Sunday, October 17, 2010

Limits on THC in medical marijuana unfounded

Limits on THC in medical marijuana unfounded

by Chris Goldstein - The Department of Health and Senior Services offered dozens of new restrictions on medical marijuana in their draft regulations for New Jersey’s law. But the limitation on THC content to just 10% is one of the key concerns.

“Are they serious?” was an almost universal reaction from dozens of potential patients who contacted me after the regulations were released. This time it was from Stephen Cuspilich of Burlington County, who lives with Crohn’s Disease.

“It’s awful. How is that supposed to work for me?”

DHSS held a public meeting for potential Alternative Treatment Center operators this week. Deputy Commissioner Dr. Susan Walsh took questions and a lot of heat about the THC issue.

Walsh stated that the department’s scientific research into THC content came primarily from the University of California San Diego and the University of Mississippi.

It happens that those two study programs work with only a single strain of marijuana supplied by the federal government. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) oversees that federal marijuana cultivation.

But NIDA is not concerned with producing quality medical marijuana. According to a Boston Globe feature article:
"…the institute's director, Nora Volkow, has stressed that it's 'not NIDA's mission to study the medicinal use of marijuana or to advocate for the establishment of facilities to support this research.'" READ FULL ARTICLE

Restricting any of the cannabinoid content of New Jersey’s medical marijuana was not part of the legislation and for good reason: Marijuana and the component cannabinoids are safe.

Greater cannabinoid levels, not just THC but also the non-psychoactive compound CBD, benefit patients in their treatment.

Read full article

http://www.examiner.com/norml-in-philadelphia/nj-leave-thc-levels-unregulated

1 comment:

  1. You really need to test your medical marijuana thc levels before you purchase anything from your dispensary. Testing for THC levels can let you know that you are getting the right strength of medical marijuana that is prescribed to you by your medical doctor. Also, you can find out if the medical marijuana that your local dispensary is selling you is what they have advertised for you. The best way to test for the potency is to buy a high quality testing device such as the one from CDx Life. These are portable devices that you can use to check for the thc levels and potency quickly no matter where you are.

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