cannabisnews.com: The Fate of Medical Pot





The Fate of Medical Pot
Posted by CN Staff on November 22, 2004 at 20:24:45 PT
By Raymond Cushing, AlterNet
Source: AlterNet 
The Supreme Court is set to rule on whether the feds have the right to arrest medical marijuana patients. But will the justices have all the facts? The end of November marks the beginning of what could be the final act for the medical marijuana movement. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to take from Nov. 29 until late spring to decide, in the case of Ashcroft vs. Raich, whether federal agents can arrest medical cannabis patients, even in states that authorize medical cannabis use.
It is an epic states' rights battle, although few in the national media portray it that way. Major media outlets also continue to ignore a growing body of evidence that suggests that cannabinoids, the active ingredients in cannabis, show more healing potential for a variety of illnesses than practically any natural substance known to medical science.Why is the federal government bent on suppressing cannabis when solid research suggests it can be so beneficial? Ask the members of the U.S. House and Senate, who blindly demonize marijuana while accepting millions of dollars in donations from the same pharmaceutical giants who back cannabis prohibition.If the Supreme Court also turns a blind eye to the research and rules, as it did in 2001, that cannabis has no medical use unless Congress says it has a medical use, then it hardly matters if cannabinoids turn out to be the cure for cancer, as some European cannabis researchers are suggesting.In May 2000 I reported that Spanish researchers had shrunk or destroyed deadly brain tumors in rats using THC, a cannabinoid. The Spaniards' study was reportedly the first time that cannabinoids had been administered to tumor-bearing animals. With information provided by Manuel Guzman, the lead researcher in the Madrid study, I uncovered a 1974 study done in the United States in which THC had shrunk breast and lung tumors in rats. The federal government had suppressed the study's results and subsequently shut down all cannabis research at public institutions.One year later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its first ruling on medical cannabis, a negative decision against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club.The intervening years have seen substantial research on cannabinoids by Guzman and a handful of dedicated European scientists. In 2003 the First European Workshop on Cannabinoid Research produced more than 50 pages of investigative abstracts from the U.K., Italy, Spain, Germany and France that provide the scientific basis for researchers' claims that cannabinoids hold promise for Alzheimer's, cancer, Parkinson's, alcoholism, depression and other illnesses.In October 2003 Guzman published a review of cannabis research in Nature Cancer that described in detail the anti-cancer properties of cannabinoids. Last August, Guzman reported in Cancer Research how cannabinoids deprive cancerous tumors of the blood they need to survive. The article mentioned the first known trials of cannabis tincture on humans with brain cancer, which reportedly showed positive results.The research findings of European cannabis researchers receive substantial coverage in Spain, Latin America, the U.K., France and Germany. The U.S. media have been largely silent, until recently. The American Association for Cannabis Research, a 15,000-member group of U.S. cancer researchers, issued a press release in August about Guzman's latest findings, prompting coverage in Scientific American and a smattering of other mainstream outlets.It is impossible to know whether Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the negative decision in the 2001 Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club case, will be aware that cannabinoids shrink tumors when he makes his decision in Ashcroft vs. Raich. The Supreme Court justices and their legal staff would appear to have a moral, if not a legal responsibility to acquire at least a rudimentary knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the great national issues they decide. In the case of medical marijuana, there is so much evidence about the healing potential of cannabinoids, even on the government's own web sites, that it suggests negligence to ignore it.If the Supreme Court rules against patients in Ashcroft vs. Raich, it will give the U.S. Justice Department all the justification it needs to resume its persecution of medical pot users and effectively destroy the medical marijuana movement in California and nine other states. Then cannabis clubs will become part of our collective memory, and valuable research on cannabinoids will continue to be ignored. Raymond Cushing is a writer based in Sacramento, Calif. His article on cannabis research was included in the 2000 Project Censored collection.Source: AlterNet (US)Author: Raymond Cushing, AlterNetPublished: November 22, 2004Copyright: 2004 Independent Media InstituteContact: letters alternet.org Website: http://www.alternet.org/DL: http://alternet.org/drugreporter/20577/Related Articles & Web Sites:Angel Raich v. Ashcroft Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raich.htmOCBC Vs. US Government Newshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/mj.htmMedicinal Pot Before High Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19856.shtml Marijuana May Stall Brain Tumor Growthhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19339.shtmlPot Shrinks Tumors - Government Knew in '74 http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9211.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #8 posted by dr slider on November 23, 2004 at 10:53:31 PT:
desire withers the soul
People do not choose beliefs any more than we can choose the fate of man. This notion that history is driven by the collective desires of ~6bn people is preposterous. If numbers of like life forms determines "choice dominance" then we're plagued by bugs, if size we're dwarfed by the great whales, if wisdom we're shadowed by the Trees. That's just on our particular earthship.People think and believe exactly as they need to in order for them to fulfill their individual destinies, all in one great harmony with the rest of creation in order to bring Love to manifestation.As far as the fate of medcan, any that gravitates to within my event horizon will surely be fated to maximum entropy as it diffuses into this collection of organisms called my body and environs.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by The GCW on November 23, 2004 at 07:49:51 PT
Some insight... in this story.
This has some insight that may be helpful to see what's going on... to know what can be observed... what is observed and what the editor is thinking... etc."Local newspaper reaches world audience"http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=729 ... More recently, the discussion leading up to the November election drew reader feedback and comments from a nationwide audience, just as it did locally. Deborah J. Hjeltnes from Rexford, N.Y., wrote a letter refuting Kodiak resident Kermit Reppond’s guest opinion on stem-cell research. She called Reppond’s opinion “out of touch with reality.” Kirk Muse from Mesa, Ariz., questioned the newspaper about an incident at a Kodiak City Council meeting when a Kodiak Police Department officer urged voters to vote against the recent Ballot Measure 2, which would have legalized marijuana in the state. “I was surprised,” wrote Muse, “by the notion of a city employee … actively campaigning for a political position, while apparently on the job and in a city council meeting.” By far, most Outside reader comments involved the marijuana law reform issue. Joyce Nalepka, a leader of an anti-drug organization based in Maryland, wrote a letter refuting local resident Dr. Bob Johnson’s “Marijuana is relatively safe” letter. The doctor “needs to pull his head out of the sand,” she wrote. Stan White from Dillon, Colo., thanked us for running Dr. Bob’s letter, then used religious references supporting pot. “Biblically, it’s time to vote and stop caging humans for using cannabis,” White wrote. It’s fair to say, the longer the Web site exists, the more off-island readership, and off-island comments, will grow.Cont. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by Sam Adams on November 23, 2004 at 06:50:37 PT
they believe what they want to believe
People choose their beliefs. Just look at the millions who managed to convince themselves that John Kerry is a little wussy boy even though he was in combat and Bush is a he-man fighter even though he was flying 747's over Dallas during Viet Nam.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by afterburner on November 23, 2004 at 05:21:27 PT
Here Are Some Links. Be Respectful. No Flaming...
Facts, personal experience, not opinions.Supreme Court of the United States http://www.supremecourtus.gov/On-Line MERITS BRIEFS http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/home.htmlAshcroft v. Raich
Docket No. 03-1454 Petitioner's brief [Ashcroft ] 
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs_04-05/03-1454Pet.pdfRespondent's brief [Raich] http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs_04-05/03-1454Resp.pdfWhere to Send Comments http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/comments.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by afterburner on November 23, 2004 at 04:45:28 PT
It Is the Responsibility of All Post/Lurk Here... 
to send all relevant medical, scientific evidence to the US Supreme Court in a pro-active intervention to prevent suppression of the Truth about medical cannabis. All activists at all medical cannabis websites: All activists, patients, doctors, researchers in medical cannabis advocacy groups, compassion clubs, cannabis research facilities: Bombard the US Supreme Court with scientific studies and testimonials. Do not allow them to use the feeble excuse of ignorance of the Truth! Do not wait until they subpoena you to testify. Strike now while the iron is hot! Send a brief of your personal medical experiences or scientific studies of medical facts ASAP!
Red States Weigh In As The Court Goes To Pot
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by mayan on November 23, 2004 at 04:32:24 PT
Life or Death
If the Supreme Court rules against Angel Raich they will in effect be sentencing thousands upon thousands of individuals to death. I hope they understand that. Sorry if these have been posted...Marijuana club ban likely to be extended: 
http://www.dailyreviewonline.com/Stories/0,1413,88~10975~2552886,00.htmlPotent Pot: 
http://www.wokr13.tv/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=6846DCE5-3A1C-4CC2-8391-8BBD82204393The way out is the way in...Mega-Millionaire Offers $100,000 Reward For Scientific Proof WTC Towers Collapsed As Bush Administration Claims:
http://rense.com/general59/mega.htm9/11 COMPLAINT AND PETITION AS FILED WITH NY AG ELIOT SPITZER - 11/19/04:
http://www.justicefor911.org/A Conservative Christian Republican says listen to whistleblower Sibel D. Edmonds:
http://onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/112004Schwarz/112004schwarz.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Taylor121 on November 22, 2004 at 22:00:45 PT:
YES
*clap* for this article. There are those of us that KNOW what cannabis can do yet are being persecuted and laughed and mocked at for thinking the way we do.I hope the U.S. Supreme Court has all the information. I hope it marks the beginning of the downfall of cannabis prohibition.In the meantime, let's work on getting the message out about the Truth in Trials that is now in the Senate.http://www.mpp.org/trialsI'm serious, send this to everyone. Send this to your family members, send it to their friends and their families. Spread it fast word of mouth. Spread it on the internet. Send your letters in! Make sure we are heard!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 22, 2004 at 20:45:24 PT
Good Article
I'm glad that this is being brought up.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment