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PTSD Added To List of Qualifying Conditions 
Posted by CN Staff on June 30, 2013 at 06:07:46 PT
By Beth Brogan, BDN Staff
Source: Bangor Daily News
Augusta, Maine -- A bill adding post-traumatic stress disorder as a qualifying condition for the prescription of medical marijuana quietly became law on Wednesday without Gov. Paul LePage’s signature.The bill, sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson, D-Rockland, amends the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act to add post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), inflammatory bowel disease and other illnesses to the list of conditions for which a physician may prescribe medical marijuana. The new law takes effect late September.
Dickerson said Friday that she sponsored the bill at the request of a number of veterans, one of whom told her he would rather use medical marijuana than something like Prozac.Paul McCarrier, legislative liaison for Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine, said the change will help veterans and patients in Maine access “their medicine of choice” and will help physicians and others gather data about how medical marijuana can help veterans with PTSD.The original bill received “quite a bit of pushback” from the Maine Medical Association, McCarrier said, because it contained language that would have added treatment of opioid or other pharmaceutical dependence, as well as “any other medical condition or its treatment as determined by a physician.”Gordon Smith of the Maine Medical Association said that language was just one aspect of the bill that made many MMA member physicians uncomfortable.“We had quite a fight with a few legislators who were very bothered by [our opposition] and asked, ‘Don’t we trust the doctors?’” Smith said. “I said, ‘No, not all 4,000 of them, no. We really feel there would be a weak link that would be utilized to just support the recreational use of marijuana.”Smith said MMA members who specialize in treatment of psychiatric conditions and addiction also objected to the idea that a doctor would prescribe marijuana to help a person with the treatment of addictions, “because many doctors believe marijuana leads to addiction.”And while there was also resistance to even including PTSD on the list, Smith said, the MMA eventually agreed to to allow that condition and a few others in exchange for pulling what they saw as more objectionable language.Overall, Smith said, “we were satisfied with the final result.”A similar measure was signed into law earlier this month in Oregon, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. Medical marijuana is currently allowed in the treatment of PTSD in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts and New Mexico.Eighteen states and Washington, D.C. allow patients with qualifying conditions to use medical marijuana with recommendations from their physicians, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, and similar legislation awaits signatures by the governors of Illinois and New Hampshire.“There is mounting evidence demonstrating the benefits of medical marijuana for individuals suffering from PTSD,” said David Boyer, Maine political director for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Maine lawmakers should be commended for taking action to ensure veterans and others living with PTSD are able to use medical marijuana to alleviate their symptoms and live healthy and productive lives. They deserve nothing less.”Dickerson said that after the list of conditions to be added to the law was ironed out, the bill was well-received and faced little opposition.“I think everybody was pretty positive about it,” she said. “Everybody wants to do whatever we can to help our veterans.”Source: Bangor Daily News (ME)Author:  Beth Brogan, BDN StaffPublished: June 30, 2013Copyright: 2013 Bangor Daily News Inc.Website: http://www.bangornews.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/MFEVnIZoContact: http://drugsense.org/url/MWLhV21WCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by mexweed on June 30, 2013 at 14:00:23 PT:
HOW TO FIGHT DEPENDENCE
The key is to emphasize PREVENTION (but unfortunately today doctors are better paid for curing than for preventing).The number one drug dependence to fight (prevent) is H-ot B-urning O-verdose M-onoxide $igarette addiction (6,000,000 deaths a year, alcohol 2.5 million). How many "addictions" will be prevented when more kids "experiment" with cannabis instead of tobacco $igarettes?Legalizing cannabis will remove reasons to fear being caught owning a vaporizer, one-hitter (single toke utensil) or other device which can REPLACE a 500-mg-per-lightup joint or 700-mg-per-lightup $igarette with 25-mg servings. Virtually every account of "cannabis dependence" I have seen, if it mentioned instrument of administration at all, mentioned exclusively joints (alias giants, i.e. sledgehammer carbon monoxide overdose just like a $igarette). Think, have you ever read about anyone being "addicted" to cannabis who was using a vaporizer?In Europe, with a widespread practice of mixing cannabis with tobacco, patients are sometimes described as being dependent on cannabis when actually it is the included nicotine they're addicted to!
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Comment #4 posted by museman on June 30, 2013 at 13:19:46 PT
it's a hate, hate relationship
Uncle Sham and the other member of the US Shaft family "Big Bother" haven't ever done a thing for me except Shaft, and Bother, Shaft, and Bother. Murder and imprison my friends, and apparently carry out the wishes of the Corporate Rulers daily, resulting in global miseries too numerous to list without engaging the current shortening attention span and eliciting boredom before awareness can dawn...The entity of the US Government is a monstrosity. I can only surmise that it's supporters are monsters at heart! Or just very, very ignorant.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on June 30, 2013 at 08:26:40 PT:
Why relegalization is the ultimate path
So long as ignorant people with power can get in the way of progress, in the case of MMJ, we'll be slogging uphill with them on our backs, kicking our kidneys and bashing our heads the whole way:"Smith said MMA members who specialize in treatment of psychiatric conditions and addiction also objected to the idea that a doctor would prescribe marijuana to help a person with the treatment of addictions, “because many doctors believe marijuana leads to addiction.”The Institute of Medicine study of 1999 found no such indications of physical addiction...while, historically, cannabis has been used successfully in the past to treat both opiate and alcohol addiction. And, needless to say, the IoM study was only one of several that reached the same conclusion.Maine residents should find out who these ignorant doctors of the MMA are, and avoid them. That publicly demonstrated ignorance is demonstrative of their inability to keep up with research, and thus threatens their patient's lives. 
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on June 30, 2013 at 08:23:53 PT
My relationship with Uncle Sham.
Uncle Sham does not listen to me and I ignore Him. I have not paid an income tax since nine of my brothers and sisters were gunned down at Ohio State. I may not be the brightest bulb on the tree but I know not to buy bullets for the guy who is shooting at me, duh!This is not the way to retain my loyalty to my government.
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on June 30, 2013 at 07:04:15 PT
PTSD Added To List of Qualifying Conditions
And we have to read about it in the Bangor Daily News?“Everybody wants to do whatever we can to help our veterans.” Yes, absolutely, except the very people that send them into war!(they own the media too, and it shows)
Cannabis Therapeutics
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