In Calif., Medical Marijuana Laws Are Moving Pot Into the Mainstream

[steven johnson]

Source: Washington Post

Sunday, April 12, 2009; Page A03
LOS ANGELES -- With little notice and even less controversy, marijuana is now available as a medical treatment in California to almost anyone who tells a willing physician he would feel better if he smoked.

Pot is now retailed over the counter in hundreds of storefronts across Los Angeles and is credited with reviving a section of downtown Oakland, where an entrepreneur sells out classes offering "quality training for the cannabis industry." The tabloid LA Journal of Education for Medical Marijuana is fat with ads for Magic Purple, Strawberry Cough and other offerings in more than 400 "dispensaries" operating in the city.

Los Angeles officials say applications for retail outlets surged after Feb. 26, when U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that the Drug Enforcement Administration will no longer raid such stores. Those pressing for change in drug laws regard the announcement as a watershed in a 40-year battle against marijuana's official listing as a dangerous drug -- a legal fight that, in California, is being waged on ground that has shifted dramatically toward acceptance.

All told, 13 states have legalized medical marijuana, a trend advocates credit in part to growing openness to alternative healing. As a "Schedule 1" drug under the 1970 federal narcotics act, marijuana officially has "no currently accepted medical use." But doctors have found it effective in reducing nausea, easing glaucoma, and improving appetite and sleep in AIDS patients.

But in California, pot is such a booming growth industry that lawmakers are being asked to consider its potential as a salve to the state's financial woes. Betty Yee, chairman of the California State Board of Equalization, endorsed a bill in February to regulate the estimated $14 billion marijuana market, citing the state's budget problems.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/11/AR2009041100767.html?hpid=sec-health

[aquart]

1. Hallefuckinlujah. Now legalize and tax.

[SlowDownFast]

9. Yup. Amen. n/t

[SHRED]

23. That is fine but...

...tax revenues would pale in comparison with the farming and industrial use of hemp.

We need a green, "homegrown industrial revolution".

Legalize hemp, severely restrict foreign ownership of farms and factories, and grow good paying jobs for our citizens producing paper, building materials, biofuels, etc...

VOTE HEMP


---

[teknomanzer]

43. Which comes first?

There weren't a few hemp advocates that thought that the rebirth of the hemp industry would lead to the legalization of marijuana. But it could be that the legalization of marijuana will lead the the revival of the hemp industry.

[SHRED]

50. both now is fine with me

[teknomanzer]

57. I'm with you...

but someone out there still wants to confuse industrial hemp with marijuana. Though these two plants are related industrial hemp has such a low THC content that its not worth bothering with if you want to get high, and a plant that produces kine bud doesn't have the same quality or quantity of fiber as hemp. Both plants are a threat to existing industries though. I'll let you contemplate which ones.

[Cronus Protagonist]

53. Tax medications?

How low will you go? Maybe we should also tax other medications... hmmm.... which ones are used the most?

[grannie4peace]

2. i just sent someone a message & realized that legalization of pot

is one of the most important things for me at 63 yrs old. that amazed me! i am concerned about many things that need to be fixed in our culture but this issue is one that really bothers me!

[angstlessk]

3. I don't even smoke but I agree with you, the drug laws have done so much harm

to so many people, not only income from taxing it, but the savings in the prisons and the no longer ruined lives of those who have spent time in prison unable to become productive citizens once out of prison this is an extremely important change in the focus of the DOJ, but I wonder how independent the DEA is from the DOJ and if they can contine their harassment?

[slay]

5. If we end the "drug war" - we also end gangs and cut off funding to CIA black ops

Gangs as well as the CIA makes tons of untracable, untaxable money off drug sales. Regardless of that though - weed should NEVER have been illegal - is far less harmful than alcohol or cigs - especially when cooked in brownies or using a vaporizer both of which avoid putting any smoke in your lungs. :smoke: :hi:

[angstlessk]

7. how could I have left off that doozy? yes, the gangs and me newly in Detroit!

it would be another wonderful side benefit! :hi:

[FraDon]

13. Bingo! • BlackOps are the middle finger of the fist of Fascism.

The CIA and it's predecessor incarnations (and partner front corporations) have run the drugs since the first hours of American Empire.

[AndyTiedye]

36. Asscroft Took Away the Fighter Planes that Woulda Stopped 9/11 & Sent them to Look for Pot Smugglers

Though that could have been more LIHOP/MIHOP than anything else,
since he also stopped flying commercial around the same time.

Still, the "war on drugs" provided a convenient excuse.

[ChiciB1]

41. While I Have Smoked My Share In The Past... I Stopped Because Of...

"THE MUNCHIES!" I'm a fanatic about keeping my weight down and found it almost impossible not to eat everything in sight if I smoked.

But I DO heartedly agree that it's VERY beneficial for those who suffer from many illnesses! I don't see much happening here in Florida, but it's a start even it's way across the country from me!

[druidity33]

59. try eating it...

it's a very different feeling, and i find i don't get the munchies. It's much more effective on your musculature when consumed through the stomach. Smoking it is quicker and i think affects the brain in different ways... definitely affects the appetite.

I smoke bc of IBS. If you don't know what that is, i hope you never have occasion to find out how painful and inconvenient it can be without a medication that actually works. There aren't any pharmaceuticals that are nearly as good as MJ for my problem. The last med they released for IBS they had to pull from the market because there was too high a death rate, if you can believe that.


:shrug:

[gratefultobelib]

21. Agree! I'm 67 and feel the same way. It seems to me this issue is so

representative of the hold the rw has on society.

[bemildred]

4. It has nothing to do with "alternative healing".

It is a safe and effective medicine for a number of medical conditions, and it's been used in that way for thousands of years. If only we could be as sensible about all drugs. Regulation of drugs makes sense, the witch hunt that we've been conducting since Anslinger does not.

[Merlot]

48. I think by alternative they mean naturally growing, not a pharmaceutical/chemical

[1776Forever]

6. Montel Williams is now on Air America Radio - 9 am to noon - He reported on the Gov. 31 yr program

that has given out "pot" to SOME people for over 31 years. He is trying to get it legalized around the country. If you didn't know Montel has MS and has excruciating pain that he says is only helped with marijuana. I have a son with Progressive MS and if you ever are or know of someone that has this illness it can make you shudder from the pain you see or feel in their eyes. I hope a lot more people will support Montel in this issue.

Link here:

http://airamerica.com/montelacrossamerica

[sagetea]

10. I am one...

and thank you. It keeps me going everyday, I have to attain illegally and use it illegally because of the state I live in.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Montel is a great advocate

[percussivemadness]

42. ty for that info

[Dennis Donovan]

8. Recommended!

[Le Taz Hot]

12. More and more dispensaries

are opening up in conservative Central California as well. Though no dispensaries are open in Fresno County (yet), we can go to neighboring Tulare, Madera or Kern counties -- maybe an hour to an hour-and-a-half drive round-trip. Believe it or not, some of the little tiny farming communities are hosting them now. They all seem to be out in the boonies but they have a good variety, all grown locally, and you can get plant starts for $15.00/ea.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. It ain't happenin' over the hill from ya

Curtis Hill, the sheriff of San Benito County, is on record as saying there won't be any dispensaries here as long as he's sheriff. :grr:

Thank Dog I'm moving to Santa Cruz in a couple of days. I don't smoke weed, but I'm in love with the idea of living where the city council basically told the DEA to go fuck themselves. :thumbsup:

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Oh, we have one of those here.

It's why there aren't any dispensaries in Fresno County . . . because it's still against Federal law. If it ever is legalized in CA outright, and taxed, Fresno County, currently at 20-something % unemployment rate, will be losing out on millions in state and municipal funds. Assbites.

Off topic, one of the the best bumper stickers I ever saw was this one: "Keep Santa Cruz weird." :hi:

[The Wizard]

34. Isn't Fresno the capital

of Freeperville?

[Le Taz Hot]

60. Why yes, it is.

And only people from Fresno belong to Freerepublic. :eyes:

[onehandle]

14. And that's as far as it will ever go. nt

[Occulus]

24. God DAMN. EVERY thread on this subject. Maybe your username name should be oneNOTE, as in "Johnny".

Did you happen to miss the fact that it's already decriminalized in at least one other state?

The more you say shit like this, the more certain I am that you don't want legal cannabis.

Fortunately for, well, everyone, you're as wrong as you can possibly be.

[onehandle]

46. The very minute that pot is legalized, big tobacco would take it over totally.

Small growers would thrive for a short time, but they could not survive in the long run against the cheap prices that big tobacco would deliver.

I do want it to be decriminalized, for medicinal use, and to end the insane pot sentencing.

But I do not want the tobacco companies to be handed a gold mine.

And that's exactly what legal pot would be.

There may be a tipping point when enough likely voters are in favor of the legalization of pot. At that moment, the tobacco lobbyists would take over the legalization efforts. And that will be that. Big tobacco has a plan.

[Occulus]

55. You forgot to tell me *why* you think those things are true.

I can't even begin to form an argument until you finish saying what you were saying.

[onehandle]

61. Internal studies have been done by tobacco companies for decades.

They've been planning a "just in case" scenario where marijuana could be an "alternative" product. They even worked up product names and marketing strategies. At least one of them (Brown and Williamson, I think) studied the agricultural side of pot. They concluded that they could plant, harvest, and be in stores in half the time that tobacco takes, and for half the cost.

They already have the sales/marketing platform firmly in place. If you don't think that they would take advantage of that, you're fooling yourself.

[Stump]

16. Man, I hope we're finally heading...

in the right direction for some common sense. Legalize it! K&R

[pjt7]

17. States are really showing

their independence with these laws.

Good for them & Califonia could be a good measuring stick for a national law.

[The River]

19. The Business Behind Getting High

I found this link in a user comment on Raw Story.
It's a 104 minute documentary on the business behind it all.
Excellent overview of the history with lots of commentary
from scientists, politico's, law enforcement, growers, etc.


"BC's illegal marijuana trade industry has evolved into a business giant,
dubbed by some involved as 'The Union', Commanding upwards of $7 billion...."
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1657827965975839596&hl=en

[ohio2007]

20. So what will be the penalty for those caught without a prescription to consume?

A heavy fine and community service ?

[Le Taz Hot]

25. We decriminilized in in 1978.

If you're caught with less than an ounce it's a $100.00 fine. If it's really GOOD pot, it gets "confiscated" if you know what I mean.

[Locrian]

22. good news

Why should there be a difference in "availability" of Marijuana vs other "prescription" drugs? Marijuana has 1000's of years of "testing" that proves it is safe vs the Frankenstein concoctions brewed up in the pharmaceutical industry.

Really - Valium, Aderol, the long list of "prescription" drugs... vs Marijuana? No contest.

[chimpyisstillsatan]

27. you're right, there's no contest

I agree with you on decriminalization, but you're dead wrong about the quality of weed as medicine. Burning plant material makes for shitty medicine.

Me? I'll take Frankenstein's scientifically designed anaesthesia, his potent synthetic opioids for pain, his antibiotics and antivirals, his vaccines, his anti-seizure medications, his cures for hodgkin's lymphoma and testicular cancer... should I go on?

[Webster Green]

28. Frankenstein has yet to come up with anti-nausea drugs as good as pot..

I had Hodgkins Lymphoma, and I turned to "Frankenstein" for chemotherapy, but cannabis enabled me to get through the horrible nausea and loss of appetite.

If you choose, you can always put it in brownies or other foods to avoid smoking. I prefer a nice fat joint though. :hippie:

[chimpyisstillsatan]

29. Glad to see you posting

Hodgkin's is one of the few success stories in oncology.

I agree that cannibis is a tremendous anti-emetic, and can even be a life-enhancing experience for normal healthy people, but burning and inhaling it is simply bad for you.

Assuming one could keep brownies down, is ingesting it anti-emetic as well?

[Webster Green]

32. In some cases (like mine) you can eat them before the injections..

Yes, it does help with the nausea when you eat cannabis foods.

Indeed, Hodgkins is one that they've had a handle on for quite some time (lucky for me!).

[slay]

31. Soooooo true! See my reply #30 for a similar story

glad to hear it helped! you know, there truly is just something about a joint right? :smoke: personally i prefer a vaporizer for regular use but i truly consider pot to be a miracle plant in so many ways. the real crime is that pot IS illegal. anyone involved in keeping marijuana from someone who needs it are the true criminals in my book. :hippie:

[slay]

30. you don't have to burn it to get the effect

can easily be cooked in brownies or inhaled through a vaporizer which heats it but releases little to no smoke into the lung. also, weed IS great medicine and i know because my friend has aids and she would probably be dead if it wasn't for marijuana. see she was losing all this weight - had no appetite and couldn't keep anything down. dr frankenstein's med cabinet had nothing that could help. so her doc says "you should smoke some marijuana". she was shocked - didn't even know where to get any. but through friends she was able to and it worked wonders! she was expected to die in the mid-90's, and thanks in large part to marijuana, i am thankful to say she is still with us today. :) :smoke:

[goclark]

38. Our friend is 90 and he was given Medical MJ at Kaiser Hospital

Before that he had lost 30 pounds and was given 2 weeks to live.
That was in January.

This is April and he has gained 20 pounds back and still kicking.
He still has good days and bad days with his memory but he is still here with a higher quality of life.

[slay]

45. Very cool!

I'm always glad to see people doing the right thing even if the govenment - for no good reason at all - says they can't. I came to find out later that my friend with AIDS - her doctor could have gotten into alot of trouble for telling her to get some marijuana - but he too did the right, human, caring thing. Now it's time for our govenment to do the same.

Again - very cool how it's been able to help your friend. :hi:

[goclark]

54. Now I going to ask the doctor if it will help my 90 years young mom...

:hi:

[roody]

33. Marijuana butter is good in cookies.

Vaporization does not burn the plant in the same way.

[Locrian]

37. good luck with all that.....

I didnt mean to imply ALL drugs are bad - or, btw, that marijuana can only be smoked.


Prescription Drugs Kill 300 Percent More Americans than Illegal Drugs

http://rinf.com/alt-news/business-news/prescription-drugs-kill-300-percent-more-americans-than-illegal-drugs/4837/

An analysis of 168,900 autopsies conducted in Florida in 2007 found that three times as many people were killed by legal drugs as by cocaine, heroin and all methamphetamines put together. According to state law enforcement officials, this is a sign of a burgeoning prescription drug abuse problem.

“The abuse has reached epidemic proportions,” said Lisa McElhaney, a sergeant in the pharmaceutical drug diversion unit of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s just explosive.”

In 2007, cocaine was responsible for 843 deaths, heroin for 121, methamphetamines for 25 and marijuana for zero, for a total of 989 deaths. In contrast, 2,328 people were killed by opioid painkillers, including Vicodin and Oxycontin, and 743 were killed by drugs containing benzodiazepine, including the depressants Valium and Xanax.

[chimpyisstillsatan]

26. I really don't care if it's good medicine

People should be able to relieve their suffering however they damned well please, whatever the cause of that suffering.

[The Wizard]

35. Reagan's dream coming true

Getting the government off people's backs was a central theme of his political philosophy.

[GinaMaria]

39. That ought to piss off the Pharm lobby

They don't like it when people can grow their own medicine.

[shanti]

47. phuck the pharm lobby!

that's all i have to say about that!

[ChiciB1]

40. I Just Was Out In San Francisco On A Short Trip & It IS Almost Everywhere!

Especially around the Haight area, and downtown! You could smell it ALL THE TIME!

Not so much for legalization of "hard core" drugs, but this one NEEDS done!! I would also like to see people allowed to "grow their own!"

[iamthebandfanman]

44. oh really!? anyone you say !?

yikes, if only i had the money to pick up and move my sorry but somewhere i could get treatment!

ive been diagnosed with bi-polar since 1998 , and pots the only thing that seems to keep me sane without a ton of side effects..

[burning rain]

49. Excellent!

Pot is also good for conditions such as hangnail and ennui.

[someone else]

51. If drugs were legal

tomorrow, I'd probably not use them. By the same token, the fact they are currently illegal is not what causes me to abstain. I just don't believe we'd go to hell in a handbasket were they legal. We pretty much live in a police state because they are illegal.

[wordpix]

52. true story: my daughter after surgery was very nauseous from legal painkillers

derived from the opium poppy and related to morphine and heroin. Again, THOSE drugs, which we all know are highly addictive, are LEGAL under a doctor's prescription. After a month of her being nauseous, I was so upset at seeing her like that I got some pot and told her to smoke all she needed. She was 18 at the time. It worked like a miracle, took her nausea away and she got better quickly after that.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

56. Is it 1968 already - pot has been mainstream around here for 40 years

The drug that is going mainstream in California in 2009 is cocaine, which is so cheap that teenagers can afford it and it hasn't been seen this pure in 30 years.

[jmondine]

58. It also helps that the RW's "Dirty Hippie" boogeyman is fading into history

This also accounts for the utter failure of the demonization of William Ayers as a bludgeon against Obama in the last election.

[cagesoulman]

62. The answer to reviving California's economy

It could be the richest state in the union with legalized pot.