Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, providers of cannabis testing instruments, has awarded a grant to Northern Michigan University for the purchase of a triple quadrupole liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer for students enrolled in NMU’s medicinal plant chemistry program. The device is widely used in the cannabis industry, screening for pesticides and analyzing mycotoxins. “Over the last few years, the medicinal cannabis industry …
University of Florida Receives NIDA Grant to Explore MMJ Effects on HIV Patients
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded a $3.2 million grant to the University of Florida to study the effects of medical cannabis for individuals suffering from HIV symptoms, according to a WTLV report. The study will be led by Dr. Robert Cook, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the UF College of Public Health and health professions …
Biotech Startup Awards Grant to Cannabis Pioneer to Explore CBD as Asthma Therapy
CIITECH, a cannabis biotech startup developing Israeli cannabis products in the United Kingdom and European Union, has awarded research funding to two Hebrew University scientists to explore the possible effects of CBD on asthma. The Hebrew University team includes asthma researcher Francesca Levi-Shaffer and Raphael Mechoulam, who is credited with discovering the endocannabinoid system. “We know that CBD has anti-inflammatory …
By Prohibiting MMJ Access, Lawmakers Complicit in Opioid Epidemic
The opioid overdoses death toll is staggering – reaching 64,070 in 2016 – and at least one estimate suggests opioids could kill a half-million Americans in the next decade. According to the Centers for Disease Control, deaths from “synthetic opioids excluding methadone” more than doubled from 9,945 in Jan. 2016 to 20,145 in Jan. 2017. So-called “natural and semi-synthetic opioids” …
Sessions: ‘Healthy’ for Feds to Approve More Cannabis Research Applications
During a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, Attorney General Jeff Sessions admitted that it would “be healthy to have some more competition” in the federal government’s cannabis research program, noting that there are currently 26 supplier applications before the Drug Enforcement Agency from entities interested in growing cannabis for federal medicinal research. “Each one of those [cultivation sites] has to …
Study: Opioid-Related Deaths Decrease after Colorado Legalization
According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, cannabis legalization in Colorado has led to a 6.5 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths, equaling .7 percent decrease in opioid deaths per month. “This reduction represents a reversal of the upward trend in opioid-related deaths in Colorado,” the authors wrote concluded in the study titled “Recreational Cannabis Legalization …
Australian University Nets Multi-Million-Dollar Grant for Cannabinoid Research
The University of Newcastle, in Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia, has received a $2.5 million (USD$1.95 million) grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council to set up the Australian Centre for Cannabinoid Clinical and Research Excellence, the Illawarra Mercury reports. The funds are part of a larger $6 million ($4.7 million) grant to the university for fellowships and …
Another Study Finds MMJ Patients Replacing Prescription Meds with Cannabis
Yet another study suggests that cannabis could be useful as an exit drug from traditional medications, including opioids, although the research by DePaul University and Rush University researchers was based on a small sample size of 30 patients registered in Illinois’ medical cannabis program. However, the patients, who had a mean age of 44.6-years-old and suffered from cancer, chronic pain, …