Medical marijuana can't get traction in state Legislature KINGSTON -- With the end of New York state's 2013 legislative season came the usual self-back-patting of accomplishments from lawmakers. They praised things like the advent of tax-free zones, the possibility of casinos and legalizing gay marriage. Yet the issue of medical marijuana once again failed to make it into law, even as its medical use gains acceptance throughout the country. Barbara Gallagher, 51, of the Village of Florida is going for her bachelor's degree in English at SUNY New Paltz. [continues 745 words]
Dr. P. Thomas Harker, a Concord physician, is president of the New Hampshire Medical Society and holds both a medical degree and a master's degree in public health. He responded to these questions from the New Hampshire Union Leader about the state's newly enacted medical marijuana legislation. How was the medical society involved in the drafting of the law? We wanted to have a very limited and narrow scope for this legislation because we believe that therapeutic cannabis is an unproven therapy. Studies have not been done to confirm that this would be a useful intervention or to say it would not be a useful intervention. We thought for some people with life-threatening illnesses that were not responding to treatment that this might be something worth considering. We're very concerned about the risk of diversion and the message we send to the children and adolescents of New Hampshire about cannabis. We wanted to make sure we did not send a message that it is a safe product to be used in a recreational way. [continues 816 words]
A MONTH AFTER two marijuana activists were arrested near the Liberty Bell during a protest for legalization, seven people were given citations at a similar demonstration yesterday but no arrests were made, a park spokeswoman said. At 4:20 p.m., a few joints were passed among the more than 100 people gathered at Independence National Historical Park. The rain did little to deter the group, who marched from LOVE Park to peacefully protest on federal property. In preparation for the protest, federal officers, National Park rangers and Philadelphia Police collected in large numbers around the mall. Some law-enforcement officers wore bulletproof vests, others were decked out in riot gear. [continues 261 words]
KUALA LUMPUR: In response to the growing drug problem and its complexity, the National Anti-Drug Agency Malaysia (Nada) has shifted its approach from institutionalised rehabilitation to an open approach, thus help reduce drug cravings among its clients by 94.4 per cent. Nada assistant director (medical) Dr Sangeeth Kaur in her presentation, "Evidence-based drug policies for an effective HIV response: The Malaysian Experience", said the open access services and the setting up of the Cure and Care (C&C) 1Malaysia Clinic managed to shorten the treatment duration, as well as cut costs compared to compulsory drug rehabilitation centres. [continues 197 words]
Medical marijuana was not among the alternative pain relief methods mentioned in the last Sunday's article ("For those in pain, changes fuel fears," June 23). Why hasn't this gotten off the ground in Minnesota? It does what it's supposed to do - relieve pain - with much fewer adverse effects than oxycodone or other narcotics. It should be considered alongside other nonpharmacological interventions, because it works. Minnesota needs to catch up with the several states giving compassionate options to the chronically ill. Northfield, Minn. [end]
Synthetic cannabis manufacturers are putting lives in danger as they tweak products to get around bans, a forensic scientist says. New Plymouth teenager Logan Wilson was admitted to hospital last week with kidney and heart failure after smoking the legal high Kryptonite. The 19-year-old spent five days in the intensive care unit at Taranaki Base Hospital, where he was put in an induced coma and was on a ventilator. Jake Bertie, of NZ Forensic Consultancy Solutions, told the Taranaki Daily News manufacturers were making minor modifications to the chemicals used in the products to get around government bans. [continues 412 words]
Pesticides and Poisons Often Used by Illegal Marijuana Growers in the Mountains Are Found in Many Dead Fishers, a Study Says. The illegal marijuana growing operations that have proliferated in remote areas of the Sierra Nevada appear to be taking a toll on the fisher, a forest animal whose numbers are dangerously low. Researchers studying fishers in the Sierra National Forest in the southern Sierra found that mortality rates were significantly higher for females living in areas with a number of marijuana-growing sites. [continues 296 words]
Bobby T. is a 27-year-old Philadelphia resident. He's got a good job, a regular guy, goes about his business. Not looking for any trouble. But -- cue the music -- trouble found him. He was driving back to his home from upstate New York after a weekend with some friends. Upon entering New Jersey -- Mahwah, to be exact -- he got pulled over. The officer said he was doing 76 in a 55. Lousy enough luck there. And the luck got worse once the officer got a whiff of the car. [continues 630 words]
After seeing the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota recently, medical marijuana patient association manager Liz Clarke said she has some insight into how the legendary Native American warrior felt about big government. "I don't trust," said Clarke, who is manager of Golden State Cooperative -- and like the city's 23 other dispensaries and associations, works for a business that again was outlawed on Wednesday, when Bakersfield City Council approved an ordinance banning dispensaries. The ordinance updates the city's 2004 resolution on the same topic. It declares dispensaries -- and, by extension, patient associations and any "facility or location where marijuana is made available for medical purposes ... " -- to be "specifically prohibited." While it will not take effect for 30 days, Clark and other dispensary owners say they're feeling very uneasy about how it will be enforced. [continues 850 words]
A NEW REPORT on Vancouver's drug problem highlights the success of harm-reduction strategies and related approaches while suggesting tougher policing has not been effective. The report, released today (June 24) by the Urban Health Initiative at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, is based on illicit drug-use data collected over a 15-year period. "The objective of this report is to make data accessible to a wide variety of stakeholders and to directly inform the City of Vancouver's Four Pillars Drug Strategy, the Province of British Columbia's response to illicit drug use, and the Canadian federal government's National Anti-Drug Strategy," the report says. [continues 236 words]
