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Blair (stranger) 5/10/06 09:54 PM 64.114.62.42 More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6418 ] MAKING CANADA A LEADER IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA Stephen Harper has decided to turn marijuana law reform into a mere pipe-dream for 3 million pot-smoking Canadians. This is a tragic mistake: Only in the world of science fiction can a plant become public enemy number one. But the oracle has now spoken, and Canadians will probably have to endure another decade of a misguided drug strategy that converts cannabis consumers into common criminals. Fortunately, however, Harper's regressive approach to cannabis prohibition should have no impact on the increasing number of Canadians who rely upon marijuana for medical purposes. In 2000, the Ontario Court of Appeal declared that seriously ill Canadians have a constitutional right to choose marijuana as medicine. To discharge this constitutional obligation, Health Canada has been compelled to manage and maintain a program that exempts legitimate medical use from the criminal law. Contrary to the views of ill-informed detractors, medical marijuana use is not simply a reflection of the obvious fact that intoxicating substances can make sick people feel temporarily better. The cannabinoids present in marijuana plants not only lead to giggles and a deep appreciation of Pink Floyd; these unique chemical compounds can control and curb nausea, neuropathic pain, spasticity and inflammation. As an appetite stimulant, marijuana can combat the ravages of the wasting syndrome that plagues many patients undergoing chemotherapy and HIV/AIDS antiretroviral treatment. To date, the medical applications of cannabis have related to symptom control and not curative properties. But last year there was much excitement when Spanish and Israeli scientists both discovered that a synthetic cannabinoid can actually shrink cancerous tumours. The problem with marijuana as medicine is the paucity of clinical research. We know pot works and we know it has a high margin of safety, but we don't really know how it works. In the past century, governments funded endless research in the attempt to prove that marijuana is sufficiently harmful to warrant criminal intervention, but these same governments turned a blind eye to any research into medical benefits. Thousands of years of medical use of marijuana was disregarded, or even hidden, in the futile effort to convince people that marijuana was a soul-destroying narcotic. In the process of re-writing history, governments exposed millions of patients to needless suffering. Governments simply assumed that Big Pharma would eventually develop synthetic products that would have greater therapeutic efficacy than marijuana. But with the recall of highly-touted painkillers such as Vioxx and Celebrex, one can now see it is a mistake to rely upon laboratory creations and ignore the benefits of a naturally occurring plant that has been used for medicine since 3000 B.C. We need to understand marijuana's mechanism of action in order to develop medical products that are effective and safe. Many patients will not tolerate smoking joints as a medical treatment. New delivery systems must be developed. For this reason, I became involved in founding Canada's first publicly traded company dedicated to research and development with marijuana -- Cannasat Therapeutics. Despite my general suspicion of big business, I even became a shareholder. My interest in corporate pot has little to do with the widely-shared belief that cannabinoid medicines are destined to become the lucrative, blockbuster drugs of the 21st century. Rather, I know it will take the resources of big business to unravel the mysteries of marijuana's valuable medical applications in the same way that many of our hospitals needed to be built on a foundation of corporate donations. Canada is the ideal jurisdiction for advancing cannabinoid research, as we are the only country in the world where patients have a constitutional right to use marijuana as medicine, and where the government has a constitutional obligation to produce this medicine or to facilitate reasonable access through other channels. Some of the grassroots constituency of pot smokers, whose interests I have represented over the years, have accused me of being a sell-out for introducing the business community to a plant adored and worshipped by the counterculture. Of course, I still remain committed to liberating the plant from the clutches of criminal law control -- but that is an entirely different issue from the alleviation of pain and suffering. As Moses Znaimer, Chairman of Cannasat Therapeutics, recently noted: "This is not about fun -- it is about function." It takes little creativity and initiative to have fun with pot, but it will take years of clinical testing and millions of dollars to develop cannabinoid products that help seriously ill medical patients. It's not hard to act like Cheech and Chong, but it takes lots of effort to become the next Banting and Best. Finally, the world has woken up to the therapeutic potential of cannabis. Research conducted by Cannasat, other pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions will transform the nature of our pharmacopoeia. Move over Gravol, and make way for ganja. Canada: OPED: Making Canada a Leader in Medical Marijuana URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n565/a01.html Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap Pubdate: Wed, 03 May 2006 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2006 Southam Inc. Contact: letters@nationalpost.com Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Author: Alan Young Note: Alan Young teaches law at Osgoode Hall Law School and criminology at the University of Toronto. His work contributed to the establishment of Canada's first medical marijuana program. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 5/10/06 09:55 PM 64.114.62.42 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6419 / re: 6418 ] A 'COMPASSIONATE' APPROACH TO POT Re: Making Canada A Leader In Medical Marijuana, Alan Young, May 3. Although I applaud the recognition of the therapeutic potential of cannabis by "big business," media moguls and law professors are not the only people in Canada currently conducting research on this medicinal herb. Despite remaining unregulated by the federal government, our nation's compassion clubs and societies are involved in a number of medical cannabis studies, including a sociological examination of the patrons of compassion clubs sponsored by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health ( CAMH ). The fact is that Canada's compassion clubs are helping far more critically and chronically ill Canadians than Health Canada ( 10,000 compassion club patrons vs. the 1,300 currently enrolled in the failed and expensive federal program ). We're producing more peer-reviewed medical cannabis research than any other organization in Canada and we're doing all of this at no cost to the Canadian taxpayer. How much longer must our nation's sick and suffering citizens wait before Health Canada has the wisdom and compassion to license these remarkable community-based cannabis research and distribution centres? Philippe Lucas Founder/director/researcher, Vancouver Island Compassion Society. Canada: PUB LTE: A 'Compassionate' Approach To Pot URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n573/a07.html Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap Pubdate: Fri, 05 May 2006 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2006 Southam Inc. Contact: letters@nationalpost.com Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n565/a01.html Author: Philippe Lucas Blair (stranger) 5/25/06 09:31 PM 64.114.62.22 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6492 / re: 6419 ] CANUCKS FACE TOUGH REGS Quesnel Cariboo Observer,24 May 2006 Canada was the first country to regulate medical marijuana use. Health Canada established guidelines to allow Canadians access to marijuana for medicinal reasons in 2001, called Marijuana Medical Access Regulations. The regulations outline circumstances that permit people to use pot for medical reasons under two categories: Category 1 - compassionate end-of-life care Pain or muscle spasms stemming from multiple sclerosis, or spinal cord injury or disease. Pain or other symptoms from cancer, HIV-related infections, severe arthritis or epilepsy. Category 2 - debilitating symptoms from medical conditions not under Category 1. As of April 2006, nearly 3,000 Canadians are authorized to produce, distribute or use pot for medical purposes. 1,399 are authorized to possess marijuana for medical reasons; 1,005 can grow marijuana for medical use. Of that: 890 have a Personal-Use Production Licence; 109 have a Designated-Person Production Licence; 266 are authorized to buy marijuana; 190 receive marijuana seeds; 72 are receiving dried pot and seeds for medical purposes. B.C. has the second highest number of authorizations for use in Canada; Ontario has nearly twice as many. More than 300 people are authorized to possess in B.C., and more than 200 physicians in the province support authorization. Country-wide, 829 physicians support authorization. To become eligible for legal use, Health Canada issues a 35-page application document. The document's sections include application for licence to produce, and to obtain dried product and seeds. Information provided by Health Canada Satistics, April 7, 2006. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Wed, 24 May 2006 Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Quesnel Cariboo Observer Contact: newsroom@quesnelobserver.com Website: http://www.quesnelobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 5/26/06 01:06 PM 64.114.62.38 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6494 / re: 6492 ] POT PLANTS ARE 'SPECIAL, THEY'RE MEDICINE' Quesnel Cariboo Observer,24 May 2006 Jayne Ball doesn't have much to be merry about these days. Neither does her husband Bert. "I don't make any apologies for smoking marijuana," Jayne said Saturday from her blue low-back chair, drawing in a slow, steady drag from a cigarette. "I think it should be legalized," said the 48-year-old grandmother of four. "If I smoke pot, I can function." "I don't believe the government should have a right to tell me what I can put in my body and what I can't." A decade-long battle with two herniated discs and a spur-ridden vertebrae in her lower back and neck have left Jayne slightly hunched over. The spurs are an endless catalyst for pain, Jayne said, as they pinch nerves and send waves of unease throughout her body. "It's like somebody is ripping my skin off," she said wincing at the thought of it, holding the back of her neck with a cupped left hand. "Even for my shirt to rub it hurts." She suffers from chronic arthritis, Hepatitis C and her constant discomfort has induced depression. As she sits, her upper-body weight supported by her right elbow perched on the padded arm rest, she exhales smoke over her eight prescriptions. May 12, Wells RCMP raided the Balls' Crown Grant 5-F property near Wells. They confiscated close to 300 marijuana plants, four grocery-style bags of dried herb, growing equipment and several firearms. Charges of production and possession of a controlled substance are pending against the couple, as are firearms-related charges. Police called it a sophisticated grow-op, an intricate system of timers, lights and rooms full of plants fed by a central supply. It was getting ready for a significant expansion, according to RCMP. After their story hit the media, the Balls came forward. They want to clear the air and tackle their plight head on. Bert was growing pot. His operation was in full-swing for about two-and-a-half years. In that time, he developed quite a passion for the pungent plants. "I hate to say it, but they're like little babies," Bert said with a nostalgic grin. "They're just little special things that you work on. It's not like tomato's and it's not the same feeling. "They're special, they're medicine. You're doing something good by growing them." Bert was harvesting his crops twice a year and only grew in winter months. Before marijuana, the only things he ever planted were tomato's and a garden for his ex-wife. "I've studied and studied and studied," he said. "I could probably be a good grower of cannabis. I don't know about anything else." He did have timers and lights and a central feed supply, an eight-gallon tank with a pump and a hose to feed each plant manually. But Bert also had a government approved exemption, signed by RCMP. As a designated grower, Bert had a license for 25 plants. There was an exapansion in the works as well, as Bert was getting set to grow 35 more plants for another Lower Mainland man on a seperate exemption. The Balls' main problem lies in that while exempt for 60 plants, they were way over their legal limit, with nearly 300. Bert had planned on putting eight seedlings in one-foot by two-foot trays, and was building up to 60 trays. "This was the expansion they were talking about," Bert said pointing to a roughly four-foot by four-foot storage space. His grow-op was set up in what will become his master bedroom and a seperate room which will become his main bathroom, upstairs in their cozy family home. He also had a tray in his office. "I wanted to move this junk out so I could finish my bedroom," the 65-year-old said, walking around trays full of dirt and planters with sawed off stocks. While he had more than his alloted plant number, he was under their government sanctioned dried weight of 2.5 pounds by more than half. And Bert only had 2,400 watts worth of lighting in his operation, and said his research indicated it would only yield 2.4 lbs worth of marijuana, no matter how big the plants got or how many there were. "The general rule of thumb is one pound per every 1,000 watts of light you have," he said. "That's all we got. I tried it with smaller plants and it was the same. So I thought we'd go with the smaller plants because you don't have the pain in the neck and you don't have to trim all those dinky ass buds." For five years, Jayne has tried to get a government exemption to smoke pot for its medicinal value. Jayne's perturbed she's also facing charges, as she can hardly climb the stairs to where the grow was. Although she has been unable to find a doctor to sign for her, Jayne has still smoked two or three joints a day. It helps ease her pain, she said. It helps her function and lowers her dependancy on morphine. "It makes all the difference in the world," she said, shuffling over in her chair to find a more comfortable position. "If I take all their prescribed medication, I'd be sleeping all the time, I would be like a zombie. "I've managed to drop my morphine from 180 miligrams to 60 mg a day, just by smoking pot." A lack of doctors willing to sign has been a tremendous source of frustration for Bert. "Where, no matter how sick you are, do you find a doctor when the college of surgeons or whatever they call themselves in Canada have told doctors not to sign?" he asked. "And where do you go when they say they don't agree with it?" It's a problem B.C. Compassion Club Society, a medicinal marijuana patient advocacy group based inn Vancouver, said they hear a lot of. "Health Canada's program has only about 1,000 people with licenses in the country," said BCCCS spokesperson Rielle Capler. "There are various estimates, but a recent poll says there are about 1 million people in the country that use cannabis as medicine. By Health Canada's own estimate, there's at least 500,000 people in the country who use cannabis as a medicine. So if they have only been able to license 1,000 people, there's obviously a problem." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Wed, 24 May 2006 Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Quesnel Cariboo Observer Contact: newsroom@quesnelobserver.com Website: http://www.quesnelobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) Blair (stranger) 5/28/06 03:00 PM 64.114.62.40 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6501 / re: 6494 ] Weed control Research on the medicinal benefits of marijuana may depend on good gardening--and some say Uncle Sam, the country's only legal grower of the cannabis plant, isn't much of a green thumb By Jessica Winter The Boston Globe Sunday, May 28, 2006 LYLE CRAKER HAS a number of plants on his mind. An agronomist and professor in the Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he's currently analyzing the active ingredients in black cohosh, which is used to alleviate symptoms of menopause. He is also studying goldenseal, a native American plant that shows promise as a treatment for some skin irritations, and exploring the possibility that certain Chinese medicinal plants could be cultivated in Massachusetts for research purposes. There is another medicinal plant that Craker would like to grow and study, but in this instance, his prospects will be determined in a courtroom. Since 2001, Craker has been seeking a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration to establish a medical-marijuana growth facility at UMass-Amherst. It would be the second such facility in the US; at present, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a federal agency, produces the only legal supply of cannabis in the country at the University of Mississippi. The DEA lists cannabis as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical uses. However, marijuana is unique on the Schedule I roster-which also includes cocaine, LSD, and MDMA (Ecstasy)-as the only substance that is not available from multiple independent producers for clinical research purposes. ``There are two issues here: quality and access," says Rick Doblin, the Belmont-based founder and president of the nonprofit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which is sponsoring Craker's suit against the DEA. The government holds that its Mississippi operation obviates the need for a second crop. Craker and MAPS counter that NIDA cultivates a product of poor quality and does not make it readily available to qualified researchers, and point to NIDA's previous refusals to supply cannabis to two scientists with FDA-approved protocols as grounds for establishing an independent facility. On April 20, the Food and Drug Administration released a controversial statement declaring that marijuana ``has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." The outcome of Craker's case-especially if it reaches federal court, as is likely-could realign the terms of the national debate over medical marijuana. For now, the suit, which has the expressed support of Senators Edward Kenedy and John Kerry, as well as 38 members of the House of Representatives, is in the hands of DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner, who's expected to make her recommendation to the agency on the application sometime this summer. Final briefs were filed on May 8. There is abundant anecdotal evidence and personal testimony to support myriad uses of cannabis to treat symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other ailments. As the FDA reiterated in its statement, however, scant clinical evidence exists to back these claims-or, for that matter, to contradict them. Paradoxically, the controls on official research of cannabis in America undermine both the medical-marijuana movement's efforts to prove the drug's benefits and the government's assertions of its dangers. Strangely enough, the case for pharmaceutical cannabis may, in the end, come down to good gardening-and may depend on whether the government is willing to give up its monopoly on marijuana. . . . Cannabis sativa was once widely recommended by American physicians as a mild sedative, much as the popular herbal treatments valerian and camomile are used today. By 1937, however, the drug had been effectively outlawed by the Marihuana Tax Act. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics had aggressively pursued this ban with Congress, and cited marijuana's perceived popularity as a smoked narcotic among Mexican farm laborers, hysterical tabloid reports on its deranging effects, and results from tests on canine subjects. Punishments for pot-related offenses remained light into the 1980s, and President Carter favored decriminalization. It wasn't until the War on Drugs gathered momentum midway through the Reagan administration that penalties became fearsome enough to drive marijuana growers indoors-which, it turned out, was the best possible place for a cannabis plant to thrive. In ``The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World" (2001), author Michael Pollan has an epiphany while visiting a ``grow room" run by an acquaintance. ``t dawned on me," he writes, ``that this was what the best gardeners of my generation had been doing all these years: They had been underground, perfecting cannabis." From the standpoint of both the scientist and the connoisseur, perfect cannabis can be achieved with unseeded, genetically identical female plants. The original crop is harvested from seeds, and subsequent generations are bred from cuttings. Characterized by the ``buds" from which marijuana derives one of its many slang names, these virgin female plants carry high levels of molecules unique to the cannabis plant, called cannabinoids. The two most well-understood cannabinoids are THC and CBD, which many physicians and patients believe can alleviate nausea, stimulate appetite, ease pain and anxiety, and lessen the muscle stiffness and spasms associated with MS. In the UK, the GW Pharmaceuticals company has a government license to grow cannabis under highly regulated conditions. At a secret location in southern England, in greenhouses that are computer-controlled for temperature, humidity, and light, the GW research team has compiled a veritable library of plant strains, with precisely determined ratios of cannabinoid content. The upshot is Sativex, a liquid extract of equal parts THC and CBD that is sprayed under the tongue to treat neuropathic pain. Britain permits the use of Sativex in MS patients, and the drug has been approved for marketing in Canada. Cannabinoids also have a presence on the US market, in the recently approved Cesamet, a synthetic cannabinoid, and in Marinol, a THC extract in pill form that the FDA approved back in 1985. But Marinol contains no CBD, and ingested THC is metabolized differently from smoked marijuana-the palliative effects take much longer to kick in, and the psychoactive effects are far stronger. Craker's intentions for a Massachusetts site are similar to the GW template: an indoor facility housing female clones, with strains made to order for researchers according to exact cannabinoid content. In contrast to the methods practiced by GW and by America's outlaw gardeners, however, NIDA grows the majority of its marijuana outdoors, under conditions that result in unwanted pollination and, according to some users, a harsh product. The Institute harvested its most recent marijuana crop in Mississippi in 2002, and stockpiled the supply in vaults and freezers. Cannabinoid content of NIDA pot is highly variable, and a THC potency of 6 to 8 percent is about as high as researchers can hope for. By contrast, Canada distributes medical marijuana to patients at 12.5 percent, and medical marijuana in the Netherlands ranges from 13 to 18 percent potency. ``I've spoken to patients who have used [NIDA marijuana], and they've said it's everything from worthless to other descriptions I should not use," Craker says. ``The patient has to smoke one cigarette after the other to get any effective relief from pain." Ethan Russo, a neurologist and now a senior medical adviser to GW Pharmaceuticals, conducted patient studies with NIDA marijuana and reported, ``A close inspection of the contents of NIDA-supplied cannabis cigarettes reveals them to be a crude mixture of leaf with abundant stem and seed components.. . .The resultant smoke is thick, acrid, and pervasive." Then again, it's not in NIDA's job description-or even, perhaps, in NIDA's interests-to grow a world-class marijuana crop. The institute's director, Nora Volkow, has stressed that it's ``not NIDA's mission to study the medicinal use of marijuana or to advocate for the establishment of facilities to support this research." Since NIDA's stated mission ``is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction," federally supported marijuana research will logically tilt toward the potential harms, not benefits, of cannabis. Under these circumstances, evidence in support of medical marijuana tends to materialize as a byproduct, not a primary goal, of official research. For example, Donald Tashkin of UCLA intended to demonstrate via a NIDA-supported study that marijuana smoke increases the risk of lung and upper-airways cancer. But the findings of the study, announced this past week, indicate that heavy marijuana smokers actually show lower cancer rates than tobacco smokers, indirectly supporting claims by medical-marijuana proponents for the tumor-inhibiting properties of cannabinoids. . . . At the moment, federal law prohibits pot cultivation even in those states (11 at last count) that have passed medical-marijuana referenda. In 1996, Californians voted in favor of the Compassionate Use Act, also known as Proposition 215, which permitted the use and cultivation of marijuana by qualified patients. According to the act, patients with a referral from a physician can obtain medical marijuana from one of some 200 dispensaries or ``buyers' clubs," which procure their high-grade stock from tucked-away farms and discreet greenhouses. Despite the ever present threat of a crackdown from the federal government, these companies are thriving-some clubs even offer their employees healthcare benefits and 401(k) plans-and have created a market for medical marijuana. ``For evidence in support of the healthy competition fostered by a marketplace economy, you need only to look at the quality of marijuana available in California," says Mark Blumenthal, who directs the nonprofit American Botanical Council of Austin, Texas. ``Pluralism and economic competition are good for the consumer. We generally don't allow and empower monopolies in our culture-it's contrary to the tenets of our economic system." The invocation of a government monopoly on marijuana helps to explain the strange bedfellows on the pro-cannabis side of this issue. The conservative historian Richard Brookhiser and the late Reagan aide Lyn Nofziger both spoke out in favor of medical marijuana, and supporters of Craker's suit against the DEA include not only several nurses' associations and the United Methodist Church but Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a staunch defender of small government and an unfettered free market. ``The use of controlled substances for legitimate research purposes is well-established, and has yielded a number of miracle medicines widely available to patients and doctors," Norquist wrote in his letter of support. ``This case should be no different. It's in the public interest to end the government monopoly on marijuana legal for research." Given Norquist's many successes on the lobbying circuit, perhaps all medical marijuana needs is a new pitch man. _______________________________________________________ The NIDA Ditch Weed is designed to discredit medical marijuana. They deliberately grow low quality marijuana, in order to test that. like the chef who refuses to smell or taste what is being cooked ... Anonymouse (Unregistered) 6/3/06 01:17 PM 64.114.62.7 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6513 / re: 6501 ] PHARMA GETS HIGH RETURNS ON 'POT PILLS' Montreal Gazette,26 May 2006 Pot in a pill? Not quite. But cancer patients desperate for relief from the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy are increasingly turning toward synthetic cannabinoids. And that's good news for the Montreal facility that manufactures Cesamet, a drug that replicates the active ingredient in marijuana. In a decision last week by the Food and Drug Administration, Cesamet was approved for sale in the U.S., about 25 years after it was first authorized in Canada. The drug is made almost exclusively in Ville St. Laurent by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Costa Mesa, Calif. ( although it's also produced by a different company in Britain ). Thomas Schlader, Valeant's general manager in Montreal, says FDA approval means the plant can gear up to serve the large potential market in the United States. Valeant purchased Cesamet from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly in 2001 and has watched Canadian sales more than double each year. The drug is expected to generate revenues of $18 million to $20 million this year, he says. The FDA decision could solidify the company's future in Montreal, where 145 are employed. Valeant - a mid-size pharmaceutical company with annual revenue of about $800 million U.S. - has been closing and rationalizing facilities around the world. The Montreal plant now has a brighter future with what amounts to a world mandate to produce a drug with significant growth potential. That could lead to more investment and new products at the facility, Schlader says. Aside from Cesamet, the Montreal plant produces about three dozen branded and generic pharmaceutical products, largely for the Canadian market. In Canada, where Cesamet has been sold since 1981, it has an 88-per-cent market share, according to the company. Two competing cannabinoids are Marinol, made by Solvay Pharmaceuticals, and Savitex, a mouth spray approved for treating pain associated with multiple sclerosis. The U.S. approval of Cesamet - the second such cannabinoid now allowed in that country - is somewhat ironic. The FDA said last month there's no scientific basis to approve the medical use of marijuana. Yet soon after that decision, the agency authorized Cesamet, which essentially mimics the marijuana ingredient THC, but without the same kind of "high" that would come from smoking cannabis. "There's been a lot of research on cannabinoids on a worldwide basis and people have found they can be very useful in ( treating ) pain and in other areas like post-traumatic stress," Schlader notes. "The physician community, especially those working in the area of pain, are always looking for products that will respond when nothing else is working." Yvon Beauchamp, a physician in palliative care and pain management at Sacre Coeur Hospital, says that doctors are becoming more widely aware of the medication's benefits. While Cesamet is primarily indicated for nausea and vomiting in cancer treatment, it's also effective in treating acute pain, he said. "We have noticed that when taken in combination with morphine, it can reduce anxiety and muscle spasms and facilitate sleep." A pill has the additional advantage that patients can avoid the toxic effects that come with smoking marijuana. Ottawa has authorized the medical use of marijuana, but there are still questions surrounding the suitability and consistency of the product. In comparison, Cesamet is "a standardized product, so that's it's always the same quality, it's always the same pharmo-kinetic profile within the body. Physicians have confidence in this approach," Schlader said. While it's difficult to gauge the market potential for Cesamet in the U.S., he points out that the cannabinoid Marinol, already approved south of the border, has reached sales of $160 million U.S. It's estimated that half a million Americans each year receive chemotherapy treatment and that 70 per cent experience nausea and vomiting. Elsewhere, the drug has been approved in Argentina, and is in the regulatory process in several other Latin American countries. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Fri, 26 May 2006 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2006 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: letters@thegazette.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Peter Hadekel Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Anonymouse (Unregistered) 6/3/06 09:34 PM 64.114.62.7 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6516 / re: 6513 ] Fri, 2 Jun 2006 Marijuana Prohibition Makes War On Miraculous Gift By Stephen Young DrugSense Weekly If a miracle suddenly appeared, would we try to learn from it or try to destroy it? A common plant can relieve pain and muscle spasticity. The plant's components show promise to inhibit tumor growth and control diabetes. The plant contains remarkable substances identical to substances which already flow through human bodies and are thought to regulate critical functions from memory to mood. A close relative of the plant also offers profitable but environmentally-friendly alternative fiber and food crops. Research continues on the plant in the United States, but most studies focus on allegedly negative effects. The plant is cannabis (more commonly known as marijuana), and the government does not see it as a miracle. The government denies that marijuana and similar plants (like the very useful buy wholly non-intoxicating hemp) can ever be good. But that denial took another hit from the facts recently. Marijuana prohibitionists have long argued that since cannabis smoke contains more tars than tobacco, it must cause cancer. A thorough study presented recently at The American Thoracic Society's annual conference showed that even heavy marijuana smoking did not increase the risk for lung cancer. Indeed, in the study by Donald Tashkin of UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, marijuana smokers showed slightly lower cancer rates than non-smokers. This is not an entirely new finding, as a review of the literature on lung cancer and marijuana smoke by Dr. Robert Melamede suggested last year. Tashkin's study results should have been on the front page of every newspaper in the nation. Why? Because we have been wasting lives and resources on a war based on faulty intelligence, only this war has been going on for close to 70 years. And because the media has helped to disseminate this faulty intelligence for an even longer time, it bears the responsibility of correcting the record fully. The initial reasons given for marijuana prohibition included its supposed propensity to turn users violent. That misconception finally got cleared up as the drug became more popular in the 1960s and 1970s despite prohibition. That era had its own litany of false stories about cannabis, including the absurdity that it made teenage boys sprout breasts. More recently we heard that marijuana smoking will lead to lung, head and neck cancer. It's a lie that is especially damaging considering the reality. In other places in the world, marijuana is being studied medically, and not only for the relief from cancer treatments like chemotherapy. Research suggests cannabis might actually be an anti-cancer agent (which would explain why Tashkin's study showed marijuana smokers with lower lung cancer rates than non-smokers). Italian researchers last week seemed to show anti-cancer properties in substances found in cannabis. This hasn't been widely publicized, similar to other promising research released in 2003, as well as research that goes back to the early 1970s. If any other substance was involved, this would have been on the cover of major U.S. news magazines. As it stands, unfortunately, most U.S. media have missed most of the amazing new science related to cannabis and human health. Substances called cannabinoids found in cannabis plants also occur naturally human bodies. Special receptors exist around the body specifically to interact with the cannabinoids that we make or that cannabis makes. The cannabinoids don't appear in any other plant. Kind of, well, miraculous, isn't it? More research needs to be done on how cannabis and cannabinoids can be used beneficially. For now, that research won't take place in the United States. All U.S. government-funded research starts with the presumption that marijuana is bad. Researchers trying to learn about possible benefits report being denied a legal supply of the plant. This notion that sending a wholly negative message about marijuana (even devoting a multi-billion dollar taxpayer financed ad campaign equating the plant with badness) will somehow keep our young people away from marijuana has also been exposed as a lie. For the past several years teenagers surveyed on drug use say it's easy to get marijuana if they want it. There are reasons for young people not to use marijuana. Hearing over hyped scare stories about the substance isn't one of them. A recent study of that multi-billion dollar taxpayer financed ad campaign showed many teenagers who viewed the ads became more interested in marijuana, not less. The rationale for the war on marijuana, and the tactics used to fight that war, have been exposed as false and counterproductive. Each year police arrest more than 700,000 Americans for marijuana. This summer, police across the nation will be out cutting down wild hemp plants that can't intoxicate anyone. Certainly all that police time could be spent on more pressing issues, and otherwise law-abiding citizens don't need to get drawn into the criminal justice system. As it stands, we are wasting vast resources to destroy another beneficial resource and to ensure that our country stays behind the curve in terms of scientific research. The next medical breakthroughs related to this easily available plant won't occur in our country solely due to ingrained political myopia and cowardice. We must take off the ideological blinders that decades of drug war have forced on us. We could have new medicine, new crops for farmers, even new revenue streams for government through legitimate taxation, along with regulation schemes to better keep young people out of the market. In fact, these things will happen one day. It's all coming, and we could all save ourselves a lot of shame and misery by trying to learn from the miracle now, instead of wasting billings trying (but failing) to destroy it. The miracle itself does not suffer for our actions, but we do. Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and a member of the Board of Directors for Illinois NORML. Blair (stranger) 6/11/06 02:55 PM 64.114.62.32 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6531 / re: 6494 ] PLEA TO LEGALIZE CANNIBIS Quesnel Cariboo Observer,07 Jun 2006 By Bert Ball The article states there are 200 physicians who support authorization of medical marijuana. Where are they? I know many people who have been trying for years to get a Health Canada permit, but can't find a physician to sign for them. When a person is sick or in pain, they should have the right to choose their own medicine. This is Canada, not some dictatorship. Do not be misled. The gateway drug is not alcohol or cannabis. Other than medical reasons, I do not know of one single person who uses or has used cannabis who did not start with good old booze. Take it from a 65-year-old working-class Canadian who has been around these drugs all my life. I do not smoke cannabis and have never smoked cigarettes, but I certainly defend the right of a person in need to use cannabis. If we go on letting our children think sickness, death and destruction that is caused by alcohol and cigarettes is OK, how can we be so naive to think our children are not smart enough to come to the conclusion that maybe cannabis is the better choice. With one stroke of a pen, our government could make cannabis subject to the same laws that apply to alcohol and tobacco. Eliminating outrageous profits would eliminate criminal activity. There would be no more criminal records for Canadians who use cannabis. And last but not least, the millions and millions of wasted dollars spent by taxpayers chasing, catching, prosecuting and sometimes even jailing people who use cannabis could now be put to good use going after the hard and dangerous drugs that are seriously harming our young people. I know it would not be quite this simple, but it would be a good start in the right direction. Remember, alcohol prohibition failed and failed miserably. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Quesnel Cariboo Observer Contact: newsroom@quesnelobserver.com Website: http://www.quesnelobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260 Author: Bert Ball Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Blair (stranger) 6/16/06 05:22 PM 64.114.62.40 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6558 / re: 6531 ] MEDICAL MARIJUANA STILL NOT WIDELY AVAILABLE: REPORT Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,14 Jun 2006 The federal government's medical marijuana program doesn't work, the Canadian AIDS Society said in a report released Wednesday. The group's report suggests few users of medical marijuana obtain the drug through official channels. "Over 85 per cent of the people we consulted who used cannabis are currently relying on illegal sources for their supply of cannabis," said Lynne Bell-Isle, who worked on the 18-month project for the society. "Only 1.7 per cent of respondents we spoke to obtained their cannabis from the government." The federal government grows some marijuana through a private contractor, but fewer than 200 people are currently registered to receive marijuana through the program. The report said there are several barriers to accessing the federal program, including: *Lack of awareness of the program's existence. *Difficulty finding doctors to support a patient's application for access. The barriers provide an incentive to turn to the black market, the report's authors said. Other patients are licensed to grow small amounts of marijuana for their own use. The group noted Ottawa has invested nearly $6 million in the contract to grow medical marijuana. It calls on Canada's auditor general to investigate the program. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Canada Web) Copyright: 2006 CBC Contact: letters@cbc.ca Website: http://www.cbc.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1412 Cited: The Canadian AIDS Society Cannabis as Therapy report http://www.cdnaids.ca/web/casmisc.nsf/pages/cas-gen-0112 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 6/18/06 10:18 AM 64.114.62.34 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6566 / re: 6558 ] FORMER WASAGA CHAMBER EXECUTIVE PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGES, FINED $1,500 Stayner Sun,14 Jun 2006 In The Courts - Creemore Lawyer Argues Dope Helps Control Man's Headaches A 56-YEAR-OLD Wasaga Beach man was fined $1,500 with a 10-year weapons ban for having a marijuana grow operation on medical grounds. John Peterson pled guilty as charged, Tuesday. Federal prosecutor Cecile Applegate told the court that on Dec. 18, 2005 a Huronia West OPP officer was dispatched on an alarm call to the Spruce Street home of the defendant. Police found the rear door forced open, called in the canine unit, and combed the building for suspects, read the Crown. Inside the home were more than 70 cannabis plants in a container with soil, along with related "drug paraphernalia." Defence lawyer Brian Greasley said his client "suffers chronic articular pain, and has produced marijuana which controls headaches and increases the appetite." The lawyer added Peterson has used the narcotic "for many years", and is now applying for a licence to produce it for his own consumption. Mr. Justice C.M. Harpur found Peterson's prior drug record - although 16 years old - was not helpful in the case, and warned the accused that a further drug-related offence would end in jail. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Jay Bergstrom Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 Source: Stayner Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 1996-2005 Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing Contact: http://www.simcoe.com/sc/stayner/contact/v-scv3/ Website: http://www.simcoe.com/sc/stayner/v-scv3/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3886 Author: Sheila Rowland Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) Blair (stranger) 6/26/06 02:17 PM 64.114.62.17 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6597 / re: 6566 ] COOKIN' WITH CANNABIS Ottawa Sun,25 Jun 2006 Couple Serves Up Medicinal Recipes Even Russell Barth cringes at the thought of sipping a homemade tea that's been steeping in a cannabis solution for 10 minutes. "It tastes gross," the 37-year-old pot activist says as the concoction cools in a refrigerator at the Jack Purcell Community Centre. "I'm not drinking it for fun. I'm taking it to alleviate symptoms." Barth and his wife, Christine Lowe, put on a cooking clinic during the Ravenswing Craft and Zine Fair at the community centre yesterday. Licence to Use Barth and Lowe can be cavalier about their pot use because they hold federal licences to use the bud for medicinal purposes. Barth suffers from fibromyalgia, which causes insomnia and widespread pain in muscles; Lowe suffers from a slate of illnesses, including epilepsy, multiple personality disorder and eating disorders. "Cannabis is the only thing I use," said Lowe, 37, noting she doesn't take any other medications for her illnesses. The couple showed a small crowd how to make pot-infused tea, oil and butter, which, if spread on toast, might make anyone a morning person. The couple finds smoking pot "very unpleasant," so cooking the bud is one way to get around puffing it. While Barth and Lowe rely on the cooking techniques to cope with their medical conditions, other curious visitors were interested in recreational applications. Mike Foster, of head shop Crosstown Traffic, who helped organize the cooking demonstration, noted the event was perfectly legal, as long as Barth and Lowe didn't hand out samples. A recreational marijuana user, Foster, 52, is also trying to find alternatives to lighting up. "I've been a smoker for over 30 years," the 52-year-old said. "You get concerned about your health." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: oped@ott.sunpub.com Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Jon Willing Photo: Activist Russell Barth takes a swig of his medicinal pot tea during the Ravenswing Craft and Zine Fair yesterday. (Blair Gable, SUN) http://www.mapinc.org/images/RussellBarth.jpg Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Russell+Barth Blair (stranger) 6/30/06 09:52 PM 64.114.62.24 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6626 / re: 6597 ] SS TO MARIJUANA A RIGHT FOR PWAS Capital Xtra!,29 Jun 2006 Health / Report Calls For Overhaul In Regulations A new report released Jun 14 by the Canadian AIDS Society ( CAS ) identifies barriers that hinder people living with HIV/AIDS from access to marijuana for medicinal use. The 18-month project report is entitled Cannabis As Therapy For People Living With HIV/AIDS: Our Right, Our Choice. The report is divided in two parts: the first part, Our Right, outlines the political barriers that revolve around the medical use of marijuana. Barriers include lack of awareness of the existing government program for access to medical marijuana, the mistrust of the government, and the medical establishment's unwillingness to support the benefits of marijuana for people with HIV/AIDS. The other part, Our Choice, proposes allowing authorized marijuana users to expand their options when choosing the type of marijuana they want to be treated with. Today, those needing the weed can legally get it only from very limited sources: either buying cannabis grown by the government, buying seeds from the government and growing them on their own, or designating a person who can grown plants only for them. Only 1.7 percent of authorized users choose the government's product because it only provides one strain of cannabis. The government has also expressed its intention to phase out those with licenses to produce -- putting users in a position where they may have to break the law for the sake of their health. "Denying a seriously ill person access to healthcare services is not only unethical," the report notes, "it also violates the very essence of our universal healthcare system." The report notes 58,000 Canadians live with HIV/AIDS. Between 14 percent and 37 percent of them use marijuana to help alleviate symptoms of appetite loss, wasting, nausea and vomiting, pain, anxiety, depression and stress. They either smoke the weed or, if they need a longer lasting effect, eat it. The drug is useful for stimulating appetite and helping people keep down their food. It has minimal negative side effects on the user's health and is not physically addictive. A groundbreaking study by Dr Tashkin at UCLA in 2005 found cannabis does not cause cancer of the lungs, upper airwaves or oesophagus. Another 2005 California study found patients with HIV/AIDS with moderate to severe nausea were more likely to take their medications on a regular basis than if they used cannabis. But acquiring cannabis for medical purposes is difficult in Canada. Only 1399 persons are authorized to possess cannabis. Only 26 percent of those who were consulted for the CAS report have valid authorization. And a complex set of Health Canada regulations make it difficult to get authorization. Doctors are reluctant to sign their patients' request to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. The Canadian Medical Protective Association -- the insurer for the medical profession -- in 2001 advised its doctors not to complete the government's program's documents unless they have "detailed knowledge" about cannabis. Brent Lewandoski, a member of the national steering committee for the project and one of the four panelists at the press conference launching the report, says people have the right to choose the therapy best suited for them. Speaking softly behind his glasses with an AIDS pin on his left navy blazer, Lewandoski outlined the difficulties faced by many of his friends with AIDS. "It's very important that people be aware that people who use medicinal cannabis are there to improve their quality of life and to help them become better and productive people in society," says Lewandoski. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 Source: Capital Xtra! (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 Pink Triangle Press Contact: capxtra@xtra.ca Website: http://www.xtra.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2153 Author: Jefferson Mendoza Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 7/2/06 08:25 PM 64.114.62.39 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6631 / re: 6626 ] Canada's Conservative Government Extends Med Pot Program Contract by Mindelle Jacobs, The Edmonton Sun (02 Jul, 2006) Two lawyers fight the one-grower-one-patient rule that many say is unconstitutional and does not meet medicinal marijuana exemptees' needs As much as the Conservatives would probably love to ditch the medical marijuana program, they have quietly extended the contract with the government's official pot grower. The five-year, $5.7-million deal the previous Liberal Government inked with Prairie Plant Systems, which grows Ottawa's weed in an abandoned mine in Manitoba, expired Friday (after a six-month extension was previously granted). Now the contract has been stretched until the end of September while the feds put out a request for proposals for a new five-year deal. The Tories (the Conservative government) must wish the whole medical pot issue would just go up in smoke. In fact, things are about to heat up. In a recent report, the Canadian AIDS Society (CAS) slammed Ottawa's marijuana monopoly and urged the government to allow designated producers to grow pot for multiple people. Currently, the report noted, sick Canadians can buy government-grown pot, seeds from the government or grow their own. Medical pot users can also authorize someone to grow weed for them. But designated growers can only provide marijuana for one patient. "We favour providing authorized persons with a variety of legal options and products," says the CAS paper. "Eventually, Canada has to develop an adequate model for the distribution of legal, safe and affordable medical cannabis to ensure that seriously ill Canadians do not continue to rely on the black market." It proposes, for instance, that Ottawa authorize compassion clubs to dispense medical pot. The federal government may be tempted to ignore the report, but squirrelling it away on a dusty shelf won't work this time. Two lawyers on opposite sides of the country are poised to challenge the government's medical marijuana program on constitutional grounds. In B.C., lawyer John Conroy is acting for people accused of growing pot for about 70 compassion club members - a breach of the one-grower-one-patient rule. "We're saying that the entire scheme is still defective," says Conroy. "It doesn't meet the requirements of (properly meeting the needs of the sick)." He agrees with the CAS that compassion clubs should be recognized as legal dispensers of medical pot. The trial is scheduled for the fall and if Conroy can't resolve the issue with the Crown, he expects to file a constitutional challenge of the Ottawa's entire pot program. In Ontario, lawyer Alan Young is pulling on his boxing gloves for a similar battle against Ottawa's pot program. A couple near Ottawa is willing to grow medical pot for about 40 authorized users, but the government says the couple can only produce weed for one patient, says Young. Young is taking the case to federal court, arguing that the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs doesn't require state ownership of medical marijuana. "I'm not going to convince (Ottawa). A court's going to have to tell them they're wrong," says Young. There are people who want to grow pot for ill Canadians - and who would be willing to absorb much of the costs - but Ottawa is afraid of losing control, he charges. "They're afraid if they say there can be ownership (of pot), they'll be flooded with applications by lots of different people to grow." Ideally, Young would like to see a court ruling that strikes down Ottawa's pot monopoly so the private sector can begin developing cannabinoid-based products from the naturally occurring plant - not just synthetically. And he agrees with the CAS that until those products are developed, Ottawa should allow designated producers to supply pot to multiple patients. Government pot isn't necessarily bad; it's just that one strain of pot doesn't work for every ailment, says Young. The statistics speak for themselves. Of the 1,000 people allowed to cultivate pot for medical purposes, only 262 are ordering Ottawa's seeds. Obviously, Canadians are not gaga over government ganga. randall77 (stranger ) 7/3/06 08:42 AM 64.231.182.6 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6633 / re: 6419 ] we do not NEED big pharma or, big brudda' to develop costly and/or, singly effective, trademarked medications!!! we already have 'the bombs' to alleviate symptoms, provide relief, rest and recreation, hell maybe even cures for an ever-increasing number of diseases, conditions, maladies, disorders, etc ad infinitum. oh yeah, big pharma, as well as big forestry, big power(esp fossil fuels & nukes), big agriculture(esp corn,cotton,sugar,etc), big oil, big govt all r scared 'shitless' that 'little mary jane' will morph into a 'takeover titan'. pray/invoke all holies that it happens and soon. later. Rx:Legalize It! Blair (stranger) 7/6/06 10:45 PM 64.114.62.28 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6644 / re: 6633 ] OTTAWA MAKING MEDICAL POT 'ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE' National Post,06 Jul 2006 Too Many Hurdles, Lawyer Tells Court CALGARY - The government provides a legal method for a person to grow and possess marijuana for personal medical reasons, but makes it "almost impossible" to do so, a lawyer argued yesterday. John Hooker, counsel for longtime Calgary pot crusader Grant Krieger, told provincial court Justice William Pepler the medical marijuana issue is similar to the abortion issue, in which the government permits women to legally have abortions, then puts many hurdles in place. "Very few doctors will sign certificates for persons to be allowed to possess and use marijuana," Mr. Hooker said. "So it is unfair to convict people in such a case as this." Mr. Krieger, 52, is asking the judge to stay two counts of trafficking in marijuana. The charges stem from packages destined for ill fellow users in Manitoba but intercepted by courier companies on Dec. 23, 2003, and Jan. 8, 2004. Mr. Krieger admitted he is supplying more than 400 people in at least three provinces, all of whom cannot get doctor-backed exemptions and have no legal source of the drug. Crown prosecutor Scott Couper said having physicians participate in the application process is appropriate, given that marijuana is largely an unproven drug in medical use and is controlled. "Doctors know the patient and the process," Mr. Couper said. Mr. Krieger, who has progressive multiple sclerosis, said he is distributing marijuana only to others in need of alleviating chronic pain and suffering from AIDS, HIV, cancer, MS and other crippling illnesses. He has never applied for an exemption under the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations to grow and possess marijuana for his own use, but was given a one-year judicial exemption following a court case in 2000. It was later made indefinite by the Alberta Court of Appeal. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2006 Southam Inc. Contact: letters@nationalpost.com Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Author: Daryl Slade, CanWest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 7/6/06 10:47 PM 64.114.62.28 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6645 / re: 6644 ] 'IMPOSSIBLE' POT RULES CHALLENGED Calgary Herald,06 Jul 2006 The government provides a legal method for a person to grow and possess marijuana for personal medical reasons, but makes it "almost impossible" to do so, a lawyer argued on Wednesday. John Hooker, counsel for longtime Calgary pot crusader Grant Krieger, told provincial court Judge William Pepler that it is similar to the issue in the Morgentaler case, in which the government permits women to legally have abortions but then puts hurdles in place. "Very few doctors will sign certificates for persons to be allowed to possess and use marijuana," said Hooker. "So it is unfair to convict people in such a case as this." Krieger, 52, is bidding to have the judge stay two counts of trafficking in marijuana. They stem from packages destined for ill users in Manitoba but intercepted by courier companies on Dec. 23, 2003, and Jan. 8, 2004. He has never applied for an exemption under the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations to grow and possess marijuana for his own use, but was given a one-year exemption following a court case in 2000. It was later made indefinite by the Alberta Court of Appeal. Krieger freely admitted he is supplying more than 400 people in at least three provinces, all of whom cannot get doctor-backed exemptions and have no legal source of the drug. Crown prosecutor Scott Couper says having physicians participate in the application process is appropriate, given that marijuana is largely an unproven drug in medical use and is controlled. Both lawyers will submit detailed written arguments to the judge well in advance of oral arguments on Sept. 25. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Larry Seguin Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2006 Calgary Herald Contact: letters@theherald.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Daryl Slade, staff writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 7/20/06 02:34 PM 64.114.62.37 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6688 / re: 6645 ] PUBLICITY LEADS TO POT THEFT Regina Leader-Post,19 Jul 2006 "Let me die in peace" is the message Tom Shapiro wants sent to two teenagers who broke into his Ottawa Street home early Monday morning and demanded he hand over his pot. The Regina man, who has a licence to grow and use marijuana to ease symptoms of AIDS, is now worrying for the safety of himself and his wife due to his advocacy of medical marijuana use. Around 1 a.m. Monday, Shapiro said he was with his wife in their living room when she noticed two teenage boys walking by, pulling up the hoods on their sweatshirts. The pair came up the walk and pulled open the home's locked screen door. "He said, 'We just want the pot,' " Shapiro said. Shapiro said he handed over about four ounces of dried marijuana and a $20 bill on the coffee table. One of the teens, he said, rifled through his array of AIDS medications and pocketed some pain killers. They then left the house, warning Shapiro not to call the police, he said. But Shapiro did call the police, who responded to the home. A file of break, enter and commit robbery is being investigated by the Regina Police Service's street crimes section, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich. Shapiro became a public figure in support of medical marijuana use in February, after police confiscated his grow equipment and marijuana plants when a mix-up with Health Canada caused his licence to lapse. He eventually got his licence renewed and both his pot and equipment back from police. The ordeal, which played out in the local media, made him vulnerable to criminals looking for marijuana, Shapiro said. "That put me in the limelight; that made me a target," he said. Now, Shapiro has installed security cameras and an alarm system, and is considering selling his home. Unlike illegal drug users, Shapiro said he won't hesitate to call the police if an incident like this happens again. And in addition to some jittery nerves, Shapiro said the robbery has left him a little short on pot. "I'm going to be out of commission for a while," he said Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN) Copyright: 2006 The Leader-Post Ltd. Contact: letters@leaderpost.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361 Author: Erin Warner, The Leader-Post Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Anonymouse (Unregistered) 8/4/06 12:25 PM 64.114.62.23 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6728 / re: 6688 ] GETTING HIGH AS A SIDE EFFECT OF MARIJUANA USE Guelph Mercury,01 Aug 2006 Dear Editor - Re: 'U of G research show pot helps sick people cope' ( Guelph Mercury, July 29 ). As a federal medical marijuana license holder who is also married to one, I was thrilled to see this story about medical marijuana. Marco Renda is a friend of ours, and he and his wife attended our wedding in 2005. My wife has epilepsy, and I have fibromyalgia. Both of these conditions bring with them a litany of symptoms. We have used cannabis as our only medicine for about four years. The number and ferocity of my wife's seizures have dropped by about 90 per cent in that time. There is no doubt about pot making people "feel" better, aside from any biochemical mechanism between human and medicine. That softening of symptoms and mild euphoria makes all the difference sometimes. What disturbs me is this insistence by many that there is a need for a cannabis medicine that has no buzz or high. About two weeks into our new medical regimen, we realized the "fun" part of smoking pot all day wears off quick. The high is still there, but it ceases to be "fun." Getting high for the sake of getting high is called recreational use, but getting high because it is a side effect of medicinal cannabis use is something entirely different. That high is the measure of the medicine's potency, and is necessary for correct titration of dose. If one has weak pot, they need to use more. If the pot is very potent, then they only need a little. The way to tell the difference is when the high arrives. That high is the body's way of saying "OK, that's enough for now." Russell Barth Ottawa Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Tue, 01 Aug 2006 Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 Guelph Mercury Newspapers Limited Contact: editor@guelphmercury.com Website: http://www.guelphmercury.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1418 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n986/a03.html Author: Russell Barth Anonymouse (Unregistered) 8/20/06 05:00 PM 24.64.223.203 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6773 / re: 6728 ] CANADA'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM Hour Magazine,17 Aug 2006 Up in Smoke? Many believe Canada's medical marijuana program isn't working. But the recent expiration of the government contract to Manitoba's Prairie Plant Systems to supply medical marijuana may just give the program the shot in the arm it needs. Despite the fact the Canadian government has already spent more than $5.5-million on the program, fewer than 200 Canadians are currently enrolled in the program. The Canadian AIDS Society reports only 1.7 per cent of Canadian medical marijuana patients take part in the government's program, while 85 per cent of them obtain their marijuana on the black market. "The proof is in the pudding - if the product is substandard, people will get it elsewhere," says Marc Boris St-Maurice of the Montreal Compassion Centre. "When Health Canada provides a top-notch product, then you'll find more people using it. Right now there are a lot of complaints about the quality, the concentration and the state in which [the pot] is delivered. A lot of that has to do with the restrictions and guidelines set by Health Canada, so it's not all the fault of Prairie Plant Systems." St-Maurice expects the tendering process for a new medical marijuana contract will be open this September, at which point the Montreal Compassion Centre will submit a bid. "We have the knowledge and experience because we deal with patients on a daily basis. We can deliver a product for a good price and meet Heath Canada's requirements, and at the same time better educate them to improve the program. We also think they should have more than one supplier so that monopoly isn't an issue. Competition is good." If the Montreal Compassion Centre gets the contract, St-Maurice says they'll grow the medical marijuana outside Montreal. "We'll set up shop in small towns in Quebec where people need the work." --------------------------- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 Source: Hour Magazine (CN QU) Copyright: 2006, Communications Voir Inc. Contact: letters@hour.ca Website: http://www.hour.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/971 Author: Richard Burnett Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 9/23/06 08:27 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6827 / re: 6773 ] SMOKED POT FOR PAIN, MAN SAYS Yellowknifer,22 Sep 2006 Yellowknife ( Sep 22/06 ) - A 47-year-old man who said he uses his home-grown marijuana to deal with the pain of arthritis was fined $2,300 in NWT Supreme Court, Tuesday. Lindsay James Mair, who represented himself, was also sentenced to a day in jail after Alberta-based justice C. Kenny, found him guilty of growing and possessing marijuana. Mair was charged in May 2004 after police followed his son back to Mair's home in order to confiscate paint ball equipment. Police testified that after they entered the home, they smelled marijuana. Crown counsel Shelley Tkatch told the court that police seized five immature plants or cloned leaves, four mature plants and two fully developed buds - the part of the plant used to make smoking marijuana. Police also seized halogen lights, materials used to create a watering system and books and magazines about growing marijuana. "It is a large amount ( of marijuana ) for personal use," said Tkatch. In court, Mair attempted to have evidence thrown out, arguing they didn't have his expressed consent to be in the home. Justice Kenny rejected the argument. She also didn't consider Mair's criminal record, which included a conviction for marijuana possession. "While he has a previous record, it is over 20-years-old and has no impact on the sentence," she said. Mair said he was disappointed with the conviction, but pleased he was not sent to jail. He said he was pretty sure he would end up behind bars because he did not have a lawyer. He began the process with a lawyer, but said he was unhappy with the counsel and decided to represent himself. "I didn't feel my lawyer was representing me in the proper manner," he said. Mair said though he doesn't have much money, he was denied a public defender. He called the process to represent himself "very difficult" but in the end, unavoidable in his situation. Mair said he grew the marijuana in his home to avoid dealing with organized crime. He said he uses it to manage his rheumatoid arthritis that affects his spine and forces him to walk hunched-over. "I'm hoping in the future to apply for medical marijuana," said Mair, even though he suspects it will be much harder to get now that he has a conviction for growing pot. Mair said he was diagnosed with arthritis when he was 21. For a long time he took anti-inflammatory medications, but due to stomach problems, began using marijuana instead, he said. The judge gave him until June 30, 2007 to pay the fine. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 Source: Yellowknifer (CN NT) Copyright: 2006 Yellowknifer Contact: editorial@nnsl.com Website: http://www.nnsl.com/members/newspapers/newsnorth/sideindexsetupYK.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4270 Author: Jessica Gray Blair (stranger) 9/26/06 11:04 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6849 / re: 6827 ] POT-SMOKING PROF LIGHTS UP A ROOM Toronto Star,26 Sep 2006 Given His Own Space In Basement Needs To Smoke For Health Reasons For years, University of Toronto Professor Doug Hutchinson smoked pot in his office. Sometimes he'd hide behind garbage dumpsters or even climb trees to use the drug, which he said he needs to alleviate the pain from an undisclosed medical condition. Now he's out of the closet and in the basement of the university's Trinity College, where he can finally smoke in peace and without recrimination -- all with the blessing of U of T. "It's a beautiful solution," Hutchinson said yesterday, at the end of a messy year-long battle with college officials. It's also rekindled in him the fire to fight what he calls complicated and often-contradictory laws governing the use of marijuana in Canada by those who use it both medically and recreationally. "I'm feeling lighter," said Hutchinson, 50, who teaches ancient Greek philosophy and specializes in the works of Plato. "It was burdensome being in the closet." On any given day, between classes and students, he smoked up to 10 joints a day, or roughly an ounce of marijuana a week. But Hutchinson got busted late last year after someone complained about the smell coming from his second-floor office, which overlooks the quadrangle of Trinity College. "The first reaction ( from college officials ) was this has to stop, and I said, 'No, this doesn't have to stop,'" he said. "They tried to get me to admit to past offences and swear never to offend again," he said. That's when, Hutchinson said, the ugliness began with cease-and-desist orders -- both in writing and orally -- that carried insinuations about his criminal behaviour and moral judgments about the fact that he smoked in front of his two children. Trinity College provost Margaret MacMillan described the situation to give him his own room as "a necessary decision." "We have to accommodate people with disabilities and recognize medical needs," she said, adding that once it became clear Hutchinson had clearance from Health Canada, it was simply a question of finding a suitable space. "There was clearly discussion about this," she said. "We had to understand what those needs were." Hutchinson said part of the reason for hiding his pot smoking was that it was only early this year that Health Canada, which was operating under new guidelines to allow marijuana for medical use, finally gave him the green light. He said a doctor had monitored his use until then, even though he wasn't "officially" allowed to use pot. Hutchinson believes the college came down on him in part because, after years of turning a blind eye to pot smoking, a student was expelled last year. The professor fought back, aided by a U of T procedure that allowed a neutral office to review special dispensation for medical conditions. It took months, but with his new card from Health Canada that allows him to smoke, the only issue was where. Officials tried to move him to a new office, but he wouldn't leave the room where he's worked for almost 20 years. Ironically, the room where he now smokes, which has its own ventilation system, is beside another room where, in years past, officials allowed students to smoke marijuana, he said. Hutchinson said the whole process has "rekindled his activism on the marijuana front" to mount legal challenges for the rights of others who want to use the drug. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 The Toronto Star Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com Website: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Phinjo Gombu, Staff Reporter Blair (stranger) 9/28/06 09:16 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6854 / re: 6849 ] STRAIGHT DOPE FROM POT PROF NOW Magazine,28 Sep 2006 It Was An Ugly Process, But In The End U Of T Provided My Own Ventilated Toking Room U of T philosophy professor Doug Hutchinson, who won the right this week to smoke pot during work hours for an undisclosed medical condition, goes public about his travails in an open letter released September 22 to U of T authorities, fellow philosophy professors and graduate students. Greetings, philosophers. I thought I should let you know that as of this week our university has a professor who smokes marijuana openly on campus, legally, and with workplace accommodation for his need to use this remedy. I am that professor. I feel it falls to me to let you know this state of affairs in the proper terms so that the inevitable rumours and possible slanders that arise can be ignored or challenged by you, my peers and fellow philosophers. I have used marijuana for a serious and chronic health condition for over 10 years, in varying amounts for the varying condition. Currently, the use is heavy and the condition is stable or improving. As for what this condition is, I would ask you please not to speculate or spread rumours or half-truths. Canada has laws that are meant to protect the privacy of personal health information. If you know me well, you will feel free to ask. How did I manage this transition from clandestine smoker to officially accommodated one? It was an ugly process that started when college and university authorities, acting on policies to repress the use of marijuana among students, decided that they needed to enforce those laws and policies against me as well. Over the course of months of sometimes angry discussions, the other side learned better what the facts of my case and the laws on marijuana actually are. The outcome is that I have been provided with a ventilated basement smoking room in Trinity College, and the provost of the college and the provost of the university have both written me letters in which they "acknowledge" and "respect" my choice of therapy. I take this opportunity to thank the college and the university for this good solution and for these necessary affirmations of the legitimacy of my conduct. Colleagues and other U of T employees who may need adapted working conditions due to a health condition should know that since 2003 our university has had an Office of Health and Well-being Programs and Services, whose function is to support the work of afflicted employees. The staff in this office recommend the appropriate accommodation while holding health information confidential from all other university parties. I found this process worked fairly well, and I feel that others should know about it and trust in its integrity. Colleagues and others who use marijuana wholly or partly for medical reasons should be using medical-grade marijuana, with a good selection of strains, of which there are currently two sources of supply in Toronto. I know these compassion clubs well and will be glad to offer informed advice. Colleagues and others who wonder whether their use of marijuana is medical, or whether they should try some preparation of marijuana for their health condition, should feel free to apply to me for guidance and further information. Professors who become known as heavy users of marijuana risk a great loss of credibility, and I wish I had been able to remain discreet; but I was "outed" by college authorities from where I was hiding in my "dope closet." Under these circumstances, I decided to come out fully into the open, on my own terms. This is the reason I am writing this letter to you; and this is the reason I explained the situation to my undergraduate class on Tuesday, before they could be shocked ( or not ) at the sight of me puffing during the break ( outside the building, of course ). It would be realistic of me to expect a higher than usual degree of scrutiny of my performance at this time; but rather than resent this scrutiny, the better plan is to invite it. There are 10 spare seats in my third-year class on Seneca, which meets from 10 am to 1 pm on Tuesdays, and I invite visits to my class from graduate students, colleagues and higher university officials to see for themselves whether the pot-head professor is teaching well. Please get in touch with me if you intend to visit; and if you wish I will send you the Seneca readings for the day. It is not a satisfactory defence of my Charter rights to have my grudging authorization from Health Canada while students and others are hounded as criminals for doing what looks like the very same thing; this casts dark shadows of opprobrium on the blameless sick. My experience in coming out into the open has rekindled my activism on the marijuana front, and I am now building, with other Canadian activists, fresh legal challenges to our Charter-defective and previously invalidated prohibition, which seems to have been miraculously resurrected in October 2003 . I invite colleagues and others to join me in this liberal struggle. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 Source: NOW Magazine (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 NOW Communications Inc. Contact: letters@nowtoronto.com Website: http://www.nowtoronto.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/282 Author: Doug Hutchinson Blair (stranger) 9/28/06 09:30 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6857 / re: 6854 ] GREEN AND LEGAL Edmonton Sun,27 Sep 2006 Feds Won't Tell Grow-Op Busters Who's Got A Licence It's a budding problem cops wish they could weed out. Officers with the Edmonton Police Service-RCMP Green Team are occasionally raiding marijuana grow-ops that turn out to be operated by growers licensed by the federal government to cultivate pot for medicinal reasons. Green Team Det. Clayton Sach wants Health Canada to provide police with a list of government-sanctioned grow ops. However, he said, he understands the government's fear of such a list somehow getting into the wrong hands, as legitimate grow-ops would be a target for criminals. Health Canada spokesman Jirina Vlk says releasing a list of legal pot growers is not possible for privacy reasons. Under strict regulations, Health Canada may provide some information to police, but only under specific circumstances, Vlk added. "For example, when they are undertaking an investigation, or when they make an arrest and want to verify the legitimacy of an authorization to possess," she told the Sun. But even then, the confirmation - following a call to a Health Canada pager number - is only made verbally. When police ask for the paperwork to be faxed, they are denied, Sach said. Legal growers are issued a laminated card along with a certificate, which they often post on their grow op, Sach said. As of September, 1,492 Canadians were authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes - including 142 Albertans, according to Health Canada. Of those, 1,061 were allowed to cultivate or produce marijuana for medical purposes. Health Canada couldn't provide a provincial breakdown of authorized growers. When a pot raid turns out to be a bust, it's a waste of valuable police resources and time. But Sach said detectives usually realize they're barking up the wrong tree just a few hours into an investigation. He added the Green Team has run into legit grow ops "maybe four or five times in the last couple of years." Eric Nash, a 47-year-old certified pot grower in B.C., said he's never had police kick in his door, but he sympathizes with others who have had to contend with cops. "It's unfair to those in the Health Canada program that are growing for medical purposes," he said, adding he doesn't see any solution to the problem. Among the occasional legal grow-ops that police bust, some of the plant allowances seem to be "excessive," Sach noted. Nash, who, along with his wife, grows 45 plants for two clients, said Health Canada allows five plants for every gram of marijuana a person is permitted to smoke per day. So if someone is allowed three grams daily, then they can have 15 plants, Nash explained. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2006, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: mailbag@edm.sunpub.com Website: http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135 Author: Cary Castagna, Edmonton Sun Blair (stranger) 9/30/06 03:36 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6865 / re: 6857 ] NO COMPASSION IN MEDICAL MARIJUANA CUTS Vancouver Courier,29 Sep 2006 Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his ruling Conservatives are turning their backs on sick Canadians by slashing the federal medicinal marijuana program, says a local medicinal marijuana provider. "These cuts slow the possibilities of getting more scientific information to the general public on how to use cannabis," said Rielle Capler, a spokesperson for the B.C. Compassion Club on Commercial Drive. "This government is not prioritizing the needs of critically and chronically ill Canadians." The medicinal marijuana research program was established in 2000 by the Chr,tien Liberals to gauge the effectiveness of marijuana as a treatment, by distributing legal cannabis to approximately 1,000 chronically ill Canadians, including those suffering through chemotherapy and interferon treatments. This week, as part of the $2 billion dollar in spending cuts, the Conservatives ended the research by pulling the $4 million remaining in the program's coffers. The B.C. Compassion Club contracts local marijuana cultivators-both indoor and outdoor-to supply organically grown marijuana to the chronically ill, and Capler is quick to note this type of health care is still considered a crime. "It's not legal for our suppliers to be cultivating, it's not legal for us to distribute it and it's not legal for patients to use it." All Compassion Club clients have to demonstrate a definite medical need for the product, backed by a written recommendation from a health care practitioner such as a family doctor or naturopath, and applicants under 18 years old must provide parental permission. The marijuana is sold in grams at prices ranging from $3 to $15. While Capler was disappointed by the federal cuts, she said Health Canada has never run an effective medicinal marijuana program. "They were only offering one strain of cannabis to treat a wide range of illnesses and symptoms," she said, noting the Compassion Club offers many strains customized in counteracting symptoms such as nausea, insomnia and daytime or nighttime pain relief. Capler said public opinion is on her side, and she points to a July 2006 MacLean's magazine poll that found 93 per cent of Canadians support the use of medicinal marijuana. She also pointed to a September 2002 report by the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, which advocated the use of medicinal marijuana. Capler also disputes claims by critics who say legalization will increase the crime and health hazards associated with current drug culture that includes a black market responsible for illegal grow-ops and gang violence. "Prohibition hasn't worked to alleviate harms that some people think are related to cannabis, in fact it's exacerbated crime and it keeps people from knowing how to use [marijuana] safely." Capler said that despite all the political wrangling, medicinal marijuana is about sick people and their families. "When people see a medicine that can improve the life of a loved one who's suffering, that's all they need to see." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Vancouver Courier Contact: editor@vancourier.com Website: http://www.vancourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474 Author: Mark Hasiuk, Staff Writer Blair (stranger) 10/2/06 07:53 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6871 / re: 6865 ] MOST 'MEDICAL' MARIJUANA USE ILLEGAL: POLL One million Canadians say they smoke up 'for health reasons'; Only 300 permits issued More than a million Canadians are breaking the law by smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes, and it appears it's mostly because they haven't paid close attention to the recent changes in the law, a government poll reveals. A recent national survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers for Health Canada, shows that more than four per cent of the population over the age of 15 is using medicinal marijuana without permission from the government. The poll report says the percentage represents about one million Canadians, even though only 300 permits allowing the use of medicinal marijuana have been issued by the government since 1999. "This implies that individuals are using marijuana for medicinal purposes without appropriate exemptions from Ottawa, leaving them open to prosecution for possession," the report concludes. The use of medicinal marijuana remains illegal without a permit. Under legislation passed in 1999, Canadians who have a severe illness or who are expected to die within the year can possess marijuana after obtaining a licence from Health Canada. But the poll reveals that the Canadian public is mostly ignorant about the new law. More than 70 per cent of Canadians reported they thought marijuana was legal for possession in Canada for medicinal purposes. Only an additional three per cent stipulated it was legal only with an exemption from the government. Andrew Swift, a spokesman for Health Canada, said the recent poll findings are still being examined and no reaction was yet available from the department. Mostly anecdotal evidence supports the efficacy of marijuana for medicinal purposes, including claims of appetite creation, relaxation, pain relief and aiding sleep. The report points out that clinical research is only now testing the medical benefits of the drug. However, the poll shows that about 70 per cent of Canadians already believe there is already valid evidence to support the use of medicinal marijuana. The poll also shows that an overwhelming 85 per cent of Canadians feel marijuana should be made available for medicinal use under specific conditions. The report concludes that the strong support by Canadians for medicinal marijuana "may be due" to the high proportion of individuals who feel there is sufficient evidence to support medicinal marijuana use. Even without scientific evidence, the poll shows almost one-third of the Canadian population supports the outright legalization of marijuana for personal use, either for medical or recreational purposes. The report points out that the reported support in the poll on legalizing the drug is substantially lower than other previous reports, which has placed support between 47 per cent and 69 per cent. In August 2000, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in the case of Terry Parker that the new marijuana legislation violates the rights of sick people by forcing them to choose between health and imprisonment. Mr. Swift said the poll was conducted in October and November, but he could not provide the margin of error or cost to the government for the large-sample survey. The poll found that males and younger individuals were more likely to report the use of medicinal marijuana, with 6.3 per cent of those between the ages of 15 and 24 saying they had. "Health status was also a factor; those who reported being in poor or fair health ( 12.2 per cent ) or having a chronic illness ( 5.5 per cent ) were also more likely to report medicinal marijuana use," said the report. "Individuals with an addiction to drugs or alcohol were 5.9 times more likely to report this type of marijuana use." Provincially, the highest use of medicinal marijuana was in Alberta, with 7.8 per cent reporting, and British Columbia, at 6.7 per cent. Meanwhile, Manitoba had the lowest reported usage at three per cent, slightly behind Ontario, at 3.3 per cent and Quebec, at 3.5 per cent. Pubdate: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: letters@thecitizen.southam.ca Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Jack Aubry Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 10/4/06 07:14 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6877 / re: 6871 ] POT STASH ATTRACTS THIEVES Kingston Whig-Standard,03 Oct 2006 Man Shot As Fake Officer Targets His Medicinal Marijuana A man shot during a home invasion is recovering in a Kingston hospital today, while the OPP search for the men who posed as officers in order to steal his medicinal marijuana. Police said he was shot after two men barged into his home near Portland around 7 a.m. Friday. One was wearing a jacket with the word "police" on the back, and had a pistol. When the 30-year-old homeowner realized what was happening, he fought back and was shot. The intruders were apparently there to steal his medicinal marijuana plants, said OPP Sgt. Kristine Rae, which the resident had a federal permit to grow. Police confirmed that the men didn't get what they were looking for. Although the thieves are still at large, the police didn't notify the public of the crime for three days - which Rae chalked up to a "lack of communication" among officers. She is the officer responsible for media releases, but was out of town. She said it was "unfortunate" the information wasn't released Friday. The victim was taken to Smiths Falls General Hospital, then transferred to Kingston General Hospital where he is in stable condition, police say. The two thieves fled in a newer model grey or blue Jeep Cherokee. Both thieves were described as being in their early 20s. One was described as about six feet tall with dark hair, wearing jeans with holes in the knees and a light jacket. The second man was shorter than the first and had a heavier build and was wearing a dark jacket. Medicinal marijuana advocate Mike Foster, who grew up in Napanee and Kingston and went on to co-found the Marijuana Party of Canada, said such cases are rare but point to the dangers of having people grow their own marijuana for medical reasons. The government no longer directly supplies the drug to patients with prescriptions - used to relieve things like chronic pain or nausea - but allows them to either grow their own or designate someone else to grow it for them. Foster says users can be put in danger if other people find out about their supply. "Home invasions can occur, and that's why it's so important to keep the identity of the people with these permits absolutely secret," he said. But he said in the country, people tend to know more about their neighbours and it is more difficult to keep something like that under wraps. "The biggest threat is still getting arrested for it, but home invasions are a concern also," he said Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Tue, 03 Oct 2006 Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 The Kingston Whig-Standard Contact: whiged@thewhig.com Website: http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224 Author: Ian Elliot Blair (stranger) 10/4/06 05:13 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6881 / re: 6877 ] The Simpsons medical marijuana episode: http://www.vidilife.com/index.cfm?f=media.play&vchrMediaProgramIDCryp=D0083E6F-7544-441F-8FB0-B Blair (stranger) 10/7/06 07:11 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6896 / re: 6881 ] LEGION BRANCH CLOSED OVER POT SPAT Journal-Pioneer,07 Oct 2006 MACCAN, N.S. - Officials with the Royal Canadian Legion have shut down a Nova Scotia branch after members used the local hall to promote the use of locally produced marijuana oil for cancer patients. The legion's Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command temporarily suspended the charter of the Maccan branch and ousted its executive. Provincial command chairman Steve Wessel said the legion name, insignia and buildings cannot be used to promote the use of illegal substances. "The Royal Canadian Legion has a very good reputation in the general public and we don't want to soil that reputation by making it look like we're backing something that clearly is against the law at this point," Wessel said. But one executive member said he's not backing down. "This medicine is so phenomenal," Rick Dwyer of Maccan said. "I'm so proud of the members for standing up and defending this." Dwyer, the 51-year-old past president of the Maccan branch, said the homemade marijuana oil is a safe, natural, cancer-curing substance. He said his 82-year-old father has lung cancer and began consuming the oil in June after he was given 48 hours to live. He's still alive. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Sat, 07 Oct 2006 Source: Journal-Pioneer, The (CN PI) Copyright: 2006 Journal-Pioneer Contact: dshea@journalpioneer.com Website: http://www.journalpioneer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2789 Blair (stranger) 10/7/06 07:23 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6898 / re: 6896 ] HIGH TIME Coast,05 Oct 2006 Eight Years After Falling Down A Flight Of Stairs, Wayne Lalonde Still Suffers. He fidgets. He loses function in his feet and hands. He gets migraines. But as part of COMPASS, a groundbreaking medical marijuana study, Lalonde may finally find relief. It Was A Slip That Started It All. A moment of carelessness that, had the planets been aligned differently, may have had few consequences beyond bruises and a couple days of walking around with a limp. But it was not Wayne Lalonde's lucky day, and when he fell down a flight of stairs while moving furniture, he fell hard. "I impacted my spine on 14 stairs on the way down," he says. It sounds painful, but Lalonde ( not his real name ) didn't think he was badly hurt. He got up, dusted himself off and finished the move. He even went to work the next day, sore but functional. It wasn't until the next morning he began to realize the extent of the damage one misstep had caused. Eventually he would learn he had broken a bone in his neck and suffered compression fractures to two vertebrae, a ruptured disc in his lower back as well as nerve damage to his neck and back. "I woke up and couldn't move," he recalls. "I went to the doctor, went for X-rays, but they only detected the compression fractures. It took four years for them find everything that was wrong." It was eight years ago that he fell, and since then Lalonde has lived with pain. He hasn't worked. In his early 40s, he can't leave the house without a cane. Sitting down at his kitchen table to talk, he begins to fidget almost immediately, trying to get comfortable. He has varying loss of function in his legs and feet and hands. Perhaps worst of all, he gets frequent migraine headaches. He's seen a number of medical professionals and been through a battery of tests, and still doctors can't figure out exactly what is wrong or why his symptoms have remained constant over all these years. He's been through physical therapy and acupuncture and spent hours with a chiropractor. There have been more X-rays and MRIs and CT scans. Not to mention a laundry list of pain medication. "They've tested me on a number of different medications," he says. "I've had nerve blocks done, I've had botox done, they've had me on dilaudid, they've had me on amitriptyline--I can't even remember them all. A bunch of different ones to try and see if they would relieve the headaches, more so than helping with my walking ability." Nothing really helped, Lalonde says--in fact, often the headaches were worse, and he would get nauseous, to boot. But now, due in part to his on-going status as a patient at the QE II Pain Management Clinic, Lalonde is one of hundreds of people across Canada involved in testing a different kind of pain management treatment. Cannabis for the Management of Pain: Assessment of Safety Study ( COMPASS ) will follow 1,400 chronic pain sufferers over the course of one year, 350 of whom will be treating their pain with government provided medical marijuana. In announcing the study, researchers made clear the point was not so much to test the effectiveness of cannabis in pain relief, but rather what side-effects may result. Although the government's medical marijuana program--which allows patients under doctor's recommendation and with approval of Health Canada access to prescription marijuana--has been in place since 1999, COMPASS is the first study of its kind in the country. The QE II Pain Management Clinic is one of seven such centres across the country currently involved in the study. The local research is lead by Dr. Mary Lynch, acting director of the Pain Management Clinic. "The criteria for inclusion is very similar to [Health Canada's] Medical Marijuana Access Regulations program," she says, adding that the Pain Management Clinic began enrolling people after the official launch of the study in December 2004, and that the one-year trial begins at the time each patient passes the screening process and signs their consent. "Individuals have to have ongoing chronic pain, with an appropriate work up where a diagnosis has been given and where traditional treatments have been pursued or considered, and have been either unsuccessful or deemed to be inappropriate." Dr. Lynch explains the QE II study will include 50 patients who will receive the medical marijuana and a 50-person control group that will not. Although some patients, such as Lalonde, come to the study already smoking marijuana on their own to deal with their pain, previous use is not a pre-requisite. "If the patient is not already [smoking] cannabis, or even tobacco, for that matter, we are not recommending that they start doing so," she says. "But if they still want access to cannabis orally then that is also acceptable. They can bake it in something, or make a tea." In the beginning of the study, patients are given a one week-supply of marijuana, returning every week for the first month for an assessment. Afterwards, the dosage is given in a one-month supply. In Lalonde's case, this means 90 grams of bud, provided by Prairie Plant Systems of Saskatoon, which holds the contract to grow the government marijuana, dispensed from the hospital pharmacy. As a security measure, the dispensing package must be returned each month for a patient to receive a new supply. Patients are also issued with a letter to be carried with them at all times while in possession of the medical marijuana, signed by researchers, indicating to whom it may concern that they are involved in the study and legally allowed to be in possession of the drug. Any restrictions--such as not operating a vehicle while under medication and transporting the marijuana only in the gold foil packaging issued by the pharmacy--are also clearly spelled out. Dr. Lynch says that while there have been a number of studies done on the negative effects of prolonged recreational marijuana use, few studies have been undertaken to track the pros and cons of using marijuana in a prescribed program of medical treatment. She says that the six years between the start of the federal government's medical marijuana program and the beginning of research is a bit longer than usual, but can partly be explained by the high level of protocol that must be established before any type of study is approved by the Canadian Institute of Health Researchers. "The science on this is growing, and the animal science is compelling and robust and shows us cannabinoids do have a potential therapeutic implication in many different areas besides pain," she says. "I think a part of why the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations and program was successful in coming forward is because the animal science has been so compelling. But at the same time, because of the connection of cannabinoids with marijuana, and the higher regulatory climate, that slows research down, more than if we were looking at a new drug for hypertension, for example. If that drug for hypertension was a highly regulated or illegal substance, then those researchers would be facing the same level of regulatory climate." Despite the Harper government's recent multi-million-dollar cut to medical marijuana research, Health Canada has announced no changes to current programs, and QE II patients have been assured COMPASS will continue. Wherever the science leads, it can't be fast enough for those dealing with chronic pain. Terry Bremner is a member of the Canadian Pain Coalition and a patient advocate with Action Atlantic, an organization of patients and healthcare providers working to improve chronic pain care in Atlantic Canada. In addition, he works full time setting up pain management support groups across the country on behalf of the Chronic Pain Association of Canada. He also leads a Halifax monthly support group that has a contact list of 50 members ( currently there are 3,500 Nova Scotians on an up to five-year waiting list to receive treatment at the QE II Pain Management Clinic ) and their families. He lives with chronic pain as the result of a childhood hip problem, which was then made worse following a near-fatal car accident several years ago. He points to an Action Atlantic study released last year that shows 460,000 Atlantic Canadians can be classified as living with chronic pain. "Chronic pain as defined by the doctors is any pain that lasts for more than six months," he says. "It's a constant thing that you don't have any control over and can effect many facets of life such as sleep, appetite, mood and fatigue. And more often than not, when you have pain for that long depression comes in. A chronic pain patient is basically handcuffed when there isn't a solid diagnosis. Many people who are in car accidents, for example, suffer injuries that don't show up on an X-ray or an MRI or even a CT scan, and they suffer for years. And it becomes a psychological problem, because you start to wonder: "If all these medical people can't find the problem, what's wrong with me?" Although none of the organizations Bremner works with have adopted a formal position on the use of medical marijuana to manage pain, any scientific advancement to relieve the suffering of even a few patients is welcome. A few of the members of his monthly support group have joined in the COMPASS program, and his personal observation is that it has been nothing but positive. "From what I've heard some people have had amazing results," he says. "One woman came back to the group one month after getting involved in the study, and she says it has saved her life." He says that the role of medical marijuana for chronic pain patients and others seemed to be moving along pretty well a couple years ago, until talk of decriminalization of marijuana sidetracked the medical debate. "All of a sudden it seemed like it became a discussion about teenagers and recreational use and the medical benefits were pushed under the rug," he says. Currently, 1,400 Canadians have the Health Canada approval to posses marijuana as a medicinal aid ( up from 477 in 2002 ), and those who do typically are afflicted with a specific identifiable disease such as cancer or MS. Those with chronic pain from a vaguely diagnosed source are not eligible, and most doctors, lacking hard science, are still reluctant to even suggest marijuana as a health care alternative. Knowing that when his year in COMPASS is up he'll be back to illegally finding his own medication, Wayne Lalonde is hoping his participation in the COMPASS research can play some small part in making medicinal marijuana available to chronic pain patients. "Legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana is a whole separate political issue," he says. "This is a health issue. So if I can play a part in making Canada a more knowledgeable country in regard to medicinal marijuana, and help people like me in chronic pain get legal access to a product that can help them live better, I want to do it." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2006 Source: Coast, The (CN NS) Copyright: 2006 Coast Publishing Contact: letters@thecoast.ns.ca Website: http://www.thecoast.ns.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3170 Author: Brent Sedo Blair (stranger) 10/7/06 07:35 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6902 / re: 6898 ] OSTEOARTHRITIS SUFFERER UPSET BY POT FUNDING CUT AHalifax woman is worried the federal government's decision to scrap funding for medical marijuana research will make her a criminal. Corrie Watt, 59, says she has been using marijuana for six months as part of a clinical trial to alleviate the excruciating neurological pain she suffers due to osteoarthritis. But she has been told funding for the program will end after the current fiscal year, leaving her scrambling to find another source. "I'm going to apply for a medical marijuana licence," she said in an interview. "If I don't get it, I'll find my own way. "I live in a university neighbourhood. It's not hard to get hold of." She obtained a permit to use medical marijuana legally as one of about 1,400 people with Cannabis for the Management of Pain: Assessment of Safety Study ( COMPASS ). She gets ground-up herb from a hospital and mixes it with yogurt to eat, although other people smoke it or make tea with it. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government announced Sept. 25 that it is cutting funds to medical marijuana research as part of $1 billion in budgetary belt-tightening. COMPASS has told her she'll be excluded from the study and her permit will no longer be valid. "I'm very concerned about that," Ms. Watt said. "I didn't want to go on it illegally." She said she used other painkillers for years but they either didn't work very well or the side-effects became unbearable. She suffered extreme nausea and lack of short-term memory. Within two weeks of starting to use marijuana, she stopped taking her other pain medication. She said she's now cognizant enough to study Mandarin and live an ordinary life. "I could not do this last year," she said. Ms. Watt doesn't believe pharmaceutical companies will fill the void because it would be difficult for them to make money from an illegal substance. "Who else but the government can fund something like this?" she asked. She suspects the Harper government's decision to scrap the expenditure is for moral reasons linked to marijuana's recreational use. "It's not to save money," she said. "I suspect that the government can't really deal with the implication should this study come out. That would be embarrassing." Jason Bouzanis, a spokesman for Health Canada, said the funding for medical marijuana, which amounted to $4 million over two years, was cut to refocus government spending and pay down the national debt. The funding for COMPASS was part of a five-year federal grant program that ended in March. Only $2 million of $7.5 million in available funding was used because only two studies met government criteria, Mr. Bouzanis said. "It's important to note that people who are authorized by the Government of Canada to use marijuana for medical purposes - that program has not been affected," he said. "It's simply the medical marijuana research program that was affected by the announced cuts." MAP posted-by: Jim CN NS: Osteoarthritis Sufferer Upset By Pot Funding Cut URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1338/a03.html Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap Rate this article Votes: 0 Pubdate: Fri, 06 Oct 2006 Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2006 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: letters@herald.ca Website: http://thechronicleherald.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 Author: Jeffrey Simpson, Staff Reporter Blair (stranger) 10/9/06 08:41 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6905 / re: 6902 ] Marijuana's active chemical may be Alzheimer's fighter U.S. tests suggest THC stops damaging plaque Sharon Kirkey, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Monday, October 09, 2006 THC, the active component in marijuana, may protect the brain from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease, U.S. scientists reported. In lab experiments, investigators from Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, found THC appears to block an enzyme in the brain that causes plaque to form more effectively than approved drugs. Alzheimer's is the leading cause of dementia among the elderly. An estimated 290,000 Canadians over 65 have the disease -- a number expected to double over the next two decades. Women account for more than two-thirds of cases, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada. The progressive, degenerative brain disease has no cure. "I'm not at all suggesting you smoke pot," said Kim Janda, a professor of chemistry and immunology at Scripps, who is working on developing vaccines against cocaine, nicotine and other drugs of abuse. But his team's work may provide a lead for new and more effective medications, he said. "I think it could have strong implications that molecules like THC could prevent fibrils or plaque formation." It's the latest study to suggest the compound that produces a high might also be protective to the brain. Marijuana-like compounds are already being tested in mice against the fatal brain disease ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. People with Alzheimer's have low levels of acetylcholine, a brain chemical believed to be important for learning and memory. Existing drugs help ease symptoms of the disease by blocking an enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine. Dr. Janda's team found THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) did the same but at lower concentrations. It also "blunted" the formation of fibrils, or long, thread-like fibres that get woven into healthy brain cells, eventually choking them. The researchers believe they've found a way THC "can directly impact Alzheimer's disease pathology." Their work is published in Molecular Pharmaceutics. There are important limitations to the study. The experiments didn't involve tests on human cells, or even mice (it's one of the reasons why Dr. Janda said they were turned down by several other bigger journals.) Instead, they used synthetic versions of a peptide that causes brain plaques to form. "The definitive study would be to get animals that have been bred to have early-onset Alzheimer's and look at the long-term effects of chronic THC administration," Dr. Janda said. As well, there is still debate over what causes Alzheimer's, and just how important plaques are in causing the disease. "I think most people believe it is a key component," he said. © The Ottawa Citizen 2006 ____________________________ Link to: http://www.medicalmarijuanainformation.com/home Also, both pot and hemp oil also help delay M.S. by preventing scars developing inside the brain ... etc.. decades of pot prohibition has done damage to the potential of medical marijuana ... and the Conservative Party government does not want any research done ... oh well, that is minor deliberate ignorance compared to everything else that is being guided by the dishonesty and violence of our governments around the world ... Blair (stranger) 10/11/06 10:10 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6910 / re: 6905 ] It is not yet clear from these news stories whether this about "hemp oil" or "hash oil" from seeds with little THC, or from flowers, with lots THC ? MAN SAYS HEMP OIL CURED HIS CANCER Chronicle Herald,10 Oct 2006 Legion Trouble Helping To Get Message Out About 'Amazing' Oil MACCAN - Rick Dwyer says officials with the provincial command of the Royal Canadian Legion were wrong to revoke the local legion's charter but he figures the action will nonetheless help all Canadians. "The attention to this story is going across Canada and that means people will find out about this hemp oil and what it can do to save lives," Mr. Dwyer said Sunday. He was referring to an essential oil a local man produces from the buds and leaves of the hemp plant. Mr. Dwyer, a past president of the Maccan legion, and other executive members got into a spot of trouble with the Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of the Royal Canadian Legion because of the oil. "I did research for over a year and a half, I spoke to at least 30 people with diseases like cancer and diabetes wounds who were cured by this oil, and I felt we had a duty to make sure people knew of this," he said. When notice of a meeting went out to the general public, doctors, the RCMP and the legion's command in Halifax, the legion was told the building couldn 't be used for the meeting. "It cured my sister's cancer and my wife's arthritis - she was taking medicine and was still in horrible pain for 13 years - this oil is amazing," said Mr. Dwyer, 51. "My father, who is 82 years old, was given 48 hours to live because of his cancer and that was in June - I took him off all his medicines and gave him this oil and he's cured." The provincial command suspended the legion's charter and ousted its executive members last Wednesday when they continued to ignore orders forbidding meetings on the hemp oil at the legion. "The legion will reopen as soon as possible and we'll have a management committee put in place," said Steve Wessel, chairman of the provincial command. "We're not saying that we disagree, we're not saying ( the oil ) does or does not work, but growing marijuana is not legal and we don't want the Royal Canadian Legion associated with something illegal." The man who makes the oil and gives it away for free said Sunday he believes the cure for cancer and many other illnesses lies in the thick, yellow grease he extracts from the plant. "This whole community recognizes the good done by this oil and they're really up in arms over this whole thing," Rick Simpson said. He said he first discovered the healing components of the oil when he was diagnosed with skin cancer four years ago. "I had one growth surgically removed and I was supposed to get the other two off as well," he said. Eventually, he said, he could see the cancer returning in the area of the surgical removal. "I started to apply the oil to the areas and I cured my own cancer," he said. Mr. Simpson said despite documented evidence and videotaped testimonials, he has been unable to break through the medical, legal and government communities to get the word out. "That's why I'm so grateful the media is involved - we can get the message out." Mr. Simpson was charged last year after the RCMP raided his property and seized more than 1,200 marijuana plants. He pleaded not guilty to one count each of possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana, possession of less than three kilograms of cannabis resin for the purpose of trafficking, and growing marijuana. The case is still before the courts. Mr. Simpson also ran as an Independent in the January federal election. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2006 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: letters@herald.ca Website: http://thechronicleherald.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 Author: Mary Ellen MacIntyre, Truro Bureau Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp) Blair (stranger) 10/14/06 06:08 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6927 / re: 6910 ] http://video.medscape.com/images/545/148/wve100906.swf Doctor talking about endocannabinoids. Blair (stranger) 10/19/06 09:20 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6946 / re: 6927 ] Dutch Parker-like decision: Patients can grow their own cannabis, says Dutch court in landmark ruling A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday handed down a landmark ruling allowing an MS patient to grow cannabis for his personal use to alleviate the symptoms of his illness. Although it is legal in the Netherlands to sell and consume small amounts of cannabis and hashish in licensed cafes, growing and trafficking the drugs are banned. Tuesday's ruling is the first time the Dutch authorities have made an exception on the ban on growing cannabis for personal medical use. The case before the appeals court in Leeuwarden in the northern Netherlands involved 51-year old Wim Moorlag, who suffers from multiple sclerosis or MS, and his wife Klasiena Hooijer, who grew cannabis. They cultivated just enough to meet Moorlag's daily use of three grams, namely some 300 grams per harvest every 15 weeks. Officially the possession and sale of cannabis is illegal in the Netherlands but it is tolerated under certain strict conditions. Cannabis cafes, known here as coffee shops, are the only venues authorized to sell no more than five grams a day to people 18 years and older. People can have up to 30 grams of cannabis in their possession for personal use without being prosecuted. http://www.physorg.com/news80326365.html Blair (stranger) 10/21/06 10:11 AM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6949 / re: 6946 ] DISEASE TREATMENT GONE TO POT Mountain View Gazette,17 Oct 2006 Good news for aging hippies and new age bohemian rhapsodies, marijuana may slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease and may even prevent the disease. Reportedly the active ingredient in marijuana, THC ( delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol ) preserves brain levels of the key neurotransmitter acetylcholine and in turn could protect the brain from the ravages of Alzheimer's. Funny how a drug that helps you lose your set of keys on a daily basis could prevent one of the leading causes of dementia among the elderly. Now before you jump up and rummage through your basement to dust off your old bong from your college days it's important to know the facts. The study released on August 9, by the Scripps Research Institute in the U.S. found that the cholinergic system, the nerve cell system in the brain that uses acetylcholine, as a neurotransmitter is the transmitter most dramatically affected by Alzheimer's disease. Levels of acetylcholine are abnormally low in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Now there are four FDA approved drugs that treat Alzheimer's by inhibiting the enzyme responsible for the degradation of acetylcholine. Lab experiments by scientists at Scripps found that THC appears to block the enzyme in the brain better than the leading FDA approved treatments. THC not only blocked the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine more efficiently and at lower concentrations than existing drugs, but also blunted the formation of fibrils, long, thread-like fibres that get woven into healthy brain cells. Now if I lost you in a haze and maze of science and facts, put down that joint and listen up. Scientists have not done experiments on human cells or even mice yet, so don't donate your brain to free experimental testing yet, but it does, as one journalist put it, hammer another nail into the coffin on Richard Nixon's War on Drugs. I am not in favour of stopping the fights against hard drugs, alcohol and even nicotine, but I have always felt that stuffing the peace pipe only lead to intense snacking and good conversation. Beyond recreational use of marijuana, medical marijuana now approved in Canada, can benefit many people who are suffering from chronic illness or debilitating disease. The Canadian Institute for Health Research ( CHIR ) Medical Marijuana Research program, started in 1999, identified that marijuana is said to relieve symptoms associated with varied medical conditions. These include: nausea and vomiting associated with cancer and AIDS therapies; wasting syndrome ( to stimulate appetite and produce weight gain in AIDS and cancer patients ); multiple sclerosis ( relief of muscle pain and spasms ); epilepsy ( to reduce frequency of seizures ); glaucoma ( to lower intraocular pressur ); and chronic and severe pain due to several medical conditions. So it's not all lava lamps and psychedelic music - marijuana can be a safe and effective treatment for many Canadians. I don't know about you, but I would rather see my grandparents smoking a fattie, rather than hopped up on every pharmaceutical under the sun. The Scripps Institute is not advocating the use of the illegal drug, but they are another contributing factor to the medical advances that look at botanical plants like marijuana which was used for treatment of ailments for thousands of years. Advancement of western medicine and practice is not the only way to save lives and treat illness, in fact a lot of alternative medicine practices that have been suppressed by western ideology are springing up in subcultures throughout North America, Canada and even in Central Alberta. I know something is up when my ultra-conservative mother phones me up and asks me if marijuana can help with her menopausal symptoms. So that is the story; whether you agree with it or not marijuana research continues to prove that it is safe, effective and even preventative. And hey, if you end up with lung cancer from smoking marijuana, at least you will remember how you got it. Then you can drop your criminal status and be eligible to use the drug for medical use. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 Source: Mountain View Gazette (CN AB) Copyright: 2006 Mountain View Publishing Contact: gazette@olds.greatwest.ca Website: http://www.mountainviewgazette.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4234 Author: Kim Dick Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Chummy Anthony (Unregistered) 10/21/06 04:37 PM 142.177.74.93 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6951 / re: 6949 ] As far as my research indicates there has never been a documented case of a marijuana only consumer dying of lung cancer! Sink me if I'm wrong! tokes2ya:)-Chummy Blair (stranger) 10/22/06 01:41 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6954 / re: 6951 ] Yeah, I agree, not only is there no evidence that smoking marijuana causes lung cancer, there is evidence marijuana prevents it. I posted that previous article because I thought it was cute. That does not mean it is correct. Chummy Anthony (Unregistered) 10/22/06 06:14 PM 142.177.97.225 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6958 / re: 6910 ] Rick Simpson calls his cannabis oil, hemp oil. Technically he's right but people tend to think of hemp oil as the product made from hemp seeds. Ricks hempoil is made from the whole plant. tokes2ya:)-Chummy Blair (stranger) 10/29/06 07:54 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 6991 / re: 6958 ] HIGHER LEARNING Maclean's Magazine,30 Oct 2006 A University Of Toronto Philosophy Prof Gets An Underground Pot-Smoking Room Doug Hutchinson marches briskly through Trinity College's cavernous basement hallway and stops in front of an unmarked door. "We're here," he says, key in hand. He pushes the door open, sits cross-legged on a small red area rug, and lights a joint. "I haven't decorated yet, but I do have an accent wall," says the University of Toronto philosophy professor, pointing to the mustard-coloured wall in this sparsely-furnished room. "When I was asked what colour I wanted in my 'office,' I said, 'it's not my office, it's my pot-smoking room.' The painter asked, 'how do I get one?' " Hutchinson, 51, won't reveal the ailment that gives him Health Canada's permission to smoke marijuana for medical reasons ( and, as of last month, a school-sanctioned smoking room ), but says he was diagnosed with it in 1995 and that it's not a Type-1 condition ( like HIV ). He does, however, need up to 10 joints a day for relief. "I smoke a spliff at the break in my three-hour class to restore my concentration and focus," he says. "I'm lower when I go back into class, not higher. And I have way better short-term memory. If you took one whiff of my spliff, you'd forget where your car is. It has a very different effect on the virgin head and the seasoned head." ( His doctor backs Hutchinson's claim that the frequency of use makes him immune to the power of the bud. ) Hutchinson didn't get the go-ahead from Health Canada until last February, but has been smoking pot on campus for a few years -- in his "official" second-floor office, but also while hiding out in tree branches and in a nearby garbage dumpster. "If I couldn't use this marijuana here I'd have to kill myself -- either literally or professionally," he says, adding he's been "a pothead all my life -- even when I was a Rhodes Scholar." His smoking only became an issue last December, after several students complained to college officials that they could smell weed wafting from Hutchinson's office. Administration cracked down, says Hutchinson, because they had kicked a student out of residence for pot earlier in the year. Margaret MacMillan, Trinity's provost, refuses to discuss that alleged case. As for Hutchinson, she says the smoking room -- formerly the North Piano Room -- was determined the best way to accommodate his health need: "We hired a consultant to look at his office but it couldn't be outfitted to use for smoking -- we're a heritage building so you can't just knock a hole in the wall and put a fan in." The married father of two started using pot as a remedy in 1996. After getting weed from a trusted source for several years, Hutchinson discovered the benefits of medical-grade pot ( including the "Snow White" strain ) at a Toronto compassion club in 2004. He's since become something of a crusader on pot-related issues, protected he says by the Charter of Rights, not to mention his tenured position at the university. He still has a full teaching load, but since working on Plato: Complete Works -- published in 1997 -- his research slate has been "basically blank." Unfinished work -- including the editing of Aristotle's ethics -- has been set aside for now. "I'm very open to carry on my university research on marijuana," he says. "I'd rather do this than find a new lost work of Aristotle. Why? Because it's important to Canadians, right now." Hutchinson says his struggle has been well-supported by students -- although he smokes pot in their presence, he never lights up with them. ( "I don't offer. They don't ask." ) It has, however, strained relations with his peers. There's no hostility, but it's quite telling that most of the friends Hutchinson has made during 23 years at the university are former students. A one-time student, however, recently posted a critique of Hutchinson on the Internet, arguing that his pot smoking explains his teaching style: "One of the questions on our term test involved correlating Plato with an excerpt of lyrics from one of the prof's favourite reggae songs." Hutchinson laughs it off, crediting the writing of Roman philosopher Seneca ( the subject of one of his courses ) with offering good anger-management advice. Still, he's frustrated, and defends his professionalism, and his teaching: "I feel massively angry that people have negative views of me based only on what goes into me and not a knowledge of what comes out of me." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 Source: Maclean's Magazine (Canada) Copyright: 2006 Maclean Hunter Publishing Ltd. Contact: letters@macleans.ca Website: http://www.macleans.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/253 Author: John Intini Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 11/4/06 06:14 PM 74.56.233.120 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7022 / re: 6991 ] Short letter that claims the D.E.A. is a source of good info. Hah! Too bad we always have to attempt to counteract their dishonesty, backed up with violence, with our appeal to evidence and logic ... (sometimes I wish we could just shoot 'em too ...) They get to back up their lies with coercion, and we get to back up our truth with nothing. Too bad, so sad. Anyway, the link is there: __________________________ LTE: POT COLUMN GOT IT WRONG Olds Albertan,31 Oct 2006 POT COLUMN GOT IT WRONG RE: Kim Dick's Commentary Re: Medical Marijuana on October 17, 2006. As a physician concerned about public health and safety, I must disagree with Ms. Dick's assertion that "marijuana research continues to prove that it is safe, effective and even preventative". The evidence is to the contrary. Medical marijuana has no inherent medical value or properties that cannot be bested by other legal, non-addictive therapies. Marijuana is a gateway drug to more serious drugs of abuse. Marijuana is toxic, with five joints a week thought to have the same lung cancer causing properties as a package of cigarettes daily. For those interested in more information I suggest http://www.dea.gov/ongoing/marijuana.html. James Wiedrick, M.D. C.C.F.P. Olds Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Tue, 31 Oct 2006 Source: Olds Albertan, The (CN AB) Copyright: 2006 The Olds Albertan Contact: tan@olds.greatwest.ca Website: http://www.oldsalbertan.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2380 Author: James Wiedrick, M.D. C.C.F.P. Blair (stranger) 11/16/06 05:28 PM 74.56.79.115 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7073 / re: 7022 ] The U.S.A. D.E.A. is about ten billion dollars per year of dishonesty backed up with violence ... Blair (stranger) 11/23/06 10:57 AM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7102 / re: 7073 ] This quote in from article below is hilarious: "He smokes marihuana, the medicine, not marijuana, the recreational substance." Like, one associates with negroes, not niggers. The reason for the two spellings is the different possible ways to translate Mexican Spanish. Mainly, the Canadian government used the h spelling, not the j. My feeling becomes reciprocal when I see people attempting to say hemp is not pot, or this silly marihuana is not marijuana. Compromise with racism is similar to compromising with these attitudes towards the cannabis plant. http://www.ultravires.ca/?q=node/647 The Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law I say marihuana, You say marijuana BY MEGHAN RILEY Let's be honest, everybody is doing it Medicinal marijuana has arrived in the workplace. Currently, there are 1500 Canadians licensed to smoke marijuana for medical reasons. As of this fall, the University of Toronto and York University each provide one of their professors with a specially ventilated room on campus to smoke medicinal marijuana. Both professors are licensed to smoke marijuana for a legitimate medical purpose. These are the first cases of this kind in Canada and may be a sign of major changes to come. Professor Doug Hutchinson, a professor of philosophy at U of T, and Dr. Brian MacLean, an assistant professor of sociology at York University, have become the subject of international media scrutiny over the past few weeks, with CNN even weighing in on the situation as recently as November 13. I emailed both men to try to set up interviews. I was unable to speak with Mr. Hutchinson, since he will be out of town for a few weeks, but he sent me a gracious email indicating that he would otherwise be happy to grant my request. He also copied the email to Dr. MacLean and suggested that I email him. It seems that these two men, who have been pulled together by the rarity, timing and publicity of their circumstances, are becoming fast friends and allies. I talked to Dr. MacLean for about 45 minutes over the phone and found him to be extremely likeable. He suffers from degenerative arthritis and, after consultation with his doctor and filing the requisite paperwork, was granted a license by Health Canada to both possess and produce marijuana for medical purposes. He smokes about 7.5 grams a day. In his case, he cannot work, or live comfortably, without it. When he was hired by York University in July, he gave them all the relevant paperwork along with his request that they accommodate his medical disability. As I am learning in labour law this term, unionized employers have a duty to accommodate employees who have disabilities. After Weber v. Ontario Hydro, both the Charter and Human Rights Codes may properly be the subject of arbitration, if they are inferentially incorporated into a collective agreement. MacLean's union, YUFA (York University Faculty Association) negotiated with York University, and ultimately MacLean was allocated a ventilated room to medicate in as of November 6. Dr. MacLean is happy with the outcome, even though there was a three-month delay in arranging the accommodation, during which time he had been relegated to smoking marijuana on the edges of the campus, where he feared that students would see or smell him. MacLean was uncomfortable with this and was worried that there would be damage to his reputation. However, he is willing to attribute the delay to the novelty of the situation for the university, and to their needing to find a solution that balanced other people's rights to a smoke-free environment. York University has yet to make an official statement indicating that they support Dr. MacLean and explaining that rather than hindering his performance on the job, his marijuana use is medicinal and, in fact, necessary for him to do his job. Until and unless the university takes this step, Dr. Maclean fears that he is vulnerable to allegations by disgruntled students that his ability to grade papers and/or teach is impaired by his marijuana use. He believes that a clear statement of support by the university would help send a statement that those kinds of claims won't be entertained. I want to highlight our discussion about the spelling of the word marijuana/marihuana. My spell check permits both, and indeed, both are used. Dr. MacLean pointed out to me that in all of his medical paperwork, the word is spelled "marihuana" whereas the spelling in most legal cases is "marijuana". Dr. Maclean insists that there is a difference. He smokes marihuana, the medicine, not marijuana, the recreational substance. He told me that the distinction is important to him, not because there is anything wrong with recreational use (he supports it and feels that it is unconstitutional to criminalize simple possession), but rather because the two arguments are totally separate and the current accommodation made for him has nothing to do with recreational use and `getting high.' Dr. MacLean stressed to me that for him, marijuana is what allows him to work, rather than hindering him. He told me that, "it's no party." MacLean doesn't want people who have limited recreational experience with the drug to assume that they can predict the effect it has on him, or that he is "whacked out" when he smokes. Overall, these two situations will likely pave the way for many similar accommodations, at least in Ontario. It will be very difficult for unionized employers to deny accommodation to their employees who do have licenses to smoke marijuana. It will be interesting to see which employers can avoid this by claiming that it's a bona fide job requirement that employees have not consumed THC (perhaps in manufacturing or in jobs where the employee must operate machinery on the job). More interesting is whether these kinds of accommodations will begin to happen in non-unionized workplaces, which are still subject to human rights codes, but where an individual employee would have to take up their own fight rather than having a union to advance their grievance. Blair (stranger) 11/24/06 03:46 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7105 / re: 7102 ] I agree with the ratio given by Barth below: the difference between the cost of prohibition, to the tax revenue possible from legalization, would be from minus 2 to plus 3, making the difference about 5. REACTIONARY FOOLS Regarding Paul Osborne's letter about me, First of all, I am a medical marijuana user, so I use pot for symptom alleviation, not to get high. Second, my chronic pain condition is such that I cannot seem to get high no matter how much pot I use ( believe me, I have tried ). Third, at great personal cost and risk I have spent the past four years of my spare time writing letters and articles, holding public demonstrations and press conferences, counselling people on medical marijuana and lifestyle, and working very hard to reform Canada's drug laws. Why? Because prohibition is the problem and regulation is the cure. Ending prohibition would save us $2 billion a year on wasted effort, and earn an additional $3 billion in annual tax revenue. Five bills cleans and builds a lot of low income housing. As for "Why do some people have to get stoned?" maybe they hate having to live in a world full of closed-minded, reactionary fools who can't understand simple logic and ruin society, property, and the environment with their insane and counterproductive drug laws. Russell Barth CN ON: PUB LTE: Reactionary Fools URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1588/a08.html Pubdate: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: oped@ott.sunpub.com Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n1576.a05.html Author: Russell Barth Note: Parenthetical remark by the Sun editor Note: Headline by newshawk Peter & Ron (Unregistered) 11/27/06 08:09 PM 24.86.79.110 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7120 / re: 6688 ] Over the past year I have supported my brother with his efforts to become a licensed user and producer of his own medication. We have overcome many hurdles. One of the most significant challenges was having his room passed by the electrical department in the city that he resides. Well $6,000 later his room passed the inspection. Our latest hurdle is finding an insurance company that will provide a policy for his landlady's home. It seems the financial institution who holds her mortgage has a grudge against medical marijuana patients. They actually contacted the the company that carried his landlady's homeowners insurance policy and encouraged them to cancel. Next thing you know she receives a letter from the financial institution advising that they are foreclosing on her mortgage because she doesn't have sufficient insurance to protect their investment. What next! Is there anybody out there who knows of an insurance company that would underwrite a policy for her. If we can't find one I'm afraid my brother is going to be forced to purcahse his medication on the black market. What a shame. Blair (stranger) 11/27/06 09:03 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7121 / re: 7120 ] Although I have never heard of this happening before, it does not surprise me as one more typical hassle!!! I can not give you any specific help as to how to find an insurer that your brother's landlady might be able to locate that will agree to do it. Sorry. All I can suggest is that you try asking at the various Medical Marijuana Web sites ... and the related Cannabis Compassion Clubs too. They are much more experienced with these problems. http://www.cannabislink.ca with numerous links, like those at: http://www.cannabislink.ca/links/index.php Some of those Web sites have a forum for discussions ... maybe you should try posting about your problem there too? The Compassion Clubs in different parts of Canada have various contact information on Web sites ... Depending on where you are, maybe they could help. _____________________________________________ Indeed, it is a SHAME that sick people have to go through such aggravation. Unfortunately, this tragedy sounds too typical of the bad way medical marijuana has become "legalized," but not readily available ... Even when a person does everything that they reasonably should do ... they still might be surprised & screwed like your brother. Blair (stranger) 11/30/06 07:04 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7146 / re: 7121 ] Why I'm Not Against, Like, Oh Wow Man, Pot I have yet to see a patient whose health was harmed by smoking marijuana, but I have treated people seriously hurt by the drug's illegality By DR. SCOTT HAIG Posted Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006 We don't really know how many people smoke it. Some sources say 10 million Americans, others say 35 million. But a lot of people smoke pot and they don't seem very sick. Marijuana just won't go away. Everybody talks about it—many quite fondly. About everyone I know under 55 has smoked it. And they're all right. A few have that pothead "oh wow" personality, but so what? I don't know of one case of serious marijuana-related disease among my friends, family and acquaintances. At work I have to report the same thing. I've been in hospitals and around sick people for 26 years now. I've admitted plenty of patients who have owned up to using pot. I think I can often tell by how they act. But do the health effects of pot seem very serious? As dangerous as those of alcohol, tobacco, overworking, fashion magazines or overeating? Nope. In fact, the health effects of pot are not nearly as dangerous as the jail they throw you in for possessing it. Not even close. I'm not an oncologist but I haven't seen a case of lung cancer clearly related to dope smoking. Memory loss, depression, anxiety? Could it be as bad as turning 50? As for it being a gateway drug — how about beer? There are some reasonable medical uses for cannabis. One patient I knew could get relief from her chemotherapy-induced nausea from nothing other than smoking joints. She was dying in the Massachusetts General Hospital from Ewing's sarcoma at 19, so no one was going to stop her. The word on our oncology floors is that pot's a pretty good appetite stimulant and anti-emetic. A few patients have asked me for it in connection with this. But no, I have never actually written an outpatient prescription for Cannabinol, THC or marijuana leaf (and I have no idea where they could get one filled anyway). The chief dangers of marijuana, practically, seem to spring from only one of its features: it's illegal. People get beat up, shot up and locked up because of the great amount of money that rides on selling the stuff, stuff that would be about as expensive as lettuce if it weren't against the law. I have treated people seriously hurt by the illegality of pot. Do I recommend using it? No way. Never used it, even in the bad old days, and I hope that none of my kids ever do. There's something repulsive about the half-closed, red eyes — something that's selfish and irresponsible. The biggest reason I didn't smoke it in the 70s, when everybody I knew was trying "to get me high," was that I wanted to be able to tell my kids that I didn't so that they wouldn't. I feel strongly about it—it's really not my bag. But that's who I am. I also feel pretty strongly that nearly every child should study Latin—really—but I don't think we should lock them up if they don't. For me, it's similar to the speed-reading phenomenon. In the 70s and 80s there were all sorts of advertisements for this great system that would help you read the whole Sunday Times in 15 minutes "with complete comprehension and recall." I almost sent away for it. I still wonder about it but am now pretty sure it doesn't work. Here's how I know: I have never met a single person who could do it. Hanging around with many big readers for the past 35 years I should have bumped into at least one who took the course and could actually read that fast. I can't help but think it's the same with pot. Hanging around with all sorts of big dope-smokers for the same 35 years I should have bumped into at least one or two with those "serious health effects". The fact is I haven't. But I would listen to any docs out there who have actually seen or treated diseases truly caused by pot. Another undeniable is that pot has cache among teens. Some kids between 13 and 19 are clearly willing to risk everything to smoke the stuff — they know how much trouble they can get in. The "smoker" label seems as important a part of their personae as their tastes in music and clothing — maybe more so because it's illegal. It's as defining for them as it was for my pothead friends in the 70s. Maybe they'll become investment bankers too. An important "art of medicine" issue is sensitivity to the individual's right to self-determination. We work hard to respect patient choice. Lots of explaining, rebutting and cleaning up messes. And as the government should, we draw a line. I won't prescribe cyanide for a patient in pain, even if he asks for it, and the government shouldn't permit home nuclear bomb experiments, even for garage-inventors who promise to be careful. But some people love cannabis and they're going to get it anyway. Good doctors do learn to persuade and cajole to gently make what we think is the right choice into the patient's choice. ("The girls in therapy really seem to get a kick out of you. Are you sure you don't want to go anymore?") The government equivalent of this is called "drug education" and it's fine. But when you try to change certain things by force, things close to the core about what folks love and hate, about their personalities, you just run into trouble. It doesn't work. You might knock down but you will never build up. This is why the government is better off out of the marijuana business. Blair (stranger) 12/5/06 10:14 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7180 / re: 7146 ] CUT TO MARIJUANA RESEARCH SENDS STRONG MESSAGE Canadian Medical Association Journal,05 Dec 2006 The federal government's decision to cancel the Medical Marijuana Research Program ( MMRP ) sends a strong message that clinical research into the risks and benefits of herbal cannabis -- the kind distributed by Ottawa under Supreme Court order -- is not a priority. The discontinuation also signals Canada is no longer interested in being a leader in cannabinoid research despite its unique position as the only country with a federally controlled marijuana grow-op to supply registered users. The federal government has "suddenly taken away the research, or the possibility to do additional research, to inform not only the physicians but patients about safety and efficacy," says Dr. Mark Ware, the sole researcher to receive MMRP funding. The research cuts also mean policy-makers won't have adequate safety and efficacy data, he adds. "They're making laws and regulations around a drug which there is limited data on ... which I think is a very awkward situation to be in," says Ware, from McGill's University Health Centre. Ware received $262 000 for a 1-year pilot efficacy study launched in 2001 on smoked cannabis for chronic neuropathic pain in 32 subjects. The study didn't begin until 2003, a delay that Ware says was caused largely by licensing requirements and other obstacles related to working with a controlled substance. Results will be published in a few months. The second grant, worth $1.8 million, was awarded in 2003 for a Cannabis for the Management of Pain: Assessment of Safety Study ( COMPASS ), which involved comparing 350 medicinal marijuana users to a number of non-users suffering chronic pain. It began in January 2005 and is ongoing. Physician reluctance to participate without safety data was part of the delay, says Ware. The federal government announced in late September that it would not spend the $4 million remaining in the 5-year MMRP, which was launched in 2001 with a $7.5-million budget. Marijuana researchers can seek funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, but their success rate has historically been low, says Ware. "The medical research community can decide what its own priorities are," says Erik Waddell, spokesman for Health Minister Tony Clement, repeating the message made by the minister of finance when the cut was announced. And MMRP was eliminated, Waddell says, after an evaluation showed that the monies allocated "weren't producing any results that were beneficial to Canadian taxpayers." Waddell repeatedly noted that only one researcher ( Ware ) was funded and no results produced. Waddell also agreed with Health Canada officials who, when asked about the federal government's role in this field, stated: "...clinical research regarding the use of marijuana for therapeutic purposes and the development of marijuana-based products is best undertaken and funded by the pharmaceutical industry." But, as Umar Syed, vice-president, scientific and strategic affairs for Cannasat Therapeutics explains, there is little incentive for the pharmaceutical industry to study the naturally occurring cannabinoids found in smoked marijuana, like that produced by the government at an underground mine in Flin Flon, Man. and distributed to patients with physician approval, because they cannot patent it. Instead, the industry seeks cannabinoid-like molecules that can be protected against competition, or, like Cannasat, focuses on new delivery systems -- patches or inhalers -- for naturally occurring cannabinoids that avoid the hyper-psychoactive effects associated with oral sprays or pills. ( Cannasat is at least 4 years away from having such a product. ) Marijuana seeds and plants produced by Prairie Plant Systems ( Cannasat is a PPS shareholder ) have been distributed since 2003. A week after the MMRP cut, the government allocated $2.2 million to extend PPS's contract for 1 year. Waddell says there are no plans to close the grow-op. As of September, 1492 people were authorized, with the support of 917 physicians, to possess PPS marijuana for medical purposes. That approvals come with limited peer reviewed data is reinforced by Health Canada's Information for health care professionals ( revised ) - -- marihuana ( marijuana, cannabis ), which states: "While there are many anecdotal reports of the therapeutic value of smoked marihuana, scientific studies supporting the safety and efficacy of marihuana for therapeutic claims are inconclusive." Despite this, Waddell insists that: "We believe that even with the cut to the medical marijuana research program there is sufficient evidence and support out there to continue the program of distributing medical marijuana." The Canadian AIDS Society ( CAS ) disagrees, saying the lack of understanding of risk and benefits, dose requirements or counterindications with prescription drugs leaves physicians and patients in a quandary. They are calling for the re-establishment of a Stakeholder Advisory Committee on active new substances that was disbanded last year and originally recommended MMRP be established. While there is no plan to close the grow-op, CAS and others argue that without more data, doctors will remain reluctant to participate. Patients, in turn, won't get legal access, and the grow-op could be indirectly choked. "We feel it is an important public health issue that needs to be addressed and the government should be involved in facilitating the research so that Canadians can make a more informed decision about their health care," says CAS executive-director Monique Doolittle-Romas. Waddell said there are no plans to re-establish an advisory committee, but that if doctors feel strongly more research is needed, "then they should speak to Health Canada; we'd certainly listen to what they have to say." Powered by MAP. posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal (Canada) Copyright: 2006 Canadian Medical Association Contact: cmaj-feedback@forsythe.stanford.edu Website: http://www.cmaj.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/754 Author: Pauline Comeau, Ottawa Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) Blair (stranger) 12/15/06 09:26 AM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7264 / re: 7180 ] MEDICINAL 'WEED' HELPS THE ILL: DOCTOR Suburban,13 Dec 2006 One day, when he was in a Jamaican hospital doing graduate research on chronic pain, Dr. Mark Ware noticed that some of his patients were coping with their pain much more easily than others. Intrigued, he asked an old Rastafarian his secret. "It's the herb, Doc," replied the man. That's when the doctor found his vocation. Ware is now a leading authority on the medical uses of cannabis and works at the McGill University Health Centre Pain Clinic. But in order for his medical research to continue, he says the public and the media need to stop confusing the therapeutic use of cannabis with recreational use. During a public lecture at the Montreal General Hospital last Wednesday, Ware pointed to a photograph that recently accompanied an articleA in the press about medicinal cannabis. The picture showed an elderly man wearing sunglasses emblazoned with bright green marihuana leaves. "The patients who come to my office don't look like this," said Ware. "They're ill people who are trying to live happier lives." "Marijuana engenders powerful emotions in people, but I urge them to take a step back and consider what the possibilities are for pain treatment" Cannabis shows promise as a medication for a range of symptoms associated with chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and chronic nerve injury pain, he said. "Every month, new research is published from around the world suggesting that cannabinoids [chemical compounds, such as THC, found in marijuana] play a role in physiological processes like pain, appetite, inflammation and movement," Ware said. "We now know there is a system of cannabinoids in our bodies working all the time to control these processes, and this system may be an appropriate target for new therapies," he continued. While cannabis is by no means a full-proof cure for pain, Ware says it can make small improvements on a patients' condition. A "Pain is hard to live with and hard to treat, and studies show cannabinoids have some effect," he said. "It's just another option we have, it's just another piece of equipment in our toolbox." As with most drugs, however, cannabis will not work in the same way for everyone and the careful monitoring by a physician is required. Cannabis is also not without danger. While it does not cause madness, as popular lore once claimed, it is linked to higher incidence of psychosis and schizophrenia in early users and individuals with a prior history of psychotic disorders. More research is still needed to determine whether there is truly a cause and effect relationship. A recent study on patients who had never smoked cigarettes has also proved that there is no link between cannabis and cancer, said Ware. In fact, a study on animals has showed that there might even be anti-cancer agents in THC. After the talk, a long line of people who either live with severe pain, or have relatives who do, shared their stories with Ware and showed visible interest in his research, giving evidence that pain treatment is a daily concern for many Quebecers. As of September 2006, 1,492 Canadians were authorized to possess dried marihuana, including 154 Quebecers, while as of last year, 4,500 Quebecers were listed for treatment at pain centres. On July 30, 2001, Health Canada granted access to marijuana for medical use to those who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses, although unlawful possession is still a criminal offence. Holders of an authorization to possess can obtain marihuana from three possible sources: they can apply for access to purchase dried marijuana from Health Canada; they can grow their own supply; or they can designate someone else to grow it for them. Ware's research program on cannabis is supported by Canadian and Quebec funding agencies, such as the CIHR and FRSQ. He has advised the Canadian Government on medical marijuana access regulations, and has consulted for pharmaceutical companies on clinical development of new cannabinoid therapies. A Ware's lecture was the third and final segment of a series that took place at the Montreal General. Entitled "From microscope to stethoscope," the free public lecture series invited MUHC scientists to share their research with the public and debunk some of the myths that surround it. In the first two lectures, Dr. David Colman explored the role of serendipity in medical research while Dr. Brian Ward looked at how new immunologic ideas can help fight pandemics diseases like HIV or the avian bird flu. To apply for the authorization to possess marijuana, an application must be submitted in writing to Health Canada along with a declaration of support from a medical practitioner. Application forms and guidelines are available online or by calling Health Canada at 1-866-337-7705. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 Source: Suburban, The (CN QU) Copyright: 2006 The Suburban Contact: editor@thesuburban.com Website: http://www.thesuburban.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4178 Author: Lucille Hagege ________________________________________________ I personally attended this lecture in Montreal. Dr. Ware is a walking manifestation of the way that medical marijuana is black pot wrapped in a white lab coat He first learned about treating pain from black people in Jamaica ... Now, he seems to me to be the way the white, British empire is finally willing and able to rob the value in cannabis, and then sell it back to us all. The only thing I learned from his talk was that the people who did the studies that indicated there is no link between marijuana and cancer, (except for maybe actually preventing cancers from starting) are very well respected in their fields ... The so-called science about any "pyschosis" is mostly bogus, with no good definitions, but rather a lot of bad propaganda ... One can prove that marijuana does NOT cause cancer. However, evidence that marijuana causes mental illness, is all done by correlations, without any proof of cause. I wish we had millions of dollars to pay qualified people to rip to shreds the bogus science in modern forms of reefer madness bullshit. There may be something there, but it is nothing like what it is being touted to be. Blair (stranger) 12/22/06 09:20 AM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7297 / re: 7264 ] MAN SHOT, FOUR FACE CHARGES Kingston Whig-Standard,21 Dec 2006 Police have laid charges against four men after a Portland man was shot in the leg in September while thieves stole his medicinal marijuana. The pot pirates raided the man's home in September, wearing police jackets and barging in early in the morning. When he protested, they shot him. Police later said the man was licensed to have medicinal marijuana in the home and the thieves targeted his cache. The government no longer directly supplies the drug to patients with prescriptions -- used to relieve things like chronic pain or nausea - -- but allows them to either grow their own or designate someone else to grow it for them. A 20-year-old man from Innisville is charged with attempted murder, impersonating a police officer, using a firearm during the commission of an indictable offence, break and enter and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. A 23-year-old man from Smiths Falls is charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and breach of probation. Two Ottawa men, aged 33 and 37, are charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 The Kingston Whig-Standard Contact: whiged@thewhig.com Website: http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224 ____________________________________________ This kind of tragic story is too predictable. The law gives one person a privilege which it denies to many others, and therefore, some of those others attempt to obtain access to that privilege as well ... The law is the original source that restricts the marijuana, and then give licenses to the privileged few, and thus causes subsequent events to happen. In this case, the law gives licenses to people who are sick enough, and can prove it, and therefore are allowed to grow their own pot. Constitutional rights should never have become based on proving HOW SICK a person was. Once laws did that, the kinds of stories above were created. Blair (stranger) 12/30/06 01:41 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7340 / re: 7297 ] COMPASSION CLUB RAIDED, NAMES TAKEN Parksville Qualicum Beach News,29 Dec 2006 Coombs-Area Club Founder Russell Arrested, Charged With Trafficking In Marijuana The Mid-Island Compassion Club has been busted. Mark Russell, the founder of the Coombs chapter of the Cannabis Buyers Club of Canada, who supplies marijuana to sick people who use it for pain relief, was raided by members of the Courtenay RCMP on Dec. 22 and now faces six counts of trafficking in a controlled substance. "They came to the house at noon with a warrant and asked me to open the safe," says Russell. "They removed our medicine, documents, paperwork, client lists, everything." Russell, who has run the Mid Island Compassion Club for the past five years and who has 85 clients, was taken to the Oceanside RCMP station in Parksville, fingerprinted and released. "They were here for a total of about three hours," the Dashwood residents says. "I was ordered not to continue running the club or they would arrest me. I feel sick about this. Stunned." Russell says he doesn't sell marijuana to people off the street, but strictly to sick people who use it for pain relief, and to their caregivers. "We deal strictly with people who have medical conditions," he says. "They have to prove they have a medical condition before they can join the club." Before they took his membership lists away, RCMP let Russell photocopy them for his own records -- but not, he says, before they blacked out one name. "One undercover officer came as a club member," he says. "He said he had a brain tumor and he signed up with the paperwork saying he had a brain tumor. He had a caregiver signed in as well." Courtenay RCMP Constable Derek Kryzanowzki says the search warrant came as the result of an ongoing investigation that had been in progress for over a year. "Essentially it was an ongoing investigation that culminated in getting a search warrant because of illegal activity going on there, which was trafficking in marijuana." Kryzanowzki says the bust was not part of a coordinated campaign against medical marijuana compassion clubs, nor was it instigated by a complaint from the general public. "It was self-generated through one of the members in the drug section who initiated the investigation," he says. Kryzanowzki says police have no interest in going after the people on Russell's client list. "They ( the names ) are going to be returned to him and were not even recorded," he says. "They have no bearing on the case. We are strictly looking at ( Russel ) for trafficking and we have no interest in his so-called clients. I have no copies of them and they are sealed up." He says police seized approximately 390 grams of marijuana in the bust. Russell says he plans to stop selling the marijuana for now, although he says the compassion club will continue to operate. "There is a need for it," he says. "We provide security for these people. They know they can come to us and get quality product when they need it and they don't have to worry about all the problems associated with dealing with the black market." Russell says the compassion club has always been a money-losing proposition for him and he makes ends meet by taking on odd jobs such as driving a cab. "I've never made a living at it. I don't sell that much," he says. "I'm not in the same category as a regular pot dealer." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Parksville Qualicum Beach News Contact: editor@pqbnews.com Website: http://www.pqbnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361 Author: Neil Horner, News Reporter Blair (stranger) 1/1/07 08:51 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7357 / re: 7340 ] TRAIL RESIDENT SPENDS CHRISTMAS IN THE COLD AFTER RCMP RAID Victoria Times-Colonist,29 Dec 2006 TRAIL - A 52-year-old Trail man says he spent Christmas in the cold and without his "medicine" because the RCMP raided his home and shut off the power. Pete Roglich and his wife Denise Roglich both have Health Canada permits to grow, possess and use dried marijuana to help them treat their Hepatitis C. "I'm sick and getting sicker each week," says Roglich, adding the Mounties seized 200 pot plants during the Dec. 19 raid. The couple each received permission to grow 25 plants. Roglich says officers told him his house would be confiscated as the proceeds of crime and that he'd be charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. RCMP Cpl. Martin D'Anjou says officers weren't aware that Roglich had a licence to grow pot until they were in the house. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 The Canadian Press Contact: letters@tc.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) Blair (stranger) 1/4/07 05:49 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7365 / re: 7357 ] Murphy Brown TV show episode on Medical Marijuana for chemo ... three parts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDxXTTrjP0k&eurl= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYXuibTk2I&eurl= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1jvSy7ZYs0&eurl= Blair (stranger) 1/6/07 11:27 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7375 / re: 6958 ] TRIAL DATE SET FOR POT GROWER Chronicle Herald,05 Jan 2007 AMHERST - A trial date has finally been set for a Maccan man who claims he was growing marijuana to help himself and 300 others with medical conditions, but it will still be months before Rick Simpson faces a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge and jury. In Supreme Court on Thursday, Mr. Simpson's two-week trial was slated to begin Sept. 10, 25 months after police raided his property and allegedly seized more than 1,200 marijuana plants. Mr. Simpson, 57, did not speak during the hearing, but lawyer Jim O'Neil indicated his former client would defend himself at trial. Mr. O'Neil did not say why he would no longer be involved in the case. Mr. Simpson faces one count each of possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana, possessing less than three kilograms of the drug for trafficking and unlawfully producing marijuana. The Crown is proceeding summarily on the simple possession charge and by indictment on the others. As a result, the penalty is a maximum seven years on the production charge, five years less a day on the possession for trafficking charge and a $1,000 fine, six months in jail or both on the possession charge. Since his arrest Mr. Simpson has been asking the RCMP to return the material and equipment he used to make what he calls hemp oil. He claims the yellowish, grease-like oil is safe and cures everything from cancer to arthritis and psoriasis. After his arrest Mr. Simpson ran in the January 2006 federal election, promoting his belief that his homemade remedy is a lifesaver that is being ignored by the government and pharmaceutical companies. He has garnered strong support from some in the community, including the Maccan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. Last fall, the legion's provincial command temporarily cancelled the branch's charter, removed the executive and shut down the legion after its executive ignored orders to stop supporting Mr. Simpson. The legion has since reopened under a new executive, but some of the former executive members continue to support Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson also launched a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was heard just before Christmas, but the court banned reporting both the evidence and its decision until the jury hearing Mr. Simpson's case begins deliberating. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2007 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: letters@herald.ca Website: http://thechronicleherald.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 Author: Tom McCoag, Amherst Bureau Blair (stranger) 1/8/07 09:12 AM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7381 / re: 7375 ] TUMOR STORY A NICE TOUCH Parksville Qualicum Beach News,05 Jan 2007 The busting of Mark Russell and the Mid-Island Compassion Club reminds me of Charles Dickens' apt quote: "The law is an ass." At the same time, it draws attention to a community-need. I hate to say it, and I know they are only doing their job, but as a proud multi-generation RCMP brat I'm sorry to see them tasked with chasing people whose only choice to live comfortably with their various diagnosed ailments is to use medicinal marijuana. What a waste of their already stretched resources. As a RN on disability, a patient of, and founding member of the B.C Compassion Club Society ( BCCCS ) -- a respected and valued medicinal marijuana dispensary for well over a decade -- Mark Russell's biggest problems are that he has a compassionate devotion to provide medicinal marijuana despite a legal system that does not adequately support its use -- and he's too trusting of people. All the undercover RCMP Officer posing as a brain tumor patient proved was just that the club caters to those in need, especially when they present themselves with a caretaker --- nice touch, officer. It also shows that the club needs to be less trusting and tighten up its proof of eligibility requirements. Can you spell entrapment? Sheesh! My father, and the rest of my NWMP/RCMP ancestors, would be utterly disgusted. All this schmozzle proves is that the Mid-Island Compassion Club needs resources so it can operate more legitimately like the long-standing and respected Vancouver Island Compassion Society ( Victoria ) and the BCCCS ( Vancouver ). As a nurse, I cannot say enough about the professionalism of these organizations and the tremendous service they provide to the community. It's a fact: they reduce their patients' use of our over-burdened health-care system, and that's something to think about. Also, I wouldn't put my professional reputation on the line unless I wholeheartedly supported such a venture. So let's get with the program, people! Liz Stonard Coombs Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Parksville Qualicum Beach News Contact: editor@pqbnews.com Website: http://www.pqbnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1747/a05.html Author: Liz Stonard Blair (stranger) 1/13/07 09:11 PM 74.56.208.154 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7392 / re: 7381 ] GOVERNMENT CREATED A SYSTEM BENEFITTING THE WORST ONE PERCENT Parksville Qualicum Beach News,12 Jan 2007 The disturbing trend by RCMP to arrest and detain people for marijuana possession, trafficking and usage is irresponsible in this day and age. After numerous commissions, hundreds of thousands of hours of governmental time consumed studying marijuana, the consensus in Canada remains that marijuana should not be illegal and the denial of this most natural and basic medicine is extreme to the point of undue hardship. Our governments, past and present have failed all of the people of the country. They have squandered vast resources studying this to death, and still, after many commissions gave them a good enough if not well studied answer, they flung those results out of the window of common sense. I find it truly sad that of all the silly things we could be picking on, we are picking on people who have a disability. These people are unwell, suffer immensely, and in the scope of things are being punished for their choice of medicine. Most recently, numerous Human Rights tribunals have examined these similar situations and have resolved to agree that the issue of addiction is really a disability, and as such, has not been treated as one, but instead, has been treated as a crime, contrary to human rights law. Why does the government allow for the sale of carcinogens on the open market? Why does the government not ban chemicals and pesticides when they know they cause cancer? Why does the government allow for raw sewage to be pumped directly into the oceans? Does anyone else think that they have their priorities wrong? It would seem that the government, instead of seeing marijuana legalized, would prefer the method of people selling pot from their homes and schools to people of all ages. No restrictions. This unfettered cash bonanza for criminals contributes more to the criminal underworld than any terrorist organization financing mechanism that operates on earth. The marijuana trade is huge, beyond the capacity of police to deal with and beyond the range of our government. Our government, by the virtue of keeping pot illegal, has created a system that finances the worst one per cent of the population. Marijuana needs to be removed from this criminal paradigm, placed into the hands of the provincial authorities, taxed and used as it was meant to be used -- as a contributor to the well being of the state through the cash injection of taxes. Criminalizing addiction is a farce and our government knows this. One must now wonder, why our government would prefer to see the criminals profiteer, and the police budgets expand and bloat. Bringing marijuana laws into the present out of the dark ages is important and honourable. The poor folks running the compassion club deserve a medal of honour for their work, and we can only hope that by the time the case makes it to trial, there will be changes made. Jim Bender is a member of the Marijuana Party of Canada and lives in Woodstock, Ont. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Larry Seguin Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Parksville Qualicum Beach News Contact: editor@pqbnews.com Website: http://www.pqbnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361 Author: Jim Bender Note: Jim Bender is a member of the Marijuana Party of Canada Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Blair (stranger) 1/16/07 04:33 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7406 / re: 7381 ] COMPASSION CLIENTS LEFT HOLDING THE BAG Parksville Qualicum Beach News,12 Jan 2007 Although they busted him for allegedly trafficking in marijuana, Mid-Island Compassion Club founder Mark Russell isn't bitter towards the police. He's very clear about that. "The police treated us respectfully and didn't come busting in," Russell says. "They have a job to do and are not allowed to pick and choose which laws they are going to support." Russell says he has always held the police in high regard, having an uncle who was a police officer. "They're just people," he says. "They're not minions of some evil overlord or anything like that. I'm angry with them because they are upholding what I consider to be an illegal law, but they have to do their job." Russell made the comments in light of a special meeting he held at his Dashwood-area home for club members to discuss the ramifications of the police raid. "There was a lot of venting, a lot of anger, people telling me their problems and experiences, talking to each other and complaining about the law," Russell says. "The best thing about the meeting was that I got to introduce people to the folks at the North Island club and that's going to help quite a bit." Members of the club seem to mostly share Russell's point of view, although some question why police would target people who are sick. "There are meth houses that need to be busted," says club member Ron Harkness. "Why pick on the sick?" Harkness has Hepatitis C and he says marijuana prevents the queasiness he gets in his stomach. "It works for me and I've seen it work for other people," he says. Brian Sherwood echoes Harkness' concerns about police priorities in the bust. "If these guys want to do something about the problem they think they have, they're going after the wrong people," he says. "Like any good hunter, it's always easier to go after the sick and dying than the healthy ones." Sherwood also has chronic Hepatitis C and he says marijuana has been a boon to his quality of life. "Marijuana has filled the bill," he says. "I don't have to take anything for nausea, joint and muscle pain, cramps, fibromyalgia, anxiety or depression." Heather Keller, also a club member, says she finds marijuana to be a great relief. "I have MS ( multiple sclerosis ) and arthritis and I have a miserable time, and there are people dealing with things that are way beyond what I'm dealing with," she says. "To hassle them is ludicrous. It's not dangerous to society." Liz Stonard suffers from fibromyalgia and she, too, says marijuana gives her wide-ranging relief. "I've tried muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories and I get side effects that range from depression to gastrointestinal upset and nervousness," she says. "I rely on marijuana to get me through the day. It allows me to do my day to day activities and function as a normal human being." Russell says he has yet to retain a lawyer and isn't sure what last month's bust is going to mean to him. However, Sherwood has no doubt about what he thinks should happen. "I think it should be thrown out of court and the guy who blew the whistle should come to my house with a big bag of medicine for me," he says. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Fri, 12 Jan 2007 Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Parksville Qualicum Beach News Contact: editor@pqbnews.com Website: http://www.pqbnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361 Author: Neil Horner, News Reporter Blair (stranger) 1/18/07 10:36 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7419 / re: 7406 ] SOME LAWS RIDICULOUS, INHUMANE Comox Valley Record,10 Jan 2007 Dear editor, In addition to the fact that one is sometimes required to dodge bullets, another negative aspect of being a police officer is the obligation to enforce ridiculous, inhumane laws long overdue for repeal. The recent raid on Mark Russell's Mid-Island Compassion Club stands as a perfect example of the idiocy that our gutless politicians are forcing upon the police, Mark Russell, and at least 85 local people in need of medicinal marijuana. What possible good arises from such an expenditure of valuable police time, charging Russell for aiding ill people, and driving his clients to purchase their pain relief from various sources in the black market? Courtenay RCMP Constable Derek Kryzanowzki admits that the investigation took over a year to complete, that it wasn't instigated by a complaint from the general public, and was self-generated through one of the members in the drug section. Presumably this was an RCMP member who values compliance with our inane drug laws far higher than he values the compassion that has been exhibited by Mark Russell. Since our politicians have not changed the law to reflect the mountains of evidence in favour of using marijuana medicinally, maybe our local detachment could quietly refuse to help the zealots in its midst to raid the Compassion Club. A wish for the year 2007 -- may our local police force bravely continue to dodge bullets -- but at the same time cease to make the biker gangs richer. W.L.M. Wilson, Qualicum Beach Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 Source: Comox Valley Record (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Comox Valley Record Contact: echo@comoxvalleyecho.com Website: http://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/784 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n016/a04.html Author: W.L.M. Wilson Blair (stranger) 1/21/07 10:50 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7440 / re: 7419 ] M. wrote: > Hello, > > I am a second year Medical Laboratory Science student of St. Lawrence College. Currently I am taking a class called "Health Care in Canada," were we are examining issues in today's health care system by separating the class into different parties and looking at health care issues from said parties point of view. I am fortunate enough to be a member of the marijuana party ... At least one third of the members of the Marijuana Party are motivated by medical marijuana concerns. Terry Parker has been a Candidate for us, and his court case was the original breakthrough in 2000 that created the medical marijuana exemption in the pot prohibition. The confusion in the laws that rippled out from that court case were what made it possible for cannabis compassion clubs to survive. (Even though 90% of what they do is still not legal.) The first member and the first leader of the Marijuana Party were two of those people who "won" court cases where the judge decided not to punish them for selling medical marijuana to sick people. The history of medical marijuana therefore is a large part of the history of the medical use of marijuana. Pot politics, in general, drives paradigm shifts in the way one perceives all political issues. PARADIGM SHIFT: "Paradigm shift" comes from Thomas Kuhn’s book regarding the Structure of Scientific Revolutions ... I advocate "scientific revolution" in politics. To do that, one has to first go through the process of attempting a scientific understanding of society. Politics is applied human ecology. Human ecology is primarily about birth rates and death rates, and why those rates are what they are. Politics may be said to be medicine writ large, while medicine may be seen as politics on a small scale. In real politics, dishonesty backed up with violence are the main factors which explain why there is a social pyramid of power and privilege, which is still getting more extreme at the present time. LIES AND COERCION. SUBTRACTION AND ROBBERY Those are the main concepts in my political philosophy. My understanding of medicine is developed inside of that overall context. If you look in the party leader section of our Web site, and use the search string of "medical" to skim through some of my blah, blah, blah articles, you will find more of my opinions. Like in http://www.marijuanaparty.ca/article.php3?id_article=201 (the last half of that article crashed on our computer, but is still archived by the Canadian national library, with a link at the end.) http://www.marijuanaparty.ca/article.php3?id_article=202 > and I have a few questions about the Marijuana partie's opinion on health care; if you have a few moments to answer them I would greatly appreciate it: > > - What do you feel are some of the major issues in the Canadian health care system today? What we have now is primarily a "profit from disease system" NOT a health care system. The so-called "health care" system is a component, a very significant significant part, of the overall social pyramid structure. The objective truth is that Canada is a fascist plutocracy. We have a fake democracy that depends on the vast majority of citizens having received a fake education whereby they were brainwashed to believe in the bullshit of bullies. The funding of the political process is the factor that explains how most of our legislation became legalized lies. Throughout Canadian history, more than 99% of people never significantly participated in the funding of the political process, while less than 1% totally dominated all the funding of politic activities. That reality also rises to prominence in the medical system. "Follow the money!" That is the best way to understand our real social structures. The real incentives in that system are to make money, which make those who do make money become more powerful in the system. The politicians that have been able to raise funds to campaign have been trapped in the dilemma of having to serve those who gave them money, and also appeal to most voters, who did not contribute. The result is that the most successful politicians become the best professional liars and immaculate hypocrites that money can buy. Their job was to fool enough of the people enough of the time, while really doing what the wealthy people funding those politicians' campaigns actually wanted to be done. Canada was significantly different than the U.S.A. in having the success of Tommy Douglas et alia lead the way towards socialized medicine. There was an interesting way in which that history gradually developed, and has now become one of the "sacred cows" of Canadian society. However, that publicly funded "health care" system still exists within the overall context of a society which is NOT holistically concerned with public health, or environmental health. The results are a bizarre set of crazy compromises between profit from disease being paid for with public money. The results are all within the overall bullies' bullshit of the world. The reality of human ecology is mostly denied and suppressed. The language used to talk about these things consists of impossible ideals that make the opposite happen in the real world. The things modern medicine does worst (chronic care) are the most funded, and have the least beneficial real results. The things that modern medicine does best (acute emergencies) are the most starved for funding by relative comparison, and therefore are undermined. The best effects would be money spent on pregnant and lactating women, and their children. Prevention, and prenatal and child care would pay back the best long-term dividends for society as a whole. However, the lions' share of the funding is poured down the black hole of care for the elderly and soon to be dead. As a whole, our society is very sick, and getting significantly sicker all the time. Our "health care" system fits into that overall pattern. We need radical paradigm shifts in politics, which would spiral out through all aspects of enduring efforts to make society become more healthy. However, at present, the historically established system is spinning out of control, because it is based on the history of dishonesty backed up with violence. The "birth of the clinic" was behind the battle fields. All of the ancient social control methods and mechanisms evolved into what society is at present ... Those were systems of organized robbery that evolved into more sophisticated fraud. Militarism was the self-organizing and self-justifying ideology that has driven itself through all of history. With the powers of post-modernizing science making our weapons become billions and trillions of times more powerful, militarism has become suicidal and insane. However, it continues to be the set of morbid social habits that control our society. War was the father and king of all. Imperialistic religions worked with their states. God is the Environment. The privatization of God became the privatization of the environment. Our social evolution was directed by the requirements of militarism. Social systems had to generate the best war machines, or else they were conquered and assimilated into more successful war machines. (Warfare is the oldest and best developed social science.) Everything that we take for granted now are the morbid social habits selected by the history of militarism. All of them are now insane because militarism has become insane. Instead of it being possible to win wars, to use dishonesty and violence to maintain systems of organized social robbery, modern warfare is a nightmare where everyone loses. Medicine is trapped inside of that insanity. The mainstream of our society was built by the triumph of militarism. Militarism has become mad due to the paradox of failure from too much success (with weapons becoming astronomically too powerful to ever use for any rational purpose). Medicine in the post-modernizing world is, of course, a component in the bigger social system, and therefore, post-modernizing medicine is increasingly a form of madness. The "health care" system is extremely sick, and getting sicker. Only a real, radical, scientific revolution could save it. No reforms of the mainstream system could possibly be sufficient. Some of the problems are obvious, and already have had a lot of progress. Militarism made the patriarchy, because patriarchy was selected to make the best war machines. Obviously, patriarchal values were endemic in the medical world. Doctors were the Big Daddy's ... the people who had the arrogance to privatize some aspects "god" and claim they owned that franchise. It used to be that nurses were female, and doctors were male. All of that is now breaking up, but only a few superficial pieces have been chipped off. The big structure still stands. The collapse of militarism started with the invention of machine guns and dynamite. That is also what started the rational for the women's liberation movement, and made it possible to advance. Women working on the abolition of slavery developed the intellectual tools to analyze the situation of women in patriarchal society in the similar ways. As wars became more and more insane, where the real cost of the war was greater than the benefit gained, war, as the Big Daddy, started going into a state of psychotic breakdown. Weapons moved on from TNT and tanks, to atomic and biological devices that are billions and trillions of times too powerful to use to do anything but commit global omnicide. We are all in deep trouble now, because the morbid social habits built by militarism still dominate society, and control what most of real politics is still actually doing. We have seen the medical professions become less patriarchal. In North America now, we are on the path towards having women becoming the majority of medical doctors. However, patriarchy has evolved into fascist plutocracy. The patriarchy can be diminished, while, at the same time, the fascist plutocracy increases. The fascist plutocracy is the way that money is the factor which controls our governments. Fascist plutocracy becomes a vicious cycle where the monetary systems and political power are in an incestuous relationship that seems good to them in the short-term, but gets sicker in the longer term. It is in this overall context that our so-called "health care" system is really a profit from disease system. It is in this overall context that the health care system which should be inside the context of the evolution of a healthy human ecology is going insane and getting sicker at an exponentially accelerating rate. > > - What changes would you like to see in the health care system in the future? The system is already integrated. There has to be a system of alternatives. The keystone or lynch pin of the system of alternatives has to be artificial selection that works within the greater reality of natural selection. Since our society is controlled by professional liars and immaculate hypocrites, serving insane systems of social robbery based on lies and coercion, this is extremely difficult and dangerous to attempt! To over-simply, what we need to do is mostly the opposite of what we have been doing. People need to stop believing in the bullshit of bullies. People need to stop believing in impossible ideals that actually make the opposite happen in the real world. People need to learn more, and stop being as ignorant and afraid. The problem is that there are a few people towards the top of the social pyramids of power that want to keep on using dishonesty and violence to keep those at the bottom ignorant and afraid. We need to evolve past neolithic civilization, and change the fundamental shape of society from being a pyramid on a flat Earth to being a sphere around a round Earth. Those are both ways to talk about the metaphorical and literal truth about our situation that need real, radical, revolution. The most important system is the monetary system. The taxation system is next in importance. Our monetary system now is a debt engine that depends on fractional reserve banking laws. The international bankers are the best organized gangs of criminals that have had the most real control over governments, because the bankers and their friends dominated the funding of our political process. The bankers were the most powerful organized crime gangs behind the governments, which were the obvious organized crime gangs. The people who funded all the big political parties, and owned the mass media, are all inter-linked at the top of the established social pyramid systems. Any real change requires changing the way politics has been funded. Canada has some slight theoretical chance of that happening. My two court cases were all about that: Longley v. Canada (Minister of National Revenue) http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/sc/99/11/s99-1135.txt whose history and present dead end predicament is discussed in http://www.marijuanaparty.ca/article.php3?id_article=272 and our current court case: Longley v. Canada (Attorney General) http://www.canlii.org/on/cas/onsc/2006/2006onsc16462.html that case is alive now, and is discussed in http://www.marijuanaparty.ca/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=187 The fundamental point is that the reason why things are NOW the way that they are was due to the history of the funding of the political process. The funding of politics was ALWAYS the most important issue, which was always there in the background controlling everything else through the vicious cycles of money and political power. ANY ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH CARE IN THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD HAS TO DEAL WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF FUNDING THAT CAMPAIGN. As long as those with the most money from the established system can continue to use that power to control it, then the situation will get worse. That is true everywhere, and obviously true in the health care which becomes a profit from disease system, where those who made that profit control the future of their system's development. The profit from disease system fits inside the overall systems of social robbery run by lies and coercion. As long as the banking laws continue to be almost inconceivably crazy and corrupt, which is what they are right NOW, then nothing else can get outside of that insane overriding control. WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE MONETARY SYSTEM. However, a tiny minority of people have been able to legalize their lies, and through the triumph of lies backed up with coercion, they have taken control of the monetary and taxation systems. The "health care" system is really a profit from disease system because the society as whole is organized to really do that, and medicine fits inside that overall system, as a significant component. Scientific revolution recognizes WHY dishonesty, backed up with violence, was able to control the world. Scientific revolution is NOT a reactionary revolution that merely sees how bad it is, and wants to stop it. Scientific revolution does not try to stop natural selection going down the path of least resistance. Scientific revolution works with the laws of nature to organize resistance to change what the path of least resistance is. We need to see that civilization IS, and must necessarily be, some system of organized robbery, and that governments ARE, and must be, the best organized gangs of criminals. We have to work within that reality to try to rob the robbers back to better balance, which necessarily includes perceiving that we are robbers too. We have to bring the principles of natural selection and the evolution of ecologies which accomplish the conservation of energy through non-linear functions into the health care system. The health care system can not be separated from the health of our environment. Indeed, we ARE our environment! > > - What is your opinion on the two tear health care system proposition? That is a ridiculous and sterile debate. That is about the kinds of trivial reforms of the mainstream system that barely scratches the surface of the real social problems. Returning to more privatized health care is an insane solution. Private property is based on dishonesty backed up with violence. The more private property, the more public violence. Privatizing the world is the path to total destruction. Privatizing the planet is the trajectory of the triumph of militarism. Privatizing God was the psychotic bullies' bullshit that started this process. Chopping the environment up into tiny pieces is the way to kill it, not to keep it alive! The relative differences between things are relative truths. We can work with those relative truths in scientific ways. We need a way better measurement system. We need to do improved accounting. The way we measure and do accounting now is the result of the triumph of lies and coercion. The use of dishonesty and violence to run systems of robbery has become its own worst enemy. We have to go forward, and push the fascist plutocracy past where it would have otherwise have stopped. We have to understand why militarism existed in the first place. We have to see that there are chronic political problems that are perpetually inherent in the nature of life. We have to see that the established solutions to all those problems are now dangerous dead ends that can not be marginally reformed, but have to be radically changed. The human mind works by subtracting things from the whole, and then inter-relating those things in a mental model, which model includes a model of itself too within its model of its world.. Everything we name, and give properties to, are relatively subtracted from the whole. However, the idea that these relative differences are absolute is INSANE. There is no future in accepting any fundamental dichotomies in the ways that we understand the world. Two-tier health care is going backwards. The problem is that the established systems are mostly shoveling money out of the public and into the private as fast as possible. In the process, public health and public education are being undermined and destroyed. Laws are like social machines that governments build and drive around. We need governments that will drive almost all of the established machines in the opposite directions, and build new machines that will act in opposite ways. ______________________________ Medical marijuana fits into this overall way of thinking as a simple symbol, an extreme example, of how it all works. Medical marijuana would cost only pennies per gram to grow. The diseases that medical marijuana would benefit could be treated in a very cheap and inexpensive way. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry depends of profits from profiteering from the suffering of people. Pot is the single best plant on the planet for people, and that is WHY marijuana was criminalized as if it was almost as bad as murder. The established system is a social pyramid that depends on dishonesty and violence being used to keep most people ignorant and afraid, so that a few can benefit in the short-term. The entire medical profession, still even when it is publicly funded, exists within that overall context. All of the incentives are perverse. Prevention does not pay those who would do it as much as treating chronic disease pays those who would do that. Therefore, since those who make the most profit end up with the most political power to influence their system, everything gets done in almost the perfect opposite to what should be done. The vicious cycle is that those who make the most money from lies and coercion, then end up with the most ability to control what happens. The research is systematically biased by who pays for it. The education is systematically warped by who benefits. Marijuana is the most extreme example because it is the single, simplest thing where the most dishonesty backed up with the most violence is the most absurd, insane and evil. Pot politics fits into the overall context of all of the rest of politics. Pot politics drives the paradigm shifts necessary to understand all of the other changes that are truly necessary. Our profit from disease system is getting terminally ill. Palliative care only goes so far until the patient dies ... Our profit from disease system can not be healed within its own frame of reference. The alternatives have to organize to take over and make a new health care system. Blair (stranger) 1/21/07 06:17 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7442 / re: 7419 ] JURORS HAVE OPTIONS IN A COMPASSION CLUB TRIAL Parksville Qualicum Beach News,16 Jan 2007 If Central Island Compassion Club founder Mark Russell ends up going to court to face charges of trafficking in marijuana, Chuck Beyer says he should opt for a jury trial. That's because, says Beyer, one of the founders of the B.C. Marijuana Party, a jury can opt not to convict, regardless of what happens in court. The Port Alberni realtor describes himself as a jury activist and longtime supporter of the medical marijuana movement. He learned about a concept he calls jury nullification, and he's made it his mission to spread the word about the concept, particularly in cases of compassion club busts. "The concept of jury nullification goes back hundreds of years in our law," he says. "Jurors are able to judge the law, as opposed to blindly doing what the judge says." Wikipedia says jury nullification occurs where a jury, apparently ignoring the letter of the law and the instructions by the court, and taking into account all of the evidence presented, renders a verdict in contradiction to the law. This concept, Beyer says, was strengthened in a court case in 2006, when the organizer of a compassion club in Alberta was charged with trafficking in marijuana. "Two of the jurors asked the judge if they had to convict, and the judge said they did," he says. "An appeal to the Supreme Court ended up with a landmark decision, ruling judges are not allowed to tell jurors how to rule. That strengthened the concept of jury nullification ... and not just about any law, but specifically about issues with compassion clubs." Beyer estimates some 60 per cent of B.C. residents are in favour of marijuana legalization, and that number jumps to 90 per cent in the case of medical marijuana. Because of this, he says, the raid on Mark Russell's compassion club office in his Dashwood home was an attack on community standards. "Our drug laws are more than ever written in the United States," he says. Beyer says he helped start the B.C. Marijuana Party after running for the NDP provincially nearly a decade ago. "We had a rift with the NDP and so me and some friends started the Marijuana Party," he says. "Now we're all going back to the NDP because they stole the issue." Beyer has posted his information about jury nullification on his website, www.juror.ca. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Parksville Qualicum Beach News Contact: editor@pqbnews.com Website: http://www.pqbnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361 Author: Neil Horner, News Reporter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Blair (stranger) 1/30/07 11:01 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7479 / re: 7442 ] DISTRAUGHT WITNESS RECOUNTS LIFE AND DEATH STRUGGLE Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser,25 Jan 2007 Recalls Home Invasion Terror WHITBY -- A key Crown witness was overcome with emotion Thursday as he recounted what he described as a life and death struggle with several masked men who stormed his south Ajax home in a robbery attempt. Donald Newell said he fought desperately with the men, who invaded his house in an apparent attempt to steal the marijuana he was licensed to grow for medical reasons. "I've had these people ruin my life for two years," said Mr. Newell, his voice breaking and tears coming to his eyes after about a half hour on the witness stand in Superior Court in Whitby Thursday morning. Mr. Newell was testifying at the trial of two men. The two young men face robbery, assault and weapons charges in connection with the home invasion at Mr. Newell's Charlton Crescent home in February 2005. Mr. Newell testified he and his family were preparing to retire for the evening when he heard a knock on his door around 10 o'clock on a Saturday night. He said he looked out and saw a lone black man he thought he recognized as a friend. But when he opened the door five men swarmed through it, one of them forcing his wife upstairs. Mr. Newell said he was struggling with the other intruders when one of them pointed a gun at his head. "I saw a pistol -- I figured it's my life," he said. "I'm not going to get pistol whipped. My family's not going to go through that trauma. "They're going to have to kill me." The struggle continued after Mr. Newell made his way to the kitchen where he grabbed a large knife and managed to dial 911, he testified. The suspects began to scatter when he wielded the knife, he said, adding he sustained a serious cut to his left hand during the fracas. He closed the door after four of the men fled, then fought with the man who'd gone upstairs with his wife, the jury heard. Mr. Newell said he opened his door and let go of the man, whom he'd caught in a headlock. "He hightailed it out of there," he said. Under questioning by Crown counsel George Hendry, Mr. Newell said he put up the fierce fight to protect his family, including his wife, teenaged daughter and ailing father. "I think they figured it was going to be something easy but it got foiled," he said. "They didn't know who they were dealing with, I guess." Earlier, jurors heard the two accused were among five young men arrested by police when their car was stopped a short distance from the crime scene. The trial continues. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Elaine Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jan 2007 Source: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 Metroland Printing, Publishing, & Distributing, LTD Contact: newsroom@durhamregion.com Website: http://www.durhamregion.com/dr/info/ajax/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2104 Author: Jeff Mitchell Blair (stranger) 2/6/07 05:34 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7520 / re: 7479 ] Systematic consideration of pharmaceutical industry: http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/PHARMACEUTICAL_BUSINESS/pharmaceutical_industry.htm The "profit from disease" system is clearly triumphant ... They make money to use to keep their corruptions going. The medical marijuana case is an extreme example of the general pattern ... Instead of medical marijuana becoming cheaper and more available to people, we are much more likely headed to situations where vitamins become treated like marijuana is now. The triumphs of the corruption of money in politics are so far advanced, that I can not think of a way to organize people to prevent it getting worse ... Blair (stranger) 2/12/07 12:08 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7550 / re: 7520 ] DRUG USE A MEDICAL ISSUE Golden Star,07 Feb 2007 RE: Dion Pitches Climate, Addiction Policies In Victoria ( Jan. 31 issue, The Golden Star ). Funny how Stephane Dion is willing to be more sensible about safe injection sites, but still has his head buried when it comes to The War On Certain Drugs. All studies show that drug prohibition is fuelling crime, subsidizing gangsters, and increasing community costs and danger. Two-thirds of Canadians want to see drug use dealt with as a medical issue, not a criminal one. Undaunted by science, history or facts, the Tories are promising to build more jails, hire more cops, and increase this counterproductive policy! Unencumbered by common sense or critical thinking, Tory voters are gobbling it up by the spoonful. The Liberals, apparently, are willing to do almost the same thing. Why? The same reason as the Tories, I guess: To satisfy the psychotic bully living to the south. Russell Barth, Federal Medical Marijuana License Holder, Ottawa Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Wed, 07 Feb 2007 Source: Golden Star (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 The Golden Star Contact: editor@thegoldenstar.net Website: http://www.thegoldenstar.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2144 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n132/a10.html Author: Russell Barth Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 2/13/07 08:22 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7556 / re: 7550 ] http://medpot.net cover story inspiring us to wish Good Luck to Terry Party on February 14, 2007, and following! Blair (stranger) 2/23/07 02:42 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7625 / re: 7556 ] Americans For Safe Access File Lawsuit Against Federal Government by Lisa Leff, Associated Press (21 Feb, 2007) A lawsuit is filed against the Federal Government for lying about and obstructing medicinal marijuana OAKLAND, California - Armed with a new study showing the drug can ease pain in some HIV patients, medical-marijuana advocates sued the federal government Wednesday over its claim that pot has no accepted medical uses. The lawsuit, filed in federal court by Americans for Safe Access, accuses the government of arbitrarily preventing "sick and dying persons from seeking to obtain medicine that could provide them needed and often lifesaving relief." The Food and Drug Administration's position on medical marijuana "is incorrect, dishonest and a flagrant violation of laws requiring the government to base policy on sound science," Joe Elford, said chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access. California is one of 11 states that have made marijuana legal for people with a doctor's recommendation. But because the U.S. government does not recognize pot's medical benefits, patients can still be arrested by federal authorities. Last week, researchers from the University of California at San Francisco reported in the journal Neurology that a test involving 50 HIV patients showed that those who smoked pot experienced much less pain than those given placebos. Blair (stranger) 2/27/07 08:07 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7657 / re: 7625 ] Marijuana Science John Tierney February 14, 2007The New York Times Online For researchers studying marijuana, it's been a very good week. In one of the most careful studies to date, marijuana was found to relieve pain. And a judge ruled in favor of an agronomist who has been trying for six years to overcome one of the problems of marijuana research: the lack of an adequate supply of the drug for experiments. The new study, published in Neurology, involved 50 patients suffering from intense foot pain associated with H.I.V. infections. Some patients smoked marijuana cigarettes three times a day; another group smoked "identical placebo cigarettes with the cannabinoids extracted." In the patients smoking marijuana, pain was reduced by 34 percent, twice as much as for the control group. "The response was comparable to strong pain relievers we have studied, such as morphine," said Karin Petersen of the University of California, San Francisco, one of the co-authors. "This placebo-controlled clinical trial showed that people with H.I.V. who smoked cannabis had substantially greater pain reduction than those who did not smoke the cannabis," said the lead author, Donald Abrams of the University of California, San Francisco. "These results provide evidence that there is a measurable medical benefit to smoking cannabis for these patients." The results are not good news for the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has argued that marijuana has no medicinal value (and last year pressured the Food and Drug Administration to issue a statement casting doubt on its efficacy.) Advocates of medical marijuana seized on the new study to urge a change in policy, as Rick Weiss reported in the Washington Post: "This should be a wake-up call for Congress to hold hearings to investigate the therapeutic use of cannabis and to encourage more research," said Barbara T. Roberts, a former interim associate deputy director in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, now with Americans for Safe Access, which promotes access to marijuana for therapies and research. The results are especially surprising given that the marijuana in the study was supplied from the federal government's farm in Mississippi, which grows a much weaker version than what's on the street. Several of the patients, in fact, thought they were in the placebo group even though they were getting the real thing, according to Dr. Abrams. In 2005 I spoke about the federal brand of marijuana with Phillip Alden, a writer living in Redwood City, Calif., who had AIDS and suffered from excruciating pain in his fingertips. He said marijuana eased the pain and controlled nausea so that he avoided the wasting syndrome that afflicts AIDS patients who can't eat enough food. But Mr. Alden said only some kinds of marijuana worked — not the federal pot he had smoked during smoked during a research study: "It was awful stuff. They started out with a very low-grade plant, rolled it up with stems and seeds, and then freeze-dried it so that they probably ruined any of the THC crystals. All it did was give me headaches and bronchitis. The bronchitis got so bad I had to drop out of the study." Researchers complained that the federal marijuana was not only low quality but also hard to get for their experiments. In response, Lyle Craker, a professor of plant and soil sciences at the University of Massachusetts, tried to get federal permission to grow an alternative crop for researchers (just as private laboratories supply other drugs like heroin and cocaine). After being stymied for four years by the D.E.A., he and the ACLU asked an administration judge to overrule the agency. The hearing began in the summer of 2005 (when I wrote about the case). This week he won his case. An administrative law judge, Mary Ellen Bittner, found that "that there is currently an inadequate supply of marijuana available for research purposes" and ruled that the D.E.A. should grant his request to grow marijuana. "This ruling is a victory for science, medicine and the public good," Professor Craker said. "I hope that the D.E.A. abides by the decision and allows the work to go forward unimpeded by drug war politics." Blair (stranger) 3/4/07 08:58 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7668 / re: 7657 ] CN ON: Marijuana Charges Against Local Man Stayed URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n252/a06.html Newshawk: Herb Rate this article Votes: 0 Pubdate: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 Source: Port Hope Evening Guide (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 Port Hope Evening Guide Contact: phegnews@northumberlandtoday.com Website: http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4147 Author: Valerie MacDonald Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) MARIJUANA CHARGES AGAINST LOCAL MAN STAYED A Superior Court Justice has agreed to "stay" charges of growing, possession and trafficking in marijuana against a local man who says he has lived with pain for the past 20 years. Gordon Strickland, 55, of Cobourg says he has acquired permits from Health Canada since October, 2001 to grow and use marijuana for a series of serious medical conditions including severe degenerative disc disease, chronic pain from advanced arthritis and two ruptured spinal discs. But during the summer of 2003 there was an allegation his permit for legal exemption from Criminal Code prosecution lapsed for a few months, said Mr. Strickland's attorney, Richard Fedorwicz following yesterday's court proceedings. During this same time there were challenges under the Constitution and obtaining a supply of marijuana for those suffering from "grave and debilitating illnesses" ( as required by Health Canada and supported by a doctor's authorization ) was difficult. After protracted discussions, the Crown decided it was "not in the public interest to proceed" to trial, Mr. Fedorwicz said. The "stay" in the series of charges against Mr. Strickland is contingent on his abiding by the strict rules of the permit, federal prosecutor Marc Bebee told the court before the judge ruled on the disposition of Mr. Stickland's case. "Charges won't be brought up so long as he's abiding by those terms," Mr. Bebee stressed after Mr. Justice D. Ferguson clarified that the stay of charges was at the Crown's request. The rules Mr. Strickland says he must follow include growing no more than 38 marijuana plants inside a premises, growing no more than 10 out-of-doors ( down from 19 in his past permit ) and storing no more than a stipulated amount of marijuana for his own medicinal use. "I'll keep growing whether I have a permit or not. It's the only medication that won't kill me," Mr. Strickland said. "I have a life because of marijuana." Blair (stranger) 3/22/07 09:51 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7730 / re: 7668 ] The Economist April 27, 2006 http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6849915 Medical marijuana Reefer madness Marijuana is medically useful, whether politicians like it or not If cannabis were unknown, and bioprospectors were suddenly to find it in some remote mountain crevice, its discovery would no doubt be hailed as a medical breakthrough. Scientists would praise its potential for treating everything from pain to cancer, and marvel at its rich pharmacopoeia - many of whose chemicals mimic vital molecules in the human body. In reality, cannabis has been with humanity for thousands of years and is considered by many governments (notably America's) to be a dangerous drug without utility. Any suggestion that the plant might be medically useful is politically controversial, whatever the science says. It is in this context that, on April 20th, America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement saying that smoked marijuana has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. The statement is curious in a number of ways. For one thing, it overlooks a report made in 1999 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), part of the National Academy of Sciences, which came to a different conclusion. John Benson, a professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska who co-chaired the committee that drew up the report, found some sound scientific information that supports the medical use of marijuana for certain patients for short periodseven for smoked marijuana. This is important, because one of the objections to marijuana is that, when burned, its smoke contains many of the harmful things found in tobacco smoke, such as carcinogenic tar, cyanide and carbon monoxide. Yet the IOM report supports what some patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, AIDS and cancer - and their doctors - have known for a long time. This is that the drug gives them medicinal benefits over and above the medications they are already receiving, and despite the fact that the smoke has risks. That is probably why several studies show that many doctors recommend smoking cannabis to their patients, even though they are unable to prescribe it. Patients then turn to the black market for their supply. Another reason the FDA statement is odd is that it seems to lack common sense. Cannabis has been used as a medicinal plant for millennia. In fact, the American government actually supplied cannabis as a medicine for some time, before the scheme was shut down in the early 1990s. Today, cannabis is used all over the world, despite its illegality, to relieve pain and anxiety, to aid sleep, and to prevent seizures and muscle spasms. For example, two of its long-advocated benefits are that it suppresses vomiting and enhances appetite - qualities that AIDS patients and those on anti-cancer chemotherapy find useful. So useful, in fact, that the FDA has licensed a drug called Marinol, a synthetic version of one of the active ingredients of marijuana - delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Unfortunately, many users of Marinol complain that it gets them high (which isn't what they actually want) and is not nearly as effective, nor cheap, as the real weed itself. This may be because Marinol is ingested into the stomach, meaning that it is metabolised before being absorbed. Or it may be because the medicinal benefits of cannabis come from the synergistic effect of the multiplicity of chemicals it contains. Just what have you been smoking? THC is the best known active ingredient of cannabis, but by no means the only one. At the last count, marijuana was known to contain nearly 70 different cannabinoids, as THC and its cousins are collectively known. These chemicals activate receptor molecules in the human body, particularly the cannabinoid receptors on the surfaces of some nerve cells in the brain, and stimulate changes in biochemical activity. But the details often remain vague - in particular, the details of which molecules are having which clinical effects. More clinical research would help. In particular, the breeding of different varieties of cannabis, with different mixtures of cannabinoids, would enable researchers to find out whether one variety works better for, say, multiple sclerosis-related spasticity while another works for AIDS-related nerve pain. However, in the United States, this kind of work has been inhibited by marijuana's illegality and the unwillingness of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to license researchers to grow it for research. Since 2001, for example, Lyle Craker, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts, has been trying to obtain a licence from the DEA to grow cannabis for use in clinical research. After years of prevarication, and pressure on the DEA to make a decision, Dr Craker's application was turned down in 2004. Today, the saga continues and a DEA judge (who presides over a quasi-judicial process within the agency) is hearing an appeal, which could come to a close this summer. Dr Craker says that his situation is like that described in Joseph Heller's novel, Catch 22. We can say that this has no medical benefit because no tests have been done, and then we refuse to let you do any tests. The US has gotten into a bind, it has made cannabis out to be such a villain that people blindly say no. Anjuli Verma, the advocacy director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a group helping Dr Craker fight his appeal, says that even if the DEA judge rules in their favour, the agency's chief administrator can still decide whether to allow the application. And, as she points out, the DEA is a political organisation charged with enforcing the drug laws. So, she says, the ACLU is in this for the long haul, and is already prepared for another appea - one that would be heard in a federal court in the normal judicial system. Ms Verma's view of the FDA's statement is that other arms of government are putting pressure on the agency to make a public pronouncement that conforms with drug ideology as promulgated by the White House, the DEA and a number of vocal anti-cannabis congressmen. In particular, the federal government has been rattled in recent years by the fact that eleven states have passed laws allowing the medical use of marijuana. In this context it is notable that the FDA's statement emphasises that it is smoked marijuana which has not gone through the process necessary to make it a prescription drug. (Nor would it be likely to, with all of the harmful things in the smoke.) The statement's emphasis on smoked marijuana is important because it leaves the door open for the agency to approve other methods of delivery. High hopes Donald Abrams, a professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, has been working on one such option. He is allowed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (the only legal supplier of cannabis in the United States) to do research on a German nebuliser that heats cannabis to the point of vaporisation, where it releases its cannabinoids without any of the smoke of a spliff, and with fewer carcinogens. That is encouraging. But it does not address the wider question of which cannabinoids are doing what. For that, researchers need to be able to do their own plant-breeding programmes. In America, this is impossible. But it is happening in other countries. In 1997, for example, the British government asked Geoffrey Guy, the executive chairman and founder of GW Pharmaceuticals, to come up with a programme to develop cannabis into a pharmaceutical product. In the intervening years, GW has assembled a library of more than 300 varieties of cannabis, and obtained plant-breeder's rights on between 30 and 40 of these. It has found the genes that control cannabinoid production and can specify within strict limits the seven or eight cannabinoids it is most interested in. And it knows how to crossbreed its strains to get the mixtures it wants. Nor is this knowledge merely academic. Last year, GW gained approval in Canada for the use of its first drug, Sativex, which is an extract of cannabis sprayed under the tongue that is designed for the relief of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis. Sativex is also available to a more limited degree in Spain and Britain, and is in clinical trials for other uses, such as relieving the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. At the start of this year, the company made the first step towards gaining regulatory approval for Sativex in America when the FDA accepted it as a legitimate candidate for clinical trials. But there is still a long way to go. And that delay raises an important point. Once available, a well-formulated and scientifically tested drug should knock a herbal medicine into a cocked hat. No one would argue for chewing willow bark when aspirin is available. But, in the meantime, there is unmet medical need that, as the IOM report pointed out, could easily and cheaply be met - if the American government cared more about suffering and less about posturing. Blair (stranger) 3/27/07 09:01 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7750 / re: 7730 ] RAID CLOSES LOCAL COMPASSION SOCIETY London Free Press,26 Mar 2007 Police found 840 marijuana plants, cocaine, LSD and $22,000 in cash. Two charged in drug raid A London agency that distributes marijuana for medical use was closed yesterday after a large marijuana grow operation was discovered inside a downtown building. Members of the London police street drug unit found 840 marijuana plants, marijuana, growing equipment, cocaine, magic mushrooms, LSD and $22,000 in Canadian and American currency inside four units at 343 Richmond St. in a search on Saturday afternoon, police said yesterday. The London Compassion Society occupies one of the units searched, police said. The drugs have a street value of $968,000, police said. Peter Young, 36, of St. Thomas and Rob Newman, 45, of London are charged with several drug offences, including possession of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking. The compassion society shared its office space with the London Wellness Centre, a holistic spa offering alternative services such as reflexology and massage therapy. A message on the London Compassion Society's telephone answering service yesterday said that it will be "closed until further notice." According to its website, the compassion society's mission is to "provide natural therapeutic alternatives to those in need and to encourage a holistic approach to healing and living." The society is part of a network of similar agencies that have sprung up across Canada to provide marijuana to people who have obtained permission from doctors to use it to treat chronic illnesses or help them cope with pain. In 2001, the federal government amended drug laws to allow a limited number of patients to obtain a special exemption that allows them to possess marijuana for their personal use. Steve Hoevenaars, who suffered a major head injury in 1998 and spent two months in a coma, said he has been getting marijuana from the London Compassion Society for a year. He arrived at the building to get some marijuana on Saturday morning, but instead police greeted him, he said. "They said you can't be getting marijuana off the street corner ( now )," said Hoevenaars, 34. Marijuana helped restore his sleep pattern, he said, and the society provided him with safe, legal marijuana. "What I regret about this is . . . I realize how much it's needed," said Hoevenaars, who is a University of Western Ontario urban development student. What the centre provided was not "street marijuana," he said -- it was legal. "I was doing it very quietly." Originally the London Compassion Society shared a database of doctor-approved medicinal marijuana users with the Toronto chapter, its website says. But as other chapters were created across the country, the London society struck out on its own. A similar club used to operate on Wellington Road. GROW OPS Other recent large marijuana grow operation busts across the region: - - In January, Elgin OPP found more than 400 marijuana plants worth about $200,000 on a property on Glencolin Line, north of Aylmer. - - In October 2006, London police found equipment and 229 marijuana plants with an estimated value of $229,000 at 578 Highbury Ave. - - In September 2006, Elgin OPP seized drugs worth more than $600,000 from an address on Furnival Road in West Elgin. - - In August 2006, a marijuana grow operation was found in an old car dealership in Sarnia. - - In July 2006, the largest marijuana bust ever in Chatham-Kent was discovered by police. More than 1,400 plants with an estimated value of $1.4 million were found on a rural property near Muirkirk. - - In May 2006, $4 million in marijuana plants were seized from a home on Heritage Road in Thames Centre, northeast of London. Almost 4,000 plants were discovered along with magic mushrooms. - - Also in May, more than $2.2 million in marijuana was seized from a barn on Thirteen Mile Road in Middlesex Centre. Almost 2,300 plants were found along with grow equipment. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 Source: London Free Press (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The London Free Press Contact: feedback@lfpress.com Website: http://www.lfpress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243 Author: Rod Mclachlan, Special To Sun Media Blair (stranger) 3/28/07 09:38 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7754 / re: 7750 ] KRIEGER GETS FOUR MONTHS Regina Leader-Post,28 Mar 2007 CALGARY -- Even after being sentenced to four months in jail, medical marijuana crusader Grant Krieger said Tuesday he will not stop supplying people with the illicit drug. Judge William Pepler said Tuesday he felt he had no option but to jail Krieger, who has a judicial exemption from 2000 to grow and possess the drug to alleviate his multiple sclerosis. The judge, however, was concerned about the Krieger's welfare after he was told corrections authorities will not allow cannabis marijuana into the jail. He then deferred the sentence until June 18 to allow corrections officials the opportunity to make a provision for Krieger to receive his "medicine" while behind bars. "I have no choice but to continue," Krieger said outside provincial court in Calgary on Tuesday after being handed the penalty for mailing 801 grams of marijuana to two separate people in Manitoba in late 2003 and early 2004, to help alleviate their pain for chronic illnesses. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN) Copyright: 2007 The Leader-Post Ltd. Contact: letters@leaderpost.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361 Author: Daryl Slade, CanWest News Service Blair (stranger) 3/28/07 09:40 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7755 / re: 7754 ] POT ADVOCATE MUST GET DRUG IN JAIL Calgary Herald,28 Mar 2007 A judge says he had no choice but to send medicinal marijuana crusader Grant Krieger to jail for drug trafficking, but he wants assurances corrections authorities will uphold Krieger's constitutional exemption to have the drug behind bars to alleviate pain for his multiple sclerosis. Provincial court Judge William Pepler, in an unprecedented ruling, postponed Krieger's four-month incarceration until June 18 or until he receives an answer from corrections officials that they will make provisions to honour another judge's order of seven years ago to allow him access to marijuana. "We'll come back and speak to it on June 18, only if the authorities have not made a provision for Mr. Krieger to receive marijuana in custody," said Pepler. "We've given them plenty of time to deal with this." Should corrections decide to take action sooner than the next court date, said the judge, Krieger has 48 hours to turn himself in and begin serving the sentence. "I'm not planning to go to jail, because they have taken away my rights to be able to walk," said Krieger, noting he was previously incarcerated in 1999 and 2001 on similar drug charges and his health deteriorated so badly he was confined to a wheelchair. "I'll go to jail, all right, but I'll be filing paperwork for unusual punishment." Pepler convicted Krieger on two counts of drug trafficking after police seized two packages containing 801 grams of marijuana sent through his Grant Krieger Compassion Club to people in Manitoba for distribution to people with similar afflictions. Crown prosecutor Scott Couper said the government has made marijuana available through the Medicinal Marijuana Access Regime. He said there was a concern that by Krieger distributing the drug to 400 members of his compassion club, there were no medical or other controls over who received it, if they truly needed it and if any of the drug got into criminal hands. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 Calgary Herald Contact: letters@theherald.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald Blair (stranger) 4/12/07 04:11 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7819 / re: 7755 ] THE EVIDENCE. In the light of the Rulings of DEA Judge Francis Young "Marijuana Use and Mortality", American Journal of Public Health, April 1997. Table 2 provides data on the relative risk of death for ever users and current users of marijuana, by sex and cause of death: Kaiser Permanente Medical care Program, Oakland and San Francisco, June 1979 to December 1985 (n=65,171), section regarding cancer (Neoplasms) as the cause of death. The table shows that men and women who are or have smoked cannabis but not tobacco have a lesser risk of developing cancer than those who were non-smokers of both marijuana and tobacco. see: http://www.paston.co.uk/users/webbooks/cancdata.html 2) Cannabis may help slow down natural cognitive decline "Cannabis use and cognitive decline in persons under 65 years of age", American Journal of Epidemiology, Vol 149, No 9 pages 794-800, 1999. Table 3 shows the mean change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score between wave 2 (1982) and wave 3 (1993-1996) in men and women, by level of cannabis use, Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study follow-up. A deterioration in Mental Functioning occurs in all age groups as a natural function of ageing and exposure to toxins. We see less cognitive decline among marijuana smokers than non-users. The authors also acknowledge alcohol and tobacco as two of the prime causes of cognitive decline. They did not publish their conclusion that cannabis caused a significant difference because the measured values were close, the difference between cannabis smokers and tobacco /alcohol users is undeniable. see http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n1330.a12.html 3) Cannabis may kill brain tumours The type of tumour, a glioma, is relatively uncommon but fatal in humans. Dr Ismael Galve-Roperh and his team at Complutense University, Madrid, infused tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) into the rats' brains through tubes. In a third of the rats, the tumour was eliminated. Another third lived for an extra six weeks instead of dying within two to three. Another third gained no benefit. The team reports in Nature Medicine that the treatment works by stimulating the cancer cells to commit suicide in a natural process called apoptosis. The effect occurs in cancer cells but not in normal ones and, they say, "could provide the basis for a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of malignant gliomas". The Times, February 20, 2000 see also http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n289.a05.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n289.a09.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n289.a08.html 4) Cannabis counteracts the effects of strokes and may help prevent Parkinson's Disease and ALZHEIMER'S A team led by the British-born biologist Aidan Hampson, at the US National Institute for Mental Health, in Maryland, has discovered that two active components of cannabis - compounds called THC and cannabidiol - will each act to prevent damage to brain tissue placed in laboratory dishes. The experiments, reported in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveal an unexpected potential use for a drug known for centuries to have valuable medical properties. The discovery is likely to increase pressure to make marijuana and its derivatives more widely available for use on prescription.... Dr Hampson's study has focused on cannabidiol, rather than the psychoactive chemical THC, because this substance has no side-effects. ..Stroke victims suffer a blood clot that starves brain cells of glucose and oxygen, and sets off a cascade of chemical reactions which destroys cells. He found that both cannabis compounds seemed to block the destructive process. Some drugs work well in test tubes, but fail in living creatures because they do not reach the target. Cannabis compounds go straight to the brain. The results suggest that cannabidiol could also become a treatment for other neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Dr Hampson said: "We have something that passes the brain barrier easily, has low toxicity, and appears to be working in the animal trials. So I think we have a good chance. (The Guardian, July 4 1999) See http://www.paston.co.uk/users/webbooks/guard4jy.html 5) Cannabis relieves pain. Cannabis has been used to relieve various types of pain since the time of the Ancient Egyptians and the Ancient China. There have been literally thousands of testimonials claiming relief from pain from everything from spinal injury to menstrual pains. Recently scientists have confirmed the pain-relieving properties of cannabis. See http://www.drcnet.org/wol/060.html#painrelief http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n833.a04.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n834.a04.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n634.a03.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1148.a08.html see also: Daily Telegraph, UK, Tuesday, October 12 1999 6) Cannabis eases the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis NEW YORK, Mar 01 (Reuters Health) - Add the degenerative neurological disease multiple sclerosis (MS) to the list of ailments that might be relieved by marijuana. On the heels of a report that found THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, holds promise as a treatment for a rare brain cancer, another study shows that THC and other cannabinoid compounds relieve MS-like symptoms in laboratory mice. The evidence is strong enough to justify the testing of these substances in people with MS, researchers report. "For some years there has been anecdotal evidence that some people with multiple sclerosis have found relief from symptoms such as painful spasms by using cannabis," one of the study's authors, Dr. Lorna Layward, of the MS Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, said in a statement. "This research sets that evidence in context." "The study provides a firm basis for the human trials of cannabis in MS that will commence shortly," she said. In studies of mice with an MS-like disease, Layward and colleagues found that tremors in the mice improved within 10 minutes of being treated with a man-made cannabinoid that attached to structures in the brain called cannabinoid receptors. Reuters, March 1 2000 see: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n302.a02.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n302.a08.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n302.a05.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n302.a09.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n302.a11.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n302.a12.html 7) Cannabis helps the eyesight and help prevent Glaucoma Scientists have found a family of chemicals that includes the "psychoactive" ingredients of marijuana plays a role in vision. For the first time, "receptor" proteins activated by these compounds - cannabinoids - - have been reported in the eye, providing a missing link in the understanding of the retina. "The scientific literature on marijuana, the known effects of cannabinoids in other parts of the brain and the places we find the receptor in the retina all make plausible the notion that cannabinoids may well have an effect on light sensitivity or light-dark adaptation," said Alex Straiker of the University of California, San Diego.However the retina is "incredibly complex", so this remains only a possibility, said Straiker, principal author of the report on the prevalence of receptors - docking points for cannabinoids - in the retina. The paper appears today in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences". It is co-authored by scientists from the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego and the University of Washington in Seattle. - National Post (Canada), December 7 1999 see also: The Daily Telegraph (UK), Tuesday 7 December 1999 http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n1326.a12.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n1321.a09.html This list is not exhaustive. However, it does provide powerful and irrefutable evidence that 1) Cannabis has many uses as a medicine, 2) The prevention of the use of cannabis is of detrimental effect on the heath on almost every person in the world, resulting in unnecessary pain, debilitation, and premature death, 3) The classification of cannabis in national law or international treaty as a drug with no medicinal value is at best a grave error. THE JUDGE'S RULING This is what the USA's own Drug Enforcement Administration's Judge, Francis Young, said in 1988 about marijuana (cannabis): "In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating ten raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care." see Judge Young's Rulings From: OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION OF Administrative LAW JUDGE, DATED: SEP 6 1988. Findings of Fact: "4. Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality. "5. This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death. "6. By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year. "7. Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called an LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced toxicity. A number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death. "8. At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response. "9. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity. "10. Another common medical way to determine drug safety is called the therapeutic ratio. This ratio defines the difference between a therapeutically effective dose and a dose which is capable of inducing adverse effects. "11. A commonly used over-the-counter product like aspirin has a therapeutic ratio of around 1:20. Two aspirins are the recommended dose for adult patients. Twenty times this dose, forty aspirins, may cause a lethal reaction in some patients, and will almost certainly cause gross injury to the digestive system, including extensive internal bleeding. "12. The therapeutic ratio for prescribed drugs is commonly around 1:10 or lower. Valium, a commonly used prescriptive drug, may cause very serious biological damage if patients use ten times the recommended (therapeutic) dose. "13. There are, of course, prescriptive drugs which have much lower therapeutic ratios. Many of the drugs used to treat patients with cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis are highly toxic. The therapeutic ratio of some of the drugs used in antineoplastic therapies, for example, are regarded as extremely toxic poisons with therapeutic ratios that may fall below 1:1.5. These drugs also have very low LD-50 ratios and can result in toxic, even lethal reactions, while being properly employed. "14. By contrast, marijuana's therapeutic ratio, like its LD-50, is impossible to quantify because it is so high." Printed by the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, PO Box 198, Norwich NR3 3WB 4 http://www.lca-uk.org/leaflets/Medical-TheEvidence.pdf http://www.lca-uk.org/ Blair (stranger) 4/17/07 06:54 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7836 / re: 7819 ] The news stories below point out how the black market price for marijuana has always been totally insane, and the result when legal marijuana has some production value that does not depend upon contexts being criminal. Legal marijuana could be 1,000 times cheaper than illegal. Medical marijuana has been trapped in insane contradictions. Since even the highest quality medical marijuana is theoretically not actually expensive to grow, the proper price for med pot would be very low. The government is the gray=market supplier of medical marijuana, and even with silly restrictions imposed on the producers, still the pot is relatively cheaper to grow than people are used to buying inside the black market. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DEALS THEY CAN'T REFUSE Evening News,16 Apr 2007 The cronies in government must have taken this tip from the criminal element. Records recently obtained under the Access to Information Act and reported by The Canadian Press show the federal government charges patients 15 times more for certified medical marijuana than it pays to buy the weed from its official supplier. That's quite the markup, a little bit like a licence to print money. The records obtained reveal that Health Canada pays $328.75 for each kilogram of bulk medical marijuana produced by Prairie Plant Systems Inc. It then turns it over to the small number of licensed users for $150 - plus GST - for each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops, with a strength of up to 14 per cent THC, the main active ingredient. That works out to $5,000 for each kilogram, or a markup of more than 1,500 per cent. It's hard to say how those in charge would justify such a profit margin. Perhaps they feel they have a captive market. The decision to allow people with certain illnesses and chronic pain sufferers to use marijuana came with some controversy. But with the legislation comes official acknowledgement that it has value as a medicine. This revelation comes at a time when more and more people - including representatives of law enforcement - are calling for an end to the so-called war on drugs because it has only helped the criminal element. To see a government department capitalizing on the misfortunes of some is indeed disturbing. Those licensed to use the drug are often disabled in some way and live on small incomes. Many other kinds of drugs are supplied to those in need under public health plans. It's hard to understand why there is an exception to this particular one, one that is relatively cheap to produce. Maybe they're just doing it because they can, but those using it deserve a change in policy. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 Source: Evening News, The (CN NS) Page: 6 Copyright: The Evening News Contact: http://www.ngnews.ca/index.cfm?pid=586 Website: http://www.newglasgownews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3343 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) ____________________________________________________ FEDS' POT MARKUP 1,500% Toronto Sun,16 Apr 2007 OTTAWA -- The federal government charges patients 15 times more for certified medical marijuana than it pays to buy the weed in bulk from its official supplier, newly released documents show. Critics say it's unconscionable to charge that high a markup to some of the country's sickest citizens, who have little income and are often cut off from their medical marijuana supply when they can't pay their government dope bills. Records obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Health Canada pays $328.75 for each kilogram of bulk medical marijuana produced by Prairie Plant Systems Inc. The company has a $10.3-million contract with Health Canada, which expires at the end of September, to grow medical marijuana in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man. $5GS a Kilo Health Canada, in turn, sells the marijuana to a small group of authorized users for $150 -- plus GST -- for each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops, with a strength of up to 14% THC, the main active ingredient. That works out to $5,000 a kilo, a markup of more than 1,500%. "It's impossible for a person on disability," said Ron Lawrence, 38, a burn victim in Windsor, Ont., who needs medical marijuana to control severe pain. "The sickest people are the ones that need it the most . . . they're the ones who don't work." Health Canada has become a reluctant marijuana supplier, forced into the role by a series of court decisions that have accepted scientific research indicating cannabis can relieve pain when other medications fail. The courts have also said patients should not be forced into the black market to purchase their medicine. There are 1,742 patients authorized by Health Canada to possess dried pot as a medication. Of these, 1,040 are licensed to grow their own, and another 167 people are licensed to grow marijuana for the exclusive use of licensed patients. A health department spokesman said the quoted price of $328.75 a kilo does not include other Health Canada costs. Street prices for pot are $10 a gram, twice Health Canada's price. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2007, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: editor@tor.sunpub.com Website: http://torontosun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Prairie+Plant+Systems Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) ________________________________________________________ BIG-TIME DEALER: OTTAWA GETS RICH ON MEDICAL POT MARKUP Expositor,16 Apr 2007 Ottawa - The federal government charges patients 15 times more for certified medical marijuana than it pays to buy the weed in bulk from its official supplier, newly released documents show. Critics say it's unconscionable to charge that high a markup to some of the country's sickest citizens, who have little income and are often cut off from their medical marijuana supply when they can't pay their government dope bills. Records obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Health Canada pays $328.75 for each kilogram of bulk medical marijuana produced by Prairie Plant Systems Inc. The company currently has a $10.3-million contract with Health Canada, which expires at the end of September, to grow standardized medical marijuana in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man. Health Canada, in turn, sells the marijuana to a small group of authorized users for $150 - plus GST - for each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops, with a strength of up to 14 per cent THC, the main active ingredient. That works out to $5,000 for each kilogram, or a markup of more than 1,500 per cent. "It's impossible for a person on disability," said Ron Lawrence, 38, a burn victim in Windsor, Ont., who needs medical marijuana to control severe pain. "The sickest people are the ones that need it the most . . . they're the ones who don't work." Adds Scott McCluskey, 48, in Westbank, B.C., who suffers spinal-cord pain that is eased by marijuana: "They're selling it for criminal street prices. . . . I don't think anybody, especially seriously ill people . . . should have to pay this type of money for medicine." Health Canada has become a reluctant marijuana supplier, forced into the role by a series of court decisions that have accepted scientific research indicating cannabis can relieve pain when other medications fail. The courts have also said patients should not be forced into the black market to purchase their medicine. Currently, 1,742 patients are authorized by Health Canada to possess dried marijuana as a medication. Of these, 1,040 are licensed to grow their own, and another 167 people are licensed to grow marijuana for the exclusive use of licensed patients. But patients can also order marijuana through Health Canada's official supplier, Prairie Plant Systems, which typically delivers the product by Purolater courier. Currently, 149 patients are officially in arrears - almost a third of the 514 patients who order government-certified dope - collectively owing Health Canada $143,611 in outstanding payments. Many have been cut off from their supplies, though Health Canada was not able to indicate the number. Each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops, with a strength of up to 14 per cent THC, the main active ingredient. That works out to $5,000 for each kilogram, or a markup of more than 1,500 per cent. "It's impossible for a person on disability," said Ron Lawrence, 38, a burn victim in Windsor, Ont., who needs medical marijuana to control severe pain. "The sickest people are the ones that need it the most . . . they're the ones who don't work." Adds Scott McCluskey, 48, in Westbank, B.C., who suffers spinal-cord pain that is eased by marijuana: "They're selling it for criminal street prices. . . . I don't think anybody, especially seriously ill people . . . should have to pay this type of money for medicine." Health Canada has become a reluctant marijuana supplier, forced into the role by a series of court decisions that have accepted scientific research indicating cannabis can relieve pain when other medications fail. The courts have also said patients should not be forced into the black market to purchase their medicine. Currently, 1,742 patients are authorized by Health Canada to possess dried marijuana as a medication. Of these, 1,040 are licensed to grow their own, and another 167 people are licensed to grow marijuana for the exclusive use of licensed patients. But patients can also order marijuana through Health Canada's official supplier, Prairie Plant Systems, which typically delivers the product by Purolater courier. Currently, 149 patients are officially in arrears - almost a third of the 514 patients who order government-certified dope. Many have been cut off from their supplies. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 Source: Expositor, The (CN ON) Page: A1, Front Page Copyright: 2007 The Brantford Expositor Contact: opinion@theexpositor.com Website: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1130 Author: Dean Beeby, Canadian Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Prairie+Plant+Systems __________________________________________________________ OTTAWA PUTS HIGH PRICE TAG ON ITS POT Globe and Mail,16 Apr 2007 OTTAWA -- The federal government charges patients 15 times more for certified medical marijuana than it pays to buy the weed in bulk from its official supplier, newly released documents show. Critics say it's unconscionable to charge that high a markup to some of the country's sickest citizens, who have little income and are often cut off from their medical marijuana supply when they can't pay their government dope bills. Records obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Health Canada pays $328.75 for each kilogram of bulk medical marijuana produced by Prairie Plant Systems Inc. The company currently has a $10.3-million contract with Health Canada, which expires at the end of September, to grow standardized medical marijuana in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man. Health Canada, in turn, sells the marijuana to a small group of authorized users for $150, plus GST, for each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops, with a strength of up to 14 per cent THC, the main active ingredient. That works out to $5,000 for each kilogram, or a markup of more than 1,500 per cent. "It's impossible for a person on disability," said Ron Lawrence, 38, a burn victim in Windsor, Ont., who needs medical marijuana to control severe pain. "The sickest people are the ones that need it the most . . . they're the ones who don't work." Adds Scott McCluskey, 48, in Westbank, B.C., who suffers spinal-cord pain that is eased by marijuana: "They're selling it for criminal street prices. . . . I don't think anybody, especially seriously ill people . . . should have to pay this type of money for medicine." Currently, 1,742 patients are authorized by Health Canada to possess dried marijuana as a medication. Of these, 1,040 are licensed to grow their own, and another 167 people are licensed to grow marijuana for the exclusive use of licensed patients. But patients can also order marijuana through Health Canada's official supplier, Prairie Plant Systems, which typically delivers the product by courier. "At a time when medical cannabis users all too often have to choose between buying groceries and their medicine, it is unconscionable that Health Canada . . . should be marking up this product 1,500 per cent," said Philippe Lucas of Victoria-based Canadians for Safe Access, which promotes ready access to medical marijuana. A spokesman for the department, Jason Bouzanis, said the quoted price of $328.75 a kilogram for bulk marijuana does not include other Health Canada costs. "The price for individuals authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes is based on the actual cost of production and an estimate of costs associated with the distribution of the product," he said. "These costs are subject to change." Street prices for marijuana are about $10 a gram for small quantities - -- or about twice Health Canada's price -- though bulk street purchases with few middlemen can match or better the government price. Compassion clubs charge as low as $5 a gram, the same price as government dope. Because medical marijuana is not a recognized drug, with its own drug identification number, insurance companies and government drug programs do not reimburse patients for costs, as they do for other pain medication. Many patients say they are unhappy with the quality of the Prairie Plant System product. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2007, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: Dean Beeby, Canadian Press Cited: Canadians for Safe Access http://www.safeaccess.ca/ Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Prairie+Plant+Systems Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Canadians+For+Safe+Access Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 4/17/07 06:55 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7837 / re: 7836 ] MEDICINAL POT ADVOCATE PLEADS FOR LEGALIZATION London Free Press,16 Apr 2007 An emotional Pete Young -- one of three people charged after a drug bust at a so-called medicinal marijuana centre in London -- yesterday called for support as he prepares for his court date on Friday. Sitting at a picnic table on the Victoria Park bandshell stage, the 36-year-old fought back tears as he spoke to about 30 people, vowing to continue the fight to help people who need marijuana for medical reasons. "I'm tired of seeing sick, dying people prosecuted for ( something ) that the government has stated has medicinal values," he said. Young, 36, owner of the Organic Traveller and a director of the London Compassion Society, was charged last month with several drug-related offences, including possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Also charged were Rob Newman an HIV-positive man, and Kurt Fisher. Police said they seized drugs worth nearly $1 million while raiding four units at 343 Richmond St. Young was disappointed that his court date is April 20 as that date ( 4-20 ) is known to cannabis users as a communal day for pot-smoking across North America. "The crown found it adequate to put our court date on 4-20." There are about 200 members of the London Compassion Society, including Kris Morrow, 54, of Forest, who said he's appalled the men were charged. After much medical paperwork and on the advice of his doctor, Morrow said he joined the society in 2005. He said he soon found relief from the pain that ravages his body -- including behind his eyes and under his toenails -- after being crushed between two vehicles in a workplace accident. London Dan Springer, 41, who battles Crohn's disease, said he cried for a week when he heard of the arrests. "We're not a bunch of crooks. We're a lot of sick people." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 Source: London Free Press (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The London Free Press Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/cgi-bin/comments.cgi?c=letters_editor Website: http://www.lfpress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243 Author: Kathy Rumleski Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 4/18/07 09:37 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7844 / re: 7837 ] Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Who's smoking it? Editorial Winnipeg Free Press ISN'T that just like a government, to bring a bureaucracy to a dope deal? It's hard to believe, but Ottawa's involvement in growing and supplying medical marijuana to the terminally ill and chronically suffering makes the time when patients had to go to illegal dealers seem like the glory days of medical marijuana. Millions of Canadians use or have used marijuana recreationally. Not all of them, or even many of them, as has occasionally been suggested, need it for medical reasons. Of all those users, and out of all the Canadians who are in serious, chronic pain or suffering from a debilitating illness, however, only 1,742 are licensed to use marijuana for medical purposes. That tiny figure is the result of a hysterically irresponsible reaction by a government that sees great harm where little exists but is blinded to benefits that could spring from a more enlightened policy. Marijuana is used medically to control pain and reactions to treatments such as chemotherapy in victims of cancer and HIV/AIDS antiretroviral treatment. Many doctors hesitate to recommend it because they fear that not enough research has been done to establish it as a safe and effective analgesic; politicians cling to the doctors' doubts to justify their own lack of political courage in opening up this promising field of pain relief. It has been seven years since the courts ruled that Canadians have a constitutional right to use marijuana as a medicine, but the government has done little to facilitate that. Ottawa has its own hydroponic grow-op in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon, but the quality of marijuana produced there is reported to be far inferior to the stuff available on the street. And yet, Health Canada charges the few pain-wracked Canadians who can get it legally a 1,500 per cent mark-up over what it costs the government. The government, in fact, seems to be happy with the status quo. Six months ago, Health Canada's funding for research into the effectiveness and safety of medical marijuana was cut. That pretty well guarantees that concerns about the drug will continue to limit its use -- a neatly bureaucratic and self-fulfilling prophecy. ______________________________ Quote: "It has been seven years since the courts ruled that Canadians have a constitutional right to use marijuana as a medicine." It will be 10 years next December 10th 2007. See the articles below: Canada's first legal marijuana user http://cannabisculture.com/articles/30.html Terry Parker Case -- Ontario Court Declares Medical Marijuana Prohibition Unconstitutional http://www.cfdp.ca/dec1097.htm Blair (stranger) 4/18/07 09:53 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7845 / re: 7844 ] It appeals to my macabre sense of humour that the government medical marijuana has an insane unfree market value. Wholesale cost of pot should be less than a penny a gram. Retail prices for a small amount of the best quality should still not be more than ten cents per gram ... BUT, ... how about these calculations: it works out that Health Canada pays slightly under 0.35 cents a gram and charges $5.35 a gram. Or in bulk the TOTAL cost (including all other costs) is $349.00 a Kilogram, and they charge patients $5350.00 a Kilogram. For a TOTAL PROFIT of $5001.00 on every Kilogram. And since they produce approx. 500 Kilograms a Year, Health Canada stands to make $2,500,500.00 in profit. That is 2.5 Million. or about $1428.00 per patient based on all 1750 patients receiving the marijuana evenly, when each patient should only have to pay $99 each for Health Canada to break even. Thats a Hundred Dollars a Year per patient on average. __________________________________________ But, that is one of the reasons pot is illegal. Medicine that costed ten dollars a month ... that does not make much profit from disease! People are so used to the black market madness that they continue to be stuck thinking like it. And of course, the financial services sector of our political economy is many times worse! Blair (stranger) 4/19/07 10:20 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7849 / re: 7845 ] THE COMPASSION GOES UP IN SMOKE Journal-Pioneer,17 Apr 2007 Are pot dealers more compassionate than the federal government? Judge for yourself. According to recent media reports Ottawa is charging people approved for medical marijuana 15 times more than what it pays its own supplier, a company that grows the crop at the bottom of an abandoned Flin Flon, Man., underground mine. Guess who is getting the shaft? You have to wonder how your average neighbourhood dealer, facing much thinner margins, can still earn enough from bulk sales to stay on good terms with the local Mercedes or BMW dealership. We're not blowing smoke rings here. This is actually happening for many of the close to 2,000 Canadians who are approved for medical marijuana. Let's not forget patients' struggles aren't over once they get into the program. Since medical marijuana isn't a recognized drug private insurance providers and government drug programs don't reimburse patients for their expenses. Many are facing extreme financial hardship because of this. That's despite the fact growing numbers of health advocates argue there is compelling evidence to show cannabis can improve appetite and ease nausea, some of the devastating effects of chemotherapy. They also say it can blunt disabling pain from injuries as well as cancer and other illnesses. It must be said the government still charges less for bulk deliveries than someone who works outside the margins of the law. But a 1,500 per cent markup is still outrageous by any measure. Ottawa's excuse? According to national news reports Health Canada officials say there are a number of costs associated with its production and distribution. But that's just more smoke. The federal government needs to come clean with its compassionate marijuana program before Canadians lose their faith in the system. It would appear Ottawa is trying to extract maximum profits from thousands of Canadians who are facing unimaginable pain and for whom other forms of medical treatment seem to have little effect. That, many critics argue, is unconscionable. Ottawa should not be charging patients far more than costs the government to order the medication from its own supplier. Why should there even be a question of profits? At the every least, once word gets out Ottawa is profiting at the expense of the seriously ill and dying, pressure will only mount to legalize cannabis. And that pressure may become impossible to resist. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 Source: Journal-Pioneer, The (CN PI) Copyright: 2007 Journal-Pioneer Contact: dshea@journalpioneer.com Website: http://www.journalpioneer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2789 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) __________________________________ Possible true price of medical marijuana ... 1 cent a gram. Retail price of same pot on street ... 10 dollars a gram. The best medical and recreational marijuana are identical. Health Canada used an arbitrary $5 per gram for what appears like low quality marijuana. The so-called "compassion" clubs still sell at close to black market prices, because most people who can grow and sell pot for dollars per gram are not going to sell it to sick people for pennies. The is a wide range of cannabis compassion clubs. Some grow and sell pot for close its real costs. That enables them to take the risk of being arrested, and to not pass it on to the people needing med pot. That means that some people can be genuinely altruistic in providing medical marijuana to sick people with need, & by not assessing the costs in light of being arrested, they are able to grow and distribute low cost marijuana. That means, ignoring risks of being arrested, that the marijuana can be made and therefore sold for a price of only pennies per gram ... The black market is based on cannabis being criminalized. That black market has made marijuana worth 1,000 times more. Pot that could actually be grown and sold for pennies a gram is grown and sold for dollars per gram to millions of people. Sufficiently sick people who can prove that fact are entitled to medical marijuana, however, that peculiar fact tends to reveal how awfully crazy the real results of pot prohibition have become. If all marijuana was truly legalized and allowed to be freely cultivated, its wholesale cost is certainly less than 1%, and probably less than .1%, of the current black market prices. Medical marijuana is in a bizarre gray market. The black market is thousands of times bigger. The black market has established the price of med pot. It is impossible for anyone cultivating or possessing medical marijuana to not know that the identical pot is worth dollars per gram on the black market ... Different people respond to fact that differently. The majority of so-called cannabis "compassion" clubs make a lot of money from selling "medical" marijuana. The compassion clubs mostly grow marijuana illegally, and at least 90% of what they are doing is not legal. Most of these compassion clubs charge relatively high prices ... Their growers know the same pot can be sold on black markets. Most compassion clubs seem to be making lots of money. The most vertically integrated compassion clubs, where there are some related people growing and selling marijuana to sick people, are making the most money for those who are growing and selling that marijuana ... There are people getting rich under the magic umbrella of med pot "compassion" ... There are other people taking a real risk of being arrested and going to jail, to grow medical marijuana, to almost give, as charity, to sick people in need. The source of all these problems is pot prohibition. Pot prohibition makes pot worth a thousand times more. That motivates people to commit the crime to make money. The irony of the government paying for medical marijuana to be grown and sold to sick people is that it revealed how insane the underlying economic considerations are. True legalization would not be hypocritical decriminalization. Fake legalization would substitute taxes and regulation. True legalization would result in marijuana being grown and sold for what it costed ... plus a small percentage of profit for the growers and sellers, like is "normal" ... The only other "drug" that could compete with marijuana would be magic mushrooms in terms of its low real cost. Alcohol would be inherently more expensive than pot. The real reason marijuana is illegal is that it is the best plant for people, and society is controlled by people with lies & coercion to make sure people have to pay and pay to the few who are already the most wealthy, and those people do not want cannabis to be a source of wealth to other people. Cannabis was originally criminalized to stop it competing. However, cannabis continued competing in the black markets. The uses of cannabis, as an industrial hemp, were outlawed because marijuana was outlawed. The single best source of food and fiber was made illegal. The single best renewable resource was criminalized ... During a social process of governments being motivated by racism and political corruption, to pass laws that legalized lies about pot, and backed that dishonesty up with violent law enforcement relying on lies & coercion, that overall situation has resulted in the medicalization of marijuana exemplifying how totally crazy the cannabis laws are. Medical marijuana is the same as the recreational pot. If a person has medical marijuana worth its true cost then they can turn around & sell it on a black market. Sick people who need medical marijuana are trapped between the insanity of the law, and the reality of those who are willing to break the law for a profit. An insane, absurd and evil marijuana law, based on official dishonesty and violence, made marijuana worth a 1,000 times more ... Our entire political economy is awesomely distorted by the historical triumphs of robbery and fraud ... Marijuana merely exemplifies that general situation. Blair (stranger) 4/19/07 03:05 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7850 / re: 7849 ] This below is what I call "sledgehammer science" of studies done to prove obvious common sense. Good vaporizers are obviously superior to smoking pot. I always say, a joint is a caveman's vaporizer ... Unfortunately, our world is controlled by "cavemen." I too must try to survive inside this social context of lots and lots of dishonesty & violence, with less knowledge & real technology available to do better. Two Medical Studies Find Vaporized Medical Marijuana is Safe and Effective by Marijuana Policy Project (19 Apr, 2007) Vaporization Avoids Exposure to Contaminants in Smoke; Associated With Reduced Respiratory Symptoms SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - Two new studies, one from the University of California, San Francisco, and the other from the University at Albany, State University of New York, provide strong evidence that technology now allows medical use of marijuana with the rapid action and easy dose adjustment of inhalation, but without the respiratory hazards associated with smoking. This is considered highly important, as the risks associated with smoke inhalation have been cited by both government officials and independent experts as a major argument against medical marijuana. The San Francisco study, conducted by Dr. Donald Abrams and colleagues at UCSF and just published online by the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, compared a commercially available vaporizer called the Volcano to smoking in 18 volunteers. The subjects inhaled three different strengths of marijuana either as smoked cigarettes or vaporized using the Volcano. Unlike smoking, a vaporizer does not burn the plant material, but heats it just to the point at which THC and the other active components, called cannabinoids, vaporize. The vapors are collected in a detachable plastic bag with a mouthpiece for inhalation. The researchers then measured the volunteers' plasma THC levels and the amount of expired carbon monoxide (CO), which is considered a reliable marker for the unwanted combustion products contained in smoke. The two methods produced similar THC levels, with vaporization producing somewhat higher levels, and were judged equally efficient for administration of cannabinoids. The big difference was in expired CO. As expected, there was a sharp increase in CO levels after smoking, while "little if any" increase was detected after vaporization. "This indicates little or no exposure to gaseous combustion toxins," the researchers wrote. "Vaporization of marijuana does not result in exposure to combustion gases, and therefore is expected to be much safer than smoking marijuana cigarettes." A second study, by Dr. Mitch Earleywine at the University at Albany, State University of New York and published in the Harm Reduction Journal, involved an Internet survey of nearly 7,000 marijuana users. Participants were asked to identify their primary method of using marijuana (joints, pipe, vaporizer, edibles, etc.) and were asked six questions about respiratory symptoms. After adjusting for variables such as age and cigarette use, vaporizer users were 60 percent less likely than smokers to report respiratory symptoms such as cough, chest tightness or phlegm. The effect of vaporizer use was more pronounced the larger the amount of marijuana used. "Our study clearly suggests that the respiratory effects of marijuana use can be decreased by use of a vaporizer," Earleywine said. "In fact, because we only asked participants about their primary means of using marijuana, it's likely that people who exclusively use vaporizers will get even more benefit than our results indicate, because no doubt some in our study used vaporizers most of the time but not all of the time." "Ten years ago, the Institute of Medicine's landmark, White House-commissioned report found that marijuana has medical value," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "In its report, the Institute of Medicine also called for the development of a non-smoked delivery system before making medical marijuana widely available. Now that we have such a delivery system, the prohibitionists' final arguments against medical marijuana have been reduced to rubble." The Earleywine study is available online at www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/pdf/1477-7517-4-11.pdf. Copies of the Abrams study are available by e-mail from MPP director of communications Bruce Mirken, Bruce@mpp.org or 415-668-6403. References - Abrams DI et al. Vaporization as a Smokeless Cannabis Delivery System: A Pilot Study. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2007, Apr 11; [Epub ahead of print]. - Earleywine M and Barnwell SS. Decreased Respiratory Symptoms in Cannabis Users Who Vaporize. Harm Reduction Journal. 2007, 4:11. Article from www.mpp.org Blair (stranger) 4/19/07 03:10 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7851 / re: 7850 ] There is no doubt that even smoking marijuana does NOT cause any increase in lung cancer, but instead seems to decrease that instead. The study below suggests why that fact has been observed by empirical studies. Marijuana Compound THC May Fight Lung Cancer by Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter (17 Apr, 2007) In cells and in mice, THC shrank tumors, scientists say While smoking marijuana is never good for the lungs, the active ingredient in pot may help fight lung cancer, new research shows. Harvard University researchers have found that, in both laboratory and mouse studies, delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cuts tumor growth in half in common lung cancer while impeding the cancer's ability to spread. The compound "seems to have a suppressive effect on certain lines of cancer cells," explained Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. According to the researchers, THC fights lung cancer by curbing epidermal growth factor (EGF), a molecule that promotes the growth and spread of particularly aggressive non-small cell lung cancers. "It seems to go to (EGF) receptor sites on cells and inhibit growth," said Horovitz, who was not involved in the study. The findings are preliminary, however, and other outside experts urged caution. "It's an interesting laboratory study (but) you have to have enough additional animal studies to make sure the effect is reproducible and to make sure that there are no overt toxic effects," said Dr. Norman Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. "It's a little more than tantalizing because it's a compound that we know has been in humans and has not caused major problems." The findings were to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Los Angeles. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the world. Lung tumors that over-produce the EGF receptor tend to be extra-aggressive and don't respond well to chemotherapy. THC is the main active ingredient of Cannabis sativa -- marijuana. It has been shown to inhibit tumor growth in cancer, but specific information on its action against lung cancer has so far been limited. In the new study, the researchers first showed that two different lung cancer lines, as well as samples from patient lung tumors, produced the cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2. Endocannabinoids -- cannabinoids produced naturally in the body -- are thought to have an effect on pain, anxiety and inflammation when they bind to cannabinoid receptors. Next, the researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice implanted with human lung cancer cells. After three weeks of treatment, tumors shrank by about 50 percent in animals treated with THC, compared to those in an untreated control group, the researchers reported. The findings may shed light on a question that has been puzzling Horovitz: Why hasn't there been a spike in lung cancer in the generation that smoked a lot of marijuana in the 1960s. "I find it fascinating, wondering if the reasons we're not seeing this spike is that THC inhibits lung cancer cells," he said. "It would be very ironic, although you certainly wouldn't tell somebody who smoked cigarettes to add marijuana." A second set of findings presented at AACR suggested that a viral-based gene therapy could target both primary and distant tumors, while ignoring healthy cells. When injected into 15 mice with prostate cancer, this "smart bomb" therapy eliminated all signs of cancer -- effectively curing the rodents. Researchers at Columbia University, in New York City, said the therapy also worked in animals with breast cancer and melanomas. And in a third hopeful trial reported at the meeting, German researchers at University Children's Hospital, in Ulm, said they've used measles viruses to treat brain tumors. In mouse experiments, the virus attached to the tumor from the inside out, the team said. For more on lung cancer, head to the American Lung Association. SOURCES: Norman Edelman, M.D., chief medical officer, American Lung Association, New York City; Len Horovitz, M.D., pulmonary specialist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; April 17, 2007, presentations, annual meeting, American Association for Cancer Research, Los Angeles - Article from HealthDay http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=603764 Blair (stranger) 4/19/07 03:16 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7852 / re: 7851 ] Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Legal marijuana alternatives to go up in smoke Plans to make Health Canada only purveyor of medical pot discomfit 'compassion clubs' Jack Knox, Columnist Victoria Times Colonist So, yesterday we heard that the mark-up on the federal government's medical marijuana is 1,500 per cent. Now we learn that Ottawa plans to give itself a monopoly. Who do these guys think they are, the Hells Angels? No, no, no, says Health Canada. We don't really make a profit on the marijuana we sell to sick people. And if we stop them from growing and buying their own dope, well, that would just move the program in line with the traditional way of distributing prescription drugs. All of which is a tad bizarre to those who can't think of marijuana without conjuring up memories of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. It's not every day that your government is forced to defend itself against charges that it is ripping people off with overpriced, crappy pot. "This is getting into the realm of the surreal at this point," says Philippe Lucas. And Lucas knows all about the surreal, living as he does in the legal No Man's Land of medical marijuana. A total of 1,742 Canadians have Ottawa's blessing to smoke marijuana to alleviate suffering. Just over 1,000 of them have a licence to grow their own. A total of 167 have permission to get someone else to grow it for them. The only other official source is Health Canada, which gets its grass from Prairie Plant Systems Inc., which farms it in an old mine in Manitoba. There was a fuss yesterday when newly released documents showed the amount charged by Health Canada -- $150 for 30 grams -- is 15 times greater than the amount it pays Prairie Plant, based on the price per kilogram. Ottawa was accused of profiting on the backs of sick people. The feds replied that only a portion of its costs were considered in that calculation. "There is no markup," Health Canada spokesman Jason Bouzanis said in a telephone interview. He also confirmed that Health Canada plans, at some undetermined point, to make itself the only official purveyor of pot, phasing out the rules that allow people to grow their own medical marijuana or get it from a designated supplier. The idea is to bring practice in line with "traditional" prescription-drug distribution. Bouzanis doesn't say so, but it would also let Ottawa get a firmer grip on the leash. That doesn't bode well for all the sort-of-tolerated "compassion clubs" that dole out medical marijuana to thousands and thousands of Canadians -- far more than the 1,742 licensed by Health Canada. A phase-out would be nuts, the clubs argue. Given the chance, they say, they could sell a more varied product for less money, with no taxpayer involvement at all. And their marijuana would be better than the much-maligned Health Canada pot. ("Only the federal government could spend $10 million and fail to do what a 16-year-old with a closet and a good set of lights could do," says Lucas.) Lucas leads the Vancouver Island Cannabis Society, a registered non-profit society that has operated out of a Cormorant Street storefront for seven years. It sells to 60 or 70 people who belong to Health Canada's medical-marijuana program, but also has 650 clients who have been recommended by a total of 250 doctors. "We make no secret about what we do here and how we do it," Lucas says. Also in Victoria is the Cannabis Buyers Club on Johnson Street, with a client base over 2,000. It requires customers to offer proof of a diagnosed permanent disability or disease, though doesn't make them show a recommendation from a doctor. Founder Ted Smith says more than 300 buyers have been cut off for breaking the club's rules, mostly for reselling to others; the club doesn't want to provide ammo to critics who see it as a back door to recreational drug use. Providers of medical marijuana have gradually developed a patina of respectability. Nursing students do practicums at the Vancouver Island Cannabis Society. The organization does peer-reviewed research. Lucas came within 118 votes of getting elected to Victoria city council. A couple of years ago, Malaspina College even offered a how-to-grow-medical-marijuana course. It was taught by Eric Nash, a Duncan man who, with wife Wendy Little, runs a company called Island Harvest, which got organic certification for its pot. Island Harvest has Health Canada permission to sell marijuana to a single client, an 80-year-old arthritic Calgary man. But when Nash, backed by letters from area politicians, recently asked Health Minister Tony Clement for permission to expand sales to 250 other licensed medical-marijuana users who want Island Harvest's product, the minister's office replied that Ottawa plans to phase out personal-use licences altogether, leaving Health Canada as the sole provider. Meanwhile, the B.C. Supreme Court will deal next month with the fallout from a 2004 police raid at the compassion society's East Sooke production facility -- punctuating the uncertain boundaries of acceptance and tolerance when it comes to medical marijuana. This includes tolerance for Health Canada; Lucas expects federal failings to be highlighted. Which brings us back to the question of whether you ever thought you would live to see your government accused of doing a lousy job selling pot. Blair (stranger) 4/20/07 10:43 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7856 / re: 7852 ] POT MARKUP HURTS Chatham Daily News,18 Apr 2007 Drug dealers make their money on how much they mark up their product. The street value of what they're peddling is significantly higher than what they pay their suppliers for the illicit drugs. But we expect they're all drooling at the profits the federal government reaps when it sells dope - medicinal marijuana. Street dealers wouldn't be in business if they sold marijuana for 15 times more than what they paid for it. But the federal government does just that, and gets away with it, as it operates in a monopoly. Pity the people who need the medicinal marijuana for pain management. Often the people who use the federally controlled marijuana are on fixed incomes and are in extreme and constant pain. Yet if they can't pay their exorbitant dope bills, the feds will cut off the medicine. Some health care system - the government is profiting nicely at the expense of some of society's more seriously ill citizens. Health Canada is a reluctant drug dealer, forced into the business by our legal system, where court decisions accept scientific research that states marijuana can relieve pain where other medications fail. There are 1,742 patients authorized by Health Canada to possess dried pot for medication. More than 1,000 of them are also licensed to grow their own. But all can order marijuana through Health Canada's underground ( as in down a mine shaft in Manitoba ) supplier, Prairie Plant Systems, and have medicinal pot Purolated out to them. Health Canada pays $328.75 per kilogram of marijuana from Prairie Plant Systems. It sells a 30-gram bag ( and there are 33-plus such bags in one kilogram of pot ), for $150 - plus GST. At that price, Health Canada sells the dope for $5,000 per kilogram, a mark up of 1,500 per cent. It's no surprise to see nearly a third of the patients who do order the government dope are now in arrears. They owe their dealer, Health Canada, more than $143,000. The federal government may not like the fact it's in the dope selling business, despite the needs of their customers. But do what is best for those in need. Don't gouge your medicinal users like too many pharmaceutical giants do south of the border. Treat them with respect. These people are forced to use marijuana because of their pain, not because they want to get high. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 Source: Chatham Daily News, The (CN ON) Page: 9 Copyright: 2007 OSPREY Media Group Inc. Contact: news@chathamdailynews.ca Website: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1627 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Prairie+Plant+Systems Blair (stranger) 4/21/07 08:20 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7860 / re: 7856 ] CANADA'S MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES DO NOT OFFER PROGRESSIVE VISIONS ON LEGALIZING MARIJUANA Canadian,16 Apr 2007 Heading into a General Election, Canadian voters are presented with many voting options, but four main parties dominate; Conservative, Liberal, NDP, and now the Greens. The Conservatives have made it clear; "marijuana is dangerous", it should remain substantively illegal, it has no medical value, and the Medical Marijuana program should be shut down, period. They think pot users should go to jail, and promise to make a great effort to arrest as many as possible. The Grits, refusing to take sides, want to continue "The War On Plants", but also considered "decriminalizing" pot for personal use. They refuse to do anything substantial one way or the other, however. The NDP would like to see pot legalized, but refuse to do anything about it because it is a hot potato issue, and they aren't brave enough to be anything but faux-left politicians. The Greens want pot legalized and regulated, but have almost no chance of getting power, unless they do what they are doing now, which is climbing into bed with the gangster-subsidizing Grits! Basically, the 1500 Federal Medical Marijuana License Holders and the estimated 1.5 million Canadians who use marijuana as medicine, don't even have a horse in this race, as far as major political parties. So much for democracy. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 Source: Canadian, The (Canada) Copyright: 2007 The Canadian Contact: editorial@agoracosmopolitan.com Website: http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4483 Author: Russell Barth Note: Russell Barth is a Federal Medical Marijuana License Holder in Ottawa. Blair (stranger) 4/23/07 07:22 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7871 / re: 7860 ] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NGzv-YC7_Y Marc Emery visits with Grant Krieger, Blair (stranger) 4/29/07 12:41 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7909 / re: 7871 ] GOVERNMENT AS SOLE SELLER OF MEDICAL POT DISASTROUS StarPhoenix,27 Apr 2007 On April 16, we heard of the long-standing, incredible 1,500 per cent markup on medical marijuana. A day later, Victoria Times columnist Jack Knox reported how Health Canada plans to gain a monopoly on medical marijuana. If Health Canada does go ahead with the monopoly on medical marijuana and makes Prairie Plant Systems the only provider of such, people will suffer needlessly. My friend, Tom Shapiro, an AIDS patient and medical marijuana user in Regina, will be forced to go back to a product that he has rejected previously as ineffective and comparable to cardboard. He has a secure medical garden with an alarm system. Along with this convenience, he has also managed to refine his choice as to the strains his designated grower produces to alleviate the symptoms that come along with taking more than 30 medications every day. It'll be tough to hear Tom tell me that he's gone back to puking his guts out every morning because he won't be allowed to grow the strains that help him. Compassion clubs and designated growers already provide patients with high quality medical marijuana the government can't seem to produce. Spending more than $5 million, the government can't achieve what a 16-year-old can by using a closet and a good set of lights. The current system has worked somewhat for the paltry number of medical marijuana patients, who are allowed to access this hallowed plant of which federal politicians seem to be scared to high heaven. Now we're going to see the government peddling schwag in a monopolized manner that biker gangs could probably only dream of. Ethan Erkiletian President, Sask. Marijuana Party Saskatoon Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Copyright: 2007 The StarPhoenix Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400 Author: Ethan Erkiletian Blair (stranger) 4/29/07 06:14 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7912 / re: 7909 ] The thing is, if Health Canada sells marijuana to people for one tenth of the current price, or even less ... then the reverse pressure on the sick would be to turn around and sell their medicine for the real black market prohibition price. As long as the fundamental law is INSANE, there can never be any sane med pot system. Since fully legal marijuana would only be worth less than a penny a gram, everything else that around cannabis culture currently IS INSANE. I have always disliked the idea that one's constitutional rights depend upon getting a medical doctor to certify that one is sick enough. That idea has always totally sucked! As long as the government continues to base marijuana laws on lies, and continues to enforce those lies with police and prison coercion ... then, medical marijuana has to be INSANE. The black market makes medical marijuana be worth a thousand times more than it should be, and that disproportional situation can not be avoided ... Because marijuana is illegal, people have being growing it indoors, instead of outdoors, and the best quality pots are now grown with indoor environments. Even with all the crazy added costs of growing the marijuana indoors ... (i.e. like down the bottom of an old mine, like in Flin Flon Manitoba ...) their stupid price is still cheaper by at least a factor of ten, than what the black market price is ... and therefore, Health Canada arbitrarily adopts a price which is 15 times greater than they pay for it, and also adds some ridiculously high packaging and shipping. However, if Health Canada did not do that, but instead charged people, say, 10 cents per gram, then the sick people with that would not be able to avoid the fact that they could turn around and sell their medicine on the black market for $10. This situation is artificial scarcity. The whole situation is extremely evil since it is based on laws that never were anything more than huge lies backed up with violent enforcing. Nothing can ever fix the overall situation other that full legalization, which would knock at least 90%, if not 99.9% of the money out of of the market value of medical marijuana, as well as the recreational marijuana, which is, after all, the identical thing. I do not like the idea of "sick" people having special rights to cheap marijuana. I think everyone should have cheap pot! The mainstreamers compromise with the insane situation the made marijuana be ridiculously expensive, and they talk about regulation and taxation, but that is all bullshit, since truly legal pot would be such that it would be so cheap it would barely be worth regulating or taxing. THIS BUD IS NOT FOR YOU View Magazine,26 Apr 2007 Critics say Health Canada is profiting off the sick and dying after it was revealed the government-run agency is charging patients 15 times more for medicinal marijuana than it pays to buy weed in bulk. Records obtained by the Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act reveal that Health Canada has a 1,500 per cent mark-up on the marijuana it gets from its sole supplier. "It makes me sick to know this is happening, that this is how Health Canada treats people," says Burlington activist and medicinal marijuana user Alison Myrden. "I'd like to see them justify this atrocity." Myrden uses marijuana to relieve the debilitating pain caused by Tic Douloureux, a "violent, electrical pain in the face" that four per cent of MS patients get. Without marijuana she said she'd be popping 32 pills of Morphine a day. "I don't want to do that anymore." Myrden isn't the only one incensed over the exorbitant mark-up on medicinal marijuana. Records show that Health Canada pays $328.75 for each kilogram of bulk marijuana from its supplier, Prairie Plant Systems Inc. Health Canada then sells the marijuana to authorized users for $150 plus GST for each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops, with a THC strength of up to 14 per cent. This works out to $5,000 for each kilogram, reflecting a mark-up of more than 1,500 per cent. PPS currently has a $10.3 million contract with Health Canada to grow standardized medical marijuana in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon, Manitoba. That contract expires at the end of September. Myrden says one thing she'd like to see Health Canada do is open the market up to give other growers a chance. There are currently 1,742 people authorized by Health Canada to possess dried marijuana for medication. Of those, 1,040 are authorized to grow their own, with another 167 people licensed to grow marijuana for the exclusive use of licensed patients. Patients can also order the marijuana directly from PPS, who typically mails the product by Purolator courier. Myrden, who has a license, says she won't buy her marijuana from Health Canada because of the price and quality. PPS is "growing a number of different strains at once which is a problem." That's because various illnesses need particular strains of the bud to treat their conditions. Compassion clubs, which supply medical marijuana to their patients at just about cost, offer various strains. "I don't know why Health Canada can't do it," she says. Street prices for marijuana average about $10 a gram, or about twice Health Canada's price, but bulk street purchases with few middlemen can match or better the government price. Compassion clubs charge as little as $5 a gram, the same price as Health Canada's dope. Tom MacMullen, of Prospect Bay, N.S., is one of the 514 patients who has ordered the government-certified dope. "It's garbage," he told reporters. "It's just so awful tasting." MacMullen, a father of two, survives on a disability pension of $653 a month. With his low income, it's not surprising he's also one of the 149 patients currently in arrears with Health Canada. He currently owes $517 with interest accruing monthly. Records show Health Canada is currently owed $143,611 in outstanding payments. Ottawa medicinal marijuana user Shawn Jackson, a Kosovo peacekeeping veteran, has racked up a $5,600 debt with Health Canada. They cut off his supply just before Christmas and have sent his case to a collection agency. Jackson had received 150 grams a month from Health Canada at a cost of $795 beginning last July until he was cut off. But living on a $1,200 monthly disability pension and supporting his elderly mother left him choosing between food and paying for his marijuana. "How was I supposed to pay that bill? I can't afford it and now they are threatening me." Jackson, who uses marijuana to ease the pain of terminal colon cancer, says he now intends to advocate for others who need medical marijuana but can't afford it. "I will fight for the... sick and dying until my last breath on this planet has been exhaled," he tells Ottawa reporters. "Why can't it just be free?" Health Canada spokesman Jason Bouzanis defends the price, stating the quoted price of $328.75 a kilogram doesn't include other costs incurred by Health Canada. "The price for individuals authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes is based on the actual cost of production and an estimate of costs associated with the distribution of the product. These costs are subject to change." Contract records show Health Canada pays the supplier a packaging fee of $9.06 for each 30-gram package to cover labour and materials, as well as courier fees. But as Philippe Lucas, director of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, points out there shouldn't be a huge mark-up because the taxpayer funds the refining and distribution process. "At a time when medical cannabis users all too often have to choose between buying groceries and their medicine, it is unconscionable that Health Canada... should be marking up this product 1,500 per cent." To make matters worse, Bouzanis said Health Canada not only intends to phase out the production licenses sometime after 2007, it will also be tightening its rules around arrears beginning May 1. After that, those 30 days or more in arrears can receive one more shipment before they're cut off. Previously, patients were given a 180-day grace period. Myrden wants to see Health Canada and the government own up to the problem. "Somebody has to step up and take responsibility for this. I would love to go face to face with Health Canada and Stephen Harper over this." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Steve Heath Pubdate: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 Source: View Magazine (Hamilton, CN ON) Copyright: 2007 View Magazine Contact: editor@viewmag.com Website: http://www.viewmag.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2393 Author: Willy Noiles Cited: Vancouver Island Compassion Society http://www.thevics.com Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Prairie+Plant+Systems Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Alison+Myrden (Alison Myrden) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Philippe+Lucas (Philippe Lucas Blair (stranger) 5/7/07 09:21 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7955 / re: 7912 ] This is interesting, since, for a change, the first impression media story may be wrong ... usually, the first impression story, that later turns out to be wrong is bad for the marijuana people this time, the first impression story, that may turn out to be wrong {???} is bad for the bigger boys ... Whatever the truth, it sure goes to show how when a story is covered by the "mass media," the truth does not count as much as does the degree of repetition of that story. INCORRECT MEDICAL POT STORY GETS UNDESERVED PROMINENCE Re: Government as sole seller of medical pot disastrous ( SP, April 27 ). I am amazed that one piece of inaccurate journalism from an Access to Information request, taken out of context, has gained so much notoriety. The original Canadian Press story of April 15 was based on misleading information and seemed designed to discredit Health Canada's medical marijuana program. Within its first two paragraphs, the lack of logic is exposed. The two figures quoted are $328.75 per kilogram and a contract with Prairie Plant Systems of $10.3 million. To earn $10.3 million at $328.75 per kilogram would mean the company would have to produce 31,330 kilograms ( 31.3 million grams ) of medical marijuana. Even at $5 a gram, which is well below the drug's street value, the government hypothetically would have to produce and sell an equivalent of $150 million worth of marijuana. That is one massive grow-op, by any standard. Let's put the numbers in perspective. A total 31.3 million grams of marijuana is sufficient to supply 17,167 people for a whole year, based on a dose of five grams per day. This is an order of magnitude difference when the CP article reported there were 1,742 approved Health Canada recipients, the majority of whom grow their own. Had the reporter bothered to look at the contract awarded to Prairie Plant Systems, he would have seen that it calls for upwards of 400 kilograms a year. Since the contract was also released under Access to Information, I can only assume that he disregarded the facts. It is unfortunate that the Marijuana Party used this misleading information in an attempt to further its political agenda. It's only hurting the people it claims to be protecting. Brent H. Zettl President and CEO Prairie Plant Systems Inc. CN SN: LTE: Incorrect Medical Pot Story Gets Undeserved URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n572/a06.html Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap Pubdate: Mon, 07 May 2007 Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Copyright: 2007 The StarPhoenix Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n535/a03.html Author: Brent H. Zettl Blair (stranger) 5/9/07 04:48 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7962 / re: 7955 ] This is supposed to be heard in May, 2007 ... NOTICE OF CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE Court File No. 131900 Victoria Registry IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BETWEEN: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN RESPONDENT AND: MATHEW BEREN and MICHAEL SWALLOW ACCUSED/APPLICANTS NOTICE OF CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE (Pursuant to s. 8(2)(a) or (b) of the Constitutional Question Act R.S.B.C. 1979 c. 63) TAKE NOTICE that an application will be made before the trial judge presiding, at the Supreme Court of British Columbia at 850 Burdett Avenue, Victoria, B.C. at 10:00 o’clock in the forenoon on the 31st day of October, 2005, May 9th-18th, 2007, are now the dates or so soon thereafter as counsel may be heard for relief by way of an appropriate and just remedy pursuant to s.24 (1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I, Schedule B of the Constitution Act, 1982, including a declaration of constitutional invalidity under s.52(1) of the Charter to the effect that or on the grounds that: S.5 (trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking) and s. 7 (production) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (insofar as they are applicable to Schedule II prohibited substances, namely, cannabis, as defined in the Schedule and the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations pursuant thereto, are unconstitutional as being inconsistent with, contrary to, and/or in violation or conflict with s. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to the extent that they failed, during the material period, to adequately provide for a safe, secure and reliable supply of Cannabis (marihuana) for those constitutionally entitled to possess and use such for a serious medical condition under the principle underlying the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Parker; R. v. Parker [2000] O.J. No. 2787 (Ont. C.A.); AND TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that in support of the application, the Applicants will refer to: (1) The facts, circumstances, evidence and other information arising in these proceedings, pursuant to information number 111409-1/05 in the Provincial Court of British Columbia and indictment 131900 - 05 in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, to date, and in particular the facts with respect to the nature of the VITCRI and the VICS and their members and how they provided a safe, secure, and reliable supply of cannabis (marijuana) to not only approximately 35 federal MMAR exemptees but also to all its registered club members (now totalling approximately 500 members), thereby ensuring they would not have to access the black market and would get a safe, reliable, secure and dependable supply from their own club or group while taking appropriate safeguards to ensure no leakage into the black market of cannabis so produced; (2) The pleadings, proceedings, submissions and judgments in this and other medical marijuana cases, including in particular the reasons for judgement in Parker and cases following thereon such as Hitzig, October 7, 2003, Ont. C.A. and up to and including the recent decision of Chaperon PCJ in B.C.P.C. Victoria in Smith; R. v. Parker [2000] O.J. No. 2787 (Ont. C.A.); Hitzig v. Canada (2003-10-07) ONCA C39532;C39738;C39740; R. v. Smith and Budda (07/09/04) Victoria Registry No. 118904; (3) The decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in Morgentaler, Smoling and Scott; Morgentaler, Smoling and Scott. v. The Queen [1988] 37 C.C.C. (3d) 449 (S.C.C.); (4) Such further and other materials and authorities as counsel deems advisable at the hearing of this matter. DATED at Abbotsford, British Columbia, this - day of October, 2005. ___________________________________ JOHN W. CONROY, Q.C. Counsel for Applicants TO: Federal Crown Lori McMorran McConnan, Bion, O’Conner,Peterson 420 - 880 Douglas Victoria, BC V8W 2B7 AND TO: The Attorney General of B.C. Legal Services Branch 1001 Douglas Street Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 http://thevics.com/legal/const_chall.htm http://thevics.com/legal/const_chall_pr.htm http://thevics.com/ ____________________________________________ MONDAY MAGAZINE - MAY 14 issue Busted growers aim to smoke Health Canada program If Victoria deputy police chief Bill Naughton takes the stand in a drug trial starting this week, he will testify on behalf of two men accused of growing marijuana. While it’s strange for a police officer to defend alleged pot growers in court—and it’s not yet certain he will appear—the grow-op in question was an unusual one. West Shore RCMP officers arrested Michael Swallow and Mathew Beren during a May, 2004, raid of an East Sooke site that provided high quality cannabis to the Vancouver Island Compassion Society. The VICS, in turn, supplied the cannabis from the site to patients who were using it to treat various ailments. “This was different from your normal grow-op,” says Philippe Lucas, VICS executive director and a former city council candidate. “We don’t deny anything we’re doing. It’s the questions of why and how that are the main issues.” Lucas says Swallow was just visiting the facility and not actually involved. RCMP officers charged Swallow and Berens with production of marijuana and with possession of more than three kilograms of the drug for the purpose of trafficking. For several years medical marijuana has existed in a convoluted legal grey area. Since a 2001 decision, says Kirk Tousaw, a Vancouver lawyer working on the case, Canada’s prohibition laws have been deemed constitutional only as long as there is an adequate program in place to provide marijuana to medical users. The program is in place, he says, but it’s not good. “It’s still tremendously difficult for people to become licensed medical marijuana users and it’s still very hard for people to access a quality supply of medicine,” says Tousaw, who is a board member of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. The government started buying marijuana grown in an abandoned mine in Manitoba and supplying it to some registered medical marijuana users. “We don’t think the government’s monopoly supplier—which only produces a single strain that’s been the subject of some criticisms by users—we don’t think that’s good enough for the very sick people who use medical marijuana in this country.” In 2003 the courts ordered Health Canada to make changes to its medical marijuana program that Tousaw says have not yet been made. “We’re now five or six years into this program and it’s still not doing the job it needs to do for sick people in this country,” he says. A spokesperson for Health Canada did not return calls by press time. Lucas says the VICS legal team will argue the facility was filling a legally-recognized need the government was unable to fill. “Our goal is to illustrate the problems with the federal medical marijuana program.” He describes the site, which cost around $40,000 to start, as a “white labcoat” operation where growers developed strains to treat particular conditions. If they had two strains that worked well for chronic pain, for instance, they would breed them together to see if they could create a plant that did an even better job. “We lost about four or five years of strain research just through that raid,” says Lucas. RCMP officers destroyed some 900 plants. “They chopped and took everything.” Two officers who were at the raid declined to comment while the case is before the courts. The facility also grew marijuana to use in clinical trials, and hemp, with none of the high-causing active ingredient THC, to use as a placebo in VICS research. The growers even had plants growing from seeds provided by the federal government to show that better growing techniques could improve the product Health Canada was offering medical marijuana users. “It didn’t have to be as poor quality as what they were sending out,” says Lucas. At the time of the raid, the VICS was helping over 400 patients. It was one of two clubs in Victoria providing medical marijuana in the city, and one of a handful of such groups across the country. Since the raid VICS has grown to some 660 patients, but it was driven back to buying cannabis on the black market at a higher cost. Lucas says if deputy chief Naughton testifies, it will be to talk about the advantages of supplying marijuana to medical users in a way that doesn’t require them to buy it on the street corner, and on the lack of complaints about the VICS clinic on Cormorant Street near the provincial ministry of health. Confirmed witnesses will include Colorado researcher and biology professor Bob Melamede, Canadian AIDS Society consultant and former Health Canada epidemiologist Lynne Belle-Isle and Conservative senator Pierre Claude Nolin. Nolin chaired a 2002 senate committee that recommended legalizing marijuana. Several VICS members will talk about the stress and other effects of the raid. The judge could legalize VICS’s work, says Lucas, and the case could also result in the court legalizing marijuana for all users. If cannabis prohibition prevents people who are legally allowed to use medical marijuana from getting their medicine, then those laws could be found to be unconstitutional. Says Lucas, “Although that’s not the goal of our case, that’s a possible outcome.” Or as Tousaw puts it, “If we didn’t have marijuana prohibition, sick people wouldn’t be in danger of going to jail.” Tousaw has also worked on high-profile cases representing Marc Emery and Steve Kubby, and he advocates reforming Canadian drug laws. “It’s clear to me, and to anyone who takes a long hard look at this, marijuana prohibition is a failed policy.” The constitutional challenge will cost around $100,000, Lucas says. The VICS has already raised about half of that through donations and continues to fundraise. “The other half is still a struggle for us.” Lucas says there are over a million medical marijuana users in Canada. The federal program to provide the medicine has only registered 500 users. Compassion societies across the country help over 10,000 people. Asked where the rest get their medicine, Lucas says, “They’re buying it on the street corner and frankly they’re vulnerable to arrest right now.” ______________________________________________ Personally, it pisses me off that the entire marijuana situation is so evil, that medicine which could & should be ten dollars a kilo can be ten a gram. Personally, it also annoys me that the self-righteous med pot people are often growing and selling pot in a medical gray market that is closer to black market prices, than to the sane real costs. Since I could never personally qualify for medical marijuana, I dislike this stupid compromise that declares you have a "right" to med pot IF you can prove you are sick enough, and around that crazy situation are some varying degrees of people taking advantage of the gray market ... where medical marijuana may be quasi-legal, but the amounts of money involved in that are closer to the black market prices than to the real costs of production. ___________________________________ Since this whole situation is fundamentally insane, since it is based on huge lies backed with coercion, that the government started and continue to drive ... "victories" in the medical marijuana area will continue to be nutty compromises in a nutty context conditioned by the laws based on dishonesty and violence, that made marijuana worth 1,000 too much. The sick people who really need medical marijuana are stuck inside of that insane overall situation, and, I believe, mostly surrounded by parasites that take advantage of the gray market to make some money. "Reforms" are always only within the overall huge lies. The reform of the mainstream tinkers with the parameters of the huge lies in ways that end up pretending those huge lies have some sort of merit that is still worth saving inside of the reforms. We need a real, radical, revolution, not another god damn court case to grant special privileges to a few inside of an insane society. Blair (stranger) 5/9/07 07:20 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7963 / re: 7962 ] ILL CANADIANS RALLY FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM Digby Courier, 04 May 2007 Halifax March on Saturday One of Hundreds Worldwide Medical marijuana patients and advocates, cannabis consumers and freedom supporters, will rally in the Halifax North Commons from 1 to 4 p.m., May 5, to mark the annual Global Marijuana March as we join over 200 cities worldwide to seek changes to current cannabis laws. Last month Canadians learned about Health Canada gouging critically and chronically ill Canadians a whopping 1,500 per cent markup for medicinal marijuana. Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana Society ( MUMM ) is a registered non-profit organization that educates others about the safety of medical marijuana while advocating and lobbying for the rights of consumers, distributors and producers of medical marijuana. MUMM will be calling for the federal government to: 1 ) immediately forgive the $143,000 of debt owed to Health Canada by cancer patients, people living with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C sufferers and others who are unable to pay for their medicine. Thanks to Canadian taxpayers, this medicine has already been paid for from the government coffers and now ill people are being forced to chose between medicine and food in order to survive while being asked to pay for the cannabis again at a highly inflated rate. 2 ) begin meeting with provincial health authorities to insure that costs are covered for medical cannabis, whether the medicine comes from Health Canada, designated growers, compassion societies or is produced by the patient. Most Exemption Holders live on lower, fixed incomes and medical marijuana is essential for their overall daily state of health and well being. 3 ) allow for easier access to the Medical Marijuana program for patients who require medical cannabis to treat the symptoms of chronic diseases and conditions. Currently, the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations only protect 1,700 of the estimated one million gravely ill Canadians relying on medical cannabis. Those patients unable to obtain exemptions are subject to being arrested, charged and potentially convicted. 4 ) legalize and legitimize Canadian Compassion Clubs immediately. A survey by the Canadian AIDS Society in 2006, determined that Canadian compassion clubs provide medicine to over 10,000 people in Canada. Health Canada should work with compassion clubs to approve a regulatory scheme for community-based access to medical cannabis so that clubs may continue to operate, but without the fear of being prosecuted. 5 ) promise to leave Personal-Use Production Licences and Designated-Person Production Licences intact after 2007. The recent press release noted that Health Canada is moving toward removing patients preferred methods of obtaining medicinal marijuana. Two thirds of Exemptees either grow their own medicine or opt to have an individual designated to grow it for them. Health Canada is contemplating forcing all exemptees to buy their expensive, ineffective medicine. Exemptees need access to many strains of safe, legal and affordable medicine. 6 ) conduct a financial/performance audit of the federal medical marijuana program. NDP MP Libby Davies, Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin and the Canadian AIDS Society have pointed out that a long overdue audit of the Medical Marijuana Department is crucial. The unconscionable inflationary rate applied to government grown cannabis was discovered when Canadians for Safe Access, a national medical marijuana advocacy group, filed an Access to Information Act requesting a copy of the production contract between Health Canada and Prairie Plant Systems. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Fri, 04 May 2007 Source: Digby Courier, The (CN NS) Copyright: 2007 Media Transcontinental Contact: info@digbycourier.ca Website: http://www.novanewsnow.com/rubrique-720-Digby-County.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4444 Author: Debbie Stultz-Giffin Note: Debbie Stultz-Giffin is chair of Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana Society and lives near Bridgetown, Annapolis County. Cited: Canadians for Safe Access http://www.safeaccess.ca Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Canadians+For+Safe+Access Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Marijuana+March ______________________________________ How about allow sick people to sell their surplus medical marijuana on the black market, so that they get the huge profit from doing that? As long as marijuana is not totally and fully legal for EVERYBODY, then the medical marijuana privilege for a few sufficiently sick people will be perverse. As long as black market recreational marijuana is still worth 1,000 times too much, then medical marijuana will never be free of being inside that context. while I in favour of sick people being able to get quality pot for the cheapest prices, I am against these special programs that gives it to them and only them. I continue to be aggravated by the necessary hypocrisies that allowed some pot to be medicalized, while the other is for fun. Medical marijuana seems a typical compromise by the mainstreamers, which keeps their huge lies, while bending them just a little ... Blair (stranger) 5/11/07 03:56 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7973 / re: 7963 ] MEDICAL POT COURT CHALLENGE BEGINS Victoria Times-Colonist, 11 May 2007 A constitutional challenge to Canada's medical marijuana regulations began yesterday, part of the B.C. Supreme Court trial of two Victorians charged after a police raid of a compassion club grow-op. Defence lawyer John Conroy of Abbotsford said outside the courtroom that the constitutional challenge contends government regulations force Canadians onto the black market to buy marijuana. And that interferes with the charter right to life, liberty and security of person, a position the defence says is supported by other court rulings. On trial are Michael Swallow, 41, and Mat Beren, 32, both charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and with production of marijuana. The two were arrested in May 2004 when West Shore RCMP raided a house near Sooke being used by the Vancouver Island Compassion Society to grow marijuana. The 600-member society is one of two groups in Victoria -- the other being the Victoria Cannabis Buyers' Club -- that supply medical marijuana to members. The two organizations are part of a wide trend where clubs have been set up to supply marijuana to people who can supply evidence of a longstanding incurable medical condition such as HIV/AIDS or multiple sclerosis. The Victoria Cannabis Buyers' Club has also been forced into court, winning one case in B.C. provincial court but losing another. The trial of Swallow and Beren began earlier in the week with defence lawyers seeking an application for a stay, based on the length of time the case has taken to come to trial. The application was unsuccessful. Phillippe Lucas, spokesman for the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, said in an interview the group has assembled what it considers an impressive list of witnesses for the constitutional challenge but it was also bound to follow legal advice and seek the stay on behalf of the two accused men. Testimony in the challenge began with Lynne Belle-Isle of Ottawa, an epidemiologist with the Canadian AIDS Society and author of several reports on the use of medical marijuana. Belle-Isle testified Health Canada allows three legal ways for people to get marijuana for medical use: - - They can seek government permission to grow it themselves; - - They can seek permission to have a designated person grow it for them; - - They can apply to buy their marijuana from the federal government, which grows it in an unused mine in Manitoba. However, Belle-Isle said, studies she has completed show the majority of users of medical marijuana buy it from illegal sources. She also testified more physicians are willing to sign notes for patients to attend compassion clubs than to register in the government programs. Many compassion clubs have exhibited a degree of professionalism and care. "They have even taken it upon themselves to come up with operational standards, strict rules," said Belle-Isle. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2007 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Times Colonist Contact: letters@tc.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Richard Watts, Times Colonist Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 5/13/07 10:16 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7982 / re: 7973 ] GROW-OP BUST BRINGS OUT POT ADVOCATES Goldstream Gazette, 11 May 2007 To the prosecution, it's a simple case of production for the purposes of trafficking, involving two local men caught red-handed growing a crop of 900 marijuana plants on an acreage in East Sooke. To Vancouver Island Compassion Society founder Philippe Lucas, it's a constitutional challenge to Canada's medical marijuana laws. Lawyers were in court in Victoria this week arguing that the two men arrested in the May, 2004 raid, Mat Beren and Michael Swallow, were operating a marijuana research and cultivation facility on behalf of the society. "We don't deny what we were doing," Lucas said. "Our defence is a constitutional challenge." The compassion society's lawyers will argue that Health Canada's medical cannabis program has failed to abide by recent court rulings ordering the government to make pot available for medical purposes, Lucas said. The society accuses Health Canada of restricting access to the program, placing arbitrary limits on pot production and "supplying an inadequate source of cannabis." The government began growing medical marijuana in 2000, but users soon began to complain about the quality of the product. Two years later, Freedom of Information documents obtained by the advocacy group Canadians for Safe Access, revealed that nearly one-third of people who bought pot from Health Canada returned their government-grown cannabis. Lucas said a verdict in the compassion society's favour could force a major overhaul of Canada's medical cannabis program and potentially lead to the legalization of the community-based distribution of cannabis. "It's really a problem with the program that it limits single individuals from growing cannabis," he said. The trial of Beren and Swallow started Wednesday and is expected to continue through May 18. The defence witness list includes Conservative Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, chair of the senate special committee on illegal drugs. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2007 Source: Goldstream Gazette (Victoria, CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Goldstream News Gazette Contact: editor@goldstreamgazette.com Website: http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1291 Author: Brennan Clarke Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Blair (stranger) 5/14/07 09:46 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 7994 / re: 7955 ] MEDICAL MARIJUANA SUPPLIER NEEDS TO UPGRADE PRODUCT StarPhoenix, 14 May 2007 Re: Incorrect medical pot story gets undeserved prominence ( SP, May 7 ). Someone should tell Prairie Plant Systems CEO Brent Zettl that to help patients who need marijuana, you might need more than MS-17/338 ( the breeding line of female plants PPS uses ). I'd be a lot more comfortable if PPS would release the genetic heritage of the strain it ripped off from all the hard working people in the field of marijuana breeding. He needs far more selection, and if he's smart, he'd also grow the marijuana under the sun in greenhouses. I've heard some nasty stuff about PPS cannabis from a lot of people who have done their homework or are medical marijuana recipients. Zettl needs to trust the people who have used his product and know what helps them. Either PPS is missing a lot of the variables in growing proper medical cannabis or the government has put too many restraints on the program to make it effective. I sincerely hope PPS is ready to step up to the plate if the negative press is right. People would be willing to pay more if the PPS selection is similar to what's available at the compassion clubs and if the company takes a serious crack at growing the plants above-ground. It needs to work seriously at getting a valuable medication out there in a reliable format. Mitchell Lee Saskatoon Powered by MAP, posted-by: Beth Wehrman Pubdate: Mon, 14 May 2007 Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Copyright: 2007 The StarPhoenix Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n572/a06.html Author: Mitchell Lee Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 5/29/07 11:53 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8108 / re: 7994 ] Lawsuit goes to court; Reimer claims OPP used excessive force in arrest TINA PEPLINSKIE Local News - Tuesday, May 29, 2007 @ 09:00 A claim that an Ontario Provincial Police constable used excessive force when arresting Rick Reimer March 27, 2002 is the subject of a million-dollar civil lawsuit being heard in Pembroke Superior Court. Mr. Reimer, a former Pembroke lawyer who has a medical exemption to smoke, grow and cultivate marijuana to treat his Multiple Sclerosis, also claims the two arrests made by Constable Tim Broder in the parking lot outside the Killaloe court were wrongful. Also named in the $3 million lawsuit are Sergeant Dwayne Sears of the Killaloe OPP and the Crown attorney for the province of Ontario. Mr. Reimer was at Killaloe court March 27, 2002 for a first appearance on an impaired driving charge laid Feb. 11, 2002 when he was stopped for smoking a marijuana cigarette while driving. Before entering the court on March 27, Mr. Reimer met A-Channel videographer Doug Hempstead in the parking lot and conducted an interview about the case. With the camera rolling, Mr. Reimer was approached by Const. Broder, who asked to see a copy of his medical exemption. During the conversation, the officer said he was aware of the plaintiff's exemption but he needed to see a copy of the letter. Mr. Reimer was arrested after he refused to give the officer the necessary documentation, claiming he is not required to produce the exemption on demand from a police officer. "I am not obligated to talk to you or show you anything," he told the officer on the video, which was entered as an exhibit to the trial. Mr. Reimer claims that once inside the building, Const. Broder pushed his face up against the wall and twisted his arms behind his back to place him in handcuffs. He testified the pain was so great that he had to stand on his tiptoes in an attempt to relieve the pressure, adding he experienced surges of pain periodically for the next nine months. He also testified that the handcuffs were so tight he had lacerations on his wrists as well as a laceration on his left palm when his hand was removed from the door jam. In cross-examination James Smith, the lawyer for the defendants, asked Mr. Reimer why he never sought medical attention for his injuries and he said he didn't think it would have any bearing on the case. Mr. Smith also asked why Mr. Reimer didn't mention the use of excessive force by the officer or his injuries on camera, knowing his comments would be part of a news broadcast. Mr. Reimer estimates he was detained briefly in the cell after the first arrest. He then received a promise to appear notice and was released. Once outside, he immediately lit a joint and resumed his interview with Mr. Hempstead. Mr. Reimer was approached again by Const. Broder and arrested for the second time that day. This time the officer seized a notebook, which contained the valid exemption, from the hood of Mr. Reimer's vehicle. The charges were later dropped and he was released. On March 25, 2002, Mr. Reimer attended at the Killaloe detachment to have his photo and fingerprints taken in relation to the impaired operation of a motor vehicle charge. He was asked to provide a copy of the exemption to investigating officer Const. Brad Burton. The exemption he provided was expired and attempts to obtain a current copy were unsuccessful, leading Sgt. Sears to believe Mr. Reimer did not have a valid exemption. He notified members of the detachment through an e-mail that Mr. Reimer did not have an exemption. Although he was aware there is a possibility of renewing the exemption, Mr. Reimer - under questioning by Mr. Smith - also read seven reasons why the exemption can be revoked or suspended; including possessing more 30 grams of marijuana, stopping visits to a medical practitioner or seeking other treatment. Sgt. Sears also believed Mr. Reimer was required to produce his medical exemption when requested. Mr. Reimer was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in the fall of 1998. After a lengthy struggle, he received his first medical exemption in March 2000. He was the 20th person in the country to receive such an exemption from Health Canada. In 2005, he received an exemption under the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations and is now required to present his exemption when requested to do so by police officers. The trial resumes today. Const. Broder will take the stand. Blair (stranger) 6/3/07 05:43 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8150 / re: 8108 ] MENOPAUSE MEDICATION BRINGS CRIMINAL CHARGES Port Hope Evening Guide, 29 May 2007 Marijuana is supposed to ease the nausea from a variety of conditions. For Carrie Hooper - who pleaded guilty to possession in Port Hope court May 25 - it was menopause. Federal Crown attorney Marc Bebee described how, on January 18, the Kawartha Combined Force Drug Unit executed a search warrant on Mrs. Hooper's Colborne home in the early afternoon. The 47-year-old accused answered the door, and the only other person present was a home-renovation worker unaware of what all the fuss was about. "The officers found marijuana soaking in isopropyl alcohol, which is the process used to make resin," Mr. Bebee stated. There was a five-gallon pail in a bedroom, with a filter on top that contained a quantity of marijuana leaves. In a hot-tub room, there was another five-gallon pail with 556 grams of marijuana leaves. Two hydroponic grow lights were in an empty room, and nine were in cardboard boxes in the garage. An electric frying pan in the kitchen contained a substance suspected to be trace amounts of resin. Defence counsel Bruce Olmstead said his client suffers from arthritis and the nausea associated with menopause. Besides, he said, it takes quite a quantity of leaves and stalks to yield very little resin. As a woman who supports herself on a part-time job, Mr. Olmstead added, "she very simply can't afford to buy marijuana, and she gets the leaves from friends." "I am sorry for this situation," Mrs. Hooper told Justice Robert Graydon. "I do find that it does help me." "You should apply to your doctor for a medical exemption," Justice Graydon suggested. Mrs. Hooper said she had since done so. "She is at or near the poverty level, and I'd rather have her put something back into the community," he said, handing down a suspended sentence with a 60-hour community-service order as a condition of her one-year probation. All items seized will be forfeited, and Mrs. Hooper is also subject to a 10-year weapons prohibition. MAP posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Tue, 29 May 2007 Source: Port Hope Evening Guide (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 Port Hope Evening Guide Contact: phegnews@northumberlandtoday.com Website: http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4147 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada Blair (stranger) 6/7/07 12:44 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8177 / re: 8150 ] Man pleads guilty to pot-by-post plan Plea crafted to protect grower's licence by SCOTT TRACEY GUELPH (Jun 7, 2007) A medical marijuana crusader accused of mailing pot to fellow users in the United States and Britain pleaded guilty yesterday to committing mischief by using Canada Post services "without proper authority." Following Marco Renda's plea, federal prosecutor David Doney asked the court to withdraw three counts each of trafficking and exporting a controlled substance and a single count of possession of a controlled substance. Justice Walter Gonet gave Renda, 47, formerly of the Mount Forest area, a conditional discharge and put the man on probation for two years. Outside court, Renda's lawyer, Leora Shemesh, said the plea was carefully crafted to protect her client's Health Canada licence, which allows Renda to possess and grow marijuana. He uses the drug to alleviate the symptoms of hepatitis C. Shemesh said if Renda had pleaded guilty to any drug-related counts it could have cost him his federal exemption from marijuana laws. "The court was compassionate with that and so was the Crown," Shemesh said, noting the plea to mischief was hammered out between the judge and lawyers for both sides during a series of pretrial meetings. "His honour was aware of not wanting to affect his licence," Shemesh said. "It was a compassionate resolution." Renda was accused of mailing 43 packages of marijuana to people in the U.S. and United Kingdom during March 2005. He was arrested April 13, 2005, when members of the Ontario Provincial Police's drug enforcement section executed a warrant at his home in Southgate Township, northeast of Mount Forest. In entering his plea yesterday, Renda admitted only that he used the postal service to send out "plant materials." Shemesh said as well as the compassionate reasons to conclude the case, the Crown might have had difficulty proving its case because of "continuity issues" surrounding Canada Post's handling of the packages, including who had authority to open them. Renda has since moved to Toronto, where he publishes Treating Yourself magazine, billed as "a journal for patients by patients." He said the resolution of the charges "gives me some breathing room to get back to what I was doing, which is educating the uninformed to the value of medical marijuana." Renda said he also intends to give away marijuana seeds through his website (treatingyourself.com) and to continue lobbying Health Canada to provide free marijuana to those who qualify to legally possess it. The federal government pays Prairie Plant Systems to grow marijuana in an old mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man., which is then provided, at a cost, to exempted people. Blair (stranger) 6/18/07 11:20 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8222 / re: 8177 ] Health Canada Orders Doctors to Keep Medical Marijuana Doses Under 5 Grams by Dean Beebe, Canadian Press (16 Jun, 2007) Bureaucrats interferre with doctor-patient confidentiality by recommending medicine allowances OTTAWA - Health Canada has been contacting doctors who prescribe medical marijuana for their government-approved patients, advising them to keep the dosages low. Some users say that not only violates doctor-patient confidentiality, it's also wrong for bureaucrats to make judgments about the medical needs of people they've never seen. "A person's medication should be between him and his doctor," said Tony Adams, 60, a medical marijuana user in Victoria. "There shouldn't be some bureaucrat in Ottawa that's never met me. Everybody has different needs for medications." Adams, a licensed user who's been smoking seven grams of marijuana daily, recently applied to Health Canada to increase the dose to 10 grams, with his doctor's authorization. Official approval from Ottawa is needed so that Adam can legally grow the appropriate number of marijuana plants, set by Health Canada at five plants for each daily gram. But a program official in Ottawa challenged Adams' doctor in a telephone call, saying most patients need no more than five grams. Adams, who has severe arthritis and degenerative disc disease, later received a new licence for just five grams a day. "I'm just really pissed off about the whole situation. ... I need to get to the bottom of this." Similarly, Alison Myrden in Burlington, Ont., says her doctor was challenged by Health Canada bureaucrats about her 20-to 28-gram daily dose. "They asked to lower it more than once, and my doctor and I both refused," said Myrden, 43, who uses marijuana for multiple sclerosis and another painful condition. Her message to Health Canada: "Back off - leave our doctors alone." The department's recent campaign to keep doses to five grams or less includes postings on its website referring to external surveys and studies indicating most medical users need only one to three grams daily, "whether it is taken orally, or inhaled or a combination of both." Another posting indicates more than 85 per cent of Canada's licenced users take five grams or less each day. And a fact sheet mailed to doctors warns that "an elevated daily dosage of more than five grams may increase risks with respect to the effect on cardiovascular, pulmonary and immune systems and psychomotor performance, as well as potential drug dependency." Health Canada also sent a letter recently to the Canadian Medical Association advising doctors about appropriate daily amounts. A spokesman for the department said dosage decisions are always left to doctors. "Occasionally, Health Canada contacts physicians to verify or clarify some of the information provided in the application," Renee Bergeron said. "As part of this discussion, Health Canada provides the opportunity for medical practitioners to obtain more information about the program, including information available on the website with regards to daily amount." Recent efforts to restrict dosage levels may be related to concerns about criminal activity. Last fall, for example, the department received a letter of complaint from someone in Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl's riding of Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, B.C. "The constituent expresses his concern that an individual in his neighbourhood is cultivating a large number of marijuana plants for medical purposes, thereby potentially endangering his family and the neighbourhood in general," says Nov. 20 memo to Health Minister Tony Clement, obtained under the Access to Information Act. The memo describes the department's efforts to reduce dosages, and says "the initial reaction from physicians ... has been positive and it may indirectly have an impact on the number of marijuana plants produced." The department is also hiring eight compliance officers across the country to monitor licensed users and growers, the document indicates. Bergeron says five have already been hired, and the rest - for Ontario and Alberta - will be hired shortly. The officers have the authority to make site visits and alert police to problems. As of last month, 1,774 patients were licensed to use medical marijuana, about a thousand of whom grow it themselves. Another 166 have someone else grow it for them under licence, and 538 are approved to order government-certified marijuana grown in Flin Flon, Man., by a firm under contract with the department. Health Canada, which has been compelled by the courts to develop its medical marijuana program, has said that sometime after 2007 it plans to require all users to order government dope - perhaps through pharmacies - rather than be allowed to grow it themselves. Blair (stranger) 6/21/07 08:09 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8237 / re: 8222 ] http://www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/?gclid=CKSvvdvf7owCFRPdPgodgjMjDw Blair (stranger) 6/22/07 10:16 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8238 / re: 8237 ] POT CRUSADER JAILED, REFUSED MARIJUANA Calgary Herald, 19 Jun 2007 Longtime pot crusader Grant Krieger was jailed Monday for four months on a drug trafficking charge, and he wasn't allowed to take his medicinal marijuana behind bars. Despite a constitutional exemption that allows Krieger to use cannabis to alleviate his multiple sclerosis pain, the judge ruled against the legal right applying in jail, said his lawyer, John Hooker. Krieger was surprised the morning's court appearance ended with his incarceration at the Calgary Remand Centre, his son Ryan Krieger said. "Taking away his medicine is cruel and unusual punishment," Ryan said. "He is in such severe pain that in one month he will have lost all mobility, and probably won't even be able to get out of bed." The last time Krieger was jailed, in 2001 for a similar charge, he left prison in a wheelchair, Ryan said. Provincial court Judge William Pepler sentenced Krieger in March, but postponed sending him to jail until the issue of how the pot crusader could receive the drug in prison was addressed. Assurances that corrections officials would uphold the exemption, or that authorities would make provisions for Krieger to receive marijuana in custody, could not be met unless Krieger acquired a federal licence allowing him to carry pot, which required a doctor's signature. Krieger was denied signatures by two doctors, Hooker said. "Part of our point on this whole thing is doctors are reluctant to sign these because they might be found liable," Hooker said. "Now it's between Grant and the remand centre." Hooker said his client has not ruled out an appeal of the sentence. "He's prepared to keep fighting, and so am I, but we haven't made a final decision." Krieger has been crusading for more than a decade for the right of physically ill patients to legally receive marijuana to alleviate suffering. Pepler convicted Krieger on two counts of drug trafficking in March after police seized two packages containing 801 grams of marijuana sent through his Grant Krieger Compassion Club to Manitoba for distribution to people with similar afflictions. Crown prosecutor Scott Couper said at the time of Krieger's conviction that the government has made marijuana available through the Medicinal Marijuana Access Regime. Meanwhile, a pro-marijuana group plans to protest outside the remand centre every day beginning at 7 p.m., and is planning a "larger protest" for Saturday. Keith Fagin, a member of Calgary 420, said the group has supported Krieger's Compassion Club for several years. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 Calgary Herald Contact: letters@theherald.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/grant.htm (Krieger, Grant) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal - Canada) Blair (stranger) 6/22/07 10:25 AM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8239 / re: 8238 ] The scars growing in the brain, M.S., is one of the clearest examples of benefit from medical marijuana. (& why SATIVEX was permitted.) This story below is probably true. POT ADVOCATE SICK IN JAIL - FAMILY Calgary Herald,21 Jun 2007 The condition of notorious medicinal marijuana crusader Grant Krieger - -- incarcerated at the Calgary Remand Centre since Monday -- is "rapidly deteriorating," according to his friends and family. "He's having troubles getting around, he's depressed and he's in pain," said Ryan Krieger, Grant's 25-year-old son. Ryan has not visited his father in jail and has only spoken with him by phone. "He is under medical care because his muscles are cramping up and his mobility is diminishing. They are trying to make him feel comfortable." Grant Krieger, who has multiple sclerosis and uses pot to alleviate the pain, was jailed Monday after being convicted of drug trafficking in March and sentenced to four months in custody. A provincial court judge delayed sending him to the remand centre until Monday so that Krieger, who is legally allowed to used cannabis, could arrange to take the drug into jail. Krieger needed to acquire a federal licence allowing him to carry the pot, which required a doctor's signature. He was denied signatures by two doctors, his lawyer told the court. A spokesman for the provincial Solicitor General's Department said Wednesday he could not confirm or deny whether Krieger was under medical care, due to privacy concerns. However, said Andy Weiler, the remand centre has a "fairly large" infirmary to which all inmates have access. It is staffed with nurses 24 hours a day and has physicians on call. "( Krieger ) has access to it and if his condition is deteriorating at all, then he would be placed in that infirmary," Weiler said. "We will take all steps necessary to ensure that Mr. Krieger receives the necessary conventional medication to help treat his condition." Krieger has said in the past that traditional medicine does not alleviate his pain. His son said Wednesday his father would likely refuse pharmaceuticals. "He's been down that road and to take that road would mean more pain and trouble," Ryan said. Weiler said any inmate can refuse treatment, until they reach a point where they can no longer make decisions. "At that point we would step in and do whatever is necessary to ensure his health is taken care of," Weiler said. "He is our responsibility while he's an inmate." Krieger was convicted on two counts of drug trafficking after police seized two packages containing 801 grams of marijuana sent through his Grant Krieger Compassion Club to Manitoba for distribution to people with similar afflictions. Powered by MAP, posted-by: Derek Pubdate: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 Calgary Herald Contact: letters@theherald.canwest.com Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 Author: Deborah Tetley, Calgary Herald Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Grant+Krieger Blair (stranger) 6/24/07 06:13 PM 74.56.154.30 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8245 / re: 8239 ] EVIDENCE OF 'REEFER MADNESS' ABOUNDS Winnipeg Free Press, 23 Jun 2007 'THE one great principle of the... law," wrote Charles Dickens in Bleak House, "is to make business for itself." That's a thought worth worrying if you are trying, as I am, to understand federal government's position on the medical and recreational use of marijuana. Not that I have any particular personal interest in the issue -- those days are gone -- but it is something that profoundly affects the lives of a lot of people. As is well known, marijuana, the killer weed, causes "reefer madness" in those who have any contact with it. Bureaucrats and politicians appear to be particularly prone to this malady and if they had any sense they would stay away from the weed, but they don't and so they don't. The reason seems obvious -- they are simply mad. It is pretty hard, in fact, to reasonably account for Canada's marijuana laws and the way they are enforced without this explanation of reefer madness. It is legal in this country for people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, but they have to get a licence from the government and a prescription from a doctor to do it. The last part is not really a problem, but the first part is like something of Kafka in the way it can play out. Usually doctors, in consultation with their patients, decide what dosage of a medicine a patient needs, but when it comes to medical marijuana, a bureaucrat in Ottawa can make that decision. This week, a news story told of two patients -- one suffering from severe arthritis and degenerative disc disease; the other from multiple sclerosis -- whose doctors were contacted by Health Canada and told to reduce the amount of marijuana they prescribe to them. The most charitable explanation of such behaviour is that Health Canada's clerks have been over-zealous in the testing of their own product. The more realistic one is that this is just one more outrageous interference in personal lives by a blunder-prone bureaucracy that has bungled the medical marijuana file from the beginning. The marijuana the government grows is inferior in quality to the stuff available on the streets, inferior even to what the patients can grow themselves, and Ottawa charges users 1,500 per cent more than it pays it supplier for the pot it gives them. Your neighbourhood street can give you a better deal on both counts. That, in fact, might be what the government wants. Certainly the medical marijuana program seems designed to drive Canada's chronic pain sufferers into the more welcoming arms of their local street dealers out of sheer desperation. In fact, drumming up business for drug dealers and biker gangs appears to be the sole purpose of this country's criminal marijuana laws. That, and to make a misery of the lives of otherwise ordinary and law-abiding people. I spent an afternoon at the law courts the other day, as I sometimes do. On that afternoon I went to Court Room 301, which is, apparently, on certain days dedicated to dealing with cases involving drugs, most commonly, at least on that afternoon, marijuana. Talk about a bleak house. Sitting there was a bit like watching a play by Samuel Becket, with the same sorry scene being acted out over and over again. On the one side was a bored prosecutor, on the other a changing array of bored defence attorneys. In the centre was a judge, and in front of him appeared a parade of young men and women facing similar charges and suffering similar fates. The simple possession of marijuana is still a criminal offence in Canada, although hardly anyone goes to jail for it anymore. Even so, judging by Court Romm 301, it makes a lot of business for the law. The police, I suspect, don't really go looking for people with small amounts of marijuana anymore, but when they find it the course of their business, they don't have much choice but to lay the charges, wasting their time on paperwork and processing, time that they know they could be better spent pursuing real criminals, keeping the city safe from real threats. The Crown wastes more time and money trying to give criminal records to young people -- some of them are hardly more than children -- and defence lawyers pick up their meagre legal aid fees, another public expense. It's a dull, sad parade in Court Room 301. Those who are accused usually plead guilty unless their cases are remanded, as they often are, to play the scene again in a few weeks. The defence pleads for leniency. The prosecutor sternly agrees. The judge is diligent in making sure the villain in front of him understands the process and the consequences. Then it is all resolved, almost always with a conditional sentence or a discharge. Then it starts all over again, with a new victim appearing. And they are victims, these kids, victims of an archaic law that hardly anyone believes is useful anymore but that politicians refuse to change. Like reverse images of old hippies, when it comes to the marijuana laws our lawmakers hang on to the old because they are afraid to grab on to the new. At a time when the justice system is too overloaded to deal expeditiously with real criminals, they waste the time of the police and the courts and the Crown persecuting people whose offence is no more serious and probably less harmful than drinking a beer or smoking a cigarette. To go back to Dickens, the law in this case truly is "a ass -- a idiot." ------------------------------------------------------ MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom Pubdate: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2007 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: letters@freepress.mb.ca Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Tom Oleson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Blair (stranger) 8/20/07 09:07 AM 72.0.211.146 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana [Post#: 8336 / re: 8245 ] PAIN, PAIN GO AWAY Toronto Sun,19 Aug 2007 We've Made Advances, but There's Room for Improvement People with advanced cancer pray that their pain be well-controlled. But despite the advances in pain management over the years, significant cancer pain is still present in more than 70% of patients. "In good centres, pain is well managed," says Dr. Allan Gordon, director of the Wasser Pain Management Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. "But there is still room for improvement." Lots, it seems. As the population ages, the number of new cases of cancer will steadily rise. In 2007, an estimated 159,900 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in Canada, an increase of 4% over the previous year. Surveys have suggested that cancer pain is under-recognized and under-treated in up to 50% of patients. That's why pain, pain, go away is not just a patient's wish, it's also on the minds of people like Gordon and others who work in the area of palliative care. Cancer pain is not as well controlled as it could be, adds Dr. Yvon Beauchamp, family medicine-chief of palliative care at the Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal: "The reasons include everything from physicians not being educated adequately in pain management to physicians not having the right medicines." Pain is complicated, Beauchamp explains: "In pain there are at least 15 different mechanisms at work. Each of the various classes of medication available to us only acts on one mechanism of the pain. That's why when you deal with pain you have to use different classes," he says, referring to various drug categories. According to the World Health Organization, pain is a scale and pain relief is like a ladder. "We refer to pain as mild, moderate or severe," Gordon explains. "Severe is seven to 10 on a scale of one to 10." Opioids ( drugs like codeine and morphine ) have been key to treating the strongest pain, and when they don't work on their own non-opioid analgesics have been added. But a couple of weeks ago, pain experts welcomed another class of drugs when Health Canada approved Sativex, a mouth spray derived from marijuana. The controversial drug, which contains two ingredients used to treat pain, has been used in the past for the symptomatic relief of neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis. Neuropathic pain can also be a feature of cancer, Gordon says. "This is pain that occurs because of damage to the nerves themselves. It could be because the nerves are being stretched or pressed by the cancer surgery or the cancer itself, or it could be as a result of remote nerve inflammation." Neuropathic pain can be severe, adds Beauchamp, and does not always respond well to opiates such as morphine: "All pains are not alike. There is not really one class of medication that can take care of one pain, or excruciating pain. In cancer, most of the pain comes from the cancer itself, but as much as 25% of it may come from the treatment -- from the surgery, the chemotherapy, the radiation. All those kinds of pains are neuropathic pains. We are trying to help the patient, but sometimes we are creating more problems than we are solving." "Better education at all levels of care is really needed," says Gordon, who believes that most pain patients can be treated well in the community by an informed team that includes a doctor, a nurse and a pharmacist. "There's still a gap in the education of the average practitioner in using these kinds of medications." Beauchamp adds that many physicians still wrongly fear that using morphine or a drug like Sativex will make their patients addicted: "You have doctors who have the wrong idea because of lack of information and old knowledge." This new class of drugs is not recreational: Unlike marijuana, the effect is not immediate, explains Dr. Gordon who describes the drug as "an add-on, another drug in the arsenal, part of a brave new world of pain management." But pain management first requires a proper pain assessment that looks at the diagnosis, what's causing the pain, the kind of and severity of the pain, the risks of treatment, and the side effects. "You can't just blindly give medication," Gordon explains. "Pain isn't on the radar screen in as many constituencies as it should be. We have to fight to get pain management as a priority." Powered by MAP, posted-by: Richard Lake Pubdate: Sun, 19 Aug 2007 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2007, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: editor@tor.sunpub.com Website: http://torontosun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Marilyn Linton, Toronto Sun Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Sativex Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) Blair (stranger) 8/24/07 08:11 AM 72.0.211.139 Re: More Articles on Medical Marijuana