Former senator to lead marijuana company

MSN ^ | 1/1/15 | Molly K. Hooper

[workerbee]

A former Democratic senator will take the reins of a company that makes marijuana products for recreational and health purposes.

Cannabis Sativa Inc., this week announced that 84-year-old former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel will head its subsidiary, Kush, which develops and markets cannabis products including “Kubby” a marijuana-based throat lozenge.

Gravel ran for president in 2008 and served between 1969 and 1981 in the U.S. Senate, where he was a vocal critic of the war on drugs.

"We need to decriminalize drugs and treat them as a health problem," Gravel told Reuters on Wednesday. "You should go see a doctor on the subject, not a sheriff, a police officer or a warden."

[Ken H]

Further proof that national marijuana prohibition is dead.

Intrastate mj regulation is once again in the hands of the states, where it should have been all along per the Tenth Amendment.

[workerbee]

who do I see come election time...Dem Steve Cohen who opposes everything the pastor preaches.

Time to have a "come to Jesus" moment with the pastor?

[Nifster]

Why am I not surprised???

[skeptoid]

I vividly recall Gravel;s nonsensical, pompous,

insufferably egotistical political ads. Truly

revolting.

And just now while refreshing my memory about the

idiot, I found a statement that his degree is from

the Columbia University School of General Studies!

.........A champion huckster and bu!!$h!t artiste.

[catnipman]

Hmmm. My first thought was that Mark Udall had already gotten another job.

[Theodore R.]

People in AK once truly believed in Mike Gravel, but then the state turned sour toward him. They probably never knew of his liberalism.

[Kush]

Just for the record, I am not a subsidiary of Cannabis Sativa, Inc, nor am I now or have ever been led by a Democrat. God forbid...

Kush

[steve86]

MJ retail store near me had $500,000 revenue in first five months.

[caww]

You can’t sell something people don’t want....unfortunately the voume of business this “weed” is selling at says much about our population.....we’ll look like Afganistan if they legalize all drugs....

[steve86]

You can’t sell something people don’t want.

Don't know what your're talking about. Edibles are selling well here.

..we’ll look like Afganistan if they legalize all drugs....

Middle Eastern - Asian -African countries have extremely tough drug laws.

[taildragger]

If drug companies sell a reverse-engineered version of weed for cancer patients & al., why not make the full plant available under tightly controlled conditions? At least C-II? Alcohol of weed (CBD, cannabidiol) does not induce a ‘high (Don’t get me wrong: I do, in fact, draw the line at recreational use.)

I have not seen a major Fortune 500 Drug Company (unless I am wrong) even try or do research in this "marketspace". Why? Has the "Big-Pharma" wrap the left gave them nixed them from doing so? Or is this a ruse to get young Voters so they don't end up with a Felony on their life trajectory which is in many cases a Career/firearm ownership/voting killer? My guess is it is the latter, i.e. keep the young voters from becoming Felons.

What concerns me is a recent study of how this drug can accelerate psychosis and or schizophrenia is someone is genetically inclined to these diseases. It is insanity to allow high potency forms of this drug to be sold in the States that are currently doing so with the potentiality of those States having huge mental health burdens not to far down the road, not including the various vehicular accidents associated with this drugs usage. All this rather than going a pill extracted form for those who truly need it, especially the sub-category variant referred to as "Charlot's Web" which seems to have great potential in seizure disorder related diseases.

The lunatics are truly running the asylum.....

[CutePuppy]

I have not seen a major Fortune 500 Drug Company (unless I am wrong) even try or do research in this "marketspace". Why? Has the "Big-Pharma" wrap the left gave them nixed them from doing so? Or is this a ruse to get young Voters so they don't end up with a Felony on their life trajectory which is in many cases a Career/firearm ownership/voting killer?

There are number of pharma companies involved in production of cannabis derivatives, including some public ones with over $1B in market cap (e.g., GW Pharmaceuticals plc / GWPH) but the size of entire "industry" is pretty small for F500 to get involved, and the actual clinical results from cannabis are overhyped by people using the cause of "medical" marijuana to push for legalization of recreational marijuana (as misguided as they might be thinking that they are limiting the government, while in fact "tax and regulate" is actually increases state government's involvement, control and funding - but that's not unexpected from libertarians and potheads)

See U.S. LEGALIZED CANNABIS INDUSTRY ESTIMATED TO BE WORTH OVER $2 BILLION IN 2014 AS LICENSED MEDICAL MARIJUANA OPERATORS GROW EXPONENTIALLY

All this rather than going a pill extracted form for those who truly need it, especially the sub-category variant referred to as "Charlot's Web" which seems to have great potential in seizure disorder related diseases.

Charlotte's Web is a very-low-THC/high-CBD strains of hemp with a great marketing and publicity campaign (and which was stolen from original developer of the strain) but it is only one strain of many no-THC/high-CBD industrial hemp strains, which may be effective for some epilepsy / seizures control. But pharmaceutical grade hemp oil or chewing gum with high CBD and no (or low, <0.02% THC) has never been illegal and can be legally purchased, even by mail, from US and Canadian sources.

Pro-legalization people often deliberately make no distinction between marijuana cannabis and hemp cannabis, because they are interested in high THC, not CBD (and the "higher" the THC content, the better for them, even if 14%+ are equivalent to morphine strength)

In other words, like you said, a lot of these "medical" wonders of marijuana is used a ruse, without any consideration to the damage it will cause. But then again, they urge others to "live in the moment" while the consequences are in the future.

[Nifster]

and your point is????

[ConservingFreedom]

thinking that they are limiting the government, while in fact "tax and regulate" is actually increases state government's involvement

So if government banned all the things it currently taxes and regulates, that would be a move toward smaller government?

[__rvx86]

The pill I am talking about goes by the trademark MARINOL®. A similar drug is called CESAMET®. Still another is SATIVEX®.

Both are literally isomers of THC, in a pill. Sativex combines both major alcohols (THC and CBD), and is used by cancer patients.

Not only that, natural cannabis contains other compounds that offer different effects: CBG may lower eye pressure in glaucoma patients, CBC may confer anti-inflammatory effects, among other things.

And now, a compromise: (It's my specialty.)

We could probably offer a standardised racemic extract of cannabis that includes all of the major compounds for patients who would otherwise smoke it. Available as a C-II drug.

In other cases, the extract could be separated into the individual compounds and their isomers for other patients. (Not only is cannabis composed of multiple compounds, the compounds are themselves racemic mixtures.) These would be available as C-III drugs.

Making cannabis available in this form would satisfy the pharmaceutical need for the drug, while keeping it away from the hippies.