Medical Marijuana

Opponents of Medical Marijuana Get Humiliated in New York Times

Category: Medical Marijuana | Posted on Tue, December, 20th 2011 by THCFinder

Last week's NYT editorial from fanatical anti-pot crusader David Evans generated some powerful responses from readers. Here's my favorite.

Mr. Evans, who is not a doctor and doesn’t specialize in any of the illnesses he cites, overextends his expertise when he advises me and other readers that medical marijuana does not help me and others like me.

I have Parkinson’s disease, and I have used marijuana on occasion to relieve the uncomfortable stiffness that I suffer from time to time. It works.

Mr. Evans insists that “numerous safe and effective F.D.A.-approved medications are available for these conditions.” He’s right; I’m on several of them. But these drugs have unpleasant and, in one case, potentially debilitating side effects when used on a long-term basis. How easy it is for an anti-marijuana crusader to dismiss its medical benefits; how wrong he is to advocate denying me something that eases my suffering.

For me, this point really cuts directly through all the distracting nonsense people like David Evans keep peddling. Leaving aside the disingenuous arguments that the science doesn't confirm marijuana's medical efficacy (it does), that prominent medical associations don't support it (they do), that the drug's availability will cause crime (it doesn't), or that compassionate laws send the wrong message to children (they don't), the medical marijuana debate really comes down to a decision about how to deal with sick people who choose this drug as part of their treatment.

Does anyone think that this Parkinson's patient, Ed Sikov, should be put in handcuffs, dragged down to the police station and charged with a crime because he finds marijuana helpful for mitigating his stiffness?

(Source) http://stopthedrugwar.org

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Chocolate Cannabis Grahams Make Your Day Bear-able

Category: Medical Marijuana | Posted on Tue, December, 20th 2011 by THCFinder

The bare truth is, some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you. If you're shooting for the former state of affairs, you can definitely do worse than to stop by Locals Social Club in Shoreline (with, of course, a medical marijuana authorization) to try their Chocolate Bear Grahams, which definitely bear up under scrutiny.

Bear in mind that these delicious treats -- a true Deadhead-friendly medication delivery system -- will, about an hour after ingestion, have a much more than barely noticeable effect not only upon your body pain (as in greatly lessening it) and appetite (as in, in a fairly short time, greatly increasing it), but also upon your mental state (as in noticeably altering it).

At the bare minimum expenditure of just $5, a little snack tray full of these bears -- which aren't so sweet and filling as many other medibles -- can make your pain and stress level bearable. Besides that, the little bite-sized bears are quite satisfying and fun to munch, and that's the bare truth.

That noticeably oily sheen the bears have is due to their medicated nature; cannabinoids including THC need a carrying agent with some fat to assist their assimilation in your digestive tract.

My recommendation is that you go ahead and finish the entire container of bears at once, unless you are particularly sensitive to the effects of cannabis, in which case you should perhaps try half a container and wait an hour to gauge the effects before consuming more.

You can get your Chocolate Graham Bears, along with a wide selection of other medicated edibles, at Locals Social Club, 938 N. 200th St, Suite B (upstairs) in Shoreline, telephone 629-4985. They're open from 10 a.m. until midnight Sunday through Thursday, and from 10 a.m. until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Written by: Steve Elliott

(Source) http://blogs.seattleweekly.com

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Help Stop Government from Issuing Exclusive License for Medical Cannabis

Category: Medical Marijuana | Posted on Mon, December, 19th 2011 by THCFinder

As you well know, our federal government maintains that marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use” as a schedule I substance per the Controlled Substance Act. Although sixteen states and the District of Columbia have now passed medical marijuana legislation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to enforce federal law and prosecute those who cultivate, distribute, or possess medical marijuana in compliance with state law.

While the DOJ intimidates and incarcerates medical marijuana patients based upon federal position that cannabis has no medical value, another cabinet-level department within the federal executive branch, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), holds the legal right to certain medical applications of cannabinoids; since October 2003, the United States of America, as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services, has been official assignee of U.S. Patent #6630507, entitled “Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. ” The Union of Medical Marijuana Patients (UMMP) has been well aware of this outrageous hypocrisy for several years now.

However, recent developments beg immediate attention and action from the broader community of medical marijuana advocates, as well as from all Americans who disagree with government-driven financial exploitation and monopolization of the very plant for which hundreds of thousands of American citizens are currently incarcerated.

The notion that one federal bureaucracy claims ownership rights to medical marijuana while its sister department prosecutes the patients who depend upon this government patented “invention” is outrageous enough. However, the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients discovered this week that the federal government now intends to grant an exclusive license to “practice the invention embodied in U.S. Patent 6,630,507” to a single New York based pharmaceutical corporation. In accordance with regulations that dictate how exclusive licenses may be granted on Government owned inventions, 37 CFR part 404.7 (a)(1) (i), the HHS published notice of its intentions in the November 17th edition of the Federal Register.

With a posting entitled “Prospective Grant of Exclusive License: Development of Cannabinoid(s) and Cannabidiol(s) Based Therapeutics to Treat Hepactic Encephalopathy in Humans,” the Department of Health and Human Services announced its plan to grant KannaLife Sciences, Inc. an exclusive license to “development and sale of cannabinoid(s) and cannabidiol(s) based therapeutics as antioxidants and neuroprotectants for use and delivery in humans. ”

(Source) http://unionmmp.org

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Local cannabis company announces success with cancer treatment

Category: Medical Marijuana | Posted on Thu, December, 15th 2011 by THCFinder

Denver-based Cannabis Science, Inc. announced this week that a cancer patient has had success using the company’s cannabis-based product in the treatment of skin cancer.

The biotech company, which develops pharmaceutical cannabis products, said this is the second patient to use the product successfully. “This patient has photo-documented dramatic results that we will release to the public once treatment is completed and has been properly vetted by clinical biopsy,” the company said in a press release. “Cannabis Science, in conjunction with several Colorado-licensed dispensaries and physicians, consults with a number of cancer patients who were seeking to inform themselves of the current peer-reviewed scientific literature, regarding modern and historical use of cannabis preparations for treating cancers so that they can make informed decisions regarding their self-directed cancer treatment.”

Thousands of Colo. marijuana applications on hold

Category: Medical Marijuana | Posted on Mon, December, 12th 2011 by THCFinder

DENVER | Some 4,200 medical marijuana applications in Colorado are on hold at the state health department while investigators look at possible fraud.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced Friday that marijuana registry applications from certain physicians are on hold after law enforcement officials witnessed potential patients being seen by someone other than a physician. Colorado law requires a "bona fide" doctor-patient relationship before a physician can recommend marijuana pot for certain ailments.

The health department did not say which doctors were under investigation, or how law enforcement came to find out about the possible fraud. The agency said only that certain physicians would be contacted to confirm they examined would-be patients and signed their recommendations.

State lawmakers tightened physician requirements for medical marijuana cards in 2010 after concerns about possible fraud. Colorado now requires that a physician perform a personal physical examination of a would-be patient, keep records of the visit and offer follow-up care.

The health department said Friday that the applicants on hold will receive an answer by the end of January.

The head of the department, Dr. Chris Urbina, acknowledged in a statement Friday that some patients have seen lengthy delays. But he said the review is necessary to make sure all the pending recommendations meet medical muster.

"The investigation was necessary to maintain the integrity of the Medical Marijuana Registry," Urbina's statement said.

Urbina went on, "The exposure of this fraud should lead marijuana registry applicants to take care to ensure that they are seen and examined by a physician if they intend to apply to the medical marijuana registry."

(Source) http://www.aurorasentinel.com

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