Archive for the ‘News’ Category
AMA Ends 72-Year Policy, Says Marijuana has Medical Benefits
November 11th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
NORML.org also has a similar article http://blog.norml.org/2009/11/10/ama-calls-for-ending-the-schedule-i-lie/
HOUSTON — The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, “Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes,” which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, “short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis.” Furthermore, the report urges that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.”
Pot dispensaries spread like weeds
November 9th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Taken from http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=294287&ac=PHnws
Patient consultant Sean Fitzgerald, top, assists a patient at the medical marijuana dispensary in Sebastopol, which has more registered patients than the California town has people.
EBASTOPOL, Calif. — The medical marijuana dispensary in this California wine country town is in a former auto dealership and has more registered patients than the town has residents. Los Angeles has more pot shops than Starbucks or schools.
The surge in medical marijuana in California has left many communities scrambling to regulate the free-for-all, while others are trying to ban the drug altogether. The issue took on greater urgency after the Obama administration announced looser federal marijuana guidelines last month.
Similar concerns are now being heard in Maine.
On Tuesday, Maine voters approved a measure to allow the creation of medical marijuana dispensaries and expand the number of conditions for which the drug can be prescribed.
Marijuana Mamas – The Secret Lives of Cannabis Using Moms
November 8th, 2009
Dakta Green
Today on www.momlogic.com there was an amazing article called “Marijuana Mamas!” It’s hopeful to read that other Moms who are in the same situation I am in are “Coming out of the Cannabis Closet”.
Us Moms fear the “Bad Mom” label – and we all know that “society” slaps that one on us for our choice of Cannabis as medicine and recreation. It’s sad and wrong and we must try and change these views. Here is the comment I left:
I too, am a “Marijuana Mama” – and like so many other Moms, we face stigma over our cannabis use. We live with the fear of having our kids taken away or being incarcerated because we choose the safer choice – Cannabis – over addicting, zombifying, full of side effects prescription narcotics and alcohol.
Like other Moms have mentioned, using Cannabis ENABLES me to be the best Mom I can be. Before Cannabis I was a walking pharmacy, Big Pharma had a grip on my doctor & I had become a victim of the pharmaceutical industry. In early 2006 I had such a horrible reaction to a prescription medication that I ended up in the hospital, I honestly thought I was dying.
Marijuana Wins Big At The Polls — Like Always!
November 4th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Taken from http://blog.norml.org/2009/11/03/marijuana-wins-big-at-the-polls-like-always/
Conventional wisdom dictates that if the people lead then our political leaders will follow. Of course, when it comes to marijuana law reform, conventional wisdom seldom applies.
In a result that should come as a surprise to nobody — except for perhaps certain members of law enforcement and state lawmakers — Maine voters today overwhelmingly approved Question 5, the Maine Marijuana Medical Act. The measure amends existing state law by: establishing a confidential patient registry, expanding the list of qualifying conditions for which a physician may recommend medicinal cannabis, and by allowing for the creation of non-profit state-licensed nonprofit dispensaries to assist in the distribution of medical cannabis to qualified patients.
Science chief backs cannabis view
November 4th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
The UK government’s chief science adviser has told BBC News that he supports the former chief drugs adviser’s scientific view on cannabis.
Taken from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8340318.stm
Professor John Beddington, the UK’s chief scientist, would not be drawn on whether the Home Secretary was wrong to sack Professor David Nutt.
David Nutt was chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
He was fired after using a lecture to say cannabis was less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.
Asked whether he agreed with Professor Nutt’s view that cannabis was less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol, Professor Beddington replied: “I think the scientific evidence is absolutely clear cut. I would agree with it.”
The Other ‘L’ Word: Lying
November 2nd, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Taken from http://blog.norml.org/2009/11/01/the-other-l-word-lying/
Former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey “Lies” To Beat The Band About Cannabis…Then Again, What Else Is New?
In the media rush to cover the DOJ memo on the Obama administration’s redirecting federal law enforcement efforts away from arresting and prosecuting state compliant medical cannabis providers CNN’s Lou Dobbs interviewed former Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey and Cato Institute’s Tim Lynch…
UK drug adviser fired after marijuana comments
November 1st, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER
LONDON — Britain’s top drug adviser was fired Friday after saying that marijuana, Ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol.
David Nutt’s comments have embarrassed the British government, which toughened the penalties for possessing marijuana earlier this year over the protests of many prominent British scientists.
Nutt said he was disappointed by his sacking, telling Sky News television that it might have something to do with the upcoming general election, which must be called by the middle of next year.
“Politics is politics and science is science, and there’s a bit of a tension between them sometime,” he told the broadcaster by telephone.
In later comments to BBC radio’s “PM” program, Nutt accused British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of making “completely irrational statements” about the dangerousness of marijuana.
“I’m not prepared to mislead the public about the harmfulness of drugs like cannabis and Ecstasy,” he said.
A call and an e-mail by The Associated Press seeking comment from the scientist were not immediately returned.
Testimony from California Assembly committee hearing on legalization of marijuana
October 30th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
Yesterday’s testimony by supporters and foes of Assembly Bill 390, an act to tax and regulate marijuana in California, is now posted on the web at the following URLs:
Part I: http://www.calchannel.com/channel/viewvideo/798
Part II: http://www.calchannel.com/channel/viewvideo/799
Part III: http://www.calchannel.com/channel/viewvideo/800
Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray’s testimony was one of the last to be heard, and to use a World Series metaphor, we couldn’t have asked for a better “clean up” hitter:
One City’s Insane Fight Against Obama’s Sane New Pot Policy
October 28th, 2009
Dakta Bourbon
The way law-enforcement officials read the new Obama policy, nonprofit Los Angeles pot dispensaries like this one should turn into farming collectives that can’t accept cash. “We are in the fight for our lives,” one prominent shop owner tells Esquire.com.
Taken from http://www.esquire.com/the-side/richardson-report/obama-medical-marijuana-laws-102709
The administration has officially put a stop to crackdowns on the medical-marijuana business, but to hear the dispensers tell it, nothing’s stopping Los Angeles from finding every last ridiculous loophole
By John H. Richardson
Two years ago, in the throes of a Bush administration that disregarded states’ rights whenever it felt like getting high on itself, there were fewer than two hundred medical-marijuana outlets in Los Angeles. Today, even the most conservative estimates say that number has quadrupled. On one stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard alone, four thriving pot shops estimate their tax payments at $4 million a year. Got an emergency radiation treatment and can’t find the nearest store? There’s an iPhone app for that.
With patient demand pushing dispensaries in several of the fourteen states that allow medical marijuana to expand their business, the Obama administration last week ordered the Justice Department to respect state laws and stop harassing them.
You would think, after our new president’s ups and downs on what is ultimately the road to wholesale legalization, that calling off the pot bullies would be, by all accounts, A Good Thing. Hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of Americans have used the approved stuff, after all, whether as therapeutic medicine or therapeutic something else.
N.J. lawmakers ask Gov. Corzine to pardon ill Franklin man facing marijuana charges
October 28th, 2009
Dakta Green
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP (Somerset County) — A pair of New Jersey lawmakers are asking Gov. Jon Corzine to pardon a Somerset County man who is facing trial for growing marijuana to alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
Sens. Nicholas Scutari and Raymond Lesniak (both D-Union) are urging Corzine to drop the most serious charge pending against Franklin Township resident John Ray Wilson, who is accused of first-degree maintaining or operating a drug-production facility and other offenses. If convicted, the 37-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison.
The case, being prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s Office, is an “inappropriate” and “inhumane application of the letter of the law,” the senators said in a release today.
“It seems cruel and unusual to treat New Jersey’s sick and dying as if they were drug cartel kingpins,” said Scutari (D-Union), who is the prime sponsor of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, which is pending before the state Assembly.
john-wilson-marijuana.JPGPatti Sapone/The Star-LedgerJohn Ray Wilson listens during his hearing in Somerset County Superior Court in July. Wilson, who has multiple sclerosis, has been charged with growing marijuana plants.Wilson was arrested in August 2008 after a helicopter pilot spotted marijuana plants growing behind his home. Detectives then found well-worn trails leading to 17 plants, some up to 6-feet tall. His case has drawn widespread attention as lawmakers ponder whether New Jersey will become the 14th state to give patients with debilitating illnesses structured access to the drug.