cannabisnews.com: Doctors To Decide on Legal Pot Dosages





Doctors To Decide on Legal Pot Dosages
Posted by CN Staff on May 23, 2004 at 07:49:17 PT
By Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel 
Santa Cruz -- County officials are seeking doctors’ advice on how much medical marijuana is enough.The county Board of Supervisors this week named George Wolfe, a former county health officer, to convene a group of doctors to develop guidelines for the quantity of pot that patients might need for treatment and how much they should be allowed to possess. The group is to report back to the board Aug. 17.
A state law passed last year provides some guidelines on how much marijuana, or how many plants, patients or caregivers may keep on hand. But the law allows cities and counties to set their own limits.Area medical pot users and advocates say that is a good thing because those statewide specifications are not high enough for some patients.Under Proposition 215, passed by voters in 1996, marijuana can be prescribed to alleviate pain, nausea and other symptoms of chronic or terminal illness.Sheriff Mark Tracy said he recommended that a physicians group study the quantity issue and make recommendations to be sure the local guidelines are based on medical expertise and science."I think this is the best way to do it," Tracy said this week. "We should make decisions based on medical reasons, not based on politics or advocacy."The Board of Supervisors went along with Tracy’s suggestion. Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt said it was important to have a medical basis for the local guidelines."I have confidence Dr. Wolfe is the right person to be doing this," she said.Tracy said Wolfe would do the work, free of charge, under the auspices of the Santa Cruz Medical Society.Wolfe could not be reached for comment.Under Senate Bill 420, authored by John Vasconcellos and passed into law last year, a patient may possess a half-pound of dried pot and may have six mature plants or 12 immature ones.Medical marijuana users say the 8-ounce limit is an inadequate amount for many."For some of my patients, that’s not even two months," said Valerie Corral, director of the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana.The amount needed can vary depending on how a patients uses it.Smoking pot generally takes less than eating it, which is the way some prefer to ingest their medicine.Critics also say the guidelines don’t account for where pot might be grown. Northern California patients using pot grown outdoors may need to stock up more than users in Southern California, where the growing season is longer.Corral said she hopes the doctors’ group keeps that in mind."My hope is they don’t put a cap in the guidelines that would limit access to patients," she said.Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff WriterPublished: May 23, 2004Copyright: 2004 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/Pictures From WAMM Protesthttp://freedomtoexhale.com/eventpics.htmWoman Has Led Fight for Marijuana To New Highhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18873.shtmlJudge Prohibits Raids on Pot Clubhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18712.shtmlLeave Medical Marijuana Group Alonehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18711.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on May 23, 2004 at 21:13:53 PT
Just an Update of a Web Page
I found 2 nice pictures. One of Mike and Valerie and one of Valerie and I added them to this page if anyone wants to check it out. Here it is.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/valc.htm
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 23, 2004 at 08:36:34 PT
mamawillie 
It is really wrong how they want to charge prisoners when they don't want to be there in the first place. I saw a show on tv that a few women wrote a book and they wanted to charge them in the vicinity of $100,000 and it wasn't even a book about their crime. 
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Comment #2 posted by mamawillie on May 23, 2004 at 08:20:39 PT
FOM
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PAYING_FOR_PRISON?SITE=APWEB&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULTAn article about prison budgets and how many prison systems are turning to a "stay and pay" program where the inmates have to pay 60.00 a day for their stay when they get out.It is a really twisted concept when the real answer is let the non-violent marijuana offenders go....
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on May 23, 2004 at 08:05:05 PT
Valerie Corral
There was not much that hit me about this article except they cannot come out and say Compassionate Use Act. I did think it the wise thing to do to bring the perspective of Valerie Corral to the article.But I was sitting here with the thought of having not to read the word "pothead" again. I know there are people that like the word cannabist, but for the most part my favorite word for the doobie enthusiast is "toker." Then I was thinking that Valerie Corral had to be a toker. The next thing I know I recall the ad campaign of Waco's Dr. Pepper where they sang "I'm a pepper, he's a pepper wouldn't you like to be a pepper too." Now I am sitting here and can't get passed the tune in my head that goes "I'm a toker, he's a toker, wouldn't you like to be a toker too."
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