Clear and bright this early Friday on California’s north coast — sunshine and cold temperatures, down to freezing before sunup.
Accordingly, we should remain in similar conditions until Tuesday, or maybe not.

Weathering unpredictably is a vital key nowadays — going beyond the horrid dumpster-fire of T-Rump’s shenanigans, new marijuana research indicates the weed needs to be freed for medical/health-benefits.
Released yesterday by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, a new 400-page analysis concludes a re-classification of pot is required for further work.

(Illustration found here).

In a time of Jeff Sessions, the academies’ report validates the vast medical benefits of marijuana, as shown in  a shitload of studies the past few years — more than 10,000 scientific studies were examined, with nearly 100 conclusions. Significant item was against the DEA’s listing last August of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, which supposedly means no medical use.
Bullshit says the brainiacs.

Via ARSTechnica yesterday: ‘“It is often difficult for researchers to gain access to the quantity, quality, and type of cannabis product necessary to address specific research questions on the health effects of cannabis use,” concluded the authors, a panel of experts led by Marie McCormick, a pediatrician and public health researcher at Harvard.’

Some other big takeaways from the report (ARSTechnica, also):

— Cannabis and cannabinoids were effective at treating chronic pain, particularly that related to multiple-sclerosis. The substances were also effective for treating chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting in cancer patients.
–Cannabis and cannabinoids use is not linked to cancers that arise from smoking, such as lung and neck cancers. However, smoking may increase respiratory problems, like chronic phlegm, if it’s done on a regular basis.
— Smoking marijuana while pregnant can result in lower birth weights, but it’s unclear if there are long-term effects in children. States in which cannabis use is legal report upticks in accidental poisonings of children compared with states that don’t allow for use.
— There’s not enough research to know how marijuana use relates to heart attack, strokes, or diabetes. But there’s some evidence that smoking pot could trigger a heart attack.
— There’s a little evidence that marijuana could have anti-inflammatory effects, but otherwise there’s not enough research to know how cannabis and cannabinoids affect the immune system or those who are immune-compromised.
— Using marijuana may increase the risk of developing mental health issues, such as schizophrenia, anxiety, and to a lesser extent depression.
There’s a little evidence that using marijuana increases the risk of using other drugs—mostly tobacco. However, the committee found a clear link between people who use marijuana and those prone to developing substance dependence.
— Using marijuana immediately impairs learning, memory, and attention. There’s a little evidence that impairments could linger in people who stop smoking and—for those who start young—could affect educational achievement and employment.

One must remember marijuana does affect/effect — if performed correctly with sense, the results can be way-good.

A good bottom-line on the analysis from Forbes:

The report, which received funding from numerous state, federal, and nongovernmental organizations, revealed several key facts about the state of cannabis research, including some medical applications that the researchers feel can be put to rest.
Based on a 10,000-long list of studies, it concluded that cannabis offers meaningful relief for patients coping with chronic pain, spasticity and pain related to multiple sclerosis, and nausea resulting from chemotherapy.
These conclusions run contrary to a recent federal ruling that kept cannabis in the U.S.’ Schedule I drug category as defined by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, its highest level of restriction.
The drug group, which also contains the likes of heroin, LSD, and GHB (sometimes known as a ‘date-rape drug’), bears the legal qualifications of a high potential for abuse, a lack of accepted safety for supervised medical use, and no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

A part-n-parcel seemingly agreed to by Shithead Sessions: ‘“It’s not so much the attorney general’s job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our jobs and enforce laws effectively as we’re able,” Sessions said during his hearing. “The U.S. Congress made the possession of marijuana in every state — and the distribution — an illegal act. If that’s something that’s not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule.”‘

Yet who can believe…