the dope report

New Scientist reports that newer, stronger dope makes crazies, well, crazier. Scientists have noted marijuana’s deleterious effect on people predisposed to schizophrenia, but it’s even worse for schizos smoking the urp. Why?

Normal cannabis contains level of the anti-psychotic CBD. But breeders focused on high THC strains have accidentally bred out CBD.

Just look at what THC on its own can do:

“Laboratory studies have shown that pure, synthetic THC causes transient psychosis in 40 to 50 per cent of healthy people. In stark contrast to THC, CBD appears to have an anti-psychotic effect, at least in animals. Studies in humans, though few in number, have produced similar findings. The elimination of cannabidiol from skunk may play a key role in the development of psychosis.”

In one human study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology (DOI: 10.1038/npp.2009.184), Sagnik Bhattacharya and colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry in London used functional MRI brain scanning to study the effects of THC and CBD on the brains of healthy volunteers. They found that THC and CBD acted in opposition; in brain regions where THC increased neural activity from a baseline, CBD decreased it, and vice-versa.”

[New Scientist]

The November 2010 election in California will feature at least one notable ballot initiative: a proposal to tax and regulate personal use of cannabis. Oakland organization Tax and Regulate Cannabis 2010 reports turning in over 700,000 signatures from California voters, all but qualifying the them for the statewide ballot. Remember to register to vote, kiddies. Seriously, calendar it. [TRC]

See, police in Edinburg seized a thousand pounds of the stuff in a truck carrying fruit and veggies. By law, Texas police can’t let the produce go on to its destination, so they send it to jails and homeless shelters. Usually without the drugs still in it.

Employees working in the mess hall of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Segovia Unit found 25 pounds of marijuana nestled in a crate of bananas and other fruits Friday. ... Prisoners — several of whom unloaded the produce from the prison delivery truck — were strip-searched to make sure they had not taken any of the drugs

[DFPCA via HailyMaryJane via Edinburg’s The Monitor]

Really? The “first”? Ok:

The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it – as long as they are out of public view – despite a federal ban. ... Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don’t buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from “budtenders”. Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license.

[Reuters via Dosenation]

San Francisco medicinal dispensary the Green Cross took home this year’s SF Cannabis Cup on Tuesday. With over 15 of their strains registered in the stacked contest, it was an indoor, organic hydroponic sativa by the name of Dragon’s Breath that took first place overall. We would’ve gone to judge for ourselves, but then we got really high and just played Modern Warfare 2 all night. Click here for a list of this year’s finalists.

[San Francisco Cannabis Cup]

[The Green Cross]

From ScienceDaily reporting on work in the Journal of Neuroscience today:

Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder patients. ... The researchers used a synthetic form of marijuana, which has similar properties to the natural plant, and they chose to use a rat model, which presents similar physiological responses to stress to that of humans.

[After freaking out the rats with electric shocks and stress] the experimental rats received an injection of synthetic marijuana in the amygdala area of the brain—a specific area known to be connected to emotive memory. ... The synthetic marijuana canceled out the symptoms of stress. Dr. Akirav and Ganon-Elazar also examined hormonal changes in the course of the experiment and found that synthetic marijuana prevents increased release of the stress hormone that the body produces in response to stress.

[ScienceDaily]

Reuters, The SF Chronicle, CBS, ABC and other major media outlets descended on the 38th Annual NORML Convention this afternoon for a press conference by leading Oakland drug law reformer Richard Lee (pictured above).

The historic movement to roll back cannabis prohibition in the U.S. marshaled its forces today at the 38th annual NORML Conference dubbed “Yes We Cannabis!”

With four efforts to legalize the plant in California under way, State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano spoke Friday morning at the conference in downtown San Francisco on his decriminalization bill AB 390, which is pending discussion in committee at Sacramento next year.