cannabisnews.com: Ever Needed 19 Cookies at 2 in the Morning? 





Ever Needed 19 Cookies at 2 in the Morning? 
Posted by CN Staff on May 20, 2002 at 06:54:41 PT
By Jon Carroll
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
Saints preserve me, I never thought I'd live long enough to hear the special assistant to the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse say, somewhat defensively, "Like any mass processing, it's not a perfect process. But the marijuana we provide and produce is almost entirely free of seeds and stems." Government Sez: We've Got Righteous Weed. 
The remarks by Steve Gust were in response to a complaint by users of government-produced medical marijuana (that would be the good kind of marijuana, the medical kind, rather than the felonious marijuana that leads to heroin, insanity and bank robberies) that the product they were receiving was "Mississippi ditch weed." In my day it was called "Midwestern median strip weed," since less potent forms of marijuana often grew along our nation's highways -- the hemp plant being, among other things, a hearty and adaptable weed -- but I am glad to hear the government defending its own doobies. It's also interesting that the phrase "seeds and stems" has entered the general vocabulary. Maybe it will become corporate jargon next -- "Carstairs, this report is nothing more than seeds and stems." Of course, none of this is funny to the people who have to smoke the inadequate marijuana. They are using marijuana to alleviate severe pain. It's not exactly wonderful to lay some inferior pot on someone who wants relief from the nausea of chemotherapy. One study, with a small sample and run by a biased source, did indeed suggest that government muggles was not nearly as potent as street boo. (I'm including a brief history of marijuana slang in this column as an educational tool.) But of course, if the stuff were legal, then suffering people could find their own sources and get their own dosages. Maybe they are anyway. Let me think for a moment of how many people I know in the journalism, film, music and art worlds, in the construction trades and the U.S. military, in the restaurant business and the rag trade, in dentistry and medicine and law and podiatry, who have smoked marijuana. Hmm. In percentages, I'd say: just about everyone. I mean, George Bush was a party guy at a party school during the late '60s. You telling me he never toked down? I am not believing you. Clarence Thomas and Newt Gingrich -- you telling me those lads never had a few puffs? Hey, Tom Daschle and Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy and Dick Armey -- do not bogart that joint, my friends. As for Willie Brown and Terence Hallinan and Barbara Boxer and Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown -- it is to laugh. Nobody here but us recreational users, boss. I myself -- and this will be a shocker, I know -- used quite a bit of marijuana. I stopped in 1988, so my support of the legalization of marijuana is entirely altruistic. But while we're walking down memory lane, why not stop to remember the large number of people who are in prison for gigantic of amounts of time because they got caught growing or selling what the government is currently growing and what many of us have used without fear of legal penalty. It's the old class system again. The people who do the dirty work also do the time. (Say, it's just like the prostitution business!) Because the government has a hair up its astrolabe about recreational drugs, the poor and the inadequately defended are rattling around hellholes with psychotic loonies and serial abusers. It's an outrage and everyone knows it. It's been an outrage for so long that everyone has forgotten about it except the folks walking the exercise yards. Making alcohol legal and pot illegal is senseless; everyone knows it and everyone has other priorities. It's our daily dose of hypocrisy. Free the Maryjane 5 Million! You know what I'd like? Peanut butter and corn chips! Huh? What's open? Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade.Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Jon CarrollPublished: Monday, May 20, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Hearst Communications Inc. - Page D - 8 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:What's New in Drug Policyhttp://freedomtoexhale.com/whatsnew.htmUsers Complain Pot in Studies Too Weak http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12858.shtmlActivists Complain About Government Pot Qualityhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12849.shtml 
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 20, 2002 at 13:53:27 PT
Robbie
Here you go.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/encm.htm
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on May 20, 2002 at 13:35:05 PT
Robbie
I didn't know it was going to get snipped until I saw it. I'm sorry.
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Comment #9 posted by Robbie on May 20, 2002 at 13:27:01 PT
ACK! What's the deal FoM?!
San Fran Chronicle won't let you post full articles? I don't see how a 501(c)3 needs to worry about that. Doesn't the Fair Use law cover you?
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Comment #8 posted by el_toonces on May 20, 2002 at 13:09:36 PT:
Thanks Doc, FoM....
You guys are way ahead of me. It's PERFECT. I am setting up the mail merge now. Thanks.
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Comment #7 posted by paul peterson on May 20, 2002 at 10:53:35 PT:
DEA DITCHWEED-SHIT-TROOPER HAY
Here's my gambit: 1) They purposely grow the worst shit weed in the world, and package it like dirt so that a)no one will want to even try to get the DEA forced to provide it for them, b) no study findings will ever prove that their weed (the DEA SHIT) can even ever help anyone medically, therefore (since theirs is the only weed anybody can ever even use in a study!) nobody is ever going to be able to prove that pot helps medically, c) no other country in their right mind will ever even ask the DEA to provide seeds for their DITCH WEED for the other country to grow pot (Canada didn't know any better, really, when they asked the DEA to help them to start to grow weed-wow, I'll bet those Canadian patients will learn to thank their politicians for not being more persistent & 2) notice, just because some newspaper published some criticism of the DEA DITCHWEED SHIT (Mr. Seeds and Stems, umk), the DEA has actually even tried to defend themselves!! Why, they might even try to improve quality control, eh?I've got a better idea-Why don't we force the DEA to "privatize" the operation, maybe put some COMPETITIVE PRESSURE on them to I-M-P-R-O-V-E or let some private companies come in and do better. I'm thinking that this ranting about low quality control might even force them to try to improve the levels of THC, etc. in the product (which might just force the people that are using the DEA SHIT DITCHWEED to see that it helps people-once it's no longer ditch weed anymore?How am I doing with my ranting, anyway? Do you think they will send a man in black to my door and get me taken away to Siberia or something? I wonder, if that happens, will they at least let me get some fast maturing strain so I can at least grow something better than that DEA ditchweed SHIT, or will that be my sentence-FIVE YEARS FORCED TO SMOKE THE DEA DITCHWEED SHIT? (Please note, I have been disparaging their product on purpose, I have never tried, seen, heard of or had any contact with the DEA DITCHWEED SHIT before, and this is blatant DEFAMATION of their efforts without any supporting documentation-They can easily sue me for these bad things I have said about the DEA DITCHWEED SHIT and I should be ashamed of myself, OK?) PAUL
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on May 20, 2002 at 09:54:40 PT
Trying to reformat
Letter for forwarding 
Toonces, I would be honored if you or any other CannabisNews.com denizens would like to forward the following letter to politicians, reporters, or Aunt Tilly:
Dear I would like to provide to you a few resources compiled by Ethan Russo, MD, that may be of value as you review the current situation with respect to clinical cannabis.
 A link to the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics is available here: http://www.cannabis-med.org/science/jcant.htm where you will also find available a PDF file of the entire Vol. 1, #1 issue: http://www.cannabis-med.org/jcant//Jcant1(1).pdf
 I would particularly like to draw your attention to the results of a Chronic Cannabis Use Study, recently published, that examined the status of 4 of the 7 surviving patients who receive cannabis from NIDA as part of the US Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program. It examines in detail past chronic use literature, provides case studies of the patients, and the results of a comprehensive battery of objective medical tests performed to assess their current status, as well as a critique of NIDA cannabis: http://www.cannabis-med.org/jcant/russo_chronic_use.pdf
 Next is an in-depth analysis of cannabis in headache treatment: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/hh.pdf and a shorter article on cannabis for migraine from the journal Pain:
http://www.druglibrary.org/crl/pain/Russo%2098%20Migraine_%20Pain.pdf
The following is a link describing Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs: A Scientific Analysis of Herbal Remedies for Psychiatric Conditions, which contains a chapter on cannabis: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/ermd.htm You will find at the following URL, a PDF file of a book chapter from the American Academy of Pain Management on cannabis use in pain conditions along with practical use considerations:
http://www.montananorml.org/docs/Russo-AAPM_chapter.pdf 
Finally, a new book Dr. Russo co-edited with Franjo Grotenhermen, Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Potential, has just been released: http://www.haworthpressinc.com/store/product.asp?sku=4513 or http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0789015080/qid=1021726965/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0774046-5830464 
The book, Marijuana Myths/Marijuana Facts, by Zimmer and Morgan is highly recommended. I hope that this information will be of value to you. Dr. Russo would like to make himself available to you or any of your colleagues for consultation in the event of any questions:
Ethan Russo, MD
 Missoula Medical Plaza,
 900 North Orange Street Missoula, MT 59802 
Voice: (406) 327-3372 FAX: (406) 327-3355
 E-mail: erusso mtneuro.com or erusso blackfoot.net 
Thank you very much for your attention and consideration.
Sincerely,
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Comment #5 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 20, 2002 at 09:28:29 PT:
Letter May need Reformatting
Sorry.
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Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 20, 2002 at 09:26:21 PT:
Letter for forwarding
Toonces, I would be honored if you or any other CannabisNews.com denizens would like to forward the following letter to politicians, reporters, or Aunt Tilly:Dear 
	I would like to provide to you a few resources compiled by Ethan Russo, MD, that may be of value as you review the current situation with respect to clinical cannabis. A link to the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics is available here: 
 
http://www.cannabis-med.org/science/jcant.htm 
 
where you will also find available a PDF file of the entire Vol. 1, #1 issue:
 
http://www.cannabis-med.org/jcant//Jcant1(1).pdf 
 
I would particularly like to draw your attention to the results of a Chronic Cannabis Use Study, recently published, that examined the status of 4 of the 7 surviving patients who receive cannabis from NIDA as part of the US Compassionate Investigational New Drug Program. It examines in detail past chronic use literature, provides case studies of the patients, and the results of a comprehensive battery of objective medical tests performed to assess their current status, as well as a critique of NIDA cannabis:
 
http://www.cannabis-med.org/jcant/russo_chronic_use.pdf 
 
Next is an in-depth analysis of cannabis in headache treatment:
 
http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/hh.pdf 
 
and a shorter article on cannabis for migraine from the journal Pain:http://www.druglibrary.org/crl/pain/Russo%2098%20Migraine_%20Pain.pdfThe following is a link describing Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs: A Scientific Analysis of Herbal Remedies for Psychiatric Conditions, which contains a chapter on cannabis:
 
http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/ermd.htm 
 
You will find at the following URL, a PDF file of a book chapter from the American Academy of Pain Management on cannabis use in pain conditions along with practical use considerations:http://www.montananorml.org/docs/Russo-AAPM_chapter.pdf   Finally, a new book Dr. Russo co-edited with Franjo Grotenhermen, Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Potential, has just been released:
 
http://www.haworthpressinc.com/store/product.asp?sku=4513 
 
or 
 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0789015080/qid=1021726965/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0774046-5830464
 
The book, Marijuana Myths/Marijuana Facts, by Zimmer and Morgan is highly recommended. I hope that this information will be of value to you. Dr. Russo would like to make himself available to you or any of your colleagues for consultation in the event of any questions:Ethan Russo, MD        
Missoula Medical Plaza, 
900 North Orange Street
Missoula, MT 59802
Voice: (406) 327-3372
FAX:  (406) 327-3355
E-mail: erusso mtneuro.com
or 
erusso blackfoot.net Thank you very much for your attention and consideration.Sincerely,
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Comment #3 posted by el_toonces on May 20, 2002 at 09:00:09 PT:
Also, Thanks FoM and Jon Carroll
FoM, thanks for finding and posting this atypically honest piece and thanks Mr. Carroll for penning it.
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Comment #2 posted by el_toonces on May 20, 2002 at 08:57:55 PT:
Forwarding specifics....
Ethan -- Am only too happy to help. I have already sent a letter with some photos printed from the links you provided, and a copy of the Missoula study, to Rep. Dave Bonior. I am trying to put together a 'kit' of sorts for presenting material about medical cannabis (I refuse any longer to refer to medicine as "marihuana" or any such term) and I want everything in the kit to have a very professional and serious appearance and tone, yet also portray the dramatic efficacy cannabis can provide as a medicament. In addition to your work on the legal patients, I was thinking of including the text of the summary on cannabis from your Handbook of Psychotropic Herbs, which I think has the qualities of being clinical, brief and authoritative without being full of medical argot.Do you have any other suggestions for putting together such a kit or 'briefing book' to be used for educating non-medical professionals? Also, any paticular places you want the article on government pot quality sent? 
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 20, 2002 at 07:09:07 PT:
I Need Help
Here we go again. I feel it necessary that everyone deserves to judge this issue for themselves. Here is the link FoM so generously posted from the Chronic Use Study displaying the seeds and stems from just 3 NIDA cannabis cigarettes:Picture of Debris - 3 NIDA Cannabis Cigarettes 
http://freedomtoexhale.com/debris.jpg Please forward this everywhere, along with the link to the article itself:http://www.montananorml.org/docs/ChronicCannabisUseStudy.pdfThis will possibly help skeptics to understand the benefits of clinical cannabis, its minimal risks, and the hypocrisy of the US government in the entire process.Thanks for your consideration.
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