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What's The Harm In Marijuana?

2010-02-02T15:56:05+00:00

The big debate on marijuana, for both medical and non-medical use, is heating up all around the nation – perhaps nowhere more so than here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I know how I feel, but I am interested to see how others from all corners of the nation – or world – feel about this pressing issue.

What is the big deal about marijuana? Have any of the people opposing its legalization actually taken the “drug”? In what way could it possibly have any negative effect upon the community? The only thing bad it could do is if the underage kids got a hold of it and started smoking it all the time – they would become lazy and make bad use of their time. If you’re worried about the kids, consider the fact that kids already have no trouble seeking out and successfully finding and smoking it, just as they do with alcohol.

Making it legal for adults wouldn’t make it any easier for them to get their hands on it. Tobacco and alcohol are both legal for adults to consume. Tobacco is more harmful for one’s health than marijuana ( due in part to the fact that its doused in chemicals? ). Alcohol has a far more powerful psychological effect than marijuana. Thousands of Americans die every year from alcohol-related deaths. This includes drunk driving accidents, over-consumption leading to alcohol poisoning, etc.

On the other hand, how many ever die from marijuana-related incidents? I’d feel far safer sharing the road exclusively with pot heads than I would with a few people that have a liquor buzz going.

As far as over-consumption, you couldn’t possibly smoke too much pot to do any major damage to your vital organs. You might feel woozy or nauseous, but the worst you could ever do is smoke so much you soon fall asleep.

As far as the effect on society, the only thing negative about marijuana is that it is technically illegal. Sure, drug dealers do terrible things like kill each other and even kill innocent people. The illegal drug trade is ruthless, no doubt. So why not take marijuana out of the illegal drug trade and sell it at 7-Eleven? Business would profit more – the sale of marijuana would surely be taxed, just as alcohol and tobacco are. Our police departments would not only be less distracted, taking one more issue off of their busy hands would allow them focus on more important issues. And they would also gain significantly more funding to do so.

People aren’t getting high off marijuana and going to rob old ladies or go murder people or whatever the fear of it is. If people are going to do that kind of stuff they’re going to do it regardless. People get high on PCP – not marijuana – and go act like a crazy maniac. I say this to address possible fears people may have about marijuana.

As for medical marijuana, what possible reason can you give to deny a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy, or someone who suffers glaucoma, or other ailments the medical marijuana patients suffer, from using it? Does it really physically help their body heal? I don’t know. But if they are suffering, and taking marijuana makes them feel better, then why do they not have the right to ease their pain?

Billions of dollars are spent annually on the war on drugs. They should be focused on the drugs that plague our society like methamphetamine and crack cocaine. The ones that make people go out and stab people for the hard-earned money in their wallet.

Marijuana can make you lazy and unproductive, and it smells kind of funny. Other than that, I simply fail to see the harm in it. Sure, it’s not the best thing – the most productive, or the most healthy – one can do for themselves, but why does it have to be illegal?

Jarred Cartwright

American Canyon

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/

One Doctor Wrote 18 Percent Of All Colo. Medical Marijuana Authorizations

2009-12-18T22:35:56+00:00

One Colorado doctor wrote 18 percent, or approximately 2,850, of all authorizations for medical marijuana in Colorado, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health and Environment said Friday.

The doctor can’t be legally identified under the law that voters passed in 2000 that allowed the use by certain patients of marijuana for medicinal purposes, said Mark Salley, the spokesman. A total of 15,800 people were on the marijuana registry as of Wednesday; around 29,000 people have submitted applications.

Salley did disclose that the top 10 doctors wrote 66 percent of all authorizations. On Thursday, the department revealed (in a press release) that 15 doctors wrote 73 percent, or nearly three quarters, of all medical-marijuana authorizations.

http://www.statebillnews.com/2009/12/one-doctor-wrote-18-percent-of-all-colo-medical-marijuana-authorizations/

Medical marijuana attorney Rob Corry: "The future is here"

2009-12-18T22:33:56+00:00

The lawsuit against Centennial by CannaMart, a medical marijuana dispensary the city shut down despite granting it a business license a short time earlier, gets its first reading in court today, and Rob Corry and a team of attorneys representing the plaintiffs, including several medical marijuana patients, are clearly feeling their oats.

In advance of the 1:30 p.m. hearing, they've released profiles of the patients in question, written to evoke maximum sympathy, plus a bench brief and
a letter from Corry to Andrew Nathan, the attorney representing Centennial, in regard to a potential settlement.

The latter makes numerous strong statements, with perhaps the boldest being, "The future is here." Look below for some key excerpts:

Having worked with a number of local governments of various degrees of sophistication on this issue across Colorado, I believe the actual concerns of your council member clients are related to the unique and complex history of marijuana and emotion-driven "squeaky wheel getting the grease" citizen complaints about the proliferation of caregiver operations, coupled with a NIMBY-ist/Prohibitionist impulse that somehow, the medical use of marijuana by suffering people isimmoral and should not be viewed or even contemplated by passerby. While citizens complaining about marijuana are entitled to some deference, the constitutional rights of my clients, who in some cases served our country in war and who suffer from painful medical conditions, supersede...
The future is here. Medical use of marijuana is a constitutional right. My clients are committed to helping people and running a responsible, transparent business than the City can be proud of. The bottom line is that the City's total ban causes needless human suffering, and must be adjusted to permit the legal use of the property to help sick people.

Read patient profiles

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/12/medical_marijuana_attorney_rob.php

LA council set to vote on pot ordinance

2009-12-09T09:29:42+00:00

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles city council could vote on a much-anticipated medical marijuana ordinance Wednesday, ending a bottleneck that resulted in hundreds of pot dispensaries cropping up across the city.

The draft ordinance would provide guidelines for the nation's second largest city that would greatly reduce the number of marijuana storefronts and would push them out of neighborhoods and into industrial areas.

While other California cities such as San Francisco, Oakland and West Hollywood have been able to regulate medical marijuana, Los Angeles has fumbled to adopt guidelines over the past two years. Authorities believe the delay has led to widespread abuse of a 1996 state ballot measure allowing marijuana for medicinal use.

City officials estimate as many as 1,000 dispensaries operate in Los Angeles alone. Only four were around in 2005, when city officials first discussed a local medical marijuana law.

Among the ordinance's provisions is capping the number of dispensaries at 70. The move would shutter many of the shops no longer in compliance with city law.

Despite the cap, council members would allow 186 dispensaries that registered before a 2007 moratorium was enacted, but not enforced, to stay open as long as they met the other ordinance requirements. The city attorney's office estimates 137 of those 186 dispensaries are still in operation.

Many of the other pot clinics took advantage of a loophole known as a "hardship exemption" that allowed them to open while awaiting city approval.

The ordinance also would allow cash reimbursement at the clinics. Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley has said he will go after pot dispensaries involved in over-the-counter sales. Cooley's interpretation of vaguely written state law provides only for the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but not the sale of the drug.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge took a similar stance last week, signaling he would bar a dispensary from selling the drug because he believes it violates state law. Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich is trying to close Hemp Factory V permanently.

One of the more controversial guidelines is where dispensaries can be located. While council members agreed on the distance clinics must be from schools, churches and other gathering spots, some were concerned with language that prohibits dispensaries from being 1,000 feet from a residence. The provision would essentially move all dispensaries to industrial areas.

"The idea is to have these dispensaries more accessible to ill patients so they can walk down the street and get what they need," said James Shaw of the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, an advocacy group for medicinal marijuana users. "It's NIMBYism."

Fourteen states, including California, permit medical marijuana. Pot, however, remains illegal under federal law.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jWNT7BSn_bpWcrMZ9XF0HX8n74AgD9CFME101

Santa Barbara City Council Adopts Moratorium on Marijuana Distribution

2009-12-09T09:29:08+00:00

After a full day of public meetings, the Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved and adopted a suspension ordinance — or moratorium — for medical marijuana distribution.

The storefront distribution locations that already have been approved may continue to operate, but all others are stopped in their tracks until a new ordinance is adopted.

A provision that was included in the moratorium allows the processing of pending and future applications for completeness, but the city staff will not approve or deny any projects under the moratorium.

This affects those awaiting appeal or an initial hearing. The moratorium is effective for 45 days, but can — and most likely will be — extended for up to a year. It will end once a new ordinance is in place.

There are three approved locations, two awaiting appeal, five pending, and several nonconforming, illegal or disputed locations. The city attorney has sent cease-and-desist letters to dispensaries on State, Parker, East Haley and De la Vina streets. Most are suspected of being closed for 30 days or more, which violates the ordinance.

Most members of the public who attended Tuesday’s meeting spoke in favor of the moratorium but were wary about the future of the ordinance given the issue’s legal standing statewide.

Court cases are likely to bring changes and better clarity to the issue within the next few months, said David Hughes, a retired attorney and Housing Authority commissioner.

It has been difficult for Planning Department staff to evaluate applications under the current ordinance since they knew changes were coming, and a moratorium helps alleviate the dilemma, Community Development Director Paul Casey said.

Several current medical-marijuana storefront owners were present Tuesday. Some agreed with the need for a moratorium, but some worried about the situation after it is lifted. It could give priority to those who have already filed paperwork and further delay the progress of who, legally, have followed all of the rules under the current ordinance.

Sharon Byrne said the moratorium could give priority to out-of-town applicants over existing local operators who were grandfathered in.

Many groups, including representatives from the Fighting Back Coalition and Santa Barbara Rescue Mission president Rolf Geyling, support the moratorium and spoke in support of limiting the availability of marijuana to nonmedical uses.

Councilmembers Dale Francisco and Iya Falcone, who brought the issue of revising the medical marijuana ordinance to the council, were absent Tuesday.

The revisions proposed by the Ordinance Committee will go before the Planning Commission later this week and end up back with the City Council in early 2010. The decision to extend the moratorium will also be on the agenda next year.

http://www.noozhawk.com/local_news/article/120809_santa_barbara_council_adopts_moratorium_on_marijuana_distribution/

Breckenridge Tweaks Laws To Make Way for Marijuana

2009-11-30T16:02:46+00:00

Breckenridge, Colorado — A new set of marijuana laws is nearing approval in Breckenridge, where possession of the drug and paraphernalia by people over 21 is to be decriminalized Jan. 1. The regulations would make public display and consumption of marijuana punishable by a $100 fine and up to 15 days in jail.

Breckenridge Police Chief Rick Holman said he doesn’t foresee much change in the town that, in 2008, issued only 10 tickets for possession of small amounts of marijuana and four for possession of paraphernalia under the municipal laws.

“We’ve never had a high incidence of public display and use in Breckenridge,” he said. “I don’t expect that to change.”

Holman acknowledged that “some people are miseducated” about what passed in this month’s ballot initiative for decriminalization.

Use of marijuana at Breckenridge Ski Resort remains illegal under the Colorado Ski Safety Act.

The town will continue to prohibit selling and driving under the influence of the drug.

The town on its website explains that non-medical marijuana possession still violates state laws, and that the local police “may still exercise, at their discretion, the authority to charge those in violation of state or federal law.”

Holman has said such enforcement would vary depending on the situation.

Unlike the city of Denver — which decriminalized pot in 2005 — the Breckenridge town code will specifically allow for people over 21 to possess paraphernalia.

The draft to which the Town Council gave preliminary approval last week also allows for transfer without sale of less than an ounce of marijuana between people. Sale of marijuana remains a felony.

Possession between 1 ounce and 8 ounces is still to be a misdemeanor in the town, with possession of more than 8 ounces a felony.

Election results earlier this month reflect about 71 percent of town residents who voted favored decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana.

http://www.aspentimes.com/

Mom: Marijuana Helps My Sons Autism

2009-11-24T16:59:26+00:00

As more and more children are diagnosed with autism, there's a growing need for alternative treatments.

And, a mother in Brea, Calif. says medical marijuana has resulted in vast improvements in her autistic son, reports "Early Show" National Correspondent Hattie Kauffman.

Mieko Perez tells Kauffman, "Everyone who came to my home was watching me watch Joey die. He was deteriorating hourly."

Joey is severely autistic, Kauffman explains, so uninterested in food he was wasting away. At ten years old, he weighed just 48 pounds. Even bulky Halloween costumes couldn't disguise his frightening look of starvation. He basically only ate, like, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for four years, Mieko recalls.

But, claims Mieko claims, it all changed with marijuana brownies.

She says not only is Joey eating more, he's communicating. "We're seeing Joey come out!" Mieko exclaims. "He's never made noises... We didn't even know he could make noise until the first batch of brownies."

Medical marijuana is often prescribed for cancer and AIDS patients who need to gain weight, Kauffman notes, but a prescription for a child is unusual.

The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes legalization of marijuana, but supports more research.

And, Kauffman stresses, though there's absolutely no evidence marijuana helps with autism symptoms, Mieko insists it has improved her child's life.

http://www.cbsnews.com

The Jack Herer Initiative To Legalize Marijuana Receives Official Title And Summary

2009-11-20T17:03:26+00:00

The Office of the California Attorney General released the official title and summary of the Jack Herer California Cannabis Hemp Initiative Wednesday. The proponent has until 19 Apr 10 to gather 433,971 valid signatures to qualify for the November 2010 ballot.

Three other initiatives are currently gathering signatures and the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 has announced they have at least 500,000 signatures and are confident they will have enough to qualify.

The official title is "Changes California Law to Legalize Marijuana and Release Non-Violent Marijuana Offenders from Jail." Thus, it will be easy to differentiate from the other three as it is the only one that does not contain the word "tax" as well as the only one to contain the word "jail".

The official summary is as follows:

Repeals state laws that make it a crime to possess, cultivate, transport, distribute, or use marijuana or hemp. Provides persons convicted or serving time for non-violent marijuana offenses be immediately released from prison, jail, parole, or probation, and have their convictions erased. Authorizes Legislature to adopt laws to license and tax commercial marijuana sales. Allows doctors to prescribe or recommend marijuana to patients, regardless of age. Prohibits testing for marijuana for employment or insurance purposes. Bars state from aiding enforcement of federal marijuana laws. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Savings in the several tens of millions of dollars annually to state and local governments on the costs of incarcerating and supervising certain marijuana offenders. Unknown but potentially major tax and fee revenues to state and local government related to the production and sale of marijuana products. (09-0044.)

http://www.examiner.com/x-14883-Santa-Cruz-County-Drug-Policy-Examiner~y2009m11d18-The-Jack-Herer-initiative-to-legalize-marijuana-receives-official-title-and-summary

Oregon breaks trail again with Cannabis Cafe

2009-11-18T12:39:05+00:00

In 1988, just a year after Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide for terminal patients with its Death with Dignity Act, the state broke trail again when voters passed the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. However, federal laws make it very difficult to legally obtain marijuana for medical use.

Although the law made it legal for patients to request and physicians to prescribe a medical permit to use marijuana to ease symptoms of arthritis, glaucoma, cancer, AIDS/HIV, multiple sclerosis, and many other conditions, patients were only allowed to grow their own, and they needed to obtain a special permit for that, too. Where to obtain the seeds and where they could smoke the herb have remained up in the air, at best. U.S. federal law still considers smoking, possessing, growing and distributing marijuana illegal and makes no distinction between medical and recreational use.

But now there's a new sheriff in town and Oregon NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) is wasting no time in testing how sincere he is in relaxing federal marijuana laws.

Oregon NORML took the Obama administration's directive to ease federal interference in states' medical marijuana laws to heart. It opened the Cannabis Café on November 13 in Portland.

"The response has been overwhelming," said Madeline Martinez, executive director of Oregon NORML, in a press release. "We are excited to be able to provide a safe place for patients to medicate that is out of public view within the guidelines of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act."

People hoping to toke at the café must be registrants of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) and members of Oregon NORML to gain entrance. Members are charged $25 for the first month of membership, as well as $35 for an annual Oregon NORML membership, payable at the door.

The café doesn't sell marijuana to certified medical marijuana users. Instead, "budtenders" give it out for free over the counter.

According to the state health department's latest quarterly report, as of Oct. 1, over 3,000 Oregon physicians have signed off on almost 24,000 medical marijuana permits, with 6,200 permit applications awaiting approval.

Oregon NORML says it is leading the fight nationally for commonsense cannabis regulation. Its next big push is for legalization and regulation of marijuana sales for personal use through licensed producers and dispensaries. If passed, it, too, would be a first in the nation.

Organizers from Oregon NORMAL and Voter Power, the group that helped pass the nation's first medical marijuana law, are gathering signatures to get Initiative 28, a dispensary initiative, on the 2010 ballot.

Just a handful of U.S. states, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, currently allow the use of medical marijuana.

http://www.fleshandstone.net/healthandsciencenews/1685.html

AMA Ends 72-Year Policy, Says Marijuana has Medical Benefits

2009-11-11T16:24:07+00:00

HOUSTON --- The American Medical Association (AMA) voted today to reverse its long-held position that marijuana be retained as a Schedule I substance with no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by the AMA Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled, "Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes," which affirmed the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and called for further research. The CSAPH report concluded that, "short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis." Furthermore, the report urges that "the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods."

The change of position by the largest physician-based group in the country was precipitated in part by a resolution adopted in June of 2008 by the Medical Student Section (MSS) of the AMA in support of the reclassification of marijuana's status as a Schedule I substance. In the past year, the AMA has considered three resolutions dealing with medical marijuana, which also helped to influence the report and its recommendations. The AMA vote on the report took place in Houston, Texas during the organization's annual Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates. The last AMA position, adopted 8 years ago, called for maintaining marijuana as a Schedule I substance, with no medical value.

"It's been 72 years since the AMA has officially recognized that marijuana has both already-demonstrated and future-promising medical utility," said Sunil Aggarwal, Ph.D., the medical student who spearheaded both the passage of the June 2008 resolution by the MSS and one of the CSAPH report's designated expert reviewers. "The AMA has written an extensive, well-documented, evidence-based report that they are seeking to publish in a peer-reviewed journal that will help to educate the medical community about the scientific basis of botanical cannabis-based medicines." Aggarwal is also on the Medical & Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the largest medical marijuana advocacy organization in the U.S.

The AMA's about face on medical marijuana follows an announcement by the Obama Administration in October discouraging U.S. Attorneys from taking enforcement actions in medical marijuana states. In February 2008, a resolution was adopted by the American College of Physicians (ACP), the country's second largest physician group and the largest organization of doctors of internal medicine. The ACP resolution called for an "evidence-based review of marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance to determine whether it should be reclassified to a different schedule. "The two largest physician groups in the U.S. have established medical marijuana as a health care issue that must be addressed," said ASA Government Affairs Director Caren Woodson. "Both organizations have underscored the need for change by placing patients above politics."

Though the CSAPH report has not been officially released to the public, AMA documentation indicates that it: "(1) provides a brief historical perspective on the use of cannabis as medicine; (2) examines the current federal and state-based legal envelope relevant to the medical use of cannabis; (3) provides a brief overview of our current understanding of the pharmacology and physiology of the endocannabinoid system; (4) reviews clinical trials on the relative safety and efficacy of smoked cannabis and botanical-based products; and (5) places this information in perspective with respect to the current drug regulatory framework."

http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-ama-ends-72-year-policy-says-marijuana-has-medical-benefits-r-1257871699