All your cannabis news in one place.
Your weekly round-up of the latest coverage of medical cannabis in the mainstream media.
While Cannabis Health has reported on the UK’s grappling with medical cannabis access and legislation since day one, mainstream media is increasingly turning its focus on the subject.
In the interest of opening up cannabis medicines to patients and finally breaking the taboo this increased coverage can only be a good thing; even with the instances of misinformation and skewed opinions.
Silicon Valley’s social media empires may reign supreme, but national mainstream media retains the power to change views and mobilise action.
In case you missed them, here are some of the top headlines from the last week:
Mother’s plea for urgent access
The BBC this week shared the story of Isaac, a three-year-old with the rare developmental disorder Lujan-Fryns syndrome who has up to 80 seizures a day.
Having seen her son try 13 anti-epilepsy drugs without success, his mum Sarah Sugden has urged the NHS to prescribe him medical cannabis.
Just before his second birthday, Isaac had his first epileptic seizure, although Ms Sugden was told it was unlikely to have been the first, the BBC reports. He was transferred to specialists at Leeds General Infirmary after doctors at Hull Royal Infirmary were unable to control the seizures.
Sarah described the side effects of the various drugs he was administered as “horrendous” and believes medicinal cannabis could help.
No NHS prescription has been forthcoming, however, with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust telling the BBC that there were “clear guidelines” around the drug and consultants took decisions based on patients’ clinical needs. See the story here.
Landmark ruling for cannabis supplier
Cancer patient Andrew Baines made headlines this week after he avoided a 15-year jail sentence following his arrest for possession of £10,000 worth of cannabis.
The 46-year-old father of two had supplied hundreds of patients with medical cannabis oil.
A landmark ruling saw the CPS opt not to pursue charges, issuing a six-month community order instead, the lowest possible punishment.
Patients who had received medical cannabis from Baines submitted scores of letters to the court, describing how he had saved their lives. Here’s how the Independent reported the story.
Could cannabis help amid HRT shortage?
Recent problems regarding the shortage of HRT in the UK have meant more people are talking about the menopause.
Such is the nature of the crisis that the government has appointed a HRT tsar to fix the issue, but campaigners say not enough is being done and so far the biggest change has been the rationing of HRT medication.
Amid the HRT crisis women have been looking for alternative ways to boost their oestrogen levels and alleviate the symptoms of menopause. Express.co.uk spoke to Menopause Experts CEO Dee Murray about the crisis affecting women.
Ms Murray told Express that some of the symptoms of Menopause can be alleviated with CBD, describing it as a “good natural alternative for women who perhaps cannot take HRT.
“It may help with mood, keeping them calmer, helping with anxiety, so there are lots of ways CBD oil can help,” she said.
The rise of cannabis tourism in the US
Cannabis tourism made the daily cover of Forbes this week with a feature on the rising trend of cannabis tourism which is estimated to be worth $17 billion in the US alone.
Forbes takes a deep dive into the states where cannabis is legalised and their approach to cannabis tourism.
In Colorado, the state’s tourism office does not actively promote cannabis tourism but its entrepreneurs are starting to jump on the trend. For example, a boutique hotel in Denver is preparing to open what will be the city’s first licensed cannabis consumption lounge at a hotel.
Forbes also highlighted that the latest research shows that the typical cannabis traveller looks less like a stereotypical ‘stoner’ and more like a standard holiday-maker.
Generally, they are millennials or younger (63 per cent), with a university degree (59 per cent), a job (82 per cent) and an average household income of $87,000, according to a report from the Cannabis Travel Association International (CTAI).
“By 2025, 50% of travellers in the U.S. are going to be millennials,” Brian Applegarth, the organisation’s founder told Forbes.
“And their relationship to cannabis consumption is extremely normalised compared to the stigmatised industry leaders of today.”
Spain looks at legalising medicinal cannabis
As Spain moves towards becoming the latest European country to decriminalise the use of cannabis for medicinal use, iNews reported this week on the country’s transition from Europe’s biggest illegal cannabis growing nation to becoming a hub for legal cannabis.
The Spanish proposal is likely to gain support from the Socialist government, their junior far-left coalition partner Unidas Podemos and a series of smaller regional parties. But it is likely to face resistance from the conservative opposition People’s Party and the hard-right Vox party.
“Patients should be in the hands of the state and the doctors, not the drug traffickers,” Carola Pérez, the president of the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis, told the online paper.
Thanks to its warm climate and plenty of space, Spain is the biggest producer of cannabis in Europe. If cannabis is legalised for medicinal use, it could lead to a boom for the industry which would be controlled by the Spanish Medical Agency.
Disclaimer: https://cannabishealthnews.co.uk/2022/06/03/story22-medical-cannabis-in-the-news-top-stories-from-the-last-week
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