Natural Products Laboratory Receives Green Light to Begin Extracting CBD-Oil

Harper Grace Durval.  Photo taken from WAPT

 

On May 6, The Natural Products Laboratory at the University of Mississippi was given the green light to begin refining cannabis into a CBD-oil concentrate by the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

This puts parents of children suffering from severe cases of epilepsy, as defined in Harper Grace’s law signed by Governor Phil Bryant on April, 17, one step closer to having another option in treating their children. With other options being medications with hefty side-effects or invasive brain-surgery.

CBD-oil is a less invasive treatment and holds fewer reported side-effects. It is a concentrate extracted from cannabis plants with low THC, the defining psychoactive compound of marijuana, levels and high cannabidiol, CBD, levels that have shown promise in treating those diagnosed with epilepsy. The other large difference between CBD-oil and typical current medical marijuana treatments is that the oil will be administered orally rather than smoked.

“I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for not only these universities, but for our state to shine” said Senator Josh Harkins. “We’ve had a lot of firsts at UMMC with the first heart transplant, Dr. Gay and her research with HIV, this could be real monumental.”

NPL has genetically manipulated their in-house plants to have exceptionally high CBD-levels. These high-CBD strains they have engineered will be ready to harvest between October and November. The CBD-oil is expected to be on NIDA’s inventory list by January 2015.

This doesn’t mean that patients will be seeing CBD medication as soon as the plants are ready to harvest, there are still a few more hurdles to clear before patients will be able to receive their cannabis-derived treatments.

Receiving a federal level of approval was the biggest one for Harper Grace’s law as this is where the majority of criticism was aimed by marijuana reform groups such as NORML and the Marijuana Policy Project(MPP), as well as the narrowness of who this bill would help.

MPP legislative analyst, Rachelle Yeung, said that she felt the meta-effect of CBD-only legislation would be overall positive for the medical marijuana movement.

This sentiment was shared in an official statement from the MPP that Harper Grace’s law was a strong endorsement by Mississippi lawmakers of the medicinal benefits of cannabis, and a step in the right direction.

Current national progress of marijuana

“I didn’t want people getting cloudy, thinking, ‘Oh this marijuana, no I’m voting against it,’,” said Senator Harkins.

The low THC factor has been a line Mississippi lawmakers refuse to compromise on. Despite being a decriminalized state and being home to the only federal marijuana farm in the nation, medical marijuana is still a fiercely opposed movement by many of our states senators and representatives.

Gov. Bryant has stated that he only considered CBD-exclusive treatment after being assured that there was no way for the patient to get high. This was mirrored by Senator Harkins who, when originally approached the godmother of Harper Grace to legalize CBD-oil, was hesitant to do anything beyond looking into the situation.

He credits the first ten minutes of Sanjay Gupta’s CNN-documentary, “Weed”, for his change of mind and heart regarding his stance on cannabis derived treatment. He also added that if studies once more studies are done on the medicinal value of THC, he would be open to looking into the matter.

Deputy director of NORML, Paul Armentano, gave a statement via email saying that, “these measures do not represent any significant-change law, only the illusion of change. While the passage of these measures may pose symbolic victories for legislators, they fail to provide tangible benefits to constituents that they are intended to serve.”

Senator Harkins responded with the reasoning that in order to get the bill signed, he needed to make sure there were controls in place that would ease Governor Phil Bryant’s worries that this could be abused in some manner.

Those controls being that only Ole Miss will be able to cultivate and extract the CBD from cannabis plants, and only the University of Mississippi Medical Center(UMMC) will be able to distribute it.

Dr. Mahmoud ELSohly, Director of the CBD-oil project, could not be reached directly for a comment as he was out sick.

NPL’s communication specialist, Erin Garrett

“If we’re going to be providing this, we want to make sure we’re not saying you can have some CBD-oil, but it comes from Bubba’s CBD Shop on some backwoods country road,” said Senator Harkins. “We’re doing this in a responsible way that people can feel comfortable with what they’re taking is low THC and high CBD.”

The amount of protection patients would receive from being prosecuted for possessing the CBD-oil was a large point of concern from the MPP who released an action alert stating that Harper Grace’s law would not provide an affirmative defense for patients. Senator Harkins was quick to correct the misinterpretation.

“The bill provides an exemption [for CBD-extracts] from the schedule I class of narcotics,” Senator Harkins clarified. He added, “People didn’t read the bill that are making assumptions.”

The next hurdle patients will have to clear is that the UMMC, who will be distributing the CBD-oil, will need approval from the Federal Drug Administration. The UMMC could not be reached for comment on the progress of the approval process thus far.

A day at the lot

A friend gives Buelow some advice and shows him how to correct a trick he is having trouble learning.

Not every trick is a success, especially when you’re starting out.

His beater board has seen better days.

Buelow positions his feet for a pop shove-it.

Buelow attempting a Casper, a ground trick more typical of skateboardings early days of technical, ground tricks.

What works 4/8: The Most Futuristic Gaming Tech at GDC 2014

For this What Works I chose a video story by Destructoid. While it isn’t hard news or watchdog journalism, it does report on the growing field of virtual reality technology in a way that anyone can understand. You won’t hear ostracizing, industry jargon from Max, quite the opposite actually.

Knowing his audience and what they respond to, he talks in a way they can relate to. What this entails is swearing and editorialized jokes. You wouldn’t hear this candid style of delivery on a mainstream news outlet, but here it works perfectly. He starts by explaining the relevance of the technology at GDC(Game Developer Conference) that he will be discussing and then eases into the actual coverage of the virtual reality technology.

He uses quotes, but includes no actual interviews as those would most likely be posted as their own videos to maximize ad revenue. The b-roll used is spot on as far as relevancy is concerned, though that wasn’t a concern going into the video as there are ample opportunities to film things at a conference like this where the sole purpose is to show off their awesome new tech. Overall this is a solid video that maintains the polished appearance expected from a media outlet that has been around long enough to know exactly what they’re doing and who they’re doing it for.

A Baby Boomer’s Millennial: Jordan Donovan

 

 

Jordan Donovan eating string beans

Looking at Jordan Donovan, face in a textbook on the subject of discrete math at 9 o’clock on a Friday night, you might think of him as a model student. Donovan would be quick to tell you otherwise, though.

Yesterday’s Charm, Today’s Debate

Shaw House front. Photo taken from HottyToddy.com

As the city moves forward into the 21st century, the historic value many of Oxford’s properties hold is beginning to conflict with the need to house the ever increasing student body of Ole Miss.

At yesterday’s Board of Aldermen meeting, all sides with interest in the future of the Shaw House were present and ready to defend what they saw as the proper future use of the poroperty. Dispute over this has become the most recent example of balancing the two Oxfords, the historic old and new.

Officials are tasked with balancing the history of Oxford’s past with the needs of the present. While this opens the door for debate, the fate of one property is turning into a full out dispute, requiring lawyers from both parties to speak with the Board of Aldermen.

The appeal was to revoke the certificate of appropriateness Brian Development received for their plan to build a 19-unit condominium complex. The certificate is what grants permission to go forward with the plan Brian Development presented for the Shaw House property.

Joyce Freeland represented  William and Polina Wheeler, neighbors of the Shaw House property, voiced the wheeler’s concern over how the construction would impact their neighborhood as the current plan would destroy up to 70 trees.

“Everyone adversely affected, if their property is adversely affected, should have equal appeal rights,” said Freeland.

This raises an interesting point. As a historic property that impacts properties surrounding it just by being there, it is subject to public opinion. However, Brian Development Lawyer, George Haymans, presents how state law defines who can and cannot appeal a decision.

“If a property owner…is denied a certificate of appropriateness, the property owner may appeal,” said Haymans.

The reason Haymans brings this is up is that the property owner, the Oliver A. Shaw trust, has no disagreements with the demolition and development of the Shaw House and there was no denial.

Alderman John Morgan agreed that there were questions of legality that needed to be clarified.

“There’s technicalities all over the place,” said Alderman Morgan, “but the biggest question is whether we think it’s legal and should send it back.”

John Shaw, son of Eleanor and Oliver Shaw as well as a trustee of the property, wrote a letter to Mayor Patterson endorsing the Brian Development plan and that without question, he and the other trustees support the development of the Shaw property.

“We are very excited to watch the character of this property develop over the years and are glad it is not like the cookie cutter projects allowed around their family home,” Shaw wrote.

It is evident that the Shaw trust is ready to part ways with the property and allow it to be developed, but the neighbors simply are not.

The lack of an official record for the Historic Preservation Commitee meeting when the certificate was granted created problems for the Board of Aldermen.

City planner Tim Akers and Asst. City Planner Katrina Hourin acted in place of an official record for the meeting as minutes from the Historic Preservation Commitee meeting had not been adopted yet.

Alderman Jay Hughes passed a motion that, as part of due process, the wheelers have a right to appeal as decided by state law and that the Historic Preservation Committee did not comply with city ordinance.

A tweet from Tom Freeland, who also represents the Wheelers, suggests that Brian Development may resubmit a plan with the condominiums intended for rental rather than for sale as the process is defined differently and would require less special exceptions.

Word is that developer at the Shaw house is going to try to run through as rental property the project that was turned down as sale/condos.

— Tom Freeland (@NMissC) March 19, 2014

 

Old Taylor Road Construction Raises Concerns

Ground broke on March 1st for the Old Taylor road bridge widening and roundabout construction

Oxford, MS — In recent years Old Taylor Road has seen large growth and increased pedestrian traffic. This has exasperated both the need for improvements to the bridge as well as the pressure to complete the addition of the two lanes by August 15th before Ole Miss’ fall semester begins.

In the fall, Ole Miss sees huge population spikes in the form of move-in day and during football season where thousands of fans are funneled on and off campus through the Old Taylor entrance. On average the bridge sees 11,000 vehicles heading south and 13,000 heading north, according to an article from Daily Journal. Though the project is in the hands of MDOT, these worries are at the forefront of city engineer Bert Robinson’s mind.

Robinson was able to be reached by email and when asked what concerns he had regarding the completion of bridge improvements before August he said that the project schedule was ambitious with some large incentives to complete the bridge work on time.

“We have major concerns that the bridge will not be complete by the time school starts back in the fall strictly because of the volume of traffic,” said Robinson. “However, MDOT has spent a great deal of time and resources to insure the bridge is open by August.”

Robinson says it is an ambitious project with some large incentives to complete the bridge work on time and some substantial penalties for failure to complete it on time. Will three months be enough time to widen the Old Taylor Bridge and have it ready for the high traffic flow that comes with every Fall Semester at Ole Miss?

Despite assurance from the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Robinson that Talbot Brothers Construction Company is quite capable and has done a lot work for MDOT in the recent years, many Oxford locals are still left unsure.

“It’s gonna get pretty ugly if the bridge isn’t opened by next semester,” said Ole Miss sophomore Harrison Dickens. “They’re building that road through Whirlpool with summer traffic in mind, not football season.

While traffic concerns are prevalent in many students minds, others are more worried about the ramifications not meeting the tight schedule would have on pedestrians going from their housing on Old Taylor to the Grove considering that OUT does not run busses down Old Taylor on game days.

“My main worry about the bridge not getting finished in time is what happens to people that walk to the Grove from Old Taylor if the bridge isn’t there,” Said Oxford local Ty Meadows. “Getting a ride to drop you off isn’t always the easiest thing. I’m really hoping that the Whirlpool road isn’t going to be our best option.”

Though the financial burden of $6.4 billion is on MDOT, the city itself will likely take the brunt of the backlash if there is an extension to the bridge’s closure. Three months is an ambitious schedule for the overpass related goals of the project, even more so when considering the possibility of bridge construction continuing into the fall semester.

While corresponding with Robinson, he gave further detail on the relief road being constructed through the whirlpool facility from Coliseum Drive.

“The Coliseum Drive temporary road will be constructed on top of the existing parking and drive areas,” said Robinson. “The guard house will be removed and there will be a fence installed adjacent to the temporary road.”

Temporary Road route from Coliseum Drive. Original Image taken from Google Maps

Talbot Brothers Construction Company were unable to be reached for comment on how they feel about the construction schedule.

What Works 3/4

Article

Radioshack is the type of store nearly everyone in my generation group up going to, because no other store had the massive amount of selection on things you hardly ever need. As the years go on, more and more stores are falling due to the costs of running a brick and mortar business, just last year Blockbuster closed down it’s last store in the U.S. Radioshack is following suit and shutting down 1,100 stores due to weak holiday sales, leaving 4,000 open.

People are no longer making the trek to go buy electronics. The appeal of ordering everything you need from the comfort of your bed is becoming too much for these traditional companies to compete with, especially when online dealers lack of overhead allows them to price so competitively.

The article goes into detail on the specifics of the company’s financial shortcomings. Despite bringing in a new Chief Executive, Joseph C. Magnacca, the situation has not improved and revenues are continuing to decline. Dropping below their typical $1.17 billion fourth quarter revenues to $935.4 million, things are not looking good.

The article uses sales figures rather than a large selection of people for sources. This works just fine since the article is more a finance piece than anything.

Finding footage of Radioshack’s traffic on the holidays they underperformed on would have been a good addition in getting the point across about how poorly they’re doing.

One thing that bothered me about the article was that Magnacca mentioned some operational issues that attributed to the lack of success but there was no follow up on that in the article. What kind of operational issues are so large that they’re on the list of reasons a company lost millions of dollars and had to shut down 1,100 stores?

What works 2/25

Colorblind Notion Aside, Colleges Grapple With Racial Tension

On the front page of nytimes.com the articles title doesn’t give a racial context for colorblind, I was curious what ideas for a colorblind college needed to be checked by reality.

A delayed lead sets the tone, describing a brochure from the university of Michigan that features a racial diverse group of friends. The lead’s followed immediately by the two nutgraphs telling you about the racial tension and “back to da hood” party thrown by an on campus frat.

The scene at the undergraduate library one night last week was quite different, as hundreds of students and faculty members gathered for a 12-hour “speak out” to address racial tensions brought to the fore by a party that had been planned for November and then canceled amid protests. The fraternity hosting the party, whose members are mostly Asian and white, had invited “rappers, twerkers, gangsters” and others “back to da hood again.”

Beyond the immediate provocation of the party, a sharp decline in black undergraduate enrollment — to 4.6 percent of the student body in 2013 from 6.2 percent in 2009 — and a general feeling of isolation among black students on campus have prompted a new wave of student activism, including a social media campaign called “Being Black at the University of Michigan” (or, on Twitter, #BBUM). Members of the university’s Black Student Union have petitioned campus administrators to, among other things, increase enrollment of black students to 10 percent.

While the article starts out focused on the racial tension present at the University of Michigan’s campus, Vegta wiens teh scope as teh article goes on. By the end, we’ve been presented with racial discomfort from across teh entire nation. The University of Mississippi is even mentioned specifically regarding the noose around James Meredith’s statue.

Vega pulls sources from campuses all over the country, packing in as many student quotes as she can. She uses outright stats sparingly, opting to let what the students and faculty of universities have to say convince you of the racial tension present in our culture.

The quote that really summarizes the modern state of racism is by Zach Fields:

“I feel like they don’t mean to be so offensive,” Mr. Fields, 20, said of the party organizers. “It’s not a conscious racism. It’s subconscious.”

The article does a good job touching on the many angles racism can approach a culture from without coming across as screaming at the whites to stop being racist.

OUT Bus Green Route Extension Expected

Oxford — The Mark has long been in need of a bus stop on the OUT network, with residents’ nearest option to catch the bus being nearly half a mile away at the connection. Finally, residents of the last apartment complex on the left are getting their wish sometime this year.

The Oxford University Transit commission green-lit a $2.5 million budget for 2014 put together by city planner Tim Akers to be presented to the Mississippi department of Transportation. Among the bus purchases and repairs in the new budget is an extension of the Green route, that services Old Taylor Road, to now run to city limits which would give residents of The mark and soon to be completed Faulkner Flats a safer and more convenient bus stop. The change is expected this year but no definite date has been given.

The lack of service to a single apartment doesn’t scream for attention on the surface, but most students’ options for getting to campus are battling campus parking, biking to campus, or making the trek to the Connection, most would agree the addition to the bus route can’t come soon enough.

One student who lived at The Mark from fall of 2012 to spring of last year cites the lack of public transport as his main incentive to move further up Old Taylor Road so he would have access to the OUT bus stop at University Trails.

“It was the worst,” said Ole Miss junior Corey Simmons. “I had to leave my apartment in the back of The Mark by 7:00 in the morning to make it to the bus stop at the Connection by 7:30 or I’d end up being late for my 8:00 class. It sounds like I’m just whining about having to walk, but it gets really cold at 7:15 in the morning, especially when there’s rain pouring down. The lack of a sidewalk didn’t help much either.”

Simmons assumed not having a car in Oxford, MS wouldn’t be a problem given what a small town it is and the good things he had been told about the bus system here. He also had the unfortunate luck of having a class schedule did not line up with any friends who drove to campus and at the time didn’t own a bike.

“My car finally gave up on me a few weeks before school started,” said Simmons. “A couple friends who were already going here said it wouldn’t be a problem ‘cause there are bus stops everywhere and parking on campus wasn’t worth the trouble.”

The lack of quick access to public transport doesn’t only act as an incentive for students to move out of the apartment complex, but for some the lack of a nearby bus stop can be a deal breaker for moving into The Mark. This is exactly the case for sophomore IMC major Shawn Buelow as he looks into housing options for the fall.

“I’ve got a couple friends that live out there. Their place is really nice, you don’t get a lot noise from neighbors or anything, but one thing I hear always complain about is how much of a pain it is to have to walk from the Connection to their apartments,” said Shawn Buelow.

The reason having convenient access to an OUT bus is such a large factor is due to the fact that Buelow does not own a bike that he could ride to and from campus and, while he does actually own a car, the price of a parking sticker and subsequent headache of dealing with Ole Miss’ parking problem has him looking into other housing developments.

“Where I live now isn’t the worst place but I’d really like to get closer to campus,” said Buelow. “There are other places on Old Taylor to live, but they’re not all as quiet or have as much room as The Mark does.”

In addition to the extension of the OUT bus’s Green Route to the city limits, the Orange route will now be running an hour later servicing until 6:30 and the Yellow Route is extending its line to include West Oxford Loop.