Marijuana Media on 95bFM: Police and Helicopters; Prime Time Drug Doco’s, No Changes for CBD & Your Weekly Worldwide Weed Wrap Up!

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First up on Marijuana Media on 95bFM this week, the NZ Police continue to prioritise law enforcement against cannabis growers and providers, with two “major investigations” in Northland and the Waikato seizing $10 million of cannabis and $17 million of property (NZ Herald). Organised Crime Groups appear involved. Green MP Chloe Swarbrick this week released figures from the Police showing they intend to spend $949k on their Aerial Cannabis Eradication programme which involves spraying poison from the air, potentially on medicinal crops, and most districts oppose as a waste of resources. The funding is up $300k on last summer.

Paddy Gower’s On All The Drugs screened on Tuesday night and is now online at Three Now. It follows last week’s Wasted documentary by Guyon Espiner (available on RNZ and TVNZ On Demand) which led the Minister of Health Andrew Little to admit our drug laws are “certainly not ideal” and “criminalise a lot of behaviour that possibly isn’t criminal”, although he said the Government has no social licence for further reform. Graeme Tuckett reviewed both on Stuff this week, noting “both come down unequivocally on the side of decriminalisation”. Sarah Helm in the Spinoff said Guyon Espiner: Wasted “throws down the gauntlet on drug reform”. There was more at the NZ Herald and Newshub. RNZ looked at how a US President set NZ’s drug laws, with Guyon Espiner writing:

When the 79-year-old President of America, where the War on Drugs began, pardons thousands of people for the crime of possessing marijuana you can smell that change is in the air. When the Economist, a sober, rigorous adherent to economic liberalism, says that Joe Biden is being too timid and it’s time to legalise cocaine, you get a sense of how far-reaching that change might be. When you consider New Zealand, which sees itself as a socially liberal democracy, still maintains a prohibition on cannabis and locks people up just for possessing drugs, you realise how far we are falling behind.

In breaking news this week, the Medicines Classification Committee has recommended no change to the status of CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabis derivative used by thousands of Kiwis to help with conditions such as inflammation, epilepsy, pain, anxiety and sleeplessness. According to Ministry of Health figures, only 6% are accessing it legally. The MCC was considering making low-dose CBD pharmacy-only as this will soon be the case in Australia, so no doctor’s prescription needed and potentially cheaper products for patients. However the committee thought “there are potential safety issues pertaining to drug-drug interactions with CBD” and said it was “not necessary to harmonise with Australia’s scheduling of low-dose CBD.” The committee recommended the classification of low-dose CBD remain unchanged. Australia’s Cannabiz website is the only reportage so far, calling the knocking back of over-the-counter CBD a “Blow for NZ industry”. However, it is just a recommendation, and Medsafe have recently ignored other recommendations from the MCC.

NZ’s Ministry of Health has postponed the consultation on the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme but promised any changes are still planned to be implemented in late 2023. In an email to industry sent on Wednesday, the MOH said they wanted “make sure Ministers are fully briefed because it’s important for us to have confidence that the proposed changes have in-principle support from the Government.”

Meanwhile, a new study widely reported this week found CBD is no better than placebo for pain relief (See Newshub – Pain relief from cannabis may come from simply believing it will help – study). But for anyone suffering pain that is not to be sniffed at: paracetamol, ibuprofen and opioids have also been found to little better than placebos yet they are still useful painkillers. The placebo effect itself is modulated by endocannabinoids at the CB1 receptor, so it should be no surprise that cannabidiol (CBD) has an effect to the placebo, because it is causing it.

In worldwide weed news:

• Rhode Island has begun legal sales of cannabis to adults aged over 21. One of the first buyers was 96-year-old Joe Maraia who bought $40 of macaroons and a cookie.
• US President Joe Biden signed a marijuana research bill into law, making history by enacting the first piece of standalone federal cannabis reform legislation in U.S. history.
• The establishment of Cannabis Social Clubs in Malta has gone from delay to ignition. Their Responsible Cannabis Use Authority (CURA) to soon begin accepting applications for licenses, with clubs expected to open next year.

Our prize for this week was a TOP Hemp Uplift Body Oil, as seen in K Road’s gift shopping guide. Listen each week for your chance to win!

Tune in to bFM Drive’s Jonny and Chris Fowlie from The Hempstore on Marijuana Media, every Thursday at 4:20pm on 95bFM. You can stream or download the pot-cast for this and hundreds of other Marijuana Media shows at 95bFM.com (or via iTunes / RSS feed). Links to all the stories we discuss are posted here at The Daily Blog.