cannabisnews.com: Pot is Medicine: Let The Ill Use It
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Pot is Medicine: Let The Ill Use It
Posted by CN Staff on April 16, 2009 at 10:58:34 PT
Editorial
Source: Union Leader
Manchester, NH -- Marijuana use can produce lots of outcomes that are not socially desirable. It also can alleviate horrible symptoms of numerous chronic illnesses and, recent research is showing, actually fight some types of cancer. The psychological effects of marijuana use have been well-documented for decades. Its medical effects have been revealed more recently. They show without a doubt that smoking marijuana has significant benefits for some seriously sick people.
With the growing body of evidence revealing just how helpful marijuana can be for some of the chronically ill, the case against making it available to them has gone up in smoke. New Hampshire's House of Representatives has passed a bill, House Bill 648, to make the medicinal use of marijuana legal under tightly controlled circumstances. The bill would require a doctor's prescription and a state-issued permit for legal marijuana use. The amount a patient or his caregiver could possess would be limited to two ounces, six seeds and six plants. As medical marijuana bills go, this one is narrowly crafted to alleviate the suffering of people with debilitating illnesses while avoiding a dangerous increase in the illicit drug trade. It might need some more tweaks before final passage, but overall it is well written.Marijuana has been proven highly effective at alleviating the side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments for a long list of chronic illnesses, including cancer and glaucoma. It can even stimulate the appetites of cancer patients on chemotherapy, which notoriously weakens appetite. The National Cancer Institute confirms that inhaling smoked marijuana delivers these therapeutic benefits more effectively than taking pills that contain the same active ingredient. New research even suggests that although smoking pot while young increases the odds of testicular cancer in men, marijuana can kill lung and brain cancer cells. We understand the concerns of law enforcement officials who oppose this bill. But at this point, withholding the proven medical benefits of smoked marijuana from those extremely ill patients who cannot be helped by any other treatment would amount to a cruel deprivation of necessary medical care. The Senate should pass the bill. Source: Union Leader (Manchester, NH)Published: April 16, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Union Leader Corp.Contact: opinion UnionLeader.comWebsite: http://www.theunionleader.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/KWp9RoscRelated Articles:Senate Panel Hears Medical Pot Billhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24715.shtmlHouse OK's Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24623.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by GeoChemist on April 17, 2009 at 04:14:46 PT
Prove it
"Smoking one marijuana joint is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes in terms of the damage it does to your lungs, as it is inhaled more deeply, usually without a filter and held in the lungs longer than cigarette smoke. There is also a higher possibility of serious offenses being committed while high on the drug." More of the same BS, where is the PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH backing this tiresome claim?
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Comment #7 posted by HempWorld on April 16, 2009 at 20:41:56 PT
Hey Mon, ...
Marijuana, is safer than water ..This is what the statistics show, go figure ...
On a mission from God!
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Comment #6 posted by Canis420 on April 16, 2009 at 20:26:02 PT:
Letter to obama sent today
I urge everybody out there to send Obama and other legislators letters like this http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/The constitution of the United States provides protection for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The pursuit of happiness means different things to different people. For some, using cannabis for recreational and medicinal purposes makes them happy. This is a pursuit, in and of itself, that hurts no one but possibly the user, and that is debatable. It is the prohibition of this herb that creates the harm to others in that it creates criminal organizations that are willing to harm others in pursuit of the lucrative trade. It can also harm the user in criminal convictions, loss of student aid etc. My question is why does the government feel that they have the right to infringe on a persons right to happiness, that the constitution provides for, by forbidding the use of this herb, that humans have used for thousands of years, if they feel it makes them happy? It was used by the very people that wrote the Constitution. The laws prohibiting cannabis use are arbitrary and capricious to say the least. It is time to end the prohibition on this god given herb that is less toxic than Tylenol. When the press asked the press secretary to expound on and clarify the remarks President Obama made during his town hall meeting he stammered, laughed and snickered his way through a reply. I am skeptical that President Obama actually reads this. I have got zero responses from MY elected officials regarding this very important policy issue.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on April 16, 2009 at 16:00:11 PT
The End Of Prohibition And State's Rights
April 16, 2009URL: http://laist.com/2009/04/16/the_end_of_prohibition_and_states_r.php
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Comment #4 posted by Vincent on April 16, 2009 at 14:41:40 PT:
Differences
I have some differences with this article. For example, the article states that , "Marijuana use can produce some outcomes that are not socially desirable". Oh yeah, mention one! I started smoking in 1969, the year of Woodstock, as a 14-year-old kid. That's nearly forty years. I have yet to see any deleterious effects at all. (You like that word--Deleterious? Not bad for somebody that uses an herb which causes undesirable effects.) If anything, the opposite is true. It opens the mind to different ideas, and makes the thought processes much more active. It relaxes the body and
changes moods for the better.
Another thing that annoys me is when they said that they understand the concerns of law enforcement. Well frankly, I do not. These animals get no sympathy from me. That's like a slave having sympathy for a slave owner. I don't even respect their opinion.
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Comment #3 posted by dongenero on April 16, 2009 at 13:04:06 PT
why?
What's wrong with an excuse to party? Everyone can use a little party now and then. Maybe especially in these times.Wouldn't want anyone to have any enjoyment would we? There is something morally wrong with enjoyment. I think this is a flaw in conservative thinking that makes them so curmudgeonly.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 16, 2009 at 11:56:59 PT
Marijuana Inc.
Medical Marijuana, Inc Provides a "Show Your Intent to Comply" Solution for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Cannabis CollectivesApril 16, 2009 Marijuana, Inc, formerly Club Vivanet (PINKSHEETS: CVIV), announces the start of our national marketing effort to offer a solution for tax collection and payment to various Medical Marijuana dispensaries and collectives. Our initial efforts are mostly in California, but we are now signing Master Agent Agreements throughout the US in preparation for the movement. URL: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=MW&date=20090416&id=9792091
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on April 16, 2009 at 11:45:11 PT
Green Pot?
By Kang Chan-soo April 17, 2009Last year, a team of researchers found cannabis packed into a wooden bowl resting inside a 2,700-year-old grave in the Gobi Desert in China. Chinese researchers estimated that people at that time might have burned marijuana and inhaled the smoke. Despite its long history as a hallucinogenic drug, the thorny controversy over smoking marijuana never ceases.In 2007, a study by the University of California suggested that AIDS patients can relieve stubborn nerve pain in their feet by smoking the drug. The active ingredient in marijuana also cuts tumor growth in lung cancer and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, a 2007 Harvard Medical School study showed.However, other research shows that smoking marijuana increases the risk of developing schizophrenia. Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the main psychoactive substance found in cannabis, relieves inflammation, pain and anxiety, but lowers the ability to perceive time and space and impairs the senses of sight and smell. Smoking one marijuana joint is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes in terms of the damage it does to your lungs, as it is inhaled more deeply, usually without a filter and held in the lungs longer than cigarette smoke. There is also a higher possibility of serious offenses being committed while high on the drug. Since July 2008, marijuana smoking has been banned in public places, such as restaurants, cafeterias and bars in the Netherlands. However, marijuana smoking is still permitted in some licensed cafeterias. In New Zealand, strong support exists for the use of medicinal marijuana. In the United States, 12 states, including California, permit marijuana use for pain-killing purposes. Medicinal marijuana vending machines appeared in Los Angeles last year. However, federal law still bans possession and use of marijuana. As the United States government strengthened border security, Mexican criminal drug-trafficking organizations cultivating marijuana in several National Park sites were caught by the authorities. Some people who were secretly cultivating marijuana in apartments or offices in Korea were recently arrested. Although the cannabis plant grows best under sunlight, it can be grown indoors. Special attention, however, must be paid to maintaining the appropriate temperature and humidity levels as well as lighting. Some insist that growing marijuana should be actively encouraged to save the Earth. It absorbs carbon dioxide, its seed oil can be used for biodiesel and its stem as an ingredient for eco-friendly fibers.However, before we accept the assertion that marijuana should be widely cultivated for environmental reasons, we need to be sure that it’s not just an excuse to party.The writer is a JoongAng Ilbo reporter who specializes in environmental issues.[envirepo joongang.co.kr]Copyright by Joins.com, Inc.URL: http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2903664
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