STUDY: Cannabis Oil Improves Crohn’s Disease Symptoms

According to a new study, cannabis oil can “significantly” improve Crohn’s disease symptoms.

“(S)tudies have shown that many people with Crohn’s disease use cannabis regularly to relieve their symptoms,” Dr. Timna Naftali, an Israeli gastroenterologist who also teaches at Tel Aviv University, said in a written statement. “It has always been thought that this improvement was related to a reduction in inflammation in the gut and the aim of this study was to investigate this.”

Crohn’s disease is a lifelong inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can cause severe belly pain and chronic diarrhea.

Dr. Naftali, whose study is being billed as the first of its kind, found that an eight-week treatment with cannabis oil containing a four to one CBD to THC ratio produced clinical remission in up to 65 percent of individuals with Crohn’s disease. The randomized, placebo-controlled study involved 50 people with moderately severe forms of the disease. The group that received cannabis oil also reported significant improvements in their quality of life.

Read more at CTV News

Cannabis Oil Enters As New Cure

Hyderabad: Cannabis oil was used by a 69-year-old woman to treat a breast tumour which was diagnosed by doctors in the West.

There have been testimonies which claimed cannabis oil helped cure cancer. According to researchers, cannabis compounds are found to kill malignant cells. However, trials have not yet been carried out on humans.

Dr. Srinivas C., a senior oncologist, said, “These methods have to be researched to be used at the clinical level. Currently, the protocols are chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgeries and personalized treatment. There are claims made from time to time.”

Cannabis oil is sold legally in the west as a food supplement. Its medical use has not started. A senior oncologist, on condition of anonymity, said, “The integrated therapy, using the Ayurveda and the modern medicine, has started in certain hospitals in the state. It has been found that every human body requires a different set of medications, dosages, and protocols to treat cancer.”

More of this story at Deccan Chronicle

Concentrate Shelf Life: How Long Does Cannabis Oil Last?

Finding a long-lost cannabis concentrate is a bittersweet moment. Your discovered concentrate was left stranded in a pair of jeans that had been stuffed in the far reaches of your dresser, untouched since that last camping trip.

The good news: no mold. The bad news: it doesn’t look like the translucent and golden “shatter” you once had. What’s before you now looks like a collection of off-yellow sugar crystals. Has this hash oil gone past its shelf life? Can you still enjoy it?

While some extracts and infusions can experience quality degradation in a very short time span, others may stay fresh and usable indefinitely.

The Impact of Extraction Method on Concentrates

“Gold in, gold out; Garbage in, garbage out.” There’s a direct correlation between the quality of the starting material and what remains post-extraction. Inferior products containing compromised cannabinoid profiles will, in every case, result in an inferior extract.

Continue Reading at Leafly

Medical Cannabis Oil Bill Doesn’t Go Far Enough to Help Iowans

Iowa has been making some great strides towards expanding medical marijuana access in Iowa — but are they enough? Last week, House File 524 was passed, expanding the medical marijuana law that is already in place.

This bill proposes to permit the manufacturing and distribution of medical marijuana in Iowa and expanding the list of eligible medical diagnoses, allowing Iowans with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other chronic and severe illnesses, access to cannabis oil. While this is a great achievement for those suffering from these debilitating illnesses, Iowa will still be behind the 29 other states who have passed more expansive medical marijuana laws.

A major concern with this bill is that only cannabis oil can be used and the THC content can be no more than 3 percent. The 29 states that have more extensive medical marijuana laws allow the entire plant to be used, which has a higher THC content.

This is crucial for those that are suffering from severe pain. Many of these other states also include other medical diagnoses such as glaucoma and mental illnesses such as PTSD.

The Des Moines Register

Georgia Set to Expand Access to Cannabis Oil

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers have reached an agreement to expand a program that lets some patients use an oil derived from marijuana.

Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, will present the compromise to the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee Friday morning, and it is expected to get a positive recommendation.
Under the new proposal, six new diagnoses will be added to the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis oil including autism, AIDS, Tourette’s syndrome, and Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, anyone in a hospice program, regardless of diagnosis, will be allowed access to marijuana oil that’s low on THC, the chemical responsible for the marijuana high.

The proposal will set up reciprocity with other states so that visitors will be able to access medical cannabis oil for 45 days as long as they are permitted to do so in their home state. It also removes a requirement that patients live in the state for at least a year before qualifying for the program.

Both the reciprocity and the removal of the residency restrictions were included to try and cater to military families who may end up stationed in Georgia.
Under the proposal, prescribing physicians will only have to report to the state twice a year instead of the current quarterly requirement.

Under the proposal, prescribing physicians will only have to report to the state twice a year instead of the current quarterly requirement.
In a previous version of the bill, Watson proposed reducing the allowable percentage of THC from 5 percent to 3 percent, which drew sharp criticism from patient advocacy groups.

Leafly