“The four-day extravaganja includes a bus tour of Vancouver’s best toking spots, an amazing boat cruise, and an awesome hash sampling session,” explained Larsen. “Plus every guest receives fourteen strains of world-class marijuana to judge.”

To bad only 50 guests can get in to this event. Sounds like it would be a perfect stoner weekend. They even have, Speed Joint Rolling, Eyeing Out Weed and Smoke Ring Blowing. Winners receive bongs and other stoner prizes. Looks like a great event for Canada and I wish the US would acquire these games.

GRAND JUNCTION – Authorities say the strange odor seeping into a western Colorado Census Bureau office came from marijuana plants growing next door.

Grand Junction census workers say the smell was coming through the vents. Police got a search warrant Tuesday and found the plants next door in the same building.

Police say the building owner told them he was growing the plants for medical marijuana patients. Officers found state registration cards for medical marijuana users and are reviewing them.

No one has been arrested.

State law permits medical marijuana use but federal law does not. Last month, federal agents raided the home of a suburban Denver man who said he was a medical marijuana provider and found 224 pot plants. He’s been charged with possession.

Cannabis as a Cure for Anxiety

Just as with the article looking at cannabis as a cause of anxiety, I have found compelling evidence that marijuana can cure anxiety very difficult to find, although the anecdotal evidence that it does abounds.

So, even though anxiety can be a common side effect for some users, for many people the opposite is true. Joan Bello, author of the Benefits of Marijuana, says:

“With the expansiveness that occurs with marijuana, the subject may begin to notice infinite possibilities to raise the quality of his/her life that would otherwise have remained hidden from normal, defensive consciousness. And feelings of health and happiness naturally lead to hope, which of itself can be curative.”  Ms Bello interviewed over 400 people for her book who suffered from all types of disease, including, MS, Glaucoma, Epilepsy, Migraines, Asthma, Depression, Pain, Anxiety, Digestive Disorders, among many other stress-related diseases.

What Bello goes on to say is, I believe, the crux of the marijuana as cause or cure debate:

“When it first became popular in the West, marijuana was imported mainly from tropical zones, where the sativa strain of cannabis is indigenous. This type of marijuana is known for its “cerebral high,” having little noticeable body participation. No studies concerning the different effects of sativa vs. indica have been done, but from the lack of physical sensation, it is reasonable to assume more Sympathetic or stimulant qualities in sativa than indica (a cooler climate type). This is compatible with the notion that in hotter climates, less calming is desirable from a recreational substance, since hot climates in themselves cause lethargy. Many connoisseurs of marijuana prefer the sativa high, although in the last decade it has become very scarce due to domestic cultivation of strains that thrive in temperate zones (and indoors). “Cerebral highs” are experienced as lightness of thought beyond usual concern with self esteem. In relationships, a cerebral high attunes the participants to a less separate sense of themselves. Conversation is animated and a general feeling of camaraderie is in the air.”

My belief is that a person’s reaction to marijuana is dependent upon the interaction between his or her natural disposition and the strain of cannabis used.  Surely, if a depressive character uses a calming indica strain the result would be even more lethargy and apathy, leading to a deeper depression.  If that person, however, used stimulating sativa instead, doesn’t it follow that the depression would be lightened?  Of course, the opposite would be true for a person suffering from anxiety.

There is so much anecdotal evidence supporting the anxiety relieving effects of cannabis that it has to be true!  For that reason, we are suggesting that the following strains might help anxiety disorders:

• AK-47
• Big Bang
• Blueberry
• Blue Moonshine
• Blue Satellite
• Bog Sour Bubble
• Bubblegum
• Burmese kush
• C99 x Great White Shark)
• Fieldale Haze
• Firecracker
• Ganesh
• Hashberry
• Jack Herer
• Juicy Fruit
• Kalichakra
• LSD
• Mango x Northern Lights # 5
• Northern Lights
• Northern Light Special
• Northern Lights #5
• Romulan
• Shiskaberry x Dutch Treat)
• Shiskaberry x Hash Plant
• Speed Queen
• Strawberry Cough
• Strawberry Haze
• Super Impact
• Trainwreck
• Wakeford
• White Satin

More information on the various marijuana strains can be found at How to grow marijuana

Now, here’s a contentious one – cannabis and anxiety; contentious because is some cases cannabis has been associated with actually causing anxiety.  For this reason, we’ve broken this particular topic into two parts:

Cannabis as a cause of anxiety

Cannabis as a cure for anxiety

Cannabis as a Cause of Anxiety

As a supporter of the use of medical marijuana, this topic really throws a spanner in the works – a member of my own family was made dreadfully ill by the recreational use of cannabis (yet other members of my family have been using the stuff for years with no ill effect).

When my son – we’ll call him Jack for the purposes of this piece – was 15 years old he came to me one morning in a dreadful state.  I’ll never forget his words. ‘Mum, I’ve done something really stupid and I think I might be dying.’  As you can imagine I was scared to say the least, and although he wasn’t dying I was right to be scared because that conversation was the beginning of two years from hell.

Jack, who had always been the most tranquil of my children, had developed severe hypochondria and anxiety.  At that time I was working in a general hospital as a health professional and each day I would receive at least 5 calls from Jack, who was convinced his heart had stopped beating.  Yes, it sounds funny now but at the time it was tragic; so tragic in fact that many of my colleagues would break down in tears as they overheard the conversations with my very troubled son.

But that wasn’t all.  Jack suffered severe panic attacks, so severe that he soiled his pants on several occasions.  And he had become so fixated on the idea that his heart might stop beating that I often mislaid my stethoscope, only to find it hidden under his pillow or mattress.  School became impossible and Jack missed all his exams, ending up with no qualifications at all, despite being of above average intelligence.

Cognitive therapy didn’t help and we had very limited success with hypnosis; eventually, after two years, anti-anxiety meds from the family doctor did help.  Today, Jack is 23 years old and happy in his work as the manager of a rather classy hotel but, just occasionally, he still experiences mild panic attacks.

So, how does cannabis lead to anxiety and panic attacks?

Well, although I found plenty of papers confirming that cannabis can cause psychotic experiences such as hallucinations, fantasies, depersonalisation and derealisation (feeling out of touch with yourself or your surroundings), feeling a loss of control, fear of dying, irrational panic and paranoid ideas, I couldn’t find anything that explained exactly why this might be.

What did become very clear in my research is that cannabis alone does not cause psychosis; however, it may contribute to its development.

In theory, cannabis may cause a psychotic reaction in the following ways:

• Taking a high dose may cause a psychotic reaction with hallucinations or confusion, which goes away after the drug is stopped.
• It may lead to a long-term psychosis that does not go away when the drug is stopped.
• Long-term use may induce psychosis that gets a bit better if the drug is stopped.
• Cannabis may be a trigger for serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia (Johns A, 2001, ‘Psychiatric effects of cannabis’, British Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 178, pp.116-122.)

Here are some research findings, along with the relevant references:

• Research in young people suggests that using cannabis as a teenager increases the likelihood of experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia in adulthood, and early cannabis use (by age 15) confers greater risk than using it later on (by age 18). This research suggests that, although the majority of adolescents are not harmed by using cannabis, a small minority are.

(Arsenault L, Cannon M, Poulton R, Murray R, Caspi A, and Moffit TE, 2002, ‘Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study’, British Medical Journal vol. 325, pp. 1212-1213.)

• Results of a Swedish study suggest that cannabis increases the risk of schizophrenia by 30 per cent. However, this does not appear to be reflected in the figures for schizophrenia in the population in general, which have remained constant over a long period. This study also concludes that cannabis has few harmful effects overall, but that there is a potentially serious risk to the mental health of people who use cannabis, particularly in the presence of other risk factors for schizophrenia.

(Zammit S, Allebeck P, Andreasson S, Lundberg I, Lewis G, 2002, ‘Self reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study’, British Medical Journal vol. 325, pp. 1199-1201.)

• Researchers who examined further published evidence on cannabis and psychosis in 2004 came to the conclusion that, for any individual, using cannabis doubles the risk of developing schizophrenia in later life, and, for the population as a whole, elimination of cannabis use would reduce the incidence of schizophrenia by about 8 per cent, if you assume that it has a causal effect. Cannabis use alone does not cause psychosis, but it is one of the things that may contribute to its development; therefore, using cannabis increases the risk, and some cases of psychosis could be prevented by discouraging cannabis use among vulnerable young people.

(Arseneault L, Cannon M, Witton J, and Murray R, 2004, ‘Causal association between cannabis and psychosis: examination of the evidence’, British Journal of Psychiatry, vol 184, pp 110-117).

• A response to this report further suggested that adolescents may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of cannabis than are adults because their brains are still developing.

(Dervaux A, Goldberger C, Laqueille X, and Krebs M-O, 2004, ‘Cannabis and psychosis’, letter, British Journal of Psychiatry, vol 185, p 352.)

• A further study concluded that cannabis use increases the risk of psychotic symptoms in young people, but has a much stronger effect in those with evidence of a predisposition for psychosis (such as a family history of mental illness).

(Henquet C, Krabbendam L, Spauwen J, Kaplan C, Lieb R, Wittchen H-U, and van Os J, 2005, ‘Prospective cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people’, British Medical Journal, vol 330, 1 Jan, pp 11-13)

So, is this uncomfortable reading for a pro-marijuana board? Yes and no.  All the evidence suggests that it is not cannabis per se that causes the problems; rather, it is when cannabis is used by those who are already vulnerable to emotional instability.  However, having seen the effects at first hand, I am uncomfortable at the polarization of the pro and anti-marijuana camps.  With both sides entrenched in their respective positions the problem is unlikely to be sorted soon.  We have to accept that, just sometimes, bad things can happen – hence the uncomfortable post; the ‘opposition’  have to accept that, rather more frequently, positive things can happen too.

In Denver, CO, four state lawmakers have sent a request to the Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr, asking that he stop raids on medical marijuana operations.  The lawmakers say the raids are discouraging dispensary operators and medical marijuana patients and growers from working with them on proposed regulations. The letter was sent by Senators Chris Romer and Nancy Spence and Representatives Tom Massey and Beth McCann.

The letter was emailed to Holder yesterday and a copy was sent to President Barack Obama plus officials at the US DEA.  A spokeswoman from the Justice Department declined to comment, although she did say the department would review the letter.

Last month, a suburban Denver man who said he was a medical marijuana provider was charged with drug possession in federal court after DEA agents raided his home and found 224 pot plants. Agents became suspicious about the size of the man’s Highlands Ranch operation after he told a Denver television station he expected to make up to 0,000 a year.

Agents also raided two Colorado laboratories that test medical marijuana for pesticides and potency after they applied for licenses from the DEA. The operator of one said he was raided on the day he showed up at the state Capitol to testify on some of the proposed medical marijuana regulations.

Democratic Sen. Chris Romer of Denver, one of four lawmakers to sign the letter, said he’s most troubled by the laboratory raids since the labs appeared to be in compliance with Colorado marijuana law. He said the Highlands Ranch case is less clear-cut.

Romer wants to pass regulations that require dispensaries to grow their marijuana in rural or industrial areas – eliminating neighborhood grows – and have the state keep a confidential database of their location. He said he’s facing resistance because growers fear that the DEA could use the database to crack down on them.

“It’s kind of hard to build trust in the environment that’s been created by these raids,” Romer said.

Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said the federal government shouldn’t be getting involved in any possible violations of Colorado’s medical marijuana law

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In Denver, CO, four state lawmakers have sent a request to the Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr, asking that he stop raids on medical marijuana operations.  The lawmakers say the raids are discouraging dispensary operators and medical marijuana patients and growers from working with them on proposed regulations. The letter was sent by Senators Chris Romer and Nancy Spence and Representatives Tom Massey and Beth McCann.

The letter was emailed to Holder yesterday and a copy was sent to President Barack Obama plus officials at the US DEA.  A spokeswoman from the Justice Department declined to comment, although she did say the department would review the letter.

Last month, a suburban Denver man who said he was a medical marijuana provider was charged with drug possession in federal court after DEA agents raided his home and found 224 pot plants. Agents became suspicious about the size of the man’s Highlands Ranch operation after he told a Denver television station he expected to make up to 0,000 a year.

Agents also raided two Colorado laboratories that test medical marijuana for pesticides and potency after they applied for licenses from the DEA. The operator of one said he was raided on the day he showed up at the state Capitol to testify on some of the proposed medical marijuana regulations.

Democratic Sen. Chris Romer of Denver, one of four lawmakers to sign the letter, said he’s most troubled by the laboratory raids since the labs appeared to be in compliance with Colorado marijuana law. He said the Highlands Ranch case is less clear-cut.

Romer wants to pass regulations that require dispensaries to grow their marijuana in rural or industrial areas – eliminating neighborhood grows – and have the state keep a confidential database of their location. He said he’s facing resistance because growers fear that the DEA could use the database to crack down on them.

“It’s kind of hard to build trust in the environment that’s been created by these raids,” Romer said.

Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said the federal government shouldn’t be getting involved in any possible violations of Colorado’s medical marijuana law

In our aim to become the best medical marijuana resource on the web we are building up our listings of dispensaries in all legal states.  This will obviously be an ongoing process as medical marijuana state laws and county laws aren’t always the same!  If you have useful information, don’t forget that our medical marijuana forum is designed to be a pooled resource.

1. Alaska
2. California
3. Colorado
4. Hawaii
5. Iowa
   
6. Maine
7. Maryland
8. Michigan
9. Montana
10. Nevada
11. New Jersey
    
12. New Mexico
13. Oregon
14. Rhode Island
15. Vermont
16. Washington

In Seattle there’s a move to give more health-care professionals authority to prescribe medical marijuana.

Senate Bill 5798 expands the list of licensed medical practitioners to include:

• Physicians’ assistants
• Nurse practitioners
• Naturopathic physicians

Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, one of the bill’s sponsors, explains:

“The reason is that, especially in rural areas in the state and away from Puget Sound, because of long distances, many people do not see M.D.s. They see nurse practitioners and physicians assistants who have prescriptive authority.”

Apparently the bill passed through the House on Wednesday with ‘little debate.’ Although two amendments were added that dealt with how the prescriptions should be written.  These amendments mean that the bill will need to go back to the Senate for approval.

Medical Marijuana: Washington State

Colorado is currently a hotbed of medical marijuana action and reaction.  The latest news is that on Tuesday this week in Fort Collins an overflowing chamber met to discuss restrictions for medical marijuana dispensaries.

The proposed ordinance would prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries (MMDs) –– redefined by the council as medical marijuana businesses (MMBs) –– from operating within 1,000 feet of schools, churches and other MMBs. The ordinance would also force MMBs to restrict operating hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

If this ordinance is approved and enacted, all but nine of the city’s 95 registered MMBs would be in violation.  Residents operating home-based dispensaries would be forbidden from renewing their licenses after two years and prohibited from growing or keeping cannabis in their homes.

People supplying only to themselves or one other person would not be considered a dispensary, but would be limited to just one other customer and permitted only 12 plants, and six mature plants.

Current Colorado Medical Marijuana State Laws

Thirty-six citizens spoke at the event; with the pro-ordinance group expressing concern about property prices and risks to families in areas close to home dispensaries.  Alan Donagon, whose house sits across from a home dispensary, said “Who would want to buy our house with that across the street?”

Speaking against the restrictions, dispensary operator Amanda Rose said. ““We aren’t nobodies, we have degrees in horticulture. There are cultivation techniques, different strains … We know those things.”

The council voted 6-1 in favour of the ordinance and said they want more information on some key details of the regulations and how they would affect the operation of MMDs before taking the ordinances up again on March 16.

Yesterday CNN published a Report: Marijuana cultivation in Mexico rises which stated that:

Marijuana cultivation in Mexico increased 35 percent in 2008 and continues to grow, even as authorities there push forward with a large offensive against drug cartels that smuggle the product into the United States, according to a State Department report released this week.

Perhaps some of the information came from the Oxymoron group “National Drug Intelligence Center” when they should have actually just asked Ed at “Over grow your Government” and he could have explained the current situation to the State Department and broken the news to them, that the War on Drugs at the marijuana front was lost, as soon as they started fighting a plant that grows like a weed, then by making it contraband, it was made as valuable as gold and more popular than soda pop.

Once upon a time in China there were over 80 million people addicted to opium, a product that the British introduced, which was imported initially and then later smuggled in from India. The Chinese leaders came to the realization that the best way to overcome the problem, which was causing significant social problems in China, was to outgrow the suppliers and corner the market with a cheaper product. Eventually every government will come to a similar realization. Until then expect more weed from more sources and understand that Mexico can grow smugglers too, willing to risk their lives for profit, faster than the U.S. Gov can train and hire border patrols to catch them.

If you live in Europe and you’re a weed grower, cannabis seed company, hemp product manufacturer, cannabis advocate or marijuana activist the place to be today is Barcelona, Spain for Spannabis 2010 which starts today and runs through Sunday at the Cornellá’s convention center

This enormous Hemp festival is held in a 8,000 m2 expo space with over 150 exhibitioners, showing a wide variety products, ranging from industrial hemp to materials for cultivating, various paraphernalia and of course the world’s best known seed banks.  Also in attendance are the cannabis associations and various professionals of the weed world, making Spannabis an excellent place to meet cool people and network.

One of the most popular events at Spannabis is the Cannabis Champions Cup. Last year attendance reached over 18,000 people in a three day period.  DJ’s with all the best music and people in costumes parading through the isles will be present to add an extra element to the atmosphere.