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Experienced Potheads Show No Change In Task Performance

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 9, 2010 Medical, News

If you are an experienced pot smoker, marijuana doesn’t affect your task performance, according to a new study.

If you’re going to smoke pot, for goodness’ sakes, smoke it every day, man.

Experienced marijuana consumers show virtually no changes in cognitive performance after using cannabis, according to clinical trial data published online this week in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior.

Investigators at Columbia University in New York and San Francisco Brain Research Institute assessed acute marijuana-related effects on cognitive functioning in 24 volunteers who reported consuming cannabis at least 24 times per week, reports NORML.

Scientists found that participants’ overall performance accuracy on episodic memory and working memory tasks “was not significantly altered by marijuana.”

“The present findings show that smoked marijuana produced minimal effects on episodic and spatial working memory of near-daily smokers,” the researchers concluded.

Maine Pot Dispensary Applicants Wait For Friday Decision

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 8, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Graphic: Reality Catcher

Maine will announce on Friday which of seventeen applicants will get the eight dispensary slots as part of the state’s medical marijuana law.

The prospective dispensaries said they will charge anywhere from $200 to $400 an ounce for medicinal cannabis, reports John Richardson at the Waterville Morning Sentinel. The state has not set any limits on prices, but said it is “reviewing” the pricing information as part of the application process.

Many of the shops will also provide massage, acupuncture and yoga as extra services, the Morning Sentinel reports. One plans to organize knitting and quilting groups. Another wants to hire a pastry chef to turn marijuana into gourmet organic edibles.

While the Maine medical marijuana market is untested, since there have been no state-licensed dispensaries until now, most prospective dispensary owners said they expect to sell at least $1 million worth of cannabis in the first full year of operation, starting July 1, 2011.

DEA Raids Medical Marijuana Protest Organizer

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 7, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: Gus Burns/The Saginaw News

John Roberts, 48, said he and his fiancee, Stephanie Whisman, 38, were raided after he organized a medical marijuana protest last week. Roberts is holding a syringe of Rick Simpson hemp oil, a liquid cannabis extract ingested orally for pain and to induce sleep.

Perhaps as a warning to those who dare to speak out, federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents on Tuesday raided the home of a Michigan medical marijuana patient, activist and caregiver after he organized a protest outside the Saginaw County Courthouse last week.

John F. Roberts, 49, of Thomas Township, said he believes the raid was in retaliation because he organized last week’s protest accusing the Saginaw County Sheriff of raiding patients and caregivers, reports Kim Russell at NBC 25. Protesters had come from around the state, some holding signs reading, “Learn The Law.”

Cash-Hungry Long Beach Wants To Tax Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 6, 2010 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: LBPost.com

Long Beach is joining other California cities which are looking at taxing marijuana to boost cash-starved city coffers.

The City Council on Tuesday, July 6, will consider a proposal to put a measure on November’s ballot that would levy a 5 percent tax on medical marijuana dispensaries.

Another tax, of up to 10 percent, would only go into effect if California voters also pass Proposition 19, which would legalize and regulate marijuana for recreational use, and allow its taxation, reports Tony Barboza at the Los Angeles Times.

Colorado Veterans Want Medical Marijuana For PTSD

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 6, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Patients Choice of Colorado

Kevin Grimsinger: “We’ve done our fighting. Don’t make us continue to fight.”

Numerous studies have shown medical marijuana to be effective in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition suffered by 20 percent of our returning veterans. Wouldn’t it make sense to make the best medicine available to those coming home from war?

Medical marijuana advocacy group Sensible Colorado and local veterans will hold a press conference and rally on Wednesday, July 7, to support adding PTSD to the list of conditions eligible for medical marijuana authorizations in Colorado.

The rally coincides with the official submission of a petition to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to add PTSD.

PTSD does not qualify for medical marijuana use in Colorado. Veterans Administration hospitals won’t recommend cannabis for any use, and, by policy, threatens to cut off health care and benefits to veterans who test positive for using it.

Montana Police Now Delivering Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 5, 2010 Dispensaries, Medical

Photo: Home Security Guru

Talk about restoring your faith in humanity! One town in Montana has finally gotten it right when it comes to the proper relationship between medical marijuana and the cops.

The Billings, Montana Police Department says it has become a medical marijuana delivery service for pot growers in Montana, because shipping companies like FedEx and UPS refuse to handle the packages due to federal laws that could leave them open to criminal prosecution, reports KECI Missoula.

Parents Charged With Child Abuse For Growing Medical Pot

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 1, 2010 Growing, Medical, News

Photo: Denver D.A.’s Office

Joseph Lightfoot is a legally licensed caregiver with all his paperwork in order. But he’s been charged with felony child abuse for growing medical marijuana.

In what may be a harbinger of a disturbing new tactic on the part of police in targeting legal cultivators of medical marijuana, a Denver couple has been charged with felony child abuse for operating a licensed cannabis grow operation in their home.

Joseph Daniel Lightfoot and Amber Brooke Wildenstein, both 29, were arrested after police noticed the grow operation when they were called to the home on a domestic-violence report from a neighbor earlier this month.

A police investigation found that “it had only been a verbal argument, so no domestic-violence crime had been committed,” said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword.

Three children, ages 7, 9, and 11, live in the home with the couple.

Because of the presence of the children, Lightfoot and Wildenstein are each facing one count of felony child abuse, according to the district attorney’s office. They were released on $50,000 bond each.

British Doctors Told Not To Prescribe New Cannabis Drug

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 1, 2010 Global, Medical

Photo: Daily Mail

British MS patients have waited 11 years for Sativex, a cannabis-based oral spray. Now many of them still won’t get it.

Doctors in southern England have been told not to prescribe a new cannabis-based drug developed for multiple sclerosis patients, reports the BBC.

Sativex, an oral spray which had taken 11 years to develop, was licensed for medical use in the United Kingdom last week.

But unaccountably, 10 primary care trusts have told physicians not to give the treatment, which is designed to reduce pain, claiming it is not effective.

The MS Society charity called the decision “arbitrary and disappointing” and said it would fight against it. It said the decision could affect hundreds of patients.

Montana May Ban Mobile Marijuana Clinics

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 30, 2010 Legislation, Medical

Photo: Matt Gouras/AP

Jason Christ smokes marijuana in front of the Great Falls Civic Center. Christ holds mobile clinics to help people get their state-issued medical marijuana cards in Montana.

Traveling cannabis caravans, responsible for signing up thousands of people for medical marijuana cards in the past year, may become a thing of the past in Montana if a group of lawmakers gets its way.

A bipartisan panel spent most of Tuesday morning discussing changes to Montana’s existing medical marijuana laws, taking aim at traveling clinics, which some accuse of “exploiting” the law, reports Jennifer McKee of the Missoulian.

Among the committee’s ideas: Physicians who recommend marijuana for their patients must have an “established practice” in Montana, and they must have a face-to-face evaluation of a patient before authorizing them to use medical cannabis.

“No more telemedicine, no more traveling,” said Rep. Diane Sands (D-Missoula), chair of the committee.

The panel also recommended that doctors follow “professional standards of care” when dealing with potential medical marijuana patients, including looking at a patient’s medical records before recommending cannabis.

Montel: N.Y. ‘Needs To Act Now’ On Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 29, 2010 Medical, News

Photo: TattooFinder.com

Montel Williams: “Every day that we delay is another day of needless suffering for patients like me all across the state”

Former talk show host and U.S. Navy officer and current New York City resident Montel Williams on Tuesday urged Governor David Paterson and members of the Legislature to act quickly in order to pass New York’s medical marijuana bill.

Williams spoke at a press conference in Albany. He uses medical marijuana to help ease the effects of his multiple sclerosis.

According to supporters, the New York bill would create one of the best-regulated systems in the country for providing seriously ill patients with safe and effective access to medical marijuana.

“New York needs to act now to make marijuana legally available for medical use. Every day that we delay is another day of needless suffering for patients like me all across the state,” Williams said.

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