cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 15, 2005





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- December 15, 2005
Posted by CN Staff on December 15, 2005 at 14:51:20 PT
Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML
Cannabis-Like Cream Effective Combating Pruritus, Study SaysDecember 15, 2005 - Wroclaw, PolandWroclaw, Poland: Application of a cannabis-like cream greatly reduces uremic pruritus (mild to severe itching as a result of kidney disease) and xerosis (abnormal dryness of the skin) in patients with end-stage renal failure, according to clinical trial data published this month.
Twenty-one hemodialysis patients participated in the trial, performed by Wroclaw, Poland's University of Medicine, Department of Dermatology. All the subjects applied the test cream, which contained endocannabinoids (marijuana-like chemicals produced naturally in humans and animals that bind to the same receptors as do plant-derived cannabinoids such as THC), twice daily for a period of three weeks.At the completion of the study, pruritus was "completely eliminated" in 38 percent of the subjects and had been "significantly reduced" in several others during the trial period, authors found. Likewise, 81 percent of subjects experienced a "complete reduction" in xerosis after using the cream.Currently, "no effective [prescription] treatment" exists for uremic pruritus, authors noted.They concluded: "The test product appeared to be effective in reducing both pruritus and xerosis in hemodialysis patients. It is very probable that the observed decrease of pruritus with the test product therapy was not only the result of dry skin improvement but that the addition of endocannabinoids may have also played a role. These preliminary results are encouraging, however, additional controlled studies are needed to clarify the exact usefulness of [encocannabinoids] in therapy of uremic pruritus."Previous research on endocannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system indicate that they may play a role in maintaining homeostasis (metabolic equilibrium) in humans and other living organisms. Some of the biological functions regulated by endocannabinoids include appetite, body temperature, blood pressure, reproductive activity, learning capacity, and motor coordination.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6750FDA Requests Public Comments Regarding MarinolDecember 15, 2005 - Rockville, MD, USARockville, MD: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on behalf of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is seeking public comments concerning the abuse potential, medical usefulness, and availability of the prescription drug dronabinol (aka Marinol).The FDA will forward the comments to members of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO will meet in March to recommend whether certain"international restrictions" be placed on the drug in accordance with international treaty obligations.Marinol (synthetic THC) is an FDA-approved Schedule III drug and is the only synthetic cannabinoid legally available by prescription in the United States. Physicians may prescribe Marinol for the treatment of cachexia (weight loss) in patients with AIDS and for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conventional antiemetic treatments. However, patients prescribed the drug often report that it provides only limited symptomatic relief, particularly when compared to natural cannabis and its cannabinoids.Currently, synthetic THC is classified internationally as a Schedule III drug under the 1971 Convention of Psychotropic Substances.WHO will also be reviewing regulatory restrictions on several other controlled substances, including Ketamine, Khat, and GHB. Persons interested in submitting comments may do so electronically at: http://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecommentsThe public comment period ends on January 12, 2006.For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of NORML's report, "Marinol Versus Natural Cannabis: Pros, Cons and Options for Patients," is available at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6635DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6749Drug Czar's Office Announces Dates, Locations For 2006 Regional Student Drug Testing SummitsDecember 15, 2005 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will again sponsor a series of regional summits to encourage middle and high-school officials to enact random, student drug testing in public schools. The 2006 summits will mark the third consecutive year that the White House is funding the symposiums, which are scheduled to take place next spring in Orlando, San Diego, northern Virginia, and Milwaukee.NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano criticized the proposed taxpayer-funded summits, stating: "Random drug testing of students is a humiliating, invasive practice that runs contrary to the principles of due process. It compels teens to submit evidence against themselves and forfeit their privacy rights as a necessary requirement for attending school. Rather than presuming our school children innocent of illicit activity, suspicionless drug testing presumes them guilty until they prove themselves innocent. Is this truly the message the Bush administration wishes to send America's young people?"Armentano said that the only federally commissioned review examining the effectiveness of student drug testing programs found the policy to have no discernible impact on youth drug use. The 2003 study of 76,000 students by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research concluded, "At each grade level 8, 10, and 12 the investigators found virtually identical rates of drug use" in schools that drug tested versus those that did not.Last February, the White Houses proposed increasing federal funding for student drug testing programs by more than 150 percent to a record $25.4 million annually. In September, the US Department of Education (DOE) appropriated federal grants totaling more than $7 million to pay for the establishment of random student drug testing in 350 schools nationwide.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6748Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: December 15, 2005Copyright: 2005 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml
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Comment #47 posted by whig on December 22, 2005 at 04:16:25 PT
GCW
I join your proclamation with whole heart, what you say is true and good.I say further, cannabis *is* the Tree of Life, it is also the Eucharist, they are one in the same. This I do not know if you agree or not with, but I have learned it for my own part.I found it interesting that in the thread you pointed me to, the first responder to your statement was Ska Pastora. She who is also known as Salvia Divinorum, and this is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, from which we should abstain.Nonetheless, I feel that it was needed that we experience it as part of our own growth and transcendence of that which children must overcome to become adults. A parent may tell a child not to eat cookies before dinner, and when the child is disobedient, impose some punishment, but in reality the parent is not displeased. We do not want our children to be unthinking and dependent, we want them to learn to make choices for themselves, and ultimately to make the right ones. It was always part of the complete plan.
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Comment #46 posted by global_warming on December 18, 2005 at 15:28:18 PT
Hey GCW
'we forever Love You, and embrace the all of our 'next moments, some of us are on that cross, on that cannabis, trail.
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Comment #45 posted by The GCW on December 18, 2005 at 14:57:47 PT
whig,
http://www.thc-ministry.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=be09c0454de23a106281fd3d3cf89363If You click to the link above and then click: The Green Collar Worker, You will understand what I proclaim.You may like the THC Ministry also.
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Comment #44 posted by global_warming on December 18, 2005 at 13:11:30 PT
re:comment 38
I was asking you, if? you never read your bible, have you a gentle hand?Religoius people, mark every fact of life, and find some corollary in the 'bible, there is another bible, that is filled with blood in our streets and communities.Cannabis is a portal, that can fill most of our emptiness, it is illegal, and costs a lot, yet, it offers a quick glimpse to that 'tree of 'Life, in the meantime, 'we 'all, are marching towards 'freedom, 'we are hopefully, on that same page, that page that spills out into the eternal bucket of Ralph, that Porcielan Throne, where you start to be a human being, realize your inheritance, know your place in front of that bowl of shit, that some 'water can wash..Peace,..
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Comment #43 posted by whig on December 18, 2005 at 11:14:07 PT
GCW
I suppose that by us, I mean we that will say what we have personally experienced and know, but I'm too far from that right now to say what I mean as clearly as I'd like. This is what I was saying about lucidity the other day, and I am less so at the moment.What may trouble you is that we do not know one another personally, so you might question my sincerity and not wish to associate yourself with me. I can see that if the situation were reversed and someone asked me to identify myself with someone I did not know, I would feel similar reservation. So strike the "us" altogether, please, even though I do believe we are of the same kind.
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Comment #42 posted by The GCW on December 18, 2005 at 06:33:05 PT
whig,
Christmass.whig,You said, “Will you proclaim with us,” in #39. Who is the Us?
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Comment #41 posted by Toker00 on December 18, 2005 at 04:13:30 PT
runruff,GCW,whig
Runruff, for the next two years,(unless we can get you out sooner) and forever after that, we will be here for you, bro. Your wife will add a new chapter to her life, also, since she will be the one posting for you, and reading our responses. Perhaps she reads them now, I don't know. Has she posted her thoughts here yet? She is encouraged to. I hope she knows that. There are questions I want to ask, but I have your address.  The Truth is being poured out over the earth through the internet, print, TV, radio, and by the people who love The Truth. It comes in a variety of shapes, colors, textures, and from all directions. But, The Lie is being poured out over the earth through the internet, print, TV, radio, and by the people who love The Lie. It, too, comes in a variety of shapes, colors, textures, and from all directions. We were given free will to choose the one we want. Both may seem identical at times. But through your heart asking "Which is The Truth", your third eye opens, and allows you to SEE the Truth. When you choose to believe The Lie instead, perhaps because the consequences are easier for you, you sin. To disregard The Truth, and to accept The Lie, is disobedience. The trick here is you can't listen to anyone else's opinions of The Truth or The Lie, though many may share them. You have to seek The Truth inside yourself, not on a bill board, or the page of a book. The Truth is a Living, Real thing. Recognition of it has a profound physical rush to it. I can physically feel The Truth sometimes. Really. It's like it ENTERS my body. But from WITHIN. Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! 
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Comment #40 posted by whig on December 18, 2005 at 02:09:55 PT
global_warming
"May that Blessed Leaf bring Grace and the soft hand that is our place and time in this universe..Merry Christ'mas"And Merry Christ'mas to you.Let us remember that Christmas is the Christ Mass, and Mass is, "The sacrifice in the sacrament of the Eucharist, or the consecration and oblation of the host." And at 4:20 on December 25, let your burnt offerings be made.
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Comment #39 posted by whig on December 18, 2005 at 01:39:12 PT
GCW
Will you proclaim with us that the Tree of Life of the Old Testament is the Eucharist, the body of Christ of the New?For while it is important and good that people know that the way is being cleared for the people to partake of that which they've been denied these many millennia, they should know what it is in fullness, they should expect it and understand it and be prepared for it and accept it when it comes around to them. For the peace pipe will be passed one to the next, and so we awaken in our own time and to the time before.This is the Church, we are the First Church and we have always been here, but hidden away until the time for our re-emergence. We have never been eminent and we are not just imminent, we are immanent and the way is open to everyone who chooses it.
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Comment #38 posted by The GCW on December 17, 2005 at 17:21:26 PT
global_warming,
I don't understand Your question.
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Comment #37 posted by global_warming on December 17, 2005 at 16:26:45 PT
hey GCW
Can 'we count on your vote?Do you offer a 'gentle hand?
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Comment #36 posted by FoM on December 17, 2005 at 16:26:13 PT
global_warming 
You're welcome. I hope you are having a nice holiday season. I am really looking forward to seeing Neil Young tonight on Saturday Night Live. 
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Comment #35 posted by The GCW on December 17, 2005 at 16:09:15 PT
Yes, the Tree of Life.
Yes, the Tree of life.Tree of life Gen. 2:9
 
Gen. 3:22 Gen. 3:24 Proverbs 3:18 Proverbs 11:30 Proverbs 13:12 Proverbs 15:4 Rev. 2:7 Rev. 22:1 (it’s the subtitle in NASB) Rev. 22:2 Rev. 22:14 Rev. 22:19 Sometimes, We can even smell more medicine in some buds compared to others. Medicinee / mediciny (sp); &&& the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations -see Rev. 22:2. NOTICE: the tree of life is Biblically only in 3 locations; & notice the description of where: the very 1st book, Genesis;Proverbs and the very last book, Revelation.Very interesting 
(–triilluminating / triluminating?) The tree of life is very important. The tree of life is even said to be denied to those who take away those words in the Bible; see the very last page; Rev. 22:19, (3rd from the last verse)"and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book." Notice the place where many people take away the words of the Bible is on that very 1st page of the Bible where it says God created all the seed bearing plants and said they were all very good... (11-12 & 29-30) They ignore the words about the plant... and then they only harm themselves because then they are losing their portion of the tree of life.  The 1st page and the last page.There it is.I bring up this conversation often.And I can bring people to the Ecologician's tree of life and cover the Bible from the very 1st page to the very last page and show believers that they in fact can have cannabis and God and the combination can lead toward total reality.*PLUS*"the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it" Rev. 22:3.Be granted to eat of the Tree of Life, -see Rev. 2:7.The Green Collar WorkerFrom Stoner & Climax
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Comment #34 posted by global_warming on December 17, 2005 at 16:06:21 PT
Thank You FOM
pologies, for my many rude sentences, in this place, on the internet, there are so many signs, rules, in the name of justice and 'Law...Thank you Lord, that fresh cannabis leafs are born in our Light.
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on December 17, 2005 at 15:50:22 PT
global_warming 
And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply.http://www.fivemanelectricalband.ca/signslyrics.html
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Comment #32 posted by global_warming on December 17, 2005 at 15:41:38 PT
Can't you read?
And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all,
I didn't have a penny to pay, so I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine..
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Comment #31 posted by global_warming on December 17, 2005 at 14:40:18 PT
who will be the next president of the US?
I'm watching my parking meter, but these old eyes are sometimes tricked by the fine print.There is a saying I have heard somewhere in some time, "its a cruel world out there", seems to me, that cruelty is a fine tuned talent of humans, of which I am very embarrassed to admit to the Light that shines from Heaven.Must I carry my 'bag full of sores and greavences before the table of the Lord, maybe some people drink to forget, and some to get closer to the Holy Spirit, that moment when you catch a glimpse, twinkle twinkle, in the blink of an eye, like the rain which cools the hot dusty sun, there is a place where you can get a hot bath, a washing shower, that can forgive, that promised place, where you become a human being, that husband, caretakers of this planet.PeaceMay that Blessed Leaf bring Grace and the soft hand that is our place and time in this universe..Merry Christ'mas
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Comment #30 posted by runruff on December 17, 2005 at 13:29:00 PT:
Toker , pal.
I see many simularities in our lives. I now take medications that are suppposed to be keeping me alive. I also see a naturalpathic doctor who helps me whith supplements that counter the bad effects of the allopathic meds I am taking. I seem to agree with most if not everything you write. It is good to hear from you. 
Most likewise it is good to hear from all of you. I feel a kinship with everyone who post here. I respect your criticisms and appreciate your compliments.
My love to you all, always.Namaste
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Comment #29 posted by whig on December 17, 2005 at 08:38:22 PT
global_warming
"Who will step up, who has a plan?"It is us. We are here now. There is no time. Don't follow leaders, watch your parking meters."Not that dead rabbi on that dreaded wooden cross,"Don't say not this or that one, because we all have much to learn from one another."Historians have understood how early christians, met in underground places, caves, secret symbols, and the forgotten testaments of the many unknown mothers, fathers, children who have lived, and looked into the eyes of their executioners."Nothing is forgotten forever, we remember, or as Mayan explained so eloquently, "The Greek word for remembrance, anamnesis, does not mean simply psychologically recalling.... The word anamnesis means to bring the past into the present and the present into the past."Puff puff pass."It is such a Pity, May God Have mercy on our souls."You only condemn yourself until you cease to do so, and do what you should do.
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Comment #28 posted by Toker00 on December 17, 2005 at 07:27:31 PT
OverwhelmSam
I have to agree. It may not be that Cannabis makes you live longer,( Though I would never argue with that) but rather adds LIFE to your years. I look at guys my own age, who have never toked, and I see men who take pills for hearts problems, stomach problems, arthritis problems, cholesterol problems, etc. I take NO medication other than Cannabis. My skin does not crack and leather like theirs. Those who use alcohol get sick the most often. I heal very quickly. My skin is still very elastic. Nothing is drooping except those things that naturally do, and very few wrinkles. And this is in addition to having smoked cigarettes, AND drank alcohol for twenty + years. I stopped my alcohol abuse 17 years ago. I stopped smoking, again, 1 1/2 years ago. Cannabis only now. I FEEL GREAT! The Tree of LIFE??? The Fountain of YOUTH??? The Tree of Second Chances??? That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #27 posted by OverwhelmSam on December 17, 2005 at 06:21:16 PT
I'm Telling Ya Guys
As soon as Change the Climate or NORML pick up and distribute the message that Cannabis is the Fountain of Youth, the marijuana war will be over within a year.One joint a week makes me more relaxed, age aches and pains go away, I can exercise, I have energy, I can laugh and feel good again, and I can think. In effect, I feel twenty years younger.
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Comment #26 posted by global_warming on December 16, 2005 at 17:38:53 PT
re: inhalation
Our journeyIs marked in the 'stars,Look,into the eyesInto 'Your eternal business,Peace, Cannabis, Mrseks 
That spot,When, We'We become human beigs,
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Comment #25 posted by global_warming on December 16, 2005 at 16:56:43 PT
Hi Stranger
Stranger, how much alcohol,Have you consumed?
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Comment #24 posted by global_warming on December 16, 2005 at 16:29:47 PT
apoligies
apologiesTo the asses and fools,The pimps and charlatansWho have tasted the flesh,Who have tasted from the cup of manYou have tastedThe final brew,You have drank from the cup,Of Everlasting Life.
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Comment #23 posted by global_warming on December 16, 2005 at 16:11:23 PT
Another Mistake
18:44 12/16/2005An Undergraduate StudentThis morning, while conversing with an undergraduate student, I asked the question, did he have any understanding about what happens to him, myself, after, when 'death takes life, what happens to our minds, our souls?I suggested, how all of us are so completely surrounded by unknowns, Life is a paradox, surrounded on all sides by unknowns, we are like some bubble of Light passing through reality in this time continuum.He, quickly answered, the unknown easily passes inside and outside of all of our existence, the unknown threads through our consciences, frightened children, who are all seeking the Light of Understanding, the Light of Salvation.
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Comment #22 posted by global_warming on December 16, 2005 at 15:15:56 PT
..19 Did not see
Sorry for my false Hope and that dea d end..Who will step up, who has a plan?Not that dead rabbi on that dreaded wooden cross,Historians have understood how early christians, met in underground places, caves, secret symbols, and the forgotten testaments of the many unknown mothers, fathers, children who have lived, and looked into the eyes of their executioners.It is such a Pity, May God Have mercy on our souls. 
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Comment #21 posted by Max Flowers on December 16, 2005 at 11:11:57 PT
runruff
Can I be your VP? :-)
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Comment #20 posted by runruff on December 16, 2005 at 10:16:06 PT:
Hey Max!
I'll run as soon as they let me out of federal prison in about 18-24 months.
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Comment #19 posted by Max Flowers on December 16, 2005 at 10:08:24 PT
global_warming, re #11
You must not have seen this on his main page:========================Effective December 1, 2005 I am withdrawing as a candidate for President in 2008. If anyone wishes to utilize the platform, they are more than welcome to do so. This nation is in deep trouble and I will support anyone who stands up for the right reasons and with the right plan to turn America around.Concurrent with this decision, I have severed all ties to the 9-11 Truth Movement. God Bless America.========================I think they got to him and let him know he wouldn't live long enough to complete his campaign, or something like that. It's really sad, here was a guy who *might* have been able to turn it all around, and now he's quit. And that last part about severing times to the 9-11 truth movement is REALLY suspicious to me... why would he do and say that unless seriously threatened? Just a few days ago an interview with him went out on the net, this was posted by mayan. It contained earth-shattering (to me) revelations about reasons why certain people would want the WTC demolished. In fact the timing suggests that these interviews resulted in his withdrawal. He's right, we're in deep trouble and he's proving it by walking away from a potentially dynamic new political party he helped found.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on December 16, 2005 at 09:12:10 PT
Toker00 
I never saw an owl with eyes that looked well so funny! LOL!http://images.ibsys.com/2005/1215/5542030.jpg
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on December 16, 2005 at 09:04:52 PT
"seeking public comments"
But...but...but...Isn't that asking for "anecdotal evidence"?"The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on behalf of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is seeking public comments concerning the abuse potential, medical usefulness, and availability of the prescription drug dronabinol (aka Marinol)."
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on December 16, 2005 at 08:25:52 PT
GW Pharma Hit as Inquest Links Death To Sativex
December 16, 2005LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in GW Pharmaceuticals Plc fell 13 percent on Friday after an inquest linked the death of patient to the company's cannabis-based medicine Sativex.The coroner in the case of Rene Anderson, a 69-year-old diabetic who died last year, said the balance of probabilities suggested an "idiosyncratic" drug reaction contributed to the confusion and illness that led to her death.Anderson took part in a clinical trial of Sativex in October 2003, shortly before she was admitted to hospital."While the case is very sad by its nature, GW does not believe it raises any new or additional safety concerns about Sativex," the drug company said in a statement.Sativex, which is sprayed into the mouth, is GW's leading product and the source of most of the company's value. It won first approval for use as a treatment for neuropathic pain in Canada in April.The group grows thousands of marijuana plants at a secret location in the English countryside, having been granted a dispensation by the government to use the plant for medical research.Shares in GW were down 14-1/2 pence or 11.9 percent at 107-1/2p by 3:48 p.m., after trading as low as 100p.Copyright: Reuters 2005Link: http://tinyurl.com/ddbsc
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on December 16, 2005 at 06:43:10 PT
SFC: New Pot Cards To Be Issued
By Rachel GordonFriday, December 16, 2005 Calif. -- The San Francisco Department of Public Health is gearing up for the new state medical marijuana program in which patients and their caregivers will be issued California identification cards allowing them to buy and use cannabis if a physician recommends it. Starting Jan. 9, applications for the new cards will be accepted in the main lobby of San Francisco General Hospital from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. San Francisco has been running its own medical marijuana identification card program for years -- more than 8,000 have been issued so far -- but the state program, run through the counties, is expected to make it easier for people to purchase the medical cannabis from dispensaries throughout California. When the state program starts up, San Francisco's identification card program will fold. However, people who already have the city cards can continue using them in San Francisco. No doubt they'll make nice collectors' items someday. Of course there's no guarantee that the new cards will protect cardholders from local, state or federal prosecution, city public health officials warn. Just this week, federal drug agents raided 13 medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego County, seizing high-grade marijuana, computers and patient records. Well aware that the feds could target San Francisco next, city officials, led by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, have enacted a policy that once the application process for the new state identification cards is completed, patients and caregivers will get back all their identifying application documents, including the doctors' letters of recommendation, so there will be no paperwork for authorities to seize. More information can be found at: http://www.sfdph.org/services/mcidinfo.htmSnipped:Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/8ccpk
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Comment #14 posted by ekim on December 16, 2005 at 06:32:39 PT
LTE that Bites
www.marijuananews.com From Clay Young
To the Editor of the Ukiah Journal: 
December 13, 2005 By now, many of you have heard of my unpleasant experience Friday afternoon with agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. It was front page news in the Ukiah Daily Journal this morning under the headline “Homeowner Protests DEA Action in Ukiah.”For those who haven't yet heard about it from the paper…, here's what happened:Around mid-afternoon Friday, I got my annual visit from David Brown, the county tax assessor, who comes by to check my progress. For the past seven years, when there's been the time and money, I've been building a solid, fully permitted house on my timber preserve parcel to replace my old Class K cabin. It's always congenial with Dave, a decent fellow whose job it just happens to be is to see to it that I pay my fair share of his salary, as well my dues to the rest of the county government apparatus including those of our local law officers who work closely with, and in support of, the DEA. As we shot the breeze, David and I noticed a small aircraft circling loud and low over my house. "Damn student pilot," I complained. "Why does he have to practice his 360s right over our heads?" Dave asked if he could go around my house taking some measurements, and I told him fine and went back to work.I was up on a stepladder pulling some electric wire when I heard a noise behind me and turned to look. Two young men, in their mid-20s I guessed, had come in my open doorway. The one in front had a light machine gun at the ready - stock up in his armpit, finger on or near the trigger, the barrel pointed at me. He did not say who he was, but motioned with the gun as he ordered me to get down from the ladder. I did so immediately, and waved the back of my hand at him to get him to stop pointing the machine gun at me. At first he swung it away, but then continued to point it at me as he faced me. I asked him what this was about. He didn't answer, but instead started firing questions at me - who was I, was I the owner, were there any firearms on the premises, was anyone else present. I answered promptly, trying hard to keep my physical shaking under control. I noticed there were four other men outside the window and that they were all wearing DEA jackets or jumpsuits. The apparent leader, who ignored my further questions, demanded to see my ID. It was in the kitchen, in the part of the house that's more or less functional, so he followed me in there, still with the gun, and then sent one of his men back out with my driver's license, to run a check I guess. The guy in charge then asked if he could look through the house. "Thank God," I was thinking, "that my wife and 3-year-old daughter aren't here." Since he still had the gun, and since I felt uncommonly eager to demonstrate that I had nothing to hide, I said sure, okay, go ahead.Already by this point the atmosphere of this action was morphing from "You're busted, chump" to "Oops, looks like another dry hole, guys." I was free now to wander around my own place as they poked about, finding, of course, nothing. They had meanwhile rounded up David and were making him wait out by his pickup."Okay, we're finished," the young honcho told his men, without a word to me. They had been around perhaps 15 minutes total. I waited, in vain, for an explanation of why they were here, what they had expected to find, or at least a gruff "Sorry to have disturbed you." but none of that. The six of them piled into their unmarked black pickup, four of them hunched in the bed, and drove out toward my neighbors' locked gate. They stayed there perhaps another five minutes, then backed up to turn around in my driveway and went off without another word or glance.Hello?!! America? Are you still there? Armed men walk into my home without a warrant or without asking my permission, threaten me with a gun, don't bother to introduce themselves, poke around my home looking for god knows what, and then drive off without the slightest acknowledgement of the nasty experience they had just inflicted? May I wake up now?After they left, David and I chatted about what had happened, shaking our heads in amazement, but to tell the truth I don't remember anything we said. I realize now I was in a bit of shock.The tax man finished up and went on his way, and I sat down to mull over what had happened. Slowly the sense of unreality of the whole incident began to give way to all-too-real feelings of violation and outrage. If you've never been to Running Springs Ranch, it might be hard to completely empathize. Almost anyone can imagine the terror he or she would feel if strange armed men of uncertain authority barged into their home. But out here, we're so in the middle of "nowhere" that the whole inner experience is of being in splendid isolation, above the fray, blissfully distant from the excesses of ugly behavior in which our government seems is reported to be engaged in nowadays.Of course, anyone living in Mendocino County after over two decades of DEA "actions" hereabouts knows well enough how illusory is that sense of being away from it all. A known hot spot for pot cultivation, our bucolic county is still a major front in the war on drugs. But the more I thought about it, the more unusual and outrageous my experience seemed. Was this standard DEA operating procedure now? Had our supposedly sacrosanct civil rights come to this?I'll tell you why I think this little incident is so damned important to us all, so much more important than any discomfort that it's caused me. In my opinion, it puts a human and real face on everything we've been worrying about since the Bush administration took September 11 as a license to mount an assault on our civil rights in the name of fighting terror. The Prey-on-Public-Fear Act (euphemistically and cynically named the Patriot Act by its architects) was one of the first products of this brave new world. Then the trumped-up Iraq war dished up all sorts of cool opportunities to distract our attention from domestic issues like - just for example - the 700,000 or so Americans currently behind bars for drug offenses. And then throw in the confusion, the smoke-and-mirrors of birthing the bureaucratic megasaur known as the Homeland Security Department. And - presto digitato - they have created all sorts of foggy comfort for the administration's long-term goal of seizing more presidential discretionary power that operates outside of court jurisdiction or public scrutiny. Not quite marshal law yet, but apparently leaning in that direction. We're even developing a whole new language and relative morality to deal with this ramp-up of federal anti-civil rights activity: extraordinary rendition as federally authorized kidnapping; torture in the defense of America as justifiable and - one of my faves - "If we call em terrorists, then they ain't no enemy combatants and so they don't get no Geneva Convention Rights" etc & etc.Look, I know that the stupid DEA action against me yesterday had nothing directly to do with the war on terror. But I do worry that what I experienced is neither an isolated nor atypical event. I worry that it's a symptom of something much bigger and scarier. I am concerned that our federal government, under its current leadership, is changing right before our eyes. No, the DEA is not under the Defense Department or the CIA - it's part of the Department of Justice. But what I experienced seems to be symptomatic of official behaviors that are happening in //more than just one "renegade" arm of the central government. I fear that we're witnessing a shift of federal law-enforcement culture from one where the highest good of government was to protect our civil rights to a mindset where those rights are considered expendable in deference to the ascendant god of "Public Safety."It could be that the young guys who invaded my home were just badly led and supervised. Maybe they hadn't been properly schooled on how to deal professionally with the public. They did seem green, which made them that much scarier. Or maybe their busy parents neglected to teach them basic manners. I guess I could be making a mountain out of a molehill.But until someone in authority from the DEA or Department of Justice can credibly assure me that my experience was an anomaly and that they "regret" it, I will fear the worst.Yes, neighbor. It can happen here.Clay Young
Ukiah
http://www.marijuananews.com
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on December 16, 2005 at 06:25:56 PT
New Jib Jab Cartoon
Year End Roundup: http://www.jibjab.com/Home.aspx
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Comment #12 posted by mayan on December 16, 2005 at 06:01:34 PT
Social Conditioning
From the last article on the bulletin...In September, the US Department of Education (DOE) appropriated federal grants totaling more than $7 million to pay for the establishment of random student drug testing in 350 schools nationwide.Why don't they spend that money on useful school programs instead of bribing school boards with grant money? I want my money back! Random drug testing of students is ineffective as a deterrent and is actually used as a means to condition young folks into getting used to not having any privacy or freedom.Global warming, Karl Schwarz was planning a run for President in 2008 but has since withdrawn. Part of his platform was exposing the U.S. government's cover-up of 9/11.Only the Senate can save freedom now...U.S. House Approves New Patriot Act Measures; Filibuster Now Threatened in Senate to Block Civil Rights Takeover:
http://www.arcticbeacon.citymaker.com/articles/article/1518131/39129.htmTHE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...University of Minnesota-Duluth Professor Supports 9/11 Truth Movement:
http://www.d.umn.edu/~jfetzer/Able Danger officials will testify before Congress:    
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=758Able Danger: Historically Insignificant or Unfinished Business
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=759Full Index of What Really Happened on 9/11:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/wrh_9-11_index.htmlLoose Change 9/11:
http://www.loosechange911.com/ 
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Comment #11 posted by global_warming on December 16, 2005 at 04:14:30 PT
2008
Has anyone heard of Karl Schwarz for President 2008?http://www.karlschwarz.com/SchwarzPlatformRev.pdfhttp://rense.com/general69/fraud.htm"Part of our re-focus will be to address one of the biggest problems I see in America. That being the blind and immoral support by Christians for US government policies that are pure sin and have no Christian virtues whatsoever..."http://www.karlschwarz2008.com/platform.htm
"One-Way Ticket to Crawford, Texas"
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Comment #10 posted by Toker00 on December 16, 2005 at 03:34:38 PT
Smart, huh?
If the wise old owl uses Cannabis, what does that tell ya DEA?(For a minute there, I thought it was one of my old mug shots!)Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #9 posted by siege on December 15, 2005 at 21:46:26 PT
owl
DEA If you tell us, we will let you go!DEA Owl where you get the weed?Owl: I got the weed at guantanamo bay DEA what where you doing there?Owl: Seeing how durty the CIA is!DEA there not durty!Owl: I seen them doing a lot of durty thing DEA put him in a cage and Throw away the key. we can't have him out telling on them.Owl: you said I could get out if I told you, liars liars. I can't have good food with Bush in office.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on December 15, 2005 at 20:56:07 PT
Siege
They showed his picture on MSNBC news today. They laughed and the one news person said he looked like his old college room mates. They named him Cheech the Screech.http://images.ibsys.com/2005/1215/5542030.jpg
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Comment #7 posted by siege on December 15, 2005 at 20:35:12 PT
ot it was in a tree!
On the new just now in Fl. there is an owl that is high they said it was from Marijuana???? animal control said it,
on TV 3 in tn.
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Comment #6 posted by ekim on December 15, 2005 at 20:07:55 PT
gee GCW your cracking me up
ok ----- back to the rest of the storyplease ck out Richard Cowans peice on a LTE http://www.marijuananews.com 
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on December 15, 2005 at 19:38:57 PT
Cannabis-like cream ?
Is pure hemp seed oil close enough?Perhaps the "cannabis-like cream" is a cream containing the whole plant material including stems, seeds and shake... just cream style.Can We smoke it right out of the tube?
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Comment #4 posted by Toker00 on December 15, 2005 at 19:13:32 PT
Just because the conservatives say so. HA!
Man. I thought they stopped trying to use the Cannabis induced insanity defense decades ago. Even though he took all those other substances that we KNOW causes/can cause this violent reaction if/when abused. Yeah, it had to be the one that causes euphoria. That euphoria will make a killer out of you every time. Makes you feel so good and peaceful and spiritual that you just want to kill someone. And they call US crazy. Sheesh!Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! 
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on December 15, 2005 at 18:19:47 PT
FoM
They should write an article, "Baby Killer Was a President"!!!
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 15, 2005 at 15:28:26 PT
This Is Going To Far
Anyone can smoke Pot including murderers. That is so unfair to write an article like this. Child Killer Was a Potheadhttp://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=10805
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Comment #1 posted by global_warming on December 15, 2005 at 15:02:03 PT
Same place, different day,
"Washington, DC: The White House Office of National Demon Control Policy (ONDCP) will again sponsor a series of regional summits to encourage middle and high-school officials to enact random, student demon testing in public schools."Those that are found to have any trace of the Devil, will be brought before the high' priest and their demons shall be exorcised.May God Have Mercy On Our Souls...
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