Marijuana is GOOD! Proof inclosed...

October 17, 2005

Calgary — Forget the stereotype about dopey potheads. It seems marijuana could be good for your brain.
While other studies have shown that periodic use of marijuana can cause memory loss and impair learning and a host of other health problems down the road, new research suggests the drug could have some benefits when administered regularly in a highly potent form.
Most "drugs of abuse" such as alcohol, heroin, cocaine and nicotine suppress growth of new brain cells. However, researchers found that cannabinoids promoted generation of new neurons in rats' hippocampuses.
Hippocampuses are the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory, and the study held true for either plant-derived or the synthetic version of cannabinoids.
"This is quite a surprise," said Xia Zhang, an associate professor with the Neuropsychiatry Research Unit at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
"Chronic use of marijuana may actually improve learning memory when the new neurons in the hippocampus can mature in two or three months," he added.
The research by Dr. Zhang and a team of international researchers is to be published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, but their findings are on-line now.
The scientists also noticed that cannabinoids curbed depression and anxiety, which Dr. Zhang says, suggests a correlation between neurogenesis and mood swings. (Or, it at least partly explains the feelings of relaxation and euphoria of a pot-induced high.)
Other scientists have suggested that depression is triggered when too few new brain cells are created in the hippocampus. One researcher of neuropharmacology said he was "puzzled" by the findings.
As enthusiastic as Dr. Zhang is about the potential health benefits, he warns against running out for a toke in a bid to beef up brain power or calm nerves.
The team injected laboratory rats with a synthetic substance called HU-210, which is similar, but 100 times as potent as THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the compound responsible for giving marijuana users a high.
They found that the rats treated regularly with a high dose of HU-210 -- twice a day for 10 days -- showed growth of neurons in the hippocampus. The researchers don't know if pot, which isn't as pure as the lab-produced version, would have the same effect.
"There's a big gap between rats and humans," Dr. Zhang points out.
But there is a lot of interest -- and controversy -- around the use of cannabinoids to improve human health.
Cannabinoids, such as marijuana and hashish, have been used to address pain, nausea, vomiting, seizures caused by epilepsy, ischemic stroke, cerebral trauma, tumours, multiple sclerosis and a host of other maladies.
There are herbal cannabinoids, which come from the cannabis plant, and the bodies of humans and animals produce endogenous cannabinoids. The substance can also be designed in the lab.
Cannabinoids can trigger the body's two cannabinoid receptors, which control the activity of various cells in the body.
One receptor, known as CB1, is found primarily in the brain. The other receptor, CB2, was thought to be found only in the immune system.
However, in a separate study to be published today in the journal Science, a group of international researchers have located the CB2 receptor in the brain stems of rats, mice and ferrets.
The brain stem is responsible for basic body function such as breathing and the gastrointestinal tract. If stimulated in a certain way, CB2 could be harnessed to eliminate the nausea and vomiting associated with post-operative analgesics or cancer and AIDS treatments, according to the researchers.
"Ultimately, new therapies could be developed as a result of these findings," said Keith Sharkey, a gastrointestinal neuroscientist at the University of Calgary, lead author of the study.
(Scientists are trying to find ways to block CB1 as a way to decrease food cravings and limit dependence on tobacco.)
When asked whether his findings explain why some swear by pot as a way to avoid the queasy feeling of a hangover, Dr. Sharkey paused and replied: "It does not explain the effects of smoked or inhaled or ingested substances."

Slashdot - The Globe and Mail

October 17, 2005

pot heads - 421

brain washing poloticians - 0

:)

seriously tho, smoke it out of a water bong and you have nothing to worry about. you'll notice that most of their commercials now focus on guilt, "tell em you forgot because you were high." yet the same people will turn around and say "drink responsibly" it's like the biggest load of hypocrisy ever <_>

but it's mainly because whatever medical b/s they make up just get disproven in the labs and they just can't come out and say "yeah, we've kinda been violating the cival rights of the entire country for the past 80 years now...with no evidence to support what we say...sorry" :D

there has NOT been 1 death proven to be caused by marijuana btw, go look it up for your self. yet thousands die from tobacco and alcohol and they're still legal (like i said, hypocrisy). basicly, it's completely safe...go get high! :D

October 30, 2005

...
there has NOT been 1 death proven to be caused by marijuana btw, go look it up for your self. yet thousands die from tobacco and alcohol and they're still legal (like i said, hypocrisy). basicly, it's completely safe...go get high! ;)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So naive it's so cute :P... or so frightening :wacko: !!

Stop smoking and you'll remeber the Prohibition that resulted in one of the darkest era in the very short US History :).

Safe? No proven death due to mj? Come on now, everybody knows that it slows down reflexes, so there must have been not one but TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DEATHS AND SERIOUS INJURIES DUE TO MJ!!

Wake up and... stop smoking :P before it's too late :P

:P ;)

October 30, 2005

more simple minded thinking ^

yeah, i'm sure it's easy to blame people's mistakes on MJ. like i said before, you'll prolly tell me to "stop smoking" then turn right around and tell your friends "drink responsibly" (which kills 10x as many people...legal). it's one of the biggest double standards in the history of mankind :P

marijuana is illegal for NO reason, it doesn't hurt anyone, THEY hurt each other. our government isn't a nanny, there's murderers, rapist and other REAL criminals that they could be spending their money, time and resources on catching. the prohibition is a good example, thanks for bringing it up, its not our goverment's desicion to decide what we eat, drink or smoke...it's ours. that was the real point of fighting prohibition...

and when i said deaths, i meant medical. marijuana doesn't cause cancer (it's actually been proven to supress malignant cancer), it doesn't destroy your lungs (if smoked properly), and it doesn't effect your brain (this topic subject). that's one things your over looking too, it doesn't 'slow your reflexes' it just makes you RELAXED. that's one of the propoganda topics they used to scare people away from marijuana :)

so after all that...i belive YOUR the one being naive and listening to all the crap you hear on TV (which are goverment sponsored btw...legal propoganda) :P

October 31, 2005

more simple minded thinking ^
yeah, i'm sure it's easy to blame people's mistakes on MJ. like i said before, you'll prolly tell me to "stop smoking" then turn right around and tell your friends "drink responsibly" (which kills 10x as many people...legal). it's one of the biggest double standards in the history of mankind :(

NOW YOU ADMIT MJ KILLS :P !!

marijuana is illegal for NO reason, it doesn't hurt anyone, THEY hurt each other.

I heard this kind of idiocy before: "Guns don't kill people, people do", well: No arms no kills, that's the REAL truth!!!

our government isn't a nanny, there's murderers, rapist and other REAL criminals that they could be spending their money, time and resources on catching. the prohibition is a good example, thanks for bringing it up, its not our goverment's desicion to decide what we eat, drink or smoke...it's ours. that was the real point of fighting prohibition...

BUT you argue smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol is legal and comment it's double standard. AND you probably EVEN don't realize you have DOUBLE TALK?! :(

and when i said deaths, i meant medical.

1) you didn't says it!! if you mean it, just say it!!

2) Who cares if it's medical or not!!

it doesn't 'slow your reflexes' it just makes you RELAXED.

Please explain the difference?! Being relaxed is just another way of saying THE SAME THING :(

There's a warning in the accompanying instructions of many drugs that driving or operating machinery can cause danger because it puts them in a relaxed state, SAME thing to say it alters their reflexes!! For the same reason and others, MJ IS DANGEROUS AS WELL!!

so after all that...i belive YOUR the one being naive and listening to all the crap you hear on TV (which are goverment sponsored btw...legal propoganda) :rolleyes:

That's not "TV crap" as you naively imply, this is scientific evidence!! Only you won't admit it because it would clearly show you're wrong :P.

October 31, 2005

I'm sick of this guy Jelp already here's so reading info for the missinformed:

Marijuana less cancerous than tobacco
By STEVE MITCHELL
Senior Medical Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Marijuana is less carcinogenic than tobacco smoke and may even have some anti-cancer properties, new research suggests.
Robert Melamede, chair of biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, reviewed studies of the illicit drug and published his findings in the Oct. 17 issue of Harm Reduction Journal.
Melamede's conclusion is certain to factor in the medical-marijuana debate, because the cancer-causing potential of the drug is one of the reasons often cited by those who oppose legalizing it for medicinal uses. He said he was motivated to investigate the issue because the Drug Enforcement Administration has made the argument that marijuana has four times the amount of tar contained in tobacco smoke, so it is potentially carcinogenic.
"I said, 'Let's see what's true because the government doesn't have a very good record on telling the truth about cannabis,'" Melamede, who classifies himself as a medical-marijuana advocate, told United Press International.
He said the studies indicated although marijuana smoke does contain carcinogens, it does not appear to induce cancer because of its unique pharmacological properties. Lung cancer, for example, is caused by a combination of carcinogens in conjunction with nicotine found in tobacco smoke.
"It's the nicotine that's really the cancer-promoting agent," he explained. "That's absent in marijuana smoke so you don't have that enhancing factor."
Studies to date have not linked marijuana smoking with the lung, colon, rectal and other cancers associated with tobacco smoking, Melamede said. In addition, other studies have indicated compounds found in cannabis might even kill certain cancers, including lung, breast, prostate and skin, as well as leukemia and lymphoma, and a type of brain cancer called glioma.
"That's not to say smoking marijuana is good," Melamede noted. It is a lung irritant and can cause respiratory problems, such as coughing. Also, it is full of carcinogens, so "even if it's not causing cancer, it's having negative effects," he said.
One alternative would be to use a vaporizer, rather than smoking, to deliver the marijuana.
"It should be noted that with the development of vaporizers, that use the respiratory route for the delivery of carcinogen-free cannabis vapors, the carcinogenic potential of smoked cannabis has been largely eliminated," Melamede wrote in the journal.
At least 10 states, including California and Colorado, have moved in the direction of allowing patients to use marijuana with a doctor's approval. The DEA has attempted to enforce a federal ban on the drug, however, and has arrested patients using it. This policy has discouraged doctors from recommending it for medical use.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last June that the federal prohibition supersedes state laws and the DEA can arrest patients who use the drug.
Karen Tandy, the DEA's administrator, wrote in an article titled, "Marijuana: The Myths Are Killing Us," which appeared in the March issue of Police Chief magazine, that the drug is hazardous to health and does not help patients.
"The scientific and medical communities have determined that smoked marijuana is a health danger, not a cure," Tandy wrote in the article, which also appears on the DEA Web site. "There is no medical evidence that smoking marijuana helps patients."
Tandy did not claim marijuana caused cancer, but she implied it by saying, "marijuana smoke ... contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke and produces high levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into malignant cells."
She also said marijuana can cause anxiety and depression, particularly in teens. However, a study released last week from Canadian researchers found a synthesized version of a marijuana compound actually promotes development of new brain cells in rats, and this in turn was accompanied by a reduction in anxiety and depression.
Other risks of marijuana cited by Tandy included impaired cognitive function, such as short-term problems with perception and memory.
Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told UPI that Tandy's assertions "run up against the known science," which indicate the toxicity of the drug is minimal.
"While not harmless, marijuana comes very close to being benign when compared to other prescription drugs," St. Pierre said.
He noted that Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a psychiatrist in El Cerrito, Calif., had conducted a study with medical-marijuana patients and did not find evidence they developed cognitive impairments, paranoia, anxiety or other mental problems after they began using the drug.
"The government has insisted there are no pros and there are only cons of marijuana, but this is totally lacking in science and totally lacking in any realistic credibility," Melamede said.
He predicted medical marijuana ultimately will be permitted in the United States.
"It's unavoidable that it will eventually triumph because it works," he said. "The government is lying and it will eventually win out in the end. It's just a matter of how many people have to suffer between now and then."
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Oral THC Ineffective In Treating Parkinson's Symptoms, Study Says
October 14, 2004 - Plymouth, United Kingdom
Plymouth, United Kingdom: Short-term use of oral THC does not mitigate symptoms of dyskinesia (impairment of voluntary movement) in patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), according to clinical trial data published in the journal Neurology.
Nineteen volunteers participated in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Patients were administered oral THC for a period of four weeks.
"Cannabis was well tolerated, [but] had no pro- or antiparkinsonian action," authors concluded, though they acknowledged that prior clinical and animal model data "support the view that modulation of cannabinoid function may exert an antidyskinetic effect."
One possible explanation for the study's outcome may be that patients enrolled in the trial did not use THC for a long enough duration to experience objective relief. According to survey data published last month in the journal Movement Disorders, PD patients who said they used cannabis for at least two months "reported significantly more often a mild or substantial alleviation of their PD symptoms in general" than those who had only used cannabis short-term.
"The late onset of cannabis action is noteworthy," authors of the survey wrote. "Because most patients reported that improvement occurred approximately two months after the first use of cannabis, it is very unlikely that it could be attributed to a placebo reaction."
Clinical studies of patients with other neurodegenerative disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis have also suggested that cannabis may provide more significant relief if used over longer periods of time. Most recently, a 52-week follow up trial of more than 500 multiple sclerosis patients found that participants gained significantly greater relief of disabling symptoms after one year of cannabinoid therapy than they did after 15 weeks. "In the short-term study, there was some evidence of cannabinoids alleviating symptoms of multiple sclerosis; in the longer term there is a suggestion of a more useful beneficial effect, which was not clear at the initial stage," the study's author noted.
Cannabis Improves Night Vision, Study Says
June 17, 2004 - Missoula, MT, USA
Missoula, MT: Administration of cannabis improves night vision in a dose-dependent manner, according to the findings of a case study to be published in the July issue of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
Researchers administered oral THC to one individual; analogous field studies were performed on three separate subjects before and after smoking cannabis. All four subjects were field-tested for night vision with a Scotopic Sensitivity Tester-1.
"In both test situations, improvements in night vision measures were noted after THC or cannabis," authors found.
"The current study supports the previous ethnobotanical observations that cannabis may improve night vision," they concluded. "This effect seems to be dose-dependent and cannabinoid-mediated. Further study may reveal whether this clinical application of cannabis could be added to treatment of pain, spasticity of multiple sclerosis, and nausea of chemotherapy as recognized indications for this ancient substance."
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500. Abstracts of the study are available at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03788741
Endocannabinoid System May Play Role In Maintaining Body's Homeostasis
October 20, 2005 - Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Colorado Springs, CO: The endocannabinoid system appears to play a major role in maintaining homeostasis (metabolic equilibrium) in humans and other living organisms, according to a review published in the September issue of the Harm Reduction Journal. Endocannabinoids are chemicals produced naturally in humans and animals that bind to the same receptors as do plant-derived cannabinoids such as THC.
"Endocannabinoids protect [living organisms] by fine-tuning and regulating dynamic biochemical steady states within the ranges required for healthy biological function, [and...] counteract[ing] biochemical imbalances that are characteristic of numerous damaged or diseased states, in particular those associated with aging," according to the review.
Biological functions regulated by endocannabinoids include appetite, body temperature, blood pressure, reproductive activity, learning capacity, and motor coordination.
A separate study published in the current issue of the Harm Reduction Journal speculates that cannabis smoke may be less carcinogenic than tobacco smoke because cannabinoids possess anti-cancer properties.
An epidemiological review published this past summer in the journal Alcohol concluded that the moderate use of cannabis is not associated with an increased risk of tobacco-related cancers, such as lung or colorectal cancer. A 1999 review by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine found "no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans, including cancers usually related to tobacco use."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of both studies are available on the Harm Reduction Journal website at: http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/home/
Cannabinoids Promote Neurogenesis In The Brain, Study Says
October 13, 2005 - Baltimore, MD, USA
Baltimore, MD: The administration of synthetic cannabinoids promotes the proliferation of newborn neurons (nerve cells) in the rat brain which likely accounts for the drug's anti-anxiety and mood elevating effects, according to preclinical trial data published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Investigators found that the administration of synthetic cannabinoids increased neurogenesis in the rat hippocampus and significantly reduced measures of anxiety and depression-like behavior. Neurogenesis (the birth of neuronal cells) is thought to enable organisms to adapt to their environment and influence their learning and memory throughout life.
"Cannabinoids appear to be the only illicit drug whose capacity to produce increased hippocampal newborn neurons is positively correlated with its anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects," authors concluded.
Alcohol consumption has also been associated with a decrease in neurogenesis in adults.
"These findings add to the growing body of scientific evidence indicating that cannabis is non-toxic and may hold significant neurological benefits, including the treatment of certain neurologic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease," NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano said.
Previous research has shown cannabinoids to be neuroprotective in animals against brain damage caused by alcohol and/or stroke.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic- and depressant-like effects" is available in the November issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Cannabis Poses Less On-Road Risk Than Alcohol, Study Says
October 13, 2005 - Arcueil, France
Arcueil, France: Drivers under the influence of cannabis are far less likely to be culpable in traffic fatalities than drunk drivers, according to epidemiological data to be published in the British Medical Journal.
Researchers at France's National Institute for Research on Transportation and Safety collected data from approximately 8,000 accidents. Authors found that alcohol intoxication and speeding were nearly ten times more likely to be an attributing factor in traffic fatalities than the use of cannabis. Overall, researchers estimated that cannabis' psychomotor impairment was similar to that exhibited by drivers with blood alcohol levels ranging from .02 to .05 ¬ well below the legal limit for drunk driving in the United States.
The French findings echo previous research comparing cannabis' psychomotor effects to those of alcohol. A 1993 study conducted by the Netherlands University of Maastrict found: "THC in single inhaled doses ... has significant, yet not dramatic, dose-related impairing effects on driving performance. ... THC's effects on road-tracking ... never exceeded alcohol's at BACs of .08% and were in no way unusual compared to many medicinal drugs."
A follow up study in 2004 affirmed, "The degrees of impairment observed in laboratory or actual driving tests after [the ingestion of] THC were comparable to the impairing effects of an alcohol dose producing a BAC [of approximately] .05. "
Last month, an analysis of on-road crashes by an international expert panel reported that: "Drivers with THC concentrations in whole blood of less than 5 ng/ml have a crash risk no higher than that of drug-free users." THC blood levels typically fall below 5 ng/ml in recreational cannabis users within 60 to 90 minutes after inhalation.
Under French law, drivers who test positive for even trace levels of THC in their blood face up to two years in prison.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Expert, at (202) 483-5500 or download a copy of NORML's report, "You Are Going Directly to Jail: DUID Legislation: What It Means, Who's Behind It, and Strategies to Prevent It."
Medical Cannabis Reduces Patients' Reliance On Other Medications, Study Says
October 6, 2005 - Sydney, Australia
Sydney, Australia: More than half of Australians who use cannabis medicinally use it to treat symptoms of chronic pain and depression, and more than 60 percent report that it has led to a decrease in their use of standard pharmaceuticals, according to survey data published in the October issue of the Harm Reduction Journal.
One hundred and twenty-eight Australians with a long-term history of medical cannabis use participated in the survey, performed by the University of South Wales' National Drug and Alcohol Research Center. "[R]egular medical cannabis use was frequently reported for multiple medical conditions including chronic pain (57 percent), depression (56 percent), arthritis (35 percent), persistent nausea (27 percent) and weight loss (26 percent)," authors found. "Cannabis was perceived to provide 'great relief' overall (86 percent), and substantial relief of specific symptoms such as pain, nausea and insomnia. It was also typically perceived as superior to other medications in terms of undesirable effects, and the extent of relief provided."
Researchers further noted: "Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of respondents claimed they decreased or discontinued their use of other medicines when they started using cannabis medicinally. ... For some people this was a substantial change, representing a shift away from chronic, high-dose medication use."
Participants in the survey ranged from 24 to 88 years old, with more than half reporting having used cannabis medically for at least six years. Ten percent of respondents reported that they used cannabis on the recommendation of their physician.
Overall, respondents considered cannabis inhalation to be the most "helpful" route of administration for symptom relief, though many expressed concerns regarding the potential health effects of smoking.
"Consistent with users elsewhere, ... Australian medical cannabis users ... claim moderate to substantial benefits from [the drug's] use in the management of their medical condition ... [and] show strong interest in clinical cannabis research, including the investigation of alternative delivery methods," authors concluded.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Survey of Australians using cannabis for medical purposes," is available online at:
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/
Cannabis Extracts Effective In Treatment Of Pain-Related MS Symptoms, Study Says
September 29, 2005 - London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom: Cannabis extracts reduce neuropathic pain and pain-related sleep disturbances in Multiple Sclerosis patients unresponsive to standard treatment, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of Neurology.
Sixty-six patients participated in the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Volunteers self-administered Sativex, a whole plant medicinal cannabis extract containing precise doses of the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol (CBD), as an adjunctive analgesic treatment to their existing medications throughout the trial.
"Our findings demonstrate that Sativex was effective in reducing both central pain in MS and pain-related sleep disturbance in a population with moderate to severe central pain inadequately relieved by existing medication," principle investigator Carolyn Young stated in a press release.
In previous clinical trials, Sativex has been demonstrated to alleviate numerous MS-associated symptoms compared to placebo, including pain, muscle spasms, and bladder incontinence.
The drug, now available in Canada, is pending regulatory approval in the United Kingdom.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Randomized, controlled trial of cannabis-based medicine in central pain in multiple sclerosis," appears in the September 27, 2005 issue of Neurology.
Cannabinoids May Offer Role In Treating Inflammatory Diseases, Study Says
September 22, 2005 - Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo, Japan: Cannabinoids may play a role in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and allergic asthma, according to a review published in the September issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.
A research team from Tokyo's National Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Immunology, wrote, "Current studies suggest that cannabinoids may prove to be useful alternatives ... in treating a variety of human inflammatory disorders" because they modulate both the function and secretion of cytokines (regulatory proteins that are released by immune cells and are responsible for an immune response).
In particular, authors note that cannabinoids may play a role in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and allergic asthma.
A 2003 study published in the journal Brain found that "cannabis may ... slow down the neurodegenerative processes that ultimately lead to chronic disability in multiple sclerosis and probably other [inflammatory] diseases."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids and the immune system: Potential for the treatment of inflammatory diseases?" is available in the September issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.
Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Find Relief From Cannabis, Study Says
September 22, 2005 - London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom: More than one third of patients suffering from sickle cell disease (SCD) report using cannabis to obtain therapeutic relief, and more than half would be willing to participate in clinical trials of the drug's efficacy, according to the results of an anonymous questionnaire study to be published in the October issue of the British Journal of Haematology.
Eighty-six hospitalized patients with SCD participated in the survey. Thirty-six percent of respondents reported having used cannabis in the past 12 months to relieve symptoms associated with the disease. Of these, 52 percent said that they had used cannabis to reduce pain, and 39 percent reported that it mitigated their anxiety and feelings of depression.
The majority of patients (58 percent) expressed their willingness to participate in clinical trials of cannabis as a medicine.
"We conclude that research in the use of cannabinoids for pain relief in SCD would be both important and acceptable to adult patients," authors concluded.
Sickle cell disease is a chronic condition that targets the body's red blood cells and is characterized by episodic pain in the joints, fever, leg ulcers, and jaundice, among other symptoms. In the United States, SCD affects about one in 650 African Americans and about half as many Latin Americans.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabis use in sickle cell disease: a questionnaire study," will appear in the October issue of the British Journal of Haematology.
Body's Natural "Cannabis" Provides Pain Relief
September 8, 2005 - Vancouver, ON, Canada
Vancouver, Canada: Naturally occurring chemicals in the body that mimic the effects of cannabis suppress stress-induced pain, according to pre-clinical data summarized in the August issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
Researchers at the University of Georgia Neuroscience and Behavior Program demonstrated that brains in rats release endocannabinoids as a response to painful stimuli. Researchers reported an increase in the concentration of endocannabinoids two minutes after the introduction of painful stimuli, and again 15 minutes later.
The animals experienced greater pain when administered a chemical that blocked the effect of endocannabinoids, scientists noted.
Previous research on endocannabinoids has found the chemicals to play a role in appetite, motor coordination, blood pressure regulation, and combating cancer.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the CMAJ synopsis, "Analgesia through endogenous cannabinoids," is available online at:
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/173/4/357
Body's Cannabinoids Halt Spread Of Colorectal Cancer, Study Says
August 18, 2005 - Bristol, United Kingdom
Bristol, United Kingdom: Administration of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide inhibits the growth of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) cells, according to clinical trial data published in the August issue of the journal Gut.
Researchers at the University of Bristol School of Medicine reported that the administration of anandamide inhibited the proliferation of CRC cell lines and selectively induced cell death. "These findings suggest [that] anandamide may be a useful chemopreventive/therapeutic agent for colorectal cancer ... and may also be useful in the eradication of tumor cells," authors concluded.
Previous trials have found cannabinoids to selectively induce tumor regression in rodents and in human cells, including the inhibition of lung carcinoma, glioma (brain tumors), lymphoma/leukemia, skin carcinoma, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "The endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, induces cell death in colorectal carcinoma cells," appears in the August issue of the journal Gut.
THC Selectively Inhibits Tumor Cell Growth Better Than Synthetic Alternative, Study Says
August 11, 2005 - San Francisco, CA, USA
San Francisco, CA: The administration of the cannabinoid THC selectively inhibits the proliferation of malignant cancer cells more effectively than does the use of a synthetic cannabinoid agent, according to clinical trial data published in the August issue of the Journal of Neurooncology.
Researchers at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute reported that the administration of THC on human glioblastoma multiforme (brain tumor) cell lines decreased the proliferation of malignant cells and induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) more rapidly than did the administration of the cannabis receptor agonist WIN-55,212-2. Researchers also noted that THC selectively targeted malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones in a more profound manner than did the synthetic agonist.
Previous trials have found that cannabinoids selectively induce tumor regression in rodents and in human cells, including the inhibition of lung carcinoma, glioma (brain tumors), lymphoma/leukemia, skin carcinoma, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids selectively inhibit proliferation and induce cell death of cultured human glioblastoma multiforme cells," appears in the August issue of the Journal of Neurooncology.
Decreased Depression In Cannabis Users, Study Says
July 7, 2005 - Los Angeles, CA, USA
Los Angeles, CA: Adults who use cannabis report suffering from less severe incidents and/or symptoms of depression than non-users, according to survey data published last month in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
Researchers at the University of Southern California analyzed survey results from 4,400 adults who had completed The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (a numerical, self-report scale designed to assess symptoms of depression in the general population). Authors compared "depression scores" among those who consumed cannabis daily, once a week or less, or never in their lives.
"Despite comparable ranges of scores on all depression subscales, those who used once per week or less had less depressed mood, more positive affect, and fewer somatic (physical) complaints than non-users," authors wrote. "Daily users [also] reported less depressed mood and more positive affect than non-users."
Authors further noted that a separate analysis of medical cannabis users versus recreational users "demonstrated that medical users reported more depressed mood and more somatic complaints than recreational users, suggesting that medical conditions clearly contribute to depression scores and should be considered in studies of marijuana and depression.
"These data suggest that adults apparently do not increase their risk for depression by using marijuana," researchers concluded.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Decreased depression in marijuana users," appears in the June issue of Addictive Behaviors.
Cannabinoid Neuroprotective Against Cerebral Infarction, Study Says
June 2, 2005 - Fukuoka, Japan
Fukuoka, Japan: Administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) is neuroprotective against cerebral infarction (localized cell death in the brain) in mice, according to clinical trial data published in the May issue of the journal Stroke.
"Treatment of cannabidiol ... significantly reduced the infarct volume ... in mice" in a dose dependent manner, a research team at Fukuoka University's Department of Neuropharmacology concluded. Authors speculated that CBD "exerts a neuroprotective effect through its anti-oxidant, anti-spasmodic, and anti-emetic activity, [as well as through] vasorelaxation."
Researchers at the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) have previously reported that cannabinoids are neuroprotective in animals against brain damage caused by alcohol and/or stroke.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabidiol prevents cerebral infarction," is available in the May issue of the journal Stroke.
Cannabinoids May Play Role In Treating Depression
May 26, 2005 - Newcastle, United Kingdom
Newcastle, United Kingdom: Cannabis and cannabinoids may have a role in the treatment of bipolar affective disorder, according to a review published in the May issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
A research team from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne wrote: "Bipolar affective disorder is often poorly controlled by prescribed drugs. Cannabis use is common in patients with this disorder and anecdotal reports suggest that some patients take it to alleviate symptoms of both mania and depression."
They continued: "The cannabinoids Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) may exert sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic and anticonvulsant effects. Pure synthetic cannabinoids, such as Dronabinol and Nabilone and specific plant extracts containing THC, CBD, or a mixture of the two in known concentrations, are available and can be delivered sublingually. Controlled trials of these cannabinoids as adjunctive medication in bipolar disorder are now indicated."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids in bipolar affective disorder: a review and discussion of their therapeutic potential," appears in the May issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Pot Compound Protects Against Alcohol-Induced Brain Damage
May 26, 2005 - Bethesda, MD, USA
Bethesda, MD: Administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) protects against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity in rats, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) reported that the co-administration of CBD with ethanol reduced alcohol-induced cell death in the hippocampus and etorhinal cortex of the brain in a dose-dependent manner by up to 60 percent. "This study provides the first demonstration of CBD as an in vivo neuroprotectant ... in preventing binge ethanol-induced brain injury," authors wrote.
Researchers hypothesized that CBD is neuroprotective because it possesses anti-oxidant properties. Anti-oxidants, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, are believed to help the body protect against the deleterious effects of free radicals (unstable atoms that can damage cells and may accelerate the progression of cancer and age-related diseases).
Previous research performed by NIMH researchers demonstrated that both THC and CBD protect rat brain cells against glutamate toxicity (a neurochemical that is released at toxic levels during a stroke or severe head trauma). An Italian research team has also demonstrated CBD to protect against the brain damage caused by ischemia (a reduction of blood flow to the brain that can cause cell death).
Researchers have also noted that CBD and THC can induce tumor regression, including brain cancer, in rodents and human cells.
US federal law prohibits the medical use of cannabinoids except for synthetic THC.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Comparison of cannabidiol, antioxidants and diuretics in reversing binge ethanol-induced neurotoxicity," appears in the May issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Heavy Cannabis Use Not Associated With Cognitive Deficits, Study Says
April 14, 2005 - Belmont, MA, USA
Belmont, MA: Heavy, long-term use of cannabis appears to have a negligible impact on cognition and memory, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the American Journal of Addictions.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School performed magnetic resonance imaging on the brains of 22 long-term cannabis users (reporting a mean of 20,100 lifetime episodes of smoking) and 26 controls (subjects with no history of cannabis use). Imaging displayed "no significant differences" between heavy cannabis smokers compared to controls.
"These findings are consistent with recent literature suggesting that cannabis use is not associated with structural changes within the brain as a whole or the hippocampus in particular," authors concluded.
For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Allen St. Pierre of NORML at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Lack of hippocampal volume change in long-term heavy cannabis users," appears in the January-February issue of the American Journal of Addictions. Synopses of previous clinical trials on cannabis use and cognitive function are available at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6434
Cannabis Extracts Efficacious For Patients With Urinary Dysfunction
March 24, 2005 - Tallahassee, FL, USA
Tallahassee, FL: Whole plant medicinal cannabis extracts relieve urinary dysfunction in patients suffering from advanced Multiple Sclerosis, according to clinical trial data published in the April issue of The Journal of Urology.
Fifteen patients participated in the trial. Volunteers were administered extracts containing precise doses of the cannabinoids THC and CBD via and oral spray for eight weeks, followed by the administration of THC only extracts. "Urinary urgency, the number and volume of incontinence episodes, frequency and nocturia (excessive urination at night) all decreased significantly following treatment," authors wrote.
"Cannabis-based medical extracts are a safe and effective treatment for urinary and other problems in patients with advanced MS," the study concluded.
Previous studies in the United Kingdom of patients suffering from advanced stages of MS have noted similar results.
Last December, Health Canada issued a "Qualifying Notice" for the approval of the cannabis extract spray Sativex for the treatment of neuropathic pain associated with Multiple Sclerosis. Regulatory approval for the drug in Britain also remains pending.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, entitled "An Open-Label Pilot Study of Cannabis-Based Extracts for Bladder Dysfunction in Advanced Multiple Sclerosis," appears in the April issue of The Journal of Urology.
Cannabinoids Stave Off Alzheimer's Decline, Study Says
February 24, 2005 - Madrid, Spain
Madrid, Spain: Cannabinoids prevent the neurodegenerative decline associated with Alzheimer's disease in animals and in human brain tissue, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Researchers at Madrid's Complutense University and the Cajal Institute reported that the intracerebroventricular administration of synthetic cannabinoids prevented cognitive impairment and decreased neurotoxicity in rats, and reduced the inflammation associated with Alzheimer's disease in human brain tissue. "Our results indicate that cannabinoid receptors are important in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease and that cannabinoids succeed in preventing the neurodegenerative process occurring in the disease," authors concluded.
Findings published last summer by Complutense researchers reported that cannabinoids inhibit malignant brain tumor growth in animals, and may provide a potential therapy for human glioma patients.
Recent reviews published by the Society for Neuroscience and in the journal Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America have noted that cannabinoids may be clinically useful in the treatment of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimers, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Parkinson's disease.
Previous human trials on synthetic THC (Marinol) and Alzheimer's found that administration of the drug reduced agitation and stimulated weight gain in patients suffering from the disease.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.
Moderate Use Of Cannabis "Safe," Study Says
January 27, 2005 - Oxford, United Kingdom
Oxford, United Kingdom: Moderate cannabis use, even long-term, is "relatively safe" when compared to the health effects of other recreational intoxicants, according to a scientific review published in the February issue of the journal Current Opinion in Pharmacology.
"A review of the literature suggests that the majority of cannabis users, who use the drug occasionally rather than on a daily basis, will not suffer any lasting physical or mental harm," writes the study's author, Dr. Leslie Iversen of the University of Oxford. "Overall, by comparison with other drugs used mainly for 'recreational' purposes, cannabis could be rated to be a relatively safe drug."
The author concludes that there is little evidence that long-term cannabis use causes permanent cognitive impairment or has an adverse effect on global intelligence. Iversen does acknowledge, however, that smoking marijuana long-term may cause "the possibility of damage to the airways," though he admits that "little progress has been made in quantifying such risks." The author also notes that various longitudinal studies have found an association between the long-term, heavy use of cannabis and specific adverse psychosocial features, including lower educational achievement, though he acknowledges that there exists no "clear cause and effect relationship to explain the psychosocial associations."
NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre praised the review, stating: "Marijuana is not a harmless substance, though its scientifically acknowledged harms are quite minimal compared to other legally regulated intoxicants, including alcohol and tobacco. By far the greatest danger to health posed by the responsible use of cannabis in the United States today stems from a criminal arrest or conviction."
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.
Cannabis Extracts Reduce Cancer Pain, Study Says
January 20, 2005 - Salisbury, United Kingdom
Salisbury, United Kingdom: Medicinal cannabis extracts significantly reduce pain in cancer patients compared to placebo, according to the results of clinical trial data announced this week by Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals.
One hundred and seventy-seven patients with advanced cancer participated in the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Patients in the trial suffered from chronic pain and were unresponsive to standard analgesic therapies. Volunteers were administered either Sativex (an oral spray containing precise doses of the cannabinoids THC and CBD), a THC-only extract, or placebo. All of the patients in the study remained on their existing analgesic medications during the trial.
"Sativex achieved a statistically significant improvement in comparison to placebo in pain," the company announced in a prepared statement. "A responder analysis showed that approximately 40 percent of patients on Sativex showed greater than 30 percent improvement in their pain."
Patients administered extracts containing primarily THC did not experience a significant alleviation in pain.
Commenting on the results of the study, GW Pharmaceuticals spokesperson Stephen Wright said: "Patients in this trial were suffering intense pain as a result of their cancer despite using currently available strong opioid treatments and therefore have a very high clinical need. The data from this important trial further demonstrates the broad potential of Sativex, not only in its initial Multiple Sclerosis and neuropathic pain markets, but also in cancer and potentially other types of chronic pain. These positive results suggest that Sativex may represent a valuable new treatment option for this group of patients."
In December, Health Canada issued a "Qualifying Notice" for the approval of Sativex for the treatment of neuropathic pain associated with Multiple Sclerosis. However, British regulatory approval for the drug was delayed after an advisory body of the British Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced late last year that it required further clinical evidence of Sativex's ability to alleviate MS-associated spasticity in a "clinically relevant" manner.
The company is also initiating plans to seek regulatory approval for the prescription use of Sativex in the United States, Reuters News Service reported.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500 or visit:
http://www.gwpharm.com

Read That and make some informed remarks. Thats all from one page I know of look things up in google. The Gov't doesnt want to legalize MJ becuase of the Pharm. Industry. They make trillions of dollars a year and would lose billions to the pain killing cancer reducing antiinflammitory miracle know has Marijuana.

October 31, 2005

NOW YOU ADMIT MJ KILLS :( !!

No, he didn't, he said alcohol kills.

I heard this kind of idiocy before: "Guns don't kill people, people do", well: No arms no kills, that's the REAL truth!!!

People are going to kill people if they want to guns or not, there are beating deaths in the news all the time, and plenty of other ways to kill someone, knives, bombs, drowning, poison, ect. ect.

BUT you argue smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol is legal and comment it's double standard. AND you probably EVEN don't realize you have DOUBLE TALK?! :(

WHAT?!

2) Who cares if it's medical or not!!

The courts, the government, and 10 states to start.

Please explain the difference?! Being relaxed is just another way of saying THE SAME THING :(

No, I play video games alot and weed does relax you but I seem to have better reaction time when stoned due to the fact that I'm not stressed out and I can concentrate on one thing at a time. Reaction Time is the time that it takes for your mind to process information. Relaxed is not being stressed out.

There's a warning in the accompanying instructions of many drugs that driving or operating machinery can cause danger because it puts them in a relaxed state, SAME thing to say it alters their reflexes!! For the same reason and others, MJ IS DANGEROUS AS WELL!!

We're not saying to go out and smoke a j and drive. We're saying that the effect is the same as other legal things and should be treated the same way.

That's not "TV crap" as you naively imply, this is scientific evidence!! Only you won't admit it because it would clearly show you're wrong :rolleyes:.

read all the scientific evidence I posted for you....I dare you to find a study that shows MJ kills (directly, sober people drive off cliffs too, [maybe you should try it!]), causes cancer, or does anything bad to you I couldn't drink a six pack of beer and have happen.

:P

October 31, 2005

I came home today after reading Jelp's replies to this and paid my internet bill with money I should not have spent just to prove him wrong. (Verizon turned back on my DSL immediately, I expected it to take days, go them!)

and Jelp...I reply to your post completely sober having been too broke for the past month to go out and get any weed. My IQ is 160-180 depending on the test (and I've been smoking weed and cigarettes since I was 15) and I have never been in any accidents. I have never hurt myself or anyone else when stoned and smoke it basicly because there is so much going through my mind on a regular basis that it helps to keep me concentrating on one thing.

have you ever even tried weed?

do you drink?

or smoke cigarettes?

Or do anything that the rating grubbing media has said is bad for you?

The next big headline: Breathing Kills: Study shows breathing to cause death in 80-100 years

October 31, 2005

The next big headline: Breathing Kills: Study shows breathing to cause death in 80-100 years

sober people drive off cliffs too, [maybe you should try it!]

XD!!

October 31, 2005

NOW YOU ADMIT MJ KILLS

no, i admitted that alcohal kills, and no i don't want it to be illegal. i'll even knock back a few on special occassions. like i said before, any deaths or accidents caused by alcohal or marijuana is the users fault...not the sunstance. my dad is a good example, he was smart enough not to drive drunk but ended up dying because he was a benge drinker and it killed his liver...and it was his irresponsibility not the alchohals...

I heard this kind of idiocy before: "Guns don't kill people, people do", well: No arms no kills, that's the REAL truth!!!

that saying is true, guns don't kill...people do. there's no way to argue that, sorry, the gun doesn't pull the trigger for you (if it does, you belong in a psych ward) :rolleyes:

if you wanna argue making guns illegal ya need to look back at history. if we didn't have the right to responsibly bare arms...america wouldn't be free today :(

1) you didn't says it!! if you mean it, just say it!!
2) Who cares if it's medical or not!!

i just finished saying how it's OUR responsibility to use it safely and you want me to talk about how people are stupid enough to drive stoned?! do you have an attention span of a gold fish or something?!

There's a warning in the accompanying instructions of many drugs that driving or operating machinery can cause danger because it puts them in a relaxed state, SAME thing to say it alters their reflexes!! For the same reason and others, MJ IS DANGEROUS AS WELL!!

that warns you that it causes DROWSINESS and not to operate machinary in case you fall ASLEEP. says nothing about reaction times...

don't get me wrong now, i'm not saying go out and drive stoned. i just think the whole reaction time thing is another b/s excuse to scare people. but it's better to be safe than sorry...like i said 12 times now RESPONSIBILITY

think about this tho, how does it affect reaction times if it doesn't harm your brain cells (which has nothing to do with being relaxed)?

That's not "TV crap" as you naively imply, this is scientific evidence!! Only you won't admit it because it would clearly show you're wrong :(

actually, the scientific evidence has been backing ME since the Myr. Laguardia's testing back in 1926, who's experiments were shutdown because he wasn't saying what the government wanted him too (ie. that b/s yer spewing now). unlike you, i've actually studied the history of marijuana...

btw, you know marijuana was originally outlawed to keep the mass of mexicans out of america (who smoked it as apart of their culture for 100s of years). so, basicly, it's a racist law...

pps - it was never put to vote either, it was forced my Nixon and the head of the DEA, so it's an un-constitutional law aswell...

October 31, 2005

one could say without the right to bear arms we all be in mexico smoking

look dont smoke and dont drink and you will live longer. but please keep buying the cirgs because i dont want to pay for those lib socialist programs for the welfare and their lazy butts.

look at it another way, the amount one spends on smokes, drinking and ilelgal durgs could pay for some nice toys in a years time.

October 31, 2005

look at it another way, the amount one spends on smokes, drinking and ilelgal durgs could pay for some nice toys in a years time.

why buy it when you can grow it for free? :(

here's ome pics of my hydroponic vegging closet, if you don't believe me. i flower the plants in my bros closet under a 400w HPS light :rolleyes:

October 31, 2005

nsane you rule! :(

October 31, 2005

WRONG
...
Your a jerk, SHUT UP!
Everyone but your dumb ass!
No I play video games alot and weed does relax you but I seem to have better reaction time when stoned due to the fact that I'm not stressed out about my crappy life you peice of crap!
...
Eat That!

SO you're THAT kind of guy!!

That kind of guy who fantasize you can yell at people and be obnoxious to people and that could make you right ;) ???

But you only manage to prove you're wrong ;) !!

Those who are right don't need nor want to yell at people.

Those who are right don't need nor want to be mean to other people.

You only show your true character: mean, violent, fake, obnoxious.

October 31, 2005

Did you even bother to read the 23 articles I posted proving your wrong?

And your right about one thing I dont need to be mean to show your wrong. I have edited that post and took your name out of the title, I apologize, but your still wrong. ;)

(you notice he was on and reading this post when I wrote this at 2pm but did not edit his post. I wonder who the

mean, violent, fake, obnoxious

one is?)

October 31, 2005

A few more articles for the stubborn, more tomorrow.

Cannabis chemical 'helps heart'
The cannabis chemical helps ward of heart disease, scientists say
A chemical in cannabis can help ward off strokes and heart disease, scientists believe.
Swiss researchers found THC, one of 60 cannabinoids in the drug, helped stop the narrowing of arteries to the brain and heart in a study of mice.
Deaths
Blocked arteries - a condition known as atherosclerosis - are estimated to be responsible for up to 50% stroke and heart disease deaths in developing countries each year.
In the study, published in the Nature journal, mice were fed a high cholesterol diet to make them develop atherosclerosis and then given THC, which causes the high during cannabis use.
The Swiss researchers found THC stopped inflammation of blood vessels, which is largely responsible for blocking arteries.
The chemical worked by suppressing the immune system's response to a protein which is responsible for inflammation.
Professor Jeremy Pearson, of the British Heart Foundation
Lead researcher Francois Mach said while drugs such as statins which lower blood pressure and cholesterol had proved extremely effective the findings were still of "great medical interest".
And he added: "The dose [used] is lower than the dose usually associated with psychotropic effects of THC."
THC is being tested by GW Pharmaceuticals, the firm granted a UK licence to create cannabis-based drugs, in a number of treatments for pain relief and multiple sclerosis under development.
Health
Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said more work needed to be done in the area.
"Although these results, which use an oral cannabinoid in a pill form, are interesting, we look forward to further research into the area.
And a spokeswoman for the National Heart Forum said: "This study presents interesting findings about the protective effects of active components found in marijuana and suggests scope for further investigation of these compounds."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4417261.stm
Reporting on marijuana medicine
by Pete Brady (22 Jun, 2001) The Institute of Medicine has released a book to follow-up on their 1999 report on Marijuana and medicine.
In 1997, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), General Barry McCaffrey, wanted to solve a big public relations problem.
Even t2hough McCaffrey, several former presidents, and a flock of anti-marijuana pundits lobbied against medical marijuana ballot initiatives in California and Arizona, voters legalized medical marijuana in 1996.
McCaffrey told voters they were stupid, that marijuana was not medicine, that the federal government would continue to prosecute marijuana crimes, and that he would take action against any doctor who discussed medical pot with patients.
The General, who resigned from his ONDCP post in January, 2001, began a massive, taxpayer-funded, and probably illegal effort to defeat medical marijuana legislation in other states. Despite his efforts, seven other states have legalized medical marijuana.
Studying studies
In 1997, McCaffrey hoped to derail med-pot momentum by commissioning a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
The IOM is an offshoot of an 1863 congressional charter establishing the National Academy of Sciences, which chartered the IOM as an independent scientific advisory entity in 1970.
According to IOM neuroscientist Janet Joy, ONDCP paid IOM $896,000 to create an unbiased scientific committee that would study medical marijuana and produce a comprehensive report on its dangers and medical uses.
Joy was study director for the report, titled Marijuana and Medicine – Assessing the Science Base, which was released in 1999.
Publicly, medical cannabis advocates praised the report, noting that it didn't endorse the claim that marijuana use leads to use of "harder" drugs, that it downplayed marijuana's "addiction" and harmful side-effects potential, and that it acknowledged marijuana's medical efficacy.
Privately, med-pot advocates criticized the report. They objected to the committee's bedrock reliance on Westernized medical and scientific standards. They argued that the report focused too narrowly on unproven harms. They said the committee erred by refusing to give greater weight to "anecdotal" evidence – reports from users who claimed that marijuana helped them medically. Some scientists said they'd offered pro-marijuana research to the IOM committee, but that the committee had deliberately failed to consider data favorable to marijuana.
ONDCP publicly criticized the report; McCaffrey dismissed it and contradicted it. He continued to assert that marijuana causes use of harder drugs, that marijuana was severely addictive, and that marijuana has no medical usefulness.
Joy defended the 1999 report, saying it reflected the most rigorous academic standards.
"We evaluated 2000 studies," she said. "We didn't miss any substantive peer-reviewed work. We're not part of the government – we're independent. ONDCP came to us with a politically charged study. We agreed to do the study, and then we told them to go away and let us do it. We told them nothing else until we went public. They can say, 'Hey, this isn't what we hoped for,' but we said, 'Well, that's what the committee found.' The people we selected for our committee were unbiased scientists who were not affiliated with anti or pro groups. The '99 report has stood the test of time."
Follow-up book
The 1999 report is now augmented by a new IOM publication. Titled Marijuana as Medicine – The Science Beyond the Controversy, the new book seeks to explain and expand the 1999 report.
Joy says the first IOM marijuana book was primarily for "policymakers and scientists."
"The follow-up book is written for the general public who have heard that marijuana can help you, to tell them what science says," Joy reported. "It also discusses marijuana's legal status. Most people believe that once a state medical cannabis law has been passed that it's then ok to get marijuana, that it's legal. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near that simple because state laws are in conflict with federal laws, and because state governments take time to put implementation policies into effect."
The new book was updated to also include news about medical marijuana clubs, and about med-pot clinical trials that are ongoing or planned in England and Canada, as well as a completed San Francisco HIV/pot study conducted by Dr Donald Abrams.
Addiction contradiction
Joy makes no apologies for the IOM's "Western medicine, scientific approach" to marijuana, but she freely acknowledges that marijuana research and debate are clouded by politics, inadequate or ambiguous research results, and the complexities of marijuana's botanical, chemical, pharmacological, and physiological actions in humans.
"The IOM is firmly in the camp of evidence-based medicine that measures how widely a substance affects people, does it harm people, can study results be replicated," she said. "The caveat is that we are all different. For some people the regular medications don't work, so maybe those people should be allowed to branch out and look at unproven medicines."
The most interesting and useful aspects of both IOM books deal with marijuana's medical utility, as well as its potential to harm users.
Joy says that people who "branch out" to medical marijuana should be aware that "marijuana is a powerful drug that affects the body and mind in a variety of ways; it is not a completely benign substance."
At the top of the list for marijuana's supposed negative effects are addiction, abuse, cognitive impairment, and respiratory damage, Joy says.
"Marijuana can be addictive, but the medical definition of addiction is a lot more mild than the general public realizes," she reports. "People envision addiction as those horrible sweating, writhing withdrawals from heroin, but addiction in our terminology has a far lower threshold than that. Marijuana does qualify as an addictive substance, but the report notes that we have a lot of addictive substances in our medical choices. We manage that, and marijuana's addictiveness can also be managed."
Marijuana addiction, abuse or dependence are diagnosed when users need bigger and bigger doses to get high, when their drug use interferes with health or important life activities and goals, when they try to quit using marijuana and find that it's hard to do so, and when users who quit experience a characteristic withdrawal syndrome that includes insomnia, irritability, nausea or cramps.
Joy notes that marijuana's harmful effects, withdrawal symptoms and addiction potential are milder than all other commonly abused drugs; she adds that the IOM rejects drug warrior assertions that all use of marijuana is abuse.
"You can't kill yourself with a single dose of marijuana, which you can do with alcohol, sleeping pills, or other substances," Joy said. "I've heard people say that the withdrawal effects of quitting caffeine are more severe than for quitting marijuana. Maybe five percent of the people who try marijuana will become dependent on it."
Who's most at risk for having problems with marijuana?
Joy's book says that men are nearly twice as likely as women to become dependent on "illicit" drugs, and that white Americans are twice as likely as black Americans to become drug dependent. People between the ages of 25 and 44 are at least three times as likely to abuse drugs as those aged 45 or older. Adolescents are more likely to abuse drugs than are adults; people with psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenics, are another group at high risk for drug abuse. People with heart problems also need to be careful – marijuana can cause heart rate increases.
Studies with twins indicate that people "inherit the tendency to enjoy marijuana's effects… [and] may be genetically predisposed to becoming regular users," the book says.
Who's impaired?
Joy's book alleges that marijuana causes short-term memory loss, impairs coordination and attention, and can create severe, unpleasant reactions, especially in novice users.
The book further states that medical marijuana's usefulness is unproven for many conditions, and that smoked marijuana is an unacceptable delivery system that can cause respiratory harm.
Joy acknowledged that evidence used to back up these assertions is often contradictory and incomplete, and that other statured scientists differ with the IOM in their interpretations of studies and about marijuana's potential for harm.
For example, a new book by Oxford University pharmacologist Leslie Iversen, The Science of Marijuana, examines marijuana's harmfulness and medical efficacy, but sounds a more positive tone than the IOM reports, which imply that many medical marijuana patients wrongly believe that pot is the best medicine available to them.
"When we look at marijuana's effect on glaucoma, for example, we find a number of problems," Joy says. "It's true that THC can lower intraocular pressure (IOP), and that standard treatments for glaucoma lower IOP, but nobody has actually shown that high IOP causes glaucoma – it's a symptom. Medical marijuana glaucoma patients like [federal med-pot recipient] Elvy Musikka are correct in stating that early glaucoma drugs didn't work well and had nasty side-effects, but there are other drugs available now that don't have those effects and that work for longer time periods. Using marijuana to lower IOP, you have to dose yourself about every five hours. If the goal is to fight glaucoma, marijuana simply isn't the best drug available."
Joy acknowledged that medical marijuana patients criticized the IOM for allegedly "devaluing" the validity of their marijuana experiences.
"It's a difficult situation, and I have to emphasize that we think there's a big difference between medical use and recreational use," Joy explained. "The problem is that marijuana doesn't work the same way for everybody. It has different effects in different people, and a lot of people find the side effects of marijuana intolerable. Some patients get very nervous and paranoid when they smoke marijuana. Others find that the euphoria that marijuana produces makes them uncomfortable. Some patients report unpleasant emotional effects. That's why we can't state that marijuana helps glaucoma based just on Elvy's testimony. At best, these anecdotal reports show you a vision of what might be possible. It gives you an insight into what kinds of medicines might be developed from marijuana's constituents."
Joy says that critics should note that the IOM research committee took public testimony from citizens.
"We included patients' reports in the IOM study," Joy explained, "even though this created harsh criticism, mainly from people who oppose marijuana, that such inclusion was unscientific. One reason that we did this was to put a human face on the report. We wanted to show that medical marijuana users aren't a bunch of crazy drug addicts or recreational smokers, or old leftover hippies who are absolute proponents of all uses of marijuana. Many of these patients are real people with ordinary lives who have terribly frustrating medical problems. They believe marijuana helps them, and in some cases, science backs them up."
Cannabis confusion
It's debatable whether cannabis causes mental confusion for users, but the cannabis debate certainly causes confusion.
Janet Joy is a joy to talk to, one of few statured "straight" scientists willing to speak candidly for publication in a "pro-marijuana" magazine. Joy is not rigidly opposed to cannabis users or uses; she says she is excited about future cannabis research.
On the other hand, the IOM pot studies have limitations that derive from the paradigms governing the organization's charter and the field of health care science.
Perhaps the most influential of these paradigms is "scientism," the unwavering belief that scientific methods are reliable, unbiased, and ultimately revelatory. In the med-pot controversy, the scientism paradigm dictates that scientific research alone should decide whether a medicine is sufficiently safe and effective for patient use.
American-style drug approval regimes assert that science-based pharmaceutical investigations subject medicines to intense scrutiny and approval regimens, thus ensuring that people can safely use "approved" drugs as directed with no fear of harmful side-effects. Yet, many drugs approved by America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have later been found to be harmful and even fatal, even when used as directed.
Marijuana is safer than most drugs it competes with, but Joy's book repeatedly expressed worry that marijuana might have hidden harmful effects that are not yet apparent.
Such fears dwell within the ideology of government-doctor-pharmaceutical company drug control hierarchies, as does the belief that external authorities – bureaucrats, politicians, scientists, doctors, regulators – get to decide which medicines people are allowed to use.
Plant drugs remain criminalized; money-motivated people are granted permission to create synthetics to replace natural medicines that have wrongly been deemed dangerous.
Both IOM books admit that cannabis produces medical benefits and that research might reveal even more medical uses. Even so, the last paragraph in Marijuana as Medicine concludes that scientists will eventually learn to manipulate the body's internal cannabinoid systems using substances other than marijuana.
After marijuana has yielded up its secrets and been replaced by "superior" drugs, the book gloomily asserts, "...the medical use of marijuana should fade as a topic of heated debate to a footnote in the history of medicine."
Perhaps medical marijuana advocates can best hope that Joy's spirit of compassion regarding marijuana's legal status will influence policymakers at ONDCP, DEA and other drug war agencies.
"The marijuana debate is polarized, and that isn't good for science, recreational users or patients," Joy said. "America is a country that doesn't like gray areas, but marijuana is a complicated issue. You can't say it's all bad or all good. We have so many medications like that; most of our effective medications have a downside. The thing I find most troubling is the current approach, which takes people with health problems, or substance abuse problems, and makes criminals out of them. That's not good medicine."
• Marijuana and medicine, and Marijuana as medicine, are both available to be read online at www.nap.edu.
Marijuana helps MS sufferer
I am a 45 year old granny, and I smoke marijuana for medicinal reasons.
I was 25 when I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. The doctor told me it was a painful, crippling disease and I would end up in a wheel chair. He gave me prescriptions for the arthritis and pain and sleeping pills.
Some of the pills had side effects and I would have to change to different ones. My arthritis was getting worse and I was depressed all the time. I started taking anti-depressants. For years I abused codeine, anti-depressants and sleeping pills. I don't smoke tobacco ro drink alcohol. My friends smoked marijuana but it didn't interest me to try it.
I smoked my first joint when I was 30. One night I was in a lot of pain and feeling terribly uncomfortable. My friend Ed was with me and said he had heard marijuana helps relieve pain. I was willing to try anything and had a few tokes. After a few minutes I was relaxed and the pain seemed to have dulled. I was also more limber with my joints. I had a very restful sleep that night.
I have been smoking marijuana every day since then. I have also been happier and no longer need anti-depressants. I now control my pain with marijuana. Although my doctor knows I smoke marijuana, he will not help me because it is against the law.
I told my children that I smoked marijuana, and that it helped relieve the pain from the arthritis. I have never smoked in front of them and never left any paraphernalia around. My children are young adults now with families of their own. They do not smoke marijuana, but I have their support.
My friend supplied me with marijuana, and two years ago showed me how to grow my own. I now supply myself.
I have never been an activist before, but I want people to know that I am not hurting anyone when I smoke marijuana. I am trying to make my life with arthritis easier to manage. The pain is less and my grandchildren, family and friends see a happier me.
I spoke at the first National Medical Marijuana Day on November 15, 1994, in Washington DC, and I was at the Grasstown and Cannabis Canada Day rallies in Vancouver. I even went to a Harvest Festival in Madison, Wisconsin.
I have never been in trouble with the law, but because I smoke and grow marijuana, I am made to feel like a criminal. I should not have to feel guilty for smoking something that controls my pain and helps with my emotional well being.
We should be able to smoke marijuana freely, for whatever reason, and we must change the laws.
Sincerely and hempfully,
Margaret, BC
Thank you for your testimonial to the medicinal benefits of marijuana. We encourage other readers who use marijuana for medical reasons to contact us with their stories.
-DL
Pot goes to the dogs
I am from Yellowknife, and I once had the experience of running a dog team and caring for about 50 dogs. We often had the odd litter that developed a disease called Parvo. Parvo dehydrates the animal until it finally dies.
I had never seen a puppy with Parvo survive, until one day I had an idea. I would often smoke pot while feeding the animals, and I figured that these puppies needed something that would make them come down with a serious case of munchies.
So I got half of the pups from a litter that all had this disease. We got the pups high and it worked, they ate. So every day we would get them high until they were eating on their own. They lived, but only the half of the litter that we got high.
I just though I should pass on what I learned to other
animal lovers.
Always Wondering,
Steve L,
Yellowknife, Northwest Territory
Smoke 'em if you got 'em
High! My name is Eric and I have to say that I just started to read your magazine and I absolutely love it. It's about time that the tokers of Canada have a place to be heard without the biased government twisting the story to their will.
I don't know why most tokers try to stay hidden away from public places to smoke a joint. I used to do that, until the past few months when I said "screw it" and spark them up no matter where I am. If I'm walking down the street, or waiting at the bus stop, I just light one up.
Who cares if I get strange looks from people, I'm just smoking weed. The stuff has been around for thousands of years. I just wish that Canada could adopt the marijuana laws that Holland has.
If I want to have a beer or a glass of fine wine nobody gives it a second thought. But if I want to smoke a joint, I'm looked upon as some kind of junkie. What gives them the right to choose how I unwind at the end of the day?
Keep up the good fight!
Yours truly,
Eric F
Tobacco Wars Continued
David Malmo-Levine objected to two points made in my article on tobacco, ("The Other Demon Weed" CC#;). Specifically, David disagreed with Robert Parker's statement, "the decision to smoke, or not, is one for informed adults to make", pointing out that US tobacco companies spend "$4 a year for every man, woman and child" in the US on tobacco advertising.
I'm not sure about David, but glossy advertisements will never convince me that smoking cigarettes will get me laid. Despite the relatively tiny budget the US Dept of Health and Human Services dedicates to educating Americans, I doubt that there is a man, woman or child in the US who remains unaware of the harmful effects of tobacco use.
David also objected to my likening the dangers of second-hand tobacco smoke to chronic cookie consumption, citing a University of California study which concluded that second-hand smoke is, "the third leading cause of preventable death, behind smoking and tobacco."
A contradictory study just published in the International Journal of Cancer has found that the risks associated with dietary sugar and fat are far greater than those attributed to second-hand smoke. The study, entitled "Dietary Fat and Lung Cancer Risk in Uruguay," compared the smoking and dietary histories of 377 newly diagnosed lung cancer patients with 377 control subjects and concluded that, people who were heavy consumers of dairy products had a 185% greater risk of developing lung cancer. Heavy intake of fried foods increased the risk by 54% and desserts notched up the risk 152% more.
A report from the US Environmental Protection Agency shows only a 19% increase in the incidence of lung cancer among non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke, far less than the risks associated with diet that the Uruguay study reported and far less than the risks associated with living in urban areas with poor air quality.
David wrote, "people who are easily abused should be protected from second-hand tobacco smoke just as they are protected from ... benzene and radon" To my knowledge, no parents or guardians have ever been charged with abuse for failing to test their homes for radon or for failing to provide an optimal diet.
I agree that parents should not expose their children to second-hand smoke, but in my opinion the risks of second-hand smoke are not grounds for state intervention.
Matthew Elrod
Well, Thank You
I wish to express my gratitude and congratulate the people that work for Canabis Canada in all its forms. I bought my first copy at the local book shop. I was delightfully surprised to see a copy of issue #6 in amongst some other magazines. I bought it to support the shop at first, and then I fell in love with the magazine.
Marijuana can be as simple or as complicated as you like, and I appreciate the way your publication reflects this. When I saw that you have back issues for public viewing on the internet, I was truly blown away. You have created a uniquely Canadian site that is rich and informative. The spirit of your whole organization shines through.
Laurence
The Healing Flower
I am 75 years of age, retired from practice (psychiatry) and benefitting from the use of cannabis, to which I was introduced under the auspices of the wise and judicious Alan Watts. in Dallas, Texas, in 1966.
A younger friend from that era, while visiting me earlier this year, in response to my encouraging him to join or sup
port NORML, said "But Howard it just goes on, and on, and on." We all have felt this ennui and frustration, confronted by the almost unyielding closed minds of those who support, although passively, the "war on drugs".
We should not fail to assert, in any context or situation, that cannabis is not a drug (drugs come from factories or laboratories) but, "a flower", as Willie Nelson said.
What got me started on this in the first place was your adage: Prohibition hurts, Marijuana heals. So apt!
Howard, [email protected]
Pot Law a Bust
Michael Amsler
Bush Doctor: Jon Pendergraft, 49, uses marijuana to help regulate his blood sugar.
For local medical marijuana patients, legal issues still cloud Prop. 215 guidelines
By Bruce Robinson
"MY DOCTOR is extremely pleased; he's very happy with the way things have gone since I've been on the marijuana," says Alice Downing. The 36-year-old Sebastopol woman has been using medical marijuana for about five months to combat the symptoms of systemic lupus, which include arthritis and severe migraines.
"The marijuana helps with the headaches and helps me reduce the amount of steroids I've been on," Downing reports, something that she and her physician, a specialist whom Downing describes as "Mr. Western Medicine," had not been able to do in months of trying other approaches.
A nurse for a dozen years before her health declined, Downing had experimented with pot "only once ever" years before she turned to it as medicine. "I didn't like the way it made me feel," she confides. It was only after the passage of Proposition 215--the landmark "Compassionate Use" initiative that allows medical use of marijuana with a physician's prescription and won a surprisingly strong victory in the state's general election last November--that Downing began to study the medical applications of cannabis and subsequently began to use it.
Jon Pendergraft, on the other hand, has been self-medicating since long before the term "medical marijuana" entered the public lexicon. A veteran construction worker, the 49-year-old husband and father uses cannabis to ease the symptoms of three different ailments.
"I am diabetic, and I find that marijuana helps me regulate my blood sugars," he reports. "It's quite beneficial. I've got pretty bad arthritis in my joints and I get quite a bit of relief from marijuana in that way, too."
In addition, Pendergraft is at risk for glaucoma, another of the conditions that cannabis aids. "That wouldn't bother me so much if my father wasn't going blind from glaucoma," he says. "I'm hoping the cannabis will help my eye pressures."
Under the law that 56 percent of the state's voters supported a year ago, patients who have the documented support of their physician can now legally possess and consume marijuana for medicinal purposes. But the initiative was deliberately vague about a number of interlocking issues: how much pot is allowable, how a patient is to acquire it, and the precise form the doctor's endorsement should take.
Consequently, each county has had to develop its own policies and procedures for implementing Prop. 215. In Sonoma County, the sheriff, district attorney, members of the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana (SAMM), public health officials, and others met over several months to draw up a set of guidelines governing the application of the new marijuana laws. Those guidelines were formally adopted last July only after activists complained that local law enforcement was taking too aggressive a stand against the use of medical marijuana. In the courts, District Attorney Mike Mullins was prosecuting the first medical marijuana test case (defendant Al Martinez was killed in a car crash in May before the case went to trial), and then-Sheriff Mark Ihde had vowed to turn in to federal authorities any physician dispensing a prescription for pot.
Yet, despite the guidelines, some local pot smokers remain embroiled in a legal limbo over their supposedly legitimate medical use of the otherwise illegal weed. The guidelines, which have since been adopted by all the police departments within the county, spell out qualifications for patients and caregivers, and set a strict standard of accountability for physician-endorsed use of marijuana for a list of illnesses and conditions that includes "cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraines and any other illness for which marijuana provides relief."
When investigating cases of possession or cultivation of marijuana, the guidelines note, "The Deputy must inquire if the marijuana possessed or cultivated is for medicinal purposes." If the answer is affirmative, a report is to be compiled containing the identification of the individual, the name, address, and phone number of the doctor who endorsed the marijuana use, and a series of questions about the patient's condition, medical history, and pattern of usage.
Even if the responses tend to confirm the legal, medicinal use of the marijuana, the officer is still instructed to weigh the pot or count the number of plants being cultivated, take pictures, and collect a small sample for evidence.
Initially, the guidelines were hailed by such SAMM representatives as Carol Miller, who said at the time, "I think the policy as written is really a very accurate interpretation of the wording of the initiative and the other laws that exist around marijuana."
But after five months of seeing how those guidelines have been applied, some medical marijuana activists are not so pleased. "The guidelines were bullshit from the very beginning. They meant nothing," snorts Alan Silverman, one of the leading proponents of Prop. 215 in Sonoma County. "The only guidelines are that patients will not be arrested and have all their medicine confiscated. What happens is that they are not arrested, but they have a small amount of their medicine taken away and then they are harassed and prosecuted."
Santa Rosa attorney Sandy Feinland, who assisted SAMM in the discussions with the guidelines' developers from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's Office, agrees that the guidelines were flawed from the outset. "They have always left a great deal to the discretion of individual police officers and the district attorney," he observes. "No clear guidelines for amounts, who would qualify, and what people needed to show [to investigators] were ever clearly established. So you get into a situation where everything is on a case-by-case situation."
Feinland is also critical of the way the guidelines have obligated patients to open their medical histories to investigators (see sidebar, "A Better Solution?"). "The guidelines for the police in this county provide for the officers to detain and interrogate patients who assert a medical defense and to then ask personal, private questions of physicians about the specifics of their condition," he says. "In other counties, the police are instructed to obtain information from the patient and then to confirm with the physician that indeed there was a recommendation or approval, so there's no intrusive interrogation of the patient and no violation of the patient-physician privilege."
Medical marijuana certificates.
THAT'S A CRUCIAL ISSUE, especially from the doctors' point of view. Despite the California Medical Association's support of Prop. 215 prior to the 1996 election, doctors in the state have been warned that they may face severe sanctions if they authorize or recommend that their patients use marijuana.
"The Drug Enforcement Agency will yank your right to prescribe narcotics and they will cut your Medicare patients and blacklist you with Medicare and Medi-Cal," fumes one Sonoma County medical specialist, who asked not to be identified. "The CMA and the Sonoma County Medical Association as well recently put out a bulletin warning doctors there is absolutely no protection if they take a stand on this issue. It's just asking for trouble."
But speaking anonymously, this doctor--who says he has recommended against marijuana use by the few patients who have asked about it--irately denounces the government's intrusion into his practice of medicine. "What makes me angriest about this is the infringement on the right I have, as a physician, to speak freely with my patients," he says. "This is the federal government in the room with me and my patient, and I resent that. I feel that this [right to prescribe medical marijuana] falls within the purview of my professionalism."
Dr. David Fishman, a general practice doctor in Sebastopol, agrees. "As a physician, it's bad enough having HMOs around, but having government tell us you can or can't do this, I don't feel that's right. It's certainly inappropriate for them to act that way, considering that the initiative has passed."
As for the medical applications of cannabis, Fishman says, "I'm not a believer that prescription drugs are necessarily better than marijuana. In fact, there are probably cases in which marijuana is better." But so far, no such case has arisen in his practice. A handful of patients have raised the issue of medical marijuana, he admits, but "the people who have asked me have been people where it's obviously inappropriate," patients with past histories of addictions or psychological instabilities.
"It's obvious to tell them no."
SKEPTICS SAY that such inquiries by patients were a predictable consequence of Prop. 215's passage, and there have been others who have claimed a need to use pot to ease their ills. Sonoma County Sheriff Jim Piccinini notes that his deputies have made 58 arrests for marijuana cultivation since the initiative passed last year. "In all 58 cases," he says, "someone has claimed they were raising medical marijuana," even one with a garden of 50 plants.
However, when pressed, only four of the 58 "said they were seeing a physician," the sheriff adds. Even so, those four cases were referred to the district attorney along with the others. "We let the DA make the final determination if the matter is to be prosecuted," Piccinini says. "We just gather information."
Yet, based on that information, three of the four growers who cited a physician's guidance were prosecuted all the same. "According to the most recent case, which is People vs. Trippet, medicinal marijuana is an affirmative defense to be asserted by the patient," says District Attorney Mullins, noting that this leaves the onus of proof on the patient. Thus he has forced those using that defense to prove in court that they need the pot, although none of the cases has come to trial yet.
Mullins believes the policies he helped develop are working, although "there are some major stumbling blocks, one of which is the reluctance of physicians to make recommendations or even approvals. And there's not much I can do about that reluctance."
While others may criticize the guidelines, Mullins says they may well set a precedent for other counties. "I'm told we're the only county where the sheriff and the district attorney have actually promulgated and successfully had a law enforcement protocol adopted," he says. "Maybe that will be a standard for somebody else. I don't know."
The guidelines are intended to allow patients to grow their own marijuana, which sidesteps the tricky issues of purchasing or transporting something that remains on the federal government's list of most strictly prohibited substances. But they do not spell out allowable amounts, which Mullins says was a deliberate choice.
"I asked the people in the Sonoma Alliance if they wanted a particular number of plants for each patient, and all of them voiced the opinion that was not a good idea, because there could be different levels needed for each patient, depending on their situation," he explains. "And that didn't seem unreasonable. But that means law enforcement will have to take it on a case-by-case basis, which doesn't give the people out there, the patients, a standard they can rely on."
But such statements are not consistent with the way the law is being enforced against growers of small amounts, counters attorney Sandy Feinland, who is representing one of the patients being prosecuted. In that pending case, Nancy Maffei and her caregiver, Robert Cullen, had 24 plants in the garden of their Sebastopol home when it was targeted last August in a raid by members of the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting. Six of the plants were uprooted and five others clipped by the deputies, acting under the county guidelines. Maffei presented her doctor's documentation to police, but charges were subsequently filed against the couple, reportedly because Mullins believed they intended to sell off a surplus that he said exceeded her medical needs.
Feinland contends that Mullins and his staff "have a far too restrictive interpretation of Prop. 215. They don't recognize as patients people who qualify under the statute, and that their policy regarding what amount is appropriate for a patient to possess is far too limited.
"In other counties, law enforcement is working with the patients and caregivers to set up systems where people can obtain it, and those people who obtain it [in ways prescribed by the legal guidelines] are not harassed or prosecuted," Feinland continues. "Here, they're refusing to set up a system that would facilitate the distribution, and when people are trying to grow it themselves, the policies are unreasonably restrictive."
Other counties, including Mendocino, Marin, and San Francisco, have allowed marijuana "buyers' clubs" to operate as a source of supply for patients unable to grow their own medicine, but Mullins remains strongly opposed to that approach.
"If you have a buyers' club, you have to have a source. That means somebody has to grow a large amount of marijuana," he reasons. "That would be very difficult to control. It would present a terrible security problem for whoever is doing the growing, and you would have to accept a great deal upon faith. And who controls the registry of who belongs to the club? A buyers' club just leads to innumerable problems."
Nor is Mullins particularly receptive to the concept of a registry of medical marijuana patients, such as is under consideration by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. "It's not necessarily a tool that's useful," Mullins says. "Registration doesn't necessarily mean that someone's not going to be checked out by law enforcement. And who does the registration? Is public health willing to take on that responsibility?
"A board of supervisors is in a position to pass a resolution, but a resolution doesn't have an effect on a district attorney, because a district attorney is a state officer charged with enforcing state laws."
IN THE CASE of this particular state law, almost everyone involved agrees that further clarification is needed before it becomes fully workable. "What we want to do is, at the very least, have a system where people can easily confirm that they are legitimate patients, without being detained, interrogated, and having their patient-physician relationship penetrated," says Feinland, "because that's what's happening right now."
Adds activist Alan Silverman: "From the patient perspective, it's scary because it's not being implemented. We seem to have personal agendas crossing into professional conduct. It seems highly improper, but I guess we'll have to wait for the [state] courts to clear that up."
But local law-enforcement officials insist that without court rulings they also are in a bind. "I recognize that the majority of Californians and the majority of Sonoma County voters voted to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, and I will abide by that law," says Sheriff Piccinini. But at the same time, "we still have to aggressively go out there and enforce the law if they're growing marijuana. It's a pain. I wish the state or the feds would come out with some clear-cut definitions."
There is only one thing, concludes Mullins, that will clear up the rampant confusion that continues to surround the legal use of medical marijuana in California: "Additional legislation."
Marijuana Helps to Shrink Brain Tumors
A team of Spanish researchers has discovered that cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, make brain tumors shrink by halting the growth of blood vessels that feed the tumors, reports New Scientist. The researchers have successfully tested the effect of this cannabis extract on thirty mice which were given a cancer similar to the human brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme).
More importantly, they also successfully tested the procedure on two human patients who had glioblastoma multiforme and had not responded to chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. Of course, these results are encouraging, even if larger studies need to be done to be sure that these cannabinoids are really effective on human brain cancers, and possibly other forms of cancers. Read more here for other references and a picture showing the effect of this marijuana extract on two human patients.
Marijuana Helps Her Live Again Disabled Woman Says
Posted by FoM on January 13, 2002 at 23:01:17 PT
By Kristal L. Dearing
Source: Morning News
In a small town in Northwest Arkansas lives a woman who hates drugs but smokes marijuana every day. Before being severely injured in a car accident in 1995, this woman -- we'll call her Jane Smith, which is not her real name -- was a substance-abuse counselor.
A year after the accident, she could not walk, sleep, sit or stand without experiencing constant, debilitating pain in her neck, shoulders, back, hips and legs.
Her physician diagnosed her with fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by aching and pain in muscles, tendons and joints all over the body, especially along the spine.
Typically, doctors treat fibromyalgia symptoms -- there is no known cure or treatment for the disease itself -- by prescribing non-narcotic painkillers, medications to aid in sleeping and physical therapy.
Jane Smith tried all of these things, for months and months. She went to physical therapy regularly, and tried dozens of different pain and sleep medications.
But none of them were working.
"About a year and a half after the accident, I wasn't healing," Smith said in an interview last week with The Morning News. "I was in so much pain, I couldn't get comfortable any way, I couldn't go up and down stairs, I couldn't sleep. It was terrible."
Many fibromyalgia patients, according to medical research, experience similar problems in finding relief. In some cases, patients try narcotic painkillers -- when their doctors will recommend it.
"I don't like the way narcotics affect my body, the way they make my mind foggy and the other side effects," said Smith, who fears criminal prosecution if local authorities discover her true identity. "So I was never interested in trying those medications to ease my pain."
About the time she was near giving up hope, an "old hippie friend from the '70s" dropped by to visit Smith.
"I know you don't smoke pot and haven't in a long time, but I really think you ought to try this," Smith recalled her friend telling her. "I think it will help your pain and allow you to still function."
As an addiction professional, she knew marijuana isn't physically addictive, she says. So she agreed to try it.
"He had some with him and pulled out the pipe, and I took a couple of draws on the pipe, and immediately my pain started subsiding," Smith said. "I could feel my neck and shoulders and back starting to relax, and by the time I finished (about five puffs) I felt relatively normal again -- almost like I did before the accident."
After her friend left, Smith says she sat down and asked herself: "What now?"
Having no other options for pain relief, Smith began using marijuana medicinally on a regular basis. It has changed her life, back to near-normal, and made it possible for her to do things like shop for groceries, go to the movies with friends, clean her house, and simply sleep through the night.
"It's been the most effective medicine for me by far, in terms of not interfering with my life or with my thought processes," she said. "One of the reasons I think it's so vital to people like me is because the patient can control their own dosage."
A typical person with debilitating pain can get substantial relief by taking just three to five puffs off a pipe or marijuana cigarette; the effects can last anywhere from four to eight hours, experts say.
Smith noted that the amount of the active agent in marijuana that she typically ingests two or three times a day is far less than the amount in the only federally approved form of marijuana now available, a pill called Marinol. Several national studies, including two by top federal health agencies, have found that patients taking Marinol report significant pain relief but complain of side effects such as marked impairment of mental capability and lethargy.
"I don't want to go around being stoned all the time; that's not my cup of tea," Smith said, referring to the way many patients report feeling after taking Marinol. "In spite of the fact that I'm severely disabled, I still lead a very active life."
A Northwest Arkansas-based group is working toward getting a medical-marijuana law enacted in Arkansas.
ARDPArk, or the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, is a 2 1/2-year-old group of Arkansas residents who believe that many patients who suffer from debilitating diseases and symptoms should be legally allowed to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.
The group, founded in 1999 by six Northwest Arkansans, has been working to educate the public and state lawmakers about the scientific benefits of marijuana for such conditions as multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, glaucoma, AIDS, cancer, stroke, Tourette's syndrome, arthritis and muscle/joint injuries, and for chronic symptoms such as pain, muscle spasms and tremors, seizures, nausea, vomiting, insomnia and migraine headaches.
ARDPArk has been concentrating for the last several months on a petition drive to put a medical-marijuana initiative on the November ballot for public vote.
It's an issue Smith is passionate about.
"Nowadays we in this country have a lot more important things to worry about than whether people are smoking a little herb -- especially sick people," she says. "Our country is wasting millions and millions prosecuting these people for a drug that is proven to be safer than cigarettes or alcohol."
In addition, Smith said, legalizing medical marijuana would take much of the danger out of the lives of the patients, who currently have to surreptitiously purchase their marijuana on the black market from career drug dealers.
"I can tell you these are not nice people running these drug cartels," she said. "They make Osama bin Laden look like a pussycat."
Complete Title: Marijuana Helps Her Live Again, Disabled Woman Says
Source: Morning News of Northwest Arkansas (AR)
Author: Kristal L. Dearing
Published: Sunday, January 13, 2002
Copyright: 2002, Donrey Media Group
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.nwamorningnews.com/
Marijuana Compound Effective in Treating Tourette's Syndrome
Received from NORML:
A primary compound in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is effective in reducing "tics" in patients suffering from Tourette's Syndrome (TS), according to clinical trail data published in a recent edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Tourette's Syndrome is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor tics (sudden spasms especially in the facial muscles, neck and shoulders) and one or more vocal tics.
Twenty-four patients participated in the double-blind placebo-controlled trial over a period of six weeks. Treatment with up to 10 mg of THC resulted in significant improvement of tic severity, authors wrote. No serious adverse effects to the treatment were reported.
In a separate article published in Neuropsychopharmacology, authors elaborated, "No detrimental effect was seen on learning curve, interference, recall and recognition of word lists, immediate visual memory span, and divided attention" from THC during or after the treatment.
Possible medical benefits of marijuana
Cancer chemotherapy: Marijuana's active ingredient THC reduces vomiting and nausea caused by, chemotherapy; alleviates pre-treatment anxiety.
AIDS-related wasting: Improves appetite, and forestalls the loss of lean muscle mass.
Multiple sclerosis: Marijuana reduces the muscle pain and spasticity caused by the disease; may also help some patients with bladder control and relieve tremor.
Epilepsy: Marijuana may prevent epileptic seizures in some patients.
Glaucoma: The leading cause of blindness in the United States;caused by increased pressure inside the eyeball. Marijuana, when smoked, reduces pressure within the eye. But it may also reduce blood flow to the optic nerve, exacerbating the loss of vision.
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9702/weed.wars/f...edicinal.users/
Study: Medical Marijuana Helps AIDS Patients Stay on Treatment
Data Presented at Int'l AIDS Conference in Bangkok Suggest Marijuana Helps Patients With Nausea
BANGKOK, THAILAND -- A study being presented at the XV International AIDS Conference suggests that HIV/AIDS patients suffering nausea from their anti-HIV drug regimens may benefit from the use of medical marijuana. Patients with nausea who used marijuana were 3.3 times more likely to stay on their drug cocktails than those who did not use marijuana.
   Researchers from Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and the San Francisco and San Mateo health departments interviewed 168 patients taking anti-HIV drugs about their adherence to their drug regimens and factors affecting adherence. In the full sample, marijuana use had no effect, and the conventional wisdom has been that use of mood-altering substances like marijuana or alcohol could interfere with adherence. But among those suffering nausea, marijuana users were 3.3 times more likely to adhere to their medication regimens than non-users. "Our data suggest that medicinal use of marijuana may facilitate, rather than impede, anti-retroviral therapy adherence for patients with nausea," the researchers reported.
   "This is important data, as numerous studies have found that nausea and other side effects of anti-HIV drugs are major reasons that patients discontinue life-saving treatment," said Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. "A large body of evidence shows that marijuana can be effective against nausea and vomiting for some patients who don't respond well to conventional treatments. People battling a devastating disease like AIDS need every advantage we can give them, yet U.S. federal law still treats the patients who benefited from marijuana in this study as criminals."
   Reference: B.C. DeJong, D.E. Prentiss, W. McFarland, R. Machekano and D.M. Israelski, "Marijuana use is associated with better adherence to ART among HIV-infected persons with moderate to severe nausea," XV International Conference on AIDS, July 2004.
   With more than 15,000 members and 105,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana -- both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. For more information, please visit MarijuanaPolicy.org.

November 3, 2005

Yo nsane (or anyone else for that matter), since you seem to know what you're talking about and this thread seemed pretty fitting. We're doing "drug ed" right now, and we got a quiz on MJ (a true/false answer type thing).

I'll post up some of the questions, and if you (or anyone else) could answer them I can compare the answers, if that's alright.

- Marijuana smokers risk getting cancer, and damaging their respiratory system.

- Marijuana causes psychotic symptoms in some users.

- Marijuana smoke contains more tar than tobacco smoke.

- The same side effects of smoking tobacco are associated with smoking marijuana.

- Marijuana is addictive.

- Marijuana slows the body down.

- Studies have shown a strong link between heavy or regular marijuana use and mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

I'm not expecting anyone to be blatantly wrong, I'm just looking for an unbiased answer (if that's possible) :rolleyes:

November 3, 2005

btw, you know marijuana was originally outlawed to keep the mass of mexicans out of america (who smoked it as apart of their culture for 100s of years). so, basicly, it's a racist law...

So thats why I have this feeling about trying it, its in my blood :rolleyes:

November 3, 2005

- Marijuana smokers risk getting cancer, and damaging their respiratory system.
- Marijuana causes psychotic symptoms in some users.
- Marijuana smoke contains more tar than tobacco smoke.
- The same side effects of smoking tobacco are associated with smoking marijuana.
- Marijuana is addictive.
- Marijuana slows the body down.
- Studies have shown a strong link between heavy or regular marijuana use and mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

1. false, it's actually been proven to supress malignant cancer (ie. stop it from spreading)

2. false, it's only been shown to cause muscle relaxation and maybe some short term memory loss if you get REALLY stoned. there is no proof that it effects the medulla oblongata area of the brain (which is what controls body movement etc. and would be what makes you go nuts)

3. true, if smoked out of a paper joint and hand pipe. false, if it's smoked out of water bong, which i've found to taste and smoke better any ways, so wouldnt you use it?

well, they did outlaw bongs in some states a little while back. so the government is actually preventing you from smoking healthy, kinda fucked up when you think about ;)

4. false, there's non that i know of, if so show me...

5. false, not one molecule found in the canabis plant has been proven to be addictive (this statement is 100% bullshit propoganda). go look it up yourself...

6. true, it is a muscle relaxer after all. i mean, 95% of the people who smoke weed smoke it to get relaxed...so i dunno who they're trying to scare here...

7. BIG BIG BIG BIG false, marijuana doesn't make you psychotic, i don't know bodily orface they pulled that out of. you can look at ANY scientific study from 1920-2004 and EVERY one shows that...this question shows exactly how much b/s they're full of...

it's obvious that was printed by the governemt to use in schools to scare little kids. it's kinda sad they have to resort to such b/s to scare people away from something that's completely safe if used responsibly. like i said before, i'm moving to canada (it's legal in a few providences there) or the UK if i can handle that damn accent :lol:

i think it's legal in a few other EU countries aswell, belgium and finland or something like that...they relized 400 years ago you can't stop an entire population from doing something they like...so they stopped wasting money on it. like the US government spends over $4 billion of the tax payers' money to fight something that's 100% safe and EVERYONE does (it's THE biggest waste of money EVER)! :dance2:

November 3, 2005

myrak,

nsane is right on all counts, but if you want to pass your little quiz I'd do something like:

Marijuana smokers risk getting cancer, and damaging their respiratory system.

The answer your looking for : True

The Truth: false, it's actually been proven to supress malignant cancer (ie. stop it from spreading)

for all the questions because they want you to answer true to all those questions, I loved drug ed in high school I knew more than the teacher about all of them. :dance2:

Have Fun argueing with your teacher

November 3, 2005

myrak,
nsane is right on all counts, but if you want to pass your little quiz I'd do something like:
Marijuana smokers risk getting cancer, and damaging their respiratory system.
The answer your looking for : True
The Truth: false, it's actually been proven to supress malignant cancer (ie. stop it from spreading)
for all the questions because they want you to answer true to all those questions, I loved drug ed in high school I knew more than the teacher about all of them. :dance2:
Have Fun argueing with your teacher

this is all kind of pointless. if you are going to smoke anything be it cirg or weed just dont get caught.

btw who study in europe said second hand smoking prevented cancer.

if you eat a hotdog a day you increase your chances of cancer. just live a good life and dont complain if you did use something you wasnt suppose to and get health problems when your 60. if you stop smoking cirt plese keep buying them so i dont have to make up the lost tax revue

November 3, 2005

actually, preventing cancer is very simple, have a good diet and exersise. see, cancer can only live in an acidic environment, so if you keep your body healthy and keep the pH of your body > 6.0, i think that's the acidic level, you CAN'T get cancer. that's something the FDA and all the drug companies don't want you to know. cause you won't have to buy their 'medicine' to 'supress' the cancer every month ;)

so smokey smokey people, and eat right (hotdogs are good on occassion...just not every day for a year and shit) :lol: :dance2:

November 4, 2005

Thanks man, I thought most of those were b/s I just needed some confirmation : )

for all the questions because they want you to answer true to all those questions, I loved drug ed in high school I knew more than the teacher about all of them.

Funny that, 'cause I brought up a few of the points nsane mentioned (before I posted the questions here) and my teacher just shot them down as complete b/s. A few others have the same idea as me, that these "facts" are a bit iffy, but the teacher just ignores the bunch of us XD

And the videos we watch are just stupid, all give the same "It's illegal, therefore it is bad" message. :dance2:

November 4, 2005

ah..... teachers who refuse to admit the truth its a common problem. You have to take alot of what the American school system teaches you with a grain of salt. History for instance is schewed by the winners, the American conquest of the west from the indians for example, horrible genocide for the most part and our history books make it seem noble somehow. Even our math is just what they want you to learn, there is a whole different way to do math called alterntive math that they refuse to teach (even though its easier). Just look up everything you learn and answer there questions they way they want if you care about your grades.

I, on the other hand, used to have knock down drag out arguements with my teachers on a regular basis. Had two or three tell me never to come back to class because they couldn't prove me wrong and I refuse to take "because" as an answer. It's all good though still passed high school with a 3.0 without doing any homework. (that's a moral delema thing, if homework is for memory retention, and test are to test your memory retention, then if I can ace your test why do I have to do the homework, turned a couple of teachers to my viewpoint of that one [ended up with some C's too])

Have fun!

November 4, 2005

dude, that reminds me of myself SOOO much, used to go to school sleep all day (waking up in the usual drool puddle) and never doing homework. then go back at the end of the week, high as a kite, and get like a 98 on the test :lol:

i did so good in one class because the teach had it so tests counted for like 80% of your final grade. ended up telling her "i didn't wanna do her damn work" for like the last 2 weeks of class and ended up passing with a high-mid C any ways :dance2:

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