cannabisnews.com: The Case For Medical Marijuana
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The Case For Medical Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on August 17, 2009 at 12:59:10 PT
By Bruce Mirken
Source: Forbes Magazine
USA -- In a piece published here last week, Rachel Ehrenfeld reports with dismay that the National Institute on Drug Abuse is presently soliciting proposals from contractors to grow marijuana for research and other purposes. Unfortunately, Ehrenfeld's misunderstanding of this request for proposals is so monumental that one doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.Ehrenfeld suggests that this is some sinister part of "Obamacare."
"For the first time," she writes, "the government is soliciting organizations that can grow marijuana on a 'large scale,' with the capability to 'prepare marijuana cigarettes and related products ... distribute marijuana, marijuana cigarettes and cannabinoids, and other related products' not only for research, but also for 'other government programs.'"Ehrenfeld spends several paragraphs explaining how this is all the evil brainchild of George Soros, the pet villain of prohibitionists. After all, "Since when is the U.S. government in the business of distributing marijuana cigarettes?"Since 1978, actually. The federal government has been distributing medical marijuana to a small group of patients for more than three decades via a program known as an IND (for "investigational new drug"). This program has been covered in the media from time to time, and still exists, although it was closed to new enrollment by President George H.W. Bush in 1992. It's not exactly a state secret.In addition, under present (thoroughly dysfunctional) rules, scientists doing clinical research on marijuana must obtain the marijuana for testing from NIDA. Since the 1970s, the government has contracted with the University of Mississippi to produce marijuana for this purpose, and all expectations are that the university will get the contract again. In other words, there is nothing new here.Having completely misconstrued NIDA's request for proposals as something new and sinister, Ehrenfeld proceeds with a selective, wildly distorted description of research on medical marijuana, claiming, "The evidence about the harm caused by marijuana to the individual user and society is overwhelming."In fact, there is a wealth of research that documents marijuana's medical efficacy and safety, and a vast array of medical and public health organizations that have recognized marijuana's medical potential.For the record, let's consider a bit of what's been said about medical marijuana by organizations that are presumably not part of the Evil Soros Conspiracy. Bear in mind that this is just a tiny sampling of the material that's available from respected medical organizations.From the 124,000-member American College of Physicians:"Given marijuana's proven efficacy at treating certain symptoms and its relatively low toxicity, reclassification [out of Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act] would reduce barriers to research and increase availability of cannabinoid drugs to patients who have failed to respond to other treatments. ..."Evidence not only supports the use of medical marijuana in certain conditions but also suggests numerous indications for cannabinoids."From the American Nurses Association:"There is a growing body of evidence that marijuana has a significant margin of safety when used under a practitioner's supervision when all of the patient's medications can be considered in the therapeutic regimen. ..."There is significant research that demonstrates a connection between therapeutic use of marijuana/cannabis and symptom relief. The American Nurses Association actively supports patients' rights to legally and safely access marijuana/cannabis for symptom management and to promote quality of life for patients needing such an alternative to conventional therapy."From the Lymphoma Foundation of America, HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and others (in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court):"For certain persons the medical use of marijuana can literally mean the difference between life and death. At a minimum, marijuana provides some seriously ill patients the gift of relative health and the ability to function as productive members of society."And finally, from a study of smoked marijuana as a treatment for HIV-related nerve pain, published in the February 13, 2007, issue of the journal Neurology:"The first cannabis cigarette reduced chronic pain by a median of 72% vs. 15% with placebo ... No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: Smoked cannabis was well tolerated and effectively relieved chronic neuropathic pain from HIV-associated sensory neuropathy." Marijuana has been used as a medicine for some 5,000 years--maybe longer, actually, but written records only go back that far. In the world of scientific reality--not to be confused with the BizarroWorld inhabited by certain prohibition ideologues--it is both effective at treating a number of troubling symptoms and safer than the pharmaceuticals taken by millions of patients every day. Indeed, as a "recreational" substance it's vastly safer than booze. But it's much easier to imagine conspiracies run by billionaires with foreign-sounding names than it is to read and understand the actual research.Bruce Mirken, a longtime health writer, serves as director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project.Source: Forbes Magazine (US)Author: Bruce MirkenPublished: August 17, 2009Copyright: 2009 Forbes Inc.Contact: readers forbes.comWebsite: http://www.forbes.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/goKan28IRelated Article:ObamaCare's Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24973.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help
Comment #34 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 19:26:21 PT
RevRayGreen
I really wish you the very best.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #33 posted by RevRayGreen on August 18, 2009 at 18:40:31 PT
Thank you Hope and all
CNews.......as I await the interviews tomorrow.....
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #32 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 14:13:07 PT
The video
I liked seeing Ray without his sunglasses. He spoke well. Again... you did a fine job there, Ray. That pharmacy board was a sad, lumpy, pitiful, broke down looking lot. It's like they were too tired and wore out and didn't give a darn and were just going to lay down and be obstructionists if nothing else. A very depressing and depressed looking bunch of board members, no doubt.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #31 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 14:08:07 PT
"Temporary fits"
Yup. That's what I'd call it.That lingo I understand.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #30 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 14:06:45 PT
By the way...
I don't have a 'snapshot' of the page, but yesterday I was looking at Woodstock, I believe, and got not one, but two ads for "Rehab" and another about "Addiction" on the same page.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #29 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 14:05:07 PT
Hope
Since I can lock up at any place these last few days I didn't check out the video. Sometimes it works fine and sometimes it has a temporary fit of sorts! lol
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #28 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 14:02:05 PT
The folks on the pharmacy board of Iowa
didn't look up to the job.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #27 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 14:00:50 PT
Reactivation
I've done that fairly occasionally. I didn't know it was called that. I call it unplugging and plugging it back in.:0)Thanks.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #26 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 12:45:03 PT
IA Board To Hear from Public on Medical Marijuana
August 18, 2009 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - State drug regulators will hear from the public this week as they gather scientific information in deciding whether to legalize the use of marijuana for medical treatment.As part of its effort, the Iowa Pharmacy Board plans to examine current science and medical findings and listen to testimony from doctors and patients.Board director Lloyd Jessen says it also will look at federal and state drug laws, including those in states that allow marijuana use for medical treatment.The board has scheduled four public hearings. They are set for Des Moines on Wednesday, Mason City on Sept. 2, Iowa City on Oct. 7 and Council Bluffs on Nov. 4.Jessen says the board doesn't have the power to legalize marijuana for medical use, but it could suggest lawmakers reclassify the drug.Copyright: 2009 The Associated Presshttp://www.kcautv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10950339&nav=1kgl
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #25 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 11:49:23 PT
Hope
Activation isn't rebooting. Cards can get static in them and disconnecting and removing the card safely then turning the computer off and waiting a few minutes and turning it back on and putting the card back in the usb port works for me most times when I have an issue like yours.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #24 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 11:44:08 PT
That one
took three or four disconnects and reconnects.I think I'm going to shut down completely and restart and see if it acts any better.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #23 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 11:39:01 PT
Activation?
You mean starting all over?I admit huge ignorance in computer and air card matters. The thing is, I don't want to have to learn it all... I just want it to work.:0(It's rather mysterious how I was able to get on the internet at all today.May be forced to learn something... but I'm going to drag my feet every step of the way.I sound like a prohibitionist of some sort.I'm ignorant and I want to stay ignorant!Except that my ignorance of computers and aircards isn't going to be a reason to get anyone killed, humiliated, or ruined.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #22 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 10:53:29 PT
Hope
Sometimes I will lose my activation and must activate it again. I don't know how yours works that way but I can fix mine since I figured it out. My trouble started after the last windows update.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #21 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 10:27:37 PT
FoM
It is strange that these difficulties are popping up. I showed no signal and no "devices" for connecting to the internet this morning. After much fiddling and wandering through menus and restores and installs, I kept getting errors, unables, and incompletes all over the place. Finally I got a partial or incomplete sort of restore that allowed me to get on the internet, anyway. I'm suspecting one of the recent updates... probably a Windows one, might have something to do with it... or a bunch of popups that came through on a site yesterday.Oh well. Must slog on through, if I can.(I've had to disconnect and reconnect several times just to get the comments posted that I posted this morning. Twice for this post alone!)
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #20 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 10:17:05 PT
FoM
Comment 17I understand. The political climate seems very tainted... even more than usual.Our struggle for reason and sanity to be exhibited in laws of this land is no small matter. It's difficult and trying. Very difficult and and extremely trying.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #19 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 10:10:48 PT
Iowa medical promo
I got it in a round about way at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XorlUPNQqq8Went into some videos that would play and put the title in the youtube search and it played just fine.You looked good and sounded good, Ray. Good job.I just keep asking, "Why is our task so difficult? Why don't they want to stop punishing and hurting people over cannabis?"It's all so crazy what the so called "authorities" are doing to people over the plant. I don't get it. It's incomprehensible in any reasonable way.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #18 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 09:51:59 PT
Hope
I have been having computer problems the last few days too. I lock up when a web site has googlelead or something like that on the web site. I've switched from a Verizon PRL to an Alltel PRL did a system restore, and am avoiding yahoo weather since it always locks up on that web site. Strange.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #17 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 09:47:23 PT
Hope
This time of year really is slow as far as news goes so I can read and try to learn more. Sometimes I feel like it has become a power struggle rather then about changing the law for all of us in the good ole USA. If we lose our direction we will lose it all. It happened before and it very well could happen again.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #16 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 09:39:17 PT
RevRayGreen Comment 11
Trying to see the video. No luck yet. It took me about two hours today to get online. Aaargh. Cranky computer today.Still trying.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #15 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 09:30:07 PT
Kind of funny... Kind of not...
"I read my California e-mail group comments and they don't make sense."At my age, now ... I can't help but worry if it's them or me!Lot's of stuff going on with this country... like the health care fiasco. Makes me feel kind of like the words from an old CCR song. "There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear."
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #14 posted by Hope on August 18, 2009 at 09:25:07 PT
Mykeyb420 Comment 8
Voted for your band. They're still behind though. Hope you can get enough votes in time.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #12 posted by FoM on August 18, 2009 at 05:13:52 PT
mykeyb420
I haven't commented on any of the Cannabis Petitions because they all sound flawed and pushing their own agenda. Maybe it will become clearer as time goes by. I read my California e-mail group comments and they don't make sense. Maybe I have a problem with all of them because the direction isn't necessarily the way I want change to happen. At least not in my state. California can do it however they want but I hope and pray it doesn't become a standard for all states.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #11 posted by RevRayGreen on August 18, 2009 at 04:09:42 PT
Comment #8 SLIPKNOT Rules
AUGUST 19 2009 IOWA STATE HISTORICAL BLDG 600 Locust E. Grand 10am - 7 pm IOWANS 4 MEDICAL MARIJUANA
PROMO VIDEO 4 the Iowa Board of Pharmacy Public Hearings August 19th
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #10 posted by mykeyb420 on August 17, 2009 at 21:02:32 PT
here is a goodie
Cannabis petition Anyone in California,,please signOther States,,please follow our lead,,,
pot petition
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #9 posted by Dankhank on August 17, 2009 at 20:14:11 PT
i voted
good luck ...
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #8 posted by mykeyb420 on August 17, 2009 at 19:40:04 PT
off topic
please vote for Schizopathic at this poll,,they rock,,,winner gets to open for Slipknot,,a BIG metal band
metal poll
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #7 posted by vincent on August 17, 2009 at 16:49:32 PT:
correcting Rachel Ehrenfeld
Thank you for correcting that nonsense that was dredged up
by Rachel "I never heard of her" Ehrenfeld.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 17, 2009 at 16:46:45 PT
Sinsemilla Jones
I told my husband the other day with some of the cool ocean and nature programs on Discovery and large screen TVs we at least have the visuals like in Soylent Green. LOL. I loved that movie and Logan's Run from back then.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #5 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on August 17, 2009 at 16:28:26 PT
Soylent Green is made from CANNABIS! - Not!
"No, 'Obamacare' does not mean pot cigarettes for all."That was the sub-headline.Darn, I thought they were going to give the elderly a joint before being euthanized.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #4 posted by Canis420 on August 17, 2009 at 14:37:42 PT:
Legalize it petition drive
Please sign the petition at this linkhttp://www.petitiononline.com/Legalize/petition.html
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 17, 2009 at 14:22:29 PT
Me Too
Thank you Mr. Mirken.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #2 posted by Hope on August 17, 2009 at 14:14:26 PT
Bravo, Mr. Mirken!
Thank you, so much.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on August 17, 2009 at 13:23:56 PT
Thank you Bruce for setting the record straight!
On a mission from God with Bruce Mirken!
Legalize All Drugs!
[ Post Comment ]
Post Comment