cannabisnews.com: Doctor, Patient, Spouse All Back Marijuana


cannabisnews.com: Doctor, Patient, Spouse All Back Marijuana 





Doctor, Patient, Spouse All Back Marijuana 
Posted by FoM on February 17, 2000 at 07:03:58 PT
By Leila Fujimori
Source: Star-Bulletin
Doctors prescribed the strongest painkillers to Lynn Foster after cancer of the stomach spread to her bones. She was so drugged, she couldn't communicate, said Scott Foster, her husband. So they turned to marijuana. With marijuana, Foster could reduce his wife's prescription of intravenous drugs.
"It was a synergy with the marijuana and the IV drugs -- she was always sharp mentally," Foster said, noting he hopes the drug's high cost will be lowered by legalization. "It gave us another four months when her quality of life was good." Lynn Foster died in 1995.Now Scott Foster supports two bills in the state Legislature for the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. He attended a panel discussion sponsored by the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, featuring a Washington physician who helped get an initiative to pass in 1998 permitting the medical use of marijuana.Rob Killian, whose Seattle practice has mostly HIV-positive patients, said he doesn't like the idea of his patients smoking anything. But "when somebody is throwing up or is acutely nauseated, instant relief is preferred," he said. Smoking marijuana gets it into the bloodstream immediately, whereas drugs in pill form take time to absorb, and drugs by injection may be difficult to administer.Killian has spoken with the chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary committees and expects support for legislation favoring the right of patients suffering from a terminal or debilitating disease to use marijuana medicinally.Brian Issell, professor of medicine at the University of Hawaii's Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and John A. Burns School of Medicine, said he wants "to see research centers do careful, tedious studies" before legislation is passed.He said studies are needed to provide evidence on who can be helped by marijuana.Forum attendees questioned Issell as to why other illegal drugs are allowed for medical treatment and commented that no study would be able to foresee who could be helped by the drug.Issell said a national study would be necessary to test a group large enough to get valid results. Studies that have been done, he said, have selected only those experiencing a beneficial effect. Cynthia Linet, 61, didn't wait for legalization. Linet, a Hilo attorney who suffered from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, said she used marijuana for loss of appetite, nausea and anxiety. As a "health nut," Linet said it was frightening when her legs went numb.The marijuana relieved her anxiety and helped with loss of appetite. She only used small amounts of the drug for 25 weeks during which she underwent chemotherapy."When it was over, I stopped using it," Linet said. "I had no desire for it, but I was glad it was there."Big Isle Activist Sues County, Prosecutors:Star-Bulletin StaffHILO -- Big Island hemp activist Aaron Anderson has filed a lawsuit in state court saying county officials violated his rights when they prosecuted him for marijuana possession after seizing sterilized hemp seeds he legally ordered.The action follows the decision of federal Judge David Ezra last month to permit claims of monetary damages by Anderson in a federal lawsuit but to bar civil rights claims there. Anderson's lawyer Steven Strauss said there was nothing in Ezra's ruling to prevent a suit in state court.In 1991, Anderson ordered 25 pounds of the seeds from North Dakota. The seeds are generally used as bird feed but are also suitable for people to eat, Anderson said.U.S. Customs and Drug Enforcement Administration officials said the seeds were legally imported from China.Anderson's state suit alleges Deputy Prosecutor Kay Iopa lied to a grand jury to indict him, saying some of the seeds germinated. A state Department of Agriculture report said none of the seeds germinated. Anderson's criminal trial ended with a hung jury.The suit names Iopa, now in private practice, Prosecutor Jay Kimura for allegedly knowingly failing to supervise Iopa properly, and Hawaii County.Get Involved:You can track bills, hearings and other Legislature action via: The Legislative Reference Bureau's public access room, state Capitol, room 401. Open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Phone: 587-0478; fax, 587-0793; TTY, 538-9670. Neighbor islanders, call toll-free and enter ext. 70478 after the number: Big Island, 974-4000; Maui, 984-2400; Kauai, 274-3141; Molokai and Lanai, 468-4644.The state's daily Internet listing of hearings: http://www.capitol.hawaii.govThe Legislature's automated bill report service: 586-7000The state's general Web page: http://www.state.hi.usOur Web site: http://starbulletin.comPublished: February 16, 2000Š 2000 Honolulu Star-BulletinCannabisNews Medical Marijuana & Hemp Archives:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtmlhttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by greenfox on February 17, 2000 at 16:20:09 PT
I'm here...
I'm here whenever you folks wanna chat. Should be fun! :)Green, from cleveland ohio.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on February 17, 2000 at 12:30:02 PT
Hey Kap! I had to call you that! LOL!
The thing that is nice about these boards is we can leave messages to each other and then we can figure out how to do something like organize a chat. I don't go to chat rooms. I had some bad experiences in that area so I've stayed out of them all. I have gone to DrugSense chat but I stop going there too. I avoid hassles at all costs. DrugSense has their chats on the weekends when I spend time with my husband and so it just isn't a good time of the week for me. A midweek chat would work for me much better but it sure isn't necessary! If you want to leave a message on this board or others I have just tell me you left a message and I'll go read it. That will work!Peace, FoM!
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on February 17, 2000 at 11:52:48 PT
Many thanks, FoM
But you needn't put yourself out. I'll just keep spouting off here (grin). But it *would* be nice if we could all establish a chat room and schedule a regular meeting. The only problem is that we are scattered across so many time zones (remember our overseas friends!) that it might not be practical. 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 17, 2000 at 09:50:55 PT
kaptinemo
kaptinemo,You had asked awhile ago how we could talk and I posted my little free chat room but since then I have been making message boards for friends and they are free and if you want one I can throw one together in about 15 minutes and I enjoy doing it so don't be afraid to ask. It would have a search tool to go between the boards I have together. Let me know and if you say yes when I'm done I'll post it. You can edit posts and it has lots of cool features but it has a few bugs in it but they are annoying only and EZBoard is working on it to solve the problem.Peace, FoM!
DPTalk Board
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on February 17, 2000 at 07:54:07 PT
Social Darwinism at work
Brian Issell, professor of medicine at the University of Hawaii's Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and John A. Burns School of Medicine, said he wants "to see research centers do careful, tedious studies" before legislation is passed.Notice the no-doubt unintentional slip: 'tedious'. While patients suffer and die, these guys want to count beans. And to take their time doing it. There is a preponderance of anecdotal evidence of cannabis's efficacy in quelling nausea, stimulating appetite, etc. But because of the pressure applied by pharmaceutical companies on legislatures, the pols hold up funding on anything that can prove cannabis works. Just look at the IoM study; that only happened because a lawsuit made McCaffrey put up or shut up. So, without funding, the researchers drag their feet, hem and haw, and make 'cautious' statements that border on intellectual dishonesty, if not outright cowardice.At the risk of seeming paranoid, this smacks of something you'd expect to hear from the nutcase Right: social darwinism. It means getting rid of 'undesirables'. Getting rid of the 'unproductive' that became so either through no fault of their own - or because the ruling elite made them so. And if Nature does the dirty work for you, then so much the better. I saw this with the Nuclear Vets (fallout exposure), the Agent Orange Vets (dioxin exposure) and the Gulf War Vets (God knows what happened there). Do you think civilians get treated any better? Hanford Nuke plant in Washington State deliberately exposed thousands of people in a downwind radioisotope release to cancer-inducing levels of cesium-137. Just to see what would happen. As if they didn't know. Your government does this to you. And now they want to continue dragging their feet on cannabis research. It's long past time to get out the cattle prods.
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