Tag: Fight for Botanicals

“Close the bathroom door at Supportive Place for Observation and Treatment (SPOT), and you have two minutes and 50 seconds. Then the alarm sounds, warning staff to check on the person inside. People sometimes inject drugs in SPOT’s bathroom, just as they do in the bathrooms of Starbucks or McDonald’s.

The longer you wait to reverse an overdose, the harder it gets. SPOT, run by Boston Health Care for the Homeless, has had to shorten that window, from five minutes to four, to three, and now, to two minutes and 50 seconds — even a 10-second margin means life or death.

Many people use drugs far from the clinicians who could save their lives if they overdose. And the drugs they use have become more lethal — fentanyl, a synthetic opioid many times more potent than heroin, is now common throughout Massachusetts.

Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) would provide people more support and clinical care in those most vulnerable moments. SIFs are facilities where people can use drugs under clinical supervision. None currently exist in the United States (with the exception of one underground SIF), but they’ve operated for years in Canada, Europe and Australia. Advocates and lawmakers in the U.S. want to establish SIFs here, too. They meet a need that facilities like SPOT can’t.

Public opinion is shifting in favor of SIFs. Data from a new WBUR poll shows that 50% of respondents support SIFs. And many of SIFs’ once-vocal critics, including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, have become supporters.

But there’s a notable exception: U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling, who published an op-ed decrying SIFs in The Boston Globe in January. Lelling is a Trump appointee whose nomination didn’t cause immediate outrage — he had, if not bipartisan support, at least bipartisan respect — but that changed recently, when he was accused of being “overzealous, grandstanding, and politically motivated,” after he indicted a sitting Massachusetts judge for not being sufficiently harsh to an undocumented immigrant.

Continue Reading at WBUR

”A bill that could eventually allow Oregon to import and export cannabis across state lines—and give the state’s pot industry a head start when national cannabis laws change in the future—passed a vote in the Oregon Senate Wednesday. It will now move on to the House floor.

Currently, Oregon’s legal weed market is a closed system: no pot is supposed to cross state lines, even into other states where it is legal. Senate Bill 582 would change that by giving Oregon’s government the go-ahead to work with other states to determine policies and regulations for cross-state cannabis imports and exports—that is, after federal laws governing cannabis catch up to state laws.

The bill, which passed the Senate 19-9 in a mostly party-line vote, has been touted as a potential solution to Oregon’s oversaturated pot market, and as a way to prevent growers from turning to the black market in order to make a profit.

But the bill won’t be a quick fix. Because the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 substance, it’s currently illegal to cross state lines with it. In fact, SB 582 includes the provision that it won’t go into effect until one of two things happen: Either federal law is changed to allow interstate cannabis trading, or the US Department of Justice issues guidance allowing it.

Read the full article at Portland Mercury

“IT LOOKS like a fairly standard development project photo op: United States ambassador Mr. Scot Marciel, pushing a coffee seedling into the ground. The May 2018 image shows the diplomat, dressed in leather shoes and a white shirt, kneeling on the distinctive pinkish-red soil of Shan State, surrounded by curious-looking farmers, one of whom is capturing the moment with a smartphone camera.

Myanmar is the second-largest producer of opium globally, after Afghanistan. Although Myanmar produces significantly less than at its 1990s peak, when the Golden Triangle region was the global center of illicit drug production, the UN still estimates that 520 tonnes of opium were produced in 2018. The production and sale of opium generate billions of dollars in profits each year.

Little of it though ends up with the estimated 70,000 smallholder farmers in remote and inaccessible areas of the country who make their living from the latex obtained from the plant. The average income of a household in a poppy-growing village in southern Shan is less than US$3,000 a year, which is just enough to make ends meet. At the same time, there is a high degree of risk involved: police officers conduct regular campaigns to destroy poppy fields and farmers are occasionally prosecuted.

Many opium farmers have few alternatives, due to conflict and insecurity, lack of infrastructure, and the terrain and climactic conditions. But on the slopes of mountainous Shan State, you can cultivate surprisingly high-quality coffee. Such is the quality that its sale could generate income similar to that of opium cultivation, exciting development agencies that see it as a viable alternative crop.

This is what brought Marciel to Shan: the planting was staged in aid of a US Agency for International Development-financed project that is supporting coffee production in the region. It sounds like a positive development, but not everyone is happy.

“Like a conquistador ramming the Spanish flag into the soil of South America.” That’s how Mr. Jaime Eduardo Perez Mayorga describes the photo of the kneeling ambassador. The Colombian sits with rolled up sleeves at his desk, the sweat on his forehead making his short, black hair shine. Mayorga works for UNODC, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. What bothers him is that the place where the ambassador planted the coffee tree, in Hopong Township within the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone, is in the middle of his project area. With support from German and Finnish taxpayers, UNODC has been working there for 10 years.

Continue Reading at Frontier Mynmar

“Valerian is a perennial flower that is native to the European and Asian region; now it is widely grown in h America for its medicinal properties. The scientific name of Valerian is Valeriana officials, and there are around 250 varieties of valerian cultivated globally. The history of valerian goes back to Ancient Greek and Roman times where it was widely used for its medicinal properties. Valeriana officinalis extract contains four distinct classes of phytochemical constituents that are volatile oils, sesquiterpenoids, valepotriates, and volatile pyridine alkaloids.

Valerian crop can be cultivated easily by direct seeding, transplanting, or by dividing the roots. It can be grown in a wide range of soils preferably moist, fertile, and well-drained loam. Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Russia, China, and Eastern European countries are the major producer of valerian. Valerian root can be distilled into oils and ointments, or it can be dried for use in teas or capsules.

Valerian Oil Market Segmentation

Valerian oil market can be segmented by application, by function, and by regions. By application, the valerian oil market is segmented into pharmaceutical, personal care, and food & beverage. By function, the segment is further segmented into medicinal and aroma. Valerian oil market is further segmented by region as, Latin America, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. In regional segments, Europe and North America dominated the market for valerian oil accounting for significant market share, whereas, Latin America and other developing markets such as Asia-Pacific and MEA possess the growth opportunities for valerian oil over the forecast period.

Valerian Oil Global Market Trends and Market Drivers:

The global valerian oil market size is growing exponentially with increasing applications in aromatherapy coupled with increasing demand for fragrances and flavors in food and personal care industry over the forecast period.

Valerian is an effective nervine that has calming, stimulating, and antispasmodic properties. Valerian oil provides a multitude of health benefits, such as it helps in preventing muscle cramps, uterine cramps, intestinal colic, protects skin infections, reduces wrinkles, treatment of insomnia and sleep disorders. It also helps in regulating blood pressure, which reduces risks associated with heart attacks, anxiety, and depressions eventually anticipating the growth of global valerian oil market over the coming years. It also helps in improving metabolic function, boosts energy levels in the body, alleviates menstrual pain, eliminating constipation and diarrhea, and cures gastrointestinal discomfort.

Growing consumer preference for natural products has led to the development of innovative applications in personal care and beauty products. Increasing disposable consumer income and rapid industrialization are other major factors driving the market growth.

Read more on New Daily Herald

“For the first time in the arecanut sector, ‘Sirsi Supari’ grown in Uttara Kannada has received the Geographic Indication (GI) tag. It is cultivated in Yellapura, Siddapura and Sirsi taluks.

Totgars’ Cooperative Sale Society Ltd., Sirsi, is the registered proprietor of the GI.

The Registrar of Geographical Indications, under the Union government, Chennai issued the certificate to the society on March 4, 2019. Its GI number is 464.

This particular variety has a unique taste due to differences in chemical composition. The total average flavonoids content in it is around 90 whereas in others it is around 80.

The total carbohydrates in ‘Sirsi Supari’ are 23% to 26%, total arecoline is 0.11% to 0.13%, total tannin content is 14.5% to 17.5%.

Ravish Hegde, General Manager of the cooperative, told The Hindu that the process of obtaining the tag had begun in 2013. It took about six years to get it owing to scientific research proof to be submitted to prove its uniqueness.

Read the full article at The Hindu