Cannabis

Those searching for answers to the question " Is medical marijuana good medicine? " will find few in Dr. David Sack's Times Op-Ed article.   On the one hand, Sack concedes, "Marijuana can effectively treat neuropathic pain, and it has been shown to improve appetite and reduce nausea," an acknowledgment substantiating the plant's therapeutic utility. However, he later warns that cannabis' ability to provide relief for certain other conditions, such as lupus and anxiety, remains unproven.

Medical marijuana dispensaries that abide by security rules in California would not be subject to local or state prosecution for illegal sales under a measure approved Monday by the state Senate. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) proposed the measure to clarify ambiguous laws on medical marijuana, which was approved for legal use in California by voters in 1996. The current law allowing the sale of medical cannabis has resulted in “needless” arrests and prosecutions, he said.

British researchers have determined that a little-studied chemical in the cannabis plant could lead to effective treatments for epilepsy, with few to no side effects. The team at Britain's University of Reading, working with GW Pharmaceuticals and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, tested cannabidivarin, or CBDV, in rats and mice afflicted with six types of epilepsy and found it “strongly suppressed seizures” without causing the uncontrollable shaking and other side effects of existing anti-epilepsy drugs.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court gave local governments the power Monday to zone medical marijuana dispensaries out of existence, a decision that upholds bans in about 200 cities but does little to solve Los Angeles' years-long struggle to regulate hundreds of storefront pot outlets. The unanimous decision provided clarity for cities and counties that want to rid themselves of the dispensaries, which sprouted up statewide after a 1996 voter-approved measure that sought to authorize medical marijuana but lacked specifics in how it would be regulated.

Something's in the air in Italy -- and that something is cocaine. A study of eight major metropolitan hubs in the country, published this week in the journal Environmental Pollution, has found trace levels of cocaine and cannabanoids from marijuana use. The researchers also monitored the more pedestrian (and legal) drugs of abuse, nicotine and caffeine. The study is a government-sponsored follow-up to a 2006 study in Rome, which found trace elements of cocaine in the air. Why measure atmospheric coke?

"Weed Again Crop of Choice Among Lebanese Farmers" (July 19) really riled me up. It tells how farmer Abu Mohammed can't support his family in any way except to grow marijuana to make the deadly drug hashish. My rage stems from the fact that I had to watch my daughter spend 25 horrible years as a drug addict, then die on my living room couch as a result. I can't condone anyone growing that stuff in order to feed his family. I can only hope that his children start as soon as possible to chew on the stuff as it grows in his fields, feel the high, get addicted to it and eventually die young after hellish lives as drug addicts.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court gave local governments the power Monday to zone medical marijuana dispensaries out of existence, a decision that upholds bans in about 200 cities but does little to solve Los Angeles' years-long struggle to regulate hundreds of storefront pot outlets. The unanimous decision provided clarity for cities and counties that want to rid themselves of the dispensaries, which sprouted up statewide after a 1996 voter-approved measure that sought to authorize medical marijuana but lacked specifics in how it would be regulated.

Now that California's billion-dollar "medical marijuana" industry and its affiliated "recommendationists" have made marijuana legally available to any Californian with $75 and the willingness to tell a doctor that he sometimes has trouble sleeping, why not go all the way and just legalize the stuff for recreational use as proposed in Proposition 19 on the November ballot? Then we could tax it and regulate it, eliminating the illicit market and the need for law enforcement against pot growers.

"By selling the amount of cannabis that I've sold, I am now eligible for more than three federal death penalties. " So says Steve DeAngelo, protagonist of the Discovery Channel miniseries "Weed Wars," at the beginning of each episode, immediately alerting viewers that this is not standard reality TV. As founder and executive director of Oakland-based Harborside Health Center — a medical-marijuana collective that DeAngelo claims is "the largest cannabis...

It's not every night that a comedian peers down from the stage and notices some of the audience smoking marijuana -- at least not legally. But that's what Samson Crouppen saw at the Royal Temple of Zion, a Rastafarian temple that also served as a medical marijuana dispensary until it was raided less than two weeks ago and where on Saturday night music and comedy mingled with cannabis. "It's really not that different than going to a bar or a club," Crouppen said. "Comedians perform in front of people who are drunk or buzzed all the time.

Dozens of medical marijuana activists rallied outside Los Angeles City Hall last week, declaring war on an enemy. Their target was not the federal government, whose agents raided several local dispensaries in recent days, or neighborhood groups trying to shut down the city's estimated 700 pot shops. The enemy was fellow medical marijuana advocates. Three competing measures on the May 21 city ballot have divided L.A.'s lucrative medical cannabis industry, with each side accusing the other of trying only to protect profits, not do what is best for patients.

Sixteen years after Californians approved medical marijuana, the state's highest court is poised to decide whether cities and counties can ban cannabis dispensaries. The long-awaited ruling by the California Supreme Court, which hears arguments on the issue Feb. 5, follows years of contradictory decisions by the lower courts operating in a void because the state Legislature has yet to define the law or pass detailed regulations. If the court upholds bans passed by more than 200 local governments, as some legal analysts expect, more such measures are likely to be adopted.

Something's in the air in Italy -- and that something is cocaine. A study of eight major metropolitan hubs in the country, published this week in the journal Environmental Pollution, has found trace levels of cocaine and cannabanoids from marijuana use. The researchers also monitored the more pedestrian (and legal) drugs of abuse, nicotine and caffeine. The study is a government-sponsored follow-up to a 2006 study in Rome, which found trace elements of cocaine in the air. Why measure atmospheric coke?

Activists seeking to strike down a ban on medical marijuana outlets in Los Angeles saw their challenge qualify for the ballot Monday, dealing a setback to the city's latest attempt at a crackdown. Backers of medical marijuana dispensaries needed 27,425 valid signatures to force a referendum on a law that prohibits the sale of cannabis but allows groups of three people or fewer to cultivate and share the drug. City Clerk June Lagmay said a statistical sampling of the signatures submitted showed that activists had turned in 110% of the amount needed to qualify for the ballot.

British researchers have determined that a little-studied chemical in the cannabis plant could lead to effective treatments for epilepsy, with few to no side effects. The team at Britain's University of Reading, working with GW Pharmaceuticals and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, tested cannabidivarin, or CBDV, in rats and mice afflicted with six types of epilepsy and found it “strongly suppressed seizures” without causing the uncontrollable shaking and other side effects of existing anti-epilepsy drugs.

As they approach their 40th birthdays, adults who smoked marijuana early and often in life face a higher likelihood of shearing off IQ points and performing more poorly on tests of reasoning, attention and memory than those who smoked pot less often, says a new study. The latest research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, underscores what the authors call the "toxic effects of cannabis on the brain" -- especially the developing brain. Against the backdrop of resurgent marijuana use among U.S. high school students, they recommend "increasing efforts" to "delay the onset of cannabis use" among teens.

As they approach their 40th birthdays, adults who smoked marijuana early and often in life face a higher likelihood of shearing off IQ points and performing more poorly on tests of reasoning, attention and memory than those who smoked pot less often, says a new study. The latest research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, underscores what the authors call the "toxic effects of cannabis on the brain" -- especially the developing brain. Against the backdrop of resurgent marijuana use among U.S. high school students, they recommend "increasing efforts" to "delay the onset of cannabis use" among teens.

Smoking a joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer risk, New Zealand scientists have found, as they warned of an "epidemic" of lung cancers linked to cannabis. In a report in the European Respiratory Journal, the scientists said that cannabis could be expected to harm the airways more than tobacco because its smoke contains twice the level of carcinogens, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The method of smoking also increases the risk, since joints are typically smoked without a filter and almost to the very tip, which increases the amount of smoke inhaled.

Those searching for answers to the question " Is medical marijuana good medicine? " will find few in Dr. David Sack's Times Op-Ed article.   On the one hand, Sack concedes, "Marijuana can effectively treat neuropathic pain, and it has been shown to improve appetite and reduce nausea," an acknowledgment substantiating the plant's therapeutic utility. However, he later warns that cannabis' ability to provide relief for certain other conditions, such as lupus and anxiety, remains unproven.

Re "Dispensing profit," June 17 The only reason some people are still making a lot of money selling cannabis is because the state law on medical marijuana has never been fully implemented, and local governments severely limit the number of suppliers. When cannabis is truly legalized, the price will drop to a point at which no one is going to make a killing from selling it. This might be bad for tax revenues, but it would good for everyone else. Dave Lane Santa Cruz Whether you approve of marijuana use or not, and whether you believe it has medicinal uses or not, selling marijuana is one of the few growth areas in our economy.