To show how debilitating Migraines can be… the New York Governor checked himself into the hospital today due to the pain associated with them and this is a clear example of how debilitating these neurological disorders can be.

New York State Gov. David Paterson checked himself into hospital on Tuesday with symptoms of a migraine headache and preliminary test results were normal, the governor’s office said.

“He is now resting comfortably and will undergo further tests during the course of the day,” it said in a statement.

People misleadingly call Migraine attacks “headaches” when it is much more than that, and the governor knows just that. Migraine “headaches” are actually caused by the inflammation in the head and is the result of neurological disease-like disorder which causes intense pain, light sensitivity, nausea and more – it can ruin your day or in the case of mine, sometimes last a week long… slowly building and then climaxing in intense periods of nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. I have to lay down in a dark room and nurse myself until it passes…

Migraine refers to a type of headache that is vascular in nature. Spasm and narrowing of the blood vessels leading to the brain produces a migraine “syndrome”. Reduced blood to the brain causes lower oxygen levels, which in turn triggers the release of the brain chemical serotonin and the vasodilatation of blood vessels outside of the brain that can become congested with platelets. Migraine can be focused on one part of the head (hence the term “cluster”) or may involve the entire head and neck region.

In my case I get bad nausea accompanied by the light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and headache itself…

Often, when acute episodes of vomiting are present, oral medication cannot be used. In these instances patients usually receive treatment from a physician or ER where IM or even IV injections are used. If vomiting is particularly severe dehydration is a consideration and IV fluids may be administered.

So why would I make my stomach worse by taking pills that make me more nauseated when you can use cannabis as medicine?

While hemp drugs (cannabis) were introduced to western medicine by O’Shaughnessy in 1839 and attained wide usage until the turn of the century with the development of synthetic and semisynthetic analgesics.Their use declined though maintaining mention in medical texts until removal from the formulary in 1940. Reclassified as a schedule I drug in 1970 alleged to having no medicinal redeeming importance, the synthetic THC created by government sponsored research contractors was downscheduled to II in 1986, the same as non-combination opiates requiring triplicate prescription.

Grinspoon has recently described use of cannabinoids therapeutically for migraine.

It would appear that further clinical trial of both Marinol and cannabis for the treatment of migraine headache would be desirable.

Cannabis is known to relieve Migraines…

Marijuana has been recommended for migraine since the 6th century, including numerous references in the medical literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

and having experienced this level of intense migraine pain and nausea, one will try just about anything to relieve it…

Over 400 million people suffer from migraines worldwide. 60% have at least one debilitating headache per month, many being struck over four times monthly.

New Federal Report on Teen Marijuana Use is Misleading…

(SALEM, Ore.) – A new federal government report on the ill effects of marijuana on teens may be a last ditch effort to demonize the medical weed before it sees its own day of emancipation. As it stands, even the most hardcore marijuana legalization advocates do not support children using anything that causes intoxication.

This new report uses scare tactics and seems to regard medical facts as a meaningless burden, and they are enlisting the help of celebrities with big money and big media ties to drive their message home.

Is it not a generally known fact that more teens are abusing prescribed drugs from mom and dads medicine cabinet more than marijuana these days?

“Don’t be fooled into thinking that pot is harmless,” said Dr. Drew Pinksy, internist, addiction expert, and host of VH1′s Celebrity Rehab. “Marijuana is an addictive drug. Teens who are already depressed and use marijuana may increase their odds of suffering from even more serious mental health problems.”

But medical marijuana and pharmacology experts like Dr. Phil Leveque of Molalla, Oregon, who writes regularly for Salem-News.com, suggest that there is no truth to the statement and that most of those who ultimately suffer from mental illness already would have.

“One of the biggest claims from the federal government is that marijuana causes ‘euphoria’ and if anyone needs that explained to them, it means the opposite of depression,” Leveque said.

As someone who suffers from depression and migraine headaches and anxiety medical cannabis is one of the best natural cures. Euphoria is not bad when you are crippled by social anxiety brought on by intense nausea from migraine headaches that stop you from being able to function day to day… cannabis medicine is sometimes the only thing that will help people get through the day. Using “teen drug use” scare tactics to try and stop medicinal use of a natural substance seems to be very idiotic in times like these.

He and most other advocates say kids should stay free and clear of marijuana use unless it is medically necessary, but it is a pussycat next to more deadly things like alcohol, prescription drugs, heroin and meth that potentially lead to death. Marijuana has no lethal quality; it can’t kill a person. It seems like a waste of time to get people listening, and then only tell them the bad data on marijuana. It seems very irresponsible.

The nation’s second largest association of doctors, the American College of Physicians, stated in a report that marijuana has been smoked for its medicinal properties for centuries, and preclinical, clinical, and anecdotal reports suggest numerous potential medical uses for marijuana.

They confirm that the use of medical marijuana in treating HIV wasting and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting has been well documented, and they believe additional research is needed to clarify marijuana’s therapeutic properties and determine standard and optimal doses and routes of delivery.

Reports like this new one from the federal government do not help doctors learn the real facts about medical marijuana.

In fact, the oldest continuously published pediatric journal in the country, a Journal of the American Medical Association called the “Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine”, released new information in November ’07 indicating that pot smoking teens tend to function at better levels than teens who also smoke tobacco, and better in some ways than kids who abstain from both.

The study, completed in Switzerland, did not have an obligation to demonize marijuana on behalf of the pharmaceutical companies as the U.S. seem to. The report should actually make parents feel much better about teens and marijuana. The study compared students who smoked both pot and cigarettes, with kids who smoke marijuana only.

The study revealed that those who use only cannabis were more socially driven, and showed no more psychosocial problems than those who had never taken either of the substances.

As far as marijuana leading to harder drugs, the authors of the study say an accurate listing of the problems actually fall in a different order, and that cancer related illnesses suffered by cigarette smokers are the biggest risk of all.

The government report suggests that “Not only are adolescents at greater risk for drug abuse, but they may suffer more consequences,” said Nora D. Volkow, M. D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “There is also some evidence that in vulnerable teens-because of genetic factors-the abuse of marijuana can trigger a schizophreniform disorder.”

No one who supports medical cannabis is saying that children or teens should abuse it, but to use these studies to try and claim that marijuana is not medicine is not right.

In regards to nausea from chemotherapy, I have no experience with that, but I cannot state enough how effective cannabis is at defeating the nausea from migraine headaches.

How about the ties between alcohol and teen depression?

“This very week the British government’s official scientific advisors on illegal drugs issued a report saying they are ‘unconvinced that there is a causal relationship between the use of cannabis and any affective disorder,’ such as depression.” Mirken also questions the lack of warning about alcohol’s relationship to depression, which is completely left out of their new report.

“Data linking alcohol to depression is much stronger and alcohol use by teens is greater than marijuana use,” he notes.

More and more kids are using alcohol from their parents fridge, and popping mommies Valium and daddy’s Vicodin – stop trying to demonize medical marijuana.

Reschedule cannabis now!

Congressional Leader Conyers asks DEA why are they targeting medical marijuana?

A congressional leader, citing complaints from Bay Area mayors and lawmakers, wants the Drug Enforcement Administration to explain its increased use of “paramilitary-style enforcement raids” and property forfeiture orders against medical marijuana patients and suppliers in California.

With drug trafficking and violence from international cartels on the rise, “do you think the DEA’s limited resources are best utilized conducting enforcement raids on individuals and their caregivers who are conducting themselves legally under California law?” House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said in a letter to the agency.

He also noted the DEA’s recent tactic of sending letters to hundreds of property owners who rent to medical marijuana dispensaries, advising them that they could be prosecuted and lose their property under federal law.

Property forfeitures, Conyers said, have typically been reserved for “the worst drug traffickers and kingpins” and might have the unintended effect of driving medical marijuana distribution underground. Medical marijuana advocacy groups say the letters have led to evictions and closures of dozens of supply shops that had been operating with state and local approval.

The congressman also asked how much the DEA was spending on the raids.

The letter, dated April 29, was addressed to the DEA’s acting administrator, Michele Leonhart. Agency spokeswoman Rogene Waite declined to comment on the questions Wednesday, saying only that “the federal government does not recognize medical marijuana. … The DEA, of course, would be part of the federal government.”

Conyers attached a copy of a resolution approved by San Francisco supervisors in February, attacking the DEA for “its irrational policy and hysteria” and calling on the city attorney to support property owners facing prosecution or forfeiture for renting to medical marijuana dispensaries. The Los Angeles City Council also has condemned the federal agency’s actions.

Conyers also cited statements by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums criticizing the DEA, and a resolution introduced by state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, urging that Congress pass a law ending federal raids and prosecutions in states that have legalized medical marijuana.

There should be a law ending deferal raids on ALL medical marijuana users not just patients in States who have laws regarding it.

Seattle medical marijuana march info…

Supporters of marijuana for medical purposes plan a rally Saturday in Seattle’s Westlake Park.

The rally in support of the medical use of marijuana will coincide with similar marches in around 200 other cities, organizers said.

Participants are expected to gather at Volunteer Park in Capitol Hill and set off for a 1 p.m. march to Westlake Park in Downtown, a distance of a little more than two miles.

The rally at Westlake Park is scheduled to be held from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The rally comes just two days after musician Timothy Garon, 56, died following a third denial of a liver transplant he needed to survive.

Garon had advanced hepatitis C and had used marijuana with medical approval as part of his treatment regimen. His attorney believes Garon’s marijuana use was the reason a University of Washington Medical Center committee denied the liver transplant.

Denying sick people organs because they use cannabis as medicine?