Court votes 6-3 to save all subsidies and coins a new buzzword: SCOTUScare

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Thursday that people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) federally run insurance exchange can continue to receive subsidies to help pay their premiums.

"Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them," the majority concluded. "If at all possible we must interpret the Act in a way that is consistent with the former, and avoids the latter. Section 36B can fairly be read consistent with what we see as Congress's plan, and that is the reading we adopt."

A special hearing on cannabidiol (CBD) was held June 24 by the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Drug Control, and Martin Lee, director of Project CBD, contributed written testimony. 

After briefly recounting the medical potential of CBD, Lee challenged the simplistic notion that it’s the “good” cannabinoid, as opposed to bad THC:

…But a CBD-rich remedy with little THC doesn’t work for everyone. Parents of epileptic children have found that adding some THC (or THCA, the raw unheated version of THC) to the CBD oil helps with seizure control in many instances. For some epileptics, THC-dominant strains are more effective than CBD-rich products.

 

A Plymouth man who regularly uses cannabis has spoken out about why he believes the drug should be decriminalised. SAM BLACKLEDGE reports.

DARYL Sullivan works as an assistant manager of a mail order company, and in his spare time does some freelance writing and runs a website.

Daryl also smokes cannabis every day and is chairman of the Devon Cannabis Club – but he does not see his habit as a problem, and is ready to debunk some misconceptions.

“Contrary to popular belief I do not spend my life constantly stoned,” the 25-year-old says.

“I am a functioning member of society with a full-time job.

“I am not a criminal or a scourge on society as some would have you believe.

Cannabis can alleviate chronic pain caused for example by cancer and muscle cramps from multiple sclerosis, according to an international study financed by the Federal Office of Public Health. 

The office said it would bear in mind the medical benefits of the drug – consumption of which is banned in Switzerland – when granting special exemptions. 

It said on Monday that in order to be able to make these exceptions in a more target-oriented way, it had commissioned a systematic review of the positive and negative effects of the medical use of cannabis. 

A County Tyrone man who has a terminal brain tumour says he wants to be allowed to use cannabis oil that he believes will prolong his life.

Kieran McCrory, 37, from Omagh, has asked the health minister for help in highlighting his case.

It is illegal in the UK to use cannabis for medicinal purposes as it is a class B drug.

But a derivative from the drug is used in a spray for MS patients.

Last year, Mr McCrory had just married and was preparing to start a new life in Australia.

In October, without warning, he suffered a number of seizures. He was later diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Prolong

Kieran has been told that he now has between three and five years left to live.

The condition has improved of the Nelson teenager whose supporters fought for him to have access to cannabis oil medication.

Alex Renton, 19, spent 12 hours off his ventilator yesterday, breathing on his own, Seven Sharp reporter Jehan Casinader tweeted this morning.

His cannabis oil doses are increasing and sedation is expected to lift further.

Alex is suffering from a prolonged form of seizure, known as epilepticus, and has been in Wellington Hospital since early April.

His condition sparked a national debate on the benefits and morality of using cannabis oil for medicinal purposes.

From multiple sclerosis to post traumatic stress syndrome, medical marijuana is increasingly prescribed to treat a number of conditions.

But an analysis of studies compiled by researchers and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports there's little or no benefit for many conditions.

"We've seen brain tumors shrink by a third, seen people survive cancer," said Karl Keich, owner of Seattle Medical Marijuana Association. "I'm not saying cannabis is a cure-all, but it has miraculous medicinal powers and needs to be researched more."

The long-time Fremont dispensary owned by Keich has treated thousands of patients for a variety of conditions with medical cannabis.

But Keich said it's a chicken and egg situation.

If you’ve been following current events on medical cannabis, you will have heard its critics claim there have been no clinical trials to demonstrate it usefulness.  The critics include, to name a few, the President of the Canadian Medical Association; the Canadian Minister of Health; the Director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health in the US, and medical authorities in England and Wales.  The news media carry stories on the subject daily and, whilst some are sympathetic to patients seeking remedies, nearly all echo the above on the lack of scientific evidence, also called ‘hard evidence.’

Earlier this week the Obama administration reduced some severe restrictions on cannabis research, allowing for much more freedom to study the extent of marijuana's medicinal benefits. This news comes at a crucial time in our country where more states are exploring the possibility of legalizing access to medical marijuana but are unsure of how much relief medicinal cannabis can bring to patients.

A County Tyrone man who has a terminal brain tumour says he wants to be allowed to use cannabis oil that he believes will prolong his life.

Kieran McCrory, 37, from Omagh, has asked the health minister for help in highlighting his case.

It is illegal in the UK to use cannabis for medicinal purposes as it is a class B drug.

But a derivative from the drug is used in a spray for MS patients.

Last year, Mr McCrory had just married and was preparing to start a new life in Australia.

In October, without warning, he suffered a number of seizures. He was later diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Prolong

Kieran has been told that he now has between three and five years left to live.