This Week: Marijuana Linked to Better Brain Function in Bipolar Patients; Cannabinoids Occur Naturally in Mother’s Milk; WA Legalization Initiative Gets 1.25 Million in New Donations; Congressional Med Marijuana Bill Would Lift Ban on Evidence in Fed Court; Children Using Medical Marijuana; Justice Dept Files Asset Forfeiture Case Against Harborside Health Center; San Francisco Considers Outdoor Smoking Ban, Except for Medical Marijuana; Appalachia’s Top Cash Crop; and much more.

MEDICAL

 Marijuana Linked to Better Brain Function in Bipolar Patients– Results from a new study show indicate that bipolar patients with a history of marijuana use have better neurocognitive function than those who have never used cannabis.  The team, from The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York, found that patients with bipolar I (BD I) disorder who used marijuana performed better on tests of attention, processing speed, and working memory than other BD 1 patients, reports Mark Cowen at News Medical.

Cannabinoids Occur Naturally in Mother’s Milk– Woven into the fabric of the human body is an intricate system of proteins known as cannabinoid receptors that are specifically designed to process cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the primary active components of marijuana. And it turns out, based on the findings of several major scientific studies, that human breast milk naturally contains many of the same cannabinoids found in marijuana, which are actually extremely vital for proper human development.

Children Using Medical Cannabis — Why children with Dravet syndrome are using cannabis and why consistent access to their medicine is important.

POLITICS/LEGAL

Congressional Med Marijuana Bill Would Lift Ban on Evidence in Fed Court — U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) and 18 co-sponsors introduced HR 6134, the “Truth in Trials” Act, bipartisan legislation to allow defendants in federal criminal prosecutions the ability to use medical marijuana evidence at trial, a right not currently afforded them.   “The federal government has tilted the scales of justice towards conviction by denying medical marijuana defendants the right to present all of the evidence at trial,” said Congressman Farr. “My bill would restore due process rights to law abiding citizens acting within the parameters of state and local laws. Juries should hear the entire story of a patient’s medical marijuana use before choosing to convict, not the heavily edited version they currently hear.”

WA Legalization Initiative Gets 1.25 Million in New Donations — An initiative to legalize and tax marijuana was buoyed this weekend by $1.25 million in new donations, allowing the campaign to place a big TV ad buy for August.  Initiative 502, the first marijuana-legalization initiative to make the state ballot, raised the money from just four donors, including $450,000 donations from Progressive Insurance founder Peter Lewis and an arm of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance.

Justice Dept Files Asset Forfeiture Case Against Harborside Health Center – Federal prosecutors have targeted Harborside Health Center (HHC) in Oakland, as well as its sister facility in San Jose, for closure and civil asset forfeiture. In court papers filed last week by the US Attorney for the northern district of California, Melinda Haag, the federal government alleges that Harborside is operating in violation of federal law by providing cannabis to state-qualified patients.

San Francisco Considers Outdoor Smoking Ban, Except for Medical Marijuana– Smoking anything other than medically-prescribed marijuana at San Francisco street fairs, festivals and other outdoor events held on city property would be banned under new legislation before the Board of Supervisors.  Supervisor Eric Mar said he introduced the proposal because of the health impacts of secondhand smoke when people light up in public.

Marijuana: Appalachia’s Top Cash Crop — In 2008 alone, Appalachia grew four billion dollars worth of marijuana.  As the economy weakens and jobs become even more scarce in an already impoverished region, more Appalachians have resorted to 21^st century bootlegging. In short, white lightning has been replaced by green lightning.

There’s Been a Tectonic Shift in Marijuana Everywhere But DC — More Americans and local politicians than ever before are demanding an end to marijuana prohibition — but for change to happen, we need federal officials to start listening.

Long Beach, CA Pursues Costly Marijuana Raids, Lawsuits Result — The City of Long Beach, California had an estimated deficit of $14 million in 2011. Yet on June 19, for a medical marijuana collective raid, the local government utilized roughly 14 of its police officers, numerous patrol cars, the fire department, a hospital ambulance, a city official of the Department of Finance (Erik Sund) and an attorney from the City Attorney’s office (Kendra Carney). All were intermittently onsite for an estimated time of 4-5 man-hours.  And it now faces lawsuits as a result of police misconduct during the raid.

LIFESTYLE

Pot Smoking Moms Tired of Being Judged by Wine Drinkers — Moms who use marijuana are tired of the stigma and judgement coming from their wine drinking sisters.

ENTERTAINMENT

Roseanne Calls Out Obama On Pot – In case you didn’t know, Roseanne Barr’s number one issue in her presidential campaign is the legalization of marijuana. And she made that point abundantly clear on Tuesday’s Late Show with David Letterman.  Parodying Charlton Heston’s famous NRA battle cry, Barr said directly to the President, “Obama, you’ll get my joint when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.”

Morgan Freeman on Marijuana — The man who once portrayed God has some definite opinions on the politics of pot.