Dr. Donald P. Tashkin isn’t a household name, even for cannabis smokers. But he should be. TAshkin’s studies on cannabis use have shown time and time again that cannabis use is not associated with increased lung cancer incidences or risk.
Tashkin’s work is the focus of an article in this month’s Annals of the American Thoracic Society, highlighting the doctor’s work with the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Oregon legislators are set to vote this week – possibly even today – on creating a program through the state health department to regulate medical marijuana businesses.
Legislators say the program is needed because dispensaries currently operate under a hodgepodge of regulations while advocates point out that keeping dispensaries legal and operation is key to patient medicine access. Not every one of the 53,000 registered medical marijuana has the ability to grow cannabis, and medical marijuana centers allow a safe and legal point to procure their pot.
So far, 24 Colorado cities have banned recreational marijuana sales since the passing of Amendment 64. This is not a surprise, since most already had an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana stores.
But what about those that have MMJ shops that now won’t be able to switch to recreational — like, for instance, Englewood, which briefly allowed dispensaries in 2009 but has since banned them. The three dispensaries that were grandfathered into that city have found it hard to stay open ever since. Denver Westword has the full story.
| Culture Shock, from Facebook. |
The owner of Culture Shock clothing boutique in Fairfax, California is either really stupid or really diabolic. That’s our conclusion today after a report surfaced about her “accidentally” giving pot food to a local art teacher and her students while the group was on a field trip.
As if things weren’t Big Brother enough lately, CNN released a story this week about roadblocks set up around the country to study drugged and impaired driving through blood and saliva draws.
Yes. Blood and saliva draws. The reallymessed up part? It’s all done on a volunteer basis. That’s right: people are willingly giving their blood and spit to cops for $50 or less. The cost to taxpayers? About $8 million per report.
Update 6/21/2013: Well, it seems the small success that hemp advocates saw yesterday was short lived. The House rejected the farm bill with the hemp amendment that would have allowed for universities to grow and study the plant.
Not only that, but it seems it was purely symbolic, considering Colorado Rep. Jared Polis – who sponsored the amendment – ended up voting against the farm bill as a whole. Don’t you just love the American government system sometimes?
As if making criminals out of marijuana users and growers wasn’t bad enough, Now we’ve got people becoming criminals for making fake marijuana in their home thanks to the prohibition of the real thing. The Dallas Observer has the full story of Mohsin Zia, a 24-year-old Iving, Texas man, who allegedly burned down his apartment complex – including the units and possessions of 56 of his neighbors – while trying to make synthetic pot out of items he discovered in online forums.
While outrageous, it’s actually just another sad example of why this war on a plant is such a failed endeavor.
Tony Green clearly has a good heart. Sadly, the Michigan Supreme Court doesn’t see it that way.
After Green was arrested for giving the legal 2.5 ounces of marijuana allowed by the state’s medical marijuana code to a fellow patient, a court of appeals tossed out his case saying the transfer was legal. But now the State Supreme court has ordered the charges reinstated and says Green was illegally distributing marijuana. The move could have some far-reaching effects.
| Malaysia. |
Deep in the conservative heartland of the upper Malaysian peninsula, the state of Kelantan was once known for its secluded location and coastal piracy, but today is known more for the strict Islamic order that has been put in place by the long standing hardline government. It is that draconian set of laws that has three friends facing death by hanging after being found guilty of selling weed in a hospital parking lot.
The isolated region has been ruled by the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) since 1990. With a Muslim population of over 95%, the PAS has managed to pass local laws in Kelantan that segregate supermarket lines, as well as public seating, by gender. They have restricted public performances by women if any men are present, and have placed outright bans on many traditional Malaysian forms of theater.
There are studies that suggest medical marijuana can reduce pain and even prevent suicide.
So if doctors in California can recommend it for adults, shouldn’t they be able to encourage it for teens? Researchers at the Mayo Clinic just say no in an opinion published this week: The clinic says cannabis is an “increasingly available option” for teenagers with chronic pain that doctors and parents should “avoid.” Of course, the study also claims pot causes pain. So you might want to take the results with a grain of THC. L.A. Weekly has the rest.