A new study has found that administration of cannabinoids (marijuana) after experiencing a traumatic event blocks the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms.

The study was conducted at the University of Haifa, where researchers examined how administering cannabinoids  affects the development of PTSD-like symptoms in rats.  Read more about the research study on marijuana and post traumatic stress syndrome >>>>.

In California, the state where many television shows, documentaries, interviews, and stories have been told about the number one cash CROP being marijuana, a California Judge however seems to disagree.  Read more about the California Judge ruling marijuana is not an agricultural crop. >>>

Arizona's Attorney General filed today to close Arizona's cannabis clubs.  More info. >>>

Endocannabinoids (Marijuana-like Substances) Produced from Fatty Foods

A recent article in the UC Irvine Today mentioned that recent studies at UC Irvine have revealed fatty foods such as potato chips and french fries produce endocannabinoids which are marijuana like substances that attach to cannabinoid receptors in the endocannabinoid system. 

UC Irvine researchers Daniele Piomelli, Nicholas DiPatrizio and colleagues found that fats in these foods make them nearly irresistible and trigger a surprising biological mechanism that likely drives our gluttonous behavior. The apparent culprit? Natural marijuana-like chemicals in the body called endocannabinoids.

In their study, the Piomelli team discovered that when rats tasted something fatty, cells in their upper gut started producing endocannabinoids. Sugars and proteins, the researchers noted, did not have this effect.

The process starts on the tongue, where fats in food generate a signal that travels first to the brain and then through a nerve bundle called the vagus to the intestines. There, the signal stimulates the production of endocannabinoids, which initiates a surge in cell signaling that prompts the wanton intake of fatty foods, Piomelli said, probably by initiating the release of digestive chemicals linked to hunger and satiety that compel us to eat more.

“This is the first demonstration that endocannabinoid signaling in the gut plays an important role in regulating fat intake,” added the Louise Turner Arnold Chair in the Neurosciences and professor of pharmacology.

Study results appear this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Piomelli said that from an evolutionary standpoint, there’s a compelling need for animals to consume fats, which are scarce in nature but crucial for proper cell functioning. In contemporary human society, however, fats are readily available, and the innate drive to eat fatty foods leads to obesity, diabetes and cancer.

The findings suggest it might be possible to curb this tendency by obstructing endocannabinoid activity – for example, by using drugs that “clog” cannabinoid receptors. Since these drugs wouldn’t need to enter the brain, they shouldn’t cause the central side effects — anxiety and depression — seen when endocannabinoid signaling is blocked in the brain, Piomelli noted.

The extent to which the endocannabinoid system appears to play in our health it seems it would be unwise to block or clog the receptors.  We'll have to wait and see what develops from this study. 

Director of the UCI School of Medicine’s Center for Drug Discovery & Development, Piomelli is one of the world’s leading researchers on endocannabinoids. His groundbreaking work is showing that this system can be targeted by new treatments for anxiety, depression and obesity.

Giuseppe Astarita of UCI and Gary Schwartz and Xiaosong Li of New York’s Yeshiva University contributed to the study, which received support from the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The current status of the below listed bill to repeal marijuana prohibition on a FEDERAL level is that the bill must go before a judiciary committee for debate.  The chairman of the judiciary committee, Lamar Smith, of Austin, TX has stated that he has no intention to debate the bill. 

It costs virtually nothing to pick up the phone and make a couple of phone calls that can be a MAJOR game changer to the United States, and the entire world for that matter. If you own a dispensary, provide services or equipment to a dispensary or patients, are a caregiver, a collective, a grower, a citizen who wants to save massive tax dollars, a friend or family member to a cancer patient or a patient with any of the dozens of illnesses effected by cannabis, you NEED to make these calls.  Let's not forget city, county, and state employees who want to avoid prosecution. Business Owners, request your employees make the call.   If the line isn't busy on your first attempt... you haven't shared the info. below enough!  Please ACT and pass it on! Print it out.  Hand it out.  Email it.  Share it.  Dispensary Owners, collectives,  get your patients, employees and family members to call.  Do you want to see the Federal Deficit CUT in one easy swoop?  Make the CALL!

‎

Call LAMAR SMITH the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee who is blocking debate of the proposed Marijuana Federal Legalization Bill. His DC number is 202-225-4236, TX number is 210-821-5024. "Hello, I'd like to leave a message for Rep. Lamar Smith Please.

Feel free to use this........ "As an American I'd like to know why Chairman Smith is refusing to debate HR 2306 when President Obama clearly stated this is a subject for debate? I'd also like him to know I WILL help campaign against him if this bill is not debated. He also needs to look up the PATENT #6630507 (make sure you write that down and give it to him), filed by the Federal Govt. on behalf of the US Dept of HEALTH stating that there are in fact medical benefits of marijuana, not to mention MANY additional studies, and tens of thousands of cases of real world proof that marijuana helps improve illness, disorders, and disease. How can Mr. Smith deny debate when the evidence and demand for debate is overwhelming?"  Note - You will be asked for a zip code.  ONE of the zip codes that fall into the Congressman's area is 78266, although you can use ANY zip code, you don't have to live in his District to call him, since this about the committee debate that effects the entire nation, not just his District.

H. R. 2306

A BILL
To limit the application of Federal laws to the distribution and consumption of marihuana, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011″

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT TO MARIHUANA.

Part A of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

SEC. 103. APPLICATION OF THIS ACT TO MARIHUANA.

1. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN SHIPPING OR TRANSPORTATION. -This Act shall not apply to marihuana, except that it shall be unlawful only to ship or transport, in any manner or by any means whatsoever, marihuana, from one State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, into any other State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, or from any foreign country into any State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof, when such marihuana is intended, by any person interested therein, to be received, possessed, sold, or in any manner used, either in the original package or otherwise, in violation of any law of such State, Territory, or District of the United States, or place noncontiguous to but subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
2. PENALTY. -Whoever knowingly violates sub-section (a) shall be fined under title 18, United States 26 Code, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”

SEC. 3. DEREGULATION OF MARIHUANA.

1. REMOVED FROM SCHEDULE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES. -Schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)) is amended—
   1. by striking “marihuana”; and
   2. by striking “tetrahydrocannabinols”.
2. REMOVAL OF PROHIBITION ON IMPORT AND EXPORT. -Section 1010 of the Controlled Substances Importand Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) is amended—
   1. by striking subparagraph (G) of subsection(b)(1);
   2. by striking subparagraph (G) of subsection(b)(2); and
   3. by striking paragraph (4) of subsection (b).

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.

1. Section 102(44) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(44)) is amended by striking “marihuana”.
2. Part D of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841 et seq.) is amended as follows:
   1. In section 401—
      1. by striking subsection (b)(1)(A)(vii);
      2. by striking subsection (b)(1)(B)(vii);
      3. by striking subsection (b)(1)(D); and
      4. by striking subsection (b)(4).
   2. In section 402(c)(2)(B), by striking “marihuana”
   3. In section 403(d)(1), by striking “marihuana”
   4. In section 418(a), by striking the last sentence
   5. In section 419(a), by striking the last sentence
   6. In section 422(d), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “marijuana”.
   7. In section 422(d)(5), by striking “, such as a marihuana cigarette,”

SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION.

No provision of this Act shall be construed to affect Federal drug testing policies, and each Federal agency shall conduct a review of its drug testing policies not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act to ensure that the language of any such policy is in accordance with this section.