cannabisnews.com: Can MMJ Aid The Prescription Addiction Epidemic?
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Can MMJ Aid The Prescription Addiction Epidemic?
Posted by CN Staff on August 26, 2010 at 12:58:46 PT
By Drew Milburn
Source: Gazette
Colorado -- For months, media reports have chronicled fiery debates over marijuana’s medicinal utility and its impact on our broader communities. But what about those constituencies who don’t have a lobbyist down at the Capitol or City Hall? What about our veterans?National polls consistently show support for medical marijuana rights at over 60 percent. A May Rasmussen report concluded that one in two Colorado voters support outright marijuana legalization, even for non-medicinal purposes.
And while state officials now estimate Colorado’s official registered patient count somewhere about 130,000, skeptics remain firmly rooted to the stereotype that patients are just a bunch of lazy hippies looking to evade marijuana prohibition. As a medical marijuana caregiver, I have the honor of serving a couple hundred of our state’s patients on a regular basis. They are anything but lazy or law-evading. Like me, many of them are vets. They are my motivation for writing today. As a proud Marine who served over two decades ago, I’ve witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to the health care options we provide to my fellow armed service members who returned home with immense physical and emotional scars.Well-intentioned though overworked physicians at our nation’s veteran hospitals prescribe anti-depressants and narcotic painkillers with abandon. The net result: VA patients turn into addicts, held captive, not by the injuries that first made them seek medical help, but rather by the addictive pills that were supposed to free them from their agony.Today, Colorado is one of more than a dozen states where narcotic painkillers are the leading cause of accidental death. Such drug overdoses kill more people than car accidents, including those caused by drunken drivers, Meanwhile, I have yet to find a single documented case where marijuana independently caused a single death in U.S. history.A 2008 Pentagon survey found one in four soldiers admitting to prescription drug abuse, with another 15 percent saying they had abused painkillers within the previous 30 days. While Congress demanded action, the problem only continues to spiral out of control.It was with the hope of reversing this trend — joining together with one courageous soldier at a time — that motivated me last summer to seriously explore the idea of opening my own medical marijuana wellness center here in Colorado Springs. By early fall, We Grow Colorado was born, and by December, we were deep in construction dust as we turned a former local veterinarian clinic into a viable center.Now open and thriving for the last several months, We Grow’s commitment to vets is clear and consistent. We don’t believe in handing out medicine. Rather, we empower our patients to regain control of their lives and fight back against narcotic addiction. We offer discounts to indigent vets and are planning an educational series on PTSD. Sadly, military policy does not allow current service members to utilize medical marijuana as part of their recovery strategy. For now, we can only aid those who have completed their service.Medical marijuana is not some magic pill. It is one of many therapies that work for some, but not for all, who try it. In a community like ours, where vets play a key role in every aspect of our daily lives, we should show them the respect they deserve. Let’s stop throwing pills at their pain in the hopes of keeping them quiet. Instead, we should stop and listen to what they have to say. If our leaders will do this, as We Grow Colorado does every day, they will hear that many vets benefit tremendously from medical marijuana. Giving them the freedom to choose this non-addictive alternative therapy is the least we can do.Drew Milburn is a U.S. Marine and a co-founder of We Grow Colorado (www.WeGrowColorado.com) a Colorado Springs-based medical marijuana wellness center.Source: Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)Author: Drew MilburnPublished: August 26, 2010Copyright: 2010 The GazetteWebsite: http://www.gazette.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/QM33jO8LContact: http://drugsense.org/url/xYIC9bglCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by Sam Adams on August 28, 2010 at 07:37:05 PT
Michigan
This seems so classist to me. The poor and middle class people are trying to make some money, without including banks or hedge funds, let's use the military to attack and loot them quick before they hire anyone else!http://www.freep.com/article/20100827/NEWS03/8270343/1322/15-arrested-in-Oakland-sheriffs-pot-raids
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #16 posted by FoM on August 28, 2010 at 05:11:34 PT
Just a Note
I hope everyone is having nice weather. It's beautiful here. There isn't any news to post so far but when we approach the election season it will pick up. We've made a lot of progress and I believe we will keep moving forward. Enjoy the weekend everyone.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #15 posted by FoM on August 27, 2010 at 19:57:41 PT
John Tyler
That's a great link. It was a time to be thinking about values and what really was important in life. I looked from a distance since I was married with a baby and wondered if what I saw on TV and heard in the music might be the right path to follow. It was only a dream but it was in my heart.
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Comment #14 posted by John Tyler on August 27, 2010 at 19:28:02 PT
yesteryear
I was lucky enough to be just the right age to catch the hippie wave as it came to the east coast in 1967. It was fantastic, magical, sparkly, and shimmering with totally good vibes. What a wonderful coming of age thing that was.
Check out the soundtrack
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aquarius&aq=1sThe intro is a little long but it is worth the wait.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #13 posted by potpal on August 27, 2010 at 15:22:52 PT
Ponzi Scheme Strikes DEA
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/27/ponzi-scheme-strikes-dea-_n_697264.html
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #12 posted by Dankhank on August 27, 2010 at 13:26:16 PT
awwwww .....
I meant Cordoba, Argentina .....
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #11 posted by Dankhank on August 27, 2010 at 13:24:36 PT
MMj ...
The movement is spreading .....I just mailed a CRL, Cannabis Research Library, disc to Cordoba, Spain ... and Sumatra, Indonesia ...It's older Tech, but ... can be copied and distributed ... some folks still like to have it in their hot little hands ...Peace to all who want medical freedom .....
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #10 posted by ekim on August 27, 2010 at 10:49:20 PT
NPR Talk of the Nation Science Friday at 2pm
Will be talking about the biggest wind farm in the world
being built in CA.National Public Radio
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #9 posted by FoM on August 27, 2010 at 06:23:13 PT
Remembering Katrina 5 Years Later
This is from a man that has lived the Hippie Dream.Neil Young - Walking To New Orleans (Hurricane Katrina Concert) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW2Lqjc91uE
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #8 posted by SnowedUnder on August 27, 2010 at 05:34:14 PT:
Long live the hippie...
I was born in the latter part of the movement, but got to apreciate and understand what peace really means. Long live the peace. Thanks FOM and thanks to Graehstone for the link. Peace
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 27, 2010 at 05:14:02 PT
About The Article
When I saw the hippie reference in the article I got angry. I am at least in my heart a hippie and always have been. What kind of a horrible world, at least in the states, would it be without us? Long live the hippie dream!
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #6 posted by Graehstone on August 26, 2010 at 21:35:43 PT
Hippies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veyi-0FH67k
Highly
Intelligent
Person
Pursuing
Individual
Enlightenment
... HIPPIE.
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #5 posted by John Tyler on August 26, 2010 at 21:04:27 PT
lazy hippies no, wonderful people
Excuse me, but I have to take issue with this guy’s statement, “lazy hippies looking to evade marijuana prohibition”. Without these “lazy hippies” working to make cannabis a legal medicine and progressing on to, hopefully full, relegalization, he would be just another pill popper himself. Hippies reintroduced cannabis to the word. Hippies deserve a little more respect and more credit than that. Hippies don’t go off on military types with harsh pejorative characterizations. No, but we get crap from different corners like that all the time. Check it out. The hippies changed the course of world history. We got rid of those uptight social conventions of the 1950’s that everybody hated, but could do nothing about. They are gone. We invented ecology, natural food, the personal computer, and a bunch of other stuff too, like saving the planet. We are not done yet either. We will get cannabis relegalized too. I am glad he and others have realized the immense value of cannabis and are joining in to help the cause, but just remember to thank the hippies who made it all possible.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 26, 2010 at 19:37:37 PT
christ
You got mail.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 26, 2010 at 19:32:42 PT
christ
I am the person to ask but if you don't want to make it public in a comment I can try to find your e-mail when you registered and e-mail you. Would that work?
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #2 posted by christ on August 26, 2010 at 19:13:34 PT
FoM - question...
I have a question, but can't find it anywhere in the Help links. Can an admin email me?
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #1 posted by christ on August 26, 2010 at 16:44:14 PT
POLL about dispensary raids
Poll is down a little on the right. FYI, the top story is about raids that took place last night.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/
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