medical marijuana. Delaware News Journal reported an increasing number of parents are turning to cannabis for their children with especially serious or rare conditions. It’s no wonder then that California lawmakers recently passed a bill to allow medical marijuana on school premises.

SB-1127 was introduced by Calif. Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) and has passed both houses of the state legislature. Ultimately, the bill would leave it up to school districts and boards of education to decide whether or not to allow medical marijuana on school grounds. While it’s noble to allow school district to have some autonomy, this decision could lead to much confusion and unnecessary distress. Prop 64 allowed cities in California to maintain a ban on sales and cultivation at their own discretion, and it has led to a great deal of Californians not being able to full participate in the cannabis economies they voted to legalize. Similarly, the most vulnerable students and their parents could very well be pigeon-holed by rigid district officials and judgmental peers who can’t understand the complex decisions a parent must make to ensure their child has the best care possible. After all, cannabis generally isn’t recommended by physicians for children except in severe cases. Parents would still be required to administer the medication as needed, and it cannot be smoked or vaped, nor can it be stored at the school. The new bill, if signed into law, does eliminate one step parents must currently fulfill. As it stands now, parents must comes to the school and remove the child from the property before they can give them medical cannabis. Allowing parents to remain on campus at least eases that one burden. Ideally, nurses would be able to dole out medications to children, but public schools are bound by federal law, which still bans cannabis in all forms.

Skeptics say there has not been enough research on medical marijuana’s effectiveness on child patients, which is remarkably ironic considering the only cannabis-based drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration is specifically for children. Epidiolex passed the group’s rigorous standards in June and is expected to soon affect the federal scheduling of marijuana. The CBD-based drug is used to ease symptoms of severe forms of childhood epilepsy. As is the case when any medication is prescribed, doctors must consider whether the risk of the medication outweighs the immediate risk of the medical condition they are treating. In the case of debilitating and frequent seizures, the choice for many doctors as to whether to recommend medical marijuana clear.

Our Orange County medical cannabis lawyers are proud to fight alongside parents seeking the best medical options for their children. We hope school boards will see the intention behind this bill and be open to allowing parents the small luxury of being allowed to administer medical marijuana on school grounds. We hope they also will recognize what is best for the kids involved, whose lives are already so disrupted by serious medical conditions. Allowing a little normalcy in their lives by permitting them quick and efficient access to medicine is a small favor to ask.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Bill allowing medical marijuana at schools passes California Legislature, Aug. 28, 2018, CalCoast Times

More Blog Entries:

Students Who Need Medical Marijuana Deserve Easier Access, Feb. 28, 2018, Cannabis Law Group

substantial state taxes on the medical cannabis that they supply to patients in need. SB 829 corrects a hole in Proposition 64, which saddled these not-for-profit organizations with taxes. The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 made medical marijuana legal in California, which spurred the birth of compassionate-care programs for patients with serious health issues and financial restraints. According to NORML, these organizations have been able to donate product and function tax-free up until this year when recreational marijuana became legal.

What did recreational legalization have to do with medical marijuana patients and associated care programs? As our marijuana attorneys can explain, after voters approved Proposition 64, government representatives and officials began ironing out how the recreational program would work. It was determined a set of guidelines was needed that could pull together the medical marijuana industry (which had been active for 20 years) with the new recreational cannabis law. That is when MAUCRSA (Medicinal And Adult-Use Cannabis Regulatory Safety Act) was born. What was intended to streamline rules and make things easier for business owners, customers, and law enforcement officials ended up strapping medical marijuana institutions with a significant number of regulations they previously did not have to follow.Among those regulations was a stipulation that cannabis businesses must pay taxes on all marijuana products, which were already collecting a new level of taxes along each step of the supply chain. This rule applied even to medical marijuana businesses, and made no exception for not-for-profit institutions. Many patients with serious conditions, such as cancer and AIDS have come to rely on the help of compassionate-care organizations. Even patients who did not have financial difficulties before becoming ill often find themselves struggling once the expensive and constant medical bills start rolling in. In the case of patients with cancer and AIDS, each will often experience nausea and loss of appetite with certain treatments. Cannabis is used to effectively ease these symptoms, making it an important piece of the overall treatment program.

Compassionate-care programs receive marijuana through donations from retailers and cultivators. They then give it out for free to patients they have identified as being in need. As of late, though, these groups have been stifled or forced to go on a hiatus because of aggressive tax rates. There is not a way to mark certain cannabis as being meant for donation, so the groups are straddled with cultivation tax. If they were to give out 100 pounds of cannabis to patients, they would be charged an estimated $50,000 in taxes, even though the product is being given away for free.

Our Riverside marijuana attorneys applaud lawmakers for moving to remedy this situation. We know how critical cannabis can be for patients suffering from serious conditions. Organizations willing to help them should not be punished with insurmountable taxes. We continue to support common sense measures like this outside the courtroom while we fight for the rights of medical marijuana patients and businesses in the courtroom. Our team have both civil and criminal attorneys to best serve your needs.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

California Lawmakers OK Free Cannabis, Aug. 28, 2018, By Dan Mitchell, Leafly

More Blog Entries:

The Taxman Cometh: California Cannabis Businesses Unlikely to See Relief, May 29, 2018, Cannabis Law Group

grown for research purposes in the U.S. and decrease the amount of opioid drugs produced under the group’s watch. You heard that right. The same organization whose leaders for years have been wringing their collective hands over marijuana, who said we simply did not know enough about its effects, who defended its Schedule I classification, might finally be waking up to smell the coffee the rest of the country has been happily sipping for some time now.

According to a report from Forbes, a new Federal Register filing shows the agency increasing allowance of cannabis plants to 5,400 pounds in 2019, more than five times the 1,000 pounds the department OK’d this year. Representatives of the department said the move was necessary to meet the demands of the medical and scientific communities for research purposes. Of course this demand is nothing new. Health care providers, laboratories, and medical schools have been desperate for proper research on cannabis for decades. California medical practitioners have been using limited studies, anecdotal evidence, and trial and error to treat patients since medical marijuana was legalized in the state in 1996 under Proposition 215.DEA and other federal officials have long been playing a game of Catch-22, hiding behind Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812, which places cannabis in the most restricted categories of drugs. Schedule I narcotics are labeled such because they are considered the most dangerous, the most addictive, and have no medicinal value. For comparison purposes, heroin also resides in this category. The risks these drugs pose make it extremely difficult to get approval for medical testing, particularly if the thesis is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the drug. Limited testing means little verifiable evidence to prove the effectiveness of the drugs in question, fortifying the stance that the drugs should remain banned. As our Riverside medical cannabis attorneys know, applying this logic to marijuana is preposterous. Cannabis has proven itself time and again to be a relief to patients with numerous medical conditions. Marijuana certainly is a desirable alternative, as well, to opioids, which kill more than 100 people every day in the U.S. — many of whom had a prescription.

It seems the DEA is finally waking up to this fact as well. Even Attorney General Jeff Sessions voiced support for cutting opioid quotas next year by 10 percent, citing the opioid epidemic as the worst drug crisis in American history. Sessions, infamous for his fervent anti-marijuana beliefs, is less apt to acknowledge how cannabis can play a role in fighting opioid addictions, though he will likely need to OK more facilities to handle the increased marijuana production. We all know how many patients have found pain relief from cannabis, with many choosing marijuana after they had become overly dependent on opioids, such as morphine, fentanyl, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Our trusted legal team can only hope now that DEA is also pulling together this important piece of the cannabis puzzle and will soon release their grip they have on the throat of the marijuana industry in this country.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

The DEA Wants to Grow More Marijuana, Aug. 20, 2018, By Joseph Misulonas, Civilized

More Blog Entries:

DEA Chief Woefully Unaware of Medical Marijuana Facts, May 21, 2018, Cannabis Law Group

Administration has revealed to investors the cost of the drug: $32,500 per year. This is reportedly on the low-end of original estimates between $30,000 and $60,000. Epidiolex, made with CBD and used to treat rare forms of childhood epilepsy, is said to be priced competitively with other epilepsy drugs on the market. This, however, is not other epilepsy drugs.

One of the reasons, among many, that marijuana has become so popular for medicinal use is that it is relatively inexpensive compared to other treatments, even without the help of insurance companies to cover the costs. Some markup by pharmaceutical companies is to be expected to cover testing, research, and ensure consistency and purity of the product. The disparity between cost and price in this instance seems specifically designed to prey on desperate families already prepared to pay top dollar to help their children. In fact, the price was set with the consultation of insurance companies, according to a Business Insider report.

Certainly this is not outside the realm of reason in the pharmaceutical industry. Marking up the price of medicine is business as usual. It is dubious, however, that pharmaceutical companies have been lobbying so strongly against marijuana legalization until they figured out how to personally benefit. The final cost of the drug after insurance will be far less, with estimates of less than $200 a month for patients. Many do not have the luxury of insurance, though, and will turn to black market sources or, in states where marijuana is legal, the CBD vials on dispensary shelves. The manufacturer of Epidiolex touts that their product is pharmaceutical-grade, but many will not have any choice but to self medicate with the products that are currently available.

Californians have been doing so for more than 20 years, when medical marijuana was first legalized in the state in 1996. In states where home cultivation is legal, many are learning the plant in their house is a merciful replacement for far more expensive (and dangerous) pain medications, like opioids. This is a threat to the pharmaceutical companies who profit handsomely from dependence on expensive, complicated medications that could not possibly be made in home. It is clear why they have fought against medical marijuana for so long.

Our Los Angeles medical cannabis lawyers are keeping a close eye on these developments. Big Pharma has used its influence to keep medical marijuana at bay for years. It is unclear what pharmaceutical companies will do to maintain their foothold in the marijuana marketplace once they enter. Marijuana is almost certainly going to be rescheduled at the federal level to allow for doctors to start prescribing Epidiolex. Schedule I narcotics, such as marijuana at current, allegedly hold no medicinal value, and therefore are prohibited even for prescriptions. Schedules 2, 3, 4 and 5 each hold different levels of restrictiveness. Our experienced attorneys will be on hand to answer the numerous questions about how such a rescheduling could affect your business and how to remain competitive once major pharmaceutical companies enter the game. The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Epidiolex, First Cannabis Medicine Approved by the FDA, Will Cost $32,500 a Year, Aug. 10. 2018, By Chris Moore, Merry Jane

More Blog Entries:

FDA Approval Could Change Everything for Medical Marijuana, July 1, 2018, Cannabis Law Group

involves cannabis. A joint project by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Toronto’s Scythian Biosciences Corp., and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis has led to the development of a “concussion pill,” which combines CBD and an NMDA amino acid anesthetic, according to UPI. Pre-clinical studies on rodents are showing improved cognitive function after traumatic brain injury, more so than either component of the pills does on its own. Trials also showed no adverse effects caused by either component individually nor in combination.

Traumatic brain injuries have made headlines in recent years as more attention has been brought to the dangers of aggressive contact sports, such as football, and the long-term damage caused by concussions. Meanwhile, football players have become some of the strongest advocates for medical marijuana. Cannabis, particularly CBD, has proven to be effective at treating chronic pain caused by sport-related injuries, and does not have the addictive properties of opioids, which are typically prescribed for such injuries. Other players suffer from conditions unrelated to sports, but using medical marijuana has made it possible for them to enjoy activities with fewer limitations. For example, medical marijuana is proving to be a breakthrough treatment for severe seizures, paving the way for people with epilepsy to perform at a competitive level like never before. All of these factors make athletes ideal for receiving the benefits of medical marijuana treatments. Yet continued backward thinking about the drug is holding us back. Time and again, these people face roadblocks in playing the sports they love and getting the treatments they need because of Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812, which classifies marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic. Students seeking to compete at NCAA schools find themselves fighting zero-tolerance anti-drug policies, even in states where medical marijuana is legal (which is now a total of 30 states). Even NFL players and other professional athletes are subjected to drug testing that includes marijuana. Many report fighting opioid addiction because, although it’s well documented how dangerous overuse of these medications has become, they are still (in the eyes of federal law) considered preferable over cannabis, of which no overdose deaths have ever been documented.

Researchers who have been developing the “concussion pill” envision a future in which it would be kept at the sidelines of all full-contact sporting events to help control the immediate inflammation caused after trauma. First responders and emergency rooms could also be equipped with the medication to be administered as quickly as possible, addressing issues before their effects are potentially irreversible. First, though, there will be a small series of human evaluations, followed by an extensive three-year full clinical trial, and finally assessment by U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Our Orange County medical cannabis lawyers also dream of such a future. We only can hope evidence of the benefits of cannabis continues to grow, making it impossible for the powers-that-be to deny its beneficial properties any longer. Californians have known for some time the impressive benefits of this versatile plant, yet are continually restricted by the federal ban. It is time our federal leaders get on the right side of history and allow Americans to get the treatments they deserve.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

‘Concussion Pill’ Shows Promise in Pre-Clinical Pilot Study, July 10, 2018, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

More Blog Entries:

Seizures Couldn’t End Football Dreams, But CBD Oil Might, May 27, 2018, Cannabis Law Group

to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, patients have been reaping the benefits of cannabis for everything from glaucoma to anxiety and chronic pain. Unfortunately, the research that would help independently establish these things has largely been stifled in the U.S., owing largely to the federal policy that classifies marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic. Meanwhile, as reported by U.S. News & World Report, Israel has become a leader in marijuana research – and one of the latest findings of Israeli researchers underscores the medicinal properties of marijuana for cancer patients.

Published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, the study analyzes the effects of cannabis on symptoms related to cancer and cancer treatments. These include nausea, vomiting, headaches, weakness, pain, and more. According to the study, 1,046 out of 1,742 reported success in overcoming these symptoms after six months. This total did not include participants who passed away, switched cannabis providers, or did not respond to questionnaires. The study looked mostly at patients who were at an advanced stage of cancer and on average 60-years-old. These factors meant a quarter of patients died before the study was over, but even many of those patients reported having the pain of their condition eased by cannabis.

“Success” was determined by those who ranked their symptoms as having moderate or significant improvement and who did not have any adverse side effects. Patients with different cancers reported varying effectiveness, with renal cancer patients reporting the highest benefits and melanoma cancer patients the lowest.

Because marijuana is effective at alleviating multiple cancer symptoms, patients can take fewer drugs, which means less chance of negative drug interactions. It’s also not addictive, so patients can relieve pain without worrying about getting hooked. Study authors noted cannabis has been used medically and recreationally for thousands of years.

Our long-time Los Angeles medical marijuana lawyers know there have been decades of pointed political efforts to disparage any effort to use marijuana as medicine, much of it relying on the drug’s federal classification Schedule I narcotic (per Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812). Under that classification, the drug has is considered dangerous, with “no currently accepted medical use in treatment.” It’s nearly impossible for scientific institutions in the U.S. to conduct medical research with any illegal substance of this classification, which meant we lost decades of research advancement on this front.

In Israel, medical marijuana was legalized in 1997. It is mostly used the ease symptoms associated with cancer and chemotherapy. Thankfully, we can now share in their findings as we continue to expand cannabis-based treatments across the U.S. and begin to officially educate medical students. And as we continue to conduct more studies like this one, it will be more difficult for federal officials to continue to deny the power of pot.

In the meantime, our skilled team is here to defend the rights of medical marijuana patients, as well as dispensary owners, and operators all along the supply chain.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

For Cancer, Cannabis Has Many Virtues, Says Large Study, March 19, 2018, By Nick Mulcahey, Medscape

More Blog Entries:

Cancer Patient Claims Illegal Medical Marijuana Healed Him, Feb. 28, 2016, Medical Marijuana Lawyers Blog

catching up to what California and our trusted attorneys have known for a long time: That marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for many illnesses and ailments. So safe, in fact, that laws are expanding to open up marijuana for recreational consumption as well, with California implementing Proposition 64 Jan. 1. We are now one of 29 states that has some form of cannabis legalization.

But we also know the more things change, the more they stay the same.

High Times recently delved into the issue of medical schools and teaching about medical marijuana to students. One medical journal study last year showed that 90 percent of med students don’t learn anything about marijuana in medical school. Less than 10 percent of medical schools have any sort of medical marijuana curriculum. And roughly 25 percent of graduates wouldn’t even feel prepared to talk about cannabis as an option with a patient.

The findings are discouraging, but not surprising considering the stigma marijuana still holds on the federal level. As our Orange County medical marijuana attorneys can explain, it is difficult to conduct medical research studies involving cannabis when it is still labeled as a Schedule I narcotic under Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812. Thus, fewer schools are teaching how to use it as a treatment and the vicious cycle continues. So who has been prescribing medical marijuana all this time? Of course there are skilled physicians who have taken the time to study and research the benefits of medical cannabis and have written recommendations for a medical marijuana card. Writing a prescription directly is still not allowed because of marijuana’s federal classification, but state law allows a recommendation to be written for a medical card as a workaround. These doctors see patients with cancer, glaucoma, arthritis, epilepsy and more and know the substantial benefit the right form of marijuana can have on patients’ lives.

But with a lack of physicians comfortable discussing marijuana, it’s a not-very-well-kept secret that you can get a medical marijuana recommendation pretty easily from any number of medical cannabis pop-up shops. A few minutes telling the practitioner about what ails you, and you can be out the door with a recommendation. In the pre-recreational era, many were known to take advantage of such operations to obtain marijuana for personal use. Thankfully, the law is allowing people options to legally and safely get marijuana to consume under responsible, watchful regulations.

However, this still doesn’t help patients who really need marijuana for medical treatment. Sure they can access it easily enough. Even if they don’t want to fuss with a medical recommendation card, they can simply walk into any number of shops and find what they want. But that will only lead to more people self diagnosing and self medicating. There’s a difference between a drug being safe to consume and knowing the precise dosage and best method of consumption to treat your particular ailment. That is why our attorneys are calling for more training in schools to teach the next generation of medical professionals how to maximize the healing properties of cannabis and finally give it the recognition it deserves as a legitimate form of treatment.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

10 Diseases Where Medical Marijuana Could Have an Impact, April 16, 2015, By Jen Christensen, CNN

More Blog Entries:

Issues with Medical Marijuana Clinical Studies, Nov. 2, 2017, Medical Marijuana Lawyers Blog