Marijuana use is not on the rise.
At least, that's the gist of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health done every year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2008 — the most recent data available — 6.1 percent of Americans 12 and older admitted using marijuana in the previous month.
In absolute terms, that number is probably low; after all, this survey asks people to admit to using illegal drugs. But the real significance of the number is that it's steady — it's been hovering right around six percent since 2002. Drug researchers say the real percentage may be higher, but it's probably holding steady, too.
And yet, during those same years, marijuana has been edging toward legitimacy. States with medical marijuana laws have made it possible for thousands of people to buy pot over the counter, in actual stores. Some police departments have started de-emphasizing marijuana arrests.
Critics of liberalization believe this inevitably leads to greater consumption.
"It's axiomatic," says John Lovell, a lobbyist for California police chiefs. He's also helping to organize the campaign against an initiative in California to make marijuana legal for adults.
"Any time you take a product — any product — from a less convenient sales forum to a more convenient sales forum, use increases," Lovell says.
But cities where marijuana have been liberalized have not seen a spike in consumption, so far. In 2003, voters in Seattle made marijuana the "lowest law enforcement priority" for city police. Researchers tracked the results. Caleb Banta-Green studies drug use trends at the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. He says self-reported consumption and pot-related emergency room visits remains flat, before, during and after the initiative went into effect.
Banta-Green says he gets similar reports from drug researchers in other cities.
"I'm not hearing stories on a regular basis that, 'There was liberalization in marijuana policies, and soon afterwards, usage rates increased dramatically,'" he says.
At the same time, says Banta-Green places like Seattle already had high rates of pot consumption before enforcement was relaxed, so it's not surprising that there was no big increase.
Teenage Perspective
And opponents of liberalization say even if overall consumption stays flat, looser enforcement may increase pot smoking among minors.
They point to places such as California's Bay Area, where medical marijuana is commonplace and enforcement is lax. Teenagers rarely have trouble finding pot. Some get it from dispensaries; far more just buy it from a friend or classmate.
"I could call 10 people right now and they'd all have a drug dealer," says one teenager, who declined to give his name.
As in Seattle, Berkeley voters made pot arrests the lowest priority for police, but they did it nearly 25 years earlier. Still, Berkeley school officials were shocked last year when they saw results from the statewide "California Healthy Kids" survey of student drug use. Sixty-three percent of the district's 11th graders reported smoking pot in their lifetime — 20 points higher than the state average.
Another high-school boy, a self-described "stoner" who also spoke on the condition his name not be used, isn't surprised by that number.
"You can definitely get it anywhere. And that leads kids to smoke more, and that leads kids to buy more, and that leads other dealers to sell more and cannabis clubs to sell more. So it's definitely growing a lot," he says.
But even though the rate of teenage pot smoking in Berkeley is high, it's also been stable. The survey shows it, as does the experience of high school teacher Mark Harringer.
"I haven't seen a marked increase or decrease either way," Harringer says. He thinks kids just get the impression consumption is growing because, as they grow older, they're more likely to encounter friends using drugs.
"I've even asked kids before as well, 'What percentage of your class do you think uses marijuana or drinks alcohol or smokes cigarettes?'" Harringer says. "And more often than not, they inflate the number almost triple than what the actual percentage is."
Some Statistics May Be Disturbing
But even if overall consumption is stable, other numbers are increasing. At the University of Washington, Banta-Green says the Seattle area has seen an increase in the number of people getting treatment for pot addiction. That is, there's an increase in the percentage of people entering treatment who cite marijuana as their primary addiction. Similar increases are being seen in San Francisco and Los Angeles, where marijuana dispensaries have boomed in the last couple of years.
It's not clear what the increase means; Banta-Green says it might have something to do with more probation-violators being sent to treatment in stead of jail, when they test positive for pot.
When it comes to illegal drugs, he says, it's just hard to get reliable measurements of overall consumption — even in areas where the drug has been liberalized.
But it's not impossible. Banta-Green has been part of a project that measures the traces of illegal drugs in sewer water. He's been analyzing the wastewater in 20 cities to get a measure of overall consumption of certain hard drugs. And he'd like to start testing that water for pot, too, if he can get the funding.
Source: NPR
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Friday, June 11, 2010
NEWS: Drug Courts Confront Relaxed Attitudes Toward Pot
At the recent meeting of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals in Boston, attendees discussed how new attitudes toward Marijuana affect what they do.
The fact that in a state the size of California you can get a doctor's recommendation for marijuana for anything from cancer to a bad mood has changed the attitude toward pot nationwide, says Rose Ewing, a program director of drug courts in Tulsa, Okla.
Ewing says it has made it harder to help some of her clients.
"They're like, 'If we lived in another state we'd be able to use this medically for different conditions because they don't consider it a bad drug or a hard-core drug,' " she says. "They really feel like it's in a different class of drugs."
Harder To Persuade Users
Drug courts like Ewing's work on a carrot-and-stick approach. Defendants get therapy and regular drug testing, and a judge monitors their progress. The success rate is high, but the defendants who fail to clean up their acts can go to jail. Yet even with so much at stake, it can be hard to convince marijuana users that they have a problem if few people around them see it that way, says Andrew Cummings, director of the drug court in Georgia's DeKalb County.
"It becomes an issue similar to alcohol, where the community's attitude toward marijuana becomes increasingly permissive, and therefore it becomes more difficult for the participants to see it as a problem, and to see it as a treatable problem," Cummings says.
These days it's difficult for a lot of people to see marijuana as a problem, even if they have never touched the stuff, says Judge John Creuzot of Dallas, who has presided over drug courts and regular felony courts.
"When we get into guilt, innocence and punishment, you see a lot of pushback, especially on marijuana, from the citizens [juries]," he says. "They don't think it should be a felony offense and ... so it's very difficult to get them to commit to sending someone to the penitentiary for possession of marijuana."
In Texas, juries can assess punishment in felony cases.
Cruezot says he thinks the people who don't seem to care much about marijuana might become positively enthusiastic if California voters approve a measure on the November ballot to legalize and tax marijuana.
"When a state like California, a big state, moves in that direction — let's say that becomes the law. If taxes can be raised and collected, if crime doesn't rise or doesn't change any, if jails are less populated, everybody else is going to look at it and see," he says.
Legalization
But Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, says don't even think about it.
"Legalization is a nonstarter," says Kerlikowske, who addressed the drug courts meeting.
He says he doesn't buy any of the arguments in favor of legalizing pot: that it will reduce violence, police will be free to fight other crimes and that tax dollars will be raised.
"None of that really holds up under any scrutiny," he says.
In the case of medical marijuana, the Obama administration has told federal prosecutors not to go after dispensaries that are in compliance with local and state laws. But Kerlikowske says that's just a matter of allocating scarce resources.
Medical marijuana, he says, is not only still illegal but also may not really be medical.
"Medical marijuana is still one of those questions that science should decide and not popular vote," he says.
Treating Dependency
But voters don't seem inclined to wait for science's stamp of approval on something that seems within their grasp.
Cummings, the director of the drug court in Georgia, says he worries about what might happen if marijuana use becomes more acceptable.
"People often think about marijuana, and understandably so, as one might think about having a drink at the end of the day and relaxing, but it doesn't stop there for a lot of people," he says. "And as the potency increases, the likelihood of dependency increases."
Cummings wonders how those people would be able to find help if abusing marijuana no longer forced them to go to court.
Source: NPR
NEWS: Medical Marijuana Laws: Still Hazy
Last month, Joseph Nunes became the first casualty of the district attorney’s crackdown on medical marijuana distributors in San Diego, when he was sentenced to one year in prison and three years probation.
Nunes operated the Green Kross collective on Mission Boulevard. He was arrested in September of last year as part of a DEA-assisted raid by local authorities on hometown medical marijuana collectives and dispensaries. In all, 14 such dispensaries were raided.
Local law enforcement’s crackdown was due in part to a sudden proliferation of marijuana storefronts in neighborhoods countywide (and elsewhere in California) after the Obama administration, in the evidence of growing public pressure to legalize marijuana, announced that they would cease to prosecute medical marijuana collectives and their customers.
But in spite of Obama’s moratorium, pot to this day remains a Class One controlled substance. And since passing a measure to legalize, the state government’s direction has been to leave regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries up to individual jurisdictions. California pot law is a patchwork quilt of confusion.
Still, marijuana is said to be the nation’s number-one cash crop, surpassing corn and other commodities. So, some lawyers are gearing up to guide what, by all accounts, will continue to be a growth industry.
Lee Burdick is a San Diego Port Commissioner, and an attorney at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, specializing in regulated industries. She sees no reason why the marijuana business as a whole should not become regulated along the same lines as alcohol beverages.
“My approach is, let me help [cooperatives and growers] become a legitimate business that participates in a legitimate industry," says Burdick,"and help them take control of their own stake, not just of individual compliance, but also in participating in the development of a new industry.”
In 1996, California became the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana cultivation and possession for medical patients with the passage of Prop 215. Afterward, voters in 13 states passed referendums to legalize medical marijuana. But, not everyone was happy about it.
In Billings, Montana, two medical marijuana storefronts were firebombed recently in separate incidents. And crackdowns by law enforcement continue. Tacoma’s North End Club 420 was raided earlier this month, even though Washington legalized medical pot in 1998.
In San Diego, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis formed the Narcotics Task Force which has been in large part responsible for medical marijuana arrests.
“The District Attorney,” says Alex Kreit, chair of the city council’s medical marijuana task force, “has unfortunately taken a very restrictive view of what the state allows for.” Kreit’s outlook for the future is not optimistic. “You will probably see more criminal work on medical marijuana issues in San Diego County than in other parts of the state.”
The larger problem, as Burdick sees it, lies in keeping her clients compliant in what is essentially a very large gray area created by the lack of any firm direction by either state or federal governments.
“At what point,” she asks, “do you exceed what is legally allowed under Prop 215 and become a drug lord?”
Burdick has plans to help guide the business of marijuana cultivation and distribution into a respectable business. “Once Prohibition was overturned, it didn’t become a free for all for alcohol," she says. "It became a highly regulated industry.”
She sees a day when medical marijuana cooperatives would be treated as legitimate businesses with full voting rights and privileges. But first, she says, “They need to take control of their own fate and to be able to participate in those processes openly and without fear of retribution.”
But that is not a likely scenario in today’s climate, says David Speckman, a San Diego attorney in private practice who represents more than a dozen such medical marijuana collectives.
“As long as possession of marijuana is illegal at the federal level,” he says, “then you’re not going to see the type of organized structure and regulation that you would find with alcoholic beverage control at the state level.”
Federal law trumps state and local laws, says Speckman, and the hard facts are that the possession of marijuana is a crime.
“What [the feds] are saying is that for purposes of medical marijuana, they are going to defer to the states but with a very important caveat: that one may believe that they are in full compliance with state law and still run amiss of the federal law.”
Speckman says his goal is to help his clients to operate as close to legal compliance as they can, but admits that there is a fear factor among them. “There is,” he says. “And there should be.”
Source: SanDiego.com
Nunes operated the Green Kross collective on Mission Boulevard. He was arrested in September of last year as part of a DEA-assisted raid by local authorities on hometown medical marijuana collectives and dispensaries. In all, 14 such dispensaries were raided.
Local law enforcement’s crackdown was due in part to a sudden proliferation of marijuana storefronts in neighborhoods countywide (and elsewhere in California) after the Obama administration, in the evidence of growing public pressure to legalize marijuana, announced that they would cease to prosecute medical marijuana collectives and their customers.
But in spite of Obama’s moratorium, pot to this day remains a Class One controlled substance. And since passing a measure to legalize, the state government’s direction has been to leave regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries up to individual jurisdictions. California pot law is a patchwork quilt of confusion.
Still, marijuana is said to be the nation’s number-one cash crop, surpassing corn and other commodities. So, some lawyers are gearing up to guide what, by all accounts, will continue to be a growth industry.
Lee Burdick is a San Diego Port Commissioner, and an attorney at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, specializing in regulated industries. She sees no reason why the marijuana business as a whole should not become regulated along the same lines as alcohol beverages.
“My approach is, let me help [cooperatives and growers] become a legitimate business that participates in a legitimate industry," says Burdick,"and help them take control of their own stake, not just of individual compliance, but also in participating in the development of a new industry.”
In 1996, California became the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana cultivation and possession for medical patients with the passage of Prop 215. Afterward, voters in 13 states passed referendums to legalize medical marijuana. But, not everyone was happy about it.
In Billings, Montana, two medical marijuana storefronts were firebombed recently in separate incidents. And crackdowns by law enforcement continue. Tacoma’s North End Club 420 was raided earlier this month, even though Washington legalized medical pot in 1998.
In San Diego, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis formed the Narcotics Task Force which has been in large part responsible for medical marijuana arrests.
“The District Attorney,” says Alex Kreit, chair of the city council’s medical marijuana task force, “has unfortunately taken a very restrictive view of what the state allows for.” Kreit’s outlook for the future is not optimistic. “You will probably see more criminal work on medical marijuana issues in San Diego County than in other parts of the state.”
The larger problem, as Burdick sees it, lies in keeping her clients compliant in what is essentially a very large gray area created by the lack of any firm direction by either state or federal governments.
“At what point,” she asks, “do you exceed what is legally allowed under Prop 215 and become a drug lord?”
Burdick has plans to help guide the business of marijuana cultivation and distribution into a respectable business. “Once Prohibition was overturned, it didn’t become a free for all for alcohol," she says. "It became a highly regulated industry.”
She sees a day when medical marijuana cooperatives would be treated as legitimate businesses with full voting rights and privileges. But first, she says, “They need to take control of their own fate and to be able to participate in those processes openly and without fear of retribution.”
But that is not a likely scenario in today’s climate, says David Speckman, a San Diego attorney in private practice who represents more than a dozen such medical marijuana collectives.
“As long as possession of marijuana is illegal at the federal level,” he says, “then you’re not going to see the type of organized structure and regulation that you would find with alcoholic beverage control at the state level.”
Federal law trumps state and local laws, says Speckman, and the hard facts are that the possession of marijuana is a crime.
“What [the feds] are saying is that for purposes of medical marijuana, they are going to defer to the states but with a very important caveat: that one may believe that they are in full compliance with state law and still run amiss of the federal law.”
Speckman says his goal is to help his clients to operate as close to legal compliance as they can, but admits that there is a fear factor among them. “There is,” he says. “And there should be.”
Source: SanDiego.com
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
NEWS: Cooley says online pot sales, deliveries illegal
LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley says delivery of medical marijuana and selling the drug online are illegal.
Cooley, who is running for California attorney general, said Wednesday those who deal in either instance could face felony charges. Cooley has long maintained that the state's law permitting medical pot does not allow for the sale of the drug.
Cooley's statement is in response to recent revelations that medical marijuana providers in Los Angeles found a loophole by making house calls to those seeking pot. On Monday, hundreds of dispensaries were ordered to shut down or else face civil fines or possible criminal charges.
Voters will decide in November whether to legalize pot, which remains illegal under federal law.
Source: The Associated Press
Cooley, who is running for California attorney general, said Wednesday those who deal in either instance could face felony charges. Cooley has long maintained that the state's law permitting medical pot does not allow for the sale of the drug.
Cooley's statement is in response to recent revelations that medical marijuana providers in Los Angeles found a loophole by making house calls to those seeking pot. On Monday, hundreds of dispensaries were ordered to shut down or else face civil fines or possible criminal charges.
Voters will decide in November whether to legalize pot, which remains illegal under federal law.
Source: The Associated Press
Tax and Regulate Not Tax and Become Hysterical
by DAVID BEARMAN, M.D.
Someone needs to tell a few of the city council members that the approach to medicinal marijuana that the people of Santa Barbara and the state of California voted overwhelmingly for in 1996 is tax and regulate, not tax and get hysterical.
An article in the Santa Barbara County Medical Society News by current County Medical Society President Philip R. Delio, M.D., stated, “One would have hoped that as city council members gathered to discuss the methods of distributing medical marijuana in Santa Barbara, they would have asked doctors, pharmacists, or health care professionals for input and guidance. Instead, the topic is being sorted out via public forums that are dominated by emotion, personal opinion, anecdotal testimony, and the like.” I couldn’t agree more with Dr. Delio.
The latest excursion into the silly and inane is that somehow having a pharmacy, in this case a pharmacy that deals in one medicine, cannabis, near a drug rehab center, has an adverse affect on recovering substance abusers. Clearly this allegation is a bit unique. If memory serves me correctly, Caldwell’s has a pharmacy across the street from Cottage Hospital, and Cottage has a pharmacy in the building. Both of these pharmacies carry, among other drugs, THC (Marinol), with no apparent adverse affects on their recovering patients who have substance abuse problems.
If one looks at the epidemiology of opiate abuse (in my career I have treated over 800 opiate abusers), one finds that the most common antecedent drug to heroin is alcohol, and alcohol is also the most commonly used drug subsequent to stopping use of heroin. Yet there has been no hue and cry to deny alcohol at the Encina Restaurant right down the block from Cottage. In fact, as a matter of public health policy, I think I would like to see fewer outlets for alcohol and tobacco. True, their availability is so ubiquitous that the result would likely be more cosmetic than substantive, and when I had my successful quadruple bypass surgery at Cottage (thank you very much) my wife waited out the surgery time over a beer at Derf’s. But it would still be a nice gesture.
If we weigh this medicinal cannabis dispensary concern against concern over the school near to one of these outlets—a school that the City didn’t know was a school; a school for the handicapped which, according to testimony of former city attorney Steve Amerikaner and former city councilman and architect Gil Garcia, did not meet state school earthquake standards and did not have handicapped access—you have to ask yourself if opponents to medicinal cannabis are manufacturing concerns out of their own ill-informed zealousness.
I’m familiar with the historical literature on the matter of cannabinoids and do not recall finding any problems (big or small) with pharmacies dispensing medicinal cannabis from 1854-1941. The literature does not mention robberies or abuse by pharmacy personnel. The AMA testified in 1937 that they knew of no dangers from medicinal cannabis.
On the other hand, Harry Anslinger, first director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, gave outrageous and it turns out mostly inaccurate testimony at the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act hearings. According to the AMA, Anslinger had no facts, just allegations. Even he did not raise this drug-abuse-treatment canard as an issue. The AMA opposed the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 and now, in 2010, the AMA is demanding that cannabis be rescheduled to allow more research on cannabis and cannabinoids. Rescheduling would also allow all pharmacies to again dispense cannabis as they did uneventfully for over three quarters of a century.
Dr. Delio is right on point when he asks, “So what can we do to ensure that patients in need of medical marijuana have access, while at the same time limit abusers, children, and others from inappropriate use?” He suggests:
1. “As a therapeutic drug, marijuana should be subject to the same prescribing guidelines and regulations that would apply to any prescription drug. This includes close supervision of patients using medical marijuana by their treating physicians, strict regulation of the amounts and types of marijuana dispensed, and attention to how often the drug is being refilled.”
2. He also recommends that the Santa Barbara County Medical Society should offer their “services to the County as a resource for information, guidance, and direction on this challenging issue. The goal of these discussions should not be to limit access to effective therapeutics, but rather to ensure the safe and responsible distribution to those with medical need.”
If we as a society are truly concerned about drug abuse, let’s put our energy and money into more and better parenting education, making every child a wanted child, and supporting increased emphasis on early intervention. I’ve been involved in drug abuse treatment and prevention for over 40 years and my take on recovery is that, in addition to family and community support, key elements to recovery are length of time in treatment, quality of treatment, commitment, and the motivation of the patient.
Do we really want to follow the weird logic of the anti-dispensary activists and start clamoring to close Caldwell’s—and all the rest of the pharmacies, which carry all manner of highly addictive drugs that are subject to abuse?
This is a states’ rights issue, as the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist, now retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and current Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in dissent in Gonzales v. Raich. What we need is a return to sanity and to the Constitution, particularly the 9th and 10th amendments. If the federal government followed the Constitution, cannabis too would be dispensed in pharmacies, as it was for nearly a century, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Source: Santa Barbara Independent
Someone needs to tell a few of the city council members that the approach to medicinal marijuana that the people of Santa Barbara and the state of California voted overwhelmingly for in 1996 is tax and regulate, not tax and get hysterical.
An article in the Santa Barbara County Medical Society News by current County Medical Society President Philip R. Delio, M.D., stated, “One would have hoped that as city council members gathered to discuss the methods of distributing medical marijuana in Santa Barbara, they would have asked doctors, pharmacists, or health care professionals for input and guidance. Instead, the topic is being sorted out via public forums that are dominated by emotion, personal opinion, anecdotal testimony, and the like.” I couldn’t agree more with Dr. Delio.
The latest excursion into the silly and inane is that somehow having a pharmacy, in this case a pharmacy that deals in one medicine, cannabis, near a drug rehab center, has an adverse affect on recovering substance abusers. Clearly this allegation is a bit unique. If memory serves me correctly, Caldwell’s has a pharmacy across the street from Cottage Hospital, and Cottage has a pharmacy in the building. Both of these pharmacies carry, among other drugs, THC (Marinol), with no apparent adverse affects on their recovering patients who have substance abuse problems.
If one looks at the epidemiology of opiate abuse (in my career I have treated over 800 opiate abusers), one finds that the most common antecedent drug to heroin is alcohol, and alcohol is also the most commonly used drug subsequent to stopping use of heroin. Yet there has been no hue and cry to deny alcohol at the Encina Restaurant right down the block from Cottage. In fact, as a matter of public health policy, I think I would like to see fewer outlets for alcohol and tobacco. True, their availability is so ubiquitous that the result would likely be more cosmetic than substantive, and when I had my successful quadruple bypass surgery at Cottage (thank you very much) my wife waited out the surgery time over a beer at Derf’s. But it would still be a nice gesture.
If we weigh this medicinal cannabis dispensary concern against concern over the school near to one of these outlets—a school that the City didn’t know was a school; a school for the handicapped which, according to testimony of former city attorney Steve Amerikaner and former city councilman and architect Gil Garcia, did not meet state school earthquake standards and did not have handicapped access—you have to ask yourself if opponents to medicinal cannabis are manufacturing concerns out of their own ill-informed zealousness.
I’m familiar with the historical literature on the matter of cannabinoids and do not recall finding any problems (big or small) with pharmacies dispensing medicinal cannabis from 1854-1941. The literature does not mention robberies or abuse by pharmacy personnel. The AMA testified in 1937 that they knew of no dangers from medicinal cannabis.
On the other hand, Harry Anslinger, first director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, gave outrageous and it turns out mostly inaccurate testimony at the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act hearings. According to the AMA, Anslinger had no facts, just allegations. Even he did not raise this drug-abuse-treatment canard as an issue. The AMA opposed the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 and now, in 2010, the AMA is demanding that cannabis be rescheduled to allow more research on cannabis and cannabinoids. Rescheduling would also allow all pharmacies to again dispense cannabis as they did uneventfully for over three quarters of a century.
Dr. Delio is right on point when he asks, “So what can we do to ensure that patients in need of medical marijuana have access, while at the same time limit abusers, children, and others from inappropriate use?” He suggests:
1. “As a therapeutic drug, marijuana should be subject to the same prescribing guidelines and regulations that would apply to any prescription drug. This includes close supervision of patients using medical marijuana by their treating physicians, strict regulation of the amounts and types of marijuana dispensed, and attention to how often the drug is being refilled.”
2. He also recommends that the Santa Barbara County Medical Society should offer their “services to the County as a resource for information, guidance, and direction on this challenging issue. The goal of these discussions should not be to limit access to effective therapeutics, but rather to ensure the safe and responsible distribution to those with medical need.”
If we as a society are truly concerned about drug abuse, let’s put our energy and money into more and better parenting education, making every child a wanted child, and supporting increased emphasis on early intervention. I’ve been involved in drug abuse treatment and prevention for over 40 years and my take on recovery is that, in addition to family and community support, key elements to recovery are length of time in treatment, quality of treatment, commitment, and the motivation of the patient.
Do we really want to follow the weird logic of the anti-dispensary activists and start clamoring to close Caldwell’s—and all the rest of the pharmacies, which carry all manner of highly addictive drugs that are subject to abuse?
This is a states’ rights issue, as the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist, now retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and current Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in dissent in Gonzales v. Raich. What we need is a return to sanity and to the Constitution, particularly the 9th and 10th amendments. If the federal government followed the Constitution, cannabis too would be dispensed in pharmacies, as it was for nearly a century, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Source: Santa Barbara Independent
NEWS: Medical Uses for Marijuana No Longer in the Weeds
In one of the only U.S. clinical trials testing the medicinal properties of inhaled Cannabis sativa, results confirmed that pot was effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses. The trial, sponsored by the California-funded Center for Medical Cannabis Research at the University of California, San Diego, enrolled participants suffering from multiple sclerosis, AIDS, or diabetes along with healthy volunteers injected with a chili pepper substance to induce pain. They were randomly assigned to receive cigarettes filled with marijuana.
The results were comparable to the percentage of people who experience relief after taking other pain medications. “This is the first step in approaching the [FDA], which has invested absolutely nothing in providing scientific data to resolve the debate,” said state Senator Mark Leno (D. San Francisco).
The U.S. Government spent heavily on the first approved cannabis-based drug, Marinol®, back in 1985. The drug was developed by Unimed, now a subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals. FDA also approved Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ Cesamet the same year. Both drugs, however, are synthetic versions of one active marijuana constituent, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (ΔTHC.)
The FDA sanctioned Marinol to treat nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in patients who do not respond adequately to conventional medications as well as appetite loss associated with weight loss in AIDS patients. Cesamet, developed as an antiemetic and an adjunct analgesic for neuropathic pain, was not marketed in the U.S. until 2006. It is also approved for use in treatment of anorexia and weight loss in patients with AIDS.
The distinction between inhaled Cannabis sativa and an approved pharmaceutical hinged, at the time of the drugs’ approval, on separating the psychoactive properties of some of marijuana’s constituents and the medicinal properties of others. A 1999 report commissioned by the The White House Office of National Drug Control stated that “marijuana is not a completely benign substance. It is a powerful drug with a variety of effects.
“However, the harmful effects to individuals from the perspective of possible medical use of marijuana are not necessarily the same as the harmful physical effects of drug abuse. Although marijuana smoke delivers THC and other cannabinoids to the body, it also delivers harmful substances, including most of those found in tobacco smoke. In addition, plants contain a variable mixture of biologically active compounds and cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect.”
The report went on to conclude that “the future of cannabinoid drugs lies not in smoked marijuana but in chemically defined drugs that act on the cannabinoid systems that are a natural component of human physiology.” The White House commissioned the 267-page report shortly after voters in California passed the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which legalized the medical use of cannabis under state law.
And on March 18 of this year, GW Pharmaceuticals said that Sativex, its oral mucosal cannabinoid spray, should be approved in the U.K. and Spain soon. Both countries concluded that there are no major quality, safety, or efficacy issues remaining to be resolved. Details about final wording on the patient information leaflet is reportedly all that is left to be ironed out.
A few days later, the company announced Phase IIb results of Sativex in patients with advanced cancer who experience inadequate analgesia during optimized chronic opioid therapy. The trial recruited a total of 360 patients in 14 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, and South Africa and evaluated three dose ranges. Sativex produced statistically significant differences from placebo in pain scores, supporting advancement into Phase III, according to the company.
Beyond Pharmaceuticalization
The emergence of public companies pursuing the development of legalized cannabis products may provide a new crop of useful drugs. On March 24, 2009, Medical Marijuana became the first public corporation solely based on medical marijuana. Bruce Perlowin, the company’s CEO, established the firm as a step toward legitimizing the industry after decades of advocating the benefits of legalizing medical marijuana.
Richard Cowan, Cannabis Science’s CFO, noted that the segment got another boost on May 24 of this year when 15 members of Congress led by U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D. MA) urged the Treasury Department to set rules that encourage banks to provide financial services to medical marijuana clinics, which they consider lawful businesses. “This is just one more important step toward a realistic federal policy on medical marijuana,” Cowan noted.
A policy that would assure banks that they won't be targeted for doing business with companies that distribute medical marijuana, would definitely benefit Cannabis Sciences as it buys up experienced growers. On May 24, the company acquired RockBrook, a fully licensed dispensary providing patients in Colorado with medical marijuana as well an experienced grower of medical cannabis in accordance with state laws.
Cannabis Science used to be Gulf Onshore and changed its name after acquiring Cannex Therapeutics. The company is developing products both with and without psychoactive properties to treat disease and the symptoms of disease as well as for general health maintenance. It is looking to partner IND filing and clinical development.
Cannabis Science plans to develop a whole cannabis extract lozenge as its first pharmaceutical product. Initial findings from informal human trials using the whole-cannabis extract demonstrated that it has the capacity to enhance rapid onset pain relief through oral mucosal absorption. The lozenge is a part of the assets and know-how acquired through Cannex.
On June 1, the company said that it was working toward picking up a private company that owned complementary patented intellectual property for specific clinical-stage cannabinoid products and uses.
“It seems inevitable that at least for some period of time there will co-exist two distribution pathways for this medicine,” noted Lester Grinspoon, M.D., emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard and long-time advocate for the legalization of marijuana, “first, the conventional model of modern allopathic medicine through pharmacy-filled prescriptions for FDA-approved medicines, and second, a model closer to the distribution of alternative and herbal medicines, where there is little if any quality or quantity control. Either way, growing numbers of people will become familiar with cannabis and its derivative products.”
As individual U.S. states move toward either legalization of marijuana or approval of its medical use, the new corporate voices are adding to the pro-pot choir. These companies can potentially help advance the political debate by providing the long-needed clinical trials to validate specific medical applications of Cannabis sativa and its constituent compounds.
Separating psychoactive from medicinal properties through “pharmaceuticalization” of marijuana may be unrealistic. According to NIH, Cesamet “has complex effects on the central nervous system. Its effects on the mental state (i.e., "inner mental life") are similar to those of cannabis. Subjects given Cesamet may experience changes in mood (euphoria, detachment, depression, anxiety, panic, paranoia), decrements in cognitive performance and memory, a decreased ability to control drives and impulses, and alterations in the experience of reality (e.g., distortions in the perception of objects and the sense of time and hallucinations.”
At least 66 other cannabinoids are also present in cannabis, including cannabidiol, cannabinol, and tetrahydrocannabivarin, which are believed to result in different effects than those of THC alone. Apart from significant difficulties associated with titrating appropriate effective doses, inhaling smoke—which can be avoided through marijuana vaporization—and psychoactive effects, the whole weed may remain the real deal.
Source: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
The results were comparable to the percentage of people who experience relief after taking other pain medications. “This is the first step in approaching the [FDA], which has invested absolutely nothing in providing scientific data to resolve the debate,” said state Senator Mark Leno (D. San Francisco).
The U.S. Government spent heavily on the first approved cannabis-based drug, Marinol®, back in 1985. The drug was developed by Unimed, now a subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals. FDA also approved Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ Cesamet the same year. Both drugs, however, are synthetic versions of one active marijuana constituent, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (ΔTHC.)
The FDA sanctioned Marinol to treat nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in patients who do not respond adequately to conventional medications as well as appetite loss associated with weight loss in AIDS patients. Cesamet, developed as an antiemetic and an adjunct analgesic for neuropathic pain, was not marketed in the U.S. until 2006. It is also approved for use in treatment of anorexia and weight loss in patients with AIDS.
The distinction between inhaled Cannabis sativa and an approved pharmaceutical hinged, at the time of the drugs’ approval, on separating the psychoactive properties of some of marijuana’s constituents and the medicinal properties of others. A 1999 report commissioned by the The White House Office of National Drug Control stated that “marijuana is not a completely benign substance. It is a powerful drug with a variety of effects.
“However, the harmful effects to individuals from the perspective of possible medical use of marijuana are not necessarily the same as the harmful physical effects of drug abuse. Although marijuana smoke delivers THC and other cannabinoids to the body, it also delivers harmful substances, including most of those found in tobacco smoke. In addition, plants contain a variable mixture of biologically active compounds and cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect.”
The report went on to conclude that “the future of cannabinoid drugs lies not in smoked marijuana but in chemically defined drugs that act on the cannabinoid systems that are a natural component of human physiology.” The White House commissioned the 267-page report shortly after voters in California passed the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, which legalized the medical use of cannabis under state law.
And on March 18 of this year, GW Pharmaceuticals said that Sativex, its oral mucosal cannabinoid spray, should be approved in the U.K. and Spain soon. Both countries concluded that there are no major quality, safety, or efficacy issues remaining to be resolved. Details about final wording on the patient information leaflet is reportedly all that is left to be ironed out.
A few days later, the company announced Phase IIb results of Sativex in patients with advanced cancer who experience inadequate analgesia during optimized chronic opioid therapy. The trial recruited a total of 360 patients in 14 countries in North America, Europe, Latin America, and South Africa and evaluated three dose ranges. Sativex produced statistically significant differences from placebo in pain scores, supporting advancement into Phase III, according to the company.
Beyond Pharmaceuticalization
The emergence of public companies pursuing the development of legalized cannabis products may provide a new crop of useful drugs. On March 24, 2009, Medical Marijuana became the first public corporation solely based on medical marijuana. Bruce Perlowin, the company’s CEO, established the firm as a step toward legitimizing the industry after decades of advocating the benefits of legalizing medical marijuana.
Richard Cowan, Cannabis Science’s CFO, noted that the segment got another boost on May 24 of this year when 15 members of Congress led by U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D. MA) urged the Treasury Department to set rules that encourage banks to provide financial services to medical marijuana clinics, which they consider lawful businesses. “This is just one more important step toward a realistic federal policy on medical marijuana,” Cowan noted.
A policy that would assure banks that they won't be targeted for doing business with companies that distribute medical marijuana, would definitely benefit Cannabis Sciences as it buys up experienced growers. On May 24, the company acquired RockBrook, a fully licensed dispensary providing patients in Colorado with medical marijuana as well an experienced grower of medical cannabis in accordance with state laws.
Cannabis Science used to be Gulf Onshore and changed its name after acquiring Cannex Therapeutics. The company is developing products both with and without psychoactive properties to treat disease and the symptoms of disease as well as for general health maintenance. It is looking to partner IND filing and clinical development.
Cannabis Science plans to develop a whole cannabis extract lozenge as its first pharmaceutical product. Initial findings from informal human trials using the whole-cannabis extract demonstrated that it has the capacity to enhance rapid onset pain relief through oral mucosal absorption. The lozenge is a part of the assets and know-how acquired through Cannex.
On June 1, the company said that it was working toward picking up a private company that owned complementary patented intellectual property for specific clinical-stage cannabinoid products and uses.
“It seems inevitable that at least for some period of time there will co-exist two distribution pathways for this medicine,” noted Lester Grinspoon, M.D., emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard and long-time advocate for the legalization of marijuana, “first, the conventional model of modern allopathic medicine through pharmacy-filled prescriptions for FDA-approved medicines, and second, a model closer to the distribution of alternative and herbal medicines, where there is little if any quality or quantity control. Either way, growing numbers of people will become familiar with cannabis and its derivative products.”
As individual U.S. states move toward either legalization of marijuana or approval of its medical use, the new corporate voices are adding to the pro-pot choir. These companies can potentially help advance the political debate by providing the long-needed clinical trials to validate specific medical applications of Cannabis sativa and its constituent compounds.
Separating psychoactive from medicinal properties through “pharmaceuticalization” of marijuana may be unrealistic. According to NIH, Cesamet “has complex effects on the central nervous system. Its effects on the mental state (i.e., "inner mental life") are similar to those of cannabis. Subjects given Cesamet may experience changes in mood (euphoria, detachment, depression, anxiety, panic, paranoia), decrements in cognitive performance and memory, a decreased ability to control drives and impulses, and alterations in the experience of reality (e.g., distortions in the perception of objects and the sense of time and hallucinations.”
At least 66 other cannabinoids are also present in cannabis, including cannabidiol, cannabinol, and tetrahydrocannabivarin, which are believed to result in different effects than those of THC alone. Apart from significant difficulties associated with titrating appropriate effective doses, inhaling smoke—which can be avoided through marijuana vaporization—and psychoactive effects, the whole weed may remain the real deal.
Source: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News
NEWS: L.A. Councilman Wants To Ban Pot Delivery
After news of broke here and elsewhere about the burgeoning business of medical-marijuana delivery, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday was asked to specifically ban mobile-based pot shops as part of its restrictive dispensary law that took effect Monday. Councilman Jose Juizar introduced the amendment, calling mobile pot shops a "ruse" to get around the city's law, which effectively put more than four out of five L.A. dispensaries out of business this week.
"The city has received dozens of complaints regarding this new ruse that has arisen in an attempt to circumvent city and state regulations governing the city's collectives,'' Huizar stated in his motion to ban mobile dispensaries.
The amendment would "explicitly prohibit any delivery service" unless it involves a pot shop that adheres to current city regulations and the transportation is carried out by a patient's "primary caregiver." In other words, if the council adopts this, the game is pretty over for legal pot delivery in L.A.
Huizar said he wants the council to move quickly -- on an "emergency basis."
Source: LA Weekly
"The city has received dozens of complaints regarding this new ruse that has arisen in an attempt to circumvent city and state regulations governing the city's collectives,'' Huizar stated in his motion to ban mobile dispensaries.
The amendment would "explicitly prohibit any delivery service" unless it involves a pot shop that adheres to current city regulations and the transportation is carried out by a patient's "primary caregiver." In other words, if the council adopts this, the game is pretty over for legal pot delivery in L.A.
Huizar said he wants the council to move quickly -- on an "emergency basis."
Source: LA Weekly
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
NEWS: City prosecutors release list of 439 medical marijuana dispensaries that must close
The Los Angeles City Attorney's office on Tuesday released a list of 439 marijuana dispensaries that have been ordered to shut their doors after a new city council ordinance went into effect beginning this week.
City prosecutors reported Monday that most of the collectives had complied with orders to shutter their businesses and said they would take a wait-and-see attitude
Holdouts face civil penalties of $2,500 a day and up to six months in Los Angeles County jail. The remaining dispensaries have until Monday to file paperwork showing their intent to comply with the new local restrictions.
The City Attorney's office said it will wait to see if any of the medical marijuana establishments stay open in violation of the law and said it might take enforcement action against those that flout the law.
For now, city prosecutors said they are relying on reports from police officers, building inspectors and residents to identify potential violators. They also set up an e-mail address (atty.medicalmarijuana@lacity.org) to take reports on dispensaries suspected of breaking the law.
Source: Los Angeles Times
City prosecutors reported Monday that most of the collectives had complied with orders to shutter their businesses and said they would take a wait-and-see attitude
Holdouts face civil penalties of $2,500 a day and up to six months in Los Angeles County jail. The remaining dispensaries have until Monday to file paperwork showing their intent to comply with the new local restrictions.
The City Attorney's office said it will wait to see if any of the medical marijuana establishments stay open in violation of the law and said it might take enforcement action against those that flout the law.
For now, city prosecutors said they are relying on reports from police officers, building inspectors and residents to identify potential violators. They also set up an e-mail address (atty.medicalmarijuana@lacity.org) to take reports on dispensaries suspected of breaking the law.
Source: Los Angeles Times
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