Source: IACM

13 September 2009

1. The Netherlands: Government wants to ban foreigners from
coffee shops

The Dutch government wants to maintain its tolerant policy
towards cannabis and keep so-called coffee shops where
cannabis is sold open, but they should no longer be tourist
attractions, Dutch ministers wrote in a letter that was leaked to
the press on 8 September. The ministers of justice, home affairs
and health wrote that reducing the number of coffee shops and
keeping foreigners out should make it easier to reduce crime and
other nuisances the coffee shops are now causing.

A government memorandum on altering the coffee shop policy
and other drug-related issues is expected this fall. The
government wants to implement a members-only system to keep
tourists out. The Netherlands has been tolerant about the use
and sale of cannabis for three decades. Cultivation and
wholesale of the drug are prohibited however. An advisory
committee said in July that the policy has gotten out of control in
the past 15 years and needs to go back to small, private shops
for local users. The ministers want municipalities to implement a
members-only system, where members can buy up to three
grammes of cannabis each with their (Dutch) bank card. The
ministers will also allow experiments where coffee shops can
have larger quantities of cannabis stocked. Currently, a coffee
shop can have a maximum of 500 grammes in store.

(Source: NRC Handelsblatt of 9 September 2009)

2. Science: Successful reposition of a dislocated shoulder in a rock
climber after inhalation of cannabis

Doctors of the University of Zurich and the Kantonsspital Zug,
Switzerland, reported of the use of cannabis to facilitate the
reposition of a dislocated shoulder in a rock climber. Without
cannabis the athletic 22-year-old patient had very high muscular
tone, and after 20 minutes the shoulder still could not be
relocated. Another climber who was present mentioned that he
was carrying cannabis with him. With the intention to induce
muscular relaxation, the patient agreed to inhalational
administration of cannabis. He took several deep inhalations and
after approximately 5 minutes, the pain and muscular tone
decreased considerably, and the shoulder was relocated easily
on the first try.

Doctors wrote that in the “described case the muscle relaxant
effect of cannabis was quite remarkable, as repositioning the
dislocated shoulder was accomplished with ease after cannabis
administration.” They concluded that “cannabis ingredients may
be effective in certain circumstances as an emergency muscle
relaxant.”

(Source: Schweizer A, Bircher HP. Reposition of a dislocated
shoulder under use of cannabis. Wilderness Environ Med
2009;20(3):301-2.)

3. Science: Controversy on the existence of CB2 receptors on
nerve cells in the brain

The journal “The Scientist” published a report on the controversy
of the existence of cannabinoid-2 receptors on nerve cells in the
brain, citing several scientists active in the field. For example, Dr.
Keith Sharkey, a neurobiologist at the University of Calgary,
Canada, said: “My sense is that there is not very much [CB2] in
the brain under baseline conditions,” but that the receptor
expression gears up during trauma or inflammation. Sharkey and
colleagues found a low density of CB2 receptors on a few nerve
cells in the brain stem and the cerebellum, as well as on immune
cells like microglia in the brain, consistent with the idea that CB2
receptors are mostly absent from brain tissue.

But one researcher’s findings disagree. Microbiologist Dr.
Emmanuel Onaivi at William Paterson University in Wayne,
USA, and his colleagues detected a widespread presence of
CB2 receptors on nerve cells. To date, no other labs have been
able to reproduce Onaivi’s findings. The discussion on this issue
in the journal centred around the appropriate detection method.
The presence of CB2 receptors could have important
implications for the treatment of for example autoimmune
diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

(Source: The Scientist of 10 September 2009)

4. News in brief

USA: California

According to a press release of the San Diego County District
Attorney’s Office police raided 14 “illegal marijuana
dispensaries” and six associated residences and 23 people have
been arrested. The press release calls the dispensaries “nothing
more than for-profit storefront drug dealing operations run by
drug dealers hiding behind the state’s medical marijuana law.”
The Marijuana Policy Project stated that the press release
“attempts to justify the actions using an extremely narrow
interpretation of state law.” (Sources: Press Release of the San
Diego County District Attorney’s Office of 10 September 2009,
MPP of 10 September 2009)

Science: Detection of cannabis use

According to researchers from New York it may not always
work to differentiate the use of isolated THC (dronabinol) and
cannabis by looking for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabivarin
(THCV). The detection of THCV in urine has been suggested
to allow for discrimination between isolated THC use as
medicine and illegal cannabis use. In a study with 117 cannabis
users all produced a positive urine test for THC-COOH, a
metabolite of THC, but 50 per cent had an undetectable level of
THCV-COOH, a metabolite of THCV in urine. (Source: Levin
FR, et al. Drug Alcohol Depend 2009 Sep 2. [Electronic
publication ahead of print])

Science: Colitis

According to researchers at the University of Barcelona, Spain,
the endocannabinoid system is changed in the tissue of the colon
of patients suffering from ulcerative colitis. They concluded from
their studies that “endocannabinoids signalling pathway, through
CB2 receptor, may reduce colitis-associated inflammation
suggesting a potential drugable target for the treatment of
inflammatory bowel diseases.” (Source: Marquéz L, et al. PLoS
One 2009;4(9):e6893.)

Science: Pain after injury

According to research at the University of Munich, Germany,
patients with complex regional pain syndrome after traumatic
injury have significantly higher blood concentrations of the
endocannabinoid anandamide than healthy subjects. They
concluded that the peripheral endocannabinoid system is
activated in complex regional pain syndrome. (Source:
Kaufmann I, et al. Eur Surg Res 2009;43(4):325-329.)

Science: Cannabis dependence

Scientists at the University of South Carolina in Charleston,
USA, investigated the efficacy of buspirone (maximum 60 mg
daily) in a placebo controlled 12-week trial with fifty cannabis
dependent people. Participants receiving busprione reported not
using cannabis in 45.2 per cent of days and participants
receiving placebo reported not using it in 51.4 per cent of days.
(Source: McRae-Clark AL, et al. Drug Alcohol Depend 2009
Aug 20. [Electronic publication ahead of print])

(More at the IACM-Bulletin archives)

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