States have authorized and enforced laws that did not match federal laws, as is and should be the case with medical marijuana. If a state chooses to allow medicinal cannabis use, then it is law.

Federal law classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical use. San Bernardino County Sheriff Gary Penrod has said the law created conflicts and ethical issues, especially with his officers who are cross-deputized to uphold federal law.

“There is a big difference between decriminalizing marijuana and authorizing its use … in violation of federal law,” argued San Diego County senior Deputy Counsel Thomas D. Bunton.

“Congress has declared that marijuana has no medical use, so using marijuana under these circumstances is drug abuse.”

But states have long practiced authorizing and enforcing laws that do not match federal law, argued ACLU/NORML attorney Adam B. Wolf.

“The counties’ position would imply the invalidity of hundreds, if not thousands, of state statutes,” Wolf told the judges. Wolf quoted U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s comment that there has been countless times where states have not criminalized issues the same way as the federal government.

“It’s a bedrock principle of federalism” for states to be allowed to determine issues such as how to regulate marijuana, Wolf said

Doctors have declared marijuana’s medicinal use, congress has no place dictating what is and what is not “medicine” I think that is more suited for doctors and patients to decide, thank you very much.

This is going on because a few counties in California are debating certain aspects of the medical marijuana program, read more below…

San Bernardino and San Diego counties argued in court Tuesday that California’s medical marijuana plan violates federal law and the state constitution, while opposing attorneys argued the state is within its rights to regulate the substance.

The exchanges came in a crowded courtroom before a three-judge panel of the state 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego.

The jurists took the matter under submission and have 90 days to make their ruling. Their decision can be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Defending the state’s marijuana laws was a lawyer from the California attorney general’s office, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and a lawyer representing patients who use marijuana.

California voters in 1996 legalized the use of marijuana to treat symptoms of illnesses such as cancer and glaucoma, and chronic pain. Prop. 215 was passed by 56 percent of voters.

The two counties are not trying to overturn that initiative.

But they argue that subsequent legislation, the Medical Marijuana Program, which created a system for counties to investigate applicants, issue user cards and keep those on file, puts the counties in direct conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act.

San Bernardino County has not issued any user cards as officials await the outcome of the lawsuit. Since January 2006, Riverside County has issued 1,000 cards to patients and their caregivers. That number includes renewals, which must be done annually.

Bottom line is this: the people voted, proposition 215 was approved – and state laws have contradicted federal laws for a long time. Medical marijuana should not be stopped because of this, states have the right to make their own laws, as it states above – this is a bedrock principle of federalism.

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?

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A Senate committee is expected to vote this afternoon on a bill that would expand the state’s medical marijuana program.

The bill would allow nonprofit businesses to sell marijuana to seriously ill patients.

The state now allows patients with chronic illnesses to possess and use marijuana for pain relief. But the law does not spell out how those patients can buy the drug, which remains illegal under federal law.

The legislation would also permit so-called “compassion centers” to sell up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana to a qualified patient or caregiver every 15 days.

All medical marijuana patients should be allowed to use cannabis as medicine. At least 2 ounces per week.

“Former Surgeon General: Mainstream Medicine Has Endorsed Medical Marijuana – An historic document from the 12,4000-member American College of Physicians certifies the medical value of marijuana.”

One of America’s largest and most important groups of physicians has moved to cut through the clutter of political controversies over medical use of marijuana. Lawmakers and the public alike would do well to pay attention.

The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second largest physician group in the United States. Its 124,000 members are doctors specializing in internal medicine and related subspecialties, including cardiology, neurology, pulmonary disease, oncology and infectious diseases. The College publishes Annals of Internal Medicine, the most widely cited medical specialty journal in the world.

In a landmark position paper released in February, these distinguished physicians are saying what many of us have been arguing for years: Most of our laws have gotten it wrong when it comes to medical marijuana, and it’s time for public policy to get in step with science.

Right now, the laws of 38 states and the federal government bar use of marijuana as a medicine. Federal law classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, defined as having no accepted medical use and being unsafe for use even under medical supervision.

ACP’s position paper urges “reclassification into a more appropriate schedule, given the scientific evidence regarding marijuana’s safety and efficacy in some clinical conditions.” The document goes on to call for protection of physicians’ right to “prescribe or dispense medical marijuana in accordance with state law” and “strongly urges protection from civil or criminal penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws.”

Reclassification is another term for “rescheduling” of cannabis…

ACP supports its position with 10 pages of scientific documentation and references. They cite data showing relief of the nausea, vomiting and wasting that can worsen the misery of cancer, AIDS and other diseases; of the pain and tremors associated with multiple sclerosis; and for relief of pain caused by a variety of other conditions. They note that marijuana in combination with some pharmaceuticals may produce more benefit than either drug alone.

ACP calls for more research, but then adds a critical point: In some areas, the efficacy of medical marijuana has already been established, and it’s time for studies designed to determine the best dose and route of delivery.

The ACP position paper demolishes several myths, starting with the notion still proclaimed by some politicians that marijuana is unsafe for medical use. The College notes that the most serious objection to medical marijuana — potential harm to the lungs from smoking — has largely been solved by a technology called vaporization, already proven in scientific studies.

We have a right to medical marijuana use…

The ACP position paper also explains that there is no reason to believe that protecting medical marijuana patients leads to increased drug abuse. “Marijuana has not been proven to be the cause or even the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse,” the doctors write. “Opiates are highly addictive, yet medically effective … There is no evidence to suggest that medical use of opiates has increased perception that their illicit use is safe or acceptable.”

This is an historic document. Large medical associations are by their nature slow, cautious creatures that move only when the evidence is overwhelming. The evidence is indeed overwhelming that, as ACP put it, there is “a clear discord” between what research tells us and what our laws say about medical marijuana.

Couldn’t agree more!

There are many Medical Marijuana users who have moved from an area that has access to medical cannabis to an area that it is still illegal, and this creates a problem for those types of patients who have no choice but to live in certain areas. Medical Marijuana should be available to all American citizens who need to use it… below is a quote from a patient defending medical marijuana in the news.

Medical marijuana bill should be law

The medical marijuana bill – passed by the Minnesota Senate last year and likely to see action on the floor of the House in the coming months – should be passed into law as soon as possible.

As a patient suffering from severe neuropathy and other pain-related conditions, this is a major issue in my life. I previously lived in

Hawaii and was a legal medical marijuana patient under that state’s program. It helped me more than the regimen of addictive, dangerous medications I’ve been prescribed over the years.

And just last month, the American College of Physicians — the second largest physician group in the United States, with a membership of over 124,000 medical professionals — recognized marijuana’s many medical benefits with 10 pages of references and citations. Their official policy position “strongly urges protection from criminal or civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under state laws.”

Unfortunately, Governor Pawlenty has threatened to veto any medical marijuana bill, based on the knee-jerk opposition of a small but influential group of non-experts. The governor seems to believe that law enforcement officers know better than medical professionals which method of treatment would best suit an individual patient.

The governor should reconsider. This is a mainstream and popular issue, with 2 to 1 support from Minnesotans. It’s time our lawmakers and governor listen to the physicians and their own constituents, and end the cruel, despicable policy of arresting suffering patients for trying to alleviate their pain.

Medical Marijuana should be legalized in your state…

We will begin our picture archive of medical marijuana. Starting with the “Bubba Kush” image above. Taken in a legal medical marijuana dispensary.

The “Bubba Kush” name can cover a few different strains of kush. This is some really good medicinal marijuana. The leaves should be extremely sticky covered with crystal coating. The flavor is smooth and intense. The Bubba Kush should have a nice long lasting high, it is really potent when grown correctly and one of the finest medical marijuana plants you can buy.

To really experience the flavor of the plant – use a Vapor Brother Vaporizer. When using medical grade cannabis you should not operate heavy machinery.

The price of medical marijuana cards is going up in Santa Cruz, California.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.—The cost of medical marijuana identification cards is going up in Santa Cruz County.

Since the county program started nearly five years ago, $35 medical marijuana IDs good for three years have been issued to more than 1,600 residents.

But the IDs are only legally binding in Santa Cruz County, so the county is joining the state medical pot ID program. State-backed cards cost $101 and must be renewed annually.

The Board of Supervisors gave preliminary approval to the change Tuesday.

Santa Cruz officials assure medical pot users that information on patients is confidential, noting it is entered into a secured database at the county level before it is sent to the state.