Hey New Mexico Where is my Medical Cannabis?

What a bummer, here I was thinking that New Mexico had it all figured regarding medical marijuana and the MMJ Distribution system to their state registered patients. Well as it turns out, it’s just not true. In Albuquerque N.M. Len Goodman can’t seem to keep up with the demand for his state registered medical marijuana. You see Len is only one of 11 state registered medical cannabis growers for well over 2,000 state registered medical marijuana patients in New Mexico.

It seems that New Mexico has been more than a concerned about turning into Colorado or California( to many MMJ collectives)…in fact they have been so cautious in licensing and regulating growers under its 3-year-old medical marijuana law that the small number of growers can't grow enough, thereby creating an artificial shortage that has forced some patients to the street to buy illegal drugs.

Would be medical marijuana producers are put through to a thorough screening procedure ahead of being granted a license to grow medical marijuana. Once that happens, they are limited to 95 plants and seedlings and an inventory “that reflects current qualified patient needs.” What load of crap!

Dying mother Angel Raich, 41, has lost her appeal in federal court Wednesday to use marijuana for medical purposes. Her doctor claims marijuana is the only medicine that will keep Raich alive.

The mother of two, from Oakland, CA, has scoliosis, chronic nausea and an inoperable brain tumor, among other ailments. Raich pre-emptively sued the government in an effort to avoid arrest for using marijuana. Raich uses marijuana every few hours, on her doctor's advice.

The 1970 Controlled Substances Act criminalizes heroin, LSD, marijuana and other drugs. In her appeal, Raich was asking for enforcement of this law to be blocked.

A legal conflict exists between federal law, which states marijuana is illegal and has no medical value, and 11 states that allow marijuana use for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. Two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled against Raich, stating that even individuals living in one of the 11 states allowing medical marijuana can be prosecuted under federal laws.

Due to the Supreme Court ruling, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed the issue down to the right to life theory. The three appeals judges stated that the U.S. is not to the point where “the right to use medical marijuana is 'fundamental.'” The court did admit, however, that if Raich is later arrested and prosecuted, she may be able to use a “medical necessity defense.”

Judge C. Arlen Beam stated in a partial dissent that since Raich has not been arrested, she has no legal standing to bring a case.

Raich told press that “I have to get myself busted in order to try to save my life.” Frank Lucido, one of Raich's physicians, said last year that she would “probably be dead without marijuana.”

New Mexico may become the 12th state to allow marijuana use for medical purposes. Governor Bill Richardson is expected to sign the bill that lawmakers approved Wednesday.

Several California cities have de-prioritized marijuana offenses, including San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Monica, Oakland, Santa Barbara and West Hollywood. San Francisco joined the growing number of California cities putting marijuana offenses low on the priority list in December.

Marijuana has been used to treat a variety of illnesses and symptoms, including cancer, glaucoma, hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, HIV or AIDS and multiple sclerosis. It has also been used to treat migraines, seizure disorders, severe or chronic pain or nausea, anorexia, wasting syndrome and agitation of Alzheimer's disease.

Sources:

Marijuana Policy Project

Medical Cannabis is How Old?

Marijuana as medicine is nothing new, despite the current groundswell of laws making pot legal for medical uses. Here's a quick fact file on Marijuana and its medical history.
1. “Marijuana” is a Mexican term that originally was applied to low-quality tobacco.
2. Cannabis was cultivated in China for therapy (and recreation) over 4,700 years ago.
3. More than 20 prescription medicinescontaining marijuana were sold in U.S. pharmacies at the turn of the 20th century. Pot-based medications were commonly available until 1942, when cannabis was stricken from the U.S. Pharmacopeia, the official compendium of drugs considered effective. From 1937 to 1942 the federal government collected a tax of $1 per ounce for such drugs.
4. About 17,000 studies on marijuana and its components have been published, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, an advocacy group, but fewer than 20, all of them small, have included human subjects.
5. The federal government is in the pot-growing business. Under a federal contract, the University of Mississippi in Oxford cultivates marijuana for use by researchers, who have to be cleared by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
6. The plant has nearly 500 chemical compounds, called cannabinoids.
7. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. But patients in these states face federal prosecution for using it—or for growing or possessing pot for medical purposes.
8. Federal law prohibits physicians from prescribing or otherwise actively supplying patients with the drug. But in 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court backed an appellate court ruling that physicians who discuss it with patients, or provide oral or written recommendations, are protected.

Marijuana is the name for the drug that comes from the leaves and flowers of the Indian hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. (Elizabeth Schleichert, 1996) The plant originated in central Asia and spread to several corners of the globe. All over the world, people have used the plant as a source of fiber, cloth, paper, edible seeds, oil, and medicine. It has also been used in many cultures as an intoxicant.

The intoxicating part of the plant lies mostly in its strong-smelling, sticky, resin. This is given off by the hemp flowers, especially the flowers on the female plant. The most powerful psychoactive compounds found in the flower is called delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as delta-9 THC or just THC. THC is the chemical in the flower of the plant that is the key chemical to produce a “high.”

Marijuana affects different people in different ways. It usually causes the heart rate to accelerate. This can cause panic in first-time users. (Jack Mendelson, M.D., and Nancy Mello, Ph.D. 1985) The first-time user may think that they are having a heart attack. Because of the effect of accelerated heart rate, marijuana can be very dangerous if the user has a preexisting heart problem or high blood pressure. Marijuana dries the mouth. It also dries and reddens the whites of the eyes. The eyes become red because the marijuana causes the blood vessels of the eyes to dilate or widen. This causes more blood to flow through the vessels. As other blood vessels expand, the body's blood pressure drops. This low blood pressure can cause some people to experience dizziness.

From the time it was commonly used earlier in the 19th century, marijuana was viewed as a dangerous drug. It was viewed to be much worse than alcohol and tobacco and very likely to lead to hard drug addiction. A lot of information about the harmfulness of marijuana has been written to prove or disprove this viewpoint. Marijuana is considered to be a gateway drug by serious researchers. Yet, while many researchers argue on the exact nature of the damage that smoking marijuana causes to the body, they all seem to agree on one thing. Use of marijuana is unsafe, especially to the lungs and short-term memory. There is still a lot that remains to be learned about marijuana, but studies do show a link between marijuana use and experimentation with harder drugs.

Experts have pointed out another negative aspect of marijuana: THC accumulates in the body and stays there for long periods of time. Unlike water-soluble drugs that are eliminated quickly from the body, THC accumulates in the body fat . People who smoke marijuana on a regular basis may never rid of it entirely.

Studies have shown that heavy use of marijuana can damage the reproductive and endocrine systems. These are the systems responsible for distribution of hormones in the body. THC decreases the number and quality of men's sperm and damages their ability to move around. Marijuana can also disrupt women's menstrual cycles. Failure to ovulate normally, resulting in unpredictable periods of infertility, has also been linked to marijuana use.

Because marijuana crosses the placenta, it can harm the fetus in a pregnant woman who uses the drug. Children of marijuana users may be born with abnormal nervous systems. They also have lower birth weight and are generally smaller at birth. Animal studies have suggested that marijuana may also cause an increase in fetal and early infant deaths. Marijuana is secreted a woman's breast milk and may be toxic when passed to the nursing infant. Some studies have also shown that the children of marijuana using mothers may demonstrate symptoms of depressant withdrawal and suffer from convulsions. Heavy marijuana use may cause increased breakage of and damage to the chromosomes. The birth defects that result might be seen in the offspring of the marijuana user, or they may skip a generation and affect grandchildren. Obviously, the use of marijuana during pregnancy represents a significant risk to the unborn child.

Research has shown a link between smoking marijuana and lung damage. Marijuana smoke contains over 150 cancer causing substances. Scientists have found that the lung damage caused by smoking a single marijuana cigarette is equivalent to the damage caused by smoking five tobacco cigarettes. So, smoking three to four marijuana cigarettes a day causes the kind of lung-cell damage that twenty cigarettes does. It has also been discovered that smoking marijuana will deposit three times more tar into the lungs and also releases five times more poisonous carbon monoxide into the bloodstream than cigarettes do.

Marijuana smokers suffer from more infections from bronchitis, and long-term incurable conditions such as emphysema. It is also common for marijuana smokers to have constant sore throats and coughing. Various kinds of cancer have been diagnosed in young marijuana smokers from age twenty-six to thirty. These included cancers of the lung, sinus, larynx, tongue, and tonsils. It has also been shown that marijuana smokers appear to be getting lung cancer at a much younger age, at forty-five, than other people, at sixty-five.

Another reason that marijuana smokers suffer from more infections than non-users is because marijuana effects the immune system. The immune system is an important part of the body that helps to fight off infection. The most important parts of the immune system are the white blood cells. When an infection enters the body, the white blood cells divide and grow at a fast rate to fight the infection. But, when blood samples were taken from marijuana smokers, they had a significantly lower immunity level than that of nonsmokers. Further studies showed that THC causes certain types of the white blood cells to stop growing during mid-cycle. This obviously impairs the immune systems ability to properly fight off infections.

Most drugs cause withdrawal symptoms when the user stops using them. Marijuana is no exception. When a heavy marijuana smoker decides to quit, they may suffer from one or more of the following symptoms: insomnia, loss of appetite, weakness, irritability, sweating, depression, anxiety, restlessness, abdominal cramps, nausea, an increased pulse rate, low blood pressure, aching muscles, and slight tremors. These symptoms last for up to one week after the person stops smoking, and continue in a milder form for up to a month.

Many marijuana smokers believe that smoking marijuana heightens their senses. The truth is, the brain is dulled. It is more difficult for a person to learn material under the influence of marijuana. The information may never be put into their long-term memory. This means that they will not be able to recall the information later.

Richard H. Schwartz, M.D., of Georgetown University School of Medicine In Washington, D.C., studied teenagers who were using marijuana. He discovered that they did much worse on short-term memory tests than another group who had not used drugs. After six weeks of abstaining from marijuana, the teenagers showed some memory improvement, but they still did worse than the other group of non-using teens.

Many factors, both genetic and environmental, can encourage marijuana use. Studies have shown that children with a drug-addicted parent or children of alcoholics are more likely to become abusers themselves.

Feelings of inadequacy are often a factor to drug abuse. A former marijuana abuser said that her self-esteem was, “non-existent.” Another marijuana and drug abuser said, ” When I was in the ninth grade, I started getting high every day. I was feeling really lonely, and I thought that nobody could understand my pain…I finally realized that I did drugs to hide from myself. I was really insecure and had a very low self-esteem.”

A lot of young people feel distant from their families. Intense confusion is usually experienced as young people enter adolescence. If a certain crowd that appeals to them is willing to allow them be a part of their group, it is very tempting for them to join. Even if that means the price of admission to the desired group is drug use. Once a part of the group, it is hard to stop using out of fear that they will no longer be accepted.

Although marijuana is illegal, there has been much debate on legalizing it for medical benefits. Many believe that marijuana has been shown to be effective in decreasing the nausea caused by chemotherapy. Others feel it alleviates some of the symptoms associated with AIDS, such as severe leg cramps, nausea, headaches, and loss of appetite. Another alleged medical advantage of marijuana is that it lowers the pressure that builds up in the eyes of glaucoma patients which in turn helps prevents them from going blind. It is also said to relieve tremors and loss of muscle coordination caused by multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Yet, it is illegal for physicians who believe in the medical benefits of marijuana to prescribe it. So, the question of whether it should be made legal for medical purposes has become a hot political issue.

Marijuana is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule I drug. The drugs that are in this category are said to have a high potential for abuse. These drugs also produce dangerous side effects and have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

Advocates have wanted marijuana to be moved to a Schedule II drug for a long time. Schedule II drugs also have a high potential for abuse and bad side effects, but are considered medically useful and can be legally prescribed by physicians. Interestingly, cocaine and morphine, which can be highly addictive, are Schedule II drugs.

As for the future of marijuana, research is being done and data is being collected to help obtain a better understanding of the effects of marijuana on our health, as well as the motivation behind its abuse. Researchers hope that with new insight, the public and government will be better equipped to establish consistent policies to regulate, control, or put a stop to the complicated reality of marijuana use in the United States.

California Cannabis Vote: What will the Fed's Do?

Can anyone else point out the biggest problem with the Nov. vote in California to legalize marijuana… That’s right, the Fed’s. How can CA. legalize cannabis tax marijuana, and regulate cannabis at the state level when the federal Controlled Substances Act makes it a felony to grow or sell cannabis… period. California can abolish its own marijuana laws leaving enforcement up to the feds, chances are that no one wants’ that. But Californian’s can't legalize a federal felony. As a result, any MMJ club paying California taxes on marijuana sales or filing marijuana-related California regulatory paperwork would be confessing, in writing, to multiple federal crimes. I’m not sure about you, but that hardly sounds like a good idea.

Will the California budget crisis accomplish the long cherished goal among libertarians of legalizing marijuana? San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano certainly hopes so, for he has offered legislation legalizing and taxing marijuana.

Under the proposed legislation, every Californian over the age of 21 would be able to openly purchase marijuana after paying a hefty tax. The tax would consist of a special fifty dollar an ounce levy along with the normal state sales taxes. It is estimated that legally sold and taxed marijuana would bring in $1.3 billion in revenues to the state of California.

According to a Zogby Poll commissioned by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) a growing number of people support the legalization and taxing of marijuana.

“When asked: “Should marijuana be taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes to help raise money for public services and to reduce law enforcement costs?”, voters responded: 44% Yes, 52% No, and 4% Undecided.

“Surprisingly high support was reported in the West, where voters favored legalization 58% - 36%. However, the significance of this margin is questionable due to the relatively small number of respondents (232). Easterners were nearly divided - 48% Yes, 49% No - while other regions were strongly opposed.

“A similar Zogby/NORML poll in 2006 found only 36% of Americans in support of legalization, with 55% opposed.”

Libertarians and even some conservatives have maintained that the current regime of criminalizing drug abuse is counterproductive and futile. Drug legalization advocates compare the current “war on drugs” to the 1920s era prohibition, during which alcohol was banned, leading to wide spread law breaking by ordinary people and the rise of organized crime. They suggest, for instance, that marijuana is a relatively benign recreational narcotic, compared to alcohol and especially tobacco. Marijuana also has some beneficial medical properties, such as glaucoma and the pain and nausea surrounding chemotherapy.

There may well be a case for legalizing and taxing marijuana. On the other hand, many drug advocates suggest that all illegal drugs, including cocaine and heroin, should also be legalized. People, they maintain, have a right to put any substance into their bodies that they want, even ones that are unhealthy.

There is a joke that the test of a true libertarian is whether he or she believes that crystal meth should be available to school children from vending machines. The proper libertarian answer is that only if the said vending machines are operated by the private sector.

The advocates for legalizing hard drugs ignore the societal cost of drug addiction. People addicted to cocaine, heroin, or crystal meth simply are not able to function after a time. Legalization will cut costs for law enforcement and deny organized crime a source of revenue. But health care, rehabilitation, and other costs would remain and perhaps even increase.

Libertarians would respond, well, fine, drug addicts should pay for those costs. In the real world, that is not going to happen, though.

As for California legalizing marijuana, traditionally the federal government has taken a dim view of states getting wobbly on illegal drugs. On the other hand, Barack Obama promised during the campaign that he would not interfere with the states concerning drug enforcement.

Will the time come when, at least in California, one can take out a joint at ones favorite coffee shop and light up? There is another problem, which cigarette smokers are very familiar with. Because of concerns over second hand smoke, the places where one can light up anything are getting few and far between. It may be that one day one can have the right to own and use marijuana, just not the right to do it just about anywhere.

Of course there is always brownies.

Source: Legalizing marijuana could help California get out of debt, assemblyman says, Kelly Bush, MSNBC, February 24th, 2009

New Poll Finds Growing Support for Legalization, California NORML, February 19th, 2009

Does Cannabis Truly Help AIDS Patients

Medical Cannabis:AIDS Patients in a Controlled Study Had Significant Pain Relief… AIDS patients suffering from debilitating nerve pain got as much or more relief by smoking marijuana as they would typically get from prescription drugs — and with fewer side effects — according to a study conducted under rigorously controlled conditions with government-grown pot.

In a five-day study performed in a specially ventilated hospital ward where marijuana patients smoked three marijuana cigarettes a day, more than half the participants tallied significant reductions in pain.

By contrast, less than one-quarter of those who smoked “placebo” medical marijuana, which had its primary psychoactive ingredients removed, reported benefits, as measured by subjective pain reports and standardized neurological tests.

Many of us are familiar with Marijuana, also known as cannabis, ganja, weed, dank, KB, or for those out there that can't afford much, schwag. No matter what you call it, it is all the same — in a sense. But, although, many people smoke marijuana, few actually understand what it is, and the benefits. This is why I have compiled a complete information article based solely on the herb, Marijuana.

First off, many people don't know what this “weed' actually is. Marijuana is a psychoactive product of the plant Cannabis sativa. The herbal form of the drug is made of dried mature inflorescences and subtending leaves of female (pistillate) plants. The most active chemical compound found in ganja is tetrahydrocannabinol, or as many people know it as THC. This compound has psychoactive and physiological effects when consumed — either by smoking or ingesting (brownies). Believe it or not there is a minimum amount of THC that is required to have a perceptible psychoactive effect, and that amount is around 5 mg. There is also a related compound that is very similar to THC that is found in certain drug strains, and that is tetrahydrocannabidivarin, or THCV. This second type of compound is recorded as having faster and “flashier” effects than THC, however, there have been recent studies that are suggesting THCV actually inhibits the effects of THC. THCV is found in African dagga, or marijuana, as well as in hashish from the northwest Himalayas.

But, how long have humans been consuming Marijuana? Is it a fairly new drug? Actually, humans have been consuming “weed” since prehistoric times, however, in the 20th century, marijuana reached its peak in its use for recreational, religious or spiritual, and medicinal purposes. There are estimates that around 4% of the world's adult population consume marijuana. In the United States, there are estimates that 20% or more of adults have tried the drug, and 10-30% or more in Europoean countries. However long humans have been consuming marijuana, it has now become very illegal in many parts of the world. Although, there are some countries that have eased the enforcement of marijuana, as in The Netherlands. However, it is still very illegal in most of the world to produce marijuana for drug use due to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

What is the history of Marijuana? Well, botanists have determined that marijuana is native to central Asia and possible going down into the Himalayas. There is evidence of inhalation of marijuana smoke that goes back as far as the Neolithic age. This is proved by the charred seeds found in a ritual brazier at an ancient burial site in present day Romania. However, the most famous users of marijuana were the ancient Hindus of India, and the Hashshashins (hashish eaters) of present day Syria. There were also signs of use from the citizens of the Persian Empire, in which they would partake in the ceremonial burning of massive marijuana bonfires. By doing this they would expose all that lived around the bonfire to billowing fumes for often over 24 hours. Marijuana was also used by the Assyrians, who discovered it through the Aryans. They used it in religious ceremonies, and called it qunubu, which translates to the drug for sadness.

There is one thing that is communal about many of these ancient cultures, and that is many of them used marijuana in their religious ceremonies. When you trace the history of this plant, you will find that many pharmacological cults around the world used marijuana in their ceremonies. There are even some historians who are saying that marijuana was used as a religious sacrament by the ancient Jews, early Christians and Muslims of the Sufi order. However, the use of religious marijuana stems to today, as the Rastafari movement has embraced the use of this drug. Like the Rastafari, some modern Gnostic Christian sects have asserted that Marijuana is the Tree of Life. There are actual organized religions founded within the past century that treat marijuana as a sacrament. Some of these organizations are the THC Ministry, the Way of Infinite Harmony, Cantheism, the Cannibis Assembly and the Church of Cognizance. However, many individuals consider their use of this plant to be spiritual, regardless of their religion.

Surely we have all heard of Medical Marijuana. However, why is this so? The Marijuana Policy Project has stated that marijuana is an ideal therapeutic drug for cancer and AIDS patients, who often suffer from clinical depression and from nausea and weight loss from chemotherapy and other treatments. It has been said that marijuana makes these and other treatments more bearable for the sick. Even for people that do not have a terminal sickness, the effects of marijuana provide a degree of relief for persons suffering from motion sickness, and can also be used by hyperhidrosis sufferers for temporary relief of excessive sweating.

However, there have been many different discussion for the use of medical marijuana, both for it and against it. On April 20, 2006 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an intra-agency advisory that warned against medical marijuana, stating that the plant has a high potential for abuse, no current medical use, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. Also, the FDA made a statement saying that, “there is no currently sound evidence that smoked marijuana is harmful.” Also, the National Institute of Health (NIH) made a statement saying, “the association of these [lung and upper aerodigestive tract] cancers with marijuana, even long-term or heavy use, is not strong and may be below practically detectable limits.”

So what's the big fuss about medical marijuana? Well, there have been claims that marijuana reduces the intraocular pressure (fluid pressure within the eye) and is therefore useful for glaucoma suffers. It also been said that it is useful when treating epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder. There have even been studies that show the use of marijuana can relieve tics in patients that suffer from OCD and/or Tourette syndrome. Patients who have undergone this study were shown to have a 50% or more decrease in motor and vocal tics. THC has also been shows to reduce arterial blockages. In the United States, there are in upwards of 60 million people who have legalized medical marijuana to some degree. There are additionally six states that have enacted a decriminalization policy towards the drug. However, because the federal government does not acknowledge any medical uses for marijuana, there are still federal enforcements dealing with this drug.

Even though the use of marijuana is illegal, some medical practitioners still recommend it informally. There is a synthetic version of THC, which is available in capsule form as the prescription drug donation (Marinol) which is available in many countries. In Canada, the drug Sativex, which is an extract from marijuana is administered as a sublingual spray and is used for multiple sclerosis sufferers. However, the United States still views marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, which is in the same as heroin and LSD, but, they have listed Marinol as a Schedule III drug, even though they have the exact same active ingredient, THC.

Marijuana is prepared for human consumption in many different forms. There are several different terms that are used in order to identify the various types of consumption methods. Marijuana can be known as Hashish or Charas. Basically, this describes the concentrated resin that is composed of debris that has been physically extracted from the plant. There are various methods in which this is performed, either by rubbing, sifting or with ice. The Kief, or Kif, is the chopped flowering tops of female plants, which is ofted mixed with tobacco. Bhang is a beverage which is prepared by one grinding marijuana leaves in milk and then boiling the mixture with spices and various other tasteful ingredients. And Budder, which is the hash oil which is whipped in order add air into the mixture, making the finished compound similar to butter.

However, the most popular way to consume marijuana, is to smoke it. There many different types of ways in which have become widely used in the smoking process. The most popular ways is by a joint, blunt, using a hookah, a bong, or the pipe, which is usually recognized by the names “bowl” or “piece”, there is also a shotgun, chillum, and the one-hitter, which is also called a “bat.” However, there are several methods of actually eating the plant. Eating marijuana is an alternative to the previous methods. This has become very popular because of the longer lasting effects of the drug. However, many people who have consumed marijuana via ingestion often complain about the experience, because the “high” is far more intense than the traditional smoking. This is due to the fact that when one smokes marijuana, it looses a significant amount of THC, however, when one ingests the compound, all of the active components, are converted into the more psychoactive 11-hydroxy-THC by the liver.

No matter how you look at marijuana, there are some health issues that have been raised by the consumption of this plant. However, throughout peoples studies there have been many different and conflicting results concerning the physical and mental effects of marijuana. However, many of these studies have been done by government agencies, of whom it can be hard to take their findings as non-biased. Many people have condemned these studies as the various agencies “pick-and-choose” their findings that they put in their reports. However, all of the studies have shown that smoking marijuana has not been the cause of emphysema, lung cancer, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There have also been other studies that have suggested that marijuana does not appear to cause birth defects or developmental delays in pregnant women. Citing a United Kingdom government report, using marijuana is less dangerous than both tobacco and alcohol in social harms, physical harms and addiction.

Although the latter is not negative news, it has been shown that marijuana acts on the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that is associated with memory and learning. It is said that this drug impairs short term memory and attention spans during the duration of the “high,” as well as throughout the next several days, in some cases. However, some studies have suggested that in the long term certain particular types of memory have been enhanced. One major study concluded that marijuana was found to be “neuroprotective” against “excitotoxicty” which is a major beneficial factor is preventing progressive degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease. In a study that was conducted by the Health Secretary of the State of France, Bernard Kouchner, and was directed by Dr. Pierre-Bernard Roques, it was concluded that marijuana does not have any neurotixicity that affects the brain. Which means that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and cocaine.

No matter what your stance is on marijuana, one must begin to ask themselves is this drug really worth illegalizing. Marijuana has been involved in mankind's history for millennia's. Yes, when one takes any type of recreational drug, be it alcohol or marijuana, in an irresponsible manner, there are going to be negative effects. However, I believe that it is a must that the pubic is educated on this “drug” before they begin to pass judgment. I am not saying that the government NEEDS to legalize the substance. However, I do believe that we should decriminalize, or make the punishments less severe, to marijuana users if they are responsible with the plant - just as in alcohol. But, will this ever happen?

Obama's Drug War Budget Increase

O.K., so it seems our President has seen fit to put away his love for marijuana, as the 2011 funding “highlights” were published at the beginning of the year by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and guess what? The Obama administration is expanding the war on drugs cannabis included and focusing its resources toward law enforcement… over treatment. The budget puts U.S. drug war spending at $15.5 billion for fiscal year 2011, an increase of 3.5% over 2010 and an increase of 5.2 % for on the whole enforcement funding ($9.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2010 to $9.9 billion in Fiscal Year 2011). Addiction treatment and preventative measures are budgeted to increase from $5.2 billion to $5.6 billion.

Meanwhile, Marijuana has been around for more than 5000 years and is considered to have an excellent safety record. Between 1979 and 1998, there were 23 reported deaths due to marijuana and when you look at the 23 people, they were all suffering from life-threatening illnesses (cancer, diabetes, etc) and were using cannabis medicinally. It is likely that they did not die from cannabis but from their illnesses. (Even if they died from marijuana that is 23 deaths over 19 years, compared to more than 100,000 deaths per year from prescription medications!)

Anyone who has been keeping up with politics in recent months is very likely aware that Obama intends to save the nation's economy by legalizing marijuana. It is not hard to imagine that the legalization of marijuana could lead to all manner of improvements in the economy, with money changing hands and a healthy tax being levied on the popular recreational drug. Unfortunately, there is much resistance to the idea of legalizing marijuana from those who believe that the use of any recreational drug use is inherently bad, despite the common perception that marijuana is basically harmless.

On the other hand, there are those who feel that legalizing marijuana will lead to rampant use of harder drugs that can cause serious social problems. Whatever your beliefs might be, it isn't hard to argue the fact that the legalization of marijuana might save the American economy. With estimates of millions of dollars changing hands and a great percentage of Americans enjoying the recreational use of marijuana, it is not hard to see that the taxation and legalization of marijuana could lead to tremendous windfall profits for the American people as well as the United States government.

With all manner of businesses and products seeing a downturn in popularity, it is only natural to look towards other sources of income in order to ensure that there is a sustainable economic model in place to assist and bring the economy back to a suitably productive level. After many decades of politicizing the argument, the effort to legalize marijuana has been dragged kicking and screaming out into the daylight where it can be discussed reasonably by adults.

Many are of the opinion that the people who first experimented with marijuana in the 50s, 60s and 70s have now grown into adults and are running the country, making it easier to discuss the argument in a logical fashion. Others stick to the idea that marijuana is a deadly drug that causes all manner of social problems. Despite the fact that not one death has ever been directly attributed to marijuana in the history of the world, the effort to criminalize the recreational drug use of marijuana has raged on for years.

With all the facts on the table, it is easy to see that the legalization of marijuana can have tremendous positive results on not only the economy but on the social and recreational enjoyment of everyone in the United States. In addition, it would eliminate the imprisonment and criminalization of certain individuals who are less than enthusiastic about having a criminal record simply because they occasionally partake in recreational marijuana usage. For those who have suffered needlessly at the hands of overzealous law enforcement agencies, it would be a welcome relief to the care and persecution of individuals who are otherwise innocent of any wrongdoing.

Legal Cannabis Price Drop Propaganda…Or fact?

It seems that some are a little worried that a vote that would legalize Cannabis in California might also upset supply and demand that marijuana values could plunge by as much as 90 % and perhaps challenge the tax bonus that cannabis supporters have used to sell the proposal, a study in print Wednesday found.

The study by the independent RAND Drug Policy Research Center projects some attention-grabbing possibilities if Ca in Nov becomes the second state, after Alaska, to legalize cannabis for entertaining use by adults and the first to tax commercial marijuana sales sales. Do you think marijuana should remain medical

Rand Researchers are stating Cannabis prices may well plunge from $375 an oz., within the state's present medical cannabis regulation to less than $38 per oz. prior to taxes.

What is wrong with the War on Drugs?

Six recent reports - from the American Enterprise Institute, Citizens Against Government Waste, Taxpayers for Common Sense, The Sentencing Project, a Harvard University economics professor, and the U.S. Department of Justice - point out the failures and steep costs of marijuana prohibition and call for a new approach.

I. Its almost certainly unconstitutional: 
Unlawful searches and seizures are not permitted - unless cops are searching for drugs, which are not legal property and therefore not protected. No self-incrimination - unless it's a drug test. No cruel and unusual punishment - unless you were caught with cocaine. And so our two greatest bulwarks against tyranny, checks and balances and the Bill of Rights, are out the drug war window.  More than 700,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges last year, and more than 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses in the past decade. Almost 90 percent of these arrests are for simple possession, not trafficking or sale. This is a misapplication of the criminal sanction that invites government into areas of our private lives that are inappropriate and wastes valuable law enforcement resources that should be focused on serious and violent crime.

II.  It is not working:

After a third of a century of escalating penalties against marijuana and of antimarijuana propaganda, marijuana has reached an unprecedented peak of popularity.  Prohibition does not work. As the United States learned from 1920 to 1933, it didn't work with alcohol. As the country has been learning since 1914, it doesn't work with heroin. It isn't working today with marijuana, LSD, or any of the other illicit drugs. Nor is prohibition likely to prove more effective in the future. What prohibition does accomplish is to raise prices and thus to attract more entrepreneurs to the black market. If the drug is addicting and the price escalation is carried to outrageous extremes (as in the case of heroin), addicts resort to crime to finance their purchases–– at a tragic cost, not only in dollars but in community disruption.  What prohibition also achieves is to convert the market from relatively bland, bulky substances to more hazardous concentrates which are more readily smugglable and marketable–– from opium smoking to heroin mainlining, from coca leaves to cocaine, from marijuana to hashish.

III. It is wasting money: 

“As currently implemented, American drug policies are unconvincing,” Reuter and Boyum write. “They are intrusive … divisive … and expensive, with an approximate $35 billion annual expenditure on drug control … yet they leave the nation with a massive drug problem, greater than that of any other Western nation.” Reuter and Boyum call for, among other proposals, eliminating criminal penalties associated with marijuana and drastically increasing emphasis on drug treatment instead of incarceration.   In fiscal year (FY) 2004 alone, the federal government spent nearly $4 billion to combat marijuana. Despite spending billions of dollars over the years to enforce the prohibition of marijuana, use and perception of the drug are little different now than they were 30 years ago. Despite record deficits, U.S. taxpayers continue to watch as year after year tax dollars go up in smoke funding expensive but ineffective government programs intended to reduce marijuana use. The “Federal Marijuana Policy: A Preliminary Assessment,” released June 28, 2005 by Taxpayers for Common Sense assesses the cost of the nation's anti-marijuana efforts and the effect those efforts have had on marijuana use and finds the program to have been a failure, noting that increased federal spending on marijuana has accompanied increased use. The report singles out as particularly wasteful and ineffective marijuana arrests (which have not stemmed marijuana usage rates), the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's youth anti-drug media campaign, and student drug testing programs.

Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year, finds a June 2005 report by Dr. Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard University.  Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of legal regulation would save approximately $7.7 billion in government expenditures on prohibition enforcement - $2.4 billion at the federal level and $5.3 billion at the state and local levels (Miron’s conservative estimates).  Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 billion if it were taxed like alcohol or tobacco.

Marijuana prohibition costs law enforcement a minimum of 2,400,000 man-hours annually. These are policeman hours and fiscal costs that could be better spent targeting violent crime. For example, following the adoption of marijuana decriminalisation in California in 1976, the state saved an average of $95.8 million annually. Of course, these fiscal costs do not end with an arrest. In many instances, police continue to investigate the facts of the case, prosecutors prepare the case for trial or negotiate a plea bargain (estimated at between five and ten hours per case), and judges and court personnel engage in a trial or accept a plea agreement in open court. These prosecutorial costs alone likely cost Americans hundreds of millions of dollars annually.  Most Americans do not want to spend public funds incarcerating non-violent marijuana offenders, at a cost of $23,000-$45,000 per year.  In 1995, nearly 600,000 of the total 1.5 million drug arrests in America were for marijuana offences.  Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that between 25 and 40 percent of the total $31 billion annual costs are related to marijuana prohibition. Using this basic calculation, marijuana prohibition costs the American taxpayers between $7.5 and $10 billion annually in enforcement alone.

IV.  It is overly nationalized:

In fact, as workers in the drug scene confirm, the “drug problem” is a collection of local problems. The predominant drugs differ from place to place and from time to time. Effective solutions to problems also vary; a plan that works now for New York City may not be applicable to upstate New York and vice versa. With respect to education and propaganda, the need for local wisdom and local control is particularly pressing. Warning children against drugs readily available to them is a risky business at best, requiring careful, truthful, unsensational approaches. Warning children against drugs used elsewhere, of which they may never have heard, can be like warning them against putting beans in their ears. The role of anti-glue-sniffing warnings in popularising glue sniffing is the most striking of many examples.

V. It is disproportionately incarcerating minorities:

Marijuana prohibition disproportionately impacts minorities. Blacks and Hispanics are over-represented both in the numbers of arrests and in the numbers of marijuana offenders incarcerated. Blacks and Hispanics make up 20 percent of the marijuana smokers in the United States, but comprise 58 percent of the marijuana offenders sentenced under federal law last year.  What started out disgraceful remains so today, as the United States continues to imprison innocent people because of victimless crimes. African Americans comprise 12% of the nation's population, and 13% of its drug users, yet they account for one third of all drug-related arrests and nearly two thirds of all convictions. In his September 1989 drug policy speech, President Bush promised to double the federal prison population. He did, and so did President Clinton in 1996. Now, “On any given day in the U.S., more than one out of every three Black males between 18-29 are either incarcerated, on probation, on parole or under warrant for arrest. The figure for Latinos is one in six. For Whites, it is one in twenty.” State disparities are equally unjust; in Illinois, 57 percent of those sent to prison for marijuana in 1995 were black or Hispanic. In California, 49 percent of those arrested for marijuana offenses in 1994 were black or Hispanic. And in New York state, 71 percent of those arrested for misdemeanor marijuana charges in 1995 were non-white.

VI. It is causing more harm than good:

A nihil nocere (a physician must guard against doing more harm than good) guideline is needed for drug laws and law enforcement. For instance, a law-enforcement policy that converts marijuana smokers into LSD or heroin users should be abandoned. The same is true of a law that turns marijuana smokers into convicts and ex-convicts, with all that the prison experience and the prison record implies. Nor can much be said in favor of a law-enforcement policy that results in raising the price of a nickel's worth of heroin to five dollars–– with the further result that addicts must steal vast amounts in order to buy their heroin.  A complete revision of laws and enforcement policies in the spirit of the nihil nocere principle is called for. The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates the inability of laws and law enforcement to solve the drug problem, and conversely, they should not be allowed to exacerbate it.  Attempts to stamp out illicit drug use tend to increase both drug use and drug damage. Here LSD is the prime example.  Finally, as we have shown, efforts to stamp out one drug merely shifts users to another–– from marijuana to LSD and heroin, from heroin to alcohol.  

In 1972, a blue-ribbon panel of experts appointed by President Richard Nixon and led by former Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer concluded that marijuana prohibition posed significantly greater harm to the user than the use of marijuana itself.

VII. It is taking aim at the wrong drugs:

The Justice Department's 2005 “National Drug Threat Assessment” concludes that not only is the war on marijuana a failure, but police officers overwhelmingly see methamphetamine as a much greater threat than marijuana. Asked to identify the greatest drug threat in their communities, only 12 percent of local law enforcement agencies named marijuana - a figure that has been declining for years. In contrast, 36 percent named cocaine and 40 percent cited methamphetamine as the greatest threat - despite the fact that marijuana use is massively more common and despite what the report describes as “marijuana's widespread and ready availability in the United States.” Yet the government stubbornly insists marijuana is the real problem.  In November 2002, ONDCP sent a letter to the nation's prosecutors declaring flatly, “Nationwide, no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana.”  The report also finds “no reports of a trend toward decreased availability” anywhere in the country … Indeed, reporting from some areas has suggested that marijuana is easier for youths to obtain than alcohol or cigarettes.”

Let's resume shall we? Prohibition produces:  Scare tactics, misinformation and lies, draconian criminal penalties, overcrowded prisons, racial discrimination, increased exposure to hard drugs, violent and criminalized black market, budget deficits, ruined lives, no discernable decrease in drug use, distrust in the government.

Cannabis Tax on Long Beach Dispensaries

Long Beach Ca. city council voted last night to go after taxes on medical cannabis collectives, as part of what may become a wave of communities turning to such proceeds to plug budget deficits. The medical marijuana tax is modeled after one by the City of Oakland, which expects to collect $1 million a year in revenue from its four authorized medical cannabis clubs “We’re looking under every rock to find revenue sources and under one of those rocks could be a Medical Cannabis tax,” Long Beach council member Patrick O’Donnell said in an interview. His city faces an $18.5 million deficit for 2011, according to a letter to the council yesterday from Long Beach’s financial management department.

Marijuana is a very misunderstood drug. The controversies on legalization are far too confusing and they vary in different states. What do you do if your doctor prescribes it to you for an illness that you have been diagnosed with? With cancer, glaucoma and other major illnesses that would benefit from the use of marijuana, why would anyone try to stop something that helps increase appetite and decrease pain? On the other hand, law enforcement has been trying to get a handle on reducing crime involving the illegal use of “pot” for years now. Recreational use is still a no-no. Cultivation is a major no-no. Unless, of course, a doctor says you can. So, basically, the controversy will continue about the medicinal use, pros and cons thereof and legalization of marijuana, which would, in turn, benefit the government tax issues if it were controller or just continue being a general nuisance for the men and woman of law enforcement?

Although marijuana once was legal and considered to have no medical value by the American Medical Association, it hasn't been legal in years now. There have been a handful of states, approximately 11 total, including California, that were able to get it legalized on the state level, most of which have been since overturned. What is it going to take to prove its medicinal reasons as well as its reasons that the government would make money off the taxes, if it were regulated and get this country out of our national deficit? There would be less crime on the streets and because our government would regulate it, it would be safer than what it is right now.

At present, marijuana is classified under the Controlled Substances Act as a SCHEDULE I drug, one that has no medicinal value and may prove addictive. Advocates for the drug want the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a SCHEDULE II drug, one that physicians can legally prescribe, despite its potential for addictions. Morphine is an example of a SCHEDULE II drug.” (Fackelmann, 1997).

The legalization of marijuana would bring a great deal of revenue for our government from the taxes of its sale, as well as the money that would be saved in the anti-marijuana campaigns. “The government spends $8.26 million dollars a year to try to keep marijuana off the street.” (Miller, 2008). With Government Regulation handling all the growth and sales of “cannabis” or marijuana, the jails would be less crowded with inmates charged with possession, as well as, free up the police men and women to extend that energy into catching criminals that are committing serious crimes. The drug consistency would remain the same and therefore be safer for those that are using the drug. Deaths related to smoking pot are found because alternative additives were added to enhance the enjoyment, not because of smoking “pot”. It is because of that fact, that with the government legalizing it and growing it in a controlled environment, those people that later could or previously developed an addiction to it would be able to get the help that they need. Whether it is addictive or not, requires more research and studies.

Using marijuana for medicinal purposes can and does provide the relief for those that use the drug in controlled and responsible circumstances. The people that benefit from the use of marijuana would be cancer patients going through the trauma of chemotherapy, muscular sclerosis patients, AIDS patients, arthritis sufferers or anyone with chronic pain, all benefit from the use of marijuana. Chemotherapy treatments lead to very strong side effects, such as vomiting and nausea, which make patients very weak. It's difficult for patients to eat, which in turn causes weight loss. With weight loss, weakness and vitamin deficiencies occur due to a lack of nutrients in their system. Smoking pot relieves the stress on their bodies and increases their appetite which makes it easier to eat. That alone seems enough to warrant further investigation. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects the functions of the nerves in the brain and the spinal cord. If anyone ever watched Montel Williams on daytime television, you would have heard his opinion about the benefits. He does not smoke the marijuana; he takes the THC pills that are derived from the cannabis plant. Just a few of their symptoms can be severe fatigue and depression, extreme debilitating muscle spasms and even paralysis. “Many wheelchair-bound patients report that they can walk unaided when they have smoked cannabis. Patients also report that they find smoking herbal cannabis better at controlling their symptoms than synthetic derivative. Cannabis may even retard the progression of the disease.” (Marijuana-The Forbidden Medicine, Grinspoon, 2007)

Next is a direct quote from an electronic article from the Associated Press website. This particular article goes into detail about the comparison between prescription medicines and the effects of medicinal marijuana. The facts are that addiction and the side effects of prescription medicines are very well known. It is also a well known fact that with many prescription drugs, another prescription drug to counter act the side effects of the original prescription drug are not unheard of as well. “After weighing the pros and con's of both medicinal marijuana and prescription drugs, short of eliminating prescription drugs altogether, I don't see how we cannot promote and legalize the use of marijuana as a medicinal aid.” (Heard, 2008).

Another important piece of research that was discovered is how many different types of drugs are on the market that has actually been derived from the marijuana plant. As well as those that has been derived from the synthetic version of the marijuana plant. There is also a drug that is found are similar to those found in marijuana, but not exactly found in the plant. Sativex is a drug manufactured by GW Pharmaceuticals, that phase III clinical started in the year 2006. It's suggested medical use is “Treatment of neuropathic pain and spasticity in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS); Analgesic treatment in adult patients with advanced cancer who experience moderate to severe pain” and its Cannabis Related Properties are “Mouth spray whose chemical compound is derived from natural extracts of the cannabis plant” (Medical Marijuana ProCon.org Web site).

With all the research that has been done and the findings that smoking pot would bring relief to the terminally ill and may even put a dent in our national deficit, what would the harm be to try it? If anyone that has ever witnessed the good that it does when it is prescribed legally for a loved one, there would be no debate. Will they give the terminally ill patients a vote? Or maybe the doctors that prescribe it to them to ease their pain and promote their appetite? Maybe we should give the good people in our law enforcement agency a vote, so we could free up the jails that are so overcrowded and wasting taxpayer's money….again. Legalize it to control it, collect the taxes on it, free up our jails for our law enforcement so they can actually prosecute real criminals and let the people that it would be prescribed for live out their lives more comfortably and with less pain. The other alternative would be to keep it the way it is now. How is that working for us? You be the judge.

REFERENCES

MILLER, T. (2008), PROS OF MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, RETRIEVED FROM KAPLAN LIBRARY, 2009.

GRINSPOON, I. (2007), MEDICAL MARIJUANA USES. “MARIJUANA, THE FORBIDDEN MEDICINE.” RETRIEVED FROM KAPLAN LIBRARY, 2009.

FACKELMANN, K (1997), MARIJUANA: USEFUL MEDICINE OR DANGEROUS DRUG, CONSUMERS. 80, 15.

(6/30/2008) PHARMACEUTICAL DRUGS BASED ON CANNABIS. RETRIEVED 01/2009 FROM MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROCON.ORG.

Does Cannabis Truly Help AIDS Patients

Medical Cannabis:AIDS Patients in a Controlled Study Had Significant Pain Relief… AIDS patients suffering from debilitating nerve pain got as much or more relief by smoking marijuana as they would typically get from prescription drugs — and with fewer side effects — according to a study conducted under rigorously controlled conditions with government-grown pot.

In a five-day study performed in a specially ventilated hospital ward where marijuana patients smoked three marijuana cigarettes a day, more than half the participants tallied significant reductions in pain.

By contrast, less than one-quarter of those who smoked “placebo” medical marijuana, which had its primary psychoactive ingredients removed, reported benefits, as measured by subjective pain reports and standardized neurological tests.

Medical marijuana is something I have personally seen, and seen succeed. I know a man who used to be in the timber industry. At one point, a tree collapsed as he was cutting it down and landed on him, causing massive injuries including a broken back. He barely survived, and barely escaped paralysis, but suffers from intense pain from the lingering damage to his ribs and the section of crushed vertebrae in his back.

Now, he could be reliant on strong pain medications, narcotics like hydrocodone (commonly known as Vicodin) or oxycontin. His doctors are very willing to prescribe these for him. But these drugs can cause a lot of problems, especially when they are used for every-day pain management. They can cause digestive problems, such as nausea, vomiting, and constipation. They are addictive, and an overdose can be fatal. They can also heighten anxiety.

Instead, he has a medical marijuana permit for the state of Washington. I've spent a good deal of time looking for studies that show the benefits of marijuana. Instead I mostly encountered media reporting that such studies are generally blocked by the FDA and Federal drug law enforcement, such as in the New York Times. However, according to Wikipedia there are a good number of well-known and respected organizations that support medical marijuana use, including the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the British Medical Association, Health Canada, and many more.

Instead of the side effects of pain pills, I see this man get significant pain relief. He tells me the marijuana eases the inflammation and the pain with far better results than narcotic pain killers. It allows him to function at a level he otherwise couldn't. Personally, I would much rather see someone using a substance like marijuana than taking narcotic pain killers on a daily basis. It's my experience that narcotics are far more addictive (if marijuana is even addictive at all, I don't believe it's addictive, just potentially habit forming like anything else people might really enjoy), and far more harsh on the body. When this man has no access to marijuana, he has no problem waiting until he does, except for the pain. He'll simply spend a lot more time sitting still and schedule additional acupuncture appointments.

To me, it seems sad that the American government is not more tolerant of using marijuana medicinally. Cancer, AIDS, painful permanent injuries, these are all very real things that thousands of people suffer from every day. Why not use every tool available? It is my feeling, that the Federal issue with medical marijuana has more to do with the fact that people can grow it themselves. The government can't tax it, the big drug companies can't patent it, and it can more easily get into the hands of recreational users. However, recreational users already have no problems accessing marijuana. Worse, the marijuana they are buying now is often from Mexico, where drug cartels are causing chaos and carnage to get it to them. Wouldn't home grown relief for cancer patients, chronic pain suffers, and others, be better?

As someone who has trained for various sports and with a personal trainer certification, I still prefer marijuana over narcotics. I can easily imagine people using it medicinally as much better able to digest and ingest a proper diet, without such interruptions as nausea and vomiting. I can also easily imagine them still being able to be active to the extent that their illness or injury will let them. Whereas, as someone very familiar with the effects of narcotic pain killers from previous surgeries and injuries, narcotics really throw you for such a loop, between messing with your stomach (after a few days of use, in my experience) and making your mind truly cloudy and drowsy, not much activity is accomplished.

Overall, I think it is far and away an excellent alternative to harsh narcotics. I look forward to a day when society and the federal government realize they have much more to worry about than the stigma, the difficulty of regulation, and the possibility for abuse, such as the health and well-being of it's citizens.

Sources:

Researches Find Study of Medical Marijuana Discourages - NYTimes.com, Gardiner Harris

Medical cannabis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikipedia

Marijuana as Medicine is nothing new!

Marijuana as medicine is nothing new, despite the current groundswell of laws making pot legal for medical uses. Here's a quick fact file on Marijuana and its medical history.
1. “Marijuana” is a Mexican term that originally was applied to low-quality tobacco.
2. Cannabis was cultivated in China for therapy (and recreation) over 4,700 years ago.
3. More than 20 prescription medicinescontaining marijuana were sold in U.S. pharmacies at the turn of the 20th century. Pot-based medications were commonly available until 1942, when cannabis was stricken from the U.S. Pharmacopeia, the official compendium of drugs considered effective. From 1937 to 1942 the federal government collected a tax of $1 per ounce for such drugs.
4. About 17,000 studies on marijuana and its components have been published, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, an advocacy group, but fewer than 20, all of them small, have included human subjects.
5. The federal government is in the pot-growing business. Under a federal contract, the University of Mississippi in Oxford cultivates marijuana for use by researchers, who have to be cleared by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
6. The plant has nearly 500 chemical compounds, called cannabinoids.
7. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. But patients in these states face federal prosecution for using it—or for growing or possessing pot for medical purposes.
8. Federal law prohibits physicians from prescribing or otherwise actively supplying patients with the drug. But in 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court backed an appellate court ruling that physicians who discuss it with patients, or provide oral or written recommendations, are protected.

Marijuana use has many effects on the body. Some of these effects can be quite serious, while others are more benign. The issue of marijuana as a cause of cloudy urine is somewhat open to controversy. Some people believe that marijuana use can cause cloudy urine, others are not so convinced.

Normally, human urine is not cloudy at all. There are many different causes of cloudy urine, most of which are not particularly dangerous to the average person. Urine can come out in a wide range of shades - typically varying between completely clear and dark yellow. Under normal circumstances, no matter what shade of yellow your urine is, it will be crystal clear.

Most cases of cloudy urine are caused foods that you have eaten. This cause is followed closely by bladder infections - which are more common in women. Once the offending food is no longer being eaten, or the infection is cleared, the cloudiness of the urine will go away on its own after a couple of days.

Now, let's take a closer look at the issue of cloudy urine and marijuana use. Many people believe that you can tell if someone has smoked marijuana based on the look of their urine. This is NOT the case. There are too many other causes of cloudy urine to make that determination. Simply looking at a sample of urine that is cloudy is not enough evidence to prove that you have smoked marijuana.

However, urine can be tested to determine if a person has smoked marijuana. The active chemical in marijuana, THC, is excreted in the urine. The chemical can be tested for by a doctor. THC is not generally visible in the urine. It will not make a person's urine change color or become cloudy. THC can remain detectable in the urine for quite some time - so you can test positive even if you haven't smoked marijuana in a while.

As a doctor, it is always my recommendation to avoid smoking marijuana. There are simply too many negative effects of the drug to justify it's use, especially over a long period of time. Although marijuana use does not cause your urine to become cloudy, it does have many other effects on the body, many of while are not always good. Yes, there are some cases of marijuana being used for medicinal purposes, but these are somewhat rare cases and it remains a controversial treatment.

If you have questions about marijuana use and how it can effect your urine, it's best to have a talk with your doctor. Your doctor can give you more details on the effects of marijuana use and what it can do your urine.

Is Sarah Palin pro-marijuana?

During an appearance on Fox Business Channel this week, ex- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin articulated a somewhat indulgent outlook on the enforcement of cannabis laws. “I'm not for the legalization of pot,” whispered Palin. But “if somebody's going to smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at….” OMG. Is this for real, who is Sarah Palin and why didn’t she speak of her understanding of marijuana when she ran for vice president of the united states.

It's been a busy half year when it comes to the news, but there have been a few hot topics that have overtaken the headlines during the first months of 2009. From evil octomoms to marijuana mayhem, this is a look at 5 of the hottest newsmakers of 2009 so far:

Mothers of Multiples - It all started with the Octomom. Nadya Suleman and her gigantic brood of children made her one of the most hated women in America. No one could understand how a woman with no job or a husband with one could decide that having eight children was the next logical step in her life (especially since she already had 6 at home!). There were allegations that Nadya Suleman was obsessed with Angelina Jolie and had undergone plastic surgery to look like her and wanted a big brood just like her. The doctors who allowed the Octomom to undergo fertility treatments also came under fire, and we all wondered where a single mom already taking care of six kids got the money for the fertility treatments and the surgery. After months of bickering over whether the Octomom should be allowed to have her own reality show like 'Jon & Kate Plus 8', she finally got her way. But by that time, our attention had shifted to another mother of multiples, Kate Gosselin of 'Jon & Kate Plus 8'. She ruled her roost with an iron fist, complaining about coupons that the family didn't even need, harping on Jon over every little thing (even breathing!), and rolling her eyes like an annoyed teenager when her kids would try to talk to her while she was talking to the cameras. But fans of the show 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' had known this about Kate Gosselin for quite some time. What got the attention of the rest of America were a few pictures of her husband Jon Gosselin out partying with a twenty-something schoolteacher. It didn't take long for more headlines of the couple's failing marriage to start flooding grocery store checkout lanes: did they have an open marriage contract? Was Kate Gosselin dating her bodyguard? Did Jon Gosselin go out and party with friends on Kate Gosselin's birthday? Should these two and their eight kids even be on a show? Were the stories about affairs just a big hoax to boost ratings? Is Kate Gosselin's haircut really cute? The two recently finally did get a divorce, ending the speculation. Still, the show might go on and the debate over whether the kids should be subjected to it won't end, and we're waiting to see if TLC comes up with a replacement for the large family if the show does end.

The Fight for Gay Rights - Prop 8 was big news at the beginning of the year, as was the fight to repeal it. It's frankly amazing to me that gay couples who live in one of the places in America that's viewed as the most liberal still can't get married, but I believe they will be able to in due time. The debate over gay marriage sparked one of the most interesting feuds of the year so far between former Miss California Carrie Prejean and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. During the Miss USA pageant, Carrie Prejean was asked whether or not she thought that gay couples should be allowed to get married. She completely flubbed her answer up, saying she believed in “opposite marriage”. Perez Hilton later had some choice words for Carrie Prejean on his blog, and Carrie Prejean responded with a tryst with right-wing media outlets like FOX News. She argued that she lost the title of Miss USA because she stood up for what she believed in (although I still say she just stumbled all over her answer) and tried to become a martyr for the anti-gay marriage cause. Then one set of topless pictures of Carrie Prejean hit the internet, which she argued away as modeling pictures that weren't abnormal for a girl in her position (they really weren't anything worse than what you'd see in a men's magazine; she was topless, but covering herself up with her arms). But then another set hit the net, and these really were topless pictures. Still, Donald Trump let her keep her Miss California crown, and co-director of the Miss California USA pageant and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler stepped down from her position after learning that Carrie Prejean was going to be allowed to keep her title. Eventually Carrie Prejean lost her title because she wasn't fulfilling her contractual obligations, although she stated that she believed it was because she wouldn't pose for more topless pictures in 'Playboy' or appear on 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!'. Another former beauty queen in the spotlight who had expressed her support for Carrie Prejean, Sarah Palin, had to have shed a tear as someone so similar to herself faded away from the media spotlight, her last hurrah being a few E-mails between herself and a Miss USA employee that revealed her true character. So it was score 1 for gay marriage, a point that was quickly taken away as prop 8 wasn't repealed. However, science might save the gay marriage argument: studies are revealing that gay and bisexual behavior is a natural occurrence in almost every species on the planet (remember the adorable gay penguin couple?). So evolution isn't the only thing the religious right is going to have to find a Bible-friendly explanation for now. But the gay community could be tearing itself apart over a film by Sacha Baron Cohen. 'Bruno' is a movie done in Sacha Baron Cohen's distinctive style of making people look like idiots by exposing their prejudice and hypocrisy by pretending to be a stereotype. But while the purpose of 'Bruno' seems to be to expose the ugly side of homophobia in a funny way, many members of the gay community are arguing that the movie just gives homophobes something to laugh about and that they'll completely miss the message. Sadly, those who will be laughing at Bruno and not with him probably would not change their minds, anyway, so it's best just to enjoy the movie and move on by fighting for gay rights where it counts: in the political world.

Celebrity Deaths - I don't want to focus on this subject too long, because it's depressed me enough this year, but there have been way too many celebrity deaths in these first few months of 2009. Natasha Richardson's unexpected death early in the year definitely educated us all on head injures; she fell and hit her head while skiing, seemed perfectly fine, and died hours later. Legendary radio voice and storyteller Paul Harvey died in February, and Golden Girl Bea Arthur, also known for her ground-breaking work on the show 'Maude', died in April. British reality star Jade Goody wasn't one of the biggest stars to die during 2009, but hers was one of the most-talked about celebrity deaths, as she allowed her struggle with cervical cancer to be documented to the very end. Other celebrity deaths include that of funnyman Dom DeLuise and porn star Marilyn Chambers. 'Kung Fu' Actor David Carradine's untimely end became one of the most talked about celebrity deaths of 2009 because of the bizarre circumstances surrounding it, leading some to believe that he died attempting autoerotic asphyxiation. But perhaps the celebrity deaths that have gotten the most attention this year are the slew of them that happened in June, including that of Johnny Carson's right hand man Ed McMahon and the blonde angel known as Farrah Fawcett, who died the same day as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. But while the news stories were pouring in about how MJ died, whether drugs and his doctor were to blame, and what would happen to his kids, another legend in his own right, infomercial king Billy Mays, died shortly after giving an interview about bumping his head. This led to speculation that he had died the same way as Natasha Richardson, but it was later discovered his death was from a heart condition. Of course these are just a few of the dozens of celebrity deaths that have occurred so far in 2009, and lets hope the second half of the year isn't so dark.

The Struggle of the GOP - The Republican Party has had it's fair share of blows so far this year. Despite no George Bush to bash, the GOP has had it's hands full with jokes about the likes of Rush Limbaugh being the voice of the right and the star that is Sarah Palin not fading away. In fact, Sarah Palin seems to be making the headlines quite frequently, probably striking fear in the hearts of those in her party who see her as presidential poison. (Don't worry, even Rush Limbaugh realizes how dangerous Sarah Palin is, and he won't let her end up being the Republican candidate). But Sarah Palin is still sitting somewhat pretty, as the GOP has likely lost two of it's possible candidates due to affairs. John Ensign fell after possibly being blackmailed by the husband of the staffer he had an affair with, and not too long after, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford made even more headlines when he went missing. No one seemed to know where he was, but it was only a matter of time before he admitted that he was seeing his mistress in South America. The media soon identified her as Maria Belen Chapu, prompting a frantic search for pictures of the former newscaster. It seems that Mark Sanford was truly head-over-heels for this woman, judging from the E-mails released (love letters from him to her), but he's decided to try and keep his wife and his job. Even if he doesn't step down as governor, don't expect a presidential bid from him; like Ensign, he voted to impeach Bill Clinton when he went astray. Being lovelorn and called a hypocrite would probably just be a little too much for him to handle during a debate. And one more blow to the GOP: Al Franken was finally declared Minnesota's Senator, giving the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority.

Pot Pushing - From the time that one of the most popular questions from an internet poll was posed to President Obama about legalizing marijuana, it looked like it was going to be a hot topic this year. There's always a marijuana story that's popular on the website Digg, and many are arguing that legalizing marijuana and taxing it could save our economy and put an end to the drug being smuggled across the Mexican border. News stations like CNN have done specials on the matter, weighing the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana, but it could be a long time before it's ever legalized. Still, as cigarettes are becoming less and less popular, tobacco companies are going to have to find someway to make money, and switching over to marijuana might be the way to go.

So from bad mothers times eight to great drug and marriage debates, there have been some interesting newsmakers of 2009 so far. I can't wait to see what the rest of this crazy year has to offer.

SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1878389/mark_sanfords_mistress_revealed_maria.html?cat=49
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1715963/miss_california_seminaked_pictures.html?cat=2
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1756586/at_least_kate_gosselin_has_her_haircut.html?cat=2