IACM-Bulletin August 16th

[Madfingers]

> --------------------------------------------------------
> IACM-Bulletin of 16 August 2009
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> ***IACM Conference 2009***
> Please do not forget to make your reservation for your overnight
> stays for the IACM conference on 2 to 3 October before the 4
> September cut-off date. The IACM has booked a block of rooms
> at the conference hotel (Holiday Inn), which is valid until 4 weeks
> before the conference. Please visit:
> http://www.iacm2009.org and click on "Service"
>
> * IACM: Survey on the modes of delivery of cannabis and
> cannabinoids
> * IACM: Articles of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics now
> freely available
> * Economy: Prominent US healthcare fund subscribes for
> significant equity stake in GW Pharmaceuticals
> * Science: Weight reduction and stress may influence detection of
> cannabis use
>
> 1.
>
> IACM: Survey on the modes of delivery of cannabis and
> cannabinoids
>
> The IACM has initiated a survey on the advantages and
> disadvantages of different modes of delivery of cannabis-based
> drugs and substances. The questionnaire is available in several
> languages on the website. Anyone who uses cannabis or other
> cannabinoids for medicinal purposes and has experience with two
> or more of the following substances or modes of delivery is invited
> to participate:
> - smoking of cannabis,
> - inhalation of cannabis with a vaporizer,
> - oral use of cannabis as a tea,
> - oral use of cannabis in baked goods/cannabis tincture,
> - oral use of dronabinol/Marinol (THC),
> - oral use of nabilone/Cesamet,
> - inhalation of dronabinol (THC) with a vaporizer,
> - Sativex,
> - other use.
>
> Participants remain anonymous. The survey was approved by the
> Ethics Committee of the Medical School of Hannover and is
> headed by the chairwoman of the IACM, Dr. Kirsten Mueller-
> Vahl, Professor at the Medical School of Hannover (Germany), in
> cooperation with Dr. Arno Hazekamp of the University of Leiden
> (The Netherlands), Dr. Donald Abrams, Professor at the
> University of California San Francisco (USA), Dr. Ethan Russo,
> Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Montana
> (USA), Dr. Franjo Grotenhermen of the nova-Institut (Germany),
> Dr. Mark Ware, Assistant Professor at the McGill University,
> Montreal (Canada), Dr. Ricardo Navarrete-Varo, Malaga (Spain),
> and Dr. Rudolf Brenneisen, Professor at the University of Bern
> (Switzerland).
>
> The questionnaire is available at:
> http://www.cannabis-med.org
>
> 2.
>
> IACM: Articles of the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics now
> freely available
>
> The entire contents of articles published in the Journal of
> Cannabis Therapeutics are now freely available on the new
> designed web site of the IACM. Previously, these were only
> accessible to members of the IACM with a personal password, or
> by paying a fee. The articles provide an extensive review on the
> therapeutic use of cannabis products and possible side-effects.
> Some of the most important articles were also published as books.
>
> The new web site offers a convenient search function and an
> improved overview, which facilitates location of desired
> information. For example, the programme of the upcoming IACM
> Conference on 2 to 3 October 2009 in Cologne is linked to the
> first site. In addition, the headlines of the last articles of the
> IACM-Bulletin are presented on the main page.
>
> More at:
> http://www.cannabis-med.org
> Please click on "Journal" and then "Journal of Cannabis"
>
> 3.
>
> Economy: Prominent US healthcare fund subscribes for
> significant equity stake in GW Pharmaceuticals
>
> GW Pharmaceuticals won a significant endorsement for its
> cannabis-based medicines on 6 August as US investor Great Point
> Partners bought a multi-million pound stake in the company,
> sending GW shares sharply higher. The British company, which
> grows cannabis plants in secret locations for producing its
> cannabis extract Sativex, said other institutional investors were
> likely to follow Great Point in taking a stake in the company.
>
> "Apparently Great Point are ... often seen as a fundraising leader
> so people look at what these guys are doing and end up following,"
> analyst Paul Cuddon told Reuters. Earlier GW said it had raised
> 11.2 million US Dollars (about 7.9 million Euros) by selling new
> shares to M&G Investment Management, already its largest
> institutional shareholder. Great Point, which made an unsolicited
> request to take a significant stake in GW, is to subscribe for 7.6
> million new shares at 78 pence per share (about 6.8 million Euros,
> about 9.7 million US Dollars). David Kroin, a founder of Great
> Point, said in a statement: "Great Point has been following GW for
> some time and has identified it as a compelling investment
> opportunity, particularly following the recent strong clinical data on
> Sativex."
>
> More at:
> -
> http://www.reuters.com/article/ameri...News/idUSL6167
> 74120090806
> - http://www.gwpharm.com
>
> (Sources: Reuters of 6 August 2009, press release by GW
> Pharmaceuticals of 6 August 2009)
>
> 4.
>
> Science: Weight reduction and stress may influence detection of
> cannabis use
>
> According to an article in the New Scientist stress or weight
> reduction might trigger a new increase of THC metabolites in
> blood, resulting in a positive drug test long after last use of
> cannabis. THC, once in the body is soon absorbed into fatty
> tissues. Over the next few days it slowly diffuses back into the
> blood. Since THC is taken up by fat more readily than it diffuses
> out, continual intake may result in storage of THC in fat. It has
> been suggested that stored THC can be released at a later date in
> situations where the body's fat is rapidly broken down.
>
> Dr. Jonathon Arnold at the University of Sydney, Australia, cites
> the example of an athlete who swore he hadn't smoked cannabis
> since months but who had rapidly lost 4 kilograms just before a
> positive drug test. To investigate whether rapid breakdown of
> body fat could have been responsible, Arnold and his colleagues
> investigated this issue in rats. Both a stress hormone and food
> deprivation increased the concentration of the THC metabolite
> THC-COOH in blood. Arnold suspects that if THC is taken over
> a long period of time, sufficient THC levels could build up in body
> fat to explain abnormally high levels of THC-COOH in people
> who claim not to have taken the drug recently.
>
> More at:
> - http://www.newscientist.com/article/...5.100-dieting-
> could-lead-to-a-dieting-lead-to-positive-cannabis-
> test/articleshow/4877125.cms
>
> (Source: New Scientist of 9 August 2009)
>
> 5.
>
> News in brief
>
> ***USA: Colorado
> The number of patients who are allowed to use cannabis for
> medicinal purposes has increased strongly in recent months in
> Colorado. The health department said it is receiving nearly 2,000
> new applications each month. As of June 2009, the health
> department had received 8,918 applications, 4,282 of those
> applications were received between April and June 2009. (Source:
> Denver Daily News of 4 August 2009)
>
> ***Science: Osteoporosis
> According to animal research at the University of Edinburgh, UK,
> activation of the CB1 receptor "may exert contrasting effects on
> the skeleton at different stages in life". While mice without CB1
> receptors had increased peak bone mass during their life due to
> reduced bone resorption, they later developed age-related
> osteoporosis with reduced bone formation. Scientists noted, that
> "cannabinoid receptor ligands may be of value therapeutically in
> enhancing peak bone mass and preventing age-related
> osteoporosis." (Source: Idris AI, et al. Cell Metab 2009;10(2):139-
> 47.)
>
> ***Science: Inflammation of the brain
> Researchers of Temple University in Philadelphia, USA,
> demonstrated in experiments with nerve cells that activation of the
> CB1 receptor reduces the concentration of the pro-inflammatory
> substance tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and may
> protect nerve cells from inflammation following injury or during
> neurodegenerative diseases. (Source: Zhao P, et al.
> Neuropharmacology. 2009 Aug 3. [Electronic publication ahead of
> print])
>
> ***Science: Expectancy and cannabis use
> Research by US scientists showed that the effects of cannabis
> are much influenced by expectancy of the user. They conducted
> a study with 20 young cannabis users who smoked either cannabis
> cigarettes with 2.8 per cent of THC or placebo cigarettes without
> THC. All participants who were told that they receive THC, but
> received placebo cigarettes reported that they indeed smoked
> active cannabis containing THC. Researchers noted, that "both
> expectancy and pharmacological effects of marijuana can modify
> smoking behaviour." (Source: Metrik J, et al. Exp Clin
> Psychopharmacol 2009;17(4):217-25.)
>
> ***UK: Call for legalization
> In an article of The Times entitled "Drugs are evil. We should
> legalise them now" the authors state: "The harm this market
> causes comes both from its existence and its illegality. And there's
> only one of those we can tackle." The article continues: "The
> victims of this lost war are everywhere. There are those who
> choose to be victims, ... Then there are the collateral victims:
> those that the junkies rob to fund their habits, ... There are 11,000
> dead Mexicans on the front line, ... There are the British and
> American soldiers killed by weapons bought by opium dollars."
> (Source: The Times of 31 July 2009)
>
> 6.
>
> ONE YEAR AGO:
> - Science: Smoked cannabis effective against neuropathic pain of
> HIV patients
> - Germany: Health Ministry tightens requirements for medical
> cannabis exemptions
> - Science: Cannabinoids as effective as other medications against
> neuropathic pain in a prospective observational study
>
> TWO YEARS AGO:
> - Germany: MS patient receives a certificate of exemption for the
> medical use of cannabis by the Federal Health Ministry
> - Canada: Health Ministry approves cannabis extract for the use
> in cancer pain
> - USA: The Health Department of New Mexico does not intend
> to grow and distribute cannabis
>
> (More at the IACM-Bulletin archives: http://www.cannabis-
> med.org/)