in the cannabis industry continue to be excluded from the financial system.”
Perlmutter added, “I will continue to push for SAFE Banking to be included in COMPETES, other legislative vehicles, or for the Senate to finally take up the standalone version of the bill which has been sitting in the Senate for three and a half years.”
A new article claims higher levels of THC are affecting the health of teens.
Marijuana products can have THC levels of up to 100%. This is a relatively new development, with marijuana growers and handlers learning how to cultivate stronger products in recent years.
According to The New York Times, these high levels of THC are affecting teens, increasing their odds of dependency and even resulting in conditions like cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.
The article interviews several experts, teens and their parents and paints a picture of some of the marijuana products that are in circulation today, claiming that these are stronger than in years past and that they can affect consumers in adverse ways.
Elysse, one of the teenagers interviewed, shared that marijuana made her feel euphoric and happy. The oils and waxes she purchased had THC levels of up to 90%, which she consumed several times a day. After a few months of regular use, her positive highs morphed into sad and anxiety-inducing experiences, including one instance where she vomited more than 20 times within the span of two hours. She was diagnosed with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a rare side effect of cannabis.
While there’s a lot we don’t know about marijuana, it’s clear that the drug has great medicinal capabilities. In terms of its side effects, they’re not wholly understood but cannabis has been linked with conditions like cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, cannabis addiction, mental health conditions, and more. These issues are more concerning in the case of teens, with the overuse of the drug affecting their brains in ways that may impact them for the rest of their lives.
More and more states are legalizing cannabis, but since the drug remains illegal on a federal level every state moves at its own pace. Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 19 states, Washington DC and Guam. Only Vermont and Connecticut have caps on THC concentrations.
Still, banning the amount of THC in cannabis products may not be the answer. Marijuana supporters are interested in keeping the drug away from teens and claim the best way to do this is to implement legal marijuana markets, replacing the black market for an industry that is regularly tested and operates under certain rules and regulations.
This large registry can provide information about how well medical marijuana works for all sorts of conditions, and also track trends and usage.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has applied to create a national database of medical marijuana users in order to understand more about marijuana and how it is used to treat medical conditions in America. This would be the most broad registry of its kind, and could help generate significant new data on the subject.
It is only natural, however, that a medical marijuana patient may see this new registry and feel a bit uneasy. Sure, many states with medical marijuana programs have their own registry, but there has never been a registry pool with such a variety of potential uses in existence like the one NIDA plans to create. This begs the question: If you currently use medical marijuana, what does this mean for your future?
This database could cover a broad range of medical cannabis users, but individuals have no need to worry about their medical privacy in this matter. For one, this database involves an application process and is voluntary. According to NIDA’s request for application (RFA), it “seeks applications to develop and maintain a medicinal cannabis use registry to assess the medical conditions reported as reasons for using medicinal cannabis, how and what products are being used, and the associated medical outcomes.”
Further, medical marijuana records are protected byHIPAA, which federally protects medical patient’s right to privacy. Since medical marijuana is not federally legal, there is sometimes concern that HIPAA regulations may not apply to medical marijuana. According toThe Compliance Group,“HIPAA does in fact apply to the medical marijuana industry.”
While there are no reasons to worry about privacy with this proposed database, there may be a cause for concern in regards to how one can acquire and maintain a medical marijuana card in the future. One of the objectives of this national registry is to understand how and why people gain access to medical marijuana as a nation.
According toBenzinga, “With this move, NIDA intends to address the issue of heterogeneity of conditions for which patients can request a medical cannabis card, considering that rules vary from state to state.” This research could potentially streamline access to medical marijuana, or it may also suggest making it more specific regulations in regards to obtaining a medical marijuana card — only time will tell.
There are, however, several potential benefits to a database of this kind.. For example, NIDA points out the need for significantly more data and research on medical marijuana in order to know more about its potential benefits for major health issues like opioid addiction.
According to theRFA, “some studies indicated that chronic prescription opioid use decreases after cannabis use, while others show no changes in opioid medication use.” We have previously reported on physicians’ need for further information to understand how marijuana impacts certain things like opioid addiction. While clinical trials remain difficult due to the federal prohibition on marijuana, a database of this scope could provide valuable insight into the medical benefits of cannabis in regards to pain and addiction.
This large registry can provide information about how well medical marijuana works for all sorts of conditions, and also track trends and usage. While targeted clinical studies may provide better results, this is certainly an effective approach in the meantime while the Federal Government continues to take its time deciding the fate of cannabis on a national level.
The goal, it seems, is to unite the data that is available across the majority of states where medical marijuana is widely used. It’s as if the information is all there, only it’s compartmentalized in individual states, and not providing its maximum effectiveness. Or as NIDAwrote, “As many patients are already using cannabis products for medicinal applications, it is important to identify the evidence that exists and as it evolves, and to harmonize and coordinate this information to maximize the potential benefits to patients while minimizing harmful effects,” NIDA
North Carolina House Republicans decided yesterday (June 23) to not legalize medical cannabis, something that had already been passed by the State Senate, reported Axios. According to confidential sources, Republicans voted following an internal caucus vote.
What Happened: House Speaker Tim Moore (R) was a key lawmaker who dismissed the idea of enacting medical cannabis legalization this year. “I feel very confident that Republicans will have a supermajority next year. When I say next year, I mean six months from now. We can deal with this then,” he said.
In addition, the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act was approved by the State Senate as a measure that would have allowed cannabis with higher levels of THC to treat cancer, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, HIV, AIDS and Crohn’s Disease.
The legislation from Sen. Bill Rabon (R) cleared the State Senate earlier this month in a strongly bipartisan vote.
“This bill is going to, in my opinion, help a lot of people at the end of their life at a time that they need some compassion,” said Rabon, who co-sponsored it. “We have looked at other states, the good and the bad (…) And we have, if not perfected, we have done a better job than anyone so far.”
However, the bill would not decriminalize recreational weed.
