Portland Catches Buzz, Proclaims Pot Awareness |
Posted by CN Staff on May 08, 2009 at 05:43:08 PT By Jack Moran, The Register-Guard Source: Register-Guard Portland -- Oregon’s medical marijuana program has received a second hit of official support with Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ decision to proclaim May as Medical Marijuana Awareness Month in the state’s largest city. Adams’ proclamation — issued Wednesday — comes after Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy declared April 30 through May 6 as Medical Marijuana Awareness Week in her city. Pro-pot advocates lauded Piercy’s move. Adams’ public statement of support is a word-for-word copy of Piercy’s proclamation. Both documents state that Oregon voters approved a 1998 ballot measure making it legal for people to possess, use and grow marijuana if their doctor recommends it for debilitating symptoms. Both proclamations also assert that “marijuana has a history of thousands of years of safe use without any recorded deaths attributed to its use, and all citizens deserve the right to know the truth about cannabis.” However, Piercy — who read her proclamation last weekend at the Global Marijuana March rally in downtown Eugene — said her position on medical marijuana should not be construed as support for the drug’s legalization. Piercy on Wednesday said she was glad that Adams had followed her lead. “I’m pleased to see Portland standing up, too,” Piercy said. “I would expect a progressive, well-educated community like Portland to support legal access to medical marijuana as a way to ease suffering.” Madeline Martinez, executive director for the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said she approached members of Adams’ staff last week after learning of Piercy’s proclamation. “The Eugene mayor did it first, and I thought, ‘Gee whiz, this is wonderful,’ ” Martinez said, adding that she asked that Adams take it a step further. “I thought that after a decade (of Oregon’s medical marijuana program), we deserved a month,” she said. Officials in Adams’ office did not return telephone messages left Wednesday seeking comment. According to the state Department of Human Services, nearly 21,000 people in Oregon can legally use medicinal marijuana. Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
Comment #14 posted by The GCW on May 08, 2009 at 20:25:17 PT |
US CA: Drug Tests For Chess Club? Judge Says No REDDING -- A Northern California high school district's drug testing of students taking part in competitive, nonathletic activities - such as the chess club, math team or school band - is an unjustified invasion of privacy, a judge ruled Wednesday in the first case of its kind in the state. The Shasta Union High School District presented no evidence that drug use was more likely or more dangerous for those students than for others, said Judge Monica Marlow of Shasta County Superior Court. She drew a distinction between students in the band or the chess club and student athletes. The state Supreme Court upheld the NCAA's urine testing of college athletes in postseason championship events and bowl games in 1994, saying athletic competitors are accustomed to being monitored and have little expectation of privacy. Although drug testing has become both expected and accepted in sports, particularly at the college and professional level, Marlow said, "it is not a reasonably expected part of the life of a member of the choir or math club." ... ... The ACLU said one of its student clients would have been barred from playing with her flute ensemble at a statewide competition later this month because she refused to be tested. Another student, who was raising a hog for a competition as part of a class project, took a drug test - which was negative - after a school administrator threatened to remove him from the Future Farmers of America, the sponsoring group, the ACLU said. "Students should not be treated like suspects because they want to play in the school band," Risher said. He said the ruling "respects student privacy, it respects family privacy, and it teaches students that rights matter." Cont. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n498/a08.html?397 [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #13 posted by The GCW on May 08, 2009 at 18:42:18 PT |
Online Exclusive A Doctor Speaks Out Turning away from drug industry money by John Fauber The 1990s was a heady time for the pharmaceutical industry, which had just embarked on what would become known as the Statin Wars. And James Stein, an up-and-coming heart doctor, was ripe to be hooked as a drug company speaker. Stein, now a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, was a 29-year-old cardiology fellow in Chicago in 1994 when his faculty mentor asked him to fill in for him at a drug company-funded lecture to a large group of doctors It would be his first taste of life as a drug company speaker and consultant. Stein got first-class airfare to Dallas. A limousine took him to a luxury hotel for the talk. He walked off the stage, and a doctor from the conference handed him an envelope containing a $500 check. “I got a pat on the back and he said, ‘There’s more where that came from, son.’ I had no idea what that meant, but I went home and paid off part of my student loans,” Stein said in a presentation at UW this month. Stein was among dozens of doctors and an untold number of physicians nationwide who have pulled in large sums doing talks or working as consultants to drug and medical device companies. Now these financial arrangements are being threatened. Top universities and the medical profession are riding out a gathering storm over the ethics of financial relationships between drug companies and doctors. More and more, restrictions are being placed on these relationships, in part over concerns they raise the cost of drugs, threaten the integrity of medicine and may even be harmful to patients. Cont. http://www.boulderweekly.com/20090507/onlineexclusive1.html [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #12 posted by Had Enough on May 08, 2009 at 11:32:44 PT |
It’s Cool…and…I understand… The second half of that video shows Kim Russell being interviewed by a local reporter. I think that was aired on the local TV broadcast…Channel 13… I have to split for a while…I’m running late…catch you later… [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 08, 2009 at 11:20:16 PT |
I don't want to remove it. Next time please only use a couple of paragraphs like two or three and then a link and that is legal. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #10 posted by Had Enough on May 08, 2009 at 11:17:52 PT |
Opps… No FoM I’m not trying to cause trouble…I did leave out one line, and I didn’t see a copyright thing… Remove it if you need to…I understand… There is a good video on that page too… I was just heading out the door...good thing I checked back in... [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #9 posted by FoM on May 08, 2009 at 10:57:58 PT |
Do you want me to get in trouble? That is the whole article. Heck if CNews gets taken down it won't be my fault. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #8 posted by Had Enough on May 08, 2009 at 10:40:51 PT |
Updated: Friday, 08 May 2009, 7:35 AM EDT Published : Friday, 08 May 2009, 7:29 AM EDT TAMPA - There's been a lot of debate over what some people call medical marijuana. Some say the drug should legalized. Others believe it's a solution to alleviate chronic pain. A bad decision 15 years ago changed Robert Sigl's life forever. The Plant City man dove head first into a shallow pool, resulting in a spinal cord injury and leaving him a paraplegic. "I just thought all right if I get to the hospital maybe things will be better. And then they did some surgery to relieve the neck and I was told I was paralyzed. I would never move my arms or neck again," Sigl said. He was taking up to five medications a day. But he says the pain was still too much. It got so bad, Sigl turned to marijuana for help. "Marijuana relaxes me like nothing else, if I were to smoke it. And it helps with neurological pains and muscle spasms," Sigl said. He was smoking marijuana for 10 years, and says it helped him live a better life. But five years ago he was forced to quit in fear if being arrested. Florida law prohibits the use of marijuana. Some see it as a gateway drug. "There's absolutely no evidence to that whatsoever," Kim Russell said. The Orlando resident started her own political committee, People United for Medical Marijuana. She believes some Florida lawmakers are open to legalizing the drug. "That they would absolutely love to see this type of legislation put through if they had voter support. They don't believe they would have voter support," Russell said. So her goal is to have 700,000 people sign a petition to get the proposed constitutional amendment on next year's ballot. and… Russell says her biggest obstacle will be educating the public. Click to see the whole story…http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/hillsborough/medical_marijuana_petition_050809 ************ People United for Medical Marijuana – Florida http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127343055695 We are more than just a group. We are registered voters willing to sign a petition to show our support for medical marijuana. We are a political committee registered with the state of Florida to restore patients' rights to receive safe, affordable and effective medication. We are collecting signatures to amend the constitution. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #7 posted by AdaptBones on May 08, 2009 at 10:19:28 PT:
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I live in portland and so it's great to see this article. Sam Adams is under so much pressure already including a possible recall effort but man I'm glad to see him stand up for what people in this city believe in. Let the states stand up for their rights and tell the federal government to go "shove it"! What are they going to do if a state does make it legal under the will of the people? Stop the federal funding? Boy I can't think of a better way to make a state consider leaving the union. "Yes you can have your rights but you will get no help from us"..."Umm ok so why do I need you then if you won't help"? I see this all coming to a head and we just need a few people in power to actually represent their citizens and stand up for what is right. Blessed be everyone and keep Oregon green! [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #6 posted by FoM on May 08, 2009 at 08:18:54 PT |
On DirecTV HBO and Cinemax are open this weekend. It probably is open on Dish too. I want to see Bill Maher's Show! I think it's tonight. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 08, 2009 at 07:36:39 PT |
Illegal around these parts mean you don't do it. Decrim is more a way of being tolerant. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #4 posted by Hope on May 08, 2009 at 07:31:48 PT |
I think "Legal" would mean a calm and peace upon the land and the people. To me, "Illegal" gives rise to a "Free for all" of another kind. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 08, 2009 at 07:25:12 PT |
I think it's because we are a state that isn't progressive similar to most of the states around Ohio. The word legal means free for all around here. We have a good decrim law and that is working. If it ain't broke don't fix it attitude. I am very happy to see such a high number for medical marijuana though. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #2 posted by Hope on May 08, 2009 at 07:12:52 PT |
That seems odd. Probably because it's quite decriminalized there already. Maybe. [ Post Comment ] |
Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 08, 2009 at 06:46:38 PT |
Excerpt: - 73 percent say they favor allowing doctors to prescribe medicinal marijuana. But they oppose simply making marijuana legal – 61 percent say no. [ Post Comment ] |
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