Pubdate: Fri, 13 Jun 2014
Source: Progress-Index, The (VA)
Copyright: The Progress-Index 2014
Contact:  http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=2271
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2274
Author: Bob Young, the Seattle Times
Page: B8

NOT THE POT THEY GOT

Some Medical Marijuana Isn't What It's Supposed to Be

SEATTLE - Jessica Tonani, a Seattle biotech executive, has what she 
calls a "broken stomach." Put politely, she doesn't digest food 
properly, which can cause vomiting, nausea and severe weight loss.

She's had multiple surgeries, tried all the recommended treatments 
for her disorder and sits twice weekly for intravenous infusions.

Ms. Tonani, 38, decided several years ago to try pot. And it has 
worked for her, she said, especially strains low in the psychedelic 
chemical THC and high in the nonpsychoactive ingredient cannabidiol, 
known as CBD.

As a medical marijuana patient, Ms. Tonani knows it can be hard to 
find the rare strains that don't make you high - and it can be even 
harder to get the same kind of pot consistently.

Testing shows that some marijuana strains are not what they purport 
to be in name, chemical content and genetics. This is particularly 
concerning for patients seeking pot low in intoxicants and high in 
pain-relief or other therapeutic qualities.

One strain widely known for its high CBD and popular among medical 
marijuana patients is called Harlequin. But when Ms. Tonani and a 
leading Seattle pot-testing lab analyzed 22 samples of Harlequin from 
various growers and dispensaries, five of them were high in THC and 
had virtually no CBD, which means people trying to take medicine were 
just getting high instead.

Misnaming and inconsistent chemical profiles are extremely common, 
said Dr. Michelle Sexton, a naturopath, founder of PhytaLAB and an 
adviser to the state Liquor Control Board.

This problem can be significant for patients who don't want to be 
stoned while working or behind the wheel. It's even more so for 
pediatric patients. "You don't want a 6-year-old with epilepsy being 
put on a bus under the influence of a psychedelic chemical," Ms. Tonani said.

And there's this irony: Recreational pot users will soon have greater 
assurances about the safety and chemical content of the pot they buy 
at retail stores in the state's new legal pot system than the 
best-educated patients have in the largely unregulated medical 
system, where testing and accurate labeling are not mandated for dispensaries.

"It's completely backward from what it should be," said Randy Oliver, 
chief scientist at Analytical 360, the lab that collaborated with Ms. 
Tonani's firm, Verda Bio, on the research.

Alison Holcomb, chief author of Initiative 502, which legalized adult 
possession of marijuana, noted that I-502 is not - as many call it - 
a recreational pot law. Its requirement that all products display THC 
and CBD content is likely to make medical patients more informed.

"It creates a legal marijuana market. The requirements apply equally 
to all marijuana that is being used, whatever the purpose of 
consumption," said Ms. Holcomb, director of criminal justice for the 
ACLU of Washington state.

There's still some mystery, due to a lack of scientific research, 
about how certain chemicals in pot impact different people.

But there's enough evidence about the anticonvulsant qualities of CBD 
that the federal government's only pot-growing facility plans to 
produce up to 600 kilos of high-CBD marijuana for study.

"The whole thing is just so loose and unregulated," said Dr. Mahmoud 
ElSohly, director of the Marijuana Research Project at the University 
of Mississippi, about medical marijuana in states such as Washington. 
Dr. ElSohly's goal is to grow high-CBD pot, with a very consistent 
chemical profile so it can be used in standardized research.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom