Tag: News

IRS Rule May Target Drug Policy Reform Organization

Some expressed concerns that the rule was designed to hinder the growing presence of medical and recreational marijuana businesses.

An IRS rule adopted in January 2018 could be blocking drug policy reform and advocacy non-profits from receiving tax-exempt status, in what some are calling a violation of the First Amendment due to the fact that it would specifically target cannabis-related businesses.

In an IRS bulletin, the rule reads that “the Service will not issue a determination letter when the request concerns an organization whose purpose is directed to the improvement of business conditions of one or more lines of business relating to an activity involving controlled substances (within the meaning of Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act) which is prohibited by Federal law regardless of its legality under the law of the state in which such activity is conducted.”

The “determination letter” refers to a confirmation of tax-exempt status that the IRS issues to eligible non-profits.

Multiple cannabis-focused publications, including Leafly and Cannabis Now, expressed concerns that this rule was designed to hinder the growing presence of medical and recreational marijuana businesses, noting that on a federal level, cannabis is still a Schedule I controlled substance.

California accountant Jerry Chin told Marijuana Business Daily in March 2018 that the IRS rule means “if your trade association’s main purpose is the advocacy of a Schedule I substance, then we’re going to deny your application for that fact alone.”

According to the publication, the New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association (NJCIA) was one of the first organizations to be denied tax-exempt status under this rule after it was announced while the association was in the middle of seeking this exemption.

“At the 11th hour, we were informed, ‘Sorry, there’s been a procedural rule change, we’re not giving these types of letters to your type of company,’” said NJCIA President Hugh O’Beirne. “And that happened within a week of when this procedural rule change was announced.”

The NJCIA’s stated mission is to advance the legalization of cannabis.

There were fears that existing cannabis-related non-profits, such as the National Cannabis Industry Association, would lose their status under this rule change. However, the NCIA appears to have retained non-profit status.

Jacob Sullum of Reason believes this rule could be a violation of the First Amendment, citing a 2015 D.C. Circuit case which ruled that the IRS “may not discriminate on the basis of viewpoint” in the administration of its tax code. This, however, was in reference to whether hate groups could receive tax-exempt status rather than those involved with controlled substances.

The IRS appeared to widely decline to comment on the new rule throughout 2018. As of January 2, 2019, the policy still stands.

View the original article at thefix.com

25 March 2019
Florida Ends Medical Marijuana Smoking Ban

“It’s a triumph owed to the relentless advocacy of Floridians who refused to be silenced,” said the state’s Agriculture Commissioner.

Nearly two years after the state approved a medical marijuana program, officials in Florida have made it possible for people to smoke medical marijuana by lifting a ban on selling marijuana buds in the state.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill that removed the ban on Monday (March 18). He had been pushing for the legislature to pass such a law that would lift the ban, after a court in Florida ruled that prohibiting smokable medical marijuana violated the state’s constitution, which was amended to allow medical marijuana use.

“Over 70% of Florida voters approved medical marijuana in 2016,” DeSantis tweeted last Monday. “I thank my colleagues in the Legislature for working with me to ensure the will of the voters is upheld.”

Because of the change to state law, Florida will not appeal the court ruling, DeSantis said.

“Now that we have honored our duty to find a legislative solution, I have honored my commitment and filed a joint motion to dismiss the state’s appeal and to vacate the lower court decision which had held the prior law to be unconstitutional,” he tweeted.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a statement reported by CBS News that the removal of the ban was a victory for voters who had come out in favor of medical marijuana.

“It’s a triumph owed to the relentless advocacy of Floridians who refused to be silenced,” said Fried. “Our state must not disregard the voice of its people—when the people’s will is nullified by those with authority, liberty cannot survive.”

The law takes effect immediately, but in practice it will take time for the Florida health department to set standards for prescribing smokable marijuana, so there could be a delay for patients, CBS reported.

With the new law, medical marijuana patients who are older than 18 will be able to access 2.5 ounces of marijuana every 35 days.

Yet, by Thursday, at least one medical marijuana patient in Florida was able to purchase marijuana flower, according to Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, the dispensary that made the first sale.

“Offering these whole flower products to our patients in their purest, most-effective form is something we—and patients—have been looking forward to since we opened the doors of the state’s first dispensary,” Rivers said in a statement, reported by The Orlando Sentinel.

Doug Dixon, 59, was the first patient to make a legal smokable marijuana purchase in the state.

“I didn’t know if I would ever see it in my time,” he said. “But it is good to see it. It is good to have the alternative. These pharmaceuticals are killing people. I have lost so many family members.’’

View the original article at thefix.com

25 March 2019
Veterans Affairs To Offer Ketamine-Based Nasal Spray For Depression Treatment

The recently approved drug is said to relieve symptoms of depression as well as suicidal ideation in a short timeframe.

Veterans Affairs officials are now allowing VA doctors to prescribe Spravato, a medically viable variation of ketamine, to service members who suffer from depression.

The drug has been known to beat some symptoms of depression extraordinarily quickly—taking just a few short days, or hours instead of weeks. Suicidal thoughts have been seen to dissipate in a timeframe as short as 40 minutes.

“That first skyrocket up was my first infusion,” said Matthew Ayo, a 23-year-old who underwent ketamine treatment. “I went from severe depression to no depression symptoms.”

Doctors will be able to prescribe Spravato only if at least two other antidepressants have been tried and failed to produce results.

“We’re pleased to be able to expand options for Veterans with depression who have not responded to other treatments,” said VA secretary Robert Wilkie.

Of the United States’ 20 million veterans, an estimated 14%—or 2.8 million veterans—are diagnosed with depression. Of those veterans, one-third to one-half may suffer from treatment-resistant depression, which is why it was so critical to find something new and fast.

“Controlled clinical trials that studied the safety and efficacy of this drug, along with careful review through the FDA’s drug approval process, including a robust discussion with our external advisory committees, were important in our decision to approve this treatment,” said Dr. Tiffany Farchione, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Division of Psychiatry Products.

Spravato isn’t without side effects, however—including sedation, blood pressure spikes, and dissociation, including feeling paralysis or out-of-body sensations. Ironically, misuse may lead to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Hence, the FDA approved the drug for VA prescriptions with restrictions.

Veterans approved for the treatment would use the nasal spray under medical supervision. Afterwards, medical staff would monitor the patient for two hours. The patient would have to return for two doses a week for the first month, and one dose every two or three weeks in the months following. To prevent potential misuse, there is no option for home treatment.

Ketamine’s new role is a far cry from its former life as “Special K,” an anesthetic that saw use on the dance floor as well as the battlefield. In the latter usage, military medical staff found that those prescribed with ketamine for pain also had fewer symptoms of PTSD.

View the original article at thefix.com

25 March 2019
Lena Dunham Praises "Sober Queens"

Dunham has been sober since May 2018.

Actress Lena Dunham, who has been sober since May 2018, went on Twitter to acknowledge the celebrities who had recently opened up about their sobriety.

“First Lala Kent and now Wendy Williams—so proud of all these strong sober queens,” Dunham wrote on Twitter. “It’s a bumpy path for us all, but admitting you need help is the beginning of true freedom. Sometimes it’s stronger to be weak for a moment.”

Last week, talk show host Williams announced that she is living in a sober home.

“For some time now, and even today and beyond, I have been living in a sober house,” she said on The Wendy Williams Show. “And you know, I’ve had a struggle with cocaine in my past and I never went to a place to get the treatment. I don’t know how, except God was sitting on my shoulder and I just stopped.”

Also this month, reality television star Lala Kent of Vanderpump Rules publicly said that she was in a 12-step program for alcoholism. She had previously mentioned that she was getting sober, but didn’t talk about having a substance use disorder.

“Five months ago, I came to the realization that I am an alcoholic, and I am now a friend of Bill W., which you will never know how much this program means to me [and] has given me new life,” Kent wrote on Instagram.

Dunham, writer and director of the HBO series Girls, is familiar with the struggles of early sobriety. She spoke on Dax Shepard’s podcast Armchair Expert in November about how she has been adjusting to life without anxiety meds. Initially, she said, the medications made her feel “like the person I was supposed to be.”

“I was having crazy anxiety and having to show up for things that I didn’t feel equipped to show up for. But I know I need to do it, and when I take a Klonopin, I can do it,” she said.

However, over time, she realized that her drug use was becoming problematic.

“It stopped being, ‘I take one when I fly,’ and it started being like, ‘I take one when I’m awake,’” she said at the time. “It stopped feeling like I had panic attacks and it started feeling like I was a living panic attack. During that time I was taking Klonopin, it wasn’t making it better but I just thought, ‘If I don’t take this, how much worse will it get?’”

At the time, she said her brain was still adjusting to its new normal.

“I still feel like my brain is recalibrating itself to experience anxiety,” she said. “I just feel, literally, on my knees grateful every day.”

View the original article at thefix.com

25 March 2019
Wendy Williams’ Husband: She’s Doing Well in Sober House

Television personality Wendy Williams has been living in a sober home, previously having struggled with cocaine.

Wendy Williams, host of The Wendy Williams Show, is doing well in the sober home where she’s currently staying, according to her husband, Kevin Hunter.

Williams recently revealed that she has been residing in a sober house on her show.

“For some time now, and even today and beyond, I have been living in a sober house,” she said. “You know I’ve had a struggle with cocaine in my past. I never went to a place to get the treatment. I don’t know how except God was sitting on my shoulder and I just stopped.”

She didn’t specify exactly what made her seek treatment at this time. But for those worried for her health—especially after she fainted on live TV during a Halloween episode—her husband had reassuring news.

“Wendy is doing well,” he said to Entertainment Tonight. “We’re doing well as a family. We are moving forward with working on her sobriety and doing the work to help others, not just ourselves. It is a family process. Anybody that has to deal with this knows this a family process… and we are dealing with it and moving forward.”

Williams described her daily routine to her audience.

“After I go to Pilates, I go to several meetings all around town… and I see my brothers and sisters caught up in their addiction and looking for help,” she said. “They don’t know I’m Wendy, they don’t care I’m Wendy.”

Her days also end the same.

“I am driven by my 24-hour sober coach back to the home that I live in, here in the tri-state with a bunch of smelly boys who have become my family,” she revealed. “We talk and read and talk and read and then I get bored with them. Doors locked by 10 p.m., lights out by 10 p.m., so I go to my room and stare at the ceiling and fall asleep.”

Williams recently took a two-month break from appearing on television to deal with thyroid complications that arose from her Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder.

View the original article at thefix.com

25 March 2019
Connection Between Heavy Marijuana Use & Psychosis Explored

Those who used high potency marijuana—with a THC content above 10%—quadrupled their risk for psychosis, according to a new study.

Legal weed is becoming more socially acceptable, but a study published this week reaffirms the connection between heavy marijuana use and psychosis—highlighting the fact that despite its legal status, the drug continues to have real effects on health.

The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, looked at the connection between marijuana use and first-time psychotic episodes. The authors found that people who smoked weed frequently and who used high-potency cannabis were more likely to experience psychotic episodes than people who did not use marijuana.

Krista M. Lisdahl, who works at the University of Wisconsin as a clinical neuropsychologist, said that the study contributes to the body of evidence that indicates a link between marijuana use and psychosis.

“This is more evidence that the link between cannabis and psychosis matters,” Lisdahl, who was not involved with the study, told NPR.

The study authors found that people who used pot daily were three times more likely to have a psychotic episode than people who didn’t use marijuana. Those who used high-potency marijuana—with a THC content above 10%—quadrupled their risk for psychosis. The increased risk was even more pronounced for people who starting using cannabis before they were 15.

Marta Di Forti, the study author and a psychiatrist, said that the findings are concerning because high-potency marijuana is more readily available than ever. “Almost 20 years ago, there wasn’t much high-potency cannabis available [in the market],” she said.

The cities that had the most availability of high-potency weed—London, Paris and Amsterdam—also had the highest rates of new psychosis cases. This finding strengthened the connection between THC content and psychosis, says Suzanne Gage, a psychologist and epidemiologist who wrote a commentary that accompanied the study.

“That’s a really interesting finding, and that’s not something anyone has done before,” she said.

Lisdahl agreed. “One of the things that’s really novel is that they could show that variation of use and potency of cannabis was related to rates of first-episode psychosis,”she said.

Despite the link, Dr. Diana Martinez, who researches addiction at Columbia University, said that the research does not point to a causal relationship between marijuana use and psychosis.

“You can’t say that cannabis causes psychosis,” she said. “It’s simply not supported by the data.”

Instead, there are likely multiple factors that influence the emergence of psychosis.

“In all psychotic disorders, there is this multiple hit hypothesis,” she said. Those factors include genetic and environmental causes, possibly including marijuana exposure.

Despite this, Di Forti says that the study should be cause for caution in people who use marijuana regularly.

“There are people across the world who use cannabis for a variety of reasons,” she said. “Some of them recreationally, some of them for medicinal purposes. They need to know what to look for and ask for help, if they come across characteristics of a psychotic disorder.”

View the original article at thefix.com

23 March 2019
San Diego Considers Cannabis Cafes

Opponents of the idea cite drugged driving as a reason not to open the cafes.

Officials in San Diego are gathering information and debating whether the city should allow establishments where patrons could purchase and consume legal marijuana products.

“When we have a cool place like this where people can gather and participate in the legal market, that’s ultimately going to take people away from the illicit market and bring revenue back to the city,” Dallin Young, board member for the Association for Cannabis Professionals, told The San Diego Economic Development Committee last week, according to NBC News San Diego.

City Councilmembers asked the city’s independent budget analyst to research the benefits and drawbacks of cannabis cafes. However, some councilmembers are concerned that the cafes would draw more resources than they would bring in.

Scott Chipman, a representative of San Diegans for Safe Neighborhoods, said that the cafes would open the door for many problems. “There’s a big concern with drug-impaired driving,” he told the committee. “The economic benefit would be far outweighed by the cost.”

Chipman says that the data shows this to be true. According to federal data, states that have legalized cannabis have seen a 6% increase in traffic accidents, for example.

“They’re spending way more on pot enforcement, impaired driving, medical bills and other things than the economic revenue and taxes coming in,” Chipman said.

Despite that, some California towns and cities are approving cannabis cafes. Although the California legalization legislation prohibits public use, the cafes would be an exception.

West Hollywood issued approval for cannabis cafes that will begin operation this year, according to Eater.

“We’re totally stoked the city is excited about our concept, and can’t wait to bring it to life. West Hollywood’s nightlife has it all, save for one thing: the world’s best cannabis restaurant and lounge,” said Kirk Cartozian, who is a founder of The Antidote, which will be an edibles-only lounge. “Did we say we’re totally ecstatic about this?”

According to Leafly, there were only nine cannabis cafes operating in the nation in 2018. Many of those are in San Francisco, a city that has been an early adopter of the idea, according to Charles Pappas, a medical cannabis commissioner.

“San Francisco has the best regulations of anywhere,” he said.

Pappas said that concerns over drugged driving are misplaced in a society that has already accepted that adults can consume some mind-altering substances, namely alcohol, in public.

“If bars are safe why can’t lounges be safe? A lounge owner can say, ‘OK you’ve smoked enough, that’s it.’ Just like a bar,” he said.

View the original article at thefix.com

22 March 2019
Dramatic Rise In Fentanyl Deaths Marks Third Wave Of Opioid Crisis

From 2011 to 2016, Black Americans experienced the sharpest rise in fentanyl-related deaths with a 141% increase.

Fentanyl overdose rates have been rising at very sharp rates among minorities, including African Americans and Hispanic Americans, according to new data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The data looked at fentanyl overdose rates between 2011 and 2016. Researchers found that the fentanyl overdose rate for African Americans rose the fastest out of any ethnic group—increasing, on average, 141% each year.

Hispanic Americans also showed a dramatic increase of 118% each year. Non-Hispanic whites saw their rates of fentanyl overdoses increase 61% each year, on average.

African Americans and Hispanic Americans still have lower overdose rates overall—5.6 and 2.5 deaths per 100,000 respectively. Whites, by comparison, continue to have the highest fentanyl overdose rates at 7.7 deaths per 100,000.

However, lead study author, Merianne Rose Spencer, said it’s important to note that the overdose rate for Black Americans is rising at more than double the rate of white Americans, according to The Washington Post.

Overall, the data showed shocking increases in fentanyl overdoses in all demographics.

“Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2013, the number of deaths increased every quarter. From 2013 through 2014, the death rate more than doubled, nearly doubled again from 2014 through 2015, and more than doubled again from 2015 through 2016,” report authors wrote.

The CDC’s mortality statistics branch’s chief, Robert Anderson, said that the severity of the fentanyl overdose crisis is clear. “We’re seeing it across the board,” he said.

The rate of overdose accelerated in 2014, when, according to Ohio Senator Rob Portman, fentanyl “came on with a vengeance.” “We were making progress, starting to get this stuff in the right direction, and the fentanyl just overwhelmed the systems,” he said this week.

Although the recently released data didn’t cover 2017 or 2018, there are indications that the pace of increase of overdoses has slowed in the last two years. Preliminary numbers show that 70,424 died by August of 2018, compared with 72,287 deaths by November of 2017.

Anderson said the numbers suggest that the rate has plateaued, but is not yet truly reversing. “We would look at that and say that’s pretty flat. We’d be reluctant to call it a real decline,” he said.

Still, Portman said that the numbers show a step in the right direction, particularly after a long period of dramatic increases.

“It is a very significant story that for the first time in eight years we’re not seeing an increase in overdose deaths,” he said. “We feel like it’s still unacceptably high, but we’re cautiously optimistic that we’ve finally turned the corner after eight years.”

View the original article at thefix.com

22 March 2019
New Wrestling Doc "350 Days" Examines Sport's Mental & Physical Toll

“The fact that it’s shown as cartoonish on TV doesn’t mean that those bumps don’t hurt or cripple or ultimately result in pain pill addictions or other drug dependency issues.”

Professional wrestling remains one of the world’s most popular sport entertainments, and a lucrative industry for its promoters. For the wrestlers themselves, there’s fame and adoration, and even the chance for stardom outside the ring, as exemplified by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena.

In recent years, several documentaries—including Beyond the Mat, The Sheik, and The Resurrection of Jake the Snake—have peeled away the superhuman veneer of wrestling and looked at the real physical and emotional impact of a professional wrestling career.

A new documentary, 350 Days, looks at the reality of wrestlers’ lives through conversations with legends like Greg Valentine, “Superstar” Billy Graham and the late Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, who detail in both humorous and heartfelt terms the punishing conditions under which they rose to fame in the ring.

The title of the film—which debuts on iTunes on April 2—refers to the number of days per year many wrestlers spend on the road and in the ring. The wear and tear of such a schedule has left many Hall of Famers and newcomers alike with debilitating physical injuries as well as mental health, emotional and drug dependency issues.

The film’s co-producer Evan Ginzburg—who also served as associate producer on the Oscar-nominated drama The Wrestler, with Mickey Rourke—tells The Fix that addiction is “a prevalent issue” in professional wrestling.

“The fact that it’s shown as cartoonish on TV doesn’t mean that those bumps don’t hurt or cripple or ultimately result in pain pill addictions or other drug dependency issues,” he says. “Wrestlers hate the word ‘fake,’ but they’ll say, ‘My hip replacement, my knee replacement, my bad back—those aren’t fake.’ Or, ‘Those three divorces aren’t fake. My kids not talking to me isn’t fake.’ And many—not all—will develop drug dependencies because of it. It’s just stating the facts.”

Photo courtesy of Evan Ginzburg

As Ginzburg notes, pain—physical, emotional and mental—is part and parcel of a wrestling career. “I was at a wrestling show with a chiropractor friend, and he said, ‘These [moves] are like mini-whiplashes. You can’t imagine what this is doing to their bodies,’” he explains. “That a couple of bumps in one show. Imagine the cumulative effect of all that.” The physical requirements of the job, combined with the potential for what Ginzburg calls “horrific” injuries, and a schedule that takes them away from their families for nearly an entire year, all take tolls, as do accompanying psychological stressors.

Photo courtesy of Evan Ginzburg

“You’re told you need to be bigger, to look a certain way,” says Ginzburg. “What’s also addressed in the film is that they’ll wrestle injured, because they’re scared to lose their spot [on a bout card]. There’s always a younger guy, a new guy willing to take their place. So these guys keep going until the human body can’t go any more, and you see Abdullah the Butcher, the Iron Sheik in a wheelchair. And it’s not a secret how many guys have died from pain pills and steroids.”

Photo courtesy of Evan Ginzburg

Ginzburg says that major promoters like the WWE have attempted to resolve these issues by providing treatment to wrestlers who request it. “They go into rehab and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) pays for it,” he says. “How much came from public pressure, that may be a different issue.” But only a fundamental change to the structure of the industry is going to prevent the physical injury, the associate dependencies and the deaths that can occur as part of the job.

Photo courtesy of Evan Ginzburg

“A top promotion like WWE now goes from 350 days to 250 days a year,” he says. “That’s a good start, but wrestlers are still working 250 nights. WWE has so much talent that you forget some of them are actually there. How about taking the guys and women who are underutilized and putting them on during the holiday season—Thanksgiving through January 2—and giving the others time for their bodies to heal?”

Photo courtesy of Evan Ginzburg

Ginzburg hopes that viewers will learn some core truths about wrestling from 350 Days.

“They sacrifice for the fans, and they’re not cartoon characters,” he says. “They are real people with bones that break and muscles that rip. It’s a brutal sport, and more has to be done for them.”

View the original article at thefix.com

22 March 2019
NIDA's Nora Volkow: There's No Evidence That Cannabis Can Treat Opioid Addiction

Volkow says that patients using cannabis for opioid use disorder treatment may be putting themselves at risk of relapse.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow has stated that there is no evidence that cannabis use is an effective treatment for opioid use disorders.

This statement comes as NIDA is planning to assess the possibility of such a treatment, with two or three studies either planned or already underway, according to USA Today.

Though Volkow says it’s not impossible that cannabis compounds could help treat addiction to opioids, she stresses that no evidence exists yet.

Meanwhile, the Maryland General Assembly is currently considering allowing medical marijuana for this purpose, and New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have already passed laws green-lighting cannabis as an acceptable treatment for this growing issue.

Volkow’s concern is that if cannabis compounds are not effective for treating opioid addiction, then patients being treated in this way are at high risk of relapse, and by extension, overdose and death.

“If you don’t treat it properly, your risk of dying is quite high,” Volkow said in an interview with USA Today. “My main concern is by basically misinforming potential patients about the supposedly beneficial effects of cannabis, they may forgo a treatment that is lifesaving.”

Opioid addiction relapse is particularly dangerous due to the fact that opioid tolerance can be drastically reduced by extended periods of non-use. If an individual relapses by going back to the same dose they were using before they quit, there is a greater chance of overdose and death.

However, there may be some preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of cannabis in treating opioid use disorder. One 2018 study by Beth Wiese of the University of Missouri, St. Louis and Adrianne R. Wilson-Poe of the Washington University School of Medicine reviewed “emerging evidence” of this type of therapy.

In their conclusion, they wrote that the “compelling nature of these data and the relative safety profile of cannabis warrant further exploration of cannabis as an adjunct or alternative treatment” for opioid addiction.

For the most part, the only accepted treatments for opioid use disorders are methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone—which reduce cravings without producing a full-blown high.

However, access to these medications can be restricted due to price, stigma, lack of education, and regulatory limits. Young people, people of color, and those living in rural communities have the most difficulty accessing this type of treatment.

Cheryl Glenn, Maryland delegate and sponsor of the Maryland bill to allow cannabis as treatment for opioid use disorder, argues that the situation is too dire to bar people addicted to opioids from any treatment that could be effective.

The Maryland legislature will soon consider an amendment to Glenn’s bill that would require patients to try other treatments before resorting to cannabis. Glenn currently opposes this amendment, arguing for patient choice in their health care.

“My mother died from kidney cancer, and no one told the doctor he had to try this medication first, second or third,” she said. “I think the same respect ought to be given when you look at opioid disorders.”

View the original article at thefix.com

22 March 2019