May 17th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
filed under: Medical Marijuana, News
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Providence, RI — The Senate approved legislation yesterday that would create “compassion centers” where chronically ill patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program could openly purchase the drug.
Despite the 29-to-6 vote, the bill faces opposition in the House of Representatives and is not expected to become law this year.
“I would really have to have a sock over my head if I didn’t know that,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, D-Providence. The legislation is named in part for her nephew, Edward O. Hawkins, who died of complications from AIDS and cancer.
“What I think is important is to show movement,” Perry said of yesterday’s vote. “I think getting it out of a chamber is movement. It’s showing that there is a level of understanding and a level of acceptance.”
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May 11th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
filed under: Medical Marijuana, News
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USA — Each month Irvin Rosenfeld goes to his pharmacy and picks up a special prescription, supplied to him by the U.S. government: a canister containing roughly 10 ounces of marijuana in pre-rolled cigarettes.
Rosenfeld, a Boca Raton, Florida stockbroker, suffers from a rare illness called multiple congenital cartilaginous exostosis, a painful genetic disease that causes tumors to grow at the ends of his long bones, causing unbelievable pain. He is also one of four surviving patients receiving government-supplied medical marijuana, in a program that was closed to new applicants by President George H.W. Bush in 1992.
That program marks its 30th anniversary May 10. That’s right, our government has been supplying medical marijuana to a small number of patients — the program peaked at 34 approved participants in 1991 — for three full decades.
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May 9th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
filed under: Medical Marijuana, News
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May 8, 2008 - Davis, CA, USA
Davis, CA: Cannabis significantly reduces neuropathic pain compared to placebo and is well tolerated by patients with chronic pain conditions, according to clinical trial data to be published in The Journal of Pain.
Investigators at the University of California at Davis, in conjunction with the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR), assessed the efficacy of inhaled cannabis on pain intensity among 38 patients with central and/or peripheral neuropathic pain in a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial.
Researchers reported that smoking low-grade (3.5 percent THC) and mid-grade (7 percent THC) equally reduced patients’ perception of spontaneous pain.
“[A] significant … reduction in [a 100-point visual analog scale of] pain intensity per minute was noted from both 3.5 percent and 7 percent cannabis compared to placebo,” authors wrote. “Separate appraisals using the patient global score and multidimensional [eleven-point neuropathic pain scale also] revealed that both active agents alleviated pain compared with placebo.”
Investigators added: “[N]o participant withdrew because of tolerability issues. Subjects receiving active agent endorsed a ‘good drug effect’ more than a ‘bad drug effect.’”
They concluded: “In the present experiment, cannabis reduced pain intensity and unpleasantness equally. Thus, as with opioids, cannabis does not rely on a relaxing or tranquilizing effect, but rather reduces both the core component of nociception (nerve pain) and the emotional aspect of the pain experience to an equal degree.”
The study is the second clinical trial conducted by CMCR investigators to conclude that inhaled cannabis significantly reduces chronic neuropathy, a condition that is typically unresponsive to both opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen.
Commenting on the study’s the findings, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “With the results of each published study it becomes increasingly apparent why the US government has tried consistently to stonewall clinical research on the therapeutic effects of inhaled cannabis. Each new trial the Feds approve provides additional evidence undermining the government’s ‘flat Earth’ position that cannabis is without medical value.”
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org
Full text of the study, “A randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of cannabis cigarettes in neuropathic pain,” will appear in the Journal of Pain.
April 25th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
filed under: Medical Marijuana, News
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Source: Bay Area Reporter
Washington, D.C. — Two bills introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives last week would put a serious dent into federal prosecution of medical use of marijuana and offer protection to patients who use it.
Representative Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) is a leader on both measures, which were introduced April 17. The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act (HR 5842) would reschedule marijuana a from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Substances Act. The change would allow physicians to recommend use of marijuana under conditions set by state law.
The other bill, the Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults (HR 5843) would eliminate federal penalties for the possession of small amounts (up to 100 grams) or not-for-profit transfer of small amounts (up to one ounce, 28.3 grams) of marijuana. It would create a civil penalty of $100 for the public use of marijuana.
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April 23rd, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
filed under: Medical Marijuana, News
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MA – Lyle Craker, Professor of Plant Science at UMass Amherst may be taking the Drug Enforecement Agency (DEA) to court after they denied his appeal to grow marijuana for medinal purposes.
Craker submitted his request in 2001, and was first rejected by the DEA in 2006. The DEA Chief Administrator initially ruled against issuing the license, only for a separate DEA judge to rule in favor. The final verdict will not be decided for another 18 months, however Craker plans to take the DEA to court in the event that they deny his license again.
“If the DEA administrator denies this, then we can go to court outside the DEA and then the DEA has to follow the court ruling,” he said. “The court makes their own decisions, so I don’t know if I’ll be denied. Who knows, this is ultimately a political decision.”
The DEA has repeatedly blocked attempts by scientists and researchers to grow marijuana in order to study its potential medical properties. A medical researcher was quoted as saying, “It is almost like the government is censoring our research at this point.” Even the second biggest medical association in the United States, the American College of Physicians, released a statement this year asking that more research be done on medical marijuana.
Craker adamantly believes that ill patients have a right to medicine that could potentially help them, and that clinical trials need to be done on that medication. “Have there ever been any clinical trials that actually demonstrate this [the claim that marijuana inhibits vomiting and is of medicinal value] better than a placebo? The answer is no, so that’s why you have to do research on it,” Craker said. “If clinical trials show there is no difference [in using marijuana for medical purposes] than giving somebody sugar water, then go ahead and keep it illegal.”
April 9th, 2008 by Peter Bonginelli
filed under: Medical Marijuana, News
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Rhode Island became the eleventh state to adopt legal medical marijuana in 2006, however it still remains illegal under federal law. This week Rhode Island lawmakers will hear a proposal that would expand that legislation, allowing nonprofit businesses to dispense medical marijuana to licensed patients. “Compassion Centers,” as they would be called, would be allowed to dispense up to 2.5 ounces of the drug every 15 days to a patient or their caregiver.
The major flaw Rhode Island’s current medical marijuana law faces is that it never specifies where a patient can obtain the drug, as it still remains illegal to sell marijuana in Rhode Island. This legislation aims to fix that, providing a safe and reliable source of the drug, and cutting out the need to meet with violent drug dealers.
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