What state is next to pass a MMJ law?
Sunday, 24 January 2010 23:45
Phillip S. Smith
It's becoming difficult to keep up with all the marijuana bills being filed at statehouses around the county. In addition to the bills in Washington state (see related story here), in the past 10 days we saw a medical marijuana bill introduced in Missouri, another in Alabama, and another in Virginia. There was also a decriminalization bill introduced in Virginia, and in New Hampshire a decrim bill and a "tax and regulate" legalization bill got hearings.
In Missouri, Rep. Kate Meiners (D-Kansas City) and 16 cosponsors introduced HB 1670, which would allow patients with debilitating diseases to use marijuana upon a physician's recommendation. Patients or caregivers could possess up to one ounce of usable marijuana and three mature and four immature plants. Previous bills have failed to move in the Republican-dominated legislature, but the presence of a Republican cosponsor this year could make a difference.
In Alabama, Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham) has introduced HB 207, which would allow patients with specified debilitating conditions to use marijuana. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Previous medical marijuana bills died in 2007 and 2008.
In Virginia, Delegate Harvey Morgan, a 79-year-old Republican, filed HB 1136, a medical marijuana bill that would protect from prosecution patients who have "a valid prescription issued by a medical doctor." The bill's prospects are uncertain. Morgan is a senior Republican and committee chair, but the measure also faces opposition.
Another bill introduced by Morgan, HB 1134, would make small-time marijuana possession a civil offense rather than a criminal one and mandates a maximum $500 fine. It would also create a rebuttable presumption that anyone growing five plants or less is growing for personal consumption, and treats small grows like small amounts of marijuana. The bill would also do away with a two-year mandatory minimum sentence for selling less than an ounce and a five-year mandatory minimum for selling more than an ounce. Like Morgan's medical bill, the prospects for the decrim bill are uncertain.
Last Updated on Sunday, 24 January 2010 23:51
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Cannabinoids & Glioma brain cancer
Friday, 18 December 2009 11:11
Paul Armentano
Of all cancers, few are as aggressive and deadly as glioma. Glioma tumors quickly invade healthy brain tissue and are typically unresponsive to surgery and standard medical treatments. One agent they do respond to is cannabis.
Writing in the August 2005 issue of the Journal of Neurooncology, investigators at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute reported that the administration of THC on human glioblastoma multiforme cell lines decreased the proliferation of malignant cells and induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) more rapidly than did the administration of the synthetic cannabis receptor agonist, WIN-55,212-2.
Researchers also noted that THC selectively targeted malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones in a more profound manner than the synthetic alternative. Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme typically die within three months without therapy.
Last Updated on Friday, 18 December 2009 11:14
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Washington DC: Medical Marijuana in the the Nations Capital ?
Saturday, 19 December 2009 15:41
Phillip S. Smith (www.drcnet.org)
Eleven years after District of Columbia voters approved a medical marijuana initiative with 69% of the vote, Congress has finally stepped aside and will allow DC to implement the will of the people. The US Senate voted to approve the omnibus appropriations bill, which was the final step in removing former Rep. Bob Barr's (R-GA) language from the DC appropriations bill that had barred the District from implem enting the results of the 1998 vote. President Obama signed the bill into law Wednesday.
Bob Barr lobbied to repeal the anti-medical marijuana legislation he wrote, and DC will shortly join the 13 states that currently have medical marijuana laws. But, unlike some states that have joined the ranks more recently, the language of the DC initiative is relatively loose. It allows "all seriously ill individuals... to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes when a licensed physician has found the use of marijuana to be medically necessary."
The measure allows patients, or up to four caregivers, to grow, buy, and possess marijuana for medicinal use. It also permits the establishment of nonprofit dispensaries, and orders DC health officials to devise a plan to distribute marijuana to patients.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 23 December 2009 20:19
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Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Hearing: who is next Kentucky?
Tuesday, 08 December 2009 00:08
Derek Rosenzweig
Wednesday December 2, 2009 was an historic day here in Pennsylvania. For the first time ever, the House of Representatives held a hearing of the Health and Human Services Committee in order to hear testimony on HB 1393, the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. Thanks to the dozens of patients and advocates who traveled to Harrisburg for the hearing, wrote testimony, or simply spread the word, we had a resounding success educating the HHS committee how marijuana is medicine but jail is not.
22 Members of the HHS Committee heard testimony from a variety of advocates, patients, and physicians. Advocates who testified in favor of the bill included PA Rep. Mark Cohen, Chris Goldstein and Derek Rosenzweig of PhillyNORML and Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana (PA4MMJ), Edward Pane of PA4MMJ, Patrick K. Nightingale Esq. of Pittsburgh NORML and PA4MMJ; Bradley Walter, Charles Rocha, Sandra Crue, John Ray Wilson, and Dr. Denis Petro; Rabbi Eric Cytryn, Brian Gralnik, former Montgomery County Commissioner Ruth Damsker, and Dr. Howard Swidler, MD, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Warren Hospital, all from the Jewish Social Policy Action Network (JSPAN); and Bob Cappecchi of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).
Medical Marijuana was well represented at this hearing, so well that both chairmen of the committee - Reps. Oliver (D) and Baker (R) - have agreed that more hearings need to be held. Rep. Benninghoff (R), Rep. Beyer (R), Rep. Seip (D), and Rep. Payton (D) asked very good questions, indicated they are leaning towards supporting the bill, or flat out refuted the opposition during the hearing. It is imperative that we get at least two Republicans as co-sponsors if this bill is to have a chance in the full House of Rep, and gain any traction in the Senate later this year. Current legislators' known positions can be found at Philly Norml Website.
So far, the following videos have been uploaded for viewing on YouTube. Here are some YouTube videos links of the hearing
Rep. Cohen, Bradley Walter, Rabbi Eric Cytryn, and Charles Rocha. The videos from the rest of the hearing will be available shortly at http://www.youtube.com/user/PA4MMJ.
Last Updated on Sunday, 20 December 2009 11:12
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