Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Drugs A push for prescription pot
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 12:54 PM
A group that advocates legalizing medical marijuana will bring exhibits and advocates to the state Capitol Jan. 12-13 to educate legislators and others on the cause. Details follow:
NEWS RELEASE
Advocates Push for Arkansas to Join Fifteen Other States and Washington DC With Medical Marijuana Laws: Doctors, law enforcement officials and patients will gather in January at the Arkansas State Capitol Rotunda in an effort to educate legislators about the need for Arkansas to enact a medical marijuana law.
The “Medicinal Cannabis Educational Roundhouse: Putting it in Perspective,” culmination of a year-long civic activism project organized by Arkansans For Medical Cannabis (A4MC), happens 9am to 2pm, Wednesday and Thursday, January 12-13, 2011 in the Rotunda of the Arkansas State Capitol building, Little Rock, Arkansas.
According to A4MC organizers, the purpose of the event is to instigate 'dynamic networking' among Arkansas legislators, health care professionals, law enforcement officials, media, all members of the general public and leading experts on the use of cannabis as medicine.
Noteworthy exhibitors and information providers include Dr. Lester Grinspoon, considered the world's foremost authority on medical cannabis and author of “Marijuana, the Forbidden Medicine', who will address the topic: “Marijuana is here to stay. It is a cultural fact. The question is, what are we going to do about this to maximize its
usefulness?” See: http://marijuana-uses.com
In addition, Terry L. Nelson, Customs and Border Protection Aviation/Marine Group Supervisor, Dept. of Homeland Security (Ret.), representing Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) which advocates an end to prohibition for reasons of safety, good sense and practicality. See: http://www.leap.cc
"As a society, we are duty-bound by the rule of law, however not all laws are good," said Robert Reed, spokesperson of the A4MC endeavor. "To make good law our legislators must look closely at all of the facts so they can make good decisions. Citizens must be well-informed to ensure that their elected representatives create good laws. Our goal is simply to bring together experts, for two days, at our State Capitol, so everyone can learn what they need to know about cannabis and its overall benefits to all of the citizens of our state."
Additional exhibitors include Stefanie Harrison, a native Arkansan who now resides in California where she is the owner of Natural State Medicinal Cannabis Caregiver Services in San Francisco. Harrision, who is flying in at her own expense to share her expertise at the Roundhouse, said “In general I would like to do what I can to bring medicinal cannabis to Arkansas. I live in a compassionate state in one of the most compassionate cities.” See: http://www.sfnatural.com
Also on tap:
* Veterans For Medical Cannabis Access is a non-profit organization founded by veterans who advocate for veterans' rights to access medical cannabis for therapeutic purposes.
* Central Arkansas NORML, which has for decades worked for the re-legalization of the cannabis-hemp plant and the decriminalization of marijuana for both personal and medical uses.
* Patients Out Of Time is a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating health care professionals and the public about the safety and efficacy of cannabis as medicine. Patients Out of Time is the leading accredited source of cannabis education for health care professionals.
Exhibits of educational resource information, including books, fliers, pamphlets and short DVD presentations, will be set-up at tables around the perimeter of the Arkansas State Capitol Rotunda. Organizational representatives will freely interact with legislators, physicians, law enforcement officials, members of the media and the general public.
The single exception will be Dr. Grinspoon who is scheduled to appear via Skype video interview at 11am on Wednesday the 12th.
A special feature of the Roundhouse will be an Art Exhibit by the Modern/Contemporary Arkansas artist, Sven Swenson of Leslie. His original work, the use of which Swenson donated to the A4MC group for their promotional flyers and T-shirts and titled “The Farm,” will be on display along with select others of Swenson's works. See:
The event is open free of charge to the general public both days.
Speaking of Medical Marijuana
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May 17, 2012A coalition of Arkansas church groups came out against casino proposals the other day and threw in, for good measure, a blast against the effort to legalize medical marijuana. /more/
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Comments (25)
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If Pat Robertson says it's ok it shouldn't be an issue.
The Demon Rum on the other hand...
.
This would expand trade and make Arkansas a health tourist destination.
Anyone opposing such a move is obviously anti-business and likely
socialistic.
Here are just some of the many studies the Feds wish they'd never commissioned:
01) MARIJUANA USE HAS NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY:
A massive study of California HMO members funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found marijuana use caused no significant increase in mortality. Tobacco use was associated with increased risk of death. Sidney, S et al. Marijuana Use and Mortality. American Journal of Public Health
. Vol. 87 No. 4, April 1997. p. 585-590. Sept. 2002.
02) HEAVY MARIJUANA USE AS A YOUNG ADULT WON'T RUIN YOUR LIFE:
Veterans Affairs scientists looked at whether heavy marijuana use as a young adult caused long-term problems later, studying identical twins in which one twin had been a heavy marijuana user for a year or longer but had stopped at least one month before the study, while the second twin had used marijuana no more than five times ever. Marijuana use had no significant impact on physical or mental health care utilization, health-related quality of life, or current socio-demographic characteristics. Eisen SE et al. Does Marijuana Use Have Residual Adverse Effects on Self-Reported Health Measures, Socio-Demographics or Quality of Life? A Monozygotic Co-Twin Control Study in Men. Addiction. Vol. 97 No. 9. p.1083-1086. Sept. 1997
03) THE "GATEWAY EFFECT" MAY BE A MIRAGE:
Marijuana is often called a "gateway drug" by supporters of prohibition, who point to statistical "associations" indicating that persons who use marijuana are more likely to eventually try hard drugs than those who never use marijuana - implying that marijuana use somehow causes hard drug use. But a model developed by RAND Corp. researcher Andrew Morral demonstrates that these associations can be explained "without requiring a gateway effect." More likely, this federally funded study suggests, some people simply have an underlying propensity to try drugs, and start with what's most readily available. Morral AR, McCaffrey D and Paddock S. Reassessing the Marijuana Gateway Effect. Addiction. December 2002. p. 1493-1504.
04) PROHIBITION DOESN'T WORK:
The White House had the National Research Council examine the data being gathered about drug use and the effects of U.S. drug policies. NRC concluded, "the nation possesses little information about the effectiveness of current drug policy, especially of drug law enforcement." And what data exist show "little apparent relationship between severity of sanctions prescribed for drug use and prevalence or frequency of use." In other words, there is no proof that prohibition - the cornerstone of U.S. drug policy for a century - reduces drug use. National Research Council. Informing America's Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don't Know Keeps Hurting Us. National Academy Press, 2001. p. 193.
05) PROHIBITION MAY CAUSE THE "GATEWAY EFFECT"?): U.S. and Dutch researchers, supported in part by NIDA, compared marijuana users in San Francisco, where non-medical use remains illegal, to Amsterdam, where adults may possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from regulated businesses. Looking at such parameters as frequency and quantity of use and age at onset of use, they found the following: Cannabis (Marijuana) use in San Francisco was 3 times the prevalence found in the Amsterdam sample. And lifetime use of hard drugs was significantly lower in Amsterdam, with its "tolerant" marijuana policies. For example, lifetime crack cocaine use was 4.5 times higher in San Francisco than Amsterdam. Reinarman, C, Cohen, PDA, and Kaal, HL. The Limited Relevance of Drug Policy: Cannabis in Amsterdam and San Francisco. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 94, No. 5. May 2004. p 836-842.
06) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 1):
Federal researchers implanted several types of cancer, including leukemia and lung cancers, in mice, then treated them with cannabinoids (unique, active components found in marijuana). THC and other cannabinoids shrank tumors and increased the mice's lifespans. Munson, AE et al. Antineoplastic Activity of Cannabinoids. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Sept. 1975. p. 597-602.
07) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER, (PART 2):
In a 1994 study the government tried to suppress, federal researchers gave mice and rats massive doses of THC, looking for cancers or other signs of toxicity. The rodents given THC lived longer and had fewer cancers, "in a dose-dependent manner" (i.e. the more THC they got, the fewer tumors). NTP Technical Report On The Toxicology And Carcinogenesis Studies Of 1-Trans- Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, CAS No. 1972-08-3, In F344/N Rats And B6C3F Mice, Gavage Studies. See also, "Medical Marijuana: Unpublished Federal Study Found THC-Treated Rats Lived Longer, Had Less Cancer," AIDS Treatment News no. 263, Jan. 17, 1997.
08) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 3):
Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn't also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.
09) OOPS, MARIJUANA MAY PREVENT CANCER (PART 4):
Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased Lung Cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.
10) MARIJUANA DOES HAVE GREAT MEDICAL VALUE:
In response to passage of California's medical marijuana law, the White House had the Institute of Medicine (IOM) review the data on marijuana's medical benefits and risks. The IOM concluded, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety are all afflictions of wasting, and all can be mitigated by marijuana." The report also added, "we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting." The government's refusal to acknowledge this finding caused co-author John A. Benson to tell the New York Times that the government "loves to ignore our report … they would rather it never happened." Joy, JE, Watson, SJ, and Benson, JA. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press. 1999. p. 159. See also, Harris, G. FDA Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana. New York Times. Apr. 21, 2006
Who needs it legalized??? Most of the liberal posters on this blog seem to be getting as much of the mind-altering drugs they need, already!!
Dadgummit, if that legalization occurs we won't have to build as many jails for them goofy pot smokin fools to get'em off the streets.
Why don't they manufacture rolled and filtered marijuana cigarettes for the medical users?
Legalize it ? Yes
Medicalize it? Nope
I'm a phsyician. I won't prescribe it as a medication.
Legalize it? yes!
Medicalize it? Nope.
I'm a physician. I won't prescribe it.
Nasty medico-legal issues. Drug-drug interactions unknown. No way to accurately assess active use in driving situations. No way to assess compliance. Etc.
I've waited years for them to legalize it so I could try it at least once! Being from the old school I refrained never wanting to break the law even the stupid ones.
Now I'll have to admit I'm in ButWhoCares corner -- kinda curious about it, but not enough to go out and find some. (My luck, my supplier would be an undercover cop, or an ax murderer.)
But let's get back to the medical issues. Try it for nausea and pain from cancer treatments and similar situations? Sure.
For cancer prevention, even if it were an approved treatment? Not on your life. Hormones were an approved treatment for what ailed ladies of a certain age. Turned back the clock we were told. Fergit it, I said, although in somewhat nicer terms. (Never know when you truly might need those guys. And gals.) Good thing too, if y'all remember the news a few years back -- not only was it not protective, but it may actually have caused heart attacks, strokes and cancer in some women.
So now my doc says a statin in an all encompassing panacea for possible heart problems "since heart problems run in your family"? HUH? Well, as it happens, heart attacks and strokes have killed most people in my family, rather than cancer or other causes. Thing is, with one exception, this has happened in their 80s and 90s. And he wants me to take a chance on liver problems, muscles problems and assorted other potential problems?
Fergit it, doc. Gimme one of them funny cigarettes instead.
Rich Tanguy if your a physician ,I'm a figgin blue bird .....don't you a doctor[sic] allready prescribe a lot harder drugs [morphine,oxycodone,aspirn] get real
Mexican cannabis [if you can even call it that] is crap....smoke and buy American grown..and help the family farm.......
Not sure of your logic there, Ric, but let me clarify my point.
As a physician, I try my best to provide care based on the best and latest scientifically basen knowledge (at least that is what I try to do). While there may be benefits of marijuana, the research right now simply does not support marijuana as a safe and effective treatment for any condition. It may help individual patients on an individual basis. But the studies do not support its use clinically in the general population. The arguments regarding medical liability and the way it is being "prescribed" in other states do not seem to be relevant here.
My personal and professional opinion is that it should be legalized. But just because it might be therapeutic, doesn't make it medicine.
I remember the comment about civil rights in the 1960's that if it suddenly became legal, look how many people it would put out of work.
Same thing with pot. What would Prison Corporation of America do if suddenly we didn't need to jail all the people who were non-violent offenders on first offenses. This may come to a head because if the 2011 AR legislators want to cut the budget and k-12 schools are out, that leaves healthcare, higher education, their own salaries, and prisons as to where the money is. They will end up in court on healthcare and at a battle with their own neighbors if they start cutting colleges. I can't see them cutting per diem which takes their $15K salaries up to $50+K.
We must maintain the low standard for throwing people in jail for first offense drug charges because to do otherwise would be anti-business. And AR is certainly not going to do anything that would keep us from getting more dirty coal plants or chicken-processing operations.
Yes, this is the very next item on the Civil Rights agenda, especially when it comes to Medicinal Cannabis, which is still not legal in the majority of States because of the old, outdated "dogma". Medicinal Cannabis is effective in a wide variety of conditions ranging from glaucoma to pain, to muscle spasms to nausea of chemotherapy, to malnutrition. The list can go on, including recent scientific findings that Cannabis can even be an “exit substance” for recovering alcoholics or hard drug/prescription drug abusers. Cannabis is not physically addictive as it lacks a documented physical withdrawal syndrome, and the so-called “gateway drug theory” is invalid and was recently called “half-baked” by a scientific study. Research also determined that there is no connection between smoking Cannabis and lung cancer (which to me demonstrates that Cannabis has anti-cancer properties), that is also being confirmed by the ongoing studies. Cannabis also may be helpful in treatment, and even in prevention, of Alzheimer’s disease. Medicinal Cannabis Legalization is not even a “partisan” issue, as the brave Citizens of Arizona showed us by legalizing Medicinal Cannabis in their rather conservative State. In fact, Judge Francis Young said back in 1988 that "Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substance known to men", and the reputable Shafer Commission recommended immediate decriminalization of Marijuana to Pres. Nixon in 1972 which he ignored. Cannabis prohibition is doing more harm than many people realize, as it encourages (young) people to indulge in experimentation with dangerous substances such as alcohol, opiate pain pills, cocaine, amphetamines or heroin because those substances, dangerous that they are, are cleared faster from one's "system", and are not as likely to be "detected" on a random "drug screen". When Medicinal Cannabis is fully accepted and widely used, we will be pleasantly surprised at prescription drug abuse going sharply down! History proves to the Cannabis prohibitionists that it is not possible to defeat the combined "forces" of Reason, science, and the Law of Supply and Demand! I really believe that all the fear mongering should be rejected, and Cannabis/Medicinal Cannabis should be legalized in all 50 States ASAP!
“Why don't they manufacture rolled and filtered marijuana cigarettes for the medical users?”
They did. The program was too successful (pot didn’t kill them).
“While there may be benefits of marijuana, the research right now simply does not support marijuana as a safe and effective treatment for any condition.”
One might not be qualified to offer a medical opinion on the subject of herbology if one’s training didn’t include certification in Naturopathic, Holistic, Integrative or Alternative (to name a few) medicine. For example, long term use of Aspirin has many negative effects, but few physicians are comfortable recommending their patients take herbs containing salicin (such as meadowsweet, white willow bark, red willow bark, black willow bark, woodruffî, balm of gilead, and wintergreen).
(http://www.dherbs.com/articles/asprin-55.h…)
When studies showing the benefits are being buried by the government but those showing the drawbacks are trumpeted, then the research becomes propaganda.
“I believe that God left certain drugs growing naturally upon our planet to help speed up and facilitate our evolution.” Bill Hicks
http://daybrown.org outlines my ongoing medical marijuana test case that may go to the Arkansas court of appeals. They used perjury to get a conviction. http://assetseizure.org outlines how they are running the drugwar like a speedtrap, not trying to control the drug market, but milk it.
"daybrown" is also at Facebook.
As to why they dont offer marijuana cigarettes, there's a better way. A vaporizer heats the herb just enuf to vaporize medicinals, but there is NO SMOKE. All those studies by the govt on how bad smoking is are obsolete. Even those with impaired pulmonary function can get relief with a vaporizer.
Medicinal marijuana is also grown past the flowering stage for seed. The seed has high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids which are good both for the gastric system but also for improving neurological problems.
Z: you are absolutely correct. I am not an expert on herbology. That is why I won't prescribe marijuana.
DB: please reference your study showing Omega 3 fatty acids in marijuana imroves neurological problems. Which neurological problems has it been tested on? Much appreciated in advance.
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