Federal Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced by Rep. Ron Paul - NORML
Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 5842, the “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” earlier today. This bill would make federal authorities respect states’ current laws on medicinal cannabis and end DEA raids on facilities distributing medical marijuana legally under state law.

Representative Paul, whose presidential campaign prominently featured the ending of the drug war as a platform plank, was joined by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) in sponsoring this bill.

“I think marijuana is a helpful medical treatment for the people who have intractable nausea,” Paul said in a 2004 House debate regarding a similar measure. “I would like to point out this is not something strange that we are suggesting here. For the first 163 years of our history in this country, the federal government had total hands off, they never interfered with what the states were doing.”

Twelve states have approved the use of medical marijuana, beginning with California in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215. The DEA continues to raid and harass medicinal cannabis dispensaries operating within these states’ laws. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both indicated they would end such raids should they be elected.

Michigan will vote on an initiative to adopt medical cannabis legislation this November. Minnesota and Rhode Island’s respective legislatures are also considering pro-reform legislation this year.

DAVIS, CALIFORNIA — A clinical trial conducted at the University of California at Davis and just published online by the Journal of Pain has demonstrated significant relief of neuropathic pain (pain caused by damage to nerves) stemming from a variety of causes. This is the second study in just over a year to show that marijuana relieves neuropathic pain, which is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs, including opioid narcotics. A UC San Francisco study published last year showed relief of HIV/AIDS-related neuropathy.

In the new study, 38 patients experiencing neuropathic pain from diabetes, spinal injury, multiple sclerosis and other causes were given marijuana cigarettes of three different strengths: Zero percent THC (placebo), 3.5 percent THC or 7 percent THC. In each session, patients took the same number of puffs, following a standardized procedure to ensure uniformity of the dose received at each strength.

Both doses of marijuana reduced pain significantly, producing marked declines in pain intensity that lasted over five hours. Researchers Barth Wilsey and colleagues wrote that side effects “were relatively inconsequential,” and “psychoactive effects were minimal and well-tolerated.” Although the scientists did express caution about the neurocognitive effects of the higher dose — reflected in lower scores on some tests of memory and problem solving, the study was not designed to examine the potential for marijuana to allow reduced doses of narcotic painkillers that also cause cognitive impairment, a benefit widely reported by patients.

What? Didn’t these guys get the memo from the DEA that marijuana has no medicinal value? That it is “Cheech and Chong medicine”? That all the hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients in twelve US states are all faking it so they can get high legally? That the science just isn’t there to prove marijuana is a medicine? Gee, why do we keep letting scientists and doctors do research on cannabis and report the truthful results, when our politicians and law enforcement settled this debate already?

Editorial: Medical marijuana merits state support
At a time when researchers are plunging into the rainforest in search of new medicines, there’s growing consensus that a humble herb easily cultivated here may help patients struggling with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other painful, difficult-to-manage conditions.

The herb, whose slim, multi-pronged leaf makes it instantly recognizable, is marijuana. The Minnesota Senate has already approved a measure that would make Minnesota the 13th state to legalize its medical use. The House will likely vote this spring. Lawmakers, as well as the governor, should give the bill careful yet open-minded consideration and make it a reality.

There’s solid and growing data on the medical benefits of marijuana and its active compound for treating neuropathy (which causes extremity pain), multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and chemotherapy-induced nausea and appetite loss. While other treatments are available, there are situations in which marijuana may work best. Doctors should be able to make this call.

The New England Journal of Medicine has editorialized in favor of marijuana’s medical use. In January, the nation’s second-largest group of physicians, the American College of Physicians, weighed in, also in favor.

Minnesota’s [medical marijuana law] is nine pages, and written more tightly [than California’s law] to limit abuse. Unlike California, it requires qualifying patients to register and carry an ID card. Patients, who must have a health professional’s approval to qualify, are also not allowed to grow their own; they’d buy marijuana from a registered nonprofit. There’s still potential for abuse. But as Oxycontin illustrates, that can happen with any prescription drug.

Most western states and a handful in the northeast protect patients whose doctors have decided marijuana is the best treatment option. For the most part, the laws have worked well, without the worst-case scenarios feared by law enforcement. It’s time for Minnesota to ensure that its sickest patients have all the treatment options they need.

The people are way ahead of the politicians on this issue.  Kudos to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune for seeing through the reefer madness and endorsing such a sensible piece of legislation… though I have my reservations about patients not being allowed to grow their own medicine.  Why not allow people who are suffering to treat themselves independently?

Medical marijuana initiative officially qualifies for Michigan’s 2008 ballot!
When the Michigan Board of Canvassers officially certified the signatures MPP’s campaign committee, the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care (MCCC), submitted last month, the Michigan Legislature had 40 days to act - by either passing the initiative into law itself or sending the question to the voters to decide.

And those 40 days were officially up on Friday, April 11. With the legislature taking no action, the medical marijuana initiative will automatically go onto the November ballot!

The fact that voters will have the opportunity to make Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state is great news for Michigan’s patients. Support for a compassionate law is wide and deep across the state: The most recent polling shows 67% of voters favor medical marijuana access, and five Michigan cities - Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, and Traverse City - have already passed local medical marijuana initiatives.

And last year, MCCC activists collected nearly half a million signatures from Michiganders, verified by the Board of Canvassers at a whopping 80.2% validity rate, to get the initiative on the ballot - further evidence of this broad, statewide support.

The Canadian Press: Health Canada looking for firm to grow its medical marijuana
OTTAWA — Health Canada is looking for someone to grow its weed.

The department served notice Monday it will soon invite firms to bid on a contract to cultivate and distribute medical marijuana, which is now being done in Flin Flon, Man., by Prairie Plant Systems Inc.

The winning firm will be expected to deliver a steady stream of government-approved dope to certified medical, users starting in the fall.

Dope? Why is the media allowed to get away with such flagrant anti-medical marijuana bias? If the story were about a government seeking a contract with an oxycodone supplier, would they talk about a “steady stream of government-approved hillbilly heroin”?

Ottawa has been a reluctant supplier of pot since a series of court rulings forced it into the medical marijuana business.

The marijuana program licenses certified medical users to grow their own pot, to have someone grow it for them or to buy it straight from Health Canada.

The department has paid Prairie Plant Systems more than $10 million to cultivate government-certified dope in a mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man.

There’s the “dope” again. And it should be noted that this mine shaft in Flin Flon is one of the most environmentally-polluted areas in all of Canada.

Ron Marzel, a Toronto lawyer who recently brought the matter before the Federal Court on behalf of a group of medical users, says he’s concerned about any monopoly on legal production and supply of the drug.

“The government’s just had such a horrible track record in terms of supplying medication to patients,” he said.

“There are many different strains of cannabis out there and the government’s position to date has been, ‘Well, we’re growing one strain and we’ve got one supplier and that’s it. Live with it.’

“The pharmacological evidence is that different ailments require, and different symptomology require, treatment with different strains. And the government hasn’t paid heed to that at all.”

Nope. To the government, a weed is a weed is a weed. They aren’t too thrilled about growing “dope”, much less worried about which particular strain of “dope” it is (and based on reports from my Canadian friends, it’s a pretty schwaggy strain). It’s as ridiculous and cruel as refusing to stock morphine, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen in the hospital, because you’ve got plenty of aspirin.

Ad urges Pawlenty to allow medical marijuana use
ST. PAUL - A new TV ad features a woman suffering from extreme back pain tearfully asking Governor Tim Pawlenty not to stand in the way of a medical marijuana bill.

The Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project says it’s spending more than $100,000 to air the message statewide starting later this week.

A bill that would make Minnesota the 13th state to allow medical marijuana use is headed for a House vote. The Senate approved the legislation last year.

But Pawlenty says he stands with law enforcement in opposing the bill.

The woman in the ad, Lynn Rubenstein Nicholson of Minneapolis, says she’s tired of being a criminal.

Nicholson says she broke her back as a child and currently can’t use marijuana because she is required to take drug tests as a condition of receiving other pain medications.

As offensive as I find Gov. Pawlenty’s opposition to medical marijuana, I find it more offensive that patients in pain are required to take a drug test in order to receive care. The point is to avoid prescribing powerful pain meds to addicts, but what the effect has been is that doctors are severely under-treating pain in this country for fear of being locked up by the feds.

Lest you think that passing medical marijuana in Minnesota will help in that regard, think again. Here in Oregon, where we’ve had medical marijuana for ten years, we have a major health care provider that is threatening not to provide any prescriptions for pain medications if a person is a medical marijuana patients. Once again, it’s that underlying prejudice that somehow the pot patients are just addicts with an excuse.

Our opponents wish to take away our medical marijuana patients’ right to work, to drive, to take pain medications, to teach, to run for office, or to work in government. It’s a modern shunning - if you won’t take the pharma drugs like a good citizen, then you’re just another pothead…

(By the way, check out the review of the video out at Wonkette entitled “Medical Marijuana Ads Featuring Tragically Ill People Bum Everybody Out”. Most tellingly, read the comments of those insensitive people who are dismissing this disabled woman because of her weight. You know, people, being confined to a wheelchair since childhood might just lead to some weight gain.)

Triplicate.com
Citizens packed the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors chambers Tuesday, spilling into the hallways waiting for their chance to speak on a proposal to greatly reduce the amount of medical marijuana people can grow and possess.

Today, the county’s medical marijuana guidelines allow a person to cultivate up to 99 plants in a 100-square-foot area and possess up to 1 pound of processed pot. The county wants to reduce these numbers to six mature plants and 4 ounces.

Del Norte County’s attorney, Dohn Henion, said the county cannot set limits on medical marijuana possession that are less than what the state allows, which is six mature plants and 8 ounces.

One of those afforded the opportunity to speak was Doug McCarty, who helped come up with Del Norte County’s original plant count and possession limits.

He said the 99-plant and 100-square-foot rule was designed following scientific guidelines for plant yield. The amount of marijuana produced by six plants would not be enough, he said, and might cause people, such as himself, to seek their medication elsewhere.

“This would force me to get my medication from the streets,” McCarty said, something he does not want to do.

A cannabis consultant and expert witness hired by local medical marijuana advocates, Jason Browne, echoed McCarty’s statements.

“The current system you have right now is scientifically based,” Browne said. “The number of plants to determine yield is irrelevant. It’s the size of the canopy.”

Pot yield is directly correlated to canopy size, he said, and with six plants, patients might not be able to grow enough marijuana to sustain themselves.

Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson said the number of illegal marijuana grows in the county is increasing, and the temptation to abuse the medical marijuana laws is there because of the street value of weed.

As the debate continued, one woman said she exemplifies the reason medical marijuana was legalized by California.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and she said her condition continues to get worse.

The cost of electricity hinders her from growing marijuana year-round, she said, which is what she would have to do if the plant count was lowered.

I know many people around the country would be thrilled with six plants and four ounces. To the uninitiated, 100 square feet of 99 marijuana plants sounds incredible. But as the patient in this piece points out, that may be the one outdoor grow she is able to afford for the year.

Law enforcement always claims that higher limits lead to corruption and street dealing, and I don’t doubt that a tiny few will abuse any regulatory system. However, in my experience with Oregon’s 24 plant, 24 ounce limits, I’ve found that the more people grow, the more they share. Fewer people will need the street dealer. Higher limits help remove the medical marijuana patients from the dealer’s customer base.

Of course, if the county sheriff were really concerned about the high prices of street marijuana tempting medical marijuana patients to sell their crop, then he should be joining LEAP and supporting the end of adult marijuana prohibition. So long as there is illegal “street” marijuana and semi-legal “medical” marijuana, there will always be the corrupting influence of prohibition profits tainting the medical marijuana programs.  You cannot have a black market run alongside a white market without both becoming a little grayer.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama recently toured Oregon with his campaign. In the southwestern Oregon town of Medford, he sat down with the Medford Mail-Tribune for an interview. (Cue video to 5:00 for the question of Oregon’s medical marijuana initiative.)

“When it comes to medical marijuana, I have more of a practical view than anything else,” the Senator explained. “My attitude is that if it’s an issue of doctors prescribing medical marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma or as a cancer treatment, I think that should be appropriate because there really is no difference between that and a doctor prescribing morphine or anything else. I think there are legitimate concerns in not wanting to allow people to grow their own or start setting up mom and pop shops because at that point it becomes fairly difficult to regulate.”

I’m not familiar with all the details of the initiative that was passed [in Oregon] and what safeguards there were in place, but I think the basic concept that using medical marijuana in the same way, with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that’s entirely appropriate. I would not punish doctors if it’s prescribed in a way that is appropriate. That may require some changes in federal law.”

I will tell you that - I want to be honest with you - whether I want to use a whole lot of political capital on that [laughs] when we’re trying to get health care passed or end the war in Iraq is, yeah, the likelihood of that being real high on my list is not likely.

“What I’m not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue simply because I want folks to be investigating violent crimes and potential terrorism. We’ve got a lot of things for our law enforcement officers to deal with.”

Senator Obama, people in twelve medical marijuana states are already “growing their own”. At a time when you are trying to “get health care passed”, doesn’t it make sense to allow people to grow their own medicine as a method of reducing overall health care costs? The only concern anyone has about patients growing medicine is whether that medicine gets diverted to the black market, a condition you as president could alleviate by adding your support to Rep. Barney Franks’ bills to decriminalize personal marijuana possession at the federal level.

MinnPost - Medical marijuana: A politically risky vote?
Legislation that would allow the medical use of marijuana by chronically and terminally ill patients was sent to the Minnesota House floor Wednesday, setting up a prolonged floor debate and a politically sensitive vote in the final weeks of the legislative session.The Ways and Means Committee approved the bill on a 13-4 vote. Backers don’t expect the final House vote to be so lopsided, but that it will squeak through and go to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has all but promised a veto.

Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, chief House sponsor, acknowledges that in an election year when all House members must run, it could be a tough vote for some of his colleagues. “Sure, it could be used against you,” he said. Incumbents who support the bill could face charges by opponents suggesting they are soft on drugs.

Not to worry, said Tom Lehman, a lobbyist for health care organizations, including the Marijuana Policy Project and Minnesotans for Compassionate Care. Twelve states have passed medical marijuana laws and no legislator in those states has ever been defeated for his or her vote on that particular piece of legislation. “That’s fact,” said Lehman. “It’s a good vote in an election year.”

It’s time to get through to these final roadblocks - these governors, first in Connecticut, now in Minnesota - who ignore the overwhelming will of the voters and the bipartisan passage of medical marijuana bills in their legislatures. Let’s get on the phone, Minnesotans and everyone else, and politely tell Gov. Pawlenty that the people want medical marijuana to be legal:

Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

Telephone: (651) 296-3391
Toll Free: (800) 657-3717
Facsimile: (651) 296-2089
E-mail: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

Eyewitness News WPRI / FOX Providence - Providence, Rhode Island News, Weather, Traffic and Sports | R.I. lawmakers consider allowing medical marijuana stores
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Nonprofit businesses would be allowed to sell marijuana to chronically ill patients under proposals Rhode Island lawmakers are expected to consider this week.

The bills would allow so-called “compassion centers” to sell up to 2.5 ounces of the drug every 15 days to a patient or his caregiver if they are enrolled in an existing medical marijuana program overseen by the state Health Department. Rhode Island became the eleventh state in the country in 2006 to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, although the drug remains illegal under federal law.

And the state law contains a major flaw: it never explains how patients can buy marijuana, since dealing it remains a crime in Rhode Island. Opening distribution centers would eliminate the need for patients to meet with violent drug dealers or travel through areas plagued by drug-related crime, said Rep. Thomas Slater, who sponsored the latest measure. His bill would allow a maximum of three distribution sites in the state.

“I think it would be a safe place, an area they could get (marijuana) without a problem,” he said. The House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare was expected to hear testimony on Slater’s bill Tuesday, although a vote was not expected, said Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Speaker William Murphy.

A Senate committee was scheduled to vote on a similar bill Wednesday. The bill is likely to face opposition. Gov. Don Carcieri, a Republican, has repeatedly vetoed bills creating the state’s medical marijuana program because it violates federal law. He would also veto any expansion of the program, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said.

Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated General Assembly have always overridden Carcieri’s vetoes. Opening marijuana distribution centers in Rhode Island could also attract unwanted attention from federal law enforcement authorities, Slater said. Federal agents have not targeted patients for enrolling in Rhode Island’s medical marijuana program, saying they focus on upper-level drug dealers.

But the Drug Enforcement Administration did raid about two dozen marijuana dispensaries in the Los Angeles area last year. The centers were designed to serve patients seeking marijuana for pain relief. A DEA spokesman in Boston did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Medical high jinks leave Tom Cruise camp fuming
Tom Cruise isn’t getting any giggles from a new strain of medical marijuana being marketed as “Tom Cruise Purple.”

Word is that the actor’s lawyers are taking a serious look at the strong brand of bud after we brought it to their attention.

One of Cruise’s friends found it “outrageous” that licensed cannabis clubs in Northern California are selling vials of pot featuring a picture of Cruise laughing hysterically.

Like other followers of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Cruise is opposed to the use of psychotropic drugs.

Staffers at several California clinics we called said they were forbidden to discuss any of the herbal varieties in their “inventory.”

But one weed devotee said, “I heard it’s the kind of pot that makes you hallucinate.”

Tom Cruise Purple, huh? Does it make you jump on a couch and sing in your underwear? Now Tom’s been on a rampage against modern psychiatry and an over-reliance on psychotropic prescriptions; I can even agree with him on that point to an extent. But you’d think someone who is so against the modern pharmaceuticals could at least see the benefit in natural herbal remedies. We’re on the same side on this one, Tom, you just don’t know it yet.

We’ve seen the DEA tactic in California: threaten the landlords who rent to marijuana dispensaries, which are legal under California’s Prop 215, but illegal under federal law.

Back in my home state of Idaho, my county sheriff proposed requiring all landlords to drug-test all prospective tenants, because, I suppose, there aren’t enough homeless drug addicts in America.

So as our nation slowly reawakens to her hemp roots, as more states pass decriminalization and medical marijuana laws, more landlords are caught in a bind between showing compassion by renting to a state-authorized medical marijuana patient and breaking a federal law by aiding and abetting in growing and storing a controlled substance.

I found this question-and-answer segment on a website called Mortgage 101, and the answer was surprisingly rational!

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NORML Blog » Blog Archive » NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up
NEBRASKA: In a major victory for pot-law reformers, Legislative Bill 844 – which sought to recriminalize minor marijuana possession offenses in Nebraska — has been amended. Under current state law, first-time marijuana possession offenses are punishable by a non-criminal citation and a $100 fine. As introduced, LB 844 sought to impose a sentence of up to 90 days in jail for first-time marijuana offenders. As amended, the proposal would increase the maximum fine for pot possession to $300, but would not impose criminal sanctions. The bill now awaits action from full legislature.

CALIFORNIA: California’s Dale Gieringer submitted written testimony opposing Assembly Bill 2389, which seeks to require drug testing for recipients of certain state benefits or cash assistance. Gieringer will testify before the Committee on Human Services in opposition to the proposal at a legislative hearing on Tuesday, April 1. Gieringer will also testify at an upcoming hearing in support of AB 2279, which seeks to end state employment discrimination against qualified medical cannabis patients.

HAWAII: The House Judiciary this week passed an amended resolution (HCR 49) that seeks to allow for state-qualified farmers to provide medical cannabis to authorized patients. The Senate Judiciary is expected to vote imminently on a separate measure, House Bill 2675, which seeks to establish a legislative task force to study issues pertaining to the legal supply of medical marijuana for authorized patients.

And finally, in non-state related legislative news, several newspaper columnists and editorial boards this week have endorsed Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank’s pending legislation to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers.

Our allies at the Drug Policy Alliance are announcing the addition of new sponsors to medical marijuana legislation that will be introduced in the New Jersey State Assembly and Senate:

Medical Marijuana Closer in New Jersey
Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, and Sen. Jim Whelan (who sits on the Health Committee, where the bill will initially be heard), have all signed on. With Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari as the prime sponsor in the Senate, these new additions make for a total of four sponsors in the Senate and seven in the Assembly!

As we build on this momentum, it is important to urge your local representatives and the members of the Assembly and Senate health committees to commit to the compassionate, common sense response to suffering by sponsoring A804 / S119. The more sponsors we have on this legislation, the better chance we have of making medical marijuana a reality in New Jersey.

Oakland pot candy maker pleads guilty
The owner of an Oakland factory that produced marijuana candy with names like Buddafinga and Mr. Greenbud has pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture and distribute marijuana.

Michael Martin, 33, of El Sobrante entered a guilty plea at a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 2 by Judge Claudia Wilken.

Martin is the owner of Tainted Inc., which started as a boutique business that made chocolate truffles and grew into a large marijuana-candy maker that bought chocolate by the ton, authorities said.

When the federal government charged Tainted Inc.’s owner and employees in September, authorities said the company supplied the marijuana-laced candies to cannabis clubs in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, British Columbia and Amsterdam.

Before surrendering to face the charges in October, Martin blasted the U.S. government for what he called an unfair attack by federal bullies on ailing patients who rely on medical marijuana.

Martin said he joined the medical-marijuana movement after seeing his father die painfully of prostate cancer in 2002 after a 10-year battle. His father refused to use marijuana because of a federal ban on all types of the drug. Martin said he uses medical marijuana to ease pain after a fall left him with seven screws and a steel plate in his left heel. He said he also has degenerative cartilage in his right knee.

The DEA loves to go after manufacturers of marijuana edibles. Note that Tainted Inc., was only distributing to places where medical marijuana is legal under state law (California, Washington) or federal law (Canada), or the country where recreational use of marijuana is tolerated in coffeeshops (the Netherlands). But to the DEA, this is a big headline where they can show pictures of marijuana and guns and cash on the evening news along with a story about pot being made into candy. The intended inference is that the dreaded pot dealers are coming to hook your kids with pot candy, which ignores the fact that at every location where these candies are sold, one’s ID is checked for age 18 or above and in the medical dispensaries, a doctor’s recommendation is also checked.

The Arizona Republic newspaper ran a story about medical marijuana and the push to decriminalize its use in Arizona by sick and debilitated people.  While overwhelming majorities support medical marijuana, there are still some people who buy in to the reefer madness.  Witness this one letter to the editor:

Marijuana dangerous; don’t legalize it
Marijuana should not be legalized and it is not medicine. It is a dangerous, addictive substance, which can cause physical and mental-health problems, traffic accidents, and can lead to worse addictions, such as heroin.

If people want to cure cancer, they should look elsewhere and not try to legalize marijuana, even for such purposes. - Susan Bengston, Phoenix

Got it?  Even if marijuana turns out to be the cure for cancer, it shouldn’t be legalized, because people might get addicted to heroin.  Sorry, cancer patients, you’re just going to have to die, because we don’t want there to be any traffic accidents.  Here, have a beer instead!

This is the mindset we are up against.  Good luck, reformers!

As the Associate Director of Oregon NORML - a local chapter headquartered in Portland, Oregon - I am proud to announce the release from Oregon NORML Press of The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act Handbook. This is the definitive guide for the patient, caregiver, or grower in Oregon trying to learn the ins and outs of our medical marijuana program. The guide answers common questions from “How do I register with the state to use cannabis medicinally?” and “What are the possession limits regarding plants and medicine?”* to “What do I tell my landlord or the police about my medical marijuana?” and “What if my doctor won’t help me with a marijuana recommendation.” The handbook also contains a complete copy of the Oregon Revised Statutes governing medical marijuana.

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AMARILLO, TEXAS — A Texas patient who uses medical marijuana to treat the symptoms of HIV won acquittal on marijuana possession charges Tuesday, March 25 based on a rarely-used “necessity defense.” A necessity defense requires the defendant to establish that he had to break the law to avoid an imminent harm more serious than the harm prevented by the law he broke. This defense has rarely been successful in Texas; however, this jury took just 11 minutes to acquit Tim Stevens, 53.

Stevens had never been in trouble until Amarillo police arrested him for possessing less than 4 grams of marijuana. As a result of his HIV infection, Stevens suffers from nausea and cyclical vomiting syndrome, a condition so severe that he has required hospitalization and blood transfusions in the past.

Extensive research has established medical marijuana as an effective treatment for nausea and vomiting associated with HIV/AIDS and cancer chemotherapy, uses recently acknowledged by the prestigious American College of Physicians. Key in establishing Stevens’ medical necessity was the testimony of Dr. Steve Jenison, medical director of the Infectious Diseases Bureau for the state of New Mexico’s Department of Health.

When you can get a victory for medical marijuana in a conservative part of Texas, you know the tide is turning. Public opinion is way ahead of the politicians on this one. People know marijuana is relatively safe when used responsibly, and people know marijuana can be an effective medicine for many conditions.

The 5th National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics is taking place this next weekend, April 4 & 5, in the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California. There will be meals and housing available, but you need to get in touch with Patients Out of Time today by clicking the graphic at the left. Today, March 24th, is the last day to pay the reduced advanced registration fees and to purchase meal tickets for the conference center, but full-price registrations for the conference itself will be taken up until the day of event.

The conference is entitled “Re-Entering Mainstream Medicine”. It is part of Patients Out of Time’s continuing mission to provide a compassionate, science-based educational forum for the restoration of medical cannabis knowledge. There will be an outstanding agenda featuring doctors, nurses, patients, social workers, professors, advocates, and veterans presenting lectures and demonstrations on the medical nature of cannabis.

After all, as one of the conference speakers, ML Mathre, told me during an interview, “Cannabis has been recognized as medicine worldwide for our entire history, save the past century or so.”

newsreview.info - Serving Roseburg & Douglas County, Oregon - News
WILBUR — Employers and workers who intervene in a co-worker’s substance abuse are the only ones who will stem the rising rate of workplace drug and alcohol abuse, said Dan Harmon, chairman of the Drugfree Workplace Legislative Work Group.

Annually, substance abuse costs Oregon $5.9 billion.Included in that figure are health care costs and spending on programs related to substance abuse, on which Oregon spends $813 million annually.And then there’s the loss of productivity in the state, amounting to $4.15 billion in lost earnings.

The costs Harmon cited came from an ECONorthwest study.

Citing figures from the U.S. Department of Labor, Harmon said the American economy loses $81 billion in productivity annually because of substance abuse.

Which gets no link from the newspaper article, whose title is never named in the article, and couldn’t be found after I tried a few extensive searches out at the ECONorthwest website. I always like to read these studies when I see scary numbers coming from supporters of urine testing.

Most of the time when opponents are citing these “substance abuse costs” and “loss of productivity”, they are really ginning up the numbers by conflating the abuse of drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine, which do create huge costs, with the popularity of marijuana, which creates the large numbers of “drug abusers” needed to scare the public.

Jon Gettman at DrugScience.org explains:

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