Medical Marijuana

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 "The marijuana measures," Editorial, May 10 Your editorial supporting Measure D mentions medical marijuana as a treatment for glaucoma patients. In my 25 years as a glaucoma sufferer, I have never been prescribed marijuana. In fact, research suggests that the side-effects of smoking pot outweigh any therapeutic benefits. Medical marijuana should not be used as an excuse to pass Measure D. John Choy Torrance ALSO: Letters: Jolie's choice Letters: The next dog Letters: It's UC, not McDonald's

Angel Raich flicks a butane lighter at the bowl of a small glass pipe, inhales deeply, then, in deference to a guest, blows the pungent smoke out the window of the sitting room in her three-story Oakland home. "Without cannabis, I would not survive," she says. The room is pale blue and filled with ceramic angels. Beside the lavender couch on which Raich sits, a table holds 11 small glass jars of medical-quality marijuana--strains that growers have named Juicy Fruit and Haze.

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.

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.

BELVIDERE, N.J. - Amid the whir of fans and the glow of soft white light, workers tended to bright green seedlings sprouting in a giant greenhouse. Located about an hour's drive from Manhattan in the hills of northwestern New Jersey, the facility produces basil, chives, oregano and other herbs that are sold in grocery stores around New York City. But if Ken VandeVrede has his way the facility will one day be growing a much more valuable plant: marijuana. VandeVrede is chief operating officer at Terra Tech, a hydroponic equipment maker based in Irvine.

Supervisors in Los Angeles and Orange counties moved in sync Tuesday to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated territories. The bans, affecting an area with 1.5 million people in L.A. County and 120,000 in Orange County, were approved in 4-1 votes in both counties. "Attracting crime and other nuisances, these facilities have a negative impact on the communities where they've operated ? leading more than 100 cities and nine counties in California to pass similar ordinances," said Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who wrote L.A. County's provision.

Joanne Clarke, a legal secretary in her late 50s, leads the way down a pale green hallway in her modest Costa Mesa home, past a small guest room on the right and a blue tiled bathroom on the left. At the end of the hall, she opens a door, pushes aside a thick black curtain and ducks inside. "Isn't this wild?" she says, gesturing to the high-tech marijuana grow room she and her husband recently installed. "This used to be my daughter's bedroom. " Wild is one word for it. Bright is another.

It was his green tongue that helped give away Jimmy Candido Flores when police arrived at the fatal accident scene near Chico. Flores had run off the road and killed a jogger, Carrie Jean Holliman, a 56-year-old Chico elementary school teacher. California Highway Patrol officers thought he might be impaired and conducted a sobriety examination. Flores' tongue had a green coat typical of heavy marijuana users and a later test showed he had pot, as well as other drugs, in his blood.

WASHINGTON -- A majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, a new poll indicates, with the change driven largely by a huge shift in how the baby boom generation feels about the drug of their youth. By 52% to 45%, adult Americans back legalization, according to the survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center . The finding marks the first time in more than four decades of Pew's polling that a majority has taken that position. As recently as a decade ago, only about one-third of American adults backed making marijuana legal.

WASHINGTON - For more than a decade, conservative Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has formed an unusual alliance with liberals on an unexpected topic - the defense of marijuana. Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and his allies have so far waged a futile effort to pass legislation that would prevent federal authorities from interfering with medical marijuana use in California and other places where pot use is permitted by state law. But as more states have moved to allow the drug's use, Rohrabacher believes his Respect State Marijuana Laws Act may be gaining momentum in Congress.

Arthur Frommer , speaking at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show in February, predicted this travel trend for 2013: pot tours, particularly after Colorado and Washington state legalized small amounts of marijuana last November. Sure enough, the World Canabis Week , set for April, has already sold out. My 420 Tours (4/20 being a stoner holiday for reasons too complicated and murky to go into here) promised travelers coming to Denver that they would experience activities "100% legal under Colorado law. " The tour includes an airport pickup to a "420 friendly hotel" as well as sampling cannabis, happy hour parties, concert and admission to the High Times Cannabis Cup on April 20 and 21. About 200 people bought packages, some ranging from $499 for three days to $850 for five days.

WASHINGTON -- A majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana, a new poll indicates, with the change driven largely by a huge shift in how the baby boom generation feels about the drug of their youth. By 52% to 45%, adult Americans back legalization, according to the survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center . The finding marks the first time in more than four decades of Pew's polling that a majority has taken that position. As recently as a decade ago, only about one-third of American adults backed making marijuana legal.

BELVIDERE, N.J. - Amid the whir of fans and the glow of soft white light, workers tended to bright green seedlings sprouting in a giant greenhouse. Located about an hour's drive from Manhattan in the hills of northwestern New Jersey, the facility produces basil, chives, oregano and other herbs that are sold in grocery stores around New York City. But if Ken VandeVrede has his way the facility will one day be growing a much more valuable plant: marijuana. VandeVrede is chief operating officer at Terra Tech, a hydroponic equipment maker based in Irvine.

SACRAMENTO -- A state lawmaker has revived legislation to regulate medical marijuana in California, saying the measure is necessary to clarify hazy legal areas that continue to plague the state's pot program 16 years after voters approved it. The proposal, AB 473 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), would create a division within the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to monitor supply and sales of medical marijuana. While the Legislature passed a bill that offered limited guidance on regulation in 2003, it has yet to adopt requirements for state licensing and labeling of cannabis, among other issues, resulting in a series of contradictory court decisions.

In opposing HR 689, a bill by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) to federally reclassify marijuana as most other legal prescription drugs and remove oversight from the Drug Enforcement Administration and give it to the states, The Times states in its Feb. 28 editorial that it would be better to regulate cannabis at the federal level than have a patchwork of conflicting state laws. The Times' reasoning in opposing the bill, co-sponsored by 12 representatives from both sides of the aisle, is shortsighted.

Medical marijuana use has a history stretching back thousands of years. In prebiblical times, the plant was used as medicinal tea in China, a stress antidote in India and a pain- reliever for earaches, childbirth and more throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa. In recent decades, medical researchers have investigated marijuana's effects on various kinds of pain -- from damaged nerves in people with HIV, diabetes and spinal cord injury; from cancer; and from multiple sclerosis.

The Obama administration's crackdown on California's highly profitable medical marijuana industry represents a dramatic departure from the low-key approach it has long pursued. California's four U.S. attorneys said Friday that they are taking aim at large-scale growers and dispensary owners who are raking in millions of dollars while falsely claiming that their medical marijuana operations comply with state law, which does not allow for-profit sales. In the early days of President Obama's tenure, Atty.

Political movements like the tea party may come and go, but the pot party seems to get stronger with every national election, putting the federal government in an increasingly untenable position. To date, more than one-third of the states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana, at least for medical purposes, and, according to Americans for Safe Access, eight other states are considering bills to do the same. As a result, we're getting close to the point where half the country will have legalized a drug designated a Schedule 1 controlled substance by the federal government, meaning it has no known medical uses and is as dangerous as heroin.

A majority of California voters back the legalization of marijuana, the highest level of support in over four decades, a new Field Poll said Wednesday. Fifty-four percent said marijuana should be sold with age limits and other restrictions similar to those placed on alcohol. Support is strongest in the Bay Area, especially among young, single men.  The results come four months after voters in Colorado and Washington legalized the recreational use of pot. The poll also found broad opposition to the federal government's crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries.