Health-care specialists in Pennsylvania prescribe the drug despite the federal government's reluctance to approve it as safe and effective for treating illness. Pennsylvania and the federal government disagree about the usefulness of marijuana as medicine. ELLEN F. O'CONNELL/Staff Photographer The van Hoekelen Greenhouses Inc. facility is located on Lofty Road in Kline Township. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved marijuana as safe and effective for treating any illness, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as recently as Aug. 11 kept marijuana in the same drug category as heroin, LSD and ecstasy. [continues 1378 words]
Like many school-aged children, Sarah Wilkinson's 10-year-old daughter, Mia, will head off to school in September. Though today Mia is laughing, happy and enjoying life, many didn't expect her to still be here. With two boys already at home, Wilkinson and her husband James were "over the moon" to hear another baby was on the way - a girl. But 29 minutes after being born, Mia had her first seizure. The diagnosis - a rare form of epilepsy called Ohtahara syndrome - meant Mia's life would be marked by many more seizures to come. [continues 695 words]
So did the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency finally make a decision? B.A. "Ted" Breath Meh. They did, but it's pretty much the same old song, although they did make a small change. In case you missed it: Last week, the DEA decided not to change cannabis' Schedule I status, meaning that the DEA still considers cannabis to be of no medical use and to be highly addictive, like GHB or heroin. Go figure. I talked about some of the reasons why the DEA probably wouldn't change their position on pot in the column before this one (see "Overscheduled," August 11). I had thought they would have tried to stall for a while longer, but they didn't. Maybe they should have. [continues 366 words]
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration delivered recently good news and bad to the nation's growing marijuana industry. It will not remove weed, which is legal for both medicinal and recreational purposes in Oregon, from its Class I schedule. It will allow more experimentation to determine just how dangerous - or helpful - marijuana really is. Substances on the Class I list include, in addition to marijuana, such things as LSD, heroin, peyote and ecstasy. They have no widely recognized medicinal value and they are, according to the DEA, highly addictive. The worst of the worst, in other words. [continues 266 words]
Most scientists don't include personal stories in their research reports, but for John Lilly, personal experiences and science experiments were the same thing. His ears, eyes, mouth, and nose were calibrated probes. His mind was the unbiased observer, the ideal model for dispassionate inquiry. Knowledge and experience led him to new sets of questions, not firmly held beliefs. But as anyone who has traveled into the psychedelic spaces knows, soon after arrival, one quickly finds out that the scientist's tool kit-language-is much too small and inadequate for the job. The scientist's reaction to the psychedelic experience is a set of questions that sound more like a seeker's. This is the crux of the enigma of John Lilly. [continues 5334 words]
Braun says too early to say if safe injection site desired As communities around British Columbia continue to see startling numbers of opioid overdoses, Abbotsford council will discuss ongoing harm-reduction policies in the city this fall, Mayor Henry Braun said. But while the mayors of two Interior cities have come out in support of supervised injection sites in their communities, Braun said he doesn't want to weigh in on such facilities in Abbotsford before council analyzes the issue. The mayors of both Kelowna and Kamloops said this week that they would welcome a supervised sites in their respective cities as their regional health authority considers setting up such a facility. [continues 518 words]
Cannabis oil was young girl's last, best resort AIRDRIE - Three years ago, during the darkest time of her life, Airdrie mom Sarah Wilkinson told her two sons to say their goodbyes to their ailing sister Mia. Then seven years old, Mia had just been revived from the longest seizure of her young life, thanks to a dose of ketamine (a potent drug used as horse tranquillizer, and known as Special K on the street) beyond the maximum allowed for children. [continues 659 words]
From underprivileged communities, police are taking their intensified campaign against illegal drugs to upscale bars and nightclubs. But Philippine National Police ( PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa made it clear he is not about to wage war with owners and operators of leisure establishments frequented by the rich, saying he only intends to get their cooperation. "First of all, I would like to initiate dialogue with them for a peaceful approach," he said. The glitzy clubs and bars, he said, are mostly located in Makati and in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. [continues 974 words]
DEA Turns Down Pleas to Redefine Drug's Dangers The federal government's fresh assertion that marijuana has no demonstrated medicinal value, which came even as it granted scientists greater ability to study whether it might, is the latest zigzag in a national psychodrama over pot that remains unsettled even as states strike out on their own and legalize recreational use of the drug. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced Thursday that it had rejected pleas to take marijuana off its Schedule I drug list - which includes heroin and ecstasy - meaning the herb is still classified, as it has been for 46 years, as an addictive drug with no accepted medical value and a high potential for abuse. [continues 839 words]
Obama Pledged Science-Based Policy The Obama administration has looked the other way as more than a dozen states enacted medical marijuana laws and five jurisdictions legalized the drug for recreational use, but when faced with what was likely its final chance during President Obama's tenure to loosen federal restrictions on the medicinal use of the drug, the administration has chosen to puff, puff, pass. The Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday denied requests to change the legal classification of marijuana, shooting down advocates' latest push to get the drug federally approved for medical purposes. [continues 677 words]
It's just hyperbole, President Duterte said in explaining his promise to kill local government executives and other officials involved in drugs. He may be telling the truth. Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. of Albuera town in Leyte, after all, is still alive after turning himself in last week and naming his son Kerwin, still at large, as a drug dealer. As of yesterday afternoon, Mayor Mamaulan Abinal Mulok of Maguing, Lanao del Sur and former mayor Mohammad Ali Abu Abinal also remained alive after presenting themselves to Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa at Camp Crame last Friday. [continues 973 words]
This is the time of year parents start worrying about back-to-school stuff. For those with college-age kids who will soon go off to live by themselves, there's an extra bit of preparation to think about. You may not realize it, but police departments across the country, especially those near colleges and universities, often "flip" students caught with even a tiny amount of marijuana and recruit them into the ranks of "confidential informant." [continues 712 words]
Music festival Secret Garden Party allowed people carrying illegal narcotics to test the quality and strength of the drugs over the weekend. The pioneering scheme had the support of local police, and was run by the drugs charity The Loop. Thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, the project appears to have been a success. Festival-goers were able to have their stash tested without handing over the rest. It was reported that over 200 people had their drugs tested. Finding over 80 suspect substances, over a quarter was disposed of after testing. The Transform Drugs Policy Foundation, who assisted in the scheme, claimed that it was an attempt to "undo the damage the War on Drugs had done." [continues 302 words]
Health officials say 104 people from the Pemberton Music Festival were treated at a medical clinic or hospital, including at least two who overdosed. Those numbers, however, are significantly different from the tally provided by Rockdoc, the contracted medical team at last weekend's festival, which said Wednesday that eight people were taken to hospital. "We are pleased to report again this year, the vast majority of festival participants were safely cared for on the event site, assuring that the regional emergency services were preserved to support the local communities," Kaitlyn Burke, general manager of Rockdoc Consulting, said. [continues 288 words]
In states that have legalized the sale of medical and recreational cannabis, the industry is flourishing. State and local laws have done great work in creating policies and laws that give such businesses a sense of stability that allow them to make business decisions with some confidence. But federal laws still regard cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic and have not only closed access to reliable banking, the U.S. Postal Service, and fair tax laws, but there is also the constant threat of law enforcement raids, lengthy and expensive court battles, and prison sentences. [continues 731 words]
Dear Editor: Forty-three fentanyl overdoses were recorded in a 48-hour period in the city of Surrey. This is not acceptable. Drug dealers who deal in fentanyl should be treated a lot more harshly than dealers who don't. I know someone personally on the Coast who lost a son who thought he was taking ecstasy, but it was laced with fentanyl. Some kids found him the next day dead in a public washroom. His family is completely devastated. I implore Crown counsel to consider attempted murder charges for anyone selling fentanyl. These idiots know full well that it is deadly - even in small doses - so they are knowingly risking the lives of their "clientele." Toss 'em in jail and throw away the key. Please. Mark Billesberger Penticton [end]
Hallucinogenic African Bark Could Be the Answer to Heroin Addiction, and Addiction in General Richard Dilley had tried everything by the time he traveled to Mexico and agreed to ingest a drug derived from a hallucinogenic African shrub bark that, he was told, would alter his brain. All for the bargain price of $10,000. While terrifying in a way, the drug known as ibogaine (or Tabernanthe iboga in its natural state) was, at this point, less of a horror than the drug Dilley had been addicted to since his teen years. [continues 3617 words]
Health workers highlight fentanyl, W-18 Party people are heading in droves to Pemberton Music Festival this weekend, and it's a truth acknowledged that some will be on a chemically fuelled trip, Hunter S. Thompson style. But given B.C.'s fentanyl crisis, provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall is warning festival enthusiasts that mixing drugs could be fatal. He said health officials still don't know how much fentanyl - or worse, W-18 - is added to some recreational party drugs like ecstasy, cocaine and speed. [continues 406 words]
BANGKOK - Somsak Sreesomsong was 18 when he was jailed for selling illegal drugs. Now, turning 30, he is not yet half way through his 33-year sentence at Bangkok's high-security Klong Prem prison. Somsak was "just a kid, not a big-time dealer," his older brother Panit told Reuters after a visit to the jail. "We're also serving time, waiting for him to get out so he can help the family." More than a decade after Thailand declared a "war on drugs," the country is admitting defeat. As the prison population soars, Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya told Reuters he was looking at changes to the country's draconian drug laws. [continues 636 words]
"I will execute you," Dirty Rody warned suspected drug trafficker Peter Lim last Friday in Davao City. "I will finish you off." As of yesterday, Lim - one of some 400 Peter Lims in Cebu where he lives and of about 4,000 in the Philippines, according to Bureau of Immigration files - had not yet been "finished off." His face - with "drug lord" smeared all over it - is now known all over the Philippines. But he got an audience with the President of the Republic, and even managed to express support for The Punisher's take-no-prisoners anti-narcotics campaign. [continues 942 words]
