Medical Marijuana and ADD Video

 

 

Medical marijuana laws Ca. Prop215

 

Background

Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for over 4,800 years. Surviving texts from China, Greece and Persia confirm that its psychoactive properties were recognized, and the ancient doctors used it for a variety of illnesses and ailments. These included a whole host of gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia, headaches and as a pain reliever, frequently used in childbirth. In India, cannabis can be definitely identified in such contexts only from about AD 1000.

Cannabis as a medicine was common throughout most of the world in the 1800s. It was used as the primary pain reliever until the invention of aspirin[citation needed]. Modern medical and scientific inquiry began with doctors like O'Shaughnessy and Moreau de Tours, who used it to treat melancholia, migraines, and as a sleeping aid, analgesic and anticonvulsant.

By the time the United States banned cannabis (the third country to do so) with the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act, the plant was no longer extremely popular. The only opponent to the bill was the representative of the American Medical Association.

Later in the century, researchers investigating methods of detecting marijuana intoxication discovered that smoking the drug reduced intraocular pressure. High intraocular pressure causes blindness in glaucoma patients, so many believed that using the drug could prevent blindness in patients. Many Vietnam War veterans also believed that the drug prevented muscle spasms caused by battle-induced spinal injuries. Later medical use has focused primarily on its role in preventing the wasting syndromes and chronic loss of appetite associated with chemotherapy and AIDS, along with a variety of rare muscular and skeletal disorders. Less commonly, cannabis has been used in the treatment of alcoholism and addiction to other drugs such as heroin and the prevention of migraines.

In 1972 Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D. reignited the debate concerning marijuana as medicine when he published "Marijuana Medical Papers 1839-1972".

Later in the 1970s, a synthetic version of THC, the primary active ingredient in cannabis, was synthesized to make the drug Marinol. Users reported several problems with Marinol, however, that led many to abandon the pill and resume smoking the plant. Patients complained that the violent nausea associated with chemotherapy made swallowing pills difficult. The effects of smoked cannabis are felt almost immediately, and is therefore easily dosed; many patients only smoke enough to feel the medical effects — many complained that Marinol was more potent than they needed, and that the mental effects made normal daily functioning impossible. In addition, Marinol was far more expensive, costing upwards of several thousand dollars a year for the same effect as smoking a plant easily grown throughout most of the world. Many users felt Marinol was less effective, and that the mental effects were far more disastrous; some studies have indicated that other chemicals in the plant may have a synergistic effect with THC.

In addition, during the 1970s and 1980s, six US states' health departments performed studies on the use of medical marijuana. These are widely considered some of the most useful and pioneering studies on the subject.

In 2003, the American Academy of Ophthalmology released a position statement asserting that "no scientific evidence has been found that demonstrates increased benefits and/or diminished risks of marijuana use to treat glaucoma compared with the wide variety of pharmaceutical agents now available."

 

Early studies on efficacy

New Mexico

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the study included 250 patients and compared smoked marijuana to oral THC. All participants were referred by a medical doctor and had failed to control vomiting using at least three alternative antiemetics. Patients chose smoking marijuana or taking the THC pill. Multiple objective and subjective standards were used to determing the effectiveness.


Tennessee

27 patients had failed on other antiemetic therapies, including oral THC.

California

A series of studies throughout the 1980s involved 90–100 patients a year. The study was designed to make it easier for patients to enter the oral THC part of the study. Patients who wanted smoked marijuana had to be over 15 years old (oral THC patients had to be over 5) and use the drug only in the hospital and not at home. Smoked marijuana patients also had to receive rare and painful forms of chemotherapy.

 

Georgia

119 patients that had failed using other antiemetics were randomly assigned to oral THC pills and either standardized or patient-controlled smoking of marijuana.

Currently, seven people receive medical cannabis shipments from the U. S. Federal Government as part of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program, including Irvin Rosenfeld, a 52-year-old stockbroker who has been featured in numerous print articles and on the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! cable television series. Rosenfeld has been receiving the federal marijuana since 1983. The marijuana is grown on a farm at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and each person receives 300 joints a month.

There is a split between the U. S. federal and state governments over medical marijuana policy. On June 6, 2005, the Supreme Court, in Gonzales v. Raich, ruled in a 6-3 decision that Congress has the right to outlaw medicinal cannabis, thus subjecting all patients to federal prosecution even in states where the treatment is legalized. Currently, there are twelve states with effective medical marijuana laws on the books: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. It should be noted that Maryland's law does not legalize possession of medical cannabis, but rather makes it a non-incarcerable offense with a maximum penalty of a $100 fine.

The case brought into tension two themes of the Rehnquist court: the limits it has imposed on the federal government and the latitude it has afforded law enforcement officers. Those issues produced an unusual breakdown among the nine justices.

Joining Justice John Paul Stevens's majority decision were Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote separately to say he agreed with the result, though not the majority's reasoning. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas dissented.

As a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970, marijuana is considered to have "no accepted medical use" and is illegal for any reason, with the notable exception of FDA-approved research programs. The Act allows mis-controlled substances to be reclassified by petition by any member of the public, but federal agencies whose power and budgets depend on the illegal status of marijuana have denied each such petition (another, by Jon Gettman, is pending). See cannabis rescheduling in the United States.

A successful "medical necessity" defense by patient Robert Randall led the FDA to create an "Investigational New Drug Program", which provides medical cannabis grown under a NIDA contract at the Research Institute for Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Mississippi to a small number of patients since 1978. The program was closed to new patients in 1992 when many AIDS patients applied. Six living patients continue to receive federal marijuana, including Irvin Rosenfeld (for bone spurs), Elvy Musikka (for glaucoma), and George McMahon (who authored Prescription Pot, a book detailing the federal program, which contains the only existing medical study performed on the legal patients). These patients are required by the U. S. Government to smoke the marijuana through a "rolled paper tube" (they are not allowed to eat it or use pipes or vaporizers). All the patients and their doctors report significant medical benefits from their use of marijuana.

DEA and NIDA opposition prevented any scientific studies of medical marijuana for more than a decade, but in the 1990s, activists and doctors were energized by seeing marijuana help dying AIDS patients. A study of smoked marijuana at the University of California, San Francisco, under Dr. Donald Abrams was approved after five years of bureaucracy. Further research followed, particularly due to a ten million dollar research appropriation by the California legislature. The University of California coordinates this research. However, there are still significant barriers, unique among Schedule I substances, to conducting medical marijuana research in the US. Many years of work remain before sufficient research could be approved and conducted to meet the FDA's standards for approving marijuana as a new prescription medicine.

Public opinion surveys find most Americans support legalization of medical marijuana, even as they reject broader legalization of the drug. A November 2003 Gallup survey found 75% said they would favor use of marijuana under a doctor's prescription, but nearly two-thirds rejected full legalization. While Congress has consistently rejected legislation to allow medical use of marijuana, 33 states and the District of Columbia have authorized it in some form. Most require that it be "prescribed", which is problematic when federal agencies control doctors' power to prescribe. Twelve states have made laws which permit doctors to instead "recommend" marijuana, starting with California Proposition 215 (1996). The most recent such state was Rhode Island on January 3, 2006, when its state legislature overturned a gubernatorial veto of a bill legalizing medical marijuana. In 2004, Montana legalized medical marijuana by a statewide referendum. Hawaii, Maine and Maryland have legalized medical marijuana by legislative action, and the California legislature expanded patient protections in 2003. District of Columbia voters also passed several modern medical marijuana initiatives, but Congress first denied the funds to count the vote, then when that was declared unconstitutional, voted to overturn the initiative. Even in the best states, law enforcement agencies and individual officers frequently violate the law and the rights of patients, by stealing or destroying medical marijuana, and/or arresting the patients. For example, the official position of the California Narcotics Officers Association is that medical marijuana activists "misled" the public which voted to change the law . Legal and social support groups such as Americans for Safe Access have sprung up in defense.

Sale of medical marijuana is illegal or barely legal, even in states where patients have the right to grow or use it, due to public confusion between dispensaries and "drug dealers". However, medical marijuana dispensaries have been established in many locations, particularly in California, where they work openly with local government officials to resolve any difficulties. Many offer social services, medical consultations, and support groups as well as medicine. The first such dispensary, known as the Cannabis Buyer's Club (CBC), was opened by Dennis Peron in February, 1994. The club operated openly in San Francisco for years, even before medical marijuana was legalized. Thousands of otherwise healthy and well-behaved local gay men had died, before scientists could be persuaded to begin researching their disease. Local police and politicians did not want to be seen arresting suffering AIDS patients, or denying them any medicine that could help them. This gay community activism led directly to the "Compassionate Use Act" medical marijuana initiative, California Proposition 215 (1996), which voters approved.

Washington state Initiative 692, passed by the voters in 1998, also authorizes the medical use of marijuana. On November 2, 2004, the voters of Ann Arbor, Michigan passed a similar resolution with 74% approval. In early 2005, Rhode Island's legislature was the first to legalize medical marijuana. Such an act was not sent to the voters.

In NYC, in 2001, well known local activist Kenny Toglia achieved a significant victory for medical cannabis when charges against him were dropped in the infamous "marijuana cookie case". Kenny Toglia in 2001 was involved in a historic drug policy case involving medical marijuana in NYS. He was arrested at "University of the Streets", a locally owned black community center on the corner of Tomplins Square at East 7th Street, with more than a pound of marijuana. Ultimately, all charges against him were dismissed following his complaint that the arresting officers had consumed a number of oatmeal cookies laced with marijuana which had been intended for use by patients with AIDS suffering from wasting syndrome. The events following his arrest led to the issue becoming important in the NYS gubernatorial campaign, and subsequently turned the statewide political tide in favor of the issue. reference: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0049,friedman,20413,5.html

Despite DEA's repeated false claims that they "don't target sick and dying people" , federal arrests of medical marijuana users and suppliers continue. Close to thirty federal criminal cases about medical marijuana are pending. Several jurisdictions, including Oakland, California and San Mateo County, California have announced plans to distribute medical marijuana to patients. Ed Rosenthal, author of dozens of books on marijuana cultivation, grew small "starter" plants for patients on behalf of the city government of Oakland. He was convicted in federal court of manufacturing marijuana, by a jury which was never told that his marijuana was for medical patients. Shortly after the trial, eight of the fourteen jurors (and alternates) who convicted him called a press conference and denounced their verdict, arguing that the trial was not fair because the evidence that Rosenthal was growing marijuana for medical use, working on behalf of the city, and was told by DEA agents and city officials that he was immune to prosecution, was all suppressed by the judge as "irrelevant under federal law". The jury discovered the real facts, by reading newspapers, within hours after delivering their verdict. As a result of the intense public scrutiny, Rosenthal was given a sentence of only one day. He is appealing his felony conviction, and the federal government is appealing the short sentence.

The late Peter McWilliams, a vocal supporter of medical cannabis due to being terminally ill with AIDS and cancer, was investigated by the DEA and convicted for violating federal marijuana laws. Even as he vomited repeatedly during court proceedings, McWilliams was not allowed by the federal judge to explain his condition or its connection to the charges against him. His mother's house had been used to collateralize the bond on which he was allowed to remain free pending sentencing, a condition of which was that he refrain from using cannabis. Prior to his death, McWilliams stated

The federal prosecutor personally called my mother to tell her that if I was found with even a trace of medical marijuana, her house would be taken away.

He choked to death on his own vomit when he was forced to switch from cannabis to Marinol.

Richard Cowan and many other critics of U. S. drug policies have described his death as murder by the federal overnment, insofar as they denied him the use of the medical cannibis which might have prevented his death.

The federal government of the United States continues to argue that smoked cannabis has no recognized medicial purpose; many officials point to the difficulty of regulating dosage (a problem for treatment as well as research). The United States has also pressured other governments (especially Canada, with which it shares a largely open border) to retain restrictions on marijuana.