Woman denied right to use marijuana as life-saving medication

[SpeedRacer 1]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=65293

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[narcimund 0]

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=65293

There are some things I absolutely detest about the US and love about Canada.

Of course I could say the opposite as well.

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[DZJ 0]

There was a similar case in Britain recently, a middle aged woman who cooked with cannabis to alleviate pain was convicted on drugs charges and sentenced to 200 hours community service. I'm undecided on legalisation of recreational drugs, but this seemed like an uneccessay and and unhelpful conviction.

[SpeedRacer 1]

I think marijuana prohibition had done far more harm than good in general. This is an extreme example of it.

Our tax dollars are paying for the enforcement of this bullshit.

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[kelpdiver 2]

the half assed middleground of pot clubs hasn't been an inprovement. They're the source of substantial crime, lots of straight out drug dealing, and frequent raids by the feds.

Hopefully those actually in need are able to avoid most of that.

[waltappel 1]

I read about that. I have a hard time imagining that the law would be enforced in her case.

Walt

[lawrocket 3]

This is th esame Angel Raich who lost a Supreme Court case over medical marijuana. In that case, the SCOTUS found that it was within the power of the federal government to make marijuana illegal in its borders as a regulation regarding interstate commerce. Yes, even purely intrastate and private cultivation, because the majority found that prvate cultivation of marijuana for private use was an activity that affected interstate commerce.

I'm sure you all know who on the Supreme Court voted in the majority and who was in the minority in the 6-3 opinion, so I really don't need to state that Rehnquist, O'Connor and Thomas were the only dissenters...

Let's give 3 cheers for the living, breathing Constitution

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[ExAFO 0]

Now lawrocket..you just got bumped off Scalia's Christmas card list...

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[jakee 1,499]

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=65293

That is shocking and shortsighted.

I only hope that with more cases of this type it will become more and more obvious how stupid the laws against marijuana are.

Policy makers need to grow some fucking balls over this issue.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[georgerussia 0]

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Our tax dollars are paying for the enforcement of this bullshit.

That's my concern too.
Because the number of people using, buying and selling pot is much higher than for drugs like heroine, it is much easier for law enforcement to show a lot of drug fighting activity without doing anything. Obviously it is much more difficult to caught someone selling heroine than someone selling pot (and compare the harm done by the first person), but in statistic they are in the same column - "drug dealers".

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[DaVinci 0]

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Woman denied right to use marijuana as life-saving medication

I like these quotes:

"The FDA says that "There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana."

"According to the California Cannabis Research Medical Group (CCRMG), there are three types of doctor who approve cannabis for medicinal use by patients. (1) Willling specialists, eg those treating patients with cancer and AIDS, (2) Willing general practitioners who recommend the drug for gravely ill patients that other drugs fail to help, and (3) Cannabis specialists, who "are convinced of its relative benignity, and keep abreast of the literature with respect to mechanism-of-action, clinical trials in Europe, etc."

Members of the CCRMG fall into group (3) and collectively have issued most of the estimated 50,000 approvals to use cannabis in the state of California since Prop 215 made it legal in November, 1996."

OK so if there really are other medicines that do the same thing...And I have to think that there are. And that most of the scripts written are from "Cannabis specialists, who "are convinced of its relative benignity"....

I tend to think that she should be written other scripts and that if REALLY need, then pot should be written, but not by "Cannabis specialists", who "are convinced of its relative benignity".

The "Cannabis specialists" do more harm than good IMO. And if pot is such a wonder drug the FDA should look at it an allow it.

[ACMESkydiver 0]

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OK so if there really are other medicines that do the same thing...And I have to think that there are. And that most of the scripts written are from "Cannabis specialists, who "are convinced of its relative benignity"....

I tend to think that she should be written other scripts and that if REALLY need, then pot should be written, but not by "Cannabis specialists", who "are convinced of its relative benignity".

The "Cannabis specialists" do more harm than good IMO. And if pot is such a wonder drug the FDA should look at it an allow it.

That is exactly what I was thinking.

~Jaye
Do not believe that possibly you can escape the reward of your action.

[Zenister 0]

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And if pot is such a wonder drug the FDA should look at it an allow it.

ah and you expect the government to fund research that might show its been on an unjustified witch hunt???

yea right..

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Zipp0 1]

If you could grow viagra in your back yard they would outlaw that too. It's all about the money. They want to take a medicine made by nature, pervert it, and charge an outrageous sum to buy what nature provides for free.

People need to stop thinking of America as a free country.

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Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[idrankwhat 0]

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If you could grow viagra in your back yard they would outlaw that too. It's all about the money. They want to take a medicine made by nature, pervert it, and charge an outrageous sum to buy what nature provides for free.

People need to stop thinking of America as a free country.

I'm glad I read to the end of the thread. I was going to post the same thing but with "zoloft" or "ritalin". Probably wouldn't have as many folks being diagnosed those drugs either IMO.

[Cajun 0]

To me it's as simple as this.

She's not hurting anyone else, so what's the problem?

Our government is going to kill her to make a point.

[Guest]

Sooner or later, every cause will find its Poster Child.

mh
.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[lawrocket 3]

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if pot is such a wonder drug the FDA should look at it an allow it.

That's the problem. You need to possess it to study it, and since possession is a federal offense, it's big trouble.

This is actually how the federal government banned heroin. With the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, the feds required doctors who would prescribe heroin or cocaine to register and pay a tax. Possession without the registration was a crime. You had to have a sample of it to get the registration. So, any doctor who wanted a license would be arrested for illegal possession.

Soon, the government took the possession that heroin had no legitimate medical use, so doctors could not prescribe it.

The government, since the Progressive days, has maintained the stance that it knows better than anyone. As much as people laud the expansion of federal powers, this is but one example of the tremedous costs of freedoms that has come with it.

My God, this was one of the hallmarks of the Progressive movement, and I believe that the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act was one of the first - if not the first - laws that used the commerce clause expand federal governmental power beyond the limited powers that had been understood and practiced for 125 years...

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kelpdiver 2]

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If you could grow viagra in your back yard they would outlaw that too. It's all about the money. They want to take a medicine made by nature, pervert it, and charge an outrageous sum to buy what nature provides for free.

Just like tobacco.

[Zipp0 1]

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If you could grow viagra in your back yard they would outlaw that too. It's all about the money. They want to take a medicine made by nature, pervert it, and charge an outrageous sum to buy what nature provides for free.

Just like tobacco.

I'm sure if one cig got you high for a few hours, millions would be growing tobacco in attics and closets.

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Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[DaVinci 0]

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ah and you expect the government to fund research that might show its been on an unjustified witch hunt???

It does....Look up NIDA and University of Mississippi.

"Under the current contract with the University of Mississippi for any given year NIDA has the option to grow either 1.5 or 6.5 acres of cannabis, or to not grow any at all, depending on research demand. Generally, 1.5 acres are grown in alternate years. The number of cannabis cigarettes produced from 1.5 acres is about 50,000-60,000, although it can be higher."

"NIDA's present policy is to provide cannabis for medical research purposes to either grantees or nongrantees whose research and protocols have scientific merit, providing the research is determined to be an appropriate use of NIDA resources and the principal investigator obtains the necessary licences. "

"Presently NIDA absorbs all costs associated with the growth, production and shipping of cannabis, regardless of whether or not the request is from a NIDA-funded investigator."

[DaVinci 0]

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That's the problem. You need to possess it to study it, and since possession is a federal offense, it's big trouble.

NIDA has a contract with the University of Mississippi to grow none to 6.5 ACRES a year. NIDA provides the drug to anyone that has shown a need for FREE. Including 7 individuals.

Currently they have about 200,000 cigarettes frozen in storage.

The problem is not the availability, it is that some of the studies do not follow the rules to get the drug, or want to have someone else grow it.

And statements like this do not help: "Dale Gieringer, California coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, agrees. "It's unconscionable that they would be giving this marijuana to patients," he said. "It's stale, low-potency ditch weed."

Ditch weed?!?!?!? That sounds like a stoner pissed he got some bad smoke, not a director of a study group.

[Zipp0 1]

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Ditch weed?!?!?!? That sounds like a stoner pissed he got some bad smoke, not a director of a study group.

I think he meant to say "A harsh, low quality, unrefined prodcct containing unacceptedly low levels of THC to achieve a proper dose."

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Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.

[DaVinci 0]

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I think he meant to say "A harsh, low quality, unrefined prodcct containing unacceptedly low levels of THC to achieve a proper dose."

OK, but he said "Ditch weed". If he had said "A harsh, low quality, unrefined product containing unacceptedly low levels of THC to achieve a proper dose." He might have show some credability. Right now he looks like a stoner trying to score. And THAT is the problem. Out of 10 people trying to legalize MJ we have:

1 person doing real research into the drug, 3 are trying to use it as alternative medicine for compasionate reasons, but without any real evidence. And 6 are looking to score some quality shit.

So the Gov does not support anything but the real research.

You want my personal opinion? Legalize it and tax it like everything else. We allow people to drink and smoke tabacco, I don't really see a difference. However, abuse laws would have to be upheld...Drive stoned, and it gets treated like a DUI. Get cancer from smoking it? Too bad, you can't sue anyone.

But the majority of the people trying to legalize it sound like they came from a Greatful Dead concert and that is not going to help them get it for "medical reasons".

[Zipp0 1]

As an alternative way of easing suffering, I say it is a great option - especially in terminal patients. If someone is dying, and pot makes them feel better and suffer less, who are we to deny them freedom from pain?

There is an epidemic of undertreated or untreated pain in the USA because doctors live in fear of being prosecuted for prescribing to someone possibly using illicitly. The result - those truly suffering suffer needlessly. It's really a damn shame, and should be criminal.

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Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups, he pushes the Earth down.