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How Medical Marijuana Can Mitigate Symptoms Of Huntington’s Disease

Richard Faulk
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How Medical Marijuana Can Mitigate Symptoms Of Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease is a progressive genetic brain disease that’s not content simply to end in death; it’s horrible to you every step of the way. Combining the tremors and loss of motor control that comes with ALS and Parkinson’s with the mental degeneration of Alzheimer’s, HD wins the triple crown of neurodegenerative diseases.

Oh, and it can make you crazy too. Of course there’s the depression, irritability, and apathy that might happen to anyone who knows their brain is falling apart. But HD can also cause OCD, mania, and bipolar disorder.

As far as treatment goes, one study deadpans that Huntington’s is “a disorder that is currently poorly man- aged in the clinic.” That means there is no cure and nothing that will even slow its progress. The one medication approved specifically to treat the motor symptoms of HD has the unfortunate side effect of triggering or deepening depression and other psychiatric conditions. (And here I thought my worst dilemma in aging would be between saving my fanny or my face.)

In July, the Journal of Neurology published the first double-blind, controlled human trial of cannabinoids on HD. This wasn’t just a stab in the dark. It followed several highly successful tests on mice. One, from 2011, concludes unambiguously: “these data provide sufficient preclinical evidence to justify a clinical evaluation of [a THC-CBD blend] as a neuroprotective agent capable of delaying disease progression in patients affected by HD.” And it declares “an urgent need for clinical trials”

In another study a year later, essentially the same group of researchers made what amounts to a cri de coeur, chastising the medical world for its reluctance to embrace the mounting data. In extensive concluding remarks, they celebrate the safety of CBD (“essentially no undesirable side effect and its toxicity is negligible”) and cite both its neuroprotective effects and its success treating epilepsy and Alzheimer’s in humans and various positive effects in mouse studies.

After all that fanfare, the ensuing human test—a small pilot study, 26 HD subjects given Sativex, an oral spray that’s half THC and half CBD— is something of an anticlimax. The main objective was simply to determine that the medication wouldn’t worsen HD or freak out the patients. Although it easily passed the “first do no harm test,” it didn’t do anything beyond that: No differences between the test group and the control were measured.

Nevertheless, the way is now clear for a full-scale clinical trial. Stay tuned.

3 Ways Watching Porn Leads To Relationship Troubles

Maria Loreto
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3 Ways Watching Porn Leads To Relationship Troubles

There’s tons of research on the effects porn has on relationships both good and bad. The most recent study reported from Psychology Today argues that when porn is pervasive or becomes primary in a person’s life, it could produce major  problems.

Pornography is largely filled with sexism, hostility and objectification. In our current day and age, pornography can be a problem because it’s so easy to access no matter your age and world view. It can also become addictive and undermine your relationships and your ability to be intimate with others. Here are 3 ways watching porn leads to relationship troubles.

RELATED: People With This Personality Trait Have More Sex Than Anyone Else

Sexual Satisfaction

https://giphy.com/gifs/busy-sex-and-the-city-2KTkOkSt0He12

According to a study, the more that someone watches porn, the more that they’re sexually unsatisfied. This study surveyed over 1,500 young adults, and concluded that, no matter the outside factors and gender, even infrequent use of porn leads to sexual dissatisfaction. Consuming as much porn also creates false expectations for everyone involved, making them think that real sex works just as it does in porn.

Loneliness

https://giphy.com/gifs/lonely-glee-alone-PsTVjW9dInEvS

According to studies, loneliness makes people turn to porn, and porn makes people more lonely, creating a two way relationship in which, no matter the order, each factor influences the other. A research that surveyed over 1,247 participants found that porn use was significantly related to loneliness, that single men watched more porn than any other group, and that loneliness could lead to porn addiction. These people who feel lonely turn to porn, which offers momentary relief but that later reinforces their feelings of being alone.

Relationship Stability

https://giphy.com/gifs/reddit-from-jones-MI7AGG5nc4bII

Another study conducted over 2,000 married individuals from 2006 to 2014 showed results that suggest that porn is capable of causing divorces. People who started watching porn after they got married had an 11 percent chance of divorce compared to the 6 percent chance of non viewers of porn. These divorce rates were much higher for younger people, where half of the 20 year olds ended up getting a divorce.

RELATED: Can Marijuana Affect Male Sexual Performance In Bed

Of course, all of this information is correlational. You can’t say with certainty that watching porn means you’ll face all of these problems, but the studies prove that there’s some form of relationship between porn and stress, even if they can’t pinpoint the cause. Now, more importantly than ever, it’s important to discuss your issues openly, especially when it comes to intimacy and relationships.

Study Proves Cannabis Effective For Treating Symptoms Of Fibromyalgia

MJ News Network
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Study Proves Cannabis Effective For Treating Symptoms Of Fibromyalgia

Cannabis therapy mitigates symptoms of the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia and is associated with a reduction in the use of other prescription drugs, according to clinical data published online ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. An estimated three to six million Americans are afflicted by fibromyalgia, which is often poorly controlled by standard pain medications.

Israeli investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of inhaled cannabis in a cohort of 26 patients with fibromyalgia. They reported that medical cannabis treatment “was associated with significant favorable outcomes in every item evaluated,” such as reductions in pain and increases in energy.

Most patients also reduced their use of conventional prescription drugs, such as opiates and benzodiazepines, during the trial period. Nearly half of the participants (46 percent) reduced their prescription drug intake by more than 50 percent during the study. Several patients were also able to return to work following the initiation of cannabis therapy.

Researchers concluded, “Medical cannabis treatment had a significant favorable effect on patients with fibromyalgia, with few adverse effects.”

Prior trials evaluating the use of either whole-plant cannabis or synthetic cannabinoids have similarly shown efficacy in patients with the disease. A summary of these prior studies is available online.

This story was published by Marijuana Headline News. For more cannabis business coverage, visit the MJ News Network.  

Californians Can Get Marijuana Convictions Expunged This Weekend

Tony Newman
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Californians Can Get Marijuana Convictions Expunged This Weekend

In an effort to help people reduce or clear their criminal records, the Drug Policy Alliance is hosting a series of four free record expungement fairs in the Greater Los Angeles area. These events are a sponsored project of MedMen Enterprises.

California’s marijuana legalization law allows people to retroactively reduce or clear marijuana convictions for activity that is now legal or less severely punished since Proposition 64 passed in 2016. The expungement fairs will provide free access to attorneys and paralegals from partnering organizations to help those who have been impacted and are part of a broad array of services being offered, including employment, health care, immigration consultation, and voter registration.

The first fair in this new series will be Saturday, March 17, at Los Angeles Trade–Technical College near downtown LA.

Attorneys and paralegals from the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office will be on site providing free post-conviction relief for anyone with an eligible Los Angeles County criminal conviction. Other attorneys will be on site to assist people who have convictions outside of Los Angeles County. Participants will be able to find out if they can remove their conviction from their record or if it can be reduced to a lower penalty and will receive direct assistance in doing so.

“Doing this work is about protecting people from the consequences of our outdated, failed drug laws,” said Eunisses Hernandez, a California policy coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Prior marijuana convictions can create barriers to housing, employment, and even make people a target for deportation, principally impacting poor communities and communities of color. California’s historic marijuana legalization initiative has already helped thousands clear or reduce a marijuana conviction from their record, but we need to get the word out to the hundreds of thousands of other Californians who could benefit from this groundbreaking provision.”

Adam Bierman, CEO of MedMen, a Los Angeles-based cannabis company with facilities and operations in three states, commented, “It’s a responsibility we have as leaders of the new, legal industry, to help reverse the devastation caused by selective enforcement experienced during the failed war on drugs. This is a new lease on life for these individuals which in turn begins a process to re-strengthen families and communities.”

In the state of California, there are 4,800 barriers to housing, employment, and citizenship that exist for someone with a criminal record. Reducing or expunging prior convictions, including prior marijuana convictions, removes thousands of barriers that allow people to fully reenter their community and society. It’s not easy to take care of reducing or expunging your record without legal help, so these free fairs are crucial for helping reach more people who need assistance.

The retroactive penalty reduction provisions of Prop. 64 were a priority for the Drug Policy Alliance when the initiative was being drafted. DPA and its partners have hosted dozens of expungement fairs like this and have already helped hundreds of people get their records changed. These fairs have generated extensive media coverage across the state of California – and even nationally in the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post – and have helped this issue gain momentum on a systemic level. Earlier this year, San Francisco’s district attorney announced that the city will clear or reduce thousands of marijuana convictions dating back decades. Seattle then made a similar announcement the following week, and last week the Sonoma County district attorney’s office said it will begin clearing or reducing nearly 3,000 marijuana-related convictions.

People looking for more information on how to get their records reduced or expunged can find out more at the Drug Policy Alliance’s website. 

This Little Girl Is Obsessed With Doll Face Transplants And It’s Super Creepy

Maria Loreto
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This Little Girl Is Obsessed With Doll Face Transplants And It’s Super Creepy

There’s a 7-year-old girl who’s so obsessed with playing doctor, she performs really complex (and deeply disturbing) face transplants on her dolls.

According to Mashable, the image was uploaded by the girl’s older sister on Twitter, where she called out for help. Yes, someone please help her. She explained that her little sister really loved playing doctor and that she liked to take care of her family members when they were sick.

If my mom is sick or whatever, she’ll make … fake IVs and oxygen masks to put on her. It’s funny.

RELATED: Rainy Weather Cocktails

Let’s not focus on the disturbing outcome of the surgery. Let’s focus on little girls wanting to be doctors and surgeons because that’s awesome and worth encouraging. No matter how creepy you are, you should always follow your dreams and do what you’re passionate about.

But here is a list of all the creepy doll movies for you to enjoy!

  1. Child’s Play (1988) – A cult classic about a serial killer who transfers his soul into the body of a popular doll named Chucky, who then terrorizes a young boy. This spawned a long-running franchise with several sequels.
  2. Annabelle (2014) – A prequel to The Conjuring, about a vintage Raggedy Ann doll that becomes possessed by a demonic force and terrorizes a young couple. It also had several sequels like Annabelle: Creation.
  3. Dead Silence (2007) – A man returns to his hometown to investigate the mysterious death of his wife, which seems linked to the ghost of a vengeful ventriloquist named Mary Shaw and her haunted puppet.
  4. Dolls (1987) – An anthology horror film where a group of travelers become trapped in a house inhabited by a family of demented toymakers and their collection of living dolls.
  5. Puppet Master (1989) – A horror film about a former Nazi puppeteer who brings his deadly puppets to life using an Egyptian spell. It spawned a long-running cult franchise.
  6. Dolly Dearest (1991) – A family moves to Mexico to reopen a doll factory, only to find that one of the dolls is possessed by the spirit of a vengeful girl.
  7. Demonic Toys (1992) – A horror anthology where evil toys, including a baby doll, come to life and terrorize people trapped in a warehouse.
  8. Magic (1978) – A psychological horror about a ventriloquist whose dummy seems to have a mind of its own.

Other notable mentions include Poltergeist, The Boy, and episodes of anthology series like The Twilight Zone and Goosebumps featuring evil dolls.

Why UK Won’t See Tourism Money From Harry And Meghan’s Wedding

Amy Hansen
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Why UK Won’t See Tourism Money From Harry And Meghan’s Wedding

Industry experts say the nuptials will act as a powerful marketing tool to entice tourists in the years to come. But there won’t be more visitors during the wedding month of May.

“Don’t expect visitors from abroad to come for this royal wedding; it is a pageant for domestic consumption,” said Tom Jenkins, CEO of European tourism association ETOA.

The 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton did not result in a noticeable uptick in tourist arrivals or spending, according to the UK Office for National Statistics.

This wedding shouldn’t be any different.

“There was no discernible increase in bookings for the UK as a consequence of the royal wedding,” Olivier Jager, CEO of the ForwardKeys, tells CNN Money.

Analysts expect that any spike in visits from royal fanatics will be counteracted by the desire of other tourists to stay far away from the hubbub.

In January, Reuters reported the country was  expecting to see a major boost in its economy to the tune of around $600 million, thanks to the flocking of tourists who were predicted to be eager to get a closeup of the matrimonial action.

At the time, Chief Executive David Haigh of the business valuation consultancy Brand Finance was quoted as saying, “We think approximately 200 million pounds will come from tourism, travel, hotels” with another 150 million from parties and about 50 million from sales of commemorative T-shirts, hats and other items.

But all isn’t lost just yet.

Deirdre Wells, head of the British travel association UKinbound, tells CNN she predicts visitors will feel compelled to book UK trips in the coming years after watching the wedding on TV.

And Alexander Göransson, an analyst at the market research firm Euromonitor, agrees, saying, “Meghan and Harry’s wedding will continue to keep the UK in focus, especially from a US perspective, which is likely to sustain the current [tourism] momentum.”

The wedding will be held May 19 in Windsor, which is just outside central London.

Marijuana Possession Can Get A Person Killed In These Countries

Mike Adams
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Marijuana Possession Can Get A Person Killed In These Countries

President Trump said recently that people who deal drugs in the United States should receive the death penalty. He drove his message of zero tolerance home over the weekend at a rally in Pennsylvania, saying, “I don’t think we should play games” with dope slingers who capitalizing on junkie America. Trump credits his newfound interest in putting drug offenders to death to a number of foreign lands.

It seems that some of the more psychotic of world leaders have convinced the Orange Goon that murdering people for non-violent crimes is the only way out of the scourge of drug addiction and overdose deaths. It should frighten the U.S. population to the core that Trump is taking policy advice from nations who kill people for simple drug infractions, including marijuana possession. Here are some of them.

China

Although China will not execute anyone busted with a small amount of marijuana, the nation has no issue whatsoever about stringing up drug traffickers until they are dead. Depending on the offense, people convicted of smuggling large amounts of marijuana can either be put down in a public hanging, shooting, or if they are lucky lethal injection.

Egypt

Marijuana has been illegal in Egypt since the late 1800’s. Although the country is not a leading executioner for pot crimes, large-scale drug traffickers can face the death penalty for their leafy indiscretions. This has been the law of the land since the late 1980’s.

Singapore

Singapore has been against marijuana for the past two hundred years. This country is infamous for locking up small time drug offenders and it pulls no punches about the need to kill for cannabis. Its drug policy is considered one of the strictest on the planet. Although the country considers 15 grams of weed to be a trafficking violation, the law does not designate the death penalty for crimes less than 500 grams. So pack light.

Malaysia

Drug traffickers have feared Malaysia since the early 1950’s. This is where capital punishment is the end of the line for anyone who dares smuggle marijuana. The death penalty is mandatory for this or any other drug trafficking offense, according to the language of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952. There has been some talk about abolishing the country’s mandatory death sentence, but for now it is still very much in play.

Myanmar (Burma)

Southeast Asian governments do not mess around with drug offenders. This part of the world deemed the “Golden Triangle” is more of a detriment the lives of pot traffickers than anywhere else in the world. Myanmar has extremely harsh laws against marijuana. Although the country went through a period between 2005 and 2015 where no one was executed for drugs, judicial officials recently brought this dry spell to an end.

Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte is responsible for transforming the Philippines into the most recognizable nation in the world for spilling blood in the name of drugs. People caught with weed can be killed on the spot. Some of the latest data shows that somewhere around 12,000 drug offenders have lost their lives since Duterte won the election in 2016.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia also has a strict policy for marijuana possession. The nation has a three-strike rule. The first strike earns a person 6 months in jail, while a second offense bumps the sentence up quite a bit – 7 years of hard time. Saudi officials stop messing around on the third offense. This is when they call upon the death penalty to ensure they never see that person again.

Let’s keep the United States out of this madness.

Assembling IKEA Furniture Just Got A Lot Easier

Amy Hansen
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Assembling IKEA Furniture Just Got A Lot Easier

Everyone’s favorite waste of time on weekends is rolling out on-demand furniture assembly. TaskRabbit, an app that matches customers to handymen, was purchased by IKEA last September and was tested in two of the company’s California stores. And now, it’s available nationwide.

That means no more dealing with those little wrenches if you don’t want to.

This means that customers can now hire a TaskRabbit “tasker,” either through the TaskRabbit app, website, or through an Ikea employee once they’ve purchased an item. Before they leave the store, they can get a quote of how much it’ll cost for one of these handymen to assemble their furniture.

As Business Insider reports, Ikea already has an official partnership with TaskRabbit in the UK that offers fixed pricing for customers seeking someone to assemble furniture purchased from the Scandinavian furniture store.

The new service enables Ikea stores to compete with furniture-selling rivals such as Wayfair and Amazon.

Business Insider points out that before the partnership was even announced last year, Recode reported that:

The purchase of TaskRabbit was fueled by Ikea’s need to bolster its digital customer service capabilities to better compete with rivals like Amazon, which has stepped up its home goods and installation offerings. The purchase is Ikea’s first step into the on-demand platform space.

As Curbed reports, TaskRabbit will roll out into six U.S. stores in the New York and San Francisco metro areas, followed by additional stores in LA, Miami, Houston, Boston, Washington D.C. and more later this year.

YouTube Techies Have Spoken: iPhone X Design Problems Revealed

Maria Loreto
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YouTube Techies Have Spoken: iPhone X Design Problems Revealed

Different YouTubers with large followings tested out the iPhone X and found some glaring performance issues with the device

With the most expensive hardware on the market, you’d expect the iPhone X to run as smooth and fast as possible, outshining all of the other smartphones available. It’s what you’re paying for, right? As with everything Apple-related, the answer is much more complicated than that.

According to Forbes, different YouTubers with large followings tested out the iPhone X and found some glaring performance issues with the device, which can not outperform the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. While the S9 was released recently—about 6 months after the release of the iPhone X—giving Samsung an advantage when it comes to having the latest technology, the device’s price tag is still much more accessible than the iPhone X’s, meaning that it has cheaper parts and shouldn’t perform as well.

The individual parts of the iPhone X are stronger than the Galaxy, with the chip acting 45 percent faster than the Galaxy’s, and with the general perks of iOS over Android, which is a smoother and faster operating software. When you sum all of these parts together and focus on real world performance, which is what really matters, the iPhone X ends up losing.

The Galaxy S9 Plus is a much better multitasker than the iPhone X, capable of handling more apps and demands. This is mainly due to its RAM capabilities. The S9 has 6GB of RAM, while the iPhone X only has 3GB, making the device crash easier. Why doesn’t Apple add more RAM? Well, with more RAM comes less battery life, and Apple doesn’t need any more drama when it comes to its batteries.

If you want to know more, you can check out the speed test below with all the specs and details regarding the iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus.

Sydney Study: CBD Therapy Successfully Treats Teen Epilepsy

Amy Hansen
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Sydney Study: CBD Therapy Successfully Treats Teen Epilepsy

Preliminary research suggests that cannabinoids have the power to “dampen down convulsions” and that one of the cannabinoids, CBD, shows promise for curbing seizures all together.

While we don’t know exactly how marijuana effects epileptic seizures in adults, a new study finds CBD provides great relief for teenagers struggling with epilepsy.

Researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research centre at UNSW Sydney found that CBD successfully treats teens whose epilepsy does not respond to conventional drugs. The findings are published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

According to UNSW, preliminary research suggests that cannabinoids have the power to “dampen down convulsions” and that one of the cannabinoids, CBD, shows promise for curbing seizures all together.

Researchers go on to say that:

“Clinical trial data showed that CBD used in addition to standard epileptic drugs was more effective than a dummy (placebo) drug at cutting seizure frequency by 50 percent or more and improving quality of life.”

The bad news here is the side effects, both dizziness and drowsiness. Those who experienced these effects were 24 percent higher than those using a placebo, and  those who experienced serious side effects were twice as high among those taking cannabidiol.

“Pooled data from 17 of the observational studies showed that seizure frequency dropped by at least 50 percent in just under half of the patients and disappeared completely in nearly one in 10 (8.5%) in eight of these studies. Quality of life improved in half of the patients in 12 of the studies.”

Researchers conclude that “Pharmaceutical grade CBD as adjuvant treatment in paediatric onset drug resistant epilepsy may reduce seizure frequency” and that “existing [randomised controlled trial] evidence is mostly in paediatric samples with rare and severe epilepsy syndromes; [randomised controlled trials] examining other syndromes and cannabinoids are needed.”

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