Archive for the ‘Medical’ Category
The Gisborne Herald: Cannabis ‘safer than alcohol’
February 24th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Great to see some more content in Kiwi papers…
All drugs can be dangerous. But in the scale of harms, moderate cannabis use should not cause any notable health or social concerns. The fact is, the average use of cannabis is safer than alcohol, tobacco, jogging, riding a bike, water skiing, football etc. Why aren’t these activities banned?
The mental health issues have recently been cleared up and only those with a family history of mental health disorders are at risk of lasting psychosis. Cannabis does not cause schizophrenia at all but it mimics the symptoms until the effects of the cannabis wears off. And young people are at risk because of their developing brains. As for healthy adults though, there will probably never be any problems for them from moderate use.
Just to top it off, Keele university in the UK found that although cannabis use has risen 400 percent since the late 1980s, cases of mental health disorders have not increased in step but actually decreased slightly. With 180 million users worldwide, there would be a pandemic if cannabis caused the harm reported by the media. — T.W.
Marijuana use by seniors goes up as boomers age
February 23rd, 2010
Dakta Green
By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer Matt Sedensky, Associated Press Writer Mon Feb 22, 4:08 pm ET
MIAMI – In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana.
Long a fixture among young people, use of the country’s most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s grows older.
The number of people aged 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Medical marijuana protest planned for Obama visit
February 19th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
DENVER (AP) – Medical marijuana advocates plan to protest recent drug raids during President Barack Obama’s visit to Denver.
Obama will be in town Thursday campaigning for Sen. Michael Bennet. His visit comes two days after a man who was allegedly growing over 200 marijuana plants in his Highlands Ranch home was charged with a federal crime.
Colorado is one of 14 states that allow medical marijuana and the Obama administration has said it wouldn’t target people who were in compliance with such laws.
But Denver’s top federal drug agent says Colorado’s law isn’t clear and the Highlands Ranch grower appeared to be violating it by growing so many plants.
Agents have also confiscated marijuana in recent weeks from two labs set up to test marijuana used in dispensaries.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Source: http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=133009&catid=346
Calif. Research Shows Pot Can Ease Muscle Spasms
February 18th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 17, 2010
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The first U.S. clinical trials in more than two decades on the medical benefits of marijuana confirm pot is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses, according to a report issued Wednesday.
Read the full article here, if you pay for it…
TVNZ: Calls for laws to be softened
February 11th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
A high powered legal team is calling for cannabis laws to be softened, with the penalties reduced for those caught with a small amount of the illegal drug.
The Law Commission also wants sick New Zealanders to be able to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
The commission says large scale commercial drug dealing wreaks havoc in New Zealand’s communities and the law should continue to impose heavy penalties in these cases.
But President Sir Geoffrey Palmer says the Misuse of Drugs Act is over 30-years-old and patterns of drug use have changed markedly over this time.
Addressing the issue in Detroit
February 8th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
2 bills would legalize medical marijuana
January 29th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
Laws would be more stringent than other states’, Morhaim says
Sen. David Brinkley, center, and Del. Dan Morhaim, right, co-sponsors of medical marijuana legislation to be introduced this session, held a press conference with patients, including Debby Miran, left, and other legislators to explain the details of the bill, which will be more restrictive than the ones enacted in other states. Miran, of Lutherville, used medical marijuana for four months while undergoing treatment for leukemia and a bone marrow transplant. (Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis / January 26, 2010)
Medical marijuana doctors “need to come out of the closet and be part of the solution,” says CannaMed medical director
January 27th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
WestWord.com: Attorney Rob Corry has significant issues with Senator Chris Romer’s legislation concerning the relationship between doctors and medical marijuana patients.
Less critical is Dr. Paul Bregman, the medical director of the CannaMed USA doctor referral service. Bregman actually believes the senator “is on the right track” even though the doc’s a comparatively high-volume prescriber of the sort who’s drawn criticism from both Romer and Ned Calonge, Colorado’s chief medical officer. Moreover, he encourages other doctors working in this specialty area to “come out of the closet and be part of the solution.”
Most medical marijuana physicians are laying low right now, but Bregman, a trained radiologist who’s been involved in the prescribing of medical marijuana for around three years, is open to speaking with the press — although he’s not always happy with the results. In today’s Denver Post article about Romer’s bill, he complains about being misquoted: “They used the word ‘ridiculous,’ and I didn’t say the word ‘ridiculous.’ I said ‘outside the law,’” he maintains.
Beverly Hills NORML Director Cheryl Shuman testifies on the cruelty of banning medical marijuana patients from transplant lists
January 25th, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
NORML.org: Recently the Los Angeles City Council held hearings on the thorny issue of medical marijuana dispensary regulation. For years city officials have abrogated their duty to create sensible regulations for the dispensaries that have proliferated across the Los Angeles basin. The number of dispensaries has ballooned to over 500 (not the 1,000+ often claimed) following an ineffective moratorium on the retail medical marijuana outlets.
As usual, the hearings were packed, with medical marijuana patients and activists flooding the chambers to add their testimony to the record. One citizen petitioning her government for a redress of grievances was the Executive Director of the new Beverly Hills NORML 90210 (http://www.norml90210.org/become-a-member.php), Cheryl Shuman. In sixty seconds of testimony, Cheryl recounts her own personal medical marijuana tragedy, one that has befallen many desperately ill patients who use cannabis — even legally — and require life-saving organ transplants… Read the rest of this entry »
Virginia looking to Decriminalize Marijuana
January 23rd, 2010
Dakta Bourbon
ohhburn.com: Lawmakers in Virginia are looking to decriminalize marijuana! Republican Delegate Harvey B. Morgan, a pharmacist, has 31 years in the House and is the second-most senior delegate. He says he thinks criminalizing pot has done nothing to curb its use and is introducing House Bill 1134 that would change simple possession from possible jail time to a civil fine of $500. The bill also looks to increase the amount of weed needed to be considered for the charge of possession with the intent to distribute and remove the mandatory two and five-year sentences for distribution.