Steamboat Springs, CO — A Steamboat Springs parent uses medical marijuana to treat her 13-year-old son’s autism. Babette Dickson said she’s seen positive results since she started giving James medical marijuana. When Dickson gives it to him — in the form of edibles or tinctures — she said he’s less prone to outbursts. She said James, who struggles with language, sometimes gets frustrated and angry when he has trouble communicating. She said he has anxiety. Yet, Dickson said James has been calmer the few times he has ingested medical marijuana.
VIDEO: During a discussion about Proposition 19 on Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time” last night, Zach Galifianakis commented that the people’s opposition to marijuana legalization might be rooted in a feeling that smoking marijuana is still taboo. He then shocked the panel and delighted the audience by pulling out a joint and lighting up on the set.
A new compound similar to the active component of marijuana (cannabis) might provide effective pain relief without the mental and physical side effects of cannabis, according to a study in the July issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Oct 29 2010 | Posted in
Cannabis Science |
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Marijuana is everywhere. Smokers come from every walk of life — from the college student to the cancer patient, from the wealthy older couple to the heroin addict who started out just smoking weed. Jews care about this issue because Jews, like every other group, can be found among those who use, who dispense, who grow, and also those who disdain this all-pervasive drug. In fact, the halachah of pot is not entirely clear.
I dropped in on a marijuana shop here that proudly boasted that it sells “31 flavors.” It also offered a loyalty program. For every 10 purchases of pot — supposedly for medical uses — you get one free packet. “There are five of these shops within a three-block radius,” explained the proprietor, Edward J. Kim. He brimmed with pride at his inventory and sounded like any small businessman as he complained about onerous government regulation. Like, well, state and federal laws.
CALIFORNIA — And now, the empire strikes back. So far, the story of the 2010 election has been dominated by the Tea Party and its imitation of the grassroots organizing techniques of Obama for America. But in the late stages of the battle, raw corporate power is revealing itself, aiming to win the old-fashioned way: with a well-directed torrent of money. And that money is being aimed not just at races for Congress and state houses but, to a surprising extent, at down-ballot campaigns — most remarkably, at the campaign for Attorney General of California.
Forget about what’s happening in the partisan battle for control of Congress and statehouses across the country. The single-most important issue that will be decided on November 2 is California’s Proposition 19, a ballot initiative that would legalize the cultivation, consumption, and sale of marijuana and allow municipalities to regulate and tax the stuff.
RHODE ISLAND — Every night before bed, Norma Winkler, 82, opens a small jar of cannabis oil and measures out a quarter-teaspoon to mix with homemade applesauce. Soon after she eats it, she drifts off to sleep. Ms. Winkler, who lives in Rhode Island, where medical marijuana is legal, has endured chronic back pain since a car accident fractured her skull and spine at age 15. Operations haven’t helped, and other medicines don’t touch the pain that can keep her up through the night. “It’s really been a lifesaver for me,” Ms. Winkler said of her cannabis oil. “I used to walk into the walls sometimes. I was so tired because I didn’t sleep.”
MINNESOTA — A University of Minnesota Medical School research team led by Kalpna Gupta, Ph.D., has discovered that cannabinoids offer a novel approach to ease the chronic and acute pain caused by sickle cell disease (SCD).
LONDON — Laboratory tests have shown that two compounds found in the cannabis plant — the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol — interact with the body’s system that controls gut function. Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, which affect about one in every 250 people in Northern Europe, are caused by both genetic and environmental factors. The researchers believe that a genetic susceptibility coupled with other triggers, such as diet, stress or bacterial imbalance, leads to a defective immune response.
