Moms For Marijuana

15 year old girl in BC has MM card for Epilepsy

2008-11-15T22:44:00.003-05:00

Click here to go to You Tube to watch this video about 15 year old in BC with MM card for epilepsy

we need to make our children's medicine not illegal. write to Stephen Harper, you MP, and DON'T Vote Conservative next time!

Ottawa's monopoly on pot over

2008-10-28T12:31:00.003-04:00

SOURCE: Toronto Sun

Ottawa's monopoly on pot over

Court dismisses federal appeal

Last Updated: 28th October 2008, 3:59am

A court decision that effectively loosens Ottawa’s tight grip on access to medical marijuana has been upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal.

Alison Myrden, who eats, drinks, and smokes 50 grams a day of medical pot, couldn't be happier that the federal government's marijuana monopoly has gone up in smoke.

Myrden, 44, was one of several medicinal marijuana users who yesterday watched as appeal court judges dismissed Ottawa's bid to keep the medical pot supply chain limited to one grower per smoker.

The controversial Health Canada one-grower-per-patient regulation was struck down in January by federal court Justice Barry Strayer, who ruled the restriction was unconstitutional.

Yesterday, federal lawyers Sean Gaudet and James Goreham mounted the government's appeal of Strayer's ruling. Because Strayer's ruling was under appeal, the Health Canada regulation was still in effect until yesterday's decision.

Gaudet and Goreham argued the one-to-one policy was required to ensure against the pot from licensed growers straying illicitly into the open market.

However, the three judges, John Maxwell Evans, Karen Sharlow, and C. Michael Ryers, didn't buy it. They dismissed the appeal after the lunch break, reducing the scheduled one-day hearing to a half-day.

And while the tight-lipped government lawyers -- who declined to comment -- started packing up, the pro-medicinal marijuana advocates cheered and congratulated lawyers Alan Young and Ron Marzel, who were representing 30 patients seeking the right to buy pot from a Smiths Falls grower called Carasel Harvest Supply Corp.

Yesterday's ruling means that licensed medical pot smokers are no longer restricted to getting their weed from a grower who only provides bud to them.

"We all want the same thing ultimately and that's our freedom. That's what it boils down to, the freedom to be able to do what we want without government intervention," Myrden said.

It also means that the much-maligned green grown in Manitoba by a federally contracted grower is no longer the only supplier who can provide weed to more than one person.

Myrden adamantly refuses to smoke the government-issue weed grown in Flin Flon by Prairie Plant Systems.

"I've tried it, it's garbage," said Myrden, a former corrections officer who smokes to combat symptoms of chronic progressive multiple scleroris. "It's absolutely disgusting, it's sticks and seeds and stems, I can't believe they'd make us smoke that as medicine."

Myrden, who also suffers from a rare facial condition she says causes "violent pains," has a government licence to grow her own. She consumes 50 grams a day by eating it, drinking it in tea, and smoking 30 joints.

Outside court yesterday, Young called on Health Canada to adopt more open-minded policies surrounding medicinal marijuana.

"It's time for Health Canada to recognize that medical marijuana is an established part of the regimen of a lot of patients," Young said. "Instead of thwarting patient needs, they should be accommodating patient needs. Hopefully this case will be a signal to them. Quite frankly, they've lost almost every round (in court)."

ADD and marijuana treatment testimonial

2008-09-30T04:18:00.001-04:00

SOURCE:http://forum.grasscity.com/recreational-marijuana-use/211163-marijuana-adhd.html

Marijuana and ADHD
I know, it's LONG. If you don't feel like reading it, that's cool. But if you've ever had a problem with ADD or ADHD then this could help you out a lot. PM me or reply to my thread if you have any questions.

Throughout my early school years I knew I was intelligent. I had straight A's up until high school (yeah, not that hard..but w/e). In high school, I lost all drive to do well in school. My disorder finally reared it's ugly head when I was actually required to do my homework at home, weird concept I know. When I got home, I couldn't do it. Too many distractions, not enough motivation, so I gave up.

I would still do well on tests; I could sit in a classroom without taking notes and absorb enough information to ace it. I never really asked myself why I continuously only did enough to slide by. I ended up with a 3.4 GPA even after never doing my homework. The biggest sign that told me something was wrong was the ACT. I scored a 33 on the ACT the second time I took it (first without a calculator, meh.). At that point, I could go to any school I wanted. But I still had to wonder, why didn't I give high school my best? Why couldn't I have just done my homework and got a 4.0. I could have been valedictorian.

So here I am at college. A shitty state university. I procrastinated so much on my college apps that this was the only school I could apply for. I got in easily. I had NO distractions here but my computer first semester (I'm a computer nerd, it's required :P), yet I still didn't do my homework. I was continuously skipping class because I can now and couldn't in high school when I wanted to every day. My grades were suffering, first semester I received a 2.5 gpa. Something had to be done. I thought about getting my adderall prescription filled again, but then I came across an article about cannabis and its uses to remedy ADHD. I was immediately intrigued. I sought out help from some hallmates who were more experienced with the herb .

Something that I found enjoyable during first semester was smoking with my hallmates. After a month of thinking they were just drug addicts, I found myself talking to them more and more and realizing that these guys were actually more intelligent than my current friends who were all self-proclaimed intellectuals. They got me high for my first time ever (it was a bong, by the way ), and since then, I've been smoking marijuana almost every day. At first, I binged. I smoked a lot of pot, way more than needed to get high at my tolerance. I loved the feeling it gave me. I could deal with social situations that were worsened by my ADHD in a much better manner. I could focus better, I was less impulsive, and frustration seemed to just slip away. Things were looking bright...

Until I realized what I was doing. I was continuously smoking throughout the day and basically was high all the time. I realized that people around me were getting the idea that I was this huge stoner. I'd always be stoned and smell like a hint of the herb so people immediately judged me and put me in the "pothead" category. This disgusted me. Just because I smoked, people automatically slotted me as someone who just smokes pot all day and does nothing else. What bothered me most is that people didn't believe that I was intelligent. I was out of it most of the time, so people figured I was a stupid stoner kid. Stereotypes with marijuana are so wrong, but so prevalent within society.

I also found that the reason I was smoking in the first place had been lost. I was smoking to relieve my ADHD. It worked, but I smoked too much. I was blasted all the time so it actually had the reverse effect. I was just as inattentive, obnoxious, and impulsive as I was before smoking. I had a big wakeup call when my hallmates confronted me about these issues. Something had to be changed, and I knew what it was.

I've reduced my cannabis consumption down to around 3 times per day on weekdays. Sure, on weekends I'll get blasted every once in a while, but for the most part I smoke much less marijuana than I did before. I found that consumption of cannabis via eating it gave much better results with regards to curing ADHD symptoms. The longer lasting "buzz" I guess you could call it is something that helps me through my school day. I am more attentive, less impulsive, and generally more mellow after eating cannabis rather than smoking it. Smaller amounts, too, showed promise that this could be the answer to all of my problems.

So, I began a routine that I still continue today, and it's done so well to cure my symptoms. In the morning, I eat a piece of toast with cannabis peanut butter. This is excellent for focus and to slow my mind down enough to think throughout the day. I eat a cannabis cookie after dinner. This gives me the ability to focus enough to do my homework throughout the evening. At night, I usually smoke a one hitter or use my vaporizer. This clears my mind enough so that I can lay down and actually fall asleep within 15 minutes, rather than lying in bed for an hour while my mind races about. Really, it reminds me of adderall, without the addictive properties and without the withdrawal if you don't feel like taking it anymore.

So, I would consider the treatment of my ADHD with marijuana to be rather successful. I am attending class daily without any problems. I am able to do my homework and study each night without being distracted. Aside from school, it also helps me in social situations that are made worse by my ADHD. My friends notice that I am no longer as obnoxious or impulsive anymore, and I'm a much more bearable friend. I am very happy with the results, and I suppose the next step is to make this magical herb legal!
__________________
Stay fly.

Marijuana replaces Ritalin in treatment for ADD/ADHD

2008-09-30T04:13:00.002-04:00

Marijuana replaces Ritalin in treatment for ADD/ADHD - Video

So it would appear the die is cast and that cannabis is set to be reclassified to a class B drug, bringing with it more arrests, more prison sentences, and more expense.

In the meantime, Dutch Police in Amsterdam are complaining about their rights to use cannabis when off-duty and as if that wasn't enough to prove the futility of trying to outlaw a substance which is a long way safer than either alcohol or tobacco, we now have a consultant pediatrician from the US, claiming marijuana (or cannabis) can be used ON CHILDREN, in the treatment of ADD or ADHD? So who's telling us lies?
Dr Claudia Jenson, who is a consultant pediatrician from USC, has come up with a novel way of treating ADD/ADHD, WITHOUT any of the unwanted side effects which can result from using popularly prescribed medicines.
Attention deficit Disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) is a biological, brain based condition that is characterized by poor attention and distractibility and/or hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. It is one of the most common mental disorders that develop in children. Symptoms can continue into adolescence and adulthood. Image
If left untreated, ADHD can lead to poor school/work performance, poor social relationships and a general feeling of low self esteem.

The normal course of treatment for a child diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, is a course of methylphenidate, better known as Ritalin.

Methylphenidate (MPH) is a prescription stimulant commonly used to treat Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. It is also one of the primary drugs used to treat the daytime drowsiness symptoms of narcolepsy and chronic fatigue syndrome. The drug is seeing early use to treat cancer-related fatigue.

As always there is a flip-side to these prescription drugs, and in the case of Ritalin, substance abusers have found various ways to ingest the drug recreationally, which gives an effect similar to cocaine or amphetamine so the use of ritalin is to be closely monitored.

For the child diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, the side effects of using Ritalin, are many, including psychosis (abnormal thinking or hallucinations), difficulty sleeping, stomach aches, diarrhea, headaches, lack of hunger (leading to weight loss) and dry mouth. In some cases, the use of Ritalin has led to death.

If Ritalin or its side effects, are causing your children problems, ask your doctor about using marijuana as an alternative.

watch this corresponding video

three of the four national parties have spoken out in favour of decriminalizing the recreational drug.

2008-09-19T01:41:00.004-04:00

Federal election could be going to pot
By DAVE MABELL
Sep 5, 2008, 04:22

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Legalizing the use of marijuana will be an election issue if proponents across Canada listen to Neil Magnuson.
In Lethbridge as part of the “2008 Freedom Tour” on Thursday, the long-time activist said three of the four national parties have spoken out in favour of decriminalizing the recreational drug.
For the Green Party, he said, it’s one of the key issues.
“If Elizabeth May is allowed to take part in the debate, she’ll talk about it.”
May, the party’s leader, is battling the reigning Conservatives’ efforts to keep her out of the televised debates. Magnuson, in Alberta as part of the movement’s annual trek to the House of Commons in Ottawa, said he’ll be urging legalization advocates to take full part in the upcoming election.
Pro-pot websites, Facebook and other vehicles will be used to urge advocates to speak up during the campaign and then vote for candidates who support their cause.
Many Liberal and New Democratic Party candidates are also expected to back legalization, he pointed out, though it may not be a platform plank as it is for the nation’s Greens. Not many Conservatives are in favour, he conceded.
“They’re in the pockets of the United States,” a nation where marijuana use is heavily proscribed.
But in Canada today, Magnuson said most adults see the prohibition on marijuana as no more effective as the nation’s generations-ago ban on alcohol.
“I think people across Canada are fairly aware of this issue,” he said. “But they feel helpless about changing the law,” especially when a Tory government is promoting longer jail terms for people caught selling pot.
“Very few Canadians think we should use criminal law against it.”
By refusing to regulate and tax the product — just as provinces do with alcohol — he said the federal government is putting that revenue in the hands of organized crime, just as in Al Capone’s era. So criminal gangs recruit young people to sell their product and run the risk of arrest.
“For youth who are living in poverty, they can’t resist the lure of easy money.”
Magnuson said a Canadian Senate report pegged the costs of policing, prosecuting and jailing those young people at $1 billion or more every year. Because marijuana is so widely grown and used, he added, about 1.5 million Canadians have a drug-related conviction on their court record.
A 25-year activist in metro Vancouver, Magnuson said experience there refutes opponents’ suggestions that using pot becomes a “gateway” to using dangerous “hard drugs.” What researchers there have found, he said, is marijuana’s role in helping addicts quit those narcotics and get on with their lives.
SOURCE: Lethbridge Herald.com

Parents are using marijuana for ODD, OCD, Autism, ADHD and Tourettes and Bi-polar in their kids.

2008-09-19T01:41:00.003-04:00

For the Sake of the Children

The Message of Medical Cannabis

Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
September 2002

There is a belief system in the United States nurtured by decades of simplistic thinking that says to everyone we must ban cannabis for the sake of the children. Recently, speaking of the DEA raid on the Santa Cruz, California Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, DEA agent Richard Meyers stated, "what type of message are we sending to our children"? The Alliance, more commonly known as WAMM, is a nonprofit patient cooperative that literally gives medicine away to the sick and dying who qualify for medical cannabis under California State Law. Some of the patients are, in fact, children and a message is most certainly being sent to all of the children of the community and to the rest of us.

The message is that sick people, with their physicians’ approval, need real nontoxic medicine and programs like WAMM are going to see that they get what they need regardless of their ability to pay. Children are being taught that cannabis is a legitimate medicine that is to be used in the context of an overall medical plan designed to relieve suffering. The children are being taught to love one another and that there is all the difference in the world between legitimate medicine and drug abuse.

Furthermore, some in the medical cannabis community are brave enough to speak out publicly, stating that cannabis can provide unique help with some childhood disorders including cancer but also attention deficit disorder and autism. These latter disorders are currently treated with powerful stimulants such as amphetamine in the first case and with brain numbing toxic preparations such as Haldol in the case of autism. Parents of autistic children and children with severe ADHD often are desperate for help with seemingly insurmountable problems. Behavioral therapies while very helpful often fail to relieve the aggressive, indeed violent, behavior and lack of impulse control sometimes associated with these disorders.

Out of sheer desperation, a number of parents have begun trying adjunctive therapy with cannabis for their children. Most activists within the medical cannabis community are frightened by this development for the very real reason that they believe the use of cannabis with children will only increase the efforts of law enforcement to crush the movement. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some childhood behavioral brain disorders are so resistant to traditional treatment and that treatment is often so toxic that virtually any new method that provides real relief is going to result in a groundswell of support for medical cannabis. This is already happening in the autism community.

Imagine a child being given half a dozen psychotropic drugs from Prozac to Haldol to Valium and who continues to break down doors and assault others seemingly without provocation who now responds to therapy with medical cannabis. Imagine the parents of such children contemplating a lock up for their beloved child who now sees that child calm and functional. Loving parents will demand that cannabis be provided to the arsenal their pediatricians and pediatric neurologists already have.

The message to our sick and suffering children is that we love them. The love is greater than any blind acceptance of the existing wrongful beliefs about cannabis that are merely the propaganda of cultural elitists. As loving parents, these folks are willing to risk the wrath of Child Protective Services, the actions of the DEA, and the ignorance of their own physicians.

Over the past year, thousands of parents and professionals involved in the treatment of children have been reaching out for education on the possible role of cannabis in treating the devastating disorders of their kids. In the words of one parent of a formerly violent autistic boy, "autism took our son away from us and the love of the Lord and cannabis cookies have brought him back". The stories, one might say, are "merely" anecdotal but they are heart wrenching and true.

Brain disorders often involve an imbalance in the brain of key neurotransmitters and/or defects in their receptors. The exact cause of childhood brain disorders is still unknown but seems to involve the way in which brain cells (neurons) communicate with one another. Proper brain function requires an intricate "dance" of just the right concentrations of serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and other chemicals. It is now established that in the human body natural "cannabis", called Endocannabinoids, are active in the brain and play a vital role in regulating brain function. In fact, Endocannabinoids may be the most important chemicals of all in establishing and maintaining homeostasis or balance in key brain systems and other systems elsewhere in the body. Cannabinoids are active in determining when cells die (apoptosis) and when they live. The cannabinoids are neuroprotective. They are powerful anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatories, anti-seizure, and control the production and metabolism of key hormones including psychohormones.

In the decades to come it is certain that pharmaceutical companies will develop and test synthetic medicines based on the naturally occurring cannabinoids. They have already started. These medicines will be very expensive and it will be many decades before they are perfected and in general use. For the sake of the children we can’t wait that long. Nor do we need to. Cannabis has been used safely and medically for thousands of years. Based on the 12,000 year old track record of medical cannabis preparations we can treat our sick children now in the context of comprehensive treatment overseen by qualified physicians.

Currently, we have a virtual epidemic of behavioral problems with children. These problems propel children into self destructive behaviors including drug experimentation, alcoholism, and addiction. These problems destroy our families and fill our institutions and prisons. For the sake of the children we need to more effectively diagnose, intervene, and treat our sick kids. No medicine should be withheld from the effort to treat sick kids based on cultural prejudice and misinformation. For the sake of the children, their parents will not stand for nontoxic and efficacious treatments being denied their babies.

In the near future the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis will be publishing detailed articles on the use of cannabis in the treatment of autism and attention deficit disorders. We have already published articles demonstrating the effectiveness of cannabis with other brain disorders such as Tourette’s Syndrome and Bipolar Disorder. These are terrible illnesses that bring great suffering to many thousands and anguish to a legion of parents. For the sake of the children let’s try medical cannabis.

SOURCE:http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/for_the_children.htm

Marijuana may be beneficial to ADHD people when driving.

2008-09-19T01:41:00.000-04:00

Cannabis normalized impaired psychomotor performance and mood in a patient with hyperactivity disorder

Scientists at the Department for Forensic and Traffic Medicine of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, investigated the effects of cannabis on driving related functions in a 28 year old man with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He had violated traffic regulations several times in recent years and his driving licence was revoked due to driving under the influence of cannabis. He showed abnormal behaviour, seemed to be significantly maladjusted and his concentration was heavily impaired while sober during the first meeting with a psychologist. He was allowed to perform driving related tests under the influence of the cannabis compound dronabinol (THC), which his doctor had prescribed him to treat his symptoms. The examiner expected that he was not able to drive a car under the acute influence of THC.

But at the second visit his behaviour was markedly improved and he performed average and partly above-average in all tests on reaction speed, sustained attention, visual orientation, perception speed and divided attention. A blood sample taken after the tests revealed a high THC concentration of 71 ng/ml in blood serum. He admitted later to have smoked cannabis and not taken dronabinol, because it was too expensive. Researchers noted that "people with ADHD are found to violate traffic regulations, to commit criminal offences and to be involved in traffic accidents more often than the statistical norm" and conclude from their investigation that "it has to be taken into account that in persons with ADHD THC may have atypical and even performance-enhancing effects."

SOURCE:http://bbsnews.net/article.php/20071001105829361

Health Canada info on medical marijuana

2008-06-18T16:57:00.000-04:00

Information for Health Care Professionals
(Revised)
Marihuana (marijuana, cannabis)
dried plant for administration by ingestion or other means
Psychoactive agent
Prepared by Health Canada, July 2003
Presented in present format by CPhA, June 2004
This document has been prepared for the Drug Strategy and Controlled
Substances Programme to provide information on the use of marihuana for
medical purposes. Marihuana is not an approved therapeutic product and
the provision of this information should not be interpreted as an
endorsement of the use of this product, or marihuana generally, by Health
Canada.
Despite the similarity of format, it is not a Drug Product Monograph, which is
a document which would be required if the product were to receive a Notice of
Compliance authorizing its sale in Canada. This document is a summary of
peer reviewed literature and international reviews concerning potential
therapeutic uses and harmful effects of marihuana. It is not meant to be
comprehensive and should be used as a complement to other reliable sources
of information.
This document should not be construed as expressing conclusions from
Health Canada about the appropriate use of marihuana for medical
purposes.
Marihuana (marijuana, cannabis) is not an approved therapeutic
substance in Canada and no marihuana product has been issued a
notice of compliance by Health Canada authorizing sale in
Canada.
Health
Canada
Santé
Canada
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1.0 Chemistry.................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Composition..............................................................................................................................1
1.2 Other ingredients.......................................................................................................................1
1.3 Stability and storage...................................................................................................................1
2.0 Clinical Pharmacology.............................................................................................................2
2.1 Pharmacodynamics ....................................................................................................................2
2.2 Pharmacokinetics .......................................................................................................................5
2.2.1 Absorption...................................................................................................... 5
2.2.1.1 Smoked cannabis ............................................................................ 5
2.2.1.2 Oral THC .........................................................................................6
2.2.1.3 Rectal THC ......................................................................................7
2.2.2 Distribution .....................................................................................................7
2.2.3 Metabolism .................................................................................................... 8
2.2.3.1 Inhalation ..........................................................................................8
2.2.3.2 Oral ...................................................................................................9
2.2.4 Excretion .......................................................................................................10
2.3 Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships ................................................................. 10
3.0 Dosing.................................................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Smoking ................................................................................................................................. 11
3.2 Oral .........................................................................................................................................12
4.0 Purported Indications and Clinical Use.............................................................................. 12
4.1 Nausea and vomiting................................................................................................................13
4.2 Wasting syndrome and loss of appetite in AIDS and cancer patients .....................................13
4.2.1 To stimulate appetite and produce weight gain in AIDS patients ................13
4.2.2 To stimulate appetite and produce weight gain in cancer patients ...............14
4.2.3 Anorexia nervosa ..........................................................................................15
4.3 Multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or disease......................................................................15
4.3.1 Multiple sclerosis .........................................................................................15
4.3.2 Spinal cord injury..........................................................................................15
4.4 Epilepsy...................................................................................................................................16
4.5 Pain .........................................................................................................................................16
4.5.1 Cancer pain ...................................................................................................16
4.5.2 Other pain categories ....................................................................................17
4.6 Other diseases and symptoms..................................................................................................18
4.6.1 Movement disorders......................................................................................18
-iii-
4.6.1.1 Dystonia .........................................................................................18
4.6.1.2 Huntingtons disease......................................................................18
4.6.1.3 Parkinsons disease ........................................................................18
4.6.1.4 Tourettes syndrome ......................................................................19
4.6.2 Glaucoma ......................................................................................................19
4.6.3 Bronchial asthma ..........................................................................................19
4.6.4 Hypertension .................................................................................................20
4.6.5 Psychiatric disorders .....................................................................................20
4.6.6 Alzheimers disease ..................................................................................... 21
5.0 Contraindications................................................................................................................. 21
6.0 Warnings................................................................................................................................21
7.0 Precautions ............................................................................................................................ 22
7.1 General....................................................................................................................................22
7.2 Dependence and withdrawal ....................................................................................................22
7.3 Special populations ..................................................................................................................22
7.4 Drug interactions.....................................................................................................................22
7.5 Drug screening tests.................................................................................................................23
8.0 Adverse Effects...................................................................................................................... 23
8.1 Carcinogenesis, mutagenesis and respiratory tract ..................................................................23
8.2 Immune system ........................................................................................................................24
8.3 Reproductive and endocrine systems.......................................................................................24
8.4 Cardiovascular effects..............................................................................................................25
8.5 Central nervous system............................................................................................................27
8.5.1 Cognition......................................................................................................27
8.5.2 Psychomotor performance ...........................................................................27
8.5.3 Behavioural effects ......................................................................................28
8.5.3.1 Psychiatric disorders ............................................................................28
8.5.3.2 Schizophrenia.......................................................................................29
8.5.3.3 Amotivational syndrome......................................................................29
8.5.3.4 Dependence and tolerance ...................................................................30
9.0 Overdose and toxicity ........................................................................................................... 31
-1-
1.0 Chemistry
1.1 Composition
Marihuana (Marijuana) is the common name for Cannabis, a hemp plant that grows
throughout temperate and tropical climates in almost any soil condition. Delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabinol ( Δ9-THC, THC) is the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis.
The flowering tops and leaves are used to produce cannabis for smoking. Marihuana is
most commonly smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes (joints) containing marihuana plant
material.
Although the leaves and flowering tops of Cannabis plants yield more than 60
cannabinoids, the major active components are Δ9-THC, cannabinol (CBN) and
cannabidiol (CBD) (British Medical Association, 1997, p 7).
1.2 Other ingredients
There are other components in marihuana joints which are common to tobacco and the
smoke from them is considered chemically similar to that from tobacco cigarettes
(Iverson, 2000, p 191; British Medical Association, 1997, p 14). However, some
investigators report that two potent carcinogens in tobacco smoke, benzanthracene and
benzpyrene, are present in higher amounts in marihuana smoke (Novotny, et al., 1976).
Differences in the smoking techniques used by marihuana and tobacco smokers are
reported to result in three-fold higher levels of tar and five-fold higher levels of carbon
monoxide being retained in the lungs during cannabis than during tobacco smoking (Wu,
et al., 1988). This greater retention of tar and carbon monoxide from cannabis smoke
may offset the fact that a marihuana smoker typically smokes fewer cigarettes per day
than a tobacco smoker (i.e., the exposure to tar and carbon monoxide could be similar for
both groups of smokers) (Peterson, 1979; Tashkin, et al, 1987).
1.3 Stability and storage
Most of the information on stability of marihuana does not distinguish between THC and
its carboxylic acid analogue (THCA). The latter is degraded to THC by pyrolysis during
smoking or in the inlet of gas chromatographs used in forensic analysis (Baker, et al.,
1981). Heat, light, humidity, acidity and oxidation all affect the stability of cannabis
(Garrett, et al., 1974; Mechoulam, et al., 1981). Available information suggests that THC
in recently harvested plant material stored in dry, tightly- closed, refrigerated containers
would be stable for several months. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports
(Thomas, et al., 1999) that retention samples of their carefully prepared and standardized
cigarettes are stable for months, particularly when stored below 0oC. However, even at
18oC, there is a loss of only a third of the THC potency (from 2.87 to 1.8% THC) over 5
years, with some increase in the concentration of CBN.
2.0 Clinical Pharmacology
2.1 Pharmacodynamics
Most of the pharmacodynamic information on marihuana in humans refers to the effects
of the major constituent THC. CBD does not appear to be psychoactive; its principle
-2-
action is inhibition of cytochrome P450 enzymes, which decreases the metabolism of
TCH and other drugs. CBN, while only weakly active compared to THC in the brain,
appears to have activity in isolated immune cells (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p
2.5).
Cannabinoid receptors have been discovered in neural tissue. Two types of cannabinoid
receptors, CB1 and CB2, have been identified. Table 1, adapted from the British Medical
Association Report (British Medical Association, 1997, p 19), notes some of the effects
of cannabis. Many of the effects are biphasic, e.g., increased activity with acute or
smaller doses, decreased activity with larger doses or chronic use. Effects differ greatly
among individuals and may be greater in severely ill and elderly patients.
-3-
Table 1: Pharmacologic actions of cannabis in man
Body System/Effect Detail of Effects
CNS
Psychological Euphoria (high), dysphoria, anxiety, depersonalization,
precipitation or aggravation of psychosis.
Perception Heightened sensory perception, distortion of space and time, sense,
hallucinations, misperceptions.
Sedative Generalised CNS depression, drowsiness, somnolence; additive
with other CNS depressants.
Cognition, psychomotor
performance
Fragmentation of thoughts, mental clouding, memory impairment,
global impairment of performance especially in complex
demanding tasks.
Motor function Increased motor activity followed by inertia and in coordination,
ataxia, dysarthria, tremulousness, weakness, muscle twitching.
Analgesic Currently available oral cannabinoids are similar in potency to
codeine (but from a different mechanism).
Anti-emetic, increased
appetite
With acute doses; effect reversed with larger doses or chronic use
(tolerance).
Tolerance To most behavioural and somatic effects, including the high.
Dependence, abstinence
syndrome
Has been produced experimentally following prolonged
intoxication: symptoms include disturbed sleep, decreased appetite,
restlessness, irritability and sweating. Information from therapeutic
use lacking.
Cardiovascular System
Heart rate Tachycardia with acute dosage, bradycardia with chronic use.
Peripheral circulation Vasodilation, conjunctival redness, postural hypotension.
Cardiac output Increased output and myocardial oxygen demand.
Cerebral blood flow Increased with acute dose, decreased with chronic use.
Respiratory system
Ventilation Small doses stimulate; larger doses depress.
Bronchodilation Coughing, but tolerance develops.
Airways obstruction From chronic smoking.
Eye Decreased intraocular pressure.
Immune system Chronic use: impaired bactericidal activity of macrophages in lung
and spleen.
Reproductive System
Males Antiandrogenic, decreased sperm count and sperm motility (chronic
use, but tolerance may develop).
Females Suppression of ovulation, complex effects on prolactin secretion;
chronic use: increased obstetric risk.
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The acute effects of smoking marihuana include almost immediate euphoria (the
marihuana high) as well as cardiovascular, bronchopulmonary, ocular, psychological
and psychomotor effects. Maximum euphoria occurs within 15 minutes after smoking;
the psychological effects (see Table 1) reach a plateau which can last for several hours.
However, on first dosing, some people experience dysphoria and anxiety. The effects on
the cardiovascular system (tachycardia, etc.) decline much faster as THC is distributed
out of the circulatory system. Tachycardia is the most consistent of the physiological
effects of marihuana (Beaconsfield, et al., 1972; Perez-Reyes, 1990).
The short-term psychoactive effects of marihuana smoking include euphoria, relaxation,
time-distortion, perception of enhanced sensory experiences (such as music) and loss of
inhibitions that may result in laughter (Hall, et al., 1998). This is followed by a
depressant period (Ameri, 1999). While there is some inconsistency in reports of the
acute effects on memory and motor skills (Fant, et al., 1998; Kelly, et al., 1993; Barnett,
et al., 1985), most reviews note that marihuana use is associated with impaired function
of a variety of cognitive tasks and short-term memory (Ameri, 1999; National Academy
of Sciences, 1999, p 2.27; Hollister, 1998; Miller, Ch. 15 p 227-231).
A major concern
from such an acute effect is impairment affecting driving or operation of intricate
machinery (Hansteen, et al., 1976; Smiley, et al., 1999; OKane, et al., 2002). There are
reports of reduced skills on flight simulators by experienced pilots 24 h after smoking one
marihuana cigarette (Leirer, et al., 1991). Plasma THC levels attained after smoking seem
to have a dose and concentration dependent effect on cognitive function (Heishman, et
al., 1990).
2.2 Pharmacokinetics
This section will be restricted to human pharmacokinetics, mainly of smoked cannabis,
but with some comparisons to oral THC, including dronabinol (Marinol®).
2.2.1 Absorption
2.2.1.1 Smoked cannabis
The estimation of dose administered by the smoking route is a major variable in
the assessment of absorption of cannabinoids (mainly THC) in humans. The
source of the plant material and the composition of the cigarette, together with the
efficiency of smoking by the subject, are additional uncontrolled factors. It might
be reasonable to consider about 10% (range 3-30%) as an average for THC
content in Canadian marihuana. It appears that habitual (heavy) marihuana
smokers can increase the amount absorbed, which is attributed to more efficient
smoking techniques (Agurell, et al., 1986).
THC absorption by inhalation is extremely rapid, with a bioavailability of 18 to
50% from the cigarette (Huestis, 1999), and is the main reason this route is
preferred by many people (Iverson, 2000, p 46-47).
Standardised cigarettes have been developed by NIDA, and the relationships
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among cannabis (THC) content, dose administered and resultant plasma levels
have been investigated. Smoking cannabis containing 1.64% THC (mean dose
13.0 mg THC) resulted in mean peak THC plasma levels of 77 ng/mL (Ohlsson,
et al., 1980).
THC levels in plasma decreased rapidly after cessation of smoking and were
below 5 ng/mL, 2 hours after smoking; mean concentrations declined by about
50%, 15 minutes after (Huestis, et al., 1992) reaching the maximum (Huestis,
1999). However, THC from a single dose can be detected in plasma for at least a
day using modern sensitive analytical techniques and for 13 days in chronic users
(Johansson, et al., 1988). The decline of THC in plasma is multiphasic and as
Harvey (Harvey, 1999) notes, the estimates of the terminal half-life of THC in
humans have increased as analytical methods have become more sensitive. There
is still no consensus. It is probably safe to say that the terminal half-life of THC
averages at least a week and could be considerably longer. The half-life in plasma
does not appear to be different between heavy and light users (Agurell, et al.,
1971).
2.2.1.2 Oral THC
Absorption from an oral dose of 20 mg THC in a chocolate cookie was described
as slow and unreliable (Agurell, et al., 1986), with a systemic availability of only
4 to 12% (Ohlsson, et al., 1980). While most subjects had peak plasma THC
concentrations between 1 to 2 hours, some of the 11 subjects only peaked at 6
hours and many had more than one peak.
Only 10-20% of synthetic THC (dronabinol, Marinol®) administered in capsules
with sesame oil enters the systemic circulation indicating extensive first-pass
metabolism (Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties, 2003). The
psychotropic effect or high" is observed to occur more quickly by the smoking
than the oral route, which has been characterized by Iversen (Iverson, 2000, p 46-
47) as the reason smoking is the preferred route of cannabis for many people.
2.2.1.3 Rectal THC
Limited evidence suggests a higher bioavailability of THC by the rectal route than
by the oral route (Mattes, et al., 1993 p 745-747; Brenneisen, et al., 1996).
2.2.2 Distribution
Distribution of THC begins immediately after absorption. The plasma protein binding
of THC and its metabolites is approximately 97% (Garrett, et al., 1977; Widman, et
al., 1974). THC is mainly bound to low-density lipoproteins, with up to 10% present
in red blood cells (Walqvist, et al., 1970), while the metabolite, 11-hydroxy THC, is
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even more strongly bound with only 1% found in the free-fraction (Widman, et al.,
1973).
THC has a large apparent volume of distribution, approximately 10 L/kg, because of
its high lipid solubility. Animal studies show that it is sequestered to fatty tissues
including brain (Harvey, 1999). The highest concentrations are found in the heart and
in adipose tissue, with levels reaching 10 and 1000 times that of plasma, respectively
(Truitt Jr., 1971). THC readily crosses the blood brain barrier and the slight delay in
correlating peak plasma concentration to effects is assumed to reflect this distribution
(Agurell, et al., 1986). While immediate distribution is high in liver, spleen and body
fat are the major sites of distribution after 72 h. Spleen and body fat are the long-term
storage sites (Harvey, 1999).
There has been concern about the possible consequences of the long persistence of
THC in fatty tissues. There is no evidence that the THC residues persist in the brain.
Release from the fatty storage sites into blood is slow; levels attained are not high
enough to cause psychological effects.
2.2.3 Metabolism
Most metabolism of cannabinoids occurs in the liver and different metabolites
predominate when different routes of administration are used. The complex
metabolism of THC involves allylic oxidation, epoxidation, decarboxylation and
conjugation (Agurell, et al., 1986). Cannabinoids are good substrates for cytochrome
P450 mixed-function oxidases, mainly CYP 2C9. The major initial metabolites of
THC are 11-hydroxy THC and 11-nor-9-carboxy THC. 11-hydroxy THC is rapidly
formed by action of hepatic microsomal oxidases, and plasma levels parallel the
duration of observable drug action. 11-hydroxy THC has been found to have
psychotomimetic properties equal to THC (Christensen, et al., 1971; Perez-Reyes, et
al., 1972).
2.2.3.1 Inhalation
After smoking (1.75 and 3.55% THC cigarettes) 11-hydroxy THC (Huestis, et al.,
1992) appears rapidly and peaks shortly after THC, at about 15 minutes after the
start of smoking. It exhibited peak plasma concentrations of about 7.5 ng/mL
(about 5% of parent THC) and the AUC profile of this metabolite averaged 20%
of the parent. Similar results were obtained with intravenous administration
(Agurell, et al., 1971).
The psycho-inactive 11-nor-9-carboxy THC is the primary acid metabolite of
THC excreted in urine (Huestis, et al., 1996) and it is the cannabinoid often
screened for in forensic analysis of body fluids (Martin, et al., 1999). Peak
plasma values of this metabolite occur 1.5 to 2.5 h after smoking and are about
one third the concentration of parent THC. Following oxidation, the phase II
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metabolites of the free drug or hydroxy-THC appear to be glucuronide conjugates
(Agurell, et al., 1986).
It is known that polyaromatic hydrocarbons found in tobacco and cannabis smoke
induce the action of CYP1A2. If it is shown that the metabolism of THC also
involves this cytochrome P450 isoenzyme, then repeated exposure to cannabis
could cause the more rapid disappearance of THC via this specific enzyme
(Valjent, et al., 2002). Various other cytochrome P450, enzymes are of interest for
potential drug interactions. In human liver microsome preparations, CBD has been
shown to inhibit formation of THC metabolites catalyzed by CYP 3A, with less
effect on CYP 2C9 (Harvey, 1999). However, others suggest that CBD decreases
formation of 11-hydroxy THC by inhibition of CYP 2C9 (Bornheim, et al., 1993).
Observed and potential interactions of cannabis with other drugs are discussed
later.
2.2.3.2 Oral
After oral doses of THC, parent THC and its active metabolite, 11-OH-THC, are
present in approximately equal concentrations in plasma (Wall, et al., 1981; Cone,
et al., 1988). Concentrations of both parent drug and metabolite peak at
approximately 2 to 4 hours after oral dosing and decline over several days.
Clearance averages about 0.2 L/kg-h, but is highly variable, due to the complexity
of cannabinoid distribution (Marinol US monograph). The larger amount of 11-
hydroxy THC metabolite, from first pass metabolism by this route, which is
similar in potency to THC, complicates interpretation of potential effects. With
oral THC dosing, the absorption is slow and variable, and peak concentrations of
THC may be considered one tenth those from efficiently smoked administration
but the plasma levels of active 11-hydroxy metabolite are about 3 times higher
than observed in the plasma from smoking (Wall, et al., 1983).
2.2.4 Excretion
Following inhalation, elimination of THC and its metabolites occurs via the faeces
(65%) and the urine (20%). After five days, 80% to 90% of the total dose is excreted.
Similarly, following oral doses, THC and its biotransformation products are excreted
in both faeces and urine. Biliary excretion is the major route of elimination with
about half of a radiolabelled oral dose being recovered from the faeces within 72
hours as contrasted with 10 to 15% recovered from urine. Less than 5% of an oral
dose is recovered unchanged in the faeces. Following administration of a single oral
dose, low levels of THC metabolites have been detected for more than 5 weeks in the
urine and faeces (Harvey, 1999, p 91-103; Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and
Specialties,2003).
Traces of marihuana can be detected in urine even for weeks (Ohlsson, et al., 1980)
after dosing in forensic or employment situations when such testing may be applied.
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2.3 Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships
Though it is of major forensic interest, the temporal relationship between plasma
concentrations of TCH and its psychotropic, cognitive and motor effects is unclear
(Harder, et al., 1997; Cone, et al., 1993). Dose and plasma concentration vs. response for
possible therapeutic applications are ill-defined, except for some information obtained for
oral dosing with dronabinol (synthetic THC) for its limited indications (Compedium of
Pharmaceuticals and specialties, 2003). Interpretations of THC pharmacokinetics is also
complicated by the emergence of active metabolites, particularly 11-hydroxy THC (Wall,
et al., 1981; Cone, et al., 1988), which attains higher concentrations after oral than
inhalation doses. Pharmacodynamic modelling (Barnett, et al., 1982) supports a 10
ng/mL cutoff as evidence of functional impairment (McBay, 1985) which is in agreement
with the estimate of 25 29 ng/mL for the steady state plasma concentration at 50% of
the maximum high effect, or Css(50). The model was also used to simulate multiple
dosing with a 1% cigarette containing 9 mg THC (Harder, et al., 1997). The duration of
maximal high for this dose was estimated at about 45 minutes after dosing and declined
to 50% of this peak effect at about 100 minutes following smoking. A dosing interval of
1h with this dose would give a continuous high and the recovery after the last dose
would be 150 minutes. The peak plasma concentration during this dosage is estimated at
about 70 ng/mL and the Css(50) at about 30 ng/mL THC.
Target THC plasma concentrations have been derived based on the subjective high
response that may or may not be related to the potential therapeutic applications.
However, it is likely that the psychoactivity that elicits this response from the central
nervous system is receptor derived and the concentrations are useful for suggesting doses
from smoking.
3.0 Dosing
3.1 Smoking
The actual dose of THC absorbed when smoked is not easily quantified (see section
2.2.1). According to the World Health Organization (World Health Organization, 1997),
a typical joint contains between 0.5 and 1.0 g of cannabis plant matter (average 750 mg)
which may vary in THC content between 7.5 and 225 mg (i.e., typically between 1 and
30%; see Table 2. The actual amount of THC delivered in the smoke has been estimated
at 20 to 70%, the remainder being lost through combustion or side stream smoke. The
bioavailability of THC (the fraction of THC in the cigarette which reaches the
bloodstream) from marihuana cigarettes in human subjects has been reported from 5 to
24%. The amount of other cannabinoids present, mainly CBN and CBD, is usually much
lower, but the amount delivered and absorbed parallels that of THC.
Table 2 shows some relationships between percentage of THC in cannabis plant material
and the amount in average joints. Bioavailability of cannabinoid depends greatly on
smoking technique (likely maximum approximately 50%).
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Table 2: Relationship of THC percent in plant material to
available dose in a joint
%THC (mg per 100 mg cannabis) mg THC per 750 mg*
(“ average joint”)
1 7.5
2.5 18.75
5 37.5
10 75
15 112.5
20 150
30 225
* WHO average weight
Assuming the desired peak plasma concentration of smoked THC is in the 50-100 ng/mL
range, (see Section 2.3) it has been shown (Huestis, et al., 1992) that this can be readily
achieved with smoke from a single 3.55 % marihuana cigarette with about 900 mg plant
material (approximately 32 mg THC).
A 750 mg joint of 5% strength (i.e., 37.5 mg THC) would yield slightly higher plasma
levels. If the current average street marihuana contains 10% THC, then plants yielding
joints from such a source might have an available 75 mg dose and could result in rapid
attainment of plasma concentrations above 300 ng/mL. Clearly even more potent strains
of cannabis have been reported. Patients initiating smoked marihuana therapy should
be cautioned to begin slowly and to stop smoking if tachycardia occurs.
3.2 Oral
The pharmacokinetic information described in section 2.2 reports the erratic and slow
absorption from the oral route and doses are estimated from the information for Marinol®.
4.0 Purported Indications and Clinical Use
The oral form of synthetic THC, dronabinol (2.5, 5 or 10 mg, dissolved in sesame oil) in
capsules is marketed in the US and Canada as Marinol®. It is indicated for treatment of
chemotherapy-induced emesis and for appetite stimulation in AIDS- related anorexia associated
with weight loss (Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties, 2003; Marinol US
monograph).
While there are many anecdotal reports of the therapeutic value of smoked marihuana, scientific
studies supporting the safety and efficacy of marihuana for therapeutic claims are inconclusive.
The existing scientific evidence for various symptoms is summarized in the following sections.
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4.1 Nausea and vomiting
The IOM (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.17) and other committees (Health
Department, NSW, Australia, 2000, p 41) consider that the place (if any) for smoked
marihuana would be as an adjunct to other antiemetics, when they are not fully successful
in treatment. However, there are no trials available for guidance. The BMA report
(British Medical Association, 1997, p 27) indicates the research needed to evaluate
marihuana in chemotherapy-induced emesis. This includes establishing dose ranges for
cannabinoids and clinical trials to differentiate optimum cannabinoid treatment for
specific anticancer agents and patient groups.
The IOM report suggests that, since there are now more effective antiemetic agents
available than were available in the 1980s (especially the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists),
patients are less in need of THC.
4.2 Wasting syndrome (cachexia, e.g., from tissue injury by infection or tumor) and
loss of appetite (anorexia) in AIDS and cancer patients
4.2.1 To stimulate appetite and produce weight gain in AIDS patients
The reports that marihuana is beneficial for patients with AIDS wasting syndrome
are anecdotal, although it appears to be very popular with AIDS patients
(Grinspoon et al., 1993). Studies with healthy subjects confirm an appetite
stimulating effect of smoked marihuana together with increases of food
consumption and body weight (Mattes, et al., 1994; Foltin, et al., 1988). In a
controlled, residential laboratory study in which food consumption was carefully
monitored and cannabis cigarettes were smoked with a standardized procedure,
subjects consumed significantly more calories daily compared to placebo (Foltin,
et al., 1988). There are, however no clinical trials of the smoked drug for this
indication (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.19).
Oral synthetic THC, dronabinol, administered as capsules (Marinol®) has been
approved for this indication. The Marinol product monograph summarizes a
randomized double-blind, placebo controlled-trial in 139 patients (Beal, et al.,
1995) with the 72 patients in the treatment group initially receiving 2.5 mg
dronabinol twice a day, but then having the dose reduced to 2.5 mg at bedtime
due to side effects (feeling high, dizziness, confusion and somnolence). Over the
six week treatment period dronabinol significantly increased appetite, with a trend
towards improved body-weight, and mood, and a decrease in nausea. After the six
weeks, patients were allowed to continue receiving dronabinol, during which the
appetite improvement continued.
A major concern with marihuana smoking in HIV-infected patients is that they
might be more vulnerable than other marihuana users to immunosuppressive
effects of marihuana or to the exposure of infectious organisms associated with
marihuana plant material (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.19). There
are also drug interaction concerns that are reviewed later.
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4.2.2 To stimulate appetite and produce weight gain in cancer patients
Smoked marihuana has not been studied in patients with cancer cachexia. Oral
THC (dronabinol) has been shown to improve appetite and food intake from
observations during the investigations of the anti-nausea effect (Ekert, et al., 1979;
Sallan, et al., 1980). Improved appetite and increased food intake was reported in
patients with unresectable or advanced cancer treated with open-label dronabinol
2.5 mg 2 to 3 times daily for 4 to 6 weeks, but weight gain was achieved in only a
few patients (Plasse, et al., 1991; Wadleigh, et al.,1990, p 331; Nelson, et al.,
1994). Modest weight gain was obtained with a larger dose regimen of dronabinol
(5 mg, 3 times daily), but the CNS side effects including dizziness and
somnolence were limiting (Regelson, et al., 1976). Cancer cachexia is not an
approved indication for dronabinol either in Canada or the U.S.
The immunomodulating effects of some cannabinoids could be contraindicated in
some cancer patients (both the chemotherapy and the cancer can be
immunosuppressive) (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.21).
4.2.3 Anorexia nervosa
A randomized trial of oral THC (Gross, et al., 1983) was unsuccessful for weight
gain and three of the eleven patients administered THC reported severe dysphoric
reactions. Both the British Medical Association (British Medical Association,
1997, p 46) and IOM (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.21) conclude that
marihuana is unlikely to be effective in this group of patients.
4.3 Multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or disease
The common symptom of these diseases is muscle spasticity. There are many anecdotal
reports that marihuana can ameliorate spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis or
spinal cord injury when other drugs fail or produce unacceptable side effects (American
Medical Association, 1997, p 10; British Medical Association, 1997, p 30; National
Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.23).
4.3.1 Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Published reports spanning one hundred years suggest that people with spasticity may
experience relief with cannabis (Consroe, et al., 1986). As many as 4% of MS
patients in the UK already smoke cannabis to relieve symptoms (Iverson, 2000, p
157) and in a mail survey of 233 MS patients in the UK and US, 112 (48%) reported
(Consroe, 1997) that cannabis was used to ameliorate symptoms.
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4.3.2 Spinal cord injury
Patients surviving spinal cord injuries are usually young (60% are less than 35 years
old (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.28)), and require long-term or even
life-long care. While there are no clinical trials of smoked marihuana for treatment of
muscle spasms, spinal patients reported to the IOM workshops that muscle spasms,
nausea and sleeplessness were alleviated by smoking marihuana.
4.4 Epilepsy
While some work in animals suggests that cannabinoids could have a role in treatment of
some types of epileptic seizures (Consroe, et al., 1992), (in particular CBD appeared to
have anticonvulsant without psychoactive properties (Hollister, 1986)), there are only
anecdotal and individual case reports that marihuana controls seizures in epileptics.
The potential antiepileptic activity of cannabidiol (CBD) in epileptic patients who were
poorly controlled with conventional anticonvulsants, has been investigated but is not
promising (Ames, et al., 1986, p 14; Trembly, et al., 1997, p 51; Cunha, et al., 1980).
4.5 Pain
4.5.1 Cancer pain
There are no controlled clinical trials of smoked marihuana in treatment of pain.
There are two double-blind, controlled studies of oral THC (dronabinol,
Marinol®) in cancer pain. The first (Noyes Jr., et al., 1975) was a dose ranging
study of 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg THC, given in successive days, to ten cancer
patients. Significant pain relief was found at the 15 and 20 mg dose levels, but at
these higher doses patients were heavily sedated with mental clouding common. A
second, placebo-controlled, study (Noyes, et al., 1975) compared oral 10 and 20
mg THC with 60 and 120 mg codeine in 36 patients with cancer pain. The 10 and
20 mg THC were equivalent in analgesic potency with 60 and 120 mg codeine
respectively. The 10 mg THC dose was well tolerated and, despite its sedative
effect, may have analgesic potential, but the 20 mg THC dose induced side effects
including somnolence, dizziness, ataxia, and blurred vision. Alarming extreme
anxiety was also observed at this dose. This side effect profile is supported by a
report concerning a synthetic analogue of THC also tested in controlled trials
(Staquet, et al., 1978). While it was equivalent in efficacy to codeine, it was not
considered clinically useful because of the frequency of side effects.
4.5.2 Other pain categories
Intravenous THC (0.22 mg/kg and 0.44 mg/kg) administered to patients
undergoing tooth extraction (Raft, et al., 1977) was compared to diazepam (0.157
mg/kg). High dose THC was least effective and diazepam most effective. Four
patients preferred placebo to low dose THC. A study of oral CBD, 450 mg/day in
divided doses, in 10 patients with chronic neuropathic pain (neuralgia, etc.) also
found no significant pain relief (Lindstrom, et al., 1997, p 43). Receptor studies
indicate that cannabinoids might be useful adjuncts to opioid analgesia (National
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Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.8). Improvement in phantom limb pain has been
documented (British Medical Association, 1997, p 43).
A meta-analysis of all cannabinoid trials for analgesia concluded that as well as
having effects on the CNS that limit their use, cannabinoids are no more effective
than codeine as analgesics (Campbell, et al., 2001).
4.6 Other diseases and symptoms
4.6.1 Movement disorders
The endogenous cannabinoid system appears to be intricately involved in normal
physiology, specifically in the control of movement, formation of memories and
appetite control and may be involved in the pathology of several neurological
diseases. The contribution of cannabinoids to Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s
disease and tremor has been reviewed (Glass, 2001).
4.6.1.1 Dystonia
No controlled study of smoked marihuana in dystonic patients has been
published. However, there was a preliminary open trial (Consroe, et al., 1986,
30: 277-282) of an oral cannabinoid. CBD, administered in five dystonic
patients (100 mg/day rising to 600 mg/day over 6 weeks), showed modest
dose-related improvements in all five, but worsening of tremor and hypokinesia
in 2 patients with co-existing Parkinsons disease. Results of a double-blind
randomized, placebo- controlled study of a synthetic cannabinoid (nabilone)
showed no significant reduction in dystonia (Fox, et al., 2002).
4.6.1.2 Huntington’s disease
A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (Consroe, et al., 1991) of oral CBD, 10
mg/kg/day in 15 patients with Huntingtons disease found no beneficial effects of
treatment .
4.6.1.3 Parkinson's disease
There are theoretical reasons from research on brain transmission pathways that
support a role for cannabinoids in the treatment of Parkinsonism. However, the
one published clinical trial of smoked marihuana (1 g cigarettes containing 2.9%
THC) involving five cases of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (Frankel, et al., 1990,
53: 436) found no improvement in tremor after the patients smoked marihuana,
whereas all subjects benefited from the administration of levodopa and
apomorphine. A small randomized clinical trial of the synthetic cannabinoid,
nabilone, in seven patients with Parkinsons disease found that the treatment
reduced levodopa-induced dyskinesia (Sieradzan, et al., 2001).
4.6.1.4 Tourette's syndrome
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Four case histories suggest that smoked marihuana use can reduce tics in
Tourette’s patients (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 4.32). In one report of
3 patients, it is hypothesized that beneficial effects of marihuana might have been
due to anxiety-reducing properties of marihuana rather than to a specific anti-tic
effect (Sandyk, et al., 1988, p 444-445). A randomized, double-blind, placebo
controlled trial of single oral doses of THC (5, 7.5 or 10 mg) in 12 patients with
Tourettes syndrome showed plasma concentration-related improvements in
control of tics and obsessive-compulsive behaviour, with no serious side effects;
although transient, mild side effects were noted in five patients (Muller-Vahl, et
al., 2002). A related study showed that in contrast to healthy marihuana users,
single does of THC (5-10 mg) caused no cognitive impairment measured by
objective tests in 12 patients with Tourettes syndrome (Muller-Vahl, et al.,
2001).
4.6.2 Glaucoma
The high intraocular pressure (IOP) of glaucoma can be reduced by marihuana (oral
or smoked) and there are a few reports from treatment of glaucoma patients (British
Medical Association, 1997, p 55). One reviewer remarks (Green, 1998) that
smoking of marijuana plant material for the reduction of elevated IOP in glaucoma
is ill-advised, given its toxicological profile. Research with cannabinoids, including
the discovery of ocular cannabinoid receptors, could lead to improved agents for
glaucoma treatment (Jarvinen, et al., 2002).
4.6.3 Bronchial asthma
While cannabinoids are bronchodilators, there have been very few studies of the
bronchodilator effect in asthmatic patients. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study
of smoked marihuana (2% THC), oral THC (15 mg) and isoprenaline (0.5%) in 14
asthmatic subjects showed reversal of experimental bronchospasm by
bronchodilation which was almost equivalent (Tashkin, et al., 1976). However,
tolerance to this effect developed after several weeks (Tashkin, et al., 1976).
Another single-blind investigation of smoked marihuana (0.9 and 1.9% THC) found
that it caused significant and prolonged bronchodilation, but tachycardia occurred
with the higher dose (Vachon, et al., 1976). It is clear that smoked marihuana is not
suitable for chronic use in asthma because of bronchial irritation from various
components of smoke (British Medical Association, 1997, p 60).
4.6.4 Hypertension
Cannabinoids cause postural hypotension, but tolerance to the cardiovascular effects
develops rapidly and together with adverse effects would preclude their consideration
as a treatment for long-term use in hypertension (British Medical Association, 1997,
p 64).
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4.6.5 Psychiatric disorders
Cannabis has been advocated as a treatment for anxiety, depression, sleep disorders
and alcohol and opiate withdrawal symptoms (Iverson, 2000, p 172). Use is
anecdotal and occurred before modern psychotherapeutic agents became available.
One anecdote concerns relief of depression by smoking marihuana, with much faster
mood alteration than from amitriptyline, a conventional antidepressant that usually
takes some weeks to take effect (Grinspoon, et al., 1993). Trials for treatment of
chemotherapy-induced nausea with cannabinoids have mentioned some
antidepressant effect (Regelson, et al., 1976). However, these are offset by the
potential for severe psychological side effects.
Anecdotal information and some animal studies suggest that cannabinoids may be
useful in treatment of opiate withdrawal, but there are no clinical studies to support
this indication (British Medical Association, 1997, p 64).
4.6.6 Alzheimer’s disease
Two possible indications for cannabinoid treatment in Alzheimers are to stimulate
appetite (i.e., to combat food refusal) and improve behaviour. Although oral THC
(dronabinol, Marinol®) has been investigated in 11 patients and showed efficacy
(Volicer, et al., 1997), there are concerns about the known THC effects on memory
of healthy adults in this condition in which memory is already diminishing. There
are also obvious concerns about the fire hazards of smoking marihuana in cognitively
impaired patients.
5.0 Contraindications
Marihuana is contraindicated in any patient who has a history of hypersensitivity to any
cannabinoid or to smoking. Marihuana should not be used in patients with a history of psychotic
disorders, particularly schizophrenia.
6.0 Warnings
The dose of marihuana is difficult to estimate and is affected by source of plant material, its
processing and by different smoking techniques. These include depth of inhalation and breathholding
and the number and frequency of puffs as well as how much of the cigarette is smoked.
Smoking should be gradual and should cease if the patient begins to feel disoriented or agitated.
Experienced smokers are able to titrate their dose, but naïve smokers should take great care
and be supervised.
Marihuana can produce physical and psychological dependence and has the potential for abuse.
The drug has complex effects in the CNS. These can result in cognitive and memory impairment,
mood changes, altered perception and decreased impulse control. Patients should be supervised
when administration s initiated.
Any patient experiencing a psychotic reaction to marihuana should stop taking the drug
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immediately and be kept under observation until the normal mental state is regained.
Occupational hazards: Patients using marihuana should be warned not to drive or perform
hazardous tasks such as operating heavy machinery because impairment of mental alertness and
physical coordination may decrease their ability to perform such tasks. Such impairment can last
for over 24 hours after using due to the long half-life of THC.
Pregnancy: Use of marihuana during pregnancy should be avoided as there is evidence of long
term development problems in children exposed to marihuana in utero.
Lactation: Cannabinoids are excreted in human milk and may be absorbed by the nursing baby.
Because of potential risks to the child, nursing mothers should not use marihuana.
7.0 Precautions
7.1 General
The risk/benefit ratio of marihuana should be carefully evaluated in patients with the
following medical conditions, because of individual variation in response and tolerance to
its effects as well as the difficulty in dosing noted in section 3.0:
• Marihuana should be used with caution in patients with cardiac disorders because
of occasional hypotension, possible hypertension, syncope, or tachycardia.
• Smoked marihuana is not recommended in patients with respiratory insufficiency
such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Marihuana should be used with caution in patients with a history of substance
abuse, including alcohol abuse or dependence, because they may be more prone to
abuse marihuana, which itself, is a frequently abused substance.
• Patients with mania, depression, or schizophrenia should be under careful
psychiatric monitoring if marihuana is taken, because it may exacerbate these
illnesses.
• Marihuana should be used with caution in patients receiving concomitant therapy
with sedatives, hypnotics or other psychoactive drugs because of the potential for
additive or synergistic CNS effects.
• Patients should be advised of the negative effects on memory and to report any
mental or behavioural changes that occur after using marihuana.
7.2 Dependence and withdrawal
Tolerance, psychological and physical dependence may occur with prolonged use of
marihuana. Tolerance to cardiovascular effects occurs quickly, but the dependence is
slower to develop and appears more likely with higher, more frequent dosing.
7.3 Special populations
Marihuana should be used with caution in pregnant, pediatric and elderly patients,
because there is insufficient knowledge about its use in these patient populations and the
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potential for harm is likely to outweigh benefits (see Warnings, Pregnancy and
Lactation).
7.4 Drug interactions
THC and CBD are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 system and in vitro human
microsomal studies have suggested a potential for interaction with other drugs. CBD has
been shown to inhibit formation of THC metabolites catalyzed by CYP 3A with less
effect on CYP 2C9. For this reason there is concern that in patients undergoing multiple
drug therapy, such as treatment of AIDS or cancer, clinically significant drug interactions
might occur. However, both with dronabinol and smoked marihuana clinically
significant interactions have not been detected. Protein binding is another possible source
of interaction and patients exposed to marihuana should be monitored for a change in
dosing requirements if they are taking other drugs that are highly protein-bound.
7.5 Drug screening tests
Because of the long half-life of elimination of cannabinoids and their metabolites, drug
screening tests can be positive long after using marihuana (weeks with some tests).
8.0 Adverse Effects
This section includes known cannabis-related effects (e.g., cardiac) as well as effects related to
smoking (e.g., respiratory).
8.1 Carcinogenesis, mutagenesis and respiratory tract
The only epidemiological study in relatively young health maintenance organization
(HMO) clients found an increased number of men with prostate cancer in smokers of
cannabis and other non-tobacco materials. In this study, limited by the demographics of
the HMO clientele and the low marihuana exposures, there were no other associations
found between marihuana use and other cancers (Sidney, et al., 1997). A case control
study (Zhang, et al., 1999) suggested that marihuana use may increase the risk of head
and neck cancer with a strong dose-response pattern. The risk was increased 36-fold in
those using both marihuana and tobacco compared to non-smoking controls. There has
also been a rise in the number of cancers of the respiratory and digestive systems that are
rare in young patients and are attributed to marihuana smoking (Hyman, 1999; Hall, et
al., 1998). In addition there are many cellular and molecular studies that provide strong
evidence that smoked marihuana is carcinogenic (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p
3.41).
Epidemiological studies have found mild pulmonary function changes in heavy cannabis
smokers, including reduction of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), increase in
airway resistance and decrease in airway conductance (Bloom, et al., 1987; Roth et al.,
1998; Tashkin, et al., 1987). Heavy chronic smokers presented with symptoms of
bronchitis, including wheezing, production of phlegm and chronic cough and it may be a
risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in later life (Hall, et al., 1998;
Taylor, et al., 2002). All changes were most evident in heavy chronic users, defined as
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those who smoked more than 3 joints per day for 25 years (Sidney et al., 1997; Tashkin,
1999). The effects on the respiratory tract defence system may increase the risk of
infection in chronic users (Denning, 1991). Thus although additional epidemiological
studies are required to determine the potential causal relationship between marihuana use
and the development of respiratory infection and/or cancer, evidence is mounting that
habitual smoking of marihuana has a number of adverse effects on the respiratory and
immune systems (see below) that may be clinically relevant (Tashkin, et al., 2002).
8.2 Immune system
The effects of marihuana smoking on the immune system are inconclusive. Among
patients suffering from AIDS, the increased mortality and reports of opportunistic
bacterial and fungal infections associated with marihuana use cause concern. Reviews
suggest (Cabral, 2001; Klein, 2001) that such patients may be exposed to more pathogens
or that the immune system is suppressed by marihuana (National Academy of Sciences,
1999, p 3.39).
8.3 Reproductive and endocrine systems
Results of human epidemiological studies have been conflicting; some report reduced
birth weight (Zuckerman, et al., 1989) and others no effect on birth weight (Shiono, et al.,
1995) among women who smoked cannabis during pregnancy. There appears to be some
long-term effects on development of children born to mothers who used marihuana
during pregnancy. Two longitudinal investigations over 20 years (Fried, 2002),
confirmed by a third (Richardson, et al., 2002), suggest that such in utero exposure
impacts negatively on attentional behaviour and visual analysis/hypothesis testing but not
on standardized derived IQ scores. In later years these behavioural effects have a negative
influence on aspects of executive function. Also, frequent maternal cannabis use may be
a weak risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (Scragg, et al., 2001).
There is little information concerning transfer of cannabinoids and their metabolites in
human milk (Chao, et al., 1976; Perez-Reyes, et al., 1982). However, in habitual maternal
users of marihuana the above influences in development and behaviour would also be
relevant. In a case-control study (Astley, et al., 1990), exposure to marihuana from the
mother’s milk, during the first month postpartum, appeared to be associated with a
decrease in infant motor development at one year of age.
8.4 Cardiovascular effects
The most consistent acute physiological effect of smoking marihuana is dose-related
tachycardia (Trouve, et al., 1999). While cardiovascular changes have not usually been a
problem for healthy young users, the tachycardia induced by cannabis smoking may be
problematic to those already suffering from cardiac disorders or angina (National
Academy of Sciences 1999 p 3.44). It was found that inhalation of cannabis smoke
reduces the amount of exercise required to cause an attack by 50% (Aronow, et al.,
1974). Recently, marihuana has been associated with an increased relative risk of
nonfatal myocardial infarction in the first hour following smoking (Mittleman, et al.,
-19-
2001). This may be due to increasing myocardial oxygen demand from the increase in
heart rate following cannabis use. However, other drug use could confound reports
(Hollister, 1998).
Cannabis is known to cause postural hypotension immediately after smoking (Merritt, et
al., 1982). It also causes peripheral vasodilatation, which can impact on body
temperature perception and is involved in characteristic conjunctival reddening. The
mechanisms for those effects on the autonomic nervous system are not understood
(National Academy of Sciences, 1999p 3.44).
Chronic marihuana smoking appears to induce tolerance to the cardiac accelerating
effect. In fact, after about 8 days of constant dosing with equivalent of 10 mg of THC per
day (equivalent to 100 mg of marihuana containing 10% THC), bradycardia with
hypotension (decrease in supine blood pressure) was observed (Chesher, et al., 1999).
THC and smoked marihuana poses health risks to people with cardiovascular disease
because of the resulting increased cardiac work, increased catecholamine levels,
carboxyhemoglobin and postural hypotension (Trouve, et al., 1999; Jones, 2002; Sidney,
2002).
AIDS patients may be at risk of cardiovascular effects from interactions of their antiviral
drugs, such as ritonavir, which has been shown to cause plasma lipid abnormalities that
increase risk of cardiovascular events (Purnell, et al., 2000). As this patient population
may use cannabis for weight gain or other amelioration of symptoms, the additional
cardiovascular effects from the marihuana should be considered in risk assessment.
8.5 Central nervous system
According to the Marinol® (oral THC) product monograph, the most commonly
encountered CNS events in controlled clinical trials were drowsiness, dizziness and
transient impairment of sensory and perceptual functions (Compendium of
Pharmaceuticals and Specialties, 2003). Psychotropic effects were observed in most
patients; these included the high (easy laughing, elation, heightened awareness) in 24%
of the THC group. Five percent of patients in the THC group and none in the placebo
group experienced weakness or sluggishness, hallucinations, memory lapse and ataxia.
Other events reported were dry mouth, paresthesias, visual distortions (all at 3%),
paranoia, depersonalization (each 2%) and disorientation with confusion (1%).
8.5.1 Cognition
Marihuana impairs cognition involving short-term memory, attention and
concentration. The digit span task has been used to estimate the effects of
cannabis on recent memory, but results have been inconsistent. Differences may
be due to the dosage used (% THC), the smoking procedure or whether the digit
span task assesses forward or backward recall (Heishman, et al., 1989).
Methodological issues have contributed to difficulties in assessing the effects of
-20-
chronic use (Pope Jr, et al., 1995). However, overall, studies suggest that chronic
users of marihuana suffer varying degrees of cognitive impairment that can be
long lasting (Hollister, 1998). Cannabis intoxication significantly impairs the
ability to learn and recall word lists or short stories. Recent studies comparing 51
long-term marihuana smokers (mean age 24 years) with nonsmoking and shortterm
user controls have confirmed that deficits in attention and memory occur
with heavy cannabis use, and that these continue beyond the period of intoxication
and are cumulative with longer periods of use (Solowij, et al., 2002).
8.5.2 Psychomotor performance
Cannabis exposure impairs psychomotor performance and patients must be
warned not to drive after smoking marihuana. The period of time to abstain from
operating complex machinery depends on the dose, the disease being treated and
the patients age and gender. Individuals are affected differently by prolonged
exposure to marihuana and there is some evidence of greater effects on
adolescents. Discrimination of marihuanas effects from the normal effects of
aging on cognition and performance has not been fully researched (Solowij, et al.,
1999). Performance impairment appears to be less among people who are heavy
users of cannabis compared to occasional users (National Academy of Sciences,
1999, p 3.8). It has been suggested that, unlike alcohol, cannabis users are aware
of their level of intoxication and compensate to become hyper-cautious, resulting
in decrease of speed, decreased frequency of overtaking as well as an increase in
following distance (Gieringer, 1988). Others disagree with this assertion
(Moskowitz, 1985).
8.5.3 Behavioural effects
8.5.3.1 Psychiatric disorders
It is noted in the Marinol® (dronabinol, oral THC) product monograph
(Compendium of Pharmaceutical and Specialties, 2003) that this drug should
be used with caution and careful psychiatric monitoring in patients with mania,
depression or schizophrenia because Marinol® may exacerbate these illnesses.
This reflects the IOM report (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 3.23,
3.29) and also the knowledge that psychiatric disorders are associated with
substance dependence and are risk factors for drug abuse.
Acute toxic reactions such as nausea, anxiety, paranoia and disorientation often
occur in naïve marihuana smokers but are uncommon in regular users (Noyes
Jr, et al., 1975). The triggering of psychosis by marihuana has not been
definitively established, but it appears that cannabis is frequently used by
psychotic patients (Hollister, 1998). Heavy cannabis smoking, and even lighter
use in susceptible individuals, can produce an acute psychosis including
anxiety, agitation, amnesia, delusions, hallucinations and hypomanic symptoms
(Australian Commonwealth Government, Department of Health and Ageing,
1994).
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8.5.3.2 Schizophrenia
Self-reported use of cannabis in childhood has been associated with an
increased risk of developing schizophrenia and this risk was related to
frequency of marihuana exposure (Zammit, et al, 2002). A cohort study of
over 1000 children, followed to age 26 from birth, showed a three-fold
increased risk of psychotic disorders in cannabis users and suggested that
cannabis exposure among psychologically vulnerable adolescents should be
strongly discouraged (Arseneault, 2002, p 1212-1213). Heavy marihuana use
can aggravate symptoms and cause more relapses (Alleback, 1999; National
Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 3.29). Follow-up studies confirm the increased
risk of poor prognosis in psychosis for those using marihuana (Caspari, 1999;
van Os, et al., 2002). Individuals with schizophrenia or with a family history of
this disorder are likely to be at greater risk of suffering adverse psychiatric
effects from marihuana (Johns, 2001).
8.5.3.3 Amotivational syndrome
This syndrome is used to describe young people who show little interest in
school, work or other goal-oriented activity as well as withdrawing from social
activities. While it is an ill-defined condition, this is a common feature of
chronic intoxication with many different psychoactive drugs and when the
chronic intoxication is treated or cured the behaviour improves. There is no
convincing evidence to show a casual relationship between marihuana smoking
and such behavioural characteristics (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p
3.31).
8.5.3.4 Dependence and tolerance
Tolerance to most of the effects of marihuana can develop after a few doses
and it also disappears rapidly (National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p 3.8). In
normal subjects tolerance develops to mood, intraocular pressure, EEG
changes, psychomotor performance, antiemetic effects (Jones, et al., 1976) as
well as to cardiovascular effects (Compton, et al., 1990). The dynamics of
tolerance differs for different effects (Pertwee, 1991). Tolerance to some of the
cannabis effects develops both when THC is administered orally (30 mg four
times a day) and when a roughly equivalent dose was given by smoking
(Haney, et al., 1999) (3.1% cigarette, 5 x 10 second puffs). Both groups
became tolerant to the high, but there was no diminution of the appetite
stimulating effect from either route of administration.
There is evidence that cannabis dependence occurs with chronic heavy
recreational use. Some individuals report problems in controlling such use
despite resulting personal difficulties (Australian Commonwealth Government,
Department of Health and Ageing, 1994; Stephens, et al., 1993). Dependence is
unlikely to be problematic when cannabis is used therapeutically although
-22-
withdrawal effects may be uncomfortable (British Medical Association, 1997,
p 67). These include restlessness, anxiety, mild agitation, irritability, tremor,
insomnia and EEG/ sleep disturbance, nausea, diarrhea and cramping.
Withdrawal has been studied in subjects, including adolescents who smoked
marihuana recreationally (Crowley, et al., 1998). These effects are considered
mild compared to the physical syndromes experienced with alcohol or opiate
withdrawal (Jones, et al., 1976) and the pattern of withdrawal is less clear than
for these drugs (Smith, 2002).
9.0 Overdose/Toxicity
The LD50 is estimated to be 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount in one marihuana cigarette
(approximately 1500 lb) smoked in a period of 15 minutes (Annas, 1997). Marihuana is not a
completely benign agent and it has a variety of physiological effects, but aside from the hazards
consequent to smoking, the adverse effects are within the range tolerated for other medications
(National Academy of Sciences, 1999, p3.49). Cannabis often produces unwanted effects,
typically dizziness, sedation, intoxication, clumsiness, dry mouth, lowered blood pressure or
increased heart rate (Robson, 2001). The rare acute complications (such as panic attacks,
psychosis, convulsions, etc.) that present to the Emergency Department can be managed with
conservative measures (Seldon, et al., 1990). As is stated for overdose with Marinol®
(Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties, 2003), signs and symptoms with smoked
marihuana are an extension of the psychotomimetic and physiologic effects of THC. If disturbing
psychiatric symptoms occur at the prescribed dosage, the patient should be closely observed in a
quiet environment and supportive measures, including reassurance, should be used.
-23-
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Medicinal marijuana for ADHD and Tourettes

2008-05-12T13:58:00.000-04:00

Source: http://www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=391

A woman doctor in Ventura County believes it is. Of course there's intense opposition to her findings. Ever since Reefer Madness, the world has viewed marijuana as a dangerous drug. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I'm so glad I received an email from a friend in California this morning about her daughter who has always been thought of as having ADHD (attention deficit hyper disorder). Rachel fought the school over giving Cindy the standard dangerous drugs to control her, but was dismayed at her grades and the trouble she was always in. To her shock, Cindy, now in Junior High, just got an excellent report card.

Weeks before grades came out, Rachel had written that she'd discovered Cindy smoked pot and she was beyond distraught, buying into the tried and tired bit that it's a gateway drug, leading to the hard stuff. I wrote back and told her that was total nonsense, that kids experiment at Cindy's age and not to come down hard on her, as it could make things worse. She was worried about her education and that she was headed down the wrong path and revealed that well-meaning friends and family were giving her too much advice, but it all boiled down to putting Cindy on a very short leash.

The good grades turned Rachel's head around from thinking that pot had probably turned Cindy's brain into mush and she'd flunk. What bunk! She gave me a URL to an article she'd discovered in the local paper and asked me to read it and tell her what I thought. I actually cheered upon reading it. Well, there were some boo's, too, aimed at the pathetically ill-informed debunkers.

Put that pre-judgement away and read this, please. Headlined: "Ventura physician promotes marijuana to treat attention disorders." from the Ventura County Star. I'm surprised they printed it and happy they did.

"Dr. Claudia Jensen has seen marijuana help lawyers focus in court, executives excel and adolescents get good grades.

The drug often associated with slackers can do more than Ritalin and other stimulants to motivate millions of Americans with attention disorders, says Jensen, a physician at the Center for Integrated Health in Ventura.

"It can calm you down; Ritalin amps you up," Jensen said. "Cannabis can help you sleep; Ritalin gives you insomnia. Cannabis gives you an appetite; Ritalin makes you anorexic."

Jensen is one of a handful of California doctors invoking state law to approve marijuana, medically known as cannabis sativa, for adults and adolescents who have difficulty with routine daily tasks because they have attention-deficit disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. On Thursday, Jensen will have five minutes to convince a congressional subcommittee in Washington, D.C., that the drug works."

I have to say this article has me pumped. There's been huge focus on medicinal marijuana for everything from AIDS,chronic pain to glaucoma and particularly as the substance of choice to control nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients. Look at San Francisco and Northern California and the strides made there to make it legal for those in need of non-chemical relief. I've never read of it being used on kids with these disorders, but it sure makes sense to me.

Back to the article, check out what one of Jensen's fellow doctors has to say. What century or better, what planet is this guy on? It's this kind of thinking that stunts progress and in turn, messes up a lot of kids whose parents take his advice.

"When someone is high on marijuana, they are not able to process properly, they have more problems with their focus and attention, and it is well known that marijuana causes short-term memory problems," said Dr. Loren Label, head of the ADD Clinic in Thousand Oaks.

Is that why Cindy got a 3.0 grade average? She's not hyped up on behaviour-controlling drugs, she smokes pot and is a top student. Doesn't that say something? Her mom didn't know she was smoking before school because Cindy knew she'd wig big time and would never understand how it helps her focus. It's a sad fact that most parents are of the belief that their pot-smoking kid is going to wind up dead in an alley with a needle that contained heroin in their arm. Wake up! That's not the case, dammit, and of course, there are kids as well as adults who shouldn't smoke the wild weed, as not all chemical make-up's are the same, but for those that it helps, where's the fucking problem?

I point a finger at the haha War On Drugs and it's complete failure. I shake one at educators who order their students to take dangerous chemicals just so they won't have to be dealt with and of course the money they receive. Pot could be a life-saver for overly hyper kids who won't take the pills. Finally, an alternative, but a very unpopular one it is, in spite of testimony from so many as to how it's benefited their lives, and the cry is always, "they're kids!!" I agree, this is a radical departure from standard treatment, but a good radical approach to organic vs chemical. Mydog, they give them something similiar to cocaine and balk at the benign marijuana?

Jensen and the others aren't alone -- they have back-up in Oregon. From hevanet, no date but it must be fairly recent. Give this puppy a read, but I must warn that it's highly technical and easy to scan through, but it gets into the different kinds of ADD and how little is known about the variants. Headline:

"Marijuana and ADD
Therapeutic uses of Medical Marijuana in the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder"

"It was mentioned in the Portland newspaper that the Oregon Health Division is considering allowing medical marijuana to be used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) under the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. At first glance it might seem counter-intuitive to use a medication that has a public perception of decreasing attention to treat a condition whose primary symptom is a deficit of attention. But just as taking stimulants often calms those with hyperactivity, medical marijuana improves the ability to concentrate in some types of ADD." Oh yeah, this is bigger than first thought. Wow, this next part hits home!

The particular type of ADD under consideration for treatment with medical marijuana might better be termed "Racing Brain Syndrome" (RBS). A useful analogy for this mental condition is that of a centrifugal pump that is being over-driven. As the pump speed increases, cavitation sets in and the pump's output decreases. The faster the pump is driven the greater the cavitation until a point is reached where large amounts of energy are being input but nothing is being output. Without medication there is a sensation that thoughts flash through the brain too fast to "think" them. Medical marijuana slows the brain down sufficiently to achieve impressive improvements in functionality."

Listen to what a retired Harvard Medical School psychiatrist and author of 2 books on medicinal marijuana has to say about ADHD and marijuana in the question and answer section of his site, rxmarihuana.

"Dear Dr, Grinspoon:

Hilary Black at the Compassion Club in Vancouver B.C. Canada gave me your name. I am a Master's student who is conducting a qualitative inquiry on the relationship between ADHD and the use of marijuana. I have had a very difficult time finding any literature on this specific topic. It would appear that there is very little evidence on what marijuana does for these folks. My research is almost completed and the stories from the five participants are great. It is clear that cannabis offers a sense of calm and "normalcy". But my lit review is still lacking and I was hoping that you could offer me some suggestions. Has no one else ever published an inquiry on the effects of marijuana on ADHD? Has no one else ever listened to their stories?

I look forward to your response.

Thank you very much.

Cheers,
Debbie Verkerk

Dear Ms. Verkerk,

It was more than a decade ago that I first had the experience of observing a high school student with ADHD treat this disorder much more successfully with cannabis than with his doctor-prescribed Ritalin. His mother (now deceased), a vice president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who had asked me to see him for evaluation, was also persuaded that he did much better while using cannabis than he ever did with Ritalin. Since that time I have seen a number of patients, both young people and adults, who have had similar experiences. I have also heard from many others; still I have seen no reference to this possibility in the scientific or medical literature. I think that we are now in the same situation we were with Tourette's syndrome about a decade ago; a number of anecdotal reports but nothing in the medical literature. Today you can find citations in the literature on cannabis as a treatment for Tourette's. The bottom line is that this use of cannabis for the treatment of ADHD is still in the clinical observation or anecdotal stage, and it may be impossible to find the citations you seek.

With best wishes for success with your paper,

Lester Grinspoon MD"

There you have it, it's still being studied, not much information is available, but I can't help but think if a wise parent had to choose between legal speed (which is what Ritalin and the others are) and marijuana, they'd choose the latter. I know I would. I wish Dr. Claudia Jensen the best of luck when she visits DC. I realize this is most controversial and is liable to evoke some pretty strong criticism, but all I want is for people to think about it and the lesser of evils. I thank Rachel for bringing this to my attention. I wrote, "Legally Drugging the Kids" eight months ago and it's accessed daily. What does that tell you?

"Marijuana is the safest therapeutically active substance known to man... safer than many foods we commonly consume."
-- DEA Judge Francis L. Young

Brenda Stardom
Portugal

2002-2008 © Brenda Stardom

Burnt marijuana smell not proof of drug: Canadian court

2008-02-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

OTTAWA (AFP) - A Saskatchewan appeal's court upheld a decision that
the smell of burnt marijuana is not evidence of illegal drug
possession since by definition the proof has gone up in smoke, it said
Wednesday.
(Advertisement)

"The smell of burnt marijuana does not reasonably support the
inference that additional marijuana is present," the three-judge panel
said in newly-released court filings.

Thus, police "did not have reasonable grounds to search" the truck of
Archibald Janvier after his roadside arrest in 2004 for narcotics
possession, the judges said in maintaining his acquittal.

Police had originally stopped Janvier's truck in La Loche,
Saskatchewan, in western Canada, to ticket him for a busted tail
light.

At trial, the arresting officer testified he had smelled the "pungent
odor of burnt marijuana" coming from inside Janvier's truck, charged
him with illegal drug possession, and then searched his vehicle.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police constable found eight grams of
marijuana in Janvier's coat pocket, boot and truck console, but that
evidence was thrown out.

Archibald's lawyer Ronald Piche successfully argued the warrantless
search and seizure were "unreasonable" because the aroma of burnt
marijuana -- as opposed to raw marijuana -- infers that the drug has
dissipated.

"How can you say you're in possession of something that doesn't
exist," Piche told the daily Saskatoon Star Phoenix.

Senate health committee to discuss medical conditions as possession defense

2008-02-11T17:26:00.001-05:00

Marijuana on panel agenda
Senate health committee to discuss medical conditions as defense
By James Carlson
The Capital-Journal
Published Monday, February 11, 2008

A Senate health committee will hear testimony today on a bill that
would allow certain medical conditions as a defense against
prosecution for marijuana possession.

Under the Kansas Medical Marijuana Act, people with a debilitating
disease could present to the judge a "written certification" from
their doctor attesting to the relief marijuana provides.
Print E-mail Comment

"(This bill) doesn't legalize marijuana, it doesn't decriminalize it,"
said Laura Green, director of Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition. "It
just allows a person who has a serious debilitating medical condition
who gets arrested for marijuana to bring it up to a court."

Jon Hauxwell, a physician from Hays, will testify in favor of the
bill. He used to work on a reservation in Montana where he dealt with
substance abuse issues. He said he understands the opposition to this
bill, but he added that the medical community has never allowed those
who abuse a drug to deter doctors from prescribing it to patients in
need. He listed morphine and Ritalin as other legally prescribed drugs
to which patients can get addicted.

"We shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater," Hauxwell said.

Former Attorney General Robert Stephan, a cancer survivor himself,
also will testify in favor of the bill. In August, he came out in
favor of legalizing the drug for medical use.

He said at the time he believes "the state should not pre-empt the
role of the physician when it comes to deciding what is best for ill
Kansans."

The legislation defines a debilitating condition as "cancer, glaucoma,
positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune
deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C, amyotrophic" or any other condition
that causes a host of debilitating symptoms.

Current law doesn't allow judges or juries to consider a medical
condition when prescribing punishment for possession of the drug.

"You can't even mention it," Hauxwell said.

The bill faces an uphill battle in a state wary of legislation that
even smells like marijuana legalization. Senate Health Care Strategies
Committee member Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, opposed the
introduction of the bill. She said there was no way of standardizing
dosages of marijuana.

And committee chairwoman Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, who is in
remission from stage four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and whose son
survived leukemia, said in a recent article about medical marijuana
that there are other drugs on the market that work.

Ottawa seeks appeal on medical marijuana ruling

2008-02-11T17:24:00.001-05:00

Feb 07, 2008 07:32 PM
Maria Babbage
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ottawa is asking for an appeal of a Federal Court decision that struck
down a key restriction in the government's controversial medical
marijuana program.

The Jan. 10 decision allowed growers to supply medical marijuana to
more than one patient, effectively loosening the government's tight
grip on accessing the drug.

The court erred in concluding that a restriction preventing growers
from supplying the drug to one person is unconstitutional, the
Department of Justice said in court documents filed Jan. 31.

Justice Barry Strayer also erred in concluding that the provision was
forcing medical users to obtain the drug on the black market, the
documents state.

Prior to the January ruling, medical users could grow their own pot,
but growers like Carasel Harvest Supply Corp. couldn't supply the drug
to more than one user at a time.

The federal government is seeking that the Jan. 10 judgment be set
aside and that it be awarded legal costs.

Lawyers representing medical users, who considered the Jan. 10
decision a victory, also filed for a cross-appeal of the ruling.

They say the court should be monitoring the federal government to
ensure it's not unfairly restricting access to the drug by denying
licences to growers who want to produce medical pot for a number of
users.

Strayer erred in not requiring the court to "retain ongoing
supervisory jurisdiction" over Health Canada or order the government
to periodically report back to the court on its progress, according to
a court document filed Tuesday by Toronto lawyer Ron Marzel.

"The record before the court contained ample evidence that the
government of Canada, the minister of health and Health Canada have,
since 1999, delayed and frustrated reasonable access to medical
cannabis," the document states.

Lawyers for medical users had argued that the restriction preventing
growers from producing medical pot for more than one person at a time
effectively established Health Canada as the country's sole legal
provider.

They said the restriction was unfair and prevented seriously ill
Canadians from obtaining the drug they need to treat their
debilitating illnesses.

The provision had been struck down by the courts before, but was
reinstated by the government which contracted Prairie Plant Systems
Inc. in Flin Flon, Man., to grow the drug for patients.

Previous governments have been uncomfortable with their role as a
cannabis supplier. Former Liberal health minister Anne McLellan, an
unabashed opponent of the program, was reluctant to provide the drug
to patients.

Lawyers representing medical users have accused Ottawa of trying to
buy time until pharmaceutical companies come up with marijuana
products, so it can wash its hands of the program.

The case challenging the restriction began in 2004 and was heard
before the Federal Court in December.

No date has been set for the court to hear the appeal and cross-appeal.

Canadian say yes to legalizing marijuana

2008-02-11T15:47:00.000-05:00

according to the Angus Reid poll I just took. a majority of Canadians think Marijuana should be legal in Canada

growing resources

2008-02-11T15:12:00.001-05:00

check out these neat compact garden tool sheds fitted for growing your
own medicine.

recourse website on medicinal marijuana

2008-02-11T15:07:00.001-05:00

http://www.medicalmarijuanainformation.com/home/

We ( Canada) aren't smart enough to legalize marijuana ( letter to the editor )

2008-02-11T15:03:00.001-05:00

NP Network Blogs

THE EDITOR:

Re: 'Medicinal marijuana has many challenges' (Our View, Daily News, Jan. 29).

You are quite right in stating that medical marijuana has many
challenges. Unfortunately, the major one will be overcoming the lies
and propaganda perpetuated by the drug war.

Your statement that the "idea that recreational drug use is in any way
socially acceptable has to be fought" made me wonder where you have
lived all of your life. Alcohol is a drug that is used recreationally
by millions of Canadians every year. Our governments make millions of
dollars off it and you advertise and promote it in your newspaper.
While it is also true that some Canadians are irresponsible with
alcohol, most are not. The same can be said for marijuana users.

The report of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs was a joy
to read. The nine senators stated very plainly that the war on
marijuana was a failure. Canadian citizens have been harmed far more
from marijuana prohibition than from the plant itself. The Senate
committee recommended outright legalization with people being able to
grow a reasonable number of plants for personal use. While they
realized that it was a bold step, they believed that Canadians had the
intelligence and maturity to welcome such a debate. Unfortunately, the
Senate committee grossly over-estimated the intelligence of our
government in Ottawa.

The only reason marijuana is still illegal today is because too many
people make too much money from the drug war. It is perverse to think
of how much money is wasted in the United States on the drug war,
which is partially funded by a beer company. I'm sure you cannot help
but notice the hypocrisy. The cops, the crooks, and the workers in the
court and prison system all have guaranteed employment. Now the
government wants to build more jails to lock up people who grow even
one plant. It is not hard to see whose buddies will benefit from that
decision. With all of the corruption because of the illegality of
drugs, it is hard most days to tell who the crooks are.

Growing pot poses no security threat at all, but marijuana
prohibition, and the violence that has resulted from it, certainly
does. I find it almost humourous that the public gets so concerned
about children found in homes with grow-ops, that when installed
properly would not pose a threat, but we ignore children living in
mouldy basements or worse due to poverty.

Where is that intelligence and maturity that the Senate committee was
so sure Canadians had?

Lynne Williams

Nanaimo

Source:National Post

Medical marijuana advocates cry foul

2008-02-11T14:06:00.001-05:00

Medical marijuana advocates cry foul

By Shannon Kari, National Post Published: Sunday, February 10, 2008

Companies can fire employees who use marijuana for medical reasons
even if California law allows such use because federal law prohibits
it, the state's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

It was more than 35 years ago that the LeDain Commission recommended
marijuana be decriminalized in Canada.

Attempts to suppress or even control its use were failing, possession
laws were enforced on a "selective and discriminatory" basis and its
prohibited status invited "exploitation" by criminal elements,
concluded the Royal Commission in 1972.

It suggested the government regulate cannabis in the same way as
alcohol, which resulted in proposed legislation to decriminalize
possession. The bill died on the order paper when a federal election
was called in 1974, in the same way that a similar bill died 30 years
later.

Today, discussion about reforming the country's marijuana laws is not
on the political landscape. If anything, the country is moving in the
opposite direction.

The government of Stephen Harper has ruled out any changes to the law,
and during a visit to marijuana-friendly Vancouver last week, Liberal
leader Stéphane Dion said his party is not going to advocate for the
end of criminal sanctions for possession.

Another sign that the marijuana lobby has lost political momentum is
the recent announcement by Marc Emery that he is giving up his
extradition fight. The self-professed "Prince of Pot" is negotiating a
plea bargain with U.S. authorities to try to reduce a prison sentence
for selling marijuana seeds over the Internet.

As well, almost 45,000 criminal charges for simple possession continue
to be laid each year, up nearly 20% from a decade ago.

Even the 2,200 people in Canada authorized to possess marijuana for
medical reasons have not been able to convince Health Canada to ease
restrictions to make it easier to access a legal supply of what they
consider to be their medicine.

Late last month, the federal government appealed a Federal Court of
Canada ruling that found medical marijuana regulations to be
unconstitutional for the third time in eight years.

"There is a cycle of ignorance that seems impossible to transcend" in
any discussion about marijuana, suggested Alan Young, a professor at
Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto, who has represented chronically
ill people in a number of medical-marijuana court challenges. "We are
either running on the spot or moving backwards," he said.

Medical-marijuana users have long complained about the bureaucratic
obstacles in dealing with Health Canada, when it involves licences for
legal possession or production of the drug.

Its actions have also repeatedly been criticized by the courts. Part
of the medical-marijuana regulations were struck down in 2003 by the
Ontario Court of Appeal because there was not a sufficient legal
supply of the drug and designated producers were permitted to grow for
only one person with a licence to possess.

In response, Health Canada re-enacted virtually the same restrictions.

As a result, Federal Court Justice Barry Strayer ruled last month that
the new regulations were also unconstitutional.

He noted that fewer than 20% the people with licences to possess
marijuana, acquire it from Prairie Plant Systems Inc., the company
licensed to produce for Health Canada.

Requiring citizens to break the law and access the black market to
acquire their medicine is "contrary to the rule of law," said the
75-year-old judge, who was a senior official in the federal Justice
Department in the late 1970s.

The government's appeal of the decision is part of an ongoing strategy
to marginalize the medical-marijuana program, suggested Mr. Young.
"This is a program the government never wanted to undertake," he said.

For medical users who have licences to produce their own marijuana,
there is also the constant threat of criminal prosecution.

Derek Pedro, a 35-year-old former construction industry employee who
suffers from a connective tissue disorder, said he is still trying to
rebuild his life after five police officers in Hamilton, Ont., raided
his home in January, 2007. Police seized 15 seedlings and charged Mr.
Pedro with production offences, even though he has licences to possess
and to grow marijuana. Eight months later, all charges were withdrawn.
"I am stressed all the time. I start shaking when I see police," Mr.
Pedro said. "I thought I had rights."

Using marijuana has been effective in dealing with his chronic pain
and it has also enabled him to dramatically reduce his intake of such
pharmaceutical drugs as OxyContin, Mr. Pedro said. The marijuana he
produces costs him less than one-sixth the price that Health Canada
charges for the product from Prairie Plant Systems, he noted.

Even the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police agrees there is need
for improvement in access for approved medical-marijuana users.

"We need to find a better way to get that drug to them in a safe and
reliable way," said Fredericton police Chief Barry MacKnight, who
heads the organization's drug-abuse committee.

As well, the association has supported changes to the marijuana
possession laws so that police could impose fines if appropriate.
"Police officers must have the discretion to decide whether to issue a
ticket or to send it to court," stressed Chief MacKnight, who does not
support outright legalization of what he described as a harmful drug.

The tens of thousands of possession charges laid each year are likely
a result of cases where individuals face a number of other charges as
well and not someone "standing on the corner smoking a joint," Chief
MacKnight said.

The ongoing criminal prohibition against marijuana is a useful tool
for police, because it can be used as a pretext to search cars and
homes for evidence of more serious crimes, said Vancouver defence
lawyer Simon Buck.

While the public may approve of these tactics when police find weapons
or other illegal items, it is impossible to know how many times these
searches come up empty-handed, Mr. Buck said. "You never hear about
those cases," he noted.

Source: Today's National Post

In Cannabis he trusts

2008-02-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

Source:http://www.themonitor.com/news/marijuana_8702___article.html/zuniga_use.html

Jackie Leatherman
February 3, 2008 - 2:51PM

EDINBURG — He calls himself the Rev. Adam E. Zuniga.

His religion is illegal.

According to his business card, he is ordained by the Shemshemet Ministry, which teaches the Cannabis Sacrament.

“It’s a means to my survival, spiritually,” he says.

For Zuniga, his Eucharist is pot. But he doesn’t call it that.

“Please refer to it as cannabis. I don’t refer to propaganda names. It’s sacrament. It’s herb. It is a plant.”

In July 2003, the 27-year-old had just wrapped up working security in the U.S. Air Force, and was awaiting an instructor position at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

That’s when a car accident changed his life. He hydroplaned while driving in the rain and collided with several trees.

Prior to the accident, Zuniga says he dabbled in marijuana use in high school, but switched to cigarettes when he joined the Air Force.

After shattering several bones in his left arm and tearing ligaments in his right leg during the car accident, he found himself chasing the strong pain medicine he was prescribed with beer, and still feeling the pain.

It took one year before a friend finally convinced him that he had become addicted to prescription medicine.

Right about that time, his girlfriend, a nursing major, turned in a research paper at the University of Texas-Pan American on cannabis and its medical affects.

Through his own research, Zuniga discovered the drug could help him.

What he didn’t expect was that it would also help him spiritually, too.

“I don’t just want to smoke cannabis. I want to live my life comfortably,” he said. “It’s not just ‘quote unquote’ pot.”

Shemshemet Ministry
Today, Zuniga uses a cane. Doctors tell him it’s just a matter of time before he’ll need a full knee replacement.

An anthropology student at UTPA, he lists “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato and “Constantine’s Sword: the Church and the Jews” by James Carroll — a controversial book that argues the historical fight of the church’s battle against Jews — as some of his favorite reads on his Facebook page.

It doesn’t take long to tell Zuniga has emphatically researched the history of all religions and the role that natural, now-prohibited drugs have played in them. He knows his stuff.

Though his studies, he stumbled upon the Shemshemet Ministry.

The organization’s Web site states: “Celebrating our constitutional right to practice religion in the USA.”

It further states that the ministry provides education in spirituality that will “help to protect you from arrest, prosecution and/or conviction of ‘marijuana’ charges — wherever you live — starting as soon as you sign-up, become ordained and receive your ministry documents.”

Zuniga says God made the marijuana plant and his body, which allows for the two to combine.
He advocates that natural drugs currently prohibited by law — including hallucinogenic mushrooms — should be legalized. He says his practice is a basic human rights issue. What he does with his own body, and in his own home, is his business, he says; he isn’t hurting anyone else.

“It is about the greater whole,” he said. “I’m fighting for everyone, just like the military. I want people to realize that they have a right to question.”

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, who’s taught criminal justice courses at UTPA, says Zuniga’s assertions aren’t based on any legal fact or right. It is illegal to possess marijuana in Texas, and like in every other state but 10, its use for medicinal purposes is prohibited. The severity of the charges someone like Zuniga could face depends on the amount in possession, Treviño said.

“Obviously, he is very well misinformed,” the sheriff said. “He is putting himself in peril of being arrested for possession of marijuana.”

“Nirvana”
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declared medical marijuana patients are subject to federal prosecution even if they live in a state that allows medicinal use of marijuana. There are several grassroots groups like the Shemshemet Ministry that uphold the use of medicinal marijuana, including the credible national organization Americans for Safe Access, but their cause has struggled.

Douglas Laycock, a professor emeritus at the The University of Texas at Austin, said there is no definition of when a religion becomes a religion: “it is a question of sincerity.”

“There is a very long history of religious use of hallucinogens,” he said.

But Laycock seem skeptical that the government would ever recognize marijuana use as a religious practice.

He said in the late 1960s Congress passed the Controlled Substance Act, which allowed Native Americans to use peyote — a small cactus that when eaten has powerful hallucinogenic affects.

And Ras Tafarians, a black Zionist movement that emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s, is known for using marijuana for spiritual purposes, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

They have been on court for years advocating their rights to use pot to practice their religion and have lost, Laycock said.

“If (marijuana) were exempt (from law for religious practice), how would the government ever enforce the marijuana laws?” Laycock said. “Every one would say they are a Ras Tafarian.”

Zuniga said when he “practices,” he uses the time for meditation and insight on historical and current global issues, as well as his own life. It allows him to reach deeper questioning, he said.

He said his first religious experience with cannabis came to him in winter 2005. He realized “the creation” says humans came from dirt, which is from where cannabis comes. So, when he puts the herb into his body and exhales the smoke, he is merely furthering the circle of life and releasing the organism back into Earth, a part of which he will be again when he is dead and buried.

“For me, it is a living organism that has the ability to show me that there is something that transcends me,” he said.

“It helps me to become a better human being. … I am reaching what Buddha called Nirvana.”

Community gardens for medical marijuana users? NEAT Idea.

2008-02-10T15:02:00.000-05:00

Source:http://starbulletin.com/2008/02/04/editorial/editorial02.html

A state legislator from Maui has proposed a facility where patients using marijuana for medical purposes could grow their own under state protection. While well-intended, such a facility would invite a raid by the Bush administration's Department of Justice and probably would be unnecessary under a more compassionate federal government.

Rep. Joe Bertram would authorize the state Department of Health to create a facility on his island where a patient or caregiver would be given space to grow as many as 98 plants at a time. Such a facility would wave a red flag to federal zealots who stubbornly regard marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical value.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the federal government may prosecute medical users of marijuana, even in the 12 states, including Hawaii, where marijuana is permitted for medical use. The Justice Department has been raiding California medical dispensary facilities since then, while Hawaii, which has no marijuana facilities, has kept a relatively low profile.

The state Narcotics Enforcement Division administers the medical marijuana law, and its chief, Keith Kamata, says the growing facility would violate federal law. More than 4,000 Hawaii patients have medical marijuana cards and such a facility would give them false assurance that their therapy with marijuana would be protected.

A better approach would be to improve protection to doctors recommending marijuana treatment for such ailments as nausea, vomiting and AIDS. Existing state law also could be revised to expand the "adequate supply" of marijuana, now limited to three mature plants, four immature plants and one ounce of usable marijuana.

USA Federal government stands in the way of a state-run medical marijuana distribution

2008-02-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

SOURCE:http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080204/NEWS/440177627
By Dave Frank
February 4, 2008, 4:01 AM

The water, the lights, the seeds, the soil. The problem could be several things.

Some patients will learn how to grow, said Claude Miller, a Nevada medical marijuana consultant. Some won't.

"There's patients who can't grow a flower," he said. "Much less medical marijuana."

That's part of the reason he started his business. Many of the 900 patients in Nevada's program know little about the plant when they register.

But those patients, despite a provision in state law, must grow their marijuana themselves or find a state-approved "caregiver" who will grow it for them.

"(Marijuana) is a godsend and it really helps people," said Miller, who supports medical marijuana only under a tightly regulated system.

Patients, however, will not be able to get the drug like other prescriptions the state recognizes unless the federal government changes its stance.

Following a 2000 ballot initiative, the state Legislature wrote the constitutional amendment into law including a section that ordered the University of Nevada School of Medicine to research marijuana and develop a program to distribute it to patients.

The 2001 law says the Legislature understands the state's "obligation" to research a distribution program, but also says it must do it with the permission from the federal government.

The ballot initiative, approved by 65 percent of voters, called for "appropriate methods for supply of the plant to patients authorized to use it." These patients include residents diagnosed with illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma and AIDS.

The federal government, however, rejects the opinion of the 12 states with medical marijuana programs.

"Smoked marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science," according to the Web site of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "(It) is not medicine, and it is not safe."

Federal authority

Federal policy, supported by the past three presidents, has stalled research and development of a state distribution program.

Dr. Dave Lupan, an associate dean at the state school of medicine, said the university has made "no progress whatsoever" on the legislature's mandate. It will stay that way at least until there is a new president, he said.

It is unlikely the policy will change under the next administration, though. Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney do not support legalizing medical marijuana. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are undecided.

But the university would have more problems than policy if it tried to start a program. Not only does the federal government have no interest in the school's research, Lupan said, the state has given no money for it.

"It's not only a matter of bucking federal government authority," he said, but of finding doctors to work for free.

The federal government itself has had medical marijuana evaluated several times. A 1999 federally-commissioned study by the Institute of Medicine reported, "the accumulated data indicates a potential therapeutic value for cannabinoid drugs, particularly for symptoms such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting and appetite stimulation."

The Federal Drug Administration, however, said in 2006 the medical use of the drug is not supported by science.

Green and black thumbs

A change in federal policy that led to state distribution could, according to supporters, help many patients.

Jennifer Bartlett, who manages the current state program through the Nevada Department of Agriculture, said "there are some who can't grow it, and it's a struggle."

She has not endorsed state distribution, however, and said many patients have no problems growing their own marijuana or finding a caregiver.

A state program would help all patients, though, not just those who have difficulty growing it, said Dan Hart, who managed the group that led the medical marijuana ballot initiative.

The state could make sure the medicine was good quality, he said, and this also would particularly help patients with a debilitating disease.

But some medical marijuana advocates, such as Chandler Laughlin, said the state should not be involved with marijuana and that a state-run program is a bad idea.

The Silver City resident and radio host did say many patients like him can't grow high quality marijuana.

"I have a black thumb," he said.

Bruce Mirken, who supports marijuana legalization, said a state-run program could make it easier for the state to both guarantee effective use for patients and track illegal use by others.

It can't be difficult for patients to get the medicine they need under the current program, he said.

"You could grow your own tomatoes, but if all your plants die, you don't have a salad that day," said Mirken, a representative for the Marijuana Policy Project, which has unsuccessfully pushed ballot initiatives in Nevada to partially legalize marijuana.

A model program

If Nevada eventually does set up a distribution program, it probably won't be the first state to do it.

New Mexico, which legalized medical marijuana in April, is working on the rules its department of health would need to run a distribution program.

This will allow patients to get the drug the way other patients get their medicine, said Reena Szczepanski, director of the anti-drug prohibition New Mexico Drug Policy Alliance. It would help prevent patients from going to the black market, she said.

But New Mexico's system might not work for Nevada, because of the state's sparsely populated areas. She said a state-run system where the drug is distributed through pharmacies might be better for Nevada.

The federal government itself has the only active government-run distribution program in the country. The Compassionate Investigational New Drug program was started in 1978 and closed to new patients by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. A few people are still in the program, though, and they get monthly supplies of marijuana grown at the University of Mississippi.

Miller, head of Nevada Medical Marijuana Consultants, said a state-run distribution program could be good for Nevada, but the state should be careful not to legalize it or regulate it the way California does, with marijuana available at licensed clubs.

"We don't want a bunch of drug-dealing thugs in this," he said.

But Miller, who became a patient after a spine surgery, said the drug is more safe and effective for many people who would otherwise be prescribed pain killers. Those people, he said, deserve to have their medicine.

Opponents, he said, don't understand the research or the state's program.

"We're not just a bunch of yahoos smoking reefer," he said.

Check out this Link: CAMP- Christians Against Marijuana Prohibition

2008-02-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

Christians Against Marijuana Prohibition

*** Welcome Friends of CAMP ***

love comes from Jesus It is written...

This page was blessed with the task of informing the people of the outright lies being propagandized by the Federal Government. The prohibition of marijuana is an affront to the Bible and all who worship the one true God. As an example in Genesis 1:29 the bible clearly states "...I give every green plant for food. And it was so."

Until the U.S. government decided God was wrong.

check out more of this website...

http://members.aol.com/ubermurph/CAMP.htm

Medical pot users need job protection in California: Opinion of Starbulletin.com

2008-01-28T13:45:00.001-05:00

OUR OPINION

Medical pot users need job protection
THE ISSUE
The California Supreme Court has ruled that employers may fire workers
for using doctor-prescribed marijuana for medical purposes.

THE latest threat to ailing people who use doctor-recommended
marijuana to ease their pain comes from a strange ruling by the
California Supreme Court. The court ruled that employers may fire
workers for using marijuana for medical purposes, which will prompt
legislation to undo the ruling's damage. As one of 11 states that have
legalized medical use of cannabis, Hawaii should enact similar
workplace protections.

In a 5-2 ruling last week, the California high court upheld the firing
Gary Ross, a former Air Force mechanic who used marijuana to ease the
pain from injuries to his lower back in a fall off an airplane in
1983. A doctor prescribed the marijuana, but the court ruled that
California's legalization of marijuana deals with criminal
prosecution, not terms of employment.

Laws allowing medical use of marijuana were approved by California
voters in 1996 and by the Hawaii Legislature four years later. As many
as a thousand Hawaii residents have been registered with the state to
use marijuana to treat their illnesses.

Those laws have been attacked by the Bush administration, which won a
U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2005 that subjects medical marijuana
users to prosecution. However, that decision does not cover workplace
rules.

The telecommunications company that fired Ross argued that it feared a
raid by federal authorities. A state assemblyman from San Francisco
said he plans to introduce a bill to provide medical marijuana users
some workplace protections.

Left over from last year's Hawaii Legislature is a bill that would
expand the use of medical marijuana and restrict physicians' role to
conform with court rulings. While the California ruling does not apply
to Hawaii, a precautionary provision providing workplace-protection
should be attached to that bill and enacted into law.

California Supreme Court rules Medical Marijuana Users can be fired by employers just for being a MM card holder.

2008-01-28T13:42:00.001-05:00

Calif. Court: Medical Pot Not OK at Work

By PAUL ELIAS – 3 days ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Employers can fire workers who use medical
marijuana even if it was legally recommended by a doctor, the
California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, dealing the state another
setback in its standoff with federal law enforcement.

The high court upheld a small Sacramento telecommunications company's
firing of a man who flunked a company-ordered drug test. Gary Ross
held a medical marijuana card authorizing him to use the drug to treat
a back injury sustained while serving in the Air Force.

The company, Ragingwire Inc., argued that it rightfully fired Ross
because all marijuana use is illegal under federal law, which does not
recognize the medical marijuana laws in California and 11 other
states.

The justices upheld that argument in a 5-2 decision.

"No state law could completely legalize marijuana for medical purposes
because the drug remains illegal under federal law," Justice Kathryn
Werdegar wrote for the majority.

The U.S. Supreme Court declared in 2005 that state medicinal marijuana
laws don't protect users from prosecution. The Drug Enforcement
Administration and other federal agencies have been actively shutting
down major medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California over
the last two years and charging their operators with felony
distribution charges.

Ragingwire said it fired Ross because it feared it could be the target
of a federal raid, among other reasons.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Western
Electrical Contractors Association Inc. had joined Ragingwire's case,
arguing that companies could lose federal contracts and grants if they
allowed employees to smoke pot.

The conservative nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation said in a
friend-of-the-court filing that employers could also be liable for
damage done by high workers.

Ross had argued that medical marijuana users should receive the same
workplace protection from discipline that employees with valid
painkiller prescriptions do. California voters legalized medicinal
marijuana in 1996.

The nonprofit marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access,
which represents Ross, estimates that 300,000 Americans use medical
marijuana. The Oakland-based group said it has received hundreds of
employee discrimination complaints in California since it began
tracking the issue in 2005.

Safe Access attorney Joe Elford said the group will now focus on
urging the Legislature to pass a law protecting workers who use
medical marijuana.

"We remain confident that there will be a day when medical marijuana
patients are not discriminated against in the workplace," he said.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, a Democrat who represents part of San
Francisco, said he will introduce legislation addressing those
concerns in the next few weeks.

The ruling "strikes a serious blow to patients' rights," he said.

Eleven states have adopted medical-marijuana laws similar to
California's: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

The American Medical Association advocates keeping marijuana
classified as a tightly controlled and dangerous drug that should not
be legalized until more research is done.

Reefer Madness, an artcile by Alex Nikolic

2008-01-28T13:38:00.001-05:00

Source: http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=3521

Reefer Madness

Published Date: 2008/1/28 0:10:00
Article ID : 3521
Version 1.00

By Alex Nikolic
Columnist

It has nothing to do with getting high. In reality, Canada's drug
policy is written in Washington and has everything to do with socially
conservative political manipulation, and money.
It is little more than controlling, intimidating and marginalizing
otherwise respectable and law-abiding citizens and infringing on the
basic freedoms and rights of the general population.
Until 1906, marijuana and hemp was cultivated for the production of
clothing, sails, ropes and medicine.
There was nothing illegal about it, but it did cut into the profits of
rich white people.
William Randolph Hearst had significant interests in the timber
industry, which manufactured newsprint for his many newspapers,
something that hemp had been used for until then.
DuPont had also patented a process that converted fossil fuels into
plastics, something that hemp-seed oil had been used for until then.
After losing nearly a million acres of prime timberland to Pancho
Villa, Hearst engaged in a campaign that portrayed Mexican immigrants
as violent, lazy, degenerate, job-stealing pot smokers.
The money behind DuPont, Andrew Mellon, was also Herbert Hoover's
Treasury Secretary. He appointed the US's first Drug Czar, Harry
Anslinger who proceeded to demonize marijuana by employing such
rhetoric as "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men …
Marijuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing ... the primary
reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races …This
marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes."
Not much has changed.
Drug laws based on this fear-mongering propaganda and racist
yellow-journalism are still enforced today. Instead of addressing the
world's largest demand for narcotics in its own backyard, the US
amerrogantly sends the DEA into developing countries to eradicate the
coca crops of Bolivia and opium fields of Thailand and Afghanistan,
destroying the livelihoods of farmers who have grown these crops for
centuries longer than the US has existed.
Of course, Canada's current batch of "leaders" continues to do the
bidding of American petrochemical companies and backward-thinking
scaredy-cats that have come up with their own rationalized
justifications.
Let's explore two of these myths: that marijuana is a "gateway drug"
for more destructive substance abuse, and that criminals use the
profits from pot sales for purchasing guns and cocaine.
It would be difficult to find a politician insensitive enough to deny
the use of medicinal marijuana to cancer-patients undergoing
chemotherapy. If marijuana is a "gateway drug," why aren't these
people getting hooked on heroin and crack? If they aren't jumping
through the "gateway," why would anyone else?
Undeniably, criminals are buying guns and cocaine with the profits
from marijuana sales. Pot is as guaranteed a commodity market as
anyone could find. It's the same thing Prohibition did for Capone and
his friends. However, if pot were controlled in the same way as
alcohol and tobacco, the government would be making the profits and
the criminals would lose their most lucrative means to carry out real
crimes. Marijuana laws fuel organized crime.
In 2003, Nanaimo-Alberni MP James Lunney introduced Bill C-420 that
would "place natural health products under a food directorate, rather
than as a subclass of drugs." He also recently commented that "our
government has no intention to decriminalize marijuana"
The irony extends beyond the name of the bill. Last I heard cannabis
and hemp could be grown naturally. And, if marijuana isn't a health
product, why does Health Canada grant access to marijuana for medical
use? It seems Mr. Lunney is advocating declassifying pot as a drug.
Perhaps he is more progressive than I may have imagined, despite the
Conservatives dropping the term from their name.
Nonetheless, here we are today, bowing to the Bush administration by
extraditing Marc Emery to be prosecuted under the US's archaic and
draconian laws. At the same time, we won't kick up too much of a fuss
about the US executing one of our own citizens. Meanwhile, handguns
remain legal in Canada. Where, oh where, are our priorities and
sovereignty?
If we were to decriminalize pot and treat it the way we do alcohol and
tobacco, imagine the money taxpayers would save by collecting the
taxes and diverting resources from law enforcement and correctional
facilities towards truly pressing matters such as health care and
education.
What nonsense to criminalize something that God has seen fit to plant
on His green earth! It is the chemicals used to process opium into
heroin, or coca into cocaine, that should be illegal rather than
naturally occurring plants. I wonder what DuPont would say about that.
Because it's all about money and has nothing to do with getting high.

Positive Letters in National Post about Medicinal Marijuana

2008-01-28T13:33:00.001-05:00

SOURCE:http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=268202

Another recurring topic on the letters page is legalizing marijuana.
Last week we carried a passionate letter from a woman who said that
"drugs stole my brother's life and dignity [leaving him with] HIV/AIDS
and serious nerve damage." She blamed pot for being the gateway drug
that led to his other drug-related problems. That statement did not
sit well with many other readers.

"On behalf or the millions of Canadians who have smoked pot, it must
be noted that at least 99.9% of us don't wind up as junkies, and have
never used needles, except when given inoculations or blood tests,"
wrote Barry Samuels. "The one and only problem with marijuana is that
it remains illegal, despite its beneficial medical uses and relative
harmlessness."

"Numerous studies prove conclusively that marijuana is not a gateway
drug, since the vast majority of marijuana users do not use hard
drugs," added George Kosinski. "If drug policy in the United States
and Canada were based on fact, and drug education were based on the
actual effects of drugs rather than the ideology of drug prohibition,
perhaps your letter-writer's brother would have been wise enough to
restrict himself to marijuana."

We also heard from a handful of people who rely on marijuana to treat
their medical conditions.

"I am a retired law enforcement officer, disabled from chronic,
progressive multiple sclerosis and an excruciating pain in my face,"
wrote Alison Myrden. "As of October, 2007, 2,261 people in Canada
carry a licence for cannabis, the so-called 'gateway drug.' I can tell
you that all cannabis consumers should take offence to this letter.
Doctors gave me cocaine and heroin for the pain I live with, but the
drug that helped me most was cannabis sativa. Now, does that not blow
this 'gateway theory' out of the water?" - Earlier this month I
offered letter writers 10 tips on how to improve their chances of
publication. One was to not send the same letter to multiple
publications, as we all desire exclusivity. Here's proof that readers
also value that attribute.

Group lights up in favor of medical marijuana-Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse tour the state to reveal the truth about legal drugs

2007-10-25T15:50:00.001-04:00

Group lights up in favor of medical marijuana
Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse tour the state to reveal the truth
about legal drugs
By: Katie Wilson | Freelance Reporter |
Issue date: 10/15/07 Section: News

source:http://media.www.dailyemerald.com

Everyday people are destroying their bodies with perfectly legal and
easily accessible drugs, says Sandee Burbank, executive director for
Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse.

The worst part? They have no idea that they are doing this to themselves.

Burbank spoke at the downtown Eugene Public Library last Friday as
part of a state-wide MAMA tour. The organization is on a mission to
pull back the veil on what Americans are being told to put into their
bodies.

"It's amazing how uneducated we are about the drugs out there," Burbank said.

MAMA advocates the Medical Marijuana Program primarily because it has
seen people destroyed by pain when the medicine prescribed by doctors
didn't work. Often, it made things worse.

"The more (medications) they gave me, the problem got worse," said
Alice Ivany, who traveled with Burbank to share her story.

Ivany's left arm was amputated after an industrial accident in 1977.
She was on a number of pain pills which made her very ill. Nothing
worked. Life was further complicated by a surgery.

She began taking Tylenol and continued taking it for 10 years. As a
result, she developed high blood pressure and will be on medication
for that condition for the rest of her life.

Running out of options, she discussed medical marijuana, also called
cannabis, with her doctor.

"I hadn't thought of it as a medication at the time," she said. "It's
given me a quality of life I didn't have before."

After a life spent physically pushing his body, Jack Thomas finally
came crashing down when he destroyed discs in his spine.

The doctors prescribed three daily doses of 600 milligrams of ibuprofen.

"By the time I finished that, my stomach was gone," Thomas said.

Doctors prescribed more medication to treat the new problems, but this
only led to further complications until Thomas was, more often than
not, flat on his back in pain.

What helped him was cannabis.

"Here is something I realized," Thomas said. "In my life, I didn't
drink. I knew alcohol might kill me. I was told marijuana would kill
me, so I didn't want to do that. Then they gave me meds and that
almost killed me, so now I'm back to marijuana."

Prescribed drugs have their benefits and their place, Burbank said,
but she also holds that "a drug is a drug is a drug."

She said many people are allergic to certain drug ingredients, and
some medications are just plain dangerous. Yet, doctors and
pharmacists are ignoring the safe and effective cannabis option.

"They are telling us these (other) drugs are safe. They aren't. There
is a better way," Burbank said. "We used to say, 'Go talk to your
doctor, talk to your pharmacist.' It's no longer enough to do this if
you want to be safe. You have to get over the thought that because the
doctor told me to and because (the medicine) is legal that it's safe.
You need to get online and do some more research. Just because a
doctor tells you to take a pill doesn't mean it's right for you."

Currently, the medical marijuana program is on rocky ground, so MAMA
is working to educate the people in power and the people in pain about
the benefits of cannabis and the dark side of legal medications.

Burbank pointed out that it is impossible to overdose on marijuana.
It's not so hard to overdose on legal drugs. She wants to stop the
flow of misinformation coming from school boards, political figures,
and "The War on Drugs."

Ivany said MAMA has a motto: Follow the money.

"Who is profiting from marijuana prohibition?" she asked.

"Somebody's getting rich," Thomas added.

"I think of doctors and pharmacists as representatives," Ivany said.
"It's a powder, it's a cream, it's a pill. It's all marketing and
sales."

"It's amazing how messed up it is," Thomas said. "It's like they're
trying to get rid of us."

He thinks part of the problem is the emotion that the subject of
medical marijuana brings to the surface.

"When you start being emotional, logic is gone," he said. "All I know
is this stuff works, and without it I wouldn't be here."

"The war on drugs has failed," Burbank said, citing the meth problem
that didn't exist in past years in the way that it exists now. "What
we're doing isn't working, and we need to change it around."

She wants people to "tell the truth, and stop the lies."

"People have to get their minds out of the '60s," Ivany added.
"(Medical marijuana) is not about getting stoned."

Feds raid downtown L.A. medical marijuana dispensary

2007-10-25T15:44:00.001-04:00

Feds raid downtown L.A. medical marijuana dispensary
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By Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 12, 2007
Federal agents seized marijuana and cash Thursday night from a medical
marijuana dispensary in the loft district near Little Tokyo, officials
said.

Twenty agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raided the
Arts District Healing Center in the 600 block of East 1st Street.

DEA spokesman Jose Martinez said the agents searched the two-story
building for 3 1/4 hours.

There were no arrests.

Authorities had not determined as of late Thursday night the amount of
cash and marijuana they seized, Martinez said.

The affidavit submitted by the DEA to search the offices stated that
marijuana is classified as a schedule-one controlled substance, "which
under federal law means that is not recognized for having any
medicinal value."

Steven Schectman, a lawyer for the center, said he wasn't surprised by the raid.

He said the DEA has threatened to take legal action against the
landlords unless they evict the marijuana dispensary, and that the
real estate dispute will be the subject of a hearing Monday.

Referring to the raid, Schectman said, "Unfortunately, we have
anticipated something like this could happen, given our past
experience with how the situation has been developing in Los Angeles
with the Drug Enforcement Agency and the courts."

California voters legalized marijuana's use for seriously ill people
with the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996. State laws legalizing
medical marijuana have been challenged. However, in 2005 the U.S.
Supreme Court reaffirmed the right of the federal government to wage
criminal prosecutions against patients and suppliers, in California
and other states where cannabis is legally prescribed by a doctor.

Montana’s most outspoken advocate for medical marijuana commits suicide

2007-10-25T15:41:00.001-04:00

Prosser commits suicide

By: Jessie McQuillan
Posted: 10/25/2007

Robin Prosser didn't look or sound much like a fighter, but she was. A
mother and a musician, the Missoula woman also acted as Montana's most
outspoken advocate for medical marijuana, the only remedy that could
ease the ravaging pain of the lupus-like immunosuppressive disease she
endured for 23 years. Prosser's fight ended Oct. 18 when she took her
own life.

In recent months, Prosser, 50, would sit at the kitchen table in her
small apartment, pain welling up in her eyes, and talk quietly about
the victories and defeats the last several years had delivered.
Allergic to nearly every pharmaceutical that could render her chronic
pain bearable, she had learned that the political fate of medical
marijuana also carried intensely personal implications.

She remained proud of the 60-day hunger strike she undertook in 2002
to draw attention to the need for medical marijuana, the effort that
first brought her into the public eye. She spoke, too, of her 2004
agreement with the city of Missoula—when police charged her with
marijuana possession following a thwarted suicide attempt—that
deferred prosecution and al
lowed her to use marijuana before medical use was legalized.

During the subsequent campaign for medical marijuana, which won
support from 62 percent of Montana voters, she became a literal poster
child for the effort, appearing in campaign ads. And when the state
issued her a medical marijuana ID card, things seemed to be looking
up.

Then in March, federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents seized a small
shipment of medical marijuana in transit from Prosser's state-approved
caregiver. Though she was never criminally charged, Prosser was
crushed. She said caregivers became afraid to supply her with the
medicine she needed so badly.

In July, she penned an op-ed piece in the Billings Gazette, pleading
with Montana's politicians and her fellow citizens to speak out
against the DEA's actions and improve the lives of people like her.

"Give me liberty or give me death," she wrote. "Maybe the next
campaign ought to be for assisted-suicide laws in our state. If they
will not allow me to live in peace, and a little less pain, would they
help me to die, humanely?"

CC: No Extradition for the BC3!

2007-10-25T05:44:00.000-04:00

No Extradition for the BC3!
Three Canadians face extradition to, and life imprisonment in, the United States - but they've never been there!
by Marc Emery

NEW! "No Extradition" folded pamphlet PDF files -- download page one and page two, then print and distribute copies everywhere! Phone (613) 957-4222, the Canadian Justice Department, and tell the Minister of Justice it would "shock your conscience" if Canadians Marc Emery, Greg Williams and Michelle Rainey were extradited to the United States, especially when a monetary fine for selling seeds, not jail time, was determined to be adequate punishment by the BC Supreme Court (R. vs. Hunter, 2000). If Canadians have broken the law in Canada, they should be given justice in Canada -- and if they cannot be found guilty in Canada, they should not be extradited to any other country for those same charges.

Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams are Canadian citizens who were heavily involved in anti-prohibition activitism for over ten years. The United States Justice Department and DEA want Canada's government to extradite these three political activists to face 10 years up to life in US prison! The extradition hearing has been scheduled to begin on November 5th, 2007. Canadians and Americans MUST do their part! Even a phone call makes a difference! Click the image below for five things you can do to help the BC3 fight extradition!

Ways to Help, Downloads, Links, Information, and More!

Download the NEW double-sided "No Extradition" handout (Word Document)

Donate to the Legal Defense Fund

Buy a "No Extradition" T-shirt

Purchase products from the CC Store

Download the "No Extradition" Petition (Word Document)

Download a PDF of the "No Extradition" logo

Visit the CC No Extradition forum for discussion and updates

Email Jodie Emery for the information handout (Word Document) or to get copies mailed

Write a letter to the Canadian Justice Minister and call the Justice Department at (613) 957-4222.

Send your filled-out petitions, letters, and donations to "No Extradition" 307 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, V6B 1H6. We need evidence for court to prove that there is strong opposition to extradition!

Use these banners to link to our website! Help prevent the extradition! (Right-click image and "Save" to your desktop.)

The following chart explains the Extradition Process, and shows where the BC3 are at in their battle against extradition.

Watch the 60 Minutes CBS broadcast about "Marc Emery, Prince of Pot" at Pot.tv

Watch the "DEA Raid Emery Seeds" collection of news and media clips from July 2005 on YouTube.com

DEA Administrator ADMITS that the arrest was POLITICALLY motivated!

Karen Tandy, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, released this statement on her DEA stationery on July 29, the day of Marc Emery's arrest:

Major North American Marijuana Trafficker and Self-Proclaimed "Prince of Pot" aka Marc Scott Emery Arrested Today.

Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group, is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the US and Canada, but also the marijuana legalization movement.

His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today.

Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General's most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets - one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on.

Read and download the official document here!

Five Things You Can Do to Help Save the BC3 from Extradition to the USA

Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey, and Greg Williams (the BC3) are Canadian citizens who were heavily involved in anti-prohibition activism in Canada for more than ten years. The United States is attempting to extradite these Canadian cannabis activists to the a country they've never been to and stand trial to face up to life in US federal prison. This is an insult to Canadian sovereignty and citizens' rights.

Here are five things that anyone can do to help prevent the BC3 from being extradited. Please take action and urge everyone you know to do the same.

1) Contact the Canadian Justice Minister Constantly!

Canada's Justice Minister is currently Robert Nicholson of the Conservative Party. It is largely his decision whether Canada will extradite the BC3, and that decision could come in the next few months or years. No matter where you are in the world, please contact the Justice Minister every week - we definitely need consistent vocal and written support from Canadians, Americans and the international community. Weekly phone calls, faxes, and handwritten letters that are polite and concise are effective political pressure.

The goal is to keep the Justice Department aware of the BC3 and the opposition to the extradition. Always be very polite, and say it would "shock your conscience" for Canadians to be extradited to the United States, a country they never went to, especially when the alleged crimes would not receive a jail sentence in Canada - and, if they have broken the law in Canada, they should be tried in Canada. When sending a letter, ask for a response from the Justice Minister.

Phone: (613) 957-4222
Fax: (613) 990-7255

Mailing Address:
The Honourable Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1A 0H8

2) Contact The Media

Please contact the following newspapers with a new letter every week, or every month. Send a short letter under 200 words that offers quick facts about the American efforts to extradite the BC3, why you oppose it, and why others should too. Don't send mass emails to all of the media, but email each individually. Write different letters about the same topic, or respond to an article that relates to the extradition battle. A number of Canadian newspaper emails are listed here, but a complete list of media outlets is available thanks to the Media Awareness Project at www.mapinc.org/resource/email.html

National Post: letters@nationalpost.com
Globe Mail: letters@globeandmail.ca
Vancouver Sun: sunletters@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Province: provletters@png.canwest.com
Victoria Times Colonist: letters@tc.canwest.com
Vancouver Courier: editor@vancourier.com
Burnaby Now: editorial@burnabynow.com
Calgary Herald: letters@theherald.canwest.com
Calgary Sun: callet@calgarysun.com
Edmonton Journal: letters@thejournal.canwest.com
Edmonton Sun: mailbag@edm.sunpub.com
Regina Leader-Post: letters@leaderpost.canwest.com
Hamilton Spectator: letters@thespec.com
Kamloops this week: ktw@bcnewsgroup.com
Kamloops Daily News: kamloopsnews@telus.net
Kelowna Capital News: edit@kelownacapnews.com
Langley Advance: editorial@langleyadvance.com
Langley Times: newsroom@langleytimes.com
Lethbridge Herald: letters@ac403.com
London Free Press: letters@lfpress.com
Montreal Gazette: letters@thegazette.canwest.com
Ottawa Citizen: letters@thecitizen.canwest.com
Ottawa Sun: oped@ott.sunpub.com
Saskatoon Star Phoenix: spnews@sp.canwest.com
Toronto Sun: editor@tor.sunpub.com
Victoria News: vicnews@vinewsgroup.com
Whitehorse Star: letters@whitehorsestar.com
Winnipeg Free Press: letters@freepress.mb.com
Winnipeg Sun: editor@wpgsun.com
Windsor Star: letters@thestar.canwest.com

3) Contact your Member of Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly

If you are in Canada, then contact both your MP and your MLA by phone, mail, and email. Try to make an appointment for a personal visit for even more impact. Ask your representative to voice public opposition to the extradition requests. Tell your MP and MLA that Canada should not be sending Canadian activists to face life imprisonment in foreign countries when the accused persons never went to the requesting country and the accused crimes are not considered to be a jail-worthy offence in Canada. Remind them that the Canadian Government knowingly collected taxes from Marc Emery's seed sale income for a decade, and that Marc Emery is the leader of a legitimate political party, operated business openly and honestly, dealt only with consenting adults, caused no harm, kept no weapons or drugs, and once received a monetary fine for selling cannabis seeds in Canada - not prison, which the US seeks. Find your MLA at the following websites and your MP at www.parl.gc.ca.

BC: www.leg.bc.ca/mla
Alberta: www.assembly.ab.ca
Saskatchewan: www.legassembly.sk.cas
Manitoba: www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/members
ON: electionsontario.on.ca/fyed/en/form_page_en.jsp
Quebec: www.assnat.qc.ca/eng/membres/index.html
Newfoundland: www.hoa.gov.nl.ca/hoa/members
Nova Scotia: www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/members
PEI: www.assembly.pe.ca/members/index.php
NB: app.infoaa.7700.gnb.ca/gnb/pub/listmla1.asp

4) Donate Or Make Purchases

Marc, Michelle and Greg are accumulating expensive legal bills in order to fight the extradition. They are still determined to help the movement by spreading awareness about the drug war through the BC Marijuana Party, Cannabis Culture Magazine, Pot.tv, and the CCHQ store as always, but need legal fee support in this trying time. Please consider donating to or buying from the BC Marijuana Party (www.bcmarijuanaparty.com), Cannabis Culture Magazine (www.cannabisculture.com/newstore), or Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture Headquarters store (307 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, 604-682-1172).

5) Rally in your community

If you are in Canada, then try to put on a rally in your community to protest this incursion of the US Drug War into Canada. The focus of your rally should be that Canadians within Canada are not subject to US law and should not be extradited. US consulate offices are a good place to rally at, as are Canadian government buildings, and even parks and downtown areas. Please contact us at the BC Marijuana Party and Cannabis Culture Magazine to let us know what you are up to, and we can help promote your event. Use your rally to demonstrate that Canadian courts have decided selling marijuana seeds is a trivial offence that nets a fine, not prison time, and the Canadian government steadily collected sizable taxes from Marc Emery's seed sales for over 10 years. If Emery has broken the law in Canada then he should be charged and tried in Canada. If he has not broken laws in Canada then he should absolutely not be extradited to the US for a life sentence in US prison.

MARC EMERY
Who I Am, What I Was Doing, And Why I Did It

The following is an article by Marc Emery that appeared in Cannabis Culture #58 (December/January 05/06). It explains his history as a political and social activist in Canada; his reasons to run Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds; how he funded global cannabis activist organizations and formal marijuana initiatives and campaigns; and what the US Drug War's influence on Canada has caused. Updated information has been added where necessary.

July 29th, 2005... I had that 'life flashing before me' moment. The frozen second in time when everything was sharp, clear, and signaled a great convergence of all my effort into this precise moment. "Marc Emery, you are under arrest for Extradition to The United States of America..." Every seed sold, all the millions of dollars I had given to the cause, every speech to free our people, every arrest, jailing and raid I had endured: it was all for this moment in time. "...for trafficking in marijuana seeds, for the production of marijuana, and for money laundering."

How Did This Happen?

In 1990, when I became a cannabis activist, all books, magazines, videos, pipes, bongs, everything about marijuana was illegal in Canada. As a bookseller at the City Lights Bookshop in London, Ontario, I was surprised and shocked to learn that the Canadian government had banned High Times Magazine, had police seize all copies of marijuana growing books (including the Canadian classic Grow Yer Own Stone), and pushed over 500 "head" shops across Canada into shutting down. There was no cannabis activist movement left in Canada. No books, no magazines, no activists, no hemp stores. Nothing. The United States activist movement had itself become muted through the Reagan and Bush years.

Into this strange wilderness, I decided that as a bookseller I had to defy this peculiar censorship law, which eliminated disseminating the truth about marijuana - a law that passed almost unanimously in the Canadian Parliament in 1987, with one lone dissenter: NDP Member of Parliament Svend Robinson. In the fall of 1990, I ordered through the mail a few copies of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, the classic book by Jack Herer on the suppression of cannabis hemp. Not available in Canada because of the ban (section 462.2 of the Criminal Code, which provided up to 6 months in jail, and/or up to a $100,000 fine for distributing books and any printed matter about marijuana or any "illicit" drug), I imported copies (illegally) and bought newspaper ads in the London Free Press, my hometown daily, to announce that I was breaking the literature ban on marijuana and welcomed the local police to arrest me.

This approach had always worked well for me in the ten years leading up to this time, as I went to court and jail after deliberately breaking various laws, such as the Sunday shopping ban, obscenity laws, and other Canadian social control laws that I personally, through civil disobediance, helped change.

The Day It All Came Down

(Read the July 29th DEA release admitting the political motivation behind Marc Emery's arrest here, and at the bottom of this page.)

On the day of my arrest on July 29, I was in the maritime province of Nova Scotia to speak at the Atlantic Hemp Festival held by Maritimers United for Medical Marijuana. While I was handcuffed and being delivered to the dank cells of the Halifax lock-up, Vancouver police raids were underway in my home, my offices, and the BCMP Bookstore in Vancouver. No marijuana or any drugs were found, and in fact, only approximately 5,000 seeds at most were available to be taken from the Seed Desk at the BCMP Bookstore.

Up to 50 police officers were used to comb the premises of all the locations. A battering ram was used to force the door at our office at 22 East Cordova Street. Various computers were taken, but little else was of interest to police. Warrants specified that any records relating to the seed business were to be seized. Presumably, police had access to phone records to calls made to Marc Emery Seeds. Otherwise, it wasn't a business where we kept records. We destroyed all information after sending out orders.

In my cell in the Halifax lock-up, I knew that my life had entered a critical and inevitable phase. I have always been very, very transparent in the way I have conducted a career I have often described as "revolutionary retail" or "capitalist activism". From the day I arrived in Vancouver on March 1st 1994, I was going to change the way marijuana activism existed. Even in 1994, everything about cannabis and used to enjoy cannabis was still illegal in Canada, and I was determined to make an aggressive change in this landscape.

Penniless after losing all of my money in an ill-advised house-building project in Indonesia, I arrived for the first time in my life in Vancouver, British Columbia, determined to build a movement that used a retail model to generate money that would feed a vast network of activism. Within days of getting off the plane, I was selling High Times magazine and a variety of banned marijuana grow books that had been fronted to me by a distributor. I sold door-to-door, to strangers on the street, to magazine stores, to bookstores, to students. I would make on average $1 profit per item, and fortunately, after 6 years of non-availability in Canada, there was a pent-up demand for marijuana information.

My two children, my spouse and I lived on $20 a day for food, and all other money was put back into these books and magazines. Within one year, I was distributing 2,000 copies a month of High Times magazine and was wholesaling and mail order retailing over 40 books about marijuana and other "illicit" entheogens.

After selling these products on the street for 3 months, I was offered a former Communist bookshop (that had been subject of a firebombing!) for $500 first month's rent. As long as I cleaned the heavily damaged building up, the landlord said my "hemp revolution business", as I explained it to him, was fine. On July 7, 1994, I opened the HEMP BC retail store and began a decade of principled, purposeful lawbreaking, with every action aimed at ending the marijuana prohibition by any peaceful means possible.

Everything Is On The Line

On July 29th, while the police were raiding the various places they believed seeds and records were stored, activists like David Malmo-Levine, Chris Bennett, Dana Larsen, and brave others protested the attack with a very noisy street demonstration. The media, informed immediately by Chris Bennett and the Cannabis Culture magazine team, descended on the scene at BCMP Headquarters.

Within hours, everyone in British Columbia was bombarded by media with the news that the US government was seeking to extradite me and two friends to the USA, for my seed-selling ways. It was clear the potential penalties were severe if I were to be extradited and prosecuted in the US, probably a life imprisonment. Under Drug Kingpin legislation in the United States, selling over 60,000 seeds qualifies for the death penalty. The manufacture or distribution of 60,000 kilograms of marijuana, 60,000 plants or 60,000 seeds all are included in death penalty provisions of the medieval law passed by a Newt Gingrich congress. I would be the first person who could qualify under this recent law to be executed for the activity I have clearly done with the tacit approval of everyone in Canada.

Revenue Canada received $578,000 in personal income taxes (1999 to 2005) on income that was explicitly from the sale of marijuana seeds, and they ALWAYS were aware of it. It said "Marijuana Seed Vendor" on my tax returns. I explained my entire banking and money systems and always gave income tax all access to my accounts so they could verify everything I said was true. I told them the Money Mart location where I cashed some money orders; my bank accounts were explained so they could track the flow of money. I relayed how expenses and disbursements took place in the incriminating world of seeds. They knew how it all worked because I had nothing to hide. The government of Canada received about $378,000 of this money; the provincial government of British Columbia received about $200,000.

As for politicians: every Member of Parliament in Canada, all 305, had a free subscription to our magazine, which often their assistants, if not the Member themselves, read and perused, for eight years. My seed catalogue was in every issue. They knew it was there. No one ever complained to me or to the police about it. Former MP Svend Robinson said that when he was New Democratic Party Health Critic he asked Health Canada where medical cannabis exemptees were supposed to obtain seeds. "Health Canada said to go to the internet and buy seeds there." And that's what he told medical patients to do: buy seeds on the internet. In fact, that's what Health Canada also told others in letters that we have from 2003.

NDP leader Jack Layton came to my home in November 2003 and did a beautiful interview on www.Pot.tv. I think Jack Layton is a wonderful guy. I think NDP Justice Critic Libby Davies has done a sterling job. If I had any kind of reputation as a "drug dealer", do you think a man who is a serious contender for Prime Minister is going to some drug dealer's house to publicly ask for support? I was asked to testify before the Senate Subcommittee in both 1996 and 2002 as to my views on legalizing marijuana. Do you think they would ask any known drug dealer to attend?

When the Wall Street Journal put me on the front page of its massively influential newspaper in a very favorable article on Dec. 10, 1995, Quentin Hardy, the journalist who wrote it, told me six editors were assigned to check out my background. "They talked to your teachers, your neighbors, business associates, your parents. They are NOT going to let anyone with even a whiff of 'drug dealer' appear on that front page." Nine years later, Mr. Hardy came to British Columbia and wrote the definitive piece on the British Columbia marijuana industry for Forbes Magazine, and I personally introduced him to many in the industry while he did that piece.

I spoke at IDEA CITY in 2001 and 2003. I spoke on the same stage as former Prime Ministers John Turner and Kim Campbell, and I was the marijuana provider to many famous Canadians at the Friday Night IDEA CITY Party at muchmusic/CHUM TV. In my speeches I talked about the incredible work in helping 18 year old Webster Alexander in Alabama, having his sentence for selling two ounces of pot reduced from an unbelievable 36 years to one year served on weekends. I talked about the amazing work at my Iboga Therapy House (that seed money had kept operating), and how we helped heavily drug addicted persons for free with amazing results. I talked about my mission in life and how I had developed this "seed thing" that paid for immense amounts of activism.

My very transparent manifesto, "How to Overgrow the Government Through Revolutionary Retail" was published in the first issue of Cannabis Culture magazine. I was written up and covered in TIME Magazine, MacLean's Magazine, The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Seattle's Post Intelligencier, CBS' 60 Minutes, CNN, Mexico's La Reforma, The Times of India, and hundreds of other publications around the globe. I never received one letter from anyone in 10 years asking me to stop selling seeds. No one on the streets of Vancouver or anywhere in Canada where I have spoken extensively (22 cities in 2003, 19 cities in 2004) has ever approached me and said, "I don't like what you are doing by selling seeds". I have never received a letter or a phone call or correspondence of any kind from anyone in Canada asking or demanding that I stop the sale and distribution of seeds.

Since moving to BC over 11 years ago, I never owned vehicles, property, bonds, investments, assets, or off-shore accounts. I leased everything on a month-by-month basis, including my vehicle and my apartment. If I had money stashed, the police or Income Tax people would have found it. I was watched extensively. I presumed my cell phone was always monitored. When, in late July, the DEA undercover agent posing as seed buyer tried to get me to sell her ten pounds of pot over the phone, I refused and told her that I always assumed my cell phone was monitored, so how could she be so foolish and naive? When she asked again at a later time, I lectured her at length. Not only did I not sell pot, she was being very reckless to even think about importing pot to the USA.

The DEA even has a subscription to Cannabis Culture, with their money orders on US Department of Justice cheques. I figured if the US government got that pissed off, they'd just ask the Vancouver Police to raid me, like in the 1996 to 1998 period.

I was always raided after appearing in A-list American media. A month after the Wall Street Journal: raided. A month after Rolling Stone: raided. Two months after the CNN Visits Canada's Prince of Pot special in October 1997: raided. The police took a million dollars in store and business assets in total, but I was not even charged on either occasion, and received small fines from the courts when I was charged on two others. The last fine I got for selling seeds in 1998 was $700 per count; seven counts, $5,000 in total. From a $700 fine for seeds in 1998, to life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty in 2005... that's an outrageous contrast.

Personal and Political Progress

A lot of good was accomplished through all that struggle, trial and tribulation. In 1994, there were no hemp stores, no activist activity, no medical marijuana program, no pot retail industry, not even legally obtained books and magazines about marijuana in Canada. Eleven years later, there are over 75 hemp activist stores; literature and magazines were made legal; medical marijuana is legal; the hemp industry is in a great revival. Marijuana legalization and the drug war have been discussed daily in the Canadian media for the past ten years. Regulations continue to improve for Canada's medical cannabis program.

Phillip Owen, a former Mayor of Vancouver (1993 to 2001) was at one time a very vocal prohibitionist in office. He denounced me in the New York Times. But by the end of his third term, he became a brilliant and articulate anti-prohibitionist after hearing me speak throughout local elections and in the media.

In December 2002, the White House Drug Czar came to Vancouver for a highly publicized speech at the Vancouver Board of Trade to set the Mayor and other "legalizers" straight. Before his speech began, I went up and asked the Drug Czar if I could have a photograph of us together; when he asked "and who are you?" a photo was snapped as I said, "My name is Marc Emery, I'm the publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine." He turned beet-red and was hustled away by his agents. As he spoke on stage afterwards, we heckled him when he rattled off his catalog of lies about marijuana. There were five tables of police at that speech, two tables of US Consulate people, over 50 Secret Service agents protecting Walters. Oh, he remembers me all right!

The next day, former Mayor Phillip Owen, Mayor-elect Larry Campbell and city councilors met with Walters. Owen later told the Vancouver Courier paper "It was the most intense meeting of my life. There is no one more uninformed about drugs than the Drug Czar." Members of City Council recently told me Walters and his lieutenants threatened, screamed at and insulted the elected Vancouver officials, and guaranteed that if Vancouver pursued legal marijuana policies, the border would be shut down to Canadian commerce heading for America.

Current Mayor (and appointed Senator to Canada's Parliament) Larry Campbell was my rival for Mayor in the Vancouver 2002 election. I got to speak about legalization on over 15 occasions in his presence. He was elected. He spoke at the Beyond Prohibition 2004 Conference in which a grant of $18,000 from Marc Emery Direct Seeds went to the BC Civil Liberties Association to hold the event. That conference is where Mr. Campbell famously and momentously announced that marijuana should legalized, taxed and regulated, and that prohibition should end.

I participated in elections in 1996 (Mayor of Vancouver); 2000 (Canadian Marijuana Party, federal election); 2001 (BC Marijuana Party, provincial election); 2002 (Mayor of Vancouver); 2005 (BC Marijuana Party, provincial election). During the 2005 BC provincial election, Vancouver City Councilman Tim Stevenson invited me to a fundraiser. He introduced me proudly to his supporters at the fundraiser and said "Marc is here to lend his support because he knows I believe in legalization". I did not run against him in that riding because Tim is a good man; but again, do you think if there was any taint anywhere in my life that these people would introduce me to crowds of key supporters?

Adriane Carr is leader of the BC Green Party. In 2002, the BC Greens launched a petition drive to get proportional representation on the ballot as a people's initiative. The BC Greens didn't have the money, but I believed in the cause so I personally gave Adrianne Carr $7,000 to finance the petition drive. That was money from my only source of income - marijuana seed sales!

I never met a person, government agency, politician, tax department, or any charitable or non-governmental agency who refused any money from me, even though I was world famous as a marijuana seed seller. Banks opened accounts and issued credit cards, and I was honest and candid with every last one of them.

Over 10 years, I gave just under $4,000,000 (four million dollars) to North American and international activist organizations, activist politicians, ballot initiatives throughout the United States, referendums, court challenges, Supreme Court of Canada challenges, refugees, bail costs, legal defense funds, political parties, individuals, drug addiction clinics, media, medical bills for activists (Terence McKenna, Jack Herer), Compassion Clubs (legal bills and start-up money), Hemp fests, conferences, Global Marijuana Marches (2000 to 2005), full page anti-prohibition ads in Canadian newspapers, HEMP BC Legal Assistance Centre... and the list goes on. It's an extraordinary record of unparalleled distribution of the proceeds from our beloved plant.

A month after Walters' visit, the Vancouver Police Department - who behaved so chummily with Walters on the evening of, and days following his speech - launched an investigation of my seed business with the intent of laying charges. Over 6 months, the VPD scoped out my mail order business, monitored my seed office, bought some seeds undercover, and in the summer of 2003 - during my very successful Summer of Legalization Tour - went to the Crown Attorney to lay charges. But at that time, marijuana was legal to possess in Canada and it was doubtful if seeds were actually illegal. The Crown Attorney refused to proceed with charges.

This had the impact of infuriating the Vancouver Police and John Walters. With the tacit approval of BC Solicitor-General Richard Coleman, the Vancouver Police investigation file was handed over to the DEA in October 2003. The DEA continued the investigation, committing substantial resources and finances to it. The DEA proceeded to order seeds by mail, and comb the records of American growers who were busted with evidence of seed purchases from me.

On April 27, 2004, while I was on a 22-city tour of Canada to promote support for NDP leader Jack Layton, arsonists tried to destroy the BCMP Headquarters and severely damaged it (the Blunt Brothers building next door was entirely destroyed). The Vancouver Police "investigation" revealed nothing, and it has long been thought to be the act of DEA or Vancouver police agents.

After the VPD had failed in their efforts to charge me locally and extinguish our headquarters, I was punished by being jailed for 62 days in Saskatoon Correction Centre on August 19th, 2004 for the crime of passing one joint in Saskatoon earlier that year. I did the same job that Martha Stewart did in her prison: I was the toilet cleaner and janitor for the senior administrative staff of the jail. In October 2004, while still in jail, the DEA started coming to my store to buy from the seed desk. They were assisted by the Vancouver Police Department and BC Solicitor-General Coleman in every way.

On May 6, 2005, while I was campaigning in an election against Solicitor-General Coleman, a grand jury in Seattle, Washington indicted me for seed selling, conspiring to help Americans produce marijuana, and distributing my money (money laundering).

Under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty - which the US pressures every country to sign - the Attorney-General of Canada of Canada, then Irwin Cotler, agreed to allow my arrest for Extradition to the United States to face trial for my activities in Canada. Irwin Cotler, the former Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General in the previous Liberal government, was himself a famous human rights activist.

No one in Canada has ever been sentenced to jail for selling seeds. Only two people have ever been fined: myself in 1996 and 1998; and Ian Hunter, fined $200 in the year 2000.

Now Canada has a Conservative Party government that believes all marijuana people who grow and sell and pass joints should go to jail! The Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Conservative Robert Nicholson, may be the one who holds my fate in the balance. If the BC Supreme Court commits me for extradition after the Extradition Hearing, a five day affair beginning May 28, 2007, then Attorney-General Nicholson holds my fate in his hands.

Depending on how many people write, email or call the politicians of Canada, Robert Nicholson will decide if the government of Canada agrees to the Extradition. The maximum term of incarceration for murder in Canada is 25 years, yet under US federal sentencing guidelines, I would receive minimum 17 to 21 years for being, to quote DEA boss Karen Tandy of the on the day of my arrest, "designated as one of [the US] Attorney-General's most-wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets - one of only 46 in the world and the only one in Canada." I'd get an additional mandatory minimum of 10 years on the money laundering charge.

The head of the DEA fumes with contempt in her media release, reiterating four times that her principle concern is with legalization activities. She uses phrases like "publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group", "is a significant blow ... to ... the marijuana legalization movement", "hundreds of thousands of dollars ... are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada", "drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on".

Additionally, the DEA head referred to me as the only target of the DEA in Canada, virtually making me the biggest "kingpin" in all of Canada! She even called Cannabis Culture a "propagandist" magazine!

On CNN's Lou Dobbs program on March 30, 2005, the DEA claimed I was responsible for the manufacture of 100,000 pounds of marijuana for every year I was in the seed business. Eleven years of revolutionary seed retail activism means the DEA is claiming I am responsible for 1,100,000 pounds of marijuana, with a conservative wholesale value of $3,000,000,000 (three billion dollars). If you figure that aspiring hip hop performer Weldon Angelos got 55 years for one ounce of pot, what do think the sentence is going to be for a man the DEA and US Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales claims is the largest marijuana producer of all time ever prosecuted in the US criminal justice system?

I tell Canadians that to let me be extradited to the United States means Canada will never see me alive again. To the DEA, I am the leader of the movement that seeks to thwart, defy, undermine them and end their reign of terror over the cannabis culture. They are never going to let me walk and talk and campaign against them once I am in their clutches.

For What It's Worth

Overgrow the Government. Inherent in that beautiful phrase are so many ideals and glories of a co-operative, peaceful society. Plant the seeds of freedom. Not overthrow, which speaks of violent conflict, but overgrow, using God's greatest plant and the enlightenment that comes from ingesting marijuana to further a peaceful, democratic, revolution based on tolerance and love and unity of all peoples. Plants, not violence. Reason, not murderous incarceration. Personal freedom, not Nazi-like paramilitary violence.

I am being punished for my success. I have achieved much in my eleven years in British Columbia. Clearly, the very dark and powerful forces emanating from the White House believe they have the upper hand, that they have stopped our revolution. This is the time when the Bush-Walters White House is making the most aggressive attack on our culture ever, and not just on me.

In March 2004, my wonderful friend Mike Smith received a 30-year sentence in an Oklahoma federal prison for growing 200 plants. He had already served six years on a previous cultivation offence. His wife, Yvonne Toy, received a 15-year sentence, her first offence ever, for those same 200 plants.

The Bush White House, the DEA, and US police forces are arresting more Americans for marijuana than ever before, pursuing marijuana people with a frenzy never before seen in history. On October 17, 2005, the FBI revealed 771,608 persons were arrested for marijuana violations in 2004. The total is the highest ever and comprised 44.2 percent of all drug arrests in the United States. Since 1965, 17 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offences, and arrests have skyrocketed in the past 12 years.

US Marijuana Arrests by Year
2004: 771,608
2003: 755,187
2002: 697,082
2001: 723,627
2000: 734,498
1999: 704,812
1998: 682,885
1997: 695,200
1996: 641,642
1995: 588,963
1994: 499,122
1993: 380,689

Immediately upon my arrest in Halifax on July 29th, reaction was swift and loud throughout Canada. The Vancouver Sun had a screaming headline "UNCLE SAM ORCHESTRATES VANCOUVER POT BUSTS". It was all over every Canadian media. I was kept in 4 different jails over 7 days, and saw none of the coverage until I was released on bail on August 5.

As I was being arrested, the largest issue ever of Cannabis Culture Magazine was rolling off the presses. By the time I was released, the magazine with the 12-page Marc Emery Seed catalog was printed, but could not be distributed until the readers were warned not to order seeds from my now-shut down seed business. A sticker was printed and individually attached to all 75,000 copies, and that took over 30 days to complete, delaying the release of the last issue by a full month.

I was now in the most difficult bind in my life. My only source of income was terminated, and I had to make Cannabis Culture Magazine, POT.TV and the BCMP Bookstore self-sufficient immediately. I had to find tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees (obtaining bail the first week took $18,000 in legal fees, an additional $20,000 cash bail for a cash requirement of $38,000 before I even got out of jail). I was without any income and had massive problems to deal with. I immediately had to lay off employees, move out of my apartment, return my rented car, and move in with my assistant editor (and now wife) Jodie. I had to survive on as little as possible; my only income was modest charity from supporters and activists.

With 21 arrests, 17 jailings, and now six raids for marijuana related activity under my belt, I feel experienced enough to tackle my greatest challenge ever. Facing brutal finances, huge legal bills, and life imprisonment without parole for something no one in Canada has ever even gone to jail for, I still have to provide focused, calm and convincing leadership.

I've done a record number of interviews with North American and world media since then. The CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes (twice) aired a segment to its twelve million viewers about my struggle to legalize marijuana. I am reaching new audiences: older people, Canadian nationalists, and - to my joy - people who don't smoke pot, and do not ordinarily identify with the cannabis culture. The staggering punishment to be meted out to me is common in the United States for marijuana offences, and many people in Canada are realizing this for the first time.

From September 10 to September 24 in 2005, there were demonstrations on my behalf at Canadian and US embassies and consulates in 43 cities around the world. Mapinc.org has archives of over 300 letters printed in newspapers condemning my extradition, and over 400 newspapers and publications have written about my work and the extradition request.

I tell people now that this extradition attempt is a blessing, because it has galvanized the world movement for cannabis peace. It has given me an even stronger personal urge to have marijuana legalized in Canada within two years, and I am given opportunity in regular media exposure to be a proud spokesperson for our great culture. I am not afraid of the task ahead of me. I am not afraid of jail for the rest of my life, undoubtably painful as that would be. I don't fear prison rape or abuse or suffering or lonliness, though those miseries will no doubt be present in a US federal prison. My fear is that the marijuana people will continue to be taken away to lives of ruin and despair by a murderous police state. My fear is that Canada will be absorbed as a compliant puppet state of the US War on Drugs. My fear is that the DEA, with offices in 65 nations around the Earth, will have more and more citizens from other countries extradited to the USA to face draconian punishments f!
or the rest of their lives.

I fear for Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams, facing extradition for simply being in my activist organization. Greg, aka Marijuana Man of Pot.tv, is a fine and wonderful friend who brings knowledge, joy and pleasure to everyone he meets. He is being punished for being a supporter of me and the movement. Michelle is the most selfless activist I have ever known. A fantastic woman, she suffers daily with Crohns Disease, and needs marijuana to control her very damaged and disabled organs, yet has helped hundreds - if not thousands - of people with her unrelenting effort to make marijuana legal.

Michelle has been my great ally in this struggle, and she surely should be nominated for sainthood. She is so worthy of your support. She MUST NOT be extradited to a US jail. She will die in horrible pain there. My American friends, my Canadian friends, this cannot be permitted to happen. A terrible injustice will have occurred if Michelle Rainey exists in pain and torture in an American jail. There will be terrible karma in the world if one of God's most beautiful souls is allowed to be destroyed by apathy and cowardice in her most critical time of need. The people can save her from extradition, if they speak out to the Canadian Minister of Justice. Speak to power, my friends; her life depends on it.

The months ahead will be filled with unprecedented personal challenges for me. I will try to speak on behalf of our culture with passion, reason and good values. I will be interviewed extensively, and I hope I am a spokesman and activist and leader you can be proud of.

I certainly could use your help. I need an army of activists writing letters, petitioning, wearing NO EXTRADITION T-shirts, demonstrating in front of Canadian consulates and embassies, voting in elections, joining a political party in Canada or the United States to make your views on prohibition heard. I certainly need any money you can give. If you believe my record of service to our culture merits your support, then I tell you: we need your support.

Marijuana is a 7 to 15 billion-dollar a year industry in Canada, where hundreds of thousands - perhaps half a million - people are growing and selling marijuana. Millions and millions of Canadians and Americans consume this marijuana. Canadian growers, dealers, and seed sellers deal with Americans every day.

In the aftermath of my arrest for activity I did here in Canada, it is apparent any activist or handler of seeds, medical marijuana, or commercial marijuana could be extraditable. If you have any connection to any marijuana transaction that traces to the USA, you are liable to be considered party to a conspiracy to import marijuana into the United States. That's certainly bringing the US drug war into Canada in an incredible and dangerous way. Everyone in Canada's cannabis culture is now at much greater risk because of this precedent.

Yet Canadians don't want this barbaric drug war. After 10 years of our activism, Canadians now overwhelmingly reject fines, jail time or any punishment as an option for marijuana possession, according to a NORML Canada November 2004 nation-wide poll. A majority of Canadians favor a taxed and regulated system of marijuana distribution.

While Canada pursues an independent approach to cannabis laws and prohibition, away from the US drug war model, there is hope for both Canadians and Americans of the cannabis culture. If Canada becomes free from prohibition, then American prohibition will fall. But if the United States government is allowed to triumph with intimidation, blackmail, and increased arrests in Canada, stifling our progress, and sending Canada backwards, then liberation for all North America is that much more elusive.

Continually Yours,

~ Marc Scott Emery

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Canada V6B 1H4

Marijuana prevents cancer (Federal Research)

2007-10-11T23:34:00.001-04:00

Marijuana prevents cancer (Federal Research)
Thu, 10/11/2007 - 17:04 — dreagen

The United States Government has done research on Marijuana in the
past and has thrown out many research topics because they prove the
benefits of Marijuana. There have been Studies funded by the US
Government that have encouraged the citizens to question the current
laws.
Growing up in the 80's during the Reagan years hearing Nancy talking
about saying no to drugs made me very scared to try Marijuana. I also
thought that all Marijuana users were worthless and lazy and would
become a burden to society. After going to the Netherlands and trying
Marijuana because of chronic pain I realized, "this is not that bad."
When I came back to the United States of America I decided it was time
I did a little research on my own about Marijuana. I soon Found out
that US Veterans Affairs Scientists did research to find out if
excessive use of Marijuana as a teen would damage your life. They did
this by surveying twins were one was a heavy user of Marijuana and the
other did not use Marijuana more than 5 times. They Found, "Marijuana
use had no significant impact on physical or mental health care
utilization, health-related quality of life, or current
socio-demographic characteristics." (Eisen SE et al. Does Marijuana
Use Have Residual Adverse Effects on Self-Reported Health Measures,
Socio-Demographics or Quality of Life? A Monozygotic Co-Twin Control
Study in Men. Addiction. Vol. 97 No. 9. p.1083-1086. Sept. 1997)
The Government provided funding to Federal researchers to study the
effect of THC on Cancer induced rats. These rats were treated for
Leukemia and lung cancer with canaboids and THC found in Marijuana
that increased their life span and decreased the size of the tumors.
(Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602) In
1994 federal researchers studied rats again by giving them massive
doses of THC to look for cancer and other toxicity in the rats.
Reasearch showed that the more THC the rat received the fewer tumors
grew. (NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis
Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3,
In F344/N Rats And B6C3F(1) Mice, Gavage Studies) Again in 1997
research funded by the federal government came close to proving
Marijuana can prevent cancer. This research followed 65,000 patients
for close to 10 years to study the effects of Cigarette smoking,
Marijuana Smoking and Non-Smokers on Lung Cancer. This showed that
Marijuana smokers did not have an increase in chances to get lung
cancer and also showed that they were at a lower percentage to get
lung cancer than non-smokers. (Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and
Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and
Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.) Over a year ago the federal
government gave Donald Tashkin funds to research Marijuana use and
Lung Cancer. This found again that those Heavy Marijuana users had a
decrease risk for Lung Cancer. (Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung
Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society
International Conference. May 23, 2006.)
Over the years the federal government has tried to teach that
Marijuana was the most dangerous drugs available with lies and
deceptions. The federal Government has been giving grants to research
the dangers and hazards of Marijuana but have ended up proving that
Marijuana is not only a great medication but that it is helpful to
prevent cancers.

Hazy stances

2007-10-11T12:17:00.001-04:00

Hazy stances

http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=45218&comview=1

Amanda Lowry | IDS | 10/11/2007
I personally believe that there should be a requirement that every
politician who runs for public office must have smoked pot at some
point. Even if that experience doesn't make the politician want to
legalize it, he or she will at least realize how dangerous it isn't.

My position on this issue was only strengthened this week after
watching a CNN video of Mitt Romney, in typical 2008 Republican
front-runner style, dismiss a multiple sclerosis sufferer advocating
that medical marijuana arrests be stopped. The MS sufferer caught
Romney on camera and explained to him that, although he is against
legalizing marijuana, the smoked form of the drug is the only pain
reliever for his lifelong illness that he can use without getting
sick.

His question, then, was "Will you arrest me and my doctors if I get
medical marijuana prescribed to me?"

Romney dodged the question, answering, "I'm not in favor of medical
marijuana being legal." After that, he returned to his mission of
shaking hands with as many rally attendees as possible, ignoring
journalists who pressed him to answer the man's question.

Romney's attitude toward the MS patient exemplifies the 2008
Republican front-running presidential candidates' chronic dodging of
the issue of medical marijuana arrests and raids on medical marijuana
dispensaries, which have been common since the U.S. Supreme Court
decided Raich v. Vernon in 2005. The verdict allowed federal officers
to arrest sellers and users of medical marijuana, regardless of
individual state laws.

Determined to at least appear concerned for everyone's well-being, the
candidates have tried to make their anti-medical marijuana stance
appear justified through pointing out the drug's safety issues, health
risks and its potential to proliferate recreational drug use.

But that appearance falls apart when someone brings up the topic of
medical marijuana arrests and dispensary raids. Standing firm in the
belief that cancer patients and well-meaning doctors should be tossed
in the slammer doesn't exude that same sense of compassion about
public health.

So to avoid the hypocrisy, the candidates draw attention away from the
arrests and toward the drug's risks.

When a woman at a New Hampshire conference last week asked John McCain
whether he would legally allow her use of medical marijuana, he
replied:

"You may be one of the unique cases in America that only medical
marijuana can relieve pain from ... Every medical expert I know of,
including the (American Medical Association), says there are much more
effective and much more, uh, better treatments for pain."

And last week at another conference, when a woman asked Rudy Giuliani
about his position on the raids, he, too, avoided the topic and talked
about the FDA's evaluation of cannabis alternatives.

The health and safety issues medical marijuana presents are important
topics for political discussion. But the discussion that needs to come
first is the one about people who are getting arrested for trying to
put themselves out of agony while hurting no one else – and how to
stop those arrests.

Dear Mr. Romney, will you arrest me?

2007-10-11T12:15:00.001-04:00

Dear Mr. Romney, will you arrest me?

contributed by Mike Overson, editor-in-chief

source:http://eagle.ceu.edu/php-pages/article.php?article_id=1158

Over the weekend I was watching Fox News Network when a story caught
my eye. Various people were interviewing Mitt Romney, republican
presidential hopeful, when one man's question caught my attention. The
man asked whether or not Romney would arrest him as well as his
doctors because of medical marijuana usage.

"I don't support medical marijuana" was Romney's response.

Answer the question though, whether you support the states' rights to
govern themselves is not the question. Will you in your presidency, if
elected, continue to crackdown on doctors that are convinced this
plant is a natural beneficial way to cope with cancer and other
ailments? What about those patients who do not show signs of
improvement except when marijuana is used? It seems to me that as a
voter and more importantly an American, I have the right to know where
potential leaders stand on this and other issues. For the sake of
being fair, I would implore all candidates to answer that question as
well.

For too long the federal government has had free reign over the
states. Medical marijuana is a huge topic of debate in this election.
The time of "stupid pot-heads" is coming to an end. People are fed up
with being stepped on, abused and ignored. More and more states are
ratifying their own laws concerning this.

But how is it that the feds continue to abuse their limitless
resources and get away with anything badges? I think it is appalling
the president has to ask Congress for money to support our troops. If
anyone should get what they need and not have to wait for our
country's "democratic" process to decide its fate, the military should
be it. How is it that the Drug Enforcement Agency has a blank check?
If you are the DEA and you need money to bust non-violent drug
offenders you don't ask, you sometimes give receipts after the fact.
Only when pressured will the DEA publicize its spending. While our
troops across the world need better armor they have to wait to maybe,
just maybe get new equipment before their deployment ends.

But back to arresting people with legitimate licenses. As long as
patients abide by laws set forth by their resident state, the federal
government should step back and let the state worry about the pandemic
this issue created. With all those patients using this devil substance
in the privacy of their own homes, I'm waiting for these cancer ridden
citizens to start pillaging different cities. Twelve medical states
are bravely doing what no one else is daring to do. Sticking it to the
man.

While the DEA continues to raid pharmacies in hopes of crushing what
it sees as a peasant rebellion more and more people are getting these
licenses and supporting the movement, which is medical marijuana.

The majority of the DEA's endless power comes from the
administration's lack of caring. If a president doesn't care that
hundreds of thousands of people are being incarcerated for simple
marijuana possession charges, then the DEA will continue to be
government thugs with no fear of repercussion. My hope is this, one
day the people of America will care about who leads them; who makes
the laws, who enforces laws and who decides that pursuing happiness is
wrong if a certain substance the government chooses is illegal is
used.

So, Mr.. Romney, will you arrest that man and thousands like him? Will
you condemn people to a life in prison for not obeying federal laws?
Why is it that states have to bend to the power of the federal
government? Shouldn't states have rights to decide constitutional
matters?

If someone disagrees with my point of view then I am happy. This
country guarantees a right to say what you think. If that right is not
taken advantage of then this country will soon end up like countless
others around the world. Places where free speech is looked down upon
almost as much as women in some religious countries. If the United
States of America ever ends up like those places, the world will be
hell on Earth.

Send Mike Overson a comment at m.overson@ceu.edu

Judge in medical marijuana case scolds state agency

2007-10-11T12:13:00.001-04:00

Judge in medical marijuana case scolds state agency
BY SARA REED
SaraReed@coloradoan.com

A District Court judge in Fort Collins issued a strongly-worded rebuke
today to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for
not complying with a court order related to a medical marijuana case.

Chief Judge James Hiatt threatened the agency with a contempt citation
and told an attorney from the Colorado Attorney General's office to
turn over information on medical marijuana patients for whom James and
Lisa Masters of Fort Collins acted as primary caregivers.

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"Your client (individuals from the Colorado Department of Public
Health and Environment) needs to get appropriate appellate relief,
comply with the order or, option three, someone is going to wind up in
jail," Hiatt told Anne Holton, an attorney with the attorney general's
office, during a scheduled hearing today.

The Masters, who are medical marijuana patients, were arrested and
charged with cultivation and distribution of marijuana last summer.
Those charges were dropped in June after it was ruled the search of
their home was illegal.

Now the couple has been fighting to get back the equipment and plants
seized from their home more than a year ago. However, that process was
delayed until late next month because the depart-ment still refuses to
produce the records.

As part of the process, Hiatt required prosecutors to subpoena the
records from the health de-partment, which administers the medical
marijuana program. The agency appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court
but that was denied.

Amendment 20, passed in November 2000 to establish Colorado's medical
marijuana program, re-quires the department to maintain a confidential
database of medical marijuana patients. Holton said that privacy
should be balanced against the prosecution's need for the records. The
prosecution's need for the records does not rise to the level to
justify breaching the confidentiality of the medical marijuana
program, she argued.

"The process we are in now is not a criminal proceeding," Holton said.
"The DA's interest is not in prosecuting but in retaining seized
evidence."

Hiatt disagreed and at one point called the delay unfair to the
parties involved. Hiatt gave the department until 5 p.m. Monday to
turn over the records. If the records have not been submitted by that
time, Hiatt said he would issue a contempt citation.

"You can't just say 'we still disagree with the order,' " he said.

Rob Corry, one of the attorneys representing the Masters, said after
the hearing he was gratified that Hiatt and prosecutor Michael Pierson
seem to be taking the matter so seriously but that there is some
frustration in the delay.

"This is medicine that people need," he said.

Corry argued in court that because the charges against his clients
were dropped that they were en-titled to get back their property,
including the seized marijuana. In an order issued in June, Hiatt said
a hearing on the matter was necessary because the medical marijuana
component of the case was never addressed by the resolution in the
case.

Prosecutors have objected to the property being returned, citing that
neither James nor Lisa Masters were registered medical marijuana
patients at the time of the seizure nor was there any docu-mentation
that they were serving as caregivers for other medical marijuana
patients.

Sheriff calls for halt of revision to medical pot ordinance

2007-10-11T12:10:00.001-04:00

Clearly some people don't have a clue what a disabled person LOOKS
like, they come in all shapes and sizes and PAIN does not have a LOOK.
Yet this guy thinks that only old looking people can be sick or in
need of medical marijuana.

Sheriff calls for halt of revision to medical pot ordinance
Supervisors urged to consult with law enforcement
By Karen Holzmeister, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 10/10/2007 06:00:15 AM PDT

OAKLAND — Color him skeptical.

Sheriff Greg Ahern on Tuesday questioned the proposed update of
Alameda County's medical marijuana dispensaries ordinance and what the
regulation is trying to accomplish.

He wants county supervisors to call a temporary halt to a yearlong
ordinance revision and sit down with law enforcement to evaluate what
should be permitted.

"Do the governing officials of Alameda County want to have an
ordinance allowing easy access to marijuana by young adults, or do
they want to work on an ordinance that may provide a small, limited
amount of mariuana to elderly people who are very ill?" he asked.

Ahern clearly believes that young, healthy men are in the driver's
seat when it comes to buying cannabis at three county-permitted
marijuana sales outlets in Cherryland.

"You see a 25-year-old male running up (to the dispensary) and he
doesn't appear to be in any immediate need of medical marijuana,"
Ahern contended.

And, as sheriff's Capt. Dale Amaral noted, deputies eyeballing the
dispensaries don't see older people in wheelchairs, on crutches or
using oxygen tanks entering to buy marijuana.

Ahern's suggestion, which hasn't formally gone to supervisors yet,
surprised Supervisor Nate Miley, the county's point man on
dispensaries.

The three Cherryland marijuana sales businesses are in his
supervisorial district.

"This is news to me," Miley said when told of Ahern's statements. "I
didn't know the sheriff
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didn't support the (revised) ordinance."

Miley noted that he supported, and law enforcement opposed, California
Proposition 215.

The voter-enacted law allows people with a valid doctor's prescription
to possess and cultivate pot for personal use.

While the county needs to eliminate abuse of the state law, "we can't
have such a restrictive ordinance that it won't allow patients to get
medical marijuana," Miley said.

The county issued operating permits to the three dispensaries during
the last two years. During this time, patrons have been the victims of
two homicides along with robberies and burglaries, Ahern said.

Amaral called the Compassionate Collective of Alameda County, on
Mission Boulevard in Cherryland, a "high-volume nuisance."

The proposed amendments to the current medical marijuana law would
allow the dispensaries to carry hashish, a more concentrated and
potent form of cannabis. The clinics also would be outlawed from
carrying food made with marijuana.

Marijuana Party candidate gets three months for trafficking.

2007-10-11T12:06:00.001-04:00

Marijuana Party candidate gets three months for trafficking conviction
brings three months in jail
Fourth drug conviction for Marc Boyer, who has terminal illness
Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, October 11, 2007

VANCOUVER - Former Marijuana Party candidate Marc Boyer has been
sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty in Vancouver
Provincial Court to possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking.

Judge Conni Bagnall ordered Boyer -- who suffers from a terminal
illness -- to be jailed, saying this was his fourth conviction for a
drug offence and the third in the last three years involving
marijuana.

Boyer ran as the Marijuana Party candidate in the Vancouver Quadra
riding in the last federal election.

He was arrested by Vancouver police officers July 13 in Grandview Park
on Commercial Drive.

The officers had gone to the park on another matter but could smell
marijuana and found a small group of people sitting in the park
smoking.

Boyer was seen trying to conceal something and police found 16
marijuana cigarettes under his leg. He was arrested and searched and
just over one pound of marijuana was found on him packaged, as if for
sale, along with $965 in cash.

The court was told that Boyer's cellphone rang and one of the officers
answered the call which was from a person asking for drugs to be
delivered.

Police found pamphlets on Boyer advertising home delivery of marijuana
and giving the number of his cellphone.

Bagnall rejected Boyer's submission that because his birth was never
registered in the usual fashion and he does not have a birth
certificate he does not "hold a person" under the Criminal Code
meaning he has "a void contract with society itself."

"He says that he instead 'holds a person' under the Elections Act. He
argues that this means that although Canadian laws apply to him he can
seek protection from prosecution for his beliefs in the fact of his
membership in the Marijuana Party. "Mr. Boyer's beliefs were the
subject of many of his comments. He believes that according to the
Bible, God gave all 'wind-pollinated herbs' as a gift to mankind. This
category includes marijuana," Bagnall wrote in her reasons for
judgment.

However, the judge, who said Boyer was unrepentant, dismissed all this
and said while he is entitled to hold any view he wishes about the
legality of marijuana, his opinion was irrelevant to the issue of
whether he could be prosecuted.

Bagnall found mitigating factors in sentencing were that Boyer was
terminally ill and used marijuana to ease the symptoms of his disease
and that he sells marijuana "within the loose structure of a
compassion club."

Ed Jagels recommended banning marijuana across the county.

2007-10-11T01:45:00.001-04:00

D.A. recommendation: Ban Medical Marijuana
Video High
Proponents of medical marijuana were dealt a major blow Tuesday when
District Attorney Ed Jagels recommended banning it across the county.

State law says it's okay to smoke marijuana if your doctor recommends
it. But federal law says it's illegal no matter what.

It's that conflict that prompted the County Board of Supervisors to
ask Jagels to look into the issue. His report came as a disappointment
to the hundreds, if not thousands, of medical marijuana users in Kern
County.

Jagels recommended repealing the ordinance that gives the sheriff's
department authority to issue licenses to sell medical marijuana.

He also recommended enacting and ordinance that would prohibit any
actions that are illegal under federal law, which would include
smoking marijuana, even for medical reasons.

"The storefront marijuana dispensary that half the state seems to
think is legal in the state is, in fact, illegal," said Jagels.

If passed, Jagels' recommendation would make it impossible for
patients to legally obtain marijuana.

"I'd be reduced to the streets," said Chris Helton, who started using
marijuana 4 years ago to relieve severe headaches caused by a head
injury he suffered working on and oil rig.

"I could try to grow my own, but I haven't been successful. I've been
ripped off."

Story Created: Oct 9, 2007 at 8:11 PM CDT

Story Updated: Oct 9, 2007 at 8:11 PM CDT

Take action to protect Sacramento's medical marijuana patients!

2007-10-11T01:43:00.001-04:00

Take action to protect Sacramento's medical marijuana patients!
by Aaron Smith ( safeaccessnow [at] gmail.com )
Tuesday Oct 9th, 2007 12:58 PM

Take action to protect Sacramento medical marijuana patients

Attention Sacramento County Medical Marijuana Patients and Supporters!

Safe Access Now, along with local medical cannabis patients, is
currently lobbying the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to
implement the statewide medical marijuana ID card program.
Participation in the program would be entirely voluntary for patients
and their caregivers; however, the county is required by law to offer
the cards to qualified residents.

Once the program is in place, patients and their caregivers will be
able to obtain the ID cards through a confidential program
administered by the Department of Health. The program works to protect
cardholders from unnecessary arrest, detainment, or the seizure of
medicine by state and local law enforcement.

In order for us to ensure that this vital program will be made
available to Sacramento County patients, we need your help.

If you are a resident of Sacramento County, please take a few minutes
to e-mail the board of Supervisors urging their support for the local
implementation of the ID card program. If you do not live in
Sacramento County, please forward this alert to any friends, family or
coworkers you might have in Sacramento.

After you have sent your e-mail, please contact Safe Access Now's
Aaron Smith at (866) 204-1341 or safeaccessnow [at] gmail.com to find
out how you can become more involved in our efforts to protect
Sacramento County patients.

With your support, implementation of our state's compassionate medical
marijuana laws will be a reality!

To e-mail the Board of Supervisor's, please visit:
https://ssl.capwiz.com/mpp/issues/alert/?alertid=10405471

Sincerely,
Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now

Outlawing marijuana a waste of time

2007-10-11T01:42:00.001-04:00

Outlawing marijuana a waste of time

Oct. 10, 2007 12:00 AM
Regarding "Cartels outrun, outgun the law at Ariz. border" (Republic, Oct. 3):

For decades, we have been naive in our belief that state and federal
drug agents would win a war with prohibitive legislation and threats.
We have successfully filled our prisons while supporting the lucrative
sale of drugs.

Whether an unconscious effort, or a hypocritical self-righteousness
about evil, we are making a lot of people in the United States, Mexico
and Columbia wealthy. We are relinquishing the management of drugs to
the criminal segment of our society.

We have shown that we can reasonably control the consumption of
alcohol and tobacco. Legalize marijuana and eliminate the corrupting
profit.

Retail it and tax it at a price that will discourage smugglers and
back street vendors.

Until we do, we are smug in our self-deception, while in fact
condoning the illegal use of drugs. - Alvin L. Arnold,Wickenburg

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1010wedlets105.html

Marijuana use condoned in Bible's teachings

2007-10-11T01:41:00.001-04:00

Marijuana use condoned in Bible's teachings

Dear Editor, Anastacia Cosner and Kirk Muse ("High school drug policy
needs another look," Sept. 27, and "Marijuana use different than
cocaine or meth," Oct. 5) got arrow-splitting bull's-eyes, but there
is more to the story.

Cannabis (marijuana) prohibition contributes to hard drug addiction
because of inherent lies used to perpetuate the farce. One example:
cannabis is a relatively safe God-given plant, yet the federal
government places it as a Schedule I substance along with heroin, and
meth is only a Schedule II substance.

Although minors should not use cannabis, responsible adults should not
be caged for using it, and one reason is because it is Biblically
correct since Christ God Our Father (The Ecologician) indicates he
created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they're all good, on
literally the very first page. The only Biblical restriction placed on
cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy
4:1-5).

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

http://www.tribune-georgian.com/articles/2007/10/10/news/opinion/letters/1letter10.10.txt

Marijuana vs. Aspirin

2007-10-11T01:39:00.001-04:00

Marijuana vs. Aspirin
Wed, 10/10/2007 - 19:19 — dreagen

Most people use products that are more damaging to the body with
out any thought to what they are doing to the body just because they
were raised to think it is safe. Although heavy use of marijuana is
not safe it is a lot safer than most of the common used drugs in
today's market. This is article is a comparison of the effects of two
popular pain killers, Marijuana and Aspirin.

Lets start with the history of Marijuana first. Marijuana can be
traced back for thousands of years to almost every culture in the
worlds history. Up until the Marijuana was prohibited by the
Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 the US Pharmacopoeia listed cannabis as the
drug of choice for over 100 different diseases. This reference was
the reference used by doctors since 1820. Cannabis was added to the
US Pharmacopoeia in 1870. Since recorded history Marijuana has never
been found to cause death by overdose.

The History of Aspirin is not so long and distinguished. Aspirin
patented on March 6, 1889 by Bayer who also had the trademark for
Heroin. Aspirin causes an average of 500 deaths per year. This is
from a Medication that is used for pain and heart disease.

Now that we understand the history of the two pain medications
lets look at the legality of both. While Marijuana does have side
effects and is know to assist in over 100 diseases without causing any
deaths it has been prohibited by the US Federal Government since 1937.
Marijuana side effects include problems with memory and learning;
distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch); difficulty in
thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased
heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks. THESE SIDE EFFECT DO NOT LAST
WHEN AFTER MARIJUANA WEARS OFF. There have been research results that
indicate that Marijuana can cause respiratory irritations among heavy
marijuana users if smoked. This can be easily solved by switching to
vaporized marijuana or taking marijuana orally. Marijuana has not
been linked in any research to lung cancer.

While marijuana is prohibited in the US, with minor side effects
and multiple benefits to the drug, any age child can go to a store and
purchase aspirin over the counter. The effects of aspirin can be very
dangerous. Heartburn; nausea; upset stomach; rash; hives; difficulty
breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips,
or tongue; black or bloody stools; confusion; diarrhea; dizziness;
drowsiness; hearing loss; ringing in the ears; severe or persistent
stomach pain; unusual bruising; vomiting; Reye syndrome.

In the book, 'The Science of Marijuana' by Dr. Leslie Iversen of
the Oxford University Department of Pharmacology said
"Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug," she said. "Even such
apparently innocuous medicines as aspirin and related steroidal
anti-inflammatory compounds are not safe." So if safety is your
concern, cannabis is clearly a much better choice than aspirin. If you
eat it or vaporize it, it just might be the safest painkiller the
world has ever known.

Marchers press for legal marijuana

2007-10-09T18:46:00.001-04:00

JAKE NAUGHTON/Herald photo

— an organization promoting the legalization of medicinal marijuana —
at the Cardinal Bar in downtown Madison. The event had blues-roots
music by The Whiskey River Band and special guests speaking about the
benefit of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The festivities continued Saturday with speakers and live music from
six Wisconsin bands including Logarythm, Pistols at Dawn with
Harissimo, Elf Lettuce, Tate and the 008 Band, Baghdad Scuba Review,
and Nama Rupa.

Harvest Fest came to a close Sunday with more than 300 people marching
to the Capitol to listen to music and hear more speakers.

NORML was founded in 1970 by Keith Stroup, with the goal of removing
criminal penalties for the adult use of medical and recreational
marijuana. Since then, the group has been lobbying for reform in
marijuana laws across the country.

"The organization feels that marijuana should be legal because it is
unconstitutional to prohibit the use of a natural substance, and the
government should not have the right to tell adults what they should
or should not put in their bodies," Stork said. "Also, it provides a
safer alternative to alcohol and does not encourage violence the way
alcohol does."

While there were many at the festival praising the use of cannabis,
there remains strong opposition to the drug, including from some UW
students.

"If they were to legalize marijuana, I feel that it would open the
door to the legalization of all other drugs, and that would not be
good," UW freshman Amber Rassbach said. "There are enough problems
with drugs now while they are illegal; if they were to legalize them
they would be much more prevalent, and it could lead to more problems
with drugs."

Romney turns back on patient who asks about medical marijuana

2007-10-09T18:36:00.001-04:00

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Monday October 8, 2007

At a campaign stop in Dover, NH, Mitt Romney was asked about medical
marijuana by Clayton Holton, who has muscular dystrophy. "I have the
support of five of my doctors saying I am living proof that medical
marijuana works," Holton told Romney.

Romney suggested he use synthetic marijuana instead, but Holton said,
"I have tried it and it makes me throw up."

He then asked, "Will you arrest me and my doctors if I get medical marijuana?"

"I'm not in favor of medical marijuana being legal," Romney told
Holton curtly, then deliberately turned his back on him to say "Hi,
how are you" to other members of the audience.

POINT OF VIEW-Med marijuana opponent lacks facts

2007-10-08T14:33:00.001-04:00

POINT OF VIEW
Med marijuana opponent lacks facts
By Lanny Swerdlow

Marijuana has been used as medicine for over 5,000 years by every
civilization in human history. None has ever crumbled due to its use.
Over the last 70 years, however, it has morphed into a plant so
dangerous that America spends up to $20 billion a year arresting over
825,000 Americans.

According to an Aug. 21 article in the Daily Bulletin, Brenda Chabot,
author of the Sept. 30 Point of View column "Medical marijuana a decoy
in effort to legalize all drugs," is a former probation officer and
her organization, Drug Free Community Coalition, is composed mainly of
members with "backgrounds in law enforcement." They are the real decoy
and are organized to protect law enforcement's access to this
bottomless pit of taxpayer money. Anything that has the scent of
legalization threatens their livelihoods and sends her into paroxysmal
fits of "the sky is falling."

Claiming that "marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug that poses
significant health threats," Chabot does not cite a single
peer-reviewed study showing any significant detrimental effects for
the vast majority of cannabis consumers. There are no such studies.
After a two-year study, Drug Enforcement Administration Judge Frances
Young ruled that "marijuana in its natural form, is one of the safest
therapeutically active substances known to man ... there is no record
in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented
cannabis induced fatality ... by contrast aspirin, a commonly used
over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths every year."

Chabot cites a "comprehensive study in 1999" by the Institute of
Medicine, stating that "the study concluded that smoking marijuana is
not recommended for the treatment of any disease condition." But the
executive summary for that study clearly states "there is no clear
alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be
relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting."

Disregarding the vast number of peer-reviewed studies documenting
marijuana's effective symptomatic relief for a large number of
ailments, especially those of senior citizens such as chronic pain,
depression, insomnia, nausea, arthritis and appetite loss, Chabot
ignores the thousands of doctors who recommend medicinal cannabis and
Health Canada, which approved the sale of tincture of cannabis in
2005.

Chabot lauds the pharmaceutical drug Marinol as a substitute for
marijuana even though it less effective and has undesirable side
effects. Marinol is synthetic THC, the major pharmacologically active
ingredient in marijuana. The difference between synthetic THC and
natural THC found in marijuana is that the pharmaceutical companies
can patent synthetic THC and sell Marinol for $10 a pill. They can't
patent marijuana just as they can't patent aspirin and will lose
billions of dollars if medical marijuana becomes available.

Polls conducted by CNN, Time and AARP consistently show over
two-thirds of Americans approving the use of marijuana medicinally.
The public can make intelligent informed decisions, but Chabot blames
the media for the "misperception that marijuana is harmless or may
even have health benefits."

Chabot claims these misperceptions lead teens to "believe that
marijuana can cure cancer." They know something she doesn't. Studies
conducted by Dr. Manuel Guzman at Spain's Compultense University
Department of Biochemistry demonstrate that cannabinoids found in
marijuana "are selective antitumor compounds, as they kill tumor cells
without affecting their non-transformed counterparts."

Research conducted by Dr. Donald Tashkin of the UCLA School of
Medicine found that smoking marijuana does not cause lung cancer and
provided evidence that people who only smoke marijuana are less likely
to develop lung cancer than people who don't smoke anything at all.

Failing to report the threats made by Riverside County District
Attorney Grover Trask and U.S. Attorney Tom O'Brien to arrest elected
officials that allow dispensaries to operate, Chabot's praise that
they are "standing up against the plight of medical-marijuana
dispensaries" rings hollow. Claremont, Diamond Bar and Palm Springs
should be commended for allowing dispensaries to operate and for not
caving in to the bluffs, bullying and blackmail of law enforcement.

Licensed, regulated and taxed medical marijuana dispensaries provide
valuable services. The only research-based report on dispensaries
concluded, "Oakland's permitted dispensaries continue to function
without excessive drain on police resources. Three of the four
dispensaries provide additional social services to their patients and
the surrounding community."

I challenge Ms. Chabot to participate in a public forum bringing her
medical experts to debate our medical experts about the safety and
health benefits of marijuana.

WARNING - Holding your breath waiting for Chabot and the Drug Free
Community Coalition to engage in a public forum could be dangerous for
your health.

Lanny Swerdlow, R.N., is a resident of Palm Springs and director of
the Marijuana Anti-Prohibition Project, an Inland Empire medical
marijuana patient support group. He may be contacted at (760) 799-2055
or at lanny@marijuananews.org.

Marijuana effectivley treats bipolar disorder-Patient account

2007-10-08T14:30:00.003-04:00

Marijuana and Bipolar Disorder
by
John Frederick Wilson

from http://www.rxmarihuana.com/bipolar.htm

In bipolar or manic-depressive disorder, the inconsolable misery
of major depression alternates with mania or uncontrolled elation. In
the manic phase people with bipolar disorder are cheerful, gregarious,
talkative, energetic, and hyperactive. Their spending is often
extravagant and their behavior reckless. They may imagine that they
have extraordinary talents and are or soon will be rich and powerful.
This reckless, restless cheerfulness and expansiveness can suddenly
turn into incoherent agitation, irritability, rage, paranoia, or
grandiose delusions.

Antidepressants alone are not a good treatment for bipolar
disorder and may even make it worse. Lithium carbonate, introduced
into medicine at about the same time as tricyclics, has revolutionized
the treatment of bipolar disorder. It prevents mania and to a lesser
extent bipolar depression. Although lithium takes several weeks to
start working, its success rate is about 70 percent and 20 percent of
patients are completely freed of their symptoms. Patients generally
require long-term maintenance treatment, and because lithium can be
toxic it must be used carefully. Chronic use may endanger the heart,
kidneys, and thyroid gland. Usually the dose is gradually increased
until the drug begins to work and then periodically readjusted
according to the patient's age, medical condition, and psychiatric
symptoms. The amount of lithium in the blood must be checked regularly
because it is ineffective if too low and risky if too high. Some side
effects are weight gain, hand tremors, drowsiness, and excessive
thirst or urination. Patients often cannot tolerate lithium either
because of the side effects or because it takes some of the joy from
their lives along with the manic episodes. It has been described as a
"loose-fitting emotional straitjacket." Only 20 percent of patients
with bipolar disorder take lithium alone. Other drugs used in the
treatment of bipolar disorder are the anticonvulsants carbamazepine
(Tegretol) and valproic acid (Depakote), which may be used either
alone or in combination with lithium.

John Frederick Wilson is a forty-two-year-old man who suffers from
rapid cycling bipolar disorder. He has been hospitalized several times
during manic episodes and has been treated with many conventional
medicines:

There is a history of mental illness in my family. My parents and most
of my relatives suffer from various mood disorders, and I myself have
had manic-depressive disorder for more than twenty-five years. My
symptoms are dynamic and occur in clusters of changing intensity.
Sometimes mania dominates, sometimes depression, and I have no way of
knowing which it will be or for how long.

In my manic periods, I feel as though I am flying, gliding
effortlessly through the day with an ever-increasing sense of
wonderment and delight. My body feels charged with energy. I talk
rapidly and forcefully without finishing my sentences, and I
constantly interrupt others. Colors appear brighter. Time seems to go
by twice as fast as usual. I lose my appetite and can't sleep more
than two hours a night. Sometimes I go three days without sleeping,
and when I do sleep, I awaken like a rocket leaving the pad— instantly
alert, feeling as though I have had no rest at all. The situation is
especially unbearable when I am recuperating from fever and physical
illness while unable to sit still or stop talking.

Soon I lose control of my moods and sensations. My skin becomes highly
sensitive to touch, and my clothing is a constant source of
irritation. Taste and smell become so acute that odors I usually enjoy
seem offensive and may trigger a headache. I hear imaginary muffled
voices and tunes. Tears may flow regardless of how I feel. As my
thoughts continue to race, I lose my ability to concentrate and become
extremely anxious—an anxiety that may turn into either elation or
rage. I feel all-powerful at one moment and suicidal the next. I make
plans and promises that I will not even remember at the end of the
day. I spend money on things I do not need and give away substantial
sums to total strangers. I feel compelled to telephone old friends,
running up hundreds of dollars in phone bills. Strangers are often
drawn to me because my contagious enthusiasm, but I may unexpectedly
lose patience with them and verbally assault them. At one moment I may
be speeding through traffic, cutting other drivers off and running red
lights; a few minutes later I feel calm and at a loss to explain my
reckless behavior. At times my libido goes off the scale and I have
intercourse with several women on the same day.

Eventually depression takes over. I become so physically ill that I am
too weak to function. I have no appetite and lose 25 pounds. My skin
is dry; I ache all over. The world seems drab and dull. I want nothing
to do with other people, and I feel as though my presence is a burden
to them. I do not even want to answer the phone or go to the door. I
cannot carry on a conversation, because everything people say to me
seems like a cruel attack. Activities that usually bring pleasure seem
foreign to me. I am overwhelmingly anxious and feel as though I have
never done anything right in my life. I am also extremely indecisive;
a simple task like brushing my teeth takes all morning to plan and
complete. Just when I think the agony cannot possibly get worse, it
does. It seems as though it is never going to end. It is as if there
is no future, no present, and no past—an eternal void. I contemplate
suicide.

My mind and body are ravished by these constant shifts in mood. I have
been treated with individual counseling, group therapy, and
twenty-five prescription drugs. They have all been ineffective. At age
forty I decided that conventional medication was doing more to
compromise my health than restore it. In May of 1995, at the
suggestion of a psychologist who has known me for many years, I
decided to quit my other medications and rely on cannabis to treat my
disorder.

It was not the first time I had tried marihuana. I first used it at
age fifteen, and I was impressed by its effect on my symptoms even
then. As a child and adolescent, I had suffered from constant anxiety,
headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, uncontrollable weeping, and recurrent
nightmares. I was extremely sensitive and easily upset, but I also was
capable of sleeping so deeply that once I did not stir when an Air
Force jet crashed and exploded within a mile of my house. Most of the
time I was shy and withdrawn, with a sense of impending doom, but on
rare occasions I would suddenly feel euphoric and out of control.
Perhaps worst of all were my destructive rages, in which minor
irritation would quickly become uncontrollable and I would destroy my
belongings. These rages were extremely unpleasant, both mentally and
physically, and left me exhausted when they subsided. >From the
beginning, I regarded the supposed euphoria produced by marihuana as
overrated. I was more struck by the improved mood that endured long
after the so-called "high." I soon began seeking a wide variety of
friends, and my life-long sense of anxiety disappeared. I gradually
overcame my shyness and began to develop a better understanding of
people. My tendency to overreact diminished. The bedwetting ceased,
and the headaches became less frequent and intense. My uncontrollable
crying stopped, and my tendency to rage was curbed. I was not the
poster boy for mental health, but I was much more productive than I
had been.

Unfortunately, like most people at the time I allowed the scare
tactics of the day to affect me. I stopped using marihuana at
seventeen, and within weeks I was in a private hospital being treated
for major depression and thinking about suicide. After six weeks of
therapy with little progress, I obtained some marihuana on a home
visit, and immediately thoughts of suicide were replaced with plans
for the future. Several days later I was released and told the doctor
that I had decided to use marihuana to treat my symptoms. He agreed
that it was effective but refused to document the finding. A pattern
emerged in the next twenty-three years as I repeatedly quit using
marihuana and started again. I stopped using it and dropped out of
high school. When I started again, I graduated and received awards. I
stopped using marihuana and dropped out of college, then started again
and earned my degree. When I stopped using marihuana I was fired, and
when I started again I got a new job. Then a random drug screen
detected it, and I was suspended. Since resuming my therapeutic use of
cannabis permanently two years ago, I have no longer had to endure the
disastrous consequences of improper treatment. My manic episodes are
much milder; I am simply energetic, focused, and productive. Even more
remarkably, I have not had any episodes of major depression in the
last two years. It is refreshing to experience normal sadness without
becoming suicidal. Cannabis calms me and focuses my attention. It
makes me more patient with people. I can eat and sleep more regularly.

There is no drug-induced euphoria, and I do not look or act
incapacitated. Family members, friends, neighbors, and health care
professionals often comment on how much I have improved. I still have
some difficulty getting enough sleep, but I do not feel tired all the
time. I am enjoying an emotional stability and productivity I never
knew to be possible before. If I do not use cannabis, all my symptoms
return. My condition becomes unbearable for me and everyone near me.
Many physicians have recommended that I continue to use it.

When I began to use cannabis therapeutically, I smoked two to four
puffs every four to six hours. But I am concerned about the effect on
my lungs, and I do not want to worry about the odor or about finding a
safe place to inhale. Now I smoke rarely—only when I need an immediate
effect because of one of my unpredictable mood changes, or when I have
to stop myself from obsessing about an unpleasant past experience and
concentrate on the present instead.

Most of the time eating cannabis works better for me, and I think it
is healthier. Two to three grams taken in the morning last me all day.
I put the crushed cannabis in an empty frying pan, apply medium heat,
and stir it until a wisp of smoke appears. Then I reduce the heat to
low and add a tablespoon of butter and sometimes a pinch of salt or
sugar. I tilt the frying pan before adding the butter to keep the
mixture concentrated. I sauté the cannabis for eight to ten minutes,
remove it from heat, and immerse the bottom of the pan in an inch of
cold water in my kitchen sink, adding several ice cubes. Five minutes
later I have a cool green paste which I roll into a ball and eat. I
have found that in my therapeutic use of cannabis, potency is not as
important as variety. I would rather have two or more varieties of
moderate potency than one of high potency. The indicas are very
effective in controlling my mania, partly because they have a very
relaxing effect on my body. The sativas also curb my mania, and they
are the most effective medication I have ever used for depression.

Mr. Wilson's mother, Polly Wilmoth, confirms his account:

John has worked hard over the years to survive his life-threatening
disease. I have suffered through it with him, and I have seen the
devastation that conventional medication brings. Year after year we
were told that a safe new drug would soon be out. Year after year we
were told that it was just a matter of adjusting the dose. And year
after year we were told that what works for one patient does not
necessarily work for another. That last statement, at least, could not
be more true as it applies to my son and the use of cannabis. I am
very proud of the progress he has made in the last two years and
believe that he should have legal access to cannabis therapy.

Marijuana to treat Bipolar disorders

2007-10-08T14:30:00.001-04:00

here is a link to a website forum of people who use marijuana to treat
bipolar symptoms effectively.

For anyone who gets paranoid or full of anxiety on marijuana, it might
not be as effective.

http://www.experienceproject.com/group_profile.php?g=1354

Medical Marijuana Gets Heavy Support In Wisconsin

2007-10-08T14:27:00.001-04:00

Mon, 10/08/2007 - 01:20 — Phusion
On Saturday; attendee's of the 37th annual Great Midwest Marijuana
Harvest Festival asked the question: "Why isn't it legal?". The
festival goers made it their focus to talk about a bill which could be
introduced in the state Legislature this week that would allow
Marijuana to be used for certain ailments.

"Every day, cannabis helps me live better, " said Gary Storck, of
Madison, the organizer of the event, who uses marijuana for glaucoma
and chronic pain. "Immediately when I take it I feel a good effect. "

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Frank Boyle, D-Superior, and Rep. Mark
Pocan, D-Madison, likely will be introduced Monday, Pocan said last
week. It is being called the Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act after
a woman who rode her wheelchair 210 miles from Mondovi to Madison 10
years ago to raise awareness of the issue.

Advocates decry medical marijuana raids

2007-10-07T12:10:00.001-04:00

Advocates decry medical marijuana raids
# DEA hurting most vulnerable patients with escalated attack on
state's laws, activists say

By Michael Manekin

staff writer
Article Launched: 10/07/2007 03:01:25 AM PDT

OAKLAND -- The raid of a large Oakland-based manufacturer of
cannabis-laced candy last month was deemed by the federal government
as a timely victory in the war on drugs.

With Halloween only weeks away, "kids and parents need to be careful
in case kids get ahold of this candy," U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration Special Agent in Charge Javier Pena said after the
bust.

But medical marijuana advocates, who dismissed Pena's Halloween
reference as an "absurd" attempt at "pure publicity," pointed to the
raid as further evidence that the DEA has escalated its attack on
California's marijuana laws by targeting the most vulnerable medical
cannabis patients.

An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 medical marijuana users are in the
state, and the most terminal and debilitated among them cannot smoke
their medicine. Instead, the elderly and those suffering from cancer
or living with HIV must eat it.

The recent federal raid of Tainted Inc. -- a company that produced
cannabis-infused candy, cookies, granola bars, ice cream, brownies,
energy drinks and other products -- has "literally denied thousands
and thousands of patients throughout the state" of their medicine,
said Kris Hermes of Safe Access Now, the largest medical marijuana
advocacy group in the country.

Until last month, Tainted was perhaps the largest distributor of
cannabis-laced edibles for the state's medical marijuana patients,
according to dispensary
Advertisement
owners and advocates.

Only Beyond Bomb, another Oakland-based manufacturer of pot-infused
morsels, once distributed as much edible medicine, but the DEA shut it
down last year. Since both companies were once the largest
distributors to the state's medical marijuana dispensaries, patients
too sick or weak to smoke are struggling to access their medicine,
advocates and dispensary owners said.

The raid on Tainted, which netted four arrests and the seizure of
about 460 marijuana plants, is one of at least 44 DEA raids of medical
marijuana dispensaries or individuals in California this year,
according to Hermes.

Last year, Hermes said, the DEA raided about 20 patients or providers
of medical cannabis -- less than half the raids conducted thus far
this year. In 2005, the federal government raided 19 establishments.

"The escalation is really quite serious and devastating both to state
law and seriously ill patients in California," Hermes said. "This
isn't just a game of chess between patients and the federal
government."

The DEA makes no apologies for the raids.

The shutdown of Tainted was consistent with the agency's mission to
"go after distributors who manufacture, cultivate and distribute
(marijuana) at the highest levels," said DEA spokeswoman Casey McEnry.

Asked whether the agency was concerned how the raid would affect
patients throughout the state, McEnry said that marijuana "has no
medical use ... according to federal statutes."

Dr. Frank Lucido, a Berkeley-based general practitioner who advocates
the medical use of cannabis, dismissed that notion and criticized the
DEA raids as a dangerous outgrowth of a misguided federal policy.

"These raids always affect the sickest the most because they don't
know how to go out on the street and find marijuana," Lucido said.
Patients who can't smoke because of illness or those who find
themselves in hospitals "rely on edibles," he said.

Many less-terminal patients choose to ingest marijuana because the
doses are steady and more easily regulated.

Using laced sweets and snacks with medicine is hardly a ruse to
encourage recreational marijuana usage but rather "a time-honored
tradition to use a little bit of sugar to make the medicine go down,"
Lucido said.

Jeff Bishop, a 41-year-old Oakland resident living with HIV, once
counted on Tainted products as his most reliable form of edible
marijuana.

Unlike smaller manufacturers of cannabis-laced sweets, "You could
pretty bet on the (Tainted) dosages being what they're supposed to
be," Bishop said.

Bishop is worried that the DEA raid of the two largest distributors of
edible medical marijuana will jeopardize his ability to treat his
illness.

Marijuana for medicine stories page ( many testimonies and growing)

2007-10-06T20:30:00.001-04:00

http://www.rxmarihuana.com/shared.htm

Recipes for Marijuana at bottom of this article page

2007-10-06T16:06:00.001-04:00

http://www.cannabis.net/articles/drugwar-refugees.html

McCain should know the truth about medical marijuana

2007-10-06T16:04:00.000-04:00

Steve Chapman
October 7, 2007

Through all his years in politics, despite the endless obligation to
shake hands, smile for the cameras and coax money out of contributors,
John McCain has somehow avoided becoming a complete phony—something
that John Edwards and Mitt Romney managed to achieve within a week of
entering politics. Annoy McCain, and you won't have to wait long to
find out.

Even a sickly, soft-spoken woman in a wheelchair gets no pass from
him. The other day, at a meeting with voters in New Hampshire, Linda
Macia mentioned her use of medical marijuana and politely asked his
position on permitting it. Barely were the words out of her mouth
before the Arizona senator spun on his heel, stalked away and heaped
scorn on the idea.

"You may be one of the unique cases in America that only medical
marijuana can relieve pain from," he said, in a skeptical tone. "Every
medical expert I know of, including the AMA (American Medical
Association), says there are much more effective and much more, uh,
better treatments for pain." He also ridiculed the notion that police
would arrest patients for using marijuana as medicine.

It's refreshing that McCain is willing to state his position with such
unvarnished candor. It would be even better if he knew what he was
talking about.

Apparently he missed the news that federal agents recently raided the
home of Leonard French, a paraplegic who had been authorized under New
Mexico law to use cannabis for his condition. He now faces possible
federal charges, not to mention that he was deprived of the medicine
recommended by his doctor.

As for medical experts, McCain could easily find plenty who testify to
the therapeutic value of pot. The American Academy of HIV Medicine
says that "when appropriately prescribed and monitored,
marijuana/cannabis can provide immeasurable benefits for the health
and well-being of our patients."

The New England Journal of Medicine has called the federal ban on
medical marijuana "misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane." A 1999
report by the federal Institute of Medicine concluded, "Scientific
data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs for
pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite
stimulation."

It's true that actual arrests of patients are rare. But that's often
little consolation. Consider the case of Angel Raich, a California
cancer victim whose marijuana was confiscated in a federal drug raid.

When she challenged the federal law, an appeals court ruled against
her. But the court also had to acknowledge, "Raich's physician
presented uncontroverted evidence that Raich 'cannot be without
cannabis as medicine' because she would quickly suffer 'precipitous
medical deterioration' and 'could very well die.' " Said the court,
"All medical evidence in the record suggests that, if Raich were to
stop using marijuana, the acute chronic pain and wasting disorders
would immediatelyresume."

But none of that mattered. In the end, the government and the courts
gave Raich a choice: obey federal law, or risk jail by using the only
treatment that helped her.

Bush administration officials often insist there are no definitive
studies proving the curative powers of marijuana. What they omit is
that the federal government has done everything in its power to
prevent such research.

That effort has not entirely succeeded, though. Recently, the journal
Neurology published the results of one clinical trial of HIV patients.
It showed that pot "effectively relieved chronic neuropathic pain from
HIV-associated sensory neuropathy," with no adverse side effects.

The mystery is not why anyone believes cannabis can be safe and
effective therapy. The mystery is why so many politicians,
particularly Republican presidential candidates—Ron Paul, a physician,
being the heroic exception—are unwilling to consider the possibility,
or to leave the matter up to the states. It's not even clear their
hard-line stance is smart politics in their own party.

Wherever you look, public opinion supports medical marijuana. In
Texas, a 2004 Scripps-Howard poll found that 75 percent of the people
favor allowing it—including 67 percent of Republicans. Such red states
as Alaska, Colorado, Montana and Nevada are among the 12 that have
legalized medical marijuana.

This is not a dispute between Republican voters and Democratic voters.
It's a dispute between Republican politicians and everyone else.

What McCain ought to say is that he would rather ignore medical
opinion, and inflict needless pain on people whose doctors say they
could be helped by marijuana, than admit the federal ban is a mistake.
Now that would be real candor.

McCain and Giuliani Say Terrible Things to a Medical Marijuana Patient

2007-10-06T16:03:00.001-04:00

McCain and Giuliani Say Terrible Things to a Medical Marijuana Patient
Printer Friendly Version Printer Friendly Version Email this Article
Email this Article
Posted in Chronicle Blog by Scott Morgan on Fri, 10/05/2007 - 1:14pm

Via MPP, battle lines are being drawn on the campaign trail over
medical marijuana. Linda Macia of Granite Staters for Medical
Marijuana suffers from nerve damage, fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic
dystrophy and degenerative arthritis. She's allergic to other
medications and has only found relief through medical marijuana.

You'd think that anyone hoping to become president would show some
compassion for this unfortunate woman, but alas…

Notice how McCain turns his back to her the moment she utters the
phrase "medical marijuana." Words could not better describe his
position. McCain goes on to claim he's seen no documentation of
medical marijuana's effectiveness, even though Granite Staters' Stuart
Cooper had personally presented him with sound scientific evidence.

Will she have better luck with Rudy Giuliani? Let's see…

Ouch. Giuliani struggles when she explains that she's allergic to the
"other medications" he recommends. He also claims not to have lobbied
on behalf of OxyContin, which I guess depends on your definition of
"lobbying."

Sometimes we don't get the answers we want. That's what happens when
you look to the drug war for answers. But at least we're asking the
right questions, and asking them often. Perhaps next time we should
ask if they've seen the polling on medical marijuana. Maybe that will
get their attention.

It seems likely that medical marijuana may be sold at a dispensary in Claremont in the near future.

2007-10-06T16:00:00.001-04:00

October 5, 2007

by Paul Foreman
The Claremont City Council is preparing to establish a marijuana
dispensary after the year-long moratorium ends.

The Claremont City Council is preparing to establish a marijuana
dispensary after the year-long moratorium ends.

It seems likely that medical marijuana may be sold at a dispensary in
Claremont in the near future.

In a 3-2 split decision in August, Claremont City Council members
Ellen Taylor, Sam Pedroza, and Linda Elderkin passed legislation
directing staff to prepare to make code changes allowing a medical
marijuana dispensary to operate in the city. Council member Corey
Calaycay and Mayor Peter Yao voted against the dispensary.

The City Council of Claremont voted at its last meeting, on Sept. 11,
to enact a year-long moratorium on the existence of a medical
marijuana dispensary in Claremont. The City Council will continue to
debate legislation before passing an ordinance within a year.

Taylor spoke in a phone interview about her vote.

"I voted to have staff come and set up a dispensary," said Taylor.
"There are people who are helped by marijuana. This is not about
anyone just trying to get high."

Taylor said that the City Council would not allow a dispensary without
significant regulation.

"We've talked about regulating the operating hours of the dispensary,"
she said. "We've talked about making it a nonprofit operation."

Taylor also argued that the only effect on campus life will be for
those students who need marijuana for medical reasons. Currently, the
dispensary closest to the College is in Diamond Bar, about 10 miles
away.

"I would imagine that on the campus it's not at all hard for you to
get marijuana now. If there are students who have a need for medical
marijuana, it will be much more convenient for them to obtain it."

In 1996, the California legislature passed Proposition 215, which
allows for the sale and possession of marijuana for medicinal
purposes. Since then, the issue of whether or not to allow sale in
individual cities has been decided at the local level.

"My feeling is that the state should regulate it," said Taylor. "The
state is being very weak in not regulating it."

Some members of the Claremont community disagreed with the City
Council's decision. In an editorial published in the Inland Valley
Daily Bulletin, former Mayor Al Leiga argued that a dispensary would
hurt Claremont's image.

"That decision is not consistent with being one of the top 10 cities
in the nation where people want to raise their children and enjoy a
quality of life," wrote Leiga. "Marijuana is an illegal drug according
to the laws of the United States. Saying that it is for medical use
does not change the law."

In general, Pomona students do not seem to think that medicinal
marijuana in Claremont would translate into more illegal marijuana on
campus.

"I don't know how easy it is to get medical marijuana illegally," said
Laura Krinsky '11. "I don't think it would really affect usage of
marijuana on campus."

"It might make medical-grade marijuana more available on campus," said
Brendan Deiz '09, "but it wouldn't make students buy more pot."

Denver marijuana legalization advocates want Ricky Williams to come to town

2007-10-06T15:59:00.001-04:00

Denver marijuana legalization advocates want Ricky Williams to come to town

October 3rd.2007
Canadian Press

DENVER - A group that led a campaign to legalize marijuana possession
in Denver is posting a billboard advertisement encouraging suspended
running back Ricky Williams and the Broncos to get together.

Williams applied for NFL reinstatement this week, his agent said.
Williams has played in only 12 NFL games since the start of the 2004
season, but rushed for 3,225 yards in 2002-03. His current suspension
began in April 2006 after he violated the league's drug policy for the
fourth time. He tested positive for marijuana this April, again
delaying his return.

Williams remains under contract with Miami, where he won the NFL
rushing title in 2002. But new coach Cam Cameron has not indicated
whether he wants Williams to stay with the Dolphins, who fell to 0-4
Sunday.

The billboard, across the street from Invesco Field, where the Broncos
play, will be unveiled Wednesday and will stay up for a month. At a
cost of US$3,000, it features a player with dreadlocks in a blue and
orange jersey and reads, "Ricky, come to Denver... Where the people
support your SAFER choice."

In 2005, Denver residents passed an initiative removing all penalties
for possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults. The campaign
was run on the message that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol.
Police have continued prosecuting people under state law, however.
Federal law also prohibits possession.

"The National Football League's marijuana policy is just as irrational
as our federal government's marijuana policy," said Mason Tvert of the
group Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation. "In both cases,
authorities are steering adults toward using alcohol and punishing
them for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead.

"If (commissioner) Roger Goodell and every NFL player over 21 can go
home after a game and have a drink, there is no reason why Ricky
Williams should not be allowed to go home and use a less harmful
drug."

The initiative Denver voters approved two years ago allows adults to
carry up to an ounce of marijuana. No other state allows pot
possession for anything other than medical use.

"Ricky Williams would feel right at home here," Tvert said.

Compassion Club head wants province to run medical marijuana access plan, not Ottawa

2007-10-06T15:58:00.001-04:00

Compassion Club head wants Quebec to run medical marijuana access plan

October 3rd, 2007
Canada Press

MONTREAL - The founder of the Montreal Compassion Club wants Quebec to
take over the administration of the federal Medical Marijuana Access
program in the province.

Marc-Boris St-Maurice said Tuesday the program is "an embarrassing oxymoron."

He complained about major delays processing applications, licence
renewals and changes of address.

"Eighteen months ago we requested a supply of application forms for
our clients which we still have not received," he said.

"There are also frequent disturbing reports of doctors being pressured
by Health Canada bureaucrats to reduce their patients' recommended
daily dosage."

St-Maurice wants Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard to
intervene and hopes to meet with provincial Health Department
officials in the coming weeks.

"The field of health is a provincial jurisdiction and we believe that
it would be more appropriate if this program was managed by our
province instead of Ottawa," St-Maurice said.

Couillard said Tuesday although he's not against the idea it's too
soon to say whether the Quebec government should be in charge of
medical marijuana in the province.

He added that he first wants to see the scientific evidence that its
use is beneficial and therapeutic.

"Before I go in this direction I want to make sure the scientific
proof is established," he said.

"I want to make sure that it's necessary and that there are no other
options and that it's the only solution."

During a visit to Montreal to announce tougher rules for identity
theft, federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said he's not familiar
with the particulars of the Compassion Club.

But he reiterated the Tory government's commitment to bring about a
tough drug strategy.

"We've indicated that we'll be coming forward with a national
anti-drug strategy and it will be co-ordinated between Justice, Public
Safety and Health Canada, and we'll be making an announcement in due
course," Nicholson said.

St-Maurice made his comments at a news conference where he opened a
new storefront location for the Montreal Compassion Club.

The dispensary sells medical marijuana to those who suffer from
illnesses like cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and HIV-AIDS.

St-Maurice said the new brightly lit location doesn't have any
curtains "because we have nothing to hide. . .numerous courts have
concurred that what we do here is not a crime."

"We're being a little more open and visible about what we're doing,
but our activities are the same," he added.

The club first opened in 1999 but was shut down a year later when
St-Maurice was arrested.

It reopened in 2003 after St-Maurice was acquitted of marijuana trafficking.

"We've been operating a little more discreetly since then," he said.

St-Maurice said the new location, which has a dispensing counter
displaying various types of marijuana, is more spacious and is
wheelchair-accessible.

He said about 10 per cent of the club's 1,000 members have licences
from the federal government authorizing them to buy medical marijuana
and others have their doctor's authorization.

The club sells different grades of marijuana for between $7 and $10 a
gram, while hashish goes for $15 to $20 per gram, which one club
member describes as "market value."

It also offers marijuana cookies that sell for $6 each.

Marijuana crusader presented with Calgary's distinguished white hat

2007-10-06T15:54:00.001-04:00

Published: Sunday, September 16, 2007

Saturday's warm welcome, arranged by Emery's supporters, comes in
stark contrast to his visit to Calgary in 2003 when Emery was arrested
for marijuana possession.

"It's nice to feel wanted, especially given last time," he said.

Emery is in Calgary to show his support for medical marijuana crusader
Grant Krieger, raise awareness of his extradition proceedings and
raise money for looming court battles.

Emery has been arrested 22 times on marijuana-related offences and
jailed 17 times. He now faces a U.S. extradition hearing on Nov. 5.
for selling thousands of marijuana seeds to Americans through his
Internet business.

About 40 people gathered to hear Emery speak at a rally outside
Calgary City Hall Saturday.

"We are hunted down like dogs, like animals," he said.

"Why should someone like Grant Krieger who wants to see sick and dying
people get marijuana go to jail?"

Krieger, who has multiple sclerosis, is on bail after he was convicted
of drug trafficking in March. The Calgary man had sent two packages of
marijuana to people with similar afflictions in Manitoba.

Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier, who often gives out white hats to
distinguished visitors, said anyone could be white-hatted by any
Calgarian if they go out and buy the hat.

"Just because white hats are available for sale, it doesn't mean
everyone should get one," he said.

Meanwhile, chairman of the board of directors of Calgary Tourism, Lorn
Sheehan, said Calgary should show hospitality to a broad range of
people.

"If you white-hat absolutely terrible people, it could devalue (the
practice)," he said. "But if this man is walking the streets, he can't
be that terrible."

Calgary Herald

Marijuana and the munchies-.. interesting info on new drug research.. and mention that lower doses of Medical MJ over the day may curb the munchies

2007-10-06T15:52:00.001-04:00

Marijuana and the munchies

A new 'cannabinoid blocker' could help rehabilitate the weed

DAWN RAE DOWNTON | September 24, 2007 |

History hasn't been kind to cannabis, a researcher at Dalhousie
University lamented last year. The drug is one of the most used
worldwide, but misconceptions about its therapeutic potential and
safety continue. More research is on the way, but marijuana's true
rehabilitation could come from, of all things, a new diet drug that
works by deactivating the same therapeutic neural network in our
bodies that marijuana activates.

Whether or not you've ever tried marijuana, whether or not you've
inhaled, you have your own cannabis infrastructure, a grid of nerve
receptors that changes your experience of pain, sleep and appetite. We
all make our own natural cannabinoids, marijuana-like chemical
compounds. "If you're hungry," says Dr. Mark Ware, a professor at
McGill University's pain centre, "they're probably active in you right
now."

But what if you're hungry too often, as are 95 per cent of Canada's
2.25 million Type 2 diabetics whose excess weight aggravates their
disease and costs the economy one of every seven health care dollars
it spends? Looking for an anti-munchies drug, researchers found the
synthetic compound rimonabant, a cannabinoid blocker. (It switches off
the same neural network that our own cannabinoids and marijuana turn
on.) So long as you stay on it, the drug reduces appetite, blood
sugar, waist size and weight (by about five per cent), while it raises
HDL ("good") cholesterol. Rimonabant was approved in Europe last year.
Negotiations with the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. are
underway. It could be available in Canada next year.

In a dearth of effective weight-loss drugs, will there be a run on it?
"It's not a bikini drug," says Dr. Josée Dubuc-Lissoir of
Sanofi-Aventis, the French manufacturer. She says an education
campaign will limit prescribing it to fighting diabetes and
cardiovascular disease. Rimonabant will likely be as popular here as
it's been in Europe, and it may well help policy-makers understand
that the body's cannabinoid network holds marvellous therapeutic
secrets that could still be better understood -- including the way
marijuana helps the sick and dying.

Continued Below

For critically ill Americans, that can't happen soon enough. In March,
a U.S. court ruled that even the dying -- for whom cannabis restores
sleep and appetite and reduces pain -- can be prosecuted under
American laws. Is the situation any better in Canada? To some extent,
says Ware and Halifax's Dr. Mary Lynch, the pair of Canadian
researchers known worldwide for studying cannabis and its manufactured
versions -- Sativex, Marinol (dronabinol), and Cesamet (nabilone) --
used in the treatment of chronic pain, cancer, AIDS and multiple
sclerosis. With researchers across the country, Ware and Lynch are
running a trial to test its safety and efficacy against standard
chronic pain medications.

It's the last Canadian study for now. Months after gaining office, the
Harper government declined to renew funding for the Medical Marijuana
Research Program the Liberals began seven years ago. Lynch isn't
surprised. "We live in a pain-denying world," she says.

Canada allows regulated access to the herb itself, but obtaining it is
an uphill climb, especially when you're sick or when you can't find
the required pain specialists to wade through the government's
mountain of paperwork on your behalf. In Eastern Canada especially,
legal access has become merely theoretical: the one Halifax pain
clinic that serves all of Atlantic Canada closed its doors to most new
referrals years ago.

Until recently, though, Canada led the world in research, and still
has the most prescribable cannabinoids. The U.S. has two drugs only,
as does most of Europe, including the Netherlands, which also has an
access program. Only Canada has approved Sativex, an oral spray, for
chronic pain relief.

Ware's cannabis patients don't get the munchies if they're
appropriately dosed, nor do they get "stoned." The sick respond
differently to drugs than do the healthy, he explains. "These are
extremely ill people who have failed conventional treatments. These
aren't the ones standing on Parliament Hill waving hemp flags."
They're rarely overweight, either -- though now they may be glad of
those who are.

Treating Yourself Magazine ( Canadian)

2007-10-06T15:48:00.001-04:00

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 09/18/07 -- "Treating Yourself -
The Alternative Medicine Journal," that provides medical marijuana
users with information to assist them in responsible use announces the
release of its ninth issue.

"I'm delighted with issue number nine. In just two years of publishing
this journal and building www.treatingyourself.com the growth and
quality of content and readers is phenomenal. It's something we're all
incredibly proud of," said Publisher, Marco Renda.

Highlights in the latest issue include:

- A behind-the-scenes look as Willie Nelson parks his B100
biodiesel-powered tour bus to break ground at the super-sizing of
Oregon's first commercial biodiesel plant.

- Meet "An Incredible Wo(Man)" Jason Ryde, AKA, "Barbie." Artist, Drag
Queen and HIV positive for 20-years, this ultimate survivor continues
to cope through the medicinal benefits of marijuana.

- An introduction to Iridology, a branch of alternative medicine that
involves diagnosis of one's state of health by specific colors, marks,
and signs that are seen in the iris of the eyes.

"This is - without a doubt - our best issue ever and the timing
couldn't be better as it coincides with the appointment of Michelle
Rainey as Director of Sales and Marketing for Treating Yourself," said
Renda.

Rainey is licensed by Health Canada to use marijuana for medicinal purposes

and is facing extradition to the United States. At 17, she was
diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and endured constant pain despite
surgeries and cocktails of prescription drugs until she discovered the
pain relieving properties of marijuana. Not only did it stop her
nausea, but it soothed so many of her other symptoms that she was able
to take herself off every prescribed medication she was taking. As a
walking example of the benefits of medical marijuana, Michelle quit
her successful banking career and helped found the British Columbia
Marijuana Party and the BCMP Bookstore. In July 2005, despite the fact
that Michelle is licensed to grow her own medicinal marijuana by
Health Canada, she and two other Canadians were charged with
conspiring to distribute marijuana and marijuana seeds and
money-laundering and are facing possible life sentences in a US
federal prison.

Marco Renda is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of "Treating Yourself
-The Alternative Medicine Journal" and the founder of
www.treatingyourself.com, the largest medical marijuana forum on the
Internet receiving over four million hits per month and rated number
one on Yahooka.com. Renda has suffered from Hepatitis C for 24 years
and became licensed to use medicinal marijuana by Health Canada in
2003. Marco also suffers from arthritis, Gastroesophageal Reflux
Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Contacts:
Treating Yourself.com Inc.
Marco Renda
(416) 620-1951
Email: marco.renda@treatingyourself.com
Website: www.treatingyourself.com

Could Canadian Anti Drug Campaign be a waste of time and money?

2007-10-06T15:43:00.001-04:00

Drug ads could trigger tokers
By NATE HENDLEY
Source:http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-09-13/news_cityinbrief3.php

Do anti-pot ads just make folks want to spark up? Health Minister Tony
Clement better find out before he launches that no-nonsense anti-drug
campaign he's been threatening.

"Canada has not run a serious or significant anti-drug campaign for
almost 20 years," Clement sniffed at a speech to the Canadian Medical
Association last month.

But now he's ready with a multi-departmental two-year $64 mil effort
involving Health Canada , the Department of Justice and maybe even the
prime minister's office . The multi-pronged initiative includes a
crackdown on gangs and illicit drug production as well as money for
treatment. And, says Christian Girouard, spokesperson for the
Department of Justice , there's $10 million for "preventing illicit
drug use.'' According to Clement, these measures would include public
health messages -- namely, an ad blitz, part of the "plain truth''
Clement wants young people to hear.

Problem is, anti-drug media campaigns have been a flaming flop south
of the border, and maybe even an actual incentive to pot-puffing.

In 1998, the U.S. kicked off its five-year National Youth Anti-Drug
Media Campaign aimed at scaring kids away from drugs, particularly
weed, with a series of TV ads linking casual marijuana use to
terrorism, sexual violence and unplanned pregnancies.

But the U.S. 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that
while past-month drug use among 12-to-17-year-old Americans had
declined slightly (from 11.6 per cent in 2002 to 9.9 per cent in 05),
it was rock-steady among 18-to-25-year-olds (20.2 per cent in 2002
versus 20.1 per cent in 05).

An August 2006 report by the United States Government Accountability
Office (GAO) sounded a similar alarm. The Anti-Drug Media Campaign
"was not effective in reducing youth drug use," states the report,
which goes on to recommend that Congress stop funding the program.

But it was the work of Dr. Harvey Ginsburg and Maria Czyzewska, of the
psychology department at Texas State University in San Marcos that
reached the most stunning conclusion. "Our preliminary study revealed
that college students generated more negative comments to televised
anti-marijuana ads than anti-tobacco ads, often perceiving them as
exaggerated and unbelievable," Ginsburg writes in a report published
May 2006.

More than that, students in their study reported that the pot spots
actually made them more likely to spliff up.

Ginsburg tells NOW this is called the "boomerang effect," a phenomenon
that occurs when "the message is perceived as weak, inconsistent with
prior knowledge and when the source's credibility is suspect,'' he
writes. He says he hopes the Canadian government treads carefully.

The feds can't say they weren't warned.

Marijuana effectively treats bipolar disorder-Patient account

2007-10-06T15:40:00.003-04:00

Marijuana and Bipolar Disorder
by
John Frederick Wilson

from http://www.rxmarihuana.com/bipolar.htm

Mr. Wilson's mother, Polly Wilmoth, confirms his account:

Marijuana to treat Bipolar disorders

2007-10-06T15:40:00.001-04:00

here is a link to a website forum of people who use marijuana to treat
bipolar symptoms effectively.

For anyone who gets paranoid or full of anxiety on marijuana, it might
not be as effective.

http://www.experienceproject.com/group_profile.php?g=1354

California city lightens up on marijuana users

2006-06-25T19:35:00.000-04:00

Marijuana users in West Hollywood are breathing easier after the city
passed a resolution to deprioritise policing of pot infractions.
 
"This is just another nail in the coffin of marijuana prohibition,"
said Bruce Margolin, a pioneer in pro-marijuana legislation. "Now the
police can go after the guy robbing people on the street, rather than
looking for harmless pot smokers."
 
Late on Monday the city council of West Hollywood, which is sandwiched
between Hollywood and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles county, voted to
instruct police to not target adults "who consume this drug in private
and who pose no danger to the community".
 
The council noted its existing endorsement of the medicinal use of
marijuana as it advised the Los Angeles county police, who handle West
Hollywood law enforcement, to focus their energies on more serious
narcotics problems and other crimes like child and elderly abuse,
burglary, and identity theft.
 
"This sends a message that the City of West Hollywood has an
enlightened approach to its law enforcement," Don Duncan, manager of
two local medical marijuana dispensaries, told Agence France-Presse.
 
The move gave a boost to the campaign in California to permit
sufferers from cancer and other debilitating afflictions to consume
marijuana freely, despite federal laws banning the practice.
 
On Tuesday a steady stream of patients walked through the doors of
Alternative Herbal Health Services, a West Hollywood dispensary where
the product line runs from marijuana seeds to dwarf plants to
harvested ganja bearing names like "Hollywood High" and "Train Wreck,"
all displayed neatly in glass jars.
 
Patients also can select between varieties of hashish, and "edibles"
from chocolate-covered peanut butter cups to cannabis-laced banana
bread.
 
Dispensary operators like Nichols feel the ordinance validates their
work to provide organic medicine.
 
"God bless the city of West Hollywood for this kind of pat on the
back," she said. "I've got cancer patients who come through here who
simply can't eat without this medicine."
 
Nichols hopes the resolution will end what she believes is police
harassment of legitimately needy patients.
 
"I've been hassled and given citations a few times by the police just
walking from the front door of the dispensary to my car," said Tracy,
a patient who asked that only her first name be used.
 
"Now I feel like I don't have to be so anxious," she said as she
peered through the barred windows to the street.
 
Another patient who asked to be called Brian comes to the dispensary
specifically for its high quality "edibles" to alleviate his insomnia
and arthritis.
 
"The doctor prescribed me Ambien, but I hate the way that makes me
feel the next day," he said.
 
With the new city resolution, Brian feels the pressure has lifted.
"Now I don't have to wait around in cars and hope the police won't
show up," he said.
 
Local physicians also praised the decision. "This is an important step
towards sane adult use of marijuana," said Dr Craig Cohen. "I see
patients everyday who greatly benefit from marijuana prescriptions to
alleviate their pain and suffering and I know that they will be
grateful for this new resolution."
 
California passed legislation in 1996 making small quantities of
marijuana legal for medical use, laws that conflict with those of the
US federal government.
 
Since then medical pot clinics have operated openly. San Francisco and
Oakland both have policies in place similar to West Hollywood's.
 
Because the resolution does not actually effect legislation, it is
unclear how it will impact law enforcement practices.
 
"We will continue to comply with proposition 215 [California's medical
marijuana law]," said Officer Robert McMahon of the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department.

Marijuana in pill form is a medical benefit for heart transplant Director Robert Altman

2006-06-25T19:33:00.000-04:00

Director Robert Altman, known for his marijuana use for years, has
not cut down his intake of since his heart transplant 10 years ago. In
fact, reports claim he's been taking marijuana in pill form and
larger amount then when he smoked.

The NY Daily News asked Altman about his love for marijuana, and he
responded, "I've increased it because of my heart condition. I even
have a prescription for marijuana pills."

Altman, 81 year old, is the director of many films, including "MASH"
in 1970 and most recently "A Prairie Home Companion" staring the likes
of Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep and and Lindsay
Lohan.

MS Society to study medical marijuana

2006-06-24T02:37:00.000-04:00

Medical Marijuana: National Multiple Sclerosis Society to Fund Study 6/23/06
Source: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/441/msmedmjstudy.shtml

In what could be the first sign of a course reversal by the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society, which has scoffed at medical marijuana in
the past, the group announced this week that it will fund a study on
the effect of marijuana on spasticity in MS patients. While the
Society acknowledges that up to 15% of MS patients use medical
marijuana, funding the new study is the first time the group has
indicated it is hearing what those patients are saying.

The society currently rejects the use of marijuana to relieve MS
symptoms. As it notes on its web site, "Based on the studies to date,
it is the opinion of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Medical
Advisory Board that there are currently insufficient data to recommend
marijuana or its derivatives as a treatment for MS. Long-term use of
marijuana may be associated with significant serious side effects. In
addition, other well-tested, FDA-approved drugs are available, such as
baclofen and tizanidine, to reduce spasticity in MS."

The Society said it was moved by inconclusive earlier studies on the
effect of marijuana on MS spasticity to fund a one using a new
measure. The study is not a new one; the group is taking over funding
for ongoing research at the University of California Center for
Medicinal Cannabis Research, which lost funding when the investigation
was only partially completed.

The study, by Dr. Mark Agius and fellow researchers at the University
of California-Davis School of Medicine, is scheduled for completion in
March 2008.

Presbyterians have faith in medical marijuana

2006-06-24T02:35:00.000-04:00

Presbyterians Call for Medical Marijuana
By Peter Sachs
Religion News Service
June 23 - The Presbyterian Church (USA) on Wednesday (June 21) became
the seventh major religious organization in the nation to support the
use of medical marijuana.

The consensus vote of the church's General Assembly in Birmingham,
Ala., comes as the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take
up the issue next week.

In explaining its reasoning for the policy shift, a church committee
wrote that marijuana may alleviate the pain that some patients who are
confined to "ineffective" prescription drugs are forced to endure.

"Medical marijuana is an issue of mercy," said the Rev. Lynn Bledsoe,
a Presbyterian minister in Alabama. "It is unconscionable that
seriously ill patients can be arrested for making an earnest attempt
at healing by using medical marijuana with their doctors' approval."

Eleven states have passed laws allowing medical uses of marijuana
following a doctor's prescription, but federal law enforcement
officials can arrest people in those states.

A proposal by Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher,
R-Calif., that will be considered next week would prohibit the federal
government from using any of its budget money to pursue medical
marijuana users who comply with their state laws and doctors' orders.

Similar amendments, including another by Rohrabacher and Hinchey, were
defeated twice in the last two years, and a separate bill died in a
House committee in 2005.

But Hinchey's chief of staff, Wendy Darwell, is optimistic that the
amendment will fare better this year.

"There has been at least one other state that has expanded its own
medical marijuana rules," Darwell said. With the growing number of
states with provisions for medical marijuana, "that should only draw
the support of more members of Congress who represent those states."

In 1982, the Episcopal Church became the first to endorse the use of
medical marijuana, according to the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative,
a Washington-based advocacy group. In more recent years, the United
Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Union for Reform
Judaism, the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the Unitarian
Universalist Association have announced similar support.

Michigan Marijuana users can be charged for Imparied driving, even if "sober"!!!

2006-06-23T17:57:00.000-04:00

Mich. Supreme Court rules blood test showing marijuana smoked weeks ago can be used in court.

John Wisely / The Detroit News

Motorists can be prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs if they test positive for any trace of marijuana, even weeks after they smoked it, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.

Pot smokers beware! That joint you smoked four weeks ago could come back to haunt you under a ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court.

In a 4-3 vote, the court ruled that motorists can be prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs if they test positive for any trace of marijuana, including a metabolized remnant that experts say can stay in a person's system for weeks after the smoke.

"They are automatically guilty even though they are no longer impaired by it," said Tim Beck, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which wants the drug legalized, taxed and regulated for adult use as alcohol is. "It's not based on common sense or justice."

Officers still need probable cause to believe a crime was being committed before they can request a blood test, but motorists who refuse could be found guilty of a civil infraction and lose their license. Officers can compel a blood sample if a judge approves a search warrant for it.

The ruling stemmed from two cases. In the first case, a woman admitting smoking marijuana four hours before she crossed into oncoming traffic on a snowy road, striking another vehicle. That car's front-seat passenger was killed and three children were injured. In the second case, a man stopped for erratic driving admitted smoking marijuana 30 minutes before.

In both cases, blood tests found 11 carboxy-THC, a byproduct created when the human body metabolizes marijuana. The ruling turned on the court's interpretation of the law that prohibits driving under the influence of drugs.

The four justices in the majority -- Maura Corrigan, Stephen Markman, Clifford Taylor and Robert Young -- concluded that 11 carboxy-THC is a drug under the law even though experts testified that it has "no pharmacological effect on the body and its level in the blood correlates poorly, if at all, to an individual's level of THC-related impairment."

The experts also testified that the chemical can only come from ingesting THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The majority based its conclusion on the Legislature's definition of marijuana, which includes cannabis and "derivatives" of it.

Justice Michael Cavanagh called the ruling unconstitutionally vague. He cited expert testimony that noted the substance can be detected in a person's system for up to four weeks after being ingested -- long after its effects have worn off.

"Plainly, there is no rational reason to charge a person who passively inhaled marijuana smoke at a rock concert a month ago," Cavanagh wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Elizabeth Weaver and Marilyn Kelly. "Now, if a person has ever actively or passively ingested marijuana and drives, he drives not knowing if he is breaking the law, because if any amount of 11 carboxy-THC can be detected -- no matter when it was previously ingested -- he is committing a crime.

State drug prevention experts said the ruling could cause people to think more seriously about the effects of drug use.

"I think the ruling could be one more arrow in our quiver in the message we send to young people," said Donald Allen, director of the state's office of drug control policy. "Most kids don't think about how long this is in their system."

Send your feed back and complaints to the writer of this article :

You can reach John Wisely at (313) 222-2035 or jwisely@detnews.com.

Rhode Islanders get Registration date in April for medical marijuana use.

2006-03-11T23:41:00.000-05:00

Registration date in April for medical marijuana use

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Rhode Islanders will soon be able to obtain
permission from the Health Department to grow limited amounts of
marijuana for medical use.

The Health Department intends to issue registration cards starting
April third for patients with certain illnesses and their primary
caregivers. Rhode Island last month became the eleventh state to allow
sick people to use marijuana as medicine.

But federal law still bans the drug, and so far no state has found a
way for patients to legally, conveniently and safely acquire it.
Patients who spoke out at a hearing yesterday mostly objected to the
75-dollar registration fee.

An advocate suggested charging lower fees for those on public
assistance, similar to a system in Oregon.

Freed Medical Marijuana Activist Voices New Praise for Jail Staff

2006-03-11T23:40:00.000-05:00

Freed Medical Marijuana Activist Voices New Praise for Jail Staff
Steve Kubby, who fled to Canada to avoid a four-month term, is
released after 40 days and apologizes for negative publicity.
By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
March 7, 2006

SACRAMENTO — Steve Kubby, a California medical marijuana pioneer who
was forced to return from Canada earlier this year and was thrown into
jail, earned his freedom Monday after serving a third of the
four-month sentence his doctor predicted might kill him.

Placer County jail officials said Kubby's release after 40 days came
because of his good behavior in custody and their need to reduce
crowding under a federal court order.

Kubby has spent the last six years vociferously fighting Placer County
authorities over his conviction for possession of a peyote button and
a psychedelic mushroom. But his early release underscored a sudden
shift in his once bitter attitude toward law enforcement authorities.

In jail, Kubby lost 25 pounds, yet said he gained respect for his
jailers and the medical staff who tended to the rare — and typically
terminal — form of adrenal cancer he has been treating with marijuana
for three decades.

"I realized the taunting and skepticism about my condition that I
experienced when I was first jailed here in 1999 was not present with
any of the jail staff this time," said Kubby, a onetime Libertarian
gubernatorial candidate and early backer of California's watershed
1996 medical marijuana initiative. "I realized that these guys were
getting heat over me, and they didn't deserve it."

The first days of his incarceration were marked by loud criticism of
Placer County officials by medical marijuana activists who worried
that Kubby might die in jail without access to marijuana. His blood
pressure, normally 120 over 80, jumped to 170 over 120 and blood
appeared in his urine.

But soon after he arrived in the Placer County jail, Kubby started
using Marinol — a legal, synthetic form of THC, marijuana's
psychoactive ingredient — to thwart increases in his blood pressure
that doctors say could be lethal.

His condition stabilized, and Kubby wrote to his jailers and the
medical staff apologizing for negative publicity during the first days
of his incarceration. In the letter, Kubby said he had "developed a
profound respect for the professional and highly dedicated staff and
officers here."

The short note eventually found its way to Placer County Sheriff Ed
Bonner, who met with Kubby last week.

"He said it was an honor to meet me," Kubby said Monday after his
release. "I was floored. I got the feeling he was sincere, genuine,
and got it. He said he wanted to talk to prosecutors about burying the
hatchet."

Kubby's travails date back to the weeks after his failed run for
governor in November 1998. Spurred by a tip that Kubby had been
selling marijuana to finance his gubernatorial campaign, a drug
enforcement task force raided his home near the Squaw Valley ski area.

Kubby beat the marijuana sales charges after his attorneys argued that
his 265-plant basement garden was necessary to produce the crop he
needed to control the cancer. But the jury convicted Kubby on two
counts of possessing a psychedelic mushroom and a peyote button.

Before his sentencing in 2001, Kubby moved to Canada with his wife and
two young children. In Canada, Kubby won permission to grow a huge
medical marijuana garden but failed to win his bid to become a
political refugee. His appeals to stay were exhausted early this year.
Kubby flew back to California on Jan. 26 and was whisked off the jet
by police at San Francisco International Airport.

Although a free man Monday, Kubby still faces a March 14 hearing for
failing to appear at his original sentencing five years ago.

When his legal issues are finally resolved, Kubby said, he intends to
settle in South Lake Tahoe, where he hopes his two daughters can
continue to pursue their amateur skiing careers.

He also plans to continue using pot as his medicine.

"The sooner I get the whole plant the better," Kubby said. "You can't
argue with 30 years of medical success."

Medical Marijuana Mix-up

2006-03-11T23:37:00.000-05:00

Medical Marijuana Mix-up
Regina man has legal supply of illegal drug removed and then returned
Tessa Vanderhart Staff

Last Thursday, Tom Shapiro walked into the Regina Police department,
where he had recently been detained for possession of drugs. He walked
out with two large bags of dried marijuana.

Shapiro, who is infected with AIDS, has used marijuana for the last
five years to alleviate the nausea that is a side-effect of his
medication. His large, medically-sanctioned supply of marijuana was
returned to him legally on March 2.

Police seized his basement full of plants on January 31; his permit to
grow and possess marijuana had expired in October. Shapiro said that
he had applied to renew it before it expired, but it was late coming
in the mail and he lost status as a legal user. Tipped off by his
electricity bill, police entered his Regina home and seized 21 plants.

"Health Canada said I'm not on the list, so I must be illegal,"
Shapiro said. He added that he believed the police did undue damage to
his property in seizing the plants.

Shapiro said that the police treated him as they would any illegal
grow operation.

He was taken to jail, fingerprinted, charged with growing marijuana
contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and set with a
court date of March 7, but he was released when his renewed permit
arrived on February 2. The charges against him were dropped, but
Shapiro's drugs could not be returned to him until the confusion over
his permit could be solved.

Medical marijuana is subject to the Marijuana Medical Access
Regulations Act, brought into effect by Health Canada on July 30,
2001. The regulations explain: authorization to possess usable
marijuana, to grow it or have someone else grow it for you, and the
legal provisions for purchasing marijuana.

Two categories of people have access to medical marijuana. Those
suffering from multiple sclerosis, a spinal cord injury or disease,
severe pain or inability to eat as a result of cancer or HIV/AIDS,
arthritis or epilepsy fall into category 1, while others who
experience chronic pain can also apply for access to the drug, falling
into category 2.

In December 2000, Health Canada contracted Prairie Plant Systems to
grow marijuana in Flin Flon, MB.

Shapiro noted that overgrow.com, the website from which many medical
marijuana users purchased seeds, was seized by police in Quebec.

Christopher Williams, a spokesperson for Health Canada, said that
there are three ways to access medical marijuana: it can be purchased
from the government, patients can seek a licence to grow it
themselves, or they can use a third party grower.

He noted that the average approval time for a permit to possess
medical marijuana is about 15 working days, though Health Canada
advises patients to start the application process six weeks in advance
of their licence's expiration date.

Shapiro said that he was concerned about the quality of the marijuana
returned to him by the police — it may not be "smokable," which would
mean he would have to start growing it again or purchase the Health
Canada product, which he said is too expensive. He said that many
medical marijuana users spend more than half of their disability
compensation on the treatment.

Currently, there are 1,186 users of medical marijuana in Canada, and
Health Canada has authorized 859 licences to cultivate the plant for
medical purposes.

A pilot project aims to distribute marijuana in pharmacies across
Canada — in multiple provinces and both rural and urban areas — but is
still in the planning stages.

Williams noted that Health Canada's "compassionate" approach to
medical marijuana is unique internationally.

"It's important to remember that it's not an approved drug, and
nowhere in the world has it gone through the clinical trials, and
nowhere in the world is it a prescribed drug," Williams said.

Even so, Shapiro said that Health Canada, acting in the best interests
of patients, should make medical marijuana more readily available. He
has suggested improvements to the list system, including providing
temporary licences and not removing patients from the "approved" list
immediately after permits expire.

"If it works for a person . . . they shouldn't bar access to it."

He added that he thinks Canadians support better availability for
medical marijuana.

"I don't know why they would give someone something and then take it
away," said Shapiro. "They're as bad as any dealer on the street."

Pre 1937 Cannabis Therapeutic Uses

2006-02-10T15:52:00.000-05:00

Pre 1937 Cannabis Therapeutic Uses
1. Analgesic-Hypnotic
2. Appetite stimulant
3. Anti-epileptic-antispasmodic
4. Prophylactic and treatment of the neuralgias, including migraine
and tic doloreux
5. Antitussive
6. Antidepressant-tranquilizer
7. Anti-asthmatic
8. Oxytocic
9. Topical anesthetic
10. Withdrawal agent and substitute for opiate, chloral, and alcohol dependence
11. Childbirth analgesic

source: http://www.mikuriya.com/cw_meduses.html

Pot docs help patients throughout California

2006-02-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

Pot docs help patients throughout California

After nearly four decades in medicine, Dr. David Bearman seems the
incarnation of a trusted old-school physician. His resume is long, his
record unblemished. It's his choice of treatment that makes him
conspicuous.

For most patients, Bearman recommends the same remedy: marijuana.
There is the young lady with epileptic seizures, the middle-age man
with multiple sclerosis, the amputee bedeviled by phantom limb pain.

Bearman's practice, based on a controversial curative not found on
pharmacy shelves, has proved lonely and professionally perilous.

Although the courts have upheld a doctor's right to recommend cannabis
for the seriously ill, few dare do so. Among the exceptions is a
tight-knit cadre of about 15 California doctors. Dubbed "pot docs,"
even by friends, they blithely claim credit for nearly half the
estimated 100,000 marijuana recommendations issued in the eight years
since California approved medical use of the drug.

There is Bearman in Santa Barbara and Dr. Frank Lucido, a family
doctor in Berkeley. Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a peripatetic medical marijuana
pioneer in the San Francisco Bay Area, has written approvals for 8,000
patients. A presidential drug czar once lambasted his brand of
medicine as a "Cheech and Chong show."

The criticism has been accompanied by intense scrutiny. At least 11 of
the cannabis doctors have weathered investigations by the Medical
Board of California. Half the cases closed without formal accusations.
But a few drew blood.

Medical Board officials say the problem is not the marijuana, but the
way the doctors practice medicine. Are patients thoroughly examined?
Do the doctors discuss other options?

Joan Jerzak, the Medical Board's chief investigator, said some doctors
eager to legalize recreational use "don't mind flouting the law."

To the pot docs, the attacks are about old grudges that will not die.
They say they've been singled out by a law-enforcement establishment
displeased by passage of California Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot
measure that legalized marijuana for the seriously ill in the state.

"Their attitude is, 'This isn't medicine, but rather a way to abet
drug abusers,' " said Dr. Philip Denney, who practices as if every
patient were a federal narcotics agent. "They have scared the hell out
of California doctors, and it's been left to us so-called mavericks."

The cannabis doctors say they practice serious medicine, focusing on
the sick and weeding out habitual pot smokers looking for protection
from arrest. Marijuana remains a remarkably safe substance, the pot
docs say, with tremendous therapeutic potential for AIDS wasting,
chemotherapy nausea and other grave conditions.

Aside from the pot docs, oncologists and HIV doctors write the bulk of
the cannabis recommendations.

Bearman, a 63-year-old family practitioner, figures it may be years
before marijuana is accepted by the medical establishment -- and by
the criminal-justice system.

"There's no doubt," he said, "this is part of a larger cultural war at play."

Jessica Griffith, a 27-year-old divorced mother of one, waddles into
Bearman's office, a metal cane in hand.

She carries a 3-inch stack of medical records detailing her four-year
fight against pain. She ruptured two discs in her back trying to lift
a box in, of all places, a health-food store. Griffith tells the
doctor she will soon have surgery to fuse her spine.

Meeting such a patient, someone bearing up under a painful or
debilitating condition that could be helped by marijuana, Bearman has
a standard response.

"You," he tells them, "are exactly the kind of patient the voters were
thinking of when they approved Proposition 215."

Like other cannabis doctors, Bearman does not dispense marijuana. How
patients obtain pot is up to them, but he sometimes points them to Web
sites listing cooperatives that distribute the drug.

Mikuriya churns out medical marijuana recommendations like a factory,
more than a dozen on a busy day. And he willingly acknowledges, unlike
most of his peers in cannabis consulting, that he does indeed smoke
pot, mostly in the morning with his coffee.

He looks a good decade younger than his 71 years and dresses nattily.
The only giveaway of his specialty: an embroidered logo on his white
lab coat showing the snake and staff of Aesculapius, the Greek god of
medicine, atop a marijuana leaf. Mikuriya, a psychiatrist, has studied
the drug's therapeutic potential since the 1960s, when he directed
marijuana research at the National Institute of Mental Health. He has
written books on its medical use. Mikuriya's list of more than 100
ills eased by cannabis includes insomnia, premenstrual cramps and
stuttering.

Marijuana is so effective and benign, Mikuriya said, that the bar for
patient approvals should be far lower than for prescription drugs.
Likewise, the role of cannabis consultants is not to perform
exhaustive diagnostic tests, he said, but to determine whether a
patient's condition is chronic and could be helped by pot.

Ultimately, the struggle over the pot docs comes down to one
fundamental question: Are they good gatekeepers for an inarguably
controversial medication?

If they don't dig deep to diagnose a patient's ills, "there isn't good
medicine going on," the Medical Board's Jerzak said. "It's just sales
of a particular prescription. It's Dr. Feelgood."

After wrangling with the CMA, the Medical Board in May spelled out a
softened approach. If doctors follow "accepted medical standards, they
can avoid being investigated."

If the board has an agitator, it is Lucido. The state investigated him
a few years ago, but dropped the case. Ever since, Lucido has
religiously attended board meetings, urging regulators to lay off pot
practitioners. "If patients aren't being harmed," Lucido said, "what
is the problem?"

Sources: Medical Board of California, Society of Cannabis Clinicians,
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Los Angeles Times staff reports.

Canadian Medical pot advocates angry

2006-02-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

Provided by: Canadian Press
Written by: DENNIS BUECKERT
Feb. 2, 2006

Source: http://chealth.canoe.ca

OTTAWA (CP) - Medical marijuana advocates are angry over the
treatment of a Regina AIDS patient who was arrested after his pot
licence expired.

Tom Shapiro was handcuffed, along with his wife and son, for four
hours while police tried to determine his status in Health Canada's
medical marijuana program, said an official with the Canadian AIDS
Society.

"I'm very, very angry and upset at what happened," said Lynne
Belle-Isle of the society, who has been in frequent contact with
Shapiro since his house was raided Tuesday.

"There seems to be a broken link in the communications at Health Canada.

"We're talking about a very sick man who can barely walk. He's not
exactly a threat to police or the community and he's been trying so
hard to abide by the law."

Tom Shapiro was being held at the Regina police station Thursday while
officials tried to decide whether to charge him, his wife Roberta said
in an interview.

She said her husband's licence was delayed because Health Canada
lost his photographs.

"It was absolutely traumatic," she said, describing the raid carried
out by eight police officers, four wearing balaclavas.

After Health Canada confirmed that his licence had expired, the
police removed 16 plants from his basement, she said.

Her husband is unwell and has been throwing up more often since his
pot supply was confiscated, she said.

Tom Shapiro has been using medical marijuana since 2001, she said.
Health Canada faxed his new licence Thursday.

Health Canada spokesman Chris Williams said he could not comment on
individual cases, although he was aware of the Shapiro case.

He said it normally takes six weeks to get a licence but people are
encouraged to file the application in plenty of time.

"As soon as a licence has expired, it's no longer valid," he said.
"Ultimately, the issue rests with the police."

Elizabeth Popowich, spokeswoman for the Regina police, confirmed the
raid and said it would not be unusual for police to wear balaclavas or
use handcuffs.

"Executing a drug search is considered a high-risk warrant," she
said. "I don't think it would be outside of normal procedure."

She said investigators were interviewing Shapiro and had not decided
whether to charge him.

Alison Myrden, a Burlington, Ont., woman who uses marijuana to treat
pain associated with multiple sclerosis, said many patients have
trouble with the Health Canada process.

"They put us through so many hoops it's a circus."

Italy Passes Worst Marijuana Laws in the World

2006-02-10T15:29:00.000-05:00

Source: http://cannabisculture.com/articles/4646.html
BBC News (08 Feb, 2006)

Suspensions and jails as punishment for possession, trafficking

he Italian government has approved a law that increases sanctions against people who smoke marijuana, putting the drug on a par with cocaine and heroin.

Italy approves new marijuana law

By Christian Fraser

Under the new legislation, people found in possession of cannabis could risk having their passport and their driving licence suspended.

The government has forced through this new legislation with a confidence vote.

The move has been greeted mostly with dismay by opposition MPs and drug treatment professionals.

Under the new rules, dealing and trafficking in drugs - whether heroin, cocaine or cannabis - will be punished with jail sentences of between six and 20 years and a fine of up to 260,000 euros (£180,000).

People who ignore repeated warnings to stop using cannabis will face a driving ban and be forced to stay at home at night.

According to recent statistics, a third of teenagers in Italy have smoked marijuana at least once, and 10% of adults are said to smoke it on a regular basis.

On Wednesday more than 200 protesters and at least one opposition MP smoked cannabis joints in protest outside parliament.

Opposition leaders said it would be one of the first laws they abolish if they win power in April.

Medicinal marijuana has long history and much value

2006-02-10T15:26:00.000-05:00

Dr. David Bearman: Medicinal marijuana has long history and much value

A letter to the editor

Dear Editor: As the son of a pharmacist from Rice Lake, a 1963 graduate of the University of Wisconsin who started his medical career in the Medical School in Madison, and someone with almost 40 years' experience in the field of drug abuse treatment and prevention and the last five years evaluating patients for medicinal cannabis, I want to compliment Rep. Gregg Underheim and the Wisconsin Assembly Health Committee for their recognition of the contemporary medicinal value of cannabis.

The committee is approaching this seriously and getting valuable input. It recognizes the 5,000 years of experience of medicinal use of cannabis. It is aware that just over the border in Canada, tincture of cannabis (Sativex) is being marketed by Bayer AG and in England the Home Office has given physicians the OK to prescribe tincture of cannabis.

I have taught courses on drugs at California universities and am very familiar with the history of medicinal cannabis use in the United States from 1839 to the present, and aware of the American Medical Association's testimony at the 1937 marijuana tax hearings that "the AMA knows of no danger in the use of cannabis and takes histories from countless patients with severe medical illness who benefited from their medicinal use of cannabis."

Consequently, I am baffled by the opposition of the Wisconsin Medical Society. This does not represent the compassion shown by the doctors in Rice Lake and Rochester who provided my father's care, nor does it reflect the quality of basic science I was taught by the UW School of Medicine in Madison.

I have seen patients who come in in wheelchairs, with canes, stooped in pain, who tell of the relief they receive from cannabis. These are people from all walks of life rich and poor, mostly over 40. Several have broken down in tears after receiving their approval making it legal to grow and possess cannabis. They say they are not lawbreakers or criminals and now can use this to medicate without fear of breaking the law.

We have far too many problems in the country to waste government resources arresting the ill and dying for using a medicine that provides relief and is legal in Canada, less than 100 miles from the Wisconsin border.

Dr. David Bearman
Goleta, Calif.

Published: January 9, 2006
Source: http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/index.php?ntid=68054&ntpid=0

Medicinal marijuana spray: Sativex being tested in many countries.

2006-02-10T15:22:00.000-05:00

Medicinal marijuana spray may help more than MS: doctors

Last Updated Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:38:30 EST

Source: CBC News

Since the first cannabis-based drug was approved for use in Canada last year, doctors say the medication is catching on among people with multiple sclerosis and could be used for other types of pain.

Sativex is a mouth spray that delivers medicinal marijuana. The metered spray is administered under the tongue or inside the cheek. It's concentrated to offer maximum pain relief with minimal marijuana buzz.

Health Canada was the first drug regulator to approve the medication for people with multiple sclerosis who can't get relief from traditional drugs.

The spray treats neuropathic pain in MS – nerve pain that can be triggered by touch, temperature or movement and is often difficult to treat.

"It feels like its sort of boring through your bones," said Janet Liston of Ottawa. "It's like it's inside your bone."

Liston has been taking Sativex for six months, which is how long it has been available in Canada.

So far, a few hundred people worldwide have used Sativex in clinical trials. They report side-effects that include some respiratory infections. A feeling of mild intoxication or dizziness was the most common.

"The side-effects are a lot less than smoking marijuana," said Dr. Jock Murray, an MS specialist in Ottawa. "A lot of people surprisingly don't want to get high, they want to get relief from their pain."

Sativex will be tested in the U.S. for people with cancer. In Britain, it's being tried in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy.

Dr. Mark Ware is prescribing medicinal marijuana for a variety of conditions at his pain clinic in Montreal. The results so far are mixed but encouraging, he said.

"I think the potential for drugs like Sativex and the family of cannabinoid products which are inevitably to follow is incredibly wide."

One of the drawbacks of Sativex is that it costs about $500 a month. Provincial drugs plans don't cover it but some private insurance plans do.

**********************************
Editor note from The Herbal Curing Mom

$500.00 a month! do you know how much medical marijuana and tintcure you could make for $500.00!!!

When the governments and medical system's majority finally wake up and realize that this is a beneficial herb for treatment of so many ailments, the drug companies will make it as expensive and as hard to get as they do for everything else. the rich get richer,and the sick stay sick.

It won't stop personal crops from being grown! In fact may increase them, as well as underground illegal sales. People on disability pensions and low incomes due to their inability to work for a living are the main category of people in need of medical marijuana. Not having coverage, or being able to afford private medical insurance coverage means deciding between affording to feed the family, or treating their ailment with the most effective medicine still only available illegally.

Wake up world and decriminalize Marijuana!! We can have beer making and wine making stores, but we can't grow a plant and utilize it's benefits.

IF we all could grow our own without fear of prosecution, even the underground , over priced pot growers would be out of business.

Make laws for driving while under the influence and for public "drunkenness", and be done with it!

************************************

"Marijuana gave us back our Mom"

2006-02-10T14:57:00.000-05:00

Former trauma nurse Alcima Talbott was hit so hard by a patient that her jaw was dislocated, her teeth broken, her neck seriously injured and her brain apparently damaged.

Now unable to work because of chronic pain and spasms, she was back in front of her old boss and San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday pleading with them to drop their plans to file a lawsuit challenging California's medical-marijuana law.

"My (other) choice is to take vicodin, go to bed, get up, take vicodin, go to bed," she told the Board of Supervisors.

About a dozen supporters of Proposition 215, California's medical-marijuana law approved in 1996, asked the board not to join San Diego County's suit against it.

After the meeting, they demonstrated in front of the County Government Center in downtown San Bernardino with signs and banners reading "Cannabis is medicine" and "Stop arresting medical marijuana patients."

Talbott worked at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, the county hospital in Colton that was run for several years by Mark Uffer, who is now the county administrative officer, the top appointed official in county government.

With heavy doses of vicodin, a popular and powerful narcotic painkiller, she was unable to function, she said. Marijuana is the only medication that works for

her.

"The medication is so effective. I use it for severe pain" and to reduce neck spasms, she said. "I really didn't want it to work."

Also testifying were two of her children, who credited marijuana with giving them their mother back.

"Since she started medical marijuana, she has been able to get out of bed and spend time with her family," her 12-year-old daughter, Alexandra Talbott, told the board.

Sara Henuber, a registered physician's assistant from Los Angeles who worked for a time in San Bernardino County, told the board cannabis is a "safe and benign" medicine that does have benefits.

She said she's known of patients who have been

harassed by deputies and had their doctor's letter and marijuana seized without any citations or charges.

"I believe San Bernardino County is going against the will of county voters," she said.

The county's lawsuit, scheduled to be filed today in San Diego, will argue that federal law pre-empts state law, said Deputy County Counsel Alan Green.

"It's creating a lot of confusion for sheriff's deputies," he said.

Sheriff Gary Penrod asked the board to file the suit to clarify what rules his deputies must enforce.

Lawsuits have been brought against the county to return marijuana confiscated from patients, he said.

"Under federal law, if we give it back, we're aiding and abetting marijuana use," Green said.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision last year said patients who use or cultivate marijuana are not immune to prosecution under federal law banning controlled substances.

Tuesday's demonstration and testimony was organized by Americans for Safe Access, a group that works on behalf of medical-marijuana patients.

Robert Brunelle, 24, told the board his wife uses marijuana and that he's known many people with cancer or HIV who have used it effectively.

"I can't help but think that what you're doing is wrong," he said.

After the meeting, his wife, Cindy Brunelle, 22, said she has chronic shoulder pain and depression.

"I've tried every depression medication in the world," she said, adding, "Marijuana is the only thing I still function on."

Source:http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3485308