A new federal government report on the ill effects of marijuana on teens may be a last ditch effort to demonize the medical weed before it sees its own day of emancipation. As it stands, even the most hardcore marijuana legalization advocates do not support children using anything that causes intoxication.
This new report uses scare tactics and seems to regard medical facts as a meaningless burden, and they are enlisting the help of celebrities with big money and big media ties to drive their message home. (see:TEEN "SELF MEDICATION" FOR DEPRESSION LEADS TO MORE SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS, NEW REPORT REVEALS)
"Don't be fooled into thinking that pot is harmless," said Dr. Drew Pinksy, internist, addiction expert, and host of VH1's Celebrity Rehab. "Marijuana is an addictive drug. Teens who are already depressed and use marijuana may increase their odds of suffering from even more serious mental health problems."
But medical marijuana and pharmacology experts like Dr. Phil Leveque of Molalla, Oregon, who writes regularly for Salem-News.com, suggest that there is no truth to the statement and that most of those who ultimately suffer from mental illness already would have.
"One of the biggest claims from the federal government is that marijuana causes 'euphoria' and if anyone needs that explained to them, it means the opposite of depression," Leveque said.
Redding, California: Doctor to appeal, says agencies targeted him because of pot stance
A federal judge has dismissed a Redding doctor's First Amendment lawsuit in which he accused law enforcement officials of targeting him because he was an outspoken cannabis advocate who recommended marijuana to patients.
Dr. Philip Denney says he plans to appeal the decision handed down recently by Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the U.S. Eastern District Court in Sacramento.
"We feel this is definitely not over," Denney said. "We feel that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is going to be very interested in reading the matter."
"On February 8, 2008, I am to be sentenced for providing hemp medicine to the public. Since I did not profit from this I guess my crime is easing human suffering and saving lives. Does this not want to make you jump up and sing Oh Canada? Anyone who has ever been punished by our system over a hemp charge is not a criminal, people who have been jailed or restricted over hemp are political prisoners not criminals. The law against hemp is not real or just." -- Rick Simpson
Video Description: "A Film By Christian Laurette - After a serious head injury in 1997, Rick Simpson sought relief from his medical condition through the use of medicinal hemp oil. When Rick discovered that the hemp oil (with its high concentration of T.H.C.) cured cancers and other illnesses, he tried to share it with as many people as he could free of charge - curing and controlling literally hundreds of people... but when the story went public, the long arm of the law snatched the medicine - leaving potentially thousands of people without their cancer treatments - and leaving Rick with unconsitutional charges of possessing and trafficking marijuana!"
Video Description: The FarmAssist, ThC, presents a lesson in Outdoor Cultivation Basics for medical marijuana. Parts 1 and 2
We welcome your comments and ratings.
Patients Without Time (PWT) is a medical cannabis support and informational network. We share information concerning Hawai'i medicinal cannabis / marijuana laws and practices. Partnered with Maui County Citizens For Democracy In Action (MCCFDIA), PWT has mounted an extensive campaign on both the County and State levels to better provide for the medical cannabis / marijuana patients in Hawaii. [http://www.PatientsWithoutTime.com]
Maui County Citizens For Democracy In Action (MCCFDIA) is in the midst of the largest citizen's voter registration drive ever seen on Maui. Serving Maui's advocacy groups like Patients Without Time (PWT) and Citizens Action Now (CAN), MCCFDIA emphasizes the need to utilize the Democratic Process to enact the changes our people need. Hawai'i State Representative Joe Bertram III has graciously lent his support and services in our efforts to help our citizens use this Democratic Process. http://www.MCCFDIA.com
Music: "School Days" recorded by Louis Jordan Video recorded and edited by Issei Productions. - IsseiProductions@yahoo.com
Friday, May 02 2008 @ 10:07 AM MST
Contributed by: TechnoHippie
Views: 21
The medical records will show that he died due to complications associated with massive liver failure. He would have likely survived longer if he received a timely organ transplant but was denied access because he followed his physician’s recommendation, used medical cannabis during his treatments for liver disease, therefore testing positive for THC metabolites and rather than receive the gift of a potentially longer life -- instead doctors at the University of Washington deferred to federal prohibition laws and mores, handing Tim a death sentence.
There are no pharmacological or physiological reasons why Tim Garon, or any medical marijuana patient, should logically be denied access to life-saving or life-enhancing organ transplants.
In my view, commonsense and humanity were completely lacking here on the part of the doctors who denied Tim and his family a chance at a continued life together.
For the better part of ten years NORML (and the ACLU’s Drug Litigation Project) have been 1) monitoring increasing numbers of medical patients denied access to organ transplants for the singular reason that they test positive for cannabis and 2) researching litigation and legislative options to compel organ banks to stop discriminating against medical patients who use cannabis, most especially in states where medical marijuana patients are supposed to be protected by state laws.
Today’s weather in Seattle calls for cloudy and dark weather. That is hardly unusual for this time of year up there, but on this day, the clouds will be particular dark ... notably the ones hanging over the doctors at the University of Washington who decided earlier this week to sacrifice Timothy Garon on the altar of pot prohibition rather than treat him like an ailing brother or a sister, wife or child?
Would these doctors really deny organ transplants to a loved one that tested positive for cannabis? I think not.
Marijuana occupies a bizarrely paradoxical place in American culture. Its use is widespread, commonplace among the young and ubiquitous in popular culture. Yet it remains highly illegal, and talk of legalization is usually deemed political suicide.
Here are five signs that pot should be legal soon -- and five reasons why it probably won't.
1. Pot is indelibly a part of the cultural mainstream. The stoner comedy Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay grossed $14.6 million in its first weekend, making it the second most popular movie in the country. Most pro basketball players blaze, according to sources as diverse as the ganjaphile Mavericks player Josh Howard and the anti-drug ex-Knick Charles Oakley. And on April 20, thousands of revelers turned out at the University of Colorado and the University of California at Santa Cruz to celebrate the 4/20 herb holiday.
As of 2002, notes Keith Stroup, legal counsel with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, 47 percent of American adults had smoked marijuana at some time in their lives, according to a CNN/Time poll. By today, he adds, "it is likely there are more living Americans who have smoked marijuana than who have not. Approximately 26 million Americans smoked marijuana just in the last year. All of these people know it did not cause them any real harm and that it did not keep them from having a successful life and career."
This year's 4/20 holiday was bigger and bolder than ever before, generating big headlines, big web traffic, and really really big pot parties. Even the Drug Czar participated by suggesting the holiday is dangerous and warning parents to keep a close eye on their children. But for all the fanfare, no one got hurt on 4/20.
I don't think one could possibly overstate how revealing that simple fact really is. Scanning the 4/20 news coverage, one fails utterly to find examples of the sort of negative outcomes we've been told to expect when people use this drug. Last week, more people got more stoned more publicly than any other day of the year. If pot is dangerous, this would be the time to learn that lesson in stark terms. So where are the hospitalizations? The fights? The car accidents?
In Boulder, CO a turnout of 10,000 produced no arrests or mishaps. This means not only that police were ignoring open marijuana use, but that the users were remarkably well behaved under the influence of the drug. They didn't fight, steal, damage property, or do anything else that would have forced the police to take action. Out of 10,000 people at a completely disorganized marijuana-themed event, nothing went wrong at all.
"Unsubscribe is a movement of people united against human rights abuses in the ‘war on terror’. Thousands of unsubscribers have now joined up. The threat of terrorism is real, but trampling over human rights and abandoning our values is not the answer. From Guantanamo Bay, Rendition, Torture and Waterboarding -- we unsubscribe."
Tuesday, April 29 2008 @ 10:46 AM MST
Contributed by: TechnoHippie
Views: 34
K.K. Forss does not claim medical marijuana solves all his problems. His pain from a ruptured disc in his neck is debilitating. He is unable to go to work or to the First Baptist Church he used to attend because of the pain and muscle spasms. Taxpayers through Medicare spend over $18,000 a year on his various medications. Half of those drugs are strong narcotics. The other half address the various side-effects brought on by the first half, such as nausea, heartburn, heart palpitations, difficulty sleeping, and muscle spasms.
No, marijuana would not completely address all his pain, but it made a tremendous difference in the quality of his life when he tried it for over a year. It helped him regain 38 pounds he had lost. It calmed his muscle spasms and helped him sleep. In short, it alleviated many side effects and greatly reduced his need for other expensive medications. Mr. Forss estimates that being allowed to use medical marijuana would save taxpayers at least $12,000 a year in medications he would no longer need. He would also be able to work occasionally and attend some church services.
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A new federal government report on the ill effects of marijuana on teens may be a last ditch effort to demonize the medical weed before it sees its own day of emancipation. As it stands, even the most hardcore marijuana legalization advocates do not support children using anything that causes intoxication.
The medical records will show that he died due to complications associated with massive liver failure. He would have likely survived longer if he received a timely organ transplant but was denied access because he followed his physician’s recommendation, used medical cannabis during his treatments for liver disease, therefore testing positive for THC metabolites and rather than receive the gift of a potentially longer life -- instead doctors at the University of Washington deferred to federal prohibition laws and mores, handing Tim a death sentence.
K.K. Forss does not claim medical marijuana solves all his problems. His pain from a ruptured disc in his neck is debilitating. He is unable to go to work or to the First Baptist Church he used to attend because of the pain and muscle spasms. Taxpayers through Medicare spend over $18,000 a year on his various medications. Half of those drugs are strong narcotics. The other half address the various side-effects brought on by the first half, such as nausea, heartburn, heart palpitations, difficulty sleeping, and muscle spasms.
