This decision will take some sacrifice, and we will leave behind family and friends - but in the end it will be worth it as my daily life, peace of mind, and happiness will be that much greater in a state where I can use medical marijuana safely, without having to turn to the black market. If that means moving to another state, then so be it.

My plan is to sell our home, move to California, get medical marijuana cards, grow pot legally within state law, and possibly even become a caregiver for patients. Although the latter may demand more than I can perform, I still would like to help patients in some way or another.

So anyway, I barely slept on this decision, and it is a big choice to make, but I feel it is right and will be the best thing for my family. I am going to move to California, get my medical marijuana patient card, and I will tell the story on this site. Not only for myself, but to show others it is in fact possible to move from a place where pot is minimum mandatory sentencing to a place where marijuana was decriminalized in 1976, and it is true that in California, you can grow, smoke, and process your own cannabis legally for medical purposes.

Check back for more as we prepare and get the plans together for what we need to do to make this a reality.

The drinking age is working fine, it is the parents and the enforcement of this law that is not working. It is no secret and no one denies that most underage drinking is done at home and often within the presence of adults in the family. It is easy to pass the blame onto something as arbitrary as “the drinking age” - but that doesn’t make it right.

The drinking age is not at fault here, the enforcement is. On college campuses across the US drinking age is rarely enforced, many students report binge drinking more than once a week, even at ages 18-20.

The easy way out is to blame the “drinking age.” But what is the drinking age without those who enforce it? There are stores who sell alcohol to minors every single day in America, will lowering the drinking age have any effect on that? Doubtful.

“Twenty-one is not working,” says the group’s statement, signed by presidents from prominent colleges such as Dartmouth, Duke and Syracuse. “A culture of dangerous, clandestine ‘binge drinking’ - often conducted off-campus - has developed.”

So how is lowering the drinking age going to fix this?

The other prominent weapon used in this debate is “Why can a person serve in the military at 18, but not drink a beer.”

One thing you never hear in this debate is, why not raise the age of serving in the military? Why does it always have to be to lower the drinking age? Why not raise the military serve age to 21. Personally, I don’t think most of those 18 year olds understand the life altering decision they are making by joining the military and waisting their time instead of pursuing a real career with real lifetime achievement goals instead of recruiting for foreign wars and spending billions on arming these 18 year olds who don’t want to kill, they want to get drunk or smoke weed.

I am tired of hearing the same old argument from alcoholics and those who wish others to live their style of life consuming alcohol daily. Notice it is never ex-drinkers pushing this agenda. It is almost ALWAYS promoted by groups and lobbyist networks working for the alcohol industry in disguise. These college campus presidents should not be trusted with the welfare and safety of students while they seek their education.

The interest of the students should be on educating them for the future, but hey - when many are just going to drop out from their drinking problem, and join the military, why should the campus president care?

Lowering the drinking age will not stop underage drinking, that problem needs to be addressed by parents taking some responsibility and not keeping so much alcohol in the house. Too many households have cases of beer in the fridge right next to the milk. These same parents want to blame someone else for how their kids get alcohol - but never stopping to think the problem actually started in their own household. Dad keeps his cases of beer cold right next to the baby formula and eggs.

You will never change society when the parents are alcoholics too. Nor will you curb this problem by thinking the drinking age is the blame. The parents are the blame, those who enforce drinking ages to begin with are to blame - if a problem persists AFTER you already have a strict law in place - perhaps it is the society itself that is at fault, not the drinking age. And since these campus presidents already believe in lowering the drinking age, perhaps this is their own admission as to why drinking laws are not enforced on their campuses and thus pushing this problem even further. These campuses are riddled with binge drinking accidents and even fatalities (1700 students die every year from alcohol related injuries) and because they cannot control it, the campus presidents take the easy way out of a bad problem and point the finger at “the drinking age.”

What a cop out, and as a tea-totaling ex-drinker I can’t help but notice the ignorance that surrounds the issue of alcohol. Alcohol causes thousands of deaths every year - marijuana is completely safe and medical - yet the government wants to keep one illegal, and lower the age to get the other.

Don’t you think the system is a little backwards, and could we not make a few changes that could benefit this entire country and not just the alcohol industry?

Most researchers agree that the value of the U.S. marijuana crop has increased sharply since the mid-nineties, as California and twelve other states have passed medical-marijuana laws. A drug-policy analyst named Jon Gettman recently estimated that in 2006 Californians grew more than twenty million pot plants. He reckoned that between 1981 and 2006 domestic marijuana production increased tenfold, making pot the leading cash crop in America, displacing corn. A 2005 State Department report put the country’s marijuana crop at twenty-two million pounds. The street value of California’s crop alone may be as high as fourteen billion dollars.

Californians love their pot, and grow it generously throughout the state. To prove how popular this plant is to grow, it has displaced corn as America’s leading cash crop.

According to Americans for Safe Access, which lobbies for medical marijuana, there are now more than two hundred thousand physician-sanctioned pot users in California. They acquire their medication from hundreds of dispensaries, collectives that are kept alive by the financial contributions of their patients, who pay cash for each quarter or eighth of an ounce of pot. The dispensaries also buy marijuana from their members, and sometimes directly from growers, whose crops can also be considered legal, depending on the size of the crop, the town where the plants are grown, and the disposition of the judge who hears the case.

I am a member of Safe Access and support these types of patient/grower relationships. Any American who needs or uses medical marijuana should have safe access to it.

California’s encouragement of a licit market for pot has set off a low-level civil war with the federal government. Growing, selling, and smoking marijuana remain strictly illegal under federal law. The Drug Enforcement Administration, which maintains that marijuana poses a danger to users on a par with heroin and PCP, has kept up an energetic presence in the state, busting pot growers and dispensary owners with the cooperation of some local police departments.

In the past five years, an unwritten set of rules has emerged to govern Californians participating in the medical-marijuana trade. Federal authorities do not generally bother arresting patients or doctors who write prescriptions. Instead, the D.E.A. pressures landlords to evict dispensaries and stages periodic raids on them, either shutting them down or seizing their money and marijuana. Dispensary owners are rarely arrested, and patient records are usually left alone. Through trial and error, dispensary owners have learned how to avoid trouble: Don’t advertise in newspapers, on billboards, or on flyers distributed door to door. Don’t sell to minors or cops. Don’t open more than two stores. Any Californian who is reasonably prudent can live a life centered on the cultivation, sale, and consumption of marijuana with little fear of being fined or going to jail.

Just the way Thomas Jefferson (hemp farmer) intended our land to be. Have the congress and police forgotten these famous words… “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” If there was ever a topic that deserved the passion of those seeking life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness being oppressed by the tyrants, it is now.

The most famous line of our Constitution should be the main charge or motive behind The Stand we take against those that stand in our way.

Congressman Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, will vote in favor of legalizing medical marijuana for the second straight year.

This time, however, he has the support of seven religious leaders in the 17th district. Clergy from the Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ are standing by Hare in the push to legalize the Schedule I drug.

“Medical marijuana is an issue of mercy and compassion,” said the Rev. William Pyatt, Carthage United Methodist Church, in a news release. “Being seriously ill is stressful enough already without living in fear of arrest for taking doctor-recommended medicine.”

An additional 55 religion leaders throughout Illinois have added their support to the legislation.

Religious leaders in support of medical marijuana legislation to help protect patients who use cannabis as a doctor-approved medication.

Hare agrees that a patient comfort should come first.

“We want to give patients the best quality of life,” Hare said. “As long as it is done within the consultation of a doctor.”

The legislation would prevent the federal government from interfering in state medical marijuana laws. Currently 12 states allow the use of medical marijuana. It is often used for patients with cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

Why does this member of congress support medical marijuana?

Hare noted his time spent as a hospice volunteer as an influence on his position, commenting on how he was humbled by several of the patients. One specific patient with lung cancer stands out as one of his most memorable. The patient, an older man, confided in Hare his last wishes were to sit with his cat, drink a beer and have a conversation with someone.

So Hare brought the man a six-pack of Bud Light and his cat. The two sat and talked for hours, sipping beer.

Two weeks later, after the man died, his wife approached Hare, telling him how much the gesture meant to her husband.

Hare became a hospice volunteer after the death of his mother.

The story reflects Hare’s position on medical marijuana.

If more of the people trying to stop medical marijuana were forced to spend time with actual patients who use cannabis to live, they may actually show some compassion.

Hare said medical marijuana is not given for patients to get high, but to make them comfortable.

Morphine and fentanyl are more efficient medications for pain relief McClean said. The two can also be given multiple ways — by patch, mouth or even as a suppository — making it easier for the patient. While both Schedule II medications are heavily addictive, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, McClean said patients can be weaned off them. He also said addiction is not an issue for terminally ill patients because “when they have two weeks to live, we don’t worry about addiction.”

Patients across America are given much more addicting substances as medicine. And even the religious are beginning to support medical marijuana in public and through their church.

SEATTLE _ Martin Martinez says the small, private collective and outreach group he runs from a storefront are legal, a place for medical-marijuana patients to get help growing the medicine they need to manage their pain.

One of the earliest advocates for what became a voter-approved state medical-marijuana law 10 years ago, Martinez says he hasn’t handed out pot, nor grown any in his cramped office.

But Tuesday afternoon, Seattle police, armed with a search warrant, carted away marijuana and hundreds of private patient files, and tore down a wall in search of a marijuana patch that didn’t exist.

King County prosecutors say the raid was justified. Martinez’s neighbors have been complaining about a pervasive smell of pot, they said, so authorities need to figure out whether Martinez has been breaking the law.

But the episode has Martinez frustrated and his attorney furious. They accuse the police and prosecutors of being overzealous and refusing to honor the law that is supposed to let sick people use pot in peace. At a minimum, Martinez says, the authorities should let the whole thing blow over _ and return his stuff.

I’ve posted about this already, but feel there should be a little more emphasis put on some of the facts, and at least present more quotes from the victim and his attorney.

“We’re trying desperately to be legal, to stay alive and not have these conflicts,” Martinez said. “Science and law have to come to terms, because the doctors are recommending cannabis and the police have got to get on the same page.”

Martinez, 48, suffered severe neurological damage in a motorcycle accident in 1986. He later became one of the first people in King County to use medical necessity as a defense against prosecution for using marijuana.

In 1998, he helped promote the medical-marijuana initiative that voters approved overwhelmingly. It allows people with certain serious ailments to use marijuana if authorized by a physician.

For the past four years or so, he has operated Lifevine _ a private collective of patients who work together to grow their own medical marijuana _ and Cascadia NORML, a public-outreach organization that provides ID cards to medical-marijuana patients so they can show police that they have a legal right. He said the groups used three different locations in the U District on Northeast 55th Street and never had any problems.

I would like to thank Martinez for his effort.

“I’m just hopping mad,” said Douglas Hiatt, Martinez’s attorney, who arrived at the office during the search and called a deputy prosecutor to try to talk her out of executing the warrant. “It’s stupid and was totally preventable.”

Hiatt said Martinez is “super responsible” and makes sure he follows the letter of the law.

“I’d like for them to give him his stuff back and compensate him for anything they broke,” Hiatt said. “If they decide to go forward with this (and file charges), we’re going to have a real fight.”

Most of the time patients are not breaking any law when they have their doors kicked in, property seized, and harrassed in this manner.

But Mark Larson, the chief criminal deputy for the King County Prosecutor’s Office, said an investigation is warranted to determine whether Martinez was operating within the bounds of the state law.

“We’re certainly aware people have a right to use medical marijuana,” Larson said. “But that doesn’t include dispensing, and it doesn’t include possessing unlimited quantities.”

It has already been stated he was in fact not dispensing marijuana at the facilities, nor did he have “unlimited quantities.” He was within state law. At least the chief criminal deputy acknowledges awareness of “the right to use medical marijuana.”

State laws don’t specify legal amounts or ways medical marijuana can be dispensed to others, he said. The state Legislature last year ordered the Health Department to establish maximum amounts each patient may possess, but the department’s proposals are still being debated.

“We’d love to have these issues clarified so that people who need it get it, and people who operate outside the rules risk prosecution,” Larson said.

So again, how was he breaking laws if state law does not specify his allowance? This is exactly why I have recently begun discussing how much a patient should be allowed to grow. I have personally found that 71 ounces for 2 months is barely enough if you use it in the cooked form, which many prefer because of negative side effects of smoking.

Having 12 ounces of marijuana may last the guy 3-4 weeks depending on how often he uses?

The business owner who complained about the smell said she didn’t know until after Tuesday’s bust that Martinez’s office was being used by medical-marijuana patients.

She said she suspected someone was growing pot in the three-story building, which houses a mix of businesses and apartments.

Isn’t that convenient…

“I’m really sorry. We didn’t want to bother anyone,” he said. “We’re a very private group, which is why it doesn’t say ‘medical marijuana’ on the door.

“We’ve tried to keep to ourselves.” said Martinez

No doubt brother, keep up the good work and stand strong.

Never relent.

Seattle police returned hundreds of patient files and a computer hard drive to Martin Martinez Thursday evening, two days after they raided his University District storefront where he runs a collective and outreach group for medical-marijuana patients.

Prosecutors have told Martinez he won’t face any charges and the investigation is now closed.

“Nothing is going to happen. It’s done,” said Douglas Hiatt, Martinez’s lawyer, who went to the Seattle Police Department Thursday to pick up the files and other belongings.

But police have so far refused to return about 12 ounces of marijuana and two bongs seized during Tuesday’s bust, Hiatt said.

According to Hiatt, a police-department attorney has promised that the drugs and water pipes won’t be destroyed until Hiatt can raise the issue with King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg or take the matter to court.

Let me get this straight, a citizen who is breaking no laws, can have their doors kicked in, have their medicine taken away illegally, computers seized, and then they are the ones who have to fight it in court? This police department should brace itelf for the lawsuit about to come its way. The items should never have been seized in the first place, considering no crime was committed, no one has been charged with a crime, and there is no evidence of any crime taking place. To demand sick and dying patients “take the matter to court” is another way of hurting patients while trying to continue to further the Drug War Policy in the minds of law enforcement and much of the public despite the fact medical marijuana has been voted on, approved, and legalized.

“It’s really the principle — if you have the legal right to have something, the police shouldn’t be able to take it away from you and not give it back,” Hiatt said.

We must fight to stop this abuse of patients by our law enforcement. The police are here to protect and serve us, not abuse us.

Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for Satterberg, confirmed the files’ return and that Martinez would not face criminal charges but referred questions about the seized marijuana to Seattle police, who couldn’t be reached Thursday.

The Police Department couldn’t be reached for comment? They at least confirm no charges will be filed. So again, why seize property and medicine?

Officers (paid for with tax dollars) come in destroy property, steal things and we have to sit back and take it?

But the statement also acknowledges that Martinez, who suffered severe neurological damage in a motorcycle accident in 1986, “is authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes,” and that the amount of pot seized by police was arguably within the 60-day supply limit the state medical-marijuana law provides.

Seattle police searched Martinez’s office on Northeast 50th Street after neighbors complained of a strong odor of pot in the building. After obtaining a search warrant, they carted off the pot and the files, which included detailed medical histories and medical-marijuana prescriptions. They also broke down part of a wall in search of marijuana plants. They didn’t find any.

Lawsuit time. He is legal under state law, protected under state law. These cops break down walls, take what they want and never have to answer to anyone even though no crime was committed or reported. This is again, based on a cops nose being used to initiate the arrest, harassment, and prosecution of sick and dying patients.

Seattle police seized files on nearly 600 medical marijuana patients when officers searched the headquarters of a patient support group, activists said Wednesday.

The search occurred Tuesday after a nearby police bicycle officer reported the smell of marijuana. Martin Martinez, who runs the Lifevine cooperative as well as Cascadia NORML, the local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said no one was arrested but officers seized about 12 ounces of marijuana in addition to the patient files and a computer.

Another case of a cop using his nose to initiate arrests of completely innocent people. If no one was arrested, why did they seize property?

There were no marijuana plants growing there, Martinez said. He is a longtime advocate of legalizing the medical use of marijuana, following a severe motorcycle crash that left him with nerve damage in 1986. Three other patients authorized to use pot under Washington’s medical marijuana law were also present when officers arrived at the office, which does not dispense marijuana, he said.

Again, these patients are authorized for medical marijuana and are breaking no laws.

Cascadia NORML has been issuing identity cards to medical marijuana patients, but before doing so, it requires the patients to provide their medical authorizations for verification. That’s why the patient files were in the office, Martinez said. The cards are not issued pursuant to the state’s medical marijuana law, but are designed to help identify the patient as legitimate if confronted by police.

Some of the nearly 600 patients are now dead, and some others are no longer actively using marijuana, he said.

This fact cannot be overlooked, many of the patient files they illegally seized are in fact for patients who have died. What do they need this for? This is a good program helping sick and dying people, why are the police seizing computer files on these patients? Do cops kick in the doors of dentists and steal their computers and go through their confidential patient file history? This is illegal, to do so under the guise of “eradicating marijuana” is misleading and malicious.

The police “have a heck of a lot of patient records I don’t think they should have,” said Douglas Hiatt, a Seattle attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases. “For one thing, those records are protected under federal privacy laws. If you’re a medical marijuana patient, you don’t want the police to know who you are or where you live, and this is why - because you don’t get treated very well.”

Nice, a lawyer speaking the truth about how patients are treated, and the fact these records should remain private. Again, not to mention the fact these patients were not breaking any state laws. No plants were being grown there.

Under Washington’s medical marijuana law, doctors can authorize patients to have as much as a 60-day supply of marijuana to treat symptoms of AIDS, cancer and other debilitating or chronic conditions. The law doesn’t define what a 60-day supply is, but the state Health Department proposed this month that it be defined as 24 ounces of usable pot, along with six mature plants and 18 immature plants. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

According to Hiatt, the seized documents included patient authorizations, full medical histories, and the names of doctors who authorized the marijuana use.

This is why it is important to learn how California & New York are trying to put an end to this practice - Hault To Prosecuting Patients - by denying tax dollars be used for prosecuting patients and doing this type of illegal activity. Again, they did not arrest anyone because there were no laws being broken, this should not be tolerated or accepted in our society.

These are sick and dying people suffering daily pain, just trying to live a better life - have these police no compassion? Why should tax dollars go to pay cops to arrest the very people that laws were enacted to allow medical marijuana use?

Alison Chinn Holcomb, who follows marijuana issues for the Washington state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that the group was providing or growing marijuana, and no information that has been revealed thus far would seem to justify seizing the patient files.

“These are very sick people with very serious conditions, and we’re sure none of them want the nature of those conditions made available to the public or to anyone who doesn’t have a valid need for it,” she said.

Many patients are dying, and to have them being treated this way is a mockery of what America is supposed to stand for.

This is not freedom. When a people vote for laws, and the cops themselves fight against those laws - who can win? They are the ones with the guns, the patients have doctor bills, not weapons.

Watson has released a generic form of the brand name “Marinol” which is a cannabis/marijuana based medication under the name Dronabinol.

This shows that although many believe the drug companies do not “want” marijuana legalized as a medicine, that perception may indeed be false - as I show there are already over 100 million Americans taking cannabis-based pills, and a legion of others who grow and process their own through organic gardening and hydroponics.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that, under a supply agreement with Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Watson has launched the authorized generic version of dronabinol in the 2.5, 5 and 10 mg once daily dosage strengths. Dronabinol is the generic version of Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ MARINOL (dronabinol) CIII Capsules, indicated to treat nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conventional antiemetic treatments. Dronabinol is also indicated to treat anorexia associated with weight loss in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). For the 12-months ending December 2007, Solvay reported MARINOL sales of 105 million.

Wow, 105 Million are on pills that cost an average of over $1000 a month for a supply. No way the drug companies will pass up a chance like this to make more money. Watson, leading generic pill maker is famous for its generic Vicodin and by releasing a generic form of Marinol (Drobabinol) you can see the wheels turning to bring this medication to as many patients as possible.

Under the terms of the supply agreement, Solvay Pharmaceuticals will supply the dronabinol capsules to the Company’s subsidiary, Watson Pharma, which will market, sell and distribute the product in the United States. Solvay Pharmaceuticals will receive a share of the profits from Watson’s sales of the generic product in the U.S. market. Further details on the agreement have not been disclosed.

“Marinol” is a brand name for “dronabinol” - here is a little info about it.

Dronabinol should not be used by any patient who has a history of hypersensitivity to any cannabinoid or to sesame oil. Patients should not drive, operate machinery, or engage in hazardous activity until they establish that they can tolerate dronabinol and perform such tasks safely. Dronabinol should be used with caution in patients with a history of seizure disorder; patients with cardiac disorders; patients with a history of substance abuse (including alcohol abuse or dependence); patients with mania, depression, or schizophrenia (along with careful psychiatric monitoring); patients taking sedatives, hypnotics, or other psychoactive drugs; and in elderly patients, pregnant patients, nursing mothers, or pediatric patients. The most common side effects probably related to dronabinol are dizziness, feelings of exaggerated happiness, paranoid reaction, drowsiness, thinking abnormal, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

While I applaud the science behind this, I also encourage the allowance of patients and caregivers to grow their own and remain as independent of Big Pharma as they can. Obviously, pill-form cannabis is needed, and now Watson has released a generic form more sick and dying patients will be relieved of pain, hopefully at a cheaper price.

Regarding Dronabinol and its effectiveness:

Dronabinaol does not contain the other significant chemical constituents present in cannabis. While it is made of synthetic THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) there are dozens of other “cannabinoids” present in cannabis that work together (science still does not even know how exactly) to produce the medicinal feeling and relief associated with medical marijuana.

The cost of these pills are so much higher than the black market street price for marijuana it is insane. Reportedly it costs more than the expensive male performance pill Viagra, ranging from $20-$25 a pill - and taking three a day would cost a patient $75 a day - street cannabis is cheaper than that, and growing your own is virtually free of charge.

The idea that we should “synthesize” something that grows naturally on this planet is somewhat an awkward approach to medicine in my mind. Synthetic THC is not the same as the natural organic combination of cannabinoids found in cannabis, and it never will be.

About Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., headquartered in Corona, CA, is a leading specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, markets, sells and distributes brand and generic pharmaceutical products. Watson pursues a growth strategy combining internal product development, strategic alliances and collaborations and synergistic acquisitions of products and businesses.

Why would a social network site like Digg, bother wasting time trying to quell discussion on a topic such as medical marijuana, I have no idea, but one thing for sure - it does.

Here is a screenshot of the error message I just got trying to submit an article on our favorite topic, medical marijuana…

I can understand blocking certain topics that may encourage illegal activity or the breaking of laws, but considering medical marijuana is in fact legal in many of the United States of America, I find it embarrassing that sites like Digg are actively discouraging the sharing of info related to the medicinal use of marijuana.

This is exactly the reason I launched this site - if it was up to those controlling the air waves this topic would have went away a long time ago. Either way, I just got this error and felt like sharing this find with you.

What article was I trying to share?

I was expanding my previous thoughts on how many plants a patient is allowed, as well as daily cannabis amount allowance on this page called: 71 Ounces Of Medical Marijuana Barely Enough.

Never relent.

Research exploring new ways of exploiting the full medicinal uses of cannabis while avoiding unwanted side-effects will be presented to pharmacologists on July 15 by scientists attending the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies Congress, EPHAR 2008.

A big part of “avoiding side effects” is using a vaporizer, and I really hope these doctors go into how effective vaporizers are at delivering the active ingredient THC (plus many other cannabinoids) without the bad side effects of “smoking.” Part of the negative campaign against medical marijuana touts the effects of “smoking cannabis.” By using a vaporizer you minimize all of the carcinogenic effects of burning the plant matter. As medical marijuana supporter, I support the use of vaporizers over smoking the cannabis.

Cannabis is a source of compounds known as cannabinoids, one of which, THC — the main chemical responsible for the ‘high’ — has long been licensed as a medicine for suppressing nausea produced by chemotherapy and for stimulating appetite, for instance, in AIDS patients.

Don’t forget Migraine

More recently, the cannabis-based medicine Sativex was licensed both for the symptomatic relief of neuropathic pain in adults with multiple sclerosis and as an adjunctive analgesic treatment for adult patients with advanced cancer. Sativex contains approximately equal amounts of THC and the non-psychoactive plant cannabinoid, cannabidiol.

While a company putting out pills that use THC to relieve pain is good in a way in that it will help people. The problem with much of this research is that it seems as if instead of just promoting the use of cannabis as medicine, these doctors are actually aiming to fund “drugs” made from marijuana, so they can patent, market, advertise, and profit from the sales. However, medical marijuana goes much deeper than that.

One of the best things about medical marijuana is it can be grown relatively free of charge - no need to pay extremely high costs of THC-based pills from the drug store. Some of these pills costs $20 and up a piece! Patients need to take at least 5 a day, and a prescription of twenty pills would be $500+ - for a 4 day supply? Sorry, but you can by a bag of legal medical cannabis for cheaper than that. At that price you can see why the drug companies want in on this “cannabis medicine” so bad.

Allowing a person to grow their own medical marijuana will eliminate this huge profit-driven pouncing on sick patients. This strikes at the heart of this debate regarding “how many plants a patient can grow?” In order to get the same amount of THC as a prescription of Sativex or Marinol, a patient needs 71 ounces for 2 months. This has been discussed already, this proves that states or counties only allowing six plants is not enough - a patient needs at least 10g a day - a patient who uses daily can easily go through 20g of medicine in a day. Not to mention many cancer patients choose to “cook” the cannabis into brownies or something edible to help them eat or fight off nausea. This easily consumes 10g-20g in a day.

These companies want to push their own agenda which is actually selling medications for the pharmaceutical companies that fund this research.

I do not aim to detract from the research, but one must note how the “brand names” of these “marijuana pills” constantly come up in the research vs all-natural medicinally grown Humboldt, California pot. Pills created in a lab made from synthetic THC do not contain the “many other cannabinoids” that actually work together in combination with each other to provide the pain relief associated with medicinal cannabis. THC is not the only active ingredient in cannabis, and the drug companies cannot synthesize them all for pill-form. The cost of these medicines make them not readily available when compared to the low cost of growing for yourself, or even just buying from a medical marijuana dispensary.

“THC works by targeting molecules in our bodies called cannabinoid receptors” said Roger Pertwee, Professor of Neuropharmacology at the University of Aberdeen, who is co-chairing the cannabis symposium.

“So some current research is focused on designing drugs that only target cannabinoid receptors in the part of the body relevant to the disease in question and not the receptors in the central nervous system involved in the unwanted effects of cannabis.”

(more…)