Category: Health News

KINGSTOWN, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has exported a cargo of 110 pounds (49.8 kilos) of medical cannabis after receiving a license for export to Germany, according to official announcements and a local official familiar with the matter.

Saint Vincent, a Caribbean nation with a population of just over 110,000 people, has for years developed its local cannabis industry. In 2018, Saint Vincent created a state agency to oversee licensing and ensure its medical cannabis is available to local patients.

The shipment left on Jan. 18 and is expected to arrive in Germany on Jan. 19, said the official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The cargo was sold by Caribbean Cannabis Company, which already markets several products locally, according to the source.

Caribbean Cannabis Company

A recent issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry from January 1, 2022 contained new research data and an incisive editorial that advances our understanding of whether cannabis can cause, or is merely associated with, psychosis.

The association of cannabis with psychosis was first noted by the Scottish psychiatrist Thomas Clouston after visiting the Cairo asylum in 1896, where 40 out of the 253 patients had insanity attributed to hashish. Studies since then have conclusively documented cannabis’s association with schizophrenia-like psychosis.

For example, in 1987, 45,750 Swedish army conscripts were asked about their drug use. Those who had used cannabis more than 50 times were six times more likely to develop schizophrenia over the next 15 years than those who had never used it. (1) Analysis of multiple research studies shows an average two-fold increase in psychotic outcomes for typical cannabis users and an almost four-fold increase for the heaviest

Cannabis ‘pushed off’ drugs list

ONCB source says draft may flout pacts

The Ministry of Public Health’s committee on narcotic control on Thursday endorsed a draft ministerial announcement under a new drug law that excludes some cannabis from the narcotics list.

Dr Thongchai Kiratihatthayakon, the ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, said a majority voted to support the draft, which was approved by a sub-committee.

The draft will be forwarded to the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) for consideration on Tuesday. The meeting will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.

If approved, the draft will be signed into law by the public health minister and announced in the Royal Gazette for promulgation.

“We have completed our task to push cannabis off the drug list,” Dr Thongchai said.

Dr Paisarn Dankum, secretary-general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said the FDA will draft a regulation for controlling cannabis plantations.

“There is

Thursday marks the end of President Joe Biden’s first year in office—and, by and large, his campaign promises on marijuana policy have so far gone unfilled. And while certain federal agencies have taken some positive reform steps, the administration managed to stir controversy over some outwardly hostile actions with respect to cannabis policy.

Contrary to Biden’s campaign pledges, cannabis has not been federally decriminalized, people remain in federal prison over non-violent marijuana offenses and the plant has yet to be rescheduled under the Controlled Substances Act. Of the cannabis promises that Biden made while running for president, just one has been met so far: the government has continued to let states implement marijuana reform mostly without federal intervention, though ongoing lack of clarity from the administration has caused continuing complications for the industry and consumers.

In one of the more notable positive developments to come out of the Oval Office,