cannabisnews.com: Prescriptions for Pot





Prescriptions for Pot
Posted by CN Staff on August 23, 2007 at 07:02:36 PT
Editorial
Source: The Phoenix
Massachusetts -- Smoking a joint can be a better and more effective way of easing specific types of chronic pain than the use of legal but addictive prescription narcotics such as OxyContin and morphine. Is this a flash bulletin from the Cheech and Chong School of Medicine? An advertorial from the pages of High Times magazine? Folk wisdom dispensed by a whacky but reliable Central Square pot dealer?
The answer is none of the above. Instead, the conclusion comes from researchers at the University of California, and has been validated by the American Academy of Neurology. In other words, this reaffirmation that pot, marijuana, cannabis — whatever you want to call it — has legitimate medical applications comes straight from the conservative bosom of the nation’s medical establishment. While this recent study focused on a very specific sort of pain suffered by HIV victims, its findings are equally applicable to the sorts of pain associated with multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, and a wide range of side-effects caused by cancer and its treatment. Plus, more than 150 years of medical research have already established that, in addition to treating certain types of pain, marijuana can be used to treat anxiety, nausea, appetite loss, vomiting, and a host of other afflictions. Marijuana used in a medical context is not a cure in the sense that antibiotics are. It is more akin to a treatment, something like aspirin. For almost 5000 years, marijuana’s medical uses have been recognized around the world as being both valid and versatile. The US government has a penchant for fighting foolish wars; Vietnam and Iraq are only geopolitical examples. The so-called war on drugs is an equally misguided crusade. It perverts science, compromises medicine, and callously denies millions who are suffering access to fast, effective, and inexpensive relief. Laws that remove state-level penalties for medical marijuana are currently in place in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Ten others, plus the District of Columbia, have endorsed the concept. It is time for Massachusetts to join the ranks of those that make it legal to grow and possess marijuana for medical reasons, subject to medical approval. As for circumventing prosecution at the federal level, which the US Supreme Court allows, Massachusetts’s congressional delegation should vote to deny specifically the funds needed to prosecute such “crimes,” and should move to protect doctors who prescribe marijuana for medical reasons. Note: It is time to make the medical use of marijuana legal. Source: Phoenix, The (MA)Published: August 22, 2007Copyright: 2007 The Phoenix Media/Communications GroupContact:  letters phx.comWebsite: http://www.thephoenix.comCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on August 23, 2007 at 23:32:05 PT
Freewilks
I didn't see it...but I so love that they asked the question...used it in their commercials...and...I really like that answer!Sounds real good.I was wondering how they came up with the answer.Thanks.
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Comment #9 posted by tintala on August 23, 2007 at 19:26:59 PT:
LEGITIMATE MEDICINE ONCE LEGALZED WILL HEMP BE? 
AS we DESPARATELY need hemp to be legalized as a viable industrial crop as well. Legalize medicinal cannabis hopefully industrial hemp will automatically follow. 
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Comment #8 posted by freewillks on August 23, 2007 at 12:03:37 PT
OT: power 0f 10
On Drew Carrie's game show the power of 10, I heard that The question asked in a nationwide poll was; Is Marijuana safer then alcohol? 59% said YES, 41% said they were not sure or NO. Did any one watch this last night? I missed it.
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Comment #7 posted by Toker00 on August 23, 2007 at 09:37:21 PT
Ask the Federal Patients if Cannabis is Medicine.
Why can't we just ask their Doctors to "Doc"ument whether it has helped their patients medicinally or not? This would prove that there DOES exist scientific medical studies, right? Then the government must admit that DEA are nothing more than LIE enforcers. Has any Federal Patient, receiving or even having been prescribed Government Cannabis Cigarettes in the past, given up those "Cannarettes" for anything pharmaceutical? Can we ask ALL of them if Cannabis is Medicine? If it wasn't, would they still be smoking it? Do they feel good about others with the same conditions being thrown into jail for doing what the Federal Government allows them to do, at will and in any approved location? (In private) I know some Fed patients have testified. We need them to speak in UNISON and with their DOCTORS to expose the Federal LIE Enforcers.CANNABIS IS MEDICINE!Toke.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 23, 2007 at 09:16:27 PT
Storm Crow 
Thank you for all your work. We will win because we should win. I hope it won't be much longer though.
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Comment #5 posted by HempWorld on August 23, 2007 at 08:42:42 PT
Why is DEA going after medical marijuana States 
when the US Federal Government has its own medical marijuana program ?
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Comment #4 posted by HempWorld on August 23, 2007 at 08:36:18 PT
"legitimate medical applications comes straight f
rom the conservative bosom of the nation’s medical establishment."Yes, that is right! As more and more people find out the TRUTH and the SCIENCE we will soon experience the 100th monkey effect. At this point, marijuana will be increasingly used wether it is legal or not and wether it is medicinal or not. Smoking marijuana, or better, vaporizing it has a preventive effect on the body for many diseases (MS, alzheimers, cancer, etc. etc.)It is just a matter of time until the lies of the US Fed Govt. are peeled away forever and for everyone!
Nobody can stop this!
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Comment #3 posted by Storm Crow on August 23, 2007 at 08:32:48 PT
Pain, AIDS, MS, Cancer and MORE!
Read it! And maybe send your doctor and friends a copy?http://www.treatingyourself.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23136And the FDA says....."A past evaluation by several Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) and National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) concluded that no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and no animal or human data supported the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use."So... how did I end up with such a long list list of scientific studies and data from PubMed, WebMD, the Lancet, the Journal of Neurology, etc if no "sound studies" or data exist? 
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on August 23, 2007 at 08:23:30 PT
" legitimate medical applications "
How much more "legitimate" do we have to get?The prejudice against this wonderful herb, and no doubt against those who use it, is outrageous. It's pure, insane, illogical prejudice.Because of long held idiotic prejudice and corporate pressure, people are being hurt and hurt badly.The hatred and stupid fear, and/or, greed among people in power is nothing short of astonishing.Health and Human Services has to know about all of this "legitimacy". They have to, and yet they still resist the change to a better way. The only reason I can see for this is prejudice and ignorance.It's very hard not to curse them.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 23, 2007 at 07:40:32 PT
Cannabis Series from The Sacramento News & Review
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Archive?issue=407449
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