'axe-murdering, male breast enlargement, amotivational syndrome'
stopthedrugwar.org
May27th 2006

A new study by researchers at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine led by Dr. Donald Tashkin, a prominent marijuana researcher, has found no link between marijuana smoking and lung cancer. While smoking cigarettes greatly increases the risk of lung cancer, smoking marijuana did not appear to have any effect, the study found.

""We know that there are as many or more carcinogens and co-carcinogens in marijuana smoke as in cigarettes," said Tashkin. "But we did not find any evidence for an increase in cancer risk for even heavy marijuana smoking."

The study involved more than 600 lung cancer patients, more than 600 patients with other head and neck cancers, and a control group of more than 1000 people without cancer.

Previous studies had found high levels of carcinogens in pot smoke. Given that users tend to inhale deeply, researchers theorized that they were at increased risk of cancer. But the study found that even heavy marijuana users -- more than 22,000 joints smoked -- had no elevated risk of lung cancer.

We can now add lung cancer to the seemingly endless list of things marijuana has actually not been found to cause, government claims to the contrary: axe-murdering, male breast enlargement, amotivational syndrome, brain damage, the urge to use other drugs...

More and more patients with chronic and terminal illnesses are turning to cannabis in an attempt to ease their pain and the side effects of treatments. It is estimated that the number of patients who use the drug for therapeutic reasons increases by 20 per cent every year although figures are not reliable as the sale of the drug and its consumption in public are illegal.Pro-cannabis associations explain that patients normally try the drug when other more traditional medicines and therapies fail. The majority suffer illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, migraine, tumours or arthritis or are undergoing chemotherapy.The Andalusian Health Service (SAS) is currently studying the therapeutic use of cannabis to evaluate its potential risks and effectiveness, with the aim of improving the quality of life of sufferers. This would be a preliminary stage to a debate regarding the drug’s legalisation, More....

Cannabis 'not linked to lung cancer'
Theaustralian.news
May 24th 2006

Cannabis smoking does not increase a person's risk of developing lung cancer, according to the findings of a new study at the University of California Los Angeles that surprised even the researchers.
They had expected to find that a history of heavy marijuana use, like cigarette smoking, would increase the risk of cancer. Instead, the study, which compared the lifestyles of 611 Los Angeles County lung cancer patients and 601 patients with head and neck cancers with those of 1,040 people without cancer, found no elevated cancer risk for even the heaviest pot smokers. It did find a 20-fold increased risk of lung cancer in people who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day, Full Link....

The use of marijuana for medical purposes has been debated for many years. While some consider the plant to be a phenomenal ailment reliever, others believe that the psychoactive and harmful effects overpower the possible benefits. In the most recent chain of events, on April 20, the FDA rejected medical use for marijuana. Although a number of states have passed legislation allowing for marijuana to be used medically, the FDA says that these laws are inconsistent with the new rulings. Canada has taken a different route from the U.S., however, and has allowed for medical testing and prescription use of the substance. Canadian researchers have recently discovered that marijuana can cause the neurons in the brain to regenerate, Full Comment....

'kind of tells you what's going on'
Mark Hedlund
News10.net
April 20th 2006

After a complaint by a Sacramento City Council member, federal drug agents have raided a medical marijuana dispensary, the first such raid within the city limits.Drug Enforcement Administration agents swept into the storefront at 2020 16th Street around 9:30 a.m. and, according to witnesses, held three employees inside at gunpoint and made them lie on the floor. With a federal search warrant, DEA Special Agent in Charge Gordon Taylor said they seized "several pounds of marijuana" as well as $48,000 in cash."That just shows you how much money is made in these operations," said Taylor. No arrests were made, but Taylor said two other search warrants were served at the homes of the two owners. "Our investigation is continuing," said Taylor, who wouldn't identify the owners, Full Raid.....

9-in-10 drug users who are on methadone to wean them off heroin continue to use cannabis, and some also use cocaine regularly, according to new research. A study of multi-drug use among methadone-treated patients of the Health Service Executive (HSE), North Dublin, found: Of more than three-quarters of methadone patients with a history of cocaine use, more than one-third had used it within the last month. 12% of methadone users were also using cocaine daily. More than four-in-10 were using cannabis daily and two-in-10 were using it once or twice a week. A significant proportion of participants with a high frequency of cocaine use was also using cannabis on a daily basis. Over 70% of the participants were receiving a medium to high daily dose of methadone. More..

'drugs fell into the wrong hands'
News2020.com
April 15th 2006

Emeryville> The city paid $15,000 to a medical marijuana user to settle a lawsuit accusing police of illegally seizing his pot plants, which were later stolen. James Blair of Emeryville said police refused to return 30 full-sized marijuana plants and equipment, including lamps and air filters that were seized in a December 2003 raid. Prosecutors dropped criminal charges against Blair, who uses marijuana legally to alleviate neck pain. In early 2004, thieves broke into an evidence storage cage and stole $35,000 worth of evidence from a number of cases, including some of Blair's plants.
Blair said it was ironic that the same plants that were taken from a legal user of the drug fell into the wrong hands.

Contra Costa County and Alameda County supervisors on Tuesday took divergent steps down a previously charted -- and largely parallel -- path toward the local future of medical marijuana. The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors agreed to place an urgency moratorium on any new medical marijuana dispensaries in the county's unincorporated areas. That action comes after County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema, the sponsor of the moratorium, heard dispensaries might soon open in Pacheco, Rodeo and an unspecified East County location. On the other hand, Alameda County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a contract for an outside company to provide identification cards to that county's medical marijuana users. More...

'Lynn Nofziger died at age 81'
Stopthedrugwar.org
April 8th 2006

Long-time conservative consultant Lynn Nofziger died at age 81 in his Falls Church, Virginia, home March 27. Nofziger made his name as an aide to Ronald Reagan, first in California and then in the Reagan White House.

But while Nofziger helped bring us the "Just Say No" Reagan administration war on drugs, family tragedy brought him around on at least one drug policy issue: medical marijuana. When cancer struck and ultimately killed his daughter, Nofziger spoke out in support of allowing patients to use marijuana.

"When our daughter was undergoing chemotherapy for lymph cancer, she was sick and vomiting constantly as a result of her treatments," Nofziger wrote in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post in the late 1990s. "No legal drugs, including Marinol, helped her. We finally turned to marijuana. With it, she kept her food down, was comfortable and even gained weight. Those who say Marinol and other drugs are satisfactory substitutes for marijuana may be right in some cases but certainly not in all cases. If doctors can prescribe morphine and other addictive medicines, it makes no sense to deny marijuana to sick and dying patients when it can be provided on a carefully controlled, prescription basis."Nofziger continued to speak out on the issue, going so far as to address a 2002 Capitol Hill news conference supporting a federal medical marijuana bill introduced by Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). He told the press conference about his daughter's struggle and how marijuana helped. "Based on this, I've become an advocate of medical marijuana," he said. "It is truly compassionate. I sincerely hope the administration can get behind this bill."

Nofziger, always a movement conservative, used the Frank bill to attack President Bush on both states' rights and compassionate grounds. "It seems to me that the very definition of compassionate conservatism should convince President Bush to support legislation that would allow states to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes," he wrote. "In fact, if the president understands the meaning of those two words ('compassionate conservative'), not to support Frank is to reject the philosophy for which he says he stands and on which he ran for president."

By helping to elect Ronald Reagan, Lyn Nofziger shares responsibility for unleashing the Reagan drug war on America. But when faced with family tragedy, he was able to see the light -- at least on medical marijuana.

moratorium extened on cannabis clubs''
Tom Lochner
Mercurynews.com
April 5th 2006

The Pinole City Council on Tuesday extended a moratorium on the opening of cannabis clubs for an extra year, after the city attorney advised waiting for the tension between federal and state law over marijuana to be resolved. When that might happen is hard to say.California voters in 1996 approved the medical use of marijuana on the recommendation of a doctor. Federal law classifies marijuana as an illegal drug with no medical use. In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the federal government can prosecute medical marijuana users and dispensers even if they act in accordance with state law, More...........

Dispensary battling to stay open
K Kaufmann
Thedesertsun.com
March 26th 2006

Tensions are once again mounting in the ongoing battle of nerves between Palm Desert and CannaHelp, the city's medical marijuana dispensary on El Paseo. On Feb. 23, owner Stacy Hochanadel staved off an effort to revoke his business license by agreeing to require all his clients to have a state-issued medical marijuana identification card within 30 days. Under California's medical marijuana law, the cards are voluntary, but Hochanadel agreed to the requirement to defuse concerns about verifying that CannaHelp clients are qualified medical marijuana patients, Full Tale....

'doctor prescribing' cannabis for pain-riddled patients' 'nice'
Kerry McQueeney
Croydonguardian.co.uk
March 22nd 2006

A Croydon doctor has been prescribing' cannabis for pain-riddled patients who are no longer responding to conventional medicine, a mum-of-two claimed this week. The doctor who the Croydon Guardian is not naming has suggested patients suffering from acute and debilitating pain try the class C drug in place of legal medication.One of the doctor's patients claims she is one of many now using cannabis as an effective painkiller thanks to the off-the-record advice. The 52-year-old says she smokes cannabis joints' and swallows cannabis capsules every day to control the near-constant pain she is in, Full Pain....

'cannabinoids might well promote wound healing'
Dailyrecord.co.uk
March 22nd 2006

Cannabis may help combat problems such as intestinal ulcers and Crohn's disease. Researchers said they found the drug helped the surface cells of the bowel survive in laboratory experiments. Drugs expert Dr Karen Wright, of Bath University, said: "That means that cannabinoids might well promote wound healing in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. "We don't know how they do this but they are probably promoting the closure of the wound." She said the team were planning a clinical trial.

Auburn> Calif.>Medical marijuana crusader Steven Wynn Kubby was ordered to return to jail Wednesday to serve a 60-day sentence for violating probation when he moved to Canada to avoid serving time for a drug conviction. Kubby was released from the Placer County Jail on March 6 after serving a third of his 120-day sentence, because of good behavior and overcrowding at the jail. Superior Court Judge Robert McElhany imposed the new sentence Tuesday. Kubby fled to Canada in 2001, saying he could die in jail without access to the medical marijuana he uses to treat a rare form of adrenal cancer, More......

Federal agents raided a Sky Valley house Tuesday owned by a man who says he grows marijuana for patients of a Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary. No arrests were made in the morning sweep of Garry Silva's Dowell Lane residence. However, agents armed with a federal search warrant did confiscate "guns and a quantity of marijuana," said Sarah Fenno Beers, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Though not the first raid of its kind in California, the incident is significant. Experts say it brings an ongoing national debate over the legitimacy of medical marijuana - and the contradictions in federal and state law about this issue - into sharp relief for Coachella Valley residents, Full Raid.....

Marijuana enthusiasts may have to wait a little longer for legislation removing a criminal record for any person caught with an ounce or less of the illegal, yet commonly used substance. Like secondhand smoke, the proposed legislation has floated about the halls of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for a few months. However, according to state Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, that's where it will remain. Currently the legislation is in "study," or a sort of limbo where legislators may reconsider it in the future, More.......

'moratorium expires April 17th'
Mark Abramson
Lompocrecord.com
March 7th 2006

Lompoc council members could decide Tuesday night how to proceed with the city's moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. City Attorney Sharon Stuart will present the council with several options about the dicey issue at a 7 p.m. meeting in City Hall, 100 Civic Center Plaza. The moratorium that prohibits medicinal marijuana dispensaries in town expires April 17. Although the 1996 passage of the state's Proposition 215 allows medicinal marijuana dispensaries, the use of medical marijuana and dispensaries violates federal laws, Stuart said in her staff report, More....

Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Greg Miller
Columbiatribune.com
March 6th 2006

Gary Davey smokes marijuana and credits the drug with relieving pain from injuries he received in a head-on collision that shattered most of his bones from the waist down and confined him to a wheelchair in 1989."The benefit that is available to these people is incredible," Davey said, referring to the use of marijuana. "There were times I literally couldn’t work." Full Policy....

A bill filed in the Missouri House of Representatives reopens the debate about medical marijuana. Rep. Tom Villa, D-St. Louis, is sponsoring the bill, filed Tuesday, that would allow doctors statewide to prescribe marijuana for patients with serious medical conditions. It is similar to medical marijuana proposals filed in Missouri’s General Assembly in years past. Eleven other states have passed similar bills. Under the bill, Missouri patients, through their physicians, would contact the state health department to receive an authorization card, which would show that they have a doctor’s approval to use the drug, More.....

As the planting season nears, medical marijuana patients on fixed incomes could be hard-pressed for the money it takes to operate an indoor growing system, required under a city ordinance passed last year. The Ukiah City Council in July voted to adopt recommendations from the city's Planning Commission and finalize a marijuana cultivation ordinance. On Feb. 1, because of concerns over privacy issues, safety issues, air quality and odor issues, the City Council voted to confirm its stance that all cultivation take place indoors. The city's definition of "indoors" directly means within a "fully enclosed and secure structure," More......

Julie Falco came to Springfield last week for the third year in a row to persuade lawmakers to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. With her, she brought a Tupperware container with marijuana-laced brownies and “popped them right in the room.” That drew reactions – “most of them were grins or something’s up” looks, she said - from people in the hearing room.“I would not have been able to testify in front of the Senate (committee) if I did not have my cannabis because I get very sensitive to really loud atmosphere, a lot of people, a lot of movement,” said Falco, a Chicago resident who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 20 years ago. “It’s just too much on my nervous system.” Full Momentum......

Lyle Craker has never seen a live marijuana plant. But the medicinal plant and herb scientist, who has been a professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for more than 35 years, has found himself in a haze of legal battles with the government for the chance to grow cannabis for US researchers, Full Research.....

Tuolumne County supervisors will consider tomorrow whether to follow or challenge a state mandate to create a registration program for medical marijuana users. A state law passed in 2003 requires California counties to have a program for issuing identification cards to qualified medical pot patients. To date, 15 counties are participating in the registration program, Full Challenge...

San-Francisco> The nation's largest medical marijuana advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access, is challenging a court ruling that allows California companies to fire workers who use the drug with a doctor's prescription. The ASA filed its brief with the California Supreme Court. Attorney Joe Elford contends the law allows "discrimination that makes medical marijuana users second-class citizens. The plaintiff in the case is Gary Ross, a 43-year-old veteran who has been prescribed marijuana for injuries he said he suffered while in the Air Force. Ross said he never uses marijuana on the job.

'pot-growing Ukiahans'
Seth Freedland
Ukiahdailyjournal.com
Feb 5th 2006

The Ukiah City Council's ongoing modification of its marijuana cultivation ordinance took another divergent leap Wednesday, when the council voted to require that all cultivation take place indoors. The council members chose to focus on the public safety and quality of life concerns neighbors of pot-growing Ukiahans have delivered to city staff. After four months of administering the ordinance, Full Grow.....

A Regina AIDS patient who uses marijuana for medicinal purposes has been charged with illegally growing the drug. Police showed up at Tom Shapiro's Regina home on Tuesday with a search warrant and seized his marijuana grow equipment and his plants. Shapiro, who uses marijuana to reduce nausea as part of his AIDS treatment, is blaming his police problems on Health Canada, which licenses people to grow and use medicinal, Full Nausea......

The Dutch city of Groningen looks set to open the Netherlands' first pharmacy totally dedicated to providing high quality cannabis for pain relief at affordable prices, it was reported today. Although cannabis is readily available in Dutch coffee shops, the foundation for Medicinal Cannabis Netherlands, a support group for patients, intends launching a pharmacy in the northern Dutch city so people can have access to high-grade cannabis for medical use, the NRC Handelsblad newspaper said, Full Relief.....

The city of Santa Cruz and a local medical marijuana collective on Tuesday asked a federal court in San Jose to approve the city's plan to provide marijuana directly to sick and dying patients.The amended complaint represents a renewed legal fight to force the U.S. government to honor medical marijuana laws passed by California and 11 other states. The American Civil Liberties Union, Drug Policy Alliance, the national law firm of Bingham McCutchen and a handful of private attorneys filed legal documents, Full Story....