cannabisnews.com: San Francisco Disputes Federal Pot Claims





San Francisco Disputes Federal Pot Claims
Posted by CN Staff on November 18, 2008 at 18:34:33 PT
By UPI
Source: United Press International
San Francisco, CA -- San Francisco officials dispute U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy's claims the city has more medical marijuana outlets than Starbucks coffee shops.The office said in a posting on its official blog, pushingback.com, that San Francisco is home to 98 medical marijuana dispensaries and only 71 Starbucks, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.
However, San Francisco's Department of Public Health said only 24 marijuana outlets are registered in the city. "I don't know how they got that," Senior Health Inspector Larry Kessler said of the federal numbers.Rafael Lemaitre, a federal drug office spokesman, said the agency found the marijuana-dispensing locations through Google searches."This is information that is readily available to any teenager," Lemaitre said, while contending the state's medical marijuana law is "essentially a fraud." However, he was only able to provide the Chronicle a list of 74 of the claimed 98 pot outlets, of which the Chronicle said six don't list addresses in San Francisco and at least one was listed twice. The Office of National Drug Control Policy changed its blog entry Monday night to say there are 71 marijuana stores and 66 Starbucks in San Francisco, but a Starbucks spokeswoman said the company has 71 cafes in the city.SFC Article: http://drugsense.org/url/6Iwdpl78Source: United Press International (Wire)Published: November 18, 2008Copyright 2008 United Press InternationalWebsite: http://www.upi.com/Contact: nationaldesk upi.comCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by user123 on November 22, 2008 at 14:09:13 PT:
Lame Logic
I moved to the SF area in 1977. Back then the streets were filthy & full of homeless people, but no MJ clubs or Chain Coffee stores. Now in 2008, the streets are filthy & full of homeless, but we have MJ clubs and Chain Coffee shops. In other words - I DON'T SEE ANY DIFFERENCE! So just what is ONDCP's point? Besides lame information that can only be used to scare the sheeps in this society.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on November 19, 2008 at 05:47:49 PT
Medical Marijuana Law Proposed in Texas
Would forbid prosecution of anybody who has pot on a doctor's orders.By Jim ForsythWednesday, November 19, 2008 An Austin lawmaker has proposed legalizing marijuana in Texas, if the marijuana has bee prescribed by a doctor for medical purposes, 1200 WOAI news has learned.  It would be the most liberal medical marijuana bill in the country.Democrat Eliot Haishtat's proposal would forbid any law enforcement officer from arresting or charging a person for possession of marijuana, if the person 'possesses marijuana as a patient of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state pursuant to the recommendation of that physician for the amelioration of the symptoms of effects of a bona fide medical condition.'  "This would not legalize the use of marijuana or any other drug," Naishtat told 1200 WOAI news. "This is specifically related to the medicinal use of marijuana for a person with a bona fide medical condition."  Under Naishtat's bill, you wouldn't even have to be sick to legally smoke pot. The bill simply says a person would require a 'written or oral statement' from a doctor that 'thje potential benefits of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks for a particular patient.' But the Texas Medical Association says it does not believe that marijuana is a legitimate narcotic for the treatment of disease or disease symptoms, and TMA President Dr. Josie Williams says her organization will not support Naishtat's proposal.  "We have no idea what dosage marijuana would be needed," she says. "There seems to be a huge variation in the potency and quality of what patients would actually get. There is no information on how the impact of marijuana on a patient varies with the patient's weight," she said.  She said marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, and even though Naishtat's bill protects doctors from state prosecution, they would still be breaking the law.  Dr. Williams said there would be no controls on where the patient would get the marijuana, allowing the patient to obtain it from street dealers.  "It is still very dangerous to use it in an over the street, illegal way," Dr. Williams said.  The bill does not set up any marijuana production or distribution activities, meaning patients with marijuana 'prescriptions' would have to buy the drug on the illegal market.  Doctors and activists have long argued about the value of marijuana, hashish, and other herbal substances in the treatment of disease and the lessening of pain. A handful of states, including California, have attempted to legalize medical marijuana, with mixed results.  Dr. Williams says she wants to see a full and peer reviewed examination of the medical use of marijuana conducted by the American Medical Association before she would support any effort to consider marijuana to be a medically valuable substance.Copyright: 2008 Clear Channel 
 http://www.q1019.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=119078&article=4607016
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on November 19, 2008 at 05:42:34 PT
MORE information that is available to any teen
Cannabis must be popular.Cannabis is less addictive than coffee.Cannabis is safer than boozeCannabis helps with many different health problems and has for thousands of years.The Federal government lies... a lot.Some cities are ready willing and able to refute government lies.Cannabis use for health purposes is anything but a "fraud".There is a lot more money to be made now in cultivating cannabis before it becomes relegalized.Witness REEFER MADNESS in the present form.Teens get to also learn:  -Government's messages about illegal drugs indicates meth, coke etc. are less harmful than cannabis; and heroin is not any more dangerous than cannabis.And the list goes on...
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Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on November 19, 2008 at 05:19:41 PT
Silly Rabbits
Tricks are for Kids.In the future, everyone will use cannabis as a deep relaxing time off from life at least once a week. If there is a list of cultures who need it first, I am sure America is somewhere near the top.
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