Cannabis Therapeutics Marijuana Education & Dispensary Safety, Colorado

Marijuana Education and Dispensary Safety (Colorado)

Cannabis Therapeutics: http://cannabistherapeutics.net

Marijuana Education (PDF): http://cannabistherapeutics.net/MarijuanaEducation.pdf

Designed as an in-depth guide to medical marijuana in Colorado, this presentation examines legal, safety, scientific, personal, and societal consequences of the drug’s use as medicine with an intended audience comprised of both the law enforcement and patient communities.

The purpose of this booklet is four-fold:

• 1. To educate the law enforcement community about the legality of medical marijuana in Colorado.
• 2. To offer proper safety guidelines for the protection of both the patients and the community as dispensaries and cooperatives develop.
• 3. Give a brief background in science, focusing on harmful side effects medical validity, and proper usage guidelines.
• 4. To open a line of friendly communication between representatives of both the medical marijuana and law enforcement communities.

Contacts:

For more information on a particular topic, the following professionals can be contacted at:

Legal Questions:

Attorney Warren Edson, 303-831-8188
Attorney Brian Vicente, 720-890-4247

Medical/ Scientific Questions:

Robert Melamede, PHD, 719-262-3135
Matthew Schnur, Researcher, 719-439-0817

All questions and inquiries may be sent to:
info@cannabistherapeutics.net

Cannabis Therapeutics, LLC is the largest medical marijuana resources facility to proudly serve patients of the state of Colorado. Working with local law enforcement, state officials, legal experts, medical physicians, and researchers, Cannabis Therapeutics sets a standard of both safety and consistent quality to its members as well as the community at large. 

Cannabis Therapeutics: http://cannabistherapeutics.net

Marijuana Education (PDF): http://cannabistherapeutics.net/MarijuanaEducation.pdf

• Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/CannabisTherapeuticsMarijuanaEducation

Additional information about Cannabis Regulation in Colorado:

• The Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry: http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hs/Medicalmarijuana/index.html
• Legal Documents / Resources: http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hs/Medicalmarijuana/resources.html

Chemicals in marijuana:

1.  Cannabinoids: 78 known as of 2008.  
2.  Terpenoids:  103 known
3.  Fatty Acids: 12 known
4.  Non-cannabinoid Phenols: 16 known
5.  Flavanoids: 19 known- these are potential antioxidants

Many of the cannabinoids and terpenoids found within marijuana work together to create an additive effect called synergy. Synergy refers to an increased effect caused by combining two or more drugs, an effect that could not be caused by either drug alone.

Synergy of cannabinoids is supported by the fact that Marinol (synthetic, pure THC), has a higher incidence rate of panic attacks and paranoia than clinical studies utilizing whole marijuana  plant.

The  following  list  describes  comparisons  in  medical  efficacy  of marijuana  constituents  to  conventional  medications,  in  addition  to  illustrating  point  of potential synergy:

 1.  CBD, CBG, CBN, β-myrcene (terpenoid), quercitan (flavanoid), and Cannflavin A, are but a few constituents other than THC that exert anti-inflammatory effects.

2.  Cannflavin A is 30x more potent than aspirin in reducing inflammation in rheumatoid synovial cells (arthritis model).

3.  THC has 20x anti-inflammatory effects of aspirin, twice that of hydrocortisone

4.  CBD has anti-inflammatory properties at lower doses than aspirin

5.  Quercitan is a powerful  antioxidant. Also found to be anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory, which may mitigate the potential for marijuana smoking to cause lung cancer.

•  Source: Chapter 7 of “Medical uses of cannabis and Cannabinoids”, Geoffrey Guy, 2004.

Marijuana is an extremely difficult plant to study for clinical effects due to the variation in the abundant amount of therapeutic chemicals.

The scientific method applied to pharmaceuticals does not currently allow for synergistic therapies, likely because of their variation in outcome between individuals. Ultimately, the true therapeutic potential of marijuana remains untapped until a new scientific method is developed to identify clinical outcomes with varying quantities of multiple chemicals.

Devices are now available called vaporizers. Vaporizers do not use fire for the combustion (burning) of marijuana. Instead, they use heat to vaporize the medicinal materials without causing the formation of carcinogens.

Studies have unequivocally confirmed the effectiveness and safety of vaporization.

•  Hazekamp, Arno, et al. 2005. Evaluation of a vaporizing device (Volcano) for the pulmonary administration of tetrahydrocannabinol. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 95: 1308-1317.

The National Institute of Health published research proving that the psychoactive component of marijuana, THC, has a greater antioxidant capacity than both vitamins A and E.

These  findings  occurred  eight  years  prior  to  the FDA statement that no valid scientific research supports medical marijuana!

•  Hampson, AJ, et al. 1998. Cannabidiol and (-)delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol are neuroprotective antioxidants. Proceedings of the National Academies of Science 95: 8268-8273. 

PDF: http://cannabistherapeutics.net/MarijuanaEducation.pdf