‘Medical’ Marijuana: 10 Health Benefits That Legitimize Legalization

Prescription drugs kill about 100,000 people in the world each year. Off the top of your head, do you know how many deaths are caused by using marijuana, either medicinally or recreationally?

Prescription drugs kill between about 100,000 people in the world each year, but marijuana, medical or not, has caused absolutely zero deaths. Weed, pot, ganja, or whatever you want to call it, cannabis has actually been a favorable treatment in the treatment of about 200 different medical conditions. Here are 10 ways marijuana can improve your health, which also act as legitimate reasons as to why legalization should be a serious debate. RELATED ISE FX Japanese Yen: caution. Silver - Daily technial Forecast Geithner: must move fast on new... Rule 40 And The 2012 London Olympics:... Sponsored Link The Volkswagen Beetle "There are no deaths from cannabis use. Anywhere. You can't find one," said Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School. Believe it: In 10,000 years of known use of cannabis, there's never been a single death attributed to marijuana. "I've heard you have to smoke something like 15,000 joints in 20 minutes to get a toxic amount of delta-9 tetrahydrocannibinol," said Dr. Paul Hornby, a biochemist and human pathologist who also happens to be one of the leading authorities on cannabis research. "I challenge anybody to do that." Meanwhile, it's a fact that anyone can die from ingesting too much aspirin, or too much coffee, or too much wine. Marijuana, on the other hand, medical or not, is not only non-lethal, but likely beneficial. Several studies, some published as recently as a few months ago, have shown that marijuana can even be good for your health, and could help treat conditions better than the solutions being cooked up in the labs. The late Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a former national administrator of the U.S. government's marijuana research programs, appeared in a film about the business of marijuana prohibition shortly before his 2007 death called "The Union." (The full movie is available on both Netflix and YouTube.) "After dealing with about 10,000 patents in the last 15 years, I'd say about 200 different medical conditions respond favorably to cannabis," Mikuriya said. We won't go through all 200 conditions here, but here are 10 of the most notable, common conditions, afflictions and diseases that marijuana has been proven to help. Alzheimer's disease - In 2006, the Scripps Research Institute in California discovered that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, can prevent an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase from accelerating the formation of "Alzheimer's plaques" in the brain, as well as protein clumps that can inhibit cognition and memory, more effectively than commercially marketed drugs. Epilepsy - A study performed by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University discovered that ingredients found in natural marijuana "play a critical role in controlling spontaneous seizures in epilepsy." Dr. Robert J. DeLorenzo, professor of neurology at the VCU School of Medicine, added that "Although marijuana is illegal in the United States, individuals both here and abroad report that marijuana has been therapeutic for them in the treatment of a variety of ailments, including epilepsy." Multiple sclerosis - It's long been believed that smoking pot helps MS patients, and a study published as recently as May provided yet another clinical trial as evidence of marijuana's impact on multiple sclerosis patients with muscle spasticity. Even though the drug has been known to cause dizziness and fatigue in some users, most MS patients report marijuana not only helps ease the pain in their arms and legs when they painfully contract, but also helps them just "feel good." How many prescription drugs can say their side effects include "happiness"? Glaucoma - Since the 1970s, studies have called medical marijuana an effective treatment against glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. Researchers say marijuana helps reduce and relieve the intraocular pressure that causes optic nerve damage, but the proponents say it helps "reverse deterioration," too. Arthritis - Marijuana proves useful for many types of chronic pain conditions, but patients with rheumatoid arthritis report less pain, reduced inflammation and more sleep. However, this is not to say that arthritis patients should exchange their medication with pot; marijuana eases the pain, but it does nothing to ameliorate or curb the disease. Depression - A study on addictive behaviors published by USC and SUNY Albany in 2005, whose 4,400 participants made it the largest investigation of marijuana and depression to date, found that "those who consume marijuana occasionally or even daily have lower levels of depressive symptoms than those who have never tried marijuana." The study added that "weekly users had less depressed mood, more positive affect, and fewer somatic complaints than non-users." Anxiety - An article published in the April 2010 edition of the Harvard Mental Health Letter, "Medical marijuana and the mind," said that while "many recreational users say that smoking marijuana calms them down, for others it has the opposite effect. ... Studies report that about 20 to 30 percent of recreational users experience such problems after smoking marijuana." The article did not mention which "studies" supported this fact, and most marijuana users would call this claim totally erroneous. Here's a story from Patsy Eagan of Elle Magazine, who describes how she prefers marijuana to treat her anxiety over prescription drugs. Hepatitis C - A 2006 study performed by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found that marijuana helps improve the effectiveness of drug therapy for hepatitis C, an infection that roughly 3 million Americans contract each year. Hepatitis C medications often have severe side effects like loss of appetite, depression, nausea, muscle aches and extreme fatigue. Patients that smoked marijuana every day or two found that not only did they complete the therapy, but that the marijuana even made it more effective in achieving a "sustained virological response," which is the gold standard in therapy, meaning there was no sign of the virus left in their bodies. Morning sickness - In a peer-reviewed study, researchers at the British Columbia Compassion Club Society found that 92 percent of women found marijuana's effect on morning sickness symptoms as either "very effective" or effective." Read the first-hand account from Dr. Wei-Ni Lin Curry, who describes how medical marijuana saved her from a potentially life-threatening situation: "Within two weeks of my daughter's conception, I became desperately nauseated and vomited throughout the day and night. ... I vomited bile of every shade, and soon began retching up blood. ... I felt so helpless and distraught that I went to the abortion clinic twice, but both times I left without going through the with procedure. ... Finally I decide to try medical cannabis. ... Just one to two little puffs at night, and if I needed in the morning, resulted in an entire day of wellness. I went from not eating, not drinking, not functioning, and continually vomiting and bleeding from two orifices to being completely cured. ... Not only did the cannabis save my [life] during the duration of my hyperemesis, it saved the life of the child within my womb." Most prospective mothers will worry about the effect of ingesting marijuana in any form on their baby's development. The only study that showed any effect from smoking pot came from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine in 2008, which showed that heavy smoking "during the first trimester was associated with lower verbal reasoning," while "heavy use during the second trimester predicted deficits in the composite, short-term memory, and quantitative scores." Though this singular study may be enough to scare away some mothers, the majority of studies say prenatal pot exposure "is not a major prognostic factor regarding the outcome of pregnancy," and that "marijuana has no reliable impact on birth size, length of gestation ... or the occurrence of physical abnormalities." Compared to mothers that used tobacco and alcohol, all of whom showed "increased risk of suspect or definite psychotic symptoms (in offspring)," mothers' cannabis use "was not associated with psychotic symptoms" in their children. Cancer, HIV/AIDS and chemotherapy - Though the drug is illegal in the U.S., the FDA and American Cancer Society agree that the active ingredients in marijuana, or cannabinoids, have been approved by officials to "relieve nausea and vomiting and increase appetite in people with cancer and AIDS." The American Cancer Society says that "marijuana has anti-bacterial properties, inhibits tumor growth, and enlarges the airways, which they believe can ease the severity of asthma attacks." Marijuana: Why Is It Illegal Again? This is too big of a question to answer in just one single article, but looking at cannabis through the lens of its medical properties, there seem to be few, if any, reasons to keep marijuana off the market. It doesn't kill, and while it may not be as effective as other treatments, it doesn't seem to get in the way much. When Mikuriya was asked if there was a product out there today - anything - that has as many benefits as medical marijuana, he said simply: "No." Medical marijuana may be beneficial for everyone's health, but it's not very healthy for the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies. And unfortunately for Americans in need of a cheap, all-natural alternative medicine, the pharmaceutical industry is the biggest industry in America with powerful connections in high places. And they don't like marijuana. At all. "It's unlimited," Hornby said of marijuana. "Grow more, get more medicine. Pharmaceutical companies don't want you growing your own medicine." The idea of legalizing a cheap, all-natural medicine that grows out of the dirt is a threat to the pharmaceutical industry's bottom line. Dr. James Hudson, professor emeritus at University of British Columbia's Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine, said pharmaceutical companies have a great incentive to recreate the organic compounds in marijuana and sell a drug from it, rather than just release the all-natural version to the public.

Patient's Choice Medical Cannabis Competition Brings Out The Bay Area's Finest Marijuana

What's a medical cannabis competition in San Francisco like? Relaxed. Dark. And surprisingly un-smoky, believe it or not. Think vapor bags -- lots and lots of vapor bags. Like, an unending parade of 6-foot vapor bags, passed around for six hours at Cafe Cocomo on Sunday evening at the sixth annual Patient's Choice Medical Cannabis Competition. There was that. There was a few jokes from the lovely and charming comedian Shanti Charan. And apparently, potheads make bad superheroes. Here are a few fleeting scenes, plus where to obtain the best cannabis in the Bay Area, and the winners listed after the jump. Strains: •1st Place: (101) Strawberry Cough, Larry Bollman, The Green Diamond Collective •2nd Place: (125) Dutch Treat, Kevin Brown, Mission Organics •3rd Place: (104) Animal Cookies, Fortune Wellness Center Edibles: •1st Place: (306) Dark Chocolate Caramel, The Green Cross, Incredimeds •2nd Place (305) Bhang Bite, Jon Paul, Bhang Chocolate •3rd Place (307) Strawberry Gummies, The Green Cross, Incredimeds For more San Francisco politics and beyond, follow The Snitch on Twitter.

Marijuana’s good qualities outweigh bad

The legalization of marijuana has been blown way out of proportion in the last few decades. Think about all the parents, professors and leaders of this country. They all grew up in an age that was pretty “groovy” and “psychedelic,” but most of them turned out just fine. Today, marijuana is viewed as being addictive, dangerous and a gateway to harder drugs.Yet on Tuesday, Colorado and Washington residents became the first two states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The issue seemed to be overlooked this year, but that is probably because American’s as a whole were more concerned with the economy, health care and the national debt. However, it did not fly under the radar for many young Americans voting for the first time, who definitely exercised their opinion that the legalization of marijuana should not be a big deal. With more young people voicing their opinions, the old fashioned, conservative and elderly citizens are getting outnumbered. Behind alcohol and tobacco – both legal in the United States – marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug. Instead of refusing to acknowledge this fact, our laws should reflect this reality, because marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. With the prohibition of marijuana, it is costing the government billions of dollars which could be used elsewhere. These costs include the campaigns and propaganda used against marijuana, law enforcement and the prosecution of lawbreakers. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 37,000 deaths are caused from alcohol each year in the U.S. Alcohol is one of the most toxic drugs, and can lead to death from overdose. Marijuana on the other hand is not nearly as toxic and would take a thousand times the dose to have the same effect to kill someone. To this day, there is no report of someone dying from marijuana overdose. Violent crimes can often be initiated through the consumption of alcohol. Instead of being aggressive, marijuana has the opposite effect. After smoking marijuana, users often feel more relaxed, happy and enjoy whatever situation they are in, whether it is a movie, party or concert. Unlike alcohol, which is just for recreational use, marijuana has actually been documented as a helpful drug when used for medical purposes. It can be used as a natural medicine that is safe and can help people suffering from several diseases. That is why 18 of the 50 states have legalized the use of medical marijuana. The prohibition of alcohol can be closely compared with what the U.S. is dealing with now. Although the consumption of alcohol was never illegal, in the coming years, marijuana will follow and be legalized. Our children will never remember a time when smoking was not legal. The U.S. is known for fighting the “war on drugs,” but many countries in Europe have strayed from this approach, and instead see it as a health issue rather than a criminal one. If our country viewed marijuana this way, it would make a lot more sense and save money. It is only a matter of time before the rest of America realizes that the legalization of marijuana will actually do more good for our country than the bad it is doing now. With the huge step that Colorado and Washington took, they voted to regulate the production, possession, distribution and recreational use of marijuana for people 21 and older. Marijuana use should not be a crime.

Health Effects of Marijuana Compared to Prescription Drugs

Lately, I've been reading and listening to many of the marijuana debates. One of the more recent articles stated that the "health Effects of marijuana are being overlooked." I have strong feelings on this issue. I have known many people with many different types of illnesses from cancer to multiple sclerosis that experienced such bad side effects from the synthetic medications prescribed by their physicians, it was almost worse than living with the illness. One patient nearly died twice when doctors insisted he take a chemotherapy medication in pill form without explaining what it was and what the side effects were. When they quit these medications and used marijuana for relief from pain and nausea, they were finally able to live. They had energy again, slowly started getting their health back, and recovered from depression. Take a look at this article: http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-14/bay-area/24134026_1_legalization-debate-marijuana-dependence-addiction-research The author and the several medical professionals quoted talk about people who are addicted to marijuana. Some people may develop a dependence, but there is no physical withdrawal to marijuana as there is in both many anti-depressant medication and pain medications. There are people with addictive personalities who have a tendency to develop a dependence on many things, and there is usually a lot more going on than meets the eye. The woman in the article who states she was "addicted" for 19 years, as far as we know, not in need of marijuana to relieve pain or other issues. Why must we continue to punish people who have chronic illnesses, pain or deadly diseases by stigmatizing and prohibiting the use of the one medication that works? People need to be educated on how deadly and addictive prescription medications are. Prescription medications can cause severe physical withdrawal (even anti-depressant medications). Synthetic medications can ruin lives, and they can literally kill you! Marijuana grows naturally for a reason and you can't overdose on it. Addiction to pain medication has gone up to 400 percent over the last decade: Some state that they are afraid the legalization of marijuana will encourage people to develop the habit. Do they realize how many teens and adults develop an addiction to pain medications? The addictions are so severe they will do anything to obtain it. The United States has had a "war on drugs" for years that it is not winning. For example, in Portugal where marijuana was decriminalized, they experienced the lowest rate of marijuana use in the European Union, at 10 percent. In America, that same figure is 39 percent. Decriminalization has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does. I hope that someday people will look at the true facts and open their minds to a natural medication that has been on the earth and used for thousands of years.

How Medical Marijuana Works

In an ad that aired on TV in New York, a man named Burton Aldrich stares at the camera and tells the viewer, "I am in extreme pain right now. Everywhere. My arms, my legs, are feeling like I'm dipped in an acid." Aldrich is a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair, and the best treatment for his overwhelming pain, he says, is marijuana. He continues, "Within five minutes of smoking marijuana, the spasms have gone away and the neuropathic pain has just about disappeared." ­­To some, medical marijuana is a contradiction in terms, immoral or simply illegal. But to Aldrich and numerous people in the United States and around the world, marijuana, or cannabis, represents an essential medicine that alleviates debilitating symptoms. Without it, these people wouldn't be able to treat their conditions. Aldrich thinks he would be dead without marijuana. Others, like Dr. Kevin Smith, who was also featured in these pro-medical marijuana ads, can't treat their conditions for fear of breaking the law. Smith says that, save for a trip to Amsterdam where he tried marijuana, the autoimmune disorders he suffers from have prevented him from sleeping soundly through the night for the last 20 years. In states in which it's legal, doctors recommend medical marijuana for many conditions and diseases, frequently those that are chronic. Among them are nausea (especially as a result of chemotherapy), loss of appetite, chronic pain, anxiety, arthritis, cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, ADHD, epilepsy, inflammation, migraines and Crohn's disease. The drug is also used to ease pain and improve quality of life for people who are terminally ill. So how, exactly, does medical marijuana work to treat these conditions? Why, if this medicine is so effective for some people, does it remain controversial and, in many places, illegal? In this article, we'll take a look at the medical, legal, and practical issues surrounding medical marijuana in the United States. We'll examine why some people, like Burton Aldrich, depend on it to live normally. We'll also examine some of the intriguing intersections between pharmaceutical companies, the government and the medical marijuana industry.

Marijuana Facts and Statistics

The following Marijuana Facts and Statistics were compiled from a variety of sources that are listed at the end of this article. Each fact or statistic is cited with an endnote, annotating which source it was from. At least 200,000 students in the US have been denied financial aid for college simply because of drug convictions on their records.j Marijuana is the most common illegal drug used in the United States with roughly 100 million Americans admitting to trying marijuana at least once. j 11.5% of Americans (more than 25 million) have smoked marijuana in the last year.f An individual would need to smoke 800 joints to die, according to one report. The cause of death would be poisoning from carbon monoxide.b Around 50,000 people die each year from alcohol poisoning, and more than 400,000 people die each year from causes related attributed to tobacco smoking.i According to the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet, "The smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health. ... It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat ... than alcohol or tobacco."i Every day roughly 6,000 Americans use marijuana for the first time, according to one national survey. f 22.6% of high school seniors in the US used marijuana in the past 30 days compared with 18.7% who smoked cigarette, according to 2011 data.l Cannabis plants can grow in nearly any ecosystem and average one to two inches of growth per day, and can grow up to 18 feet.a In Ancient China cannabis seeds were used as a food source as early as 6000 B.C. and as a medicinal drug as in 2737 B.C. by Chinese emperor Shen Nung. The emperor documented the drug’s effectiveness in treating the pains of rheumatism and gout.a A 1619 law required farmers to grow the hemp plant (marijuana). Once harvested, it was used to make clothing, rope, sails, and many more products.b The first two drafts of the United States Declaration of Independence were written on paper made from hemp.e The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 made it illegal to possess, use, buy, sell, or cultivate marijuana in the United States. The law classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no acceptable medical use.f Marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia as a useful medicine for nausea, rheumatism, and labor pains and could easily be purchased at the local general store or pharmacy, between 1850 to 1942.b The use of marijuana was often recommended as a replacement for alcohol during the temperance movement of the 1890s.b Canada was the first country in the world to allow doctors to prescribe pain suffering patients medical marijuana. They did it in 2003 Oregon was the first state to decriminalize marijuana. They did it in 1973.k In 1996, California became the first U.S. state to legally allow medical marijuana for patients with a valid doctor’s recommendation.c Although marijuana is still a controlled substance under federal law, 13 U.S. states currently have compassionate use laws in place, which allow for regulated medical marijuana use: AK, CA, CO, HI, ME, MI, MT, NV, NM, OR, RI, VT, and WA. An additional 17 states and the District of Columbia have legislated to recognize the value of medical marijuana but do not protect users from federal prosecution.c US taxpayers pay an estimated $10 billion annually on marijuana prohibition costs, to arrest more than 853,000 individuals per year.j The total number of individuals arrested for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault,is less than the number of individuals arrested for marijuana related crimes.i Toughly 30 percent of the Americans arrested for marijuana violations were under the age of 19.i African Americans make up 67% of the prison population detained for drug offenses, while the demographic only accounts for 13% of illegal drug users.i Crippled by the war on drugs, the U.S. prison population is six to ten times higher than that of other Western European nations.

‘Medical’ Marijuana: 10 Health Benefits That Legitimize Legalization

Prescription drugs kill about 100,000 people in the world each year. Off the top of your head, do you know how many deaths are caused by using marijuana, either medicinally or recreationally? Prescription drugs kill between about 100,000 people in the world each year, but marijuana, medical or not, has caused absolutely zero deaths. Weed, pot, ganja, or whatever you want to call it, cannabis has actually been a favorable treatment in the treatment of about 200 different medical conditions. Here are 10 ways marijuana can improve your health, which also act as legitimate reasons as to why legalization should be a serious debate. "There are no deaths from cannabis use. Anywhere. You can't find one," said Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School. Believe it: In 10,000 years of known use of cannabis, there's never been a single death attributed to marijuana. "I've heard you have to smoke something like 15,000 joints in 20 minutes to get a toxic amount of delta-9 tetrahydrocannibinol," said Dr. Paul Hornby, a biochemist and human pathologist who also happens to be one of the leading authorities on cannabis research. "I challenge anybody to do that." Meanwhile, it's a fact that anyone can die from ingesting too much aspirin, or too much coffee, or too much wine. Marijuana, on the other hand, medical or not, is not only non-lethal, but likely beneficial. Several studies, some published as recently as a few months ago, have shown that marijuana can even be good for your health, and could help treat conditions better than the solutions being cooked up in the labs. The late Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a former national administrator of the U.S. government's marijuana research programs, appeared in a film about the business of marijuana prohibition shortly before his 2007 death called "The Union." (The full movie is available on both Netflix and YouTube.) "After dealing with about 10,000 patents in the last 15 years, I'd say about 200 different medical conditions respond favorably to cannabis," Mikuriya said. We won't go through all 200 conditions here, but here are 10 of the most notable, common conditions, afflictions and diseases that marijuana has been proven to help. Alzheimer's disease - In 2006, the Scripps Research Institute in California discovered that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, can prevent an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase from accelerating the formation of "Alzheimer's plaques" in the brain, as well as protein clumps that can inhibit cognition and memory, more effectively than commercially marketed drugs. Epilepsy - A study performed by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University discovered that ingredients found in natural marijuana "play a critical role in controlling spontaneous seizures in epilepsy." Dr. Robert J. DeLorenzo, professor of neurology at the VCU School of Medicine, added that "Although marijuana is illegal in the United States, individuals both here and abroad report that marijuana has been therapeutic for them in the treatment of a variety of ailments, including epilepsy." Multiple sclerosis - It's long been believed that smoking pot helps MS patients, and a study published as recently as May provided yet another clinical trial as evidence of marijuana's impact on multiple sclerosis patients with muscle spasticity. Even though the drug has been known to cause dizziness and fatigue in some users, most MS patients report marijuana not only helps ease the pain in their arms and legs when they painfully contract, but also helps them just "feel good." How many prescription drugs can say their side effects include "happiness"? Glaucoma - Since the 1970s, studies have called medical marijuana an effective treatment against glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. Researchers say marijuana helps reduce and relieve the intraocular pressure that causes optic nerve damage, but the proponents say it helps "reverse deterioration," too. Arthritis - Marijuana proves useful for many types of chronic pain conditions, but patients with rheumatoid arthritis report less pain, reduced inflammation and more sleep. However, this is not to say that arthritis patients should exchange their medication with pot; marijuana eases the pain, but it does nothing to ameliorate or curb the disease. Depression - A study on addictive behaviors published by USC and SUNY Albany in 2005, whose 4,400 participants made it the largest investigation of marijuana and depression to date, found that "those who consume marijuana occasionally or even daily have lower levels of depressive symptoms than those who have never tried marijuana." The study added that "weekly users had less depressed mood, more positive affect, and fewer somatic complaints than non-users." Anxiety - An article published in the April 2010 edition of the Harvard Mental Health Letter, "Medical marijuana and the mind," said that while "many recreational users say that smoking marijuana calms them down, for others it has the opposite effect. ... Studies report that about 20 to 30 percent of recreational users experience such problems after smoking marijuana." The article did not mention which "studies" supported this fact, and most marijuana users would call this claim totally erroneous. Here's a story from Patsy Eagan of Elle Magazine, who describes how she prefers marijuana to treat her anxiety over prescription drugs. Hepatitis C - A 2006 study performed by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found that marijuana helps improve the effectiveness of drug therapy for hepatitis C, an infection that roughly 3 million Americans contract each year. Hepatitis C medications often have severe side effects like loss of appetite, depression, nausea, muscle aches and extreme fatigue. Patients that smoked marijuana every day or two found that not only did they complete the therapy, but that the marijuana even made it more effective in achieving a "sustained virological response," which is the gold standard in therapy, meaning there was no sign of the virus left in their bodies. Morning sickness - In a peer-reviewed study, researchers at the British Columbia Compassion Club Society found that 92 percent of women found marijuana's effect on morning sickness symptoms as either "very effective" or effective." Read the first-hand account from Dr. Wei-Ni Lin Curry, who describes how medical marijuana saved her from a potentially life-threatening situation: "Within two weeks of my daughter's conception, I became desperately nauseated and vomited throughout the day and night. ... I vomited bile of every shade, and soon began retching up blood. ... I felt so helpless and distraught that I went to the abortion clinic twice, but both times I left without going through the with procedure. ... Finally I decide to try medical cannabis. ... Just one to two little puffs at night, and if I needed in the morning, resulted in an entire day of wellness. I went from not eating, not drinking, not functioning, and continually vomiting and bleeding from two orifices to being completely cured. ... Not only did the cannabis save my [life] during the duration of my hyperemesis, it saved the life of the child within my womb."

Will California Be The Next State To Legalize Marijuana?

SAN FRANCISCO -- With marijuana legalization initiatives having passed in Colorado and Washington state, the inevitable question lingers among California cannabis enthusiasts: Are we next? According to local advocates, the answer is "yes." "There is no doubt in my mind that we will see an initiative on the ballot either in 2014 or 2016," said Steve DeAngelo, co-founder and executive director of Oakland's Harborside Health Center, the country's largest medical marijuana dispensary. "The victory of these initiatives has energized activists all over the United States and all over the world." California was poised to become the first state to legalize marijuana for adult use in 2010 with Proposition 19, but the ballot measure failed by a small margin. Still, experts believe the initiatives in Colorado and Washington wouldn't have succeeded had the Golden State not set the stage. "Prop 19 showed the world that legalization is a debate that needs to be taken seriously and that there's a huge constituency for it," said Tom Angell, founder of the new website Marijuana Majority and spokesman for the nonprofit Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "People in California are excited to push it over the finish line here sooner rather than later." DeAngelo believes that before California can approve full-scale legalization for adults, the Assembly first must pass a set of uniform regulations for the state's flourishing medical cannabis industry. California currently leaves medical marijuana legislation in the hands of local jurisdictions, an approach which has yielded mixed results across the state. While certain city governments carefully regulate their medical marijuana economies, other areas have yet to impose sufficient restrictions. Oakland and Santa Cruz, for example, follow a strict set of rules for their thriving communities, while unregulated places like Los Angeles have become what some insiders describe as "the poster child of chaos." Voters in San Diego and Palo Alto on Tuesday rejected initiatives that would have approved medical marijuana dispensaries to open in their respective cities, a move Angell attributes to the lack of statewide regulation. "These defeats show that there is in fact a lot of confusion about what regulated medical marijuana distribution could look like," he said. "Certain parts of the state have a lot to learn from places like San Francisco and Oakland." DeAngelo explained that Colorado's recent success largely relied on the fact that the state already had a well-regulated statewide system in place. "States that have a positive experience with medical cannabis, like in Colorado, that tends to lead to greater support of adult use," he said. "One of the reasons that Prop 19 didn't pass is because many communities had an unpleasant experience with cannabis regulation." Accordingly, DeAngelo described his "preferred trajectory" for California as a statewide medical cannabis regulation initiative in 2014, followed by full-scale legalization for adult use in 2016. "The demographics for a 2016 election will be much more in our favor than in 2014," he said, pointing to the fact that voters turn out in much larger numbers for presidential races. California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill earlier this year that would have created a statewide system for regulating medical marijuana, but he later withdrew the measure after conservative lawmakers added a provision that would have allowed cities to ban dispensaries outright. California became the first state to legalize the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes when voters approved the landmark Proposition 215 in 1996. While the medical cannabis industry has since ballooned into an enterprise that generates more than $100 million in annual tax revenue for the state, the drug still remains illegal at the federal level. Using the federal law as justification, last fall the Obama administration launched an aggressive crackdown on medical marijuana operations throughout California. Since then, hundreds of dispensaries have been forced to close and thousands of jobs have been lost. DeAngelo hopes that the victories in Washington and Colorado may lead to a softening of the justice department's stance on the issue. "I think that the election results have the potential to give Obama the incentive and the political cover to do a real reassessment of federal cannabis policy," he said. "Obama supporters overwhelmingly support cannabis reform and I hope the administration sees that it's time to support their constituency." Recent figures show that 81 percent of Americans support medical marijuana, 72 percent back no jail time for marijuana possession, and 50 percent believe marijuana should be legal for adult use. Both DeAngelo and Angell said that the California cannabis community will begin crafting its next steps soon. DeAngelo added that he hopes to engage stakeholders outside the movement, like the NAACP and the California Nurses Association, both of which lent their support to Prop 19. And if all goes according to plan? "We will win by a landslide," DeAngelo said. "If California puts into place an effective medical cannabis distribution system sometime in the next two years, 2016 will be a landslide."

Three out of four Americans want to end medical marijuana raids

The federal government's continued "War on Drugs" is no longer getting a warm reception from the vast majority of Americans. A recent poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research (MDPR) reveals that three out of every four Americans now oppose needless federal prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries, growers, sellers and users in states where medical marijuana has been legalized. The poll included 1,000 individuals of varying ages and demographics from all across the country. And in virtually every category, a roughly three-quarters disapproval of federal interference in state marijuana matters was expressed by those polled, even among the 65 years of age and older category, which has typically been the most disapproving of marijuana use for any reason. "The results of this survey demonstrate that there is virtually no support in the country for the Obama administration's crackdown on state medical marijuana laws," said Steve Fox, Director of Government Relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. The Obama Justice Department (DOJ) announced last fall that it planned to begin shutting down marijuana dispensaries in California and elsewhere, and has since raided nearly 200 of them in at least nine states. "Across all demographic and ideological groups, the American people strongly believe the president should respect state medical marijuana laws, as he promised he would when he campaigned to be president. It is clearly time for President Obama to stand up to the members of his administration who are carrying out the morally wrong and politically unpopular policy of denying patients safe access to this beneficial medicine."

It's better for your lungs than tobacco.

According to a study published in Journal of the American Medical Association in January, marijuana does not impair lung function and can even increase lung capacity. Researchers looking for risk factors of heart disease tested the lung function of 5115 young adults over the course of 20 years. Tobacco smokers lost lung function over time, but pot users actually showed an increase in lung capacity. The increased lung capacity may due to taking a deep breaths while inhaling the drug. It controls epileptic seizures! Robert J. DeLorenzo of Virginia Commonwealth University, gave marijuana extract and synthetic marijuana to epileptic rats. The drugs rid the rats of the seizures for about 10 hours. Cannabinoids like the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (also known as THC), control seizures by binding to the brain cells responsible for controlling excitability and regulating relaxation

All The Reasons Pot Is Good For You

Colorado and Washington both passed legislation that legalizes the recreational use of marijuana on Tuesday. While recreational marijuana is controversial, many people believe that the drug should be legal, especially for medical uses. See the good side of pot > Psychiatrist Tod H. Mikuriya, who helped develop Proposition 215, the state ballot that allowed doctors to recommend marijuana for patients in California, began researching marijuana's therapeutic possibilities in the 1960s. He believed the symptoms of over 200 ailments could be treated with marijuana including stuttering, insomnia, premenstrual syndrome, and writer’s cramp. Even the National Cancer Institute agrees with Mikuriya — specifically the use of marijuana for treatment of side effects of chemotherapy, preventing nausea and vomiting, increasing appetite, relieving pain, and improving sleep. While the benefits and risks of smoking pot may be overstated by advocates and opponents of marijuana legalization, the new legalization will help researchers study the drugs' medicinal uses, and better understand how it impacts the body. Marijuana can be used to prevent blindness from glaucoma. Marijuana use can be used to treat and prevent the eye disease glaucoma, which increases pressure in the eyeball, damaging the optic nerve, causing loss of vision. Marijuana decreases the pressure inside the eye, according to the National Eye Institute: "Studies in the early 1970s showed that marijuana, when smoked, lowered intraocular pressure (IOP) in people with normal pressure and those with glaucoma." These effects of the drug may slow the progression of the disease, preventing blindness.

One Love...Thank you all for your support

ReLeafers, early this week, we were given devastating news that a dear longtime friend and fellow patient, Stacy Pray lost a courageous battle to cancer. She was an amazing woman and single mother who sadly leaves behind two young daughters ages 5 & 7. Along with having to mourn the untimely loss of a mother, daughter & sister, the family is having to deal with the burden of mounting hospital and funeral costs. ReLeaf has set up a raffle where all proceeds will be going to a trust fund set up for the girls. For $5 per ticket, patients will have the chance to win an ounce of our top shelf Platinum Girl Scout cookies valued at $380 while helping out a great cause!! Raffle tickets are now available at the counter. Raffle will be drawn 11/21. Other cool items will be raffled off as well!! Additionally, the family has set up a PayPal for any donations where proceeds will go directly to the girl's trust fund, please send as a gift to Aubsnjoce@gmail.com. ONE LOVE!

'Cannabis Roots: The Hidden History of Marijuana' Conference

When thinking of the history of marijuana, most people’s minds go back to the hippy era of the 60s and the pot smoking flower-children whose peace and love ideals have forever changed our culture. Some think of the 1930's Reefer Madness era, where blacks and whites shared 'marihuana cigarettes' at tea houses while creating a new genre of music and breaking long-held racial barriers. Few people realize that cannabis has played a role in human history for tens of thousands of years, or that it played a pivotal role in the formation of such ancient religions as Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Shinto, Ancient Greek Mystery Schools, and other traditions. The Cannabis Roots conference will explore some of this little-discussed area of cannabis history with some of the top experts in the world. Cannabis Roots: The Hidden History of Marijuana will be held from 11AM - 6PM on November 3, 2012 at CCHQ (307 W. Hastings - Second Floor) in Vancouver. Speakers include Professor Carl Ruck, David Hillman Ph.D., Michael Aldrich Ph.D., authors Michael Horowitz, Cynthia Palmer, Ted Smith, Chris Bennett, and filmmaker Mark Klokeid. For tickets and more information contact the Urban Shaman: 307 W Hastings, Vancouver – 604-662-5355 – theurbanshaman@hotmail.com. Cynthia Palmer is a writer and photographer from San Francisco. In 1970 she was part of a small group of neuronauts who founded The Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library in North Beach. Over the next 30 years the library became the world's largest collection of literature, research, art and artifacts of drug history. Archiving the art and literature of drugs and transformation is a dedicated obsession. Drug classics were reprinted in paperback from the collection, and with Michael Horowitz, she co-edited Moksha: Writings on Visionary Experience and Psychedelics by Aldous Huxley and Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady: Women's Writings on the Drug Experience (Updated and renamed Sisters of the Extreme).