Global Ganja Report

Starting July 6, the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) will hold its 21st annual symposium in St. Charles, Ill., just outside of Chicago. Notably, this year's symposium is sponsored by an array of pharmaceutical companies, the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and ElSohly Laboratories of Oxford, Miss., the federal government's only licensed source of research-grade cannabis.

During last year's Prop 19 fight in California, we noted the strange phenomenon of "Stoners Against Legalization"—tokers who opposed the legalization measure, sometimes spouting bizarre conspiracy theories that the ballot initiative was all a plot by Monsanto and other big corporations to corner the cannabis market and squeeze out independent growers with bio-engineered patented varieties. We noted that even if Prop 19 passed, "cannabis will remain illegal at the federal level, allowing Monsanto to be shut down if they dabble in the Evil Weed." But now it emerges that—surprise, surprise!—the feds have actually been giving multi-national corporations the legal right to grow cannabis that us commoners are denied.

A coalition of advocacy groups and patients filed suit in the DC Circuit Court on May 23 to compel the Obama administration to answer a nine-year-old petition to reclassify medical marijuana. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC) has never received an answer to its 2002 petition, despite a formal recommendation in 2006 from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the final arbiter in the rescheduling process.

Earlier this month, the National Cancer Institute nodded to a growing body of studies indicating that one of the chemical compounds in cannabis slows—or stops—uncontrolled cell growth. In one study, tumors in lab mice shrank once exposed to the compound CBD. The NCI updated its website to include a reference to a "possible direct antitumor effect" from cannabis. But sometime since, the reference was removed, much to cannabis advocates' disgust.

Mainstream media had a field day with the publication in the British Medical Journal of a 10-year study by Dutch researchers finding that people who use cannabis in their youth dramatically increase their risk of psychotic symptoms, and that continued use can raise the risk of developing a psychotic disorder in later life. Researchers led by Jim van Os from Maastricht University studied a random sample of 1,923 adolescents and young adults aged 14 to 24 years.

A new drug made from cannabis has been licensed in the UK. Sativex, a tincture of extracts from the plant, is sprayed under the tongue up to 12 times a day, as a treatment for the stiffness and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. The Home Office has rated it as having zero abuse potential. Britain is the first country to give the drug full regulatory approval, although Canada gave Sativex a limited license to treat neuropathic pain in 2005. It is made from plants grown at a secret location in southern England by GW Pharmaceuticals, whose shares have risen 60% in the last six months in anticipation of the new product.

US biotech firm Cannabis Science, Inc.  reports that Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer visited its latest acquisition, Montana Pain Management in Missoula, June 17. Governor Schweitzer reportedly praised the project; "You are doing it right."

Oregon on June 16 became the latest state and the first in many years to officially reclassify cannabis from its status as a dangerous drug with no medical value. The Oregon Board of Pharmacy (BoP) voted 4-1 to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II. The Oregon BoP decision comes after many months of deliberation and input from the public.