Yearly Archives: 2011

Medical Marijuana Hard On The Heels Of Viagra Sales

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 24, 2011 Medical, News

It’s no secret that medical marijuana has become a big business in the United States. Medicinal cannabis sales this year are projected to reach $1.7 billion, according to an “investment-grade report on the business of medical marijuana” released this week.

What that means is that marijuana is hard on the heels of Viagra, another of America’s favorite medications. Viagra, the anti-impotence drug, has sales of $1.9 billion a year.

The $1.7 billion figure represents estimated sales of marijuana through dispensaries in states with medical marijuana laws.

The Sea Change Strategy LLC report, “The State of the Medical Marijuana Markets 2011,” adds new levels of meaning to the term “Green Rush.” It predicts that the number of states where medical marijuana is sold will double in the next five years.

The demand for cannabis in states which already have medical marijuana will also grow, according to the report.

Whoopi Admits She Smoked Pot Before 1991 Oscar Speech

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 24, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: Hello Beautiful

Whoopi Goldberg: “Smoking cigarettes and pot every now and then are my habits”

Comedian Whoopi Goldberg has admitted she smoked marijuana just before the 1991 Academy Awards ceremony, and said she was quite high when she gave her acceptance speech for winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie Ghost.

“Smoking cigarettes and pot every now and then are my habits,” the current host of The View explained in footage obtained by TMZ on Thursday. “And I thought, ‘I’ve got to relax,’ So I smoked a joint, my homegrown,” to calm down before the Oscars.

She then described the shock be being announced as the winner and said she remembers trying hard to focus “to just get to the stage,” reports the New York Post.

“When he [presenter Denzel Washington]said my name and I popped up, I thought, ‘Oh, fuck’ … OK, up the stairs … around to the podium … there’s millions of people, get the statue, pick up the statue,” Goldberg said.

This isn’t the first time Whoopi’s talked about pot in public. Back in 2009 she came to Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps’ defense after the infamous photo swept the Internet of Phelps hitting a bong.

Worth Repeating: Medical Cannabis May Treat PTSD

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 24, 2011 Medical

Graphic: Four Twenty Studios

Welcome to Room 420, where your instructor is Mr. Ron Marczyk and your subjects are wellness, disease prevention, self actualization, and chillin’.

Worth Repeating

By Ron Marczyk, R.N.

Health Education Teacher (Retired)

An Israeli study finds that the cannabinoids in cannabis provide relief from anxiety due to stress. This study suggests that a treatment to heal a hyper-alert “fear memory” in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients may exist.

Medical cannabis may also enhance PTSD behavior therapy treatments as an anti-anxiety agent that resets a damaged amygdala and may act as a superior psychiatric medicine to present-day antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs.

Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bill Heads To WA House

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 24, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Reality Catcher

Although dispensaries are neither specifically allowed nor banned by Washington’s current medical marijuana law, more than 120 have opened.

The latest version of a plan to license medical marijuana dispensaries in Washington state and provide arrest protection for patients is headed for a vote in the state House after narrowly passing a committee on Wednesday.

Medical marijuana has been legal in Washington since voters approved Initiative 692 in 1998, but the law left confusion around how patients who qualify to use medical marijuana can legally get it.

The heavily amended Senate Bill 5073 would allow the state Health Department to decide how many dispensaries could be located in each county, and would set up a lottery to obtain a license, reports Jim Camden of the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Society of Addiction Medicine Blasts Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 24, 2011 Medical, News

Graphic: ASAM

Never mind what all those silly patients and physicians say. The American Society of Addiction Medicine says marijuana isn’t “medical,” and that’s apparently supposed to settle it.

If you enjoy bullshit, you can certainly have a hell of a time with the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s white paper on medicinal cannabis. That becomes clear from the moment you see those quote marks on the cover: The Role of the Physician in “Medical” Marijuana.

Touting the supposed dangers of marijuana, the reputed lack of clinical research “on a controlled substance with a high potential for abuse,” and the physician’s oath to “first, do no harm,” ASAM on Wednesday released a white paper [PDF] prepared last fall which recommends a halt to using cannabis as medicine, even in states where it has been declared legal.

The organization — for what it’s worth, considered the nation’s leading professional society of physicians involved in addiction prevention and treatment — supported federal regulatory standards for drug approval and distribution, and discouraged what it called “state interference” in the “federal medication-approval process,” reports Yahoo! News.

Charity Says No Thanks To Food Donations From Dispensary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Westword

Dave Crook and Amy DiIullo of Urban Cannabis with donated food items

’Cans For Cones’ Turns To Controversy

A Denver medical marijuana dispensary says it is literally trading a ton of joints for a ton of food. But one local charity turned down the food donation offered by Urban Cannabis because of its connection to marijuana.

Urban Cannabis said it is giving out free pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes to qualified medical marijuana patients who bring in four or more (8-ounce) canned food items. Monday marked a high point for the food drive, according to the dispensary, which said it collected 250 pounds of food in eight hours.

Marshall Islands Quells Cocaine Legalization Rumor

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2011 News

Photo: DEA

No, it’s still not legal, even in the Marshall Islands.

Cokeheads briefly thought on Wednesday that there was a place where their drug of choice is legal.

But the Republic of the Marshall Islands said it hasn’t legalized cocaine, nor has it created a no-visa entry program allowing unrestricted access to the Pacific islands nation, reports Erin Thompson of Pacific Daily News.

“We do not, have not, and don’t intend to legalize any substance,” said Soye Brown, acting attorney general for the Marshall Islands.

Golf Club Co. Threatens To Move Out If Pot Shop Moves In

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2011 Dispensaries, News

If you support medical marijuana patients, don’t buy Ping golf clubs. They don’t want to be associated with you, anyway.

Golf club manufacturer Ping is threatening to leave its Phoenix headquarters after 45 years if a medical marijuana dispensary is allowed in the neighborhood, according to its attorney. If you support medical marijuana patients, you definitely want to think twice before buying anything made by these morons.

While most dispensary applications sailed through without opposition, Ping objected strenuously to an applicant for a site at 1944 W. North Lane, one block south of the company’s headquarters, reports Michael Clancy at The Arizona Republic.

Ping representative Stephen Earl told a Phoenix hearing officer that the company is “considering” investing $170 million to renovate its headquarters, but “may not do so if the neighborhood decline continues.”

Woman Arrested During Medical Marijuana Raid Speaks Out

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: 8 News Now

Rhonda Shade’s garage in Las Vegas used to be packed with dozens of marijuana plants. Now all the cannabis is gone, along with the lights used to grow it, since everything was seized in a drug raid.

“They’ve taken our finished medicine, which was ready for use, and they took all of our equipment,” Shade said, reports 8 News Now. “Law enforcement is taught to look for these lights and these plants growing, and maybe it looks crazy to them, but it was beautiful to us. That was our medicine, and we took pride in it. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I’m not going to be ashamed of that.”

Maryland Senate On Verge Of Approving Medical Marijuana Bill

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 23, 2011 Legislation, Medical

Graphic: Cannabis Fantastic

The Maryland Senate is expected to take up final approval of a medical marijuana bill this week, after giving it a preliminary OK on Tuesday. Although the bill has been drastically amended since being introduced, its sponsor said he still feels it represents progress.

The bill, proposed by state Sen. David Brinkley of Frederick County, will now allow people charged with use or possession of marijuana to argue before a judge that they did so out of medical necessity, reports Meg Tully of the Frederick News-Post. If a judge agrees, the person would be found not guilty of the charge, known as an “affirmative defense.”

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