In April of this year (2016), medical marijuana became legal in Pennsylvania, and lawmakers said children would get the first crack at obtaining the medication. Let’s take a look at recent developments.
Kentucky’s attorney general, Andy Beshear, is suing Johnson & Johnson and its Ethicon subsidiary, alleging the Big Pharma giant “concealed and misrepresented” the risk of its transvaginal mesh products to doctors and patients. Johnson & Johnson called the lawsuit “unjustified.” [1]
A new study in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society shows that tighter air pollution standards would save the lives of thousands of Americans. [1]
Just recently, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said it would not reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug. However, the agency said it would try to make it easier for scientists and companies to access marijuana for research.
Many hoped that the Obama administration would reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule II substance this year, but no such luck. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also announced on August 11 that marijuana would remain illegal under federal law. Other Schedule I substances include heroin, LSD, peyote, ecstasy, quaaludes, and bath salts, among others. [1]
As health officials predicted, the Zika virus is beginning to spread across south Florida, and now a type of genetically modified (GM) mosquito designed to fight the virus has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). [1]
Soybean fields in parts of Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee are plagued by “superweeds” that have become resistant to glyphosate, the main ingredient in biotech company’s Monsanto’s RoundUp herbicide. Farmers are now dousing the plants with illegal chemicals to try and kill the rogue weeds.
Right now, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, right alongside heroin, LSD, peyote, and ecstasy. That’s more than a little ridiculous, considering Schedule I drugs are classified as such because they have “no medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
We know that marijuana does, in fact, have numerous medical uses.
For more than a year, Minnesota residents with a few serious medical conditions have been able to legally purchase medical marijuana. But now, as of August 1, nearly 500 registered patients with intractable pain will finally have access to it, too.
On July 29, state health officials said that 481 patients with severe pain had pre-registered through their doctors to obtain medical marijuana. Under state law, intractable pain is defined as pain that can’t be treated with traditional drugs or therapies. [1]
The nearest Starbucks to me is nearly an hour away – which is strange, I know. The only time I darken the door of one is when I have to talk business, or I’m meeting a friend. I might purchase a cup of coffee from Starbucks 3 times a year.
My 3 cups don’t even represent a fraction of the 4 billion disposable cups that Starbucks goes through in a year. Yup, that’s right – 4 billion. Some 2.5 billion of those cups hold coffees sold in the UK. The cups are made of paper, but they’re rarely recycled or composted because they’re lined with plastic.
