ProHealth
By Donna Gregory Burch • ProHealth.com • January 25, 2021
(
>2020 was a quiet year for the fibromyalgia community when compared to Lyme or ME/CFS. There were no major headlines, and yet thousands of researchers, physicians and advocates worked behind the scenes, inching toward better treatments, testing and quality of life for fibromyalgia patients.
Below is a summary of some of the most important fibromyalgia-related news stories from the past year. These small but mighty advances should lead to even more progress during 2021.
New Fibromyalgia Drugs Are in the Pipeline
NYX-2925:
In September, biopharmaceutical company Aptinyx, Inc. resumed patient recruitment for a phase 2 study of NYX-2925, a novel N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor modulator, after temporarily halting the trial in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
December 17, 2020
Pexels
Thailand, the sole Asian country to legalise cannabis for medical use , is so keen on educating locals about the drug ’s benefits that tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn this month unveiled a medical marijuana tour that will cover eight provinces, set to kick off next year.
But not too far away, in Singapore, top officials are singing a starkly different tune.
Law and home affairs minister K. Shanmugam has in recent weeks taken to social media on multiple occasions to stress the island nation’s zero-tolerance stance on drugs – marijuana included.
Earlier this month, he told local media Singapore had to “hold the line” on the issue and needed to persuade the international community “based on rationality and science”.
Why is Asia divided on a green light for medical marijuana? Thursday, 17 December 2020
Thailand, the sole Asian country to legalise cannabis for medical use, is so keen on educating locals about the drug’s benefits that tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn this month unveiled a medical marijuana tour that will cover eight provinces, set to kick off next year. But not too far away, in Singapore, top officials are singing a starkly different tune.
Law and home affairs minister K. Shanmugam has in recent weeks taken to social media on multiple occasions to stress the island nation’s zero-tolerance stance on drugs – marijuana included. Earlier this month, he told local media Singapore had to “hold the line” on the issue and needed to persuade the international community “based on rationality and science”.
Commentary on Lebanonâs Medical Cannabis Law
Lebanon
December 14 2020
On 20 April 2020, the Lebanese Parliament passed a law permitting the cultivation, trade, research, and use of medical cannabis. The law covers an array of topics ranging from the types of licenses available to the prevention of monopolization in the industry. In providing a deeper look at the law, W&W has drafted a commentary on the articles therein.
Article 2: Definition of Terms:
Inter alia, the Article defines “Output”, “Import”, “Export”, “Transport”, “Medical Product”, and “Pharmaceutical Product”.
Each of these definitions utilizes the terms “controlled substance” or “controlled substances”. The use of these terms under Lebanese law differs from the usage in the United States under federal law and the drug laws for the majority of the states. For instance, in the United States, the definition of “controlled substance” excludes most hemp or CBD derived from hemp.
Khalil was riding in a car in a Boston suburb with his brother and a friend in 2003 when, he recalls, a police cruiser “put the lights on us and pulled us over.”
The officer claimed that their vehicle matched the description of one involved in a shooting. According to the police report, as the officer approached the car, he saw Khalil “moving about in his seat in an apparent attempt to conceal something.” The officer told Khalil to get out of the car. As he patted him down, he noticed a substance, he would later write, that “through training and experience” he believed could be a package of illegal drugs.