Teen Marijuana Use May Show No Effect On Brain Tissue, Unlike Alcohol, Study Finds

December 22, 2012

Teen Marijuana Use May Show No Effect On Brain Tissue, Unlike Alcohol, 

Study Finds

A teen who consumes alcohol is likely to have reduced brain tissue health, but a teen who uses marijuana is not, according to a new study.

Researchers scanned the brains of 92 adolescents, ages 16 to 20, before and after an 18-month period. During that year and a half, half of the teens -- who already had extensive alcohol and marijuana-use histories -- continued to use marijuana and alcohol in varying amounts. The other half abstained or kept consumption minimal, as they had throughout adolescence.

The before-and-after brain scans of the teens consuming typically five or more drinks at least twice a week showed reduced white matter brain tissue health, study co-author Susan Tapert, neuroscientist at University of California, San Diego, told HuffPost. This may mean declines in memory, attention, and decision-making into later adolescence and adulthood, she said.

However, the level of marijuana use -- up to nine times a week during the 18 months -- was not linked to a change in brain tissue health. The researchers did not test performance; they only looked at brain scans.

The study was conducted by researchers at UC San Diego and is scheduled to be published in the April issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The damage occurs because white matter brain tissue develops throughout adolescence and into a person's 20s, Joanna Jacobus, postdoctoral fellow at the UC San Diego, and co-author of the study, told HuffPost.

Part of that still-developing brain tissue is where decision-making ability comes from, which can exacerbate substance use. "It becomes a cycle. If teens decrease their tissue health and cognitive ability to inhibit themselves, they might become more likely to engage in risky behavior like excessive substance use," Jacobus said.

While studies showing the deleterious effect of alcohol on adolescents and adults have been more consistent, studies of the effect of marijuana have not, Tapert said. "One reason is that marijuana can really vary. Different strains contain different levels of THC and other marijuana components. For example, some studies have suggested one component, cannabidiol, may actually have neuroprotective effects," she said.

The researchers are not sure why alcohol had an effect and marijuana did not. They said the study results cannot be considered definitive without more research. They also said they do not know if the reduced brain tissue health is permanent.

Still, Duncan Clark, a medical doctor who was not involved in the study and who studies teen substance abuse, said the study is valuable because similar research has only conducted a one-time test instead of tests before and after a period of substance use.

Clark, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said that because white matter brain tissue development may be the basis for greater self-control, researchers hope to be able to eventually use brain scans like those in this study to predict young individuals' likelihood of substance abuse.

Because the researchers followed the subjects for 18 months, they were able to at least partially monitor preexisting differences in the two groups. But Jacobus conceded that eliminating other factors -- such as genetics, home environment, and even minimal use of other drugs -- is very difficult.

Each teen in the study received brain imaging, a detailed substance-use assessment, and toxicology screening at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study -- as well as substance-use interviews every six months.

Tapert led another study published in 2009 that looked at people ages 12 to 14 before and after they started to drink. Tapert's team found poorer performance on tests of thinking and memory in the teens who had begun to drink. The researchers reported that alcohol particularly compromised boys' attention span, and girls' comprehension and interpretation of visual information.

While this latest study examines marijuana's effect on physical brain tissue, a Duke University study earlier this year examined the drug's effect on intelligence and performance. That study found that teens who routinely smoke marijuana before turning 18 risk a long-term drop in their IQ.

Teen use of marijuana continues to be high, while teens' perception of the drug's harmfulness is down, according to a University of Michigan study published Wednesday. Nearly 23 percent of high school seniors polled in the study said they had smoked marijuana in the month prior.

"It is clear that more research is needed into the long-term effects of marijuana on the brain," Tapert said. "Especially because use is up."

Is America's Attitude Towards Marijuana Shifting?

Since the election on Nov. 6, when San Diego voters chose a new mayor, patients in the medical marijuana arena are hoping the local landscape and political views towards the medical marijuana industry may be changing. Our local authorities can certainly see the mindset shifting across America as various states approved medical marijuana use and removed penalties for possession of small quantities.

An informative show covering the topic was aired on Dec 9 on MSNBC's The Melissa Harris-Perry Show, Is the War on Drugs Going to Pot?

Additional insightful opinions can be found on "The Dish" by Andrew Sullivan, at The Daily Beast.

Opinions from both sides of the argument are abundant. America may just be opening a dialogue on the negative effects of including marijuana as a Class A narcotic. Generations ago we decided not to include alcohol and tobacco in that class. WHY? America tried abolition and reversed that decision because of the negative effects on society, creating criminals and government with the loss of tax dollars. "Lets not anyone be fooled; tobacco is the true gateway drug!" Yet being part of the reason for the establishment of America, tobacco has a good standing in America's culture. What would our society be like if Columbus brought back marijuana?
Medimar doesn't condone either side of the debate; only for citizens to read, learn and make their own decisions. We invite your opinion on this topic.

"Teen Pot Use Stalls" Study Shows

Teen Pot Use Stalls as States Continue to Regulate Use

• by Sabrina Fendrick, NORML Women's AllianceDecember 20, 2012
      

   
  
  Despite several attempts by the media and policy makers to associate the rising number of state regulated medical marijuana programs (and popular legalization efforts) with a rise in use and a drop in associated risk, the 2012 Monitoring the Future Survey reports that there was no rise in daily or annual marijuana use among teens.  According to the report, “annual marijuana use [among 8th, 10th and 12th graders] showed no further increase in any of the three grades surveyed in 2012… [And the] daily use of marijuana…remained essentially flat.”  Also of note, despite the sharp decline in perceived risk of marijuana use across all three grades, there was a statistically significant decline of use among 8th graders.   These numbers are consistent with other recent studies showing that states with regulated marijuana programs have not seen an increase in teen use. Some have even seen a decrease in pot use among their youth population.
  “This study suggests that exposure among teens to the concept of marijuana regulation policies (one third of whom live in such states) does not cause an increase in use. It is also important to consider that a drop in perceived risk is likely associated with their rejection of the overzealous scare tactics used in most schools’ drug education programs” said Sabrina Fendrick of the NORML Women’s Alliance.
  It is important to note, however, that marijuana use rates and availability nationwide remain at relatively high levels, while alcohol use rates remain historically low.  This is most likely due to the fact that the former is illegal and thereby not subject to government controls, while the latter substance is legally restricted to adults only. The same goes for tobacco. We did not have to outlaw cigarettes to reduce the use among minors. A policy of education and regulation (not prohibition) has created an environment in which cigarette usage has fallen to an all time low.  According to the principal investigator of the study, Lloyd Johnston, “[A] lowering teen smoking rates…likely…depend[s] on…changes such as raising cigarette taxes, further limiting where smoking is permitted, bringing back broad-based anti-smoking ad campaigns, and making quit-smoking programs more available.”  It has been proven that age restrictions, coupled with the imposition of government regulation and education are the most effective at reducing youth access to adult-only recreational substances.  According to the 2011 MFS report, the drop in alcohol use can be attributed to a strict regulation scheme that include educational campaigns focusing on responsible use and age restrictions which, in turn, lowers availability.
  The report concluded; “In the 1980’s a number of states raised their minimum drinking age to twenty-one, which these researches were able to demonstrate reduced drinking.”  It goes on to say “the proportion of 8th and 10th graders who say they could get alcohol ‘fairly easily’ or ‘very easily’ had been declining since 1996 and continued to drop in all three grades in 2011.  Various other factors of likely importance include…higher beer taxes and restrictions on alcohol promotion to youth.”  The 2012 survey reported that again, “there was no increase in perceived availability of alcohol.”
  One can therefore conclude that the only sensible answer to restricting marijuana access to [as well as use among] minors is through state and local government regulation and a message of moderation.
  
  
  
  

ABC News; Cannabis Oil Pills Helped Child

News

Cannabis Oil Pills Helped Child Go Into Cancer Remission, 

Mom Says

By SYDNEY LUPKIN

Nov. 27, 2012

When 7-year-old Mykayla Comstock was diagnosed with leukemia in July, it was less than three days before her mother filed Oregon medical marijuana paperwork so the child could take lime-flavored capsules filled with cannabis oil.

The decision to give Mykayla the capsules came naturally to Erin Purchase, MyKayla's mother, who believes marijuana has healing power, but doctors aren't so sure it's a good idea.

"The first doctor was not for it at all," Purchase told ABCNews.com. "She was rude and she told us it was inappropriate. "Basically she blew up at us and told us to transfer to another facility."

They found a new doctor, who knows that Mykayla takes about a gram of cannabis oil a day -- half in the morning and half at night -- but he doesn't talk about it with them.

"This is our daughter," Purchase, 25, said. "If they don't agree with our personal choices, we'd rather they not say anything at all."

It's legal for a minor to enroll in the Oregon medical marijuana program as long as the child's parent or legal guardian consents and takes responsibility as a caregiver.

And Mykayla is not alone.

There are currently four other patients enrolled in the Oregon medical marijuana program between the ages of 4 and 9, six between the ages of 10 and 14, and 41 between the ages of 15 and 17, according to the Oregon Public Health Division. Severe pain, nausea, muscle spasms and seizures are among the top conditions cited for medical marijuana use.

Courtesy of Erin Purchase

Mykayla Comstock, 7, takes a gram of cannabis... View Full Size

Medical Marijuana for Kids Watch Video

Medical Marijuana for Kids Watch Video

Mykayla first started to feel sick in May, when she developed a rash, cough and night sweats. By mid-July, doctors found a mass in her chest and diagnosed her with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia a few days later. The family relocated from Pendleton, Ore. to Portland to be near Randall Children's Hospital for treatment, which included chemotherapy.

At first, Mykayla wasn't responding well to her treatment, and doctors said she might need a bone marrow transplant. Then she started taking the cannabis oil pills. her mother said. By early August, Mykayla was in remission and the transplant was no longer necessary.

"I don't think it's just a coincidence," Purchase said. "I credit it with helping -- at least helping -- her ridding the cancer from her body."

Before Mykayla was diagnosed, Purchase had read about another young boy with cancer who received cannabis oil for nearly two years because his parents believed it kept him alive so much that they defied doctors' orders and broke Montana law to give it to him. She said she knew it was what she would do for her children if they ever got sick.

Cash "Cashy" Hyde died Nov. 14 at four years old, but his parents say he was never in any pain because of the oil.

Read more about Cash and his parents.

Purchase said she, too, uses medical marijuana. She said it has helped with her kidney and liver disease since 2010, adding, "I feel that it saved my life"

However, Dr. Donna Seger, the executive director of the Tennessee Poison Center and a professor at Vanderbilt University, said cannabis has no effect on liver or kidney function, and it does not cure cancer.

"If it does anything, it decreases immunity," she said. "It doesn't fight cancer."

Dr. Igor Grant, who directs the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research in San Diego, said he's never studied marijuana's effects on children and it's not clear how the pills will affect Mykayla's development if she takes the drugs daily for a period of months or years.

"It's always a tricky issue prescribing really a medication of any kind to developing organisms because they may be more sensitive to the effects, specifically if the prescription drug has an effect on the brain," Grant said.

He said there have been basic laboratory studies that suggest pot slows cancer cells' ability to change, but those studies are only theoretical. They include no clinical data and or animal data.

The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes treating children with medical marijuana.

"The issue is that marijuana isn't a medicine," Dr. Sharon Levy, of the AAP, told the Oregonian.

Seger said she has several concerns about a 7-year-old taking pills filled with cannabis oil because there is little research on its long-term effects on children. Cannabis could have potentially negative effects on cognitive development in children since it affects cognitive ability in adults.

But Purchase said she wasn't afraid to give her daughter the pills last summer. She was a little nervous about determining the right dose. She and her fiancé, Brandon Krenzler, who helped raise Mykayla since she was 3 years old, started MyKayla with .07-gram doses.

Medical Marijuana for Kids Watch Video

Medical Marijuana for Kids Watch Video

"It took a while to get her adjusted to it," Purchase said. "She acted more funny when she first started taking it and after a while gained tolerance. Now, when she takes it, you can't even tell. She's very normal."

Purchase said she knew she'd done the right thing the day Mykayla missed a dose of her cannabis oil pills and her 17-month old sister walked into a room holding string cheese. The smell made Mykayla so sick that she threw up on the spot.

"She actually asked for her dose," Purchase said, adding that she's less perky without it. "She doesn't use pain pills or nausea pills. She has not even lost a single pound since her diagnosis."

Dr. Michel Dubois, who works in NYU Langone's Pain Management Center, said using cannabis is still controversial because of its side effects and addictive qualities.

"This is a new ethical problem because you've got a medication, which is known to have psychoactive affects, approved by the parents and given to a child," he said, adding that the child doesn't have much choice in the matter. (Psychoactive drugs disrupt communication in the brain and alter normal awareness, behavior and mood, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.)

Dubois said it would be better to give a child other drugs for nausea because the cannabis oil likely contains at least 50 or 60 different chemicals with unknown long-term health effects. If Mykayla's life expectancy is limited, her risk of toxicity will also be limited. However, if she is expected to make a full recovery, Dubois said there is a worry that the cannabis will add health problems later on.

He said the cannabis shouldn't be used for more than a month or two.

Although Mykayla's doctors told Purchase she was in remission on Aug. 6 when her blood cell counts returned to normal, Mykayla will undergo two and a half or three more years of chemotherapy so that she can one day be officially cured, Purchase said. That could mean years of more medical marijuana.

Give Pot A Chance; reposted from the N.Y. Times

TIMOTHY EGAN November 22, 2012, 9:00 pm

Give Pot a Chance

By TIMOTHY EGAN

Timothy Eganon American politics and life, as seen from the West.

TAGS:

COLORADO, MARIJAUNA LEGALIZATION, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION,WASHINGTON

SEATTLE – In two weeks, adults in this state will no longer be arrested or incarcerated for something that nearly 30 million Americans did last year. For the first time since prohibition began 75 years ago, recreational marijuana use will be legal; the misery-inducing crusade to lock up thousands of ordinary people has at last been seen, by a majority of voters in this state and in Colorado, for what it is: a monumental failure.

That is, unless the Obama administration steps in with an injunction, as it has threatened to in the past, against common sense. For what stands between ending this absurd front in the dead-ender war on drugs and the status quo is the federal government. It could intervene, citing the supremacy of federal law that still classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug.

But it shouldn’t. Social revolutions in a democracy, especially ones that begin with voters, should not be lightly dismissed. Forget all the lame jokes about Cheetos and Cheech and Chong. In the two-and-a-half weeks since a pair of progressive Western states sent a message that arresting 853,000 people a year for marijuana offenses is an insult to a country built on individual freedom, a whiff of positive, even monumental change is in the air.

In Mexico, where about 60,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence, political leaders are voicing cautious optimism that the tide could turn for the better. What happens when the United States, the largest consumer of drugs in the world, suddenly opts out of a black market that is the source of gangland death and corruption? That question, in small part, may now be answered.

Prosecutors in Washington and Colorado have announced they are dropping cases, effective immediately, against people for pot possession. I’ve heard from a couple of friends who are police officers, and guess what: they have a lot more to do than chase around recreational drug users.

Maine (ever-sensible Maine!) and Iowa, where the political soil is uniquely suited to good ideas, are looking to follow the Westerners. Within a few years, it seems likely that a dozen or more states will do so as well.

And for one more added measure of good karma, on Election Day, Representative Dan Lungren, nine-term Republican from California and a tired old drug warrior who backed some of the most draconian penalties against his fellow citizens, was ousted from office.

But there remains the big question of how President Obama will handle the cannabis spring. So far, he and Attorney General Eric Holder have been silent. I take that as a good sign, and certainly a departure from the hard-line position they took when California voters were considering legalization a few years ago. But if they need additional nudging, here are three reasons to let reason stand:

Hypocrisy. Popular culture and the sports-industrial complex would collapse without all the legal drugs that promise to extend erections, reduce inhibitions and keep people awake all night. I’m talking to you, Viagra, alcohol and high-potency energy drinks. Worse, perhaps, is the $25 billion nutritional supplement industry, offerings pills that make exaggerated health claims and steroid-based hormones that can have significant bad consequences. The corporate cartels behind these products get away with minimal regulation because of powerful backers like Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.

In two years through 2011, more than 2,200 serious illnesses, including 33 fatalities, were reported by consumers of nutritional supplements. Federal officials have received reports of 13 deaths and 92 serious medical events from Five Hour Energy. And how many people died of marijuana ingestion? Of course, just because well-marketed, potentially hazardous potions are legal is no argument to bring pot onto retail shelves. But it’s hard to make a case for fairness when one person’s method of relaxation is cause for arrest while another’s lands him on a Monday night football ad.

Tax and regulate. Already, 18 states and the District of Columbia allow medical use of marijuana. This chaotic and unregulated system has resulted in price-gouging, phony prescriptions and outright scams. No wonder the pot dispensaries have opposed legalization — it could put them out of business.

Washington State officials estimate that taxation and regulation of licensed marijuana retail stores will generate $532 million in new revenue every year. Expand that number nationwide, and then also add into the mix all the wasted billions now spent investigating and prosecuting marijuana cases.

With pot out of the black market, states can have a serious discussion about use and abuse. The model is the campaign against drunk driving, which has made tremendous strides and saved countless lives at a time when alcohol is easier to get than ever before. Education, without one-sided moralizing, works.

Lead. That’s what transformative presidents do. From his years as a community organizer — and a young man whose own recreational drug use could have made him just another number in lockup — Obama knows well that racial minorities are disproportionately jailed for these crimes. With 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has 25 percent of its prisoners — and about 500,000 of them are behind bars for drug offenses. On cost alone — up to $60,000 a year, to taxpayers, per prisoner — this is unsustainable.

Obama is uniquely suited to make the argument for change. On this issue, he’ll have support from the libertarian right and the humanitarian left. The question is not the backing — it’s whether the president will have the backbone.

Medimar doesn't necessarily agree with this article but reposts it as a public service.

SafeAccess; Election Results and Appellate Decision

FOUR BALLOT INITIATIVES FAIL TO SECURE THE RIGHTS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES TO EXIST IN FOUR SAN DIEGO CITIES WHILE A LANDMARK CA. APPELLATE COURT DECISION DEFINES DISPENSARIES AS LEGAL

By: Terrie Best  - San Diego Americans for Safe AccessSan Diego CA - Hidden in the clouds of vapor in some reporter’s desk is a story whose magnitude was almost missed in the hubbub of the 2012 presidential election. On October 24th, 2012, the Fourth District Court of Appeals in San Diego overturned a medical marijuana dispensary operator’s guilty verdict, ruling that storefront dispensaries are legal under certain circumstances. The published decision created case law with clear direction on those circumstances, thereby defining the legality of store front medical marijuana dispensaries.

The People v Jovan Jackson appellate decision emphatically rejected the idea that medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal; it also provided elements for a defense to dispensary operators who are often victimized by law enforcement unwilling to investigate whether the operators they target abided state medical marijuana law.

The San Diego District Attorney (DA) and failed mayoral candidate, Bonnie Dumanis’ modus operandi has been to charge all dispensary operators with crimes, making no attempt to apply the state’s medical marijuana laws in her investigations. She relies on her own interpretation of the law (interpretations that have been squarely rejected by appellate courts throughout the state), questionable tactics designed to keep evidence from jurors’ eyes, and continues to prosecute case after case, at great public expense.
MORE;

Legal Confusion Over Medical Marijuana In Southern California Continues

Great thorough article posted at "The Weed Blog"

Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research

The purpose of the Center is to coordinate rigorous scientific studies to assess the safety and efficacy of cannabis and cannabis compounds for treating medical conditions. The funding of the CMCR is the result of SB 847 (Vasconcellos), passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Gray Davis. The legislation calls for a three year program overseeing objective, high quality medical research that will "enhance understanding of the efficacy and adverse effects of marijuana as a pharmacological agent," stressing that the project "should not be construed as encouraging or sanctioning the social or recreational use of marijuana" (SB 847).
Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research

This site has extensive research which may answer many questions concerning medical marijuana. The Medimar Clinic urges its patients or others who may be considering treatment using medical marijuana, to do extensive research.

San Diego Dispensaries and Cooperatives

Your computer is the best tool for finding local dispensaries providing medical marijuana.

Where To Find Cooperatives and Dispensaries

Google; Medical Marijuana San Diego
Weedmaps.com
Ca Norml
Pot Locators

 What are Dispensaries and Cooperatives?  From the Ca NORML site;

COLLECTIVES AND COOPERATIVES

State law explicitly allows distribution of medical marijuana through non-profit "collectives" or "cooperatives." This is the way storefront dispensaries should be organized. While some dispensaries are currently organized otherwise, as sole proprietorships, partnerships, or for-profit businesses, such arrangements are not advisable, since they are not permitted under SB 420 or the Attorney General's guidelines.

Cooperatives" are explicitly defined in California law. Cooperatives must file articles of incorporation with the state and be organized in accordance with provisions spelled out in the state Corporations or Food and Agriculture code. Prospective cooperatives should be set up in consultation with a business attorney.

"Collectives" are not defined in statutory law. According to the Attorney General's guidelines :

"A collective should be an organization that merely facilitates the collaborative efforts of patient and caregiver members – including the allocation of costs and revenues. As such, a collective is not a statutory entity, but as a practical matter it might have to organize as some form of business to carry out its activities. The collective should not purchase marijuana from, or sell to, non-members; instead, it should only provide a means for facilitating or coordinating transactions between members."<

One might infer that "collective" refers to any organization of multiple patients. Unfortunately, the guidelines provide no explanation as to how these should operate. Presumably, the basic model is a group of patients and caregivers who plant a garden together and share the crop among themselves. The cultivation collective model does not necessarily envision walk-in clients, nor retail sales of medicine to members. Collectives may be supported by participation in work, donations or membership fees. Under one model, patients pay a set gardening fee for a certain part of the crop, and receive the harvest at no further charge.<

A notable example of a patients' collective is the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuanain Santa Cruz.  WAMM has 200 seriously  ill members  who cultivate a collective garden and attend to each others' health and personal needs.  

Two examples of patients' providers officially structured as cooperative corporations under California law were the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative and Los Angeles Cannabis Research Center. Both might have been legal under SB 420, but they were shut down by the federal government.

The legality of collectives and cooperatives under state law was upheld by the Third District Court of Appeals in the 2005 Urziceanu decision. The Court ruled that while Prop. 215 did not authorize distribution by anyone except primary caregivers, SB 420 allowed for distribution among patients and caregivers through collectives and cooperatives.

You may always call Medimar 877-627-1644, for assistance. By Law we are prohibited from favoring any particular business.

HIPAA Health Information Privacy

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

Health Information Privacy

The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information; the HIPAA Security Rule, which sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information; and the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule, which protect identifiable information being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules

Learn about the Rules' protection of individually identifiable health information, the rights granted to individuals, OCR’s enforcement activities, and how to file a complaint with OCR.

Understanding Health Information Privacy

The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so that it permits the disclosure of personal health information needed for patient care and other important purposes.
The Security Rule specifies a series of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for covered entities to use to assure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information.

This information is taken from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Website. Medimar encourages all their patients to do research and ask questions either of the Medimar staff or at HHS.

Dumanis Raiding Dispensaries

Apparently upset over an Appellate Court ruling, Bonnie Dumanis and local law enforcement authorites have gone on a rampage of raids at dispensaries and storefront collectives.
 Read about it!

Safe Accesss San Diego

San Diego Reader

SF Weekly

E News Park Forest

89.3 KPCC

Montel Williams; Arkansas Marijuana Ads

Montel Williams says Ad opposing legal marijuana shops in Arkansas is racist

Posted by Skunk on Oct 21st, 2012 in Stoner News | 0 comments

Talk show host Montel Williams took exception to an ad that opposes legal marijuana shops in Arkansas, calling it racist and false while speaking to a crowd gathered in front of the state capitol in Little Rock on Thursday. “Offensive is really an understatement. It’s the most egregiously racist, false statement you’ve ever seen in your life,” he said. “They’ve (got) people sitting in a picture holding guns, talking about medical marijuana, and of course they happen to be of different colors to make sure you’re as irritated and angry as you can be,” he added.
According to E! Online, Williams “has openly expressed his support for medical marijuana, which he says he uses to treat symptoms of his multiple sclerosis in New York.” The ad that has Williams worked up was sponsored by the Family Council Action Committee, a conservative group who paid $1,000 for 30 seconds of airtime and unsuccessfully sued to get legalizing medical marijuana off the Arkansas ballot. At one point, the ad shows a black actor filling bags with marijuana while sitting at a table with guns. The ad also shows white actors portraying marijuana users.
“The grass-growers and dope dealers would be in charge,” a narrator says in the ad. “Arkansas doesn’t need a state filled with stoned-out zombies, or the criminal activities that come from legalizing controlled substances.” But Jerry Cox, the head of the Family Council Action Committee, denied any racial overtones.
“Sure, he wanted to seize on that, but that’s not the message we’re sending,” he said. “We’re sending a message that this harmful act is going to affect every family in this state if it passes.” “The Arkansas measure would allow patients with qualifying conditions to buy marijuana from nonprofit dispensaries with a doctor’s recommendation. If approved, Arkansas would become the first Southern state to legalize medical marijuana,” the Washington Post reported.

Here at Medimar we believe the Family Council Action Committee should examine its perspective on its claims to every family in Arkansas. California has had legal medical marijuana for 10 years and complete decriminalized possession for several years. It hasn't effected families in a negative manner. California is still the worlds 7th largest economy; was before medical marijuana and still is growing. Now our citizens have lower medical costs. The FCAC is hoping to scare the electorate of Arkansas. As with all their campaigns, they play on peoples fears and ignorance.

Additional Coverage; 
Washington Post;    http://wapo.st/QTTEv5
theGrio;    http://bit.ly/RUho2W

U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Challenge

U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Challenge to DEA Rejection of Medical Marijuana Rescheduling - October 16, 2012

Posted October 15th, 2012 by canorml_admin

California NORML Release
Washington DC, Oct 16th - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments in a case challenging the Drug Enforcement Administration's rejection of a petition to remove marijuana from Schedule I, the most dangerous category of drugs for which no medical use is recognized.
The lawsuit, filed by Americans for Safe Access, stems from a rescheduling petition that was filed in 2002 by the Coalition to Reschedule Cannabis with participation from California NORML and NORML. The petition was rejected by the DEA in 2011 after applicants sued the agency for unreasonable regulatory delay.
In its decision, the DEA summarily discounted substantial scientific evidence showing that cannabis has medical efficacy. The agency has held that only expensive, "Phase 3" FDA efficacy studies are acceptable, while at the same making such studies impossible by blocking approval of the necessary research facilities.
Congress originally put marijuana in Schedule I when it passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, on the understanding that it would be rescheduled in light of the findings of the Presidential Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. The Commission's advice was disregarded after it recommended that marijuana be entirely decriminalized.
NORML then filed a petition to reschedule marijuana for medical use in 1972. The petition was ultimately rejected in 1991, after the DEA overrode the determination of its own administrative law judge, Francis Young, that marijuana's medical benefits were "clear beyond question."
The CRC filed a new petition in 2002, arguing that marijuana's medical value had been proven by new evidence, as well as by the approval of medical cannabis laws in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, California established a $9 million medical marijuana research program at the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at U.C. San Diego. The program found marijuana to be effective in four out of four FDA-approved trials for neuropathic pain and multiple sclerosis.  The CMCR's director, Dr. Igor Grant, has called marijuana's Schedule I status "untenable."
"The DEA's obstruction of medical marijuana represents the worst kind of regulatory dysfunction by self-serving drug bureaucrats," comments Cal NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer. "The evidence is now overwhelming that marijuana can be an effective, affordable substitute for many more dangerous and costly, yet legal, prescription drugs. If the government can't get medical marijuana straight, how can we expect it to manage national health care?"
Release by Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML / CRC - www.canorml.org
Further info: The Cannabis Rescheduling Petition: An Introduction from DrugScience.org
Safe Access Now release
Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research
Dale Gieringer - dale@canorml.org
California NORML www.canorml.org
510-540-1066 / FAX 510-849-3974

Appellate Court To Hear Dispensary Case

Advocates fight to overturn a wrongful conviction and preserve the right to a medical marijuana defense

Here is another news story of a case which is happening now in San Diego. We posted a link to a story last week and this is another; Opposing View. 
Medimar Clinic is highly concerned with the rights of patients. The voters of California have voted twice to permit residents the right to use marijuana to treat their ailments. Only a small percentage of Californians do not agree with this right. This story and related news stories show that some people who are against the rights of citizens have obtained the position of District Attorney and Judge. Fortunately, there are organizations such as Americans for Safe Access and N.O.R.M.L. and many private attorneys who fight for citizens rights.

Medimar Clinic encourages its patients and all those interested in the subject of medical marijuana to research the facts and keep educated on the law and your rights.

More San Diegans May Get To Vote On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

From KPBS;  SAN DIEGO — Voters in yet another San Diego city may get the chance to decide whether to allowmedical marijuana dispensaries. La Mesa may be the next town to put the issue on a future ballot.

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Above: The Mother Earth Alternative Healing Cooperative, the last licensed medical marijuana co-op in San Diego County.

The group Citizens for Patients Rights helped place medical marijuana dispensaries on the fall ballot in local cites. The group says it has in turned more than 6,500 signatures on a petition for a similar initiative to the La Mesa City Clerk.

Voters in Lemon Grove, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Imperial Beach will weigh in on dispensaries next month. Voters in Encinitas will face the issue in 2014.

But there's a rub. What ever happens at the ballot box, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy says she'll continue to enforce the federal ban on marijuana. That means she could force all dispensaries to shut down.

The Los Angeles City Council just repealed its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. As a result, an estimated 1,000 L.A. storefronts are now unregulated.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/oct/08/more-san-diegans-may-get-vote-medical-marijuana-di/

Pot compound seen as tool against cancer

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle Sept. 18, 2012

Marijuana, already shown to reduce pain and nausea in cancer patients, may be promising as a cancer-fighting agent against some of the most aggressive forms of the disease.
A growing body of early research shows a compound found in marijuana - one that does not produce the plant's psychotropic high - seems to have the ability to "turn off" the activity of a gene responsible for metastasis in breast and other types of cancers.
Two scientists at San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute first released data five years ago that showed how this compound - called cannabidiol - reduced the aggressiveness of human breast cancer cells in the lab.
Last year, they published a small study that showed it had a similar effect on mice. Now, the researchers are on the cusp of releasing data, also on animals, that expands upon these results, and hope to move forward as soon as possible with human clinical trials.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Pot-compound-seen-as-tool-against-cancer-3875562.php#ixzz2785hns4p

Vaporization

An alternative to smoking medical marijuana is to vaporize it. This heats the herb to the point where the chemical properties are released in a vapor, then inhaled. The negative effects from smoke are reduced or eliminated. There is great research on this subject.

From the Ca Norml website;  http://www.canorml.org/health/vaporizers

Vaporization is a technique for avoiding irritating respiratory toxins in marijuana smoke by heating cannabis to a temperature where the psychoactive ingredients evaporate without causing combustion.
Laboratory studies by California NORML and MAPS have found that vaporizers can efficiently deliver cannabinoids while eliminating or drastically reducing other smoke toxins.
Like tobacco, marijuana smoke contains toxins that are known to be hazardous to the respiratory system. Among them are the highly carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, a prime suspect in cigarette-related cancers. These toxins are essentially a byproduct of combustion, separate from the pharmaceutically active components of marijuana, known as cannabinoids, which include THC. Although there is no proof that marijuana smoking causes cancer, chronic pot smokers have been shown to suffer an elevated risk of bronchitis and respiratory infections. Respiratory disease due to smoking may therefore rightly be regarded as the primary physiological hazard of marijuana.
Cannabis vaporizers are designed to let users inhale active cannabinoids while avoiding harmful smoke toxins. They do so by heating cannabis to a temperature of 180 - 200° C (356° - 392° F), just below the point of combustion where smoke is produced. At this point, THC and other medically active cannabinoids are emitted with little or none of the carcinogenic tars and noxious gases found in smoke. Many medical marijuana patients who find smoked marijuana highly irritating report effective relief inhaling through vaporizers. Users who are concerned about the respiratory hazards of smoking are strongly advised to use vaporizers. Alternative devices, such as waterpipes, have been shown to be ineffective at reducing the tars in marijuana smoke (Report).

Other Reports

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporizer_%28cannabis%29
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4948.html
http://www.maps.org/research/mmj/

 Commercial sites for shopping Vaporizers;

http://marijuanavaporizer.com/
http://www.atmosrx.com/all-vaporizers.html
http://thebestvaporizer.blogspot.com/2009/04/best-vaporizer-temperature-for.html
http://www.420vaporizers.com/

As always, we are happy to learn from our readers. If you know of any topic, website or educational material to assist our medical marijuana patients, please post.

The Medimar Staff