cannabisnews.com: What's The Standard Dosage for Pot?





What's The Standard Dosage for Pot?
Posted by CN Staff on September 22, 2007 at 21:09:22 PT
By Lynn Marshall, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Source: Los Angeles Times
Seattle, WA -- Patients using marijuana for ailments ranging from chronic back pain to cancer are allowed by Washington state law to possess a two-month supply of the drug. But medical marijuana doesn't come with a standard dose or even a standard method of taking the drug. The 1998 law has never spelled out how much usable pot nor how many plants make up a 60-day supply.
Now the Legislature has demanded an answer to the question by July, and the state is holding hearings to ask experts and citizens for their opinions on how to determine a two-month supply. "There is so much you will have to take into account," says Joanna McKee, founder of Seattle's Green Cross Patient Co-op. "What about people who eat it? How different is the amount they need from people who smoke it?"McKee was one of many who spoke at a state health department public meeting this month in Seattle. More than 100 people attended, and about 45 people spoke. Another meeting in Spokane drew similar numbers. Most people at the meetings were clearly medical marijuana advocates. So are most who have posted comments on a Washington Department of Health website, but a few have written to express dismay at any use of marijuana. "It is a waste of our time and resources to address this non-issue," reads one such comment.But the issue is crucial for patients who use medical marijuana."What has ended up happening is that in each county, law enforcement effectively decides what constitutes a 60-day supply," says attorney Alison Holcomb, Marijuana Education Project director for the state ACLU. "And in some counties, that amount has been set at zero."Of the 12 states that protect medical marijuana patients from state prosecution, Washington is the only one without clear guidelines on the amount a patient or designated caregiver is allowed to possess.Those amounts are different in almost every other state. Oregon allows the largest supply -- 24 ounces or six mature plants -- and several states only allow patients to have one ounce of usable marijuana on hand. In California, state law sets a limit of 8 ounces or six mature plants, but cities and counties are free to establish higher guidelines.Dr. Gregory T. Carter, a professor of rehabilitative medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine who studies the effects of marijuana in treating patients with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, says that all of these codified limits may be too low. "There are so many variables here. Even if you just look at smokers, you have to look not only at the quality of the pot, but also at the efficiency of the smoker," he says. "Some people are better smokers than others."Carter and several colleagues studied the dose amounts used on a federal study of medical marijuana, which has been in progress for more than 30 years. Based on this, he says that a 60-day supply works out to nearly 4 1/2 pounds per patient -- far more than the amount allowed by any state.And, he says, "that's probably a pretty conservative estimate."Tom McBride, executive secretary of the Washington Assn. of Prosecuting Attorneys, welcomes the change in the law. "It doesn't make sense for a judge or prosecutor to have to determine how much a sick person needs -- that's a medical decision, and I've always felt it should be made by a doctor." McBride says he isn't worried about a high limit shielding recreational pot dealers. "Under Washington law," he says, "group growing and distribution isn't legal, and codifying a 60-day supply won't change that."Many advocates hope the state will ultimately allow patient co-ops to grow and distribute medical pot, as is the case in some parts of California. But no one expects that to happen here any time soon.Bruce Mirken is director of communications at the Marijuana Policy Project, a national nonprofit group that works for both medical and recreational marijuana policy reform. He worries that Washington's new definition will be set too low, but at the same time emphasizes that safe access remains the larger issue for all medical marijuana patients."It's going to remain a problem, as long as the federal government remains hostile to medical marijuana," he says.That worry was reflected in many of the comments offered at the Seattle meeting.Caroline Welch, 47, was one of the first to tell her story. Diagnosed with stage-three ovarian cancer earlier this summer, Welch attributes much of her ability to withstand her treatment to medical marijuana."There were people producing it for me before I knew I'd even need it," she says. "It would have taken me till next summer to cultivate the plants, get the knowledge base. There is no way that I could have done it." McKee, of the Seattle patient co-op, said she had worked with thousands of medical marijuana patients over the years. "I have never seen anyone with a 60-day supply. I have seen people with a few ounces, a few plants," she said. Public comments on the issue will be accepted until the end of the year, and in early 2008, the department of health will publish a proposed rule. The final rule must be in place by July, which is also the deadline for the health department to report back to the Legislature on the issue of safe access to medical marijuana.Note: Washington state allows a 60-day supply of medical marijuana. Now the Legislature wants to know how much that is. Any ideas?Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)Author: Lynn Marshall, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Published: September 23, 2007 Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles TimesContact: letters latimes.comWebsite: http://www.latimes.com/Related Articles:MMJ Group Seeks Investigation in Yakima Countyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23340.shtmlWeed for Medicine: Regulate The Crophttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22833.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by paulpeterson on September 26, 2007 at 12:32:59 PT
whig-TFA's banned in New York
True, New York did it, and Tiburon, Cal. & Denmark. But the biggest bump came when Nadar's raiders bumped up against the big food companies-like Kraft-they sued in 2002 to get the fat out of Oreo's, and in a consent decree, a bunch agreed to transition away from TFA's. The wierd thing is, in 1982, Nadar's bumblers sued to get "saturated fatty acids" out of food products-and the bumblers agreed to substitute with TFA's, which they didn't know were doubly worse! So since 1982, there has been a steadily increasing TFA load on junk food junkies.Which is why dopers kept becomming more and more hooked on cannabis to compensate for the steadily decreasing levels of endocannabinoids in their own systems-and good old uncle sam took every advantage of the steadily increasing likelihood that food junkies had cannabis in their shorts and shirts!Now, finally, the FDA finally did something right-by mandating that all packages copiously list the TFA levels in the stats (AS OF 2006)-which is why many companies are sticking those "zero trans fats" stickers on the front-and that is why people are becomming more attuned to thinking about this strange, Dr. Strangelove mysterious unnatural additive.Some people think TFA poisoning will become a lawsuit Bonanza for lawyers-but not until the FDA removes it's "safe for use as a food additive" label. TFA's decrease HDL's as well as increasing LDL's (cholesterol products) in the bloodstream.And now, Archer Daniels is marketing a substitute-it is called "transesterified" fatty acids-which have been tested as far worse than even the TFA's-this is sort of like a wax substance-and it seems they are leaving the frypan for the fire.And back to TFA's-since WWII, farming operations have become much more addicted to buying prepared feeds from the big mills-that cook the grains to change the EFA's into TFA's-for longer shelf life-they say that livestock meat has small levels of TFA's in it-"naturally"-but that is only because the animal is forced to eat TFA's from the big mills (UNNATURALLY). And just like human beings, junk in, junk out, so these animals are being forced to live their entire lives without endocannabinoids being produced in their brains-so when we eat their products, we get knocked out also.Nobody in Iowa has ever felt my meat buzz-because they are force fed TFA's in bulk. But my brother and his kid, from New Zealand, came over and buzzed right away. Why? Because farmers and ranchers in NZ still eat beef that is grass fed, and without those big corporate grain cookers fouling up the works.So the next time you see a big grain bin truck rolling down the road that says "ISO 9002 certified" you will know they are keeping livestock producers producing TFA's for all the tables in the realm. Which is why you start to twitch when your reefer starts to run out-because you are a sitting duck for anxiety, depression, alcoholism, obesity or other inflammatory disease patterns-because big momma corporate food companies won't get the bad fat out for years-until people come to realize what I have already researched and learned and proven-but nobody listens to people like me, of course, right? PAUL PETERSON
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Comment #9 posted by whig on September 25, 2007 at 16:52:24 PT
paulpeterson
TFA's have been banned in NYC, I believe, and are being eliminated from many people's diets.
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Comment #8 posted by paulpeterson on September 25, 2007 at 16:31:32 PT
afterburner-trans fatty acids is it!
You are absolutely correct to cite the trans fatty acids & Omega 3-Omega 6 imbalance as culprits in the war on reason.I designed a livestock diet with some 8 major changes in it-with the auspicious purpose of developing a meat product with a "buzz" factor-I thought Omega 3 would be the crossover chemical-It worked like a charm, with both pork & beef products. I got a buzz within 10-15 seconds of eating these products each time. I only ate my "improved" meat products for three months to see if I would kill myself, ie: high end toxicity trial.If I ate a pound of burger and a T-bone one day, I would feel hung over the next day! I had my PSA level after 6 months and found it went down from 1.9 a few years prior to 1.2 after this "trial" (so the flax seed in the diet of the animals didn't kill me).The interesting question was why 2/3 of other people wouldn't feel a thing-Then I ate 4 burned cookies my mom made with butter. The TFA's shut down the buzz factor for 6 days! Finally I knew why some people just don't get it.Later, I did a comprehensive web search and found a list of chemicals produced by EFA's. Endocannabinoids are a derivative! In other words, this is a two step approach. First, people with TFA's in their system won't get the buzz, because they block either the absorption, conversion or utilization of these chemicals, and second, they need a ready supply of THC which has been integrated into the cell walls of brain cells. And the likely endocannabinoid was "Oleomide", from Omega 9, which is known as the "sleep inducing cannabinoid" from U of I research published in 2002. Yes, daddy had to take a sleepy time break after eating his meats! After reviewing the material data tests, Omega 3 was 4%, Omega 6 was 11% & Omega 9 was up to 45% of the lipids in the profiles (averaged).Similar to my earlier hemp research, I found some cannabinoids "leach" THC from brain cells-a cup of hemp tea will "buzz" a stoner, but only take away a migraine from straights. Oleomide must similarly "leach" the THC away from some ready store in the brain (cell walls, probably).Now, in fact, I know that since I have been eating the meats now for some three years, I have not caused THC to be integrated, since I have been giving a ready supply to brain cells of other more suitable EFA metabolites-meaning that THC no longer is "sought" as a substitute (that is my theory as to why I no longer get the buzz).This points to a cause of endocannabinoid deficiency syndrome-the societal toxin called TFA's. Which is why THC has taken such a hold on society-people know they are deficient, and pot fills the bill (short term, that is).But since I am only a discredited suspended Illinois attorney, suspended based upon perjuries of two lawyers, about insurance coverage (two years later a smoking gun letter was refused by the Illinois Supreme Court), nobody will listen to my world class discoveries.So I must politely wait for TFA's to be sent packing-before anybody will feel the buzz again. Waiting for society to catch up with me, or for any scientists to even be interested in learning about my discoveries sucks. And in Northwest Iowa, where a guy gets arrested for going to church and writing editorials. And thanks for listening. Good story? I thought so. PAUL PETERSON, Storm Lake, Iowa
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Comment #7 posted by whig on September 23, 2007 at 11:44:44 PT
Truth
My doctor agrees. Actually multiple of my doctors agree I should be using more cannabis. It works for me. I don't think I would be alive without cannabis.
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Comment #6 posted by OverwhelmSam on September 23, 2007 at 09:02:41 PT
Sam
In order for a constitution to matter, the people have to support it. As the people do not support it, you can change it all you want and it wouldn't matter. The constitution is dead. 
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Comment #5 posted by mykeyb420 on September 23, 2007 at 08:52:58 PT
Scott
Watch 60 minutes tonight,,Scott Imler is going to make all MMJ users look like Cheech and Chong,,,and all pot clubs as bad as Tony Montana from Scarface.
 Remember that threats to our living are on the inside too,,not just the DEAth VAders
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on September 23, 2007 at 08:49:04 PT
Maybe, Junkfood Impairs Our National Thinking
SHOW TITLE: CNN: Special Investigations Unit; 
EPISODE: Fed Up: America's Killer Diet. 
CATEGORY: Health.  
SYNOPSIS: Many Americans have poor eating habits. 
CHANNEL: [CNN]. 
DATE / TIME: September 22: 11:00PM 
September 23: 2:00AM, 8:00PM, 11:00PM 
September 24: 2:00AM. 
RUN TIME: 1 hour. [Check your local listings!]Not as in depth as the analysis of many health-conscious cannabisnews veterans, but a good sign that national attention is beginning to be focused on a serious problem with our health and how the foods that we consume are produced and marketed. Obesity and its relationship to type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and even cancer. The food additives that are standard in prepared and convenience foods. The Farm Bill connection that has until this year favored corn and soybeans over fruit (like apples) and other vegetables and biodiversity. What ends up in these omnipresent junk foods, convenience food and fast foods? Soybean oil (which is high in omega 6 and throws off the balance of omega 3) and hydrogenated soybean oil (transfats: an unnatural "food" with which the food industry wants to continue to poison us). Sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Coincidence? Farm Bills have favored Corn and Soybeans for decades. Unhealthy ingredients made from questionable processing of these same protected and subsidized foods are ubiquitous in fast, convenience and junk foods. A wake-up call. A call to get back to community gardens and home cooking.What if hemp (which has a healthy balance of omega 3 and omega 6) was growing in those American farm fields? What if hemp was included in more American foods and diets? Would we see healthier people with healthier brains and bodies? Having recently added hemp seeds to my breakfast food, I have noticed an increase in energy, decreased hunger and craving for snacks and elimination of toxins caused by previous food and drink containing some of the food additives discussed in the CNN report and others like Aspartame and MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG).
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Comment #3 posted by sam adams on September 23, 2007 at 07:33:15 PT
Declaration
“Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others: The Constitution of this Republic should make a special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious freedom.”Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence
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Comment #2 posted by Sam adams on September 23, 2007 at 07:31:45 PT
our way of life
I'm always reminded when stuff like this comes up that the real medical MJ battle was lost in the early 1900's, when Americans lost the "right" to personal medical freedom. We lost the right to take our own medication, which is absurd in a society that is supposed to be free.The dose for cannabis, like ALL herbal medicines, will NEVER be standardized. Herbal medicine dosage must be adjusted through self-titration. What sad times we live in, even the most smart people among us have cannot decide what medicine to take or how much. Just imagine where humanity would be today if this is the way we'd always lived. We'd still be shivering in a dark cave. If everyone had to apply to a panel of licenced "experts" for every decision in their personal lives that had to be made.Can I go light a fire in my cave? Wait, I have to go see an appointed "expert" to see if it's OK or not. Pathetic.
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Comment #1 posted by Truth on September 23, 2007 at 07:12:21 PT
What's The Standard Dosage for Pot?
My Doctor keeps telling me to smoke more.It works.
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